"The good news is that those guidelines are broad. A national security risk could be anything, not necessarily a superweapon." Jean said.

"I am still not in love with the context clues here. From what we can gather, this 'necklace' was supposed to heal my Grandmother in a way that was either unethical or dangerous, possibly both. He said that she'd 'never have let me put the necklace on her', which is a strange revelation from a man so clearly devoted to his wife." Gio stated.

"Yeah… but I guess we can only worry about the bad parts when we're even remotely ready to retrieve this necklace. We've still got a whole guardian to fight, remember? So, with that in mind, do we have… any ideas on what mess we're about to walk into? My guess is a big flower monster, you know, like made of the Asphodels." Sapphire asked.

"My money is on a powerful Telchine with super witch magic." Jean said.

"Water elemental." Chandrika guessed.

"I think a spirit manifestation… the mana density is definitely high enough to support one... Maybe an Undine, or some sort of magic serpent?" Gio added.

"Hmmm… I haven't given it a lot of thought. Oh no… what if it's your grandfather?" Hatra gasped.

"What?" Gio guffawed.

"What if he's been taken over by the dungeon and forced to become the guardian?!" Hatra conspiratorially rambled.

Chandrika grimaced. "That's… I mean, there's some precedent in such a thing, but I wouldn't necessarily expect to see it in a dungeon as small as this. The Wicker Cradle is known to take the free will of those it conquers, for example."

"Well, yeah, I think it's common knowledge that the Cradle is bad news." Sapphire said.

"Not common to me, apparently," Hatra said. "The Wicker Cradle… that's one of the 'mega' dungeons like your school, right? How does it control people? Would your school try to control you?"

"It's to do with the nature of the spirits that inhabit it," Chandrika answered. "The Crystal Ring, 'Vitrium', is a place of knowledge and challenge. To possess or unfairly disenfranchise its questors would be anathema to the core values of the dungeon. As for the Cradle, it is a place of fire, malice, and hunger. I have heard that if you get burned by its unholy fires-"

Chandrika stumbled, nearly falling into the water, but caught herself by gripping Jean's shoulder. She recoiled, pulling back her hand to reveal a sizzling burn mark that faded away to unblemished skin in an instant.

"Whoa!" Gio yelled.

The group all poised themselves to help her, fussing over her for a moment before she loudly affirmed that she was okay..

"It's okay. I am okay. I had a… brief vision." Chandrika sighed.

"From just mentioning the Wicker Cradle?" Gio asked.

"It seems so." Chandrika answered.

"Do your visions usually have such… physical side effects?" Sapphire said, holding Chandrika's hand in hers and examining it closely.

Sapphire used tweezers to extract a miniscule blackened thorn from Chandrika's thumb, watching with interest as it faded away into nothingness in response to her examination.

"It has often been remarked by those with the talent that foresight is not an easy gift to bear. I've been making great strides at not letting the more unpleasant symptoms of my skill to… sideline me, but obviously I'm not at a point where I can perfectly control the skill just yet." She remarked.

"If I may, what was the vision?" Jean asked.

Chandrika bit her lip, looking off to the side. "I should remind you that even my grandmother isn't fully reliant on the accuracy of divinations. 'The weave of cause and effect is ever-changing,' she usually says."

"What did you see? Why did your hand get burned when you touched me?" Jean asserted.

Chandrika looked him in the eyes before turning away after seeing his sincerity. "I saw two images, one replacing the other. I first saw your father burning alive… and then you taking his place. I've obviously never been to the Wicker Cradle… but the fire was thick and smoky, interwoven with thorns and roots."

Jean searched her face for a moment. "Last time you had a divination about me…"

"Yes, I think we all remember how that went," Chandrika said, looking at Gio.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Jog my memory, something about an undead dragon?" Gio joked.

The trio giggled.

"Thanks… I needed that." Jean said. "I… don't know what to make of this."

"For now, nothing," Chandrika said, patting Jean on the arm.

She was slightly hesitant at first, but then relieved when she wasn't burned again. "As I said, it could mean anything, or nothing at all. I probably shouldn't have told you… and you shouldn't tell your father... Bad things tend to happen when prophecies start spreading around. I've heard a story of a certain Oracle who went mad, cited as a cautionary tale… Nasty stuff."

"Okay," Jean sighed. "But when we get back to school, I need a nap."

"Wait… what's the difference between a Sage and an Oracle? I thought you were a Sage?!" Sapphire yelled.

The group laughed at her expense.

"Meh, probably about the difference between an Alchemist and a Thaumaturge," Hatra said, gently nudging her in the ribs.

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"BUT!-" Sapphire began to say.

"I am a Sage. Ask me later," Chandrika waved her off. "We've already delayed this for a while, and we need to start getting ready to face the guardian, regardless of what it will be."

"I agree. Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Jean replied.

"Never better. If anything, I am wide awake in comparison to the lethargy I was feeling a few moments ago." Chandrika answered. She looked at the palm of her unburned hand with muted curiosity.

"In that case, I'd like to talk strategy. Gio, do you know what a 'force multiplier' is?" Jean began.

"Uh… no." Gio answered.

"In short… you are." Jean replied.

"O-okay." Gio stammered.

A sharp look in his eyes was the only sign that Jean's pre-military training had temporarily taken over his laid-back persona.

"A force multiplier is a factor that allows a fighting force to exert more battlefield control than should be possible. Your defensive capabilities, as well as your odd synergy, make for a force multiplier because you can allow the rest of us to do more with less." Jean lectured.

Gio and the rest of the group besides Jean sat down, blankly chomping on protein bars and listening as Jean led into a detailed presentation of how he best thought to leverage their group's innate abilities for the coming battle.

_____

The group approached the landing at the top of the staircase of waterfalls feeling prepared. The brassy metallic pagoda pierced upwards past the final barrier, a thin curtain of water perpetually falling from a ring of arches. Gio took a final chance to turn around. He looked outward into a sea of clouds beyond the tall stone walls, which now looked small from his vantage point.

"It really is quite beautiful." Gio said.

"It is. This would be quite a hangout spot, if it weren't for all the… dungeon-y parts." Hatra said.

"Hmm…" Gio hummed to himself. The beginnings of a strange thought process were brewing in his head before he quickly banished it to focus on the task at hand.

"You may drink your potions now." Sapphire said.

The group had spoken at length about the preparations they were going to take before crossing the threshold.

<You have been affected by status: Invigorated>

<You have been affected by status: Clarity>

Gio choked back the urge to spit out the bitter medicine. It tasted of something unpleasantly sweet and fishy, with a strong and heady wooden aftertaste, like raw fish wrapped in bark from a medicinal tree, dusted with powdered sugar.

"I know, it's bad…" Sapphire grimaced, having downed her own small blue vial. "But they're cheaper to make than the aerosolized version by a handsome sum. Remember, we should all be nearing our safe limit for alchemical consumables… so try not to take anything else if you don't absolutely have to. The health potions I distributed are for dire emergencies only."

Gio cast the few preparatory spells that he owned, watching as the others did the same. Gio looked up, delighting in the small stress relief provided by one of Chandrika's skull lanterns. Jean was cloaked in a cloak of astral light, and Hatra had her [Sludge Pump] primed.

"Alright. I'm going in." Jean announced, his eyes aglow.

"Lead the way." Hatra chimed.

The entrance was big enough that they could all enter the curtain of water at the same time, so shortly after Jean gave the signal, they all allowed the water to wash over them as they passed the threshold.

<Notice; Now entering Sub-Area:[Telchine's Garden: Sanctuary]>

The group fanned out, on their guard and in a loose formation, traveling boots splashing in a few inches of water that coated the interior of the Sanctuary. Gio looked around, surveying the core of the dungeon. Crashing water filled the space with ambient noise.

The stacked tower of metal glimmered in the light, charged as it was with intense magical potential. The ground floor of the structure was blocked off once more by curtains of water. Whereas the endless waterfalls that signified the barrier to this sanctuary were thin enough and calm enough to see blurry shapes through, the water that fell from the eaves that encircled the pagoda was thick and tumultuous, completely blocking off Gio's sight into whatever lay beyond and creating a harsh spray of mist. The pagoda was surrounded by a deep basin of crystal clear water, revealing smooth and glowing crystalline formations below. Halfway between this basin and the perimeter wall, the basin tapered up to the point where the surface of the elegantly patterned tile underneath their feet was only covered by a thin coating of water.

Tension hung in the air.

Gio looked at the pagoda. At the center of the curtain of raging water, three battered statues weathered the torrent, their unending vigil having clearly taken its toll upon them. The feminine statues were covered in a patchwork of cracks and were missing several limbs between the three of them.

"It's the goddess statues from before… but something's off." Gio said.

The two to the sides had stumps where their heads should be, and the middle had a face, unlike the ones from before. Because of being buffeted by the edge of the raging falls, the water rushing over the statue obscured any further details.

"Sooo… about that guardian…" Sapphire warily chimed.

"I can feel it watching…. Waiting. It will wait to see what we shall do." Chandrika intoned. Her [Crown of Sage's Insight] glittered from atop her head.

Gio looked around. He saw no other openings and didn't enjoy the idea of trying to access the Spiritspring through any other means besides walking through the front door. They had gotten this far as a group and would see this through to the end.

"I, Giorgio deGloria, speak for my companions. We challenge the guardian of this place for the right to its spoils." Gio called, improvising a proper challenge. His voice rang out, pitted against the roar of the water.

Nothing happened for a long moment.

The rush of the raging waters was the only noise that filled the space.

Gio's grip on his spellbook was absolute.

The center of the three statues leaned forward slowly, revealing a gleaming mask of red rust, carved into a placid expression. Its eyes were empty and lifeless, and its lips pursed in a neutral expression.

"I see," Chandrika said with a sneer. "How very like the conquering goddess."

Gio quirked an eyebrow at that, but didn't take his gaze off the statue. He idly flung a shard, nailing it in the eye to unimpressive effect. The statue didn't react and kept slowly leaning out of the waterfall.

"Gio…" Hatra chided.

"What? If it's going to take the time to dramatically emerge all spooky like, why don't we take the free time to hammer it with free damage?" Gio answered.

"You know what?" Jean asked. "That's a fantastic point."

Jean summoned a scintillating spear above his head, throwing it at the statue's center mass.

The statue didn't have the luxury of shrugging off the spear, being knocked backwards into the waterfall.

"Seems that we have its attention now," Sapphire said.

Both of the other statues were sucked into the water, and an eerie orange light flashed behind the curtain of water.

The waterfall exploded outward in a concussive blast, knocking the whole party backward a few feet.

"Here we go!" Gio shouted.

<Serendipity! The Divine Servitors of the Goddess Cybele accept your CHALLENGE>

<Challenge: Defeat the Divine Construct before it kills you all.

Rewards:

-MAJOR BOON for all party members

-Looting rights

-Access to the Spiritspring

Failure penalty: DEATH, time limit: Immediate future.>

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