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The meandering path had finally made its way to the gates of the clock tower's entrance. A dense fog had begun to creep in. The tower itself sat on a hill that the winding path led up through the gates and into. The tower was surrounded by a swamp bog.

A raven, stirred by the crowd, cackled in the dark. It's loud cries of Auck-Auck-Auck, echoed throughout the night. Their numbers increased by the swamp, the sound of the frogs and crickets had built to a crescendo. Their loud noise drowned out the sound of the crew's footsteps.

Pluvio had fallen to the back of the formation. He figured it would be a good place to keep an eye on everyone, with Sasuki taking the lead. Everyone's safety was his top priority. It was a good thing the dark wizard was experienced in metallurgy. Pluvio surmised he could have probably fixed the clock. But having an expert would make things go a lot smoother.

The question asked to Kiari shot into the night like a bat from it's cave. It was an occupation Pluvio had not conceived for her. He awaited her response as the group inched closer up the hill towards the dark growing shape of the tower.

A large moon sat in the background, nearly framing the jagged outline of the tower. It didn't look like all it was cracked up to be from here. It was just another building, although it was a lot more gothic and archaic in its design.

His question surprised her and caused her to catch her toe on the tip of a large rock. Luckily, her body which was pumping with adrenaline, kept her from falling solely with reflex. Her other foot sustained the weight of her body and allowed her to keep walking. Still reeling from his question, Kiari made a 'cluck ' with her tongue and shook her head. The woman was not without faults, and had stolen food for her brother, but that was years ago before her mother had invested in agriculture. But did that make her deserving of such a demeaning title?

"I wear no fancy article of clothing, nor do my wrists jingle with expensive jewelry," she muttered. "If you believe me to be a thief, then you must also admit I'm a very poor one at that."

It wasn't a direct 'no', but she didn't think he deserved an answer to a dishonorable accusation.

Her brow furrowed as the fog worsened her vision. It was impossible to make out things at a far distance and she doubted she would be much use to them if they ran into any creatures. A sigh slipped from her lips when the tower came into view. The gloomy setting only worsened her mood.

He nodded a bit and looked to her with curiosity still raised in his eyes. "Are you skilled in picking locks or having the power of kmowing how to pick a lock?" He asked another quetion in the same tone. He cared not for the fog, he simply threw out a fire ball and atempted to keep the fog away or at bay.

He didn't think of it until a moment behind, but his new found power was something to put into retrospect. He took his other hand up into the air and waved it towards where they were heading, making a huge gust of wind in front of them as he attempted to push away the fog.

"And a simple yes or no amswer will satisfy me, luv." He spoke tersely. He was feeling a bit bothered, but not by the comment of her words or how she displayed them. He looked behind to see the two trailing behind, he smiled slightly as he noticed night was not far behind.

Pluvio caught up to the group at the door a few seconds later with the dog right behind him. It seemed that everyone's mood was being affected negatively by their surroundings. Maybe it was just the creepy atmosphere. But in this sort of world, there was always the chance that it was something more.

The storm mage was not exempt.

His anxiety was starting to get to him. His usually steady hands gently began to shake. He tucked two fingers into his pockets to hide the involuntary movements.

Mint green eyes gazed towards Kiari as the question was rephrased into one about lockpicking. It would be a good idea to get in and out of the tower quickly. But one couldn't help but think of the rumored booby traps.

"Or maybe the trick is learning how to knock." Pluvio's eyes studied the layout of the tower. His eyes were starting to adjust to the lighting. There was not a knocker on the solid oak door. There was a handle and what appeared to be a simple keyed lock.

The Water Mage nodded quietly when the woman introduced herself, but kept to herself, seemingly lost in thought. Her mind wandered as she walked and she barely heard the others talking. She remained quiet for the rest of the walk, until they stopped.

When they did stop at the clock tower, she nearly walked into Sasuki's back, but stopped short just in time. She blinked for a moment, as if coming out of a daze. After a few seconds of visible disoriented looking around, she took a step back from Sasuki and petted the dog for a moment.

It was then that she remembered the deal and gave in, speaking up. "I'm Miriela... by the way." With that, she closed off again, letting her thoughts wander again. The atmosphere made her just retreat into herself, rather than focusing on the creepiness.

The mage turned his back to the group and looked down the hill and out at the swamp. He was briefly pleased to be amongst his new acquaintances in such a foreign place. The drow valley was nothing like this at night. There the air was still, quiet.

A man could think...

He looked over to Kiari wondering if she would find a way to pick the lock or somehow get the group inside. Pluvio grasped his chin with his left hand, a habit that was cliche but way too hard to break. He concentrated hard and began to breath in a meditative way... His chest began to heave with his heavier breathing.

Of course one could remove the door by force. Experience has taught him that delicateness in such situations is beneficial however.

Kiari was grateful when Sasuki had cut through the fog with sphere of fire. She flicked a glance behind her at Pluvio and then to the girl to make sure they had not fallen behind. In the moonlight her hair appeared to have a dark blue tint as it hung down her back. Upon Sasuki's next question, she lowered her chin ever so slightly, causing the curls to give a subtle bounce. Did he always come off like a facetious porcupine?

Her growing irritation battled with her tongue, tempting her to show him just how 'luv-able' she could be, but instead she shrugged.

"Maybe," she replied beneath her breath.

Pluvio interrupted and hopefully steered Akane's attention away from her. The other woman gave her name but Kiari didn't acknowledge it except for nodding with a small smile. Miriela didn't seem like she enjoyed being spoken to and Kiari didn't want to push it.

Pluvio seemed to be concentrating, but Kiari grabbed the handle and stood still for a moment. After a moment they heard a soft 'crack' and she jerked the handle and opened the door. The inside of it had vines growing up the wooden frame of the door.

She didn't say anything as she went in first.

He watched her do this, not impressed or interested in her powers, he smiled a bit as they all had the same idea of breaking the door down.

He walked into the room and grabbed a vine with his left hand, the vines burning out and setting fire to the rest of them, lighting up the room and giving a view of the room.

The room was a regular looking foyer with stone floors and walls, the area seemed to be quiet, except for the creatures crawling around. He stepped forward and sighed a bit as his words started to echo as he spoke to Kiari.

"Do not take offense tommy questions. I simply asked to see if you could open the door, but I guess you didn't need a lock picking set or anything." He looked around as he spoke with a softened tone.

"And do not take offense to my question of thieving, I wasn't labeling you I was asking. Besides, I see no reason to be offended to that, my brother is a thief." He spoke calmly, sounding a bit choked as he got to the last part.

He pulled his hand up to his head and gently placed his thumb onto the bottom of the scar over his left eye, the rest of his fingers gently touching and stroking his hair as he drifted his hand back, his thumb going up his scar. He sighed a bit and frowned slightly, "Dorrono..." He mumbled gently, which didn't make a difference due to the rooms size echoing his words.

Nit responded to his words and barked a bit, making a loud bark into the room, he jumped a bit and opened his eyes again, his left eye was dark amethyst as he looked to the dog with anguish.

As the vines caught fire, Pluvio raised his gloved hands. A gentle spray emitted that first helped give oxygen to the fire, helping it spread and then quickly dousing the flames in a controlled manner.

This way the vines burnt, but any wood fixtures did not. The mage turned towards Sasuki as the crowd began to spread out into the room.

"I'm guessing that map didn't give any information about the inside of this place." His eyes peered over towards the map holder.

Off in the distance, there was a whirring, clicking sound. It almost reminded one of two metallic hooves slowly trodding along. The noise had been subtle at first, but slowly it seemed to be getting louder.

*Click, BUZZ, Whhhhrrr*

"Does anyone else hear that?" The mage was asking the group in general, but since he was closest to Miriela his voice projected to her.

The masonry of the old tower thrummed at the disturbance.

It was a deep, ponderous thrum that seemed to manifest only in the deepest hollows of one's bones, like the soft shiver of the earth just before a quake; but it did not affect the ground or the marsh--only the mages. The tree branches stayed still, and no ripples disturbed the swamp.

A quake never came, either, and the resonance had stopped almost as soon as it had begun.

Something was deeply, inherently wrong with this tower: more than the fussing of rusty gears and old iron.

Miriela kept her thoughts to herself. But her focus was largely inward, as her mind wandered.

She seemed to start to pay attention again once they were inside. When Sasuki muttered something, she looked at him curiously. Part of her began to sense that there was more to him than met the eye. But she said nothing about it, folding her arms, watching Night closely.

At first, the noises didn't bother her too much... or if they did she was good at not showing it on her face. The louder it got, the harder it was for her to keep her cool.

When the thrumming felt like it might become a full on quake, she stepped closer to the others in the group on instinct.

The wizard looked to Pluvio with slight fear and anger, but then realized where he was and cleared his throat. He pulled out the map and unraveled it. He looked it up and down, his right eye was a calm and normal emerald-hazel, while his left eye was a scared and panicked amethyst.

He shrugged a bit and shook his head. "It seems that the map just gives directions..."

He paused due to the sound as well. He heard the sound and looked around, his natural and calm demeanor was shown on his body, but his shadow looked panicked and freaked, it was obvious by this sight that Sasuki was not alone in there and he was never really trying to hide it. He just never gave attention to it.

He looked over to Pluvio as he said that, now realizing he was talking, "yes." He spoke with slight mix of emotions. He seemed to be a mental wreck all of a sudden, but it seemed tame in his demeanor.

Pluvio was becoming more unsettled. It almost felt like the ground around him was shaking, but everything seemed to be still. The sensation was similar to walking on a ship, heaving on a mighty river.

His mind went back to defensive training his father had given him when he was younger. "Well the best way to solve a maze is to follow the right wall, all the way around if you have to."

It was advice that had come in handy before but that he had not used in years.

"There must be a ladder around here somewhere."

Unlike the high elves, the drow were not as known to be fond of heights. Pluvio was once afraid of heights, but he had gotten over that fear a long time ago. That was what fear was for... To be conquered.

The mage noticed the golden glow and began to snap his head from side to side in a vain attempt to keep the light in his vision. When he realized he couldn't, he felt slightly embarrassed.

Kiari merely nodded at Akane's words. She had taken offense but it was probably because she was on edge. His reply had given her a very small glimpse of his family life. Idly, she wondered in the back of her mind if he was the oldest.

Paying no mind to the vines as they burned, her eyes drifted across the room. Why could this have not waited until morning? Why was it so essential to fix the clock tonight?

An unpleasant chill raked the vertebra of her spine as a noise sliced through the darkness like a jagged knife. Despite the fear, she felt oddly excited and giddy. It confused her, but she was glad that there was an ounce of calmness to keep her focused and at the ready.

Her hips moved rhythmically as she took a few steps forward and helped Pluvio look for a hidden ladder.

He was slightly content with her nod, though it was just a nod and nothing more meant much more to him. He let it go for now, figuring it would be dangerous if to try and poke at her soft side and try to make amends at this time.

He looked around and his shadow raged beneath him. He walked and the shadow gave a dramatic stamp of fear and panic, as if something inside him was losing sanity. He smiled a bit as he decided to work on finding the ladder Pluvio mentioned, maybe he was right. He started to search the left wall and moved around the area, looking up at the ceiling and vertexes of the walls, hoping to find a switch or a button.

He placed his hands on the wall and dragged it across, the stones slightly moving at his touch. He was aware of this movement and didn't care much, all things have shivered with fear sometimes, maybe Sasuki was doing the same to them.

Or maybe he was a friggin' idiot for thinking that objects would be scared of him.

Miriela tried to figure out where they were in the dark. She could hear Kiari and Pluvio moving around, and Sasuki in another direction. While she didn't find Sasuki to be an ideal partner... she didn't want to third wheel. And besides, if they left Sasuki alone he might trip over his own shadow or something... and he was a rather helpful mage to have around.

So, she turned and walked in the dark, nearly falling over Night, who barked at her. "Shh..." She muttered, the dog's bark echoing through the tower.

Eventually, she found her way to be near to Sasuki and able to follow him. On instinct, she put one hand on his shoulder to make sure she didn't lose him in the dark... and also to reassure herself that he was really there. The dark made her nervous... and the noises of the tower made it worse.

His body was warm to the touch and contact with him made her hand slightly heated, but not enough to hurt her. He turned his head instantly over, thinking she was an attacker. His body heated for half a second and immediately calmed again after seeing her.

"Oh, thank the gods, it's just you Miriela." He spoke with slight relief. He smiled a bit and looked around, noticing the lack of light. He put out his spare hand and grasped the dangling vine, ripping it out from the source with ease and burning the edge of it into a fire.

The light flooded the small area around them and he smiled a bit to her, his fangs were shining a bit from the light as his smile was a bit warming. His eyes were still wrongly matched and both had different personalities linked to them.

"Are you alright, luv?" He asked calmly as he looked to her. His eyes looking to her were an odd pair, one looked happy to see her and looked like it wanted her to stay. The other was filled with fear and nearly on the edge of making the wizard scream, begging for her to get rid of the fear in it's longing black flame.

He glanced down to see Night and laughed a bit, "I see you still find the dog to be a better partner than I." He commented with a gentle laugh as he looked back up to her.

Pluvio had been unaware that his interactions with Kiari were so public. He still did not know for sure what to make of her. She seemed interested in him as a person, but that didn't necessarily mean she liked him.

The fact that such a thought occupied Pluvio's mind at a time like this, in the face of certain peril meant she had worked her way into his mind. There was something else to add to the long list of worries.

Pluvio still felt as though his powers had not replenished fully. He felt a little drained after his misty spray. Sure, he was far from his temple, but such a spell should not have affected him so much. Clearly, a powerful force was beginning to interfere.

But the storm mage was trying to focus on finding the ladder. It was slowly becoming a little harder to concentrate. This didn't sound like a task that needed much thought. But the ladder could be hidden. The noises of various clacking and chattering filled what little silence there was. The storm mage had his hands full as he went through disturbing as many items as possible.

After doing this for a few minutes, the clattering stopped. Pluvio had remembered the rumored booby traps. Nervously, he hoped he hadn't already set off some hidden disaster. He decided to tread lightly.

Finally, after a few more minutes of smashing through the dark, he turned his head and called out to the others.

"It's over here", he shouted. His echo bounced off of the walls. A surprisingly well maintained looking ladder raised up into the darkness above. It had been hidden behind the chimney. The dark fireplace sat ominously next to the ladder.

The sounds of Sasuki and Miriela's conversation echoed in the background.

Suspense.

That was an accurate description that summed up the emotive of this entire mission. A heavy dread had settled on her shoulders, making them slump as she took cautious steps deeper and deeper into the tower. With every footstep, she felt as if she were slowly handing herself over the invisible dangers. Kiari took a sharp intake of the musty air as Pluvio's announcement caught her off guard and startled her.

The boards that made up the ladder steps were clearly not made for any person too heavy. The thought of the two men trusting them to hold their weight concerned her. Placing a delicate hand with fingernails extending out to the ends of her fingers upon Pluvio's arm, she sought out to get his attention.

"Ladies first? " she offered.

A smile transformed the intensity of her tight lips as she took began to ascend the staircase with timidity at her heal, without waiting for his response. The murmurs of the other two played in the corners of her mind, making her smile lengthen. They were such an oddity, that it didn't seem possible they would seemingly hit it off, but they were.

Kiari didn't know what awaited her, just that she was already ready to get it over with before something bad occurred.

She tolerated the heat, only because she was frightened of the dark more than she was of being burned. "I don't like it here." Part of her immediately regretted admitting her fear, but she temporarily shoved that part of herself aside.

The light was reassuring to her, but she kept her hand on his shoulder, still trying to convince herself he was really there and not some horrible apparition in this awful place. Just looking into his eyes, she could tell he didn't like it here anymore than she did. The water mage took a deep breath, and murmured loud enough for only him to hear. "I'm fine... just unnerved. And you?"

Whatever temptation she'd had to hug him, in hopes of soothing both her fears and his, died the moment he joked about the dog. She huffed a little, looking offended. "I tripped over it in the dark and it followed me. At least you don't bloody follow me around for no reason."

When Pluvio shouted, she jumped, feeling like her hair was standing on end. "Gods... does he have to yell?"