A Key to the Past V2(Social, Talen, Linxwire, Kihia)

As the sun set in the Cursed Lands, creating long shifting shadows, Talen looked up  at the huge stone wall of the Labyrinth of Mystery. The walls were almost 40 meters tall and made of smooth yellowish stone that was covered in various plant life. Before the mage was an impressive door made of the same stone that was slightly agar.

As Talen looked at the labyrinth, he remembered his meeting with Artemis earlier that week where she had told him about a rumor that the key of a powerful spirit was hidden somewhere inside the enormous labyrinth. Talen had been looking around for a more powerful spirit lately, his trip to Bosco had shown him that he was lacking raw power in his roster of spirits.

Welll we may as well get going, Talen thought as he tuned to his guildmates. The summoner had brought Xavier and Kihia along, not knowing how difficult or dangerous this would be. Kihia had been a member of Serpent Soul, before it was disbanded, so he seemed like a perfect person to ask to come a long. Talen did not really know Xavier well, but he had seemed interested in coming along. "Alright guys we had better get going before it gets to dark."

Xavier, a little tired from the long journey here rubbed his eyes, they weren't nearly as wide open and alert as they usually tend to be. He looked to the massive walls, and just fell speechless. He couldn't ever recall something this out of the ordinary... existing. Wow, that sounded horribly rude. In that moment he thanked his luck for it not being a person that thought conveyed. The sunset that pierced his perception of the land around him with it's brightness seemed to perfect the somber mood he felt. "You know... I think I read a poem once that described a view like this..." He paused for a moment to reflect on his sentence, and think about what that even meant to their situation. He was half awake, at it was hard for him remember exactly what he was thinking of.

"The erm... stanzas seem to elude me at the moment." he admitted, disappointed with himself. He pulled his jacket on his shoulder a bit tighter than it was before, as a chilling breeze gently blew past them. From his jacket he pulled a book that he got just to reference the place they had traveled to, on the off chance it would be of any help. "This place is spectacular, I read earlier that for each group that enters, the paths change specifically to prevent a map ever being forged." And again he was a bit late to realize just the weight of the sentence. "Oh... well that's just dandy." he closed the book, and put it away.

Kihia was walking along a unmarked path within the Cursed lands, he was heading to the labyrinth, a unusual destination most certainly, but he was going to help and old friend. Talen had asked Xavier and himself to meet him within at the entrance of the labyrinth, to help him search for a powerful Celestial spirit key Artemis had told him about. He arrived a few moments before Talen had commented about going into the halls of the labyrinth before nightfall, he also heard what Xavier had to say from the book he was reading about this mysterious place. He stood in silence as the weight of those words hung in the air. He then placed his right hand on Talen’ shoulder and nodded at the celestial spirit mage, “Lead the way Talen… I will watch our backs… I will do my utmost to try and keep any major threats at bay until we can find what you are looking for…”

When Talen heard Xavier mention that the labyrinth would change every time someone entered it, the summoner shook his head, "Of course it does, why can't the awesome keys ever be in an easy place to find."

When Talen walked through the impressive stone doors, he saw that the path stretched to both is left and right. Closing his eyes, Talen tried to sense which way they should go. He had sensed the location of Celestial Spirit keys once before, however they had been his keys, and he was not sure if he could do it with a key he did not have a contract with.

At first the summoner did not feel anything, but after a few moments he felt something faint to his right. "I think the key this way guys." Talen said, walking in that direction.

After a few more twists and turns, Talen reached an open area that was a rough circle about 60 meters in diameter. At first the mage did not understand why this one area was so much larger the the rest of the Labyrinth, until he noticed that they were not alone. On the other side of the circle, Talen saw a large scaly beast with 5 large heads at the end of a serpentine necks. The beast was about 50 meters tall, most of which was neck, and about 45 meters long including a decently sized tail. The beast was looking at the three mages with a slightly bored look on its face.

The center head lowered toward the group and said in a voice that made the very air rumble, "And who might you three little morsels be?"

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OOC: here is an image of the hydra. I don't really have a plan for this part, just RP what your character would do.

Spoiler:

Well this was great. Xavier began to question to himself momentarily if he was simply fated to meet beasts of such monstrous size. And based on that little comment he could only assume that it was hungry or just ate everyone whom was unfortunate enough to cross paths with it. "I'd hope you be so understanding just to simply allow us the chance to not furnish a repast. That would be great." he rubbed his eyes once more as if whatever bothered him before were still plaguing his vision. "It's very kind of you however to... um, do us that favor." Xavier almost didn't seem coherent. he somewhat clung to Talen's side as he seemed to have a greater idea of how to navigate the place than him, and considering how quickly they ran into danger only really meant they were probably going in the right direction.

Kihia followed closely behind Talen and Xavier has they traversed the labyrinth, every time they came to an intersection he stopped a few extra seconds and looked every which direction a little longer before realizing he was falling behind and hurriedly went to catch up. He furrowed his brow as he followed, his only thoughts mainly involved what kind of crazy person outside of Zuo would place valuable objects in a place like this… He then heard Talen say something along the lines he thinks it’s this direction and took off before anyone could say anything. Kihia followed after him at a brisk walking pace, trying to keep up.

Before long they entered into a large opening of the Labyrinth, like really big however this isn’t what held Kihia’s attention, in the center of the room was a rather large Hydra, like incredibly large. Kihia’s eyes widened as soon as he heard what was said and flipped Icarus out of its sheathe and took a defensive stance in front of the group, “Talen… Xavier… I will try and draw its attention… try and stay safe…”

The hydra looked to Xavier with a slight smile, chuckling as it said in it's rumbling voice, "I will admit, I wonder how you would taste, however, a friend of mine asked me not to simply eat everyone who entered the Labyrinth."

As Kihia stepped in front of his fellow mages, the hydra's middle head raised an eyebrow. "I am no mindless beast, young one, for you to distract. Also I have five heads, I can watch all three of you and look for more prey." All five of the heads looked towards, "Now, I am sure we can discuss this in a civilized manor," the four non center heads began to growl, "now answer my question, who are you and why are you here?"

Talen stepped in front of Kihia and said in a voice shaking only slightly, "I am Talen Sidus, a Lamia Scale mage, and I am seeking a certain item of some that is rumored to be within this Labrynth."

Xavier somewhat taken aback by the oddity of this situation. A gigantic beast of a creature that could speak and for once didn’t want to harm people, or at he the least was ordered not to. Kihia being somewhat outwitted, and Talen taking the whole thing quite well which honestly he wasn’t sure how to feel about because he never knew the mage very well. “My name’s Xavier-“ he hesitated before saying his last name and refrained from doing so for reasons. “…and I came to assist him on his search,” He figured now was as good a time if any to ask questions. “Who would ask a favor such as this of yourself?”

Kihia’s right eyebrow twitched at the hydra’s response and he didn’t lower his stance, that is until he spoke the words of doing this civilly. Kihia relaxed a little and watched as Talen walked in front of him, and answer the Hydra’s question. Kihia waiting until Xavier had finished talking before he started, “I am Kihia Avoa… I am here to assist and defend my companions while we seek the item Talen wants…” He paused for a moment closely watching the hulking hydra in front of him, he then asked, “So we answered your question… why is it that you are here… and what do you call yourself…?”