I don't own Sonic, Sega, or the brilliance of Rush.
"Here we are. Runkensa, the Valley of Death." Said Ryko, looking at the huge ruins that loomed over top of them.
"Charming." said Sadie, looking at something on her phone.
"So, what strategy did you plan for this expedition?" asked A.J, looking at the front door of the ruin. Ryko gave her a puzzled look.
"I was just gonna walk in and find the defect." Ryko replied before moving up to the door of the ruin and pushing on it.
"It…won't…open!" he said. Studying the door a bit further, he found some words in an awkward language etched into the stone door.
"It's some kind of code!" he said, tilting his head different ways as if to see a secret message.
"Ryko, that's Latin for 'Pull'." said Sadie as she pulled the door open.
"…Oh." Ryko replied before walking in the ruin.
They began walking into the ruin, seeing various ancient sketches on the walls of the ruin.
"So, why is this place called the Valley of Death again?" asked A.J, studying the sketches on the walls.
"This place was used for sacrifices by some ancient tribe. By the time archeologist found the place, hundreds of mass graves were found underground littered with gold and other riches. So, the only thing they could think to name the place was the "Valley of Death" until they found "Runkensa" all over the walls of the ruin. So, that is how it came to be." answered Sadie.
"How do you know all that?" asked Ryko.
"Wikipedia."
"Cheater. Anyways, I always dreamed of seeing this place ever since I was a kid. My dad used to tell me stories of the place at night, always with me finding some amazing treasure. The place is even cooler than I imagined."
"Well, enough story time. That defect is somewhere within this ruin, and we need to find it." said A.J.
They kept walking until they hit a dead end at the ruin.
"This wall has Latin on it as well." said Sadie.
"What do I need to pull?" asked Ryko.
"Nothing. 'In order for everything to become with the light , one must make the ultimate sacrifice.'" Sadie recited.
"When did you learn Latin?"
"Same time I learned German, French, Spanish, Italian, Ancient Egyptian, Navajo, Chinese, Japanese, Serbian, Arabic, Hebrew, and Greek."
"Amnday." replied Ryko.
"Back to work. If what the wall says is true, we need to sacrifice someone. I really-Ryko, put the pistol away-hope it doesn't come to that, but I don't really see another way." said A.J.
"If only Anubis or Hades were here." said Ryko.
"You called?" said a voice behind them. They all whipped around to find Anubis standing behind them.
"How to we open this wall?" asked Ryko.
"Did you read the words on it?" asked Anubis.
"We did, but do we have to sacrifice one of us?" asked A.J, a look of fear showing on her face for the first time Sadie could remember.
"It doesn't mean a literal sacrifice. Only one hedgehog can go through that wall."
"Then let it be Ryko. I'm not in the mood to get killed today." said Sadie, with a very Laoch-like grin on her face.
"Thanks, Sadie. Appreciate it." said Ryko.
Anubis pointed to the wall. Ryko slowly walked through it, appearing on the other side.
Sadie and A.J stood amazed for a second until Sadie began to speak.
"Well, I'm bored."
"Shouldn't we be checking on him periodically?" asked A.J.
"Nah, he'll be fine. He is Ryko the Hedgehog."
"Exactly."
"You know, he is a lot smarter than he looks. A genius, actually, when comes to life or death matters. He jokes around a lot, but I think that's because he needs something to disguise his sorrow for his dad's loss. " explained Sadie.
"…"
"…You okay, A.J?"
"I...I really never thought of it like that."
"Me neither." replied Sadie, before starting and app on her phone.
"What are you doing?" asked A.J.
"I'm calling for back-up. I have a feeling that Ryko won't just walk into the room where the defect is held, pick it up, and leave. Whatever this defect is, it was probably put here on purpose."
All that was left in the part of the ruin was a long, spiraling staircase. Ryko slowly descended the stairs until he got to a door with Latin words written on them:
"Alius toy, qui se adiuverunt perdere
senior humanum genus
oblivisci tua de inepta arbitratu
non con consilium!"
He quickly put them in a text message and sent it to Sadie.
Sadie immediately got the text. As soon as she read it, she smiled and began to sing:
"Another toy that helped destroy
The Elder Race of man
Forget about your silly whim
It doesn't fit the plan!"
"Where is that from?" asked A.J.
"The greatest musical album ever produced. 2112 by the band Rush. The title track is a 20 minute long epic about a person who finds a guitar from a cave in the year 2112 where the 'Priest of Syrinx' have an iron grip on his nation, banning creativity. That passage is when the person shows the guitar to the priest only to receive their anger towards creativity. Apparently, it was written in Latin on a wall Ryko just found."
"B-But that means-"
"Exactly. The album was made in 1976, meaning that either it was written around that time, unlikely, or-"
"It was written a little bit before we got here." said A.J.
"Correct. Those lyrics could also be talking about a defect of some sort; in this case, something that didn't fit Ares 'plan." said Sadie.
"Why would he write those lyrics, though?" asked A.J
"'Cause he's a jackass, that's why. Probably thinks he's in an Indiana Jones movie."
"Well, what do we do? It has to be some kind of clue."
"Yea, and it's probably hidden in the lyrics or the liner notes of 2112."