CHAPTER 586: THE CONSTELLATION MAP

I knocked at Otto’s door and waited for his response.

I knocked again after standing for two minutes.

He still didn’t respond, so I took in a deep breath and pushed the door.

It was open, and as soon as I stepped in, I saw papers scattered on the floor.

Otto was seated on the floor surrounded by all the papers as he scribbled from one paper to another.

He looked like a madman working.

I walked over to where he was and stood trying to understand what he was doing.

"Otto." I had to call out before he finally noticed me.

"Oh, Jasmine." He said, getting up to his feet quickly. "I had no idea you were here."

"I’ve been knocking at the door. But it was open." I pointed at the door.

"Don’t mind that. Thank the goddess you came." He said as he picked up two pieces of paper from the floor. "It’s a map."

"What?" I said, confused.

He pushed the papers into my hands. "The constellation, it’s a map."

And then he went back down on the floor to fish through more papers.

"Look at them!" He ordered, startling me.

I looked down and examined the papers that he had handed me.

At first, I was confused. "I don’t know what I’m supposed to be looking at?"

"Isn’t that the constellation of Ursula minor and Selene’s comet?" He asked me.

I frowned and looked back down at it.

"No, I don’t see anything that-

And I stopped.

I grabbed the points he had made with a line, and to my greatest surprise, they were in fact constellations.

"Oh, my Goddess," I said. "You’re right. They are actually the constellations."

He approached me with another paper in his hand.

"Look, this is the Orvan River that separates the first three packs from the last four. It’s the same mapping as Selene’s comet." He explained. "Look at the moonlight pack too. The great Angel Oak tree. It forms down in the constellation perfectly."

I looked much closer, and he was, in fact, right.

"How?" I said lost.

"The book you gave to me, hidden in the language, was a perfect description of the maps. Map to the world we have heard before. Maps to the other side." He told me. "I compared it with Xaden’s mother’s journal here, and all I can say is she was getting there. It’s all here."

I looked at the other paper he handed me.

He was right.

There were monuments to special places that I knew, and yet they were arranged in the form of a constellation.

"So what does this mean?" I asked to compare the sheets.

He collected them from me and went back down on the floor.

He began to rearrange them.

"It means that I was right. I have always been right." He said. "The legend is true. Once we finish deciphering the entire language, then we will be able to find it."

"Find what?" I asked, stepping over a piece of paper.

"The piece of the moon." He said. "According to legend, the piece of the moon is the source of power. The one piece of the moon that fell. If we find it, then we will find our way to the other side."

"Oh," I mumbled.

I was glad Otto was finding what he was looking for.

But I wondered how that helped me finally find my uncle and discover my mother’s lineage.

"By the time the whole truth comes out, everyone will know I wasn’t insane," Otto said excitedly as he went back to interpreting the book.

"I’m sorry to ask you this, but does this help in finding my uncle?" I asked unhappily.

"Your uncle?" Otto asked me as though I were insane.

"Yes, my uncle," I said. "The one who might know where my family is? The one who went missing and was also interested in astronomy? Remember?"

"Oh," Otto said. "Well, we’re still on it. I went through the notes Xaden’s mother made, and she mentioned him. But you know how it ended. She just stopped talking about him. I was hoping that once we were done with deciphering the entire book, then we might have a clue what happened or where he went."

I sighed. "What do you know about Sirens, Otto?"

That made him stop. "Sirens?"

"Yes," I said.

"Sirens aren’t involved in any of this mystery." He said.

"Yes, but I...." I sighed. "I read something about a death song."

His body went rigid.

I could literally see the hairs on his body stand.

He slowly turned to face me. "What do you know about the death song?"

I shrugged. "I read it in a book."

He seemed to be deep in his stream of thoughts.

"The death song." He said more to himself than to me. "It’s a song that only sirens can sing. It can either bring you back to life or take your life. I haven’t heard about it in a very long time."

"Oh," I said.

"And the funniest part is, according to myth, when they sing the song, people say you can hear it for life, but no one would remember you sang it if you ever did. And the only way to know the song is to be brought back to life. Fascinating, isn’t it?" He said.

I felt my tummy twist in a knot.

So Pearl had, in fact, been right.

"When we were still on good terms with the sirens." He said. "I would beg, plead for any of them to sing the song. Of course, they didn’t agree. Especially now that we are at war with them, I’m sure none of them ever would again."

I swallowed.

I was certain that I had never died.

So why could I hear this song?

I had to find Pearl and understand more of what she had to say.

I heard a howl, and I remembered it was time for the debut ceremony.

"You need to come for the shifting Ceremony." I invited.

"Not my style." He snorted as he worked on the pages. "This is more important than.

I heard the howl again.

"Well, in my honest opinion," I said. "You should. Maybe a bit of fresh air would help you see things differently."

With that, I smiled and left the room.