Chapter 53: Facing the Plague
The following morning arrives at Fiona's usual time; as the alarm clock sitting atop the dresser at her bedside begins to chime, she quickly silences it. Her movements suggest that she is going to resume her slumber, but she begrudgingly lifts herself from her pillow to yawn and stretch. Wiping her eyes, she takes a look around, soon realizing that she's the only one in the room. 'Fae must have gotten up early to train with Valerie again.' She motions to pull the covers from her form so that she may climb out of bed, but stops as the door opens. Cyrus is the one to enter; he is armed with a golden serving tray holding a lidded platter. 'You have got to be kidding.' A blush and awkward smile fixate upon her countenance as Cyrus draws near. He wordlessly sets the tray in front of Fiona before placing a fleeting kiss upon her lips.
"Good morning to you, my dear; I have brought you breakfast." He removes the lid, causing a collection of steam to free itself from its prison. An enticing aroma begins to fill the room, causing Fiona's eyes to sparkle. As the steam clears, Cyrus says, "Amy, Valerie, and I collaborated on this dish; they, too, wished to contribute to the birthday girl's first meal." As the steam fully dissipates, Fiona can see that the platter before her is topped with what she assumes to be a dozen cuts of ravioli mixed with steamed and roasted vegetables. She can't help but instinctively grab hold of a fork, her mouth watering. "We have prepared for you a breakfast platter of steamed bread rings."
She takes a bite, realizing that the contents of the bread rings are not meat, but rather mashed potatoes thoroughly mixed with a slew of spices and vegetables. "Oh man, this is delicious." A small dipping cup of ketchup has been provided, which she promptly uses to accentuate the flavor of her meal. The drink provided is a tall glass of strawberry lemonade; a lime wedge sits at the rim, and an umbrella straw sits within. One sip elicits a joyous sound from Fiona. "I could get used to this~" Looking to Cyrus, she smiles as she asks, "So I get to sample this cooking every day now?"
"So long as you're with me, I shall endeavor to keep you from ever wanting."
"I suppose my old man is gonna have to compromise; there's no way I'm letting this slip." Cyrus laughs at this, but makes no effort to reply. "What's on the agenda for today?"
"I intend to give you your gift once you've finished eating. I'll take a party into Yggdrasil to hopefully finish up the 24th floor; my plan is to be back before 7PM so we can have your party."
She grins at him. "So? What'd you get me, babe?" When his face scrunches up to shoot her a dubious expression, she laughs. "You might as well tell me."
"No, you'll have to be patient; I'm going to spoil you because it's your special day, but not everything shall be a freebie." She pouts at this before stuffing her face with more of her breakfast. "I'll give you a small hint; the gift comes from Erdboden." She arches an eyebrow, but doesn't ask for him to clarify, instead taking another bite of her meal. "I decided to make use of some free time while I wasn't in the Labyrinth, and went home to synthesize something for you." Her face lights up at this, bringing a smile to Cyrus' face. "I collaborated with my friend Eric to make this, and consider it to be our finest piece since we made Leslie's personal shield when we were children. I can only hope that you will love it in turn."
When Fiona has finished consuming her breakfast, Cyrus snaps his fingers to summon four portals of darkness. From these portals are pulled gift-wrapped boxes of varying sizes, one box to each portal. 'The Hell did they make, a suit of armor?' As she ponders the contents of the boxes now filling the room, Cyrus breaks her train of thought by calling for Amy and Lissa to enter the room. When the two step in, they are both wearing black suits; 'Oh what fresh Hell is this?'
Cyrus steps over to the door, looking to both Lissa and Amy as he says, "Ladies, please see to the birthday girl; I shall assemble the others downstairs."
Standing from the bed, Fiona rests a hand on her hip as she adopts a smirk on her face. "What, you're not gonna stick around to see the results of your craft?"
"Doing so would require me to see you in a state of undress, which I'm pretty sure I have not yet earned." Fiona, left at a loss for words, can only yield a chuckle, followed by a sigh, as she gestures for Cyrus to take his leave. He waits downstairs in the lobby with the rest of his Guild, as well as Jenetta and Aria's Guild. Though Cyrus' focus is on the staircase Fiona and the others will use to descend, he occasionally finds himself distracted by Fae and Karoline joyfully playing with Balto and a few of Jenetta's housecats. Before long, the sound of metal boots making contact with the wooden flooring upstairs draws his attention back to the staircase. 'Here she comes.'
Fiona descends to the main lobby with Lissa and Amy at her side. The two now sport sunglasses, holding their hands behind their backs. Several audible gasps can be heard from the onlookers as they take in Fiona's attire. As she had initially assumed, Cyrus and Eric forged for her a suit of armor; this armor, however, is of an atypical design, being more akin to an ornate dress. The dress sports many frills, notably on the wide hoop skirt that reaches down to Fiona's knee caps. The primary colors of the dress are white and blue, with the armaments being comprised of silver and accentuated with gold.
Her boots have also been changed; though the appearance is similar to what she started with, Fiona's current pair of boots is much lighter, and has each of the heels accented with a pair of small white wings. Her sword remains secured to her left arm, as it always has. Curiously, there is no helmet; curious still, Fiona has elected to style her hair into a single ponytail hanging behind her back, rather than the twin-tails that usually hang in front of her shoulders.
Aria, wearing a large smile on her face, gives a thumbs-up as she says, "Damn girl, lookin' good!" Fiona adopts a flustered countenance as she shyly thanks her friend for the compliment. Looking to Logan, she dons a grin; "You should buy me a dress like this."
"You're out of your mind, Ari." He gestures to call attention to everything Fiona is currently wearing. "Do I look like I have that kind of money?" Jabbing a thumb in Cyrus' direction, he follows, "This guy just bought the Cradle Edge for Valerie and still had enough to commission a dress this grand." Looking to Cyrus outright, he asks, "What's your secret?"
"I saved up money for the Cradle Edge, but I didn't spend a single ental on the dress…I forged it by hand, with assistance from my brother-in-law."
Looking to Logan again, Aria rests her hands on her hips. "Logan; commission him." Logan can only let out a loud groan in response. "Cyrus, you'd give us a discount, right? How much would you charge for a dress like that?"
He looks to Fiona, and then back to Aria. "Hm…the exchange rate between gold and ental is 1:1, so that kind of dress would run you about ten thousand, fifteen thousand if I were to include the Sylph blessing."
Fiona's expression lightens up at this. "Is that why everything feels so light?" He nods to her. "So you can just casually ask Sylphs for favors like this?"
"The favor does not come without a price, but we are on good enough terms that we can just ask each other for things like this." He smiles as he asks, "How do you feel? Is it comfortable?"
"More than I could ever imagine. I feel out of place, though; I looked in the mirror and saw a princess."
"An apt feeling I would say; you are technically going to be my queen in the coming future. A change in appearance won't alter who you are; save for the necessary formalities, you can expect me to treat you as I always have." He dons a grin, resting a hand in his pocket as he follows, "Think of this as a preview of what is to come, my dear." He chuckles. "I certainly like what I see."
She sighs, though her smile cannot be contained. "Yeah, I bet you do."
Stepping towards the front door, Cyrus performs a gesture for flair as he calls out to his comrades. "Ladies and Balto, it is time for us to depart; Yggdrasil awaits!" Glancing back, he looks to Aria as he says, "Fair dame, I leave this to you."
"No worries, Cyrus; I'll keep the wife out of trouble."
"Really, Ari? You're gonna be my sitter?"
Cyrus does not stick around to hear how the rest of this conversation plays out, instead making haste in his effort to depart from the building. The party from the previous night returns to the 24th floor; Diana summons the same pair of Wraiths to aid her in combat once again, both of whom appear to be fully recovered. A smile forms upon her face in recognition of this. "I am glad to see that you both are well; I look forward to working with you again." The two bow in response before taking their place at her sides. "We are ready to set out, leader."
"Then let us continue." He and his party return to the door at the floor's eastern center, the one that shall lead into C5. Looking to the north, Cyrus' mind returns to the unopened door that awaits in A5. "I'd like to explore what lies beyond that door, but let us instead push on ahead for now." Turning his attention back to the door standing before the group, he follows, "This likely serves as the path of progress, so we might as well explore it." The Seekers step through the door together, and are immediately greeted with the sight of a Plague Demon stepping into view. Cyrus' expression sinks into a frown; "I regret everything."
Crossing her arms, Diana spends a moment observing the Plague Demon. She seems to be less interested in the creature's disturbing mannerisms and more in its physical structure. "What would possess a scientist to combine that specific set of creatures?" She glances towards the path ahead to see that another gravity console awaits beyond, which brings a dark smile to her face. "Now that sounds like fun."
Tugging at Cyrus' arm, Valerie says, "Chief, Master Annora just got a fun idea; help."
"Master? What are you planning?"
"I wish to observe this FOE while it is under the effects of zero gravity." The two stare at her blankly. "Have you children so little faith?" She scoffs, stepping over to Valerie. "As punishment, you shall be my partner for our zero-gravity travels." As Valerie's face shifts to convey her shock, Diana follows, "That is correct; Clarisse shall get to cuddle with little Balto."
Clarisse jumps for joy as she lets out a cheer. "Spirit Mama's the best!"
Looking to Cyrus, Balto says, "I do not understand humans." He is then taken into the arms of his mistress, who nuzzles her cheek against his. Valerie growls at Clarisse in response. "Mistress, this is embarrassing."
The Hound is decisively ignored while the rest of the group pairs up. Proceeding south from the console's location, the party flies past the Plague Demon, which is still grounded, much to Diana's surprise. "Hm, fascinating." As she proceeds to the west with her comrades, she takes note of the Plague Demon moving in turn; though grounded, the creature is still capable of taking advantage of the lessened gravity, allowing it to fly to the western edge of this expanse. "I believe our path may be cut off." Looking to Cyrus, she follows, "Are we to engage this FOE under such circumstances?"
A few test movements suggest that the Plague Demon is currently only locked into swapping between the western and eastern sides of this room. Sighing at this, Cyrus says, "Given the situation, I think we're meant to force the Plague Demon to the eastern side, return the gravity to normal, and then freely travel to our exit."
Lissa says, "That's assuming there's only one Plague Demon in here." Taking a look at the map, specifically at what has been revealed, she follows, "That might be a safe bet, actually." Balto suddenly growls, catching her attention. Reaching for her shield, she asks, "You sense something, Balto?" The Hound points ahead to a quintet of ants floating towards the party; the sight of this causes Lissa to shiver. "That's just wrong." Noticing that two of the ants on the backline are red in color, she looks among her comrades to give a warning; "We got a new enemy!"
Scanning the enemy with his Runic Eye, Cyrus clutches at his katana. "Those red ants might be capable of utilizing fire; Lissa, give us a Mana Guard." He glances to see that Valerie's Miasma Armor did not trigger on its own. 'Shit.' He looks back to Diana instead. "Master, we need an Ice Bomb; they aren't weak to it, but they resist Fire." Turning back to the approaching enemy group, he points to one of the red ants in the back; "Reese, Balto; try and bind the limbs of that Fire Ant; if we're lucky, it'll need to use its lower body instead of the head." As everyone assents to their orders, he can see Lissa trigger a Union Skill by herself; 'She's making use of Blessing; a good call, most likely.'
Lissa's decision proves to have been the correct one, for the majority of the ants endeavor to use the surrounding trees to jump around the battlefield to take bites out of the various members of the party. Only one chooses to make use of the fire attack that Cyrus suspected to be in its arsenal. Lissa's use of Mana Guard protects everyone from suffering more damage than they would have otherwise, though Valerie avoids the flames completely by using her scythe to spin onto a tree branch. Here, she takes a moment of respite to trigger her Miasma Armor. Diana converts the female knight into an Ice Bomb before having her charge into the enemy fray. Though the explosion catches the enemy off guard, they all seem perfectly capable of continuing combat.
Lissa looks to the leader, noticing that he is preparing to launch himself from the trunk of a tree. 'He's readying a drawing stance, so he's probably going for Petal Scatter.' She stabs her shield into the ground below to bypass the lessened gravity. Once grounded, she mounts her cannon into a slot on the shield to take aim; the effects of Mana Guard trigger once more, though Lissa is ready to fire at one of the ants in turn. 'I normally don't use Gunmount, but this looks like a damn good opportunity.' As she thinks this, the Plague Demon flies past the battling groups, momentarily distracting everyone, including the ants, before it collides with the door the Seekers used to enter this expanse. 'I guess that one won't be too much of a bother.'
Diana's remaining Wraith has taken note of Cyrus' intent as well; looking back to his summoner, he says, "Milady, make use of Ice Bomb again; your son needs extra support." She nods to this before imbuing the Wraith with ice.
Catching hold of Balto as he flies towards her, Clarisse braces herself to stop her advance using a nearby tree. "We missed the mark with the rope, but I think Co has a backup plan." Looking to a distant tree, she notices something that brings a smirk to her face. "I can use that tree to get in decent chip damage with Foot Pierce." She pats Balto on the head. "Stay here; I'm going in." Just as she prepares to jump over to the tree she plans to use, Valerie flies through the line containing the three Panda Ants and slays them all with a single use of Chaos Reap. "Well…shit, there goes my plan."
With the three enemies now slain, Diana snaps her fingers to gather their life force, which is then brought together to re-summon the female Wraith she just lost. The knight looks around, somewhat confused. "Huh? What happened?" She then watches as Cyrus flies towards the remaining two ants to use Petal Scatter, which rends one of the ants asunder, allowing Clarisse and Lissa to finish the one that remains; this leaves Diana no reason to go through with using Ice Bomb, thus preserving both Wraiths. "I…guess you all had it under control." Though Diana cannot see the smile the Wraith wears, the joy in her voice is clear as she says, "Thank you for bringing me back, Milady."
"No need to thank me; I take care of all my children." Without even bothering to look in Cyrus' direction, she points a finger at him and follows, "Don't you give me that look, Cyrus." He gives a meek but affirmative response before floating over to the gravity console. "He's a good lad, truly."
The gravity is returned to normal once the Plague Demon is confirmed to be on the eastern side of the room. With the way forward now secure, the party presses on. As they arrive at the door awaiting on the western side of this expanse, Clarisse looks back to the approaching Plague Demon in the distance. "You know, now that I've gotten a better look at that thing, I realize that its weird exposed ribcage is actually not a ribcage." Cyrus stops in his tracks upon hearing this, turning to meet Clarisse's eyes. She points at the Plague Demon's supposed ribcage. Upon closer inspection, the "ribs" are actually wriggling. "Those kinda remind me of the legs you'd find on centipedes."
Cyrus' voice takes on a deep and hostile tone, practically dripping with venom as he calmly says, "We must eradicate that species; leave no survivors."
Clarisse's eyes widen at this as she glances back to him. "Co?" She then freezes in place upon making eye contact; there is a distinct hatred fixed upon his glare, and though Clarisse fully understands that he is looking past her to direct this spite to the Plague Demon, she cannot help but start sweating as fear begins to take over her countenance. She instinctively takes a step backwards as Cyrus steps forward while drawing his katana. "Whoa there, Co; we can talk about this!" He takes a single step closer. "Co. Cyrus, I know we've had some fights, but you're not really gonna kill me, are you?"
"My blade has no desire for your flesh, Clarisse." He points his katana ahead at the monster pointing directly at him. "It seeks the blood of that creature, along with the rest of its kind."
"Today. You."
"Today. Your race; genocide is upon you."
"Holy shit." Clarisse's expression becomes flustered as she looks to Lissa for support. "Lissa, do something!"
Grabbing hold of Cyrus' free hand, Lissa pulls him towards the door leading out of this expanse. "Dear, we have work to do."
"This takes precedence, my dearest Elizabeth, now unhand me." She gives an immediate negative response before she lifts him off the ground and slumps his form over her shoulder. "Lissa, please."
She heaves an exasperated sigh. "No, dear. Let's go, everyone." She makes no comment as Cyrus continues to draw the map whilst being held in her grip; glancing at the parchment, she clicks her tongue in frustration. "That door in A5 was going to lead to some sort of dead end; dammit, we'll have to make time and go back for it, later." Stepping through the next door the party comes across, the Seekers are graced with another gravity console. Taking another quick glance at the map Cyrus is drawing, Lissa takes notice of an FOE on the southwestern side of the floor. "There is seriously an FOE in F2; the shortcut back to the floor's descending pillar is all the way in E7, so the pillar that leads to the 25th floor couldn't possibly be there." She groans. "I don't wanna loop that far around."
Folding her arms, Valerie puts forth a frown. "Yeah, I'm not exactly down for that, either." Looking to Cyrus, she asks, "Chief, can you turn into a Behemoth in this world? If so, you mind doing us a solid by tearing a path through the trees?"
"If I could actually sustain my Behemoth form for that long, I would have already taken care of the Plague Demons instead of doing these FOE puzzles the fair way."
"Good point." She sighs. "Activate the gravity console; I have a plan to deal with the Plague Demon." True to her word, she alone baits the Plague Demon into using the lessened gravity to place itself between two pits that it cannot naturally jump over. Cyrus returns gravity to its normal levels, trapping the creature. Valerie dusts her hands before letting out a triumphant huff. "Too easy." She then realizes that a treasure chest lies ahead, and that, by trapping the Plague Demon, she and her comrades have rendered this chest impossible to obtain. "Wait, dammit! That's not fair!" She turns to Cyrus, her expression a mix between flustered, embarrassment, and rage. She makes use of her whining tone once more; "Chief! The Labyrinth is cheating; make it stop!" Cyrus looks to the side, presumably to consider how he'll go about satisfying this request. Valerie is surprised to find him step forward and place a kiss upon her forehead before taking her into his arms. She nestles in his grip, a pout upon her lips. "Stupid Yggdrasil…" She then hides her face in his chest to keep the others from seeing her expression.
A sigh escapes Cyrus. "We'll have to come back for the treasure chest, too." Stepping beyond the next door, Cyrus is surprised to find that the next area is little more than an atrium with only one exit, one that leads to the west. "I do believe we have to fully wrap around before the ascending pillar will become available." He looks to Lissa and asks, "How are you holding up, love?"
"I am upset."
'I don't know what I expected.' The party presses onward to arrive at the next expanse, which is even larger than the last. Looking around, Cyrus can see the Plague Demon in the distance, as well as the next gravity console. Setting Valerie down, he muses, "Right, so how do we deal with this one…" The console proves to be farther than expected; Cyrus activates said console's effects as the Plague Demon catches wind of the Seekers' presence. Cyrus attempts to trick the Plague Demon by abusing horizontal preference, but the creature moves north instead of west, nearly trapping the Seekers. "Ah, piss in a hand basket." He quickly returns to the console to return the flow of gravity to normal. Looking over his comrades, he says, "We can get away from the FOE, but it'll be on our heels for the rest of our trip through this expanse."
Clarisse shakes her head at the idea. "If we get into a Random Encounter, there's a good chance it'll join in; I know I was against us fighting the Hellhound back in the Lucent Hollows, but…I think we should just go for this one."
"Now. You."
Cyrus groans in response; "It's weak to Fire, but Ice is ineffective; Seekers, prepare for combat!" He charges into the fray ahead of his allies, drawing his katana in preparation to use Armor Pierce on the Plague Demon. He can hear Valerie's Miasma Armor triggering on its own, which brings a smirk to his face. 'We lucked out this time.' He nods to himself. "Mom, bolster our elemental defenses; Lissa, use Mana Guard! Clarisse, use Target Arrow while Valerie preps Wilting Miasma!" His comrades carry out their orders swiftly enough to strike and debilitate the FOE before Cyrus can actually reach it. 'And here I was thinking I had the speed advantage now.' He strikes before the Plague Demon, driving the blade of his katana into the creature's flesh. He rears his left hand backwards before his form is overtaken by a silver aura, this aura then disappears as his palm surges into the pommel of his weapon, driving the blade deeper into the creature.
The silver aura then briefly flashes over the form of the Plague Demon as it roars in agony. Cyrus is thrown off before the creature lashes out. Though Cyrus lands on his feet in a sliding motion, he is unable to fully brace himself for the incoming strike of the demon's fist. Valerie, Lissa, and Diana are struck as well, though none of them are incapacitated. Seeing that Valerie is coating the blade of her scythe with the effects of Curse, Cyrus triggers the use of Black Mist between himself and everyone except Lissa. Valerie's strike lands cleanly, but the effects of Curse, to her surprise, are not applied. Diana tosses a bottle of Soma into the air, which Clarisse strikes with an arrow to rain the healing solution onto the party. The Plague Demon is distracted by this, allowing Balto to rush in and tie up its arms and injure its legs.
Though used for the purpose of bolstering the party's elemental defenses, Diana's male Wraith immediately returns as a result of reincarnation; he charges into the fray to slash the enemy, which paralyzes the opposition. "Milady, now would be an excellent time to make use of Flame Bomb."
The female Wraith nods to this, adding that, "We can keep bombarding it with explosions if we get lucky and reincarnate." Diana agrees with this assessment, and suggests that the female knight serve as the first bomb. "Leave it to me."
Valerie extends the effects of Wilting Miasma, causing her Miasma Armor to extend its duration in turn. Clarisse and Cyrus elect to extend the effects of Target Arrow and Armor Pierce, respectively, and though Lissa recognizes that she needs to tend to a few additional injuries, she makes use of Dragon Roar instead. The fury of her battle cry causes the ground beneath her feet to cave in, as well as causes a deep crimson aura to cover her form. In turn, her once brown eyes turn orange as the pupils become slits akin to those of reptiles. As the Plague Demon reels from the explosion, Cyrus flies in from the smoke to stab his katana into its flesh; another agonized roar escapes the creature, this time even louder than the last, as Cyrus violently wrenches his weapon from the adversary to flip off of its form and sheathes his katana.
Before anyone can act, Cyrus appears to split off into five separate copies. Curiously, all five of these copies have their weapon unsheathed, despite Cyrus still clearly being in his aerial drawing stance. He snaps his fingers to land on a slab of ice he conjures, only to immediately disappear from sight along with his supposed clones. An audible click rings throughout the area just before the sound of several blades slicing along the air sharply overtakes it; the Plague Demon is cut deeply by Cyrus' use of Petal Scatter before the Masurao returns to view. He is crouched, his blade sheathed and his eyes closed as his back is turned to his opponent.
Valerie charges in to make use of Fatal Reap, severing all of the small black appendages that comprise the creature's right set of "ribs". She and Cyrus repeat the use of Petal Scatter and Fatal Reap, but the Plague Demon still stands. The creature roars in defiance as it pulls its arms apart to destroy the ropes binding them. Readying her scythe, Valerie prepares to charge in again. "It's still paralyzed, so we should finish this quickly!"
Cyrus motions into a slow walk towards the Plague Demon. "Lissa, it's likely going to use its elemental attack this time since its bindings are free; use Mana Guard." As Lissa raises her shield, he disappears from sight again; he reappears a short distance in front of the Plague Demon before several visible ripples slice at the opposition's form. The Plague Demon reels back at this, but remains steadfast as it preps a punch as a counterattack. Cyrus rises from his crouching position to sheathe his weapon, though he makes no effort to dodge. Clarisse motions to charge in and assist him, but hesitates upon seeing Valerie warp to the space above Cyrus. She makes use of Fatal Reap one last time, severing the head of the Plague Demon and ending the encounter. As the enemy's head hits the ground, an audible click sounds through the area once again, marking that Cyrus' weapon has been fully returned to its scabbard. "Child's play, really."
Valerie separates the Plague Demon's mane from its corpse to take as proof of the party's victory. She then gives her weapon a few twirls before securing it to her back. "Not a bad fight; a decent enough workout." She smiles at him. "I'm feelin' pretty good with this Cradle Edge, by the way; thanks."
"Only the best for my little flower, of course." He looks to the rest of his comrades, a soft smile upon his countenance. "Excellent work, Seekers; any injuries?" Everyone shakes their heads. Crouching down to pet Balto, he says, "You did well to keep everyone in good shape after that initial pummeling; this is to say nothing of that clever use of Hunter Shot."
"All the credit for the latter goes to my mistress."
When Cyrus extends his praise to Clarisse, she blushes and looks away from him. "Well, you know; Spirit Mama and I make a pretty good team." Before anyone can speak another word, she grabs Diana by the hand and leads her further into the expanse. "We should get going." The others shrug at this before following after the duo. The door leading out of this expanse awaits on the western end, and leads to a branch with two choices – a door and a continuation of the path that was already being traversed. The party steps through the door to mark the small clearing beyond it, but leaves without investigating it thoroughly. Clarisse soon finds herself standing at another branch. "There's a whole lot of map left at the bottom, right?"
Cyrus nods to this, as does Lissa. The latter says, "This path will probably be a bit like the 19th floor of the Lucent Hollows; the ascending pillar is probably really close by, but this group of divergent paths will either force us to go around or will give a treasure chest for our troubles." She shrugs. "Either way, we gotta get to it." Taking the southern path first, she realizes that there is a pit before the party. She takes another look at the map, soon noting that, "We could have lowered the gravity to fly over this back in the room with the Plague Demon…crap, there's a chest over there, too!" Cyrus proceeds north to the dead end up ahead. "Did you find something, Cyrus?"
He takes a knee to study the burnt up ground beneath him. He notes that "These burns don't look natural." He looks around to see that the nearby trees have also been scorched, one of which having been carbonized outright. 'Now that's just peculiar.' Further observation reveals some broken tree branches have been scattered about, and a bush has been partially burned. He rises up to take a closer look at the tree. "Yeah, this was burned at an extremely high temperature; for such a flame to be this localized, it had to have been deliberate." A quick scan with the Runic Eye turns up with no results. 'I'm not sensing any residual aether, so magic wasn't used?' Looking to Diana, he makes a request. "Mom, could you make use of Detect Mana to search for any nearby sources?"
She complies, but her results are identical to his own. "Nothing for it, Cyrus; is something the matter?"
He looks back to the tree, and then the rest of his investigation options. With a shake of his head, he follows, "No, it's nothing; we can investigate this later." After marking this location on the map, he makes way for the remaining path with his comrades. As they reach E6, another pit is revealed to bar the path. "Well I'll be damned, we probably should have lowered the gravity before continuing forward. That treasure chest is beyond our reach, as is the area holding it." After unlocking the shortcut leading to the descending pillar, and discovering the Chop Point of this floor, the party proceeds down the remaining path in hopes of finding the pillar that ascends to the 25th floor. 'I wonder what the 5th Stratum Boss of Iorys will be.'
Arriving at the western end of the inaccessible expanse that contains the treasure chest, Diana can only frown at the sight of the third pit before her. "Whoever designed this is quite rude." Rounding a bend, she takes note of a green light. "Ah, the pillar is right here." As she and her comrades approach the pillar, Diana senses the presence of another. Turning around, the mysterious girl is seen approaching. 'She just warped here.'
The girl performs a curtsey in greeting, though her expression is as straight-faced as it has been. "Well done making it thus far." She looks over the Seekers; her gaze is gentle, though it retains her usual distance. "I bore witness to your duel with the Plague Demon; you have grown stronger since your battle with the Crystal Dragon." She pauses for a moment, seemingly to look over the party once again. "Before we continue, I would know the names of those with the courage and skill to challenge this place." The party members greet themselves in sequence, bringing a soft smile to her face. Her eyes are less distant now, if only slightly. "May the great tree raise you to ever greater heights." Everyone looks to Cyrus as the Mysterious Girl says this, causing her to adopt an inquisitive expression. "Is something amiss?"
Pointing at Cyrus, Clarisse says, "Co here is afraid of heights."
To the girl's surprise, Cyrus adds an honest addendum to the claim; "Deathly afraid, actually."
"I would not have suspected as much; you carry yourself well in the face of adversity. Ah, but my manners; you may call me Arken. I am the one who watches over these lands." She pauses again, this time to collect her words. "Since ancient times, I have awaited those who would scale this maze."
Folding her arms at the notion, Diana says, "So you have a lifespan that far exceeds that of mortals, though I can't say for certain if you're immortal as I am. Have you chosen to not live amongst the people?"
Arken shakes her head to this. "From days of yore, I have kept my interaction with those outside of the tree to a minimum. The stories of old that would compel the people below to congregate to these lands…were all penned by my hand." Clarisse's eyes widen at this notion. "The four races of Arcania; each culture has passed down myths and legends - it was all for the sake of guiding the capable. Only when the capable reach the summit will my long watch be at its end."
Cyrus asks, "Which summit, the 25th floor or the 30th?" Arken falls silent, momentarily breaking eye contact. Cyrus chuckles at this. "I can understand your apprehension; I usually don't get this far ahead of myself when I'm in this world. Allow me to indulge you; the summit of which you speak is the 25th floor, correct?" She nods. "That is where the Seekers shall start, then."
"At the heart of the floor above is a chamber. Once you reach it, I shall explain the truth in full." Looking to Cyrus again, she notices his left arm is wrapped in bandages. Pointing to it, she asks, "May I ask how you acquired that arm?" He offers an explanation of the effort he and Valerie undertook; upon completing this tale, Arken seems pleased. "To think that humans would have progressed so far; you and your Guild make for interesting people, Ebon Herald."
He offers a short bow in reply. "You honor me, Arken."
"For the sake of this world, as well as your own, I wish for you all to ascend to the top. Though you appear to have renown beyond the reach of Arcania, I would have this fame rise even higher – for you to become legends."
Cyrus chuckles at this, catching the girl off guard. "I'm not sure about becoming a legend, but if you need us to slay a god or two, we can certainly manage that." Arken breaks her stoicism to shoot Cyrus with an incredulous look. "Yeah, that does sound ridiculous now that I play it back in my head, but this is what we do. Think of it as boasting if you like, but this is just the role the Seekers have taken over the years. If that is what we must demonstrate upon reaching the heart of the 25th floor, then so be it." Arken nods to this, but speaks no further before teleporting away from the area. "Let's map out the rest of this area before taking our short break; we'll then take care of what we missed before Fiona's party."
