"Ludwig is inside," Gilbert says as he begins to walk up the stone stairs.
We follow him all the way to the top, and stop to catch our breath before continuing inside. The stone pillars in front of the entrance are much taller up close, which only make us feel tinier in comparison. I stare in wonder at the detailed carvings of forests and mountains on the walls of the passageway leading inside. There are plenty of bears carved into the wall as well, and I pause for a moment to brush my hand over two large bears standing in a cluster of trees. It reminds me of the missing member of our group and his forlorn older brother.
Kiku notices I've stopped, and waits for me to catch up. "Don't worry, we'll find him," he tells me, as if reading my mind.
I nod silently as I follow Kiku further into the temple. The hallway opens up to a large room illuminated by huge brass bowls hanging by chains from the ceiling. Each bowl must contain some sort of flammable liquid because flames flicker and dance within the brass basins. A stone alter stands in the middle of the cavernous room, and a tall statue stands behind it. I recognize the statue.
"Urmatri," I whisper. Despite how quiet I was, my voice still echoes in the giant room.
"Have you been here before?" Gilbert asks with a raised eyebrow. "How would you know what the Bear Mother looks like?"
"It's a...long story," I tell him. Now isn't the time to explain my dream.
Our group disperses around the room to look around for any signs of Ludwig. Wax drips from the clusters of lit candles on both sides of the stone alter as I approach it for a better look. Nothing indicates that the blonde Bear was ever here. I look over at the others, who also don't seem to be finding anything.
"Are you sure he came here?" Lovino asks with a huff. "What if we're just wasting our time?"
"He has to have come here," Gilbert insists. "West is focused on the quest. There's no way he'd give up on it when we were so close to the Temple."
Suddenly, the sound of pounding feet begin to echo around the chamber. Three men come running from a hallway that's different from the hall leading outside. We hadn't even noticed it in our haste to find Ludwig. The men are dressed in simple animal skin clothes, and wooden beads hang from the hems of their tunics, which clack together when the men move.
"Who are you?" the man in front demands. He has shaggy long hair, and shallow wrinkles starting to form on his face. My eyes are drawn to the dark red markings that have been painted on his face.
"Head Priest, has my brother come through here?" Gilbert asks. I assume the paint must symbolize who's the top priest.
"Brother?" the priest asks in confusion. His auburn colored wings flex as he thinks. "Hmmmm...do you mean the tall one that caused quite a commotion recently?"
"It must be him," I say. "How many other people would be up here recently?"
"You would be surprised, young one," the Head Priest says. "The Temple of the Bear Mother is visited by many pilgrims in search of strength and courage." His eyes land on my golden wings, and understanding dawns on his face. "You are the chosen champions."
"Y-yes," I confirm in surprise. "Were you expecting us?"
"We have heard about what occurred at the Ceremony of Legends from the clan elders. We've been awaiting your visit." The priest looks at our tired group. "You are missing someone. Your brother, I assume," he says and looks at Gilbert.
"Yeah," Gil answers.
"He is here."
Gilbert noticeably brightens, and the rest of us let out sighs of relief. "Where is he?" the elder Bear asks.
The Head Priest points to the statue in the back of the room. "The Temple reacted to his presence, and the path to the goddess's blessing was revealed." He chuckles softly. "It gave us quite a scare."
We walk to the statue with the three priests close on our heels. The other two with the Head Priest have yet to speak, and I wonder if they even can. Gilbert steps up to the statue, and looks around. After a few moments of searching, he turns to us with a confused look.
"Are you sure this is right?"
The Head Priest shrugs. "We did not see what your brother did. All we know is the Temple opened to him, and he was gone."
Gilbert turns back to the statue with knit brows. I'm afraid he's going to get frustrated and angry, but without warning, his whole demeanor changes. He straightens his posture, and walks confidently to the wall behind the statue. We follow him curiously. Gil raises a hand, and places it on a small carving etched into the wall. I would've never noticed it unless someone brought attention to it like the Bear just did.
Energy fills the air as a red aura forms around the albino. A deep rumbling is heard, and the floor shakes beneath our feet. The wall Gilbert has his hand on splits right down the middle. Rumbling changes to the sound of stone grinding on stone as the two halves of the wall pull away to reveal a corridor. It stretches into the dark depths of the temple with no hint as to what lies beyond. The silence presses in on us as the rumbling dies away, and we stand there in awe.
"Magnificent," the Head Priest breathes. "To think something like this has been here the whole time without our knowledge."
"Let's go," Gilbert instructs in a firm voice. He leads the way with Feli and Lovino right behind.
I begin to follow, but turn around when I notice the priests haven't moved. "Aren't you coming?"
"The secret depths of the Temple are not for us to discover," the wrinkled man says with a shake of his head. "Farewell, champion of the Great Mother."
He and the other priests place clawed hands over their heart in a salute. I nod in return because I don't know how else to respond, now that I'm not an Eagle anymore. The stone walls begin to slide shut behind me with another uproar, and I catch glimpse of the Head Priest smiling encouragingly before it closes. The darkness lasts only a moment, then hanging bowls above our heads, similar to the ones in the main room, light the hall with bright flames.
I quickly catch up to the others, who had continued on for a ways without me. There still hasn't been any sign of Ludwig, but the Head Priest had said this is where he went. We walk in silence for a while until my curiosity gets the better of me.
"How did you know how to open the passageway, Gil?" I ask the albino.
"I'm not sure," he answers. "I just had this feeling like that's what I should do, like I've known it all along."
I blink in surprise at what he said. That exactly describes how I had felt about extending my spear, or knowing how to wield it. It's like discovering a repressed memory.
The hall soon opens up into a circular room with two doorways. One is blocked by a large stone door with a bear paw carved into it, and the other has a steel door and another bear paw.
"Which way do we go?" I ask. There seems to be no difference between the left and right doors except the material they're made out of.
"Perhaps this is a clue," Kiku says. We turn to look at the short Eagle who is pointing to some writing on the wall between the two doors. He begins to read it out loud.
"When young they're taught, from whence they came. When old they know, their claim to fame.
A virtue dear, each Bear lays hold. Within their heart, more dear than gold.
A mountain to move, a choice to make. There is but one door, correct to take."
"Sounds like a riddle," Lovino deduces. "We just have to figure out what kind of stupid message is being left for some idiot Bear to figure out."
"Let's start from the beginning," I say, ignoring Lovino's rude comments. "'When young they're taught, from whence they came. When old they know, their claim to fame'. What could that mean?"
"Well, we're all taught the legends when we're young. Perhaps it means the legend which is reason for our quest when it says 'from whence they came'," Kiku says thoughtfully. "The Legend of Matrisus is the story of our origin after all. It may be trying to tell us we're in the right place because we're on the same quest."
"That makes sense," I say with a nod. "But what about the next line? 'When old they know, their claim to fame'."
"Hmmm...I don't have an answer for you. Sorry," Kiku says apologetically.
"Let's try to next few lines," I suggest. "'A virtue dear, each Bear lays hold. Within their heart, more dear than gold'."
"Strength," Gilbert's says. He's been unusually quiet since we entered the room, and I almost forgot he was there. "It means strength. A Bear takes pride in his strength more than anything, even gold. That's probably also what it means by 'claim to fame'. Bears are known to be big and strong."
"That's true," I agree. "So far we know that it's talking about our quest and a Bear's strength. Now we just need the last two lines. 'A mountain to move, a choice to make. There is but one door, correct to take'."
"The door part is obvious," Lovino chimes in. "Somewhere in those lines we're supposed to figure out which door to take. Leave it to a Bear to come up with silly poems instead of just telling you how to do it."
I smack the loudmouth Wolf in the back of the head. "We don't need any cynicism, thank you very much. I think the key lies in the first line. 'A mountain to move, a choice to make'. It's telling us there's a choice to make, and that it involves moving a mountain."
"I've got it!" Kiku says with a snap of his fingers. "The answer is the stone door. Stone comes from the mountain, so if we want to advance, we have to move the stone door."
"That's genius, Kiku!" I exclaim. "Let's give it a try!"
The four of us working on the puzzle brace ourselves against the stone door and push as hard as we can. Nothing. We give it another try, but still it doesn't move.
"This doesn't make sense," I say in frustration. "We got the answer right."
"That's what I thought too."
We all jump at the sound of Ludwig's deep voice. He and Feli are sitting next to the entry where we came from, and I assume they've been watching us the whole time.
"Ludwig! Why did you run off like that?" Gilbert shouts. His voice bounces around the circular room. "You could've gotten into a lot of trouble! What we're you thinking?"
"Don't talk to me like you're being responsible," Ludwig growls. "You're the reason I worry all the time! If you start acting your age, I won't have to babysit you all the time!"
This takes Gilbert by surprise. "Babysit me? I've been the one taking care of you all these years because you we're too scared to go out and make friends! You don't know about the sacrifices I had to make so that you could become the great kid mom and dad always wanted!"
Silence fills the room after Gilbert's outburst. He looks just as surprised as Ludwig at the words that came out of his mouth.
"What do you mean the kid they always wanted?"
Gilbert looks down at the ground with clenched fists. "I-I...I always talk so big, but deep down inside I'm just a failure. I couldn't be the kind of kid that would make our folks proud. So when you came around, everyone had big hopes that you would be the perfect child. Big and strong like our old man, and smart like ma. But then you were too shy to go outside and make any friends. I...I couldn't stand the idea of them looking at you like a failure too, so I spent hours taking you out into the woods so you could learn to be brave. I beat up anyone that picked on you at school, and I got beat up plenty for it. I did it all for you!"
Ludwig's eyes grow wider and wider as his brother talks. I can see the anger slowly leave his face, and something completely different take its place. Shame.
"You turned out to be the perfect kid everyone was hoping for, and I'm the good for nothing older brother that everyone laughs at. That's why I thought the goddess made a mistake picking me to go on this quest. I'm no champion. My own brother thinks I'm worthless." Gilbert pulls out the necklace that signaled him to be a champion at the ceremony. "The elders said we should take the relics with us because they would guide us to the right path. Too bad they didn't know I'm not the person they're looking for." He pulls his hand back to throw the artifact to the ground, but Ludwig's hand catches hold of his wrist.
"Brother...I'm so sorry. I didn't know," Ludwig says in a soft voice. "I don't believe you're a failure, and I don't believe the goddess made a mistake."
Gilbert wrenches his arm free from his brother. "Spare me, West. I don't need you feeling sorry for me too."
"But I don't!" the blonde Bear insists. "You're my elder brother, and I've...I've..."
"I think what Ludwig is trying to say is even though he thinks you're annoying, he still admires you because you're his brother," Feliciano says with a smile. "Lovino can be really mean sometimes, but I still love him because he's my brother and takes good care of me." Feli hops over to his brother and gives him a hug.
"Brother, I've never thought you were a failure," Ludwig says quietly. "Feliciano is right. I am proud to be your brother, and I believe mother and father are proud of you as well. You were always there when they couldn't be, and I'm sorry I've taken you for granted. Please, brother, don't be angry."
Gilbert turns toward Ludwig with his head down. He approaches his younger brother, and gives him a hug. "Don't you ever run away again, West."
Ludwig returns the embrace with his strong arms. "I'm sorry, brother. I won't do it again. I promise."
"This is real touching and all," Lovino interrupts loudly as he struggles with a clingy Feli. He finally manages to push his twin away. "We still have to find a way to get through this stupid temple."
"We tried the stone door, but it didn't work," I remind him. "We did everything the riddle said."
"I couldn't get it to work either," Ludwig says after he and Gilbert let go of each other. "I've been here waiting the whole time."
"Veeee~! Does that mean we're stuck here?" Feli asks in a panicked voice. "I'm too young to die!"
"Nobody's dying on my awesome watch!" Gilbert exclaims. I'm glad to see he's back to his old self. "I'll get us out of here!"
"We have to be missing something," I murmur. "We know which door, but even the four of us couldn't open it."
"I've been thinking," Kiku interjects, "that the riddle puts quite a bit of emphasis on strength, but not just anyone's strength. It specifically talks about the strength found in the Bear clan. So it seems to me that in order to advance we need to have the Bears from the quest, and their strength."
Kiku's logic slowly sinks in, and we all look at each other excitedly. "That just might work!" I say excitedly.
"Ready to move a mountain, West?" Gilbert asks his brother as he rolls up his sleeves.
"Whenever you are, brother."
The two brace themselves against the stone door, and begin to push with all their might. At first, nothing seems to happen, but a familiar sensation takes place as the air fills with energy. A blue aura appears around Ludwig, and a red one around Gilbert, as the brothers strain against the door. We watch in astonishment as the stone door begins to swing open. The two Bears slowly push the door completely open, and the energy dissipates from the room.
"Not bad, West!" Gil says with a wide grin. He motions for us to follow him through the door to the next room.