Buried in stone where light will never shine [FOT/NOM/Event/War]

Seeing a familiar face Julius held his hand up to stop Jack from firing. Hearing of the spell used Julius wondered if he should waste the Magoi to confirm this man's story or not. It seemed the further down they went the more secrets there might be. "Do you know about how far down, and if they are your allies or not?" Julius questioned, he knew he needed to make a choice but he would rather cast a spell from here and take opponents off guard and possibly kill whoever they were than ignore them outright. Though he also did not wish to waste time fighting, someone, when the time could be spent on tracking down the power source. He found himself agreeing with the darker-skinned man, he wished to find the secrets of this place before others. If the man said he did not know who was down the path where there were people, Julius would weigh the option to spring an attack, or it could be other people he would know. Though something was telling him to go down.
He made his choice. "Hm, actually let us just go to the easier route for now. For some reason, I think what I am looking for is underneath. "

The Vizier looked at the skeleton man and his construct with no worry and he would shake his head as he heard his question. It seemed like something was on his mind as he held his chin and was quiet for a moment, although he was quick to share it seemed as soon enough he turned to speak to him.

"Well no, I think the squad that came in might be preoccupied with some Heliohaptians, I think a noble came in her with a stealth squad." He said waving his staff around for a moment. He held up his staff as magoi began to flow as he chanted under his breath and some of the dust on the ground around them would form into the shape of some figures running down, they were dressed in light armor and carrying smaller or light weapons. After a moment the dust would reshape into another group, looked ragtag with all of them wearing different clothes, and about five of them in total, once again it reshaped into a group of three standing in a triangle, two girls and a boy before it would drop down into dust once again.

"That spell shows everyone within a 100-meter diameter that I can't see, but it can only show up to a certain amount of people and I've seen at least two other groups that have since disappeared." He had a grim look on his face, it suggested that no one who had appeared was his ally, or at least from what he could tell. "But there could always be other factors, but I believe you're right we should get moving."

He would quickly get moving as he walked down the path quickly looking back at Julius to see if he was following, for him he thought it was pertinent to save their time for the artifact, although as he was focused on the skeleton he wouldn't be looking forward to notice that the fire on the walls around them had started to change color, into an ominous black flame that shone a purple, almost black light on the walls. There was splatters on the ground, getting bigger and bigger as he walked forward.

---

As Azar took a moment to think she looked at Zubaidah who also seemed to be thinking about their choices at the moment. The Shar Khan was a bit embarrassed she didn't pass the puzzle, but now she could have another chance at solving it, after all it did seem a bit cruel she fell down after her first try. As she bit her lip she thought about her allies knowing she hadn't seen them in some time now.

"Nn, I think we should go after the puzzle, it was just crazy enough that it felt like it had to be hiding something secret." She said as she had to stop herself from biting her lip, the blood dripping a tad from the stress injury she gave herself. "All right, let me tell you about it if you wanna go we should go soon whenever we decide to go, my friends are strong enough to protect themselves but I'd rather not waste too much time trying to decide."

She would step back for a moment as she would grab some rocks from the small rubble around them, and placed them into a line of six before standing behind them all. It seemed like she was setting up a sort of diagram to more easily explain the puzzle she had to try and solve, and why she possibly failed it.

"Alright, there were six statues and eight places, each one of them looked like a different person, different cultures, but older time period for sure, but I guess that's to be expected here." She would move them around until they were in two circles, three in each one before she stood in the middle. "This is how I placed them into their places and then two middle spaces opened in the middle of the platform, so I put a rock on the other since there was no other statue, and I stood on the other before the trap activated."

She stopped quickly after saying that last part and then threw a finger up and gave a look of realization as she turned to them with a smile. "I just remembered, before it dropped me my place glowed for a moment, kinda like some magic tools would, maybe its something with me, placed them wrong, or maybe I missed some detail."

As the group started moving Julius noticed the flames on the wall started to look like the black flames from the Curse Rifle, he was not sure if it was indeed cursed flames out not but Julius would not be taking any chances for his team to be killed. "Single line formation, now!" He ordered drawing on the magoi within his body and channeling it into his hands. He was not sure how fast the flames would close in on them, but he would be ready to protect his men if needed. "Does anyone have water magic?" He did not have access to water magic yet, if he had he would flood the tunnel in front of them, but he did not have that power as of yet. While he did have heat magic, he did not have a spell to drain the heat from flames it was not how he used his magic. He started to regret not going to the war and letting Lagi handle this. He could summon Zoran and run every one to safety, but was it worth the magoi? In reality, did he care if the men from Tartarus really matter to him? No, when he thought about it they did not. It was a war and they were pawns and they understood this. Jack and Yurmameshi were pawns as well, but he needed Yurameshi to further his training with the sword, they were going to be used to enhance his combat power for Zoran. Can they be expended? He could find another Kina Warrior to teach him the ways of their sword. Jack, however, was a marvel a living magic tool! There was so much he could learn from this and possibly even use this knowledge to restore life to his wife. Until then he needed to keep him alive at all costs for now. Julius made sure to scan the area as they moved.

The Vizier would suddenly trip over his placement for a second as he heard the words of the skeleton behind him and suddenly caught the visage of the ground below him. He caught his balance and turned to look at the other as they progressed into this darker hall. He himself pulled out his staff and looked at the flames in the braziers. He thought about what the other man said and looked like he was considering it before he thought something else.

"I could extinguish these flames but it seems as if to me they are revealing something." He would start pointing to the splotches that were being shown from the magical fires. He didn't have a spell to identify whatever it was but he was curious nonetheless. "You're right though, we should stay cautious, but I'll keep leading us through, so if anything happens at least I can be first to deal with it."

He was working on an act of good faith, he felt it important to make sure their alliance kept strong for both of them and thought it pertinent to keep them all safe. He held his staff up as he walked ready to attack anything that would get close or jump out into his sight while they moved forward.

The stuff on the ground got bigger and bigger in its patches until finally, they reached a single place with two surprising sights. The first was a dead-end marked with a mural of an incomplete person that was mixed around like someone took it apart and reassembled the mosaic in the wrong way. The second was a pair of legs, from the knee down there with nothing above, with no blood as the flesh and blood around the top was dry and it was cleanly cut.

"My oh my." Ibrahim said as he stared at the sight before him before looking at the mosaic and gulping, wondering how all of what they had seen was related.

---

Shar would nod once they had all agreed on a plan of action, she would turn and head towards where she had fallen through, pointing and even showing how the stone was uneven and could slide into the wall. Although soon enough with Angelus' magic they would be able to move past it without worry.

"This is impressive, should be useful for traveling through a fortress." She would say as she followed, it a bit easier with them moving up a tunnel and using this magic to make it easier to go upwards. "Shouldn't be too much further, I wasn't sliding down for very long."

After about five minutes of travel they would soon pop up through the ground, a few feet off from the center and there was indeed everything she had described, except for one small difference. The statues had been pushed back to the furthest end of the room where they would have to walk a bit closer to get a good look at each one. Although there was also the circle below them, and the repeating mural on the wall. With plenty for them to investigate it seemed like maybe there could've been a few things she was missing in her answer, but they would have to figure that out for themselves.

"When we go look at the statues I can tell you how I arranged them and why, also I can use my strength to do it again." She spoke while rubbing her chin as her eyes started to narrow. "Though, I'll admit it makes me a bit uneasy that they were moved back to their starting position."

Reaching the puzzle Julius looked it over for a moment. It seemed his way out was blocked by a dead end. He looked over his shoulder at the flames and then back to the puzzle. "Put the man back together in the correct way, or break through the wall. I do not care which just do it now. " Julius had grown annoyed with the man they had met.  They had led them astray to a dead end with a puzzle.  While his Terrian magic model was excellent it apparently lacked the details. It would be better used on a battlefield instead of a building such as this.  Either way, Julius would give the order and await the result wondering what would exactly come from the puzzle. He would be ready to deal with any threat his magic had been designed to deal with if anything would occur. What was going to happen?

When the Vizier had heard the words from the skeletal man he looked at him with a moment of shock, he admit it might've looked like the feet in the wall were a part of the puzzle he had noticed something much worse as blood dripped down. "I don't think this is a piece of the puzzle, I wonder what happened here."

He seemed confused for a moment but nonetheless he would set to solving the puzzle before him, and there would be silence that set over them except for the subtle clicking as he fixed the mosaic into its proper shape. However, this didn't last for long as the sound of marching could be heard behind them getting closer and closer as the image on the puzzle became clearer with each movement he made. It continued feet pounding on the floor like thunder like drums of war calling to Julius for what he had been waiting for until finally, it all came to head at once. The puzzle was completed as the art piece of a king with his neck slit ear to ear upon his throne was staring back at them.

Before Julius could even act he would see the faces of bandits appear in the darkness like stars in the night sky brandishing their weapons before a three-foot thick wall of stone came crashing upon their bodies popping the heads of some and crunching others in half while the rest were lucky to be behind the wall. As it splattered on them and painted the bones of the magician a dark red they feel the ground below them give way. No, they weren't falling, the ground was as it began to rapid decelerate into the ground below them.

"Holy shiiiit-" The vizier barely got out before the sudden speed at which they began to descend caused him to fall flatly against the ground as it moved grinding against the walls seemingly held in place by a mechanism.

---

Azar would walk over to the statues and as she began to push them they would see what they were representatives off. They looked ancient, similar to many of the cultures they might've seemed over the world, but different in some way. There was small differences, or versions of clothing that existed today that we're in a slightly different shape, or were less ornate. The first seemed like the garb of the pharaohs, although their crown was different. Next came one that looked like the same armor or clothing found in Parthevian ruins and what would've become the basis for the clothes Zubaidah saw on her elders. The next two looked like those of the lands far east, although distinct from each other in different ways they seemed to have a similar influence.

Once she had placed the last two in the spots she had before they would see the entire picture as they saw a man in a breastplate that looked like a man's chest made from metal and a skirt with a gladius in his hand, and finally, a magician whose eyes were closed and sat with his hands over his heart.

As they all stared upon the statues what she said would come true as the ground had opened up before them and two more pedestals came about Angelus would take one and Azar would stare back at Zub while she looked at the murals before them and thought about the situation. The paintings show people who look similar to the statues based on their clothing, there were the same three sets in repetition, although in each on there was a slight differentiation in what they wore whether it be an accessory or piece of clothing. The first scene shows all of them hiding from a terrifying presence, the second scene shows them all getting together to kill this presence, and the final scene shows them walking away from the corpse in different directions

"Yeah, as you can see I just put them in the same order you see 'em walking away from each other, there's something there but I didn't find anything else in the room." She scratched her head talking about the other woman's interest before the elephant in the room. "I don't care which one of us stands there, but I think regardless we should stay by each other in case something happens so we can help each other."

Julius watched as the blood-splattered onto his armor, the two red colors mixing together almost unable to tell the difference in a color besides the glow that fresh blood gave due to it being wet. This color had been picked on purpose by the original owner. Before he could even mutter a word the floor under him gave way causing him to shift his legs about him as he fought for his balance while his Kina ninja seemed unbothered and jack fell over. Live it to a mechanical being to fall all over. Julius quickly picked up his living magic tool and sighed though truthfully it was just him making the noise of someone sighing with his magical voice since he lacked the lungs to actually do it. He was shocked that no one had ever called him out on such a thing as it was clearly a dramatically done action.

Julius turned his helmeted head towards the magician his voice was louder to overcome the moving of the stone. "From now on, we destroy the puzzle mechanic and force our way through. I will not be taken for a fool again. Trust me when I say I will level this entire structure and kill everyone if I feel the object we seek is going to fall into the wrong hands.

The Vizier stood up and he shook his head a bit as he rubbed where he felt the soreness and looked to the area around them. The ground had turned into an elevator after he had solved the puzzle, he had thought it was a bit easy, it seemed like it was intentionally made so that anyone with a reasonable enough intellect could activate the elevator. Once he had the situation surmised he would focus back on the skeletal man who only seemed more and more frustrated with the situation before them.

"I get it, this place seems frustrating and complex, but disappointing at the same time." He said referring to how it was empty with some of the puzzles and paths in this place seeming to be leading them where it wanted. "Although, I do have to say we should be making progress with how this is descending."

He would look at the walls and it seemed like it would take a second they were indeed moving down at a rapidly increasing pace. The walls showed a bit of dust that was kicked up with their movement and a slight grind from the old metal being put into use once again. It all disappeared in a flash as in mere seconds the wall they would see would go up into the darkness above them as time passed. In the end there was only one destination it lead them towards as quickly as it started they would feel it stop with a loud click that would thunder up the shaft and vibrate out into a gentle rumble throughout the rest of the fortress.

"Well, what now." Ibrahim sighed knowing that this could either be another irritation or it could be something useful to them, and as he stepped forward into the hall and saw the open arena of dirt with a plaque he seemed to become interested. "Well well, what's this, a path is a path wherever it may go, but no matter what all will find home, the question is if their place is rightful, or meant for doom. Take this challenge, choose your own, make one fight and a path will be shown."

When Julius would get close he would see what he was talking about, everything he repeated after he questioned it being on the plaque along with three different images on what appeared to be stone buttons. The first one was a series of animals coming around in every direction, one was a person split in half with the other half being only an outline, and the third was clearly a chariot with a person atop of it.

"I mean it seems obvious, we're picking a challenge here and no matter what it is we go down a path of some sort, but I wonder if its the same one." He said as he scratched his chin and tapped his staff against the ground. "Well I think we can handle whatever it throws at us, but in a little bit after we fight I can recast that spell I did before to see whose still traversing."

---

Angelus would find some new results when he changed the statues around and they took their places among the pedestals. Everything went as it did before, except the lights came out at a soft blue hue that felt warm on their skin and soon enough began to pulse throughout the entire room. It went from the ground into the statues around them and then even further into the walls as every little detail began to fill with the same gentle pulsing hue.

Azar would look around them and let out a soft sigh and gasp of interest and surprise as she saw it all unfolding before them all. The three of them would see as a sight began to unfold before them. As the images of the people on the wall began to come off before them all and the world seemed to blend into the setting around them. In mere seconds the ruins, they were in appeared to be a field where there was a castle in the distance, and then suddenly they were thrust into the small castle as the scene quickly rushed forward.

There they saw all the figures in the statues, from the murals in real life with all of them in a room standing over a corpse. All of them looked shocked, flushed, excited, but also fearful and hopeful as the emotions ran all across their faces and then began to blur once again as the scene shifted before their eyes once again. All of them held their hands together as they poured a chalice of blood over it, coating their hands as they interlocked their fingers and began to dance around in a circle. Finally, they reached their last vision as they saw the Parthevian on the shore with the others kissing them all goodbye as they disappeared one by one until they all turned into dust on the wind.

Azar couldn't help but feel a soft tear fall along her cheek as she stared at it all taking it deep within her soul. The words of her feeling left her lips as she felt the melancholy. "I can say I know that pain, the bittersweet taste lingers with you forever."

As she finished her sentiment the world around them had begun to return from its dream until they were once again in the same room they had found themselves before with one key difference. The pedestal had been lowered with a clear path leading from the stairs descending from the pedestal. It was well lit and it went further down but all that could be seen at the other end was a bright light that flickered in a rhythm.

Julius pressed the button with the chariot on it, he was not sure what was to come from this but if it was a fight, he was eager for it. He had grown bored and noticed he had lost a part of himself along the way. Not a bone, but he used to enjoy things like this. Trying to figure out the answer, perhaps it was more than losing a part of himself but the reason why. He had been running around instead of doing what he sat out to do, he was not making the world pay for their greed, and just what was he doing here? Looking for an artifact that granted who knew what. Was this really what he should be doing now? Why had he brought so many people with him? Because Lagi wished him to be safe? Were these men not a hindrance to his full power like the mean on the ship where. That had allowed the woman to get away.


"Enough of this. Everyone get out of here. Find a way out, it is time I end this adventure and solve all the puzzles at one time. "

With that said, Julius waited around to see what would happen with the press of his button, but at the same time, he readied both his Diseased God Fang blade and Mage killer. It did not matter what was coming for it would die, and after it died Julius would be sure to bury everything under him.

From the other end of the arena, a door would start to open sliding slowly before a sigil would be made obvious, a large magic circle would appear and immediately begin to glow. Within moments the entire arena becomes enveloped by mirrors as it encircled them in a large dome. At first, they would be able to see nothing before suddenly their own reflections would take their place, before them they could each see themselves multiple times over mirroring whatever they were doing in real-time.

Then all of the sudden the images would become blurs and collapse all into a spot at the center where the sigil had been visible. It would create a crude amalgamation before the mirrors would all collapse into that space around the false image. It would light up as the form would seem to take some shape before it would start to become real. The light would become a shell before it would suddenly break off like the glass it mirrored as a skeletal hand would suddenly burst through and then another one that was bound in cloth.

This would crack and shatter more and more until what was waiting behind would be fully revealed, a partial skeleton and then parts of his body still attached although they were wrapped up in cloth. It seemed like his skeletal hand was sharp as if the bone had been ground into knives. Its face was broken up into a mangled visage as its lower half was pure bone with only patches around his left eye and skull where hair grew and bandages were wrapped around the rest. It raised its clothed arm which was double in size to his other before pointing at them both as its jaw unhinged and a low but rising rasp came like an eerie cry.

"Well, this thing looks rather disturbing." The Vizier said as he raised his own staff and took a place next to Julius waiting for him to determine a course of action for them, letting him take the lead and planning to improvise off of it. "It looks like it's trying to speak almost."

As he said that the creature would raise its arm higher and straighter until it was straight up in the air, then magic symbols would start to glow and dot along its bandages and its skeletal arms. It would then stare them both down with its hollow eyes and speak in echoes that overlapped one another. "Are you prepared to test yourself?"

---

As the three of them made their descent into the tunnel they would see the light envelop them as it wrapped around them the further they walked before suddenly the area they had come from would be closed off from them in the same way it had opened would close just as quick if not faster. Although it would be sudden and loud as it echoed behind them they would see promising prospects forward.

The tunnel they were in led down into a gentle sloping descent that went down further and further with walls covered in a mural of rose bushes, red, blue, and yellow in alternating patterns that created a weave of geometric shapes and color that made it seem like the focus was dragged along the interior to the end of the hallway. Although there were no torches or lights the entire thing was illuminated by the end where a large arch led into another room where the light would pour all the way up, its gentle orange hue flickering like an artificial flame.

"Well I guess we could always go back the same way you brought us up through the trap before, but who knows if this path is right or wrong." Azar would look and say to Angelus before looking to stare over at Zub with her next comment. "You've been taking note of this place, any idea or hints from the stuff we've seen?"

As she would ask this question a gentle tune would start to be heard, coming from the end where the source of the light had also originated. It began with drums that would begin a gentle rhythm that slowly rose as other instruments joined in, a nay woodwind, and a stringed setar that would play some sort of folk music. It was gentle and inviting, like a song about some sort of festival or holiday that celebrated and invoked a wholesome feeling. If they stopped to listen they would notice it keep going, not looping, but continuously playing no matter how much they waited.

Julius was met with an undead creature before them. If this was all they had to throw at him they would soon learn that one man could never stand up to him, Julius was a god among all those who opposed him.  Julius fears not this skeletal creature but found him perhaps interesting enough as an opponent. Perhaps this being before him had some type of power like his own but he doubted such things. It was clear to Julius that he was the strong being in the entire world, perhaps his magical power was not the best, or his sword skills were not yet that of a master, but everything in combination together, along with his evolved state of being well who was going to kill him?

Julius spoke to the other man of bones his voice offset by the mask on his face. "Yes, I am ready, but are you? I can crush you into a powder burn you into nothing or I can lead you to true greatness. It is your choice."

The taunting of Julius would only elicit one response as he suddenly ripped a rib from his chest, in his hand, it lengthened into a blade flat and single-sided, a bone katana made from his own body. The magicians would see Rukh flowing as he did so, their enemy skeleton seeming to have control over the flow just as they do. It was simple, but it said a thousand words as he took his stance.

"This might be fun, or it might be a huge pain in our asses," Ibrahim said as he held his staff up, in his mind he was reciting various spells as he thought about what his first action should be, or what the first action of his enemy would be. "But I doubt he's gonna give us much time to react."

Without a face to reveal his intentions, it would start to pace around them, using the circular shape of the arena to his advantage. He had one hand inside of his coat and another on his new weapon. The magic symbols on his arms started to glow once again, the mirrors from before would start to float in the air around him. With one hand he quickly aimed behind him and the magoi gathered until suddenly a ball of lightning crackled to life in his hands. It seemed as if he was going to throw it straight at the both of them before suddenly whipping it at a mirror behind him.

Ibrahim would turn to look at Julius for only a second before suddenly the attack that had disappeared came screaming from above him. He quickly turned his staff in his hand chanting as he pointed upwards. "Hala alrima!"

Tendrils of sand in the ground below would quickly form up creating a particle dome shield above the both of them. However, it was quickly struck by the intense shock dealing a-tier damage that turned the entirety of the structure into glass. The force of the attack would also cause it to shatter into a fine mist. The glass showered over them like snow, a small cut on Ib's cheek as he turned to look at their enemy once again. As they both stared at him they would see as he started to sustain his attack, creating another ball of lightning, and then two more until there were three floating around him ready to send them flying.

"Now who will be turning who into powder?"

---

The talk of hints that Zub gave made her scratch her chi, she wondered if she could be right although she was wondering how it would transfer to the path they were taking. Instead, she would start following them as they all made their way down the tunnel. The thoughts of color and music on her brain, and she tried to piece what each could mean in correlation to the place. She was intelligent but her skills were more directed towards combat decisions, or ones related to the migration of her people.

"How curious." She responded, finding it all rather interesting but knew that she would do better to focus on the situation as it happened, and then she might be able to piece some of it together. "It is rather nice, if a bit ominous."

The pathway was straight, entirely straight ass they would keep moving through a nearly identical space, the music ever continuing on a loop as though someone could play for eternity with no pause. It was pleasant and even felt a bit joyful its sorrow came at a specific part where the loop shifted to minor and slowed as if it were lamenting for a second. It didn't last for long each time, but it would quickly raise back up to its celebratory tone. The halls were seemingly made in such a way that it amplified the sweet tones, however, the closer they got the sound of a voice could be heard singing along. Even Zubaidah couldn't tell what the lyrics yet were for some odd reason, but they kept going just barely audible.

"Here I thought the surprises were done." Azar joked and gave them both a slight eye, her voice a bit playful although it was obvious that she was trying to keep the tone light, breaking any tension the mystery created. "Should we keep going at this pace or are we trying to get to this show?"