Empires SMP oneshots

Collectors

           "Scott!" The colorful ruler of Chromia poked his head out the window to see who was calling his name in the middle of the night. To his surprise, it was Pix. The ghost wasn't known for surprise visits, let alone at a time when everyone was asleep. "Pix? Care to explain why you woke me up?"

            "Sorry about that, but can you come to my museum?" Pix asked. Scott tilted his head. "Can't this be done in the morning?" "Well, yes, but then we'll have less time to raid the tomb." Scott's eyes sparkled with a sudden excitement. "We're raiding a tomb?!"

           On llama ride on Owen later, Scott and Pix were at the latter's museum's office, poring at a yellowed piece of parchment with mysterious runes on it. "I discovered this recently." Pix said breathlessly. "Where'd you find it?" Scott asked curiously. Pix looked a tad uncomfortable for a second. "Um, in a really deep hole, but that's not the point."

           Scott glanced back at the paper, being careful not to damage it. "I recognize these runes. I went to this jungle temple once and it had similar markings." "Yeah, that's why you're here." Pix said. "This piece of parchment seems to speak about a tomb of an ancient emperor and I thought I needed an expert to help uncover it."

            "An expert?" Scott batted his eyes playfully. "Oh, you mean the traps. Yeah, that'll be fun. But aren't you a ghost? You'll be fine." "Not in a cursed temple that drives out spirits." Pix said. "I literally can't get in." "Oh, okay," Scott said. "Come on, let's go raid that tomb!"

            They rode on Owen the whole night, heading to a thick jungle. By the time they arrived, it was nearly light, although none of them were tired despite not having gotten any sleep. Pix didn't require rest as a ghost, Scott was too excited about doing his old hobby of stealing cursed artifacts again, and Owen was just built differently.

           Pix spent some extra time examining the manuscript. "These runes seem to tell us the exact location of the tomb," He mused. "We're in the general area but there were a lot of temples here before most of them were destroyed in a great forest fire. Hm, that rune specifically seems to refer to a topmost area. I guess it's near the top of a temple."

           "So I climb all of them until I find which one it is?" Scott asked, flexing. "No, that's probably too dangerous," Pix said as he continued to decipher the runes. "See, the only entrance is at the bottom and you'll have to pass all the traps. Not that I think you can't handle yourself, but it's probably more efficient to figure out the specific temple first, so we don't waste time and energy."

            As much as Scott was itching to dismantle some traps, he couldn't help but bow to the impeccable logic. But he was still impatient enough to try and see if he could speed things up. He looked closely at the parchment.

           "What does that rune mean?" Scott asked, pointing. Pix squinted. "Fire." "It's bigger than the other runes. Is it an important clue?" Scott asked. "Well, there were temples dedicated to the different elements. Maybe the tomb we want is in the fire temple."

           Scott glanced around until he saw a pyramid-like structure of vivid burgundy and dark gold, with several markings that looked just like the fire rune. "That one!" He exclaimed. "Yeah, I think you're right." Pix said, double checking. Scott didn't hesitate. He grabbed his important gear and then dove into the temple.

           Once inside, all was dark. Scott lit a torch and held it out before taking a step further. Looking at the floor, it seemed to be a complex tile diagram with different images of campfires, clouds, raindrops, and rocks. "Elements." Scott realized. On a whim, he picked up a pebble and threw it hard on a tile with a picture of a raindrop.

           The tile suddenly cracked open, revealing a gaping hole full of lava. "Guess I just only step on the fire ones," Scott said thoughtfully, recalling which temple he was in. "Scott, wait!" Scott turned around to see Pix at the entrance, trying to get in but obviously unable to go any further. He thrust out his hand. "Take this. Just in case."

           Scott realized he was holding a strange redstone device. "There's a camera so I can see what you see and we can talk if you need help." Pix explained, and Scott could see a matching complicated redstone contraption in the background behind him. He had no idea how Pix set that up so fast. "Thanks!" Scott called, and he turned back to the tiles.

           Parkour was easy. After that he climbed some stairs that moved in opposite directions under his weight, which almost made him fall to his doom several times. On the next floor there were cave spiders that tried to eat him, and the next floor was a moving maze with several levers lying around that influenced how the walls moved and opened various doors, one of which lead to the next floor.

           Pix was extremely helpful providing tips and tricks for a historian that Scott thought had seont most of his time in the office. Eventually he arrived at what the ghost called the last floor. Scott looked around. He could see nothing but a door with runes on it and a golden brazier standing in front of it.

           Scott pointed the device at the door. "Pix, can you translate this?" There came the sound of rustling papers. "It's a riddle," Pix answered after a few minutes. "Feed me, and I grow. Quench my thirst, and I die. What am I? The brazier will claim your answer."

           Scott snorted. "This is like the easiest riddle in existence." "This is from an empire from a thousand years ago. Don't blame them. And the emperor whose tomb we're uncovering was apparently a big fan of riddles, even if they were a bit obvious. And remember what temple you're in." Scott nodded and then held his torch over the brazier.

           It came alight and with a dusty creak, the door swung open. Scott walked cautiously inside to see a long hallway full of shelves, and the shelves were full of labelled jars. There was also a prominent sign in the center of the room. Scott showed it to Pix and he whistled. "Here lie the ashes of those who burned in the great forest of the Rapture. May your souls not be forever lost."

           " These are urns." Scott realized, looking at the jars. "Apparently this tomb doesn't just house the emperor." Then Scott saw a more prominent jar at the end of the hallway, with a much bigger sign labelling it. He moved the device over to it and Pix read, "Here lies Joey Graceffa, emperor of the lost empire."