Jaxter darts behind the wall and runs through the crowd, trying to get to Renao. It made him feel guilty for pulling her into his problem, but he was the only one he could turn to. As he found Renao, he started to panic.

"Renao, Gwen is onto me, she's coming..." He said panting. "The guards may hold her for a while...but I'm not taking any chances." He loaded his guns and charged them up, as well as the one on his knee. Gwen found have a hard time finding him here. Even the eye of a valkyrie would have to take time picking him out.

He stepped back into the doorway of the Arcade and assisted the soldiers at firing at Gwen and Cicero. Mostly Cicero though.

Sono grabbed Luke and ran over to their lift. Raising his shield with one arm to protect Cicero, he punched in the code to activate the lift.

"Don't Let Them Escape!" Farsor yelled before realizing they were supposed to go down. Before he is able to tell them to stop, Sono slams on the button, causing the lift to suddenly drop.

On the ride down, Sono slumped against the railing. "Well... that was a thing...."
*Nice thinking, O' Wonderous Leader.*
'Shut it, you.'

Cicero bunches his muscles and pulls himself out of the elevator, ripping himself clear.

Gwenivere does NOT get left behind. he thinks to himself, crouching behind his shield. He fires a barrage of shots from his Polaris, the expanding bullets filling the space in front of him. He continues his assault, walking behind his shield straight to Jaxter.

[Affraiel and Midnight manages to leave the golden ruin, departing with Ursulan and Elzilia. They ventured upward in the clockwork in hope of finding the surface. Affraiel is still holding the golden bar, hoping to find a stranger merchant to trade, but every time when a merchant is in his site, they fled when they recognized the old conman.]

Affraiel: *sweats and sighs* “…Ugh… I can’t go anywhere with the status of a criminal…”

Midnight: “Hmm, Mister Affraiel, maybe you should trade with people with the same interest.”

Affraiel: *sneers* “Same interest huh?” *grins* “I see what you did there Midnight…” *waves a hand signal* “Let’s go and have chat with some good pals of mine…”

[Affraiel didn’t go to a Gremlin merchant or a Valkyrie nomad for help, instead, Midnight finds himself in the middle of a Mercenary camp, with a flag hanging outside the camp gate. The crude drawing of a hound is placed on a black flag, it is the ‘war hound’ mercenary company, the remnants of the once mighty Nowensgrad grey guards, whose former legion was defeated by Affraiel and his rebels during the Isoran civil war. Despite having conflicts with Affraiel in the past, the mercenaries did not draw any hostility towards him, Affraiel is like a father to them, when they started as young soldiers, Affraiel taught them the first lesson in war and turned them into the men they are today.]

War hound captain: *sees Affraiel and recognizes him* “Ha! If it isn’t Affraiel, the legendary rebel of Nowensgrad.” *laughs* “I thought I would never see you again!” *shakes Affraiel’s hand* “The name is Avel, remember me? I was a privet back then…”

Affraiel: “Oh, Avel, So, how is the life as a mercenary?”

War hound captain-> Avel: *smirks* “Well you know… we are hired by everyone and fight for everyone, the life has been great and we are getting rich! The war between the Valkyries, the Isorans and the Morai is going to fatten our wallets for sure!”

Affraiel: “That is good to hear… hey, Avel, mind if I buy some of your weapons?” *takes the gold bar out of his pocket and winks at Avel* “I could use some serious fire power to slay the Valkyrie queen!”

Avel: “Valkyrie Queen?! Get out of here! Haha, but seriously though, Gwen, do you have any idea what she is capable of?!”

Affraiel: *sneers* “Energy shield, teleport, regeneration? Is there anything else I don’t know of? I saw that brat send Skylark into space while I sat in Camp Zeta to rot. Serry boy is now back on Isora and I never got my hands on that pinky! Gwen is going to pay for ruining my one chance at revenge and all the lives she ruined!”

Avel: *chuckles* “Damn… Old man, maybe I was wrong about you, you are not crazy, you are plain insane! Fine, I will do you this favour for old time’s sake.” *opens up a rag with tones of weapons concealed within* “So is there anything here you like?”

Affraiel: *sees some black 12.7mm rifle bullets* “What are those? Sniper cartridge?”

Avel: “Yep, these are the last five rounds of high impact tungsten bullets left in the world. They said that with the right gun, these bullets can go through five newly made Aegis shields and still have enough power to kill a Tortodrone. The Morais intended to use this to replace the Morai ‘fire storm’ shells, but they cancelled the mass production of this cartridge due to the shortage in tungsten back on planet Ruia. So do you want these bullets?”

Affraiel: *picks up the five black bullets and puts him in his pocket* “Hmm, these bullets can sure make a nice hole in Gwen’s energy shield as well as her head…” *picks up a few big angry bomb and a bandolier* “Okay… do you have a remote for this?”

Avel: “Here.” *passes the remote* “Hmm… I never knew you liked bombing…”

Affraiel: “These bombs ain’t for throwing, I was just thinking, that if Gwen wants to get all rough with me, I can send her down to hell with me.” *grins* “I am sure Satan is preparing a welcoming party for me down there right about now… hate to keep him waiting…” *picks up a Valiance, with its bayonet replaced by a grenade launcher* “Hey, Midnight, this is yours-” *tosses it to Midnight* “-Use it well okay?”

Midnight: *nods his head* "Yes Mister Affraiel!"

Affraiel: *passes the gold bar to Avel and picks up a few spare grenades* “Okay, nice doing business with you, so long!” *walks out of the camp*

Avel: *laughs while looking at the gold* “Hah! Not a problem old man! Good luck hunting out there!”

Midnight: "Hmm, Mister Avel, you are an Isoran right?"

Avel: "Yeah!"

Midnight: "Why aren't you with the spiral order? I don't understand."

Avel: *spits at the ground* "The Spiral Order? That thing is old school, they expected us to fight for them even after what went down at Nowensgrad. No, me and my brothers will never bleed and die for the Spiral Order ever again, we fight for ourselves now! Each and single one of us, we fight for what we believed in and nothing is going to stop us from doing that, old man Affraiel told us what freedom really is! isn't that right?!"

Mercenaries: *roars* "YEAH!"

Affraiel: *grins* "Hehe, it is all in a day's work, come on Midnight, let's go find Gwen..."

"Let's see to your arm, love." Cicero says quietly, slinging his pack to the floor. He pulls out a roll of gauze, and a bit of tape.

"Put it forward," He says expertly. "This should help some.

"Yeah, I promise." Sono looked up at Blesse, who stormed off out of the Arcade. "That was some fancy footwork you did, dodging all those bullets."

The lift started rumbling, not stopping at any of the earlier depths. "Oh yeah, I may have set this thing to go straight to the Wildwoods. So just in case...." Sono stopped the lift at the Terminal Station. "Anything you guys wanna do before going in?"

Luke was still trying to figure out what just happened. So then he shot at her, and he blocked it... no wait, she blocked it, then they started shooting, I was pulled into the lift, ummmmmm I don't know anymore. Terminal?

"Here just a second, I wanna see if Basil has something."

Luke walked over to the traveling merchant. Scanning through the recipes, he found one that he was looking for.

"This one please."

"4,000 crowns."

"Err, oh good I have enough."

Luke handed the crowns over and took the desired recipe. As he walked back to the others, he folded it up and dropped into his arsenal. He boarded the lift again and settled himself.

Once she was back in the Arcade Blesse turned on the Console's Hollow-map of the Clockworks. After a moment she selected the Iron Crown Gate, the one which Gwen and the other's had boarded. She was still angry but her common since had returned to an extent. Reaching up she removed her hood and face plate exposing the forth degree burn which exposed the right side of her mouth. If anything I can still track them.

After a moment Blesse went to one of the smaller computer's turning on the helm camera's from Sono and Luke's perspective. Listening to their conversation and watching their progress. After a moment when she was calm enough she sent a message to Sono to be read to Gwen.

Sorry for losing my head, everything was going so smoothly before the gunshot. Also, you are still wanted but I have a feeling I know how the Order can help alevate the charge's on your head. No they won't go away, but by helping us and running this with your backround and the new information we might be able to bring all the charges down to that of a plead of insanity. So long as your willing to go to a Doctor approved by the Order to have you checked out. On a side Note; Gwen please forgive me for my actions. I felt the intent to kill some one right then and I am sure you sinced it too.

With that send she leaned back as she tracked the group with the Hall's Console as well as the many computer's in the information section of the hall.

Sono's helmet alerted him of a message. "Huh? I got a message from Blesse." Opening it up, "It says 'Read this to Gwen.

Sorry for losing my head, everything was going so smoothly before the gunshot. Also, you are still wanted but I have a feeling I know how the Order can help alleviate the charges on your head. No they won't go away, but by helping us and running this with your backround and the new information we might be able to bring all the charges down to that of a plead of insanity. So long as your willing to go to a Doctor approved by the Order to have you checked out. On a side Note; Gwen please forgive me for my actions. I felt the intent to kill some one right then and I am sure you sensed it too.'"

Sono stood there, looking over the message to see if he missed anything. When he was done, he turned to Gwen. "So... how about that, Gwen?"

The crash resounds after awhile, the level playing with the echoes in it's boredom. The mist swirls out of the way as he spins around, and begins walking in determination. "Anguis, I changed my mind. We aren't waiting, we're taking us to them. NOW." Brandishing the gavel in his hand, he walks with a brisk coldness. The blindfold billowed behind him.

Should I be so alone and have them be so welcome among themselves? Nay, Anguis is my companion, but he would not care if I were to perish. Things would just stay the way they are. Rotting

He keeps walking, his face getting angrier by the minute and each step of his feet. Wolvers start appearing, but he knocks them away out of anger. Instead of a natural attack, it knocks them away, and they nurse the red welts beneath their fur.

"Why can't I have the happy ending?" he mutters, threatening selfishness. But he takes a deep breath, and stands in front of the elevator. Bitter, sad, and alone. His Malevolence.

The serpent changed its course, and sensed the vibrations of the judge, as he stepped upon the ground. Anguis swiftly came to burrowing slowly under his feet, staying at an elevation & speed as to make the usual rumble a soft vibration on the surface. He was tracking his position, ready to make an entrance when he heard commotion or complete silence.

Save for the odd heart beat, and sense of fear.

With the aid of the Camera's, they where unknowingly helping Blesse watch the events unfold as well as work on updating their HUD's maps to better understand the level they where on. Of course at the same time the Firebug was working on getting a full sweep of the land to gage traps and pinpoint enemies threw the fog. For the most port this worked but it only made things worse because she could see the danger but could not speak about it thus letting them stumble into the creature's while she herself had to write out everything and hope they opened it.

Wish they would hurry up. Wait whats that thing? Blesse turned on the Hollow-Map and with Ciceco and Sono's HUD's she sent out a unheard pulse threw the air. When it came back the Hollow-Map had recreated a massive creature which seemed to be in the area. That's not Snarby, so what are you? She questioned as she went to another side Computer and started hunting the Bio-Tech's data base of the creature's of Haven to see if they had one on file.

Xindao stopped abruptly, and turned his head aside so as to face Sono. "Think what you want of a blind man, Sono. But I guide many paths of other kinds, and it takes a blind man to see the way. And we are headed to the Snarbolax. I decided that in order to give you a boost on your journey, I can help you slay the first of the Council. And I would be happy to judge Gwen, by the way." He spoke in a harsh and hasty tone. Something had obviously upset him, or someone. A Wolver yelps, and it's mouth bleeds, it's tongue tied into a knot.

"Anguis can sniff him out. If not, then he will hunt for us, and fall into our swords' paths."

The serpent slid itself smoothly under the group, the ground resonating beneath their feet. Despite making no noise of its own, it was still focussed and busy. Listening above, it could hear their conversation with ease, albeit a tad muffled from the several layers of earth and foliage. It could hear their plans, past, history and disputes.

The Ghost of the Ground pondered in its mind,
"So they were heading toward the Order's first member, the Snarbolax. Anguis knew of the beast, how it had once been noble and a sign of fortitude amongst beast kind, that was now just a shadow of its former self, tainted and infectious to all of its kin. If nothing else, acting as its replacement upon the beast's demise would be best for the beast race. However..."

The serpent also heard of them cutting him down, if he proved to be of little use. With silent thoughts, the ancient being began to think up its own contingencies to such a situation.

Under you all is a long serpent like creature which seems to be following you at a fixed point. Depth can not be said upfront, but I can assume it is a good three yards below listening or waiting for something. At the moment it is not hostel, yet I can not tell you anything else. Outside of that it's completely blank for the Bio-Tech's have not seen anything like it on Cradle yet. We need more research, if possible bring it to the surface for study.

Blesse sent the message to Sono, since he seemed to be the only one paying attention to his messages from the group. Well if its serpent in nature I can assume it is effected by temperature as well as higher since of smell. I can't assume anything else for I don't know anything else. Going back to the Hollow-Map Blesse zoomed in on the group as she went about directing some of the smaller things in the level.

Up ahead is a small research station, currently it's unmanned. Can one of you activate the Terminal so I have a better connection as well as better visual of the level?

Sono read the message over, then slowed down to Cicero. "Hey, Cicero. There's a research station up ahead. I need you to activate the Terminal in there. For Blesse and her..." he stopped, trying to remember what she was doing. "er, Intel stuff." He sped up his pace to get back to Xindao. "Mister Xindao. This... Anguis." Sono attempted to say this in the least rude way he could think of. "He or she- or it- wouldn't happen to be, say, a giant serpent creature burrowing below us as we speak, would it?"

Uplink astablished. Tell that idiot he can't fool me, the logs state the camera was tampered with. I am going to break it open and start up the bells in the area. It should help with Snarby.

With the sound of keys typing away Blesse imput the master lockout code, unlocking the loop on the Camera feeds around the woods. On the screens around her Blesse was given control of the Camera's which helped giver her Hollow-Map more follage as well as a better blip of their unseen serpent friend underground. She was able to get a more accurate read out of it's depth, but outside of that she could not get langht. That would be retified the moment some one struck one of the bells.

Well the bell system was shut down from the Terminal near the exit, why would some one do that? Those systems are inplace to protect knights from things like Snarby. Some idiot must have shut them down when they left. Going threw the logs Blesse was able to get the key systems up and from that point lock out any other imput from anyone other then her. Once it was done the Screen displayed a Username and Password entrance to access the Terminal as a while instead of just files. It would help keep people from getting to the longs since they would have to unlock the whole computer by guessing which of the many possible Username's and Passwords' Blesse could have picked.

"Central Accesse to Bell stations Granted. Starting up Bell Stations in all known locations connected to HUB..." The Terminal's Screen said before going back to the log in screen. All around the Bell Stations stood up with Green lights on them letting others know the could be used.

Those Bells can only be used once every Two minutes to prevent the sound from causing any damage to the wild life. In other words, the Bell Station will lock down to prevent it's use in that time. The message being sent after Blesse had finished her work.

Sono read this next message with a confused look on his face. "Cicero, Blesse says you can't fool her..." His face deadpanned, "and that the cameras were tampered with...." He looked at Cicero with his 'Are you serious?' face. Around them, the Beast Bells activated.

Or can I...?

Cicero swiftly re-opens the computer with a few aggressive techniques, and - covering his tracks completely - sends a remote loop to the cameras, this time undetectable.

Blesse's monitors would now only see flashes of... explicit imagery.

Sono shook his head and sighed in irritation. "Blesse is- actually you probably won't even care about that." He closed the message. "Hope you like your Ciceros with charred asses, Gwen." Beat. "Well, more like charred everything once Blesse is done with him."

An explosion is heard, faintly, in the distance. Sono quickly messaged Blesse: "Blesse, what was that?"

Anguis slowed down a tad in his pace, assessing the new objects that had moved down to his underground level. A few forks of the tongue, gave him an odd reading to process in his brain.

"Metal...no..more precise, Brass...Something that rings, maybe steel or glass?"

The Serpent changed course away from the group, to investigate the inanimate intruders. As Anguis closed in, he began to tunnel closer & closer toward the submerged bells. With the bells being like dead weights, the suprised serpent impacted one at speed, the bell resonating and stunning the beast that had been caught off guard.

"Ugghh...Infernal Device, struck me direct, the price you shall pay, you all I'll bisect!"

The angry serpent coiled backward, before using it's extremely thick head to smash through the bell, cracking it into several pieces. The Bell station was then pushed into the earth as the Ghost of the Ground moved over it, the impact, while not dealing as much of an effect than before, still left him slightly dazed.

Anguis redirected himself toward the group, albeit intent to destroy any further bells he would come across.

"Alright guys, come on." Sono turned to the general direction Xindao was leading them before they all stopped. "I think we've spent enough time trying to screw with Blesse."