Prompt: Bottle
Pairing: Soul/Maka, Kidd/Liz
Rating: K
Words: 968
Maka sat on her green beach towel, watching as Soul and Black Star waged a sandcastle war; enlisting a bewildered Patti and a smiling Tsubaki. Sapphire Beach sat just two miles north of the seafront town of Oceania, which was also the best place to find peace and resonance within the soul after a long battle. Professors Stein and Marie sat not too far away, bathing in the intense rays of the sun. Liz lounged under a large umbrella, one hand holding a novel while the other clutched a sweating glass of some fruity drink.
"Now, guys! Don't push so hard against the walls of the castle! The symmetry must remain precise in order to keep the integrity of the bricks…" Kidd was also participating in the sandcastle war, only he was maintaining the beauty and symmetry of the castles as Soul and Black Star launched sand dollars, rocks, shells and star fish at one another. Patti snatched up all of these things in a pail and returned them to the boys to be reused while Tsubaki played referee. Maka giggled as Soul sent a large glob of wet sand and rocks into Black Star's castle.
"HEY! You wrecked my castle!" Black Star jumped up in a rage, hurtling himself at Soul. However, before he could make contact, his foot caught over something sticking out of the sand and he went head over heels. He sat up in a snit, looking around wildly for whatever had tripped him, ignoring the shouts of laughter from his friends. "GUYS! Look what I found!" Black Star pulled a large blue bottle from the ground, grunting as it came free of the sand with a 'pop'. There was an old cork in the mouth of the container, but the glass was light enough to reveal a rolled up piece of parchment within. Soul snatched up the bottle, pried the cork out of the top, and then dumped out the contents. Maka and Liz had wandered over by this time, interested in the find. Tsubaki talked Patti into not gathering anymore ammo and led her to the small group huddled around Black Star.
"This… this isn't anything but pictures! I can't even read it." Kidd took the paper from the boy and looked at it.
"It's not just pictures, Black Star. This is a treasure map." The map was old and faded, with several markings indicating landmarks along the cove. At one corner was a paragraph of what looked like a written language, but the words were smudged and it would take time to decipher them.
"What've you got there, Kidd?" Professor Stein stood over the kids, head cocked to the side.
"It's a map, Professor."
"A map? Let me see." Stein studied the map carefully, and then handed it to Marie, who gave it a good look as well. "Well kids, looks like you've stumbled across the key to the Treasure of Sapphire Cove."
"Treasure?" Soul took the map as his eyes began to glaze over with the thought of adventure.
"Yes, Soul, treasure. The Treasure of Sapphire Cove is an ancient treasure that has artifacts dating back to the first wizard. Some say a magical item can be found with or around the gold and other wealth. I've heard it was so big that no one man could possess it all, but I've also heard that because of a hurricane some years ago, it has been scattered to the four corners of the ocean."
"However, a few years ago, a man was walking along this very beach and stumbled across a small chest that contained a pearl necklace, a sack of gold coins and several rings and trinkets. He died not long after making the discovery." The children shuddered as Marie finished the tale. Stein shrugged and turned away.
"Anyhow, there is a riddle that is passed along to anyone searching for the treasure."
"What is it?" Came the collective cry.
"North, South, East and West. Collect the stones to find the chest. Beware the teeth that guard the gold, find the key and you'll have treasure untold." The small band of meisters and weapons looked at each other with glee. This was the adventure of a lifetime, and each of them was determined to claim the treasure first. Black Star called for Tsubaki and dashed off, not listening to her pleas for him to wait. Soul snorted and shook his head. Kidd took the map from him and rolled it up, nodding to Liz. The girl tugged Patti's arm and the three made their way to Kidd's beach towel.
"You and Maka are welcome to search with us, Soul. We're going to do some planning first, though," Kidd called over his shoulder. Maka looked at Soul, who was staring off into the distance with a sharp smile plastered on his face.
"I've seen that look before, Soul. But we need to work together with Kidd and the others. He has the map, and I think we'd have better luck if everyone has a plan."
"Well, let's go see if Kidd can read the map, and we'll go from there."
As it turned out, Kidd did have some grasp of the language and slowly read the instructions and warnings for finding the treasure.
"It looks like many people have searched and died while looking, guys. From what I can understand, the treasure has been split into three separate locations within and around Sapphire Cove. I think it would be best to split up into our respective groups and search. We can meet here tomorrow to begin." The others agreed with the Reaper's proposal, especially since evening was upon them.
For the rest of the night, no one could think of anything else but the adventure ahead of them, though none was aware of the danger that awaited them as well…
OK, so what does everyone think? This is part one of my treasure series-within-a-series. Enjoy!
