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Dean, Sam, Cas, Charlie, Bobby, and Rufus were all running late. They had to be at marker twenty-two by twelve o’clock. The sea will start to change over and the marker that shows where the treasure is, will only show for a split second. Bobby, along with Rufus, are at the helm of the ship; guiding the crew to what feels like their big break. All their planning, the countless hours studying, the amount of money, and time spent on finding the lost treasure said to connect old historical cultures together, is now within their grasp.
Bobby finally radios down to the crew, “Okay, we’re here. Everybody take your spot. We only have one shot at this and if we miss it, we’ll have to wait another twenty-five years for the clues for the next spot.”
Sam and Dean get up first, but Sam looks at his brother, “Dean, are you sure about this?”
“I wasn’t at first but that old cook sold me on his story.”
“That's just it, Dean all he has is a story with nothing to back it up with. I mean, who has ever heard of the lost treasure of the appendages? That sounds made up.”
“Sammy, you were there; you heard his story too and you agreed with me and Cas to give up our savings to find it.”
“I was hammered that day, Dean; I would have joined Chippendales if they came at me with some grand scheme.”
“Really, Sammy? Chippendales? At your age?”
“You know what I mean.”
“Alright, come on Sam, Bobby is counting on us. You take portside and I'll head to the stern, Cas will head starboard and Charlie will be at the bow. Remember what Bobby told us; to look for a blue light.”
Everyone rushes into position and waits patiently. Dean stands stoic thinking about how Bobby talked him and his family into putting up their savings for this quest.
***
“I don’t know, Bobby.”
“I’m telling you, Dean. This treasure is out there for the taking. The map that I obtained is real, I promise you it is. We just need some money to help fund it.”
“I’m gonna need something more than just your promise. I'm staking mine and my family's life savings on this. Tell me again, how did you come across this information?”
Bobby rolls his eyes, “I was traveling in East Asia when I came across this small hole in the wall. It had a bunch of old trinkets in it. In the corner of the shop, was an old statue that looked ancient. The shopkeeper was glad to get rid of it.”
“Do you still have the statue?”
“What? No, it broke while trying to place it in my room. But something fell outside of it.”
“What? Like drugs?”
“No you idjit I found several scrolls; three of ‘em; three of them indicating directions to treasure that were already found.”
“How would you know? The maps are probably written in different languages.”
“They were, thankfully, Rufus specializes in old languages. It has the Americas as part of the markers for it.”
“Americas? I thought most of our land was undiscovered ‘til later on.”
“That's what we were taught in school, Dean.”
“Cool, cool, cool; at least I did learn something as a kid. Come on, let's see if Sam is up, he has more school smarts than me. ”
***
“Dean? Dean! Snap out of it! Charlie’s calling us on the side. She said she just witnessed something.”
The group rushes towards Charlie, hoping that the treasure’s not far off. Dean is the last to show up with the group, Charlie is already sitting down when she starts speaking, “I..I don't know what I just saw, it was like a cylinder of blue plasma under the ocean. It was moving North, Northwest to the end of the ship.”
Rufus places his hand on Sam and Dean’s shoulders, “You boys stay with Charlie until she feels better and I'm gonna head to the helm and let Bobby know about the directions.”
Dean leans down, “You okay, Charles?” Dean, hoping that playing with her name would snap her out but was unsuccessful, “Charlie? They were just beams of light. How can you be this rattled?”
“It felt unnatural like it didn’t belong. It also felt like my life- in that brief moment- was coming to an end. I want to go home.”
Dean goes closer for a hug, “Charlie, this is me, your big brother talking to you. I will not let anything happen to you.”
Dean looks up and sees Cas gesturing to go to the side and talk, “I’ll be back; Sam’s gonna stay by your side ‘til you feel better.”
Dean makes his way towards the end of the ship with Cas, “What is it? Charlie is still shaken about what just happened. I don't have time to argue about our savings again.”
“I still haven't forgiven you for sinking our savings and putting our house up, but that's not what I want to talk to you about.”
“Then what is it?”
“I’m with Charlie on this. I've been feeling off about this trip. I think we should turn around.”
“Turn aroun-? Cas we sunk all of our money into this expedition. If we don’t come out in the end, then we are both homeless.”
“You...”
“What?”
“You sunk all our money into this and if we don’t come out, then you made us homeless?!”
Dean looks at Cas and wants to say more but doesn’t know how. Cas- seeing this- goes back to Charlie to comfort her and to not cause a scene in front of everybody. Dean, seeing Charlie, thinks back to Bobby and Rufus talking next to the map.
***
Dean and Bobby walk down the street to an old creaky building, “The house looks abandoned. Are you sure Rufus is here, Bobby?”
“He’s here but he hates guests so he makes his house look like crap on the outside.”
Bobby knocks on the door. Moments pass and there is no answer. Bobby knocks harder, “Come on Rufus, it's hot out here.”
The door opens a crack, “What the hell, Bobby? You know I hate having guests over.”
“Dean’s here to invest in our project.”
“Really? How much?”
“The full amount and then some.”
Rufus opens the door immediately, “Well come on in. Can I get you something?”
Dean walks in and shakes Rufus’s hand, “This is a nice place you got here; better looking inside by the way.”
“Thanks; most of the stuff you see here are things me and Bobby dug up. Others are items we bought with money we made from digging up stuff.”
“Some of the items here look really expensive. Why don’t you fund your own trip?”
Rufus cracks open two beers and hands it to Bobby and Dean, “The best way to keep this type of living is using other people's money. Can I get you something else?”
“Yeah, you can get the map and all the information you have on it.”
The doorbell rings before Rufus makes his way back.
Dean gets up, “I hope you don’t mind but that's my brother. He’s way smarter than me so I asked him to come so I could get his opinion.”
Rufus rushes towards the door, “Hello son, I’m Rufus this is my home. Bobby and Dean are right in here. Have a seat, I will be right back.”
Rufus rushes to the back and quickly comes back with a scroll and a beat up notepad. Moving all the old beer cans out the way he unrolls the scroll and places his beer on one side and Bobby’s on the other.
“This is the map that I showed Bobby. It has the Americas land mass on it. All the coastal land from the west side of the americas.”
“Whoa.”
“What is it, Sammy?”
“If this map is as old as you say it is, then that would change all we know about our history. Can you translate the symbols on the bottom?”
“Yeah it's almost like a poem. It states follow the map that leads to the marker. A flash of the sun will travel from underneath towards where the treasure hides. Follow it and it will lead you through an island. Past the island, will be a river that will split the sea. Follow the river to a cavern that holds a gift to the world. But beware for the precious gift is being protected by Death itself.”
***
Sam is in front of Dean, waving his hands in front of his face, “Dean! Dean! What's wrong with you today? Bobby is trying to get a hold of you. It's getting late and the sun is just about down. Bobby and Rufus want us inside while they travel in the dark. The rest of the gang is already inside.”
Dean makes their way inside but are stopped by an image of an island floating above the ground.
“What the hell am I seeing, Dean?
“Looks like another marker from the map, Sam.”
“How are you not freaking out?! That’s not fucking possible, islands dont float! Physics demonstrates that it's not possible.”
“I don't know what’s going on either but if I stop now then I’m really fucked.”
“So to the bitter end?”
“Hopefully not but I can’t turn back now. You in?”
Sam, feeling small, looks at his brother before going inside, “To the bitter end then?”