Fantasy Avasea (Fantasy Adventure)

[Fred Colon]

"Rats. Delicious if you cook them right, but not much fun to kill after the first one. Let's move on, yes? Not much point simply sitting here, if we've a direction to go!" Tohn said, taking a long pull from her mug and then standing up. "Relics, arches, obelisks. It all sounds good to me! If we can't destroy them through main force, then we'll try something else! Nothing is unbreakable."
She smiled at her three compatriots. There was definitely something off about all three of them, especially Talia, which was more than alright with Tohn. She, as the only sane person on the planet, could help guide them.
"I'm game for anything, to be honest, as long as its not the same thing over and over again. I've all my things in my pockets." She stuck her hands into the pouches in her robes. "If you've other possessions, let's get them and be on our way!"
She said that last part a little quietly so that the bartender didn't hear. Perhaps they could sneak off before paying their tab. She looked from face to face, at the strange, marked Talia, the Scarecrow-like Scythe wielding Crane and the loud, muscled Nidra, and waited expectantly for them to respond. Nobody seemed partial to waiting around, so why were they still just sitting there?

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

When Crane asked if everything was alright, Talia answered: "I am fine. When you are cursed by those portals, you heard things, almost daydream in a way. The weak of mind would eventually give in and lose their sanity. I got used to it and can mostly ignore it as if it was some background talk in a tavern." Kill them. Lingered more quietly in her mind from that voice. "I am can understand some precautions from people. I am potentially dangerous."

"Enough talk now. Let's go. I already paid my drinks and will leave the coin for an extra tea for the bartender." Talia said. She got up and put a few coins on the counter for the bartender to pick up. "These are HER non-alcoholic drink." Referring to Tohn, explicitly not paying her alcoholic drinks.

Once back at the group, Talia tilted her head back and smiled. It wasn't a normal smile, it was a slightly mischievous, maybe even lustful smile. "Come. Let's have some fun. I haven't had any in years." She said as she walked toward the door.

 

[Goonfire]

With the others agreeing to move out, Crane dropped a few coins on the table for his own tea. He made a point to hurry so he didn’t get roped into paying for Tohn’s booze. Rounding up his scythe, he scurried behind Talia towards the exit. “A bit of ‘fun’ might break up the tedium. You pique my curiosity by leaving it ambiguous,” he admitted.

Squeezing out the door, the sunlight blasted Crane. He shielded his eyes and instinctively put up his hood. “Daylight,” he hissed under his breath, raising his fingers to gauge whether or not it was still morning.

TanteRegenbogen Yahhah Fred Colon

 

[Yahhah]

Tohn did have a point with her statement that rats could be good tasting if given the right seasoning but this being no time for cooking made the rodents less appealing.

Yes, finally a bit of action. Nidra was on his feet shortly, stretching his neck and back as if sitting for that amount of time had made him less limber. He shoulder's his hammer again and in his excitement began to head for the door. "HAHA! Yes, fun. So... What are we fighting?" Nidra said, assuming that anything fun must have something to do with a little bit of combat at least. The only regret about leaving was that he wouldn't get to sample any of the good smells in the bars but that was as it would be. He was sure there'd be ample opportunity for that at a later date. For now he just wanted to hit something with his hammer.

TanteRegenbogen Goonfire Fred Colon

 

[Fred Colon]

Finally! Moving! She had already been getting bored of this place. Tohn pretended to put coins on the table where Crane had left his. There was enough money now on the table that the bartender couldn't just eye the coins and know the tab hadn't been paid in full! They'd only know something was wrong when they came over to count it! Tohn quickly followed after the others.

"So, what do you all like to do on the road?" Tohn asked as they left the Inn. She splayed the fingers of her hand and a stone ball, about the size of her head formed in front of her. "I like to see how long I can keep kicking while I walk." She gave it a kick, letting it roll in front of the group. She could only kick it because she could manipulate stone. Nidra looked like he could kick it without too much damage, but the other two might hurt their foot if they tried to kick it too hard. It might be interesting if they tried, though. "My record is three miles."

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

Once everyone was outside, Talia began walking down the road towards the direction of the obelisk. It should only take two hours or so to reach it since it was pretty close by. Tohn seemed to make a ball out of stone to kick on the way for some fun. Meanwhile the voices that were everpresent in Talia's head became louder the closer they got the obelisk. Usually the voice said either "Kill" or "Come join us sister."

To distract herself, Talia began to speak about what she found out about the gates: "I found out that green and blue gates are deadly. You must make a gate turn red to not die from it. Green gates are most common and will ignite you into flames. Blue gates however instantly turn you to ash."

 

[Goonfire]

Crane pulled out a book half-full with notes along with a stick of charcoal, packed tightly, bound with tree sap, and partly wrapped in thin strips of coarse cloth. The instrument had been sharpened to a point, likely via knife. Silently, he poured over his notes, comparing and correcting them accordingly. "Red... not to die," he echoed, proceeding down the list of gate colors. "Interesting... Has the academy scrounged all your knowledge on these matters? Anything they might not want revealed?" Crane was able to keep a secret—not because he was entirely trustworthy, but because he firmly sat on information he couldn't publish in a journal, especially taboo knowledge.

Pacing down the road, Crane made a point to try some new things, following up on Tohn's past remarks. He occasionally plucked things from nature—a bit of tree bark, a blade of grass, and a rock, to name a few. Without his gloves, he felt, smelled, and carefully looked at them, even listened to a few. His face didn't really move, though a bit of concern managed to seep through as Nidra mentioned fighting something again. The statement, 'What are we fighting?' crossed Crane's mind. The question didn't exactly strike the same positive chord with him, though examining the body after said fight might be fun in its own morbid way.

 

[Yahhah]

Nidra was trying to be a jovial presence during the trip. The others didn't seem to be all too talkative which Nidra didn't immediately recognize as being that they wanted to conserve energy or just simply didn't want to talk. Tohn did bring up some kind of game about rock kicking, Nidra couldn't say he was all too interested in that kind of game. He hadn't played a rock kicking game since he had been a small child and he hadn't had much interest in that kind of game since then. Talia did bring up the fact that red gates didn't kill you but the other types did. "These arches sound very malevolent. There are stories told by my tribe about evil gates that swallow those who go through them whole, but none about a gate causing someone to light on fire" Nidra said, he lifted a hand to his chin as he thought it over. "Though there is a story of a cursed fruit that lights you on fire if you eat it... Maybe they're similar" Nidra told of some tall tales that probably sounded like nonsense to the others.

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

(Since Fred Colon quit. I will just have Tohn wander off without a word.)

Midway into their journey, Tohn without a word wandered off. "I am not going after her." Talia said. "If she wants to do her own thing, she can, but we has a task to fulfill." Talia was somewhat relieved that, that nuisance had wandered off. She didn't really need such an arrogant person to try to bum drinks off of her.

When Crane asked if the academy was aware of the knowledge Talia had just given, Talia said: "I did give them the information, but you know about people and trusting me. Some of them ignored my warnings and went to get themselves killed. Others thought it was a trick because they think that I am controlled by something on the other side. Mostly my last batch of students, the dean and the clan administration accepted the knowledge. There are however some things I havent told them yet, mostly for their own safety. I have dreams of the other side. I may have lost my memory of the events during my incident, however I still see dreams and visions giving a vague idea what is on the other side. I fear for anyone who goes to the other side unprepared and believe that we will lose people if they knew how to change the status of the portals to make safe passage."

She explained further. "Thing is, the portals are by standard on blue or green, meaning death. Exceptions are trap portals. Basically the victims walk into a room, the door closes behind them and locks and the portal turns red. The door first unlocks when someone has passed through the portal. In the worst case scenario, all party members have passed through the portal and come out either as horrors or mentally broken, if they even survive. That is what happened with me. I went into a trap with my party. I tripped and fell through the portal, which unlocked the room."

In response to Nidra, Talia replied: "Interesting tale. I am hoping that if I can manage to change to color of a portal, that we can enter a safer part of the other side and maybe explore without the fear of being turned or scarred. It is only a speculation though. Since trap portal are purposely made that way, I am guessing they might be the most dangerous locations."

The obelisk now was just behind the trees. It towered so high. It was comparable to a mountain in height, maybe even the taller mountains. At the side facing the forest, there was a large door and a smaller door next to it. The walls were pitch black, but the closer one got, the glossier the walls got. It was almost like a pitch black marble. The entire wall was elaborately engraved and the patterns went all the way up the obelisk.

 

[Goonfire]

Crane noticed the strange elementalist wander off. "What could she be doing?" he muttered. He stopped to watch, but when she kept walking into the distance, he placed his hands on his hips and accepted that she wouldn't come back. Thus he chose to not pursue the oddball and to stay with Talia and Nidra.

“The closed-mindedness of some people astounds me. It’s difficult to study a subject when you also look down your nose at it.” The ‘idiocy of other academy scholars’, as Crane called it, frustrated him. Unlike many, he felt anything could be a possibility, even if there was currently not a rational explanation. Sound reasoning was a process of elimination, not an additive process based on established rules—‘To determine what it is, one must know what it isn’t.’

Trap portals interested the summoner, in a morbid way. “So many fascinating tales. Talia, has anyone attempted to send golems through a trap portal? And Nidra, did your tribe’s elders say where one could find those evil fruits?” He was about to say more, but then he realized where he was. He stared up at the obelisk in awe, similar to the way a child would gaze upon a pyromancer’s colorful fireworks show for the first time. Upon realizing his departure from his usual stoicism, he quickly cleared his throat and stared ahead.

TanteRegenbogen Yahhah

 

[Yahhah]

Nidra listened as Talia and Crane began to speak about their pasts or more specifically Talia's past treatment which he still didn't quite understand. Being one of only a few people to survive a great feat would immortalize one's name where Nidra was from and then Crane went on a tangent where the tall man only understood about half of what was being said. In Nidra's experience the best way to change the color of something was with paint though this was most likely not going to be a situation where that would work. She'd most likely have some kind of magic, or perhaps Crane would. Nidra's own magic didn't seem catered to that thing.

"The Elder's never mentioned where to find Combustion-Melons. Too many brave young ones were going off to find them and lighting themselves on fire so they stopped telling the location. Though I never heard of them keeping secrets from someone who asks directly" Nidra answered Crane's question. He looked up at the massive structures in some form of awe. He had to wonder what force had come together to create this thing. It must've taken either great effort or great power to craft this behemoth of a structure. "So you want to change the color of that... But if you touch it you die?" Nidra asked looking at Talia with a bit of curiousity.
TanteRegenbogen Goonfire

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

"You have to consider that most people are afraid of me, Crane. They fear the portals and they fear me because I came back out of one in one piece, albeit slightly changed. If you were in their shoes, you'd think that either I'd be extremely lucky or potentially a greater danger than the portals themselves or the monsters that come out of it. To them, I have become something not of this plane and therefore evil. On one had I understand but on the other, you'd expect scholars to not succumb to irrational fears." Talia replied.

Crane then asked whether it has been tried to send golems through portals. "The only instance I know of was a blue portal that basically made the golem blow up, showering the adventurers with rock. But I don't think a golem can last or be controlled on the other side. To control a golem your mana must be linked with it. But if the golem is on another plane or realm, the golem will likely just disintegrate. Even if the golem had a core to act independent, as soon as it crosses over, it will have a mind of its own or just don't know what to do." Talia explained to Crane. "That is at least what my theory is."

When Nidra asked about changing the color of the portal and that he thought you could die from touching the portal, Talia said: "You only die if you touch the field of the portal. That is the liquid like wall in the portal. You can still touch the frame of the portal. I am guessing that changing the portals color has something to do with these living tattoos on my body, my corrupted magic and possibly what I have learned of the language of the runes or rather what may have been implanted into my mind. I have managed to open a sealed door from a ruin with it, so maybe I can manipulate the portals too."

Talia approached the smaller door on the tower. There were just engravings and runes on the smaller door. The large one looked similar. Both had no buttons or levers, not even a handle and both were closed shut and wouldn't budge by pushing on them.

"Okay here goes nothing." Talia pulled up her sleeve revealing the living tattoos on her arm and hand. "If the language of the other realm starts making you see things that aren't there or you break out in a panic, cover your ears. Observations tell me that some people can go mad from just hearing it." She warned.

Talia held out her hand towards the door and began to chant in a language uncomprehensible to man. The living tattoos began to move strangely, almost dancing on Talia's skin. Talia's corrupted mana became clearly visible around her arm and a magical seal appeared in front of her hand. The seal crumpled into a ball of dark flame that Talia grabbed. She then touched the wall of the obelisk.

All the engraved patterns lit up from the bottom of the tower to the top. They then dimmed down. Then nothing.

"Well that was a failure." Talia said. "Better luck next try." In that moment, the large door opened for them.

"I guess it did work after all." Talia said. "Come on, let's go. Crane. Do you have a torch or a spell to light the way until I find lights to turn on if there are any?"

 

[Goonfire]

“Empathy was never one of my strong suits. A wonder I took to healing magic so well,” Crane muttered awkwardly. He took interest in recollections of people’s past attempts to ‘outsmart’ the portal. Scribbling nigh-indecipherable notes in his book, he concocted various theories about the nature of the portals. “Why did the golem explode, though? Perhaps it is the material. Perhaps if I were to bring a blast shield and then... and then hurl different materials... and maybe those combustible melons when I find them... hmmm...” His guesses trailed off to incoherent mumbling, then to more writing. He put away these materials and gripped his scythe in two hands, instead of the awkward carry in the crook of his elbow with part of the haft caught between his shoulder and his cheek.

His expectant stare shifted between Talia and the door. His eyes slowly narrowed throughout the awkward pause, but then widened again when the door finally slid open, dust and dirt shaking free. Crane fanned the small cloud away with one hand and stifled a cough with his sleeve. “I love ancient structures, but I hate the centuries of dirt that come with them.”

Heeding Talia’s request, the scholar offered his mentor a match and then a torch from his bag. The brief peek inside the bag offered insight into what kind of person he was; everything was sorted oddly, in a manner that seemed nonsensical without explanation—and he wasn’t offering any explanations.

 

[Yahhah]

Nidra just sort of sat back and watched as Talia worked on the gate. He didn't quite know what to make of it, he didn't know much about magic outside of the little bit he knew how to use. He stood there with crossed arms as she did her thing. He began to whistle a bit as he waited for her to do something as her tattoos began to move around and she began to chant. He stopped and looked a bit disappointed when she opened the gate. He stood up straight in surprise as it seemed to randomly fix itself. "It changed colors" he stated the obvious in an excitable way as he pulled out his hammer. "That means we can go in it without lighting on fire... Right?" He said before his question was answered for him. "GREAT! " Nidra shouted.

He stepped slightly out of the way as Crane walked up and began to mumble about something. "If you're going to throw things at things, I want to be involved" Nidra spoke as he sort of heard what Crane was mumbling about though he didn't get too much of it if he was being honest. Just the throwing stuff part. Nidra just got ready to go. He wasn't going to just go rushing straight in, he wasn't that foolish. Though he would try to rush in and join the others whenever they would enter the gate.

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

Talia gave Crane an uneasy smile upon hearing his muttering. "Be happy you can still heal. If I tried to heal you, I would just hurt you more in the best case and corrupt you in the worst case." The smile on Talia's face seemed sad in a way, almost as if it was saying that she was happy for Crane but sad about herself.

When Crane asked why the golem exploded when it touched the portal fluid, Talia answered: "The easiest explanation would be, because stone and earth don't catch fire. The more complicated version is that the mechanism of the portal defense could be a mana overcharge lethal for anyone or anything that touches it. I am not too sure about how it works myself."

"I am surprised you two weren't affected by the chanting. Usually people at least hallucinate when hearing the language of the other side." Talia said.

Nidra then seemed to have confused the door to the inside of the tower with how the portals worked. "These are just the doors of the ruins. They normally don't have traps or defenses. The portals to the other side are possibly deeper within the obelisk. You will notice what the portals are. They looked like artistically engraven doorframes or arches with a fluid inside. It is almost like a bubble. The fluid can kill you depending on it's color." Talia explained. "If the portal is red, then it isn't dangerous. But blue and green mean death."

Talia moved further in, simply astounded by the architecture. There were some engravings on the walls. The engravings were in the unknown writing system that Talia had so hard tried to decrypt and had decrypted most of. "If I read this wall correctly, this obelisk was dedicated to the old gods. But else than that, I can't seem to find a purpose of these structures. Talia then walked around a corner. Far down the pathway was one of the portals they were seeking. It was a small one and was illuminated green.

"At the size of this place, that cannot be the only portal in here." Talia said as she continued walking.

 

[Goonfire]

Crane raised his eyebrows when Nidra volunteered to be his test dummy lab partner if he were to experiment with the portals. “I’ll remember your offer if that time comes,” he droned, withholding excitement.

The mention of the chanting, the taxidermist blinked twice, a certain realization washing over him. “I thought it strange, as well. Perhaps some minds are more resilient than others, but I don’t think there is an ethical way to study and quantify abstract properties of a human mind... or an efficient one, for that matter.”

For Crane, the glyphs’ translations were shaky at best. Cryptolinguistics was not his strong suit—though it was far from most scholars’ specialties, even after years of study. “Old Gods? Hm... If we can learn more, we may be able to found a... ‘cryptotheology’ department?” He quickly shook his head. “No; some fool might become a devotee of such things.”

Keeping an eye on the portal, he crept around and peeked into other doorways, occasionally using the polished surface of his scythe blade to reflect some of the torchlight as a mirror would. “It’s too quiet,” he observed, having expected some kind of encounter immediately. It made him uneasy, as he would rather study the carving than check every corner for threats.

 

[Yahhah]

Nidra followed the other two adventurers into the obelisk after nodding when Talia explained his misunderstanding. Though when Talia began to mention how beings of stone couldn't catch fire and exploded instead, it did open a curiosity of what would happen with his magic, but he wasn't gonna test that out. Being blown up by some portal was no way to gain glory. Nidra looked towards the different carvings in the side of the halls, he couldn't make heads nor tails on them but his companions found them rather interesting by the looks of it. He used his hammer like a walking stick as he took up the rear for the others just in case they got attacked from the rear. He wasn't the only one prepared for an attack judging by how Crane was looking around as well. He peeked around a corner Talia had pointed out and spied a portal which was green. "How many more portals do you think? I'm no expert on this stuff but they don't just... Appear? Right? Like say, in the middle of a hallway that a trio of adventurers are about to walk through" Nidra spoke, more out of caution than fear. Those portals might've been the first thing he'd ever been careful about in his life.

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

"A cryptotheology department? That actually might not be a bad idea. I understand your fears but I doubt anyone can do anything with incomplete scripture. There are already cults thought that worship the obilisks, believing they were built by the gods." Talia replied to Crane.

"It is awfully quiet, but I doubt anything will be in here since it may have been closed for at least a thousand years. The real danger might be once we go through a portal if we go through one today." Talia said. "Who knows what horrors await us on the other side? My last time there I was chased back through by a massive creature."

In response to Nidra, Talia said: "I expect there to be at least three portals in this thing. Could be up to a dozen. What may be concerning however is the lack of life, traps or defenses so far. It feels to easy. It is almost like they want us to reach the last room and go through a portal or as if they arent concerned with any threats. But yes, portals don't just appear. You'd rather be surprised to find one in a room that is red and not green or blue."

Right at that moment, the portal visible in the room at the end of the hallway turned from green to red. "Uh oh." Talia said. "It could be a trap." The sound of the door to the obelisk closing was behind them and the hallway lit up. The pattern of the lights seemed to be pointing towards the portal at the end of the hallway. "Yep. It's a trap. It expects us to go into the portal."

 

[Goonfire]

“I suppose it says much about me, that I expect the worst like this.” Crane let out a sharp, subtle breath that sounded almost like a chuckle. By the torchlight, it looked as though a wry grin broke through his stoic face, if only for a split second. The brief lightening of his apparent mood was so painfully short-lived, though.

Crane’s blood ran cold. The closing door and waiting portal made the proverbial math simple. “Uh...” the scholar started shakily. “No pressure plates, trip wires, or other such devices. How does it know to trap us? What lies behind this stone facade?“ Using his sica, he picked at the walls, searching for gaps.

“No building simply lures people to their deaths. There must be some sort of...” His stare grew distant as a realization hit him. “... SENSORY ORGANS!” he suddenly and passionately blurted out. “This will make a controversial and potentially groundbreaking theory...“

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

"Of not sensory organs, then I guess there could be some kind of detection magic at work here. I have seen hint that whoever building these places could manipulate magic as if it was some sort of language and make it have successive processes." Talia said. She continued to approach the portal. "I guess our only option is to go through and hope we find another way out. It feels like a suicide mission, but if we watch our backs, we should survive unscathed. However be ready for a fight anytime."

The closer she got to the portal, the more her left arm began to react to the portal. It felt like a pulsating tension. Lfta s'stagn. Afni wshtaf shchefnu. A phantom voice whispered as they approached. "Please tell me that wasn't just in my head, Crane." Talia said. "If you heard it too, it sounded like Come forth angel of the other side. I am unsure if we triggered a mechanism intended for someone else or who this angel of the other side is." The way her body began reacting to the portal, the pulsating tension, she had the feeling that the voice meant her.

Soon she stood right in front of the portal. The pulsating tension was more present than ever. A feeling of familiarity gave her goosebumps and a mild euphoria. "Crane, we should go in together at the same time to avoid that anyone gets locked out or in. I am excited but afraid at the same time. I feel something is very off and that I could get lost on the other side if alone or that something will try to get me." Talia said, holding out her hand for Crane to hold it when there were to go through the portal.

 

[Goonfire]

"Magic as a language..." The excited Crane collected himself, sheathing the sica when his attempt at picking at the walls proved fruitless. “Fascinating. I would thoroughly enjoy decrypting such a thing. To understand it would allow us to modify it, potentially saving others from such traps. But, for the moment...” He glanced at the gateway, nodding in agreement with Talia. “We can certainly hope there is another exit nearby.”

Inching towards the portal, he was preparing to cover Talia’s six with his scythe. The voice sent chills down his spine, the hair on his arms and the back of his neck standing up. The mention of an angel made him question whether or not this was a simple case of being in the wrong place at the right time. “Whatever this is, I’m about as ready as I can be. Let’s take a leap of faith.” He stayed close enough to dash through the portal when she was ready.

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

When Crane was ready to come through the portal with her, Talia went on through. The trip was slightly nauseating but at least Talia seemed to bear it well. It was a multicolored vortex. Soon they stepped out into a dusky world with barren landscapes and black buildings. There seemed to be floating octohedrons in the sky forming some kind of pathway as if it was a road in the sky. This place was completely different from the place where Talia had been years ago. There were no visible creatures compared to that time. Also the air didn't seem heavy compared to last time, but it might just be her and the alterations that had been performed on her last time that made her immune to that heavy miasma filled environment.

"I need to try something." Talia said. She summoned a familiar which, to her suprise, was summoned in a normal and non-warped state. "I expected this somehow. It seems my magic is uncorrupted here but is corrupted in our world. My plan is that we should try to find our way out and avoid coming across that voice or possibly whatever it calls the angel. My stomach twisted when I heard the mention of it." Talia said.

Then a voice, crystal clear and rumbling them to the fabric of themselves said: "Come to us. We have been expecting you." Talia began to panic a little. "I think we should find a way out as soon as possible." She said. "This voice seems to want us or at least one of us."

 

[Goonfire]

"It isn't corrupted..." Crane observed before trying something as well. He reached out and raised his hand, a tiny golem the size of a child's doll rising from the dirt. It quickly turned an eerie, inky black, a corrupt aura emanating from it. Immediately, the startled Crane dismissed it, letting it crumble to dust. "Ugh! I would prefer not to test healing magic in this environment. This does give me more hypotheses to discuss later, though."

The scythe wielder coughed lightly after that. "We could try looking around one of those buildings," he offered, noticing little else in the landscape offered much of a solution to the current dilemma. "Hopefully, whatever is calling us isn't in there as well." He moved cautiously, keeping watch behind them.

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

Talia was sweating profusely. The voice, as clear it was, made her heart race and created anxiety. It was the bad kind of anxiety. Additionally, what freaked her out even more was that the place gave her a feeling that was supposed to put her at ease, almost like a feeling of coming home. But that wasn't right, this was not her home, this was the opposite of it. "We need to quickly find a portal out. It feels like whoever resides here is trying to screw with my head and make me feel as if I belong here. I'm seriously afraid that something bad could happen such as that they take you and do something with you too or that I could turn into some kind of monster if I stay here too long. What if the angel the voice mentioned means me?" Talia said with a particular shakiness in her voice.

Her arm was still pulsing. Her body resonated with the environment here. In the far distance a walking obelisk with four legs and a single eye was traversing the landscape. It wasn't walking towards them and didn't seem to take note of their presence or willingly ignored them. In front of them, down the hill, there was a cluster of large buildings. One of them was dome like, almost like an arena.

"I feel that us facing these buildings is part of the trap. Maybe we should walk the opposite way and scout out different buildings in hopes of finding a portal there. I fear that if we head to those buildings, we will find the body to the voice and will not be able to fight it." Talia said climbing up a nearby boulder to look for different buildings. "There are some buildings back there in the distance." She said pointing the other way.

Then they heard the voice again: "Come angel. Come to your throne. Your place is here." At this point Talia looked like she was about to break. "No! I don't want to be here. This all does not feel right. I just want to go home." Talia cried. The once composed Talia was out of it. She feared that only the two of them had no chance against the horrors here. She wanted to do an expedition sometime but with a full team and not just as two scythe wielders. "Stay strong. Stay strong. It will all go well." Talia said shakily, gradually calming herself down but still scared and nervous.

She looked to Crane. "At least we have each other right now, right? What do you think we should do?" She asked him.