AC: Round 1 - Group 5

[Steppenwolf Orlouge]

“And what exactly do you mean by that?” I asked this man in a weird petticoat as he looked up at me from that sinister mane of white. “I mean, I understand you want us to reach the center. I get that totally, might be fun for you to see us run around like rats, but I mean what do you mean by that last thing? Is there something else planned?”

“Oh, my goodness yes!” Alabaster, as the man was known, stood up in front of me, snapping his fingers and making a glass of what appeared to be brandy appear. He took a sip of the alcohol and then threw it to the area; the entire thing disappearing before it even had the chance to hit the ground. “You see, I’ve laced the maze with flowers that will spray their pollen at random intervals. This pollen has the ability to not only put you to sleep, but also dream about being trapped here in the maze! Isn’t that wonderful?!” He threw his cane into the air, which then disappeared as he slapped his white gloved hands together as if to pray.

“Big deal,” I replied, crossing my arms and tilting my head to the side, “that’s just a matter of reuniting with my team. They can wake me up when I’m down and I can do the same for them.”

“Ah, but that’s where the truly fun part comes in,” Alabaster waved a finger as a mother would to scold a child, “for you see, every time you’re off and dreaming about the maze, and everything in it, an exact duplicate of the fallen one will appear in the maze with the same goal as you. That way none of you will be able to trust one another. You could meet up with Erissa as we speak, but it will do little good if she leads you away from the center!” He began to giggle like a little schoolgirl, bouncing on the tips of his shoes with excitement. “Oh I can not wait to see hoe you do!”

I raised an eyebrow, “And my team mates are aware of the little rules to your game as well?”

“Of course,” Alabaster spoke as he stopped his happy dance mid-tap, “Even now, I’m simultaneously explaining it to each of them as I am to you. Of course, how could I be doing that if you weren’t dreaming? Or maybe I’m just saying that to throw you off? You never know…” as Alabaster ranted, the sickeningly sweet smell of the flowers entered my nostrils, and I dropped to my knees, my eyes getting rather heavy.

“Sweet dreams, Steppenwolf. Unless of course, you’re already dreaming…” Alabaster shrugged his shoulders and disappeared in a poof as my eyes closed for a nap. This was going to be a long Adventurer’s Crown…

[Sagequeen]

And here the silly elf thought she was dealing with fauns; they were simple enough. The shock of two Takas caused Erissa's jaw to drop, the Ronin strolling less than casually around a bend in the hedge while the other lay sleeping near Erissa's feet. To her great dismay, the maze changed again, confining her with the Ronins, and both she and the standing Taka stared warily at the apparition that materialized before them.

Alabaster, he had introduced himself, and after his gleeful – and slightly mad – monologue, he was gone in a poof. Erissa spun around, facing the Takas. This riddle was easy enough; the elf had seen the real Taka fall to sleep after speaking of a scent. It was then his double appeared.

“You,” she whispered. “You heard the man. You are not the real Taka!” The Ronin's hand went to to the hilt of his daisho.

“This is proof enough!” the Ronin said with agitation. “He is the imposter.” Erissa nodded slowly, knowing from her time in the Ixian Castle that Taka would never be without his weapon. She thought carefully how to proceed. If she could but reason with the duplicate, convince him that he was only a dream, perhaps that would break the spell. It was a far better option, if it worked, than combat against the powerful Ronin to prove the same point.

“Indeed it would be, if he were not also armed with the very same daisho.” The high elf pointed a graceful finger at the soundly sleeping Taka, and the other Ronin's eyes widened. “You heard what this Alabaster person said, and you did not appear until he,” she said, pointing to the Taka who lay, “fell alseep. Do you see? You are not the real Ta-”

A thick vine whipped around Erissa's mouth, and as she bit down, tasting the bitter sap, she felt several others surround her body, the waxy skins creeping like snakes over her thin nightgown. With a muffled cry, the high elf was lifted from the ground and devoured by the hedge. The very wall gaped, and she was pulled into the wicked mouth, through the hedge, and spat out on the other side. Erissa could hear Taka's calls, though she did not know which Taka called after her, or if her plan had worked.

“Fantastic,” the elf sighed as she looked suspiciously at a lovely flower that seemed to beckon to her. Erissa gave it a wide birth, on her tip-toes against the hedge wall on the opposite side. In a labyrinth, she could easily find her way out by choosing either left or right, and turning only in that direction. That was, of course, given she could survive long enough for that method to work. But Erissa knew such a strategy would not work in Alabaster's game; it would be far too boring for him.

The arcanist dropped her head in her hand and massaged her temples, trying to remember everything she could about the view she had over the top when she had first awoken. Erissa could not remember specific details, but she did at least have a general direction to the center of the maze. With a nod, and reminding herself that she could not actually, literally die in this tournament, the high elf proceeded deeper into the maze. She peered around a corner, only to come face to face with a lily with the most intoxicating scent. Her limbs grew heavy and she stumbled to the ground.

Erissa picked herself up again, shaking off the drowsiness, and continued forward, oblivious to the sleeping figure resting peacefully on the ground behind her.

[Tainted Bushido]

Taka looked upon the area as he awoke finding nothing to his sight. He was lost and the lapse of conciousness only compounded the problem as he had no clue as to what was going on about him. Nodachi drawn he moved forward cautiously before he hissed in akashiman a rare gutteral curse, "<Shit!>"

"Such a tongue on one of the few refined people in your group. Are you as savage as your ancestors Benjiro?" The voice came forth almost mockingly as Taka saw a man of alabaster skin and impeccable dress before him. Nodachi never wavered as Taka took up his stance, legs set shoulder width apart and with Nodachi facing backwards as he looked upon the stranger with narrowed eyes.

"I am no Benjiro, do not insult them by claiming me such," Taka replied stiffly, the anger at the mention of his old family name stinging him. He then spoke gruffly, "Say your words, or draw your weapon. I care not which so long as you refrain from wasting my time."

"Ahh, ever to the point master samurai," The man's smile became a grin of malice at the barbed sting before he gestured about him, "I'll cut to the chase, get to the center of this maze. You've already succumbed to the wonderful toxins in this place, and now will dream of this place until you can physically find your way here. I do so hope you succeed, it would be a shame for one such as yourself to fail...again."

Nodachi cleaved into the ground with a wordless shout of anger spitting sand into the air in its passing as laughter echoed through the maze. The ronin's rage spent he looked about the area before he carefully pulled the blade from its sheath in the ground. The exertion hadn't even caused him to lose his breath as he carefully placed the nodachi on his shoulder, keeping it ready as his hand choked up on the grip, holding it closer to the cross guard in a hope to strike quicker. His eyes scanning the forest.

"Are you awake?" The voice came from behind him as he turned to see Erissa, Jensen Ambrose's newest companion, behind him moving forward cautiously. The ronin remained unmoving as he spotted the woman, who seemed to be on edge about him as he spoke;

"Is something wrong?"

"When we go to sleep, copies of us are made, and I saw you collapse on the sand, you have the same blade, but I don't know if it truly is you or someone else. You can understand my predicament General," The woman replied.

Blade cleaved through the Erissa before him and caused the ronin to let out a predatory grin at the ease through which he slew her. Green blood poured from the wound as Taka replied firmly, "You faltered in your disguise, the real Erissa would never have called me General. She would have called me by my name, because Jensen would have told her I detest being referred to by my rank."

Well played little falcon, but what if you had guessed wrong?

"Shut up oni, I am in no mood for your games..." Taka muttered under his breath as he moved past the false erissa's cooling corpse. Already it had degenerated into vines and leaves allowing him to see what was going on. The maze was trying to devour them. His gate moved him deeper into the maze before something occured to him. Turning to the walls of his newfound prison he slashed again and nodded softly, seeing once again the maze avoiding the touch of his blade. "Does it fear being cut, or does it fear the blade itself..."

Blade was lowered once more to the brush, carefully as he saw the place recoil and it occurred to him what was going on, "Fae trickery, my blade has worked iron in it, that has to be the answer..."

...but what did that mean?

[Taste of Treason]

Alone and unarmed once again in the mysterious maze Cel did her best to think clearly. Three paths lay before her and honestly she was far more turned around than she cared to admit. For several long minutes she simply stood there like a child debating which toy to play with first. Finally she shrugged her shoulders and began to walk down the left path, fully realizing for the first time just how outclassed she was both by the competition and the tournament itself.

After her hospitalization Cel hadn’t had much time for gods, they were something that those who needed the world to mean more than it did used to help themselves get through the tough days. Cel needed no crutch, or so she’d thought. Here though, lost and alone once again, she prayed silently just in case someone somewhere might hear her pleas.

As though by some grand design the girl’s lips stopped moving just as a low rumble built up in the walls beside her. Her first instinct was to run, and Cel did not question it, making her way as fast as she could down the path. Her eyes scanned the hedges to her right and left, begging for a doorway. As she approached the end of the path it became clear that there was no escape, but the walls closing in behind her gave her no choice but to run. Her breathing was rapid and she could only think of one thing, perhaps if she sacrificed another to the hedges they would stop. There were less than twenty steps before the dead-end and Cel sang between her rapid breaths, leaving behind her duplicate and hearing the girl scream as she was swallowed whole. Five steps and there was no escape, four, three, the young girl collapsed with tears streaming down her face. “There is nowhere to go!” She screamed, “This isn’t fair!” A voice seemed to come from everywhere at once, laughing as she watched the wall closing in on her.

Cel closed her eyes, ready for whatever came next. She didn’t care about the tournament anymore; she just wanted to go home. The sound of crushed leaves filled her ears just as a giant arm pulled her close. She couldn’t even force a thank-you from her lips; only heavy breathing and violent sobs escaped her.

[Steppenwolf Orlouge]

I didn’t care if she was a duplicate or not; Cel was in trouble and I was going to help her. I had taken several sharp turns when I had heard her shout out to the maze. I was just glad I had arrived in time. I looked to the girl with a smile on my face, my running not slowing for even a second. “Calm down, Cellar. Remember, I said I would protect you, and I stand by that promise. Now get ahold of yourself!”

As I spoke, the girl’s eyes seemed to dry rather quickly, and she nodded to me. I could hear rustling behind me, and whether it belonged to a duplicate or the maze itself, I was not going to slow to find out. I bit my lip hard as I tried to make several turns on a dime, finding myself without the time to marvel at the beauty of the nearby flowers or the intricate designs cut out into the bushes. My first priority was getting Cel safe, and then figuring out the best way out of the maze.

As I rounded one corner, however, I had to stop immediately, finding myself confronted by Erissa. I had heard stories of this elven girl and her close relationship with Jensen Ambrose, but I hated that guy, and was weary of anyone who actually enjoyed his company (the exception of course, being my brother Sei). Erissa seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when she saw me, and as she took a step forward to approach, I took a step back. The maze had stopped following me and Cel, and I couldn’t tell if it was because I had found Erissa, or a doppelganger.

“I am glad I found you, Lord Orlouge,” Erissa spoke with a soft smile on her gentle features. I raised an eyebrow suspiciously at the girl. “I promise that I’m not an imposter. What happened to Cellar?”

“She got scared and panicked,” I said, setting the teen down on her feet. She turned around and I raised an eyebrow as I looked down at Cellar’s leg. “It looks like she tore her pants a little on her back thigh too. Probably from her fall.”

“It looks like she’s calm now,” Erissa spoke with a serene gentleness to her tone, “though there’s nothing I can do about the tear in her pa---“

My fist slammed into the elf’s skull with all of my might. She went flying into the maze, sinking into the shrubbery. Cellar’s eyes widened as she turned to me, obviously frightened now. “Erissa is a seamstress,” I explained, taking the girl by the hand and running once more, “and any good seamstress would have supplies for sewing on their person.” I didn’t have time to look at the girl’s expression. The faster that the two of us ran through the maze, the higher of a chance we’d find an exit.

I just hoped that we wouldn’t run out of ways to distinguish our fake comrades from our real ones…

[Sagequeen]

When the elf's eyes crept open, she hoped to see the familiar nightstand, the lamp upon it extinguished, and the long hours of night still toiling toward dawn. She hoped she would find a book on the pillow near her, a tale of some fair maiden trapped in a labyrinth, haunted by a strange man in a suit. When she finished the book, there would be a happy ending; the maiden would go free, having defeated the maze. Perhaps she was rescued by a knight, whose bright metal slashed through every vine and hedge and mad Keeper to save her.

Instead, Erissa awakened to sharp pains in her feet. She was standing up, supported by the hedge, but even more disconcerting was the view of her toes plunged into the ground, and the balls and bridge of her feet woody with bark. The Ixian Knight screamed, blood-curdling and unrestrained.

She was being transformed into part of the hedge, and she doubted this was what the enormous, pink-haired man meant when he said she could control the maze with one of her elf-nature spirit connection thingies.

The elf twisted and struggled, but the branches writhed around her, keeping Erissa firmly in place. With all her strength and concentration, the arcanist summoned an orb of energy, which flattened above her head like a guillotine. As it dropped just behind her, the snapping sound of branches breaking filled her ears.

Suddenly released from the hedge's grasp, Erissa fell forward on her hands and knees, her feet held at an impossible angle as her toes were still rooted firmly into the ground. As quickly as the branches had recoiled, they lashed out again, only to be met by a shield of energy protecting Erissa's back. The hedge beat against the only thing between it and its prey, and with great effort, the elf uprooted her feet, leaving some of her woody toes behind in the ground.

The adrenaline was pumping through her body, and Erissa felt no pain. She attempted to rise to her feet, but collapsed to the ground immediately; both of her ankles were broken, snapped like slender logs in her fall forward. Tears streamed from her eyes as she crawled to the center of the pathway; the hedge had nearly sapped all the energy of her shield. With the last blow of the arm-like branch, Erissa was exposed.

She remembered Gabacef.

The vines took her as she fumbled for the flute in her pocket. Erissa inhaled a deep breath, and played the song of the Tender. At once, the vines and branches of the hedge went completely stiff, then sullenly retracted, dropping the elf on the soft mat of grass below.

Erissa rolled to her back, her breath ragged and eyes glazed. The dull throb in her ankles began as she rested, and once her heart beat normally, the pain was excruciating. Tears leaked from both corners of her blue-green eyes, wetting her hair that lay in a tangled halo around her head. She began to sob. Though she could heal her ankles, the bitter reminder of her own mortality never would be healed.

“The book,” Erissa sighed, clenching her jaw and forcing herself to sit. “I must win the book.”

“Book?” came the ethereal voice from all directions. “Who needs a silly book that may or may not tell you the future?” Erissa looked around; the voice had no source.

“I do.”

“Why?”

“I need the book, and the why of it is not your concern,” she said roughly.

“I know why,” the voice replied, a wicked cackle oppressing her from all sides, and the elf hesitated. “And I can give you something much more reliable than a little book.”

“Hardly,” Erissa said. “Living my life as a hedge is not what I had in mind.”

“You may stay here, forever,” he said, the voice narrowing and losing its echo. Alabaster strolled up casually behind her. “You fear your death as much as he does, and yet, it's not for yourself you fear. So why gamble with a contest you may not win, and a book you could lose? You can live forever in this place. Just say the word.”

“And what exactly would the point be of me staying here forever?” she asked, refusing to turn and acknowledge him.

“Because I'd be here, leaf licker.”

Gentle hands lifted the elf's stiffened body, raising her to her feet, which oddly supported her without problem. Erissa's resolve was eroding with every moment, and it was all she could do not to look back; the rumbling baritone of his chuckle set butterflies at frenzy in her gut. With a sigh she collapsed back into his arms, nuzzling her head against his chest. Tears flowed once again.

“You are not real,” she whispered to the open air. “I know your Heartsong, and it is not you. Begone,” Erissa choked, and once again she was dropped to her backside, her ankles shrieking with fresh agony. How she wished she knew why Jensen was avoiding her, suggesting long, diplomatic missions and sheltered quests. Was he protecting himself from the separation that would one day come for them, just as it had for everyone else he had cared about? Or perhaps everything he felt truly was a manipulation of... She stopped herself, not wanting to remember any longer.

“What exactly is real? Why does it need to be more than what you experience, when what you can experience is far better than what is?” the ethereal voice asked, an invisible apparition once again. Another unnerving cackle splitting through her mind. “I see you have met my Tender,” Alabaster said nonchalantly. “It's such a good thing you didn't trust him. You wouldn't believe where you'd have ended up if you had followed the path he suggested.”

“Where?” Erissa asked, chewing the word through teeth clenched in pain. The hedges seemed to lean inward, glowering over her.

“Why, the safest route to the center of the maze, of course,” he replied. “Old Gabacef, always distrusted. Poor little faun. He means well, but no one ever believes him! If you should meet him again, beware. Once he's scorned, he is rather unforgiving.” The laughter trailed away to nothing, and Erissa was left alone once again. She wiped the tears from her eyes and healed her broken ankles, knowing that a good portion of her strength was spent.

Woozily, Erissa continued down the path; another crossroad, and another choice, loomed ahead. She wondered how many of her clones were wandering around at that moment.

[Tainted Bushido]

Taka moved steadily through the maze as he looked about the area, trying to figure out how to proceed towards the center of the maze. His eyes never ceasing their movement as he kept a healthy paranoia about him. So far he had deduced minor ways of spotting potential fakes in the people that had become his teammates with one exception, the young woman referred to as “Cellar Door” of all things. This of course made things harder than he cared for.

His answer of smashing everything in sight was also useless, and even experimenting with what he could get the brush to do with his Iron blade didn’t help. He just could not utilize the maze’s avoidance of his blade to get by. It was something he could swear would be important later, but was too drowsy from being drugged by the plants in the maze to figure out how it would be important. His eyes scanned the area while he looked upon the shocking pink afro of Steppenwolfe Orlouge.

This time, the duplicate left no pretenses and merely started swinging with everything it had. The Ronin found himself moving swiftly into the steps of the very first kata he had ever learned back in the Dojo for the Yanbo Port Guard. His movements were fluid like the sea, and matched the movements of the raging beast as it swung over and over at him. Each blow was dodged with the tiniest of effort necessary, minimizing the amount of energy it would take, though he could not swing, his Kata only giving him time to attack with his Katana, which was conspicuously absent.

“So be it beast, you wish a fight, let me oblige you…” The ronin muttered through clenched teeth. The battle began in full as Taka shifted stance from one merely dodging to attack. The Blade slashing out in a great arc it cut cleanly through the forearms of the beast and Taka was rewarded with a splash of green fluid. Taka was beginning to recognize when an attacker was a plant in nature, and so finished off the dazed opponent before he felt a slash cut open his kimono from behind.

…he wasn’t the only one learning.

Predicting another blow he blocked with the nodachi even as he spun and saw what had to be at least two different renditions of Erissa coming at him, the absurdity not lost upon the Ronin. The blades bounced off his nodachi when he realized something, one of the girls stumbled and he realized why when the blades came back with a brownish black coating on part of their edge. The plant people he had been fighting were a fae that shape changed. What if the weapons were such plants as well?
Taka grinned as realized just what having Iron meant at last…

[Taste of Treason]

The giant man hefted her into his arms and carried her. For a few moments Cel just enjoyed the feeling of being cared for, something she had little experience with in her short life. The man spoke several times, occasionally adjusting her weight with no sign of being willing to put her down. Cel tried to listen to his words but an unexplained sleepiness seemed to force her eyes closed and her head to find its way to his chest where his heartbeat finished the job. The last thing she was sure of was a small clearing with many paths, seemingly guarded by a large statue. The familiar scent of rose blooms filled her nostrils and she was gone.







Her chest ached as she ran with all her might, surely around some corner she would find one of the others. With each empty pathway her spirit deflated, but each new turn gave her faith anew. Sweat dripped down her face and the salty taste in her mouth made her stomach ache, but she couldn’t give up. The keeper of the maze had been clear; the only way she was getting out of this was with the others. For now the walls seemed satisfied, a tiny blessing in this new chaotic world.

When the sound of rustling branches reached her ears Cel stopped, doing her best to assign a direction to the sound. Satisfied, she made her way towards a new path, afraid of what she might see once she turned. There were two elves, both attacking the strange man from before. The girl wasn’t quite sure what to make of the ronin, but anything was better than spending another second alone in this place. She watched quietly as he fought, scared to distract him but even more petrified to let him out of her sight.






Every movement caused stems and sticks to cut into her skin. A large part of her wanted to simply give up, allow the maze to consume her and hope that soon enough she would be disqualified and allowed to return home, but something pushed her forward. There was light between the branches of the hedge, she couldn’t be too far from where she needed to go, and yet the idea of one more painful push was nearly more than she could bear. The girl let her tired body lay upon the sandy ground, immediately feeling the brush move back from her slightly and make a comfortable space. “Ah, so that’s it is it? So long as I don’t fight you, you won’t hurt me?” The girl smiled, she could deal with this. The smell of flowers was soothing and birds could be heard chirping nearby, a lullaby that was surely meant just for her.

She woke to the sound of voices nearby. Cel forced herself to her knees and rushed towards them, as her cocoon realized her treachery it once again closed in on her, but she was already making progress. There were two voices, perhaps Taka and Erissa? As she forced herself to crawl one last time the bright blue sky greeted her as though she were waking from a dream. Several paces away stood the elf, seemingly considering which path to take. The young girl pulled herself to her feet, doing her best to ignore the cuts and scrapes she had inherited form her adventure.

“Erissa, it is so good to see you.” Even as the words left her mouth Cel knew she might be faced with another trick of the maze, even so she would take her chances; there was little doubt in her mind that she did not have what it took to win this thing anyway.

[Steppenwolf Orlouge]

I looked at the large statue of a faun, my head tilting to the side from curiosity. As I gazed upon the architecture, three paths opened ahead of the stony guardian of the labyrinth. A three way fork in our hedgy deathtrap, one going east, west, and straight ahead of us. The statue turned, as if it were magnetized to do so, and pointed in the direction of the east path. I thought for a moment, straightening my head up before I made a decision.

“Listen, I know you’re probably not very trustworthy a….thing, to most people,” I spoke, trying to carefully select my words. If these things had feelings, I didn’t want to offend it, “But this girl here, Cellar, she’s not cut out for this tournament. Sure, she can spell sing, but the truth of the matter is that there is literally nothing else that she can do. I just saved her from this maze, and she was a sobbing mess. I know you’ve probably been instructed by Alabaster to lead me astray, and that’s fine. Separate us for all I care after it happens, but for Thayne’s sake, let me get this girl to safety.”

As I spoke, I hadn’t realized that tears were starting to well up in my eyes from my prayer to the stone idol. Perhaps there were features about Cellar that reminded me of my niece, Kyla. Kyla had entered this tournament as well, but she had trained thoroughly to become a certified, kick ass, independent woman, and it was that training that separated Kyla from Cellar. The girl on my arms did not have that experience, that sheer drive and determination to do whatever it takes. I meant every word I had spoken to the faun, and apparently it believed me, for it shifted once again, to the path to the west.

“Thank you so much!” I almost sang my praise for the thing as I took off towards the east path. As I ran, I thought I could see the exit, a small, circular area with a door located directly into a hedge-wall. I smiled, incredibly happy that I would be able to get Cellar to the end of this round, and maybe the girl would wizen up and withdraw herself from the competition once she woke up.

As I got closer and closer to the exit, two shrubs began to seal the end of the tunnel, slowly pushing themselves towards one another. “Oh no you don’t!” I shouted, grabbing the back end of Cellar’s shirt and the hole in her pants with each of my hands. “I’m sorry about this, Cellar!” I shouted, closing my eyes and heaving the girl with all my might past the two closing bushes. I stopped and watched as she glided through the air, her body hitting the ground with a sickening thud before rolling into the circular ‘safety pad’ as it were.

I winced at the bruises the girl would feel in the morning, but at least she had passed the test. I, on the other hand, was now trapped on the other side of the wall. So close and yet so far. I cursed underneath my breath and hoped my other comrades were faring better.

[Sagequeen]

Under construction ^^

"Erissa!"

The elf's head snapped to the left, and a young girl, who had introduced herself as Cellar Door, caught her attention. The poor child seemed as frantic as Erissa herself, and she was glad to see another of the group trapped within the green maze. The arcanist waved, and walked quickly to Cel, smiling with relief.

"You are alive!" Erissa said.

"Yes," the girl cried, and threw her arms around the elf. Erissa hugged her, doing her best to be strong.

"Come on, Cel," Erissa said gently. "I have an idea of where we are going, and if I am right, the center is not too far away from where we are now." The two walked abreast; the hedge allowed enough space, yet they huddled closer than necessary. It had been a while since Erissa had seen another of those sleep-inducing flowers, and she was vigilant, ready to summon an energy shield in a half a second's notice. The elf cleared her throat.

"I understand you are a spell singer?" she asked. The girl smiled shyly.

"Yes, I was trained by elves, like you," Cel said, looking at the ground.

"Then you have had more training than I have," Erissa said, a rueful smile curving her lips. "But, if we are to get into trouble, perhaps we can work together." Cel nodded eagerly. "Teach me a song," Erissa requested, "that we can both sing if we get into trouble."

"Well, I know a few songs that might help," Cel said gingerly. She began to sing, the pitch and melody falling flat. Erissa cringed, and stopped in her tracks.

"Cel," Erissa said, "I thought you said you were a spell singer."

"I am!"

"You..." Realization dawned in the elf's eyes, and before Cel could react, a bolt of prismatic energy tore a gaping hole in her head. The plant beast quivered as it fell to the ground, and Erissa sprinted away as quickly as she could. She was desperate, running without regard through whatever turn came to her. Every thud of her foot was met with laughter that seemed to emanate from the very plants around her. All the while, her heart broke with the memory of murdering someone. She knew without question that she did not truly murder, but she had to consider the 'if.' What if that had been the real Cel? What if someone mistook Erissa for a copy of herself?

As she rounded a turn, she ran into the chest of Taka, who recoiled from her as she did from him. Erissa eyed him carefully, unsure if he was real or not.

"This way," he said, the unreadable seriousness upon his face that she had always seen in the Ixian Castle. "This way."

"Yes," Erissa said, sighing, trusting. "Of course." Jensen had told her as much as he knew about Taka and the Benjiro family. She had seen the grandeur of Akashima herself, had lived for a time in that life, and she had understood him better for it.

"May I see your weapon?" Erissa asked innocently.

"Of course," Taka said, handing it to her without question. The elf gazed at the weapon, peering upon it a rare treat few enjoyed. Then, she slashed the Ronin in half with it. The weapon disintigrated in her hands.

"I am sorry," Erissa sighed. "Taka would never relinquish his weapon."