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The Lost and Found: The Broken Key
Chapter 35: Solving A Puzzle

Chapter 35: Solving A Puzzle

They brought a diving suit for Eiden from Uncle's ship. It was a tight suit, with enchantments for conserving heat, and it also had a helmet that completely covered the head, but the sound would travel with ease. When a diver breathed, the water went through the helmet separating and purifying air for breathing. The helmet had a cold crystal white light, which can be used for night diving.

However, with all enchantments attached, the suit was going to utilize a lot of Eiden's magic and he wondered how long it would take to find something that was hidden in this sea of icebergs.

Mother and a few guards helped him to change, upsetting him of Uncle's disregard for his privacy, and making him change clothes in the middle of the crowded deck. Mother hugged him tight and kissed him.

"If you feel tired, just come back, okay," Mother whispered.

"Go, enough wasting time" Uncle bellowed.

Eiden took a deep breath and dove into the dark freezing depths of the North Sea.

Even with magic keeping him in a cocoon of warmth, he felt how cold the sea was around him. The headlamp illuminated a considerable distance through the crystal clear water.

He took a few deep breaths for the helmet to start the gill function and felt the cold water running through both sides of the helmet. The air wasn't very cold, but clean and a little strange, however still breathable. Eiden was really surprised that it was quite noisy underwater with all the creaking, cracking, and groans, which must be due to heavy icebergs floating around.

Eiden dove deeper and looked up to see if he could see something special. Yet, all he saw was white illuminated uneven bottom surfaces of the icebergs and sparkling sea surface among them. He swam through the water for some distance but the eerie and unnerving scenery above him didn't change.

Then, Eiden realized he was not alone. His light must have attracted the creatures living down in the cold depths of the ocean, and he felt life all around him. A large creature could be a fish or other animal, Eiden didn't know, because he shot through the water to where he still could see the lights of the ships and the floating light buoy installed to guide him to the ship.

Bursting through the surface, he took the ladder up to the deck like a monkey in a record-breaking time. Now sitting down on the deck wet and dripping, while everyone was staring at him, he was embarrassed by his childish fears. Papa wouldn't have put anything dangerous around here.

Eiden was shaking by sudden fright and then by exposure to chilly air. Mother knelt and hugged him after removing his helmet, and he buried himself in his mother's warmth and let his magic recover for a second.

"Well, what caused you to fly here?" Uncle's words were merciless and Eiden knew he had to go down there again.

"I'm sorry, Uncle, some big creatures, I think fish, came to my light. I got a bit scared," Eiden confessed.

Eiden was given a warm strengthening potion and was allowed to rest for a few minutes.

"No, just icebergs, couldn't see anything special," he answered their questions about what he had seen down in the sea.

Eiden jumped to cold water again, dove deep enough not to collide with floating icebergs, but still could see their bottom surfaces clearly. Mother suggested looking for a pattern that might reveal the answer. Eiden squinted at huge masses of ice, and even though his eyes didn't recognize the fast movement, Eiden sensed with magical vision that the icebergs were indeed switching their positions.

He swam far into the iceberg forest, and suddenly a huge dark shape came into his view. He slowly moved from its way and recognized it was a mesora whale, by its iconic white stripes in the throat. Oh. Well, he should have guessed because cold and magically concentrated sea environments were the primary habitats of mesora whales.

Though it only ate small fish, Eiden didn't want to stay around the ginormous creature to get caught in its hypnotic song, which had vibrations that made fish dizzy and attracted to it. For humans it only affected mildly due to their large size, however, it was said that if a human stayed too close to the mesora whale song, they could be stunned briefly.

Eiden was not keen on testing the theory himself, and he quickly ascended and propelled himself to a large ice sheet, and climbed on it. He stood up carefully on the slippery surface, looking around. There's no obvious pattern among icebergs.

"What are you doing up there?" Uncle's voice came through the bracelet, almost making him stumble over his feet.

"I encountered a mesora whale. I'm waiting for it to leave, just for a few minutes." Eiden spoke to the bracelet and hoped Uncle wouldn't make him go back without a wait.

"Not more than 10 minutes," Uncle ordered.

Eiden laid down on the ice sheet and stared at the clear night sky. How different was it from the shadow dimension? He knew these stars, and used to watch from the lookout tower at the Fairwitch Mountains, where he was taken to do star gazing lessons.

Eiden was surprised when he first learned that the star he named after never moved from its position in the celestial dome. His eyes instantly recognized the North Star. It looks like it was directly overhead.

Suddenly, he thought of a pattern. What if the pattern was not on the bottom of the iceberg?

Eiden was so excited by the idea. What kind of pattern? Eiden delved into his mind formulating theory after theory. Oh, Azur! Eiden dove into the sea immediately and swam fast to the boat.

"Say there's a good reason for you to waste time coming back here again, Eiden," Uncle said rather angrily.

"I thought of a pattern, Uncle. I saw nothing at the bottom. What if it's a star pattern? The North Star is quite clear and looks directly overhead. And the key is also a star.

We can match the six-point star pattern with the North star at the center. Look at the brightest ones of the dome, and then apply it here to this mass.

I noticed the icebergs switch. I assume that those seven are stationary and don't switch. Must have a seasonal variation." Eiden paused the excited speech about his theory and looked at Mother. She smiled approvingly.

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"That is something we could try. And it seems logical," she said to Uncle. Uncle looked up at the sky and nodded.

"Hmm, it's not a bad theory. So what would you think is the one to align the North star," he asked.

Eiden had thought about it. But it was a long shot.

"I think it's our bloodline. Amensa is an old word for dawn. Grandmother chose him. It's possible that he added that later because he told Kara, 'Let the heir find the way'. We make the map and see tomorrow morning, which one catches the first ray of the sun.

Seven icebergs in each direction, with five in the middle, because the one in the center and star point stay still. I know it's a long shot but can we try?" Eiden shuffled from one foot to the other, while Uncle considered his answer.

"Sounds like a reasonable explanation.“ Uncle ordered the guards to take Eiden's friends and Eiden back to their cells and to bring Lord Stravros and master Alfred to the deck.

"Eiden, you're going to dive tomorrow at dawn. Not as useless as I thought before," Uncle slapped his back.

Mother hugged him before he left. Mother's tears as he spoke, and her sad smile broke his heart. They somehow needed to get out of this fix. When Uncle said Eiden was useless, he saw she was glaring at Uncle Elvin. Eiden smiled to himself as he was taken back to his cell. He hoped the theory would work. Because Uncle would be throwing him into the sea until they found the unlocking sequence.

Mother and master Alfred were sitting with Uncle, having morning tea.

“In about 15 minutes, we will be able to see daybreak, change your clothes," Uncle commanded guards to assist Eiden.

"Sit here" he gestured to a low seat beside him.

"Master, please explain the chart." Uncle gave a star chart to Eiden. He sat in his seat and studied the chart.

"Here, as the young master said, the North Star is marked in the center. And we calculated the angles and selected these six stars to be star points. Do you recognize them? " Master asked.

"Yes, master," It was some time since Eiden learned them, but he still remembered most of the star signs.

"Good. When we find the center, we need to use its position to align the star points with the icebergs. And then mark them.

Here, use this crystal to mark the center, then swim to the points and mark them with these six. They will act as a link, and we can see if they change their position or not. Do you understand?" Master gave Eiden a pouch with magical items for the link formation.

"Yes, master. Do I need to plant them in the middle?" Eiden securely attached the pouch to the suit.

"Do it as accurately as possible," Uncle answered, finalizing their conversation, as it was close to daybreak.

They decided that Eiden should swim into the mass of icebergs and others who watch the area using telescopes would direct him to the exact position. He swam past a few floating icebergs straight ahead and came to the surface. His watch said it was only three minutes to sunrise. Eiden observed his surroundings, calculating the approximate size of the icebergs to get the exact center as most of them were very irregular in shape.

"Eiden, get ready," Uncle's voice alerted him.

Eiden hoisted himself up to the nearest iceberg and stood facing the east hoping his platform wouldn't vanish underneath him. The sky was reddish orange and a chilly breeze was encircling him.

The sun peeked from the horizon, it was but the false sunrise, and Eiden's heart rate was also now rising with the sun. There. Sun's upper limb raised over the Zenith, and they were bathed in soft yellow light.

Then, Eiden noticed it. Far away from him, one iceberg glowed in magical white light.

"Young master, did you notice the glow?" Master's voice asked.

"Yes, sir," Eiden dove into the cold water with determination.

He swam in the direction fast with the aid of the current he created around him, only coming to the surface a few times to check his directions and to maintain contact with the ship. Eiden noticed the glow from the distance, as it was visible through the water. When he got closer, he felt it had a strong concentrated magic. Eiden jumped up to its surface.

The iceberg didn't have a uniform shape, and it wasn't very large. Eiden guessed its center and held the center crystal which was powered up with Mother's blood magic, and attached to a pendulum close to the surface. He observed its movements while maintaining a still field around it. The pendulum clearly swayed to the direction of the center, and Eiden felt the nudge of the magical link that was waiting to form.

It took Eiden some time and a lot of focus, but he thought he found almost the exact spot, and he placed the crystal, and the ring with six embedded stones that were designed to be used for alignment with the star points.

Immediately after Eiden placed the blue garnet crystal, he felt it connected to a source of magic buried deep within ice, and started to glow in greenish-blue light.

"Uncle, which star point should I start?" after detailing what happened Eiden asked. His personal opinion was to start from east to clockwise for which Uncle also agreed.

He passed five icebergs and surfaced to confirm his location. Using the pendulum to find the exact position at the center, he installed the crystal and ring which only have three embedded stones for connections, and repeated installations five more times to complete the six-point star.

He was exhausted and drained when he finished last and asked for a break. Eiden boarded the ship. He was hungry and tired and allowed to have a short nap before powering up the crystal star formation.

"Isn't Mother suit better to power up the formation?" he asked while drinking tea before he went down again.

"Only if it doesn't work for you Eiden," Uncle stated.

He'd have guessed that Uncle was not sure about Mother going out into the sea, where she had more power, was safe for him.

"Don't tire yourself too much ok, relax and let the crystal take your power, watch out for exhaustion. Right ?" Mother advised him before he left.

Eiden spent a few minutes relaxing and feeling his power. He stood Northside and sent a thread of magic to the center crystal and let it connect with his magic. Eiden felt his power draining, but not in a harsh or invasive way. He felt the saturation, and the linking started.

The six blue-white beams hit the embedded stones in the ring and then traveled through air connecting six star points, and Eiden saw from the distance and through the magical vision they were also going to connect each other after saturation. The draining shut down at the end of completing the connection and he sensed it was leading him down in the water.

Diving underneath the iceberg, Eiden found the perfect shape of the formation they had formed on the surface had been recreated underwater by connecting bluish-white glowing magical beams and with star points connected to form a hexagon.

Yet, he gasped in astonishment, to see the flawless six-point star had formed with yellowish-white beams within the hexagon. The center, the interlocking points of the star, and the star points had separate beams going upwards and connecting with the bottom of the respective icebergs.

He swam under the central iceberg where the thread was connected. At first, he didn't see anything, looking closer, he saw a faint outline of a glowing rectangle. Eiden touched it and a small gold plate fell into his palm. Oh. A puzzle. He was excited, as he tried to decipher the writing. A rune sequence.

He shot through the water with a happy wiggle and collected the rest of the plates. As the last one was removed, the beam pattern vanished, and he learned later that the glow of the central location was also reduced after the sun had risen completely.

"Good job." Uncle patted Eiden's head as he delivered the puzzle consisting of thirteen golden plates to him.

Mother declared that it contained a sequence for a safe passage and another sequence to reveal the doorway. However, she refused to use it at once without studying the sequence with master and Papa. Uncle seemed to agree with Mother's reasoning and the day's work was halted. Which was a relief to Eiden, because he was tired of spending long hours in the water.

With no more secret messages from Evan, Eiden thought about what he could do without Uncle noticing and came up with absolutely brilliant nothing. It was going to be another long day tomorrow, he sighed and curled up with his now favorite warmed-up fleece blanket.