"Gabe," said Callie. "All you've done is complained since they got back! This trip that they took didn't promise anything!"

"That's right," said Aaron. "We went to Shimmering Desert to excavate anything suspicious that the Pharaoh or his accomplices might've left lying around. The whole journey was an exhausting chore, not a vacation to Disneyland!"

"There's also this tome we found," said Elisa, as she presented an old book bound in a thick cover to Grandpa Benson. The cover of the tome was light brown with a tan star outline on the front. Of note was a metal seal that was used to lock the covers together much like a diary. Although the seal was still locked, it had apparently been ripped open along the middle.

"You'd think the owner lost his key or something," remarked Aaron. "We couldn't find it anywhere. Not that I'm complaining. Puzzles are so much easier to do when the problem is already solved."

Grandpa began skimming through the tome; a baffled look appeared in his eyes. "These are just a bunch of poems. Limericks and such! A few pictures here and there, but no rhyme or reason to any of it."

"That's what we didn't understand," said Tamara. "There has to be some deeper meaning to this tome if it had a lock."

"It can't be a secret message," said Grandma. "They probably would've just written it in a fairy language or something. Not in plain English."

"I've theorized that if there even is a message, it's probably hidden within the poems," said Rui.

"May I see?" asked Callie.

"Sure," said Grandpa, handing the tome to Callie. "Even if these poems have no real meaning, they're still interesting, I suppose."

"Contained within these pages," began Callie as she read the first page aloud, "are directions to the five hidden instruments of eternal power."

"No," gasped Grandpa, who looked as though he had just seen a ghost. "That's impossible. It can't be!"