(A/n): Hi guys!
Very sorry about the slow update... I won't give you excuses, but I'm just glad to see this story grow!
Anyway, have fun reading what's next for you!
(Third Person's POV)
The sun peaked. The few birds of the soon-coming spring chirped in the garden and sang a morning song. (Y/n), with her head on her arms in bed, was shaken from her sleep by the light of day and opened her eyes briefly just to see the sunshine for time confirmation.
Geez, it's morning, she thought, still tired and rolling back to her original position to sleep a while longer. She knew she needed to get up as soon as the sun rose, but she just didn't wanna. (Y/n) was rather tired (however well rested she was feeling all the same.) She'd get up eventually, she told her inner self, releasing a tired groan and huff like a pre-teen.
Then, after a few minutes of almost dosing off, there was a knock.
"Ugh-" (Y/n) twisted in annoyance; nevertheless, she decided after the second round to get up and go ahead and answer.
She rubbed the sleep away roughly and rolled out of bed. Once she had a robe on and a sunhat (just to hide her sleepy face) (Y/n) opened the door- slightly.
An older, tall waiter was waiting on the other side.
"Good morning, ma'am," he spoke, poised like a butler and speaking with an accent that reminded her of Nester.
(Y/n) felt comfortable enough to open the door more and peeked her head out.
"Yes?" she asked confusedly.
"I have been sent to escort you, Ma'am, at the request of your fellow friends, down there in the hall room where they plan on preparing for your departure this morning." He briefly looked me up and down. "I deduce you need a moment to make up before we head down?"
(Y/n) rounded her eyes up to her hat and down to her robe before giving a goofy lip line and nodding.
"Yeah, just... give me a minute," and with that, she slowly shut the door.
"Mmmm..." (Y/n) moaned to herself, rubbing her face again before looking out the big window opposite to her. "Okay, I guess I'm up now..."
Scrambling as to not keep the man waiting, (Y/n) hurried to tame her hair into an updo of her choosing and then put on the simplest, most mobile outfit she could find in her armoire, whether it be dress or trousers was her issue. However, after some great deliberation, (Y/n) made her choice and then scanned her face in the mirror after brushing her teeth.
With a shrug, she opened the door again with a nicer smile.
"Hi again," (Y/n) said to the man.
"Just follow me, ma'am."
The girl nodded and walked promptly behind the waiter as he took her around an unfamiliar corner. The man walked and acted like a butler with mannerisms, and it reminded her more and more of Nester every second.
"This way, down the hall," the waiter said with monotone, round a corner that was actually an open door where an elongated space with huge windows on its left was residing.
The hall room was filled with aesthetically pleasing art and statues along the walls but empty overall besides the long table at the end which connected to a small kitchen set for private events. At the far end near the table was the group of guys (Y/n) knew and liked, standing in a rough circle. At once, they turned to look at the incomer, and at last, the preparation was in session.
"Looks as though someone has come to join us," cooed Kadron.
"Ah hah," her uncle blurted.
"Hello, lass!" Captain Haddock greeted with a smile.
"Hi!" (Y/n) reciprocated with a wave to everyone. She was deterred by not receiving the same recognition from Tintin for some reason, so (Y/n) was compelled to greet him first. "Hey," she waved, giving the boy the sweetest smile she could muster.
Tintin didn't reply but remained steady, placing his hands in his pockets and smiling back with a nod.
"Are we about to leave?" she asked the group.
"Not yet, doll. Our first matter is that I explain things more comprehensibly than I know you've probably pieced together so far. Let me fill in the gaps," Isaac Finn explained.
(Y/n)'s ears were intent on the topic; after all, she was since yesterday very anxious to start on this new journey and find out more about herself and what treasure was waiting for her.
Issac went on talking. All the group kept keen. Nonetheless, it happened that, for no particular reason, Tintin's eyes slowly pried off of the gentleman's face, wandering their way over as a random glance to (Y/n), his mind growing absent.
Being so far gone in his empty thoughtless zone, a soft whisper startled him.
"What's it you're looking at?" Haddock asked with a hand covering his mouth.
Tintin jumped lightly and held back a gasp with a whip of his head at the intruder.
Collecting himself, he stood straight and gave a firm yet unreadable response.
"Nothing. Nothing at all, actually," he said. Isaac had paused his statement at this scene, so Tintin gestured a hand at him. "Continue, please."
"The treasure is much more than just a pile of riches," Isaac continued, sort of walking off in thought as he pulled a very old notepad from under his coat. "It's much more beyond that. It's a right to the beholder!" He flipped the pages. "Only the correct one can maintain it properly, that's why Kadron and I have been on the search for it for years only to find it requires the presence of the family's direct descendant."
Isaac placed the note down on the table for the others to see. The group crowded around the man in a semi-circle to see the notes on the pad. From what they read, it was evident that he had collected all the information so that the journey was practically laid out for them; regardless, the journey itself still needed to be made.
"There are a few clues still needed before we can make our way to the endmost search spot. We have the whereabouts of the objects but haven't yet turned them up, and your help is crucial in that." Isaac gestured to some hyper-realistic sketches of three different novelties and then pointed at the first one on the left. "As Kadron has drawn here, the first key we need will be the harp, representing the unity of Ireland-"
"For what reason do we need to find this object first?" Haddock asked.
"It's not necessarily a matter of order-" explained Isaac.
"It is rather the closest item of retrieval," Kadron chimed with a normalized purr.
"Here in Germany, actually!" Isaac spake, tightening the grip he had on his cane. "Along the coast; on the dried-up island of Hörner," he walked to a bronze globe and mumbled to himself their location before tapping the spot they needed to go. "And there, only a few miles away! We'll have a couple of scouts ride us up the ravines."
"How do we know where to look? Do you know where they need to take us? And what of the other clues?" Tintin questioned.
Isaac pulled out a semi-small map from his coat and unraveled it for the others to see. On it, was a layout of Europe with a few circles and detailed house portraits right beside each. Using the top of his cane, Isaac tapped and moved it around the page during his education.
"There are precisely four large mansions scattered about the borderlines of Europe- each served as a get-a-way home from the original house in Belgium- and one of each item we need for the tests is hidden in each of these places. Kadron and I have already retrieved two, so that leaves us with three left to get!"
"Just three, hm?" (Y/n) coed after the pause, blinking in thought. "Doesn't sound too complicated, then. When are we leaving?" she asked with a bit of eagerness.
"Right now- this instant! We'll take the cars readied, and finally, find what I've sought after..." Isaac paused with an odd look before stretching his cane away with the tip on the ground and a deep gaze at his niece, "It's your origin, are you ready to comply?" he asked, holding out his cane with his hand clutched on the top.
With a scan of the faces before her, (Y/n) smiled, placing a hand on her Uncle's with a lip bite of new excitement, feeling a strong sense of curiosity and confidence that she didn't have before. Something about the last week had shifted in (Y/n), and now she was invested in the new adventure, however inexperienced she was; which didn't deter her but made her more anxious.
Isaac placed his other hand atop both of theirs, and the group mutualized a firm lip of readiness.
"Well, gents and a lady, to Hörner!" Issac spoke sophisticatedly.
"To Hörner!"
Not long after the group lifted their hands, a rocky trip over the ridges of cracked, stony ground was set. The group took four top-open vehicles, two with just the scouts and the others with the group dispersed. Finn and Ace Wilder rode together with the head guide while Tintin, Snowy, and the Captain rode with (Y/n) between the other vehicles. Everyone peered along the horizon for some sort of ruins or frame in the dry island, wondering if it would take long to find their first clue.
"Where is it exactly you want?" the driver asked Finn in his thick German accent.
"Take us to the mansion that dwells on this island. I'll find what I'm needing there," answered Finn confidently. He sat beside the driver while Kadron sat next to a scout in the back. They were one car ahead of their friends.
"The mansion is nothing but cave... Senior Finn... since the construction was demolished and the cellar below is embedded in the rocks here-"
"Just take us to where it is," Isaac boldly interrupted, gaining a casual eyebrow lift from Kadron. "I know what I am doing."
In the car behind, where the rest of the adventurers rode, was one guide driving while Tintin sat in the passenger. (Y/n) sat behind the driver in the back beside the Captain and Snowy.
"How much longer 'til we get there, anyhoo?" the Captain asked, bringing out his thick accent with his words.
"Shouldn't be much longer Captain. The host said it would vary depending on the condition of the island. Just make yourself comfortable. We'll get there eventually," Tintin answered, keeping his eye on the ravines.
"Gee, I hope we can find it- whatever it is," (Y/n) spoke, visibly interested in the trip. "I also hope it cools down soon; it's so hot."
"You can say that again," Haddock remarked, having been fanning himself with his old cap. "Phew..."
"Do you think it will take us long once we get there?" (Y/n) casually asked Tintin, leaning forward somewhat diagonal to rest her hands on the back of the front seats.
"I'm not sure how long it will be," answered Tintin honestly, turning his head but not looking away from the rocks. "We may not even find anything- assuming luck isn't in our favor. Should it take us awhile we can always camp by the site."
"Another night of an aching back? Ay, I'd like to think not!" blurted the Captain.
The other two stared at him, unsure how to handle the complaint, making the man speak again.
"I suppose it could be nice to sleep under the night sky... fresh air is always a breeze, heh," he concluded, crossing his arms and leaning back in his spot leisurely.
(Y/n) chuckled to herself, receiving a flashy smile from the journalist, short as it was since he could knew the Captain was watching, so he turned back to face the windshield.
The ride went on for another fifteen minutes. The heat died down slightly as the bright sun calmed. Everyone could see an overpass ahead of stone and knew they were close.
"Just a few more minutes, Senior Finn," the rider of the first car spoke.
The passenger- Isaac- stood freely in the moving automobile and called back behind him.
"A FEW MINUTES, GENTS!"
"Hear that? Not much longer now, Captain," assured Tintin.
Snowy barked at his words with a tail wag and pants.
"I wonder what it looks like after all these years," thought (Y/n) aloud, rising a bit to see further on.
She fidgetted lightly in her chair to look around the bend, curious to see what would be waiting for them up ahead. Naturally, the movement in the rearview mirror drew Tintin's attention, and he watched as his friend's curiosity stirred in her movements.
Then, ever so slyly, as Tintin remained steady-eyed, another pair of peers with mischief glided evenly into view, catching the boy's eye once the cut-off face began wiggling its eyebrows notoriously at him.
Tintin whipped his head back with a firm look of distaste at the Captain, who let out whew before chuckling two times to himself and looking back at the horizon.
In a short period, the group arrived. The destination was planted in between an expansive rock valley, which sparkled only in the few areas where the sun was able to hit over the dust it collected.
The short line of cars parked on either side of an inverted area of the valley, and everyone exited with eyes up on the ridges.
"HERE WE ARE, GENTLEMAN! Our first location..." Isaac exclaimed confidentially, stepping down from the car with playful poise. It would appear he didn't doubt the success of their first exploration.
(Y/n) glided her head across the bottom of the ravine.
"Where do we go?" she asked calmly.
"Well, we can try there for a start," replied Kadron, lifting his head at what he spotted.
(Y/n) followed his eyes and saw a wooden entrance frame that was embedded into a large bulged rock protruding from the stony ravine. She could also see that at the very top of the ravine above, was a dusty, antique of a mansion that was two stories- almost entirely blocking the sun and looked like a spin on a Victorian house.
(Y/n) was a bit enthralled by the location of the home, but there was some inaudible talking that got her to notice the scouts with hatchets passing by her.
The adventurers watched two men beat down on the door with moderate success. This was taking a while so Isaac eyed Kadron, to which he took up a sledgehammer and hammered out the wood with ease.
There was a thud. The group hovered around the entryway as the dust soon cleared from sight.
"Can I go in?" (Y/n) asked, unsure if the others thought it would be safe or not. She received quiet confirmation and then crept inside the hall.
At the end of the tunnel, was a relatively small room, connected to one or two larger ones. It wasn't empty but the only items inside were the crates of trinkets or toys and a couple of pickaxes or rope, as well as an old kitchen in one area. What lay at the end of other tunnels was blocked by the mountains of boulders fallen down.
The others followed in. Just a quick moment was taken to eye the space before the group eased into scavenging through the items with curiosity of each antique- or... yearning to retrieve the object they came to find to began with.
(Y/n) mostly looked through the chests, finding so many different toys that were well preserved under the stray cobwebs.
"These must be hand-crafted. How cool," she thought aloud, handling a tiny, toy rocking horse, intrigued by its stability after so many decades.
She then put the item down and walked away to keep looking for the harp clue. Soon after skimming through the crates of spelunking tools, a slight twinkle drew her.
Attempting to move the heavy crate away, (Y/n) failed but realized she could just slide the object up and out from behind. Breathing sharply, she pursed her lips and carefully took up the object in her hands.
It was a small, but indeed the golden object was- in fact- a harp. (Y/n)'s heart raced and she grinned.
"I think I found it!" she blurted, watching the other guys walk up to her.
"OH ho- yes, let me see!" Finn responded, taking away the object with delight, soon to be faltered into a dead spark.
(Y/n) furrowed her brows.
"What's wrong?"
Isaac Finn pulled at a couple of the harp strings to make a simple melody.
"I think this is just a harp."
"Oh..." was all (Y/n) could say at first, somewhat confused and dejected. "Well, what's the difference?"
"It's more of a trinket- what we want."
(Y/n) stood up to this and scanned the room awkwardly, knowing there was not a point in looking in this area any further and unsure what to do next.
"Does not appear we'd had so much luck this past few hours," cooed Kadron.
Has it been that long? The girl wondered to herself.
"We will have to excavate through the blocked tunnels and make our way through to the house itself!" Isaac blared.
"That is absurd, Senior! However, we can have them bring you some unique climbing supplies," the head scout spoke, dismissing such intentions of (Y/n)'s uncle. "But it would take them many hours to arrive here, you may want to come back for dinner."
"It would be 'aBsUrD' to even leave at this time of day! That's it- we are staying here for the night. Grab your blankets, dear friends! Let's set camp outside and wait for the ropes to arrive in the morning!"
"Oh, uh-" (Y/n) trailed, surprised they'd be sleeping outside yet again and worried about being uncomfortable or cold.
The head scout shouted something in German as he exited the cave to send one car back to the hotel.
Isaac lead the party out. It was a short matter of time before they became campers under a twinkling sky with a warm fire blazing before them. The five were given sandwiches for their dinner, and whether (Y/n) did or didn't like this sort of food before, she really enjoyed the ones made by the Erlesen Garden.
(Your POV)
Once I finished eating, I pulled up a knee to rest my arm and chin on quietly as I stared at the crackling campfire. The guys all started to talk a bit with each other, but I paid no attention because I was so zoned out by my thoughts and the fire flames.
Eventually, I felt tired and laid back on the blanket pillow thing I scrunched up. It wasn't to fall asleep but just to relax and stare up at the stars, which were less lovely than the ones I saw on the horrible island.
Yet, I still found these ones calming to look at, though.
After what seemed like only a few minutes, the silence of our camp made me snap back to reality. I casually blinked my eyes before pushing up partially to see the others asleep around me. The campfire was still burning slightly, and I realized I'd been awake for quite some time, if not hours, so I laid back down and rolled on my side, deciding I should try to sleep.
After what only felt like a few seconds of sleep, my mind was too awake for me to do so and I opened my eyes slowly, pushing up again to look behind at the cave. I don't know... maybe we didn't search through it as thoroughly as we thought. Maybe I should try again in case we missed something...
I needed a light. I hesitantly got on all fours and- seeing nobody was stirred- I stood quietly, creeping to one of the cars to find a light of some sort. Rummaging through it I accidentally dropped an object on the floor. It clanked really loud and I looked back behind to see if I woke anyone. Nobody seemed to hear, so I continued looking through the stuff until I found a flashlight in the trunk.
Glancing at the men, I walked back into the cave and turned the light on. I had only taken, like, five steps it felt like before I heard: "ehem."
I turned back, startled, and pointed the light at the person; Kadron, to be exact.
"Hello," I answered stiffly, proceeding to relax at his sight.
"Now what is it you are doing up so late on this night?" he asked, lifting a brow at me, and speaking in a soft, smooth voice as I had gotten used to.
"I just wanted to look again real quick," I whispered, wondering in the back of my head if I was in trouble even though I knew I wasn't. "I thought maybe we didn't look hard enough today... for the harp."
"I see," he replied, crossing his arms and relaxing his serious face of his into an unusually, friendly expression, with his eyebrows rising off his typical aloof eyes. "Well, I suppose we can have another look, hm?"
He then walked away from me and started searching around casually. I didn't expect Kadron to join but I didn't mind really either, so I just began doing the same thing.
We looked quietly around for a couple of minutes before Kadron casually concluded: "I don't believe it's here," while standing upright and resting an arm on his palm.
"I guess you're right," I said, gliding my light across the place for one last check.
Then, as I started following Kadron out the door, I noticed something up in the stone roof and did a double take. It looked like a knob, and the brass of it twinkled in the flashlight when I pointed at it to see.
"Wait, do you see that?" I asked, walking up and under the knob.
Getting a closer look, I could clearly see that, around which, was a paper-thin line that indicated to me that it was some sort of door.
I reached up but retracted seeing how high it really was for even Kadron's height and I looked around for a prop less heavy to move.
"I can't reach it. I think it's a hatch of some kind." I spun to the pilot and pointed at the knob. "Can you boost me up...?"
Without a twitch in his face, Kadron bent down with his hands intertwined. I pursed my lips and contently stepped up, clumsily hoisting a knee on his shoulder and supporting my hand on his head, reaching a stretched arm up towards the knob.
Then I grabbed it.
Things would have been fine if I hadn't gotten too eager to pull it open with both hands. I lost balance once it loosened from its place and desperately waved my hands as I came tumbling down. My body fell flat on my back with a sharp pain, but hearing the odd sound of stones being dragged against one another opened my eyes to the lovely death trap approaching me. I had no time to react, but Kadron grabbed my upper arm and yanked me from under the heavy ladder falling down with its rails connected to the hollow cylindrical stone.
Kadron and I shockingly watched the new entryway thud against the solid ground.
I was curious... but stiffened in silence for a couple of minutes.
'I almost died.'
"... I think we should perhaps be just a bit more careful," Kadron said.
After I shook the thoughts away, I stepped up to the ladder and examined the cylinder stone and rails before peeking up into the darkness. I tugged on the steps to see how sturdy the ladder was, then looked back at Kadron.
"Well, I am not in too much pain, so let's see what's up there!" I said to Kadron.
"You want me to come with you?"
I gave him a confused look.
"You don't wanna?"
"Not that," Kadron clarified. "I just assumed you would rather explore to yourself, since you snuck in here to began with."
"Well, I mean," I started, confused. "I just didn't want to wake you up. But I can't exactly go too far by myself, that's why I need you to go with me, since your already helping me, so I don't get in trouble."
"And who said that?" Kadron asked.
"Said what?"
"That you can't explore by yourself?" Kadron questioned, seemingly curious.
"Tin-..."
I paused a second before finishing, and Kadron lifted a brow with a head tilt.
"Tintin?" he pressed.
I was silent.
Was... that not the rule? Didn't I need to be with someone for protection? Ever since the black market, I didn't wanna stray too far away again and get in danger. Tintin was so adamant about that- after all, I'm still new to adventuring, as well as the prime target for any new enemies... I thought.
Kadron's questioning had me confused though.
"I'll be right behind you," he finally said, grabbing the rail, making me feel better so that I began climbing up the hole.
My mind was focused and my imagination went nuts at what might be at the top. I didn't fear falling because I was so interested by the pale blue light up above me and what it was.
After a couple of short minutes, we reached the top of the ladder. I stared up at the ceiling and spun in awe at the cobwebs, dust, and expansive size of the mansion- which I assumed it was, since, well... where else could we be?
The royal blue room we were in was either a living room or a small ballroom, but it was hard to tell because the few pieces of furniture (chairs) left were shoved against the walls and covered with complete dust and webs- some with sheets also. The ceiling was sky-high, painted with all sorts of gold and silver imperial swirls and patterns, which sort of went down along the walls and even the metal of the support pillars.
When I acknowledged that Kadron had come up from the hole, I peeked around the hole to see the top of the open hatch, which was perfectly disguised as a piece of the flooring.
That's when I noticed the floor overall. I had taken a couple of steps back to see more of it better, as well as stood on a window sill to my left for an even better view.
A giant unicorn and lion were painted onto the entire floor, playing with each other with thorny plants hanging out of their mouths and crowns over their heads. Surrounding them was more of the imperial patterns and the different flowers with thorns.
I raised my brows at the size of the painting while flashing my light on them. The animals reminded me of my necklace, and I pulled it up before my face to look at the emblem again.
"My word, we never even needed the gear," Kadron stated, shaking me out of my thoughts.
I almost forgot why we were there.
"Oh... yeah," I let my necklace go and looked around the ballroom. "Well, the harp is probably not in this room. You go try that side while I look on the other part of the mansion and see if there is a bedroom or antique room with it."
With that, we split and walked to opposite sides of the house. I followed a shorter hall that led to a couple of small guest bedrooms. I skimmed inside each of them but I knew that it would be useless to look there. (Unless the Cornelius's were smart enough to hide something somewhere that no one would think of... yet after searching I stood corrected.)
After that, I went down a flight of stairs, walking past the ballroom, that led me down an old, wooden door with engravings all over it. It opened with ease since I guess the door knob was broken- it actually stayed in the position I turned it in as I lightly pushed open the door. It almost broke off its hinges from the damage I could see on them.
Anyway, I took out my flashlight and shone it on the room. At least, what was left of it. The room was only about three yards long I'd've guessed, with nothing but rock walls and wooden support frames but the end was a bunch of large tree stems, blocking the rest of the room or hall or whatever it was completely.
I looked along the walls once and then shut the door behind me to look somewhere else. I decided after walking up the stairs again to see if Kadron might have found something, and walked back onto the ballroom.
As I was heading to the other hall across, I slowed when noticed a crack in the ground from the angle of the pale blue moonlight. I thought nothing of it til the smoothness of the rest of floor made me sort of wonder about it. I stopped walking and sort of tilted my head with one foot out to balance, feeling aloof about it. Then, I noticed it was a perfectly cut triangle. I stepped over it and realized it was the outline of one of the lion's fangs.
"Weird," I thought, spinning to see if there were outlines around any other parts of the floor.
Just out of very light curiosity, I squatted down and traced my finger along the entire line. I noticed even the smaller bottom tooth under it was outlined and traced that. In doing so, the bottom tooth sort of fell in, while the edge of the other fang it touched popped up by the corner. When I thrust my hand back from the clicking noise it made, it fell back into its original position.
I was quiet for a moment.
"... What? Is this a lever...?"
I pushed harder against one side of the smaller tooth again and the sharper end pushed up under the larger one to lift it up and out of the ground by a crack. With my mouth agape, I grabbed the large fang and pulled on it. It was loose but heavy so I had to use two hands to remove it from the floor.
Once I drug it out and in view, my eyes widened and I gasped.
"Oh my gosh! I think I got it." I stood and lifted the harp from its front.
The back panel which was used to hide it in the tile plopped off with an echoing thud, and my eyes widened at the light weight that the actual harp had. I blinked, holding out the harp with one hand and lifting it up and down to understand that the tile panel was the thing that made it weigh so much, and the harp felt like almost nothing.
With pride, I held the little harp close to me and walked across the floor, cupping my hand to get Kadron to hear me.
"Kadron! KADRON I FOUND IT!!" I started jogging after hearing no reply. "KADRON-"
"Did you??" I heard from behind, startling me.
I turned to see him giving me a face of eagerness.
"Yes, I found it in the ground over there," I pointed at the lion's mouth, "it was hidden! I saw a crack in the ground and it was a lever to lift it out!"
"Impeccable...!" Kadron said, twirling the trinket with two hands before effortlessly spinning it under his arm. "We have to go back now!"
I don't know how long it had been that we were awake, but once Kadron and I got back to camp the sun started to peek a bit over the cliffs. I was jogging but went full sprint after exiting the cave. I stopped after noticing the others were still asleep, but I couldn't contain myself enough to not kneel down in front of my snoring uncle.
This rush of excitement just completely took over me for some reason.
Maybe it was cuz we were getting closer to finding my treasure item, which I suddenly became invested about, not ever even thinking about what we were actually trying to do on this adventure until right now: help me find secrets about my family.
"Uncle Isaac," I whispered roughly, pausing to hear him snore once into his pillow. "Uncle-"
"Zz-ch-heh... huh? Not another word... we'll get it... yes..." he mumbled loudly, turning on his back while gesturing his hands in his sleep.
I furrowed my brows and shook him a little.
"Hey! We found it!"
"Zz-c-'found?' Huh?" he blurted while shooting up, his eyes heavy as he turned to me, basically awake now. "What is it now, dear?" he asked with slight disinterest due to sleepiness.
"The harp! We found it, Uncle. The harp," I said with a bit of excitement.
To this, Uncle snapped out of his slumber and buzzed like a crazy man.
"What? You found it?? Come here- let me see it!!"
As he spoke, Kadron walked up and held out the harp upright with one hand while bowing for Uncle instead of kneeling. Uncle Issac stood after grabbing the thing, inspecting it super shortly before shouting at everyone.
"Up! Up I say- ALL OF YOU! PIP-PIP!" he proclaimed.
There was a stir in the group and slowly they all began to wake up and stand. I jogged over to them. Some of the guides with us were a bit slow and just rolled over instead of rising, while one or two of the main guys and my friends Captain and Tintin were quick to rub their eyes (although the Captain was a bit foggy in his eyes by the way he was blinking, rocking and wiping his face off.) Snowy yawned and stretched before taking turns barking at every person to wake them.
I became anxious and went over to Tintin first, bending over at him while he was barely standing and squeezing his shoulder.
"We found the harp! We found it-" I whispered aloud, dashing then over to Captain Haddock. "We got it, Captain! Come on!" I told him with a shake before fast walking to my uncle, who was basking at the harp.
"Good morning, Snowy!" I whispered, rubbing his head as I passed him.
Uncle Isaac moved away from Kadron and me when I came up to admire the harp to himself, lifting it into the sunrise which was now kinda shining over us fully. It even twinkled from the ray. I knew Uncle Isaac was pleased.
"It's magnificent," he declared to himself with a loud whisper, making me bite my lip to keep my grin from growing too big. "Now... who is it- who did it?" Isaac asked, turning on his heel to us with a completely different change of subject.
Kadron raised his brows aloofly and tilted his head at me, so my Uncle chuckled with a shut mouth; then, he stepped closer to me.
"Little (Y/n) (L/n)," Uncle said proudly, making me feel lightened. He gave the harp to me with his head high. "Or Cornelius, should I say... keep it, we won't need it for a few more trips anyway," he then did a 180°. "Now that we got what we need, let's leave. To the Erlesen Garden. Gather up, scouts!!"
I raised a brow at my Uncle's persistence but then smiled to myself, liking that I'd done something good for once in this adventure.
(Third Person's POV)
"I can't believe we actually found something this," (Y/n) said to Kadron gidiliy. "I feel like it proves this is all real- not that I didn't believe it before, but- now, I wonder how we will need to use it for the treasure...!"
"Tsk," Kadron responded with a relaxed brow lift, speaking less intense and more comfortably, using his personable, young voice which was how he was around those he knew well enough. "I'm sure you will figure be able to figure that out, Little Cornelius." he tilted her chin up and then patted her head like a kid teasingly before walking away to the cars.
Quite subtly, the pilot cruised past Tintin but turned his head to say something.
"She's well off on her own."
Tintin spun to watch Kadron walk away before turning to look over at (Y/n).
"Come along!" Isaac shouted to everyone including Tintin and (Y/n), making them turn heads and waving his cane in the air.
People were piling in the cars now. Tintin furrowed his brows at Isaac with gears turning in his head before again turning to look back at (Y/n) once more, who was walking with the harp low in both hands like a weight.
She slowed down when Tintin paralleled his steps with hers.
"So... you found the harp," Tintin asked, although it was more of a statement.
(Y/n) looked to her side and sorta tilted her head into a shrug to confirm. Tintin was intuitive, stopping briefly to think. His face was full of calculation.
"Hm. Well, um-" Tintin looked up to his right at the horizon before looking her back in the face. "Well done, indeed." And with his brow raised and a small smirk of pride, the journalist expressed a more open attitude toward the girl.
"LET'S GO-LET'S GO! Move it, all you blokes!" Isaac exclaimed for the final time.
"We must hurry, your uncle is having a fit," Tintin joked, opening the car door for the girl to get in.
Haddock ran up to (Y/n) from outside the car with curiosity, asking to see the harp she had found.
"Let me see that trinket!" He was then given the harp to see, which he delicately rotated in both hands, impressed. "Ah. What a lovely piece of artistry," he spoke, making (Y/n) laugh at his accent.
Haddock gave the harp back and rounded to the other side where Tintin was standing.
"A real asset, haha," Haddock said, moving in front of him.
Tintin forced a smile but it died when the Captain seated himself in the passenger side knowing full well that Tintin was going to, even going as far as to say "excuse me" almost tauntingly, causing a confused face on the boy and forcing him to sit in the back seat beside (Y/n).
"Onward, hah! Next is our flagon from England... shouldn't be much longer," Isaac said, fading his smile and settling in his seat with crossed legs as the vehicles departed.
"Onward indeed," the Captain chuckled to himself. "Enjoy the ride, lad, it'll only be a few hours," he spoke with mischief.
Tintin was a bit oblivious and only leaned his head on his pried fist.
"Why make a harp if the harp strings don't work?" (Y/n) wondered, plucking at the harp strings that made no noise.
Tintin's attention was caught and he turned to her, now wanting to see it himself.
"Could I see it?" Tintin asked.
(Y/n) looked over at the journalist, understanding and giving the harp to him.
"Thank you," Tintin replied, his eyes sparked intriguingly with the same curiosity he had during each mystery as soon as he got a close look at the harp. "Heavens, it's completely handcrafted! I doubt there are others of its kind- there can't be!" He pointed to the frame. "Did you notice the imprint here along the frame?"
"No, I didn't," (Y/n) said, scooting closer to him to see, which Tintin did the same.
Snowy barked at them two, having been seated between them and they both looked at the dog before holding the harp in front of him to study it together.
"Along the side here," Tintin said, running his hand under each word on the harp's frame, almost whispering as if it were a secret. " 'Why does the lion roar?' "
" 'Why does the lion roar?' ?" (Y/n) repeated, wondering what that meant.
"Did you hear that, Captain? It sounds like a hint- a riddle, even. Maybe this is the reason we need to collect these objects. Their inscriptions will help us with the tests Isaac told us about," Tintin said aloud.
"But what does this mean?" (Y/n) asked, clutching one side of the frame to study the words better.
"I'm not sure. I can't contain my curiosity any more than you can, yet I know we will figure that out soon. But just think, this is only our first clue, so there must be all kinds of new mysteries awaiting us!" He held the harp a little higher and rotated it with great interest. "Who knows how many more secrets will be unfolded..." he cooed, grinning at her breifly with enlightment.
(Y/n) grinned and chuckled lightly, quiet at first before accidentally slipping what was on her mind.
"You literally always make everything sound so much more interesting." She laughed.
Tintin lifted a brow and looked her in the face, which was awfully close to his own but he didn't back down from it. However, (Y/n) pulled back and turned away, lifting a brow herself but at someone else. Tintin's face faltered, and he also noticed the pair of risen eyebrows staring at them in the mirror. The boy scrunched his face slightly with dissatisfaction, humoring the Captain who burst a whistle laugh before chuckling heartily without shame.