Colin's posts

"MADISON!" Samuel called down to her.

"MADI-" he yelled again, but to Madison, his words were muddied and echoed... as though she were in deep water, even though she was falling.

However, she wasn't falling for much longer, before she landed on a hard surface... and not very gracefully, either.

She felt a shooting pain through her leg, but before she had a chance to focus on it, she saw a rune start to glow on a wall in the darkness. And another beside it. And another. And another, one after another, until she found herself in a room with no doors.

Like a pit... a pitch-black pit, barely illuminated by the strange and ominous runes.

"....hm?" he mumbled.

"What was...?" he started to ask, before there was another 'click'.

"Madison, perhaps you shouldn't-" he started to say, before the floor started to shake and rumble.

"Madison!" he called to her.

"Get back here!" he said, as the tiles started to shake and rattle.

"...I think the floor is going to give way!"

Samuel and Madison continued to walk, until the light made it clear what it was.

It seemed to be a gem... a ruby. And it looked as fine and clear as anything Madison had ever seen.

"By Jove..." Samuel mumbled.

"Such a gem is most certainly of the finest quality." he commented.

"But what is it doing out in the middle of this..." he then wondered, before seeing a door near it that was slightly ajar.

"Madison, do you think that that might be some kind of treasure room?" he asked Madison.

"Yes, it IS certainly concerning." Samuel agreed.

"Can you make anything of it?" he asked her.

"And regardless as to whether you can or not, do you think we should continue?" he asked further.

But then he shone the light further down the corridor... and the light seemed to refract off something.

"Madison!" he exclaimed in a whisper.

"Something IS down there." he told her.

"And whatever it is, refracts light." he added.

"If we keep our eyes peeled, we're sure to find something." Samuel replied.

They continued to walk, and that's when Madison noticed some markings.

The markings seemed to show... pits. Several of them. But one was different.

Most had blackness, but one looked like it was filled with runes.

And Samuel had noticed she had seen it.

"Madison?" he asked.

"Hmmmm, interesting." he said, looking at the markings as well.

Vincent just narrowed his eyes at her.

And she saw the look of 'we need to talk' in them.

"Yes, let's." he then said.

"Come on, Dr. Kenzey." he said to Michelle.

With that, the two of them started to head down the left side.

"Let us be off then, Madison." Samuel told her.

"This way." he said, starting to walk down the other side.

"An hour?" Vincent asked.

"Samuel, didn't you say to meet back here in half an hour?" he asked his friend.

"I did." Samuel responded.

"But perhaps young Madison has something else going in her mind to set such a time." he reasoned.

'...oh yes.' Vincent thought.

'She definitely DOES have something going on in there... thought I doubt it has anything to do with the timer...'

At that moment, Vincent looked at her.

And when she met his gaze, she knew that look in his eyes.

He was a telepath.

And he had heard her. He'd heard what thoughts went through her head.

But before anything could be said, Samuel broke the silence.

"Right then." he said.

"Vincent, you and Michelle take the left path. Madison and I will take the right path." he told them.

"We'll meet back here in half an hour to state what we've found, if anything."

"Hm." Vincent muttered.

"I would tend to think that, because the non-mage crew found nothing, a pair of mages may find something." Samuel chimed in. "And if a pair of non-mages go down the unchecked path, they have less chance of tripping a mana-trap." he reasoned.

"Or, being affecting by one, at least." he added.

"I cannot fault that logic." Vincent admitted.

"Michelle, Madison, what do you two say?" he asked the females.

"....Anubis." Samuel commented.

"A powerful God to ask for help from, supposedly." he said.

"Indeed." Vincent agreed.

"If we are messing with Anubis' protection, we must still be vigilant." he commented further.

"I get the feeling the worst is yet to come."

"These protections are... fascinating." Vincent commented.

"So simple, yet so elegant. They're ancient, yet still effective." he went on.

"Learning from the past..." he continued, trailing off a little.

"Indeed." Samuel agreed.

"Paranoid or not, you cannot deny the effectiveness of them." he continued.

"Yet, curiously, they don't seem to target non-mages, even though those people DID exist back then as well." he then said further, scratching at his chin.

"If I were to wager a guess, the pharaoh looked down on those like that, to the point where he felt like they were ants, so in his arrogance, he neglected to plan for them." Vincent responded.

"Everything we've learned about him seems to tell us that that was his attitude."

Ryker's face turned red when she said the last part, and he became flustered for a moment.

"I, uh, yes." he mumbled.

"Thank you." he told her.

"And... thank you for wanting to keep me safe." he said further.

"It's a nice feeling to know someone else feels that way. I mean, aside from Eke, of course." he continued.

"Shows I really HAVE come a long way from my days as a slave..." he added with a sigh and a smile.

"...there have been so many traps." Vincent said.

"This cannot be anything but what we suspect." he reasoned.

"I agree." Samuel said.

"This makes too much sense." he commented.

Vincent then sighed and looked at Madison.

"Are you sure you're all right?" he asked her.

"Your shoulder WAS hit pretty badly..."

Ryker was caught off guard by the kiss, and then immediately started murmuring and gurgling happy noises when she played with his hair. He managed to compose himself, however, and cleared his throat.

"Ah, right." he said.

"Eke's just tired." he told her.

"He exhausted himself, so he's resting." he went on.

"Aly's making sure he sleeps well, too." he then added.