"Sir Trish I am afraid I can take you no further."
Benedict recalled the words of his handler very clearly as he'd been walking for what felt like miles. He hadn't heard much about the Gemini Twins nor their location but he had heard tales from the handlers of past riders who said very simply that the House of Wonders only allowed the worthy. It didn't worry him as Ben himself was a rider (young, but a rider still), but tickled his curiosity as to what was so exclusive that they need be in the desert.
"There is no one here," a raspy voice hissed from beneath the boy's feet.
"Maybe nobody wants to come out this far," Ben shrugged as he adjusted his hat.
The three headed beast shook its center head before the rest voiced their disapproval.
"I smell blood!"
"There's a killer!"
"We should catch!"
"We should kill!"
"Kill!"
"We don't have time for that," Benedict sighed, wiping sweat off of his forehead, "I'm almost out of water."
"Why do you need water?
"We drank three hours ago."
"Just kill the next traveler and steal their water."
Despite the wide brim and his threadbare clothing, he was a mountain boy at heart and thus, not used to the sweltering desert or blinding sun. He wanted to go home or back to the milder side of Gnaji. Well except for the part where he didn't because he really did want to see the House of Wonders. Orpheus did too. The two were united in their determination to find the unknown and in Benedict's case, learn from it. He liked to think that these treks were worth taking on so long as the destination provided something he hadn't known before. Granted, some of his reactions have been less than good (i.e. taking a page from Orpheus's book and smashing a priceless vase after the owner refused to sell it) but no one needed to know about that. No one would believe him.
"So are we going to kill them?"
Benedict glanced upward and saw a griffin flying overhead before sighing. He could feel the restlessness, the urge to run ahead of their rider but also the sense of duty that tethered Orpheus to him. The Cerberus was, unfortunately, still quite young (reflecting Benedict's own age) so it was not yet big or strong enough to carry him for great distances without needing breaks. Well that wasn't true. They could theoretically carry him but they would merely be too distracted. Half the time they preferred running in Ben's shadow to being out in the sun.
Still they somehow managed to finish their long walk to the House of Wonders where the twins greeted him.
"Greetings to you, young Ulysses. You are the fifth to arrive."
"Greetings to you, young Ulysses. You are the fifth to arrive."
Orpheus circled around the twins, sniffing them thoroughly (one of the heads nearly peeking under Meg's dress) before Benedict started walking inside.
"Or-phe-us come on!" he called, gesturing for them to follow.
The two (technically four) met the other four duos, each of varying appearance but likely all the same age.
Typical that they'd all be adults.