Author's Note: There isn't really a way to make the Trial of Heart funny, but I did enjoy slipping in a jab at the Pistachios and Dragon Killers... I swear, these things exist to make getting into Akira's dungeon (and spawning the Death Prophet) easier, since you're going to be immediately teleporting (or running) the second you encounter them. :P That aside, I also thought it was a good idea to mention the statue room here, since I've called some attention to the Odio incarnations previously.

Chapter Six: Akira, Part 2

Meanwhile, Lei's group was walking down the path near the base of the Last Hero's Grave. They probably shouldn't put off investigating the Archon's Roost too much longer… But everyone had agreed that it was a good idea to scour the mountain and forest one last time, just to make sure they hadn't missed anything.

And hey, they'd encountered some more monsters, so it hadn't been a total waste… Lei figured a little more combat experience could never hurt. If they ran into any trouble at the Roost, at least they'd be prepared.

Still…there had been several encounters that were rather…annoying. There had been groups of red and green bug-like monsters that dodged nearly every attack thrown at them. The few attacks that had connected barely seemed to do any damage. Each time, Akira had gotten frustrated enough that he'd teleported the party away from the monsters.

The first time he'd done it had been…disorienting, to put it mildly. Lei was almost used to it by now…which was probably a good thing, since they'd just run into yet another group of the bugs.

Akira swore loudly as the nearest monster dodged his attempted elbow-jab. "Stupid…" (A branch fell off a tree nearby, partially muffling his next word.) "…bugs!"

Oboromaru paused, tilting his head to the side. "They do not appear to be—"

"IT WASN'T LITERAL!"

"Hey, wait a second!" Lei shouted, turning away from the monster she'd just attacked. "We might figure something out if you just—"

But it was too late. Akira was already surrounded by that distinctive golden glow. Then, it enveloped Lei, Oboromaru, and Pogo as well. A few seconds later, they reappeared in their new destination, and Lei sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Well, okay, then," she groaned. "My fault, I guess. We should've just gone on to the Roost…"

But something felt…off. Her voice echoed slightly as she spoke, and Lei cautiously examined their surroundings. They seemed to be in some kind of old building, but it wasn't any of the ones she'd visited so far. The style resembled a hybrid between the castle and that dungeon Oboromaru had found his katana in, so they were probably still in Lucrece, but…

"…Where the hell are we?" Akira muttered, squinting in obvious confusion.

"You tell me! You're the one who brought us here."

"And you've looked around more than I have!" Akira sighed and shook his head. "…Sorry. Guess we better get going, huh?"

Lei just nodded in response. What else could they do? Everyone fell silent as they started walking. She was sure they'd find a way out eventually, but… Something felt wrong here, though Lei couldn't place what it was.

Pogo was the only one who didn't seem unnerved. He kept looking around curiously, like this was all part of the adventure. Again, Lei wasn't sure how much he understood… But she supposed that was better than being afraid.

Soon, they found a blue wisp of fire rising from a hole in the floor. Pogo grunted and ran up to it, eagerly poking at it with his axe. He let out an "Ooh!" of amazement as it formed into a humanoid silhouette. Lei instinctively stepped backwards, and Oboromaru narrowed his eyes. The flame-person was pretty in a way, but…there was also something creepy about it.

Strange; the man's lips appeared to be moving, but Lei couldn't hear what he was saying. Akira raised his eyebrows, and he briefly glowed again. Then, he rubbed his chin, clearly confused by whatever he'd heard.

The deeper they went, the more flame-figures they encountered. Most of them were dressed similarly, and they appeared to be guards or soldiers of some sort. There was another, slightly-fancier dressed man, and…a little boy? And then, a stately older man; perhaps he'd been the king.

Lei swallowed; she'd been quiet the whole time, since the wrongness was eating at her more than she cared to admit. However, she glanced over at Akira occasionally. His eyebrows knit closer together with each flame-person they encountered, looking more bewildered-yet-frustrated than ever.

Then there was a man with long dark hair who looked almost pensive before shaking his head and (probably) sighing. He was followed by a weary-looking knight and an old man who just seemed disappointed by something. Akira's hands had balled into tight fists, and his breathing was getting heavier.

There was a pedestal up ahead bearing some kind of fancy glove. Akira shook his head as he examined it. He picked it up, turned it around a few times, and slipped it onto his hand. It fit him perfectly, and he grinned for a brief moment.

Then there was another flash of light, and Oboromaru instinctively reached for a shuriken. But the figure was just another one of the flame-people. This time, it was a woman with her hands folded in front of her face, and she trembled as if she was crying.

Lei looked uncertainly at Akira. The expression on his face shifted rapidly, from surprise to fury to something she couldn't quite name. Before she could process it, the group was abruptly surrounded by light again. It was a warm, pale blue kind of energy, similar to the light the flame-people had given off. And then, they were back outside, right near the path they'd been on earlier.

"Hey," Lei said shakily. "What was that about?"

Akira abruptly rammed his fist into a tree, and Lei jumped. He took several deep breaths, and he failed to keep his voice steady when he spoke up.

"Bullshit! 'He knows not what he's become…' How the hell do you not know—"

"What was that?" Lei repeated.

Akira slowly straightened up. In the brief amount of time they'd known each other, he hadn't struck her as the most patient guy. Still, the sheer amount of anger in his eyes startled her.

"Whatever asshole brought us here did that to those people! He knows what he did. It's his fault this place is like this."

"What…" Lei swallowed again. "So those were the people who used to live here? How…"

She'd seen the blood-splattered signs and empty houses, of course. It was obvious that something bad had happened here. But it was easy to forget about when Lei didn't have to see the people in question. To have them put in front of her like that—

Well, Lei didn't know. What had even happened? How had everyone been put there? And what was that dungeon supposed to be, anyway?

Akira closed his eyes and took another deep breath. Pogo blinked up at him and tugged on his leg. A grin flickered over Akira's face, and he reached down to quickly pat Pogo on the head.

"Not your fault, little guy." He wrinkled his nose as he pulled his hand back. "…You could do with a good wash, though."

Pogo grunted happily and leaned back. Apparently, the head-pat was more important than the insult. Lei couldn't help a grin, despite what they'd just seen.

Finally, Oboromaru cleared his throat a little awkwardly. "…We should head to the Archon's Roost."

Lei didn't know if he was more uncomfortable over the dungeon or Akira's outburst. But either way, he was right. Lei nodded and glanced off to the east, where the looming mountain was vaguely visible.

"Yeah…we've put it off long enough."

All the answers had to be there. It was time to go get them.

Lei exhaled slowly as she approached the elaborately-carved entrance. Oboromaru had offered to watch the trail leading up to the Roost, just in case any monsters were following them. Pogo had volunteered to gather some more herbs again. Finally, Akira had muttered that he "needed to go punch some stuff and maybe nap it off," but he'd promised to catch up with them soon.

That left her, Masaru, Sundown (who was fortunately waiting near the mountain hut), and Cube to start investigating. Somehow, Lei knew what to do. The sword seemed to be speaking to her again, and she drew it and raised it over her head.

Brion glowed, and the mountain's entrance responded with a whirl of energy. Then, the door crumbled apart, granting them access. Lei beckoned to the others; they nodded and followed her inside.

It was a good thing they had Oboromaru standing guard, Lei thought. They ran into a few monsters inside the winding dungeon; she wouldn't have wanted to get caught from behind. Some of them were familiar: there were more of those men on horseback, and another giant snake-man. Others were even weirder than usual… Once, the party encountered a flying metallic thing that was unlike anything Lei had seen before.

Finally, they arrived in a room filled with seven statues. In the back, Lei could see a skeletal helmet-like thing and a man wielding a gun that looked far too big to carry. The front row had a giant bipedal frog with a snake draped over its shoulders, along with a dinosaur. And in the middle, a giant avian statue was flanked by a gargantuan tattooed man and…

"Is this some kind of joke?!" Lei automatically stepped towards the left-hand statue. "What's Ou Di Wan Lee doing here?"

"No way…" Masaru muttered as he examined the middle-right statue. "I know this guy. Odie O'Bright…"

Sundown actually looked shocked when he approached the back-right one—which might've amused Lei under other circumstances. "That's O. Dio, all right…"

Finally, Cube approached the statue across from Sundown's, the one in the back-left. They turned around slowly, as if they couldn't quite process what they were looking at.

Lei tore her eyes away from Ou Di Wan Lee's statue. She slowly looked at her three current companions before examining the remaining statues. Those had to be Oboromaru, Pogo, and Akira's enemies.

Sure, they'd discussed their similar opponents before. Lei already suspected that something was going on here. But to see them gathered in one place…

Had they come from Lucrece, somehow? Someone had drawn Lei and her new teammates here, after all. Was it possible to send people out as well?

Or maybe…had somebody been controlling them the whole time? It must've taken a lot of power to essentially kidnap seven people from such different time periods. So that might be possible, too…

Regardless, the whole thing just felt wrong. The longer she stood there, the less Lei liked it. She closed her eyes and shook her head.

"I…I don't like this place," she said nervously. "Let's get out of here."

"Yeah, there's…something weird about this. How…" Masaru shook his head. "I guess we better go."

From the way he and Sundown were frowning, Lei knew they must've come to similar conclusions. They were all connected—even more than they'd realized.

But then Masaru nodded and put a hand on her shoulder. Lei managed to smile; the gesture was appreciated. Sundown shook his head as he and Cube walked back over to them. Despite their silence, Lei knew they were both ready to leave, too.

Finally, she took another deep breath and glanced towards the back of the room. There was another door back there—glowing with a faint blue light, like all of the others had. Something told her that whoever had brought them here was very close by now.

So Lei stepped forward, more determined than ever to finish this. She knew it would happen soon.

Author's Note x2: I know I'm cheating slightly again by leaving Odeo's statue in the middle. But, while moving your lead character's final boss to the center is nice for making them feel more special and all, it does kinda mess up the symbolism from the original positions. So, I just left Ou Di Wan Lee on the left for Fic Purposes.