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Post by Greed on Sept 24, 2012 8:37:33 GMT -5
Lyla flinched at what he called her, but decided to ignore it, and say nothing about it. However, she did have a rather legitimate question now.
"Yeah okay then. So, you say this place is deep? What exactly, mind you, would stop me from...." Blue liquid collected around Lyla's arm, forming itself into the shape of a conical drill, before hardening into the whirring metal contraption it was shaped as, "... drilling my way down to these Those Below fellows, who are most likely gangly abominations of spindliness?" Juli remained silent for a moment, silently smiling ear to ear at the sight of such a drill. Drills were fucking awesome after all...
"Crazy girl has a point..." Juli suspected though, that the floors and walls of this place wouldn't allow for that. She just needed confirmation.
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Post by Shin RyuKen on Sept 24, 2012 20:21:14 GMT -5
So the root of the labyrinth, or so it seemed, emerged right in front of the group almost all too blatantly. The presence of this man was not only foreboding, it emanated darkness...perseverance brimmed forth from the armored knight, for it was all he had at his disposal before he could deliver his verdict to the man in front of him.
Although the armored figure expected that the man would elucidate the situation a little further, it only complicated his grasp of the situation more...the Construct? A labyrinth buried deep under the school? All of this, somehow connected to the nightmare he probably had? This was all so unusually paranormal that the armored figure could only listen in silence to what the man spoke of. Piecing things together, the armored finally came to the realization that his presence at this university was staged somehow. Perhaps his father really knew what he was doing when he sent him here, or maybe he didn't, but whatever it was, and whatever led him to gain his armor around the time he was enrolled, it was some sort of fate that occurred to him...
The armored figure began to march forward with vestiges of energy trailing at his feet, reproaching the man in front of him with a upright gait that slowly came to a halt as his finger was pointed forward directly at him, the draft in the wind blowing his cape back with the cold underground gusts.
"I am a Judge Kaiser...Tell us why we were chosen...why we were persecuted with the promise of having a future!""
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Post by Tokrochiru on Sept 24, 2012 22:19:17 GMT -5
"Yes," the pale man said to Clara. "A maze."
He looked to Lyla next, and spoke directly to her. "This labyrinth is not so penetrable. If it were, there would be no point to its existence. The soil and rock here is enchanted. Theoretically, I suppose it may be possible to dig through the earth by means of a very powerful machine, but even if that were to succeed, you would risk the lives of many innocents. Every quake you cause in here, at least on this upper level, will be felt by the world above. There is a fair chance that the collapse you all created within that chamber may have endangered the life of someone on the surface by creating a crack in it. I can not order you to do anything, but I would recommend that you be cautious while traversing the upper levels of this labyrinth."
The pale man ran his long, slender fingers through his hair once as he looked to the knight. His expression as he faced the knight was somewhat more respectful than when he faced the others, as if he recognized some sort of legitimate authority within him.
"If I could give you a sufficient answer, divine one, I would. I state again that magic prevents me from telling you everything that I wish to. I may be a defector of my soon-to-be former masters, but I am still bound to technically serve them in certain ways. Once I find the means to fully be rid of the rules forced upon on me, I promise you that I will do everything in my power to tell you the full story."
The pale man spoke in a startlingly convincing way. These words felt to be the most honest that he had yet shared with the group. Even Kyle could tell that much.
"Now, to finally answer your questions, stick-wielder," he said as looked to Trevor, "I can take you all to the exit with the simple snap of a finger, just this once. Weather or not you decide to return to this place is your choice, but remember that the forces at work here will not leave you be as long as you live. Perhaps there is a way to do away with them without re-entering this lair of darkness, but if there is, I do not know it. You can not leave this region of Britain and expect to not be chased. Thankfully, I have complete confidence in your combined ability to not only find a way to answer the questions I can not answer for you, but to save yourselves. Perhaps you could save everyone else, too."
Kyle's expression remained unchanged as the pale man continued to drone on and on about almost nothing. He did his best to gather what he could from his words, but even that was such a difficult task that Kyle had to wonder if anything that the pale man would prove to be of any use. At best, it appeared that they were receiving answers in incomplete fragments, and the rest of the pieces were nowhere to be seen.
The Irish youth remained silent. He seemed to likely be the most confused out of anyone in the area. He was, after all, only human, and likely had little exposure to anything supernatural up to this point.
"So," the pale man said to the group, regaining there attention once more. "Shall I take you from this dark place now? Simply say so, and it will be done."
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Post by Jisui on Sept 25, 2012 19:21:59 GMT -5
So, after all that had happened to them, it equated to something that needed to be solved by them alone. Of course, if this person was telling the truth, then they could certainly pretend that all of this never happened. Clara didn't particularly relish the thought of living her life on the run from whatever "Those Below" were. That meant that they had been backed into a corner... they had to find their own answers to whatever was going on in this labyrinth, or they would never be free. It was a mystery.
The price of not being able to solve it, was her life.
"So that's how it is..." She muttered to herself, her eyes finding her hands, which were shaking lightly for some reason. It wasn't fear that was running down her hands. On the contrary, Clara couldn't help but feel a twinge of excitement at the prospect of it all. If she didn't know why she was brought down here before, it all seemed so painfully clear right now. A mystery that no one had an answer for. They were being asked to solve it...? Despite the fact that her life was in danger, she couldn't suppress a smile from breaking out on her face. She wasn't so naive, to think that this was her chance to prove herself. The prospect of being the first to solve a mystery, to find the truth... that was what excited her.
Despite this, the elf quickly took a head count of everyone present, her gaze brushing past the group before resting on Aika. It couldn't have been easy to summon a spirit on the caliber of Robin Hood for such a long time. The rest of them had done fairly ridiculous feats as well.
"We'll decide what to do tomorrow. Take us back for now."
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Post by BloodValkyrie on Sept 26, 2012 9:23:02 GMT -5
Robin Hood looked at his master, who was currently looking at the ground in deep thought. Apparently, there was something that would come after each and every one of them if they did not solve the mystery of this place. It would be significantly easier to make a decision if they were actually told what kind of forces were at work exactly, but that was, unfortunately, not the case.
They had little choice. Aika was not content with the idea of constantly being hounded by whatever malevolent force this man spoke of. On top of that, there was actually a small bit of curiosity regarding this place. The kitsune was curious as to what exactly this place was. She knew it was a labyrinth, but...what was it? Was it a place to test people? Some sort of structure to drain the life of those it killed? She was also curious as to why this place was even created. Perhaps the answers to such questions would be known from future visits...
This was when Aika noticed Neil hiding behind Robin Hood, as if seeking protection from the heroic spirit. Of course, that was his purpose and she couldn't resist smiling lightly at this. She gently placed a hand on Neil's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.
Her orange eyes moved to the pale man. "My response is the same as Clara's. We shalt decide upon a course of action at another time. For now, it wouldst be best if thou were to lead us from this place."
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Post by Advix on Sept 28, 2012 13:10:04 GMT -5
Trevor didn't like this at all. Magic labyrinths, monsters underground, people that who were after them? He was really hoping that this would all turn out to be a dream, but if this had been a bad dream, he knew it would have been interrupted by now, at least in most cases. "Yeah, we saved Neil, there's no reason to stay here. We'll talk about all this tomorrow. But, I guess have a couple more questions now. A: What's your name? B: How do we know that you'll take us out of here? How do we know that you won't send us to whatever hands want us?"
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Post by Tokrochiru on Sept 30, 2012 4:22:19 GMT -5
The pale man raised an eyebrow at the punk rocker, as if he'd just done something particularly curious by asking those questions. Kyle didn't notice anything peculiar about them, aside from giving each question its own letter. He liked that idea. It made the questions more easy to organize and remember.
"To answer the latter two questions, your majesty," said the pale man, "I can not guarantee your safety. Indeed, all that you have is the word of a stranger. However, if you are willing to take my word for what it is, then know this. All of my aspirations, all of my hopes and dreams, rest squarely on your shoulders. If you can not solve this mystery surrounding this place, then I will meet a most grim fate. In short, I am merely helping you all for the sake of self preservation. "
The pale man scratched his chin. He had yet to answer question A.
"Valskre," he eventually said. "Call me Valskre. I believe that is a fitting name for a creature of the night such as myself."
A creature of the night? Kyle wondered what that could have meant. Was he nocturnal, like a raccoon? That was the only thing he could think of. He would have thought about it further, but the long winded pale man didn't quite seem to be finished with his speech just yet.
"I hate to pressure you all, but I am afraid that I am running out of time. My curfew is nearly here, and I have no intention of staying up past my bedtime. Do you wish for me to take you away from here? Yes or no?"
Now that the question was put so simply by Valskre, the answer seemed obvious for Kyle.
"Potential risks are minimal," Kyle said, facing the rest of the group. "Top priority is to reach the surface. Please agree."
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Post by Jisui on Oct 1, 2012 22:53:27 GMT -5
"Curfew... what are you, a kid?" Clara muttered exasperatingly, attempting to stifle a yawn unsuccessfully. It wasn't just the physical reasons, that she seemed completely exhausted at the most. While she admittedly hadn't had very much sleep, had used La Brecha in a battle, and had an unfortunate collision with a falling rock, her main source of exhaustion was just the overwhelming amount of information that was being presented to her. Normally, she was good at sorting out these facts and information as they came to her... but so many questions arose from what had happened that night, that she felt somewhat overwhelmed by it all.
Why were these people brought together?
What was this Labyrinth made for?
Who were Those Below?
And most curiously of all... who was this man who called himself Valskre?
So many questions... that she could not answer at the moment. Instead, she focused her attention back on the conversation at hand, quietly listening to the blonde teen with the wooden sword, and the mechanical sounding Kyle.
"The blondy has a point." Clara muttered, turning her eyes towards the blonde teenager with the wooden stick. "But there isn't any alternative, unless you want to go back in there."
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Post by BloodValkyrie on Oct 2, 2012 9:08:02 GMT -5
Aika released an annoyed groan. She was now growing tired of all this. This man, Valskre, was only able to give them little information. At this time, the only truly useful thing he could do was lead them from this place and she was now losing her patience. She had already agreed that it would be best to leave this place now, yet they were still here.
This Valskre man, however, was somewhat interesting. He had very pale skin and even fangs. If she had to guess, he was a vampire of some sort. Of course, the kitsune had no idea how such an assumption would affect the others and decided to keep the idea to herself. If some of them began to distrust the man because of that little possibility, it would delay their leave even more. Aika was rather confident they would all stay calm...except for Neil and, possibly, Trevor. Either way, she simply crossed her arms and turned her head.
Robin Hood was aware of his master's annoyance and he would be lying if he said he wasn't a tad bit tired of this too. He looked at the pale man and answered.
"Our answer is the same as before. Leaving this place is our top priority right now."
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Post by Tokrochiru on Oct 4, 2012 7:09:45 GMT -5
Valskre nodded his head in acknowledgement. He bore a bright, prideful smirk that contrasted well against his tired, gloomy visage.
"Very well," he said. "...I would recommend that you cover your ears now."
The sight that Kyle beheld next, was only as bizarre as the things he had already seen up to this point. This, however, did not prevent him from feeling confused when the pale man seemed to...seperate. The pale man split apart into a countless amount of flapping, screeching black entities that completely enveloped the group and prevented them from seeing their surroundings.
...Bats?
Kyle had heard stories of creatures who could transform into bats. Sometimes they were depicted as malevolent enigmas, that preyed on physically attractive women. Sometimes they were portrayed as paradoxically heroic, or weak and in need of protection from a female. He had forgotten what they were called. He wondered if the others had caught on to it before he did.
Kyle, as well as all of the others, felt as if they were being carried by the flying mammals. They were so numerous, they were almost completely covered in them. For what Kyle estimated to be a little more than a minute, there was absolutely nothing that he, nor anyone else could do but allow themselves to be carried by the creatures.
Eventually, however, Kyle, and everyone else, felt the feeling of a hard surface against their backs. They appeared to be lying down against hard stone as the bats slowly began to congregate into one area, and the shape of a humanoid body began to slowly, grossly form. As the bats combined, their surroundings became more clear. Stained glass windows, moss-covered stone walls, cobweb filled corners, rusted candle stands, broken benches and an crumbled ceiling. They were in a large chapel, though it seemed that the place hadn't been a place of worship in quite some time. There was a distinct absence of anything Godly, and a notable presence of nature. The moonlight dimly shined down upon the overgrown chapel, further accentuating its aged wonder.
Kyle stood up, and faced the now fully formed humanoid figure. As expected, it turned about to be Valskre.
"This chapel is located on top of one of the hills behind your University," said the newly formed vampire. "It may be a bit of a ways away, but you should be able to that place by foot quickly enough. What's a few miles to a party of extraordinary gentlemen such as yourselves?"
Kyle agreed that a few miles wasn't a very strenuous trip for him. However, he couldn't help but wonder how Neil, who was currently hugging himself and shivering, would fair. Valskre seemed to make little note of it.
Valskre continued to speak to the group.
"Should you wish to return to the Labyrinth, you may enter through this descending flight of stairs."
The pale man pointed to a descent placed right where the priest would likely be reciting the word of God were the place in better shape....Quite an odd place to place such a thing, to say the least. A fine example of bad structural design, Kyle thought.
"These stairs can only be seen or descended by those who know they exist," continued Valskre. "To everyone else, it is simply a stone floor."
The vampire took a minute to breath in some of the cool, night air. His smirk had changed from a satisfied smirk to an almost appreciative smile. He seemed to be enjoying the cool weather.
"Unfortunately," he eventually said, "I must be going now. I can not afford to stay awake much longer."
His smile disappeared, and was replaced with what seemed to be the most serious expression he had given them so far. It was a stone faced, no nonsense glare toward the group as a whole.
"I can not tell any of you where to go, or how to solve this mystery. It is something only you students can accomplish. Whatever course of action you wish to pursue, however, must be backed up with every ounce of effort you can afford to give. Haste will get you nowhere, but sloth and reluctance will prove to be your end if you allow it to dictate your decisions. That is all I can say. I have faith in each and every one of you. Do not fail me, and more importantly, do not fail yourselves."
With that, the vampire once again separated into a swarm of bats, and descended the stairs leading downward into the Labyrinth. The group was now on their own.
Kyle faced the rest of the group. Noting that Neil was still shivering so much that he could hear his teeth chattering, he communicated his thoughts to them.
"Current circumstances prove difficult to comprehend. We should return to Carnigan University."
He hoped that the others would agree with him. It would be morally unacceptable for Neil to freeze to death in this cold, autumn night weather.
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Post by Advix on Oct 4, 2012 15:23:21 GMT -5
Trevor couldn't help but yelp as he was enveloped in bats. He thrashed in futility as he felt himself being taken away by the bats. When they arrived in the chapel, he was distracted by his surroundings. His heart sank a little as he looked around the ruined chapel, for reasons he didn't quite understand. It was as if, deep down, the derelict state of the this place of worship struck at a chord with him. His thoughts were interrupted with the reappearance of Valskre. Trevor clenched his fist and gripped his bokken. 'Minimal risk' his ass, he wanted to whack that rock brained moron over his head. But he allowed his fear and anger of being whisked away by a god damn vampire to settle down as Valskre left them.
"...Slime girls, fox chicks, elves, and now vampires. Why the fuck not? Fuck, I've had about all I can take tonight. But there's something I think we should do before we head to bed. I think we should all get each others' numbers. Agreed? I'm Trevor Axelrod, and this is my number. I think it's pretty clear that we'll need to stick together to get through this shit. And I know someone who might be able to help us out. I can ask her to meet up with us tomorrow if you guys want."
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Post by Jisui on Oct 5, 2012 12:34:16 GMT -5
A uncharacteristic shriek came from Clara's lips as the bats surrounded her, apparently she wasn't the biggest fan of bats. Although she attempted to resist the horde of bats that picked her off the ground, their numbers were too great, and soon her vision was obscured with a cloud of black. Eventually, she conceded to her fate, although notably tense as the bats carried them off to who-knows-where.
As they arrived in the chapel, the detective gave a notable sigh of relief once she felt her feet touch solid ground, taking a moment to stare as the bats reformed into Valskre. The ability to control bats... it was an ability that belonged to a creature that she thought didn't even exist. This man couldn't have been...
More importantly, where were they? Although it appeared to be a church, for some reason, it gave a far more empty feeling to him then it should have. There were no religious symbols, no piety or faith in this building... so what was it?
"This chapel is located on top of one of the hills behind your University. It may be a bit of a ways away, but you should be able to that place by foot quickly enough. What's a few miles to a party of extraordinary gentlemen such as yourselves?"
A sigh emerged from the half-elf's lips, clearly unreleased with the prospect of walking such a distance back to their rooms, especially while she was in her sleep clothing. But as long as they made it back, then it would be okay for her. It seemed like an eternity ago that she had gone to sleep...
"...Don't get ahead of yourself." Clara muttered, placing her hands back into her pockets. She stifled a yawn yet again, turning to the blonde young teenager next to her. "No one even said anything wanting to go back in there yet. You saw what happened down there, right...?"
This time, she can hold back the yawn that escaped her small mouth, turning a pair of weary looking eyes to Trevor. "It's not a game. People could die."
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Post by Greed on Oct 5, 2012 16:50:36 GMT -5
"Well, we'll need to do some schedule rigging as well for that, you know." Juli muttered, brushing herself off after the strange trip. Though... there was something that was bugging her, as she raised an eyebrow at Lyla.
"...slime girls?"
"No idea." The response was fittingly flat, but Juli didn't really care in the slightest, "I know hiding what I am at this point is bloody pointless, but even still..."
"Chill, aight? I don't really care... I would show off and shit, but I think that poor guy's-" Juli nodded her head towards Neil, "-heart would cave in on itself."
"Agreed." Lyla nodded once, before looking at Trevor, and fishing her phone out of her cargo pants, and giving him her number whilst taking his. Juli simply crossed her arms, given that she wasn't even in possession of a phone at the moment.
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Post by BloodValkyrie on Oct 12, 2012 9:37:03 GMT -5
Aika let out a quick, but terrified, yelp as the bats swarmed the group. Robin Hood instinctively moved in front of her, draping his cloak over her to shield her. Next thing they knew, they were in a large ruined chapel. It looked as if no soul had visited the place in ages and a sense of sadness was heavy in the air.
Aika understood this feeling. Of course it would be sad for such a place of worship to be in such a poor condition. Abandoned by the people who once tended to it. She could tell from the remains that, back in its prime, it was an absolutely beautiful structure.
Aika turned her attention back to the others when the subject of phone numbers arose. It was a solid idea...they would need a way to contact one another and it was very unlikely that they'd all have the same classes. Although she found it hard to resist letting out an annoyed huff at the fact they were miles away from the University. Robin Hood was aware of this feeling and simply winked at her.
Of course. He was a superhuman heroic spirit who excelled at agility. He could easily have her back at the school in a short time. Well...shorter than walking, at least.
It was at this time that Aika noticed her fox features were no longer present. Her tails were gone while her ears were replaced by her usual flowers. A sigh of relief escaped her lips; she was glad it wasn't permanent. The silver-haired woman then held out a hand towards her heroic spirit, who nodded and took a small piece of parchment from his pocket. Aika expelled a small weak stream of magical energy onto the paper as she walked towards Trevor, lightly burning her number into it.
"There. Will that suffice? Oh, and I believe you should bring your friend along as well. We can surely use any help we can acquire at this time."
Before waiting for an answer, she turned to Clara.
"Robin Hood shalt carry me back to the university. He can carry one more and thou art welcome to come, Clara."
It may have been rude to offer Clara in particular and no one else, but she was closest to the hispanic elf. On top of that, the elf was the least...supernaturally remarkable of the group, excluding Neil of course. To Aika, it only made sense to offer her a ride.
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Post by Tokrochiru on Oct 12, 2012 23:41:27 GMT -5
Kyle silently took a cell phone out of the pocket of his pants. He always carried it around with him ever since his parents told him that efficient communication was a necessity of life. He didn't quite understand what he meant by that, so he carried around a device that made it easy to talk to people instead.
Kyle gave his number to the others. After he finished, a small chuckled could be heard coming from Neil.
"Hehehah...This isn't going to go away no matter how much I want it to, is it?...Damn."
The Irish student turned to finally face the others. His body language was subtly more dignified than it was before, as if he'd finally come to accept the current circumstances.
"Look, fellas...I'm sorry for acting all panicked and stuff. This all came out of absolutely nowhere, and it's all so surreal, too. I want to blame this on someone drugging up the punch I drank last night, but if that were true none of this would be so clear in my mind. I feel like a jackass, you know? I really do."
The student sounded genuinely apologetic, and very very ashamed. It was the equivelent of having soiled himself in front of a crowd.
"....What is panic?" Kyle asked simply.
"Uh..." Niel muttered in response. "...It's the same as being scared...well, not really. You panic when you're scared. You freak out. You do stupid stuff because you don't know what the hell to do."
"....Understood."
Niel could only seem to swallow his own spit in response. Kyle was beginning to seem more and more robotic by the minute. He then unexpectedly grabbed Neil and hoisted him over his shoulders. After that, he turned and began to make his way out of the broken chapel, expecting the others to follow him.
"I think he's got the right idea," Neil said as he was carried off by the so-called "construct."
((So, what do you guys think? You wanna make one last post before we timeskip to the next day, or should we just go ahead and move on?))
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