[Rina]

Upon Arle touching the sigil, the monument began to glow luminously. The ground trembled a little before unfolding itself, revealing what appears to be a set of stairs that lead to somewhere. No treasure here, but it's likely it's hidden deeper within. Seems the one who hid the treasure REALLY didn't want to make it so easy, hiding it in some labyrinth to explore. Seems like dungeon exploration isn't going to escape these three anytime soon. It's time to delve deeper.

"I believe it is safe to assume they're not making treasure hunting that easy. Let's go."

Schezo descended down the stairway that formed, finding himself in what appears to be a rather plain-looking room, square and having two doors. They don't appear to be locked in any given form, either. Once he made his way to the dungeon, he looked around the perimeter of the room and...

"?! We've been trapped in this dungeon!"

...came to realize the stairs he came from were gone! Where did they go!? He clearly descended a flight of stairs within mere minutes ago! Is this a trap, or just a quirk of how this labyrinth works? Whichever it is, they can't backtrack. Furthermore...

"And the map's gone blank!"

...he has to draw up an entirely new map to work with. Taking out a writing implement, he graphed out the immediate area, marking the doors where he sees them. The dungeon itself is rather dim, so it's going to be a little hard to see without a light. Once the girls catch up, he created an orb of light to illuminate the map that has been magically rewritten to conform to the dungeon layout.

"Seems we have much to go before reaching the end. Be on your guard, for the darkness is home to monstrous threats."

((Dungeon spelunking time! Pick a direction where you want to go, number of spaces, and be on your way! Take your time wandering around; you're going to look high and low for stuff, but be forewarned of potential hazards. Under current circumstances, you can only see one space ahead. Having light sources from something like magic or a torch will extend your vision.))

[TheSpatialWeeg]

“Er...I feel like there was a thousand better ways to phrase that better.” Rulue ended up commenting on the Arle’s reply. Of course, there were no pervert comments following that because that’s obviously Schezo’s stick. As they gone down the stairs, the fighting queen noticed that the stairs all disappeared as they all entered the room. To make matters worse, the map magically blanked off. To top it all off, the dungeon was very dim lighting-wise, making any spelunking on her front a slog unless she could provide a light source for herself...and guess who couldn’t provide herself a light source?

“...I should’ve seen that coming.” Rulue ended up commenting. “Now we’ll have to search for another exit too. Great.” She continued sarcastically. Seeing as there were two doors to go through, it was easy to assume they were going to split up (assuming no doors were locked). Problem was, with little to no light, advancing by herself would be a problem.

“...I’ll have to accompany someone this time. I...have no light source with me and if I try to go alone, I'd slow us down."

[Mari]

...Wow! Magic hand. Arle was somewhat skeptical about how the sigil knew it was her that touched it, but she supposed questioning this when the path forward became apparent. There was work to do! She was a little bit flustered that Rulue corrected her. It wasn't as if the Sigil was going to mistake her words for flirting. ...Would it? On second thought it did seem a little sentient. ...What a weird thought. "Hehe--Yeah~" the mage replied, following the others inside. To her shock, she found herself trapped in a dark dungeon! "Oh wow. This really takes me back. I haven't explored a dungeon like this since--...Remember Hyrule, Rulue? That was before I even knew about the Life Sphere~" Arle remarked, only for her eyes to widen with realization. "Oh, are we splitting up? ...Well--I'm probably the most fit to go on my own. No offense, Schezo~ But--um... Who do you want to go with, Rulue?" Arle would go on to offer, summoning a ball of light of her own. She personally wanted Rulue close to her, but she really wasn't keen on this whole splitting up idea either way. Ah well. Somehow she doubted Schezo shared her feelings about keeping the group together.

[Rina]

"I'll be okay if you leave me behind in favor of Rulue."
"...I suppose."

...Schezo seems to be taking the wrong hint of being the third wheel of this group, despite being the one that invited them. This mission was supposed to be more about bringing the old trio together, but so far, it's...not working in his favor. With the last bit of words being but a quiet breath, he headed East with the map in hand, leaving the girls behind. He advanced what would be six squares on the map, starting from the initial room and keeping a straight path down the hallway. With the light by his side, he's able to see a little farther. There was a fork in the road as he moved onward, but he chose to continue East. He could see a corner as he got closer, prompting him to turn should he continue on.

For the girls, they could either pursue Schezo because he has the only map, or continue down the other way and find something else Schezo wouldn't catch. With Arle's light, the girls would be able to see around two squares ahead. Shoud they join with Schezo, the combined light would likely double in range, resulting being able to see around three or four.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

"Huh? Now, hold on a second, Sch--"

And then she notices Schezo already leaving to explore by his lonesome, faltering on the call. Rulue looked a bit hurt by the Dark Wizard’s choice of going by himself without any formal discussion. Then again...nothing was stopping them to change their minds and go together, right? Well...

“...Your call, Arle. I’ll follow you.”

She didn’t knew exactly why, but if they did end up going separate ways, she was kind of glad she was stuck with following Arle. She never gave that much thought up until recently, but the sorceress has been on her mind for quite a while. Maybe because of the huge emotional support she gave out to her that one time? It was...probably that.

[Mari]

Arle watched in bewilderment as Schezo chose to go on his own. ...Hm. Maybe his pride demanded it or something. Or maybe he was tired of company. Either way, she wasn't too concerned about it. "...I guess he must want some alone time." Arle mused aloud in a mildly perplexed tone. She wasn't about to complain, however. "That's alright, though~ I wasn't looking forward to going off on my own anyway. Or splitting up at all, really. Oh well. You're in good hands with me, Rulue~!" Arle would go on to explain before cheerily moving to lead the way south. "Diacute!" she casually incanted, passing off the little orb of power to Rulue. She'd made a habit of not acknowledging the protective way she was playing cheerleader for the other with these diacute spells for a while now, and she wasn't about to stop and question it now... She wasn't really in a rush, so she took her time for the moment being moving forward.

((Arle guides Rulue 2 spaces south.))

[Rina]

The moment the group split up, he seemed far out of earshot to mutter to himself.

"......They don't need me. They could do just fine without me. Why do I matter? I could simply leave them the map, and they'll likely find it before I do and keep it for themselves. They're...they're still the same to me. They'd rather be with each other and I'll be cast aside as if I'm mere scraps."

He left the girls to their own because he was feeling excluded from connecting with them. There's still mixed messages to be undone, and the girls should regroup with him before something pretty bad happens to him. Schezo continued down his path, but he is otherwise out of sight from the girls.

The girls, on the other hand, are met with a hallway, not unlike the one Schezo is going through. There appears to be nothing out of the ordinary from the looks of things. The hallways don't have much elbow room to speak of, only having the full arm span of space to move about. Give or take a few inches. Rulue could punch and kick without getting clipped by the wall, but unless Arle was another square back, she'd likely get kicked too. Even with the illumination from Arle's Diacute revolving around Rulue, there is still more hallway to traverse down. It may as well be a dead end, but there is only one way to know for sure.

...Perhaps leaving him alone wasn't a good idea. He's the only one with the map, even... would it be possible to meet with him in the same room?



(Oh, as a reminder, you are still allowed to do Wisdom rolls to investigate within your line of sight. Who knows what you'll find?)

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Huh, Arle granted her a Diacute charge. You’d think the mage herself would bother charging herself first, but...apparently not. “Thank you.” Rulue said before taking her time to scout the surroundings in spite of how terrible her vision was being at that instant.

CNFL4R7Lp_1d20-3(Welp.)

“...Say, Arle…” Rulue began to talk to the sorceress. “I’ve...been thinking about the whole Satan thing and...I...fail to see a point in trying to pursue a relationship after that. W-what I’m trying to convey here is...is that...what if I fall in love and it’s with someone just like Satan? Or...or worse?"1d20-3

[Mari]

Arle was quietly pondering why exactly Schezo would insist on going alone after inviting them on this quest. It did kind of rub her the wrong way, but she also didn't like the idea of leaving Rulue's side for even a moment. Somehow she'd grown a lot more clingy after finally winning the other's friendship back after all this time separated. What exactly was she afraid of? That Rulue would turn on her again? ...That someone would... take advantage of her current state? That last one seemed like she was onto something, but Arle's self-analysis would end rather abruptly when Rulue asked her a rather alarming question. ...What was with everyone asking her for love advice? She was terrible at love! Then again, she understood that Rulue was her close friend and might not have anyone else she could ask. That made it make a whole lot more sense to her.

"...Well, maybe I can help make sure that doesn't happen." Arle would begin by offering in a rather matter-o-fact tone. She may not be a relationship guru, but she was pretty confident even she could help Rulue do better than Satan. That was one damn low bar, at least in Arle's opinion anyway. "Maybe there's something to be learned about yourself from this. There had to be something you saw in Satan to make you fall in love with him, right? Maybe falling out of love means your needs changed. Maybe if you compare what's important to you now to what was important to you then, you'll realize you could never love a man like him again." Arle offered. It wasn't a very romantic way of looking at love, but perhaps Arle's down-to-earth and practical view of love could benefit Rulue by giving her a different perspective.

((Arle guides Rulue 2 squares south again.))

After a moment of silent thought, Arle's curiosity would get the better of her. "...What's important to you for love anyway? Do you have like, an ideal person that would make you the happiest person on Li? What are they like? How do they treat you?" Arle would ask. She'd be lying if she said she didn't intend to compare herself to this fantasy of Rulue's, but nobody needed to know that. It was probably a boy anyway, so it didn't really matter. ...Or at least, that's what she told herself.

5ZHqlnk7p_1d20+4 (Arle is oddly alert to her surroundings for someone so distracted.)1d20+4

[Rina]

As Arle looked around while escorting Rulue, she'll notice a scrawl on the way. The thing seems to have been doodled on with a chalk, with some shapes and color scribbles. The meaning itself doesn't seem to be evident. Perhaps it's a hint to something they haven't seen just yet? Aside from that conspicuous, but currently irrelevant doodle, there's nothing else to discern.

Continuing down the hallway, the duo would end up at their first path split: one forward, one to Rulue's left (the East). If they continue forward, there's a door to be opened. The light isn't bright enough to reveal much of the other way, however; its' still rather dark. Wherever Schezo is...he feels like Arle's subconscious clinginess to Rulue is an indicator that he has no relevance to them. When they regroup, they should set some things straight, at least.

...if they regroup.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

“...At this point...I think I’ll settle in for something basic.” Rulue began answering Arle’s question. “I’m not asking for much, just...someone that loves me for who I am and...can live and help me with my flaws.” There’s a bit of silence before she speaks up. “Who knows? Maybe I could even... settle for a girl provided she treats me well.” the Fighting Queen shrugged as she noticed the path split. She would've asked if they'd change directions, however she decided not to.

[Mari]

Arle listened carefully as Rulue described her ideal lover. To her surprise, it actually didn't sound that bad at all! It was very romantic, yes, but in the nice sort of way! This was as opposed to the cheesy and uncomfortable sort of romance. It was distinctly down to earth compared to the clownish spectacles people like Satan and Incubus put on. Perhaps she was setting the bar a little low there, given their tendency to violently assault her in a bid for her affection, but maybe not! The more she thought about it, the more she realized Rulue's description could just as easily be applied to a good friend as it could a wife. ...Husband? Gah! What was with her head right now?! It wasn't until Rulue mentioned being open to the idea of dating a girl that her words really got a proper reaction out of Arle, however.

(Arle and Rulue advance two squares towards the door)

Arle's train of thought just kind of derailed on the spot, catastrophically crashing into the surrounding mental city and killing dozens of innocent brain cells on their way to work in the process. "I could do that." the mage remarked ever so casually in a matter-o-fact tone as she moved to lay her hand on an unsuspecting door. It was a good idea to explore any small passages as they went along, lest they get lost in the main hallway and forget where they had and hadn't already searched. They didn't have a map, after all. It took her only a moment, however, to seize up as she realized what she'd just said. . . . Why had she said that?! Oh god--That was stupid! She'd just said something incredibly stupid! She couldn't possibly treat Rulue the way she deserved! She could barely even treat herself the way she deserved! They'd only just stopped fighting and now she was--...What was she been thinking?? This was wrong! The mage stopped what she was doing and muffled the screaming going on inside her head. She needed to address what had just been said. "...Wow--I've never wanted to tell myself to shut up so quickly after opening my mouth before. I'm really on a roll today, right??" Arle remarked in an overtly anxious manner with some amount of apology in her tone. She then finally moved to open the door in front of them.

(Arle moves to lean into the room ahead of them to get a better look at what's inside.)

 (Arle's Critical Awareness)

...Small wonder what motivated her to focus so hard on their mission all of a sudden.

[Rina]

Right dead center at the wall in front of the duo upon entry, there's another one of those tic-tac-toe doodles lying about. This time this one has blue scribbles. The room itself is certainly not as cramped as the hallways, perhaps the same area size of the first room they started in. What can be made out of this similarly formatted drawing? Other than the scrawl, there's a door that leads to more of the dungeon and one lone chest to Arle's left. It seems innocent enough, but something isn't right about this chest. There's this ominous feeling looming from it...

This can't be the Cache, can it? If it is, then it'd be way too easy of a quest. On top of that, wouldn't it be incredibly rude to just make off with the treasure and leave none for the guy that invited them? On one hand, he did just up and ditch to go his own way. On the other hand, they wouldn't even be here without his tip-offs and his map. Did he even tip off the girls anything useful though...? Then again, considering there's no way out from where they came from, just taking the goods and getting out without him is out of the question...

Dare the girls sate their curiosity and open it up? Or just nonchalantly leave it be and go through the door?

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Rulue just quietly allowed herself to be directed by Arle when she heard Arle quickly say the 'she could do that'. The Fighting Queen would've simply shrugged the comment and kept moving...hadn't she remembered the context of their recent discussion. The instant that fact sunk in, Rulue had gotten a fair shade of red on almost her entire face. The thought of her hooking up with Arle was...kind of surreal, considering their history as rivals in adulthood. Oh god, what to do. Rulue, if only for a brief moment, was left speechless. What could she say on the matter? --Oh wait, distraction!

“...Uuuuuuh, h-hey, look! There’s a treasure chest there!” Rulue said, tripping over her words for a moment. Inside, Rulue hoped Arle would be distracted enough so that they wouldn’t touch on that again. "This doesn't look like a 'huge reward' chest though."

n6fJlqiKp_1d20-3(....Okay, keep paying more attention, Rulue.)1d20-3

[Mari]

...Welp. Rulue's lack of acknowledgement definitely meant she hated the idea. Oh well. So much for that idea. Better not bring that up again, lest she get a much less tolerant reaction from the other. She supposed she should be grateful that Rulue was taking the remark as well as she was. But eh--It wasn't all bad. Just having Rulue back in her life was enough to make Arle content. Rulue's words probably wouldn't have distracted her normally, and really they didn't so much distract her as Arle was all too willing to pretend to be distracted right now. "Oh yeah... Well--Maybe it has something nice anyway~!" Arle replied somewhat nervously.

Arle moves to open the chest and lean inside slightly for a better look.