The Riddling Monk

"What? The dragon eggs have been stolen!" shouted Tugawuka.

"But by whom. That is the question." said Wellington (who was influenced by Shakespeare).

"I know." suggested Cleopatra. "We can ask Osiris."

"Osiris is just a fictional god." said Napoleon.

"The only real god is Jesus Christ!" shouted Cortez.

"God doesn't exist." argued Leonardo da Vinci.

"Quiet. I didn't take you into the future for you to argue like teenagers." scolded Einstein. Tugawuka put up a hand. "Yes, Tugawuka?" asked Einstein.

"I have heard about an ancient Japanese legend." (At this, Einstein snorted in laughter) "of the riddling monk, who gives a riddle that leads to the answer to the question you ask."

"To the airships!" shouted Leonardo.

"Yes. To the airships." agreed Einstein.

After three long weeks of arguing about Gods, everyone was relieved to see the riddling monk pop his head out of the bushes and say, "catastrophe, Orleans, rightful, tiny, earring snake."

"The dragon eggs," began Cleopatra, but the riddling monk cut her off.

"Told you," he sang. It was getting dark.

Finally, Einstein burst out with the words, "I've got it, it's an acrostic! Cortes, hand them over." Cortes looked side to side, shivered, and then ran into the darkness.