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

Dylan let out a sigh of relief. Everyone seemed to be alright - excepting Moira’s hand, but surely Amy could handle that - and now they just had to find the others. And this Doctor Dream fellow. And get out of this nightmare land where everything seemed to exist purely to torture them. It shouldn’t be too hard.

While Lute and Aria reconnected, Dylan spotted another door. He hesitated for only a moment, surely this place had enough originality to not sic another lion on them. With a gentle push the door creaked open, revealing a large hall of mirrors. “Oh, great,” he muttered as he followed Atlas in, the door vanishing behind them. “It looks like there’s no going back.”

"Pssst! Oiiii, you! Yeah you! I bet you idiots will never find the way out. Heh, you'll be stuck here with us, forever and always."

Dylan stared at the reflection, acting completely out of sync with the magician. Oh Aislin, if it wasn’t bad enough that they had been tormented by their worst nightmares now their reflections were joining in! And in front of the others no less.

He reached into his pocket and withdrew his slate and chalk.

“Hey, what are you doing?” He reflection called out, shifting closer and closers as the mirrors and paths moved. “Drawing up a picture of home? Might as well, you’re never going to see it again. Not your school, your friends, your sister.”

Dylan ignored the taunts, instead willing his construct to life. It was a large hammer. “Enough of that!” he cried out as his reflection came right up in his face, and he swung the hammer against the mirror, shattering it.

Group A

Trixie jumped to her feet and began to hop from foot to foot. "Weapons? What did you mean by - blech!" She whirled around and began to hack violently, before facing the others with a clothespin over her nostrils. Her nasally voice would have been comical had it not been for their current dilemma. "What about weapons, Supersis?" the prankster tugged on Estelle's arm. Once the swordswoman looked back to the armors, Trixie let out an "ah" before charging to the duo nearest to her. "You can count on me!"

After the pendulum swung by twice (as someone urged her to slow down this time), Trixie leapt through the open space, causing the green gas around her landing spot to part like dust. She then yanked the axe out and held it in front of her, turning to face Estelle. "So just put this in their--"

Clang!

Trixie leapt back as the axe was knocked right out of her hand by the death trap. It flew to the wall and snapped upon collision. "... uhh. Whoops."

Once again the hollow space beneath the armor's eye shields glowed an ominous red, before they began stomping their feet in a slow, rhythmic beat. Trixie wailed and clung onto Selan's arm. "Ahhhh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

---

Groups B and C

Instinctively Amy whirled around to observe her entire surroundings once inside the mirror room. Fighting Valentine and Jack in Vandrell was not too far back, and entering a room like this too soon after seeing the latter in her previous nightmare... She let out a large sigh of relief once she realized there were no ghosts around to spook them. However, her back stiffened with shivers upon hearing Atlas' goofy reflection taunting them. At this rate, she wasn't sure whether ghosts would be worse or not.

Before Amy could lose her temper from the sheer annoyance of these imps, Dylan stepped up with a giantass hammer and smashed it right into the one closest to him. The shards clattered along the floor, revealing behind it a room identical to what was shown in the rest of the mirrors. Had it worked? Kicking aside the glass by her feet, she walked forward, held her hand out - and she went straight through. Amy smirked as she looked back to Dylan. "Smart move."

So they had found a way to move forward - at this rate, all they had to do was keep shattering these things and going through, right? Or perhaps there was a pattern. Inside this new 'room,' she brandished her whip, ready to follow up on Dylan's move. Only to be cut off by an ear-grating voice: "Nyeeee, you're gonna have to do better than that! Or else you'll be stuck here. Forever. And that's a long time if you didn't know!"

In the mirror adjacent to her stood Amy's own dastardly reflection, leaning forward with her thumb to her nose and tongue poking out. The real cleric twitched at this. "You've gotta be fuckin' kidding me." Once the reflection let out a raspberry tongue at them, Amy too followed Dylan's example and shattered the glass. She then stepped forward - only to bump into a solid surface. The blond reflection snickered at Amy's attempts and dashed away, high-fiving Dylan's and Aria's reflection as she passed them by.

"Gods damn it." Amy stepped up to that particular mirror, eying it carefully before extending her hand to it. As her finger reached the surface, her impish reflection popped right back into view with the same raspberry face. Amy recoiled, brandishing her whip again - "Fuck off already!" - before the reflection dashed off a second time with an annoying high pitched laughter.

She looked back to the others with an expression of obvious disgust.

Groups B and C
Of course brute force didn't work. Something like that was too simple. Moira stopped, fist raised towards another mirror. Wait, so they weren't breaking anymore? Or more accurately, they were, but instantly getting replaced?

Damnit this place confused the shit out of her. She hadn't even seen her reflection yet.

"You're pretty stupid," a voice spoke out behind them all. Syed stiffened, his eyes staring straight ahead. He didn't need to look around to recognise his own voice, after all. "If you were smart you'd give up. I mean, come on! You do it all the time!"

He finally turned his head towards his taunter, giving him one hell of a stern look. The reflection seemed to find this absolutely hilarious, bursting into laughter. "Hahahahaha! That's the look! Oh nooooooo what you going to do? Give me lines?!"

Suddenly he began to move, shifting from one mirror to another the whole time. He made a motion like he was jumping as he moved over the space where the first broken mirror was. He laughed the whole time, smiling broadly as he went, his voice echoing and bouncing across the room.

Syed grimaced. This place was overwhelming. He couldn't trust his eyes, he couldn't trust his ears. So, maybe... he fiddled with his ring for a moment as he steeled himself.

"Lute?" He closed his eyes and began to move his hands in slow movements. "You could tell we were facing wolves at the colleseum before we saw them, right?" His eyebrows lowered as he concentrated. "Want to help me out? I can't move when I do this."

An invisible electric field extended out across the room, washing over everyone with static and causing smaller hair to stand up on end. It was like... well, almost like reading braille. Reaching out and feeling the movements around them, feeling the metal of Xan's prosthetic or Moira's armour. Feeling for an exit amongst the constantly shifting rooms. If there was one. If it wouldn't move as soon as he did.

Moira suddenly heard a thud before her. She looked forward to be met with the sight of her reflection at last. The reflection had her fist raised, bringing it back... then drove it right into the surface.

The mirror cracked as her fist hit it, causing the real Moira to take a step back. What... what the hell was that? Black bubbling ooze began to seep through the cracks. Oh hell no, she did not want to touch that and see what it did.

Groups B and C

Lute narrowed his eyes as their group entered the wide hall; from the moment they stepped in he already saw that mirrors decked the various paths and made it seem as if they were in a labyrinth. The virtuoso cringed. He hated these kinds of places since he could never tell what was real from what was not, and thus almost always ended up making a fool out of himself. But then their missing reflections appeared albeit with their own personalities; after Dylan had hammered a mirror Lute heard his own copy calling out to him. When he turned to look it blew him a raspberry before running away to another mirror, doing a totally exaggerated somersault over the shattered panel as it went. “That’s really immature!” The virtuoso hollered out and shook his fist at the moving reflection. He wasn’t even that childish to begin with!

All around him chaos about the impish copies ensued and noise poured forth from both the guilders and their doppelgangers. Amy tried to destroy a mirror but it didn’t work, and potentially dangerous black ooze poured out of a panel Moira’s reflection had punched through. Goosebumps appeared on Lute’s skin and the tiny hairs on his nape stood before he remembered that Syed had requested his assistance; he was so busy trying to keep an eye on his doppelganger that he had almost forgotten. “Oh, okay, got it! Sorry!” The virtuoso called out and closed his eyes, gathering strength for him to-

“Oi, weeabo! Hey, hey, look at me! Didn’t your mother tell you that it’s impolite not to look people in the eye when you’re having a conversation?” The copy suddenly appeared on the mirror facing him and Lute flinched. In reply, he raised his palm toward the mirror and curled it inwards to form a fist, then smiled. “Keep talking then,” The real virtuoso replied softly. “You lost your-"

"-mind, bro?” His reflection’s voice suddenly rang through the entire room at a loud volume, and some cracks appeared on the nearest mirrors.

“Thanks for the help, pal. Syed, you saw it too, didn't you? The exit’s just straight ahead!” Lute gave his reflection a shit-eating grin before crowing and then running towards the tall mage, but all of a sudden the room itself expanded. Lute rocked back on his heels as the mirrors shook then broke free of their bindings, lifting up in the air and then flying around at dangerous speeds. “Are you kidding me!?” He hissed and pulled Dylan down as two large mirrors flew down and almost brained the both of them.

Tower: Group A

Selan's idea didn't work, and neither did any of their others. Gas was filling the room through small openings along the bottom of the walls, and now their time was running out.

At the sight of the green-colored gas and the hissing sound, she pressed her silk sleeve firmly against her nose and mouth. Whatever it was, it was already making her eyes burn.

Trixie wailed and clung onto her free arm. "Ahhhh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Don't panic," Selan said, her voice muffled. "What if we destroy the statues? Or--"

She was involuntarily cut off by a fit of coughing. The noxious gas was coating her throat, making it burn. "We're running out of time! What are we missing!?"

---

The Tower: Group B + C

After seeing the mirror versions of the others, Lisette looked around, half-curious and half-worried as to how her own reflection would act upon seeing her.

"Where d'you think you're going, dummy?" a nasally, girlish voice called out. Lisette whirled around to see her reflection leaning forward, hands on her hips. Mirror Lisette had a sneer on her face, her nose crinkled all the way up. Mirror Kapi wandered off to the other Mirror Guilders.

"Hey...! Is... Is that what I sound like? I don't sound like that, right?" Lisette asked, cringing.

"Jeez, you've got the attention span of a... a... ummm..." Mirror Lisette paused, scrunching her face up in thought.

"A child?" Lisette offered, scratching her chin.

"No, nooo... It was a... Ahh, I can't remember what I was gonna say..." Mirror Lisette sighed.

Both Lisettes were just standing in front of each other, deep in thought when the real Lisette stood up straight. She could feel a strange, tingly sensation on the back of her arms, and when her skirt moved it made a crackling static-y sound.

The mirror near Moira then shattered. While some mirrors began to float in the air and sail at the others, the mirror containing Lisette's copy simply shattered as well, and the black ooze dripped out onto the floor.

The ooze rolled around on the floor, then grew bigger and bigger, and finally began to take a shape.

"Wha...!?"

Group C: Hall of Mirrors

Mirrors started breaking left and right, but that didn't solve the problem and new ones appeared to take the broken one's place.

"Like I said, you losers are going to be stuck here forever." Reflection Atlas grinned tauntingly before leaning into the glass and making silly faces.

"Heh," mirror Lucien had a smirk on his face, hands folded over his chest. "You'll be in here till there's nothing but bones left," he tapped his foot and gave them all an arrogant looking grin. "In the end everyone dies, so why bother, yeah?"

The summoner stared at his reflection then looked at the other mirrors. Taunts filled the room, and the others began breaking things. "Yeah, everyone dies..." he forced a grin, "that's why life is precious, y'know.?"

"You've become such a sap, Lucy!" Mirror Lucien was doubled over with laughter. "What happened to the coward who didn't care about anyone but himself~?" He grinned from ear to ear. "You'll only be burden...you'll only get your friends hurt."

Memories of the lion tearing everyone to shreds came rushing back and before he knew it his fist was bleeding and shards of glass were scattered across the floor. He looked around and noticed the flash of electricity.

"Nice plan," Xan for the most part had been ignoring her reflection. They couldn't destroy it and talking to it would have done no good.

"You and all you're friends will die here, you can't save anyone not even yourself." Mirror Xan giggled, but the original simply screwed her eyes shut as the mirrors were yanked up into the air.

"Straight ahead?" Atlas placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "We'll just have to charge through them then--" before he could say more mirrors began launching themselves at the guilders and black ooze dripped onto the once clean floor.

"Lisette?" Lucien stared back and forth between both the original and copy. "You didn't tell me you had a twin," he laughed nervously and watched as the black sludge that had surrounded them began to take form.

Xan's prosthetic turned into a blade and she stepped back towards Aria and Lute. "Should we run?"

"Coward!" A voice boomed throughout the room. "None of you are leaving!" The mirrors that hand't shattered began to reveal blurry outlines, eventually the images became clear and both group B and C could see group A clearly.

They watched as the room their friends were in filled up with gas.

"You're all running out of time, guilders, and so are your friends." The mirrors came falling down.

The Tower: Third Floor: Group A

Panic began to grip the Pride, despite their best efforts to resist. It didn’t seem to matter what they did, every action they took, every touch of the statues they made just resulted in a worse outcome. The pendulum swung back and forth, faster and faster. After the inadvertent destruction of the axe Trixie hoped to place in one of the statue’s hands after it was knocked away by the pendulum, the statue’s legs rose up and down, marching to a standstill. The rhythmic footfalls sounding uncannily alike taunting laughter over and over. As if twisting the knife in even deeper, the gas itself seemed to hiss and pour in at an even greater rate. Was there even a way out? In a nightmarish landscape such as this… who was to say there was ever an exit? Or that there was meant to be one?

They were taken aback by just how quickly the gas filled the room. It made it difficult to see, hard to breathe. None of them could risk taking a step forward, not the constant see-sawing of the bladed pendulum back and forth. As the gas seeped in, enveloping the room in a dense, sickly pale green gas, they could barely even see one another. Tears strained Estelle’s eyes amongst the laborious coughing. She fell to one knee.

“Cough… hack… cough…! This… this can’t… be it…” Estelle groaned. One eye opened, glaring at the statue closest to her, its ominous glowing eyes mockingly looking down on her. This wasn’t right. Give her an enemy to fight. Someone she could swing her sword at, who she could actually hit. An actual chance to win! Not this!

Don was already lying on the ground, unable to move a single inch, his ears deaf to his friends’ agonising hacks and sputters.

Marcus meanwhile, was protected by a thin sliver of wind that raced and enveloped his whole body, keeping the gas at bay and blowing it away. But soon, eventually… there’d be nothing left in the room bar the gas, and his thin smatter of oxygen couldn’t last forever. There had to be a way out… there was no way he’d be defeated like this. No way he would allow his friends… allow Estelle, to be hurt like this. None.

His eyes shone a bright emerald, his body’s robes following suit, bustling in the breeze. He extended both arms out, magical circles appearing from his hands, and forming across all four of the walls, the ceiling and floor. His magical reserves were running low… and he didn’t wish to particularly demonstrate the extent of his magic like this in front of his friends, for fear of too many questions… but there was no other option.

If there was any way out… any weakness within this locked box… he would break it.

The room shuddered and coiled. To the ears of those still barely conscious, they managed to hear something. Something close to… a scream.

The walls, floor and ceiling all erupted outwards, shattering into a thousand pieces, as Marcus fell unconscious.

Second Floor - Mirror Hall

Dylan dismissed his construct, the promising idea turning out to be completely useless. For a brief second it looked like he and Amy where making progress, but then the shifting mirrors and reforming glass ruined that dream. “Nice try!” Dylan’s reflection called, “but you’re not nearly as smart as you think you are.”

The other members of the group continue to smash about - even Syed had tried something electrical, sending sparks running up Dylan’s spine - until the strange black ooze started... and another Lisette appeared. “Oh Aislin!” He backed away from it, not wanting to know what this shadow monster would do, when he say the mirrors changing their reflections.

Instead of reflecting the room around them, an optical illusion of endless mirrors, they saw their friends. Estelle, Don, Trixie, Selan and... “Marcus!” he cried out, stepping forward to see clearer. They were trapped, choking, and running out of time. “No!” he cried, shooting a silent prayer to Aislin above. His friends couldn’t die like this, not now, not right when he discovered they were alive.

Then, as if in answer to his prayers, Marcus’ eyes began to glow. Dylan stared, slackjawed, as the magic radiated from his friend, tearing the entire room apart. The sight was so riveting that he didn’t even notice that Tower itself was starting to tremor, the ceiling above them cracking, and shattering outwards.

Dylan fell to the ground as the stone fell, shattering mirrors and walls as the floor above them crashed through. Gas leaked through, though it diffused enough to not really affect them, but the suits of armor, the weapons, the chunks of the ground itself, all crashed around the Pride.

Thaum: Group B

Aria blocked out the taunts as best as she could, instead opting for dodging to the side as a mirror with her warped reflection inside shot past her with a loud “Wheeee!” before shattering down onto the stony floor and shattering into pieces.

She barely heard Xan’s question of the shattering glass and the booming voice that followed closely after, before she watched in horror as the mirrors revealed what was happening to the rest of the Pride through a green haze of noxious gas. Don was already out, lying sprawled out on the floor as the rest of them hacked and coughed.
Things seem bleak until inexplicably, Marcus’ eyes began to glow as magic circles formed across the walls of the room and with a deafening rumble the room exploded, as did the roof of the mirror room.

Aria jumped back as a particularly large chunk of ceiling smashed down in front of her, followed by a suit of armor and Selan who narrowly missed falling onto the sharp spikes of the metal armor.

“Selan! Are you alright?” She darted over to the Songstress, dodging some last bits of falling debris and giving the woman a quick inspection. Twisted limbs- nope, gaping wounds- nope, breathing- she was coughing out a bit of dust and green fumes, but otherwise check. “Can you stand?”

The room was now littered with broken glass, patches of black ooze, armor and large chunks of wall and ceiling as well as the various groaning bodies of the Pride. Miraculously nobody had been squashed and they were all finally accounted for. They weren’t out of danger yet, but Aria let out a sigh of temporary relief. At least everyone was still alive.

Second Floor: Mirror Hall
Everything went to shit.

Moira swore as rubble rained down upon them. Rock, armour, weapons, people. Well, at least they found the others, with Marcus in tow to boot. Shame they'd all probably be crushed to death. "AMY!" she bellowed, diving forward to catch the falling person nearest to her. It wasn't like she had the time to ask her to do that golden thing.

And then, deathly silence. Had... had the explosion silenced their reflections? The dust began to settle, allowing her to see the outlines of those still standing. Luckily for her, her armour protected her from the glass, and she had managed to avoid any of the more substantial debris. "Ey, nobody's dead are they?" she called out. She could hear Aria speaking at least. Oh hey, a sword! She'll take that thank you very much.


Syed was bent over double, retching all over again. He held his trembling hands before him and stared at them for a couple of seconds, before he was bent over again. Marcus... what Marcus did. Pictures of electricity and flying glass and burning wood flashed in his mind. It was like that. It was like that, except Marcus did it willingly. Without harming even a hair on those around's heads.

He knew he was a powerful man, but he didn't realise he was that powerful. A whole different level. Had he been holding back this entire time? Was... was he still holding back now? It terrified him.

Were... were these even the real people he knew? Was this another trick? There was no telling in this room. They felt real. He hugged himself, then slowly stepped forward towards the others shivering all the while. "D... does anyone need help?" his words felt odd and hollow and forced. He crouched down to pull the rubble off Dylan to the best of his ability, ignoring the blood which poured from the gash in the back of his shoulder.

Meanwhile, the black goo began to bubble up from beneath the rubble, slowly forming the shape of a certain berserker to join that of Lisette's shadowy doppleganger.

The Tower 2F: Mirror Hall

The ground gave way beneath them, and the next the she knew, she was sprawled on her side, lying uncomfortably on top of a large piece of rubble. A spiking pain shot through her body, and she squirmed off to the floor. There were shards of broken glass around her, sprinkled about like a fine powder.

Aria's voice was the first thing she heard when the crinkling sounds of breaking glass stopped. "Selan! Are you alright? Can you stand?" she asked, leaning over her.

"Ugh..." Selan groaned, rubbing her back. The bruises would come later, but she was otherwise fine. "I'm alright," she strained, getting to her feet.

She wasn't sure where she was until she saw the green haze above them, slowly descending down on top of them. The rest of the group she was with was getting to their feet and collecting themselves, but it seems they fell into an equally bad situation.

Lisette's eyes searched along the rubble, first spotting Trixie and then looking for the rest of her friends, but was snapped back to attention by a tap on her shoulder. She began backing away from the dark, shadowy version of herself.

"What's wrong?" Lisette's doppleganger taunted, grinning from ear to ear. "Betcha weren't expecting that! But how about this?"

Shadow Lisette held out her hand, and more black ooze seemed to materialize from her skin, growing and growing to form the shape of a long, thin sword. The designs deeply etched into the grip resembled that of her bow.

"Hey, that's not right!" Lisette protested, reaching behind her for her bow. "You're supposed to have a-- Eeek!" She was forced to step back when Shadow Lisette lunged at her. Her copy was remarkably light on her feet despite using a weapon the real Lisette had no skill with, making her movements completely unpredictable.

"Eeheehee!" Shadow Lisette giggled, twirling the sword in her hand. She lunged yet again.

2F - Mirror Hall

‘For a measly reflection the fake me sure loved chasing people around,’ Lute grimly thought before noticing that the black goop transformed into a copy of Lisette. His personal imp was still stuck in the same intangible state that he was in since the beginning, but Lute knew that it may or may not be long enough before his copy materialized in the exact same way. Both Atlas and Xandra suggested charging through straight ahead and they would have done so if not for the voice which suddenly boomed through the hall. Lute did not recognize who it was from and even considered, for a few dread-filled moments, that there was a new enemy coming; in contrast to what he was waiting for the floating mirrors lined up and then all of them could suddenly see the other members of the Pride.

“Estelle, Marcus?” Once he saw his companions in the room that was rapidly being clogged with green fog, Lute headed towards the exit. If they were fast enough maybe they could reach that room…! However the notion was stilled by the sound of something crashing and hissing, and their room suddenly rocked as the ceiling gave way; Lute narrowly dodged a falling spear before a handful of tinier pebbles rained down on his head.

“Is everyone alright? C’mon, pick up the pace! Let’s just keep moving!” Atlas’s voice rose over the worried titters and Lute could see why; Lisette’s ‘shadow copy’ had survived and now was attacking the archer, not to mention that a thick and sturdy-looking new goop sculpture was now bubbling up from the rubble. A noise caught Lute’s ear and he saw that but a few feet from a shock of red hair- Estelle!- a puddle of black mass was twisting around and upwards. “The exit’s right there! Move! Just ignore those things!” Atlas hollered and gestured for everyone to help their fallen comrades up; Lute ran over to Estelle and gingerly slid his arm around her shoulder. He saw the wound he had unintentionally inflicted and was unable to prevent himself from gnashing his teeth together. “Damn it,” The virtuoso steadied his grip on her elbow instead but half of his attention was on the growing pile of ebony right in front of them. It still bubbled and sprays even shot out every now and then. “Not good, not good!” Lute rapidly intoned and pulled Estelle away from the puddle as it fully formed into his very own carbon copy.

“Let’s go!” Atlas yelled and everyone bolted towards the exit. Lute shakily got up to his feet and followed suit, his demon copy following close behind with a scary-looking axe in his hands. They skipped over debris, jumped over toppled weapons, and just plain did anything they could do to get to the door. When the Pride was but some yards from the exit they saw that the “door” had no knobs, but before anyone could crumple in despair Xandra rushed in and her hammer formed sharp, ragged cracks on the wood. Atlas pushed the broken half of the exit open and the lot of them poured out; when the last guilder, Lute, finally entered the area, the broken door whipped shut and then faded away.

Thaum: The Tower - 2F (Mirror Hall)

Amy nearly jumped once all the mirrors coalesced into a rather disturbing image, of a darkened room filling itself with nasty green gas... and the five missing guilders inside. Marcus was finally discovered, but along with the others he seemed to have fallen unconscious. She had little time to even properly react as mirrors and walls around them all began to rattle and shatter at once. The projected five plopped into the room along with the rest of the ceiling overhead. Luckily the cleric was protected thanks to Moira's quick thinking, and the two shared a mutual smile following the crash. "Thank you, Moira."

Fortunately, no one had gotten crushed by any of the debris falling overhead, including the mass of armory and steel weapons. Still Amy was quick to jump to assisting the others - primarily Trixie, who had landed closest to her. "Trix! Oh Gods, Trix." The cleric knelt down beside her, holding her prized gem with one hand over the littler's body as she shooed away the surrounding dust with her other. Trixie let out a fit of coughs, but Amy hushed her quickly. "You're all right, Trix, you're all right."



"Amy...?" she gasped, as her watery eyes peeled open. Her hands were clasped over her mouth (the clothespin from earlier had dropped upon her earlier fall), and her breaths were haphazard. Being as small as she was with a nose just as sensitive, Trixie was easily affected by thick plumes such as what had grasped them earlier. "I think I... I think I'm dying."

Amy grinned at this, though her smile was laced with sympathy. "No one's dying on my watch." After healing her directly, Amy rose back to her feet to treat the others that had fallen, dedicating a spell to each of them one by one as opposed to a collective heal for something more effective. Marcus being the final one tended to, Amy knelt down to his level as she had done with Trixie to deliver a more powerful spell, considering all the strength he poured into blasting their room down. He was not dead, but Amy would do whatever it took to prevent full-fledged unconsciousness. "Come on Marcus, stay with us."

In the meantime, Atlas called out for the others to make their way towards the exit. While Lute jumped to Estelle's assistance following Amy's treatment of the swordswoman, Shadow Lisette, as well as the new Shadow Moira and Shadow Lute, worked to encumber them, each armed with their own materialized weapon. Once again Atlas called for everyone to get out. Amy left Trixie's care in whoever was nearest to her, as she worked with another guilder to assist Marcus out of the room.

Although... Amy wasn't exactly sure if she felt more safe being in this new room than with those mirrors. "Where... where are we?"

The Tower: ???

The door had vanished behind them and the guilders found themselves in a dark and soundless room.

There was nothing but pitch darkness for miles and miles, but what didn't make sense was that they could see each other as clear as day. Perhaps it was a room filled with nothingness. "Is everyone alright?" Atlas' voice echoed throughout the emptiness.

"Define alright? They just fell through a roof." Xan's eyebrows furrowed together in concern. It was a good thing they had a healer.

Lucien stood on his toes and squinted, there was absolutely nothing. "Hey, hey, Atlas? Lute? Where are we?"

"I don't know." Each time they took a step it would echo across the dark room.

The Pride was given a few minutes to rest before the sound of elevator music grew closer and closer, there was a soft ding before a green glow began emanating from something in the distance. There was the sound of doors sliding open and suddenly they saw an elevator, where it had come from, no one knew.

Xan stared at the elevator warily, in this tospy-turvy world it could have easily been another trap, but what choice did they have?

"It's the only way out, y'know." Atlas muttered.

"For all we know that elevator could be a hungry monster." Xan answered before turning to look at the others.

Atlas sneered, "we could always stay here forever if that's what you want?" He motioned for Lute and the others to follow and made his way towards the elevator. The pride walked in, some more hesitant than others and double doors slid shut as cheery music began to play. The elevator began its ascent and the seventh floor's button lit up without anyone touching it.

There was a loud screech before the elevator came to a sudden stop, the doors slid open and Atlas stared numbly. "No...hell no."



The entire lab was coated in blood. There was blood on the couch, blood smeared on the walls, and bloodied hand prints on the doctor's table. But worst of all, Dr. Dream was smack dab in the middle of things, doubled over and pressing his bloodied hands into his stomach. He staggered forward like a zombie before collapsing onto the floor. "I-It was you." Sobs shook his body before he raised a shaky hand towards Marcus and Atlas. "You did this! Destroyed my research, stabbed me in the back!" More sobs filled the room. "I never knew you were working for the dream eater."

"What?" Atlas inched back, eyes wide in disbelief.

"Amy!" Xan was pushing past the toppled over chairs and weird experiments. "Can you help him?" There was so much blood, in fact, Dr. Dream looked as if he had been doused in blood.

"It was Marcus and Atlas," the man sounded hysterical now and he had gone pale, his skin ice-cold to the touch.

"You must be mistaken...Amy, how is he doing?" Xan tried to calm the wailing man, but he simply let out a roar before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell to the ground like a rag doll.

She froze, Dr. Dream was dead.

Thaum: The Tower: Seventh Floor: Dr. Dream's Laboratory

“C’mon, Big Bro!” Dylan hissed between his teeth, struggling to lift the heavier and larger man’s arm over his shoulder and drag him across the rubble strewn mirror hall to follow behind everyone else in racing for the room’s exit, the three shadow doppelgangers that had been forming from the ooze into copies of themselves moving to take chase. Don said or did nothing, the man having already passed out from the gas he had inhaled from the statue room they were trapped in, with no way of properly knowing what the effects were. He could feel the man’s heart beat, and hear Don snore in that ridiculously loud manner of his, but who was to say the gas might not have been poisonous as well?

As the team ran, Moira covered their rear, doing enough to swing her giant Great Sword around and prevent their foes from gaining on the Pride, long enough for Xandra to hammer their way through the exit. As they all fell through, the exit vanished behind them. And for once… for a brief moment… they were safe.

But who knew how long that could last?

An elevator ride lifted the Pride up, up and up. Don and Marcus rested slouched against the wall, the two having been most severely affected by the gas and exertion to break free of the room. Amy’s healing magic kept Marcus on the side of consciousness, but he was as near unresponsive. Her magic helped to heal any wounds he may have had, but he still remained magically spent and exhausted, barely able to keep his eyes open. Estelle crouched beside him to comfort him, after thanking Lute for his help in carrying her to the elevator. She too still felt groggy after her exchange with the gas, but enough to still keep moving. To speak and move on with the mission.

“Thank you, Lute,” Estelle said with a smile. “You helped me out.” Estelle turned back to check on Marcus. Any and all thought or consideration for the wound on her shoulder, or how she came to acquire it, had long since vanished.

And then the doors opened. The laboratory was revealed, in all its crimson stained glory. And Dr. Dream… Dr. Dream, their client, stumbled forwards with a horrific gash lining his stomach. He collapsed to the ground and died, only after fingering the blame for his death on both Atlas and Marcus. Everything moved too quickly for them to do or say anything. To stop it… before he was down on the ground.

“AMY!” Estelle screamed, looking at the blonde cleric. Screaming at her with her expression to do something. To reverse this.

She looked to Marcus, who she carried with the help of Lucien. He was unable to talk, unable to begin to explain or clarify what had happened. But she also knew that Marcus… Marcus would never do a thing to cause this. She knew him too well to even possibly consider that as something that could happen. Dr. Dream was wrong. He had to be!

But how? Why? Why had he made those comments? Why did he accuse Marcus?

And Atlas… how was Atlas involved?

She turned towards the raven haired man, expecting an answer.

Seventh Floor - Elevator

Dylan collapsed against the wall, his entire body strained from having to drag Don out of the room and into the elevator. It was tougher than he had imagined, but he couldn’t just leave his Big Bro there, passed out from the gas. Reaching over, he gave the man a nudge. “Come on, Don,” he begged. “Please wake up. I know you’re still there. Please...” 



But there was no response.

He leaned his head back against the wall, trying to fight the despair that had settled in his chest. This had just been too much. The nightmares, the reincarnations of old enemies, the way it seemed the entire town was trying to drag up the worst that he suffered through and make him suffer it all over again...and now this. Don and Marcus, both hovering there in a state that seemed so close to death.

What had they done to deserve all this?

He shook his head - he could dwell later. Pushing himself to his feet, he turned to Syed. “Thank you,” he said. “For helping me back that. I would have said something sooner but...” he glanced back at Don. “Thanks.”

The elevator lurched to a stop, the doors sliding open to reveal the office of Doctor Dream, and the man himself. He stood silent as the wounded man raged, his gaze upon Marcus. No, there was no way that could be true. Sure, he had been surprised by the man’s power just moments ago, and the depth he’s must go to keep all that hidden, but Dylan still knew Marcus. And he knew that the man had a good heart.


“He lied,” he said simply, after Doctor Dream had passed. “Or he was mistaken. This place... it lies to us. Makes us see our fears. The...fears that I lived,” he paused, eyes flicking towards Lucien, “the fears that I know now aren’t true.” He swallowed harshly. “He was mistaken. He had to be.”

Thaum: The Tower - 7F (Dr. Dream's Laboratory)

They had stepped into what felt like total darkness. Amy flicked her gem, causing it to glow with a bright, warm white, acting as a light source - but it had done absolutely nothing to help. She was among one of those who were skeptical of entering the elevator - Xandra could've been right - but Atlas insisted on moving forward. Trixie did too, wanting to move on and get out of the tower as quickly as possible.

During their elevator ride, Amy supplied continuous healing spells to both Marcus and Don, the latter of whom already seemed to slip right into unconsciousness. "Come on," she snarled to herself. Only when Estelle screamed for her did she turned her attention away from them and to the room they had reached... a laboratory coated in blood. Amy gulped, stunned from the sight. Xandra however followed up with calling for the cleric, and she rushed to Dr. Dream's aid.

Except... the wailing man had collapsed before Amy could even finish a single chant. Now that he was still, Amy knelt beside him and checked for his pulse, two fingers to his jugular and the other holding her gem over his body. "... ... He's... dead." Slowly she rose back to her feet and backed away from the doctor. "Dylan's right. These hallucinations, these lies and deceit - this cannot possibly be real."

She turned around and returned back to where Don and Marcus were resting, lowering down to her knees as she continued to send healing spell after spell. Both their bodies glowed a nonstop warm gold, as if they were holymen. Having saved the majority of her magical energy, she had more than enough to splurge on bringing these to back to light. Anything to wake them up, anything to lift their fatigue. Especially on Marcus' end Amy's efforts seemed for naught, and she was thoroughly convinced whatever was going on could not be happening - but she continued to heal them anyway.



Trixie remained crouched against the wall beside the lab's entrance. With her knees held up to her chest, she had her face buried in her arms, her body rocking gently. "Not again, not again," she murmured.

The Tower

The elevator doors closed on the approaching shadowy doppelgangers and the ruined room, enveloping the exhausted group in jazzy elevator music. Aria was rather relieved to see that it wasn’t one of the elevators with mirrors for walls- she had had enough of mirrors for a while. It also wasn’t showing signs of being a hungry monster, as Xan had suggested, and the illusionist leaned on one of the walls with a sigh as the elevator ascended.

The peaceful ambiance was cut short as the doors slid open with a grinding screech and hiss, filling the small space with the thick and cloying scent of blood.

The scene that played out after had her staring numbly in shock. Marcus and Atlas? There was no way. Or was there? They had been with their respective groups, yet the time that they had spent alone in the nightmares, could the two have- She quickly shook away the thought, supressing the nagging feeling of doubt. What kind of friend was she, suspecting her teammates?

No, this couldn’t be real, just as Dylan and Amy said. Aria straightened up, scanning the room and wincing at the coat of red that covered almost every surface. It couldn’t all have belonged to the doctor, could it? Perhaps he had been attacked by a nightmare and wasn’t able to escape? The biggest question now, however…

“Where do we go from here?” She looked back at the elevator. “We’ve found the doctor, and… well...” She gestured helplessly, wanting nothing more than to leave this hellish place.

Seventh floor - Dr Dream's lab
Syed brought his hands to his mouth in absolute horror. There... there was so much of it! So much! It couldn't have come from just one person, right? He backed himself against the wall, his breathing becoming rapid and shallow. He didn't want to be here he wanted to be anywhere but here-!

He crouched down beside Trixie, putting a trembling arm around her shoulders and pulling her to his chest. He didn't say a word - there was no way he could trivialise a situation like this. And as much as his mind screamed about coincidences and conspiracies and set-ups and traps... this was all too much. He had no idea what was truth and what was a lie anymore.

To be honest, he needed comfort just as much as he thought Trixie did.


Moira had a much stronger stomach than her partner, however. She remained standing, one hand gripping her sword, scowling at their surroundings. "It's thanks to Marcus that we're still a group," she said simply, thinking back to Vandrell. That was the one thing she was certain of - it wouldn't be Marcus. She didn't really want to contribute too much to the discussion, as she knew she wasn't the brightest bulb in the box. "And Whatsit has been with us pretty much the whole time."

She left it at that, bringing her other hand to her sword and flexing her fingers. She didn't concern herself with maybes and lies or truths or whatever. All she knew is that most people wouldn't just hang about waiting and flailing their blood about the place - they'd try and get help. It must have been recent... this place just screamed trap, and she wasn't willing to let herself be caught unaware. "Keep your guard up," she added in response to Aria. "Whatever happened might still be here."

Thaum: 7F, Dr. Dream’s Laboratory

The new room stretched out infinitely and the virtuoso couldn’t blame Lucien for getting nervous. “I’ll tell you when I found out, okay?” Lute told the summoner, but they didn’t have too look far to bump into an elevator. Some members expressed their distrust of the contraption and Lute wanted to agree, but if they wanted to take stairs it would be even riskier considering how many guilders were out of it. Besides, if they used the elevator they would only have that to worry about on the way up, while stairs meant visits to other floors where monsters could be released on them. He stepped in after Atlas and instinctively occupied one of the four corners.

Estelle regained her consciousness soon after and he put her down, and he shook his head when she thanked him for her assistance. She’d understand what he meant. Lute sighed and leaned against the wall then closed his eyes and let the cheerful elevator music numb his senses.

The calm had to pass one way or another; the doors opened and the Pride was greeted by the sight of a blood-smeared laboratory. “Doctor!” Lute stepped out, horrified, with intent to reach out to the man and steady him, but all of that vanished when Dr. Dream started talking about treachery. He also said that the ones who betrayed him collaborated with the Dream Eater…? “Bullshit!” The virtuoso snarled the moment his friends’ names left Dream’s mouth.

Dylan, Amy and Moira had the sense to cut through most of the dead man’s accusations, but Lute’s defense sprung purely from emotion. It took a number of deep breaths for the virtuoso to clear his mind and focus on the facts, and by then most everyone had formed their opinion of what happened. Well, Dr. Dream’s dead and there’s nothing they could do about it- frankly Lute didn’t want to do anything about it- and the next priority was to take care of the other guilders. “Atlas, do you know how we can get out of here?” He addressed his friend calmly before crouching down in front of Syed and Trixie. He didn't have a grasp of the building's layout the same way Atlas did.

“Hey,” He softly called out to the girl but didn’t touch her; Lute thought that after what she had been through- after what they’ve all went through- she wouldn’t react pleasantly if an acquaintance suddenly poked her. “We’re going to get out of here soon, okay? All of us.”