Legends of the Titan. The Dragon Guild attempts to name the newly discovered labyrinth, with some… interesting results to say the least.

Jorden- Landsknecht

Orian- Nightseeker

Aida- Fortress

Andy- Medic

Ehrin-Runemaster

Sukka- Dancer

Nol- Arcanist

Arashi- Bushi

Lorena- Imperial

To Name a Labyrinth

"The Dark Hall of Darkness."

"That's utterly ridiculous."

"The Lair of Epic Evilness."

"That's even more ridiculous."

"Oh! The Library of Dark Evilness!"

"Jordy!"

This is what Lorena discovered when she found the rest of the guild in The Dancing Peacock. Jorden sprawled on a couch looking mildly chastised but unrepentant and Orian on the floor nearby scowling and fiddling with a knife that was undoubtedly poisoned. The others had all found various ways to remove themselves from this argument. Sukka dragged their poor socially awkward medic, Andy, off to mingle with the other dancers while Ehrin, Nol, and Aida perched at a high table behind Jorden's couch, pouring over the records discovered in the labyrinth currently under debate. The tips of Arashi's ears peeked out over the couch but he didn't appear to be contributing to either conversation. Not that that was surprising. The Sentinel could sleep through anything.

"No there's already a library and I like Lair better anyway. The Lair Evil Darkness! No, wait. How about…"

Lorena lamented her decision to leave her drive blade at the inn. The thing was bloody huge and could practically take a seat and order drinks for itself but she had a feeling that if she was going to survive Jorden and Orian with her remaining sanity intact she was going to need it. If nothing else she could start the drive up and drown out their constant bickering. Lorena had done it before. That was a night for the log books. No one had noticed her yet. Surely she could slip out and be back before—

"Lorena!"

Damn.

Jorden bounced up, hands waving. "Come on! We're naming the naming the new Labyrinth."

Jorden was by far the most mysterious member of the Dragon Guild, though you wouldn't be able to tell by just looking. That was the thing though. You couldn't tell anything by just looking at her… or him. Jorden's appearance was so androgynous that Lorena had absolutely no idea about his/her gender and Jorden wasn't telling. It didn't help that the guild's other founding members were constantly swapping around pronouns and that Jorden would answer to any of them. Either the other founders were playing a massive prank on the newbies (and all of Tharsis for that matter) or they didn't have a clue either. And Jorden just kept grinning. It had seriously been easier for Lorena to get over that fact that Nol was blue, really blue, and Arashi was covered in (surprisingly soft) fur. There was nothing for it, Lorena supposed, since she was absolutely not going to peep on her fellow guildie (Jorden's word) in the bath.

Jorden grinned when Lorena dropped into a neighboring sofa with a heavy sigh. "So what do you think?"

"What do I think of what now?"

There was some more bouncing from Jorden and some more twitching from Orian. "The Lair of Eternal Doom and Darkness."

"How about The Lair of Goddamn Evil Stone Spewing Plants that Should be Burned off the Face of the Earth and into the Bowels of Hell." Nol grumbled from the table. He'd been petrified three times on their last expedition and was far from happy about it. Needless to say none of the rest of them were exactly happy about it either. Especially when it happened before he could cast a binding circle. Lorena once had to singlehandedly haul four statueized guild members back through that damn labyrinth. She would quite happily flame drive the entire species into the afore mentioned bowels of hell if she could.

"That's way too long," Orian said, far more calmly than he turned down Jorden's suggestions. He picked at his teeth with one of his knives (apparently they weren't all poisoned).

"The Library of Decaying Knowledge." Of course that was what Ehrin would focus on. After all, she had been writing down every little crumb of information they had stumbled across down there.

"We can't," Jorden groaned. "There's already a library. We can't just steal it."

"Fine," Ehrin pouted. "The Lair of Decaying Knowledge."

Jorden bounced brightly. "That's perfect!" No one else looked like they agreed.

"I hate to pop your bubble, but there's already a lair as well," Lorena pointed out.

"Gah!" Jorden cried out and flopped back onto the couch, hands in hair. S/he glared at Lorena. "I hate you so much right now, I could pop your pants."

Lorena smacked her forehead. Oh how she wished she had her drive blade. Some bits of her armor were rather sharp though. "Not this again. What's with you and my pants?"

"They're so poofy! I can't figure out how you walk in the things let alone fight in them! They're not as bad as Whirlwind's but still!"

"Would you rather have found out after making the name official?"

Jorden pouted and crossed his/her arms. "But I liked lair."

"Get over it, Jordy."

Jorden growled and tackled Orian with a pillow. It quickly escalated into a gigantic two man pillow fight that wove through the entirety of The Peacock. Luckily by now the other customers were used to their antics and just smiled and ignored them. Sometimes, Lorena wondered what must have happened when the guild had just arrived.

Anyway, it looked like the matter had been dropped for now. It just wouldn't leave her head though. The idea of names just kept floating around in there.

The Lush Woodlands. Mile after mile of massive trees that reached to the sky. Abundant leaves and vegetation flourishing and growing so quickly you thought if you stood still for too long it would creep up and ensnare you.

The Misty Ravine. Shrouded in thick mists that hid everything and soaked you to the bone. Every trick of the light making you question what was right before you until you drew steal against your own reflection.

The Golden Lair. Home of the Boiling Lizard, who's scorching scales lit the caverns with golden light and made every breath burn your lungs only to be replaced with an equally burning cold once destroyed.

The Echoing Library. A place of knowledge both empty and lost yet still guarded by ancient sentries ready to defend the silence against those footsteps echoing throughout its corridors.

The Forgotten Capital. A place that was once the center of a great empire, lost to time and the madness of Yggdrasil.

All these names seemed to embody the nature of that which they named, carrying the weight of what lay beneath. Maybe that had been what Jorden was trying to do. Think of a name that could convey an adequate warning to those who might follow after them. Though really s/he only managed to sound silly.

So what exactly was this new labyrinth?

Lorena closed her eyes. She blocked out the light and laughter of The Peacock and the sweet foreign incense, and remembered. She remembered the nightmares that would no doubt haunt her until the end of days. Alone, in those dark fathomless halls that led everywhere and nowhere with nothing to defend her defenseless comrades but her overheated blade and what little wits she managed to keep.

She hadn't quite gotten to friends yet at that point, and wouldn't until later when Orian was shaking her awake from a night terror so violent that even Arashi hadn't been able to sleep through it. The pale faces of her guildmates staring down at her. All frantically trying to ask if her okay all at the same time. Lorena hadn't heard them. She simply latched on to the closest of her friends (Orian, who had probably never hugged anyone in his life) and sobbed. Because they were alive. They were breathing and warm and not stone statues lost forever in that endless darkness. Because they were in the warm inn and there would be hot porridge when the warm sun rose in the morning that Ehrin would eat steaming, Orian would cover with bananas slices, and Jorden refused to touch until it was stone cold.

Later, they would all sprawl out in the afternoon sunlight sparring, or arguing over maps and books. She would use Arashi as a pillow and be sheltered in his warm fur in the bright light and try to get back the sleep she had lost and would lose many nights in the future until Arashi climbed into her bed and let his warmth chase away the lingering cold. When that failed he would wake her and let her burry her face in his fur until she truly remembered that he was alive, and warm, and breathing, and not stone.

"Lorena?"

Lorena opened her eyes. There stood The Dancing Peacock in all its bright, warm glory. Nothing had changed since she closed them, though everything did look a little blurry for some reason.

"Lorena?" A warm fuzzy hand touched her cheek. "Alright?"

"Oh!" Lorena hurriedly wiped the dampness from her eyes. Because Arashi could sleep through anything except for Lorena crying. He sat on the couch next to her and she leaned against his side. "I'm alright. Just thinking."

"Given the contents of that conversation we all should've known you'd end up there."

Lorena gave him a sideways look that was met with a toothy wolf grin. "You weren't really sleeping."

"Nope. There was probably no other way out of that argument though."

Lorena smiled and suppressed a giggle. (She was an imperial soldier. No matter what Jorden said, she did not giggle). Just in case, she picked her friends out of the crowd. Sukka somehow gotten poor Andy to dance with one of her dancer friends. His face was bright red and Lorena wouldn't be surprised if his hair started turning pick next. Jorden and Orian abandoned the pillows and were now flat out wrestling near the stage. (S/he had to be a guy. No woman would be that comfortable with a man's hands that close to her chest. Right?) Ehirn, Aida, and Nol were now doing far more drinking than researching. Well, mostly Aida and Nol were teasing Ehirn about not being old enough to drink while drowning themselves. Ehirn didn't look like she thought she thought she was missing out though and was teasing back about the pair being drunks.

They were all alive, and breathing, and not stone.

Endless cold, dark halls that led everywhere and nowhere and smelled of nothing but death.

The Dark Hall of Darkness. It had been the first of the names Lorena heard Jorden spout off. Rid of the redundancy…

Later the guild would find "The Hall of Darkness" written on their maps. No one would question it and the idea of naming it would never come up again.

Today though, Lorena was content accept a glass of wine from the hostess and sit with Arashi, taking comfort in the knowledge that whenever the Dragon Guild left Tharsis, there was no doubt that she was going with them.

AN: This was originally just going to be fluffy and silly but then it got kind of angsty at the end. The incident with one character dragging his four petrified fellows out of the dungeon actually happened to my brother's nightseeker. I just borrowed it. At the time it was funny to picture his exasperated grumbling as he dragged them behind him with a rope. Then I realized that my characters are not epic invincible badasses like my brother's and being alone in that place would absolutely terrifying and more than a little traumatizing.

In regards to Jorden: The picture is extraordinarily androgynous and I had to pick a gender neutral name because I couldn't decide. I still haven't, therefore, I decided that no one else knew either.

Thanks for reading,

Rai

P.S. : There may be stories in the future featuring my original Dragon Guild from the first game. There may also be more of this one. I should probably change one of them (probably this one) to avoid confusion but at them moment since I don't know if anything will ever get written for either so I'm too lazy to think of something else.