PASTEL: AETHONIX UNIT
"Lyra'kaidos, what is going?" Aethonix asked.
She remained silent, backing them as she gave him the torch. He took it, staring at her with deep concern.
Jaraelia groaned, her toes and sandals uncomfortably sticky from the liquid drowning their feet. "I can't really tell if this is water or... Something else." She muttered, the awkwardness in her voice was palpable.
Lyra'kaidos-B ventured deeper into the darkness. Her movements were casual. Unreadable. The team stared anxiously while she kept moving. "Where are you going?" Lyrikka asked, her grip on her spear tightening.
Vynesia seized the opportunity to let out an information when Lyra'kaidos-B had moved further from them. "Guys, I think there's something wrong with... Her." She whispered, her gaze fixated ahead.
"Of course there is. She's not giving any of us a reply," Jaxonix snapped.
"No, that's not it. Her hands earlier they were—"
A loud growl bounced off the walls cutting her explanation short. They stood battle ready, holding onto their weapons tight. "Her hands were cold. Too cold. It was almost like she was a stone in the rain."
Their brows furrowed; their backs were turned on each other, eyes sweeping the area for any threats. "You mean like a dead person?" Aethonix uttered.
"Yes."
The growling continued; the sound of splashes traveled through the air. The tension in the atmosphere grew thicker with no sign of Lyra'kaidos-B or the creature growling. Before they could let out another word, an arrow came flying towards Lyrikka. She saw it a second too late. Her eyes widened, gasp loud as she realized it was too late to dodge.
CLANG
The arrow collided with Jaraelia's Warhammer, ricocheting off the hard steel and into the wall. "Aren't you a little bit too small for that?" Lyrikka muttered, her body frozen in shock.
"You've never heard of small but mighty?" Jaraelia replied, her muscles contorting from the weight of the weapon. "Come out coward. You're not Lyra'kaidos, are you?"
Stillness. Except for those creepy ripples spreading across the water, not a single sound of movement. Aethonix tightened his grip, every muscle tense, his gaze locked on the barely-there shadow shifting like a nightmare ahead. The five of them stood as one, a defiant circle, protecting their own.
WHOOSH! An arrow streaked from the dark, extinguishing Jaxonix's torch, plunging them into suffocating blackness! "Shit—" His word was cut short as a massive, obsidian beast erupted from the gloom, a deep, chilling growl echoing as it lunged with impossible speed! Aethonix and Lyrikka whirled, their eyes wide, but they just weren't fast enough.
Jaxonix grit his teeth, thrusting his wicked gauntlets up, but the beast's thick, brutal paw collided with him, sending him flying left, a human ragdoll, to smash into the water, the sickening splashes reverberating through the entire, echoing Den!
A bone-chilling growl echoed from the shadows. Lyrikka and Aethonix spun around, weapons ready, swinging at the Lunakhrai, but the creature easily knocked both of them away. Vynesia seized the moment, igniting her arrow with a flash of magic and passing the glowing torch to Jaraelia. Jaraelia wasted no time, bashing a hole in the wall with her Warhammer and sticking the torch into it, creating a makeshift light source.
Vynesia, eyes locked on the beast, ensured her aim was steady. Her grip on the bow tightened, and the arrow shot forward, but before it could connect, a shadow materialized from the darkness. It effortlessly snatched the arrow mid-air and, in the blink of an eye, tossed it back at her. She dodged, rolling right, then scrambled back up, arrow notched and ready, but there was no sign of them.
Jaraelia scanned the murky area, her Warhammer scraping the ground as she desperately searched for an incoming attack. "We're on the edge," Jaraelia uttered, her breathing heavier now. "We can't attack what we can't see." Then, a furious roar tore from her lungs: "IMPOSTER! Where's Lyra'kaidos?!"
From the creeping shadows, Lyra'kaidos-B stepped forth, humming an ominous, low tune. She was transformed. Her familiar white hair with red tips was now a stark black with crimson ends, and her usual white and red uniform had been replaced by a black and red mystical dress. The new attire revealed her legs, abdomen, and arms, a striking departure from her previous look. With no boots to hinder her, her bare feet met the murky water and rough ground, seemingly unfazed.
Her voice dropped, morphing into a different woman's low pitch. "Where's Lyra'kaidos?!" she mimicked, a soft giggle escaping her lips as Vynesia and Jaraelia shot her unamused glares. "Love the energy in that cry."
Jaraelia's frown deepened, her jaw clenching, muscles hardening. "You're on edge, woman. I'd advise you to speak with caution before the face bashing begins," she spat, venom lacing her words.
Lyra'kaidos-B grinned, her eyes flicking to the other three, who were slowly pushing themselves up.
"Unfortunately..." she began, then paused. Just as she did, an armed obsidian warrior swung its sword down at Jaraelia from above. But Jaraelia was lightning fast, spotting the attack reflected in the water near the torch she'd placed. She countered instantly, swinging her hammer up overhead.
The warrior spun, dodging her hit. With a swift, deadly response, it landed on its feet, lunging in for another slice at her stomach. But Vynesia was quicker, stopping it cold with an arrow. CLANG!
The warrior was incredibly fast, blocking the arrow with its pure black sword. Jaraelia regained her balance, kicking the warrior backward. It tumbled, but recovered, springing back to its feet in a flash.
"... Lyra'kaidos should be dead if I'm not mistaken." Lyra'kaidos-B's voice dripped with condescension.
"Dead?" Aethonix scoffed, gripping his sword with both hands. "What makes you think she'd be dead this early? A Vorakai's daughter wouldn't go down without a fight."
---
BRIGHT: LYRA'KAIDOS UNIT
The late-night downpour was a relentless assault, each blinding flash of lightning momentarily searing their retinas before the deafening crack of thunder rattled their very souls. A potent cocktail of raw adrenaline and gnawing fear coursed through the squad, leaving them on edge and hyper-aware.
"This is what I imagine Frozen Hells looks like," Speratoz coughed, his wet hands clinging to the papers scattered across the frail wood. The air hung heavy with the ancient scent of dust and ink, made more oppressive by the rain seeping through the cracked stone walls.
"I can barely make out these writings. The ink is so smudged," Zephirine groaned, her brow furrowed with every attempt to decipher the text. "How are we supposed to find our Psyrixals in an illusion?"
"What if we're not meant to find anything?" Lyra'kaidos interjected, her gaze fixed on the black chakram symbol on her bruised palms. "What if it finds us?"
Speratoz groaned, his messy hair falling over his face. "Why can't you ever just get to the point?"
Zephirine shot him a side-eye, but Lyra'kaidos pressed on, "What I mean is, with these black markings on our hands, the special weapons linked to them, and sometimes getting a flash of magic when we're in distress... maybe they taught us in parables so we'd figure out the final test ourselves."
"Hmm... I still don't follow," Zephirine admitted.
"Look, it's a weapon linked with your soul," Lyra'kaidos explained, her voice vibrant with her gestures. "You don't just find it somewhere; it just... happens. Probably when your soul needs to work."
Zephirine and Speratoz pondered her explanation for a few seconds before it clicked. "Emotional distress!" they exclaimed in sync, a glimmer of happiness in their eyes.
"Exactly," Lyra'kaidos affirmed.
"But we've been in distress this whole time," Speratoz countered, leaning on the crooked table. "Why hasn't anything happened yet?"
Zephirine nodded, staring at the symbol on her hands which closely matched her Kyreth. "Looks like a serpent," she whispered, her voice low but audible enough to the others.
"What's that?" Speratoz asked. She shook her head, mouthing that it was nothing. The sound of the wind from outside felt like it could bring down the building. "Damn. That thunderstorm is definitely not on team Speratoz," He said, throwing a crumpled wet paper into a gape in the wall. Like clockwork, the shelves started splitting revealing an underground walkway.
The three gasped, staring at one another as to see the magical doorway manifest from a wet paper ball. "Did you know that was gonna work?" Lyra'kaidos asked, a hint of amusement in voice.
"Uh, yeah. Yes, I definitely knew—"
"No, he didn't," Zephirine snorted, cutting him mid sentence. "Let's check it out."
Speratoz frowned and rolled up another paper into a ball, hurdling it onto Zephirine's face and it stuck with a loud slap.
"Hey! What the hell?" She snapped. He shrugged, following Lyra'kaidos behind who was already leading the way through the tunnel. She groaned, trying to focus on the mission ahead of them.