Oberon huffed in something close to humor, comprehending the rather obvious hints of disgust weren't necessarily aimed at him. And even if it was, why bother? Though most of his senses ignored Shadow in order to focus on the task at hand, it was easy to know the other had his attention.

At least, he was being professional about it, something Oberon rarely found in people that weren't soldiers. He cast a curious glance at the man but soon aimed his focus back to the mountains that seemed to be the main attraction of this part of Leviathan's planet. Coming from a planet of flying creatures, suddenly and consciously being upside down wasn't so strange. It was a planet, after all, those things tended to have two poles. Though Leviathan's wasn't quite like any other he'd seen.

"I see."

The short answer hid a thinking mind before he finally hummed.

"I understand your point and see how it could quickly aggravate everyone instead of helping, strategy wise. How about this: my mind will be the first to feel it if anything happens. If I see you are becoming a threat to them, I will drop you out without further questions. Would this appease your worries?"

He wasn't sure whether Shadow truly wanted their minds to be safe or if he was worried something could accidentally be found, but either way, if it seemed like they couldn't come to an agreement, he would simply drop him out and go on with their duty. It wasn't worth an argument, even though Shadow's discipline was a welcomed change.

Seeing no real flaws in Sailor Leviathan's logic (and not having the map to look at herself), Callisto followed the other senshi's lead. This was her own planet after all, so it made sense to defer to her authority, strange behavior or not. And she definitely did not want to be left behind a second time.

These mountains did look like a good place to hide an ambush though, and Callisto made sure to keep an eye out for any sudden movements as she kicked off the ground to swim after the group.

Achelois followed near Enya with Leviathan in the lead.  Though she was a little concerned about her leading, it was almost as if the host senshi couldn't take the situation seriously.  All of the lives residing on her planet were in danger and the whole thing seemed like a game or bad joke.  Still maybe the other senshi just wasn't used to dealing with situations like this.  She sincerely hoped that Leviathan wouldn't have to learn the skills the hard way.

Amatheia took the hand, but withheld the wince she felt at the extremely hot sensation she got from Ribbon's hand, surely as much a shock to her as her own nearly icy skin would be to Ribbon. But she did not let go and helped Ribbon up and over the wall and set her down, then quickly retracted her hand, rubbing it lightly to dispel the feeling of heat. How could she have forgotten how hot other creatures could feel?!

“My apologies, I am...sure my touch was not pleasant. A lapse of thought on my part.” She gave a apologetic nod before she drifted away slightly. A smile touched her lips briefly as she heard Leviathan's fairly blasting speech, and the nickname she gave the pipling senshi. An amusing person to be sure. Then it seemed Leviathan was moving, and at a decent pace! Amatheia swiftly moved her tail and swum after Leviathan, catching up with relative ease. Leviathan made what seemed to be a decision on which way to go, and since she did not know the planet, she decided following the senshi would be best.

As Amatheia swam, she maintained her place besides the other oceanic senshi, and as usual, she began humming softly under the breath, a scattering of notes and melody.

She hadn't expected her to be so COLD! HER HAND WAS FREEZING COLD, WHAT GAVE?! Valiantly, Ribbon kept her reaction hidden beneath a cool expression.


As soon as sailor mermaid let her go, Ribbon hugged herself with that hand, hoping to heat it up and wishing she was wearing more as she ultimately made the decision not to voluntarily agree to doing anything with that one. She could split body parts in half and was freezing cold - she could do without, thank you. She kept hold of Nocturnus's hand; being handled by Nocturnus was easy - she had practically been dragged around the metal maze by the resilient young girl, adding water did little to change the familiarity of the arrangement - part of her hoped that the young girl would stick close to her this time, too, but hopefully she wouldn't be as much a burden now as opposed to then. 

She looked at Nocturnus with a shrug in her expression to the girl's question - they were here to help Leviathan and Leviathan had the map, so following her sounded good? But before she could say anything, another senshi - the one with green hair - replied reasonably and she nodded to second the idea, and as she swum off, Ribbon gave an experimental kick with her inexpert legs, the way that senshi had, and felt the forward propulsion respond immediately, slackening her hold on Nocturnus's hand, and offered her a quick, experimental smile as she tried it again. She couldn't swim well, but she wanted to stay with Nocturnus and if that meant swimming, she'd try to learn how to swim. The way they moved through the water, it was apparent that Nocturnus could handle toting her along, if she kicked to help out; they might go slow, but that was better for her ego if not everyone was watching her attempt to swim anyway.

They had made it over the side of the world - a weird sensation - and around to the other side, and were following behind as the group turned around the ridge of a mountain; it was darker here, and Ribbon found herself staring at the irregular mountain face when --

Just then, from in front, where the team had turned around a mountain ridge, a low growl reverberated through the water, and her eyes grew wide. 

With Ribbon finally moving, Sedna easily swam forward, catching up with the group that had headed towards the mountains.

Enyalius listened to Leviathan lay out their options, nodding in agreement - the plan was sound, despite the slight discrepancy between Leviathan's claim to experience and what Enyalius understood to be her actual experience of one year, but then, at times, Leviathan had seemed much older than she normally behaved, as though something else were showing through, and, perhaps, now it was that side that was leading the way. She smirked as the other dashed off, yelling so as not to hear any objections to her plan, and kept close behind now that she was fairly certain the Leviathan she knew best was definitely still in charge.

The mountains stretched above them, their shadows looming over everything; the half-light created by the jellyfish creatures was faint here, and seemed to only grow fainter as they looked between the leviathan mountains. Creatures hid within their craggy surface, the occasional eye reflecting towards them through the dark. Everything felt open, even as they closed in, the current constantly pushing cool water past them at a refreshing rate. As finally the first of them turned to enter the pass, a low, rumbling growl stopped them, emanating from somewhere just ahead, a resonating warning to turn back.

Moving towards the front of the group, Sedna examined the path between the mountains. It was pretty narrow, possibly fitting two people maximum side by side comfortably, and there wasn't a lot of room for maneuvering. The growl they heard wasn't reassuring. 

"I think it would be best to try and draw out whatever is in there. We have more room out here," Sedna said, summoning her halberd. "Be on your guard, I'm going to try and provoke whatever's in there to come out."


Using her halberd to make a slashing movement in front of her, Eshana used Moonlights Kiss, sending a beam of energy into the mountainous path, hoping that it would be close enough to aggravate whatever was in there.

As they neared the mountains, she could hear a menacing growl, and Nix was immediately on guard. She peered into the darkness, but couldn’t see much due to the darkness. She could see an eye here or there, but did not know who it belonged to. And then there was a second growl much closer, just ahead. Nix activated her Camouflage, blending into the background as she moved.

Oberon's posture went rigid and his muscles bent, ready for battle when they turned a part of the mountains and heard a peculiar growl. Even if he wasn't sure speaking of her plan out loud without knowing the intelligence level of their foes was the way to go about it, he agreed that what she talked about doing was a good idea. He caught Nix's disappearance on the side of his eye, but the wintery dot in his mind didn't vanish, relieving any worries that might have crept in his head.

"Le Fay, Hear my Command!"

Two small swords appeared in his hands, Oberon landing in order to be able to walk towards the others, ready to strike at whatever aberration Sedna's attack would draw towards them.

"That will suffice."

Though he wasn't yet convinced of Oberon's plan to disengage him at the first hint of danger, it was probably the best solution that could be offered to Shadow other than to cut him free of the psychic network outright.

He couldn't see much as the group marched on, but his ears picked up an ominous growling. Sedna voiced a plan to flush their quarry out from hiding; with this cue, Oberon summoned a pair of shortblades. Deciding it would be best for him to be ready, Shadow followed suit by drawing forth his trusted longsword.

Enyalius paused, looking ahead, waiting for her eyes to adjust, but she could make nothing out but that the depth and resonance of the growl announced the presence of a large creature, whatever it was. She agreed with Sedna that drawing it out wold be a good idea; but that it didn't attack first, when it could have... It was guarding something, but what? The way in? The Shield of the Lost Senshi appeared on her arm, her sword materializing in her hand, and she moved instinctively to be able to cover Achelois without blocking her view. 

Battle wrote:

Sedna uses Moonlight Kiss (4MP) and attempts to aggravate the creature!
Does it hit?
--2
It misses the creature!


The light shoots through the opening and the great eye of a wyrm stares back at them, its pupil constricting as the beam passes. Its long, serpentine body is revealed, its scales as dark as night, its front arms clawed wickedly, tipped with blades that shone like opals for the brief moment they were illuminated, similar shimmering reflected off of the spikes that lined its spine and tail.

Spoiler:

It stared right at them, and offered another menacing growl, but did not move.

Sedna's beam smashes into the wall of the mountain behind the dragon, causing the rock to splinter and fall, a rockslide following. A verbal cry of alarm echoed in the space behind the creature.

Nix uses Camouflage before the battle begins! 0 MP

A dragon, and a potential captive. Enyalius tensed, waiting to see what would happen next; they needed to pass to find the Chaos Seed, and see if whomever had cried out in alarm needed their help, and the dragon seemed content to let them make the next move.

Amatheia did not quite start at the sound of the growling, but she did stop a bit suddenly. She tilted her head slightly, peering into the darkness. For a moment she could see something large, and an eye. Then the whole creature was illuminated and she blinked in surprise. She hummed softly even as it growled then frowned as cries came out from behind the creature.

She moved cautiously forward a bit more, her tail moving in slow lazy motions to keep her in place as she called out. “Is someone there? Are you alright?” But even as she spoke aloud, she spoke mentally as well.

"I can keep the creature still if we must swim over it. But please everyone, be ready to cover your ears if I must sing."

Sailor Leviathan paused at the growl. Was that? Was that what she thought it was?

Before she could get a word out, Sailor Sedna shot out a violent light toward the creature. Evne Shadow approved of Oberon taking out his swords! What was wrong with all of them? Why did it seem like she was one of the only people to ever go for a nonviolent route?

Then she saw it. It was exactly what she feared. A dragon.

"Guys! Stop it!" she cried with a raspy voice. It was desperate and frantic, unlike anything the others might have heard from her. The only one who might have heard something similar was Shadow, when Leviathan pleaded with Neo Queen Serenity to spare her friend Enoch after he attacked when he possessed by Chaos.

"Don't touch the dragons. Don't touch any of the dragons! I can't believe I have to tell this to you! They're my people, as precious as the fishmen and the lumen jellies! Are you all idiots? We don't need you to sing, Amatheia. None of that, not here, not with dragons. I've got this."

She was being her usual self, yes, but there was a seriousness to her words. She made her way forward, directly toward where they saw the dragon. She beat her chest to clear her throat. She began to sweat again.

"Excuse me!" Leviathan said with a nervous laugh. "It's me, Sailor Leviathan. I guess you could say I'm kind of popular round here. Could you let me and these morons through so we can get to the bottom of this craziness?"

Shadow squinted at the revelation of the large, black-scaled serpent. It seemed rather annoyed and upset by their collective intrusion, but that wasn't troubling him so much as the attitude of dismissive patience. For something that either was uninterested or too smug to consort with lesser creatures, the sea dragon surely was watching them and measuring every action, reaction, and spoken word.

Unlike the dragons of Zenar, there were no wings for him to cripple. This creature would not be easily denied the ability to quickly traverse its native environment. He could only assume the wyrm would fight ruthlessly if the senshi were to engage it; he would have to play by the same lack of rules.

When the passing beam of energy triggered a landslide, Shadow blinked slowly at the verbal cry. Did that mean someone was imprisoned nearby? What if it was Enoch or Guardian Leviathan? Volunteer work was almost always a labor of love, and Shadow hoped that it would not require him to kill a dragon this day. He reached out, speaking across their mental channels in a low and collected tone of voice.

I heard someone cry out. If this gets ugly, I can step around Scales and investigate the source.

Aberration became something else when he saw a flash of the creature they were facing. Dragons. Beautiful creatures. Sometimes dangerous, deadly, sometimes friendly. Sedna's attack had missed and probably hurt someone else, Oberon's features staying the same despite the obvious mistakes they could be doing.

Leviathan reacted pretty badly, as one could understand of someone who would see her inhabitants threatened by a group of soldiers, but he did frown at her lack of manners and politeness. Nervousness that wasn't his washed over him as she tried to ask for a right of passage. Morons?

He closed his eyes, inhaling slowly. She was young, desperate, probably afraid, under pressure and with her friends probably in danger. He was too old to get offended over this. So he obeyed, his posture less one of attack, more one of military discipline and waiting, but he didn't make his swords disappear, his caution over being in an unknown land stronger than his obedience.

Shadow's collected tone helped him calm down.

What happens if you cannot make them cooperate? You have to be aware that Chaos may have tainted them already. I can also try and climb over it to see how far the danger lies and who cried out, but time is a luxury we cannot afford in large amount. I agree with not harming them if we can, but you have to offer another peaceful alternative if your talking fails.

Sailor Nocturnus

With the growling and the rumbling, Sailor Nocturnus stepped closer to Ribbon, her action to shield the older girl a learned one from the mission in the maze. The other sailor soldiers started attacking, but Nocturnus reserved her power and attention, hand still closed around Ribbon's, ready to run if needed. Whatever this growling thing was, it would be too large for her to effectively rebut with her powers—but she could run. She could definitely run.

And then Sailor Leviathan instructed them to stop and approached the dragon herself, acting as guardian of her planet. Nocturnus looked over at Ribbon and nodded slightly, trying to indicate that she was going to stay here and guard her. Even if Leviathan wasn't as successful as Nocturnus hoped the oceanic soldier of illusion would be.

As the light shone at the creature before them, Nix could see a large serpent-like being that looked dangerous and deadly, though only for a second. The fact that it was staring right at them yet did not attack spoke volumes; it was more concerned with guarding something probably. This was further confirmed when she heard the cry of alarm resounding from behind it.

As the others began to discuss what to do and Leviathan ordered them to stop doing anything, she waited to see if talking would really help. But just in case…

I am currently invisible to the eye, so if we want to check who’s behind the dragon I could do so without detection.

She posed the possibility out there and waited for an instruction.

It was only a moment after they heard the growl that Enya was closer to her than before.  Achelois accepted the gesture, making sure the other had room to strike if necessary.  After the light revealed the dragon within, she became very curious, wondering how their temperaments expressed themselves.  So far the dragon had not attacked, but several in the group seemed to want a fight right off the start.  For once, Achelois found herself surprised and agreeing with Leviathan.  She hoped the dragons could be reasoned with, at the least a fight could be avoided.  But Oberon was also right, they didn't have much time...  She waited eagerly for the dragon's response.

A dragon. She had nearly hit a dragon. It hasn't attacked yet...I wonder... Deciding it was worth a try, she mentally reached out to the dragon, trying to see if she could communicate. 

Ancient One, I apologize for the attack. We are attempting to locate the source of great evil on this planet and have been attacked many times by native creatures of planets we have attempted to save. Would it be possible for us to pass safely so we may eradicate this evil and save this planet from destruction? 

A plaintive voice wrote:

"Who's there?" a voice called back to Amatheia; it was male, and it sounded a little frightened.

Dragon wrote:

The dragon looked directly at Sailor Leviathan, light reflecting off of its eyes as a jelly passed high overhead; it did not respond until Sedna's voice ended, and yet did not look to her when it answered.

"Your representatives yet labor; until they solve this, none shall pass." 


Its voice was deep and gravelly, despite its harmonic overtures, sounding almost like a rocky hum, and yet every 's' hissed out of its mouth. It spoke aloud; its posture remained unchanged.

Enyalius continued to wait, letting others attempt to treat with the creature; she would wait.

Sailor Leviathan was so in shock with what the dragon said, she didn't hear the smaller voice beyond, addressing Sailor Amatheia.

"R-representatives?" she asked in shock. "You mean Guardian Leviathan and Enoch. Look, I know I'm not taken seriously. I know I'm not as powerful as I was in my previous life, but I need to get in there. Enoch and the rest of the guards are in serious danger. They can't reincarnate like Guardian Leviathan and me. I need to get in there, you stupid dragon! Why won't you really let me in! Guardian Leviathan told you not to, didn't she!"

Amatheia blinked and gave an expression somewhat of relief to hear the response. “We are senshi, and friends. We come to help. You are not trapped by this creature, are you?” Then she paused as the dragon rumbled aloud and mused over his words, humming softly as she thought. “It is a riddle then..? But representatives....is that us, or...Leviathan's friends? They went as representatives of Leviathan.”

She hummed a bit louder, then flicked her tail somewhat, rising a bit higher to see if she could see over the dragon to the source of the voice behind the creature. She could hear Leviathan speaking again and spoke to her in a gentle, kind tone, speaking soothingly to the woman.

“Gently, Leviathan. We will help your friends, on my honor as a princess and senshi. But I fear force and panic will not get us anywhere quickly.” She turned her attention back to the voice she had heard and was trying to see. “Are you trying to solve a riddle?” she asked the male voice. Then, inspired by Leviathan's panic, she added, “Is your name Enoch?”

Sedna eyed Amatheia as she continued to talk. Was the senshi serious? 

When the dragon asked for their word, Sedna quickly gave hers outloud, assuring the dragon that she was here to do as she claimed and nothing more.

Sailor Amatheia, did you hear someone behind the dragon?

Shadow squinted towards the darkened crevasse where the dragon was resting. Attempts at parley were meeting with mixed results. Other than the mermaid senshi's apparent discovery of another being, the man in black could only think of a single method to make any forward progress.

Maintaining his calm and thoughtful demeanor, Shadow posed a telepathic query to Amatheia while he swam over to Leviathan. Once he was standing with his shoulders next to the panicking senshi, Shadow faced the lair of the serpent and delivered his question.

"Excuse me. If you were promised a favor from our representatives, can you tell us what that was?"

Amatheia did not give any physical indication she had heard Shadow, even as she cautiously rose higher in the water, still trying to see beyond the mass of the dragon. But her mind responded readily. “I did. It was a male voice, but it seems now he will not answer me. I thought perhaps the voice belonged to Leviathan's missing friend Enoch.”

She tilted her head somewhat as the dragon's eye roved over her and away again. So perhaps there was no riddle to solve? Or perhaps she was wrong, and the voice beyond was not the missing Enoch. But she was intrigued by Shadow's question and paused to hear the answer.

"I know, right! Compared to me, they're as dumb as coral and I'm the dumbest person on the planet!"

Sailor Leviathan laughed pompously, assuming that the dragon meant that the others were stupid in their assumptions. She quickly settled down when she realized the reality of things.

"Hey, he didn't answer my question," she mumbled to herself. "That's how dragons are, I guess. Stubborn as all hell."

Her eyebrows perked when she heard the communication between Shadow and Amatheia. Enoch? Was he behind the dragon? How could they guess at something like that? Wasn't Enoch supposed to be where the X was on her map? Did they mishear things or...

Shadow swam up next to her and provided a logical question. Just what was the promise her people had made?

"This is Shadow," Sailor Leviathan responded plainly. "He and I have fought together several times. I trust him with my life. I can't personally vouch for the others, but from what I've experienced with New Queen Selena's dream teams, they can definitely help us. Now, speaking of what they can help us with, what exactly are my representatives doing beyond your dwelling?"

With her eyes forward on the dragon, she tried to remain as still as she could while mentally communicating with the others, using the very magic she once criticized in defense of Ribbon.

Knowing these dragons the way I do, it's not likely it's going to let us through. No one respects me on this planet. Well, there's one who does, but that's aside the point.

I can create a mass illusion to get past this thing. I can even create a simple trick that would allow you all to sneak past him with clones left in your places. My imagination is my limit so if any of you can think of something creative, now is the time to think it. I highly doubt you can, but I'm giving you the chance.