Rubik's Cube

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It was an oddly cloudy day today, even for Venen Gulch and the surrounding areas. Come to think of it, it'd been pretty cloudy in.... well, everywhere lately. It didn't exactly make for very appealing scenery, but honestly, this area wasn't very visually appealing in the first place, so that didn't really matter. Sova, for one, was here for two reasons. The Grima Outpost had helped him with one of his two goals; Finding a familiar zoroark. Now he just needed one more thing.... To get back to the forest. "Trust me, you'll love this place," he assured Mirage as they neared a large, old chateau.

Following the two from just barely close enough to see them was a little silver fox-like creature, a "shiny" eevee. While this body coloration made her fairly easy to spot in.... nearly any setting, she was being careful to stay behind what little cover she could find. However, cover was rather difficult to find in a barren place like this, so she didn't get many chances to move, having to wait for the other two to get very far away. She had a black bandanna over the lower half of her face in the hopes of not being identified if she was seen as well as to help with breathing the awful air in this area.... and because she wanted to look intimidating. Not that anything could help with that last one. Honestly, how was she supposed to look intimidating as a silvery-colored eevee?

Krikka, the eevee was called, had been following not so much the glaceon as the zoroark. She knew who the zoroark was and really wanted to talk to her! Oh, the things she could learn from an avid outlaw! She was also curious to see where Mirage could possibly be going with some random guy and from what she could tell, it was that supposedly haunted house that was in the area. But why with the random guy!? He certainly wasn't an outlaw Krikka had ever heard of. Were the two.... together, or something? Impossible, surely such a high-class outlaw had standards!

Mirage shivered, the room suddenly dropping to what seemed to be as cold as that damned place with the frosslass back when Sova was still an eevee. How long ago was that anyways? She gripped the sides of her arms, trying to keep warm as her fur failed to retain the heat in her body. Haze, a move was being used, meaning something was in the room with her. Her lips curled in a snarl, her ears flattened against her head as she looked around, there was something here, but the haze was obscuring her vision. All she could see was the cold mist and the red glaring eyes of the photo.

With a snarl of anger, she unleashed a Night Slash at the work of art, enraged by its glaring and frightened by these sudden events. She needed to find the source and stop it, it was too scary, she couldn't be scared! She was an outlaw! She was supposed to be causing fear, not receiving it! She felt the artwork rip and tear in between her claws, the eyes faded, but the haze remained.

"Show yourself!" she snarled, but there was no answer...

Victoria traveled down the hall, following the trail of ice. She hoped that she could find at least one of the two that they were traveling with. She wondered if she could recruit them? No, the zoroark would be too interested in her treasure and the glaceon would likely be more interested in the guild. She sighed, "So, what are you? You know, besides being an eevee?" Victoria asked, wondering if this eevee might have some kind of use.

Mirage

Kat carried out 1 launched of one Ruined Chateau :

Victoria

Kat carried out 1 launched of one Ruined Chateau :

The glaceon looked around the room for any sign of a way out, but found none.  It seemed this place had trapped him here....  Fine, if that was the way it wanted to play, he would just have to make a door.  The air around him quickly dropped in temperature, covering the floor with ice and quickly whipping up a lightly swirling vortex of snow around him.  Suddenly, the Blizzard separated into a few swirling balls of wind and snow, which then one by one took the shape of spikes and flew into the painting on the wall with perfect precision, all hitting in nearly the exact same spot, which was around the chest-area of the creature depicted.  The painting tore to reveal the wall behind it, which then began to crack due to the already-present instability brought on by age coupled with the hard hits.

S.S. then took a deep breath and fired a Frost Breath, though it was clearly stronger than Sova's normal Frost Breath.  A pulse of misty air erupted from his mouth as the attack went out, showing the force with which it was fired.  The wall audibly and visibly cracked and grew closer to breaking as the attack made contact, now on the verge of breaking.  To finish it off, his body instantly froze with ice armor and he simply rammed into the spot he'd been targeting, breaking through it and tumbling to the other side.... right through a tattered piece of art that was once a zoroark.

"Burned," Krikka simply responded, stating the rather obvious fact that she'd been burned.
What else was she going to say, that she was an outlaw?  Actually, maybe that wouldn't be too bad of an idea....  Considering this tyrunt was willingly associating with an outlaw already, maybe it would be better to be honest.  Maybe Victoria liked outlaws or something?  "Seriously, though.  I'm an outlaw," she continued.
What was the worst that could happen?  She could always claim to be a friend of Mirage, or even Sova if Victoria decided to attack her.  No way the tyrunt would attack knowing something like that, right?  Even if it wasn't true....

Sova

Lord E V carried out 5 launched of one Ruined Chateau :

, , , ,

Mirage kept attacking strange shadows within the room, growling in anger as it seemed to slip through her claws. Snarling with wide eyes, scanning the room. However it seemed that her prayers of oblivion came to ease her terrified feelings, as something smashed through the painting as she stood in front of it. The zoroark was smashed into by a cold hard object, and slammed into the opposite side of the wall, before passing out.

"Ah," Victoria spoke, not really caring that Krikka was an outlaw. Social status meant nothing when it came to skill, so why should it matter? The tyrunt continued onward, the hallways seemingly endless before she spoke, "This place sure is creepy, my father's catacombs were worse though, the dungeons were always creepy too. Lots of moaning and groaning, smelled like shit there too."

S.S. had expected to land with ease on his paws, but instead, he was met with.... something fluffy. This almost completely stopped him mid-air and caused him to tumble to the ground, though he managed to tumble up onto his paws and skid to a stop. It was then that he noticed what he'd hit.... a zoroark. The one that was a friend of his weaker counterpart, right? One of his more.... fun friends. Well, at least he hadn't been brought out around that awful swablu or someone of the sort. Still, now he had to figure out what to do with the zoroark. Leave her here? Maybe.... but then Sova would be even less inclined to occasionally let him out to.... play.

"Get up," he ordered, but with no response.
Great, this meant dead weight he had to carry with him. His icy armor, which had been broken down and dulled due to the rough treatment, reformed as he began an approach to the wall on the opposite side of the room. He fired a few shots of Frost Breath as he approached, making loud noises as they were created and when they made contact with the wall as well as spreading a freezing mist around the room. He was avoiding actually hitting Mirage, but the sheer power of the attacks was probably likely to have some effect on her due to the close proximity. However, it did its job, breaking the wall down enough for him to smash a through it without much of a running start and come to an easy stop on the other side.

This room.... appeared to be a fancy indoor pool. The majority of the floor was wood, but it changed to stone as it neared the large circular pool in the middle. The water seemed oddly clear, as if someone or something had been making sure to keep it clean. Most importantly, though, there was a door on the other end. This meant no more wall-smashing was necessary.... oh well, it'd been fun while it lasted. Now he just needed to get the zoroark and drag her along, maybe toss her into the pool to wake her up.

Krikka's attention was garnered as the tyrunt spoke of an area that was more "creepy" than this. "Sounds like a fun guy," she joked, though she held clear interest in the topic.
The daughter of such a fearsome creature.... clearly lacking in the morality department.... maybe she could get along with Victoria better than she'd originally thought! Or at least.... the tyrunt would have more use than to just try to rob the second she got a chance to. "So, what's your story?," she questioned, remembering they needed to keep talking to not get separated.

Mirage was still knocked out, unconscious from the sudden attack and unable to do much of anything at the moment like say stop Split Sova from throwing her into the strange pool he had opened the "door" to. She could only remain limp and unconscious, and probably even drown should she be thrown into that pool.

"Nothing much," Victoria spoke, "I went off on a journey to build my own kingdom instead of inheriting it. I found a good place for it so far, but I just need to get things built and it should be good to go in several years or so," she said nonchalantly, not thinking highly or outrageously of it herself considering this had been her entire life up until this point.

S.S. stepped back into the other room, his body temperature raising to a point that wouldn't be harmful to the zoroark, the icy armor quickly melting and falling apart. He bit onto the fur of the zoroark's right forearm and tossed the limp appendage over his back, then bit onto it once more, pulled the unconscious body up a bit off the ground and dragged her into the next room. Considering she was larger than him, he couldn't exactly carry Mirage, but he could still pull her along. With a swift and careless motion, he slid the zoroark forward as he neared the pool, allowing her to fall into it. "Now wake up," he ordered once more, waiting for a moment to see if it was going to work.
Honestly, he didn't really think that ordering someone to stop being unconscious was going to work, but it was at least fun to do.

Krikka's interest in the Victoria became clear despite her attempts to hide it as she learned more about the tyrunt. A princess.... or a queen? Either way, the tyrunt could definitely be useful to her. But more than that, she didn't find this dinosaur to be particularly annoying, which was odd. Someone in a position of power who clearly saw the worth of heeding to desire. Maybe she could end up with a kingdom one day, too. Now that'd be great! "A few years? Seems pretty quick for a whole kingdom," she replied, still keeping her outward mask of indifference intact.... mostly.
She kind of wanted to see if she could join this kingdom, maybe get some benefits from it or just steal something from the treasury.... if there even was a treasury, but for some reason, she didn't want to at the same time.... It was an odd feeling, one she didn't like.

Mirage sunk to the bottom of the pool, unable to wake up as the explorer seemed to be attempting to murder her. If she had woken up, it likely would have been very bloody for both sides despite the level differences due to the absolute rage of the one known as Mirage. She could simplu remain unconcious and sink, likely going to drown if left alone long enough.

"Well, a few years as in the actual building process, like physical buildings for pokemon to live in. I'm going to have to get up some kind of cash or get some more of the local scraggy to work for me. The ones that I recruited have been absolute slackers lately ever since their previous ruler died. My adviser has been having quite a difficult time keeping the brats in line as of late," She huffed in annoyance at the thought of the scraggy. She had so lovingly spared their lives, and this was how they repaid her? She wondered if a good threat to send them over the very same cliff of that Tyrantrum would get them moving again?

S.S. watched in disappointment as the zoroark acted more like a Rock-type than a Dark-type and sank in the water. He sighed, knowing this meant he had to go pull her back up. Maybe he could just leave her at the edge of the water and wait for her to wake up from it? Surely it would work eventually, right? But then he'd have to watch her to make sure she didn't slip under the surface.... that'd be too boring. Deciding he would figure out what to do about this later, he jumped into the water, immediately realizing it was fairly cold. Of course, being a glaceon, this was a pleasant surprise, but it still made him wonder.... how had it not woken the zoroark up? Had he really hit her that hard?

The glaceon swam to the zoroark, grabbing the fur of one of her arms once more with his mouth before pulling her to the surface. It was much less difficult than he'd expected it to be, but he wasn't going to complain. He reached the surface and pushed the zoroark to the edge, then put her arms over the ledge to keep her from sinking back down for the time-being. "Why won't you just wake uuuuuuuuup!?," he complained, pulling himself out of the water before pulling Mirage out. What now, what else could he possibly do to wake this burden up?
Was waiting really the only option?

Krikka smirked, knowing the darkness would hide her face and thus she could show whatever emotions she felt like showing. "Well, you know.... fear is a pretty good motivator. Maybe you need someone.... good at that to help you out," she replied, suggesting recruiting someone who could motivate the slacking workers through intimidation.
If the morally righteous way of doing things wasn't working, why not try the opposite? That was her view, at least. It wasn't like there was really much to lose anyways; What would the workers do, not work? They were already doing that.

Mirage continued to remain inanimate, only breathing could be seen. Water was leaking from her mouth has her body forced her to cough, waking her for a moment before she passed out again. There was a strange giggling noise that resounded through the room. It sounded like a child's laughter, but had an eerie tone to it before the lights in the room suddenly went out. The two were plunged into darkness, but not for long as the lights re-lit themselves, and suddenly the room was different! Instead of a pool, the room had turned into what seemed to be a kitchen! There was a sound of sizzling, as if something was being fried.

"Yeah, terrifying them is easy, it just wears off after a while. Driving the Tyrantrum off the cliff worked, so I perhaps i might need to threaten to send them down with that cocky b*stard," Victoria seemed to growl, getting irritated at the thought of the male tyrunt that had evolved and taken over her kingdom for a short amount of time.

(no muse

A smile grew over the glaceon's face as the lights suddenly went out. Sure, he couldn't see, but it was pretty clear something had done this.... and this, he was allowed to attack. However, his excitement and anticipation faded, replaced with confusion as the room once more lit up to reveal.... a completely different room. How!? He decided to leave the zoroark alone for just a moment to investigate the area, figuring he could do it faster without having to carry dead weight around with him. The area appeared to be a kitchen, and since he heard something that sounded like food being made.... he assumed there was a chef of some sort nearby. So, with that in mind, he headed toward the sizzling noises.

Krikka nodded understandingly at the tyrunt. "Could try setting an example with one. Workers that don't work aren't any use anyways," she suggested, being oddly open about her opinion.
Then she realized how she was acting.... normal. She felt comfortable around this tyrunt to some extent.... a weird feeling, but one that only agitated her once she realized it. However, she didn't show her agitation. Instead, she merely began planning for ways to get away from Victoria and this feeling.... The amulet around the tyrunt's neck no longer seemed important.

The tyrunt nodded, "Yeah, I was thinking about doing that. Veriq suggests that I should instead give them some kind of reward for their labor instead. Like berries or something. I don't quite agree since I spared their lives in exchange for working for me, but I suppose one or the other could work...say how long do you think this hallway is going to be?"
The tyrunt looked behind her, the icy trail seemed to continue endlessly. She could not see the pictures, but if she had she would have noticed that they were repeating themselves. The same pictures being shown over and over, as the two were trapped in a seemingly endless loop.

The glaceon grew near the sizzling noises, a sableye seemed to be standing on some counter over a boiling pot. The sableye grinned happily, and seemed to be springling strange objects and forks into the boiling pot while giggling with glee. Mirage was still unconscious in the meantime.

S.S. stared blankly at the sableye in confusion, not really sure how to respond. He didn't really feel like attacking something so small and pathetic-looking, plus it didn't seem hostile.... at least for the moment. However, he was not very keen on the concept of mercy, not being willing to put up with much in the form of agitation, even from something so pathetic. "Mind telling me where I am?," he questioned in his typical bitter, emotionless tone that made it evident Sova was not home at the moment.
Honestly, he had no clue how one was supposed to act in normal situations.... whatever this was, it was not where he was supposed to be needed! He was a fighter, nothing else, how was he supposed to function in petty things such as conversations and explorations!?

Krikka was only agitated by the question of how long the hallway would be, because it reminded her that she wasn't sure how long she was gonna be stuck with this tyrunt! Still, she didn't show her disdain, merely replying "I dunno, but lets hope we get out of here soon," she replied as she began feeling against the walls with her paws and tail occasionally.
She was hoping to feel for a door, but so far, there was nothing. Given how short she was, she couldn't even feel the paintings, not that she really cared about that.

Victoria decided to do the same as Krikka on the other side of the wall, reaching her small arm out and connecting her talons to the wall. She made scratches against the wall as she did so, but it felt for any doors that might appear. After a while of walking, she suddenly stopped, she noticed scratches slightly ahead of her, similar to the ones she was making, "The hell?" she spoke aloud, moving closer to inspect the scratches. It was difficult to see in the dark, but she could just make out the scratches similarities, "Uh..." she finally spoke aloud, "I think we're going in circles...even though we're going perfectly straight..."

"Food! Food...Food!" the sableye responded, twitching randomly before snapping its head towards the glaceon with a big toothy grin.
"Where are you? Where am I? Where are weeeehehehehe!" it jumped down from the counter and scampered towards the glaceon, holding out its hand as if to perform a handshake.
"Grim! I Grim! You? We here! Here! That's where we are. Here! Kitchen! Chef! I Chef! Grim is Chef!" it giggled manically, though it didn't seem to intend to do any harm to anything except the silverware in the house...

Krikka stopped as her companion spoke up. For a moment, she didn't reply, silently considering to herself that maybe Victoria was just crazy.... she hoped so, but the tyrunt didn't seem particularly mentally unhinged. She'd heard the tyrunt's scratching along the walls and gathered they'd both decided to do the same thing, but she didn't realize that would leave marks that Victoria had used to tell they were somehow going in circles. "What....? How can you tell?," she questioned, curious as to how her temporary ally had come to the conclusion that they were going in circles when they were clearly going straight.

S.S. stared silently at the sableye as he attempted to gather what it was trying to communicate to him. It was difficult, with its fast talking, improper grammar and insensible statements, but he managed to at least comprehend it to some extent. He outstretched a paw, seeing it wanted to do a handshake, but of course there was only so much he could contribute to the shake with paws. "....S.S.," he responded quietly, giving his name to the sableye.
From what he'd gathered, the thing had a name, Grim.... classy. Maybe if it were a bit easier to understand and less.... unhinged, he could have gotten along okay with it. For now, though, he was just going to have to pretend. Even if he did want to attack something so weak-looking, he needed to know where he was and how to get out.

"When I felt around for a door, it was leaving scratch marks. Now there's scratch marks here, that look exactly like mind," The tyrunt explained, confused about it herself. How was that even physically possible? Was there something ahead of them mimicking her actions against the walls and this was actually just a really long hallway? She looked up at the paintings in the darkness, "Hey," she spoke, "Do you think you can knock that painting off the hook?"

The sableye shook the glaceon's hand, "Access! Good! Yes! You Access pot?" the sableye pointed to the boiling pot under the flames with a toothy grin. It seemed to be excited for something, Grim released the paw and climbed back up the counter to stand on it and look into the pot.
"No," it suddenly said, "No Access pot yet. Need more flavor. Access help Grim?"

Meanwhile Mirage stirred in her slumber, slowly regaining her senses but still feeling as if she could not move. The hell had hit her? She also felt that she was soaked from head to toe, what had happened? Where was she? She wanted to get up and get moving, but her body refused.