Take Back the Light

Chapter 16

I'd know if Will left some fortune here.

"Rich? I dunno," Eli said. "My dad talked about stashes of stuff hidden around Slugterra, things I'll need someday. But I think he would've said something about a fortune."

Exactly. Will wouldn't hide something like that, would he?

"Just think!" Trixie exclaimed, ignoring Eli. "Some of it could be hidden here, right under our noses!"

She hurriedly lifted one of the couch cushions, while Kord zipped off to inspect the tool cabinets along one of the walls. Pronto disappeared for one moment, and reappeared just as quickly, now holding a shovel. He banged at the ground, and Alana quickly got up.

"Don't dent up the floor," she scolded, yanking the shovel from his hands. Pronto didn't respond. He simply dove to another potential hiding spot and kept digging around. Alana sighed and watched as Trixie kept searching through cushions and Kord dug through cupboards.

She paused and turned when she saw Eli walking hesitantly around to the back of the room. He stopped and stood in front of something hanging on the wall, and Alana took a few steps forward to see that it was the portrait if him and Will.

Alana smiled sadly as she looked at it, observing Will's smile and remembering how much she missed seeing it. She expected Eli to take a glance and move on, but instead, he stayed.

"More secrets, huh?" he asked quietly. Then he stepped forward and lifted the portrait off the wall. Alana's eyes widened as he set it down on the ground and revealed a safe imbedded in the wall of the hideout.

"Whoa," she breathed, walking up and watching as Eli tapped the metal cautiously. Kord cleared his throat, and Alana hurriedly backed away as the cave troll reared back and punched the front of the safe in. The hinges broke, and the metal went clattering to the floor.

"That's one way to do it," Trixie laughed as Eli reached into the hole in the wall. He pulled out a block of silvery metal, in the shape of a rectangle but with rounded edges. Alana's heart sank a bit- it looked like she didn't know what all Will would and wouldn't do.

"EEEE!" Pronto exclaimed, sprinting over to Eli and jumping up and down excitedly. "Open it, open it!"

"Okay, okay," Eli laughed, looking at the block. "But I'm not sure how. Or even where."

Pronto cleared his throat and stepped forward, grabbing the block from Eli.

"Allow me," he said, raising he block above his head. As Pronto threw his hands down (apparently having forgotten Alana's earlier request not to dent the floor), Kord quickly grabbed it from the molenoid.

"I haven't seen one of these in ages," he marveled as he held up the block. "The thing's been coated in smolten. Only way we're getting this baby open is with a Forgesmelter slug."

"Awww," Pronto groaned. "We don't have one of those!"

"Well, where can we find one?" Eli asked eagerly.

"Oh, we would have to travel to the deepest regions of the Magma Caverns!" Pronto said dramatically.

"Yes!" Alana exclaimed. She'd passed through the Magma Caverns, but hadn't actually traversed through them.

"No way. It's way too dangerous," Trixie protested. "It's basically all molten lava."

"And don't forget about the magma monsters," Kord added.

"And the ferocious lava bats that will swoop down and gorge themselves on... my sweltering brains!" Pronto exclaimed. Eli smirked and glanced at Alana, who nodded.