Hello! You've got Taylor here. This little number has been loitering around my iPod since... July, and I only managed to finish it last night. It will hopefully be a multi-chapter one, but who knows, especially with my attention span. This is my first National Treasure story as you can tell from looking at my profile. I sort of like it, even if it was difficult. It's definitely a lot shorter than I intended, but no whatever. You have no idea how much research I did for this. Seriously, it's ridiculous. I have a notebook for the sole purpose of researching. It's sad, to say the least. My sense of direction and time might be a tad bit (or a huge bit) off, but I did the best I could. I don't want to spoil anything for you guys, but there are theories to back me up on the location. As this is legend, I strongly recommend that you try researching the topic for yourself and tell me if there are any glaring mistakes that could compromise the authenticity of this story. Listen to me, using big words like that, haha.

-I apologize for the riddle in advance. I suck at poetry.-

Anyway, drop me a review, or a private message if you have any questions or concerns or comments. Updates could be few and far between only because I have like three others that I need to be working on right now. Gotta keep my mojo up for this one. :) So yeah, enjoy! -Taylor. xx

Disclaimer: Hmm, is National Treasure mine? Still trying to work out something with the writers, if they would only return my phone calls... Are Jordan and Josie mine? Why yes! They are!

Josie bounced ahead of her sister, full of life, energy, and adventure. She occasionally glanced over her shoulder to keep track of where her sibling was, which was never more than seven feet behind. "Come on, Jordan," she said. "Hurry up!"

"Yeah, yeah. Cut me some slack, I'm older than you, kid."

"Mhm, a whopping five and a half years. Whoopdy-freakin-do. You're nineteen, dude, not forty. Besides, you shoulda' brought Liisi; she would have kept you up with me."

"Well, I'm sorry for not being able to fit a giant Boxer in the backseat that's full of crap or the trunk that's got our lunches," Jordan bit back, half-heartedly.

It got quiet for a minute, aside from the crunching of twigs beneath their feet and the normal sounds of nature. One sighed while the other kneeled in the grime over by a tree. "Josie, look, I know we haven't seen each other much, and I... I-"

"Shh! Shut up, save the sappy talk for later. Right now, you might want to see this." Her pin-straight blonde hair was outlining her face, so Jordan couldn't see the look of curiosity and awe on her little sister's face. She knelt beside her and followed her gaze to find a small brass handle barely sticking out amongst the rotted leaves not two feet away. The younger reached out a hand and brushed away a lot of them to reveal a rotted wooden trap door barely the size of a modern DVD case.

"What should we do?"

"We open it, Miss College Kid," she snipped lightly. Josie's fair skinned fingers wrapped around the cold, wet brass and pulled. To their surprise, it didn't break, but it also didn't open. In frustration, the smaller let slide a few minor choice words in their native tongue, only to receive an abrupt smack on the back of the head. "Ow. I'm sorry, I slipped."

Ignoring the apology completely, Jordan focused on the wood. "Jo, look. There's something carved into it. I can't read it at this angle. What's it say?"

Josie tilted her head slightly to the right to find what her sister was talking about. It wasn't hard to see, it just wasn't very outstanding. She took a deep breath. "It says:

'Here lieth the truth:

Purest of hearts seek not for thee,

Purest of hearts seek not for greed.

Purest of hearts seek authenticity.

Search these trees,

Find thyself in thee.

When you find the answer,

Fall not for the Devil's deceit.

Find the key,

Find thyself in thee.

Return with all haste,

Tis here the truth awaits.' "

"What do you think it means?"

"I don't know, but I intend to find out," the elder replied as she stood.

"You're getting more and more like me every day, you know?" She slid off her draw-string backpack and fished around the inside to pull out the case of her digital camera. It wasn't flashy, but it did have a good 14 mega-pixels. She took several pictures of it before putting it back where she had found it on the inside of her bag. "Just so we can read it when we start looking."

"Good idea."

Josie stood, wiping off the dirt stains on her grey skinny jeans and black and red basketball shoes, even where the jeans ruffled around the tops of them. She tucked some hair behind her ears, then slid her bag back onto her shoulders.

"Ready?"

"No. Not quite. How are we going to find our way back without it being too obvious to other people?"

The sisters stood in silent puzzlement for a while, until sudden inspiration hit Josie like a ton of bricks. "Do you remember how the Native Americans said they used their own language and symbols to mark places so no one else knew what it meant?" Jordan nodded. "Well, we can do that in Estonian. How many people do you know, besides us, who can speak it, let alone read it? I mean, really."

"Very true. Do you have that pocket knife on you?"

"No, you took it, remember?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Right." Jordan pulled the folded knife from the back pocket of her jean shorts and handed it to her sister. "I was never any good in woodshop. You do it."

"All right. What should I put?"

Jordan mulled it over for a second. "Umm... How about 'treasure'? That's simple enough, right?"

She shrugged. "I guess so." Flipping open the knife, Josie approached the tree, raising it to shoulder-level. Carefully, she carved "aare" into the trunk of the oak tree. When she was done, she took a step back to admire her work. She flipped the knife closed, slid it into her back pocket, then turned to Jordan.

"Kay," she said softly. "Let's go."

They were quiet for a while, both concentrated on finding the key. Honestly, neither had a clue what they were looking for, so they kept their eyes focused for anything that looked out of place. For once, Josie was behind her sister, walking slower than they both thought she was capable of. She was scowering the landscape intently.

"Jose', what I wanted to say before was-"

"Save it. I'm fine, I swear. My fosters are kinda cool," she replied, flatly.

"But, I just thought that maybe-"

"No. Just leave it alone, okay?"

"Just let me ask you one thing," Jordan demanded, stopping and turning to face her. Her sister stopped ten feet in front of her, crossing her arms over her chest with a sigh.

"One thing. That's it."

"Would you tell me if something was wrong? Don't lie to me, Josephine."

Josie flinched at the sound of her full name. "Honestly, I probably would, if it was really bothering me. Are you perfectly content now?"

"Not really. Come here," she instructed in a soft tone. She did so slightly reluctantly to have arms around her in a gentle, sisterly hug. She closed her eyes and hugged back. "Now let's find that treasure, kay?"

Jo nodded and smiled a little, pulling away. "Hey, can I have a piggyback?"

"Uh, no," her sister laughed. "I can barely make it through here by myself, let alone with another person on my back."

"If you're trying to say you're fat, you're sorely mistaken. If you're fat, that makes me completely obese."

"Which you're not."

"Okay. Awkward. Can we just keep going?"

Jordan chuckled a little bit before nodding and walking off in the same direction as before. Behind her, Josie followed, pulling out her pocket knife and flipping open, then closed again. So much for attentive searching. She then heard a muttered curse, in English this time, and turned to see her little sister's hand covered in blood. She rolled her eyes, but stopped anyway. Jordan took off her own black draw-string bag and took out the small first aid kit at the bottom.

"Come here and lemme see it."

"I didn't even cut it that bad, it just won't stop bleeding," she muttered, holding out her right hand.

"Just be glad you don't write with that hand," she replied. Gingerly, she wiped away most of the blood, revealing a cut no longer than her thumbnail, and barely deeper than a paper cut. "You're kidding."

Josie smiled, but shook her head.

"All right then..." She had wrapped gauze around her finger and taped it in place. "Don't screw around with that, got it?"

"Okay, Mom," came the sarcastic reply. Then, a second later, "thanks."

"Yeah, any-" Jordan stopped abruptly as she was putting the small box back in her bag, eyes glued to the tree behind Josie's head.

"What? What is it?" She herself turned to see what she was staring at. At first, she couldn't see anything, but after blinking several times, she spotted it. If someone hadn't been looking for something, no one would have noticed it. There, nailed to the trunk of the tree, was a tiny brass key. It couldn't have been any bigger than Jo's big toe. "No-freaking-way. Nuh-uh, it can't be that easy," she protested.

"Who knows, maybe it is. There's only one way to find out, though, Hun." Jordan took a few steps forward to the tree, and slipped the key from its holding nail, silently bracing herself for any booby traps that could have gone off. It was completely unnecessary. "I've got a bad feeling. You?"

"Uh-huh. Something bad's gonna happen, I can feel it."

"Maybe it's nothing. Maybe we're just worried for nothing. I mean, what if this is all just some prank? Seriously, what are the odds that there's a treasure in the woods of Virginia?"

"Yeah... Yeah, you're probably right. Let's just go find out anyway?" All the other could do was nod and start walking in the direction they had come.

"You know, I probably should have brought Liisi. I'd feel a whole lot better."

"Me too."

Back at the little spot they had marked before. Kneeling down, the two girls glanced at each other nervously before the elder leaned forward to look for a key hole. Her brow furrowed when she saw no hole near the handle. Her eyes scanned the entire wooden plank before finally spotting a small brass circle in the corner closest to her. It had an even smaller hole in it, exactly the size of the key in her hand. Her hand shook slightly as it slid into place. She turned it, and there was a quiet 'click'. After another brief glance at each other, Josie took hold of the handle and pulled. It was surprising how dry the inside was, there was even dust that came up in a cloud before falling onto the damp ground around them. When the cloud cleared, both pairs of eyes landed on the leather bound book that lay on the dirt before them. It seemed to be a normal book, but upon further inspection, there was a small inscription on the cover. "Croatoa," the dusty-brunette whispered.

"What do we do?" Josie asked in a slightly panicked whisper.

She didn't answer right away. Instead, she starred at the book intently, trying in vain to think clearly. "Clearly, this isn't a joke..." she said, slowly. "I have a professor, who's handled antiques like this before. Maybe..." She inhaled deeply. "Maybe we should go find her and bring her here, so we don't... Damage anything. That sounds good, right?"

Her sister nodded, vigorously. "L-let's go."

Once the little hole-in-the-ground was locked, Jordan slipped the key in her bag, and the two practically ran back to her car. She at least had the forethought to grab the food from the trunk of the black Subaru, not that they actually intended on eating it yet. Both were in different stages of shock. Josie had passed denial and was onto confusion. Jordan had gone right to a timid state of acceptance, laced with nervousness, and concentration on driving. It was at least four hours before either could speak right. After one rest stop so they could throw away their uneaten, now gross, lunches and so Josie could pee, they kept their silence.

"Damn," she heard the blonde child curse under her breath after another half hour of quiet. She glanced over to see her starring out the car window with a look of frustration on her face. "What's wrong?"

"I forgot to get a picture of the book. For evidence, or whatever," she replied, shaking her head. Despite the air being dense with shock, Jordan actually cracked a smile, suppressing a snort. She was shot a death glare from her sister, which sent her into a small fit of laughter, causing her to jerk the wheel a little.

"Have you gone completely insane?"

"I'm sorry, Jo, but really? Is that what you were so worried about? Not getting pictures of the thing?"

"I'm sorry for wanting to document this. It's pretty damn cool if you ask me."

"I won't deny that, but it's okay. We're going back later anyway. You've got the picture of the top, and I have the key, so we've got all the real proof we need."

A minute of silence passed over them before the younger spoke up. "Can we stop at your place to her Liisi? Just for peace of mind?"

"Sure. It's right on the way, and it would honestly give me some peace of mind, too. We'll be there in about fifteen minutes. We can stay for a few minutes, but I really think we should hurry. Basically drop crap and run." Her sister nodded.

As promised, they arrived at Jordan's small flat in the city. It was on the second floor, and she practically had to beg her landlord to let her keep Liisi; she was a big dog, after all. Josie was the one who got out first, Jordan lagging only because she was cleaning out the backseat into the trunk. She caught up with her sister at the door of apartment 6B which she had to unlock for either one of them to enter. They were greeted by the ever enthusiastic Liisi bounding out from her bed in Jordan's bedroom, vaulting in the air to get their attention. She didn't bark or whine or make much of any noise for that matter. The two girls patted her as they passed, Jo to get the leash, Jordan to grab her bag. In less than five minutes, they were out the door once again, armed with an over excited Boxer.

The University was only a thirty minute drive, but the eternity if felt like spoke differently. The dog was quiet up until they stopped and exited. She whined and barked as they disappeared into the building Jordan ha gestured to as they arrived. The duo slipped up the stairs at the far wall, down the well-lit hall to the closed office door at the end. They looked at each other briefly before the elder reached up to wrap knuckles against the white-painted oak. There were faint rustling noises behind it before a female's voice wafted out.

"Come in."

Josie pushed her sister forward with a 'you-know-why' look. With a roll of her eyes she swung the door open just wide enough for them to slip in and shut it quickly behind. The slightly elderly professor looked up from what she had been doing — both assumed she was grading papers — with a quizzical expression. "Miss Kangro," she said, clearly surprised, "what brings you to my office? Not that I'm ever disappointed to see one of my best students, but it is a little... odd to see them during a break."

She would have blushed had she not been so serious. "Professor Appleton, I-" Josie cleared her throat. "-we need your help."

At her tone, the eldest gestured for them to sit across from her. They did so tentatively. "We went hiking in Virginia today; it was off the path at Smith Mountain Lake. When we were hiking-"

"I found this," Josie cut in handing her camera over, screen showing the wooden plank stuck in the ground. Jordan flashed her a half-assed annoyed look. "You took too long," she hissed in explanation.

Professor Appleton's brows knitted together as she read and reread the message carved into it. "What is this?"

"It's a hole in the ground."

"Why are you showing me this, then?"

"We opened it. There was a key. Inside of this, there's a book, and on that book it says Croatoa. We think it's authentic; the inside is completely dry. We came here because we didn't want to touch it. I know you helped excavate Cibola and I know you've handled old documents and artifacts. We need your help," Jordan said, hoping her eyes expressed their desire.

She sat back in her chair, still looking at the photo. After what seemed like ages, she looked up. The camera was handed back soon after. "I believe you." There were simultaneous sighs across from her. "Let me make a few calls, then I will need you girls to show me exactly where you found it."

Both nodded.

"Wait, there's something else," Josie said, reaching into her bag. She withdrew the tarnished brass key from its depths and presented it to the schooled professional. She took it, hesitantly.

In an instant, she gave it back, stood up, and was on the phone. "Hello Ben, it's your mother... No, no nothing like that. How would you, Abigail, and Riley like to take a road trip? Excellent. Meet us here in an hour, and bring your hiking gear."

What did ya think? Scrap it or continue it?