The Secondary Saga

[Dark Link]

Group 3

Battered and bruised, Lyra had initially remained quiet during the exchange between her random companions. This wasn't because it was in her nature to be this way — quite the contrary. But as the panic and rush of recent events finally began to subside, cultural shock set in. Talking horses, wooden boys and iron men....to the Hylian girl, the sheer existence of such beings was simply awe-inspiring. So much so that she failed to register the goblin's presence....or his attempt to swipe some of her belongings.

After Grobdum was caught in the act, Lyra quickly scolded him and prompted the group to get moving. In truth, she wanted to do far worse to the petite mage, but refrained from doing so — she didn't want the others to see her face flushed due to embarrassment. For a thief, there was little more humiliating than to be robbed herself.

Advancing through the empty hallways, their journey came to a rather quick halt when Pinocchio noticed an artificial crevice on one of the walls. Though not quite as optimistic about the chances of it being an exit, the street urchin did suspect it was at least a hidden entrance — and in their predicament, any possibility was worth exploring. Nodding firmly, the blonde girl added: "Assuming we can't open it directly, there must be a switch somewhere nearby. Let's examine the walls!"

The orange robot gave the more straightforward approach a shot and attempted to pry the section open by tugging the ghoulish tongue. As expected, the entrance did not budge, eliciting a sigh from Top Man. The rest examined the nearby walls, Pinocchio holding the torch high so as to make the environment more visible. Their hands and hooves ran across the carvings — images of distant events and long forgotten deities.

Removing one of her gloves, Lyra traced her fingers across the rough surface, sensing even the most minute deviations and inconsistencies in the stone. She knew from experience that well-designed switches were extremely difficult to activate by accident and that it required applying pressure to a very specific point in order to trigger them. They were also quite difficult to locate — to the naked eye, they were practically indistinguishable from the rest of the object they were built into.

But fortune smiled upon her as she felt a section that protruded slightly more than the rest of the wall — a carving, representing a starlit sky. Grinning, Lyra put her glove back on. Placing both of her palms on the center of the image, she mustered all her strength and firmly pressed against it. It worked, the carving moving back under pressure. Her companions were startled when the hidden mechanism began to loudly rumble and the stone entrance slowly opened, revealing a dimly-lit hallway behind it.

Raw Onion did not fail to notice that this was the pointy-eared girl's doing. In her typical upbeat fashion, the pegasus approached her and saluted: "Well done, Lyra!"

"It was no big deal," the teen responded, awkwardly scratching her head and laughing softly at the pony's almost excessive gesture. Having caught this exchange on camera, Top Man noted that the live feed became filled with heart icons and permutations of the words 'cute' and 'adorable', though there were a few angry or vulgar comments thrown in as well. For whatever reason, plenty of fleshies seemed to like small and pretty individuals and objects. The orange Robot Master didn't particularly care — as long as it boosted his views, he was going to focus on whatever his audience desired.

With that obstacle taken care of, the group entered the previously concealed hall. Mysteriously, it was adorned with burning torches...almost as though someone was expecting that the secret hallway would be discovered. Fearing a trap, they proceeded with caution. Not wishing to get stuck in the dark again, both Lyra and Top Man each grabbed a torch of their own as the unlikely companions proceeded towards an intersection.

What awaited them just around a corner was not a snare, though it caught them by surprise all the same. Blocking their path ahead was a woman...or at least something that appeared like a woman. She wore a long red leather jacket and a collar on her neck. Her eyes could not be seen as they were covered by large elliptical steel plates. The locks and strands of her long white hair formed several arms — the appendages extended all around her visage, most of them having orbs of various colours floating within their grasp. What truly shocked the group and the denizens of the Dataverse was the lower half of her body...or, rather, the fact that she did not have a lower half. Though something shined like starlight from within the shadows of her coat, she did not posses legs or even a stomach — her body simply floated in mid-air, like a bust sculpture that had come alive.

Awe-struck and terrified of this being, the group approached with extreme caution. Lyra in particular nervously gripped her weapon as they took steps towards the 'woman'. But the creature didn't show any hostile intentions. She continued to levitate in place, her hair appendages performing circular motions around their respective orbs. As they came near, she smiled in a kindly manner. Parting her lips, she addressed the motley crew, her voice resounding as though it could reach every corner of the cosmos:

"Greetings, travelers. I am Tzitzimitl, mistress of the stars.

By the will of the universe, I have the right to a sacrifice once every 52 years. It is for this reason that I have come down from the skies, ready to claim my lawful prize.

...The place you seek lies ahead and may only be reached through this path. However, I am not willing to let you pass...unless one among you is offered as tribute."

"T-tribute..." uttered Raw Onion, her nervousness showing in spite of her steadfast nature.

"Hahahaha! Go wiv da wooden grot!" Grobdum exclaimed, pointing a small green finger at Pinocchio. This prompted a few dirty looks from the other companions as well as an anguished expression on the marionette's face.

The wooden boy shook his head and palms in a desperate attempt to avoid a terrible fate: "No, no! I...I wouldn't taste well! At most, I'd make a good toothpick!"

The goblin's statement particularly vexed Lyra — the fact that he seemed so eager and willing to throw one of their own comrades to the wolves struck a nerve. Turning around, anger burning within her blue eyes, she yelled at the shaman: "Are you volunteering, you oversized cucumber?!?!"

This managed to intimidate the green spellcaster into silence, and not just solely because of how forceful her reply was. The statement helped him come to the realisation that it was he who was under threat of ending up on the chopping block. Because of this, Grobdum very quickly became much less gung-ho about the whole prospect.

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud chuckle. It came from Tzitzimitl, though it didn't come off as mocking:

"It pleases me that you are so eager to fulfill my condition. But there is no need for such arguments....yet.

You see, I enjoy a good challenge. For millennia, I have challenged the supremacy of the Sun. My incessant attacks have sometimes even caused its divine rays to fade out during the day.

It is for this reason that I would like to challenge your wits. If you can answer three of my riddles correctly, then all of you may pass. If not, then you will have to deal with the conundrum you currently face. Does that sound agreeable?"

A moment of silence passed as the companions exchanged nervous glances; none of them were truly prepared for something like this. But always an optimist, Raw Onion encouraged her comrades: "Let's do it! If we put our heads together, I'm sure we could solve anything she throws at us!"

"You're right! And it's not like we have anything to lose if we try!" Lyra chimed in.

"Looks like this will be one heck of a game show, folks!," Top Man replied, hoping to get the crowd invested enough to help them with the task at hand.

"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy..." Pinocchio stated, both anxiety and eagerness fighting for control over his being.

Meanwhile, Grobdum merely grunted under his breath. Considering the alternative, he had little choice but to play along.

Tzitzimitl grinned, her smile once again oddly genial. Once silence fell upon the hallway once more and the motley crew was listening intently, she replied:

"Excellent. Let us proceed. Here is my first riddle...

...With clothes of green,
And bark of a dog,
Search me for the goods,
I sleep like a log...

...What am I?"

Everyone began to ponder regarding a possible solution. It seemed like something that should have been easy, but nonetheless, the answer eluded them. Even the Robot Master's subscribers tried their best to help, spamming the comment section with possible suggestions.

Pinocchio sighed — he never considered himself to be much of a 'thunker', so he didn't feel like he could be of much help. His eyes drooped from sadness...and that was when it hit him. The answer to the riddle was right in front of his nose....no, it was his nose!

"T-T-T-Tree! Tree! You are a tree!" the marionette yelled out, waving his arms in the thrill of the moment. His companions gasped at his sudden and determined intervention, but the woman in red merely chuckled:

"Correct. Well done. Keep your wits about you and you'll be fine. Now, onto the second riddle...

...I am the black child of a white father,
a wingless bird, flying even to the clouds of heaven.
I give birth to tears of mourning in pupils that meet me,
even though there is no cause for grief,
and at once on my birth I am dissolved into air...

...What am I?"

Once more, a thoughtful silence overcame the group. This one was certainly harder than the last. Once again, the denizens of the Dataverse tried their best to help...but Top Man was no longer paying attention to his live feed. At this point, it was getting spammed so hard as to make trying to gleam any information out of it useless. Even after all this time, the robo-blogger continued to be amazed at the ability of fleshies to produce so much rubbish in such a short amount of time.

Raw Onion thought hard about what the solution could be. Initially, she thought the answer might have been 'onion', but she was quite certain no one would consider that a 'flightless bird'. She took a deep breath. The heavy air that pervaded the hallway wasn't helping their efforts. The smoke coming from the dozen or so torches only exasperated the issue, irritating her eyes and nostrils....and that's when it hit her.

"Smoke! You're smoke!" the pegasus confidently stated. Whereas her companions were flabbergasted by yet another sudden outburst, the white-haired entity chuckled once again:

"Very good. I see that some of you have good heads on your shoulders. You are almost there. Now, for your final riddle..."