“That’s very generous,” Rohan said. “Especially after what you’ve been through. We’re so grateful for your help. Truly.”

“Mmm. No problem,” Fifer said. She was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed. And then she added weakly, “After all, you just helped save Artimé, and we couldn’t have done it without your team. It’s… the least we can do.” But Fifer could feel a weight pressing inside her chest at the thought of one more wearying journey and dangerous fight to add to her list of things to do. She couldn’t stand to think about it now. Not when this job was so new and Artimé still so fragile. It was all too much to handle.

Growing in Power

Once things began to resemble normalcy in Artimé, Kaylee and Ishibashi went back to the Island of Shipwrecks. Aaron finished his work on the tube control panels and, with a little magic, repaired the three main tubes and got everything running smoothly again to the remote rooms.

Lani, Fifer, and Simber found Kitten so they could make another attempt at figuring out Mr. Today’s clue. As they ascended the stairs, the three of them who weren’t Kitten recollected that she had five lives remaining. But Kitten insisted it was only four. And though the others couldn’t come up with one of the instances of her death, they took her word for it—perhaps she’d been crushed at some point alone with no one else around to notice.

In the secret hallway Kitten showed the others where to find the tiny clue on the door, which was indeed the one on the head-mage-apartment side of the secret hallway. As it turned out, only Kitten could open it with a mew spell. She did so, and Fifer swung the door wide. Inside was a small vestibule with magical panels labeled THEATER, LIBRARY, and LOUNGE. “Well, what do you know,” said Lani. Merely pressing a button next to each made the panels melt away and allowed one to step directly into the remote room.

Fifer, Lani, and Kitten went into the lounge via this method and noted that the placement of the secret panel was on the back wall by the band stage. They searched the area around the panel and discovered a tiny nub of a button that blended into the paneling, situated above eye level. No one had ever noticed it before. All they had to do was tap it to open and close it. “I can’t believe this was here all along,” Lani exclaimed. “We sat down here for days, and that button was there all this time. It’s maddening! We should tell several key people about it so they know it’s an emergency exit.”

“I’m not so sure I want to do that,” said Fifer. “I can see the reason why Mr. Today kept this a secret. It would allow anyone who knows about the panels to access the secret hallway, even if they aren’t magical enough to enter it from the balcony. That could be dangerous.”