The Styx Experience

Maahes thought over the information. It reminded him oddly of one of the games he might have played when bored on Earth; defeat a boss in a certain section of the game's world, and you could move onto the next area with another boss. The cycle would repeat itself until the last boss had been defeated. Whoever wanted them here was looking for some sort of entertainment. Valon's words only confirmed his suspicion.

"I agree," he said, softly. "I...I frequently run into a race called the Goa'uld. They have no regard for anything other than themselves, and love to see humans squirm under their control. Most just use them as slaves, but a handful use them as a form of entertainment. I think whoever brought us here is looking for a show."

Bo, having only been asleep (though he looked it) for a short time before it amounted to him just resting with his eyes closed, had laid listening in to the conversation until he found it convenient to move again. Since he wasn't, after all, able to get much sleep due to the overall stress of the situation, he'd had a lot of time to think about things. Things namely being, how and for what purpose they were there. Because still, everything before being here was still a blur, and was proving fruitless to scour out of his mind.

So he spoke up, finally opening his one eye and turning his head to the two fellows - all while still lying on the rocky floor of the cave of course.

"If they want a show, it hardly seems like we've got a choice in the matter. I mean, they brought us here from different ends of the universe or different ones, or whatever the heck it is. So it sounds like they're one super powerful dude. Or just uh, person."

He cleared his throat, and finally sat up, growing tired of craning his neck.

"So I mean, what I mean to say, though it sounds cliche, is: If they want a show, why not give it to them? Since it seems we hardly have a choice anyway. Unless one of you has an idea on how to beat the system. 'Cause I got nothin."

Valon finished off his geode-shell cup of water and looked over his shoulder. "Those of us capable of seeing the spirits above--and I do believe them to be spirits--should come to the same conclusion." Slowly, he stood and rotated his ankle several times, bare elf-foot knotting in light pain.

"I believe them to be the souls of those who perpetually lose this game of Basil's...and perhaps even we are in the fray." He slid his foot into his remaining free boot and pulled at the tucks.

"This means that, if we are successful in clearing these abject horrors, we will likely be forced to free ourselves from a jail in the central mount, where every spirit is pulled."

Bo blinked. "Okay, I want to say I agree, but a lot of what you said just went over my head. Can you pretend like you're explaining that to like, a ten year old?"

Maahes got to his feet and gave a little stretch as he listened to the discussion. It felt good to get his essence to circulate a bit, especially when it so desperately wanted him to choose another form. "I think he might be saying that we're as trapped as those-" He gestured outside. "-souls up in the sky are. The only difference is that we haven't lost this game yet. If we lose it, we might be stuck here."

Then what he said really hit him; those were people who had failed to beat this game. They had never asked for this. Even if they were dead and couldn't return to where they had been taken from, they deserved a peaceful afterlife. And they were the only ones who could do anything to help them - they were the only people currently playing the game. Their first and foremost goal was to get out of here, but he had to try to help them.

It was just a matter of figuring out how to beat the system.

“Oh.”

Bo poked his head out of the cave, looking up at the sky full of souls. Suddenly everything felt even more dismal than before.

“Then I guess we should uh... get going and fight this next monster, huh.”

Arms crossed, Valon strolled out of the cave with the tiniest glitch in his step; but he viewed their surroundings, eyes aglow, and nodded to the northwest. "While there is a significant drop in temperature, a massive energy source feels...tumultuous...in this direction."

He peered the other way, to the pure south, and shook his head. "High heat signatures, and great energy pulsating. Certainly greater than its northern counterpart."

But the elf shook his head. "It could be a trick, however. Don't you two view these lot as the type to hide energy until it's needed?"

"I really don't know enough about our enemies to make that assumption," Bo admitted. "But if they're anything like that Basil guy, I don't think the whole game is designed, necessarily, for us to succeed. So that is possible. But I don't know anything for sure, honestly."

Maahes crossed his arms. "I don't know. I'd keep whatever advantages I have concealed until the exact moment when I needed them, but I doubt our last enemy had that level of intelligence. If this next one is anything like that minotaur, I don't think they'd be smart enough to think that far ahead."

"Or," he added, after a moment passed, "there's someone out there fighting against that opponent."

Valon glanced at Maahes. "You're a clever one." Focusing on the larger energy signature, he attempted to distinguish a struggle, but failed. "To my dismay, I can't tell if there is a struggle going on." A sigh.

"But if we are to be helped in this godless game, then that would be our opportunity--the tumultuous energy."

He looked at his comrades. "Are you with me?"

Bo nodded. "Yes."

"I am," Maahes said with a nod, giving a brief glance in the direction of the others before turning to Valon once more. "I'm ready to go when everyone else is."

Deeper into the island's forest, to the southeast, they approached the struggle, which at that point had begun emitting recognizable noises of discourse. Valon, keeping a hand on his rapier, scanned once more and bore his teeth at his inability to deconstruct the beings...until their heat vanished entirely.

"Stop!" he shout-whispered. "They've vanished! We walked right into a trap, dammit!"

Bo came to a complete halt. It wasn't really a surprise, and, considering they'd walked into a trap, he readied himself for anything he could conceivably imagine.

Spoiler

Sorry for not posting in a while

Maia stopped dead. "What?"