Tiffany Chen, Period 7, 4/7/22

 Creativity & Fiction

New York City, New York, Present Day

    “Ugh, I can’t believe we’re stuck cleaning this dusty storage room,” Ambrose said.

    “Tell me about it. Out of everyone here, how did we end up being maids?” huffed Elvira.

    “Well, there’s no use complaining now. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we get to leave and get dinner.”

    With that, the group of five friends started cleaning and tidying up their respective areas. Thorn put on some music to lighten the mood and soon enough everyone was singing and dancing along with the songs. After a few minutes of cleaning, Ambrose suddenly called, “Guys, look what I found!” Like a moth drawn to a flame, everyone crowded around Ambrose within a few seconds, eager to take a break from their mundane jobs. The object in question was covered with a light sheen of dust, but the beauty it possessed was unmatched. The object─made of porcelain, round in shape, and had a delicate spout─illuminated the dull cardboard box.

    “What is it?” Kalliope asked.

    “It’s … a teapot,” Thorn answered. “But why is it dumped in this messy storage room? Surely this piece of fine china is worth a couple of thousand dollars!”

    As soon as Thorn finished speaking, it was like a lightbulb went off in Venti’s head. “Guys, if we give this to a museum, say the MET, we could earn ourselves some big bucks!”

    “Well, what are we waiting for?! Let’s go!” Elvira exclaimed. As soon as Elvira touched the handle of the teapot, a bright flash of light appeared and sucked the group into the teapot.

Ancient Rome, 13 BC

    The beautiful, serene calmness of Palatine Hill was disturbed by the shouts and screeches of the group of five friends that had been thrown out of the dainty teapot. They tumbled to the ground, looking like toddlers that had not yet learned how to walk. With dazed looks on their faces, they slowly picked themselves up, looking at each other in shock.

    “Wha-What just happened?” asked Venti.

    “And where are we?!! This place doesn’t have pollution, mad people, or even stinky garbage! We are most definitely not in New York.” Ambrose added.

    As they looked around, trying to find the slightest clue of where they ended up, Kalliope suddenly spotted the tiny spout of the teapot peeking out from a bush. She rushed to pick it up, shaking it as if it will suddenly bring them back to New York. “Ugh, I knew we shouldn’t have trusted this teapot, it is too pretty to be true!”

    “Are there any clues on it that can help us get back to New York, at least? We can’t be stuck here forever,” Ambrose exclaimed.

Not seeing anything on the exterior of the teapot, Kalliope opened the top of the teapot. “Hey, look! There’s a piece of paper in here.”

“What does it say?”

“It reads:

    ‘Strong and brave, you are my eagle.

     Soaring strength; gliding above earth.

     Your light shines past the dark of day.

     And paves the way.’”

“What do you think it means?” Venti asked. 

“It sounds like a riddle. Let's decode this first─” Ambrose replied.

”Intruders! Intruders! Capture them immediately!”

“Uh guys, I think we’re the intruders,” commented Thorn.

“Of course it’s us! What are we waiting for? Grab the paper and go!” Elvira shouted.

After some scratching and clawing, the group was captured. 

“Don’t even think about escaping this time. We’re taking you straight to Augustus!” said one of the guards.

“Augustus? He sounds familiar. Where have I heard his name before?” Elvira remarked.

“Augustus? He’s Julius Caesar’s adopted son. That means we’re in Rome sometime around the early ADs.” Ambrose stated.

“ADs? What are you foreigners blabbering about? Stop speaking!”

“Why are we in ancient Rome? What the hell did that teapot do to us?” Venti asked.

“Shh! We shouldn’t talk about the teapot near them,” Kalliope said.

As the group got closer to the giant golden double doors, the guards shouted, “Zip your mouths! You are about to be before Emperor Augustus. Show some respect!”

Walking up to Augustus, who was sat on his throne with a glass of wine in hand, the guards forced the group to bow down. “Emperor Augustus, we found these intruders on the outskirts of Palatine Hill.”

“W-we got here by some teapot and we don’t mean any harm!” the group shouted.

“And you expect me to believe that?” replied Augustus.

“Wait! We have a riddle that was with the teapot.” Kalliope blabbered.

“Bro, are you joking! You told me not to tell them and now you’ve gone and told them. That’s so hypocritical of you!” Venti said.

“Well, we don’t have much of a choice! If we don’t grasp this opportunity, we’d be dead meat by now!”

“What’s the riddle then? Get on with it!”

Reluctantly, the group tells Augustus what was written in the letter.

“Hmm…what you’re asking for is no small price. You want me to give you one of Rome’s greatest treasures, the Aquila?” answers Augustus.

“The Aquila? Wow, I really should've paid a lot more attention to history class.” Thorn says.

“Stop your nonsense talking! I have come to a decision. If you want the Aquila, you will need to earn it. You will go through a series of challenges in order to receive the Aquila. If you succeed in making it to the end, I will give it to you. As the nice and generous person that I am, I will give you 3 days to prepare.” 

With a flick of his hand, Augustus dismisses the group from his presence. As soon as the group is led outside, panic fills the air.

“Okay, so here’s what we know: we’re trying to get the Aquila, which is in Augustus's possession. But we have to go through a series of challenges to earn it—”

“Because we don’t have anything of value to trade with Augustus. We’re broke!” Elvira exclaims.

“I–was that necessary? We have our backs against the wall right now, there’s nothing else we can do if we want to stand a chance at going home!” Thorn butts in.

“Well then, we better complete these challenges ASAP. I better see you guys completing these challenges like our life is on the line because I need to go home to do my Genshin dailies,” Venti comments.

“Would you forget about your damn game? We’re in a life or death situation, Venti!” Ambrose replies.

“Ugh, fine.”

*3 DAYS LATER*

“Welcome, welcome! The first challenge awaits you!” Augustus says with a smile.

FIRST CHALLENGE: THE SEARCH

“This challenge is called The Search. In this challenge, you will be placed in a room filled with hidden treasures. Each treasure is worth a certain amount of points. Bronze is worth 1 point, silver 2 points, gold 3 points, and diamond 5 points. But of course, the greater the points, the less there is of that treasure. You will each have baskets to store your jewels. Whoever gets the most points wins, and gains an advantage in the next challenge. As for whoever has the least amount of points … let’s just say you don’t want to be that person. Everyone else advances to the next stage. Stealing treasures from other people is allowed. You have an hour limit.”

“Alright guys. Let's play fair and not betray each other okay? We’re all trying to go back home, so we’re all on the same team.” Thorn states.

“Okay, I won’t take from you guys if you don’t take from me. Once someone steals from me, all bets are off!” Ambrose declares.

“Isn’t this interesting!” Augustus gleefully says.

“There's no time to be dawdling. We’ll have to trust each other. We’re friends after all. I trust everyone here.” Kalliope announces.

“Now that we got the rules out of the way, shall we begin?”

*gulp* “Yeah. Let's do this.”

“Let the challenge begin!”