hey all! It's me again! Finals are over, and I finally had time to write! so, I was able to get this done faster then I thought I would!

However, I took a little time to answer some PMs that where sent to me in regards to something people wanted to know.

Would I be willing to add other characters to this series?

My answer would be 'yes' I am in fact willing to add other characters from other series to this story as long as it is within reason.

I've actually got a list of series people said they might like to see characters from added to this story, the list goes as such.

Shinrabanshou

Touhou

Kamihime Project R

Brave Frontier

Queens blade Grimoier

Fate/Grandorder

Fairy tail

Naruto

this is this list given to me so far with a nice list of characters from each series. Let me go ahead and mention though, that of these 8, I'm actually not interested in about three of them, that being Naruto, Fairy tail, and Fate/ grand order. The reason being that I'm not a big fan of the fans this might attract. I'm willing to look at the others for sure, I've actually gone ahead and put up a poll to figure out who might want to see what in the future, and based on the results, I'll then look at a list of charcters from that series to see who to add as an extra, an adversary, or even a harem member if thats what you guys want!

Until the next update! Enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 5

Andrew felt his mind being encroached upon. He wasn't sure what caused him to believe this, or even why, but he just knew that deep down, something in his mind was being intruded upon and… changed. Thinking on it for a moment, he had to admit that it was very similar to what he had felt some time ago in another dream.

However, when he recalled that particular bit, he found that he was once again looking at something similar to that nightmare. Only this time, he couldn't help but notice that whatever it was seemed to have a more defined form… and that there where six more like it. It was then that he felt that same icy terror, only stronger, more powerful, and filled with an even greater sense of dread then he could ever recall in his life. Despite this fear though, Andrew couldn't help but notice that he heard… voices. Each one muttering, not to him exactly, but more to each other.

"…eak…un…new…"

"Uncertain…time…not…"

"…may…concord…"

"Mast… Oda…"

It sounded like whispering, but he couldn't get a good gist of what any of the conversation was even about. However, he felt something tug at his mind, something sharp. At this, he noticed that the other entities had turned their attention to him, his mind telling him that he was a very small target amongst very large predators. Before anything could happen though, he felt his mind be sharply tugged yet again. It was with that final pull on his mind that he woke from sleep, Serena hanging over him and smacking at his shoulder.

"You awake yet? Jeez! You sleep like a dead man!"

Blinking in some confusion, Andrew found that Serena had stood herself up and was looking down at him with a cross look on her face, hands on her hips and everything included with what an annoyed girl would look like. Andrew shook himself for a second before he sat up.

"Sorry… Guess I just had a bad dream was all…"

"I see… is that why you've been getting up later and later these past few days now?"

Andrew only shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess… I don't really know…"

It had been a few days since Serena had made the sleeping rug for everyone, and over those past few days, nothing of note had really happened save that Andrew had been having some odd dreams of late. Things he hadn't remembered doing or places he hadn't seen before. He hadn't been sure what it was about, but he had opted to keep quite about it from his familiars for the time being, not believing it to be that serious. Looking around, he noticed that Labareda and Unoma had gone missing. Oddly enough, Unoma had started to walk on her own as of late, but that may be because Serena had had enough of the witch using Andrew as a free delivery system and threatened to boot her if she didn't start trying to walk. Unoma had been fussy at first, but her own ability to be mobile had helped improve the groups speed in trying to escape. Before he had gone to sleep, Andrew had asked Labareda how much longer they had. She had cheerfully told him that they where a little beyond the halfway mark and they should be out soon. This had greatly delighted him and earned her a kiss to the forehead, something she took with a great deal of joy… and near rape seeing as she tried to jump him. That little tussle had a taken a bit to settle down before they had gone to sleep. Looking back at Serena, who was busy rolling up the boarskin rug, Andrew stood himself up and helped her pack up the little things as best he could.

"So… did they leave to scout out the area?"

"I believe so, Labareda had left by the time I woke up and Unoma had said that she needed to check something in the area real quick. That was about an hour ago and I haven't heard anything from either of them since then… I get the feeling they will be back soon enough though, the both of them having done what needed to be done."

After she got done with that, she gave Andrew the rug, who tied it to the bag he had ordained to carry around since most of the party outside himself needed to focus on keeping them all safe. After that though and they both sat down and ordained to keep quite as they waited for Unoma and Labareda to come back. For a few minutes, nobody said anything, but Andrew knew that Serena wasn't one to keep quite for long. And a few minutes after he thought that and she spoke up like he thought she would.

"So… Andrew…"

"Yes Serena?"

"I got a question for you… actually, its about me and what you know about me."

Andrew let out a low hum for her to continue.

"Alright… so remember when you explained to me about my story? Well, I've been thinking on it and I couldn't help but notice that you gave me a story about my heroic exploits… but nothing really about me. I'm actually kinda curious about the personal things in my life… you know… the experiences that make me… well, me."

Andrew nodded his head in understanding, but his mental state was getting worried. Sadly, this was one of the things he was worried about when it came to explaining Serena's story. A lot of the things involving her story could only be gained from a lot of support conversations, and even then, it was hard to glen what kind of history she had. However, that didn't stop her from asking her questions.

"So… I'm going to start off with… do you know anything about my parents? My mom and dad? Did I have siblings?"

Andrew thought about that for a moment before he gave her a straight up honest answer from his lips.

"I'm not really sure… your stories didn't say much about siblings or who your father was. A lot of people debated over who your real father was. I'm not even sure who it was myself. I can tell you all about your mom though. Her name was Cordelia… or Tiamo. Nobody is really sure on that one."

Looking kinda annoyed, Serena gave him a dead stare.

"Well which is it. Cordelia or Tiamo?"

Andrew only shrugged his shoulders.

"You tell me. Which do you think feels right?"

The Twin-tail looked away from him for a moment before she closed her eyes, thinking on both names before something in her memory seemed to stir. It was the visage of a red-haired woman, looking perfect and amazing in every way to her. Feelings of pride and amazement and deep love filled Serena, but followed closely by envy, depression, and inferiority. But they seemed to be mitigated by… a man… a man who was tall and quite to her. Somewhat stern, but at the same time, gentle with her. She remembered both of them, and her heart was filled with both love and sadness at the memory. She opened her eyes, a heavy feeling in her chest.

"My moms name was… Tiamo… and my father was a man named Ronkuu… that's who they were…"

Andrew didn't say anything, his recognition of her depression stopping him from doing so. However, she looked over at him, something akin to sad joy in her face.

"That's my mom and dad isn't it? I just suddenly remembered them… my mom was a perfect woman… able to do anything she wanted… and my dad was a strong warrior…"

Andrew nodded his head.

"Yeah… that sounds about right."

"I… I can't seem to remember much else about them though… maybe you can fill me in on the details? Just talking with you seems to have jarred some of my memories loose. Maybe more talking will help me remember more?"

Andrew nodded his head in agreement, noting that her expression seemed to be getting better.

"Sounds like a good idea… but…if it starts to make you uncomfortable, let me know and we can stop. Okay?"

Serena nodded her head at him before she drew her legs close to her chest and put her chin on her knees. She then gave Andrew a look of complete attention, ready for him to start telling him things about herself.

Letting out a low sigh, Andrew decided to go with what he knew at that point, the mention of Lon'qu having cleared up a lot for him and allowing him to form her background better. For the next few minutes, Andrew explained what he knew of Cordelia and Lon'qu, the things they did, the lives they must have lived, all of the exploits and things he knew they had done in their lives. He kept going up until he started to explain about after her birth and he found himself stopping.

Curious, she looked at him, waiting for him to continue on. However, when he didn't, she couldn't help but notice that he seemed to be hesitating a lot.

"What's wrong?"

"I… I honestly don't think your going to like this next part…"

For a few moments, neither of them said anything. However, Serena came to his rescue when she let out a low sigh.

"I see… I'm not going to like it because something terrible happens to them doesn't it."

It wasn't a question, but a statement of fact. Andrew nodded his head in confirmation.

"Sorry… they die soon after your born. I don't know how soon, but the life you live with after that is considered a hell. As far as I know, you battled day in and day out, fighting against enemy forces until many years later where you managed to find something like a magic fix-it-all. It didn't fix 'your' reality, but it did save people. After that is a whole other story, but as far as I know, you did manage to find some form of happiness in the end."

Serena looked away from Andrew, her mind deep in thought about what he had just told her. She could feel a lot of the truth in his words, and some of it did seem to unlock some memories for her. However, it still was somewhat bittersweet for her. Letting out another low sigh, she looked back at him and gave him a bright smile.

"Well… it may not have all been happy and cheerful, but I'm still happy I got to learn more about myself and the people I cared about… though I am a little curious about something. Did I ever get a lover or boyfriend? It sounds like I went my whole life loveless or something."

"I didn't see a ring on your finger, so that would be a no."

He said without hesitation. Serena looked at her hand and took her gauntlets off. Sure enough she had no rings on her fingers. She laughed a little to herself before she put her gauntlets back on.

"Well, that kinda sucks. But oh well. Are you thirsty? You've been talking for a while now, I'm sure you have to be parched."

Feeling that she may be right, Andrew nodded his head at her before she handed him a water skin. He gratefully took a few swallows out of it before he handed it back to her, Serena's expression one filled with questions.

"So… you know a lot about me and my life… how about you tell me a little bit about yourself for once. It's not fair if I'm the only open book in the group ya know."

Andrew blinked in surprise a few times before her words finally hit home with him.

"Me? I'm not interesting in the least. Why would you want to know about me?"

Serena simply shrugged her shoulders at him.

"I don't know. Just general curiosity. Though I say just go ahead and try anyway. I'm not exactly high on the memories in this group, so who knows. Your life story might be the next best thing I have to entertainment for a while."

Andrew squinted his eyes at her in thought.

"Not sure if that's a complement or if your making fun of me…"

The twin tail let out another sigh.

"Just take it as a complement and start spilling."

"Alright alright don't get your hair in a twist… hum… how best to begin…"

Andrew put his hand to his chin and began to stroke in thought. Serena watched him for a moment, finding it kinda charming how he did it, but then immediately wondered why she thought that in the first place. Andrew speaking up drew her attention back to him though.

"Well… I don't have much to say save that I'm a very average person. I did have decent grades in studies and whatnot, but a lot of my time was spent being rather leisure. I didn't want for much growing up, being content with the things in my life until I hit middle school. Then all the fun stuff in my life started to hit rock bottom when I got older. Particularly around the time my father…"

Andrew stopped for a second, his mind wandering for a moment as he tried to form the words he wanted to say. It took him a moment, and Serena found it curious that he would stop so suddenly, but he continued, though a little more hesitantly then before.

"After my father… got sick. After that it kinda just led from one thing to another until eventually I found myself in a bad situation that could have landed me in serious trouble. Thankfully I had people looking out for me… but I personally still needed to clean myself up. So I joined what you would consider the army… well, it's the Air Force, but that wouldn't make any sense to you… for a few months I went through boot camp before I got sent to do my actual job. But during the middle of that, I ended up finding myself here. And that's me in a nutshell."

Serena, who had been listening intently, nodded her head before she crossed her legs.

"I see… I feel like you left a lot out though."

"Well obviously I had a reason."

"I get that you moron. I was just pointing it out. You obviously don't want to tell me about certain things. That's fine. But I can see you weren't joking about being uninteresting."

Andrew felt himself grumble internally at that, but he couldn't refute her since it was true. Bringing his attention to the surrounding area, Andrew leaned back against the wall and found himself looking out for both Unoma and Labareda.

"They sure have been gone a while…"

"No joke. I thought they would have been back by now. What are they doing exact-"

She didn't finish her statement as a moment later, the both of them heard the sound of hooves on stone. Serena lit up at that.

"Ah, there's one of them at least."

Andrew, however, looked somewhat confused.

"… Maybe… but… I don't recall her ever sounding quite that heavy before… and… I get the feeling she's still not that close to us."

Curious, Serena looked at Andrew before she brought her attention back to the direction of the hooves. However, upon listening closely, she heard not the sound of heavier steps, but the sound of heavier and more guttural breathing. It was at that point that her instinct told her that whatever this was, it wasn't good. She quickly got to her feet and drew one of her swords.

"Stay close to me Andrew."

Getting to his feet, he did just that. For a few tense moments, neither one of them could see what it was that was making that noise. That changed when a shape took form further down the hall. It was massive, standing well above ten feet tall and thick with muscles. It had bovine features mixed with those of a man, the most easily noticeable being the bull head on its neck. It wore a very dirty and tattered loin cloth, but in its right hand it had a large sword that would have been too heavy and massive for an average man to use. Serena had no idea what this thing could possibly be, but Andrew instantly recognized it.

"That's a minotaur."

"A what?"

"Put the worst aspects of the strongest man ever with the worst aspects of a massive roid-raged bull. That's a minotaur."

"Okay… sounds bad enough... but what the hell does Roid-raged mean?"

"It means it's really fucking strong."

Serena could only blink a few times before she let a low sigh out from her mouth followed by a very sarcastically uttered word.

"Greeeeeeeeeeat."

The creature, obviously having heard them, turned its attention to them and began to sniff them out. Andrew wasn't sure why that was, but if he had to hazard a guess, it would probably be because it had terrible eyesight. He could only think on that for a few more moments before the thing let out a very unbull-like roar, sounding far more like some kind of demon. Andrew threw his hands over his ears to save his eardrums, but Serena simply got into a battle-ready stance with her katana. A moment later and the minotaur rushed forward madly, it's blade swinging wildly as it skittered across the ground with the horrid noise of steel on stone. Serene kicked Andrew out of the way before she dodged along with him. The minotaur savagely struck out where they had been previously, hitting nothing but empty air. It then turned to where they were and swung again, Serena dodging out of the way while using Andrew as a sturdy springboard to kick him out of the way of the blade as it sang between them. Serena jumped over the behemoth blade and swung her katana downward at the creature's head. The minotaur, not having been caught unaware, jerked its head to the side to avoid the blow before launching its balled fist directly at the girl. The red head pulled her sword back in enough time to use the flat of the blade as a kind of make-shift shield. However, she was airborne, and thus was sent flying down the hall. Serena tumbled over herself a few times but managed to use the roll to get to her feet and turn herself around. The beast followed after her, leaving Andrew alone as he got himself back to his feet. It took him a second, but Andrew was back up in enough time to witness as Serena dodged out of the way of another downward strike with a pirouette. Andrew watched on for a few more moments longer, this back and forth of swinging and dodging looking almost like some kind of dance. Serena would take glancing blows against the Minotaur, seemingly going for the ability to stay mobile over dealing heavy damage. However, her method seemed to be bearing fruit, as the creature was soon covered in small bleeding lacerations.

Andrew had to admit that she was making this look easy, but even he could tell that though the minotaur was cut all over, it didn't seem to be deterred by her small actions. In fact, it seemed rather enraged by the fact that it couldn't hit her. With another bellow of fury, it increased its efforts to smash her into the ground. This only prompted Serena to continue maneuvering around the bull creature, her feet and blade moving faster then Andrews eye could currently follow. One thing about her caught his eye though, and that was the fact that despite her many dodges, she could have very easily closed the distance between herself and the minotaur. Serena had proven her speed was far superior to its own. But oddly enough, Andrew took note of a grin on her face. It took him a moment to notice that it was a twisted smile, one filled with the joy of malice, and each time she would trace her blades arc across the bull's skin, she only seemed to grow more delighted.

This proved to be her undoing.

Cutting another small nick into it's flesh as she jumped past, Serena failed to take note that the minotaur also had a tail. One would think that a long cow tail wouldn't be much to worry about, that it might in fact be a weakness. But Serena had never fought with a minotaur and was not thinking straight at the moment. The moment she moved past the leg, she did not notice the tail of the beast as it came up and smacked her right in the face. It didn't have enough power to truly hurt her, but it had come from her blind spot, and the sudden shock of it stopped her in her tracks. Something the man-bull took quick advantage of as he used its free hand to grab her by the head and clutch painfully.

"ARGH!"

Serena could only shout in pain as it tried to squeeze her head like a tomato, but her quick reflexes allowed her to bring her blade up and attempt to stab the beast. She did not expect to meet with another blade in that encounter and was stunned when she felt her blade, along with another, collide and fall right out of her hand due to the sheer power behind it. She could tell she badly messed up, and when the other hand of the minotaur clasped around her neck, she found that she may be in some serious trouble. However, things turned weird when it removed its hand from her head, but only moved it to the side of her body. She was only confused by this for a moment longer before she got a good look at the taurs front body and saw that the loincloth was doing very little to hide a quickly growing something. That something turning out to be the minotaur's large bovine dick. Serena felt her breath intake sharply as she suddenly realized what the thing seemed to want to do.

"Let go of me you disgusting fucker!"

Though her upper body was restrained, Serena still had usage of her legs and savagely kicked out. She missed her initial target and instead hit the beats in the midriff. But for all the good it did, she might as well have tried to kick the wall, her foot hitting the solid abs of a creature much stronger and sturdier then her. The kick did do something though. It only made the Minotaur aware that it was somewhat vulnerable in this position and quickly turned her around and lifted her up. It quickly brought her close to it's body, the engorged dick sliding between thighs and out from the front.

Serena could easily figure out what it was trying to do and was desperately thrashing about to get away, the feeling of the creatures enlarged member making her feel several levels of revolt, and some levels of fear.

"Let me go! I SAID LET GO YOU DISGUSTING SHIT!"

The situation only got worse at it began to use her thighs for intercrural, the thing letting out deep grunts as it seemed to be trying to figure out how to get past her armor while not wanting to wait to relive its inner desires.

Serena could only feel shame and fury at her inability to do anything but seemingly take it, her desperate attempts to free herself proving non-existent. IN this situation, she couldn't help but feel fear at her imminent rape, the thing beginning to get the hang of how her armor worked and was slowly working its way to her pussy. This would have been a hopeless situation, if she had been alone. However, both she and the minotaur had forgotten that there had been one other person. The sudden sound of something sinking into flesh caused Serena to flinch, but not as bad as when the beast howled in pure fury and agony as it dropped her. Not wasting a second, the twintail jumped back to her feet and turned around to get a look at her would be rapist. She was surprised to see that her sword, something that had previously been on the ground, was currently imbedded into it's leg, the minotaur having dropped to its knee in agony. What was more surprising to her was that Andrew was behind it holding the handle to said blade, looking like he was gonna be ill, but also looking several levels of furious.

"I am not about to fucking let you have your way while I'm standing right here you overgrown piece of angus!"

Andrew savagely yanked the blade back out of the Minotaur's leg only to drive it right into the beasts back, where the blade sprouted in a crimson blossom from it's torso. The Minotaur could only scream in pain, it's massive hands clawing at the blade in it's chest. The Creature was stupid enough to actually grab the blade and try to yank it out from the font, not realizing that the guard prevented it from going clean through. The Minotaur could only gurgle in pain in fury, it's blood running down it's chest and back before it fell to the floor, the last of it's breaths coming out in a long death rattle. Andrew could only look down at the beast, the blade having left his hand when the minotaur fell, his eyes still full of anger. Serena, not used to seeing him lose his temper like that, was even more surprised to see something like gray mist forming behind him. She remembered that this mist was what summoned those massive hands some days ago. Not sure what was going to happen, the fiery redhead called out to him.

"Andrew!"

Aforementioned male jumped badly with her shout, but upon seeing her looking somewhat alright, he visibly relaxed. Serena was quick to note that as soon as his anger had dropped, the mist quickly dissipated.

"Sorry about that… are you okay Serena?"

The girl, still somewhat cautious about what had just happened, nodded her head.

"For the most part…"

However, a moment later and she felt the strength leave her body, as if a wound coil just released all of it's tension. Feeling somewhat weakened, Serena slowly sat herself down and placed her back against the wall with a long sigh. Andrew, a little worried, walked up in front of her and took a knee, some worry in his face.

"You sure you're okay?"

Letting out an annoyed huff, Serena looked Andrew straight in the face.

"I'm fine dad, just went at it a little harder then I should have was all."

Letting a grin cross his face, Andrew stood up briefly only to move right next to Serena on the wall and sit down next to her.

"Well, if your being that plucky, then I suppose your fine. Humor me though as I think I'll sit here next to you and make sure you're okay for the next few minutes."

The twin-tail couldn't deter him and felt that it would be pointless to try, but she still felt the need to complain at him about his overprotectiveness.

"Do you always worry like that? Or am I just a special case for it. You don't seem that worried about Labareda and Unoma right now."

"Because unlike you Serena, we are not squishy humans."

Both Serena and Andrew turned to the side to see that Labareda was walking past the bulk of the minotaur with Unoma hovering right next to her, a look of some concern on the Dark Witch's face when she looked at the Minotaur briefly and then back to the two currently seated on the floor.

"Are you both okay?"

Andrew shrugged his shoulders as he answered.

"I'm fine. Serena kept me safe… though our twin-tail seems to have worn herself out."

"I'm Fine! Just taking a rest is all… geez…"

Labareda looked at the girl with a semi-worried look on her face before she let out a small huff in acceptance.

"Alright then… also. Sorry. This bastard got away from me when I encountered a group of them further up the passage. I killed a good majority of them, but the one you got had fled while I was cutting his buddies down. Turns out they can be pretty fast when they fear for their lives."

As if to punctuate her point, Labareda kicked the minotaur in the arm, her amazing strength showing through when the creature skidded across the floor with ease at her anger. Andrew let out a sound.

"Ah… don't kick it to far away, I need to get Serenas sword out of it."

Unoma, as if having predicted this, held up the blade in question.

"Don't worry, I already got it… here you go Dear Master."

Andrew quickly got up and gently took it from her before he brought it back to Serena.

"Here you go… also… sorry about using it. I didn't know if you would be okay with me touching it, but I couldn't really think about that kind of thing at the time."

Serena looked at him for a moment, genuinely surprised that he would be perturbed about him touching something of hers.

"It's fine, you did the right thing. I'm not going to complain if you have to pick up a discarded weapon to save your life…"

However, she looked away for a moment, a little blush on her face as she seemed to mutter something under her breath.

"Or mine… thanks for saving me…"

Andrew, not having heard that, looked at her curiously.

"Sorry, what was that last bit? My hearing isn't that great."

For some reason, Serena found that she didn't want to say it a second time, though she was kinda frustrated that he hadn't heard her. Oddly enough, she was also kinda relived. All this confusion of her emotional state simply caused her to look back up at him with a blush on her face before she shot to her feet and took the weapon right out of his hands before she sheathed it.

"Nothing! Don't worry about it! And where the hell have you two been this whole time huh?"

Labareda and Unoma, who had been grinning at her with smug expression found her question needed answering and thus they opted to do as such with Unoma starting off.

"Well, as Lab was saying. She had been scouting out the area and taking care of things that were close enough to endanger us. I, on the hand, have been looking around the area for other oddities. You will also be pleased to note that I happened to find a shortcut."

Labareda brought her attention back to Unoma, a clear look of irritation in her eyes. Unoma simply looked on at her fellow familiar, a look of some smug cunning on her face.

"Don't give me that look. We both agreed to this."

"We agreed that we would debate it a little more before you brought it up to the master."

"Ara?"

Unoma looked mockingly surprised at her suggestion.

"I'm sorry, I thought you had meant we should debate it as a whole group. Not just between you and I."

Both Andrew and Serena looked to each other in some form of clarification of what they where on about. Seeing as they weren't getting answers out of each other, Andrew opted to look to the both of them and pose his internal question.

"What are you two talking about and what does it have to do with this shortcut you mentioned?"

Turning her attention to her master, Labareda ran a paw through her hair in thought. For a moment, she looked as if she was thinking about what should be said, but she quickly seemed to come to a conclusion on what best to be said.

"Very well… since you ask… Unoma has indeed found a shortcut that, if we take, will practically put is three days from the entrance."

Andrew blinked a few times, his mind working out what she just said. It didn't take him very long to do that though, and he nodded his head.

"Alright… So this shortcut will put us three days from the entrance… I'm going to go ahead and ask. What is the catch for something like this. Cause I get the feeling you never mentioned it for a reason."

Labareda only smiled triumphantly at Unoma before she turned her attention back to her.

"So happy to see that you have sense master. The reason I never brought it up is because it's dangerous. After so many years of not being used, the chances of it even being usable are next to none."

Unoma piped in at that.

"Next to none doesn't mean it doesn't work. How much longer do we have to be down here? Another few weeks? We can't guarantee something won't happen to our master or anybody else in our party if we stay down here for much longer. Take the incident with this minotaur for example. You and I weren't here to keep them safe, and it looks like things might have turned out badly if it had gone wrong. Am I correct on this Dear master?"

Andrew didn't say anything, but his look told the group that that would have been the case. Score a triumphant smile from Unoma.

"The longer we stay down here, the more risk we run of encountering something we won't be able to react to. I don't know about you Labareda, but my priority is to see our Master out of here safe and sound. So what if it might or might not be dangerous? Anything worth doing has some risk or effort involved with it."

Labareda gave her compatriot a cross look at that.

"I don't want to be down here any longer than the rest of us. However, I'm willing to put up with it for a bit longer to almost guarantee that we'll be safe from danger with my way. Your way has too much risk involved with it for me to even think about putting our master in it."

"Well let's see what he actually has to say about it first."

Both of the familiars turned their attention to said master, Andrew suddenly realizing that he had been put on a spot. Nervously glancing between the two of them, their gazes filled with anticipation for what he may say, Andrew let out a low sigh.

"Alright… before I even decide anything, I'm going to ask you some questions. I want yes or no answers unless indicated otherwise. First, is it guaranteed to cut our travel time?"

"Yes/yeah."

Andrew nodded his head.

"Alright… is it beyond the shadow of a doubt dangerous?"

"No."

"So your unsure if it's actually dangerous or not?"

"Yes."

"Alright then… so I suppose that you think it's dangerous because it's been so long since you had last seen it, am I correct in thinking this Labareda?"

The red headed demon girl nodded her answer.

Andrew nodded at her in turn before he turned to his silver haired familiar.

"And you think that nothing has happened and that we should be able to travel in relative safety… right?"

"That is correct my Dear Master."

Andrew nodded once again before he turned his attention to Serena, who had remained quite throughout the whole exchange.

"And what about you Serena?"

The girl blinked a time or two in some surprise before she simply shook her head.

"I'm fine with whatever you guys feel like doing. Though being one hundred percent honest? I want to get out of here as quickly as possible. That fight with the minotaur taught me that I'm not as tough as I think I am in this place."

Andrew turned his attention back to his familiars before he started to scratch his chin in thought. For a few minutes, nobody said anything, the decision ultimately going to come from him. Letting out a quick breath of air, Andrew turned his attention to Unoma.

"Let's go ahead and look at this shortcut of yours. It could be dangerous, or it might not be. The only way to know is to see for ourselves."

He then turned his attention to Labareda, feeling a cringe on his face.

"I hope that's okay with you."

Labareda let a defeated sigh cross her lips before she smiled at him.

"It's fine. If this is what you want to do then I have no problem with it… though do be aware that I'll be doing everything in my power to keep you safe."

Andrew grinned at his familiar before he stood up and stretched himself a little bit.

"Well, if everything is decided, then we might as well as get going. If this turns out to be a bust then we'll need to double the effort to take back the time we lost."

The rest of the party nodded in agreement at that. It only took them to finshe packing up what they needed before the group was underway. Passing the group of Minos that Labareda had dealt with (Andrew had to admit that it was a lot) the group spent less than an hour winding in and out of passages before they came across branching room. It was pretty mundane to say the least, but it was enclosed, indicating that it was a room and not just another passage way. Andrew, looking into the room, noticed that it was about as big as a living room, but outside of that. He didn't see anything that stood out to him immediately. Frowning a little to himself, Andrew looked back at Unoma curiously.

"For a shortcut, it sure looks like a dead end."

"That's because you're only looking at it with eyes restrained to the mortal realm."

"… What?"

Labareda chuckled to herself at Andrews dumbfound reaction.

"She's saying it isn't visible to the naked eye master. This short cut is actually a magical teleportation circle. It's connected to another spot set up in the labyrinth."

Andrew felt his eyes light up at that.

"ohhhhhhhh… now that is interesting… though I'm curious, why would you think something that has such a simple function would be so dangerous."

"Because circles like the one in this room deteriorate over time Master. Even with preservation spells in place, they don't last forever. Granted, they might be okay, but I still do not trust them due to the passage of time."

Unoma let out a small sigh.

"Well good thing I decided to check as you where busy explaining. As far as I can see, it's in good order. It may be lightly fraying at the magical seems, but it should safely get us to the other side no problem."

Labareda looked to the dark witch for a moment before she brought her attention back to the room.

"Forgive me if I don't trust the amount of effort that went into the aforementioned inspection. You have a very bad habit of just half-assing your work."

Unoma let a pout cross her face before folded her arms under her very generous bust in annoyance.

"I can be hard working when I want to be."

Andrew let out a low chuckle before he called out to both of them.

"Ladies Ladies… if Unoma says it's fine, then I'm willing to put faith in her. Same thing with what you say Labareda. I trust you both, so I say we just go ahead and give it a shot."

Not even waiting for the rest of the group, Andrew walked forward into the room. However, he should have had the presence of mind to check and see if it was okay to walk into said room. The moment his body passed the threshold, Both of his familiars reached out to stop him.

"MASTER STOP!"

One second he was there, the next, he was gone.

"FUCK!"

Labareda jumped right in after him, but Serena was all levels of confused.

"What?! What just happened!"

Unoma, taking a small amount of time to look at the twin-tail, simply grabbed her by the arm and threw her in the room.

Serena didn't have the presence of mind to try to stop her, but something odd happened when she walked into the room. It felt like her body just seemed to lose all essence of itself, like everything about her just disappeared for a second, but her mind was still aware of herself as it was and the memory of what her body should be like. It only lasted for a moment though, and she was standing a more well lit room, the view of a wall in front of her having been changed to one of an opening into a a much larger room. Currently laying at the threshold of that Room was Andrew with Labareda sitting right on his chest and her paws on his face with a very pissed off look on her own.

"IN WHAT WORLD IS IT ALRIGHT FOR THE MASTER TO GO INTO THE UNCERTAIN MAGICAL PORTAL FIRST!?"

Andrew, who so thoroughly confused and ashamed, could only seemingly stutter under her anger.

"I-I-I-I'm sorry I-I-I didn't think it was one of those instantaneous types of teleporters. I thought an incantation would have been needed or something."

"Well MAYBE next time you'll consult the mages of your entourage first before you jump headlong into instant death okay?!"

Holding up his hand in defeat and in hopes it might keep her anger back, Andrew could only apologize.

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again, I swear."

Labareda, who looked as if she still wanted to say something, only let out a frustrated sigh before she got up off of him. Serena, who had watched the whole thing, could only feel relived that he hadn't been hurt. But she quickly realized that she was still standing in the teleporter room and made her presence known.

"Hey you two, could you perhaps move out of the way so I can leave? Also so that there is room for Unoma to-"

She never completed her statement, as a moment later, she felt something come into contact with her front and knock her to the ground, her covered by soft tissue.

"BRMH!"

Next thing she knew, she was on her back and having a hard time of breathing. What she couldn't see though was that Unoma was currently on top of her, looking rather disoriented and her massive breast flesh currently suffocating Serena under her.

"Well that was a pain in the ass! Master, I swear to the dark lord of magic himself if you are not hurting right now, then I swear I will make your dick hurt In a little while… and what is si hard under my ass-"

Looking down, Unoma could see a familiar set of twin-tails under her breasts. Though she felt a strong grip grab her by the arms and haul her off, allowing Serena to finally breath.

"*GASP*! Dear Gods almighty! Why would a man love such death traps!"

Andrew, who had gotten up in enough time to watch Unoma and Serena to start falling over themselves, couldn't help but feel some parts jealousy, and some parts humor over Serenas previous predicament.

"No idea, I'm impartial to large breasts myself. I like all sizes equally."

"Neither the time nor place for this master. IN fact, I still feel like I need to give a you a verbal thrashing for that idiotic behavior!"

"Who in the light are all of you?"

The sound of an unfamiliar voice behind them caused them all to turn around. Behind them was a group of three, one male and two females, all of them looking beyond shocked at this sudden intrusion of their situation. However, Andrew Immediately recognized the three of them, his eyes lighting up at them.

"Hey! I know you guys!"

Standing in front of them was the first group he had met when he had managed to crawl his way out of his dark hole.

"Lets see… if I recall correctly… You were Jonathan… The elf was called… Sarya? I think? And the mage woman was called Morgana. Correct me if I got any of that wrong."

For a moment or two, nobody from the other group said anything, the sight of this person being here and alive leaving them unable to currently comprehend it. The first to recover was Jonathan. Shaking his head in some disbelief, he looked straight at Andrew with his eyes looking him up and down. After quickly confirming that he was not in fact dreaming, he spoke.

"You… the one from that time… Andrew was it? You're alive?"

Andrew nodded his head at the blonde youth and gave him a thumbs up.

"Correct on both questions! Of all the places I would see you again and it was here, how's that for divine coincidence!"

Jonathan was still finding it hard to process all of this, but the mage of his group had quickly recollected herself, her eyes scanning the whole of Andrews group before she brought her attention solely on the other male.

"How?"

Andrew looked to her and saw her giving him her trademark glare. Though he wasn't sure why though.

"How what?"

"How are you still alive? The last I saw of you, that power was eating at your very soul. Nothing could have been done to save you. So how are you still walking and talking? I can't even detect the deterioration of your soul like it was last time. Your whole and fine as far as I can tell."

Andrew grinned at the mage before he pointed to Labareda, his familiar giving the mage a glare of her own in retaliation. As a matter of fact, Andrew noted that both of his familiars where giving the mages glare some disapproving looks, though they didn't seem to be acting out against her because of it. Letting out a low grunt of interest, Andrew brought the attention back to the conversation.

"That would be because of my familiar here. She saved me when I was on the verge of dying."

Labareda lost the dirty look and smiled up at her master, a smug grin on her face as she looked back to the mage.

"Saving him may have been well outside of your talents 'mage', but the same can not be said for one such as me who has knowledge about magics well outside of your mortal lifespan."

Morgana squinted her eyes in some agitation before the sound of Unomas voice broke her of her mental analysis of Labaredas words.

"Our master is fine and safe regardless, so let's not dwell on it much longer. I am curious though. Dear Master never mentioned he had acquaintances down here in the Shadow Labyrinth."

Realizing that he had not ever in fact told anybody about his run in with this group, Andrew opted to speak up.

"Oh right. I never did mention that. I met this group before I met Labareda. The specifics would require me to go into a story that I don't feel like is all that important, so I won't bother. But They are a good group as far as I know… and thinking about it…"

Andrew turned his attention back to them, an apologetic look in his face and eyes.

"I wanna apologize for how I acted on our parting. That was really bad of me to lash out at you for something outside of your control."

Jonathan simply blinked a few times before he remembered what he was talking about.

"Ah… that. Don't think anything of it. I can understand. Though it is good to see you alive and well."

Andrew grinned widely at the young man before he noticed that the rest of Jonathans party was looking at his own with curious and maybe some suspicious glances. Realizing what it was all about, Andrew decided to rectify the situation.

"Ah right, I guess you don't know who any of these people are. Let me introduce you. The red headed girl with horns is my familiar Labareda. She's the one who saved me after you guys left. The very tall and very attractive mage woman is also another familiar of mine… I don't know really how that happened but it did. Her name is Unoma. The red headed twintail there is called Serena. She's a swordswoman we met while down here. She's traveling with us due to the fact that she lost her memory on a number of things… and then you have me, but you already know who I am, so that's kinda useless."

Jonathan nodded at the group before he seemed to finally relax a little.

"I see… well, it is a pleasure to meet you all. I will also show you the same courtesy and introduce you to myself and my party."

Standing up and bowing to him, the blonde youth put his hand up to his chest in some kind of salute.

"My name is Jonathan De Huen. I am the third son of the De Huen family and a blessed hero set out to combat evil in the land. My companions are Morgana, a very powerful mage from the Sydne academy in northern Eteruia, and Sarya; a wood elf who travels with us in pursuit of evil."

Andrew nodded before he smiled at the group.

"Well, it is nice to know you guys are alright and that I got to apologize for my be previous behavior. Though I am a little curious… are you guys trying to get out of here?"

The elven girl was the one to respond.

"Yes, we are. We where just about to pack up and leave before you popped in on us."

Serena hummed to herself at that before she spoke up, her mouth not wanting to keep quite for much longer in this situation.

"Is that so? Actually, we are also on our way out, did you guys want to travel with us? I know this place is dangerous, so I feel that having a veteran group like yours would make it easier on everyone here to get out."

However, where she was expecting the idea to be greeted with praise, she noticed that Jonathans party actually looked hesitant to answer on that one. The blonde male was the first to speak up after a few moments of confusion from Andrews group.

"As much as that would ease our burdens… I fear we do not have enough food for the week-long trek it would take to get to the exit. We have at most 5 days' worth of food to spare between us three. I Fear adding more to our party would dwindle it down even further."

At that, Andrew had to do a double take.

"Week long trek? Labareda, I thought you said it would take three days."

The demonic familiar looked to her master with a slightly annoyed glare.

"Master, we are three days from getting out of here. Only a fool would take the long way out, which is exactly what it sounds like these people intend on doing."

At the mention of labaredas new estimation, Morgana looked to her, a slight glare in her own eyes.

"Impossible. People have been coming down here for years and our way is considered the fastest in leaving from Here."

Labareda only looked over at the mage with a smug look on her face.

"Oh? I'm sorry, I didn't know the fumbling of pathetic humans in a labyrinth they have yet to fully understand could outstrip the twelve hundred years I've spent down here studying this very structure. Oh please great human, tell me of this painfully slow way that is apparently even better then the way I know of."

There had been nothing but dripping sarcasm in her voice, and it only caused Morgana to bristle at the demons' insult to her intellect. Before it could get out of hand though, Andrew grabbed his familiar by the top of the head and started to squeeze in a not so gentle manner, causing her to grip at him while wincing.

"Ow ow ow!"

"Labareda, play nice alright? Of course they wouldn't know everything about this place like you do. Your powerful and intelligent and been stuck down here for ages."

Letting go of her head, Labareda gently rubbed at her temples before she let out a small sigh.

"Understood master…"

Letting out a sigh of his own, Andrew turned to Jonathen and gave him a smile.

"Anyway, that's the gist of it. My familiar knows an even better way out of here that'll cut your travel time in half. In terms of food though, we've done well enough eating the creatures of this labyrinth, so you don't have to worry about us eating your food. If you want, our offer to travel together is still open."

Jonathen nodded his head before he turned back to his own group.

"I'm alright with this arrangement, especially if they know a way out faster. What about you two though? How do you feel about it?"

Sarya already had her answer when she had all of the stuff packed up in the bag, looking at him and the group with a puzzled looked.

"I thought it would be obvious, why are we wasting time standing here waiting around for answers to questions that already have been answered?"

Morgana glared at the little demon across from her before she turned back to him.

"I don't like it, but I can agree that if they do know a faster way out, then we should take it. But I highly doubt that. Also! Just to make it clear, we won't be sharing any of our food with you, your on your own in regards to resouces. If you have no issues with that, then lets go ahead and get moving."

Without even waiting for a response from the other group, Morgana started to walk off, followed by Sarya. Jonathan gave Andrew an apologetic look before he started to walk off behind them. Andrew chuckled to himself before he ruffled Labareda's hair fondly.

"I think you pissed her off."

The familiar took the head pat with a lot of affection, but she broke away from it a moment later when she looked up at him.

"Like I care about a pathetic humans opinion about something they hardly know anything about."

Andrew poked her in the forehead before he started to follow along behind Jonathans group.

"Then I wonder what that makes me and the rest of our group huh?"

Serena and Unoma followed along behind him before Labareda did the same, only she walked forward next to her master.

'That makes our group one that I like, which in turn, makes all of you special."

Andrew didn't say anything, but he felt affection for the demon and her opinion. In all this time, though they didn't say much to each other, he had come to like this group as well, the people being those he could never really come to hate, even Serena who was a very recent addition.

However, Labareda spoke up loudly to catch the attention of to first group.

"Hey, I thought I would be the one leading seeing as I'm the one who knows where to go."

The sound of someone growling up front caused Labareda to laugh smugly under her breath. It was no mystery who no doubt was getting upset right now. Andrew let out a low sigh, knowing that the next few days where probably going to be very long in comparison to the time he had already been down here.

Hope you liked it! leave a review or send me a PM telling me what you thought or if there was anything you thought needed fixing!