Hinagdanan Cave

***ARTEMIS***

"The land of chocolate hills is in the east

In a country once ruled with a fist

The cave of stigan is the place to look

Follow the trail and find the book

Be careful upon your search

You might miss the birch."

"Is that a riddle?" asked Seth as he read it over and over again.

"I think so." Kyle answered.

"That is a bad sounding riddle to me." Kai shook his head.

Upon discovering that the codex we risked our lives to back in Bogo City was actually a fake, I felt like wanting to punch someone. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anyone to punch so I settled to trying to figure out what the badly composed riddle in the fake codex meant.

I turned to Liu Yue and Tao who were only watching us.

"Do you have any plans on helping us?"

"Err, no." Yue answered. "We tend to stay away from mortal affairs you know."

"But you saved us from the Sect."

"Well, mine and Tao's job is to go after the Sect and you kind of got in the mix, so…"

"I though Uncle Wu Fen sent you?"

"He was the one who told me."

I sighed and shook my head in disbelief. "So, you really won't help us?"

"Sorry Artemis. There are some things meant to be acted over by those that were chosen."

"By the way," Kyle interrupted. "Why were you going after the Sect?"

"They've always been a pain the ass, that's why." Tao answered which surprised all of us.

"Err… what Tao said. But more importantly, we're going after them because they had been stealing spirit stones lately."

""Spirit stones?""

"Yep. I think it was a month ago when a fire spirit stone was stolen from a sword school in Japan. Just so it happened that we're affiliated with the school so we offered a hand. Tao and I were sent to investigate since technically, it was Aunt Riya that entrusted the spirit stone to them." Liu Yue explained.

If jaws could drop, mine already did.

'Riya, Hauria? We're getting mixed up into their mess again!'

"Again?" Blake questioned with an unusually high pitch voice.

"The Sect is stealing spirit stones? Why?"

"That's what we would like to know." Tao answered. "The first one was the divine spirit stone a month ago in Japan, then the wood spirit stone two weeks ago in the Zhang Manor in Xi'an…"

My mind drifted to the memories of the day after the Zhang twins' birthday. The manor got attacked by unknown forces that poisoned the land guardian and caused Tim and Dean's situation.

"After that the earth spirit stone in the Chen Manor a week ago, then the water spirit stone in Shadow Garden and lastly the metal spirit stone the previous night in the auction."

"Shadow Garden got attacked?" I exclaimed. "What about Lei and the others?"

"Don't worry, they got out unharmed. By now, they're probably on their way to Japan to retrieve the second half of the Codex of Souls."

'She knows?' I thought, but did not choose to ask out loud since I was pretty sure I would not get any straight answer.

"Fire, earth, water, metal and wood." said Xander who suddenly appeared beside me. "Is it just me or is that Chinese alchemy?"

"You are right. Those spirit stones are powerful. Our job is to find them and retrieve them before the Sect uses it to whatever purpose they're planning on it."

"So you'll stay out of the way in retrieving half of the codex." I replied a little disappointed.

"Sorry." Liu Yue said. "I can give you a hint though. It's here in the Philippines."

"I got it!" Seth suddenly yelled which immediately got us turning to his direction.

From my peripheral vision, I saw Tao and Yue exit the room. Although it was abrupt, I understood that they needed to fulfill their mission. And from what I had learned, the Sect is a very dangerous organization. If our encounter with Master Li was not enough, then attacking Casa Domingo and going after definitely fit the bill.

"What is it Seth?" we all crowded to the maknae who was browsing a laptop.

"Liu Yue gave us a clue; Philippines." he smirked as he turned his laptop screen to us. "And only one place in the east of the entire country is famous for chocolate hills. Bohol."

He showed us a landscape photo of various hills which I admit looked very awesome.

"Bohol." I muttered, remembering the name. I remembered doing a mission back then in that province. Not that it was a pleasant memory, but its Chocolate Hills was definitely famous all over the world.

"Okay, so we have the place. But Bohol is a big land and the codex can be anywhere." Blake complained.

"Then we have to figure out the rest of the lines." Kyle said.

I immediately looked over the riddle immediately. The first two lines were already solved; Bohol and Philippines.

"Stigan sounds like stygian." Blake suddenly said. "As in like very black or very dark in Greek."

"It's stigan Blake, not stygian." Blake reminded him.

"'Follow the trail and find the book' is kind of self-explanatory." I explained. "Codex is like an old term for book."

"The next line; 'Be careful upon your search' is also pretty much self-explanatory." Kyle added.

"Why a birch though?" Kai asked. "From what I know, it's a tree."

"You think the Maiden of the Stars ran out of rhyming words for search so picked birch instead?" Xander inquired.

"Huh. Probably." I replied. "So the place where it can be found has a birch on it? What does a birch look like again?"

Seth immediately did a little research and showed me a picture of a tree.

"So we can assume that the spot where the codex is hidden is under a birch tree?" Kai asked.

"But we're also looking for a cave. Can a birch tree even survive inside a cave?" Xander asked as well.

"Just continue figuring it out."

***

Our flight reached Panglao International Airport in Bohol sometime after lunch. We stepped out of the exit for domestic flights and immediately searched for the guy who would lead us to our destination. Our guide was someone Seth knew.

"He was my classmate during elementary and he's attending University of Bohol right now." was what he said.

We figured out the answer to the riddle after brainstorming for the entire night. Surprisingly, it was Xander who did it. The 'cave of stigan' actually meant the cave of stairs. After figuring that one out, Xander immediately gave the answer:

"HInagdanan Cave!"

Of course, we all looked at him with the looks that wondered if he finally lost it, but the place did actually exist. Hinagdanan Cave is a naturally lighted cavern with a deep lagoon inside it. It's apparently a famous swimming spot and Xander had visited the place before together with his sister. Unfortunately he could not remember the way since he had visited it a long time ago, so we needed a guide.

Our destination was a municipality called Dauis in Panglao Island, Bohol. It was relatively near the airport so we did not have to spend too much time on travelling. The full moon was in three days so we were pressed for time.

"Hey Jairus, is there a birch tree inside Hinagdanan Cave?" asked Seth to his friend who was driving the van we were riding.

"I don't think so Seth. There are dakit trees and mahogany trees, but not a birch tree."

Seth glanced at me and I could only shrug.

We reached the cave after a twenty-minute drive. We left our stuff in the van and just brought a few swimming gear. Luckily, the cave was closed for cleaning so it wasn't crowded with people. Thanks to Jairus, we were able to enter the cave without a hitch.

"Wow." I muttered.

My eyes looked around the cave and almost gasped at its beauty. I was never fond of exploring or swimming in caves but Hinagdanan Cave had a breathtaking beauty.

"One problem though." Kai said which interrupted me of my thoughts. "We missed two clues; the trail and the birch tree. There's no birch tree inside guys."

We all went silent.

"What if… the trail isn't just for clues?" I said, realizing something.

"What do you mean sis?"

"Big brother, what if it's literally a trail. Something the Maiden of the Stars, or whoever hid the Codex here, left for us to find?"

"Elaborate."

"She probably hid the Codex of Souls since it was dangerous. Now, there are only three Celestial Maidens that exist and each of them is powerful. Powerful enough to not be controlled by others."

"You think the Maiden of the Stars left a trail only Celestial Maidens will see?" asked Blake in which I nodded in response.

"Okay, even if that's true, what kind of trail did she leave you?" Kyle asked. "Did Liu Fen tell you anything about them?"

I thought for a few minutes. Liu Fen taught me many things. He also told me many things about the Celestial Maidens. At least the generation that he knew. He once mentioned that the Maiden of the Stars liked silk threads very much. She would buy silk threads in the market and make clothes for herself and her sisters.

"A thread?" I spoke out loud.

""A thread?""

"I just remembered something Liu Fen once told me about the Maiden of the Stars. She likes silk threads so maybe she left a thread of power only accessible to me."

Upon realizing it, I immediately coated my eyes with magic energy. My sight immediately changed and I could see the aura of things around me. And strangely enough, there were thread like things inside the cave. All seven of it started from the ceiling and went all over the interior of the cave.

"Okay, now what?" Seth asked.

"Hate to burst your bubbles guys, but we're still missing the birch tree." Kai inserted.

"FYI there's also something called a birch bird." Xander added. "I just remembered it. My sister used to keep one as a pet."

I unconsciously turned off my 'True Sight' and stared at our oldest companion. I groaned and sighed in disappointment.

"Erm, sorry to intrude in your conversation but what if it's not literally a birch tree or a birch bird? What if what you're looking for has a birch carved on it."

All our heads turned to Jairus who just spoke. His Korean was slightly accented, but he still did speak the language.