IC: Sanctuary REVAMPED

[WriggleRid3r]

Automaton Workshop | Chronomancer's Tower - Outskirts of Pine Grove | Time: 4:13 PM

---

It all happened within seconds. The wound that Lavender was inflicted with was cured by the unknown red liquid Azeruk has dripped onto her palm. With an amazed expression, Lavender inspected her now unscathed hand.

"Wow..." Lavender's curiosity was burning. "How did you... do that?"

[SUSTIC]

Pine Grove | Chronomacer's Tower

Braum was ready to charge through and take care of the undead, but he was stopped when Zena spoke up about saying that she wanted to take care of them. As such... he let her do so. The way she fought... the way she took care of those undead skeletons showed him that Zena has the heart of a true warrior. No... the heart of someone who is determined to help bring justice where it is needed. This made Braum smile as he watched her take care of them, and after she was done she gestured for him to follow... and so he did. He quickly got up in front of her in case of any possible dangers that might be ahead of them. Though as they did he turned and saw Zero. Seeing Zero he gave him a surprisingly heartfelt smile in response to Zero's glare.

"What is wrong little man?" Braum asked as he continued moving with the others.

[S121]

Automaton Workshop | Chronomancer's Tower - Outskirts of Pine Grove | Time: 4:13 PM

"Alchemy. It's a healing potion that you're supposed to drink, but it also works when in contact with a wound.", Azeruk quickly explained to Lavender as he put the phial away and quickly slung the potion bag over his shoulder. After that, Azeruk grabbed the sword up from the ground and handed it to Lavender, this time holding it so that she would only grab the handle. Now that Azeruk thought about it, it was rather strange how Lavender seemed completely oblivious to the pain, as evidenced by her almost clenching the sharp sword absent-mindedly, and only seeming to react when Azeruk had said something about her injury.

"You were holding the wrong end of the sword.. Didn't it hurt when you held the blade in your hand?", Azeruk asked as he waited for her to grab hold of the weapon.

[WriggleRid3r]

Automaton Workshop | Chronomancer's Tower - Outskirts of Pine Grove | Time: 4:14 PM

---

Lavender shook her head when Azeruk asked her if she felt any pain holding the wrong end of the sword. Her twinkling black pupil-less eyes told the truth as well: she felt barely anything.

"I felt a tiny tingling, but that's it." Lavender confessed obliviously as she grabbed the right end this time: the handle of the sword. The weapon felt light in her hand as she held it, inspecting it curiously. "This is cool. What is it called and what is it used for, Master?"

[S121]

Automaton Workshop | Chronomancer's Tower - Outskirts of Pine Grove | Time: 4:14 PM

Azeruk was quite confused about Lavender's experience, as well as the lifeless, almost doll-like emptiness in her eyes. Azeruk had heard and read about homonculi before, but had never actually met one in the flesh. Now that he had met Lavender, he had to admit that it was unusual how the homonculus was alive yet.. somehow soulless. Lavender didn't seem completely soulless and robotic like how he had read some homonculi were, but it was clear she was not entirely human either. After staring into her blank eyes for a couple seconds and thinking to himself, Azeruk finally answered her question.

"It's a sword, a sharpened piece of metal used to inflict harm upon things that would want to inflict harm upon you. We don't know what we will encounter while we are out there, and given your current state of undress, I would sooner trust a pit viper with your fate than a lone highwayman.", Azeruk explained to Lavender as he finished preparations for their journey. What Lavender didn't know was that although Azeruk was telling the truth about why he gave her the sword, it was only part of the reason why. In truth, Azeruk did not know what the future held, whether or not he would die trying to escape Seki, or if death or separation from Lavender would befall him in some other way, but all he did know was that this world was both a beautiful yet harsh place, a place where Lavender's innocence could be taken advantage of. Because of that, he wanted to at least provide her a means of protecting herself if he could not, although he felt that giving her a sharpened piece of metal would help. It was clear that Lavender didn't even know what a sword was, much less know how to use it.

[WriggleRid3r]

Automaton Workshop | Chronomancer's Tower | Outskirts of Pine Grove | Time: 4:14 PM

---

"...?" Lavender had no clue what her Master was saying, for they were full of words that she did not know the meaning of. However, she frankly could not care less as she smiled, understanding one crucial thing. Her new Master cared for her just as much as her missing Master did.

"Is this everything, Master?" Lavender asked, this time tailing Azeruk curiously. "And what will happen to these metal people while we're gone? Won't they be lonely?"

[S121]

Automaton Workshop | Chronomancer's Tower | Outskirts of Pine Grove | Time: 4:14 PM

Although Lavender may not have seen it behind Azeruk's helmet, he gave a small smile back in return for hers. Although she may have seemed lifeless behind those eyes, how she acted told a slightly different story. As Azeruk and Lavender began to leave the room, he decided to answer her question.

"They'll be alright. They're guardians to the tower, so they'll be protecting the tower and waiting for us to return. They won't feel lonely because they actually don't have emotions like we do.", Azeruk said to Lavender.

[WriggleRid3r]

Automaton Workshop | Chronomancer's Tower | Outskirts of Pine Grove | Time: 4:15 PM

---

More confusion swirled inside Lavender's head, but she paid no attention to them as she walked, following Azeruk to the outside of the tower.

[S121]

Automaton Workshop | Chronomancer's Tower | Outskirts of Pine Grove | Time: 4:15 PM

Before Azeruk left the tower, he had stopped by one of the guardians and directed it to fully activate the tower's defenses before he and Lavender set out on their journey. What this entailed, not even Azeruk knew, but for anyone that would try to enter the tower, they would soon be subjected to the worst the tower had to offer. Large and deadly metal constructs were the least of their worries when compared to the seemingly endless halls, each one designed to kill any intruder that might be foolish enough to try and steal the tome.





Outside Chronomancer's Tower | Outskirts of Pine Grove | Time: 4:15 PM

Azeruk and Lavender traveled almost instantaneously to the surface, thanks to Azeruk's time magic, and it took only another instant to travel deeper into the treeline, down to the southwest where they would eventually find Sanctuary. Azeruk would have tried to take Lavender even further, if not for the loud explosion heard behind them.

As soon as the explosion shook the ground and subsided, Azeruk spun to face the general location of the tower. Although Azeruk did not say a single word to Lavender, it was clear that the explosion had him worried.

[Tewi_Inaba]

Pine Grove | Bone dragon Fortress

Kyuzo quickly did as instructed and used the liquid on all of his wounds. It had a stinging sensation when it was applied but that probably just meant it was working. What's odd is that the man's wounds seemed to heal much faster than they should have even with the healing effects of this liquid. Something about this man allowed him to heal rather quickly.

All was well and good for a while. But when the yaju tried to pick the lock to the chest, it triggered one of the fortress's many traps. The wooden doors slammed shut as a black and purple fog appeared on front of it in the shape of a flat skull. the words "You shouldn't have done that" would invade both the minds of the fox and the man.

"Damn it, not good" the man said with surprise and slight distress in his voice. The whole room began to violently shake. The bones in the room rattled and shook violently and loud footsteps could be heard approaching the wooden doors. Fearing what was to come the mail quickly ran over to the Necromancer's throne and placed two of his fingers in the eye sockets of one of the skulls. When he pulled the skull like this it caused a door ro open behind the throne that revealed a small cache. It wasn't a way out but at least this gave them a chance to prepare. Inside the small closet were a number of weapons including 4 long and 4 short katanas. These swords most likely belonged to Kyuzo and his brothers. There were several bottles with various liquids inside of them. None of them were labeled but the majority had red liquid inside.

There were a number of different spell tomes all of which looked hand written as well as armor, large and small shields, swords, spears, maces and an outfit that looked like it would fit the necromancer.

Spoiler:

"Quickly, take anything you can usee and prepare for a fight." the male said as he quickly took one set of the samurai swords giving him both a long and short sword. He picked out some light chain mail armor and through it on to protect himself, readying for the battle that was to come.

Pine Grove | Chronomacer's Tower

Seki had managed to avoid most of the traps due to her prior experience with similar layouts build by the dwarves in the mountains. Her soldiers however weren't so lucky. Most of the ones that had ran ahead were already killed either by traps or by the metal guardians within. The metal minions however were no match for the necromancer. In addition to being powerful it seemed she had a rather quick reaction time. However most of her undead had been defeated and she was left to fend off the dangers of this tower and the approaching heroes alone. ("This is getting dangerous. If i don't find that book soon...) She simply shrugged off the thought and continued on through the tower in search of the book she had came for.

Meanwhile a bit further back in the tower. Zena had just finished taking out a small wave of undead worries and Zero had finally caught up to them. Seki was surprised to see him back so quickly. She had prevented him from bleeding out and had restored most of his strength but it wasn't natural for him to be back at 100% so quickly. "Zero!, you're alright!" she said in an excited voice. she was clearly released to see her friend. She ran back over to him to give closer inspection, just to make sure he was actually healed and her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. "I don't understand. How did you..."

[Zekai]

Pine Grove - Chronomacer's Tower

Zena came to Zero when she saw he was back and looked at him a bit confused in how he recovered so quickly. "A few minutes after you left, I sent a wind message to Bayuu for an apple and it reached her because one grew and I ate half of it and gave the other half to Saru, who is being treated by that girl and so I came to catch up." Zero said explaining why he recovered quickly. "Also, I'm sorry for you seeing me like this." He said looking at his left side. "I bet all these scales and arm looks disgusting to you." He said looking down and away from her. Zero's body from his left cheek to his knee was covered in scales, but only the outer left, as well as his entire arm was covered and his fingertips were clawed, just like a Jin dragon. Even his left eye was a dragon's eye. Zero then heard Braum asking what's wrong. Zero glared at him again. "I don't care if it was a misunderstanding or not. The fact that you let that necro escape without asking what was happening first irritates me and not only that, my Jin half is getting some bad vibes from you." Zero answered him while keeping his guard up.

[Kristia]

Pine Grove | Bone dragon Fortress


The yaju would have commented on how did the human male knew about the storage and the knowledge of what weapons and armor he got, yet her focus was still on the chest, she just knew there was something here due to the trap that was activated. "If you can, keep that storage open, IŽll take the tomes and two of those bottles" she said focusing more on opening the chest, she could feel the mechanism of the trap with her now water mixed with dirt and dust, she was almost to the point of forcing the lock, but she did her best to open it without breaking the lock.

Then an odd sphere appeared around the fox and she heard a message from the jin hybrid, she just shook her head ("The young one is too reckless for his own good, he will get himself killed or at least lose the ability to fight.") she thought and looked at the swordsman "I assume you saw the nechromancer girl opening the storage" she spoke still calm despite the possible danger that was coming closer, she could feel it with her senses, but she kept her demeanor and professionalism in the current task.

[Tewi_Inaba]

Pine Grove | Chronomacer's Tower

Zena hadn't noticed it at first, but Zero seemed quite hostel towards Braum. His distrust was understandable but this wasn't the time for such arguing. She wasn't angry at either of them but she needed a way to dispel the boy's anger and get her point across. She grabbed the human side of Zero's cheek between two fingers and gave it a sturdy pull. It was enough to hurt him slightly but the elf would never do anything truly harmful to him. Once this had gotten his attention she spoke. "Now isn't the time to be arguing amongst ourselves. We need all the help we can get in this fight." she said ("That and these dungeon raids are always a lot easier with a tank") she thought in addition to her words. She then released the boy's cheek and looked ahead. the was the necromancer had gone was clearly marked by broken traps and defeated robotic enemies. It seemed that the tower's self defense mode had been activated. How strange.

Pine Grove | Bone dragon Fortress

As instructed. the male quickly brought the yaju the books she requested as well as two bottles of the red liquid. with no label on and no sent coming from the bottle, one would have to open it to discover what was inside. The man then stood between Nera and the door where the loud footsteps were coming from. He didn't know how well he could stand against whatever monster was approaching but if it gave Nera a chance to do what was needed then he would try holding it off until she was ready. "Ay, most of those weapons were intentionally left dull to prevent them from being fetal. That way she could torture us longer." He said. It was probably obvious how he had seen it being opened. He saw it open each and every time Seki wanted to beat him or one of his brothers when she was selecting her weapon. From the looks of it she seemed to favor one of the maces.

The lock Nera was trying to pick would eventually click as though it had been unlocked. however nothing happened. The chest was still locked tight and could not be opened. Like most things in this fortress, it seemed the chest was protected by magic. The loud footsteps grew closer and closer until finally they reached the throne room. I large skeleton in black steel armor stepped through the closed doors, using the purple skull as some sort of one way rift to enter the room without needing to use the doors. His armor covered him from his shoulders to his tows, leaving his skull and arms exposed. There was a flat skull at the front chest plate of his armor with two red lights shining from it's eye sockets. He held two large battle axes in each hand where the blades were on both sides oh the axe. Around the creatures neck he wore a key that was the same shape and size as the key hole Nera had been trying to pick But the strangest detail about this character was a single sock that he wore over his armor on his right foot. Within the stiches of the sock were the words "Mr. Socks".

As the creature spoke, Nera may have recognized this voice as the one which continuously spoke inside her head. "You're not leaving this room alive" He told them as he prepared himself for the fight. The skeleton let out a powerful roar as the eyes on his armor glowed brightly. Blacke flames shot out from his armor, covering his skull and arms in these dark flames. However the fire didnt' seem to hurt the undead, in fact he seemed to enjoy being burnt by them. However this worrier was still Seki's minion and as such he had to abide by her morals. This meant giving the duo a chance to live. "Surrender or die!" He demanded at the two of them as he waited for their response.

[Kristia]

Pine Grove | Bone dragon Fortress


Cursing at the lock being still inplace despite the fact of hearing its mechanism being opened, Nera now focused on the tomes and vials that the male human brought "All right, IŽll examine these two after making a sweep through the tomes" she spoke while turning around towards the source of the footsteps. Sure, another minion appeared, and it appeared menacing enough to wet the breeches of a kid "At least we are getting into important beings" she commented gesturing to the key hanging around the skeletonŽs neck. The yaju unsheathed her layered steel longsword and was already walking on a circle, examining the possible foe.

The vixen couldnŽt help but chuckle at the voice "Someone seems to find me attractive, following me around and even having the manners to ask me to live" she said with a faint smirk "Although I do have to ask the name of the warrior in front of me" she asked. Something that the yaju wanderer tried to do was first to avoid bloodsheds by trying to make an agreement with both parties, sometimes it worked and enemies could get in a grey solution, but in other cases, it would fail and she would have to use her combat skills.

[Tewi_Inaba]

Pine Grove | Bone dragon Fortress

The undead worrier took the drawing of the Yaju's blade as a sign of war, and as such he intended to win. After all there was no way for the yaju or the prisoner to leave without the key hanging around the worriers neck and there was no way in hell they were getting it without a fight. Once again the worrier was bound by the morals of his master to do something he usually wouldn't. Since that's your final request tell you. While I've long since forgotten my true name, My master calls me... Mister Socks." With the skeletons final words, dark flames shot out from his gauntlets and covered each of his weapons in a dark fire. Mr. Socks proved to be quite quick for someone wearing as much armor as he was. He quickly rushed the fox with the intention quickly crush her with one of his sharp fire engulfed blades. An attack like this would surely prove fetal if allowed to be completed.