33I'm back! Sorry for taking so long. I decided to reread the series, thereby (hopefully) having everyone more in character. I tried to make this chapter extra long to make up for my absence.
By the way, thanks to AgentCandy203 for reminding me of something. This story is set a day before Grace's funeral. They're also in a kind of limbo, so even if they take a month to finish read (which they won't), they'll still be released on the same day that they were taken. So in answer to your questions, AgentCandy203, past Amy isn't here. She's just... doing whatever she was doing at the time. And since this is set the day before Grace's funeral, Grace isn't here. Sorry.
Disclaimer:
I own... my scarf! Okay, yeah, totally lame. I don't own the 39 Clues. Now, hurry up and read already!
Everything was… pretty quiet, actually. Dan was trying to start an argument with the Kabras, who were muttering something about arguments being for peasants. The Starlings were using their electronic devices and frowning, while the Holts were wrestling. Jonah was rapping-something about being kidnapped.
Kels and Stephanie glanced at Ary, looking confused.
"Wait… What did you need backup for?" asked Kels.
Ary just motioned for her to wait. "Ahem," she said. "I'm ready to answer your questions. The Starlings and the Kabras turned toward her.
"I demand to know what happened to our technology," proclaimed Natalie. Beside her, Ian nodded, as did the Starling triplets.
Ary glanced at Kels, as if to say, 'Now do you understand?' She then motioned at Stephanie to answer.
Sighing, Stephanie asked, "Could you be more specific?"
"Why are we unable to triangulate our position?" Sinead asked, interrupting Natalie. The younger girl glared at the elder, but she ignored it.
Stephanie first glanced at Ary, muttering, "Now I understand." She then looked back at Sinead. "In answer to your question, we simply have more advanced technology. No, we didn't steal it," she added, seeing Sinead about to say something. "We-specifically, I-created and perfected it. It keeps our location hidden, as well as the current time. You can't escape, nor can you use any of your weapons."
The Starling brothers finally looked up from their devices. All three Starlings looked interested, and it wasn't difficult to tell that they were impressed.
Before they could say more, Stephanie added, "If you want to know more-which I'm sure you do-I'll be over in that room." She pointed at a door in one of the corners of the room, then began walking towards it. Naturally, the Starlings followed, leaving the rest sitting on some couches and looking bored.
Ary and Kels looked at each other, the latter saying, "Well, I guess we'll leave you guys for a while to get reacquainted. See you in an hour."
With that, they left.
This left Amy, who had been hiding behind them the whole while, with no choice but to walk over to the others. As she did, she kept her head lowered so that her hair obscured her blushing face. Amy could feel everyone staring at her, so she quickly sat down on a couch in a corner near Dan. Dan came over and sat next to her.
"Whoa, Amy! It's a miracle! You don't look horrible anymore! Still pretty ugly, but not as ugly."
Amy grinned slightly at her brother's immaturity. "Don't be such a dweeb," she said.
"Who's a dweeb? I'm not a dweeb, that's for sure. I'm the ninja lord. No one calls the ninja lord 'dweeb'," replied Dan.
Amy rolled her eyes, muttering, "Whatever…"
Dan grinned.
"Dweeb."
"Hey!" Dan exclaimed. His grin disappeared and was replaced by a look of indignation.
It was Amy's turn to grin.
"Look, I hate to break up the festivities, but we have to move on," came a voice.
All eyes turned to the middle of the room, where Ary and Kels stood. Amy guessed that Stephanie was still busy talking to the Starlings. This explained why Ary sent Kels to the room that Stephanie and the twins were in.
"I thought you said we had an hour," said a voice with a silky British accent.
Amy winced as she recognized the voice.
Ian.
Stephanie had begun to feel tired. The Starlings asked so many questions. At first, she had answered eagerly, elated that someone was interested in hearing about technology. The joy soon wore off, though, as the Starlings kept questions coming by the dozens.
"Are the walls lined with lodestone or some other magnetic material?" wondered Ted.
"Perhaps there are several scramblers that were made undetectable," Ned suggested.
"We should create technology that would allow our devices to function even with major interference, both naturally and technologically," Sinead muttered, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.
Stephanie sighed, readying herself to endure more questions, when the door flew open.
It was Kels.
"Ary wants you. We're starting," she said.
"Already?" questioned Stephanie. "Let me guess; you got impatient?"
"Uh, duh," replied Kels. "Well, come on already!"
"You heard her," said Stephanie to the triplets.
She quickly walked out into the large room, followed by the Starlings.
Ary was just answering Ian's question. "Well, you see-"
She was cut off by Kels, who answered, "It was so boring. We would've been sitting there for an entire hour with nothing to do."
Ary scoffed, saying, "Excuse me? If I remember correctly, we had loads of stuff to do. You were the one who didn't want to do any of it."
Stephanie took a deep breath, then stepped in between them. "Look, there's already going to be enough fighting with them here." When she said 'them', she motioned toward the clue hunters.
Ary and Kels both sighed.
"You're right, of course," said Ary. "I wasn't acting like a leader."
"That's because you aren't one," muttered Natalie darkly.
Ary whipped her head around to look at the eleven-year-old. Before she could say a word, Stephanie coughed.
"What did I just say?" she asked Ary, raising an eyebrow.
Ary sighed. "Sorry," she murmured.
"Now, to continue," said Kels. "We've said this already, but I'm going to say it again. We've brought you here to read some books. You want to know what they're about? Guess." She paused, giving way to complete silence before continuing. "Come on, isn't anyone going to guess?" She pouted. "You're no fun. The books are about-" Here she paused once more, demanding a drum roll. Ary and Stephanie sighed, but they complied. "You! Isn't it exciting? You get to read about yourselves! But not just any time. You're reading about yourselves during the clue hunt! Oh, by the way, this is in the future. The not so distant future. In fact, it starts tomo-"
Ary quickly cut her off before she could say more. A little preoccupied, she yelled at everyone to be quiet, even though everyone sat in stunned silence.
Stephanie took over for Ary, who dragged Kels out of the room.
"Please try to keep your questions to yourselves. I'm starting to get a headache already," she muttered, rubbing her forehead. "While they're busy, I suppose I'll give you a run over-"
Dan interrupted, shouting, "You're going to run us over?"
At that, everyone sighed and called him an idiot. Or, in the Kabras' case, a git.
"No, Dan. I'm going to give you a layout-" Stephanie paused, giving Dan a look. "-of what's going to happen. Basically, the series is comprised of ten books. You're not allowed to read the first, sixth, or last books. Don't ask why, that's just how it is. You will be staying here for however long it takes to read the book you choose, then released. There are clues in these books, but don't try to remember them or write them down. Your memories will be suppressed until a later date, and we will take a scan before you leave to make sure that nothing you bring back could possibly have any message on it. No, don't ask how we'll do that, either. I already told you that I'm starting to get a headache. Now, about choosing the books. You can't look through any of them until you decide, nor can you read the summaries. We've provided a way to prevent that from happening. See the screen over there?"
Where she pointed, a screen lowered itself. Seven images appeared on it.
"Those are the books you are allowed to read." She looked down at her watch, then said, "You should have plenty of time to decide. Ary's lectures take a while. And remember, you can only read one book."
With that thought in mind, she walked out the way Ary and Kels had gone, leaving the others alone.
After much argument, they had finally come to a decision.
"So, which book did you choose?" questioned Ary as she, Kels, and Stephanie walked into the room.
On the screen, six images disappeared, leaving the cover of one book…
The Sword Thief.
Hope you liked it! If any of you want to know about Ary's lecture or the argument that took place while deciding which book to read, ask and I might make it into a filler chapter.
Please review!