Archer asked, “But how can you be sure that by combining the Pages of Destiny, only that dimension would open that has Matt inside?”
“Good question. There could be thousands of dimensions about whom we don’t know. However, there is no activity happening within these dimensions. The dimension in which Matt is trapped with the Skull Warrior is active. Their struggle inside must be creating ripples across the dimension, making it unstable. Wherever in the Universe the dimension finds a power source, it will rush towards it with speed of light, collide with it and open up.”
James said, “Okay. Let me summarize. First, we have to find the two Pages of Destiny and place them in an ancient ‘Book of the Universe’ kept at the Master Library at Cotton Village. The Book will then turn into a power source. The dimension in which Matt is trapped will collide with the power source and open up. We need to take Matt out before the Skull Warrior comes out of the dimension and we need to tear away the Pages of Destiny again to banish the Skull Warrior forever in that dimension. That’s it?”
Pyros nodded. “That’s it.”
“All right.” The Scavenger sounded optimistic. “That’s not so bad this time. The good thing is that there are only two Pages, unlike the seven pieces of the Arcane Crown and the five pieces of the Slayer.”
“Are you nuts?” Archer said, shaking his head. “This is bad. What chance do we have even to get the two Pages of Destiny? I don’t think anyone else so far had got them.”
The Scavenger replied, “Well, we got the Arcane Crown, which no one else got. We got the Slayer, which no one else got. Now we can get the Pages of Destiny, which no one else has got. That’s simple.”
“But where and how do we get the two pages to form the Pages of Destiny?” James asked.
“You haven’t heard the legend, have you?” Pyros asked. “The legend about the Pages of Destiny?”
“Oh, why haven’t we?” James said sarcastically. “We were born and brought up here in the Dark World, and we should be supposed to know all the legends here.”
Pyros ignored the sarcastic comment. “The legend says that the location of the two Pages of Destiny is hidden in two riddles. Here’s the first one for the First Page -
A mighty wind, red storm,
Oval, now smaller in form,
Red, red, red everywhere,
The First Page lies right there.
Hotter than the rest,
Fight through the tempest,
You need power,
Find the tower.
And that’s it,” Pyros finished.
“I don’t think that makes any sense,” Archer said.
“I agree,” Pyros said. “But we need to figure it out. I never felt any need for power, so I was never interested in decoding such riddles.”
James was thinking hard. “Red,” he said. “Red, red, red. The riddle speaks of red a lot. What can be red? Blood? A sunset? Blood-red sky? What else...”
“Red armour,” Daniel suggested. “Red table. Red chair. Red window. Red -”
“Daniel, please,” James said exasperatedly. “The riddle also says hotter than the rest. The rest. What’s the rest? The tower. What’s the tower? The tempest? Storm? HOTTER? STORM? AARGH!!”
James started stomping the floor in anger.
“James, calm down!” the Scavenger told him.
James sat down. “Sorry, but this riddle’s idiotic. What’s a red storm anyway? How can a storm be -?”
He stopped and stood up slowly.
Storms and planets...
Red storms...
Planets with storms...
James shrieked a single word, “JUPITER!”
“Excuse me?” Pyros asked.
“Just get me books on the planet Jupiter!” James said. “Quick.”
Pyros muttered something, and piles of books plopped down in front of him. James at once started flipping their pages.
“GOT IT!” James jumped in delight as he pointed to the image of a circular spot. “It was right at the tip of my tongue!”
“What was?” Archer asked.
“I’ll tell you once we reach there,” James said, standing up and stretching his arms.
“Go where?!” Daniel asked, infuriated. “Tell us!”
James had a smile on his face. “I never thought I would say this, but... let’s take a trip to Jupiter.”
2
James immersed himself in the books about planet Jupiter. He and Pyros discussed several aspects of the planet, including the alien inhabitants. The others appeared blank and they just sat there listening to the intellectual discussion.
After a few hours, they all fell sleep.
Next morning, everyone woke up feeling refreshed.
Pyros led the way. “Follow me.”
“Hey, what’s the Great Red Spot?” Daniel asked James. “I heard you two talking about it.”
James said, “The Great Red Spot is an oval-shaped, red coloured storm, thus the mention of the words wind, storm, oval and red in the riddle. That’s where the First Page of Destiny is kept. It’s incredible! The Great Red Spot is the perfect place. Its storms are made of either sulphur or phosphorous that cover anything placed inside it.”
“But what about the tower mentioned in the riddle?” the Scavenger asked.
James replied at once, “If what I am thinking is true, then I have just made an earth-shaking discovery.”
“What do you mean?” Archer asked.
“You’ll see,” James said. He stopped as Pyros halted. There were hundreds of doors, and each had pieces of paper stuck to them.
“Those are names of galaxies,” Archer said, recognizing a few names on the slips. “Wait. You have portals to planets?” He stared at Pyros.
Pyros nodded. “Yes. I use them whenever I need to collect rare specimens. I have never been to Jupiter, though.” He pushed open a door that said ‘Milky Way’. There were more doors and Pyros reached in front of a door labelled ‘Jupiter’ and said, “Prepare yourselves.”
“There’s no oxygen in Jupiter,” Archer said. “How will we breathe?”
“Have patience, boy.” Pyros clicked his fingers. Four white spacesuits appeared in the air.
Pyros explained, “These magical suits are specially made for extraterrestrial activities. A
