Part XXII | Phantom City | White Castle Mystery
Aquene flashed her purple scepter around the Treasure Room while Levi, Zoe, Hazel, Ruby and Finn looked around and made themselves comfortable.
"We were here tonight to make potions, but a thief broke into the elixir cabinet and has scattered potions, jewels and treasures everywhere," Dziko explained.
Ruby looked up and saw a bright pink and red cloak clasp hanging on the back wall.
"For my cape!" Ruby shouted in excitement. Levi reached up and grabbed the clasp off the wall and fastened Ruby's cloak with the new pink and red clasp. Finn and Hazel examined the blue, black and gold swords in the corner while Zoe lay their cloaks carefully over the closed trunk.
"Where did you come from?" Dziko asked Zoe. "I remember Levi said you were looking for a Wheel-Turning King? What does this mean?"
"Yes, that's correct." Zoe replied. "We are looking for a Wheel-Turning King." Zoe bent down to look at Ruby's new clasp, "This is Ruby. She belongs to Levi and myself. Hazel and Finn are our younger cousins from the distant past. When we arrived at the Phantom City, we saw white udumbara flowers falling from the sky and Ruby has kept some in her small purse. The udumbara flower is said to bloom once every three thousand years to herald the appearance of a gold-wheel-turning king in the world. We have come here in search of that king."
"Yes," Aquene explained patiently, "We don't seem to have a gold king here, as you can see, but we do have many other kinds of treasures here in our Treasure Room, if you would like to look around, please feel free. I see your little Ruby has found herself a cloak clasp. It fits her cloak perfectly."
"What are you doing with your potions?" Levi was curious.
Aquene explained, "The Nirvana Sutra states that the store of the seven gems can redeem one’s life when threatened by famine, bandits, or an evil king. [i] All we have here are piles of gold coins and a small amount of silver. We needed Zakiya's potion sets to make more of our own."
"What kind of potions are you making tonight?" Hazel seemed interested, but Finn was busy trying to pry open the only closed treasure chest in the room. Ruby tried on the green glitter slipper but it didn't fit her tiny foot.
"Well, that's the problem," Dziko explained. "We're still waiting on Azura's approval. Why doesn't everyone come back in the morning and we'll see what we can cook up."
[i] Letter from Teradomari [https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/27#para-37]
[ii] Swords by Rofeal, and Rittik-Designs
[iii] Ruby's Clasp and gem designs by Rittik-Designs
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