literature

Mission: Treasure Hunt

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Literature Text

It's a long, boring boat ride from the Country of Burwell to Velio Sanctuary, but with the smell of treasure pungent in the air, Pe Mao Li was more than willing to make the voyage. After stowing away on a luxury liner—never spend treasure to get treasure, her mother would say—and weathering several days of intense boredom with only petty theft to keep her entertained, Pe finally arrived on the Northern shores of Velio.

Upon arrival, she promptly liberated a chocobo from some schmuck living in a mansion on the outskirts of town—what? He had like, twelve—and then she was on her way to the Tobal Ruins; the place the post on the official bulletin had stated the treasure was hidden. 'Hidden', psh, she thought to herself as she rode. There's no place in the world hidden enough to keep the great treasure hunter Pe from her shiny golden prey!

It was some days later—Pe may have gotten a tad side-tracked when a handsomely rich fellow in a golden carriage passed her on the road—that she reached her final destination. The Tobal Ruins was, in fact, a very charming, lively place with quaint little houses and a live band playing in the square—Not. The place was a dump. Crumbling buildings spread out in every direction, and the air was choked with dust and the smell of years of abandonment. “Ugh,” Pe said aloud, wiping her eyes with a long, lavender sleeve. “Why can't anybody ever hide treasure in a clean, fresh-smelling place? Like a safety-deposit box. Or a laundromat.”

Fishing a headcloth out of her travel bag, she wrapped the piece of linen around her mouth and nose and proceeded further into the ruins. “If I were a steaming heap of riches, where would I be?” she wondered as she walked. Reaching into her bag again, she pulled out the poster she had nabbed from the signboard before she left. “A sphinx, huh?” she said to herself as her eyes roamed the parchment. “Well, that shouldn't be too hard to find.”

Rolling up the parchment and stuffing it back into her bag, she cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, “Here, kitty kitty!” at the top of her lungs. A cactuar poked its head out from behind a rock and gave her the stank eye, but aside from that, her call was met with no response. She shrugged. “Heh. Worth a try.”

It was nearing evening by the time Pe finally located the cat-human amalgamation; deep in the belly of some old temple, wouldn't you know it. The beast was sitting regally on its haunches by the dais, perfectly motionless, and Pe hesitated slightly at the sheer grandeur of the creature. She'd never actually seen a sphinx before; just heard about them from wayward travelers in stuffy old taverns. The descriptions didn't do them justice, in Pe's opinion.

As she approached, the sphinx eyed her steadily, its ruby-like irises glinting ominously in the torchlight. —When had torches been lit?

“Welcome, traveler,” the sphinx spoke, its voice deep and silky, like velvet and cream. “Tell me, what is it that you seek?”

Pe gulped. “Erm... I heard you had some spiffy treasure. I was kinda hoping you'd let me take it off your hands– er... paws.”

The sphinx cocked its head slightly to the left. “You're honest,” it said, sounding somewhat surprised. “That is uncommon.”

Pe fidgeted. “Yeah, well... I figured you would eat me if I lied, so...”

The sphinx barked out a short laugh and then lowered itself so that its belly rested on the dusty stone and crossed its paws in front of itself. “Very well. If my treasure is what you desire, then it is yours.”

“Whoa, really?” Pe asked, taken aback by the beast's unexpected cooperation.

“Indeed,” the sphinx confirmed. “If you can answer my riddle, that is.”

And there's the catch, Pe thought, sighing mentally. Of course. Good treasure is never free, her mother would've said.

“Alright then. Fire away,” she declared, raising her chin up high.

The sphinx eyed her with interest. “Are you quite sure, child? You haven't yet heard what you stand to lose, should you guess incorrectly. You must know that I don't simply bet my possessions without expecting a bet in return.”

“It doesn't matter what it is,” Pe said, looking the beast directly in the eye. “The treasure is the only thing I care about.”

The sphinx raised a brow and its lips pulled up into the barest hint of a grin. “So be it. Listen well.

“Two beautiful maidens approach the village matchmaker to be matched. The matchmaker is impressed by their beauty, but even more impressed is she by the fact that they both look exactly alike. The matchmaker asks each maiden where she lives, and their answers are the same; they live in the same house. She asks each who her father is, and their answers are the same; they have the same father. She asks for their birthdays, and they have the same birthday.

“"Ah," says the matchmaker. "You are twins."

“"No," say the maidens. "We're not twins."

“How can this be?” the sphinx finished, laying its chin on its paws and observing her through half-lidded eyes.

“Uh...” Pe said intelligently as she wracked her brain for an answer. “Geez. Usually these kinds of riddles end up having abstract answers like 'your own shadow' or 'time'... but neither of those work with this one.” She fell silent as she thought some more. “Maybe they're clones!” she exclaimed excitedly. Then her expression changed and she frowned. “Or one is actually a robot created by the father to replace the real twin who was mysteriously murdered just before her wedding to an affluent property owner from the next town... Or could it be that the sister didn't die after all and it was all a ruse by the father to swap his first-born with a robot double. But then there would be three sisters and...”

Pe's eyes brightened suddenly and she grinned. “I've got it! They're all robots that were made at the same time by the same guy, making them identical robot triplets. Only the two of them went to the matchmaker because the third ran off with the affluent property owner, and the matchmaker didn't know about the third one because she's not very tech savvy and she doesn't know they're actually robots and she mistook them for twins.”

“Is that your...final answer?” the sphinx asked, giving Pe a strange look.

Pe crossed her arms and nodded confidently. “It's the only logical explanation.”
Am I the first person to do this mission? w00t!

This was super fun. So I pulled this completely out of my butt, hurhur. But it does answer the riddle. Kind of. It's what Pe would say, anyway. And you can't disprove it, right? So it must be correct. ;P
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AceArcalas's avatar
O.O
Nice XD
I need to work on mine lol