(c) 2007 - 2008 by LFox
A World Apart
Chapter 11: The Ruins of Kankin

The next day the gang meets up with Elwyn again in Eden.  After a good night’s rest and being cared for by the priests she looks to be in perfect health again.  After saying their greetings she quickly teleports them over to the town of Ralion.

Jessica quickly glances around and breaths a sigh of relief.  “Thank god it’s the right place”

Elwyn gives a weak laugh.  “Don’t worry I, I won’t be making that same mistake again”

“So…what are we doing today?” asks Jessica.

“Why don’t we go to a crypt?  I’d like to try taking on some skeletons and wraiths” says Elisha.

Nathan looks at her blankly.  “How do you even kill wraiths?”

“I looked it up.  Wraiths can be killed using soulshot, spiritshot or holy magic”

“Do we even have soulshot?” asks Jessica.

Elisha taps her bow.  “My bow can do it”

Nathan unsheathes his sword and holds it up.  “I think my sword can do it too”.  He tilts his sword to inspect the handle and presses down on it.  The very bottom of the handle slides out revealing a small vial of green liquid.  “Yeah, it can”.  He quickly clicks the vial back into place.

Jessica quickly takes out her sword and inspects the base finding an ejectable vial full of blue liquid.  “Mine can too”

They all suddenly turn to look at Elwyn.  She looks at them in surprise a moment then holds out her staff and looks it over.  “I guess mine should have it too but where?”

Elisha cups her chin in thought for a moment then notices the crystal on the staff.  “What about the crystal?”

Elwyn glances at the crystal and inspects the base below it finding a small section that can be slid out with a vial of red liquid.  “That’s it”

“Good all we need to do now is figure out a place to go”.  They all go deep in thought as they try to think of a location to go to.  After several moments Elisha lets out a sigh.  “I should have checked for locations we could go to”

“Mmm maybe we should ask someone?” suggests Elwyn.

Elisha clicks her fingers as she suddenly remembers something.  “Oh wait, the library.  It has a full listing of all locations as well as the creatures that are encountered in them”

“Let’s go there then” says Jessica.  She suddenly looks around in confusion.  “Uhh, which way is it?”

Elwyn smiles and points down the street.  “It’s not far it’s over that way”

The four of then slowly start walking down the street as they head toward the library.  Halfway there Elwyn’s necklace suddenly floats off her neck.  They quickly turn to the side to find a human female with a smug smile on her face while she spins the necklace around her finger.

The mage in question has long black hair down to her shoulders and a set of cold blue eyes.  Her clothes are a magnificent set of white and gold clothes made up of a set of gloves, a pair of 4 inch high heel boots with white stockings going up to her thighs, a short skirt and a small sleeveless top.  On her ears she has a set of gold earrings, around her neck she has a brilliant gold chain and on her fingers she has several gold rings with jewels.  Most noticeable of all though is the odd white and gold symbol that’s embroidered on her top on the right hand side.

Elwyn glares at the woman angrily.  “Hey give that back, that’s mine”

The woman smirks.  “Not anymore”.  Elwyn angrily clenches her hand into a fist which quickly starts glowing with blue magical energy.  “Oh, little newbie wants to try to take on an S grader huh?”

Suddenly a male human fighter wearing a set of brilliant white and gold plate armor with the same symbol comes over and slugs the woman in the face full force knocking her to the ground.  She quickly sits up with a hand to her face with blood running down her chin.  He puts a foot to her hand holding the necklace and leans on it painfully.  She groans out in pain and quickly drops the necklace.  He gently picks it up and tosses it to Elwyn.

He turns to them and bows.  “I apologize for her actions”.  He turns back around to face the mage and lifts her up by the hair.  “That’s it, that was your final chance you’re out of the clan.  S grade mage my ass, you can only cast a single non newbie spell”

She looks up at him with wide frightened eyes.  “Wait, wait give me another chance, please”

He glares at her coldly.  “You’ve already had plenty of chances and you screwed them all up.  Don’t even think to try to rejoin us with another character either, trust me we’ll know it’s you”

He pushes her away and aims a hand at her.  A ball of fire quickly flies out and hits her in the chest.  Unlike normal fire the flames quickly engulf her entire body.  She instinctively drops to the ground screaming and rolls around frantically trying to put out the flames.  After several moments she stops as the flames disappear only now she’s completely naked, her clothes, her jewelry everything is gone leaving her completely butt naked.  She looks down at her body and quickly covers herself then runs off into the crowd.

The man watches her disappear into the crowd then turns back to the gang and bows again.  “I’m sorry you had to see that and I apologize for the trouble”

“So she was a clan member of yours?” asks Elisha.

“Not anymore”

“You didn’t have to expel her on our account” says Elwyn.

The man shakes his head.  “Don’t worry I didn’t.  This is actually the third time she’s done something like this.  Our clan is a peaceful and law abiding kind.  We don’t take kindly to actions like she was doing.  Oh forgive me I forgot to introduce myself I’m Darrel Vance vice commander of the Celestial Legion.  I don’t suppose any of you are interested in joining a clan are you?”

Nathan waves his hand.  “Uh, thanks but we’d prefer to stick to our small group I think”

“Fair enough.  If you change your mind we’re always looking for new members regardless of skill level.  One of our clan halls is located here in Ralion you can stop by anytime to sign up”

“Just how large is your clan?” asks Elisha.

Darrel cups his chin in thought for a moment.  “Currently…I think we have forty-three hardcore players, sixty-seven casual players and fifty-five NPCs.  We have a castle, four clan halls, two training academies and three warehouses”

Jessica’s eyes widen in surprise.  “Wow, that’s a large clan”

“We’ve been around since the late days of the beta so we’ve gotten quite large and powerful”

“Interesting that you also recruit NPCs” says Elisha.

Darrel nods in agreement.  “It is somewhat unusual but our leader wanted no exceptions and I stand by her decision.  Well anyway I’ve got to get going, if you change your mind please stop by one of our clan halls.  We provide high end equipment and training for free in our clan”

With that Darrel turns and walks off slowly, disappearing into the crowd.  After a moment Elwyn smiles.  “Let’s carry on to the library shall we?”

Several minutes later they walk into the library.  Inside hundreds of shelves are lined with literally thousands of books.  People of all races are walking around staring at the shelves intently as they try to find what their after.  Over on the far side by the tables are a row of blue magic consoles made up of a transparent blue keyboard and a transparent monitor.  As the gang walks in they look around the library for several moments before Elisha leads them over to a magic console that’s unused.  Elisha quickly goes to work on the console flipping through the prompts.

“Let’s see, crypts, D grade, wraiths” says Elisha.  A list of locations matching those details quickly appears on the screen.  “Okay we got three in this region.  There’s Vena, Nyth and Kankin”

“Why don’t we go to Kankin we haven’t been there yet” says Nathan.

Elisha nods.  “Okay, that one is…”.  Elisha quickly brings up a map of where Kankin is located.  “Ah it’s far west in the silkwood forest”

Jessica turns pale.  “Ugh silkwood forest?”

“You’ve been there?” asks Elwyn.

Jessica nods slowly.  “Yeah, not a too nice place”

Elisha turns to stare at her.  “I don’t know why your complaining when I’m the one that almost got killed.  Besides we’ll be teleporting straight out to Kankin so we won’t have to deal with any spiders”

Elwyn smiles.  “Well if everyone’s ready I can teleport us out now”

“We’re ready”

Elwyn quickly concentrates and after a moment she motions her staff.  Several moments later the four of them appear in silkwood forest outside a massive crypt entrance much like the other two they visited except for a total lack of light at the bottom of the staircase.  Jessica steps forward to stare into the pitch black darkness the stairs disappear into.  She quickly steps back and looks at the others with a slightly pale face.

“Uh, you know, thinking about it we should probably, umm look around for some wood for uh, uh, torches” says Jessica.

Elwyn holds out her hand in front of her and a small globe of white light quickly appears in her hand.  Elwyn smiles warmly at Jessica.  “Don’t worry I can light the place”

Jessica stares at the globe of light seeming rather disappointed and depressed.  “Oh”

“Let’s go”

Elwyn floats ahead down the stairs lighting the way with Elisha and Nathan following close by.  Jessica on the other hand stands there watching as they descend into the darkness.

“Uh guys, you know…guys?  Uh guys?  HEY, damnit” says Jessica.

She quickly runs down the stairs after them looking rather scared.  As they come to the bottom of the stairs they stare ahead at the total darkness in the dungeon.

“Man its dark don’t things in here need light to see?” asks Nathan.

“There should be some sort of lighting in this crypt.  Maybe we’ll find some further in?” says Elwyn.

The four of them quickly start walking down the hallway.  Jessica stays extremely close as she glances around them fearfully into the darkness.

“You okay?” asks Elisha.

Jessica jumps in fright at the sound of her words.  “Y-yeah”

Elisha looks at her confused.  “Are you scared?”

Jessica quickly shakes her head.  “No, no I’m not”

“Say that reminds me.  Jess weren’t you scared of the dark?  Or strange dark places at the very least?” asks Nathan.

Elisha smirks.  “Oh that’s right.  I’d forgotten about that”.  Elisha throws an arm around Jessica and shows her a huge smug smile.  “Don’t worry Jessie I’ll protect you”

Jessica quickly gets depressed.  “I don’t need you protecting me”

Elisha sighs as she realizes she shouldn’t be teasing her in the current situation.  “Look don’t worry.  There’s nothing to be worried about in this darkness right?”

Elwyn puts a finger to her chin and thinks a moment.  “Actually there could be wraiths or shadows around here.  They’d probably pop out from the walls or behind us though”.  Jessica quickly turns pale.  After a moment Elwyn realizes what she said and turns pale herself then turns to look at Jessica.  “Uh what I meant to say was there’s nothing to worry about at the moment so don’t worry”

Elisha stares at Elwyn accusingly.  “Remind me to never ask you again for reassurance on something”

Elwyn turns pale.  “S-sorry”.  She clicks her fingers.  “I got an idea”

The orb in Elwyn’s hand radiates with energy briefly then she flicks her wrist.  The orb flies out and speeds down the hallway leaving a trail of glittering white light particles floating in the air as it does.  As the orb reaches the end of the hallway it disappears leaving the mystical trail of white light hanging in the air.  The trail of light itself hangs in the air descending at such a slow pace that it’s hardly noticeable.  Meanwhile the light from the trail illuminates the entire area allowing them to see everything perfectly.

Elwyn turns and smiles at Jessica.  “There we go how’s that?”

Jessica lets out a sigh.  “Now we can actually see if something comes”

Nathan rubs the back of his head as he stares at the trail of light.  “That’s a neat trick.  How long will the light last?”

Elwyn smiles.  “Probably about half an hour, more than long enough for us to pass through this area”

Elisha turns to Jessica.  “Feel better now?”

Jessica nods silently.  After walking together silently down the hallway for a while Jessica finally decides to speak up.

“You know I was thinking of becoming a paladin” says Jessica.

Nathan looks at her surprised.  “You want to become a paladin?”

Jessica nods.  “Mmm hmm”

“Why?”

“Well we need a healer in our group.  We’ve all gotten hurt and every time we have to rush back to town.  Look at yesterday Elwyn almost died because she got sick and we were stuck in the desert.  What do you thinks gonna happen if one of us gets seriously hurt and we can’t get back to town quickly?”

Elisha thinks for several moments then puts on a serious expression.  “You know, Jess is right.  We’ve been coming here for fun but when you think about it we’ve been playing a dangerous game by not having a healer with us.  If she becomes a paladin then we’ll have a healer plus she can still participate in close combat like she usually does”

Nathan raises an eyebrow.  “Do you even know what it takes to become a paladin?”

Jessica thinks for a moment then shakes her head.  “Not really”

Nathan glances away and scratches the side of his face nervously.  “You, you have to…”

“You have to be chastised by having your labia sewn together” says Elisha.

Jessica turns pale and stares at her in disbelief.  “S-seriously?”

Elisha smirks.  “Without anesthetic”.  Jessica’s face turns even paler.  “But that’s AFTER you pass the various trials and have the ceremony.  You see a priest or paladin’s power comes from their purity so if they lose their virginity they lose their power to cast holy spells all together.  Because of this their chastised with specially enchanted thread that’s harder than steel, to prevent them from being raped and losing their power”

“I see…you seem to know an awful lot about this”

Elisha glares at Jessica.  “Unlike SOME people I read the manual”

“That’s actually one of the reasons why I’ve never tried to become a priest” says Elwyn.

Elisha looks at Elwyn curiously.  “What are the others then?”

“I don’t know I just have a bigger interest in destructive magic”.  Her expression quickly darkens with an evil grin.  “Sometimes it’s just fun to blow things up”

“R-ight, well that makes sense I guess”

Jessica sighs.  “Well anyway…I, I still think we should have a priest in our group”

Elisha leans in to Jessica and whispers.  “You sure you wanta do that?  It means you can’t have sex, especially with Nathan.  At least the proper way”

Jessica glares at Elisha and whispers.  “If that happens it’s gonna happen in the real world anyway”

“What did you two say?” asks Nathan.

Jessica waves her hands in front of her.  “Nothing nothing, just girl talk”.  Nathan stares at them curiously.  Elisha suddenly smirks brightly.  Jessica turns pale and quickly throws her hands over Elisha’s mouth and whispers.  “Don’t you dare tell him”

As the gang turn around the corner they come to a massive hallway lit with torches with several exits.  Inside the hallway are several large stone pillars on either side holding up the ceiling as well as a dozen elvin skeletons wandering around aimlessly.  Hearing the footsteps the skeletons stop and turn to the gang.  After several moments everyone draws their weapons.

An arrow flies out taking off a skeleton’s head.  As its head flies backwards its body falls forward flat on the ground and falls to pieces.  Elwyn flies forward slightly and throws two large orbs of blue ice magic from right hand.  The orbs of magic fly out and hit a pair of skeletons dead on in the face shattering their skulls and causing their bodies to flop to the ground as a scattered pile of bones.

Jessica dashes ahead and stops in front of a group of skeletons.  She whips her sword to the side slicing a skeleton in half then twirls around and slams her sword down on skeletons head splitting its body in half.  Not to be left out Nathan quickly joins Jessica and cleaves three skeletons skulls in half.  With only four skeletons remaining they each pick their own target and quickly finish them off.  Afterward the gang stand in the middle of the room looking over the scattered bones that remain of the skeletons.

“Well they were easy” says Elwyn.

“A little too easy if you ask me” says Elisha.

“LOOK OUT” yells Nathan.

He knocks Jessica to the ground stopping her from losing her head as a massive transparent scythe slashes through the air.  When Jessica finally looks up she sees a transparent skeleton hanging over them holding a massive black scythe in his hands and wearing a heavy tattered robe that shows no signs of his feet.  Elwyn throws her hand forward and a blue orb of ice magic flies out at the skeleton.  Instead of making contact though the orb flies straight through and hits the wall making a large frost mark on the stone.

“It’s definitely a spirit” says Elwyn.

Nathan and Jessica quickly back away from the skeleton with their weapons ready.

“Everyone get your soulshot ready” says Nathan.

One after another their weapons spark over with a glow of energy, blue for Elisha and Jessica, Green for Nathan and Red for Elwyn.  Jessica charges forward at the skeleton and follows it as it backs away toward a pillar.  As she strikes at the skeleton it passes through the pillar and her sword smashes into the heavy pillar leaving a light cut on the surface.

As she pulls her sword away from the pillar the skeletons scythe passes through the pillar horizontally.  Noticing it just in the nick of time she ducks, narrowly avoiding it as several strands of her hair are sliced with the heavy blade.

“Jess be careful” says Nathan.

“I didn’t know it can attack through the pillar” says Jessica.

Elwyn and Elisha quickly go around the room on either side getting in front of and behind the skeleton.  Elisha stares at the skeletons front and pulls back an arrow.  Behind Elwyn plants her staff tightly against the ground and a ball of blue ice energy forms in the air in front of it.  Both of the girls look at each other and launch their attacks at the same time.  The skeleton turns to look at Elwyn and slowly sinks into the ground.

Elwyn and Elisha both turn pale as their attacks fly towards each other.  Elisha quickly ducks narrowly avoiding Elwyn’s attack as it slams into the wall cracking the area around it and covering the wall in a thick sheet of ice.  Elwyn steps to the side barely avoiding Elisha’s arrow as it hits the wall to the side of her head.  Safe both of the girls let out a heavy sigh.

“I guess that wasn’t such a smart idea” says Elisha.

“My fault, I agreed on it” says Elwyn.

Elwyn glances down at her feet and notices part of the skeletons scythe pass through the floor.  She turns pale and quickly rises in the air.  Moments after she does the scythe slices through the floor where her legs previously were.

“How are we supposed to kill that thing?” asks Jessica.

“We can’t if it keeps passing through the walls and floors” says Nathan.

“That does it” says Elwyn angrily.

She changes her stance in the air so she’s floating horizontally looking down at the floor.  She motions her staff around in the air a moment then thrusts the tip toward the floor.  A massive jet of blue energy flies out from the staff head and smashes through the floor leaving a large hole.  Elwyn stares at the hole for a moment then flies through it to the level below.  She glances around a moment then spots the skeleton across from her near the ceiling.

“Elisha shoot the ground below you” yells Elwyn.

Elisha steps back and fires an arrow at the ground.  Just as her arrows about to hit the floor the skeleton rises up through it.  The skeleton jerks back as the arrow rips through its shoulder with a brilliant crackle of blue energy.  It quickly rises up fully through the floor clutching its scythe tightly as it glares at her angrily.

Elisha smirks at the skeleton and it turns to the side just in time to see Jessica running at it.  She thrusts her sword forwards impaling the skeleton and pins it against the wall.  Jessica smiles evilly at the skeleton and it begins to move.

“Activate soulshot” yells Nathan.

Jessica’s sword flashes over with blue energy again and she quickly pulls it back ripping it out through the side of the skeletons body.  Nathan throws his sword at the skeleton and it spins through the air before finally skewering the skeletons head and embedding itself in the wall.  The skeleton shrieks loudly and quickly fades from existence.  After a moment Elwyn teleports in near them and they all breath a sigh of relief.

Jessica turns and glares at Nathan.  “I hope to god you’re good at throwing that thing because you coulda taken off my head”

Nathan smiles softly.  “Don’t worry I wouldn’t have thrown it with you there unless I was sure it’d hit”.  Nathan quickly walks over to the wall to retrieve his weapon.

“That thing was quite a bit of trouble” says Elisha.

“Yeah you know I think we gotta be careful and not let our guard dow…” says Jessica.

Elisha notices Jessica’s stare at her as she stops mid sentence.  In one swift motion her bow flashes with blue energy and she draws an arrow as she turns around to face yet another spirit skeleton.  The skeleton growls at her with its mouth inches from her arrowhead.  Elisha lets go of her arrow and it flies out ripping right through the skeletons head and hitting the wall on the other side.  The skeleton shrieks loudly and quickly fades from existence.

With the skeleton dead Elisha turns to the others with a serious expression.  “As Jess was saying it’s a bad idea to let our guard down when we’re out of town.  From now on let’s try to be more cautious”

They all nod in agreement and after several moments they take off again.  Elisha marks off the direction straight ahead and they quickly head down the hallway.  As they turn the corner on the end of the hall they come face to face with a massive 10ft golem.  The golem’s body is absolutely massive made out of jagged black rock and instead of a set of arms it has a set of massive jagged pillars that go from its shoulders all the way to the ground.

“Woah that things huge” says Nathan.

Hearing them the golem turns to face them and slowly walks towards them dragging its heavy pillar arms along the ground.  With every step of its feet the foundation shakes as small tremors ripple through the dungeon.

Jessica grips her sword tightly and dashes towards the golem.  She comes to a stop in front of it and slams her sword into its side full force.  Her sword unfortunately makes only a small chip and bounces off its heavy surface.

“Christ what the hell’s it made of?” asks Jessica.

The golem throws its arm out to the side smashing Jessica in the face and sending her flying back down the hall toward the others.  The others quickly rush to her and Nathan holds her in his arms.  She looks up at them dizzily with blood running down the side of her face from a massive mark on her head and several small ones on her cheek.

“You okay Jess?” asks Elisha.

“Y-yeah, jus-just fine” mumbles Jessica.

Elisha stands up and fires an arrow at the golem.  The arrow flies out and hits the golem in the face and bounces off to the side.  Elisha glares angrily at it and triggers the soulshot on her bow causing it to flash over with blue energy.  She quickly takes aim again and this time when her arrow hits it makes the slightest chip before bouncing away to the side.

“This could be a real problem” says Elisha.

Jessica sits up and shakes her head clear.  “Any ideas?”

Elwyn suddenly floats over to the golem so it pulls its arm back preparing to attack.  Before it can get a chance though, Elwyn gently pokes it on the chest with one of her fingers.  As soon as she does the golem shatters in an explosion of thousands of pieces.

Jessica stares at the destroyed golem blankly.  “It’s…dead”

Nathan nods blankly.

“Wow” says Elisha.

Elwyn turns to them with a smile.  “Not too strong against magic attacks apparently”

“I guess so” says Jessica.

“I’ll handle any other golems we run into okay?”

“Sounds like a good idea” says Elisha.

“Yeah their pretty resistant to physical attacks” says Nathan.  He stands up and helps Jessica up with a hand.  “You okay Jess?”

Jessica nods.  “Yeah I’m fine”

She reaches into her bag on her side and pulls out a cloth and wipes off the blood on her face.  When she’s done the four of them continue down the hall through a door into a large room.  Inside they find three more massive golems but in the middle of all of them is a young human man with light weight grey plate armor and a set of massive dual swords.

“We better help him” says Jessica.

Elisha holds a hand across to stop her.  “Hold on”

Suddenly the man slashes one of the golems with his swords in an X motion.  After several moments the golem’s massive stone body begins to come apart and collapses to the ground in four massive pieces.  The man quickly turns to the remaining two golems and as he runs past he slashes each of them with a sword.  As he runs out the room the two golems he attacked split in half and collapse to the ground.  The gang silently heads over to the dead golems and stares over their cleanly cut bodies.

Elisha bends down to get a closer look.  “Their cleanly cut”

Nathan turns a little pale.  “I guess you can kill them with physical attacks”

“Yeah and to think he was only human” says Jessica.

Elisha stands up and glances to the sides of the room quickly taking note of two exits then turns to the others.  “It’s probably best if we don’t follow him”

The others nod in agreement.  They head in the opposite direction pausing only briefly for Elisha to mark the direction before continuing.  For several minutes they continue through the dungeon without encountering anything until they suddenly turn the corner and find Arcueid floating along like Elwyn always does.  The gang quickly rushes over to her and she lands on the ground in front of them.

Arcueid smiles.  “We meet again”

“What are you doing down here?” asks Nathan.

“I was helping a player with a technical issue.  I’m off work for a while now though so if you four don’t mind how about I join you?”

The gang glances at each other for a moment then they all agree.  A while later the five of them are heading down a long hallway.  Elwyn and Arcueid are ahead floating side by side while the other three follow them a bit of a distance behind.

“Hey is it just me or are those two very alike?” asks Nathan.

Elisha nods her head.  “I was thinking the same”

Jessica stares at their backs for a moment.  “Mmm, now that you mention it, they are very similar”

Nathan turns to the girls.  “Coincidence?”

Elisha shakes her head.  “I doubt it.  You know I also find it hard to believe she just ran into us.  I mean come on what are the odds of that?”

Nathan nods in agreement.  “Yeah I guess it is very unlikely”

Jessica’s expression suddenly darkens and she turns back to her friends.  “Is it me or does she seem REALLY interested in Elwyn?  I mean they’ve been talking ever since we met”

Elisha nods.  “I know, that’s another thing I don’t get.  Why is she so interested in her?”

Nathan runs off ahead.  “Let’s find out”.  He stops a short distance from Elwyn and Arcueid.  “We need to talk”

Elwyn and Arcueid quickly turn around to face him as the girls catch up and stop by his side.

Elisha glares at Arcueid coldly.  “Spill it, you didn’t just bump into us did you?  You did it intentionally, why?”

Arcueid sighs and shakes her head.  “I should have thought of a better lie”

“What do you want with us?  More importantly what do you want with Elwyn?”

Arcueid looks up at Elisha with a serious expression.  “If you must know…I created her”

Elisha’s eyes go wide with shock.  “WHAT?”

Arcueid looks down and puts a hand to her face.  “Crap, I guess I just broke our rule of no interference”

Elwyn stares at Arcueid blankly.  “You, created me?”

Arcueid takes her hand away and looks up at Elwyn.  “Yeah and I’m glad I did.  You’re the cutest and sweetest NPC I’ve ever made”

“Why did you make her though?” asks Jessica.

Arcueid sighs heavily.  “Well…a couple weeks ago we were all rather bored.  One of the other world keepers suggested we each make our own NPC, one specifically how we want and watch to see what they do”

Jessica glares coldly at Arcueid and raises her voice.  “SO THIS IS A GAME TO YOU?”

Arcueid shoots Jessica an angry glare.  “Don’t make me sound like a heartless bitch.  Sure it was for fun but Elwyn is a living breathing person.  I didn’t make her to toy with her life like a cat with a mouse.  Ever since I made her I’ve been watching, watching her grow, experience things and make friends with you lot.  Never in a million years did I expect her to become such good friends with people, REAL people.  You even risked your lives, walking for days through an S grade zone to get her to a town when she became sick”

“You saw that?” asks Nathan.

Arcueid nods silently.

“So you’ve been watching us all this time?” asks Elisha.

“That’s right.  I came here today so I could talk with Elwyn.  I was curious to see face to face what kind of person she was becoming” says Arcueid.

“Just one thing, why does she float all the time?” asks Jessica.

Arcueid giggles.  “That, that’s something I tend to do all the time since I’m not used to walking.  I modeled her after myself, or rather the person I wanted to be”

“So, you’re, you’re basically my, my, mother?” asks Elwyn.

Arcueid turns to Elwyn in surprise then thinks about it a moment.  “Well, I suppose in a way”

Elwyn throws her arms around Arcueid and hugs her with tears in her eyes.

Arcueid looks at Elwyn with worried eyes.  “I’m sorry, did I upset you?”

Elwyn shakes her head.  “No, I’m happy.  I’m glad you told me”

Arcueid hugs Elwyn back with a warm smile.  “I’m glad you found such good friends”

“So are you going to continue watching her, and us?” asks Elisha.

Arcueid smiles.  “Of course.  I want to see all the adventures she has, how she grows up and who she meets”.  She pulls away from Elwyn and looks at her.  “I’ve gotta get going now.  I want you to know though that even though I may not be around to help you, I will ALWAYS be watching over you”.  Elwyn nods silently then Arcueid turns to the others.  “Please, take good care of her”.  With that Arcueid’s body disappears in a rush of white particles as she teleports out.

Elwyn wipes the tears from her eyes with a hand.  “I, I can’t believe she made me”

“You okay?” asks Nathan.

Elwyn smiles and nods.  Suddenly the wall explodes as a female succubus wearing heavy black saserion armor comes flying through.  She flies through the air briefly before her back smashes into the wall.

Through the broken segment of the wall a loud female voice yells out.  “I’m gonna fucking kill you Jaime”

A second female succubus wearing heavy black saserion armor flies through the hole and lands in front of the other.  She draws back her hand then starts wildly punching at Jaime.  Her hands move so fast they become a blur leaving motion trails and giving the illusion that she might actually have twenty hands instead of two.

With each heavy punch the foundation cracks and the entire dungeon around them shakes from the sheer force.  As she continues her assault a massive groove begins to form where Jaime is pinned against the wall and as the punches continue her armor starts to crack and small pieces begin to break off.

After what seems like forever Jaime manages to raise a hand and punch the other succubus in the face sending her flying away.  Before she can get far however Jaime steps forward and grabs her foot then begins spinning in a circle, whirling her around the room.  Suddenly she lets go, the succubus flies through the air and smashes back through the stone wall near the other hole.  Jaime flaps her heavy armor plated wings and flies off after her through the hole.

Nathan turns to the girls in shock.  “What the hell’s going on?”

Around them the dungeon continues to shake from their heavy blows as they continue to beat each other senseless.

Elisha shakes her head.  “I don’t know but this place feels like its falling apart”

Jessica walks over to the wall and kneels down to inspect the broken shards of black armor.  She puts a hand around a piece and almost falls over as she tries to pick it up.  Realizing the sheer weight it holds she gets a better grip and with both hands she lifts the small shard of armor into the air.

“Wow, this stuff is heavy” says Jessica.

The others quickly race over to Jessica to look at the armor shard in her hands.

“What type of armor is that?” asks Nathan.

“Saserion, it’s demon armor.  It weighs one hundred times more than steel and it’s fifty times as strong” says Elisha.

“They can actually wear that?  And it broke?” asks Elwyn.

“Demons are in a whole other class”

Jessica drops the armor shard and the four of them quickly run over to one of the holes in the wall.  On the other side they can see the two succubi still fighting, smashing each other into walls.

Elwyn looks down the right side and her eyes go wide.  “Oh my god, look at that”

The others quickly turn to the right and their mouths open in shock.  Down the hallway is at least four dozen creatures, golems, skeletons and wraiths all just standing around watching as the two succubi fight.

“Why aren’t they attacking?” asks Jessica.

“Their probably too afraid to attack” says Elisha.

Suddenly the other succubus goes flying, she smashes into a golem standing around and it completely shatters from the sheer force of it.  Jaime quickly flies over and before the other succubus can have a chance to get up she starts slamming her foot down on her chest.  The creatures around them back off slightly and several skeletons even turn tail and run in fear.

“Are they trying to kill each other?” asks Jessica.

Elwyn nods blankly.  “Yeah, I, I’d say so”

As Jaime raises her foot up again the other succubus kicks her in the back knocking her off balance slightly.  Using it to her advantage she quickly springs to her feet and grabs Jaime in a headlock and starts choking her.  Seeing their going to kill each other Jessica runs out and stops in front of the pair.

“STOP FIGHTING” yells Jessica.

The pair of succubi look up at Jessica and glare at her angrily for a second before yelling together.  “GET LOST”

Jessica cowers slightly from their words and watches them silently as they continue.  Jaime starts smashing her elbow back into the other succubi’s stomach.  Her grip quickly weakens and Jaime manages to pull out of the headlock.  She spins around and kicks the other succubus in the face sending her flying through the wall.  The ceiling overhead suddenly splits across and a massive piece falls down right over Jessica’s head.

“Look out” yells Nathan.

He rushes forward and jumps at Jessica knocking her out of the way just in time to avoid them being crushed by the massive slab of stone.  The other two girls quickly rush over to check if their alright.

“Are you two alright?” asks Elwyn.

Jessica nods silently.

“We gotta get outta here, this whole place is gonna come down” says Nathan.

“Yeah and their not gonna stop until they kill each other” says Elisha.

Nathan quickly helps Jessica to her feet and the four of them rush back through the hole they came through and start running down the hallway.  Overhead the ceiling begins to crack everywhere and large sections begin to collapse as all support begins to give way.  As they pass through a T junction suddenly the whole ceiling area behind them collapses.  They all quickly stop and turn behind them to stare at the 20ft pile of rubble and debris.

“Oh my god” says Jessica.

“Do you think they’re still alive?” asks Elwyn.

Nathan shakes his head.  “I don’t know”

Small tremors shake the walls near them and Elisha listens intently for a moment.  “They’re still fighting.  The walls are shaking”

“Isn’t that just from the ceiling collapsing?” asks Elwyn.

Elisha shakes her head.  “No, this isn’t like that”

Elwyn looks around at the walls as they continue to shake.  “Let’s get out of here before the entire place collapses on us”

“Good idea, we can’t help them anyway.  They seem pretty hell bent on killing each other” says Nathan.

Elwyn motions her staff  and they quickly disappear as they teleport out.  Several moments after they do the entire ceiling area where they were standing collapses.  Back in town the four of them stand around looking at each other.

“I wonder why they were fighting” says Jessica sadly.

“Who knows” says Elwyn.

Elisha sighs.  “Well that cut our trip short but it’s definitely been an eventful day”

“The important thing is we all got out before anyone got hurt” says Nathan.

Elisha nods.  “True, so where are we gonna head now?”

“I’m calling it a day.  You guys can come with you want.  Logout…confirm logout” says Jessica.  Jessica’s body shatters into white particles that quickly disappear.

“She seemed pretty down” says Elwyn.

Nathan sighs.  “Well, I think we was hoping to stop them from fighting”

Elisha shakes her head.  “I don’t think even the world ending would have stopped them from fighting.  So, are you logging out too or you staying?”

Nathan smiles.  “I think I’ll stay and keep Elwyn company.  What about you?”

Elisha cups her chin and goes deep into thought.  “Mmm, to be honest I got some things I should probably do.  So I guess I’ll see you two tomorrow”

Elwyn waves with a smile.  “Bye”

“See ya” says Nathan.

As Elisha’s body disappears as she logs out Elwyn stares at Nathan intently.  “You don’t have things to do?”

Nathan smiles.  “Not really.  So you wanta go for a walk?”

Elwyn smiles.  “Sure”

To be Continued

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