The sounds of the elevator creaking, and slowly descending sharply cut it's way into all of our ears. It was an almost physically numbing experience. With each gear turning, our anticipations grew, promptly alongside our nervousness. Judging from the faces of Caleb, and Zenia, as well as that previous pressure we felt, we were in for quite the treat.
Somehow, this pressure felt familiar, yet I couldn't compare it to anything, I've ever felt before. Not a single person, nor a feeling, but I somehow knew what it meant. And that, I wasn't too fond of. An ominous feeling, that someone here will die, came over me for a few seconds, but I realized soon enough, that it was just the panic coming from me, combined with the others' reactions.
I won't lie, I felt a bit scared. Even so, I couldn't show it. Being the leader of a ragtag team of wannabe villains came with some levels of necessities, and requirements. One of those was the simple task of not showing uncertainty. If you weren't so sure of yourself, as an evil mastermind, than you probably have already failed.
With those few things in mind, I was waiting.
And sure enough, our enemy finally showed his face. Well, sort of. You know, wearing a mask and all, with a stupid looking belgian hat on top of his head, and a tuxedo, it was hard to take him seriously, but after that prior show of power, it was impossible not to.
"Bonsoir, my beautiful vermin, I came to eradicate you!" he said in a strong french accent. Way to start your monologue.
"Nice to meet you again, weirdo," I replied, "I'm sorry, but I hope you don't mind, if I don't comply."
He looked straight into my eyes, and I was sure he had a crazy smile under his mask. He didn't look too much like a 'nice guy', in this situation. I mean, I guess he was more on the hero side, right? Being all for the religious positivity, and all that. Somehow I didn't get that feeling of safety, and reassurance from his maniacal expression.
"Ah oui, I don't mind, but you might," he replied, with some levels of excitement in his voice.
"Before that," I started, "Wouldn't it be better, if we introduce ourselves?" I had to somehow get enough time to figure something out. He didn't just feel ridiculously strong a moment ago, he looked like it as well. We were down by one, and had a lot of injuries, as well as a captive, to take care of.
"That is only natural, would you mind to start?" he lowered his head to a half bow, giving me way.
"My name is, as you probably know, Dan Atys, also known as [Tentazione], bearer of [Temptation]," I replied, "I came here to rescue a friend," I gestured towards Caleb.
"Rescuing a friend is, erm - admirable. Let me introduce myself then," he definitely was going to say something else, "I am one of the current Bishops of the Order of the Coin, Olivier LaCroix. You 'ave already met my brother," he gestured towards Caleb.
"Quite the pedigree you have," I said, mildly trying to taunt him, "being a Bishop, you're also quite strong, and to top it all, the brother of the Great Paladin," I said, giving him a half grin.
He visibly didn't like the way I phrased it. Of course he wouldn't, it was entirely deliberate. Throwing him off enough, that he wouldn't make the most sound decisions was probably our best bet. He retained his composure, ignored what I said, and continued.
"You told me your goal 'ere, let me tell you mine," he looked at all of us in the room. The way he looked at us really felt like he was some sort of royalty meeting peasants. The amount of condescension in his attitude sort of hurt my own pride, "Retrieve [Medusa] and [Temptation]. That is my goal."
"You're not forgetting something?" I looked at him, sort of confused, to be honest, "What about your brother, or Zenia?"
"When shall we begin, Sin of Greed?" he entirely ignored me. Great start, as I said.
I glanced back at those two, and they seemed quite a bit pissed off. I understand Caleb, but Zenia as well? Was there something behind his decisions, or is that just him?
"If we leave, we're heretics. No exceptions," Caleb explained, "No questions asked. Once you're against the order, you can't be with them ever. They'll treat you like trash."
With that in mind I could understand the situation a bit more. Zenia probably was dealing with that feeling in her all along, and she just finally realized that this is how it actually feels. And it's probably shit. She probably used to treat others the same way before, and that includes treating her mentor the same way, just because he 'betrayed' them.
"Let's do this," I replied, cracking my fists, but suddenly I felt a push on my chest.
It was Francis' extended arm, holding me back, telling me to step back. I looked at him, and he glanced over to my other side. On my left, Meda was doing the same motion, as I just did.
"Let us handle this," she smiled at me.
I looked down, breathed in, and stepped back. Did I even have a choice? I smiled as I was waiting for them to start the fight. All my anxiety just flew away. I knew I could count on the two of them. I seemed to have forgotten my place here for a second. I'm not a fighter, I'm a strategist, the leader. I can just stand back, as I rely on my people. And they can jsut rely on me, whenever they need it.
LaCroix twisted his head to the side, blinking wildly between the three of us, but eventually he seemed to have realized what was going on. He shrugged his shoulders, and took a fighting stance. It was sort of the same as last time, where he'd stand normally, but slightly raise his fists for a brawl. It kinda looked like a classy gangster from one of those old movies.
He didn't move, other than just bobbing around in place, seemingly waiting for the two of them to attack.
"My name is Ventus," Francis introduced himself.
"Mine is Andromeda," Meda added. For a second there, LaCroix looked at her, but he got rid of some idea he had, and nodded. They looked at each other, and suddenly disappeared.
Well, disappeared, as in they moved so fast, that they were almost impossible to track. I don't even know when it happened, but Meda has already changed into her Lioness form, and was running on all fours. That was a sight to see, especially from a certain angle.
Occasionally I could see LaCroix just casually block an attack from somewhere in the haze they created, but it was just way too fast for my eyes. When I concentrated hard enough, I could see their forms, but that's it. From time to time, it seemed like the Bishop was enjoying himself, but with his mask in his face, it wasn't all that easy to tell his expressions apart.
And that's when it all turned around. He suddenly vanished. Noticing it, both of my friends stopped in their track, and started frantically looking around. From my point of view it was obvious, but for them, he was probably in a horribly placed blind zone. I was just about to yell and tell them, but something stopped me. I don't know what it was, but I just couldn't open my mouth.
Anxiety, frustration, pride, sportsmanship, or something along those lines - it really came at the worst time. It was their fight, if I interfered it would seem like I didn't trust them enough. And the man standing right above them in the air knew this full well. He raised both of his arms, and something just appeared. Well, rather they were some things. Two gigantic warhammers, to be exact, and I'm not talking about the historical warhammers, that were ridiculously small, no, they were like video game level huge. If those were going to hit them, they could instantly drop dead.
What to do in a situation like this?
Just as I was thinking that, LaCroix raised both at the same time above his head, and from the same side, he launched those hammers towards my friends. I reached out with my arm, opening my mouth to shout, but I was too late. With a sound of cracking bones, and splashing blood, Meda and Francis disappeared.
A loud rumbling noise came from behind us, and once I turned around, I noticed how the walls were no more, just two huge holes on both sides of the hallway we were standing in. In the middle of those holes, Francis and Meda were promptly 'placed', as if the walls formed around them.
I jolted up, and ran towards the middle of the room.