Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-4556650-20130716143338/@comment-5912473-20130720034818

You can call it an item; but it's wrong. The fountain is a place you visit. The treasure is immortality. Presumably it's since been destroyed along with the forest - and remember, the two are connected. Perhaps when Ban planted the Almoca Seed it will someday restore the fountain?

Alternatively, the characters do refer to the fountain as something that Ban stole. Though it is never stated whether the cup or the water within is what they are referring to.

'''Edit 1: Rereading King's flashback in chapter 21, he states the fountain IS in fact the cup. So apparently it is an item, though this is far from the original myth. Its connection to the forest and whether or not Ban still has it are a mystery, I guess.'''

'''Anyway, case closed. Keep it as an item.'''

Edit 2: Actually; Red Hawk Scans has the line - "And that the Bandit stole from the hidden treasure, the "Fountain of Youth", a cup of water that gave life and never ran dry...". I don't know if King's stating that the cup is something taken from the fountain, or if he's referring to the water Ban "stole" from the cup - it's rather confusing.

In any case, leave it as an item.

Edit 3: Haha, so many edits. A few pages later King confirms the cup is the fountain and that what Ban stole was the water from it.

Where's the Fountain now, I wonder?