Enter: The Rabbit Hole [Party/Closed]

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Hiro hadn’t questioned Sayha at all when she asked him to put away his lantern. After he did, he pulled out his second pistol. Sayha kept her lantern but switched hands to hold it… then she came up with an idea. She pulled out one of the kamas and hooked the lantern to blade-like tip. Then she pulled out the other kama and re-attached them so it was a full scythe. With the scythe, she was able to hold the lantern out a little ways ahead of them.

Hiro asked Sayha to let him know what she was able to understand, hearing-wise. She was about to speak when she heard another noise she thought she recognized… moaning? Groaning? She wasn’t sure.

“I hear the sound of dripping water… and either moaning or groaning… I think someone or something is down here,” Sayha whispered to Hiro.

Up ahead, Sayha could make out an entrance to a cavern that wasn’t on the map. Sayha carefully stepped into the cavern and slowly moved the lantern in front of her. Off to the left was a small pond that looked like water was dripping in thanks to the stalagmites on the top of the cave. Off straight ahead was another tunnel. Off to the right… were cages. Inside were creatures that Sayha had never seen before, and they were deformed. It looked as if they were… corrupted by something.

“I heard of Miasma corrupting things, but I’ve never seen it do anything like this,” Sayha whispered, not to anyone in particular. Sayha took a few more steps towards the cages and the monsters reacted badly to the light. They began to snarl and tried to attack the lantern which made Sayha move her lantern away from the cages.

“What should we do with them?” Sayha asked when suddenly there was a blast of wind from the tunnel they hadn’t gone down yet.

---

((Note: Monsters are from the Miasma Realm))

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Hirosame
Coding by Sayha of LH

[Hirosame]

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As Hiro had remained as silent as possible, he waited for Sayha's eventual response. She told him that it seemed like moaning and groaning, though he couldn't rightly understand what it was, until they had gotten a bit closer. He could hear the sound coming from just up ahead now, and as they had gotten closer, Hiro could see inside a large room-like enclosure. On the left-hand side were some stalagmites, which the water that Sayha could hear seemed to be dripping from. On the other side, though, were monsters in cages. A flashback from the castle in Avon found its way into Hiro's mind, as the monsters in cages there had also been kind of like this. However, they weren't these kinds of monsters specifically, as the monsters in the cages before were a few different types of Jacks, during the Halloween event. Something about them seemed to rub Hiro the wrong way. In this setting, they also kind of creeped him out, since he didn't really know what exactly these monsters were. As he was about to check them out, which Sayha had already done so, they let out a screech.

This caused a chill to run up along Hiro's spine, as he hadn't been expecting it. However, as he looked over at the monster which was the source of the problem, he could tell that they had been reacting to the light from the lantern. Letting out a small breath of relief, he started to walk around them, looking around the room a bit more. He relaxed his grip on the guns a little more, as he walked around to see what else was around on the other side. He could hear Sayha say something, but his eyes locked onto a mass on the ground, seemingly hunched over and unmoving. As he looked at the object on the ground, he found himself drawing just a little bit closer to it, and reached down to lift it up. It was a black cloth of some kind, but he couldn't see it all that well in the darkness. He held it up to look at it a bit better, with the light, though he wasn't able to tell what exactly it was. However, it didn't really feel like cloth, or much of anything like any cloth he had felt before. Without another moment, he had put it back down, and stared at it some more, before looking around the cavern again. The stalagmites on the other side of the room were still dripping water, every so often.

He heard Sayha's voice once again, asking what they should do with the creatures. Just before Hiro was going to answer, he felt a rather large gust of wind coming from the tunnel that they had not yet traveled down. Raising his guns up quickly down that way, he waited for something to happen. Hiro walked a bit closer to the Assassin, not letting his guard down at all. "We should probably just leave them for now." Hiro said, his voice much quieter than before. He kept looking down the way that the wind had come up from, as he continued. "We can come back and take care of them some other time, but for now, I think we both are a bit confused about that bit of wind." Wind in a tunnel system meant a few different things. The first would have been some kind of a blast wave after an explosion, but he didn't hear the sound of an explosion at all. It could have been a gust of wind from another entrance that was making its way through the tunnel system, but that would mean that there was another entrance or exit somewhere nearby. The last would be the usual workings of wind, in that it moves from areas of high pressure to low pressure. However, the 'usual workings' of wind didn't seem to apply in this world, and Hiro's mind jumped to one the second option. He half expected something to show up all of a sudden, which is why he had positioned himself a little ahead of Sayha, while keeping the guns up. If need be, he would start doing the tanking job as quick as he needed to, but until such a time, Hiro would only move when Sayha did.

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∝: 724
♫: Lightning Strikes, Thunder Rolls
✏: What caused the wind??
@: @shadowsaiph

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Hiro had said to leave the monsters as is for the time being as the wind needed to be checked out. Sayha agreed and began to move towards the tunnel. However before she even walked down the tunnel, she noticed black marks stretching along the tunnel’s walls. Sayha poked the black with part of her scythe, but it was solid. It was as if the wall had been burned by something.

Sayha tentatively walked forward, lighting up what bit of the tunnel she could see ahead. So far, she couldn’t see anything, and she couldn’t pick up any noise other than the dripping and the creatures behind her. After deciding the tunnel was safe enough, Sayha stepped through, assuming Hiro was following her.

They walked for a bit longer before they came across yet another tunnel choice… However, one of the tunnels, the one on the right, was blocked by debris. Sayha balanced her scythe against the tunnel wall as she pulled out her notebook.

“I don’t have any notes regarding any debris or cave-ins,” Sayha said, turning to Hiro, “This is recent or at least newer than any of the records I’ve found. Then again according to the records, nothing is supposed to be down here.”

Sayha flipped through her pages, scanning her notes but eventually went back to the page where she had sketched the diagram of the tunnels.

“The left tunnel is the one we’ll want to go through if we’re checking out the back of the tunnel,” Sayha finally said, “Though with how things are looking, we may want to come back and check out the other passageways.”

Sayha then began walking down the left tunnel, trying to figure out what was going on.

---

((Note: See PM))

Words: 288 | Total Words: 4919
Hirosame
Coding by Sayha of LH

[Hirosame]

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As the two of them started to make their way down the tunnels again, Hiro couldn't help but wonder what it was that the cloth on the ground he had found was. Was it some kind of clothing? Or maybe like a cloth to rub dust off of things? He wasn't all that sure, but he'd probably keep it in mind, should they need to remember such things. For the time being, it seemed that Sayha had been a little sidetracked with her own devices for the time being. Hiro had kept the lantern that he had access to in his inventory for a while now, and relied on the light from Sayha's lantern. As a result, he decided that he would keep his pistols out for now, and would play overwatch for the time being. If anything came out to attack them, he would be all set to fire away, if need be, or swap right over to melee style, where he would end whatever it is that would be attacking them. He did hope, however, that nothing showed up, and that his worries wouldn't be well placed. The best scenario would be to have nothing else happen for the moment, though he knew that such things just weren't part of his repertoire.

Not too long afterwards, they had both reached a point where the tunnels forked off again, but one of the tunnels seemed to have been blocked off with debris. Various rocks, boulders, and parts of the wall had fallen down onto the pathway, blocking them from going down that path at all. However, Hiro could have just as easily slammed it away using some brute strength, though he knew that Sayha would likely get a bit mad at him for that. She had requested that he not use his brute force on the walls, and if the pile of rubble had been holding up a part of the wall, which could very well have been rather destroyed as well, the entire ceiling could collapse, and the two would be trapped underneath the wreckage for the time being. As Sayha had begun to search through her notes and sketches, Hiro looked around a little bit more. He wasn't entirely sure about that wind that had happened before, which he had seemed to forget about until just now. While it was a good thing to have remembered it now, of all times, it still would have been more helpful if the Monk had thought about it beforehand. However, nothing was able to reverse time, so he would just deal with it, until the answer came.

Hiro's eyebrow raised as the Assassin had mentioned that the debris hadn't been there when she had done her initial research. Given that the tunnels are much older than one gave them credit for, along with the destruction of the world above with whatever had caused the world to begin to rot away anyways, it seemed logical that some parts of the tunnels weren't quite as strong as they once were. However, it still did bring to his mind the possibility of something being wrong here. She eventually concluded that the right-heading tunnel was the one they needed to go down, and so she would begin to move down that path once more. Hiro kept his eye on the blocked path, finding it odd as well, though he started to follow after Sayha. He caught up next to her, but he had moved a little bit closer to her than he had been already. While it may seem like he was using this as an excuse to just walk closer to her, given the events earlier on, he mostly meant it as a precautionary sign. The Monk felt that Sayha wasn't fully aware of everything that was going on here, neither was he, but he figured if the two of them were in close proximity of one another, he'd be able to swap over next to her immediately, without anything potentially harming her. He carried on in silence, though his senses had perked up in caution.

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∝: 683
♫: At the End of the Abyss
✏: Just a touch closer now.
@: @shadowsaiph

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As Sayha went down the tunnel, she could feel Hiro right behind her. Literally right behind. With how things had been suddenly left off earlier, Sayha wasn’t quite sure what to think. Though she had to admit that having him closer did make her feel a bit easier… she hadn’t realized how tense she was until then.

As they walked forward, Sayha heard something off in the distance… footsteps. She stopped instantly and grabbed the lantern off of her scythe, setting it down behind her. “Someone’s coming,” Sayha said to Hiro, switching the scythe to dual kama mode.

“My, my,” a girl’s voice spoke, “It seems are visitors aren’t milady and that pathetic excuse for a cleric.” Around a bend in the tunnel, lights appeared and stepped closer and closer until the person who spoke appeared and was in sight.

It was a girl who looked to be about 13 or 14 with red eyes and long, pink hair. She wore some sort of short skirt outfit and tall black boots. “My, my, what a surprise,” the girl said, “You must be the two ticks that Lady Hecate warned about. I’d say it’s an honor, but I’d be lying.”

“Who are you,” Sayha demanded, “What are you doing here.”

“Oh yes, I should introduce myself,” the girl cocked her head to the side and gave a curtsy, “My name is Krul, and I am the gate keeper for the Living Nether. Are you here to come to your senses and join Mi’lady’s side?”

“Hell no,” Sayha gripped her kamas tighter, ready to attack if the need should arise. She quickly read the girl’s interface. She was a level 40 Sorcerer… though something seemed off about her.

“So I take it you’re here to stop her?” Krul giggled under her breath, “I’m afraid you’re too late. The next step to Lady Hecate’s rise is nearly complete, and I have no intentions on letting you interrupt the ritual.” Krul then turned her attention away from Sayha and onto Hiro.

“So boy, are you here on the same mission?” Krul eyed him, “Or is your little friend going to do all the talking? Though I can’t see someone like you teaming up with that girl for a long time. Not a very polite one, she is.”

Words: 383 | Total Words: 5302
Hirosame
Coding by Sayha of LH

[Hirosame]

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Hiro had been close to Sayha for a little bit now, though he hoped that she didn't quite mind it. His mind had few things in it, but the most prominent subject was the desire to keep Sayha safe, as a tank would. He wasn't going to bar her from any combat that may come their way, since he knew just how capable of a fighter she was, though his idea was to make sure that nobody else got in their way. However, as soon as Sayha had stopped, Hiro had also done the same, raising up both his guns. She mentioned that she heard someone heading their way, though she didn't specify from where. He assumed that she meant ahead of them, as a voice eventually rung out from that direction. It sounded like a kid to Hiro, but that only made him all the more cautious. Eventually, though, the girl had appeared before them, lights following her. She didn't look all that menacing, though Hiro kept quiet for the time being. He remained standing still, both guns facing the newcomer. Sayha had done a bit of the talking, to which Hiro only listened and waited for the next thing to happen.

This girl looked like she was cosplaying a succubus or something like that, and it wasn't very effective. However, when she had mentioned Hecate, it all made sense. So, it looked like she had a bit more of a following, huh? Along with that cleric from beforehand, which this Krul person didn't seem to much enjoy either, Hiro was beginning to wonder if she had promised the cleric something in return for his service, or both of her little followers were hardcore Chuuni victims. Granted, given the small stature of the girl before the two, Hecate must've promised a lollipop or something, if Krul did what ever it was that the Heretic wanted. Feeling that now wasn't the time for jokes, Hiro continued to remain silent. As the two talked, Hiro took note of everything that Krul said. Not very secretive, this one, which helped their intelligence out just a little bit more. Nice to see that the 'bad guys' were so giving with their information sharing. However, soon enough, she directed her attention to the Monk, asking him if he was just going to let Sayha do all the talking. She then proceeded to mention how Sayha lacked a bit of politeness in the conversation, to which Hiro smirked.

"I dunno." He began. "I think it's cute. Sure as hell helps to have someone who's willing to be honest, rather than beat around the bush." Hiro lowered the guns to a neutral stance, letting them fall to his side. Hiro took a few steps toward Krul, as he continued to speak. He made sure to align himself so that he could easily jump in front of Sayha, should combat arise. "So, Hecate's got a plan, huh? I can't wait to ruin it. Though, I have to wonder: What'd Hecate do to get you under her corrupted wing? She promise you some candy or something?" While Hiro meant to have his words bite at her, he also wanted to see if he could aggravate some answers out of her. "Or did she steal your teddy bear, and tell you to do what she says to get it back?" He generally wasn't this condescending, but if that witch of a person, more likely a witch of a monster, had anything to do with this, the kiddie gloves would come off. Hiro held no remorse for the black-hearted Heretic, nor did he believe in any one of her ideals. Having lowered his guard as much as he did, though, he knew that he likely posed both less, and more, of a threat to the girl. This subtle method of garnering aggro from Adventurers was something Hiro had learned, and felt that he needed to keep it on hand, should such an occasion as this arise. Hiro adopted a condescending grin, as he waited for the girl to respond.

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∝: 679
♫: The Castle
✏: Tryin' to piss Krul off. o7
@: @shadowsaiph

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As Sayha and Krul talked, Hiro had taken a few steps forward to be in front of Sayha. Since he was in front of her, Sayha had no safe way to attack with her melee weapons. As much as it was annoying to hear Krul talk, she seemed distracted enough on Hiro that Sayha was able to put her transforming weapon in her inventory and pull out her Gekkoin Bow. After Sayha was called impolite by Krul, she shifted so that the bow was being held by her right hand and her left hand was on the string. She let the bow hang in front of her for the time being.

Hiro lowered his guns, saying that it was good to have someone honest with him instead of one who beats around the bush. Sayha smirked at that comment but didn’t say anything. Though Hiro began to tease Krul, trying to get her pissed off. He was baiting her.

“I see,” Krul said with a cruel smirk, “So the boy is with the girl, and he even defends her both physically and personally. My, my, it’s like a breath of fresh air.” With a wave of her hand, a black staff appeared in her right hand. “I’ve known Hecate for quite some time; since the Catastrophe hit. We were both scared then, not understanding the world we had been taken to. However, we both came to realize many things. I may be a follower of the Lady Hecate, but I am no pawn of hers. As for what she promised me, she promised me nothing. I am a very strong rook that is mostly an observer. Though even as an observer, I have my duties. Since you’re not interested in converting, and you don’t seem to be backing down, I have no choice but to act as the guard and destroy you.” Krul pointed her staff at Hiro, “<Orb of Lava>.” A fire orb appeared at the end of her staff and shot forward.

Sayha knew that Hiro would be able to take the blast easily so she quickly tumbled backwards, readying an arrow on her bow. Once she was on one of her knees bending down, she readied her attack, “<Quick Draw>.” The arrow shot faster than a normal arrow would have, and it hit Krul head-on. It was her only ranged attack so she quickly opened her inventory and swapped to her scythe. She waited for Hiro to make his move before she did.

Words: 416 | Total Words: 5718
Hirosame
Coding by Sayha of LH

[Hirosame]

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So it seemed that Krul was an agent of Hecate that liked to think that she had been acting of her own free will. Hiro couldn't say he believed the girl at all, given the fact that she had seemed to consider herself a rook. Rooks are still as expendable in chess, though they definitely are among the more powerful iterations of units in a game of chess. However, a rook could only move forward or sideways, leaving their diagonals rather exposed. They could just as easily be trapped and taken out by a pawn, as well as bishops or knights. But, all the chess analogies were not that useful here, since this was something akin to an actual state of being and real life. That being the case, Hiro knew that he would likely be forced into combat, as much as Sayha would be, as Krul seemed to hang dearly onto her delusions. Whatever it was that Hecate had planned for now, it was strictly against what was for the good of the people in this world. However, the question would arise: What right did Hiro have to dictate what was bad, or what was good for the world? Where was the line drawn?

That line, however, was nonexistent at the moment, as Krul had launched an orb of Lava at the Monk. After having explained that she had known Hecate since the Catastrophe, it made sense that she would consider herself a special person within the eyes of the deranged Heretic. And, to be perfectly fair, Hiro believed her. Even someone as twisted as the Heretic must have had some close compatriots, such as the Cleric, Azrael. Though, the thought of what it was that Krul wanted out of helping Hecate was still in the back of his mind. He couldn't imagine that the Heretic and the Sorceress had two very different ideals, though it was something to keep in mind. Speaking of different classes, an arrow had flung itself into Krul, from a little ways behind Hiro. He wanted to turn around and shout 'Nice shot!' to Sayha, but that didn't seem appropriate at the moment. Hiro brushed off the portion of his clothing that had been hit by the fireball, watching as his health slowly recovered from the barely noticeable indentation onto his health bar. The attack was barely there, as well as repercussion of having been hit by it.

Now, Hiro would need to get a bit more serious in his interrogation. Since attempting to rile her up and get her angry didn't seem to work, perhaps using some kind of a fear-inducing tactic would be the next best thing. The first thing he did was raise a finger up and into the air, calling upon the Idol skll, Showtime!. A light appeared overhead Krul, which both illuminated her quite well, but would also serve to dampen her ability to see outside of the light's radius. Walking over toward Krul, Hiro lifted up one of the pistols, aiming it directly at her head. It helped being a bit taller than her, since that made aiming guns at someone's head all that much more intimidating. "Well, you're not doing too bad so far." Hiro said, looking down at the wounded Sorceress. "Normally, being hit by an arrow of that caliber might have been enough to off someone quite easily." He bluffed. He knew that the skill Sayha had used wasn't meant to be powerful, but more to strike the target quickly. "So, let's talk plans, shall we? What's Hecate up to? She still furthering her desires to become a god of some sort, or did she finally give up on that?" He paused, intending to let her speak, though he remembered one thing. "Oh, and don't try to attack either of us again. I can promise you, the next hit you take will be enough to knock you back to the sanctuary, with only 3 HP remaining." He wanted to emphasize the point, that she wouldn't survive another attack, whether it was from him or from Sayha. He waited, either way, for the Sorceress's response.

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∝: 690
♫: Kumomi
✏: Interrogation-style.
@: @shadowsaiph

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The arrow Sayha shot didn’t do a whole lot of damage, and Krul brushed off where she had been hit with the arrow. Right after, Hiro used some sort of ability to put a spotlight right over the sorceress. She, however, looked unfazed by the light… actually she looked a bit annoyed. Hiro began taunting Krul, but it didn’t seem to affect her at all. Hiro wanted more information such as what Hecate was up to.

“You must take me for a fool,” Krul said when Hiro was done, “Dying never has scared me, especially not in this world. If I die, I simply return stronger than I was before. Feel free to kill me; I won’t hold it against you. Like I said, I’m an observer. If you turn out to actually be smarter and better than Hecate, I’ll gladly switch sides. However until then, you’re not getting anything more out of me.” Krul pointed her staff in front of her towards both Sayha and Hiro, “<Blazing Liner>.”

A blast of fire came from the staff, and it wasn’t targeting either Sayha or Hiro but rather near the middle of where they both stood. Sayha sidestepped just in time to miss the bulk of the attack, but she was hit by some minor damage. Sayha switched her scythe to dual kama mode.

“I think I’ve heard enough out of her,” Sayha said to Hiro, “We’re not going to get anything more out of her, and she’s just going to keep attacking us. If you’re done talking, we should just deal with her.”

Sayha activated <Death Stinger> on the dual kamas and ran towards the sorceress, “<Sword Rain Flurry>.” Sayha stabbed with the points of both of her kamas and jumped behind her so that she was now in the middle of both her and Hiro.

“If that’s all you got, you might as well quit while you’re ahead,” Krul taunted, “I’m looking forward to seeing your pain.”

Words: 328 | Total Words: 6046
Hirosame
Coding by Sayha of LH

[Hirosame]

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It seemed the Krul wasn't necessarily willing to divulge much information, which was to be expected a bit. The young girl didn't seem all that interested in speaking much at all, which Hiro couldn't complain about. Her voice was starting to get a little annoying. However, it seemed that she had tried to attack them both once again, this time firing a beam of fire between the two of them. Hiro suffered minor scalding damage, though nothing worth writing home about. Afterwards, it seemed Sayha was just as annoyed with this girl as he was, maybe a bit more so than him, and decided to go ahead and attack. Hiro, however, was busy formulating some kind of a thought, one that he wasn't entirely sure he was correct about. It seemed that Krul wanted to just keep them there, and decide to stave them off while waiting for some kind of reinforcement to come. If this was true, then it might have been safe to assume that her previous attack was to garner some kind of attention, while she would willingly die for her cause, hence why she didn't seem to budge all that much.

The more Hiro thought about it, the less he cared about Krul. Whether she was here for some reason or not wasn't his concern. For the time being, Hiro and Sayha needed to get a bit further down into the tunnel system, especially if Hecate had been planning something. Which was entirely possible, given the fact that the monster howling from before could have probably been heard all throughout the tunnel system. The Monk looked up at Krul, and then at the passageway she had come from. Given that she could have very easily set out as soon as some kind of a noise was made, he figured that whatever Krul had come from, must have been the grand scheme of things. Without too much else to do, Hiro thought that they might as well stop the combat for the time being. However, to make sure that happened, Hiro and Sayha would have needed to kill Krul, which he didn't really want to do at the moment. If she died, then her possible mission would have been complete, as a method of stalling them. If they somehow managed to bring her along, though... That would likely make her feel like a failure. Emotional warfare.

Without another moment's wait, Hiro walked over toward Krul, passing by Sayha slowly. Placing the guns he had equipped into his inventory once again, Hiro stopped just a few feet in front of Krul. Extending his hand out a little, he activated Magnet Grip, and aimed his target to be the Sorceress's staff. The skill had triggered, and the Monk's hand shot out and grabbed onto it. Thanks to being a Monk, whether Krul tried to resist or not, his brute strength, accompanied by the skill he had been using, was more than likely enough to wrench the staff out of the girl's hands. Turning to face Sayha, Hiro spoke. "C'mon, let's get a move on." He looked back ahead to the tunnel system before them. "Hecate isn't gonna wait for us, more than likely." The Monk had no emotional expression, nor did he show any sign of vocal expression. His entire being seemed as though he were a blank slate, though he knew that he likely had a little bit of explaining to do. "Leave the kid alone, we'll just keep going. If she wants to come along, then she can come along. Not like she deals any damage, after all." Hiro flicked his hand in front of him, motioning for Sayha to take the lead from there. Whether or not Krul followed them wasn't his concern. Hiro had her staff, which likely added a good deal of power to her spells, and the two of them would get along through the tunnels quicker now. At least, that was the plan.

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∝: 661
♫: The Spy
✏: Taking a big leap here.
@: @shadowsaiph

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“You really must think I’m a fool… but you really are the fools,” Krul said as she let the staff be taken from her, “I don’t need a staff to fight.” With a flick of her hand, a wand appeared. Krul pointed the want to behind Sayha, “<Barrier Spike>.” Giant stalagmites grew out of the ground behind Sayha, blocking the tunnel. Sayha turned and gave the stalagmites a swift kick, but they didn’t budge at all. Hiro would have to knock them down… but then Sayha thought about the structure of the tunnels… the stalagmites were attached to the tunnel now… If Hiro hit the wall too hard, the reverberation could make the tunnels crash down around them. Sayha saw Krul smirk, knowing exactly what Sayha had been thinking. “I may not be able to hurt you, Monk,” Krul said waving her hand off at him, “but your friend here is closer to my level. I may not be able to kill her, but it won’t stop me from trying.” Krul put her wand up, but Sayha already had a plan.

Sayha threw one of her kamas against the left wall closest to Krul. Sayha ran past Krul and caught the kama. Since there was a long chain between the two, the sorceress was partially wrapped. Sayha threw the other kama that spun all the way around Krul, and Sayha caught it. In a quick motion, Sayha pulled the chains on both kama so that Krul was wrapped tightly. However, Sayha knew it wouldn’t stay so she quickly ran towards Krul and went behind her, keeping the chains tight. Once behind her, Sayha forced Krul onto her knees, putting one of her knees in the middle of Krul’s back right between the shoulder blades so that she would be unable to move.

“I really hope you aren’t going soft on me, Hiro,” Sayha slightly glared up at Hiro, “You do realize that she’s not as young as she appears. With the way she talks, she’s closer to a young adult than she is a child… and she works for Hecate in some form. There’s no point in going easy on her.”

Krul laughed, “Well I must say, you’re more observant than I originally gave you credit for. Though stopping me does nothing. The ceremony’s complete by now… and the Lady Hecate has arrived. Things should be getting fun about now.”

Words: 400 | Total Words: 6446
Hirosame
Coding by Sayha of LH

[Hirosame]

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It seemed that Krul had had a different plan in mind, at the moment. She didn't need her staff at all, which Hiro was slightly surprised by, and pulled out a wand. She had also managed to form a wall of spikes between himself and Sayha, having used some kind of a spell. At this point, Hiro was becoming increasingly annoyed with how Krul was acting. Even when Sayha had managed to chain her up using her kama, he found himself wanting to just forget the girl even existed. She wasn't even much of a problem for them, except for right now, given the small wall that she had attempted to form between the two. Looking at the spikes, they didn't seem to be all that strong, though the reverberations from the possible attacks would likely cause something to happen to the floor below them. That being said, it was the floor. Nothing would happen if the floor took a bit of shaking, unless someone was really concerned about walking over crack or two. A hole in the ceiling was much more of an issue, as that would have insisted that the ceiling was unstable.

Hiro sighed, as he knew it would likely cause a bit more trouble than it was worth to break the ground-held objects using brute strength, as much as he wanted to. He would break them, though. Not with physical strength, but with a projectile to slice the stalagmites. Hiro also knew that there wasn't much else to do with Krul, so he would need to make a decision on what to do with her. He was apprehensive about just killing her, as he felt like she would just be a thorn in their side from up above, given that they had already missed their chance to stop whatever ceremonious preparations that had to be taken care of. That being the case, Hiro figured that he could just as easily walk over to the ceremony site, which he assumed was already down in the tunnel from whence Krul came, and then mess it up from there. If Hecate or her boytoy were there, then that was just even better for Hiro and Sayha. End the problems before they supposedly begin. However, there was still the question concerning who Hecate had gotten her information from, as that would likely solve many more problems than it would spawn.

Either way, Hiro needed to break the wall. Lowering his body much closer to the ground, Hiro performed a roundhouse to spawn a yellow projectile, which began to shoot off towards the stalagmites, starting up Warp Fang. The yellow beam moved at a slightly upward angle. Disappearing, he reappeared over the rock formations, and just as the projectile sliced through the rocks, Hiro landed a little far from Sayha and Krul. He had aimed his dropkick to be up and in the air, so the animation would cancel, and he could try and land as softly as possible. Standing up from there, Hiro activated Acupressure, and started to hit Krul's arms and legs, rendering her immobile and ideally, limp. He turned the toggle skill off, and looked at the stalagmites. "There, all set." There was an opening wide enough for the two of them to pass through, thanks to the projectile having passed through them and disappearing when it hit its elevated target of nothing. Hiro looked down at Krul, his eyes burning with a little more rage than he probably should have at the moment. He knelt down to look at her more closely, but his expression turned... More friendly.

As he had knelt down low enough, he put a hand on top of Krul's head, and patted her. "Thanks for the info, kid." He said, smiling at the girl. Hiro opened up his inventory, and summoned one of his pistols. Putting the gun up to her head, Hiro fired off a few rounds. Since it was a level 90 weapon, fired from a level 90 user with proficiency in the weapon itself, a few shots might have been too much. Either way, Krul was likely gone at this point, to which he stood up, placing the weapon back in his inventory. His attention turned to Sayha. "We should probably get moving from here." Hiro looked over towards the entrance he had just made, and wondered just how long they would stand up. But, that was inconsequential for them and the moment. "If even one bit of what she's said is true, Hecate's either on her way, or she's down there already, and they've got something cooking. I dunno about you, but I'd rather not let whatever's going on, go on." Hiro immediately began to walk towards the continuation of the tunnel, his pace having been hastened just a bit more. "I have a bad feeling whatever's going on is in the process of starting up soon here, so I'd rather not waste time." His expression turned into a more stern one, as he moved down the corridor.

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∝: 839
♫: Intruders
✏: Bang bang.
@: @shadowsaiph

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By some miracle, Hiro had broken down the spike wall without causing the rest of the tunnel to collapse. Then, he swiftly killed Krul while she was bound by Sayha. After she was killed out, Sayha untangled her from the chains and combined the dual kamas into her scythe and deposited it into her inventory. Hiro suggested that they get moving, which Sayha did agree with. She took a few steps back grabbing the lantern she had set down before, “Let’s go.”

Sayha moved quickly to catch up where Hiro was. As they walked deeper into the tunnels, the walls now had sconces with burning candles which lit the way. Sayha had thought about putting the lantern away, but she decided against it.

After a while of walking, Sayha felt something… it was like a dark presence, but Sayha had no idea what it was. Though as they kept walking, the feeling got stronger and stronger. “I’m not liking this,” Sayha said to Hiro, “Not at all.”

There was also something Sayha noticed as they kept walking that was very much visible. The tunnel walls were now completely pitch black instead of white as they should have been. As they were walking, Sayha pulled out her notebook and glanced at the map she had sketched out.

“The scale is kind of off, but we should be approaching the main cavern where the woman’s body was supposedly found,” Sayha said, “And that reminds me… I never told you about one of the main stories about this place. So there was a previous story that kind of tied into it. There was some sort of challenge for people to stay in the cavern overnight… but one of them was severely injured for no reason, and the person had no recollection of what happened. So eventually a priest or cleric of some sort came down to try to exorcise the place for the evil spirit. However, the priest came back, and he had been changed. Rumors said that he had gone mad… and I think that whatever the ‘Living Nether’ thing Krul talked about is what the cause of it is. I don’t think there was ever a ghost, but it could be some very powerful miasma up ahead.”

Just ahead of the two was the opening to the cavern.

---

Inside the cavern was something that was almost like a black and purple flame. It was huge and instead of embers were whips that flew back and forth connected to the core. It was something dark, something evil… and at the base of the flame was blood.

Words: 434 | Total Words: 6880
Hirosame
Coding by Sayha of LH

[Hirosame]

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As the two made it further down and into the cavern by which they had begun traveling down, he noticed that the place around them started to turn from white to black. As if it wasn't foreboding enough as it is, it just had to do this now, too. For his sake, there'd better be something down here. If this was just a ploy for Sayha to scare the shit outta Hiro at the end of the tunnel, then it would likely work. However, he figured that such a thing wouldn't happen, thanks to the appearance of Krul beforehand. Hiro looked over to one of the torches that lined the walls, noticing them for the first time now. And behind them, the blackened chalk. At that point, he remembered that Hecate might have been down here, as well. Though she no doubt had info on Hiro and Sayha coming at this point, they still pressed on. He found his worry slowly going away, as he was told by the Assassin nearby him that they were getting close to the main cavern. Hopefully, something would be down here, so that they could either get out of this place quicker, or do something to take his mind off of it.

While Hiro was trying to force down the terror in his mind, Sayha had felt it necessary to explain that there was more to this place, outside of what she had already shared. At this point, with the impending feeling of something darker on the horizon, as well as the fact that they were still in a tunnel system, which could cave in on them at any moment, Hiro was already nervous and slightly terrified enough. The fact that a priest had gone down into the tunnel and changed how they acted, which was supposedly one of the most holy and sanctified beings in the world, was enough to cause a shiver to go down the Monk's spine. As much as he wanted to ignore the thought of being in a dark place such as this, he couldn't help but feel a bit more scared, as a result. Hiro gulped just a bit, a bead of sweat making its way down the side of his face. A hot wash of embarrassment flew over him, as he realized just how much of a chicken he was being. At this rate, Sayha might just revoke her statement about having a crush on Hiro. He let out a deep breath, and continued onward for a little bit longer, formulating some courage in his heart and mind.

They had finally reached the main opening in the tunnel system, and what Hiro saw from there caused his eyes to open up wide. It looked like a burning mass of hatred and anger. Its flames were black and purple, and provided no sense of warmth. The room itself felt... Cold. Empty. Hateful. While the flames had caused Hiro to become slightly more guarded, he eventually noticed on the ground, at the foot of the fires. Blood. Hiro cringed at the sight, though he was able to keep his composure well enough. Glaring at the flames, he had to wonder if they were too late to stop whatever it was that was down here. What if they had already missed Hecate, and her plots? What if Krul, acting as a diversion, had fulfilled her mission, and had actually kept the two from interfering with the ceremony that the Heretic had had prepared? A hundred questions, and a fit of worry, flooded into Hiro's mind from there. Without much else to do for now, Hiro looked to Sayha. "We should at least look around a little. See if we can find anything." Turning back to the flames, Hiro squinted once more, and started to move over to their left side. He would begin to look around some, see if he could find any indication that Hecate had even been down here yet. Hiro's fear had peaked a bit, though he kept himself as calm as possible, as he looked around.

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∝: 680
♫: Mako Reactor
✏: Looking around the Den of Evil.
@: @shadowsaiph

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Once they reached the opening to the main cavern, Sayha turned to Hiro… and he wasn’t looking too good. Sayha recalled what had happened in Avon with the haunted mansion when they had first met Hecate and Azreal. Hiro didn’t like ghosts… or at least ghost stories. Though Sayha had recalled that checking out the haunted mansion had been his idea so she wasn’t quite sure what to think.

When Hiro said they should look around, Sayha nodded. First though, she took a good look at the cavern itself. The walls were tall, and he ceiling was high. On the ceiling were holes that let out a minimum amount of light in. It was hard to tell how deep they were, but it was very possible they were extremely deep… with tons of rock and dirt overhead. On the left side of the wall, Sayha saw what looked like to be cages, but since Hiro was on that side, Sayha looked closer on the right.

On the walls were papers written in scribbles that were not legible at all. There was also a small table and two chairs. On the table were two goblets and a bottle of some sort of drink. “I don’t think they’ve returned yet,” Sayha said, taking a few steps to the right. However as she did, she could feel something dark tugging at her mind.

Sayha turned to face what appeared to be a purple flame. Though instead of embers, there were black whips going back and forth in every direction. “That… think, must be what Krul was talking about when she said ‘Living Nether,’” Sayha said again. Looking past the fire, Sayha could see the main pond behind it… but something was wrong. The water looked… sick. Poisoned possibly. Sayha grabbed a coin out of her pocket and threw it at the purple flame. As soon as it was near it, the coin turned purple then black… then into ash.

“I think that’s Miasma…” Sayha turned to Hiro, “and the water looks poisoned. I don’t think we should stick around.”

Words: 346 | Total Words: 7226
Hirosame
Coding by Sayha of LH

[Hirosame]

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On the left-hand side of the room, Hiro found some cages, much like the ones that they had seen in the other portion of the tunnels. However, these ones were empty, and had nothing spectacular inside them at all. In fact, there was nothing in them. They seemed to be empty. The cages, however, looked like they had been used not too long ago, though Hiro didn't know what for. If something had been held inside these objects, then that would have been something completely different. However, these ones were much larger, or had a bit more holding room, than the ones for the monsters upstairs. Hiro reached to grab onto the closest cage he could find, though he quickly let go. The metal itself seemed to have been warped and slightly rusted over, as well as having a deeper black coloring to it than the others from before. Something was wrong here, especially because of the few things he did already know. This might have to cause Hiro to stop for a few moments, and see if he can figure something out on his own. Given that the subject at hand wasn't fully explained, he would need to do some guessing.

Hiro put a hand to his chin, his thoughts beginning to formulate. Sayha and he had been told that Hecate had just arrived, and the preparations for the ceremony had been completed, by way of Krul, the Adventurer that served under Hecate. Or, one of the ones. Given that she had been down here already, Krul must have been waiting for Hecate to arrive, or Hecate was already down here. However, there didn't seem to be any signs of hospitality, outside of a table over on the other side of the room from where Hiro stood presently. He didn't know what the table was for, but as Sayha had been investigating it, there might have been something inside the cups atop it. Without any surefire way to know from over here, Hiro assumed that the cups had either been used, or were planned to be used in the near future. Now, the cages here seemed to be akin to the ones earlier in the tunnel, though they seemed to have more room by which they could hold things. Either bigger things, or taller things, Hiro wasn't sure of. The fact of the matter is that some kind of life had to have been used, or would need to be, in order to fix things up a proper way.

Hiro heard Sayha's voice, causing him to look up at the flame that was in the center of the room. His eyes darted over to the pool of water, which he walked over and looked into. It definitely looked at least poisoned, and something else was wrong with it. Since Sayha had come to the conclusion that whatever this fire in the middle of the room was, if it was Miasma, then this had to be the source of some major corruption. That would explain the blackening of the chalk nearby, though not how quickly that blackening had happened. Hiro shook his head a good deal, and tried to focus on anything else in the room that he could have focused on. Eventually, his eyes were drawn to the blood on the ground, and something in his mind clicked. The cages, the blood on the ground, the flame... "Sayha...?" Hiro said aloud. "I think I might know what caused this thing..." The Monk paused for a moment, his expression turning slightly more sickened. "Whatever ceremony Krul had mentioned... I think it may have involved a sacrifice of some kind." It almost caused Hiro to vomit, just saying the words. The water nearby would have been used as some kind of a method to ensure the kill, so to speak.

But, that wasn't it. Hiro looked closer at the blood, trying not to get too close to the possible Living Nether. It seemed fresh enough, so it was safe to assume one or two more things. "Anyways, it looks like... Whatever was sacrificed... Wasn't done so very long ago. The blood itself looks fresh enough, so there's one of two things that could have happened. One, we could have just missed Hecate and her ceremony, which likely isn't the case." Hiro stood up, and walked over closer to Sayha. His eyes were still fixed on the flame. "Remember what Krul said? 'Hecate has arrived.' So, it's safe to say that no ceremony has happened yet. The second thing, which is the more likely of the scenarios, is that this here is all the preparations for whatever it is they're doing down here." His eyes finally looked to Sayha, with resolve. "From here, there's 2 things we can do. One, we standby, and watch whatever's going on until it happens, and then stop it. Or, two. We find some way to stop this here and now, before it can even begin." Hiro looked around, though, just to make sure that they were alone for the time being. It wouldn't do them any good if someone else had overheard what they were saying, and then relayed it to someone else. "I think it might be good to wait and see, so we could get some answers. What do you think?" He asked, waiting for the Assassin's response.

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∝: 894
♫: Infiltrating Shinra Tower
✏: Assumptions.
@: @shadowsaiph

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Sayha saw as Hiro shook his head after looking at the water. She was concerned about him… maybe he felt the darkness peck at him as well. She was about to look on her side of the room more when he said her name. She turned back and listed to what he was saying. A ritual that required a sacrifice? That would make sense… but who or what was the sacrifice… and why were they sacrificing whatever they did? Hiro said that the sacrifice hadn’t been done long ago.

They had a few options, just as Hiro had outlined. Sayha definitely didn’t think that Hecate had returned so both options were viable. Either standby and watch to see what Hecate was planning or figure out how to stop the ceremony right then and there. Hiro thought that it would be a good idea to wait and get some answers.

“The second option,” Sayha started, “has two very big weaknesses that are not in our favor. One, Hecate is going to be expecting Krul. Since Krul has died, there’s a very real possibility that Hecate will be cautious coming down. There’s also the possibility that Krul has respawned and called Hecate to warn her. Second, you have no way to turn invisible that I know of. And there’s not exactly a place for you to hide in here. We’d have to go back down the tunnel to one of the offshoots, but then it’s too far away to get any usable information.”

Sayha glanced at the Miasma Spring, feeling the darkness in her head poking her yet again. Her thoughts flashed back to her stepmother and the first time they had met Hecate. Sayha remembered the feeling when she had been covered in Hellfire. After a moment, Sayha’s mind shot back to the present, and she turned to Hiro. “Make that three,” Sayha resumed, “This Miasma is not helping us. I think it’s beginning to corrupt us. The longer we’re in here, the more likely we are to become like the nut jobs we’re against. I vote we destroy what we can and get the hell out of here.”

After she said that, Sayha heard something in the background… footsteps? Talking?

“Actually we may be too late,” Sayha said, her voice quieting, “I hear something or someone coming… I’m going to stealth and follow your lead. I leave the decision to you.”

Sayha quickly activated <Hiding Entry> and <Silent Move>, watching Hiro to follow his lead.

Words: 415 | Total Words: 7641
Hirosame
Coding by Sayha of LH

[Hirosame]

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Hiro listened as Sayha had listed out her worries, concerning the second of the two options they had access to. It was true that Hecate and Krul were probably aware of the whole thing, given that Hiro and Sayha had finished off Krul earlier on. The other glaring issue was with the fact that Hiro had no way of actually turning invisible, much like Sayha had mentioned. It was obvious that a Monk wouldn't be able to hide, though he had an idea, should the need arise. Though, he very much hoped that no need of any kind would come about, causing the two to hide at all. That being said, though, he needed to figure something out, just in case, though nothing really came to mind at the moment. He looked over to the cages, and saw how they were bunched up, and thought that he might be able to use something out of there. However, something else was picking at his head. Something he likely shouldn't be thinking about right now. He felt it pecking at his mind, and tried to get it out of his head, though it wasn't doing him any good. Shaking his head, he felt his mind go elsewhere.

His mind fluttered back to the castle in Avon. Something about that place had scarred him, though he wasn't entirely sure what it was. An image of Hecate and Azrael standing there, giant grins on their faces, and the monsters that they held behind them. Then, Morticia appeared from nowhere, her eyes soulless and without emotion. She turned to look over to the viewer, shaking from how cold she was. Hiro felt a lump appear in his throat, the guilt of the whole thing pooling up within him. Suddenly, Morticia leaped forward, letting out a ghastly wail. The image turned white, and Hiro found himself back in his room, in the real world. Sitting up in his bed, he saw his older sister, Evangeline, or Evan for short. She looked at him without any emotion in her eyes, much like Morticia had. Hiro was about to speak, though his parents had walked in, the ones who had taken him in. They also had emotionless glares. From there, two more figures walked in, whose faces and eyes were clouded. They all looked at him, without any kind of care, and just as they had all appeared, the vision went blank once again. He opened his eyes, only to see Sayha saying something to him.

He didn't exactly register what was going on, until a moment later, when he heard voices coming from the tunnels that they had come from. Sayha disappeared from there, causing Hiro's head to pulse with a bit of unnecessary fear. Without much else to do, Hiro started to dash over towards the cages that were over on the other side of the flame, moving as quick and silent as possible. The cages were all arranged in a bit of a circle together, to which Hiro moved around and behind them all. He went prone from there, opened his inventory, and pulled out the weatherproof cloak he had made a long time ago. It was black, and he used it to cover his upper half. Laying there on his stomach, he lifted his head up a little bit, to look and see if he could see who, or what, was coming down the tunnel. Thankfully enough, he was far enough away from the tunnel, as well as covered by a decent enough portion of the cages. On top of that, he was in a darker portion of the room, and his upper half was covered by a black cloak. His pants and shoes were black, too, so he felt that he was fairly well hidden for the moment. That being said, though, he was ready to spring up and attack, should the need arise at any time. He took this time to slow his breathing down, and try to calm himself back to a point where his mind hadn't shoved him into his past. Either way, Hiro attempted to relax, while watching.

---

She walked into the cavern, her eyes shimmering brightly in the dull flames of the room. A menacing grin was about her face, and her eyes fixed solely on the object that would be before her soon. Hecate had been waiting for this opportunity, to fulfill that which was to be her's alone. The priest was correct, after all. There it was... The Living Nether... Breathing, beating, right before her. Her eyes and grin widened further, as she began to cackle maniacally. She slowed her pace down a bit, as she walked towards it. "At last..." She began. "At long last... I shall have it." The Heretic stopped a few meters away, raising her arms up and out. "Immortality... Hecate, the Goddess of the Crossroads... It shall all be MINE!!" Her laughter filled the cavern, and echoed against the walls. She toned down after a few more moments, turning back to the one whom she had walked in with. "It... IS ready, yes...?" Her feet began to slowly move towards the other person, as her voice became darker. "Are ALL the preparations complete...? Have you made sure that they are...?" She demanded the answers.

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∝: 883
♫: The Dark Night
✏: Hiding attempt + Hecate.
@: @shadowsaiph

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After Hiro had gotten himself hidden… or at least partially hidden. If anyone were to have been looking for him, they probably could have found him. However because of whatever he had put over him, he was pretty well camouflaged with help of the dim lights. Sayha moved over towards the cages and crouched down. She didn’t have to hide thanks to her <Hiding Entry>, but she kept a close eye on her timer for that ability. It would last only about ten minutes so hopefully they would be able to get what they needed before they had to do what they would need to do.

After a moment, Sayha saw a figure she instantly recognized into the cavern. It was Hecate. She walked up to the middle of the cavern, talking about immortality and being a goddess again. It seemed her initial stealing of the sword hadn’t stopped or slowed her plans after all.

“Yes, all the preparations are now complete,” another voice said. Sayha looked towards the entrance to see yet another person walk in. She didn’t recognize the person walking in, but she read that it was a level 50 Adventurer druid… and she had a bright red spear strapped to her back. And her outfit looked way too tight and was even more… provocative than Krul’s outfit had been.

“Despite the setback of the sword yesterday, we were able to obtain another key artifact,” the druid continued, “The sacrifice was done earlier today so all that is needed is to set the weapon in the blood and allow the Nether to take over it. Once that’s done, we can proceed to the next phase of the Priest’s plan that he gave us.”

The druid glanced around quickly, “Though, my lady, why is Krul not here? I thought she was the guard dog for our sanctum.”

Words: 309 | Total Words: 7950
Hirosame
Coding by Sayha of LH

[Hirosame]

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Hiro had managed to calm himself down to a reasonable enough level. Whatever had happened within the confines of his mind had settled down now, though he wasn't entirely sure what it was that had caused him to break into some kind of a flashback before. He silently shook his head, letting the images that he had seen fall into the depths of his inner mind, as they would not help him any at the moment. For right now, though, Hecate had marched her way into the room, laughing maniacally, though she was not alone. This new person that had walked in as well, from what Hiro could tell, was another one of her followers. This one kept along the same dark-clad clothing, however she was much more skimpily-dressed than Hecate or Krul. Either way, Hiro's eyes fixed on the Heretic in the room, as the two of them held a conversation, pertaining to whatever the ceremony was about. However, they made mention of some kind of item, a sword, and Hiro didn't know much of anything about that. He remained silent from there, trying to hear the conversation that they were having.

Deep within his mind, a voice spoke softly. "Doesn't she deserve to die, though...?" It said. "She's killed People of the Land... Surely, she deserves some kind of divine retribution of some sort...?"

---

Hecate's eyes lit up just a touch more, as the Druid nearby her had explained that the sacrifice had been taken care of. "Good... Yes, very good indeed..." She chuckled to herself, in a deep tone. Her eyes shifted back to the demonic flames that burned behind her, laughing once again. "Never mind the merchant's sword. The one that we have now is a more sizable substitute, one that holds a deeper connection with the Miasma of Old. With it, it shall be completely imbued with the Darkness, and it shall grant me the power which I desire!" She looked down, her tone dropping again. "Never again shall I rely on the help of a useless sell-sword, like that oaf from yesterday. His involvement only made things worse..." She turned, looking over to the Druid that had followed her down to this place. "You, on the other hand, have proven to be quite useful to me. Once my ascension to power has been completed, I shall be sure to reward you graciously. Your assistance in this endeavor has proven to be most impressive, my dear." She sighed, turning back to the flames. "Oh, that there were more of you, that I could build an elite force to have at my side..."

She fell silent for a few more moments, before recollecting that Krul should have been down here as well. She looked around the room, but saw no sign of the guard she had posted. "I am not sure... Perhaps she had grown tired of being down here, all alone, and went to search for her lady in a fit of worry. What a good sort, that girl..." She digressed, placing her hands to her cheeks. "Ah... So many people that I must divulge unto them my divine might, that they shall be within the glorious bounty of the new world that I promise... So many worthy subjects, amidst the unworthy, horrid wretches that litter this world..." Removing her hands from her face, she turned around and looked to the Druid, holding out her hand. "I would request the weapon now, my dear. And I would ask that you announce your fealty to me, as part of the ceremony. As the Holder of the Key, which I have designated you as, it is only right that you pledge your loyalty to me and my divinity, for all the world to know, once more." She tilted her head down, a wicked grin forming ever increasingly. "Do this, and I shall guarantee you a high place within my new world order. You would be a high ranking official, serving underneath me, your divine Goddess." She waited patiently, the grin extending from ear to ear, for the weapon to be handed to her, and the recitation of loyalty to be heard.

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∝: 694
♫: The Forested Temple
✏: Trying to find out the Druid's name.
@: @shadowsaiph

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