Ok, awesome. It's gettin' good now isn't it? I certainly hope you think so. Escpecially you Miiake ;;. Well, here ya go! Enjoy.
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I slapped the black mace. "Hey Azura! Wake up"
No response. Yomi gave it a whack. "Talk to us, numbnut"
The object stirred a bit. "The hell you want?", it said in a deep voice.
"Where do we have to go? Where is Eald'narche headed?", I said slowly as if talking to a three year old.
"Why ya wanna follow that guy? He's an asshole.", Azura said.
"JUST TELL US!", shouted Yomi.
"Geez, bitch. Calm down. Just head to Delkfutt's Tower on Qufim Island. The activation device for where he wants to go is there.", Azura responded.
"And where would this Qufim Island be?", I prodded.
"Sweet Altana, you guys are hopeless. Qufim is right outside Port Jeuno.", Azura said.
"Great, thanks.", I said and hung Azura from my belt loop as we began to walk back toward the palace entrance. As we neared the large frontal doors a shout reached out ears. What was being said was indecernable, but the voice was clearly female and quite familiar.
"That sounds like Tomo.", Yomi stated. "And she sounds pissed"
With that we quickened our pace towards the main gate. As we approached we could see the back of the white armoured giant and below his gaze was Tomo, jumping up and down, shouting at him. Sakaki stood behind Tomo with a look of indifference, then again she usually looked indifferent.
"My friends are inside! Let me in you piece of shit!", Tomo was yelling at the guard.
"Quiet, Tomo. We're right here.", Yomi said a we walked up to where she was ranting and raving.
"Thank god! Sakaki found me and we rushed up here..and...and..", Tomo was strangely reduced to tears. Yomi clutched her and it was now that I noticed tears leaking from Sakaki's eyes also. "Hey, it's Lobo.", Leslie said pointing to the automaton that was standing idly behind Sakaki. "Where's Sess"
,she asked.
Sakaki lowered her head a bit more. "Dead.", she mumbled.
"Dead? What? How?", Leslie was frantic and I was taken aback also. Actually the only one who didn't seem fazed was the Soulforged, but nothing surprised her.
By this time Tomo had composed herself albeit a little more placid than usual.
"He just...dropped dead. Sakaki came to get out of the casino and he just dropped down stone dead.", Tomo said with a sniffle.
"No...who could..who..", Leslie was at a loss for words. I tried to comfort her with an arm around her shoulder.
"I don't know...Guards herded us out too quickly.", Sakaki mumbled. "They took his body away"
"Someone had to have seen something.", piped in Yomi.
"They shut down the whole damn street. No one is allowed anywhere near the casino.", Tomo said.
"Lobo...", Leslie perked up and rushed over to the little machine.
"Can he even see?', I asked.
"No no. Not see. He can lead though. If I can reset his core he will return to wherever Sess' automaton animator is being kept. Sess' body won't be too far away from that I would think.", Leslie smiled triumphantly.
"Wow, you're full of ideas.", I said.
"Always.",she responded as she removed Lobo's head covering to expose the electronics beneath. A twisting viper's nest of wires moved under her probing fingers. The rest of us crowded around her in curiosity.
"Do you know what you're doing?", asked Yomi.
"...Of course. Of course I do.", responded Leslie as she pulled from the mess a panel with a few small switches and dials upon it. "Ok, here's the core motherboard. If I do this right"
She flipped two black switches and turned one of the dials 60 degrees to the right. With that Lobo creaked and began to lumber off across the gardens.
"..he'll return to his animator.", Leslie smiled happily. " Let's go"
We did just that. Following the little beast in and out of crowds within the gardens themselves and down the stairs to the lower part of Jeuno. Down three more flights of stairs he went with us in tow before a different sight met us. Instead of stairs there was a cave. And Lobo was entering it. Nervously, we followed him into the dank rock tunnel. It was nearly lightless save for the occasional oil torch here and there upon the walls. The air began to get colder as the cave yawned wider. Snow crunched beneath our feet while the cave floor began an upward slope. Lobo still plodded ahead of us mindlessly as Tomo, Yomi, Leslie, and I huddled together for warmth. Sakaki seemed content in her furs and the Soulforged was left out. She lives in her own little world.
Light pierced the ink and the mouth of the cavern could be seen ahead. Snow dotted the rugged landscape which was crossed by a massive bone-like protrusion. It resembled the Dogaroga's Spine that we had seen in the mountains. Wandering about the snow fields were gigantic, primitive looking green monsters. They stood oven ten feet tall and were clothed only in a skin loincloth. They slouched as if their enormous arms were dragging their entire bodies down with them. They certainly didn't look smart, but you don't have to be smart to tear someone limb from limb. Lobo continued his plodding foward. I pulled Azura from my side as we walked.
"Hey, where the hell are we?", I asked the weapon.
"Congratulations! You jackasses found Quifim all on your own. I bet you're proud.", it responded. If the damn thing had a face I'd crack it one.
"Why would they have taken Sess here...", Leslie wondered out loud.
"HAH! Eald'narche is the killer, of course.", piped up Azura.
"How do you know?", Yomi interjected.
"I know a lot sweetheart. And what better way to lure you guys in, right? He kills your friend and takes the body. You come right to him. He wants you guys in Delkfutt's Tower. Simple as that.", Azura explained.
"...Why didn't you tell us this before?", I asked.
"You never asked.", Azura responded. If the damn thing wasn't necessary he'd have been thrown ten miles over by now.
"So what do we do!", said Leslie, sounding terrified.
"Well, you can run away and him and Kam'lanaut will become gods or you could go to him and take him down. Two choices ya got there sweetcheeks.", Azura responded.
Lobo's footsteps could still be heard clomping off into the distance. It was no longer necessary to follow him. We had a decision to make.
"I vote for a takedown.", I said with a grin and raised hand.
"Yes,...that's what Sess woud have wanted.", Leslie nodded.
"I agree", Yomi said.
"Sure, why not?", Tomo shouted.
"Of course.", muttered Sakaki.
From there we assumed the Soulforged was on our side and set off for the tower. Alas, blocking our way was one of the huge green giants. It let out a low growl as it sensed us with it's sunken eyes.
"Ah, piss. Now ya done it. A Gigas.", Azura said.
I wielded Azura in my right hand. Man, it felt good to finally have a shaft to hold on to. Wait, that didn't come out right...Anyway, I struck my normal fighting pose that I hadn't taken in almost a year. Leslie stood back as Yomi and the Soulforged drew their blades. Sakaki unslung a hand axe from her belt. Before we were even ready Tomo took a pot shot with her gun at the beast. The damn thing was hard to miss, it was huge. Alas, Tomo missed the shot and the gigas became even more enraged.
With a roar is swung it's closed fist at Yomi, the closest target. She used her newly found magical energies to shield herself from the blow. Even so the strike sent her skidding back a few feet. I took this distraction to swing Azura at the beast's kneecap. It hit home with a thump that brought a scream of pain from the gigas.
The monstrosity lashed out with a wild swing that sent me and Sakaki sailing across the snow fields. A mound of the frozen stuff broke my fall and I recovered easily. Sakaki had landed on her back and rolled a few feet before coming to a stop. I heard a call from the beast as I limped my way over to Sakaki's crumpled form. I turned my head in time to see the Soulforged sink her curved blade into the beast's muscular back. The green giant was trying to grab her off of it's back as it ran in a circular pattern at a loss of what to do. The Soulforged was simply planting her sword deeper and deeper into the knotted muscle of it's back.This situation led to Tomo putting a bullet in the thing's thick skull. It crashed to the earth with a resounding report. The Soulforged had flipped off the beast's back before it struck the ground with such ease as to say it was inhuman. Wiping my hands of the situation I tended to Sakaki. She was out cold. A small trail of blood led from within her violet hair down her smooth face and onto the untouched snow. "Leslie!", I called. "Man...I mean...girl down"
Rushing over, Leslie removed Sakaki's bestial helmet gently so as not to agitate the wound. Applying her hands to the bleeding mass, she spoke a few arcane words.
"Ek'nha zekki nish'amo kelda"
Pure light shined from her palms and spread over the wounded girl's entire face. When the light dimmed Leslie stood up.
"Good as new.", she announced.
Sakaki's eyes fluttered before she opened them fully. A slight look of confusion followed by a smile crossed the pretty girl's face.
"Thank you.", she said to Leslie as she stood once more upon her feet.
"Everyone else ok?",Leslie asked.
All of us nodded and we decided to set out once more. The tower could be seen peeking up from behind the high rocks that rose from the landscape. It wasn't a long walk. Just one filled with danger. The green beasts seemed to be around every corner. After consulting Azura he informed us that Gigas have terrible eyesight and to walk behind them if possible. Using this method it was easier than fifty year old prostitute to avoid the beings. We even laughed about it. Oh, the fun we had. A few minutes and an uneventful walk later we stood before the gates of Delkfutt's Tower. It rose hundreds of stories above our heads. Huge it was. And imposing. Terrifying even.
"Man, this place looks creepy.", Yomi said with a shiver.
"Nah! It'll be fun! We'll be heroes!", Tomo interjected.
As we stood under the vaulted vesibule of the tower I gazed into the gloom before us. All I could see were white walls and floors as far as the shadows would allow. It was eerie.
"Where in there would Eald'narche be? Do you know?", I asked Azura.
"Right at the top. The Stellar Fulcrum"
"Geez, think it sounds impressive enough?", I laughed a bit.
"Impressive or not, he's goin' down!", Tomo cheered. This rose the morale a bit. Good for the troops.
"Why don't you babies go on in?", Azura asked.
"Yea, let's go.", I said and stepped into the eerie bone-like structure. That's exactly what it was like. Walking inside of a skeleton. All the walls and floors were carbon copies of one another. There were no differences whatsoever. If that wasn't bad enough the whole ground shaking thing that came next was icing on the cake.
"Oh, did I forget to warn you about the security systems?", Azura said as the ground trembled with the approaching footsteps of something massave.
"You're a piece of shit, Azura!", Yomi bursted out as, at the end of the hallway, our next challenge awaited us.
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hehe. Oh, what can it be? Epic battles await! Don't miss it!
-peace-