Puck was disoriented by their sudden teleportation, he stumbled a bit before regaining his footing on the sandy beach. "Where are we?" He said, craning his neck to look up at the sheer cliff-face. The whole place was a bit unnerving, a big wave could come along any minute and cover the beach, dashing them into the rocks or worse, dragging them into the sea. Puck shuddered at the thought, he now focused on the door in front of them "Are the weapons in there?" He asked
"Very astute dear! Yes, straight through there we go, chop chop!" Sha clapped her hands, and Puck opened the door.
From the outside it appeared very dark through the doorway, but once Puck passed over the threshold, torches began to light in succession down an ancient looking stone hallway. As they moved forward Puck noticed paintings along the walls and floor. They depicted a great battle between a race of shadowy beings on one side, on the other were many different creatures of all shapes and sizes.
The different creatures reminded Puck of the other students at the temple. "Sha.. these pictures, are the different creatures meant to represent people like me? If so, what are those shadow things supposed to be?" He asked
"Yes dear, these images depict the Eternal Conflict. The people of many shapes are the souls that make it to Magna, and the shadows.. those are the demon horde. They exist as reflections of the most extreme negatives in the world, collections of perverse violence, given form and will. If.. When you meet one of their rank, it will try to consume you, you must fight back, and if at all possible, kill it, by any means necessary. If you cannot kill it, it will hunt you forevermore." Sha said seriously
"So I'm meant to fight these things?? Do I even stand a chance?" Puck was awestruck by the depictions of battle across the surfaces of the corridor, as they walked he saw less and less of the demons, the few that fought on looked different from the rest, they had special markings here and there. As they neared the end of the fighting the hall opened into a massive room with two torches flickering in the distance.
"Perhaps, dear." Sha said with a wry smile
Puck glanced up at her elegant floating form with a puzzled look, and they made their way across the great room. When they reached the other side Puck saw 3 large glowing treasure chests, each was made of a different material. The one on the right was a beautiful jade chest, it glowed with a faint golden light. The middle chest was larger than the other two, it was made of ruby, with solid gold trappings, a bright white light shone through the seams of this one. But Puck was immediately drawn to the chest on the left, it was made of a pewter looking substance, a pulsing blue light came from opening. He stepped towards the pewter chest, but paused and looked back at Sha
"Go ahead dear! You can only choose one, but it seems you've already chosen, let's see what you get!" Sha said excitedly, like a mother watching her child on Christmas morning.
"Here goes nothing" Puck grasped the lid of the chest and lifted it up and open. A wave of blue light flooded the room in a brief, powerful flash. As the light faded, Puck saw a black crystal necklace hanging creepily in the air before him, floating above the open chest in a faint blue glow. It began moving towards Puck in a straight steady line.
"Ah! What's this thing?" Puck stumbled backwards, the necklace shot forward and landed around his neck as his bottom hit the floor. Suddenly a voice sounded from within his head
"Hello, I am Narcissus" the voice said with an androgynous tone
"Narcissus? Are you this necklace thing? How are you talking?" Puck asked out loud in bewilderment
"Did you say Narcissus? What a pretty name!" Sha exclaimed
"Yeah this thing just said it's name is Narcissus, can you hear it too?" Puck asked
"Oh no dear, she's talking to you telepathically of course" Sha said
"Correct, I am communicating with you telepathically, as the goddess says." Narcissus said flatly
"So can you hear me if I just talk in my mind?" Puck thought
"Of course" the voice sounded back
"This is crazy, but wasn't I supposed to get a weapon?" Puck asked aloud
"Well yes, usually that is the case" said Sha, pensively touching her lip "I must admit I pegged you for a sword, but this does pair quite nicely with your armor!" She said with a laugh "If she's talking to you, why not ask what she does?" She mused
"Huh, worth a shot" Puck said, then he focused to try to speak within his mind again "Narcissus, what do you do?" He thought
"I am Narcissus, The Skeleton Key. My primary function is to act as key to the Great Door. My secondary function is energy formation. My tertiary function is situational analysis" the voice sounded off in his head
"It's a key??" Puck said out loud
"A key? A key to what, dear?" Sha asked, dripping with anticipation
"It said it's the key to the *Great Door*, what's that?" Puck asked
"Oh my stars. The Great Door? Dear. THAT is the Great Door" as she said this Sha gestured up at the great wall behind the chests, casting a magical light upon the room. On the wall was another large painting, this one depicted just one of the many shaped people, a humanoid knight with impressive wings with a hand raised towards a huge, shining gate.
Puck gazed up at the huge painting for some time. The gate was massive compared to the winged knight. It had double doors, appeared to open down the middle, with strange symbols lining the edges. The knight was wearing armor, its wings were feathered, but appeared to be made of some odd material that he couldn't pick out. Upon closer inspection he noticed a black band around the knights neck, and then, a small, oddly jagged, diamond shaped impression near the base of the door, where the knights outstretched hand was facing. The shape of the small impression appeared to be an exact match for the black crystal on the necklace around Pucks neck.
"My dear, you are meant to cross the threshold with that necklace." Sha said with a sacred air
"What does that entail exactly? Where is this 'great door' anyway?" Puck asked in exasperation
"If I knew I'd be the first to tell you all about it dear! You're to be the first, no one even knows where the Great Door resides, some legends claim it moves from place to place.." Sha was visibly thinking hard "Aha! I remember a legend about the key, it had other properties as well, did it say anything else?"
"Actually yeah, energy formation? And situational analysis, that's simple enough to figure out I think, but I'm not sure about 'energy formation'." Puck said thoughtfully
"Ahhh so that's it then. That makes sense actually, given your overproduction of energy. This amulet should help you control your power in different ways. Legends speak of its ability to grant the user great bombs of energy, its even said to have a way to form energy into swords and shields, it can probably do even more than that though. This may be the greatest treasure I've ever witnessed a soul obtain, even more so than the eternity chain.." Sha said mystified.
"So I really can't open the other chests?" Puck asked, looking back longingly at the 2 glimmering treasure chests.
"Others have tried. Many others, but none have ever been able to open more than one" Sha said with a shrug "You're free to try if you please" she smiled
Hearing this, Puck wasted no time, he ran straight to the middle chest. This one was three times the size of the other two. With both hands he grasped the lid of the chest and flung it wide open. A holy white pillar of light burst forth as the lid swung back, it actually singed the ceiling, the stone began glowing a deep red. Thankfully it stopped, if it had gone on much longer the stone ceiling would have started to rain molten chunks down on their heads.
CLANKCLANKCLANKCLANKCLANKCLANK
A white chain, ten feet in length, fell from the ceiling, and piled upon the floor in front of Puck.
"It cannot be! Master Haki died 223 years ago, the eternity chain disintegrated with his passing... I have never seen a weapon reincarnate.. this is unheard of.." Sha trailed off quietly
"Is it really that special?" Puck bent to lift the chain from the ground. As soon as he had a few links in his hand he was immediately struck by the intense weight of the chain "Holy crap, this thing must weigh a ton! How am I supposed to use this?" He asked in exasperation
"Ah, quite right, the eternity chain is immensely heavy for its size. Master Haki wielded it with devastating force. His battles would tear mountains into unrecognizable heaps. But, it took him many years to master that chain. Here, this is how he wore it for ten years before beginning to truly make use of it." Sha said, she grabbed the chain up as if it weighed no more than any regular chain, Puck eyed her curiously. She wrapped it twice around his waist, then crossed over both of his shoulders twice, with the rest of the chain she looped down and around the belt portion to secure the whole thing.
Puck felt like he was supporting the weight of a pickup truck with his body. With his new body, the weight was tolerable though, he didn't think it felt quite as bad as the end of Gahorems gravity prison anyway, he could bear this. "So, what, I'm conditioning myself with this chain-vest setup?" He asked
"Essentially yes, dear, until your body gets better used to the weight of the eternity chain." Sha said
"Let's see what's in number 3" Puck said, greedily moving towards the final chest
"Tsk Tsk, don't you think it's a bit selfish to try to open all 3 then?" Sha said disappointedly "But I suppose if you can actually open it then what's the harm" she resigned with a sigh
Puck didn't think he was being greedy. He'd only been dead for a couple of days, and he'd already had to fight, he was going to need every advantage he could get. He stepped before the final chest, with both hands he grasped the lid. When he pulled up to lift it, the chest didn't budge. He pulled and pulled with all the strength he could muster, the ground beneath his feet began to tremble and crack, but the chest stayed firmly shut.
"Ha! Well dear, we can't have everything we want after all." Sha said smugly
Puck was still pulling with all his might, but it was to no avail. He let go of the lid with a huff, reared back, and punched the chest in frustration.
THUNK.BWWOWWM. "AHHH!" THUD... thud
When Pucks fist made contact with the chest it flashed with light, and sent Puck flying away to crash into the back wall of the room. He stuck to the wall for a moment before falling to the ground, crumpled by the doorway. He just laid there, he hadn't been injured, but he felt pretty dumb
"Think before you act" Puck thought, it was simple advice his mother had to give him daily growing up.
"Yes master, planning is imperative" Narcissus sounded back in his head.
Puck sighed "You sure talk a lot huh" he thought, but Narcissus didn't respond to that.
"Are you alright dear?" Sha asked, stifling a giggle
Puck hopped up, rubbing his head a bit "Yeah I'm ok, sorry for punching the treasure chest.." he said sheepishly
"That's ok dear, I could've told you that would happen if you'd asked" she shrugged with a smile "Well, let's head back if you're all done here?" She asked
Puck looked back longingly at the jade chest "Yeah I guess we should go" he said, turning away
They made their way back out to the little beach, and Sha quickly teleported them back to the temple entrance.
"There you are dear, thanks for coming along! I do hope you'll train hard to master your new treasures, I'll come back to see how you're doing when I'm able. Ta Ta for now dear!" With that Sha popped out of existence, she'd teleported away.
Puck stood there where Sha had dropped him for a while. The white chain weighed on him heavily. He held the black crystal that was Narcissus in his palm. "Situational analysis" he thought "Narcissus, what can you tell me about this chain?"
"Heroic Weapon: Eternity Chain
Ability: Stretch
Strength Required: 350
Agility Required: 100
Intelligence Required: 25" Narcissus rattled off
"Stats?" Puck said out loud "Narcissus, what are my stats?" He thought
"Reborn Human: Roger Pucknam
Height: 5 '11
Weight: 207 lbs
Skin: Tan
Hair: Black (long)
Class: Deity (ascension incomplete)
Status Effect: Sealed 80% (duration: infinite)
Strength: 200
Agility: 200
Intelligence: 200
Ability: Energy Well
Ability: Soul Armor, Lord of Bones (equipped)
Ability: Combat Master, Swaying Tall Grass
Equipped Artifacts: Me, and the Eternity Chain"
"Woah" Puck said out loud "Deity? Does that mean I'm some kind of god?" He thought to himself
"No. God Class is 3 tiers above Deity Class" Narcissus said flatly
"What the hell man? Are you always gonna be listening to my thoughts? Can we establish some boundaries? Please?" Puck begged
"I'm not a man. Yes I will always be listening to your thoughts. Yes, from now on I will only respond to your thoughts when you say my name, Narcissus."
"I wasn't actually trying to call you a man, it's just a figure of speech. Are you a woman?" Puck thought
"..."
"Oh my god, fine. Narcissus, are you female or male?" Puck thought in exasperation
"I am a necklace" Narcissus said flatly
*SIGH* "Okay" Puck decided to head back into the temple. He wanted to see what Narcissus had to say about Andre and the others.