The Greatest Lost Treasure

Chapter 19

     The sun warmed Luke's face as he stared at the Acropolis from his vantage point a half mile away. Even from this distance he could make out the architecture that caused travelers from around the world to look at it in awe.
As he started his approach, he remembered Liena and how he was so grateful to have met her and her willingness to bring him to the coastline. After disembarking from their boat, he managed to grab a bus that dropped him to his current position. With his cat by his side and a new look on how he should be going about this treasure hunt, he continued on.
With the architectural masterpiece coming into view, he could make out the similarities between it and the Parthenon which he had visited nearly a week prior though it felt like a lifetime. Both structures were built with columns that supported the buildings' ceilings, but only one still had theirs intact.
     Luke weaved past people as they took pictures and marveled at the ancient structure, he had no I trust in sight seeing. He was disappointed to notice the construction currently being overseen for the restoration of the building. It was going to make things difficult for him to find what he was looking for. Maybe if he could sneak onto the site he could investigate further. Seeing the site chained off only discouraged him further. There had to be a way in.
     As he circled the building, he saw his opportunity. A construction worker's uniform was lying next to a compact track loader. Taking his red jean jacket off and slipping on the orange vest and hard hat, he entered the Acropolis leaving Stitch to guard his belongings.
Trying to not draw attention to himself, Luke stayed clear of the other workers as he began to canvas the area. Considering how much of the stone was present, he knew this task was going to take some time.
Luke looked over, around, and under the stones as well as looking at all the pillars under construction. He was amazed at the extent of the restoration and how careful the crew was being to conserve the original architecture. It was painstakingly hard work as he could tell from their constant repairing of the original marble which required constant reshaping due to its deteriorating state.
As he made his way to the eastern side of the building where the crew had yet to start repairing, he noticed a pair of footprints. These did not belong to the hard soled boot prints of a construction worker, but instead were thinner and longer. They were the prints of a business man.
"Leonardo," he spat. He hated the man now more than ever.
     He examined the footprints and saw they led to his left to a pillar. Luke followed them until he saw a stone on the floor with a small worn lion and castle, he understood their meaning immediately. The Spanish flag.
     Upon closer inspection of the slab, he noticed the dirt lining the edges were smeared. Realizing what he must do, he peered over his shoulder to make sure no one was paying him any attention. Seeing no one in his vicinity, he lifted the slab.
It was surprisingly heavy he noticed as he set the piece to his right. Looking inside the uncovered hole, he immediately took in the detailed indentations that lined the second layer of marble. The outline sunken into the marble floor was circular and twelve inches in diameter. He only knew one thing that was roughly that size and that was the rete which meant Leonardo had found another piece of the astrolabe. With the two pieces he currently had, plus this one, there were likely only two left to find.
     Realizing how far he was behind, Luke knew he would need a miracle to catch them. Understanding the indention in the marble was his only lead, he felt around in the hole to see if there was anything hidden that Leonardo might have missed. Feeling discouraged after finding nothing in the center, he carefully felt around the edges until he felt a strange bump. Unable to make out what it was, Luke fished out the paper and pencil Liena had given him before he departed her boat.
Placing the paper firmly on the wall he began to lightly press the pencil against the paper moving it back and forth across the indentions. The painstakingly slow process yielded the perfect result when he admired his handy work of the letters on the page.
Expecting the writing to be in Greek, a language not familiar to him, Luke was relieved to see the elegant script of the Spanish language. Morire con este secreto, it read.
     "I will die with this secret", he translated out loud. His mind immediately went into overdrive to figure out what the message meant. Could this clue mean Columbus wasn't going to divulge the final destination? He dismissed that immediately. There was no way the man would've gone to all this effort to stop so close to the end. Then where was this clue leading him?
     The sound of approaching footsteps caused his thoughts to stop and to shove the piece of paper in his pocket. It was another worker surveying one of the columns for repair, then shouting orders to the other men.
     Luke took this as his opportunity to leave before questions began to get asked. He saw Stitch sitting on his jacket and hissing as a worker passed by. As he approached Stitch hissed at him, then he meowed recognizing his owner. Sorry, I thought you were one of them, his cat seemed to say.
Petting Stitch, Luke picked up his jacket and swapped it with the construction vest. Then it hit him, the clue was so obvious. He knew this journey would go there eventually and it just so happened that he had already visited this location previously, just at the wrong time.
     Stitch cocked his head to the side questioning his owner, you know where we are headed next don't you?
     "Yes I do," he answered. "Pack your bags Stitch, we headed back to Spain."