The collision of steel sounded, but it wasn’t from a sword. Wheeling around, Isidore saw the frame of another man, bracing himself against the wretched creature’s charge. Not Nick, but a human all the same, a human that, judging by attire and countenance, was very much the same type of individual as they were.
Good. More allies were needed, even if that meant there were more mouths to feed.
Sidestepping the blond man, Isidore caught the monster on the rebound, ramming his sword hilt-deep into its throat, before twisting the blade and almost decapitating the creature. Hot, foul blood splattered over his hands, but whatever disgust within him didn’t show on his face as he kicked the monster off his sword, then flicked the blood off. Octavia, that cheeky little bitch, ran off before he could grab onto her leash again. That brought a wry smile on his face, as well as the savaging she had inflicted upon the third creature.
Born minutes ago and already lethal. The pet they fished out of that stone tablet was certainly looking to be useful.
“Isidore,” he said, tapping his thumb against his chest as he locked eyes with the shieldbearer. “You’re another of the Goddess’s, aren’t you?” He paused, as if considering something, then continued. “This is a prison, or perhaps a laboratory, filled with more of these creatures. Though I’m invested in that puppy, if you’d rather avoid further involvement in these bloody affairs, it’d be best not to venture further. If you’re coming though, welcome.”
Isidore wiped his hands on his pants, then motioned for Augusta to follow him as he strode after the puppy. Once she came, he turned his head in her direction slightly, murmuring, “Dangerous?”
At first, Nick was glad to be out of that courtyard. It was weird heading back down to the dungeon-prison-whatever but they were in danger up there so down they went. Unfortunately, the demon pup led them to a group of three of those wretched experiment monsters. One of them was armed too! A poor sword like the one from earlier, but still armed! Yeah, they really should've seen this coming.
But then Nick witnessed something extraordinary, Augusta put her palm out and a small blue orb formed in front of it. She could do magic?! The blue ball of magic then shot out, hitting the creature with the blade right in the chest. "Wha?! How the hell did you do that?!" It was one thing to be able to manipulate the weird stone's unseen energies but now she can cast actual magic? Why can't he do any of that, Nick lamented.
The creature was dazed and that allowed Isidore and the demon dog, now named 'Octavia', to do their work. The former sliced the wretched creature's limb to disarm it from its weapon. He slid it right to Nick, presumably so he could use it to join the fight. Nick reflexively picked it up, but was he really going to have at it? He has not been in a fight before, much less against strange creatures that did not exist back home. Sure they were weak according to Augusta, but how weak was 'weak'?
Octavia dealt with the second creature, evading claw swipes with awesome agility. The demon canine was also intelligent, it bit onto the wretched experiment's leg first to force it down before going for the throat. A predator in the making, Octavia was. That left only one more wretched experiment, and that one was about to lunge at Isidore who had no time to react.
Suddenly, a stranger appeared. A middle-aged man with a shield charged forth and crashed into the wretched experiment, pinning it against the wall. Isidore was quick to dispatch the creature with a single ram of his blade into its neck.
The fight was over and Nick let out a sigh of relief. Octavia had ran off deeper into the complex but they had an ally present that required attention.
After Isidore introduced himself and some other words before following the demon dog, Nick was the next to approach the stranger. "Nick. Thanks for stopping by. You come here often?" He introduced himself with a joke. "Listen, the guy's right. Wherever we're heading, it's pretty dangerous. Nice shield, by the way. How come everyone here gets cool powers while I get anxiety attacks?"
The journey to the girl's village was so far uneventful, although Novak felt a bit of concern at her mention of this "Kyrinth". Still, she didn't seem particularly worried about it, so it probably wasn't worth worrying about. Unless, of course, the girl's evident boredom with her life and sheltered lifestyle had eroded her sense of self-preservation. What was more worrying was the presence of more of those iron-beaked birds in the area. Fortunately, they didn't seem to carry the same aggression as the ones that had attacked the trio earlier, and Lazirha paid no heed to them. Perhaps it'd be wise to ask about them when he had the chance.
Novak glanced at his companions, satisfied that he at least knew their names now. The fox girl was called Misaki, and and the small of stature swordswoman went by the name Oda Nobunaga. That name sounded familiar, he thought, but he couldn't place why. It couldn't be from his life, for those memories were well and truly gone. Was it someone he knew of, a piece of knowledge from his previous life?
I need to find somewhere safe where I can sit down, reorganize, and make sense of what's left of my mind, Novak thought as the girl's town came into view up ahead. The sight of civilization brightened his spirits considerably, and he looked forward to being able to sit down and spend some time making sense of everything.
When Lazirha asked the group about where they came from, Novak was the first to speak up. "I'm afraid I don't actually remember anything about my life. It's all a blank. All I know for sure is that I'm not from around here."
In hindsight, it was perhaps foolish to reveal his lack of memories so quickly and freely, but with his mind so focused on his mind and his spirits lifted, Novak didn't think his words through before speaking, and at this moment he wanted to get it off his chest.
"I don't suppose you could tell us a bit more about here?" he asked. "You said you've lived here you whole life, so you probably know plenty about it, right?"
The lack of any incidents en route to Lazirha's hometown came as a pleasant surprise to Misaki, who would have much appreciated a bit more time to examine the entire situation regardless. To the young girl's questions, though, the foxgirl could only find it within herself to respond with a slight half-grin. Given what she could see regarding the current state of the world, such curiosity was nothing if not admirable, but describing modern Japan and everything it (and the world at large) had to offer might sound too outlandish compared to what little she could make of the settlement in the distance. Even so, given that she planned to tell Nobunaga everything once they had actually reached the village (or, to be accurate, that she expected to have to tell everything), it seemed more useful to find more time to figure out how to describe everything in the simplest of terms.
"I'll tell you more once we sit down. There's a lot more to explain than you'd expect, but I'm not sure if you'd believe half of it," she said, shrugging her shoulders. If anything, though, starting in a location like this with at least some semblance of livelihood already meant that they wouldn't be floundering about aimlessly in pursuit of the basic necessities of life. So long as they could make themselves useful here, then it was possible to establish this location as a temporary base, if only for a short while...
Novak's question came before Misaki's own, but if anything, it was aimed right where she had planned to target anyhow, and so the young woman simply continued on quietly as she waited for Lazirha's response in turn. Asking about any problems that the village had would have to wait until they got to look around the place, but with the sudden influx of knowledge planted in her brain, development wasn't entirely out of the question so long as the villagers wanted it.
Augusta was mostly off her guard until all the enemies was finished off by her teammates. She was mostly ecstatic that her thoughts were correct and she indeed casted what could be considered a Magic Missle. There was a wide smile on her face as Isidore and Octavia finished off the rest of the Wretches. Hell, she didn't even notice this other fellow join them until after the monsters were finished off, though he seemed friendly enough. Her eye activated when she looked at him. Donovan MacConaill? Seemed there were all kinds here. What was next? Some Japanese person good with guns? "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Donovan. Thank you for your assistance. Would you like to follow the cute little dog we found further down into this prison? That's quite the interesting ability you have." She was treating her goddess eye as something casual at this point. Like she had it for quite the long time. Perhaps she was adapting to the situation much too fast?
Then to address Nick. "Come now, Nick. While the majority of your power isn't immediately available, I believe it will become useful for you in the future. Plus, being able to sense danger is quite the boon." She reached down and picked up the sword the one creature dropped and handed it to Nick. "Now you can help Isidore out next time we encounter those creatures. And besides, to learn how to cast that magic bolt I had to do what can be summed up as a magical tug-of-war with a demonic pup. I can probably teach you later if you so desire. After all, we all seem to have the ability." She aimed her index finger at her magical eye, "Or so my eye says."
With that, she started to walk towards where Octavia had run off to. "Octavia, dear! Don't run off too far ahead." For her, it was given that Nick would follow, though with Donovan it was a hard to tell situation. Perhaps he would, perhaps he wouldn't. Still, Isidore was leading the way and Augusta was wont to follow his vanguard at this point.
Don grunted heavily as he slammed his shield into the lunging creature; the abomination's nose breaking as the large man shoved it back. Not a moment later than the creature stumbling-- did the man that Don blocked for immediately descend with a swing of his blade, striking a killing blow. As the man pulled his his blade from the corpse of whatever that thing was, Don looked down at the ravaged bodies of the slain. Though he nodded in acknowledgement of what this 'Isidore' was saying, he did not respond, as his mind was focused on what had just occurred. There was no feeling of satisfaction, no accomplishment, no begrudging relief that these horrific things had been put down.... Just pity. Whatever these things were, they seemed to have been people once; grotesquely twisted into deformed reflections of what they once were. Those poor souls were probably just in pain, lashing out at anything their ruined minds felt might be responsible. At least now they'd be free of their suffering.
"Poor bastards..." Don muttered, "Can't even give em a proper burial."
Thankfully, Nick's jovial greeting helped Donovan to shake the thought from his head. "Well if this ere's a prison, aye'd hope ah don't come ere often!" the man responded with a boisterous laugh as his hand clapped Nick's shoulder, "Tha name's-" Before Don could continue, the pointy-eared girl wearing a large dress cut him off.
Don paused, eyebrows raised in slight confusion. How did she know his name? How did she know his gift? Did it have something to do with her own gift? Before he could open his mouth to ask such questions, 'Augusta' admitted as much; revealing her gift to be related to that briefly glowing eye of hers.
Since it seemed like introductions had already been more or less handled, Don now had a decision on his hands-- was he to to join this little group in their exploration? Or should he instead try to help the others escape the guardian? For a brief moment, Donovan rubbed his chin in focused contemplation. As much as he wanted to help the others, the guardian outside seemed much more focused on simply blocking the exit rather than chasing down the first target it saw. Trying to get back in that debacle would more then likely just put all of them at risk, if not outright make the situation worse. "Well," Don spoke, nodding to himself with conclusion as he drew the warhammer from his belt, "Might as well join ya. Could be somethin' down ere that could elp' everyone get outta ere' safeleh. Plus you lot seem like ya might appreciate a wee bit o' extra manpower... Plus a shield ain't somethin that oughta be passed up in a place like this."
Shield at the ready and warhammer in hand, Donovan jogged to the front of the group, intending to help take point with Isidore.
"My home... is quite a distant place, but I have to be honest," Nobunaga began. She didn't want to become too bogged down in attempting to explain somewhere that didn't yet exist in this world. Rather... it was far more pertinent to learn more about the world they have arrived in. A plan for how to move forward had begun to construct itself in Nobunaga's mind the moment that they encountered a native human. Or, at least outwardly human. Regardless, she seemed to think and behave in a manner expected of a human being. Therefore...
Well, she needed to learn more before she could really put her plan into action.
"I must admit being in a new land, I'm quite curious about my new surroundings. I have never been in such a place, you see," she continued, technically speaking the truth. This place didn't seem quite like anywhere in Japan, after all. Certainly the weather was far colder then the typical winter.
"You say very little happens around here, then?"
It was just the start. She didn't want to jump too quickly into asking if the village had any struggles it was dealing with, after all.
"So you may say, though your not entirely the most trust worthy person i could trust.." Alice would say noting his mannerisms to be rather through as if he was looking for something. the way he spoke was something that reminded her of a man holding back his beastial mannerisms. AS if this 'creature' or monster. Was not naturally this wellspoken. This curiosity would linger in her mind for bit a moment longer as she would not spare a second thought on the matter. ALl that mattered to her was this book, whom she felt some responsibleness for, would be repaired to a manner she felt satisfactory so she could then 'extract' whatever information she needed. She would still be pouring her energy itno the book, not as much as before but just enough due to a partial worry within her mind that if she didn't the book might never wake up again. This action harkening back to her previous selfless nature as when she was once alive. even if she hated people. The book was still a living being.
"I have made my decision though, I will follow you further in, exit or not, the only path is forward." She would say with confidence in her voice. Her partial nihilism towards her scenarion, and partial desperation to understand her circumstance collosqued into a false aura of calm. As she would await his next move.
As she caught her breath, the catgirl felt a certain mixed sense of emotion flutter through her. One one hand this thing was, on a less time-sensitive look at it, ugly as all hell. And yet it evoked a certain sense of pity as well, as if in some capacity she wondered if it was some kind of unfortunate soul from some point in this place's history. She really had no way of knowing, but one other thing was for sure at the moment: She was trapped in this tower and the monst-...Guardian. Yes. The Guardian was still out there, probably. As would be the other two dolts of their 'group', which is what she considered it for the moments it had lasted at least, and Donovan somewhere on the opposite side for all she knew. It was a mess, plain and simple, and yet something seemed to prod at her mind a she looked about herself at the foot of this tower.
Well...first rule of survival and RPG's might still apply here: Search about and make use of what you can. Well, within reason in this case.
Maybe there was a switch for this Guardian to be turned off with, or hell even some kind of warden's key that could let her sneak around some to get to that gate if it was still intact at this point. Or something. Either way, she would withdraw her spear from the gross monstrosity and hold it again by her side for now.
For a short time, Leannah would then walk over to the ruined tapestries and try to see if she could glean anything from them. Hell, she'd even look to see if anything was behind them. It was a silly notion, and yet the worst thing she could do right now would be to panic. Well, panic more at least.
She would then cautiously take a look back at the staircase leading up, clutching her spear and taking a deep breath before continuing on upwards. She would be on high alert for this place already, given what had met her immediately upon entering, but all the same she was doing her best to control her breathing and keep a sharp mind about her.
Malphas was startled at the sudden appearance of the wall covering his escape, his heart sinking low at this final roadblock to escape. For a moment, Malphas had began to lose hope, his face in a state of shock. To be cornered like a rat by this hulking behemoth, with no where else to run aside from back into the complex. With his energy fading, there was not much else Malphas could do, no miracle he could truly accomplish. All that was left now was to crumble down and hope his end is swift...
"... No."
Before he could fully lose hope, thoughts of the past filled his head. The faces of his followers. Their unwavering belief. Their willingness to do anything to accomplish his dreams. Malphas knew that he could not die here, not without creating the paradise he had once promised those who had followed him. He must live in their place to truly fulfill their dreams. If not, then what sort of leader would he even be?
Malphas took a few paces back from the wall, keeping note of the giant's slow but steady approach. Taking a deep breath and turning to the giant only briefly, he shouted out the loudest he can, a final boast to the giant, as well as anyone else within earshot in this gods-forsaken complex. Malphas could hope that, at the very least, his fellow escapee Narkissa could also hear him.
"You fool! Don't you know I can fly?!"
Mankind had always looked to the vast sky, a belief that the heavens above held the realm of the divine. The more that man understood the heavens, the more man had further fixated on such a lofty realm. Building tall towers to reach the skies, inventing objects such as telescopes to observe the stars, even going so far as to craft flying contraptions to soar the heavens... Humans had always had a fixation on reaching the skies. Perhaps mankind's greatest achievement was truly reaching the heavens, surpassing the confines of Earth and landing onto the Moon for but a brief moment. What was once thought to be a miracle became a reality.
It could be said that the best example of mankind's endless ingenuity is the ability of flight.
Not even a second after Malphas's boast, he ran towards the wall. At that moment, he leaped for the stars, hoping he could squeeze in one more miracle to surpass this stone obstacle. Perhaps this earthen barrier was a metaphor for the Earth itself, an obstacle Malphas had to surpass if he truly wished to be one with the Heavens. Or perhaps the wall was a mere reminder of the insurmountable odds that mankind would face on their road to progress. None of this mattered to Malphas in the end. Either he would leap across the wall and find salvation, or he would be crushed by the Guardian, the last vestiges of true humanity leaving this domain...
Or the impossible could happen, and Malphas could have jumped at the same time the giant swung its sword down at him, likely avoiding a lethal blow and perhaps opening his way to freedom.
The appearance of the wall was an unexpected and utterly supernatural phenomenon that should have been exclusively in the realm of CGI, special effects, and movies, but there it suddenly was, blocking their surefire escape from the strange stone behemoth that was chasing them and intent on apparently murdering them in cold blood. Either way, she immediately skidded to a stop, in the few seconds she had to figure out what she was going to do.
Of course, that was when she witnessed the only fellow runner she had, that strange, androgynous man, scream out from her side. Something about flying. Whatever it was, he kept his momentum, and she witnessed him making a foolhardy beeline for the wall. And then… He jumped at it. It really was an unfathomably absurd moment, but she didn’t stop to witness the result of his leap of faith.
Narkissa decided to process the absurdity of the situation later, and focus on the important reality. The stone giant was still hot on their tails, with imminent death following.
Unlike Malphas, she decided to take the safe route. There was a building straight to her left that could easily buy her some time, and without further ceremony, she booked it with her flagging energy towards the structure, but not before taking a look back to see how Malphas had faired. Was his mangled body now dashed against the walls, or did he succeed, and there was no body for her to find? If the latter was true, she might have to try to make it over herself…
“Yep! I do.” She replied with a self satisfied grin. “Probably more than the hunters, heheh! Well, about the forest anyways. They only go there to hunt, but if you spend a bit of time looking elsewhere you can find some odd things in there! I’m pretty sure I found a fairy once, though no one believed me.” She pouted a bit at that, but quickly changed the subject.
The young girl turned her attention to Nobunaga’s question.
“Mhm! Well, aside from a few hunting festivals and occasionally Kyrinth getting too close, but those happen so routinely it’s not really anything exciting.” They had reached the village now, and the group could see other people as Lazhira led them towards the center of the small town. “So travelers like you are the only real fun thing that happens. So try me, hehe.” She flashed a grin to Misaki. “I’m gullible and if it makes a good story, I’ll listen!”
While most of the others didn’t seem to pay them any mind, it was clear more than a few were giving the outsiders wary looks as they approached what was clearly the center of the village. A circular space had been cleared out in front of a number of wooden huts, a large stone slab situated in the center in an almost altar-like fashion with what seemed to be writing of some sort upon it. Most of the people were dressed similarly as Lazhira, though most did have a few more layers or were wearing more furs to help keep warm. Oddly though, none seemed to have a tattoo similar to Lazhira.
The village itself seemed to sprawl alongside the waters edge, not going too far into the forest to the west and stretching mostly to the North and South along the water's edge where Nobunaga and the others could see a number of canoes and fishing equipment. More to the north was a large longhouse decorated in what seemed to be several hunting trophies and decorations.
“Soo, uh...I should let the Kadisht know you're here, but how about I take you to my place first? I could tell you guys lots of things-”
Lazhira was cut off mid sentence by a shout from somewhere to the east side of the village, towards the forest. Several men armed with spears and armor made from animal hides scrambled into the area.
“Move move!”
Not seconds later they were followed by a large, four legged beast the size of a horse. Its front two feet had only two claws, while its back had four. A large, armored tail whipped angrily behind it as it growled, slamming its feet onto the ground. It locked eyes with Nobu briefly, and in its pointed snout was undeniably the remains of what seemed to have once been a person.
The beast snapped its jaws, a human arm falling from its mouth and onto the ground.
“Another one!?” One of the men shouted.
The beast's most notable feature however, was its coat of silver scales that covered its back and hung off its side. Almost like a coat of armor or armored skirt, it hung off the top of its body and completely covered its back creating a natural armor save for its seemingly vulnerable underside.
It hissed, the apparent hunters surrounding it with spears in a standoff.
"Are you any good with that sword of yours?" Lazhira asked the group.
The stairs led down, the chain around Octavia’s neck clattering against the stone floor. She seemed to make sure she never lost sight of the others, but always made sure to stay just out of Isidore’s reach, stopping occasionally and giving him a playful yip before quickly continuing towards whatever destination the hound had in mind for them.
The stairs eventually changed from the smooth flat surface of the floor to what seemed to be older, more rough hewn stone that one might find in some old ruin or castle. The walls too, soon changed from that smooth black surface to something seeming far older. Had the place above simply been built atop an already older place? Octavia didn’t seem to be thinking too hard about it, trotting down the stairs at a fairly quick pace.
Should they recently formed quartet follow the pup, they would eventually reach the bottom fairly quickly. This place looked less like the fancy prison above, and far more like a dungeon with its old, rough stone walls.
Donovan and Isidore would be the first to smell it. A faint cloying scent mixed with repulsive rot. It wasn’t very strong yet, but it was easy to assume it was coming from somewhere within. Octavia didn’t seem bothered by it, wagging her tail happily, glancing warily at Donovan but seemed to want to keep leading them. The dim lighting in the area made it difficult to see, for there were no windows or other visible light sources, but they could faintly makeout bodies of more of those experiments upon the lifeless floor, and upon the walls it seemed more of those black vines were growing upon the wall, protruding from somewhere on the floor.
The hallway itself was still something of a prison. Cells lined the walls, perhaps once filled with prisoners. As they traveled the vines would give way to more elaborate structures - more of those tar like plants they had seen above formed into the shape of various flowers. Some had overtaken those experiments, sprouting more of those tar-like plants from their bodies.
The further they went, Nick would soon realize something was very wrong. Whatever was ahead was exceedingly dangerous. Dangerous enough for his entire body and newfound senses to tell him to flee. Not to mention the bodies of those things laying on the floor. He was getting just as bad vibes from them.
Octavia sat at the end of the hallway, at the top of another set of stairs that seemed to spiral downwards for another level or two. A large iron door had been wedged open by the vines some time ago allowing passage. Would they keep going, following this demonic hound into the depths of this place? If Isidore happened to approach, she wouldn’t flee this time and allow him to hold the chain once more.
If anything, the dim lighting seemed to cause its unnervingly long mouth to grin at the group.
It could be said that Malphas’ hope was arrogance. After all, humans reaching for things they shouldn’t is painted upon their history. Kings reaching for more than they can reach. Dictators squeezing every last drop of life out of their country. The Atheist spitting in the face of God. Yet, without such arrogance one could never reach for the stars. Arrogance with a mix of foolhardiness, perhaps that is the nature of the collective human condition.
Malphas, was certainly arrogant and foolhardy enough to make up for any who lacked.
Malphas’ declaration of flight seemed to elicit a small pause from the giant, almost as though it had understood. Was it mocking him? Letting him attempt to do so in what it thought was going to be a failure? Yet, it watched as Malphas continued to run for the wall, leaping desperately into the air in a last ditch attempt to flee this place.
Yet, however briefly Malphas would get just a taste of that dream of humanities.
He did not fall, not instantly. As his feet left the ground, he felt light. Incredibly so. He leaped high, almost as though the wind - or perhaps the world itself was pulling him forward, higher and higher to clear the obstacle in his path. Yet at the apex of his arc, it would cease. Whatever he had attempted ended, causing him to fall. He hit the top of the wall, barely clearing it before tumbling down the other side, his face meeting the snow below.
He looked up.
The rock wall was behind him, along with the gatehouse. In front of him was the narrow pathway into the cliffs.
He had made it.
The giant shrieked at having apparently been made a fool of.
Ability Gained: Wings of Faith Your unshakeable faith in something is admirable. You may not know how exactly you did it, but you succeeded just as those humans who first achieved flight did. Concentrate on your goal, what you desire with unwavering faith, and the wings shall come to your aid to carry you to victory. They currently appear as small, translucent wings upon your back and will aid with acrobatic feats. Perhaps with further training you could do more with them.
He had a moment to gather his breath and rest, and wait on his former companions, if he should desire...or would he chance taking on the world alone outside, without allies?
Narkissa turned to see Malphas’ feat just in time...wait, was...was that just a trick of the light? Tiny, almost bird-like wings of light seemed to manifest behind him, flickering with movement. She blinked, and they were gone. Yet, he succeeded even if it was only for an instant.
With the giants attention entirely on Malphas and the gatehouse, it seemed to have forgotten entirely about her at the moment and left her to flee to the building. The building to her left was the one those who had previously succeeded in leaving. Weapons of any kind she could imagine lay strewn about, the spear was still firmly planted in the wall.
The giant swiveled its head, scanning the area looking for its other quarry giving her time to collect her wits.
“Heh,” A slight reverberation was added to the creature's smooth voice as it chuckled lightly. A toothy grin nearly split its entire face, revealing teeth that could easily rend flesh from bone. “Then let us be off, fairy, and have a fruitful...partnership.” Alice would find herself having no time to react as the short creature lashed out with a claw, grabbing her body in a surprisingly strong grip.
If it had wanted to, her second life would have certainly ended right there.
“Stay put or you’ll end up elsewhere.” Instead though, she found herself being shoved into a pocket in his cloak. In its other claw, it still held onto the arrow. He walked over to the bottom of the stairs where the bottom met the floor, tapping his foot against the floor. “Pay attention, you may learn something.”
Taking the red colored arrow, the creature knocked it in a bow that was being kept at his side. Leaping into the air with an acrobatic flip, he aimed loosed it towards the floor.
The arrow sailed towards its target.
Yet, it never reached the floor.
Instead, it passed through the target as though there was nothing there.
From Alice’s perspective she would barely be able to see small wisps of light - almost a tether of some sort connecting the creature and the arrow. She would however, blink and lose all sight of it and they were no longer in the library.
No, they were standing at the bottom of another staircase in some long, dark stone hallway. The staircase itself was in worse shape than the one above. Had it been intentionally damage? Odd blue lights filled the corners of the hallways ceiling and floor, a pulse of darker blue flowing forwards deeper into the hallway. The arrow was embedded in the floor not far away.
The creature roughly pulled her from its pocket.
“There, see? Getting into places is easy for me.” He chuckled. “Learn anything, pixie? Or was that too fast for you?”
The tapestries didn’t seem to provide anything useful. At one point they were likely high quality, but age had certainly done a number on them. As best she could tell, they seemed to depict a large, black tower with angry, black clouds throwing lightning bolts towards it, and a mass of people fleeing from it, but whatever it meant was something was left to her own imagination.
Eventually her search would lead her up the stairs. The path was easy enough, none of those things lying in ambush. The top floor was about as what one could expect in this place for the most part. Black stone consisted of the entirety of its construction, the only noticeable difference was the large glass window that circled the room, giving a full 180 degree view of the area outside. A large chandelier that hung from the ceiling and a carpet that covered most of the floor. In the center of the carpet was a desk, and as Leannah’s eyes scanned the area she’d come to quickly find something perhaps, a bit unpleasant if she hadn’t already become somewhat numb to it.
A human skeleton was sitting in a chair behind the desk. Its clothes were old, the colors faded and dull, but at once might have been a colorful ensemble reminding one of something of a victorian-era esque clothing.
It looked like it had been holding something once, but it had already been taken. The desk in front of it seemed to have been pillaged, too, contents emptied. It seemed recent, too. Was there someone else here besides them?
If she looked towards the gatehouse and the giant, she’d be just in time to see Malphas’ miracle manifesting, leaping over the wall and falling onto the other side.
Looted. Nothing of interest with the tapestries, not even so much as anything left on what she assumed was the old warden's desk and effects. Hell, someone else could have popped in here a long time ago, or even as recent as herself and anyone else on these premises waking up from a certain moon goddess' offer. Either way it had been just one little monstrous abomination in here, which was a relief, but at the same time it left her with not much choice of what to do. The thing was still out there, and from what she could see in the window it was not too happy after-...wait did Malphas just fly? Ok, even she had to admit that was kinda great to be honest. Guy seemed to have his own attitude, but he'd just proven his little stunts could have good effects potentially at least. Gave her a little more faith in him, at least, though her situation wasn't much helped at the moment.
...Heh, but of course it would be like her to think of this as a 'backup' plan. Would be a hell of a way to go out if it went down as she thought, but all the same it was her terms and also kinda badass in concept.
Soon, behind the angry and roaring Guardian that was looking for its other quarry, Leannah would pop back out of the tower's entrance door. Except instead of running away from the monster, she was running toward it at top speed. Her breathing was controlled, her eyes locked onto her target with unwavering abandon, and every muscle in her body channeling the fullness of her might at its very peak as she would throw the spear at the Guardian's head with the precision of an Olympic Champion and the might of a battle-ready martial arts master. After this, she was blitz toward the Guardian with the intent to leap up on it and do battle with her fists and body.
Screw this thing, she was going to kick its ass, die trying, or something!
Isidore stared at Augusta for a long couple of seconds, before continuing to follow Octavia. He hadn’t been democratic in his past life, but there were only implicit understandings between himself and this group of strangers. Best to let this go.
The architecture changed as they strode down the stairs. It was curious, that this building was constructed atop something older, something fouler. Not just a place for foul experimentation, but perhaps a place for archaeologists to delve into the mysteries of the past too? It smelled of a bad movie, really, the sort that the young uns in his business would simultaneously deride and eat up. As the surroundings worsened and worsened, shadows lengthening and the stench of the ghettos seeping into Isidore, the man began to consider. Black slabs that ate the soul, which transformed into flowers birthed of tar. Emancipated monstrosities, wandering empty corridors and hallways. A warden of titanic proportions, stalking the aboveground.
Once again, curiosity and ambition got the better of one’s common sense, hm?
Black vines crawled over old stone, wretched creatures turned into fertilizer from which the tar flowers grew. The lighting conditions were practically non-existent at this point, and the stench strengthened too, every cell of the dungeon empty. A disgusting place, a proper oubliette, a place that even he feared. And at the very end, where the demonic dog awaited them like a guide to the bowels of hell, stood a door, wrenched open by masses of vines. The occult circle engraved upon its surface had its own implications, as did the runes inscribed upon them as well. A different script from the ones that adorned the black stone slabs. A different meaning.
In the suffocating silence, Isidore spoke up.
“They were studying something. It got out.”
He picked up Octavia’s chain, looping it twice around his hand. He forced the tension out of his shoulders, and felt again for that energy within his own body. Once, he had formed a connection with another soul, and became more grounded for it. Now, he envisioned it coalescing on his eyes, drawing more light into it, as vestigial as it was. And, whether or not his eyesight improved from it, Isidore strode boldly forwards. It didn’t matter, after all.
He had walked to certain death once, the waves burning his lungs from inside out.
But this? This was just another alleyway back home.
"Now you can help Isidore out next time we encounter those creatures. And besides, to learn how to cast that magic bolt I had to do what can be summed up as a magical tug-of-war with a demonic pup. I can probably teach you later if you so desire. After all, we all seem to have the ability."
"Wait, we do? And you can teach me? Sweet!" Nick's head immediately to the things he could do with magic. Could he lift stuff up from far away, like the Force in Star Wars? Alright, calm down Neil. Don't get too excited over this. First, focus on the task at hand and get somewhere safe before fawning over magic. "And I don't think Isidore needs help fighting." Especially not now, now that Donovan was with them.
They continued to follow Octavia deeper into the prison-ish complex. As they descended stairs, the surroundings shifted from the smooth black surfaces to rough and old stone walls. Kind of like those ancient Medieval dungeons.
But onward they went, following the demon pup to the bottom of this wretched place. The smell was horrid, something was rotting and Nick had to cover his nose even if the odor was not particularly strong yet. Where was Octavia leading them? Nick had a bad feeling about this, and it was not from his power. At least, not yet. He was not sure if those were bodies on the floor and Nick preferred if he didn't find out.
The hallway they were in were lined with cells. The strange black tar crawled up the walls like vines, sprouting those flower-like plants that spawned Octavia. They were everywhere, even covering the lifeless bodies of wretched experiments. It was then that Nick felt that anxiousness again. This time it was strong, and he was certain it was his power. This place was obviously dangerous, but what in particular.
Octavia stopped at the end of the hallway and allowed Isidore to come and take her chain. They were at a large iron door, wedged open by those black vines.
"Guys, I don't think we should continue this." Nick said, looking a bit dazed. Even if Augusta and Donovan joined Isidore and Octavia, Nick would not move a single inch forward. "Seriously, guys. I think... I think we should get back up. And far away from this place."
He glanced at the black plants made of the tar-like substances. Remembering how Octavia came to be... Hold on, could it be...?
Malphas wondered to himself if this was what true death was like. As soon as he leapt into the air, he had closed his eyes, welcoming whatever fate had in store for him. That weightless feeling that surrounded him gave him the same sensation that swept his body when he imbibed the poison that lead to his downfall. It was a feeling of ascension, a feeling of freedom... It was an ecstasy that Malphas fully absorbed himself in.
At least, that was before his shins slammed into the upper edges of the rock wall before him.
After a rather comedic sequence of him tumbling down the other side of the wall, Malphas finally took in the true feeling of freedom. Looking behind him as he was made aware of the ethereal wings that made his escape. Was this the true power of faith in this world? Is this merely a taste of what he could truly attain should he amass a large enough following? Motivated at the prospects of this idea, Malphas quickly stood up, stopping halfway as he crumpled back down into exhaustion. His accomplishments have taken a toll on him, and it was only now that the rush of adrenaline had ended that Malphas finally felt his energy fading.
Rather than continuing forward, Malphas instead turned onto his back in order to rest. He should treasure these brief moments of respite while he can, and it would be especially to his favor if he awaited for his allies to make their escape as well. As obstinate as they may be, traveling alone in this new world would be a dangerous prospect no matter what. Malphas did not want to end up like another winged fool, Icarus, who flew too close to the sun. Instead, he will stay by the moonlight, guided by its cold embrace.
"I believe in you, you fools..." Malphas uttered as he closed his eyes, drifting to rest for a time.
The further and further they walked, the more and more Augusta started to question her choice. Still, it was the choice that she had made. She needed to see it through at this point. No matter the weird experiment, cryptic wall designs or tar-like plants, she would move forward with her companions! Still, it didn't mean it made her feel very good. Perhaps it was the fact that they seemed to be moving in deeper to the earth but she felt like it was getting harder to breath. Perhaps her nerves were actually getting to her. A shame, really. She had almost thought she wouldn't be afraid of dying again but the first time around was rather... Frightening.
The elven woman pushed the thoughts out of her mind as best she could and focused on the here and now. There were tar plants like back on the surface when Octavia first appeared. There was no doubt it was related. Perhaps they should prepare for more demon dogs? She stepped forward to move ahead with Isidore, ready to use her eye to their advantage if they needed to... But well, Nick was having cold feet now. Something to do with his power? She frowned, hoping they'd all go forward together despite his warning of danger. She was slightly shook, but didn't show it or try to think of it. The woman turned to Nick and smiled. "Well, it's fine if you don't. I think Isidore and I are going regardless. If it's a living thing, I can gleam information from it and all. It's probably related to Octavia there anyhow, isn't it? My curiosity will probably be the death of me, but not today." There was a confidence in her voice.
Augusta cleared her throat and spoke again. "I won't think any worse of you one way or the other. If you want to come with us ahead or retreat to the surface. Same goes for you too, Donovan, of course. Not that it's been long since I've met Nick or Isidore but it's only been some minutes." She gave them both a smile and moved towards Isidore and Octavia, ready to head forward.
As far as Narkissa was concerned, what she saw was impossible. Then again, the original appearance of the wall in front of them should have been impossible, so the sight of the strange man flying, if briefly, on ethereal wings was no less strange than any one of the things that she had seen or happened to her today. Then, in the blink of an eye, he was over the wall and gone. He had escaped. That also meant that Narkissa was now alone. With the stone giant.
She had long lost track of her other brief allies, Leanna and Donovan, leaving her by her lonesome in the stone ruins. Thankfully, it seemed that the giant had been disoriented by Malphas’ escape and busied itself scanning the area. By the time that it glanced in her direction, she had long ducked into the safety of the building.
Perhaps she could attempt to scale the wall when the giant had its attention taken elsewhere. For now, she looked around the room; seeing another weapons pile, she was drawn towards it. An axe was rather less than ideal; to her, a sword felt more natural, and for one she searched, biding her time before she could attempt the wall herself.
By context it was easy to establish that there was some kind of threat... Nobunaga didn't push for any further answers immediately. Rather, she decided to observe their surroundings. While this girl certainly had some useful information, it was also a good idea to wait until they could speak to someone with greater authority.
Something she did quickly notice, however, was the fact that only Lazhira had that silvery tattoo, among all the other people in the village... did that denote her position in some manner? It may have been unwise to ask directly, but perhaps not. Regardless, it could wait for now. At the moment she was attempting to absorb as much information as she could as quickly as she could. Their surroundings were quite rural, but the village seemed populated with a number of people.
Ah, she was offering them to go to her place? That hardly seemed like a poor idea, as much as Nobunaga desired to speak to someone in power. Coming to understand the kind of culture they were dealing with was a valuable thing.
But before she could finish her offer...
A great beast burst into view, surrounded by spear-wielding men. It did not have any specific comparison to a living creature Nobunaga had seen in her previous lifetime, but it was likely the Kyrinth that Lazhira had mentioned previously.
This was an opportunity.
Nobunaga placed her hand on the hilt of her katana, stepping forward.
"I believe I may know a few things," she said, simply, as she approached.
As the small girl approached the circle of spear-wielding men, unsheathing her blade as she did, she took stock of the enemy. It was well-defended by silvery scales arranged in something like a pelt, and had quite clearly eaten a man. However... the underside of the animal did not appear so sturdy.
In that case...
"I understand I may be a foreigner here, but if the men to the beast's left side would harrass it with their spears I would be quite grateful," she said, raising her weapon carefully, "You need not place yourselves in any further danger, simply get its attention."
Attacking the creature from head on would be foolish, as that was where its offense was focused. But all Nobunaga needed was a brief moment of distraction... as she was the smallest potential threat to the creature, it was unlikely that it would focus on her.
Even if a piercing blow to the flank did not kill it, being able to make the first strike while it was distracted would be ideal.
Being used to the social structure of the modern-day globalized world did not make things any better for Misaki as she followed Lazirha into the village; the odd stares from those who lived here made it obvious that they were foreigners, and some part of that irony was not lost upon her given how Japan usually was. Of course, being aware of that which was 'foreign' was but human nature, and so she couldn't necessarily fault them for much of anything. Rather, given the current situation (and how they didn't seem to be going after them in any meaningful way), it seemed best to let sleeping dogs lie.
At least, for the moment.
"Your house? Well, if it wouldn't be any—" she began to say, only for the arrival of a massive beast to stop her mid-sentence. Of course, it wasn't like she could do much of anything about it; the arm that fell from its maw only solidified that idea within her mind. Going after it for the moment would be tantamount to suicide, and though the various spoils of previous hunts adorned the village, the exasperation from one of the apparent hunter at seeing one sent mixed signals. Regardless of that, though, it wasn't as if there was much she could do regardless.
"Sorry, but I've never held a weapon in my life," she said, taking a step back as she shook her head. Seeing Nobunaga move so confidently forward to take on the beast, though, gave her a bit of reprieve in that regard. Escaping death thrice over in a single day was already insanity enough, given how she had already crossed that boundary once already...
Alice Sicilly : Skull-faced Friend!
