Fono the stone giant drove his refrigerator-sized granite fist at me in a powerful blow.

I was quick enough–or perhaps overcome with emotion for his son, Fono was slow–I leapt out of the way. The wind generated by his action was so great that I was thrown off my feet.

“No,” I cried out, as I gathered myself, my shoulder throbbing. “This is stupid. I am sure there is another way out of this. We must think it through.”

“Pook is an idiot,” Fono said, approaching me with a heavy gait. “And we must do as he initially planned.”

“He’s right!” Pook said. He probably didn’t mean the idiot part. “Just fight him. Win the rewards and get out of this quest!”

“But—” I couldn’t say any further. Fono grabbed my leg, raised me and slammed me down.

I cried out in pain, as I observed my dropping health levels. My shoulder blazed in pain.

And then I thought of something which tripled the pain mentally. Roxy and Killerguy. I should have checked their corpses for health vials. How could I be so stupid! I deserved this beating.

Fono raised his arms, ready to squash me. In a feeble voice I spoke:

“If you kill me, the quest will be lost.”

“What?” Fono said, halting mid-action.

“Can’t you see?” I said, “I am the one who needs to win the quest. If you beat me up and I die, then the quest will be lost. Pook promised me that he would fix Bono after I complete the quest. I don’t think he said anything about fixing him if I failed.”

Fono turned to Pook.

“Speak,” he ordered.

“Um,” Pook said, “I did mean to fix Bono regardless of whoever won the quest… but—”

“But?” Fono asked Pook with daggers in his eyes.

“I think that while offering him the quest, I-I forgot to include that. Only if he wins Bono will be joined back.”

“So, if I kill him, that won’t do anything to fix my son?”

Pook shook his head fearfully.

“No,” he said.

Fono let out a great grunt and began to pace around in circles. Then he stopped and sat down with his legs crossed like the sage.

“You,” he said to me, “attack and kill me.”

“I don’t think I can kill you even if I wasn’t on the verge of death,” I said in a faint voice. My body was in aches and my health was steadily declining. Unless I received medical attention–or a lovely health vial–I was bound to die. It was just a matter of time.

For some moments all of us were quiet.

Pook looked really guilty, as though he had come face to face with the fact that his quest was lame, and suffered from a poor and confusing design.

My pain subsided just a little after a few minutes’ rest. If I ever got out, the first thing I would do is search the corpses for health vials.

I sat up, taking slow painful breaths. An idea drifted to my head.

“Pook,” I said to the oddity, “Can you make a new quest? I know that you can’t fix this one, but maybe you can create a quest that is an extension of this quest? Is that possible?”

“An extension of this quest?” Pook repeated. A long pause followed. “Maybe.”

“Huh?” Fono said. “It’s possible? All this can be fixed after all?”

“But a quest requires an obstacle,” Pook said. “You were the obstacle in this quest, Fono; and the acceptor of this quest was required to kill you in order to complete it. Is there any other obstacle that I can create a new quest around?” Pook pondered, scratching his plain and hairless pate.

“Hey,” I said to Pook, “Where is Bono?”

“I do not understand you,” Pook said in his child-like manner. “You smashed his head.”

“Yes,” I said, “I smashed his head. But I did not kill him, did I? Bono has got to be somewhere. It’s impossible for him not to be anywhere! Why don’t you create a quest around finding Bono?”

“Are you… talking about the soul of my son?” Fono asked, wincing lightly as though speaking about the topic unsettled him.

“Exactly,” I said, fresh hope tingling my nerves. “Bono’s soul. I need to find Bono’s soul in order to complete the quest. Would that work?” I asked Pook.

Pook rubbed whatever little chin he had.

“Bono’s soul,” he said. “Let me see if he is in me, because there is nowhere else he could be.”

Pook sat down quietly and meditated. A minute passed. Then two. Fono and I beheld him in silence. Finally it was a good ten minutes later that he revived.

“Yes,” he said, “Indeed, I am the one that is harboring Bono’s soul. Funny that I did not realize till now. But I can create a quest involving his soul after all.”

“Do it!” I said.

“Just don’t mess it up like the current quest,” Fono cautioned, his lack of faith in the incompetent oddity crystal clear.

“But I am not sure how I must start this second quest,” Pook said, “How should I develop it as an extension of this quest? Why don’t you tell me?” Pook was speaking to me, “You are knowledgeable on these matters, more so than me.” Pook was not being sarcastic. It was like a child was asking his parents to repair a toy he had broken.

“Um,” I said, finding it odd that I had suddenly stepped up to become a quest maker, “Why don’t you give the second quest to me as an alternative to fighting Fono? Does that make any sense?”

“I think I am getting it,” Pook replied. There was an underlying excitement in his voice, like it was a learning experience for him. Pook seemed to be absorbing my words like some crash course in quest creation.

“Good,” I said. “Well, I have told you where you can insert the alternative quest into the framework of the current quest, but now I wonder how exactly we should include Bono’s soul in this. Where should we go to find his soul? I know he’s in you, but–”

“Do not worry about it,” Pook said. He had been struck by a sudden bolt of imagination, “This is going to be fun. Just wait and watch!”

“Oh boy! I don’t have a good feeling about this—” Fono’s pessimistic voice was cut short as I suddenly found myself back in the dark void.

“Hello?” I asked aloud. “Are you two there? Pook? Fono?”

Silence.

There was nothing to do.

So I waited. Was Pook creating the alternate quest? How long would it take him? Perhaps an hour passed, and I remained in the black realm.

Anxiety bit me. Pook seemed a tad mentally retarded (I wondered if he had a brain in the first place), and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he got so lost in creating the second quest that he completely forgot about me.