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[Determination]

                One the ship’s bridge, Granger approached Evie with a cup and a damp washcloth both balanced on a tray.

“You shouldn’t have,” she grunted taking her cup of coffee from the tray and sipping at it, “Shot of vodka?” she surmised, “Thanks, I needed that.”

“Figured you might,” he mentioned, taking a seat next to her and looking up through the glass dome over their heads, watching the electric shimmer as it played across the glass, “To take the edge off and all.”

“So you know…” she muttered, it’s not the illusion casting that’s getting to me,” she insisted, wiping a bit of sweat from her brow, “I’ve done bigger, for longer, it’s all a matter of focus and…”

“So, what’s actually bothering you?” he wondered, turning his head in her direction, “Is it what we’ve been talking about? Or…”

“I…I’m going to return to the church when this is all over,” she responded bluntly.

                Granger paused, taking a second to process the information.

“You’re…”

“I’m not turning anyone in…” she muttered defensively, “I’m not condemning, or even regretting what we did, but…I have to know.”

“Know what?” Granger nearly scoffed, “How sharp a knife is?”

“I’m already well acquainted with that.”

“They…are going…to torture you…to death!” Granger insisted, taking care to emphasize every word, “Especially if you’re not going to tell them what happened.”

“Then, they will,” she continued to mumble, hanging her head, “But, I’ll have my answer.”

“Answer to what?” he shook his head, then stopped, “You’re trying to find out if they were all corrupt,” Granger surmised, “If it was just the Holy Mother or…”

“If it’s the whole damned order,” Evie nodded, “I can accept it, at least, I think I can, if it was all bullshit, if it…if they were all lying…but…I’m …I Want to believe…I need to…know, without a doubt, I need to know.”

“I get it…” Granger nodded, and reached out to touch her hand, “But, you don’t have to…”

“Pretty sure I just told you that I did,” she insisted.

“No, not…not that, I mean…you don’t have to die, we could go with you, I mean, once this trip is all done with, our schedule’s pretty wide open.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t have the coin to pay you…”

“I think I can convince Belix to lower the price a bit,” Granger smirked, “Besides, I’ve never been to that side of the world before, It’ll be an adventure.”

                Evie tapered into silence, but a small, contented smile was curling the sides of her mouth, and they sat there for a long time, enjoying the quiet, and each other’s company.

                Back at the temple.

                Sylvester finished explaining the situation to the construct who remained impassibly neutral. Even once Sylvester had completed his story, it just sat there, looking peaceful and smiling at him.

“So…” it surmised, “You’re saying she’s dead then?”

“…yes,” Sylvester groaned in irritation.

“Oh, that’s just tragic,” it mused, then shrugged, “Anyway, thanks for stopping by.”

“…you’re not going to open the way for us are you.”

“No, of course not,” it smiled at him pleasantly while Sylvester grumbled frustratedly, “I know, it’s disappointing, but you have to understand my position…”

“You’re a glorified switch!” he snapped, “Your position is ‘on’ or ‘off’!”

“Fair enough,” it admitted, “But, the knowledge contained within the library is not something to be trifled with, and…frankly, I’ve only your word that it has been invaded, so, no, you’re not getting in.”

“Alright but…”

“And, before you begin, I’ve nothing to prove your claims that the Disciple of Water has fallen, nor that the Devil has even escaped, I don’t know you, and you have no proof, so…I’m in a bit of a bind here.”

“Well…but, can’t you scan me, or…or study my powers to…”

“How do I know you didn’t steal them?” it shrugged, “I’m sorry, but my orders are very clear.”

“This…” he sighed, burying his face in his hands, “This was the grand back-up plan created by the Great Sage Dante? Lose the password and fuck the world?”

“Who do you think accumulated all of that information?” the construct mentioned coyly, “Humanity is itself beautiful, versatile, and quite hearty, it’s survived these things before, I’m certain it will again, but,” it stood up and slowly began absorbing itself back into the floating orb, “The key to that survival, won’t be found here, sorry.”

                With an agitated expression on his face, Sylvester watched the construct disappear and the orb begin to drop. Just before it would have touched the surface of the sandstone table, his frustration broke, he snapped and reached out, freezing the orb in place. Lydia was the first to approach him, shouting in terror.

“What the Hells did you just do?” she demanded.

“I have no idea,” he admitted, wincing a little as the orb started to heat up and actively melt the ice, “But, I think I bought us some time, so, how does this thing work?”

“W-what?” she blinked at him in surprise, “What is that supposed…”

“I’m not hearing a hum or any electrical noises,” Clyde mentioned, approaching with all the others.

“No moving parts either,” Zeesa mentioned as she looked under the table, then paused, “Hang on.”

                Her body melted, becoming a puddle that easily slipped through the cracks under the table and disappeared into its base before returning.

“Nope, nothing,” Zeesa insisted as she reformed, “Well, one thing, this stone disk, kinda floating in air.”

“Okay, so not machinery,” Sylvester surmised, “Magic then?” he looked at Lydia and repeated his question, “How does it work?”

“Really?” Lydia glanced around the room, looking for some form of support and finding none, “Are you…are we seriously…ugh, fine.”

“Could you hurry up, please?” he demanded, a look of pain evident on his face as he stared down at the orb, now glowing brightly in his hand and visibly emmiting heat waves from its core, “This thing’s starting to hurt…”

                Letting out a sigh, Lydia threw her hands in the air and looked over at Zeesa.

“Okay, so…you said there’s a disk inside of the stump, right?”

“Near as I could tell,” the mermaid shrugged.

“Right…that has to be the control core, or…part of it?” Lydia mused desperately, “Maybe if we can get a hold of it and alter the terms…”

                Beside her, Belix suddenly opened fire on the base of the table, much to Lydia’s shock and horror.

“The Fuck Are You Doing?!!” the Witch demanded.

“Digging a hole,” Belix shrugged, but rested the rifle on her shoulder just the same.

“Did you want to break the damn thing?!”

“Isn’t that the plan?”

“ReWrite!” Lydia snapped, shoving her away, “We are going to rewrite the damn thing and…FUCK, does anybody have a…”

                She stopped short when Clyde offered her a throwing knife, and allowed a frustrated grumble to escape her lips while he passed one out to the rest. Together they used the bullet holes Belix had created to chip open the base and expose the disk hiding in the interior. Zeesa used her shape shifting to get a hold on it and pulled it out, handing it over to Lydia who studied the intricate sequence of glyphs and sigils scribbled across its surface.

“Well?” Zeesa wondered.

“Give me a minute here…” Lydia murmured.

“Oh, no, please…” Sylvester grunted in pain, his hand visibly smoking as he tried to contain the orb, “Take your time.”

“Oh, stuff it,” Lydia complained, summoning her floating fireball once more and examining the disk.

                Quickly scanning over the disk, she considered the spell, then slapped Zeesa on the arm.

“Let me see those,” she demanded, holding out her hand while Zeesa glared back at her, “You know, that thing will eventually burn his arm off.”

“WHAT THE FUCK?!!” Sylvester shouted, smoke starting to leak from his palm.

“It says so on here,” Lydia explained, then looked over at Zeesa, “Well?”

                Reluctantly, the mermaid pulled out one of her jade axes and passed it over. With the weapon in hand, Lydia started to scratch at the surface of the disk and remove a few of the sigils then started writing her own.

“Anyway you can turn off the orb?” Sylvester demanded, flames starting to overpower his ice and licking up his arm.

“Not just yet…” Lydia put in the finishing touches and passed the disk back to Zeesa, who held out until she also returned her axe, “Alright, just put it back in the base, and you,” she smirked at Sylvester, “Just hold on a second longer.”

                Sylvester grumbled and cursed, but did as he was told, holding onto the burning orb until the disk was safely back in the broken table. Of course, once it was inside, he instantly dropped the orb and fell to the ground, examining the blackened skin that now covered his palm.

“Anybody bring…medicine, bandages, ointment, anything?” he winced while Zeesa took her turn to examine the wound.

“Mostly bullets,” Belix shrugged.

“Here,” Clyde stepped forward and dropped one of the golden spiders onto Sylvester’s arm.

                Without hesitation, it scurried down to his elbow and quickly wound a thick golden weave across Sylvester’s arm, a makeshift cast, before leaping back into Clyde’s outstretched hand.

“It fades after a day or so,” Clyde explained, “And it won’t do much for the pain, but, it should do to keep the wound clean until…well, everything’s finished.”

“Thanks…” Sylvester nodded his head sincerely, “Thank you.”

                Clyde shrugged and moved back to join the others. Sylvester was about ready to ask what they should do next when the orb returned, floating above the sandstone table once more. It formed a construct once again, but, it was different this time, less defined, much more hazy. Rather than smiling or sitting down, it simply hung in the air, jerkily moving its head around until it finally managed to focus on Sylvester.

“Y-you-you…” it stammered, “P-possessing the power…of Disciple…not…the Disciple…explain.”

                Sylvester raised a worried eyebrow and glanced over at Lydia before standing up and stating his demand.

“Can you raise the Bridge for me?” he asked.

“Not Disciple…you…m-must…no, I wi-wi-will…not.”

                He extended his unburned hand and form an ice crystal in his palm.

“This is power I gained from the Disciple of Water,” he proclaimed.

“W-where…is…”

“Dead,” Sylvester stated bluntly, “Murdered by Del’Moth, we need the knowledge contained in the library to avenge her.”

“Dead…” it repeated, jerking and shuddering even worse than before, “Bad…yes…no…not…”

“What the fuck did you do to that thing?” Belix whispered.

“I may have knocked off a bit more than I intended,” Lydia admitted, “But what the fuck do you want, I was literally working with the broadside of an axe!”

“Please,” Sylvester continued to insist, “The world lost a great champion when she fell, and gained a terrible enemy, you must…”

“For…wa-wa-wa-water Disciple, f-from Water Disciple, I…I…” it raised its hand pointing towards a balcony off in the distance, “I open the way.”

                Orange light turned to emerald and flooded the room until it was all anyone could see. When it faded, a single glimmer of it remained on the balcony, shimmering like a fallen and then blasting the distance between itself and some unseen point off in the horizon. The Bridge soon followed it, not rising but materializing from forest and even the ocean waves off the edge of the island. At the end of it, they could just barely make out the peek of something jutting from the surf, a tower made from white marble.

                Collectively, the whole group let out a sigh and begrudgingly started plodding towards the balcony.

“Great,” Noob muttered, voicing all of their emotions, “More walking.”

                Staring at the tower in the distance, Clyde let out a frustrated sigh and stopped.

“To be clear,” he mentioned, “I’m not trying to back out or anything, but…How the Hell did this…Del’Moth get into the library without being noticed?”

“Oh…” Lydia sighed, “It didn’t.”

                Everyone stopped in their tracks, much too stunned to say anything at first, allowing Lydia to take the lead, but, eventually, she slid to a halt right at the start of the bridge. She hanged her head and stared pointedly at the ground as she felt the others glaring at her.

“You heard that didn’t you?” she asked loudly.

                It took a second, but everyone soon processed that she wasn’t talking to them. They turned about to see a gremlin with a skeleton head and flaming eyes walking into the room. To its left, a man in a well tailored suit, two golden revolvers holstered at his hips, kept pace, eyeing them warily. They were still in shock when a pair of twin lightning bolts blasted the group from behind. Zeesa and Sylvester were dropped instantly, down, but not out, Sylvester turned about in time to see Lydia standing with her hands outstretched, eldritch energies slowly dissipating from around her fingers.

“I’m not enjoying this,” she admitted in a truly miserable voice.

                Belix and Clyde were already diving for cover when a shot rang out, the man with the golden revolvers taking aim at the members of the group still on their feet, but Noob just stood there, scratching his chin, a bored look on his face. With both Zeesa and Sylvester’s bodies wrecked by the blast of lightning, she was helpless when Noob wandered close and kicked Zeesa hard in the face, knocking her out. Sylvester managed to reach out, almost grabbing hold of Lydia’s ankle, but she stepped over his arm, and knelt down, clutching his face in her hands.

“Sorry kid,” she whispered, then sent another jolt of lightning through his body until he finally passed out.

“You done playing with your food?” Del’Moth wondered as it approached.

                Lydia dropped Sylvester and backed away, unconsciously started wiping off her hands. It stopped next to the boys body, watching the smoke coil out from his ears.

“Is he dead?” it asked.

“Does he need to be?” Lydia grumbled.

                A gunshot rang out and the bullet struck the side of Del’Moth’s skull, sending shards of broken bone flying in all directions. Then it froze, the shards hanging in mid-air, and reversed, reassembling themselves while Del’Moth spat the bullet into its palm.

“Nah,” Del’Moth shrugged, tossing the crumpled lump of lead over its shoulder, “Give them something to worry over, at least keep them out of our hair for a bit, Let’s go!”

                Noob glanced down at Zeesa and shrugged before walking away, and the Man with the golden revolvers circled the room, keeping his weapons trained on Belix and Clyde’s hiding spot. Del’Moth remained on the balcony as the others made their way across the bridge.

“By the way,” it mentioned, raising its hands and floating into the air, “Thanks for opening the door, hope you enjoy the fireworks.”

                Clyde pulled the sling blade from his belt and genuinely considered rushing the demon. Then it moved over the bridge and, with little more than a thought, shattered the stone beneath it. With a frustrated grunt, he sheathed the weapon and stepped out of cover to check on the fallen. Zeesa had a nasty cut next to her eye, but she was breathing, and Sylvester had a pulse, but little else to indicate life. Clyde had to perform CPR when he realized that Sylvester’s lungs weren’t working, meanwhile, Belix managed to slap Zeesa back to waking.

                A few minutes later, they were both sitting on the floor, coughing and groggily trying to regain their wits.

“Tell me…” Zeesa moaned, “Why…is this always happening to us?”

“Technically,” Sylvester muttered, “This has never happened to us before.”

“Well,” Belix shrugged, “Not on this scale.”

“So…” Clyde mentioned, impatiently glancing over at the ruined bridge, “How are we going to handle this? Go back to the ship, get some reinforcements?”

“Grab the ship and collapse the tower,” Zeesa suggested.

“No,” Sylvester groaned, wobbling a bit as he got to his feet.

“You’re sure?” Belixe raised an eyebrow.

“No, and that’s the problem,” he snapped, “What happens when we leave this place, will the energy wave collapse? Will it dispel the tower? Will it ever come back?”

“…ah…” Belix glanced over at the hole they had smashed into the base of the table, “I see your point…just us then huh?”

“I’m as happy about it as you are,” Sylvester complained.

“And the bridge?” Clyde pointed.

                Sylvester said nothing, continuing to wobble forward until he was at the edge of the balcony and practically fell onto his knees, clutching the lip of the cliff with his bare hands. Ice erupted from his knuckles, filling the gap between the destroyed section of the bridge and joining its remains to the balcony. Almost falling over the second he rose back to his feet, he leered over his shoulder at the others.

“Answer your question?” he wondered, then started forward, “Watch your step.”

Description

[Determination]

                One the ship’s bridge, Granger approached Evie with a cup and a damp washcloth both balanced on a tray.

“You shouldn’t have,” she grunted taking her cup of coffee from the tray and sipping at it, “Shot of vodka?” she surmised, “Thanks, I needed that.”

“Figured you might,” he mentioned, taking a seat next to her and looking up through the glass dome over their heads, watching the electric shimmer as it played across the glass, “To take the edge off and all.”

“So you know…” she muttered, it’s not the illusion casting that’s getting to me,” she insisted, wiping a bit of sweat from her brow, “I’ve done bigger, for longer, it’s all a matter of focus and…”

“So, what’s actually bothering you?” he wondered, turning his head in her direction, “Is it what we’ve been talking about? Or…”

“I…I’m going to return to the church when this is all over,” she responded bluntly.

                Granger paused, taking a second to process the information.

“You’re…”

“I’m not turning anyone in…” she muttered defensively, “I’m not condemning, or even regretting what we did, but…I have to know.”

“Know what?” Granger nearly scoffed, “How sharp a knife is?”

“I’m already well acquainted with that.”

“They…are going…to torture you…to death!” Granger insisted, taking care to emphasize every word, “Especially if you’re not going to tell them what happened.”

“Then, they will,” she continued to mumble, hanging her head, “But, I’ll have my answer.”

“Answer to what?” he shook his head, then stopped, “You’re trying to find out if they were all corrupt,” Granger surmised, “If it was just the Holy Mother or…”

“If it’s the whole damned order,” Evie nodded, “I can accept it, at least, I think I can, if it was all bullshit, if it…if they were all lying…but…I’m …I Want to believe…I need to…know, without a doubt, I need to know.”

“I get it…” Granger nodded, and reached out to touch her hand, “But, you don’t have to…”

“Pretty sure I just told you that I did,” she insisted.

“No, not…not that, I mean…you don’t have to die, we could go with you, I mean, once this trip is all done with, our schedule’s pretty wide open.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t have the coin to pay you…”

“I think I can convince Belix to lower the price a bit,” Granger smirked, “Besides, I’ve never been to that side of the world before, It’ll be an adventure.”

                Evie tapered into silence, but a small, contented smile was curling the sides of her mouth, and they sat there for a long time, enjoying the quiet, and each other’s company.

                Back at the temple.

                Sylvester finished explaining the situation to the construct who remained impassibly neutral. Even once Sylvester had completed his story, it just sat there, looking peaceful and smiling at him.

“So…” it surmised, “You’re saying she’s dead then?”

“…yes,” Sylvester groaned in irritation.

“Oh, that’s just tragic,” it mused, then shrugged, “Anyway, thanks for stopping by.”

“…you’re not going to open the way for us are you.”

“No, of course not,” it smiled at him pleasantly while Sylvester grumbled frustratedly, “I know, it’s disappointing, but you have to understand my position…”

“You’re a glorified switch!” he snapped, “Your position is ‘on’ or ‘off’!”

“Fair enough,” it admitted, “But, the knowledge contained within the library is not something to be trifled with, and…frankly, I’ve only your word that it has been invaded, so, no, you’re not getting in.”

“Alright but…”

“And, before you begin, I’ve nothing to prove your claims that the Disciple of Water has fallen, nor that the Devil has even escaped, I don’t know you, and you have no proof, so…I’m in a bit of a bind here.”

“Well…but, can’t you scan me, or…or study my powers to…”

“How do I know you didn’t steal them?” it shrugged, “I’m sorry, but my orders are very clear.”

“This…” he sighed, burying his face in his hands, “This was the grand back-up plan created by the Great Sage Dante? Lose the password and fuck the world?”

“Who do you think accumulated all of that information?” the construct mentioned coyly, “Humanity is itself beautiful, versatile, and quite hearty, it’s survived these things before, I’m certain it will again, but,” it stood up and slowly began absorbing itself back into the floating orb, “The key to that survival, won’t be found here, sorry.”

                With an agitated expression on his face, Sylvester watched the construct disappear and the orb begin to drop. Just before it would have touched the surface of the sandstone table, his frustration broke, he snapped and reached out, freezing the orb in place. Lydia was the first to approach him, shouting in terror.

“What the Hells did you just do?” she demanded.

“I have no idea,” he admitted, wincing a little as the orb started to heat up and actively melt the ice, “But, I think I bought us some time, so, how does this thing work?”

“W-what?” she blinked at him in surprise, “What is that supposed…”

“I’m not hearing a hum or any electrical noises,” Clyde mentioned, approaching with all the others.

“No moving parts either,” Zeesa mentioned as she looked under the table, then paused, “Hang on.”

                Her body melted, becoming a puddle that easily slipped through the cracks under the table and disappeared into its base before returning.

“Nope, nothing,” Zeesa insisted as she reformed, “Well, one thing, this stone disk, kinda floating in air.”

“Okay, so not machinery,” Sylvester surmised, “Magic then?” he looked at Lydia and repeated his question, “How does it work?”

“Really?” Lydia glanced around the room, looking for some form of support and finding none, “Are you…are we seriously…ugh, fine.”

“Could you hurry up, please?” he demanded, a look of pain evident on his face as he stared down at the orb, now glowing brightly in his hand and visibly emmiting heat waves from its core, “This thing’s starting to hurt…”

                Letting out a sigh, Lydia threw her hands in the air and looked over at Zeesa.

“Okay, so…you said there’s a disk inside of the stump, right?”

“Near as I could tell,” the mermaid shrugged.

“Right…that has to be the control core, or…part of it?” Lydia mused desperately, “Maybe if we can get a hold of it and alter the terms…”

                Beside her, Belix suddenly opened fire on the base of the table, much to Lydia’s shock and horror.

“The Fuck Are You Doing?!!” the Witch demanded.

“Digging a hole,” Belix shrugged, but rested the rifle on her shoulder just the same.

“Did you want to break the damn thing?!”

“Isn’t that the plan?”

“ReWrite!” Lydia snapped, shoving her away, “We are going to rewrite the damn thing and…FUCK, does anybody have a…”

                She stopped short when Clyde offered her a throwing knife, and allowed a frustrated grumble to escape her lips while he passed one out to the rest. Together they used the bullet holes Belix had created to chip open the base and expose the disk hiding in the interior. Zeesa used her shape shifting to get a hold on it and pulled it out, handing it over to Lydia who studied the intricate sequence of glyphs and sigils scribbled across its surface.

“Well?” Zeesa wondered.

“Give me a minute here…” Lydia murmured.

“Oh, no, please…” Sylvester grunted in pain, his hand visibly smoking as he tried to contain the orb, “Take your time.”

“Oh, stuff it,” Lydia complained, summoning her floating fireball once more and examining the disk.

                Quickly scanning over the disk, she considered the spell, then slapped Zeesa on the arm.

“Let me see those,” she demanded, holding out her hand while Zeesa glared back at her, “You know, that thing will eventually burn his arm off.”

“WHAT THE FUCK?!!” Sylvester shouted, smoke starting to leak from his palm.

“It says so on here,” Lydia explained, then looked over at Zeesa, “Well?”

                Reluctantly, the mermaid pulled out one of her jade axes and passed it over. With the weapon in hand, Lydia started to scratch at the surface of the disk and remove a few of the sigils then started writing her own.

“Anyway you can turn off the orb?” Sylvester demanded, flames starting to overpower his ice and licking up his arm.

“Not just yet…” Lydia put in the finishing touches and passed the disk back to Zeesa, who held out until she also returned her axe, “Alright, just put it back in the base, and you,” she smirked at Sylvester, “Just hold on a second longer.”

                Sylvester grumbled and cursed, but did as he was told, holding onto the burning orb until the disk was safely back in the broken table. Of course, once it was inside, he instantly dropped the orb and fell to the ground, examining the blackened skin that now covered his palm.

“Anybody bring…medicine, bandages, ointment, anything?” he winced while Zeesa took her turn to examine the wound.

“Mostly bullets,” Belix shrugged.

“Here,” Clyde stepped forward and dropped one of the golden spiders onto Sylvester’s arm.

                Without hesitation, it scurried down to his elbow and quickly wound a thick golden weave across Sylvester’s arm, a makeshift cast, before leaping back into Clyde’s outstretched hand.

“It fades after a day or so,” Clyde explained, “And it won’t do much for the pain, but, it should do to keep the wound clean until…well, everything’s finished.”

“Thanks…” Sylvester nodded his head sincerely, “Thank you.”

                Clyde shrugged and moved back to join the others. Sylvester was about ready to ask what they should do next when the orb returned, floating above the sandstone table once more. It formed a construct once again, but, it was different this time, less defined, much more hazy. Rather than smiling or sitting down, it simply hung in the air, jerkily moving its head around until it finally managed to focus on Sylvester.

“Y-you-you…” it stammered, “P-possessing the power…of Disciple…not…the Disciple…explain.”

                Sylvester raised a worried eyebrow and glanced over at Lydia before standing up and stating his demand.

“Can you raise the Bridge for me?” he asked.

“Not Disciple…you…m-must…no, I wi-wi-will…not.”

                He extended his unburned hand and form an ice crystal in his palm.

“This is power I gained from the Disciple of Water,” he proclaimed.

“W-where…is…”

“Dead,” Sylvester stated bluntly, “Murdered by Del’Moth, we need the knowledge contained in the library to avenge her.”

“Dead…” it repeated, jerking and shuddering even worse than before, “Bad…yes…no…not…”

“What the fuck did you do to that thing?” Belix whispered.

“I may have knocked off a bit more than I intended,” Lydia admitted, “But what the fuck do you want, I was literally working with the broadside of an axe!”

“Please,” Sylvester continued to insist, “The world lost a great champion when she fell, and gained a terrible enemy, you must…”

“For…wa-wa-wa-water Disciple, f-from Water Disciple, I…I…” it raised its hand pointing towards a balcony off in the distance, “I open the way.”

                Orange light turned to emerald and flooded the room until it was all anyone could see. When it faded, a single glimmer of it remained on the balcony, shimmering like a fallen and then blasting the distance between itself and some unseen point off in the horizon. The Bridge soon followed it, not rising but materializing from forest and even the ocean waves off the edge of the island. At the end of it, they could just barely make out the peek of something jutting from the surf, a tower made from white marble.

                Collectively, the whole group let out a sigh and begrudgingly started plodding towards the balcony.

“Great,” Noob muttered, voicing all of their emotions, “More walking.”

                Staring at the tower in the distance, Clyde let out a frustrated sigh and stopped.

“To be clear,” he mentioned, “I’m not trying to back out or anything, but…How the Hell did this…Del’Moth get into the library without being noticed?”

“Oh…” Lydia sighed, “It didn’t.”

                Everyone stopped in their tracks, much too stunned to say anything at first, allowing Lydia to take the lead, but, eventually, she slid to a halt right at the start of the bridge. She hanged her head and stared pointedly at the ground as she felt the others glaring at her.

“You heard that didn’t you?” she asked loudly.

                It took a second, but everyone soon processed that she wasn’t talking to them. They turned about to see a gremlin with a skeleton head and flaming eyes walking into the room. To its left, a man in a well tailored suit, two golden revolvers holstered at his hips, kept pace, eyeing them warily. They were still in shock when a pair of twin lightning bolts blasted the group from behind. Zeesa and Sylvester were dropped instantly, down, but not out, Sylvester turned about in time to see Lydia standing with her hands outstretched, eldritch energies slowly dissipating from around her fingers.

“I’m not enjoying this,” she admitted in a truly miserable voice.

                Belix and Clyde were already diving for cover when a shot rang out, the man with the golden revolvers taking aim at the members of the group still on their feet, but Noob just stood there, scratching his chin, a bored look on his face. With both Zeesa and Sylvester’s bodies wrecked by the blast of lightning, she was helpless when Noob wandered close and kicked Zeesa hard in the face, knocking her out. Sylvester managed to reach out, almost grabbing hold of Lydia’s ankle, but she stepped over his arm, and knelt down, clutching his face in her hands.

“Sorry kid,” she whispered, then sent another jolt of lightning through his body until he finally passed out.

“You done playing with your food?” Del’Moth wondered as it approached.

                Lydia dropped Sylvester and backed away, unconsciously started wiping off her hands. It stopped next to the boys body, watching the smoke coil out from his ears.

“Is he dead?” it asked.

“Does he need to be?” Lydia grumbled.

                A gunshot rang out and the bullet struck the side of Del’Moth’s skull, sending shards of broken bone flying in all directions. Then it froze, the shards hanging in mid-air, and reversed, reassembling themselves while Del’Moth spat the bullet into its palm.

“Nah,” Del’Moth shrugged, tossing the crumpled lump of lead over its shoulder, “Give them something to worry over, at least keep them out of our hair for a bit, Let’s go!”

                Noob glanced down at Zeesa and shrugged before walking away, and the Man with the golden revolvers circled the room, keeping his weapons trained on Belix and Clyde’s hiding spot. Del’Moth remained on the balcony as the others made their way across the bridge.

“By the way,” it mentioned, raising its hands and floating into the air, “Thanks for opening the door, hope you enjoy the fireworks.”

                Clyde pulled the sling blade from his belt and genuinely considered rushing the demon. Then it moved over the bridge and, with little more than a thought, shattered the stone beneath it. With a frustrated grunt, he sheathed the weapon and stepped out of cover to check on the fallen. Zeesa had a nasty cut next to her eye, but she was breathing, and Sylvester had a pulse, but little else to indicate life. Clyde had to perform CPR when he realized that Sylvester’s lungs weren’t working, meanwhile, Belix managed to slap Zeesa back to waking.

                A few minutes later, they were both sitting on the floor, coughing and groggily trying to regain their wits.

“Tell me…” Zeesa moaned, “Why…is this always happening to us?”

“Technically,” Sylvester muttered, “This has never happened to us before.”

“Well,” Belix shrugged, “Not on this scale.”

“So…” Clyde mentioned, impatiently glancing over at the ruined bridge, “How are we going to handle this? Go back to the ship, get some reinforcements?”

“Grab the ship and collapse the tower,” Zeesa suggested.

“No,” Sylvester groaned, wobbling a bit as he got to his feet.

“You’re sure?” Belixe raised an eyebrow.

“No, and that’s the problem,” he snapped, “What happens when we leave this place, will the energy wave collapse? Will it dispel the tower? Will it ever come back?”

“…ah…” Belix glanced over at the hole they had smashed into the base of the table, “I see your point…just us then huh?”

“I’m as happy about it as you are,” Sylvester complained.

“And the bridge?” Clyde pointed.

                Sylvester said nothing, continuing to wobble forward until he was at the edge of the balcony and practically fell onto his knees, clutching the lip of the cliff with his bare hands. Ice erupted from his knuckles, filling the gap between the destroyed section of the bridge and joining its remains to the balcony. Almost falling over the second he rose back to his feet, he leered over his shoulder at the others.

“Answer your question?” he wondered, then started forward, “Watch your step.”