It Is Mad Mad Madagascar

"How do you pronounce that last name?" Abby peered through a piece of paper peeking out of a manila folder. Her hair fell down to the shoulder of her grey Bliss Tech shirt while a pair of jean shorts kept the heat of the outside more manageable.

"It doesn't matter. What matters, is we have clearance to lay down the infrastructure." A gentle breeze helped carry Bliss into the main trailer in the middle of a vacant lot sitting in the middle of Antananarivo. "The foreman is ready to start digging through the city, laying the lines while the construction of the main server is underway." Bliss wore a light grey cardigan with the sleeves pulled up to her forearms with a pink T shirt underneath. A plaid skirt lifted just a few inches above her knee with a pair of converse on her feet. "We need to get this done quickly. I'm fighting Clement in court, but they're going to get the company in a few months, but if we build all this infrastructure and then donate it, then they get nothing."

"Except the ownership of all of your ideas and-"

"Okay, they get something, but they aren't getting my money. Because, I won't have any." Bliss grabbed a hard hat and rested it upon the crown of her head. "The contracts are ready, all the land rights, and we have the legal rights to hand it over to an independent company once the job is done."

The idea sounded great in function. Over the course of a few months, Bliss would invest all of her money in infrastructure in developing countries, leaving her company with no money when it was finally taken over through a terrible contract. That all changed when Bliss opened the door to her trailer. The world outside looked perfectly fine, a bright sunny day filled with promise. Unfortunately, the ground gave out under the trailer.

Bliss tumbled back into the trailer as the lights flickered on and off. Abby rolled up against the wall next to Bliss as the crashing sound of a filing cabinet torn from the wall came screeching towards the trapped duo. In an effort to save her own skin, Bliss put a telekinetic push on the cabinet to throw it into the wall next to them. Everything felt peaceful. For a moment at least. The barrings in the wall gave out, crashing the back of the trailer and sending Bliss and Abby tumbling twenty feet to the cold hard earth beneath them.

Except it was not cold. And it was not hard. "I think this is probably bad." Bliss lifted her hand from the spongy ground. The rattling of a creature sounded off in the distance. "Yeah, this is bad."

sky... It was quite clear, besides the few leaves from the trees that tried to block it, the sky was wonderfully clear. Not bloody, not filled with darkness.. This wasn't right. Sitting up from the hard ground, Ashford would look around his surroundings, taking in a few things. One, he wasn't in the capital. Two he was in the middle of a jungle and three, he was alive, why was he alive? Scratching the back of his head with his left hand which as always, proved to be annoying with the bandages, he would stand up and spot the rapier laying silently beside him. "Still here." Ashford would say to the weapon, expecting no answer back as he picked it up by the hilt and placed it in it's sheath, right where it belonged. With that done, Ashford would take in his surroundings once more before walking forward, his plan to find a town and figure out where the hell he was.

Ashford along this walk, made sure everything was with him, weapons, coat, artifacts, arm and it was mostly clean except for the simple cotton shirt he wore under the coat had a dash of blood on it, most likely his own. "Well. If the world isn't dead. Then ether she went and gone soft.. or I'm not where I am meant to be." Ashford said to himself as he continued to trek though the seemingly endless woods till finally something caught his attention. A lot of crashing and grinding of metals and ground. "Mmmm. Fun." Ashford would say as he wrote a quick ice bolt rune with his left hand and started running to where the commotion came from, stopping a few short meters to get low and sneak towards it so he could get a better view. But as he drew closer, he could feel the ground beneath, beginning to crumble and withen a few confused seconds, felt the ground fall as he followed with a surprised yelp.

Landing on a mound of dirt and rubble, Ashford would stand and brush himself off before looking forward, only to see that there were two woman on the ground, and while his cover wasn't enough to hide himself from the two, his attention was focused on what was going on around them, like why the ground had first crumbled and as the rattle of a distant creature gave way, his focus was attuned to a second, whatever the Mystical hell that creature was and how hard would it be to kill.

"I don't think we're in whatever city we were just in anymore." Abby rubbed her lower back as she stood up. "Do you think the digging in the city caused the-"

"Nope, and you are not going to think that out loud ever again, especially if you're under oath." Bliss shot up and brushed the dirt off her skirt before looking around the cave. "It's humid down here." While the ajar opening gestured for the heat, but the offer stayed hushed as the heat choked the oxygen to a dismal level. "I would say 'too humid', but I don't even know what the acceptable level for an underground cavern would be."

One footstep echoed into a myriad of guests. No hostility cried out from the few steps, but an uneasiness fell over Abby. "Was anyone else in the trailer?"

"Anyone there?" Bliss pulled out a flashlight from her bag and pointed it towards the sound. "Did you fall too? It definitely wasn't an industrial accident and you can't sue."

While Bliss continued to challenge the new comer, a hidden force awoken within the cavern. A glow began to permeate the darkness of the cavern, bathing it a blue hue. A low hum began to rustle from the lower bowels of the cavern. A number of pools lined the lower levels of the cavern, filling themselves from an under ground river leading out towards the ocean. The colors from the pools all changed in color as the hum in the cavern continued. Within an alcove nestled between the pools rested a jewel encrusted skull. Each time the colors within the pool changed, so did the color of the gems in the eyes.

Ashford's attention was brought back to the two woman as a bright flash came onto his face, a lantern? Yet it was also followed by a questioning voice, one Ashford was willing to answer. "Well. I don't know if fall is the correct term. And why would I su.." Ashford couldn't quite finish the sentence as he walk towards the two woman and stopped to admire there surroundings, the blue hue captivated his attention as he looked around the under ground cavern they were in. It was a truly beautiful sight, the blue, the many colors from the small pools that resided down here.

Yet the ever small reminder that he was lost, confused, alive and in a cave that had previously gave away the sounds of a possibly large and dangerous creature were.. Sullen reminders. He would have questions for these two, of course but for now, he just tried to enjoy the peace of the colors.

The beauty of the springs found their exquisite majesty lost to the eye of the removed attention of Bliss. "Not the right word? Well, what word would you- oh he's not paying attention to me anymore; great."

"Should we be looking for a way out?" Pushing against the wall did not lend any secret passages to Abby as she made her way along the walls.

"This guy came in here someway." The collapsed hole in the ceiling did not offer any way out, but it did not retract the only exit from these caves. "So, guy." Bliss waved her hand in front of the man as his hand began to glow an eerie blue. "Um, that's nice and all, but do you know how to get out? We kinda want to leave."

Each color in the pools began to grow more placid. A placidity inviting complacency in the room if not completely distracted. We offer secrets. The water spoke in its tone to those willing to listen. Make her be quiet. She is distracting.

Ashford's attention was once again ripped away when a hand waved in front of him and he turned to listen to the woman. Who was asking how they could leave which was something Ashford did not know himself. And he was about to answer when.. the voices spoke to him and he to Mystic hoped these two could hear it as well.

Rubbing his temple, Ashford would raise a hand in the woman's face to quiet her as he looked around for the source of the voice. "Quiet alright.. The voice is telling you to be quiet.. You can hear it yea?" Ashford said as he looked to the two, his confusion written on his face. Something was up with this cave, the first one to talk too. Not the strangest thing Ashford would see or in this case, hear but it did indeed hit the top five. "It offer's secrets so just be quiet lady."

"He's talking about voices in his head." Abby looked over to Bliss, knowing Ashford would continue to confirm her suspicions through his language. "I don't know if-"

"Calm down Abby; he might only be slightly crazy." Bliss took her hand down from the wave after Ashford spoke to her. "The voices offer you secrets? In this cave? Any idea what those might be?"

"It's probably terrible for us. It's always terrible for-"

"We'll give you a minute to listen to the voices." Bliss put up a finger to stop Abby before she opened her mouth. "And then, you help us get out okay?"

The problem with the plan came from just what the voices would promise. Only one can receive our blessings. We only want to speak with you. But, we need those two.

Man, this was just his luck, first the Overlord, then a cave that speaks to him. Ashford decided his best course of action would be to stick close to these two, as they both began to speak however, it soon came clear the voice's in his head were sticking with him. "Yea. We find whatever they want, we get out. Ok, the voices.. I can't believe I said that. The Voices. Say that they only want to speak to me but they require you two as well." Ashford would say as he moved towards the water and knelled on one knee next to it.

"Alright then. Which way to the blessings." Ashford said, feeling like a madman already, maybe this was all in his head, maybe, he was being mind tricked and wasn't in a random jungle in the middle of no where, down deep inside a cave that glowed with colors and spoke to him. He did however, keep the part of Only one can receive our blessings. To himself for he assumed that what was required of these two was to die. Something that even if this was just a play inside his head, he would not condone. No someone had to be down here, there was always someone. And when they found whoever was down here, playing there games, if there was someone and this is all real, he would be swift in ending there life.

"A blessing? And they need us?" The look across Bliss' face sent little comfort to Abby who began rummaging through her bag. "That sounds like a plan with some details missing." Bliss kept her head directed towards Abby as her assistant began to formulate her own plan. "I mean I guess we can-" Bliss shook her negatively head as Abby pulled out a roll of duct tape and gestured to hit Ashford on the back of the head. "Always see what is in these pools."

Abby lifted a rock off the ground and gestured for Bliss to levitate it, culminating with the rock being dropped on Ashford's head. Bliss stopped shaking her head in denial and just starred at Abby. They seek to betray you. They want the wealth of knowledge for themselves. They believe they can use you for it. The pools would show Abby's plan to Ashford.

"So, let's go see these pools and you can tell us what they really want. Abby can do whatever it is she does." Bliss walked over to one of the pools, looking deep into the waters, but could only see the bottom of the pool. Neither she nor Abby could even see the magnificent colors ever present to Ashford. Off in the distance of the cave, a rock did levitate in the air. Abby's idea may be premature, but Bliss wanted to be ready in case something terrible needed to happen.

As Ashford waited, staring down into the pool he listened to the one not called Abby talk, seemed like a woman who might have had some experience with this before, judging by the one called Abby's words of previous event's not being too good. That was, till the water spoke once more, spoke of betrayal, how rather then the pool need them, these two were seeking the knowledge themselves, the story kept changing. Were they needed? Were they his foes? Was there even knowledge to be gained, did he even want it?

Whipping around, Ashford would aim his gloved but glowing hand at Abby, his eye's darting between the two. "I don't know how but the pool just told me you planned to hit me on the head. So I recommend that you put whatever is in your hand down and we talk this out." Ashford said as he brought his metal arm up for defense. The pool ether spoke truth, or it was a deceitful thing, something Ashford had experience with when it came to voices that claimed something for him. But for now, he had to know where these two stood under pressure, would they attack, or talk. One way or the other, he would know what he needed to know.

Bliss looked over to the rock she lifted with telekinesis. She still wanted it to be there, but she gave Abby a cross look. "We're going to get to exactly what these pools are, then we can find a way out. So, how do these things work and why do you know so much about it." A little forward, but Bliss had a rock floating just out of sight. When you can throw around that kind of migraine, good things would always come to fruition.

"Don't worry about Abby. She just-" Bliss turned around to the sight of no assistant. "Abby, did you turn invisible? If you did and you aren't answering, I'm going to be pissed." A blast of telekinetic energy burst from Bliss into the vicinity she last saw Abby. While not enough pressure to hurt anyone, the force would be enough for Bliss to know if Abby decided to lurk. From the experiment, Abby did not appear to be lurking. "That's odd. Maybe she went to try to find a way out."

This woman is lying to you. The pool continued to speak to Ashford. She sends her ally to trick you. You plans on attacking when you least expect it.

"I might need to go look for her." Bliss started towards the cave descending lower into the complex. While she could never hear the voices in the pool, she could begin to hear the sounds of snakes off in the distance.

The woman was.. Gone? Ashford lowered his hand and looked for her, only to see that it was him and the other woman, who must have not heard or cared for what he said as she questioned as to where the woman went herself. Ashford rubbed his head and looked at the pool for a few seconds. Taking a glance at his hand which still glowed, he would aim it at the pool and fire, a bolt of ice would form and shoot from his hand, hitting the water and freezing over the top of it. "Screw you." He'd say, getting sick and tired of the voice that consistently told him that these two were bad, he would find that out himself, no voice inside his head was needed for that part.

Stepping away from the pool, Ashford would jog up towards the woman, staying a few centimeters away however. "To answer what you said before your friend went and disappeared. I have no Mystical damn clue as to what those pools are, but they kept saying you guys would betray me and I was getting sick of it.. Name's Ashford." Ashford would say as he too, heard the sounds of snake's ahead. His left hand already writing up another fire bolt rune. "Yours?"

The odd muttering of 'screw you' typically came to Bliss, but she could normally trace it back to something she said. In this case, she merely stared around the room to try and find something deserving of such platitudes. If these wells were talking to him, they must have some unpleasant advice to give out. A betrayal from Bliss rarely came. She just told people to their faces if she did not like them and planned on doing something to speed up their downfall.

"I'm Bliss. The red head is Abby. She turns invisible." Bliss raised her voice to speak to the bouncing chambers of the cavern. "AND MIGHT BE HERE NOW!" While nothing returned an answer, a shaking did begin to rattle beneath their feet. The floor began to split in the center of the room, caving into a seemingly endless pit beneath them. "I guess we have bigger problems now."

The waters began to shift as their pools split apart, moving towards the pit. The lights would begin to glow, reflecting along the endless darkness of the descending pits.

Nice to meet you Bliss." Ashford would say as he too looked for Abby, the red head could turn invisible? This would have been bit surprising for Ashford if not for there current situation, the fact of her disappearing and not responding to her friends calls reinforced the fact that there was someone else here, someone playing with strings.

Ashford, about to speak up on what her idea of a plan was, was interrupted when the ground under his feet and floor in the middle of this cave began to crack, in fact almost everywhere began to crack. "First a rattle, then hissing, your friend missing and now this? If this isn't the pool's retaliating on me ignoring it, then this be the work of someone powerful." Ashford would say as he brought his metal hand up in a boxer like position only with the hand flat and pointed upwards while his bandaged but glowing hand from the fire bolt rune panned around, waiting for his mental command to fire. His eye's darted around the cave, looking for any crack's in the walls that would have light shining though them as if someone stood in a room beyond the walls they saw now. That and for exits, he didn't want to hang around if the floor was going to collapse, again. "Bliss. We might want to get moving."

The loss of equilibrium in the room hit Bliss hard, but not as hard as the ground once Bliss fell through the once stable ground. Staring up at the hole in the ceiling gave Bliss the only real light she could muster from her bottom position. "I'm going to try moving in a different way this time." Her hand pushed her up, feeling the cold earth packed beneath her. More water dripped off in the corners of the room. She began focusing on the rhythm of the fall. Each drop echoed in contrast to other sounds bouncing through the room. She began to focus on isolating each individual pool. Without light it would be troublesome, but it would at least let her know where to avoid stepping.

Water kept trickling down, but the echo bounced off two adjoining walls. "Found one." A blue light surfaced in the corner. "Weird." Another drip sank into a pool, this one hitting hard and moving deeper. Bliss turned around and began to survey for where it could be. An orange light illuminated from the other side. "At least I can-"

We have chosen you to gain our knowledge. But, you will need the other two.

"I can't even find one of them for starters and the other is fairly creepy, but apparently told you guys to shut up, so I guess-" Bliss never heard the snake come from behind her, nor did she stand a chance of fighting off the massive tail that wrapped around her.

You should listen more. And talk less.

Bliss dug her teeth into the massive hunk of muscle wrapping around her. "You should get me out of here before I see if you really do taste like chicken!"