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Room 3: Unknown - The centerpiece of this room was impossible to ignore. Suspended within concentric rings of polished metal floated an ancient mechanism of crystal and stone, cracked in places yet somehow still functioning. Every few moments it awakened with a quiet pulse of light before projecting a cascade of unfamiliar symbols through the air. The message repeated endlessly, each cycle accompanied by faint harmonic tones that seemed almost, but never quite, recognizable as language. The device in this room seems to recognize when it has company, and the message sometimes flutters, or distorts faintly, but it yields no clearer results. Surrounding the device are star charts etched onto translucent crystal tablets, each depicting regions of space that bear little resemblance to any modern map. The largest display seems to trace a route toward a distant location marked only by a symbol--one that appears repeated throughout the room, but never in the same place. Whatever it is--or was--it was recorded throughout time, across different worlds. And nothing in Almadel's exhibit gave any indication of what it was.
Tortuga followed Navi through the museum while keeping an eye on Aquitania and reviewing the pamphlet that was offered. It was actually quite nice to be in space but not have to deal with someone, or something, trying to kill him. As long as the ‘do no harm’ rule holds he figured it would be a quiet few hours, and the squire suspected that Almadel had ways of dealing with anyone who broke their rules. So Tortuga relaxed, or as much as he could in a crowd of mixed sides, and enjoyed looking over everything. Navi, his little wisp of a light, enjoyed it much more than the knight did as it darted about the space like a child in a candy store. Checking out anything, or anyone, that caught its attention.
Navi didn’t really stay in one space for too long, or at least it didn’t until they entered a space that was just fascinating. All polished metal, crystal, stone, and some kind of device that projected something that looked like writing into the air. While the little ball of light swirled about the suspended device, almost playing with the glowing symbols, Tortuga studied the crystalline tablets. He absently tried to figure out what they depicted, or more accurately, where they depicted, even as he mentally ran though everything he had on him.
The knight hadn’t thought of it when he first accepted the invite, but the stories he had heard about Almadel said he knew things. He was a font of knowledge and items. Tortuga didn’t need anything in particular but he would love to pick the purple guy’s brain about Navi. He just didn’t have anything on him to trade, since that was kinda Almadel’s schtick from what he could figure out. All he carried on him was his med kit, it did have some pricey equipment, but he didn’t think the alien would want that. Some water and jerky would also be out. The only things in his possession at that moment were items that he hadn’t had a chance to take out of his little space ‘pocket’; several star charms and a shell from his wonder.
The star charms were things he had gotten over the last few days during the festival, and he was more than willing to trade those… all except the Fuchsia one since that was the only color he hadn’t collected yet. But Tortuga didn’t think Almadel would actually be interested in the little trinkets the city handed out for their annual festival. The shell on the other hand was just a normal looking shell that he had found on his wonder a little bit ago and picked up. It reminded him of those necklaces that used to be all the rage a few decades ago. His had a spotty brown exterior and there was even a worn hole in one end, perfect for threading onto a cord or something. Tortuga figured he could make a little charm or something when he saw it, tossing it into his pocket before forgetting about it for a while. The redhead sighed softly, knowing that the person who had all this mysterious crap wouldn’t want his rather mundane s**t, but still really had a few questions he was itching to get answered. That's what he got for not being prepared.
Rather than dwell on what he couldn’t change, he was still working on that little trick, Tortuga looked over at the chibi senshi and pointed over at the display that flashed through some kind of ‘map’ and asked, “Where do you think it’s leading towards?”
((Word count: 601/ Star Charm: Fuchsia))
The Space Cauldron
