The smartest and cutest doll - Lena
@FujiwaraPhoenix@VitaVitaAR@Crimson Paladin

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"Eeeeh, people love getting hugs from me. They say I'm incredibly soft." It was a good thing Sephily mentioned something about the noise, as she was not really asking permission to actually hug the elf. Lena turned her head towards the door in question as Javal started his descent towards it. Wait, were they actually going towards the source of the noise? "Wait? Ser'yezno? Really? Isn't this the part we go away from the spooky noise thats obviously trapped in the basement?"

Well, she supposed nothing ventured nothing gained and all that, but if it was something dangerous, she was probably one of the most defenseless ones here, right? She didn't have armor or any kind of fancy magical staff. Just her little dagger.

Unsurprisingly, it was indeed something monstrous down there. At least it looked less like a human. That made it easier to look at and deal with.

"Sephily likely has the right of it! Break its legs first if you can!" Even if she couldn't do much, she could at least try to find something that helped. She wasn't much of a fighter, and she didn't know how to deal with a zombie really, but she did know one thing. Human bodies were fragile, especially against good old fashioned blunt force trauma.

In the mean time, Lena started heading back towards the rest of the first floor looking for anything that might be of use. Maybe the knight had something else on him? Damn it if only there was a weapon or something like a mace or something she could give Javal. Her hand brushed over the fallen knights armor again as she searched him.

"Bah, you stupid rust bucket if I could throw you at that zombie..."

Caught up in her thoughts as she was and muttering to herself about the situation, she barely noticed little outlines of things appearing both on the armor and at the center of her vision, much like one might see when working up a model on a 3D printer or CAD software.

"...hn?" What...was this? She felt something kind of...pulling her attention to both of the outlines. The armor was obvious, but the one sort of floating in front of her was a little harder to make out. It looked...vaguely like a long metal rod with a bulbous head of some sort...? Like...a mace...

Though one might have expected the zombie to have been dispatched with a weighty swing to the head, Javal's attack had only managed to knock the zombie to the bottom of the stairs. The somewhat weighty thunking noises as it tumbled to the bottom might have drawn a wince or two had it been an actual human, but the undead monster seemed to have scarcely been affected at all.

All in all, the attack had simply stalled it's advance for a few moments. It took but a few seconds for the zombie to simply turn back towards Javal and continue advancing forward once more.

@VitaVitaAR@Crimson Paladin@Rune_Alchemist

"I haven't even found anything like water to drink yet, let alone alcohol." Jor mentioned as so looked a bit tired. She yawned a bit and wondered why she felt so tired. Perhaps it's just because she wasn't use to using her legs so much? In fact, they hurt a bit didn't they? Maybe she pushed herself too hard... Well, Nick didn't seem that tired. Maybe she just didn't know how to use them for such high speed running for so long. "Regardless, thanks for giving us a place to rest for a bit I guess." She mentioned before finally looking to Hikari that she just so happened to be holding in her arms still... Who just so happened to shift back to her humanoid form. That gave her an idea, actually.

"Sorry, you probably want to stand up now, don't you?" She said before setting the girl down. "That said... Mind if you help me with something really quick?" Without giving her a chance to say no, Jormungandr would then change shape as well. A small poof and her form changed from a grown woman... To a smaller, white scaled and red-eyed snake that would land on Hikari. "Huh, I really can do this too. And talk? Curious. We're twinsies, Hikari!" Jor would say, trying to make it so her two and a half foot long body wouldn't get in Hikari's way. "Anyway, mind carrying me for now? My legs were killing me and I'd really appreciate it!"

Whether Hikari carried her or not, eventually they would make it to the cottage with Ilsa. It looked nice, at least. Safe too. Not that it seemed to mean much with that Wendigo thing out and about though she didn't want to consider that for a bit.

Javal was a little disappointed that the tumble down the stairs evidently hadn't broken any of the zombie's bones. According to his companions, who were evidently a little more versed in fantasy than him, blows to the head wouldn't do anything and he'd instead need to cripple the legs.

As it came back at him, he'd duck under its arms and swing his weapon at one of the zombie's kneecaps, following the advice of the elf and doll.

"You find anything useful on that corpse? Any weapons?" he shouted to the doll as he swung the table leg. He could hear her doing something back there, but was too busy focused on the pressing threat to look back and see.

@FujiwaraPhoenix@Rune_Alchemist@VitaVitaAR

It was definitely novel to not be singled out with the expectation of drunkenness, after so long working in corporate culture. If there had been anyone that normally would have been accused of being out drinking… well, they probably wouldn't have been wrong, work always did have its own expectations. She probably shouldn't go about doing that now, though. Or should she? Hm, she was a maid, rather than some sort of miko, so probably not that sort of fox… yeah, best to avoid it, given her apparent age. All her tolerance was bound to have been wiped away by that.

Probably.

Well, Jor had turned from a pretty lady into a fascinating-looking snake, and she was very glad to not have any sort of fears regarding them. Some apprehension, of course; it would be silly to not be concerned around a snake that you weren't sure was safe. But this one had been a person just a minute ago, so Hikari carried her along without complaint, occasionally stroking the other woman's head as she went along.

"Oh, that's a nice cottage you have."

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"Student? Of what?" questioned the Witch, cocking her head. It was clear she'd anticipated something more of a justification as to how they could possibly have ended up at the ruined shrine in such a state, but 'student' hardly filled things in for her. She paused for a moment, even as she approached her home, at the sight of one of her new 'guests' suddenly transforming into a serpent, and appearing to be just as surprised that she could do this as everyone else.

"... You claim you weren't drunk, but..."

She trailed off with a sigh.

"It's not as if shapeshifting magic is something you simply forget you possess, now, is it?" she commented, "You can't even justify that with your race, like the maid."

Ilsa didn't speak for brief pause, her eyes returning to the cottage when the fox maid complimented it.

"It's not mine. But I live there, and for now I'm taking care of things. Now, come on."

As they approached, the shimmering above the cottage began to grow more defined, and then---

"Huuh?"

A higher-pitched voice came from just above the house, and after a moment it became clear it originated from the sparkling lights themselves. In mere seconds, they had swarmed downwards, their true nature becoming apparent.

Their bodies resembled those of young girls, lacey insectoid wings sprouting from their backs. Their large, shining eyes regarded the three newcomers inquisitively from every potential angle.

There must have been at least a dozen or so of them.

"Who are they?"

"Where did you find them?"

"Your names! Tell us your names!"

"Give us your secrets~"

"Come with us, come back with us! The Spiraling Trail is-"

Ilsa sighed, and waved her hand, as if to shoo them away. The small, flying figures pouted, but largely complied, now watching from a somewhat longer distance.

"I'm sure none of you mean ill, but I don't think any of us are in the mood," she said, addressing what could only be fairies, "These three just had an encounter with that one, I don't think they're fit for a walk into the fey realms."

The fairies all fell silent when they heard Ilsa mention 'that one'. No matter how childish they might have appeared, it was clear they were well aware of what she was talking about.

A few even mumbled reluctant apologies.

Ilsa gestured for her guests to follow, and approached the front door of her cottage. From this distance, it became clear that the gardens were very well-cultivated, with a wide variety of plants. Some appeared to be lilies, others roses, and still others bluebells and violets. But there was also a plant that resembled nightshade, foxglove, and other unrecognizable plants. The garden also had a shaded area, maintained by several sunshades and a rather large and expansive bush, that housed a number of brightly colored mushrooms.

Beside it sat a large tortoise, the size of a small boulder. Hanging from its chin was a lengthy white beard, unexpected for such a creature, and perched ahead of its eyes was a tiny, miniscule set of eyeglasses that seemed far too small for it to look through them.

Perhaps most surprising was the fact it bowed.

At least, until it spoke.

"Welcome back, Lady Ilsa," the tortoise said, in a warm, friendly voice that brought to mind images of a kindly old man, "Oh, my, you brought home guests. What a surprise!"

He bowed his head to the trio.

"Greetings."

As the tortoise greeted them, the front door opened on its own ahead of the Substitute Witch of the Forest.

The entrance hallway lead to a rounded interior, with a staircase on one side leading upwards, and another two hallways leading to different areas of the cottage. The first room housed a large fireplace with a cauldron, as well as a reading chair.

"I'm not about to ask you to make yourself home, so don't expect that sort of courtesy," said Ilsa as she approached the fireplace, "But I will welcome you to the home of the Witch of the Forest. While you are here, you'll be under my protection. I may only be a substitute, but that should be more than enough to keep you safe until you leave the Forest of Lorkay."

@FujiwaraPhoenix@Pyromania99@Raineh Daze

"...Shapeshifting?"

With nothing else to pay attention to with the witch guiding them, her apparent surprise caused him to respond in kind and turn to see what it was that had caught her off guard. The sudden replacement of Jor with a snake didn't take a genius to figure out, but the rest of the dialogue that he had caught now that he was properly paying attention caused him to squint and stare briefly at the pair.

"...Guess that sorta answers the 'cheat' question," he muttered to himself as he scratched the back of his head. Unlike the other two, he most certainly felt human enough, which left the giant question as to what the heck he got—if anything at all—dangling over his head as they approached their savior's cottage. In his eyes, it was certainly quaint, for lack of a better term. For someone so used to city life, seeing something like this in person was a bit surreal.

That was ignoring the fact that the odd shimmering, which he had originally written off as a trick of the light, soon grew defined enough to recognize at fairies. With all of the madness that they had seen already, though, fae were far from the most surprising thing he had seen today.

Of course, his upbringing required that he at least give them a bow of acknowledgement, even if he knew well enough to not play fast and loose with them in the first place—in both a literal and figurative sense. When they were shooed away by their guide, however, Nick's attention soon turned towards the gardens, and with that the more culinarily-inclined part of him quickly grew interested. The more he saw, the more certain he became that the plants being grown here weren't strictly for aesthetic purposes—though that was probably not all that surprising—and the presence of familiar-looking ingredients was quickly noted within his mind. If they were the same as (or close enough to) what grew back on Earth, then he wouldn't have to spend a ton of time relearning what was or wasn't safe to eat here beyond what might have been provided in a market.

With the old turtle straight out of a Lewis Carroll story, Nick simply decided to accept everything for what it was and resign himself to the incredulity of the situation. When it spoke it's greetings, the young man simply returned with a bow before quickly following after Ilsa. Once they were properly inside, though, and the witch spoke her piece, the young man nodded in return.

"Of course. With everything else you've already done for us, it'd be rude to impose," he responded before finally returning his attention towards their surroundings. Even if it was undeniably a fantasy world, though, there were still a ton of questions hanging in the air—questions that he wanted answered despite the possibility that he might not be able to do anything about them even if they were answered.

"But, uh... Sorry, do you mind if I ask a few questions?" he asked in turn; when provided with the go-ahead, the young man would promptly continue. "That... Thing back there; what exactly was that? And those... I'm assuming they're fairies, right? Is there a reason that they're hanging around here? I heard you mention fey realms, so I'm assuming that those are... A thing, but..."

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@Pyromania99

The smartest and cutest doll - Lena
@FujiwaraPhoenix@VitaVitaAR@Crimson Paladin

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Lena didn't reply to Javal, she was too focused on what she was currently doing. It was taking most of her attention and concentration, and not exactly taking a short amount of time either. It was a bit like a puzzle of some sort? Or more like sculpting with clay, with just her mind? She had to take parts from the armor and move them to the outline of the 'mace'. All the good, mostly usable not too badly rusted parts and mold it into what she wanted.

Honestly, it was rather tiring, too. Like working for far too long using CAD or a modeling when one shout eat or rest instead, it was giving her a minor headache, but soon enough the weapon, if it could be called one was done.

The armor would slowly start to disintegrate, motes of triangular shaped lights flowing from it to her hand where they would merge and fuse into what objectively could be called a mace, filling out from the end of the haft until it would reach the head. A small flash of light followed as it was finished, the sudden weight in her hand catching her off guard just slightly. It was nothing fancy, just along metal stick with a bulbous diamond shaped head with ridges on it. It didn't look very sturdy, and the quality was obviously not the best, but it would have to do.

"Javal!" Lena got back to her feet, hurrying over to the knight and presenting the handle of the mace to him. "Freshly made, hot off the forge! break that things face with it for me, ahaha."

Javal's blow caused the zombie to lose its balance and stumble to its knees. As it tried to regain its footing, the former pilot moved back. He had slowed the zombie down so far, but it was still moving and he could really use a better weapon than a table leg...

It was just at that moment that Lena came to his side and presented him with a mace. Had she found this on the knight's corpse? This was no time to overthink it, so he took the mace from her without questioning it.

This ought to give much better results, he thought.

He struck at the zombie's other knee as it tried to get back onto its feet. As the shambling corpse stumbled as its other knee was broken, the swung at its neck vertebrae, its shoulders, and its skull, not ceasing his blows until the zombie had ceased to move. Once he was sure it wasn't even trying to move, he stopped, breathing heavily.

"I...think I got it..." he said as his pounding heart began to slow down.

@Rune_Alchemist@VitaVitaAR

Though the following blow with his makeshift bludgeon had once again disabled the shambling undead, it was quite evident that it would not dispatch the enemy when it lacked the natural vulnerabilities of the human form. Losing those weaknesses of the flesh, however, did not come without cost—even with the apparent aid of magic to keep it mobile.

Replacing the aforementioned bludgeon with one far more efficient at dispatching foes was one way to circumvent the issues at hand, though.

With a metal tool meant for killing molded from the armor of the fallen, Javal's blows would land fast and true against the momentarily-immobilized zombie, sending it back to the dimly-lit basement from whence it came. The swings that followed were brutal, but filled with purpose all the same. Finesse was unnecessary against an enemy of this caliber, after all.

What remained after the barrage of blows was a mangled, dessicated corpse no longer capable of movement. Fragments of bone poked through the remnants of dried flesh, and the awkward angles of what joints remained made clear that the zombie had been summarily dispatched.

Luckily, the fight—noisy though it may have been—did not signal that there were any further enemies lying in wait further underground. This meant that the trip would be free to explore the contents within at their leisure; with any luck, there would be something usable down here.

And usable goods there would be. Though the air was stale, the distinct scent of alcohol and salt would still permeate the area. A look around would reveal some wooden barrels of alcohol—some still unbroken and untapped—as well as some cured and salted meats hanging off to the side. Whether or not anything remained edible after so long underground was yet unknown, but the lack of any visible mold growth or rot seemed somewhat promising.

@VitaVitaAR@Crimson Paladin@Rune_Alchemist