Chapter 37: Misfortune amongst Opportunity

When 7PM arrives, the Seekers return to the Lucent Hollows, now intent on exploring the 19th floor. Stepping up to it, the party is immediately met with a door that lies directly across from their starting point. To the west is a warp crystal, though this is not an immediate priority. Clarisse takes a moment to summon Balto before she and her comrades proceed through the door that lies ahead. Beyond it is an extension of the cavern; not far from the door is another warp crystal – further still is the two-headed canine FOE. After drawing what she can see, Amy suggests everyone return to the starting point. Much to her chagrin, the party's paths are both barred by warp crystals, mandating a decision.

Cyrus steps forward to the top side of the crystal in order to test its functions; to his surprise, nothing occurs. He beckons Amy over so that he may get a look at the map. "Curious. There does appear to be an area we can explore on the southern edge, but this crystal did not warp us." Looking to the north, he can see a breakable crystal up ahead, as well as a spot where more Forest Wheat grows. The party has no need for additional wheat at present, so they focus their efforts on removing the crystal that obstructs their path. Just up ahead is a narrow passage that leads directly to yet another warp crystal. Looking to his comrades, he asks, "Shall we test this one?"

Fae points to a small alcove, one that doesn't appear to lead anywhere, and asks, "Will it warp us? Maybe that spot is connected to a one-way shortcut." Cyrus visibly shudders at the thought, his face contorting to show disgust and perhaps a tinge of nausea. "Uncle? Are you OK?"

"Yes, Fae…I'm fine. Just bad memories, is all." His group decides to take the chance with the crystal before them, only to learn that it doesn't trigger its warping effects either. What's more, the alcove is of no importance, though Fae's suspicion of its status as a drop-off point still remains to be clarified. Cyrus shrugs as he says, "Oh well. Nothing for it, I suppose. Let's head back; I wish to test the left and right sides of the crystal in E4." En route, the party is beset by an Enemy Set. Two Hypno Bats occupy the rear line, while a single instance of the new cicada breed occupies the front. "Clarisse, bind it, if you would. Fae, Numbing Smoke; the rest of us will play defense."

Fae's bomb paralyzes one of the bats, even taking an immediate effect to rob it of its chance at acting. Unfortunately, the other bat releases a hypnotic wave, which puts Clarisse to sleep before she and Balto can carry out their orders. Lissa readies her shield as she says, "Fae, try hitting the cicada with the Chaos Smoke." This doesn't work, causing Lissa to click her tongue in frustration.

The cicada attacks Fae in response, only to be swatted away by her backpack. "Pesky thing! Stay away!" Amy and Lissa are put to sleep by another hypnotic wave, though Fae and Cyrus remain conscious. "Um, this is bad!" She watches as Cyrus immediately dispatches one of the bats. She pulls a petrifying bomb from her pack; 'I've been having really bad luck…I'm letting everyone down…' Her use of Smokestone fails in turn, only deflating her spirits further. In turn, the cicada's security level, indicated by its now flashing crimson wings, has reached its maximum level. 'Oh no…' Tears begin to well up in her eyes as the potential consequences for her failures start to flood through her mind.

'Can't use Black Mist since the others are asleep. Full Retreat won't work, either. Very well.' He rushes over to Balto, crouching down as he says, "Take care of Fae for me; I'm gonna lead them off."

"Are you mad? That cicada is about to summon a Sonar Worm!"

"That is precisely why I must do this."

To this effect, he rises to his feet and then rushes into the enemy line. By way of throwing a few punches, he garners the attention of both the remaining bat and the cicada. The latter of the two is especially upset with having been struck, and takes to pursuing Cyrus relentlessly as he makes a retreat further into the cavern; the bat follows suit, leaving Fae and Balto free to rouse the others. Clarisse is the last to wake up, but is also the first to ask about Cyrus' whereabouts. "Wait, what happened to Co?" She looks to Fae, who is currently wiping away the tears that won't stop streaming down her face. Clarisse assumes the worse from this, covering her mouth to stifle her horror. "Fae, you didn't see it, did you?"

"Uncle lured the monsters away." Her voice hitches in her throat as she tries to explain what transpired, but the endeavor proves to be too much for her as she starts sobbing. "I heard a Sonar Worm roar right when Aunt Amy woke up…"

Rising to her feet, Clarisse straps her bow to her back. "Balto, did you see which way he went?!"

Directing her attention to the northern path the party just arrived from, he says, "Pursuit is ill-advised, Mistress."

"You're kidding right? He can't handle a Sonar Worm by himself!"

"Reese, stand down; we're going to wait here for a moment."

"Lissa, are you for real?"

Gesturing to Fae, who is currently being comforted by Amy, Lissa can only sigh before turning her sights to the cavern Cyrus supposedly led the monsters to. "I want to be there with him, truly, but Fae needs us more." She looks to her comrade, her expression stern, but her desire to render assistance by no means subdued. "I'm going to trust him; if he's not back by the time Fae calms down, we'll head out immediately."

Clarisse complies with this order, though it is not without clearly held reservations. She takes a seat beside Fae, soon taking the child into her arms. "Listen up, munchkin." Despite her word choice, her voice is soft as she continues, "None of this was your fault; if anything, it's mine for being the first one to fall asleep when Co needed me most." The sound of approaching footsteps catches her attention, and though she's hoping they belong to Cyrus, there are too many sources for this to be the case. She looks to the right to find that Aria's Guild has drawn near.

Having never actually met the rest of the Guild, save for Logan, the Seekers are granted a chance to get a look at the other three members. One such member is a tall Celestrian male with short white hair; his eyes, teal in color, have the look of exhaustion about them, but the man in question seems unfettered. His garments suggest that he is a Warlock, as does the cannon holstered at his hip. Beside Aria is a Therian woman wielding four katana, suggesting that she is a Blade Dancer Masurao; her scarlet hair is accentuated by her golden eyes, which sport a focused gaze as they scan the party. Rounding out the party is a young Brouni with fluffy blue hair and green eyes. She wears the same uniform as Fae, and quickly rushes over upon seeing Fae's despondent expression.

"Fae, what's wrong?! Are you OK?!"

"H- Hi, Karol…"

Logan steps over to assess the situation, quickly noting that there are only four Seekers present. Looking to Lissa, he asks, "You didn't come here with an incomplete party, did you?" She shakes her head to this, and then offers an explanation of the events that just transpired. "Shit, and he's still out there? Right." He looks to the Botanist of his group and says, "Karoline, I know you're worried about your friend, but we gotta rescue someone."

She rises to her feet, offering a quick apology to Fae before rushing to Logan's side. "Y- Yes, sir! What kind of injuries are we expecting?"

"Lissa said Cyrus has likely engaged a Sonar Worm, so he might suffer puncture wounds." He looks to the Masurao as he says, "Shizuna, you and Albiero will need to hold back while Aria and I setup."

Shizuna points to the cavern ahead as she replies, "We may not need to engage any foe, Logan." As Logan turns to see what Shizuna is pointing at, Cyrus steps into view, emerging from the cavern. The man rests his arm on the wall beside him. "Wait...that's not his Fencer setup."

Cyrus' current disposition makes for a terrible first impression. His armor sports several scratches; a trail of blood streams from his mouth; the rest of his body is covered in wounds of ranging severity. Perhaps worst of all is the thick crystalline spike that juts from his left shoulder. He falls to one knee as Fae leaps out of Clarisse's arms to rush over to him. Cyrus takes a moment to look back, soon letting out a sigh. 'Good, that thing is still investigating the crystal I struck.' Turning his focus back to the present, he finds that Fae and Aria are both standing before him. The latter of the two is looking to be quite flustered, likely from seeing the crystal that has been stabbed into his shoulder. "Yeah, this looks pretty bad, doesn't it?"

Aria shakes her head. "That doesn't even begin to describe it, dude."

"Uncle, I'm so sorry…" The tears return. She is so caught up in her guilt that she flinches as Cyrus pats her on the head. "H- Huh?"

"Had a spot of bad luck, did you? It happens to everyone, Fae, so try not to worry about it." He smiles, though his pained expression pervades the sentiment. "I'm just glad I was able to do my part." Clarisse and Balto step over, with the former crouching down to assess Cyrus' wounds. "I just don't understand how enemies consistently out-speed you; this happened in the Fetid Necropolis, too."

"Yeah, don't remind me; that damn Bone Archer got me good." She frowns at the sight before her. "All this because I couldn't disable a friggin' bug." She looks him in the eyes, her gaze stern as she says, "A lot of this is going to hurt, but I promise to take care of you." With assistance from Fae, Karoline, and Amy, Cyrus' wounds are addressed in the span of two hours. The wound in his shoulder warrants an additional rest period, but Cyrus assures the others that Lord Wrath will handle it. Clarisse wipes the sweat from her brow and exhales a sigh of relief. "I hope that's my only scare for the day."

Cyrus chuckles at this. "Same here; I haven't been roughed up that badly since Corotrangul."

Lissa lets out a loud groan at this as her face shifts to convey disgust. "Dear, could you please refrain from mentioning that awful engagement?" She shakes her head to rid it of the memory before looking to Karoline. "You were a great help, little lady; I owe you for helping to keep my husband's life."

She blushes at this praise, rubbing the back of her head with one hand while trying to wave Lissa off with the other. "I was just doin' my job, ma'am." She glances to see that Fae is in much higher spirits than before; the lass is currently in Cyrus' embrace, a wide smile on her face as she nuzzles her cheek against his. "I'm just glad Fae doesn't have to look so sad anymore."

Cyrus steps over and sets Fae onto the ground. Looking to Karoline, he says, "Thanks again for the treatment, little one; I owe you." He takes a moment to look over Aria's team, his attention falling on Albiero and Shizuna in particular. "You know, Shizuna, I still haven't gotten the chance to see you in action; I'm curious about Blade Dancers."

"I could say the same about you. It is rare for Masurao to walk the path of the Blade Master, rarer still for those same Blade Masters to be Earthlain. "It is a pity that I did not get to see your skill with a blade." She crosses her arms as a frown fixates on her lips. "You could have let us come rescue you; we do have a debt to repay, if you'll recall."

He adopts a confused expression upon hearing this. "I thought I said I'd be fine with you treating me to a meal?"

"Nonsense! A warrior repays her debt in battle, not in the kitchen!" She scoffs. "I would not settle for buying you something cheap, either. It is customary in my family to add a personal touch. That said…" She blushes, her stern gaze momentarily wavering as she averts eye contact. "I can't cook." Albiero snickers at this, prompting her to glare at him. "Not a peep."

He complies with her command, but skirts around the notion by offering a grin instead. Shizuna growls at him, but makes no further effort to reply beyond that. "I wasn't worried when Dame Lissa said you ran off to distract the enemy, but I wasn't expecting to see you acting as a Masurao. You haven't given up on the Fencer role, have you?"

"Oh, no, not at all. I double enlisted with this Branch."

"Ah, I see, I see. Well then, perhaps we'll get to see you work in this state at some point."

"I just hope I can meet your expectations…and that none of us are in the middle of an FOE battle when that day comes." Looking to Logan and Aria, he asks, "Where is your Guild heading from here?"

Looking to the north, Logan sets his eyes on the cavern Cyrus just emerged from. "We should investigate to make sure the Sonar Worm you lured away doesn't return here. It would be catastrophic to the unprepared." He offers a salute, which his comrades take as their cue to enter formation. "May our paths cross again, Seekers." He looks to Aria, who nods before giving the order for her team to march. After a brief check of their own equipment, the Seekers continue with their own investigation.

To everyone's surprise, the left side of the crystal in E4 warps them to a new location. When their vision properly returns, they are in E7, at the farthest reaches of the floor. Two shortcuts are nearby, one to the west, another to the south. The party elects to investigate this southern shortcut first, only to find that it is an exit-end. The western shortcut proves to be a similar case. The spacious cavern allows the party to approach the warp crystal within from three separate angles, with the right side looking to be a means of warping back to the starting point of the floor. Curiously, a breakable crystal bars the way, suggesting that, if the Seekers were to try and step past the top side of the crystal, they'd simply be warped further south.

Amy and Cyrus motion to test this, but nothing happens. The former is legitimately surprised. "Huh, I guess this is a drop-off point for a later crystal." She shrugs, making way for the right side of the crystal as she says, "I guess that's it for this place at the moment." When the party warps back to the start, she realizes that, "We have no choice but to test the crystal where the Hellhound dwells." Looking to Cyrus, she asks, "By the way, did you gain any information on the Klaxon Cicada while you were away?"

"I did, yes. The buggers are immune to sleep, but I believe the Guildmaster already informed you of this. Surprisingly, all three of the elements do increased damage, but stab damage is the most effective. Stun, Curse, Panic, Blind, Arm Bind, and Leg Bind are all neutral; it outright resists everything else, which is why Petrifaction didn't work."

Clarisse clicks her tongue in frustration at this. "Then we really were just unlucky." She steps into the door leading to the Hellhound's domain; a quick test reveals that the bottom side of the crystal near the door does not lead anywhere. Clarisse's eyes widen as the Hellhound steps into range of the crystal's left side, promptly being warped to the eastern side of the floor at D7. "Well damn."

Fae points to the map as she says, "That Orthrus can't come back either; this crystal doesn't have a right side for it to warp to." Clarisse has a laugh at this before carelessly stepping forward. "Huh? Ree-Ree, wait!" Her warning comes too late, and Clarisse is warped to the same area as the Hellhound. "Oh no…"

Cyrus brings his palm to his face. "Did she really just do that?" He sighs. "Everyone, prepare to make a break for it." He picks up Fae to rest her on his shoulder. "Amy, you get Clarisse." When the rest of the party warps to D7, Amy picks up Clarisse with haste and immediately begins running. The area to which the Hellhound was warped is a cavern that acts as a circuit. Though there is a treasure chest to procure, the party settles for grabbing it later, for doing so now would force them to warp out via Ariadne Thread. The retreat leads to another warp crystal, which leads directly across from the one they used to get here. "Um…what?"

Fae's expression shifts to panic as she reaches the same conclusion as Cyrus. "That means the Orthrus can still chase us!" She points to the door leading out of this place as she says, "We gotta go!" As the party takes a few steps forward, the sound of one of the crystals activating causes Fae to flinch. "Oh no…" She watches as Cyrus, Lissa, and Amy all motion to strafe to the side, which prompts the Hellhound to do the same. This abuse of horizontal preference forces the creature to warp again by mistake; in celebration, her comrades do a choreographed jig. Fae's response is a flatly delivered, "What."

Stepping through the door at 10PM, the party arrives on the other side of the crystal that they could not previously use as a warp. Lissa frowns at the sight, realizing that the crystal is really little more than an obstacle. "We can use its top side as a means to warp back to E4, but it doesn't lead anywhere new." She looks ahead to find another door. She shrugs at the sight. "Let's press on, I guess." Beyond this door is a small chamber with a crystal waiting at its top center. "We can immediately write off the bottom side since this is the northern edge of the floor. It might be a drop-off point later on, but we'll deal with that later."

Stepping forward, Cyrus looks to both the left and right side of the crystal before studying the map. "We can go either way here, but we have no real frame of reference."

Pointing at the right half of the floor, Fae suggests that "This side of the floor has more FOEs uncovered, so maybe we should explore the left side first?" No one is in disagreement with her assessment, so the party approaches the crystal from the right. To their surprise, nothing happens. "Wait, what? We didn't have a choice at all!" The party makes its way over to the left side to trigger the crystal's effects, and is warped to a larger clearing that makes up the bulk of A7. An Orthrus is in here, and immediately starts chasing the party. "No, stay away! Bad dog!"

The party is ultimately forced to run this Hellhound through both A7 and A5; their efforts just barely allow them enough time to escape through the door the creature was guarding. Cyrus sets Fae onto the ground, slumping down beside her as his back presses against the wall. "OK, let's take a break." He takes a deep breath and exhales as his gaze is directed towards the ceiling. "That was not OK." Fae rests her head on his right side, prompting the man to rub her head. "It's alright, Fae; we're safe from that creature."

The Seekers resume their adventure after their brief respite is complete. They are beset by another Enemy Set before too long; this one consists of another Klaxon Cicada, though this time it is assisted by a Rare Breed Mole King, which elicits a blank stare from both Amy and Clarisse. Knowing the mole is going to most likely dive underground before the party can do anything to stop it, they all opt for a defensive approach. For some reason, the Mole King doesn't dive underground, instead choosing to take a claw swipe at Lissa. "Oh, you wanna go?!" She then roars at the creature, causing it to take several steps backwards.

Fae attempts to throw a Smokeflash to stun the Mole King, but even in the midst of its panic it is still faster than everyone else in the party, rendering her efforts useless. 'This is crap!' The rest of the battle plays out smoothly, though Amy and Cyrus end up burning both of their Union Skill charges in order to snipe the Klaxon Cicada. They both point out after the fact that the effort definitely was not worth the price. Fae lets out a sigh as she steps over to Cyrus' side. When asked what's troubling her, she shakes her head. "I'm just scared of messing up again…"

He rests her on his right shoulder again. "Don't worry about it too much, Fae. A stroke of bad luck befalls everyone; the most you can do is move forward and keep doing your best." He pokes her in the side, eliciting a giggle as she tries to move his finger away. "There's the smile I remember." Looking to the left path, he can see another warp crystal, one that can be approached from all four sides. "The left side is a dud; the top is a trap that leads all the way back to E7; the bottom is a drop-off point; and the right side is our way of progress."

"Uncle, how do you do that?"

"Years of practice. Anyway, let's see what's down this right path before we press onward." Up ahead is a dead end where Conrad stands alone. "Conrad? What are you doing here?"

"Well…" He sighs, rubbing the back of his head as an embarrassed expression overtakes him. "We came here in search of more crystals, but I went and wandered too far from the others." Behind his affable demeanor is a clear sign of exhaustion. "I thought about waiting for them back in Iorys."

"In the state you're in? Not happening." He sets Fae onto the ground and says, "Take a break first; we'll help you chart a path out of here, though I'd much rather just give you a spare Ariadne Thread. We always carry two on hand." He looks to Clarisse and Lissa with a smug grin on his face. Though he says nothing, the way the two let out a simultaneous huff as they turn away from him suggests that his message was perfectly received. Conrad chuckles at this before taking a seat as well. Leaning against a crystalline wall, his expression shifts to show relief as he slips into slumber.

Most of Cyrus' Guild follows suit, with only him and Amy remaining awake. Taking a seat on his left, she takes to stroking Fae's hair as the child comfortably rests her head on Cyrus' lap. Amy's voice is but a whisper as she absently asks, "Quite different from Armoroad, isn't it?"

"Indeed. I can't say I'd ever willingly setup camp in the Abyssal Shrine."

"How's your shoulder?"

"Lord Wrath has taken care of it by chipping in each time Fae has needed to heal me after combat." He sighs, though a soft smile forms shortly after he does so. "This adventure has been very different from what I expected of it."

"It's not over yet, either; I wonder what the 5th and 6th Strata will bring." She gently rests her head on his left shoulder, sighing in relief as she makes herself comfortable. "Get some sleep, nii-chan; you need the rest more than the rest of us."

"Yeah, I think I'll do that, Amy. Rest easy, dear sister." When Cyrus next opens his eyes, Conrad is standing before him. "What?" He realizes that it is now 5AM. "Oh…crap; I was not supposed t-"

Conrad chuckles at this. "There's always safety in numbers, Cyrus. I thank you and your friends for lending that security to me. I'll use the crystal in B7 to make my way back to the start of the floor; getting out of here should be easy from there."

"Very well. Be safe out there, Conrad." Conrad nods to this before offering one final wave and departing. Cyrus wakes the rest of his party, opting to serve what he originally packed as lunch as breakfast instead. When this is done, they continue with their adventure, with Fae taking to resting on Cyrus' right shoulder again. He gently pokes her side again as he says, "You know I spoil you."

She places a finger to her lips as she says, "Shh…don't tell Aunt Gwen." The two have a laugh at this as they proceed towards the crystal together. Curiously, a door waits at the end of this hall housing the warp crystal, but it does not appear to lead anywhere. "Maybe we'll come back here for a quest…"

The right side of the crystal leads to a small area in B5. The warp crystal in this room can be approached from the left to send them back to B7, but this is entirely unnecessary. The door leading out of this room grants the party access to a much larger clearing housing another crystal. Clarisse looks to this crystal and says, "I guess we have a choice between approaching from the right and the top. The bottom side definitely doesn't go anywhere, and the left has to be a drop-off point, right?" Cyrus nods to this assessment. "Hm…I say we try the right side first." Nothing happens. "Wait, seriously?"

Looking to her, Amy says, "The left side could still be a drop-off point, but this more or less confirms that it'll either be as an emergency escape route, or a trap." When she steps to the top side with her comrades, she finds herself in a lengthy corridor that houses two Hellhounds. "Oh…oh shit. Um, run!" The party has to run the hounds through a circuit twice before the path forward is clear. "That one Hellhound is like right behind us; we need to go!" At the end of the corridor is a door that the party swiftly proceeds through. Catching her breath, Amy holds a hand to her chest in some effort to steady herself. "And I thought the first one was bad."

As the hour strikes 7AM, the party is warped to a new crystal that resides in an area that grants access to one of the only shortcuts the party had found up to that point. Fae says, "We should head back to let everyone know we're OK. This is the first time we've ever spent the night in Yggdrasil, right?" The others are in agreement with this, leading to the party warping out of Yggdrasil for a respite after the shortcut is unlocked. Refreshed, the party returns to the 19th floor where they left off. As she looks around the crystalline cavern, a question comes to Fae's mind. "We're supposed to be looking for someone, right?"

Cyrus nods to this. "Prince Ramus has tasked us with searching for a mysterious girl. I believe you were with Amy and Lissa the last time she was spotted." Before anyone can comment further, the party's balance is thrown off as the entire cavern begins to shake. The party takes to the ground, bracing themselves for what changes this may bring. Alas, nothing comes to pass; when the quake subsides, all is as it once was, at least from what the Seekers can observe of the immediate area. Rising to his feet, Cyrus checks to see if anyone has been injured. 'Everyone appears to be fine.' Looking towards the path ahead, he absently says, "I heard a roar just before the quake."

Stepping up to his side, Clarisse says, "It could have been that Crystal Dragon." The two are not given much time to ponder this as a trio of enemies approaches. A Lance Saurian and Klaxon Cicada occupy the front while an Ice Cryst occupies the rear line. Readying her bow, Clarisse falls back to the rear line of her own formation. "I'll try and bind the crystal."

"Appreciate it; Fae, trigger Guard Order with Clarisse. Lissa, we need a Bunker." Clarisse's attempts to bind the target are met with failure, prompting Cyrus' eyes to widen as he realizes, 'Lissa used Dragon Roar preemptively.' He exhales a sigh of relief as the Lance Saurian's use of Windmill is primarily directed at the bunker Lissa deployed. Though she suffers damage, it is not enough to bring her down. Triggering a Union Skill between himself, Amy, Fae, and Clarisse, Cyrus coats the surrounding battlefield in a black mist. His voice takes on a dark tone as it seems to sound from all sides. He slips away amidst the mist, removed from the sight of friend and foe alike. "No more games."

Knowing that Cyrus has a plan of some kind, Amy decides to leave her brother to his own devices as she charges into the fray; the Lance Saurian is her target. Taking advantage of its lack of visibility, she hooks her left foot to strike the back of the Saurian's knee. It lets out a sound of shock as it begins to fall to the ground, but is immediately silenced as Amy surges her left fist at a downward angle to punch it in the face. The force of the impact causes the creature to accelerate into the ground, causing its body to create a crater. The Saurian succumbs to it injuries, for not only was its skull obliterated by Amy's fist, but its bones were also crushed upon impact.

As Amy takes a moment to exhale the breath she'd been holding, Fae and Clarisse take another shot at disabling the cicada; both the Chaos Bomb and Hunter Shot are successful. An audible click can be heard from somewhere within the mist, which is followed shortly by visible red ripples in the air that slice into both of the remaining enemies. As the mist clears, Cyrus reappears next to Amy, knelt to the ground as he sheathes his katana. He exchanges a brief glance with Amy before his comrade rushes over to use Titan Killer on the Klaxon Cicada, which causes the creature to disintegrate. The Ice Cryst remains, and makes one last effort to spit ice at Lissa while Fae is tending to her wounds. Cyrus appears in its line of fire, deflecting what would have surely been the killing shot with his sheath. He then stabs his katana into the creature's body, slaying it. Removing his blade brings with it an azure core.

With a swift pull, he removes his blade while the core briefly remains suspended in the air. His weapon is quickly returned to its sheath, allowing the core to fall into his hand. He then takes a moment to observe this core, noting that its hardness changes with the temperature. Lissa steps over and asks, "Are you alright, Cyrus?"

He turns to face her as he places the azure core in his pocket. "I should be asking you that, love; I almost lost you."

She grins at him. "Oh please, I had that under control." He sighs in response to this before wiping some of the remaining frost off her shoulder, placing a kiss upon her forehead shortly after. She blushes at this. "Thanks." Pointing to a small path that leads to the east, she says, "I think that will take us to the stairs."

"Right. Let's heal up and solve this last puzzle for the treasure chest." The party ignores the warp crystal in E6 in favor of approaching the one in F5 from its right side. From here, they need to loop around the crystal, taking care to avoid drawing too close, so that they may approach a new crystal in E4 from its left side. The treasure chest awaits at the drop-off point; within it is a silver ingot. "A nice enough find." He looks to the party's only exit, frowning as he realizes, "That's gonna take us all the way back to B6."

Amy unfurls the map so that the two can gauge whether or not it'd be faster to just warp out of the Labyrinth and start from the floor's original entrance. Amy eventually says, "It won't take that long, actually." The trek takes two hours, but the Seekers do eventually return to the entrance of the passage Lissa noted before. The party progresses cautiously, and rightfully so, for there is one last warp crystal barring the path. Taking a quick glance at the map, Amy's expression becomes furious as she says, "Now that's just dirty." Pointing at the crystal, she looks about her allies as she follows, "If we had approached from the bottom, we would have been sent back to A7 with that one Hellhound."

Without saying a word, Lissa and Clarisse depart, with the latter of the two calling for Balto to follow her. Fae holds her arms out to Cyrus, silently asking to be carried again. He abides, resting her on his right shoulder before grabbing hold of Amy's hand to lead her away from this place. "That just means we need to approach the crystal in F4 from the left." True to form, this is the last step before the party is free to unlock the final shortcut and proceed to the staircase. Before departing from Yggdrasil completely, they backtrack to pilfer the contents of the one treasure chest they missed. Within is a sum of 13000 ental, which the party happily pockets before taking its leave.