Okay, in the next chapter (Which may or may not be posted later today), the plot goes on.

Gamerof1458: I HATE that thing so much! Recently, I was on a roll! Every single round perfect! And then.... Stupid Hobbes popped up and ruined everything... DX

SarahHyan: Oh, they're friendly. They just tease each other. I'm playing with the idea of a romance between them, but it'd probably be better to leave them single. Except for one thing... But that's later.

Actually, the names Asineth and Palicrovol come from one of my favorite fantasy books. It's by Orson Scott Card, and it's pretty obscure. It's called Hart's Hope, and it's one of the best I've ever read. I figured that it was worth a reference.

Present day…

Ten years… Sparrow had lost a decade to the Spire many years before. Now she'd lost yet another decade to it. Of course, the last decade hadn't been nearly as boring as this one.

Apparently, there were kinks in the Spire that Lucien had to fix, because the Heroes (and Theresa) had been sitting in the Spire cells for years. At first, the Heroes had tried to bust out of the cells, but the collars sent courses of pain through them. After a few days, they stopped trying.

And so, the rest of the years were spent in quiet boredom. Reaver borrowed an old rubber ball from Sparrow and threw it against the wall, creating a constant Thump… Thump… Thump…

"Reaver…" Hammer snarled. "How many times have we asked you to stop doing that?"

"I don't keep count on things I don't care about." Reaver retorted calmly, continuing to throw the ball.

"Reaver, would you please stop that?" Sparrow asked exhaustedly.

"Of course." Reaver said with an evil smirk at Hammer. The stocky woman glared fiercely at the man, but said nothing.

"Thank you." Sparrow said with a sigh. "Hey, Garth? How long will it take for you to get these collars off?"

"Yes, I'd like to know that as well!" Reaver said. "I don't think a collar is befitting for someone like me!"

"Someone who's pure evil?" Hammer snapped. "I think it fits you perfectly." Reaver shot her a look of pure loathing, while Garth chuckled.

"I don't know, Sparrow." He said, ignoring the two bickering Heroes expertly. "These versions are much more perfected than the last ones. It could take several more years-"

"I demand you get this off me right now!" Reaver snapped. Garth's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Don't push it, Reaver," he said darkly. "I may not have enough Will to break these, but I certainly have enough to turn you into a smoking cinder." Reaver blanched, and Hammer and Sparrow grinned.

"Go Garth!" Hammer chirped. Sparrow whistled.

Just then, Lucien's men barged in. They opened the cells and dragged the Heroes out. Theresa was handled much more gently.

They were dragged (Except in Theresa's case, where a better word would be escorted) to a side chamber. It reminded Sparrow sickeningly of Lucien's study in Castle Fairfax, except for, instead of the platform with the Guild Seal on it, there was a small pond of murky water.

Lucien looked up from his writings and smirked. "Hello, Heroes. It's time to make sure everything will go smoothly."

"What is that, Lucien?" Garth asked quietly, nodding towards the pond.

"Oh, that? Nothing special." Lucien said with a dreadful smile. "Just an artifact that… produces some interesting images and some marvelous prophecies. It is how we'll see if everything will go according to plan." The room tensed as the guards left and Lucien went over to the pond. "Water from Wraithmarsh." Lucien explained. "Oakvale's Hatred, it's called." Then, he raised his hands above the water and said something in a strange, spidery language. Sparrow glanced at Garth questioningly, and received a small shake of his head, which meant either 'I don't know' or 'I can't say here'. Sparrow suspected the latter.

Lucien stopped chanting, and there was a few moments of tense silence. Then, the air shattered with anguished, inhuman cries, and three pale, rotted arms shot from the water, their hands clawing at the air. Then they slammed onto the marble floor, pawing wetly. Lucien stepped back calmly, but the sight horrified the Heroes, and Theresa. Garth took a sharp step back; Hammer looked as though she was about to cry, and Sparrow's hand flew to her mouth. Reaver stared, trembling at the arms, and Theresa turned away, biting her lip. It was one of the few times Sparrow had seen her perturbed. She hoped she'd never see it again.

The hands jerked, then began to scribble something in the water on the marble.

Pilgrim, one wrote.

Mage, wrote another.

Thief, wrote the last.

Pilgrim Mage Thief

Monk Sisters Queen

Must Must Must

Bring Part Bring

Light Ways Deliverance

Then they jerked again, then plunged back into the water, then shot back out, as if something was trying to drag them back into the water. Then they wrote one last thing on the floor.

Let Us Die

They finally plunged back into the water. Lucien nodded slowly.

Hammer vomited, and Sparrow patted her friend on the back, looking a bit green herself. Reaver trembled violently, and Garth's jaw set.

Theresa said softly, "Pilgrim monk must bring light. Mage sisters must part ways. Thief queen must bring deliverance." She didn't repeat the final plea, but everyone had seen it. Let us die.

"So… Your children will get in my way." Lucien said quietly. "Show me where they are." The water shimmered blue, and then showed Bloodstone Mansion. A beautiful, tall woman with blonde hair and pink and blue clothing stood in front of it, along with a hulking, dark-skinned man in armor.

"The Queen…" The thin voices of the trapped Oakvale souls whispered.

The scene changed. A tall, strong, handsome man with red hair and a large, high quality hammer lounged in Bloodstone's pub. Women made goo-goo eyes at him, while he honestly didn't seem to notice. He drank a huge gulp of beer and grinned winningly at one of the girls, who blushed and giggled.

"The Monk…" The voices said, almost wryly.

Now it went to Wraithmarsh. The cullis gate glowed, and two identical, beautiful women materialized. Their skin glowed blue with Will scars. They stepped from the platform and walked purposefully in the direction of Bloodstone.

"The Two Who Are One…" They whispered.

The scene changed to Wraithmarsh road in Bloodstone. A man of average height and build, with thick brown hair in a ponytail and bright blue eyes flicked with gold. He walked down the road, looking around at the strange stone buildings.

"The Heir…" They said with profound respect. Then the water went dark.

"Bloodstone." Lucien said softly. "They're in Bloodstone."

The prophecy of Oakvale's Hatred looked better on the original document. The words were aligned in columns. Sorry.