13 | MONDEGREEN

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MONDEGREEN
(n.) a misunderstood or misinterpreted word or phrase resulting from a mishearing of the lyrics of a song

THE CHAMBER THEY ENTERED MADE TESSA'S BLOOD RUN COLD. Taking in the massive Sphinx that laid poised in front of them, Tessa suddenly wished she'd never made that stupid joke about answering historical questions.

"What is that?" Harry whispered, looking up at the ruby eyes that glinted tauntingly at them.

Tessa swallowed roughly and said, "A Sphinx."

Harry made a move to go forward, but Tessa raised an arm across of him to stop the boy. "No, look — " she pointed at the hallway at the left side of the room and at the door that was directly behind the Sphinx. "Only one of us can go through that hallway, and only one of us can go through that door. I'll do it."

Harry blindly reached up to grab her hand. "Tessa, no! Y-You promised we'll do this together."

Tessa smiled warmly at him. "I did. And we'll be okay. You'll be okay. I just need to brave through this so you can continue to the final place, okay? You'll be okay."

Harry looked like he wanted to do so otherwise, but he nodded reluctantly. "We'll be okay," he repeated the mantra once more and calmed down.

Tessa let go of his hand and stepped forward to stand directly in front of the Sphinx, its massive, golden lion body was completely solid gold and unmoving. Those ruby red eyes glinted down at her, as it opened its mouth and started to purr in a female voice, "Hello, Braveheart."

She clenched her fists to hide her shaking fingers, swallowing roughly. "Hello."

"Only one of you can make it to the final chamber, while the other can help make it happen. If you answer my riddle correctly, you can go down that passageway and push down that lever on the wall. It'll open this door behind me and let the other walk through unharmed. Will you take this challenge?" The Sphinx's voice was velvety and sensual, enticing them with her purr.

Throwing a look behind her at Harry, Tessa gave him a nod. "As soon as that door opens, you make a run for it and don't look back, okay?" Satisfied with the nod she received in return, Tessa took another step closer to the solid paws, craning her neck to look up at the creature. "Yes, I will."

A hum echoed deep in the chest of the Sphinx before it said, "You have three chances to answer my riddle. If you get all three incorrect, I'm afraid I cannot let you move forward. Are you sure you want to accept this challenge?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Tessa said, raising her chin up in some sort of defiant manner.

"Very well," it said. "Here is my riddle:

I never was, am always to be,
No one ever saw me, nor ever will
And yet I am the confidence of all
To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball."

Tessa froze. She'd gone very, very still, she didn't know if she was even breathing. Staring up at the Sphinx, she schooled her features into a blank mask as her brain went haywire as she rummaged her thoughts for an answer.

The Sphinx smirked as though it knew she was clueless.

Her tongue lashed out on its own without even thinking. "Wind. You can't see wind, and you can never see the wind. It's something you breath and you need it go live in this earth."

"Clever," the Sphinx admitted. "But incorrect."

Her heart plunged to her stomach as she pressed her lips together to avoid from spitting out another wrong answer.

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