---

---

"Oh, Lady Vulus, you are such a treat." Zephyr Maelstrom was leaning over the counter of the Dawn Kiln Bakery with his head propped up in his hands, and a devilish glint in his eyes.

"Honestly, Anara, if I was only a few years older... Lord Vulus is a very fortunate man," he finished with a wink. This resulted in a girlish laugh from the woman in question. A famous spiced apple pumpkin pie with a sugary heart on top of the crust sat between them on the counter top. Zephyr was going to continue with another string of sickeningly sweet words when he heard angry footsteps somewhere above them.

"And with that, I'll take my leave." He snatched the pie, the latest gift from the bakery owner, and bolted out the door, but not before blowing a kiss towards his best friend's mom and an angry shout called after him. Zephyr flew by in a rush down the street causing leaves, loose papers and fabrics, and skirts to go flying upwards. He slowed down only when he deemed it safe. With pie in hand, he strolled down the main street of Caelfall; leaves and flowers lightly ruffling as he passed. He breathed in deep the rich smells of summer into his lungs and sighed completely at ease. With the precision of a surgeon, he formed a tiny razor-sharp sliver of air to slice the pie into bite sized pieces. He catapulted one into his mouth and closed his eyes in euphoria.

The Four bless Anara Vulus. Truly, if there are angelic beings in this world, she must be one of them to craft such perfection. As he continued his walk and nursed his pie, he grinned, winked, and greeted all the females he passed. Some of the girls giggled in delight, while others ignored him completely. Then, there were a few who became enraged and hurled all manners of Manara at him. Zephyr was forced to take to the skies in a powerful gust of wind directed from his feet in order to dodge the barrage of fireballs, rocks, and ice shards hurled his way. He floated comfortably for awhile finishing off the pie before directing his course to one of the many cliffs surrounding the village known as Okdos' teeth. To the casual observer, it would appear he was set on a collision course with the rock wall, but then he passed through an opening covered with thick vines and landed into a small balcony-like alcove cut into the cliff side.

Several years ago, Zephyr and Cron had decided to go rock climbing and in their adventure they had stumbled upon this natural hole in the wall. Ever since they had declared it to be their secret base of operations, and where the group made their meetings. He even recruited Roland and Anton to carve out chairs into the rock for them to sit comfortably. Zephyr's spot, an atrocious mix of a stool and a throne, sat on the very edge of the small enclosure with a wide sweeping view of the whole village below, and, beyond Caelfall, Cael's eye.

Zephyr sat quietly a moment gazing out at the view before closing his eyes. It's time.

He called upon his Manara and sharpened his mind to lock onto the unique signatures of the group. When he had locked onto all of them, he focused his thoughts and sent out his message directly to their minds.

"Mandatory meeting! Come to the Cliff now. It's very important!"

Zeph waited patiently for each person to arrive, and greeted each accordingly. Finally, after everyone had finally shown up, he began to speak.

"Alright listen up everyone. I've been doing some thinking lately, and I've come to a revelation of sorts." He began to pace back and forth while waving his hands to emphasize his points. "Now, as you already know, we have just finished Guardian training. We are the newest class of Guardians and tonight they're throwing a huge party for us at the Spoon. But, after that party, that's it. For the rest of our able-bodied lives we're going to be patrolling the same routes, standing watch at the same posts, and seeing little to no action just as our families have been doing for thousands of years!" He continued to get more worked up as he continued his rant.

"During training, I had a goal: become a Guardian and a master Aeromancer. Now that I've done that, what other goals do I have? Join the council? Ha, that was already decided at birth whether I wanted that or not! So, I began to think. What are we trying to protect anyway? No one even knows what's in that damn temple because no one has been in there for centuries! Everything we do is out of tradition! Well, I've had enough. I'm not going to devote my life to service for something that I don't even know what it is. Which is why we're going to find out." He turned around at this point and made eye contact with every person gauging their reactions as he said his next words.

"During the feast we're going to take it easy on the alcohol and, when everyone is passed out and out of it, I'll give the signal and we'll slip out and head for the temple. Anyone who doesn't go is a coward and you will pay in one way or another. I have dirt on everybody mind you."  He grinned wildly at this waiting for their reactions.

---

Crouching lower to the ground Leon began sniffing the air 'Seems like he separated from the group.' he thought moving a hand to one of the hoof prints. "That's why front right legs has a limp was he bitten I wonder.If that's true this hunt just got a whole lot more competitive I better get to him before anything else does otherwise I'll have to wait even longer for another boar to reach this size." He said to himself standing back up before making his way even further into the forest that he had grown accustomed to while he was growing up before being reintroduced to society and learning how to be a Aquamancer.

Moving from one tree to the next Leon kept as hidden as best as he could until he came across a clearing squinting at the blast of sunlight that was the stark contrast to the dim forest he was just in. "Where are you come on big guy show yourself." he said to himself crouching once again trying to keep himself out of sight of other predators who just so happened to be hunting the same boar Leon has been for the past day or so. "There you are now I just have to..."

"Mandatory meeting! Come to the cliff now. It's very important"

Cut off from what he was about to say Leon became distracted when Zephyr's voice rang through his head causing Leon to misstep breaking a twig beneath his foot. The sound alerted the boar of Leon's presence turning briefly towards the red haired man the animal began to run away. "Crap! He shouted producing a frozen javelin next to his hand and launching it as hard as possible hoping to end the boars life with one swift attack. However because of the distance and the sun glaring in his eyes Leon miscalculated the angle, and power he had put in the throw causing the javelin to over shoot impaling itself into the side of a tree clear on the other side of the grass clearing and despite the javelin sending it's little ice shards in different directions none came close to hitting the boar.

Grumbling Leon made his way to the specified location. If he hadn't been to that meeting spot before Leon would have most definitely been lost trying to find it no matter how much he would try to deny it. Climbing the stairs Leon made his way over to his corner before folding his arms and leaning against the wall. "So what crazy scheme are you cooking up this time Zeph?" he asked the Aeromancer before looking at Pyrrha who was wearing an not amused look across her face.

Leon had zoned out slightly during the speech grumbling to himself how he didn't want to go to the party. 'I don't understand why the old fools would make me a guardian after just five years of training .' He thought crouching down to his signature pose until Zephyr said they'd be going light on the alcohol "You and your schemes..." he sighed before standing back up. "Well you know I'm in just make sure there's a big slab of meat waiting for me afterwords." he added wiping the side of his mouth with his long sleeve before adding in a matter of fact tone. "After all you caused me to cut my hunt short and made me miss out on a pretty big boar to boot." Giving the rest of the group a quick glance over Leon once again crouched down placing his hands on his knees and tilting his head watching how every one else would react.

Standing up, stretching his back from tilling the ground next to his uncles forge. "There, all done. Now, where are those two little-" Roland suddenly crashes heavily into the ground as he gets tackled by two small cheering figures. Shaking his head as he lifts it up from the dirt. "Amnis... Rivus... Why?" He asks the twin girls as he stands back up, with both of them clinging to a shoulder each.

Amnis smiles broadly "Having fun, Uncle wanted to know when you'd be done, he said you had to go buy us sweets" Roland turns his head to look at Rivus, the meeker of the two and shyly nods in agreement with her louder twin. "Oh? Are you sure that's what he said? And not just you two trying to be con me into buying you sweets again?" Roland smiles as he starts to tickle both of their legs, causing each to scream and laugh loudly "And as luck should have it, I'm done now." He starts to make his way to the front of the forge, with the girls still cheering loudly.

"Mandatory meeting! Come to the cliff now. It's very important"


Roland sighs heavily as he stops walking and places the girls onto the ground. Sorry you two, maybe another time. Zephyr is being all princely again. Rivus sighs as she lets go, but Amnis is smiling cheekily at the mention of Zephyr's name. Roland sighs again as he makes towards the cliff, after promising he'd make it up to them.

As he gets to the top of the stairs, he notices Leon crouching, looking zoned out as normal, and Pyrrha looking annoyed. "Okay, best not to talk to Pyrrha at the moment, I enjoy living. He thinks to himself. Making his way over to the opposite wall to lean against.

Keeping his focus on Zephyr as he makes his speech, he laughs silently to himself when it's all done with. "That's your urgent meeting? Wanting to go break into the temple?" Roland starts walking towards Zephyr, stopping just in front of him. "And here I thought it was only your swordplay that was bad." Roland smirks slightly before continuing. "Though, I've got something I want to check out in the temple as well, so maybe this might be useful."

CLANG

CLANG

CLANG

hissssssss

Anton had spent the whole morning in the forge, helping his father work on a basic set of horseshoes. The actual process was fairly simple in and of themselves, but building them ensured now ensured that they'd have the monopoly on horseshoes for the following year. Of course, they'd have to get the next batch of swords in, and start working on the iron bindings used on kegs.

(The secret to those was using brass instead of iron. it wasn't as cheap, but you wouldn't have to worry about rusty barrels ruining the alcohol or rupturing the keg!)

As he lifted the steaming horseshoe from the tempering basin, a single message ran through his mind - and Anton's day suddenly went from average to potentially horrifying.

["Mandatory meeting! Come to the Cliff now. It's very important!"]

Sighing in anticipation of what could only be Zephyr's summons, Anton set down the horseshoe on the cooling rack, and turned to his father. "I'm going to meet with the other Guardians. I'll probably be back before the feast."

Wilhelm nodded, glancing at Anton for a moment before returning to his work with a grunt. It wasn't uncommon for Wilhelm to tune out almost everyone at the forge, and Anton had no idea how he did it. Still, he was given his leave, so Anton set his tools and apron on their rack, and headed off towards the cliffside. It was quite a distance from his house, which explained why he was almost the last one there - aside from Cron.

Once he was there, Anton hopped into his chair, and let his metal gauntlet rest over his abdomen. Anton's chair was completely different in design from the others. He'd brought up a large section of rock when he began, and carved out a chair that sat at a comfortable incline. Once he had finished it, he used his metal manipulation in order to smooth the chair. While the edges were starting to show signs of wear, the main sections of the chair still maintained their smoothness. Overall, sitting in the chair and taking in both the view and the crisp air was the sort of thing that Anton could do all day.

Unfortunately, relaxation wasn't why they were here. As Zephyr explained his plan, Anton sat upright, and raised one eyebrow.

"You're... not joking. You actually want to go inside the temple? I don't really mind, but are you sure it's a good idea to go in right after our initiation feast?"

---

Cron's head ached. Although to be fair, and accurate Cron's EVERYTHING ached.

It always did after a hard night of vice and boat racing, but like his dear sweet Oba would remind him, "You brought this on yourself..." He finished the sentence with a slight huff and leaned up against the broom he'd been mindlessly pushing around the room. It wasn't even midday. It was cruel and unusual to be awake at this hour, and completely sober too! But Granny insisted. Granny always insisted. And since he'd apparently burned a gondola last night, an event which he had no memory of, he couldn't really argue with her.

He glanced down at the floor, the one he was supposed to be cleaning. Ashes and sake stains, loose coins and splintered wood. Vomit. Other...Things he didn't want to question. It was a horrible collage of human filth, anyone else would be repulsed, and if they had working sinuses unlike poor Cron, they'd be knocked over by the stink alone. Despite the pounding in his head and ache in his back he found himself smiling at the dried puke puddle by his feet.

This was home. His home. Where he belonged. And all the mess did was tell a bleary story about another party in the endless string of mirth his home provided.

Anyone else might be miserable. He'd already been up for hours, deprived of sleep and joy, scrubbing on hands and knees. To him though, it was just earning his keep. Making the place ready for his massive family of drunks and gambl-

"Manditory meeting at the cliff!"

He didn't even need to wait for the sentence to be finished, his best friend was hailing him loud and clear. Already he'd tossed aside his broom and torn off his apron. After all, that cesspit of a gambling house could wait, and if Granny had a problem? She could stuff it. More important things to do now.

Of course, running up to his room and getting changed took a lot longer than it should've. Sure, it was an emergency meeting early in the morning but that didn't mean one had to dress sloppily. He could hear Granny's howling as be bolted from his room's window, dashing off as fast as smoke filled lungs would allow. He knew what today was. He knew the plan before he set foot on the cliff, and he knew how vital he was.

He was the last to show up, of course, and hastily bowed to the others as he lit a cigar and jammed it between his teeth. Winking to Zeph a he flopped down in his chair. Adorned with a red satin cushion of his own making, and proceeded to kick back and lounge with closed eyes. He knew. And every fiber of his being was bristling with anticipation.

It was so hard to keep quiet through his comrades speech, but he did. He even kept quiet as everyone, one by one, voiced their objections. One the last had tried to sow their decent Cron bolted up and threw an arm over Zeph, smiling ear to ear as smoke billowed from his nostrils.

"C'mon you sorry lot. Has Windbag here ever led us astray before? You can all whine and moan if you want, but you know, you KNOW you're gunna come. You can't not, and there will never be a better time than when half the village is stuffed to a point of coma or as bombed as I usually am!" His gaze shifted to Pyrrha, eyes widening and mouth drooping into an exaggerated pout. "You're in at least, right sis..?"

He knew if he could get at least one of the group to fold, they'd all domino..

---

"You make it sound like most of us have always been in the sane camp." Leon chuckled almost doubling back into the wall before catching himself. "Don't forget I was little more then a human shaped wolf five years ago so I'd say sanity and I aren't exactly on the same planet." He added grinning like wolf catching it's prey before stating in a more sarcastic tone "Also let's be honest you'd have to be at least a little insane to be friends with this air head." he said pointing at Zephyr before averting his gaze to the ground and rubbing his now growling stomach.

Finally after growing tired of how he was crouching Leon stood up straight stretching his arms over his head before leaning from his left to his right. "Any way I may not want to go to the party but I'm hungry and some food is better then none... I just hope they're not serving any pheasant dishes there." He stated scowling at the thought of eating another turkey or chicken based dish.

Clapping his hands together Leon looked over to Cron "Hey Fire breath! I'll race you to the party. Loser pours for the winner, winner's choice by the way." although being surrounded by a large group of people didn't really make him excited Leon did find the promise of alcohol to be very enticing. "The loser also has to go without alcohol for the night." he added before taking off down the stairs.

---

---

"Careful... Careful..." Marina Fontaine was oh so carefully trying to extract one of the delicate petals off an extremely rare Libra Orchid in order to make yet another experimental medicine for slowing the destruction of Atraxis. However, the plant is very sensitive, and if not handled with the utmost care, could very easily wither and die.

"Almost there..." she stated out loud with her tongue poking out the side of her mouth. The tweezers were latched onto the petal of choice, and she was slowly see-sawing back and forth trying to dislodge it when-

["Mandatory meeting! Come to the Cliff now. It's very important!"]

Marina jumped startled by the sudden message, but stared in horror at what she had done. Her sudden movement had ripped the whole flower off the stem. She almost cried in frustration.

"I'm going to kill him..." she grounded out between gritted teeth, but sighed when she remembered he was one of the only people who could calm her raging temper thus leaving her fury meaningless. Mari placed the poor mutilated plant back in its specially constructed terrarium, and made her way towards the Cliff. As she trudged up the seemingly endless staircase, she couldn't help but wonder what in the world Zephyr wanted. When she reached the top, she saw that almost everybody was already there. She gave a quick awkward wave and plopped down in her seat blushing slightly at being a little late.

Marina listened to Zephyr give his speech slightly puzzled at what he was trying to suggest. Then he paused making eye contact with everyone before dropping the bomb. Marina's mouth hung open at what had to be by far the most convoluted plan he had ever devised. She continued to stare in shock for several minutes even as the others began shouting out either protests or affirmatives.

Finally, she snapped out of it and stood up throwing out her own argument.

"Forget Terra or Granny! What about the council! Before now, everything we've done have been harmless pranks like raiding the apple orchards or setting loose a herd of cows on main street. All of which were ignored thanks to Zephyr's grandpa. But breaking into the temple? If they catch us, there's no telling what they'll do! What if they revoke our Guardianship?" she gasped.

"What if they banish us?"

---

---

---

---

As soon as Zephyr completed his speech, everyone began speaking at once. He raised his hands to get them to settle down.

"Pyrrha, I assure you. I am deathly serious. This is a great idea. Don't tell me you aren't curious too." He turned towards Leon and waved him off.

"Yeah yeah. I promise a king-sized roasted boar will be waiting for you, my treat, as soon as our expedition is over. " Roland approached him and Zeph scowled at his comment on his swordplay, but chose to ignore it in favor of the support he was showing for the plan. Anton was expressing doubts about raiding the temple tonight.

"Anton, you aren't looking at it right... This is the BEST time to do this. If we try at any other time, there will be too much security and too many eyes. We wouldn't even make it through the front door." Zephyr felt a familiar weight on his shoulder as Cron came to his defense and whittled down Pyrrha.

"That's the spirit Smokestack! See guys? You should take Cron's example. That's the kind of enthusiasm I like to see!" It was at this time Marina chimed in to express her own fears. Zephyr smirked and approached her wrapping an arm around her waist and using his free hand to tilt her chin to look up at him.

"Oh come on Mari... There's no point in dwelling on 'what ifs' because we're not going to get caught... We'll be in and out before you know it. Just a quick tour and we'll bolt. I promise." Marina glanced away blushing furiously at his actions, but unable to muster enough willpower to push him away.

"I-I don't know..." she replied not wanting to meet his crimson gaze.

"Besides Marina. Think about it. We're going to be going underground in the Eye of Cael. Imagine all the unique and undiscovered fungi you could find down there for your research..." Mari knew he was praying upon her weakness, but much to her horror, it was working.

"...Do you really think there might be some rare specimens down there?" Seeing his success, Zeph sprouted a face-splitting grin and lightly kissed her forehead causing the girl to turn an even darker shade of red before releasing his grip on her.

"Haha! I knew you'd agree!" His attention diverted to Leon who was challenging Cron to a race.

"Hey! I want in on that! Also, did you not hear what I said? We're going to take it easy on the booze! We need to be clear headed in order to pull this off!" Zephyr leaped up on to the edge of the cliff ignoring anymore arguments that might have been made.

"Remember, keep an eye out for the signal! When I think it's safe and everyone is plastered we'll head out!" With that, Zephyr dived off the cliff using his wind to soar and propel himself towards the Spoon.

Roland laughs slightly as he scratches the back of his head, trying to avert Pyrrha's gaze "Sorry Pyr, I've just something I need find out, and I hope the temple has the answer. It was part of my reasoning for joining." After watching everyone else come to terms with Zephyr's plan, almost, Roland starts making his way to the stairs, thinking the important bits are over and done with.

Only stopping at the stairs after overhearing Zephyr tell Cron and Leon about taking it easy on the booze. "Well, it is really only those two who don't know how to drink, the rest of us are smart enough to keep our wits about us." Noticing Zephyr jump off the cliff, "Show off." Roland mutters to himself before descending the long stair case, think if there is an easier way to make this climb, something he'll have to talk to Anton and Mei about, where ever that scholar was.

After reaching the bottom he comes face to face with his large Warhorse Titan, whom he had thought he had left back home "Titan.. What're you-" Before he can finish his sentence, he hears giggling coming from the back "Amnis and Rivus, I should of known, what are you two doing here? Walking to the side of Titan he looks at Amnis "Not trying to sneak a peak at Zephyr are we?" Amnis let's out her usual cheeky grin.

"No, Uncle had something he needs your help with, though he wouldn't tell us what though." She says with pout.

"Alright, go tell Uncle I'll be home soon, the meeting is done." He pats Titan's neck as the rest of the group start to get to the bottom.

Anton sighed and leaned back in his chair. There was no real way that he was going to ever convince Zeph, Cron, Leon or Roland to actually change their minds. The only real thing that any member of Team Sanity - Pyrrha, him, and possibly Mari - could do was to make sure that the entire group returned safely. This wasn't going to be like the time that they released the cows - that was just a jest, but Anton was sure that whatever was under the temple, there was bound to be a good reason behind.

Heck, that was usually the plot to some of the ballads that Mikhail knew, where the plucky band of adventurers would travel into an ancient ruin or temple, only to find out its true purpose when they were at its very heart. That was song, but Anton couldn't help but feel that this wasn't going to end well.

Still, there were preparations to make before the feast. The least that Anton could do was to prepare some supplies before the trip itself, under the guise that he was making preparations for his first day as a Guardian. But, now that Zephyr's co-conspirators had left, it was time for Anton to... try and make sure the group didn't die inside the temple(?).

Anton sat forward in his chair again and leaned forward, trying to think of what they'd need to succeed. The ideal case would be a map and proper adventuring tools, but finding a map of the inside of the temple was kind of a lost cause. They'd probably need to make their own, so that left basic adventuring supplies. Since they were leaving after the feast, and they expected to be back before anyone really noticed, food wouldn't be a problem. But they'd need other objects, like rope, a light source, and quite possibly medical supplies (in the worst case scenario). Waterskins would probably be essential, given that they had no idea how far the temple actually went...

"We're going to need some supplies if we're going to go in. I can grab some rope, some waterskins and other essentials from my parents' store. Pyrrha, try to see if you can get torches or a lamp. That might be useful, especially if we don't want to use up Manara as we're exploring. Mari, could you try to get some medical supplies and... Hrm, I suppose whatever you'd use to collect samples down there, too." Anton paused, as a brilliant idea came to him. They wouldn't need a map; instead, he could carve a map on a flat surface, like his gauntlet. That way, they'd have an accurate idea of just how far they were traveling. Unless the temple itself was extremely deep, they wouldn't need more than a few maps to determine its depth!

"Ah, right, I suppose we'll need to stash the packs before the feast. Anyone got any suggestions?"

Mei Kaska

"Mandatory meeting! Come to the Cliff now. It's very important!"

Mei really hadn’t been expecting Zephyr’s summons via thought-radio at that precise moment. Balanced precariously on a branch of a gigantic tree in someplace god-knows-where (he wasn’t lost. Really.), the young Aeromancer had been reaching for the weird little flashing light he’d been tracking all afternoon when Zephyr blasted him with the telepathic summon. …To be fair, it wasn’t exactly a blast, but Zeph had broadcasted it pretty loudly so that all of its intended recipients could pick up on it. But being a fellow aeromancer had its, ah, effects, and thanks to that, Mei heard Zephyr’s thoughts like someone had shouted it right next to his ear.

What ended up happening, in later reflection, Mei supposed actually worked out pretty well. He lost his balance, narrowly avoiding falling right out of the tree he’d been climbing – he normally wouldn’t have gotten so surprised, but…heights. Despite being an aeromancer, heights really were not his thing. Catching himself by hooking his legs over the branch, Mei kind of awkwardly hung there for a few moments before flipping himself over with a gust of wind and dropping to the ground.
From there, it was quick work to the Cliff. Mei dropped from a ledge a little ways up from the meeting spot (he’d gone a bit of a roundabout route), using wind to soften his landing. Dusting himself off, Mei neatly stood up from his crouched landing position and surveyed his circle of friends. They had varying expressions, Pyrrha in particular seemed to be a bit exasperated. There was really a lot of thought activity going on in each person’s mind, but Mei ignored the inaudible clamoring in his mind as best he could and fixed his amber gaze on Zeph.

”Alright, who’s dying?” He asked, a bit annoyed that he’d had to give up chasing the unusual shining insect or bird or whatever it was.

Cron Vulus

---

An intense shiver wracked Cron's body as the prospect of a dry night was floated. There is no way he could endure the next eight hours, or..Any eight hours, without a single drink. Quite literally. He hadn't had a single drink this morning thanks to Granny and his hands were already started to shake. He was busy looking down at them while his competitors bolted without him, denying him a real chance to protest.
This did not look good. Especially because he could already feel his lungs giving out. It was that time of the year, his appointment was tomorrow even.

"Damn you Leon!" Was about the only thing he had to time to roar, unintentional fire escaping his lips. He winced instinctively. That was bad. He could feel his lung literally bubbling from the heat. Steeling himself he dashed as quick as could to the stairs, taking them three at a time. It worked, too until he got about half way and was forced to stop. It hurt all the more because he could see Leon. So close, so far, but he couldn't even catch his breath. He collapsed back, gasping.

It was almost a full thirty seconds before he could breath again, and even then it was in short gulps. "Damn..Damnit...I'm not even going to be able to stand up straight by the time our great 'plan' goes into action..Maybe Mira could see me today.."

---

Rolling around a cart Leon moved towards the spoon until he tried to stop only to end up crashing into a cart full of cabbages. "Gross why are these things even here?" He said to himself brushing off cabbages leaves that clung to him before running again like nothing had happened. "My Cabbages!!!" He heard from behind him.

Looking back Leon saw a goat faced old man steaming out the ears "I did you a favor by destroying that thing even though it was an accident!" he called back before turning away to ignore the old man.

Reaching the Lethal Spoon Leon sat at the entrance waiting for Cron to show up. The moment he caught sight of the blue haired pyromancer held up a hand "Looks like you pour fire breath." he said patting Cron on the back before reluctantly entering the spoon where he was greeted by a staggering amount of people for him at least. 'Right this is like a coronation or something.' He thought dipping his head as though trying to make his presence unknown to most.

Catching Zephyr out of the corner of his eye only to end up slinking over to him "So air head how long do you think it'll take for every one to get plastered?" Leon asked leaning against the wall "after all I did see quite afew of these geezers drink enough to make even you and fire breath look like beginners." he added keeping his gaze upon the crowd.

---

---

Just as Zephyr dived off the cliff, he spotted Mei showing up completely and utterly late. He slowed down costing himself the race against Cron and Leon.

"Damn it all!" He floated in mid air pinching the bridge of his nose. He let out a sigh of defeat and concentrated on Mei sending him a message and a rundown on what he had told the rest of the group.

"Hey, since you were painfully late, I'll give you a quick summary of what we talked about: We're going to explore the temple. Tonight. We're going to leave when most of everyone is passed out from the party at the Spoon, so don't get drunk! Also, no complaining. Pyrrha did enough of that. Be there or be square!

Without further delay, Zephyr glided his way across town to his grandma's gambling house. Stepping inside, Granny was nowhere to be seen, but he quickly spotted Cron and Leon. Leon caught his eye at the same time and approached him. Zephyr scoffed at Leon's inquiry.

"Oh there's no need to worry about that one. You see, there's Maelstrom sake... and then there's Maelstrom sake. For important shindigs, like this party for example, Gran breaks out the heavy hitter stuff. Twice as potent as the normal brew. One glass would have a normal person out like a light! Once the geezers get a few rounds in their system they'll be seeing stars like everybody else." Zephyr smirked. He grabbed a chair and plopped himself down leaning back against the nearest wall. It was only now that Zephyr noticed Cron's winded condition. Knitting his eyebrows together he lightly patted his friend's arm.

"Yo, Smokestack. Isn't it about time you get another pair of lungs? I know you typically see Mira, but you look like you're about to die bro. Seriously. Why not try getting Marina to help you before we go.... on our trip." Zeph was cautious with his word choice. No need to give any unnecessary information to any unwanted listeners.

"But, seriously." He leaned in close across the table.

"Who wants to race some boats?"

---

---

---

---

Marina stared off stunned at Zephyr as he spirited away towards the Spoon. Some things never change. She was broken out of her incredulous trance as Pyrrha and Anton discussed supplies and preparations.

"Huh? Oh. OH! Yeah, I'll bring my medical bag! I have everything in there!" She exclaimed with a clap of her hands. She turned away and sighed deeply.

"We're really doing this aren't we... But you're right Anton. If we don't protect those idiots, no one will." she giggled. When she glanced up she spotted Mei.

"Mei! Is there anything we're missing? Anything we're overlooking?" she asked in earnest. She glanced toward the sky and noticed that it was quickly approaching evening.

"If we're going to do this, we'd better do it quickly. They'll be expecting us at the Spoon as soon as the sun goes down!" she exclaimed. She moved towards the stairs.

"I'll meet you guys there!" she called over her shoulder as she hurried back to her home. She breezed into her house and quickly shuffled through her work space in the green space for her medical bag.

Where is it...? Where is it! Finally after thirty minutes of frantic shuffling she found the bag in question shoved behind a box of papers.

"Found it!" she practically shouted holding it up.

"Found what?" asked a small girlish voice. Marina nearly jumped a foot in the air as she slowly turned to stare into the eyes of her young sister Verona.

"Ohhh nothing Ver. I lost track of my medical supplies is all...." she laughed weakly running a hand through her thick blue locks.

"You're lying..." Verona replied completely suspicious. Marina sighed. This was getting nowhere.

"Okay fine! The other Guardians and I are planning our own celebration, but you can't tell anybody you hear me? You wouldn't want to upset Zephyr... would you?" The young Aquamancer gasped at the mention of Zephyr and began shaking her head wildly.

"Good. And remember... Not. A. Word." Verona once again shook her head eagerly willing to do anything for 'Zephy'. Marina checked and double checked her tools before making her way over to the foot of the stairs and stashing her bag under a nearby bush. Satisfied no one would find it, she hummed to herself as she made her way to the Spoon just as the sun went down.

Anton Wulfram

"That'll do, I suppose. I can make a rock cover that no one should notice once its dark," Anton nodded, looking over at Mei as he arrived. "Mei, if there's anything you think we'll need, try to grab it before we meet up at the party. I'll head out, and grab my set of things. I'll see the rest of you at the party!"

With that, Anton left Pyrrha and Mei to their own further planning, and he raced down the stairs themselves - passing by Mari on the way. Considering that he and Roland had helped build the stairs themselves, it was only natural that Anton knew precisely the fastest way down. There was a certain rhythm to it; by skipping certain steps, you'd have just the right momentum to make a turn.

From the base of the cliffs, it didn't take long for Anton to get back home, but changing into his coat and packing the right set of supplies meant that he'd only get there just after sundown. Judging by the fact that no one was home when he returned, and how the forge was still radiating heat, his parents and Mikhail had probably left for the Spoon - most likely no less than half an hour ago. That left him with all of the space required to work quickly. The most time consuming task would probably be filling up the waterskins, as the main supplies they'd need - namely, rope, some flint and steel, a set of pitons, a shovel and the set of waterskins themselves - were kept in the supply shed by the forge.

It didn't take Anton long to place everything in his haversack, with the shovel and the hilt of his sword sticking out from one end. However, as expected, grabbing a fresh bucket of water from the well behind the forge, and filling it was taking some time. Anton watched as the last speck of sunlight dipped below the forest canopy; in about half an hour, sun would set. Once he was done, Anton strapped the waterskins to his pack and made his way back to the stairs, where Mari's pack was already sitting against the stairs.

The torches weren't here yet, so Anton didn't cover up the backpacks with a cover of earth. Still, leaving Forgesong out here was kind of a risk. Anton pulled his sheathed sword out from the pack and affixed it to his belt, before pushing the two bags out of sight. He'd need an excuse for bringing a sword to a party, but...

Well, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it. Besides, Zephyr and the others seemed to make up excuses all the time. How hard could it be?

With his side of the preparations complete, Anton made his way to the Spoon. The sun had already set by the time he arrived, and he could hear the cacophony of celebration begin. No doubt, plenty of the townsfolk were getting plastered as he made his way in...

---

---

The miasma of dark Manara swirled around her, suffocating in its pervasiveness, and Mira had never felt so alive. Eyes closed, hand pressed against a cluster of crystals, Mira shivered as energy flooded into her. She opened her eyes, quickly adjusting to the growing light. She sighed deeply. Her smile had a sharp, self-satisfied edge that made her narrow features look more predatory.

Layla and Sam returned from their trek through the long hallways, finished with lighting the torches and candles. After nearly ten years, the three of them knew their way in and out of the Onryx Temple. However, none of Mira's followers knew the secret to harnessing the Manara crystals. She planned on keeping it that way. He had told her how to, and Mira wasn't going to share.

The flickering light from the torches reflected off the jagged crystals, casting mottled light over the three. They had come here for a routine check (and for her Manara), so none of the other followers were present.

"There were a few monsters lurking at the corners," said Sam quietly. Despite his caution, his voice echoed off the stone walls. "We should be careful when we leave."

"But they don't like coming so close to the center. We should be fine!" Layla added. Her bright laugh had just a hint of nervousness; even after all these years, she was still terrified of the dark creatures that lurked in these depths.

Mira, on the other hand, had no fear. These monsters wouldn't dare touch her. They recognized Mira as a far greater one.

"Is there anything else you'd like us to do?" As usual, he focused his eyes on a distant point beyond her shoulder, never looking directly at her. His hands twitched, and the longing gleam in his eyes betrayed his desires. Ah, yes, the crystal. Ever since Mira had given him a taste of raw energy, Sam had always wanted more.

"Not now." She smiled again, this time mocking and just a bit cruel. Mira paused, making her features exaggeratedly thoughtful. "In fact, I think we might as well leave early."

He tried, but Sam couldn't hide his disappointment. Mira, though, was much more successful at hiding her smirk. She stepped closer to the crystal, pipe twirling in her hand. Hope reappeared in Sam's dull green eyes, tempered only by longing. Oh, Manara. It made others so easy to control.


̗́͋̒ ̬ ̷͌ͯ͗̋s ̪̯̤̯ͅ ͚͙̮̰͕̪ ̘̼̮̱͇̀̅̓͗̓̕ ̼̪̰̖͗ ̟ͦ ̠̹̞̔ ̳̤̹̰̔ͪ ̜͎̒͒̂̔͠ ̼̝̱̦̳́̽̾ t ̥͈̗̯ͨͦ̒̽̅̿ͦ ͖͖̭͍̘̜̤̓̔ ̨͇̓͗̄ ̣̘ͨ̊ͨ ̡̯͓̉̑ͅ ̮̪̮̀ ̳̜͉͉̞ͪa ͆͌͋ͭ̇̕ ̱̰͖̗͗̿ͬ̔ ̬ͨͧ ͉͍̹̭ͨ̀͒ͯͅ ҉͙̗̭ ͍̟̺̫̟͂̈́̊ ̒ ͚͊̓͒ ̵͔͗ͨ̃͗̂̔ y ̵͖͙̃͂ͨ̄ͦ ̦̜̩̫͑͊ͤͣͬͅͅ ̮̙̲̃͗̉ͬ ̄͒͊̚ ̹͆ͤ͐̽ͮ ͇ͧͩͥ͌ ͇̌ͬͧ̄̎̐͑ ̖̦͈̝̆ ̸̭ ̱̪̰ͯ̓ͩ̽̐ͫͬ ͕͐͗̓ͪ̇̍ ̇̔͐̓҉͉͙̙̞̤̬͎ ͎̥ͧ̎̽̈ͥͯͪ ͚͇̳͙̻̃ͪ̍ ̰̪̿ͩ̉͢ ̹̻̙̍ͪ̑̏ͣ ş̰̺̥̼͍̺ͨ̌̃̇͊̆t̲ͤͦ͌̒ͧ́a̰͈͙̅̈́̍ͯy̺̗̫̠͛̓̀̐ͥͥ͘


The rasping, distorted whisper reverberated in her mind, halting Mira in her tracks. She shuddered, feeling his grasp pulling at her thoughts. His presence, even so diminished, displayed his power. Power that she craved.

"Well," Mira said, recovering her composure—concealing her trembling. "I've changed my mind. We're staying."


̰͖̹̜͆̔ͣͫ̏̍͋ ̜̹̜͗̓̄̊ͮ͠ ̰ͮ͘ ͤ̈̉̈̇ͨ̚ ̭̭̙̟̦͔͚ ͠ ̷̥͗̀̇ͯͫ ̯̫͍̹̿̋ͥͦ͛͜ ̙̻̺̼̀̕ ̂̓͋ͩ ̴̦̰͖͔̺̅̾̏̈́̚ ̃͏͚ ̥̥͇͍̺̃ͭͮ̎͌ͬ ̳͕ͮ̎̑̓͢ ̘̣̤̼͊͒̽̑ͨ ͈̻̣̯̜̥̮͐̿̇ ̸̮̝̭͈̝̳̝̇̌ͬ̒ ̫̠́̇ͅ ȋ͖̳̱̳͍̳͕ͨ͑ͣt͖̟̱̰̙̉̒͊ͥͅ ̛̮̪̼͎̦̍̉͑͆ͪ̔͌b̭̰͍̜͚ͯͪͪ͆ͧe̗̜̳ͅg̣͖͉̪̗̠͍ͮ͂̌̿ĩ̭̦̰ͧͪ̑̂ͪ̚n̳̘̫̪̩̫̰͐͑ş̘̰͖ͩ̇ͪͥ


She turned away from her companions, cheeks hurting from the smirk that stretched her face. Mira had waited for this. She had waited a long, long time.

Her answering murmur was soft enough to be drowned out by the crackle of flames.

"And I am ever at your command."

Mei Kaska

A seemingly annoyed Zeph said his piece and was gone before Mei could ask for further details. "We're doing what now?" He looked to Pyrrha and Anton, both of whom pretty much just told him to prepare well, and then took off, leaving Mei alone on the Cliff. He stared after their retreating figures and shook his head, deciding it was best not to ask. With Zephyr Maelstrom, one never could know what to expect. Not like Pyrrha, where one could reasonably expect a logical conclusion, or Leon, where meat literally was the answer to everything, or... In any case, Mei found himself heading to the Spoon as well.

Mei didn't really have to prepare anything, as it seemed the others had already stashed their own supplies. In battle, he mainly used his aeromancer abilities and physical close combat, so the only tools he really needed to bring with him were his short blade, a small notebook, and a couple of pens. One never knew when something new might need documenting, so he always liked to bring things to take notes. Anton seemed to have the mapmaking covered, Pyrrha the torches, and everyone else seemed to be ready.

Once Mei was suitably ready to mingle in the party and wait for Zeph's signal, he went to do just that. Just because they were about to pull what could potentially become a gigantic disaster didn't mean he couldn't enjoy himself; in fact, this might be the last time he'd get to enjoy himself like this, if they all ended up banished thanks to Zeph. Ah well, he thought, even if they did all get banished, it would be interesting to be away from his clan and be completely free. For a while, at least...

Mei greeted several people with a friendly smile, but by the twelfth "Congratulations!" he could tell his smile was starting to wear thin. "C'mon... step it up a bit." He muttered to himself, and decided to make his way to a corner opposite where the alcohol was being served, and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. It wouldn't be good if he ended up drunk before tonight's escapade.

---

Looking around after the rather short conversation with Zephyr, Leon found himself lost in thought a rare occurence for him stepping away from the wall pulling some meat off a roasted boar and stuffing his face with the meat before tossing the scraps aside ignoring the congratulatory and well wishes from any one who passed him while chasing away the people who wanted to shake his hand, pat his back, or touch him in any way simply by growling or using other tactics of aggression to force people to keep their distance. 'I swear I'll strangle the person who decided it was a good idea for events like these.' He thought producing a much deeper and more threatening growl when some overly zealous man tried to get friendly.

"I'm showing restraint here sir. So unless you want me to rip your throat out with my teeth I suggest you back off and pretend you never saw me." Leon said through a forced smile that revealed some impressively sharp teeth for some one his age. Though that seemed to have no effect on the man who reeked of alcohol laced with smoke, with a slight hint of sweat.

Balling his hand into fists Leon lifted one towards the man before trying to say again "I'm showing restraint.....?" but was cut off when the man took a step closer. That was more then enough to snap the cable of sanity keeping Leon from tearing into the guy. When the man was about five inches away from Leon he found that the red haired young man had brought a fist up hard catching right into his gut, and the moment he doubled over Leon grabbed him by the scruff of the collar and threw him over the shoulder into a table five feet across from himself landing head over heels and causing said table to collapse in on itself from the weight and momentum of the throw. This in turn caused the people sitting at the table when it happened to quickly leap out of their chairs in surprise.

"Be glad I didn't rip your throat out with my teeth!" Leon exclaimed turning away and making his way to the door passing everybody on his way with a scowl large enough that his sharp canines were showing when he passed ignoring the complaints that followed shortly after.

Roland sends the twins off to the Spoon to see if Granny needed any help, reminding them to send Titan back to the house after the get there, after he watches them go he decides to go see what his Uncle needed from him.

Arriving home as the sun is starting to set, while twilight starts to cover the sky. He makes his way into the forge to find his Uncle. As he gets into the forge, he's surprised to find his Uncle not working, deciding to use this time alone, Roland grabs the large saddle bags for Titan as he packs his 'Champion Gear' into it, along with several other items that they might need.

After packing the bags, he leaves them by the forge door, knowing Titan will be back shortly for him to carry, he heads out to the yard Roland had been tilling in the morning to find his Uncle standing there watching the sun set. "Uncle, the twins said you had needed me for something?"

Olaf turns around, looking Roland right in the eyes, with a tired, weathered face, starts to make his way towards his nephew, though not quite as tall as Roland, he's still very strongly muscled, despite his growing age, places his hand onto his nephew's shoulder, and holds out a letter, and an old amulet, "These were from your Mother, don't read the letter until you're certain you want to know what's in them." As always, his Uncle wasn't a man of much words, and left going back to his work in the forge.

As curious as he was, pocketing the letter and amulet, Roland decided it best to leave the letter unopened for now. Making his way back through the forge, looking at his Uncle, engrossed back in his work, leaves without anymore delays, just as Titan had made his way back. Quickly strapping the bags over Titans back, making sure both of his swords were carefully hidden, makes his way back to the Spoon as the sun had almost fully set.


After finally getting to the Spoon, noticing the entire event well underway, groaning to himself, never one for crowds, despite his Champion status, dismounting Titan and making his way inside, quietly making his way to a less crowded area of the Spoon and awaiting Zephyr's signal.

He pulls out the amulet his Uncle gave him, running his thumb over the detailing of it, trying to figure out what the symbol on it meant, having no idea what it was or where it was from, he pockets it once again and makes his way to grab himself some meat and booze, deciding that regardless of how sober they needed to be, he needed a drink even more.

---

---

Although Zephyr instigated the "take it easy on the booze" rule, he was not following his own advice very well as the party went on. He even went as far as to down two glasses of Maelstrom sake to enter the boat race. Of course, he was handling it a whole lot better than a regular person, but to say Zeph was tipsy was an understatement.

Marina, in the mean time, was sipping on a light fruity concoction and enjoying the copious amounts of food.

"Isn't this fun Pyrrha?" she asked with a giggle. She had found Pyrrha not too long after arriving, and decided to spend time with her. The other girl did not seem nearly as enthusiastic. Marina had spotted earlier Leon throwing a fit and knocking out a gentleman she believed was the general store owner, and sighed. As much progress as he had made in adapting to civilized life, he still hadn't let go of that wildness. She had also spotted Mei and Roland being equally as unsocial. She sighed inwardly at her friends. She munched on a marinated chicken wing and observed as many people were already losing their bearings and stumbling around drunk. She noticed a few of the council members sitting at Granny's counter, including her own father, even grinning and laughing the night away. An unusual sight indeed.

"It's almost time. I bet Zeph will be giving the signal soon-" she was abruptly cut off by a loud familiar shout coming from the Boat Pool.

"Allrigh! Who wants ta see me race?" he slurred. Zephyr was shakily standing up in his gondola ready to race across the large pool set up in the Spoon. Several cheers resounded from the crowd. Zephyr grinned struggling to maintain his balance in the boat. He suddenly frowned as if something was severely wrong. Within the blink of an eye, Zephyr had pulled off his shirt and tossed it toward the surrounding crowd. Marina ran over to the pool as quickly as she could as soon as she had seen him enter only to have a shirt land on her face. The females squealed in delight at the sight of Zephyr's lean muscled torso; his clan tattoo clearly visible between his shoulder blades. Marina balled Zephyr's shirt between her fists as she fumed.

"He said go easy on the booze! Ugh!" she screamed inwardly. Of course he'd get drunk. Why was she not surprised... Although, the good news was that she could use her Aquamancy to purge the alcohol from his system and clear his head, but that would have to be after the race...

"Ah, much bedder.." he stated stretching his now bare arms. For the umpteenth time, Zeph stumbled in the boat, but this time had lost his grip on his Manara causing the boat to spin in circles. While he struggled to regain control over his vessel, a large gong was banged initiating the race. Cursing, Zephyr propelled the boat forward, or at least attempted to push it forward, but was using too much force causing it to zigzag. Despite his lack of control and navigation, Zephyr was still fairing far better than many of the other drunks. He was halfway across when a boat soared past him. He was too dazed to tell who it was, but, not wanting to lose, propelled himself forward. Close to the finish line, Zephyr knocked his gondola hard into his competitor's to waddle back and forth and drive them off course. It was a long enough distraction for Zephyr to pull ahead and win the race. Part of the crowd cheered wildly while others groaned and yelled in defeat over their lost bets.

"Ah yeah! I am so good!" he stumbled back onto solid ground and was handed a medal for his victory. His celebrating and boasting was quickly cut short by an enraged Marina latching on to his ear and dragging him back to the table she occupied with Pyrrha.

"You imbecile! Did you forget that we were supposed to stay sober?" she whisper-screamed into his ear. Marina quickly got to work discreetly placing her hands on his back to purge the haze from his mind.

"No, I didn forget.. I can handle it.. I'm fine..." Even sitting down he was wobbling back and forth. Marina snorted and instead of draining the alcohol slowly, she did it fast with a lot of force causing it to sting quite a bit.

"Ow! What was that for? Is that really necessary?" Zephyr blinked a few times realizing he could think straight and sit still with out losing his balance. He grinned at Marina.

"Thanks, babe. What would I do without you?"

"You would be dead or in a jail cell." she deadpanned. "So, is it time yet?" Zephyr glanced around and noticed that many people were laughing loudly obviously not thinking clearly while others were passed out. Zeph even spotted his Granny giggling like a school girl latched onto the arm of his grandpa.

"Oh it is definitely time." Zephyr sent out a light four note whistle into the minds of his friends being careful not to send anything that would incriminate them, but still act as a clear signal.

"Let's get moving." Marina nodded in response her previous anger dissolving into excitement. She was still horrifically nervous about the whole ordeal, but the idea of getting to explore something no one else has even seen before had her giddy. Marina and Zephyr discreetly slipped out the back careful to not draw any attention to themselves, and made their way over to the staircase. She picked up her medical bag and secured the strap tightly across her chest while they waited for the others to show up and grab their own gear. When everyone seemed ready, Zephyr gave a quick pep talk.

"Alright everyone let's go! Onward!" He led the way to the back gate out of Caelfall. There weren't any guards posted there right now, so the group was able to slip out unnoticed. Having never traveled down to Onryx, Zephyr didn't realize how steep the trail truly was. The path was only wide enough for one person to walk through having thick trees and shrubbery on either side forcing the group to walk single file. There was even one point where everyone had to shuffle along the edge with their back against a cliff lest they fall hundreds of feet below into the Eye of Cael. Finally after an hour, they reached the end of the trail and the tunnel leading down to Onryx's entrance could be seen.

"Alright! There it is! Let's go everyone- Damn it!" he cut himself off with a string of curses as he spotted a guard at the gate.

---

Laughter. A whole fit of it. Cron simply couldn't contain it when he saw the "guard". He even doubled over and began wheezing. There was no way he could breath. Hell, he even started to cry. Why? Because it was Casla. Casla of all people. Here he'd been, worriedly following Zeph the entire time. Plotting and whispering with others to distract this big, scary guard. And it was just...His sister. His vicious, older, nofunallowed sister, but still. Shaking his head, and putting himself back into the upright position he gathered himself in all mock-seriousness and stepped ahead of the group.

"I got this."

Without even waiting for approval or comments he strode right out into the opening, stopping directly in front of the guard, and within about three minutes of hushed speaking, she left. Leaving Cron all alone. Once she was out of earshot he called to the rest with a smile.

"We're in!"

---

With the signal given Leon began making his way out from a group of men who had begun crowding him pulling him into a fist fight against three men. "Fighting all you was fun while it lasted but my friend seems to have drank too much and needs help walking home." He stated cutting one of men short with a swift upper cut followed by an elbow to their back forcing a hard exhale followed by a fit of coughs as the man regained the air in his lungs. Flipping the second man Leon began shouldering his way out of the crowd exerting enough force to break free of the cage of humans.

Breaking into a jog Leon met up with the rest of the group following them into the expedition to the Onryx temple.

Not familiar with the path and the temple itself Leon found the trees and shrubbery to be very pleasant in contrast to where he was before. Though the times they had to shuffle across edges made the trip feel longer then it was Leon didn't seem to mind he liked the outdoors the smell was refreshing and the view was breath taking though he was pretty sure not every body in the group thought the same way of it as he did. So it was a bit of a disappointment to him when the group finally reached the temple.

Arriving at where he could assume was the back entrance to the temple Leon stepped up behind Zephyr curious as to why he even stopped until he saw a guard. Tempted to go invisible Leon held back by the fact Cron took the head shortly after. 'Guess that guard must be one of his siblings he mentioned.' He thought scratching his chin grinning. "Fire breath seems to have it under control here." he said following every one and hiding in the shrubbery close by.

The moment Cron signaled the departure of his sister Leon emerged grinning "Guess there's somethings your good at other then partying and drinking." he said trying to wipe the grin off his face "But until you come hunting with me you'll just be known as silver tongued fire breath." he added walking past.