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Oh hell no. "Oh, nasty!" Scylla almost flung herself flat back against the black statue. "Nasty, nasty, nasty!" She could picture one of those staked out under the desert sun; it would be like an earthworm stuck on a sidewalk, slowly drying. And it would reek to high heavens as the meat sizz- no. No, Jada. Don't follow that disgusting train of thought.

Shame Scylla had never seen Tremors. It might have given her some ideas.

Why had she never paid attention in biology classes to be able to try and identify something like this monster?

The carvings in the face of the obelisk were slightly wind-worn; on the side facing them, a man was depicted walking through fire.

Raite immediately moved to where Scylla pointed to, running his gloved hands over the same carving. "True." He replied to Scylla, noticing the same odd mystery, and moved to inspect it closer while Jada circled the obelisk to see if there were any more significant carvings. Both of them had to be wary, and cautious of the next time that the creature emerged.

But for now, the carving was a bit more significant. A man walking through fire? Raite was used to concise, and exact numbers and letters. What he said normally meant exactly what he had said. English, symbolism, or historic puzzles had never been up his alleyway. He left that up to Sherlock Holmes, honestly.

But one thing at a time. Undoubtably, the carving meant something. Otherwise it wouldn't have been carved. Although there was no guarantee that it was relevant to their situation. But they had to try. Fire was significant. Fire could refer to the heat of the desert. But if that was the case, then it would prove unhelpful to either of them. Raite had to move on, towards broadening his interpretation. Fire normally referred to two familiar concepts. Those concepts included hell or rebirth and purification (such as in the case of the phoenix). But in some cases, fire also referred to destruction. "Hell, Rebirth, Purification, and Destruction." Raite muttered to himself, while his fingers traced lightly over the shape of the man.

If the man was walking through fire, had he gone to the depths of hell? Normally that would be death, which Raite would assume to be referred by a more common sign of death, such as a skull. And at that point, wouldn't it have been easier to write something more direct when referring to their demise? Maybe like 'dead now'. Perhaps not. Had he saved himself by walking through fire? Perhaps, the beast's weakness was fire? "Does the fire mean savior for the man, and destruction for the beast?" He muttered outloud, brows furrowing in the process.

Or maybe he was going on the entirely wrong track here.

"John Doe." Her fingers traced bits of him that she could see in each of the carvings as she circled the obelisk carefully. "Apparently whoever he is, he's a very important man." He was on all four sides of the obelisk; that meant he was either a powerful enough man to get it erected, or- no. The man wasn't the focus. Jada scooted around the ledge again, to the side where he'd been standing atop the beast of the desert. "So the creature and his kind can be ridden? Or perhaps tamed?" her tone was curious, her thoughts whirling.

The young woman's throat was dry, her voice gravelly and growing hoarser as she spoke. Back around the obelisk she moved, carefully, though her mind was spinning with an intellectual curiosity that had nothing to do with puzzles or quizzes. "How old do you think this obelisk is?" She tried to get a look at the item in his hands in the carving where the man was... nude... and kissing his feet. It could have been an offering? A sacrifice of some sort? But on first glance it just looked like John had stolen John Two's clothes. Great.

"Where are we?" It came out an almost ragged scream, quiet, because she just didn't have the power to scream as she might have. Oh, hell. The headdress might have a clue, in the way it was made? She scampered carefully around the obelisk again. The side where he was walking through fire... the headdress? What kind of a headdress was that? if she weren't so tired, she may have skipped. Egyptian, Native American in appearance? She had oddly not paid much attention to his fashion when they had first seen it. It might be able to give, at least, an approximation of what continent they were on? There were, if she remembered, deserts on almost every continent but Europe and Antarctica. After her careful look at the headdress, she went back towards the carving with the sand worm. "Do you think he is being deified? Perhaps a clan leader? walking through fire, mastering what could be the most frightening beast in the desert?"

She glanced down at her hands, worrying about tears in the cloth that protected her hands from the sun and heat, and noticed something else that made her actually pause on her way back to the panel with the sand beast. Something dark near her feet on a platform that had previously been white marble. She paused, stopped, and backed up. "Raite!" She pointed at the small dark splotch, taking a closer look at it. Not too close a look at it. She didn't want to touch it until she knew what it was.

To her knees she went, carefully. Again, as she had when she pulled Raite up here to join her. Years of training in controlling her own body were at last coming in handy for things outside of he ballroom. She used a hand on the obelisk for additional balance.

The carvings in the obelisk at the bottom appeared to be lettering that looked like a language that, oddly, she might be able to understand catching her attention. Purple eyes looked over the words; Whatever it was that she saw there, she read aloud, for Raite's ears as well as her own. A gloved hand started out for the black rock. She'd never seen it before, but curiosity was a dangerous thing. And it was a rock. Jada hesitated before reaching out to take it in her hand, but gloved fingers eventually closed around the black chunk. How had they missed this? Or worse, where had it come from? She started to hold the small shard to the obelisk, trying to gauge if- Christ above, talking birds and monster worms were making her mad- something could have, somehow, carved the words as they walked, and this was a scrap of what was left.

No. That was a question she did not yet want answered. The thought terrified her, frankly.

On her knees, still clutching the black shard, around the narrow platform, carefully. Taking her time. She wasn't willing to risk a seven-foot tumble, even if there was sand at the obelisk base. Was there writing on any of the other sides? What might it say?

I know not how long since I have taken refuge here, for the sun does not fail nor by sleep hath God the Most High succored me, read the engraving. Its words circled the base of the obelisk. This ledge is too narrow, therefore should I sleep would I fall to the sand below, whereupon would the beast devour me even as a sweetmeat.

My water is gone. I have nothing of food.

The skin curls from my flesh like unto parchment. The heat does not abate.

I think madness is sore upon me.

May God the Most High, the Supreme, do vengeance upon my enemies and justice unto my family. And may He, who alone is all power and virtue, forgive me: I can bear no longer.

I am at my end. I think I must jump.

Forgive me.

"He committed suicide then?" Raite stared over the edge, his gray eyes showing no visible emotion in its depths. Had somebody else read the message before Raite and Scylla? Or were they the first? Had he thought it would have ever been read? In a desert like this?

There was no avoiding the fact that there had been someone here.. in the same desolate situation that they now stood in, staring at the same sight while his thoughts had turned to despair. His situation, their situation, and ultimately his demise was the reality that they had to face. "I don't know.." Raite truly had no idea, staring out at the vast desert. The harsh sun continued to shine down on them, while the sand remained unmoving. There was no options or solutions.

He watched her carve her mark on the obelisk out of the corner of his eye. For whatever reason that Scylla stopped writing, it had caused him to move towards the senshi. Raite stood up from his side of the obelisk and walked over the narrow platform. "Don't lose hope." It was probably the most encouraging comment that he had said all day. By writing a message, she would be admitting to the possibility of death. The chance that she wouldn't survive long enough to talk to someone else. His hand reached for the black stone that Scylla held, she had no reason to be alarmed, as he merely held it in his hand. "Remember what I said earlier? I don't intend to die. And neither do you."

The last words had been 'Forgive me'. Neither Raite nor Scylla could bear the burden of his life.

"We'll survive. Whatever we must do."

It had been rather sudden, but as Nelumbo continued to do her best to transport the two young men upon her, she brought Howl and Boreas up swiftly towards something that was not sand. It was a bit ironic since Howl did just state that they wouldn't come across anything but sand for a long while.

"Nelumbo... slow down as you approach." His fingers smoothed over the edge of the carpet as he glanced to his companion.

"I apparently have the most splendid timing, would you not agree, Mr. Boreas?" A smile cracked onto his dry lips as he then turned back to the obelisk that was approaching. "Let us add another piece to the puzzle."