Colin's posts

"To make a VERY long story short, I was attacked by fallen angels while transporting myself and the box to a designated rotating safe point." Nicolas responded. "They opened the box, and now its influence is spreading out throughout the world." he continued. "The box, when opened again, exacerbates the evil and trouble and strife in the world, slowly becoming a portal that the Bringers can come through." he explained.

"...the Bringers?" Ilias asked, stunned.

"Yes." Nicolas confirmed. "As it stands, Misery and Famine are running amok on this world. And very shortly after, War will emerge, and countries will enter conflicts over food and medical resources." he went on. "Once that happens, Death will shortly emerge, and the apocalypse will be fully underway, with absolutely NO way to stop it." he informed them further.

"And if we lock the box back up?" Ilias then inquired.

"Everything will begin to reverse itself, the Bringers will be sent back to their home dimension, and most people's minds will not remember this, save for a few, but they'll be the type to rant and rave about doomsday prophecies and blah blah blah." Nicolas replied.

"Long story short, the lock to the box, as well as the key to the lock have been shattered. Fix them, and this world-ending scenario goes away." he summarised.

Ilias just groaned.

"To be fair, even us Greek-oriented mythical creatures don't even know it exists." he said.

"...though I am not in a VERY elite minority that DO..." he realised, thinking about that fact, before shaking his head.

"Regardless." he said, poking his head out and again and gesturing for the two to join him and Kiah, which the two of them quickly did.

"Greetings." Nicolas greeted them.

"I am designated as Prometheus, though I have just been reminded my real name is Nicolas." he introduced himself.

Ilias was silent for a moment, and though his expression didn't change too much, the two could tell that his brain was overloading a little from that information. He then cleared his throat.

"One moment." he told her, before stepping back into the room and looking at Kiah.

"Seems Jane has a real name." he said. "Pandora." he revealed.

"Also, we need to apparently recreate a lock and key from broken/remaining parts." he went on.

"And she has a friend with her. Says he's an old friend. Named Nicolas." he finished.

Nicolas followed, and as soon as he stepped into the 'territory' of the lab, he was instantly aware of what Pandora had been referring to. He paused for a moment, wincing, before continuing.

"Far more potent than that barrier." he commented.

Ilias then poked his head out from a nearby door, and the dark circles under his eyes showed that he was suffering from a lack of sleep... which was probably the least of his problems at the moment.

"...Jane?" he asked.

"What's going on?" he asked her, seeing Nicolas with her.

Nicolas raised an eyebrow when she said that.

"....uh... all right?" he responded.

"I'd ask for an explanation, but I get the feeling that it'd be better to just experience it." he commented. "And we really shouldn't waste time with pointless talking." he went on.

"Excuse me!" he then called through the door.

"We require entry to this area!"

Ty looked over towards her and reached a hand out, placing it atop one of hers.

"I'm grateful for you, and TO you." he said.

"You're a lifesaver." he told her.

"I am... well, let's just say that I'm glad you're in my life." he went on.

"Can't picture this place without you, and you add so much to my own existence." he continued.

"You're... a very special friend, Hazel."

"...the box being here will probably be worse in the long run." Ty admitted.

"However, its presence here seems to have kicked SOMETHING into gear, which is initially helping us." he said.

"So... I'll be grateful for that." he mumbled.

He then sighed, and shook his head.

"I still feel like I'll melt into a puddle of depression and self-pity without you here, though." he then admitted.

"...hm." Ty mumbled.

"Explains why I still feel crap, but not like I'm ready to keel over and DIE." he said, before pausing.

"Wait..." he then said.

"Maybe the medical wing is doing better now!" he realised.

"Not 100%, or even on the road to recovery, but maybe things have slowed down there!"

Nicolas nodded and grabbed the satchels again, putting them back in the smaller compartment of the backpack and zipping it back up. He then rose to his feet and looked at Hazel and Ty.

"Thank you." he said to the former.

"Godspeed." Ty told the two.

"Indeed." Nicolas replied, looking to Pandora now.

"Let's go." he told her, as the two left the room, shutting the door behind them.

"...so." he said. "Guess it was fate that had us both show up here. Literally, most likely." he commented.

"Then we need to get to work." Nicolas said.

"When War comes through, it will be a VERY swift timer." he told them.

"...should we fix this, will people remember this happening?" Ty asked.

"Most won't." Nicolas replied. "Those that do will think it to be some future doomsday prophecy or something." he said dismissively. "Anyway, we need to get to work." he told them.

"Very well." Ty responded.

"The resources here are yours to do with as you need." he told him and Pandora.

"Yes." Nicolas responded.

"...but won't do us much good without the tools and mana we need to put them together." he told them.

"And what all do you need?" Ty asked.

"Changes every so often." Nicolas responded.

"SHE knows." he said, gesturing to Pandora. "As soon as she holds them in her hands, she'll know what's needed to repair them." he continued. "Sometimes it's just mana, sometimes it's just compressing them back together, sometimes it's chemistry..." he listed off.

"...by the Greek gods design?" Ty inquired.

"Naturally." was the reply.

"Oh, the box needs to be shut so it stops spreading its influence onto the world." Nicolas replied.

"...I'm waiting for the 'we're screwed' part." Ty said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Ah, well, to do that, we need the lock for the box, and the key for the lock." Nicolas told him.

"And you don't have them." Ty said.

"No, I do." Nicolas replied, before taking the backpack and opening the smaller pouch on the front of it. Ty raised an eyebrow, a bit of a hopeful look in his eyes, before Nicolas took out a small cloth pouch from it, and gently tossing it onto the desk, the contents making a rattling and tinkling sound, like many broken pieces of something was inside.

"There's the lock." he said, taking out another pouch and tossing it beside the first one, the contents making a similar sound. "There's the key." he finished.

"THERE'S that part." Ty said in an exasperated tone.

"Well, remember, the box is an 'all or nothing' scenario." Nicolas replied.

"Huh?" Ty muttered.

"Well... hm. How do I put this...?" Nicolas mumbled. "There is a point where we cannot go back. And once we pass that, the world is doomed." he said. "However, if the box is closed before crossing that point, the world will begin to repair itself. Decently quickly." he explained.

"And what point is the point of no return?" Ty asked.

"When the Bringer of Death makes his way through the portal." Nicolas answered plainly.

"...the Bringer." Ty muttered. "Wait, so what's happening is... LITERALLY the work of Misery and Famine?" he asked.

"War will be next." Nicolas stated.

"Fallen angels?" Ty asked. "Aren't those just demons?" he asked further.

"Yes and no." Nicolas responded.

"Fallen angels DO eventually become demons, but... well, in the interim, before they either go completely demon, or find redemption, many just lose themselves in a quest for chaos." he explained.

"They hate heaven. They hate hell. And they wish nothing but the destruction of EVERYTHING." he continued.

"...great." Ty muttered.

"So they've sentenced this world to die via the box?" he asked.

"Precisely." was the response given.