Fountain of Youth - Part Two

"I can't believe I finally found it" I chuckle, opening up my journal to the last page and the glued-in picture of the globe. Taking my pencil I hastily make a tiny cross over the fountain of youth on the map, leaving an 'X' to mark the spot like the treasure it truly was.

"To think, all this time it's been hiding in France" I chuckle to myself, shifting to sit up on my elbows as I look about the small clearing.

I had always figured there would be one of these bodies of mystical water somewhere in Europe, the prevalence of stories in continent as well as it's size making it a prime location for some secluded spring to hide.

I had been winding my way through the regions for weeks now, from Aquitaine to Alsace, wandering the back roads and woods in search of this hidden treasure.

I had almost moved on, my mind turning to which country to cross into next when I woke up this morning. However, I still had one more stretch of forest to check through and I had known it would have driven me mad knowing I left without actually taking the time to search it.

After a moments rest, my exhausted form aching after hours of hiking through the wilderness, I have myself up to my feet once again. Swaying in my mud caked boots I stumble over to the glistening pool, pouring out the last few drops from my thick glass canteen as I reach the bank.

Reaching down I scoop up some of the water, the pool rippling out and disturbing the crystal clear surface. Holding up the canteen to the sun I can barely see the liquid resting at the bottom of the container. Bubbles form against the glass, the water within having either some acidic or effervescent effect.

My nose crinkles up as I watch the water begin to turn duller by the second, the separated sample quickly losing it's pristine quality.

With the water in hand I begin to look around, my eyes turning to the grass beneath me and the treeline in search for something to test the water with. In the distance I spy some moment running up and down a distant tree, the base somewhere a little further back down the hill.

As I approach I begin to make out the shifting mass, lines of small black ants coming into view as they collect chunks of fruit rotting up in the branches and around the forest floor.

Grabbing a stick from the ground I try my best to scoop up some of the ants, quickly collecting a dozen or so before sitting by the truck of a nearby and less ant ridden tree.

With great care I dribble some of the water near my hand, tilting the stick as to force the droplets down and towards the confused ants. I watch as the tiny bugs get stuck in the droplets, the globs of water soon nabbing several of the tiny creatures as they writhe and wriggle free of the liquid.

However, nothing happens. No melting, no fusing together, I only manage to make a group of already lost and confused ants wet as well.

Placing the ants back down I look over my shoulder, my gaze falling to the top of the giant pile of rocks and the small stream running down from the top of them.

"Does it need to be fresh?" I muse, rattling my canteen around as I listen to the now innert water. "Do the rocks... Maybe they add... Something to the..." I mutter, looking down at my journal and shifting through the notes.

"Soil? Earth? I know I saw something about..." I whisper under my breath, pausing my frantic search only to cross out the random now obviously incorrect thoughts and theories I had passed out the pages with.

From aliens to the arcane, I had essentially filled the little book with all my shower thoughts on the subject. However, now that I had found the damned thing I had more questions than answers.

My ears perk up as I hear footfalls begin to approach through the dense underbrush, what little grass and branches making up the wander line on the far side of the hill are further crushed and displaced.

Looking up and over the top of the hill, keeping myself hidden behind the treeline I try to make out the source of the sudden intrusion. Was it another person who knew about the fountain? Maybe someone who had been using it to remain forever young and

My mind races with all the questions to ask them. How did this thing work? What broke down the first creature? How did it know what to break down and what to leave alone? Why couldn't I bottle the water for later?

I'm broken from my string of hurried thoughts as the sound of a loud splashing reaches my ears, a mist of water droplets forming a faint rainbow in the clearing before slowly settling.

Looking around the clearing I try to find the source of the noise, my gaze soon falling on a...