Chapter 10: The Story on the Cave Walls
Perry
I sat on a rock, watching the sunrise. The valley was so endless, it almost seemed like one great endless plain. My eyes welled up with tears and I felt a smile on my bill. It was sadness. I have everything I could have ever wanted and more, but at what cost? Too many have paid the price for my selfishness… and Penelope's. I must find a way to set this right.
Penelope came to my side. Her hand graced mine and I turned to her with a smile. She smiled back. "Well, what now, conqueror?" she asked somewhat sarcastically.
"I don't really know," I replied. I turned back to the sunrise. After a few moments of silence, I said, "Why don't we go for a walk?"
"A walk?" she asked. "Where to?"
"Wherever," I replied. She smiled at me and I laughed a little sheepishly.
"All right. Let's go."
We went, hand in hand, for a walk. It was true I had no plan and wasn't sure where we were going. It was also true I had no idea of what was in store for us in the near future. Perhaps if I had been, I would have held onto Penelope a little tighter.
We soon came to a part of the valley that had many holes in the cliff walls. They looked like the caves of small animals and perhaps even of former humans who had been there. "Come on, let's go exploring," I said.
"You think it's safe?" asked Penelope.
I was already a part of the way up the cliff's face when I turned back to her and replied, "We haven't exactly gotten to where we are today by living by that question."
"I suppose not." She climbed after me and we began our ascent. We explored each cave. Some were clearly the caves of animals. Some caves were still being inhabited by bats. Some caves held some signs of former life. It was these caves that interested us the most.
"Cave men," I said.
"Or cave animals," Penelope put in.
We looked at the old artifacts and bones and noticed drawings on the walls as well. While the bones and artifacts were dust or near dust, the drawings looked almost as if they were still freshly done. There were animals, hunters, legends written on the walls through drawings.
We came at the cave's end and saw one that really caught our attention. "Penelope… is that…" I asked.
"They're symbols… old text," she replied. She began translating it in our tongue. "Two men, brothers, stand alone beneath a tree. They give their talents to anyone willing to partake of them. One man comes to them, a helpless soul. Through them, he becomes stronger than all others. It was because of them he took up the staff and amulet to protect his fellow creatures: seeing not good nor evil, but understanding all are one. When it came time for the brothers, the hero left. The hero could no longer help anyone so long as he was trapped…" Penelope paused and looked at me gravely before continuing. "He cried to the spirits for help, but he could not shake his curse. He needed another like him… even if he had to wait hundreds of years for him…"
"Look, it shows the hero putting the amulet on the staff, combining them. Perhaps this is one of Tau's tales," I said both gravely and excitedly.
"Yes…"
"Pen, I know you fear for me-"
"It's more than fear for what you are and what you are currently facing. I also fear what you will face some day… and what you will become. Our time is running short. The war will be upon us soon and I cannot let any of this stand."
"What are you talking about? Pen, you can tell me anything, you know that."
"Can and should are two different words, I'm afraid." I felt something in my chest and I felt inclined to go outside. "Perry?" I couldn't answer. "Perry, where are you going?"
We wound up outside and it wasn't until I was standing before an unlikely sight that I stopped. There were stones stacked like our commemorative tombs. Though we were cremated in our tradition, rocks were stacked in a place of great significance for remembrance. It wasn't until the person was long forgotten that the stones could be taken down.
I immediately began digging in the dirt with my hands. I soon came across something that both astounded me and terrified me: there, in the soil of the earth, lay the staff of Tau with his amulet tied across the top. "This is Tau's staff," I said. I picked it up and felt it in my hands. I knew its age, but did not feel it.
"This isn't right," said Penelope.
"What do you mean?"
"I sense… there's more to it than that."
"I suppose anyone would be expecting diamonds and gold for treasure."
"Perry…"
"What?"
Penelope paused, her eyes darting about in thought. "Nothing. It's probably nothing." I quirked an eyebrow in confusion, but I let it go. "There is more coming."
I didn't feel like taking this any further. I was finding that Penelope would eventually tell me what she needed to when she felt like it and pressing her on it would not make her reveal it any sooner. I decided it might be best if we returned to Siwatu's hut. Perhaps things would smooth themselves out… but they didn't.
When we arrived at Siwatu's hut, it was trashed. The door was off its hinges, the hut had holes in it, and everyone was gone. The only signs as to who could have taken them lied in the painted symbols all around. I wasn't able to make comprehensible sounds at that point, so great was my frustration. Penelope said something quietly and I didn't hear her.
"What?"
"The cannibals," she said, not that much louder than the first time.
"Cannibals? There are cannibals in this valley?!"
"Why did you think it was called Death Valley? It is not the creatures of myth that made it this way… not entirely. It is our own depravity. Every person hides a part of themselves away from others. It is their most personal self, who they truly are. We, all of us, have hidden those sides from each other.
"Now, the cannibals, they have nothing to hide. They worship the evil spirits; those who are associated with torture, apathy, and any other trait that goes against our natural nature. Perry, I've said all that to say this: the only way we're getting out of here alive and with even half the sanity we came here with, we need to come to know ourselves."
"How am I supposed to do that?"
"It is not something I can teach or give advice on. I'm not even sure who I am at this point."
I gripped onto Tau's staff with both hands. I looked at the gem dangling from the top. I had a feeling of what I had to do. "Come on," I said. Perhaps I would figure out the rest as I went along. For now, I just went with my instinct.
Siwatu
One is a traitor, one shall become greater. One shall meet their destiny, one shall have clarity. One will reject silence, one will wish to be silenced. One shall cry and one shall die.
I don't know what was more terrifying: the fact that I knew its meaning or just how helpless I was to stop it. Perhaps… perhaps it was a good thing that Max Sr. was following in Tau's footsteps… but at what cost? Would he then have to face more of the challenges Tau faced in life? The challenges that were not mentioned in the legends? Challenges far after Tau supposedly left? One thing was for sure, things were moving swiftly… and I couldn't do anything about it, no matter how hard I tried.
I was tied up with Doofenshmirtz, Isabella, Phineas, Ferb, Rosalynn, and Max Jr. around a large pole. The cannibals were probably intending to do more than just cook and eat us though. Yes, first they had to completely scar us… then came the mind games. We'd be begging for them to kill us by the time they were through. I had dealings with these blokes before… they were not easy to come up against.
"This all never would have happened if we had just kept out of it," said Ferb. This felt like one of, if not his first, words during this whole trip.
"What do you mean?" asked Phineas.
"Look at us, Phineas. We've been dragged across the world by a couple of deranged platypuses and for what? It's been a mind game from the very beginning, a great game of chess that we had all been full and willing to play… until now. I won't stand for this anymore.
"First, we discovered Penelope. We took her in as a sign of pity and because 'some man' ordered us to. Where do any of them down at ALPHA get off by subjecting us, normal civilians, to this? Granted, we are not quite as normal as anyone else, but we could have had anything we wanted in a few years, Phineas, gone to any college, married any girl we wished, lived any life that we wished. We could have gone our whole lives ignorant to where Perry went every day. We could have gone our whole life blindly, but that is not how they wanted it to be, is it?
"Then, someone had the bright idea of following them to Europe, which, for the record, I found to be utter and complete hell to see Europe in that state and it still shames me to know that England is facing trials with the Enigma's men. The Enigma… I wish we had never known of his existence.
"Then, of course, Asia came about and that was no better. And, all throughout this, there have been creatures that shouldn't even exist popping out of nowhere. The Minotaur, the dragon, the- the- whatever those freakish Australian creatures are that Perry killed! It's all insane! It's all madness and I can't take it anymore!" The boy took some deep breaths. "I will not be silent anymore. I will not sit by and watch everything I know and love crumble before my very eyes… not again."
"Ferb, I- I had no idea you were so affected by all of this," said Phineas.
"Well, perhaps I've just been keeping quiet because I thought it was the safest thing to do. Besides, it might be a good change of pace, this talking more thing," said Ferb.
I heard a sigh that I recognized as being Doofenshmirtz. "Yeah, you go ahead and try that out, kid. It sure hasn't done me a lot of good. Sometimes I feel as if things could have gone so much better in my life if I had just shut my mouth sometimes. I feel so useless and stupid," said the man. "Maybe I should be quiet… I wish I could."
"Phineas…" came the soft voice of Isabella.
"Yeah?" asked Phineas.
"Can't you get us out of this?" she asked.
"What can I do? I'm just a platypus."
"Perry and Penelope are 'just platypuses' and look at what they can do. If you can do all the things you did as a human, imagine what you can do now. Perhaps… perhaps there is something to being an incorporation of all parts of nature."
"Well, I may not be magic and I may not be used to my body yet… but I'm gonna find a way out of this for us."
As I listened to them, I heard and saw Penelope's prophesy kicking in. Slowly, everything was falling into place. I looked to the sky and prayed. I knew that it would be one of the last times I saw the sky look as it does… so beautiful, innocent… normal. Soon, sooner than anyone will be ready for, it will all come to pass.
Prophesy making more sense now? I have lined up most everything for you. So, if anyone has any ideas who goes in the blanks of the prophesy, feel free to theorize in the reviews. Also, while the others were kidnapped by cannibals, Perry has found Tau's amulet and staff. There must be something lining up there too. Finally, Siwatu sure seems to know a lot of things for being outside of the situation. Any theories as to why or as to what shall happen next? We shall see! Please keep reading and reviewing, thanks :)
