Somewhere deep in a dry land, a deadly machination awaits you. Collect its heart as a momento.
Ein really wished she knew why this was. It made sense to her where it was, but why was it there? She shrugged to herself as she continued on.
The location came to her with pure logic. She once lived in a small community of mages, in the middle of nowhere in Australia. The Rikti War demolished most of them, but the fact remained they were there. And she was starting to have an idea why.
She teleported to the entrance of what was left of the settlement and looked around. The ruins were familiar to her, she had after all been in the fight. And she'd spent quite a while there before and after there.
She began to walk through. She saw everything she remembered - there were three families, each with their own house. Then there was the inn run by the families. Definitely not a big place - more a small stop. A permanent residence for the families, however.
Each of the families had a division of magic they practicesd. The Moras learned elemental magic. The Teslas, summoning. And the Jikuus, time and dimensional magic. By the end of the Rikti War only one child of each family was left. The Tesla child went missing several days after the news of Statesman's assault on the Rogue Isles in 2005. The young Mora and Jikuu left soon after to help the citizens of Paragon City.
As she entered the door to what was the Jikuu house, Ein tried to remeber what the last Jikuu, Skye, said about her parents. 'They never let me hide under their bed when I was a kid.' It seemed a rather odd thing to mention, and an odd thing for them to forbid. Surely they must have been hiding someething.
Magus Jikuu, as he was called, was a hero before the Rikti bested him in combat. Perhaps his publicity was what attracted the Rikti to such a small town. The room was in shambles - the clear burn marks of the Rikti energy weapons were apparent on the walls and furniture, the door practically in splinters. There was clear proof the Jikuus had put up a fight - a Rikti rifle and part of a Rikti blade were lying, forgotten, on the floor. The foot of the bed looked to have been ripped out of existance. But most importantly that left a suspicious spot exposed. Ein pulled the bed off of the position - it was suprisingly light, perhaps due to only being perhaps two thirds there - to find a trapdoor. It looked to have not been usd in a while. Collecting the rifle from the floor - it may have been out of power, but she may yet find a use for it - she entered.
As she so expected, the trapdoor led to a cave. While it certainly wasn't well-lit, it wasn't pitch-black. There were several scattered torches, each lit with a blue flame. The Moras had that magic - cold flames, that can't be put out except by command. Nobody was there to give that command. She walked through the cave, certain that there must be something in here to stop her. Nothing appeared. Not even a bat.
It took perhaps ten minutes of walking before she came to the end - a massive room, easily the size of a football field, fully lit by an unknown light source. And there in the middle, exactly what she expected. Thirty feet tall at least, made of full iron - it looked slightly rusty, but otherwise sturdy. As shes tepped forward, a large green eye activated on its head. Before she could react, it brought a massive hand crashing into her side.
As she flew though the air, she couldn't think. This thing was huge! How could she take it down? Then she remembered. She's no ordinary human.Sliding across the ground, and bringing herself to her feet, she concentrated.
Boom.
In place of the six foot tall, relatively fragile-looking woman, a seven feet tall brute of a creature stood. "Oh, I pity old civilizations. They never did find out about Kheldians!" She lumbered forward, her footsteps echoing. The golem brought its fist up, then sending it crashing down...
It didn't connect. Ein, in Dwarf form, stood there, supporting the arm with very little effort. Hefting it upwards, the fist just missed the mark of its eye. Regardless, some noticeable damage was done, as it stood apparently stunned. All the time she needed.
Boom.
Now, Ein flew, Nova form. Her form was always slightly different to other Kheldians - more tentacles, which didn't always go over well. Regardless, she unleashed what she intended to - round upon round of negative energy, directly into the eye. It was stunned by the arm to the head, so it was safe to assume this was the point to aim for.
It worked. Clearly whoever made this wasn't expecting such attacks. As the eye cracked and dimmed, the golem toppled, landing face-down on the ground. There, easily visible on its back, was a still glowing green orb.
Returning to human form, Ein collected it. She looked it over - if she had to guess, this was a power source. Perhaps it would be of use later. Besides, the description did say to take the power source.
Held under water, under guard, knowledge of other worlds hides.
She had to plan this carefully. She knew where to look. She knew what she was looking for. She knew what was going to stop her. All part of the fun.
Most people wouldn't go diving dressed in a leather jacket and pants. Then again, most people don't go diving off the coast of Primeva. Those who do tend to not come back up.
She knew she was on the right track. An old, dusty tome, found in an old, forgotten section of the city of Mu, stated the collection of this 'knowledge' as a trial. What that trial, and the ones following it led to, she didn't know.
She always wondered what the Coralax were doing around Primeva. Their city was in all likelihood closer to Isle Au Diable. Now she realised. They were guarding something. And she was going to go get it.
Why? Sounded like a bit of fun.
Normally she would go in, guns blazing, and take the thing by force, laying waste to the guards. But her robots wouldn't work underwater, and they were in a vast state of disrepair. She had to choose her equipment carefully.
Removing her shoes, she surveyed the waters below her. Somewhere, there would be a sign of movement. That would be a guard of the treasure. She watched carefully.
After several minutes, she saw a blue head rise over the water, quickly submerging again. That was all she needed. Placing the mouthpiece of the breathing apparatus she was wearing in her mouth, she jumped in.
The water was surprisingly clear. She assumed the Circle must be very light polluters. Up ahead she could see the Coralax, swimming towards something. She followed.
It wasn't long before she could see that they were swimming towards a small ruined shrine, Mu-like in architecture. Two Coralax stood as guards, steadfast. She could see their weapons - coral shortswords. She knew from experience those could hurt an unarmored body.
The three Coralax met together. It seemed the one she was following was unarmed. They talked, but she couldn't hear what they said. It probably wouldn't have mattered anyway.
She began swimming forward again, accidentally kicking something - it looked like just a rock. Somehow, this alerted teh Coralax - all three turned in unison to her. The armed guards drew their swords. She knew she'd have to fight her way in the moment she saw the shrine, that ardly changed the fact that this was a problem.
They swam towards her, the unarmed one slightly behind. She drew the one weapon she brought with her - a dagger, glowing a soft pink. It wasn't much, but it was all she had.
Sh swam forward, quickly meeting the swordsmen. Both attempted a swing, before either landed she sunk the dagger into the stomach of one. The power of the dagger took him by surprise - they mustn't have prepared for energy weapons. he dropped his sword, as it fell to the depths his ally made his mark on her shoulder. She couldn't help but smirk - they weren't prepared at all for someone like her, with such equipment. The swing barely penetrated the outermost layer of her jacket. She silently thanked the durable skins her outfit was made of.
Then she saw the unarmed Coralax take a shot. He threw a collection of small spiky balls at her - urchins. She expected as much. He was a suprisingly good shot - while some missed their mark, a couple managed to fly through the open jacket and onto her chest, quickly penetrating the tee shirt she was wearing.
Wincing at the pain she wasn't quite prepared for, she swung the dagger at the still armed Coralax. While clearly as disoriented by the dagger as his partner, he managed to hang on to his blade, and struck her wrist. As blood flowed into the water, she dropped her dagger. The disarmed Coralax that had by now swum down to retrieve his sword returned.
She was clearly outmatched in here. Unarmed and outnumbered. Left with no other option, she resorted to an untried tactic.She removed her jacket, throwing it towards the three attackers. They looked at it as it floated lazily through the water.
Then it happened. the jacket began changing shape. Growing hands, sealing itself up, forming legs. Soon, standing in front of her was a black, humanoid mass. The Dark Sentinel as she called it.
The Sentinel raised an open palm at the still-armed Coralax. Before he could react in any way, he was bombarded with small bolts of darkness. When the attack stopped, the horribly bloodied body floated lazily up, as the blade sank.
She quickly swam down, collecting the blade, then rising to join the Sentinel looking at the other two Coralax. They quickly whirled around, and fled.
Ein swam over to the shrine, looking around it. There, on an alter in the center, was a book, remarkably undamaged by the water. She took it and left, rising to the surface.
She still had no idea what these were form. But she did know there was more to do. She pushed a button on her belt, as she was teleported away. The Sentinel soon followed.
((Feedback is much appreciated. More will be added later, as I get to it.))