Asvas

Rocbouquet's anger simmered deep within the tumultuous depths of her tainted soul as the other girl's provocative eye-roll and shrug proved a reminder that she could not manipulate the minds of women as effortlessly as she could men. The enchantress maintained her outward composure, nevertheless, eyeing Angela with much scrutiny until she made her way through the entrance.

That's right. Get out of my sight, you insolent little fly, Rocbouquet thought caustically to herself, suppressing the urge to sneer while standing in the company of Garland as the tower's heavy wooden door slammed shut behind the purple-haired pest. You're only making yourself look bad in front of him anyway. Guess I ought to thank you for that! It makes my task much easier.

Before Rocbouquet could even think of entering the tower after Angela, Papyrus came running past her with his arm shielded over his head, followed by Frieza, whose unsettling silence only seemed to grow the longer the opposing parties traveled together.

...What the hell is their problem now? Are they really that scared of a little rain? she wondered in annoyance, forgetting her previous train of thought as she watched them disappear into the tower single file without even acknowledging her. While the others all seemed to be in a hurry to avoid the storm, Rocbouquet remained at the door, waiting patiently for Garland to usher her inside. High humidity and sudden downpours were a frequent element in the daily happenings of Salamat. The worsening weather was nothing new to the jungle queen. In fact, she preferred the warmer precipitation in Garland's world over the piles of snow and ice littering the streets of the previous realm.

Garland's reassuring statement about the tower not being abandoned under normal circumstances brought a relieved smile to the enchantress' face.

“Oh, what a relief!” she exclaimed, bringing the palms of her hands together. “Thank you again for taking care of me until I am able to reunite with Noel. It makes me really happy knowing that I can count on somebody like you to keep me out of danger!” After a moment's reflection and another warming smile, Rocbouquet eased herself closer to Garland, teasing him briefly with puckered lips before withdrawing herself shyly from his immediate presence and adverting her gaze to her boots. With a faint whimper and the subtle motioning of her palm, she redirected both of their attention to the massive wooden door—and the current matter at hand.

“...Anyway, I suppose we should hurry on out of this storm before that pirate gets too far ahead of everybody. I can't imagine a tower this size not having some sort of measures in place to ward off intruders—” Pausing, Rocbouquet brought a finger to her lip and briefly pondered this thought; “—Though it would serve him and those other two right for separating me from my brother, don't you think?” She tilted her head back playfully and giggled in mild amusement, gesturing for Garland to walk on ahead of her.

Angela - Asvas (Tower 1F)

As Angela walked through the wooden door, she examined the interior of the tower. Funny, somehow it did not appear to be that large from the outside... She slowly walked further in, hoping Garland wouldn't take long to follow. Despite the air of confidence she may have attempted to exert, obviously she was not confident to continue alone in a place completely unfamiliar, especially with what they've faced so far.

Papyrus followed her inside soon after, asking her if she needs a towel. Despite everything, he would still put the comfort and safety of others above everything, still... Quite admirable.

"Do you think we will find dry towels waiting for us? We haven't been that lucky so far..." she smiled at him. "But one can hope. I'm alright, don't worry about it. How about you?" she asked back.

"I'm just glad the rain wasn't painful." Papyrus admitted, placing his scarf back around his neck. He gave a small shudder, then removed it again-a few drops of water dripping off the corner. Regrettably, his scarf was the least waterproof part of his outfit. That and his boots, but they weren't exactly in the rain long enough to have water beginning to seep into them. 

"Darn." He mumbled. He continued to squeeze the edges for a bit before realizing the gesture was fairly useless-he wasn't going to be wearing it around his neck anytime soon. A few dry patches does not a comfortable scarf make. Papyrus was about to simply knot it near a notch of his belt, when a better idea struck him. 

"It's not completely soaked." Papyrus handed it to Angela. "You can use the dry parts, if you'd like."

Was it inherently a dumb idea, and an awkward gesture? Well, yes. Who would even think of drying off from the rain with an already damp scarf? But Papyrus noticed how wet she was, and he wasn't going to be wearing it at the moment. It was better to offer and have the chance of a friend being more comfortable-even if only a little bit- then not offer at all.

Garland - Asvas (Tower 1F) 

The young woman's smile was enough to assure Garland that he was at least getting some matter of appreciation for his efforts in taking up her need for safety. Angela was jealous and Papyrus was at the very least confused, but hopefully they would understand his perspective as guests within the private sanctuary of the Enthroned.

Rocbouquet shared her relief and gratitude with no small embellishment, even seeming as if she was prepared to kiss him. Garland wasn't certain he wanted her to go beyond anything as simple as a peck on the cheek, but who was he to dictate behavior? She then signaled to the door, suggesting that it was prudent for them to move on out of the rain and into the tower, ruminating upon the nature of its defenses and whether it would be appropriate for Buggy, Sunset, and Frieza to run afoul of some hidden trap.

"That may be true from the view of poetic justice, but I won't involve myself more than what is required. In a moment, you'll see why they shouldn't get too far ahead of me."

In any other circumstance, such a declaration could sound ominuous - moreso were it heard by those familiar with Garland's capabilities. However, the angelic guide seemed to have a calm and relaxed attitude about his presence in the tower; his voice lacked any specific expectations or even the anticipatory desire of seeing villains get their due comeuppance. Stepping forward, Garland opened the door to usher Rocbouquet inside, following her through the egress. Once inside, he was mindful enough to close the portal behind them; after all, there was no need to let the rain splash inside.


Narrative - Asvas (Tower 1F)

~

As the party draws closer to the stairwell, they can see a thick concentration of fog along the walkway. Heavy mist obscures almost anything that they try to perceive beyond a nominal distance from themselves, approximately three to four long steps out from their person. From beyond the cloudy haze, were they to try and look upward, they would be able to make out a faint spiraling pattern of eerie, wavering blue lights.

A small lantern perched over the third step of the spiraling stairway begins to shift colors, changing from its previous blue to a warm, soft white. As if on cue, some of the vapor near this lantern begins to retreat from the radiance. 

~

With another sigh of annoyance at the prompt downpour, Sunset followed behind the group into the tower. As she entered, Sunset took notice that the tower was more than it appeared from the outside. Despite it being empty of people and a sort of fog obscuring the view, the tower’s great hallway, spiraling stairs and torch like lighting, which Sunset assumed was powered by some type of magic, gave her a nostalgic feeling. Even though she could not sense the magic here like she could in Equestria, this place felt like...home.

Her old home, she reminded herself quickly.

Despite that reminder, Sunset was brought back to her days studying at Princess Celestia’s school for unicorns and living in the castle under direct tutelage of the Princess. Dark, dimly lit halls, leading to large sections of Canterlot’s massive library, where Sunset would spend all her free time reading any dusty old book on magic she could find, was all too familiar for the unicorn.

If anyone had been paying attention, they would have noticed her face darkening more and more as her dug deeper into her memories of that time. She remembered all too well at being slighted by the Princess in that very castle that felt all too familiar to this place. Sunset was glad at the distraction when Papyrus mentioned getting a towel. It a good idea, for once.

Shaking her entire body to rid herself of the excess water, not minding if and who got more wet in the process, her horn briefly glowed as she brought a soft, fluffy towel into existence, with her trademark two toned sun symbol embroidered on it and all. She dried herself off, choosing to ignore the implications of Rocbouquet’s and Garland’s exchange about potential traps and whether or not they were deserving of them. As if she couldn't hear them.

“That floozy is the one that deserves it most of all!” she thought angrily.

Sunset could have brought more towels into existence for the others, but she did not really care if the rest of the group stayed soaking wet or not. In fact, she wished they would all get colds and suffer. Though, that brought the wandering thought of “how does a skeleton get sick”, as she watched Papyrus offer his damp scarf to Angela.

Blech.

Now that she was dry, Sunset dropped the towel to the ground to continue on. It poofed out of existence the second it hit the floor. As the group approached the stairwell, the vapor retreated away as if welcoming them, and it was then she decided she didn’t like this place. She could see Princess Celestia creating something similar. "To set the mood," the Princess would have replied with a giggle. Sunset would have rolled her eyes, not seeing the fun in it, whatsoever.

The nostalgia that she could not rid herself of was overwhelming, and she could just about imagine Princess Celestia then popping up from one of the hallways, asking her if she had made any friends yet, lecturing her on how she needed friends and to be nicer to the other students. How friendships would help her learn magic better and become a stronger pony for it.

How stupid.

She wondered if the ones who studied and practiced magic in this building focused so much on friendships as well. That seemed to be what all these goodie types cared about. It was sickening.

“Where do these stairs lead?” was what she ended up asking Garland instead, in hopes that he would pick up the pace and take them to where they needed to go.

Angela - Asvas (Tower 1F)

Despite what she had already seen so far, Angela could still not help feeling impressed by Papyrus' selflessness, offering his own scarf to help her dry off. While she could not imagine it would be all that effective, the simple gesture of it was still so kind. Perhaps even worryingly kind. Angela could not help the feeling that perhaps he really is too nice for his own good.

She shook her head, smiling, and touched him gently on the shoulder. "I don't think you should treat this as a towel. Just let it dry for now. Don't worry about me - if we manage to get out of this whole thing with nothing more than a cold, I can live with that."

Angela did notice that Sunset managed to get a towel for herself, or rather, create one from thin air. That was actually some convenient magic right here. Of course, she did not particularly expect her to offer one to the rest of the group, but it caused her to wonder about the extent of her powers. What else was she able to do? Perhaps they had yet to see her full potential; which was fine as long as this alliance lasted, but who knew how long would that be?

The fog inside the tower was rather dense - and actually surprisingly dense. She could imagine a tower obscured by thick fog from the outside, but from the inside? While the path to the tower was as clear as it could be? How bizarre.

The fog seemed to be receding near the stairwell. Did that mean that this was the right way to go? Garland could probably explain that, so Angela waited for his response.

Garland - Asvas (Tower 1F) 

Truth be told, Garland had moments where he would feel absolutely overjoyed when one of his plans came to fruition. To find Sunset Shimmer waiting for him and asking a question meant that the obscuring mist defense was doing exactly what he intended - to slow down the advance of unauthorized beings. More curiously, however, the pony's question seemed to lack hints of attitude; it seemed like an earnest and genuine inquiry.

Garland raised a hand towards the stairs, making his way forward at a steady pace. For a moment, he seemed to have silently questioned the outward mood shift in Sunset, but soon decided that leaving the pony's own thoughts alone would have been the best olive branch to offer to her aside of a candid answer.

"They lead to the personal quarters of the Enthroned. Were they here with us, they would probably be studying, socializing, and/or performing their own experiments. In the good captain's case, he would escort us inside.."


Narrative - Asvas (Tower 2F)

~

The swirling vapors blocking the party's advance begin to retreat from the stairs in full. Two more mist lanterns warm up and glow, offering visible passage to the second floor of the tower. Were one to gaze up at the exterior walls, a certain quirk in the tower's construction becomes readily apparent.

From their viewpoint, the outer walls appear to act as a kind of reinforced "shell" for an inner tower structure, with the stairs having clearly been designed in such a way to climb all the way up and down to any level within the inner tower core - had someone not built steps so tall as to form physical barriers to hinder access to the third and fourth floors.

Once arriving on the second floor, the fog recedes to reveal a carpeted hallway boasting a number of smaller side rooms. Each room has the distinction of a commissioned painting to commemorate each standing member of the absent spellshapers. The first of these paintings reveals a rather striking half body portrait of a middle-aged man outfitted with chainmail armor. Grasping a halberd with his left hand and a helmet under his right arm, the black haired, brown-eyed guard faces the viewer with a proud and self-assured demeanor. A small, gold-colored nameplate on the frame is engraved with naught but a simple name, "Jaromir."

At the lower right corner of the portrait, the artist has left their signature - a stylized trio of letters which roughly can be read as GRS.  In fact, upon closer inspection, every single portrait on this floor seems to carry that same signature and style of linework. No matter the person or their temperment, the artist has taken time to render an authentic image of each individual member of the Enthroned.

Further beyond these quarters, another set of spiraling stairs winds up to what would presumably be the remaining floors of the quirky magicians' tower.

~

Asvas (Tower 1F)

Rocbouquet acknowledged Garland's remark with another grin and a light chuckle.

“Again, you're just like my brother!” she teased, stepping foot into the tower. Rocbouquet half-expected the entrance to lead into a narrow corridor with only enough space for a supply wagon to pass through, but instead, she found herself traveling down the center of a wide hallway lined with many furnished rooms! She stopped briefly and peered curiously into one of them. Several wooden beds awaited her scrutiny. A communal guest room, it seemed. The blankets on top of those beds sure looked comfortable. If only she could test one out, with Wagnas preferably....

Continuing her walk, she noticed more of these rooms on both sides of the hall and raised a curious brow. Did the tower function as an inn? Regardless, everything about it so far seemed quite cozy in comparison to the two ancient towers back in Eirunep, which only served to create dimensional rifts. That led to another question: Could a place like this also serve a similar purpose? The very implication sent her mind reeling back in time as Garland led her down the corridor toward the rest of the group.

In her shadow, she saw herself: a young woman with her long, caramel-blonde hair pinned back in a messy pony-tail, standing between Noel and Wagnas, with Subier, Kzinssie, Bokhohn, and Dantarg; her face hidden behind her hands in shame as a mixed crowd of bourgeois and noblesse closed in around them. In the echoes of her footsteps, she heard the pelting of stones against stone and chants shrill with disapproval, the words becoming louder as each face resurfaced in her memory. People—neighbors, merchants, guards, friends even—standing before their revered heroes spouting exclamations of hate and fear:

You're anything but heroes!

Monsters!

Monsters!

Exile them!

Monsters!

Monsters!

In the silent flickers of the non-existent flames that struggled to maintain their prominence against the creeping haze, she heard her own voice cry out softly;

“Big brother, w-what is going on? I thought we were meeting here to discuss the new capital with everybody! Why are they yelling at us? Have I...really become a monster?”

An angry tear trickled down her cheek. Witnessing Papyrus hand over his damp scarf to Angela only disheartened her further. She quietly took hold of Garland's arm and glanced away from the pair, the bitter resentment in her eyes apparent.

Monsters cannot be heroes. Just give up trying already, you fool!

As she traveled up the mysterious spiraling stairwell with Garland and the rest of the group, the warm ambience of the wavering blue lights brought out a subtle but welcoming orange glow to her disinterested gaze. Although faint, the effect appeared to intensify whenever the slightest shadow fell upon her young face.

Rocbouquet remained silent and uninvolved in Sunset's annoying question about the stairs. They were about to find out the answer soon enough anyway. Stupid animal! On the other hand, all it took for Garland to renew Rocbouquet's spirit and interest in the tower was to bring up word of—

“—Experiments?” Rocbouquet soon found herself blurting out with unrestrained curiosity. Her fingers dug into the fabric draping over Garland's arm, a silent expression of her eagerness to learn more about the topic.

Papyrus-Avas-Tower floor 1
Reaching the first floor had been uneventful, at the very least. Papyrus hadn't entirely been exposed to such a large staircase before-the tallest monuments in the underground had elevators for that-so it was fairly intimidating. The mist, the dim lighting-how was the stairwell staying lit, anyways? He couldn't seen any source in the torches-even the way the groups' footsteps echoed, the entire thing gave him the willies. Nobody else seemed remotely bothered though, so he stayed quiet. He'd kept his scarf tied at his waist, and a small trail of water had followed him as they walked. He'd occasionally check behind him, telling himself that it was to make sure nobody would slip, though perhaps that was an excuse to ensure that there was nothing else in the stairwell but themselves. 

Thankfully, the decorations on the floor they had walked into provided a significant distraction from his general anxiety. To say the paintings were magnificent was an understatement. Each brushstroke had been done deliberately and with great care-even down to the selection of the quality of wood for the frames. Each painting seemed to adorn the entryway of a small, personal room. Each individual depicted in each work seemed to be of importance-why else would the paintings be so well done? Not everyone could afford a portrait. 

"Who are these humans?" Papyrus asked out loud, his eyes catching on the name engraved in the image that had become his favorite. The man in the image seemed very confident and strong-it reminded him of Undyne-right down to the weapon choice. 

"Is-'" Papyrus squinted his eyes, carefully pronouncing the syllabus in front of him: "Jar-o-mir a friend of yours, Garland?"

Angela - Asvas (Tower 2F)

Angela followed after Papyrus, towards the grand staircase. Again, as they were travelling further inside, the fog in their path appeared to be withdrawing, as if the tower was welcoming them. How peculiar.

The next floor included a variety of portraits, seemingly drawn in a similar art style. From what she heard so far, Angela concluded that these must be those "Enthroned" guys that Garland was talking about. She wasn't particularly interested in the art itself, but she did pay close attention to the figures, mostly out of curiosity to see if they resembled Garland in any way. Especially the wings and all that.

Angela took notice of Rocbouquet taking particular interest on those "experiments" that their winged guide mentioned. As much as she wanted to let out a deep, audible sigh at the girl's constant nagging for attention, she had to admit that this question was not so terrible, at the very least. What sort of experiments did they perform? On people, perhaps? Were they about to discover some deep, terrible secret that has plagued this tower?

The purple-haired sorceress continued absent-mindedly examining the paintings as she awaited Garland's elaboration.

~Narrative - Asvas (Tower 2F)~

Quote :

The party has regained 1 H2KO during their travel in Asvas.

Battle Info:

Asvas (Tower 2F)

No wonder this place felt all too familiar. Sunset internally groaned at Garland’s answer as they made their way to the second floor. She hoped they could get this over with and quickly. Then all she had to do was figure out a way to get the crystal away from all these pesky beings and be on her way. As Garland led the group along, she noticed that the fog seemed to open and close just for him. Curious. How the magic here worked certainly intrigued her but there was no time for that.

The portraits, of what Sunset could only assume were the “Enthroned”, also reminded her of Celestia’s castle, which had similar artworks and stained glass representations of important events and peoples of Equestria. She observed each one, just as the others did. There were similarities between them and if she wasn’t mistaken, they were by the same artist or at least several artists going for the same style. She wondered what their significance was and wondered if any of it mattered when it came down to finding the crystal.

She sighed, looking like a bored foal. She just wanted to move on.

Asvas-Floor 1 into floor 2

As he entered the tower, Buggy shook off the rain from him. "I'm just glad it wasn't pouring down any harder..if it flooded I would be dead..." he just said out loud as the others came in, not worrying if anyone heard him. He then started taking a look around at things and the beautiful portraits. "A woman in my world might try and steal these if she were here." 

He then looked at the one Papyrus was looking at, as he was trying to pronounce the name as well. He then gave up, rather quickly too as well and walked up behind the others to the second floor again looking at the pictures Garland called 'The Enthroned' 'What an odd name, I wonder if the Marines could beat them, or even Luffy's crew' he thought.

Garland - Asvas (Tower 2F) 

The undeclared master of the tower was mildly surprised from Rocbouquet taking hold of his arm, though she must still have felt some form of unease at travelling through the tower. It was a mutual feeling; everything about the building seemed as it should have been.. well, except for the staggering lack of people.

If an attack was imminent during their search, Garland would try to keep the young lady from being exposed to danger.

Having found a convenient opportunity to answer Rocbouquet and Papyrus simultaneously, Garland nodded in response to the latter's question of friendship. He even seemed to smile at the query of friendship. "Yes.. each of the Enthroned have their own particular specializations with magic, and have some leave for experimentation here - within reasonable tastes, of course. As for the captain, we are certainly friends; in fact, he earned admission not long after I was inducted."

Since the exact nature of the specializations wasn't clear, Garland continued speaking after a short pause. "Jaromir is a veteran who has all but mastered the ability to cast magic spells while fighting with heavy armor and weaponry. He was (and still is) loyal and patriotic. All the qualities of a model soldier! Despite that, his parent nation came to view their warmages as political liabilities."

Garland shrugged his shoulders briefly, leading the group to the next flight of stairs. "What Owor callously dismissed, we were more than happy to accept." He hadn't expected Buggy to show much interest in the tower, but hearing the pirate suggest that the art gallery was worth stealing brought a smile to his face.


Narrative - Asvas (Tower 2F -> 3F)

~

Through some trick of construction, arcane or otherwise, the third floor of the Enthroned tower felt as if it had a greater abundance of room. Additional paintings of the vaunted magicians line the carpeted hall's path to the next segment of spiraling stairs. Varied as they are in outward personality or dress, none of them have quite the bearing of two specific works at the end of a hall, near what one could only judge to be the most spacious personal quarters within the entire structure.

The first of these artistic labors of love depicts a senior Enthroned member, resembling a clean-shaven human male whose well-kempt silvered hair signifies an individual whose living years were quite long. Curiously, though, the other signs of advanced aging seem not to be present within his physical appearance. There is a youthlike energy in his eyes, an aura of quiet confidence radiating from his humble posture and warm smile. Like all of the paintings before, this piece was also signed with the initials of one GRS.

Enthroned Patriarch:

To the right of the venerable elder's depiction lies a much more familiar face and body. Standing upon what appears to be the rooftop of the Enthroned tower is an inspiring visage of Garland, looking out over the parapet wall towards a birds' eye view of Asvas. His wings are outstretched, suggesting as though he were prepared to take to flight over the nascent community as part of his daily vigilance, and the overall angles and colorations suggest that he is about to make the flight just before sunrise. A top-down aerial view of the blue-robed magician and the city below is heavily emphasized, and if one were to look close enough, a solemn impression can be taken from the angelic guardian's facial expression; he had a duty to fulfill. The observant viewer might also realize this painting is the only one to lack the same three lettered signature.

Surveying Guardian nameplate:

Beyond these paintings and the guildmaster's office, a fourth series of stairs leads up to the top of the tower.

~



Garland - Asvas (Tower 3F) 


"I'm sorry that I couldn't hasten our climb up to the library," Garland confessed as he arrived upon the third floor. The swirling vapors here were no different from the previous floor, having retreated into their lanterns once his presence was detected. "You could say I'm foolish for leaving behind the keys to the house, but I never knew I was leaving in the first place."

With no fog to forestall their advance, Garland promptly moved further into the halls serving as quarters for the senior theurges, himself included amongst their number. He took a moment to regard the large portrait mounted near the guildmaster's office, drawing a deep sigh and shaking his head. 

There was also that one painting of himself. Initially, the guildmaster was fraught with concern that such depictions were a gateway to idolatry, but the other members of the Enthroned strongly insisted that he let the picture remain. He could neither deny the weight of his deeds, nor the presence of the wings upon his back. It also was a reminder from his peers to continue enjoying life and to take advantage of leisure when it was reasonably available.

"E-excuse me.. I'll need just a moment or two before I can continue.." Garland murmured before wiping his free arm across his eyes. It was never easy to lose a loved one, or in Master Whitefire's case, a close friend and confidant.

Asvas (Tower 2F)

Rocbouquet let out a soft sigh. As expected, Garland's description lacked any actual details suggesting the nature of the magic experiments, though he briefly implied they were ethical before going off on a slight tangent about some veteran mage thanks to Papyrus' innocent question. The only part of that tangent into which Rocbouquet bothered putting any further thought was his mention of being inducted.

Inducted into what? The Enthroned?

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion at this new bit of information. If he was a member of the town's governing body, how come he didn't know more about these experiments? Was he trying to hide something from her? Quick to conceal her displeasure with his vague answer, the temptress glanced toward the paintings decorating the walls of the carpeted hallway.

“Oh....” she murmured indifferently in response, deciding not to press any further for information for the time-being.

Unlike Papyrus, Rocbouquet did not find any of the artwork particularly interesting or tasteful. The regal poses and accoutrements of power radiating from the depicted individuals reminded her too much of Avalonian values and culture, or at least gave off the impression of something the Emperor might commission for his royal court. Had the portraits included a more interesting subject matter—like Wagnas—she may have given them more than a passing glance as the group meandered onward to the next flight of stairs.  

Asvas (Tower 3F)

Aside from the wider space, the third floor felt no more interesting or different to Rocbouquet than the second one—though the promise of a library at the end of their final ascent had her wondering what older tomes might be contained within the upper wards of the tower. When Garland brought up something about forgetting the keys to his home, Rocbouquet raised a puzzled brow. What did he mean by that? But before she could even ask, Garland stopped before a depiction of an older man and sighed, seemingly nostalgic about the piece as he requested a moment to himself to recuperate. In acknowledgement of his request, Rocbouquet stroked his arm in a comforting manner, though she really couldn't care less how he actually felt at the moment; she was busy enjoying herself hanging off his arm, knowing that he had foolishly placed all of his trust into her.

As she stood beside him in silence pretending to pay her respects to the portrait, Rocbouquet couldn't help but notice the other large, seemingly important painting to the right, which depicted Garland standing on top of the tower overlooking the township. His earlier mention about being inducted returned to the forefront of her thoughts, as did his comment, "You'll see why they shouldn't get too far ahead of me." It all made sense now: He was the literal key to this tower and all of its secrets—and he had fallen unknowingly into her grasp. Talk about luck!

I knew there was more to this man than he was initially letting on.

The temptress squinted to read the title of the masterpiece, but sighed in frustration when she realized it was in a modern language. However, instead of immediately demanding that somebody read the contemporary text as she may have done back home in the presence of her more literate men, Rocbouquet allowed Garland his ''moment'' before asking for assistance:

“What does this say? Could you please read it to me, Garland?” she requested politely, pointing to the placard below the painting on the right. Although the jungle queen did not expect much from a short line of text, she figured it might summarize the significance of the scene with respect to the so-called "Enthroned" and their tower.

Angela - Asvas (Tower 3F)

No mention of experimentation on people. Well, Angela supposed this was a good thing, if only just a tad disappointing. There had to be more to this mystic foggy tower than simply being the house of a bunch of magicians. But perhaps she was just letting her imagination go wild.

She silently followed Garland towards the next floor of the tower, which somehow seemed to be even wider than the previous ones. There was just something about the construction of this place that threw her off, in a way, but this was probably not the place and time to study its bizarre architecture. There were even more paintings on this higher floor, most of them evidently in a similar artistic style as the previous ones, except for one that Angela easily distinguished.

"Oho! I think I know that face from somewhere!" she teased as she dashed closer to inspect it more carefully. His full name was written beneath. "Garland Ryszard Sulzanth..." she repeated in almost a whisper. "Is that..." she did a double take, and moved to the front of a nearby portrait, taking a look at the signature letters at the bottom of it.

"You're GRS!" she exclaimed enthusiastically, her mind temporarily off that annoying clingy woman thanks to that sudden realization. "Why, you had not mentioned that you were such a talented artist! And the only winged one, apparently," she pointed out as she turned back to face him. "Is this where you tell us about..." she let her sentence trail off as she took notice of his evidently upset demeanor. Did all this remind him of something bad that had happened in his past?

"I-- I mean you don't need to, if you don't feel like it..." she quickly added.

~Narrative - Tower 3F~

That was it. Frieza was more than done with those incompetent idiots. It looks like they confused this stupid mission of returning home with a school trip to a museum of fine arts. How wonderful. Now, they might as well set up a campfire while that wings-for-brains guide shared his tragic tale of his past, or something like that. How absolutely interesting! Not.

If only he could just evaporate those bunch of fools in an instant. But perhaps he still needed them to get out of this place. Well, he sure did not need them in this tower, though. Obviously they were going up, so up he was gonna go. Perhaps he could just collect that crystal and come back with it to see what to do next, hopefully after all the storytelling was done and over with -- and not a second sooner.

Without a word, Frieza took off through the main staircase towards the upper floors of the tower, leaving those idiots to continue their art-appreciation session. Admittedly, the more he was moving ahead, the harder it was getting to see - but he was not about to let some silly fog stop the Galactic Emperor from his goal.

When Rocbouquet solicited Garland's assistance in reading the placard, the winged mage stretched out his free hand to point towards the text. "It says 'Garland Ryszard Sulzanth, our champion and friend.' That piece was given to me as a gift."

Although Garland had allowed himself a moment of reflection, Angela's jubilant realization of his artistic identity brought a smile to his face. He shook his head, speaking up as if to dispel any question of his willingness to provide context. "No, Angela.. I'm fine with sharing the story, though I'll try to make it as short as possible."



The winged wizard glanced briefly at the Frieza-shaped absence in their group, then shrugged. The short Emperor wouldn't be very far away unless he jumped off of the tower. "Not that long ago, I was approached by a friend with an.. unusual request. I was tasked with hunting a cache of holy Ulesian relics from the hellish slag flows of the Iron Dominion."

Garland glanced towards Angela, then to Rocbouquet in turn before he continued. "However, that iron citadel was not to be found on my homeworld at all. To reach it, I had to learn and master a form of magic an order above teleportation - planar shifting. With that, a conjurer could transport themselves and a handful of other people to other planes of existence; other realities!"

At this point, he paused to take in the reactions of every other listener standing in the room. Angela, Rocbouquet, Buggy, and even the indifferent-looking Sunset Shimmer. "If going to Hell sounds distasteful and dangerous, congratulations! You have a rational mind." 



Garland flashed an uncharacteristically bold grin as he recalled the conversation that sparked his plane-skipping journey. "The main reason I agreed to go was that Ethelle repeatedly insisted that it wasn't a righteous crusade against a nebulous undefined 'evil' or some other unsavory deed. None of that rubbish; this was a recovery effort with a clear goal. She was telling the truth, and even seemed a bit desperate for it to happen. Also, I was more than just a little bit curious to get a glimpse of that citadel.."

"My preparation paid off. Along with a group of veteran adventurers, I arrived in Ixokax. Within a few days, we recovered the lost relics from a molten slag flow. On the way out, however, we ran afoul of a gang of forge devils who wanted the relics for themselves.

"We fought for our lives while I prepared to send them all back home. Dozens of the fiends were cut down; dozens more came clawing for our flesh and souls. The others were able to escape back to Shayllan with the lost artifacts, but I was overrun before I could complete my own plane shift. Then, something odd happened to me.."

Asvas Tower 2F to 3F

Buggy continued to look at the paintings, wishing he too could use his thieving skill like that darn Nami back in his world. He got so into looking and thinking that the whole group left him behind! He looked around and couldn't find them then ran upstairs running as fast as he could but near the end of the staircase, he tripped on a stair and ran forward while falling and hitting his head face first into possibly the last thing he wanted to hit... The Rear of a Magical Pony!!!! 

A weird thud was heard, then he was seen crawling back slow up the stairs he fell down and doing his best to not look at Sunset as she was probably furious at him if she already probably wasn't charging some spell to blast him to kingdom come!

Asvas Tower 2F to 3F

The motley group continued on, with Garland still leading the way, sharing his knowledge of the tower. Which, admittedly, Sunset quickly lost interest in. Buncha stuffy old looking mages. She rolled her eyes. It just reminded her of the stuffy teachers and that awful awful Celestia. Upon reaching the third floor, Sunset was all too surprised (not) to find even more paintings.

Oh joy! A guild of magicians more interested in paintings of themselves! And seeing the portrait of Garland even further annoyed her. She watched the man scrub at his eyes briefly. It was bad enough that she had her moment of uneasy nostalgia and sentimental reverie (as much as she tried to hide it) but bad enough that not only was he wasting their time, he was taking a trip down memory lane at their expense!

She was about to butt in asking if they were there yet, when Roc, followed by Angela had to urge him on by asking questions. And such a wonderful discovery it was that he painted all the paints! She rolled her eyes and just plopped down as she awaited the inevitable story, and apparently Frieza was just as annoyed as she was with the delays and the fool space emperor flew on ahead, prompting yet another eye roll. Drama queen. He can get himself trapped for all she cared. Good riddance. Now if only she could do the same for that Rocbouquet…

As Garland droned on, Sunset nearly tuned him out. Mainly because the words, people and places he used had little meaning to her. His voice was nearly lulling her to sleep, despite however animated he tried being, at least until she felt something run right into the back of her. The force was strong enough to knock her forward on to her face.

“Oof...ow!” Sunset grumbled as she righted herself. She better not have chipped a tooth as she rubbed her aching nose with her hoof. Once recovered, Sunset twisted herself around so fast to glare at the offender, her mane alone would have knocked a man on his feet.

“Watch where you’re going you big oaf!” she barked at the obtuse pirate. Of course it would be him! He really was an absolute idiot.  She was about to open her mouth to shout at him more when she managed to hear Garland mention something about transportation and...other realities? Wait, did she hear that right? Her temper cooled as quickly as it came as she started to process that information.

“Be quiet, I’m trying to listen!” she said to Buggy, before he even had a chance to say anything to her. She moved herself closer to Garland butting in just as he finished his story. Which the last part, she honestly could care less about what he went through.

“Wait a second…are you telling me that you know a multi-dimensional transportation spell and you didn’t bother to tell us?” she said, feeling the frustration grow, knowing he could have just teleported them all home. It's not like teleportation spells themselves were difficult. She had mastered those as a filly in her first year of magic school, but going between realities!? That was unheard of, only until recently when she discovered the ancient mirror that brought her to the human world. That Celestia had hidden from her. How infuriating it was to know someone could just....do it!

“You’ve been here all this time with your “friends” and you never once offered to just bring them home or her for that matter” she pointed a hoof towards Rocbouquet. Oh, if only he could just teleport that witchy demon to hell and leave her there!

Papyrus- avas tower floor 2

So, these people were called "the enthroned." If it was anything by quality of their portraits, they were of high regard. Papyrus felt embarrass at how he had managed to missread the nameplate, but that small bit of shame was replaced with a deep anxiety at the mention of experiments. Rocbouquet had loudly inquired about it earlier. Papyrus felt his heart leap into his throat. Anything regarding experiments of any kind always stuck Papyrus with a deep kind of fear-a stabbing uncertainty of his own personal safety and well being every time it was brought up, granted at varing intensities. It'd been like this as long as he could remember, though he could never pinpoint as to why. Even after hearing that the experiments were regulated, Papyrus couldn't get rid of that unease. Instead he simply decided to take in the various designs of the hallways and rooms; hoping that the anxiety would soon quiet itself. 

Floor 3
And quiet itself it did. The second they entered, Freezia took off running. 

"Oh, wait! We're supposed to stick together!"
 
Now, Papyrus would have taken off after him, but the room they had found themselves had managed to draw an incredible amount of attention-so much so that Papyrus had manage to lose track of the man-or at least, Papyrus thought he was a man-before he could even lift a foot up. The hall was far more grand then the last, and seemed to be in the workings of becoming even greater. The paintings that adorned this hall were clearly of important people. Papyrus stared at the portraits more intently then he had the previous ones, full of wonder and awe. They were as ornate as the paintings back in the castle in the underground! They cold have almost been of royalty!

And yet, these paintings were not of any mythical beings or unknown ancient entities. One of them was of his friend!

Papyrus had known that this man was a strong and capable individual, but powerful enough to have such a tribute! Who knows what kind of quests and heroics Garland had accomplished! His chest swelled with pride.

"WOW!" Papyrus didn't even try to hide his excitement, as his shout bounded off the walls. "This painting is amazing, Garland! A true hero's tribute!" 

"-and you're an artist as well! We really are fortunate to have you on our side-"

Papyrus let the rest of his excited rambling drop the instant he got misty-eyed, and immediately was beside him, opposite of Rocbouquet. 

"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry! If I had been bothering you at all, you should have told me earlier! Are you alright? Like Angela said, you don't have to say anything else if it's that painful-" 

Curse his enthusiasm! Papyrus had been rubbing a sore spot, and hadn't even noticed. 

Thankfully Garland's spirits didn't seem dampened for long, and he began his tale. Papyrus listened eagerly. And what a tale it was! Granted, there was a lot of information and some aspects he couldn't really keep up with. That is when Sunset interrupted the story, and began to drill Garland for information. To be fair, Papyrus had also found himself with questions when it came to teleportation-it was why they were all here, after all, having been taken from their homes and whatnot. Yet there was no excuse for being rude-especially when it was a story that brought up such emotion in the storyteller.

"Shhhh! Let him finish!"

Asvas (Tower 3F)

Watching Garland read the text for her brought a faint smile to her lips.

“Garland Ryszard Sulzanth, our champion and friend,” Rocbouquet repeated, touching the words like he had done. “How nice of them to honor you li—“ Rocbouquet paused mid-sentence and cringed at Angela's squealing. Was all of that yelling over a few portraits really that necessary? It was so annoying! Apparently Frieza seemed to agree. That, or he was simply growing tired of the whole tower ordeal. Rocbouquet did not know, and quite frankly, did not care now that she could count on Garland to protect her.

Typical emperor, the seductress thought with a scoff, catching the final glimpse of Frieza's white tail as he zipped on up the next flight of stairs. Whatever. The moment Garland began to tell his story, all of Rocbouquet's disdain toward both Frieza and Angela was soon forgotten...

~~~

...And what a story it was turning out to be! Rocbouquet found herself clenching tighter onto Garland than ever before. Forget that she may have been cutting off the circulation in his arm, did he just bring up interdimensional travel!? The temptress felt her heart pounding heavily against her chest. Leave it to fate to pair her with a man capable of traveling to Hell and back.

Rocbouquet had to hold back every essence of her being from shrieking out the loudest Eureka! her little lungs could muster. This man was no longer the key to just the Enthroned tower: He opened the door to an entire universe of possibilities! Forget the stupid crystals! If she could keep Garland either as her servant or within her vessel as an assimilated soul, the Seven Heroes would finally be free, Wagnas would get his revenge; and with the help of Garland's ability, they could banish every last Emperor and Ancient in existence!

She touched her hand against her cheek and let out a romantic sigh, blushing ever so slightly. What a beautiful thought! But of course even more beautiful would be the look in Wagnas' eyes as he held her by the waist and gazed lovingly at her, his pretty bride-to-be, atop the floating castle under the shadows of the moonlit sky: Rocbouquet, you're such a beautiful and talented young woman. Without your help, we wouldn't have succeeded....

“Oh, I love hearing you tell me all of this,” she murmured under her breath as she squeezed Garland's arm affectionately, completely engrossed in her own little fantasy.

~~~

// “...We fought for our lives while I prepared to send them all back home. Dozens of the fiends were cut down; dozens more came clawing for our flesh and souls...”//

As Garland spoke of his fierce battle in Hell, Rocbouquet's sweet moonlit rendezvous found itself struggling against flashes of limbs and antennae, until her thoughts succumbed to an endless swarm of termites pouring from the mountainside in violent waves. In this shifting scene of confusion and chaos, she, Kzinssie, and Dantarg became separated from the rest of the party. As usual, Kzinssie was barely keeping himself alive, screaming and flailing his sword around as the demonic insectoids clawed at him, requiring Dantarg to rush in and pull the idiot away from the ground while Rocbouquet forced her blade against the snapping mandibles of a nearby soldier. No matter how many termites they defeated, several more closed in around them eager to taste the flesh of humans.—But this memory evoked by Garland's all too familiar tale of devils and demons did not undermine her previous fantasy.—Further ahead of them, at the center of the dreadful swarm, stood Wagnas, majestic as ever, readying himself to charge straight for the queen emerging from her exoskeleton, as Noel forced a path through the colony, mowing down demon after demon. Both of them so handsome. So heroic...

Forget what the kingdom said. You'll always be my heroes, Wagnas, big brother... Always...

~~~

//“You’ve been here all this time with your “friends” and you never once offered to just bring them home—or her for that matter?”//

What the hell? The sparkles in her eyes faded as her handsome, heart-filled visions of Wagnas and Noel working together to defeat the termite queen suddenly melted behind the furry yellow hoof pointing toward her. Rocbouquet scowled at Sunset Shimmer.

“Shut up and let the magg—nificent artist finish telling his story!” she snapped, cleverly correcting herself mid-sentence. “Don't you want to know what happened next?”

Angela - Asvas (Tower 3F)

Despite everything, Garland was still more than willing to share that story he had promised a while ago. Angela did not really know what to expect - she half expected that the answer would be as simple as that those Enthroned guys graced him with those wings for a reason or the other. But apparently, he had a long tale to share - and he was keeping it short, for that matter. A tale that the lizard-looking creature had no interest in hearing, apparently, seeing as he took off by himself.

Angela wondered briefly if they should go after him, but if Garland was not concerned, perhaps neither should she. The recently-revealed artist of the group recited several names of places and people that meant nothing to Angela, and most likely to the others as well. She would not attempt to commit those to memory, but focused instead on the essence of his story. However, the most interesting revelation - especially considering any potential implications - was his ability of planar shifting.

Other realities? ...Such as, say, a certain "sacred realm"? Like this one?!

Would that mean that he has the ability to take them away from this place, if he wanted to? Why would he take that long to reveal something so important?

Angela was half-listening as he continued telling them about his journey into Hell, of all places, and as the pony/unicorn interrupted, channeling her own thoughts, more or less. The other pest was all over him, as usual, but even that did not seem to bother her in the slightest as her mind started racing a mile a minute.

Even if he could take them back, they had all chosen to stay, Angela reminded herself. Cosmos had promised that she would send them back even if they did not agree to help with this mission. It just felt right to do, at the time, and given how eager Samus and Papyrus seemed to be about helping out, and then Lightning too... That's right. Garland was not there, actually. For some reason or the other, he caught up with them later on. They all assumed that Cosmos brought him here, too, but could it be that he came on his own accord? He managed to get a hold of the crystals without any divine retribution of some sort, unlike their foes, so he should have no ill intentions, in any case...

Angela did not raise any comments; instead, she continued listening to the story told. Perhaps she was overthinking things. There should be a reasonable explanation for all this. After all they faced together, she really hoped that her trust was not misplaced.

~Narrative - Asvas (Tower 5F / rooftop)~

Frieza has made it to the top of the tower. Having been distanced from Garland, the fog renders it difficult to see more than a few inches to his front...

Quote :

Zombies A, B, C and D launch themselves at Frieza!

Surprise attack! -250 defensive roll penalty to Frieza.
Severely obscured vision! -500 roll penalty to Frieza.
Zombie frenzy! The zombies carry the haste status.

~

Zombie A attempts to bite Frieza!

Zombie A (offense): 96
Frieza (defense): 321 -429

Critical hit! (-1.5)

~

Zombie A attempts to bite Frieza!

Zombie A (offense): 23
Frieza (defense): 590 -160

It hit! (-1)

~

Zombie B attempts to bite Frieza!

Zombie B (offense): 122
Frieza (defense): 742 -8

It hit! (-1)

~

Zombie B attempts to bite Frieza!

Zombie B (offense): 255
Frieza (defense): 633 -117

It hit! (-1)

Frieza's health is critically low! He begins to feel very exhausted.

~

Zombie C attempts to bite Frieza!

Zombie C (offense): 262
Frieza (defense): 646 -104

It hit! (-0.5)

Frieza is knocked out!

~

Zombie C attempts to bite Frieza!

Frieza is knocked out! Automatic hit!

~

Zombie D attempts to bite Frieza!

Frieza is knocked out! Automatic hit!

~

Zombie D attempts to bite Frieza!

Frieza is knocked out! Automatic hit!

Frieza's body disappears in a flash of bright light...

~Narrative - Asvas (Tower 3F)~

Quote :

The party may or may not be able to hear some grunting sounds from the scuffle two floors above. But the brewing thunderstorm nearly drowns them out..

Perception check: 625+ to pass.

Angela (perception): 987
Papyrus (perception): 420
Garland (perception): 647
Rocbouquet (perception): 948
Buggy (perception): 57
Sunset Shimmer (perception): 344

Angela, Garland and Rocbouquet are able to discern the sounds from the rooftop! For a few seconds, that is - then all was quiet again...

Battle Info:

Garland - Asvas (Tower 3F)

For the duration of the first half of his story, Garland wasn't too concerned with Rocbouquet practically clinging to his arm. She anticipated trouble in the tower, and while the majority of its interior had been explored, there was other space to see. And there they would find Frieza.

What Garland had not expected was for Rocbouquet to clutch his arm even further and sigh in an admittedly not unpleasant manner. She seemed to be starstruck, murmuring softly in appreciation of his tale. A most awkward situation, indeed; it didn't quite seem like he had done anything so magnificent to earn her affection. Sure, to hear of the deed was one thing, but the only way such things were to carry any weight were to impact the audience on some personal level.

Once he permitted himself a break, Sunset butted in with a tone best described as accusatory. It was at least mildly amusing to witness the immediate backlash from Papyrus and Rocbouquet, though the latter's retort to the pony prompted Garland to raise his eyebrow. Maybe he was right to keep some concern; for a brief instant, it felt like there was a pause in one of her words, which then continued to flow into further praise. What was she going to say? Meanwhile, Angela wasn't saying anything at all. She might have been waiting to hear why Garland got his wings, and it wouldn't be fair if he left the princess at a cliffhanger.

---

"The rest of my story isn't too long. I fell before I could make my own escape, but I heard the devils screeching after I collapsed. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I couid see emerald skin, flashing steel, and the fluttering of wings. The screeching died down quickly, and then.. it felt as if I was being carried somewhere.

"When I woke up, I was in my quarters within the Enthroned tower, as if everything had just been a dream. I wasn't wounded or injured at all, and was about to pass it off as wild imagination. However, when I moved to sit up, I could feel the weight of these wings. I had changed while I was asleep!

"As this was no everyday occurance, I sought out the guildmaster for guidance. He had been something of a mentor figure to me ever since I first caught the attention of the Enthroned. After I showed him these wings, he remarked that I must have been exposed to divine power from handling the artifacts. He confirmed that a lady knight, the same who had put me up to this journey, had brought me back here to rest. Apparently, somewhere along the way, I had been healed.. that, together with the artifacts' power, must have sparked some kind of transformation."

Garland gestured towards the painting next to the one of himself, then exhaled.  "..Not long after that, we were attacked by a demonic warlord while we spoke upon the rooftop. Master Whitefire was mortally wounded by a malicious magic that I struggled to recognize, but together we were able to send the demon screaming back into Hell before it could cause further mayhem. There was no small amount of grieving for his loss.. and soon, the question of succession arose. Before I could even think to cast a vote, I was unanimously chosen to be the new guildmaster."

---

Once his story had been recited to a sufficient place, Garland cleared his throat and turned to face the pony who brought up the question of his mystical travel. The winged wizard spoke as calmly as he could manage, his mood slightly soured by the implication of withholding an easy escape from the strange realm.

"Yes, I can travel across planes. There's a big 'but' to go with it, however.." Garland prepared to speak again, then briefly sighed and shook his head. He hadn't noticed what Buggy was doing until that moment, which made his last utterance seem like an ill-timed joke. "My apologies, Sunset, but I had good reason to hesitate. First, it is dangerous and imprecise. You could arrive within a few miles of your target destination, or a few hundred miles."

Garland extended his hand out to the pony, gesturing with the top three fingers to show a visual diagram of three dimensional space. The middle finger pointed out at a right angle to the index, while the thumb was hiked up towards the ceiling. He then raised that hand high above his head. "We could easily arrive over a sea, a chasm, or just the open air - nowhere to go but down."

The magician had to wonder exactly what Sunset was thinking, or if she was simply too goal-oriented to realize that he had not shared such information without reason. While it was true that Garland had been reckless enough to go to a strip mine in Hell, the actual process was an extremely detailed and complex undertaking. He continued to explain his reluctance, closing the raised hand to a simple raised thumb that jabbed upwards. 

"Second, it requires careful preparation - spell formulae, focus materials, any sliver of information on what to expect upon arrival. If we hadn't arrived near this tower, it wouldn't even be possible - and we may still need the crystals to depart. However, the library above us contains essential items for me to cast the spell."

Asvas (Tower 3F)


After He ran into the pony's rear and she thankfully didn't blast him off the tower, Buggy stood up dusting himself off and tried to jump his brain back into Garland's stories. He did his best to listen to his 'friend' but most of it was going over his pirate brain.

As it seemed like Garland was finishing up, he decided to speak up, "Um...well first thing is that I'm sorry I interrupted your speech by riling up our little pony here. Second of all though...you lost me at your talk of jumping planes and spells and such...BUT...I will follow whatever you tell me if it will help us all, ok?"

Buggy then looked around at everyone and hoped that they all didn't just decide to grab him and chuck him out the nearest window hoping for a big splat sound or something.

Asvas Tower 3F

Not only did these idiots not grasp the importance of her accusations, they told her to shut up. Rocbouquet’s near slip of the tongue had Sunset give her and even more angry and annoyed look. She could easily guess just what the slip would have been, only after having to suffer her existence for these last few hours.

Then that useless mage had the gall to just finish his story before addressing her. She found herself grinding her teeth through the rest of his stupid tale and excuses at not using his ability. Some guildmaster! Sunset almost voiced her frustrations, but the idiot pirate thought he could contribute to the conversation. He would say that. She sighed and slapped a hoof to her forehead, attempting to rub away an oncoming headache. She just continued to stew as she awaited for the fools to continue on wards.

Papyrus-avas tower 3rd floor
To say Papyrus was awestruck would have been an understatement. He felt himself on the edge of his seat at every turn of the tale, eyes widening once it was relieved that Garland was not born with wings, they were given to him. From some sort of holy relic during his quest. It was beyond incredible-and admirable.

The man truly was a hero. Papyrus was very proud to call him a friend. 

"I had no idea!" Papyrus excitedly spat-though it was a bit on the loud side. "I thought you were born with them! I didn't know humans were capable of changing forms, too!"

Now, in his haste, Papyrus let a very important thing slip. The ideas that monsters could change their forms but only under the most extreme of circumstances wasn't exactly a secret. However, said circumstances were what lead to the death of the prince of the underground so many years ago-long before Papyrus and his friends had existed. It was always a tale told in caution and warning, permanently inscribed in tablets. After the monsters had started to live on the surface, it became an unspoken rule not to mention it to the humans, lest they be made even more weary of their new neighbors. 

Absorbing a human soul to transform into an extreme, more-monstrous variation of yourself isn't ideal-especially since monster-kind found themselves living among so many of them.

Yet Papyrus was too caught up in the hype of Garland's tale of splendor to notice. He continued listening intently to Garland explain the ideas of teleportation, wincing at the idea of getting thrown out in the middle of nowhere. Plummeting into the ocean or mid-air was not anything Papyrus ever wanted to experience. There would be no way anyone would survive it. 

"I guess we should consider ourselves lucky, then!" 

He carefully examined the crystal he had obtained back in snowdin as Garland explained all about preparations. If such magic was necessary to even get close to a proper teleportation spell, how powerful were these crystals? They'd been teleportation all over the place since they'd first met.

How did such a thing manage to end up in snowdin in the first place?

Not that he was going to voice any of these questions and take away Garland's time in the spotlight. Certainly after they'd gotten the final crystal, Lady Cosmos would have all the answers. 

Because Papyrus certainly had questions.

Asvas (Tower 3F)

When Garland's story came to an end, Rocbouquet brought her hands together and presented him with a smile full of fondness. She did not pay Papyrus' or Buggy's yammering too much attention, instead choosing to introduce her own flattery into the mix of confusion and awe expressed by the pair:

“Wow! You're really brave, Garland!—Just like big brother and Wagnas!” she complimented, mentioning Wagnas' name for the first time out loud in awhile. “Thank you for taking a moment to share your story with us! I've never heard an anecdote quite as interesting as yours. Back home, the men prefer to keep their harrowing quests to themselves,” Rocbouquet paused for a moment and flashed him a wide grin. “But you—You chose to tell all of us, including a monster! You must be a real hero to everybody here in Asvas!”

Yeah. A [real] hero, she thought sarcastically, suppressing an urge to sneer as she gave his arm another gentle squeeze. In the moments that followed, Rocbouquet refrained from asking Garland for more details about his experience with planar shifting, hoping instead that the others would encourage the information out of him so she could avoid alluding to her own knowledge of the unusual subject. Luckily, Garland returned to Sunset's question rather quickly on his own, explaining how the magic was both "dangerous and imprecise."

Such implications for interdimensional travel were to be expected. Years ago, during her own investigation back in Salamat, Rocbouquet came upon a vision in Eirunep's shrine that documented the history of the Ancients' arcane experiments throughout the region. She specifically remembered a strong emphasis on the resulting magic field released by the two local towers, which allegedly created a terminal space significantly more stable than any of the previous tests because it increased the number of wards by one-hundred. It was within this window of stability, presumably, that those traitors successfully exiled her and the others from their own world! Prior to that, however, there seemed to be many issues with the experiments taking place at the towers in the desert.

Rocbouquet had yet to figure out how she might reverse the effect, bringing back an individual with the towers instead of sending one away. That's where Garland might be able to help. Although the recently revealed guildmaster's method sounded more dangerous in practice (and seemed to require more setup than the towers, which could be operated from a magical panel of buttons and levers), it at least enabled a person to return to a previous world if they so desired. Now, whether that meant to the top of Haruko Castle or over the Rongit Sea was entirely up to Garland's proficiency as a mage. However, even the slightest possibility of reemerging from Hell and winning over Wagnas' affection was well worth the risk in Rocbouquet's opinion. At worst, she might drown. So what? Her soul was already detached from her real body at the moment, so it's not like she would die anyway. Retrieving her body from the bottom of the sea would also be a cinch! Some lonely fool in Eirunep would be more than willing to recover it for her!

...That's nice, but what about Comrune Island? A weaker voice, the gentle voice of reason, chimed in from the depths of her scheming mind. Rocbouquet grumbled. Oh, right. There was an active volcano off the coast of northern Salamat. The molten lava there might actually be a problem. Guess she would need to avoid telling Garland about the volcano. The fool couldn't end up at the center of a crater if he didn't know one existed, right? In any case, it would be best that she share her discovery with him and/or force him to assimilate with her first before finalizing her plan. After all, their combined knowledge might spark a new spell that was even more stable than the original processes either of their people invented!

Rocbouquet's enthusiasm faded at Garland's suggestion that the crystals may still be needed for the spell to work. Ugh. Go figure! Maybe his powers had been weakened too! She perked up again, however, when he mentioned that the library would contain essential items to perform the incantation. That's right! The library probably had all sorts of tomes and resources for mages!—But if the inscriptions in the spell books looked anything like the engravings on the placards below the portraits, she would require Garland's assistance to cast the spell anyway....

Looks like you're stuck with me whether you like it or not. How fun—

“...!?” Rocbouquet suddenly tensed up and whipped her head over her shoulder. She could have sworn she heard something coming from the stairwell.

What the hell was that? she wondered in annoyance. After another moment of listening, her expression grew solemn. From the upper levels of the tower came a faint moaning, human in nature, yet something about its pitch reminded her more of the motley of beings currently slumbering within her bosom. One thing was for sure: That was no emperor.

“Garland. Did...did you just hear that?” Rocbouquet cried out in alarm, hugging onto his arm for further protection. “It sounded like a—” her voice suddenly dropped to a concerned whisper, “—m-monster.” Whimpering, she glanced over at the others wondering if they had also heard the groans. “Maybe we should return to the entrance, just in case....” she suggested.

Angela - Asvas (Tower 3F)

As Garland went on with the rest of his story, Angela's prior curiosity was finally satisfied as he revealed why he has those wings on his back, unlike other people even from his own world. Magical artifacts... She was aware of the existence of certain items that had the potential to unlock sealed powerful magic back in her own world, so the concept was not foreign to her.

Concluding his story, she also understood the reason he looked so somber a few moments ago, likely reminiscing a fallen ally. Angela glanced at Master Whitefire's portrait once more as Garland began to address Sunset's questions - and admittedly her own, too. Which, thankfully, was something that she could understand, alleviating her previous worries. No wonder such advanced magic like planar shifting would be dangerous and imprecise, after all. In the end, perhaps it doesn't matter at all. Hopefully, the crystal they seek will be in this tower, and their mission will not take much longer to complete. How much time has passed since their arrival anyway, she wondered?

"Wow, what a story... Almost like from a book," she began to comment, as the other girl started to express her admiration, with her phony flattery and totally fake starry-eyed look as usual. And then there was that subtle jab on Papyrus to make things worse - 'including a monster'? Has she learnt not better by now? Frustrated, she touched the bridge of her nose with her fingers and took a deep breath. She could not allow herself to lash out, it was not the time for that.

Mere moments later, some alarming sounds came from higher in the tower, barely audible with the storm roaring outside. Wasn't that where that big lizard creature went? What was happening up there? On one hand, this was a positive sign. They always had to battle some kind of monster in order to retrieve the crystals, so it's not like she ever expected that this one would be a walk in the park. The presence of monsters would indicate they're on the right way. But at the same time, an imminent battle was always worrisome in its own right.

Unsurprisingly, the blue-haired woman wasted no time in entering her damsel-in-distress mode. "It's possible," Angela jumped in, mostly to state a fact than caring to provide a response to her concern. "But we still do need to obtain that crystal... Perhaps that's exactly where we need to go."

At Rocbouquet's suggestion, Angela placed her hand on her cheek in a thoughtful manner, looking at Garland instead. "It would be dangerous for an ordinary civilian to be caught in the crossfire of a battle. Perhaps she's right - it may be safer indeed if she waited by the entrance, instead. We haven't had any other encounters in Asvas so far, after all. What do you think?"

As she waited for a reply, Angela briefly wondered if she was doing the right thing. Just because someone is annoying, it doesn't mean that she should let something bad happen to them... Well, maybe she really would be safer far from the battle, no? Or was she just thinking so in order to justify herself? In any case, she couldn't deny that the thought of separating themselves from that nuisance for a while was so very pleasing.

Garland - Asvas (Tower 3F) 

After relaying his tale, Garland briefly looked upwards and blinked. That noise came from the roof.. did Frieza just stumble into hostiles? Whatever was the cause, Rocbouquet managed to hear it too, even crying out in alarm and clutching onto his arm. It seemed like a foregone conclusion; with nothing but soft security measures in the tower, some form of creature was ultimately bound to find its way inside.

Garland met Angela's thoughtful expression with a clapsed finger to his chin. "If something is up there now.. I can't help but wonder if something else could have moved in behind us, and I have no certain way to know. Sending miss Rocbouquet to the entrance may be an unnecessary risk."

The tower's master furrowed his brow. If the crystal was in fact waiting for them behind opposition, would it not be better to keep Rocbouquet nearby where she would only need to signal whether other monsters were approaching? She might be more keen on watching and listening for sounds below them than taking an active role in whatever conflict lay beyond. Upon securing the final crystal, their overarching mission would have been complete.

"Let's go upstairs; staying here won't get us home."


Narrative - Asvas (Tower 3F -> 4F)

~

Beyond the guildmaster's personal quarters, a final flight of stairs presented itself to the warriors of Cosmos and Chaos. The thick mist parted at Garland's approach, being replaced with a softer incandescent light that led the way into a spacious room filled with dozens of tomes and grimoires, each meticulously arranged amongst its hardbound brethren upon polished hardwood shelves.

The fourth floor of the Enthroned tower appears to have been dedicated entirely to an 'open' library of sorts, though one could only begin to guess at what secrets each of the individual members held within their own quarters. Despite the thick mist that once had flowed throughout this room, none of the tomes appear (or smell) as if they had been collecting undue moisture.

Aside of the ground floor, this library is the one other major point of the tower to possess windows. Just outside and above the tower rooftop, a thunderstorm grumbles ominously as cloud-to-cloud lightning crackles and flashes, periodically illuminating the sky and the window frames. A smaller, more compact set of stairs leads up from the spacious study towards the rooftop..

~