Contract of the All-Seer

Did Old Whateley hear something and come to check?

Had the transparent monster returned because the Wooden Amulet was gone?

Or had Wilbur and Lavinia happened to come back just then?

Hope frowned. He carefully hid Elizabeth's Pocket Watch beneath a rosebush, closed his eyes again, and changed his destination to the space under his bed.

If it was the second possibility, he still wouldn't be able to teleport. But if it was one of the three family members, he might have a chance to explain.

He left the watch behind because, small as it was, it would still show through his pocket. Hidden here, he could retrieve it whenever he had the chance.

He vanished from the Rose Garden.

The next moment, he appeared beneath his bed. The sheet he had deliberately pulled down made the space pitch-black. Fortunately, it also blocked the view from outside, giving Hope a chance to teleport back.

It probably wasn't that monster. A bedsheet wouldn't block its view.

Hope didn't crawl out at once. He listened for sounds outside, trying to work out what had happened while he was gone.

But it was frighteningly quiet. No one called his name, and Wilbur wasn't flying into the rage Hope had expected. There was, however, a faint rustling.

Hope slowly lifted the sheet, opening a tiny gap. To his surprise, the door was shut and no one was in the room.

How could that be? Had they already left?

He let the sheet fall, closed his eyes again, and used "Uncertainty," setting his destination inside the room.

He didn't simply crawl out from under the bed. Using "Uncertainty" was a more discreet way to tell whether anyone was still watching.

"Uncertainty" failed again.

Hope briefly returned to the Rose Garden, then immediately teleported back under the bed to make sure no one had spotted him.

Someone was still watching the room, but they weren't inside it. Maybe they were peering in through a gap I hadn't noticed.

But why would they do that?

Maybe they'd guessed I could teleport and figured I hadn't escaped, only left briefly, and would soon return. So they hid and waited to see if they were right...

"Uncertainty" only works on places no one is watching. That restriction actually helped me stay hidden...

The rustling grew louder.

What was making that sound?

Hope suddenly realized he might be overthinking it. He gently touched the bed frame above him and found that its center bowed slightly downward—the weight of someone on the bed.

Maybe the person "watching" was simply lying on the bed.

That was why Hope couldn't see anyone when he looked out from underneath it.

He hesitated, then tapped lightly on the bed frame. At the same time, he closed his eyes, ready to teleport to the roof at any moment. He chose the roof rather than the Rose Garden because the greater distance would take longer; reaching the roof would take only an instant.

A startled cry came from the bed, followed by the thump and rustle of someone shifting around on it. The voice clearly belonged to a woman, though it was muffled, as if she had something in her mouth.

Hope knew who it was. He crawled out from under the bed. "Lavinia!"

Lavinia was curled up on Hope's bed, huddled in a corner. Beside her lay a few things she had evidently dropped in her fright.

Hope moved closer. There was a tin that looked like a can of food and an open paper bag containing yellow rings.

Hope picked one up, but someone had already taken a bite out of it, so he chose another. It was a little greasy, but crisp and sweet, with a distinctive aroma.

Fried Onion Rings.

What had happened was obvious: Lavinia had come to deliver his meal and found Hope gone. Clearly not one for responsibility, she hadn't told anyone he'd escaped. Instead, she'd lounged on his bed and helped herself to his lunch.

Lavinia narrowed her eyes at Hope. Just as he began to wonder whether her "blessing of the King of Kings" wasn't working, she finally recognized him. "Hope?"

"It's me."

"I thought you'd run away!"

"No, I didn't." Hope gave the excuse he had prepared, putting on a shaken expression.

"A strange man called Robert came in, but he seemed to make a... a monster angry. It ate Robert. I was terrified, so I hid under the bed."

Lavinia didn't seem to suspect Hope of lying at all. As she listened, she grew frightened too. "You mean something transparent, like water?"

"Yes. I think so."

"Did it come out of there?" She pointed toward the wall outside the door.

"Yes, right there," Hope said.

He added this to what he knew of the Whateley family:

Lavinia clearly knew the monster existed. That meant it was no secret within the Whateley family, nor was it something Old Whateley or Wilbur kept privately.

"I have to tell Dad!" Lavinia said. She got off the bed. She hadn't even taken off her shoes, so she could go straight out, though she grabbed a handful of onion rings from the bag before leaving.

She hurried away without even closing the door.

Hope breathed a sigh of relief. He had got past Lavinia.

He wasn't worried that her shock would make her forget about Robert. Wilbur would come back regardless.

Hope sat on the bed and only then noticed that his handcuffs and chain were lying beside it.

He bit a nail. Good thing it was Lavinia. Wilbur would have noticed.

He used "Uncertainty" to put the handcuffs back on, then picked up his lunch while he waited for Wilbur.

A can of food, a bag of onion rings, and a cup of hot coffee on the bedside table.

Lavinia had eaten quite a few onion rings, but plenty remained. Wilbur might have accounted for her stealing some.

The can had been heated. Yellow-and-black paper wrapped around it, and its metal lid was already open, revealing what was inside.

Yellow-green peas filled it. There was no spoon.

Hope quickly remembered that a spoon had been on the bedside table.

He searched for wherever Robert had knocked it and eventually found it beneath the bedside table.

Two other things lay beside it: a silver Steel Pen and a sheet of yellowed cotton paper.

Was this Robert's Contract of the All-Seer?

Robert had never had a chance to retrieve them. After becoming a Fishman, his mind seemed to have suffered too, and he had simply left.

Hope didn't take out the contract or the pen. He pretended not to see them and retrieved only the spoon. Wilbur could come rushing up at any moment; Hope couldn't do anything out of the ordinary now.