Gosh guys, thanks for all the reviews, follows and favs! I got so excited that I couldn't wait to post this chapter. That, and I couldn't leave you on that cliffhanger for very long. So here's the next chapter! Also, a reviewer asked if our heroes are humans or turtles in this story. Good question. While it could go either way, I've been imagining them as human. That way, no one bats an eye over the fact that a human like Saki is their uncle.
CHAPTER FIVE
"Hey, it's you again!" Mikey said, almost knocking Leo out of the window as he ran forward to hug him-actually hug him!-as he entered.
"You brought the servant?" Donnie asked.
"Why not?" Raph said, "He's better than the guards, and he knows how to keep his mouth shut. Besides, Mikey seems to like him."
It was just the five of them in Mikey's room: Leo, Usagi, Donnie, Raph and of course Mikey.
"So where is this passageway you have discovered?" Usagi asked.
"Right over here," Donnie said, stepping towards the bed, "We found it after noticing the symbol of our ancestors carved into the wood by the foot of the bed."
"That seems to be the sign that there's something to find." Raph explained, "Show 'em, Mikey."
"Right!" Mikey said, jumping towards his bed, "Look, all you have to do is left up this board at the bottom of the bed, like this. And then-"
The entire bed suddenly lifted straight off of the ground, and not just the bed but the wooden boards underneath the bed. That left a gaping hole in the ground, which opened up to show them a flight of stone steps.
"-That happens." Mikey concluded.
"So the ninja wasn't after the Prince at all," Leo began.
"He was searching for this passage." Usagi finished.
"Yeah," Raph said, "But it gets better. You should see what we found down there."
"Come on," Donnie said, leading the way with a lamp in his hand.
The five of them all followed him in.
"Everybody watch your head," Donnie said from the bottom, and he pulled a lever. The bed lowered back over the hole, and suddenly they were all in the dark, which was lit only by the light from Donnie's lamp.
"This way," Donnie said, suddenly looking pale in the dim lighting.
Usagi stepped closer to Donnie and followed just behind him, one hand unconsciously on his sword. Mikey was just behind the both of them, while Leo and Raph brought up the rear.
The passage went slowly downward.
"Look at this," Donnie said as they walked, gesturing to the wall, "We are in between floors. This place was built right into the castle, and if you look at all the holes in the wall, part of the reason it was built was probably to spy on the servants and the guests."
He walked over to two eye-holes in the wall and peeked through them.
"I can see the main hall from here," he said, before walking off. Usagi and Leo both looked through the eye-holes as they went past them.
"We are probably behind the paintings which hang from the balcony on the main level." Usagi concluded, "I wonder if anyone can hear us as we speak."
The other four stopped in their tracks and looked at one another. From that moment on, they were much quieter as they walked.
"Here," Donnie whispered as they came to a door at the end of the passage, "This is the reason we asked for you, Usagi."
He opened the door and they walked inside. Raph closed the door behind them.
The inside of the room was filled with gold. There was enough gold coins, gold furniture and gold gilding to take up the light from the single lamp and spread it all throughout the room. But it wasn't just gold that was in the room. There were plenty of other colors as well: there were diamonds and pearls and chests that were closed and probably locked, and purples and oranges and reds and blue. And yet the main color of the room was still gold.
Leo gasped in amazement. He recognized some of the furniture. And the pearls-they were his mother's. The blue cradle near the door had been his, the red one had been Raph's, and the closet in the back behind the golden desk had been the same closet which once held his mother's wedding dress. Maybe the dress was still in there.
"This room is a marvel, but I do not understand." Usagi said, glancing around the room, "Why do you require my assistance?"
"Because of this," Mikey said, taking a piece of paper off of a nearby dresser and handing it to Usagi.
"It seems that all this stuff was supposed to go with Father on his journey," Donnie explained as Usagi read.
"But he hid it in this room instead." Raph concluded.
"Why?" Leo asked.
"Because he never intended to bring them with him," Usagi said, setting the paper down. "He needed an excuse to hide his treasures, so he claimed that he was taking them with him."
Usagi bent over Leo's cradle and took out a toy that was still inside. It was an ivory statue of an elephant, smoothed over so that a child could play with it safely.
"Your father didn't trust his own brother enough to leave these with him." Usagi continued.
"Yeah." Raph said.
"But why would Dad hide these things from his own brother?" Donnie asked.
"Another question is this," Leo said, "How did that ninja know that the King hid his treasures here, and that the entrance to this place was in Mikey's room?"
"A good question," Usagi said, placing the toy back in Leo's blue cradle, "A further question is this: what are we going to do with this knowledge?"
"Maybe we should ask Uncle Saki," Mikey said, opening the drawers of one of the dressers and taking out one of Leo's old toys, "Ooo! What does this do?"
"Well, we know that we're not going to tell this to our uncle." Raph said, as Mikey tried to open the jewel-encrusted egg-shaped thing that he had taken from the drawer, "Dad didn't trust him. Besides, if he knew about this we might just disappear in the night like our brother."
"Your brother?" Usagi asked, confused.
"Raph!" Donnie said, glaring at his brother as if he was going to hit him.
"Look, I don't know alright? But it's possible," Raph said, "All I know is that this stuff was supposed to go with Dad on his trip. But it didn't. And maybe Dad never left either. And maybe, just maybe, Saki offed our brother in the middle of the night too."
"Wait," Mikey said, still trying to open the toy, "You're talking about Leo, right?"
Leonardo shifted uncomfortably.
"Are you speaking of your brother who died as a child?" Usagi asked, "Do you suspect that your uncle-"
"Raph always thought so," Donnie said, and Leo turned to look at Raph with amazement, "Anyway, it's no use arguing over it. He's been dead a long time."
"So, just to be clear, we're not telling Uncle Saki about this," Mikey said, still struggling with the child's toy.
"Yes, Mikey. We've established that a long time ago." Donnie said, a little exasperated.
"I will not tell your uncle about this either," Usagi said, "But I am very glad that you told me about your findings. I must watch your room more closely, Prince Michelangelo. In the meantime, I am going to suggest to your uncle that you are moved to a different bedroom for your safety."
"And watch our uncle," Raph said, "I wanna make sure he's not the reason Dad hid this stuff. Remember, he may be the Steward, but since I am the future King you answer ta me."
"Understood, your highness." Usagi bowed, "And might I suggest that our friend here," he gestured to Leo, "Would also be a good candidate to keep an eye on your uncle."
"It is true," Leo supplied, "As Usagi saw last night, Oroku Saki has asked me to polish the armor in his room by the dojo. I would be in a good position to alert you if I see him planning anything suspicious."
"And have you?" Donnie asked.
"Not yet," Leo said, "But I swear that my allegiance is to you Princes, the true heirs to the throne. I promise to keep my eyes open, and alert you if I discover a threat to you and your throne."
"You do that." Raph said.
"In the meantime, I want to see if I can find out anything interesting in Dad's notes." Donnie said, "Maybe he left a clue somewhere about why he'd hide these things here."
"Just be careful that Saki doesn't discover what you're up to." Raph cautioned.
"Um, can someone help me with this?" Mikey said, holding up the egg-shaped toy.
"Let me try," Leo said, taking it from him. He turned it over and opened the bottom to reveal the wind-up, and after a few twists set it down on the dresser.
"Dude. How'd you know that was there?" Mikey asked.
But Leo didn't answer him. He bent down to watch the toy as the music started, and Mikey bent down to join him.
"So, this thing plays music?" Donnie asked, bending down to join them.
"If that's all it does, why are we watching it so closely?" Raph asked, bending down next to Donnie.
The music crescendoed, and at that moment the top of the egg burst open to reveal the little blue-masked ninja that Leo had always enjoyed watching when he was small. The tiny ninja spun in circles as it went through a miniature version of a kata in time to the music, and at the end of the song it bowed as the egg closed and the music ended.
Everyone let out the breath they had been holding.
"Wow," Mikey said.
"That was amazing!" Donnie said, "I've never seen such technology."
"Pretty cool, I'll give it that." Raph said.
"Truly, a marvel of engineering." Usagi stated.
"Who wants to see it again?" Mikey asked, grinning as he grabbed the egg and began to wind it.
