A Diplomatic Solution

[Cassius Droma]

As they continued down the hallway, Cassius could feel his breathing start to calm. He was getting acclimated to the environment now, but his hand still fiercely gripped his lightsaber. It was a foolish notion, he knew, since whatever these things were, they were more than likely not corporeal beings that could be affected by a lightsaber. Regardless, it was something to hold, so he did.

Entering the large chamber, Cassius peered around, his curious eyes scanning the whole room. The five tunnels each branched off in their own way… four chances to go down the wrong path, only one chance to go down the right one. He focused on the man pacing before them, not seeming to pay them any mind as they approached.

Gianna asked for assistance, and the man moved rather suddenly, prompting an instinctive response from Cassius. His arm shot out in a protective way over Gianna’s chest. Once he saw that the man could move no closer, his arm dropped back to his side. From the flames, the phrase they had heard over and over again was repeated once more.

His red-haired compatriot observed that the man couldn’t move past the circle on the floor, and Cassius nodded. Something told him that they wouldn’t be able to leave this room without solving his riddle, though. Part of him felt the need to pace around the circle in order to keep his blood flowing – he thought more clearly sometimes when he did that. He stood rooted next to Gianna though, not sure what would happen if he ventured too far from her or the circle.

‘Iron roof, glass walls, burns and burns, and never falls’… Cassius rolled the phrase over and over in his head as Gianna asked him if he had any idea what it could be. A list of possibilities had entered his head while they were walking here and it was the only thing they could hear. Furnace, hyperdrive, engine… none of those really had glass, though.

It had to do with fire, Cassius knew that much. This was the Fire totem, had to be. Yet, fire was so archaic – who even used it anymore for anything, other than destruction? This place is archaic, he had to remind himself. And ancient. Fire was an integral part of life, before sustainable energy sources were discovered and harnessed. In his mind’s eye, he tried to visualize the riddle. Iron roof, glass walls, burns and burns… fire, inside of a structure with glass walls and an iron roof. Glass… iron… fire…

Then it hit him. What would you use, in ancient times, to navigate a place such as this?

“A lantern,” Cassius spoke. “It’s a lantern.”

He kept close to Gianna, ready to act in case he gave the wrong answer.

[member="Gianna Aegis"]

 

[Gianna Aegis]

Gianna stared at Cassius for a moment, his arm extended protectively, and she couldn’t help the tight-lipped smile that fluttered briefly across her lips. He had good instincts. Were it not for the barrier that kept the specter in place she wasn’t certain what would have happened. It moved fast, almost like the statues from before, but not quite as subtle. It didn’t care if they were looking or not.

Silence reigned. Her Padawan friend felt anxious. Unsettled. It was understandable. They’d walked through a portal to a realm unknown and the only guidance they had came from a ghost. She silently ran through the list of answers that popped into her head. Something low and uneasy remained in the pit of her stomach and she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that she was wrong. Cassius spoke up a few moments later and for a brief moment, she tensed.

The fire that licked the inside of the apparition’s dark hood flared and for a split second Gianna thought they’d been wrong. This creature gave off no emotion. No indication other than listless monotony. If it had once been human, or something close, it had clearly been removed from reality for far too long. The totem was broken, stuck, and trapped on repeat. “Follow the flame.”

“The flame?”, Gianna asked, only to feel warmth at her back, and she turned around fully to see a small line of fire run toward the furthest tunnel on the left. It hadn’t been there seconds prior. Swallowing her hesitation that crimson-haired woman murmured a soft thank you, more out of distraction that politeness, before turning to walk along the line. It was definitely hot so she didn’t dare get too close. “All right. Let’s go.”

So far they had no reason to doubt that this wouldn’t lead to a way out but she remembered what the Light had told them. That the totems could be difficult. Sometimes they lied. She hoped that the fire totem had been telling the truth. If he wasn’t there were four other tunnels to try.

Thankfully, it seemed to be relatively safe, and the pair were able to move on. This walk seemed shorter than some of the others. Much like the chamber they found the fire totem in they found themselves entering a new area. This one contained a small lake. Or at least, it looked like a lake. Dancing above the water was a pale sprite that seemed to simply enjoy spinning. It almost made Gia dizzy to look at her. Once again, she approached, adjusting the straps of her pack. It was starting to get heavy. “We would like to pass through. Can you tell us the way?”

“No.”

Gianna rose a brow at the quick and childish reply. She stepped closer. There was something in the water. The Jedi sucked in a small breath when she realized it was a skeleton. More than one.

“This water is not for drinking. I keep telling them. They keep drinking it. No one ever listens to me.”

She could see that. For some reason just the scent of what appeared to be freshwater made her feel thirsty. As of her throat had suddenly been filled with sand. She averted her eyes and instead looked toward the adjacent wall. It looked like there should have been at least five tunnels that lead the way out but they were all blocked off. Solid stone or filled with permacrete. She could still see the archways where the doorways used to be.

Gianna’s brow furrowed as she observed the shimmering, almost playful, spirit. It was macabre when noted that the little girl was most definitely dancing on a sea of bones. “If you tell us how to leave—we’ll listen. We don’t want the water.”

“Yes, you do. If you wish to go through you must. The answer will become clear—given time. It loves to fall but it can’t climb.”

If she were anyone else she might have groaned out loud. Another puzzle? Jade eyes flickered across the lake, seeing lights in the bottom, but the nearly bleached bones kept her at a healthy distance. Had all the totems in this place gone insane? Cassius had discovered the answer to the last pathway, but again Gianna found herself at a loss. Part of her just wanted to try her luck with a kinetic blast. If she could make a hole large enough in each section they could get through. But, they still, wouldn’t know which way was which.

She closed her eyes for a moment before turning her focus back on the spirit. “What loves to fall?”

The specter didn’t respond. Instead, she only looked down at the water.

[member="Cassius Droma"]

 

[Cassius Droma]

He had been right, thankfully. As the new line of fire spread towards the hopefully correct tunnel, Cassius reached his hand out towards it. It was certainly real fire. Cautiously, Cassius walked beside Gianna as they made their way through. While the answer had probably been correct, Cassius remained on alert, in case there was anything else that would jump out at them and cause them harm.

Cassius could almost hear and smell the water before they had reached the new chamber. The refracted light from the water danced across their faces as they drew nearer. Indeed, there was a host of skeletons and bones littered throughout the small lake, from different species across time. How had they all died?

The new totem explained that the water was not for drinking, and Cassius suddenly became aware of his own thirst. His tongue felt dry, and he’d realized that they had been walking for so long, and Cassius couldn’t even remember the last time he had anything to drink. He stared at the still water below them, perhaps the only thing preventing him from dipping his hand in and taking a sip being the stack of bones.

He knelt down, inspecting the bodies under the water. Had they all died from drinking the water? Perhaps it was infused with some sort of poison. Yet, the bodies had all ended up here. They hadn’t seen any humanoid remains prior to this room, so if the poison took some time to take effect, no one had tried to turn back. Either the effect was instantaneous and they had fallen into the water and died, or… they had been moved into the water.

Another riddle, and Cassius nearly sighed in exasperation. What was the point of all of this? To somehow prove they were worthy? Worthy of what? Was there some sort of grand prize at the end of this macabre maze? Just like before, the anthropologist in Cassius began to dissect the being’s words. If they wished to go through, they must want the water… Cassius was certainly thirsty, so that had to count. Gianna probably was too, if her dry breaths were anything to go by.

‘It loves to fall but cannot climb’. It rang inside of Cassius’s head, just like before.

“Lots of things can fall but don’t climb, if gravity is involved…” Cassius said, trying to bounce ideas off of the more experienced Jedi. “That could be an answer – gravity… but that doesn’t make much sense…” he trailed off as he thought more. “Could it be as simple as just water, like a waterfall? If we’re supposed to want the water, we’re supposed to be thirsty…”

He looked to Gianna. He didn’t have a clue.

[member="Gianna Aegis"]

 

[Gianna Aegis]

The crimson-haired Jedi Knight unhooked the harness that held her backpack on and dropped it to the stone floor with a solid thud. It was not with frustration, but, with a desperate need to breathe. The weight on her shoulders combined with the fact that they’d been walking for what felt like forever was starting to give her a small tension headache. Gia needed to think. Clearly. This new chamber was more open than the last and the spirit that inhabited it was far less threatening but no less confusing. She didn’t understand. Silently, she stepped forward and began to make her way around the edge of the indoor lake.

Her pale fingers moved in the air, almost delicate, as she held her right palm toward the water. She was trying to see what happened to the poor souls that had lost their lives long before their arrival. The sound of Cassius speaking was a gentle lull. A peaceful tenor. Despite her focused silence—she heard him. With the totem having gone quiet, truthfully, he was the only sound in the room aside from the faint ripple of liquid. It was good. He kept her in the present while she worked her way through phantom echoes of the past. Desperation, thirst, fear…

She dared not look too deeply into the connections of this place. Her heart was strong, her belief rooted deeply in her faith, but even she had limits that ought not be tested. Gianna saw muted flashes. Each time, a new person, ranging from explorers to those that almost looked like shamans. Some seemed near-human, while others, were anything but. In the end, the riddle left them stranded. Dehydration led them to do the very thing that the spirit wanted them against. Her hand dropped, abruptly, as she watched the grisly effect had on an organic body once ingested. “…We must never drink from this pool.”

“There’s something about it that is incredibly compelling. If you aren’t thirsty now…You will be. Soon. It’s going to get worse. If we give in…”, she trailed off, tearing jade eyes away, as if it would somehow end the appeal. “We’ll end up like the all rest.”

Gianna continued to move around the edge of the lake as she returned to what her Padawan friend had spoken previously. “Gravity…”, she murmured softly, repeating his ideas, as if it would somehow drive them home. Loves to fall. Cannot climb. Loves to fall. Waterfall. Rainfall. Gravity, generally speaking, would always pull water down. “It’s got to be the water. Something—“

She stopped. Her jaw worked slowly around words she didn’t say as her gaze narrowed faintly. Pulling back slightly she drew on the Force and threw a kinetic burst at the middle pathway. It did nothing. She didn’t even hear it make a connection. Gianna focused and increased the pressure on the permacrete that blocked their way, pushing, until she felt breathless. She stared with a certain measure of disbelief and her elegant brow furrowed.

There wasn’t even a mark. This labyrinth, for the most part, seemed ancient. Her other hand aimed at the floor and she repeated the process. It seemed to be made of similar enough material that it warranted a try. Her ears were greeted by the almost satisfying sound of the stone beneath her feet cracking. A small spider web of lines worked their way out in a spiral before she stopped. “It is the water. We can’t drink it—but we need it.”

Again, she turned back to the lake. The totem was just watching. Waiting.

Gianna drew water from the pool using the Force. Just as she had thrown her power at the doorway, and the floor, she used it again. In the dim, glimmering light, it was almost beautiful as she siphoned it into swirling cascades that formed three separate globes. Momentarily, they hung heavily in the air, before she turned to smile gently at Cassius. “You were mostly right.”

The orbs moved without warning and slammed into each one of the three blocked doorways. The permacrete that blocked their way seemed to melt, turning to sand, as the barriers fell away. It revealed not only the way through, but, it showed that there was really only one tunnel. It had simply been made to look like there were more.

The slender woman backed up as few paces so that she could pick up her rucksack. Although the riddle seemed to be solved, she was still incredibly thirsty, and the water in the middle of the chamber still looked like salvation. Figuring out the way did not end that curse. Hurriedly, she moved ahead, taking Cassius by the hand to pull him along. She didn’t want to stay anywhere near the death-lake any longer than she had to.

“We can do this. We’re halfway there. Just…Don’t look back.”

If he did, she might follow suit, and Gianna didn’t want to test their resolve.

When the scent of freshwater no longer lingered in her nostrils she slowed her pace. The walls of the singular hallway were all the same, unmarked, and nondescript. Realizing that she was still almost pulling the young man along by the hand she released him with an almost sheepish expression. Gianna hadn’t meant to overreact, or, to tear his arm off—but her instincts told her to get as far away from the last totem as they could. She trusted them. “We should probably stop for a little bit. Take a break. I have no idea how long we’ve been here but we’ll operate better if we have a breather.”

She didn’t necessarily like the idea of stopping, but, Gia also knew the value of not overtaxing themselves. They would need all the strength they could muster.

[member="Cassius Droma"]​

 

[Cassius Droma]

Cassius was still knelt by the water as Gia reinforced the notion to never drink from it He nodded as he looked up at her, the slightest hint of concern on his face. Had she tried to reach back through the current of time to view what had happened to these people? As psychometry was one of the few Force abilities Cassius was well-versed in, he knew to not look in a place that was saturated with so much death and despair. As much as the information could be helpful to them, the risk of losing oneself to the dark side was too great. It was why Cassius usually spent a few days meditating and excavating a site before attempting to use deep psychometry. They didn’t have that kind of time, though.

The thirst became stronger with each passing second, with each dry breath that he breathed in. Survival was something he had some training in due to his time as a fighter pilot, but strangely enough, living without water wasn’t something he was used to. After all, Rinn was a planet covered in snow and ice… water was everywhere, as long as you could heat it up.

He stood once more as they both brainstormed as to what the solution could be to the new riddle. Water had been his suggestion, and Gianna agreed, despite the simplicity of the answer. The redheaded Jedi tried to use brute force against the passageways in an attempt to perhaps circumvent the riddle all together, but found it ineffective. Cassius opened his mouth to tell her to save her energy, but that was when she seemed to have a breakthrough.

The water wasn’t for drinking – it was their way out of the room. He watched as Gianna masterfully extracted the water out of the pool and shot it forward. The large volumes of liquid crashed against their respective targets and almost instantaneously began to melt away. “Nice work,” Cassius nodded in approval. So that was what a Jedi Knight looked like.

Cassius found himself fiercely grabbed by the hand and tugged along by Gianna. He was able to keep up due to his height and his own desire to be far away from the temptation of the water as possible. As they passed the precipice into the tunnel, Cassius tried to look at the material as much as he could. It was fascinating… it was immune to kinetic force, and yet water dissolved it. Perhaps there was a lot of salt? Either way, he didn’t have much time, as the cute woman was still dragging him.

Gianna stopped in the hallway and released him. He hadn’t minded the contact – it was almost reassuring, in a way. Cassius nodded as she suggested they rest for a moment, leaning against the wall and sliding down it to sit on the floor. Gianna had just used a great deal of the Force… that was always taxing. “You’re right,” he said. “Although… I hope there isn’t some sort of mechanism to keep us from regaining too much strength… it could all be part of the test.”

With his arm resting on his knee, Cassius looked up and down the hallway, trying to keep his breath steady. “So… what do you think is at the end of all of this?” he asked. “With all of these trials, it must be something important to the people that built this place. A precious artifact, enlightenment… or maybe this is some sort of initiation ritual. The worthy attain some sort of status among the tribe.” Cassius was just theorizing out loud, but it helped keep his mind off of the fact that he was so thirsty. “It seems… almost too deadly for a rite of passage into manhood or womanhood... with all of the dead bodies back there,” he nodded back down from where they came.

[member="Gianna Aegis"]

 

[Gianna Aegis]

Gianna stood a few minutes longer than Cassius before moving to take off her pack again. Her hands felt a little unsteady, but, it wasn’t from the weight of her supplies. The ginger Jedi would never let on that reaching into the well of despair within the last chamber for a clue had shaken her. It was a cold feeling. A cold so bitter, so frigid, that it had burned through and through. Quietly, she let her slender frame drop down as she enfolded on herself like a flower blooming in reverse.

For a human, she was very much so reminiscent of a pixie-esque creature. Flitting here and there, full of energy, light, and spirit. Her heart was so large that it could be felt even by those that weren’t attuned to the Force. It was with that in mind, with a sudden well of regret, that jade eyes would follow the amber strips of light within the walls versus looking at the Padawan at her side. Gianna had made a mistake. She’d been curious, brash, and hadn’t fully anticipated the consequences of going down deep inside the ruins that had thus far ejected every other party completely. It was one thing to place her own life on the line—but another entirely to needlessly endanger a Padawan.

Cassius shouldn’t be here.

Gianna drew her knees up to her chest and rest her forehead against them for a moment while she breathed. Her throat was still dry. Everything in her wanted to turn around and go back to the indoor lake, despite the danger, despite the fact that it was full of bones and decay. Reaching out for her rucksack she began to sort through it carefully while the dark-haired man spoke. Finally, finding a couple of small bota’s filled with clean water she tugged them free and handed one to Cassius. “Hydrate—but ration carefully. We might be here awhile.”

She also hoped that there wasn’t some sort of curse that would prevent them from regaining strength or recovering—but for now, it was best not to think about it. They could only handle so many curve balls at the same time. The riddles were getting simultaneously strange and more dangerous with each test. The first hadn’t seemed terrible, but the second held a real threat. If they hadn’t of figured it out they could have been trapped in the chamber and slowly starved to death.

Or worse. They could have succumbed to the pull of the water in the lake.

If anything was coming from either end of the hallway they would be able to see it fairly well. It was dim but not so dark that her eyes couldn’t adjust. The light was good enough to read by, however, she wouldn’t have wanted to try any needlework. The voice of the Jedi Padawan pulled her away from her silent musings. What did she think? “I’m not sure.”

She didn’t say anything as she took a slow sip of water from her own container. Gianna had an idea, however, she wasn’t entirely sure how to put it into words so that it might make sense. Often times she tended to observe in the abstract and operated on the notion that she knew only base details. It let her keep an open mind and it helped her to avoid making too many assumptions. “I don’t think the ruins and the labyrinth exist in the same space. It differs too much from the Ansionian culture we know and the technology is beyond foreign…”

‘Technology’ was a boring and mundane way of saying 'Alchemy'. If she had to bet credits on it, she would definitely say that the statues, the portals, and even some of the facets to the totems traps were alchemized. She couldn’t see or feel the being that had created it. Either they weren’t here, could mask their presence, or they were long gone. Nevertheless—she could feel something. Gianna reached for Cassius and let her hand fall over his, briefly, giving him a glimpse of her understanding. It was partial. Flawed. “If I close my eyes and look inward I can feel a current gliding along every inch of this place. It’s been in every stone. It’s in the lines of light that run along the walls and the floor. It’s been in the totems. In their actions. In their voices.”

Gianna kept Cassius buoyant. She kept her essence between himself and the energy that she described and had done so ever since they passed through the portal. From the first touch to his arm, she shielded him, just as she shielded herself. She didn’t know what it was. But, it was strong enough to sustain this folded maze in time, for who knew how many centuries, and that was warning enough. “There is something here. Sithspawn, some other creature, a spirit…I don’t know.”

She breathed and her eyes moved beneath closed lids. Searching. Her face cleared and became gentle as she released him and the Force settled within her. Her expression was comforting, despite the unknown,

“But…Just because I can’t see the monster in the ocean—doesn’t mean I can’t see the waves it makes. It is here. We will find it.”

That wasn’t the only piece of the puzzle they were missing. There was a distinct lack of aggression. There was power, however, she couldn’t feel the taint of the darkside as easily as she should have. It was there. Something, was there. The intent was simply buried in obscurity. “Sometimes I feel as if the totem challenges are firewalls. It’s a closure designed to seal us, or anyone else inside, just like cauterizing a wound. It’s almost as if we didn’t have the right access key when we crossed over and we’ve been locked out. Left in quarantine.”

“The maze itself doesn’t feel aggressive. It…”, she paused, trying to put it into perspective, knowing how strange it all sounded,“…Doesn’t feel…It doesn’t care. We’re no different than ants crawling along the streets of Theed as far as these totems are concerned. It’s the boot. We’re the ants. We just need to play our part and avoid getting stepped on.”

Then, they could deal with the real issue. The real threat. The creator was the problem—not the creation.

[member="Cassius Droma"]​

 

[Cassius Droma]

Cassius graciously took the waterskin and nodded, letting her know that he would be careful. Salvaging water might not have been built into his survival training, but he knew that when you tried to rehydrate, you took small sips rather than big gulps. Unlatching the seal, he lifted it and took a sip, pressing his lips tighter together than normal so that he wouldn’t take in more than he was supposed to. Because of this, a small amount dribbled out onto his cheek. He brushed his shoulder against his face to get rid of it.

He began postulating to pass the time, and Gianna offered her own suggestions. “Oh, I’m sure we could be halfway across the galaxy. There’s no telling with that portal we crossed on our way in here.” Her hand clasped over his, and through that physical contact, she was able to show him a little bit of what she perceived. It was strange, being so close to someone so strong in the Force, whereas his presence in it was waning. Gianna would probably feel as though his connections were caked in mud and tough to flow through, rather than other Jedi would be un-muddled.

“Perhaps like a current… maybe more like veins,” Cassius spoke. This went back to a theory he had previously, before they had to go through the totems. “Some ancient Sith temples had similar construction – glowing energy that flowed through the building like it was alive. I wouldn’t be surprised if it could feel everything we were doing right now…”

Gianna continued on with her theory, and the perhaps darker one that this was meant to trap them in the first place. Cassius drank another sip of water as she explained, and the young archaeologist’s brow furrowed. “Then why not just leave us on the other side?” he asked. “Why make us go through all of these challenges, if the whole point is just to trap and kill us anyways?” He shook his head. “There is a design to all of this. The totems have been challenging different parts of us. The first was our intelligence, the next was our resolve.”

Cassius took yet another sip and gave a contented sigh as he brought the waterskin back down. “Whatever the purpose of this is… whether I’m right, or you’re right… there has to be an end to all of this.” Groaning slightly, he braced against his knee as he stood. His feet still hurt in his boots, his muscles ached, and his throat was still a little bit dry. That wouldn’t stop him, though.

“And I intend to find it,” Cassius said. He might have been a lowly Padawan, a man that was losing his connection to the Force. However, he was still an ace pilot, one that had faced hordes of enemies before. He was still an archaeologist, one that had gone into places chock full of traps and dangers, and had come out alive. Most of all, he was still a man that didn’t give up so easily.

He offered his hand out to Gianna. They’d get through this together.

[member="Gianna Aegis"]