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No matter how many times she did it, Xiu still hated the sensation of being jerked out of a dream, her eyes snapping open when she found herself back in her physical body.

A quick glance around determined that everyone was okay and was waking up. When Shun grumbled in confusion, Xiu opened her mouth to answer, only for a surprised laugh to escape instead at Danny's reply. After a moment of consideration, she shut her mouth and grinned. "Sure, let's go with that. Always happy to help, Danny!"

She shot the ghoul a thumbs up before glancing back to the main room, humming thoughtfully. That just left one more then...

Shun stared at Danny, not amused at all.

"Somehow, I highly doubt that's true," he said in a rather flat tone. He looked over at the others; it seemed like everyone was more or less alright.

"I'm fine. We should keep moving.."

Rolling his shoulders lightly, he got back up and dusted himself off. He made his way out of the room, noticing a third glow at the altar. They just had one more room left, and then... well, he'll see when they get there.

He made his way into the final room, pausing at what he saw. The room stretched maybe 100 feet, though he was only able to stand in the first five feet. After that, there was a small drop. The ground below was laden with spikes. That wasn't it. There were giant blades of steel swinging slowly over the spikes. On the other side? A lever.

"Dammit... this is too far for me to shadowstep with..." he muttered under his breath. Quite frankly, the only one who'd be able to cross was someone who could fly.

He stared at Freya.

"You. Go."

Shun continued to stare at her, not really phased by her outburst. He didn't seem really bothered with her mocking him as she was flying across either.

"Oi. Pay attention to where--"

Too late. She already managed to get sliced up a bit. Slowly, he shook his head at her.

"Well flip the lever then. Please." he replied to her dryly. The Reaper placed his hands into his pockets and waited.

Shun gave Freya a rather flat stare from the other side of the room.

"Don't milk it, Freya," he warned, not very amused with her. With a light shrug, he added, "Though, if you do this without a fuss, maybe I'll get you something when we make it back home. And I can guarantee it'd be nicer than a dagger to the chest."

Once the lever was pulled, the four blades didn't entirely stop. Instead, they just fell from the ceiling and crashed down into the spikes below. It would be safe for Freya to fly back normally. The brazier at the entrance soon became lit with the same black flame as the other three, and a low rumble could be heard coming from the main area.

"Thank you, Freya," Shun said before turning around and making his way out to approach the altar. The four corners were glowing softly as the rune in each one was now lit. A dark colored line moved from each one towards the center and soon the altar began to pull apart.

The two stone halves continued to do this until a stairwell down could be seen.

Furrowing his brow, the Reaper stared down into the dark depths. This wasn't quite expected. He supposed the original information he had of 'it should be at the altar' wasn't entirely false.

"...This way, then."

Watching Freya go through that room just about gave Xiu a heart attack, and she instinctively grabbed whoever's arm was closest to her--Danny's--and clung onto it for the duration of the mission. Once the valkyrie was safe, however, the baku let out a sigh of relief and finally released the fire demoness whose arm she had grabbed without permission.

"...Sorry."

Looking a little sheepish, she offered the other ghoul a small bow before turning to look at Shun, eyes wide as she realized that a new pathway had made itself known. Casting a quick glance over everyone, she turned and trotted after the reaper.

Freya was lucky Shun didn't hear her. He had just taken a step or two down into the darkness when he heard Mitsu behind him.

"I don't see anywhere else the ring can be. We need to look down here," he said plainly. That said, he went on and continued on down. It was hard to see down here, though as they walked, ghostly torches lit along the walls. They still didn't give them a whole lot of visibility as they traveled.

At the bottom of the stairwell was a larger room of sorts. It seemed pretty empty, actually. Furrowing his brow, the Reaper slowly made his way further in. And it was now that a dark ghostly form came springing up through the ground.

"So you've made it this far. Good for you," the figure stated. It sounded male, and had a sort of echo to the way it sounded, "Assuming you are after the signet, there is still one more step before you can receive it."

The figure split into five, and each one began to take more form.

"Prove your true worth."

With that, each figure charged to each member of the party. As they approached, it would appear that they were a sort of more shadowed version of each person. For each individual, the rest would fade from view, as if they were all in a room of their own.

Shadow Xiu cackled as she came rushing on towards the real Baku.

"Do you think you can do anything here? You failed to rule a kingdom, and you will fail your friends. They will die. Or maybe be taken by the hunters. Whatever the case may be! It'd be better if I take your place. I can do so much better, Dreamwalker. Perhaps I can send Hayate to his doom too, hm?" she whispered into her ear.

Shadow Danny formed with a little something extra. In one hand, a chain. In the other, appeared to be the severed head of Rikki. The chain apparently was attached to this head to make a sort of gruesome flail.

"Oh, you stupid flame-tailed fool. How is it that you aren't dead yet? How is it that Nyrikki still stays by your side? Really, the only way I can him staying around is if you kept his head like this!" she shouted before swinging the head about, getting ready for battle.

Shadow Freya descended from above, landing down before the real valkyrie with raven-black wings. Her body was gaunt, almost skeletal, as if she hadn't eaten in eternity. And her wings were mangled, or appeared to be. Perhaps they were just molting due to malnourishment or something along those lines.

"Yuu likes how I looks, hm? This is so much betters. Come joins me again!"

Shadow Mitsu smiled as she approached. A pair of balls rested in her hands.

"All the balls are mine and you can't have any!" she shouted while sticking a tongue out. As if to taunt the real wolf, she tossed both balls up into the air only to snatch them back into her grasp.

Stumbling back from the blow to the face Mitsu brought a hand up to rub at her cheek, glaring back at her double. The shadow smiled impishly, tossing the ball into the air again before catching it. "Told you, its mine."

"We'll see..." Mitsu said softly before charging forward again. Her shadow was ready this time and dodged the first incoming fist but the kick that quickly followed was unexpected and sent the shadow to the ground. As Mitsu advanced on her fallen double the ghoul kicked out at her sending her back once again.

HP: 33
Damage: 7
Shadow Mitsu HP: 6