See, I told you there would be two new chapters. This one isn't filler. In fact, this chapter is the longest yet. Thanks again, for putting up with the wait. All notes and disclaimers from the previous chapter apply because I am too lazy to write them down again. Happy New Years, Y'all!
Now on with it!
Chapter Nine:
Night at the Museum
To all of whom this may concern,
As I, Donato Luccio, write this, I feel as if my time is coming soon. It has been an interesting time upon this Earth. Not many can say that they have been in charge of restoring an entire city, let alone one floating on water. An interesting life indeed. I accepted the project to restore the great city of Altomare only because I needed the money. However, it soon became my life's meaning. I felt as if I was not only bringing a city to new greatness, but also protecting it somehow. I feel as if this one project meant more to me then the rest of my work combined. Therefore, I can not accept the payment that the gracious Mayor has offered me. I hereby give all my work I have done to the City of Altomare, to the city and its people. May you all too protect this city as I have.
During my time working, I was often given free time when all was going well with nothing for me to do. In that time I have constructed a little music box carousel. I have found that the youngest of the Mayor's daughters was very entertained by the box and its music. So much so that she would always ask to see it when she saw me. I believe that it is only fair what I should do with it when I am no longer here. I hereby give the music box carousel to her, and may she give it to the city when she too has passed. May the day when you find it necessary to open the box never come.
The will continued on like that for several more paragraphs. Giving a little story before saying who gets whatever object that he was talking about. His family got his money. His love got his most prized Pokémon. His friend and fellow architect Godey from Alamos Town got an old book and some blueprints on how to make large buildings into musical instruments. Architects seemed to have a thing for music.
I; however, got nothing out of this will. I read over Latias' translation multiple times, but I couldn't find any hint at what the true secret was. I opened my mouth to say something when she said telepathically, "And yes, I did make sure nothing was lost in translation."
I froze for a second, then closed my mouth and muttered, "Psychics…" which caused Latias to chuckle a bit. She was in human form because her pokémon form would be too large to fit in the in Lorenzo's kitchen. Well, not comfortably anyway. Lorenzo and Bianca were gone at the Gala which had already started. It was around nine at night then. "I guess you were right," I sighed. "It is just a will. Back to square one, I guess"
I leaned back in my chair with the chair's two front feet in the air, and I was using the table to balance myself. I had to think. I pulled out my black rock from my pocket and started fiddling with it again. Latias gave me a weird look. "My teacher told me to do this to teach me how to focus," I said pointing at the rock in my hand. "I shoot extremely small and focused blasts of aura into this rock every time I tap it to rearrange the atom structure. I now do it whenever I am thinking really hard about something." Latias nodded in understanding, and I went back to my fiddling and thinking.
I was thinking about what to do because I had no leads left. I was thinking for a few minutes when I suddenly lost balance of my chair and fell back. I was reaching out to the kitchen counter and table to catch myself, but all I managed to do was knock some papers over. Luckily, I didn't hit my head when I hit the ground. Latias couldn't help but laugh, but I soon joined in with laughing. I got up and picked up the chair. I also picked up the various papers I had knocked over and put them on the table.
I sat down and glanced at each one, not really paying attention to the words until I saw one of the papers was a flyer about the Gala. I read it over out loud, "Let's see, 'The Night at the Museum. All Altomare citizens are invited to attend a celebration of Altomare's rich history at the Altomare Museum of History. Cost of attendance is one-hundred dollars to help fund historical preservation and discovery in Altomare and other historical cities. Please RSVP by June 1. Sponsored by the Altomare Museum of History and…'" I had to reread the last few words to make sure I was reading it right. "Holy crap! '…Sponsored by the Altomare Museum of History and the OA Historical Society.' Latias, OA. This whole gala is sponsored by the freaking Order of Arceus!"
I handed the flyer over to Latias who read it over. Meanwhile, my mind was putting things together. 'Una was at the museum today looking for something. She was using the will. There has to be something I missed. They are sponsoring this gala to…to what?' I thought about it for a moment. 'The best way to steal something is to steal it right out from under them…especially when everyone and their grandma is distracted by a fancy party.'
By then, Latias finished going over the flyer. "You're probably right. It is a perfect distraction," said Latias, who had obviously been listening to my thoughts. "But the question is what are they even trying to steal?"
I didn't answer. I was quickly going over the will to see if I missed anything. "Let's see. Notarized on 20 November 1898. Blah, blah, blah. Carousel given to daughter. Blueprints given to friend. Blah, blah, blah. Signed by Donato Luccio on 19 June 1895." I sighed. "I still don't see anything."
"Why was it notarized three years after he wrote it?" asked Latias.
"Well, probably because he never got around to it." I answered. However, just then, I remembered something, and it all clicked. I reread a section of the will to confirm my suspicion. "Latias, get ready. We have a party to crash."
About an hour later I was standing outside the museum. The open area outside the museum had a fair amount of people. They looked like they were enjoying the night and fresh air. Even though it was summer, Altomare's Mediterranean climate gave it comfortably warm nights and there was a nice breeze giving the air a salty yet cool feeling.
The party-goers were all dressed formally. I had changed from my usual travel wear of duster, baggy pants, baggy shirt, and boots into something more clean and appropriate. I was not some schnooty-tooty, hoity-toity person that goes to formal galas, and anyways, I was a nonconformist so I didn't care about how I looked. However, I didn't want to draw too much attention, so I had to leave my staff back at the house. If anything went horribly wrong, I could not do any heavy-duty auramancy, but at least I still had my gloves. I didn't have the will either, but I had memorized what I needed to know.
"Well I thought you were going to try to pull off the 'Altomare Elite' look," I heard a telepathic voice say. I turned and saw Latias in her human form.
"Well, I must say I am surprised too," I said. "I thought that you would be coming inside the gala."
"I figured that it would be odd having two identical people at the party," she said, "Especially because Bianca doesn't have a twin. So I decided to stay by the museum in case anything went wrong. Just so you know, there is an exit to the roof in case you get into serious trouble. I'll be waiting there"
"Thanks for the tip," I told her.
With that I started sneaking into the gala. Surprisingly, it wasn't too hard to get in. The guards keeping watch didn't appear to be the museum's normal employees. I got a closer look and judging from the logo on their uniforms, I could tell that they were all OA grunts. Thankfully, they fit the standard stereotype of grunts in that they weren't the brightest people around. I practically waltzed right past them and they barely noticed.
Inside the gala was actually pretty nice for a cover up to a secret operation that Una was up to. The music played was mostly classical sounding played by small orchestra. There were waiters carrying around trays of tiny foods and champagne. Some of the couples were waltzing to the music. Some were socializing. There was a stage set up near the DMA were some of the important people, like Lorenzo, were sitting and talking. Overall, most people seemed to be enjoying themselves, and even I thought it was nice even though it was hoity-toity.
I was walking through the party looking for the artifact the Order and I came here to get, when I bumped into Bianca. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to…Bianca?" I said as I bumped into her a bit.
"Esteban?" she asked in a whisper. "What are you doing here? You're lucky that Ross went to go get me something to drink. Where's Latias?" Bianca was in a golden dress with her hair let down.
"Bianca, the Order of Arceus, the people who attacked us in the garden, is the one sponsoring this party. They are here to get something, and I came to get it first. Latias is outside in case anything goes wrong."
She was about to say something back when Ross, dressed in a tuxedo, came back carrying two glasses of the bubbling wine. "Bianca, I got you some champagne and…Oh, Esteban. Glad you could come! What were you two talking about?"
"About the gala," Bianca could say before I answered. "It is very nice. I like the music and food, right Esteban?"
She gave me a look and put some emphasis on the last few words which meant she was trying to say "Ross is not clued in about Latias, the OA, or any of the secrets about Altomare. Don't bring it up!" So I just nodded and agreed with her.
"That is just great," he said. He then turned to Bianca and said, "While I was getting us the drinks, I heard them say that your grandfather and some woman in charge of whatever group sponsoring this party are going to speak in about…" He looked at his watch, "Oh, right about now."
Just then, I heard a sound for everyone's attention come from the stage. I turned and saw Lorenzo at a microphone giving an introduction. I didn't pay attention because I wanted to get to my goal while everyone was distracted. I made my way through the crowd as everyone listened to the curator. I remembered where the antique was and I found in within two minutes.
It was the antique merry-go-round that I messed with earlier that day. It was the one where you could make it say any date. As I approached it, my ears listened to the last part of Lorenzo's introduction. "…and here is the person responsible for this gala tonight. Miss Teresa Berardi." I turned and looked at the stage and saw a woman in a grey-pinstriped pant suit walk up to the microphone. She must have been the Order leader.
I didn't listen to anything she said in her speech, but finished my way to the merry-go-round. I got their and re-examined it with its golden window, ornate pokémon seats, and numbers and months along the side and top. I moved the rings to read the date Luccio signed the will, June 19, 1895. I wound up the music box, and it started playing the song, which just happened to fit the kind of music that was being played at the gala. After three minutes of listening to it, nothing happened. I sighed, but then felt a pressure on my side.
I turned and saw Una dressed in a scarlet dress standing right next to me looking at the music box with her .40 caliber pressed on my side, so close that I had no way of shielding myself if she shot. "Una," I said, "imagine meeting you here. Have you thought about my offer? I can still help you. It is not too late for you to join…"
"How do you open it she said?" She said quickly, interrupting me and ignoring my comment.
"I thought you would know? After all, you had the will longer."
"My will hasn't been preserved in a museum. The dates have worn away and are unreadable. I saw you take the will out of the archives, and I let you do it all for me. Now open it." She wasn't talking loudly, and even then a couple people glanced at us, but Una had the gun hidden.
There was no use in arguing; I didn't want to have too much attention drawn to us. I put in the notarization date of the will, November 20, 1898. I wound it up, but instead of playing the song, the central part of the box popped open.
"Very good, Esteban," she said. Pulled up the central cylinder of the box and pulled out a copper object before closing the box once more.
I looked at it. "It's just a music box cylinder. It's what has the song on it that the box plays."
Una started to walk to a wall with ornate engravings on it that was to the back of all the people at the gala. I remembered that it was the one with the music box cylinder player. "It's more than just a music box cylinder, Esteban. It is a key, and its keyhole is the player on the wall. It should unlock the next step to reaching the Secret."
We got to the wall, and Una was about to put it into the opening for the cylinder. I then said, "Let me see it," before she put it in. It read "'Merry-Go-Round of Life' – May it lead you in a Waltz through history," along the top of it. "I don't think that whatever it unlocks is here." She gave me a questioning look. "It would make it to easy. I think that it is telling us how to find it. Do you know how to dance?"
She didn't say anything. I placed the cylinder into the wall, and it started winding up. I looked to my side, and saw one of the archive's aisles. I grabbed Una's hand and put my other hand around her waist. She gave me a shocked expression, but then the music started playing throughout the museum. Immediately, I started waltzing through the archive muttering, "One, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three…" Una immediately understood the meaning to my madness, and started moving along with me.
Throughout the time we were dancing through the aisles, there wasn't a time we had to choose which way to turn. If we came up to a wall, there just happened to be only one way to go. It was as if the set up of the archives was designed to have a path that was easily followed for this song. The width of the aisles we were going through also seemed wider than the others the make room for the turning the dance involves.
Una was quite the dancer, and she too seemed surprised at how well I was doing. We waltzed to the beat of the song, not going faster or slower. When the song stopped, we were along one of the walls on the other side of the archives. We stopped and looked at each other eyes. The song was quite nice. We started moving closer together when there was a clicking sound. We froze for a second before stepping back away from each other and looked at the wall.
We were both blushing.
The clicking sound was followed by another sound and then a small section of the wall in front of us turned around revealing a hidden leather-bound book. I picked up the book, and no more than a minute passed after it had opened, it had closed. "I guess that we had to waltz for as long as that music box played to find where this book was hidden, and then we had only a short amount of time to get the book after it was revealed before it would be hidden again," said the ever-observant Una. "Damn, Luccio was clever."
I was about to open it when I heard someone clapping. I turned and saw the pinstriped Order leader. She had platinum blond hair and green eyes. She appeared to be around 28 to 30 years old. Her hair was in a bun held together by two sticks and had some bangs coming down.
"Sister!" Una said in surprise.
"Una, you seem so surprised to see me," the blond woman said in response.
"Sister?" I asked while not seeing any resemblance. They just ignored me.
"I just thought that you would be staying in the gala area, and I would get the book," said Una.
"Well I was, but I just had to see this man you just waltzed off with when that song started," said Una's sister. She then turned to me with a cold smile, "You must be Esteban. You have been quite the nuisance recently."
"Well, I try," I said to her. "Now who are you?"
She quietly laughed. "Forgive me. My name is Tetra, leader of the Order of Arceus and Una's older sister. You see, we have been planning this for quite some time now, and we really need that book. Hand it over, and I just might let you live."
She said that so coldly, matter-of-factly, and nearly emotionless that it made shiver. What made me freeze momentarily was what looked like some sort of .50 Caliber that she pulled out with a silencer attached to it, and I had no idea how she was able to hide it in that suit of hers without being noticed. It was in that moment that Una was able to slip the book out of my hand. She then handed it to Tetra.
She opened it and flipped through the pages smiling. "Ah, finally," she said and closed the book. "This is an important book Esteban. It is the Architect's journal, notes, blueprints, and sketches. All the secrets he found and hid are right here in this book, including how to reach the Secret we've been looking for." Tetra then put her .50 caliber down and said, "Now leave, before I change my mind."
I didn't move. All I said was, "Just like that. No going back on your word and shooting me anyway?" I wasn't complaining, but I couldn't let her have that book. I needed to get it back.
"Esteban, do you think that low of me? We just met after all," she said smiling. "I've been called liar, murderer, bitch," she said that last one with considerable annoyance, "but I've always been honest when I give my word."
"There's a first for everything," I muttered under my breath. I backed up against the wall and put my hand behind my back so no one would se the aura I was focusing into it.
Tetra stiffened. "What did you say?"
"Nothing…bitch," I muttered again.
Tetra drew her gun and pressed it against my abdomen, clearly enraged. I loved pushing buttons. Even though this one looked like I was wishing for a death sentence, I needed her to be enraged and put her guard down. "Say that one more time!" she said to me sternly with her smile gone. Apparently, she couldn't take much criticism.
After that, I immediately brought my right hand, which was focused with as much aura as I could and the glove was glowing brightly with energy, up and rammed my hand into the side of Tetra's head. She didn't see it coming. On contact, I released about half the energy I built up because any more might have crushed her skull. I released enough energy to hurt her without causing any serious injury. You could hear the impact and almost feel the pain. The force made her fall and put her hands to her head, which was bleeding, and she conveniently dropped the book and .50 caliber, which was quite large and heavy. I grabbed both in my left hand and had my right was facing Una who had just pulled out her .40 caliber.
I heard Tetra grab a radio and yell into it, "Guards! Block all exits NOW!"
I immediately ran through the archives. Shots from Una's gun flew past me, but I put a shield up behind me. As I ran, I hid Tetra's .50 caliber in my duster's pocket. A few more shots flew by. If it weren't for the shield, Una would have already killed me. I was nearly out of breath by the time I reached the end of the archives back at the gala. I stopped before I came out of the aisle. I looked to the exit and saw the Order grunts blocking the way, and the party-goers were oblivious. I turned and saw Una at the other end of the aisle pointing her .40 caliber at me. She was hesitating. She had a clear shot, and I even put down the shield, but she just lowered her gun and looked away. I could swear I saw a tear. I looked behind me and I saw innocent party-goers dancing behind me. I took the opportunity to go into the crowd.
I soon found Bianca. "Hey, Bianca, where's Ross?"
"Bathroom, why? What happened to you?" she asked. I was breathing hard, and some of Tetra's blood was on my sleeve.
"Long story, I just need to know how to get to the roof." I said. Bianca stared at me for a second.
"There are stairs on the second floor," she finally said.
"Thanks." I started heading there when Bianca grabbed me.
She looked worried. "You didn't just…" her voice trailed off and looked at my sleeve.
"No, I didn't. I could never do that" I said to her. She seemed relived and let me go. I headed to the second floor while avoiding the guards. I got up their and found the stairs heading to the roof clear of grunts. I almost reached the stairs when Una got in my way. "Okay, seriously, how did you get here?"
"Stairs in the archives," she said. "The book, please."
"Una, we both know that you don't want to do this. Just a few minutes ago can proof of that."
"I didn't shoot because I didn't want to get noticed."
"You didn't shoot because you didn't want to risk hurting some innocent bystander behind me. Una, there is good in you." I came up closer to her and put my hand on her shoulder. "Why can't you see it? Whatever it is you and your sister are trying to accomplish here is not good. Trust me, I can help." She shrugged off my hand but didn't say anything. She seemed to be deep in thought about what I said and what she did.
She stepped aside to let me go up the stairs, but halfway to the roof, I heard her say into the radio, "He's on the roof." I ran the rest of the way up.
The night was cool and crisp and breezy on the roof. I ran to the edge where I saw Latias. "Latias…we have to…go now!" I said out of breath and panting from running up all those stairs. Then Tetra, Una, and a group of grunts ran onto the roof with their guns out except for Una who was looking away. They also brought out a variety of pokémon ready to attack on command. I had my hand outstretched at them with the glove glowing.
"The book or else Mr. Esteban," Tetra yelled out. One of her hands was still on her head which was still bleeding some. She somehow managed to get another gun
I brought my hand down, but then I created the blue flame like I did in the Garden when demonstrating aura. I put the book over it. "This book seems important," I yelled to them. "It would be a shame if it burned away taking its secrets with it. You don't want that would you?"
Tetra had some fear in her eyes when she saw the book so close to the blue flame. She lowered her gun and ordered the grunts to do the same. "Now Mr. Esteban, would you really want to do that? Destroy all that history? Aren't you curious at what the secret is? Give me the book, and I will tell you."
"Do you know what I figure? I figure that I could find out on my own." I then thought 'Latias, I know you can hear this. Get ready to turn into your true form. We need a quick get away.'
She nodded meaning she understood. "As much as I would love to give this book to you, I can't just let in fall into the hands of someone like you."
I quickly turned around and so did Latias. Tetra saw what we were about to do and yelled, "Get him NOW!" Latias and I jumped off the roof just before the bullets, flamethrowers, waterguns, and dozens of other attacks would have hit us. Latias quickly turned into her true form, turned both of us invisible, and flew at supersonic speeds over the city.
I could barely hang on. My arms were around her long neck, but at that speeds and improper holding, I was slipping. She did a quick turn down into the streets and flew just above the water. I managed to slip the book into my duster to prevent it from getting damaged from water or anything. She was navigating through the city with sharp turns that nearly threw me off every time. Then we dived into the canal, and the force of entering the water made me let go, but I managed to grab a hold of her wings. She seemed to be able to manage swimming as well as she had flying, but she couldn't do it at supersonic speeds. We entered a hidden underwater tunnel as I was almost out of air. We then emerged out of the water and I was brought up about six yards before I fell off of Latias onto the ground of the Garden.
She seemed to have genuinely enjoyed the whole experience as she was smiling and laughing. I was pretty sure that I had some sort of flailing injuries on my legs from the impromptu escape. I was gasping for air while lying on the ground. I took the book out and set it beside me. "That…is why…I hate…flying," I panted. Latias couldn't help but laugh.
A new antagonist and another clue to the Secret. I would say that it must have been a pretty busy night for them.
To prevent any dissapointments, I will not say when the next chapter will be up.
If there is any way I can improve this or the last chapter, please tell me.
Love it? Hate it? Questions? Give a review! I accept all!
Happy New Years again!