The Legendary Treasure

"Man! This cave is daaaarrrrk!" Jace said in awe. "We've only been walking into

this cave for two minutes and I can't even see my hand in front of my face anymore! All I

can hear is the faint rushing of the waterfall!"

"Ignite!" Flamett's voice echoed loudly and some faint sparks started to fizzle in

her right hand, then with a flash of a bright and blinding light, a poof of fire instantly

appeared in her hand that looked like an inviting campfire. It lit up everything around

Jace, Casie, Flamett, and Thrasher and filled them with warmth.

"Hey guys! Look!" Jace exclaimed.

"What's up?" Jace's crew asked.

"Look at my tattoo!" Jace lifted up his tattoo for everyone to see and their eyes

went wide. Jace's health bar was slowly going up after his near death experience.

"I guess Flamett's fire has some sort of regeneration ability to it, that's awesome!"

Jace yelled as his cheerful voice echoed throughout the cave. The cave was a lot bigger

than Jace and his crew originally thought when they first entered. After Flamett

summoned some light, everyone noticed that the inside of the cave was way bigger

than the entrance. It was more like a cavern than a cave. There were big, tall, and sharp

stalagmites and stalactites on the ground and ceiling of the cavern. Each of Jace and

his crew's footsteps echoed all throughout the cavern and made reverberations that

were mesmerizing.

"So where is this treasure? This place just seems like an empty cavern." Casie

said out loud.

"Did someone say treasure?" A deep and ominous voice could be heard all

around Jace and his crew. Jace, Casie, Thrasher, and Flamett all put on their guard and

got ready for an attack."If ye be lookin' for the Legendary Treasure, ye won't make it to

the treasure alive! Neither of ye will!" The deep voice bellowed.

"Who's there?!" Thrasher yelled out.

"Yeah! Show yourself!" Flamett also called out.

"Me name's Bartholl." Bartholl replied intimidatingly. Loud and heavy, ground

shaking footsteps could be heard approaching along with many other light and smaller

footsteps. "And I'm here to make sure no sailor or pirate gets their hands on the

treasure I be guardin'!" A large and heavily armored, ghostly white skeleton came into

view out of the shadows of the cavern. He faced Jace and his crew while holding a

massive and jagged cutlass. Along with Bartholl were many other regular sized, non

armored skeletons that all held cutlasses as well and were ready to fight. They

outnumbered Jace, Casie, Flamett, and Thrasher by lots, and their numbers were just

about smaller than the pirate camp Jace and his crew defeated a while ago.

"That is a lot of skeletons." Jace pointed out. "But we can take them!"

"If ye are so sure, then go ahead! Charge me soldiers!" Bartholl belted out.

Bartholl's skeleton army started to charge towards Jace and his crew with fury and loud

and disturbing rattling.

"Here we go guys! Let's do this!" Jace yelled out confidently. Jace, Thrasher,

Casie, and Flamett got into battle stances and were ready to receive the enemy.

"Hey Flamett. Get ready with some explosive fireballs okay? I have a plan, just

be ready to shoot into the air on my command." Casie explained to Flamett with a grin

on her face.

"Okay! I'm ready Casie!" Flamett replied.

"Four corners of the Earth, grant me your power and lift these leaves in front of

me in a flurry of blasting wind!" Casie shouted out an incantation and her words echoed

everywhere. Out of nowhere, a loud and powerful wind rushed into the cavern and filled

every crevice and crack then accumulated on the ground under the skeletons that were

charging Jace and his crew. And with a huge updraft of wind that was filled with sheer

force lifted a large number of skeletons into the air along with many stalagmites and

stalactites.

"This isn't good..." Bartholl muttered to himself.

"Now Flamett! Fire!" Casie yelled. Flamett poured every explosive thought into

her mind and conjured two massive sun like balls of fire in her hands.

"FIRE!!!" Flamett shouted with purpose. And the two massive star-like fireballs in

Flamett's hands went flying straight into the big group of skeletons that were flung into

the air. Both the fireballs made contact and created a cataclysmic explosion that

disintegrated the skeletons and sent a soul shaking vibration through everyone in the

cavern. The rest of the skeleton army just looked up in fear as the dust of their

comrades filled the air, all while stalactites throughout the entire cavern were falling

down from the shockwaves.

"Whoa! That was insane Flamett and Casie! I'm glad there wasn't a cave in. That

explosion was absolutely massive! And that wind was so powerful!" Jace exclaimed

proudly.

"What are ye standin' around for!" Bartholl shouted at the rest of his skeleton

army. "Keep charging!" The rest of the skeleton army started to resume their charge, but

there weren't many of them left.

"So what do you say, Thrasher? I take the ones on the right and you take the

ones on the left?" Jace asked.

"Let's do it." Thrasher said confidently. In an instant, Jace and Thrasher dashed

from where they were standing towards the rest of the skeleton army, and just as quickly

returned back to where they were standing before. The rest of the skeleton army

stopped in their tracks.

"Again! Why did ye stop this time!" Bartholl yelled angrily. But after Bartholl raised

his voice. The skeleton's heads on the right shattered. And the rest of the skeletons on

the left were sliced into pieces all at once.

"Uhh… What just happened…" Bartholl said blankly and paused. He then burst

out in a fit of rage. "How could this happen! I was so sure that we would be able to

defeat any intruders that would wander into this bloody cave! Looks like I'll be fightin'

next!" Bartholl readied his big cutlass and pointed it towards Jace and his crew.

"Hey Casie. Give me a boost with a blast of wind." Jace looked behind himself

towards Casie with a smile.

"Sure thing Jace! Get ready!" Casie said as she recited an incantation. A pool of

air all of a sudden formed at Jace's feet and shot Jace with explosive force towards

Bartholl. Jace flew like an arrow, cutting through the air so fast that Bartholl couldn't

even see him. And once he made it to Bartholl, Jace threw a devastating punch at

Bartholl's chest. He shattered into a million pieces as Jace flew right through him.

"This… Just… Isn't… Possible…" Bartholl said as he took his last breaths.

Bartholl's body fell apart and crumbled to the ground with a rumble and Jace landed on

the ground behind where Bartholl was standing.

"Woohoo!!! Casie! That was so freaking cool! That air burst was perfect!" Jace

cheered as he jumped up and down in celebration. Casie blushed and shouted back.

"Thanks Jace! That punch was super epic too!"

"Thanks Casie!" Jace called back and smiled. "Hey guys! Now that Bartholl and

his army is defeated, let's find the treasure they were guarding!" Jace, Casie, Flamett,

and Thrasher all walked deeper into the cavern together while still keeping their guard

up, just in case there happened to be more enemies in the cavern while Flamett still lit

their way with warm and flickering fires in her palms. After they walked for a while longer

from where they defeated Bartholl and his skeleton army, they ran into a wall blocking

their path to travel any deeper into the cavern.

"Is this the end of the cavern? Oh, wait. I think I see something, everyone." Jace

explained as he pointed at the cavern wall. "It looks like another inscription engraved

into the wall. It says." Jace started to read the inscription. "To find the treasure, one

must move a rock to move another. To make a veil of stone fall, one must move another

stone." "So… What?! We just find a rock and move it? How do we do that?! This place

is filled with rocks!" Jace shouted out in frustration and exaggeration.

"I think you're right though, Jace." Thrasher started to talk. "I'm pretty sure we

just move rocks until we find one that triggers what this inscription is saying. It's gonna

take forever, but we'll find it!"

"You've got a good point, Thrasher. We won't find the rock we need to move until

we actually look for it. Let's get to work!" Jace stated to his crew.

"Ugh! We've been looking for forever! Where is this bloody rock!" Jace shouted

angrily as he moved and threw more and more rocks behind him.

"We'll find it eventually. We've been looking for too long to stop now." Casie

stated. "But I do agree. We have been looking for a while, I'm exhausted."

"Same here." Flamett said with a tired sigh as she laid on a pile of rocks she was

digging through.

"I'm going to sit down. I'm pretty tired myself." Thrasher said as he sat down next

to a stalagmite."

"Good idea Thrasher. I'm gonna just rest on this beautiful stalagmite behind me."

Casie explained as she started to lean on a stalagmite that was about her size. But as

she put her weight into the stalagmite, it gave way slightly and moved backwards with a

loud and stiff thunk. Casie jumped up and yelped in startelement because she thought

the stalagmite broke and she was going to fall. But after the stalagmite moved, it stayed

in place, just slightly crooked, and the ground started to rumble.

"Don't tell me..." Jace said flatly. "That was the rock we needed to look for…" The

wall that had the inscription on it cracked all throughout itself like a shattering mirror.

And all the cracked pieces of the wall started to shake with the rumbling of the cavern.

The rumbling continued and started to get more intense. Jace, Casie, Flamett, and

Thrasher all started to get surprised and worried looks on their faces as the cavern

started to shake more and more. And as the cavern shook, the rock wall blocking Jace

and his crew started to fall apart piece by piece until it finally crumbled away and

revealed a hidden area. After the wall fell, the rumbling stopped. The wall made a lot of

dust as it fell, but when it settled. Jace, Casie, Thrasher, and Flamett's eyes lit up and

grew huge in awe. They all saw a heap of golden and shimmering treasure. It was filled

with gold coins, doubloons, and jewels of sparkling rubies and diamonds, and chalices

of riches. There were also many treasure chests filled to the brim with treasure. And to

top it all off, in the middle of all the treasure, there was a glimmering and beautiful

cutlass sticking out of a rock with yet another inscription on the rock it was sticking out

of.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah!!!" Jace, Casie, Flamett and Thrasher awed together as

they all entered the treasure room slowly and carefully with wide open mouths of awe.

"This is so awesome!" Flamett belted out as she started to sprint towards the

treasure piles. She dove head first into the coins and jewels and swam in them like she

was at the beach enjoying the ocean.

"Hey! Let me join you!" Casie said joyfully as she ran and dove into the gold

beside Flamett and splashed around with her.

"Wow! Would you look at this? I haven't seen this much treasure in one place

before in my life. And I've seen lots of treasure hoards." Thrasher explained to Jace as

he and Jace both gazed at the treasure while they walked through it all.

"Yeah." Jace started to reply to Thrasher. "With this much treasure, we could buy

everything we need to fully equip all of us with the best gear, pay off the damage to the

Starter Ship, and then buy our own fully loaded ship! But there's one thing in all of this

treasure that catches my eye. And you've probably noticed it too." Jace said to Thrasher

as they both stopped and stood at the base of the cutlass that was embedded into a

rock.

"I did notice this, yes. It is really interesting. And look. There's writing in the rock

the cutlass is in. Did you notice that too?" Thrasher asked Jace.

"Yeah, I did. Call the girls over here and we can read the inscription together. I

have a feeling that this will be important." Jace explained.

"Hey guys, come on over here! We found something interesting!" Thrasher called

for Casie and Flamett.

"Coming! Just a second!" Flamett and Casie said together in perfect timing.

"Uhhh, what are you guys wearing?" Jace asked Casie and Flamett in confusion

as they approached. They both almost glowed in a shimmering golden hue.

"Oh, you know. Just some jewelry we found!" Casie chortled happily.

"Does it look good on us?" Flamett asked as she flashed her bling. Casie and

Flamett were both wearing jewel encrusted crowns that they found and were also

wearing solid gold and shiny chains around their necks along with peerless silver

bracelets that were lined with shimmering rubies of the highest quality.

"It does actually. You both look royal!" Jace complimented.

"It suits you well!" Thrasher also complimented.

"So what did you guys find?" Caise inquired. "Is it that awesome looking cutlass

in the rock with an inscription on the rock?"

"Actually. Yes! That's exactly what we called you guys over here for. I thought we

could read the inscription together." Jace explained.

"Ok, sounds good! Let's read it. Go ahead Jace!" Casie commanded cheerfully.

"It says here." Jace started to read the inscription. "At points in life, we all come

to crossroads. Where we have to make a choice that will alter the trajectory of our entire

future. Make a choice. Take the cutlass, or the treasure. But you can't have both." Jace,

after finishing reading the inscription, turned to his crew. "So what do you guys think?

What should we do? This is an insanely big decision to make. I mean, there's enough

treasure here to keep us happy for life! But this cutlass has me curious. If we can only

take one or the other. It must be something special."

"I don't know." Thrasher started saying. "Honestly, I would pick the treasure.

Powerful and unique weapons are my life. And that cutlass has me curious as well. But I

think it would be smarter to take the treasure. Like you said, there's enough here to set

us for life!"

"Thrasher does have a point." Flamett piped up. "The treasure is probably the

safer and smarter choice in the long run."

"They do all have good points." Casie started to share her thoughts as well. "All

this money would be awesome to have. And we wouldn't have to worry about so many

things in the future. But in the end." Casie pointed at Jace. "You are the captain after all.

You get to have the final say. So what is it, captain? What should we do?"

"Hmm." Jace caressed his chin with his right hand and frowned as he thought.

"You guys all make good points. It would be a lot smarter to take the treasure." Jace

glanced back at the cutlass and felt a convicting and instinctive pull on his heart and

gut. "But… that cutlass…"

"Don't worry Jace." Casie said. "Whatever choice you make, we will be right

behind you. Just do what you think is right."

"That's right Jace! You're the captain! Make the call and we will follow!" Thrasher

encouraged.

"I'll be with you all the way Jace! Along with everyone!" Flamett said happily.

"Thanks guys. That means a lot to me." Jace smiled in content. "Alright. I think

I'm going to go with the cutlass!" Jace approached the cutlass. It glimmered and shone

in a golden hue. Jace crouched down and inspected the glorious looking cutlass as it

stood proudly, sheath and all embedded into the rock. It had a gold and black sheath

and a gold handle. On the hand guard of the sword was an image of a ship that was

sailing proud and free. The handle and pommel were braided and golden. On the base

of the sheath was a golden skull and two cutlasses. Just like the Jolly Roger flag. They

were on both sides of the sheath. And on the tip on the sheath were two golden flintlock

pistols crossed over each other, and again on both sides of the sheath. Jace reached

out for the handle of the cutlass and stopped suddenly.

"Hey guys. There's more writing on the sheath here." Jace explained to his crew.

"What does it say, Jace?" Casie and Flamett asked at the same time.

"Yeah, what's on the sheath?" Thrasher also wondered.

"It says. "The only person who can take this sword is the One that was meant to

come. The One who is in the world of his own. The One who can defeat The Shadow

and set this world free, or destroy it."

"Well." Flamett started to talk sarcastically. "I guess if Jace isn't the One then at

least we can take all this treasure!"

"Wait!" Thrasher interjected with a serious tone. "Think for a second Flamett. It

says the One who will defeat The Shadow. Don't you know what kind of plague The

Shadow has been for everyone! The Shadow's been tormenting our world for years and

years without end! If Jace is the One this inscription is talking about. Then we might

actually have a chance to make things right and make this world a better place!"

"Whoa Thrasher!" Flamett put her arms up in defense and backed up sheepishly.

"Calm down, I was just joking. But you do make a good point.

"Or." Casie interjected. "It also says the One could also destroy this world. So

should we take the cutlass?"

"What in the world!" Jace thought to himself in shock as he lost all the color in his

face. "The One who was meant to come?! The One who is in the world of his own?! And

the bloody One who can defeat The Shadow?! This is scary! I know these words on the

sword are talking about me. But it's just so dead on. I was sent here to defeat The

Shadow. That's what God told me to do. I guess all I can do now is take this cutlass and

start my journey to free this world. But it also says that the One could also bring

destruction to this world as well… So do I take the cutlass or not?" Casie noticed Jace's

reaction and asked.

"Hey Jace! Are you alright? You're looking a little pale." Jace snapped back to his

senses and replied.

"Oh yeah! I'm fine, just lost in thought is all, nothing important." Jace looked back

at the cutlass as he thought more about what the inscription said.

"Wait, Jace!" Thrasher exclaimed. Jace stopped going around in his head about

the engraved words on the cutlass.

"What is it, Thrasher?" Jace asked curiously.

"You probably didn't hear Casie, but she made a good point. What if you do get

the cutlass free? It says on it that the One who wields it could destroy the world!"

"I was actually thinking about that Thrasher. So what do you guys think we

should do?" Jace wondered to his crew.

"Well, let's think about this logically." Casie started to talk. "The Shadow has been

a plague on this world for years and it doesn't seem like The Shadow is going to end

anytime soon." As Casie was talking, Jace, Thrasher, and Flamett listened intently and

grew understanding looks on their faces as they thought about the scenario logically

along with Casie. "So, in my opinion. It's worth the risk of possibly destroying the world if

we take the cutlass. To be honest, if you think about it more, The Shadow will probably

destroy this world eventually if we don't even try to beat him."

"Wow!" Jace, Thrasher, and Flamett said together with impressed voices. Then

Jace started to talk.

"That makes a lot of sense, Casie. I say we risk it, how will we beat The Shadow

if we don't try?!"

"I couldn't agree more! Let's do it!" Thrasher exclaimed valiantly.

"I'm with you guys! I won't stop until we beat The Shadow!" Flamett said with

excitement.

"Well. Here goes nothing!" Jace slowly reached for the handle of the cutlass with

a shaky hand. He started pulling on the cutlass with all of his might. It shook along with

Jace's arm and body as he was giving it everything he had to try and pull the sword out

of the rock. But it was no use. The cutlass in its entirety was deeply thrust into the rock

and almost molded into the rock itself. Jace stopped pulling and stepped back to catch

his breath.

"Try again Jace! You got this!" Casie cheered.

"You can do it captain!" Thrasher also cheered along with Flamett. "You got this!"

Jace grabbed the cutlass again and pulled with every fiber of his being, but as Jace

pulled, the thought that he might destroy the world he was in flooded his mind, and he

didn't know whether to actually take the cutlass or not, and he was filled with fear,

doubt, and uncertainty. The cutlass shook and rattled but still wouldn't budge. Casie

grew a worried look on her face and thought to herself.

"What if Jace isn't the One the inscription on the cutlass was talking about? What

does that mean for Flamett and Thrasher? What does that mean for him? And for me?!"

Casie looked at Thrasher and Flamett as she thought and she could see they were

thinking more or less the same thing that Casie was thinking. Casie looked back at Jace

with a worried and concerned look.

"ARGH!!!" Jace yelled out as he let go of the cutlass. "NO!!! I can do this!!!" Jace

then quickly grabbed the cutlass one last time. But this time he grabbed the handle with

one hand, and with his other hand grabbed the base of the sheath and pulled with great

force and yelled out in grunts of effort and exhaustion. But when he pulled on the

cutlass this time, he made a leap of faith in his heart and mind and committed to taking

the cutlass, even if it meant the destruction of the world he was sent to save. The

cutlass started to glow bright and golden, and the rock the cutlass was in started to

crack. Casie noticed and heard the crack of the rock and her concerned look turned into

a hopeful one. Thrasher and Flamett's faces also grew bright with hope when they

heard the rock crack. The rock started to crack more and more until it finally gave way

and broke apart into bits and pieces. The cutlass flew out of the rock with a jolt and

made a loud and ominously powerful hum as it came free. Jace fell on his back as he

held the cutlass in his right hand. It was glowing golden even more while resonating with

power.

"Whoa! Are you okay Jace?!" Casie exclaimed as she made her way to Jace with

Thrasher and Flamett to help him up.

"That was impressive! That cutlass looked like it was staying in that rock for

good!" Thrasher said proudly as he reached for Jace's right hand and grabbed it firmly.

"Yeah! I didn't think you would actually be able to get that thing unstuck." Flamett

remarked while also being impressed. She then reached for Jace's left hand and

grasped it confidently, but also tenderly. They all helped Jace up to his feet while Casie

supported Jace's body and legs by ducking under his left arm, resting it on her shoulder,

and wrapping one of her arms around Jace's side and right shoulder comfortingly, while

squatting up with him at the same speed.

"Thanks guys! And I'm okay, just tired." Jace got to his feet and continued with

exhausted breaths. "Even with my super strength talent, that cutlass barely moved. But

we got it! I wonder what's so special about this bad boy that it was hidden in a cave like

this, and had all these inscriptions and prophecies linked to it?"

"I guess we will only find out with time." Thrasher stated.

"Well guys, should we get out of here and head back home to Port Savvy?"

Casie asked Jace and the rest of the crew.

"Whoah!" Flamett said out of the blue. "Look at the treasure guys! It's… turning

into dust?! What the heck?! Why?!"

"Well." Thrasher started to explain to Flamett. "It might be because we could only

choose one thing like that inscription said. Jace chose the cutlass, so I guess it would

make sense that the treasure would disappear. I'm assuming that if we took the treasure

instead. That the cutlass would disappear as well, or at least just stay stuck here."

"Oh yeah, I kinda forgot about that inscription with all the excitement of the

cutlass and all. And that does make sense." Flamett agreed with a smile. "But back to

you Casie." Flamett said. "I agree with you, let's all get out of here. I'm ready for some

rest. This was one big adventure."

"I couldn't agree more." Jace said in a cheerful tone.

"Same here. Let's go home guys!" Thrasher said happily. "We just need to find a

way home." A dead silence filled the cave.

"Oh yeah… How are we gonna get home?" Flamett asked with a tired voice.

"I have no bloody clue…" Jace said sarcastically with a sigh.