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[youtube]https://youtu.be/ztMwSMgc-NQ[/youtube][/center]

The group had split, the bulk in the fog, two to the flooded belly of Halge Larchelon, and finally the last two Yasoi that together formed a pair of legs sought the leaning peak. The goal was to awaken the spire in the center and to reveal the path to the Forge. A path to freedom from the oppressive air of this long dead city. 

[i]Clink. Clink. Clink.[/i]

[b]Creak. Creak. Creak.[/b]

One hopped, the other limped. A duet of discordant noises in a land ruled by silence. It was grating to say the least. Every deep breath made by Juulet was a conspicuous sign of her growing impatience, especially as the one relegated to awkward jumps with only her spear as a means of support - nonoptimal did not begin to describe her predicament. Pluurii, on the other hand, was a mistress of patience like any good sniper would be. She followed in tow, holding her tongue …

Until she too felt the eerie silence creep in. [color=#10401d]“You-”[/color]

[color=8B008B]“We don’t have to chitchat or be friends.”[/color] retorted Juulet, her Enthish accent emerging at full force. 

[color=#10401d]“Your arm is beginning to shake.”[/color] remarked the soft spoken Tarlonese. 

[color=8B008B]“I’m tired.”[/color] the queen of Viisan lied. [color=8B008B]“I’ll be even more if we lag behind.”[/color] with that, she zipped through time to the limit of her reduced range. Pluurii, mildly flabbergasted, jogged the best she could to catch up. The creaking of the springs was only getting worse.

There was more silence as they passed through another residential area - one nicer than the previous district where some had awakened. They cut through a ruined house as they neared the gated off tower. [color=#10401d]“Remember when we found those ruins?”[/color] a core memory for Pluurii, perhaps one of the few that didn’t involve her questionable vocation. [color=#10401d]“It was like an adventure.”[/color]

It took a moment for Juulet to recall. [color=8B008B]“That ended poorly.”[/color] ever the grump, she shot a dirty look at her handicapped counterpart. [color=8B008B]“It wasn’t really a happy time for neither you nor I.”[/color]

[color=#10401d]“It was still nice. Some of the girls were kind.”[/color]

[color=8B008B]“They hardly talked to you.”[/color] Juulet recalled nonchalantly. [color=8B008B]“You hardly talked.”[/color]

[color=#10401d]“Guess I was kind of shy, huh?”[/color] an awkward giggle, one that almost sounded forced, came out of those dried lips of her’s.

[color=8B008B][i]Still so fucking weird …[/i][/color]

Nothing was said until they finally trespassed the metal fence leading to the damaged tower. It was leaning onto an adjacent building, the base partially collapsed from an unknown cause. Juulet opted to use space-time to gain some altitude while Pluurii leveraged the bit of magic she had to empower the springs in her prosthetic and launch herself, just barely keeping up with the Constantian Yasoi.

The ascent was tiring and they had to pace themselves. [color=#10401d]“Juulet.”[/color] beckoned Pluurii, though Juulet hardly acknowledged the call. [color=#10401d]“You’ve gotten so confident and strong. It’s really, errr,”[/color] still nothing from the one-legged Yasoi. Her gaze was devoted only to their climb. [color=#10401d]“Cool!”[/color] 

Pluurii continued to talk as they climbed. She was growing comfortable. [color=#10401d]“I’m more confident too, I think. At least with my aiming, and other stuff. I wish we could’ve done some recreational activities during the Trials, but you were always so gung-ho and I-”[/color] and on, and on. Friendly words, more than she had uttered to most other people.

Juulet, on the other hand, was increasingly aggravated. The throbbing headache, the exponentially growing shake and the craving. The overdrawing had accelerated the problem. As they landed at one of the floors where the windows were shattered and they could find shelter, the spear-wielding Yasoi turned to glare at the yapping sniper. [color=8B008B]“We are not buddies, girl.”[/color] she declared, almost getting into Pluurii’s face. [color=8B008B]“We were maybe at the lowest part of the Vyshta food chain, but YOU were at the bottom. I at least bit back. You-”[/color] Juulet sneered while Pluurii stared at her wide-eyed, both bandaged hands clutching her rifle. 

Juulet wanted to say more but abstained. [color=8B008B]“You never grew.”[/color] she left it at that before turning around.

[color=#10401d]“... You don’t look at me like others do.”[/color] spoke Pluurii, her voice neutral but uncompromised by emotion. Juulet merely shook her head and continued her ascent. [color=#10401d]“I noticed it. You never made fun of me, or whispered about me. You didn’t once make remarks on that rotund Huusoi, or make a joke at the expense of your would-be killer’s loss of legs.”[/color] Juulet paused to listen, head canted slightly. [color=#10401d]“You’re not a hypocrite. You mean what you say. You act. You understand. You don’t let the pretenders put you down.”[/color]

They neared the summit. Juulet stopped to take in the view. A peaceful sight to drown out the voices in her head, and Pluurii’s. The massive fog engulfing the ruins below was surprisingly satisfying, in a way. It was also terrifying - this was the exact sight she had dreamed of, but it was the whole world. Eaten by shrouded force, a fog so to speak. It reminded her of her mission. 

 A few floors remained, but both were interrupted by a voice.

[b]”Help me …”[/b] in broken Constantian. They didn’t have to investigate for long. Standing was one of these thralls, hunched forward with arms hanging limp. The emaciated head of a bald man was looking their way, eyes displaying some sort of conscience. He looked old and thoroughly malnourished. Juulet silently approached while Pluurii aimed her gun.

[color=#10401d][i]I never felt closer to someone.[/i][/color]

The Tarlonese did not aim it at the peculiar third wheel but at Juulet. 

[color=#10401d][i]I want to be you.[/i][/color]

[b]”Help-”[/b] the man then lunged right at Juulet with hooked fingers that could tear through concrete. A single shot from the gunslinger had the thrall’s head explode, but the body emerged once more for an attack. It was Juulet’s turn, she quickly conjured a portal connecting to the window, making the rushing corpse launch itself off great heights to its doom.

[color=8B008B]“Fuck, they can speak too?! Nightmare shit …”[/color]

[color=#10401d]“I think he was still alive.”[/color]

[color=8B008B]“Then why’d you shoot his face? Maybe we’d find something out.”[/color] an ungrateful Juulet scolded Pluurii.

[color=#10401d]“You’re welcome.”[/color]

[color=8B008B]“But seriously, who the fuck does this to people? I swear, if I find fucko’s here I’m turning them lame.”[/color]

[color=#10401d]“I can think of a few reasons. A warning? Efficient manpower?”[/color]

[color=8B008B]“Ugh. Weirdo. Of course you’d think that.”[/color] 

With that, they had finally reached the summit. Navigating the crooked architecture was a challenge for these two disabled Yasoi, but the worst had passed. [color=8B008B]“There was something about a switch … If that's the whole point of this tower, it should be easy to find.”[/color]

As Pluurii pushed aside some of the now rusted metal furniture, she had found something. But before she could declare it, a loud sound coupled with a bright light caught their attention. Just outside, not too far off, a massive explosion occurred where they could swear they thought the fish-girl and the blonde had been sent to. An explosion so big, the fog stirred and the shockwave shook the foundation of the leaning tower. It wasn’t enough to sip it.

But the two Yasoi cripples stumbling about at the very top did. 

[color=#10401d]“Crud.”[/color] even Pluurii was left concerned. [color=#10401d]“We need to get out!”[/color]

[color=8B008B]“Wait, the switch!”[/color] with the building beginning to break through the adjacent one, Juulet couldn’t find proper footing or focus enough to use temporal. Pluurii was at arm’s reach. A loud thud had both girls hoisted up in the air from the sudden shift in the tower’s position. Both groaned in pain, but it had gotten Pluurii’s bandaged hand to the switch, and she pulled.

The tower did not actually collapse. At least, not yet. The tip had gotten stuck on something again, though the constant creaking that trumped Pluurii’s leg did not aspire much confidence.

[color=8B008B]“Fuck all of this.”[/color] she declared. [color=#10401d]“Agreed.”[/color] Pluurii added. Now, there was a benefit to this new, steep predicament:

Tower sliding. And both were into it.

[hr]

The Fog was meant to deceive, to disorient and to dissuade. Oftentimes, the hearts of those who traversed it were enough to make them reconsider. One’s fears need not manifest to reign supreme in their lives.

Leon saw where his path would lead him, and more importantly, those that mattered to him. He may have found the path to the spire that beckoned them all, but did he have the will to make that final step? 

Yvain was privy to the darkness both his entourage and his ambition could lead him toward. He was destined for great things, but would he ever live long enough to enjoy them?

Xiuyang would find herself standing by yet another monster, one of many in her tortured life riddled with deception she, deep down, could sense. Even the most innocent of her friends looked like a creature that’d devour her.

Seviin appeared renewed. Perhaps not in spirit like many normally would one they emerged from the Fog, but in body. A hirsute transformation that revealed the nature of ability: The air of Halge Larchelon did not poison her like the others.

Lighting their way was a rotating, red light right over the metal gate differentiated by texture from the stone composition of the obelisk. There were two lights above it, but one was active. It was only after the massive explosion beyond the Fog, where Kaureerah and Yuliya had been dispatched, that the second light activated. With it came a warning buzz, alerting all those nearby that the gate was opening.

[color=#5875b0]“Excellent.”[/color] the voice from the box echoed through the nearby buildings connected to the electrical network. [color=#5875b0]“Hurry inside and shut down the magic dampener. I will guide your associates in the meantime.”[/color]

The door rolled open like a modern garage door, revealing a large, square shaped room with illuminating lights that resembled what Juulet and Xiuyang had encountered. There were yellow and white markings to delineate certain parts of it, old but not quite faded runes on the walls and multiple handrails. A quick scan of one’s range would reveal that there was a tunnel right below this room.

[color=#5875b0]“We will finally meet once you complete your task.”[/color]

It was an elevator, not a completely foreign concept to most, but it did not require any sort of rudimentary pulley system or direct magic input. It functioned entirely on the same sort of electrical network a few had sensed previously. The door closed after thirty seconds and the spacious box descended down. The trip was no more than twenty seconds. A time for a brief and awkward exchange, perhaps an unwanted noise.

[i]Ding.[/i]

The door slid open once more, revealing …

[center][youtube]https://youtu.be/tDDCRF8hMKM[/youtube][/center]

Smooth music? A style they had never heard before. A mixture of piano, strings, a trumpet perhaps? The music came from speakers similar to what the radio had been using before, except they were clean, integrated in the walls and looked more ‘advanced’. The sound quality was amazing. 

The room itself nearly blinded the group. White, very white, a stark contrast to the darkness above and all its dust. It was exceptionally clean here, smelling like artificial lavender and bleach - something else they’ve never felt before.  There were rows of leather seats with an unmanned desk at the opposite end of the room, giving the air of some sort of waiting room. There were a couple of fake plants by the rows too, although there wasn’t any sort of book to distract potential visitors.

It wasn’t all clean ceramic and rich metals. The walls were composed of stone native to the area, but fashioned to give off a more lavish air to the room. The craftsmanship resembled that of the Western Hegelan civilizations. But the most damning comparisons were two beams maintaining the room together - made of a particular marble and designed in a similar manner to burial spires. 

By the desk was another door akin to the elevator’s, albeit smaller and likely made only for people while the one they were in could realistically be used to move cargo. Adjacent to it was a regular shaped door, although the height would make it very inconvenient for those like Seviin to pass by. There was another plain door on the left side of the room, unassuming and isolated from other points of interest. Stepping out of the elevator, they’d see another, large door to their right with track marks linking it to the elevator - perhaps they moved cargo in there?

The runes writing over each door and on the walls associated with arrows did little to offer guidance. They were quite different even by Hegelan standards.

[color=#2d8a5f]“ᚨᛏᛏᛖᚾᛏᛟᚾ ᛁᚾᛏᚱᚢᛞᛖᚱᛊ. ᛖᚢᚨᚲᚢᚨᛏᛖ ᚦᛖ ᛈᚱᛖᛗᛁᛊᛖᛊ ᚾᛟᚹ. ᛁᛟᚢ ᚺᚨᚢᛖ ᛒᛖᛖᚾ ᚹᚨᚱᚾᛖᛞ. ᛁ ᚱᛖᛈᛖᛏ, ᛖᚢᚨᚲᚢᚨᛏᛖ ᚾᛟᚹ.”[/color]

A voice came from the speakers as the music quieted down. It was modulated to hide distinguishing features but they could tell it was most likely a woman’s. The language, however, was alien to most. Only those with a basis in Hegelan languages could potentially decipher pieces of it.

After some time, another message passed through the speakers.

[color=#2d8a5f]“ᚨᛏᛏᛖᚾᛏᛟᚾ ᛁᚾᛏᚱᚢᛞᛖᚱᛊ. ᚲᛟᚾᛏᛁᚾᚢᛖ ᛁᛟᚢᚱ ᚨᛞᚢᚨᚾᚲᛖ ᚨᚾᛞ ᚹᛖ ᚹᛁᛚᛚ ᛒᛖ ᚠᛟᚱᚲᛖᛞ ᛏᛟ ᚨᛈᛈᚱᛖᚺᛖᚾᛞ ᚨᚾᛞ/ᛟᚱ ᚾᛖᚢᛏᚱᚨᛚᛁᛉᛖ ᛁᛟᚢ. ᛖᚢᚨᚲᚢᚨᛏᛖ ᛁᛗᛗᛖᛞᛟᛏᛖᛚᛁ.”[/color][/color]

[hider=Action Opportunities]
You are in a strange place. There are things to look at, doors to open and a goal to accomplish. Surely you’ll find your way around. If not, something will find you.

Yuliya and Kaureerah have yet to arrive. The same applies to Juulet and Pluurii.[/hider]