Rie stared at the seemingly endless stairs in rapt amasement. This all reminded her of something that she had seen once before... But she couldn't put her finger on it. No matter.
"I... Think we're meant to continue onwards down these stairs... Well... I guess I'll take point..." Rie said hesitantly as she took a few steps on the stairs.

As Aliidan blasted the Aeralfos with water she felt that this one must have been a very inexperienced member, it didn't seem to have any magical experience at all... Lucky for Aliidan then.
Soon stairs appeared and Aliidan, being like she was, promptly went down the stairs without a care.

(Everyone is ignoring Ashraeh!)

Ashraeh patiently waited for Jess to acknowledge her existence. Being invisible can be really frustrating at times. A vein on her head swelled, and some rather...inappropriate thoughts flashed in her mind.

Jess turned to Ashraeh... "What's wrong?" She asked, she disliked it when someone was upset on any case but knew one upset member could disrupt the coordination of the whole group in this case.

"Hm? Oh, nothing!" Ashraeh smiled and held her hand out to shake.

Jess gripped Ashraeh's hand perhaps a bit too hard - she was every bit as strong as she looked, though still not 'adept' with her strength in some ways - and shook it. "Now then, whaddaya say we head up those stairs hmm? Not a moment to lose." Though she still eyed Ashraeh it was clear from the way she said that she was saying it to everyone.

"Ow!" Ashraeh whispered to herself. Had she been trying to hurt her? Also, she noticed the way Jess was watching her, like she had done something...What was her problem?

Wandering through the halls, he could hear footsteps coming from below. "Hey, Aliidan? Ashraeh? Rick? Rie? Rose?" William asks, and as he expected, it was Aliidan. Of course, he didn't know about Aliidan meeting up with the group, so he thought she went missing and got lost. "Did you see the hologram thing?" William asks, looking down the stairs at her. The golems were still unresponsive, so the floor seemed safe.

Aliidan, not prepared to hear Wills voice (much less meet him directly) so soon after stepping into the room, stumbled and fell on her face. Again.
"Owie... Oh, Will... You're Okay?? I thought you were lost and I went off to find you and then I fought this Aeralfos and -insert long ramble- And that's that!" Aliidan, having said all that in one breath and under a full minute was panting now.

Jess laugehd a bit at Aliidan, looking to William. "Is she always like this, or just sometimes?" She asked... If it was all the time Jess would admittedly be somewhat annoyed by it... But she'd keep that to herself as much as possible.

JKDragon wrote:

Jess laugehd a bit at Aliidan, looking to William. "Is she always like this, or just sometimes?" She asked... If it was all the time Jess would admittedly be somewhat annoyed by it... But she'd keep that to herself as much as possible.

We are still in a different area. ><

Don't want Jess to see the pactio and all or William would die.

Walking up the stairs, following Jess, Rie and Ashraeh, Rose was wondering what to do. "Hey... these stairs, are they really endless? I still can't see the top..." She continues to climb the stairs slovenly as she was obviously tired, her energetic personality slowly fading away. Seeing the top in the distance, she rushes forward ahead of everyone, only to see complete darkness.

Rather spooky. Using a light-based tarot card, she lit the area up and noticed a whole bunch of golems, just like the one that saved them on the previous floor. This time however, none of them moved or showed signs of once moving. "They most likely had all broken down... tragic..." Rose mutters to herself, inspecting the golems.

To clear a few things up: Rose, Rie, Ashraeh and Jess have just entered the south area of the second floor, Will and Aliidan are in the northeast area, and have been there for a few minutes already. Hope that made sense.




Rie looked upon the rows of golems with a saddened expression on her face... She vaguely heard Rose saying something about broken down and tragic as a lone tear escaped her (Rie's) left eye.
"Yes... Tragic..." Rie mumbled, this place was a mystery to her, first the Levistone in the groundrock itself had spoken to her, reveling what this place was, and now these tragic golems seemed to speak to her...

"Haha, you're so silly." William smiles, giving her a pat on the head as he heads off. He could communicate with the other girls, but he left them to find him and Aliidan as Rose's artifact should be able to track them down fairly easily. Pulling Aliidan forward, he tried to look for the stairs for the third room.

Looking to the east a little, there were jail cells. Strolling over to them casually, he could see a little critter in one of the cells. It was locked to a chain. "Uu..." It sobs. It was nibbling on some bread, that seemed pretty new. Was someone looking after it?

"H-hello...? My name's William, what may you be...?" He looked at it. It was more like a demorphed panda to him. It was tiny, but extremely fluffy. Maybe it was mutated or something?



Either way, he cut the chains off the legs with a little magical power boosting as the panda swallows the bread whole and clings to William's legs. "Thank you for saving me...!!" It cries.

[Wait... Is that Riro? KAWAII!!! *Overwhelmed w/ cuteness, can't make the post*]

Ashraeh stumbled in the darkness. What's in this room? So big. The darkness seemed to go on for forever. She couldn't see a thing. Not at all.

"Oh! They're there!" Rose smiles, as her Delinera Blasphemia indicates Aliidan was extremely close by, as was William. "I missed you guys!" Rose shouts, jumping onto Aliidan and William, 'glomping' them, so to speak. The group was back together again and now much more informed on what was happening with the castle.

Someone was attempting to hijack and keep the castle for themselves. They were requested to protect it.

Aliidan, remembering that Rose had a paction, frowned as Rose glomped her and Will.
"uhm... Rose? Can I Talk to you for a minute? In Private?" without waiting for an answer Aliidan dragged Rose off towards a room a little ways off. Closing the door she turned towards Rose with a serious expression on her otherwise goofy face.
"Rose, be honest with me here. You pactiod with Will... So answer this: Do you love Will?" Aliidan asked seriously, her friendly voice not so friendly anymore.

(Hehehe! It's starting!)

Ashraeh somehow saw Aliidan drag Rose off. normally she wasn't nosy, but this was very peculiar. Using her amazing powers of being so plain no one notices her, Ashraeh tiptoed over the the room, and laid her ear on the door.

"This is so shameful!" Ashraeh thought to herself.

"Eh? O-Of course not...! We're just friends, what're you talking about?" Rose backs away slowly, she was slightly flustered. She of course, never actually thought about liking Will. She always thought of him as a childhood friend, but now... have these feelings extended themselves? No. That's not possible. "I just... don't know..." She thinks to herself, clenching her chest.

She then looks up at Aliidan. "W-wait! I'm not the only one who's made a pactio... Rie and Ashraeh did, too." She attempts to change the subject.

Aliidan eyes turned stern as she slammed her hand down hard on the door to keep Rose from escaping. "Rose! Focus with me here! This is not about them, its about us! You, Me and Will! The Two of you are my only real friends and it has hurt me deeply that you never even CONSIDERED to confide in me that you were going to pactio! Answer my question. No dodging. No changing the subject. One. Plain. Answer." Aliidan's voice was hard as she spoke, a tear falling from one scarlet eye. This was it, this would decide one very important moment in her life.

Rose jumped back at Aliidan's reaction. She didn't know what to say or do, she's never seen Aliidan like this. "I..." She begins to speak, walking over to Aliidan. "I might... I think I do... I'm sorry for not telling you... I'll only tell you since you're my best friend." She walks over to Aliidan, giving her a heart-warming hug.


"...What about you?" Rose asks, this time she wasn't changing the subject. She wanted an honest answer, too. She held her tears back, she forced herself to speak though there was a slight quiver in her voice.

Ashraeh thought to herself as well. It's true, William was her friend, but her liking him? Never! Not in a thousand years! She thought about Rose and William living together...but this only made her...something. She couldn't quite put her finger on it though...

...No. It can't be. It made her...angry. The thought of Rose and Will together, made her angry. Ashraeh wildly shook her head, as if to banish the thoughts from the back of her mind. But still they pestered, festering in her brain, growing larger and larger and larger. This time, she thought of Aliidan and William. But this made her angry as well. Next, she tried Rie. She couldn't see that happening. Lastly, Jess. For some reason, it didn't make her angry. It....infuriated her.

Ashraeh gasped loudly. Her heart twitched. No! She was...falling in love...

But with William? No! I just can't be! Her eyes grew wide with disbelief.

"You know you've been suppressing it." a voice called out.

Ashraeh whirled her head around. William, Rie, and Jess were still there, but frozen. She faced forward, and the door she had been leaning on was gone. In its stead, stood....Ashraeh...herself.

"Wh-what's going on?! Who are you?!" Ashraeh asked.

"You know what's going on. You know who I am. Hearhsa."

Ashraeh's eyes grew even wider. Not her! Not now!

"Ha ha ha~ How cute. Ashraeh has herself a boyfriend~ This is just what I need to break free." Hearhsa licked her lips maniacally.

Aliidan relaxed into Rose's hug as a few more tears escaped her eyes. The moment was over and she now knew enough. Enough to make a very important choice.
"No. Will is a Friend, perhaps even a brother... And Annoying at that. But I do not love him. Not like that. And now that I know this much I can't possibly pactio with Will. Not when knowing You actually love him. You're too much of a friend for me to do that." Aliidan said, her voice filled with sadness of a diffrent sort. With this final act, Aliidan had left the close knit group that she had shared with Rose and Will. Will and Rose would hopefully move onto something even greater, but Aliidan knew, in her heart, that she could not be a true part of that. As her tears continued to fall silently Aliidan realized that the relationship between herself and Rose had changed... How curious, it seemed like a lifetime since they had been in the clearing... That rainy day.

FLASHBACK!
So on rainy days, when training was cancelled, Aliidan would go outside anyway. It didn’t make sense to a lot of people, she hated getting sick. But when it rained, she went out and did everything that would be done on a normal day. Like it wasn’t raining. With days like this, she would get Will to come to spar with her. And Will wouldn’t deny her a chance to show his skill. So on days when it rained, Aliidan and Will would always spar, and on those days too, Rose would come and she would watch. They would spar and dance with each other in fluid and graceful movements, and Rose would sit on a stump and watch, her blue orbs sparkling and following every part of it.
On rainy days, they would do this until Aliidan and Will got tired. Until Rose got exhausted just from watching them move so quickly with attacks. And then, Rose would get up and move to wherever they were, and together they would lie on their backs, regardless of how muddy and wet the grass was. They would lie on their backs, hair spread out between them, so close their heads were touching.
They would watch the sky, and each drop that fell from it to various places of their bodies.
During this time, sometimes they were completely silent. Will would listen to Aliidan’s breathing, Aliidan would listen to Rose’s breathing, and Rose would listen to Will’s breathing. But sometimes, sometimes she could hear Aliidan’s laboured and unsteady breathing, so much unlike Will’s steady and soft breathing. It was easier to hear Aliidan’s breathing when they were silent like this. Will would agree that they even breathed differently. Will in long, breathless strokes, and Aliidan in short, ragged ones. And sometimes they both could hear Rose’s breathing. Soft, and steady. Quiet and peaceful. And when they could hear her breathing, they were able to relax all that much more.
But sometimes they weren’t silent. On those rainy days, Aliidan would talk to fill some silence because she didn’t want to hear the thunder, or acknowledge any lightening moving across the sky blindingly. Aliidan would talk, Will would throw in an absent comment here and there, and Rose would nod her head to both of them, and they spent some hours, talking about everything, yet talking about nothing at all. Sometimes they were able to sit out, watching fat drops of rain fall on each other, soak their bodies, and forget about everything else except the rain and the breathing of the other person.
They had all believed it was supposed to be this way. And if you asked Allidan, maybe even meant to be this way. Destined to be, almost.
So when Aliidan had brought up the topic one day, while they sat and listened to rain fall and cover everything, neither one of them were surprised. In all honesty, they had thought the same thought before.
“..What do you mean, Aliidan?” Rose whispered, her voice getting tiny from disuse.
“I mean, maybe there was a reason that we ended up like this, something meant to happen.” She said slowly, stretching out every word like it was a sentence by itself. Will had chuckled softly, his voice rumbling along with the echoing thunder.
“Destiny?” He whispered throatily, experiencing the same issue as Rose. Their voices were so dry…
“Yes, I mean destiny. We were paired together for a reason!” She squeaked, and then closed her eyes to let a flash of lightening strike past her eyes. She didn’t like lightening as much as she liked the rain, something that many found odd. Thunder came second on her list, the rumble reminded her much of Will’s quiet voice, silent but demanding in every other aspect.
“Other than our grades, Allidan?” Rose mumbled through wet lips, drops were coating her face, sticking to her eyelashes, so she kept them closed. She relied on her hearing to follow the conversation.
“Besides all that, there’s a bigger reason. Like, we complete each other almost.”
Will laughed at that. Aliidan made a noise.
“I’m serious! I mean, we’re like…a complete person like this. Like, the three of us make something complete, rather than relying only on ourselves. Like… a trinity or something...” Allidan had furrowed her eyebrows as she spoke, her voice trailing off a sentence. She wasn’t explaining this as good as it had shown up in her mind, and she maybe thought that she shouldn’t have brought it up, it was just a fleeting thought from her mind, as most things are. But then she felt Rose nod her head in thought, and she recognized that she was really close to them. Rose on her right and Will on her left. They were really close to each other. She wondered what their hair must look like, sticky and wet and tangled into each other.
“I understand Aliidan. You mean like the 3-part trinity saying. What was it…mind, body and soul?” Rose supplied helpfully, and then coughed after she spoke. Her throat was really bothering her so she parted her lips and allowed some of the rain to fall into her mouth and wet her drying tongue. Clear, and tasteless, the rain always was. She felt Aliidan’s head move vigorously to her suggestion.
“Yes, that’s what we are, the Trinity. We’re like this for a reason.” She said thoughtfully, her voice energizing and excited. She heard Will make a noise in the back of his throat, and more importantly felt his head shake slightly.
“Oh, is that so? So then, what parts do we all play in your Trinity?” Will mused, clearing his throat as Rose had, but keeping his voice low and soft, a softer rumble, Aliidan noted.
“Well…” Aliidan frowned.
Rose licked the moisture from her lips.
There was a silence for a while, while Aliidan thought of what to say. Rose kept her eyes closed, and tried to listen for breathing. She caught Will’s long breathiness for a moment, before Aliidan started talking again.
“Well, if I had to say, I’d think that Rose would be the mind.” She said softly, her bright voice eased, being careful on what to say from here.
“..The mind, Aliidan?” Rose hadn’t really been paying attention until now; too busy enjoying the lightness of lying out on slippery grass, the falling rain and her soaking clothes. It all felt so nice…
“Because you’re so smart.” She said flatly, as if that were a given.
Rose giggled at Aliidan’s tone.
“No, really! I think out of all of us, you’re probably the smartest out of all of us, and not just in that academic way either. You’ve got more wisdom than us, and by far the best control on emotions. And I’m pretty sure about this, but you make very good assumptions and connections between things during missions. Like, putting information together, or maybe just figuring out an effective plan. It’s all so creative and…dynamic…in a way.” She said, and then closed her eyes again, listening to the banging of God’s drums as the thunder washed over the three of them. She sighed outwardly.
Rose blinked and drew her lips in a line. Then she blinked again. She had never thought of herself that way, and if the flush across her face was any indication, she was quite flattered too.
“Wow, Aliidan. I...wouldn’t have guessed you thought that way of me…what...what do you think, Will?” She couldn’t help but push Will into this conversation. It was about all of them anyway.
“I’m happy she could use big words like ‘academic’ and ‘dynamic’.” Will murmured and turned his head to the side, allowing pellets of washed rain to hit his cheek and run down his neck.
“Aiyah! Do you agree with me or not?” Aliidan grumbled.
“Yes...”
More lightning. Aliidan closed her eyes.
“Yes, I agree.” Will sighed. Rose murmured a gracious ‘thank you’ and blushed some more, now fully attentive to the conversation.
“Well, if I get to play the mind, then Will gets to play the body.” Rose suggested, blinking more.
“Are you just saying that because you like Will’s body?” Aliidan asked and Rose vehemently shook her head.
“No! I’m serious, I mean, Will playing the body part of our Trinity.” Sakura repeated, making herself clearer, but the thought of Will’s body did make her blush again.
“I’m the body?” Will echoed out.
“Yeah, I think you can play the body, being so skilful and fluent in movement. Definitely the better one at agility than you and I, Aliidan.” Rose said, trying to crane her neck to see Aliidan's reaction. She could only see her thick eyelashes, pink, supple lips, and those deep red eyes of hers.
Aliidan thought this over. “Yeah, I guess. I guess he would fit the body part of our Trinity. But I can beat him at agility some days.”
Will snorted jokingly. “So I get to play the body then, huh?”
“Yep, you’re the body.” Rose smiled and then giggled at her own sentence.
A lengthier silence followed after that, their minds stirring with thoughts.
“Guess what that makes you, Aliidan?” Will broke the silence this time.
Aliidan thought for a moment, eyes blinking. “….the soul?”
Rose nodded. “The soul.”
Aliidan paused, and then smiled, feeling her eyes get a bit wetter than before. But that was probably just the rain in her eyes.
“I think you’re the perfect kind of energy to fuel my 'mind' and Will’s 'body'.” Rose continued.
“Energy?” Aliidan flushed. “..The soul…”
Rose nodded along with Aliidan, and then they all got silent, bodies cold, but faces warm.
They were so, so warm.
“I love you guys.” Rose blurted without thinking, only trying to cherish this moment. She could feel their might not be any more like this.
Aliidan didn’t hesitate in response. “I love you guys too.” Then she outstretched her hands and grasped Rose’s tiny fingers in one hand, and Will’s elongated fingers in the other. Neither one of them moved their hands; instead Rose’s other hand moved and cupped Will’s hand in hers, intertwining fingers with the both of them.
“Our Trinity.” She whispered.
“Our Trinity.” Aliidan repeated.
“..Our…Trinity.” Will murmured, face hot.
And that’s how they sat in the rain on that day. That day that carved into their memories and each swore to each other to never forget. Never, ever forget…

"H-how can you say that...? You're just as important to me, Aliidan... If you ever leave, I don't know what to do. I'd never forgive you..." She also had tears in her eyes, still embracing Aliidan. She wouldn't allow it, not their friendship to change. She was slightly relived that Aliidan thought Will as more of a brother than boyfriend. Just like Rose felt Aliidan was a sister.

"You, if you don't feel any affection towards him... then there's nothing wrong with it, right? If you pactio with William? N-no! You have to! Because, you're my dear friend and I want our friendship to stay the same." She grabs Aliidan's shoulders and tilts her head with a radiant smile. "Don't you remember? We vowed to... as a trinity."