Azuri

[Eclectric]

"Now, now. The wind can be playful at times. Seeings someone exposed is bound to occur on any long journey, for one reason or another. No need to be hypocritical." Mevan scrolled his eyes over the cave walls, mapping its dimensions and all of its cracks mentally, and examining the waterfall and pool. He paid serious attention to the air pressure and drafts in their respective locations. "The white water in the waterfall and the draft of air indicate that the water's flowing from a spacious upper area, either outdoors or within the cave. Most likely the waterfall comes from outside and is connected to the ocean, due to the presence of a seal. This would also explain the salt deposits in this cavern.
"There is also a lower cavern into which the water flows. The erosion of the rocks indicate that there was initially a thin stream in here, eroding the rock, and at some point the water flow increased, creating this lake. Since the depth of the lake remains constant, the rate of water loss must equal the rate of water gain, and so there must be a hole somewhere in the lake large enough for someone to swim though. This is what I've gathered." Meven inspected for another minute, checking for anything he may have missed, and then he relied on his keen sense of hearing to try to hear the water flow. "Sounds like it's a high fall from the hole... 50 to 70 feet. That's lethal."

[BionicleMandi121]

Wodahny snorted, still not looking at Mevan. "Right," she muttered loud enough to be heard. "The wind was being playful. Playful enough to twist clothing in a manner it wouldn't normally, when there previously hadn't been strong enough of a breeze to even ruffle my cloak. Right. That's obviously what it was doing." She shook her head in disbelief.

Kauka was staring after Evrona, totally startled. "What happened to her?" she asked Iah. The angel shrugged.

"Someone was being..." He paused. "...Disagreeable. She took offense." He removed a hand from a sleeve and waved a finger. The air cocoon collapsed in on itself and vanished. He didn't seem particularly bothered that Evrona had completely disregarded his protections, or that she had simply walked out from it even when it normally impermeable to anything within or outside it. Kauka blinked, shrugged, then glanced at Mevan reproachfully.

"He's not a seal," was all she said. As if to underscore her statement, a pale-skinned human-looking youth climbed out of the deep end of the pool, pushing his long white hair behind him. The instant he was out of the water, his hair, skin, and clothing were completely dry. He stared at the other occupants of the cave for a while, then sat down and proceeded to ignore everyone. Wodahny couldn't help but gape.

"Where did he come from?" she wondered dumbly.

"I did just say he wasn't a seal," repeated Kauka, giggling again.

[Doodleshark]

Martris blinked. So far the two new arrivals had been completely and utterly ignored by most of the cave's occupants even after making themselves visible. Martris wasn't sure whether to be relieved or annoyed by this. He turned to Gilantias. "Right then. Since everyone else here appears to be either extraordinarily thick or an arsehole, would you mind telling us exactly who you lot are?"

[Saber Knight]

"Yeah, yeah; I'm okay- I'm fine. I'm Izumi, and I'm guessing you lot are after the same thing that we are."

"After the same thing..." Gilantias trailed off, and looked over to where Evrona exited. "Aherm. Well... To be honest, I think she was the only one who knew what we were looking for..." He quickly turned to Mevan. "The wind might be playful at times, but that was still entirely uncalled for. She was the ONLY ONE here who knew what the heck was going on. Now, we're stuck, unless someone thinks that following an enraged EarthCrafter is a brilliant idea and wants to volunteer themselves."

Meanwhile, Arielli was looking over to the pool, and she saw the strange-looking newcomer climb from the pool. Her eyes widened in surprise. Where did he come from? she thought to herself.

--

Evrona trudged through the torch lit hallway, stamping her feet as she did so. She didn't need any of them. "Stupid angels, why did I bother bringing them in the first..." Evrona trailed off as she came to a large stone that blocked her path. On the stone were ornate carvings. "place..."

--

Back in the large room, Gilantias was explaining to the newcomers how they had been following Evrona, and how he wasn't sure entirely why, but she seemed to be determined, and it seemed to be important.

Suddenly, an angry, and very loud curse, echoed through the cavern. Gil, though shocked for a moment, immediatly recognized the voice as Evrona's. "And what has happened now..." he muttered to himself with a shake of his head.

((And becuase I feel like it, here's a wicked hastily drawn comic! Please don't base my art skills off this, I beg of you :P But my handwriting... feel free to base that off this. And let me know if you can't read it :P))

[Doodleshark]

"This should be good!" Izumi said enthusiastically as she jogged down the hallway the cursing had come from, with Martris close behind. After a few seconds they arrived at the wall. "Ooh, mysterious ornate carvings. Hey Tris, these make any sense to you?"

((Are the carvings magical in nature? Because if they are then my mage character should be able to read them, yeah?))

[Siranae]

Mano'kai gave Mevan a tired look, one eyebrow raised in question. Hypocritical...Yeah. To act in opposition of a previously stated belief. Critical. To make negative judgements.
She then proceeded to look at the boy who apparently had been the seal, adopting a calm expression. She then tilted her head slightly to the right, then soon brought it back, not taking her eyes off of the boy.

[BionicleMandi121]

"Wonderful, Evrona's gone all-" Wodahny never finished her sentence because she had finally spotted Izumi and Martris, just as they left the cavern. "What the- Where did they come from?" she exclaimed. "And what's with these people popping out of absolutely nowhere?!"

"But you've seen Akaku before, just a few minutes ago," protested Kauka. "Except you called him a seal."

"Well he obviously isn't one-"

"Which is what I was trying to say." The mermaid flicked her tail. As the ripples spread away from her, distorting the image of her lower body, she somehow split her tail down the middle, converting them back into legs. She got to her feet, drying out her skirt. Then she chased after the Di'zai and elf. "Wait for me!" she called after them. "I'm sorry I didn't notice you beforehand! I'm Kauka, a mermaid!" She vanished from sight.

Wodahny shook her head. "And off she goes again." She glanced at Iah. "Did you notice those two?"

"Yes," he said simply. Without another word, he followed Kauka. Akaku continued to ignore everyone, giving no sign that he had noticed Mano'kai examining him.

"Social, ain't he," muttered Wodahny to no one. At that moment, Kauka came running back into the cavern.

"Akaku, don't be so shy, come meet everyone!" She ran up to the pale-skinned boy, grabbed his arm, pulled him up, and dragged him down the hallway to where Evrona was. Akaku, his face still entirely expressionless, made no move of resistance. Wodahny facepalmed, thinking I don't think shyness is his problem, then looked at Gilantias.

"Want to, uh, join the party?" she asked sarcastically.

[Saber Knight]

Evrona was still muttering under her breath by the time Izumi and Tris arrived. Her eyes flashed for a moment as she saw Tris. "You," she said, eyeing his staff, "You are a magic-user, correct?" Evrona didn't wait for a response before she continued. "See those runes? The door is magically locked. I'm sure you're not so ignorant as to not be able to read them (and do not assume I am ignorant, for that matter), considering you're a magic user." She allowed a pause to let her words sink in. "I can't cast any magic, though. That's where you come in. Open it!" demanded Evrona.

--

Gilantias sighed and shook his head. "I have a bad feeling..." he muttered to himself and Wodahny, laying a hand on the hilt of his sword. "I'm going to go follow them," he said breifly, "but I want you to stay here, Arielli. We haven't seen anything of danger in this room... it seems protected, and, by Evrona's shouts, what's ahead doesn't seem too promising..." To his surprise, Arielli nodded.

"Y-yes... E-Evrona scares me..." she said softly, causing Gil to smile slightly. With a nod, he flew off.

Shivering, Elli looked around. Muttering under her breath, she created another small ball of light to comfort her. Nervously, she walked over to Mano'kai. "U-uhm... hello. Will you... will you stay with me?"

--

Not soon after she demanded Martris to open the door, she heard more footsteps. She muttered and cursed as more people joined them. "Do I need a more clear way to say I DON'T WANT YOU AROUND?!" she shouted to no one in particular. "If you can't use magic then I've got NO USE FOR YOU!"

Hearing the rush of wings, Evrona turned to see Gilantias landing nearby. "For once, I'm glad to see you," she told the angel. After she had explained about the door, she ordered him to open it in a manner similar to the way she ordered Martris.

Gilantias glanced over to Martris. "Well, mind helping me out? I'm not the most proficient at magic, but the spell requires more than one mage... probably for protection..." Exactly why whatever was on the other side of the door needed protection eluded Gilantias and made him both terrified and excited.

((For the record, the runes are angellic runes. Elves can read them because they have the same langauge (albeit a slightly different dialect and a few of the characters are slightly different due to lots of years passing and such) since they are descended from angels. Light spells and many neutral spells are commonly written in angellic, and mages all know how to read it, at least minorly, though angels are all schooled in it, and elves should be able to read it fine. Evrona's picked it up over time, as mentioned earlier on in the RP.

As for the language everyone's been speaking... we're gonna go with the good ol' "everyone know Common so we can all talk yaaaaaay!"))

[Siranae]

After watching the boy who had been a seal, the mermaid, and her friend leave the cavern to follow Evrona, Mano'kai submerged herself in the water again and sat there for a little bit, then reamerged. It felt nice to be in water again.

She noticed that the shy angel, Arielli, had come near her. "U-uhm... hello. Will you... will you stay with me?" She asked.

Mano'kai looked over at her. Sure. She said. She then picked up her bag, which she had left at the side of the pool, and pulled out an apple. She took a bite out of it, and chewed very slowly before swallowing. Then, she went back into her bag and pulled out another apple, and held it up to Arielli.

[BionicleMandi121]

(This place needs life.)

Wodahny glanced at Elli and Mano'kai, debated silently with herself for a few moments, then decided to stay put. Apparently whatever Evrona was dealing with required magic, none of which she had, and she'd rather not annoy the party leader any more than necessary.

Iah was ignoring Evrona's outburst regarding unwanted company, instead gazing intently at the carvings beyond her. "Can you read it?" Kauka asked him. He nodded, but made no other response. "Awesome." The mermaid beamed, then put her hand into the air and waved it at Evrona. "Um, excuse me, Miss Evrona, I can use magic too," she called, a little apprehensively. "A little bit."

Iah spared a half-second's glance at Akaku. He was still standing next to Kauka, one of his arms still in her grasp, and not looking particularly bored or interested by what was occurring around him. He was more or less motionless, but a slight flicker of his eyes betrayed that he had noticed the angel looking at him. Iah returned his attention to Evrona. "I, too, have some limited magic," he admitted. "However, it is not strong, and I do not know if it will be of any help. If you wish it, I could still try."

[Eclectric]

.

[Saber Knight]

((HI SORRY GUYS! I PROMISE THIS POST WILL BE WORTH THE WAIT IT'S RIDICULOUSLY LONG WHICH IS WHY I NEVER GOT TO IT EARLIER IT KIND OF HAS TO BE THOUGH 'COS AHHHHH I'M SO EXCITED FOR THIS POST!

I'm just gonna control Martris a little bit which I'm pretty sure Doodle said was okay and I hope Madi won't mind me using Iah for like a second because he volunteered to help anyways~ ))

Martris nodded, and turned toward the door. Gilantias and Iah followed suit. "Alright... let's get started..." Gilantias muttered under his breath. Elli would probably be more use here, her magic is much stronger than mine... but, whatever is behind that door... I fear it's dangerous, and I can't let Elli be close to it.

Gilantias paused, took a breath, and then began reading the runes. Iah and Martris joined in soon after, all three focusing immensely. The runes began to either glow golden or a bright red, some alternating back and forth between the two colours. Meanwhile, Evrona stood nearby, looking anxious and impatient.

Suddenly, the door glowed brightly, and Evrona emitted a gasp of pain as her hand flew to her eyes. Once the light had subsided, her hand remained there, and she emitted a string of curses under her breath.

The runes had vanished from the stone, but the stone was still there. Gilintias blinked in surprise. Had they failed? His unspoken question was answered a moment later when the giant stone rolled away to the side, revealing a large open space(though not as large as the one they had previously been in). Filled with a sense of awe and wonder, Gilantias stepped into the room.

He was surprised to see that, at the top of the room (for it most certainly was a room and not just another part of the cave--it was too elaborate to be naturally occurring) there was an opening that allowed sunlight in. The sunlight struck the center of the room, where was a structure that appeared to be some sort of altar at the top of a large stone staircase. At the center of the altar, there was a large stone, circular dais. There were four pillars around the dais. Each had an engraving on it along with a picture: Fire, Water, Earth and Air. Once again, he was surprised to see that there were lit torches in the room, as well as water trickling down from the elevated altar. Along the sides of the wall were carvings. They appeared to be runes of some sort, but they were not angelic, and Gilantias had never seen them in his life, even during all of his studies.

"What is this place?" he wondered out loud. He turned around to see Evrona still covering her eyes, standing where she had been earlier. "Are you alright?" he questioned after a pause. She made no verbal response, but instead, still holding her hand to her eyes, dashed past Gilantias. Confused, he watched as she bolted up the stairs with remarkable speed, especially considering she was still shielding her eyes.

Gilantias debated on following her, but from what he knew of Evrona, he feared she would just chuck a rock at him, so he stayed put and decided to wait and see what happened.

"Finally!" she shouted when she reached the top, removing her hand from her eyes and still facing away from the entrance to the room. "I have searched for so long!" She began to laugh, almost hysterically so.


"Fire, Water, Earth, Air... the four elements that created the world. The four gods that created the world. The four powers given to the original creations of the gods: the Balanced." She paused to laugh again, and Gilantias was genuinely worrying for her sanity. She reached into her bag and drew out a small orb no bigger than her fist. It glowed with a purple light as she placed it on the center of the dais.

"The four elements have created one world, and together the four elements are one. The four elements came from one. The four elemental gods have not always existed. Oh no. There was a power long before them. A power that created them:

"Aether.

"The absurd, the fantastic... beyond the scope of our four-elemental realm. Oh, but it's there. Aether was the one who gave birth to the gods of Fire, Earth, Water and Air. After this, Aether seemed to fade from our world... but that is not so. We can still see it's mighty essence in the stars. Pure energy. Unexplainable by us creatures of four elements... but certainly obtainable if one goes to the extents..." Gilantias couldn't believe what he was hearing. She was surely mad. Her laughter certainly caused her to seem so, at least.

"Not just anyone can have Aether," she explained, "Oh no... Aether created the four elements, each with equal power... so it stands to rights that only one with the elements in perfect balance in them could hope to have a connection to Aether. If a Balanced, the creatures the spirits dare not touch for the presence of the gods within them is so strong, were able to figure out the puzzle, to learn of the mystery of Aether... then they could learn to Craft it as they already have the other four elements.

"Few of the Balanced knew of the power they could have... Others figured it out, though. Not many, but enough to spread nasty rumors about the Balanced so that the people would fear them. So that the people would kill them and chase them when they had, in truth, done nothing wrong. The Balanced were forced into hiding... some others tried to disguise themselves and integrate themselves into society. Their odd-colored hair was easily dyed, but it was rather difficult with their trademark sold-colored eyes. Spells do have their uses, though..." Another burst of dark laugher echoed throughout the chamber.

"I have waited so long! FINALLY! It is time for four to become five!"

With this shout, she stomped the ground, causing a rock to fly up in the air. A raise of her arms caused the torches to burn with an infernal brightness. Pillars of flame shot up and spiraled in the air. Gil's eye's widened in shock. Impossible, he thought. His disbelief grew as another movement caused a jet of water to shoot into the sky and spiral overhead along with the stone and fire. A powerful wind began to stir up, tossing Evrona's hair around. The four elements merged in the sky, and the four pillars began to glow. With one final motion, Evrona sent the mixture shooting downward at the orb she had set on the dais.

There was a great burst of indescribable energy. It was not light, nor any sort of magic Gilantias had ever felt before. He turned back from the shockwave, stumbling in its wake. When he looked up again, Evrona was staring down at them from the top of the dais. Though the wind had ceased, her hair, which Gilantias now saw was a deep green, was now flying out around her. Most striking, however, were her eyes: They had turned a complete, solid green. A strange presence crackled around her.

Her laughter had decayed into a dark echo. "Finally!" she repeated. "The power that we were born to obtain! The power that caused us to be persecuted and destroyed... THE POWER THAT WILL ALLOW ME TO HAVE REVENGE FOR THE SLAUGHTER OF MY PEOPLE!"

For the first time since they had opened the door, Evrona seemed to acknowledge that there were other people present. "I really ought to thank you. That little journal you had was the final key into locating this altar. After over a hundred years of searching... FINALLY!" She raised her hands, and a bolt of ethereal energy flew from her palm, striking the wall and causing rocks to tumble to the ground. "IT'S FINALLY MINE!"

((SO THAT WAS REALLY LONG BUT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT KIND OF FOREVER! I don't think the Balanced reveal was too surprising... I'm kind of bad at hiding things like that... BUT I AT LEAST HOPE THE AETHER AND THE KIND OF AWESOME (It's awesome in my mind) MONOLOGE WAS STILL A SURPRISE!

Okay PLEASE SAY YOU LIKED IT because I've been waiting FOREVER and it was a REALLY LONG POST and I've been waiting to make Evrona into this FOREVER and I tried to make her speach cool but I'm not sure how well I diiiiiid))

[Eclectric]

(Great. ^^)
"Not so fast, Evrona." Gareth walked in through the same entrance, his poleaxe and bastard sword replaced with a single zweihander (a type of two-handed sword) which he rested on his right shoulder as he walked in. He'd apparently been waiting outside the cave until he heard the commotion inside. "Go ahead, seek revenge on everything un-akin to you. Although their actions towards your race may not be entirely justified, it's true that no individual should have too much power! I've been where you are, I've sought to kill every demon in existence. The world may be a better place without them, but it sure didn't honor the memory of the ones I was trying to avenge, and it didn't make me feel any better! It just made me live with the pain longer, without ever being able to let it go." Gareth effortlessly pointed his large sword at Evrona, standing tall. "Your revenge is nothing more than your fantasy, because you're never leaving this room. If you want to hasten your end, attack me." Gareth addressed Gilantias without actually looking at him, keeping his attention focused on Evrona. "Get Kauka and others out of here, Gilantias. Once you're all safe, I want you to seal this cave with your magic, seal it so that nothing may enter or exit this cave until the end of the world. I'll hold her off long enough for you to do this."

[BionicleMandi121]

(That was totally awesome, SK. I felt like I was reading a novel and I just got to a major plot twist. Which I suppose this is, but in a RP.)

"What's going on?" Wodahny's irritated voice echoed slightly down the newly opened passageway. "What happened? I heard a-" The mercenary turned the corner and stopped dead as she caught sight of Evrona, the color draining rapidly from her face. She swallowed hard. "Oh holy gods of earth," she whispered, "that's what we've been following for a week?"

"What?" Kauka looked anxiously around at everyone, confused. "What're you talking about? Why does Miss Evrona have green hair? And what was that light from earlier? It destroyed part of that wall! That could be dangerous!" Wodahny merely closed her eyes rather than replying, not anywhere near a mood to deal with the clueless mermaid.

Iah pulled his wings in tight, pressing the feathers against his back until they didn't so much as quiver when he called the wind from the previous cavern to him. "As I thought, a Balanced," was all he said before he began weaving a protective shield around himself and those nearest him, despite knowing it was a completely futile attempt. At that, Akaku displayed his first overt expression of attention to the people around him; he looked up at Evrona.

Kauka was startled by her "friend's" unusual behavior. "What is it? Akaku, what's wrong?" Instead of answering her, the Selkie-boy reached for the bag slung across his body, bringing it from behind him to his side. In a rare show of clairvoyance, Kauka protested, "No, don't fight Miss Evrona! She's a friend!"

Akaku didn't change his expression, nor did he take his eyes from the dais. Then he spoke. "Not unless she attacks first."

His quiet, unconcerned voice snapped Wodahny from her shock. She opened her eyes again, blinked at him, looked around at Iah (who was absorbed in his weaving) and Kauka (who was unsurprisingly distressed), then fixed her gaze on Gareth. She strode over to his side, sliding her own sword from its sheath. "Well look who's come back," she scowled, her eyebrows beetling together in a frown. "I don't know what kind of leaf you've been smoking this past week, but regardless of how good you think you are with that sword, it's not gonna be enough to stop her." She jerked her head in Evrona's direction, her own green eyes meeting the Balanced's.

Kauka only now seemed to realize what Gareth had said. "I'm not leaving!" she cried. "That would mean leaving you behind...and Miss Evrona too!"

"She never gets it..." Wodahny mumbled.

Iah ceased his Aircrafting once there was a solid, half-circle-shaped wall between Evrona and everyone else. He kept one hand on it to attempt keeping it from being blasted apart by whatever Evrona tried doing to it. The angel waited until Wodahny had fallen silent once more, then addressed the wild-haired Balanced before them. "You speak of revenge, but what is it that you plan to do? Scour all offending races from the earth? Sear them from the skies and flush them from the oceans? What is it that you would accomplish? Merely a desolate world with no other living being." He took a breath. "Is that what you wish for? What would you do, once your retribution has been dealt?"

"Stop that," Wodahny hissed at him. "You sound like you're encouraging her."

(This got rather long, too...)

[Eclectric]

"You're correct, miss Kauka. You may not want to, but you must leave and live on, and never feel guilty about this. Even if you weren't here right now, this would be happening all the same." Gareth's body stiffened and unstiffened as he barely gestured at Wodahny, being careful not to concede even a moment's vulnerability. "Whether I defeat her is of no consequence. I'll hold her back long enough for you to seal the cave. Go, go now. Every second you waste dawdling is a second more she has time to break out. Only if you leave now is success likely. None of you can stay; all your power will be needed to strengthen the barrier and grant it longevity."
They all have lives to live. This is my duty, to stand between evil and the innocent. I doubt she'd kill everyone in Azuri; she'd be brought down eventually, but not before hundreds and thousands are slain. Not for one moment would I place my life above those many many lives. Can I kill her... maybe. Can I hold her off... yes.
It couldn't be seen, but emotional energy swirled about Gareth as he strengthened his steadfast commitment. The edge of his sword glistened as though to express its eagerness to experience his swordsman spirit.