Night 73: Basement: Grand Ballroom

[sixth_attack]

[From here.]

A dizzying moment later and Sechs found himself once again beneath the glorious chandelier of the basement's impressive ballroom. The sudden brightness of his new surroundings stung his eyes at first. Once his senses adapted, Sechs turned to check to see if his allies had made it through ok. "You two alright?"

Seeing they had arrived in one piece, the Replica promptly redid the usual procedure of feeding the teleportation ring a drop of his blood. By then Sechs had less difficulty using his machete to cut into the base of his thumb, but the sharp pain and the nagging ache which followed afterwards still bugged him. Just how many more times would he have to do this bloody routine before he found freedom from this damned place?

Once the ring was fed, Sechs turned his attention towards the imposing door from across the ballroom. The marble-set gateway loomed before them, like a silent opponent awaiting their first move. Sechs' curiosity had been vexed by the enigmatic door ever since he laid eyes on it two nights ago. Unsheathing the ornamental sword from his belt, Sechs made a predatory bee-line for the door and held up the artifact beside one of its empty indentations. The sword made a perfect fit.

Grinning, Sechs turned towards his allies. "Hey! This sword definitely fits as a key!" he called. Turning his attention to Aigis, he added, "Now let's give that shield a try!"

Comments

[ever_loyal_dog]

Soushi was accustomed to a certain level of formality when interacting with others, but as they seemed in such a hurry, it appeared introductions had to be forgone. He opened his mouth to greet the woman he remembered as little more than a flurry of slashes and a giant summoned creature, but they were already preparing for some sort of ritual. He gratefully accepted the map Sechs offered, looking over it for a moment in the dim light before folding it carefully and tucking it into his waistband. Following the girl(he was almost sure he remembered Sechs calling her Ai-something)'s example, he tentatively took hold of Sechs' arm. Despite their strangeness, these people didn't waste time, another trait Soushi was infinitely pleased with.

"Ah. Thank you Sechs-san. I truly appreciate it," he tried to say, but wasn't sure how much of his words were lost in the next few disorienting moments, as they traveled instantly back to the room they'd appeared in last night. Soushi was immediately on the defensive, releasing Sechs' arm and half-drawing his sword as he looked around the room, certain that someone might try to ambush them the way he'd been assigned to last night.

He was startled once again by Sechs' behavior as the man seemed to know exactly where they were going and identified a large door, then placed some sort of artifact into what looked to be some kind of antiquated keyhole. So this was the secret of the basement? What was beyond the door?

The other half of the key, apparently, was in the woman's hands; a shield much too small to be of any practical use, but one that certainly would fit the strange indentation on the other part of the door. Soushi sheathed his sword, relaxing his guard a bit, then followed. Curiosity drove him, more than anything else. He'd been lucky, he knew, to have run into these two. It was more answers than he'd seen in a week straight of working on his own. If they'd recovered the keys to an area others hadn't yet explored, perhaps they truly did stand a good chance of getting the better of this place.

[no_dont_go]

The sketches were a great boon and Aigis accepted it with a grateful bow of her head before stowing it away in her pocket. The third floor. Where she could go later to find the I.R.I.S...

But for now, they were off to the basement in the same way they had arrived the night before. It was something she was growing used to but nothing she could fully adapt to. As soon as she was steady on her feet and they could gaze around the room the door they had left to enter was easy to spot. The shield in her hands suddenly seemed to hold some weight and she felt her heart beating faster.

She moved with Sechs to the gorgeously carved door and placed her piece of the puzzle into the door. It fit perfectly, and with both artifacts inserted the doors clicked. Taking a deep breath, Aigis put her hand on the door and pulled it open to let them inside.

[to here (with mod permission for 3)]