Meanwhile, Romeo had gotten lost (as per usual) because he had no sense of direction. Then he smelled blood. A lot. Following the scent quickly, Romeo found himself standing in front of several dead bodies hanging on the wall. "This is some decoration… Hey Yama, you into interior design?" He asked as he approached Yama, because he was most definitely NOT faster.
(Sorry to make you worry Ember!)
Aza teleported to the throne room, waved her hands a bit, then teleported to the 'dungeon.' "Hello, boys," she said imperiously.
"Hello milady." Romeo stopped running and bowed. "We're stealing some treasure, wanna help?"
"I disabled the alarms, you're welcome," she replied. "That's a yes."
"I wouldn't call it we, kimosabe," Yama grunted while sealing off the doors and ceiling to the hoard. The boxes were now above the bubble that he created, leaving Romeo and Aza in the same space where the room was. They could figure out what was what, and a low rumble started as Yama used his Earthbending to move the bubble outside of the castle very quickly. Dirt and stone deformed around the hoard, wrapping around it as easily as water around a fist, and three seconds later Yama was already at the line of trees behind the castle.
"Aaaand speaking of stealing treasure, we just got fooled." Romeo said in the silence that followed after Yama's betrayal.
(Not betrayal! I left you the box! I thought Aza was here to spite her mother! Yama only got what he thought he was entitled to when he took the job! Romeo was only after the Paradox Box, and he left every box-shaped object for you to pick through!)
(you did take all the money tho. It's totally okay though, because I doubt this is going to be the last time Romeo and Yama interact)
"Kemosabe?" Aza said disgustedly.
Oh. Man, Yama thought. I'm rich! Now I just need to drop most of this off and take some for the road!
Picking up the box, Romeo considered being angry. Shrugging it off, he looked at the box. "Wonder what's in it." He muttered.
(Would you guys be cool if we added more characters? Or nah?)
(yeah that's cool!)
Aza plucked it out of his grasp and cast a quick spell over it. "I'd suggest not opening Pandora's box," she said.
"Hey, I need that, if you don't mind." Romeo replied, snatching the box back. "And now to go see our employer. Toodles, Azzy." Romeo said, vanishing dramatically in a cloud of smoke.
Re-appearing in front of an old shack, Romeo knocked on the door three times.
Aza hissed in frustration and took the magic signature of Romeo's smoke. Reappearing beside him, she took the box out of his hands again and magiked it into a lockbox. "It's Pandora's box, Romey," she said and tucked it under her arm.
"Yeah, Azzy but finders keepers losers weepers. Not counting Yama 'cause he's already a weeper." Romeo said, snapping a finger. A puff of smoke and the lock box appeared in one hand, and the magic box in the other. Handing the lock box to Aza just as the door opened, Romeo turned to an old woman who stood in the door.
"Ah, Romeo, this must be your Juliet? Come in, come in, both of you." She said, a smile on her face.
"Yeah yeah, real original." Romeo muttered, stepping inside.
"Okay, Juliet? You've already taken it too far," she said and glared at the woman, but went inside.
"Forgive me, Azalane, my vision is fading." The old woman says to Azalane. "Ever since my sisters cut me off, I've been wasting away." She says sadly. Romeo hands her the box. "I wish you the best of luck, Atropos. Don't forget our deal." 'Atropos' smiles, appearing an innocent old woman. "Azalane, Romeo, you two shall be kept from my wrath and my end of the deal will be fulfilled." She says, a sly element creeping into her smile. Nodding, Romeo headed back to the door. He held it open for Aza.
Aza followed Romeo and exited, but turned to Romeo and said, "Is she…sane?"
"She's halfway gone, but it's her age. Now she'll be much happier, and hopefully more sane. She's one of the three Fates, ever heard of 'em? Clotho, Atropos, and Parcae." Romeo says to Aza, just as a bang goes off inside the shack.
"Um…Wow, okay. Where to now?" Aza said and threw her hands toward the sky. A black cloak swirled down to land on her shoulders, which she drew around herself tightly.
"Nowhere." A voice hissed from the shadows, responding to Aza's question. "Who's there?" Romeo asked, defensively. "A man covered in bruises and scratches emerged from the brush. "Do you know what you've just done?" He asked. He had an accent, he sounded Australian, but it was a very light accent so Romeo couldn't tell for sure.
"It's none of your business, so why don't you go back to bouncing in the bushes." Romeo retorted. The man's golden eyes glinted, and he furrowed his eyebrows in rage. "You're a fool, you know." He said, and then turned to Aza. "You're better off running now, because whatever Atropos is doing now will kill us all." Romeo shook his head and laughed. "Listen up, cowboy, we made a deal with Atropos, so the only one getting killed here is you." The man widened his eyes. "You're even more of a fool than I took you for, Romeo." He said.
"Okay, I'm beginning to think we should leave now," Aza said, gazing at the 'cowboy.'
(Yo, if Atropos or the cowboy's conflict has any far-reaching ramifications, I'll be happy to lump Yama back into things.)
(definitely, what's going to happen is Atropos creates a spell that brings every dead man/woman with unfinished business back to life. I'm guessing our characters have a few enemies, so perhaps our enemies could join together so we all have no choice but tO dO tHe sAmE?)
(AAAA PLOT TWIsT)
Romeo agreed. "Yeah, let's go. We probably shouldn't be here when Atropos completes her spell." Romeo says, glaring at the man. Scowling and realizing Romeo wouldn't budge on his decision, the man retreated into the brush, searching for the last person to warn.
(lMaO gEt ReADY for some ACTiOn, bOyz AnD giRLs)
"Okay, let's go, shall we?" Aza said.
"We shall," Romeo says. "Where to exactly?"
"Excuse me?" The same man who had confronted Romeo appeared to Yama. "Excuse me, sir, you were part of the group who raided the Faerie's Castle, no?" He says.