Foce watched as Banshee flew overboard and waited fifteen seconds before falling after her.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡczobGEAnDg
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."834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhV35nZ8SL
"I can float us there for a while." Foce reminded him.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx2dzuVjaRg
"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."834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡevQwI8zd1R
"You mentioned something about that earlier." Ray gave Foce a sympathetic wince, "Are you sure it'll see a lot of use?"834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2U2RpuVns2
"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."834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCIWA1V3pdT
"Maybe I should toss some peppers into the mix?" Sarah inquired, eager to take the vampire's recommendations.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVcp4nZxWQz
Foce smiled approvingly, "Mm, sounds good!" 834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSQRXH1LPDt
"Alright, I'll get working on it right away!" Sarah darted out of the room to start working on the potion.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipAmji1UAT
Jessie chuckled and crossed her arms, "I never knew she had the passion of a chef!"834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTvv6rq4QDD
"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."834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG1d5TlHPNp
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.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpqbb80GJzi
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.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡELHb1BAD1b
"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."834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfNjXpf2JYZ
"That's a long time..." Foce replied, hoping she didn't wind up triggering it.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe5B0tyPT4C
"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."834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpGEihUY4nE
"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..."834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM8WB1FOuYN
"You'll figure it out along the way." Ray said with a nod, "I have a good feeling about that."834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp390jtbDmi
Foce nodded, but she wasn't so sure.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyKODMoO1gG
"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."834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLlynXanyf
"It's kinda pretty." Foce remarked, as Sarah wrapped her hand around it.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tC70ThEmo
"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.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3f2vdGm0u3
"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?"834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqEaxRHYSG7
"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?"834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOHheMI0Gg3
"Mm, that's it."Foce confirmed with a nod, "Thanks."834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjM09xDSx80
"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!"834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlqvLcwfPwF
"Heh, I will, thanks for your concern." Foce assured, stepping away to find Jessie.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT87p5X7Jlo
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?"834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVahuZw4gRs
"Mm?" Jessie looked up, pleasantly surprised by her nickname, "What's up, Foce?"834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdoef2tvZVV
"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."834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuigvQjw8pj
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."834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ21YNY8L8rT
"Y-you don't have to-" Foce rubbed the back of her head awkwardly as she sat next to the hero.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtpcVTA8OeJ
"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.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpszeZKd2s6
"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?"834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXutvvFTw6C
"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!"834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdxBsiU2wBH
"Heh...now you're scaring me." Foce joked, watching Jessie stand up with two in her hands.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBW5rhJU8NU
"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."834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrlQdVzbuLH
"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.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JhwpHBN28
"Is it working?!" Jessie shouted.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPrq4vFtWxO
"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.834Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr55jLCa833
