Arcane Tales

*Derek smiled and gave Soul a thumbs up.*

Derek: <It's alright. You don't really need to apologize, but the thought is appreciated.>

*He tries to keep up with the others.*

OOC: Hate to tell ya, but I'm not with Alto and Creed, I'm with Kentaro and James.

*Jade waited for a response from the Cat woman*

*He takes them into the biggest shack. It's not the coziest place, with barely enough space for the entire group. There's a large circular carpet at the center, a couple bookcases and cabinets, a few candles on some of which, a small bed, a wooden table and chairs.*

Old Man: <I apologize for their aggressive behavior. Last time a human came here, he nearly killed us all in search of a way to find the Aeldi.>

Allina: <Where are we?>

Old Man: <Oh, I'm sorry, welcome to Valors*, land of the Vali. My name is Oscar.>

Allina: <...I've never heard of a land called Valors before. Do you know a cute little girl called Momo?>

Oscar: <Can't say I do. Why?>

Allina: <Last time we saw that mist, we ended up at some large canyon. We met her there.>

Oscar: <I see. I'm afraid it would be impossible for me to know every single part of Neo Mysteria.>

=====

*The cat men Oscar had sent looking for Kentaro, James and Jade arrive at the clearing they're at.*

Cat Man: <What are you doing here?>

Cat Girl: <These humans were heading towards our village!>

Cat Man: <I know, Oscar told us to get them there. Let's go, your friends are waiting.>

=====

Kelphy: <Oh, it's going to be grea-->

*The ships starts shaking and losing altitude. The table falls over, and so does the princess*

"Neo Mysteria?" Alto asks with a questioning tone.

"It is an honor to be here" Creed bows as he sits. Alto sits too.

"The girl was nice... she gave us some peaches. Hope she's doin' alright" Alto voices worry.

---

Almost before the ship began to dive Lucien was on the floor and in the fall path of Kelphy. She fell right into him allowing him to perform an almost perfect catch before he tipped back and fell on his ass though the way he did it it looked very much unintentional but probably wasn't, "That didn't sound good. Probably should go check it out..."

*Derek approached the elder and raised an eyebrow.*

Derek: <Neo Mysteria, you say? That sounds an awful lot like what one of our friends said this place was. So... why are you here?>

"Friends? Sure we can call them that."

*Jade got ready to follow the cat man to the village*

*Kari stands by the door quietly*

=====================================================

*Kentaro holsters his gun and follows the cat people.*

*He takes Jade, James and Kentaro to Oscar's shack. He smiles and proceeds. Allina turns to the three*

Allina <You're late.>

Oscar: <So, I'm not quite sure how you got here, but you need to find the key if you want to get out. You mustn't tell this to the villagers or anyone in the outside world, but you can find the key in a cave up the mountain path North of this village. If you step outside, you will see a tall blue mountain in the horizon. That's where you need to go.>

Allina: <Thanks, but that doesn't help much with the reason why we're here.>

Oscar: <That, I cannot help you with.>

=====

Kelphy: <T-Thank yo-->

*She shrieks as the ship's prow leans downward and the ship begins falling vertically, two cabinets full of silver wares, the table and the chairs flying towards the two as they're slammed into the wall by the door*

"Let's go, maybe we'll find out answer at the mountains" Alto says.

---

As they fly towards the wall Lucien's shadow noticeably distorts and dozens of shadow hands extend from it catching Kelphy as Lucien slams into the wall hard. "Ouch..."

Derek: <Let's get going then. If that key's our only way out, then it's our priority.>

*Kentaro enters the shack immediatly looking from left to right, Kari looking at the group who just entered her eyes lighting up when Kentaro enters and immediatly stands by her side.*

(I think we're the only ones annoyed by the constant seperations.)

Kentaro: (I don't care if we are, what matters is we're reunited... For twenty minutes at least.)

"Blue mountain? Well, I guess we might as well get to it then."

*Jade tightens her sheathe as she does to prepare herself*

Allina: <What the hell is Neo Mysteria, anyway?>

Oscar: <It is not my job to tell you that, though I suspect you don't need me to anyway.>

*The cat girl is waiting outside the shack*

Cat Girl: <Hey, I'm sorry for attacking you in the woods. I could never have guessed you were Oscar's friends, and our last human visitor wasn't very friendly.>

Allina: <Wait, so that's why they got all aggressive?>

Oscar: <It isn't important now. Go and find the key. I can garantee you it won't be easy.>

Allina: <You're not a very helpful little guy, are you?>

*It doesn't take them long to get to the mountain. A long stone stairway spirals around it towards the top. If they look North of where they are, the forest beyond the mountain ends abruptly in a neverending wall of thick white mist*

Allina: <So... Are we gonna have to fight another dragon? I'm seriously getting sick of having to fight those poor monsters. Besides, I'm not very fond of lizards.>

=====

*The furniture crashes into him, knocking him unconscious. Waking up he is lying in his bed in the ship, a few superficial cuts on several parts of his body. The princess is sitting by his side on a wooden stool*

Kelphy: <Oh, hello.>

*Derek laughs a bit at Allina's remark and looks up the staircase.*

Derek: <Let's keep pressing on.>

Alto and Creed both whistle at the sight of the mountains, "Impressive" the both say.

---

Lucien stirs and shakes his head to clear the cobwebs, "Uggggh, that was an experience I do not wish to repeat... ever" he looks at Kelphy. "Are you entertaining romantic feelings because I saved you? Because I did it to save my own ass down the road" he sticks his tongue out at her. It's hard to tell if he's being honest or playfully ribbing her.

Kentaro:<I'd hope not. Especially with that staircase being right there.>

*Kentaro walks up the stairs, Kari following.*

"What are you worried about Soul? Even if we did you could just cling to His Royalness who's been charming you and... you know what... I really don't want to devote my brain power to this one" Creed snarks.

*The staircase ends in the entrance to a cave. This one much less creepy than the one they had just come out of, with a strange blue aura emanating from the walls and illuminating the tunnel. They hear a distant beautiful female voice singing a song that echoes throughout the entire cave, almost like background music*

Allina: <Yay, Momo was singing when we found her at the plantation!>

*She runs off ahead of the group*

=====

Kelphy: <You're a funny one.>

*She chuckles and walks to the door, pushing it opened*

Kelphy: <Something happened to the engine, the pilot had to make an emergency landing. And we can't seem to be able to spot the other airships, I think they lost us when we fell down through that cloud area back there. My father is outside talking to the pilot.>

*She walks out*

"Hey don't run ahead!" Alto chases after her.

---

"Of course" Lucien gets up and follows.

*Kentaro enters the cave, a hand on his gun and Kari walking beside him.*

Derek: <Miss Allina! Please wait!>

*He takes off after her.>