The Lhusu Mines had been tucked away from the rest of Ivalice for a reason. It was absolutely beautiful in the way the lhusu veins, even though there was an absence of excessive light, the way they had a magical shine throughout the mines made it seem as though sunlight was necessary. Even though the deeper one went into the mines, the less present the light from the entrance was, it didn’t matter one bit. 

It was a crystal mine that had all sorts of colors of crystal ore that, when mined properly and gone through the right process, could make magicite. It was akin to the Magicite Mines of Stigma, though, their mines paled in comparison to the hidden gem that Bhujerba hid from the world. As if it weren’t enough that it was high on the Sky Continent of Bhujerba and heavily guarded by the Marquis’ men, the mines had been infested with all sort of unsavory types. Monsters that ranged from the Steeler Bats to the different types of skeletal monsters that roamed the rare corners of the mines where the ore light didn’t reach. 

Deeper within the mines, other monsters dwelled - monsters that weren’t so simple as the ones that greeted travelers near the entrance.  These were the kind of fiends that hunters aimed to fight because they were the same breed of fiends that were known as Rare Game. Such beings like the Rocktoise and Antlion. They were ferocious beasts that had a reputation almost as bad as seeing them in person. 

And when the group of Ivy, Michel, and Meli had entered what could be described as the deepest region that Lhusu had to offer (as noted by not only the absence of light from the outside world but how bright the crystal ore lit up a large section of a room), they came to the sight of something that was shocking. Coming this deep, there was half of the mind that expected to be greeted by one of those rare elite marks or a hoard of unstoppable beasts, but that wasn’t it at all. In the center of the room, along with the walls of ore lit up and a single waystone in the center, the first sight that had come into their periphery were two sets of rabbit ears, a tail, and tall forms standing just five paces away from that way stone.

[color=teal]“I see that you two also had the same idea,”[/color] Michel said. He approached the two and as they would turn around, he greeted them with a smile. Though, one look from Aloa and Michel knew that what he thought was the worst-case scenario was, in fact, exactly the truth. [color=teal]“I feared the worst when Ren didn’t return, so we came looking. Who knew that of all things, we’d find--”[/color]

[color=e0115f]“What’s going on, Miss Bunny! Haven’t seen you in for-[i]ever[/i]!”[/color] Ivy’s voice echoed through the caverns of the mines. 

Michel turned around, his eyes glaring back at Ivy. She, of course, let out a chuckle. She had to have known that this wasn't the time for her shenanigans. 

[color=e0115f]“By the way, what did you find, Michey-bear?”[/color]

He sighed, shaking his head at Ivy. [color=teal]“That Waystone over there. Does it not look familiar?”[/color]

Ivy heeded Michel’s advice and approached the waystone. Only after a long moment of silence and of her humming to herself did Ivy have an “a-ha” moment. [color=e0115f]“Wait, isn’t this…”[/color] She turned around, facing Michel.

He nodded, his eyes on Aloa. [color=teal]“I heard the rumors, but until this very moment, I wasn’t sure if it was true or not,”[/color] Michel said. [color=teal]“This Waystone here leads directly to our headquarters.”[/color] Michel revealed to the group. 

Though, while Michel had certainly been surprised by that, he noticed the lack of one person among the extended group. [color=teal]“Where’s Ren?”[/color]
[hr]
Well, this certainly wasn’t a favorable situation.

Among every, bad thing that happened to them(things that were too far in the dozens to list), it would seem a dark force arriving in this grand, expansive library was just another thing to add to that list. Whilst Wesley was certainly at least fifty paces away, he could feel it: the pure darkness that was felt throughout Ivalice just last night had not-so-subtly made its presence known. He wasn’t certain if it was here the entire time and had simply decided now was the time to reveal itself or if it just came in, but one thing that was absolute, it was that, whatever he had been doing up until that point, Wesley was done.

Using the enhancements granted to him from Hashmal and the Seal of the Lion, Wesley had covered the length of twenty paces in a mere three seconds, his form dashing from one bookcase to the other. All thoughts of exploring and expanding his knowledge were now replaced with finding Emiri and Grant. This wasn’t necessarily easy for him because the feeling of the disturbance that had suddenly came into the library was hindering their mist, but with the increase of his speed, Wesley was able to cover the large landscape.

[color=sienna][i]Not there, Wesley. Try the other corner.[/i][/color] Hashmal urged Wesley.

He heard him loud and clear. By the time he had finished, Wesley was already a third across the way from the opposite corner. Each time he jumped one of the shelves, Wesley’s feet activated two haste glyphs, which had increased his movements by four times and had allowed him to cover more ground in less time. When the corner of the vast room produced nothing, Wesley went to another. And then another and another. He must’ve backtracked across the entire room until he was high above and got a view of the entire library. It was faint, but right dead in the center, he had spotted some kind of gathering. It wasn’t until he focused all of his mist on that one location that he had sensed Grant. 

And now he went forth. 

Wesley jumped up to the ceiling, sticking his feet on the top. As one moment passed, he pushed off of it, using his magick to actually send him propelling down. He had gone so fast that Wesley’s whole body shone brightly with white and lavender dancing along his dark clothing. The entirety of this protective veil had a masterful showing of white magick as he had nonverbally cast shellga, protectga, faith, and bravery not only around himself but around Grant. They would no doubt feel the sensation pass through them. And whilst Grant shot at what looked like a woman as Wesley came into view, he had his sword in his hand that had white mist surrounding it. 

And in the moment his presence would be known, Wesley added to Grant’s onslaught by slicing down right after his body had flipped and his feet landed on the ground, landing next to Grant. The slash produced a wave of mist.
[hr]

Wait what did they say? [color=ed1c24]“Hey, I am not going to be left behind!”[/color] Jaakuna yelled out, offended at Nadeline’s suggestion.

Savayna had ignored Jaakuna and looked to Nadeline. She was actually really considering her suggestions. Considering how much easier it would be to disarm the trap and take the spear, leaving Jaakuna behind wouldn’t be the worst idea. This was his mess, so why should they have to clean it up. Clearly, the trap is focused on him and him alone. Ideally, one would back the other up while they went to grab the spear. Even if there was a second trap, having a spotter made the job a lot easier.

But, of course, they couldn’t. It was bad enough that Emiri and Shion were fighting. The last thing Savayana and Nadeline needed was her to direct that pettiness at either of them because they opted to leave Jaakuna to die. Though, Savayna still hadn’t forgiven him for the stunt he pulled in Archadia when they were doing the treaty negotiations.

[color=lightblue]“You know I would love to, but we are a team.”[/color] She gagged sourly, [color=lightblue]“regardless of how bothersome he is, Emiri would kill us if we left him to the trap’s mercy.”[/color] the blonde let out a sigh, looking to her fellow golden-haired maiden as she gestured her neck towards where Jaakuna was. 

Taking but a moment to look at where the tentacles were coming from, it was likely they would attack if they physically got near the spear. And Savayna knew not if there was another trap waiting to be activated. There needed to be an experiment conducted. 

[color=7ea7d8]“Say no more,”[/color] Mateus’s glyph appeared next to Savayna, his form towering almost a full foot above hers. [color=7ea7d8]“I will be the guinea pig.” [/color]

Without so much of waiting for a reply, Matus had floated up, no time being wasted as he had reached where Jaakuna was, who had given Mateus a simple nod of acknowledgment, though the ice esper didn’t do anything. Instead, he examined the spear. [color=7ea7d8]“This spear has caused so many humes to violently attack each other. Such a pity.”[/color] Mateus said. 

He sighed and his hand reached out to grab it. At first, nothing significant happened. The first thing that did, however, was that Mateus did feel a sudden surge of the spear’s mist flow through him and because they were connected, Savayna felt it as well. This sudden feeling sent a wave of both excitement and fear through her body. It was so sudden that she found herself overwhelmed, causing her to fall to her knees and breathe in deeply..and then it became frequent, short breathes.

Meanwhile, Mateus had remained unaffected. He did look down at Savayna and then over to Jaakuna--wait, where did he go? The tentacles of mist were gone too. Only by looking down at the floor did Mateus see what happened. The moment he had touched the spear and activated whatever that was, the trap that had been active was deactivated, causing whatever hold it had over Jaakuna’s body to cease. And in doing so, Jaakuna had earned himself a one-way ticket to the ground. Mateus would ignore Jaakuna’s current situation and instead remained focus on the spear. He lifted it up and as he did, he heard Savayna cry out in excruciating pain, feeling overtaken by the mist. This caused her to become paralyzed where she was.