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Rosette peeked around Chrono's shoulder a bit, showing only one blood-dho blue eye to him. She really didn't want to let go since he was the only protection she could afford at the moment.

Meanwhile, thanks to her extensive knowledge of the building, Satella was already a good ways under ground. Whatever Von had done to her had left her tired, but she was feeling well enough to fight now if need be. There was no telling what had congealed in the place in secret since the last time she or the others had been here.

There were marking on the stone walls she observed, some were rather fresh looking. It could only mean one thing.

Someone, hopefully even a group, was still alive...

Rosette shut her eyes, digging rapidly through her beain for a fond memory. When she did, she latched onto it like a leech and tried her best to draw from it. It worked a little to say the least.

"I feel... better..." She said quietly. Chrono was relieved to hear her voice now.

Satella had only just walked a few steps down a stairs case when something shiny caught her eye. Wordlessly, she pursued the matter closely, anything that could be a sign of life here was worth examining.

The glimmer lead her down a very dark hall, the tiny light form her lamp was her only way to see, and even it was a rather faint light,

Finally, she came across the source of the odd reflection. It was a piece of jewelry, it seemed. An ornate cross that seemed to have a snake coiled around it. The shine had come from the cross's glossy surface and the snake's ruby eyes. It looked rather clean to have been lying around for several years.

Satella bent down to pick it up, when suddenly the floor gave way beneath her feet.

She tumbled several yards down, bumping against a slick surface as the lamp slipped from her grip. Thankfully, the fall was a short one and the lamp was unbroken, she could continue.

Satella sat up and brushed herself off quickly before gathering up her lap. She'd heard and odd, scratching sort of noise and was immediately drawn to a tighter gaurd.

"Is someone there?" She demanded, "Show yourself!"

She could see an odd shape nearby, and approached it cautiously. To her disgust, insecets, scattered from what she'd seen: a corpse. Satella held up her free hand to keep any bugs from getting in her mouth or nose.

"No... was this our only survivor...?" She murmured sadly,"All of his energy has been sucked out...but by what...?"

"...The Holy Cross..." croaked a voice behind her, "absorbs and collects all forms of energy..."

Satella jumped back several yards from the voice's owner, and was stunned to see a woman she once knew. It was Emma, a girl whod come to the Order after her late husband was killed in a failed summoning. She wanted to try and use her knowledge of the arcane to help the order... Satella knew little beyond that. She was always very busy before with the order, and hardly knew faces as Rosette had done.

"Welcome, I haven't had guest in a long time." Said the pale woman. Her clothes were rather scanty and somewhat ornate, but the hems were torn from prolonged use and her feet were black from never eing washed, "I am pleased to see you."

Emma had once been a beautiful girl, but now she was but a shell of her former lovely self.

"I'd rather not use violence against another human." Satella warned, dropping the lamp and aiming her jewel at Emma, "Just give up."

"How kind..." Emma said, with her arms crossed smugly, "But futile..."

A symbol began to burn the earth benetah Satella feet. The same symbol that was the peice of jewelry shed found before. The very same piece Emma now wore around her neck.

"Laden!"Satella exclaimed, but nothing happened, "What...? The stones...?"

Satella breath was suddenly squeezed form her chest as something coiled around her, a ghastly, glowing snake that Emma had somehow called. Satella's strength was already fleeting, and it took little effort from the snake to render her unconcious. Emma smile more as the proud summoner fell. She would have a proper sacrifice tonight...

Loque nodded a bit, glad he could help even in the slightest way. He wasn't sure how much relief it would provide for Rosette but it would have to do. Turning to Blaise he touched her shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked to him.

"You might want to try it as well." he suggested.

She waved him away impatiently, "Yeah, I'll try, but when I don't feel like I'm going to lose the contents of my stomach."

Blaise was quiet as Kaden held her close. He didn't understand why he couldn't feel them either. Booker didn't seem to have much of a problem either, but he'd jump every once in a while. He probably wasn't at all sensitive, feeling the odd pinprick every so often as any normal person would. But Kaden hadn't felt anything at all.

Rosette's reaction was explainable, most of the hostility was directed towards her. Loque could do an everygy block but Blaise had never really devoted herself to something like that. She was very keen to the energies of the earth, spirits came with it. This situation couldn't have been predicted so she never thought of any time she might need to stop the energy.

Blaise, resenting the tortures on her body, looked around dazedly. "Where did Satella go?"

Blaise's stomach seemed to settle a bit, though not much. The nagging need to vomit had ceased, that much was better. At the moment she was consentrating on energy conservation and trying to pull off Loque's energy block. She'd managed to do it a little and it offered some relief but it wasn't very strong. It would become more fortified with practice and more use.

Rubbing her eyes she looked around and saw Booker jump and put his hands on his head.

"You alright, Booker?" she asked.

He looked to her seeming a little nervous and agitated. "They keep pulling my hair." he said plainly. Loque couldn't help but smile a bit. The elder elf crept up behind him a bit and tugged on a lock of Bookers hair. He gave a shout and turned around to see Loque snickering. He gave him a punch on the shoulder and scowled.

Blaise grinned a bit, happy that at least one or two of them could keep in good spirits. Even if it was at another's expense. She kept an eye on Kaden for a little while but didn't see him take notice to what spirits were around them.

"Hey Kaden, you feel that?" she asked.

He turned to her with a quizzical look. "Feel what?"

"You don't feel anything?" she questioned further.

"Eh . . . no . . .? Haven't felt anything since we've gotten here." He answered. Blaise furrowed her brow in thought. He, besides Azmaria and Chrono, was one of the only ones who hadn't felt anything. Strange.

Blaise gave Chrono a quizzical look then noticed the soft blue glow. She felt like asking the smae question Chrono had. Looking to everyone else she saw the same look of confusion on their faces. What was going on. A thought struck her and she looked to Chrono.

"Satella . . ." she said, "Could that be her?"

Kaden jumped to his feet and hauled Blaise up with him, holding her steady as she was still uneasy on her feet. Booker stepped with them and Loque with Chrono and Rosette.

"Azmaria, come with us." Blaise said firmly, her voice stronger than she felt. "We must go quickly. This way."

She began walking off in one direction with Kaden and Booker close, in expectation that Chrono and Rosette would go in the other.

Kaden kept on full alert, watching for any sign of Satella. Blaise would stumble every so often and Kaden would help her along. Booker seemed to keep strangely close to Azmaria, in a protective way. But if she were to look at him he would blush and avert his eyes. Kaden supposed the boy couldn't have been any more obvious, no matter what Azmaria thought.

Blaise wasn't as sharp as usual, her senses dulled by all the different and hostile energies around them. But she did catch one thing. A slight glint of light reflected off of something in a room to which the door was hanging ajar. She walked over to it cautiously, tipping it with her finger. The door fell completely off it's hinges with a loud crash.

Kaden winced at the noise and Blaise looked back to him with a shrug. Stepping in around the fallen door she saw what this room was. It was a weaponry closet. There wasn't much she recognized and a few things had been taken as they had been used.

"What is all this?" she asked in a whisper.