He had found it, at long last, he had found what he needed to unseal his portals and get back to Rebecca. He approached the shrine cautiously; he had come too far to get himself killed now. Frowning, he reached out with the magick that flowed through his veins, checking for any signs of magickal defenses that might have been placed around the ancient shrine. He paused when he found nothing but air, and that just made him ever more cautious. Stepping forward slowly, he reached out with his hand, finding no trace of any kind of magickal barriers. He stepped forward and through the doors of the shrine, blinking at the sudden darkness that surrounded him.
"Wonderful," he muttered, summoning a Lighting spell and willing it to hover above him. He stood in a long hall with no sources of light anywhere. Pillars stood to the sides, casting shadows that overlapped each other in the middle of the hallway.
All in all, it was a standard old shrine, so the warrior wasn't all that worried. As he walked forward, the light sphere cast light down onto his face, revealing a nasty scar running from his right temple down to the base of his neck. A lesser warrior would have died of that injury, but not him. He was too strong to let a minor wound like that kill him.
Welcome, a voice said, seemingly from everywhere and, at the same time, nowhere. Welcome…Tempest.
Tempest didn't even blink as he recognised the male voice. "Oh gee, you've been waiting for me? I didn't know you cared!" he said, sarcasm practically dripping from his words. "You're not going to stop me, Trionel. I WILL get back to Rebecca!"
Hahahahaha… Do you think you have what it takes to find the D'arlii and unseal your portals? I shall wait for you at the end of my labyrinth!
"Labyrinth?" Tempest asked, seconds before the ground gave way and dropped him deep underground. "Oh sh-"
*-*-*-*
The Harem Dimension
Gabriella sat down on a chair in the library, awed by the vast amount of books she saw. Rebecca was sleeping on the couch, still under the effects of the Sleeping spell. Sighing, the teen looked at Lashana, who had just walked in and was sitting in another chair.
"Nice palace," she said. "Almost as big as Angelheart Castle on Trivadia. Actually, I think that this place IS as big as Angelheart Castle…"
Lashana chuckled. "Telca and I just kind of stumbled onto it," she said. "We brought in some guys from different dimensions and started our own Harem. It's insane, but fun."
Gabriella nodded. "I can imagine," she said, looking around. "So…how long have you and Lady Rebecca been friends?"
Lashana actually had to think about that. "I don't really know," she said. "Does it matter?"
Gabriella shrugged. "Not really," she said. "I just wondered that's all."
"Why?" Tvashtar asked. "Is it so strange for Rebecca to have friends?"
Gabriella sighed. "Only if those 'friends' could help the kingdom," she said. "Lady Rebecca's 'friends' were all chosen by her officers so that she could look good in the public eye. Such is the way of the Royal Family."
"That…sucks," Lashana said. "Having your friends picked for you. No wonder she's staying here for now. If she stayed on Trivadia, she'd probably have to choose a new boyfriend or something idiotic like that."
"Like I'd let them do THAT," Rebecca said, sitting up on the couch. "Thanks, Gabriella. If you hadn't cast that Sleep spell, I would have done something incredibly stupid. And how many times do I have to ask you to stop calling me 'Lady' Rebecca? You're making me sound old! And no comments from you, Lashana! Or you, Tvashtar!"
"But you ARE old!"
"SHADDUP TELCA!"
Telca snickered as she walked by. "What? You ARE over 700 years old!" she said, grinning.
Rebecca growled. "You are really starting to annoy me, Telca!" she said, standing up, a battle aura swirling around her. "Always throwing smart-aleck comments around!"
Telca glared. "You should learn to TAKE A JOKE!" she said.
Rebecca glared right back at her. "Oh, I can take a joke," she said. "But YOU make them PERSONAL!"
Gabriella stood up. "Lady Rebecca! Calm down!" she said. "Don't let your temper get the best of you!"
Rebecca closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath. She let it out and opened her eyes. "Sorry, Telca. I'm just a little high-strung today," she said. "No hard feelings?"
Telca blinked at the sudden mood swing. "Uh, sure," she said. "No hard feelings…"
Lashana and Tvashtar exchanged confused looks. What was with Rebecca today? She seemed so…on edge. She NEVER argued with anybody in the palace, and she hardly ever lost her temper. Well, she usually only lost her temper if it involved Xellos, but then again, Xellos LIVED to piss people off.
"Becca?" Lashana said. "Are you…feeling OK?"
Rebecca nodded. "I'm fine," she said. "Like I said, I'm just a little high-strung today."
Gabriella frowned. "Lady…I mean, Rebecca, have you been feeling high-strung often lately?"
Rebecca shook her head. "No, not really," she said. "You know that I usually keep a pretty tight lid on my temper. It would take a pretty strong force to make me lose my… Oh… I think I just figured out WHY I'm being high-strung today."
"Sore wa himitsu desu!" Xellos grinned as he teleported into the room. "Do you like my Anger spell, Rebecca-chan? I think it works wonderfully!"
Rebecca twitched. "I have the sudden urge to Dragon Slave something," she said, looking at Xellos pointedly. "Or maybe an Omega Slave instead. That'll hurt so much that you WON'T enjoy the pain!"
Xellos suddenly looked worried, and backed away. "You wouldn't! Not inside the palace!"
Rebecca smiled innocently. "No, of course not!" she said. "Lashana? Could you open a portal to a desert island? I'm sure nobody would mind if it got obliterated since I'm going to be targeting Xellos most of all!"
Xellos blinked. "Um, maybe later!" he said, and teleported away.
Rebecca snarled. "I HATE that Mazoku!" she said, twitching. "He seems to LOVE bugging ME the MOST!"
"Because you're an easy target," said a voice from directly behind Rebecca.
"ACK!" Rebecca jumped in shock and twisted around to face Zillas. "Zillas?! What are you doing here?!"
The half-Mazoku grinned. "Sore wa himitsu desu!"
Rebecca fell over. "I should have known that you were going to say that…"
Gabriella blinked. "Who are you?" she asked, eyeing Zillas warily. The purple-haired girl grinned.
"I'm Zillas Metallium!"
Gabriella blinked. "WHAT??!"