Page 67 of Monster's Baby

Part of the complication of the charms, beyond coming up with them on the spot, was the intensity of the ley line nexus.Once again, we were on a five-point nexus, and the power was almost overwhelming.I had to hold back or my poor little homunculus would have melted under the intensity.

I made a mental note to look up why Liangshan Yi in Sichuan had more power even than the nexuses in Mexico and Egypt.

“What is it about China?”I muttered to myself.

“Belief?”Pierre suggested.

I shook my head.“I think it might have something to do with the landscape.Look at the mountains and valleys, and how they roll.I think they might be mathematically perfect.”

“What do you mean?”Bruce asked.

“The Golden ratio,” I explained.“Remember when we visited Atlantis, and we saw that the city is laid out like a shell?And the nexus points, if flattened, do the same thing.It’s the Fibonacci sequence.I’d like to come back here and take some measurements.If I’m right, this could be huge for my thesis.”

“Does your brain ever stop?”Pierre asked.“I’m nearly out of my mind with anxiety over whether I’ll get into the finals, and here you are talking about your thesis.”

“Rarely,” I murmured, thinking about how Aiden was able to turn off my brain.

Bruce chuckled, obviously reading my expression, and I schooled my features into neutrality.

I shrugged.“What can I say?It’s hard to stop thinking, especially when my thesis is consuming nearly every spare moment I’ve got.”

Pierre nodded.“I know what you mean.I feel water-logged all the time because of collecting my data.”

I patted his arm.“It’ll get better soon, right?There’s only so much data you can collect.”

He grimaced.“I keep thinking that.”

“May I have your attention,” boomed the announcer’s voice.“The judges have determined who your final competitors will be.For Africa...”

I tuned him out, my heart beating so hard that all I could hear was a whooshing sound in my ears.I grabbed the boys’ hands and held on tightly.

“Asia!”The announcer listed their names.I forced myself to at least count how many were included in each team.

“There’s only six people per team!”I whimpered.

“On the positive side, if we don’t get picked for the team, we don’t have to stress about competing,” Pierre said encouragingly.

I spared him a glance.“You don’t know me very well if you think I won’t stress from the sidelines.”

Bruce smothered a laugh with his free hand.

“Europe!”The announcer shouted, and my stomach dropped to my toes.My grip increased and I bit my lip until it bled a little.

“Calm down,” Bruce said, concerned.“It’s not the end of the world.You faced that with less panic.”

The announcer called Bruce’s name first, and I jumped a little in delight.Then he called my name, and everything stopped.

“Did he really say my name?”I asked, shaken.

Bruce laughed and pointed at the board.“There you are!You should also have a green light on your headpiece, if you don’t believe the board.”

“I can’t believe it,” I muttered.

Pierre’s name was called last, and he swept both of us up in a giant hug, all of us hopping in place in celebration.

His excitement was catching, and I managed to forget my disbelief in the wake of his enthusiasm.

“Will the competitors for Europe please follow me?”an attendant said.“You will have two hours in the tent to prepare your homunculus and practice as a unit.”

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