Chapter 25 - Some Indiana Jones Level Stuff

Gerald led them to a room directly across the main passage through the middle of the Temple, where Phoebe stood waiting, and they let go of each other's hand. "There's not much here," Gerald said. "But we did find some pretty cool spears."

Arnold gritted his teeth at being interrupted in telling Helga he loved her just to be shown some spears, but he actually was fascinated by them. They still looked sharp and dangerous and were decorated with symbols. He silently took the one Gerald handed to him and balanced it in his two hands, looking closely at the carvings and paintings on them. "It's hard to tell how old these are, but they look brand new."

"I do hope they are not ceremonial as opposed to functional," Phoebe said. "Gerald thought you and he might take them to use to defend yourselves, but if they are sacred…" she added, trailing off.

"He is their God," Helga pointed out. "If anyone should be able to use the spears, it should be Arnold." Then she threw a sly glance at Gerald, "And his trusty sidekick…"

Gerald actually laughed. "Hey, who says I'm not the superhero and Arnold's MY sidekick?"

"You're not the God, Tall Hair Boy," Helga said, smirking at him.

Before they could further mock-argue over it, Arnold said thoughtfully, "We can take them. I know La Sombra and his men have guns and these aren't much of a defense against that, but at least we'll have something. I'll feel a little better with these."

"There's only two spears," Gerald said, holding up the one in his hand.

"I've got my knife and I'm happy with that," Helga said, patting the object where it hung from her rope belt.

"And I have my pole from the boat still," said Phoebe, gesturing to where it leaned against the wall next to their pile of backpacks.

Arnold glanced around the room, still holding the spear Gerald had found. There was a sort of altar at one end of the room on a raised dais. Another statue of him was placed on it, though this statue was quite large. He went over to look at it, then turned away, blushing. He was a pretty modest kid and seeing images of himself all over the Temple was sort of overwhelming.

Gerald began practice lunging with his spear. Helga and Phoebe wandered over to the wall opposite the door, which was was intricately carved with symbols.

"Something seems very odd to me, Helga," Phoebe said quietly.

Helga glanced at her guiltily and swallowed hard, thinking Phoebe had seen her and Arnold back at the beach earlier. "What do you mean?" she managed to squeak out.

Phoebe looked at her best friend curiously, wondering at her tone of voice. "I mean that this room seems too small."

Helga stared a moment, not expecting that. "Too small? It seems pretty big to me, Pheebs."

Phoebe shook her head. "No, it is not. I could swear it should be a little bigger. At least from the look of it from the outside. I did not notice it last night," and here she blushed and Helga made a mental note to find out more about Phoebe and Gerald's time in the Temple, "We did not explore this side of the Temple, but this room should be bigger. Everything in this Temple appears to be symmetrical."

"Symmetrical?"

Phoebe nodded. "If you split it down the middle, along that main passage, it would look the same on both sides. Or it should. This room should match the room that you and Arnold were in, but it does not. That is the room we slept in last night, and I remember it being bigger than this room."

Helga took Phoebe at her word, though she wasn't sure herself. It looked the same to her, now that Phoebe had pointed it out. The only difference she saw was the that carved idol of Arnold was much bigger and on a dais here, as opposed to being a smaller stone idol in a niche in the wall. There was no niche here.

"I'm sure it doesn't mean anything, Pheebs."

"And I am quite sure that it does."

Helga grinned at Phoebe's tone. The smaller girl had certainly gotten more confidence in herself and was much more self-assured. "So what do you think?"

Phoebe ran her hands over the wall. "I only wish I knew what these carvings meant. I do not know if it is a language, like Egyptian Hieroglyphics, or just a symbolic representation of something. None of the symbols LOOK like anything, but that does not mean that they are not representative of something."

"Maybe there's a hidden room or something? Like some Indiana Jones level stuff?" Helga asked.

"I suppose it is possible. We do not know anything about these Green Eyes, or what they are capable of," Phoebe agreed.

"La Sombra must have been all over this Temple," Helga mused, also reaching up a hand to lightly touch one of the carvings. "I'd be surprised if he hadn't found it."

Phoebe just hmm'ed to herself in response to Helga. She paced to the other end of the wall, then back, looking everything over carefully. Helga stepped back, crossing her arms in front of her chest and watched as Phoebe went back and forth. She glanced over her shoulder to see that Arnold and Gerald were still occupied over by the dais. She caught Arnold's eye and he smiled at her, which made her blush a little before she looked back to Phoebe.

Phoebe had stopped at a certain spot and was leaning closer to look at something on the wall that was just below her eye level. "Helga, come here and look at this."

Helga joined Phoebe, looking curiously at the spot at which Phoebe was pointing. "What is it?"

"This carving is different from all of the others," Phoebe said.

Helga looked around at the surrounding carvings. "All of them are different from each other."

"The subjects are different, Helga," Phoebe said, "but the method of carving and the overall look of the carvings is the same. See? This one is recessed into the wall, as opposed to being a sort a frieze."

"In English, Pheebs."

Phoebe actually giggled. "All the others stick out, this one does not."

Helga could see what she meant. The carvings on the wall were all sort of popped out, such as in a relief. The one Phoebe was looking at was carved into the wall. "So what does that mean?"

Instead of answering her, Phoebe yelled Gerald's name, startling the boy enough that he dropped his spear. Gerald looked sheepishly at Arnold, who just grinned at his friend while Gerald bent to pick up the dropped weapon. "Coming Pheebs," he tried to say as smoothly as he could.

Both boys joined the girls and Phoebe said, "Hand me that amulet you found, please."

Gerald had put the amulet back on again and he looked down at it. "Alright," he said, handing Arnold his spear so that he could pull the amulet off over his head and his tall hair. "Here," he said as he handed it over to her.

"I thought so," Phoebe murmured to herself as she looked at the amulet, then at the wall. Phoebe untied the leather thong that it was strung on and pressed the amulet into the wall. It slid in for a perfect fit and now the carving looked liked the others.

"Phoebe, what…" Helga began, but broke off. Phoebe had pushed with all her strength against the amulet. There was a grinding sound that seemed loud in the quiet room and it startled Helga, Gerald and Arnold. Part of the wall began turning, a small door-like section next to the carving Phoebe was pushing against.

"A door!" Gerald gasped. Arnold leaned the spears against the wall to the side and helped Gerald push against the slightly ajar door until it opened further.

"You were right Helga, it is some Indiana Jones level stuff," Phoebe said.

"What's back there?" Helga demanded.

"I can't see, it's too dark. Where's the flashlight?" Arnold asked.

Helga rushed over to her backpack where it rested with the others and dug through hers and Arnold's to get their flashlights, then returned to the half open door and handed Arnold one of them. "You did it Pheebs!"

Phoebe grinned, a slight blush on her cheeks. "Just using logic Helga!"

"Come on Football Head, let's see what's back there," Helga said, stepping to the door and clicking on her flashlight.

Arnold caught her arm, stopping her. "Hang on Helga. We don't know what's back there. Let's not just rush in. Let me go first, and we'll go slow."

Helga heard the worry in his voice and wanted to protest, but she also caught the stubborn glance he gave her and knew better. She was learning quickly which battles to fight with him and which to let him win. "Ok," she said meekly, surprising Gerald and Phoebe.

Arnold clicked on his flashlight too and stepped to the door, shining the light around. "It doesn't look like a big room," he reported. "Keep an eye out for anyone?" he asked Phoebe and Gerald, who just nodded as he disappeared through the door, followed closely by Helga.

"Should we worry about the air here?" Helga asked as they stepped into the darkened room, swinging their flashlights back and forth. The boys had not been able to open the door to the chamber very wide, so while the other room provided some illumination, it was still quite dark.

"The air?"

"It might be stale, you know, like in mines. You can die breathing it in."

Arnold stopped, now a little nervous. "Um, I didn't think of that."

"Well, we don't have a canary or anything like that," Helga said, shrugging. "If you feel light-headed, though, say something. This room isn't large and we should be able to get out if it's bad."

Arnold gulped and nodded. He felt her hand creep into his and he gave it a squeeze as they both directed their lights around the room, quickly illuminating another niche in the wall opposite the opening into the main room. It was in the same spot it was in the first chamber Arnold and Helga explored, making both chambers identical as Phoebe had stated they should be. The main difference was the wall that hid this section. There was something in the niche, but it was too dark to see. They looked at each other, barely visible in the little light coming in through the door.

"Let's make sure there's nothing else in this room," Helga suggested quietly, playing her light over the low ceiling. Arnold moved his light carefully over the floor.

"Looks clear," Helga said in a louder voice and she and Arnold crossed the room to the other wall and shone their lights into the niche.

There was a stone box resting in the back.

They looked at each other once more, before letting go of each other. Arnold handed Helga his flashlight and she shone both on the box as he reached toward it. It wasn't anchored down and he was able to slowly pull it closer to them, grunting a little with the effort.

"It can't be this easy, whatever is in there," Helga murmured.

Arnold grinned at her. "Let's see if I can get it open first."

He brushed off the dirt and dust enough to see that the stone box was covered with esoteric symbols similar to the ones on the wall outside, only these were not only chiseled into the box, but were also painted, though the colors were somewhat faded. He was surprised that the stone felt warm to the touch, not cold as he was expecting. The top was a lid, which didn't look to be secured. With one more glance at Helga, who was standing so close to him he could feel the heat from her arm on his, he grasped the lid and said, "Here goes nothing."

Arnold pushed the lid aside, and the moment the inside was exposed, a bright green light flooded the room emanating from the box. Helga gasped, drawing slightly away, but Arnold kept pushing the lid aside until it fell with a sharp thud next to the box. Both of them leaned forward and peered into the box.

"El Corazon," Arnold whispered.

"Are you sure?"

"It has to be. It's like what Dad described in the journal."

"I didn't realize it was a necklace," Helga said softly. "It's kind of like that amulet Gerald found."

Helga and Arnold stood staring into the box, partially mesmerized by the light emanating from the relic.

"How…?" Helga asked in a low tone, her voice trailing off.

Arnold didn't answer and couldn't take his eyes off the amulet. It was a stylized eye with some jewel set in the center where the pupil would be. The jewel was like nothing of which he had ever seen or heard. It glowed, with enough light that it illuminated both of their faces. When he did look at Helga, he saw how her face was bathed in the greenish light and he frowned, since it made her look sickly.

"Helga!" he said sharply as he saw she had dropped one flashlight next to the stone box and was moving that free hand toward the amulet.

She jerked her hand back, the spell broken as her eyes darted over to meet his. Arnold braced for a sharp retort that never came, though her eyes sparked with a challenge. "Sorry," she finally said. "I just seem to want to touch it."

"I know, I do too," he admitted.

"What should we do?"

"I'm not sure. I don't want to leave it here. I want to get it back to the Green Eyes, wherever they are."

"You could wear it," Helga suggested.

Arnold looked back down at the amulet, his stomach churning at the thought. He knew it was sacred, but not only that, it frightened him. The unexplained glow made him hesitant to touch it, even though he wanted to, and he remembered what his father had written about it in his journal. His father had told his mother not to even look at it, and here he and Helga were doing just that. It made him anxious for her safety.

"I don't know. It's really sacred."

"You're their God, Arnold," Helga pointed out. "Doesn't get much more sacred than that."

He looked up at her and saw her smiling at him, in that way that made his brain go fuzzy. "True," he agreed, then without another thought, he reached down to grab the leather thong attached to the relic. "Here goes nothing."

Arnold slipped the amulet over his head, trying not to touch the actual relic, and instead maneuvering it by holding the thong. As it settled against his chest, he felt a sort of warmth spread through him – an electric sort of buzzing that made him feel light-headed.

"I could swear that thing is glowing brighter now," Helga said quietly. He looked at her again and saw how worried her eyes were, though she was still smiling. "Do you feel any different?"

"I do," he said, looking down at the amulet. "But I can't explain how. This thing almost feels alive," he added in a thoughtful voice.

She gazed at him, "Well, jewelry really doesn't do much for ya, Football Head," she said in a joking tone, obviously trying to lighten the mood.

It worked. He grinned at her. "Oh I'm sure you won't think less of me," he teased, pleased at how flustered she looked.

She turned from him to look at the rest of the room, which was now faintly illuminated from the greenish glow of the jewel. "We should probably get out of here. I want to check out that cave Phoebe saw and see if our class is there. At least we've found El Corazon."

Arnold nodded, coming over to stand next to her. "I think that's the best we can do," he agreed, reaching for her hand.

When their hands touched, the amulet seemed to glow even brighter and Helga gasped. Arnold looked sharply at her and saw that her eyes were closed and she stood rigidly, her hand clutching tightly at his.

"Helga? Helga!"

Her eyes fluttered open and she turned her head towards him. He felt a brief, cold chill at the look in her eyes. She seemed…gone…was the word that came to him. "Helga?" he whispered.

"Don't let me go!" she cried.

"No! I won't!" he promised, taking her other hand in his free hand. The amulet glowed even more. "I've got you!" he said, thinking she meant to not let go of her hands.

Helga stared at him with a blank look that further unnerved him. What was she seeing? What was making her look like that?

"Helga, talk to me! What's wrong!?"

"Don't let me go!" she repeated.

"I'm not! I have your hands! I'm right here!"

After a few moments, the glow of the amulet faded somewhat, but still remained a strong green that lit their faces. She was the one to let him go, jerking her hands away from his as if they hurt her.

"El Corazon," Helga said softly, looking at Arnold. "The heart."

"Huh?" Arnold asked, looking at her confusedly.

"It means 'the heart', in Spanish. I'm confused, because I thought the Green Eyes don't speak Spanish."

"What do you think it means? The heart?"

"I don't know," she answered shakily. "I just felt my heart empty. Like I'd never be happy again."

"I didn't feel that," he said, frowning. "I felt…I don't know. Hopeful, I guess. Like everything would work out."

"Why didn't I feel that?" she asked, distressed.

He took her hands again and the amulet glowed brighter again. He stared into her eyes and saw that blank look come back, which concerned him, because once again, he felt that surge of hope. Yet as he looked at her, he detected what she meant. Something was going to happen, something that would make his heart ache for a long time. It would hurt, he knew, but then it would be alright. Everything would be alright.

"What are you thinking of?" he whispered to her and he could see her eyes focus on him, coming back from that blank space.

"You."

In spite of the warmth in his heart that El Corazon was generating, he felt a cold thread dart its' way in. Why would she feel her heart empty when thinking about him? They were now…something. He as much as said he loved her and he knew she loved him. Was El Corazon showing them their future? He both hoped so and hoped not, if she felt that way. El Corazon was making him feel good about the future, but he was also thinking about his parents as well as Helga. Was the heart ache he felt due to his parents or Helga?

"You don't feel," he paused, thinking of the right word, "anything good?" He asked this with a trembling voice, hoping and hoping she would feel something wonderful like he was feeling.

Saying that, he squeezed her hands tightly enough that she winced, but it did change. A slight feeling of warmth started flowing through her, seeming to emanate from his hands. Helga looked down at their clasped hands, bathed in the green light, then looked back into his eyes – eyes that seemed somehow a deeper green than she'd ever seen. "A little," she gasped. "But it won't be for a long time." She added, almost as if in a trance, "And only if you bring it to me." With that she dropped his hands and seemed to come back to herself.

"Arnold? Helga?"

They turned to see Phoebe poking her head in at the entrance.

"Are you alright? What is that light?"

Arnold shook himself to focus back on the moment and not at what Helga had just mysteriously said. "Yeah Phoebe, we're ok. We're coming," he replied, looking at Helga. "Come on. I'm a little scared to hold your hand," he admitted with a tone of regret. He liked holding her hand.

"It's ok," she said in a subdued tone. In all honesty, she was completely rattled inside. The overwhelming feeling of nothing that had gripped her heart scared her more than she'd ever been scared in her life. She never wanted to feel that way again.

The two went outside of the room where Gerald and Phoebe waited.

"What is that?" Gerald asked, obviously noticing the amulet strung around Arnold's neck. The glow had subsided, but was still noticeable.

"El Corazon?" Phoebe asked in a voice just above a whisper. "I thought La Sombra stole it years ago? Is that not what Eduardo said?"

"He did," Arnold confirmed. "I can't imagine La Sombra would hide it here though. I would have thought he would have sold it. I wonder how it got here."

"Maybe your parents did get it back and hid it here," Gerald suggested.

Arnold nodded distractedly, the worried frown still creasing his forehead.

"You ok, buddy?"

"Yeah," he said. "It's just…I don't know. There's something weird about this. Don't touch me," he warned. "Something happens to you when you do."

"What?" Gerald asked.

Arnold explained what had happened to a confused Phoebe and Gerald. Neither could quite believe what happened – and Arnold didn't tell them everything he and Helga had said to each other, which Helga noticed and was grateful for.

"It would be nice to be able to ask the Green Eyes what this amulet does," Arnold said, looking once again down at the relic nestled against his chest. Though not as strong as it was when he was holding Helga's hands, he still felt that warm, positive and hopeful feeling in his heart, which strengthened whenever he looked at the now-quiet blond girl standing next to him.

"I am sure we will meet with them at some point," Phoebe said. Her eyes were on Helga, who looked upset.

"What now?" asked Gerald.

"I think we should try and see if we can find our class," Arnold answered.

"That path to the cave," Helga said, her voice flat. "Was that far? I'd like to check that out."

"It is not far at all," Phoebe answered, looking at Helga with concern.

"Let's get our stuff and get going, then," Arnold decided.

Note: All of this chapter is a departure from my original story. I had to admit to myself that what I had written as the climactic scenes coming up were pretty lame. I had built up a story that had a pretty flat ending to the story arc. I wasn't happy with it. And since you all liked the first two-thirds of the story so much, I revamped this whole section completely. At first I didn't want to go into the supernatural aspect of what El Corazon might be...though I have read some good fanfics that have. I debated long and hard with myself (and my beta reader) on how to approach this. I hope you like it. It's not going to go too crazy - nothing more supernatural than has ever been seen on the show itself (which has portrayed some supernatural elements, including Arnold's birth and El Corazon). I am liking the direction I've taken this and it is more dynamic than what I had previously. The rewrite is what has slowed down my updates. Once I reach a certain point, the last few chapters will be posted quickly as I don't plan on changing them! Please let me know what you think!