The Curse of Geraptiku Tombs

     We walked into the last cave without stopping and the familiar flash of the faerie Uni felt almost comforting.

     “The end is in sight, Asnu and Aizii.” They reminded us. “I have one final test for you. I wish you well.” A flash and the Uni was gone. Aizii looked at me in confusion.

     “They didn’t say what the test was.” She remarked. “Why do I feel like this won’t end well?”

     We stared around the cave, wondering what would happen next when a voice behind us made us both jump.

     “You are always so pessimistic.” A familiar voice commented. We spun round to be greeted by …

     “Hi Asnu.”

     It was us. In front of us stood - ourselves - and yet, they looked different. I observed myself curiously – although it was me, down to the flyaway hair and freckles, I looked different; more self-assured. Aizii surveyed herself and it was hard to tell them apart, identical down to the way Aizii’s crooked aisha tag.

     “Hi.” I said weakly. “So, what’s the challenge then, do we have to play spot the difference?”

     “It’s a test of truth,” the other Asnu replied cheerfully. “The one person you can never lie to is yourself. So, who better to ask you the final question than you? Answer truthfully Asnu, you can’t lie to me.” She winked.

     “What’s the question then?” I asked weakly. This was the weirdest thing I had ever experienced in my life – stood in front of a replica of myself, asking me questions so I could recover a treasure to stop an Elephante sitting on me. You couldn’t make it up. Aizii looked utterly bewildered.

     “Why do you deserve the treasure?” The replica of myself asked me.

     “Speak up to Aizii,” the other Aizii commented. “It’s a two-person answer.”

     I had heard of deafening silences before, but never truly appreciated the saying until that moment. Beside me, Aizii opened and closed her mouth like a Koi, struck dumb. ’Why did we deserve the treasure?’ I thought, staring at myself. I knew I couldn’t lie to my reflection – they knew me better than I knew myself, knew what I would say before I even said it. It was the perfect test of truth. Eventually, I started to talk.

     “Well, ultimately neither of us do.” I shrugged. “I’ve spent my whole life taking things that don’t belong to me, with very little remorse. I’ve treated the world as though it owed me something, that I deserved other people’s items because life didn’t play the cards I wanted. Aizii knew it was wrong, she tried to steer me onto a better path. But I ignored her.”

     “I didn’t try that hard.” Aizii interjected angrily. “Stop being such a martyr Ansu; if I wanted to stop you I could’ve. We were in it together then and we are now.”

     “We never set out to find this treasure-” I continued.

     “Say that again!” Aizii laughed.

     “- but circumstances led us here.” I carried on over Aizii’s slightly hysterical laughter. “I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I even want this treasure. I definitely don’t want to hand it over to Mr Smith and his gang. But what can we do? I can’t see a way out and I don’t want to be responsible for Aizii getting hurt, I’ve caused enough damage already.”

     “I can take care of myself!” Aizii replied and the other Aizii snorted.

     “We both know that’s a lie.” The other Aizii grinned.

     “So, I guess our answer is, we don’t deserve it.” I sighed. “What’s the point in lying? I just want to keep Aizii safe, if getting the treasure stops her from getting hurt, that’s all I care about.”

     The other Aizii and Asnu smiled at us and then, with a familiar flash of light, they were both gone, replaced with our friendly Faerie Uni.

     “You have passed the final test.” They smiled, “The truth will always set you free Asnu. You are correct – you do not deserve the treasure, but does anyone? A selfless intent will always win over selfish desires.”

     Aizii whooped next to me as the Faerie Uni surveyed us both.

     “Thank you,” I replied. “But what do we do now? I don’t want to hand it over, whatever it is – but if we leave empty-handed, I suspect we will just end up back here again having the same conversation. They aren’t going to let us go!” I ran my fingers through my limp hair and sighed. “What is this treasure anyway?”

     I couldn’t help it; my curiosity had gotten the better of me. For all I was telling the truth saying I didn’t really want it, I definitely did want to see what it was. The Uni gave me a knowing smile and stood aside. Behind them, a large platform had appeared with a golden treasure chest resting on top. Rough stone steps had been cut into the platform, providing a narrow circular ascent to the top. Aizii and I exchanged hopeful glances.

     “Is this for us?” Aizii asked.

     “You have won the treasure; it is yours to decide what to do with.” The Uni bowed.

     Aizii and I exchanged a triumphant hi-five and rushed towards the podium. Running up the stairs, we arrived at the top of the podium short of breath. The golden treasure chest was beautiful – ornate gold with glittering carvings. There was an intricate lock with a key keeping the lid shut. I turned the key and lifted the lid. Sitting inside the chest was a large blood-red Ruby, roughly half the size of my fist. I had never seen a jewel so large before – I had no idea of its worth but could tell from looking at it that it was the most expensive thing I had ever seen in my life. I grabbed the jewel and looked at it.

     “Is it real?” Aizii asked.

     “I don’t know,” I replied in a hushed voice.

     I turned to face Aizii and at that moment there was a blinding flash of light. Suddenly, Aizii and I were both stood at the bottom of the steps to the temple, blinking in the bright sunlight. Mr Smith and his gang were stood in front of us, looking bewildered. I looked down into my hand and saw it was clutching the ruby tightly.

     “Asnu, Aizii, what a pleasant surprise.” Mr Smith smiled at us. His tone made the hairs on my neck stand up. I had forgotten how much I despised him.

     “You really didn’t need to wait up for us.” I snarled.

     “Ah, but we did. Congratulations on securing my treasure.” Mr Smith looked delighted. “I will take that.” He added and clicked his fingers. Magnus the mutant Lupe reached forward and yanked the ruby roughly from my hands.

     “Hey!” I shouted and leapt forward to grab it back. The burly Elephantes stepped forward, blocking my path. In the shuffle, I noticed Aizii silently fade into the background.

     “I’m very grateful for you taking the time to collect my treasure.” Mr Smith commented, putting the ruby into his pocket. “I don’t expect we will meet again.”

     “What about our reward?” I challenged.

     “Oh yes, that.” Mr Smith said airly. “Here.” He threw an apple at me.

     “This is our reward?” I asked in disgust. “An apple?”

     “It is everlasting.” Mr Smith replied. “I promised you would never go hungry again.” Mr Smith turned to walk away and the Elephantes laughed nastily.

     “Wow, you sure did push the boat out for us.” I said sarcastically, throwing the apple to one side. “Thanks.”

     Mr Smith stopped in his tracks and turned around to look at me.

     “You clearly have some level of talent to have recovered the ruby.” He commented. For the first time, his mask of arrogance cracked, and I could see I had annoyed him, throwing away the apple. “But you are careless Asnu. You risk far too much and anger the wrong people. One day it will come back to hurt you Asnu – or even worse, the people you love.” He nodded at the Elephantes and they stepped forward. “Goodbye Asnu.” He said and turned away again. Together, the Elephantes gave me a sharp push, sending me flying.

     “Don’t keep in touch.” I trilled, watching them walk away.

     The silence felt odd after the highly charged atmosphere of before. I clamoured to my feet and looked around. “Did you do what I think you did?” I asked. Aizii appeared from the undergrowth, smiling at me and holding the blood-red ruby in her paw.

     “It was easier than I thought actually.” She grinned. “Swapped it for a rock I found, it weighs about the same. Question is, what do we do with this and what do we do when he finds out?” She asked, looking down at the ruby in her paw.

     “We need to give the ruby back.” I said firmly. “Then we will deal with the consequences.”

     A flash and we were stood back in the tomb, staring at the empty treasure test in confusion. I blinked and looked at Aizii. “That was weird.” I commented.

     “Asnu, Aizii, you have passed the final test.” A voice said. We turned to see the Faerie Uni smiling at us both broadly.

     “I thought we’d passed them all?” Aizii questioned disgruntledly. “What was the point of setting Mr Smith and his henchmen on us if you were just going to bring us back here after all?”

     “The real treasure is not jewels.” The Uni replied. “Mr Smith has been rewarded for his greed – he will believe the rock you swapped the ruby for is the ruby, he will not be convinced of anything other than this.”

     I couldn’t help but laugh at the image of Mr Smith trying to convince everyone that a worthless rock was a precious jewel. It was such a fitting reward for him. “So he won’t know we swapped it?”

     “He will be unaware.” The Uni bowed at us. “Now, I will reveal to you the real treasure.” They said. “Please forgive my deception, but when you see it you will understand.” There was the familiar flash of light and then suddenly, there was someone stood next to the Uni. It was a young Halloween Kougra. She was tiny, still not much bigger than a kitten. She was asleep in a small wicker basket lined with a deep red blanket. Her wings were tucked up around her. As we watched, she gave a yawn and stretched out – I could see her razor sharp teeth and wicked claws. ’What’s this got to do with the treasure?’ I pondered.

     “This is Drewshie.” The Uni explained. “She is the last resident of Geraptiku. When the great disaster came that crushed everyone who lived here, Drewshie survived. I have kept her hidden, frightened of what people would think of her, of what she is. I have waited a long time for someone to come whom I might entrust her too, kept her hidden and prevented her ageing. Asnu, Aizii, you will be Drewshie’s new family.”

     “Wait, what?” I stammered. “Us? Are you sure? I mean, we aren’t exactly the ideal citizens!”

     “She’s not joking.” Aizii said earnestly. “It’s a miracle I’m still here to be quite honest.”

     “You have proven yourselves to be honest and loyal.” The Uni said. “I believe you will care for Drewshie and she will be safe in your care. Please, will you take her?”

     I paused and looked at Aizii. She gave a very small shrug which I understood to mean she would agree with my decision. I looked at the little Halloween Kougra. It was a huge commitment – Aizii and I would need to find a permanent home, find more honest jobs. I struggled with the commitment and responsibility of just keeping Aizii fed and warm, was I really up to the job of taking on a second pet? But then Drewshie had no one – who else would risk their lives taking on the tomb with no idea of the reward? I took a deep breath.

     “Welcome to the family Drewshie.” I beamed.

     “Asnu, Aizii, I thank you.” The Uni bowed deeply. “I will send you back to where your adventure started. Please, take care of Drewshie.”

     “We will.” I replied solemnly. “And thank you.”

     The Uni smiled at us and looked at Drewshie sadly. “Goodbye.” They whispered. There was a flash of light and it felt like we were being pulled sharply. The wind whistled around us as the cave melted from sight. Then, suddenly, we dropped with a thud onto the ground. The air around us was still and hot and the light from a nearby lamppost buzzed noisily. We were back in the alleyway that we had been taken from.

     “Are we back?” Aizii murmured, looking dazed.

     “I think so.” I said, looking down at the still sleeping Kougra in the basket.

     “What do we do now?” Aizii asked, looking at me.

     I could only smile in return. I had no idea what we would do next, but I knew now that our lives would never be the same again. We had a new adventure – to teach Drewshie everything we knew and to find an honest living. I didn’t know where our path would take us next, but I knew with Aizii and Drewshie by my side, anything would be possible.

      The End.