[center][color=crimson][h2]Nina Nightingale[/h2][/color][/center] It had been a decent trip to the island, sailing in the smuggler's boat that had carried her there, but it had not been too hard tyo arrange as well. Paying off a few smugglers to get her to the island with a few of her savings had worked. That and the small scare tactic of summoning one or two skeletons in front of them had helped them lower the price for her. Such was the physical price she had to pay to arrange getting herself to this location...and a great step closer to saving her mother. Yet she knew these men would not return even as they had sailed away from the island in a hurry, not after seeing what she could do. A necromancer. A witch who could raise the dead and channel spirits. An outcast of society in current times. But even if they were obviously not coming back for her, trying to make a raft of some sort and to row it back with the help of a few low-quality undead would not be the worst idea. Indeed, even if she was stuck here somehow as well, at least if she could get that wish of hers it....it would be worth it all the same as well. Just to know that [i]she[/i] would not be dying on anyone's watch, and that her family could stay held together as they had been before. Glancing back after watching the smuggler's boat disappear in this distance, the bodysuit-clad necromancer turned around and looked towards her destination, her red eyes flitting over the structure itself for a moment to take things in. A light sigh emanated from her lips as she finally began her march towards the the grand set of ruins, all towering and majestic like an ancient palace, even whilst the designs and architecture was coated in plants and vines that had taken over some many years ago. It itself was an artifact of its time, lost and forgotten to many, ignored and left to rot like a corpse in a grave, and yet according to the information she had managed to get this also held within it a greater relic than the building itself. A relic with a dragon's soul shackled within it, capable of granting a wish for the one who acquired it. Such a thing should have been taken years ago if it had such power, yet despite this she had found no stories of it having ever been taken in years past. Perhaps others feared there possible being a curse upon it, or perhaps they feared some other ancient magic protecting the great power this artifact held? Whatever the case, she had heard rumor of more than one person seeking this relic other than herself. No names were mentioned, and it was possible that rumors were floating about as well that led to such things being said. Still, chances could not be taken if anyone else were vying for a wish of their own. She had to be ready to fight, ready to claim her prize as soon as she could before others tried. Finally leaving the beaming rays of the sun behind her, Nina walked into one of the dark, grand halls that led into the building. Etched designs or word or symbols lined the inside walls as she walked through the darkness with a sense of purpose in each step, yet she could not understand these words for the life of her. Perhaps an ancient language of some sort? A warning to interlopers? She could not know for sure, but despite this she kept moving forward. The cool dampness of the building seemed to caress her somewhat with its thick but soothing embrace, and her heart beat seemed to grow louder in her ears as she took step after step. Her bow instinctively came up, and arrow already nocked and ready to be fired already as she heard echoes in the distance the closer she came to the very center, the place where the relic perhaps resided. Yet as she came upon the great central room, Nina's attention was ripped away from the other sounds and onto the magnificence of the relic itself. Golden rings with a soft, glowing center of pure light. Its rays were like unto that of the gentle rays of the full moon, but with a greater brightness to these rays than the moon would normally possess. Her bow lowered a bit as she gazed upon the light of this orb, until movements in the room made out of the corner of her eye drew her attention away for a moment. Six other people also stood in the room. Six. Her brows furrowing, and bow being raised up slightly more, Nina prepared to open her mouth to speak to the others. Then it happened. Before she could even utter a word, the relic shattered, its deep hum echoing through the empty and green-conquered halls before fading to a solemn and sudden silence. No longer did its glow grace this room and those in it, but now instead a few rays of the sun pierced into the gloom of the ruins and around where the relic had once been. Right before her eyes...right before her eyes this relic had shattered and abandoned them all the the gloom. It had...abandoned her mother to a certain death. Nina herself had heard no wishes being made, saw none touch the relic itself, which only made the situation strange, and yet this was not the only strange thing about this. In place of suspicion that was in her was the strange feelings of familiarity she felt when now looking upon these strangers. It was like some kind of connection, akin to when she would channel spirits. Yet these were not the dead, but the living. She could tell that with a deal of ease on her part. That was then the voices began to echo out as well, the first she perceived as being a female voice that echoed in her own head, saying [i]'What the hell happened.'[/i]. Once gain it was like talking to a spirit, before two more voices echoed out aloud as two others seemed to speak up, their words a response to the same exact phrase she had heard in her head. [color=crimson]"I don't think she did a thing, though perhaps we've all been affected by some spell, maybe a protection placed on the relic?"[/color] Nina said aloud, joining her voice to the chorus in defiance of the sudden accusation towards the gray-haired girl of having broken the relic, [color=crimson]"Unless one of you wished for at least some of us to hear other people's thoughts or something of the sort."[/color] It was a guess based on her own experiences, but she could not say for sure that this affected everyone here or the like. It was strange, more than strange if she were to be frank about the matter. She was still trying to grasp just what had happened to the relic, why it had broken and such things if nothing else, and why she and two other seemed to be able to hear the thoughts of another. She had no such a ability herself, if that was one thing she could say she knew for sure about this situation. Or perhaps those two that had spoken up had the ability to listen to thoughts? Pursing her lips for a moment in frustration, Nina let out another light sigh while keeping her bow at the ready to be pulled up and fired if needed. [color=crimson][i]'What happened to the relic, though? It is quite the situation this is becoming, though...'[/i][/color] the necromancer thought to herself on the side as she waited to see what would happen.