Varuna visibly winced after seeing Enyalius's harsh contact with the building that appeared to be made of black rock. She stopped her descent, floating next to Sailor Sedna as her eyes roamed over the tower. There didn't seem to be any apparent way in...so maybe they had to think outside of the box?

It wouldn't be the first time.

All of a sudden, Varuna felt uneasy. The hair on her arms and the back of her neck began to stick straight up, and goosebumps began to make themselves visible on her skin. There was something dangerous here, but what?

Following the gazes of her teammates, Varuna looked up to find strange...eels? Her eyebrows furrowed with concern, not liking the menacing, bloodthirsty looks in the creatures' eyes. She glanced nervously at Enyalius, wondering why all of the creatures seemed to be focused solely on her. The blood forming on their leader's skin seemed to be what was drawing their attention, which means they either had to get rid of the blood, kill the eels, or find a way into the building quickly.

Their best bet was to get into the building, in Varuna's opinion. Because even if they got rid of the blood, the eels might still be attracted to Enyalius, and if they attempted to fight while airborne like this, they were probably at a disadvantage.

The scene of Enyalius hitting the building at full force played back in Varuna's mind, and she wondered if maybe all of them hit the building at once, that would be enough to break open a hole big enough for them to fit through? It was only rock, right? But they were down two members...

Varuna was about to voice her thoughts to the others when Amatheia's singing voice, sharp and sweet, vibrated her eardrums. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn't heard Amatheia's warning, and she was made vulnerable to the woman's command. Her body suddenly became frozen, and she couldn't will her limbs to move. Only her wings kept her afloat, but thankfully her mouth was still able to move. She did feel slightly panicked, though. How could she defend herself and her teammates if she couldn't move?

"Amatheia, stop!" Varuna cried, desperation in her plea. "I...I cannot move when you do that!"

Sailor Makemake's heart sank. Just where was Sailor Callisto? And where were the others? Surely they saw her go after her, right? They wouldn't just forget them, right? Whatever happened, she need she had to work to find Callisto and free herself from this terrible storm.

Then a thought occurred to her. What if there were plants here? Surely there was seaweed or something around here. Her ability to speak to plants was incredibly silly most of the time, but what if there was finally some use for it?

It was a real shot in the dark. She tried desperately to sense any plant life nearby. She could talk to plants, but could she sense where they were? Perhaps it would give her some clue as to where she was.

After circling the tower and still finding no opening, Andromeda resurfaced and flew back toward the others. "There's no entrance underwater either! We need to figure out something... fast." She eyed the frozen flying eels with mounting panic.

Amatheia sang on, relieved that she was able to keep the predators away. She focused on them and her song, unwilling to let any of them attack the senshi. Predators did deserve to survive of course, but she knew they were stronger, even if the eels didn't, and them attacking the senshi would only result in their death. The thought broke Amatheia's heart a little. Then someone was calling to her and she sharply turned her head. She saw the panicked look on Varuna's face and gave the girl a sad sympathetic smile to see she had been caught in her song. Still singing, she fluttered over to Varuna.

She braced herself for the heat of the girls skin momentarily before she took hold her wrists gently. She brought the girls hands up to her ears and pressed Varuna's palms against them to block out her song so she could move once again.

DM wrote:

Makemake senses plantlife far below her current position!


 Amatheia has covered Varuna's ears; Varuna is no longer under Amatheia's influence.
 Panacea is still under Amatheia's Influence

Enyalius separated herself from the tower to look in a wider range for an entrance, or for anything that could help them, checking every few seconds the ocean beneath, where Andromeda had disappeared, waiting for her to resurface with news. The muffled sounds made her every breath louder in her ears, every beat of her wings, the rustle of feathers, the metallic clicking of her armor as she moved about sending vibrations through her that were amplified tenfold by the sensory deprivation caused by pressing her wet hands to her ears. She watched for the flying enemies to see if they moved, ready to take her hands away the moment they did, scanned the sharp black edges of the tower for any sign of weakness, but nothing presented itself to her. 

She was getting frustrated; they only had 27 hours - how much time had passed since their meeting with the crone? Was that twenty-seven hours the deadline for all planets that had received the seed? Her stomach flipped uncomfortably and she scowled, feeling helpless and rushed at the same time. They needed to get in --

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Varuna's mouth moving; the girl looked upset, her motions were stiff and uncomfortable - 

Below her, Andromeda emerged from the water and seemed to shout something, but with her hands over her ears, Enyalius could not figure out what - 

Amatheia floated forward, her mouth still open in song, and moved Varuna's hands to her ears and Enyalius suddenly understood what had happened - Varuna had been caught in the song. By the look of things - she quickly scanned their other teammates - Panacea was caught in the same trap. 

This was doing nothing but wasting time.

Making a quick decision, she eyed one of the flying serpents, stuck in place, took a deep breath, and let out a solid cry, her voice blocking out all sound in her ears. She shot towards the creature and removed her hands from her head to hold her sword with both hands; when she was within reach, she swung down and swiftly sliced through the creature, killing it. Released from Amatheia's song, the creature fell down to the ocean below and Enyalius released her weapon to put her hands back to her ears, only stopping her cry when they were safely in place. 

DM wrote:

Enyalius attacks Flying Serpent 1
Does it hit? Auto hit; creature is not moving
How much damage?
--doesn't matter
--Strength bonus +20
--weapon bonus doesn't matter
----Total of 20+ points of damage

Flying serpent 1 has been defeated.

EXP

Enyalius did a total of 20 points of damage.
Enyalius gains 20 EXP
Enyalius levels up! Enyalius is level 1. Enyalius has gained 1 Attribute Point. Enyalius will be able to spend her attribute point when they are in an area clear of monsters.
Enyalius has 10 out of 20 EXP for lvl 2.

Sailor Makemake's eyes widened. There it was. Plant life. Down below.

"Sorry, Callisto," she muttered with a defeated look. "I'll find you when I find where I am."

She let her wings disappear and began to dive down into the storm, straight toward where she thought she sensed the plants. It could have been basic seaweed, but she couldn't ignore her one ticket to figuring out just where she was.

They didn't have time for this. "Sailor Amatheia, cease your singing," she yelled, hoping the other senshi would be able to hear her.

With the eyes squinted and the fists in front of her eyes, Panacea waited for the creatures to come, her posture, however, rather looking as if she would collapse once a wind was coming.
She knew she was weak, she knew she couldn't do anything if any of these beasts would come to attack her - she knew it was pointless - and yet she didn't move, her mind confident and the fists clenching even more. Running away just was no option. She didn't come here to let the others do everything, after all.

Prepared for an upcoming fight, she opened her eyes and started to frown, her initially insecure posture slowly turning into a more acceptable position, as her body suddenly stopped moving, everything, but her wings frozen. What the-

Over and over again she tried to free herself, tried to move any of her limbs - however, no matter how often she tried, it was all in vain. She looked around and tried to find the problem, the result of her research being unexpected, but yet pleasing. Apparently it wasn't only her who stopped moving, but also the creatures around them.

Being unable to move was bothersome, true, however, as long as the creatures were captured as well, Panacea wouldn't mind.

Sailor Makemake's heart sank. So there was plant life... but it was under the ocean. It was likely seaweed and who knew if the plants even realized what was going on. Letting her wings reappear, she continued to fly above the surface of the water and tried desperately to listen to their spirits. Did they know what was going on here? Usually plants would say something rather simple with their limited intelligence like...

FOOD! FOOD! WANT DELICIOUS SUN FOOD

HAVE YOU MET MY BEST FRIEND? HE IS A GRASS

PERSONALLY I PREFERRED WHEN THEY WERE COUSINS...

But maybe, just maybe, this situation was serious enough to warrant some sort of intellectual insight.

"P-plant friends! Please help! What's going on here?" she yelled desperately against the winds.

Sailor Makemake didn't know what to do. She had talked to seaweed before in a past life, but from what she could remember they sounded nothing like this. They were just more concerned about people stepping on them. She couldn't help but feel sorry for them, even more so than the people she had seen in the town.

She noticed they were all loud, but talking about slightly different things. Maybe, the ones who were in the most pain were closer to whatever was going on here.

Now there was an idea. If Makemake had been a more intelligent senshi, she might have realized how morbid it was. Still, it could have been a step forward.

"Ummmm... hello! What's going on here? Who is hurting you?" she said as she braced herself mentally for more anguish.

Quote :

HERE IT COMES - IT'S THE END! IT'S TOUCHING ME! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-- OH I'M OKAY. JUST ANOTHER FISH EATER. HAHAHAHA MAN I WAS SO SCARED


It sounded like the plant was a little more westward from her position.

Callisto really was starting to wonder if she was going in the right direction now. Sure'y the storm wasn't this large? And with all this rain, she could barely tell where she was going anyway. She needed better protection... Her eyes widened as she thought of a potential idea. 

"Callisto Minor Guard!" She held out her shield, and a half circle barrier protected her front as she flew. Now that she wasn't being bombarded in the face with rain, she could clearly see the massive scale of the hurricane. A flash of color caught her eyes, and Callisto spun around and looked behind her to see Sailor Makemake near the ocean waves below. Did the other senshi follow her into this?

Wondering what she was doing, Callisto kept her shield up and descended towards Makemake.

Sailor Makemake's eyes went huge when the spirit of the one plant cried out in terror. She sighed when it was just mistaking something else for a predator.

Her mind didn't even pause on the word "fish eater." She just assumed that whatever it was, it was different. She flew towards the previously distressed plant, looking down into the waters. She hadn't realized that Sailor Callisto was flying toward her yet.

"Hello!" she said with an ignorant smile. "I'm glad you're OK! What's down there with you? Is it a friend of yours?"

Quote :

Sailor MakeMake approaches the water...

Piranhas A and B jump out of the water and attempt to attack Sailor Makemake!


Does A hit?
--2
It misses!


Does B hit?
--3
It misses!

Piranha's A and B fall back into the water. 


HELLO! HI FRIEND! I'M GOING TO DIE! 
FALSE ALARM, IT'S JUST MORE OF THEM!

Callisto was just about to call out to Makemake when she saw the fish leap out of the choppy water to snap at her. Even the ocean itself was dangerous, it seemed. Feeling personally responsible for Makemake's safety, Callisto put on a desperate burst of speed to get in front of her faster.

"Get away from the surface!" She tried to yell over the storm.

"O-oh!"

Sailor Makemake was shocked to see two fish fly right out of the water at her. They almost bit her, much to her alarm. A thought crossed her mind that Sailor Andromeda must have been very brave to live on a planet with piranhas living in the ocean. At least the seaweed was happy!

Being a simple thinker, she was quickly distracted by a voice on the wind. She turned toward it and was ecstatic to see Sailor Callisto. So there she was!

"Hello!" she said in an attempt to take off toward her in flight.

Callisto sighed in relief when Makemake heard her before another fish tried to attack again. "I'm glad you're alright, but we need to find a way out of here. I may have... gotten turned around in this hurricane," she admitted. She should have flown over in the first place...

Sailor Nocturnus

Sailor Nocturnus covered her ears just in time, her dark eyes watching the scene that unfolded below her. She felt relief when Enyalius managed to attack one of the eels, but the lingering worry from whatever Andromeda was trying to communicate below them did not ease. From the look on the teal-haired woman's face, she hadn't found whatever she was looking for beneath the waves...probably an entrance. The same problem they were facing here, flying around it. How could this tower have no way in?

She knew that the others had already searched, but she reviewed the structure as well, hoping to spot something that may have been overlooked.

Nothing was changing. She couldn't organize everyone until they could open their ears to hear, so Enyalius prepared for another attack. Hands still over her ears she eyed another of the four surviving serpents, aimed, took a deep breath and repeated the process, yelling loud enough to drown out Amatheia's song in her own ears before summoning her weapon and striking at the unmoving creature.

She felt no joy in culling the creatures; she would have much preferred they be allowed to fight for their lives, rather than be butchered mercilessly while they couldn't even bother twitching upon striking impact, but that was where they found themselves, and she wasn't about to waste more time in a nonverbal attempt at explaining things to anyone. 

As her sword sliced neatly through and the creature fell down towards the ocean, she put her hands back to her ears and stopped her cry. 

Three more.

DM wrote:

Enyalius attacks Flying Serpent 2
Does it hit? Auto hit; creature is not moving
How much damage?
--doesn't matter
--Strength bonus +20
--weapon bonus doesn't matter
----Total of 20+ points of damage

Flying serpent 1 has been defeated.

EXP

Enyalius did a total of 20 points of damage.
Enyalius gains 20 EXP
Enyalius levels up! Enyalius is level 2. Enyalius has gained 1 Attribute Point. Enyalius will be able to spend her attribute point when they are in an area clear of monsters.
Enyalius has 10 out of 30 EXP for lvl 3.

Amatheia gave a comforting smile to Varuna once her ears were covered, and the song was no longer affecting her. Hopefully now the panic would subside and she would be alright. She turned back around to face the eels again when she saw one of them falling to the ocean in pieces. Her eyes widened in horror as she looked between the remaining eels, and Enyalius, the only one closest to them. Her voice nearly choked, but she continued to sing.

She had been trying to avoid exactly this! But she couldn't stop the song, and let the eels attack the senshi. The result would only be the same, with the addition of the senshi getting hurt. But she had no other way to prevent it. She could not affect the creatures if they were not hearing her song, so any attempts to send them away would be futile. She could almost feel the tears welling up in her eyes until she paused, glancing quickly from the eels, to the tower, to the skies and back again. Who knows how long they had been patrolling around this tower?

And obviously they had intelligence, otherwise her song surely would not have affected them. So perhaps...She began shifting the concepts in her mind, and thus the affect of the song. She began singing to influence the eels to show them the way into the tower. For surely once they were inside, the eels would no longer be a threat, and be saved. She could only hope it worked.

Quote :

 Amatheia changes her song, directing listeners to show her the way into the tower.


Flying Serpents (Gulper Eeels) 3 4 and 5 are powerless to resist! They dive down towards the ocean surface.

Do any fly near enough to Andromeda to possibly attack her on the way down?
Serpent 3:
--1
Miss

Serpent 4:
--1
Miss

Serpent 5:
--4 
Hit!

Serpent 5 attempts to attack Sailor Andromeda as it dives down!
Did it hit?
--5
--Special ability! +1 to "Did it Hit?" rolls makes the attempt a 6! Critical Hit!
How much damage?
--3
--Strength bonus 5
--Armor bonus -4
----Total of 4 points of damage
Critical Hit! On it's downward trajectory, its large mouth catches onto Andromeda's shoulder and sinks its teeth into her! Compelled by Amatheia's song, it starts fighting to drag her down with it!


Sailor Panacea is powerless to resist! Panacea does not know the way into the tower, but the song is mind controlling her to show it to Amatheia. Roll to determine effect. 
Scenario 1) Panacea throws herself into the tower repeatedly, attempting to get in.
Scenario 2) Panacea dives after the gulper eels
Scenario 3) Panacea flies in circles around the tower, desperately trying to find a way in.
Roll: 2
Panacea dives after the gulper eels, heading towards the ocean surface!

Does she fly near enough to Andromeda that Andromeda could easily catch her on the dive down?
--3
No! She does not fly near enough to Andromeda for Andromeda to easily catch her!

At first Amatheia was delighted as the eels began going down towards the surface. They knew the way in! She made quick gestures to the other senshi to follow before she aimed towards the ocean. She felt a bit happier to know that she would be able to feel the caress of the water, she would get that swim she was hoping for!

But her happiness was short lived when she saw the senshi of this planet being bitten by one of them on its way towards the ocean. Her eyes widened and she quickly flew towards Andromeda and the eel, even as she continued singing. What she would do when she got to them though, she wasn't sure. She hoped she would be able to pry the eels mouth, but if worse came to worse...

Now that the eels were frozen Achelois wondered at how to dispose of them.  Gratefully she watched as Enya took out two, yelling loud enough to not be affected by the song.  Andromeda had come back up from the ocean looking very worried and Achelois figured that there was no entrance down there.  Or that something very bad was down there.  She looked to the tower as everyone else did to try and find the entrance.  She was then distracted by the sudden movements of the eels and Panacea, whose lack of hands over her ears meant that she was probably under control of the song.  She moved to follow but her pace quickened when Andromeda was caught by one on the way down.  She hurried towards the group, hoping to be able to get the eel off of Andromeda before they went crashing in the ocean!

The situation had turned from bad to worse. Taking a leaf from Enya's book, she began to loudly sing a war song her mother had taught her, as loud as she could in order to drown out the other senshi's singing. If they could get ride of the eels, then maybe the song would stop. 

She hurtled towards one of them, summoning her halberd as she flew, her song never letting up. Rotating her body, she slashed at the eel, using her momentum and speed to do the necessary damage. 


As soon as she was finished, she banished her weapon, slapping her hands over her ears once more.

Something was changing. The eels suddenly started moving, and then one of them clamped onto her shoulder on its way down. She let out a surprised yelp of pain as it started to pull her down with her. Without thinking she summoned her Water Sphere, which would repel the eel off of her body, then she jabbed her Chrome Blade into the body of the eel. Her wings beat furiously in an attempt to keep above the surface; she wasn’t afraid of the water but she had no intention of being drowned.

Somewhere too far away to reach, she was horrified to see Panacea diving toward the water as well, her movements seemingly controlled by something else. Two senshi were coming to help Andromeda, but Panacea needed them more. Andromeda pointed in panic toward Panacea, hoping one of them would understand and help her instead.

Sailor Nocturnus

She didn't think anyone could hear her if she tried to call to them, and Nocturnus watched Andromeda's frantic gestures towards Panacea with mounting panic. She wanted to help and catch the other sailor soldier, but she wasn't strong enough on her own to stop and hold the woman. Although, maybe...

Sailor Nocturnus dove forward, her black uniform fluttering around her as her small golden wings pumped furiously to keep her dive somewhat controlled. As she approached the form of Sailor Panacea, her goal was to cover Panacea's ears with her hands, hoping to break the spell so the other sailor soldier could stop the dive. She was prepared to follow Enyalius's example and yell as long as her hands were no longer covering her own ears, to avoid merely switching places with Panacea.

Sailor Makemake smiled at Sailor Callisto as though nothing had happened. Her ignorant eyes beamed proudly as she stared right at her.

"Yeah, I know. I saw you fly into the storm and was all like... 'I should go see what she's up to.' I think the others went up to the top of the storm or something. I guess they must have forgotten us. That's too bad."

She said it very matter-of-factly, like she didn't blame the others for forgetting them at all.

"Want to see if we can find a way into whatever's in the middle of this strange storm?"