PUZZLE 2: THE ETERNAL STONES - ACT 3
Yaeko reluctantly loads her revolver with a pellet. She stares blankly at the gun, her face as pale as snow. Gaku and the other officers are turned away from the puzzle, keeping a lookout for any danger.
As I stand beside the detective, I'm at a loss for words. I feel her seething dread and mistrust. I can't say anything now. Can't afford to accidentally fuel her negativity.
CLICK!
She pushes the revolver's barrel into the gun and looks at Maiden, still asleep between the trees. I dread to think what she's drugged with.
Yaeko aims her gun at Maiden and I close my eyes, waiting for the pop… But nothing sounds.
I open my eyes and turn to her, and Yaeko's hand on the gun shakes. I lend out my palm. "Give it to me."
"Back off!" she barks. Her breathing becomes heavy as she continues facing forward. "She's my responsibility!"
After I pause to take in her words, I walk up behind her, look over her shoulder, and place my right palm beneath the butt of the gun to steady it.
"Dammit, Akemi," she whispers. "You'd better be right!"
Yaeko closes her eyes, looks away, and pulls the trigger.
POP!
SMACK!
The pellet hits Maiden's thigh, and she stirs. "Urgh… Hmm?"
As she moves with her eyelids shut, she slightly pulls on the ropes. Suddenly, all of the trees begin to glow red, and the mound beneath us begins to slightly rumble.
"Oh crap," Yaeko exclaims to herself. "They're sensitive!"
"Wha? What's going…?" The girl finally opens her eyes. I can only imagine the horror crossing her mind as she finds herself tied between four glowing trees, with crocodile infested waters beneath her. "Huh? ARRRRGHHHH!"
"Maiden, it's okay!" Yaeko shouts over. "Just pull the trees! You're safe!"
"Yaaaaah! Oh, no! I'm gonna be torn apart! Help! Somebody help!"
"It's alright!" Yaeko continues. "Just pull, Maiden!"
"No! No, I can't! I don't wanna die!" She scrunches up her face and freezes up. As she ceases moving, the rumbling stops, giving way to a deafening silence.
Yaeko and I watch in shock as a shaking Maiden forces herself to stay still as stone.
The detective breathes out in frustration. "Dammit. I didn't think she'd freeze up so quickly."
"We can't rely on her panicking," I state. "Her survival instinct is too strong."
I walk a little closer to the river bank. "Maiden, I need you to trust me!" She continues to quiver and grind her teeth, but I know she can't block me out. "You've been tied to the safe trees. Pull on them, then only the other ones will fall-"
"No!" she screams. "That masked woman put me here! She wants me dead!"
"The masked woman is the Angel," I calmly announce.
Maiden opens her eyes and looks at me. "Huh?"
"She put you there as she knew no-one would volunteer to solve the puzzle. No-one wants to risk being ripped apart, especially with fifty-fifty odds. She chose you as you're the most emotional one, and the one most likely to panic and pull the trees. But now you're going against the grain, and I need you to unfreeze."
She stares at me in horror, her eyes glistening as tears roll down from them.
"Maiden, I've checked everything. I am one hundred percent certain that you're not going to die. Please move. It's the only way you're ever gonna get down from there alive."
After a moment of silence, Maiden slowly looks around at the trees she's tied to. She then nods slightly to me.
"Be brave." I slightly bow my head to emphasise my seriousness. "You've got this!"
Maiden, still in shock, takes in some deep breaths, then slowly brings her arms together. The mound begins to rumble a little, in line with the low intensity of her pulling.
Yaeko and I closely observe the bottom of the trees, slightly covered by the river. They all shake the same, with no indication as to which ones will fall first. As she pulls a little harden, Maiden is shaken around by the increasing magnitude of the mound's movement. "Argh! My trees are moving too much!"
"Just keep going, Maiden!" Yaeko shouts. "Get it over with!"
"Grrrrrrrrrrr!" Maiden's face scrunches up as she pulls harder.
Suddenly, Yaeko moves her head forward. "Wh-Why are Maiden's trees moving too much?" she whispers.
"Stop looking at the trees."
Yaeko turns to me, her brow furrowed in concern.
"Answer my question, Akemi. That's an order!"
"Stay calm," I command emotionlessly. "Don't panic."
Too late! I see Maiden become horrified at the sight of Yaeko's worry, and she looks down in doubt at the roots of her own trees. "Arrrghhh! Nooooooo!"
She instantly relaxes, and once again the mound goes silent.
Yaeko faces the puzzle again.
"It's not safe. It's not safe. It's not safe," the closed eyed Maiden chants. "I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die…"
Yaeko's eyes squint in apprehension as she slowly places her fist over her mouth. "She's doing the right thing."
"What?" I exclaim.
"Every single tree is moving too much."
"Of course they are!" I snap at her. "Did you think this would be a walk in the park? She has to fight against her survival instinct!"
"No kidding, sister!" she snaps back. I'm taken aback.
An angered Yaeko then looks me deep in the eyes. "I know exactly what you're thinking, Akemi, and I don't like it."
Huh? She knows?
"Let's take five." Yaeko walks over to Gaku's jeep behind us and sits on the hood, her shoulders tense and her forehead covered in sweat. She avoids all eye contact.
I don't wanna leave Maiden up there, but I guess we can't move forward if the leader's down in the dumps.
I take a deep breath, and sit down on the grass. I can't help but watch Maiden out of concern as she remains hanging there, shaking with her eyes closed.
I'm sorry, Maiden. This is not a nightmare you can simply wake up from.
After half an hour passes, I get up to my feet, turn around, and walk up to Yaeko. I lift up my chin, and so does she. "Sister, you can't delay the inevitable."
Her eyes narrow. She jumps off the jeep, and walks up to me. "Say that… one more time," comes her beckon through gritted teeth. "I dare you."
"Yaeko, we don't have a choice-"
SLAP!
As I'm turned away, I feel a drop of blood leak from my mouth. Man, she hits hard! In the corner of my eye, I see Gaku turn his head to us.
"And I thought Asaya was messed up!" the detective judges with an icy voice.
I wipe my mouth, spit out the remaining blood, and face her. "I'll do it."
With those words, Yaeko steps back and stares at me in horror.
Gaku walks past her and goes up to me. We all look down at the rifle with a wide nozzle resting in his hands. I eye Yaeko, hoping that she'll give me the go-ahead.
She turns around, slowly walks back to the jeep, and puts her palms on the hood. She steadily breathes out. "Use the sight. Do not aim for her head."
I nod. "I'll make it quick!"
I take the gun from Gaku and jog up to the river bank. I give the rifle a once over, aim it at Maiden like a sniper, then look down the gun's sight.
Instinctively, she opens her eyes, and sees me. Her look of terror is only amplified by the red glow of the trees blanketing her face. "Huh? Sister! What are you doing?"
"Pull the trees, Maiden," I mandate.
"What? I can't!"
"Don't think about it! Just do it!"
"No, no, no! Yaeko! Yaeko, help me! She's lost it! Yaekoooo!"
I imagine the detective still has her back turned to us.
"I can't die like this! Don't leave me!"
"Forgive me, Maiden."
With my whisper, I pull the trigger and fire a ball of black glue. It flies through the air, sticks to Maiden's leg, and the charge within it unleashes a powerful electrical shock onto her body.
BZZZZZZT!
"ARRRGHHHHHHH!" Maiden's body convulses as blue electricity wraps around her. Her arms come closer together, and the trees are pulled, making the mound shake again.
As the electricity fades away, her arms begin to widen again, loosening her pull. She shakes her head. "No! Don't do this!"
I take aim again, and fire.
This time, the glue ball hits her torso, making her cough out spit before the electrical charge ignites again. I'm sorry. Didn't mean to hit you there…
BZZZZZZT!
"GRAHHHHHHHH!"
My breathing hastens as I watch the girl scream and writhe in pain, but it's working. The trees she's not tied to begin to move more than the other two.
As the second jolt of electricity runs out, Maiden flops down, hanging there motionlessly.
I lower my rifle. "Maiden!" I yell. "You're almost there! Can't you see? The trees you're tied to are the safe ones! You can do this on your own, dammit!"
She slowly lifts her head, her body twitches from the shocks. Her eyes look solemn, and two streams roll down her cheeks. She can't speak from all the pain, but I guess she's begging me to stop through other means.
A tear rolls down my cheek, too, but I quickly wipe it away. "Moooove!" I scream.
But she doesn't.
She doesn't move a damn inch.
I look away in resentment, and the few moments I wait and grind my teeth feel like an eternity. Come on, Maiden. Just PULL. Don't make me shoot you again!
My eyes slowly move back to the girl, and she just shows the same, teary face as before.
I aim my rifle at her.
Suddenly, a hand drops onto my shoulder.
"Huh?" I see Yaeko standing beside me, her shoulders hunched over. She uses her other hand to slightly lower my gun.
"Stop aiming at her body," she quietly commands while facing the ground.
I quietly nod, and Yaeko drops both her hands. I look down the sight again, and pull the trigger.
This time, Maiden makes no sound at all. The electricity from the ball on her leg simply zaps her body, making her contract and pull the trees against her will.
The mound's rumble becomes violent, and the South and North trees finally unroot. They creak and groan, before breaking free of the mound and toppling over.
SPLASH! SPLASH!
I pull off the sight from my rifle, and toss the gun aside. I can't stand to hold that thing a moment longer! I look through the sight like a telescope, and focus on the girl. Maiden is now unconscious, but is still twitching and breathing. "She's alive."
"She'd better be," Yaeko coldly hopes. She turns and drags her feet over to the Jeep, gets inside the back seats, and closes the door.
I drop the sight on the ground and focus on my body. This whole time, I had no idea my heart was racing fast and my body was sweating as if I was in the desert.
I sit down cross legged on the grass, close my eyes, and meditate to calm myself down.
I hope this is the last time I ever have to do something this grotesque.
⧗⧗⧗
After the river goes down, a helicopter transports myself, Kaisen, Gaku and Yaeko over to the mound. Gaku climbs the West tree, and starts to cut Maiden down. I lie down on the mound at the end, and dip my head over its edge.
I observe the open cavern beneath me. The clay walls are all understandably wet and dripping, and an object rests in the centre.
"A brass coffin, perhaps?" I have no idea how the Professor guessed that correctly.
"Yeah," I respond. "It's safe, right?"
"Of course. Go right ahead, Miss Akemi!"
I carefully move my body over the edge, legs first, and swing myself into the cavern.
I gently run my thumb over the round bezel on my watch, and it emits a small flame, lighting up the area. I cautiously trudge through the mud, and towards the brass coffin. "There should be a part of a Pomander watch, right?" I shout up to Kaisen.
"Look around the coffin, Miss Tsunagi," comes his voice. "It may be buried in the mud, I'm afraid!"
I look closely at the side of the coffin. "What the?"
A golden half circle of metal sheet is attached there, with large Roman numerals engraved onto them. "An outer ring?"
I move to the other side of the grave, and see another half of an outer ring at that side, too, this time with different Roman numerals on them.
I drop to my knees, and start digging through the mud beneath the side of the brass coffin. Dirt spreads across my clothes and sprays all over my face, but I don't care.
Eventually, I dig enough to see that the brass coffin is being elevated up by two halves of a Pomander's large outer ring welded to each side, like a cart with two half wheels.
I wipe the sweat and dirt from my brow, and get up to my feet.
"I've found it!" I shout up. "This wasn't in vain!"
I hope Maiden heard that, but….
I highly doubt it.
