//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Tune of the Piper // by Bookpony579 //------------------------------// After some more walking and asking locals, the trio finally found the fountain. It was even more beautiful than the sketch, with a wide base lifted pool surrounding four levels of water dropping after being shot out from on top. "Alright, look around it for anything suspicious." Daring said as they began examining the fountain. "You find anything?" Flash asked. "Just some fancy carvings." Daring replied. "You?" "Just some coins." "Guys!" Twilight shouted. "Check this out!" Flash and Daring went over to Twilight to see what she was pointing to. Carved into the fountain was the word 'Stein next to an empty round hole. The strange part was that the letters appeared to be carved onto five 'wheels' that went back into the fountain. "That's odd..." Daring said, trying to see if she could spin the letter, only for it to remain stoic. "I know the word 'stein' means 'stone' but why would they carve it on a fountain of all things? And I think you're supposed to be able to move the wheels too, but it's stuck." Another idea suddenly entered Flash's mind and be pulled out the token from before. "I think this is for the thing we got from the statue." He quickly tried putting the token in the hole. It slid in perfectly. A slight 'click' could be heard and Daring tried to spin the wheels again and this time they turned, revealing different letters were carved along each wheel. "Nice work!" Twilight said, smiling. "Now we just have to figure what word to put in..." Daring tapped her finger, thinking until she noticed the token. Specifically, the image carved onto the token. "Guys....look at the token! I think we have to put in the word 'music' or at least something music related. Unfortunately, I'm not that great at Germane..." "I know Germane." Twilight offered. Daring turned to her, wide eyed. "You do?" "Yup......along with Spanish, Prench, Istallion, Chineighse, Gaelic, and Latin to name a few." She noticed the dropped jaws on Flash and Daring. "What? Whenever I got sick, I just turned on a foreign language channel or turned on foreign language subtitles. It's important to be multilangual in order to better communicate in a rapidly interconnecting world." "...RIght." Was all Daring could say. "Can you tell me the word for 'Music' in Germane?" "Musik" "That's what I'm asking!" "No, the word for 'Music' in Germane is just 'Musik', with a 'k'." "...Seriously!?" Twilight shrugged. "Sometimes not much translation is needed." Daring sighed and quickly began spinning the wheels to spell out the word 'Musik'. Once she finally got the K in place, there was another clicking, along with the sound of stone sliding against stone as a rectangular panel beneath the letters slid open, revealing yet another hidden compartment. "What's in this one?" Daring reached in and pulled out another old piece of paper and a palm sized amulet with the image of an x with a diamond in it carved on it. "What does it say?" Twilight asked. Daring frowned. "I-I don't know!" She showed them the paper, revealing the oddly shaped letters. "It's just a bunch of gibberish!" "What could it mean?" Flash asked, looking over the strange language. Twilight mentally went over every language in her head, but none of the matched the symbols on the letter. Grandma, what are trying to say? This though brought forth a memory to Twilight's mind. "What ch'ya writing Grandma?" A young Twilight asked. Aurella, who was sitting at the table, smiled. "Would you like to see?" Twilight nodded, and was promptly lifted onto Aurella's lap to look at a piece of paper. Twilight quickly glanced at it and frowned in frustration. "This isn't writing!" "Oh, it isn't?" Aurella asked playfully. "Yeah! It doesn't make sense!" "Aurella chuckled at this. "Just because something doesn't seem to make sense at first, doesn't mean it doesn't have a meaning." "Huh?" Twilight asked in confusion. "Can you get me a hand mirror from the basket?" Twilight nodded and got off, returning a few moments later with the requested object. "Perfect, now come here." Twilight got back on her lap. "Now hold it like so...." She adjusted the mirror in Twilight's grasp so that it reflected the note. "There! Now take a look." Twilight looked back at the paper. It still held the the same gibberish as before. But when she looked in the mirror, she gasped! "I-It's backwards!" "That's right my little star!" "I didn't know you could write backwards." Aurella just shrugged. "It's a skill you pick up when you need to keep some things secret. Now, can you read it now?" Twilight looked in the mirror, and read the reflected letters. "Bread, milk, eggs, chocolate....Hey!" She turned to her grandmother, annoyed. "This is just a shopping list!" This caused Aurella to burst into laughter. "That it is." "Why are you writing your shopping list backwards?" "Oh...just something to keep this old mind sharp. Keep practicing and maybe you'll be able to do it someday." "I've got it!" "Got what?" Flash asked, confused. "Come over here." Twilight sat on the edge of the water and angled the note above it. "...What are you doing?" Daring asked. "I just remembered something my Grandma taught me. Now come see." Daring and Flash looked at each other, shrugged and went over to the fountain. Doing just as Twilight asked, they looked in the water, and gasped. "It's not gibberish!" Daring gasped. "It's backwards!" "Exactly." Twilight nodded. "Can you read it now." "Sure." Daring cleared her throat. "' The final step is now in hand, to find the treasure you seek, go and confront the Piper's final fate.'" Daring looked back up. "Final fate? What could that mean?" "I think I have an idea." Flash said. "I read something similar in a book once. First, ask yourselves this: What is the final fate of everyone on the planet?" Daring's eyes widened. "Of course! The 'final fate' of everyone is death! Everybody dies sooner or later!" "Which probably means we have to go to.." Twilight continued. "The Cemetery!" The three of them exclaimed at once. "I read in the guidebook that the Pied Piper's tomb is there!" Twilight exclaimed. "Let's go!" Daring lead the way. "Now that Caballeron's in the city, that mean Ahuizotl isn't far behind!"