*Tyson grunted with widening eyes and instinctively attempted to whack the butterfly away from his face, causing an invisible swirl of wind to explode the butterfly and to graze a layer of skin off his face.*

  Tyson: "Argh!" *He purposely kept his arms away from him and looked down in pain, noticing another butterfly flapping around his ankles.* (They got inside my Florian Driver? That's impossible! It's meant to be impenetrable!)

  Luna: (Eat this, cocknugget!) *She shouted in thought and flapped her wings, shooting a small stream of lightning into Tyson's leg, causing him to uncontrollably twitch.*

  Tyson: *Saw-like noises could be heard, as each part of his body came into contact with the wind shield, ripping off skin and leather.* "Enough!"

  *Tyson spread his arms and a violent wave of wind blew both the butterflies and the surrounding bark away.*

  Luna: (Now, dipshit!)

  Karol: (Nafan!)

  Nathan: *He flashstepped directly in front of Tyson, tightening his grip on the swords.* "Ougi."

  Tyson: *He looked down and watched Nathan bend at the knees.* (He purposely kept his distance and waited for me to release my Florian Driver?! No! He couldn't have planned that far ahead-)

  Nathan: "Taste the fang of my blade, Infinity Haze." *His sword and arms blurred out of vision.*

  Tyson: *Strips of leather flicked up around him.* (I can't see his swords! Are they invisible?!) "No matter, get back! FLURRY STYX"

  *Tyson raised his arm and watched a ball of wind condensed around his palm, cueing him to throw it in Nathan's face.*

  Tyson: "Die!-" *He shouted and paused, as his fingers flicked up in the air with his leather.*

  Nathan: *He started to sweat and took very small steps towards Tyson.* (It's hard to even think to myself!)

  Tyson: *He watched his hand slice off, followed by his forearm and shoulder.* "W-What?!" *He shouted in terror and raised his other arm, noticing it explode into a pulp of mincemeat.*

  *Two butterflies flapped out of streams of blood from behind Nathan, as if they were watching.*

  Karol: (What's happening?) *His thoughts sounded exhausted.*

  Nathan: *He listened to stretching sounds come from his shoulders.* (By finally knowing the name to my Ougi, I've come to the realisation of how it works.)

  Tyson: "No!" *He whispered on his breath and watched his two legs sway up from under his feet, before his vision turned into a spiral, as his head sliced off his neck.*

  Nathan: "Argh!" *He shouted at the top of his voice and turned around, as his arms blurred back into vision.*

  Luna: *She watched Tyson's body collapse into tiny evenly sliced pieces.* (Holy fuck!)

  Nathan: *He dropped the swords, as if his hands couldn't hold onto anything and dropped to his knees.* "I can't-"

  *Nathan coughed and shouted, causing the two butterflies to explode into a pulse of blood.*

  Nathan: "Hah.. Hah... Harh.." *He looked up and noticed Karol and Luna's bodies, lying in two pools of fading blood.* "Luna? Karol?"

  *Nathan took deep breaths and looked over his shoulder and watched white orbs float up into the air from a pile of cut up flesh.*

  Nathan: (I did it?) *He focused back in front, staring at Luna and Karol's motionless bodies.* "Guys?!"

  *Nathan coughed and awkwardly stood up without using his arms, noticing the blood-made swords he used were no longer there.*

  Nathan: (Right now, we're defenceless-)

  *Ruffling noises came from a nearby branch, alerting Nathan to stand in a battle-ready pose.*

  Nathan: *He faced the branch and attempted to appear intimidating.* "In the name of The Rostical Guild-"

  ?????: "What about it? Hehe." *A woman ran out of the bushes, causing relief to flood Nathan.*

  Nathan: "Rach!"

  Rachael: "Are you okay?" *She looked past Nathan and noticed Karol and Luna.* "Luna! Karol!"

  Nathan: "We just defeated a Black Brigade member!"

  Rachael: "You did?" *She whispered to herself, as if she wanted to tell him about Synthoss.*

  Nathan: "What took you so long? Where's Lezard and the champion? I think they need to be healed."

  Rachael: "We did as well!"

  Nathan: "Need healing?"

  Rachael: "No." *She paused.* "Well yes. But I mean, we battled another member, too."

  Nathan: *He looked surprised.* (That explains why neither of us got any help.)

  Rachael: "I'm going to head inside the tree and get this item." *She formed a fist, revealing her torn up leather gloves.*

  Nathan: "I'm coming."

  Rachael: "Really?" *She sounded unimpressed and purposely glanced at Luna and Karol.*

  Nathan: *He paused with realisation.* "Oh-" *He mumbled in understanding and disappointment.* "I'll see you outside-"

  Luna: "Pssht." *She grunted while keeping her eyes closed and smirked.* "Go ahead, aye."

  Nathan: "Are you okay?"

  Rachael: "Luna, Karol." *She started to walk towards them.*

  Luna: "I dunno wat the hell happened, but trust me-." *She reached over and hit Karol on the shoulder.* "The kid's fine, aye."

  Nathan: "I should stay with her-"

  Luna: "I don't want to be babied. Go."

  Rachael: "What if another Black Brigade comes while we're gone?"

  Luna: "Then we'll be fucked." *She spoke as if Rachael was an idiot while listening to the leaves rustle.* "Wat if they're waitin' for you inside the tree, or wherever you gotta go."

  Rachael: *She smiled.* "Keep him company."

  Luna: "Wateva."

  Rachael: "Let's go, Nathan."

  Nathan: *He nodded his head.* "We'll be back shortly."

  Luna: "Wateva."

  Rachael: *She looked at Nathan and readied to leave.* "Where do we go?"

  Nathan: "We were walking up here." *He stepped forward and started to lead the way, slightly dragging his feet.*

  Rachael: "Who did you fight?"

  Nathan: "The larger guy." *He stopped at the tree and watched branches suddenly spiral down, forming into another path towards an upper level.*

  Rachael: *She noticed deep cuts on the ground and in the general vicinity.* "I'm really glad the three of you are okay."

  Nathan: "Lezard and the champion?"

  Rachael: "Lezard used all his energy to help the champion and I defeat her."

  Nathan: "Talk about bad timing-" *He leant forward, as he walked up the newly formed path.*

  Rachael: "There was Tyson, Synthoss, Quintess, Blake, Zazark and Tara."

  Nathan: *He looked at Rachael, surprised and confused.* "That's their names?"

  Rachael: *She nodded her head.* "Yeah."

  Nathan: "Why?"

  Rachael: "Respect. Ash told me this."

  Nathan: "So, who's left?"

  Rachael: "Their leader Blake, Tara and Quintess."

  Nathan: "From what I've seen, the one that gives Blake a hard time looks the most dangerous."

  Rachael: "Tara."

  Nathan: *He noticed the pathway up ahead stops at the tree.* "Look at that, Rachael."

  Rachael: "To be honest, I was thinking we would obtain the Fiftydeduction up on a branch."

  Nathan: *He stopped at the tree and watched the sunlight dance around them, as it shone through the swaying branches above.* "On a branch?"

  Rachael: "Well, to quote Madora, the Fiftydeduction are the seeds from The Crescent Tree, deducted and materialised from excess Neurons." *She stood next to Nathan and stared at the tree.* "This would imply that they are stored on the branches."

  Nathan: "How would that imply anything?"

  Rachael: "The keyword is seeds." *She took several steps closer to the tree and reached out.* "Seeds are usually found in flowers or bulbs that hang off branches-"

  Nathan: "Yeah?"

  Rachael: "But I don't see any, do you?"

  Nathan: *He looked up and around, trying to find anything on the branches.* "Well-"

  Rachael: "But seeds are also found in fruit." *She reached forward to a certain point and watched the bark respond to her hand, opening itself up like elastic rubber.* "But the way they said in the tree. I put two and two together."

  Nathan: *He noticed an eerie, pulsating green light come from the poorly lit entrance.* (I'm not sure if me and Luna would've found this out.)

  Rachael: *She took a deep breath and bravely stepped forward.* "Let's go, Nath."

  Nathan: *He listened to Rachael's muffled and echoed words.* (It's echoing? How big would it be inside-)

  Rachael: "Nathan!"

  Nathan: *He ran into the tree and the entranced closed behind him, causing initial darkness to fill the area.* "Rachael?"

  Rachael: "Keep walking forward, your eyes will adjust in a sec."

  Nathan: *He continuously blinked and noticed Rachael leaning over a balcony-like mound of wood.* "What is it?"

  Rachael: *She looked down in amazement.* "We're like, on top of a building. It's the only explanation I can give."

  Nathan: *He stopped next to Rachael and looked down, staring at a pool of glowing green.* "Mist?"

  Rachael: "This reminds me of the time it was Twortz, Lezard and I."

  Nathan: "What happened?"

  Rachael: *She observed the area and noticed circular walkways along the walls and looked confused.* (How strange? They don't lead downwards-) *She looked up.* (Or upwards-)

  Nathan: "Rachael?"

  Rachael: "Oh.. We were teleported underground. It was when we first got transported to this world."

  Nathan: "Can I ask you a question?"

  Rachael: *She started to walk down the fixed pathway, noticing the walls glow green.* "Shoot."

  Nathan: "Why have you stopped looking for a way back to Earth?"

  Rachael: *She smiled.* "You said it correctly."

  Nathan: "Huh?" *He quickly grabbed his shoulder, as if he was still in pain.*

  Rachael: "I wanted to see Ash, but, my priorities focus on this creature that's causing havoc to this world." *She stopped and noticed a board of ten different coloured crystals, underneath a detailed, colourless glyph.*

  Nathan: *He noticed the end of the pathway, causing him to look to the other side.* (That's a dead-end too.) "Great, now what?"

  Rachael: "Champion-" *She quickly looked over to Nathan who readied to inspect the area.* "This is one of her glyphs."

  Nathan: "What is?" *He turned back around and looked over Rachael's shoulder, noticing the glyph.* "It just looks like a Rostical glyph to me."

  Rachael: "I don't know where I've seen it before."

  Nathan: *He closely inspected the glyph and gasped in realisation.* "That's the Black Brigade-" *He paused in mid-sentence.*

  Rachael: *She looked down, staring at the crystals.* "Do these mean anything?"

  Nathan: "Well, his glyph was green."

  Rachael: "What the heck." *She shrugged her shoulders with a carefree attitude and touched the green crystal, causing a green sphere to suddenly engulf her and Nathan.*

  Nathan: (What?)

  *The sphere suddenly condensed into a ball-sized object and swirled off the pathway, moving towards another layer below.*

  Rachael: *She stepped out of the expanding green sphere and shook her head.* "Huh?" *She looked up.* "We're several layers down."

  Nathan: "Great, puzzles." *He sighed with his deep voice.*

  Rachael: "Hehe. You're starting to sound like Luna a little."

  Nathan: *He looked away with blushing cheeks.* "Let's keep moving forward."

  Rachael: *She discreetly smiled at Nathan and walked by his side, listening to their hollow footsteps.* "It makes you wonder why they just didn't build stairs."

  Nathan: "Who's sounding like Luna now, haha."

  Rachael: "Hehe."

  Nathan: *He stared at the green walls.* "I get a weird vibe from in here."

  Rachael: "To be honest, I still feel a little different from my fight with Synthoss."

  Nathan: "Yeah, I'm in a little bit of pain myself." *He rolled his shoulder.*

  Rachael: *She smiled to herself, catching Nathan's attention.* "..."

  Nathan: "What's up?"

  Rachael: *She walked towards the end of another pathway.* "It's Ash. I don't know how to explain it, but I think he's here."

  Nathan: "Your Ash? As in Ashton."

  Rachael: "Yeah, that's the one. Hehe."

  Nathan: *He stopped and noticed another symbol, followed by the same ten coloured crystals.* "Waves?"

  Rachael: "Umm, looks like water to me."

  Nathan: "Blue?"

  Rachael: *She nodded her head while shrugging her shoulders.* "I guess."

  Nathan: *He touched the crystal and suddenly another green sphere engulfed them and shrunk while it took them to another level below.* "Ah-" *He tumbled forward.*

  Rachael: "Are you alright?"

  Nathan: "Yeah. I'm still just a little hurt from my fight."

  Rachael: *She nodded her head in understanding.* "These levels are designed the same."

  Nathan: "Let's go to the next one. These are easy."

  Rachael: *She noticed green glow off the edge of Nathan's pupils.* "Sure."

  Nathan: "Tell me more about Ashton."

  Rachael: "You asking or demanding?"

  Nathan: "Sorry."

  Rachael: "Hehe." *She chuckled, as if she was joking.* "He's always been there for me."

  ----------

  *Muffin, Jester and Madora stood outside the village and gathered around Lezard and the champion, listening to the wind howl in the distance.*

  Madora: "All this happened just outside the village?" *She glanced to the side, noticing the dead looking area.* "This was such a beautiful meadow."

  Jester: "With our Elemental Splicing, we can fix this easily."

  Madora: "It seems the guild has split in two."

  Muffin: "Hopefully they have a deliciously safe journey."

  Madora: "Focus all the healing items on Lezard. Once he's restored in Neurons, he can heal the rest."

 

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