Underneath the Sphinx
The seven friends stared across the gaping hole, trying to pick out a reasonable path to reach the other side with ease. Lightning flashed across the sky once more, making the prospect of falling into the blackness even more frightening. The friends had tried to see if there was a way to climb the Sphinx's enormous left paw and make their way toward the front of it without negotiating the treacherous ledges surrounding the ravine. But as they quickly discovered, the ancient stones and bricks that made up the Sphinx had since been smoothed and eroded by many millennia's worth of desert rains and sandstorms. This alone made the prospect of climbing its sheer surface an impossibility. Even worse, the other pit behind them extended almost to the Sphinx's hind leg, and there weren't exactly that many ledges surrounding it for them to negotiate. There were enormous dunes and steep rock structures preventing them from easily making their way around the Sphinx the long way, and it was possible that more ravines had since formed around the ancient site since things had taken a turn for the worse. The only point of interest in that direction was what appeared to be an abandoned tool shed, but even that was not enough to convince the seven friends to go that way. If there was a way to gain access underneath the Sphinx in a safe manner, making their way to the front seemed like the most logical thing to do. Even so, it was not guaranteed that they would find anything there, but what other choice did they have?
Luigi led the way around the ravine as carefully as he could without slipping. More than once Wario lost his balance but was somehow able to keep it as the seven friends skipped and hopped to and from each tiny ledge. Peach and Daisy had virtually no problems, though the fear of falling made them extremely nervous. Waluigi was somewhat fearful, though Toad and Yoshi seemed the most afraid. Luckily, all it took was a few encouraging words from the man in green to motivate them to follow suit. Although the ravine was quite large, it still only took them a couple minutes for them to make it to the other side. As much as Luigi tried not to dwell on it, he could not help but think that those few minutes could have made the difference between life or death down the line. Still, there was no sense in being overly critical. They had survived... at least for now.
After catching their collective breath, Luigi and the others turned right down the sandy path past the Sphinx's left paw to make sense of what lay ahead. On the other side of the Sphinx, they could make out another large pit that appeared to span the length of the entire statue, as well as the area in front of them. There was nothing of interest to be seen in that direction. But when Luigi turned his attention down the narrow path that lay between both paws of the giant Sphinx, it was an entirely different matter. At the very end of the path, just below the Sphinx's chest, was a large stone inscription about as big as he was tall that was buried about halfway underneath piled up sand. Upon closer inspection, he could just barely make out faint traces of carved symbols and writing that had been badly eroded by the elements. Nevertheless, the messages it appeared to reveal through Luigi's translating vision were tantalizing. But before he could get a good look at it, Daisy broke the silence.
"No one has been able to walk this close to the Sphinx since my father restricted access to the site over ten years ago." Daisy suddenly said.
"You mean like what he did back in Easton at Lake Hiyoihoi?" Luigi asked.
"Yes. That's right."
"Look how much sand is covering that inscription." Peach said. "It almost looks like it was done deliberately."
"Yeah, but it's simply the result of neglect." Daisy said. "Since no one has been allowed to get near the Sphinx for quite some time, no one has been around to clear the base of excess sand."
"Well, that's only going to make it harder for us to get where we need to go, assuming there is a way to get underneath this thing." Wario said. "But how are we going to get underneath the Sphinx if no one has discovered an underground passage?"
"It's not like we have all the time in the world to figure this out either." Waluigi added as the gang began contemplating their next move.
Luigi, who was brushing the sand away from the large stone tablet, suddenly gasped.
"Guys, listen to this." Luigi said as he began reading. Despite the almost unreadability of the inscription, Luigi pressed on reading as best as he could through his translating eyes.
"The inscription reads: One night, in dreaming, came to me... the spirit... of the Sphinx... In his passing... he... spoketh to me... words of great wisdom... 'Totomesu, here is your true destiny... This land... of Birabuto... is forever yours... to rule... In return, protect me... always... from the sands of time... As you are, I must be free... from head to toe... so that we both... may witness the divine beauty... of creation..."
The others looked at the green-clad plumber with great confusion.
"Luigi, I know that you have discovered your newfound talent of reading ancient hieroglyphs, but was that really necessary?" Daisy asked.
"Maybe not." Luigi replied. "But I think this is implying that we're in the right place. Daisy, there's no other place in this part of Sarasaland where Totomesu would've hidden one of the gemstones..."
"Hey guys! Come feel the ground over here!" Peach suddenly exclaimed.
"What is it, Peach?" Daisy asked.
"Just feel it with your foot..."
Everyone gathered around the tiny area Peach had pointed and started tapping the ground with their feet. Luigi was confused at first, that is until he felt the signature vibrations of hollow ground beneath the sand. His face suddenly lit up in a way that always meant that he was on the brink of something. There could only be one possible explanation for the hollow ground underfoot.
"Peach, you're a genius!" Luigi said. "I think we found our ticket to the underground."
"Except there's one problem." Wario said. "If this is where we need to go, how are we going to dig out all of this sand? I mean, it's not like the ground underneath is going to be any easier to breach."
"Well, if my suspicions are correct, there's no reason for me to doubt that King Richard tried to deliberately hide this place from the general public. We've already seen that Daisy's father tried to keep Mystery Island back in Easton a secret from everyone. Who's to say that the same thing happened here? As far as breaking through, I'm not sure how we'll be able to do that. We've already passed a tool shed on our way here, so we'd have to go back across that ravine to grab a shovel."
"Assuming that we'll find one there at all..." Waluigi said. "Hmm..."
"What are we going to do?" Daisy asked.
"Wait a minute! I've got it!" Toad said. "Yoshi, can you dig this hole in the ground?"
Everyone turned to face the green dinosaur with great anticipation, who until now had no real purpose other than to give everyone else moral support. He looked from Toad to the ground and then back to Luigi, not sure of this sudden request. He had helped Luigi and Mario dozens of times in the past, but not when digging into sand and parched, solid desert ground.
"Yoshi?" Really?
"Come on, Yoshi. I know you can do it." Luigi said. "Remember all those times you helped me and Mario out of tough situations back on your island?"
"Yoshi..." Yes...
"Please, Yoshi? You're our only hope at this point."
As if affirming Luigi's request, a hoard of flying demons suddenly made their way across the sky out of nowhere, screeching and howling as they flew any which way to attack more of the fighting armies of soldiers in the distance. Luckily, they did not spot the seven friends down by the Sphinx, but there was no guarantee that it would stay that way for long. With that, Yoshi finally made up his mind.
"Yoshi Yoshi..." I'll do it...
Almost immediately, Yoshi began clearing out the sand about as effectively as a knife cutting through warm butter as the creatures continued soaring overhead. The green dinosaur suddenly started to slow down as he reached the harder ground underneath. Surprisingly, the 'ground' underneath was revealed to be ordinary concrete, further adding plausibility to Luigi's conspiracy theory. Yoshi then tried ground-pounding the concrete to break through, but as he quickly discovered, the ground was not as solid as it appeared. The ground underfoot suddenly cracked and collapsed, sending Yoshi falling down into a dark, almost pitch-black hole. Luckily, the fall was not a long one and the green dinosaur felt himself recuperating from the sudden jolt of adrenaline just a few seconds later. Only then did he realize that there was something else down in the hole.
"Yoshi! Are you okay?!" Luigi called out from above. "Can you see anything?"
"Luigi! Yoshi! Yoshi! Yoshi! Yoshi!" Luigi! There's a tunnel! There's a tunnel!
"Good job, Yoshi!" Luigi yelled back. He turned back to face the others, smiling as he began sharing the news with them.
"There's a tunnel down there, guys." Luigi said. "Let's go check it out."
"Wow..." Daisy said. "And to think I never knew about it!"
"I don't think anyone knew about it." Peach said. "Well, anyone besides your dad. Sounds like he really wanted to keep it a secret. But why?"
"If he knew about it, does that mean that the knowledge extends back in your bloodline?" Toad asked. "Could it be a hidden family secret?"
"If it was, I would've known about it." Daisy said. "But then again..."
"Umm, guys... We should hurry and get down there before those creatures fly down and try to pick us off!" Wario said. "I think they're getting closer."
"Well, what are we waiting for?!" Waluigi said. "Let's go!"
Luigi was the first to jump down and join Yoshi in the hole as the others followed suit. Looking ahead, the tunnel seemed to slope downwards and disappear into a wall of darkness that was blacker than Mr. L's heart. Their only helpful compass going forward was the cooler current of air that seemed to emanate from the blackness, as if the passage itself was finally able to breath after millennia of holding its breath. Assuming they wandered down the passage without any kind of light source, there would be no way for Luigi and the others to make sense of their surroundings. Fortunately, the seven friends had come prepared and had plenty of fire flowers at their disposal. But exactly what they would find was anyone's guess. They could only hope that the sixth gemstone not be too far ahead.
"So, who's going to lead the way?" Wario asked just as Luigi snatched a fire flower from his backpack and bit off the head. Almost instantaneously, globes of green fire formed in Luigi's hands, illuminating the dark passageway with their eerie greenish light. Amazingly, the tunnel wasn't just carved out of the subterranean rock but was also built from sandstone bricks that seemed to morph from the surrounding rock about halfway down. Despite this, the tunnel seemed to go on forever. The glow from Luigi's hands could only reach so far. Nevertheless, he knew that this had to be the right place.
"Alright... Let's go." he said as he started walking down the path at a brisk pace.
Meanwhile...
Sand and desolation had since replaced green grass and foliage as Mario sped through the desert at top speed. All around he could see evidence of Armageddon's impending presence as car wrecks and the smoldering remains of military vehicles and helicopters blew past in a blur. Lightning flashed hazardously across the landscape as the black clouds continued swirling overhead and the ever-increasing winds kicked up dust and debris, reducing visibility in all directions. Dust devils and large clouds of sandy dust enveloped Mario as they merged into one gigantic dust storm.
"Damn it!" Mario shouted as a piece of debris hit and cracked the windshield. Despite the increasing danger, he continued trudging onward. There wasn't much else he could do. His desire to seek Luigi was just too great for him to care about any other obstacles. He began thinking about the past and all of the wrongs he had brought upon his brother, both intentional and unintentional, and his desire to correct those mistakes. But above all, he really hoped that his brother would correct his own mistake and save everyone living being on the planet. The farther down the road Mario travelled, the more he felt his doubts were unjustified. He could sense his brother's triumph and successes, despite being separated from him by hundreds of miles – something that hasn't changed since their birth. But he could also feel his struggles. Likewise, he knew that Luigi could sense his own feelings, and he couldn't help but wonder if his traumatic experiences over the last few days had any negative affect on him.
Despite his worries, Mario was not about to trample himself into a pit of deep thought and intense emotion. He had to carry on and focus on his goal, and that required him to think methodically and dispassionately. If he was going to find his brother and the others, he was to focus on getting to Birabuto and nothing else.
A slight glow emanated from Luigi's backpack as he and the others continued downward into the ground. Luigi reached into it and pulled out the Amulet of Jealousy and Resentment, seeing that it was glowing brightly – a sure confirmation that they were in the right place. Apart from that, the tunnel was deathly quiet compared to ground above them, with only the sound of crunching gravel breaking the deafening silence. Every now and then, the seven friends could hear faint echoes from where they had come from. Whenever they heard these almost indiscernible noises, everyone had to look back to make sure no monsters were trying to sneak up from behind them, for the noises only seemed to appear whenever their footsteps and breathing became too quiet.
Apart from their uneasiness of venturing into an unknown dark tunnel, there were plenty of other things for Luigi and the others to see. All along the bricked walls, Luigi could just make out ancient hieroglyphs similar to the ones he had seen back in Muda, albeit more extensive and better preserved thanks to the dry desert climate. There were glyphs depicting ancient alien spacecraft just as he had seen before and also what appeared to be a map of the stars, some of them connected dot-to-dot style to form a five-pointed star. Was it an ancient constellation? Luigi reasoned that it could have been possible for the ancient Sarasalandian astronomers to have dictated their own constellations prior to the current way in which the night sky was broken up. But he was beginning to have doubts as he continued scanning the walls, realizing that all of the stars in the picture did not match up to form any current recognizable constellation. In translating some of the ancient writings surrounding the star map, Luigi found many references to a so-called "Star Road" that was said to have connected the Sarasalandians to other places among the ether, the ether being the realm beyond the air and sky. In current language, that could easily translate to the heavens. Could the star map really be depicting the aforementioned Star Road? If so, was it possible that the ancients of Sarasaland had made contact with other beings? If so, could these other beings be related to the Sarasalandians themselves? Everyone? The more Luigi looked, the more questions began surfacing in his mind and the more his ancient alien hypothesis seemed to ring true – at least according to his own thinking. But as much as he wanted to make sense of everything, Luigi couldn't afford to get distracted.
About fifty feet further down the tunnel, Luigi and the others discovered that the tunnel suddenly stopped. On the far wall was a closed gate that led into another room beyond, but because it was so dark, there was no way any of them could see into it. Beside the gate on the left wall was a very familiar-looking receptacle in the shape of a scarab.
"This must be where gemstone number six is!" Luigi said excitedly as he took the Amulet from his backpack and placed it into the wall. Almost as if it were anticipating the amulet's presence, the gate almost immediately started to rise upward until it could rise no more. The darkness of the room beyond beckoned.
"Well, after you, Luigi." Wario said.
"Like I have a choice." Luigi replied as they all made their way through the now-open gate, making sure that he remained in possession of the Amulet. Amazingly, the gate did not start to descend back into its closed position like all of the other doors he had encountered recently. But as soon as Luigi finished that thought, the gate suddenly slammed shut and the room suddenly became awash with warm orange light as all of the ancient wooden torches lining the walls of the room magically caught on fire, catching everyone by surprise in the process. The light of the flames revealed a room unlike other that Luigi had entered throughout his entire journey. All of the walls were made of the same carved brick that was seen in the entrance tunnel and all were beautifully decorated by the same hieroglyphic carvings. Aside from a few small patches of rock and gravel, most of the floor in the giant hall was made of blackened brick-like stones. The section of the room where the seven friends stood served as a sort of entryway, with giant pillar-like structures lining along the side walls and supporting a perfectly smooth vaulted carved ceiling. At the far end of the hall, the room opened up to two more large hallways to the left and to the right of what appeared to be two sphinx statues sitting in the middle of the junction on raised platforms. They almost seemed to be guarding the far wall.
"This place is enormous!" Daisy said.
"What is this place, anyway?" Peach asked.
"It sure beats the hell out of me." Waluigi said. "I don't even know half the places I go, usually."
"Well, whatever this place is, the sixth stone must be around here somewhere." Toad said. "The only thing I really don't understand is how and why this place went unnoticed for as long as it did."
"There's no doubt my father was behind it." Daisy said.
"Yoshi yoshi?" What's that?
Everyone looked in the direction Yoshi was pointing. It was the far wall behind the two sphinx statues. On it were three giant square-shaped stone tablets that looked like were carved out of polished basalt. Each had a different symbol etched into it – two feather reeds, a triangle shape (sandy slope?), and a falcon.
"Hmm..." Luigi said as looked down the hall. "I think we should examine the other end of this room. I have a very terrible premonition about this place. I think we may have stepped into another puzzle."
"What makes you think so?" Toad asked.
"Toad, every place I've been to in Sarasaland has been a puzzle. There's nothing here to suggest that this place is any different."
"Fair enough."
Luigi led everyone else to the far end of the room. Sure enough, the two other hallways to the left and right were extensive. There were three identical gates, similar to the one at the entrance at both ends of each hall, all of which undoubtedly led to another area of what was becoming an underground complex. But unlike the entrance gate, the ones down both hallways did not have the added luxury of having a receptacle for the Amulet to unlock them.
It was worse than Luigi had imagined.
Refocusing his attention on the three stone tablets on the wall, Luigi was surprised to discover that he was able to translate the three images – though they merely translated to single characters and not full words. Together, the three characters formed nothing but a jumble.
"This doesn't make any sense!" Luigi said, growing frustrated. "These glyphs don't form a word at all. This is just complete gibberish! Why would the builders of this place deliberately do this?"
"I wish we could help you, Luigi." Peach said. "But we are just as clueless as you when it comes to this."
"My guess is just as good as yours." Daisy said. "But they must've had a reason behind it. They wouldn't have placed those stone tablets there if they didn't have a reason for it."
"Yeah, Totomesu probably did it for interior design purposes..." Luigi pouted. "Damn it... I don't have time for this!"
"Luigi, calm down." Wario said.
"We get that you're tired and stressed." Waluigi added. "We're just as nervous and upset as you are."
"That's not why I'm..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Luigi tripped and fell to the ground, sustaining a few bruises and a cut on his knee. He got up and winced at the fresh wave of pain that was now travelling up and down his left leg. Only then did he discover the thing that made him trip onto the ground.
"What the... oh my god..." Luigi gasped as he caught sight of the shriveled corpse.
"Are you alright, Luigi?" Daisy asked.
"Yeah, I'm alright... How long has that skeleton been there?"
"I don't know, but I hate to think of what might've killed him." Waluigi said. "Or her..."
"Looks like that dead person dropped something." Wario said.
"What is it?" Peach asked.
"It's a... a piece of paper?" Luigi said as he picked it up. "Apparently this place had a relatively recent visitor..."
"Yo shi..." Oh boy...
"How was he able to get in here without digging his way in here?" Waluigi asked. "He must've got in here another way, perhaps?"
"Probably." Luigi said as got back onto his feet and examined the piece of paper that was now in his hands. "Apparently this person was able to decipher the ancient Sarasalandian alphabet into our language."
"Really?" Daisy asked.
"Yeah. I recognize the symbols on the stone tablets as well. Everything seems to check out perfectly... Except...Wait a minute..."
Luigi looked from the paper to the stone tablets on the wall and then back to the paper again. It set him thinking and an idea began to formulate inside his mind.
"I think I've got it..." Luigi said. "What if those stone tablets are more than just merely slabs of stone?"
"I'm not sure I understand where you're going with this." Peach said. "What are you saying, exactly?"
"What if those tablets are in fact a combination lock?"
"You mean like what was on the statues back in Easton?" Wario asked. "The ones where we had to press certain buttons in a certain order?"
"Yes. Exactly like the ones in Easton." Luigi replied.
"Huh. I never thought of that." Daisy said.
"Well, it has to be worth a shot." Toad said. "Better than anything else we have at the moment."
"Yoshi yoshi." Let's try it.
With the piece of paper in hand, Luigi walked back over to the far wall and searched for the symbols on the wall. Once he found them, he rearranged them in his head to where they positioned in an alphabetical fashion. It seemed like a reasonable thing to do, but it was merely a guess on Luigi's part. Carefully, he made his over to the large stone tablet with the falcon on it – the first one listed on the alphabet cheat sheet – and gently applied pressure on it with both hands. Nothing happened, so he tried pressing harder on it. Finally, he tried pushing his entire body weight into the stone slab and was suddenly greeted by the sound of grinding stone as the entire slab sank into the wall and produced a loud CLICK! Excitedly, Luigi raced over to the tablet with the two reeds (the next one alphabetically) and repeated the same step as before, producing the same result. Finally, he side-stepped to the triangular symbol in the middle and pushed it into the wall. All of a suddenly, all of the buttons sprang forth from the wall and back into their original positions and the sound of an opening gate at the end of the left hall conspired Luigi to smile. Wherever there are buttons, there are solutions.
"The gate straight down the left hall opened!" Daisy screamed. "Luigi, you're a genius!"
"Sometimes I'm just too smart for my own good." he replied, winking at the Sarasalandian princess.
"Oh, you..." she replied, her face blushing.
"Very nice, Luigi!" Toad said. "That was brilliant."
"Thank you, Toad." Luigi said. "Apparently, this is a combination lock. Pressing the buttons in alphabetical order seemed to do the trick."
"Well, let's see where that gate leads." Peach said. "Those two sphinx statues are creeping me out."
"Yeah, let's go guys." Luigi said. "Are you coming, Yoshi?"
"Yoshi." Yes.
The seven friends walked down to the end of the left hallway and went through the gate, emerging into another downward-sloping passage. The passage itself was short and made a right turn into what seemed to be yet another room. As soon as they rounded the corner, Luigi had to suppress the urge to swear. The room they had entered was fully furnished with four alcoves, two on each side wall, and above each alcove was an opening shaft where either red, green, blue, or purple light was seen pouring in from unknown sources, bathing the otherwise dark room with brilliant color. At the far end of the room was yet another closed gate, with two identical statues of Totomesu himself stood guard on both sides.
Take note of closed gate.
Take note of the four empty alcoves on the walls near said gate.
Luigi couldn't take it anymore. He cursed as he began remembering another four-alcove puzzle he had seen recently – one that nearly killed him on four different occasions. To him, it was obvious what needed to be done, and that meant more exploring – something he no longer had the time or patience for.
"Great..." Luigi cursed under his breath as fireballs started forming in his hands. "Just great..."
"What is it, Luigi?" Wario asked.
"This is just so annoying..." Luigi said. "If my prior experience beneath the Monastery is anything to go by, we most likely have to have to locate four trinkets to open that gate. There's a good chance that the sixth gemstone is located just beyond it."
"I'll say." Toad replied. "Judging by how bright the amulet is glowing inside your backpack, I'd say that's where it is. But where are we going to find four trinkets in order to open this gate?"
"Oh, that's easy!" Waluigi said. "Out of the reach of curious grave robbers like us."
"In other words, behind the rest of those closed off gates we passed by a minute ago." Daisy said. "Ugh... I think I'm starting to feel annoyed too!"
"This is going to take a while!" Peach said. "I don't know how we're going to get past this in time to save the world if we have to go through all of this!"
"Ugh! DAMN IT!" Luigi shouted. "I WANT ANSWERS!"
Out of frustration, Luigi swung a green fireball from his right hand, causing everyone to duck as the fireball ricocheted off the brick walls and flew dangerously close before travelling up the shaft where red light was pouring in. The fireball vanished with a last gasp, revealing a hidden secret.
"What the hell, Luigi?!" Wario yelled. "What is wrong with you?! Are you trying to kill us?!"
"Hold that thought, Wario..." Luigi replied. "There's something up there."
"What?" Daisy asked.
"There's no light at the ends of any of these light shafts." Luigi said. "The light is coming from other connected shafts, but that's not what I'm after."
"Then what is it that you're after, Luigi?" Toad asked.
"Well, here. Let me throw another fireball up into the red shaft and tell me what you see." Luigi replied as another fireball formed in his hand. He threw ball of green flame up into the shaft, revealing a familiar set of three symbols. Instantaneously, everyone else realized what Luigi was getting at.
"Those look like the symbols we saw on those buttons back in that main hall," Daisy said, "except the symbols are in a different order than what we saw earlier."
"What would we see if we threw a fireball up into the other shafts?" Peach asked. "Would we see something similar?"
"Let's find out."
Luigi threw a fireball in the green, blue, and purple light shafts. Sure enough, they all had their own unique sequence of the three symbols that had since become a common theme since they've been underneath the Sphinx, and it was clear that by pressing the buttons back in the main hall with those sequences that they would be able to open the other gates up and down the halls. Luigi took note of each symbol sequence and their associated color by burning them onto the piece of paper with a finely focused candle flame from his finger that way he and everyone else could easily refer back to them.
"Gosh, Luigi..." Waluigi said. "Maybe you should get angry more often. It seems like we make more progress whenever that happens!"
"Oh, shut up..." Luigi said as he chuckled at his cousin's light-hearted joke. Suddenly his tone became serious. "Okay, since we don't have much time, here's what we'll do. I think we should all split up and try to locate each of the four trinkets separately. In doing so, it should give us more time to locate the gemstones later."
"But, Luigi. What if there's dangerous traps beyond those gates?" Peach asked. "What if Mr. L. tries to kidnap one of us, or worse?!"
"I know it's a gamble, Peach. But it's the best hope we have of stopping this impending disaster and putting an end to Mr. L.'s plans." Luigi said. "You have to trust me on this."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Wario said.
"Yoshi!" Yeah!
"Well, I guess I'm in on it too." Peach said.
"It'll be alright, Peach." Daisy said. "I'll go with you."
"Me and Wario can go together." Waluigi said.
"Alright." Luigi said. "Toad, are you alright with going with Yoshi?"
"You mean you're going to search for a trinket all by yourself?" Toad asked.
"There's only seven of us here. I'd have Mario go with me, but he's not here. I'll be alright."
"Are you sure, Luigi?" Daisy asked.
"Yeah. I'll be fine, Daisy. I'll meet you and everyone else back in the main hall after we all have collected one of the items."
"Which begs the question: what exactly are we looking for?" Wario asked.
"I have no idea, but I'm guessing it's something shiny and valuable." Luigi said.
"Well, then it's settled." Toad said. "Let's get searching."
"Yoshi!" Let's go!
Hello, everyone!
Luigi and the others are now one step closer to locating the sixth gemstone, though it seems like it will take some time to navigate throughout the entire underground complex. In order to save precious time, the seven friends have agreed to split into groups to locate four unknown items that will supposedly clear a path to the aforementioned sixth stone. But what other hidden tricks does the sinister ancient ruler of Birabuto have in store for them? Will Mr. L. try anything sinister against them?
For the next chapter, I plan on following the journey of each search group as they navigate through the different areas of the complex in search for the items. Until next time, stay tuned for the next chapter! :)
saturn95