Several hours later, on a bumpy ride, the car is starting to get low on fuel. Richard wants to make the ride last as long as he could as the vehicle is not just carrying them, but also their supplies. Richard didn't worry about Herleva at all this time as Yang and Blake were watching her as her mount kept up with the car quite nicely to their surprise. Richard was about to start considering the options as the car was running on empty when they spotted something. A European medieval fort with banners flying from the towers with guards posted. The insignia on the banners and flags was a white horse hung tall as it waves in the wind.
Herleva, spotting the fort, smiling, knocks on the car window to get their attention. Richard seeing this, started to bring the car to a stop. "What is it?" Yang asks, opening the door and cranes her head to gaze upward to look over the massively thick walls and soldiers lining the top and around the doorways.
"That's one of my house's forts. We can get our bearings from there," Herleva explains.
Richard looks to the dashboard and sighs. "And may need to reorganize. Can we leave our car here?"
"Are we out of fuel?" Blake asks.
Richard groans and holds a hand to his head while leaning back in his seat. "Yeah. This thing is running on fumes. If this thing is traveling across this world or back to ours, we need fuel."
"If your steel carriage is out of power, I could get some horses from the fort," Herleva suggests.
Richard nods. "We need to organize the supplies we have too between all of us," he says as the large steel gate rises into the fort walls and opens the way for them. Herleva rides in first before Richard drives inside, scaring the soldiers at such a sight and noise, before parking a bit away from the stables where he can see horses tied or resting up under the stable's roof.
"LITTLE HERLEVA!?" someone calls.
Everyone in the car starts to get out and collect their carry-ons before looking at a large man with a bushy beard hugging and rubbing his face against Herleva. Herleva looks immensely embarrassed as she tries to take the hugging. "Uncle, if you please…" she tries to plead and push against him slightly.
"I have been worried sick since you disappeared months ago." Herleva's uncle says.
"Months?" Herleva says before trying to remember how long it has been since that temple.
"So who are these strangers…and there strange…metal carriage?" Herleva's uncle asks as he looks over the said machine while everyone grabs the rest of the supplies.
Herleva sighs before smiling up at her uncle. "Can we talk in a room somewhere? All of us? It has been a long journey for our sake."
"Very well," Herleva's uncle says before motioning her to follow along.
Herleva looks to the rest and waves at them to follow as well. The group starts to trudge along through the stone pathways before they enter the fort and find a room among the few littered through the hall—a quaint little meeting room, possibly for battle and commander meetings.
Herleva starts to explain to her uncle what had happened to her, how she tamed the 'Drake' as she called it and mistaking Richard for a thief and chasing him to his world. She then explained she had offered him a place to stay at her house's capital seeing as they had nowhere to go.
"So, your carriage ran out of power as you came in sight of the fort, huh?" Herleva's uncle asks.
"Yes, Uncle, could you watch after it and provide us with some horses to get us to see father?" Herleva requests.
Herleva's uncle considered this and looked at the group before nodding. "I am only doing this so you can get home, Herleva. If not for that, I couldn't spare the horses with tensions at the border and from some of our neighbors," Herleva's uncle informs.
Herleva's expression changes to one of worry now. "What's going on? What has changed since I have been gone?"
"Our king and all his family and heirs have disappeared," Herleva's uncle informs grimly.
Herleva takes a sharp gasp before sputtering. "How does an entire family disappear like that? Especially since they are the royals?"
"Some were killed in a recent monster attack. Some of which were suspiciously timed. As for the king himself, we can't find a trace. It is like he just disappeared into thin air," Herleva's uncle informs.
The others merely watch and listen from the other side of the table as the knight is told the news. Richard couldn't follow, for the most part, so he places his bags on the ground and sits on the simple stools lying around the table. The other girls follow his example and sit down, listening to every word these two are going on about.
'Could it be a rift opened up like what happened to us?' Richard thinks as the conversation seemed to conclude.
"Thank you, uncle. I will tell father to send you replacements as soon as we see him," Herleva assures.
Herleva's uncle smiles and hugs her again. "Thank you for coming back. It has been hell without you."
Herleva smiles, hugging him back, and then leads the group back out. "Uncle says he will lend us horses. Can all of you ride one?" Herleva asks.
"Depends," Richard notes while the others just shrugged.
"If you think you can, we will need four…unless. Is one of these your wife?" Herleva asks curiously while looking over the rest.
"…what?" Richard bluntly asks, freezing in place as Rachel facepalmed, and the girls all blush at the idea.
"Is something the matter?" Herleva asks obliviously.
Richard sputters and throws a hand to the other girl. "None of them are. What gave you that idea?" he demands from the knight before stopping. "Right stupid question. Medieval mindset."
"Then, is she your sister?" Herleva asks, looking at Yang.
Richard frowns now at the girl. "No. We're just good friends."
"Oh, is it from where I calmed him down?" Yang asks.
The group of five rode for a few days following Herleva's lead. The journey so far had been a bit awkward as they had to explain to Herleva things were different from where they were from. Getting closer to their goal, Herleva stopped them near what seemed like an ancient tower.
"I have made the trip on this road many times, but that was never there before," Herleva explains, looking at it hard and pointing at it.
Richard shrugs while they all get off and hitch the horses to a tree. "Good boy Rover," Richard says, patting the horse. "Can be these portals and all. Maybe this was ours or something?" he suggests while the horse nickers at him in some version of an agreement.
"We should investigate. Never know if it is infested with goblins or the like," Herleva says, drawing her sword and heads for the tower.
Yang shivers at the mere mention of that but follows the rest as they step in close behind her. Both Richard and Rachel draw their guns while Yang and Blake ready their weapons.
When they got to the front door, they found it locked, but intact. "Yang, if you please," Herleva requests.
Yang smirks as she steps up and cracks her knuckles. She then reels an arm back before punching hard, breaking open a door blocker that was placed in its slot and even took one door off the hinge. "I always win against doors."
Rachel looked in and slowly edged her way in. Her pistol ready to be used at a moment's notice.
"Looks clear?" Richard calls, watching with his rifle at the ready.
Rachel keeps looking around, pointing her gun from time to time before slowly coming to a stop in the middle of the room and relaxes. She hums before turning to everyone at the door. "Looks like it's clear. It seems like a dusty old place, and no one has lived here in quite some time," she says, looking around, not noticing that the floor under her has been glowing a dark aura for some time now once she stepped on over it.
The rest of the group was about to enter when Rachel was suddenly lifted into the air by some unseen force. Once suspended, chains start descending from the ceiling, snaking towards her, where they start wrapping around her, bounding her in the air. Her ankles and wrists were tied and pulled, leaving her stuck and unable to do anything. "The hell?!"
"A trap," Herleva says, seeing this before pulling something out, and it releases a flash of light.
Rachel groans when the bright light flies toward her and then past her head. The chains rattle and shake before being burned up in a pure white fire. Rachel looks to the shackles on her wrists and ankle before they fall away one by one. Rachel is then left hanging limply by one on her left wrists before she falls. Rachel screams out before being caught by Richard and Herleva and gently placed on the ground. "Funky trap," she mutters, swatting at her clothes and putting them down while Richard gives her the pistol.
"There will probably be more, won't there?" Richard asks Herleva.
Herleva takes a good look around the area before nodding. "And it will be worse as we go deeper."
"I am not going first," Rachel informs, hearing that.
"I can do it," Blake says, smiling at her. "My semblance could help us."
"Plus, you probably see better in this low light than the rest of us," Richard says as Rachel notices the slightly glowing eyes.
Rachel was about to speak before leaning to Richard's side. "That's…creepy."
"She is a cat faunus. You never had a cat before?" Richard asks.
Rachel shakes her head before watching as Blake went ahead of them and prepared to use her semblance at any moment.
"Wait up," Yang says.
"You know I will be right back. I think I packed a flashlight in my things," Richard says, heading outside.
"Don't tarry," Herleva says, following the group.
Richard moves quickly as he heads back to Rover, giving him a pat on the neck before getting into the saddlebag and pulls out a flashlight. "Be back in a bit Rover," Richard says, heading back into the tower this time with a light source. "Guys. I got it. Find anything good?" he calls out while turning the flashlight on and instantly starts to blush and gain a nosebleed when he freezes in place. "What did I miss in ten seconds?! And why are you all naked!?" Richard yells, turning away.
All the girls blush and try to cover themselves with their hands and arms. "We have no idea. Honestly, it feels like we walked into a room where the entire place is a trap. And losing our clothes too," Yang mutters angrily at this trap hellhole.
"Luckily, they are just on the floor," Blake says, seeing them right in front of them.
"Please put them on," Richard calls as he couldn't help but remember Yang and Blake's bodies the most as he has seen them in porn pictures. And again, they don't do those two girls justice. Richard soon heard the rummaging and clattering of metal as the four got dressed. The most embarrassed of them being Herleva, who was hiding her face. "Do you girls still want to do this? Because it seems like this place is a trap haven."
"I can go either way," Yang comments, not as bad as the rest.
"Seriously?" Rachel demands. "I got chained up, and then we lost all our clothes. Who knows what this place has?"
"You could wait outside alone if you want," Blake says.
Rachel groans and buttons up her shirt. "You perverts enjoy yourself. I'll go watch the horses," she huffs before starting to walk towards the door and past Richard. "Keep an eye on them. It seems everything is being fucked up now!" she calls out while annoyed and frustrated, walking out the door.
"Watch out for goblins!" Herleva calls after her.
"I'll fucking shoot them!" Rachel yells back, now thoroughly frustrated.
"Should we hurry?" Richard asks as the three starts heading up some stairs.
"Well, this is going to be pleasant," Blake says, mostly to herself while patting down her clothes and stops when she touches her legs. Richard stops behind her and notices the plates of dark armor on the sides of her legs. "Wait…what…?" she tries to ask and see if there was a way to unclip the armor pieces.
"Ok, those are new," Richard says, shining the light so Yang and Herleva could see them.
Blake groans and struggles to get the pieces off, but there was no way to do so. She then tries to slide it off, but the bands for it hangs tightly around her legs with the soft flesh filling over the edges.
"Let me see," Herleva says, starting to do something that causes her hand to glow when it stops. She spoke again, "It's cursed. It won't come off unless the curse is lifted."
"What? What kind of curse?" Yang asks while Blake struggles even more now.
"It makes them unable to be equipped. Tearing them off would be like tearing bone off. I think I can remove the curse, but there is a problem," Herleva advises.
Blake groans and keeps trying to pull the pieces off. "It better not be squeezing me to death."
"No, the curse isn't complete, and I can't lift it until it is. Until the rest of it is assembled, you will just have to wear it," Herleva states.
"Oh, that's fucking great. A full suite of cursed armor. No wonder the last owner fled. This place is a house of horrors."
"Can you walk well in that Blake?" Richard asks, a bit concerned.
Blake sighs and takes a few steps as the others go on ahead. "Yeah. Let's get this place over with me out of these," she says, slapping the plates as she lets her arms drop.
"Alright. Was going to try and carry you if you were having trouble," Richard says, starting to walk on.
Blake watches him go on ahead before rubbing her head and following him. "I don't know. They might have placed a trap you could fall into with me."
"Let's face it, with my rifle; I will be rubbish in a fight in these enclosed places. The only good I am doing is holding a light basically," Richard says.
"Don't count yourself out. You can be a good backup," Blake tries to reassure, sensing the same tone.
"Yeah, range, not much use unless we fight in a long hallway," Richard says. "Thanks for trying to encourage me, though," Richard says, smiling at her.
'At least he isn't as down on himself,' Blake thinks as they head up to the next floor where a workshop seems to be. As they continued up the steps, Blake kept feeling her clothes shift or something tightening every so often until they reached the top.
"Blake, you ok?" Richard asks before looking back to see what is taking her longer to follow and then sees Blake in what looked like valkyrie like armor. The wing pieces coming off the circlet helmet gives it away. The leg armor ends up being wrapped tightly around her legs while inner exposed styled pauldrons lined her arms. And a silk loincloth covers the open area below the armored chest, leaving her stomach exposed. However, this is all over the clothing she is still wearing.
"What?" Blake asks, confused at his bewildered expression.
"You know what a valkyrie is?" Richard asks.
Blake shakes her head, even more confused now.
"I wish I had a mirror, but good news. I think that is all of it. Herleva, can you try and lift the curse now?" Richard calls while Blake finally reaches the top and enters a sizable cluttered room full of various pieces of jewelry littered on tables and in cases. Books of all manner were also thrown everywhere as if someone was looking for something in a hurry.
"Really?" Blake asks, actually finding a mirror and seeing what she was wearing now.
"What took you two so long? Were you talking about your future together?" Yang teases.
Richard rolls his eyes unamused. "No. Blake took a while to catch up. Guess all this additional armor weighed her down," he explains as Herleva's hand was glowing, and soon Blake and she were removing the gear without much effort. Richard, seeing this, walked over to the books and cracked one open, using the flashlight to get a look. After a while, he sighed. "Can't read it. Must be a cipher or different language," Richard informs.
Herleva leans over for a few seconds before going back to Blake. "It's a list of food to get," she says as if it is standard.
"Your world's language then. I can't read it," Richard informs, putting it in the bag she has.
Herleva hums while packing the last of the cursed armor into a chest and then locking it with a spell. "We can deal with that later. Right now, I think we can grab some things and get out of here. It seems this place is barren and left behind."
"We also found a skeleton," Yang informs, showing them one laying at the foot of another set of steps, it's next snapped.
"Most likely, his life research?" Richard asks, looking at the books.
Blake hums while digging through the books in the bag on its back. "Got a few…oh. A diary," she says, digging it out and opening the cover before flipping to nearly the last entries.
"'My experiment must work now. Now I will be free of this frail old body before I die. Though the last remaining test subject I have is a young girl, at least she has strong innate magic. I will take her body for myself today. After that, I will continue my research.' I don't get it. What is he talking about?" Herleva says, reading and scratching her head.
"Ah, I think I get it from that," Richard says, getting their attention.
"Well?" Yang asks, gesturing to continue.
"He was old and near death. So to try and escape that, he was trying to leave behind his body, so when it died, his soul wouldn't pass on. If I am correct, he was going to take over this little girl's body as his own to keep living," Richard theorized.
"So no new mention and this place long since abandoned…judging from this. On his way down, something caused him to fall down the steps and broke his neck, killing him," Blake says, examining the skeleton.
"Well, we got everything, then?" Yang asks double checking after scouring the room and the upstairs bed-chamber.
"Think so," Blake confirms, taking another look.
"Then let's get out of here," Richard says, trying to pick up the chest and failing.
Herleva looks interested in his efforts before walking over and lifts the chest much easier than before.
'I am the weakest physically of the group, aren't I?' Richard thinks as she hands him the bag of books to carry.
"Come on," Yang says, giving him a reassuring pat on his shoulder.
"Alright," Richard says, following them down and back to the horses where Rachel was waiting with the mounts as Herleva's Drake was wall-eyed again.
"Got all we have, and you missed Blake being put in some skimpy armor," Yang teases.
Rachel frowns heavily. "I don't want to know." She huffs to herself and walks over to her horse. "Now, can we get going?"
"Right, this detour has lasted long enough. I will inform my father of this place later, and he can decide what to do with it," Herleva says as they secure all their new goods to their mounts. "Alright, let's go," Herleva says, starting to lead them on the road again.
"We are never coming back here ever again," Rachel mutters before feeling eyes on her and looks back to see Richard looking her over. "What?"
"Nothing," Richard says as they ride.
