A Clayman's Finale

Salia cut through the weakened golem far more easily than any ever before. The automated behemoth fell apart as Salia sliced something inside of it. The clay dropped slowly into a puddle, but inside the puddle were shrunken, dehydrated body-parts. Inside of the golem, there had been a cut up human! It must had been dead for centuries, but for some reason the remains had been kept in reasonable state inside the golems.

The answer to the many questions this begged was in the corridor beyond the garden; in all the garden's overgrown glory the flora mysteriously hadn't penetrated the temple at all. It was the entry of an ancient manor; with clean pillars and well-kept wall-paintings. They showed people elevated on pillars, golems bowing down to them. Some of the people drew symbols on the golems their chests, and like an ancient image story, the golems performed various tasks in sequenced images; such as building and gardening... The symbols however, curiously corresponded with those on the bodies of the golems. At least, the ones that were on there before Lux and Salia had melted one...

Further down the corridor split in several paths, each ending with a door. There was the main gateway, built grander and more impressive than the rest, as well as two branching pathways to each side. What was beyond the doors was a mystery, but one thing was fore sure, above Lux and Salia, the sky grew treble. The white bishop's shield was slowly covering and locking in the entire ruins...

Free Billy

Quartz, Nathair and Eowyn were successful in clearing the stage; however the crowd only got wilder. This was part to Remia drawing her sword; which caused it to disperse and panic. The woman with Arlette and Mime, once again tried to grab the girls and run them to safety, but she was unable to gather the strength to get Mime off his feet. At this point the woman had a shocking realisation;

“You're one too, aren't you?” She gasped, before seconds later she vanished into the chaos of the crowds...

The fish-kart, moved along steadily closer to the sea. Even if Remia and her blade were avoided, clearing a path for her and Mime towards the aquarium on wheels. Yet out of nowhere, shadows vaulted over their heads. In the sky flew three horned, winged beasts. They were drogans; dogs with the limbs and wings of bats, six eyes and the horns of a bull. It was not just Remia's sword that caused chaos; after all. Yet, the beasts dove down at the two librarians; intent on getting in their way...

Meanwhile Simon his wits were outmatched by the ensuing chaos. “What is going on! I demand an explanation!” He yelled at Eowyn and Nathair. The man's head was blazing red and his voice reached a higher pitch than was comfortable listening to. He stamped his feet, but in spite of his tirade it was clear to see the PR man was in panic. “Why has that girl drawn a sword? This is terrible publicity for the Library! They'll have my job for this incompetency of yours! You were supposed to prevent it!”

Rendezvous Crash

Bishop's act paid off very well. The guard bought their story enough to allow them an audience with the don. That meant the most difficult part of the mission was over. Once they were in the don's room, Andre and himself would be able to neutralize the guards while Bishop worked her magic. Mind control was a very powerful tool.

A plump man sat behind the mahogany table, seated in a plush leather chair. He gave a quick glance at each of Bishop's companions before focusing on the woman herself, welcoming her with a rather friendly tone.

Vologhn quickly shuffled to one side of the room to let Bishop do the speaking. There was a large collection of exotic birds, each in the dozens of cages that lined the sides of the room. Though he feigned interest in the brightly colored fowls, he was keeping a keen eye on the don and spreading out more webs.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Vignar winced upon hearing Sean exploding and screaming, it was not something he could get used to. It took him awhile to realize that the caster of the explosion was the singer, which was surprising for the Bishop. Unfortunately, the time he used to think for it was the time when the armor spirit managed to pull Fran out of the ghost holder and her spirit's hold and took the PR staff hostage.

“Leave or I kill the woman,” the armor said while the man inside screamed. Vignar growled at the spirit, but ordered the ghost of Octal to stop just as he saw her spirit materialized something and stepped forward to help Fran out of Valor's grip. Almost directly after, Vignar heard Emily's shout and turned to look for what alarmed her. Seeing the emerging porcupine worm leaping at him, Vignar stilled for a split second before throwing himself aside to the ground away from the leaping worm's path. It was a split second too late and Vignar found his clothes growing wet and the backside of his head and back were getting warmer.

Rendezvous Crash
Andre didn't try to interpret what the guard's smile to him meant, in fear that he would delve into unnecessary paranoia. Thankfully, it wasn't too hard for him to move on from the thought as they stepped into the Don's office and saw the colorful decoration that was greeting them with a noisy cacophony. The chorus didn't last long as the large man sitting on the chair stopped it and started to talk to them, to Bishop specifically.

With the Don focusing on Bishop and noticing that Vologhn moved to a side, Andre decided to back away and stood beside the entrance to the office. He slumped his shoulders while sweeping his eyes across the room, there was something that started to gnaw on the back of his mind after hearing the Don's family name.

Free Billy

"Yes!" Arlette replied to Remia instantly as she saw the crowd going wilder and wilder. Her question shoved back for the moment as she chose to follow Remia first with Mime trailing behind. They made some progress towards the wheeled aquarium before a shadow loomed over them and caused Arlette to looked up. The girl breathed out a shriek upon seeing the drogans diving towards them and then tried to draw Remia's attention to them if the latter hadn't. One of the foremost drogan almost tackled Arlette before Mime delivered a tackle of her own towards it and started to wrestle against the drogan, leaving Remia to deal with the remaining two as Arlette watched with wide-eyes.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

Valor hesitated; his grip on Fran tightened as he lifted her into the air in front of him to obstruct Emily from firing another arrow. Diane's continued singing put the armour further on the edge, “Stand down and leave!” He commanded again. Even if Emily promised to help them, her words had very little promise to Valor... “Your friend has already tried that. The armour growled, referring to Fran.

It was then that the ghosts of Octal and Eight jumped up and attempted to undo the chains their wrappings around Fran. Their small fingers crept between the chains and Fran's skin slowly, Eight's attempts naturally being more successful than the holder's. It seemed that even if these ghosts were unable to overpower Valor, they would buy Fran's survival some more time. However, the librarians either needed to lower their threat level or finish the spirit off. There was no more time for games...

As was completely evident by Steve's violent assault. Unlike Valor, Steve had no hesitation. The ragworm's blades tore through Vignar's skin; and as it landed it would constrict him into yet another deadly embrace... Truly this fight had to end... The scent of blood made the werecats outside of the isolated cage begin to grow excited... As some of them even left the shades they'd been laying in...

Rendezvous Crash

“Why, I swore I've discussed this with your father before...” The don murmured, as he eyed Bishop and her companions suspiciously. For a brief moment he made eye-contact with each and every one of them, as if foltering them all for information... “It is no different,” Giovani eventually gave in has he placed a hand on his forehand. “As Alex and I discussed, while the Lorenzo family is occupied with it's own operations, we will organise Midenze to take away their control and seize their territory; their control of the underworld will be ours... Just imagine what we can do with their resources at our command. You will become a rich woman, miss Bishop. You and your father will have no financial or moral limits to your research, when I come to rule this land.” The don tipped his fingers on his chair, and took a second to breathe as he studied Bishop again...

“Though I'm not certain why Alex would keep this from you...” He mumbled to himself again. “Where is your father at present, miss?” Giovani Celino asked.

Andre, in his circling through the room, would possibly even recognise more. The name 'Lorenze', which Giovani Celino had mentioned earlier, was one he had read before in the documents of the sewer. It was one of the biggest families in the mafia, and the head was father to Liaison... Although there was no proof of the head of department's involvement with the mafia; something had set the rebels off... But these were in the documents of the same rebels who had been supplied by Aegis corp; Alexander Bishop's company.

As well, Andre found, between the birds, family portraits of the Don. It was the pudgy man, a wife that was presumably ten years younger, and three girls... One of which their faces was familiar to the rook...

Meanwhile, Vologhn's threads outside warned him that the guard outside was listening closely, pressing his ear against the door. They were being eavesdropped, but what did that mean? More men gathered at the back of the door; meaning that would no longer be a valid exit... The birds in the room felt the gathering also and began to act uneasy. Some of them took a particular interest in Vologhn, as he weaved. They didn't know what he was doing, but the act of weaving put them on alert.

Free Billy

Eowyn felt Simon's rage; it affected her too. Nothing was going as it should; this was all too much to happen in front of her right now. “We don't have any choice now!” She said as shadows of beasts found their way above Remia, Arlette and Mime and the winged dogs attacked them.

Throwing caution to the wind, Eowyn summoned the rock horse. “Sleipnir!” Eowyn called upon her spirit, as the lava stone gathered from the nothingness and formed around Eowyn; fusing into their scorching hot centaur form. Eowyn's eyes blazed like the fiery veins across Sleipnir's body. “Nathair, mister Getskilled, I'm sorry for this.” She said, and in the blink of an eye vanished; teleporting directly into the air to pounce onto one of the drogans that was trying to get to Arlette.

The drogan and Eowyn crashed down before the girls, Sleipnir's hooves searing it's skin like hot irons. Stomping on the beast's skull once more to crush it, Eowyn glanced at Remia and Arlette. This time she would protect them. This time nobody had to die. If that went at the cost of Simon's career or the Library's reputations; so be it.

A Clayman's Finale

“Like a knife through hot butter!” Lux grinned, but that cheer only lasted a few seconds before human body parts fell out of the golem. What dark secrets did this ancient mumbo-jumbo temple hold? Lux just couldn't look away from the decomposing golem. This was one wicked construction...

“I'm not sure how much more of that my stomach can take,” The bishop commented, finally able to rip his eyes off the golem's remains. “But at least we now know these things can be destroyed. Can you relay that to the team, Salia?” Lux asked, knowing it was a bit of a lopsided request, he still felt it was worth hearing about. “I don't want them to lose their lunch, but knowing we took one down one of these titans could be a good boost in morale.”

Will 'o the Piper

It felt as if Sigmund had a major concussion. His head was woozy and his cheeks were red like a royal flush... At least the kind with the red cards. “What the hell happened.” He asked to himself, as he opened his eyes to see the spirit world in a strange blur. The last thing he remembered was Medusa biting him and...

“Oh hell!” Eidren's bludgeoned body was still there; Sigmund could see that even with his dazed senses. “What the hell happened here...” Sigmund repeated, this time with a more dire set of mind. “Charles, where are you?” Sigmund growled, but his colleague was nowhere to be seen. There were stones surrounding Eidren's corpse and when Sigmund noticed them, it wasn't long until his question was answered.

“Poor bastard.” He grumbled, symphatising with a dead man, but opted not to give it too much thought. Not while the mission was still in progress. The kappa had gone upstream, this he knew, and Charles must have followed them... And quite possibly Medusa as well. That... Was a problem, Sigmund surmised and got to his feet to pursue the holder and spirits...

It took a while before Sigmund was able to catch up, but from the distance he saw both Medusa and Charles in combat with the kappa. Instantly materialising his iron viper, he used the hookshot to pull a kappa that jumped at Charles straight out of the air; and proceeded to slam it into the ground.

“What the hell is going on here!” Sigmund yelled at Charles, even if it was the third time he asked the question. He ran up closer, although keeping his distance not to get in Charles' way. He pulled the captured kappa closer, then traded in the hookshot for his spear; with which he pierced the slimy critter's heart. “I thought they were running from us, Charles.”

Medusa, meanwhile, had struck the final kappa with a bone-shattering hit from her tail. Although she had been washed back, she crawled on dry land, spitting sneezing up water. Although she was able to swim, Medusa was clearly not made for water combat. The monstrous woman was furious, as could clearly be seen by her her movements. She shook and clawed at the air; not satisfied with having destroyed the kappa; she was torn between lust and bloodlust. She pursued Charles and Sigmund, who had recovered from her toxins, gracelessly slithering across the riverbanks.

“Mine! They are mine!” Medusa screeched at the kappa, but it was no less threatening of a statement to the two holders...

Will O' the Piper

"They don't seem to be running from us as much as towards something else!" Charles shouted back, pointing upstream towards the red and blue shapes that were just coming into view for them. "My guess is that those are what want the children, and the little ones are just following orders. It makes me wish they didn't fight back." As he spoke, he continued fending off the attacking Kappa. "I don't think there's anything else we can do here!" he continued, "I'm going up ahead with Sophia, try to catch up if you can!" And with that he banished his staff and moved away from the river bank, putting dry land between him and the Kappa to continue running unhindered.

Free Billy

Quartz

The spirit let out a soft, warning hiss when Mr. Getskilled stomped his foot and nearly stepped upon him in the process. The man seem to demand an explanation for Eowyn's actions yet there was fear in his eyes over this utter chaos. Not that Quartz could blame him. Things went from a simple objective to utter panic when Eowyn's sword came down upon the man's foot and now it seemed the PR man's job would be at risk. If it wasn't for the uncomfortable pitch of the man's voice, followed by his little hissy fit then the spirit might've felt a little more sympathetic.

Either way, it was done now as the crowd rushed away from the stage in full fledge panic. Like a stampede, they rushed away in disorder and haste the way a herd being attacked by a predator did. However, Quartz reasoned, Eowyn had moved off the stage at all.

That's when the three shadows appeared. Strange, horned creatures with large horns and looked be a bizarre mixture of bat and dog flew overhead. Quartz smirked as he realized that perhaps Eowyn wasn't the total cause of the panic after all. Eowyn's voice caused both him and his holder to jerk in her direction when she said it was too late. Naturally, Quartz had agreed and before he could voice it, the knight was already apologizing. In moments she called out her spirit, an eight legged horse of brimstone and fire, then fused together. The woman's white flesh melted into the redden magma veins and cooled rock which formed her lower half. Then she vanished.

Quartz blinked, both in awe and confusion, until he spotted one of the drogan had crashed into the ground. Even through the shouting and screaming, he heard the distinct canine yelp when hot hoof clashed into leathery skin. Meanwhile Mime clashes with another, knocking it away from Arlette with a flying tackle.

Quartz sighed at the mess things became. "Either way, I agree with Eowyn Mr. Getskilled. It's too late to undo it, right now our job is merely damage control and to prevent anyone from getting hurt. I suggest, Mr. Getskilled, you and the other PR members get somewhere safe."

The spirit then turned to Nathair, his feathers pressed back when he spoke. "Nathair, you and Arlette aren't going to be much good in the fight with the crowd swarming about. We'll make our way towards Arlette and keep her out of the way while Mime, Remia and Eowyn handle whatever those things are. First things first..."

Quartz's body started to shiver slight. His outside layer lightened into a whitish green the started to flake off, the fresh skin underneath was bright emerald in color. With each shedding the spirit grew until he was about the height size of a lynx (Candian species) when he stopped his shedding then turned back towards Nathair. "Keep close, I rather you not be swept up in the crowd."

Nathair nodded then hopped off stage as Quartz glided down nearby, his long body slithered forward and parted the rushing sea of bodies. Mentally the spirit spoke to Mime, a faint hope the spirit would deliver the message to his holder. 'Coming towards Arlette and you. Can she meet us part of the way?'

A Clayman's Finale
"Ohmygodohmygodohmy..." Adeline muttered frantically as she huddled behind the large, steel figure that was Maria. She was certainly useful as a shield, but beyond her was a chaotic scene of destruction. She didn't know what her spirit had done, but it was really, really loud. When the reverberations subsided, Adeline peeked out from her cover to see the tomb all but ruined. There was a giant crater before them where Dr. Valenci's spirit had been a few moments ago.

"What the hell did you do?" Adeline said incredulously, not believing her spirit was capable of this level of destruction. It certainly had never done anything of the sort before.
'Just something I thought of... your recent enhancements at the library has given me a little more freedom in this realm.'
"Okaaaay... just, don't ever throw that so near to us again," she grumbled. "That's crazy."
'Relax, Lin. It was all under control.'

With the spirit dealt with, they were free to continue on towards their goal. it took some guessing to figure out where they should go, but Adeline was fairly certain that they were on the right track. However, they were soon greeting by an ominous set of footsteps resounding from somewhere nearby, that were heavy enough to rule out all but one creature in this place.

"Shit! A golem is coming? If we move fast, it shouldn't be able to keep up. I managed to outrun one on foot before..." Adeline said to Maria.

The Clayman's Finale

Much to Salia’s surprise, the golem was extremely easy to cut. The girl smiled as she was complimented by her companion… but that smile did not last much as the pieces began falling down, causing the rook to swiftly react by moving back… just in case it was going to react. But having fallen apart, it obviously was not going to do so. In fact, the clay became a muddy puddle… with human body-parts!! Salia felt sick for a moment. Finding human remains inside the golem was not exactly what she was expecting, and even less in that state.

“Ugh, I know…” Salia’s feelings echoed Lux’s, but shaking his head soon reached the conclusion she better not think about that, for now. “Alright, let’s see if I can do that…” By using the telepathic link with the rest of the holders, she explained the situation to Arthur, who relayed the message swiftly. “Salia and Lux have destroyed one of the golems. Lux’s heat from the vapour made it malfunction and that made it particularly weak to Salia’s sword. Since the golems are made of clay, anything that will naturally affect clay will affect the golems. Human body parts found within the golems.” Hopefully that was precise enough… even with the extra information that both Salia and Arthur felt had to be relayed.

“Hey, look!” Salia motioned her head towards the sky, indicating to Lux that he should look up… to see how it was changing… Of course, even then, they should be focusing on the task ahead. And that meant moving onwards and exploring the rest of the area…

Free Billy

Remia had realised that the crowd was getting wilder, partially because of her actions. However, with their panicking and dispersing, her path forward was now much easier. She rushed onwards, trying to get to the fish-kart as soon as possible, hoping to intercept it. However, it was not all going to be as easy as she would have hoped for. Three horned, winged bests were circling the crowd in the air.

Looking like dogs… winged dogs. With several eyes and horns. Remia sighed. “I knew it couldn’t have been just me…!” as she got ready to engage them. The young girl smiled, as she felt she had the situation under control to a certain degree. First of all, she switched her sword to her crossbow and aimed upwards, trying to hit the flying beasts. If she could hit some of them before they arrived, that would be perfect. Of course, she knew she could not take them all down before they arrived and by the time they would get to them, she would change the crossbow to her lance… it might not have had a name, but being near the sea, it was under the perfect situation for it.

However, one of the drogans was already fighting with Mime and the other was being taken care of by Eowyn. Remia would have to focus on one of them, only, then.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

In a matter of seconds, perhaps because of the magic itself, Diane seemed to forget about the damage. All that mattered was signing. Continuing to do so was absolutely necessary. Why? She wouldn’t know. Yet she kept going almost in some sort of strange trance, unable to help the rest of the team, for now. She might be okay with being a distraction but her voice would not stop.

A Clayman's Finale

Maria stood up straight, and by the way she moved it was obvious she wasn't getting anywhere fast in that armor. "You run ahead, I'll guard the rear. Don't worry about me, I can catch up fast once I'm out of this suit." She smiled behind the grille and turned to face the footsteps.

Despite her bravado, Maria was apprehensive. What if I mess up and it gets past me? She kept thinking to herself, but a familiar voice from behind stopped those thoughts.

"Do not let yourself fall into despair for what has not yet happened, young one," Titanus said, his words cutting through her fear. "Focus on what you are doing, not what you might fail to do."

With his words behind her, Maria stood her ground and waited for the creature coming towards them. "This is my job." She muttered, "I am a shield."

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Emily

Warmth spread and soaked into her sleeves and near her legs, only slightly darkened the fabric. She had ignored the sting in each movement and no indication of her pain reached her face. Emily forced herself to remain calm, even if she wanted to scream from it. Her wounds from Steve would need treatment soon but that was the least of her worries right now.

She watched in unmasked horror when Vignar stalled a second too long and got nailed by the Ragwurm's spikes, the thing curled about his form into a dangerous bear hug. The spikes ripped into his skin with driven determination to protect its holder as Emily felt her hands farther tied. If she and Diane left then Vignar would die and Fran was lost. Inwardly she flinched at seeing Vignar being torn up by Steve's constriction, a sympathy for his experience since she felt a similar thing not too long ago. Impulsively she had her back turned towards Valor and started to rush to Vignar's aid only to have Cerberus's voice rip into her skull. Her feet skittered to a sudden halt when she felt his bark boom through her mind, rattled it.

'Emily!'

"He's killing him!" Emily snapped in protest at her spirit, her voice filled with fear and panic."I can't just stand by and watch it!"

'And how will rushing to his aid help him?' Cerberus growled in a cold manner as he laid out the bitter facts for her. 'What could you do other then get him, the hostage and yourself... Killing Steve doesn't solve anything other then risk both holders and the fact he'll just re-materialize again.'

Emily just gritted her teeth in silence while Cerberus continued, ignoring her anger growing within. 'You know how to end this. It's the only way...'

'There has to-

Cerberus's patience with his holder had reached it's limit when he abruptly cut her off. Some times a sacrifice is in order to save lives, you should know this yet you refuse to make one.

'I've made sacrifices.' Emily mentally spat at her spirit, her hands tightened into fists while the moments ticked by. To those watching her, it would seem as if she was weighing her options and realizing her possibilities were growing smaller with each passing moment. Slowly she had began to back way and appeared to be seeking a way out of the beamed cage, clearly hesitate to leave her allies.

"My hands are tied... I can't attack without risking my allies but I can't retreat until Fran releases the cage and allows us. Besides I have no promise you won't kill them and then vanish into the desert once we do. I can't imagine Sean will last much longer without medical treatment." Emily stated calmly, body rooted to the spot. She noted the singing had continued to unnerve Valor and added towards Diana. "I think that's enough singing...please."

Cerberus hadn't finished with Emily and again continued, ignoring her conversation with the spirit and dying man.

'Sacrifice is a choice. All those lives you've ended and killed were out of self defense, not your decision to end them. Now at least one death will happen, no matter what you decide to do. Who dies is up to you... And you have to accept that.'

Wasting little time, Cerberus then spoke to Vignar's spirit. The three headed dog didn't waste time or inquire about the man's current condition but instead asked about a simple possibility. 'Think your holder could order his pawn to cause a distraction? I've already forced Emily's hand into doing the rest, but I need an opening to push her. If Sean dies then so does his spirit.'

Her then turned to Diana's spirit. 'When Emily moves, tell your holder to give Emily a boost.'

The moment Valor was distracted and Fran removed from the line of fire, Cerberus aimed to make Emily finish this. The time for talk was over and now they needed to end this threat. There was only way to do that and it was by eliminating the meat shield, one or another. Though Emily wouldn't agree, Cerberus knew one or more sacrifices had to be made. Fran would likely be a casualty, and possibility even Vignar, in Cerberus's mind which was impossible to avoid. After all as long as his holder lived, even when she spite him, that was all that matter to the monster.

Free Billy

Mime's fight with the drogan was short-lived, as even in Arlette's form his strength was simply overwhelming for the monster. The same was true for Remia and Eowyn's tussles with the beasts. Yet if they were disposed off so easily; why had the drogans been released in the first place. Not to actually stop the librarians... But they had succeeded in sowing more panic; which seemed to affect the fish in the tank. It's starfish-like collar unfolded and suctioned against the glass; pulling it's skull to bash against the glass. Even though it hadn't yet reached the sea; the fish was quickly cracking it's cage. One of the activists that had been on the pulling party attempted to hush it, but to no avail at all...

Simon, left to his own devices, last of all yelled at Nathair and Quartz to not cause more of a fuss. “And that fish is worth more than you can possibly imagine!” He shouted after the last holder running away from him. It became awful lonely on stage... And Simon had wasted all of his wits. He couldn't keep anything up under this pressure anymore... Especially when he saw something worrying in the distance; a giant monstrosity was coming closer with high speed; pushing through the water and leaving waves in it's wake. It looked much like the fish in the tank... Except at least ten times bigger!

Will O' the Piper

Charles, and Sigmund if he would be able to catch up, would find that further up the river the kappa would soon again vanish the exact same way they entered the spirit world. However, as Sophia closed in to the portal the kappa were passing through, she would become transparent and intangible. Which was most unfortunate considering the blue and red shapes would turn out to be walking giants! Two oni, one red and one blue, with Buddha-bellies but the kind of musculature that almost ripped their skin. They were armed with trees; actual trees! For now it seemed the librarians were safe from them, but the kappa were escaping the spirit world and taking the kidnapped children with them... The alive ones at least. Some of the children had drowned during the kappa's hasty escape, and had been left to drift on the river. Yet the living ones... The kappa were bringing them to the two oni...

A Clayman's Finale

The footsteps Adeline and Maria heard were indeed a golem's... Soon from the darkness one of the towering mechanical dolls appeared, slowly but surely approaching Maria who had stayed behind. This was a rock golem; like the one the first party had encountered at the entrance and it wasted little time to let the stay-behind rook know that it would have been best if she had at least just tried to run. A rock was propelled from it's arm; straight at Maria at alarming speed; with enough force to knock even the ironclad holder back...

Meanwhile, Salia's message was relayed to all the spirits. “Salia and Lux have destroyed one of the golems. Lux’s heat from the vapour made it malfunction and that made it particularly weak to Salia’s sword. Since the golems are made of clay, anything that will naturally affect clay will affect the golems. Human body parts found within the golems.” Soneillon and Titanius both received... Which would be helpful... Hadn't this golem been of rock. Or would some properties carry through?

Thanks to the floor-breaking battle with Valenci's spirit, Adeline was able to find a pathway that had previously been hidden. Down the path she would eventually be able to find doctor Valenci... But not before she would meet two other familiar faces she had met back at the museum... Or at least hear their voices. Although they certainly did not appear as they had back then, back when they had attempted civilised conversation. Now they seemed to be rushing the good doctor, as well as threaten him. It was fortunate for Adeline the corridor took many turns, so that she could avoid being spotted... But how many more turns were these people away?

A Clayman's Finale
Maria stood her ground and activated Traction again, holding her hands out in front of her as if to catch the boulder, like one would catch a dodgeball. As the stone impacted her palms, she braced herself against the ground, leaning forward and trying to catch her balance. It almost didn't work, and she could feel the force of the boulder tilting her backwards, but at last it's momentum slowed enough for her to shift it aside, where it fell several feet behind her.

"Is that all you have, Stonehead?" She jeered, not expecting that Provoking a rock would have much effect besides making her feel better. She knew the armor wouldn't last much longer, and began backing towards the exit that Adeline had taken. Once the armor fell, she would make a dash for it. Running wasn't her strongsuit, but it didn't seem like this big guy was any better, and she would have the advantage of her small size in the corridor, even though she would barely fit into it while she wore Titanius' giant suit of armor.

Free Billy

Mime looked up from the broken Drogan she was fighting and back to the group and the fish creature in the tank. Okayyy, she mentally chirped back to Quartz before heading to her holder and the other two holders.

"Nathair's heading here and asked to be joined halfway," She informed the group before looking at Sleipnir. "Also, the fishie's panicking, can't you talk to it?"

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Vignar gasped in pain as the worm started to wrap him in a bladed embrace. Feeling blades working themselves to his flesh, Vignar tried to wiggle his way out, causing some of the blades to cut him further before he resorted to breathe fire at the worm in an effort to drive it off. It brought him a bit more time as the embrace stopped and loosened for a moment, a moment that his spirit used to relay Cerberus' message as he wrestled his way out of Steve and earned several more cuts on him.

The cur's idea is a decent gamble, take it, his spirit said.

He took an uncertain glance at Emily before making up his mind. He already felt his head getting heavier, his best bet would probably to go along with the idea before he lost consciousness and made things worse. Vignar shouted an order for Octal and Eight to attack Sean and Valor.

Free Billy

Quartz and Nathair

Both Nathair and Quartz had made their way off the stage. They rushed deep into the pushing crowds, men and women rushing about in utter panic, as a muffled voice rang over the screams. It was Mr. Getskilled. Quartz snorted at the PR head's late request about not making more of a fuss and "concern" over the creature's well being, mainly it's worth. It made the snake's skin quiver in anger and replied back just before his figure slithered among the many feet, vanished behind Nathair.

"It's a little late for that! Our main concern is making sure both lives, animal and human make it out alive. Personally there's better places and times to release that thing, now isn't one of them!" Quartz shouted back, his body moved forward and in front of his holder. His form pushed and shoved away to part the frantic sea of living.

Already the fight between Mime, Remia and Eowyn ended fairly quickly which caused Quartz to wonder why the Drogans had been sent out at all. Wasn't it to stop the librarians? Nathair picked up on Quartz confusion and gave his own answer to it. "It was made to cause panic. Look around, what better way to stop our then by making it harder to complete our task? We're limited by the crowd."

Quartz paused for a second, absorbing the fact which was sound and sensible. Then broke off part of the way changing his course for the wagon, the creature suctioned to the glass and head butted it until cracks had started to appear. Water started to spring from the blemishes, poured in tiny streams upon the hot sands, leaving dark spots as the water level crawled lower. If the animal continued then it was likely it wouldn't have a tank for much longer. 'Nathair, you keep heading towards the others. I'm going to delay the wagon.' He mentally ordered his Holder, Nathair's head nodded and once more returned to pushing his way through still only half way from where he was suppose to meet the others.

Meanwhile it didn't take long for Quartz to approach the wagon, his eyes watched the beast still beating against the glass and another activist trying to hush it. Quartz just mused within his mind at the fruitless effort of the man hushing the creature, sounding more like hissing then anything calming. Even Nathair knew better and would've covered the animal up, bidding it's sight from the chaos outside to sooth it's raw nerves. Not wasting his time explaining matters to the activist, Quartz slithered closer to the wagon axel. He whipped his tail about and latched upon the axel's center. Once attached, his muscles started to constrict in an attempt to break it as he pulled back to slow the wagon's way to the ocean.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

If Diane's song continued, and Valor was intent to stick to his threat. The armour gave the girl a second to listen to Emily's order, but the attack continued to eat away at Sean. Then it heard a high-pitched shriek from the ragworm; Vignar's fire breath consumed the monster's flesh and melted the metallic spikes; repelling the worm and letting go of Vignar.

At that point, Eight dashed to the side and aimed it's giant crossbow at Valor. It shot at the armour, but it barely managed to dent it. Even so, Valor swung Fran between the two and the bolts hit the hostage instead; fashioning her stomach like a needle-cushion. The bolts were small and likely wouldn't do much damage, but Valor would. When Eight stopped firing, Valor raised Fran high in the air; preparing to slam her down on her own cage to break the woman... But Valor had to be fast, because thanks to Eight's distraction, Fran was no longer between him and Emily, or Vignar for that matter...

Hive of Minds

The rotting smell lingered deeper in the woods. Few corpses of animals laid scattered, as they were covered in fungi. Animals from weasels, to bears to deers, laid lifeless with mushroom ridden hides. Some were even molded together like Siamese twins. Tiny bugs darted around them, going in and out. However, most notable was their constant change in pace. They would move slower and stick closer to the corpses when a loud buzzing would scour over the treetops. Every now and then, the shadow of a giant wasp would pass. The wasps did not seem to pay attention to the holders, but would come down near the animal corpses and ravage them with their stingers; when the tinier bugs flew out; the wasps spat the same liquid as the librarians had received at the swarms; after which it was sucked up again and the wasp flew away. They were scavenging each and every last of the parasites...

At least, so one would hope. Somewhere in the bushes a sloth dropped near the librarians. Like the other animals, it was clearly dead and covered in fungi. However, this one, unlike the other corpses, was moving closer quickly. If any had a chance to pay close attention to the critter, they could see that it was missing it's eyes, and in it's sockets there were tiny eggs and larvae crawling. There were more parasites than the body could handle... From the sloth, bugs ascended and ambushed the librarians. Small swarms would rush for their ears and mouth; trying to enter them...

A Clayman's Finale

Sonneillon felt no need to relay the telepathic message to its holder. After all, a Knight's spirit did all of the dirty work. Lumbering forward in front of Adeline, the dark spirit would trigger, and shrug off all the traps that would be lethal to the very vulnerable girl.

"Okay, take a left here. I'm pretty sure we're close..." Adeline instructed, her decision based on intuition more than knowledge. She glanced back into the dark corridor, both wary of enemies and worried about Maria. Maybe it wasn't a good idea leaving her behind? She was a rookie after all, even if she was older than her. I'm always making terrible decisions, aren't I.

Adeline was quickly growing alarmed at the increasingly confusing tunnels, and was considering backtracking a few turns, when something other than brick and darkness appeared at the end of a corridor. Under the dim lighting of the runes, she could make out two figures. Sonneillon had stopped too. There was little doubt that these were enemies, but Adeline couldn't bring herself to attack them without warning.

"Identify yourselves!" she shouted as loud as possible. Sonneillon, however, had other priorities. It lashed out with metal chains, whipping horizontally towards the two figures.

Free Billy

“How do you expect us to talk to it?” Eowyn's centaur form asked Mime. Although her words weren't pointlessly complicated as Sleipnir's, in this form the horse's influence could certainly be felt. Regardless, Eowyn weeded a path through the crowd, waving her sword back and forth to scare people aside. It wasn't hard to wade through now; as she was far larger than anything but the fish on the beach. When she finally reached it, Eowyn let Quartz attempt to slow the kart, as she herself grazed sand from the beach put her hands on the cracks; putting the sand to the glass and letting the heat do it's job. If she could fill the cracks and discourage the fish from ramming into hot glass, she and Quartz might buy some time together.

Will 'o the Piper

Easier said than done, Sigmund thought, when it came to catching up with Charles and Sophia. They were a lot faster than the rook, and then there was a raging Medusa behind him... And whatever his spirit had done, Sigmund didn't feel like going through again... He'd have to rendezvous with Charles later, if he wanted to stay in the action.

Sigmund once again summoned his hookshot, and one after another targeted the kappa that were chasing Charles. Instead of killing them, however, he jerked the chains and threw them right at Medusa. In her primal rage, she wasted a lot of time tearing their slimy bodies apart. It was a brutal stalling technique, but if it gave Charles the opportunity to outrun his spirit, Sigmund had done his job...

“One messed up mission this is.” He grumbled to himself.

A Clayman's Finale

“That's one way of putting on the pressure.” Lux murmured, as Salia pointed out how they were being locked in. “I suppose that corners our target, but it's pretty nerve-wrecking to know we won't be getting out either.” He said off-hand. That white queen sure had a brutal kind of efficiency...

Lux wandered further ahead; the only way they could go either how. He hoped that Salia and he would catch onto Valenci's trail soon, or that the others had. In hindsight, leaving Maria and Adeline to fend for their selves was not the easiest choice to wrap his head around. By the times he had made it out by the skin of his teeth, Lux felt splitting up might not have been the best idea...

“We'd best keep moving.” Lux said, “We got our selves a grave-robber to catch, don't we?” But when Salia and he reached the split pathway, he wasn't sure what direction to take from there. Was this some kind of maze-mission?

“Behind which of these doors is the grand prize?” He mused, “We can take the front door, but something tells me doctor Valenci isn't at the main exposition... Otherwise all this moving of a full-blown temple wouldn't be so new. What do you think we should do from here, Salia?”

Hive of Minds
Ramza Losstarot

Rugratz was ahead of the group when they started venturing deeper into the woods, acting as if he's a scout. Though one would probably argue if he could see anything at all with that tiny eyes of his. But a pair of eyes in front of the group weren't exactly the real reason for Ramza to send him forward. Their current formation was actually to make up for the giant's lack of speed. This way, should there be trouble up ahead, the rest of the group could quickly come to his aid compared to having him in the back.

Out in front, the giant would occasionally glance over his shoulder to check with the Rook if he's still on the right bearing. But Shroom was the one who would either give a nod or point him in the right direction -keeping all of them in check with the map in his hands- towards the designated location. Ramza on the other hand, was busy studying the putrid terrain while ignoring their fetid smell. Whereas Pixie was busy pinching her nose with one hand while cautiously watching at her steps by the Rook's side.

Being a member of the Intelligence branch, Ramza was quick to pick up on the details of the few occurrences that he'd come to observe. Especially at the behavior of the overgrown wasps as well as those swarm of pests. So when the dead sloth suddenly dropped nearby, he somehow knew what he should do. Or at least with what to try before anything else. The carcass was in between Ramza and the two Holders. Rugratz was behind Ramza when the Rook turned towards the body. Immediately, he noticed what resides within it through those empty sockets.

"Pixie, open the jar quick!" said the man as he backed away from the swarms. "Shroom, Flora Necro! Preferably something with huge leaf to assist Rugratz!"
"Ramza!" Pixie cried out with the opened jar in her hands.
"Rugratz! Yell when they come to you!"

The instructions came almost spontaneously. With haste, the Rook grabbed the jar and poured at least half of its content towards the swarm. But his real target was at the carcass's head. His intention was to kill two birds with one stone. With the holes probably covered with that substance from the giant wasp, their problems might not be as troublesome as it might have been.

"Quick, run to Rugratz!" exclaimed Ramza to Pixie.

But the female minion tripped over a root and fell face first unto the dirt. Ramza swore under his breath then hurried and knelt down beside her before he materialized the Bahamut's wings and shielded both Pixie and Shroom with him from the threat. With the burning effect on the outer side of the wing, it would probably kill off those pests which dared come close. By this time, Shroom's summoned flora had made it to Rugratz's side. The giant lowered himself and yelled at the remaining bugs as they came for his huge mouth before allowing the flora to cover his face with its huge leaves.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Emily

She waited for her request of Diane to happen, her mind forced her body to keep the edginess within her from showing. From the corner of her eye there was a flicker of orange and yellow, followed by a swoosh sound as Vignar breathed fire into Steve's form. The beast let out a ear piercing shriek when the flames licked up its skin, the spikes melted to give a slight glossy gleam before it released it's hold. Emily felt part of her fear ease off her mind. At least until Vignar's eyes settled upon her, her neck hair rose in a familiar sensation and her throat dried in nervousness.

She couldn't break her stare upon Valor, her choice set in her mind. If she had turned, she was certain the man would see the emotional cocktail stirring inside her and he would hesitate. Hell, her own risk to do so was growing with each passing moment.

'You're out of time...'

Cerberus's words, far more vicious sounded then they were meant to be, echoed in her head and interrupted her thoughts as Eight moved. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Her mind ticked at adrenaline induced speed, her eyes too busy absorbing the scene to realize her own feet stirred into action.The small, childish spirit lifted her crossbow upwards and shoot. One or two arrows managed to ding off Valor's armor before he raised Fran to shield him, a few more arrows thumped softly into her stomach like a pin cushion. Meanwhile Emily's dagger had already wisp into existence within her right hand. Quickly her feet had swallowed up the distance just when Valor rose Fran into the air, ready to bash her fragile body into her very own trap and make good on his threat.

Impulsively Emily struck her dagger out at Valor's visor, where the armor looked weaker from Diane's earlier attack, with as much force as she could muster. If it sink in and embedded, she would abrupt twist leaving it sticking out from the skull front and into the brain, killing Sean. If that happened, it would end Steve's threat as well. Whether her dagger's aim was successful or not, her body still continued to pull around to Fran's form was about to smash into. Silently Emily braced herself, eyes closed and jaw tightened to muffle to umph of pain, as she made soften the woman's impact and prevent farther damage.