Foce watched as Banshee flew overboard and waited fifteen seconds before falling after her.858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36OJlGF910
Jessie heard the bells ringing, Sarah alerting Jacob that the time to fly into the city was now. The hero took a deep breath as she and her brother approached the edge of the deck. Peering over the edge, she saw a large, stony white building.
"That big armory is our landing platform, right?" she asked, judging the distance to be really, really low.
"Yes...remember to activate your wind pillow gem when you still have some distance to over the building, it'll last for a while, so there's no need to wait until the last second." Ray reached into his pocket and let out a deep breath.
She giggled and patted his shoulder, feeling some of her anxiety slip away, "Don't worry, Ray-"
"It's you I'm worried about." he cut her off with a shudder.
"I do have a pretty good free falling record, three times, I didn't die any of those times!" she remarked playfully.
Ray deadpanned and held his forehead, "Please...just please."
"It's okay, come on, we'll miss our figurative window if we don't go now." Jessie climbed onto the edge of the deck and took a deep breath. She nodded at Ray and they fell overboard, their enchanted gems in hand.
She activated her gem slightly later than Ray did, and after fifteen silent seconds, she heard distant explosions and the crack of cannonballs on the hull of their airship, followed by the splitting of the ornate road as Foce no doubt summoned a large rosebush to attack the cannons with.
"So far so good." Ray commented, striding to the edge of the roof, "Another long drop, let's get started on it."
"Yeah, but it feels like we were falling for forever." Jessie lamented, joining Ray on the edge.
"That's too bad, another eternity awaits us now." Ray smirked, before falling off the building.
Jessie chuckled and followed him down. There were large blooms of icy spikes grown up from the road, blocking off major streets and the soldiers that no doubt walked that path.
She saw cannons on the ground and knew Foce was responsible for the lack of cannon fire; from the flashing lights on the hull of the airship, she knew the humans were attacking with spells, their last resort, "Let's get to the crystal and get out!"
The mage nodded and the duo made their way to the doors of the cathedral that housed Infinity Tower, the Infinity Crystal, and the God of Justice, Sage Vindicatus Skotadi, publicly known as Sage Sable.
They approached the crystals, a black winged girl with pure white hair and deep purple eyes turned solemnly as the siblings approached, "Are you ready?"
Jessie nodded to Foce and walked around behind the crystal, she laid her left hand on the crystal and let out a deep breath, "Tell me when to begin."
"Three..." Foce breathed, lowering her right hand from the crystal when she saw Jessie's hand at her side through the crystal, "two...one...now!"
Foce held her hand at her side, holding her purple blouse to keep from using her other hand and break the balance.
"Guys, Banshee's waving her arms." Ray whispered, alarmed by the signal.
"Just get ready to absorb the energy and trace it." Jessie's right hand twitched slightly and she slowly brought it up, "Foce, your other hand on the count of three...three, two, one, go!" she squeezed her eyes closed as tears welled in her eyes as she slapped her right hand against the crystal; the contact made her skin burn, but she knew no one could interfere now and risk the mission, "It should be done soon now, for sure!"
Ray held his hands over the crystal ball as the Infinity Crystal glowed brightly, and captured the magic traces of the Guardians in it's depths, "Let's depart from this place."
"Ice Blooms!" Banshee whispered as she saw the trio below scampered to the atmos and quietly grew an icy bloom of spikes in front of the door to Vindicatus' room. She waited until Foce took the hands of the hero and mage in hers before attacking a window across the room with a powerful blast of ice. When they took flight, she ran after them. In midair she turned to the ice blooms, "Ice Burst! Ice Blooms!"
She watched as the mage covered in splinters crawled over the icy spikes, and raised her hand again before leaving the tower, "Ice Burst!"
The party and the two Guardians gathered around as Ray sat his crystal ball on the table in the living room, "I can still sense the power Foce and Jessie used, it's rather distracting...I sense a powerful, pure light radiating from...somewhere. The sword, maybe? I don't sense any corresponding darkness."
"Maybe they're in another dimension?" Banshee suggested.
Feyerous nodded in agreement, "They may already be in the Sun and Moon Palaces, perhaps somehow trapped, if Vindicatus' minion has duplicated already...perhaps they haven't even been born yet."
Banshee frowned at the possibilities Feyerous named and let out a deep breath, "First we should get the sword, then we'll see about the Celestial Palaces."
"Right...but if they're not there?" Jessie wondered worriedly, "If they haven't been born...could we still take Vindicatus on?"
"We won't have a choice." Jacob pointed out, then turned to Ray, "How's the search going?"
"The vault seems to be in the mountains." Ray sighed, "Northeast of where Foce opened the path to the underworld...according to the sign we saw in the city in the underworld, and assuming our worlds geographically parallel each other, I predict we'll see the Frost Crystal Palace nearby."
"How is that possible?" Banshee's forehead creased as she thought back to the past, "I definitely should've seen it if it was there, unless..."
"It moves?" Foce blurted. Banshee lowered her head and nodded, "Then...why does it move? To be near the Crystal Palaces?"
Jessie hummed thoughtfully for a moment before arriving at a different conclusion, "That's one way to look at it, but it's probably important to the Guardian of Light somehow. Maybe each time she reincarnates, the vault undergoes a similar rebirth."
"If it's near somewhere important to her, we can probably figure out where she's from," Foce speculated, "She may have been born nearby and worked in or lived near the Frost Crystal Palace."
"Whatever her current life," Ray remarked, rising from his chair, "that far up north won't see much sun, we'll need to land our airship in a nearby valley where we can get what we can without running so far out."858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwbducKy4nK
"I can float us there for a while." Foce reminded him.858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowvltuabSM
"Well...it is a pretty all-or-nothing situation." Sarah shrugged, "So I think we should let Foce carry us as far as she can, I'll bring a few day's worth of my iron 'potion' for her."858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8o4h9WEY3C
"You mentioned something about that earlier." Ray gave Foce a sympathetic wince, "Are you sure it'll see a lot of use?"858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlAd1Ugc7QK
"A few shots of hot sauce and it's good." Foce smiled sheepishly, "It's so strong that the heat and vinegary flavor is the most noticeable thing."858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71shIcs1ZN
"Maybe I should toss some peppers into the mix?" Sarah inquired, eager to take the vampire's recommendations.858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI2p7cOdvGF
Foce smiled approvingly, "Mm, sounds good!" 858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5gIMLJpH0y
"Alright, I'll get working on it right away!" Sarah darted out of the room to start working on the potion.858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡugs5ICd807
Jessie chuckled and crossed her arms, "I never knew she had the passion of a chef!"858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7ATc5qsfg
"She does dabble in the other classes more than anyone here." Ray pointed out, "I don't think she likes things to remain the same very long, or she gets bored."858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcDQ6phb8Nt
Banshee created a sled and Feyerous pulled it with the others on top when Foce tired of floating the team, and when he grew tired Foce flew them a little further before they set up camp.858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrnIOzqTImX
This went on for a few days until they were uphill from the vault, Sarah and Ray called Foce over to start work on the trap.858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSL52PyH76l
"I'll start on the trap for you, Foce, but you need to cooperate." Ray turned to Sarah and they surrounded the vampire in a ring of light, "This will take a few moments, but when we're done it'll trap anyone who triggers it in a blast of fire and paralyze them, then drag them back in a burst of light and repeat the cycle for a few minutes."858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZXnC8G2SD
"That's a long time..." Foce replied, hoping she didn't wind up triggering it.858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwIAO2mCX5X
"Don't worry, we won't let you walk into it, but if you do, you will survive, you'll have seventy HP left." Sarah assured the vampire, adding crushed hot peppers into the white ring around Foce, "This is designed to hurt, not kill, since it saves time to make it like this and your doppleganger can't be killed anyways."858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vEJx6UzdZ
"Maybe the sword can kill her." Foce replied hopefully, "She told me before that I knew how to kill her, but I don't...it's like I don't want to, as hard as I try..."858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCFbXKN2oji
"You'll figure it out along the way." Ray said with a nod, "I have a good feeling about that."858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCk9qwKRZ6O
Foce nodded, but she wasn't so sure.858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf47Ut4YbjI
"We're done here!" Sarah announced, as the ring shrunk around Foce and turned into a red and yellow-streaked gem in front of her, "That's the trap, it'll grow into a circle when you set it down. Well, when I set it down, anyways, you should keep clear of it."858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgw48mlojfE
"It's kinda pretty." Foce remarked, as Sarah wrapped her hand around it.858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiebg97Qaym
"Yup, it'll stick to any surface you can slap it to, except skin...well, unless you really want to trap someone bad enough that you're willing to get up in their face." Sarah chuckled as she stuffed the gem into her inventory.858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7RoXckiOh1
"Sounds dangerous." Foce furrowed her brow and posed Sarah a question, "What if I need to make one of myself, what can you change about the trap?"858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh88h5mY8DU
"Oh, lots of things, duration of the blasts is just one thing, then the number of the blasts and the area affected, of course, it takes more magic the more you add to it." Sarah replied, "That it for your questions?"858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjV0vVwSA1
"Mm, that's it."Foce confirmed with a nod, "Thanks."858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXx7Smo2Kq8
"Yeah...just don't use it yourself or when you're in range, use a bow and arrow or something, I'd hate for you to wind up blowing yourself up!" Sarah waved her hands wildly, "Y'know, just give it to someone else to use, that's much safer!"858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fStyj9n6C
"Heh, I will, thanks for your concern." Foce assured, stepping away to find Jessie.858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq9870l9W4Z
The hero she was searching for was some distance away from the rest of the party, busily laying out balls of snow she made with one hand, "Jess?"858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ35sG3rcEO8
"Mm?" Jessie looked up, pleasantly surprised by her nickname, "What's up, Foce?"858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnPCSuclRA
"Um...that might be easier with these." Foce offered the hero a black glove with a white palm. She stammered when Jessie dropped the glove onto her knee and tried to figure out how to put her left hand in it when the thumb looked like it was on the wrong side, "It's uh...for your other hand, I lined the palm with some very soft material."858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOgPvC5ytNa
Jessie smiled brightly as she held the glove in her left hand and slipped her right hand into it, "Thanks, Foce...heh, it's got a nice feel to it, like I'm wearing a blanket on my hand! This will help me avoid hurting my hand until it's recovered in a few...months, weeks...who knows? I may just wear it all the time."858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdknyhEvszU
"Y-you don't have to-" Foce rubbed the back of her head awkwardly as she sat next to the hero.858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pZhGUpSD7
"But it's so soft, and besides, Vindicatus may have made his poison to last for as long as he lives! Hey, I know we haven't had a lot of time to help you look back into your past, but did you remember how to make these?" Jessie wondered, glancing up from her improvement of the snowballs.858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1z2RW3GtQm
"No, I had to ask Sarah to help the past few days, she really does know a little about a lot." Foce stared at Jessie's current project, confused as to why she was going to such pains as to make them with one hand, "What are you doing?"858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0iNCHEp8MR
"Oh, I'm making something...you said when you got here that this place was familiar, right?" Jessie grinned as she packed the snow together in her hands, "I bet this is gonna be like flying over memory lane!"858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXlBeJ0cdn
"Heh...now you're scaring me." Foce joked, watching Jessie stand up with two in her hands.858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkj0ALi7dGI
"Go stand over there with your back turned to me." Jessie instructed, smirking at Foce. The vampire may have been kidding before, but she had a look on her face like wasn't so sure anymore, "I'm gonna be completely honest with you, but I'm gonna hit you with these, just stand there and try to focus."858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa5AMc5xlJf
"Alright." Foce closed her eyes and waited. She shrieked and jumped when Jessie threw the first one, even with her purple and black sweater, she could feel something cold crumble on her shoulder upon impact.858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFYdOTtgSuS
"Is it working?!" Jessie shouted.858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDKJpStSco
"No...I don't think so, not yet!" Foce shouted back. She flinched as yet another hit her, after the third and fourth one, she felt something in her memory start to surface.858Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDuCJJvechB
