Author's Note: Once again, thank you all those who left comments on my last chapter. I appreciate all of your support.
Chapter 10 - Crystal Clear
Elder Slouchy Smurf lead Papa Smurf and Grandpa Smurf through a corridor in the Smurf Community - towards the science libratory. Slouchy struggled to find a way to start a conversation, but found himself in an awkward silence with his former Elders. Papa smurf could sense the awkwardness of the situation. He too wondered how to begin a conversation with his former smurfling. Grandpa Smurf decides to be the one to break the silence.
"So, how is the raccoon feeling?" The long bearded smurf asked.
"Oh, she is doing much better now." Slouchy replied. "She is resting comfortably. Soon she will be about to reunite with her young."
"That is a relief." Papa added.
"Yes, we do what we can to care for the animals of the forest." The slouched smurf nodded.
"I'm glad the code of the smurf still remains strong in this timeline." Papa smiled proudly.
"Indeed," Slouchy smurf smiled back. He then frowned slightly before turning away. The memories of when he was a smurfling and being a witnessed to the destruction of the old village made his heart sink. "At one point in our journeys it was all we had left."
Papa and Grandpa Smurf stopped to look at each other suspiciously as Slouchy continued to walk ahead. Expressions on their faces showed a wonder on what Slouchy meant by that last comment.
"Ah, we are here now." Slouchy paused at the end of the corridor, by a door with a see through window built in on the upper half. He opened the door and led the ancient elders inside. "Hey smurfs, we're here."
"Smurfy," Brainette said softly. "Let's start by bringing out those crystals again. I would like a closer look at them through my microscope."
"Oh of course." Grandpa Smurf nodded. He reached behind his long thick white beard and pulled out a brown sack that held the rainbow crystals. Carefully he handed the sack over to Brainette.
The smurfette elder gingerly took the sack and placed it on her desk. She reached in and pulled out one of the crystals. Elder Brainy hobbled up beside her as she slid the crystal underneath the objective lens of the microscope. He watched intensely as his beloved mate lifted her glasses from her face and peered through the eyepiece above the observation tube. Gracefully, Brainette turned the fine focus knob until the picture of the crystal became so clear she could see every detail.
"Incredible," She gasped.
"What do you see?" Elder Brainy asked, leaning in more closely.
"The patterns are so aligned. The angles, perfect." Brainette said in an almost giddy tone. She reached over to the sack and pulled another crystal. She replaced the crystal on the microscope stage. Again, The smurfette elder peered through the eyepiece. "As the smurflings would say, awesome."
"Awesome?" Both Grandpa and Papa Smurf looked puzzled.
Slouchy stepped up to explain. "This is a term the smurflings use to express something that is 'smurfy'."
The two ancient elders turned at each other. They shrugged.
"You know," Brainette continued as she studied another crystal. "All these patterns put into place and the way the edges had been carved has me to believe that these crystals could be a complex math puzzle."
"I don't see how they could be a math puzzle," Grandpa scratched his head. "They would be more of a magical puzzle, wouldn't they?"
Brainette lifted her head - putting her glasses back on, she looked straight at Grandpa Smurf. "Actually, math is an universal language even in magic. With measuring of one potion ingredient with the next - not to mention calculating the right spell for the right situation, and all that." She pointed out.
"Hm, good point." Papa Smurf tugged at his beard in thought.
"You know, I could scan these crystals into my computer and use the puzzle program I have to help figure out the right combination that could lead you back home." The bespectacled smurfette suggested.
"Forgive me, but what is a computer?" The former red-capped elder asked. He looked at the female elder with great confusion.
Brainette paused for a moment to look back at Papa Smurf. She temporarily forgot that the time-travelers wouldn't know of modern technology. Before she could respond to Papa's question, Brainy stepped in.
"Allow me to explain." Elder Brainy ushered Papa to a desk with papers and a monitor. "Over here we have our lab computer. This elongated boxy thing is called the tower and inside is a wonderment display of technology." He sat down at the chair - reached at the tower and pushed the 'power' button. "It will take a few minutes for it to load up though. But basically this machine is a library source of information."
"Really?" Papa Smurf appeared intrigued.
Grandpa Smurf walked up towards Brainette and leaned at her microscope. "Is it possible that I could have a look?" He asked.
"Of course," Brainette nodded. She stepped aside so the long-bearded elder could peer through the eyepiece.
"Smurf-a-roo," he gasped. "I never could imagine how much more details these crystals have. I can see how they get that rainbow reflection." Grandpa lifted his head up from the eyepiece and addressed the entire microscope. "This contraption is amazing."
"Indeed." Brainette agreed with pride. She reached over the table and grabbed the sack with the rest of the crystals. She looked inside with a perplexed expression. "I have looked through almost all the crystals already, and it is so strange - I can't quite put my finger on it...it's like there is a piece missing from this puzzle."
Grandpa Smurf grimaced knowing what the smurfette elder is talking about. "Actually there is a piece missing. The Ruby Key that unlocks the Time Crystals to each different time zone - including the time in which we came from."
"Where is the key now, if you don't mind me asking?" Brainette ask with a tone of interest.
With a guilty glance down at the floor, Grandpa took a deep breath before looking back up. "We, um, lost it back near the dawn of time...in a pool of lava."
Elder Brainy couldn't help to over heard the conversation between his mate and Grandpa Smurf. "A pool of lava you say? How interesting?" He scratched his bearded chin in thought.
Papa Smurf sensed that Brainy might know something about the lost key. "Brainy?" He leaned in closer to his former pupil.
"Huh?" Brainy snapped out of this thought to look up.
"Do you know something about the missing key?" Papa asked.
The leader of the Smurf Community paused as he thought about the question. He raised his eyebrow and turned to Papa Smurf. With a shrug he replied. "I don't know. For a moment it sounded familiar though."
Brainy turned to his computer monitor to realize that the computer system is fully loaded. With a smile he pointed to the monitor. "Ok, look here Papa Smurf. I can give you a brief rundown of what a computer can do." He used the mouse to double click an icon that pulled up a window with a title on the upper part of the page saying 'Sprite Google'. "The human also have systems like this, but their program is just Google. Sprite Google is for us magical creatures so it will protect us from being accidently discovered."
"Amazing..." Papa Smurf watched in awe as Brainy typed on a keyboard and suddenly a new image came up on the monitor screen.
Slouchy watched over the two red-capped elders. Somehow he found it ironic that Brainy is now teaching Papa Smurf something new.
Brainette reached at a blackboard behind her and picked up the chalk eraser. She cleared a blank space on the board and turned to Grandpa Smurf. "Do you suppose you could draw the key for me on this chalkboard?" She asked. The smurfette elder picked up a piece of chalk and handed it to him.
"Sure," Grandpa took the piece of chalk and drew the key in as much detail as he could remember. "Now if I remember correctly there were bumps here, here, and here..."
Brainy became distracted from the computer to the image on the chalkboard. His eyes began to widen. "That looks very familiar."
"Really?" Papa smiled, but still surprised. "Do you remember the time-travels?"
Elder Brainy frowned at his mentor. "No," he replied. "But I know I have seen that image before."
"Brainy, you think you have seen everything before." Slouchy snorted.
"Look, I am not senile!" Brainy defended himself. "I just know I have seen that key somewhere."
"Yeah, where?" Slouchy challenged his older brother.
The bespectacled elder smurf opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly realized he didn't have the words to explain how he knew. He let out a defeated sigh, "I don't remember..."
Brainette let out an exasperating sigh. "Slouchy," she turned to face the youngest in the room and continued. "Would you be a dear and go brew us some tea. This will take longer than anticipated."
"Will you two stop that!" Said a flustered Brainy. "It was probably something I read... Oh, wait...yes, it was an article..." Brainy beamed from ear to ear. He turned to the computer screen and started to type frantically on his keyboard. "I read in a recent article on the website called, '' that a professor of Gnome Archeology dug up a ruby crystal key in an ancient lava rock bed just east of here."
"Impossible," Grandpa shook his head. "We saw the key fall into molten lava. It was destroyed."
"Maybe not," Brainette argued. "Rubies, next to diamonds, are very a strong and powerful gemstones. They could, most likely, survive in elements with a great deal of heat. In fact most gemstones were formed in volcanic atmosphere. That and the fact your Ruby Key is related to these Time Crystals, so I am assuming that the key is designed with a source of magic that could shield it from any harm - including molten lava."
"Ah-ha!" Brainy cheered. "Here it is! I told you I wasn't senile."
"Ok, you proved is wrong," Slouchy grumbled. He leaned in to get a closer look at the article in question. With a smirk on his face he said under his breath, "for a change..."
"I heard that," snapped Brainy.
"Hmm, according to this article the professor is in a research lab in the city to study some of his great findings then will be hosting a lecture on archeology in a couple of months." Slouchy noted as he skimmed through the article.
"You know, I should try to find out when that lecture is being held. I might like to attend that." Elder Brainy pondered out loud.
"If it is possible, I would like to have a look at this key. To see if it is the exact one we lost." Papa Smurf wondered.
"It might not be that easy, Papa Smurf." Elder Brainy said with a straight face. "I may need to pull a few strings, make a few calls just to arrange an audience with the professor. There might be a chance he wouldn't want visitors to look at his findings." Brainy grabs his cane and uses it as leverage to help lift himself up from the chair. "I will go to the next room and start making some calls. With luck I can speak to him, or at least one of his assistance and convince them to let us look at the key at least."
"If you can do that we would be so grateful. Thank you, Brainy." Papa Smurf beamed with pride of his now grown pupil.
Brainy barely contained his joy. It really is Papa Smurf before him, and yes, he really did say those words. With a big smile, Brainy nodded and said, "I will do my best."
As Brainy headed to the back room, Brainette picks up one of the crystals. " I still would like to scan these crystals into my computer and come up with the backup plan of figuring out the puzzle just in case this key the professor found is not the right one for these crystals."
"Right of course," Grandpa nodded.
"Thank you," Papa Smurf said gratefully.
The smurfette elder turned to face Slouchy and said, "We are still waiting on that tea I requested earlier..." Brainette hinted.
"Oh," Slouchy stood stunned for a moment. "Of course, I will be right back." He left the laboratory as Brainette carefully gathered the crystals and led the ancient elders to the other end of the room where she has her special 3D scanning equipment stored.