Treasure Or Pleasure

chapter 13

"There!" Dad exclaimed in a hushed tone, pointing ahead.

"Huh?" I turned to my friends, their faces a mix of curiosity and confusion the same as mine.

"It's a statue of Huitzilopochtli," Dad said excitedly. "He's the Aztec God of war and protection. He's guarding the treasure."

"Maybe there's a latch or something here," Dad suggested, his fingers tracing along the base of the statue, searching for a hidden switch.
We joined in, running our hands over the statue's rough surface, eager to uncover its secrets.

"We've done it," My dad said. "No way!" My friends and I exclaimed together, our hearts racing.

After Dad's persistent searching, he finally found the hidden switch tucked at the base of Huitzilopochtli's statue. With a soft click, a section of the jungle floor quietly shifted, revealing a secret doorway leading to the treasure room.

This is certainly bad. Don't move, those blocks might be part of a trap mechanism. We need to figure out how to navigate through this safely.

I take a step on the tiles in front of me, and two large concrete blocks with arrows on them start moving around as we step on different ones.

"Those things are moving. Uh, is that good or bad?" I say, very confused.

I freeze, trying to control my breathing. "What do we do now?"

My father, eyes sharp, scans the room. "Look at the arrows on those blocks. They must mean something."

I nod, my eyes darting between the tiles and the moving blocks. "Do you think there's a pattern we need to follow?"

"Possibly," he replies, his voice steady but tense. "The Jaguar wouldn't leave the treasure unprotected without a way to bypass it. Ancient traps like these often have a logic to them."

"Look closely at the tiles and the arrows. There has to be a sequence that leads us safely through."
I glance down, noticing faint markings on some of the tiles. "I see some symbols. Do you think they indicate a safe path?"

"The Daughters of the Plumed Serpent used three distinct serpent symbols to identify themselves," I say.

My father nods, his eyes lighting up. "The rule of threes. Three boxes, three tiles. Aztec, Inca, and Maya—that must be it."

I scan the tiles, spotting one with a familiar design. "That's the Incan symbol. On your side, Billie. Five tiles in front of you. Step on it."

Billie hesitates for a moment, then takes a deep breath and steps forward, her foot landing on the tile with the Incan symbol. The room holds its breath as the tile presses down, "They're not stopping," Billie says anxiously.
"They won't until we step on all three," I say, trying to keep calm. "We need to find the Aztec and Maya symbols quickly."

"The Mayan symbol is closest to you, Dad," I say, pointing to the tile. "Four tiles to the right. It will take you two jumps."

"The Aztec is over there," Billie points out, indicating a tile on the far side of the room.
"That's a lot of steps," I say, feeling the pressure of the task ahead.
"You got this, darling," Billie says, her voice encouraging.

Taking a deep breath, I jump across the tiles, carefully avoiding the ones without symbols. This jump feels like a lifetime, but finally, I reach the tile with the Aztec symbol and press down.

As I do, the room falls silent, the last of the concrete blocks locking into place.

"We did it," my father says, his voice filled with pride and relief. "Now, let's keep going and find that treasure."