~ { Shadow and Beauty } ~

Eidolons Again

{Leo}

Nemesis's fortune cookie was still in Leo's tool belt, waiting to be opened.

   Soon you will face a problem you cannot solve, though I could help you... for a price.

   Leo wished he could pluck that memory out of his head and shove it in his tool belt. It was taking up too much space. "We've all got weaknesses," he said. "Me, for instance. I'm tragically funny and good-looking."

   Frank snorted. "You might have weaknesses. But your life doesn't depend on a piece of firewood."

   "No," Leo admitted. He started thinking: if Frank's problem were his problem, how would he solve it? Almost every design flaw could be fixed. "I wonder..."

   He looked across the room and faltered. The three American tourists were coming their way; no more circling or sneaking. They were making a straight line for Raphael's tomb, and all three were glaring at Leo.

   "Uh, Frank?" Leo asked. "Has it been ten minutes yet?"

   Frank followed his gaze. The Americans' faces were angry and confused, like they were sleepwalking through a very annoying nightmare.

   "Leo Valdez," called the guy in the ROMA shirt. His voice had changed. It was hollow and metallic. He spoke English as if it was a second language. "We meet again."

   All three tourists blinked, and their eyes turned solid gold.

   Frank yelped. "Eidolons!"

   The manatees clenched their beefy fists. Normally, Leo wouldn't have worried about getting murdered by overweight guys in floppy hats, but he suspected the eidolons were dangerous even in those bodies, especially since the spirits wouldn't care whether their hosts survived or not.

   "They can't fit down the hole," Leo said.

   "Right," Frank said. "Underground is sounding really good."

   He turned into a snake and slithered over the edge. Leo jumped in after him while the spirits began to wail above, "Valdez! Kill Valdez!"

   One problem solved: the hatch above them closed automatically, cutting off their pursuers. It also cut off all light, but Leo and Frank could deal with that. Leo just hoped they didn't need to get out the same way they came in. He wasn't sure he could open the tile from underneath. At least the possessed manatee dudes were on the other side. Over Leo's head, the marble floor shuddered, like fat touristy feet were kicking it.

   Frank must have turned back to human form. Leo could hear him wheezing in the dark.

   "What now?" Frank asked.

   "Okay, don't freak," Leo said. "I'm going to summon a little fire, just so we can see."

   "Thanks for the warning."

   Leo's index finger blazed like a birthday candle. In front of them stretched a stone tunnel with a low ceiling. Just as Hazel had predicted, it slanted down, then leveled out and went south.

   "Well," Leo said. "It only goes in one direction."

   "Let's find Hazel and Kiara," Frank said.

   Leo had no argument with that suggestion. They made their way down the corridor, Leo going first with the fire. He was glad to have Frank at his back, big and strong and able to turn into scary animals in case those possessed tourists somehow broke through the hatch, squeezed inside, and followed them. He wondered if the eidolons might just leave those bodies behind, seep underground, and possess one of them instead.