"Fair enough," Blacky chimed at both Aine's explanation and Atelier's suggestion. He then walked to the doorway and turned to the group. "Shall we go then?"
Atelier made sure that he had everything packed up. The afternoon was already fading to dark already, so it would be sensible to head out to the lair while the Dragon King was not out yet. "Let's stay safe out there."
"Let's. We've already saved so many - let's not fail Ardamore now." Xuehua checked her bag for her now three staffs - yep, all there. It was time to make their move. (I'm 80% sure this one is the Luna King, right? The upcoming ones are Electric, Ice, Shadow, then Sol)
@WavePearl @ChocoChicken @122 Generation That said, Blacky led the group to that one Diglett-sized opening hidden in the brush near the ruins. Unlike last time though, he hid in the brush and waited for the Dragon King to come out.
@SAF @122 Generation @ChocoChicken After a few tense moments, a starry form that looked reptilian soared into the sky. It was kinda beautiful, and dangerous as well.
Atelier paled. This Dragon King could fly too?! He hoped at least the ceilings won't be too high in this lair, and also hoped the group wouldn't be noticed. Who knows where the enemy was heading off to? For now, this was the chance to head in and set up the ambush.
Resisting the urge to fire at it and blow their cover, Xuehua gripped the edge of her cloak and stuck with the others up until they'd entered the lair - or at least arrived close enough to its entrance.
So that's the Dragon King we're about to fight, huh? Blacky tried oh-so-hard not to loudly gulp, lest he would ruin the whole plan. Beautiful? Yeah. Dangerous? Duh. But for whatever reason, the starry reptilian being looked like he didn't get enough sleep somehow. Was it a sign that the runes from last night actually worked? Regardless, it took awhile until the Dragon King was far enough from the lair. The Umbreon assessed the situation, then carefully came closer to the now Dragon King-sized opening (it could stretch depending on who's entering and/or exiting the lair, remember?) and gestured at everyone else to follow him as soon as it's deemed safe enough.
@SAF @122 Generation @ChocoChicken Aine nodded at the signal. The starry behemoth almost looked like the sky itself. Did a Fairy type like her stand a chance against that?
@WavePearl @122 Generation @ChocoChicken As Blacky had expected, the first room of the dungeon had this: Except instead of yellow-cloaked Clefable, the group came from the path "guarded" by green-cloaked Clefable. Room 1 Clefable says: Red: "This way!" Green: "This way!" Blue: "This way!" Yellow: "This way!" Star(s): yellow (Added the room's visual appearance because I forgot it in Blacky's surveying trip.)
Upon arrival, Atelier was amazed at the design of this lair. The room had the Clefable that Blacky described earlier, and supposedly they weren't hostile but not all of them were telling to truth. Which one was telling the truth? There had to be some clue around here.
"All right, how did these go again?" Xuehua began pacing around the room, watching as she phased through a Clefable when trying to touch it, mapping the path of their pointing, and finally checking the ground around them.
@ChocoChicken @122 Generation @WavePearl (Actually, these Clefable will say their lines if touched. You'll only phase through them if you outright attack them.) "So we came here from green Clef's path..." As per his own findings, Blacky looked up to the cave ceiling. It now only showed a yellow star. "...and there's a yellow star up there, so yellow Clef's telling the truth."
@SAF @122 Generation @ChocoChicken Trying to make sense of the puzzle made Aine's head spin. "So, how is this supposed to work?"
@WavePearl @122 Generation @ChocoChicken "See up there?" Blacky pointed at the cave's ceiling. "There's a yellow star, so yellow Clef has to say the truth." He then proceeded to tap on yellow Clef's shoulder. "This way!" With that, Blacky gestured at everyone to follow him and walked through the yellow Clef's path.
"I see... So we just follow the stars?" Atelier mused. He followed Blacky to where the yellow Clef was guiding them. At the same time, he brought out a tome, just in case.
@122 Generation "I'm not sure I understand it myself..." Aine confessed. Her head was spinning at what could possibly await them in this lair.
@ChocoChicken @WavePearl @122 Generation If even Aine was already confused with that first room, then the next one would be more of a challenge: Room 2 The group came out from Red's path. Clefable says: Red: "Yellow speaks the truth." Green: "Blue is a liar." Blue: "Yellow's room doesn't have puzzles." Yellow: "Green's room has treasures" Star(s): red, green
@SAF Atelier had to take a moment to review the clues that the Clefs had given them and his mind was trying to flush out the possibilities. If Red spoke true, then Yellow spoke true. If Green spoke true, then Blue spoke false. Neither Blue nor Yellow spoke things that could cause the others to doubt if they were true. Rather, the case was whether they would benefit the team. Conversely, if Red spoke false, then Yellow's claim would be its inverse... and so on. He looked at the stars to try to get some more clues. Balance: 27,300C Inventory: ?x Books and Novels, 1x Journal, 1x Strategy Book, 1x Steel Short Sword, 1x Ethereal Grimoire, 2x Fire Materia, 2x Water Materia, 10x Geo Pebbles, 20x Gravelerocks, 2x Aloe Vera, 1x Perfect Apple, 1x Coffee Beans, 4x Razz Berries, 1x Assorted Seeds and Fried Berries, 1x Kettle and Cup Set Equipped: 1x Fira Tome, 1x Water Tome (SotS)