Doormaze Drage The Orange World Part Sixteen

 The Pyramid 

They walked down through Orange Forest. They were able to take notice of just how beautiful the environment was and they also noticed that the orange leaves were not orange out of dying but they were healthy and lively leaves. Yet combined with the emerald green grass it seemed strange and surreal. If Doormaze and Burn were not here they would not believe such an enchanting sight could ever exist in the multiverse!

Yet they knew that they did not have time to enjoy the view. Nor the ambiance music of the birds which they did not know the names of or realise that they had missed. So they walked on and on and on. Making sure that they enjoyed it before the next thing that they needed to do. After all, since when would be the next time that they would be able to enjoy such great beauty and peace? When could they have a moment like this to gather and clear their thoughts like they have done when they were fishing or now?

So, when they arrived at the pyramid they were psychologically ready for whatever it was that they needed to do next. The pyramid was also orange but it was a reddish orange. Almost like fire. Yet it was still tall and high nevertheless and almost dwarfed the trees beneath it. It was like the ones in Egypt and its foundations stemmed out of the green grass. In the centre was a tall stair structure that led up halfway up the pyramid. It had a ginormous entrance with the figures of a man to the right and a woman to the left.

“Right, is this the place?”

Doormaze looked down.

“According to the map!”

“Right.”

“Then let’s go!”

They all walked up the staircase carefully so they would not fall and arrived at the entrance.

“Now what?” Coalmine asked, seeing that it was sealed.

“Well, my dear Watson, it is elementary! There must be a way to get in, we just need to figure out the puzzle!”

“My name is Coalmine not Watson!”

“We need to get you into Sherlock!”

Coalmine narrowed her eyes and shook her head and looked at the gems on the side of the door. On one side there were five fire opals on the side of the door with an emerald at the bottom. On the other side of the door were four fire opals with one royal purple garnet. She walked up to the emerald and then the royal purple garnet. She then pushed on one and then dived to the emerald and did the same. The doors opened and she grabbed the other two girls and flew in just before the doors closed behind them.

“How did you -”

“Well, my dear Watson asy you would say, it is quite elementary! It seems like this guy likes the colour orange. So logically anything that isn’t would stand out. So it had to have had something to do with the royal purple garnet and the emerald.”

“Oh. Hey! That was your first reference!”

“Right, now where to go next?”

So they looked on to see that there were three arches in front of them. Above it was a stone slab that was also bright orange. On it it said.

Wings Twins

“Is that it?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s the commonality?”

“Common what?”

“What do they have in common?”

“Oh.”

“Well there are two people born for there tobe twins and an average of all the creatures that have wings they usually have two.”

“Oh yeah!”

So they walked to the centre and walked under the arch and then walked on and on and on. Soon they were in a tunnel which became darker and darker and darker. Soon they could see nothing at all. Yet as they walked on and on and on they soon saw rocks that glowed orange and others almost amber.

“That’s beautiful.”

“Yes. It is.”

“Can we get on with this? We really don’t have all day!”

“Sure.”

So they walked on and on and on and soon they saw more and more glowing rocks. Soon the whole tunnel was flooded with orange and amber light. Soon they saw a table in front of them. In the centre they saw several snakes going in a circle like the ouroboros. One was a coral, one was a cobra and the last was a milk snake. Ahead of them was a sealed doorway.

“What now?”

“Well, it seems like there must be a special way to go on.”

They looked at Doormaze as she looked at the snakes on the table.

“And it seems that it has something to do with these snakes.

“How come?”

“It’s the only thing in the room.”

“Oh.”

“Well, there are those skeletons in the corner.”

They looked at the cluster on the corner. Burn and Doormaze looked at them as her eyes slid to their hands only to see that they were looking at their hands. Her eyes slid only to see the bite mark. Then she looked at the table with a pale face.

She picked up one and then placed it on the coral. It pounced and stuck the hand to see purple liquid come on it and it burnt the bones!

They all looked at each other feeling shaken and not trying to show it. Then she put the melting hand down. Then Burn put the next one on the cobra. Orange liquid immediately came when the snake pressed down and she was barely able to retract the hand before it all melted away. Then Coalmine took another one and pressed it on the milk snake and it pressed in and the door opened.

“Right. So the one that was not venomous was-”

Coalmine pressed her hands on their backs and pushed them on until the doors closed behind them.

“What?”

“Time limit!”

“Oh.”

That was when orange light flooded the room. Yet then they heard a voice in their heads.

“Ohh! Looks like you fell into the trap of the pyramid! Too bad!”

“What?”

“What is it?”

“I just heard a voice in my head?”

“Me too!”

“Did it say that we all fell into the trap of the pyramid?”

“Yeah.”

“I heard it too.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“The stone man telling you what to avoid.”

At this they felt like they had been caught with their trousers down.

“What?”

“You heard. Although there is a way out. Yet if you find it, you will have only one more test to undergo. Then you will be led directly to me.”

“So we will be out of this world soon?”

“Good.”

“So, after this, I think that I will take some time to join the celebrations.”

“Alright, but not too long.”

So they looked around to see if there was a clue. But all they saw were more bricks.

“How?”

That was when Burn looked at the bricks and then at the skeletons in the middle of the room. She then returned to the bricks. She looked at the cement between the bricks. Soon she reached out and pushed a brick in. Only for a stone slab to fall and land in front of them. Quickly they divex out of the way. Then it sank down. Then it stopped in front of them.

“One down!”

Burn rolled her eyes as she looked for the next one. Once she found it she pressed in. Soon another fell. This sank less. Yet after that she found another and another and another. Then Burn moved on and on and soon there was a staircase. They all ran up to see the door above their heads.

“Missed one!”

“I didn’t see it!”

“Maybe it was covered?”

“Sounds right.”

“So we need to jump now?”

So they did and pushed the trap door open. Then after they climbed up they saw that it led to another tunnel.

“Right. Time to go on.”

“Yes.”

So they walked on and on. They soon came to the end. In front of them were four boxes that were filled with Is, Vs, Xs and the last held Ls. Yet as they looked ahead they saw a plaque.

A WOMAN MARRIED AT XVIII. 

SHE GAVE BIRTH EVERY YEAR.

FOR TWENTY YEARS. 

GIVING BIRTH TO CHILDREN

IN A PATTERN OFT WINS, TRIPLETS, REPEAT.

HOW MANY CHILDREN DID SHE HAVE?

“Oh no!”

“What?”

“It’s a maths question and a hard one of that!”

“Not really.”

“How come?”

“Well all you need to do is add three times ten and two times ten.”

“Why ten?”

“Twenty years, it means that she gave birth to ten twins and ten triplets.”

“Oh.”

So Doormaze and Burn looked at the boxes. Yet she frowned.

“What do we do? After all, there’s only just a bunch of Is, Vs, Xs, and Ls here.”

That was when Coalmine’s eyes came alright as she looked at the letters.

“They’re not letters, they’re numbers.”

“Like Roman numerals?”

“What’s Rome?”

“A country. That once owned Britain.”

“Oh. So that’s why they use them!”

“So what’s the answer?”

Coalmine shook her head.

“The Roman numeral for fifty is L. Place it in the slot and the door will open.”

So she took the L and placed it in the slot and the door opened which led to a set of stairs. When they walked to the top, they were met by a man in orange robes, eyes and hair.

“About time!”