The girls stopped at Eire Island, where they split up between the Cavendish sisters who stayed on the boat waiting for the girls, while the other seven went to the island, having already determined the group that will go to the dungeon, Luna Nova's trio returned to the classic format of the first dungeon, still in the forest of Arcturus, where Luna Nova's warrior obtained the pendant of courage. This time, the trio united for another dungeon adventure, since it involved more supernatural things, and both Lotte and Sucy could easily deal with creatures of this type.
The day was just beginning, after spending time resting, the seven were preparing for the next dungeon ahead, and soon they were ready, on that morning that looked more like dusk because the sky was rather dark at that time on Eire Island, something that hadn't seen stronger sunlight since the event of 200 years ago.
Ready for the journey, the trio with their weapons at the ready say goodbye to their friends for what will be quite a journey.
"We're going now" said Akko.
"Good luck girls, we'll be waiting for you" said Marianne.
"Take care of yourselves, kick the shit out of these ghosts, show them that you're coming to break them" said Amanda.
"It may be difficult, but we'll manage, we're already making good progress" said Atsuko.
After hugging each other as a group, they wave as they go along the path with a stone road to where the village is, a path that is very quiet because there are no creatures, until they reach the abandoned village, where they are facing the entrance to that tower, the three take a deep breath, look at each other and the time has come to leave.
They enter the tower, which they go through calmly, passing through the entrance which has a corridor that leads to a door, this door has an entrance with a hole in it where Kagari sticks her master sword which ends up making that double door slide sideways, opening the way for the trio.
"Well, it looks like we've finally arrived" said Sucy.
"I'm a bit scared of this place" said Lotte.
"I don't even know if the ghosts will feel the power of my sword that much" said the crimson-eyed girl.
As they passed through the door, they entered the tower, which had been very dark until then, but everything changed when they stepped on something that brought light into the room, illuminating everything in the tower, which showed what a huge place it was, a circular tower with only one thing that looked like a lift in the centre.
The trio walk calmly, very attentive to what might come from the sides, from the front or the back, until then there was nothing, no creature coming to attack, so they arrive at the lift calmly, as they step into it they begin to feel tremors and then a rise.
"Woah, this really scared me" said the brownish girl.
"It's just a floor that rises up, there's nothing beyond this place around here, at least we have a way to get to the top of this tower, everything must be up there" said Sucy.
"I could use the hook or walk through the walls anyway" said the warrior from Luna Nova, shrugging.
But it wasn't a smooth ascent, as some Hyu made their way through the walls, invading the tower and heading towards where the lift was going up, swiping at the girls who were dodging the ghosts' attacks and also attacking the creatures, Akko soon realised that her sword was good against supernatural creatures, as the other two girls went on the attack, Lotte using her spirits to summon attack spirits against the Hyu and Sucy using her bow and arrow to use arrows that were especially strong against dead creatures.
"Oh yes, now I thought I wouldn't have anything, well at least my sword is working" said Atsuko.
"I have to know how to spend these arrows too, I still have to pick them up after I've hit these things" I said to Manbavaran, who was also collecting some arrows that were lying around.
The ascent soon became more intense with the presence of Gibdos, creatures that looked more like mummies and walked in straight directions practically following the girls, which took many blows to hit until
they ended up dead, since they were already dead and the cuts weren't very effective.
It even made the lift a little too crowded, as many creatures found themselves in that place, some were even thrown out, others stayed, which made the lift heavy.
"Damn, it doesn't look like this thing is ever going to go up, what a thing... If it was at least a fast lift, I could handle it, but this slow thing will never get up there, especially when it gets heavier" said Kagari, complaining a little while still using her strenght.
"You could get out of the lift and walk along the walls, that way the monsters come more towards you and the lift," said the pink-haired girl being more smart.
"Or we could just sweep these monsters away, instead of trying to kill them, I'll use my spirits and focus on pushing these weird mummies away," said Yanson thinking a little more smarter;
The blonde girl's tactics were working, the monsters were really being pushed out, but they still had to deal with the Hyu floating and swooping down on the trio, but until then it was something the other two could handle with arrows that were launched and ended up clearing a lot of the way ahead.
"You've become a much better archer than before Akko, I'm surprised you're improving so much, before you were a complete disaster" said the one with the wine-coloured eyes.
"Don't get carried away, I just spent many years training to get better, now that I have arrows to spare there's no point in economising, especially as I can find a way to get even more arrows" said the crimson-eyed girl, shrugging.
After a lot of defending themselves from attacks, the trio manage to reach the top of the lift, where Eire's tower really begins. They come across a room where the entrance to the lift was. In the room, there are some vases, which the trio break to get some Rupees, and they head for the passage ahead, where they come to another room full of the same Gibdos, to the point where the doors simply close.
"Oh well, it's a pattern here, let's put a stop to it" said the brownish girl, who began to attack with her master sword.
The other two girls also went on the attack against these mummified creatures, which were quite strong, very resistant to the blows that the trio dealt as a group, even synchronised at times. It took a while for the three monsters present there to be defeated, which already opened a path to the door, but soon the warrior from Luna Nova noticed a crack, she soon broke that crack with an exploding bomb, which opened a path.
As she entered, she was confronted with a dark place. As she saw a skull with four fireballs spinning around it, she hit the corners and passed into a room full of blue Rupees.
"Akko, stop being so greedy, you're literally queen of Hyrule" said Sucy, but her friend didn't care.
In fact, Akko was picking up all those Rupees and that mysteriously made a chest appear in the other room, so she leaves that room open and when she opens the chest she can get a key, which the three are impressed by.
They soon follow the room from the front, which is a corridor, a corridor that has several Hyu and on the other side there is a passage with a door, but on the sides there is something that looks like walls with thorns which are very concentrated, until Atsuko simply runs out pointing the master sword.
"Akko wait there!" Manbavaran said preparing herself.
Kagari's run is proving to be a success as she calmly reaches the other side before the walls of thorns can catch her, so the clever girl sends out a hook to catch one of the girls at a time without being caught by the wall.
After catching the two girls, they continue on their way, which is quite peaceful, arriving in a room where there is a path with two doors, one locked with a key and the other open.
The three of them go to the locked door and notice that there is a portal. As they pass through the portal, they arrive at a fairy fountain, which is always found in these dungeons.
"Great, this gives us a bit of an advantage against the monsters here, who would have thought we'd stop so quickly in a place like this, I just think it's a bit strange so soon," said Kagari.
"At least you've been able to heal more peacefully" said Lotte.
Together they go to the portal again, leaving it and following the path they had left, which leads to the passage they had made, walking through another room, this one full of banshees and Hyu that are flying at the trio who are attacking, the first creatures are releasing a wave of sound that causes a whole impact with ensurrecting screams, while the second monsters are swooping but barely manage to hit the trio.
They soon finish off all the monsters in the room and make their way to the door on the left, where there's another corridor with some curves and walls trying to make it more labyrinthine.
"Apparently we're going to have to find a way through all this, I suspect there are traps" said the crimson-eyed woman.
And there really were traps all around these bends, some wells that activated when some of them stepped on them, or stakes that hit the ground to impale the girls, but they managed to escape, narrowly missing being caught by many, which in her genius the brownish girl took advantage of to lean on the walls, but she couldn't get strong enough to carry the two girls, so she had to turn round, as well as sometimes being taken by surprise by traps in the walls.
Despite everything they'd been through, they reached the end of the corridor, where there was a ladder indicating the way up. They climbed to another floor of the tower, encountering the challenges that usually come their way, and climbed to the top floor, where there was already a room with some Hyu and Gibdo, as well as some creatures lying on the floor.
"Akko, don't think about moving forwards, these creatures practically freeze you with fear when you get close, leave it to me, I can manage here" said Sucy.
The zombies that were on the floor soon felt the magic of the necromancer Manbavaran, rising from the ground, which ended up not happening to the creatures nearby, since they were immune to the effect of those monsters, but soon arrows were fired by the warrior of Luna Nova, hitting arrows in the monsters around them, while the one with the wine-coloured eyes was taking the monsters to a corner of that room so they wouldn't attack the girls, but one of them didn't stay that far away and they only ended up hearing the frightening screams of that zombie coming close.
(That's horrible, I'm so scared that I can't even move forwards, but damn it, I only hear the monster's sickening screams, I see that Lotte and Sucy are also still and frozen, but damn it, our necromancer is also compromised).
But the effect didn't last that long, the three girls were able to move again when the monster retreated and they moved on to the next room, where there was a fork in the road, which was already making the girls think, as Banshees passed by shouting and the girls just ignored them, except when the creatures went up.
"Let's move on" said the future Queen of Wedinburgh.
As they continued along the path ahead, they once again came across a gate closing, but they were in for a surprise when what fell out of the room were some stalfos knights who began to attack the trio, four of them. The monsters easily dodged Akko's slashing attacks, as well as going up, jumping high and going for a thrust, which they dodged, trying to think of a way to attack the four who seemed to have synchronised their blows.
"Finally one more challenge, although there are already plenty of challenges here, but come on, I've got plenty of things to hit these huge skeletons" said Atsuko.
"I can't use my necromancy on them, damn it" said Manbavaran.
And as Akko works on the boomerang, the four Stalfos Knights end up paralysed, which she then throws a bomb at and it really works, it ends up leaving the monsters half dismantled, which they even try to return to normal and go up, but Kagari's strategy ended up being the smartest at the moment to attack the monsters who soon end up dying and with that a chest appears, giving them a key.
"Skeletons are annoying to hit, it seems that the monsters really are smarter around here, but we're also pretty smart against the onslaught of these things" said the crimson-eyed girl, relieved.
Soon they leave that room and head for the next one, where they are in for a surprise: as well as Hyu's presence, they also see some face-shaped things that release fireballs along the way, already signalling the presence of some traps, as well as Hardhat Beetles making their presence felt to push the girls.
"Seriously, these guys are here again, they're practically old acquaintances of mine" said the brownish girl, already on the hook.
With the hook she pushed the creatures away, but she ran into a snag, one of those face-shaped things firing fireballs, which made her use her shield to defend herself. The other two used magic to protect themselves, and Sucy summoned some Stalfos to go towards the creatures and open the way down the corridor.
When they reached the other side, they were faced with yet another fork, this time going in three directions, each pointing in a different direction, and there were also traps firing fireballs, so they quickly chose the option of heading for the door to the east.
This being another tower trap, the doors close and once again two Stalfo Knights appear there.
"Ah for all the good things, you again, boring things" said Akko, wiping her hand across her face already bored with plenty of the skeletons that show up there.
"Well, now at least you know how to deal with them" said Sucy.
And Atsuko immediately dealt with the monsters in her own way, hitting them with the boomerang and paralysing them to use an attack that involved an explosion with a very powerful bomb, which actually ended up knocking the creatures out with the explosions.
This paves the way for another door ahead of them, where they come to a room that simply has a laser pointing at them that almost catches them and spins around a statue, which they follow through the vases when they see that there's a button to press to open another door.
Pressing the button and dodging the lasers, the trio heads for a door in a room with more of those traps that shoot fireballs at them and the presence of some Bari floating around the place, but also a chest that they open and find another key.
"Great, we already have two keys in hand, we'll soon be able to reach the end of this dungeon" said a relieved Kagari.
"Well, at least this place can handle it, we've only been hurt a little and it's surprising that you're able to do everything better than before Akko, you don't even look like that girl from Luna Nova that everyone used to mock" said Manbavaran.
"It's a necessary evolution - I needed to get better at my skills if I wanted to defeat or have a chance of defeating Andrew's curse" said the crimson-eyed girl.
"It's still a lot of evolution, you had already shown in the village that you were superior to our best warrior and now it's another level, we thought you would be the one who would have the most difficulties, but I was really wrong" said Lotte.
They soon return to the path where the fork was, following the entrance to the north, where they come across a corridor with traps that throw fireballs and also some Gibdos going up, but soon the three realise that when the craituras are hit by fireballs, that fire simply ends up being a weak point of the monster.
So the brown-haired woman picks up her staff and uses its power to throw fireballs towards all six Gibdos walking down the corridor, who follow the path to the door with a key. As they enter, they come across a dark room, which the warrior from Luna Nova takes the opportunity to use fire to light up, but it doesn't do much good and they are narrowly missed by the Stalfos Knights who were lurking there.
"That was close" said a relieved Akko almost getting hit.
"I'm going to shine some light in here, maybe this will open up the way," said Yanson and it really does work better.
The light was still a little dim, but it was possible to predict the route of the Stalfos Knights who almost hit Atsuko with a slash that grazed her face, and then used her paralysing blows with the boomerang and bombs.
As she continued through the room, she found a chest which she opened to get the master key and then took the opportunity to kill the last remaining Stalfos Knight in the room, after which they returned from the dark room and travelled all the way back.
In that same room with the three forks, there was only one path left, the one to the west, and there was another staircase, which they took to go up another floor in the middle of that path.
"We've passed almost everything, we're already going to the third floor from here and we've got the master key, now we just have to follow more of the path" said Atsuko.
"I'm already getting exhausted, so many walls, so many monsters, I would normally be very excited, seeing so many interesting creatures, I'm even getting souls for when I summon as a necromancer, even more from
that Stalfos Knight, he could be very interesting for us, to make our way through a boring dungeon" Sucy said.
"I'm just scared, everything here is trying to kill us, it's worse than the Arcturus dungeon we went to, there are only bizarre creatures here" said Lotte a bit reluctant while walking.
Walking further down the stairs, they reached the room that leads to the third floor. It was a closed room with a key entrance to the east, and an entrance to the south, which was the direction they took, already dodging more medusa traps that were always discharging fireballs to hinder the girls.
Following this path, they simply come across an open room, where there are several skeletons and bones lying on the floor and some skulls that appear to have something around them, which Manbavaran makes a point of putting her hand in front of.
"Leave it to me, I can use my necromancy with those Stalfos," said the pink-haired woman.
The various skeletons were getting up, going to lift the skulls and stepping on a button, which caused an opening to appear, only for the door to lock, which caused five Stalfos Knights and other ordinary Stalfos to show up to hinder the girls.
"What the hell, when you open a path you come across this thing," said a frustrated Kagari.
They all got into a more fighting pose, Yanson began summoning various spirits to attack the smaller Stalfos, with the help of the girl with the wine eyes, while the one with the crimson eyes was taking care of the bigger ones, showing a lot of the skill she has and drawing everyone's attention to what she hit with the boomerang to the point of forming a little circle with them who were feeling the explosions.
A very intense fight with skeletal creatures that kept appearing and going up, showing everything they had, but soon the larger Stalfos couldn't cope with the intelligence of the warrior from Luna Nova, who ended up taking care of them and leaving only the smaller ones.
"Now let's break some bones her," said the smiling brown haired woman, who went over to the rest with her master sword.
At this point she simply dominated, since the new boots gave her a greater increase in speed, the Stalfos were no match for the power of the master sword, even more so when mixed with fire she became even more lethal against the skeletons, to the point that the other two girls just stood and stared in amazement at the girl's great control and calm, even the smile she displayed as she managed to strike better against the monsters.
It really was the moment when she felt like she was on top, having managed to defeat creatures that she had previously had some difficulty with at the beginning, and then defeating them with ease to the point where a path soon opened up for them to pass through.
"Wow, you really are on another level here, if you could have beaten this whole dungeon by yourself" said the blonde.
"I don't know, your help is very good too, if some monster catches me from behind, come on, there's a corridor waiting for us" said the crimson-eyed girl, smiling.
As they pass through the door they see that it's a corridor, in this corridor there are some Banshees and also Hyu flying around until they reach a double door which, as they pass, has a room with some Gibdos walking from one side to the other, with a chest there, in this chest they take a key after simply the warrior of Luna Nova defeats the mummies using her sword lit with fire, already leaving that room and going to the entrance of the floor, where there was only one door left.
Entering it, they came across a huge chest, which they promptly went to, opening yet another gift from the dungeon for Akko, who ended up simply receiving a magical staff that, when she used it, was practically intangible for a while, since she was immediately hit by a trap and nothing happened.
"Woah, look at that, the fire just passed through me like it was nothing, so that's what my new item is for, I'm sure the boss here is going to make me have to use that kind of magic, well I think it's better to deactivate it, just by using this thing I feel my magic draining very quickly, surely they did it so I wouldn't use too much" said Atsuko.
"Interesting, another dungeon item, you're already very powerful and you're going to become even more so, this way you'll make the battle against Andrew ridiculously easy" said Sucy.
"I wish you were right Sucy, only I could see the level I'm going to be at, the queens, even with the power of the triforce, couldn't handle Andrew, although that was more about deceiving them and hitting them at the right time, but still... It's a huge leap, not only do I need all this, but I'll also need to have the triforce if I want to stand a chance against the bastard" said Kagari.
And soon they were heading for that chest room where there were no enemies, only traps, where they walked until they reached a room with some Gibdos and Stalfos Knights, the terror of the three, soon they split up and focused on defeating those creatures since there was a way forward in this dungeon full of so many dangers.
"And here we go, how I hate skeletons like that" said the crimson-eyed girl, wiping her face with her hand already pretty annoyed by the presence of the same monsters attacking her all the time.
The Gibdos were defeated with Lotte using her fire spirits on the monsters, but her magic soon ran out and she found herself in the situation of having to set up the spear she uses when her magic is short, while Sucy was firing fire arrows that were also running out, even though she got most of them back. On the other hand, the brown one was easily taking care of the huge Stalfos Knights, who were all killed until the path was finally cleared, even dropping a few Rupees, as well as partially recovering their vitality with hearts that fell to the ground.
"I wish it was magic, I need it now, I can't even summon spirits any more, I'll have to use this spear, since there's no way" said Yanson.
"Well, it could be a sign that we're at the end of the dungeon too, we've already got the master key, we've already got the dungeon's treasure, there's not much left, just follow the path with me, or things could get really complicated" said the warrior from Luna Nova.
"I hope so, I want to get out of here soon so I can go and rest in the camp and then get out of here, what's going to come after this dungeon anyway?" Manbavaran said.
"We'd go to the nearby island of Terre Sapphique, then the long journey to the island of Edo, which means we might stop off at some of the nearby islands to pick up food and resources to survive the long journey by boat, I can't even imagine how chaotic it's going to be from here on" said Akko.
They were even taking a break in the dungeon to rest, since that room didn't have a trap, so much so that they waited there for a while, looking at the walls, where every now and then a Hyu or a Banshee would appear, even more so since they were there disturbing so many creatures that Atsuko was sometimes left to defeat the monsters.
Away from there, a little closer even, on the boat, Diana's bracelet beeped once again, while she was looking over the bow of the boat at the island of Eire, where the sky was even less rainy, incredibly it was even drizzle-free, but still very grey and cloudy.
"Hey, calling here, so... Are you leaving already? Have you finished the dungeon?" Croix said.
"Not yet Mrs Meridies, we're still observing the girls, but it seems that today is not a rainy day, from what I saw in the binoculars the girls are mostly looking around outside, there are several ghosts heading towards what looks like a tower, miraculously the fog today is not thick, I think it's a sign that they're in the dungeon now" Cavendish said observing everything with the binoculars.
"That's interesting, that they should be careful, since the dungeon in the tower on the island of Eire isn't easy at all, from what we've seen the banshees can scream loud enough to blow the ears off anyone who gets close, and there's also the legend of a banshee who screamed so loudly that it blew someone's head off, I'm sure Akko is prepared for something like that, she could die not from a blow or some kind of attack, but from a scream, well in any case I'm relieved to hear you're all right" said Mrs Meridies.
"Yes, we're fine, now that you've said that, I'm worried to death about the Triforce, I hope Akko really does make it out alive and with another conquest ahead of her, I'm waiting for her..." Said the one with the platinum blonde hair.
"You can rest assured Diana, your wife will return as well as ever and unharmed, she'll bring peace to Hyrule, you've seen up close how much more skilful she is and how well she does in dungeons, after all it was with her in the last one, I'm going now, I just wanted to see if you're all right, I'll be back in a few hours to see if everything's all right" said the lilac-haired woman who was saying goodbye to the queen of Wedinburgh.
"You can rest assured, sis, Akko is a blast, even more so with the others, at this hour she must be mocking the monster in the dungeon, let's be hopeful, soon she'll come here on the boat and tell us about the miraculous way she got through the dungeon, walking on the walls showing us all how she's been improving" said the smiling Hellene with her hand on her sister's shoulder.
And so they went on looking at the horizon facing the island, just thinking about what would happen in that environment, reflecting on the dangers of the Banshee tower, with the obvious fear that something worse might happen, but also trying to think that everything might be going well.
Akko, Lotte and Sucy began their exploration of the Banshee Tower dungeon, which they showed them was a peaceful place, even though it had its challenges and traps, as well as an infestation of creatures linked to death. It really wasn't a place for everyone, but the trio managed to cope with everything, especially the surprising Atsuko, who showed that all the time she had spent away had honed her like a real diamond, becoming far superior since the last time she was seen by her friends when she was still in the first dungeon.
See you, dungeon witches...