Skyview Dungeon(PC and Quill)

The bouncing of the door began to remind Sec of the poor idiot that dived into the water. Sec approached the bank, if you could call it that hoping for the best. Loft was being torn to shreds by the fish. These things didn't gain any sort of sustenance from eating the poor man, they just wished to cause as much terror as possible.

Sec's attention was turned to the other door as screaming could be heard. It was Loft! But Loft was dead? Sec was so confused at the conundrum of two Loft's. What was the meaning of this. Sec didn't have much time to ponder it as Loft two jumped into the water and began to swim toward them. Sec heard of there being mirror's that can rip the evil out of people, was this an evil version of Loft?

Sec was speechless as Loft acted like nothing had happened and was just going on like normal. Sec half assumes that the thief would try to open the door himself instead of looking for a handle. He snapped out of his confused trance as Marcus began speaking. "It's a possibility?" he questioned himself as he was saying it.

It was obvious that the door and the water had something to do with each other. He attempted a test as he found the largest thing he could find on this side of the room. It looked like an old torch system of some sort, it was made of metal and glass and he assumed it would make a splash.

As Sec chucked the torch into the water the obvious reaction was a flock of fish trying to destroy it. But more importantly Sec was concerned with what happened to the door. The door gave the reaction Sec had expected as it began to shake much more rapidly. "We have to drain the water!" he shouted as he began to scan the room for anything that could drain the water. He had been in dungeons that forced him to find a way to drain water. He began to walk around obsessed with the solution before slipping on the edge of the steps and stumbling backwards.

Sec wanted to scream no as he was falling but couldn't get anything out. His body collided with the water with a heavy splash that knocked any breath he could have hoped to have gained out of him. Sec grabbed his knife and waited for the onslaught of scavengous fish to attack him. His knife began to glow blue as Sec added his ice enchantment to it. His momentum was drastically cut but he hoped that the knife freezing the fish would elicit some sort of reaction from the fish.

One bit Knight on his exposed arm causing blood to appear in the pool. Luckily they have no sense of smell or taste so the fish didn't get more violent. He began to lose his remaining air as he stared at the side of the rooms to see two closed vents he didn't have time to scan the rest of the room to see anymore of the vents he instead swam upwards and gasped for air. When his lungs were full he used the air to expel a yell to his comrades, "Vents. The room has-" Sec was cut off as the fish dragged him back underwater.

Marcus mind whirred rapidly, taking in the situation. "Loft," he began, but the thief was already sprinting into the water, pulling his Red Candle out of his pack as he did so.

"I'm on it!" He yelled, diving into the water towards their comrade. Marcus nodded firmly, and turned back towards the door.

Alright, mind. Let's go.

Sec had said that the room had vents. Vents that were closed. The adventurer had said they needed to drain the room. They needed to drain the room. There were vents. There was a mysterious door, which most probably did not contain a passageway into the next room. A switch, or some kind of item, then? They could not access it without draining the room. It was a prize, then, and not a tool.

There was a scream from behind him, and Marcus flinched, before yanking his concentration back on the puzzle. Vents. There were vents. Closed vents. There was no point to having closed vents unless said vents opened. Therefore, there must be some kind of opening mechanism. A switch, then, or some kind of puzzle. He cast his gaze around the room again, searching. Searching for anything that would give them a way out.

Sec had used an old-fashioned torch system. One powered by-

His eyes darted downwards, to the floor beneath him- yes! A small trench of oil, running across the room. It connected the two torches on either side of the door, and opposite from the room, Marcus could see plainly that there was a corresponding system around that door as well. With one, fundamental difference. Those torches were unlit!

Dismissing the urge to scream at his own stupidity, he ran towards the bank. Praying that Loft could keep the Desbrekos' attention away from him, he swam rapidly towards the opposite shore. His hands smashed into the stone, and he gasped, air bubbles streaming from his mouth. He grimaced, grabbing the stone platform with his throbbing hands, and hoisted himself up. Quickly clambering to his feet, he sprinted towards the oil trench, reaching into his own pack as he went.

His hands found the Blue Candle, and he skidded to a halt, dropping to his knees in front of the trench. He lowered the Blue Candle's flame towards the black fluid with trembling hands, and with a loud swooshing sound, it ignited. Roaring across the stream of liquid, the fire flowed up the torches, and with his peripheral vision Marcus could see half-hidden stone slabs sliding back, revealing large vents in the walls.

The water spun and whirled loudly as it was sucked down the vents, irresistibly tugging its contents along with it. Everything that was not fixed to the floor, such as the pillars and ruined stairways, was being yanked towards the now-opened vents along the sides of the room. Marcus knew, now, why the floor was so sandy; numerous drainings and refillings would undoubtedly erode the surface of the floor over time, and this Temple was certainly old enough for the process to have completed decades ago. Luckily, the vents had stone bars criss-crossing their gaping maws, and the two men, large as they were, did not fit between them, instead crashing against the bars, and held there by the water's pressure. Marcus could only hope that their supply of oxygen wouldn't run out any time soon, and that they did not sustain any serious internal injuries from the experience. The skeletal forms of the Desbrekos slid between the bars, vainly attempting to swim against the current in pursuit of their prey, but they were pulled by the water's flow despite their efforts.

The gurgling sound peetered out, leaving two sodden and shivering forms on the damp bottom. Marcus sighed, feeling his twitching limbs relax. The adrenaline rush would leave them all weak, but at least they were alive.

He took a closer look at the pair on the floor. His mind quickly noted their ripped clothing, the lacerations all along their bodies, the bites marks dotting their arms and legs, their blue, shivering extremities, and, inexplicably, what was unmistakably burned skin. His magic flared, and sparks danced across his hands, cascading around his fingertips. Time for the Healer to do his thing. Nobody was catching hypothermia, or Farore knew what else, on his watch.

Sec began to swat at the water and a strange conundrum happened. The water turned to ice and began to float to the top of the water, it actually hit some of the fish and disarmed them. Luckily for Sec his comrade had foolhardedly dived into the water once more. The guy has a lot more guts than brains but Sec was quite thankful. Loft distracted part of the fish.

Sec wanted to turn around and look to see if there was a way to open the vents but he knew it was up to Marcus for his current goal is to survive. Sec began to chop at the fish more rapidly as several of them began to pierce his flesh. He grabbed his arm and yanked one off. Unfortunately gripping the fish just made the bones pierce his skin. For all intents and purposes, Sec was up a creek without a paddle.

Suddenly when Sec had about lost all hope there was a torrent that seemed to be pulling the fish away from him. Sec began to sink to the bottom of the pool of water as he closed his eyes, suddenly he could breath. Sec began coughing as he raised his back off the cobblestone floor and spat up a large amount of water. He was absolutely drenched, his hair down in his eyes, which were bloodshot from having so much dirty disgusting water in them. He fell backwards again and began to rest as a soothing sensation swept over his body. It was as if his cells began to rapidly reproduce and heal himself. He noticed that Marcus was concentrating hard so he assumed that he was the reason for the healing. He never did ask for their powers.

Sec finally remembered the point of this as he rose to his feet and charged after the door that was now open but in it's place was a treasure chest. Running on instincts alone he opened the treasure and grabbed it's contents the only thing that he ever zero'd in on was a mechanical bug looking thing. He realized he should share the conquest so he looked over at the other two, there is treasure up here. Come join the party. Sec had already stake claim to the beetle and was not letting go. He was too busy trying to figure out what it was to worry about whatever else was in the chest. Not once did his mind go to how to get out of the room...

((I can change the ending about the treasure anyway you see fit.))

Marcus ran his hands over the last of Loft's wounds, sealing them up nicely. He exhaled, allowing his depleted magic to fade back into his system. The burns, lacerations, and bleeding had all been healed, and his body was, in all probability, better than it was before entering this room. The life sparks had given him a transfusion of energy, eliminating the adrenaline crash that would normally have followed such an ordeal. He grinned sardonically; it looked like the only one who was going to suffer was himself. Of course, he could always give himself a shot of blue sparks, but what if he needed them later? No, best to save his magic. He wasn't that exhausted; after all, he hadn't been fighting off a horde of angry skeletal monsters.

Marcus plucked at the sleeve of Loft's tunic. "There's no repairing this, I'm afraid." The tunic was dotted with rips and holes, the only real remaining signs that the Deskbrekos had even been present in the room at all. "But, unless you want to go bare-chested," he glared at Loft, who had opened his mouth to speak, "which is not an option, by the way..." Loft slumped back into a sitting position, pouting. "You should probably wear it anyway. If you deem it necessary, you can cut away at any flaps or hanging fabric with your knife."

Loft grinned, throwing out his chest and pounding it with his fist once. "I'm a rock star now!"

"If that helps you," Marcus said tiredly, and walked up to where Sec was. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again. Sec was preoccupied with a small object that Marcus could not see, and Marcus was, frankly, too tired to care what it was at the moment. Not able to muster up the energy to start a conversation, he simply headed over to the opened door.

He swung the door out as far as the hinge would allow, concentrating solely on its frame, which was protruding several inches from the wall. He grinned slightly, feeling relieved. So, there was no passageway behind it, moving in synchronized motion along with the door. Thank Farore. A moving frame, not cut into the wall at all, was much more realistic then a moving tunnel.

But still, the mystery remained of how it had moved. What had linked it with the water in the room? He frowned, inspecting the inside of the frame. There, carved deep into the frame, were what looked like letters, glowing dully in the omni-present light of the room. Their light did not fade, meaning that this was not a one-shot puzzle. No, this was a process that was meant to be repeated, as implied by the sandy state of the floor.

Alright, so there were some runes on the frame. But the runes would need some sort of counterpart, something that would actually be able to detect the waters' flow. One set of runes to gauge the water, and another to move the door accordingly. He walked to the edge of the platform and leaned over the edge, staring at the dark corner. If he concentrated his vision right on the corner, he could make out another set of runes, covering both part of the floor and part of the wall. If he was right, and this was only conjecture at this point, then the runes along the wall would rise with the water, and only when they met the runes on the floor would the door's runes' second function activate, thus opening the door. The room's runes, then, served to carry the door with the water, and to open the door when no more water was present.

He closed his eyes, dedicating the discovery to memory. Then, deciding for the future's sake that he should probably record his findings, he pulled out a notebook from his pack, and began to write. After a minute, the scratching sounds ceased, and he put his notebook back in the pack. Loft was, he saw, beside him, rummaging in a small open chest that Marcus had not yet looked at.

"Anything interesting in there?" He asked, hefting his pack securely onto his back.

"Yep!" Loft said cheerily, pulling out a small stone tablet from within. "It's a Stone Plate!"

"A stone plate?" Marcus asked, leaning in closer.

"No," Loft said, shaking his head. "A Stone Plate. Caps."

"But how did you-" Marcus stopped, deciding it was better that he didn't ask. "So, what is a... a Stone Plate?"

"Well," huffed Loft impressively, tapping the small tablet with his hand, "give this little beauty to Arceus, and he'll mmmph!"

"Shut up, you idiot!" Marcus hissed, his hands tight over Loft's mouth. "They might hear you!"

"Mmph!"

"Gimme that," Marcus said, snatching the stone tablet out of Loft's hands.

Loft took a deep intake of breath, his chest swelling. "Well, I was going to say that Arceus, one of Mido's artisans, would buy it from us at around fifty rupees, but if you want to be all paranoid that the walls'll know our plan, fine!"

He paused for a second. "Which I completely understand, by the way." He glanced suspiciously at the nearest wall, and leaned in close to Marcus' ear. "They're always listening, you know," he whispered, "always."

Marcus leaned away from him, looking at him shrewdly. "Normally, I would ask if the Desbrekos had injected some kind of drug into your system, but I know for a fact that you are in perfect health."

"Yay!" Loft said happily. "I have full hearts!"

Marcus' hands twitched longingly, but he resisted the temptation to throttle him. Instead, he inspected the stone tablet closely. "Look," he said, "there's something carved onto it. But," he said, squinting, "I can't make it out. Loft, can you-" Loft's Red Candle was already in his companion's hand, the fire throwing the carvings on the tablet into sharp relief.

"That's much better, thanks." Marcus muttered, distracted by the images on the stone. His fingers traced the carvings carefully, feeling them each in turn as he muttered to himself quietly. "All the details are bound within these two lines, stretching from the top to the bottom. Within them are four birds- no, butterflies, all equidistant from each other. Etched in the very middle is a square, with some kind of bird at it's centre."

He paused, letting it sink in before continuing. "Alright, the two lines must represent some kind of structure, and everything else are carvings on that structure. So, let's look for something that matches." He looked around the room, at the many pillars and ruined stairways dotting the floor. "Well," he sighed, "better get started then." He hoped he was right. There was a possibility that he was mistaken, but this could potentially be what the tablet meant. He didn't know what they would do when they found a matching carving, but he was sure that it would be clear once they found it.

Ignoring the outside world for a moment he noticed the aesthetics of the Beetle. It appeared like it locked upon his wrist so that is precisely what Sec did. He was unaware how useful the Beetle may be but it was fairly simple to put on and remove. Despite what looked like pincers coming from the bug like creatures head. He had to wear it on his dominant arm because it wouldn't fit over his gauntlet. This also made his dagger less useful considering he would have to wield it in his non dominant hand.

He pressed a small button on the handle and the beetle began to shoot off in a straight direction, albeit slowly until colliding with the wall. Sec began to wonder how useless the thing was but realized that it was better than a rock... Sec started paying attention right as Marcus had ended speaking. He had no idea what the plan was, but odds are hearing Marcus say them probably wouldn't have helped. Marcus appeared to be more sophisticated than Sec and used more proper words whereas Sec tried to keep his vocabulary simple.

"Well monkey see, monkey do," he whispered to himself quietly. He noticed Marcus and Loft examining different pillars so Sec decided to help and started being an ace inspector though he didn't quite know what he was looking for. He ran his hands over the pillars all around and noticed some engraved designs in each he passed until...

"Hey guys come look at this!" he yelled to his companions to ensure they heard him in the big room. "You think that rock of yours will fit in this hold." Sec smoothed his hand over a gap in the pillar that was missing part of it's engraving.

Marcus hurried over, Loft trailing behind distractedly. He leaned in forward, looking closely at it. The pillar which Sec was standing beside was a perfect replica of the tablet's inscription, sans the top right butterfly, which was missing. In the centre of the carving, the square was sunk several inches into the rock. Marcus held up the tablet, matching it up as best he could. It fit. He pushed it carefully into its matching slot, and something clicked loudly as it settled into the hollow.

Nothing happened.

Marcus frowned. "It clicked. Something must have happened." He ducked around the pillar, checking its backside. "Nothing." He glanced at the carving, noting the missing butterfly. "Maybe this pillar's a decoy? Its inscription is incomplete, after all. Loft," he said sharply, "what are you doing?"

Loft had pulled out his knife and was leaning in closely to the pillar, etching something into it. "Well," he said, not taking his eyes from his work, "pillar feels sad, 'cause its not finished. Just gimme a sec...."

"It's a nice idea, Loft," Marcus said, "but I don't think-"

"There!" Loft said happily, finishing his carving with a flourish and stepping back proudly. The pillar now matched the tablet perfectly, although Marcus' eye for detail noted that Loft's butterfly looked childish beside the intricately detailed artisan's of old.

The pillar began to rumble, and Marcus' eyes widened as the pillar split along the centre of the tablet, the front side folding back into the other two as the pillar's innards were exposed to the world for the first time in what might have been centuries. The thick wall had been hiding the pillar's hollow space, a space devoid of any type of a floor. Instead, a circular hole was hewn deep into the floor's stone, a hole where the room's dim light did not, of course, reach. A ladder by their feet led down, down deep into the depths of the Temple.

Marcus kicked a stone down the hole. It ricocheted off the wall's of the hole, the clattering sounds slowly fading into oblivion. There was no ending thunk. "Alright then. Do we have any volunteers?"

Peering at the group he realized that Marcus wouldn't be the one to go or he wouldn't have asked for volunteers. He assumed that Loft would foolhardily jump into the abyss and die so he realized his only option was to him to take the original plunge. "I got it," he regrettably said in a melancholy tone. Then with a more deliberate one said, "but you guys better follow close behind."

Sec grasped the opening of the pillar and gazed down into pure blackness before putting his foot onto one of the upper rungs of the ladder. The descent began as Sec realized how tight a squeeze the pillar was, but then again it might just be claustrophobia sinking in. He would have never thought that the pillars were hollow, he just always assumed that they were solid. He began to wonder if all pillars were hollow, and if there were more secret passages like this one in previous places he has visited.

Exhaustion began to set in as Sexton paused for a moment and wiped the sweat from his brow. It was fairly hard to breathe in such an enclosed place. Then the worst possible thing that could have happened did. Sec stepped into a spiders web and three threatening spiders began to creep up his leg. Being deathly afraid of the eight legged arachnids he took his hands off the rungs of the ladder and frantically began to swat at his leg. The confusion cause Sec to plummet down the hole suddenly falling butt first onto a semi-soft ground of cloth that caught him.

He stared around the room and saw some of the same strange creatures as before staring around at him most holding small sharpened sticks. It appeared to be a colony of the Kikwi that have been held up in here all this time.

"Whoa," Loft said, landing on the ground with a soft thump, "more plushies!"

Marcus stepped off the ladder, taking in his surroundings. After calmly noting the presence of a dozen or so quivering plant-creatures, he scanned the rest of the room carefully. The large, circular chamber was dimly lit by that same omni-present light permeating through the rest of the dungeon, and he could clearly see small pads of cloth arranged in a circle some feet from where they stood, where the creatures evidently slept each night. The three travellers stood at the base of a large tube, the side facing the ladder ending several dozen feet above the ground. As he looked around, he could dimly make out the dark outline of other tubes, reaching down from varied parts of the Temple. Interesting. He glanced from side to side, trying to see how many tunnels there were, but he couldn't tell. There were no walls in sight, so he had no real way of knowing. Just how large was this Temple?

Small squeaking noises from the creatures brought him back to his present situation, and he appraised their threat level quickly. Barring any incredible, undetectable powers, the little plant-animals seemed to pose no real threat to them. The only weapons that they seemed to possess were primitive spears, the stone tips crudely tied onto the long wooden shafts brandished in their little fists. Their tiny faces were hunched in anger and bravery, however Marcus could see the trembling in their legs and hands. They were afraid, their eyes widened like saucers, evidently terrified of the strange big people that had suddenly fallen into their midst.

"Well, well, well," Marcus said casually, looking at the creatures with a mild kind of interest, "more of the little plant-animal hybrids. Loft," he said without turning from the nearest spear, "please put the poor creature down."

"But Maaaarcuuuuuus!" Loft wailed, hugging a struggling plushy-like animal tightly in his grip, the creature's spear waving around wildly.

"But nothing," Marcus said firmly. "Put it down, please." He heard a pouting sigh from behind him, and a soft thumph as the creature was dropped onto the soft cloth-covered floor. The grip on the spears tightened, and Marcus raised an eyebrow.

"Don't be afraid," he said calmly, "we're not going to hurt you. We're really only just trying to find our way through this Temple. My name's Marcus, and I'm a Healer from my... village. This," he said, gesturing to the happily smiling Loft, "is my associate, Loft. He's childish and very strange sometimes, but he means no harm. Finally, this here is Sec. If you could please lower your spears, I'm sure he'd much appreciate it."

Sec's eyes were still opened widely at the creepy looking plushies with sticks. They were like scared children that didn't want to give up their tree fort. Despite Marcus' coaxing a lone Kikwi stabbed Sec in the chest with his foax spear. Sec whimpered as he stood up and grabbed his chest, "That actually kinda hurt."

A large Kikwi, towering over all of the others and even the three Hylians stalked up to them and began speaking, "Brothers and sisters, these travelers are not bad men. We can tell just from looking at them that they mean us no harm."

Sec was quite shocked to see such a big Kikwi, it was so unpropitional to the others. When he said they wished not to harm them Sec kinda chuckled inside, he actually wished harm upon the Kikwi that just stabbed him but he would never be able to tell the subtle differences between them all.

"They look like weary adventurers that need guidance and our people have always taught us to give help when it is needed. Maybe they can help expel the dark ones from our temple." The tall Kikwi approached closer and began to speak once more. "We have been in here for months now, we are slowly running out of food. We can guide you through this temple, we only ask for you to expel the dark Stalfos that haunt our sacred spring. Some evil man came here and brought all of these monsters with him. He has long since left, but his fiends did not follow suit."

Sec was unsure what to say as he looked back at Marcus for an answer.

Marcus, who had been listening carefully to what the large one had to say, stepped forward at Sec's look. "A dark creature infesting a sacred spring, endangering an innocent local tribe?" He looked at Sec. "This might be exactly why we're here. " He turned back towards what he believed to be the tribe's elder, and bowed slightly. "We would be honoured to help you, Elder."

((I could have sworn I posted in this :U))

Sec was quite surprised that the man said yes, Sec was all for GTFOing but it seemed Marcus was a kind hearted guy that couldn't pass up an opportunity to help people. Sec begrudgingly began speaking, "Well I guess if he's in I'm in as well."

The elder began to rise and cheerfully thanked the adventurers. He then frowned for a moment, "I left out a small detail.."

Sec knew he was about to facepalm, he just knew this would get infinitely harder from here on out. "You see this is a hidden basement of the temple. This is where we go for refuge against the strife that is above us. An identical pillar as you climbed down is in every room in the temple. It was originally used to evacuate if the temple began to flood in the rainy season. This would normally be ideal and I could take you to the room that the dark creatures embody, but months ago that was destroyed. We couldn't let the evil find us. We've actually destroyed most of the tunnels..."

Sec began to look around and notice that what the elder said was true, the majority of the tunnels in question have been shattered. "However there are two we kept open, the one you came down because it leads to our water supply, and a second room that leads to what we have deemed a safe part. It's a sunny atrium where we gain sustenance from the sun. Also search around this room for a floral key, you will need it to enter the spring. Any questions?"

Sec nodded, it seemed simple enough climb a ladder, bask in some sun, get a key, kill some zombies. Simple right? Sec waited on Marcus to answer before he said no, just encase Marcus' question made him think twice about this mission.

Marcus shook his head. "No more questions. Take us to the correct pillar."

Whether their route was roundabout or not, they would destroy the evil that infested the sacred spring. Altruism alone did not guide his decision; survival was prominent in his mind. They were lost in a strange, foreign land, literally dropped into an alien forest by an unknown hand, for this exact purpose. Their mission, as he understood it, was to eliminate the darkness from this sacred Temple. If they did not accomplish this, it was likely that they would never be taken home. In Marcus' mind, the matter was clear. Save the people, and be returned home. Fail, and be left to wander this strange land for all eternity. And, while it may be interesting to study what this land had to offer, he was not interested in being lost for all time.

The little green and brown creatures chittered in hopeful anticipation, and began to lead the way, pulling them through the large room. They passed shattered pillar after shattered pillar, and Marcus wondered how, with their primitive spears, the little plant-animal hybrids had managed to destroy them all. There was, obviously, more to these small, plushy-like beings than met the eye.

"We are here," the Elder said somberly, waving a giant paw at the only other intact vertical passageway. "Remember, somewhere in the Sunroom is a floral key. Use it to unlock our seal on the door leading to the sacred spring."

Marcus looked up questioningly at the Elder. "Can't you just tell us where it is?"

The Elder raised an eyebrow. "No," he replied testily. "If breaking the seal was as simple as inserting a key into the lock, the Sunroom would no longer be a safe haven for us. We have enchanted the floral key to function only if it was obtained through valour and skill."

Marcus eyed him dubiously. "Alright. That's an oddly cliche locking mechanism, but I'll accept it. So, when you say that it's a safe haven, you mean that there are no monsters in the Sunroom?"

"There are no monsters in the Sunroom," the Elder affirmed. "But, that is not to say that there are no natural obstacles or threats. The Sunroom is not a garden. It contains animals and plants which, without a doubt, will attack you, for hunger, for territory, and for fear. They do not threaten us, but you? You, children of Hylia, are a different story. It is under these conditions that you must obtain the floral key, and open the door to the sacred spring."

Loft tilted his head. "So... there aren't any monsters, but there are monsters anyway?"

Marcus nodded. "Pretty much."

"Good luck, heroes," the Elder said, ignoring this. Marcus gripped the stone ladder tightly in his hands as he began to climb, placing one foot firmly on the rung above the floor.

"Oh, and remember," the Elder called after them, "the seal is designed to re-form after you pass through the door. May the blessings of the Goddess Hylia be with you all!"

"What'd he say?" Loft called up to Marcus, his voice echoing loudly in the pillar.

"The floral seal will close behind us," Marcus said, breathing heavily. "No turning back; once we close the door behind us, it's do or die, kill or be killed."

"And then we can go home?" Loft asked.

"Yes." Marcus said, "then we can go home."

Behind them, back on the floor, the Elder felt a small tugging on his great arm. Looking down, he saw a small Kikwi staring up at him with wide eyes.

"Yes, Machi?" He asked.

"Elder," Machi said nervously, "why didn't you tell the Heroes which door led to the sacred spring?"

"Oh." The Elder glanced up at the pillar, which the heroes had already disappeared into. "Ehh, they'll figure it out. I'm sure that there'll be something that'll clue them in up there."

He turned to the collected mass of Kikwis. "Now, where were we? I believe it was Lopsa's turn to hide. Lopsa, dear, can you- ah. Already hidden, are you? Perfect. Let's go, Kikwis. We have ten minutes to find-"

But, before he could finish speaking, another Kikwi sauntered towards them from the gloom. "Wow, am I good or what? Not one of you guys even came close to where I was hiding!" The Kikwi, presumably named Lopsa, stopped at the sight of all of them gathered around the Sunroom pillar. "What? Were you guys in the Sunroom while I was hiding? How rude!"

Sec followed the duo up the ladder. This ladder didn't seem quite as long as the other one, but it may just be an illusion. They were close to their goal so maybe time passed by more quickly to them. They finally reached the top of the ladder and saw some light extruding through some cracks in the pillar. All it took push to force a small piece of the pillar out. Thus making a hole big enough for each of them to fit through.

The atrium, or sunroom as the Kikwi called it, was an expansive area. It had large walls reminiscent to the rest of the palace, a few doors. But besides that it was full of grass and trees, it was truly a site to be seen. Even the air was reminiscent to the outside world, you could almost be fooled that you were outside was it not for the glass ceiling. Now how would the heroes go about finding the floral key? Sec also found it curious that there seemed to not be anything there to hurt him. But of course fate would have it that thinking of it would jinx them, a swarm of bees began to well swarm them.

Bees were flooding towards them, buzzing angrily at the human trio that had dared to trespass upon their territory. The Kikwis may have been skilled in concealment and disguise, but they were most certainly not.

Loft whipped out his solution. "I got this, guys! He cackled, and began to lower the magical flame of the Red Candle towards the nearest bush.

"No!" Marcus yelled, grabbing the Candle from him. The fire may have cleared all the obstacles, but this was a sealed room; even if they fled down the tunnel, the smoke would have no choice but to follow them. Also, they were looking for a Floral Key, and Marcus was not willing to take the chance that the key was flammable. Finally, he doubted that the Kikwis would tolerate such a flagrant act of disrespect towards their home.

"We have to find another way," he said. His magic would not be able to stop the bees' advance, and neither Loft's daggers or Sec's blade would make any difference towards the swarm of flying insects.

Marcus cast his eyes around desperately. There must be some way out, some concealed answer to their plight. He heard a small scuffle behind him, and turned. Loft was tugging at some vines running up the wall, and quickly began to scamper up them.

"This way," Loft called, and Marcus hurried to follow. He heard the buzzing of the bees, and knew that they could never outrun or outclimb them.

"Loft, this isn't going to work!" He yelled, but Loft had reached the top of the vine, disappearing into a small crevice in the wall.

There was no time to be surprised or shocked. Marcus scrabbled up the vine, wincing as its coarse surface tore at his hands. He pulled himself up into the hole, thanking Farore that he wasn't claustrophobic. Must be a result of being raised in the Western Caves.

He followed Loft's feet further into the hole, praying desperately that the bees wouldn't follow them. He hoped that Sec was right behind him, and selfishly he was comforted at the thought of a body between himself and the bees.

((Chaos, I don't have any kind of plan for this (or any) room, so you can go ahead and write stuff out))

Though sec was usually the first to run, seeing as everyone else had beat him to it running would be futile. Best case scenario is the bees catch up to him first while the others hide. Though he supposed you shouldn't trust strangers. Sec pulled his Magic Rod off his back and blessed it with his Ice Enchantment. Then with a swift movement of his wrist an orb of energy shot at the bees. On impact it froze the bees solid. As they plummeted to the ground, Sec quickly hid behind a tree in one of the corners of the room. He sat and rested for a moment to restore his magical energy.

He came out of hiding and everything appeared normal again, as if it ever was normal in this creepy palace. Sec observed the room, not knowing where his comrades are he began searching for a Floral key. He had hoped that there would be some sort of garden around that was hiding the said key, he did notice a small pond that was in the room. He thought to jump in there if he ever had to hide from the bees again. It wasn't like a normal pond, it was instead very clear and crisp water. Sec took a moment and stopped at the water and took a quick sip. He actually got quite thirsty through his many adventures but never learned to keep a bottle of water with him.

He splashed his head into the water as well, in hopes of getting all the muk and sweat out of his hair from the tango with the skeletal fishes. He began to stare at his drenched self and rest, it had been so long since he got to rest. But of course mother nature was a troll and refused to let him do anything of the sort. A fish jetted out of the water and snagged onto Sexton's nose. Sec grabbed it and flung it to the ground. The poor fish began to flop around on the shore as Sec shoved it back in with his feet. It was just hungry, it wasn't evil.

Loft slid out of the hole, falling into a small cave. He landed silently on his feet, and struck a ninja pose. "Loft, super ninja!"

The small cavern was, surprisingly, brightly lit. Vines criss-crossed across the walls, their spiked buds emitting a dull red light. The stone walls were barely visible behind the network of thorny vines, and Loft sincerely hoped that he wouldn't have to dart between them to get out. Their spiked tentacle-like reaches looked rather painful to walk through, and Loft really didn't want to be pulling out thorns from his skin. What if they were poisonous?

In the center of the room lay a brown, wooden chest. It was completely alone, sitting innocuously, without any kind of visible protection.

"What," Loft said, creeping forwards, "no spiked traps? No, no vats of burning acid? No poisonous darts from the walls?"

He heard something thud to the ground behind him, and he whipped around. Marcus was sitting on the stone floor, wincing as he rubbed his bruised hands. He had evidently fallen face-first out of the tunnel-hole, and had thrown out his hands to protect himself.

Marcus stood up, blinking at the strange light. "Red?" He said. "Curious choice. These vines are obviously bioluminescent, but I wonder what kind of enzyme produces such a strange glow?"

Loft shrugged. "The glowy kind?"

Marcus hmmed. "Perhaps."

Loft pointed at the chest. "It doesn't look bad," he said doubtfully, "but it's weird. We usually don't just get stuff, we usually have to-"

"Fight for it with tooth and nail," Marcus said, nodding. He walked forwards, reaching down to open the chest. "Well, nothing's going to happen if we keep standing around here."

He flipped the chest open. They both flinched, expecting some kind of attack or explosion, but nothing happened.

"Well, that was anti-climactic," Marcus said. He leaned into the chest's unsuspectingly capacious depths, and drew out another stone tablet.

"Oh," Loft groaned, "another one?"

"It certainly seems so," Marcus agreed.

Loft leaned in to see the picture, frowning. "Can't they just write stuff down? Why the pictures?"

"Because," Marcus said absently, "the makers didn't know what language would be used when this was needed, so instead they used a more universal form of communication- art."

"If you say so," Loft said, shrugging. "Hey, it's a treasure map!"

Indeed it was. There was a large circle in a tiny square off on the side of the tablet, and a series of dots threaded their way through a long maze of lines, leading eventually to a deeply carved X on the other side of the room. There were three rectangles on the very edges of the tablet; one was decorated with a picture of a ladder, one with a darkened door, and the last with a fountain.

Marcus touched the last one. "That must be the spring's entrance," he said, "and this," he touched the ladder rectangle, "is where we came from. This little room is the circle, and we have to make our way to the 'X' over there- that's probably the floral key."

He looked up at Loft. "Alright, this is good. Sec, what do you-"

Marcus looked around, blinking. "Where's Sec?"

Loft shrugged. "I dunno."

Marcus sighed, and walked back over to the tunnel. "Alright, let's go find him. Hopefully this is a magical map, but if not, then we'll have to remember any extra steps we take so we don't get lost. If this is any indication, the Sunroom is a giant, natural maze. if we're not careful, we could easily lose our way forever."

"What?" Loft's voice echoed, and Marcus looked up, realizing that Loft had already climbed into the hole.

"Never mind," Marcus said, hoisting himself up and wriggling through the hole, "just don't go anywhere without me."

"Sir yes sir!" Loft said.

After a few more minutes of crawling, they reached the exit of the tunnel. Careful not to fall out of the hole this time, Marcus climbed down the thankfully thornless vines, eventually touching down on the ground by the ladder.

Loft reached down and poked some icy shards on the ground. "Marcus, these are the buzzle-bees."

Marcus nodded. "Sec must have used his rod. Remember, when he tried to freeze the pond earlier?" Mentally, he was kicking himself that he hadn't remembered about that earlier. Still, though, it was good that they had run. If they hadn't, they would never have found the map.

He heard splashing sounds come from somewhere nearby, and looked around. "It's coming from over there," he said, pointing at some bushes. They ran around them, and came across a large, clear pool of water. Sec was lying by the side of the pool, rubbing his nose.

"Hey," Marcus said, relieved that they hadn't needed to wander too far from the map's path, "we found a map. This place is a giant maze, and we'll need to follow this tablet to find the key." He waved the tablet, and nodded to a path to Sec's right. "We have to go through there, between the tall hedges."

He was surprised to see the duo again, he assumed they had found the key by now. "I suppose it's lucky you didn't forget about me, these fish were getting hungry.." Sec casually explains before being interrupted by Marcus' banter about a map. Sec thought for a second and began to wonder why they were so lucky. The King Kikwi said they had to gain the key with great valor and skill. How is it brave to find a map while running from some bees?

Sec however went along with their plan because for the most part everything added up, he assumes that the x wasn't quite the floral key like they had thought. Maybe it was a fifty foot monster guarding the key that they would have to fight.. no that can't be, they'd see him hover over the hedge maze. They continued through the hedge maze and things were running smoothly until they had a decision to make. Everything in Sec's gut said turn right but the map clearly stated that the left path lead to the key.

Despite it killing him to go against his gut feeling, he couldn't fight facts that were so accurately lain out on the map. A few minutes of walking later they heard stomps from around the corner. A Moblin stood, he lacked a shield but he still had his large spear. Upon seeing the trio he charged like a raging buffalo. Sec began to run backwards before suddenly running into a hedge, how did that get there? They just came from that direction. Regardless he had to put it out of his mind, he didn't have long before he had to fight a Moblin. As the beast approached he jumped onto his back and wrapped his arms around it's neck. He stabbed the shoulder with his dagger as the Moblin began to distractedly pull at Sec to get him off, "What are you waiting for?"

The Moblin rounded the corner, its piggish face scrunched up in hatred as it roared, shaking its spear at them. Marcus glanced automatically behind him, hoping for a way out, but the hedge had reformed behind them, sealing them in with the beast.

Sec launched himself forward, clinging onto the beast's neck and stabbing it the shoulder, and screamed at them. "What are you waiting for?"

Marcus nodded to Loft, who unsheathed his throwing knife. "Hit it in the throat, Loft," Marcus instructed. Loft nodded, went through the throwing movements a couple times to make sure he had it right, and let loose. The blade whipped through the air, spinning end over end, before burying itself in the beast's throat. With a gurgling wail, it dropped to its knees, ripping the knife out from its neck.

"Mistake," Marcus tutted. Blood spurted out from its throat, and the Moblin swayed, collapsing onto the red grass with a heavy thud.

Loft skipped over to it, picking up his knife. He made a face, and wiped it off on the nearby hedge. "Eww, it's got Moblin cooties now."

"Let's go," Marcus said, stepping over the Moblin's corpse, "before more of them turn up."

Exhausted from the ride of his life, Sec jumped away from the bloody Moblin before thinking about the resemblance to riding a bull. Sec didn't have much time to react as he rose to his feet and followed Marcus who threatened another attack. Sec faintly thought about the shrubbery appearing behind them, as he looked back it was gone.. Was this hedge the real monster here, or was Sec delirious from being trapped in this forest for weeks.

It can safely be assumed that the trio continued heading straight until there was yet another fork in the road. Upon looking at Marcus' map it was evident that they should turn left, they were almost out of the maze. Sec saw a clearing in the hedge and ran forward, sick of being surrounded by the bushes, it was making him sick from some strange allergy. When they arrived they found a small key, it wasn't much to look at. It was merely a key that was seemingly made of tree bark. Sec grabbed it up and noticed that it was attached to a root growing from the ground.

As Sec was contemplating whether or not this was legit, an apple fell on his head. He had his fill of apples in the forest, he now wanted something more sustaining so the apple did little more than piss him off. He cut the vine with his knife as a strange gurgling could be heard.. Suddenly a vine whips across his site of vision sideswiping the thief and knocking him to the ground. Within seconds cackling could be heard. "You take the key with cowardice and mediocrity, the map lead you astray. Now prove yourself."

Sec was utterly confused but it would appear he would be forced to fight if he wished to get out of this forest. Suddenly the ground began shaking as a large vine sprung forth. The vine had a head up top with a giant eyeball and mouth. Two more mines sprung forth that would compose his hands. The trio had a mammoth of a challenge on their hands.

Marcus had no idea what was going on. One minute, and they were following the map out of the maze, and the next minute, they were being attacked by a sentient vine! Its eye dripped aqueous humor, the clear fluid oozing out of the gigantic red eye. Below the eyeball was a great red mouth, exactly the same shade of red as the eye, a dull red rather like the colour of light that the map's room had been coloured. Strange; perhaps this was the same type of vine? Marcus hoped that they weren't the same vine; if it was, then that meant they were facing an enemy so large that it managed to cover a large part of the maze. Hopefully, though, this was just an offshoot. Hopefully.

Around the great middle vine, upon which the eye and mouth were settled, two other vines had burst from the ground. These ones waved back and forth about the middle vine, protecting the obvious weak point of the eyeball. Honestly- what was it with enemies and eyes? They were like gigantic bulls-eyes for adventurers; 'aim the conveniently acquired weapon of death here.' Of course, creatures needed eyes to see, and Marcus wasn't complaining that the sensitive ball of nerves and veins was such a good weak point. One of these days, though, they would meet an enemy without an eye, and the forces of order would have no idea what to aim their ridiculously overpowered weapons of mass-destruction at. Then, of course, these forces would pout about the rules being changed on them. Like it was surprising that chaotic demons summoned from the abyss wouldn't play by the rules.

A vine snapped towards him, and Marcus was torn out of his tangential line of thought. His hand whipped forward out of reflex, forming a blue crystal barrier in front of him. The vine smacked into the shield, and it reeled back, stunned.

Beside him, Loft took his chance. He stepped forward, and swung his dagger up at the reeling vine. It connected, slicing through the vine-y appendage and severing it from the roots. It plopped to the ground, shrivelling into a crumpled black mass on the foamy earth below them.