Welcome to Gaia! ::

“I haven’t had the chance to clean up much,” Rose said once they arrived.

Her Wonder appeared as she’d described it before: a little cottage in a glen. The lower floor consisted of a single room, which seemed to function as both a living and cooking area. There was a wide stone hearth and various pieces of wooden furniture. A wooden staircase rose to the floor above, which boasted only a single bedroom. The stairs themselves were in poor shape, with several sagging or splintered boards and a railing that seemed half disintegrated. Fortunately Rose hadn’t needed to brave them to find her ring.

Most of the windows were broken. A thick layer of dust covered most surfaces. The wood floors were scratched and gouged and littered with all sorts of debris. Outside one could see some of Lysithea’s natural beauty, with a small stream running near the cottage—or it would have been a stream if there were currently any water in it. At the moment, it seemed a bit sad and empty.

“There aren’t many places to look,” Rose continued. “I’m actually surprised I didn’t notice the Code piece last time I was here. I didn’t see it anywhere down here, and… well, I’m not sure how I could miss it.”

"Aww, I love this," said Almere, looking around. If they could clean Mechelen's wonder up into a place for grand balls, then this was the kind of place that would be perfect for the coziest sleepovers, or maybe even some kind of camping adventure. She thought she saw some trees through the broken windows.

"Look in the chimney?" she said, chewing on the inside of her cheeks. That was the first place she saw in the room that wasn't immediately visible. Of course, they could also go up the stirs.

"Or, no, that's a better idea," she said, as Mechelen spoke. "Follow your heart. Follow the sparkles."

It was the strategy that had worked for both her and Mechelen, and it seemed like the perfect, magical way to find a secret in a place like this.

Mechelen gave a soft gasp. “Secret tunnel!” The words escaped her before she could really stop them, but it was the truth! This…was cool! Maybe Rose kept secret things hidden here in the past, or…or maybe it was some kind of a root cellar…that made more sense but. “We’re right behind you, Rose. You’re absolutely not alone in this!”

Her voice was encouraging and she couldn’t stop the utter excitement in her voice. It felt good, the resonating. The feeling your Wonder heal a little. Or…whatever had happened. And she was so excited for Rose to experience it as well.

“I have a flashlight if you want to use it?” It wasn’t a big one, but she pulled it out of subspace, holding it out to her friend.

Rose took the flashlight from Mechelen with a grateful smile. She turned it on and pointed the light downward. A set of wooden stairs descended from the opening left by the trap door. A few were splintered in spots. One or two looked like they might have gone missing. Another had clearly split through.

“Be careful, the stairs aren’t in great shape,” she said.

She went first, taking the stairs one at a time. If there’d once been a railing to hold onto, it no longer existed. Fortunately the way down wasn’t long. Rose stepped onto a rough stone floor. She cast the flashlight around, expecting a tunnel that stretched to some other secret place, but all they came to was a single room. The walls were stone and might have once been lined with shelves, many of which had fallen and now laid in piles of debris.

“I think it’s a cellar,” she said.

Though the floor was littered with shards of splintered wood and shattered glass, whatever used to be stored here was long gone.

But drifting erratically among the wreckage was the Code piece, small and glowing dimly in the dark.

Okay, it was a cellar, but that didn't mean it wasn't a secret. Especially if the Code piece was down here, which it was. In the other Wonder, the Code piece had been carefully put into ornate pieces of art, so anything that held something as powerful as that had to be special.

Even if it was a little musty.

Maybe what made it special was one of the things that had been destroyed? The code piece looked a little confused, just floating around like that.

Rose was here now, though, so that meant that it would be okay.

"You found it," said Almere.

She dropped down, glad she was wearing boots that would protect her from most of what was on the floor. "I think it's going to be so happy to see you," she said.