I hope you were fine with that Greek level. Here is the second part of it,
in which Scales explores the temple erected by the god Hades. What sinister
traps and dangers has the Lord of the Underworld placed in defense of the
Chronos Ruby? Well, read on and see for yourself, silly!
Disclaimer: You know the drill.
Scales looked around. She was in a medium-sized room full of lava, predictably. The lava cascaded in a stream from a hole in the left wall, explaining the large pool. There were a few platforms leading over the lava to a circular walkway going along the right wall to a door at the back of the room. The door was right across from an arched bridge at the end of the aforementioned walkway, on a ledge surrounded by pillars. Scales deduced she needed to get to the door to proceed. (Well, duh.) She hopped to the first platform in the lava, then jumped to the second. She was about to jump to the walkway when she suddenly noticed a triangular metal plate in the wall facing her, right above the walkway. It had a hole in it. What was it for? The plate was explained as a jet of flame surged out, almost reaching her platform. "Ah, these must be those flame-throwers Herc mentioned. I'll just have to time this one, it's shut off now." Scales waited a few seconds to see if the flames would go back on. After ten seconds, the flame-thrower ignited briefly, then went out. Scales jumped to the walkway and got out of range before the thing could turn back on. She walked around the walkway and up the bridge, jumping to the ledge with the door. It was made of rock, and had no visible means to open it. So Scales figured it would be a good idea to smash it down. It took a few Homing Kicks, but the door crumbled, allowing her to proceed. She was now on a ledge in a part of a room that curved around to form a block C. She was in the bottom right portion of the C. To her diagonal left was a platform too far to hover to. Above her and ahead was a large stalactite hanging from the ceiling. Scales examined the stalactite, and calculated whether or not she could jump from it to the platform if it were not on the ceiling. She found she could. She shot an energy ball at the stalactite, knocking it into the lava. It slowly started to sink. Scales quickly jumped to the stone formation, then jumped to the platform before it was too late. The stalactite vanished into the lava. Scales walked along the lengthy platform until she reached another impasse. The next platform was around the corner, so she couldn't really hover to it. Straight ahead was a flame-thrower, and hanging from the ceiling was another stalactite. Scales waited until the flame-thrower was off then shot the stone formation down from the ceiling. She jumped to it, then jumped to the platform before the stalactite sank and the flame-thrower re-ignited. She walked along the platform, jumping over a broken bridge to continue. She turned right around the corner of the room and walked towards the end of the platform. She jumped and hovered to a lower one on the opposite wall. Now in front of her was a pillar with a crack it. The pillar was too far away to hit with a Homing Kick, but Scales remedied the problem by throwing an energy ball at it. The ball exploded, causing the pillar to break off the crack and fall forward, creating a bridge across the lava for Scales. She jumped onto the fallen pillar and walked to its base. She looked to the right and saw another cracked pillar. She fired another energy ball at it, knocking it down and forming another bridge. She walked across the pillar and jumped to a platform from its base. She looked ahead and saw the lava flowing down through a large doorway. Scales hovered through the doorway, over the lava, and landed on one of the platforms in this new room. It was a curving corridor. In front of Scales, across a short gap from her platform, was a set of stairs leading up the corridor. A flame-thrower was set in the wall halfway up the stairs. Scales jumped to the bottom step and started walking up, timing the flame- thrower to run by when it was off. She reached the top of the stairs and turned left, following a short bridge through a door and entering another room. She was on a platform at the beginning of a long, curving and sloping river of lava. Ahead of her was a round platform sitting in the lava. It was too far to hover to. Hanging from the ceiling was another stalactite. If you think you know what she's going to do, you're right! She blasted the stalactite down with an energy ball, then jumped to it, then hovered from there to the platform before the stone formation could sink. When she got on the platform, it started moving! It began floating down the stream of lava, taking Scales with it. It came to a stop in a larger chamber going sideways. Lava cascaded down the walls, the lava flow going right and off a cliff. Sticking out of the wall Scales was facing were three sets of giant blocks, each separated by about a meter. The set of blocks facing Scales had three going straight out, towards her, and three blocks stacked on top of each other over the block closest to the wall. The second set of blocks had the same number going out, and had only two blocks on top of each other. The furthest set of blocks, the one closest to the falls, had only one block on top of the three horizontal ones. Scales jumped from the still platform to the first block set. She walked to the bottom of the stack and tried to jump to the top, seeing a door there. Unfortunately, she couldn't reach. Bet Arik could get there. Scales thought bitterly. She got an idea, looking at the other sets of blocks. She jumped to the second set, and jumped from there to the last one. She jumped up at the base of the single block and just managed to grab the edge of it. She pulled herself up and leaped to the blocks on the second set, grabbing the edge of the higher block and pulling herself up before she could fall into the lava. She jumped from there to the block on the tallest stack, pulling herself up to the door. As she was about to go through, a spider the size of her head scurried out and tried to bite her! Scales instinctively squashed it with her foot, killing the spider. Disgusted at the mess it left, Scales tried to scrape the arachnid guts off her foot before going through the door. She walked down a small corridor and turned right up a ramp. She turned right again at the top of the ramp and came out in the same room as before, but on a ledge overlooking the lava falls. Hovering in the gap between her and a ledge on the back wall of the room was a floating vine. Scales hovered out to the vine and grabbed it, swinging across the room to the ledge. She walked through the door on the ledge and into a corridor. She walked down the corridor and a ramp leading to the next room. She entered the room and dropped to a ledge below her. The chamber was rectangular and once more filled with lava. A few stalactites hung from the ceiling. There were several pillars on the walls. There were two flamethrowers in the room, one attached to a pillar on either side but at different places. Neither of them stopped burning. Floating right in front of Scales was a round platform like the one she had used before. She stepped on the platform, which started moving out into the lava. They were heading straight for the fire stream of the first flame-thrower! Scales looked up and saw a stalactite near the stream of fire. She shot down the stalactite and jumped to it as the platform passed through the jet of flame, leaping back on as the stalactite started to sink and the platform moved away from the fire. The platform continued to drift around the room, approaching the second flame-thrower. As she got closer and closer to the jet of flame, Scales shot down another stalactite and jumped to it as the platform went through the stream of fire. She jumped back to the platform when her stalactite started sinking and the platform was out of danger. The rest of the trip was uneventful. The platform stopped at the end of the room, before a set of stairs. Scales hopped off the platform and went up the stairs, reaching a landing. She saw another set of stairs to her right and went up, reaching a door. She went through the door, finding a corridor. She walked down the corridor, turning left and following it into a circular room with three stone doors on the walls. Scales selected the middle door and kicked it open, finding an empty alcove. Scowling, she tried the door on the right and found the same thing. Frustrated, she kicked open the door on the left and found a corridor! Her joy was immediately spoiled when a spider almost as big as she was crawled out of the corridor! Lesser people would have screamed and ran, causing the spider to hunt them down and eat them. Not Scales. She immediately hit the giant spider with her tail, stunning it and blinding a few eyes with her spikes. She hit the arachnid with a Homing Kick, knocking it into the wall and exposing its soft underbelly. Before she could attack the spider's underbelly, it righted itself and came at her, mandibles snapping. She somersaulted underneath the arachnid and slashed at its belly with her claws, rolling out as the spider's intestines spurted from the hole she had made. The spider ruptured, all of its organs coming out of the hole. Now looking like a deflated balloon in a sense, the spider died, falling on top of the gross pile of organs. Scales was no novice to violence, but even this was a little much for her. She threw up in a corner of the room, then went through the corridor when she felt better. The corridor slanted downward, like a tunnel. Scales went down the tunnel and reached a slightly larger passageway. The path wound a little way ahead of her before reaching a stretch of lava. Scales walked to the edge of the lava and looked around for a way to get across. She saw a floating vine and jumped to it, grabbing the vine and swinging to another vine. She grabbed it and swung to a different one, going through three more vines before reaching the end. She dropped to the ground and started walking down the corridor as it curved to the right. She jumped over a gap and kept following the curving path, reaching something very familiar to her. It was a loop-de-loop. There was no dash panel. How was she supposed to go through the loop. After some deliberating, Scales got an idea. She curled in a ball and started a spindash, rolling up the loop and through it, reaching the other side. That wasn't so hard, now was it? She continued down the path, which was no straight, and leaped over two gaps in the path. She walked along the path and into a large lava pit with a narrow bridge over it. Scales carefully walked over the bridge and found a stone door inside a horseshoe-shaped formation. She kicked the door down and went inside. She was now on a ledge at the beginning of a river of lava, going down a tunnel with carved walls. On her right was a plum tree, with a lava- proof plum. Scales kicked the tree, shaking down the plum. She dropped it into the river and jumped on, starting to drift away. She steered the plum and moved faster with multiple energy balls, moving down the river. She noticed some patches of the lava were yellow and something in her mind told her to stay far away from the yellow lava. Whenever the plum was moving towards some yellow, Scales quickly pushed herself away with an energy ball or two. After a few narrow misses, she saw that a huge patch of yellow lava took up the entire river for a brief point. Noticing the tunnel's curved sides, Scales got an idea. She fired energy balls at the side of the tunnel, pushing herself against the opposite wall. She continued firing until she was actually pushed up onto the side of the cave. As she started sliding back down the wall, she fired energy balls behind her and at a diagonal angle to not only keep her on the wall, but to move her on it and keep out of the lava. When she got far enough from the yellow lava, she let the plum slide back down and continued her ride. That's when the lava went over a small cliff. Scales jumped off the plum and started hovering when the plum went over the falls, then carefully moved forward as the plum started drifting towards another lava fall. After the large fruit had gone over that drop, Scales caught up with the plum and dropped onto it neatly. The river kept going, turning around a corner. Scales was shocked when the walls shook and large thorny roots erupted from them, thrashing about wildly. She hurled energy balls at the roots, causing them to flail and retract into their burrows. As she kept going, the roots recovered and just popped back out again, but she was out of their way by then. The passageway started narrowing a little, and more roots popped out. Scales kept firing energy balls to get rid of the roots, and finally left them behind for good when the plum dropped off a lava fall. She didn't fall off as she had feared, so kept going. The passageway curved right again, and some more yellow lava patches showed up. She used her energy balls to stay away from the yellow lava, and finally reached the end of the river of lava. A wall blocked any more passage. A wedge-shaped platform jutted out from the wall, halving the lava flow and sending it into two channels on either side of the platform that went under the wall. On the platform was a door. Scales steered the plum to the platform and jumped off, going through the door. She was now on a ledge in a huge shaft. The lava from the river poured out from the channels on either side of her, plummeting into the depths of the abyss. Several pillars rose from the pit, each supporting a large triangular platform. The platforms went down in a spiral, stopping near a ledge and a door much deeper in the shaft. Scales figured she had to hover down the spiral to reach the room's exit. She jumped and hovered to the first platform. When she landed, she found a big triangular pedestal. Sitting on the pedestal was a really big and familiar glowing orange sphere. Before Scales could approach the pedestal, a giant caterpillar crawled out from behind it and attacked her! She hit it over and over again, shredding apart each segment of the insect, until finally it was dead. The caterpillar gone, Scales walked up to the pedestal. Wondering why all the places she had been so far needed these spheres and also wondering why so many different time periods would have something so similar, Scales picked up the sphere, knowing she would need it later. Carrying the magic sphere, Scales walked to the edge of the platform and looked down. She saw a four-sided pyramid on it. Each side had a hole on it. A jet of flame was spurting from a hole. Every few seconds, the flames would switch off and the next hole would ignite. Scales threw the sphere down to the platform then started hovering, landing just as the hole facing her switched off. She grabbed the sphere and made a dash for the other end of the platform when the next flame went out, throwing the sphere to the next platform in the spiral and hovering after it. The moment Scales landed on the triangular platform, half a dozen baby caterpillars attacked her. She killed the bugs in short order, and picked up the large sphere again. She walked to the end of the platform and threw it to the next one. She hovered down, and saw another flame-blasting pyramid. However, this one had TWO jets of fire at a time. She jumped over the jet as it started to ignite when she landed, hovering until it went out. She dropped and grabbed the sphere, then jumped over the next jet and ran to the end of the platform, throwing the sphere and immediately going after it. The heat from the flames seared her back, nearly burning her as she barely made it off the platform. She hovered tot he next platform and found it was the last one in the set. As she was about to pick up the sphere and throw it to the ledge, a giant caterpillar attacked! She quickly killed the enormous insect, then picked up the sphere. She threw it to the ledge, then hovered after it. She picked up the magical orb and proceeded through the passageway beyond the ledge. It turned right and led to a set of stairs. Scales descended the stairs and found the next section of corridor to be completely filled with lava. Fortunately (and conveniently) for Scales, a plum was floating right at the bottom of the steps. She stepped on the plum, wondering how in the world she was going to move this thing. She couldn't hold the sphere with one hand, it was too big. But then how was she going to throw an energy ball? Scales looked at the glowing sphere. It was quite obviously magical, but how did that help her? Working on impulse, Scales turned around to face the stairs. She threw the sphere into the air and quickly hurled an energy ball, pushing the plum down the lava stream. Scales was shocked when the magic sphere flew after her, landing in her arms. "Well, thank God for this little thing's magic!" she said. She threw the sphere up again and hurled another energy ball, moving her the rest of the way down the lava. The plum bumped into the end, a raised platform continuing the path. She threw the sphere onto the platform and jumped after it, pulling herself up and picking up the sphere once again. She walked down the corridor ahead of her, entering a tall room with a lava pit and a narrow beam over it. At the other end was a very tall, thin door. Scales started carefully walking down the very narrow beam. It was a little hard to balance while holding the big sphere, and the attacking baby caterpillars that dropped from the ceiling didn't help matters. She kicked the irritating bugs into the lava, coming very close to dropping the sphere or falling herself. Finally, she made it through the door and into a huge room. It really was huge. There were several great platforms of differing heights all around the room, each one identical to one on the other side of the room. Across from Scales was another tall, thin door. Flowing through the middle of the room was a narrow stream of lava. It flowed from underneath a great statue of what could only be Hades on the right side of the room and into another tall opening on the left side of the room. Sitting on either side of the doorway the lava was flowing into was a glowing pyramidal pedestal, one orange, one blue. The orange one was on Scales' side. She walked over to the pedestal and placed the sphere on top, locking it in place. "Well, that's one down." Muttered Scales. "Now I just have to find the other one." She figured the best place to look would be through the other door. She hovered across the lava stream and walked across the floor to the big door, passing through it. The chamber beyond was small, but high. A series of ledges led up to a door on the wall. Scales hopped up the ledges, reaching the door. She passed through, entering another place. She was on a triangular ledge in the midst of another river of lava. A plum tree grew beside her. She kicked down the plum, then dropped it into the river. She jumped on the plum as it began to drift away, ready for another ride. As always, the river seemed to curve to the right a little, going down in a loose spiral. There were more patches of yellow lava here, but they were fairly small and easy to avoid. After a few minutes of drifting down the river of lava, Scales reached the end. It was a wall like the one in the last river, with channels under the walls, a triangular ledge, and a door. Scales jumped off the plum and got to the ledge, then went through the door. She was on the other side of the wall now, in a slanting rectangular room. The lava from the river flowed down the room, going into a narrow pit at the very end. The wall at the back of the room had a stone door set in it. Several triangular plates were on the wall, yellow lava pouring from them and making the pit the normal lava was going into full of yellow lava. Floating in front of the ledge was a conveniently placed plum. Scales hopped on the plum and started going with the current down the room. She was getting closer to the door and the yellow lava. She started firing energy balls at the door in an attempt to blast it open. After several hits, the door shattered. Scales used a Homing Kick to reach the doorway just before the plum fell into the pit of yellow lava and disintegrated. She went to the edge of the door's threshold and found a cave with yellow lava filling the bottom. Three columns rose from the pit. She hovered from column to column to get across the cave, hovering one last time to reach the next door. She walked through and found a ramp that went forwards, then wound around a large pillar rising from some lava. Scales started running down the ramp, making sure not to move too fast lest she overshoot a turn and fall into the pit. When the spiral ramp reached the bottom of the column, it went down into another passageway. Scales ran through it, leaping over the fire from a flame-thrower, and almost fell into a large lava pit. She jumped from the edge of the ramp to a floating vine and swung across to the door on the other side of the pit, then started running down that one. She came out into another spiral around a column. She ran around the column and reached another passageway. She ran down the passageway and dropped into a hole at the end. Scales looked around and was surprised to see she was back in the big room with the Hades statue! She was on the tallest block on the side of the lava stream with the blue pedestal. Not only that, but the blue magic sphere had been on top of this block the whole time! A little amused by this, Scales picked up the sphere and dropped it off the block. She hovered to the ground after it, finding it completely intact. She picked up the sphere and placed it on the pedestal, locking it into place. To Scales' surprise, the Hades statue started to move! The statue came to life and waded into the lava stream, stopping when it had reached the center of the room. It stood still, as if waiting for something. A floating vine flew out from the opening the statue had been standing in before, hovering over to a position near a large block and stopping. Guessing she needed to use the vine, Scales walked over and jumped up, grabbing the vine. She swung until she was able to make it to the block, and jumped off. She looked at the statue and got a feeling she needed to get to the highest block. She was able to climb and jump up the platforms from her position, eventually reaching the same block the blue sphere had been on. She jumped off the block and hovered towards the statue, landing on its head. The statue came to life again and started walking further down the stream, through the other opening. The statue walked for some time, following the stream, which was slowly starting to deepen. Scales started to notice this when the statue got lower and lower, sinking into the deepening lava. She looked ahead and saw the end of the stream several yards ahead. The statue was now neck-deep in the lava, and it didn't look like she could get to the platform at the end if she remained on the statue. As the lava went up to the statue's ears, Scales jumped off and hovered to the platform at the end as the statue went completely under the lava. She just made it to the platform and landed, seeing a long stairway leading up through the passage. She started going up the stairs, wondering how much more she would have to do until she would reach the Ruby. She reached the top of the stairs and followed the landing to the right, coming to a pool of lava with a long set of stairs leading to a platform rising from the middle of the pool. Scales walked up the stairs to the platform and found an altar. Sitting on the altar, glowing faintly, was a yellow jewel, the Chronos Ruby at last. Letting out a sigh of relief, Scales picked up the Ruby and put it away. "Time to get out of this place, the heat is getting to me. Chaos Control!" She vanished in a flash of light.
She reappeared outside the temple. Arik was still sleeping. She walked over and shook his shoulder. "Hey, wake up! It's time to go." Arik groaned and opened his eyes. "Scales, you're back! I suppose you got the Ruby then?" Scales nodded and pulled out the yellow gem. "Yeah, but it was almost impossible to get the thing." "I suppose that's what took you so long. In any case, congratulations!" Arik said, quite pleased. "So, should we go check up on Herc?" Scales asked. Arik nodded. "Definitely. I hope he's not too tired. Let's go!" "Hang on, then." Said Scales, touching Arik's hand. "Chaos Control!" They warped away.
They reappeared back in the forest to a scene of wanton death and destruction. There were maybe five piles of dead dinosaurs, each about five feet in height. Hercules was resting against a tree, covered in blood and sweat. Obviously a little tired, Herc struggled to his feet when he saw his friends. "Hey, what took you guys so long? You missed a great slaughter!" "I can see that. I assume you enjoyed yourself?" asked Arik. The hero nodded. "I haven't had this much fun in ages! It's getting late, though. I should probably head back to the sheep, who knows what mischief they've gotten into while I've been gone." "That won't be necessary." Said a familiar voice. Sauron strode out from behind a tree, picking his teeth with what looked like part of a rib. "Your herd animals are fine. Dead, but fine. They made a good meal, as did most of their pasture." They all gasped. "You ate those cute sheep? How could you?" Scales asked, angry. Hercules was even angrier. "Those sheep were my property! You had no right to eat them all!" Sauron shrugged and threw the piece of bone away. "If I broke a law, what does it matter? I'm from someplace else, your rules don't apply to me." Hercules growled. "Anyone who destroys my property must answer to me personally! Prepare to join your fellows, beast!" Yelling, he raced towards the evil dinosaur. Sauron waited until Hercules was about to smash into him, then jumped, kicking off of Herc's head and driving him into the ground. The hero got up and swung a fist at Sauron. The raptor ducked and delivered a kick to Hercules' chin, slashing it up with his talons. He followed that up by carving the human's chest up with his claws, leaving great marks on his skin. Bellowing in pain and anger, Hercules tried to deliver a punch that would have shattered the dinosaur's skull. Sauron dodged the blow, causing Hercules to ram his fist right through a tree. As the hero tried to pull his fist from the tree, Sauron pulled out his Chronos Ruby and held it only inches from Hercules' face. The dinosaur grinned. "Time to say goodnight, mammal. Temporal Implosion!" "What-" Hercules started to say. A wave of energy rippled from the Ruby, striking Hercules. As the human started to scream, his body began changing, folding in on itself and reducing in mass, like an explosion in reverse. As Hercules kept screaming, his body imploded and was reduced to a single point that immediately vanished, taking his screams with him. Sauron laughed. "How pathetic." Arik and Scales were speechless. "Hercules...he's gone..." Scales managed to say. Arik couldn't say anything. Then, his eyes narrowed. "SAURON!" He screamed. Arik raced towards the other raptor. Before he could even pull off an attack, Sauron smashed the blunt end of the Chronos Ruby into the side of Arik's head, knocking him to the ground in pain. Sauron was about to move in for the kill when he got blasted away by Scales' Serpent Strike, slamming him into a tree. He winced in pain as Arik struggled to his feet and Scales rushed over. Both of them glared at Sauron and started coming towards him. To their surprise, the villain started smiling, even though blood was leaking out of his mouth. "Amazing! Nobody's drawn blood from me in years. I see I underestimated the two of you. I don't have time to play with you right now or take your Rubies, so I'll just take my leave. CHRONOS CONTROL!" "NO!" Arik yelled as Sauron disappeared in a flash of light. "No..." He fell to the ground, clutching his head. Scales said nothing, hurt as well by what had just happened but not wanting to interfere with Arik's feelings right now. Finally, the raptor got up. In a cold tone, he said, "We're going home. Grab on before I leave you here." She took his arm, and he pulled out the Master Ruby. "Chronos Control." He said bitterly. They vanished, returning to the Time Stream.
Scales and Arik appeared in the hut, one furious, the other sad. They both stood near the table for a moment in silence. Finally, Scales spoke up, slowly and softly. "Arik, I understand what you're probably going through right now." "Oh?" he said harshly. "I know you're probably feeling a range of emotions from ripping someone's heart out in rage and filling a lake with tears. I went through the same exact thing. I just want you to know that if anything's wrong, you can talk to me about it." She said carefully. Arik's lip curled, revealing his sharp teeth. "Leave me alone." "Arik, I just want to help you." Scales said. "I said LEAVE ME ALONE!" he shouted. She backed away. The raptor growled. "I'm going to bed. Don't disturb me if you value your life." He hissed. He went to the ladder and started climbing up. Scales turned away as he got to the second floor. He opened his bedroom door, went inside, and slammed it shut almost hard enough to knock it off its hinges. For some reason, Scales started to cry.
Up in his room, Arik screamed in anger and lashed out at the wall, the only thing in his room he could attack that wouldn't result in the breaking of a treasured memory.
Scales tried to eat some of Arik's frozen meat, but was so sick with fear and worry for Arik that she could barely eat a single bite. She had no choice but to put it back in the freezer. She couldn't stop crying.
Arik hit the wall again and again, as if attacking it enough times would accomplish something, like killing Sauron or bringing back Hercules. He screamed again and hit the wall with a Homing Kick, cracking it.
Scales, unable to eat or calm down, went to her room, closing the door securely behind her. She could faintly hear Arik's screams from across the hut. They scared her, and made her feel even worse. The tears kept coming. She leaned against the wall, sobbing uncontrollably.
Arik screamed once more and hit the wall with enough force to break a man's spine. The crack burst open, leaving a hole in the wall of his room. He panted, all that rage exhausting his body. He stumbled over to his nest and crawled in. He curled into a ball and started staining the cushions with salty teardrops.
Scales couldn't take it anymore. She staggered over to the big nest, crawled in, and collapsed on the cushions. Despair and sadness taking over, she curled into a fetal position and kept crying.
Memories flew through Arik's head, of all the fun times he and Hercules had had together. Slaying the Nemean Lion, the Hydra, and other such monsters, recovering the golden girdle of Hippolyte, and other adventures. They had retrieved the golden apples together, ensnared Cerberus and the Erymanthian boar, secured the Hind (deer, not rear end) of Artemis, and dealt with all sorts of wild and fantastic animals. They had done so much together. It was justifiable for him to be so angry, and so sad. "Hercules, you were my best friend." Arik whispered. "I swear that I will kill Sauron, for your sake. That bastard will die for this."
Scales was confused. Why was she so sad? Why was she so hurt by Arik's actions just a little while ago? Why did she feel shattered by his rejection of her aid? It shouldn't matter this much to Scales, yet it did. Why did she feel like Arik's pain was her own? Her eyes widened as she suddenly realized the cause of this. She was in love with him. She had done the forbidden thing, and fallen in love with a mortal, who could never return her love for fear of dying eventually and leaving her alone. When Arik died, or once this quest ended, Scales would be all alone again. Alone, forever. The tears stopped, but she was still crying on the inside. "Why must this be?" she whispered. "Why did he have to be so much like me that I had to fall in love with him?"
Neither reptile got that much sleep that night.
Now, wake up
Everybody tries to be straight
But things are still unchanged
It's useless to resist
Their effort will always be wasted
Head straight for your goal by any means
There is a door that you've never opened
There is a window with a view you've never seen
Get there no matter how long it takes
But in the end it's all for nothing
Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk
Throw it all away
You think no one can break you, that nobody can tear you
You will live an endless, lonely life forever
Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk
Throw it all away
You see a harsh light wherever you go
You have to face it again and again
Again and again, again, again...
Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk
Throw it all away
You think no one can break you, that nobody can tear you
You will live an endless, lonely life forever
Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk
Throw it all away
You see a harsh light wherever you go
You have to face it again and again
You will live an endless, lonely life forever
Forever
Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk
Throw it all away
You think no one can break you, that nobody can tear you
You will live an endless, lonely life forever
Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk
Throw it all away
You see a harsh light wherever you go
You have to face it again and again
Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk
Throw it all away
You think no one can break you, that nobody can tear you
You will live an endless, lonely life forever
Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk
Throw it all away
You see a harsh light wherever you go
You have to face it again and again.....
Was that too depressing for you? I'm sorry if it was, but I was trying to get another plot point across. Sorry about Hercules' death. Don't worry, nobody important will die in the next time period, I think. Anyway, here's our interview! Scales: Pi2, what the hell is this? I'm in love with Arik? Me: Yeah, you got a problem with that? Scales: You told me you weren't going to make me fall in love with him! Me: I lied. Scales: Damn you! Me: What? You're angry at me for making you fall in love? I thought you were miserable being lonely! Scales: I am, but you've made me fall in love with a mortal! He'll die and leave me just as lonely as before! Me: What if he gives you a kid? The child will be immortal. Scales: Yeah, but any child I produce would have to leave for their own life someday, and I would be alone again! You jerk, you've probably screwed up my future! Me: (Getting angry) Look, you're one of my favorite characters! Do you really think I would intentionally screw up your life just to improve the quality of the story? Scales: YES! Me: Well, I guess that is partly true. But look, you will be with Arik, okay? I promise you it'll all work out. Scales: It had better work out! If it doesn't, I know somebody who's going to be getting a new breathing hole! Me: (Laughs condescendingly) Don't be silly, you can't hurt me! I'm the author, without me you will cease to exist! Scales: Oh really? (Punches me in the nose, causing it to bleed. I stare at her in shock.) Don't be so certain you control me, Pi2. I am a free lizard, and will do as I please. If you destroy this for me, I will not hesitate to make you pay for it in blood. (Heads for room's exit.) This interview is over. Me: (Scowls and wipes nose with tissue.) She's stronger than I thought, and more clever as well. I had better be careful, don't want her catching on to my real plans. (Grins sinisterly. Pauses, then looks at reader.) Oh, uh, that never happened okay? Just review this chapter and I'll have the next one up soon enough. Forget anything ever happened here. Please review. Or else!
Scales looked around. She was in a medium-sized room full of lava, predictably. The lava cascaded in a stream from a hole in the left wall, explaining the large pool. There were a few platforms leading over the lava to a circular walkway going along the right wall to a door at the back of the room. The door was right across from an arched bridge at the end of the aforementioned walkway, on a ledge surrounded by pillars. Scales deduced she needed to get to the door to proceed. (Well, duh.) She hopped to the first platform in the lava, then jumped to the second. She was about to jump to the walkway when she suddenly noticed a triangular metal plate in the wall facing her, right above the walkway. It had a hole in it. What was it for? The plate was explained as a jet of flame surged out, almost reaching her platform. "Ah, these must be those flame-throwers Herc mentioned. I'll just have to time this one, it's shut off now." Scales waited a few seconds to see if the flames would go back on. After ten seconds, the flame-thrower ignited briefly, then went out. Scales jumped to the walkway and got out of range before the thing could turn back on. She walked around the walkway and up the bridge, jumping to the ledge with the door. It was made of rock, and had no visible means to open it. So Scales figured it would be a good idea to smash it down. It took a few Homing Kicks, but the door crumbled, allowing her to proceed. She was now on a ledge in a part of a room that curved around to form a block C. She was in the bottom right portion of the C. To her diagonal left was a platform too far to hover to. Above her and ahead was a large stalactite hanging from the ceiling. Scales examined the stalactite, and calculated whether or not she could jump from it to the platform if it were not on the ceiling. She found she could. She shot an energy ball at the stalactite, knocking it into the lava. It slowly started to sink. Scales quickly jumped to the stone formation, then jumped to the platform before it was too late. The stalactite vanished into the lava. Scales walked along the lengthy platform until she reached another impasse. The next platform was around the corner, so she couldn't really hover to it. Straight ahead was a flame-thrower, and hanging from the ceiling was another stalactite. Scales waited until the flame-thrower was off then shot the stone formation down from the ceiling. She jumped to it, then jumped to the platform before the stalactite sank and the flame-thrower re-ignited. She walked along the platform, jumping over a broken bridge to continue. She turned right around the corner of the room and walked towards the end of the platform. She jumped and hovered to a lower one on the opposite wall. Now in front of her was a pillar with a crack it. The pillar was too far away to hit with a Homing Kick, but Scales remedied the problem by throwing an energy ball at it. The ball exploded, causing the pillar to break off the crack and fall forward, creating a bridge across the lava for Scales. She jumped onto the fallen pillar and walked to its base. She looked to the right and saw another cracked pillar. She fired another energy ball at it, knocking it down and forming another bridge. She walked across the pillar and jumped to a platform from its base. She looked ahead and saw the lava flowing down through a large doorway. Scales hovered through the doorway, over the lava, and landed on one of the platforms in this new room. It was a curving corridor. In front of Scales, across a short gap from her platform, was a set of stairs leading up the corridor. A flame-thrower was set in the wall halfway up the stairs. Scales jumped to the bottom step and started walking up, timing the flame- thrower to run by when it was off. She reached the top of the stairs and turned left, following a short bridge through a door and entering another room. She was on a platform at the beginning of a long, curving and sloping river of lava. Ahead of her was a round platform sitting in the lava. It was too far to hover to. Hanging from the ceiling was another stalactite. If you think you know what she's going to do, you're right! She blasted the stalactite down with an energy ball, then jumped to it, then hovered from there to the platform before the stone formation could sink. When she got on the platform, it started moving! It began floating down the stream of lava, taking Scales with it. It came to a stop in a larger chamber going sideways. Lava cascaded down the walls, the lava flow going right and off a cliff. Sticking out of the wall Scales was facing were three sets of giant blocks, each separated by about a meter. The set of blocks facing Scales had three going straight out, towards her, and three blocks stacked on top of each other over the block closest to the wall. The second set of blocks had the same number going out, and had only two blocks on top of each other. The furthest set of blocks, the one closest to the falls, had only one block on top of the three horizontal ones. Scales jumped from the still platform to the first block set. She walked to the bottom of the stack and tried to jump to the top, seeing a door there. Unfortunately, she couldn't reach. Bet Arik could get there. Scales thought bitterly. She got an idea, looking at the other sets of blocks. She jumped to the second set, and jumped from there to the last one. She jumped up at the base of the single block and just managed to grab the edge of it. She pulled herself up and leaped to the blocks on the second set, grabbing the edge of the higher block and pulling herself up before she could fall into the lava. She jumped from there to the block on the tallest stack, pulling herself up to the door. As she was about to go through, a spider the size of her head scurried out and tried to bite her! Scales instinctively squashed it with her foot, killing the spider. Disgusted at the mess it left, Scales tried to scrape the arachnid guts off her foot before going through the door. She walked down a small corridor and turned right up a ramp. She turned right again at the top of the ramp and came out in the same room as before, but on a ledge overlooking the lava falls. Hovering in the gap between her and a ledge on the back wall of the room was a floating vine. Scales hovered out to the vine and grabbed it, swinging across the room to the ledge. She walked through the door on the ledge and into a corridor. She walked down the corridor and a ramp leading to the next room. She entered the room and dropped to a ledge below her. The chamber was rectangular and once more filled with lava. A few stalactites hung from the ceiling. There were several pillars on the walls. There were two flamethrowers in the room, one attached to a pillar on either side but at different places. Neither of them stopped burning. Floating right in front of Scales was a round platform like the one she had used before. She stepped on the platform, which started moving out into the lava. They were heading straight for the fire stream of the first flame-thrower! Scales looked up and saw a stalactite near the stream of fire. She shot down the stalactite and jumped to it as the platform passed through the jet of flame, leaping back on as the stalactite started to sink and the platform moved away from the fire. The platform continued to drift around the room, approaching the second flame-thrower. As she got closer and closer to the jet of flame, Scales shot down another stalactite and jumped to it as the platform went through the stream of fire. She jumped back to the platform when her stalactite started sinking and the platform was out of danger. The rest of the trip was uneventful. The platform stopped at the end of the room, before a set of stairs. Scales hopped off the platform and went up the stairs, reaching a landing. She saw another set of stairs to her right and went up, reaching a door. She went through the door, finding a corridor. She walked down the corridor, turning left and following it into a circular room with three stone doors on the walls. Scales selected the middle door and kicked it open, finding an empty alcove. Scowling, she tried the door on the right and found the same thing. Frustrated, she kicked open the door on the left and found a corridor! Her joy was immediately spoiled when a spider almost as big as she was crawled out of the corridor! Lesser people would have screamed and ran, causing the spider to hunt them down and eat them. Not Scales. She immediately hit the giant spider with her tail, stunning it and blinding a few eyes with her spikes. She hit the arachnid with a Homing Kick, knocking it into the wall and exposing its soft underbelly. Before she could attack the spider's underbelly, it righted itself and came at her, mandibles snapping. She somersaulted underneath the arachnid and slashed at its belly with her claws, rolling out as the spider's intestines spurted from the hole she had made. The spider ruptured, all of its organs coming out of the hole. Now looking like a deflated balloon in a sense, the spider died, falling on top of the gross pile of organs. Scales was no novice to violence, but even this was a little much for her. She threw up in a corner of the room, then went through the corridor when she felt better. The corridor slanted downward, like a tunnel. Scales went down the tunnel and reached a slightly larger passageway. The path wound a little way ahead of her before reaching a stretch of lava. Scales walked to the edge of the lava and looked around for a way to get across. She saw a floating vine and jumped to it, grabbing the vine and swinging to another vine. She grabbed it and swung to a different one, going through three more vines before reaching the end. She dropped to the ground and started walking down the corridor as it curved to the right. She jumped over a gap and kept following the curving path, reaching something very familiar to her. It was a loop-de-loop. There was no dash panel. How was she supposed to go through the loop. After some deliberating, Scales got an idea. She curled in a ball and started a spindash, rolling up the loop and through it, reaching the other side. That wasn't so hard, now was it? She continued down the path, which was no straight, and leaped over two gaps in the path. She walked along the path and into a large lava pit with a narrow bridge over it. Scales carefully walked over the bridge and found a stone door inside a horseshoe-shaped formation. She kicked the door down and went inside. She was now on a ledge at the beginning of a river of lava, going down a tunnel with carved walls. On her right was a plum tree, with a lava- proof plum. Scales kicked the tree, shaking down the plum. She dropped it into the river and jumped on, starting to drift away. She steered the plum and moved faster with multiple energy balls, moving down the river. She noticed some patches of the lava were yellow and something in her mind told her to stay far away from the yellow lava. Whenever the plum was moving towards some yellow, Scales quickly pushed herself away with an energy ball or two. After a few narrow misses, she saw that a huge patch of yellow lava took up the entire river for a brief point. Noticing the tunnel's curved sides, Scales got an idea. She fired energy balls at the side of the tunnel, pushing herself against the opposite wall. She continued firing until she was actually pushed up onto the side of the cave. As she started sliding back down the wall, she fired energy balls behind her and at a diagonal angle to not only keep her on the wall, but to move her on it and keep out of the lava. When she got far enough from the yellow lava, she let the plum slide back down and continued her ride. That's when the lava went over a small cliff. Scales jumped off the plum and started hovering when the plum went over the falls, then carefully moved forward as the plum started drifting towards another lava fall. After the large fruit had gone over that drop, Scales caught up with the plum and dropped onto it neatly. The river kept going, turning around a corner. Scales was shocked when the walls shook and large thorny roots erupted from them, thrashing about wildly. She hurled energy balls at the roots, causing them to flail and retract into their burrows. As she kept going, the roots recovered and just popped back out again, but she was out of their way by then. The passageway started narrowing a little, and more roots popped out. Scales kept firing energy balls to get rid of the roots, and finally left them behind for good when the plum dropped off a lava fall. She didn't fall off as she had feared, so kept going. The passageway curved right again, and some more yellow lava patches showed up. She used her energy balls to stay away from the yellow lava, and finally reached the end of the river of lava. A wall blocked any more passage. A wedge-shaped platform jutted out from the wall, halving the lava flow and sending it into two channels on either side of the platform that went under the wall. On the platform was a door. Scales steered the plum to the platform and jumped off, going through the door. She was now on a ledge in a huge shaft. The lava from the river poured out from the channels on either side of her, plummeting into the depths of the abyss. Several pillars rose from the pit, each supporting a large triangular platform. The platforms went down in a spiral, stopping near a ledge and a door much deeper in the shaft. Scales figured she had to hover down the spiral to reach the room's exit. She jumped and hovered to the first platform. When she landed, she found a big triangular pedestal. Sitting on the pedestal was a really big and familiar glowing orange sphere. Before Scales could approach the pedestal, a giant caterpillar crawled out from behind it and attacked her! She hit it over and over again, shredding apart each segment of the insect, until finally it was dead. The caterpillar gone, Scales walked up to the pedestal. Wondering why all the places she had been so far needed these spheres and also wondering why so many different time periods would have something so similar, Scales picked up the sphere, knowing she would need it later. Carrying the magic sphere, Scales walked to the edge of the platform and looked down. She saw a four-sided pyramid on it. Each side had a hole on it. A jet of flame was spurting from a hole. Every few seconds, the flames would switch off and the next hole would ignite. Scales threw the sphere down to the platform then started hovering, landing just as the hole facing her switched off. She grabbed the sphere and made a dash for the other end of the platform when the next flame went out, throwing the sphere to the next platform in the spiral and hovering after it. The moment Scales landed on the triangular platform, half a dozen baby caterpillars attacked her. She killed the bugs in short order, and picked up the large sphere again. She walked to the end of the platform and threw it to the next one. She hovered down, and saw another flame-blasting pyramid. However, this one had TWO jets of fire at a time. She jumped over the jet as it started to ignite when she landed, hovering until it went out. She dropped and grabbed the sphere, then jumped over the next jet and ran to the end of the platform, throwing the sphere and immediately going after it. The heat from the flames seared her back, nearly burning her as she barely made it off the platform. She hovered tot he next platform and found it was the last one in the set. As she was about to pick up the sphere and throw it to the ledge, a giant caterpillar attacked! She quickly killed the enormous insect, then picked up the sphere. She threw it to the ledge, then hovered after it. She picked up the magical orb and proceeded through the passageway beyond the ledge. It turned right and led to a set of stairs. Scales descended the stairs and found the next section of corridor to be completely filled with lava. Fortunately (and conveniently) for Scales, a plum was floating right at the bottom of the steps. She stepped on the plum, wondering how in the world she was going to move this thing. She couldn't hold the sphere with one hand, it was too big. But then how was she going to throw an energy ball? Scales looked at the glowing sphere. It was quite obviously magical, but how did that help her? Working on impulse, Scales turned around to face the stairs. She threw the sphere into the air and quickly hurled an energy ball, pushing the plum down the lava stream. Scales was shocked when the magic sphere flew after her, landing in her arms. "Well, thank God for this little thing's magic!" she said. She threw the sphere up again and hurled another energy ball, moving her the rest of the way down the lava. The plum bumped into the end, a raised platform continuing the path. She threw the sphere onto the platform and jumped after it, pulling herself up and picking up the sphere once again. She walked down the corridor ahead of her, entering a tall room with a lava pit and a narrow beam over it. At the other end was a very tall, thin door. Scales started carefully walking down the very narrow beam. It was a little hard to balance while holding the big sphere, and the attacking baby caterpillars that dropped from the ceiling didn't help matters. She kicked the irritating bugs into the lava, coming very close to dropping the sphere or falling herself. Finally, she made it through the door and into a huge room. It really was huge. There were several great platforms of differing heights all around the room, each one identical to one on the other side of the room. Across from Scales was another tall, thin door. Flowing through the middle of the room was a narrow stream of lava. It flowed from underneath a great statue of what could only be Hades on the right side of the room and into another tall opening on the left side of the room. Sitting on either side of the doorway the lava was flowing into was a glowing pyramidal pedestal, one orange, one blue. The orange one was on Scales' side. She walked over to the pedestal and placed the sphere on top, locking it in place. "Well, that's one down." Muttered Scales. "Now I just have to find the other one." She figured the best place to look would be through the other door. She hovered across the lava stream and walked across the floor to the big door, passing through it. The chamber beyond was small, but high. A series of ledges led up to a door on the wall. Scales hopped up the ledges, reaching the door. She passed through, entering another place. She was on a triangular ledge in the midst of another river of lava. A plum tree grew beside her. She kicked down the plum, then dropped it into the river. She jumped on the plum as it began to drift away, ready for another ride. As always, the river seemed to curve to the right a little, going down in a loose spiral. There were more patches of yellow lava here, but they were fairly small and easy to avoid. After a few minutes of drifting down the river of lava, Scales reached the end. It was a wall like the one in the last river, with channels under the walls, a triangular ledge, and a door. Scales jumped off the plum and got to the ledge, then went through the door. She was on the other side of the wall now, in a slanting rectangular room. The lava from the river flowed down the room, going into a narrow pit at the very end. The wall at the back of the room had a stone door set in it. Several triangular plates were on the wall, yellow lava pouring from them and making the pit the normal lava was going into full of yellow lava. Floating in front of the ledge was a conveniently placed plum. Scales hopped on the plum and started going with the current down the room. She was getting closer to the door and the yellow lava. She started firing energy balls at the door in an attempt to blast it open. After several hits, the door shattered. Scales used a Homing Kick to reach the doorway just before the plum fell into the pit of yellow lava and disintegrated. She went to the edge of the door's threshold and found a cave with yellow lava filling the bottom. Three columns rose from the pit. She hovered from column to column to get across the cave, hovering one last time to reach the next door. She walked through and found a ramp that went forwards, then wound around a large pillar rising from some lava. Scales started running down the ramp, making sure not to move too fast lest she overshoot a turn and fall into the pit. When the spiral ramp reached the bottom of the column, it went down into another passageway. Scales ran through it, leaping over the fire from a flame-thrower, and almost fell into a large lava pit. She jumped from the edge of the ramp to a floating vine and swung across to the door on the other side of the pit, then started running down that one. She came out into another spiral around a column. She ran around the column and reached another passageway. She ran down the passageway and dropped into a hole at the end. Scales looked around and was surprised to see she was back in the big room with the Hades statue! She was on the tallest block on the side of the lava stream with the blue pedestal. Not only that, but the blue magic sphere had been on top of this block the whole time! A little amused by this, Scales picked up the sphere and dropped it off the block. She hovered to the ground after it, finding it completely intact. She picked up the sphere and placed it on the pedestal, locking it into place. To Scales' surprise, the Hades statue started to move! The statue came to life and waded into the lava stream, stopping when it had reached the center of the room. It stood still, as if waiting for something. A floating vine flew out from the opening the statue had been standing in before, hovering over to a position near a large block and stopping. Guessing she needed to use the vine, Scales walked over and jumped up, grabbing the vine. She swung until she was able to make it to the block, and jumped off. She looked at the statue and got a feeling she needed to get to the highest block. She was able to climb and jump up the platforms from her position, eventually reaching the same block the blue sphere had been on. She jumped off the block and hovered towards the statue, landing on its head. The statue came to life again and started walking further down the stream, through the other opening. The statue walked for some time, following the stream, which was slowly starting to deepen. Scales started to notice this when the statue got lower and lower, sinking into the deepening lava. She looked ahead and saw the end of the stream several yards ahead. The statue was now neck-deep in the lava, and it didn't look like she could get to the platform at the end if she remained on the statue. As the lava went up to the statue's ears, Scales jumped off and hovered to the platform at the end as the statue went completely under the lava. She just made it to the platform and landed, seeing a long stairway leading up through the passage. She started going up the stairs, wondering how much more she would have to do until she would reach the Ruby. She reached the top of the stairs and followed the landing to the right, coming to a pool of lava with a long set of stairs leading to a platform rising from the middle of the pool. Scales walked up the stairs to the platform and found an altar. Sitting on the altar, glowing faintly, was a yellow jewel, the Chronos Ruby at last. Letting out a sigh of relief, Scales picked up the Ruby and put it away. "Time to get out of this place, the heat is getting to me. Chaos Control!" She vanished in a flash of light.
She reappeared outside the temple. Arik was still sleeping. She walked over and shook his shoulder. "Hey, wake up! It's time to go." Arik groaned and opened his eyes. "Scales, you're back! I suppose you got the Ruby then?" Scales nodded and pulled out the yellow gem. "Yeah, but it was almost impossible to get the thing." "I suppose that's what took you so long. In any case, congratulations!" Arik said, quite pleased. "So, should we go check up on Herc?" Scales asked. Arik nodded. "Definitely. I hope he's not too tired. Let's go!" "Hang on, then." Said Scales, touching Arik's hand. "Chaos Control!" They warped away.
They reappeared back in the forest to a scene of wanton death and destruction. There were maybe five piles of dead dinosaurs, each about five feet in height. Hercules was resting against a tree, covered in blood and sweat. Obviously a little tired, Herc struggled to his feet when he saw his friends. "Hey, what took you guys so long? You missed a great slaughter!" "I can see that. I assume you enjoyed yourself?" asked Arik. The hero nodded. "I haven't had this much fun in ages! It's getting late, though. I should probably head back to the sheep, who knows what mischief they've gotten into while I've been gone." "That won't be necessary." Said a familiar voice. Sauron strode out from behind a tree, picking his teeth with what looked like part of a rib. "Your herd animals are fine. Dead, but fine. They made a good meal, as did most of their pasture." They all gasped. "You ate those cute sheep? How could you?" Scales asked, angry. Hercules was even angrier. "Those sheep were my property! You had no right to eat them all!" Sauron shrugged and threw the piece of bone away. "If I broke a law, what does it matter? I'm from someplace else, your rules don't apply to me." Hercules growled. "Anyone who destroys my property must answer to me personally! Prepare to join your fellows, beast!" Yelling, he raced towards the evil dinosaur. Sauron waited until Hercules was about to smash into him, then jumped, kicking off of Herc's head and driving him into the ground. The hero got up and swung a fist at Sauron. The raptor ducked and delivered a kick to Hercules' chin, slashing it up with his talons. He followed that up by carving the human's chest up with his claws, leaving great marks on his skin. Bellowing in pain and anger, Hercules tried to deliver a punch that would have shattered the dinosaur's skull. Sauron dodged the blow, causing Hercules to ram his fist right through a tree. As the hero tried to pull his fist from the tree, Sauron pulled out his Chronos Ruby and held it only inches from Hercules' face. The dinosaur grinned. "Time to say goodnight, mammal. Temporal Implosion!" "What-" Hercules started to say. A wave of energy rippled from the Ruby, striking Hercules. As the human started to scream, his body began changing, folding in on itself and reducing in mass, like an explosion in reverse. As Hercules kept screaming, his body imploded and was reduced to a single point that immediately vanished, taking his screams with him. Sauron laughed. "How pathetic." Arik and Scales were speechless. "Hercules...he's gone..." Scales managed to say. Arik couldn't say anything. Then, his eyes narrowed. "SAURON!" He screamed. Arik raced towards the other raptor. Before he could even pull off an attack, Sauron smashed the blunt end of the Chronos Ruby into the side of Arik's head, knocking him to the ground in pain. Sauron was about to move in for the kill when he got blasted away by Scales' Serpent Strike, slamming him into a tree. He winced in pain as Arik struggled to his feet and Scales rushed over. Both of them glared at Sauron and started coming towards him. To their surprise, the villain started smiling, even though blood was leaking out of his mouth. "Amazing! Nobody's drawn blood from me in years. I see I underestimated the two of you. I don't have time to play with you right now or take your Rubies, so I'll just take my leave. CHRONOS CONTROL!" "NO!" Arik yelled as Sauron disappeared in a flash of light. "No..." He fell to the ground, clutching his head. Scales said nothing, hurt as well by what had just happened but not wanting to interfere with Arik's feelings right now. Finally, the raptor got up. In a cold tone, he said, "We're going home. Grab on before I leave you here." She took his arm, and he pulled out the Master Ruby. "Chronos Control." He said bitterly. They vanished, returning to the Time Stream.
Scales and Arik appeared in the hut, one furious, the other sad. They both stood near the table for a moment in silence. Finally, Scales spoke up, slowly and softly. "Arik, I understand what you're probably going through right now." "Oh?" he said harshly. "I know you're probably feeling a range of emotions from ripping someone's heart out in rage and filling a lake with tears. I went through the same exact thing. I just want you to know that if anything's wrong, you can talk to me about it." She said carefully. Arik's lip curled, revealing his sharp teeth. "Leave me alone." "Arik, I just want to help you." Scales said. "I said LEAVE ME ALONE!" he shouted. She backed away. The raptor growled. "I'm going to bed. Don't disturb me if you value your life." He hissed. He went to the ladder and started climbing up. Scales turned away as he got to the second floor. He opened his bedroom door, went inside, and slammed it shut almost hard enough to knock it off its hinges. For some reason, Scales started to cry.
Up in his room, Arik screamed in anger and lashed out at the wall, the only thing in his room he could attack that wouldn't result in the breaking of a treasured memory.
Scales tried to eat some of Arik's frozen meat, but was so sick with fear and worry for Arik that she could barely eat a single bite. She had no choice but to put it back in the freezer. She couldn't stop crying.
Arik hit the wall again and again, as if attacking it enough times would accomplish something, like killing Sauron or bringing back Hercules. He screamed again and hit the wall with a Homing Kick, cracking it.
Scales, unable to eat or calm down, went to her room, closing the door securely behind her. She could faintly hear Arik's screams from across the hut. They scared her, and made her feel even worse. The tears kept coming. She leaned against the wall, sobbing uncontrollably.
Arik screamed once more and hit the wall with enough force to break a man's spine. The crack burst open, leaving a hole in the wall of his room. He panted, all that rage exhausting his body. He stumbled over to his nest and crawled in. He curled into a ball and started staining the cushions with salty teardrops.
Scales couldn't take it anymore. She staggered over to the big nest, crawled in, and collapsed on the cushions. Despair and sadness taking over, she curled into a fetal position and kept crying.
Memories flew through Arik's head, of all the fun times he and Hercules had had together. Slaying the Nemean Lion, the Hydra, and other such monsters, recovering the golden girdle of Hippolyte, and other adventures. They had retrieved the golden apples together, ensnared Cerberus and the Erymanthian boar, secured the Hind (deer, not rear end) of Artemis, and dealt with all sorts of wild and fantastic animals. They had done so much together. It was justifiable for him to be so angry, and so sad. "Hercules, you were my best friend." Arik whispered. "I swear that I will kill Sauron, for your sake. That bastard will die for this."
Scales was confused. Why was she so sad? Why was she so hurt by Arik's actions just a little while ago? Why did she feel shattered by his rejection of her aid? It shouldn't matter this much to Scales, yet it did. Why did she feel like Arik's pain was her own? Her eyes widened as she suddenly realized the cause of this. She was in love with him. She had done the forbidden thing, and fallen in love with a mortal, who could never return her love for fear of dying eventually and leaving her alone. When Arik died, or once this quest ended, Scales would be all alone again. Alone, forever. The tears stopped, but she was still crying on the inside. "Why must this be?" she whispered. "Why did he have to be so much like me that I had to fall in love with him?"
Neither reptile got that much sleep that night.
Now, wake up
Everybody tries to be straight
But things are still unchanged
It's useless to resist
Their effort will always be wasted
Head straight for your goal by any means
There is a door that you've never opened
There is a window with a view you've never seen
Get there no matter how long it takes
But in the end it's all for nothing
Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk
Throw it all away
You think no one can break you, that nobody can tear you
You will live an endless, lonely life forever
Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk
Throw it all away
You see a harsh light wherever you go
You have to face it again and again
Again and again, again, again...
Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk
Throw it all away
You think no one can break you, that nobody can tear you
You will live an endless, lonely life forever
Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk
Throw it all away
You see a harsh light wherever you go
You have to face it again and again
You will live an endless, lonely life forever
Forever
Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk
Throw it all away
You think no one can break you, that nobody can tear you
You will live an endless, lonely life forever
Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk
Throw it all away
You see a harsh light wherever you go
You have to face it again and again
Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk
Throw it all away
You think no one can break you, that nobody can tear you
You will live an endless, lonely life forever
Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk
Throw it all away
You see a harsh light wherever you go
You have to face it again and again.....
Was that too depressing for you? I'm sorry if it was, but I was trying to get another plot point across. Sorry about Hercules' death. Don't worry, nobody important will die in the next time period, I think. Anyway, here's our interview! Scales: Pi2, what the hell is this? I'm in love with Arik? Me: Yeah, you got a problem with that? Scales: You told me you weren't going to make me fall in love with him! Me: I lied. Scales: Damn you! Me: What? You're angry at me for making you fall in love? I thought you were miserable being lonely! Scales: I am, but you've made me fall in love with a mortal! He'll die and leave me just as lonely as before! Me: What if he gives you a kid? The child will be immortal. Scales: Yeah, but any child I produce would have to leave for their own life someday, and I would be alone again! You jerk, you've probably screwed up my future! Me: (Getting angry) Look, you're one of my favorite characters! Do you really think I would intentionally screw up your life just to improve the quality of the story? Scales: YES! Me: Well, I guess that is partly true. But look, you will be with Arik, okay? I promise you it'll all work out. Scales: It had better work out! If it doesn't, I know somebody who's going to be getting a new breathing hole! Me: (Laughs condescendingly) Don't be silly, you can't hurt me! I'm the author, without me you will cease to exist! Scales: Oh really? (Punches me in the nose, causing it to bleed. I stare at her in shock.) Don't be so certain you control me, Pi2. I am a free lizard, and will do as I please. If you destroy this for me, I will not hesitate to make you pay for it in blood. (Heads for room's exit.) This interview is over. Me: (Scowls and wipes nose with tissue.) She's stronger than I thought, and more clever as well. I had better be careful, don't want her catching on to my real plans. (Grins sinisterly. Pauses, then looks at reader.) Oh, uh, that never happened okay? Just review this chapter and I'll have the next one up soon enough. Forget anything ever happened here. Please review. Or else!