"Wait a second!" Scout snips, rolling her eyes as she reaches forward and stops Mime Minion, who looks back with a surprised glance. "If we're going somewhere, we're all going together, alright?"
Mime Minion nods quickly, smiling as if they're just looking to find something to eat in the far-off cupboards hidden around Snack Tower: the interdimensionally-connected, miles-high tower that the Minionry uses exclusively for storing snacks.
Scout shrugs. "Okay then. Lead the way."
Explorer Minion places his hands on his hips as he paces about the murals from a different angle. "I have to concur with Navigator on this one, little mime and darling dear. I've been in many temples in my time, and I've hardly ever seen traps laid out. This is clearly a holy structure built with function in mind," he explains with a grin before clearing his throat and continuing. "I'm certain that to the left is where they dump all the bodies of non-believers, and we probably won't find anything of value there. And if we're wrong, we'll just turn around again. Simple stuff, hmm? They don't call me Explorer Minion for nothing. After all, I'm a bit of a 'known quantity' at this sort of thing, you see."
Scout Minion has to work overtime to bury the filthiness of her expression as she tries very hard not to say something extremely rude.
"And, of course," Explorer Minion continues, "I am the lead of this little expedition. I'd be sure to let the taskmasters know if you were less than cooperative," he says, looking over to Navigator Minion who, while averting his gaze, seems to be taking the pompous fool's side.
Scout Minion sighs, rolls her eyes again as far as she can to make clear that this is absolutely not something they may assume she's okay with, and comes to a nod. "Fine, Sir," she says with a poisoned emphasis. "Let's head along to your party."
Explorer Minion scoffs as he paces over to join the reformed marching column. "Very good, Madam. Glad to see a lady taking her stature into account. Now, let's go get our treasure!"
They head on, following the mural of the golden party. Scout is leading, looking sharp as usual. Navigator Minion holds close behind her, while Explorer Minion holds the third, his hands drawn behind his back, prudently interpreting both the environment around him, as well as Scout's attitude. He trots along with a professional smile, humming a military tune from a long-gone country.
At the very back, Mime Minion looks flatly at undecorated walls and corners with a gaze of pure, child-like fascination. He even pauses for a moment, looking very carefully at a segment of the ceiling, as if there were a door there.
He keeps pace, however, and follows the others as they reach their destination. They arrive at a grand golden room, looking not simply 'ancient', but both ancient and in perfect, pristine condition.
It feels a bit wrong to Scout, whose killer gaze becomes even sharper.
The moment they step over the threshold, it feels as though they've entered a new world. The hall is now polished to a beautiful shimmer by sudden torchlight. There's a warm, golden feeling everywhere as the hallways glow with an intoxicating mist of joyous rapture.
"Well, then," Navigator Minion mumbles as he clears his hand of the light spell.
"What's this?" Explorer Minion asks, wide-eyed and grinning antenna to antenna.
Scout's eyes narrow yet again to sharp little slits of concentration and her antennae twitch at the sounds of clinking cups and laughter just around the corner.
"Looks like it is some kind of party," Navigator Minion says, his tone half mirth, half confusion.
Explorer Minion joins his hands together in thought as he comes up with his first interpretation. "Could it be that the mana signature was not here in the structure because it was, in fact, teleported to another time?" he asks.
The others don't quite know how to respond and he gives Scout Minion a little push. "Look, everything's new… and there's life just around that corner," he says as he pulls her by the arm to go around said corner.
"Wha—what's gotten into yo—"
She stops, her thin gaze widening with awe.
Before them stands a grand dragon kin chieftain, towering mirthily over his subjects in a great feasting hall. There's much laughter and at the very center of the room is the treasure of their people and the reason for their celebration.
A skull with feathers glows an enticing blue upon a pedestal, radiating what could only be pure magical power. It's eerily similar to the various fetishes posted about the camp outside the structure. Yet the others were crude. This skull has the feathers coming straight from the bone, it is a natural part of the marrow as far as they can tell.
As the three work up the words to speak, Mime Minion continues to look just about everywhere but at the relic.
Explorer Minion's gaze widens like Scout Minion's, but he focuses only on the object on the pedestal. "That's it," he says, looking at the golden sheen of the skull, admiring the swirls of power exuding from it like a wreathing flame.
"That?" Navigator Minion asks, squinting at it as he tries to perceive just what it is he's seeing.
"That," Explorer Minion nods. "Can't you see it? Don't you have eyes? This is the thing they worship! This is the source of their power. This is their golden creator! It's distorted time and space itself. Just… just look at all that!"
Explorer Minion adjusts his hat as he points out the various golden objects across the room. Even some of the tables are gold—even some of the partiers are gold.
Scout Minion hums. "I'm getting a bit of a vibe on this one…"
She reaches for one of her dual blades, fitted handily to her back.
"Nonsense! They've invited us, you little fool!" Explorer Minion laughs as he puffs out his chest. "They've seen us as worthy, and now it's time for our reward. We've been chosen to be the next keepers of their treasure! Watch! They'll honor my bravery," he says, walking forward in a hurried march.
"You absent moron! Get back here!" Scout demands, heading up to stop him.
But Explorer Minion is already too far ahead. He reaches for the skull in the middle of the room, stumbling between the torch lights, the tables, and the partygoers. He reaches for the object.
Then, it feels as though time itself has frozen.
The chieftain looks down at them all, and how pleased he looks!
"The celebration never ends!" he roars.
The eyes of the honored skull alight with flame and look to Explorer Minion. The other three hear the shattering jolt of stone crashing into stone as what sounds like a massive slab of rock drops behind them at the exit.
They're trapped.
A whirling rush of wind approaches, leading Navigator Minion to notice just a second too late that he no longer has his light spell active. All the lights in the chamber extinguish, and the darkness remains… except for the two blue eyes of the little skull illuminating its pedestal.
Explorer Minion, his face contorting with desire, reaches for it like a swine diving for a trough. "Sir," Explorer Minion mumbles under his breath. "…Lord," he mumbles again. He almost touches it, but something appears behind them.
A much, much larger feathered skull—a dragon spirit of some kind, reminiscent of the Great Chieftain they saw at the party—looks back with ghastly empty eyes. Explorer Minion's ether-black fingers wrap around the shining skull. All lights cut out like dead fireflies and the real pandemonium begins.
Scout Minion ducks into herself, readying herself to move as she opens her senses as wide as she can to catch an uncommon attacker.
It's too little, too late, however, as what seems to be an amorphous, unstoppable spiritual presence slams her to the ground with the other minions. The force is so great that she loses her senses, sprawling out into a chaotic, crashing grayness.
It's been a long time since she's had to survive on instinct alone.
She cannot see anything for certain, and all she can hear and smell is the shattering of her form—the rich jasmine-like scent of her ether spilling out from her body. All she can feel is the white-hot pulse of pain that jolts through her the second she loses consciousness.
"Come, feast at this empty table," a voice says, one that she can no longer hear.