|
Not part of Riordanverse
This book or series is published under Rick Riordan Presents and its contents are not considered canon to the Riordanverse. |
Paola Santiago and the Sanctuary of Shadows is the third and final book in the Paola Santiago series by Tehlor Kay Mejia under the Rick Riordan Presents imprint.
Synopsis[]
Paola Santiago has recently returned from Oregon, where she defeated the Hitchhiker ghost and saved her father from the vengeful spirit that was possessing him. The poor girl deserves a rest! But first she has to rescue Dante from the void, where he's been imprisoned by some unknown force. Even though Dante has turned against Pao, she can't just leave him there–they've been friends for too long. Paola's prophetic dreams seem to have dried up, so she has to find other ways to locate a new rift where she can enter the void. Signs point to Texas–but how is she going to get there from Arizona? It just so happens that Emma's new group of politically active friends, the Rainbow Rogues, are planning a field trip to San Antonio. It's the perfect ruse for Paola, if she can stand being with the judgmental girls for that many days. . . . Relying on her wits, training from the Niños de la Luz, and the emotional support of her best friend Emma, Pao makes it into the void. Once there she must face down not just one but two enemies: El Cucuy, the bogeyman . . . and someone even scarier who looks a lot like Pao herself. This third exciting journey into Mexican folklore has our lovable, intrepid protagonist making discoveries both wonderous and fearsome.
Plot[]
After Months of Nothing[]
Eight months after saving her father and losing Dante, Paola Santiago is training with the Niños de la Luz and decapitates a training dummy named Patrick. The niños go to Patrick as Pao sits down and talks with Emma Lockwood. Emma tries to comfort her, but Pao ignores her words. When Emma offers to treat Pao to pizza and ice cream, she agrees but goes to talk to Franco about any possible entrances to the Void. As Franco is monitoring for possible entrance points, he lashes out at Pao when she asks, angrily telling her he has not found anything and silently blames her for it. She leaves and runs into Naomi, who she expresses her annoyance at Franco and her father for keeping her in the dark for months. Naomi says she is willing to join her if she decides to find Dante alone and Pao thanks her before leaving.
After pizza and ice cream, Pao heads home and sees the dark window of the Mata's apartment, Carmilla was moved to an assistant living facility earlier in the year. Pao wanders over to the apartment and sees movement. She activates her Arma del Alma before realizing it is just a rat. Her father comes over to her and tells her to come home Pao says she will come in a few minutes and finds her parents talking when she arrives. Her mother leaves as she talks about training with her father. Eventually Pao says she wants to do more to find Dante, but her father says he and the niños will handle it and he wants her to enjoy a normal life. After asking why he brought her to Canada, and Beto explains the he thought Pao might trigger something in the area. As she rests in bed, Pao tries and fails to think of how her life would be if she never ran into the paranormal and fails to see it. She gets out of bed, disturbing Bruto before he goes back to sleep, and sees something in her closet before realizing it is a slipper. Pao then decides she would have to do things on her own. In the morning Pao wakes up from a dreamless sleep and tries to get Bruto to jump on her bed, but he refuses and Pao starts to cry. Soon her mother comes in and Pao tells her how frustrated she is with everything. Maria tells her that her father is doing this to keep her safe, that he is grateful for everything she has done but hates that she had to do it at her age. Pao then asks her mother to perform a reading from her tarot cards. They go to the kitchen and Maria tells Pao to think of her question as she shuffles the deck and to tell her when to stop. Pao thinks of why she cannot dream tells her mother to stop. Maria places five cards on the table and gives Pao her reading. She tells Pao she is dealing with major issues and something about her family is blocking her dreams, which Pao believes is her family legacy. Maria also tells Pao she has always stuck to certain beliefs, and she has refused to try new things. Maria also informs her she will experience something that will throw her into adulthood, and is experiencing something that is also blocking her dreams. Maria flips over the last card, but Pao ignores what she is saying and thinks of everything that has happened to her in the past thirteen months before getting up and leaving the apartment.
Shadow Pao
Pao arrives at Emma's house and is greeted coldly by her mother, who blames Pao for her daughter’s disappearance. She says Emma is busy packing when Emma arrives and tells her Pao is not to blame and to put her bias aside. Her mother apologizes and lets Pao in. Emma explains how she and the Rainbow Rogues are going to New Orleans to learn about the importance of wetlands in the hopes that convincing the mayor to preserve Silver Spring's wetlands. Pao then tells Emma about the reading and how her father has been treating her and her lack of dreams. In response, Emma says she thinks that Pao's shock at the revelation of being the granddaughter of La Llorona is causing the block and learn to accept her heritage as she agrees to help Pao find a way to dream again. They find a recipe on line and Pao says her mother has all those things in their apartment, but is hesitant to go back after the reading, and Emma suggests they buy the ingredients themselves. Pao tries to talk her out of it as the store that sells the ingredients is not in a good part of town, but Emma insists and convinces her mom to take them. Pao spends the night and they watch She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. As they finish the final episode, Pao sees parallel between the main characters and her and Emma. As they fall asleep, Pao finally dreams. She sees the Gila River and the forest in Oregon, but covered in a faded colorful veil. Eventually she sees a town by a lake surrounded by mountains and a church. Soon she sees a shadowy version of herself telling her to return and then the dream ends.
Pao wakes up and, careful not to disturb Emma, gets out of bed and heads over to the laptop and searches for anything related to her dream. After no helpful results, she finds what she is looking for from an eight year old article talking about a church in Santuario, Texas, a town outside San Antonio. After realizing this figure in her dreams in closing entrances to the Void, Pao grabs a windbreaker for Emma's closet and goes to the Lockwood's backyard to try and get to Santuario. She tries to open a portal, but an image of her grandmother stops her concentration. Soon Emma comes out and comforts Pao, saying she does not know what to do without getting sidelined. When Pao mentions her destination is outside San Antonio, Emma gets an idea.
Joining the Rogues[]
Kit
In the morning, Emma’s mom wakes the girls up and Emma, who is exited to finally go on an adventure, hastily packs an extra bag for Pao, who texted her mother that she will be staying at Emma's for a few days to work on a project. After grabbing a quick bite, they go to the car and Emma tells her mother Pao decided to join them on the trip as a guest. When they arrive at Silver Springs Middle School, Emma is greeted by her club friends while one of them, Kit, acts coldly towards Pao and reminds Emma she promised to sit with her. Just then one of the chaperones, a woman named Poppy, arrives and simply lets Pao join without seeing a permission slip or contacting her parents, concerning Pao. When Poppy leaves, the Rogues present laugh at Poppy's behavior and assume she took cold medicine. When Pao mentions body snatchers, everyone stops laughing and Kit mocks Pao for believing in aliens. Pao leaves as Emma apologizes for Kit's behavior and Pao tells her that she does not fit in with the club. Emma tries to cheer Pao up, but inadvertently makes a remark that she is hallucinating from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Pao is offended. Pao reluctantly gets on the bus and watches Emma and Kit have fun.
As they drive, Pao refuses to make eye contact with Emma, even pretending to asleep when Emma walked past her. Pao wonders if Emma would even talk to her if she and Kit started dating. At the end of the day the bus stops at a dude ranch in Van Horn, Texas and Poppy let’s the kids decide the sleeping arrangements, shocking Pao. Pao goes by the fire when Emma comes over with Kit and Robin Long and asks if she wants to see the horses. Pao remains silent as Kit mocks Pao and pulls Emma away. Pao watches Kyle and a student, Alex, tend to the fire and debates on talking to them before they go inside. Just then Poppy comes over to Pao and tells the girl to enjoy being thirteen and that every has no idea how to be thirteen. She then tells Pao Emma is just holding onto Kit until Pao confesses, confusing her. Poppy then starts to mock Pao's self isolationism before growing claws and attacking the girl. Pao uses her arma del alma to defend herself as Emma appears. Pao tells Emma and the other girls to run as Poppy attacks her and cuts her arm, still mocking Pao. Pao fights back, but Poppy changes focus and goes after Emma, Kit, and Robin. As Emma and Robin run, Kit takes a rake and attacks Poppy. Pao uses the opportunity to stab Poppy and the girls watch as she melts. Kit demands answers and Pao reluctantly tells her. As Pao prepares to go on alone, Emma suggests they take Kit, for her fighting skills, and Robin, who has a learner's permit. After hearing about Robin, she tells the others she started kindergarten late and Pao agreed to let them help.
Pao and Emma go to speak with Mr. DiLorenzo, the bus driver, as Kit and Robin tell Kyle Poppy is sick. Pao and Emma speak with the ranch owner's wife and tell her someone is sick and needs to stay in the bus, bus the woman tells them they can use the guest room and the girls get the keys to "get some things". Pao and Emma meet Kit and Robin by the bus and they tell them Kyle is calling lights out soon. They board the bus and wait an hour before driving off without headlights to not alert everyone. To ease Robin's nerves, Kit plays a Backstreet Boys song, as her fathers were fans of the band. They successfully leave the ranch and Emma sits with Pao.
As Robin drives, Pao thinks of saving Dante and questions herself on what Poppy mentioned. Emma speaks with her and, upon mentioning Dante, Pao mentions the Rift amplifying emotions, leading her to question if Dante was truly as manipulated as they thought. Pao asks for more of the tea and Emma mixes it as best she can in a water bottle. They go to the back of the bus as Kit mocks Pao for being straight. As they sit, Pao reveals to Emma that she is questioning her sexuality and Emma says it is okay for her to do so. When Pao drinks the tea, she falls asleep after a delayed reaction. She sees from the perspective of her shadow self closing a portal in the mountains around Santuario and getting weaker doing so. She mentions a fear of displeasing her master as he picks up up and Pao wakes up soon after and tells Emma what she saw. Pao tells Emma to take the other girls and leave when they reach her destination, but Emma refuses to abandon her.
Santuario and Entering the Void[]
They arrive in Santuario shortly before dawn and Pao tells Kit and Robin to drop her and Emma off and go to San Antonio and call their parents under the guise of escaping a kidnapper. However they refuse as someone slams into the windshield and Robin accidentally drives the bus into a ditch. They girls end up in the stairwell by the door and a crow with glowing green eyes approaches them. Kit makes her way to the driver's seat to open the door as another crow breaks in. Kit opens the door and the girls tumble out as they realize hundreds of crows are swarming the bus and they run to a cornfield. The crows come after them as Pao prepares to fight them off when Robin stops her, saying she hates animal cruelty under any circumstance. Pao reassures Robin they are not real birds as she fends them of and the girls enter the cornfield. Kit touches a broken hunt with an injured and and gets blood on it, which they pass again. Pao realizes they are in a liminar space, the area that protects entrances Void entrances and trap victims in loops. They keep passing the bloody corn and Pao reveals she does not know how to get out. In her grief, Pao drops her Alma del Arma and it reverts to a magnifying glass they reveals where to go. Kit is reluctant to follow Pao but Robin persuades her. The girls follow the magnifying glass as the crows attack them. Pao alternates between magnifying glass and spear as she keeps the rogues safe. Soon they find the church and lock themselves inside before collapsing on the floor. Pao has a vision of her shadow self and realizes she knows they are in Santuario and alerts the others when she comes to. Pao heads to the altar and tells Emma to take Kit and Robin back to San Antonio if something happens to her.
El Cucuy
Pao finds a stairwell hidden in the altar and walks down it, leading to a room where she finds a lit torch. Soon the torch glows green and she sees her shadow self, surprising her and realizing that the Canadian locals were describing her to Franco and her dad. Her shadow self taunts Pao and attacks her, saying Pao is suppressing her heritage and limiting her potential. Her shadow self also taunts her about failing to save Dante and the Rogues. Her shadow shelf traps Pao in a ring of fire and it closes in on her, taunting Pao for waisting her hereditary potential. Thinking she is about to die, she thinks of everything she failed to do and realizes. She realizes she cares for her friends and family and extinguishes the fire before attacking her shadow self and putting a wall of flames between them. Her shadow self requests death, but Pao drags her into the Void, thinking she could trade her shadow self for Dante. As the two enter the Rift, Pao feels excruciating pain and sees the memories of both her and her shadow self. She hears voices calling her evil as she rebuts that she did what she thought was right at the time. Pao lands in the Rift a mile away from an obsidian tower and she realizes her shadow self is gone. After a while Pao realizes she absorbed her shadow self and walks towards the town, hoping the guards think she is her shadow self. Pao enters and climbs up over two dozen floors of empty cages. As she climbs, she hears two voices, one saying she belongs in the Rift while the other says she will make good choices. When she approaches the top, a voice tells her to enter. Pao approaches the mysterious figure and lies that she closed all the portals before "the girl" could get to them. As the conversation goes on, Pao realizes she is talking to El Cucuy. El Cucuy decides to reveal his master plan to her takes her down an elevator, where she screams and he revels in her fear. When they reach their destination, El Cucuy shows her a familiar looking laboratory and mentions La Llorona's resurrection experiments and she sees half a dozen copies of Dante. El Cucuy says he plans to create an army out of clones of people via fears. Pao realizes he is perfecting the plans of La Llorona and Joaquin as he mentions the template he used to create the clones is damaged, startling Pao into questing if Dante is alright and hopes to find him. She suggests seeing her might jog something in Dante while mentioning that copying clones could water down their potential, but El Cucuy says he is willing to risking. Pao wanders into a hallway before demanding she be sent home.
Reunions and Revelations[]
Pao ends up in front of a cell housing Dante, much to her relief, however he calls her another imposter. After saying she can prove she is the real Pao, he asks her about the first time she beat him in Mario Kart and she goes into detail to prove it. Dante believes her and is relieved, but it is short lived when they realize El Cucuy is coming. Pao tries to portal him out, but she fails. Dante tells her the cell is programmed to only let his DNA enter and tells her to leave. Pao refuses to leave him and she tries again, successfully taking them both to Santuario. They end up back in the church and he hugs Pao, thanking her for saving him and apologizing for his behavior. Emma comes over to them and the three embrace as Kit demands answers. As Pao catches everyone up to speed, Dante asks why Kit and Robin are with them and Kit questions if they could trust him. Pao explains that the Rogues helped her get to him while explaining to Kit that Dante has been through a lot and she tries to portal back to Silver Springs and Kit keeps interrupting, once to spite Pao and a second time out of shock by the lights. Pao moves to a window and Emma comes over to her. After Emma mentions how she handled kids while baby sitting, Pao gets an idea. Pao tells everyone to think of a place to Silver Springs and it starts to work, but El Cucuy finds them and shows Pao images of her loved ones dead and her home destroyed. However Pao desperately tries to toon him out.
Pao finds herself in the banks of the Gila River and she and Robin watch Kit and Dante, who landed on each other, untangle themselves. Soon Pao realizes Emma is missing and calls out her name and, thankfully, Emma replied. The girls run up to each other and embrace as Emma tries to tell Pao something, but Dante interrupts as he and the others come over. Pao and Emma separate, Kit flashes a dirty look and Dante suggests they go to the Camp of the Niños de la Luz. Pao tells him they moved to a warehouse in town and it would be easier if they went to the Riverside Palace. Robin expresses her desire to see her fathers and Pao encourages her to. As they get closer, Dante expresses his desire to see his abuela and Emma silently tells Pao to tell him about her. Pao informs Dante that his grandmother's memory is gone and she was moved to a care facility months ago. Pao expects Dante to yell, but he thanks and hugs her. When they arrive, Kit expresses her surprise that the building has occupants and is reluctant to go in, but does so when Pao informs her she will have to wait outside. As Pao opens the door, her parents and Bruto greet her, and they are shocked to see Dante. After Pao's parents greet everyone, they go to the living room where Maria tells her Emma’s mother called and informed them of her impromptu trip and vanishing with three other girls in Texas. As Beto is uncertain what to reveal in front of Robin and Kit, Pao informs them that it is El Cucuy Who is behind it and explains how he is building an army. Beto scolds Pao for disobeying him as Pao berates that she took action as he and the Niños just stood around. After Pao's parents talk, Beto gathers somethings and tells them he is taking them to the Niños's warehouse and shoots down Robin's request to contact her fathers, much to Pao's anger.
Beto drives the children and Bruto to the warehouse and tells them to wait as he talks with Franco. While he has his back to the kids, Pao tells Robin about a nearby bus stop and she runs to it while Kit volunteers to stay. Beto drops them off as the girls start to scream and they wake Naomi. Naomi greets the four and mentions Marisa got a call about a ghost half an hour ago, around the same time Beto called Franco. Pao finds it suspicious and Naomi takes them to the other Niños, who are eating lunch outside. Dante stays behind the keep an eye out for Beto and Franco, and watch Bruto, as the girls speak to the Niños. Naomi gets their attention as Pao stands on a picnic table and informs the Niños about her trip into the Void and El Cucy's plan. She also reveals Franco is keeping them in the dark just as Franco and Beto arrive. The Niños berate Franco for keeping them in the dark as Beto berates Pao for disobeying him. He says he will keep her away from the fighting until Pao reveals she is the entry point. Beto takes Pao to discuss this further as Pao tells Naomi to strategize. They return to find Dante sitting on bleachers staring at the wall. Beto asks Pao for her arma del alma, but she cannot find it. After a while she questions her father on why he needs it and he gives her a half answer. Pao remembers having it back at the apartment and Beto realizes Robin is missing. Pao says she went home and Beto asks for her address. Kit gives him the street and, not remembering the number, describes it. Beto and Franco go to bring Robin back as Pao sits with the others. Pao and Emma talk about Dante’s mental state and Emma urges Pao to take to him. When she does, Dante mentions El Cucuy plans to attack on Día de los Muertos, ten days away. Pao is relieved that they have time to prepare, but Dante says they will never be ready for El Cucuy. Pao relays the information to Naomi, who agrees to send the younger Niños away and train the older ones. Naomi leaves as Kit leaves to help her.
A Possible Impossible and Preparing for War[]
Soon Beto and Franco return with Robin tied up between them and Pao storms over to them. They say Robin is a copy who was switched out with the real one after El Cucuy caught them portaling. They also theorize she stole Pao's spirit weapon, which could reveal her true nature, and ditched it before they found her. Pao, Kit, and Emma try to convince them otherwise to no avail as they take Robin into the office. The girls think of a way to prove Robin is really her as Dante comes over saying that would not work as El Cucuy implants important memories in his copies. Pao asks why he asked her about Mario Kart and he explains how the memory was not as important to her as it was to him and says El Cucuy does not bother putting minor and neutral memories in his copies. Pal fails to think of anything that could work, Emma does not know Robin well enough to think of something, and Kit, despite knowing Robin for five years, reveals she does not know anything that could help. Emma suggests getting Robin's fathers involved and Pao shoots it down, but Dante thinks it might help. They try and fail to convince Franco before revealing Robin's current situation to the other Niños. They are angry and Naomi volunteers to fight Franco. As Pao thinks of a course of action, Pao wishes her mother were with her.
Pao calls her mother and she comes with Robin's fathers, Jonathan and Todd, and demands Beto let them in. Beto tries to keep them out and says it is a delicate matter that they are dealing with as Maria forces her way inside. The Longs are shocked to find their daughter tied up. Jonathan demands they call the authorities while Todd says to hear them out. Pao says they need to think of a memory with very little emotional attachment Robin might have and they ask her what she called the cat belonging to an old neighbor of theirs. Robin answers sprinkles and they are happy she answered right and untie her. Franco protests as Marisa returns and scolds Franco for his behavior before pinning him against the wall. Pao is pleased by the sight and her father apologizes to her, calling her a true leader. Pao goes over to Emma and Kit and learns Kit took her arma del alma out of curiosity and hid it so someone would find it. Pao scolds Kit as the other girl walks away. Emma starts to say something as the ground shakes, Beto goes check his equipment as Emma reveals Dante has her magnifying glass.
The shaking stops as Emma explains Dante found her magnifying glass soon after Kit hid it and has been looking at the wall since then. Pao goes over with Bruto and asks Dante for it back. However she slowly realizes that the Dante in front of her is a copy. Bruto growls and Shadow Dante attacks him. Shadow Dante activates Pao's arma del alma and attacks her. Naomi tosses her an old spear and they fight. Shadow Dante opens a portal into the Void and mocks Pao for thinking she outsmarted El Cucuy as they fight and Pao questions if her friend is even still alive. Naomi and Kit takes Pao's place as she goes to ask her father and Franco how to close an opening. However both are uncertain as Pao reveals she absorbed her shadow self, who knew how to close portals with a phrase, but she does not know it but Shadow Dante might. Soon Shadow Dante projects the nightmares of all present and threatens to kill those who aided Pao last, after watching their families and friends die. Shadow Dante vanishes, along with their hope of learning the phrase, and the images stop. As everyone in the warehouse panics, Pao gets everyone’s attention and reveals that she is the granddaughter of La Llorona. Most of the crowd is shocked as Pao holds out her magnifying glass and says she will fight for them. Naomi, Marisa, Beto, and half those present stand with her while the other half declare their loyalty after Franco does. After the Longs reappear, Jonathan puts something about the fight on social media hoping some people come. After Maria and Emma are tasks with taking the younger kids to safety, Emma kisses Pao's cheek before Pao joins Franco and her dad in the office to strategize. Franco thinks El Cucuy is scaring them into thinning their ranks until beto reveals recent articles around the world confirming El Cucuy is targeting everywhere. When Naomi comes in they have no plan, but Beto is working on one, she uses Kit's lipstick to mark Pao's forehead to distinguish her from a possible copy. Pao gives a last minute pep talk reminding the Niños not to hesitate to kill and that she will help them tell copy from the real thing.
Fighting the Shadows[]
Carmela Mata
Soon the shadows start coming out one at a time and the Niños manage to hold them off for a while by forming two defensive rings and switching positions that takes out most of the shadows. However El Cucuy unleashes another wave of nightmares and stuns the Niños. After Pao sees herself killing her friends and family, she is snapped out of it by Carmela Mata, who came from her assistant living facility with backup to help shake the Niños out of their nightmares. Pao tells her to run as it is too risky for her, but Señora Mata insists she will fight and Pao has a job only she can do. After informing Pao that the shadows are in town, she starts to think she is asking Maria to buy ingredients before going to join the other seniors. Pao manages to slap Naomi, Franco, and Marisa awake and they go back to fighting, however when she wakes Kit the other girl gets lost in the nightmares not even ten seconds later. After learning those being evacuated are still in the warehouse, Pao gives Naomi her apartment keys and tells her to keep them safe as Marisa decides their forces between town and warehouse. Pao runs to the office to try and portal to El Cucuy's lair when she sees her father who laments that he has failed. As she goes to comfort him Franco, with a black mark on his forehead, run in and screams that his decades of research is destroyed as Pao realizes the office is littered with destroying documents and the computer is destroyed. Soon they realize Beto is a copy and it attacks them. Franco holds it off as he demands Pao do what she needs to do to stop El Cucuy and ignores her protests. Pao portals away just as Franco is stabbed. Pao ends up outside El Cucuy's palace and sees the copies lining up to enter her world. Pao enters the lair and finds a cube she saw El Cucuy hold when she met him. Pay goes to grab it, but a voice stops her.
Pao freezes and a figure resembling Dante emerges from behind a desk. Questioning if it is really him, Pao uses her magnifying glass to check and, much to her joy, it actually Dante. Pao is overjoyed but Dante refuses to believe it is her. Pao reluctant hands him her arma del alma to be sure, but he refuses to take it. Dante explains how El Cucuy killed all prisoners before the attack but spared him as he felt Dante was to damaged to be dealt with. After he says Pao never tired of save him, she angrily explains the disappointment she felt for his disappearance eight months ago and the acts she did to find him, as well as telling him about the fake Dante she thought was him who opened the portal for the invasion. Dante laughs at this before explaining the cube is the source of El Cucuy's power and he left it unguarded due to hubris. Dante reveals he wants El Cucuy's power for himself and goes to grab it. Pao grabs his arm but he flings her away. He says there is only one way to stop El Cucuy before he grabs the cube. The two are plunged into an inky darkness and they fall as fear over powers them. As fear, overwhelms Pao, Dante says only by becoming El Cucuy could they defeat him. Pao screams that there is always an alternative as she looks through the magnifying glass and sees Dante trapped in a cage of nightmares. Pao tries talk Dante out of his dark space, but she fails. Soon Señora Mata appears and reveals she is close to death. Pao is in disbelief and searches for her magnifying glass but Señora Mata hands it to her. Pao inspects the old woman through it but sees herself as Señora Mata reveals she and Pao are the same person. Pao stares at the old woman in disbelief as she explains she went back into to nudge her on the right path, putting on an act to help her, and reveals Dante had no living grandparents when his father was killed. She also reveals her memory lose is due to traveling back after multiple failed attempts. As Pao fears her future is set in stone, Señora Mata tells her that if things go according to her plan and promises to tell Pao as much as she can afterwards.
Señora Mata takes the cube, which she insists on bringing to their world, and Pao holds Dante up as they reappear in the room. They go down as the tower crumbles. The group goes down as the old woman reveals this is new territory for her and refuses to hand the cube to Pao. Soon El Cucuy appears and demands the cube. Pao refuses and he sends nightmares at them. As the Matas fall to their knees, Pao sees images from the present with death tolls raising world wide. She then sees the warehouse and sees Naomi, Kit, and Emma fighting off the shadows, her father leading the Niños, her mother and Bruto helping the wounded. and a disheveled Marisa mourning Franco. Pao then looks through the magnifying glass and sees El Cucuy for who he really is, a fearful old man who lived a meaningless life and in death collected souls to grow and army to make himself meaningful. Pao offers him a chance to let go of his fears, but he refuses. Pao creates a portal and manages to create a bubble around herself and the Matas. However El Cucuy manages to get his arm inside through his connection to the cube and starts to strangle the old woman. As Señora Mata gasps for air, Pao gets the three to the warehouse and grabs the cube, taking on the fear. Remembering what Señora Mata said, that the opposite of fear is community, she begs the others for help and they all take on the fear until the cube turns to dust. Pao watches the portal close as El Cucuy, in his true form, sobs. Maria comes over to Pao and says someone wants to meet with her.
Farewells and New Beginnings[]
They go outside to find Señora Mata resting on blankets. The old woman thanks and congratulates Pao for stopping El Cucuy and changing their fate. She then sends Pao away to spend her final moments with Dante. After she passes, he goes over to Pao and apologizes for his behavior, she hugs Dante and says she forgives him as her mom takes him away. Pao sees the Niños mourning Franco as her father reveals he blames himself for Franco's death. Pao tells him Franco lived a full life before going over to Emma. Emma confesses her love for Pao and Pao reciprocates her feelings as Naomi and Marisa arrive. As the girls question what the Niños would do now that the Void is no longer a threat, Pao suggests they go into social justice, much to Emma’s joy. Marisa offers Pao a place in the Niños, but she turns Marisa down, Marisa accepts it as Naomi calls Pao a chicken. Kit requests to join, but her request is rejected and she sulks off to help clean.
After searching Señora Mata's belongings at the assistant living facility, it is revealed she was actually very wealthy and left specific instructions on how it was to be divided. She insisted Pao, Emma, and Dante attend therapy until they come of legal age. Dante is adopted by Pao's parents who also receive enough from Señora Mata to buy the Riverside Palace Apartments and renovate it so that the residents have clean water, working temperature control, and windows they can look out. The Santiagos put the residents up at the town’s best hotel and are combining their apartment with the Mata's old apartment to fit their new family.
On the first Día de los Muertos since Señora Mata died, Dante, Emma, and Pao pick up cheese tamales and some spicy chicken talames for Señora Mata. Beto and Maria greet them when they reach the Riverside Palace and the three place the food on Señora Mata's alter as they question what the future holds.
Characters[]
- Paola Santiago
- Emma Lockwood
- Franco
- Naomi
- Beto
- Maria Santiago
- Bruto
- Karen Lockwood
- Falsita
- Kit
- Poppy
- Kyle
- Robin Long
- Alex
- Mr. DiLorenzo
- El Cucuy
- Shadow Dante
- Sal
- Jonathan Long
- Todd Long
- Marisa Martínez
- Carmela Mata
- Dante Mata
Chapters[]
- Poor Patrick
- "Why Don't You Let The Adults Handle This?"
- Tarot Cards Aren't So Bad—No, Wait, Maybe They Are
- More Problems Than an Antigravity Beanbag Can Solve
- Implicit Bias Training
- To Portal or Not to Portal
- Peppy Poppy and the Field Trip from Hell
- Dude Ranch Showdown
- Boffering Saves the Day
- What do the Backstreet Boys and Driving a Bus Have in Common?
- The Road to Santuario Is Paved with Identity Crises
- So, When You Say a Murder of Crows...
- A Dream Without a Dream
- My Own Worst Enemy
- The Obsidian Tower
- The Lord of Nightmares
- Reconciliation
- How Many Grumpy Toddlers Does It Take to Portal Home?
- You Know How They Say You Can't Go Home Again?
- Being Left Out Is Even Worse Than Being Grounded
- "Why Don't You Let the Adults Handle This?" (Remix; Feat. Runaway Robin)
- The Key to Good Leadership Is Keeping Busy
- An Especially Neutral Memory
- Mother Knows Best and Other Popular Folktales
- A Hole in the Sweater Sleeve of the Universe
- The Beginning of the End of the World
- War
- Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Void
- Reconciliation (Remix; Feat. Damaged Dante)
- The Last Person You'd Ever Expect Your Ex-Boyfriend's Grandma to Be
- Fear Is the Mind Killer
- Together, At Last
- Good-Bye
- Epilogue
Trivia[]
- This book was announced April 22, 2021 on Twitter[1]
References[]
| Paola Santiago series | |
| Books: | Paola Santiago and the River of Tears | Paola Santiago and the Forest of Nightmares | Paola Santiago and the Sanctuary of Shadows |
| Main Characters: | Paola Santiago | Dante Mata | Emma Lockwood | Bruto | Naomi |
| Secondary Characters: | Maria Santiago | Ondina | Marisa Martínez | Carmela Mata | Beto | Joaquín | Kit | Robin Long |
| Minor Characters: | Karen Lockwood | Sal | Franco | Aaron | Johnny | Shadow Dante |
| Mythical Creatures: | Chupacabra | La Llorona | Ahogada | La Mano Panchona | Lechuza | Duendecillos | Cadejo | The Hitchhiker | El Cucuy | Falsita |
| Related Content: | Tehlor Kay Mejia | Rick Riordan Presents | Bruto and the Freaky Flower | Disney+ series |