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“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.” -Matthew 18:10 (NIV) She didn’t know how it happened, the exact sequence of steps that ended up with Melissa kneeling where Barleby had fainted, cradling the Slakoth in her arms, but it sure had happened. “You tried your best, at least,” she said. She still wasn’t sure why this all had to happen, but since it had, she hoped Bartleby could rest easily knowing that. It was a notion that felt parallel to her own experience. She wondered what Bartleby dreamed of. More specifically, Melissa wondered if Bartleby did, in fact, want to be fighting “alongside everyone else” as the Constable (or the Constable through Kasayee) had said. This skirmish had, to her, seemed more like a facet of a Pokémon’s honor-bound nature, regardless of what Constable had said. Besides, even if the desire for self-improvement did lay somewhere within Bartleby, she knew where that path tended to end up for Slakoths. Slaking, after a vigorous middle evolution, epitomized “It wasn’t worth it.” It was a worrisome thought. At the same time, it was all she could do as Bartleby’s de facto caretaker -- she hesitated to use the word “trainer” -- to support whatever endeavors he did want to undertake. Fen said something encouraging, even if she seemed to struggle with some of the terminology. Melissa was no beast tamer, no matter how many animal faces a cherub had. Not that Melissa was about to correct her. They’d designated Bartleby as the team’s pet, even if the implications of that meant so much more. Melissa stood, still holding Bartleby in her arms. All in all, there was a whole mix of emotions still running through her, all coalescing into something akin to, “Thank you for your visit, Constable. Hopefully we have not kept you too long, and we would like to see you and Kasayee again soon. Right now, this one needs even more rest than he normally gets, so if you would excuse us…” She gave whatever curtsy she could with her hands full, and disappeared up the stairs to make a suitable bed. Hadn’t that always worked, a good night’s sleep? She would bring him dinner later, whatever she and Fen figured out that he wanted.

Blake had seen “stealth missions” before, and he was pretty good with sneaking around, so honestly, it wasn't a surprise that he was determined to do this without so much as a pe-... “Hey, what are we hiding from?” “Yeah, Blake, tell us,” Blake stumbled forward, quite frightened at this little predicament, so much so that his face planted right into the ground. He didn't anticipate not only Reno, but Destiny as well. With a slight grumble, he started to get back up, his face slightly red due to embarrassment. How they were able to sneak up on him like this eluded him, but questions for later. “Are we punching someone in the face?” “Oh, I hope so!”  “Can you keep quiet?!” Blake quietly yelled in a hushed tone, putting a finger to his mouth. “Sheesh… makin’ my job a bit harder…” He shook his head, proceeding to flip the panel and press the button. Naturally, nothing happened at first. It made sense, given how the elevator probably had a long way down. After all… secrets like that normally get dropped all the way to the bottom. “So, what brings you here?” “Well, I saw all of you, so I decided something fun was going on here,”  “I wasn’t talking to you, girl,. I was talking to him,” Blake felt Reno's hand on his head, and the slight shaking that was being done for emphasis. He thanked the elevator silently that it actually came back up, revealing itself to them. However, now he had garnered unwanted attention and involved his new classmates, at least these lot, into his crusade. Nevertheless, once the elevator started its mechanical groan and descended… he figured it was time he explained it. “You asked me what brings me here… do you mean in this spot or in general?” Blake asked, his eyes slowly cutting to Reno. "Generally in this spot," Reno answered with snark. Of course, the snarky one would continue to be snarky... not surprising whatsoever there. Taking a slow breath, Blake finally continued. “I'm here for one reason… and one reason alone. I'm looking for those connected to a group known as NORNIR…” Even the mentioning of their name… it left a strong sour taste in his mouth, and he wasn't liking it. “I don't know much about them personally, but I know that their ilk is the reason behind either the death and or disappearance of my father during what was called the Ragnarok Incident.” He clenched his fist, shaking slightly. “I was given information that NORNIR is here in Mountainguard… and I'm going to find them and put them to justice… And this here, it's hopefully my first clue to get to them…” "NORNIR?" Destiny looks at Blake, tilting her head a little. "Really? That's a pretty big thing for someone like you to go against." "NORNIR's a dumb name," was Reno's helpful interjection. "Trust me... I understand that, but it's the opposite of VALKRYIE from what I'm told..." Blake sighed, not expecting much from Reno's interjection. However... "You know about them?" he asked Destiny, now genuinely intrigued at the girl. She simply shrugged. "Army of the Stars were in talks with them for a bit there. Didn't end up going anywhere in the end.” Army of the Stars? Blake made a mental note of that… scratch that, he shuffled to his bag and grabbed a notebook, immediately writing down "Army of the Stars", underlining it a few times. For posterity sake, he even added Destiny's name down on the same page as well. Perhaps talking and or interrogating them might prove helpful. Either way, if these individuals could give him any sort of clue on what NORNIR was doing in this place, he would take it. He was honestly surprised he was able to explain this within the time-frame they had, because when he finally finished, the elevator lurched to a stop. The stumbling of Reno was a bit comical, but only because Blake had his stumble earlier… fair was fair, he figured. Nevertheless, Blake watched the elevator doors slide open and revealed… his heart sank. While it was a cavern-like room, it wasn't a secret base or the like… no, it was a room with a large ring in the center of the room. A wrestling ring… or one about twice the normal size of a regular one… Blake couldn't help but be disappointed at this revelation. After all that… the potential of my first clue… Blake thought, watching apparently Terry performing some wrestling maneuvers just to land in the middle of the ring, his back towards them. ...that's all on me, I suppose. This is what I get for assuming… He rubbed the bridge of his nose, clearly not thrilled about any of this right now. He'd be more in a sour mood IF he didn't have some sort of heading about NORNIR from Destiny, so maybe that was better than a secret base.  Reno seemed to cut the silence at this point. "So does NORNIR run a wrestling company, or is that new?” "...sadly not..." Blake composed himself, before shaking his head slightly. He then proceeded to clear his throat a bit. “Soooooo is this like Fight Club or would that be the top floor?”  

Although the front kick that the Nightwalker was performing towards Ziun was telegraphed... it was more frightening than if it wasn't. It's arc towards him shook the bard to his core... fear for his life... that must've been what he was feeling right now. Luckily for him... someone snapped him out of his stupor. "Ziun do something about this thing!" Ziun glanced in Lana's direction, seeing the Shadow chasing after her... and he glanced back at the Nightwalker. Was she for real right now? Back to his senses, he dodged to his right, to avoid the kick... which thankfully he succeeded. "I'M A LITTLE BUSY AT THE MOMENT!!" he shouted, a bit on the dramatic side if anyone would think. Nevertheless, once the kick was dodged, he took the opportunity to grab the Nightwalker's ankle with the vines. It took hold and that was one less thing he had to worry about. "Alright... now for that!" Ziun huffed, firing off a few icicles at the Shadow. The Shadow was hit... but simply lurched a bit... but that was it. He took the moment to disengage from the Nightwalker, throwing more icicles at the Shadow... even though they seemed to do nothing else. Thankfully he did disengage, as he heard the vines snapping... "Oh wonderful..." he muttered. There was something they were missing... Ziun had that feeling, he just didn't know WHAT that something was. How did those Shadows really take to their attacks? Seems physical attacks may not do much... he thought, remembering the moments he pelted some with icicles and the bee, plus seeing what Lana and even Chris had going on with their assaults. Illusions can pacify them... but once it ends up breaking... they're back to whatever mode they return to... They were out of options presently... no physical attacks nor illusions to really keep them in place. He lamented not having access to anything else that could truly stop them. Ziun had one other option... but it was a stupid idea. What if... what if they were simply under the impression they had to kill the Shadows? This dungeon had a weird way of doing things... so maybe...? The bard exhaled slowly, moving his way in the path of Lana and the Shadow... putting himself between the two of them. My sweet Goddess of Poetry and Music... please be with me... and not let this be my final melody played in life...