[img]http://i.imgur.com/2uDBgEK.png[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/8mPMSWF.png[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/QLodCtj.png[/img] [b][u]Thaum: The Tower: Group A[/u][/b] Her chest rising and falling with great, gargantuan breaths, Estelle sighed as she collapsed to her knees, the exhaustion of their run and near deaths in fighting against Gaoh and Lucifer beginning to take its toll on the swordswoman. She struggled to keep her eyes off the closed doors they had came through, not trusting that to be enough in blocking off their most dangerous enemies and keeping them safe, but against all belief there was no further struggle. No high pitched whine and roar of Gaoh’s magitech cannon, no hissing roar and slice of Lucifer’s claws and heavy beating wings. Nothing but silence. She wanted to close her eyes and smile, to breathe a heavy sigh of relief, but she knew she couldn’t. This tower was little better then the nightmare world of Thaum they had left. It filled her with an uneasy sense of impending dread. Their nightmare wasn’t over yet. But they had a chance to breathe, at least. Trixie grabbed Estelle from behind, embracing her tightly, and it helped to rejuvenate Estelle’s spirit and determination. She rose to her feet and returned the hug to the prankster, smiling in relief that Trixie was now okay enough to stand, and talk. Her question audited what they were all thinking. "Where we need to be right now," Marcus said gently. "This tower has the answers we need." Selan tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and looked up, up, up to see a long stretch of stairs. "So the source of these illusions is at the top? The sooner we see what is up there, the better." she said, getting to her feet. She took a step, and found she could walk just fine. “I believe so,” Marcus replied. “I can feel a sinister energy wafting down from above. Source or not, we should be able to find a clue to what is going on up there at least. But I feel... I feel that that is the source of everything.” “Great,” Estelle sighed, dusting herself down. “More walking. At least we don’t have to run this time.” Marcus chortled to Estelle’s moan, and another waft of emerald light filled the quintet’s body. The sense of fatigue was still there, within each of them – only Amy could help in dulling that sensation. But their bodies were lighter, and the ability to move, the exhaustion, felt lessened. Estelle smiled and thanked Marcus, as well as warned him not to overdo it. He had exerted himself greatly during their race to the tower. She knew Marcus had great reserves of magic, but he still had limits as well. “We need to find the others. Hopefully… hopefully they all got here as well, right?” Estelle said, looking to the others whilst biting her lip. She tried to erase the images of the giant skeleton and Oren from her mind with the shake of her head, but it did little good. “I can’t say for certain…” Marcus replied. “But like I said before… this tower should have the answers. The others… I would think… hope they are here too. Somewhere.” “Then perhaps we will find them,” Selan added. “At any rate, I don’t think we should waste any more time. We can walk and talk, at least. Let’s go.” The dancer began to walk towards the stairs, taking one step up, the others following behind. Trixie followed after the three, before noticing that Don wasn’t moving. He was still standing, and looking at the door they had come from, as if he hadn’t heard a word that had been said. She dashed back, and held Don’s hand, snapping him out of his thoughts and pulling him with her. Don smiled, but gave one last lingering look back towards the door, and then turning to face forwards. The stairs ascended to a double set of doors on what seemed to rest as a second floor, although there could be no way of knowing exactly how high they were, or what laid on the other side of the door. The Pride kept their guard up, and hoped they would find their friends soon. The staircase remained as dimly lit and cold as the entrance they had arrived in, and things never got any better.