Little lost dragon and I

[Ryujin13]

Guthrie hugged Fren back and held onto her as she spoke, his long fingered hand rubbing her back as she spoke.

"Fren, I failed once." He said quietly, referencing Fren's kidnapping by the purists. "I'm never going to fail again. I'll always be there for you, no matter what."

Guthrie said looking into Fren's eyes before kissing her deeply and holding her protectively to him.

"I'll love you now and always Fren." Guthrie whispered, closing his eyes as he held his wife.

 

When Vita's scans had been completed it was an easy process to locate the next key, which in this case was located in a treasure vault of some kind. The location was given via elevator, as well as ways to identify the vault, but strangely enough there weren't any specifics on what kind of protections the group could expect. The second problem came from the fact that the vaults location put it right in between the two warring armies, meaning that getting to it and opening it meant running through enemy fire the whole time.

 

[little lost dragon]

Fren nodded and gave him a nod before kissing him back her arms around him and tail encircling them as well. "I love you too Guthrie, as long as I live." she whispered back holding her husband firmly to her.

 

When the group got moving again the castle was no longer the silent place it had been before. Sounds of fighting echoed off every hallway they entered, with some delaying action at times from Vita's forces they managed to evade most of the fighting. And with the whole book logged in Vita's memory there was no more need to pause to look at the cube. Though they did have to fight a enemy patrol but the repairs Vita had met he could tank again and tank he did. though Fren worried about the event if something penetrated his armor, and killed him. She remembered him saying about how he detonates if killed.

 

When they neared the vault the first detail Fren made note of was, there where shots going back and forth. And lots of them. And the vault was smack dab in the middle. Though the shots that did hit it did nothing. She looked at Vita then to Avira "I advice against Vita tanking this one, he survived the patrol, but who knows what they may have there." Fren said before looking at Vita "Any patrols you could use to at least distract the enemy?" she asked and he shook his head "All units in the area are already under fire. Moving them from there positions will only hand the enemy an advantage." he said "The base in this area is surrounded, we are on our own for this one. If we took some heat off its defences, we could then grab some units to form a wall we could use to get to the vault, however a wall works both ways." he explained.

 

 

[Ryujin13]

Avira's quick look at the vault made her blink in surprise yet again as her eyes traced the lines before her.

The vaults room was a perfect box, perhaps 500 paces on each face, with four tall pillars going from ceiling to roof in each corner.

At the top and bottom of each of these pillars was a huge chain, each link of which was as big as Avira's chest, each reaching out to attach to what could only be the vault, a metal box suspended from the chains about 100 feet from the floor. The vaults sides were hard to look at so much had they been engraved and worked on, creating patterns that made the eye water.

 

There were two entrances to the vault, one, which Nuria's armies had, and the other which the group was currently at with the allied forces. A couple of small barricades had been set up inside the entrances, but beyond that it was a stalemate.

"What about magic?" Avira asked Guthrie, her voice raised because of the amount of background noise.

"Something's interfering with the flows here, grounding them and keeping me from using their forces. Nothing magical a happening here unless it's in a battery." Guthrie explained, shaking his head as he glanced out at the battlefield.

Suddenly, before anyone could stop her, Alina ran off to a nearby squad of dwarves, yelled something to them, and in a flash of dark energy and cold they were gone.

It took about ten seconds, but just as suddenly there was a roar and sounds of fighting from across the hall as Avira and the squad appeared behind enemy lines, shooting, slashing, and killing as they appeared.

It was over within a minute as the battle line moved up and took the enemies old positions, leaving the vault room fully in the groups hands.

Guthrie was angry, angrier then he had been in a long time, not since Squer had snuck Fren's tail ring off and used it to visit his friends house.

He was more worried then angry truth be told, and it showed as he looked at Alina, whos claws were covered in gore. Wothout a word Guthrie pulled Alina in for a hug, holding the young dragon tight before letting go.

"Just tell us the plan before you go for it ok?" Was all he could manage before giving a smile smile and a nod.

Edited October 13, 2014 by Ryujin13

[little lost dragon]

Fren blinked as she watched Alina sudden'y go over to some dwarfs. then some yelling then her daughter and the dwarfs vanished. she looked at Guthrie with large eye's then the sounds of battle cry's and the chilling screams of the enmy as they where now caught in fire from both angles. It was over shortly and Fren came over to Alina as Guthrie hugged her and sighed "Next time, give us a warning." she said before hugging her daughter "And, good job on the quick thinking Alina." she said before standing up and looking over to the vault and crossed her arms "I could jump up with some help, I'd need some kind of spring to help launch me, then I should be able to get it down." she said seeing as it was too small a space for Alina to fly up properly. "Vita, whats the range of that D-gun of yours? think it could hit the chains there?" she asked and Vita shook his head.

 

Another idea hit her head "Avira? think you may know how to break those chains? If so, Guthrie or I might be able to get you up there, break the chains, and hang on till we can catch you, I promise you will not hit the floor if you d go up there." Fren said thinking.

[Ryujin13]

Avira looked up at the place that Fren was talking about dubiously, her brown eyes gauging the distance and other factors.

"I think I could get up there with help, but I don't have a way to sever the chains once I'm up there. Still, I guess it doesn't hurt to look."

Avira quickly took her pack off along with her pistol but kept Varren's rifle with her.

"Ready." She said, looking up at the vault again.

The bottom of it was almost 20 feet straight up, but Avira was confident that Fren would gather there.

"1,2,3,go!" Avira shouted, running at Fren and jumping.

Avira's foot landed perfectly in Fren's hands, and the vixen was already bending at the knee for another jump as Fren used both hands to heave her skyward.

The jump plus Fren's throw got her hands just up to the vaults edge and allowed Avira to grab it and begin to climb up.

It was slow going since the handholds weren't very big, but she finally managed to get to the top and disappear.

The group could hear her moving around then a click sounded as a flashlight turned on.

"There's a crank of some kind up here." Avira called suddenly. "I think it'll release it. You should all get back though."

Avira waited about ten seconds for everyone to back up before a grinding sound could be heard.

Slowly the chains began to spool out from the pillars and the vault began to lower, it's bulk slowly lowering to the ground.

At the same time a single set of stairs began to raise from the ground so that it met the vaults side about halfway up.

With a 'boom' that echoed through the castle, the vault settled into the ground, allowing Avira to scrabble down.

The side where the stairs met had three rings, each smaller then the last, each set inside each other and raised in ever higher levels. They all had markings on them, and each turned independently of the others.

"That was easy." Avira said as she hopped down and looked at the vault. "Now we just have to get it open."

 

(It's a combination lock, Vita should be able to crack it given enough time. I'll leave it up to you what the key is and how it's guarded.)

[little lost dragon]

Fren watched Avira sail into the air and waited. Avira got up and apparently there was a crank. She looked at Guthrie A little puzzled, why would the castle make it that simple to get it down? She backed up with the others as the vault began its decent and watched as the stairs rose to meet it half way. She came up to them after the connection was done and with Avira seemingly perfectly safe getting off now, she looked at the 3 rings as Vita made his way to them "The lock its self is basic in how it works, the codes it could need however could be very complex." Vita said looking at the rings "One must move each ring to its right location, possibly locations to unlock." he said

 

Fren folded her arms thinking "Anything to do with the the password then from the book?" she asked and Vita shook his head "Only that the key rests not far from here, but heavily guarded." he said walking down "Either I find the combination my self, which could take a few days, or we find the key to show us the combination. The author never saw what is in this vault though." he admitted.

 

"I could give you the key." a familer voice sounded behind them. Fren whirled around and went into a combat stance seeing Avira's dark clone standing there looking almost bored. "I have a feeling you all know the price as well." she said looking directly at Fren "You know the items in that vault, could help you win this petty conflict currently raging, the treasures none of you know of. But unlike you I can get to the key right now, so I'll give you 2 options, hand Fren over, and she comes with me willingly, to become one with this place, as Avira would have, or I take the key, and the only way to get it will be to kill me, and I take you all to become servants of this place." she said folding her arms with a smirk.

[Ryujin13]

"You're not taking Fren!" Guthrie snarled, a nimbus of power already playing around his hands as he moved in front of his wife. "Nor are you taking anyone. We're going to shut the castle down, it's corrupted, sick, and it needs to be stopped before anyone else is hurt."

"Guthrie, stop." Avira said quietly, stepping forward and putting a hand out. "We know we can't beat her, and if there's a chance that the things in the vault might help shut this place down then so be it."

"We are not handing over my wife!" Guthrie hissed dangerously.

"I'm not suggesting that." Avira said quickly before turning to look at her dark clone. "Ok let's talk. I wasn't awake when the deal was broken between the castle and I. Even though I didn't know that there was a deal I can understand you being a little miffed over losing out on your end of the bargain. That being said, why don't you and I complete our deal instead of dragging someone new in? I'll come with you and do whatever you want if you leave them alone and open the vault for them. Everyone's happy."

Edited October 15, 2014 by Ryujin13

[little lost dragon]

The clone looked at Avira and her corrupted eye's seemed to smile darkly. "Very well Avira, you wish to take your place once more then I can allow that." she said coming closer. "You'll serve this place for eternity, purging all those that wish to taint it, and those who are a taint. Your own free will will be lost. This is the price you agreed to when you took Varren's body. As he would be in your place had you not removed him." she said before looking at Fren as she took hold of Avira's hand, her grasp firm and almost crushing. "Seems you removed her arm for nothing lizard. Maybe next time, you'll learn to not interfere." she said with a snarl. "I'll return with your key as soon as Avira has been converted." she said before Fren spoke "Key first....... then you take Avira." she said

 

She knew Avira was playing a fatal game here. But she hoped the fox girl had some kind of plan, from how her clone smiled, and how the janitor's react, she highly doubted they'd be left alone. She came over and put her hand on Avira's shoulder "You will not be forgotten." she said firmly.

 

The clone seemed to think on Fren's demand and sighed "I suppose I owe you that much, after all, your daughter nearly died last we met." she said letting go of Avira's hand. "But if Avira' is missing when I return, Alina will not be the only death that will happen." she said though looked like she was hoping the group would try something. "The castle will not shift or change this room. I will return soon." she said before vanishing.

 

Fren knelt down and spun Avira around to face her "I hope you know what you are doing. Should she convert you into one of those things, I'll make sure you..... won't suffer for long." she said looking down. She might not have the best run with Avira, but she was a team member, an allie.

Edited October 15, 2014 by little lost dragon

[Ryujin13]

"Make sure it's a good shot." Avira said quietly, handing over Varren's weapon to Fren. "Everything Varren gave me is in the bag. The cubes, the key, the horn, and everything else he picked up along the way. That's the last I've got of him." She let go after a few moments before reaching into her armor and withdrawing a necklace with a small pendant on it. She considered it for a few seconds, then knelt down and carefully slipped it over Alina's neck.

"Alina, you're one of the bravest people I've ever fought with. The has brought me luck since the day my friends bought it for me, I hope it does the same for you." A long hug followed before the clone came back and demanded that they leave.

"Bye guys, shut this place down for me." Avira's said, waving goodbye and winking at the group as she turned and walked off with the group.

 

"I can't tell if she has an actual plan, is just brave, stupid, suicidal, or all of the above." Guthrie said quietly. "Maybe we could call Bor or something? I mean this place is going to turn her into a slave again, she knows that, she must have a plan."

"She seemed pretty sincere when she was giving away her things." Alina said, her voice quiet as she played with the pendant around her neck. "If she was only acting then she was very good."

[little lost dragon]

Fren held the bag and looked at Varren's weapon. "Seems to be the item that's passed down each time the leaders fall." she said quietly before looking at the vault. She slung the bag over her shoulder and held Varrens weapon with her arm with her own weapons as she picked up the key left behind "This better be worth it." she hissed before walking over to the vault. She handed the key to Vita and he began to instruct Fren which rings to spin and when to stop them. Afterwards the was a loud click. "Avira has a plan, I'm unsure what it is exactly, but she's got something up her sleeve, I do know she needed to play like she had given up, her clone might have been listening in on us, I can say this because this place seems to stay honest on its end of the bargins at least, thus we will be left alone for now. As such, they won't be listening in." she said before giving a sigh "Lets see just what Avira put her life at risk for us to get." she said grabbing hold of the vault and opening it.

 

the clone smirked as they went "Such loyalty, tell me Avira, did you really think anyone could shut this place down? A small group of misfits and children?" she asked as a door seemed to form before them "Past this door way marks your path to joining this place as one. Is there anything I should know about?" she asked in a challenging manner

[Ryujin13]

"You're connected to the castle, you know the truth. This place is corrupted, it's purpose is gone, and it needs to be shut down." Avira said quietly as they walked. "Of course the castle doesn't think anythings wrong, which means you don't either so I'm just wasting my breath."

Avira paused before the doorway when it appeared, then looked at the clone.

"You could help us you know." She said cautiously. "You could help us shut this place down. No more enslavement, no more servitude, just your own free will. I already know your answer, but it had to be said."

She sighed and shook her head, then looked at the door. She knew that if she ran the clone could catch her, if she fought it could beat her, and even if she somehow did get away it would just turn on her teammates. That being said, being a slave again was truly a fate worse then death for Avira.

 

[little lost dragon]

The clone laughed a little and shook her head. "Hun this place has never been better, Its met to capture and study specimens. Just maybe not in this manner, however it brings out the true colors it brings in, now come, we have a lot to do. I'm sure your friends will want to see you sooner rather then later." she said with a smile that would make anyones skin crawl. The door opened showing a pod like thing in the middle of a room. Runes floated around in a chain like manner. "Step into the pod, and it will all be over soon enough." she whispered into her ear. "Unlike dead beings, all we got to do with you, is one step, nothing like reconstructing the body from say maybe ones arm." she said with a grin letting Avira see the exact arm Fren had cut from her.

 

(Ok, this has well.... I'm just going as this goes lol, there is no set plan for how this will go, but Avira's your character, I do have something in store if you rather this not happen to her.)

 

Fren looked at the contents of the vault. Inside was a new, critical item like Guthries shield, and Jak's sword. It was odd though, it was like a staff, but she could not tell the top from the bottum. She took hold of it and brought it out and then looked at Guthrie "Mind trying this out?" she asked then it glowed much like Avira's key stone had 10 years ago and a sharp sting was felt in her hand making her jump a little dropping the staff. Inside the vaul where was a face mask, and pair of gauntlets, They had the same glint as Jak's sword had.

[Ryujin13]

(I don't really have a plan one way or the other for Avira, so she could die or not. I kinda like her character so I'd prefer to have her remain, but then again if she dies we can focus more on Guthrie, Alina and Fren. For now let's have Avira live because I like her. Feel free to enact your idea and power play if you need to.)

 

Guthrie carefully reached out and took the staff, his long fingers curling around the haft. When Guthrie's flesh touched the staffs tip glowed green like his eyes and he was assaulted by a sudden surge of energy, making him let go of the staff like he had been shocked.

"It's nothing, it's fine." He said quickly, reaching for the staff again. "Its got a lot of power stored inside and it just took me by surprise." He explained before looking at the others. "I don't think Avira's coming back." He said, his voice quiet now. "I guess she didn't have a plan after all."

 

"You see? Even you admit it, the castles not functioning properly. It's meant to study cultures and people, not torture and kill them. What changed? What corrupted this places purpose? Why can't you just work with us instead of trying to kill us every chance you get?"

[little lost dragon]

(Righto)

 

The clone smiled darkly again "Because almost everything had been collected for cultures and people, however with the nice side now taken care of, a new objective was placed in, to create strife, but them in a situation they must leave, this offers more data and explains why some of the other data as well. You see Avira every culture, every race evolved from strife, we are just creating more here for them to adapt to, see what happens, see how this being may react yet another being may not, this has allowed the castle to continue its work rather then simply rot away for the next corrupter to seize it." she said "If anything you can blame those for you call siblings. Through there strife, they showed us how creating things for beings to over come, can create more new data, data to archive and log, its the other side to the same goal." she said "You mortals see life as such a droplet, when there is a entire ocean of possibility's. With one side largely collected, the other side must be, to archive the other side, you and your friends and those before and after you must be tested, for every being from every race reacts differently, even if there actions may looks similar." she said before looking like she wanted to say more. but nothing came, then "However those like you have damaged the memory, we don't know what for all this data is being collected, but until the master has said otherwise, we will continue."

 

Fren shook her head "Avira knows better then to go into such a situation with out something in mind. I refuse to think she would hand her self over with out a safe guard in place, a plan of action, even if we are needed to help her enact it later." she said coming over to Alina and attaching the gaunlets to her paws, "Castle blades, nothing will stop your claws now Alina." she said with a nod before going over to the vault again. she picked up that last thing and held up a odd wrist blade like thing. It clearly attached to the wrist, but seemed to serve as both a small shield, and a small blade. She looked at Guthrie not reconizing the weapon.

[Ryujin13]

"I doubt your purpose was to analyze and catalogue suffering." Avira said angrily. "This was obviously a place of learning, meant to contain thousands of people who were here to learn, to study the information archived here. Why collect that library if people weren't meant to look at it? Or those museums? The knowledge contained there could help any sentient race that looked at it. Science, history, art, culture, it's all there, waiting to be studied, but nobody can study it because the castles gone rogue. What happened to its creators? Did it kill them too? Did they die out? What about commands? Surely they left some instruction besides collecting people and killing them!"

 

"It's a Shantu." Guthrie said immediately, moving over to Fren and gently taking the shield. "Roughly it translates to dangerous protection. It's used by the earth monks in their fighting style, usually in pairs, that way they can block but still be deadly. This ones not like theirs though." He said, turning the weapon over and over in his hand. "There's are made from the same wood that the swords and bows are traditionally made from, but this is made from metal and doesn't have the same design as the others. The blades are longer on this, and the shield surface is smaller. It's also missing the writings. Each shield is hand made and inscribed with different scriptures that each monk finds most comforting. It's a very individualized item. These are missing that though. I don't even think these came from my planet although they resemble the Shantu." Guthrie explained.

 

(I have literally no plan to get Avira out of danger so feel free to make something happen.)

[little lost dragon]

The clone chuckled "Oh Avira, you your self should know well by now, just because it takes commands, does not mean it does not learn. And if it learns it adapts, it comes to its own conclusions. The masters may still live, but they put them selfs to rest." she said "With there rest keeping them out of the picture, the place can continue to collect data, once once both sides are complete, or the test subjects make it, then one can learn more information then any being could imagine. However, to create a complete exprence, both sides must be completed or the work is unfinished and the goal unreachable to provide beings a complete time here." she explained "Take your world for example, the humans, they don't just stop with the good parts of there own history, they show there own wars they had with them selfs, they have records of many things most would consider horrible and terrible, but as a result of those records others learn from them and not repeat them." she pointed out "If out that information, you would never had come to be because there world would no longer sustain any kind of life." he said before taking hold of Avira's shoulders "In case you hoped to stall, time in this area has stopped. So we can talk about your questions. The castle is hear to gether data to answer any and all questions after all." she said

 

(Avira might be able to find a problem in the castles programming, or her clone may convince her to come on her own choise, or things could go horribly wrong, I dunnu findign glitches in programming can sometimes result in...... unforseen results. Oh and correct me if I'm wrong, kind of playing as the castle now speaking through Avira's clone.)

 

Fren nodded and looked it over "So a weapon and a shield. Sounds useful." she commented putting it on her wrist and it slipped on. Like it was made for her. She gave a few test jabs and blocks before nodding "Well, Alina's claws are boosted with castle tech, You Guthrie are ready for full on magic war, castle shield and now staff, and I got this.... Shantu." she said before looking at Vita "And you..... guess this place things your well off already." she said with a shrug and Vita went up tot eh vault to see for him self.

 

(Should he get something too or....?)

[Ryujin13]

(That's your call on whether Vita gets something. I don't see why he couldn't unless he's just the best he could be right now. As for rping the castle that's fine, it's our rp not just mine.)

 

"There wasn't an escape plan." Avira said, baring her teeth. "I came so that they could complete the mission, namely keeping Nuria from unlocking the cage, then destroying this place."

She stopped though when the castle mentioned its creators, and it's purpose.

"So your purpose was for learning." She said, a glint in her eye. "I knew it. But if that was your purpose then you're failing in it. I can understand what you're saying, that learning comes through hardship and the like, but killing people doesn't teach them anything, it just erased any knowledge they might have gained over their lifetimes. You're actively destroying knowledge by killing people. Even if one person came into this place and learned all the things I have, then died, they have still died. Learning is only useful if you can act on it. Learning about a new culture makes you want to meet new people, learning about somewheres history makes you want to go see it. My friends and I went to South America to see the huge stone temples there because we had heard about them. We learned about their culture, about their way of life and we were better for it. If someone had killed us immediately after learning that then what was accomplished? A smarter corpse? That's not how it works. Maybe with Vita, but not with an organic and certainly not with anyone who has been brought here. By killing them you have destroyed who knows how many viewpoints, and consequently abolished all the knowledge they had ever collected. You are doing more harm then good, and that's to bad since your original purpose was so noble."

 

 

[little lost dragon]

The clone sighed impatiently "You don't eat a half baked cake do you not? If someone had gone to those temples and cleaned out half its information and only left half of it would it not be incomplete?" she asked "You've seen the library, that's only half the data collected. We must collect the other half now, then being can come here safely. Until then those beings that are brought here serve only to give me more information based on the challenges chosen for them." she said before sighing "However there is a massive disturbance currently disrupting the collection of information, Nuria does pose a large threat....."

 

Vita stuck his hand in and pulled it out and as he did a click was heard and at first it looked like a ring or something had been put around his would be wrist. Then it glowed and he seemed to get a outline on him. "Shields..... useful." he commented.

Fren nodded "alright, lets get moving now, Vita any info on the next key?" she asked and Vita gave a nod "Used to be north of us." he said before seeing Fren's and the others confused expressions "Patrol found the next vault, however Jak got to it already." he said "Next up is getting to the door, all key items are found. But all are not in the same hands." he said.

[Ryujin13]

(Sorry about the slow responses, been busy lately, I'm going to pick back up here.)

 

"What information could possibly be missing?" Avira asked incredulously. "You say you've collected half the data, well what's the other half? What are you researching? What is so important that so many have died just to learn it?"

Avira could tell she was finally getting somewhere, that the answers, and possibly even peace with the castle was finally in her grasp, all she had to do was keep pressing for it, keep asking questions and seeking holes in the castles story.

"The four siblings have already told us that this place has served as a battlefield forever, which means this place is as old as them, and they say they are as old as thought itself. That means you have been learning all that time and killing for who knows how long. What is the goal? The stopping point? Is there even one? We deserve to know that much."

 

"Well thats easy then." Alina said suddenly. "We just have to destroy the keys we have and the door will never open. Nuria loses and fuz... Jak, is released because she has no use for him anymore."

"I think you're underestimating this person Alina." Guthrie said gently. "She's not the kind of person to give up easily, and even if she lost that way she's the kind of person who would make everyone else lose as well. She would still have her army, and I'm sure they would be happy to go rampaging planet to planet, killing as they went, all because Nuria didn't get her way. The only way we win without horrible consequences is by defeating her army, taking what she has gained, and then destroying the keys. Nothing less then that will win us this war. As it is... Unless your friend can break Nuria's hold by himself I don't think rescue will be an option. She will kill him out of spite if given a reason and opportunity."

[little lost dragon]

The clone paused "Beings tend to learn from another being who might of been in a similar situation in the past. Or at least time that was recorded. The other half is creating the challenges and tests of every single race in the universe and log it all." she said though the greater power feeding her the info to say seemed to have trouble keeping the flow going now. "The goal is to achieve a complete data center of everything known to any being it brings on. The stopping point is when that goal is achived. Estimation to goals completion is....." she paused before frowning.

 

Fren lead the way out of the room as they spoke. "We will have a confrontation with Jak, there is no 2 ways about that. He needs all the keys to open the door for his mistress, she knows that as well. However I get the feeling she'll aid him personally so he can get the keys." she said "And if not, then as Guthrie says, Jak most likely will perish. Which reminds me, Guthrie, you have a castle grade staff now, you said there was massive power in it, could you weave something to smash the spell Jak is kept prisoner with?" she asked "In case I can't get through to him we'll need a back up action, I'd perfer not to kill my adopted son." she admitted

[Ryujin13]

Avira mentally smiled, she had the clone now and all she needed to do now was press the advantage.

"You see, even you can't answer because it's an impossible goal you've set. Just think about what you're saying. You want to catalogue every possible scenario a living being could face as well as its reaction to the scenario, and that's not possible, not even if you worked until there wasn't a single universe left. Time, space, dimensions, they will all end before you get even a fraction of the work done, because it is an impossible goal. That's because every single being handles the same situation differently every single time. You and I could relive this talk a billion times and there would be a tiny difference every single time. Next time I could swish my tail right this second. The time after I could swish it one second later. You would have to take each being who ever existed in each Galaxy and catalogue every single moment in time for every single scenario you put them through. Then you need to group them together, which means cataloging every single moment again in that group, and the next, and the next. Then, even if you somehow managed to do that, the most important thing needs to happen. You have to test yourself. How will you react to your scenarios? You're a sentient being and what's more you're the most important piece to the puzzle. You're the cause of all this, so how would you react if you were one of us? What would happen if you were suddenly trapped in a castle that wanted to kill you? you can't know, and that means you cannot complete your task ever." Avira said, trying to be gentle so as not to set the clone off. She knew she had the castle now, that's it couldn't and wouldn't be able to answer her questions, the question was how it would react.

If it we're an AI at home it would probably shut down because of the paradox presented, it's systems succumbing to the infinite logic loops she had presented it. The castle was differnt though. It was a magical construct and obviously much more powerful and intelligent.

The best case scenario was that it would realize it's error, return to its original purpose, give up its current goal and join her side in the fight against Nuria. Worst case scenario was that it would become angry, and set out to destroy all life because of the paradox.

"Listen, it's not to late to change. This place is amazing and I would love to explore it more if it weren't trying to kill me. Hell every single scientist, probably every single person ever would do anything to visit this place for even a day. The garden was amazing so are your museums. I'm a soldier and even I want to look at everything. Go back to your original purpose, help us beat Nuria and become a place of learning, of exploration. Help everyone instead of destroying them."

 

Guthrie shook his head and tapped the crystal at the top of the staff where the green glow was emanating.

"You misunderstand. This staff will act as a focusing rod for my powers, but when I touched it it attuned itself to my powers. The power I mentioned is..." He paused trying to think of a way to describe it. "Normally I have to draw on the different lines of power to use magic, you know that. The staff has power stored inside it that I could use instead, a lot of it. I can use it to fuel more powerful spells then I could ever do on my own because I wouldn't have to focus on containing the power while snapping the spell." He explained.

[little lost dragon]

The clone did not answer or react or anything at first. Then she finally came out o fher thinking look "the goals and instructions where given to me at the start of the mission. However before many had been here a being did get to the control point and added more instructions....... its impossible to tell what was added but if there was a limitation to data gather before that, its been removed." she said before the doors closed "There is a conflict of instructions and logic matrix. A reset of the instructions needs to be done, however the masters are... I am unable to determin, contact has been severed for millions of universe life times....." she said

 

Fren nodded doing her best to understand, "Would you be able to weave something then and use the staff to counter a control spell? Or just null out magic entirely for a few moments?" she asked "If you could null the area of magic not only would the spell on Jak be forced to break, but his mistress would be powerless at least for a few moments." she explained as they went, the sounds of fighting resuming. Though at times it sounded like there where reports of the janitors just stopping and not moving.

[Ryujin13]

"If you haven't heard from your creators in that long then something has probably happened to them." Avira said gently, thinking her words out carefully so as not to set the castle off. "Let me help. Tell me how to do a reset and I can enter new parameters that will keep this from happening again. You can help me write them out, and when we're finished you can continue fulfilling your true purpose instead of this impossible one."

Avira was talking quietly like a friend would, trying to get the castle on her side. She was close, she could feel it, but all it would take was one misstep and everything would go to hell again.

 

Guthrie considered Fren's question, thinking of ways it could work.

"There is a way we could sever the connection, but it would only be temporary, and it would be difficult." He said slowly. "Youve seen me draw circles before, well a circle is like a bubble of magic, it keeps natural magic from entering so that one can concentrate better. If I set a circle with the correct runes around it, and if we could get Jak inside the spell would be severed. It wouldn't last though. Nuria's magic is much stronger then any natural force, and it would push through the circle eventually. If I use some of the staffs magic, I can make one strong enough to do this, but you wouldn't have long."

"How long would it last?" Alina asked quietly, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Minutes, maybe five if I do it properly. That being said we would need to get Jak alone for this to work. If Nuria's present and actively trying to break through the circle would last seconds at most."

[little lost dragon]

The clone seemed to listen then she became very hostile like when Avina offered to put in the reset order her self. "No being is allowed to enter in parameters, not even those created by me." she snapped "The amount of power you'd be faced with is far to great for even gods to comprehend." she stated firmly before something seemed to click in her and she calmed down. "However, precautions might of already failed, putting this place into another beings hands already. There's only one way to ensure such does not happen again." she cncluded "If what you say is true, I have destroied far too many lives, far too much info. Making me defective. Defectives must be perdged." she said "However my power is disrupted with your conflict in here. I can not detect most of you thus I can not send you home. Finish the war, lift your cloaks, and you'll all be returned." she said

 

Fren nodded thinking hard. "We'll need bait then to keep Nuria awak from Jak. So far she has never left his side. Once we have him seperated from her then the plan can go to work." she said before gritting her teeth as they slide into place giving her mouth a threatening look. Showing she was very frustrated by what options she saw right now "Besides us, that leaves Bor and........ Nuria's thinks her sister is out of the war, if she agree's she'll be the perfect bait." she said suddenly as they went.

[Ryujin13]

"Ok, ok, so that won't work, but we can still make it right like you said." Avira said, raising her hands as the clone grew angry. "We can do what you say, but some of the people wont want to go back to their proper homes. Alina and Fren for instance. They will want to remain with Guthrie on his world. That being said Alina can help people get where they need to go as well you. All we need to do is stop Nuria, and that will be much easier if you focus solely on her forces. She's set up her base in the entrance hall, so even if her forces are cloaked you'll always be able to find them."

Avira was actually rather proud of the way she had handled the whole situation and was already sure that everything was going to turn around for the better.

"I need to get back to my group, I'm sure they already have a plan and I want to be there to help them."

 

Guthrie grimaced, remembering their last encounter with Cadence and the terror that had been unleashed.

I'm um, I'm not sure that Bor's sister would agree to that." He said as they moved along. "She didn't want to help at all before and only agreed to sort of help even after all that. In fact I would bet that she'll tell us no before we even finish talking, assuming we could even get her to talk to us."

He paused, thinking hard his glowing green eyes half-closed like they did when he was concentrating.

"Bor and Medad could do it." Alina said suddenly. "They said they met Nuria before to ask about Cadence in a neutral location, maybe they could trick Nuria into meeting again."

"It's a good idea Alina but that doesn't solve how we get to Jak." Guthrie said quietly.

"What if I go get him?" Alina asked, causing Guthrie to frown in confusion. "I could go and grab him, then bring him back here to the circle."

"No, it's to dangerous and I'm sure your mother agrees." Guthrie said immediately. "You could be captured, killed, or worse, turned into a slave like Jak."

"It's not your decision, it's mine!" Alina said angrily, stomping a foot.

"It is my decision because I am your father in every way that matters!" Guthrie said, raising his voice.

"But you're not my dad! You're just-"

"Alina I am your father! I have been there for you for over ten years and during that time I have raised you as my own! I have loved you, cared for you, and been there for you every step of the way! I have the right to be called your father, and I deserve the respect that comes from being one! I say that this is to dangerous, and that's the end of it! Your stunt just a few minutes ago, when you fought the enemy was dangerous enough, I wil not let you do something ten times as dangerous! We will find another way!" He roared, a nimbus of green energy appearing over his horned head as he grew angrier. He was also floating straight up to his not unimpressive height, and was currently a head over even Fren.

Alone looked like she was ready to argue, she even looked like she was ready to fight, but stopped when she came to the conclusion that fighting more wouldn't result in a win, only more anger from Guthrie and her mother.

She mumbled an apology, before moving off a ways to sulk in a corner.

"Do either of you have any ideas?" Guthrie asked quietly, looking at Vita and Fren. "Even if we got Nuria to leave Jak somewhere she won't leave him on the front lines. He'll be left in the entrance hall at best, and that's assiming she doesn't just shove him in a pocket dimension while she goes off and deals with the distraction."