Welcome to Adventu, your final fantasy rp haven. adventu focuses on both canon and original characters from different worlds and timelines that have all been pulled to the world of zephon: a familiar final fantasy-styled land where all adventurers will fight, explore, and make new personal connections.
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year 5, quarter 3
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The World Sight is lit in a wicked blue that permeates the night. The light leaves it almost impossible to hide on the main road where guards are watching intently for intruders, but there's no one on the back side of the World Sight. Its only protection is about one hundred feet of craggy cliff face before it reaches the tower's foundations. However, from a distant angle, there appears to be some kind of alcove about thirty feet from the ground which surely leads somewhere beneath the tower. With the angle of the light, it's impossible to see more than a few feet inside, but it's far safer than entering from the front.
Went ahead and started. Let me know if I need to change anything!
I'm an impatient traveler ready to turn ship.
[attr="class","itsover"] The Astrals had spoken to him.
Strange that he hadn’t heard their voices in over two millennia. Stranger still that they would come to him now at the dawn of a new world cleansed of the corruption he’d spread like wildfire in the last. That infernal roar hit him like a pummeling fist, and its grip pierced him like talons. Here is a tower, and on top of it -- power. It felt like the most transparent of mouse traps. Don’t you want the object of your desire? In all honesty, Ardyn couldn’t have cared less for whatever that roar offered, but it seized his curiosity and reeled it in so forcefully that he was helpless to stop it.
What was it the Astrals wanted from him now? Did their foolishness know no end?
So he came. The roads leading to the place were hopelessly obstructed, it was of little matter. He stayed the night at the closest town and spent his time ambling through the local bar, weaving in questions about the aforementioned tower alongside quips and flirtations and jests that served to amuse him alone. He learned that the tower had been overtaken in a strange light and put under lock and key by knights that barely looked human. He learned as well that the World Sight as it was called had been built on a series of cliffs on the edge of a snowy precipice. And above it all, he learned that he was not the only one called to it in spades.
No, as he swaggered about the bar that night with no attempts to lower his voice, his questions caught the attention of all manner of unscrupulous types, and upon further introductions, he offered two the limited-time offer of joining him in his schemes. One was an obvious military type who seemed helplessly no-nonsense but looked competent enough and who didn’t appear hampered down by unnecessary morals. The other was a dark looking man with eyes more like a daemon’s than a mortal’s. He seemed awkward at the attention, but Ardyn only showered it upon him heavier, once even placing an arm around the man’s bony shoulder and declaring, “To allies and victory! Oh, I’m sure we’ll all get along swimmingly!”
What Ardyn lacked in resources, he made up for in friends.
They gathered the next night and set forth under Ardyn’s promises that he knew an easier way, or that there must be an easier way at least he was certain of it. The walk would have been dreadfully quiet if the conversation had been left to his new companions, so Ardyn filled the silence with comments on every little thing that touched his mind from possible plans of attack to cryptic jokes that he then took the time to chuckle at. It was better than nothing in the icy wastelands of the World Sight though the cold didn’t bother him particularly. He was, after all, quite undead.
They met no resistance as they approached the cliffs below the tower. It was an uninhabitable place as bleak as it was barren. ”And here we are,” Ardyn said as he approached the steep rocky precipice. ”Quite the sight of the world, isn’t it?” He laughed under his breath before squinting up at the tower above him. It truly was a spectacle -- as tall as the Lucian Citadel and scoured in blue like a spotlight. ”Oh, but it appears we are kept from our goal still! So close and yet so far…”
Ardyn shook his head in regretful longing before gesturing both towards the cliff and then to his partners. ”Whatever shall we do?”
The first month she came back to life was mind-boggling, jostling, and took some insane effort to get adjusted to and come to terms with the fact that, well, she wasn't in Lucis anymore. Or anywhere on the world's map for that matter. Then it was easy... she led a simple life taking simple bounties and helping simple people with simple problems for enough gold to live. It was calm, predictable, and then she just had to go out of her own way to f*ck it all up...
That was where the kid came in.
Try as hard as she might, Crowe never could ignore the soft spot she had for children; young souls that simply didn't have a choice in the matter of what influenced them or what they were effected by. So now, for nearly the past two months - give or take a week - she'd been ensuring the safety of one very troubled adolescent that seemed as foreign to this world as herself. Without much prying to keep from any possibility of attachment Crowe had learned the girl once had a guardian and that he'd, for lack of a better term, been lost. The Glaive had promised to find her a safe place and stick with her until that time came. It'd been a while. Maybe there was no safe place... maybe, in the back of her mind, Crowe knew that and refused to admit it to herself.
She sighed at the thought of being 'stuck' again watching out for someone else and focused on the task at-hand. Dressed for both a climb and a fight, Crowe had been preparing the duration of the evening to follow the runaway kid in hopes to find her. There was no doubt in her mind that she'd returned here. The young thing was sneakier than anyone would ever give her credit for at first glance. There was a definite possibility, beyond the guards and the glowing beam of whatever, that Yeul had made it somehow inside. "Always have to make things difficult..." she grumbled, tying the last strap of her belt tightly before pulling off the hand-held single hooks from its sides. The one thing she missed nearly every day was the damn convenience of the Lucian power. With no blood of the kings on this world, her dagger was just a dagger. Still, living a normal life had been... nice.
Footsteps rounded the corner and she pressed herself against the flat end of the rock wall covered by a jagged convex in the shadows. It wasn't until she saw the horribly odd group that she found her mouth partway open and eyebrow lazily drifting upwards. What the hell was this? In the darkness, it was still hard to make out the faces, but a serious highschooler, a fashionista, and a... circus performer? didn't seem to fit here. Suspicions were confirmed once the fashionista let out an over-the-top whine on just how they'd reach the top. Crowe never rolled her eyes so hard in her life (lives), but she knew that sticking with a party could be useful as a possible future scapegoat. She'd tag along until their 'use' ran out. "Whatever shall we do?" The Glaive pushed herself from the stone and let herself be known, pulling an extra hand ax from behind her inside the heavy backpack to toss to whichever one cared to catch it. Already swinging one of her own into the rock without wasting time, she answered with a dry, "Climb, genius."
It felt as if he’d been struck across the skull with a blunt piece of metal.
There were words and whispers in his head, speaking louder than those in the shadows ever did. Even though Nero knew his eyes were closed, he could see. A tower, bathed in blue light, surrounded by dangerous guards, armed head to toe against intruders. There was a power there, that spoke to him, tempting him, pulling his fragile mind closer and closer--
It was gone as soon as it had mysteriously appeared. The Tsviet was on the ground, groaning, cradling his aching head, the vision swimming behind his eyes. Nothing like that had ever happened to him before -- and it wasn’t like he wasn’t well versed in strange happenings, he’d died once for god’s sake -- but he didn’t want to dwell on it. Power or not, the situation had disaster written all over it. Nero picked himself up off of the ground, dusted off his clothes, and prepared to pretend that he didn’t have an ear-splitting headache when he spoke to Kuja shortly thereafter.
Mysterious power at the top of an insanely guarded tower. How ridiculous. No one would be stupid enough to set foot near such an obvious trap, especially not himself.
Well, until Kuja asked him to check it out.
Oh.
Nero threw on a dark, heavy traveling cloak and began weighing his options. He was not one for direct combat and, from what little he could tell from the vision, the place seemed heavily guarded. His darkness could swallow up an entire town, sure, but it was painful and had a heavy chance of backfiring on him as well. It would be best to try and find a way to sneak in through the shadows, as he’d always done. Reconnaissance had always been his strong suit, as it were. Out of his arsenal of weapons floating in the never-ending darkness, he’d managed to grasp a sniper rifle and a heavy silencer for the gun.
A few days of travel, and Nero found himself in a dimly lit tavern -- the last town closest to the tower. Unfortunately, it was bustling with nightlife activity, and not as helplessly drab as it seemed on the outside. Still, the Tsviet stayed, a glass clutched in his pale hand and crimson eyes scanning the crowd. He’d simply come in to try and overhear any suspicious conversations, to learn anything of value. However, he wasn’t one to go making conversation himself, and the place was rather loud.
Or, one individual was quite loud.
Nero watched him through narrowed eyes. A man in a strange outfit and hat, fluttering about the crowd, asking questions, listening to stories. He was all charm and personality, but his volume was appreciated -- he was asking about the tower as well. The Sable managed to slink about the small crowd, sticking somewhat close to the man but still far enough away to not seem so suspicious. Or, so he’d hoped anyway. However, the man in the hat soon turned to him, and the questions and introductions and oh -- oh this man doesn’t stop talking, it’s like his mouth never stops moving but -- but I don’t particularly HATE it, why is this--
“Err,” was the only grunted answer Nero really ever spat out for the man -- Ardyn, it turned out to be -- but the man took it as a yes to his many, many questions. He slung an arm over Nero’s thin shoulders and the Sable stared at him as if he’d just been slapped across the face, normally tight jaw loosening in disbelief.
What the hell was even happening.
It was a question he’d kept asking himself the next night as he, Ardyn, and their third companion moved along toward the tower. They were following a path that Ardyn has spoken of at the bar; an easier way into the tower, or so he’d hoped. Nero kept his cloak pulled tightly to himself, adjusting the gun strap on his arm as his boots disturbed the crisp ground. Sadly, this was not a quiet operation, as Ardyn tended to comment on every little thing they saw along the way. Were Nero a normal human being, he probably would have tried to humor Ardyn back, but the man’s charm was somewhat lost on him. It wasn’t that the Tsviet was even overly serious -- he was simply perplexed and out of his element. No one had ever tried talking to him for more than a few minutes at a time before.
Thankfully, before he knew it, they’d arrived to the cliffs below the tower. Nero’s eyes traced the rocky precepts up towards the actual tower itself; a magnificent structure bathed in blue light. He’d had enough of towers bathed in strange light for one, or two, lifetimes. From their approach, he’d thought he spotted some sort of entrance within the rocks -- a place where the shadows and light bent inwards, to darkness. It would be easy enough to teleport to, and easy enough to drop back down toward the cliffs if it seemed dangerous inside.
Ardyn’s dramatics were amusing, but as Nero took a moment to study him, he couldn’t help but feel as if it were nothing but an elaborate act. No useless man would dare come so close to danger, not unless he had something up his sleeve. And he certainly wasn’t banking on Nero or the other young man to take him on ahead -- they weren’t even aware of each other’s power. The Tsviet opened his mouth to speak, but found it closed as a young woman seemed to appear from out of nowhere and step ahead of them. Nero sidestepped the hand axe she’d pulled from her daunting pack, raising a dark eyebrow to her nonchalant attitude.
Climbing. How droll.
“While you climb,” Nero finally spoke, his sardonic voice cutting through the chilly air, “I believe I’ll go scout ahead.”
The ever present darkness had its uses, after all, one of which was teleportation of sorts. Nero let it consume his body, quickly lost to the swirls of black and purple -- reappearing suddenly at the top of the alcove he’d spotted beforehand. He glanced back down at those below him, before taking a peek back inside; staying close to the shadowed edge. He thought to move forward, but paused. While he wanted to move forward on his own, without this band of strange people that had suddenly meshed together, he thought it better to wait, at least.
After all, he couldn't offer to teleport them as well. The darkness would sap their life and drive them mad in an instant.
Rise and take flight, darling Let's soar high For the first time in forever you're alive Don't you forget that
[attr="class","acecaptionsadventu"]Mission, [break] Begin
[attr="class","acebottomadventu"]
[attr="class","acetextadventu"] He’d never been so free. For once, his life could pass for normal, something he’d long given up hope of. He wasn’t packed back-to-back with training, classes, operations, promised meetings and gatherings with his classmates…in fact, his schedule was completely open! He had no routine to follow; everything he did now was of his own violation - and back in Orience, that wasn’t an everyday occurrence. In all honesty, he wasn’t sure if he liked it, but he did concede that for now it was worth it. [break][break]
After all, he could go investigate that shining blue light he kept hearing of with no one to tell him ‘no’. [break][break]
Ace set off the moment he secured the supplies necessary for travel, journeying for several days before he arrived at the last human settlement before the tower. Upon arrival, he made headway for the town’s pub - since coming to this world he learnt that such establishments tended to be the best place to scour for information, especially when one wanted to seek answers without speaking. See, with their usually loud patrons, it was easy to eavesdrop on many conversations and the mass of people often made sneaking up on the quieter ones just all the easier. [break][break]
Still, he hadn’t been expecting to see an overdressed middle-aged man come waltzing in through the front doors and start chatting up a storm - even from his position at the other end of the bar, Ace could still hear the man’s queries loud and clear, as if the stranger was using a loudspeaker. While it was irritating, he couldn’t deny that the responses he heard to the man’s queries were useful and he found himself following the man’s every step; though his gaze briefly flickered away every time another spoke up to answer one of the man’s many questions, it always came back to rest on the strange man. [break][break]
There was something about him that just...made him stand out and it wasn’t his clothing. It was the way he moved and talked, as if he couldn’t care less about anyone or anything; the utter disregard to any potential consequences his behaviour might bring. The man was either too confident in his abilities to care about any possible mishaps, or was too dumb to consider their possibility. Considering he knew Nine...Ace just had a feeling it was the former. [break][break]
Which was good, because when the man approached him - and all too loudly introduced himself and extended his offer - Ace’s stunned response had been interpreted as an acceptance into the team the man was forming to tackle the tower. At least, he supposed, his two squadmates didn’t seem entirely helpless and being in a group might actually help their odds… provided none of them royally messed up, that is.[break][break]
The next night, the trio met again, heading for the back of the tower under Ardyn’s leadership. While Ace had hoped for a quiet journey, he knew from the get-go that their trip would be filled with conversation - even if only one of them was doing all the talking. After all, at the bar Ardyn hadn’t really given him the impression of someone who knew what the word ‘quiet’ meant.
[break][break] ...still, he appreciated it. In a way, the three of them - one talkative and two silent - reminded him of home. For some operations, he’d been in teams of three with his siblings and certain combinations of them would actually have resulted in a similar group as they were currently in. Even if his companions were strangers, the familiarity brought with their antics set him at a strange ease.
[break][break] It was too soon that they reached the tower and a fourth person joined them. “Climb, genius.” She said in response to Ardyn’s query, lobbing a hand axe in the direction of their black long-haired companion before taking her own advice and starting to scale the cliff face. Before she made it too far, however, their dark companion spoke, then vanished into a swirl of darkness as the last word left his lips. [break][break]
Immediately, Ace’s gaze flew to the cliff, climbing higher and higher until he spotted where their teammate was - at the edge of an alcove a ways above the ground. He knew where to go now, but he paused before doing anything else, taking a moment to study the cliff face for any other entryways.
[break][break]
There were none, he noted, unless they wished to scale the whole cliff. Would they? He wasn’t sure what the other two on the ground would do, but he knew he’d go up first, to accompany their teammate. Just in case something came from the darkness that wasn’t friendly, in the event the other man needed someone else’s help. Even if they didn’t really know each other, there was one thing Ace knew to do on any mission - ensure the result was a success.
[break][break]
Materialising a card in his hand, Ace moved back until he had a good shot at throwing the card onto the alcove. Once he figured his position was good enough, he swung, the card flying out of his grasp with a faint, pale blue light trailing after it. In his mind, Ace counted the seconds - one...two....three... - until it reached its destination, at which point a soft burst of light and several cards replaced him, quickly fading moments after.
[break][break] He reappeared without a word - and no flurry of cards or any pestering light - on the alcove by his teammate’s side. From his new vantage point, he simply looked down at the remaining two on the ground. It wasn’t as if he could help them - the teleportation only worked for him. So, he supposed, they’d just have to climb, if they couldn’t match what the two of them could do.
I don't know if they'll ACTUALLY leave her; Ardyn just wants to. xD We can decide separately
I'm an impatient traveler ready to turn ship.
[attr="class","itsover"] They weren’t alone.
Ardyn’s eyes lit in interest as the shadow’s shifted beneath the cliff. For a moment, he thought it must be one of those hulking guards (How inconvenient! He’s come all this way just to avoid them!) but a second look proved it to be nothing but an over-serious woman. She had a dreadfully rugged air about her and eyes that bespoke a tragic lack of humor. In fact, Ardyn was quite certain they wouldn’t get along even before she jammed a climbing axe into the cliff face and shot him a scathing look. ”Climb, genius.”
Not even a “hello” or a “how are you?” or a “I’ve come slipping from the shadows and would you mind assisting in my break-in?” for his troubles. How disgustingly rude.
”Was that intended for me?” He blinked innocently and touched at his collar bone. ”My, what a dreadful introduction.”
Apparently he wasn’t the only to think so.
”While you climb, I believe I’ll go scout ahead.” Ardyn wasn’t entirely certain who’d spoken until he saw the dark man moving behind him. It occurred to him then that he’d never heard the man’s voice before, but the sneering sarcasm of it all brought a chuckle to his lips.
A chuckle that quickly vanished as the man was swallowed by darkness.
Ardyn blinked at the void he left behind and at the shadows still licking the air in docile tendrils in his wake. Had he seen that correctly? Ardyn had only seen one force even close to this, and well...It couldn’t be daemons…
Could it?
He didn’t have much time to consider the possibility as the stern military boy glanced at the darkness and then at a point halfway up the cliff-face. He didn’t say anything, but made a quick flourish with his hand, and in a flash of light there appeared...a card?
Ardyn tilted his head in interest. It almost as though this boy had access to a glaive…
The boy didn’t so much as look at them before hurling the card forward and disappearing in the same flash of light. Ardyn’s eyes widened in surprise. So he was using a glaive!
But how? From where? The possibilities were endless!
Ardyn laughed pleasantly and clapped his hands together, eyes bright with interest. ”Oh, what a splendid idea! It’s as though they read my mind!” He paused to give the unpleasant woman an almost malicious grin before he smirked to himself and winked at her. ”Do enjoy the climb,” he said before extending his hand and calling a sword to it in a flash of crimson light. It took him only a moment to find where two human silhouettes stood waiting for them in an alcove buried in shadow, and he hurled his blade like a javelin above their heads. He felt the Draconian’s power overcome him in a familiar wave of light, and then he materialized again, hanging off of his sword handle as the weapon came to a stop embedded in the stone a few feet above the alcove’s edge.
Smirking, Ardyn let himself drop and banished the weapon with another flick of his wrist. ”What a wonderful coincidence,” he said as he dusted off the edges of his sleeve. ”I do believe this little excursion will go swimmingly.” He glanced at the other two almost appreciatively before leaning over the cliff's edge. ”Could you use a hand?” he called down to the woman though he had no way to offer one to her and no real inclination to do so. ”We haven’t the time to dally!” He turned before he could hear her answer and started past the others, pausing only to offer his companions a dry smirk.
”Well then, shall we be going?” He threw up a dismissive hand and sighed lightly. ”Unless you’d rather we wait. But I’m not fond of insults and she was hardly invited.” He caught the young glaive-user in a long look, tilting his head as he spoke. ”What say you? You've been so quiet, I'd be fascinated to know what's in your head.”
No one had bothered to take the extra ax she'd offered up. Hell, she'd even thought heavily about not handing one over. Why would she when these three wack-jobs would more than likely just get in her way? Having the kid run off into a heavily guarded glowing beacon of impending doom was bad enough as it was. Man, she was growing soft; lending to strangers, chasing after lost little girls. At this, she grimaced, especially more so when the first answer was given to her.
"Was that intended for me? My, what a dreadful introduction." Her eyes rolled and she stepped up the rock with the ball of her foot as one ax left its created crevice and thrust up further. "Didn't know trespassers had standards for meet-and-greets." She made it up another yard or so at a good pace. Once the smooth rock was covered, she'd more than likely start using her hands to crawl up the jagged edges. It'd simply save time and she had her fair share of experience climbing to ridiculous heights. It hadn't killed her. As ironic and cruel as the universe was, her second death would probably be something stupid and weak - gone in her sleep, old age, something like that.
"While you climb, I believe I’ll go scout ahead.""Yeah, you do that-," in a puff of swirling, almost-glossy black smoke, the circus freak was gone. Her eyes followed him for a second, only able to mumble half of a profanity before a blue flash sent the young kid up beside him, a few dozen cards materializing in his previous place before vanishing into the air like sparkling mist. "You've got to be kidding..." she grumbled, brow low as she looked up in their direction with a bitter and tired glare. Oh sure, now everyone can blink. 'I get dropped off in some damn new afterlife world whatever,' her ax took another chunk into the rock as she pulled herself up with enraged thoughts, 'lose my magic,' another climb, 'lose my warp,' another, 'and now eeeeveryone can just skate on by. Why not? Great, this is grea-,'
"Oh, what a splendid idea! It’s as though they read my mind!" Crowe, now a few yards above the ground, leaned to her side and looked down at the man with knowing and daring eyes. Already she knew the outcome and felt insulted without him even having moved an inch. "I swear, if you-," "Do enjoy the climb."-FLASH- "SON OF A-!" the cursing was mostly towards the rock in front of her face, if not a little downwards, so most of it went unheard through her clenched teeth. For a second she pressed her forehead to the side of the mountain with the most frustrated groan she could muster without raising volume to ease the jealous rage.
But then... her eyes shot open as something struck a chord in her memory. Crowe looked up to them again, catching just a brief glimpse of the man hanging by his blade before he'd stepped beside the other two and headed further along. That wasn't a blink, wasn't any kind of magical teleport like she'd seen some odd, foreign strangers do that also didn't belong to this world. No. That was a warp. A bloodline trait from the line of Lucis, the King's power. A glaive? How? Her magic was gone, she could feel the void it left inside of her; so how could this man possibly retain his? "Could you use a hand?" She growled quietly and, with a new sense of urgency, Crowe climbed the rest of the way until reaching the ledges that she was able to scale along with her hands.
It took quite some time, but eventually she'd caught up to the top and jogged quietly to close the gap between them with exherted breaths, her pack left by the entrance to the small inlet they'd entered from and her dagger strapped to her thigh - a handgun from the machine city of the north mirroring the same position on her other. "Neat tricks," she huffed to the three in the darkness. Sooner or later, a glaive would light the way with a snap of their fingers and conjuring of flame. Time would tell... she'd watch the man's movements, his abilities, and confirm her suspicions. For now, a flare would have to do. She pulled a short stick from her belt and bit a paper tip from its edge, striking it against the wall to let the quiet fizz spark the wick and illuminate their immediate surroundings.
Finally, her eyes cast to the face of the bawdy man and - thank whatever gods there were - was covered by the positioning of her own raised arm when she saw him. Immediately she knew. The Chancellor of Niffleheim. For only a brief second she felt a hammering inside her chest before militant training overtook her enough to straighten her face back to its previous, disgruntled expression. The night just got stranger and stranger. Now she had far more questions than answers... So, so many questions. But first, the simple ones. "So what brings you moths to the flame?"
If Nero had been expecting anything from this odd, mismatched groups of strangers, it would have been a mix of exasperation, maybe whining, the loud man very dramatically complaining or screeching in misplaced awe. What he had not expected was to hear any sound of another being coming so close so suddenly.
The Tsviet turned sharply from the shadowed wall, just in time to see that his ”teammate” had … Appeared out of nowhere, really. If not for Kuja’s help in training his quick, and violent, reactions, Nero likely would have had a pistol pressed to the young man’s head already. Instead, he merely stared at him for a moment, crimson eyes locked in silent surprise and distrust, pale lips forming a hard line across his face.
So, two of them could teleport. If Nero needed to escape with something in hand, alone, now it would be certainly harder to do. Whatever the young man’s goal was, however, he wasn’t sure. The boy had made nary a peep at the tavern the night before, nor one on the journey.
The fanciful man had done enough talking for them both.
Speaking of -- the man’s voice was clearly audible even from as far up as they were. The Tsviet carefully eyed the young man for a moment before beginning to take a step back towards the edge of the alcove. He paused, however, as a loud, metallic thunk crunched just above the ledge.
And yet another man teleported.
Okay. Alright. So they could all teleport. So much for sneaking ahead to get away from the others, Nero supposed as he began to slink back into the nearby shadows. Everyone has a gimmick in this world,, he mused to himself, red eyes darting here and there as he debated on his next move, Save for the woman, I suppose.
Despite what he believed may happen, the young woman did not magically appear out of thin air as the other two had. She had no hidden power of teleportation, or if she did, she was doing a right job of hiding it. The fanciful man, Ardyn, taunted her and turned his back to the entrance, urging the other two to move forward. Nero agreed with a near-silent murmur, hiding his chin underneath his high, dark collar. He moved forward to keep the gap between himself and Ardyn limited, barely speaking above a whisper to command the other young man, “Let’s move.”
The three moved forward into the darkness, step by quiet step, for a few peaceful moments anyway. Their pace was slow, and whether or not it was because all three of them were aware of the young woman climbing the cliffside, Nero couldn’t say for sure. His gaze lingered on the back of Ardyn’s head, for only a moment, as he then began to scan the extremely dark area. Darkness was something he’d lived from birth, so seeing in the dark was easy enough. Thankfully, nothing nearby that he could see among the rocks screamed danger or activity, so Nero kept his quiet mouth closed.
Leaving the ruminating thoughts of anger, despair, and frustration in his mind alone.
Bootsteps behind them indicated that the woman had caught up. Nero simply turned his head and eyed her for a moment with disdain -- especially as she lit a crude flare. Light could be problematic, depending on the layout of the area and the potential presence of nearby guards or creatures. Then, as she opened her mouth to speak to each of them, the Tsviet felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand in quiet fury.
She’s not much the s n e a k i n g type. It would be easier to simply cast them all into the darkness at this rate, but --
Nero grumbled incoherently under his breath for a moment, before releasing a pent up sigh.
“Curiosity, to answer your question. The reason we likely all possess,” the Sable replied cooly, his smooth voice thankfully only floating quietly in the air for a mere moment, “We should keep quiet. This area appears to have no activity, but I doubt that is the case elsewhere.”
The Tsviet adjusted the strap to his rifle on his shoulder, and pulled his cloak as close as he could. It would be difficult to manage his near murderous instincts around this ragtag groups of strangers, but … The more the murderous. Er, merrier.
At least the young man didn't speak much. So far, that one was the only one Nero was willing to spare.
Rise and take flight, darling Let's soar high For the first time in forever you're alive Don't you forget that
[attr="class","acecaptionsadventu"]Mission, [break] Begin
[attr="class","acebottomadventu"]
[attr="class","acetextadventu"] He’d been kneeling by the edge, looking down at the two below, when the sword came flying. His gaze trailed after the gleaming red blade as it sliced through the air and embedded itself in the cliff face above him. Reflexively, he stood up and stepped back all in one fluid motion, being silently thankful that he did when, in the blink of an eye, the overly-dressed man appeared, hanging off his sword’s hilt before dropping down onto where Ace had been watching them from moments before.[break][break]
Thank Suzaku. He thought, grateful that he hadn’t become somebody’s cushion; it really wasn’t something that was on his to-do list. With a silent sigh, he simply shifted to the opposite wall from where the dark-haired man was, leaning into rough rock as he watched Ardyn and their other companion, his attention flicking back and forth in steady intervals. [break][break] Then, he was spoken to - and he groaned inwardly, having been loving the fact that he was ignored… up until that point, anyway. So to Ardyn, Ace simply shook his head, saying quietly, “Your call.” Personally, he didn’t like unknown variables, which the girl was, so he’d prefer to keep moving. However, it did seem that the loud-mouthed man took up the position of leader of the group, so he’d simply defer to him unless the man ordered him to do something completely unreasonable. Then he’d….figure something out then. “As long as this mission ends in success.” He muttered quietly, ending that train of thought.[break][break]
He’d not deign to give the man any further insight into his thought process, feeling it best to kept as mum as possible - this was a mission, for the Crystal’s sake, not some rowdy get together in some shady location! It wasn’t idle chatter they needed but rather to get a move on before they were spotted and got into any unnecessary fights as a result. Ace wasn’t sure about the tower’s security, but he didn’t want another repeat of Ingram. [break][break] The silent man spoke, a whisper of a command was given and Ace simply followed. Even if it didn’t come from Ardyn, he was fine with obeying since the three of them were aligned in their views, giving only a nod as he trailed behind the dark-haired individual who was in turn following after Ardyn. [break][break] Into the darkness they went and he squinted while his vision adjusted to the lowlight, doing his best to keep the others in sight. It’s soon after that soft footfalls can be heard behind them; no doubt the woman who had managed to scale the walls was trying to catch up - he glanced back, saw no intent to harm from the figure his gaze laid upon, and return his attention to the front. [break][break] Then light blossoms in the darkness and he winced backwards, stunned at the sudden shift from dim to bright. He hadn’t been expecting that, rubbing his eyes in pain before he’s able to open them and see again. What on earth…? Ace’s gaze fell to the source of the light and his brows furrowed slightly at the unknown device - but he’s quick to relax his features, simply brushing mystery aside, especially since neither of the other two reacted violently to it.[break][break]
He didn’t respond, leaving the dark-haired man to do the talking as he simply distanced himself from the girl and moved closer to the other males, all the while listening - and agreeing - with what was being said. In truth, he didn’t quite like how bright that light source was - in the natural darkness it’d be a clear giveaway of their position. Ace would much rather brave the dark than lose the element of surprise, though he was starting to wonder if that was even possible any longer - he doubted Ardyn could remain silent for long (heck, he realised, even Nine could be quiet and he’s one of the loudest of the class!) and the woman just seemed as if she’d be trouble.
The tunnel is dark, growing darker with every step. Once the tunnel twists beyond its opening, there's no natural light at all -- not even the blue beacon from outside. The ground is uneven with jutting corners, crumbling gravel, and sudden drops that weren't carved by human hands. Far away, there's the sound of distant water, though it's hard to say in what direction. The air is damp and smells of mildew and rot. This place has clearly not been visited by workers recently or perhaps ever at all.
For the first long stretch, there's only a very unsteady and very unpredictable tunnel until it abruptly ends in a dusty room that might have once held sarcophagi, now smashed into stone pieces on the floor -- their contents lost to time. From this angle, it's clear that the tunnel's entrance was once a solid wall, burst open from the tunnel's side. The debris covers everything in a thick layer of grime and stone dust.
There's only one way forward, but what must have once been an archway has been broken at the edges, leading to a cave-in that reaches about three feet high. Over the pile of rocks, there's a badly damaged tunnel, and at the end of that, a ladder leading up to the bottom end of a trap door. However, the ground vibrates as you approach. There's a horrible slithering sound and a crash as another parallel hallway caves. Between the ladder and the sarcophagi emerges the slimy, undulating form of a giant worm nearly as large as the hallway that houses it. It makes a low groaning noise as it approaches, its front end almost entirely made up of an open mouth, drooling poisonous acid from its lips. It waves its mouth about as though sniffing the air before charging down the tunnel towards its potential prey.
