"So clumsy..." William sighs at Aliidan's confused reaction. Wait... he thought deeply about what she just said, she can't remember the castle either. Odd. "Aliidan, what do you mean? We've been here for at least two hours. You just fought Ashraeh." William alerts at her, staring at her closely. Riro tugs on William to not get so close or it'd be embarrassing with so many pure maidens around. Looking at her, he was curious did she just get amnesia? No. She knew who everyone was, but... it was odd.

Rie looked concernedly at Aliidan, just feeling that something was seriously, seriously wrong... Was it just her or did the presence of Aliidan feel a little faint as well?
"Aliidan-san?" Rie inquired quietly, concern for this girl whom she knew little about evident in her small, soft voice. The Levistone around her spoke whisperingly to Rie (and to the rest as well but only Rie seemed to hear it) 'the memory is fading... the spirit is weakening...' the faint whispery voices of the Levistone was almost too soft to hear... More strongly the Levistone spoke to Will: 'Save the memory...'

Ashraeh looked at the gaping hole in her right hand (Wind Tunnel!!!). It's searing pain coursed throughout her entire body. So much pain. Too much pain. Her body couldn't take it anymore, so she simply fainted.

"Healing Tarot." Rose rushes over to Ashraeh, glad she was safe even though she herself got uselessly kidnapped. "H-here I'll help you up..." She says to Ashraeh as the tarot card seals up the blood wound and begins to heal it. Though if it was serious enough, it'd only lessen the pain of sorts.

She scurries over to Aliidan before helping her up. "T-thank you." She bows to Aliidan, allowing her to make her own descisions. She vowed to herself to not let Aliidan drift away from their inner triangle of friendship. Whenever she thought about their friendship falling apart, she always thought about that song...

'I will always stay by your side,
we have to hold ~
these times together.
If you ever leave me.
I will always wait where our memories lie,
holding two arms out for you.
Forever and always...
I will believe and keep my faith in you,
my trust will never fade away.
Forever~
Always~
I will be your friend.
Don't cry, please dry your tears
as you listen to my soothing words.
Don't be afraid.
I won't let anyone harm you.
I'm always right by your side,
cry on my shoulder as we
share our tears together.
Forever and always.'

Thinking back to it, she sung this to both William and Aliidan. With music, instruments and all. She was forceful about the pactio idea before because she didn't want the three to split apart, but... she had to grit her teeth and bear it if Aliidan is the one who wants it herself.

Aliidan just looked more and more confused and she STILL didn't have an answer as to why her hands were shredded and bleeding this much... Speaking of said hands:
"AIYAH! My Hands! My Hands are see through!" Aliidan exclaimed, staring at said hands in great fear, the hands were faded at the center, allowing one to see through them with a more solid outline. On a better note it appeared that with her hands faded like that they didn't bleed anymore...
"Why are my hands see through!?" Aliidan asked, rubbing her hands against her arms as if that would bring them back...

"Aliidan!! What's happening to you?" Rose panics, rushing over to her. It wasn't a spell of any sort, nor curse, nor injury. Something was wrong, direly wrong. Assessing the situation, Rose couldn't think of any possibilities. "A-Are you a ghost, Aliidan...?" Rose unsurely asks. The fading was a similar manner to a ghost who was earthbound and has completed their goal of why they were earthbound. She doubted Aliidan was a ghost, so there had to be something...

"W-whoa... Aliidan, are you alright!?" He rushes to her side, seeing her hands fading slowly. The fading wasn't a magic spell, it felt odd. Like a unique type of magic. "W-we have to go to the next floor. I'm certain those enemy guys have taken captive of some of them guardians of the castle, who may be able to help us." He carries Aliidan up the stairs as they rush to the third floor...

On the third floor, it was much smaller than the rest. However, there were four passages. It seems it wouldn't let us go ahead unless we split up so at least someone goes through a door... not the best situation.

Aliidan, still staring at her fading hands broke down in silent tears, fear gripping her heart like a vice.
"I don't want to vanish..." Aliidan sobbed quietly as she rubbed her fading hands against her arms, repeating that she didn't want to vanish over and over through her tears.

Rie, unsure how to comfort Aliidan opted for the more readily available option of continuing onwards.
"I... I don't know how to handle this... I'll... just go down this corridor... Hyoriin replenished my Ki so I should be okay..." Rie said, quietly and unsurely, indicating a corridor that was clearly fire inspired and it made sense for her to go down that corridor, with Garyoutensei she'd be able to absorb any fire magic with ease... "Uhm... I... Uhm... Good luck?" Rie said with that same quiet voice as she entered the fire corridor alone, Garyoutensei (and Ryuujin) at the ready, whisps of fire like mist coming forth from the corridor.

Helping Ashraeh up to the third floor as well, she rested her on the ground. "I-I'll take that one." Rose says, walking into the tunnel that had given off numerous signs of an earth mage passing by. One would be the rubble across the wall and a few rocks on the ground. The other halls didn't have anything of the sort. Also, there was a fresh fragrance of flora within side, meaning that grass and earth was inside, more than likely there for an earth-based elemental mage.

"Freeing this castle may be hard, but I've got to do this." She clutches her artifact.

Rie continued down the fire corridor, hot air licking at her as the firey mists became thicker, making Garyoutensei hum in delight. 'Atleast someone is enjoying himself' Rie though as she felt Ryuujin grin in delight. Before long Rie came upon a large circular room that was clearly a lab of sorts, vials and other lab devices displayed openly with various fire like substances filling them... But no mage in sight... Wait... There he was! Sitting in a chair by a desk... Rie moved closer silently, it didn't seem like he had noticed her...

Rose had the advantage right now as she used Vicinity Sight spell to see the area up ahead, getting a close look at her enemy while not even being in the room. As she walked down the corridor, the floors and walls turned from tiles into earth and dirt, grass and flowers. Her assumption was correct, it was an earth mage securing this area.

"Spiritual Protection..." She whispers, sending her spirits hiding in the earth wall shadows as she launches an attack at the man, hoping to bring him down in one fell swoop. It would seem he's meditating, so she might just be able to do this.

"Right, this path for me... Aliidan, stay safe. We'll handle this area, you look after Ash." He pats Aliidan on the head, rushing off down the hall involving wind. He had no time to lose, concentrating his magic to his feet, a flexible burst of speed sends him flying forward at his enemy. The surroundings were unluckily, platforms, but William could handle it with his shundo.

"Molten magma attero ferrum parietis pro nos!" He chants, as he disappears, doing a rotating shundo so he appears right behind the man, aiming to deliver a single one-hit knock out blow on this supposed elemental master who was sitting on his throne nonchalantly eating. Seems he didn't notice Will until it was too late...

Aliidan was still crying when a powerful surge of raw magic came towards her and Ashraeh. Even through her tears she would still protect Ashraeh and she did it, by bodily intercepting the surge of magic. The Magic surge hit her dead on making her cry out in pain as a great Influx of memories flashed through her mind, bits and pieces of a bandaged one eyed man with dark purple hair and eye and a rather flat stare... As well as her entire experience in the castle up to that point.
Collapsing to her knees and breathing hard she stared wide eyed at the floor as silent tears dripped onto the cold, hard levistone... How could she have been so cruel to Rose? She should have handled that situation more delicately... And now, for the second time in under an hour she knew that she had left the trinity... This saddened her greatly but she didn't think too much on it, wondering instead who the strange man from her memory was... She never noticed as her hands faded some more...

Rie tapped the sitting fire mage delicately on the shoulder only to stare in shock as he simply crumpled into a heap on the floor. Rie wuickly put two fingers on his neck, searching for a pulse. No Pulse... So he's- "Dead. Yez. For a few monthz now. That blazted water whipper schnapper ztabbed him in ze back." A very annoyed and squickly voice, filled with german accent, sounded from the corner, where Rie saw an "Imp? How unusual, your master must have been very traditional to summon an imp to help him..." her comment made the imp swell with pride and grin like a cat.
"Danke Schön! Ze name ist Günther Undragon. Hyu are Lady Rie Nakamura, Lazt of the Laputan." the last bit was said with a slightly more evil grin. So Rie was stuck with a german imp, a Jägerkin apparently, the fire elemental mage had been dead for a few months already and Rie had no idea what to do now.

William launched a spinning hook, aiming to knock the man's head clean off, but his arm slowed down slightly as his punch sent him flying out of his chair and into the wall, falling into the depths below. "Heh, why split the room into platforms if you're just going to fall off?" William grins to himself as he could hear wind cutting at amazing speeds. Taking a small step back, his platform split in half instantly. "D-damn...!" William grits his teeth, jumping onto another platform as the man slowly levitates, floating in the air.

Jumping back, "Son Ta Rik... Omne Flammans Flamma Purgatus, Domine Extinctionis et Signum Regenerationis, in Mea Manu Ens Inimicum Edat! Flagrantia Rubicans!" William delivers a massive blaze of fire at this supposed wind master.

"Delinera Blasphemia..." Rose whispers, hiding behind a large earth stalagmite, as she sends her spirits at the earth mage. The elemental earth master easily shot down and stabbed one of Rose's spirits, but she grinned as the other three begin to surround and conquer the big brute, beginning to bite him hard.

"Hehe, thanks to this artifact I don't need to see him directly. Yup, he's injured." Rose giggles to herself, hoping to take him out as soon as possible.

Aliidan pushed herself off the floor, still crying silently. Who was that man? And why did she only remembering him vaguely and only just now? Panic again set in as she noticed the her hands were faded even more than before.

Rie, putting a lot of faith in her companions, decided to examine the room. A Library apparently. Rows uppon Rows uppon Rows of books, all written in three languages: Latin, Ancient Norse and Chinese. Wandering around, looking indirectly for a release switch for the German Imp's cage, Rie stumbled onto what could only be described as a control room...
"So... Either I need glasses or this is where this castle is controlled from. Now where is that switch..?" Rie said to herself and looked at the switches. large, shiny red one= Do not Push. Ah there it is.
Pushing a tiny switch she heard a hissing noise and the mad cackling of glee from the german imp as he teleported away, most likely back home.
Taking out her pactio card (she had dismissed Garyoutensei earlier) she sent her thoughts to will.
'Will, I have acchived contorl over the castles main library and control room. I will continue my exploration of these rooms to learn more.' Rie's gentle, soft thoughts traveled to Will through their pactio.

The flames easily dispersed from the pressure of the wind alone. "S-shi--" William grits his teeth, but it was too the late. The floating wind master, which resembled more of a floating corpse zoomed past William slovenly as wind blades surround and obliterate Wiliam. Cuts across his arms, chest, legs, face, everywhere.

Coughing up blood, his eyesight goes blurry as he looks up at the man who done this to him. He slowly floats over to deliver the final blow as a thunder arrow crashes into him. This was followed by a variety of other arrows, explosion arrows, fire arrows, stone arrows and all. He turns his head as a newcomer. He was a mage who used a bow as medium. He was pretty handsome with sandy blonde hair like William. He had an interesting royal get-up. William couldn't recognize him at all and soon... his eyesight faded and William fell into unconsciousness.

"Got him!" Rose dashes out from behind the rock and throws three explosion tarots, she grins as her ghosts then take the initiative and bites the earth mage. The man as a final move threw a stone spear, turning Rose's leg to stone. "Cutting Tarot." She sends a bunch of throwing cards at the man as they cut his arms and legs.

"G-go Spriits!" She finally calls as the spirits knock into him, knocking him unconscious and ultimately putting him in a coma. "Few..." The stone begins to fade from Rose's leg as she explores the area. It was a beautiful garden, with a lake running through a tunnel. The tunnel was too dark to see, but it radiated a mysterious magical pressure.

Rose soon began exploring the area.

Aliidan never noticed when she fell asleep, exhaustion taking it's toll on her body, she slumped down by a wall, snoozing peacefully.

Rose had quickly found a source of water flowing through the area. She was interested in it, actually. Did this caste reuse water by cleaning it, or did it have a source of water that was refilled with water? It was all a mystery to Rose right now. Looking further in, there wasn't else in this area except the flourishing flora.

Rie continued her examination of the castle controls, trying her best to read the faded texts and the like... "This is HOPELESS! Where is a good map when you need one!?" Rie exclaimed in frustration only to hear a humming sound behind her. Looking over her shoulder she saw a 3D holographic representation of the castle. "... Well, THAT certainly helps." Rie muttered to herself, turning around to examine tha castle map.

William blinked rapidly as he began awakening, his consciousness becoming clear. "W-what happened...?" William mumbles, looking at his clothes, they were all different from what he was originally wearing. His hair hung over his eyes slightly and his trademark bandanna and cap were gone. He was wearing some freaky 'refined' get-up, that didn't suit him at all.

"Wait..." William wonders, realizing he was actually saved by someone. Turning around, he saw a man. A prince-looking guy, wielding a bow. "Who are you!?" William shot up, putting up a fighting pose rashly. Amazingly, he was perfectly fine. His previous injuries had faded away into nothingness.

"What did you do to me, as well?!" William grits his teeth in anger, not liking having a sudden change in bodies. The man simply looks at William, throwing him a glass jar filled with pills. The label read 'Aging Pills'. It would seem he was given pills that could make him look older or younger than his current age.

"I can't believe you don't remember me... I was your partner and gave you so many kisses~" The man giggles, getting up slothfully.

"Wait... Rickardo? W-what!? Why are you human? Why did you give me these pills!?" William asks, there were at least over 100 pills in this jar. It must have cost a fortune.

"I'm Rickardo Valis. Pleased to meet you. I had you change form, as it's easier to heal a constitutional body, rather than your original one. Though you wounds would be carried over, they'd be of lesser extent thanks to the pills healing agent. They're yours for looking after me, I'm out of here... however, you must NOT let ANYONE know about these pills. They were the reason I was turned into an ermine. If you do let someone find out, you'd be charged with being turned into an ermine-- or worse." Rickardo explains with a flurry of words, having little pauses as he rushes his speech. The burden of having these pills seemed heavy, but William quickly turned around as did Rickardo. Rickardo jumped out the window of the castle, oddly enough. He seemed to know what he was doing, he said he was a great mage.

William wandered how Riro, Aliidan, Ashraeh, Rose and Rie were. They could be in danger, so William rushed backwards after them...