Kilroos (Rise of the Guardians)

Julius panted and brushed the few sweaty bangs out of his eyes. He walked up to Xerxes and placed his head softly on the man's arm. "I'm glad you're okay Xerxes." He then turned to Sasha and gave her a tight hug, quickly letting go, "Thank you Sasha for helping him." He smiled and then followed the princess along inside the library. The wraiths looked terrifying but they didn't seem to mean harm... yet. The young king looked up at the giant librarian and the ghost seemed to simply enjoy his job "If there's a Dark Swamps section, does that mean there's a Mist Mountains section?" He quietly inquired to the princess as they began making their way to the map section.

Sasha breathed heavily, it has been a long time since she had run that fast, specially after pulling such weight with her powers. She looked at everyone, glad that they all made it in one piece at the top. Edon thanked her, first, she looked around assuming he wasn't talking to her. Then back to him as she realised he was actually talking to her, sparkles could be seen on her eyes, she was really happy. Sasha noded and said "No problem!" as she waved her arm to him giving a warm smile.

She looked at Roy like "HE THANKED ME!!" as if it was a huge life achievement. Then... she saw Julius getting near her, she didn't speak up waitig for the young king to talk to her or something. But she didn't expect what came next, suddenly his arms were around her. Sasha's face got red as a tomato and she couldn't say a word, even tho it was a short hug, she didn't know why it made her blush so hard. The girl waved nervously trying to say "you're welcome" but those words couldn't get out of her mouth. Instinctively she looked at Roy again and immediately regreted her decision. Quickly turning her back on him covering her face she said "Books! books! how intersting! right?, let's go hug- check some of them over there, whatdoyouthinkRoy?" she cleared her throat "Great! let's go!" Sasha then started to walk around the gigantic library, not really knowing where she would end up, simply looking around at the huge variety of books. Maybe one of them will call her attention.

Zayne was the happiest kitty alive when he crossed the top. That Gemini lady was awfully quick, which for some reason made Zayne sort of aroused. He responded to Cassie's excitement by bouncing around and standing up on his hind legs for a few seconds. Following behind his guardian, Zayne kept nudging the palm of her hand with his wet nose.

Once inside, the princess eyeballed around for a few seconds looking for the librarian. Then a spooky ghostie came out of nowhere!! If Zayne had a magical ghost sucking vacuum cleaner, that ghost would've been sucked in in no time, but thankfully for the spooky specter, it was the librarian that they had come to see. Zayne didn't really pay attention to many of the details about the maps and danger and stuff. He kept finding himself staring at some of the female's... no-no areas given his height over them. It took some effort and willpower to keep himself from having any crazy thoughts. Damn that Gemini.

Finally snapping out of his sexy trance, Zayne spoke to Cassie, "Caaassssiiiieeeee!! Whaddaya wanna learn first?"

In the map room Edon was flipping through the bloodied papers. Some of them had enough dried blood on them that is was almost useless, but about the fourth map that Edon picked up spoke of gravedigger sites. Treasure maps? Even if Edon wanted to take them he couldn’t. None of the articles in the library can be “Checked” out. They can be looked at, but the photographic memory would be what they would need. A wraith moved under Edon. The little wraith had bits and pieces of paper that it was trying to put together on a table in the middle of the room. On the far end of the room was another door that led into a treasury room. A small wraith was holding several little bits and baubles caught the eye of Edon now. Reason why was one of the pieces of jewelry the small wraith had seemed to shine brighter than the others to Edon. A bracelet. It was a shark tooth bracelet with little opals in between the teeth of various sizes. It was hers.” The wraith shifted into a translucent state along with the things it carried as it phased through the door. The door WAS unlocked. He could follow it if he wanted to.

In the main room the Librarian nodded. “There are many sections in this library. There is one building dedicated to the 5. I suggest staying in two’s. Unless you want to wander through here forever. I could use a few more helpers.” Roy then looked at the group then leaving as Sasha started bouncing around. “I’ll stay with you Sasha, but at some point we will have to group back up. “Where would you like to go first? I’m sure Edon will have a map of the place.” He looked around. “If you want we can go look at the High Clouds area. I’m sure we can learn something fun while we wait.” Q stuck close to Mahlo and seemed to blush being that close to him. All of this was still new to her. The competitiveness wasn’t, but being so casual around him was. “S-… Mahlo…” She heard him speak to her in a low tone about going to the Dark swamp section anyways. “I will follow you anywhere.” Quinn looked around the large room following the princess. Xerxes was huffing a bit still watching the princess run, once again. “Kilroos gave some sort of caffeine powers or something. How could… How could someone run so damn much?!” Cassie rubbed her hand all over Zayne’s face, messing with him. Giggling softly she looked down at him and took off her headdress putting it on his head. “Yes! You are complete!” Cassie looked around and smiled. “I’m not too sure if my people would be in the clear sea section… Maybe in the divine creature section? Do we have a map?” Cassie began to follow the princess as she ran down a hallway. The princess turned around. “We’re going to get one no worries!” Ruffling his fur, Cassie looked back seeing Roy and Sasha were now separated from the group.

Running down the Hall the princess stopped by a door and looked at the sign. It seemed very faded, but she opened it anyways. This room had no windows or any lights. It was called the portrait room. Small tiny white lights were swirling around as they all seemed to stop and stare at the princess when she stepped into the room. “We… we need to be careful. After we find Edon, he needs to take us to the section where the champions exploded. We can look at things afterwards. I want to find out more of these people so I can learn to protect my city.” The princess seemed to whisper almost as the little glowing white dots floated around. They were the portrait wraiths. They can see in complete darkness. Lynn was the second to enter the room and seemed to giggle. The wraiths seemed to tickle her ankles as she walked in. Once the whole group moved into the room the door slammed behind them making everything completely dark. “The reason this room is dark is because the sun would ruin the colors on a painting. We can come back here later if everyone truly wants to, but we have a few more rooms to move through before we get to the map one where Edon is.”

Roy walked behind Sasha as they moved the opposite direction of the group. “Let’s go look at the animal room.” Roy pointed to the door saying ‘Animal exhibit’. Moving towards it he opened the door and there were animal taxidermy and skeletons everywhere. Roy pointed to a large dragon smack dab in the center. “Wanna learn about some dragons?” There was even a pure white Pegasus with its wings expanded full length into the air. “You could learn a lot about the wildlife here. Even a lot of animals that don’t live in the Clouds.” Something seemed to shuffle around. It was a tennis ball sized wraith. A little ball of black mist with bright blue glowing orbs for eyes. It was speaking. “Clean, clean, clean, dust, dust, dust.” It then stopped looking over at the two. “Hello! This is my domain! I am the only Wraith trapped in this area… no one really spent that much time in here with me! W-Who are you?” Roy blinked. This wraith was clearly different than the others. “I’m Roy, the High Clouds Mentor. This is Sasha. My Wielder.” The little specter giggled cutely. “She’s so young! I’m quite old… I’m one of the newest wraiths though! Not many of the wraiths kept their ability to talk since this is our prison now.”

Julius giggled as he bounced around Xerxes, "The virtues of being young Xerxes." He smiled. He followed the long line of people as they entered the dark room that according to the princess was filled with art. He wouldn't call himself uncultured, but he was never a big fan of those type of things. He found beauty in the crafting and wielding of weapons, not in inks and paints on canvas. He was depressed that he had to wait until later to see the Mist Mountains section but it was the safest and he would just have to be patient. "Then let's hurry and meet up with Edon." Okay so sue him he wasn't a monk or something, he wasn't that patient. "I want to see the rest of the library let's hurry."

Mahlo smiled at Quinn as she walked behind him within the close proximity. He could see the blush on her face, causing an even larger smile to form on his face. She looked so cute when she was nervous. The idea that she would follow him anywhere was something quite amazing to hear, however nerve-wracking. If he made the wrong decision, he would still follow her--The idea of that caused a shiver to run down his spine.

As they went into the room of portraits, Mahlo looked over his shoulder, narrowing his eyes. Something was wrong, but he couldn't quite figure out what. As they all stepped into the room filled with darkness, it was very difficult to see the "art" that the princess spoke of. Being subjected to nearly pitch black while simultaneously surrounded by wraiths wasn't quite how he wanted to spend his afternoon. He made sure to wrap an arm around Quinn's waist, keeping her close. It wasn't for himself, but simply a protective instinct he kept within himself. As he glanced around at the others and heard the princess, he suddenly realized something.

He didn't hear Sasha. Sasha always said something. 

He darted his gaze back and forth before turning to what he thought could be the direction of the princess (He could still barely see). "Guys," He said slowly, "Where's Sasha? Where's Roy, for that matter?"

The old drunkard set the maps back, finding nothing of interest amongst them. He shrugged impatiently. What was taking them so long? Edon knew he could only remain in the room for a certain amount of time, otherwise the wraiths would consume him. He kept moving, silently counting the seconds as they passed and hoping he wouldn’t end up counting too many. The group needed to hurry.

A wraith then moved under Edon. He raised an eyebrow, glancing at the bits of paper for a moment before migrating away from the spectre. He caught sight of a door opposite his current position, it lead to a treasury room. The old man narrowed his eyes as he caught sight of another wraith, holding the small collection of jewelry. A bracelet. The man’s bitter expression turned into a somber one.

It was hers. That was for sure.

He took a step, but only one. The ex-menor watched as the wraith faded into the wall, taking the bracelet with it. He recognized each severed tooth and stone laced together on the platinum chain. Edon crafted it himself, he had placed it upon her wrist years ago. This was too much for the old man. He should’ve never returned to the library. The cold street corners and dark alleys of Jycer weren’t nearly as cruel. Edon resisted every gnawing urge within him to pursue the wraith, to chase after the last piece of Shilo. He had to stay put, the group was expecting him to be there. The man stood firm, quivering, staring at the wall that the bracelet had traveled through moments before. The man fell to his knees, his eyes translucent with unfalling tears. His heart had become too heavy to stand with. Memory had bested him. His desperate attempts to suppress it throughout the entire journey, all of them were futile. The library, the world, it seemed to mock him. Edon let a shaky whisper slither from his lips, the only sound he could manage, “Shilo…”

All of Kilroos was gone as the old man closed his eyes, letting the pain dull in darkness. He stood with an exhale. Edon slowly turned away from the treasury room, walking over to the struggling wraith, it was still trying to piece together a map. “Here, let me help you…” He said quietly, hoping for something other than grief to stimulate his mind.

There was a dull silence in the portrait room. It sounded like each door was sealed tight in this room. The dark elves eyes glowed softly in the dark. She could see in the room. “This room scares me Mahlo…” She whispered to him and looked down at her knife. The mist seemed to be swirling around in this room like steam in a cold breeze, but why? Q felt his hand wrap around her waist and she had her arm across his shoulders. Peering up she froze in place. Cassie smacked into the Elf and scoffed. “Hey! You can see, I can’t! Don’t stop moving.” Q seemed pale, despite no one being able to see it. Zayne might be able to see it if he was in beast form, but The princess turned. “What?” Is something wr-“ The princess fell as she grunted. “What the?” Sitting up the eyes of the wraiths moved around the princess creating a false light. There was a large bench on the floor that seemed broken. Dusty untouched body limbs were strewn on the floor like a large animal had eaten and left the small stuff. Quinn just started to notice them as she looked towards the princess and then to the door they were headed towards. Something Quinn had seen before. A monster. This monster made her light headed and begin to feel sick to her stomach. The shadow Lich of Ren stood in front of the door. His body now absorbing the light the eyes gave off. Even Quinn’s. Only Quinn saw him. The princess stood up and grumbled cutely. “Stupid old dusty room.” Quinn whimpered and her legs began to give out as she was staring into the voids known as Ren’s eye sockets. “Dear elf… I suggest you resign as a mentor. Leave Mahlo to me. Break his heart. How could he love a whore? You think he’ll care for that abomination in you? Do you think Zayne will? You’re going to be alone. Again.” Lynn helped the princess up and scowled a bit around the dark room as she heard Quinn tremble. Xerxes listened to his king and snickered once. “Heh, Julius your hunger for knowledge is actually refreshing. After learning some brawn it’s time to get some brains acclimated.” Cassie bounced around but then heard Quinn whimper. “Hey, I didn’t like… mean to hurt your feelings… we need to keep moving though.” Quinn spat out words. “No. Fuck you. I will never do that. I will be perfectly fine and I will never be alone.” Cassie stood there a minute and seemed to back up. “Uhm. Right. Yes. Of course.” Cassie seemed to wave her arms around to find Zayne and was actually clinging to Xerxes. “My Zayne you got some nice muscles.” Xerxes looked down at her. “Well thanks.” Cassie squeaked and smacked right into a bookshelf before falling. “I uh! I’m sorry Xerxes! I uhm. Zayne help!!”

In the map room the little wraiths seemed to gather around Edon and one even tried to get a look at his face. Whispering began to fill the room. “You okay? Man is crying. Is he leaking? Is his face melting? Man needs tissue. What happened? He okay? I don’t get paid enough. Help him. He’s helping us? He’s good? I’ve seen him before. He’s bad.” Edon began to help the one smaller wraith with the map pieces. The map seemed to come together as it started uncovering that the map was of the catacombs of the swamps. Something even Edon didn’t know about. The only full piece was that of “Guardian Pit” That seemed to be the only thing that gave the message to Edon it was about his homeland. There seemed to be a door down in the pit where the seven headed beast slept. Something was down there that the beast was protecting. Hiding maybe. The smallest wraith seemed to move away and its voice seemed to whisper. “Thank you sir.” The other wraiths seemed to continue what they were doing, but one voice over powered the whispers. “Edon… I know you… You’re smarter than I thought. Less inclined to fall for tropes… That was quite a show old man. I enjoyed it. You know what I liked more? Seeing your face though her eyes. As she fell.”

Within the mind-numbing darkness, Mahlo could barely see a thing, and it had seemed that his inquiry had gone completely ignored. He clicked his tongue, and suddenly he could notice, a myriad of "convenient" occurences that had come together to be something much more than a coincidence. He couldn't see it, nor could he feel it, but somehow he knew that something was wrong; His keen mind told him that much.

As Quinn trembled in the Dark Swamps wielder's arms and began to whimper, Mahlo's first instinct was to look at his hands, concerned that he might have scratched her or--grabbed something. When he realized that wasn't the case, he followed the woman's eyes, guiding him toward the door. There was nothing there, but her response to the air was enough to tell him that he just wasn't gifted with the vision to witness what she was subjected to. His eyes darted from her figure to the door, and he snarled audibly--A protective growl in the silence marred by crashes and squeaks from the rest of the group. 

"You stay away from her," he whispered, grabbing his scythe. He couldn't see nor hear the being, but he knew there was something there, "Whatever and wherever the hell you are, just stay away."

Mahlo kept looking to the door, expecting to possibly see the anomaly, but now addressed his Quinn, "I can't see it. What is it?"

Sasha noded at Roy as they walked on the animal room. There were so many things to look at!, it was all amazing!. She smiled widely as her eyes went across the entire room. Suddenly a different entity called her attention, a small black mist started to approach them. Sasha looked at it and when it was lose enough, it talked to them. She blinked a few times and took a closer glance at it. It was just so cute. Roy presented them to the small wraith, and she smiled at it as the black mist spoke to her. Sasha then said, "This is your prison?... I'm sorry I don't know much about anything aside from the High Clouds palace... you're one of those library guardians or something?, do you have a name?" she gasped slightly and then continued "can you show me a few things from this room?" she said in excitement. Sasha even forgot what she was doing, was Roy following her? was she following him?.... eh... for now she really wanted to see some animals... she'll realise that this is not a tour on Disney World pretty soon.

Zayne walked alongside Cassie, letting her headdress rest upon his kitty head. They followed Gemini right into a dark portrait room. The room must have been dark because people didn't come here very much. Cassie got separated from Zayne inside the room while he accidentally walked into Q's rear end. Zayne backed away nervously from the elf and kept his head kinda low, "Oh uhhhmmm, sorry Q.." The large cat looked around and made his way back over to Cassie. "Hey! I'm the furry one right now, Cass!" He greeted his fallen guardian with several nose boops and small kitty kisses.

Julius smiled at Xerxes, "Doesn't mean I plan on slacking on my physical training." Knowledge is power, and hopefully within this library I'll find more information about my powers that I can exploit before I meet the mentors Sophia mentioned. However to him, mind and matter were one; power gave knowledge that no book can teach, and knowledge gave access to power foreign and new to you.

During his internal monologue Cassandra had bumped into Xerxes, feeling him up and confusing him with Zayne. The boy giggled uncontrollably, "You mistook Zayne for Xerxes? Your wielder could only wish to be as strong as Xerxes." The young king mentally compared the High Seas wielder with his mentor and the size comparison was so silly he found himself laughing even more. He understood the situation and found himself holding in his laughter, bent over in pain; his hands wrapped around his stomach as a joyous expression trembled on his face. He had... to hold... it in.

The map wasn’t much, but it was something to look at. Edon glanced over it upon completion, nodding as the wraith thanked him and floated away. He had ignored the soft judgements and questions that pervaded the room. The old man stood in place, still waiting on the group. He now had nothing to keep him occupied except for his thoughts. Thoughts that only seemed to throw salt on open wounds. Bad wounds, the kind that leave scars.

Then a voice was heard, it seemed to overpower all the others. Its voice was sharp, the words cutting deep into Edon’s being. He was still for a moment. A long moment. The ex-mentor then finally turned toward the approximate direction of the speaker. Edon’s words had a distinct chill to them, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He was an impeccable liar, he had many years to perfect the skill. It seemed useless in this situation, but it was worth a try.

“You don’t exactly like him do you? Just trying to prove to yourself that you didn’t like what that hybrid did to you in the forest hm?” Quinn seemed to cower. She knew it was him. “NEVER!” Ren chuckled and moved closer to her before hesitating looking at the knife. “Your bastard children will be nothing but sluts. Just like their doting mother.” Quinn rammed her face into Mahlo and gripped his bicep with her gray hands. “It’s Ren! He’s putting things into my head! Make him stop!” Ren laughed sinisterly with one powerful “HA!” He got right into her face. “ONLY YOU CAN STOP ME NOW ELF!” Moving her arm down she gripped the hilt of the devilish knife ramming the sharp end into the being. Ren choked up and let out a snarky “Heh”. Now Ren could be seen, but it wasn’t long until he spoke to everyone in the room. “No worries Swamp Wielder. Every generation will meet the same fate. The bodies stack nicely.” And with that he was gone in the dark room. The princess stood their idly. “What… what did he say to you dark elf?” Quinn was standing in the same position as if she was still holding the knife in him. Quinn was now shaking as silent drops hit the floor. She refused to answer the princess and didn’t even feel Zayne bump into her. Esti seemed to wake up now. “hmmmmmmmmmmmehh” She stretched and looked around. “Holy cow am I still in my mind?”

Cassie moved towards Zayne and loved the little boops and cuddles gripping on his scruff she seemed a bit unnerved as well. “Ren? We didn’t even hear anything, or see anything Qui—“ Quinn then slashed out at Cassie cutting her cheek. “DON’T CALL ME THAT!” The elves eyes glowed in the dark and huffed harshly. She was a bit paranoid, and she never gave permission for her to even speak that name. Cassie squeaked and jumped back. “What the hell! That doesn’t mean you CUT ME!” She then looked over in Julius’ direction. “Hey don’t laugh! Zayne is quite muscular in his human form! I didn’t know if he changed or not!” She blushed and moved into Zayne. “Can we just get out of here?” Lynn was snickering too as she pushed Julius slightly. “That was good. I didn’t even see it. Wish I did.” Xerxes was actually blushing too, since no one would see it. Julius called him his father. It warmed the cold man’s heart with a fire big enough to warm a village. The princess seemed to rub her arm. “I’m sorry I can’t help that much… it’s why we need Edon. Edon is also the only one known to see Ren. When you see him it’s a way of him marking you as his victim. He… did the same thing to Edon’s wielder. Seems he has a thing for taking the girls…” Quinn moved behind Mahlo and whimpered gripping his shirt. Keeping the knife in hand she used her free hand to grab his. “The door is up ahead princess. “Get us out of this darkness.” The princess turned and held her hands out and scuffed her feet until she found the door. “Found it! Let’s go!” She then pulled on the door, but it didn’t budge. “Uhm…” Xerxes pushed his way through making his way to the wall and pulled so hard on the door it ripped it off the frame. “I hate the dark.” The princess stood there looking at the massive man in surprise. “Y…you know we have to fix that right?” Xerxes looked down at her. “Let’s move Princess.” The princess nodded in the now bright light. “Mm.”

In the map room the voice laughed. “Oh Edon! You can’t suppress that memory! It’s seared into your brain! I can see you, you know. Your reaction… to just one little bracelet. What a riot you are! Your pain fuels me, mentor. You are one of the biggest pieces of my power! That day, just seeing your face gave me so much sorrow to feed off of. Just imagine what I'll do to that little dark elf. She seems more insecure than you ever were! She's beautiful... what a shame it'll be to lose twins and a lovely slut. Imagine Mahlo's face when he has to get a new mentor! Or do you think he'll just end up like you?” The voice got closer, and the human face of Ren seemed to haze in and out. “Tell me mentor. What was it like to see her vanish into the trees below? Did you feel branches go through your heart and lungs? Or was that just her?” Ren seemed to wince. The others had hurt his real form, so he grunted slightly. The wraiths seemed to screech as a shadow mist blob hit the floor from Ren. The wraiths moved faster than Edon had seen to rip the small ball of mist to shreds, devouring it. “Hmph. No worries. I’ll get to have my fun soon enough.” Ren was then gone. The princess had made their way into the map room huffing. They passed through some other rooms first, but they did make it here before the wraiths seemed to lose themselves to the human presence.

Swirling around the little ball of mist giggled. “Yes this is my prison! Wraiths are made when humans like yourself are alone in one of our domains for too long. It’s how I was kept here except it was the Librarian that captured me." The little ball turned and motioned to the hole in the ceiling by the wall. “There was a big explosion from the room up above.” The mist blinked. “Name? Uh, I don’t remember my name. I do remember I am a girl. I think. Maybe? It’s really hazy. The librarian steals our memory and puts them in his restricted room. They call it his “Memory room”. Only the librarian is allowed in.” The wraith squealed as she asked about the room. “Oh! Oh! Someone else excited about the wildlife as much as I am!” Roy looked at the ball of mist with fear. He recognized the voice, but the little mist ball had no memory of him. Roy was with Sasha, and seemed to stay right behind her. The mist ball swirled around the dragon first that seemed to be frozen in time. “This is one of the Quirelan queen’s guard! He was one of the best! He unfortunately fell in battle and died deep in the tundra. The queen herself retrieved him on her blind Wyvern and pulled him out! She then gave him to us to keep his legacy shining! He was about 30 tons and a massive 56 feet tall! This is one of our tallest buildings in the library! We have so many different creatures. Even a mermaid!” The little ball floated towards the white Pegasus. “This poor creature was trapped in the tar pits. A nomad found her and took her in. Said she was with a black one, but he’s never been found.” The little mist ball swirled towards a tank. In there was a preserved mermaid with her long orange and yellow flowing tail. She had orange hair. “This lovely lady had the nickname ‘Liquid Fire’! Her hair looked like a fire under the water! She was one of the few that ever came onto land and once she was placed back in the water her tail came back. Apparently she died of a broken heart. A very cute little girl came in here with a large horned woman. They had a little baby son. The girl said it was her mother and wanted to come see her as much as possible, sadly we can’t grant her access since the recent events.” The mist came back to Sasha. “Any questions?!” It seemed over enthusiastic and very spirited about talking of the room. There was several other animals and even a few insect cases. “Wanna see the Rainbow cove collection?!”

Mahlo looked around the room, and still couldn't see the ghostly figure that Quinn was talking of. Even so, he knew that he was there--Simply because of how harshly she gripped his bicep and how much she trembled against his body. Normally, being so close to her would be something he enjoyed, but the circumstances of darkness and fear made it a worrisome situation for the Dark Swamps wielder. She begged him for help, although there wasn't really anything he could do--And that killed him.

In a sudden burst of speed, Quinn brought her knife upward and into something. In a sudden flash of colors, Ren had become visible to the world. His blurred form and terrible voice resonated within his ear drums. The wielder grit his teeth, his hand immediately reaching to the hilt of his scythe, although it seemed the knife had injured Ren in some way. He listened to the voice, taking none of it in and just staring into the cold gaze of this champion. Any fear he would have felt was drained by the simple fact that he could have caused his mentor harm. 

As he disappeared, Mahlo let forth a sigh of relief, his hand slowly retracting from the scythe and moving to his side as Cassie tried to speak to Quinn. As expected, the response was met with a swipe of her knife, a line of crimson forming on the Clear Seas mentor's cheek. He could see the silent tears coalescing in her eyes, running down her cheek. He sucked his teeth as she reached behind him and gripped the knife with one hand, his shirt with the other. He said nothing, a resounding scowl on his face as the man's hands clenched into fists. 

In his rage and desire to get revenge on the dastardly champion, two things popped into Mahlo's head -- Why did she lead them in there when she was hurrying them to the map room, and why didn't she respond to his inquiry regarding Sasha.

Something isn't right, He thought to himself, exhaling harshly as they finally made it to the map room. He glanced around in search of Edon, his eyes eventually falling on the man by a map, seemingly talking to someone. He raised an eyebrow before reaching his arm to grip Quinn's shoulder reassuringly.

Sasha felt bad for the little orb, not abeing able to remember a thing, she looked at Roy but noticed another emotion on his face... it was... fear?... why would he feel fear out of this little orb?. It already said it wasn't going to harm them, and it was quite cute to Sasha so why?. Sasha looked back at the orb with those questions in her head and paid attention to what it was saying.

It actually said a lot of things, she recognised the pegasus she was talking about, "The black one!", she said pointing at the pegasus "I was with the black one!, his name is now bubu. I couldn't bring him with me tho...I didn't know he was so important, I'll make sure to take care of him". Sasha kept listening with an excited look on her face, along with a wide smile.

When it was done talking she said "That was fantastic!, I'm loving this whole room. I do want to hear about the rainbow cove!, but before that...." she turned to Roy with her hands on her waist. Looking at him directly, for a few seconds she dind't say anything, just looked at him. Then she raised an arm and pointed at him "You!.... you know her right?" Sasha said at Roy as she turned at the little orb for a second and then back to him "Is not gonna do us any harm and to be honest is cuter than kevin!, but why would you feel.... scared?. The only answer I can think of it because you recognise it's voice tone!. Tell me, Roy... who is she?" Sasha said to him, still making eye contact now with both arms on her waist waiting for his answer.

Zayne bounced around when his guardian ruffled his furs. He could tell Cassie seemed rather unnerved, but before he could investigate further his instincts pointed him in the direction of the ticked off Q. As the knife made contact with Cassie, Zayne stood up on his hind legs defensively in front of his guardian. He used his paws to swat Q's arm away from Cassie and snapped at the dark elf's hand. "Bad Elfie! Play nice or don't play at all!" With a huff of his own, Zayne turned back to his guardian and licked her hand. "Let's go with the others until we find that book you're looking for."

Julius wiped the tears out of his eyes as the giggling subsided. He had to agree with Xerxes, the dark was unnerving. He watched in mild amusement as his mentor tore the door off its hinges and then placed it to the side to make room. He wondered how they would put it back as no one had a hammer or nails. "I wonder if Zayne could do that..." He mumbled to himself as he walked back into the lighted hallway. He was starting to get bored as they finally got went into the map room. He saw the old man and asked, "Hello Edon, hope you haven't been waiting for us long. Do you have a map of the library we can use to journey around by any chance?"

The laugh was both derisive and condescending, though it was the words that followed which caused Edon’s heart to sink deeper than he had thought possible. He narrowed his eyes as Ren mocked him. A fire had started within his being, a new kind of pain that numbed the stinging void in the old man’s soul. Edon kept his gaze locked with Ren’s. If looks could kill, Ren would die twice.

Ren considered the possibility of Mahlo ending up like Edon, to which the old man replied, “Tch… he doesn’t have the liver to end up like me.” His sarcasm was sharp, but not powerful. He couldn’t muster up enough strength, not after all that. Not after Ren’s next question. Edon had no strength for that.

The man disappeared, leaving Edon standing motionless in the map room. The group, a part of it, had finally arrived. The ex-mentor took a few moments to compose himself, closing his eyes and taking in the deepest of inhales. After releasing a shaky breath, he turned to the group with a stoic expression. For some strange reason, seeing the familiar faces of practical strangers comforted the man. Julius then addressed Edon, he responded in a harsher, more bitter tone than usual, “Waiting for you long? I dunno. Time flies when you have such awesome company…” The man nodded to the silent wraiths floating around, “I’m glad you got here before they ate me. I never thought I’d be so happy to see my favorite bunch of idiots.” He grunted and shook his head, “Princess, we gotta go. All of us are in great danger.” Edon raised an eyebrow, “Where’re the others?”

The little orb swirled around and seemed gleeful to be with the two. “Bubu! That’s a cute name for a Pegasus! I know for a fact that the man named the white one ‘Louanna’ it means warrior or something along those lines. Yes please do make sure to protect him! The pegasi and the unicorns have been fighting for years. It’s terribly difficult for me to see such beautiful animals come in here, but! It gives me something to do. Clean them! Study them! It might be a prison here, but now I have all the time in the world to learn!” Sasha then said she wanted to see the collection, but Roy seemed to stiffen up his back looking at the young girl. “Sasha we can’t exactly discuss that in front of her…” He looked at her as if he was very serious. “She used to be a teacher of mine. I remember going on a trip, but never came back. That was over 15 years ago. The mist bobbed in place. “I was a teacher?” Roy sighed loudly and rubbed his right hand all over his face. “Hmmmmmmph… Yes. Your name was Leeli Byurn. You were a single woman that wanted to give everything you knew to the world. Your smile was bright enough to light the classroom in the morning. You left our school to go on an excursion and you never returned.” The mist seemed to hiss a bit as the blue glowing orbs seemed to vanish. “I had a smile?” Roy looked at Sasha sternly. She was very rash and quick to ask questions. Roy looked up at the mist who seemed to be getting closer to them. “What did I teach?” Roy looked around. “You taught an elite class of royal High Cloud guards the dangers of animals and made sure each and every one of us was prepared for when the Wielder got near such animal or insect. You trained us to be responsive and cooperative other than indecisive and possibly hurting the wielder more.” The mist ball sunk to the ground and seemed to flatten out a bit. “I don’t know what happened to my body. I don’t remember anything… I just know what’s in this room.”

In the map room the princess glanced at Edon, whose remarks were a bit more snarky. The princess was not amused being called an idiot. A wraith came by holding up a little rolled up piece of paper. It was the wraith he helped put the pieces together on the table. “Eh! Eh!” This wraith didn’t use much words other than when it said thank you. The wraith wanted to help Edon as the little thing seemed to look damaged in a way that it was ripped away. The wraiths seemed to fight ever so often if things got unorganized. “Coming. He’s coming.” The princess huffed softly and turned to look at Edon. “Yeah, yeah I noticed the other elf and the girl went another way. “We’ll find them later. We have to keep moving and keep Edon out of sight. Let the small girl move with Edon.” The princess pointed to Esti as she flicked a piece of Mahlo’s hair back and forth. Her eyes were a bright gold looking back at the princess. Her gaze then met Edon’s. She stared at him for a solid minute before getting down off of Papa Mahlo letting her eyes turn to a pitch black again. “Okay.” Waddling over to Edon she moved behind him and hiccupped. “I don’t like hearing people yelling at me. My head hurts Mama Q.” Quinn was unable to talk as she was still a bit stunned from Ren’s crude words. The princess looked around. “Okay. Lynn can stay with me. Good we’re all paired up. We need to go out the door you came in Edon. The map can show us to the left wing. That’s the direction I saw the colorful girl jump off to. I had no time to stop her, and the only way to come in here was through that putrid portrait room. Ran into a dark champion. Ren. Let’s go.” The tiny Wraiths moved towards the door bowing. Whispering was heard. “HURRY HURRY hurryhurry!” The princess moved Edon outside first and then looked around. “Okay the door up ahead leads to a hall like building that has a massive stair case leading to the exploded building. Sasha could still be on the first floor. Should we split up?” She looked at Edon blinking. He knew about this place more than she did. Cassie looked at Zayne. “I think you should get in your human form. I kind of miss your human face…” Q now wrapped her arm around Mahlo’s. She held every facial movement from making her cry. “What Ren said… It cut through me like a hot knife in butter…” Esti skipped in circles around Edon and was singing a rather familiar song. “Ashes, Ashes, and they all fall down.”

Mahlo could see the pain in Edon's eyes, feel the strain in his voice as he made an attempt to sound like his old, bitter self. He came off as worse than that--A broken man. Something had troubled him, and Mahlo's general feeling was that it was a good idea to know what that was. However, he could plainly hear the wraiths now, growing restless within Edon's presence; They had to hurry before things got out of hand. 

The princess shoo'd Esti over to Edon, and Mahlo watched her eyes change color once again. Nobody was paying enough attention to her movements, but he was. As she skipped around the old mentor and recited a rather ominous song, the Dark Swamps wielder suddenly grew very uneasy regarding the situation they were in. He listened to Quinn, wrapping an arm around her waist and snuggling up to her whilst standing. He didn't like seeing that expression on his mentor's face--It broke his heart in a variety of ways. He frowned deeply, glaring at the situation. 

Then, the princess suggested splitting up. Suddenly, Mahlo's eyes were alert, "No," he emphasized firmly, "We do not even consider splitting up. Thinking on the fact that we already lost the High Clouds, splitting up is quite possibly the worst idea we could come up with right now."

Mahlo exhaled deeply, "We need to stick together--I don't feel like dealing with more death today."

Sasha heard Roy speaking up. Just as she thought he did remember her. But as the conversation kept going Sasha felt sad for the poor teacher. She kneeled in front of the mist ball and stretched her hands but... probably her hands weren't going to be able to touch it. Sasha just stood there in front of it keeping her distance as she said to it. "I'm... so sorry to hear that. I... I want to help you and recover what was yours" She looked at Roy for a few seconds thinking in different ideas. Turning back to the midt she said "You mentioned a memory room!, maybe we can get it for you!" She then turned to Roy again and gave it a second thought "Tho... are we... allowed to do that?" Sasha thought on the group, if she was still relevant to them maybe they've been wondering where she and Roy were.... maybe... they actually got separated and on their way to attend more important issues. But her kind way to handle things can't let her just leave the room knowing that someone needs help.

"Aaaarrrggg!!!!" She yelled rubing her hair with both hands leaving it all messy. Then she laid her back on the ground covering her eyes with her hands as she said "What do we do!!" The girl said concerned. "I want to help you so bad!!" She sat up looking at the mist, "But I came here to attend something that can be dangerous for the whole city.. maybe the world" She snifed, and started to tear up, "I- I don't want to leave you here" The poor girl rubed her eyes with her hands. Knowing that probably she'll have to leave soon... she waited for Roy to say something

Edon raised an eyebrow at the approaching wraith, his attention quickly returned to the princess as she responded to his inquiry. He didn’t like the way she was looking at him, but he didn’t care. Gemini then unleashed the Esti onto Edon, who spent a good minute making uncomfortable, prolonged eye contact. The small girl wandered over to him. The old drunk grumbled and looked to the princess, “Do I have to? It’s looking at me funny.”

The little girl mentioned a headache and imaginary yelling. Edon narrowed his eyes, suspicions started to form. His thought process was interrupted as the princess herded him out of the map room. She explained their current position and the areas up ahead. Looking to the old man for an answer, she proposed that the group separate. Esti started skipping circles around the man and singing. It was disgustingly cute.

Mahlo immediately objected to the princess’ suggestion. The drunkard glanced at the wielder, nodding. “Wow, Mahlo. That’s really insightful. Thanks for the input,” Edon turned to the princess, “We’ll split up. My group will find Sasha and yours will investigate the upper sections.”

Edon started walking off, anyone who wanted to accompany him was welcome to.

If I had read better whoops:

Julius looked at Mahlo then back at Edon as the two put out their opinions and Edon's completely went against Mahlo's and the old man was sticking to it as he walked away. Seems like there's a first floor team and a second floor. I wonder what's on the second floor... but the first floor has the Mist Mountains section. Resolved the boy piped up, "I'm going to stay on the ground floor. I want to look at the Mist Mountains section." Only question is, how do I get there? Oh wait we have a map. "Princess, can you guide me?"

Following next to Cassie, Zayne couldn't help to feel a little offended by her request. "I wish you could turn into a kitty with me." Zayne sprinted forward a few steps before jumping into a front flip, landing hard on two feet as a black and gold miasma crashed into the ground around him. With arms wide open like he had just performed the worlds greatest magic trick, he let out a loud "Ta-da!!" Zayne waved esti over to him, "come on esti, I've got to find you that book." Zayne strutted over to Cassie confidently and rubbed his lips on hers. He didn't kiss her, he just teased her. "I know why you wanted me back like this, fishy."