Venturing Into The Depths

Venturing Into The Depths
Date of Scene:	03 March 2014
Location:	Mountainside
Synopsis:	A greedy elf and a wise-cracking joker plunge into the depths of a ruined, underground city in search of a rumored wishing spring. Nonsense ensues.
Cast of Characters:	Lumeria, Raine Arland

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Raine Arland has posed:
It's been a while since...well, things happened. The worlds hadn't heard much from Raine, or Lumeria, in a while. What /were/ these two up to anyway?

Pan over to the Northeastern Mountainside on the Northern Continent of the World of Ruin and you'd have your answer.

"I'm beginning to wonder if that information broker wasn't totally just jipping us..." Raine mumbled, hands grasping an opened map in front of his as he casually walked along the rough, mostly unbeaten path before them. The road was rocky and rife with obstacles. Large stones to climb over, gaps to jump, and the occasional monster. Needless to say, it wasn't a pleasure trip.

"A legendary spring said to grant any wish to the one who comes upon it...sounds pretty enticing, huh Lumeria?" Grinning, the young man looked away from his map and slightly behind him at the elven girl in his company.

How /was/ she holding up with the mountain hike anyway?

Lumeria has posed:
"If it were easy to access, the spring would have been drained a lot time ago." Lumeria is starting to think it's unlikely as well but it was worth looking into. She's clearly tired from all the climbing. While she was in a bit better shape then before she's still a squishy mage. She dusts herself off a bit taking a moment to rest.

Raine Arland has posed:
"Huh, I guess you're right." Nodding, Raine looked back ahead. Just in time for for-- "Bwah!"

...He walked facefirst into a boulder bigger than they were. ".......Ow." He grumbled, stepping back and rubbing his nose from the blunder. "Tch, I swear this road is only getting more and more impassable." Rolling his eyes, the swordman moved to step around it.

"ANYway...Try not to fall too far behind now! I hear there are some reaaaaaaaaal creepy crawlies out here that love feasting on elf flesh~" Smiling creepily, Raine wriggled his fingers in an ominous way to go with the words he was uttering. "I hear they'll grab you by your legs, and then drag you underground and strip the flesh from your bones...all while you're still conscious enough to feel it~"

How pleasant.

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria rolls her eyes at that, "If that's the case, then maybe I should wish that you were an elf so they'll eat you. Besides just because I look like a dainty teenage girl doesn't mean I'm helpless. I think you would have figured that out already." She's certainly brimming with confidence. She finds it easier to get around the boulder than he does.

Raine Arland has posed:
"Of course you're not helpless!" Raine shrugged as he followed along, chuckling to himself. "If you were, you wouldn't be here. I guess that makes you a lot more capable than the random townsperson, huuuuh?" He said that, but the grin on his face suggested that he was still making fun of her.

Regardless of that, they were making progress. It must have been afternoon by now. They'd left in the morning. So plenty of time had passed. With the occasional conversation and stupid joke thrown out.

"Right, so say this wish granting spring does exist? What the heck are we going to do with it?" As he asked, he folded his arms behind his head in a lazy fashion, staring off at the path ahead while making sure to not trip on some random rock or anything.

Lumeria has posed:
"Make a wish of course, I though that's why we were going through all this trouble to begin with? Otherwise, we're doing all this climbing for nothing." Lumeria's certainly not doing this for her healthy. "Of course, I'm the greatest white mage, I'm a lot more capable than some random townsperson." She doesn't pick up the the fact that he's making fun of her.

Raine Arland has posed:
"Make a wish...but what /kind/ of wish?" He asked, still looking entertained with himself. "I mean, I don't particularly have a wish...Kinda adverse that whole thing. I'm sure you know why." Raine laughed a little to himself at that, and kept onwards. "Plus, I gotta say, I'm not entirely sure I'd trust /you/ to make a wish."

Totally teasing her.

And Lumeria only added more ammo to Raine's arsenal. Hearing her call herself 'the greatest white mage', the swordsman had to keep himself from choking with laughter. "Ohhhh really?" And then suddenly, his left eye lit up blue. And in a flash of white light, he was right in front of the girl, arms crossed in a smug manner.

"So what kind of 'greatest white mage' can't even cast warp, huh?"

He was grinning from ear to ear by now.

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria turns a bit red at that, "The kind that's still learning dark magic and why are you going through all this trouble if you don't intend to make a wish? I could be in a library reading right now inside of going through all this trouble if I weren't going to." She's not big on physical activity after all.

"Why, what do you think I'm going to wish for? To be empress of the world?" Of course she's not going to say what she has in mind.

Raine Arland has posed:
"Ahahahahaha!" And of course, he burst out laughing at her rebuttal. "Ohhhh, this'll never get old." Raine sighed, turning around and resuming his walking. Whoops, better avoid that gap there. Twisting an ankle would just spell trouble for a long trip.

Lumeria's question bounced around in the young man's mind meanwhile. Why was he investigating this spring? "...Let's just say I'm curious." He finally answered after several moments of silence. "Something that sounds too good to be true? I've got to see it for myself of course." Asking that, Raine glanced aside at his company.

"...Empress of the world?" And then a smirk. "I wouldn't put it past you." And his smirk widened a little at that. "Either that, or a massive mountain of gold~"

Their comedy routine was cut off at that point however, as the ground began to shake. It was slow at first, but then began to grow more and more violent.

"Wh-Whoa! An earthquake!?"

Lumeria has posed:
"A mountain of gold...hmmm..." Lumeria pauses a moment to think the idea over. "It would likely fall on me." She's savvy enough to realize wishing for something that large would likely backfire on her. She can feel the ground begin to shake and nearly falls over as she tries to stay balanced. "What's going on?!" It was all so sudden.

Raine Arland has posed:
Raine didn't get the time to make a snarky comeback regarding the gold comment, he was too busy trying to stay upright in the midst of the sudden quake. "I don't know what's going on here, but I think it'd be best if we--HUH?"

The ground began to break apart beneath his feet and suddenly, something burst up, looking vaguely like a hand, or a claw, and grasped Raine's leg. "....What the hell is thi--Gah!" And then he was pulled downwards, ground breaking apart as the young man was dragged beneath the earth. "I was just joking about all of thaaaaaaaaaaat...!" Was his fading cry as his body vanished below the earth, leaving a sizable sinkhole that led into darkness...

It would seem that Lumeria herself was missed. So much for elf flesh!

...What now?

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria's doing her best to not fall into the hole that suddenly formed as Raine's dragged down below. "I would comment on the irony of that, but I doubt he can hear me." Of course now's she stranded alone on the mountain. It would be difficult to climb back down on her own. She looks down into the sinkhole casting a light spell to see into the darkness below and where Raine might have ended up.

Raine Arland has posed:
Casting the light down into the opening below, Lumeria would see what seems to be the beginning of curious stone structures. What she can see is rather dilapidated, and it's seen better days. But it is definitely man made. Like some manner of ancient city long lost to the eyes of man.

She should decide to descend, she'll find the hole narrow at first, but eventually widening out into a series of underground ruins.

A ledge overlooking the ruins beyind would become her foothold, with a bit of a climb to get down to the actual ancient city below.

Raine was nowhere to be found. Not even a peep.

Lumeria has posed:
Of course the stone structures make Lumeria curious, so she decides to descend using a rope to climb down instead of jumping. That and she doesn't have really other choice here. She might be right about what she said before and the spring might be long since gone. Of course that still leaves the question to where Raine might have gone.

Raine Arland has posed:
As Lumeria made her way down into the ruined city, a shadow quickly dipped by and vanished behind a building. The same thing happened in another location. And then another.

...She wasn't alone down here, that was for sure. But what could it be? Who knew. Indeed, Raine was nowhere to be found still, not even a single clue as to where he might have gotten off to. And there were quite a few stone buildings about.

If there were anything that could be considering important or a kind of landmark, one would have to look to the center, and an empty water fountain within the abandoned square. There was also a tall building nearby. A sort of tower that reached about the roofs of the other structures.

Now, where would she go...?

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria notices the faint shadows, she knows Raine has to be down here somewhere but were they not alone? She notices the empty water fountain and frowns a bit. The people that lived her had to have had water at some point and that means it was likely the same source as the spring. She figures there might be a library, archives or somewhere else where knowledge is kept and that might be worth looking into. Of course it was odd there was no bones or anything left of the city's former residents. She makes her way towards the tower figuring it would make a good vantage point to see the rest of the town.

Raine Arland has posed:
Several more quick movements were made as the girl moved through the ruined streets. But no hostile movements were made.

As Lumeria made her way to the tower doors, something peculiar happened as she walked under an overpass.

...Something wet and slimy landed on her shoulder. A clear substance that must have been saliva, or drool or something.

Well that wasn't exactly pleasant. ...What was up there?

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria can feel the saliva hit her bare shoulder and cringes a bit at that. She must be heading the right direction at least as she opens the tower doors. It was the only lead she has to work with at the moment. Hopefully, there wasn't some kind of giant lizard monster waiting inside to try and eat her alive.

Raine Arland has posed:
It's probably a good thing that she didn't look up. As she passed, a shuffling, scraping sound could be heard and then the presence was gone.

The Tower doors were unlocked and opened. Surprisingly, they were in okay condition, considering the rest of the place. Was someone here? Only one way to find out.

Entering into the tower, Lumeria would find the place rather unkempt. There was a spiral staircase that lead upwards along the walls, and each level was on a circular plane. Even more interestingly though, there were shelves packed with books. Books on top of books. Some had fallen into disrepair, others were strewen about the rottong tables, their pages opened and unread for ages.

And it was dark. Hopelessly dark. Thankfully the girl could create light. Otherwise she'd be in real trouble...

Shuffling sounds from the floor above didn't inspire confidence however...

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria briefly looks at all the books doing her best not to be distracted by them. There would be time to look at them later. Right now she needed to find Raine and whatever else might be inside waiting for her. Sure, they didn't get along at times, but they're still working together. All this exercise was starting to tire her, but she was doing her best to remain focused on the task at hand.

Raine Arland has posed:
There was the sound of a low hiss, followed by the sound of something cracking slowly...

Suddenly, one of the walls near the door burst open, sending stone shrapnel everywhere inside. And finally, one of those mysterious shadows revealed itself. It was a bipedal, repilian creature, not quite a dragon, but not just some run of the mill lizard either. It's body was covered in brown scales and each of it's legs held a set of razor sharp claws.

Hissing much more ferociously, the creature opened it's mouth, revealing several sets of terrifying looking fangs. And best of all, it was much bigger than the average human, at least twice, and it was on all fours.

Imagine if it stood on two.

Without giving the girl much time to process what was happening, the creature let forth a jet stream of crimson flame from it's mouth, attempting to envelop the elf in fire.

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria lets out a loud scream as she sees the lizard. She's afraid of them and runs back down the stairs as she tries to avoid being lit on fire. Of course she's quite fatigued at this point, so she's lost a step or two. She's starting to regret coming down here. Looks like Raine's on his own, unless if he can somehow convince her to quit running.

Raine Arland has posed:
Unfortunately for Lumeria, that thing wasn't going to just leave her alone. It scrambled after her, letting out angry hisses and roars as it remained on her trail. She was always just a hair away from a claw swipe or a blast of flame, but somehow, she'd managed to avoid getting caught...for now.

As she ran back out into the streets, she'd see that more of those things were waiting for her. Hanging on ledges, crawling on the sides of buildings, and in the street. There was more of them than there really was any business being.

However, a sudden pillar of white light shined off in the distance from one of the other buildings, blasting a hole through the rooftop.

...Well, with monsters blocking the way all around, it seemed like that was the best best.

The reptilian creature chasing her stopped as well, staring off at the light in a vaguely confused manner. Could this be her chance?

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria notices the pillar of light coming from one of the buildings, it seemed to distracted the reptiles so she figures it would be best to stay close to it. She wonders if their eyes were hurt by bright lights from being underground for so long but she's not going to let them get close enough to test that if possible.

Raine Arland has posed:
Lumeria is free to make a mad dash for the pillar of light. The monsters all around her were too busy growling and shaking their heads from the sudden flash of light.

As she neared the building, she might notice the sound of metal and wood crashing inside. A few seconds later, the door was blasted open by a surge of light. "You're not having a bite out of me today!" Came Raine's voice, yelling through the light and wielding a broken chair.

He swung it in a wide arc, but then-- "Huh?" --He stopped just short of breaking it over the girl's head. "...Oh. Lumeria. Fancy seeing you out there." He grinned sheepishly, lowering the furniture piece and rubbing the back of his head.

And angry roar from inside jolted him back to action though. "Crap! No time to talk, come on!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her along to run again. "I saw something interesting nearby, but we've got to lose these things!"

The light pillar was apparently made by Raine. Must have been some sort of spell as it dissipated soon after.

Lumeria has posed:
"Oh you're still alive, I see." Lumeria knew she wouldn't get rid of him that easily. "Careful, with that, I don't think you want to drag me out of here." She imagines that would be rather difficult. She doesn't struggle as he grabs her arm, she's not going to argue with him at this point. Hopefully he found a good hiding place, because she's not really up for heavy fighting right now.

Raine Arland has posed:
"Yeah. They tried to eat me. I gave em a rude awakening." Raine answered coolly while continuing to run along. He was leading them in the direction of what looked to be a ziggurat-like structure at the edge of the city. The fading light and the angry hisses of the monsters were just noise in the distance by this point.

They'd put enough distance from their assailants to slow down and not worry about being immediately set upon. "See that temple looking thing there?" The young man asked, pointing over towards it. "That's got to be some sort of special ruin. I bet it holds something at the very least interesting!"

Or it could be another monster nest. Hard to tell. "...Either way, let's try to avoid combat, yeah?" He wasn't carrying any weapons now that one actually looked. What a dumb move!

Lumeria has posed:
"Well, the books I saw earlier looked informative. I didn't get a chance to actually read them. But treasure's also good." Books and possible gold, this might be worth all the trouble after all. "You can still warp us out of here, if something goes wrong right?" There's no telling if the temple might be trapped or there's more reptiles waiting inside for them. She stays close to him, in case they do need to leave here in a hurry.

Raine Arland has posed:
"You and your books." He mumbled, rolling his eyes in the process. Oh well, he couldn't knock the thirst for further knowledge. Even if he didn't really partake in it himself. "Well, yeah. I should be able to warp us out if anything goes /too/ wrong." And then he grinned as he plodded on, arriving at the steps leading up into the stone pyramid.

"Just watch out. I miiiiiight forget to take you with me, so try to remind me." He must have been kidding. ...Probably.

"Anyway, let's see what we've got in here..." Raine spoke distractedly, looking on ahead.

CLICK.

"...What was that?" He asked, looking down at his feet. ...It turned out that he just stepped on floor panel. Was that a tra--

FWIP.

What must have been an arrow whizzed by between Raine and Lumeria's heads.

".....Whoops."

And a tweening sound coming from further in suggested more were coming...

Lumeria has posed:
"Well, excuse me for actually being able to read." Lumeria can't help she's had the best of everything including tutors. "If you leave me behind here and I die, I'll make sure to haunt you for an eternity." She certainly don't want to be stuck. Hearing the sound of more arrows, she hits the floor not wanting to get a faceful of them.

Raine Arland has posed:
"Huh? Hey wait, wha--WHOAOWOWOWOW!" Raine growled out painfully as an arrow embedded itself into his shoulder. "OKAY BAD IDEA." Exclaiming that, he hit the floor, not about to become a pincushion for the rest of the volley of arrows. One was enough! And that hurt enough as it was!

"....Wait a second, are you implying that I can't read!?" He suddenly spoke up, going all the way back to that jab Lumeria had made before the arrow rain struck. "I can tell you right now that I--Ow, damn it!" Forget that, arrow to the shoulder hurt!

Once the assault had passed, the swordsmand sat up, grasping his shoulder and sighing in exasperation. "What kind of luck do I even have to get hit by this?" That was a rheotrical question apparently, as he grinned despite the pain and went on. "Haunt me for an eternity...Does that mean you'd watch me shower and get dressed too?"

Idiot.

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria sighs a bit at that, "I don't mean non-stop, you think I wouldn't have other things to do in the afterlife? Besides you might enjoy that. I swear you would be dead right now if I wasn't here." She can't believe him sometimes. "This better be worth all the trouble we're going through." Sometimes she wonders why she even tags along.

Raine Arland has posed:
"pfffft-- ahahahahahaOW" Raine had begun laughing at first, but the pain in his shoulder cut him off once again. "I would totally not be dead if you were--" Pause as he eyed the arrow in his shoulder. "...Okay fine." He sighed and the grabbed it. Taking a deep breath, he then wrenched it back out suddenly.

"Gah! Ow! Damn it! Remind me not to get hit by arrows again!" Discarding the wooden projectile, he glanced at Lumeria and gestures to his wound with a sheepish smile.

"Heeeeeeey...since you're supposed to be the greatest white mage ever, mind working a little of that healing magic? Or do I have to pay you for that?"

Lumeria has posed:
"Yes, I'm sure I'll have to remind you of that." Lumeria's pretty certain that's not the last time it'll happen. "I suppose healing you is in my best interest." Better for him to get hit then her, it didn't take much physical force to take the girl down after all. She gets back onto her feet and waves her hand a bit creating green sparkles to mend his shoulder.

Raine Arland has posed:
"Whoa ho~ I /don/t have to pay you?" Raine exclaimed in a teasing tone as Lumeria's magic washed over his shoulder, the pain ebbing away and the wound closing. Soon, all that was left was just a simple hole in his jacket sleeve. "Heh, not bad." He mumbled, patting his shoulder to test it.

"Too bad healing magic can't fix clothes, huh?" He mused aloud, grinning as he stood up. "Imagine how useful that would be? Get all torn up and tossed about, and then a little bout of healing fixes everything! Heh heh..." Apparently that was amusing to him as he'd chuckled at the end.

Once that was over with, Raine glanced over at the dark and imposing opening leading further into the ruined pyramid. "...Well, no point standing around. Let's get a move on."

Lumeria has posed:
"I think you enjoy testing my patience." Lumeria rolls her eyes a bit as they making their way further instead. "Do I llook like a crawler to you? On second thought don't answer that." She's just hoping there isn't a lounge of lizards waiting inside to attack them. That would just make things worse.

Raine Arland has posed:
"Do I? I dunno about that." Raine replied casually, crossing his arms behind his head as they approached and made their way inside. Hearing the girl's question, the young man smirked and opened his mouth to respond in kind. "A crawler? Well if I /really/ had to say..."

His answer was cut off by the sound of hissing and scuffling in the pitch black darkness.

"...Wow. It's really dark in here. Let's get some light set up, sheesh!" Holding out a hand, Raine formed a ball of light to illuminate the immediate area.

What greeted them were lizards. The same kinds they just escaped from. On the floor, on the ceiling, on the walls, everywhere. And they all stopped to stare as the chamber was lit up.

".......Lumeria?" Raine asided to his companion, keeping his eyes on the monsters. "...Somehow, I know this is your fault." And then every single one of them let out angry hisses and roars in unison.

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria gasps at all the lizards, "How can the ecosystem of this place support all of them?" It doesn't seem like it could be possible. "My fault? You were the one who fell down here!" She hides behind Raine as much good as that'll do. "I hate lizards! If it were up to me they wouldn't exist at all." As much as she hate to admit it even she doesn't have that kind of power. "I don't suppose you could teleport us out of here about now?" She asks in her sweetest voice.

Raine Arland has posed:
"Yeah, well, it's not /my/ fault they dragged me down here!" Raine shot back, eyes surveying the situation at hand. There were a lot of them. More than he really wanted to fight. Sure, he could ask for Lumeria's Soul Blade, but that was too much trouble. "Heh heh...Really? Why do you hate them so much anyway? What'd they do you?"

Despite the situation, he found it in him to ask, sounding entertained anyhow. "Well anyway...sorry, princess, but we've got to keep on going. No man gains anything by turning tail at the first sign of trouble." Smiling wryly after that, he suddenly increased the size of the ball of light he was maintaining. "Close your eyes!"

And then it exploded in a flash, blinding the monsters. "Alright, get a move on while they're distracted!" Raine said quickly, breaking out into a run past the various lizard creatures, howling and flailing around blindly.

Lumeria has posed:
emit Well it much pretty serious, if Lumeria's willing to give up treasure to get away. "They'll probably eat my soft, delicate flesh they don't want your leathery corpse." Of course she's not going to state the real reason but she figures that's good enough of an excuse. The girl runs surprisingly fast at least for her at least.

Lumeria has posed:
Well it must be pretty serious, if Lumeria's willing to give up treasure to get away. "They'll probably eat my soft, delicate flesh they don't want your leathery corpse." Of course she's not going to state the real reason but she figures that's good enough of an excuse. The girl runs surprisingly fast at least for her at least.

Raine Arland has posed:
"Excuse me? I totally take offense to that!" Raine complained as they ran into the next corridor. "I mean, come on! They dragged /me/ down here first! That means they obviously wanted a piece of this amazing manflesh here!" His face turned to one of supreme amusement, even as they were rushing off. Leave it to them to argue about who would be the most appetizing though.

"Not that I can blame them! I mean, c'mon! Look at me! Manliness incarnate right here!" Coming out into the next chamber, it was revealed to be a straight and narrow stone bridge leading all the way across to the next area. Problem was that there were no guard rails and below was a steep drop into the abyss.

So of course it would be their luck that right as they ran cross the middle, a crack in the bridge would widen, and then cause a chain reaction that would send the entire structure tumbling under their feet. "E-Eh? Ehhhhhh? Hey wait-!" Raine cried as their footing abandoned them, almost comically leaving the two to stand in mid-air for a second, before gravity decided to reassert it's dominance. And down they went. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh craaaaaaaaaap! This is NOT cool!" Complained as the momentum of falling, and the wind rushed against his face, the swordsman saw fit to curse their fate even more. "Whose idea was this anyway!? ...Wait, it was mine! Damn it!"

Flailing as they fell deeper and deeper into the depths, he glanced toward Lumeria quickly. "Hey, hey! You're the mage here! You know anything to keep us from becoming human and elven pancakes!?"

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria can't believe their luck as the stone bridge gives way under their feet and they begin to fall. She does her best to remain calm despite their current situation, "Yes, but you'll likely complain about it." Still, it's better than being crushed into the ground below. She begins casting a spell on them and the pair begin to quickly decrease greatly in size. The mage figures the lost of mass should enable them to survive the fall provided there isn't spikes or anything else waiting below.

Raine Arland has posed:
"Heh? Complain about what? I'd rather not get splattere--ehhhh?" Raine's midair reply was abruptly cut off as he realized that their surroundings were growing smaller and smaller... "Wait a second! What the heck is this? Why is everything suddenly so small!?" There was a moment of thought, and then realization. "Ohh! I get it! It's Mini, right?"

Well whatever it was, it was working relatively. They were still sailing through the air, but with their dramatically decreased size, by the time they actually landed, the impact wasn't life threatening. Just kind of painful. "Gah! Ow, ow...!" He grumbled, rubbing his back in irritation. Thankfully the debris from the fallen bridge landed first, else they would have had to contend with a stone rain.

"Okay, I think we're okay. Albeit, bruised here and there..." Raine stood then, rubbing the side of his head and laughing lightly to himself. "Nice work, Lumeria. We've managed to avoid becoming a statistic. Now...care to return us to normal?" Being small was just weird!

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria's breathing deeply, she took the fall a bit harder than Raine did. "Ow!" Well, at least they're alive. "Give me a second, that was still a serious fall." She begins chanting in a tiny voice and a small amount of magical energy surrounds them before fizzling out. "I think I overdid it...well the spell should wear off on it's own. Eventually..." She turns a bit red at that.

Raine Arland has posed:
"....Well crap." Raine muttered after witnessing her magic fizzle out into nothing. "So you're saying we've got to run around like this till it wears off? Tch!" Raine huffed and shoved a hand into a pocket, the other raising to form a ball of light again.

"So basically, we just need to hope we don't become bite sized snacks for some lizard. Greaaaaaaat." Lighting up their immediate surroundings proved to be a bit harder than before due to their own smaller size. But after a bit of searching, they eventually found a doorway leading out.

Stepping through, the two of them found themselves in a single corridor going straight. Lining the walls of each side were armored stone statues of a bygone era. And considering their smaller size, they only looked even more imposing. Standing tall and straight, each of them grasping a blade pointed downwards and embedded into the floor.

"Wow...get a load of these things!" Raine exclained as they walked through. "Man, wouldn't it be funny if these big guys came to life and tried to kill us? Ahahaha!"

......

Almost as if waiting for it to happen, Raine paused and stared up at them as they passed.

Thankfully they did not.

"Whew! Okay, so we're not completely out of luck! Let's get a move on! I feel like we've got to start making progress now!" The young man exclaimed, pointing onward with an excited flourish. Despite all that had happened so far...this was kind of fun.

Lumeria has posed:
"You're lucky I can't use silence magic." Lumeria doesn't sound too happy about Raine's comment. "I'm guessing we're too small to trigger those." One thing she's learned is that ancient statues in temples will always come to life if possible, it's some kind law. Of course it's also harder for them to make progress quickly given their size. "Of course if we find the fountain like this, we'll probably drown if we go in it."

Raine Arland has posed:
"Silence magic? Now why would you /ever/ want to silence this angelic voice?" Raine shrugged nonchalantly as they approached final stretch of the corridor, totally blaise about the whole thing, now he knew the statues couldn't detect them. "I guess there's some good points to be small. ...Some." He reiterated, just to make sure.

Stepping out of that ominous room, they came out to an interesting sight; a spiral staircase leading downwards. Except, they couldn't see the bottom. The sight was almost stomach turning at how high they were. "...Wow." The swordsman muttered, peering over the edge of the stairs from where they stood. "I can't see the bottom. No telling what's down there."

But after that was said, Raine simply smiled and moved onwards, climbing down with a bit of difficulty due to their size. "...So when is this spell going to wear off, huh?" He randomly asked, glacing aside at Lumeria. "For someone who's supposed to be 'the greatest white mage', your track record is kind of awful right now, you know?" And that was topped off with an entertained chuckle. "Man, this is going to take forever at this rate!"

Lumeria has posed:
"Well, I could have let you splattered against the ground." Lumeria's quick to defend herself. She has some trouble getting down the stairs. Jumping's a bit tempting at this point, but they had no one idea what awaited them below. She stops a moment to catch her breath. "All of this is really wearing me out." She had managed to somehow get even squisher than she normally was.

Raine Arland has posed:
"Point taken." Raine sighed as well and stopped at the next step, sitting down at the edge. "...Hey, let's take a break. We've been moving constantly for a while now. And now that we've got to expend even more energy to move how we would normally..." He left the rest unsaid and simply pat the space beside him in invitation.

"I've still got some supplies from when we set out. I dunno about you, but I'm hungry!" The young man exclaimed, reaching into a side pack and producing a hunk of bread. He took a bite out of it before waving it in Lumeria's direction. "Want some?"

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria takes a seat next to him and eagerly grabs the hunk of bread. "Of course we would be moving a lot faster normally. I don't even know how long we've been down here for." It seemed like days at this point. She begins eating, not beliving how good it tasted right now. "So why do you put up with me? I'm sure you could have found one of those selfless healer types to take along with you."

Raine Arland has posed:
Raine smiled a little, amused at Lumeria eagerly tearing into that bread he'd taken out. "Whoa hey now, slow down or you'll choke." He warned, chuckling after as he produced a bottle of water, uncapping it and taking a long sip. "Ah...man, I needed that." He sighed in relief, looking aside at the girl as she asked her questions.

"Hm? What a silly question." Raine responded without a second thought. "I 'put up with you' because you're interesting." Saying that simply he took another sip of his water before going on. "You only live one life, so shouldn't you spend it doing interesting things with interesting people?"

After that was said, he offered the water bottle, in case she wanted a drink.

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria takes the water bottle and has a sip. "Thank you. Interesting, I guess that's one way of putting it." She'll take that as a compliment. She looks around to make sure no else is watching, they were pretty vulnerable in their current state. "Hopefully, we're getting close to the fountain or whatever's in here."

Raine Arland has posed:
"Well, us moving depends entirely on you." Raine replied easily enough, leaning back with his arms crossed behind his head as he stared upwards. "Do you think you've got what it takes to return us to normal? Or do you want to waste more energy going as we are?"

Either way, it didn't seem like he was in any huge rush to keep going. Thankfully it didn't seem like there were any monsters are environmental hazards out to make their lives miserable again. Seems like those monstrous lizards didn't nest this deep in either. That was one less thing to worry about.

"So? What'll it be?"

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria focuses once again, now that's she's had a chance to relax a bit. She begins casting a spell and the two of them are covered in blue energy and start to return to their normal size. The mage remains quiet otherwise as she does so since she doesn't want to break her concentration. She feels a bit sore from her early bruises and sudden increase in mass. "I think I can make it to the bottom now."

Raine Arland has posed:
Raine paused as the spell was cast, feeling himself growing bigger. Soon the two of them were taking up more than one step, their legs covering a few more. "Huh...that's going to take some getting used to." He mumbled to himself, scratching his cheek with a finger.

With the bread finished and the water not too far behind, he stood up and stretched his arms out. "Okay. Looks like we're good to go!" He grinned then and offered Lumeria a hand to stand with. "I guess this is one mark to the success side of the board. Now, let's keep going. We've got to find something down there."

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria takes Raine's hand stumbling a bit as she gets back onto her feet. "It's hard to adjust from the change in size." She's just about hit her limit of what she can take. All this physical activity was starting to wear the mage out. She certainly hopes so, it would be disappoint to go all this way for nothing.

Raine Arland has posed:
After helping her up, Raine glanced down over the edge of the stairs, studying their progress. ...Which wasn't much at all. Thankfully they were bigger now. They would be able to make better progress now.

And without any further word, the two of them made the journey down the winding spiral staircase. As they made it deeper and deeper downward, they would be able to hear the sound of faintly flowing water. That drew Raine's attention. "Hm? ...You hear that?" He asked, pausing for a moment to cup a hand around one of his ears to listen. "...Yeah, that sounds like water. Could that be it?"

Grinning in anticipation, he began to move faster, stepping down the stairs with a bit more energy in his steps. They were on the verge of something, definitely. It also helped that they ran into no incidents on the way, and a careful glance down revealed that they could see the bottom!

From where they were, all they saw was water, but surely there was more than that.

Only one way to find out. "C'mon! Don't slow down now. We're almost there!" Raine exclaimed, glancing at Lumeria momentarily before continuing down.

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria hears the sound of rushing water as well and starts to pick up the pace a bit. Was the fountain real? there was only one way to found out. "I hope this isn't just an underground lake." There was no way to tell from here if it was an chanted or not. At least the coast seem to be clear as they make their way down.

Raine Arland has posed:
"Well, we'll just have to see!" Nearing the bottom, Raine decided to skip the whole stair walking thing and leapt off the side of the stairs from where he stood. "Look out beloooooow!" He called to no one in particular, soon resulting in a splash of water.

"Whoa ho! Check this out! It's not a bad sight! Hurry and get down here, Lumeria. You're missing out!" He called upwards to the girl, not questioning how she went about doing it.

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria's glad he leapt first, even if it's water below there's not telling what might be underneath it. Seeing that's it safe though, she dives into the water as well. Her outfit's already a mess so getting wet at those point wasn't that big of deal. Plus, she's a bit excited to see what he's referring to.

Raine Arland has posed:
Standing up, the water went about as high as their thighs, making movement a bit harder, but not impossible. At least they didn't have to swim. The area was a large, circular chamber filled with water. Vines lined the walls and went all around, dotted with flowers and moss here and there. A spiral staircase lined one side of the wall and went upwards, where they just came from, and there was only one way to go from there; a single ornate, ivory gate showed the way.

It was joined on either side by a pair of armored statues, similar to what they'd seen in the last corridor above. They would be able to see a faint light shining within as well. "See? I told you it was a sight to behold." Raine said casually, hands resting on his hips as he nodded to himself.

The statues gaze the swordsman pause however. ".....It's those things again." He quirked a brow, not moving to get closer to the way further in. "Oh well! Nothing ventured, nothing gained!" And with that, Raine threw caution to the wind and waded through the water to approach.

He was rewarded with an ominous light flickering within the helmets of the two statues, followed by the creaking of their stone bodies moving. Pulling their swords out of the water, the statues crossed their blades over the other, barring Raine's entrance. Their helmeted gaze betrayed no expressions, but the vibe they gaze off clearly stated 'You will not pass'.

"...Well crap. Looks like we're not getting through this one easily."

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria wades through the water behind him but stays close. She looks at the statues blocking their path. "This is what I had to see? Well, I don't think you to shrink down again so any idea on how to get past?" Attacking the statues directly didn't seem like a good idea. She looks around to see if there's any levers or anything that might make the statues move out of the way.

Raine Arland has posed:
"Well no. Not exactly." Raine chuckled, backing up at the imposing actions of the statues. "Let's just call this an...unfortunate addition to the scenery? Heh heh..." Not that it did anything to help the situation at all really.

Raine's action caused the two statues to follow, lifting their blades and stepping forward threateningly. One of them took the initiative, following through with a wide swing in the swordsman's direction. "Whoa hey!" He cried, leaping back out of range and landing with a splash by Lumeria, the missed strike impacted with the water, kicking up a cloud of water mist.

"Okay, these things are hostile! Nothing to do but to fight!" He cursed his luck and sighed. "Should have bought a weapon! Crap!" There was no going around this one now. His elven companion was given a look. "So hey, since I don't have any weapons, mind if I borrow that tarnished blade of yours again? Like, right now would be great!"

Indeed, while the statue that attacked was righting itself from missing, the second one was advancing on their position menacingly.

Lumeria has posed:
"Why didn't you bring any weapons with you?" Lumeria glares at him. She's not a physical fighter so it was understandable in her case but for him to do so? "I suppose, but you better protect me. I'm left wide open when you do that." It's also feels somewhat unpleasant but doubtly less so then getting stabbed by the knights.

Raine Arland has posed:
"Because I forgot to buy one?" Raine admitted, chuckling and rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Whoa-!" Unfortunately, the armored sentinels weren't going to wait around for them to finish their comedy routine. "Excuse me for a second!" Without any further ado, he grabbed Lumeria by the waist and jumped back, kicking up more water.

When they landed, the swordsman's left eye immediatel lit up with a blue aura. "Right! Protect you, don't break it! Got it!" And with that, a magic glyph formed over Lumeria's chest and Raine thrust his arm in, grasping at something immaterial, and yet, material at the same time. "Paradise, is here!" There was a flash of light as he pulled back, revealing the same tarnished blade of light that he'd used before.

It flickered in and out, not keeping one distinct shape, but rather wildly fluctuating, like a flame. "Sheesh! I see this thing hasn't gotten any lighter, huh?" The young man complained, shaking his head. "Anyway, get moving! And search the walls! If you find anything like a switch or some kind of panel, activate it! Go! Go!"

He shooed her off with an arm before suddenly being forced to defend as one of the statues bore down upon Raine with an overhead strike. "Guh...! Damn, these things are strong!" He muttered, gritting his teeth in exertion. "But I've got the magic of the 'greatest white mage' in my hands! So I can't possibly lose!"

Famous last words.

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria looks around for the switch, while Raine covers her. Without her magic there isn't much else she can do at the moment. It seems like he's still manage to struggle. After swimming around for a bit she manages to find a lever and pulls it. She grabs her chest as she struggles to stay afloat the effects having her soul ripped from her body are starting to take effect.

Raine Arland has posed:
As Raine struggled to defend against attacks from both armored golems, he perked up as he heard a sound in the center of the area. It looked like something was opening up, creating a whirlpool. "...Oh! I see! It's a draining hole! Nice find!" He called out Lumeria, rolling aside and out of the way of another swing.

"Okay, I can use this!" Raine said quickly, coming to a kneeling position. Rearing back with the soul blade, he focused, causing the weapon to flare up and grow more powerful as well a in length. "And down you both go! Haaaaaaaaah!" And then he swung, aiming to send both statues careening into the whirlpool.

Well, it worked. Somewhat. One of them was bowled over and right into the hole, falling into some unknown depths. The other statue, while having been hit, managed to get out one more swing before it fell into the depths after it's partner. That swing caught the swordsman across the torso, sending him flying back and into a wall.

"Gah!"

The impact sounded entirely unpleasant...Oh and there was a grisly wound opened up. It was staining the water red. "Heh...looks like that was...a little too reckless, huh?" He mumbled, chuckling for a moment before coughing, a trail of blood leaving the corner of his mouth then. "Thanks for letting...use this." Raine mumbled a bit more, raising Lumeria's soul blade, for her to take back, if she could. His vision was getting blurry and he couldn't very well stand to do it himself.

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria grabs her soul blade and sticks into her chest. After a moment to recover she comes to her senses. She looks at the wound and sighs a bit. "I'm going to have to heal you again aren't I? Well, I guess I owe you for not getting me killed." She places her hands on his torso getting blood all over them. Larger green sparkles then before begin to mend the wound. "Just don't make a habit of this, I can't have people thinking I'm going soft."

Raine Arland has posed:
"Heh heh, hey c'mon..." Raine chuckled as her healing magic worked on his wounds. "...What sort of white mage is afraid of people thinking they've gone soft?" He asked, pretty much entirely in jest. Leave it to him to be able to joke around at a time like this. "Between the two of us...I've say we've got the worst luck in the world, huh?"

It hurt like hell, but the magic was doing it's job. Soon his wounds were closing, and the pain had lessened, but magic wouldn't replace lost blood. Which still left Raine feeling dizzy. "Ah man..." He grumbled to himself, raising a hand to rub the side of his head.

"Looks like the path is clear now." And the water that was in the chamber had all drained down into that hole Lumeria had opened with the lever. "Well, just a little bit more, I guess. And then we can find out what exactly is at the end of this all." With that, he shakily stood to his feet, taking a deep breath to gather his bearings once he was up.

"...Anyway, thanks. I mean it." He said, smiling a little down at his companion. "I'd be dead right now if you weren't here." A rare moment of sincerity from the joker. Gasp.

Lumeria has posed:
"I'm not your typical white mage in-case you hadn't noticed." Lumeria's quick to point out. "Well, I'm from a wealthy family so I guess this the universe's way of evening things out. That might explain all the trouble she seems to be dragged into. "I'll remember that the next time you mock me." She moves onwards before they have a chance to run into anything else.

Raine Arland has posed:
"Yeah, yeah, no need to tell to me that." Raine quipped, abeit a bit sarcastically. He also rolled his eyes at her response to his gratitude, but smiled to himself all the same. Things would never get old like this. "Right then." Another deep breath and then they were off. Past the drop, past the gates, past a short, featureless corridor.

In the end, they came out into the sight of a small spring. There were some marble steps leading down into a small body of water. An intricately designed fixture held it, circulating water in and around itself. And deep within, one could deep magic particles and light flowing within. "....Wow, is this it?" Raine mumbled curiously, peering down into the spring.

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria gasps as they approach the spring, was it real? She almost can't believe it. Of course they still didn't know if it could actually grant wishes or not. "The question is how to use it. Do you throw money in there, drink from it, what?" There might have been something in the books upstairs but she didn't get a chance to read them.

Raine Arland has posed:
"I...." Raine began, bringing a hand to his chin. He didn't approach and stayed at the top of the stairs. "...Have no idea." He admitted after a moment's thought. Really, how /were/ they supposed to use this thing? "...I couldn't say. Why don't you try throwing yourself in there? Heh heh heh~" The young man suggested teasingly, if not a bit tiredly, managing a smirk for his efforts.

He shrugged after that, continuing to watch. He wasn't interested in making a wish, so he was content to bear witness to whatever would happen.

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria glares at him as she responds, "Oh sure, you would love me to strip naked and jump in there." That would be rather embarrassing even if the fountain did grant wishes. That and she would have to reveal her secret to him in order to get what she wanted to wish for.

Raine Arland has posed:
"I would actually." Raine nodded unabashedly, smirking wider and nodding at the mental image. "Maybe I should wish for it even? Ah, a wish for a noble cause~" But despite the teasing, he didn't move to make a wish. In fact, he just sunk down, sitting cross legged with an elbow resting against a leg and his chin in his hand.

"Well? You gonna try anything, or are you just going to stare into the water all day?" He asked, arching a brow at Lumeria's hesitance. "Come on, you've got to have a wish. You of all people!"

Lumeria has posed:
"Alright fine, I'll try something if that'll make you happy." Of course she's not going to go with the strip naked method unless she has to. Lumeria removes a coin from her pocket before tossing into the fountain. "I wish I was more skilled with more skilled with black magic." If she was more powerful perhaps she could remove the curse herself.

Raine Arland has posed:
Raine watched as she tossed the coin into the well. It fell in with a plop and sunk to the bottom as the wish was uttered.

"....More skilled with black magic, huh?" Raine intoned almost boredly, eyeing the rippling surface of the water.

But then there was suddenly a bright flash! ...And the coin Lumeria threw in was spat back out, bouncing off of her forehead before clattering onto the stairs uselessly. Raine blinked a few times at that, and then wound up bursting out into a fit of laughter.

"Pffft! Ahahahahahaha! Oh wow! Oh man...!" He laughed for a little while longer, gasping for breath occasionally before finally managed to speak again. "S=So, feel any more skilled?"

Hint; she wouldn't.

Lumeria has posed:
Lumeria has a look on her face like she could kill someone right now. "Ugh, don't tell me I have to wish for something noble or something like that. That or throwing money in it doesn't work. Or maybe that's too much to ask. Fine, I'll ask for something more practical." Well, it looks like she's going to have try something else because her first wish didn't work at all. She leans over and drinks from the fountain. "I wish for a new dress! One that's gorgeous and looks great on me!"

Raine Arland has posed:
"Heh~" Raine's laugh had died down to just a chuckle now. Oh boy he was too right about this being amazingly hilarious. He couldn't get enough. And so he eventually managed to calm down enough to go back to watching quietly as Lumeria made another wish.

"A new dress?" He muttered, arching a brow once again, and looking ludicrously at the girl as well. "Well, I guess that's not too bad. Still kind of lame."

This time, the fountain took on a calmer glow, it's waters shimmering with magical light. Lumeria's clothes took on the same glow, and then there was another blinding flash. "Ergh!" Raine had to shield his eyes from the flash, waiting for it to subside before looking again.

Once he did, he saw that the elf's usual blue and white dress was gone, replaced by....a wedding dress. It left her shoulders and neck bare, and covered her chest before continuing downwards. It was white with gold embroidery. A sash was tied around her waist, serving as a visual divider between the top and the bottom. And below was fitted with layers upon layers of skirts, lace, and frills. It was so much that her feet couldn't even be seen.

".........Whoa." Raine muttered, taking in the sight.

Unfortunately for Lumeria, the fountain lost it's glow. right after that, looking like a regular old body of water.

...Wait, was that it?

Lumeria has posed:
Well, it's a nice dress certainly but Lumeria looks disappointed as the fountain loses it's glow. "That's it, I only get one wish? Or maybe I'm the only one it works for now, because I drank from it." She figures it could be possible, there was only one way to find out. She leans over and takes another sip before gagging.

. Suddenly, her body begins to twist and turn becoming a lot more slippy. She shrinks down and her limbs become tiny. Where Lumeria's standing there's a silver frog sitting on the layers of the dress.

Raine Arland has posed:
"Whoa now, you got exactly what you asked for, don't greedy no-eh?" Raine had begun to warn Lumeria, watching as she drank from the decidedly dulled spring again, but paused she she gagged. "Uh...are you okay?" He asked, brows furrowing in worry.

"......" Stunned silence was all he could offer in the aftermath of the girl's sudden transformation. "Did she just...disappear?" He mumbled, rising to his feet and getting closer to check and see. Kneeling down to the piles and layers of the dress, Raine did eventually spot a silver frog on top.

"......No way." He muttered again, peering at the frog closely. "...Lumeria?"

Lumeria has posed:
"Yes, it's me. Let's get out of here. If it's what I think it is, it should wear off on it's own." Lumeria speaks in a raspy voice as she crosses her arms. "Make sure to get my dress too." She didn't come all this way to hop away empty-handed. Hopefully he wouldn't ask further questions.

Raine Arland has posed:
"Oh, so you can talk." Raine nodded casually, as if everything made sense. "Right then, let's get you out of here and-WAIT A DAMN MINUTE! THIS DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE AT ALL!" And abruptly, he snaps into a comical outrage, pointing a finger at Lumeria's currently amphibious body.

"What the heck is this all about? Why are you suddenly a frog? What's going on here? And you can talk? Crazy!"

Lumeria has posed:
"It's complicated, I'll tell you some time. But right now we should get out of here." Lumeria doesn't want the lizards to suddenly show up and make things even worse. This was already embarrassing for her, no need for it to turn dangerous. "I can't use magic like this, in-case you're wondering why I don't just turn myself back to normal."

Raine Arland has posed:
"Huh..." He mumbled, still confused, but nodding nonetheless. "Right then. I guess we got what we came for." He picked up Lumeria and placed her on his shoulder before gathering up the extravagant dress and standing.

"I'll be expecting an explanation when we get back to Palamecia." The young man said as his left eye took on a blue glow, Hecate's magic going to work. As the spell readied itself, Raine took one last look at the spring, peering into the depths. "...Heh."

And then he cracked a smile. "It was totally worth it."

At that, Raine, Lumeria, and the dress were enveloped in light, and then Warp took effect, whisking them away from the depths of these dangerous ruins and back to the gates of Palamecia.