The figure before them was thin and tall. He wore a white dress shirt with a black vest over it and a bow tie. He also had on black, striped slacks and shiny shoes. He had brown hair that stuck up in the front and a pencil-thin mustache.

He bowed before the pair and said, “it’s nice to meet you, finally. My name is Bahruna.”

Pluto’s eyes went wide as he recognized the voice.

“You’re the voice from the stone,” he recalled.

“Yes, that was I. Who might you be?”

“My name is Pluto and this is my friend, Xera.”

“How were you able to communicate with Pluto?” Xera asked hastily.

“My consciousness is inside the stone; as you can see I am not corporeal. I awoke not too long ago. The closer we came to the temple, there more I was able to get through to you. I wasn’t able to say much, but I wanted to make sure you made it to the temple. My question is: how did you come by the stone in the first place?”

Pluto and Xera told Bahruna the story of the journey they had been on so far, each passing to the other when the gaps needed to be filled in.

Bahruna was listening with a concerned face. He was silent after the story ended, lost in thought.

“So, this cult is trying to bring Cheron back? That is a very unfortunate circumstance. It would take the power of all the stones to do so; that’s why they are hunting them. If Nevus was able to return, then I should be able to do the same.”

“Is there something we could do to help?” Pluto asked.

“It seems that something from her past was able to let her regain her physical form. I think something would work the same for me and the others as well. I think a musical performance from the Faithful would do the trick.”

“The Faithful?” Xera asked.

“The Faithful are the ones you saw outside the temple. They devoted their lives to playing music in honor of the Song. There were those that were opposed the Faithful and one day they stole one of their instruments and placed a curse on this land. The great river dried up and the Faithful were turned to stone.”

“That’s awful! What can we do?”

“You will need to travel to the village of Neso and find the descendants of the ones that cursed the Faithful and figure out how to reverse the curse. The girls the tricked Xera in the sand are part of Neso’s denizens. The whole lot of them are deceivers, so you must be on your guard. I wish I could help you further, but I am bound to the stone until I can be restored.”

Bahruna gave Pluto and Xera directions to get to Neso. He used the little bit of magic he had and filled Xera’s canteen and then they left the temple. Knowing the true origins of the statues outside, they passed by them with solemn looks. They made their way over the dunes and crossed the sands. It wasn’t long before they saw buildings on the horizon.

The village of Neso was flat; no dunes surrounded it. It was made of seven square buildings made of sand and clay. Each one was uniform and connected together. They had two square windows, with bars, above a rounded door. At the center of the conglomeration of houses, there was a building, made of the same materials, but taller and had a rounded roof.

As they neared the town, they both heard familiar giggling. Four girls with pink hair and bows stood in a circle just outside town. The duo noticed the girls looked more ghastly than they did on their previous encounter.

“You’ve come to play with us again,” the girls said, eerily in unison.

“Not a chance,“ Xera said coolly.

“What have you come for?” One of the girls giggled.

“We’ve come to see your leader.”

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“Nereid? He is not available.” Another one of the girls laughed.

“You’re ghosts bound to this village. How could he not be available?”

“Why should we tell you? It’s more fun if you play the game.”

The girls floated away in different directions.

“Looks like we aren’t going to get any easy answers from them,” Pluto remarked.

“Let’s just see what we can find,” she huffed.

They wandered through town as they saw the ghost citizens floating around. Most of them paid no attention to the pair. When Pluto and Xera would try to approach someone they would float off into one of the square homes. Almost without fail one of the girls would appear from the home and giggle then disappear.

Pluto and Xera were standing center of the village, feeling frustrated when Pluto noticed something unusual about the ghosts’ movement patterns. It seemed that they wandering all parts of the village, except for the domed building at the center. Pluto told Xera about the pattern and they decided to investigate.

When they arrived at the domed building they felt an ache in the pit of their stomachs; like they were going to be sick. The giggling girls appeared on the edges of the building and mocked them with sickly smiles. When Pluto reached the door, he put his hand over his nose. There was a vile smell coming from inside and he had to clench his teeth to keep from vomiting.

The pair opened the door and were met with a wall of stench. They reluctantly stepped through and were met by long black and green tendrils that covered the walls and ceilings. The pair took out their weapons, but the tendrils reached down, grabbed them, and left them hanging above their heads.

“Well, that’s just great,” Xera grumbled.

The tendrils went on the offensive. It jabbed at them as they tried to dodge them. One hit Pluto in the arm and cut him down to the flesh. Another tendril came down and jabbed at Xera. She was spun around to avoid getting cut, but it did slice her bag, causing her canteen to fall, break, and spill her water.

The water caused the tendril to reel back as though it was in pain. She picked up the canteen and saw some water remaining She dipped her hand in the crack and flicked more water at the tendrils. The process went on as the tendrils shrank and shrank, moving from room to room, until the pair made it to the epicenter of the problem; a black mass of gooey substance originating from the back of a skeleton.

The skeleton was leaning against the wall. In its hands was a long object coated in dust. Pluto reached out to touch it when a ghostly figure appeared before him.

“Back off, water-bearer!” The figure yelled.

The figure wore a long poncho and had an elaborate feather headdress. Standing before the pair, with the skeleton visible through the image, it was clear that this was once the chief of the village.

“Is that the instrument taken from the Faithful?” Xera asked.

“Why should that concern you? If you are in league with the Faithful, you are no ally of Neso.”

“What is your problem!?” She spat. “You are bound by a curse. Your people are stuck in this place and all you care about is some silly rivalry?” A tear formed in her eye. “You have an obligation to take care of them!”

Fury flashed in the ghost chief’s eyes. Without warning, one of the black tendrils whipped from behind the skeleton and flew at Xera. Pluto was too slow to do anything about it. The tendril struck her across the face and knocked her to the ground. Pluto bent down to check on her.

Still breathing, he thought.

The tendrils encircled them. The chief was panting heavily.

“Please,” Pluto begged. “Xera lost her father. I have lost my home and family. I have nothing left. You, you have your people. Haven’t they suffered enough? Haven’t they been tied to this world for too long? Please, think about it.”

Pluto's words hung in the air. The chief froze, mulling over the pleas of the strange, scared boy. Something long dead in him began to come to life, like water for thirsty bones.

He broke the silence saying mournfully, "Maybe I have clung to this world too long."

He sighed. The tendrils began to shrink as the chief picked up the instrument from the skeleton and placed it into the boy's hands.

"Make things right," he said. "I release the Faithful from my curse."

The black rot fell from the skeleton. The tendrils shriveled up until the mass became a black mark on the ground. The chief looked relieved as his ghostly form shimmered and then blew away. Pluto could hear the girl's giggling until they faded away as well.

He shook his fallen friend until she came back to consciousness.

"What happened?"

"The chief gave up the instrument and lifted the curse; the people are free now."

He helped her up and they went to retrieve their weapons. They left the building and made their way out of town and back to Bahruna's temple.