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Daniela, smiling, is about to walk toward everyone, when suddenly a skeletal hand gags her and pulls her into the shadows.

Daniela, “HNPHNPH…”

Rendered pic is apart of the "Dungeon of Ichikawa" story.
Dungeon of IchikawaThis story is based on the characters, settings, drawings, and stories created by bothRedFalcon23 and Kalindorfredfalcon23.deviantart.com/kalindorf.deviantart.com/ If you don’t know anything about the characters and settings created by RedFalcon and Kalindorf, don’t read any further. You’ll be completely lost with the quirky large cast of characters. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dungeon of IchikawaLong ago, the notorious pirate Captain Ichikawa, who was on the run from the Royal navy, guided his ship up the waterway to a landing point that would later become Aoharu City. The captain and his crew moved their stolen treasure inland to a natural mound. There they buried their treasure to ensure that the Royal navy would never get it back. As the pirates sailed away, Captain Ichikawa vowed that nobody except him and his crew would ever claim that treasure. Captain Ichikawa and his crew were never seen again. Or so the legend goes.The legend of the treasure buried under a mound within Aoharu City had persisted. Many had looked for the treasure, but none had found it. The mound was originally part of a public park for many years. Named after the legend, it was called Ichikawa Park. Eventually, the need for a public school in that part of the city arose and a school was built on that land. Thus, Ichikawa High School became the major school in the Eastern District of Aoharu City. By now, the legend had become myth and few believe that the treasure truly existed …..Back to the present day, in the sports stadium at Ichikawa High School, the Ichikawa cheerleaders are practicing their routines.“Victory! Victory! Victory's ours! We're gonna win 'cause We are the stars!”,Daniela, the squad captain, moves out of line and walks out in front of her cheer team to address them. “Okay girls. That’s all for today. Here’s the schedule. Tomorrow, our tennis team and soccer/football teams are playing Oshiro. We will meet at the soccer/football field. Our basketball team is playing against Noble Rose Academy on Friday. We will be on the basketball court 15 minutes before the ball drops. Any questions? …… No. See you tomorrow.”Most of the cheerleaders head back to the locker room to change back into their school uniforms except for Itsuki and Maire. Itsuki walks over to Maire, the pirate girl from the past.Itsuki, “Hey Maire, do you have that old pirate map that you wanted to show me?”Maire, “Yes, right here.”Maire pulls out a yellow papyrus scroll and lays it out on one of the nearby benches. Maire, “I came across this map in a tavern when our ship stopped at a friendly port. The drunk who owned it claimed to have sailed with Captain Ichikawa, but he couldn’t crack the code on the map. I took it from him after he bet it in a game of cards. Everyone I’ve showed this map to …. spies, linguists, code breakers, none of them had any clue how to break the code.”Itsuki, “Got it. Wow, that was really challenging. Thanks for showing this to me.”Maire in shock, “You …. broke the code? And you did it in SECONDS?!”Itsuki, “Yes. It’s really cleaver. You realize these runes here are meant to …”Maire interrupts, “But what does it say! I’m dying to find out where to start digging.”Itsuki, “It doesn’t look like you need to dig, apparently Captain Ichikawa had spent a several months here digging tunnels below the mound. There was a wizard in his crew, and he sealed the entrance magically, but a portal entrance opens every time there is a blue moon. The map shows how to get to the portal entrance, but it doesn’t show how to get to the treasure in the tunnels. Apparently, there is a warning of traps in the tunnels.”Akira appears next to Itsuki and Maire, “And the undead walks under the mound.”Maire and Itsuki scream.Itsuki, “AKIRA! Don’t sneak up on us.”Maire, “And what do you mean?”Akira, “Skeletons and ghosts mostly. During the night of a blue moon, I’ve come to school to fight them. Coincidentally there will be a blue moon tonight. I’m coming with you.”Daniela appears, “So am I. The Ichikawa Pirate Cheerleaders vs undead Ichikawa pirates. I like it. And maybe we can see Ichikawa himself.”Maire, “This was supposed to be a treasure hunt, but this is turning into a dungeon crawl. If there is fighting and traps involved, I suppose I could use the help. My spell casting is good, but not great for close quarter fighting in tunnels.”Daniela, “I think we’ll need somebody who is good at close combat on our adventure. Maybe I can get Miyu or Aiko. Let’s ask.”-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Inside the locker room, Miyu changed into her Ichikawa uniform before anybody else even opened their locker.Miyu, “Bye everyone, see you tomorrow.”Dolly, “That was quick, Miyu.”Shiro, “See you tomorrow.”Aiko waves to Miyu as she leaves but doesn’t notice a gray/silver hair stalker watching her. Just as Aiko opens her locker. Yumeko hand gags her.Aiko, “HMPHNPMNHP!!!”Yumeko quickly ties up Aiko and carries her away. ,Just then Daniela, Akira, Maire, and Itsuki enter the locker room.Daniela, “Dolly. Shiro. Did Miyu and Aiko leave already?”Shiro, “Miyu left, but Aiko is still …. where did Aiko go?” Shiro looks around. Dolly, “She was right there …“ Dolly points to Aiko’s locker.Itsuki, “Looks like we are too late. Aiko and Miyu already left.”Daniela, “I guess we’ll have to ask somebody else who’s good at close combat preferably a swordswoman.”Akira, “Maybe Chitose …. Nevermind, bad idea. We’d probably get reported and get detention.”Maire, “I already have detention.”Akira, “I do too.”Itsuki, “Mirai said I had detention until the end of the month.”Daniela does a facepalm. “Can you three stay out of trouble even for a little while? Ah, I got it. I should have thought of her sooner. Azusa’s a swordswoman too and she’s probably still at school finishing up tennis. Let’s find her.”Daniela, Itsuki, Akira, and Maire rush out of the locker room to find Azusa.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In the school hallway, Azusa is searching for somebody. “Where did Yumeko go? It was her turn to clean up the tennis equipment.”Just then Itsuki and Maire sneak up behind Azusa and grab her.Azusa, “WHAT … HMPHPJNMPHHHPPHP!!!!”,Moments later Azusa tied up and Itsuki is tickling Azusa’s feet with her hair.Maire, “Okay Azusa, Itsuki will stop if you agree to join us tonight.”Azusa is laughing and nodding her head, “Okay, okay, I’ll join! Stop!”Daniela walks in and sees what Maire and Itsuki are doing and does a facepalm. “You could have just asked her.”,Itsuki smiles, “Why leave things to chance.”-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------After hours in Ichikawa, several of the faculty are at the school doing a late-night working session. Principal Mirai, Vice-Principal Alissa, and head teacher Adeline are walking in the hallway. As they move down the hallway, they don’t notice the five girls hiding around the corner.,Mirai, “We’re going to need to compile the students grades from the last quarter and submit to the superintendent. He wants to see some progress….”After Mirai, Alissa, and Adeline pass, the five girls begin to speak to each other.Akira, “Not good. Mirai and Alissa are here tonight.”Itsuki, “If we call it quits today, it will be about 8 months before the next blue moon.”Daniela, “We’ve gone this far. Let’s keep going.”Maire, “Aye, captain ….. sorry. I’m used to responding this way on a treasure hunt.”Azusa, “I have a question. Why exactly did I need to put on cheerleader uniform?”Akira, “The uniform is surprisingly good for sword fighting in. It won’t hinder you.”Azusa, “That’s not the point, I’m not a cheerleader and this uniform was my exact size and had ‘Azusa’ on the label.”Daniela nervously responds, “Uh …. Complete coincidence. It had nothing to do with me trying to recruit you to join the squad. Yeah, coincidence. Hahahahah”Azusa, “I’m suspicious …..”Maire, “Come on let’s get to the mound entrance. It should be opening soon if the map is correct.”The five girls move through the hallways and down the stairways into the basement. Itsuki picks the lock on the basement door and the girls enter.Itsuki, “Whoa, this a weird basement.”Maire, “The mound entrance should be in this direction.”The girls move further into the room and find a black portal open on the floor.Daniela, “Looks like you found it. Good job.”Akira, “The undead are definitely in there.”Azusa, “Great. Why do I always get pulled into fighting the undead? First that stupid island, then helping Yuna babysit ….”Maire, “Who cares, the undead are no match for this powerhouse team. Let’s get in there and find out if there is an actual treasure of Ichikawa.”Itsuki, “Right! Let’s get rich! Er, let’s have an adventure!”Azusa, “I knew I should have skipped school today.”Daniela, “Let’s go everyone.”Daniela and the four other girls jump into the black portal.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Daniela and her team of cheerleaders land at the beginning of a large open chamber. Inside the chamber, there is an odd glow that dimly lights the room. It is not visible where the light is coming from. However, the light shows that the room has rubble and dirty cluttering the chamber. Support beams are laying broken on the floor next to the rubble. Through the rubble appear to be several paths to get around it.Akira, “I can sense evil down here.”Azusa, “Great. Instead of wearing cheerleader uniforms we should have put on armor before coming down here.”Itsuki, “Don’t worry Azusa, the uniform gives you an armor class of 1, but it also gives you a -5 modifier for save throws again spells.”Azusa, “I have no clue what that means.”Daniela, “Obviously, it looks like this area had a partial cave-in. But that light couldn’t be coming from outside, its dark outside right now.”Maire, “Let’s move forward and find out.”Akira pulls out her sword. “Be prepared for anything.”Azusa, using her dimensional powers, opens a portal and pulls out her sword.”Itsuki, “Azusa, Akira, you two lead the way, the rest of us don’t have swords.”Azusa, “I see why you wanted me to be here …..”Akira and Azusa move forward with Daniela, Itsuki, and Maire following behind them. As they move forward. Suddenly there is a chuckling sound that begins to echo in the chamber.Daniela, “Does that sound like a laugh to you guys?”Itsuki who is visibly getting upset. “No, I don’t hear anything!”As soon as they clear some of the rubble, they see where the light is coming from. There is a glowing ball of light floating in the air, it begins to move around the room. As it moves it passes through support beams. The 5 girls just stand still watching the light and it finally floats down into the floor and disappears. The room is dark. All five girls stand quietly in the dark until Itsuki pulls out a small but powerful flashlight and she shines it around the room.Maire, “What the hell was that?”Akira, “Ghost light.”Daniela, “Ghost light?”Itsuki, “Well, whatever it was, it’s gone. Here, takes these. Clip them to your uniforms so that you don’t need to hold them. I invented them for … my hobbies.”Itsuki hands out the small flashlights and all five girls clip them on their uniforms.Daniela, “Lets push forward.”The five girls continued to move through the rubble. When they reach the center of the chamber, the unstable rubble next to the girls started making faint sliding sounds. Then came a loud snapping. Skeletal hands burst through the rubble and grabs the boots of Itsuki, Maire, Daniela and Azusa. Akira avoids the hands reaching for her. The hands trip up the four girls they grab.,Itsuki, “AAHH!” A skeleton burst from the rubble with a sword in hand and it swings down at Itsuki. The blade would have hit Itsuki had it not be for Akira rushing the skeleton and she rips through it with her sword. Akira slashes through the skeleton’s bones and it fell to pieces.,Akira, “There are more coming! Get ready!”Another skeleton burst up near Maire, but this time Daniela clops it down immediately with her slash attack. Azusa gets back to her feet just as another skeleton emerges and attempts to run Azusa through with its sword. Azusa quickly parries the skeleton’s sword with her sword and then swings down onto the skeleton chopping it in half. Maire attempts to get ready to cast a spell with her mystic pom-poms, but the skeleton near her was about to cut her down.Maire, “… help …”Just then Azusa, Akira, and Daniela each slice through the skeleton and it turns to dust.Azusa, “Is everyone alright?”Daniela, “Maire?” Maire, “I’m fine. It didn’t touch me.”Akira, “We’ll need to be more careful if we want to continue. We may not be as lucky next time.”Daniela, “Agreed. Azusa, Akira, and I will take the lead. Maire, get your spells ready in case we run into anything else. Itsuki, be ready with your ‘toys’.”Maire, “Yes captain.”Itsuki, “Yes captain.”After quickly regrouping, the five girls continued to move together through the chamber. When they reach the other end of the chamber, they can see an opening from the chamber that leads into a tunnel. Daniela shines her flashlight down the tunnel but can’t see an end to the tunnel.Maire, “This place is huge. I can’t believe they build this in a few months.”Daniela, “This may take longer to explore then I thought.”Azusa, “Do we continue?”Itsuki, “Of course, let’s go. I’m not afraid of any ghosts.”The girls proceed into the tunnel. After walking together for several moments into the tunnel. Akira suddenly stops. Emerging from the tunnel wall on the right is another ghostly light; however, this light takes the vague shape of a person. The light walks from the right wall into the left wall and disappears. ,Azusa, “…. Another ghost light?”Akira, “A phantom. Harmless.”Azusa, “Not that I don’t trust you, but I don’t feel better knowing that its harmless.”Daniela takes a step forward and there is a click on the floor. Suddenly the floor opens, and all five girls fall into a trap pit. All the girls yell, “AAAHHHH!!!” and land onto a hard surface below. Azusa, “UFF… that hurt.”Daniela, “Is everyone okay?”Akira, “I’m okay.”Maire, “We’re alright but where are we and how do we get out.”Itsuki shines her light around the pit walls to see how to get out. As she moves the light around the room, she finds two crossed swords hanging on the wall. The moment that she shines her light on the swords, there is a chuckling sound echoing in the pit. The chuckling sound is like the chuckling sound they heard at the entrance chamber. The girls get ready for an attack to come from anywhere. Just then, the swords begin to glow, and they lift themselves off the wall and begin to float toward the 5 girls.Azusa, “Itsuki get behind Akira and me!”Daniela, “Maire, start casting something that will stop that ghost sword.”Itsuki runs behind Azusa just in time. One of the swords lungs at Itsuki but Azusa slashes at the sword and knocks it away. The other sword turns toward Azusa; however, Akira hits the sword and deflects it away from Azusa. Azusa and Akira continue to parry and deflect the two swords to keep it busy.Meanwhile, Maire changes her black ribbons into her enchanted pom poms. Then, Maire begins to dance and chant her magic.,As the battle continues, Azusa and Akira, who are getting exhausted fighting the ghost swords, yell back.Akira, “We could use a spell now!”Azusa, “If you are going to do something, now is a good time!”Itsuki, “Hang on a little longer!”Maire finishes her spell and suddenly the swords change their metallic color to a reddish-brown color. Despite the color change, the sword continues to attack one of the swords lunges at Akira. Akira slashes the sword attack, and it splits in half. Azusa slashes down onto the other sword and it in splinters. All the pieces from the swords fall to the ground with a clatter.Azusa looking back, “What did you do?”Maire, “I cast a transmute metal to wood spell.”Akira, “Good thinking.”Azusa, “Right, great job.”Azusa and Akira walk over to Maire thanking her. Daniela, smiling, is about to walk toward everyone, when suddenly a skeletal hand gags her and pulls her into the shadows. Daniela, “HNPHNPH…”,Itsuki, “What was that?”Maire, “Where did Daniela go?”All four girls begin to shine their flashlights around the pit, but there is no sign of Daniela. Akira, “She fell down in the pit with us, right?”Azusa, “Of course.”Itsuki, “Not good.”Maire, “We need to get out of this pit. See if there is a way to climb out.”All four girls check the walls of the pit, but the walls are completely smooth. There aren’t any visible ways to escape the pit, but it isn’t too long before Itsuki yells to the others.Itsuki, “I found a way…. I think.”The three other girls walk over to Itsuki.Maire, “What did you find?”Itsuki, “This …..”Itsuki pushes against the wall and a secret door opens. A putrid smell comes out from the doorway.Azusa, “AW. That smell. It smells like …”Maire, “Rotting flesh.”Azusa, “Not what I was thinking … but I guess that describes it well …. I think.”Akira, “I should lead the way. Everyone, keep an eye on our flanks. Make certain we don’t get ambushed like before.”The cheerleaders and Azusa move through the secret doorway with weapons ready. Akira in the lead, Azusa on the left, Itsuki on the right, and Maire in the center. The doorway leads into another tunnel that opens a little wider in width. Tunnel staggered along the left and right sides of the tunnel are what look to be prison bars. As the girls move forward, Itsuki shines a light into the first cell on the right. She sees a skeleton chained to the wall inside the cell. After getting a good look inside the cell, Itsuki turns and moves with the rest of the girls. When she moves away, the skeleton’s head looks up. Red lights begin to glow in the skeleton’s empty eye sockets like two eyes.On the left, Azusa sees a skeletal hand laying on the ground outside of the cell. Azusa walks closer to the cell, when suddenly, the skeletal hand reaches out to grab Azusa. Startled, Azusa falls backward and lets out a scream. Azusa, “AAHH!”The skeleton stands inside the cell continues to wildly flail at Azusa to grab her. Itsuki, “Are you okay?”,Azusa, “Yeah, I’m fine. That …. Thing surprised me.”Akira, “Let’s get out of this area quickly.”Maire, “Agreed.”The girls move quickly past all the cells quickly. The tunnel winds around to the right and the girls come across a regular door on the right wall of the tunnel. Azusa, “We should check it out. In case Daniela is in there.”Itsuki, “Yeah. Let’s check it out.”Akira moves to the door and opens it, then shines a light inside. They can see from outside bookshelves and a few desks. So, Akira and the other 3 girls move into the room together. They all shine their flashlights around the large room to inspect its contents. On the far side of the room, there are several rows of huge bookshelves filled with books. Azusa toward the bookshelves and begins looking at the book titles. The shelves contain books of old ship logs, fiction storybooks, and books with ancient runes on them, potentially spell books.Itsuki moves to a large table in the center of the room. The table has several scrolls and maps lying on it. On the edges of the table are several half-used candles. Against the wall that has the door the cheerleaders entered the room, are two desks with some old parchment with some smeared writing on them and more candles. Maire starts looking at the desks, but what catches her attention is a name plate hanging on the wall above one of the desks.Maire, “Hey, look at this.”Azusa and Itsuki move toward Maire, while Akira has her sword out and is on guard looking around the room.Azusa, “Look at what?”Maire, “The name plate. ‘King’s Deception’.”Itsuki, “That’s the name of Captain Ichikawa’s pirate ship.”Maire, “We should have brought some backpacks or bags to collect things. I wish I could take some of this stuff with us.”Azusa, “Put it in here. I can keep it in pocket dimensions. It’s an easy way for me to hold onto a large item without carrying them.”Azusa opens a small portal. Maire gently grabs the name plate and slides it into the portal. Maire then gives Azusa mischievous smile and hugs her.Maire, “Nice one Azusa. I knew there was a reason we shanghaied you to come with us.”Azusa (sarcastic), “Hilarious ….”Just then, all four girls felt the temperature drop in the room and the door to the room slam shut. The slam startles Azusa, Maire, and Itsuki.Akira, “Get ready! It’s coming!”,Just then all the candles light up with a weird blue light. Emerging from the bookshelves is a foggy form of man who appears to be in an old times sailor outfit. He has an eyepatch over his right eye. The spirit looks at the girls with anger.With a voice the echoes throughout the room. “You will all remain in this room forever with me.”Akira, “Don’t let it touch you! It’s a specter!”The specter lunges at Maire, Itsuki, and Azusa. Maire jumps onto the table and hops over to the other side of the room near Akira. Itsuki rolls under the table. However, Azusa slashes at the specter with her sword and cuts it.“AAAHHHH!!! HOW?!”Azusa, “My sword can cut anything. Including you.”While the specter is distracted by Azusa, Akira charges it from behind and chops it in half with her sword. “RRRRAAAAAAHHHH!!!! CURSE YOU!!!!”The specter disappears into a white mist. Then the candle lights go out and the room door opens. Azusa, “This is getting way too dangerous for us. We need to find Daniela and get out of here. Forget the treasure.”Maire pleading, “But … we can’t leave without treasure “Itsuki, “I agree. We can try to come back during another blue moon better prepared and with more people.”Maire, “But …. The treasure …..what about you Akira. “Akira, “I abstain.”Azusa, “2 to 1 vote. Let’s find Daniela.”Maire whines a little.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Daniela moans and opens her eyes. She doesn’t remember too much after being hand-gagged and pulled into the shadows. She tries to move but realizes she is tied and gagged to an old bed. Daniela struggles to escape her bindings when she begins to hear the clomp of heavy footsteps coming toward her on the bed. Daniela closes her eyes pretending to be still asleep. Suddenly she feels a skeletal hand on her pantyhose leg. She tries not to jump to alert whatever touched her that she is awake.,“Ah …. The warmth of human flesh. I have missed this feeling. You can stop pretending to be asleep, young lady.”Daniela opens her eyes to see skeletal form looks down on her. More than an animated skeleton, this undead radiated dark energy from it, this was a lich. Its aura of fear immediately affects Daniela, and she tries to escape it. However, her bindings keep her strapped to the bed. The lich howls with delight seeing Daniela’s reaction.The Lich had the old fashion clothing of a ship’s captain. Could this be Captain Ichikawa, thought Daniela …..“I have a present for you my pretty bride. And I want you to bring me my other brides who are waiting for me in these passageways.”The lich pulled out a pure gold ring and placed it on the finger of Daniela. Immediately, Daniela falls into a trance-like state.“Now, go. And bring your friends to me.”The ropes and gag vanish from Daniela, and she stands up from the bed.“I will obey you … my husband.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Maire, Itsuki, Azusa, and Akira all leave the room they just explored. Akira, “Be careful and be on your guard. I can sense a powerful undead boss down here. Things may get even more dangerous.”Azusa, “Great …..”After a short walk in the tunnel hallway from the room, the girls come across an open archway. On both sides of the archway are two stone columns which are in the shape of two beautiful sea wenches. The four girls cautiously walk toward the archway with Azusa and Itsuki in the lead. As they get close to the archway, Azusa steps on a stone and the stone sinks into the ground. Suddenly a stone wall comes straight down from the ceiling.Azusa, “LOOK OUT!”Maire pushes Akira out of the way of the wall falling down. The wall crashes to the floor of the hallway and Akira and Maire find themselves on one side of the wall and Azusa and Itsuki on the other side of the wall. Itsuki, “MARIE! AKIRA! ARE YOU OKAY?!”From the other side of the wall Maire responds, “YEAH! WE’RE FINE! WHAT NOW?!”Itsuki, “WE’LL TRY TO FIND A LEVER OR SWITCH TO OPEN THE TRAP WALL! HOLD TIGHT!”Azusa looks at Itsuki, “Sorry, I think I stepped on the trap’s trigger. I can use my power to open a portal through the wall.”Itsuki, “I don’t know. It could attract more of the undead here. Let me look for the mechanism to reset the trap first.”Itsuki looks down at the stone that Azusa stepped on.Itsuki, “It’s a primitive trigger, so I think I can figure a way to reset the trap.”While Itsuki is looking at the stone trigger. Azusa looks around at the archway and sees the two stone columns open their eyes. The eyes have a deep red glow to them. The two sea wenches both pull out their swords that are sheathed next to them and step down from their column pedestals.Azusa, “Oh …. Crap. Itsuki get up.”Itsuki, “Not now! I think I have this figured out.”Azusa, “Figure it out later! We’re in trouble!”Itsuki looks up and sees the two stone golems walking toward them.Itsuki, “CRAP!”Itsuki pulls out a puzzle box and throws it at one of the stone golems. Suddenly it is tied up in rope and falls over. The other golem continues to walk forward.Azusa, “Interesting gadget. Do you have another one?”Itsuki, “A few. I wasn’t prepared for all this combat we got ourselves into.”Azusa, “At least one is down.”Just at that moment, the golem that was tied up bursts out of its bindings and stands up.Itsuki, “You just had to say something.”Azusa, “It just means we’ll have to do it the hard way.”Azusa charges forward with her sword. The golem swings its stone sword at Azusa. Azusa puts up her sword to block the attack. Azusa parries the attack easily, but the force of the blow knocks Azusa back.Itsuki moves forward to try to help Azusa when she steps on another stone trigger. Suddenly, she is hit with a dart on her behind. Itsuki, “OUCH! What the ….?!”Suddenly, Itsuki begins to feel dizzy.Itsuki, “Uh … what’s happening ….. sleepy …..”Itsuki falls to the ground a goes to sleep.,Meanwhile Azusa evades another sword attack, moves past the golem and slashes at the sea wench’s stone leg. Azusa’s sword goes right through the stone leg and the golem falls to its side. Azusa turns around and moves on the fallen golem. The golem flails with its sword to try to hit Azusa, but Azusa avoids the blade and clops off the head of the golem. The lights go out in the golem’s eyes and the sea-wench falls apart.With the first golem defeated, Azusa turns her attention to the second golem. And second is right over top of the sleeping Itsuki and about to swing its sword down on Itsuki. Azusa panics.Azusa, “ITSUKI!!”Azusa uses her power to open a portal below the stone golem and it immediately falls in. Then Azusa opens another portal a few meters away from her and the golem falls out and onto the ground. Before the golem can get back to its feet, Azusa chops off its head. The golem falls to pieces. Azusa, “Oh god … that was close.”Azusa turns back to Itsuki and sees Daniela tying Itsuki up with ropes.Azusa, “Daniela! God I’m glad to see you!”Azusa runs to Daniela and Itsuki. “Where do you go? Uh …. And why are you tying up Itsuki.”Daniela looks at Azusa, “My husband wants to marry her.”Azusa confused, “Your husband?”Suddenly, Daniela hits Azusa with a neck chop.Azusa, “UH!”Azusa falls over into Daniela’s arms unconscious. “My husband also wants to marry you, Azusa.”,-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Akira stands next to the wall listening. While Maire, tired and bored, sits on the ground. Maire looks over at Akira, “What’s taking them so long? Do you think they went to look for the treasure on their own?”Akira annoyed looks back, “Shhh. It’s been quiet on their side for a while. There was a lot of noise earlier.”Maire stands up annoyed, “They probably did go looking for the treasure without us. I shouldn’t have trusted Azusa. She planned this with Itsuki.”Akira looks back at Maire, “Calm down. I don’t think that’s what’s happening. Do you think you can teleport us to the other side?”Maire still annoyed, “Yeah, of course, but I thought we were waiting for them to find a way to reset the trap wall.”Akira, trying to be patient, responds “I think something has happened to them. Get us over to the other side so we can figure out what happened.”Maire nods, “Alright.”Maire begins her cheer spell and soon, the two cheerleaders are teleported to the other side of the wall. When they arrive, they see that Itsuki and Azusa are gone. Maire immediately jumps to conclusions. “You see!” Maire yells, “They left us behind so they could find the treasure! And Azusa was worried about getting out alive!”Akira looking around the room, “I don’t think so. Look at that.” Akira points to the destroyed statues, “Those were the columns by the archway. There was a battle here. I’m very concerned about what happened to them. We need to find them.”Maire thinks, “Okay ….. but if we find some of the treasure.”Akira loses her patients, “Maire!”Maire, “Er, okay. We’ll find them and get out safely.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Azusa slowly stirs and wakes up on bed somewhere in the dungeon. Her eyes quickly adjust to the darkness in the room and realizes that she is tied and gagged on the bed.,Azusa, “HMPP?! HMPHPNMPH?!!!”Azusa looks around and sees that Itsuki is sleeping on the same bed next to her. Azusa nudges her until Itsuki begins to stir.Itsuki, “HMPNPMP?!”Itsuki turns and sees Azusa next to her tied up and she figures out what has happened. Both girls begin to struggle to break free from their ropes.Just then a voice begins to echo within the room, “So much life in you girls. I could watch you struggle for hours. I think I’ve been in the dungeon for too long ….”Itsuki and Azusa stop struggling and look around to see where the voice is coming from. However, they see Daniela standing in the room with a blank stare. “Now, let’s get my new two brides some gifts of my appreciate.”Daniela responds, “Yes, my husband.”Daniela walks over to Itsuki and gently places two earrings on her. Then she moves over to Azusa and pins a broach on her. Both Itsuki and Azusa fall into a trance. “Now my girls. Go and capture your two other friends.”Daniela, “Yes, my husband.”Azusa and Itsuki, “Hmmmmmm.”-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Maire and Akira continue walking the tunnel hallway pass the archway and come across an open chamber. Inside the chamber is a candle that is dimly lit with a blue flame that doesn’t move or flicker. Akira shines her flashlight across the chamber. Lined against the left wall are five chests. On top of the second chest is where the candle with the blue flame sits. Across the room and against the right wall is a pile of old ship equipment: anchors, rotting sails, ropes, old globes, compasses, scopes, oars, etc.…Hanging on the far wall straight across from Akira and Maire is dummy made with an old sailor clothing and stuffed with straw, burlap sacks, and a pumpkin head. To the right of the dummy is another exit to the chamber.Seeing the five chests, Maire immediately rushes to the left side of the room. Akira walks toward the dummy. “Strange, that pumpkin head must be centuries old, how did it last this long ….”Excited by seeing the chests Maire says, “Is it?! Is it?! Maire opens the lid to the first chest, empty. So, she moves to the second chest and knocks the blue flame candle onto the ground. The blue flame goes out.Just then, the pumpkin head moved, and two flames appeared in the eye-sockets. The dummy pulls itself off the wall that it was hanging on.Seeing the dummy come to life, Akira immediately readies her sword. Maire, who isn’t paying attention, moves to the third chest since the second chest is also empty. “NO! NO! Don’t tell me they are all empty!”“Maire! Turn around!” Akira yells.“What?!” Maire looks back at Akira and sees the dummy come to life, “OH CRAP!!”“CURSE IT HE WHO KILLS THE FLAME! CURSE IT HE WHO GIVE ME PAIN!” the animated dummy yells. Maire yells, “Its alive!”Akira responds, “It’s a witch’s scarecrow! It has a slain person’s soul bound to it!”The scarecrow lashes out at Akira and Maire. Akira blocks the scarecrow’s clawed wooden arms from hitting her. Maire barely dodges the attack on her. Akira thrusts her sword at the scarecrow and jabs through it. It lets out an evil laugh, “BWAHAHAHAHAHAH! CURSED ARE YE TO INCURE MY WRAITH! PREPARE THYSELVES FOR THY OWN BLOODBATH!”The scarecrow tries to hit Akira as she attempted to dislodge her sword from its body, but Akira is too quick. Maire nervous, “What do we do now?”Akira responds, “I’ll keep it busy, use some sort of fire spell.”Akira stands in-between the scarecrow and Maire and continues to parry and block the scarecrow’s attack. Meanwhile Maire casts her spell, “Akira! Fireball!”Akira jumps out of the way and the fireball slams into the scarecrow, and it bursts into flame and falls to the ground.Catching their breath from the battle, the burning scarecrow lights up the entrance near the wall that the scarecrow was hanging.Standing in the entrance way is Azusa, Daniela, and Itsuki. They don’t say anything just watch Akira and Maire.Akira yells, “Azusa! Daniela! Itsuki! Where have you three been?”No response from the three girls. Maire impatient yells, “Hey! We’re talking to you! What are you daydreaming?!”Akira whispers to Maire, “They appear to be under some sort of mind control. Can you use your magic to dispel magic?”Maire retorts, “Of course.”Akira response, “Then same plan as the scarecrow. I’ll keep them busy as long as I can, so you can cast the spell.”Shocked Maire says, “Wait…”But at that moment, Azusa, Daniela, and Itsuki begin to move forward. And Akira runs to greet them. Maire doesn’t try to argue anymore and begins to cast dispel magic.Immediately, Akira and Azusa clash swords, but the sword fight is ended quickly when Itsuki uses one of her puzzle traps to tie up and gag Akira. Akira falls to the ground. “HMPHMPHPHHPH!!!”,Daniela tonelessly says, “Good. One more.”Maire then casts the “dispel magic” spell which hits all three. The ring, the broach, and the earrings all fell off the girls. The three girls quickly come back to their senses.With her hand on her head Itsuki looks around, “What? Where? Akira? Why are you tied up?”Akira growls, GRRRRR.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Moments later, outside the main building of Ichikawa, a portal opens, and the five girls walk out.Azusa is the last to leave the portal, “Promise me that you won’t tell my sister about this ‘adventure’. She’ll ground me for a year.”Daniela smiles, “Maybe if you show up for cheerleader practice.” Azusa upset, “This is blackmail Daniela.”Just then, there is a shout from the school building, “HEY! What are you girls doing here so late?!”The five girls turn around to see Mirai and Adeline exiting the school. Adeline looking upset says, “You’d better have a good excuse for this or its detention for all of you.”,Maire, “Uh well …..”Daniela responds honestly, “We got a hint of where to find the legendary treasure of Ichikawa was and we wanted to look for it.”Mirai skeptical, “Oh, and did you find anything.”Itsuki, excitedly responds, “We did! Show her Azusa.”Azusa opens a portal and pulls out the nameplate ‘King’s Deception’.Mirai and Adeline are shocked. Adeline reaches out to take the nameplate from Azusa.“This is really old …. And looks real.” Mirai interjects, “But if Ichikawa’s ship nameplate was here, that would suggest that Captain Ichikawa never left this area ….”Adeline and Mirai look back at the five girls and Mirai says, “Okay girls go home. We’ll hold onto this nameplate as you found it on school property, we’ll need to get an archaeologist to take a look at this. Okay?”All five girls respond, “Yes Sensei.” All five girls turned to go home. As they walk together, Maire is upset, “I can’t believe we were so close to finding the treasure and we got nothing.”Daniel, Itsuki, and Azusa, all stop Maire and hand her the gold ring, earrings, and broach.Itsuki, “Here…. I don’t why don’t you take these. They are a part of the treasure.”Maire immediately turns happy. Maire grabs the gold from her fellow cheerleaders, hugs Daniela, Itsuki, and Azusa, then runs off.Azusa looks at the Daniela and says, “I’ll give the uniform back to you tomorrow.”Daniela gives Azusa a mischievous smile, “No, you’ll need it for practice tomorrow, besides it has your name on it.”Before Azusa could argue with Daniela, she runs off, “See everyone tomorrow.”Azusa yells, “DANIELA!!”Now with only Itsuki, Azusa, and Akira together, Itsuki turns to Azusa and Akira and says, “This was fun. We need to do this more often. And since you are a cheerleader now Azusa …”Azusa, “I AM NOT!”Itsuki continues, “…. you get to join us.” Itsuki mumbles to herself, “A villain turned adventurer ….. I like it. But we need more bondage in our adventures.”Azusa gives Itsuki a stern look, “I’m not certain I like where your thinking is going.”Itsuki turns to Akira, “But adventurers like this is normal for you, Akira.”Azusa looks at Akira, “You do this normally?”Akira waves her hands, “No, no, this isn’t normal.”Itsuki gives Akira a mischievous look, “Don’t pretend. I know you battle the undead at night all the time. That’s why you have that mystic sword ……” Itsuki turns back to Azusa, “But I still hadn’t figure out why Azusa has a magic sword.”Akira and Azusa gave nervous laughs.Akira response, “That’s not quite right I don’t battle ……”Suddenly, all three girls are grabbed from behind by Midori, Yumeko, and Fay.,Midori says, “And what are you three doing out here late at night in cheerleader outfits?”Yumeko excited, “I think I like Azusa in a cheerleader uniform.”Fay says, “You three had us worried. You know what that means.”Itsuki, “Uh ….. what does that mean?”Yumeko, Fay, and Midori all yell together, “PUNISHMENT!”Soon, all three girls are tied up and gagged. Azusa, Itsuki, and Akira “Hmpjnmpnhhphp!!!!”,Midori, “Next time, you’d better let us know what you are doing. You have no clue how long the three of us were searching for you. We were worried!”-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Meanwhile, at Charlotte’s Pirate Ship, an excited Maire is showing the gold treasures that she got from Azusa, Itsuki, and Daniela to Charlotte. “The legends are real. I managed to get this with help from my friends, but there must be more. MUCH MORE there.”Charlotte pleased responds, “Good work Maire. We’ll need to plan out a way to get the rest of the treasure. Ghosts or not.”(To be continued.....?)

Big thank you to RedFalcon23 for rendering the story pics.

Daniela is an OC that belong to RedFalcon23

Description

Daniela, smiling, is about to walk toward everyone, when suddenly a skeletal hand gags her and pulls her into the shadows.

Daniela, “HNPHNPH…”

Rendered pic is apart of the "Dungeon of Ichikawa" story.
Dungeon of IchikawaThis story is based on the characters, settings, drawings, and stories created by bothRedFalcon23 and Kalindorfredfalcon23.deviantart.com/kalindorf.deviantart.com/ If you don’t know anything about the characters and settings created by RedFalcon and Kalindorf, don’t read any further. You’ll be completely lost with the quirky large cast of characters. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dungeon of IchikawaLong ago, the notorious pirate Captain Ichikawa, who was on the run from the Royal navy, guided his ship up the waterway to a landing point that would later become Aoharu City. The captain and his crew moved their stolen treasure inland to a natural mound. There they buried their treasure to ensure that the Royal navy would never get it back. As the pirates sailed away, Captain Ichikawa vowed that nobody except him and his crew would ever claim that treasure. Captain Ichikawa and his crew were never seen again. Or so the legend goes.The legend of the treasure buried under a mound within Aoharu City had persisted. Many had looked for the treasure, but none had found it. The mound was originally part of a public park for many years. Named after the legend, it was called Ichikawa Park. Eventually, the need for a public school in that part of the city arose and a school was built on that land. Thus, Ichikawa High School became the major school in the Eastern District of Aoharu City. By now, the legend had become myth and few believe that the treasure truly existed …..Back to the present day, in the sports stadium at Ichikawa High School, the Ichikawa cheerleaders are practicing their routines.“Victory! Victory! Victory's ours! We're gonna win 'cause We are the stars!”,Daniela, the squad captain, moves out of line and walks out in front of her cheer team to address them. “Okay girls. That’s all for today. Here’s the schedule. Tomorrow, our tennis team and soccer/football teams are playing Oshiro. We will meet at the soccer/football field. Our basketball team is playing against Noble Rose Academy on Friday. We will be on the basketball court 15 minutes before the ball drops. Any questions? …… No. See you tomorrow.”Most of the cheerleaders head back to the locker room to change back into their school uniforms except for Itsuki and Maire. Itsuki walks over to Maire, the pirate girl from the past.Itsuki, “Hey Maire, do you have that old pirate map that you wanted to show me?”Maire, “Yes, right here.”Maire pulls out a yellow papyrus scroll and lays it out on one of the nearby benches. Maire, “I came across this map in a tavern when our ship stopped at a friendly port. The drunk who owned it claimed to have sailed with Captain Ichikawa, but he couldn’t crack the code on the map. I took it from him after he bet it in a game of cards. Everyone I’ve showed this map to …. spies, linguists, code breakers, none of them had any clue how to break the code.”Itsuki, “Got it. Wow, that was really challenging. Thanks for showing this to me.”Maire in shock, “You …. broke the code? And you did it in SECONDS?!”Itsuki, “Yes. It’s really cleaver. You realize these runes here are meant to …”Maire interrupts, “But what does it say! I’m dying to find out where to start digging.”Itsuki, “It doesn’t look like you need to dig, apparently Captain Ichikawa had spent a several months here digging tunnels below the mound. There was a wizard in his crew, and he sealed the entrance magically, but a portal entrance opens every time there is a blue moon. The map shows how to get to the portal entrance, but it doesn’t show how to get to the treasure in the tunnels. Apparently, there is a warning of traps in the tunnels.”Akira appears next to Itsuki and Maire, “And the undead walks under the mound.”Maire and Itsuki scream.Itsuki, “AKIRA! Don’t sneak up on us.”Maire, “And what do you mean?”Akira, “Skeletons and ghosts mostly. During the night of a blue moon, I’ve come to school to fight them. Coincidentally there will be a blue moon tonight. I’m coming with you.”Daniela appears, “So am I. The Ichikawa Pirate Cheerleaders vs undead Ichikawa pirates. I like it. And maybe we can see Ichikawa himself.”Maire, “This was supposed to be a treasure hunt, but this is turning into a dungeon crawl. If there is fighting and traps involved, I suppose I could use the help. My spell casting is good, but not great for close quarter fighting in tunnels.”Daniela, “I think we’ll need somebody who is good at close combat on our adventure. Maybe I can get Miyu or Aiko. Let’s ask.”-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Inside the locker room, Miyu changed into her Ichikawa uniform before anybody else even opened their locker.Miyu, “Bye everyone, see you tomorrow.”Dolly, “That was quick, Miyu.”Shiro, “See you tomorrow.”Aiko waves to Miyu as she leaves but doesn’t notice a gray/silver hair stalker watching her. Just as Aiko opens her locker. Yumeko hand gags her.Aiko, “HMPHNPMNHP!!!”Yumeko quickly ties up Aiko and carries her away. ,Just then Daniela, Akira, Maire, and Itsuki enter the locker room.Daniela, “Dolly. Shiro. Did Miyu and Aiko leave already?”Shiro, “Miyu left, but Aiko is still …. where did Aiko go?” Shiro looks around. Dolly, “She was right there …“ Dolly points to Aiko’s locker.Itsuki, “Looks like we are too late. Aiko and Miyu already left.”Daniela, “I guess we’ll have to ask somebody else who’s good at close combat preferably a swordswoman.”Akira, “Maybe Chitose …. Nevermind, bad idea. We’d probably get reported and get detention.”Maire, “I already have detention.”Akira, “I do too.”Itsuki, “Mirai said I had detention until the end of the month.”Daniela does a facepalm. “Can you three stay out of trouble even for a little while? Ah, I got it. I should have thought of her sooner. Azusa’s a swordswoman too and she’s probably still at school finishing up tennis. Let’s find her.”Daniela, Itsuki, Akira, and Maire rush out of the locker room to find Azusa.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In the school hallway, Azusa is searching for somebody. “Where did Yumeko go? It was her turn to clean up the tennis equipment.”Just then Itsuki and Maire sneak up behind Azusa and grab her.Azusa, “WHAT … HMPHPJNMPHHHPPHP!!!!”,Moments later Azusa tied up and Itsuki is tickling Azusa’s feet with her hair.Maire, “Okay Azusa, Itsuki will stop if you agree to join us tonight.”Azusa is laughing and nodding her head, “Okay, okay, I’ll join! Stop!”Daniela walks in and sees what Maire and Itsuki are doing and does a facepalm. “You could have just asked her.”,Itsuki smiles, “Why leave things to chance.”-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------After hours in Ichikawa, several of the faculty are at the school doing a late-night working session. Principal Mirai, Vice-Principal Alissa, and head teacher Adeline are walking in the hallway. As they move down the hallway, they don’t notice the five girls hiding around the corner.,Mirai, “We’re going to need to compile the students grades from the last quarter and submit to the superintendent. He wants to see some progress….”After Mirai, Alissa, and Adeline pass, the five girls begin to speak to each other.Akira, “Not good. Mirai and Alissa are here tonight.”Itsuki, “If we call it quits today, it will be about 8 months before the next blue moon.”Daniela, “We’ve gone this far. Let’s keep going.”Maire, “Aye, captain ….. sorry. I’m used to responding this way on a treasure hunt.”Azusa, “I have a question. Why exactly did I need to put on cheerleader uniform?”Akira, “The uniform is surprisingly good for sword fighting in. It won’t hinder you.”Azusa, “That’s not the point, I’m not a cheerleader and this uniform was my exact size and had ‘Azusa’ on the label.”Daniela nervously responds, “Uh …. Complete coincidence. It had nothing to do with me trying to recruit you to join the squad. Yeah, coincidence. Hahahahah”Azusa, “I’m suspicious …..”Maire, “Come on let’s get to the mound entrance. It should be opening soon if the map is correct.”The five girls move through the hallways and down the stairways into the basement. Itsuki picks the lock on the basement door and the girls enter.Itsuki, “Whoa, this a weird basement.”Maire, “The mound entrance should be in this direction.”The girls move further into the room and find a black portal open on the floor.Daniela, “Looks like you found it. Good job.”Akira, “The undead are definitely in there.”Azusa, “Great. Why do I always get pulled into fighting the undead? First that stupid island, then helping Yuna babysit ….”Maire, “Who cares, the undead are no match for this powerhouse team. Let’s get in there and find out if there is an actual treasure of Ichikawa.”Itsuki, “Right! Let’s get rich! Er, let’s have an adventure!”Azusa, “I knew I should have skipped school today.”Daniela, “Let’s go everyone.”Daniela and the four other girls jump into the black portal.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Daniela and her team of cheerleaders land at the beginning of a large open chamber. Inside the chamber, there is an odd glow that dimly lights the room. It is not visible where the light is coming from. However, the light shows that the room has rubble and dirty cluttering the chamber. Support beams are laying broken on the floor next to the rubble. Through the rubble appear to be several paths to get around it.Akira, “I can sense evil down here.”Azusa, “Great. Instead of wearing cheerleader uniforms we should have put on armor before coming down here.”Itsuki, “Don’t worry Azusa, the uniform gives you an armor class of 1, but it also gives you a -5 modifier for save throws again spells.”Azusa, “I have no clue what that means.”Daniela, “Obviously, it looks like this area had a partial cave-in. But that light couldn’t be coming from outside, its dark outside right now.”Maire, “Let’s move forward and find out.”Akira pulls out her sword. “Be prepared for anything.”Azusa, using her dimensional powers, opens a portal and pulls out her sword.”Itsuki, “Azusa, Akira, you two lead the way, the rest of us don’t have swords.”Azusa, “I see why you wanted me to be here …..”Akira and Azusa move forward with Daniela, Itsuki, and Maire following behind them. As they move forward. Suddenly there is a chuckling sound that begins to echo in the chamber.Daniela, “Does that sound like a laugh to you guys?”Itsuki who is visibly getting upset. “No, I don’t hear anything!”As soon as they clear some of the rubble, they see where the light is coming from. There is a glowing ball of light floating in the air, it begins to move around the room. As it moves it passes through support beams. The 5 girls just stand still watching the light and it finally floats down into the floor and disappears. The room is dark. All five girls stand quietly in the dark until Itsuki pulls out a small but powerful flashlight and she shines it around the room.Maire, “What the hell was that?”Akira, “Ghost light.”Daniela, “Ghost light?”Itsuki, “Well, whatever it was, it’s gone. Here, takes these. Clip them to your uniforms so that you don’t need to hold them. I invented them for … my hobbies.”Itsuki hands out the small flashlights and all five girls clip them on their uniforms.Daniela, “Lets push forward.”The five girls continued to move through the rubble. When they reach the center of the chamber, the unstable rubble next to the girls started making faint sliding sounds. Then came a loud snapping. Skeletal hands burst through the rubble and grabs the boots of Itsuki, Maire, Daniela and Azusa. Akira avoids the hands reaching for her. The hands trip up the four girls they grab.,Itsuki, “AAHH!” A skeleton burst from the rubble with a sword in hand and it swings down at Itsuki. The blade would have hit Itsuki had it not be for Akira rushing the skeleton and she rips through it with her sword. Akira slashes through the skeleton’s bones and it fell to pieces.,Akira, “There are more coming! Get ready!”Another skeleton burst up near Maire, but this time Daniela clops it down immediately with her slash attack. Azusa gets back to her feet just as another skeleton emerges and attempts to run Azusa through with its sword. Azusa quickly parries the skeleton’s sword with her sword and then swings down onto the skeleton chopping it in half. Maire attempts to get ready to cast a spell with her mystic pom-poms, but the skeleton near her was about to cut her down.Maire, “… help …”Just then Azusa, Akira, and Daniela each slice through the skeleton and it turns to dust.Azusa, “Is everyone alright?”Daniela, “Maire?” Maire, “I’m fine. It didn’t touch me.”Akira, “We’ll need to be more careful if we want to continue. We may not be as lucky next time.”Daniela, “Agreed. Azusa, Akira, and I will take the lead. Maire, get your spells ready in case we run into anything else. Itsuki, be ready with your ‘toys’.”Maire, “Yes captain.”Itsuki, “Yes captain.”After quickly regrouping, the five girls continued to move together through the chamber. When they reach the other end of the chamber, they can see an opening from the chamber that leads into a tunnel. Daniela shines her flashlight down the tunnel but can’t see an end to the tunnel.Maire, “This place is huge. I can’t believe they build this in a few months.”Daniela, “This may take longer to explore then I thought.”Azusa, “Do we continue?”Itsuki, “Of course, let’s go. I’m not afraid of any ghosts.”The girls proceed into the tunnel. After walking together for several moments into the tunnel. Akira suddenly stops. Emerging from the tunnel wall on the right is another ghostly light; however, this light takes the vague shape of a person. The light walks from the right wall into the left wall and disappears. ,Azusa, “…. Another ghost light?”Akira, “A phantom. Harmless.”Azusa, “Not that I don’t trust you, but I don’t feel better knowing that its harmless.”Daniela takes a step forward and there is a click on the floor. Suddenly the floor opens, and all five girls fall into a trap pit. All the girls yell, “AAAHHHH!!!” and land onto a hard surface below. Azusa, “UFF… that hurt.”Daniela, “Is everyone okay?”Akira, “I’m okay.”Maire, “We’re alright but where are we and how do we get out.”Itsuki shines her light around the pit walls to see how to get out. As she moves the light around the room, she finds two crossed swords hanging on the wall. The moment that she shines her light on the swords, there is a chuckling sound echoing in the pit. The chuckling sound is like the chuckling sound they heard at the entrance chamber. The girls get ready for an attack to come from anywhere. Just then, the swords begin to glow, and they lift themselves off the wall and begin to float toward the 5 girls.Azusa, “Itsuki get behind Akira and me!”Daniela, “Maire, start casting something that will stop that ghost sword.”Itsuki runs behind Azusa just in time. One of the swords lungs at Itsuki but Azusa slashes at the sword and knocks it away. The other sword turns toward Azusa; however, Akira hits the sword and deflects it away from Azusa. Azusa and Akira continue to parry and deflect the two swords to keep it busy.Meanwhile, Maire changes her black ribbons into her enchanted pom poms. Then, Maire begins to dance and chant her magic.,As the battle continues, Azusa and Akira, who are getting exhausted fighting the ghost swords, yell back.Akira, “We could use a spell now!”Azusa, “If you are going to do something, now is a good time!”Itsuki, “Hang on a little longer!”Maire finishes her spell and suddenly the swords change their metallic color to a reddish-brown color. Despite the color change, the sword continues to attack one of the swords lunges at Akira. Akira slashes the sword attack, and it splits in half. Azusa slashes down onto the other sword and it in splinters. All the pieces from the swords fall to the ground with a clatter.Azusa looking back, “What did you do?”Maire, “I cast a transmute metal to wood spell.”Akira, “Good thinking.”Azusa, “Right, great job.”Azusa and Akira walk over to Maire thanking her. Daniela, smiling, is about to walk toward everyone, when suddenly a skeletal hand gags her and pulls her into the shadows. Daniela, “HNPHNPH…”,Itsuki, “What was that?”Maire, “Where did Daniela go?”All four girls begin to shine their flashlights around the pit, but there is no sign of Daniela. Akira, “She fell down in the pit with us, right?”Azusa, “Of course.”Itsuki, “Not good.”Maire, “We need to get out of this pit. See if there is a way to climb out.”All four girls check the walls of the pit, but the walls are completely smooth. There aren’t any visible ways to escape the pit, but it isn’t too long before Itsuki yells to the others.Itsuki, “I found a way…. I think.”The three other girls walk over to Itsuki.Maire, “What did you find?”Itsuki, “This …..”Itsuki pushes against the wall and a secret door opens. A putrid smell comes out from the doorway.Azusa, “AW. That smell. It smells like …”Maire, “Rotting flesh.”Azusa, “Not what I was thinking … but I guess that describes it well …. I think.”Akira, “I should lead the way. Everyone, keep an eye on our flanks. Make certain we don’t get ambushed like before.”The cheerleaders and Azusa move through the secret doorway with weapons ready. Akira in the lead, Azusa on the left, Itsuki on the right, and Maire in the center. The doorway leads into another tunnel that opens a little wider in width. Tunnel staggered along the left and right sides of the tunnel are what look to be prison bars. As the girls move forward, Itsuki shines a light into the first cell on the right. She sees a skeleton chained to the wall inside the cell. After getting a good look inside the cell, Itsuki turns and moves with the rest of the girls. When she moves away, the skeleton’s head looks up. Red lights begin to glow in the skeleton’s empty eye sockets like two eyes.On the left, Azusa sees a skeletal hand laying on the ground outside of the cell. Azusa walks closer to the cell, when suddenly, the skeletal hand reaches out to grab Azusa. Startled, Azusa falls backward and lets out a scream. Azusa, “AAHH!”The skeleton stands inside the cell continues to wildly flail at Azusa to grab her. Itsuki, “Are you okay?”,Azusa, “Yeah, I’m fine. That …. Thing surprised me.”Akira, “Let’s get out of this area quickly.”Maire, “Agreed.”The girls move quickly past all the cells quickly. The tunnel winds around to the right and the girls come across a regular door on the right wall of the tunnel. Azusa, “We should check it out. In case Daniela is in there.”Itsuki, “Yeah. Let’s check it out.”Akira moves to the door and opens it, then shines a light inside. They can see from outside bookshelves and a few desks. So, Akira and the other 3 girls move into the room together. They all shine their flashlights around the large room to inspect its contents. On the far side of the room, there are several rows of huge bookshelves filled with books. Azusa toward the bookshelves and begins looking at the book titles. The shelves contain books of old ship logs, fiction storybooks, and books with ancient runes on them, potentially spell books.Itsuki moves to a large table in the center of the room. The table has several scrolls and maps lying on it. On the edges of the table are several half-used candles. Against the wall that has the door the cheerleaders entered the room, are two desks with some old parchment with some smeared writing on them and more candles. Maire starts looking at the desks, but what catches her attention is a name plate hanging on the wall above one of the desks.Maire, “Hey, look at this.”Azusa and Itsuki move toward Maire, while Akira has her sword out and is on guard looking around the room.Azusa, “Look at what?”Maire, “The name plate. ‘King’s Deception’.”Itsuki, “That’s the name of Captain Ichikawa’s pirate ship.”Maire, “We should have brought some backpacks or bags to collect things. I wish I could take some of this stuff with us.”Azusa, “Put it in here. I can keep it in pocket dimensions. It’s an easy way for me to hold onto a large item without carrying them.”Azusa opens a small portal. Maire gently grabs the name plate and slides it into the portal. Maire then gives Azusa mischievous smile and hugs her.Maire, “Nice one Azusa. I knew there was a reason we shanghaied you to come with us.”Azusa (sarcastic), “Hilarious ….”Just then, all four girls felt the temperature drop in the room and the door to the room slam shut. The slam startles Azusa, Maire, and Itsuki.Akira, “Get ready! It’s coming!”,Just then all the candles light up with a weird blue light. Emerging from the bookshelves is a foggy form of man who appears to be in an old times sailor outfit. He has an eyepatch over his right eye. The spirit looks at the girls with anger.With a voice the echoes throughout the room. “You will all remain in this room forever with me.”Akira, “Don’t let it touch you! It’s a specter!”The specter lunges at Maire, Itsuki, and Azusa. Maire jumps onto the table and hops over to the other side of the room near Akira. Itsuki rolls under the table. However, Azusa slashes at the specter with her sword and cuts it.“AAAHHHH!!! HOW?!”Azusa, “My sword can cut anything. Including you.”While the specter is distracted by Azusa, Akira charges it from behind and chops it in half with her sword. “RRRRAAAAAAHHHH!!!! CURSE YOU!!!!”The specter disappears into a white mist. Then the candle lights go out and the room door opens. Azusa, “This is getting way too dangerous for us. We need to find Daniela and get out of here. Forget the treasure.”Maire pleading, “But … we can’t leave without treasure “Itsuki, “I agree. We can try to come back during another blue moon better prepared and with more people.”Maire, “But …. The treasure …..what about you Akira. “Akira, “I abstain.”Azusa, “2 to 1 vote. Let’s find Daniela.”Maire whines a little.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Daniela moans and opens her eyes. She doesn’t remember too much after being hand-gagged and pulled into the shadows. She tries to move but realizes she is tied and gagged to an old bed. Daniela struggles to escape her bindings when she begins to hear the clomp of heavy footsteps coming toward her on the bed. Daniela closes her eyes pretending to be still asleep. Suddenly she feels a skeletal hand on her pantyhose leg. She tries not to jump to alert whatever touched her that she is awake.,“Ah …. The warmth of human flesh. I have missed this feeling. You can stop pretending to be asleep, young lady.”Daniela opens her eyes to see skeletal form looks down on her. More than an animated skeleton, this undead radiated dark energy from it, this was a lich. Its aura of fear immediately affects Daniela, and she tries to escape it. However, her bindings keep her strapped to the bed. The lich howls with delight seeing Daniela’s reaction.The Lich had the old fashion clothing of a ship’s captain. Could this be Captain Ichikawa, thought Daniela …..“I have a present for you my pretty bride. And I want you to bring me my other brides who are waiting for me in these passageways.”The lich pulled out a pure gold ring and placed it on the finger of Daniela. Immediately, Daniela falls into a trance-like state.“Now, go. And bring your friends to me.”The ropes and gag vanish from Daniela, and she stands up from the bed.“I will obey you … my husband.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Maire, Itsuki, Azusa, and Akira all leave the room they just explored. Akira, “Be careful and be on your guard. I can sense a powerful undead boss down here. Things may get even more dangerous.”Azusa, “Great …..”After a short walk in the tunnel hallway from the room, the girls come across an open archway. On both sides of the archway are two stone columns which are in the shape of two beautiful sea wenches. The four girls cautiously walk toward the archway with Azusa and Itsuki in the lead. As they get close to the archway, Azusa steps on a stone and the stone sinks into the ground. Suddenly a stone wall comes straight down from the ceiling.Azusa, “LOOK OUT!”Maire pushes Akira out of the way of the wall falling down. The wall crashes to the floor of the hallway and Akira and Maire find themselves on one side of the wall and Azusa and Itsuki on the other side of the wall. Itsuki, “MARIE! AKIRA! ARE YOU OKAY?!”From the other side of the wall Maire responds, “YEAH! WE’RE FINE! WHAT NOW?!”Itsuki, “WE’LL TRY TO FIND A LEVER OR SWITCH TO OPEN THE TRAP WALL! HOLD TIGHT!”Azusa looks at Itsuki, “Sorry, I think I stepped on the trap’s trigger. I can use my power to open a portal through the wall.”Itsuki, “I don’t know. It could attract more of the undead here. Let me look for the mechanism to reset the trap first.”Itsuki looks down at the stone that Azusa stepped on.Itsuki, “It’s a primitive trigger, so I think I can figure a way to reset the trap.”While Itsuki is looking at the stone trigger. Azusa looks around at the archway and sees the two stone columns open their eyes. The eyes have a deep red glow to them. The two sea wenches both pull out their swords that are sheathed next to them and step down from their column pedestals.Azusa, “Oh …. Crap. Itsuki get up.”Itsuki, “Not now! I think I have this figured out.”Azusa, “Figure it out later! We’re in trouble!”Itsuki looks up and sees the two stone golems walking toward them.Itsuki, “CRAP!”Itsuki pulls out a puzzle box and throws it at one of the stone golems. Suddenly it is tied up in rope and falls over. The other golem continues to walk forward.Azusa, “Interesting gadget. Do you have another one?”Itsuki, “A few. I wasn’t prepared for all this combat we got ourselves into.”Azusa, “At least one is down.”Just at that moment, the golem that was tied up bursts out of its bindings and stands up.Itsuki, “You just had to say something.”Azusa, “It just means we’ll have to do it the hard way.”Azusa charges forward with her sword. The golem swings its stone sword at Azusa. Azusa puts up her sword to block the attack. Azusa parries the attack easily, but the force of the blow knocks Azusa back.Itsuki moves forward to try to help Azusa when she steps on another stone trigger. Suddenly, she is hit with a dart on her behind. Itsuki, “OUCH! What the ….?!”Suddenly, Itsuki begins to feel dizzy.Itsuki, “Uh … what’s happening ….. sleepy …..”Itsuki falls to the ground a goes to sleep.,Meanwhile Azusa evades another sword attack, moves past the golem and slashes at the sea wench’s stone leg. Azusa’s sword goes right through the stone leg and the golem falls to its side. Azusa turns around and moves on the fallen golem. The golem flails with its sword to try to hit Azusa, but Azusa avoids the blade and clops off the head of the golem. The lights go out in the golem’s eyes and the sea-wench falls apart.With the first golem defeated, Azusa turns her attention to the second golem. And second is right over top of the sleeping Itsuki and about to swing its sword down on Itsuki. Azusa panics.Azusa, “ITSUKI!!”Azusa uses her power to open a portal below the stone golem and it immediately falls in. Then Azusa opens another portal a few meters away from her and the golem falls out and onto the ground. Before the golem can get back to its feet, Azusa chops off its head. The golem falls to pieces. Azusa, “Oh god … that was close.”Azusa turns back to Itsuki and sees Daniela tying Itsuki up with ropes.Azusa, “Daniela! God I’m glad to see you!”Azusa runs to Daniela and Itsuki. “Where do you go? Uh …. And why are you tying up Itsuki.”Daniela looks at Azusa, “My husband wants to marry her.”Azusa confused, “Your husband?”Suddenly, Daniela hits Azusa with a neck chop.Azusa, “UH!”Azusa falls over into Daniela’s arms unconscious. “My husband also wants to marry you, Azusa.”,-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Akira stands next to the wall listening. While Maire, tired and bored, sits on the ground. Maire looks over at Akira, “What’s taking them so long? Do you think they went to look for the treasure on their own?”Akira annoyed looks back, “Shhh. It’s been quiet on their side for a while. There was a lot of noise earlier.”Maire stands up annoyed, “They probably did go looking for the treasure without us. I shouldn’t have trusted Azusa. She planned this with Itsuki.”Akira looks back at Maire, “Calm down. I don’t think that’s what’s happening. Do you think you can teleport us to the other side?”Maire still annoyed, “Yeah, of course, but I thought we were waiting for them to find a way to reset the trap wall.”Akira, trying to be patient, responds “I think something has happened to them. Get us over to the other side so we can figure out what happened.”Maire nods, “Alright.”Maire begins her cheer spell and soon, the two cheerleaders are teleported to the other side of the wall. When they arrive, they see that Itsuki and Azusa are gone. Maire immediately jumps to conclusions. “You see!” Maire yells, “They left us behind so they could find the treasure! And Azusa was worried about getting out alive!”Akira looking around the room, “I don’t think so. Look at that.” Akira points to the destroyed statues, “Those were the columns by the archway. There was a battle here. I’m very concerned about what happened to them. We need to find them.”Maire thinks, “Okay ….. but if we find some of the treasure.”Akira loses her patients, “Maire!”Maire, “Er, okay. We’ll find them and get out safely.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Azusa slowly stirs and wakes up on bed somewhere in the dungeon. Her eyes quickly adjust to the darkness in the room and realizes that she is tied and gagged on the bed.,Azusa, “HMPP?! HMPHPNMPH?!!!”Azusa looks around and sees that Itsuki is sleeping on the same bed next to her. Azusa nudges her until Itsuki begins to stir.Itsuki, “HMPNPMP?!”Itsuki turns and sees Azusa next to her tied up and she figures out what has happened. Both girls begin to struggle to break free from their ropes.Just then a voice begins to echo within the room, “So much life in you girls. I could watch you struggle for hours. I think I’ve been in the dungeon for too long ….”Itsuki and Azusa stop struggling and look around to see where the voice is coming from. However, they see Daniela standing in the room with a blank stare. “Now, let’s get my new two brides some gifts of my appreciate.”Daniela responds, “Yes, my husband.”Daniela walks over to Itsuki and gently places two earrings on her. Then she moves over to Azusa and pins a broach on her. Both Itsuki and Azusa fall into a trance. “Now my girls. Go and capture your two other friends.”Daniela, “Yes, my husband.”Azusa and Itsuki, “Hmmmmmm.”-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Maire and Akira continue walking the tunnel hallway pass the archway and come across an open chamber. Inside the chamber is a candle that is dimly lit with a blue flame that doesn’t move or flicker. Akira shines her flashlight across the chamber. Lined against the left wall are five chests. On top of the second chest is where the candle with the blue flame sits. Across the room and against the right wall is a pile of old ship equipment: anchors, rotting sails, ropes, old globes, compasses, scopes, oars, etc.…Hanging on the far wall straight across from Akira and Maire is dummy made with an old sailor clothing and stuffed with straw, burlap sacks, and a pumpkin head. To the right of the dummy is another exit to the chamber.Seeing the five chests, Maire immediately rushes to the left side of the room. Akira walks toward the dummy. “Strange, that pumpkin head must be centuries old, how did it last this long ….”Excited by seeing the chests Maire says, “Is it?! Is it?! Maire opens the lid to the first chest, empty. So, she moves to the second chest and knocks the blue flame candle onto the ground. The blue flame goes out.Just then, the pumpkin head moved, and two flames appeared in the eye-sockets. The dummy pulls itself off the wall that it was hanging on.Seeing the dummy come to life, Akira immediately readies her sword. Maire, who isn’t paying attention, moves to the third chest since the second chest is also empty. “NO! NO! Don’t tell me they are all empty!”“Maire! Turn around!” Akira yells.“What?!” Maire looks back at Akira and sees the dummy come to life, “OH CRAP!!”“CURSE IT HE WHO KILLS THE FLAME! CURSE IT HE WHO GIVE ME PAIN!” the animated dummy yells. Maire yells, “Its alive!”Akira responds, “It’s a witch’s scarecrow! It has a slain person’s soul bound to it!”The scarecrow lashes out at Akira and Maire. Akira blocks the scarecrow’s clawed wooden arms from hitting her. Maire barely dodges the attack on her. Akira thrusts her sword at the scarecrow and jabs through it. It lets out an evil laugh, “BWAHAHAHAHAHAH! CURSED ARE YE TO INCURE MY WRAITH! PREPARE THYSELVES FOR THY OWN BLOODBATH!”The scarecrow tries to hit Akira as she attempted to dislodge her sword from its body, but Akira is too quick. Maire nervous, “What do we do now?”Akira responds, “I’ll keep it busy, use some sort of fire spell.”Akira stands in-between the scarecrow and Maire and continues to parry and block the scarecrow’s attack. Meanwhile Maire casts her spell, “Akira! Fireball!”Akira jumps out of the way and the fireball slams into the scarecrow, and it bursts into flame and falls to the ground.Catching their breath from the battle, the burning scarecrow lights up the entrance near the wall that the scarecrow was hanging.Standing in the entrance way is Azusa, Daniela, and Itsuki. They don’t say anything just watch Akira and Maire.Akira yells, “Azusa! Daniela! Itsuki! Where have you three been?”No response from the three girls. Maire impatient yells, “Hey! We’re talking to you! What are you daydreaming?!”Akira whispers to Maire, “They appear to be under some sort of mind control. Can you use your magic to dispel magic?”Maire retorts, “Of course.”Akira response, “Then same plan as the scarecrow. I’ll keep them busy as long as I can, so you can cast the spell.”Shocked Maire says, “Wait…”But at that moment, Azusa, Daniela, and Itsuki begin to move forward. And Akira runs to greet them. Maire doesn’t try to argue anymore and begins to cast dispel magic.Immediately, Akira and Azusa clash swords, but the sword fight is ended quickly when Itsuki uses one of her puzzle traps to tie up and gag Akira. Akira falls to the ground. “HMPHMPHPHHPH!!!”,Daniela tonelessly says, “Good. One more.”Maire then casts the “dispel magic” spell which hits all three. The ring, the broach, and the earrings all fell off the girls. The three girls quickly come back to their senses.With her hand on her head Itsuki looks around, “What? Where? Akira? Why are you tied up?”Akira growls, GRRRRR.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Moments later, outside the main building of Ichikawa, a portal opens, and the five girls walk out.Azusa is the last to leave the portal, “Promise me that you won’t tell my sister about this ‘adventure’. She’ll ground me for a year.”Daniela smiles, “Maybe if you show up for cheerleader practice.” Azusa upset, “This is blackmail Daniela.”Just then, there is a shout from the school building, “HEY! What are you girls doing here so late?!”The five girls turn around to see Mirai and Adeline exiting the school. Adeline looking upset says, “You’d better have a good excuse for this or its detention for all of you.”,Maire, “Uh well …..”Daniela responds honestly, “We got a hint of where to find the legendary treasure of Ichikawa was and we wanted to look for it.”Mirai skeptical, “Oh, and did you find anything.”Itsuki, excitedly responds, “We did! Show her Azusa.”Azusa opens a portal and pulls out the nameplate ‘King’s Deception’.Mirai and Adeline are shocked. Adeline reaches out to take the nameplate from Azusa.“This is really old …. And looks real.” Mirai interjects, “But if Ichikawa’s ship nameplate was here, that would suggest that Captain Ichikawa never left this area ….”Adeline and Mirai look back at the five girls and Mirai says, “Okay girls go home. We’ll hold onto this nameplate as you found it on school property, we’ll need to get an archaeologist to take a look at this. Okay?”All five girls respond, “Yes Sensei.” All five girls turned to go home. As they walk together, Maire is upset, “I can’t believe we were so close to finding the treasure and we got nothing.”Daniel, Itsuki, and Azusa, all stop Maire and hand her the gold ring, earrings, and broach.Itsuki, “Here…. I don’t why don’t you take these. They are a part of the treasure.”Maire immediately turns happy. Maire grabs the gold from her fellow cheerleaders, hugs Daniela, Itsuki, and Azusa, then runs off.Azusa looks at the Daniela and says, “I’ll give the uniform back to you tomorrow.”Daniela gives Azusa a mischievous smile, “No, you’ll need it for practice tomorrow, besides it has your name on it.”Before Azusa could argue with Daniela, she runs off, “See everyone tomorrow.”Azusa yells, “DANIELA!!”Now with only Itsuki, Azusa, and Akira together, Itsuki turns to Azusa and Akira and says, “This was fun. We need to do this more often. And since you are a cheerleader now Azusa …”Azusa, “I AM NOT!”Itsuki continues, “…. you get to join us.” Itsuki mumbles to herself, “A villain turned adventurer ….. I like it. But we need more bondage in our adventures.”Azusa gives Itsuki a stern look, “I’m not certain I like where your thinking is going.”Itsuki turns to Akira, “But adventurers like this is normal for you, Akira.”Azusa looks at Akira, “You do this normally?”Akira waves her hands, “No, no, this isn’t normal.”Itsuki gives Akira a mischievous look, “Don’t pretend. I know you battle the undead at night all the time. That’s why you have that mystic sword ……” Itsuki turns back to Azusa, “But I still hadn’t figure out why Azusa has a magic sword.”Akira and Azusa gave nervous laughs.Akira response, “That’s not quite right I don’t battle ……”Suddenly, all three girls are grabbed from behind by Midori, Yumeko, and Fay.,Midori says, “And what are you three doing out here late at night in cheerleader outfits?”Yumeko excited, “I think I like Azusa in a cheerleader uniform.”Fay says, “You three had us worried. You know what that means.”Itsuki, “Uh ….. what does that mean?”Yumeko, Fay, and Midori all yell together, “PUNISHMENT!”Soon, all three girls are tied up and gagged. Azusa, Itsuki, and Akira “Hmpjnmpnhhphp!!!!”,Midori, “Next time, you’d better let us know what you are doing. You have no clue how long the three of us were searching for you. We were worried!”-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Meanwhile, at Charlotte’s Pirate Ship, an excited Maire is showing the gold treasures that she got from Azusa, Itsuki, and Daniela to Charlotte. “The legends are real. I managed to get this with help from my friends, but there must be more. MUCH MORE there.”Charlotte pleased responds, “Good work Maire. We’ll need to plan out a way to get the rest of the treasure. Ghosts or not.”(To be continued.....?)

Big thank you to RedFalcon23 for rendering the story pics.

Daniela is an OC that belong to RedFalcon23