Floor 9 - Chapter 4 - Snow Joking Matter...

Even without any confrontation, the atmosphere amongst the group was tense. Very few words were being exchanged, except when necessary, and even then, they were short and to the point. The short trek through the forest, probably only about half an hour, felt like it took all day, exhausting the group, all of whom had finally come down from the adrenaline rush they'd felt earlier...

They'd stopped at the shoreline, and all but Mito and Jet had sat down on the sand, and the latter was only because he was now lying in it instead. As they did, their Forest Elf ally returned, and to say he didn't look happy was an understatement... he looked positively furious, in fact. ''I sneak in, to try and recover the bottle, and find that not only is the bottle gone, but the entire castle is on high alert too, because a human had partially blinded the protocol officer...'' Mito looked vindicated as the Forest Elf tore into the group. ''However, I must admit... it is a shame you are on Lyusula's side. If it were not for Wendelin's orders, I would not hesitate to cut you all down now, lest you cause the Kales'Oh more trouble in the future!'' A few nervous looks were exchanged between everyone present, and even a small amount of incredibly uncomfortable laughter from Jet.

''Well, umm, you should be able to identify that poison now, right?'' Koharu asked, seriously concerned at their supposed ally's words. He wouldn't really cut them down, would he? She looked up quickly to check his cursor - still yellow, so he wasn't hostile thankfully.

''Indeed, young warrior. I intend to deliver it to our healers forthwith. As for you though, head north through the Golden Forest, to it's edge, where it meets the Snowflake Forest. Once there, call for Cal, and he shall arrive with haste. Take these as travelling expenses, and watch out for the Fallen. Now they are aware of your presence, I do not doubt that they will be rearing to hunt you all down. Farewell...'' Their ally left quickly, and without much clarification. All of them looked somewhat confused as they looked around - it was about 20 degrees Celsius outside. It would've taken a miracle for it to snow here, and none of them could understand why the ecosystem would change on the same floor...

(-)

Reaching the edge of the Golden Forest, everyone had noticed the temperature beginning to drop. The trees, once covered in gold and bronze leaves were now beginning to lose their leaves, revealing the branches that held them. The canopy above them had thinned out too, and the warm summer breeze had become considerably cooler, as if they'd stuck their heads out of slow moving car. The floor beneath them had become slushy in areas, the leaves meeting the small amounts of melting snow atop the dirt, and becoming a sludgy mess when it did. A quick search of the tree branches revealed the next set of chimes, which were soon rung, and a familiar mist surrounded them. Jet wondered idly if all of the Forest Elves were this theatrical, or did they just find the one who liked to make an entrance?

''You all made it then. I must thank you, on behalf of our king for your work at the castle. Even if you did aid Lyusula, you have kept true to your word.''

''What happened to keeping watch on the castle?'' Mito asked, a tone of distrust in her voice.

Cal either failed to notice it, or completely ignored it, and answered her, ''The chancellor fears that he is made, and not without good reason. He has lost both the poison, the element of surprise, and the whereabouts of one of their leading generals. He is backed into a corner, and much like any other creature backed against into a corner, he is desperate. He has had the castle fortified, and readies the Kales'Oh for war. We have agents in the castle doing their best to slow down efforts, which do, thankfully, seem to be working for now. However, I do not expect them to last, once the chancellor sends out his operatives to find Wendelin. I do not doubt what will happen when they find him either...''

''I didn't realise he was so important...''

''He is one of four generals that collectively make up the Kales'Oh War Council. They plan for the worst outcome for both species, but they have been suspiciously quiet regarding the chancellor's coup. Other than Wendelin, of course...'' Footsteps became more pronounced, approaching over crunching leaves. A hooded individual, a revelation that sent chills through the spines of every human present... it couldn't be, could it? He hadn't found them again, had he?

Jet readied his blade, and fought back a snarl as he did. Koharu clutched at her dagger, her heart pounding, and her breathing becoming erratic. From a distance, it was hard to tell how either Rain or Phillia were taking it, but both were ready for a fight, should it arrive, whilst Mito looked ready to end Morte, should he return, the scythe and her cloak giving off a very grim vibe around her...

Luckily for them, the approaching figure lowered their cloak to reveal themselves as a Forest Elf. A brief and mirthless laugh escaped from Jet, as the elf did so. ''Cal! We have discovered the poison used on His Majesty! We have a problem though...''

''What is it?''

''The poison is Vile Blood.''

''It cannot be...''

''I take it Vile Blood is bad?'' Koharu asked. Mito fought back the urge to be sarcastic, and say it was harmless.

''Vile Blood is the Fallen Elves most effective poison, made from a blend of their worst potions. It is often used for assassinations...''

''Ah. I take it that it's not easily, uhh, cured?''

''No. The antidote can only be made by Lyusulan healers, and as you understand...''

''If you can't get it, then, well, could we?'' Rain asked.

''Humans, you may have helped us to identify the poison, but do not be so foolish as to think you will get assistance from Lyusula. They would not help us, even if it were to save their own sorry skins...''

''I think some would. Kizmel wants this war to end, just as much as you do! Even then, she'd help us in an instant, if it meant halting the Fallen!'' Koharu spoke passionately. If she'd been on stage, she'd have at least earned some applause from the audience. Jet looked over at her, but she was too preoccupied to the smile on his face.

''You want to save your king, right? Yet you wouldn't make use of every resource available? How do you think that would look?'' Mito asked, having taken to resting on her scythe's handle.

''Of course! But you do realise you are suggesting asking the enemy to help us...'' Cal paused for a second. ''Perhaps you are right. Wendelin told me to trust you...''

''Please trust us.''

''I do not trust in your character, but your strength is nothing to turn our noses up at. Know that we are not doing this out of kindness, but out of desperation.'' Cal handed Koharu a piece of parchment, with a number of unfamiliar characters written on it. ''This is the recipe for the antidote. The Fallen will be on high alert now, so if you are caught... I daren't think what they may do to you. May the sacred tree bless you, humans.''

(-)

Some time later, and the group had discovered that miracles do in fact exist. Even if they weren't good, as it turned out. Equipped for a warmer climate, everyone soon began to feel the cold far more as they found their way into the Snowflake Forest. The worst affected though, were Koharu and Phillia, both of whom wore thinner equipment, and were handling it the worst. ''This is w-worse than t-the last floor...'' Koharu shivered, as she rubbed her legs furiously, in the vain hope that it would keep them warm.

''Achoo! Agreed...'' Jet muttered, as he looked through his inventory for his scarf again. Pulling out a light blue scarf, he equipped it as fast as he could. It didn't do much, but to quote a British supermarket... every little helps.

''It's not that bad...'' Rain shrugged as she passed through the snow, earning a few looks of 'she can't be serious?' from the group.

''Uh, Rain? Where exactly are you from?'' Phillia asked.

''Russia, why?''

''That explains a lot, actually.'' Jet admitted, as he thought back to all the Russian she sprinkled in amongst her speech... and then slapped himself in the face. How the hell had he not picked up on that earlier...

''Umm, Jet?'' Koharu asked, wondering what reason her boyfriend was currently beating himself up for this time.

''Huh? Ahhh!'' He yelled, startling everyone into high alert, racing for their weapons before Jet started tugging on his collar in a panic, ''Bloody hell, that's cold!'' he shouted, as he pulled what was once a handful of snow out of his shirt.

''That was why you yelled. Some snow.'' Mito looked even less impressed. This was the person that Lueur had faith would save everyone? She wasn't even sure he could save himself, let alone nearly seven thousand others...

''It was cold!'' Jet defended himself, as eyes continued rolling. Koharu smirked slightly, a devious look developing in her eyes... and Jet looked around quickly for an exit. He mentally reprimanded himself, as he was in a forest with a trillion exits, as Koharu came up behind him, and began to hug him. Even with her armour on, he could feel her warmth against him, and it felt oddly relaxing, given the current circumstances. For a brief moment, it felt as if all his problems fell away, until... he felt a shiver run down his spine. Whilst this was going on, and the couple were busy being lovey dovey... the girls all looked away, not wanting to watch the public display of affection... until Jet realised that the shiver was in fact, running down his back and not his spine... and it was really, really... ''COLD!''

Koharu burst out laughing, and upon realising what had happened, Phillia and Rain began to laugh too. Mito rolled her eyes as Jet flailed around, pulling up his shirt to try and drop the ice out, and off his back. She really did have to wonder, with so much on the line... and they were acting this immature. God help them, she to herself.

(-)

After a while, the group had made it through the forest, and for the first time, they saw the Lyusulan castle. A place that Kizmel had talked about wistfully, and that they had wondered whether they'd actually see... towered straight ahead of them. Unlike the rather more brutalist appearance of the Kales'Oh castle, the Lyusulan castle was an elegant gothic structure, with far more windows, a number of them emitting a yellow glow, standing out a quite a distance. A number of spires rose into the sky, and the purple stone stood out against the starlight.

Jet could understand why Kizmel had spoken highly of this place... it was gorgeous.

The group approached the castle over the bridge in front, and were soon stopped by a guard, clad in a far less battle damaged, and far more ceremonial looking variant of the armour that Kizmel and Merja wore. Where their armour was relatively plain, these guards wore a chest plate with small, but noticeable white demarcations over the shoulders. At a glance, Jet wondered if the castle guard were some kind of elite force, a bit like the Palace Guards back home, only with less obviously flashy uniforms. ''Halt, humans! What business do you have here with Lyusula?''

''We're here to-''

''My name is Jet. I'm 17 years old, I'm from the city of Bristol, in the county of... uhh. I'm the Knight of the Tempest, and we're here to help end the war between Lyusula and Kales'Oh. Any questions?'' Koharu and Rain both sighed at their friend, whilst Phillia fought back her laughter at the ridiculous speech. Mito slapped her hand into her face as hard as she could, even taking away 10 HP as she did so.

''I think a name would've sufficed, you know?'' Mito groaned.

''Yeah, but I've always wanted to do that. Looked really cool on TV.'' Jet admitted, his straight face becoming more of a dopey smile as he did so.

''Ahh, friends of Lyusula! I apologise, and we have not forgotten your aid, but I cannot let you pass through this gate.''

''Why not?'' Koharu asked, wondering if Jet's speech had triggered something by mistake.

''Her majesty has ordered that none but Lyusulans may pass through this gate. Please turn around.''

''We're here to see Kizmel! We don't even have to go in, could just ask her to come to see us?'' Rain asked, thinking on her feet. Maybe it was some form of puzzle - they can't go in, so they needed to find a way around that.

The guard, however, shook his head, ''I'm sorry, but I cannot do that either. I beseech you to head back to your homes.'' Jet heard Mito mutter under her breath about going home, and for once, he agreed with her on the sentiment. They were stuck in this world after all.

Despite this though, a quick exchange of glances, and the group headed off the bridge, and back into the Snowflake Forest. Koharu chose to speak up first, ''So, what do we do now?''

''We can't exactly sneak past the guards, can we?''

''I mean, Mito might pass for a Dark Elf at a glance, but anything more than that... no.''

As Koharu, Phillia and Jet continued to discuss their current predicament, Rain thought about it a little more. They'd been told they couldn't pass through the gate, which gave her an idea... ''They never said we couldn't enter the castle, right? Just that we couldn't go through the gate. Maybe there's a secret entrance somewhere?''

''Uhh, Rain? That castle's huge. We'd be here all year looking for a secret entrance of some form.'' Jet pointed out, as Koharu wore a thoughtful look on her face...

''Maybe we can't find it... but what about any of the other Dark Elves we met? They might help us, right?''

Rain looked less than convinced at the idea, but figured it may have been their only option, ''It's- huh? Did anyone else hear that?'' She interrupted herself, at the noise. She couldn't tell exactly what it was, but she thought it may have been a whistle of some kind.

''Hear what?'' Phillia asked, listening out again, but not hearing anything.

''She's right, there's something coming from over there.'' Mito called out, as she began running in the direction of the sound. The group all began to follow her, hoping that between her and Rain, they'd be able to track the noise...

{Author's Comments}

A shorter chapter than I planned for, but if I'd included the next part in it, it'd be approaching 8k words, which I feel is a little too long.

Anyway, I should be back to weekly from here on in.

In other news, I've got a new story - Parabellum, a sort of what if, centred around GGO being the Death Game instead. It's a bit more on the adult side than this one, but nothing particularly strong yet.

Anyway, if you enjoyed this, please follow/favourite it, and leave some feedback for me!

Signing off,

Midland 2541.