The room was empty.
Completely empty.
Suspiciously empty.
Jo Mama stood in the doorway.
“No.”
Paul looked past her.
Stone walls.
Stone floor.
Stone ceiling.
No furniture.
No treasure.
No doors except the one behind them.
No monsters.
No altar.
No skeletons.
No ominous glowing object on a pedestal.
Nothing.
He consulted the map.
“This is the room.”
Jo shook her head.
“No.”
“The map says this chamber connects the eastern corridor to the old sanctuary.”
Jo pointed into the chamber.
“Nothing.”
“Yes.”
“That’s wrong.”
“Not necessarily.”
“Dungeon room.”
“Yes.”
“Dungeon rooms have stuff.”
Paul folded the map.
“This one doesn’t.”
Jo stared into the emptiness.
“Trap.”
Ellie stepped beside her.
“Probably.”
The Paladin looked at Ellie.
“You haven’t checked yet.”
“Empty room in a dungeon?”
Ellie pulled out her tools.
“Absolutely a trap.”
Jimmy peered around Jo.
“Could be invisible stuff.”
Paul sighed.
“Thank you, Jimmy.”
Jo’s eyes widened.
“Invisible treasure.”
“That was not the conclusion I wanted.”
Jimmy nodded.
“Invisible chair.”
Paul looked at him.
“Why a chair?”
“Could need.”
Paul turned toward the Paladin.
“Please help me.”
She considered the room.
Then the party.
“I think we should check.”
Paul stared at her.
“You too?”
“Carefully.”
Jo grinned.
“Paladin says suspicious.”
“I did not say that.”
“Lawfully suspicious.”
“That’s not-”
The Paladin stopped.
She had learned.
Jo smiled.
“Good.”
Things currently causing the party to behave rationally:
Also 0.
Ellie entered first.
She checked the threshold.
Nothing.
The floor.
Nothing.
The walls.
Nothing.
The ceiling.
Nothing.
She crossed to the far side.
Nothing.
Then back.
Still nothing.
She looked at Paul.
“Clear.”
Paul nodded.
“Excellent.”
Jo remained in the doorway.
“No.”
Ellie shrugged.
“I tried.”
Paul entered.
The Paladin followed.
Jimmy followed.
Jo did not.
Paul turned.
“Jo.”
“Trap waiting.”
“For what?”
“Us.”
“We are in the room.”
“Not Jo.”
Paul looked around.
“Perhaps the trap has standards.”
Jo narrowed her eyes.
Then stepped inside.
Nothing happened.
She took another step.
Nothing.
Another.
Nothing.
Jo stopped in the center.
Everyone waited.
The room remained aggressively uneventful.
Jo whispered:
“It’s planning.”
Paul sat against the wall.
“We’ve been traveling since sunrise.”
Jo looked at him.
“So?”
“So this may simply be a safe chamber.”
Jo’s expression suggested he had proposed sleeping inside a dragon.
“In dungeon?”
“Yes.”
“Safe?”
“Occasionally.”
Jimmy sat beside him.
“Good room.”
Jo looked at Jimmy.
“Why?”
“Dry.”
Paul pointed at Jimmy.
“Exactly.”
Jimmy looked pleased.
Paul immediately regretted validating him.
The Paladin unpacked food.
Ellie sat.
Jimmy produced cups.
Paul took out the map.
Jo remained standing.
Watching.
Five minutes passed.
Nothing happened.
Ten minutes.
Nothing.
Jo walked to the eastern wall.
She pressed her ear against it.
Paul looked up.
“What are you doing?”
“Listening.”
“For?”
“Secret.”
“Do you hear one?”
“No.”
“Excellent.”
Jo moved to the northern wall.
Listened.
Then the western wall.
Then the southern.
Nothing.
She crouched.
Put her ear to the floor.
Paul watched.
“Jo.”
“Shh.”
“What are you listening for?”
“Floor secret.”
“The floor does not have secrets.”
Jo looked up.
“You don’t know floor.”
Paul opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Ellie bit her lip.
The Paladin looked away.
Jimmy nodded thoughtfully.
Paul pointed at him.
“Do not.”
Jimmy had not said anything.
He somehow looked guilty anyway.
Jo knocked on the floor.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Nothing answered.
She moved three feet.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Nothing.
Another three feet.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Paul ate a piece of bread.
Jo continued interrogating the architecture.
Eventually she reached the center of the room.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Still nothing.
Jo frowned.
Paul swallowed.
“Have we satisfied ourselves?”
“No.”
“We have checked every surface.”
“Not inside walls.”
Ellie looked up.
“Oh no.”
Paul saw Jo’s fist.
“No.”
Jo looked at him.
“Could be hollow.”
“Ellie checked.”
“Could be sneaky hollow.”
“That is not a thing.”
Jo knocked on the wall.
Solid stone.
She knocked again.
Solid stone.
Then she punched it.
CRACK.
Everyone stared.
Jo pulled her fist back.
A small piece of masonry fell to the floor.
Paul stood.
“Why?”
Jo looked into the shallow hole.
“Checking.”
“And?”
Jo peered closer.
“Rock.”
“Yes, Jo. The stone wall contains stone.”
Jo reached into the damaged masonry.
Her fingers closed around something.
Paul’s expression changed.
“No.”
Jo pulled out a tiny quartz fragment.
It caught the lantern light.
Her eyes widened.
“TREASURE.”
Paul stared.
“That is naturally occurring quartz.”
“Shiny.”
“It was part of the wall.”
“Found treasure.”
“You created the opening!”
“Still found.”
Jimmy stood.
“Put it in the bag.”
Paul pointed at both of them.
“No.”
The Paladin looked at the damaged wall.
“We should probably repair that.”
Jo looked at the quartz.
Then at the wall.
“Can put back?”
“No.”
“Then bag.”
Paul closed his eyes.
Jimmy held out his hand.
Jo gave him the quartz.
Jimmy put it in the bag.
Paul decided there were battles not worth fighting.
This was probably one of them.
Probably.
Jo smiled.
“Room had treasure.”
“No.”
“Jo found.”
“You excavated part of the room.”
“Found inside room.”
“That does not make it treasure.”
Jo thought.
“Wall treasure.”
Paul sat down again.
“I’m done.”
Ellie smiled.
“No, you’re not.”
“I aspire to be.”
They finished eating.
Nothing attacked.
Nothing moved.
Nothing glowed.
Nothing whispered.
Nothing emerged from another dimension.
The room remained empty.
Except for the five adventurers.
And one small hole Jo had punched in the wall.
Eventually Paul stood.
“We’re leaving.”
Jo looked around.
“Sure?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Big brain sure?”
Paul sighed.
“Yes. Huge brain sure.”
Jo considered.
Then nodded.
“Okay.”
Paul smiled.
“Thank you.”
Jo turned toward the exit.
Paul relaxed.
Jimmy stopped beside the doorway.
“What’s that?”
Paul’s soul left his body.
Everyone turned.
Jimmy pointed at a stone near the floor.
A faint line ran around its edge.
Ellie crouched.
Paul stared.
“No.”
Ellie ran her fingers along it.
“Loose stone.”
Jo looked at Paul.
Paul looked at Jo.
Jo smiled very slowly.
Paul pointed at her.
“Do not.”
Ellie pulled the stone free.
Behind it was...
Stone.
Ellie looked inside.
“Nothing.”
Paul threw both arms into the air.
“THANK YOU.”
Jo crouched.
“Maybe deeper.”
“No.”
They left the room.
Paul went first.
He wanted distance.
The Paladin followed.
Ellie followed.
Jimmy followed.
Jo came last.
At the threshold, she stopped.
Looked back.
The empty chamber waited.
Jo narrowed her eyes.
Then left.
The door closed.
They made it twelve feet down the corridor.
Jo stopped.
“Forgot something.”
Paul turned.
“What?”
Jo ran back.
“JO.”
She opened the door.
Ran inside.
Paul followed.
The Paladin followed Paul.
Ellie followed because this was entertaining.
Jimmy followed because there might now be something to put in the bag.
Jo stood in the center.
Paul threw his hands up.
“What did you forget?”
Jo pointed at the ceiling.
“Didn’t check enough.”
Ellie stared.
“I checked the ceiling.”
“Jo didn’t.”
“That does not matter.”
Jo looked around.
Then saw the broken piece of masonry from the wall she’d punched.
She picked it up.
Paul’s eyes widened.
“Do not throw that.”
Jo looked at the ceiling.
“Just little.”
“No.”
“Test.”
“No.”
“Could be illusion.”
“It isn’t.”
“How know?”
“I cast Detect Magic.”
“When?”
“While you were interrogating the floor!”
Jo paused.
“Oh.”
Paul took the stone from her.
“Thank you.”
He put it down.
Jo looked disappointed.
Then the stone rolled.
Everyone watched.
It rolled across the floor.
Slowly.
Stopped.
Silence.
Jo pointed.
“ROOM MOVED IT.”
Paul stared.
“The floor is uneven.”
“Room moved.”
“Gravity moved it.”
Jo looked at the Paladin.
“Gravity suspicious?”
The Paladin thought.
Paul turned sharply.
“Do not validate this.”
She smiled.
“Gravity is lawful.”
Jo nodded.
“Good.”
Paul made a sound that did not belong to any known language.
They left again.
This time Paul physically stood in the doorway until everyone had crossed.
Then he shut the door.
“Done.”
Jo nodded.
“Done.”
They walked.
Twenty feet.
Thirty.
Forty.
Jo glanced back.
Paul saw.
“Keep moving.”
Jo kept moving.
At the end of the corridor they found a staircase.
The staircase led down.
The map said the old sanctuary was below.
Paul smiled.
“Finally.”
They descended.
At the bottom was a stone door.
Above it, carved into the lintel:
ONLY THOSE WHO SEE WHAT IS NOT THERE
MAY ENTER
Everyone stopped.
Paul slowly looked back up the stairs.
Ellie covered her mouth.
The Paladin’s eyes widened.
Jimmy said:
“Empty room.”
Jo turned toward Paul.
Her expression became radiant.
“JO KNEW.”
Paul stared at the inscription.
“No.”
“JO KNEW.”
“This does not prove anything.”
“ROOM WAS PUZZLE.”
“No.”
“NOTHING WAS SOMETHING.”
“No!”
Jo ran up the stairs.
Paul grabbed the back of her clothes.
“Where are you going?”
“EMPTY ROOM!”
“We are not going back!”
“Need solve!”
“The inscription is metaphorical!”
“Nothing metaphor!”
“I don’t know what that means!”
Ellie examined the door.
“There isn’t a lock.”
The Paladin looked at the inscription.
“Maybe we simply say what we saw.”
Jimmy shrugged.
“Nothing.”
The door opened.
Silence.
Paul stared.
Jo stared.
Ellie stared.
The Paladin stared.
Jimmy stared.
Beyond the door lay the old sanctuary.
Jo slowly turned toward Paul.
Paul raised one finger.
“No.”
Jo smiled.
“Jo was right.”
“No.”
“Nothing important.”
“You were right for completely wrong reasons.”
“Still right.”
“That is not how being right works.”
Jo leaned closer.
“Big brain wrong.”
Paul gasped.
Ellie lost control first.
She laughed.
The Paladin followed.
Jimmy smiled.
Jo stood proudly.
Paul walked into the sanctuary alone.
“Treasure.”
Paul sighed.
“Yes.”
Jo smiled.
“See?”
“This is a different room.”
“Same dungeon.”
“That does not-”
Ellie opened the chest.
Inside were three silver coins and a folded parchment.
Jimmy leaned closer.
“Put in bag?”
The Paladin said:
“Not yet.”
Paul opened the parchment.
It contained directions to the next chamber.
He read them.
Then stopped.
“What?” Ellie asked.
Paul looked at the paper.
Then at the corridor ahead.
“It says the next door can only be opened by someone named Steven Stone.”
Silence.
Jo blinked.
Then smiled.
“Steve Stone.”
Paul’s eye twitched.
The Paladin looked concerned.
“Do we know a Steven Stone?”
“No,” Paul said.
Jo pointed back toward the empty room.
“Rock.”
“No.”
“Steve.”
“No.”
“Stone.”
“NO.”
Jimmy opened his bag.
He removed the tiny quartz fragment Jo had dug from the empty room’s wall.
Jo held it up.
“Steven Stone.”
Paul stared at the ceiling.
“I hate this dungeon.”
He is an elderly groundskeeper who lives approximately two miles away.
The quartz is not Steven.
Do not name the quartz Steven.
Too late.
Jimmy carefully returned Steven Stone to the bag.
Paul walked toward the next corridor.
Jo followed.
“Paul.”
“No.”
“Steven could need.”
“No.”
“Put him in bag.”
“He is already in the bag.”
Jo gasped.
“You admit Steven!”
Paul stopped.
Realized his mistake.
Then continued walking without another word.
Behind him, Jo Mama grinned.
The empty room had contained nothing.
And somehow, they had still managed to take something home.