A trip to the Seven Wonders of the (Neopian) World: Part Four

     Then all of a sudden the wind just stopped, the sand that had previously been lifted into the air dropped back to the ground and everything was still.

      "You must have done it wrong man, it works for me every time," the tour guide shouted to Seamus.

      "I did exactly as you told me! Why don't you come and do it then?!"

      "Sorry man, I only did it two hours ago and you know the rules. I can only do it every twelve hours"

      "Suuuure..." Seamus responded. "I want my NPs back."

      "Hey man, it's not my fault! You must have done it wrong! But I'll tell you what as an act of good faith I'll give you 2,500NPs back and a lift to Sakhmet City?"

      Seamus knew that the guide was not one to be haggled with, he could tell by the tone of his voice that this was his final offer. He'd either get 2,500NPs back or nothing. Reluctantly he agreed to the guide's offer and decided to take him up on the lift to the city.

      He climbed on the back of the tour guide's camel and they both set off towards the city. Seamus was contempt, at the most, with his visit to the shrine. You know, at least he had been able to see this wonder without any major problems. But, it was just so... underwhelming.

      **********

      After he had arrived in Sakhmet City, Seamus had begun his long walk to Shenkuu. After days and days of walking, he had finally arrived.

      He was completely taken back by the beauty of Shenkuu. Situated high in the mountains, the structure of the town was just astonishing. With little bridges connecting each building, you would be forgiven in forgetting that you were thousands of yards above sea level, and right at the top of the tallest mountain Seamus spotted the Lunar Temple.

      It had been built in such a way that the building just seemed to seamlessly flow into the mountain it was sat upon. As Seamus made his way towards the entrance, he admired every aspect of the building. But he knew the best was yet to come! He had seen pictures of the exterior before, he had never seen pictures on the interior. He was about to experience something which he could not even imagine!

      As he reached the entrance, he saw the Wise Old Gnorbu sat by the front doors.

      "Ah. Greetings young one," the Wise Old Gnorbu welcomed Seamus.

      "Hi Sir!" Seamus replied, a little too enthusiastically. "I am so excited to see inside the temple, I've heard so much about it. I can't wait to finally see it for myself!"

      "I must stop you there. You see, due to the rising numbers of tourists wishing to visit the temple, I have had to device a scheme to make sure that only those who are worthy may enter. I carefully observe the movement of the globes and track them here on my chart. Do you think you have what it takes to accurately track the movement of Kreludor? I propose a challenge to test your skills. If you pass the test you may enter, what do you think?"

      Seamus's heart sank, after everything he had been through before he had already given up hopes of passing the test. "Sure," he said with a sad-tone to his voice.

      The Wise Old Gnorbu continued, "I have chosen a random position for Neopia and Kreludor on my chart above. Based on these positions, which phase of Kreludor would most likely be seen from Neopia? Choose your answer from the diagrams below."

      Seamus gazed at the diagrams that had been presented in front of him. He had absolutely no idea what the Gnorbu was talking about. He knew whatever his answer would just be a wild guess, so he closed his eyes and randomly pointed to the page.

      "Wrong answer!" The Wise Old Gnorbu bellowed. "You may only attempt my challenge once per day. Please try again tomorrow!"

      As previously mentioned, this didn't even shock Seamus. Before he had even answered he had already accepted that it would take a stroke of massive luck for him to be able to enter the temple. He made his way down the steps, wondering what he had done to deserve such bad luck. The trip was just getting worse and worse, out of the seven wonders, he had only managed to properly see one and that was severely underwhelming. He thought that perhaps he had built the places up so much in his mind that they could never possibly live up to his expectations. Though not the one to be stopped, Seamus decided to continue on his journey. Who knows? Maybe his luck may just change.

      He made his way to the Cyodrake's Gaze, the flying was to take him to his next location, Moltara. He boarded the ship, took one last look at the Lunar Temple and the ship left the dock.

      **********

      Now he knew that Moltara was renowned for how dark the city was, but it took him by complete surprise when he was actually there. The city would have been in complete darkness if it wasn't for a faint orange glow, that barely illuminated the buildings and paths. He knew the orange glow could be nothing else, it had to be the Magma Pool.

      He headed towards where the glow seemed to be the brightest, as he turned the corner, as clear as day was the Magma Pool.

      "Huh," he thought. "I can't believe I've seen it without any problems."

      The problem was, he could only see the pool through a metal fence. He wanted to see it a little closer. He approached the guard.

      "I'm sorry, only those well-versed in the ways of Moltara are permitted to enter the Pool. Learn more and try again later," the guard said to Seamus.

      "I actually know a lot about Moltara," Seamus replied. He started listing numerous facts that he had learn from books.

      The guard blinked. "I'm sorry, only those well-versed in the ways of Moltara are permitted to enter the Pool. Learn more and try again later."

      Seamus continued to list even more facts to the guard.

      Again the guard just replied, "I'm sorry, only those well-versed in the ways of Moltara are permitted to enter the Pool. Learn more and try again later."

      Seamus just looked at the guard confused.

      "I'm sorry, only those well-versed in the ways of Moltara are permitted to enter the Pool. Learn more and try again later."

      Seamus couldn't understand what was going on. He still had a few hours before he was scheduled to travel to his next destination, he thought he would waste sometime in the bookshop he had passed earlier.

      He entered the bookshop and started browsing their selection.

      "Can I help you?" The shop owner asked.

      "No, it's alright. I'm just browsing, Seamus replied. "I'm actually just looking to learn a little more about Moltara. I tried to visit the Magma Pool, but the guard wouldn't let me as he said I didn't know enough about Moltara."

      "Oh no, no, no. He says that to everyone!" The shop owner paused. "In fact, I don't think I've ever heard him say anything else... he seems to have a problem with letting anyone enter. But, without fail everyday he has a ten minute nap. That is when most of us sneak past to get a view of the pool."

      "Really?" Seamus questioned. "When does he have this nap?" He asked whilst checking the time on his watch.

      "Ahh, he naps at a different time everyday so I can't really help you with that one, your best bet is to just keep checking every ten minutes."

      "Thank you!" Seamus thanked the shop owner as he headed for the exit.

      **********

      Arriving back at the Magma Pool he was greeted by a familiar greeting from the guard, "I'm sorry, only those well-versed in the ways of Moltara are permitted to enter the Pool. Learn more and try again later."

      Seamus knew what he had to do. He took a seat on a rock, making sure he had full view of the guard and then he waited...

      Ten minutes passed, and then another ten, and then another ten... and then another ten! The guard showed no signs of going to sleep and the time was ticking by. It was only a matter of time before he had to leave Moltara. However, there was nothing else for him to do here so he decided to continue.

      Ten minutes passed and then another ten minutes passed and again, they just kept passing.

      "Oh well," he thought. "I had nothing else to do anyway."

      Before he knew it, he was only ten minutes away from having to leave. He decided to gather himself together and start heading towards the underground steam train he was going to be catching to the Deserted Fairground. Just as he did, he caught a glimpse of the guard. He was finally asleep!

      Seamus checked his watch, he knew it would be a rush but he had to gain a quick glimpse of the Magma Pool. He hurriedly scrambled past the guard and there it was. It was a gorgeous shade of orange with a beautiful glow. The heat radiating from the pool made Seamus begin to sweat... and then that was it. He had to leave. He took one look back at the pool then headed to train station.

      He boarded the steam train. Even though he had been unlucky recently, it seemed his luck was changing. Perhaps his last two stops would be better.

      To be continued...