Shichiyo, Alexandra, Rachel, and Dalndox crossed a bridge over sparkling blue water. A tall clock tower loomed overhead in the distance.
"Al De Baran..." Shichiyo stated, calmly.
"Wow... look at the clock tower..." Rachel stared in awe as it grew nearer.
"Heh... quite the sight." Dalndox remarked.
"Meh." Alexandra seemed clearly frustrated, and had been that way since their previous encounter. A small old man passed by the group, offering them a tip.
"Have you heard? They say strange monsters have been appearing in the clock tower, lately..."
This statement piqued the group's attention, Alexandra in particular.
"You're not making this up, are you old man?" Alexandra eyed the man, her voice sounding rather threatening.
"Mind your manners, young lady. Why, just ask anyone in town!"
Alexandra raised her fists in excitement.
"That settles it. To the clocktower!"
"...Very well then." Responded Shichiyo.
"Sounds like this could be fun." Dalndox grinned, smugly.
---
Inside, the clocktower was eerily silent... save the constant ticking. The dim lighting and cold, stone walls made for a very uneasy atmosphere. As the sound of their very footsteps echoed through the vast chambers, Rachel began to shiver.
"This place is creepy..." She whined.
"Suck it up." Alexandra responded, acting as the 'tough girl' as usual.
"Heheh. So that's your apprentice, Shichiyo?" Dalndox couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
"Indeed... give her a chance, my friend..." Shichiyo refused to deny that Rachel had a great potential hidden within her.
Dalndox's blade cleaved through a bat, its two halves falling lifeless to the ground.
"Ugh. These things are a pain..." Clearly he was annoyed.
"Frost Diver!" Shichiyo shouted in a confident, yet calm voice, as he slammed his fist into the floor. Shards of ice shot up from the floor, and surged in the direction of a floating grandfather clock, leaving it encased in ice. "Rachel!"
"Okay! Fireball!" Shichiyo's apprentice thrust her arms forward, hurling the bright ball of flame in the frozen clock's direction. The fireball collided with the clock, and steam clouded the room. As the steam cleared, nothing more than a puddle could be seen where the clock once stood. "All right! Yay!" Said Rachel in a cheerful tone, as she raised one arm, and smiled.
"Impressive, Rachel." Shichiyo dusted off his cape.
"Die already!" Alexandra sounded rather troubled as fired more arrows as she ran backwards, being persued by a cloaked, bearded elder. The arrows pierced the elder's cloak, but it continued its persuit forward. It let out an eerie moan, as it hurled its arms forward, and a violet flame engulfed Alexandra, sending her to her knees. Her eyes narrowed, and her hands began to glow with a translucent crimson light as she pulled back her bowstrong. "Charge! Arrow!" With the enthusiastic shout of those words, her arrow pierced the air, transfixing the chest of the Elder, who stumbles back. "Now... Arrow Shower!" She lets another arrow fly upwards. As if a rift was torn in the very air, arrows began to rain down from above, impaling and shredding the elder to certain death. The elder went silent and fell forward, motionless. "Heh. How was that?" Satisfied, she rose to her feet.
"There's no time to waste, let's go." Shichiyo lead the others to a spiral staircase, leading to the next floor. Immediately, a familiar figure met their site. He leaned against the tower wall, a smug smile across his face. He spoke elegantly, with a hint of arrogance. "We meet again..."
Alexandra pointed her bow at the Alchemist with a scoff. "You have a lot of explaining to do."
He brushed his hair to one side, and chuckled. "Heheheh... what is there to explain?"
"Who are you? And what are you trying to prove?" Sounding more and more provoked, Alexandra pulled back her bowstring, ready to fire at any given moment.
"Why must there be such hostilities?" The man stood upright, and folded his arms. "My name is Leon..." He offered a formal bow to the group. "My sole desire is to bring great beauty to Rune Midgard. Hmhmhm..."
"By creating violent... monsters? You'll destroy it, you madman!"
"Young woman... have you still not learned to respect true beauty?" Leon's voice took a slightly more grim tone.
Alexandra scoffed again.
"I've heard enough of this nonsense."
"Oh, you intend to stop me?" Leon tsked. "You're all quite the persistant ones... destroying my beautiful artwork time and time again. But this time..." Leon smirked, raising a halberd-like axe. "I'll deal with you myself."
"Bring it on." Alexandra seemed confident.
Leon took a step forward, but abruptly stopped as the sound of footsteps vaguely echoed through the tower. "...On second thought, I believe I shall depart for the time being. I have what I need, after all..." With a chuckle, Leon tossed a curious stone into the air, catching it in his palm. "Farewell, my friends. Heheheheh!" Once again, Leon was whisked away in a blue glow.
"Bastard- Mmph..."
Shichiyo had moved his hand to cover Alexandra's mouth.
"Quiet... I hear footsteps..." He whispered.
A moment later, the sound of a whip cracking echoed through the room. "You!" The violet haired woman who had been travelling with the assassin cried in an accusing voice, as she emerged from the staircase below. The calm, silent assassin followed closely behind her. He said not a word.
"Who might you be... and why do you address us in such a way?" Shichiyo inquired the two, calmly.
"You're in no position to be asking us questions!" The woman pointed her finger in Shichiyo's direction. "You must be the one summoning these monsters!"
"You are mistaken, miss... you see-"
Shichiyo was cut off by a rather annoyed Alexandra.
"Now you listen here, we were-"
"You expect us to listen to your lies?" The woman interrupts. Her voice takes a rather sadistic tone. "Lying isn't nice... I think Rikhael and I will have to teach you guys a lesson!" She giggles, and cracked her whip.
"Don't even try it." Alexandra took aim at the woman. "I swear, I will kill you if you try anything."
The woman giggled playfully. "Go ahead. Fire."
"...You asked for this." Alexandra released her arrow without second thought.
"Ha!" With a flick of her wrist, the woman's whip was raised and wrapped around the midair arrow. "My turn?" With another quick motion, she flung the whip at Alexandra, sending the arrow straight ahead, and pierced the awestruck huntress's shoulder.
"Ugh!" Alexandra gripped her shoulder.
"Alex! Oh no!" Rachel rushed to her friend's aid.
"Pfft. Save your strength." Alexandra scoffed.
"Let's go, Rikhael!"
Rikhael nodded, and dashed forward with immense speed. As he neared Dalndox and Shichiyo, he performed a spinning jump with his katar blades. Shichiyo and Dalndox lept back in opposite directions to avoid the blow as Rikhael landed on his feet, preparing to strike once more.
"Listen to me! We're not your enemies!" Shichiyo desperately tried to get through to the assailent.
Ignoring these words, Rikhael made a dash for Shichiyo, moving nearly too fast to be seen. With a swift thrust of his arm, Rikhael slashed upwards at Shichiyo, tearing through his cape, and cutting his side. Shichiyo cringed, as his blood dripped to the floor.
"Looks like you owe me again, Shichiyo! Magnum Break!" Dalndox slammed his blade into the ground, which began to rumble. A shockwave blazed through the ground in Rikhael's direction, but in a blink, the assassin reemerged behind Dalndox.
Dalndox was awestruck.
"Such speed!"
"Cold Bolt!" Shichiyo had used the distraction to prepare another spell. He promptly raised an arm, and a rift tore in the air above. Rikhael silently eyed the rift and razor sharp shards of ice began to rain down in his direction. Not panicking in the slightest, Rikhael moved into a sprint, outrunning every single shard with his amazing speed. The shards pierced into the ground, vanishing shortly after. Not stopping there, Rikhael continued the sprint, his sights set on Dalndox.
"Woah!" Before he could realize it, Dalndox and Rikhael were clashing blades. Rikhael began to push Dalndox backwards with his lightning speed blows, his katar blades clashing with Dalndox's sword. As the clash began to grow more intense, the two of them moved backwards down the spiral staircase as they battled.
"Rikhael... we are not the ones you seek! Merely listen to me!" Shichiyo ran after the two of them.
"How cute." The woman swung her whip forward. It constricted tightly around Rachel's ankle. "Byebye!" She flicked her wrist. Rachel shrieked, and was flung across the room, slamming into a wall.
"Damnit, Rachel!" A frustrated Alexandra began firing arrows at the woman, who evaded them simply by moving her body in a graceful manner, as if dancing. She giggled. "This is kinda fun!"
Alexandra looked rather outraged.
"A...are you mocking me?" She violently tugged back on her bowstring.
"What ever makes you think that?" The dancer offered an innocent smile. "Isn't this fun?" She asked, as she cracked her whip at Alexandra. The huntress just smirked, as she caught the whip in her hand.
"Heh. That's for underestimating me." She said, smugly.
The woman's smile suddenly lost its innocence. With a swift motion, the whip wrapped around Alexandra's wrist.
"Are you sure I didn't overestimate you?"
"Damn... you..."
However at that moment, the dancer's eyes widened, as a fireball crashed into her back. "Ahh! That hurt!" She turned around to see Rachel standing. A resolution shone in her eyes, and her hands blazed with magic energy.
"Don't hurt her!" She shouted, determination in her voice.
Rikhael and Dalndox continued clashing down the staircase, Shichiyo in close persuit. In a sudden descisive moment, Rikhael kicks Dalndox up against a wall, pinning him. His eyes narrowed, and he pulled back his katar, prepared to finish the battle. At that moment, he moves his head to the side, as a bolt of lightning streaks through the air, scorching the wall behind him.
"Enough. Listen carefully, my friend..." Shichiyo adressed Rikhael in a rather polite manner.
"The one you're looking for is an Alchemist known as Leon. He claims that he wishes to 'bring great beauty' to Rune Midgard."
"...I can sense sincerity in your voice."
Rikhael retracted his katars. Dalndox thought for a moment, and decided it best not to make another blow against Rikhael.
"Hm. You weren't bad."
Rikhael said nothing, and began to walk back up the staircase.
Shichiyo stared, blankly.
"...Very well, then..."
Alexandra just stood there for a moment, unsure what to say.
"Wow... not bad there, Rachel."
The dancer glared menacingly at the determined Rachel.
"That hurt... little brat!" She cracked her whip against the ground, and advanced towards Rachel.
"Eep!" Rachel shrinked back in fear.
"Straterra." Rikhael had reached the top of the staircase, and stepped onto the top floor. "That's enough, we're leaving."
Straterra's face looked surprised. "W-WHAA?"
"These aren't our enemies." He took a step closer to his ally. "Let's go."
Straterra pouted, and grabbed ahold of Rikhael's arm. "...Fiiiiine..."
The two of them turned, and walked away. Rachel and Alexandra stared blankly.
"...Okay then..." Alexandra blinked. "...Hey Rachel... thanks." Alexandra looked away, having always hated accepting help of any kind.
"Don't mention it, Alex." Rachel smiled, having regained her trademark cheerful tone.