(No problem! Hope that works out alright <3)
Caelum ran his fingers through his hair and looked around, trying to figure out the best way to continue forward. "We should keep moving. It probably isn't good to stay still, especially since we don't really know what happened to that kid. We don't know whether the ice was a result of his own power or something else's, and I don't know about you, but I don't want to stick around here to find out." He looked up when someone unfamiliar came down into the tunnels. "Hmm? Hello? Who are you?" He asked.
Ren was shaking violently in Felix's arms as he was carried up, still struggling to get himself to wake up. His whole body ached, and some parts of his skin looked like they were almost still frozen.
Azel stood up upon seeing Felix return with someone new, looking bewildered. "Huh? Did you find a kid down in the tunnels??" He asked. "What happened to them? Who the hell are they?"
(Thanks! Things are looking pretty good so far. I'm excited to move tbh)
"Right. Let's keep moving, then," Aurelius agreed, softly treading ahead, "But something tells me if a monster or the person behind this caused that, we're not exactly going to get to avoid it. Might as well get the jump on whatever is down here though."
Aurelius whipped around to see Septima.
"Oh, bloody hell," he murmured, "Please lecture later. We could just use your help now."
She scoffed. "Don't have time for that. Besides, it won't make you learn."
With a turn to Caelum, she gave a firm nod, a flat expression over her face.
"Name's Septima. Saw Felix's flare and came to help."
"She's my cousin," Aurelius added, "I was raised as her younger brother though, more or less."
Septima drew a spear from the rocks on the tunnel floor, careful not to further harm any integrity the structure had left.
"Any idea what we're facing here? Already heard about the ghoul problem."
Felix gently laid Ren down on the ground and started up a fire in his hands to keep the other warm.
"I don't know. Found them in the tunnels, trapped in ice. Someone get me some tinder so I can get a campfire going?"
Felix kept his hands close enough to the kid so they could get the warmth they needed.
Caelum nodded and continued following Aurelius through the tunnels, keeping the shadows to the sides so that it was easier to see. He turned around and saw Septima coming closer. "Well, I suppose we can trust her for now, then…" He sighed softly, still pretty on edge for the moment. He had every right to be wary, after all. "Other than the ghouls, we aren't really sure what to expect, to be honest."
Azel nodded and ran off to fetch some firewood. In his absence, Ren started to stir and whine. He opened his eyes and glanced around blearily, still looking very weak and out of it. He clearly wasn't doing all that great.
"Fair enough," Septima said with a shrug, "Although I think we're all in agreement something very strange is happening here. But if we're up for a fight, I'm more than prepared."
"I don't doubt that," Aurelius murmured, "Of all people I'd have by my side in a fight, you're definitely up there."
He stopped finally at a doorway, which was clearly man-made in the middle of what was at least somewhat natural looking tunnels. A few sigils were written across it, clearly protection or warding off sigils to keep people out. Aurelius held out a hand to make sure none of the others got ahead of themselves.
"It's locked by magic. We should probably take the time to read these sigils so we can push through without endangering ourselves."
"Be my guest," Septima replied, "I'm glad to do whatever else you need, but I can't decipher any of that, save one or two symbols."
When Ren first started to stir, Felix looked over and tried to rouse Ren a little further. This was not good. He was no healer, and hadn't the slightest what he needed to do.
"Hey, kid, it's going to be okay. You're safe now, we got you out of there."
Felix thanked Azel softly when he returned and spread his flames over the wood with a flourish of his hand.
"Ah… I should've asked Auri for their cloak…" he grumbled, "The fire will have to do for now."
He stoked the fire a bit until the flames rose higher.
"This is really suspicious…" Caelum muttered. "It seems like people are behind this. The ghouls may have just been a ruse, or a distraction or something. What could they possibly be doing down here…?" He hummed thoughtfully, trying to decipher the sigils. "I'm not sure how to decipher these either. I never learned how to read sigils like these." He sighed and looked around for anything else that might be helpful, but didn't see much.
Ren coughed weakly and curled in on himself, shivering violently now that he was awake. "Nngh… where… w-where am I…?" He asked weakly, his teeth chattering. "W-Who are… who… are you people…?" Azel sat down beside the fire, looking uneasy.
"Well, I can't speak for anybody else, but I'm Azel." He said to Ren. "Nice to meet you, I guess. Not great circumstances, but y'know." Elio waved tiredly as well.
"I'm Elio… I assume you've got a name, kid? How old are you, even?" He asked, yawning and toying with his hair a bit. Ren was having some trouble processing what was being asked of him, but eventually understood.
"Um… I-… I'm Ren… a-and I'm s— s-sixteen…" He coughed again and sneezed, still shivering. He was soaking wet, and clearly wasn't well taken care of enough to fight off any illness particularly well.
"Alright, I can sit here and decipher these while you two keep looking around," Aurelius said, the pitch of his voice rising a little with excitement.
It was always a pleasant surprise to be useful, to have skills that no one else had. All that studying had paid off.
Septima paced back and forth through the tunnel, but she wasn't finding much either. Whatever they needed was definitely beyond the sealed door.
Aurelius hummed softly to himself as he worked on translating the sigils, making scribbles on a little notepad he kept around, for occasions like this (but mostly mundane reminders like shopping lists). Sitting cross-legged on the ground, he finished up his work.
"Alright, soooo, the first short set of sigils are locking the door. I just have to put in a countermeasure, which I will formulate in a moment, otherwise we could get hurt trying to open it. The second set indicates that this area is strongly affected by blood magic. There's a sigil here meaning 'workshop,' but it could also mean something closer to 'laboratory.' Also seeing the symbols for 'youth,' 'curse,' and 'sacrifice,' though I can't quite ascertain what they might mean by that. The answer should lie beyond those doors, though. Just be prepared for combat when I open them."
Septima gave a nod, leaning down and also magically fashioning herself a crossbow and a handful of bolts.
"Always prepared, my friend."
"I'm Felix," the young man said, "I brought you up from those tunnels. I know you're not feeling your best, but could you… could you answer some questions? Like what you were doing down there, and what happened that got you trapped in all that ice? My friends are still down there, and they're trying to defeat whatever evil might lie here."
He was also shuddering. Stupid annoying cold. Felix really needed to train harder so he could push through conditions like this, but he hardly had the time to put into extra training.
Felix dug into his utility belt a bit, trying to see if he had anything that might help Ren at all.
"Alright, you have fun with the potentially deadly puzzle, then." Caelum waned a bit as he wandered off to search for anything that might be helpful. He didn't really come up with much, though. The door was definitely going to be the only way to progress. The other tunnels were all just dead ends. He soon returned to where Aurelius was and looked down at the notebook curiously. "Mm… hopefully they're not sacrificing kids or anything. And hopefully that doesn't have anything to do with that kids we found…" He sighed and took a few steps back, prepared to fight off anything if necessary.
Ren seemed a bit overwhelmed by all the questions, but he figured that he would try his best to answer them regardless. "W-Well, um… I went down there b-because Pick told me to, and… a-and I don't think there's anything else down there that can use ice… that was my own power. I heard something come up behind me to try and attack me, s-so I figured I should try to fight back, but… I'm not really very good at controlling my powers, and I didn't really account for how narrow the tunnel was, so I must've knocked myself out…"
(Anyway, I was thinking maybe a lab, they're doing testing on specific species' children?)
"Usually sigils like this aren't super literal," Aurelius replied, "But I sure hope this one isn't. You know a lot of the ghoul victims have been children, and it makes me wonder if that's not too far off from the case."
His brow furrowed as he kept writing down a few more sigils, up until he had written a counter to the magic lock. He would have to transcribe it on the door first, but he was sure it was going to work.
Septima glanced over to Caelum, then back to Aurelius. "God, I hope not. Though what they could be sacrificing children to… I can't imagine."
Aurelius shrugged, trying to push past his own concern and just get them in there before anything else bad could happen. He reached into his pocket for a piece of charcoal and started scribbling his sigils on the wall. When he was done, the marks glowed blue, and the door opened before them.
Felix gave a nod as he let out a relieved sigh. At least they wouldn't have to fight someone else who could use ice. Not without him by their side.
"Thanks, kiddo. Do you know anything about what's actually down there, or is that a mystery to you too?" Felix replied, shifting positions.
He tucked his knees up to his chest and rested his head on his knees.
"I'm worried it's something powerful. I wouldn't want them to fight that on their own."
(Ooh, that could be interesting)
"Right… we need to be incredibly careful. If they are capturing and or sacrificing children, we need to be wary of whatever it is they're being sacrificed to. If it gets to be too dangerous, we'll need to call for backup." Caelum looked around warily for a few seconds and hesitated before going through the opened door. "Keep an eye out for anything that looks suspicious, and don't wander off. For now, it's safer to stay as a group."
"U-Um…" A chill ran up Ren's spine and he shuddered, still shivering from the cold. "Well, I… I-I don't really have any details. Pick just told me that a lot of kids were disappearing down there, and because of the specific species that were disappearing, he thought they might be doing something bad to them. So, he sent me to investigate. That's really all I know, though… I didn't find anything out while I was down there because I didn't get far enough."
(Okay, cool! We'll go with that, and maybe it's linked to other later story events? Of course, if you have any plot ideas, lmk because honestly I'm making stuff up as we go)
"And of course, be careful that no kids are harmed in any collateral damage," Septima added.
She went through the door after Caelum, leaving Aurelius in the back just to be safe. After all, he was most likely of the three to be downed by a single good hit.
The room was lit, dimly but thoroughly. In the first bit, there was a row of beakers and vials, and what looked like medical instruments. Aurelius shuddered.
"So a lab…" he murmured, "I don't want to know what for, but-"
He was cut off by the distinct sound of a child screaming and howling, and without thinking, he started running in the direction of the sound. Septima tried to grab at his arm, but he slipped past.
"I think Aurelius mentioned that," Felix said, looking to Elio and Azel, "The whole specific species thing. It's not completely clear, but some were said to be those with certain curses, like werewolves, vampires, that sort of thing. And well… I think there was mention of shapeshifting individuals like changelings and kitsunes, but especially with those who have lycanthropy or vampirism, the families may want to keep that pretty hush-hush. Which is maybe why it wasn't super obvious."
Felix furrowed his brow.
"No telling what's going on. I'm worried they'll need more help down there."
(Sounds good to me lol)
Caelum stayed alert as he walked amongst the group, ready to attack or defend against anything that might try and come at them. He kept swiveling his head so he could see all around, although he didn't particularly like what he saw. It was definitely some sort of lab, and from the looks of it, whoever was down here was doing some pretty horrible experiments. He abandoned his thoughts immediately when he heard a child screaming, however, and bolted off towards the noise alongside Aurelius.
Ren looked up at Felix with wide, curious eyes. He looked confused and concerned, like he was still a bit out of it and didn't entirely understand what was happening, but getting it enough to know that it wasn't good. Elio looked uneasy and eyed his injuries, figuring he wouldn't be able to help.
"Well… if there's kids who are getting hurt involved, Cae won't be nearly as careful as usual. He's willing to get himself hurt for stuff like that. And I don't know much about the other two, but… they'll probably need backup, and most of us aren't in much of a condition to help." Azel nodded in agreement.
"Right. You guys are injured, and my power isn't super helpful for combat. My fox form isn't all that strong, and neither am I. We should call for help, but I don't really know how to do that."
(I could always make a child to find in the lab 👀)
(Oooh, go for it! I'm thinking of maybe making a vampire later, but an adult who's invested in this whole thing, not a lab kid)
(Alrighty! I'll go do that then lol)
Septima bolted after the two, knowing she couldn't stop both of them, only assist them in a fight at this point. Aurelius skidded to a stop at the table where a child was strapped down, in the middle of some sort of transformation which was likely coerced by these "experiments." Someone in a mask was standing by the table. Clearly they heard the footsteps coming from down the lab, and they were prepared to intercept the three people who had come running.
Without thinking, Aurelius threw himself at the experimenter, desperate to get them away from the child.
"You sick bastard!" He snarled, "Don't touch them!"
Had he trained any less, Aurelius might have injured everyone else in the room when raw power came flooding from his fingertips. It sank down into the experimenter. While they shouted in pain as the decay set in, they were able to strike back with a sharp medical instrument. Aurelius didn't even get the chance to see what hit him, he was so caught up in the moment and blinded by rage. But when he felt something jab into his inner thigh, he instinctively pulled back, biting back a cry of pain as he drew behind Caelum.
"I could go back," Felix said firmly, "I've dried off and warmed back up. Heavens know Aurelius is going to get himself hurt down there, and Septima… she loses her grip when she fights alongside family sometimes."
He glanced around.
"I don't know if we have time to round up more help."
(Also I just remembered a couple of my OCs, and honestly they would make the perfect vampire/werewolf couple so I'm considering adding them maybe, if that's cool?)
(I made a smol, now I'm trying to decide his name and power aha)
(Yeah, absolutely!)
Caelum drew the shadows away from the corners of the room and threw himself onto the experimenter, pinning them down forcefully and using the shadows as a makeshift restraint. "You sick bastard… where's the rest of you?!" He growled furiously. "There can't only be one of you here. You're not the only one." He looked around for other people, never loosening his grip on the experimenter. "Make sure the kid is okay! Get them out of here!" He insisted to the other two.
"Alright." Elio replied, clearly frustrated that he couldn't join the fight. "If you feel up for it, I think you should go. I haven't seen any ghouls for a while, so we should be pretty safe up here. We can keep an eye on the kid and stay safe on our own."
"I don't need watching…" Ren insisted, sulking. "I'm sixteen. I can do tons of stuff by myself!"
"Sure, kid." Azel ruffled Ren's hair a bit. "It's just a precaution. You're not exactly in great shape, you know."
(I made a smol, now I'm trying to decide his name and power aha)
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/700892569370099805/870894390896369715/201332_7sg6Obx1.png.
I'm thinking that his power would have something to do with his eyes/things he can see which is why they would have removed one to see if they could use the power outside of his body or something? Idk scgbjk
(Oh……. babey… hmmmm, maybe something like Malus (with maybe Mal for short), Theus, Mavris (Mav), Kyvir (Ky). Pulled them all from randomized Tiefling name generator since he gave me those vibes, thought these sounded neat. As for power, your idea sounds cool. Maybe some form of hypnosis/light mind control?)
(Ooh, that sounds good! I think I might go with Theus/Theo? Sounds nice lol. I'll go add him to my wall of characters with some extra info)
(Nice! I love him so much already ;-; )
Septima ran to the table and cut through the restraints with her weapons, but her mind was already a mess. She was a good fighter. Aurelius should've let her take the guy on. But now that he was clearly hurt, she was on edge.
"Kid, get up and go if you can," she whispered, "That way- a-and if you can't, I'll help you."
Aurelius took a few slow, deep breaths, trying to ride out the wave of pain that surged through his leg. He was lucky. That was definitely meant as a jab at his femoral artery, which would have surely killed him, but they missed. That didn't make it hurt any less.
He found his head cloudy, though he did what he could to see if there were any more people around. With a limp in his step and blood flowing down his leg, Aurelius continued to look around.
Shaking, the experimenter pulled against the restraints. They were rattled already from the unusual wounds Aurelius had inflicted, and being pinned down like this was startling to say the least.
"Wha- How did you get in here?!" they whimpered.
Their voice rose a bit to call out for help from their colleagues.
Aurelius saw movement ahead and held ready to attack or defend.
Felix nodded and gave the others a confident smile, then made his way back into the tunnels. First, he heard the child's scream echo down the length of the tunnel. He broke into a run. The sounds of a scuffle broke out.
"Oh no… Oh no… I hope I'm not too late…" he whispered under his breath.
(I'll assume Theo is the kid we found aha)
Theus whimpered and carefully forced himself off of the table, staggering when he hit the ground. His legs felt weak and wobbly, and oddly heavy. Walking would be difficult, but he didn't want to get in the way. He looked over his shoulder and started limping towards the door as quickly as he could, tears rolling down his cheeks as the experimenter yelled at him to come back.
When the experimenter struggled against the restraints, Caelum tightened them, tightly gripping either end of the shadow restraints. "It's none of your damn business how we got in here. The hell are you doing experimenting on innocent children?!" He was clearly furious, his normally mild expression contorting with anger.
Felix was running down the tunnels, almost at a sprint. He saw the shadow of the child up ahead at the doorway. They seemed to be moving slowly, clearly hurt. That must be who screamed. Felix found himself gasping a bit. He wasn't really supposed to be running like this. He hadn’t figured he would be when he put his binder on this morning.
"Kid, we're here to help you," Felix promised, pushing into the doorway and readying himself to join a fight, "Everything will be okay."
The experimenter scoffed.
"Innocent? These children aren't innocent. The ones here are all corrupted! And who better to use for understanding power and how to use it than those beyond saving?"
"Get the fuck off your high horse," Septima snarled.
She warped off the end of her spear and made a knife, which she jabbed into one of their restrained hands. They screamed in pain.
"We're not here to play your games. This is a rescue, not whatever you're playing at. However, I will make you talk later."
The young woman was well-versed in fighting of course, but also torture. She knew how to hurt people just right. But that wasn't needed right now.
"Caelum, restrain them so that we can move on," Septima said, "Auri needs our help."
Aurelius found a second experimenter, who had come to the aid of the first. He was ready to fight and managed to get the jump on them.
His mind was a little more clear as the initial clouding of anger faded away, but he was also distracted by his injuries. Yet, he still chose to attack before they could attack Caelum or Septima.
Aurelius moved out his hand in a clawing motion, sending a wave of dark magic towards the enemy. But he couldn't stop the flow of magic once it started this time. The experimenter whipped around and flung a shard of magic ice at Aurelius, which he very narrowly dodged. Luckily for him, Felix was on the way and would be perfect to take on at least this foe.
Aurelius' body was exuding a dark aura. It sometimes did when he wasn't in the right headspace for using his powers, and he could definitely accidentally hurt an ally like this.
When Felix did come, Aurelius made sure to give him a wide berth, just to make sure he didn't hurt his friend.
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