There was a faint noise in the background, it was fuzzy and unclear at first, but slowly it became apparent that it was water of some sort. It was dripping in intervals, the faint sound echoed throughout the area.

Noah slowly opened his eyes, the world before him was dark and slanted because his head was currently tilted. The cold stone below him pressed against his face uncomfortably. He blinked awkwardly and slowly sat up.

Had everything been a dream? finding the ruins, running into that old man and the cloaked figure, being taken to that strange world and meeting those other people? And what about that insane forest full of monsters? Was all of that just an illusion?

As his vision began to clear he could tell that he was in a large spacious area. There were several large stone platforms seemingly floating in darkness, it was impossible to see any walls, or the floor, or the ceiling, it should have seemed vast and endless, and yet he could tell he was in some sort of gigantic room. He scratched his head as it didn't seem to make much sense. There were floating lights above each platform, each in an elaborately detailed holder. They didn't seem to be attached to anything, they were simply floating. Past 3 of these platforms was a 4th one, but this one was different, it had an ascending staircase with a door the seemed to lead to nowhere.

The sound of water dripping into a puddle caused him to stand up suddenly and look around, it had to be falling from somewhere. As he stood up, something clattered to the floor, he looked down at it.

"So I guess it wasn't..." he trailed off as he picked up the pocket watch like object, he flipped open the cover and looked at the strange whirling and gyrating mechanisms. what the heck was the thing anyway? He couldn't make heads or tails of it. He closed the lid and placed it back in his pocket.

"It's all this damn thing's fault..." he grumbled as he narrowed his eyes at the door off in the distance. He turned around then to see several more platforms accompanied by these strange floating lights, eventually the platforms faded out and you could only see the faint specks of light from the lanterns until they too faded into darkness.

"Well!" He exclaimed as he folded his arms, his voice echoed into the darkness, "Better go for the door then!" he said as he walked briskly to the edge of the platform he was currently on. There was a gap of about 2 feet in-between each platform, you could simply step across it, but the fact that falling would mean falling for basically ever made it the most intimidating 2 foot gap it could possibly be. Noah however didn't seem to pay much attention to it and simply stepped over it onto the next platform then the next, and the next, and finally to the one that held the staircase. As he placed his foot on the first step he heard sound of water again, but it was louder this time and became more frequent. Because of the echo it was hard to pinpoint it's exact location, but it was pretty clear that it was coming from behind him.

Noah turned around to see a large amount of water rising out of the platform he had stepped over to reach the one with the door. The water rose up and began to take shape, until it was in the form of a small hooded figure. The water began to change, materializing colors onto the figure until they were no longer made of water, but of solid mass. The figure stood there silently. It was impossible to see under the hood of the cloak, but it was apparent that the hooded person was facing Noah.

"Whoa! That was really cool! How did you do that!?" he exclaimed with an excited expression on his face.

"m-my mistress has been expecting you," the hooded figure said awkwardly, from it's voice it seemed to be a young boy, but it was still impossible to tell for sure.

"Huh? Who the heck is that?" Noah asked.

"Please go up the stairs," the small cloaked figure said as he pointed to the stairs behind Noah.

"Uh, sure? I was gonna do that anyway..." Noah responded.

"O-oh... I guess I... well.. really...? I-I..." the boy stuttered.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" Noah said as he waived him off and began to ascend the staircase. He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see the boy in the cloak following him. Noah stopped where he was.

"You better be following me because you're gonna teach me that neat water trick, cause if you're not then that makes me think that you and this "mistress" person are planning something," he said looking at him suspiciously.

"A-ah! No! No I wasn't!" the boy said as he waved his arms to emphasize his point. "I-it's just that I'm going the same way!"

"Uh... right..." Noah said flatly. The kid was so unsubtle that even Noah could pick up on it. He shrugged and then continued to go up the stairs. Once he reached the door he noticed that there was no handle of any kind. There was an engraving of four objects on the door instead, three of which were familiar to him.

"Hey kid!" Noah said as he turned to him, the boy jumped.

"Ah!" The kid exclaimed.

Noah sighed, "Look..." he said as he pointed at the door, "There's no way to open it... so... stand back while I kick it down!"

"Wait! W-wait! don't! You don't need to do that! It just... it just opens if you push it..." the boy said as he kept his head down.

"Well why didn't you say that earlier!?" Noah said as he placed his hand on the door and pushed it open. After being in such a dark place he was completely surprised by the blinding light that came through the door. After his eyes got used to the light he could see that there was a large grassy clearing through the door, and beyond that was a body of water that was too small too be a lake but too big to be a pond with a waterfall falling from a cliff side that seemed to be encasing that whole side of the area. It seemed to be the time right before twilight, when everything glows before dimming in the twilight hours. Three figures were standing at the edge of the water, all of varying heights. As Noah stepped into the grass the boy in the cloak followed right beside him.

The cloaked figure in the middle of the three took a step towards the both of them then stopped.

"Good work," she said.

"AH!" Noah said as he pointed at the person who had just spoken. His reaction startled everyone.

"What're you-" the boy tried to ask but was interrupted.

"You're that lady who was fighting that old guy that one time!" Noah said as he kept his finger pointed at her.

"My Lady, it would seem as though your hypothesis was correct," the cloaked figure to the right-the smaller of the three-said cooly.

"Yes, yes it was, it seems that opposites do attract," the foremost figure spoke. She paused as she reached her arm out towards Noah. "Now boy, I ask that you give me the item. Now."

The new boy–the bearer of the North article–appeared to be an idiot. M. could never understand how it worked. The hero, the idol, the center-of-attention, the golden child always tended to be some dopey moron with unrealistic ideals (or none at all, as the case may be). It was never the planner. The clever one. The intelligence. Him. Of course, that was how he ended up in Shianna's good graces in the first place. She admired his intellect, and now he was working for her. He knew how to deal with that, as well. Shianna was the kind who would be impressed by parlor tricks, provided they got the job done.

The idea that the polar opposite articles–in this case, North and South–would attract each other had been something he had researched. Not that he could do this alone. Shianna was the one with the power, and she knew it. The rest of her group, M. and his other hooded companions, were there because they had something to offer. They each had a role to play. They each knew they needed the others to complete the task. M. liked this way of working. It was distribution of labor.

"He should give it to us," M. muttered to Shianna, "And if he doesn't, it will be easy enough to take it from him."

"I'm about to take it from him right now," Shianna said, but she spoke loudly and confidently. She didn't take her eyes off of Noah as she said it either. M. decided to remain quiet for awhile. Shianna was going to do this one. Oh well. She would either get lucky or blow it completely. Both ways would work, in the long run. The key to success, M. thought, was patience.

"Boy, give me the watch. It belongs to me rightfully, which is why it brought you here. So you could return it to me. It's a set," Shianna unclasped something from around her neck, "with this." She held out a choker. It was silver with a large red gemstone that hung from the middle. An elegant 'S' was engraved in the center of the gem.

Noah laughed heartily with his head thrown back and his hands on his hips, then looked at the cloaked woman defiantly.

"I don't care who you are, but I'm not about to let you push me around," he said grinning at her. "Besides, what the heck is that thing?" he said as he pointed to the choker, "at least the other objects appeared to be useful, but yours is just a fashion accessory. And mine looks way cooler!" he said in a more playful tone.

The kid in the cloak next to him muttered under his breath, "Aren't you admitting that yours is a fashion accessory by saying that....?"

"Anyway, I'm pretty sure the watch thing belongs to me," he said more seriously now, but still keeping the grin on his face, "so there's no way I'm giving it to you, I don't care how many of you there are."

D had been asked to bring the Northern article bearer to Shianna, he had been kinda scared to do it since he hadn't known who it was or what they were like. luckily for him the young man who was carrying the Article wasn't too threatening, but he had no idea what he'd do if he found out that his goal was to take the Article from him.

Shianna had said that he had stolen the Article which rightfully belonged to her, and in order to save his sister, he was going to have to make the orange haired boy give it back. He had followed him through the door into the clearing where Shianna and his other compatriots waited. He listened to them talk back and forth. The orange haired boy seemed like an idiot... but not exactly a bad person.

"Th-the watch belongs to Shianna!" D said to the older boy as he walked around to stand in front of him.

"Ha? Say's who?" Noah said flatly, "And I don't know why you guys keep calling it a watch. It seems more like a compass or... a uh..." he seemed to be searching for the word, "whatever it is it's not a watch okay?" obviously he couldn't find the right word...

"Enough of this!" Shianna said as she turned to look at D, "Immobilize him," she instructed. D nodded to her and took a step back from Noah, closer to Shianna but still kept himself facing Noah. He fanned his arms out and then brought them out in front of him, clasping them together.

"What the heck are you-? AH!" Noah was taken by surprise as water began to generate at his feet and swirl around him violently, more and more began to appear seemingly from nowhere. It became a cylinder encasing him completely save for his head. Noah attempted to struggle free, but the pressure from the water was keeping him from being able to move.

"What the hell is this!?" Noah said still struggling to move.

"Is that alright, Shianna?" D asked. He used her name even though they were supposed to keep their letter aliases. Shianna didn't seem to care though.

Shianna laughed eerily, "yes, that is perfect," she said as she strode over to Noah, who was now encased in a mass of water floating several inches off of the ground. "For all your talk you're nothing but a normal human," Shianna said as she stood before Noah who glared down at her. For the first time he was able to see her face. She appeared to be in her 30's, and was pretty attractive for her age, her eyes were a sort of pale purple, they looked at Noah with twisted triumph. "For it to be this easy it almost seems unfair-"

"Then why don't you actually fight me or something!?" Noah yelled at her. She simply laughed at him.

"Why would I waste my time doing something like that?" she paused, "Heh, as always, the Norther Article bearer is a headstrong fool, you're all idiots, everyone of your predecessors were. I can assume what the other Bearers are like as well, it's really quite strange the way that works."

"That's right! The others!" It seemed like Noah had just remembered that Elise, Wil, Echo, and the girl with the brute strength weren't there. They'd be in danger if Shianna got to them. "There's no way I'm gonna let you get them!"

"As if you could do a thing to stop me," Shianna said mockingly. Noah glared at her.

"Shianna... I-I thought you said that they stole the Articles from you..." D said warily. He didn't want to make her mad, but he was confused, had she lied to him?

"They did," Shianna said seriously, still keeping her eyes on Noah she narrowed them dangerously at him, "They rightfully belong to me, I'm the only one who can use them correctly."

"Bullshit! That old minister guy said that only the specific bearers can use them! There's no way you can get that thing to work! Only I can!" Noah yelled, he was getting tired from trying to struggle free from the water and seemed to be getting nowhere.

"Ha! You have no idea what their purpose is!" Shianna scoffed, "enough of this conversation! You're lucky I don't just kill you right here." Her voice was dangerous and threatening, she was definitely serious. After all, killing him would make it far easier to take back the article. The only reason that he was probably still alive was so that he could give her information of the world the others were.

"Sh-shianna...?"D asked, he was beginning to get worried, their group hadn't done anything like this yet. They had never been so close to the articles before, and now that they were, it seemed that by becoming Shianna's ally he had stepped into a far more dangerous world than he had previously thought.

"You want to save that sister or yours right? Then shut up and listen to me," Shianna said to D as she kept her eyes on Noah. D jumped a little, he wasn't used to Shianna being like this and it was startling to say the least. Was this what she was really like?

"Increase the pressure," Shianna said commandingly.

"B-but if I do that he'll-" D started

"DO IT!" Shianna growled at him. D shrunk back a little in response. He kept this eyes fixed on the grass. His hands were gripping his cloak nervously. "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? Getting these articles is the only way to save her! Don't be a fool and just do what I say! NOW! The only reason why you can save is because of me! If you don't do as I say she'll die! INCREASE THE PRESSURE!"

"Geeze, what a hag..." Noah scoffed at her quietly.

"What was that, you brat?" Shianna glared at Noah.

"Nothing..." he replied flatly.

"Increase the pressure!" Shianna yelled again.

D knew that this was the only way but... did he really have to hurt people in order to get the articles? It's not like he had a choice though... in order to save his sister he would have to go to whatever lengths were necessary... and he would have to follow Shianna's instructions. He goeal was the only thing that could save his dying sister.
He raised his head and looked at Noah, if he was going to do this, he couldn't be afraid. He couldn't run from this. He held his hand out in front of the mass of water and began to slowly close it.

"A-AAAAAH!" Noah yelled as the pressure began to close in on him, it felt like he was going to pop like a balloon. "AAAHHHGHH!"

D winced as he heard Noah yell, his eyes even teared up a little. This was the first time he had ever hurt another human being, or anything for that matter, and for some reason he felt like laughing at how ridiculous it was. He couldn't explain it why aside from that.

Shianna however actually laughed at the situation, "You see!" She yelled through Noah's screams, "this is what happens to fools like you who don't know when to shut up and do what they're told! Now tell me... WHERE ARE THE OTHER BEARERS!?"



((OOC: Post #100 whoo! Stopping here as I've gone on for quite awhile...))

Wil opened his eyes and sat up, his fingers gliding over his temple. He had a headache. Had he fallen?
He briefly observed his surroundings. This place seemed strange, but at least it wasn't that spooky forest. He must have been taken to a new place by that strange light again. He hoped that those kids were alright...
"Echo? Psst, hey!" William whispered as loud as he could without being heard from a distance. He wasn't sure who or what might be lurking around.
"Echo--"
"hERe I aM, MaSTeR!!" the little droid squealed as he zipped over to Wil.
"Shh! You hear that? Voices..."
Echo paused and turned toward the general direction of the voices.
"mY sCAnnEr inDiCAtEs fIvE pe0pLe aHEad!"
"I said QUIET!" Wil's finger rose to his lips to hush the droid.
"Dammit, Echo. I mean it. Turn your volume DOWN. They'll hear you."
"v0luMe dOwN, mAsTeR. sHaLL i InVEStiGaTe?"
"No," Wil said as he moved toward the voices, careful of where he was stepping. "Stay here in case those girls follow or if there's trouble, alright?"
"yEs, SiR!"
Echo saluted and then switched to standby mode, his eyes glowing dully, hovering in place. Wil gave a half smile.
"Good," he whispered and then moved onward towards the commotion.

He was close enough to see the figures when he took cover behind what appeared to be a fallen pillar. He squinted his eyes to try to make any of them out from that distance.
Suddenly there was a scream. It sounded like Noah! William noticed the orange hair just then. He observed the fact that Noah was being held captive by some sort of magic. Wil was familiar with magic and admittedly knew some himself--a little. VERY little.
He analyzed the situation. There HAD to be a way to help him! Rushing in there would be simply suicide, however; there were four verses two, one already a captive. He sat and thought for a moment. He was hoping that in that moment a situation might suddenly arise where he might have an advantage. At least, for now, he had the advantage of surprise. Suddenly, he felt the cold steel of the edge of a broadsword held against his neck.

"'ello!" the hooded man behind him said in a rather cheerful tone. Then he leaned forward and gazed down at the others.
"Tch, you can't expect to get a good look from all the way back here! Hey--" he lifted Wil up with his arms held firmly behind his back by the wrists. "I'm feelin' generous soooo... why don't I take ya in fer a CLOSER look, hm? Front row seats?" He hauled Wil down the hill towards the others, broadsword still threatening his neck, hands still bound in the back. The man had an incredible grip. He could hold both of Wil's hands with only one of his own.

"Shi-aaannaaa--" he sung as he approached the group. "Look what I found," he said with a grin. He seemed pretty pleased with himself.

M. watched for awhile. They all were such drama hogs. They had to do things the "bad guy way". Which really, he thought, was the hard way, when you considered it. It was fun to watch, though. Shianna was especially set in making a show. It matched her accessories. She couldn't be expected to wear the choker and just sit there. She had to amp the soap opera.

D. had magic, and Shianna loved magic. It was an elaborate, swirly-smoked, glittery-explosioned, backlit way of getting things done. Half the time it didn't work.
Perhaps M. was a little bitter because he own magical prowess was very limited. He had recieved, as they said, the short end of the stick. Nonetheless, he was always ready to use the one ability he had, and as such was very good at it.
He made a small, quick motion with his hand, not unlike that of a music conductor instructing the orchestra to stop, and the water released the boy and sprayed into thin air.

Shianna's glare swiveled from the boy to M.
"What do you think you are doing?" she snarled. M. shrugged.

"I hope you didn't expect to juice the article from him," he said coolly. Shianna looked at him blankly. Then she smiled. Evilly, of course. She had to be the bad guy.

"Oh! Oh ho ho...M. M., are you jealous of our little friend D.? Is that it? You wish you had his power?" M. shrugged.

"Not especially. I'm quite happy with being myself." Shianna grinned for a moment. The moment passed quickly, and the grin was replaced by a scowl.

"Jealousy, or whatever it may be, CUT it. Just because you've been given the ability to stop spells does not mean you can or should ruin everybody else's fun. I appreciate"–she stroked D.'s face– "D's talents and I want him to continue. You need to realize you are not in charge."

"I'm sorry ma'am," said M. "I was merely acting in what I hoped would be the best interest of us all." Shianna did not catch his sarcasm. No one did–he did not say it sarcastically. He meant it, though. He never called Shianna 'ma'am'.

"Of course you were." Shianna's sarcasm, on the other hand, was extremely blantant. And there they had it. She had wasted another...what, five minutes? On a pathetic 'villan discourse', and she probably did it because it looked good in all of the shows.
It didn't matter. Despite the fact that he disagreed with her methods, despite the fact that he really had self-driven motivational purposes for being there, and despite his rank as the brain (considered a wimp in both magic and strength) M. was loyal to Shianna.

"Don't you go anywhere, boy!" she called to Noah.

Noah coughed as he dropped to the ground, he was keeping himself elevated with his elbows, but he was shaking after being crushed by the pressure.

"I-I'm sorry..." D. said quietly.

Just then, Wil was thrust out into the open clearing accompanied by the other hooded companion of Shianna's. Noah laughed a little.

"Just our luck, eh?" Noah said as he coughed again.

"Well it seems like our hunt for the others just got a whole lot easier," Shianna said in a triumphant tone. "I'm sure the other one is on the way as well," she laughed as little as she walked closer to Wil, she lifted his chin with her hand and looked at him intensely, "If you'd like, you could join us," she said as she withdrew her hand. "I have no need for worthless children, but you on the other hand are different," She smiled at him briefly.

D. was a little surprised to hear Shianna say that, why was this man important?

Noah sat up shakily, then pushed off of his knee into a standing position.

"You! I said DON"T MOVE!" Shianna yelled as she pointed at him. Noah laughed at her. "What the hell do you have to laugh about!?"

"Heh... "worthless" huh?" he said as he locked eyes with Shianna, "You sound just like a lot of people I know..." he said as he took a step towards Shianna, "People who talk like that..." he said as he took another step towards Shianna.

"Sh-shianna!" D. called to her, he was getting worried, Noah closed the short distance between him and Shianna and threw his fist at her face, "are worthless!" he said as it connected. Shianna had caught his fist with her hand, he had been very quick, but somehow she was quicker. D. began to summon the same water spell as before, but Shianna put her other hand up to stop him.

"What the-" Noah started, but Shianna flipped him on his back before he knew what was happening. He had the wind knocked out of him, and in his daze, Shianna reached into his pocket and took out the Northern Article.

"At last..." she said with awe as she stared at the pocket watch-like object.

"D-damn it! Give it back!" Noah said as he struggled to his feet, but Shianna kicked him and then placed a foot on his chest, pressing down hard.

"Far too easy," she said as she looked down at him with contempt, a smile then spread across her face and she turned to Will and J.

"So, have you considered my offer?" She said in a surprisingly silky voice.

"Y-you gotta be k-kidding me!" Noah said as she stomped down harder on his chest, he let out a yell as her heels were quite pointed and the force was immense, he felt the ground under him crack.

"You see, after the change, I'll be looking for a suitable partner," Shianna said to Wil, completely ignoring J.'s unhappy look at this, he seemed to catch on to what she meant. "Your looks are... shall we say, appealing to me. Not bad for eternity," she said with the hint of a smile.

D. blushed a little, he was never accustomed to this sort of thing, let alone his "mentor" doing it.

Noah took advantage of the fact that Shianna wasn't paying attention to him and slammed the crook of her knee, causing her legs to buckle, Noah was able to get out from under her foot. She was temporarily stunned, but D. stepped in and used a wind spell against Noah, sending him flying into a nearby tree.

As the woman seemed to be coming on to him, Wil could only respond with a 'you've got to be kidding me' look on his face. J. seemed somewhat hurt at the gesture and wasn't particularly paying much attention to William at the moment either. Once D. had used his wind magic, everyone's attention seemed to be on Noah. It was a perfect opportunity, one that Wil couldn't pass up. With a deep breath, he pushed the broadsword away from his neck, broke free of J.'s grip, and ran at the boy. He took D. by his hands, holding them firmly behind his back, a dagger drawn and against D.'s neck.
"Alright, enough of this or do you want to see this kid get hurt?" Wil threatened as he backed toward Noah's prone form. "You can even KEEP that what-cha-ma-call-it you got there. Just as long as you let us go..." he trailed off, his eyes watching each figure cautiously. Then they shifted briefly in Noah's direction to see if he was alright.
"You okay, Kid?" he asked in a near whisper.

"WAAAAAHHH!! I HATE MAGIC!!" Gate screamed as she fell out of a wormhole. Everything around her suddenly went from some odd purple to blue. "Sky? Oh no, sky!" Looking down, she was pleasantly suprised that the ground wasn't too far away, though she still landed with a painful sounding 'THUD'. "Owowow..." Gate mumbled to herself as she crawled out of the crater she had made.

She stood at the edge of the crater, dusting herself off. When she finally looked up, she noticed a lot of cloaked figures and...and Wil! ...with a dagger and that loud orange haired boy... Not really comprehending what exactly was going on, she began to run towards them, "HEY! I made it here! Isn't that great?" Nearing her companions, Gate notices they look rather serious. Quickly scanning the area around her, she realizes that she is now between them and a group of cloaked, shady figures. Turning and backing towards her friends, Gate's eyes began to glow red, assessing a possible battle situation.

"Another for the party? Where is your article then?" sneered an older, though not unattractive, looking woman.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," retorted Gate, "but if you're going to hurt my friends then you'll have to get through me first!"

Elise hit the ground a little after Gate, was a little slower to get up, and was definitely a little less excited about having to confront the group of people that were apparently holding Noah and Wil captive. The ringleader, a woman, was glaring at them, and Gate looked about ready to spring. Which was all well and good, Elise thought, as they didn't have a better plan. But then the woman noticed Elise. Or rather, she noticed the spoon Elise was still holding.

"Hello, it looks like we've found the last article. You may as well come here, girl.” Elise blinked. Then stepped forward. Once.

“I can't imagine why you think you've found anything,” she said. She felt...bold. This whole thing was insane; why should she be afraid? "Standing around, keeping random people that happen to fall here, well, that's not really doing anything.” The woman smiled blankly.

“You think that you 'just fell here'? Foolish brat. I made you come here. I can control those that hold the items"–Elise noticed one of the woman's hooded companions twitch ever so slightly–"these items are rightfully mine.” Elise laughed. It was forced, naturally.

“Don't be absurd! We chose to come here! But now that we are,“ she made a show of looking around at their surroundings, “it's pretty pathetic. Why stay here when there's a universe of dimensions to explore?” The hooded figure leaned slightly towards the woman. She had to amp it up.“For instance, that last place was, oh, incredible, wasn't it, Noah? With those...crystal gardens and things? And the birds sculpted out of diamond? Or what about last year's trip? We went to that Translyvanian mountain range place, with the sheep that sucked human blood? Wil was pretty amazing then. Virtually slaughtered them all!“ The confidence grew in her voice as the story expanded. Apparently she was at the very least getting to the woman.

“Shut your mouth,” she hissed at Elise. “You're lying. Give me the spoon, and I may consider dropping you in a survivable dimension.“

"Why would I lie?” Elise asked. “You don't have to be jealous, you know, that we know how to use the items better than you.” One of the hooded figures made a noise. Was it laughing?

“Get her,“ the woman snarled.

His surrounding were blurred and his hearing was distorted, he could vaguely make out that Wil was saying something to him. Noah squinted as his vision came back slowly, he could see Wil's back and beyond his was Elise and the other girl that they had met in the forest.

"Sh-shianna..." D said weakly through Wil's grip in a pleading tone, the cold knife pressed against his skin, and even though the man hadn't seemed very dangerous before, D was feeling threatened for sure now, and after hearing Elise's story... well let's just say that he wasn't feeling very assured of his safety.

"What are you prattling on to me for," Shianna said to D sternly, her eyes held an expression that she felt ashamed of him. "Use your abilities you twit!" And she motioned with her arm to emphasis her ordered attack on Elise, and they followed((Is it okay for me to have them do that?))

Noah slowly stood, using the tree he had been thrown into to steady himself, he looked around at his new comrades and the enemies charging at them now. As they were they probably couldn't take them on, but Noah's article had been stolen! Could he really just leave without it?

"This way!" Noah said as started towards the door that he had originally come from, he pushed it open to let everyone run through, they were still carrying their hostage in tow who seemed to be unable to concentrate enough to cast a spell.

"They'll get you anyway!" D said to the group of them as they ran, descending the stairs. Since Noah was the only one who had been in that room previously besides D he knew what to expect. The others must have been surprised when they entered though as it was very unique.

"They can try!" Noah grinned as he slammed the door before Shianna's men could get in, he braced the door with his body as the group descended to the platform. They were all just barely visible in the floating lamp light. "Just keep running. You should be able to hide in the darkness or find a way out or something," Noah said breathlessly as a large object threw itself at the door, he was barely able to keep it from flying open. "Go! Now!" He yelled.

He had a plan, and unfortunately that meant splitting up. There was no way that he could just leave his article behind knowing what it could possibly do, and if Shianna kept it that meant she was halfway to her goal, and something told Noah that Shianna accomplishing her goal was no good for anyone. If the others went on ahead, taking the minions with them, that would leave Noah and Shianna alone to fight in the grassy area. And that was just what he wanted. However dumb it might be.

Wil and the others descended deeper into the darkness. He suddenly realized that he didn't have any plans for this hostage and wasn't sure what to do with him besides take him along for now. He glanced back at Noah in concern.
"Is he gonna be alright?" he asked aloud of no one in particular. Wil had thoughts of turning back to try to help, but where would that leave the girls? It was getting harder to see up ahead. Where were they going anyway?
"mAStEr, waIt f0r mE!" Echo yelled as he tried to catch up. He buzzed alongside Elise. "NeEd a LiGHt?" He switched on a flashlight and, unfortunately, it was shining right in Elise's eyes at the time. The new light illuminated two pathways ahead of them.
"Hey--" Wil paused to listen. "I think I hear rushing water. A waterfall or a river maybe?" He looked at D who he was still threatening with the dagger. He wondered if the kid had figured out by now that he was bluffing or not.
"You, do you know the way out of here? Which path do we take?"

D jumped a little at being addressed, "L-like I'd tell you..." his voice started out in a normal tone but trailed off as he remembered the knife at his neck. "Is-is that thing really... n-necessary?" he said to the older man uncomfortably as he pointed weakly at the object.

He could have used his magic by now, and yet he didn't. What was stopping him from doing so...? what was it? ...it was doubt... he was only 14 after all, and as much as he wanted to save his sister, he had been convinced that he was doing something good this whole time as well, he had felt righteous.

"Did you... did you guys... r-really steal Shianna's stuff...?" He asked now with hooded eyes and looked to the dark floor, the buzzing droid was providing a little light for them to see in addition to the hovering lamp lights.


((What's up with your bad guy character Alicia? Are they in pursuit or not? I can't write Noah if they're still around. This goes for Francesca too.)

"My, oh my," Sterling muttered to himself as the orange-haired boy and his comrades tore past him. His back was pressed up against the wall behind the door, and he wasn't surprised when they didn't see him. "Maybe I should have interfered sooner? Nah, who'm I fooling, I'd just be in the way. But now..."

He took a step outward and stood in the door frame just as Shianna and her.. minions.. approached him. When they saw him, they paused in surprise.

"Who the hell..?" the woman started.

"You're really quite useless, aren't you?" He said to them. Shianna stared at him and sputtered indignantly while her friends looked on in surprise. Stirling grinned and plucked the pocketwatch out of her hand.

"Yoink!" he exclaimed with a toothy smile and took a few steps backwards. Shianna's face paled as rage set into her features, and Sterling's smile plummeted. "Shit. Um.. bye." He waved at her and tore off after the earlier group with every ounce of energy he had in him. As he rounded a corner, he heard Shianna screaming obscenities.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Sterling cursed as he ran after the group. "This had better be worth it or I swear to god I'm burning every book I ever see again." He looked around as he came to a room with what appeared to be a waterfall. "This is marvelously unhelpful. I think I took a wrong turn," he murmured. He heard nervous stuttering and familiar shouting coming from one of the connecting doorways and perked up, realizing that it must have been the group with the orange-haired kid.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Over here!"



((OOC: urh, short... I hope this is okay? It always feels super awkward when a new character jumps in.. but hopefully this leaves some questions. I can always edit it if it's not okay. XP I'll get the hang of it eventually~))

"We certainly did not steal them!” Elise retorted, glaring at the boy. She softened a little upon seeing his scared expression, though. He was awfully young to be an evil accomplice, and not to mention, awfully pathetic. “These are ours. For the time being, anyway. I think Will is right, though...that does sound like a waterfall up ahead. Maybe we can follow its source to–” she stopped, realizing that the source of a waterfall would just as soon cook them a six course dinner as provide dimensional travel.

The group walked on anyhow. After a moment, another sound accompanied the rushing water. A voice? The echoing made things tricky, and Elise squinted in the darkness. There was a sort of opening ahead (it was hard to tell, since their current surroundings were as nondescript as they could possible be). They approached it cautiously, carefully–

The sight before them was incredible. They were standing on a footpath that wound around the sides of a dark...room? cavern? Beneath them, a pool of running water, leaving in various streams and streamlets. Above them the space faded into darkness, so it was impossible to see the end. To their right was the waterfall, as tall as a four-story house, and to their left–

"Who are you?“ Elise demanded. There stood a young man. He appeared to be threatless, and it was more than likely his voice they had heard earlier.


((ooc: dude, short is what I do. Or medium? I don't know. But it's hard to do without bouncing off of people, you know? A nice few paragraphs are great. Work at your own pace! Exiciting!))