Back to Pandora Part 2 (Solo, Job)

The rest of the details and research information had been given to Samira, as far as she knew it was all of it anyway. Not that it mattered since in her opinion it sufficed for the current moment and scenario. If things got even worse off than they already were then she would have to deal with it then. It was a problem for future Samira to deal with while her current self ignored it. For now, she needed to conclude her forced meeting and get to Pandora like she had originally been requested to. She would have preferred taking the artifact in the lab with her since it would have come in handy as a locator device for the other piece in Pandora, but the request was denied when she brought it up. Figures. They wanted to make the whole thing even more difficult by making sure that she could not cheat and therefore end up searching the entire damn zone for it instead. Samira still accepted though. It would not be the first time she blindly went on some wild expedition.

She, Easton, and Jacobs exited the research lab, leaving some guards to lock up and do what they did best until the shift change. Two accompanied them, however. One walked up ahead and one further behind the small group to act as silent escorts towards the building's main exit. They said nothing or interacted with them whatsoever. Not that the three cared. They had their own conversation going over more of the important details of the artifact and the mission itself now that it had been decided that she would aid in the mission.

"You have agreed to help in this endeavor then? I assume you will leave in the morning. There are rooms reserved for guests of your stature at the local inn if you need a place to stay for the night. I will set up transportation for you." Easton told Samira as the three of them walked down the quiet hallway.

The green haired Saint shook her head in rejection to the idea. "That is not necessary. I intend to leave here for Pandora immediately. I am late enough as it is."

"Heading there with no rest? After you spent the day riding on the back of that serpent? It'll take longer to reach Pandora that way and you mentioned earlier that your portal spirit is not a viable method to get there at the moment since he's unavailable." Jacobs added in, sounding concerned all of a sudden. Not that Samira gave it much thought. She was determined to leave right then and there and fix whatever mess was transpiring on that faraway mass of land. Her head shook as her throat made the universally known sound of disagreement. "You are incorrect on that. I never planned to make use of Kukulkan in that manner for this. She would refuse if I asked again so soon. My planned method is far quicker. Quicker than it took me to get here even and is no different than having Janus use his powers to transport me."

"Hm? Another teleportation spell? Those are rather common now, aren't they? Nearly every mage has at least one! They must be very easy to do."

"Yes, and no. Most have their limits and only cover short distances. It takes a great deal of talent and power for the truly long distance teleportations. More so even if there is more than one person or thing being transported. I myself only have the one, and technically it is not my power. It belongs to a spirit."

"Oh, really?" Easton went into a train of thought, but did not lose his impressed expression. He was one to always be in awe of the many powers of wandering mages. To think there was actually some difficulty with teleportation spells was a bit surprising. He had thought every mage could just snap their fingers and be on another planet altogether. Perhaps even another galaxy. Admitedly, that was probably over exaggerating and was likely a thought that came within some weird dream that was all over the place. He left his thoughts and looked at Samira as he made his next inquiry. "If you don't mind my curiosity, just how did you intend to get there then?"

"I never did remove the old mark that made me a representative and member of the Lamia Scale guild."

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The two men that accompanied her towards the exit gave her a blank expression, clearly not understanding the significance. It was strange to have a mark from a disbanded guild but that was about all that they could come up with aside from the obvious fact that Pandora and Lamia Scale were connected. Samira sighed once she saw their faces and she got the hint that she needed to actually explain instead of assuming they could read her mind like her spirits, or were prodigies at guessing games. "The marks of all members were enhanced when the second guild hall was built on Pandora. It could be used to teleport to the Pandora guild hall. The guild may have been disbanded and the guild hall disbanded, but the magic link should still work. That was never removed as far as I am aware. Since Gisen had disappeared before the disbandment, the only other person authorized to make that call besides myself was Aiyana. Since she was making her move to the former guild of Black Rose at that time, I doubt she took the liberty to decide to shut it down."

"Oh, I see. That makes sense." Easton gave a nod, now understanding how Samira planned to get there so quickly. That likely meant she could just rest there if needed instead of waiting until morning.

"Assuming it even works. No one has been there in months. I am sure the hall is infested with the native creatures. Those people may have also tampered with it." Jacobs said with a scoff.

"The barriers were taken down so it is possible the animals and monsters of Pandora took back the land that was originally theirs, but the people of Pandora I doubt would tamper with anything in there. They do not even enter the ruins of their ancestors that are scattered around."

"Well it is dangerous. Staying within their safety zone and avoiding what they do not understand is probably how they managed to survive for so long."

Samira had opened her mouth to respond but as she began to speak Jacobs changed the subject entirely by groaing and then shouting about his own stupidity as he turned around and looked behind him towards where they had just left. "Oh, fudge berries! I left the documents I was supposed to give Nancy back at the lab."

"Oh? So get them tomorrow."

"I wanted to deliver them on my way home. I didn't plan on coming back here tomorrow."

"What difference does it make? And with how late it is how did you intend to deliver them? I doubt she'd appreciate you banging on her door at this hour."

Jacobs fumed as he turned back around and glared at the smining Easton. "She has a mailbox! Or I can slide them under her door!"

"Going back now though will only annoy our escorts." Easton sighed hopelessly.

"Don't care. I'm going back. Go on without me." Jacobs started walking back towards where they had just left, ignoring the guard that had told him to stop and asked what was going on. The guard could only sigh in exasperation as well when dealing with the man. He instructed his comrade up front, who had stopped when everyone else had, to remain with Samira and Easton while he escorted Jacobs back to the lab to get the ever so important documents he had foolishly left behind several times that day.

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They all decided to take up on Jacobs' suggestion and continued onward. Easton and Samira continued their talk, and the guard escort remained silent as usual. It was like that for a few more minutes with no one suspecting anything strange. Although, something had been going on for quite a while. There was trickery within the council building, and it started to finally reveal itself when the lights began to flicker and then shut completely off. The three of them stopped with Samira and the guard becoming alert, and the both of them requesting that Easton stay near them due to the sudden surge of magic power that coursed through the air and could be sensed easily by the two magic users.

The magic energy went passed them, invisible but strong enough to create wind from its force and pushing them all out of the way. Then in the distance they heard the shouts of more guards and even Jacobs, followed by the sound of things breaking and a fighting confrontation that lasted only seconds. Based on the pained cries, the fight didn't end because Jacobs and the guards stopped whatever that was. More likely they lost and were tossed aside as if they were nothing more than trash that was in the way.

The guard was about to run and follow that presence to aid his comrades, but Samira raised her arm and blocked him from doing so. "You going over there will not help them. You will just end up the same as them. I will go. Both of you get out of here and inform everyone else of what is happening." With that out of the way, Samira began to run in the direction of the lab, which was where the sounds of the commotion had come from. She could hear the guard start to argue, and she turned halfway to glare at him. "Do not make me repeat myself. Go!" Honestly. Even her dense self knew that the most logical approach was for her to go. Not because she was a Saint or because of her magic. It was because she would probably get lost in the damn building! The guard and Easton at least fully knew their way around and could act a lot quicker with that. A spirit probably could have been sent instead... but after what happened earlier their presence probably would not be that welcomed or get the desired reaction.

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Samira ran through the dark hallway, which for some may have been a difficult thing to do. In the past it may have been nearly impossible to do for her as well, but with time came changes, and with some of those changes came improvement. The connection with her spirits was stronger than before. That was the same for one particular spirit of hers that she greatly disliked. For whatever reason that was unknown to her and only served to create a confusing maze of thoughts whenever the subject of him came up. At least his powers proved to be useful, though. For dark travel it came especially handy.

She was close now to the research lab that she had left not too long ago. The sounds of people themselves now ceased to exist but there was some strange noise that sounded as if the walls were being torn apart and then a loud crash. Whatever or whoever the unknown presence was, it was becoming apparent that it was trying to break into something, possibly with the intention to steal an item of importance, possibly multiple.

Her enhanced sight could see that a guard was just standing there in the hallway, still a fair distance from the lab's entrance but close. That could have been a relief to some for surely they could be of assistance to give information or serve as back up if required. Samira could only narrow her eyes in suspiscion instead. Something was very off. The person standing there was generating no heat signature at all. Perhaps the armor was blocking it. It wasn't as if she was used to staring at the guards while in the dark and using one of her visual spells. That would have been just a bit weird. The point though was that it was entirely possible their armor was magical in that way for some reason. Or maybe the person was not entirely human or maybe they had special magic that hid their signatures fully in the dark. There were so many possibilities for her spell not being totally accurate yet something in her gut was telling her that none of them were right. The main explanation was that the guard was standing there dead. That was still a weird conclusion though since there still should have been some natural warmth in the body. Not enough time had passed for it to be a cold corpse. Something was still very off. Samira put those thoughts aside and decided to treat it as if it were a normal situation anyway.

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"Excuse me! What happened? Did you see who or what came through here?" No response. Her frown deepened and her pace slowed as she got closer. The guard did not make a single movement. Samira went around him and found out the reason why there had been no response or acknowledgement of her. The reason why there had been no heat signature was also clear. The guard was dead all right, but his body was no longer flesh. What was in the armor was just a skeleton, the life having been taken away completely and the flesh along with it. "Well I suppose he did see what or who came through here then." Samira gave the armor clad skeleton a poke and watched as it fell onto the floor. She sighed. "Not that it helps me at this point." She wasn't exactly sad about it. Not because she was completely heartless and didn't care that, that particular guard and likely others were dead, but because as far as she was concerned it wasn't permanent. Restoring life was easy enough for at least one of her spirits. "An Dagda."

'Ooooooh, no!' The spirit replied, already knowing what she was going to request. 'Don't you dare think of it any longer. Ain't happening. You just go along now and forget about that poor fellow. He's dead, and is staying that way. Psh, asking me to restore him to life. Damn woman has lost what little brain she has left.'

"Did you forget to turn your end of the communication off before saying that last part?"

'Possibly... but it isn't any less true. If we go restoring anything dead willy nilly and just because we feel like it, I'll never get a moment's rest! And neither will you! There's a reason those who can do it, don't. It not only disrupts the balance of life, but you will get every whacko chasing you down to demand that you bring their dearly departed back to life. Their pets too! And probably that plant they never took care of. No! Not having it!'

An Dagda's tirade continued... with Samira having stopped paying attention to it a while ago and had tuned it out. "I can just do it myself. Using the powers of all of you comes naturally to me, just as much as using them comes naturally for you."

An awkward silence followed with Dagda realizing that was very much the case no matter how long his rant was. '...I forgot that she could do that actually,' he mumbled and then just stopped arguing altogehter. He could just block his powers from being used entirely by her, but that was just way too much effort. Maybe they'd get lucky and no one would realize that the current guard or anyone else was dead and therefore not realize that they were brought back to life. But what was luck? Ha! He expected the worst. Thankfully, what he was so against wouldn't come to pass anyway.

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Samira had knelt down and touched the chestplate of the armor, and had been prepared to use An Dagda's ability for herself and attempt to restore the dead guard. It would have been a tough task to do even at her level, but she was confident enough to try it at the very least. She stopped though. The sound of nibbling along a small crunchy surface was near her ears. She already could guess what the sound was from the times she had heard it before, although generally rare. It was the sound of cookies being eaten. Slowly. Still in that position, she turned her gaze slightly to look at a spirit that had come out on his own; Hades. Although, it was hardly the intimidating figure many would have assumed he would be even as a spirit clone of the original god from myth. Her Hades was stuck in a more cute form that was doll sized, and was complete with a less than fearsome voice to match. It was all thanks to a prank of another spirit that still had not removed whatever spell or curse it was that kept it on him. Due to that, Hades rarely ever showed himself or spoke. He just... sat in their special place in the celestial realm or her mindspace and ate cookies to satisfy and temporarily cure his depression and constant humiliation. That or he just really liked cookies. Even at that moment he looked extremely happy. His face may have been entirely hidden in some dark vortex beneath his hood, but his glowing green eyes showed no signs of sadness or self pity. The lights that were his eyes just formed into upward arrow tip shapes as he slowly munched on the cookie he held. Flavor? Chocolate chip. He was out of oatmeal raisin. "What are you doing out here?"

The munching stopped, and the once happy glowing eyes formed into their more natural circular shape. The cookie he held disappeared into the darkness beneath his hood as he ate the rest of it in one big gulp. That then gave him a moment to actually reply instead of being preoccupied with his snack. "No soul." The miniture Hades then stared at her silently. He blinked. Samira blinked. They both blinked. "You are more than capable of speaking in greater detail." Obviously those two words were not enough to make a point. The guard was dead. Of course no soul was there if that was what he meant. Restoring his life should also restore that, right? Maybe? Possibly? Or did he mean something else entirely?

The spirit just blinked, or one could take the disappearance of his eyes for a quick second as blinking. He floated over the armor clad skeleton and descended enough to be only a few inches above it. A small staff materialized in a cloud of purple smoke, and as he took hold of it, the curved top end with the green vibrant glow was used to tap upon the metal chestplate. "Taken. Pointless. Impossible. Futile."

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"Honestly! I spent more time filling the blanks than it would have taken if you had just spoke plainly!" There was some translation work in her head. Based on him saying there was no soul, and then the other four words that followed, Samira concluded that attempting to use An Dagda's powers to rejuvenate the deceased guard would not work. He was not simply dead; his soul was actually taken in the process. There was little point in trying without that component, and she wasn't exactly advanced enough to force it back from the one that had it, or even create one. That was the flaw in her magic design really. Most of her power was not her own, but belonged to others. She had accepted that and her limits some time ago, but that did not make it any less annoying and bothersome at times.

'In his defense, he can't really speak fully for another twenty minutes. I guess be grateful that he is saying anything at all?'

"..."

'Don't triple dot me! I had nothing to do with it! I'm just giving the info. You can blame Loki for this one. I'm actually surprised this prank has a short timespan considering Hades has been doll sized for centuries. We all placed bets on when it will finally wear off.'

Hades became agitated for a moment. Every spirit was just as connected with each other as Samira was, and thus, he could hear that mental communication clearly. He quickly settled down back to his usual calm state in order to get back to focusing on what actually mattered right then. Punishing a few foolish companions for making fun of him could come later. He tapped the skeleton once more and then lifted his staff to point further on ahead where the lab should have been. "Retrieve?"

Samira stood upright but still kept staring down at the skeleton. She doubted retrieving a soul was as simple as wanting to do it. They didn't even know what they were dealing with. Which then came about another thought that was odd. Whatever it was had passed by Easton, the other guard, and herself and did nothing more than push them all out of the way. Why did it do more against that particular guard? She shook her head in reply to the question. "We have to check on the others first." The loud noises of destruction had stopped, and now there was only silence traveling through the halls. The presence had not left yet, though. That much was certain because it could be felt and sensed clearly. Samira was not one to be paranoid enough to imagine such things. Considering how powerful it seemed to be, it had to have been hiding its presence long before it even made itself known. Now it wasn't even trying to hide for some reason.

"Lets go." She left the skeleton there, intending for it to be tempoary and that he would be restored by the end of it all. What she intended though and what would be reality did not often go hand in hand. Hades watched her go and disappear into the dark hallway. He was now concerned and suspicious about something else entirely, although it was related to the present matters. They would remain in his thoughts for now, hidden from everyone else and kept secret until he knew for sure. Perhaps even after that so long as things did not escalate into any true danger. The life and safety of the normal people in the building and even the town he cared little about. Only the lives of his spirit comrades and the summoner that he was connected with mattered, and as long as they didn't do anything truly stupid or get into danger he had no need to say anything that he didn't need to. He too now left the armored skeleton lying there and floated along to follow in the direction Samira had gone.

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Several seconds later and Samira had made it to the research room's doorway. It was on her right and she had intended to just swerve in without thinking and take on what was there. What she actually would have done after seeing the skeleton earlier she wasn't really sure. The woman was just in a hurry to stop it so by that point tackling whatever it was seemed just as good a plan as any other. What it seemed to be and what it actually was were two different things. Tackling was a very bad idea, and so was any hostile action in general. Thankfully she didn't get too far with her rushed and reckless plan to be next year's Halloween decoration. The moment she turned into the doorway she had to immediately back out before she could even see anything inside the room. An explosion of the same dark magical energy shot out, and it was by no means weak. The defensive barrier that was always around her, empowered always by the energy of her spirits, was broken after being collided against by that magic. It may as well have been a bubble that popped at the softest touch. The effect had been the same. The barrier's energy dispersed, taking the brunt of the damage, but Samira still being hit by what had been left. She cried out from the painful impact and used her own magic to cast yet another barrier spell as she moved away from the door and pressed her back against the wall. The mass of dark energy poured out of the doorway in a greater mass and started to go in the other direction. It ignored her as it left, her stillness likely giving it a reason to assume that she was not a threat. With her spell enhanced vision she thought she could make out a person within that mass of energy. Just in shape though. There was no actual heat signature there, much like the dead guard from before. As for identifying the person by a magical one, it was plainly obvious that the power rivaled some of the more famous and infamous mages of Fiore. Unfortunately, she did not recognize it at all, but that should not have been surprising. Samira had rarely come across dark aligned mages, and she was sure that was what she had run into.

"Is that?" Her purple glowing eyes blinked and widened as she caught sight of something familiar being held by the person within the energy. A quick glimpse of an object that resembled the relic that she had retrieved a while back and the same one that she had studied with Jacobs and Easton just a short while ago. "Wait!" Samira reached out and stepped forward as the last bit of the black energy disappeared deeper into the building's hallways. Did she really expect the person to wait? Well, not really. He needed to be chased down and she was planning to do just that in order to make sure the object had not been stolen. Oh, and probably collect the soul of the guard too in order to revive him. That too. She had almost forgotten after seeing the relic that she almost died collecting slip away.

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"On it!" The voice of one of her spirits shouted as he materialized and went running down the halls very quickly. The cloned spirit of Susano was not one to stand around gawking.

"I will chase down the villain as well." Amaterasu also materialzed a second after her brother, and she too went down the hallway in order to hunt down the murderous thief. A flash of light and magically generated wind that started strong begun to fade as the two went deeper. Hades had sailed through the air and stopped in front of them, shouting just one word. "Stop!" But his currently small and high pitched voice did no good. He was ignored, and as the two went past him he was sent tumbling in circles while in the air from the force of their speed. Once he recovered, his glowing orbs for eyes became slanted in annoyed anger. The fools! He would be mumbling to himself if his current curse had not limited his speech to one or two words. A small chocolate chip cookie formed in his hands, and he began to nibble away at it in both annoyance and to sate his over-dramatic depression on being ignored and swept aside like an obnoxious balloon.

As for Samira, she watched the two spirits speed offand nodded her head. "Very well. Be careful, though. And if he does have the relic do try to not destroy it," the summoner told them, vocally even though they were no longer present, but the message reached them mentally all the same. "Also-"

'Also make sure to not kill the guy since he might be collecting souls or something, and we're supposed to be the cool good guys that return them. Yeah, got it.' The wind swordsman said, as sarcastic as ever. 'I really hate this charity work sometimes, but at least this is more interesting than delivering mail.'

'Brother, remain focused and complain less. This being destroyed the protective barrier around Samira without trying. I do not think this will be as easy as the guardian within the relic's temple.'

'Yeah because that thing was completely easy to defeat. Oh wait, we didn't. That thing is probably still looking for us on that island even now. If this is going to be harder than that we're pretty much screwed. Can't wait to see that running away option be greyed out if we can't handle this since, you know, that was kind of the option we took back then.'

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With that out of the way and with Samira relying on those two to keep track of where that being was going, she turned her attention back onto the room that she had been prevented from entering a moment ago. Her body still stung from when it had been hit with that malicious energy, but it was bearable and could be ignored for the most part. Clearly she was much luckier than the guard from before, and of the others within the room. There were a couple of other armored skeletons on the ground. She didn't recall that many guards having there when she left earlier, but there was the chance there had been other guards nearby that had become alerted once the intruder barged in. They didn't stand any better chance in numbers than the one she had passed. "Jacobs?" Her voice had been the only sound within the room at first. Then the sounds of her footsteps followed. "Are you still in here?" She didn't see anything that resembled the man anywhere, but then again the place was a bit of a disaster now. The furniture was everywhere, having been thrown and turned in whatever direction they had landed. Papers and research materials also littered the floor, along with many other objects that were broken. The doorway that led to a vault of sorts was also broken into, which Samira had concluded was the cause of the loud sounds she had heard. She did not go to check it out just yet, however. The pained groan of someone nearby sounded and her gaze instantly shifted in that direction. The voice was recognizable, that being the voice of Jacobs. He had just regained conschiouness and already he was starting to mumble about how his day had gone, and how it continued to get worse even through the night. Samira sweatdropped at that. He was actually one lucky bastard to not have ended up like the guards, and yet he still found a way to complain about it. Her inner thoughts were kept to herself and instead she walked over and around a flipped desk to see Jacobs on the ground on the other side of it. He had just shoved a chair that had landed on top of him while he was unconscious when Samira approached and knelt down to help remove the books and papers that also covered him. "You appear to be all right, but I am no medical expert. Do you have any injuries?"

"Nothing major that I can tell. Can you heal my sense of pride? I was tossed aside like a garbage bag when THAT THING blasted through here," he replied as Samira helped him to stand up.

"Being tossed aside was the better alternative. Those guards over there met a different fate." Samira gestured over towards the skeletons on the ground near the entrance doorway, causing the older man to go wide eyed. That most certainly was a close call! There were other groans throughout the room. Investigating further revealed that they were the original guards that had been in the room. They too had been tossed aside and been unconscious ever since. One had managed to send a message through a sort of device, which must have been what alerted the other guards in the room. If Samira had to guess based on that and what she too had experienced, the intruder did not actually desire true confrontation. If a person could be removed simply by knocking them off or causing them to move out of the way and remain as such then that option was chosen. If a person resisted and fought, then it made sure they wouldn't try and do so again. Samira explained her thoughts and the others in the room started to panic.

"Blast! Every armored fool in here will try and attack that thing if they see it. This building will turn into a cemetary overnight! May as well start passing out the RSVP invitations for next year's Halloween party. The decorations will have already been set!"

Samira turned to one of the guards. "Is that message device still working? Can you let your companions know that they should not engage?"

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The man shook his head. "Sorry, but it broke as soon as I got the original alert out. If I had known it would be this bad I would have included that part." He was very disappointed in himself and the fact that the device had been broken, and it showed in his facial expression. A second later though it faded and his eyes lit up, having had an epiphany as he remembered a certain fact. "But there are other groups that have the same transmission lacrima. If they got my message like that group did then another may be sent to check up on us. We can just use theirs!"

"Or maybe I will run into another group along the way."

"You are going out there? Won't you end up like..." The guard paused, obviously referencing the fallen comrades in the room but not really wanting to say it.

"That is a possibility. I do at least know what to expect to some degree, so who knows? Besides-" Samira was just about to inform him and his other companion that she could try and revive them all, she just needed to get their souls back from the one that had stolen them, making it not worth reviving them in the first place. After all, what was the point of reviving something without its soul? No reason that she personally was interested in. The sentence was cut short though when she heard Jacobs scream. Samira had thought he had gotten into danger and had instinctively turned around and prepared herself to send whatever it was into the next century, but she could only stare blankly at seeing nothing there. Jacobs was just standing inside the large hole that led into the vault with his hands on his head. Her eyebrow twitched from the over-reaction. He claimed the relic had been stolen, which was an important factor to consider, but not one that was worth screaming as if he were being killed. "So my theory on what I saw was correct then." She sighed deeply. The situation was starting to add on multiple things that she wasn't sure she could handle. All of them meant actually catching the guy.

"He Bo," Samira said calmly, and with that call the spirit behind the name answered. A flash of light erupted as a celestial gate appeared and took form in the middle of the room, smaller than the normal ones, but it mattered not. The spirit that owned it had no need of a large fancy portal. Because of the type of spirit he was he could fit inside and go through any area of varying sizes. The others in the room stood there, gawking and not saying anything. Well, besides Jacobs, who was still crying on the floor from the missing relic. Water that had a bright shimmering glow started to pour from the portal, but it did not hit the floor. The water moved and swerved through the air as if it were alive, and in actuality it was. The water split into sections and went towards each person, lightly touching them and giving off a cool sensation as the gentle magic energy healed them of the minor injuries. Jacobs hardly noticed but the guards were grateful enough. Samira herself was also healed. In no way did she plan on going after that dark presence without first making sure that she was at one hundred percent. She had already made that mistake earlier.

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The water spirit and his portal then faded away. His job was done and he returned to his home realm until he was called once more. In the current scenario, the summoner needed the more offensive summons, as well as the other supportive ones that were not himself. Now that she did not have to worry about their minor injuries, Samira could leave and catch up with Susano and Amaterasu. They hadn't checked in yet, so she could only assume that they were still on the chase or were handling things fine. She'd find out as soon as she caught up. "You all stay here. I do not think that whoever or whatever that was will return here." As she told them that, she was reminded of Easton and the other guard with him. Damn, she should probably check on them too and tell them to stay put.

Her purple glowing eyes faded, their magic leaving her and returning her eyes to their normal emerald color. They too were pointless now. It was still dark in the building but the target wasn't exactly easy to find even with their magic. She may as well switch things around and give herself a little more speed. The form she planned to take would light her way through the darkness as an extra bonus. Samira allowed her magic to surge and grow. Before she had been keeping it down for the most part so as to not make others uncomfortable like she had in the past, but that was impossible now. She required the use of more powerful magic than the simple and basic tricks she had been using up until then. "Stay back and remember to do as I say. I will not be saving you if you ignore my suggestion." They did not really need to be told to stay back. The magic aura alone had already told them to make space between themselves and her. Now that she was going to use some real magic that was likely dangerous to them and some others they were not going to risk being in the crossfire at all. Still, they nodded their heads and agreed that they would listen to the suggestion, if only to keep watch on Jacobs and be able to warn any others that came that way.

Satisifed, Samira gave her own nod, remaining silent, and turned towards the doorway that would be her exit. The purple eyes from before had been an example of what many had called Take Over magic. Truthfully, she rarely made use of it. Her experience with it was quite low. The one she planned to use in particular she had never used in an important scenario. Only with mild training had she used it, and not seriously. It was up for debate on whether she could control or maintain it. She would just have to see what happened, she supposed. Not only did she plan to use just a small part of it, but the complete form. Anything was possible. She just had to hope that it didn't end up being an utter failure and her becoming a complete disappointment for all involved. The council just had to go and give her some damn title to make it even more crucial that she succeed.

(Word Count: 551
Total So Far: 6628)

A small aura of swirling flames took form and circled her. She could feel the energy of the spell course through her body and take over the form and energy of what people usually knew her from. The verdant orbs were replaced not by the purple mist-like eyes from before, but by a fiery gaze that could have been mistaken for miniature suns and possibly blind anyone that dared look into them up close. Brightly colored orange and yellow lines appeared on her body and clothes as well, the energy moving like blood through thin veins and even burning through the cloth as the river flowed. The energy lines began to spread and get wider until they enveloped her body completely. During this, the swirling flames became more intense before they gathered together behind her in order to form large wings that resembled a falcon's. The temperature in the room also increased, and the guards were thankful for the warning to take a few steps back or they would have been caught up in the mini explosion of fire and light that occurred as soon as Samira was swallowed up by the energy. They closed their eyes to avoid the bright light, covering their face with their arms even while also trying to bear through the surge of heat. The heat started to decrease some seconds later, and they uncovered and opened their eyes to see that the bright light from the transformation spell had also faded. Now what stood there resembled Samira in a way, but no traces of her normal skin and even hair were there. It was just solar energy that solidifed and took the shape of a long-haired woman with wings. Even what could have remained of the clothes could not be seen, assuming there even were any. The details could not clearly be seen, and they were not about to actually go up and get a closer look or ask.

"I have changed my mind," the walking sun said, the voice still female and having some resemblance to Samira's normal one, but it was also distored slightly. Deeper even. She looked over towards Hades, now remembering that he was still around. He was curiously poking around the room, mostly near the skeletons, while munching on another cookie. This time shortbread. She could have questioned just how many he had for his supply of the baked goods seemed to be endless, but there was no time for that. "Hades, please go check on Easton and the guard that was left with him. The entity did not go that way so there should not be trouble, but I would like for them to know what is going on and to see that they stay put. I want to catch up with Susano and Ama." There was also the chance the guard that way had a communicator on him. The sooner they solved the alerting the guards to stay out of the way issue the better. With that task given to him, Samira left him to it. She made her exit from the room, moving in a very quick speed that was enhanced due to her new form. To those within the room, it was like watching a firey light fly out of the room and down the hall.

Hades gloomily floated over to the guards just before she had left. He hovered there and watched her go. The cookie he had been munching on was now gone, and as the guards jumped in place after noticing that he had moved near them unnoticed he brought forth yet another cookie. Coconut flavor. He paused his nibbling and looked to the side at them. If it were some sort of comic strip he could picture three question mark signs above their heads in a dialogue bubble. Was he really doing anything noteworthy of the what the heck expression? There were then sounds echoing through the halls, footsteps and several of them. Had more guards come to help? He could hear their voices and confirmed that it was the case. Good. The guards in the room spoke to each other, and then to him. They would inform the incoming group what was going on and see to it that the word was spread. The spirit made a sound to confirm that he understood and then he floated out of the room to go back the way the summoner and himself had originally come from.

(Word Count: 744
Total So Far: 7372)

Hades floated through the halls, trying to find that guard and the tall old man. They had been told earlier to get gone and sound the alarm if they found anyone, a course of action that was now a mistake. There really was no telling how far they even got and where exactly they were in that big place. Although, as he continued he could hear voices echoing and followed them. He found them conversing with another guard and even had one of those lacrima communication devices. Thankfully he did not have to find a way to try and tell them not to try fighting against the intruder. A game of cherades would have been incredibly annoying. No, instead he could hear the group he had just left behind at the lab. They were giving out all the intel that needed to be told. Unfortunately they guards with Easton seemed to be incredibly stubborn and seemed to think that they would be useful. Hades could only sigh inside. To fix that issue he pretended to be something that did not belong. Creating unknown sounds and opening a door was all it took to get them to be suspicious and to come over. Once they had foolishly run inside, the door closed and locked and was then locked. He heard them yelling about the locked door and demanding someone open it, but he ignored them. They had better not go breaking down the door either or using some fancy magic to escape. They were lucky enough as it was that he took the time to save their lives by ensuring they did not make a grave mistake. He turned around and saw Easton with a nervous smile on his face. He had no intention on ever following the guards to see what the suspicious activity was about and had been left behind.

Easton laughed lightly and pointed over to another room. "Oh, well, I guess I'll just go over and stay in this room here then until it all blows over. I'm sure I can keep myself occupied with something that does not include dying." He knew well enough who Hades was. That had been mentioned during the communication. It was best by that point to just do what he was told. Just as he said he would do, Easton opened the door to the room next door and slipped inside to hide until everything came to an end. Or someone came looking for him. Or the building exploded. Whichever happened first he was content with. Hades just blinked as Easton went into the room. The sounds of the guards banging on the other door broke his concentration on watching that scene, but it didn't annoy him. He just went back to ignoring that noise and started to leave. Now he had to catch up with Samira and whatever spirits were out looking for trouble before they all do something completely stupid.

(Word Count: 491
Total So Far: 7863)

On the Samira side of things, she was right that the new form would light the way down the hall and the ability to actually see in the dark was not necessary. The solar light of her body actually lit most of the hallway and rooms as she made her way through. She followed the trail of her spirits, the connection between them and herself serving as her magical guide. There had been no other people that were in the way so either the guards had gotten the message or they just were not in that sector to begin with. She didn't think to ask the two spirits that had already passed through which was correct. Instead, she only thought about their status with tailing the thief of both life and relic. "I cannot accurately tell from here for some reason. I think whatever magic is being used by the thief is blocking it out the mind link a bit. Have you managed to catch up to him? Or her? Or it?" Samira still had no idea which of these were correct.

'Well we found him, but we're running into a bit of a problem that we kind of didn't really plan around ahead of time,' Susano's voice rang in her head. He seemed annoyed, moreso than usual. 'Ah hell, Ama you explain it. I'm kind of busy over here trying to not get hit by the guy that also steals the Halloween costume specials from the local discount markets.'

"What?" That one short explanation had a couple of confusing things. One was that they were having problems at all. Both were adequately powerful in their own rights individually. Together they should have been even more so. Then again, her own defensive barrier had been destroyed with little effort, and only very high class mages could accomplish that, that easily. The second confusing thing was about the... costume?

Ama's sigh could be heard, but it was mixed with an amused soft laughter. 'He means to say the culprit is wearing a costume that most people in your realm, and ours apparently, would find reason to make fun of and find to be quite cringing. Embarrassing to see let alone wear even.'

'That's one way to put it. I'll call him Mr. Skullface, Destroyer of the actual cool dark magic rip offs. I can only imagine how many dark overlords facepalm themselves to death whenever they see this guy at the annual convention.'

'It is not that terrible, brother. It is only a skull mask. You make it sound as if he were wearing one of those costume packages that can be bought cheaply at the last minute.'

'Pretty sure wearing all black and an over exaggerated hood and cloak is just as cringe-worthy and common. I bet even I have something like that in my closet for funsies.'

(Word Count: 478
Total So Far: 8341)

"Enough with that!" Now Samira was starting to get annoyed. Sure she asked what they meant by the original description, but there was a time to keep going with it and a time to just end the comments and move onto the more important factors. What was causing them trouble was a good example. "What is going on that even you two are having a difficult time handling it?"

'Our method of stopping this being is proving to be ineffective.'

"What methods are you using?" The ceiling above started to shake and there were many noises up there that Samira could take a guess at were the sounds of fighting, or the attempt of it anyway. "You are not destroying the building are you? Your task was to catch up and try to stop him. Not bring the building down!"

'Hey, it's not my fault this place has a lot of breakable things, walls included! I'm sure you're setting things on fire right now and don't even know it!'

"I am-" Samira was pretty confident that she had not lost that amount of control just yet and was setting everything around her on fire. Still, she turned to look behind herself anyway and rather than smile in victory she could only frown in defeat. "Oh..." The building wasn't on fire, but the walls were pretty damn scorched right through in several spoits. They would need some replacing unless the people that used the building everyday enjoyed that new idea of feng shui.

'Ha! I was right!'

"In a way, I suppose. Either way, your attacks are not working?"

'I'm pretty sure a pillow would do more damage. At least then he'd be surprised that we were actually using something that stupid. The only problem is I haven't seen any pillows anywhere to try.'

"I see." Samira turned back around and looked up at the ceiling again. She could try going around the correct way in order to get up there, but that would take time. Time she had already wasted by having that exact conversation among other things. An idea was forming in her head. There was already a good amount of damage to the building that she would get chewed out for most likely. The damages from Kukulkan earlier and now from the two spirits plus the theif. Not mentioning the wall she had burned she may as well purposely add her own touch to the damages. "I am coming up."

'That may be helpful. Maybe you will do more than us.'

'Probably not. It's spirit energy just like us. Unless you're coming up equipped with pool noodles, don't bother. Wait... how are you coming up anyway?' No answer came but just reading the summoner's mind gave it to him. 'Oh, dammit! Ama move!'

(Word Count: 465
Total So Far: 8806)

Just as he gave out that warning, two very hot and powerful beams shot through what was the floor to him, but the ceiling for Samira. Oh, and also the cieling for them too. There was very little control behind the use of that spell and it went a little bit too far. Was a couple of floors too far, TOO far? The beams started to move around in order to create a large circle, although it ended up being more of a warped one than a perfect masterpiece. The two spirits got out of the way to avoid the beams, the hole in the floor, and now from everything falling from the few holes above. "What a mess." Susano walked over towards the hole in the ground once the beams disappeared from their room and looked down. "Hey! That should come with a little more warning! Also you only needed ONE hole to get up here. Not sever... oh boy." He had to stop his complaints so that he could prepare himself to have more after seeing the trouble that was below. Samira wasn't squished by the falling debris, thankfully. She had enough sense to move out of the way. Although, he kind of wished pulling her out of a pile of fallen ceiling and objects was what he had to worry about. Instead, the issue was a little more facepalmingly stupuid for someone in her position and power. It was proof enough that no matter how powerful or reputation someone got, it didn't mean there still weren't thing to learn or that they were really at the top of the mountain of coolness.

The solar beams were actually a sort of cliched laser eyes spell that Samira had used. The only problem now was that she couldn't turn it off. The beams were no longer aimed upwards, sure, but now they were aimed down the hall, scorching whatever was that way. And things sure were being scorched. Not only could he hear the impact and the lasers sizzling something, but he could smell the burning. Well, at least it was nothing living. "Do you need help? Should we have a tea party while we wait for you to actually know what the hell you're doing?"

"Just... one... second!" The lasers went off for a moment, but then surged in power again and exploded part of the wall that was on her right. "Ah! Oops. Perhaps give me three minutes." Samira stared in another direction and the lasers followed to draw a line on another wall. She probably could have signed her name on it if she had more control of her aim. "I have a feeling blowing up the building would be a more viable option at this moment," Samira thought aloud to herself while she continued to try and turn off that spell.

"Yeah, lets not do that. I don't want to have to try and save everyone here before the place goes kaboom, so just stay there and... don't go supernova. Considering Ra can do that and that's his power you're using... I'm pretty sure that's on the list of things that can go wrong when used by an amateur."

"Your confidence in me cannot possibly be compared to anyone else's."

"Yeah, well, I try my best to be the top of moral support. I'll get my gold star sticker prepared."

(Word Count: 565
Total So Far: 9371)

"Brother, I require assistance. Or did you forget about our guest?" Ama was actually quite calm and collected despite the fact that she was holding off the thief on her own the entire time. Although, she got the feeling that she was just being humored and toyed with. Both of them had been throughout the entire chase. The being had killed the guards before that showed such attempts, yet they remained unharmed. They had even been allowed to see what was behind all of that dark energy several times. Something about it wasn't right, and she was starting to consider that while the guards may have been considered insects not worth the time for even amusement, she and her brother were actually being used as temporary toys. Deflect, dodge, parry. That was all that was really going on. Even if her attacks hit it was as if they hit nothing at all. Her magic attacks also mattered little despite being that of light. Then she heard the man behind the mask laugh. Ama was no longer amused.

"The great spirit of Amaterasu. I have wondered for some time how we would clash. I did not expect this amount of disappointment fighting spirits of a Nassar, let alone one of light." The energy dispersed slightly so that he could be seen well enough. Only a single strand of it stayed between him and the spirit, solidified and hardened in order to block and hold her blade in place. He had finally talked after all that time, but it wasn't just the talking that suddenly made her uncomfortable. There was something ghastly about it, and the sound of it sounded more like two voices than one. One was that of a man's, deep and clear. The other was like a veil, covering the real voice with one that sounded as if it belonged more to a wraith type monster than a person. "I've played around long enough out of mild curiosity. As they say, 'toodles'." The masked man allowed the energy to cover him once more, but something else appeared that was unexpected.

A spirit, one that resembled death much in the way that Hades did. Although it seemed... warped. Corrupted. Far from what it was supposed to be. She could sense beneath all of that, that the spirit was one of her kind. Spirit copies of the gods of myth and legend. Only the Nassar had such spirits, but the man before her was no Nassar. That much was certain. The spirit came out of the mass of energy only long enough to create a scythe and attack her, but it was much slower than herself. She reacted quickly and moved back as the weapon swiped to the side. Then the spirit was gone, consumed and combining with the energy mass. The man then took off again with the intent on truly leaving instead of playing around with a couple of lowly spirits. The summoner of them seemed to be a bit too preoccupied or he would have had some fun there too, but what matter of fun could he possibly have if she couldn't even control her power? None really. And now was not the time to be serious by attacking with the intent on doing real fatal damage. Soon, but not yet. The matter of the relic came first.

(Word Count: 560
Total So Far: 9931)

"Okay, no way am I letting some freakshow get away after saying something stupid like 'toodles.' Samira!" Susano nearly became a fire spirit as Samira looked up, changing the direction of the laser beams and aiming them at him unintentionally. He went wide eyed and moved out of the way, but strands of hair were now smoking. "Celestial's Sake! You better get the hang of that spell and catch up!"

"Just one more minute should suffice."

Susano could only roll his eyes at that reply. Better make it ten more minutes. "Yeah, okay. I'll start the countdown while I-" The swordsman spirit turned around to start going after the now fleeing enemy only to see that even his sister had left him. "Dammit, Ama!" He then took off as well, using his own power to use the air around him to create gusts of wind that made him go even faster. Along the way though a massive four-winged snake came barreling through, coming from behind him and threatening to run him over if he had not smashed in the door to a side room and jumped in. As the serpent passed by, he poked his head out and yelled furiously at it. "Oh come on! Not you too! Are you trying to bring the building down?!" He then looked down and noticed a straw hat that had been flattened. His hand went to his head, obviously feeling only hair there and no hat whatsoever. Oh, how that serpent would pay. After this, he was going to make a new hat out of her scales or feathers. Maybe both.

"If you two were not so useless I wouldn't have to be here. As for the building coming down, it's not my fault they make these travel routes too damn small." If there hadn't been damage before then there surely was now. The serpent was forcing her way through. Any walls that became an obstacle were broken down. The genderbent Kukulkan could sense the light spirits on the other side of one wall as she turned the corner. The other presence was also there. From what she could sense they were ascending even higher in the building. A staircase was being taken maybe. Not that she cared though. The wind serpent smashed through the wall that separated her from them by using her head and slithered on inside, ascending herself and breaking apart the staircase from her own weight and her forceful way of entering and traveling. She caught up to the masked relic thief with Ama also close by. A simple snap of her massive jaws was made, with her attempting to stop him that way but she had missed. Amaterasu landed on the snout of the snake and jumped higher to ascend the twisting staircase that was falling apart. She was knocked back by spears of the dark energy mass solidifying and when she tried to strike back a jolt of lightning appeared in front of her, barely missing her. It had been meant for the enemy target that was just there, but it weas obvious the snake did not care that she had been in the way. That or Kukulkan assumed that she would have moved before being hit. There was no telling. The two rarely got along, but after certain events that caused the two of them to fight in combat before, she was not going to try repeating that bit of history all over again. For now anyway. There would be some discussion about it later that was for sure. For now there was something else to bitch about.

Amaterasu could feel the air pick up and get breezy even though they were not outside. A storm was coming and magically formed clouds had formed above to further indicate that. They grew angrier rapidly and several bolts of lightning flickered within them, threatening to hit anyone at any time. "Kuku! This is not the correct place to create such a storm. We are indoors!" Her voice had come out in an annoyed yell to scold the snake, but the rage of the storm had taken over and drowned her out. Still, the snake managed to hear it anyway from the mental connection they all shared. That, unfortunately for Kukulkan, could not be drowned at as easily.

(Word Count: 719
Total So Far: 10,650)

"Fine, you over dramatic nightlight! We'll just have to take this outside then! I was getting a little tired of these cramped areas." The snake rushed up and went in again to snap at the man. He out manuvered her again but she predicted as much from the last time. Several bolts of lightning shot out from the magically created clouds and the wind generated from her wings slowed him down significantly, if only for a short moment. That moment was just long enough for her to wrap around him by the tail and toss him at the wall, with her following right after to smash and break down the wall with her head. The new hole led to the outdoors where the serpent flew out of to gain more room and freedom. The man also fell and headed towards the ground, but he was able to recover before impact. The same spirit from before took shape and the wings slowed the descent before disappearing. His feet softly touched the ground, and after landing he looked up to see the other two spirits leap from the newly installed exit that the owners would surely love once they found out about it. He chuckled with mild amusement. They still were not able to accomplish much but the persistence was entertaining all the same.

He raised his hand and started to release enough energy to make a portal as a quick getaway. Things were starting to get a bit messy now that the wind snake was loose, and the small storm that had been inside the building was leaking to the outside to join up with the one that was being magically generated up above. As powerful as he was and as meaningless as the attacks were before from the other two, he still preferred to not get caught in a massive storm. With two wind spirits out it would just get out of control and even he would have trouble seeing his way through it. Still, he was one lucky soul that it was the wind snake that had jumped into the chase and not the dark one. That had made things so much easier. Although, his luck streak had run out. While he was making his portal and keeping an eye on the three spirits, he had not noticed that Samira herself had finally managed to turn those laser eyes off and catch up. She didn't follow them through the halls and up the broken staircase, however. Details of the chase had been implanted in her mind as it happened. All she had to do was pay attention once she had the chance. Samira took the common route that everyone normally took on a daily basis, the front door. With her enhanced speed she was able to go from there and around the entire building to find where they all were. In a bright solar blur, Samira tackled the man to interrupt his spell. It wasn't the most efficient way really. A ranged spell or even a way to completely immobilize him would have worked better but... she lost control of the brakes and just sort of had to run into him to stop. It worked though!

(Word Count: 537
Total So Far: 11,187)