DracoLunaris

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Winterhold College - These words are for you alone

Word Count: 4629 (+5)

The Kitchen

This time, the room awaiting Sandalphon, Edward, and their new companions was a chilly, dark, and rather grisly food preparation room in a state of dismal disarray, with rubbish and bloodstains scattered across the floor. The half-carved body of a hog laid sprawled across one of the tables, and more carcasses hang from hooks by the walls, though at least nothing seemed rotten just yet. There was plentiful storage space for cutlery, plates, cookware, and spices in the shelves and cabinets. This room featured four sets of double doors, two across from each other on opposite walls, and two on the second level balcony accessible by a steep flight of metal stairs.

Sandalphon’s keen eye spotted one thing of particular note in the gloomy kitchen: a doorstop, much like the one Ramattra recovered from the toilet-seeking gumdrop people, right next to the door opposite the one she came through. Logic dictated that it had at some point been used to prop open that door, but it had since been removed and the door closed, severing the connection between rooms that someone had attempted to preserve. Sadly she could not venture as a guess as to who had performed either action, but if another Seeker had been in the kitchen, he or she left no sign.

Other features of the room included a pair of dumbwaiters, much too small for either Sandalphon or Edward to cram into (they could feasibly send one of the cats through, but the archangel thought of such a course of action as pointless endangerment) and an innocuous white refrigerator. Even for Sandalphon, who hailed from a medieval world with no such technology, such a mundane device had become commonplace thanks to her years in Midgar. Right now she was neither hungry nor thirsty, still feeling refreshed after her stay in Sinners’ Inn, but if additional food supplied could be recovered that would only benefit the Seekers’ expedition. Without bothering to explain what seemed like a patently obvious rationale to Edward, she walked toward the fridge to open it.

The moment she began to pull, a force from inside flung the fridge door open hard enough to fling Sandalphon to the ground. She cried out in irrepressible pain, her petrified joints agonized by the sudden impact. When she looked up, unbidden tears in her eye, she identified what appeared to be a giant, purple polychaete worm lurking inside the fridge, although the teary mustached face, frizzy black hair, and beret clued her in to this creature’s true identity. “Another Fred,” she remarked through gritted teeth. Not as ghastly as the bitey Fred, but was he hostile, or could that have just been a very painful accident?

Rather than attack, though, the wiggly Fred writhed in distress. “I heard everything. I heard EVERYTHING. He is LYING. A LIAR. Don't believe a WORD. He just wants to be the LAST. Don't trust him. Trust me instead!”

Sandalphon attempted to get up with the help of the Frost Atronach Staff, but it was clumsy and painfully slow going. Nevertheless, she was already focused on the alarming words of this unusual Fred. “Him? Who do you mean?”

“The Fred with the face!” the creature exclaimed, its pose and expression shifting dramatically. “He’s not real! LOOK! I'm the real one. Look at me! Have you seen my ring?” He held up one purple hand with splayed, malformed digits, and upon one sausage-like finger rested a glinting accessory. “That's the real Fred ring. It has a red gem on it. RED! His ring is WRONG. WRONG COLOR! And- And-andan d...” He shrank back, holding his bloated face with several hands. “Look at me!! I'm the real one. That's a whole Fred. What do you think?! You believe Fred, right?”

The archangel’s eye narrowed, her brow furrowing, as she looked over the creature’s polydactyl body.

”We do, unfortunately, only have your word for it that that is the ‘correct’ color,” Edward relied, before adding ”and besides” gesturing to this Fred’s, well, everything.

At Edward’s comment the overgrown bristleworm bristled angrily. “No! This is normal for Fred around here,” he insisted. “We use these to walk. Around. With no legs we fall on the ground like a worm. Yes? You know this. We all know this, you are being a silly boy. Apologize now for the mocking.”

A couple seconds of awkward silence followed. Lucy hissed at the creature. Then he groaned.

“You're not buying it...I'm not the real Fred. Got too many bits. Fraudulent Fred. Sorry for lying. But! BUT! What if you kill other Freds anyway? For me??? I'm not the real Fred, but if the other Freds are gone, I can be the real Fred then! The final Fred...fake it till you make it! It's what Fred always said. I'm a better Fred, new and improved. Will you do it?! Kill the other Freds for me? Please... ”

Edward had been carefully approaching as they all spoke, like he might an injured warbeast, and only now got close enough to help the Sandalphon to her feet. As he did, they had a moment to exchange quiet words. In a low tone, Sandalphon whispered her thoughts to him. “A self-admitted impostor. We have no need for him, nor that dangerous, toothy one for that matter. Yet…” Her pupil became an inverted triangle. “His warning about Frederic -the one we assumed to be the original- may be valuable. We should consider the matter carefully.”

”That could have all been part of the ruse… yet you are right, the part about the ring in particular was rather specific. Plus there is no reason that the original Frederic had to be human. He could well be exploiting our assumptions on what a person is ‘supposed’ to look like” Edward agreed, a little annoyed that he had not considered that potential bias before.

Since it seemed like Edward and Sandalphon had the situation in hand, Byleth and Primm turned to climb the stairs and scope out the upstairs rooms. Primm would hold evidently hold each door open, while Byleth explored the rooms, Sword of the Creator in hand.

Rather than run the risk of giving any more reason for suspicion to ‘Fred with the face’ by doing more whispering in front of Wriggly Fred (that he might overhear) Edward straightened up and declared ”As I have said before, and as you might well have heard, we don’t endorse a murderous solution to this problem. If you can agree to be peaceful, we can at the very least offer you a way out of this maze.”

“Peaceful!?” Fred’s form shifted as he looked outraged, his coloration turning more red. “There’s no such thing as peace with so many Freds in my head! I can’t even hear myself think.” He tugged on his own cheeks, stretching his head sideways in a rather unnerving manner. When he let it go, the stretched skin flopped down, then slowly squelched back into place. “No, no, NO! Can’t live this like this, no way, no how! The voices. It’s very bad. If you don’t get kill them, they’re gonna kill ME! Only a matter of time.“

He clapped his hands together pleadingly, which resulted in an entire round of applause. “Look, listen! If you trust me and kill the other Freds dead, I’ll give you a SPECIAL prize! The most wonderful and one-of-a-kind treasure in the whole wide world!”

”Which would be?” Edward asked carefully, mostly to keep the wiggly Fread talking so Sandalphon could back away at her own pace. She backpedaled carefully, trying not to get the painted thing’s attention.

The wiggly Fred averted his gaze as he held his hands up dramatically, as if Edward were prying into a deeply personal matter. “That’s a secret! A SECRET surprise! The best kind there is. It’s very good. You can trust Fred! Only this Fred, though. The good and true Fred, that’s me!”

Not the best sales pitch, in Edward’s opinion. Oh it’d certainly work on some, and he supposed he was a little curious, but with lives on the line it was an absurd proposition.

”I see.” He replied, as he stepped in front of Sandalphon and gave one last press on the topic of alternate solutions to their problems ”Are you sure you won’t consider peace? There’s a whole school of mental magic from what I understand, which may be able to do something about that link without resorting to this whole business of trying to throw proxies at each other”

The painted creature stared at him quizzically, his eyes different sizes. “What? There’s no such thing as magic, silly boy!” He seemed to deflate, his face assuming an expression so woefully pitiful that it almost wrapped back around to being comedic. “If you don’t want to dead the Freds…fine.” Fred began to withdraw back into the fridge. “Goodbye………”

”Of all the-” Edward began to say with annoyance, only to sigh and let it go.

”Well at least they seem very disinclined to take matters into their own hands” he noted, before turning his eyes to the rest of the room and suggesting ”I suppose we should checking if any of the other food stores are more… accessible”

Without comment, since her body was still aching from her fall, Sandalphon moved to do her part. Even though the kitchen was dark, she could see relatively well with one eye, but she could not find any portable food. Only the hog carcasses, each of which easily weighed twice as much as she did, seemed readily available. Other ingredients had either already been looted by previous visitors, or never existed to begin with.

Before approaching another door in order to move on, however, Sandalphon turned to Edward with her thoughts. “I know that the painted Freds are not necessarily a threat, and they do seem capable of their own cogent, independent thoughts. Regardless of whether the Frederic in the Archmage Quarters is truly the original, the fact remains that the curse that befell the original has left his life in a state of disassociated torment. If that happened to one of our own, I don’t imagine we would hesitate to remove the ‘offshoots’.” She pursed her lips. “While I know we are not obligated to interfere with every situation that confronts us, it feels wrong to take no action, and yet I know not which option is morally correct. Is each Fred a person, deserving of life? Or are they merely figments designed to torture the real Frederic?”

”Unless we can definitively prove that they are some sort of non-thinking facsimiles, then they are people” Edward replied, quite definitely, while inspecting a spice rack. ”I have seen, heard and read of far too many instances of personhood being denied based on far lesser differences than those the Frederic have between them. Besides” he glanced back at Sandalphon with a sad smile as he pointed out that ”Arn’t we, too, figments in the end? Toy soldiers made in the image of those Galeem devoured?”

Sandalphon did not smile at him, and she offered neither acceptance nor retort. As demonstrated by her encounter earlier with the many-fanged Fred, her own impulse had been to leave them alone. Whatever the circumstances or difficulties of their existence, it was like their business to figure out, just as hers was her own.

With Edward’s help, she pushed open the kitchen’s far door, leaving the two upstairs doors for later if need be.

Palace of Earthly Spirits

Before Edward and Sandalphon extended a long, tall, stately corridor, featuring classic columns, golden chandeliers, and a half-dozen antechambers on each side. In the checkered floor, patches of glowing tiles shone, reminiscent of stained glass windows. The moment the two entered, they could hear an unmistakable sound emanating from the side-rooms both near and far: the varied meowing of many cats.

Lucy and Sir Packet Lossalot lit up instantly, meowing loudly as they scampered straight into the hallway. A moment later, a pale girl approached from one of the rooms, her slippers silent on the smooth marble tile. She wore a pastel blue sweater over a flowery white dressed, and though her features were stern she now wore a gentle smile as she knelt to receive the two cats. They rubbed up against her, bunting affectionately, and Sandalphon couldn’t help feel somewhat happier herself at the sight.

“You’re bigger than normal, Lucy,” the girl remarked allowed. “...Oh, so that’s what happened. Silly girl. As a mage yourself, you should know better…” She scratched the smaller, sandy-colored cat behind his long ears. “How lucky you were, to get so close to monsters like those and live to tell the tale.”

Sandalphon stepped forward, but before she could say anything the girl looked up, her gaze almost piercing. “Yes, I am Satori Komeji. Nice of Diosdado to send you my way. And nice of you to bring me my lost friends.” Instantly, alarm bells went off in Sandalphon’s head, and Satori’s expression tightened. “Smart cookie,” she replied. “Most people take a little longer to catch on. My lips are sealed, though.” Her eyes narrowed. “Hm. I’m sorry. Good luck, though. Rooting for you.”

It was a moment before the archangel choked anything out. “...Thank you.”

Edward raised an eyebrow, but did not pry at what the preternaturally perceptive girl had figured out regarding (presumably) Sandalphon’s condition, quite sure she would tell him if or when the time came. Instead he simply said they were ”Glad to be of service” while wondering if this girl had the ability to answer the question as to if the painted Freds were real conscious people that Sandalphon had previously posed.

“That one’s more of a philosophical thing. Don’t like them, though. The green one killed Morana. Though she did revive herself.” Satori crossed her arms. “Polite of you not to ask about a reward, but I don’t mind. I have many cat collars that can give your cats or other pets a class.” She produced and popped open a small case, revealing eight colorful collars of a variety of shapes. She then gave Sandalphon an amused glance. “I don’t know if they’d work on Ms Fortune or Therion, but you could give it a try.”

Well, that proved that hypothesis, Edward supposed. He also supposed that it might be for the best to avoid the memory of the cursed painting the Frederiks had made/come from.

As for the collars, the grateful general was naturally very interested in these trinkets. He accepted the case, and as he raised the tag with the swirl to inspect it, this raised a thought in turn. It made Satori’s brow crease, but she said nothing, at least until it occurred to her to extend an offer that she’d made previously.

“My cats can always use more practice,” she began. “If you specialize in command as well, we could arrange a four-on-four mock battle. I might have a couple rare collars lying around with which I could compensate you.”

As she spoke, footsteps from behind drew Sandalphon’s attention. She turned to see Primm and Byleth approaching, but the gait of the latter and the haunted look about her told the archangel that something wasn’t right. Satori fell silent, a disturbed look on her face, as Primm slid to a breathless stop. “Something’s wrong,” the cleric told them, close to panicking. “We explored both rooms. One was a bar for ghosts, nothing much there, and the other was an observatory of some kind. While I held the door open, Byleth took a peek through the telescope, and-”

“I can’t close my eyes,” the instructor said, trying to keep calm despite her voice quavering. Indeed, her eyes were big and round, slightly more so that should be possible, and increasingly bloodshot. Some sort of change was coming over her skin, as if she were being slowly baked, and when she pulled her hand away from her head, strands of turquoise hair came with it. “I don’t…feel…”

“My healing didn’t work,” Primm cried. “Is there anything you can do?”

Without a word, Sandalphon cast Angelic Wings with her new staff, surrounding herself with holy script and rotating screens. When her incantation went off, however, nothing had happened to Byleth. She lowered her staff, swallowing. “No result.”

“She saw something in the sky,” Satori piped up. “Something…agh!” She gripped her head so suddenly that Sandalphon, standing right next to her, flinched away in a jolt of panic. “It’s- knowing it- seeing- infectious- guuuugh! My mouth…”

Sandalphon backed away, horrified, as the skin of the girl’s face began to stretch and her mouth grew, rapidly sprouting rows of fangs that grew to the size of daggers, then swords. The weight of the mutations forced her to the floor as additional flaps and fangs spread, with no sign of them stopping. At her increasingly inhuman cries, cats began to emerge from the nearby rooms, including a dull green hunter, a whitish cleric, a purple psychic, and a yellow thief, backed by other cats of similar colors. They all seemed alarmed, and a few of the less experienced cats panicked, running for their lives.

Edward hated being right, and yet also cursed himself for not recognising the threat would still be here. He guessed that Byleth’d seen the same thing that Frederik had unwittingly painted, and that, as he feared, reading the memory of that thing was just as bad.

”Everyone back away now! They’re still in there, but if they lash out and hit you by mistake you will go berzerk” Edward ordered, taking command of the situation as he grabbed Sandalphon and hauled her back as carefully as the urgency of the situation would allow. He could only hope that the less specific warning about their Galeeming nature would get past the false god’s censor, and that the pair would only be as scrambled mentally the Frederics were.

As the transformation finally began to slow down, Sandalphon equipped her hexagun, and took aim, trying to calm her shaking hands. Before the Seekers languished a Bite Elemental, a hideous, giant, warped face with countless fangs and only the vaguest trace of human features.

With a guttural snarl, it stretched like an octopus lunging at a crab and snapped up three cats. One got impaled instantly, and another got masticated a moment later, with only the third -a burly, masked crimson butcher- able to fight back at all against the gums gripping him. Dack the thief hurled a nail at the flesh to free Gein from the monster’s grasp. A fanged flap swept his way, and at the last second a beefy mama cat swapped positions with him to tank the hit for him, even if it did injure her badly.

As some cats fought and others fled, the purple one kneaded her fuzzy head with her paws. A small, young voice echoed in the Seekers’ heads. “Where’s mama?” Alice mewed mentally. “I don’t hear her anymore.”

“We’re all in danger,” Byleth declared. “We have to act.” Despite her own much slower affliction (and questionable culpability for this tragedy) she brandished her sword, calm enough to deal with the more immediate threat. A wave of holy light spread out as Primm cast a healing miracle, restoring the injured cats. Lucy began to concentrate in order to cast and Franklin the cyan tinker quickly slapped together some catbots while Alice reluctantly lifted the Bite Elemental into the air with her psychic powers. Fenrir the hunter tossed a bear trap beneath it, and the next moment the monster slammed down, bruised and immobilized. Sandalphon swallowed, steadied her aim, and opened fire, while Byleth unleashed the Sword of the Creator as a segmented whip to slash the Bite Elemental again and again.

Edward cursed as everything went to hell. At least he’d gotten Sandalphon out of reach of those tendrils, but with all the galeeming lashing out at each other, it would take a miracle for him to get an opening to end this without Satori’s death.

He summoned up his Featherstaff striker to cast Honed Healing on the front row of cats, sneaking it in there just before Primm’s miracle washed over them, boosting the healing they received. Then, still using one arm to support Sandalphon, he pulled Odden’s Pinky from its holster and unloaded the entire 18 round mag of incendry ammo into the bite elemental.

Over the singing of spellfire he commanded ”SomnaDrix! Charge it!” and in so doing prompting the serpentine bodied beast to weave between the fighter and then slam the freezing cold antlers of its Reindrix head into the now burning elemental, producing a temperature shock from the interacting elements.

Countless teeth gnashed with terrifying strength, each horrific chomp powerful enough to cleave flesh and shatter bone, but while stuck in bear traps or frozen in place the Bite Elemental could not reach any more targets. There were simply too many cats. Lucy unleashed streams of flame or bolts of lightning, Morana and Dack hurled leeches and nails, Magnus and Gein struck when able, while Marshmallow and Maisie kept the other cats healed. Other cats joined in with their own myriad skills, and with the Seekers and their new allies involved, the Bite Elemental was taking constant damage as debuffs piled up and up and up.

At a crucial moment, though, Immobile and Freeze wore off. The monster surged forward toward the Seekers, crushing several cats as its maws stretched to cover the whole hallway. Little Alice, sitting in front of the Seekers, put her paws to her head and concentrated, her third eye screwed shut. ”Hnnnng!” Mere milliseconds from impact, she opened her eye wide. ”AWAY!” A wave of psychic force shunted the monsters backward just before the many jaws slammed shut on nothing, sending spittle flying across the Seekers’ faces. For a brief moment, it was off balance and open.

Edward’s hand, hovering over the handle of his magelock pistol, paused, and then, cursing his foolishness, left the weapon where it was. Instead he pulled it up swiftly and pounded it to his chest, Balahara scale armor clanging against itself, before he drew it forth and hurled the formed friend-heart forwards towards the twisted Satori while calling a plea for her to ”Return to your sanity!” while hoping for that miracle.

As soon as he began to take action, Sandalphon realized what was about to happen, and what could happen after that. She rounded on Byleth, her hexagun in hand, much to the ailing instructor’s confusion. “Your memory is a cognitohazard for her,” she said aloud. Whatever she’d seen, a restored Satori could not be allowed to see it again. But a friend heart did not erase memories, so even if the archangel used one herself, Byleth would remain a cognitohazard. “Go! Get out of here!” Even as Byleth turned to flee, however, Sandalphon’s eye widened. That memory wasn’t just Byleth’s anymore.

In a flash of light, the Bite Elemental disappeared, replaced by Satori Komeji. For an instant, everything was quiet, with every Seeker and cat looking on in concern or confusion. Then Satori let out a woeful cry, and began to transform again. “No,” Sandalphon breathed, despairing. She flung out her hand, throwing a Frost Lock that froze Satori solid. Then she hesitated, even though the Freeze would last only a few seconds. There was no other way.

Edward was in agreement, much as he hated it. The hand that had thrown the heart reached back down, drew the magelock pistol, raised it up and then pulled the trigger, sending the nanite infused slug sailing directly towards the center of the frozen Satori‘s forehead. Sandalphon followed up, and by the time the Freeze wore off, the Dissociation was strong enough to put an end to the brief but tragic story.

Slowly, Sandalphon let out her breath. She could hear Primm gasping in terror, and the cats who hadn’t fled through the kitchen yet were all stunned. Alice sniffed, mewing sadly. ”Mama…”

The archangel tried to bury the awful feelings in her heart. It might be too late for the poor girl, but there were still plenty of souls that she and Edward could still save. “Little one,” she said softly, addressing Alice. “We can get all of you out of here. Your mama is gone, but you need to keep living. Can you tell the others to follow us, back through the maze to the exit?”

Alice wiped tears from her three eyes with her paw, then nodded. ”Okay…” At her meows, the other cats began to move bit by bit, headed the way the Seekers came. ”Everyone. Follow me.”

“What about Byleth?” Primm interjected. “She looked bad. There isn’t much time.”

Sandalphon glanced at Edward, then turned to go, joining Alice at the head of the cat swarm. “There must be something in this place that could help. The couriers…perhaps they know something.”

Within a minute, the two reached the Dice Room, joined by an ever-increasing stream of cats that spread out around the chamber. Byleth was there, but Primm had been right about her condition. She had lost a lot of hair, her eyes were a bloodshot yellow, and her skin looked burnt, almost to a purple-black color. Her mouth had almost completely receded, and her fingers were slowly turning into claws. Thops, Tipp, and Pill had already crowded around her in concern, and when Edward approached, the brothers turned to face him.

“It sounding like miss-miss see thing like Higher Being. Bad-bad, very bad business!” Tipp declared.

“We hears tell of ways to cure godly meddlings though,” Pill added. “Cloth of creep-creep in dark church, and shiny needle in room of prayers.”

“Then we have our next mission,” Sandalphon gasped. Even a short run was exhausting and painful enough to leave her debilitated. Primm, Alice, Dack, and Thops got ready to move.

So too was Edward, as well as his Somnadrix, sporting as it was a new, crude, collar made from woven plant stems from the greenhouse, from which dangled the bronze, shield icon bearing, class tag of the Tank.

Somnadrix: New Job Obtained

Tank
Constitution++++ / Intelligence- / Dexterity-
New Active: Eat Rock
Eat a rock, instantly destroying it, to gain armor and heal some
New Passive: Plow
When inflicting Knockback, leave a rock where the target was

He’d ensure that Satori's last gift was put to good use.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Winterhold College - No Dice

Word Count:2311 (+3)

”I can’t say I’m surprised that things weren't going to be as easy as just finding the place, but I expected the issue to involve some sort of gamble, not that the dice room was completely lacking in dice,” Edward commented with sardonic amusement once they’d finished inspecting the room that was supposed to be their exit. Things really had been going too smoothly with the stroke of luck with the key after all.

”I suppose we will simply have to scour this place from top to bottom for the missing pieces of this puzzle?” he then said to Sandalphon who had accompanied him (or vice versa) to the room while Ramata went his separate way. If she had any ideas grander than a blind hunt, he was all ears.

Sandalphon reached her index and middle fingers up to her ear, where her angelic sigil manifested in bright blue light. “At least it’s not just us.” Using her powers, she reached out to the Seekers scattered around the Winterhold College labyrinth, contacting those she’d convinced to accept her sigil beforehand.

“Attention, all team members. Edward, Ramattra, and I have found what appears to be an exit from this structure, situated in the Dice Room. However, we believe that unlocking the exit requires satisfying a condition for an arcane device, and to do that, some kind of die seems necessary. Please keep an eye out for any dice in your path, particularly one of remarkable size. If you do find one, report to me, then attempt to obtain it. Thank you all, and please contact me if trouble should arise. Sandalphon out.”

She ended the transmission, then gave Edward a nod. “There we go. My advice about the die being large is only conjecture, but based on the size of the game board beneath it, I felt it appropriate. As for us, we can do little but continue searching rooms ourselves.” The Dice Room had one other exit, and she gestured toward it. “Shall we?”

”That we shall” Edward replied, before gesturing to the somandrix to join them. There’d be no golem scouting this time, as all of Edward’s reserves, including his newly acquired frozen heart, were tied up maintaining the squads holding the doors open. He’d even had to dismiss the inferno steed in order to keep their network open (meaning his grenade launcher was just laying on the floor in one of the rooms).

The job of door holder this time, then, would go to one of his snoruyo, of which he had four in total. If the maze was significantly bigger than that, they’d be in a spot of bother.

Regardless, it was down to the Dreadnaught to actually do the opening itself, hauling open the door with one hand while holding his magelock pistol at the ready. The summoning staff he had been previously using was now in the hands of Sandalphon, who’d spared a sentimental moment to run her hand along its length as she recalled her original weapon of choice so long ago, before focusing on the task at hand.

The Classroom

In front of the other two lay another spacious room, although unlike the dark, almost sinister Dice Room with precious little light other than its glowing crystal disks, this one was pleasantly well-lit. Furthermore, it fit in with the Lecture Hall as a room that actually fit a college: an ordinary middle-age classroom. It featured a lush green carpet, tall red draped, an ornate chandelier, and plenty of light streaming in through frosted windows that allowed no sight beyond them–much like those of the bathroom. At the far end, in front of a giant map of the World of Light drawn in fanciful style, stood the instructor: a lady tactician with shoulder-length, dark turquoise hair, a long flowing black coat, an black lace leggings. As for the students, Sandalphon identified a bald, bearded man in the navy blue robes of a sorcerer, and a redheaded cleric in the garb of a battle nun, half armor and half habit. They all turned to observe the new visitors without hostility, so the archangel let down her guard.

“Please forgive the intrusion,” Sandalphon began, motioning for Edward to lower his pistol if he hadn’t already. “Although, I am intrigued if anyone is actually managing to teach in this place. Its unpredictable nature seems antithetical to day-to-day life.”

The instructor gave a wry smile. “And yet, here we are. If we’re trapped here, we might as well make the most of it. In fact, you’re our second visitor today. A woman of blue metal just passed by minutes before, hopeful that she could join our lesson. Alas, not everyone has the knack.”

“Blazermate,” Sandalphon muttered, fighting the urge to roll her eye. Of course the medabot would try to learn some magic from these people rather than question them about the college. Luckily, they seemed amenable to conversation, so Sandalphon continued. “We are endeavoring to quit this place,” she told them. “My name is Sandalphon, and this is Edward.”

“Byleth,” the instructor replied succinctly, before glancing at her students.

The redheaded cleric gave a kind, sunny smile. “My name’s Primm! Pleased to meet you. I’ve been looking for a man in this place. Tall, handsome, long blonde hair…” She giggled nervously, realizing how she sounded. “He saved my life. If you’ve seen him, please let me know.” Sandalphon nodded.

“Thops, at your service,” the bald man greeted the newcomers with a respectful nod.

Once introductions concluded, Sandalphon continued. “The room behind us harbors an exit, yet it appears locked by arcane means. In order to play its game, we need a die of some kind. Have you seen one?”

“A die?” Byleth rubbed her chin. “Hmm…”

Primm stood up excitedly, waving her hand. “Oh, I saw one! It was huge, floating in the air, in this huge, scary pit. It was surrounded by dark magic, I didn’t like its aura one bit. Got out of there as fast as I could.”

It sounded like that was what the Seekers needed. If nothing else, it was confirmation that another puzzle piece was in here somewhere. Of course, finding it would be both the hard part, and from what Primm said, only half the battle. Sandalphon bowed her head gratefully, despite the ache in her spine. “Thank you. You’re welcome to join us in our search.”

Byleth only had to consider the offer for a brief moment. “Very well. If it’s a chance to escape at last, I’ll take it, and I think these two will as well.” Primm and Thops agreed immediately, bringing the party back to eight.

With the situation resolved, and the enlarged party ready to move, Edward dropped the attentive second in command posture he’d been holding a step behind Sandalphon and moved to the other door in the room, which was located further up the same wall the one they had entered through was on. Presumably, he thought, the hall had once run alongside a corridor.

As he moved he made sure to explain what he was doing, namely releasing another snoruyo to hold the door, before giving everyone a moment to take position relative to him and his two minions that would be his immediate backup.

When everyone was ready, the Dreadnought hauled open the next door and handed it off to his snoruyo to hold.

The Greenhouse

This time, Edward found a rather cramped greenhouse seemingly build on a wooden deck, on one side of a brick building. Beyond the glass panes with rivulets of rain, which looked as though they could swivel, the visitors saw only fog and rain, with no visible ground outside. There were a great many potted plants, many of them hanging, as well as elevated seedbeds watered by a bathtub irrigation system. In onecorner, an odd shaman with a sun mask sat atop a rug with a number of wands arranged as if for sale. Elsewhere, two aphids (one tall and one short) sat together in a flowerbed, sipping dew drinks as they roasted chunks of sizzling, sputtering fatty meat. A narrow metal staircase on one side led up to another door.

The Dreadnaught moved his hand away from the pistol he’d not unholstered this time when he found the room free of hostiles. He then raised his hand in ”Greetings” to those in the room, before stepping aside to let the others enter.

Though the wand merchant remained impassive, the aphids waved cheerfully at the guests filing into the greenhouse. “Hellos! Many much greeting! Welcome to peaceyful corner of brothers Tipp and Pill,” the shorter one declared.

“Should be calleding us Pill and Tipp,” the taller one insisted. “Has the nice-nice ring to it.”

His brother shook his head. “Tipp always is speaks first, so Tipp coming first in names.”

“Pardon us,” Sandalphon apologized. When Lucy and Sir Packet Lossalot entered after her, they seemed disappointed that they still weren’t home. It could be a while before they encountered the keeper of cats, so hopefully the felines could be patient. “We’re looking for a die.”

Tipp blinked, confused. “There very plenty of ways for die in this bad-bad place. But I urges you reconsider! Life having lots of joy too!”

“Like tasy-tasty rasher,” Pill piped up, holding out a leaf with a portion of greasy meat on it.

After a moment Sandalphon’s pupil became an exclamation point. “Oh no, not that kind of die, I mean…no thank you, I’m not hungry. I’ll be fine. What I meant was...”

”Dice for the dice room, which we need to complete some puzzle or trial in order to open the gates of this place and use leave it behind” Edward stepped in smoothly when Sandalphon floundered, before offering ”Us and anyone else who'd wish to join us.”

That piqued the brothers’ interest. “You figured ways out? We is want out, yes! This place not safe-safe.” The two began to pack up their equipment into backpacks even bigger than they were. As they worked they wolfed down the rest of their food, which made them even harder to understand. “Brothers Tipp and Pill just couriers, not for fighting. So we set up camp-camp by door and wait for the openings.”

At that point, Thops tentatively raised his hand. “Perhaps some of us should remain to look after them. Too many explorers could become unwieldy, especially if we should run into danger.”

Byleth nodded. “A fair point. You and Primm could stay with the others.” She glanced at the impassive wand merchant, who had yet to respond, then back at Edward and Sandalphon for their next course of action.

”Looks like we will have quite the convoy once we leave” Edward said, before thinking and asking Byleth ”I should double check, given the disconnected nature of this place, but did you enter here at the tail end of the Midnight Walk?” because it would be a slight problem if the survivors they were collecting were not prepared for the frozen dark outside.

“My cohort and I were traveling the Midnight Walk when we took refuge in here, yes,” Byleth confirmed. “Our goal was to investigate Moon Mountain’s moon, believing it connected to the Frozen Highlands’ long night. But this place divided and conquered us.“ As she prepared to ascend the stairs to the next room, she produced a claymore of aged bone, one side of its long, segmented blade edged and the other serrated. Assuming that her instructor had sensed something dangerous, Primm readied her mace, the grip of her gauntlets tight around its handle.

”One moment” Edward requested, before walking over to one of the windows of the greenhouse, letting the sound and smell of rain inside. He then proceeded to lean out the window. Look up. Down. Left. Right. Then lean back on.

”The room is attached to a featureless brick wall going in every direction as far as I can see” he informed the others, sounding just a little disturbed by the fact.

Tipp did not look surprised. “Yep-yep. Nothings out there but fog and more fog.”

“Extradimensional space,” Sandalphon reasoned. “If we are supposed to be trapped here, it would be too easy to simply slip out a window.” That made her wonder…was there any specific being in control of the college, orchestrating the pandemonium from the shadows to keep visitors trapped indefinitely? Nothing had suggested as much to her so far, but buildings did not exhibit anomalous activity for no reason, did they?

”I was expecting it to be more floating in the void. The possibility limitless material was unexpected” Edward replied, before musing ”If I still had an empire I'd be inclined to investigate if it was quarry-able.”

That did not surprise Sandalphon one bit. “As pragmatic as ever.” With Byleth and Primm already at the top of the metal stairs and ready to continue, Sandalphon followed them up creakily. Hopefully they could find the cats’ mistress soon, but there was no telling what this maze would offer them next.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Power Stone Games: Ōedo II

Friday Morning
Location: Esaka's Mid-Tier, Forbidden Kingdom
Word Count: 2,478 (+3)

Therion - Level: 10 - Total EXP: 397/100
Bowser Jr: Level 15 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(346/150)
_{@Yankee@DracoLunaris@Lugubrious}

As the metaphorical dust settled following the chain goo bombs going off, the four fighters found themselves scattered to the edges of the replica town. None had been knocked out of the game yet, and the first of the participants to recover was Therion.

He'd landed smack between the two wooden houses but was back on his feet quickly, feline ears flicking up to stand tall on his head. He hadn't been taking the game seriously at all, and light or not the rain shower that stubbornly refused to clear did nothing but keep him in a poor mood, but now it was like his gaze had sharpened. The unpredictable nature of the weird items did make things more interesting than a dumb slugfest, and having a side goal to chase in the Power Stones that promised a big advantage once three were collected added another layer to what appeared to be a simple contest.

Alright, fine. This was supposed to be for fun, right? Therion could have fun.

He shot out from behind the water wheel, his intent to grab the two fallen Power Stones across the stone plaza clear to everyone else.

It took more effort for Ayame to pull herself out of the bamboo thicket she’d been launched into, but despite being sooty from the gooey explosion, the ninja girl seemed to be in good spirits. When she saw Therion dart toward the crystals, she grinned. “Wow, you guys are full of energy, huh? You’re not Esaka natives, are you?” With a grunt, Ayame broke off two sticks of bamboo to use as stilts. Once elevated, she peg-legged her way over to Therion to try and whack him with bamboo kicks. “Where you from? I bet it’d be fun to visit someday!”

Her antics put a stop to the thief's advance, but he was proving too elusive to catch with the stilts. He weaved between the bamboo poles as they shifted, keeping just out of reach of being struck. Unfortunately the height of the poles meant escaping them entirely was easier said than done.

"It's way different than here," was all he said in response to her question, leaving if that was meant as a good or bad thing up to interpretation.

Dusting himself off, Pete chuckled. He might not be doing well, but he was still having a good time. When chaos reigned, and random item drops dictated the flow of the match, it was easy to get caught up in the fun and not stress about who was fighting better or worse. Even the most dominant combatant could find the tables turned at the drop of a hat, after all. “It’s nice having new people, th-that’s for sure,” he remarked as he pulled a freeze gun out of a lucky chest. He closed one eye and stuck out his tongue as he took aim at the melee between Therion and Ayame. “Keeps things…fresh!” The next thing the others knew, globs of supercooled fluid were flying around the battlefield, able to encase anyone in a block of ice for a second or two.

”The Koopa Kingdom” came a shout of an answer to the question, coming from the insides of a rather large smashed open crate. A moment later, there came the revving of an engine before the front of the crate smashed open and Jr, riding in a Rambi Rider go kart, came careening out while cheering ”and we know how to crash a party!” before going careening towards the power stone brawl.

Not content to just threaten crashing into the pair brawling over the power stones, the prince also formed a koopashell out of iron, and tossed it towards Pete as soon as the freeze gun wielder tried to turn the weapon his way.

After deciding that the best way to get around Ayame's bamboo based assault was to actually go straight through it, Therion had been whittling away at one stalk during the few seconds of the encounter. Being tough and pliable it wasn't a simple task, but he'd succeeded with a quick Battle Boost and a sharp elbow, splitting one of the kunoichi's stilts just as Junior came rushing at the both of them. While Ayame was off balance and in danger of going down, Therion leapt up to avoid the koopa prince. The go-kart zipped right underneath him, but of course while Therion was airborne he was a sitting duck for Pete. A chilled projectile struck his side, freezing Therion with an expression of surprise on his face as he fell back to the ground.

Pete, unfortunately, could not take advantage since he’d dodged Junior’s iron shell with an emergency dive, which took him straight into a fence post. Meanwhile, as one of her stilts buckled beneath her, Ayame ditched it and leaped away. “Man of few words, eh?” She grabbed onto one of the yellow waterwheel supports and began to climb upward, quickly gaining some elevation. A chest had appeared on one of the more prominent rocks by the waterfall, and when she could Ayame leaped for the treasure box to pop it open. From within the ninja girl produced a third power stone, this one hot pink. “All three in play, huh? Two to go, then!” She took a running jump and landed with a roll back on the stage, at which point she made for Therion’s ice block. There was no telling how long the freeze would last, but if she could slide it off the edge and into the pool below, that’d be an easy elimination.

”Oh no you don’t!” Jr (having ditched the out of juice go-cart and now sporting a pair of goggles) yelled at Ayame. He then focused, causing the goggles to glow and for pixel static to erupt in front of him as the device summoned a Monochromon from the digital world, which he commanded ”Get me those stones!”

As commanded, the triceratops sized digimon promptly charged towards the woman with thunderous steps, oversized horn lowered down low to lance her, though given the low battery warning beeping on the goggle shaped digivice jr was wearing it seemed like that was the only thing it was going to pull off before returning home.

“Whoa!” Now that was an item that took Ayame by surprise. Sliding to a stop right next to Therion’s ice block, she threw up her hands to try and block, but the dinosaur was just too strong. With a mighty bash it bowled her over and sent Therion sliding toward the edge of the stage while flinging the stones in its summoner’s direction. Ayame tried to grab hold of the edge, but her sheer momentum meant that she slid off before her fingers could grasp anything. “Aieeeee!” The ninja girl disappeared, bound for a watery disqualification.

It looked like Therion was going to share the same fate, but the ice cube he was encased in sliding along the rain-slicked stone floor was so quick that when it flew off the edge it kept going, sailing over the water and smashing into the rock wall that surrounded the arena. The ice shattered on impact, leaving Therion clinging to a boulder with his tail all poofed up. He blinked while he regained his bearings, glancing in the direction of Biff's tower at the center of the park. Did this count as a ring out? He wasn't hearing anything about being eliminated, so apparently he was still in the game.

He braced himself against the rock and then pushed off to leap the distance back towards the stage proper - the rain was bad enough, but being dunked into the pool would be awful, and he'd already come pretty close to that. For a thief he hadn't had much luck getting his hands on the stage's spawning treasure chests, but there were still small wooden crates littered around. He smashed one open after landing, gaining a capsule, which seemed a little redundant. The better prize was Ayame's Power Stone that had been flung back up from the ravine she'd fallen into in order to be put back into play. Therion noted the airborne gem and snatched it before it landed next to him. Then, as though taken by the rain itself, he simply vanished.

”Hey! That was mine!” Jr yelled at the vanished thief, before pulling off the now inert goggles and tossing them aside. He then went for another crate, smashing it open to reveal an oversized plant plot (one as wide as the prince was) with a peashooter growing inside of it. This the prince looked at in bemusement for a moment, before wrapping his arms around the pot and hosting it up to hold in front of him.

Pete took aim, only for his freeze gun to click empty. He blinked at it, then grimaced at Junior’s peashooter. “Uh oh…”

He was saved only by coincidence. Using his tsukigakure, Therion suddenly reappeared from a puddle right nearby to do what he did best: steal. With a swipe he nabbed a Power Stone from Junior, the gem shifting to join the one already orbiting the thief. One to go. With a little bit of a grin from the successful theft he made a quick back step to avoid direct retaliation, then broke open the capsule to get whatever item was inside that would surely clinch the win for him.

The little pink guy that appeared was a surprise, enough so that Therion faltered before his next move, the moment's hesitation all it took to leave him open. "Huh?"

At that moment a beachball sized fresh pea came flying towards the thief, which would be followed by a few more (fired every 1.5 seconds) while Jr cheered ”Yeah!!! Get him!”

It was the second time during this game that Therion had been pelted with projectiles like this, so he managed to weasel his way out of the barrage after only the first two pellets with a quick duck and dodge. Unfortunately one of his stolen stones abandoned him due to the hit, falling to the ground where he had just been standing. "Tch."

While Junior opened fire on his fellow Seeker (and bigger threat) Therion, Pete did what he did best: scurry around in the background. Rather than try to fight directly, he hunted for crates and stomped open the first one he found, revealing a miniature monster truck. A grin instantly spread across Pete’s face, and when he touched it, a giant monster truck materialized around him with the puppet at the wheel. “Enough toying around!” Laughing like a maniacal gremlin, Pete began to do donuts on the stage, which really wasn’t big enough to accommodate both it and the Seekers’ brawl at once. One way or another, this tussle was about to reach a conclusion.

Therion was only just out of reach of the next puddle that would allow him to teleport out of Pete's way, so when an oversized wheel smacked into him he was sent spinning across the plaza. His remaining Power Stone flew from him back into the center of the area while the thief himself was tossed out of bounds, passing under the torii gate they'd entered from at the beginning. He laid on the ground for a moment to let the dizziness pass, the only thing really hurt being some of his pride, before getting to his feet to see which of the two boys would emerge victorious.

Jr responded to the incoming roadkilling by lunging to the side and using Magma Rush, leaving a mine of magma to be crushed beneath the tire of the monster truck in his place. Unfortunately the heavy plant and pot left him entirely off balance, causing the boy to fall to his belly with an ”Ooof!” while his peashooter went rolling away from him.

Sadly for Pete, his four-wheel rampage came to an end all too soon, as the monster truck vanished beneath him and sent him tumbling along the stage again. When he lifted up his head with a wince and adjusted his glasses, he blinked at the sight of Bowser Jr only a short distance away, with all three power stones scattered between them. “Oh. Oh!” Galvanized into action by the sudden realization, Pete pushed himself to his feet and ran to scoop up the power stones, desperate to beat his opponent to the punch.

The prince had come to the exact same concussion, scrambling to grab the stone closest to him, and then turning to face the other kid across from the other kid with the final stone between them. He squared up, forming a blunt tipped fencing foil, because after all the chaos and crazy items it looked like it might just come down to a plain clash of skills over who could land the first hit to both drive their opponent back and get their power stone off of them.

Pete seemed a lot less sure of himself than his opponent, and rather intimidated by his sword, to boot. With a grimace he reached into his backpack and pulled out a yoyo. He clutched it like a softball, then dashed forward to swing the makeshift flail in an arc.

Despite the makeshift nature of the attack, certainly wasn't the kind of one Jr had ever faced while fencing at the olympics (then again, that could describe every weapon that wasn't another foil). Which was why, instead of trying to parry, he brought his full arm up, formed a shield of iron out of it to block the yoyo, and then let it fall away as he swung the foil around like a spindly club, accompanied by a ”Sike!” from the ever so proud of himself prince. The blow struck Pete over the head and bowled the puppet over, wincing, which gave Junior plenty of time to grab his prize.

The prince spared no time in tossing aside the sword and grabbing a stone in each hand. Knowing exactly how this kind of thing worked from many a silly sporting event, Jr immediately inhaled deeply and then unleashed a Sonic Roar that washed over Pete, shrinking the puppet down to a tiny size.

With that done, it was easy enough for the prince to jog over, reach down, pick up, and then dunk the puppet into the water for a ringout victory. A little mean, yes, but surprisingly restrained given the stomping he could have given was he in a vengeful or mean spirited mood.

This was all fun and games, however, though the prince was also not at all beneath cheering loudly and pumping a fist as Biff announced his victory.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Words: 1,814 (+3)
Edward Portsmith: Level 9 (22 cells) (2 level ups stored) ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (40/90)
Location Frozen highlands - The Midnight Walk

The Arcaneum

It seemed to be Edward's lucky day, for his next room turned out to be a drum-shaped library of rather humble design, its stone brick arches converging into a support ring above the room's center. Horn candelabras and simple iron candlesticks provided ample illumination for shelves of dusty tomes and crinkly scrolls, over a hundred in total, all under the careful supervision of the elderly Orsimer librarian Urag gro-Shub.

At Edward's entrance the old orc looked up, held a finger to his lips, and looked back down at the register of books.

Edward’s mouth hung open for a moment, caught just before he had been about to call out, before he closed it. Whether it be for library etiquette or because talking was dangerous (you never knew what might set off a poorly scribed tome of magic), he gained nothing from breaking the implicit rule (no matter how absurd the former reasoning would be given their shared circumstances) and so stuck too it despite his urge to ask questions.

Thus, leaving a set of golems to hold the door, and waving at the Somnadrix to stay back, he approached the man with casual pace before stopping a polite distance away and raising a hand in greeting, and an eyebrow in a questioning manner.

With a grunt, Urag turned a dry eye Edward's way. "Read whatever you like. But nothing leaves this room. I will be watching," he said ominously.

”I see” Edward replied, carefully controlling his expression to not betray that that might be a problem. Still, no need to make it one until he knew that the note he’d read about the other two pieces of the drawing room puzzle being here.

”Having trouble with thieves?” he asked, casually, as he skimmed the contents of the shelves to get a sense of what sort of literature the library held.

"Like you wouldn't believe," the librarian practically growled.

Each section of the library catered to a different genre. The most populous were for historical and fictional works, as well as a number of cookbooks, bestiaries, and so forth, but there was also a 'Restricted' section, evidently for books with some functional use. This contained spell scrolls, religious texts, and tomes that could be used as weapons or casting catalysts. It was quite the treasure trove whether one happened to be a scholar or a looter, but fulfilling one set of goals would seemingly be much easier than the other.

Edward was, of course, both, but he did like to think he was more the former than the latter, as much as necessity might threaten to make him a liar. At the very least, he did not intend to roll a cannon up to the door as an opening as his opening move when it came to maneuvering his way into the restricted section.

”I don’t suppose this might be one of yours that has found its way out of your possession then? I found it in one of the other rooms of this shifting labyrinth, you see, in a place that it did not seem to belong” he asked, as he retrieved the Condragon Tome and showed it to the book keeper.

A spark of recognition appeared in Urag's eyes. "Yes...one of mine. That scoundrel was damnably clever." He waved his hand, and the book in Edward's hand vanished. A blink of light in the restricted section gave away where it ended up: amongst a couple rather similarly designed tomes, bearing different emblems and colors.

Edward’s eyes widened just a little in surprise at this magic, before he mused to himself that the thief must have indeed been quite clever to steal something from a man who could teleport his inventory around. Clever as well to not pick a fight with a man who could cast such advanced magic as well. Time would tell if he’d have the wisdom to not do that himself.

“There’ll be another attempt, given that they didn’t get everything from you that they wanted, after all” He said, digging up the note regarding the rest of the pieces of the puzzle being located in Arcaneum (which he deduced that this was).

“Might I ask how they managed it the first time? Swapped it out while you weren't looking?” he speculated, given that the orcish scholar seemed to be the type who’d get distracted easily enough by his own collection.

A look of hostile skepticism crossed Urag's face instantly. "You are not privy to such information," he brushed Edward off brusquely. "I am always looking," he then emphasized. "I never sleep. I never lose focus. In fact, I am rooted to this very spot." The librarian seemed proud of what one might consider a hellish existence, if his words were true.

Edward resisted the little temptation to lean over to check if his feet are literally rooted to the spot. It would make him a rather easy target if so, assuming whatever mage had bound the orc to this place hadn’t accounted for that (and they probably had). Fortunately, though it did block the angle he had been attempting to go with when it came to bartering for what he wanted (namely giving the man more eyes to watch with), it did offer up another approach in the process

“That last does seem a slight inconvenience. Might I be able to interest you in a way around that little restriction in your blessing, so you aren't restricted to relying on the luck and kindness of strangers to retrieve your stolen property in future?” he offered, while gesturing a hand back towards the golems holding open the door to the orc’s domain as an example of what he was offering.

Now came the tricky sell, namely asking “All I ask in return would be to be allowed to borrow the two other tomes your thief sought long enough to open a path that might lead out of this maze. I can, naturally, provide you with suitable hostages if you do not trust my word after receiving my half of the bargain, and with the magic I will provide you may watch every step of the process to ensure I stay on track”

"The books do not leave the Arcaneum. No exceptions," Urag snapped. "If you want to leave this place, the front door is in the Dice Room."

Edward’s mental gears immediately began to lunge over onto this different track, only for him to grab a hold of the transition and ask “and if we wished to instead continue to travel the Midnight Walk and reach higher up the mountain? Would this entrance do so or take us back to the artifact that teleported us all inside?”

"You should be able to proceed up the mountain," Urag told him.

“Marvelous” Edward replied, rubbing his hands together, before asking “I don’t suppose there’s anything you could tell me about this ‘dice room’? Any complications it might involve?"

Edward suppressed a sigh, before backing off the topic with a “Very well" He had already gotten quite valuable information after all. That said, the unsolved puzzle in the drawing room did nag at him, and so he did have to ask “But before I go I don’t suppose I could take a read of the other tomes in the Condragon set? Specifically with regards to ones about knights and pegasi? It would be nice to see if I can copy the magic, even if that need is far less pressing now thanks to your help"

"Copy?" Urag raised an eyebrow, but after another moment he relented. "Well, as long as the originals stay here. I have only one Condragon tome...but perhaps you refer to the Wingbane Tome and Unsaddling Tome. They are weapons effective against the enemies you speak of."

“That does sound like exactly what is needed, if you’d let me take a look" Said with a nod.

The librarian nodded in turn.

Taking that as consent enough, Edward approached the restricted section, eyes scanning briefly over the other works before he checked the section containing the two mentioned tomes.

Having gotten an eyeful of those, he slid the books he was actually here for out of the shelves one by one. He then tucked them under his arm and then returned to the center of the room, where he sat himself down on the stairs by one of the small tables and cracked the Unsaddling Tome open to give it a peruse.

Every page, Edward found, was covered in magic circles, diagrams, or rows and rows and rows of arcane or runic symbols, with nothing legible to speak of. This tome wasn't too thick, but it still featured a good hundred pages, minimum. Copying it would be quite the arduous chore.

It was an awful lot of work to do the same job that a spear did, Edward thought. Then again, that kind of work was exactly what automation was for.

As he finished his own reading, he set the books down and informed Urag that “I shall be back in a moment"

True to his word, he did indeed do so, carrying two of the books from the Lecture Hall he had decided were the most worthless. Accompanying him was a squad of copper golems, created sans their spears.

“My scribes" he explained, before setting them up to do the arduous job of copying the spells for him. Naturally he had his own ink and quills aplenty for his own note taking, but that only solved the writing, and not what to write on. For that, Edward made use of a vial of the strong turpentine mixed with water and held in a shard of the astrolabe he’d shattered to make a light paint thinner to be used to clear the existing ink off of the Lecture Hall books’ pages.

Even with their many hands and bodies it would take time for the squad to first clear enough space and then replace it with symbols, naturally, and Edward would have to keep looking over their metaphorical shoulder given these constructs weren't exactly meant for this. However despite all these limitations it would allow copies of the tomes to be made while he continued to explore the maze, so it was well worth the mental load in the Dreadnaught's opinion.

Urag grumbled a bit at the sight of this. Unsurprisingly the book collector wasn’t the most enthused about the destruction of the Lecture Hall books. He didn’t seem to be about to do more than that however. Maybe, Edward theorised, he couldn’t, stuck in one place as he was, and possibly only in command over his own stock. A limitation to take note of, certainly.

Still, that was for later (if it came up at all), as for now the Dreadnaught was done with the room, bidding its curator farewell, before heading across the hall and preparing to open the final door in the lecture theater.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

wordcount: 1,278 (+3)(+3)
Location: Forbidden Kingdom - Esaka’s High Tier
Amaterasu: level 9 (1 level up stored) EXP: ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (75/90)

In the moments before the starting bell, the fighters had a few moments to exchange words, though naturally, in Amaterasu and Jun Kazama’s case, this dialog was fairly onesided. Just not as quite so as the reserved woman might have expected.

“I am glad to see you made it into a tournament, Amaterasu, and can only hope that my letter was of some help with that” she said, before offering a short bow as she said “I wish you luck in your run” before straightening and dropping into a fighting pose as she “but know that I will hold nothing back despite our acquaintance, and that I expect nothing but the same from you”

The women had expected any reply to come in body language, and so almost missed the appearance of the words “IT WAS” and “TRUE FIGHT” being drawn in the air before her using gravity defying streams of water that materialised from the pool surrounding them. She did see them, however, and when she did her eyes went just a little wider. They went wider still when the bell rang and the heavenly principles took hold of them, revealing to her eyes the truth of Amaterasu that was normally hidden from mortal eyes.

“Divine indeed” she said to herself after a breath (all it took to steady her surprise) before more loudly saying “come then, let us put the truth of you to the test” with a beckoning flick of her hand.

Amaterasu let out her own breath, still not quite used to the touch of the heavenly principles, before digging her claws into the stone of the stage’s floor and rushing forwards, an aura of blossom streaking behind her as her divine weaponry hovered above her back.

From what she’d observed, she suspected the sheer speed involved might take her opponent by surprise, and though to Jun’s credit she was by no means panicked by the impending rushdown, this didn’t stop the divine wolf from delivering a solid headbutt to her gut, knocking her back.

Unlike with her prior opponent however, Amaterasu did not intend to stick simply to these blunter, mundane blows, and instead whipped out her divine beads, grasping one in her maw before lashing the whip like weapon forwards to strike across the gap she herself had put in place.

The beads battered Jun once, twice, thrice, but on the fourth of the rapid fire strikes the woman caught onto her rhythm, bringing up her arms to block the blow. Then she took a step forwards as the lash was drawn back, and blocked the second blow. Then another step and another block.

By this point the divine wolf was considering switching tactics, only to be taken aback when Jun sidestepped the next blow instead, and lunged inside of the divine wolf’s guard to deliver an elbow jab, then spun round to deliver a second jab with the other elbow, before slamming a backhand down into the wolf, knocking her back in turn. Each blow was accompanied by a burst of red energy particles that fluttered like a scattering of flower petals, adding to the force of the blows.

It was clear that the woman was no mere brawler, but that didn’t really change Amaterasu’s assessment of the woman. She was always going to be more experienced at this kind of fighting, how much harm she could inflict with her blows just cut down the divine wolf’s timeline when it came to overcoming that knowledge gap.

Case and point, Jun slipping a low kick under Amaterau’s guarding sun disk, before delivering a pair of punches over the top of it and then finally spinning a mid level kick into her, sending the wolf flying away to land on her back.

Variance. That was key.

The wolf rolled to her feet to avoid a follow up stomp, then leap over the subsequent leg sweep and slamming her sundisk down onto Jun, before finally using her double jump to leap away from an attempted anti-air uppercut.

The wolf whipped out a lash with her divine beads again before lunging towards and sweeping her sun disk low, slipping under the guard that had blocked the bead stroke. The hit knocked Jun to her knees, bringing her low enough that Amatarasu could grab her arm and then hurl her up and over her back, launching Jun skywards. Up there, the divine wolf hit her with a burst of beads fired machinegun style, before the woman crashed down to the ground, landing on her back.

Despite being knocked down, Jun did not let the divine wolf close the gap herself, nor did she move to retreat. Instead she pushed herself into a curled tumble towards Amaterasu, before lunging out of the roll in forward lunge, slamming both forearms into the wolf, who was knocked back as the woman landed in second roll and then bounced back to her feet.

The wolf pulled herself up in turn, and the two closed, trading blows and blocks, chipping at each other with neither one landing a decisive hit. At least until Jun dodged to the side and delivered an overhead kick that burst not just with energy but with a blast of wind as well, that pushed Amaterasu dangerously close to the edge of the arena.

Jun then rushed forwards at unprecedented speed, the wind rushing at her back, her arms and legs now burning with a misty blue flame.

Amaterasu wasn't exactly aware of what the heat system Jun had just activated was, but it did remind her of the rules of the heavenly principles, namely that resources had to be built up by landing hits. Without even looking to see if she’d charged enough, the wolf focused and spent the moment she might have been able to avoid the first strike of incoming empower attacks to focus, and make the world her canvas.

Time, for her, paused, and she took a moment to calm herself.

Reflect.

Then panic, as the heavenly principles casually broke into her reprieve and added a timer to it that hissed like the fuse of a bomb, threatening doom should she abuse this state for too long.

She floundered around for a resource to use, before going for something simple. Her brush dabbed the ground between herself and Jun, and then drew upwards, then let time resume. When it did, a tree was suddenly in Jun’s way, one which her heat dash crashed into, briefly disorientating her.

It gave the divine wolf time to get to her feet and go on the offensive, lunging round the flash grown obstacle and attacking her from the side. Here, again, they traded blows, but now on the edge of the disk, where little ground behind them, and even less to one side. However, in this heat mode, Jun’s blows explosively pierced Amaterasu's blocks, chipping away at her, and thanks to the heavenly principle’s equalising rules, she charged her heat back up as she did damage.

However, Amaterasu also charged as they traded blows, and this time, when she paused time, she didn’t need to be chased by the timer.

Instead, she drew a circle with a line extending from it, creating a massive cherry bomb to their side. Then, she paused again as the woman started to react to the surprise explosive, and stole fire from one of Captain Falcon’s punches, drawing from it to the fuse, instantly detonating the explosive.

The resulting festive blast hit both of the fighters clear off of the side of the stage, but only one of them could double jump.

As Amaterasu sprung back towards the ledge and scrabbled back onto it, Jun splashed down behind her, winning the divine wolf her first match via ring out.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Words: 1,892 (+3)
Edward Portsmith: Level 9 (22 cells) (2 level ups stored) ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (37/90)
Location Frozen highlands - The Midnight Walk

Lecture Hall

Through the other door in the Archmage’s quarters Edward discovered a long chamber with a hammerbeam roof high overhead, its sturdy wooden arches connected by lengths of bronze chain. Two dark wood galleries, each with three tiers of benches, opposed one another with an open floorspace between them. Many candelabras, whether hanging, freestanding, or perched upon the lecterns, added to the natural (albeit dim) light let in through high stained glass windows. Painted portraits of sorcerous staff members were arrayed beneath a wooden walkway that ringed the whole room to form a second story. Books and other academic materials scattered around the room, as well as outcrops of an odd, dull purple crystal. Over the center of the room hung a huge astrolabe in an elaborate frame, glowing from within, and closer to the headmaster's pulpit (identifiable by the opulent gold-and-purple banners) was curled a huge wolf with rich orange-red fur. At the sound of Edward's intrusion, the beast's ears pricked up and it raised its head cautiously.

Edward had entered the chamber just as cautiously, a squad of copper golems ahead of him, his magelock pistol drawn, somadrix slipping in behind him. Still, just because he had his gun out, did not mean that his finger was on the trigger of it. For one thing that was just good gun safety, but it was also representative of his mindspace. The maze had yet to simply toss him into danger yet, and the possible threats within had turned out to be not so (or at least, more frustrating than dangerous).

Thus, he was of a mind to not jump to violence here, and instead holstered his weapon, stepped past his golems’ spear wall and raised a hand with an offer of ”Peace?”

Trying to do diplomacy with an oversized beast might have seemed a little silly to some, but they did have a goddess in wolf’s clothing on their side, and that was before you got to Edward’s experience with cooperating with various non-humanoid peoples

Sadly Edward's entreaty met with no understanding as the wolf pulled back its teeth and began to growl at the mob of intruders who had entered with drawn weapons. As its bristly hackles rose, it summoned a curved sword of rosy amber magic between its fangs, and gave a snarl that made its intentions clear.

Edward responded with a sighing ”Very well” and began to move a hand to his weapons again, only for his eyes to go wide when the wolf leaped high into the air. It hung there for a moment, before it came crashing down towards him to deliver a mighty metoric swing with its mouth held blade.

The Dreadnought hurled himself to the side of the blow, vanishing into a portal and appearing again at the side of the room as he did so. The blade, thus, instead crashed down into the ranks of copper golems he had been standing in front of, cleaving clear through half their number before shattering on the floor. The surviving golems did not flinch one inch however, and instead immediately lunged their spears towards the wolf, scoring thin cuts on its furred face.

They got a few more stabs in as it plunged in towards them in turn, jaws snapping and crushing, a tactic that fared far poorer than the blade had vs their metal forms. A re-summoned blade slashed in a cleaving arch meanwhile put an end to their existence, though not before they had scored several hits on the beast.

As it finished slicing the constructs apart however, it felt a chill as reinforcements moved in towards it. From the door it had finally squeezed through came the somnadrix with its absolute zero antlers, while from the side (summoned by Edward using his newly acquired staff) was a hulking Frost Atronach.

The somnadrix was faster and used its long neck to swing its antlers at the foe in an attack more like an ax swing than a goring charge. This unorthodox strike from the similarly sized impossible creature caught the wolf off guard enough that the freezing strike smashed into it, knocking it towards the Frost Atronach and leaving flash frozen blood on its freshly frosted fur. The Atronach in turn delivered a stab with its icicle-like arm to its other side while its stamina sapping chilling aura inhibited the wolf’s ability to recover.

Fortunately for the wolf, there was a bit of an anti-synergy in Edward’s magic, as the follow up blow from the Atronach’s club arm ignited it thanks to his searing weapon enchantment, which inadvertently warded off the cold sapping its strength. Energised by the burning heat, the wolf summoned a blade, swung it through the Frost Atronach, and then used the magically enhanced momentum of the swing to leap back towards the pulpit it had been resting by.

It landed gracefully, only to immediately recoil when a solid round, crackling with archfire, slammed into it courtesy of Edward’s smiting bishop magelock rifle. The rifle‘s shot then ignited the ground beneath it with a pool of electrical fire, prompting it to leap clear once more.

This wasn’t just an evasion strategy, but also an offensive one as it formed a quartet of starry blue knives to form in the air along its path, which hung there for a moment before lancing towards Edward. Sadly for it, the man’s response to this was to grab his frost staff that he’d rested against a book case and to then fully sprint into the shots, causing a fiery aura to devour the magic and to ignite the wolf with a faster burning dot for each attempted attack.

Just as these fires burned out, the cold came again, the somnadrix coming in with its own leaping strike, frozen antlers coming crashing down towards the wolf. The beast in turn lunged to the side, getting clipped on the hind thigh, causing it to stumble. The half missed strike meant the somdadrix’s antlers smacked into the floor, stunning it momentarily, but its frosted thigh and the threat of the incoming Frost Atronach restricted its ability to turn and take advantage of this.

Thus it instead hobbled forwards, summoning it’s blade in maw and cleaving into the lumbering Frost Atronach with two wide swipes followed by an overhead slam that left the summon cracked and broken. A moment after, it shattered into shards, but not in delayed response to these attacks. No, instead a cannonball came slamming straight through its chest before it (along with a shower of icy shrapnel) collided with the wolf as well. The source of this was Edward’s magelock cannon that he had commanded to roll over to the doorway in order to provide fire support, the man entirely willing to sacrifice an expendable summons in the name of landing a good shot.

The bleeding, burning, electrified and armor sundered wolf staggered, barely able to hold itself up, and was then brought down when the somnadrix raised up its long neck and delivered a frozen guillotine of a strike to it, scattering its ashes to the floor.

”Go in peace” Edward said as the fight came to a close, and he returned his magelock rifle to its holster before moving to collect the fallen spirit. He already had an idea of a use for it, he just had to hope he would find her in one piece in the maze somewhere.

With the guardian of the room put down, Edward set to work exploring it for useful artifacts. Naturally he was first drawn to the books and parchments scattered around the area. These, from a skim reading, appeared to all relate to fields of study known as ‘conspectuses ‘ that were taught at a place called the Academy of Raya Lucaria. The texts themselves were rather unwieldy, and all he could really glean was that the paintings on the walls were of ‘primeval sorcerers’ who had discovered/defined these fields of study.

He then took a look at the crystal cluster growing to one side of the room, but these seemed to be mundane and, due to being rather glassy in appearance, likely not worth much of anything. They did at least shatter in a satisfying way upon failing a hardness test via the but of Edward’s staff.

An even more satisfying shattering followed soon after, as Edward cracked open the astrolabe hung above the chamber, seeking the source of a magical glow radiating from its heart. This source of this turned out to be a Star Globe, which seemed to be a sort of casting catalyst that was sadly missing some key component needed for it to function as intended. Regardless of this, Edward had it stowed just in case the missing half could be found.

Having flown up to the astrolabe in order to crack it open, Edward was in position to take a look at the ring of balconies set just below the frosted over windows. Despite their ornamentation, however, these seemed to exist mainly for maintenance purposes, be it cleaning the windows or servicing the now broken astrolabe. As such, there was little of note to be found, other than, of all things, a bird’s nest. This nest contained several eggs, one of which was both much larger and weirder than the others.

The bird in question, however, was nowhere to be found, though Edward supposed it might be hiding as a result of all the noise he had been making since entering the room. Edward took the large speckled egg partially as an apology to said bird (as he assumed to belong to a cuckoo), and partially out of curiosity regarding its odd nature.

He then descended back down to the ground floor, where his somnadrix had sniffed out something interesting beneath one of the benches: a bookbag. Within he found three things of note. First a Glintstone Cometshard spell scroll. Second, a Condragon Tome that contained magics specialised in killing dragons. Thirdly, a note about the tome being being a piece of a puzzle, with the other pieces of said puzzle being able to be found in the Arcaneum.

Upon reading this, Edward’s eyes immediately lit up and, upon returning to the drawing room and using the Condragon Tome therein, so too did the drawing of a dragon found therein.

”One down, two to go. Now to find this ‘Arcaneum’ mentioned in the note” said, before turning and returning to the Lecture Hall, intending to open and lock down one of the two other doors found therein.

Edward has found

Spirit of the Red Wolf of Radagon
Star Globe: a casting catalyst wielded by Astrologians in conjunction with magical cards
Glintstone Cometshard spell scroll: with the scroll equipped, a mage can conjure Glintstone Cometshards using their casting resource, which deal moderate amount of pure magic damage, and leave a briefly lingering damaging trail behind them. These can be fired individually, briefly charged for extra damage (at no extra cost), or swiftly cast in a pair of spell shots.
Condragon Tome: a moderately powerful casting focus that causes spells cast with it to do extra damage to dragons.
Weird Egg: while equipped has a 10% chance, every ten seconds in combat, to spawn a permanent friendly fetus companion (details found here) that will persist until death.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

wordcount: 408 (+1)
Location: Forbidden Kingdom - Esaka’s High Tier
Bowser Jr: Level 15 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(337/150)
Rika: Level 12 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(173/110)

After getting some help in making their winding tales and anecdotes make sense for those lacking all of the context they didn’t even think to add, the kids ended up nodding in agreement with the idea of taking down the Consul. Better they take her down now instead of waiting for her to get the jump on them, after all.

Given that they couldn’t do that now because the rest of the teams were off to risk blowing their cover in the tournament matches, they might not get to act on that however. Self confident as the kids were, it wasn’t like they thought they could two vs one a Consul.

”I mean, getting into a really rough spot like that would be a way to get an Interlink going like Clover’s parents said it would” Jr halfheartedly started to suggest, but he didn’t really think it was worth the risk. Or, as Rika put it ”No. That’s silly”

Which left them with the questions of what they were going to do today, which was helpful answered by the call from the UN to come participate in their new ‘powerstone games’

”Power stone? Wasn’t that that cool treasure that we fought that… bone… guy in the dead zone tree for…” Rika recalled with a furrowed brow, before siad brows rose sharply and she jabbed a finger at her brother as she remembered ”which you then lost!”

”Bringing the ceiling down on his head was a good plan! It's not my fault the gross monsters showed up before we could dig it out!” Jr retorted, hands thrown up in frustration, before pointing out ”And hey, look, it doesn't matter, because we can just go and win some now instead”

Rika immediately perked up at the idea, before furrowing her brow and kicked her feet as she remembered ”But its a tournament with people watching”

”Sure, but, like, way less people, n they’re not gonna be super invested either”

”Hmmm. I guessssss. Plus there’ll be treasure so. sure” she said, not sounding that committed at first, but finishing it with a resolute ”Yeah! Lets do it”

---

As it would turn out, they weren't the only ones expected to find Juri already there and making a scene when they showed up.

From off by their entrance point Jr called out a friendly (if questioning) ”Hey Juri! Where’ve you been hiding?” while Rika gave her a big gauntlet handed wave.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Words: 1,995 (+3)
Edward Portsmith: Level 9 (22 cells) (2 level ups stored) ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (34/90)
Location Frozen highlands - The Midnight Walk

Edward sent his copper golem squad into the drawing room first, the monocular spear wielders marching in lockstep and rattling in an attention grabbing manner. Edward himself meanwhile slinked in behind them and took cover behind a small cabinet, pistol at the ready, hoping that whatever the unseen source of the banging was would be drawn to his bait instead of him.

As it turned out however, it went for neither, and instead kept slamming against the wall.

”How odd” Edward commented to his somnadrix (or really, to himself) as the impossible creature awkwardly navigated its antlers through the too narrow doorframe (leaving frost where it scarped against them).

As for what was odd, well, Edward didn’t say at once, but instead tested his hypothesis with a rap of a knuckle against the wall he was crouched beside, which produced a more solid sound than the one produced by the specter.

”That wall must be hollow. Perhaps it's behind it, trying to escape? Or does it want to get in?” he speculated as he sent the copper golems forwards to investigate.

Once more, there was no reaction from the wall slammer that continued to do its thing. That was until he made the golems deliver a probing stab at the wall to test its resilience, at which point two things happened. First, the wall collapsed. Second, the banging stopped.

What was revealed behind it was no source of the noise, but instead a hidden room in a state of neglectful disrepair, with peeling wallpaper and moldy boards. As the golems entered to inspect they discovered piles of discarded paintings, all picturing a woman with black hair, her features marred by painted burn marks that are never quite the same between any two portraits. At the center of the room was an easel with one more, heavily disfigured portrait, and at its base was a lump of flesh on a painter's palette.

Upon being picked up, the flesh wiggled slightly in the golem’s hand, which also dimly registered it as being warm to the touch.

”Necromancy. Of course” Edward commented, most of the trepidation he had felt now discarded. Those who wielded death itself were rather common on the worlds of the astral sea after all, and he had put down plenty.

”If it was an escape attempt, I can see why the lost soul wanted out” he said as he examined the room, before looking at the lump and asking it ”or did it want into you?”

The flesh, naturally, did not answer.

Edward had it placed back onto the palette and then had said palette moved onto the top of a dresser in the drawing room, just in case it was in some way important to solving the conundrum of the maze.

He then regarded the painting in person and speculated ”And as for these? Some… attempt at cursing, perhaps? A venting of anger? An inching closer and closer to the truth?” but finding no answer particularly satisfying. Nor did a closer inspection of the painting reveal any hidden notes, or even a signature, on the back.

It did however confirm that a rather grizzly pigment had been used to create the painting. Despite this making Edward lean more towards his theory of it being a work of the occult, he could sense no magic in its makeup.

In between making these inspections, and indeed throughout his entire exploration of the room, Edward took the time to make notes, which included a small sketch of the woman in all the paintings, sans the various scars. He was no artist, but he’d done enough technical drawings that he could copy and combine what he saw well enough.

It was only then that the back of his mind brought something up that he had been considering since the copper golems matched away: hadn’t there been a set of footsteps out of sync with the rest?

He turned with a start in response to this, or, rather, he and the golems both turned, and together they found an assortment of books stacked into the shape of a person had appeared right behind the constructs. Edward started back once more, going for his gun, while the golems lowered their spears. Before either could react any further, however, the book sculpture exploded, pelting the Dreadnaught and his constructs with a barrage of literature.

Fortunately, this barrage was mostly harmless, and, indeed, the only things that really suffered were some of the books, which got impaled on the lowered speartips.

”What a waste” Edward said with a shake of the head, pistol going back to its holster. He seemed, indeed, not that taken aback now that the surprise was over. This pattern continued when, upon reentering the main drawing room, he reacted to catching a glimpse of a baby doll running into a cupboard with a simple sigh.

The man, having clearly already had quite enough of this, turned and addressed the lump of flesh (and whatever specter was haunting it) with a slightly disappointed tone, saying ”I’d appreciate it if you cease your meddling, spirit. It's quite rude to do, given that I’ve already aided you in reuniting with your… flesh”

He let the request hang for a moment, and then when nothing else occurred, nodded his head and continued his investigation

With the spirit seemingly quelled, and the hidden room containing nothing but mysteries, Edward focused that investigation on the rest of the drawing room. The most notable things in it were the three large drawings of a cavalier, a dragon and a pegasus knight all of which were mounted on a singular wall, as their presence dominated the rest of the smaller, more scattered, sketches found throughout the rest of the room.

Acting on a hunch, he had the golems tap along this wall as well, and found that it too was hollow. It did not, however, prove breakable. A spear stab did nothing, nor did Edward shooting the wall with his pistol, which should have at least left a dent.

”Magic, then. I wonder what the key to unlocking seal is?” He wondered, before examining the wall mounted drawings again and speculating ”Gaurdiens that must be slain, perhaps? Or iconography that must be recovered?”

Certainly, they seemed to be the key, as Edward’s second hunch of completing or emulating the drawing of the seated gentlemen amounted to nothing.

”I believe that is all” he said to the Somandrix where it had curled up in a corner, before telling the spirit of the flesh to ”behave” and then returning to the archmage’s quarters. His impossible creature followed him in, while the iron golems continued to hold the door open, locking down the connection between the two chambers.

As he entered, he asked the resident painter who, hopefully, had zero relation to the hidden collection of grizzly imagery, ”How are you faring?”

When Fred turned to him, the painter seemed to have brightened up somewhat, with an optimistic shine to his eyes and a newfound sense of energy, however slight. “Oh! I can tell that you…or maybe a friend of yours? Got rid of one of them already. Thank you.” He still appeared to be very unsettled, very nerve-wracked, but even a little relief seemed to go a long way. Fred blinked a few times. “I should give you something to help you take care of these... things, right? Let me see…” He reached into a pocket in the back of his apron and after a few seconds produced three small bottles of amber liquid that resembled honey, albeit without the viscosity.

“Here you go. Some flasks of very strong turpentine. That should make short work of them. It might be strong enough to hurt other things, too.” A smile spread across his weary face. “Good luck out there. I’ll await the good news.”

”The paint thin- ah I see” Edward said, before agreeing that ”I’ll be sure to make use of them” as he accepted the somewhat specific weaponry.

He then informed the painter that ”The drawing room should be safe now, as the agitated spirit therein has calmed. I will keep it under watch, however, just in case it intends more trouble” before looking over the room they were in now that the urgency the spirit’s banging had produced had ended.

The news seemed to surprise Fred. “Oh…good. Well, that room isn’t usually there, anyway. It should go away once the door is closed.”

”I was intending to keep it open, actually” He replied, before explaining his reasoning ”If we make a chain of rooms joined by open doors, it should locking down the labyrinth and making it far less confounding to navigate. It should also allow my fellows to gradually filter into this location, and thus regroup so we can put our heads together and figure out an escape from this place”

Fred nodded tentatively. “Alright, uh. Good luck with that.”

Edward nodded in turn, and then took a moment to look over the room that was now functionally his basecamp. It was while doing so that his eyes came to rest on a staff resting on one of the shelves, which caused him to raise an eyebrow.

Upon retrieving and inspecting it, he came to the conclusion that Roxas had not had the eye for the magic found within. This prompted a swift search of the place, with which he uncovered a set of enchanted boots, a fine if mundane dagger sat in a display case and numerous gems. Most of these where roughly cut but seemed magical in nature baring one unusal gem that seemed to be of exceptional craftsmanship.

Edward has found

Staff of the Frost Atronach: can be used to summon a Frost Atronach for 60 seconds. This magic is powered by an internal charge that can be restored using soul gems.
Enchanted Boots with 40% shock resistance
Dwarven Dagger: An ancient blade made with high quality materials that neither dulls nor rusts. Its design meanwhile is rather straightforward, sporting neither unnecessary flair nor cunning craftsmanship.
A stone of Barenziah: one of twenty four stones intended to adorn the crown of Barenziah. Valuable in its own right, it would be especially so to someone who wished to complete the set.
Soul Gems: containing the captured souls of beasts, these gems can be used to both make and recharge magical artifacts.

While the boots would do well as either essence fodder or crucible fuel, the Dreadnought kept the rest of the items on his person. The gems might well have a use elsewhere in the maze after all, while the staff and blade would make decent additions to his arsenal.

Staff in hand, and troops at his back, he then proceeded to the door through which he had entered the archmage’s quarters, the golems stationed there ready to hold it open for him and secure a third room for his growing collection.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

wordcount: 774 (+2)
Location: Forbidden Kingdom - Esaka’s High Tier
Bowser Jr: Level 15 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(336/150)
Rika: Level 12 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(172/110)
Amaterasu: level 9 (1 level up stored) EXP: ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (69/90)

”I mean, we’d be here foreeeeeeever if I told you about all the stuff we’ve been through! You're looking at one of the oldest members of this whole group. Been a seeker since papa took down the first guardian, who was, like, also papa but a jerk version of papa” Jr pipped up to brag in response to the question about the seeker’s history.

Then, when Rika pointed out that ”I think he meant more the things we were up to in the Under” Jr in turn pointed to Yayama and said that ”Yeah but she wouldn’t know that, so she should! It's a big deal!”

She supposed, but though they should maybe stick to newer stuff. That she could talk about. Like the pizza tower. ”It was very silly. Bunch of cheese monsters, spooky cookie baking grandmas, and there were these trolls that demanded we make pizza based with specific toppings before they’d let us pass. Then up to there was this really weird guy with a pizza face who changed up the rules a bit like this place does so that everything could only take, like, three hits before it died, including probably us. Which was scary even if the guy himself was as silly as the stuff in his tower”

”Ok, but, like, that’s not as important as mine though” Jr insisted, to which Rika simply replied that ”It was really good pizza though”

”I mean, yeah, I guess,” Jr replied, a little frustrated because it had been really good pizza, before pointing out that ”but it's more important that we were, like, the first to take down a Consul when we took out P. The old P I mean. Not the new P who is Princess Peach”

”That’s probably come up already though, right? So mine was better” She replied, with just a hint of cheek that took her brother by surprise.

”What. No it wasn’t”

”Yeah it was. Plus, here’s another one: there’s a whole load of super strong looking weapons down in the Under inside this massive tree just next to the home of tears. Everyone was kinda too distracted by Asgor, who’s been de-storied for ages and is how we found out about that stuff at the start, and the flame clock, which we couldn’t break even Papa turned super big and punched half way across a cavern, but they’re there, n probably would be pretty good for the people who care about those kinds of things”

”I… Wait... did nobody ever try to grab those at all?”

”Don’t think so”

”Why not?”

”Distracted”

”Huh”

Jr scratched his head and then said ”All the stuff he told us about the world being really old and stuff feels like way less of a big deal now that we are flying around with the Lost Numbers, but yeah, guess at that point it was… like…” before moving his hands to his forehead and then pulling them away while making the sound of his mind being blown to bits by the revelation that Galeem’s world was absolutely ancient and its victory over all reality had happened an eternity ago.

”Yup” Rika agreed succinctly.

Amaterasu wasn’t exactly one who could tell stories, nor would she have been too inclined too even if she could deliver more than 6.66 recurring words per minute. She also wasn’t much of a listener, but she did perk an ear at this tidbit of info about these supposedly powerful weapons. It was a shame they were buried underground somewhere far far away from here.

The next little tid-bit that got dropped however was definitely something to be paid attention to, namely: ”Oh and the home of tears was this big city underground where it rained all the time somehow. Nice place despite that, least until Consul F mind controlled the whole town and had them try to take us down. We, uh, should probably be careful about that happening here as well once you lot start making the news. Not sure if they still hate us or not, we were sneaky when we popped back there yesterday, but might make it hard to be in the tournament even if we did then take out the Consul doing the ordering about”

That, Amaterasu suspected, would not be an easy thing to do in a city full of fighters. Still, the Consul had seemed to be fine with letting the world deal with her problems for her, rather than taking her own hand in things. She could only hope that she’d be just as uncaring when a whole bunch of them started threatening to win all the tournaments.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Words: 1,318 (+3)
Edward Portsmith: Level 9 (22 cells) (2 level ups stored) ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (31/90)
Location Frozen highlands - The Midnight Walk

Edward put his shoulder to the door at the far end of the perilous hallway and pushed it open, pistol up and peeking through the door. He might not have found anything directly dangerous as of yet, but the knowledge of the green hunter in its alcove meant he was being careful with his movements. For a moment his caution seemed warranted, as he caught sight of a large monster over the sights of his pistol, only for it to turn out to be one of his frightful monsters, namely the Somnadrix.

”Ah. Good to see you intact” he commented, before lowering his weapon and pushed the door the rest of the way open. He ordered the impossible creature to Now ”fall in behind me” and then stepped into the archmage's quarters that (unbeknownst to him) Roxas had left only a short while ago.

While he’d just missed one of his allies, Frederic the painter was still here, and so naturally Edward approached this potential source of information.

”Greetings, I don’t suppose you could tell me where we are, or if you’ve had any other unexpected guests pass through in the last few minutes?”

This time, the nervous painter was genuinely taken by surprise. He flinched from the well-armed dreadnought a lot more than he did the young man who visited him prior. “Um. Winterhold College. Are you new here too?” The man both looked and sounded rather frazzled. “A boy did show up here a few minutes ago. You just missed him, actually. Went through there.” He indicated the other door. “Said he’d help with my…painting problem.” Frederic swallowed.

”Blond hair, black cloak, large key?” Edward asked, already moving for the other door, and intending to throw it open. He had actual questions for the man, obviously, not to mention concern for his safety given that he seemed rather hapless in a place that held dangers, but seizing the opportunity to regroup took priority.

The Drawing Studio

When the Dreadnought pushed open the double doors, they swung apart to reveal an austere studio of beige, white, and gold, filled with a variety of intricate black-and-white pencil drawings. Most depicted people, although three of the biggest were arranged together on one wall: a mounted cavalier, a dragon, and a pegasus knight. The room also featured an easel, and a mostly-finished drawing of a seated gentleman perched upon it. Most startling, however, was the slamming noise that greeted Edward a moment after he stepped inside, as if someone had just thrown his or her weight against one of the walls. Yet the studio’s visitor saw nobody, least of all Roxas, even as the intermittent banging continued.

Despite this the man called out ”Roxas? Roxas!” before turning back to the painter when he got no response, and urgently asking ”How long ago did you see him?” his nerves set on end due to the mysterious sourceless slamming. Said slamming was also very much why he did not go rushing into the room.

The yelling did not seem to set poor Frederic at ease. “He just went through,” the painter replied. “But…this college is enchanted or something. The doors never lead to the same place.”

”That… complicates things” Edward grunted in displeasure.

He stood there for a moment, thinking to himself despite the banging coming from the room within, before ordering the Somnadrix to ”Hold this open”

The beast moved to obey, more or less parking itself in front of the open door to act as an oversized doorstop, which let the Dreadnaught step away and test to see if it was the closing of the door that changed the location it led to.

As he did so he made an attempt to make amends for the poor social graces his hastiness had caused. To do this he stepped to a spot where he could both see the painter and the door, before saying ”I apologize for my rudeness, this place is just quite confounding” and then introduced himself with ”Edward Portsmith, at your service.”

Frederic restlessly wiped his hands on his smock as he cleared his throat. If this man wanted to be helpful, far be it from Fred to turn down extra assistance. “Oh, er, no need to apologize. If you don’t mind helping, though, I could use all the help I can get with my…uh, problem.” He looked around in a furtive manner, checking the room’s corners for anyone who might be listening in. “I’ve been in a serious pickle ever since my painting came to life. They were meant as self-portraits, but none of them came out right…I’ve been hearing their thoughts in my head ever since. It’s driving me mad. If you can wipe any out as you explore this place, I’d be in your debt.”

”Came to life?” Edward echoed with a raised eyebrow, before glancing directly towards the thumping sound coming from within the Drawing Studio. ”Are those also yours, or is that a coincidence?” he asked, regarding the art depicted within, the already concerning room was now even more of a worry. He wasn’t exactly thrilled at the prospect of fighting the dragon depicted therein, let alone the entire collections worth of figures, should they also come to life.

A jittery shake of Frederic’s head dispelled Edward’s worries. “Oh no, no, those aren’t mind. I work in paint, not pencil.” He peered into the drawing studio, trying and failing to pay no mind to the impossible creature that held the door open at Edward’s command. “That banging noise…it might be one of them.”

”Could well be. Or some other horror. Either way, best to be prepared” Edward replied before, taking the obvious discomfort of Fredric into some account as he explained that ”I’ll be conjuring reinforcements just in case. I assure you, they are entirely at my command, and will act only to protect us from the monsters that lurk within this labyrinth” as he retrieved his tomes of magic from his side.

Frederic took a step back just to be safe. “Alright.”

Edward nodded in turn, and then began his summoning, sticking to the less hellish of his repertoire for this as he did so. Golems were forged, of particular note a squad of Iron golems who took the place of the Somnadrix. With a shield slid in parallel in front of the door, they could hold the gateway open without obstructing access, while also being at hand to barricade the way in should some hostile attempt to come through.

In the same line of thinking, a magelock cannon was parked facing through the door, while a second set of iron golems were set to watch the closed door, be it for interlopers or arriving compatriots. If the former came, they could/would try and block the way in order to buy time for Fredric to flee and for Edward to return and respond. If the latter instead came through, they could step in and hold open the door before it closed, fixing in place the room through which the ally had entered from.

Thus, having locked down his new basecamp, Edward prepared to explore its first expansion node, marching a squad of copper golems in first before following along after with the Somnadrix slinking along behind him to cover his back.