Group C

The Tower was so close. Lute could faintly make out the odd rectangles ringing the entire base level; were those doors? That meant that if they bust in any one of those they would be inside, right? With that in mind Lute urged Xandra to run faster. Although he was unsteady on his feet earlier, Dylan had helped him out up until he felt that it was fine for him to run on his own, so he thanked the guilder profusely as they ran and returned to Xandra’s side in front.

“Watch out!” The spider was in front of them, the Bearon was launched in the air, and so was the Oren. Lute grit his teeth in annoyance and glanced around for an escape route, but there was none. They were caged in a narrow alley that only led a straight line to one of the ‘doors’ on the Tower. Just then something shot out and he whirled around, raising his sword at the last minute as the tendril crashed down on him. Winded and sluggish, Lute barely wasn’t able to defend himself and the impact made him fall down on his knees while the tentacle withdrew before anyone could even hack at it. A long and wide cut was now on his left cheek; yet another wound added to the many he had suffered both from the wildcat and the ceaseless running.

Once the virtuoso saw that the huge creature was charging for some sort of attack, he forced himself up and pointed at the rectangle on the far end of the alley. “Run!” Now that the door was in sight everyone seemed filled with a semblance of vigor and all of them charged towards it. “Somebody distract that spider!” Lute’s arms wouldn’t stop shaking thanks to that close brush with the heavy tendril, but somebody took the initiative to throw a brick at the bug. The block, followed by two more of its kind, flew up and hit one of its many eyes; the spider hissed and skittered backwards as the guilders ran beneath it. In the distance Oren now had a ball of energy gathering at its mouth. “Just keep running!?” Lute wheezed out as the fatigue crept up from his legs. At this rate he wouldn’t last much longer….!

Just when they were a few meters from the door Oren let go and sent its attack hurtling down towards their group. As the orb crashed down the street practically lifted up, a shower of pebbles and stone raining down upon the guilders who were but a few feet away from the landing point of the missile. The lot of them were thrown forward from the impact; Lute vaguely felt something hard stick up his back as he was hurtled towards the door.

The team rolled inside on a dark and dimly lit room, their bodies slowly skidding to a stop in different points. Some of them were fast enough to curl up in a ball to minimize the damage but the unfortunate people, like Lute, were probably sprawled face down on the floor like he was now.

Thaum: Group B

Syed had managed to create an impressive barricade against the now raging Mother Firon, and it seemed for a moment that their little group was safe- Until Aria spotted the giant skeleton looming overhead, sword once again raised and poised to strike at any moment.

The narrow alleyway provided no possible covers for the group, and the only way they could conceivably escape to was the exit of the alleyway. Aria looked up, noting with a start that that despite the many twists and turns that the alleys that Atlas had led them through, they were now closer to the tower than ever, the entrance a short sprint away from the mouth of the alley.

A quick glance showed that all of her fellow guilders were very much fatigued and weren’t going to be able to run much further- Syed was hunched over beside the brick wall of the alley still looking rather sick while everyone else, including her, were gasping for breath.

“Just a little more,” she frantically urged the group to keep moving. “we’re too close to give up now!” The skeleton rattled, sword now raised at its highest and about to slam down into the alleyway. “Hurry!”

Tower: Group A

Selan patted Don's hand, to let her down. The foot she landed badly on still hurt, but she supposed it wouldn't last much longer. They were lucky to have gotten to the tower mostly unharmed, considering Amy wasn't with them.

Part of her was angry; for needing to be saved again, by Don, and for putting everyone in danger because she couldn't handle things like this. But they were safe and out of harm's reach for now, and that was enough to assuage that anger. She quietly thanked Don, although there was no smile as she said it; the others were still not there, and certainly, the thought crossed everyone's minds as to when they would finally find the others.

They let the quiet sink in for several minutes to sit on the cold floor and catch their breath, silently hoping that the others would come bursting through the door at any moment. Trixie seemed to need the moment to herself as well, clinging to Estelle the entire time.

"Where are we?" she asked, her voice weak.

"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.

---

Tower: Group B

"Just a little more, we're too close to give up now! Hurry!

"Let's go, let's go!" Lisette screeched. She placed her bow back on her back and jumped around in place, waiting for everyone to start running again. Sweat was rolling off of Moira's face in large droplets, while Syed looked completely green in the face.

The shadow of the skeleton's giant sword loomed above them, and that was enough to spur them to start a frantic sprint out of the alley and towards the tower. Atlas had already gone, while Aria and Lisette were ahead, and finally Moira and Syed trailing behind.

A spray of dust and concrete told them that the skeleton's sword finally dropped on top of the spot they had been standing on, but they dared not look back. They all kept their eyes on the tower, getting closer and closer, despite every lung and muscle wanting to give out....

And then they opened their eyes; they were already inside.

A strange quiet cut off the sound of the collapsing alleyway completely, leaving them disoriented and wondering if they had really made it. But immediately they all to their knees or leaned against a wall, huffing and puffing for air. Moira would have been cursing if she wasn't nearly coughing up a lung.

Lisette was doubled over, breathing heavily. "Hah... Hah... Sure... would've been nice... if we had Marcus with us, huh...?" she said, laughing despite her exhaustion. Kapi hopped out from her bag and onto the ground, happy to feel something cold after being around a super angry Firon.

The Tower: Group C

As soon as the door slammed shut, they were enveloped in silence.

Xan was sprawled out on the floor, muscles aching and worried thoughts spiraling out of control. She pushed herself to her feet and slid into a defensive stance, waiting for the doors to fly off their hinges. However, the walls weren't smashed to bits and everything remained calm. The bearon's growls, the skittering of multiple feet, and Oren's own snarls were gone. The only thing that remained, was the sound of their breathing.

"They vanished..." It was almost impossible to believe. Xan closed her eyes and listened intently but all traces of their enemies were gone. She made her way towards the closest guilder, Lute and offered him a hand. "Thank you," she huffed before pulling him to his feet.

Lucien was a little farther away. The summoner was on his back, eyes screwed shut. "Are...are we in heaven yet?" He asked through gritted teeth. Slowly, propped himself onto his elbows then got to his feet. "You guys okay!" He reached down to yank the cleric up then hopped off to help Dylan. "Ugh, my back..."

Compared to the tospy-turvy world outside, the tower was relatively normal...

The first floor was completely empty thought there were several doors that lead to who knew where. The tower was much bigger inside than it was out, and when one looked up they would see a soft, neon green glow. A giant staircase led to the next floor.

"What now?" Lucien looked around, eyeing the checkered tiles. They had a lot of red on them, in fact, the walls had red smeared on them too. "Heh, I bet the people who built this place like red."

"We find the others," Xan frowned, the thought of marching headfirst into the unknown without a solid plan was frightening. "Is everyone capable of moving forward? We can't head outside...the only option is up." She waited for them to respond then began walking up the stairs, the next floor was frighteningly quiet as well.

"Soooo, we're just gonna keep climbing, yeah?" After all the craziness, they had finally been given a break.



The Tower: Group Two

"Hell, that was too close." Atlas was huffing and puffing, both hands on his knees. "Is everyone still breathing?"

He glanced at both Moira and Syed then moved on to check on Aria, Lisette, and Kapi. Everyone was alive...that was good enough for now. Something inside his coat began to shake and he looked down to see a worried Isaac, sniffing at Kapi's direction. He gave the little hedgehog a pat on the head then frowned.

What had happened to the giant wolf and skeleton and why weren't they breaking in? It was too quiet...

"Dr. Dream's office is on the top floor." He stated before glancing worriedly at the door. "We don't have time to spare, let's go." Atlas led them up the stairs and into a hallway of paintings, the painting's eyes never left them. "Is it just me or does it feel like we're being watched?" Everything felt off, but the paintings themselves did not move, only their eyes did.

The magician resisted the urge to shudder and focused his eyes on the staircase on the other side of the hall. "The lab should be on the seventh floor."

Thaum: The Tower: Group A

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.

Group C: Dylan, Amy, Lucien, Xandra, Lute

Dylan glanced up at Lucien, who was reaching down to help him. For a moment he hesitated, but then accepted the hand. “Thanks,” he said softly, slowly getting to this feet and glancing around. The room was far larger than he would have expected from the outside, and the walls were smeared with red. Coupled with the red checkered floor and the eerie neon-glow, Dylan couldn’t help but find his surroundings menacing.

"Is everyone capable of moving forward? We can't head outside...the only option is up." Xan said.

Dylan nodded at the comment, his eyes drawn to the staircase. Did the other’s make it to the Tower? Was there any way to search the ground floor?

"Soooo, we're just gonna keep climbing, yeah?"

“I suppose so,” he said, reaching into his jacket to pull out his slate and chalk. Holding them in his hands, he followed Xan up the stairs to the equal solemn second floor. There was a set of double doors in front of them, and Dylan nudged the door to find it unlocked. The slight weight of his shoulder had sent the door creaking open, revealing a large, circular room. It was mostly empty, though the walls where line with more double door-ways, spaced evenly throughout. Where did they all lead?

He stood in the doorway, too nervous to enter the room. It didn’t look trapped, hell, it was just what looked like a reception room of some sort. But there was still something eerie about this place, even without the mysterious nightmare monsters that roamed the city outside.

“Well, guys, up or through?”

The Tower: Group B
This place immediately seemed wrong.

The noise from outside was shut out completely. Absolutely nothing. Neither did the doors budge. It was like... like they had ceased to exist.

And now they were here, walking down a bending corridor on the second floor. Moira trailed a hand on the wall, partly to look nonchalant but mostly because she was just exhausted. Atlas barely gave them the time to rest, and Moira spent much of the trek up the first set of stairs still coughing and spluttering away.

Syed was hugging himself, looking quite distressed as his eyes darted from one picture to the next. His mind was flicking from one worry to the next so fast that he was struggling to concentrate on any of them. Where the others were, if they were okay or if they were still out there, what this tower was, if he could keep control, the paintings which watched them, what was waiting for them up ahead...

And then there was that horrible energy in the air, which only seemed to strengthen as they climbed higher. A good part of him screamed to get the hell away from it, whatever it was it was no good at all. But then again... he had no idea what else they could do.

He turned his eyes back on Atlas instead. Mostly so he wouldn't have to look at the pictures, which creeped the hell out of him. "How do you know all this, Atlas?" he asked, his tone gentle but manner quite clearly probing. It was as clear as day that he still regarded the Magician with suspicion. "Shouldn't we really check everywhere on the way up? I mean, there's a good chance Marcus might be here too, right?"

"...Shit," Moira grumbled. That was true, they still hadn't found him either. And as much as she was certain Marcus could handle himself better than most, quite a long period of time had elapsed by now with no sign of him. Instead of finding him, they seemed to have just lost everyone else.

She looked back to Lisette and Aria. The problem was... where would they even start? It didn't even look like there was a door in this corridor - just huge hideous creepy paintings, some of which spanned right from the floor to the ceiling. It did look like there was a second flight of stairs up ahead though. "Do... we even have time to look?"

Group C

Was he dead? For someone who was dead his back sure hurt a lot.

Lute wearily forced an eye open only to see a stretch of wall smeared with red. He half-expected the Bearon and friends to lurch inside the room as well, but none of that happened and the room remained silent. Now that they were given a moment of peace Lute’s limbs suddenly felt as heavy as lead... But then Xandra came over and helpfully pulled him up. “No problem? I didn’t do much, anyway. By the way, that’s … Dylan and that’s … Lucy, right?” He huffed and pointed at the two guilders; Lute recalled them calling each other earlier and had picked up the names. Xandra nodded and introduced herself too before their group started to climb the stairs. Xandra, Dylan, Lucien. He finally knew who these people were.

It was at this point in time that Lute, who was distracted by the bizarre scarlet goop on the checkered walls, drifted to the rear of their small team and ended up beside Amy. Not entirely noticing her presence, he mumbled to himself about the odd interior design, often inserting a wisecrack that he felt Delilah would have appreciated was she awake right now. Speaking of Delilah, she sure was taking her sweet time sleeping; Lute suddenly missed that sarcastic, slightly obnoxious voice telling him to get his shit together. The virtuoso winced and wiped his cheek. The wound he had received from the tendril earlier was getting swollen and tender. He grimaced when the thought that the tentacle might have poison or other harmful substances on it entered his mind, and Lute reached in his pockets for a handkerchief. It was then that he noticed the cleric beside him.

“Whoa- Agh!” Lute exclaimed and stepped back, eyes wide in surprise and panic. “Whew, you scared me,” He laughed after a moment before hesitantly returning to his previous place near her side. “Are you alright? No serious injuries? By the way, this is really going to sound inconvenient, but I still don’t know your name. I mean, we didn't have the chance to introduce ourselves, but I don't mind if you don't want to tell me, if you've got the mystery lady thing going, then that's fine, it's just strange for me to keep calling people by monikers in my head, I mean, I can hardly call Lucien 'blobfish murderer' in public, right? Ahaha... ha.” Lute's rambling faded to weak laughs and he sighed.

They had reached the second floor and Lute glanced into the open room with a faint feeling of anxiety welling up in his stomach. “I’ll go check it out,” He called out to Dylan, nodded respectfully at Amy, then ventured forwards. ‘Hey Dellie, I kinda need you right now?’ He thought as he snapped his fingers. No hidden traps or protruding objects from his place near the doorway, at least, but he couldn’t be sure. Delilah was the one who ‘analyzed’ the ‘findings’ and without her it was like trying to make sense of a complicated graph without an expert by your side. Lute advanced and repeated his actions, but the room was wide inside and it was hard. “Uh, I think you guys should stay there for now?”

The Tower: Group A

Selan, being the first to reach the doors, took a deep breath and reached for one of the doorknobs. She turned it slowly, but a clicking sound told her it was locked. Of course. She looked to the others. "Maybe it's stuck..." she said, trying the knob again, then the other. Still locked.

"Perhaps there's a way down from another floor," she offered. "It looks like it locks from the other side. Let's keep going up for now."

The Pride continued their ascent up the stairs, and they came to another set of doors. This time, it opened easily. "Estelle, you should go first, just to be safe."

Estelle nodded solemnly, keeping her hand on the grip of her sword. She pushed the door open and looked both ways. After a pause, she waved the others inside.

There were dozens of suits of armor on display, and large, ornate swords and helmets mounted on the walls. They were all much too large for a typical person. Other than that, there wasn't much else. It was dark, but Selan didn't think she could see another door on the other end of the hallway. But there was something odd about the feeling of the corridor.

"Marcus, can you feel it? There's a strange aura coming from somewhere in this room." Selan said, looking around.

---

The Tower: Group B

While Moira and Syed were discussing the situation with Atlas, Lisette was busy testing the "eyes" of the paintings by walking back and forth and seeing if they followed her. They certainly did, causing her to stand rigidly in the center of the hallway, quite a ways away from the rest of the group. "These are so creepy!" she whined.

Kapi trotted along next to her, sniffing constantly. He seemed to perk up next to one of the paintings (a particularly frightening portrait of an old woman), and began doing something that looked an awful lot like trying to wedge his head beneath the enormous frame.

"Kapi, don't touch anything...!" Lisette scolded. "We don't know if these are going to, like, start floating or something..."

The capybara continued to nudge against the painting, causing it to wobble, then finally pitch forward.

The conversation between the others was interrupted by Lisette's high-pitched scream as the giant painting fell towards her. Kapi merely walked a few inches out of the way, while Lisette backed up against the opposite wall. The painting hit the floor flat with a slam, just inches from her feet. A thick cloud of dust burst forth from the painting as well as the old rug that stretched down the hallway, causing Lisette to cough and cover her eyes.

When the dust finally cleared, Lisette had dust all over her face and hair. She looked for Kapi, to find him sitting in a triumphant pose. "Kapi, that was so danger-- ah! Kapi, you're a genius! Look everyone!"

Caked in dust and nearly blended into the wall, there was a door in the spot where the painting stood.

Thaum: Group B

“Eeeeeep.”

Aria had always tried her hardest to stay away from places like this. Not that she was scared, of course, not at all. It merely gave her creeps, and she edged away from the various painting on the walls, trying her hardest not to look at any of them and oh Gods above did that painting just blink? And now it was staring right at her, smile almost seeming to widen.

She edged closer to Moira, Syed and Atlas discretely, a small part of her almost preferring to be outside. The atmosphere inside the tower was unsettling, as if there were unseen things crawling and creeping around them just waiting to jump out.

“ "Do... we even have time to look?"

All Aria wanted to do was leave, but it was likely that the rest of the guilders had reached the tower as well. Before she could formulate a reply Lisette screamed, the shrill sound followed by a loud BANG!, making the illusionist jump and give an answering shriek before she looked up, hands clutching at her pounding heart at the fallen painting and hidden doorway.

"Kapi, that was so danger-- ah! Kapi, you're a genius! Look everyone!"

“H-How wonderful,” Aria meeped meekly, eyeing the set of heavy wooden double doors. There was a brass knocker in the shape of a twisted face while the protruding tongue acted as the handle. As much as she would love to open the door and see what horrors lay behind…

“Er, do any of you want the honors of opening the door? I think I’ll pass…”

The Tower: Group C

There were so many doors.

Doors with skeleton heads for knobs, doors with fancy carvings and golden frames, and doors of oak that smelled like grass and rain. Dylan asked whether they should continue moving up or through, but Xan was too busy taking it all in. How would they know which door lead to the others?

"We should pick the door with rainbows," Lucien let out a nervous chuckle, "nothing scary ever has rainbows."

Lute offered to check the area out and Lucien raised both eyebrows in question. The room was empty save for the numerous doors everywhere. "Nah, I don't think there's anything here to worry about!" He gave Lute a dopey looking grin then headed towards an old door with a rusty knob. "Heh, I bet we'll find interesting stuff inside." The summoner clapped his hands together then yanked the door open. Inside was dark and he squinted his eyes only to stare straight into bright yellow orbs. "What the heck?" There was loud growl followed by a claw sailing above his head. Lucien fell back and the lion pushed against invisible restraints, for some reason it couldn't leave the door.

"Heh! Serves you right," the summoner's frightened expression shifted into a mischievous one and he hopped to his feet. The man stuck out his tongue at the angry lion then proceeded to make silly faces.

Xan gaped at the thing, wondering how Lucien hadn't been torn to shreds yet.

"Guys, guys, look at the angry kitty! D'awww." He grinned from ear to ear, taunting the angry Lion some more, but before he could laugh at it Xan slammed the door shut and gave him an irritated glance, it wasn't the time to be an idiot.

"Which door?" She looked at Dylan, Amy, and Lute. Anything could be behind those doors and she did not want to lead anyone into danger, it would have to be a group choice.

The door was thrown off its hinges and Lucien gaped at the lion that had now crept into the room. "Nice kitty?"

"Oh gods!" Xan yanked open the nearest door, a fancy looking one with a silver doorknob. That lion was just a little bit smaller than the bearon. "Run..."

Lucien flailed his arms before yanking Lute and Amy by the arms and jumping through the door. Xan pushed Dylan in as well, muttering an apology as she did so. The girl leaped into the dark door and yanked it shut.

Before the pride knew it, they were falling past floating cuckoo clocks and rabbits that smoked pipes.

They came into contact with the cold floor.



The Tower: Group B and C???

"I used to work for doctor dream...and I've lived in Thaum for ages." He nodded in Syed's direction. "Everything is similar and this is still Thaum." He didn't know how to explain it, but Thaum distorted or not was still a place he had lived in for almost his whole life.

There was a shriek and Atlas immediately shifted into an offensive stance. He jerked his head towards the direction of the yell only to see a painting flat on the floor. Aria and Lisette were staring at the tiny, hidden door, possibly their way out. "Heh, good job little fella." He gave the Capybara a grin and held onto the handle, however, before he could tug the door open another crash, followed by several groans filled the room.

Were these people knocking down paintings? Did they want to give him a heart attack or something?

He spun around ready to ask the pride if they could be a little more quiet. What the magician saw next rendered him speechless, sprawled out on the ground were a few of the other guilders. He was sure as hell that they hadn't been there before.

"Ugh...oh hey boss!" Lucien found himself looking at an upside down version of Moira's face. "Where's Syed?" There was a groan and from below him, and he looked down to see Syed. "Oh, oh, I didn't see you there." He scrambled to his feet and gave his friend a sympathetic wince.

Xan curled up into a little ball and ground, she had enough being tossed around, thank you very much.

"Lute..." Atlas arched an eyebrow at his friend, and despite his dumbfounded expression he sounded rather relieved and happy. The magician chuckled a little, "where the hell did you guys come from?"

Groups C and B

Dylan hung back as the others entered the room, Lute apparently doing something to “check” for traps while Lucy seemed more comfortable just opening doors. Even when it revealed a raging lion. “Yeah,” he said as the summoner taunted it, “I don’t think that’s the best idea.” Luckily, Xan stepped forward and slammed the door shut before the cat could claw it’s way through the barrier. “Good idea.”

Unfortunately, that somehow made things worse, as the lion managed to break through not only the mystical barrier but the door itself. “You shouldn’t have taunted it!” Dylan said as they hurried out of the room through yet another doorway...and then fell.

It was the most surreal tumble down, as the fell past strange clocks and rabbits - the colors swirling about in a hazy mist that made Dylan’s stomach heave. Finally, though, he landed hard on his side, groaning as he sprawled onto the cold floor. He wanted nothing more than to rest - this day was just too much for him - and he considered just letting himself lie on the floor no matter what until he heard the voices.

Opening his eyes, he glanced up in surprise. “Lisette! Syed! Moira! KAPI!” he scrambled up, running to his friends. “Oh thank Aislin! Are you okay? Did the dreams come to you too? Have any of you found Marcus?”

The Tower: Third Floor: Group A

“Yes, I can,” Marcus replied, his eyes narrowing as he surveyed the dark room. The room was quite large and fanciful in its decoration, with several suits of steel armour caked in a line of dust propped in regular intervals across the room. In-between them rested various weapons of swords, axes and lances propped upon the walls, along with a smattering of helmets. All of the pieces of metal dimly reflect the flickering flames belonging to a candelabrum hanging above in the centre of the room. “It’s hard to pinpoint it, however…”

“I can’t see another door,” Don rather glumly remarked. “Maybe we should go back and find another?”

However, when the man turned back around to try and walk back out of the door they had all came through, he found it was locked and all entry was barred. Twisting the door’s knob yielded no success, neither did the attempts to shoulder his way through. It was as solid as stone. Don kicking against it only caused him to land backwards onto his behind, gripping his leg and yelping in agony. Marcus walked passed him, placing his palm against the wooden door and closing his eyes in concentration. He recoiled in surprise.

“It’s completely sealed.” Marcus began, shaking his head. “I don’t think we’re going to get out this way.”

“Trapped? No way!” Estelle fumed. She folded her arms over her chest and looked across the room again. “There has to be a way out of here… there just has to!”

“But… ow… Big Sis… what?” Don mumbled.

“I don’t know… there’s nothing much else actually in here bar these suits and weapons. There has to be some sort of… trick, maybe?” Estelle’s hand brushed over the chest plate of one suit, wiping a trace through the dust before clapping her hands free. Don however, looked mortified.

“That or… or we’re trapped here forever!!”

“We’re not trapped, Don,” Estelle sighed and looked back with an irritated grimace. “We’re going to get out of here just fine- !”

Suddenly, there was a noise, and the sound of something grinding. Estelle’s eyes grew in bewilderment once she spun around again, to find the suit of armour, and all of the rest of them, suddenly jerk in movement, their arms and torsos shifting, before coming to a rest.

The Pride fell in silence, studying the statues in case there was any other further movement… or possible hostility from them. There wasn’t. But at the same time… no appearance of an exit, either.

“Do you… think we have to do something with these statues?” Estelle mused to her friends. “Move them… arrange them somehow… or…?”

Group A

Their eyes turned next to Trixie, as a bunch of clanking noises sounded off from her direction. She turned to face them, wearing one of the armor's giant headpieces. "I don't see how people can wear this stuff," she remarked, turning away from them again with her arms fumbling around like she were performing a cautious magic trick. Having been inactive most of their nightmarish trek so far, she figured she'd help prod and examine the room as well, to speed up their efforts in getting out of there.

Though Trixie realized a bit too late that running around investigating things before they could even work out some plan was probably not the most helpful thing. All the suits rattled for a moment, the hollowness beneath their eye shields glowing an angry red. The prankster lifted her eye shield soon enough. "Hoo! I figured it out, guys--"

"Watch out!" Marcus called. Trixie flinched - only to be pounced on by Estelle, pushing her away from her previous position.

A pendulum had sung through from the wall, from in between the two armored suits closest to her. Once the weapon flew back skyward after a clear cut swing across the room, it disappeared into a thick crevice in the ceiling, which then sealed itself up. With bated breath Trixie removed the helmet and ran her hands through her ruffled hair. She chuckled, offering a nervous shrug. "Heh... hehe. Um. Whoops."

---

Group C

"Whew, you scared me!"

Amy glossed over her shoulder to see Lute fumbling about before stepping back into his position beside her. Amy only rolled her eyes. After they chaos they had just endured, she wanted nothing more than a breather, especially considering she wasn't suited for neither battling nor running. But with their current position, they couldn't afford to lag and linger. There was moving forward, and there was this guy, who chuckled to himself nervously before rambling on and on and on...

"Amy. It's Amy." She replied back with a flat tone. It was then that she noticed that he had gotten a cut on his cheek, presumably during the final conflict with the big three. Having fought the three monsters prior, Amy was certain Oren and the Bearon lacked the capacity to infect their prey with poisons or whatevers - but even if they did, Lute didn't appear to be in any immediate danger. She continued walking on with her eyes kept forward. Simply put, Amy acknowledged his injury and chose to ignore it.

That was, until a flashback of her previous nightmare rang in her head: Trixie crying out, calling her a selfish monster. Amy shuddered. Before Lute could say anything further, the cleric jerked her gem, fist clenching, and muttered something brief. The cut lacing his cheek glowed a faint gold - the virtuoso would feel a warming sensation on his face - before dissipating. In an instant, the wound sealed itself, and gradually began to return to normal. Again, she did not look back at him, even if he said or did anything in reaction to the healing.

Next thing she knew, Lucien up ahead was taunting a lion. Which was a ridiculous idea on its own, despite the fact that it seemed barricaded. Amy opened her mouth to speak up against it, only for the lion come right at them. He turned to grab her wrist along with Lute's, though Amy quickly yanked herself free from his grasp and followed Xandra and Dylan into the nearest door.

Then they fell. Amy could only pray the calamity would end soon, even if it meant just killing her right then and there. After all, it was all just a dream, wasn't it?

That idea withered away once the fallen guilders crash landed with another group: Atlas, Lisette, Moira, Syed, and Aria. Only five were missing now - including Marcus. Amy sat herself up and murmured something quick to soothe her aching joints, while the others jumped to the questions. Like Dylan she too wanted to just lay there, but that option was not feasible. Instead she stood herself and brushed down her dress before eying the others. "...Is anyone hurt?"

Groups B and C
There was barely even the time to thank Kapi, when oof!

Moira was so suprised that she brought her fists up - if any of them had landed on their feet she would have probably instinctively punched them. But no, they all landed in a pile on the floor, squashing her partner while they were at it. Well Lucien soon got off Syed, who groaned as he too tried to get up, putting a hand gingerly to his jaw. Ow ow ow ow ow!

Soon Atlas and Dylan were both asking questions, the latter firing them off like a machine gun. Moira blinked a little, somewhat overwhelmed. "Uh... I think we're okay?"

Syed had gotten up again at this point, and was holding out a hand to help Xan up too. "Yeah, yeah we did get them. And no, we're still looking. He's been gone for so long now, it's pretty concerning..."

"...Is anyone hurt?"

Syed immediately stiffened a little as Amy spoke. He was sore thanks to Lucien landing on him, but - "I'm fine, thank you."

"Can yer look at my hand, I kind of picked up a burning Firon," Moira said much like how one would describe how they went to the shops, pulling off her gauntlet and holding her red and swollen fingers out for the cleric to see. "Tah."

"Atlas thinks we need to head up to the seventh floor," Syed explained. "We were going to look around as we go up though, in case Marcus is here or in case there's something we should really know about before going up there or whatever."

"Yeah, we should get a move on." Moira agreed as she stepped forward towards the door. The sooner this was over the better, she was gagging for a drink.

She didn't see the painting behind them with a gloating look on it's face, holding a key in it's hand.

Group B and C

“Oof!”

If it wasn’t enough that it was the second time Lute fell this hour, Fate deemed it so that he would land face down once again. “I think I broke my nose,” He grumbled and gripped the bridge of said noise as he pushed himself up; however, the motion ended up with him looking like a caterpillar trying to move. “Hey Atlas…” Lute greeted his friend, but remained in his crouching position until he stopped seeing double.

“Atlas!” Lute jumped up, still holding his noise, and approached the magician with an annoyed expression on his face. Atlas suddenly found the virtuoso circling him like a hawk, most probably for wound inspection. “Great friend you are, just waiting for me to get up on my own! ‘Yep, I just saw Lute fall through like, what, a floor, don’t think he needs my help, yo’,” He scowled but was obviously playacting. “Anyway, glad to see you’re not dead yet. Your corpse would be way too heavy to bring back with me, you know,” The virtuoso finally grinned before he turned around to look at the others. “Hello Miss Moira, hello Syed. Glad to see you’re both… Er,” Lute noticed that Moira’s fingers were far from okay and shut up; he refocused his attention instead to the other members.

“Aria!” Concern immediately replaced the nervous face Lute had as he walked towards the young woman. “Are you alright?” Without even waiting for an answer he subjected her to the same fussy inspection Atlas went through, and when Lute was done he stepped back and sighed. “Come on, don’t hang on the back of the group, it’s scarier there! Like in ghost stories, the scariest places are the ones in front because you’ll see the ghosts first, and then the position at the back, because someone could sneak up on you. Let’s stay in the middle, okay?”

The girl Dylan had referred to as Lisette and her animal companion stood next to a fallen painting directly near a closed door. They didn’t seem to be hurt or anything, but Lute approached both Kapi and Lisette to make sure, even going to the point of asking the latter if she had any wounds.

Truth be told, Lute just really wanted to keep a low profile now that they were with more people. Time for somebody else to take the reins!

Tower: Group A

Selan gasped as Estelle practically tackled Trixie the moment the pendulum swung right past them. She herself had nary enough time to press her back flat against the wall. How many seconds did it take for the pendulum to cross the room and disappear into the ceiling? Two? Three?

"Heh... hehe. Um. Whoops." Trixie chuckled, shrugging nervously.

Selan brought a fingertip to her temple, trying to figure out how to avoid that happening again. "Let's think about this for a moment..." she sighed, taking a second look around the room.

After inspecting carefully, she had an idea. "There are two different sigils on the shields. If we arrange them all so that they are facing their 'enemy', then..."

"Then?" Don asked expectantly, reaching his arms out to move one of the suits.

"... I don't know." Selan said, placing a hand on her hip. "But it's something to try, at least."

---

The Tower: Group B + C

"Woah!" Lisette squealed, recognizing her friends' collapsed forms. "You're all okay!"

Dylan immediately asked whether they too had the "dreams", to which Syed answered in the affirmative. It seemed that no one wanted to go into detail beyond that, including Lisette. For her at least, she didn't want to be seen as a baby; just knowing that she wasn't the only one who had a nightmare was enough for her.

"Is anyone hurt?" Amy asked the group warily. Lute asked her the same, looking at both her and Kapi with some concern.

"I'm alright..." Lisette said, brushing the dust off her clothes. She was pretty sure she could still smell the singed strands of hair that got caught in the Firon's flames, but she had plenty of hair left over.
However, Moira asked about tending to the burns on her hand, leaving the rest to deal with the matter of the creepy-looking door. Lisette thought someone else would give it a try, so she leaned against a wall to wait, and felt a cold metal object against her back. She turned to see what it was and discovered that it was a key, stuck to the oil on the painting. She plucked it off with ease and held onto it.

Dylan reached for the door, which opened with a loud, drawn-out creak. Turned out that the key wasn't for that door... Maybe they'd need it along the way.

The Tower: Group B and C

Atlas continued staring at the pile of guilders, wondering whether he should feel worried. They looked pretty comical, piled on top of each other like that. He was about to offer a hand when they began getting to their feet. Lute even ran towards him, complaining.

"Heh, you'll live." The magician grinned broadly, "I've seen you survive worse." Memories of all the trouble they had gotten into in the past came flooding back and he let out a hearty laugh, Ruana had always been terrifying when angry, though trouble usually meant doing stupid things and getting caught, it never involved falling through floors and entering weird tower mazes. He tapped his friend on the back, still grinning from ear to ear. "Same here, you're heavier than you look." Atlas watched as Lute began fussing over Aria. It was just like his friend to go all "mother duck mode" when things went wrong.

Atlas eyed the other guilders with a nod of the head, ready to help anyone who needed it. "I'm guessing you guys saw some weird shit too, aye?" He arched an eyebrow in question then nodded when Dylan began mentioning the dreams. So...everyone had been through hell and back too.

"Thank you," Xan nodded at Syed before her eyes flitted towards Moira's hand and the girl's expression contorted into one of worry. "I see we weren't the only one who bumped into some nasty monsters." She gave the electricity mage a tap on the back, "it's good to see everyone safe." Her relieved tone didn't match the calm expression she was trying to keep.

"Syed, sorry about that!" Lucien popped out from behind them with an apologetic smile. "I guess somewhere along the way I fell for you. It's no wonder I saw sparks fly." He swung an arm around the mage's shoulder, happy to see everyone was doing okay. "It's great to see you all," he waved at both Moira and Lisette then nodded happily at Aria. "I'm doing grand, you might want to check Syed though, I sort of fell on him."

Amidst all the confusion Xan hadn't noticed her friend, but with everyone greeting everyone, she finally did and a wave of relief washed over her. "Aria," the girl made her way towards the illusionist and Lute, smiling. "You...don't know how relieved I am to see you," the girl placed both hands on her friend's shoulders and gave them a light squeeze, it was pretty much her version of a hug.

A door creaked open and Atlas turned to see Dylan pushing at the hidden door. "I'm sorry to cut your reunion short, folks, but he's got the right idea...we'll have to keep moving," then in response to Syed. "Dr. Dream's lab will be on the seventh floor. Isn't that right, Lute?" They had helped the scientist a few times in the past and back when the building hadn't been a tower, it had always been the seventh floor. "Maybe we'll run into the rest of your friends on the way."

As soon as they stepped into the next room, the door disappeared behind them like a chalk drawing that had been erased.

They found themselves in a hall of mirrors. Only, they didn't have any reflections, how odd.

"Pssst! Oiiii, you! Yeah you!" Atlas' eyes flitted to a mirror in the far right corner of the hall. His reflection stood, making silly faces and jeering. "I bet you idiots will never find the way out. Heh, you'll be stuck here with us, forever and always."

The rest of the Pride's reflections flitted from mirror to mirror, eyeing the originals tauntingly.

"What the effing hell." Atlas gaped, and the mirrors began shifting. New paths began to open up while old ones were cut off.

The Tower: Third Floor: Group A

Estelle patted Trixie’s back, reassuring the young girl that she and her were both safe and intact after the near miss of the swinging bladed pendulum almost cleaved them in two. Her eyes scanned the ceiling where the pendulum had disappeared into, warily making sure it wouldn’t return, whilst then giving a careful glance across the rest of the room for any other hidden traps. This reminded her of their time in the Ancient Ruins besides Museo, when they went hunting for gold and treasure with the archaeological trio led by Harrison, and the many dangers they came across during it. Her mind briefly flitted back to the room with the tiles and activated traps, hoping that such a thing wouldn’t occur again. They had to find a way out, and they had to do so at once.

Selan made a more careful cursory look of the suspicious suits of armour, and the shields they bore in their arms, recognising that each contained a particular sigil upon them, one of two varieties. She suggested that lining them up, twisting and turning them so they faced their ‘opponents’ might yield some clue. After Estelle had touched one of them, they had certainly moved from their rigid posture to one resembling something of action. Perhaps fighting. And yet…

There was no clear way of finding out what caused the blade to swing. Any wrong moves could activate more traps. They needed to be careful. They needed to be-

“OOF!” Don grunted as he turned the statues around to face their respective adversary, his chest falling with a loud sigh as he rested his hands against his hips and nodded satisfactorily at a job well done. “There! That’s right, right?” The rest of the Pride just stared at him with bated breath, turning around to hope no more future traps would release.

And then…

Hisssssssssss

From minute holes placed along the bottom of the walls, a putrid green coloured gas hissed into the room, quickly beginning to fill it up. Don yelled.

“Yaaaah! I thought that was it!!” He screamed. Marcus’ eyes scanned all about the room, the walls, ceiling and floor, back to the statues. Had they made a mistake?

“Weapons?” Estelle suggested, glancing at the swords, axes and polearms hanging inbetween the statues. The statues had all been pointed towards their supposed enemies, but they were without weapons. Maybe placing the weapons in their hands would help turn the gas off and reveal an exit. However… what if there was a certain trick to that? She couldn’t see any particular clues. Trial and error, or…?

Trixie squeaked again, this time pushing Estelle out of the way of the swinging pendulum carving a path through the air. This time however, it didn’t stop or recede into the walls or ceiling. It just kept swinging, over and over. As if the gas wasn’t enough, they had to deal with that too.

What were they to do?!

Thaum: Group B

Aria nearly shrieked again when bodies tumbled from the darkness above. She had half expected them to be rotting corpses that would stand up and chase them around, so it was to great relief when she found that it was her friends who had fallen instead.

Dylan, Amy, Lucy, Xan and poor Lulu who had fallen on his face were there and the relief was so great at seeing them that for a while she almost forgot that they were still in a dark and dreary room surrounded by creepy paintings.

She waited impatiently for Lute to finish his quick inspection and once he was satisfied she moved over to back to make her own inspection of the Virtuoso. “Forget about me, are you alright?” Lute always did pay more attention to the well-beings of others than he did himself. He didn’t seem too hurt, and when Xan came over she pulled them both into a hug, relishing in the fact that everyone was unhurt. Well, mainly everyone- They were still missing a few members.

“Come on, don’t hang on the back of the group, it’s scarier there! Like in ghost stories, the scariest places are the ones in front because you’ll see the ghosts first, and then the position at the back, because someone could sneak up on you. Let’s stay in the middle, okay?”

Of course he had to mention ghosts. Aria quickly tugged Lute and Xan along and plopped them firmly in the middle of the group, feeling the stares of the painting intensify as the now grown group They passed the creepy looking door and into a hall of mirrors, which made Aria wince and tighten her hold on her friends’ arms. Something creepy was going to pop out, she was sure of it. And where was her reflection?

“Over here~” A voice cooed, and Aria whipped around only to jump back from the jeering image of herself. The rest of the group’s twisted reflections were there too, and they cackled as the mirrors started to shift, making the confusing labyrinth even more difficult to navigate.

“You’re never getting out of here,” Mirror Aria gloated, skipping through a mirror beside the group. “Why don’t you make yourselves comfortable instead and give up?”