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Back in the dungeon

"Great job, Violet! I knew I could count on you!" Lonewolf praised the drained little laptop as he plucked her off the floor and tucked her into his shirt pocket. "Now to get to the bottom of this..."

The castle was like a maze. Lonewolf found himself going around in long, big circles for hours. Little did he know, that he was trapped in an illusion created by Arianna. She laughed to herself in amusement as she gazed into her crystal ball. "Very well, I have had my fun..." Arianna murmured a few incantations, creating an opening in one of the walls of the castle, which led directly to her throne room.

"Hmm...I don't remember this being here before..." Lonewolf mused, looking at the new path that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "But it's the only way out, so I don't really have a choice in the matter." Lonewolf reluctantly began going up the steps.

He found himself in Arianna's throne room. It was quite dark and the only light shining in the room came from a single large window that took up most of the wall on the far side of the room.

"Lonewolf!! Get out of here, quick!! It's a trap!!!" Lonewolf turned swiftly to his left only to look in horror at his former teammate, Inferno, strapped onto the wall by strange tentacles. "What the..?"

"Nice of you to join us...Sir Lonewolf." The voice came from behind him. He swiftly turned around to see who it was, only to see the face a very beautiful woman, somewhat hiding behind a dull blue curtain.



"We meet again." She continued as she stepped out from behind the curtain. Lonewolf seemed puzzled, "Again..?" The woman seemed amused, "Ah, that's right...you had willingly fell unconcious to rid yourself of your 'evil' side...tsk." She shook her head slowly and sadly, "I rather liked that side of you better." Lonewolf snorted, "I'd expect as much. I demand you to let Inferno go right this instant or I will use force against you to release him myself." A blue energy blade can be seen extending from Lonewolf's right index finger and middle finger. He stood defiantly in front of her. Arianna shook her head, her amused smile did not fade, "Foolish boy...you forget what got you into that cell in the first place. I already told you, you're spells have no effect on me." Lonewolf seemed taken aback by her words, "W...what?! What manner of sorcery is this?!"

"Yours." The woman stated simply. She sighed, realizing she was going to have to explain who she was again, "My name is Arianna. I was a pupil of Locke's...the very same Locke who taught you." The mention of Lonewolf's teacher struck curiosity in Lone, "Locke..? But that would mean..." The woman nodded, "Yes. I am over 600 years old." Lonewolf lifted an eyebrow, "But...how is that possible?" The woman shook her head, "That, sir, is none of your business." Lonewolf grit his teeth angrily, "Anyway..." the woman continued, "I was an orphan when Locke began teaching me. My parents and twin sister were all brutally murdered by pirates before my very eyes. Locke knew of my thirst for vengence, but...as he always was with his pupils...he was aloof of my intentions. The poor old fool didn't know what hit him..." Lonewolf's eyes widened, "You..." The woman smiled, "Yes, Lonewolf. I killed your teacher." Lonewolf was taken aback by all this, "But...why?! What did he do to you?" The woman smiled evily, "Elementary, my dear Wolf." The woman tapped her tiarra. "I needed to be powerful enough to gain my revenge on all pirates...so after learning about this little jewel and obtaining it, I began absorbing as many strong individuals as I could...starting with Locke." Lonewolf looked at the woman in horror, "So...the extinction of all pirates...that.." The woman nodded, "That was me, yes." Lonewolf shook his head in disgust, "Very well then...why us? Why are you after the dragoons and I now?" The woman smiled, "I desire your powers." Lonewolf cocked an eyebrow, "What for?" The woman shrugged, "No particular reason...you see, I have been finding various different ways of entertaining myself throughout the years. I hadn't really payed you or your friends any mind until recently. Once you lost your mind and violently attacked your friend, Hajimate, you caught my attention. You are quite the interesting specimen, Lonewolf. Always unpredictable in your actions. At first I thought I would have you as a pet, but then once I saw you willingly wipe your own mind of all the evil deeds and thoughts you had within my dungeon, my plans for you changed. I want that power. I want to be like the great 'Legendary Lonewolf'. Not only like you, but like all of those who have fought alongside you in the past. Surely all of you must have some sort of secret power within yourselves. So, I have taken it upon myself to hunt down the rest of your old friends and gather all of your powers into one, by sucking it out of you with my magical leeches and storing it all into my crystal ball so that the power of Lonewolf and his Dragoons will be at my liesure whenever I wish."

The simplicity of the woman's plan shocked Lonewolf. "You're....completely twisted." He said in awe, then shook his head in anger, "We are not mere 'play things'!!! We are human beings!! How could you possibly even fathom such thoughts?! Did you learn nothing from Locke's teachings?!"

The woman grew bored, "I learned enough." She said lazily as she waved her hand through the air. Lonewolf suddenly flew towards the wall next to Inferno. "His teachings on morals never interested me much, though." She shrugged and walked back towards her crystal ball and began gazing into it, completely ignoring Lonewolf and Inferno's grunts as they both tried feebily to escape from the magical leeches' clutches. She sighed heavily.

Violet stopped the recording, afraid to peek out from the shirt should she be caught by this rather strange woman. She heard the familiar voice of Inferno beside them. Apparently the two were stuck.
The persocom racked her brain for a solution, accepting that she couldn't whistle for Locke and had no real way to communicate with Lion and the others.
"I'll have to go get Lion myself..." Violet whispered to herself, "Sorry Master, I'll have to leave you for now."
She pulled a sewing needle from her back, something she hadn't found useful in quite a long time, and hugged it. It was a gift from Erim which ripped through time and space to allow Violet to go home whenever she needed to. She would love to see Erim now.
Within the little space she sliced an opening in the air, it twisted and turned in black swirls.
"I'll be back soon, with help! I promise!"
The little being jumped through the opening, kicking her feet to freedom, and the rip closed.
((Continued in Main Building Ruins ))

"Help?"
Inferno thought about the situation.
"I've been captured, even Lonewolf's been captured, Haji's practically dead, that leaves Leon and Shadow..."
Inferno looked at the floor.
"We're screwed."

Inferno shot Lonewolf a look. stare
"This crazy b***h captured us, threw us across the room, and strapped us to the wall as tentacles drain the life force from our bodies, all without so much as breaking a sweat. Your faith in Leon is far greater than mine."
Inferno looked back across the room. He secretly hoped that Lionheart could indeed save them, but he didn't want to get his hopes up.

Inferno leaned toward Lonewolf.
"You see that? She seems flustered about something. It would appear as though there's some unforeseen veritables in her plan."
Inferno knew the situation was still quite grim, but he took pleasure in seeing his captor in even the littlest bit of irritation.

Arianna saw Lonewolf's head slump in the corner of her eye. "Ahh....I see the great 'Legendary Dragoon's' power is ripe for the taking." She waved her hand, releasing only Lonewolf from the leech-vines. His body fell to the floor with an audible 'thud'. She looked up to regard the flabbergasted Inferno. "In case you were wondering...I drained his energy far faster then yours. Seeing as how I knew he was a greater threat to me then you could ever be." She chortled to herself. The leech vines that sucked on Lonewolf's energy plugged themselves into Arianna's crystal ball. "But you will have your turn soon enough.." She mused as she placed her hand upon the crystal ball. Absorbing all of Lonewolf's power into her own. Her body convulsed and shiverred at the enormous strength that surged through her body.

((update on Arianna's level in the Character Levels thread))

"YYYYEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!!! THE POWER!!!!!! I CAN FEEL IT!!!!!" Arianna laughed wildly. The new thoughts...she was now able to pick apart her own mind, and arrange it however she wished. She could hear the thoughts of thousands...no...MILLIONS!!! And the newfound willpower.....absolutely amazing! She cackled insanely as she broke through her castle's window and flew high up into the air. Listening....listening to everyone's thoughts. Suddenly...she felt a pang of guilt. Guilt..? But why..? Locke....her mentor. She could see him in her mind...in her memories, long forgotten. Lonewolf's unrivaled memory was kicking into her mind. How kind Locke was to her....what's this...? Why does my cheek feel moist? TEARS?! You've got to be kidding!

So....this was how Lonewolf's mind was....flashes of past memories constantly running through his mind....constant murmurs of people's prayers, wishes....thoughts. Lovers, children, poor people, rich people, even scum. Everyone's everyday thoughts flooding into her mind at once....it's no wonder Lonewolf had gone insane, she thought. The noise in her mind was beginning to drive herself insane. She used Lonewolf's willpower to put a plug into all the voices in her head. Apparently, she won't be needing her crystal ball anymore with this kind of mind power. She slowly descended from the sky and back into her throne room. She ignored Inferno as she walked towards her chair and took a seat. Bored. She was so bored. Suddenly...a thought had crossed her mind. "Hmm..." She mused, as she smiled to herself.

That was it! Seeing as how no one stands a chance against her with this kind of power, she would hold a fighting tournament! She nearly drooled at the thought of being able to watch so many fighters compete against each other. Such fun! The winner will get to have a chance in fighting herself....they will lose ofcourse, but she will not kill them. Instead, she will let them live. Only so that they can get stronger and try again someday.

It was quite obvious that Arianna's arrogance had sky-rocketed into insanity. She was actually getting excited at the fact of losing to a great warrior someday. Oh, the excitement! Oh, such great entertainment! Oh....the insanity! She loved it. The unpredictability....the spontaneousness of Lonewolf's personality flowed through her veins. She sent a telepathic message to Kain and Elliana right away.

Both of you. Stop Fighting at once! Get back to my castle immediately! Kain! Call of your demons!

She looked over at the drained Inferno, then waved her hand. The leech vines released him immediately. "I''ve had a change in plans. It seems that Lonewolf's power was all that I needed. You can go now, but you will be hearing from me again soon." She smiled evily.

(( continue from Forest ))

A potal opened and Larunia walk out from it, it closes and she looks at her surroundings. " Well now, this is new. now which way do I go now? "

"what is this energy and where is it coming form? in the mountain? " Pulzzed by this, Larunia goes explorering around the mountian untill she sees a cave. " ok, this must be the entrance. "