A/N: YIPPEE! I've been SO excited for this little arc for the longest time. I'm sorry it took so long, but I needed to get it right. And the good news is, I have five more chapters ready to go! And tomorrow's chapter is huge so there's that, too!
If you didn't see the update on my profile, I updated chapters 2, 18, 20, 23, and 33 with a Finn thing I'd managed to forget until now. -facepalm- Anyway, if you don't want to go back, this is it in a nutshell: Finn is fluent in Latin and Spanish, enough that he often speaks Latin in his sleep. (There's a good reason for this, to come later!)
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"This is fantastic!"
Fontaine smiled at Finn's enthusiasm. It was a far cry from the quiet, sad boy who'd explained about Pete three days before.
Not wanting Finn to fall back into his quiet unsureness, Fontaine had let Finn drop the topic and just tried to keep him company. Then, Fontaine had the perfect opportunity to really cheer Finn up.
Will had spent much of the previous day studying the Chronicle, and he hadn't minded in the slightest when Fontaine hung around. Fontaine felt a bit guilty because Will thought Fontaine was interested in the runes for herself, but she had gotten some pictures of the runes out of the day to show Finn.
"See this?" Finn now said, pointing at a rune Will had been puzzling over. "That's 'instructions' or 'how to.'"
"That was fast," Fontaine said, amazed.
"It's one of the runes I've seen before." Finn thought for a minute. "I think it might be instructions on avoiding something, or just avoiding danger. You know, 'do this so that this doesn't happen.'"
"Dad translated the next rune as "'Great curtain of water.' He's researching waterfalls today."
"Okay, instructions to get through a waterfall safely? Or avoid it." Finn studied the next runes. "Does this look like a warning to you?"
Fontaine looked rune to which Finn pointed. "It looks like a snail to me. Dad thought it referred to some sort of pet."
"Maybe there's a guard snail out front." Finn chuckled.
"We're talking about an ancient civilization. Anything is possible."
"But it has to be long-term," Finn said. "If the Chronicle is so important, it wouldn't be filled with basic instructions or details that would fade after a few decades."
"What do you mean?" Fontaine asked.
"I don't know." Finn lifted his head with a grin that could only be described as "reckless." "But I can't wait to find out."
That evening...
Finn was studying a map when Fontaine returned with supper. She angled her head to see the map was of Greenland and Iceland.
"Denmark Strait?" Fontaine guessed, sitting beside Finn and holding out a sandwich.
"It's the world's largest waterfall," Finn said, not noticing the sandwich.
"Dad was talking about that same place, actually."
Fontaine cocked her head at Finn, then smiled as she mentally compared his thoughtful pose to Will's. She put Finn's sandwich on a napkin in easy reach.
"Dad said we'll arrive at the Denmark Strait tomorrow," Fontaine went on. "He says it's a nice place for a vacation, but it's pretty obvious that he's looking for the tunnel."
"A tunnel?"
"Dad translated the rune after the 'great curtain of water' to mean a tunnel."
Finn looked up, eyes alight. "So there's a tunnel behind the waterfall? I wonder what's in it."
"Anything could be behind the waterfall," Fontaine said. "Maybe a clue to Lemuria."
Finn dragged his tablet closer. "I'm pretty sure this is a warning."
"Like that's going to stop my family?" Fontaine asked in exasperation.
"Does anything stop your family?" Finn didn't wait, instead pointing to yet another symbol. "And this rune here. Something to do with falling?"
"So, we have instructions, a waterfall, a tunnel, falling, and either a warning or pet?" Fontaine summarized.
"And a whole lot more, but I don't get any of it." Finn tapped his translated line. "It's instructions about a waterfall. I think it means to avoid falling down it, or that you'll have to fall down it to find some sort of pet."
"Those are two completely different things, though," Fontaine said.
"Hey, I'm doing the best I can here," Finn said with a chuckle. "But the rune that's either a warning or pet is repeated on several pages. If we can figure out what it really means, it will help with translating even more pages."
"Maybe we'll figure it out tomorrow," Fontaine said.
Finn grinned. "Let me see if I'm free tomorrow."
Finn scrolled through his tablet, eyebrows furrowed in dramatized thought. Fontaine laughed when he stopped moving. His eyes slowly widened.
"Let me guess, you're completely booked?" Fontaine asked.
"I forgot..." Finn blinked and looked at Fontaine. "What day is it?"
"March... 24th."
"That means I've been here..."
"Um... I think a month?" Fontaine said. "Yeah. Wow, time flies."
"Sure does," Finn murmured.
"Are you okay?"
Finn blinked, then his grin returned. "Yeah, I just didn't realize how much time had passed."
"And we're finally going to get some answers," Fontaine said, pushing aside her concern. "Well, I hope. There might not be anything left."
"Something tells me that there will be," Finn said with total confidence. "I have a sense about these things."
"Sure, ghost boy," Fontaine said, shoving Finn's shoulder. "Now eat your sandwich."
"Aye-yi, ma'am," Finn said, a teasing gleam in his eyes.
Fontaine spent a few more hours checking maps while Finn pored over more runes.
Finn had turned quiet, though. Fontaine nearly asked him what was wrong, but didn't want him to turn silent and serious again. So, she simply kept him company until it was too late to keep working.
After all, Finn would be fine. Sometimes he just had a bad day, but he was just fine in the morning. Fontaine didn't worry as she returned to her own room.
No, she didn't worry until she returned the next morning and found Finn hunched up in a corner, eyes closed and whimpering one word over and over.
"Mater."
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A/N: Get your Latin dictionaries out, because there's going to be more in the next chapter!
I'm taking a stab at dates. -shrugs-
Finn translation: Mother.
YOU ARE READING
Interning on the Aronnax
Fanfiction(AU starting on S1E7; mostly drabble-sized chapters) Finn makes his choice, but somehow gets kicked off of the Aronnax and the Dark Orca. Joining the Nektons is still his hope, but first he has to convince them that he's a good guy. Luckily, he's go...
