Chapter 35

Tina, Jathon, and I stepped forward. I picked a metal jar from the shelf this time. I wondered how I would be able to pick up the ghostly-looking jar, but when I touched it, the metal object seemed to cross into our plane, becoming as solid as a regular jar should be.

“Ye can’t leave me behind, Jathon!” Thackary cried. “The Undiscovered Genie jar is not for you to open! Yer quest is to help me. Don’t ye forget that!”

“I won’t, Father,” answered Jathon. “I’ll bring you the jar.”

The curator clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention, causing my shoelaces to come untied. “Your eyes were changed by a choice you made,” said the curator. “Now let us see about your tongues. Everybody give the jar a lick.”

The jar in my hand didn’t taste like anything whatsoever. But then, the point of doing this strange activity wasn’t for the flavor. It was for my tongue. A tongue that had turned bright green ever since I’d eaten that cotton candy at Super-Fun-Happy Place.

And the Universe must have recognized my discolored licker, because as soon as my tongue passed over the metal, the jar shattered.

The room around us faded further as I continued into another plane. Things in the museum, namely Thackary Anderthon, continued to grow transparent, while beyond the walls, the image of a spacious cavern seemed more real.

Thackary now looked like a ghost, running around the room like a maniac and waving his arms in disgust. He was definitely shouting, but I could hear only the faintest sound.

“I can’t believe you’d help that guy,” I said, turning to Jathon. “I mean, I know he’s your father, but . . .”

“But he’s a horrible person,” Jathon answered. I was surprised to hear him speak so bluntly. Perhaps the fact that his dad was out of reach made him more bold. “I can’t stand him.”

“You don’t have to go through with this,” I said. “Give up on the Undiscovered Genie.”

“I can’t give up,” Jathon said. “My dad has lived a hard life. Never had anything he wanted. I’ve never met a single person who could tolerate him. I wished for things to be different,” he said. “I wished that I could like him. But the Universe wouldn’t let me. . . .” He trailed off, stiffening. “Besides, I have a quest. I have to save the world.”

“So do I,” I whispered. “And I will stop you.” Either way, it seemed that the world was about to end. But I wasn’t going to let it end on my watch.

“Before we go on,” interrupted the curator, “let me be the final voice of warning. Nothing good will come from this cave. If only there were something I could say to convince you to turn back now.”

There was nothing he could say to convince us to turn back now. With less than thirty minutes remaining, I had to beat Jathon to the jar so he couldn’t deliver it to his rotten dad. I had to stop the world from ending with a gory woof and meow.

“The Undiscovered Genie came into existence over three thousand years ago,” the curator continued. “But the original Wishmakers who found his jar perceived that he was far too dangerous to be handled. They made a wish—the Ancient Wish—that his jar would be locked away in an unknown cave, never to be discovered by anyone.”

“But aren’t we discovering it now?” I asked.

“There was a loophole,” answered the curator. “The Ancient Wish was not phrased perfectly, which allowed the cave to be discovered if someone sought for it specifically.”

“So that’s how the cave has stayed hidden in the middle of a big city,” Tina said. “Because no one is looking for it.”

“Correct,” said the curator. “The Ancient Wish put the cave in a place that was, at the time, completely uninhabited. The wish demanded that it be a place that would never be discovered. So in the midst of the desert, I was created as a guardian.”

“No offense,” said Ridge’s voice, “but when I saw you at the desk, you didn’t seem too intimidating.”

“I wasn’t always like this,” said the curator. “I began as a deadly serpent, a sort of desert dragon.”

“Okay. That would have been way cooler,” I said.

“But as the world expanded, a city was formed,” continued the curator. “This city, San Antonio. But I couldn’t very well survive as a desert dragon in a thriving metropolis. So the Ancient Wish adapted, and I adapted with it. Ultimately, this museum was constructed as an elaborate illusion to conceal the cave that you are about to enter.”

“You went from a dragon to a museum curator?” I said. “Man, that’s a downgrade.”

“I had several forms in between,” said the small man. “Not all of them were quite as flawless as this one.” As he said it, his single eyebrow danced across his forehead. He was hardly flawless.

“The Ancient Wish protected this place and its awful jar.” The curator looked down. “But for every wish, there is a consequence.”

“The Ancient Consequence.” I remembered hearing about it while trying to complete the tasks. “What was it?”

“The original Wishmakers wished for the cave to be locked tight, but the Ancient Consequence provided a key to those who completed a series of tasks. The Sculpture, the Vendor, and the Fisher were guardians of the Ancient Consequence,” he explained. “For three thousand years, they have been adapting to fit their changing environment, as I have with mine. They have been waiting for Wishmakers like you to attempt the three tasks.”

“They kept warning us,” I said. “They were trying to stop us from getting here.”

The curator nodded solemnly. “They were giving you a choice. And when you decided to persist, they did whatever it took to force you into a wish that would yield a specific consequence.”

“The yellow eye and the green tongue,” Tina said.

“And lastly,” said the curator, “the fish breath.” The little man clenched his hands, a grave expression on his round face. “Three thousand years of wishing have tried to prevent this moment from happening. If you go on, you will discover the Undiscovered Genie. What you do with his jar is your choice alone. I will not be going with you, and your genies must remain in their jars until the Undiscovered Genie has been removed from the cave.”

“We’re ready,” Jathon said. But I suddenly felt very uncomfortable about our decision to continue. How many voices of warning had urged us not to find this cave?

“Each of you pick up a new jar,” instructed the curator.

Tina and Jathon stepped over to the transparent shelf. One of the glass jars that Thackary had thrown lay near my feet, so I stooped and lifted it.

“With this final key, the cave will appear in full reality,” said the curator. “But know this—the Undiscovered Genie is not like other genies. He will give you what you want without a price. But your life will never be the same.”

I glanced at Tina, but she was staring at the ground.

“Take a deep breath,” said the curator. I heard Tina and Jathon inhale, so I did the same. The curator sighed deeply, eyes momentarily closed. “May the Universe save us all,” he muttered. Then he looked at us. “Breathe into the jars.”

I lifted the glass jar to my mouth and exhaled all my nasty fish-smelling breath right into the open top. It shattered, though I think that had more to do with the magic of the Universe than my awful breath.

As the shards of broken glass fell to my feet, I saw the curator dissolve into a puff of smoke. The final ghostly remnants of the Museum of Cans, Crates, Cartons, and Containers vanished, taking Thackary Anderthon with it.

Tina stood on my left and Jathon on my right. All around us, ominous stone walls shimmered into perfect clarity as we moved through the final plane and entered the Cave of the Undiscovered Genie.