open The Circulation

[Chickey 383]

With a satisfied grin Misha kicked off from Jon before he started to bleed so it didn't get on his clothes. He skipped back a few more feet in a jig like fashion before he turned back to Monty, keeping his distance for now. He slammed his heel back into the ground, retracting the blade just in time to hear Nay start to scream and sob. He tilted his head back and ran his hand through his hair with a chuckle. "It's like music to my ears, so beautiful you know?" He commented, his voice growing high in a comical like fashion for the last four words. He kept himself ready to dodge in case of an attack. "Seems he finally spoke." Misha thought.

 

"...It is too bad the other two are gonna get away however. A noble sacrifice on your part, I can respect that at least." He added as he waited.  

[FractalMoon 378]

Lily's entire body relaxes as a majority of the hostiles, including the ones who were harassing her, have been taken out of commission in one way or another. She then turns to Monty, "Why don't you just go? I can still see your friends fleeing, and if you don't keep careful they'll find themselves full of holes... It's a pretty hostile area out there..." She follows October's walkie talkie signal subconsciously, wondering if she should drop her improvised bomb on it or not. She leans over to Zeke, "I can feel where the other two are, should I take care of them?"

[Chickey 383]

Misha scoffed as he glanced at Lily. "I think this unsung hero over here has already made up his decision to die fighting. I'm sure he won't back away now that his brother has been killed. However, if he wants to turn his tail and run now like a coward, I have no problems with it, I already have had my fun here." He said before addressing her second sentence. "Not even worth the attempt, that annoyance of a girl with the blue hair will find a way to stop it with her power."

[Azura 1,107]

So much was happening around her, she didn't do anything but watch as October got knocked out of her comfort zone with beams of light that shot out of Zeke's hands. One man remained, and he looked like he was willing to sacrifice his own life for the two that escaped. "He's easily outnumbered.. What exactly does he expect to do?" She asked no one in particular before she sent a few waves of flesh-cutting wind towards him to test his reaction speed. They were thin lines that aren't very noticeable and it was traveling at a very quick speed.

[Samurshy 709]

The wind blades sliced through Monty's skin and flesh but didn't sever any limbs, and though it would have normally been difficult for any esper under these circumstances to concentrate and utilize their personal realities, he managed to concentrate with no problems. The metal ball bearing in the palm of Monty's hand began to levitate, hovering only a few inches above his palm as he concentrated his energy into it.

Zeke looked over at Lily who was prepared to drop an explosive over the girls. Perhaps it would be a service to them, Zeke could feel that the blonde girl had just lost someone very important to her. And what if they came back for revenge later? All of this ran through Zeke's head.

"Why me? Why should it be up to me to decide?" Zeke said out loud with a perplexed undertone. He then shook his head and said. "If you are leaving it up to me... then I say you let them go. we have won this already. So I don't believe we need to obliterate them." 

Zeke then turned his gaze back to the ex-military man. The bearing that he pulled out of his pocket was now hovering above the palm of his hand. The cave was a bit dark, but Zeke squinted to adjust his eyes. His power, sensing what he was doing, adjusted his sight for night vision. He noticed the ball wasn't just hovering above his hand, but also spinning. And... was it pulsating as well? Just then he felt the warning ping that his birthmark had given him earlier when the grenade almost blew him up. Like every cell in his body was telling him to run.

"Guys we need to get out of here. NOW!" Zeke yelled.

Just as the words left his mouth the bearing increased in size to over one thousand times the size it was before, now taking up the vast majority of the room they were in, but not quite as big as the room. It was still pulsating a bit. About to increase in size once more to squish them all. Even though they were all close to the entrance to the room they were in, the entrance was sealed off by a block of limestone from that rune. 

"I hope someone has a plan" Zeke said, panicked.

Edited May 11, 2014 by Homura Was Right.

[FractalMoon 378]

Lily's mind flurries with action as the ball bearing expands in front of her. She repurposes the explosives she has to make a crude shaped charge, which she affixes to the limestone wall after a few calculations of density and breaching power. She nods to Zeke, "I have one I just made up, breaching!" she shouts before detonating her improvised cutting device. There's a bright white flash and a loud bang, followed by a hole being blasted into the limestone. She looks toward the hole, then sprints for it, 

[Chickey 383]

Misha booked it for the new opening in the limestone with a rather angry and disappointed face. "And here I thought there was going to be a fight. This is more like self destructing and trying to take as many as you can with you." He commented as he vaulted into the opening and slid through it with his back. Once he landed on the other side he kept moving backwards while facing the opening, looking out for the rest of the group and waiting to see if the ball would expand more. 

[Azura 1,107]

Hikari backed up a few steps before turning around and rushing towards the entrance. Before getting out of the cave, she turned her head around and glanced at it one last time. "It hurts to watch someone sacrificing their own lives to protect others.." She said before she took a deep breath of fresh air and said "What's done is done, however, we still haven't found the key." Hikari commented, wondering if they came all the way here just to murder a few hunters.

[Samurshy 709]

Zeke ran for the opening, jumping through just before the bearing engulfed the entire room. The ball bearing shrank back to its normal size only ten seconds after crushing the one whose energy was being used to expand it. Zeke cast his gaze back through the opening momentarily, buts that moment was all that was needed for Zeke's eyes to behold the single most gruesome scene since his sister being murdered right before his eyes. Through the opening he saw the crater created by the ball bearing. In the middle of the crater was a red, fleshy, flat, unidentifiable mass; complimented by a pool of blood. Zeke quickly returned his gaze back to the group, his expression fixed in concern.

 

 " Well, I don't know about you guys, but I am going to be searching for the clue far away from this room." Zeke said in a nauseous tone.

Edited May 11, 2014 by Homura Was Right.

[Chickey 383]

After hearing that they were still looking for a key, Misha walked off back into the cave. He hummed a tune to himself as he inspected the walls for anything suspicious. Knowing that the man with the sword he had killed was looking in the walls, he figured that would be the best place to look. He stuck close to the group as he could and ran his left hand across the wall as he walked. He tapped it up against the wall every once in a while to see if there was anything off about it.

[Azura 1,107]

Hikari walked back into the cave and followed Zeke as she spoke to herself. "If that esper could go through solid objects, why couldn't she just use her powers to see where this hidden room is located at?" Hikari asked no one in particular, but expected Zeke to answer since he was the one to knock her out. She inspected the walls for anything unusual as she walked past them.

[Chickey 383]

Misha stopped for a moment, glancing back at Hikari. "They must be lazy or stupid. Possibly both." He commented. "Unless she has already taken it. If that's true then we might be in for a good ol' hunt to get it back. But seeing that the swordsman guy seemed to be still looking I doubt that they've taken it already." He added. "At least that's my two cents, hopefully we can find this fabled key soon. I want to get some rest myself."

[FractalMoon 378]

Lily shrugs, "You want the short answer? She's a moron. She may have a powerful ability, but she wasn't utilizing it very well. They didn't find it, or at least she didn't say she did to the others. Wait... If it's in a hidden alcove can't you use your powers to detect where there's air in the rock? That seems like it would be the easiest way to find something behind a false wall." She runs through what's left of her equipment in her mind, frowning in distaste at how few nanites she has left after her stunt with the explosives.

[Azura 1,107]

"I'll need to be pretty close to the cave to sense the air circulating within the cave room." It was just a matter of walking around the entire cave. Hikari started to check for any air behind the walls as she wandered around the cave. She turned left towards a somewhat narrow pathway and noticed a room behind the walls that wasn't visible. She ran back out and said "I think it's over here!" Hikari pointed.

[Chickey 383]

Misha turned his gaze over to where Hikari was pointing and skipped over. He put his ear up to the wall and knocked a few times. "Anyone home?" He asked no one. He placed his hand up to the wall a dew a quick rune in the air with his magic before he placed his finger up to the wall. The tip of his finger burned with yellow energy as he traced a human sized door like shape on the rock. It was clear now that was he was doing was cutting a hole in the stone.

 

Afterwards he attempted to kick it down with his foot, but to no avail. With a irritated expression he pushed his whole body up against it. "Just takes... a little elbow grease." He commented before the slab suddenly gave way and opened up the hidden room. Misha himself almost fell over from the pressure from pushing disappearing as the cut out rock fell over.

[Samurshy 709]

"You guys all got it wrong. The way her power worked is kinda a mystery, but I did learn that light could touch her. If that is the case, then she sees everything like we see it when she uses her power. She would be floating through tons of limestone before she would find what she was looking for. I am assuming that she didn't want to waste any time floating around through the solid limestone trying to find a nook." Zeke said. "But then again. Thinking back, they had an arsenal. Which means they expected to fight all along. Her power might consume too much of her energy and she just wanted to save it in case people like us showed up. Imagine if she had been using it before hand and was exhausted. They all would have been dead a long time ago."

Zeke sighed, as the recent events had stressed him out a bit. He was feeling a bit exhaust from using his powers, and he noticed that his birthmark was no longer glowing. 

Zeke followed the group as Misha opened the door, and he stood back, wondering what was inside.

Edited May 12, 2014 by Homura Was Right.

[Azura 1,107]

She peeked inside before entering the room to see a semi-large key, a bit larger than the palm of a hand but no longer than the length of an arm. It was as long as a dagger, and it was hovering above a sharp red glow emitting from a dark black stony surface. The key was made out of a really tough metal with a pattern on it. Hikari was a bit worried about grabbing it since there were three runes marked onto the walls. One above it, and two at both sides of the wall. "You guys might want to think twice before touching it. Look." She said as she pointed at one of the runes that weren't really visible since they were covered in dust.

[Octavia's Bow 2,035]

Sayaa kneeled next to the now-crushed man with s knife wound. She looked across the way to the person who had crushed him. The both of them. Swallowing, she teleported both of the bodies into bushes outside the caves, trying hard not to up-heave her stomach. She stumbled after the party, the magic usages having nearly completely sapped her strength.

[Chickey 383]

Misha looked around the room. "Well this just reeks traps and spooky curses." He commented as he examined the runes in particular. He couldn't see them because of the dust covering the things. But he was sure he could decipher what they meant if they were wiped clean. However he didn't make any moves yet, Since he didn't want to touch anything in the room. The walls being included in that too.

[Azura 1,107]

"I could try clearing out all the dust but I can't guarantee that those traps won't go off since I don't really know much about magic.." Hikari suggested, wondering if a magic user in the group could try removing them before we lay our hands anywhere near the key.

[Samurshy 709]

"Well, you got me. Since my birthmark isn't glowing I can't use my powers. So I can't absorb the light that thing gives off. Not that that would have worked any how. Or use my speed to jump in and jump out. Might as well try your wind." Zeke said, thinking out loud. 

Zeke was very exhausted and decided to take a seat on the ground near the cave wall, using the wall as lumbar support. Zeke took out his jug of water out of his pack and drank a bit of it. Zeke sighed once more. I could really use a cigarette right now. But I gave that bad habit up the day my family was destroyed. I vowed to keep myself in the best possible physical condition, and never fall into depression. My sister didn't like to see me cry, that's what she told me before she died. And while I cry from time to time, I think what she meant was that she didn't want me to fall into deep despair, especially over their death. As long as I have hope that I can see them again, I will push on. 

Zeke took a deep breath of oxygen before chugging a bit more of the water. He then capped the jug and placed it back into his pack as he waited for the group to come to some sort of consensus.

Edited May 13, 2014 by Homura Was Right.

[Chickey 383]

Misha sighed as he inspected the runes from a safe distance. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea. Never can really know how sensitive these things can be." He commented as he thought. "However, my best guess from what I see so far is that it's demonic in nature. What it will do is a mystery to me, I never really specialized in that category of magic." He said. "We can either try to just destroy them, uncover the dust, or take the key and run for it." He finished.

[Azura 1,107]

Hikari wondered if clearing out the dust to inspect it would do any good since if it were to trigger itself, it wouldn't be worth it. Knowing that she can send two strong lines of air towards the two runes at the sides, she decided not to ask the group for a second opinion and sent two razor-sharp slices that penetrated the two runes, shattering the rocks as debris flew from the two sides of the walls. The rune near the middle of the cave activated and glowed dark red, and within a few seconds, a large beast crawled out with sharp teeth with the body of a lion and a spiky back with pointy claws and glowing eyes. It was double the size of an ordinary lion and Hikari was scared out of her mind, standing still and waiting for it to make a move. "S-Shit.. I.." She whispered to the others. The monster growled and stood in a stance as if it was about to pounce on her.

[Octavia's Bow 2,035]

"Oh Mr. Daemon, " Sayaa called, "Might I have a word with you?" Having drawn some more energy from her doll, she could at least function. "I couldn't help but notice just how big and strong you were! And as a bit of a conjurist myself, I just know I have to get a contract. We offer holidays, mana payments, battles, and sometimes even lives. And you know just how incomprehensibly short the human life span is! If you come with me you'll be free in no time! Stick around, and who knows just how long it will take those runes to deteriorate?" She smiles childishly at the daemon, "What do ya say?"

[Azura 1,107]

The demon looked over at Sayaa with his threatening eyes before slowly creeping towards her. It started to growl, and if that wasn't enough, acid was coming out of it's mouth which was melting through the stone below him. "I.. I don't think it understand English." She said quietly as she slowly stepped backwards.