Page 142 of Blossoms of the Heart
I swam on, propelled with adrenaline, until I came to the end. I wished I had the phone, or that Phoebe or Akito were here. On the wall near the bank of the river was the Arabic symbol forhereagain, and the Egyptian hieroglyph for box.
I swam over to it and pressed my hand against the wall. As soon as I did that, the wall moved inwards and I realized that the area had actually been chiseled into. The section I touched was simply covering it.
I took out some tools I’d carried in my pocket and dug around it loosening it up. Once I pried it away, a slab of gold caught my eyes.
I gasped and reached in, securing my hands on the object.
I pulled it out.
The trusted box!
“Whoa. No shit,” I yelped, looking at it with complete disbelief. I couldn’t believe I’d found it.
The thing was just a little bigger than a jewelry box, but it was made of solid gold. I didn’t think twice about opening it.
The breath left my lungs as I lifted the latch that secured it. Inside were diamonds so bright they shone. The box was filled with them.
In the center of the diamonds however was a single object that held my attention even more than the diamonds.
It was a curved, comma shaped bead the size of my thumb made of jade.
Even I knew what this was.
Akito grew me up on stories of the treasures of Japan. Artifacts like the imperial regalia that represented the three primary virtues. The sword of valor, the mirror of virtue and the jewel of benevolence. That jewel looked just like this.
The jewel of benevolence was currently kept at the central shrine of theThree Palace Sanctuariesat theTokyo Imperial Palace.
This one in the box must have been something of similar value. A magatama, which were most often used as ceremonial or religious objects.
What I held here in my hands was a piece of history.
Priceless treasure that the samurai hid.
I understood the respect Akito gave things like this. He didn’t do this work to find treasure. It was because he wanted to find lost things that meant something long ago.
Phoebe told me that the trusted box was to be delivered to the emperor for safe keeping as it contained the gift that would set Japan free. The samurai’s mission was to protect the box at all costs and see that it didn’t fall into the wrong hands if he failed to deliver it. He came to the cave to hide it after being pursued by the enemy army who knew what was inside the box. He left the directions in the journal with the hope that his comrades would find it.
Well now all lost things, samurai and box were found. Mystery solved. No more lost.
Lost.
Everything seemed to make me think of Phoebe these days.
How she was lost to me then came back, but still felt lost to me.
I didn’t want her to be.
