To the First Paradise

Heading out of the grey area or Orestone City and into the greener path of the grasslands ahead, Kantuta asked, "So, Yuchauzh, now that you've put an end to the polluting behavior of that city, we have satisfied your needs, yes?"

"Pretty much." Yuchauzh answered.

"Wonderful! So, that must mean that we have no need for each other's services, right?"

"What? Cindall no."

Kantuta raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me? Are you not satisfied with what you accomplished?"

Glancing at Kantuta, Yuchauzh answered, "There's a bunch more problems in this world that need fixin', lady. Did ya really think that the smog in that city was the only thing hurtin' plants?"

"…Well, no, but…" Kantuta sighed, giving Yuchauzh an impatient look, "Where do you even have to go?"

Yuchauzh thought for a moment before shrugging, "I dunno. To be honest, who does know? All I know is that there's something somewhere out there that's hurtin' our beautiful planet. And sister, as long as something like that exists, I will never rest."

Kantuta stared at the back of Yuchauzh's head for a few seconds, unwilling to believe what she just heard. "…Are you hearing this?" she asked her friend, "I ask this aimless wanderer where he needs to go, and he says 'I dunno". Such boneheadedness! How can we have such a goalless, random orc sticking with us?"

Looking around at the pleasant scenery, Siquioce inquired, "But what about you? Do *you* have any specific place you want to go?"

"I…er…of course! I have many locations to visit in my quest for magical prowess! There's the mountainous peaks, the sprawling desert, the feet-melting volcano…"

"But do you have anywhere specific you want to head to?"

At this, Kantuta froze up; she had been caught. "Um…uh…"

"He's got you there, elf." Yuchauzh remarked with a chuckle.

An angry blush appeared on Kantuta's cheeks, "Shut your mouth, you imbecile! And Siquioce, I **do** have an ultimate goal! I just…haven't figured it out yet."

"Well, there you have it." Siquioce responded, "Both you and Yuchauzh have goals, you just don't know what they are yet. But that isn't stopping either of you from adventuring, right?"

Kantuta's eyes widened, her blush growing ever deeper as she looked down at the ground with an embarrassed expression, "Erm…" after a period of denial, she conceded, "Okay, I guess you're right."

"See?" Siquioce replied, "And I haven't kicked you off the team yet, have I? So, I say we should keep Yuchauzh around. Besides, he's a great ally in terms of physical strength."

"I suppose…" Kantuta said with a sigh.

Turning to look at Kantuta, Yuchauzh grinned, "Glad you came around, girl."

Kantuta crossed her arms and turned away, "Hmph."

After a bit of walking, Kantuta said, "Speaking of aimlessness, where are we headed next, Siquioce?"

Siquioce stopped dead in his tracks, "Oh. Right. Would you mind bringing out the map again, Kantuta?"

Shaking her head, Kantuta took off her hat and pulled out the map, which she showed to her leader. Looking over the scroll of paper, the Samanian stated, "Okay, as we said earlier, we're taking this path earlier." he traced an upward-traveling, winding line starting from the left corner of the map, connecting two points before ending up back at the west, "And ending up here at one of those Paradises."

"Really? Well then, tell me…" Kantuta jabbed the top of the map, "Why is it that we're heading to the north instead of the west?"

Siquioce tilted his head, "We were headed north all this time? Why didn't anyone tell me?" Turning on his heel, the novice chief said, "Okay, everyone, change of plans; we're headed this way!"

Watching her two other travel mates head off, Kantuta shook her head and muttered, "Peron, save me…" Before walking behind the others.

After a peaceful yet tiring walk across large pastures, through winding rivers, and past small settlements, Siquioce and his group ended up at a large ziggurat made of emerald green bricks. Looking up at the large structure, Siquioce gasped, "Wooow. So this is a Paradise..."

"Eh," Yuchauzh shrugged, "This ain't too impressive."

"For once, I agree;" Kantuta added, "This is just a ziggurat; other than looking shiny, it doesn't have much intrigue to it."

"…Yeah, true." Siquioce responded, "But maybe we'll find something by heading closer? It's worth a shot!" With that thought in mind, Siquioce wobbled forward, prompting his teammates to follow suit.

As the Samanian theorized, upon the party's approach to the temple, a projection of a green skull with red eyes materialized in front of the group. "Greetings." the skull boomed, "I am Taka-Balo, the guardian of this Paradise. You have done well to come here."

Siquioce gasped, stepping back with a surprised expression, "You can speak Samanian?"

Taka-Balo nodded, "Of course. As a spirit of the planet, I am able to communicate with creatures from all walks of life. In fact, your friends can likely hear me as well."

Kantuta gasped, "Oh, you're right, I can!"

"Indeed. Now, let us get right to business. You see, I cannot simply let you walk into this holy sanctuary." Taka-Balo levitated forward, a slight smile on his bony face, "In order to get by me, you must solve my riddles."

Kantuta's ears perked up, her eyes sparkling with glee as she gushed, "Ooh, riddles?! I love those!"

Taka-Balo raised one of his eye sockets, "You…do? Hm…" the skull chuckled, "Well, let us see if you are so enthusiastic when I reveal my first question. Are you all ready?"

Kantuta nodded fervently, "Yes, please!"

"Very well, then. Here is my first riddle: A girl has as many brothers as sisters, but each brother has only half as many brothers as sisters. How many brothers and sisters are there in the family?

Kantuta looked down, counting with her fingers as she muttered, "Let's see…if she had two sisters, that would mean that she has two brothers…but then her brother would have three sisters, and that isn't half of two. But if she had three sisters…" her eyes lit up, "Oh, I've got it! There must be four sisters and three brothers!"

Taka-Balo nodded, "Correct. That was quite quick. I wonder, though, will this next one be as trivial?"

"Oh, trust me, I can handle it! Come on, bring me your best!"

"As you wish. You see a boat filled with people. It has not sunk, but you do not see a single person on the boat. Why is that?"

Kantuta tapped her chin, "Hmm…I would say that everyone jumped off, but no sane person would do that…well, unless they were a Samanian like Siquioce here, but then why would they ride a boat? Hehe. Anyway, um…" her eyes lit up, "Oh, right! There isn't a single person left on the boat! They must all be married!"

"Correct once again." Taka-Balo nodded again, "Perhaps you are skilled at problem solving…"

"Damn," Yuchauzh said, "Gotta admit, you're smart; I couldn't wrap my head around half of these questions."

Kantuta chuckled, glancing at Yuchauzh with a smirk as she gloated, "It's about time that you realized my superior intellect. Yes, I am quite knowledgeable, aren't I?"

Taka-Balo rose into the air, his eyes briefly flashing white as he rumbled, "Now comes the final riddle: I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with wind. What am I?"

Kantuta smiled, "Ah, another easy one! It's a wind spirit!"

After her answer was given, Kantuta was smacked in the face by a root that suddenly emerged from the ground. As she fell on the ground and rubbed her head, Taka-Balo shook his head, "That is incorrect. Try again."

Getting up, Kantuta groaned, "Oh, that wasn't it? Okay…hmm…would it be a living tumbleweed? I mean, they are usually possessed by some kind of incorporeal spirit, and they communicate through branch rustles."

Again, the elf was struck by a thick root, crying out in pain as Taka-Balo stated, "Incorrect once again. You have one more attempt, travelers; if you fail once again, I will be forced to deny you access to this Paradise."

Kantuta's eyes became hazed with disbelief, her hands trembling as she breathed, "Oh, Peron…I don't know." She pulled her knees close to her body, rocking back and forth as she murmured, "Great saints above, I don't know the answer to this question! Me! Kantuta! Oh, goddess, oh, goddess, oh, goddess…"

As Kantuta was having her breakdown, Taka-Balo glanced off to the side and sighed, "Well, if none of you can answer, then I suppose that I will have to…"

"Wait." Siquioce blurted, "I think I know the answer."

Raising an eye socket, the green skull moved forward, asking, "Oh? And what would that be, young Samanian?"

Siquioce clasped his hands together, saying in a slightly hesitant voice, "Well, uh…I remember this one time when I was young: my older brothers decided to drag me to this big, scary cave on the surface. It was…it was really big…really dark, too. I couldn't even get out of the water, I was so scared. And my brothers would make it worse by making all sorts of loud noises. They would shout 'Hey!' I would hear 'Hey!' again, they would shout 'Ho!', I would hear 'Ho!' again. I wanted to go home, but they would never..."

"Traveler," Taka-Balo said, "Do you intend to give me an answer, or are you simply going to waste my time?"

Siquioce jumped slightly, a nervous smile crossing his face as he responded, "Oh yeah, my apologies. I'll get to the point; the answer is an echo."

"Hm…" Taka-Balo frowned slightly, "That is quite the…method that you used to arrive at your answer. Nonetheless…" the skull smiled, "You are correct."

At this, Kantuta gawked at Siquioce, her eyes wide as saucers as she exclaimed, "An ECHO?! B-but, that's not even a living thing!"

"You're right," Siquioce replied, "But think about it; an echo hears something, technically, and answers by just repeating what it 'heard'. And echoes do happen underwater, but it's slightly easier to hear them on the surface, especially when there's walls for sound to bounce off."

"…Oh."

As Kantuta stared into space, a set of green bricks shifted into the ziggurat behind Taka-Balo, revealing an opening. Moving to the side, the skull declared, "Like the ancient, everlasting trees of the forest, you, too, have shown great wisdom and knowledge of the world. Come, acute travelers, and enjoy your reward." With that, the spirit faded away, leaving the quartet to their own devices.

Smiling proudly, Siquioce pointed forward and marched on, "The path is clear! Come on, let's see what's waiting for us!"

As his friend squelched away, Yuchauzh turned to look at Kantuta, asking, "You comin'?"

Remaining silent for a moment, the mage nodded emptily, answering, "Y-yes. Just, um…" she cleared her throat, refusing to give Yuchauzh another glance as she walked forward, her hands tied up as she looked at the ground with a cloudy expression.

Shrugging, Yuchauzh followed after his acquaintance, curious to see what was in store for him and the others.