The House in the Cerulean Sea Trivia Quiz

Answer: Youth

A child named Daisy telepathically threw blocks at one of the other children, resulting in the latter's tail being bent at an odd angle. The hospital reported it, resulting in Linus being sent to the orphanage on behalf of the Department in Charge of Magical Youth to make sure the children there were being well looked after and it was an isolated incident.

Once children with magical abilities age out of the system, DICOMY ceases to monitor them and any further incidents are handled by DICOMA (the Department in Charge of Magical Adults).

Answer: Extremely Upper Management

Although his supervisor doesn't believe him, Linus has no idea why he's been summoned to a meeting with Extremely Upper Management. He's only ever seen them at the annual Christmas luncheon dishing out "dried-up ham and lumpy potatoes from foil trays" so he's baffled to be requested by name to meet with them on the mysterious fifth floor.

In this meeting, he's informed that he's being sent to investigate an orphanage on Marsyas Island that is classified four (the highest level of secrecy) for a month, and is required to report back each week on his findings.

Answer: Calliope

Calliope is a black cat with green eyes whom Linus had found ten years prior as a kitten under his porch. When he tried to help her, she'd hissed at him, so Linus decided to ignore her, assuming that eventually she'd go away. Calliope had other plans, however, and decided that Linus' home was hers now; although he describes his cat as "a thing of evil" and frequently threatens to leave her in dangerous situations, it's clear that Linus is rather attached to Calliope because he's bought her toys, food & water bowls with her name printed on them, and importantly never ACTUALLY leaves her in the aforementioned dangerous situations.

Answer: Banshee

The children who live at the orphanage are: a female gnome named Talia, a wyvern named Theodore, a forest sprite named Phee, a shapeshifter named Sal, an amorphous green blob named Chauncey (noone's entirely sure exactly what species he is), and the Antichrist named Lucy.

There isn't a banshee residing on the island although there is an offhand mention of a child banshee in an orphanage that Linus closed down.

Answer: Tall and thin

Arthur Parnassus is described as "spindly": Tall, with long, elegant fingers, hair that sticks up at odd angles, a bump in his nose and consistently wearing trousers that are too short, revealing brightly-coloured socks.

Linus has never met anyone quite like Arthur before and is immediately captivated by his appearance and demeanour. Despite this, Linus intends to remain a consummate professional during his stay on the island - he's not there to fall in love, after all...

Answer: Listening to music

Linus discovers that the walls of Lucy's room are covered with vinyl records from artists like Buddy Holly (the majority), Frankie Lymon, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. Lucy describes his taste as being "dead people music", and in particular by the artists who died in the famous 1959 aeroplane crash.

From a conversation between Linus and his neighbour earlier in the story, we know that he also enjoys listening to vinyl records on his record player while dancing around his house and so when he shares with Lucy that he also likes listening to music - and even has many of these same records - it's a bonding moment between the two of them.

Answer: Raft

Zoe finds the raft and takes Linus to it because she figures he'd want to include it in his report. A parchment attached to the mast contained the message "Leave. We don't want your kind here." Linus is horrified - especially because it's directed at children - and this intensifies further when Zoe reveals this is the third such raft to have been sent.

Linus surprises Zoe (and himself) when he decides to send a message in reply: "No, thank you".

Answer: Supportive

Talia immediately pulls Linus and Lucy into the hardware store and engages Helen in a conversation about gardening tools. Although clearly just humouring her initially, Helen quickly relaxes and enjoys discussing the tools with someone like Talia who clearly knows a lot about gardening. She even goes as far as asking whether she can visit the island and take some photos of her garden to display in the store.

After meeting up with the rest of the group again at the ice cream parlour, Helen's support is on full display when the man behind the counter refuses them service. Helen shows up and intervenes, berating the man for turning away paying customers and then stepping in to serve the ice cream herself.

Answer: They refuse to pay the ferryman

A group that includes Norman (the man from the ice cream parlour) form a mob that tries to reach the island. They refuse to pay the ferryman, though, so he refuses to take them across to the island, meaning they were stuck at the docks.

Arthur and Linus go across the water to meet them (using a salt road Zoe creates) and try to reason with the group to mixed success.

Answer: Yes

After turning in a very simple report - two sentences recommending that the orphanage remain open under the tutelage of Arthur, Linus is once again summoned to a meeting with the executive team. This time around, Linus challenges the very ideals of the society in which he operates and that DICOMY values and enforces, where magical beings are forced to register and be monitored.

He also challenges the executives to name the six children who live at the ophanage to demonstrate how unfeeling they are (and he previously was) under the guise of objectivity. Linus' approach seems to work though as the senior leaders ultimately approve his recommendation.