[center][abbr=Pit][img]https://i.ibb.co/7VzgY22/pit.png[/img][/abbr]
Word Count: 759 (+2 exp)
[u]Level[/u]: [b]5[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 187/50
[b]Location[/b]: Dystopiascape - Midgar[/center]
It looked like the battle would go on for a while given the sheer bulk of the Consul's new form. Long, drawn out battles were tough - Pit hoped that the Seekers would be able to hold out. He knew they could do it so long as their morale didn't fall and their stamina didn't fail them, even if they couldn't deal huge amounts of damage. They had to avoid taking a lot of damage themselves too, something easier said than done. 

When the Spirit of Ambition broke free of Midna's pin, Pit scrambled to get out of the way. He managed it, but the rush of displaced air pushed the winged boy away all the same. He got back to his feet and shook his head, only to hear Goldlewis' concerned yell right after. He found Giovanna clinging to the Consul, way too precarious a place to be. He made a beeline for her, through laser arrays, up and over floating debris to pick her up and get her over to safety where Sandalphon or Blazermate could take care of her. 

And then the monstrous form's chest opened up, revealing a bright vortex that vacuumed everything in the area into it - Seekers included.

While being sucked inside Pit let out a shout, not so much of panic but of surprise. The feeling of being pulled in and tumbling through the air into some harsh unknown was not a pleasant one. But when he landed with an [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Oof!"[/color] and stood up to find everyone else there and a weird, white landscape of shapes and lines there was one thought that came to his head first.

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"...it's a lot cleaner in here than the last giant body I had to fight my way out of."[/color]

Sandalphon seemed to think it wasn't the Consul's physical body per se, and Pit was inclined to believe her. Still, the goal was the same - to destroy the giant's "heart" and get out. He made an affirmative noise.

The purple circuit lines that traced the ground meant only one thing to Pit: get out of the way. They spread fast but the angel was faster, dodging and dashing out of the path of danger. The lines erupted into piercing spikes seconds afterward, the same kind of lances that were conjured out of the core itself. If that was all the core had to throw at them, Pit could handle it. He was still fairly sure he could handle it even when the wireframes started appearing.

They took him by surprise, a pair of them knocking him out of his combat flow. They closed in on Pit with melee attacks, shockingly strong for apparently having no bones or muscles. The flat of his bow blocked the first's follow up punch, while the second bypassed the block entirely and came in with a flying kick that sent the angel stumbling backward into a newly laid circuit path. His instincts kicked in and he leaned into the fall, pulling himself into a back handspring. The spears shot up and cut against his hands and bracers as he flung himself out of the way instead of skewering right through him. 

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Nice try!"[/color] he taunted, though he wasn't sure whether these things had ears or not. He pulled the bow apart and rushed forward with his dual blades, slicing through the wireframes and moving back toward the core. He could see that Midna, Susie, and Zenkichi had a handle on the multitude of wire people, so Pit left them to it and focused his efforts on the thing that would get them out of here. 

Pit was an expert at using the divine bow he wielded; in the blink of an eye it was back in one piece with one of the blades reversed. He dashed towards the core leading with his angel ring technique, the bow spinning in one hand like a gilded buzz saw. When it ended the blades became two again, though in the same orientation - he held one blade in a reversed grip, the other traditionally. He carved into the core as soon as the latest shield blocking it went down with a fast series of slashes and jabs. He was far from rooted to the spot, though in his haste to pile on as much damage as possible he forewent dodging the next bout of wire spears the core spit out. He withstood them bravely and kept at it, at least until a new circuit line spread out and readjusted before diving in swords first again. 

[indent][/indent]

[center][abbr=Octopath Travelers][img]https://i.ibb.co/88KWNj5/OTbanner.png[/img][/abbr]
[sup]____________________________________________________[/sup]
[color=FFC6C6][u]Level[/u]: [b]10[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 168/100[/color] [color=2e2c2c]------[/color] [color=BC8DBF][u]Level[/u]: [b]7[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 219/70[/color]
[color=gray]𝙱𝙿[/color] [color=gold]●[/color][color=gray]●●●●[/color] [color=2e2c2c]----------------------------[/color] [color=gray]𝙱𝙿[/color] [color=gold]●[/color][color=gray]●●●●[/color]
[color=lightgray]Word Count: 1317 (+3 exp)
[b]Location[/b]: The Under - Dirtmouth[/color][/center]
Within a few minutes all of the Seekers assembled at the meeting point. All that were left, anyway. It was the nature of groups like these, heroic ventures, to grow and shrink in size. To pick up new members and leave old ones behind. Of everyone that set out for the Under, the ones gathered now were a solid group. That went without saying, given everything they'd had to fight through since descending underground. Besides her friend and fellow Orsterran Therion, Primrose had known Sectonia and Jesse the longest; but having spent time with the others and having seen them in action, she felt there was hardly a better crew for the job they were about to undertake. 

Since she'd eaten already, the dancer left the cooking and consuming to everyone else. She filled them in briefly on the strange encounter she'd had late last night, should anyone else feel like seeking out a rotten egg while they remained in this region. And she pulled out all of the mask fragments she'd been holding onto, setting them together with the others. So they really had missed one, somewhere in the sprawling dark cavern systems and alien-like realms. 

While she looked on with interest as the simulacrum was changing into shape, her Orsterran counterpart was listening to the explanation given on the latest random assortment of items. As was the usual with a lot of things they'd found underground, they were mostly strange or gross. Ms. Fortune pointed out that one macabre object in particular was similar to one she had, which sounded useful to him.

[color=BC8DBF]"Then don't mind if I do,"[/color] he said, taking the Constrained Heart for himself. Between that and the Hiveblood he had with him, he figured he'd be able to make it through a more drawn out battle if his evasion failed him. He also might have snuck a bird from the spits, though he doubted anyone would have minded that either.

With everyone together now and the three masks finally complete, the Seekers could get a move on. Their goal was the Temple of the Black Egg, back underground. How exactly they were going to make it back there must have been on everyone's minds, though Ms. Fortune put the thought to words - and her words included going in via the great chasm as they had the first time.

[color=BC8DBF]"Down the chasm?"[/color] Therion repeated, skeptical. [color=BC8DBF]"Why don't we just ride the beetle express back in?"[/color]

[color=D34C25]"We could, but I'm not sure we'd know which station is closest to the Guardian. We might be wasting a lot of time with trial and error,"[/color] Primrose said. She has originally thought the same as Therion, that they'd return underground via the train station. Now that the most obvious and direct route was pointed out to her though, it made sense to just go straight down to their destination.

[color=BC8DBF]"So we're going to forget almost dying last time and just go the same way again?"[/color] As he asked the rhetorical question, Therion also gestured to Kamek as the Koopa gave his comments. The turtle was usually a source of common sense, even if he did give in to his fellow koopas more often than not. It was clear that Therion was unhappy with going back down through the Chasm, but at the very least the offer of a flying mount courtesy of the Koopa King's advisor made him feel a little better about it. He'd taken one before when they were underground, so it wasn't like he'd be flying with it for the first time. 

[color=D34C25]"Let's see what the situation is first and decide from there,"[/color] Primrose suggested, seeing as some in their group seemed dead set on going directly down. For all they knew, perhaps the mining crews had set up a temporary way to get up and down the chasm in the few days since the lift was destroyed. Actually arriving at the lip of the chasm, they did find that there were a few scattered attempts to set something like that up, though the means left a lot to be desired... 

...but it didn't seem to matter to some of the group, who went ahead and began their descent into the massive canyon without so much as a discussion. Though Therion's frown was hidden by his collar and scarf, his distaste showed through clear enough in just the upper half of his face. He caught Kamek before the wizard descended himself, getting the koopa to conjure him a ride down. Sure Therion could swim and climb a rope with no issue, but was he about to do that down a hole hundreds of feet deep? [i]Hell no.[/i]

While he slowly got going, Primrose tucked her hand under her chin and considered her own options. It hadn't really occurred to her until then that most of the group had some means of flight, even if temporarily. The mounted rode their steeds down and Bowser dropped quickly through the water passage. Sectonia had her own wings, so she'd be descending under her own power. That left herself, Jesse, and Nadia - and two of the three of them had limited means of flying. Figuring that their feline (well, more feline?) thief would take the water route, Primrose let her go ahead. [color=D34C25]"After you~"[/color]

She gave the same offer to Jesse if the red head was going to follow Ms. Fortune down. She might have the same idea as Primrose, which was to use the water way whenever her floating power needed to recharge and there were no perches to land on nearby. Primrose didn't really want to get soaked after all, but it definitely wasn't the worst thing that could happen. The dancer carefully stepped into the vertical stream, letting it carry her down a little. Then she floated out of it, falling gently a little way until landing on a foot hold and more or less following her red headed friend's lead. Then she'd catch the water again, and continue on that way. After a while she could see the bottom of the chasm and the people that had gotten there first, and so she hopped out of the water and floated down the rest of the way - conjuring a flame right away to dry off while everyone regrouped and got going again.

[color=D34C25]"I think he just wanted to scare [i]us[/i] last time,"[/color] Primrose said to Kamek. Her smile sharpened. [color=D34C25]"Clearly it didn't work, and now the tables are turned."[/color]

Attention turned to Ganondorf as he gave the group some information and pieces of advice. [i]The flame clock... I'd almost forgotten,[/i] Primrose thought. As eager as she (and she was sure most of the others too) was to leave this region behind, the mystery of those clocks and the world's timeline intrigued her too much. They'd still have to pay a visit to that old king, once their work was finished. 

Information was not the only thing the king of evil had to impart. Neither Primrose nor Therion thought much of him sticking close to them - the dancer in particular was not as standoffish around him as she'd felt when they first found him. But the offer of a pair of sickles did take Therion by surprise. 

[color=BC8DBF]"Didn't take you for the generous type,"[/color] he told the man. It wasn't a dig, just an observation - as Therion himself wasn't the generous type either. He certainly wasn't the folk hero kind of thief. And for a matched pair of weapons inlaid with silver and gold? They could probably fetch a pretty penny, even as weirdly blocky as they were. Still he accepted them, giving them a few swipes to see how they cut the air. He found them sharper than they appeared. He could definitely make use of them.

Therion stowed them on either side of his belt, along with his daggers. [color=BC8DBF]"Thanks."[/color]

He didn't know what it was about him that made royals and nobles take note of him - some kind of general vibe maybe? Either way, he couldn't say he didn't appreciate it at times like this.