Just as hope was dwindling, a light was turned on, filling the black realm with radiance. I was back at exactly the same place where I had been previously. Fono was there a few meters away.

“Well, that was a wait,” Fono yawned, as he cracked his joints and stretched his stone arms. Had he been waiting too?

“Where’s Pook?” I said, looking around, for there was no sign of the overweight oddity.

“Pook is everywhere really,” Fono said. “We are in Pook.”

The next moment a blue screen materialized in the space in front of me. It was exactly like one of those notifications that the game world sent me, with the glaring exception this one was not inside me, rather it existed entirely outside.

It seems your chances are low of defeating the stone giant and your doom is certain. However, there is a way out for you. If only you help the stone giant to find the soul of his son then he shall forgive you for coming to kill him and you will complete the quest.

Do you accept this?

Yes/No

“Yes,” I said. In response, the first message was wiped away and a second note replaced it.

You have made the wise choice. Help the stone giant find the soul of his son and win this quest!

Once again there was blackness.

“Hello?” I said.

“Yeah, I am here,” Fono’s voice replied. “Pook is really testing my patience.”

For some time Fono and I were alone, and then a light approached us. Pook.

“Please follow me,” he said on reaching us with an excited undertone.

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“So what do we have to do in order to find my son’s soul?” Fono asked Pook.

“Just follow me,” Pook replied.

We reached the giant portal again and Pook stepped through. So did Fono and I. However, this time, we arrived at a new place.

There was a reddish light all around us. As I absorbed the nature of the place, my heart sank into my bowels and was excreted out with a fart. Pook had really gotten a bit too creative.

The place was Hell.

There was lava flowing everywhere, vomited by volcanoes that dominated the landscape. Not far away there was a great chasm at the bottom of which a fiery river rushed. Overhead black clouds filled the sky, frequently flashing lightning. The temperature was at boiling point. Funny I did not notice that I had been sweating until all my clothes were thoroughly drenched with the saline secretion.

“Did you create all this?” Fono asked Pook.

“Do you like it?” Pook asked brightly. “I found the part of me where Bono’s soul was, and then I produced this place to make it a fascinating quest.”

Fono did not reply, but looked away with a ‘humph.’

“So what are we supposed to do here?” I asked Pook.

“Search for Bono’s soul, of course,” Pook replied.

“Right,” I said.

“And would you bother giving us a hint where it is?” Fono asked Pook gently.

“Bono is flying about the place,” Pook said. “You just have to spot him and catch him.”

Fono had reached the limits of his temper.

He lunged at Pook and began to hit him. Pook was hardly in any discomfort, despite Fono’s relentless efforts.

“What are you doing?” he asked with an awkward titter. “Let go of me!”

“Why don’t you create a quest where we have to kill you, huh?” Fono demanded, determined to hurt Pook although his blows were useless against the oddity. Pook’s body would just compress and then instantly regain its original form.

“That would be foolish,” Pook said, “How can anyone win a quest that involves killing the quest?”

Fono picked up a chunk of igneous rock and tried to ground him. Pook’s giggles loudened.

“Stop it!” he cried, “It tickles! You mustn’t forget that rock is also me!”

“Arggh!” Fono said. He surrendered and threw away the piece of rock and, sitting down beside Pook, clutched his head as one derived of all hope. I watched as the piece of granite flew towards the chasm. It barely missed hitting another rock floating in the air.

Wait a minute. A floating rock?

I peered hard. Why, it was a head!

Bono’s head.

Except his ears had grown into wings. And his eyes were unnaturally white, like someone had painted over them.

“Look there!” I said aloud. Fono and Pook turned their heads in the direction I was pointing.

“A flying head!” Fono exclaimed.

“It’s your son, Bono,” I said.

Bono was aimlessly flying over the chasm, and he didn’t seem very aware of anything.

“Hey!” Fono cried out. But it was useless. The cry probably entered one of Bono’s ears and exited through the other, never navigating to his mind.

“See?” Pook said, “Finding him was easy enough. Now you two just have to get him in order to complete the quest.”

We moved towards the chasm. Fono kept trying to get his son’s attention but Bono looked completely lost. I looked down from the edge of the chasm, and saw more magma than I had ever wished for in my life.