Dezil heard Ciaran's explenation, and considering he had worked for him longer than most, he had an idea what he meant by that, but didn't dare say it. Instead he said, "Impressive. I wouldn't have expected something this elaborate. So, where are the books, or other information? Every second counts, and I don't know how much they have hidden down here."

The emperor smirked and nodded toward Dezil. A far more obvious switch was pressed inward, and the loud whir of ancient magitek could once again be heard as torches all along a short hallway lit up, revealing a few doors along it... and at the back, a massive library, even larger than the one on the floor above. This one, however, had more than just books in it. There were crates of artifacts the king wanted hidden, reports from exploration teams, and a few magitek baubles that the king had hidden instead of having destroyed after deciding they were unneccessary, as well as volumes upon volumes of magical tomes.

"The library is right there. I wouldn't enter any of the doors... the king used them as... personal torture chambers, for those whom betrayed him. The things behind some of them make even my stomach churn. Oh... and I'm afraid the king never was very good at organization, and as I said, I haven't had much time to come down here." Ciaran walked towards the room calmly stopping to mention an afterthought, "And... unless you wish to go mad, or have your eyes melted, I don't suggest touching the magical tomes. Most of them are cursed."

(OOC: I have an urge to make one of the Tomes possessed by a demon. You know... it's like a RPG requirement...)

OOC: It would give me something to do... Since I of course would get to control said demon.

OOC: Actually, he seems to suggest more in the way of "Demonic writing that drives you insane/kills you", instead of, "Summons a demon if you touch/read it"

Dezil looked in shock and awe at row after row of books, papers, bits and pieces of Magitek (Hey, didn't I design that?), and other things. He took a few steps in, hearing Ciaran's warning, and getting to work. He immediatly started looking for any boxes labeled as reports or about exploration data, took the first box to a table littered with old scrolls and garbage, pushed it all in the floor, and dropped the boxes on the table. He opened the first box, and quickly checked the papers for any close to #223, and to his horror found them a jumble, with no order or numbering system. <This is going to be a long day...> He thought, and began to get to work of speed analyzing the documents for any information about Exploration #223.

(OOC: Well, yah... actually... a possessed book being down here might be good for later... if we need to figure out how to banish Deamon and close the gate. Like, a book on demon rituals, protected by one of Deamon's minions.)

Ciaran walked in behind Dezil and lifted a box full of scrolls to empty it out on the table as well. As he looked through the scrolls, however, he began setting them aside, or placing them in the box, depending on the contents.

"As you look through these, would you mind terribly sorting them to some degree? We'll just keep all the exploration reports in a few boxes... and the magic scrolls in some others, etc. etc. Anything to make it better than it is now."

OOC: No no no... If Deamon knew of a book, and could get a minion there, he would have the minion destroy/take the book. He wouldn't be stupid and have him 'guard' it... (Which is a reason why I am not really doing anything, despite my army... Ecurt wants to stall them a certain way, which I rather not do...)

OOC: They're a demon horde who, while being mostly resistant to light, probably still don't like it, so we can just assume that they're going slow because of that.

"Wha? Alright, not a problem." Dezil said. As he went through the papers, he pulled them out and began to make stacks on the table, setting up a simple ordering system since he was in a rush.

Cassie accepted the potion and downed it. She felt re-energized immediately. "Wow, that's some strong stuff. I'm sorry but with all the unconsciousness I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Cassie and I'm a Time Mage. I was heading out to find the rebels when the Death Field hit. Thank you for saving me. I'd like to help you find your friends if that's ok, especially since we are heading in the same direction."

Kairi gestured to the chocobo she had been riding, "Well then we should get going if we want to find them quickly. I know you just got re-energised from the potion, but you might want to ride the chocobo. I'm no white mage so you're still pretty beat up from before."

Arc walked up from behind them and said, "Kairi? Kairi!"

He ran over. "I never thought I'd be happy to see you!"

Kairi looked back after hearing a familiar voice, "Well, well, if it isn't Arc. Strangely enough, it's good to see you're alive." She looked at him, "Don't tell me that you're wounded too."

He stretched out his wings.

"Not entirely sure, but I think these things, this funky sword, THAT I DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE, and the angel dude saying I was dead mean that 'alive' is a relative term."

Kairi's eyes opened wide as she noticed Arc's wings for the first time, "Wait a minute... You... have wings now? You died?" She raised an eyebrow, "Just what the hell happened?"

Dezil had been slowly going along, and the work was both tedious, and aggrevating. Half the reports were so old they crumbled to pieces in his hand, and some were mislabeled, while almost all were placed in the wrong boxes (Most likely on purpose to hide them better...). He was on his eleventh box, an felt like he had been there for days, even though he was more efficent than he thought and it hadn't been too long at all. He finally was halfway through one case, and almost passed over it when some subconscious part of his brain clicked the importance of the #223 in his mind with the document in his hand. He simply stared at it for a few moments in shock, the legend made real in his hands. There could be a hundred and one reasons that a document was censored by the king, ranging from the practical to the bizarre, but this was the only one ever censored for fear of the power of the Precursors, and he held it in his hand.

He tentativly opened the small package in his hands that had only been opened one other time by a king. He pulled out a packet of papers, <surprisingly skimpy> he thought, and quickly flipped through them, then started to read.

Page 1 was a simple document. In their travels far outside of the kingdom, they encountered a strange building. It appeared to be of precursor origin, and they would investigate. The rest was routine notes on location where they had traveled, date, and other unimportant data.

Page 2 was an account of the ruins. After a few days of research, the expert had believed it was an outpost, for when the Precursors had long ago fought with the Demons Hordes. It was an epic war that had raged on for generations, and the Precursors had barely won the war, but the cost had been the total collapse of their culture, and eventually extinction of the race. Or at least, that was what historians thought had happened, but there were no accurate records after the Demon Wars, so no one knew for sure. Important data was a strange plate they had found, which appeared to be instructions to a place of "great importance to the Precursors". There was a charcoal copy on a piece of paper, and a translation of the wrods according to the expert.

Page 3 was the charcoal copy in question. It was rough and tricky to read, and Dezil wasn't up to par on his Precursor, but it seemed genuine.

Page 4 was a last quick report, that they had spotted the city in question after a few days travel, and were sending off one last message before they entered. More routine info followed.

Page 5... was a transcript of the last words of the survivor of Exploration Team #223. Most of it was sounds, and cries for help from names. The survivor complained about cold, and dark, even though it was during the day in summer. The last things he said spoke of something coming for him, "It comes closer, I see it now, closer closer closer, always closer. It does not sleep, it does not stop. It speaks to me, horrible horrible things. Death, pain, suffering, it wants all these. I see it in my dreams, I see it as I run, I see it if I close my eyes. It comes for me, no, NO, I HAVE TO RUN, NO, IT'S HERE, NOOOOOO!!" The survivor then died of some sort of seizure, which was later discovered to be extreme fire damage to all his internal organs, but hadn't effected his skin...

Page 6, the official notice that this document, and all other documents related to it are now under the blackest security. Anyone with knowledge of the document is to be killed immediatly, and it is to be stored in the secret library.

Page 7... was it. The translation of the Precursor plate, which gave detailed instructions, and even a small map, on how to get to the city.

Dezil put all the documents back in their original container and said, "I found them, Exploration Report #223. I think it's time we got a little fresh air now, don't you think?" Dezil hid from his voice a slight quiver from what he had read about the Precursor base and whatever the "thing" was there.

Blyr heard Dezil's request to move out, and was glad his friend was thinking the smae way he was. I don't like this place. It's amazing, but the geomantic spirits here are long dead. If I had to defend myself using geomancy, it'd taje much more effort here. Besides, this place scares me.

"I hear you, man. Let's get out of here."

Ciaran arched an eyebrow at the engineer. "Why don't you tell us what that said, first... or just allow us to read it. I need to decide how I'm going to handle this with relation to Preos... and we can't be reading forbidden papers about the castle or others will begin to search this room and go mad or be killed by the curses on some of these items..." The emperor replaced the scrolls and boxes as he talked, tidying up the room in preperation to leave.

"Um, I hate to break up the warm fuzzies here, but if you want to get to your friends, I suggest we start moving. If I were them I wouldn't have stuck around a dessimated city for very long." Cassie considered for a moment the wierd new companions she had managed to find, and chuckled to herself as she began to walk towards Peros.

Dezil shrugged and said, "Here, you guys can read it. I want to try and take some notes on important details, and copy that map, but other then that it's mostly routine documentation." He handed them the full package so they could look it over.

Kairi glanced at Cassie, "Yeah, she's right, even though I really want to know what happened... You'd better tell me on the way." She said as the rest of them turned in the direction of Peros and started walking, Kairi was leading the Chocobo, "Um. Does anybody want to ride him or should I let him go free?" she asked after a bit.

Ciaran nodded slowly as he looked over the papers and then handed them off to Blyr, thinking deeply for a few moments. Finally, he crossed his hands behind his back and looked at first Dezil, and then Blyr. "I've decided that this is far too important to leave in your hands... I'll be coming with, to make sure that everything turns out properly. I'll also outfit all of you with anything that you need... you can take what you want from the magitek and magical artifacts here... just ask before you touch, they may kill you, and the magitek suits should all be fine, just the pilots that are dead... so we shall also take as many of those as possible, both for firepower and travelling speed. Plus... looking at this report, it seems like the monster uses some sort of magic to burn people from the inside out... the anti-magic fields will most likely come in handy." He then turned towards Ren, "In my absence, Lady Irda, you will reign over the country. When the engineers finish the death fields, have them positioned around the outer wall of the city, and activate them when the demon's arrive. If they're here before we return, we'll just have to attack the demons with the weapon from outside the walls." The emperor then walked over to Ren and leaned down whispering, very quietly in her ear, "After that, get them started on the zombification fields, and use them to raise as much of an undead army as possible... position them outside the city, to help fight the demons. Keep zombification fields layered with the death fields as well." Ciaran then backed away from her and spoke loudly again, "Simply discussing my remaining assets... Lady Irda... is this situation favorable to you?"
--
As the four congregated in the secret library and discussed, Derek had rode back out of the city and met with the refugees, explaining what was happening. "Ciaran said he'd help! They're going to a secret library or something... but most of the army is dead... but now we have N'Revat and Rab at our sides, as well as all of Ciaran's connections and power! We have a chance!"

One could almost see the fireworks in Ren's eyes. Control. Power. Her....preeeciousssss.

She bowed to Ciaran, her smile hidden beneath the curtain of her bangs. She was almost trembling with delight...FINALLY, all her ass-kissing had paid off.

"Yes, Ciaran. They are favourable. I humbly accept the position and will carry out your orders as best I can. Thank you, my lord."

OOC: Use a loop hole. As current leader, declare yourself the true leader, and Ciaran a traitor...

(OOC: She doesn't have the military power to get away with that... without Ciaran killing her... not after Cecil anyway.)

"Let him run free. And as for me...remember when Ripel opened that gate? I was standing a bit too close to it, and was thus attacked. And consequently killed. Woke up in a really shiny afterlife, ignored this angel dude, picked the lock back to earth, and came back down here. There's business I've got left to do."

Naras steps up. "No, wait!"

"I can call two more for everyone," He says, then takes the reigns and looks at everyone, stopping on Arc. "Unless you can fly?"

"I've had these things for a grand total of like...5 minutes. Do you think I can?"

Dezil looked at Ciaran with a mix of confusion and suspician. He knew Ciaran always had multiple motives to anything he did, and while the lure of Precursor technology was enough to draw anyone, there had to be more to it. Regardless, all of the equipment he could provide would be extremely useful, especially against this monster, so Dezil finally nodded and said, "Alright, if that's all worked out, lets head back to the surface. I could definitly use a visit to the old workshop to collect any more Magicite I may need, and I'm sure some of the others will want to visit the blacksmiths or other places to make sure our gear is up to date. Whatever happens, this is going to be an interesting mission, so we need to all be ready as possible." After Ciaran's whispering with Ren, he wished he could figure out what he was saying, because he knew it couldn't be good.

Ciaran smirked. He knew she was going to be high on the power, but there wasn't anyone else he could trust with his position. "Just be sure you carry out everything I told you... your life may depend upon it." The emperor's attention then turned to Dezil, "In a moment...." Ciaran's sword was drawn from it's scabbard and placed it on one of the walls, making room for a rapier with a strange blue glow to it from one of the chests. As he touched it, the glow changed to red and he could be seen struggling to hold it for a moment, finally lashing out and slicing a table in half (yes... with a RAPIER... it's magic), after which the blade began to pulsate and then the glow swirled into it. Ciaran smirked and sheathed the sword, explaining as he grabbed one of the forbidden texts from a shelf. "This sword attempts to slay any who wield it... only those who are extremely skilled may do so, but it's blade is said to be able to cut through stone... to speak nothing of it's point. Of course, it's TRUE power is unknown, it's been locked down here for decades, and for centuries anyone who attempted to wield it was killed. It may be little better than the blade I just discarded, or it could be truly as powerful as the legends say... and this book contains many forbidden and powerful spells. I would probably pass out from the exertion of casting even the weakest spells in this... however, they may be needed... You two, tell me what your group may find useful, and I'll point you to the best artifact here that won't kill them."

As he talked he fished a few pendants out of a box, four to be exact... each embedded with some small materia shards. "Each of these pendants draws from the power of the magicite embedded within, affecting the user permanently... this is haste, this is protect, this is shell, and this is reflect," the emperor spoke as he held up each necklace. He then took the haste necklace and placed it about his neck before handing the other three over. "Usethemasyoulike." A quick sigh was heard from him and he then removed his haste pendant and placed it in his pocket. "As I was saying... use them as you like, but I'll keep haste."

(OOC: Ok'd all of that with Ecurt... yay! Magical/magitek grab bag!)

OOC: Hmm, decisions decisions...

One question, do these create a field, or do they run over the surface? Say, does wearing reflect make the equivelent of a reflect field, or just cover the skin in protect?

My question has to do with the effectivness of shell against my Magitek rifle if I took this...

OOC: Big deal, you get some fancy toys to kill things that keep coming back...

Which reminds me, Ecurt, when are you going to do a post of your own? I assumed you were going to make a post that either advances the demon, or does the thing to halt them...

OOC: I assume you were asking that OOC, so that's how I'm going to answer... it's just like having the spell cast on them at all times. Like wearing a reflect ring in FF6, or protect ring, or running shoes, or shell ring(? I thinks that's what it was called). In the games shell didn't affect magical power of the person affected, nor did protect affect physical power of the person protected... so they shouldn't stop the magitek gun. Reflect would stop healing magic though... and shell would weaken it on you.

ooc-Well, what a coincidence. I thought you were going to make a post that would tell me what you have planned what you were going to do. Heh...well, I'll stick to Ripel watching the demons advance.

ooc-I'll post it when I post the next chapter, as well possibly add on to the Dante thing. I just need to prepare everything. It'll be ready in about six hours, I hope. Your demons could start moving now though.

(OOC: just FYI, we might want to start a new chapter soon. (I know, I'm really paranoid about the 100 post limit thing. ^^;; )

Kairi looked at Naras, "Alright, you should call two others, the faster we can move, the better chance we have to catch up with everyone else."

(EDIT: oh heheh. I guess I was a little late to remind you, Of course Ecurt is on top of things ^^;; )

OOC: I was going to, but then I wasn't sure if you were going to do the stalling thing or not. And if you weren't going to, all I would do is say that Preos was in sight (Meaning that those away from the main group would have had to run, or be very far off to the side)

Dezil looked at the pendants and said, "Alright, I'll take the shell pendent." Dezil picked it up and put it on, and suddenly for a second a green glow surrounded him, then vanished. He didn't know what happened, but he felt, different somehow, and was fairly certain it was working. Dezil then said, "Well, this will be useful. Anyway as for weapons, I normally stick to my rifle, and had some ideas on how to improve it, but in melee I'm a bit weak. Do you know if there are any enchanted warhammers down here you know about? They're the only weapon I've practiced with before, and I was fairly good with them."

Blyr took the reflect pendant, and placed it in his inside vest pocket, next to his nunchuks. "Would you like me to hold the protect pendant? And would you happen to have any enchanted nunchuks or geomancy medallions, would you? I don't really need anything else."

Ciaran nodded and walked over to the crates again, finally digging out a small warhammer, obviously meant to be wielded in one hand. "You both request rather odd weapons... this is the only one I have here..." The warhammer slowly sailed through the air as Ciaran tossed it to Dezil. "It may be small... but it has the concussive force of a much larger one. It was made so it could be wielded with speed, without losing the killing power of a normal warhammer... as I'm sure you know, armor is almost completely useless against blunt weapons, and they can even be quite damaging to magitek when wielded with enough power. As a result, that is the only warhammer of it's like ever made... and, as for you..." Ciaran glanced at Blyr before walking over to another box, digging through it a bit, and then moving to another, grumbling slightly. After a few moments he pulled out an obsidian bracelet. "Ahh... here we go. I don't have any nunchucks, but I do have this. Just holding it allows one never trained in the art of geomancy to commune with the spirts... it should greatly increase your abilities." He then tossed the bracelet to Blyr.

"However... I'm sure there's more than just you two that are going to be heading out with us... can you think of anything that the others would find use of?"


(OOC: Sorry about the nunchucks, but I believe you mentioned that not many people use them... and I think your staff is suppose to be magical in some way as well. If it's not, I can edit this and combine the bracelt with some nunchucks... geomancy focusing nunchucks!)

Dezil looked at Blyr and said, "Who do you think will follow us? They might think we're crazy when we tell them that were all going to go visit an ancient Precursor base filled with Precursor Machina, advanced traps, and some sort of skilled magical monster, just in the off chance that there is a slim hope we will find something that will turn the tide of battle against Deamon and the demon horde..."

"Yes, any way of getting to Peros quicker would be greatly appreciated. So..." she looked at Arc, "you died huh? What's it like up there?"

Arc makes his remark, and in response Naras arches an eyebrow and thinks to himself, 'All right, smartass.'

Then Kairi looks at him and says, "All right, you should call two others; the faster we can move, the better chance we have to catch up with everyone else."

"Yes, any way of getting to Preos quicker would be greatly appreciated."

He bows and answers them, "Very good."

Then he walks off to one side and addresses the forest with a series of whistles and words, repeating his calls for a bit before two chocobos come running out from the woods, each a few seconds apart. He takes hold of the second one and hops up, then whirls him around and watches the three of them as Jiju lands on his shoulders. Seeing that Arc and Cassie are talking, he waits for them to finish first.

"Thanks." Blyr politely said as he caught the bracelet.

He turned to Dezil and said: "We can only have faith that they'll follow us. All of us have something worth fighting for, the only thing in question is courage." Blyr paused and remembered various brave acts from the group, like Kairi saving Ripel from magitek, Naras getting shot by arrows while summoning a fog, Arc protecting Carolina inside the airship, among other things. "They'll help, I'm sure of it."

Dezil nodded and said, "Alright. Well, we could use a lance or spear for Kairi, and that shaman might want something that would help summon spirits. Other then that, I can't think of anything."

Ciaran nodded and walked into a corner, grabbing an old dusty spear. Nothing looked at all special about it. There were no gems, the blade was made of steel, and the shaft of a hardwood. The weapon appeared as though it had been sat down in the library to rest for centuries, not decades, but Ciaran handled the weapon as one might handle a venemous snake.

"This spear is the Longinus. It does not look like much, but it is said that it has the power to pierce the gods themselves. I saw the reason it was locked down here... a pikeman was able to thrust it completely through a suit of magitek armor..." The emperor handed it carefully, almost revenantly over to Dezil and then went back to the boxes.

After a few moments he returned with a fire red feather tied to a string, obviously meant to be worn as a pendant. "This is a tail feather of the phoenix. Supposedly this creature exists in both the physical and spiritual realms alike... it should help your shaman." This he swung twice around his finger before giving it to Blyr.

"If that is all... there is only one more thing we must gather from the castle before heading toward the magitek garages..." Ciaran smirked quietly. He was quite certain that Blyr and Dezil would be more than a little shocked at the 'thing' he planned to retrieve.

(OOC: I wonder how many people will know what Longinus is... probably quite a few...)

Maybe this guy worked at an item shop before he became a general...either that, or he was a historian. "Hey, Dezil, do you think Ripel and Arc would need anything? Everyone can use any advantage they could get right about now..."

[OOC:] Blyr is assuming both of them are alive, as he never saw either of them die. [/OOC]

OOC: Arc has his glowy sword and wings, he doesn't need anything else...

[OOC:] But all the dudes in the library don't know that, which is why I mentioned it. Gotta stay in-character :D [/OOC]

OOC: Dezil doesn't know Arc is alive or dead, he probably doesn't even remember, and Ripel is gone to the best of his knowledge. Note, I haven't seen the next chapter yet.

"Ripel... well, I hope he's alright, but we don't know, and he isn't here, so we have to assume the worst. And Arc... didn't he want to kill me and leave me in an alley? Hey Ciaran, how about giving us one of those cursed weapons that kills the user?"