252 Take A Guess

-There must be something very unique about this cargo, to have warrant so much attention.- Aether suggested. 

"I agree with that. It must be something valuable." Vy added. 

"Maybe it's a box of jewels and gemstones?" the boy guessed. 

Vy shook her head. They had picked up the chest in the sky city and were to deliver it to a city in the depths of the ocean. There must be some connection that linked these two places together. If it was just as simple as a box of gemstones, why would they need to collect it in from a city in the sky? 

That did not make any sense. 

Maybe it was something that could only be found in the sky, but what would be able to survive in the sky and in the water?

"Could it be some form of creature?" Vy wondered out loud. 

Aether looked up. -That could be it.-

"How would that be possible?" Lycster disputed, "If it was a creature we would have needed to feed it, right? Unless it does not need anything to eat or drink?" 

-Lycster is right. If it was a living creature, it would at the very least need to come out of the chest once. It does not make sense.- Aether agreed with Lycster.

"What if the creature was not alive, to begin with?" Vy suggested. 

All three of them stared at one another for some time in silence. That could be a possibility. The instructions that were given by Future Eye never stopped them from opening the chest to check its contents. 

But Vy did not want to cause any trouble either. What if opening the chest unleashed a plague or a demon? She could not live with herself if that happened. Vy regretted not asking the people who handed the chest in the first place. 

"Maybe when we get to our destination, we would be given a chance to see its contents," Vy mused. 

-Let's make a bet.- Aether said. 

"A bet?" Lycster asked. 

Vy's lips curled into a sneaky smile, "A bet on what the contents of the chest are?" 

Aether nodded with a grin of his own. -Whoever gets the closest answer will win. Winner gets to decide the punishment for the other two.-

"Punishment?" Lycster pondered over it. This could be his golden opportunity to have some fun with his sister and Aether. 

"I'm in!" Lycster exclaimed with excitement. 

"Me too," Vy added, "My guess is that we're transporting some form of a special weapon."

Aether nodded. -My guess is that we're transporting a prized artefact.-

Lycster thought for quite some time. The answers his sister and Aether gave were really good! He would have guessed those too. But now that the answers have been taken he needed to think of another. 

"Time is ticking, Lycster. So what's your guess?" Vy urged him. 

-Don't take too long, boy. The longer you think the more clouded your mind becomes.- Aether advised. 

"Eggs!" Lycster exclaimed.

Aether and Vy erupted into laughter. 

"Eggs?" Vy asked through her laughter. 

Lycster's face heated up bright red in embarrassment as he too joined in the laughter. 

-Was that your stomach doing the talking for you?- Aether jested. 

"Probably, but-" before he could even say anything, Vy stopped him. 

"No, no take-backs. Your guess is eggs. Your answer is locked in."

"What…" Lycster flustered, "No! I wanna change my answer!" 

As they continued on their conversation into different topics, Aether noticed far off into the distance, there was a pyramid. He alerted Vy and Lycster immediately. When they both saw it, the group made a collective decision to check it out. 

Based on the information Vy had none of it ever mentioned that there were any man-made structures in this part of the desert. Upon closer inspection, there was no denying that this pyramid was not a natural formation. 

Each brick was identical to the next, carved out of limestone and stacked together to form the shape of the building. When they arrived before the building, they were amazed by how big it was. 

In the distance, Vy could hear howling wind and the movement of sand. When she looked over, she noticed that there was an approaching sandstorm. It seemingly came out of nowhere, and it was approaching them at top speed. 

"We should probably seek shelter in this pyramid," Vy suggested as she scrambled to look for an entrance. Aether flew around the sides to cover more ground. 

Upon seeing the entrance he flew back around to guide Lycster and Vy to it. They went to the entrance of the pyramid. On each side of the wall of the entrance, there were weird symbols carved into the stone. There was also a rock tablet and an amulet that was embedded into a perfectly fitted slot on the wall. 

Vy noticed that the two items did not look as worn compared to the general surface of the limestone that made the entrance. The entrance was opened by someone and it seemed to be fairly recent.

Vy, Aether and Lycster peered into the entrance. It was total darkness inside it. Vy summoned a sphere of fire in her hand and threw it into the pyramid.

The flame jumped around the new space, lighting up the unused lamps that lined the walls. When Vy turned to the back, she realised that the sandstorm was mere minutes away from them. Vy and Lycster got off their desert deers and held them by the reins. 

Without another viable choice for shelter, she ushered Lycster into it and Aether followed. The desert deers did not want to enter at first, but Vy and Lycster pulled them in anyways.

But as soon as they entered, the entrance closed up behind them. It was as if the pyramid had a mind of its own. Vy placed her hand on where the door once was. She was worried that the only entrance they knew of was sealed but much to her surprise it was still movable. 

"Good, we're not locked in," she heaved a sigh of relief. 

On the outside, they could hear the billowing wind, followed by the rustling of sand. They had entered the pyramid just in time to get away from it. Now, they just needed to wait it out. In the meantime, they had this new structure to explore. 

Nanma and Minky, the two desert deers, were unsettled by the space they were in. Vy tied the reins of the two desert deers to an unused metal lamp bracket on the wall. It was not safe to bring them further into the pyramid. They were safer near the entrance.

"What's this?" Lycster asked as he went over to one of the walls and pointed at the murals that had been drawn on them. 

Just as he was about to touch it, Vy stopped him, "Don't touch it." 

"Why not?"

-It could be poisoned. Or booby-trapped.- Aether added. 

Lycster immediately kept his hand to himself. 

Vy took a closer look at murals. The paint used to paint the murals were chipping away, worn down by time. She observed the overall structure of the walkway they were in, the accumulated dust and cobwebs that were scattered in the corners. 

Judging from the footprints before them, someone or something had recently walked down the same hallway they were in.