The Greatest Lost Treasure

Chapter 14

     The stone wall dropped to the floor and disappeared from view. They all breathed a sigh of relief having not been impaled then gasped. The stone wall had revealed a large room with a waterfall coming from the ceiling and into the basin of a fountain. It was absolutely breathtaking.
     As they made their way around the waterfall, they noticed a beautiful marble angel statue with its arms outstretched welcoming them.

He then noticed a pedestal in front of the angel with a particular cutout in its center.
     Luke reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the astrolabe piece and inserted into the grooves. Seeing nothing happening at first he tried to move the piece and noticed it moved slightly when he tried to turn it so he rotated it a full three hundred and sixty degrees. Finally the pedestal top opened and revealed a hidden compartment inside.
He looked at what was uncovered and saw a yellowing cloth wrapping around a large circular object. Upon pulling it out, he immediately felt the weight of the object and knew what it was. Luke unwrapped the object and to no surprise to him it was another piece of the astrolabe. From his research he remembered it was the rete, the part of the device responsible for marking the stars and measuring the path of the sun.
     While Luke continued to look at the new artifact,  the twins inspected the rest of the pedestal only for Stella to find a letter. As she began to read she couldn't believe what was wrote that she had to share it with the others. "Guys-" Stella began, but she was cut off by a very unwanted guest.
     "Thank you Luke for making this so easy for me," Leonardo snarled as he entered the tunnels's opening.
Luke jumped. How did he find them? The answer to that question didn't matter, what did was they were now trapped with Leonardo and his Goliath buddies blocking the only exit.
Seeing the fear in Luke's eyes caused him to smile. "How about we make this easy? You give me what you found and I'll let you all go."
The girls looked to their male counterpart trying to read what he was thinking. Obviously he had to give these men what they had found didn't they? Skylar noticed Luke's grip tighten around the piece they had found and felt a lump forming in her throat.
"No," Luke replied sounding more confident than he currently felt.
     "Fine," Leonardo's voice echoed in the small space. "Unfortunately you leave me no other choice." He then brandished his long knife he previously used to threaten Luke with when he was kidnapped. "You either can give me what you found or I can kill you all and then take it. It doesn't matter to me either way."
Seeing Luke's expression not change she knew she had to do something, so she approached Luke. "I'm sorry Luke, but I will not allow you to kill my sister and myself for some little trinket."
     He looked at her completely stunned. Then as she reached out to grab the astrolabe piece from him he saw her left hand open revealing a small can of pepper spray. "You know this is the only way," she added before taking the piece from him as he nodded his head. Skylar then turned and started to approach Leonardo with the piece outstretched.
     "Smart girl," he said as he reached for the piece greedily.
     Just before he could touch the astrolabe piece, Skylar lifted her left hand and sprayed him in the face. The move was so precise and unexpected, that the Swiss man didn't have enough time to react and the spray hit its intended target.
     As Leonardo doubled over in pain, Skylar sprayed the two bodyguards and bolted out the now clear exit. Hearing the footsteps behind her, she knew her sister and Luke were right on her tail.
     As they ran, they heard the thuds of the recovered men quickly gaining. "We need a plan," Skylar realized.
     "Agreed. I say we each split up and meet back where we first ran into each other," Luke stated knowing they would most likely end up at different parts of the city considering how large the tunnels were.
     Stella nodded in agreement then veered right into another tunnel taking one of the goons with her. Before Skylar could split up as well, she gave the heavy piece of the astrolabe to Luke. "Take care of this," she whispered hoping Leonardo wouldn't see the transition and ran down the tunnel to his left.
     Seeing Leonardo follow after her, Luke smiled happy he had taken the bait. For some reason he didn't worry about Skylar. There was something about her that told him that she could hold her own against Leonardo especially after the whole pepper spray ordeal.
     The last remaining man followed Luke closely through the twists and turns of the tunnels. His footsteps where getting louder indicating he was gaining on him, thankfully though he remembered the way out. If he could just lose him through one of the passages, then he could make a clear break for the entrance.

     Feeling the man's breath on his neck he knew he was only about arms length away. He needed a clever way of escaping this goon, but just as he filtered through the ideas in his mind Stitch hissed as the man's burly hand grazed his fur. That will work, he thought, but he would need to time it perfectly.
     As the man reached out to grab the teen once again, he was surprised to see Luke turn around and throw his cat at his face. Stitch was more than ready to give this man the pain he deserved so he started with clawing at his face and neck. Then he proceeded to bite his ear drawing blood. The man uttered a word in Swedish that Luke knew was not the kind of word you should use.
     Luke then waited for Stitch to jump down and start attacking the man's legs before he swung the large astrolabe piece at the man's head. Between the scratches and bite marks from his cat and the devastating blow to the head that even George Foreman would have been impressed by, the man fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
     Scooping up his cat, Luke made a mad dash for the entrance and left the tunnels behind. Before heading to their meeting place at the Colosseum, he watched and waited to see if he was followed. Satisfied after seeing no one he set Stitch down and the duo walked to the monument.
The Colosseum never looked so welcoming having escaped Leonardo's clutches just an hour earlier. Making his way toward where he had bumped into Skylar he happened to make out her flowing dress and jet black hair from quite a distance away. She really did stand out.
"I'm so glad you made it," she half smiled.
He could tell something was wrong in just the way she wasn't as bubbly as usual which prompted him to ask, "What's wrong?"
"It's Stella. They kidnapped her," she said trying to fight back the tears.
"I'm so sorry," he said enveloping her in a hug. That did it she began to cry. Luke knew that girl couldn't go through what he did and if she didn't give that man the answers he was looking for. He would kill her. They needed to rescue her and fast.
"Skylar, do you know where they are headed?" He asked trying to get her to focus.
"No," she said between sobs. She felt so helpless in her ability to help her twin.
"I think I might know, but it's a long shot."
Skylar looked up and tried to wipe the tears that stained her face. "I don't care, it's the only lead we have. Where do you think they are going?"
"To follow the next clue. In Greece."