[PP-F21] Hot Springs Gone Wrong (Telrenya)

[Jomei 0]

Jomei smiled at Telrenya as she stepped out of the cell and joined him in the corridor in front of the cells. Their next hurdle to jump was the chains that bound their arms. Jomei scanned the room, looking for anything that could possibly help rid of the chains. Originally, he thought that the keys would unlock the bindings, however they seemed to linked together in some way without a key, making the whole job much more difficult. Telrenya's mind seemed to be moving faster than Jomei's, who's skull was still tingling from smashing the cult member's mask. "I'll keep watch." the man said as he walked over to the staircase that led upwards, lit by a single torch in midway up to the next landing. Time to time, he would turn and check on Tel's progress. Her first idea was to try and access her menus, so after moving her arms to her front, she found that it was impossible to do open the screen, being the Cardinal system registered her as restrained. 

Jomei frowned and turned back to look back up the stairs. He could hear the murmuring of a few slow moving cult members, possibly walking in their direction. The man pressed himself against the wall, hiding himself more while keeping his eyes on the situation. In the meantime, Telrenya had managed to break her chains by using one of the sharp edges of the metal torch that hung on the wall. As Jomei heard the chains break, he turned to face her. Now free, she was able to retrieve her rapier from her inventory and use it to easily free Jomei. Rubbing away the discomfort of his wrists, Jomei turned around and smiled at Telrenya, "Quick thinking love." he said, leaning his head forward to plant a quick kiss on her cheek. The man then quickly threw up his own hand to open his menu's, summoning the black bladed rapier, St Andrew's Bane, onto his waist. "Right, lets check out that trap door." 

Jomei hurried over to the door built into the stone ground dropping to a knee, he wrapped his fingers around the cold iron ring and pulled upwards. Immediately, Jomei was hit with a gust of cool wind, "Good.. wind.. so there's probably some escape from this way.. Looks pretty dark though..." Jomei stood from the door and walked over to one of the torches that hung on the wall. The flaming metal spoke nearly sat inside of an old, rusted holster, so he pulled the torch out like pulling a weapon from its scabbard. The man then turned back to the doorway, which was about a six foot drop to the cavern below. "Alright, lets get-" "Stop them!" From the stairway, three cultists led by the middle aged man, seething with rage at the escapees. Jomei smirked at the man, giving them a quick salute with his two fingers before following Telrenya down into the cavern below. The tunnel they stood in was dark, cold and damp. Most likely another portion of the mines that had been cleared out of the crystals and fungi that brought light to most of the floor. With torch in one hand, and Telrenya's hand in the other, Jomei looked back and forth "any ideas?"

[Telrenya 0]

She knelt at the side of the passageway, staring anxiously at the inky unknown below them. Her eyes followed Jomei as the Irishman moved to retrieve a torch from the wall, flashing him a smile as he returned before the cult leader's cry pierced the still air. Telrenya's blood ran cold for a split second as the sight of the bearded man sent a chill down her spine. Urging herself to move quickly, she crouched closer to the opening and held her breath as she dropped down.

The fall wasn't nearly as bad as she had feared, and with hers and Jomei's hands intertwined the blonde steeled herself to keep moving forward. She felt in over her head; if bandits on the ninth floor were an even match for her now, running into as monster on the twenty-first would leave her having to rely on Jomei to keep the both of them safe. Not to mention that pulling out her best equipment would lead to the single conversation she wanted to avoid having with the man walking beside her.

"Well..." Telrenya spoke up to pull herself away from her wandering mind. "No." She admitted with a small chuckle. "I guess we just have to keep looking until we find a way back to Tomoika?" She suggested, using her free hand to pull up her menus and reference her map data. As expected, only the areas she had been over the past hour or so we're revealed, but luckily that included the mining town. She grimaced at the sight of the rough distance between the settlement and their current location on the map, especially since the narrow tunnels that networked throughout the floor were going to prevent them from navigating a straight shot to their destination. The air around them carried a slight, chilled breeze that brushed over their bare skin. Whether she was too distracted to notice, or it simply didn't bother her, Telrenya kept walking.

They were allowed a few minutes of peace while they traversed the dark tunnel, but as Cardinal always seemed to enjoy doing to its players, the game decided to throw them yet another curveball. It began with a faint sound: a crash loud enough to reach their ears, but practically indistinguishable as to what could have caused it. Just as Telrenya began to hesitate, another crash sounded in the distance, and a steady rumbling followed. It grew closer, soon shaking the earth beneath their feet. The blonde's grip on Jomei's hand tightened, and her free palm moved to the cave wall beside her for support as the quake had her stop in her tracks.

[Jomei 0]

The two had chosen a direction and began to walk along the dark tunnel, the only light guiding their path was the torch that Jomei held in his free hand. As Jomei had asked Telrenya about any ideas on where to go, she sadly expressed that she did not. He watched out of the corner of his eye as the woman opened her menus to check her map, only to see that they had traveled quite a bit away from their starting point in Tomoika. "Well, I heard of another town somewhere down here.. One that is a lot smaller, and most likely has nothing to do with those dragon lovers.. Though I've never found it, or even heard of where it could be.. Just wishful thinking we will find it before something finds us." he said with a sigh. 

Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to shake, slowly at first, and then violently after a loud crashing noise. Telrenya's grip on Jomei's hand tightened as she tried to keep her balance as the caverns shook below them. Another loud crash, now closer to them, with the rumbling getting louder and louder in front of them. Without waiting to see just what it was, Jomei quickly spun around and ran in the opposite direction, pulling Telrenya along with him. Finally coming into view, just barely in the darkness, a large boulder that came tumbling down the cave's tunnel towards them. The boulder, with sounds matching rolling thunder, drew closer and closer, making escape look like it would not be possible. 

Suddenly, the ground beneath them was gone, as they slipped into another hole in the center of their path, one just big enough for the two to fall into while the boulder kept continuing forward. Despite dropping the torch before falling into the hole, this falling part of the cavern was illuminated by the fungi on the walls. With Telrenya's hand still in his, he pulled the woman close and nestled her head into his chest, wrapping his arms tight around her as they hit the side of the smooth stony wall, which soon curved like a slide. As the slide began to level out, the two were dropped yet again, this time only about a foot into a pool of water. 

Jomei's head popped up from the lukewarm, murky water, making sure Telrenya was safe as well. The large cavern they were in was dimly lit by the crystals that stuck to the ceiling high above them, showing that there was a shore that the two could swim to and take a moment to decide their next course of action. After swimming to the land, Jomei laid with his back on the ground, breathing heavily. His wet, ginger hair sprawled out on the stone ground below him as he raised one of his arms up, laying it across his eyes for a moment. His teeth clenched down on each other before his fist slammed into the ground next to him, a heavy sigh passing from his lungs to his lips. "I'm sorry Tel.. I should have just ignored those cultists... I should not have.. gotten involved. I feel like I've been getting reckless lately..." He finally sat up and looked at the water they had just emerged from, a sad look on his face. "I just wanted to do something different, have a nice romantic day with you, without having to worry about anything.. But of course.. Now here we are.. stuck at the bottom of a mine.. All because I couldn't keep my damn mouth shut."

[Telrenya 0]

With adrenaline pumping through her veins once the two players had crashed into the pool below, Telrenya shook her head once it had broken the surface, her blonde ponytail whipping around behind her. She waded to the shore after Jomei, her lungs working to fill themselves with air while her heart raced in her chest. She pulled herself out of the water, scooting along the smooth stone floor with her palms flat on the ground behind her. Her chin tilted up towards the ceiling, chest and shoulders bobbing along with her light panting.

The sound of Jomei's fist coming down on the hard surface gave her a start, and she quickly looked to the Irishman beside her as he apologized with a troubled expression. Telrenya's own brows turned up in concern at his words. She frowned, putting her weight on her hands as she shifted her body closer until she was sitting directly beside him. "Nick..." She started in a soft voice, leaning to the side to press her lips against his temple. She pulled her hand up and placed it on his bare shoulder, running her thumb gently over his skin.

"Don't beat yourself up about it." She leaned forward and turned her head to try and catch his gaze, a soft smile resting on her lips. "If you hadn't done anything, they might have just gotten their hands on somebody else. Who knows how that could have turned out..." She reasoned, eyes drifting downward before giving a small shake of her head. She looked back to his olive eyes while a faint pink hue touched her cheeks. "The way that you're always so quick to step in, or help others... It's something I really love about you."

"Besides," Her smile stretched a bit wider and she looked over at the open space of the chamber they had found themselves in. Her hand slid down over his shoulderblade as she gently caressed his back. "Who says we can't have a nice romantic day together at the bottom of a mine?" She chuckled softly, hoping her light-hearted attitude might lift Jomei's spirits.

[Jomei 0]

The gentle kiss that Telrenya had placed upon his temple caused a small smile to grow on his face. The love of his life was always able to make him smile, even with the simplest of gestures. Jomei's chin slowly turned to the side as he own face had retreated back so he could look into her chocolate-brown eyes. Gently, her hand laid upon his shoulder, her thumb creating small circles on his shoulder blade, calming the man's nerves little by little, as if her touch had sucked all of the negativity out of him. Her reassuring words sparked a glimmer in his eyes as his brows heightened, causing his eyes to open up more. No matter how many times he heard it, and in whatever context, hearing that four letter word come from Telrenya's voice always made him blush slightly. 

His gaze drifted towards the ground with a hooded gaze, his smile stretching farther, pulling at the corners of his lips. "Thank you, Stel. That actually makes me feel a lot better.. Thinking about it that way." As he turned to look at the woman next to her, he noticed her smile had slightly grown, and her hand moved from his shoulder to slowly make its way down to his back, where she gently caressed the bare skin. Her soft touch sent a chill down his spine, as she mentioned that nothing was stopping the two from enjoying each other's company in this little alcove they had fallen into. Jomei's cheeks had turned slightly redder at Telrenya's comment before he turned and looked around the cave they were in. The crystals in this cave were the main source of light, jutting out of the cavern's walls and ceiling high above them. The light given off by the formations reflected off of the water. As he looked around, he had spotted another tunnel high above them, with a slightly difficult climb to get to. 

However, leaving her side at this moment was not his first priority. His green-eyed gaze returned to the woman's as his smile widened, "Good point.. It is pretty beautiful in here, and quiet.. and secluded." With each word he spoke to describe the cave, his voice had lowered into a whisper, his face drew closer towards Telrenya, slowly. The lids of his eyes closed and his smirk had retracted as his lips slightly parted, pressing into Telrenya's with a passion behind it. Jomei's body turned slightly as he brought the arm on his opposite side across from him, placing his hand upon the woman's exposed hip. After a moment, his lips parted from hers, yet only for a second, before locking together again with a hotter emotion that before. 

[Telrenya 0]

She spent a moment taking in their surroundings as well: from the soft white light of the crystals to the more subtle, colorful glow of the fluorescent fungi and algae that sparsely populated the cavern. The water that stretched to form a pool in front of them was still, and with the brief silence that came over them Telrenya felt a strange sense of comfort. No matter where she found herself, Jomei's presence seemed to bring her a strength that she wasn't sure she was capable of otherwise. She wasn't so naive as to believe that they were invincible, no, but it was times like these that she wanted to struggle alongside him all the more. Despite the trials that they've already faced, the immediate dangers that awaited them, and the overwhelming number of challenges that stood between them and their freedom, she knew at that moment that she wouldn't stop fighting for a future where they could live as Nick and Estelle.

She felt his olive eyes on her again, and she turned to meet the gentle gaze that warmed her heart. When his voice grew quieter and his face drew nearer, Telrenya felt herself frozen in place. Her pulse quickened as their lips met with an overwhelming intensity. Her own lids slid closed and she relaxed into their kiss, feeling the warmth of his palm resting on her skin. Almost on its own, her hand lifted from the ground beside her and crossed her body as it gravitated towards the man, pulling up and gliding her fingers past his cheek. Her tips weaved into the unruly orange locks at the back of his head while the heel of her palm met the corner of his jaw. Telrenya met his passion with a rush of her own, the heated exchange causing her cheeks to flush.

[Jomei 0]

Telrenya had responded with a similar passion driving her kiss and Jomei had. With one hand still placed on his back, her other trailed up from the ground, the tips of her fingers gently grazing over his cheek bone and the heel of her hand pressing against his jaw. Jomei could feel his body heating up, along with his face from the flush on his cheeks. His fingers that ran along the side of her hip slowly clenched down, the nails at the tips of his fingers raking against her bare skin for a moment. Realizing the situation that the two were in and the man's fingers released their driven grip at the woman's flesh. Slowly, his lips parted from hers, the blush across the bridge of his nose still lingered. Despite the man's deep desire to remain with Telrenya here, and for the two to continue to express their passion for each other, it was neither the time nor the place for this. "As.. romantic as we could make any situation... We should still try to get out of here. And I wouldn't be surprised if that cult was out looking for us now." 

The man stood up from his seat on the damp, stone floor, reaching a hand downwards to assist Telrenya in standing as well. Once she was standing beside him, he shone a quick smile at the girl. He took one quick look downwards, remembering, yet again, that the two were still in their bathing suits. The Irishman chuckled before taking a couple of steps back, "We should.. also switch into our regular clothes again.. before I regret my decision to get moving." he said, the blush on his cheeks deepening as he turned his back on the girl. With a swipe of his hand, the small opaque menu opened in front of him. Going through his menu, the man reached his swimsuit. Taking a quick look over his shoulder, he made sure Telrenya was turned around, as not to cause the girl to overheat with blushing. He then tapped on the item, the swimsuit disappearing, leaving him in a simple pair of grey underwear. Quickly scrolling through the list, he wasted no time selecting his battle attire, which appeared over his body in a flash of white light. 

After giving the blonde a moment to finish changing herself, Jomei turned around, making sure to retrieve his rapier as well. "Alright.. now it looks like we can get up that way. Theres a path, but it looks a little steep, so we will have to be careful." 

[Telrenya 0]

Her skin tingled under his touch, though the sensation was not brought about by Cardinal's pain dampeners. For a moment, Telrenya had lost herself and it seemed that Jomei was the one to come to his senses first as he pulled away with a heat to match her own spread across his lightly-freckled cheeks. With her heart still racing inside of her chest, her chocolate eyes met his olive and she took on a flustered expression. "R-right!" She stammered at first before letting out a small laugh that dispersed some of her nerves.

She placed her hand in his to pull herself to her feet as well, and his next words caused another scarlet hue to dust the skin on her cheeks. "Yeah... Good idea." She chuckled again, turning and summoning her own menus in front of her. She scrolled through to her equipment, dismissing the red-and-white swimsuit to leave her in a simple set of white underwear. Her blonde hair fell from the ponytail it had been fastened into and spilled over her shoulders while she hurriedly moved to her inventory to locate her familiar white-and-gold battle attire that had more or less become her signature appearance. With Radiant Dawn equipped at her hip and Erin's Favor hanging from her wrist, Telrenya's eyes caught on the set of leather armor whose icon sat beside the now empty selection. She almost wished she could equip that set of gear, as she had found it was actually much easier to move around in, but the sight of it also brought back memories from the ninth floor, and a knot of guilt quickly returned to rest in her stomach.

As conflicted as she was with all of the thoughts and feelings running through her mind, Telrenya turned back to face the Irishman as he pointed out a path for them to take. Thankful for the distraction, she gave a small nod. "At least it's something." She wore a small smile as she made her way towards the wall and the uneven path that stuck out from the cave wall. She took in a breath before starting her way up, taking careful steps in the not-so-generous space that was provided on the way to the tunnel's entrance. When she had eventually reached the top, she kept a hand against the cave wall and let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding once there was a wider, closed space of ground beneath her feet. She waited a moment for Jomei to join her, but her eyes were drawn down the length of the tunnel laid out ahead of them. Clinging to the passageway's walls, ceiling, and even along the ground were much denser packs of fluorescent moss and algae that lit their way with soft, cool hues of greens, blues, and purples. "Wow..." Telrenya breathed out, the mixture of colors kissing her skin and the softly tinting the blank canvas of her white clothing.

[Jomei 0]

With the path now clear for the two, the treacherous journey up the wall began, Telrenya leading the way. Jomei watched as the woman's feet carefully traversed the narrow passageway, the couple hugging the wall as they walked upwards. One wrong step and they could be falling back to the bottom of the cavern. Jomei gripped at the wall of the smooth wall, trying to find something to grab onto in case he lost his balance. There were not many rocks jutting out of the wall at their level, making the trip much harder than expected. However, despite a few scares on the way up, Telrenya had finally reached the mouth of the next tunnel, Jomei soon following after her. Her eyes seemed to be fixated on something, while various colors tinted her skin and clothes. The curious man finally turned the corner into the tunnel, letting out a breath of his own, as his eyes took in what Telrenya was taken aback by. 

The walls of the cavern ahead were covered in different forms of flora and algae, all radiating a different color that bounced off of the stone walls, bathing everything in a rainbow array. Jomei's own eyes went wide with the beautiful site. With a smile on his face, Jomei looked to the woman next to him, his fingers softly intertwining with hers before walking forward with her by his side. His gaze shifted back and forth from all the different arrangements of fungi, taking in all of the colors they they gave off. His ears would perk every could of steps, thinking he heard some sort of puffing noise, though he pushed it off as just being all in his head. One thing bothered Jomei though.. All of the others tunnels in the cave were wiped of most of the algae and fungi.. what made this one different, especially if there was a path. 

Suddenly, the ginger felt a discomfort in his chest, causing a cough to push its way up from his lungs. At first, it was only one or two small coughs, but it soon turned into a fit, as if trapped in smoke. His eyes soon noticed the small indicator next to his health bar, that said he was poisoned, and his health began to drop very slowly. Tightening his grip on Tel's hand, he hurried through the tunnel as quickly as he could, before the girl took too much damage. The walls became more and more narrow and tight, making it harder to traverse quickly. With one deep breath, Jomei held his breath in, and tried to avoid coughing as he pushed through one last bunch of overgrown fungi that had been blocking the exit. Fresh air again, Jomei released his breath and fell to his knees, coughing. Now free of the invisible gas that the small plants gave off, the poison indicator slowly faded, leaving the two safe for now. "Is everything in this cave trying to kill us?" he said with a couple more coughs before taking in another deep breath, "Though.. I doubt the cultists will follow us through there." 

[Telrenya 0]

Returning the gentle hold of Jomei's hand, Telrenya hadn't expected anything out of the ordinary, simply enjoying the soft, colorful glow that painted the cave walls. But as the two players were afflicted by the invisible toxins that filled the air, she felt the same, sharp tightness in her chest as if her avatar were trying to reject what filled her lungs. Jomei had caught on to the severity of the situation more quickly than she, pulling her along while her own body forced the poisonous air out with successive coughs.

The two managed to escape the lethal passageway, emerging on the other side of the fungi-filled tunnel. Telrenya leaned over, one hand placed on her knee while the other still held tightly onto Jomei's. Her lungs tried to breathe in the untainted air in between dispelling the last of the poison, and she took a few moments longer to catch her breath before speaking. "If we're lucky, maybe the AI is bad enough that Cardinal will get rid of them for us." She only half-joked, with a strained chuckle. She picked her head up, taking in their new surroundings in hopes that there wasn't any more immediate danger lurking nearby.

There was a stillness in the air, but not a foreboding one. The chamber that they had ended up in was just as well-lit as most of the underground spaces they'd traversed. The space was large, but it wasn't as empty as Telrenya had been expecting. "Whoa... What are these?" Chocolate-brown eyes danced curiously between the numerous stone slabs that protruded two or three feet out of the ground. At least twenty identical statues, and scattered around without a uniformity to their placement, Telrenya felt a momentary sense of dread at the vague resemblance they bore to tombstones. Straightening her spine and waiting until Jomei had recovered beside her, she moved hesitantly towards the one closest to them a few feet away. The carved stone was curved inward on each side with a flat top, and none of them seemed to bear any descriptive or identifying markings.

Atop the statue, she spotted what looked like a small, circular button. Before the curious hand she reached out made contact with it, she cast a glance to the Irishman beside her, stopping to silently confirm her action so as not to rush into any possible danger without his awareness. Once she received that reassurance, her fingertips carefully rested on the button a moment until she pressed down.

The trigger locked in place, and the stone slab vibrated ever-so-slightly while a sound escaped it. A quick melody played: the simplest of tunes that couldn't have been more than ten notes in length before the sound stopped and the button sprung back up to its original position. Telrenya simply blinked in surprise, unsure of what to make of the peculiar object and the small chime it had sung.

[Jomei 0]

Jomei scratched at his chin as he slowly walked forward, following after Telrenya who had gone to investigate the strange stone structure that took center stage in this portion of the cavern. About twenty pedestal-like stones stuck out from the ground, all scattered about the place. Olive eyes scanned one of the structures as he passed it, his gloved fingers gliding along the smooth surface. The stone they were made of matched that of the rest of the floor, yet it seemed man made, carved into this small obelisk like shape. "What the hell.." he said under his breath. Monuments of some type? he thought, possibly tombstones to represent the burial places of some lost civilization gone decades ago.. at least, that's what his imagination came up with as some possible lore for this floor. It would not be the first time he discovered a portion of Aincrad, designed to look as though it had been there for centuries, yet was coded into the system the same time as everything else.

Jomei's gaze turned to look to Telrenya, who had been searching the same area for any sort of clue to what they were looking at. That was when she seemed to notice something atop the structure, a small pressure plate. Returning his attention to the obelisk he stood next to, he ran his hand atop the flat surface of the head of the structure, feeling the same sort of give on his own. Did they all have these buttons built in? Jomei looked back over to Telrenya yet again, who seemed to be looking to him for approval to attempt to press the button. The Irishman responded with a hesitant nod, which resulted in the woman pressing her fingers into the button.

The stone began to vibrate as the button clicked into place, activating whatever mechanism it held. After shaking for a short moment, a short melody sounded out. The notes sounded as if they came from age old organ-like pipes, which Jomei soon noticed were protruding from the ground, all around the large bunch of stones. Once the music had ended, Jomei looked to Telrenya with a concerned look, just what did this all mean. Placing his hand upon the stone he stood next to, he decided to press the plate down as well. Again, the stone shook for a moment before sounding out another melody, this one much different than the first. As the song ended, both the button he had pressed, as well as the one Telrenya had pressed down, unlocked, and the buttons returned to their upright state. "Hm.. Maybe we should try the rest of these.. Before making any assumptions." 

[Telrenya 0]

With a nod of her head, Telrenya moved a few steps further into the chamber to another statue. She was less hesitant now, as the melodies hadn't seemed to call for any traps, monsters, or other unfriendly surprises, and so she reached out to the next structure and pressing down on the identical switch. The mechanism behaved exactly the same, yet a strikingly different tune carried through the room, this one a bit faster than the last, featuring more high notes in the small number that played. Her eyes turned back up to Jomei before taking a short glance around the room. When the Irishman followed suit once more to activate another statue, Telrenya took on a thoughtful expression. The encounter was peculiar, but seemed harmless, and for that she was grateful. Still, they couldn't very well go back the way they came, and the chamber didn't look to have any other paths for them to take.

The couple tried another set of tunes, and a second or two after Jomei's had finished playing the blonde's eyes widened slightly with look of recognition, searching his for something similar. If she wasn't mistaken, it had matched the same as the second statue they had tried, and so her curiosity quickly nagged at her while it wanted to know what would happen if the matching melodies were played in tandem.

She hurried over to the statue that Jomei and first approached, standing beside it and letting out a small chuckle. "I'm not crazy, right? I think that was the same as this one." She reached out to the switch placed at the top of the stone, hovering over it while she confirmed her plan with him. "Want to try them together?"

[Jomei 0]

With his hand pressing on another stone that he had not yet pressed in, he listened to the melody that played out, trying to find a puzzle within the notes that sounded out. However, halfway through the short tune, his gaze shot to the pedestal he stood at for a moment, before looking back to a previous one. He had definitely moved to another stone.. yet the songs were the same. The ginger then turned to look at Telrenya, who seemed to notice the strange coincidence as well. Was this part of the puzzle they were trying to solve? As the last note sounded out, and a moment of silence passed, Telrenya asked Jomei to confirm if they had, in fact, just heard the same melody from before. Jomei confidently nodded his head, "Yeah.. no doubt about it. They were the same." After approaching the prior obelisk that played the same notes when pressed, she wondered if the two should try pressing them at the same time. Looking between his and Tel's stones, he nodded. "Its worth a shot." 

His chin fell and rose as he offered Telrenya a quick nod as to when to press down on the flat top of the stone. In the same moment, Jomei pressed his down. The single melody played out, sounding stronger than they had on their own. The different pipes that created the noise sang in tune with eachother as the melody echoed throughout the large cavern. The two pedestals that Jomei and Telrenya had pressed in began to vibrate and slowly sank into the stone floor until they were no longer visible. Jomei looked up to Telrenya with a grin, "Looks like that worked. Good thinking." he said warmly "So it looks like we just have to match them up... lets see if we can't find the one similar to the first one you pressed." 

[Telrenya 0]

Telrenya took a cautious half-step backwards when the statues rumbled slightly and sank themselves into the ground. Once again, the room was still with no signs of danger, and so she allowed herself to relax again. 'All of the excitement today's got me jumpy...' She thought with an inward sigh. 'I really hope we can make it back to those hot springs sometime.'

"Oh!" She exclaimed, realizing the puzzle's layout. "It's like a memory game." She smiled, moving around the room with a small spring in her step until she reached a stone slab they had not yet activated. The couple continued to try statues until their trained ears recognized one of the short tunes and they then moved to play the melodies together. The cycle repeated, and they found the matches more quickly as fewer statues remained unplayed. Finally, once they were left with only two remaining in the otherwise empty chamber, the organ pipes sung the final pair. A dull rumbling sound persisted even after the stone was lowered into the earth. On the opposite side of the room from which they entered, a section of stone about the width of a standard door slid downward, stone scraping against stone until the rectangular piece of wall sunk into the ground just as the statues had before it.

Telrenya could spot the familiar glow of enchanted crystals illuminating a set of smooth stone steps leading upward. She gravitated towards the Irishman, turning her attention from the new passage over to Jomei. "Well, that wasn't so bad." She commented with a wide smile. Her fingers laced together in front of her and turned outward with a short stretch of her arms in front of her. "Hopefully we find a way back to town soon. I don't even know how long it's been since we left the hot springs."

[Jomei 0]

The mood seemed to lighten a bit once the couple realized that the whole puzzle was as simple as a memory game. Trial and error lead the two to match up all of the melodies, causing the small stone pillars to sink back into the stone. With each button they pressed, Jomei would listen to the notes that played out, storing the ideas in the back of his mind for future use. He wondered just who had designed the puzzle, and how much of a coincidence it was that the two players, both musicians in their past lives, would run into a puzzle that depended on music. 

As the last stones sank back into the ground, a rumbling from the wall on the far side of the cavern opposite to them began to shake as well, stone chipping as a rectangular slab lowered into the ground, revealing another passage for the two. A wave of relief passed over Jomei when he saw that the new tunnel was illuminated in a similar way to those just around the town, and not dark or filled with poisonous fungi. "Come on, lets see where that leads." Jomei said looking to Telrenya as he approached her with a smile on his face. Passing through the newly formed door, the cavern was quiet, and did not seem to contain any immediate dangers as the previous one did. The passage did have a natural incline though, which was a good sign that they were making their way back towards the surface.. or in this floors case, the same level where Tomoiko was located. 

As they continued upwards, the couple found themselves entering another large cavern, this one much different than the previous few. Along the walls were houses and buildings, built atop of each other on scaffolding. Despite being civilization for sure, it looked nothing like the main settlement they had started in. Was this the other town he had heard of? Walking forward, Jomei began to slowly explore, before being approached by three characters, each holding a different weapon pointed at Jomei.
"You came from the closed off passage! Are you with the Cult!?" 
"No No!" he said back, putting his hands up in front of him. "We just escaped from them, we aren't with them we swear." 
"Why the hell did they have you captive then? Its not like them to take prisoners." 
"Because I was part of the team that defeated Tesseleth."

Looking at each other, the three townsfolk lowered their weapons, "Sorry about that.. We are just a bit on edge with this cult roaming the area. We felt safe hiding from Tesseleth.. but after he was defeated, and we opened up our doors towards Tomoiko, the cult began their prowl, and ended up passing through our town. Called us all heathens for not giving up offering to the dragon while he was around. They had taken out a few of us, but we were able to push them back and seal off the passageways."

Jomei looked over to Telrenya with a look of concern in his face, noticing the small logo for the Holy Dragon Alliance that hovered next to her health bar, causing a smirk to form on his lips. He turned back to the villagers, "We need passage back to Tomoiko if you can show us the way. As the leader of the Holy Dragon Alliance, I can assure you protection from the followers of Tesseleth, so you could reopen trade routes with the main settlement." 

The villagers looked at each other again, before they smiled and turned back to the players. "Alright. The two of you can rest up if you'd like for a bit.. I'm sure your prison break was strenuous. Once you both are ready, we will show you the way back to Tomoiko."

[Telrenya 0]

When they came upon the wide open space of the large cavern, Telrenya didn't have more than a few seconds to look around before they were met with more weapons pointed towards them. Just as her nerves were beginning to subside with the lack of danger the last chamber had thrust upon them, they were back in a flash and her shoulders went rigid. She took on a defensive stance similar to Jomei's as one of the villagers cast a suspicious glance past the Irishman, towards her. Luckily, he seemed to handle the talking here and the figures across from them soon eased up. Telrenya let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding in a small sigh of relief.

With negotiations settled and the players seemingly free to traverse the small town and take a moment to rest, she seemed to realize the implications of Jomei's agreement. "Wait, are we going back and taking that cult head-on?" It was hard to hide the incredulous tone in her voice as the thought of such a task filled her with worry. As Telrenya and Jomei continued to discuss their plan of action to get them back to Tomoiko, they soon came across a humble structure sitting in the center of the small town tucked away in the cavern. A large stone carving stood, much less polished and refined than those featured in the plazas of busy main settlements like the Town of Beginnings or Taft, that depicted a lone, featureless adventurer as he drove his sword into the heart of a great dragon. It was clear that the people who took refuge in this meager town were overjoyed for the tyrant's defeat, perhaps in a different way than the miners of Tomoiko. In fact, it was possible that Jomei and others who had aided in felling the boss monster might very well be hailed as heroes, if the circumstances of their arrival had not been so unfavorable.

A still, shallow pool of clear water encircled the monument, bordered by a raised ledge, the surface of which was made to be much more level and smooth than the statue itself. Telrenya gazed at the structure for a few moments before moving to take a seat at the edge. The couple hadn't been in the vicinity of the statue for more than a minute or two when a young voice called out.

"Mama! Mama, look!" A young girl, maybe ten years at most, held an arm extended, finger pointed towards the pair of players while the other tugged at the blouse of a woman walking by her side. "Are they adventurers? Like the ones who beat Tesseleth?" Her large brown eyes sparkled as they danced between Jomei, Telrenya, and what must have been the girl's mother. The woman wore a soft smile, reaching a hand over to lower the girl's while she said something about minding her manners in a hushed voice. The rest of what she said to her daughter was something Telrenya couldn't quite catch, but as they continued walking though the square the girl's face seemed to light up all over again and she turned her attention back to the players, clutching onto the edge of her mother's blouse to guide her distracted steps. A smile stretched across her face, and her free hand lifted back up into a wave that lasted several seconds until she was forced to turn herself back forward and the NPCs continued on their way.

Telrenya watched the exchange with curiosity, taking on a small smile of her own at the girl's apparent fascination and giving a glance towards Jomei, as she considered him the one among them who was deserving of the adoration. When the little girl waved towards them Telrenya's smile became a bit warmer and she found herself lifting her hand in a small wave back. As they were then left alone again in the small plaza, the blonde let out a giggle. "That was too cute."

[Jomei 0]

Jomei turned to look at Telrenya, shaking his head. "No, I don't plan on starting a war. But these people lived here to get away from Tesseleth while he was alive. Now the cultists have ruined their peaceful living. I merely am offering my own assistance in case it is needed." The man slowly began to walk with the blonde woman, trying to clear his plan as not to worry her about possibly fighting off the guild of NPCs they had just escaped from. "If the guild was much larger, it would be easy to disperse a couple of members to watch over the town, and even eventually take out the cult if possible.. But at this point in time, all we can do is just see how we can help to keep them safe. Though, as long as the passageway was closed behind us, that would be a good start to keeping them separated." Jomei stood with his hand on his chin, determining different ideas that Charko could keep the cult out. 

In the center of the town, a large statue erected from the center of round pool. His olive gaze trailed up the statue, which was of a warrior plunging his blade deep into the chest of a dragon. Jomei immediately recognized the dragon as the mighty Tesseleth, though the warrior ending his life seemed to be a simple depiction of a knight, featureless in the face with very generic weapons and armor. Jomei's lips parted, his mouth hanging open in slight shock. The monument had been constructed as a celebration of Tesseleth's defeat by the brave adventurers who took on the challenge of fighting him.. and Jomei was one of them. He felt appreciated, to say in the least. Though the warrior depicted did not have any of his features, and his name was not mentioned on any plaque, he knew that this was a thank you to him and the rest of the front liners. 

With his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face, Jomei turned when he heard the sound of a young girl calling attention to something. As he looked over, he saw the little girl pointing in their direction, asking if they were adventurers, specifically ones who took on the boss. Jomei's eyes went wide for a moment, before returning a bright smile to the girl. After her mother dismissed the girl's silly antics with talks of manners, the two began to walk off, before waving happily at the couple. Jomei nearly chuckled with a grin, as Telrenya waved to the small girl. Looking down to the woman who sat on the edge of the fountain, keeping the same bright smile, he placed a hand on her shoulder, gently caressing at her back with his thumb. "Yeah.." he simply said, the smile still on his face, not faltering. 

"Say, Estelle... I was wondering." Jomei said, rubbing the nape of his neck with his free hand. "The thought had occurred to me.. while I was away.. I just didn't have the chance to really ask. I mean.. I know you come over a lot and you have a key and all.. but I.. well." the man took in a quick breath through his nostrils, trying to shake away the few nerves that had acted up when trying to get to his point. "I was wondering if you wanted to.. actually move in with me, and we could.. you know.. it could be our house" Jomei's olive eyes locked with Telrenya's once again, smiling brightly. 

After the two had discussed the proposition, the three NPCs who had greeted them from before approached the two players. "We are ready to lead you both back to the town whenever you are. Should be a quiet trip, since the rest of the cult is probably distracted with still trying to follow you the other way. We can lead you halfway up the path, and then it should be a straight shot back to Tomoiko." Jomei nodded his head, "Alright, lead the way then."

[Telrenya 0]

Telrenya's hand moved up to find Jomei's, resting her fingers atop his while she enjoyed the feeling of his gentle touch. She looked up to him with a curiosity when he addressed her, head tilting a bit to one side with the nervous way he spoke at first. When he got out the question, asking if she wanted to live together with him in the the house in Taft she had grown so familiar with, Telrenya's eyes widened slightly while they stared back into his. A very faint tint of pink touched her cheeks, and she had just opened her mouth to ask the Irishman if he was sure to offer her such a thing before she held her tongue. At this point, it would be silly of her to question his words.

Instead, the corners of her mouth stretched into a wide smile that matched Jomei's brightness. A stint of her own bashfulness caused her to avert her gaze, dropping it to her lap where her free hand rested and began to play with the edge of her skirt. Her smile lingered along with the warmth in her heart, and when she spoke up there was a clear hint of shyness in her voice. "If...if you'd really be okay with that..." Despite the excitement that bubbled inside of her, it seems she couldn't help herself from expressing just the slightest bit of hesitation, if for nothing else but politeness. Her fingers curled lightly around Jomei's on her shoulder and she lifted her chin back up to meet his olive eyes again. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, "I would...really love that."

In a fluid motion, Telrenya lifted herself from the edge of the fountain and closed the short distance between the two. Her arms slipped past the edges of the cloak that fell at Jomei's sides and palms pressed against his back as she held herself against his taller frame. With her temple resting against his chest , her shoulders bobbed when a small chuckle escaped her. "Thank you, Nick." Though the words would likely be deemed unnecessary, she offered them anyway. Her volume dropped with the combination of their closeness and her shyness. "That sounds nice...l-living together, with you." She couldn't keep herself from pausing or stammering slightly as she forced the thought out into the air, but another small laugh did well to disperse her nerves.

The NPCs that approached the couple didn't seem fazed by their embrace, and when Telrenya heard the voice of one speak up to address them, the blonde gave a small start. She pulled away a bit, her hands still lingering on Jomei's hips while she turned to face the trio. "Ah, r-right." Her head was caught between their previous conversation and the task of escorting the townspeople that would guide them back towards the main settlement. Telrenya took half a step to Jomei's side, her hand reaching for his while she stood beside him.

[Jomei 0]

The blonde's eyes went wide for a moment, searching for the words to reply to Jomei with he seemed. Setting for a warm smile, her shyness caused her gaze to [censored] from Jomei's for a moment, before she finally spoke up, making sure that it would be alright with Jomei to offer such a thing. The Irishman chuckled, the fingers her hand rested upon gently pressing into the muscles of the girl's shoulder. "I'm sure. It's definitely what I want" he simply said, his voice soft, chuckling along with his words. Despite the hesitation, she happily accepted his invitation to live with him. The weight of doubt Jomei held on his shoulders disappeared with her answer. Only just a short while ago, the girl's shy personality kept her from sharing a bed with Jomei. It was not until after their close call with the player killer Death Adder did they finally spend the night together. He thought, upon asking, that a similar feeling would overcome her, and she would deny his invitation. However, to his surprise, she agreed to live with the man. 

The feeling of fluttering in his stomach started up as the woman rose to her feet and looked up into the man's eyes. The smile on his face only grew as she stepped forward, her arms wrapping around him. Jomei returned the gesture, placing his arms around the girl's shoulders, and kissing her on the top of her head. "You don't have to thank me." he said with a small laugh. As the two embraced, the three NPCs from before approached Jomei and Telrenya, telling them that they were ready to escort them towards Tomoiko whenever they were ready. Taken slightly by surprise, Jomei turned his body to face them, his hand still resting upon Telrenya's upper back. As the group turned to lead Jomei and Telrenya away, he felt the girl's fingers graze upon his knuckles. Jomei looked over his shoulder at the woman with a smile, the tips of his fingers running along her palm before he extended them, filling in the spaces in between her own fingers, and grabbing hold of her hand. 

On the opposite side of the town, Jomei and Telrenya were led into a large wooden building at the base of a tall tower of scaffolding, right up against the stone wall. Entering the door, it seemed to be the entrance to an old mine shaft, yet re-purposed as the only means of entrance and exit to the city, usually for trading purposes. Standing at the iron barred gate, which was built into the mouth of the tunnel, were two guards. With a nod from the man who seemed to be leading the group of NPCs, the guards opened the gate, and were replaced by the two who had originally accompanied him. Jomei and Telrenya stepped through the gate, along with the man and the two guards. "The cult does not come down here much anymore.. but we built up the gate and had it guarded just in case. They have not been able to get inside for awhile, but whenever they show up, it turns out to be a real pain, especially if we need to make a trip to the central city. Hopefully things will change now." 

The path was long and winding, with many other paths going off to other veins of the mine, making it easy for anyone to lose themselves. However, thanks to their escorts, the two players eventually were led to the exit, which was a small crack in the wall, enough for one person to slip through at a time. "We had another path leading between the two cities, before the cult. But we decided to close it off to avoid being pestered every day. Its helped, for the most part. We hope you can keep your promise to help keep the cult off of our backs a bit.. if they find out we helped you both escape, it could mean trouble for us." Jomei nodded his head confidently, "We will do what we can to make sure you are kept safe. If we run into the cult's leader again, we will try to take care of him and keep him away from Charko." 

With a polite bow of his head, thanking Jomei for the kind promise, he let the two players go through the crack in the wall, bidding them farewell. Jomei passed through the small passage way, emerging into another dark tunnel. After helping Telrenya through the hole, he looked towards the rest of the tunnel that inclined upwards, a soft light ahead. "Guess that's the way back to Tomoiko." 

[Telrenya 0]

Telrenya followed along the path in relative silence, listening to the small pieces of conversation that the townspeople of Charko exchanged with Jomei. She assumed they had reached the half-way point, or close to it, when they separated from their escorts. The couple had just made their way through a narrow passage and Telrenya spotted the light in the distance that Jomei referred to. She gave a nod of her head, "Mm, I sure hope so." Her tone was light-hearted, without reason to doubt the NPCs directions.

They continued hand-in-hand, the dark tunnels not much different than the many others they had traversed throughout the day. After losing herself in thought for a short while, she gave Jomei's hand a gentle squeeze. "I know this isn't really what you planned for today," She started, chocolate eyes watching the ground in front of her feet before casting a sidelong glance to the man by her side. Her gaze only held on him for a short time before she turned back forward, a hint of shyness in her voice that steadily dropped in volume. "but I just wanted to say, well, I still enjoyed it. It sounds kind of cheesy, but...if it's with you, I'm happy no matter where we are or what we're doing." At this point her cheeks were tinted pink with a blush that ran across the bridge of her nose. A moment of silence hung, and then she hurried thought of something to add in an attempt to take away the embarrassment that the heartfelt sentiment had left her with. "But I mean, I wouldn't mind coming back to the hot springs sometime. It was really nice." She said with a small chuckle.