The Fools of Amphidor

Make Yourself at Home

We hurried out and down the stairs with our bags, yearning to see what was waiting for us after we'd waited for nearly three days to see it. 

"WAIT!" Claire yelped, "We need to be careful! We have no idea if these people are trustworthy or not!"

"It's fine, Claire! We've got weapons. Plus, this map says that his study is just across the city," Alfie hummed, bouncing on his heels anxiously.

Claire sighed heavily and then held her breath as she walked through the door. We followed her through.

The air in the city was humid. We knew they were fish people, but they might as well have just lived in the ocean with how much water was in the air. We seemed to be in some kind of cave, creating a dome of rock and stalactites. Rock formations created swirling paths that led from building to building. It seemed like the buildings were carved right into the rocks, which were hollowed out and reinforced with raw materials from the ocean floor surrounding. Some buildings were made from the bones of large, ancient sea creatures, their mouths being used as entrances. Tunnels on the outskirts of the city led out into the ocean, where there was a drop off and then a couple separate domes containing housing areas. Fish people flocked to these tunnels. Their families met them at the entrances and rejoiced.

We stood in awe, staring at the scene in front of us. It was like nothing we'd ever seen before. We almost couldn't believe that nobody else had discovered this place.

"What- Um- Where does the map say we need to go?" The words tumbled out of my mouth ungracefully. I was still in shock that this place actually existed.

"Um..." Alfie stared at the map and then looked back up at the city itself.

Before he could say anything, though, I felt the weight of Octavius's slimy hand on my shoulder.

"Ah! Friends! Allow me to introduce you to our beautiful home! I'll show you where you'll be staying! At least, till the banquet announcing your arrival, tonight, in the Town Hall," He grinned cheerfully.

"Hhhuh? Banquet? I didn't know there'd be a banquet..." Claire murmured.

"There is. It will also be where we announce your first clue!" Octavius nodded.

"What do you mean? I thought we just looked through his stuff and found that thing he was talking about in the letter," I scoffed.

"Oh, my boy!" Octavius laughed, "No! Absolutely not! You have to retrieve the object and the treasure through a series of difficult, strenuous tasks."

"I thought the strenuous task was going through the city or something..." Max murmured.

Octavius seemed to think that that was very funny, but I didn't quite see where the humor was.

Claire whined, "Is there a chance that we could get seriously injured?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, dear," Octavius scoffed as if it was a ridiculous question, "Anyway, the banquet will be at 6, tonight. We'll have a tailor come in and fit you. Unfortunately, the dress code is strictly black tie only."

"Yeah. Good thing. I didn't think to bring my suit and tie," Max said sarcastically.

Octavius chuckled at his obvious insult, "If you will, follow me."

We shared a nervous glance at one another, but still followed anyway. The city was very beautiful. The eerie stone buildings loomed above the streets that were lined with sharp stones and moss. People ambled around us, presumably going to a job or one of the many stores lining the streets. Some things were written in a strange language that we couldn't understand. Octavius seemed more than happy, however, to translate anything that we weren't able to read. He said the strange language was called Amphidorian and it was the native language they spoke before American explorers discovered their cavern and taught the fish people their language.