Chapter 51 of 99 · Book 8, A Parade of Horribles

Chapter 51 — The Scavenger's Daughter blinks; Azra; heat four results

Book: A Parade of Horribles · Part: Horrible One · Previous: Chapter 50 — The River of Sloth; ginger genocide; Lucienne on the hood · Next: Chapter 52 — Interlude: Minus; the key, the upgrades, and Chachi · Floor: Floor 10 — Don't Come in Last · Series: the series

Opening

“Stop, stop!” Donut called as I gagged and choked.

Summary

Carl coughs Lucienne out of his nose; Joel fades to dust in the doorway. The Dominators and Flamengo cross; the bugbears, stuck in the basement, are told — warily — to tow the unicorn. A notification says 'The Scavenger’s Daughter blinks, for she does not know what she sees', and Lucia, skull-headed, is suddenly at Carl's face, whispering that Chalchiuhtlicue is here: new, needing no Cici or Gus as the Residual and Primal did; the goddess keeps saying she is kind and that the kindest thing may be letting them die; the veins are open, and all the trapped are coming for the prize on the twelfth floor — 'the real, the imagined, and the enslaved. […] It’s not a game like they told me. But it’s not a game like they told you, either.' The presence goes, and a frightened girl grabs his shirt: 'Do you know my dad?' — Azra, told by the shining lady that Carl won with a spell her father gave. He tells her he is safe and loves her; she says the angel lady thinks it might be better if they all die, and it is so cold. Carl has a theory he will not say, one Florin and Orren have reached: 'we really need her to take a deal.' Heat five: Gasworks Screw Factory, Steel Mill, and Doll Workshop That Is Totally Not a Front for Anything Else — 20 km, vertical, inverted, 100-metre gaps, extreme heat, containment theft enabled after five seconds' contact, two-wide paths shared with eleven heats, thirty minutes. Tran: 'If this is my last message, know that I tried to stop them from fighting Li Na' — Zhang let him pass; Na cast a dread and the others killed each other as in Beijing; five of twenty-four teams survived. Results: first the Royal Court, then the Dominators, Flamengo, Free Love, Sparkles; One Fine Pig eliminated.

Characters

• Carl — Coughs Lucienne from his nose; a theory he will not say; 'we really need her to take a deal.'
• Princess Donut — A cursed helmet: 'What is Michale Graves’s disease?'
• Lucia Mar — Blinks to his face: Chalchiuhtlicue is here; then Azra: 'Do you know my dad?'
• Florin — Makes a list of names; chases the spooked girl.
• Radoslav and Jasha (Team Free Love) — Stuck in the basement; tow the unicorn.
• Dwight and Lucienne (Team Sparkles) — Jasha: 'He’s the worst one!'
• Tran — 'If this is my last message.'
• Li Jun and Zhang — Zhang let Tran pass; sobbing.
• Li Na — Cast a dread; the others killed each other.
• Mehmet Or — Azra speaks through Lucia: 'Yaz is here, too. She’s crying.'
• Chalchiuhtlicue — New here, needs no vessel; 'the kindest thing may be letting us die.'

Locations

• Satan's Water Park — The finish; heat four results.

Motifs

• The Scavenger's Daughter — 'Blinks, for she does not know what she sees.'
• The kinder facility — 'It’s so cold.'
• The gods — A goddess in a crawler's head.
• The Celestial Ascendency — 'All seek the prize on the twelfth floor.'
• The deal — Lucia must take one.
• Dr. Metcalf (the Navitron 1000) — Heat five: containment theft enabled.