"Follow the eels?" Achelois asked confused.  "We had no idea what you were doing," She kept her voice low and calm, unwavering.  Though Amatheia was awake, it appeared that she still had significant wounds.  Without saying anything, she had really appreciated Sedna helping, she sent healing energy to Amatheia.  She glanced to the others, it looked like there was an opening in the Spire now, they needed to hurry.  "Amatheia I'm sure you thought that you had a great idea, but your lack of communication led to injuries and danger.  We know that your intent was good, so we're asking you to not use your song unless otherwise instructed by Enya, teamwork is important and that requires communication and working together to solve problems."  She smiled softly at Amatheia, "We're here to save Andromeda, remember that above all else."  There was no time for debate or questions, she hoped that Amatheia would listen to them, thereby avoiding unnecessary injuries in the future.  With a nod to Callisto and Sedna as well, she flew over to the opening where the others were.

As she neared, she saw Andromeda enter the Spire through the hole, Nocturnus close behind her.  Achelois attempted to catch Enya's eye, to convey that the message had been relayed to Amatheia, before looking into the Spire through the opening.   

Heals:

As she neared, she saw the opening crumble into existence, a roughly circular entrance carved from the rough tower exterior. Andromeda flew in, Nocturnus behind her, and Enyalius pushed forward smoothly to follow; she understood Andromeda's impatience, and did not want her to face whatever was in there alone. She tucked her wings to glide through the shark-sized entrance and paused beside Andromeda, remaining as silent as possible, listening for clues to what the dark room held.

A small light flickered into existence ahead and above them in the gloom, the source about the size of a standard light bulb; beyond it, far on the other side, a similar light appeared, much farther above them. Judging by the distances and the occasional reflection of the light off of wet surfaces, the room appeared to take up an entire section of the spire at this level, and seemed at least seven stories high; near the top it must taper, as the tower did, but there was no indication of where they could head higher in the tower, or lower. 

As her sight got clear and her capacity increased, Panacea eventually stood up, listening to Sedna's playback of the recent events while fixing her Senshi fuku inconspicuously. So she...was just about to drown? Because of Amatheia's song?

The last thing she remembered was being captured by Amatheia's song - unable to move and only capable of hovering around...but being forced to go down because of that? How could a melody control her anyway? How was that possible?
It took her a while to realize what Sedna had told her. Somehow, Panacea just didn't feel like any of this was true. She didn't think of any ill intentions on the part of Amatheia either.

"Thank you," she eventually only said, her voice sincere and prudent while looking at Sedna. "I owe you something." She smiled at her, grateful that she had saved her, and eventually started to look around - again.
Something was missing. For the moment she didn't know who it was or what it was - she just knew that the group...and the scenery was missing something.

Enyalius! Callisto! Amatheia! Yes, that was it!

Wherever they came from, though, they didn't look good at all. Amatheia was knocked out, Enyalius half-dead and Callisto...well, okay, Callisto looked pretty good given the circumstances.
She shook her head as she watched the three Senshi, having the urge to help, but feeling as if she was still glued on her place.

Maybe she just needed a few more seconds of resting.

...or maybe not.
As more and more of her teammates entered the open tower, Panacea tried to follow, forcing her numb legs to move and starting to approach the tower.

"Are you alright child?" Eshana asked Panacea as she flew over to join the others to enter the tower.

Amatheia blinked a bit at Achelois. “Was that not what we were doing? Trying to get into the tower?” She asked, seeming a bit baffled. And she grew only more baffled when she mentioned injury and danger. But before she could question, the senshi had flown off to the group, where apparently a hole had been broken in the spire. And the others had followed, largely leaving her by herself. Still perturbed, she formed her wings once again, then realized she had her tail and split them into her legs. She lifted into the air and followed after the others, consumed by her thoughts.

What danger and injuries did I cause? I had warned everyone to cover their eyes. And I had signaled to follow when I directed the eels to show us the injuries. How did I not communicate? She thought to herself. And she had to sing only when she was told to? It felt...vaguely horrifying in a way, and she wasn't sure she could obey. Singing was instinct, and she had to try to protect the senshi and the eels. She shook her head slightly, wondering what type of senshi Jupiter had sent her to help. Or had their experience during their missing period change them to this?

But she kept a diplomatic silence about it. Instead, when she reached the others, she spoke aloud. "The eels had shown me the entrance to the tower. It is under the water, in one of the walls. should we go in that way, instead?"

Nocturnus’ plea made her pause, touched a part of her heart she had carefully protected, and Andromeda turned to the young sailor soldier. She gave her a reassuring and grateful smile. “Of course,” she answered simply, though she didn’t know if she could keep that promise should the situation change. Nocturnus was young—she shouldn’t be in this much danger at all. Beyond all else, protecting her was one of the many reasons Andromeda wished she could do this on her own.

Lights began to appear before them, revealing the vast room beyond. So far there was no sign of life yet. She contemplated trying to fly to the top or try to trigger… something, just so they would have something to fight. So the Chaos incarnation here would show itself.

“What do you think?” she turned to ask Enyalius, trying to get her head back in the ‘team’ frame of mind. Enya had faced Chaos numerous times even before their first mission together; maybe she would know the best strategy.

Then she heard the question from one of the newer senshi, the one who’d nearly drowned Panacea. Was she seriously suggesting they get back into the water?! Trying to suppress her impatience and irritation, Andromeda replied, “You and Enya nearly died under water. Those sharks are still there. We have this way open now. That way might be easier to break into, but not everyone can breathe underwater or swim and I am not about to be responsible for this entire team dying when we already have an alternative path open right here.”

"Andromeda's right," Enyalius seconded, paying more attention to the room than the other people, her mind working to understand as much of their surroundings as she could, "We're already in, let's not stress about how we got in." The darkness was concerning; the sparse light wasn't doing much to chase away the shadows, and who knew what could be lurking where they couldn't see. Looking down and around, using the light spilling in from the entrance, she saw that most of the floor was the same rough material as the walls, but was covered in sand in some places; stalagmites thrust up as though it were a cave formed a thousand years ago. Water dripped onto her arm from the ceiling far above; she couldn't see where the room ended, but by the cool temperature she hoped it was water dripping down rather than saliva. She tested it with her fingers; it didn't feel thickened by mucus, so there was that.

As to where they should go, she mused aloud quietly, "The crone said the seed was in the tower; she mentioned a siren, which I'm assuming is also in the tower, but she didn't say whether it was the top of the tower... or the bottom. To save your people I assume we need to defeat the siren and the chaos seed, but do we go up or down?"

She had an idea of the direction, but she wanted to give the others a chance to respond before she shared her thoughts, as she had very little to go off of and she recognized that she might have missed something.

Sailor Makemake winked and posed in response to being thanked by Sailor Andromeda. She seemed fairly proud of herself for breaking open the tower. She gave a quick thumbs up to Sailor Nocturnus for helping too.

There was a clear problem present. They were in the spire, but they hadn't found their solution yet. Sailor Enyalius presented the problems ahead. They needed to find a "seed" and a "siren."

"I think we should go up, because up would be harder. That way, we can go up and then go down easier if we have to. If anyone finds the seed, let me know. I am an expert on plants after all."

If it wasn't apparent before, Makemake wasn't the most intelligent of the group.

Now that Amatheia was in the air again, Callisto allowed her shield to disappear. She stretched her stiff arms and turned to join the other senshi at the now opened up spire. 

"It's like a cave by the sea in here..." she said, floating just inside the entrance. It was still sparsely lit, but it seemed to go up from here. "Hm.... It would be hard for a siren to sing and reach the rest of the planet if they were at the bottom. If they have to be heard well, then wouldn't they be at the spire's highest point?" It was just like how Io explained how radio stations send out signals. They needed to be at a high altitude to have the strongest one. "And if this Chaos Seed acts like a regular seed, it'd have to grow up form somewhere. If it's not up with the siren, it has to be below us."

While listening carefully, Enyalius wasn't quite sure she understood Makemake's logic. She glanced towards the invisible ceiling above, Makemake's first statement agreeing with her own idea - up would be harder, and nothing is easy with Chaos. She didn't even make a dent flying full-speed at the top of the tower, which meant it had higher defenses, which would make sense for the holding place for the seed and siren, but the idea that the Chaos seed was a plant didn't quite agree with Enyalius's interpretation. She glanced back to Achelois, raising a brow, to see what the blonde thought of Makemake's plant/seed thoughts; Achelois'd know if what she had defeated was a plant in any shape or form. 

Callisto's explanation for the siren's position at the top was promising; she generally agreed with all that she helmeted senshi had to say. She added her own interpretation, "I think the top would be our best bet, too; it was much more heavily protected than down here and, if the eels were leading us to the tower below the surface, we could assume that it would have been even easier to break into that level. It would make sense to put what needs protection into the area with highest defense. What Callisto said about the siren being near the top makes sense and falls into that defensive pattern. I'm tempted to believe the seed is with her - what better protection could it have than mind control? - but even if it isn't, I say we go up."


She looked to Andromeda, "Even if the seed isn't up there, chances are the siren is, and if we can defeat her your people should return to their senses, and we can hunt down the seed in the depths of the tower without fear that they will attack each other before we get there. What do you think?"

Achelois listened as they tried to figure out where the seed and siren was.  MakeMake's description of the seed threw her off slightly and catching Enya's questioning look she gently shook her head from side to side.  No the seed hadn't been plant like, instead it had been like evil incubating, the seed was more like an embryo than anything.  Hopefully they could reach it before it reaches maturity and causes even more damage.  Since everyone seemed to agree that it was most likely up Achelois decided to interject, "Let me check before we decide, just give me a few moments." They were already in enemy territory but she knew Enya wouldn't let her be hurt while she looked.

Extrasensory (3MP):

Achelois closed her eyes and pulled her legs up to her body, still floating in the air. She allowed her sense to extend beyond her, focusing on around them and above.  As she felt the room they were in, she counted 10 enemies.  She moved to the next floor and counted 6 enemies.  She pushed farther to the next floor and found just 1 enemy with the seed.  She wanted to gag when she felt its slimy energy oozing.  Instead she took a deep breath and retreated back to herself.  

She unfolded her legs, but remained slightly off the floor, and she looked out at the others around.  "The seed is indeed on the top floor with one being with it, I assume the siren, the floor above us has 6 enemies, and-there are 10 enemies in this room." Her eyes shifted around the others, looking into the darkness before them, trying to see them.  The corners of her lips twitched, "The good news is, we didn't go through bottom and face the multitude of floors and enemies below us."

As everyone discussed whether to go up and down, Andromeda’s analysis pretty much mirrored theirs. She’d seen how the top of the tower didn’t give way at all under Enyalius’ attempt to break it, and the eels had tried to point the way down, which meant the upper part was more protected for a reason.

“I agree. Up it is,” she replied. Enya’s strategy seemed sound; even if they were wrong, the priority was indeed breaking the mind control on her people so that she might battle Chaos without the weight of fear for her family’s life and her people weighing down on her.

She waited as Achelois did her life-detection thing, and was glad when Achelois confirmed that the seed was at the top floor. That was good; that would save them the trouble of going back down for it. However, her heart went cold when she heard that there were 10 enemies in this room. They certainly hadn’t shown themselves yet—why? Should the senshi try to go past?

She was also relieved to hear that by breaching the tower at this level, they had managed to find a shortcut of some kind rather than starting at the bottom. Hope that she could finish this job in time surged within her.

“Alright. So, we try to get through this level. This is probably just going to be like one of those Earth video games, right? We beat this level’s enemies, then get to the next one.” She narrowed her eyes at the ceiling. “We could also try breaking through this one’s ceiling before the enemies on this level appear.”

She doubted it’d be that easy, though.

Video...game...? She didn't quite get the reference, but the idea was sound. Personally she would rather not have to fight everything in the room, but if they neglected to kill one it could follow them to the next room or the next and she would rather not have to deal with chaos's minions while dealing with the siren. "Well," Enyalius said, nodding her head backward towards the opening in the room, "They already know we're here, so I doubt they'll just let us pass unharmed."

The troubling part, though, was that none of them had shown themselves. If they were set to defend this place she would think they would have mounted an attack already, but it wasn't seeming that way at all. Where were they, then? She looked to Achelois; she had told them there were ten on this level, but would she be able to say exactly where? Already she had gone farther than she used to, preferring to neither help predator nor prey and throw off nature's balance, but knowing where, exactly, the creatures in this pitch-black room were would be incredibly helpful.

As the darkness grew around them, Sailor Makemake alarmingly went to lead them. She had a broad smile on her face and seemed to be entirely unafraid of the darkness before her.

"Do not worry, my companions of justice," she said proudly. "I am a sun! I will light our way!"

But nothing indicated that this was the case. She merely kept pressing on forward in the dark.

"I'm good," Panacea answered the green-haired woman, her voice low and her eyes obviously amazed by the woman's beauty. "But thank you for asking!"
As much as possible she gave her a charming smile, the expression in her face sincere and her eyes filled with a rather unusual high portion of warmth.

After a few seconds, however, she then turned around, focusing on the comparatively dark room and the noises and sounds that came along with it.
She looked around - back and forth, from the left to the right - wondering where they would go now. She was afraid, somewhat. Afraid of a confined space, afraid of new enemies attacking. Of course, she didn't expect this to be entertaining or funny - but now - now that she stood in this tower, in this room - she noticed how her fear started to grow. Standing in the middle of the events just showed her, how terrifying it actually was.

Trying to distract herself from her worries, she listened as the others formed a new scheme - what to do now, where to go next; basically things she didn't really want to get involved in.
It wasn't that she was at a loss and had no idea what to do - that of course not - however, compared to the others she just had next to no experience. And in all honesty, she didn't want to mess anything up.

So instead, Panacea just nodded at their suggestion to go up, hiding her nervousness and trying her best to appear dauntless.

Amatheia merely gave a shrug as her suggestion of taking the entrance was rejected. And it didn't bother her much when it turned out taking the entrance would have been the more difficult path. What happened happened. She drifted a bit closer to the others, looking into the room a bit. She blinked slightly as one of the lights went out and she glanced towards it.

She leaned a bit closer to the hole to look inside, though she was mildly surprised at Makemake's statement about being a sun, and how she strolled into the room, yet seemed to do nothing to add. It seemed the same, though she couldn't really understand what the others were talking about for darkness. The bottom of oceans was far darker than this.

Despite Makemake's claim, there was no light coming from her. Andromeda was confused and concerned that she would be attacked while she continued on her own in the dark. “Achelois, are you able to detect the location of the enemies more precisely?” she asked in a low voice.

Sailor Nocturnus

She observed the tower room, quietly listening as the others discussed strategy. At this point there was no reason for her to interject. Sailor Nocturnus reminded herself that she needed to learn from these more experienced sailor soldiers, not that she had actually forgotten. She touched the guards on her forearms. There was still a hint of that presence: a reminder that she had to get home, somehow.

As the small lights on this level began to go out, Nocturnus did her best to stay focused, scanning the room. Achelois had said there were enemies. This gradual descent into darkness seemed to imply they would be upon the group very soon.

As Makemake started to walk away from the group, Callisto grew worried that she'd be ambushed. There were ten enemies hidden in this room that were not attacking for some reason, and if Makemake triggered them, she'd be badly outnumbered. Callisto landed on the ground and ran a few feet to catch up to her.

"I don't think it's the best idea to walk into the unknown like this..." Callisto said to her. One of the lights had already gone out, and it was dark enough in here. At least if something tried to pick them off, Callisto could shield them now.

She mused it over for a moment before cautiously floating inside the hole, keeping her wings now as she stepped just above the floor. “I will keep an eye on her. And I will look for enemies. This is not dark to my eyes and we will not get anywhere staying in one place.” She said to the others. If they wished for more communication, she would try to accommodate them.

She followed after Makemake, hand poised to summon a barrier shield of ice if necessary, and she quickly looked around the room for anything unusual or dangerous, peering towards the darkest corners of the room.

Achelois shrugged at Enya's questioning look, she may not have gone so far before, but now she wasn't so sure.  At any rate she wanted to help Andromeda, and the other planets, that had been targeted by the Chaos agent.  At this point she felt that Chaos interrupted the natural order of things, and she didn't like it.  She blinked as two of the lights went out, her eyes starting to adjust to the darkness, her ears confused by MakeMake's statement. She's a sun? Achelois shook her head slightly to refocus.  Why had they not been attacked yet, she had sensed 10 enemies on this floor, surely... She nodded to Andromeda who asked her to search for the enemies locations.  She looked to Enya again, asking for her protection before meditating, looking for the enemies' locations.

Sailor Makemake could hear the others behind her. A huge smile beamed on her face. Her plan was working. She really was a sun after all! What her plants were telling her had been true and it was only just now that she was realizing it.

Of course, she couldn't see very well in this dark. That was because she could illuminate the world for herself. No, she could only do so for others. What she didn't understand was that even though she actually did shine brightly in the perception of plants, she most certainly did not do the same for others.

She perked up when Sailor Callisto approached her. She didn't seem to notice Sailor Amatheia taking a similar stance to protect her from harm.

"Do not worry! I move forward so that you all may see the path! I know you all will protect me! Well, I think you'd protect me, Sailor Callisto Friend. The others forgot us before in the storm. They can be so silly."

She continued to press forward without fear, not even bothering to quiet herself.

Part of her actually thought Makemake would start to glow, but as the green-clad senshi strode forward into the darkness and nothing happened, Enyalius's expectation turned to slight worry - was the girl delusional, or...? Thankfully, Callisto headed after her, supposedly to keep her safe, and Amatheia followed, revealing that she could see through the darkness; something they definitely needed. 

Feeling Achelois's eyes on her, she called up her sword and shield, ready to defend her partner should anything untoward happen; her senses open, she peered into the darkness ahead of them, one eye trailing to the trio below them.

DM wrote:

Makemake is attacked by a Stargazer Fish, resting on the sandy bottom! It bursts upward and attempts to grab onto her legs!
Did it hit? Surprise attack!
--5
How much damage?
--2
--STR 8
--Armor -3
----Total of 7 points of damage!
The Stargazer clamps onto Makemake's leg, it's wide eyes staring up at her in the half-light from the opening in the wall behind her!




 Amatheia spots a Viperfish watching her from the dark!





Achelois is surprise attacked by a Frilled Shark from out of the dark!

Did it hit? Enyalius is in defense mode for Achelois, but it is a surprise attack! A roll of 5 or more is required for a successful attack!
--6 Critical hit!
How much damage?
--6 Critical damage!
--STR 10
--Armor -3
----Total of 13 points of damage!
Critical Hit, Critical Damage: Hitting Achelois from the side, it knocks her staff from her hands! It falls to the ground below them.

A creature suddenly erupted from the darkness, swimming through the air as surely as though it were water, its mouth agape and screeching in a goosebumps-inducing trill of attack as it rushed Achelois. The creature was disturbing - it appeared blind, was hump-backed, and seemed to have very few teeth, but its aggression was evident in the way it swam towards them, navigating expertly, driving itself forward at an incredible pace. Enyalius pressed forward, her hand out to catch Achelois's dress and pull her out of the way, but she was too late; the fabric brushed her fingers as the creature slammed into Achelois and threw her backwards with it, her wooden staff falling below. Enyalius's eyes followed them almost in shock, unable to believe she hadn't caught her in time, unable to believe that it had hit Achelois so hard that it caused her to drop her staff. Enyalius's stomach dropped as her emotions hardened. With a ferocious yell she aimed her sword for the creatures body and stabbed in an arc that, if it caught, should pull the creature off of Achelois!

DM wrote:

Enyalius attempts to attack Frill Shark A!
Did it hit?
--6 Critical hit!
How much damage?
--1
--STR 20
--WPN 2
----23 point of damage!
Critical hit! The Frill Shark is thrown away from Achelois!

Amatheia blinked slowly as her eyes met that of a serpent like eel fish creature with a lighted lure attached to its spine, with all the signature traits of a deep dwelling creature. The fact it was surviving at this atmospheric pressure was surprising to her, and disturbing unnatural. Her eyes remained connected on the fish and her expression did not change even as she raised her hand slightly at her side. She sung once again, but this time it was words.

“Shard Mist Shower.” She sung, and motioned her hand in a circle a few times, collecting water from the air to form smallish to medium drops that hung in the air around her, and with a forward sweep of her arm, she sent the water droplets flying at the fish and wall. As the water flew, her song and powers touched the drops of varying sizes, turning them into razor sharp icicles shaped by the air and motion of their flight.

Lost in her thoughts as to what could be waiting for them, she was startled to see the enemy attacking. As Enya knocked one of the creatures off Achelois, she summoned her Halberd, going after the creature, striking at it.

Sailor Nocturnus

The previously-mentioned enemies has suddenly made themselves known--at least three of them, that was. In this darkness, it was difficult to see exactly what had happened, but she found that her eyes had adjusted enough to notice that there was trouble. At first, her attention was caught by the ambush on Achelois... but Sailor Enyalius was at the aid of the other woman almost immediately. Sailor Sedna soon joined the fray, and it was then that Nocturnus realized Makemake was in the grasp of a bottom-feeding Chaotic fish.

She summoned her powers, aiming for the creature, hoping to dislodge it. Hopefully she wouldn't miss. At least she could try.

"Ecliptic Rotation!" she cried, sending the stars shooting towards the fish thing.

Attack: