Myths and Facts - AU - Locked to seaweed_writes

[ihadabadday]

John Watson was a professor of Archaeology, with a focus in ancient Middle Eastern artifacts and history. He was mild mannered and ordinary. People assumed he was boring, university educated and went home to do whatever it is that ordinary people do when.

But John Watson had a secret. He often carried out interesting archaeological missions (for lack of better descriptors) for the British Government. Things that the government didn't want others to find, to keep secrets safe from the public. Not that the public didn't deserve to know. But there was much that John Watson found that would turn history in its head, which would cause chaos among the population.

But this day, he had finished his classes and was sitting in his office. He was researching something he had been working on his entire career.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon and thus the other missing Ancient Wonders. The only one that had survived antiquity was the Great Pyramid of Giza. And John suspected that was for a reason. There had been reports of other pyramids being dismantled, of crumbling and collapsing. This pyramid was the height of the pyramid building craze that clutched ancient Egypt for so long.

But that wasn't his focus.

He didn't tell many he was researching the Gardens. Too many other archaeologists had been laughed out of a career for it. No. He wanted to find them, prove their existence before he published anything.

He closed his notebook and tucked it into his messenger bag. It was leather and worn, he had taken it on many of his adventures, and he always kept a gun tucked into it. John left the university ground and hailed a cab. He was off to the British Museum to see the Alexander the Great exhibit that was there. Maybe there was something in the collection that would lead to another clue or breakthrough.

At the museum he was stopped in front of a large stone tablet (a recent discovery) reading the text and translating. It wasn't too busy this day, as it was a Wednesday, but there were still people milling about, talking. And he suspected the Curator, one Sherlock Holmes, was watching or around. Bringing this particular exhibit to the museum had been a feat.

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[ihadabadday]

John ducked into their shared tent and sat on the cot. It was more like a dorm, which would suit them just fine. He reached up and rubbed his shoulder, the one with the scar on it. He let out a breath and looked at Sherlock.

"Give me a moment and I'll get the maps out to figure out our course of action."

[seaweed_writes]

"John." Sherlock looked. There were two cots, on opposite sides of the tent, each of then really only big enough for one person. It looked like, at least for now, they were going to have to sleep alone.
Sherlock noticed the rub of his shoulder and walked up behind John, putting his hands around the scar and kneading ever so gently. "Here, that long drive made it ache I'm sure. let me help." He started into a soft but deep tissue massage, working the muscles under the gnarled skin.

[ihadabadday]

He was a bit disappointed they wouldn't be able to share a sleeping space. But they would make due. There would be opportunities in the future. He hoped.

When Sherlock came over and started to massage his shoulder, he very nearly melted. Oh that felt good. He let out a breath and closed his eyes.

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock smiled. He could feel John start to melt under his touch. Just to be even, he massage John's other shoulder with his other hand, moving between hard muscle working and soft massages..

He looked over to the tent flap, making sure that it was closed, before giving John a soft lick on the base of his neck, where the hem of his shirt opened.

"Feeling better, John?" he whispered in the man's ear.

[ihadabadday]

He shivered when he felt that tongue move against his skin. It was warm and wet and instantly sent a shot of lust through him. He let out a breath and then nodded.

"I am. Thank you."

[seaweed_writes]

"Good." He whispered, giving John one more lick before leaning away. He took his hands away, reluctantly, moving over to his bunk.

"You.. were going to look at maps?" He reminded John.

[ihadabadday]

John grumbled but nodded. He retrieved the silver case that he had hardly let out of his sight the entire time they'd been together. He carefully opened it, revealing neat sections with scrolls. He carefully withdrew one and unrolled it slowly.

"Come over here."

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock's jaw dropped a bit when he saw a scroll, browned with age on the sides, made out of pound papyrus. It must be over 2000 years old, he thought to himself.

And the writing on it, it was Assyrian, he was sure of it, even if he had no idea what it said, he recognized it from the stone in the museum. He stood behind John, one hand on his good shoulder to not only affirm that he was there and he was close, but honestly to hold himself up a bit, this was so intensely fascinating to him.

"what does it say?" He asked in a whisper.

[ihadabadday]

He smiled softly up at Sherlock. These had been a find he had purposely kept quiet. Some of the content on the various scrolls would cause an uprising in the academic world. Best to let them remains forgotten.

"The scroll itself is rather boring. It talks of an order of for Sahara roses. A breed thought to be extinct in our era. But what is interesting is the writing along the border. It's part of a map."

[seaweed_writes]

He looked a bit confused. "Why would they write part of a map at the border.. or was this a part of a larger scroll that was either lost or removed on purpose?" Sherlock asked. "And do you have the other part of the map?" He had a million other question, but tried to calm himself.

Though there was one he had to ask.

"You said Sahara roses are extinct now.. but would they have grown in the Hanging Gardens? "

[ihadabadday]

John nodded. "Yes, it is thought to have grown in the Hanging Gardens." He answered.

"And I do have the rest of the map. Each part was written by a different person, so the scrolls themselves span the ages."

[seaweed_writes]

"But how did different people write different parts of a map over different years? How did they know what the others had done, and what needed to be added?" Every answer seemed to bring more questions, and Sherlock wanted to know them all.

[ihadabadday]

"I don't know. But the map lines up." John sighed and looked at Sherlock.

"Can you find me a copy of a map?"

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock nodded. He had packed several maps of the area. He rifled through his things, finally coming upon it. He unfolded the map of modern Iraq and laid it out on the small table, making sure not to get too close to the terribly breakable papyrus.

"This is where we are now." He pointed to a spot southeast of the town of Najaf, where they had started. "The hanging gardens are thought ot have been in the southeastern part of what is now Iraq, but that is still a vase area of desert to cover. "

[ihadabadday]

John shushed him before he started to draw on the map. He had long since memorized the words that were spread out across the scrolls tucked into the case.

He was approximating, as the terrain had adjusted over the years. But if his suspicion was correct... He drew a circle around a hilly, mountainous region.

[seaweed_writes]

"That looks to be about 250 kilometers from here, if I had to guess. In this desert, it would probably take us another 4 hours to reach it, if we are lucky. But you are still talking about a very large area of very barren land. " He said, after studying the map for a few moments.

[ihadabadday]

"I have a theory. I think it may be located in a hill, so if we focus our search to hills with a water source nearby..."

John looked up at him.

[seaweed_writes]

((I'll make one last post here and then we can pause))



"They would have needed a source for their gardens. But.. water sources can change and move and even be born and die in 2000 years. What is a water source not might not have been a source then.." He paused for a moment. "But it is a good place to start. Perhaps if we can find an underground source, that will be much easier, the impetus of the water in that area.." Both of their voices were getting higher and faster as they became more and more excited about possibly finding the Gardens. it was a feedback loop, they were getting each other hyped up.