Pyramid Scheme (Shadowoof)

Just when the fight looked like this raging bull of a man would deliver a judgment through the very center of the room, his unexpected departure into meditation and grace showed instead. "Uh, yeah. You attacking me while we're stealing from a tomb was very honorable." Bliss picked Sara up from the ground and pushed her towards the hole. "Get us out."

"We can't go that way." Sara turned back to look down the hall they came from. "Maybe down there. We just need to find where the air is lighter."

"We're less than a minute from the outside. The air doesn't get any thinner. Why can't we just go out that hole?"

"Hello rats." The ominous sound of rifles pointing down the hole rang out while a veiled woman entered the room from one of the adjacent corridors.

"That's why." Sara lifted her hands into the air in a universal form of surrender, begrudgingly followed by Bliss.

After the guards escorted Bliss and Sara out of the pyramid, the woman with deep pools within her eyes walked towards Faith. "You were promised gold and the top of the pyramid. You may have both now. Is there anything else you require from me? I am very grateful to those who assist me. What is it you seek to gain through your journey? We might have shared goals the two of us."

Faith watched as the two mumbled and talked a small smile reached his lips as the others made their debut and in the confusion Faith had pulled his bell out after dropping his sword into the ground, his mind focusing on the spell and after pouring his magic into the chime he would shake and and be surrounded in a circle of light, which after ending his right hand was pretty much healed and the light gone. Still Faithtorias would sit and watch as the two woman were whisked away and only moments later the woman from before appeared, saying that their deal was kept and if she also asked of his plans.

Faith gave off a small yet deep laugh as he stood up and looked at the woman. "My plan is to travel this dimension until a time I find a way back to my own. So unless you also come from anther dimension, our goals are very different." Faith would pull his sword out and rest the blunt end on his shoulder before moving past the woman to the entrance of the crypt which was now his exit but stopped to finish a few words. "Be nice to those Rats. While not the most adorable creatures, they can be great company and friends." Faith would finish as he continued on his way to get out. He didn't want to be in this cave any longer then he had to be.

"You wanted to see the top of this structure? What if I could show you wonders beyond your imagination?" Something deep within the woman's words stirred up notions and beliefs long held in the tomb of this civilization. As her words continued to roll off her tongue, the pools of purple within the veil spiraled. "There is power here. Between the tops of these tombs. You felt it. It's why you wish to climb it so badly. You will help me bring power into this world. Those rats we caught, I will give them the gift of benefiting you. A gift far more worthy than they deserve." Seeing his desire to leave the catacombs behind, she would assist in ushering him out into the cool breeze.

A crane operated just on the other side of the camp, placing a crate down on the ground. "I found the missing piece to what lies beneath this nexus. I will offer you a place at my side once I have opened the way point to the power beneath this place. I will allow you all the power you wish once I have taken it for myself." A deep motion within the ground awoke. Even in the docile air, an energy began to awaken. "The hour grows closer. It is almost time. Prepare the sacrifices!" A few cultist scattered about towards one of the tents tucked away.

Grains of sand began to turn black, etching out a formation stretching from each of the pyramids and meeting in the middle of the camp. Even behind the shadows of the veil, the woman's energy beamed with a great deal of beauty. The purple wrapping around her pupils began to move to the beat of the black sands, taking on the same features and angles of the cryptic messages coming before her. "Don't you see it? Can't you feel the power?"

Faith turned to the woman when she began to speak and though her twisted speech, Faithtorias had only realized one thing and that was that the words she spoke were spoken to him before. not word by word but they were to damn close for his liking. As he was ushered out the crypt he followed her as she continued her insane rant of power and other words that made him pissed off. The sand began to go a black color as cultist moved about and Faith had felt like vomiting for when he realized he had done the job of insane people. As the woman began to emit a energy like power, Faith pulled his chime out and poured magic into it before lifting his blade in-front of him and spreading a yellow light over it. The blade shining before becoming a mass of electricity. Hoping her rant would distract her from what he was doing and when she was finally done. Faith held his handle with both hands.

"Back in my world, their was a young girl named Sarah who was six. She was my best friend and at the age of eleven because of cultist she had lost both her eyes. And later Cultist had tried to use her as a sacrifice to summon their god.... Woman, I'm going to fucking kill you." Faith would yell so loud it felt like his head was shaking, the roar of a giant Sarah had like to call it and with that he would swing his blade at the woman, his blade also releasing a electric wave of energy at her just in case she managed to get out of the range of his blade. He wouldn't stop until this entire camp was filled with the dead of those he had worked with, his stomach felt the need to explode he had worked for such vile demons.

"You are displeased with my offer?" Blackness started to overtake the golden streak in her hair. A silver presence etched out from the pores in her cheeks, coating her face with a plate to receive the blow of his blade. "I have said something to upset you? I did not speak of your friend, but of those who stole from me. Stole my legacy and would rob me of my power." Violence ushered away the workers from the camp. Headlights broke the darkness all along the campsite as workers scrambled to grab onto any truck leaving the site. "No." Reaching into the crate, she pulled forth a spear with a long curved edge for its sinister side. "They will die."

Bliss tried to free her hands from the ropes binding them behind her back, but got little leverage with the pole in the center of the tent resting between her body and wrists. Abby and Sara both struggled with the same plight, but they could only do so much communicating with the bandannas the cultist gagged them with. Anytime Bliss felt herself get close to freeing her hands the ropes binding her arms to Abby and Sara would restrict her last modes of freedom. Feeling as though her struggle would only end in a vain attempt, Bliss kicked her legs out, using her bound feet as a driving point, trying to break the pole and bring the tent down. Its roots ran deep, leaving Bliss in the same fixed position. The cultist did the smart thing by removing any metal objects in the area to keep Bliss from gaining access to a means to free herself. That is until the scrambling began. Once the cultist broke ranks, many dropped the tools they held in their hands prior to the calamity. Acting on the need to free herself, Bliss pulled a chisel over to the pole she and her partners were tied to.

When the blade struck her, it would create a channel, sending all of his energy back into him. Once the woman broke from his blade, the feedback would shoot through his body. Wielding her weapon with some veracity, the cultist would try to drive her weapon straight into the ground. Shattering the apex between the black ley lines convening. Once the spear entered, the black lines would begin to move around the camp in a circular motion. Purple energy would fill the gap between them, creating a vortex. "I will need sacrifices. Perhaps you will fit as well."

Faith did not expect this, no he expected her to die but was instead met with the force of his own attack striking him along his chest. The lighting was made to hurt giants and him having the Soul of one made him giant. And so the wave of electricity stuck and him and with a roar of pain, Faith was sent flying from the woman and right over a tent that the Cultist were heading to before his attack. Landing back first into a vehicle that had a spiked object on it, Faith felt his shoulder pieced and with a grunt he ripped the object off the giant metal box with force and walked towards the tent that he flew over. Stabbing his blade into the ground and then proceeding to open the flaps he would find the three woman he had seen before. "Turns out the woman was a bitch cultist and on the honor of my friends I will kill her. Want to help?" Faith would ask as he grabbed at the gag in bliss's mouth to remove it before grabbing at the rope at her hands and feet to try and rip them off, their small size making it a little difficult to do so. "You a strong warrior with your invisible blast magic. I know we fight earlier but I swear, Faith no knew that bitch was a cult leader. I hate cult leaders." Faithtorias would explain to make sure they knew which side he was on and hoping to get these ropes quickly. No telling when the cultist would attack.

Working her chisel in between the ropes around her wrist, Bliss managed to poke herself several times, but managed in no way to pry her wrist out of the bindings. Even without sight on the others in the tent, Bliss already wrote them off as having given up. Abby would just sit and wait for Bliss to tell her to get loose, or make an executive decision and spend money, and then Sara- well Bliss did not know much about her new member, but she did little to avoid the situation they found themselves in now, other than understand and explain the sacrifice they would take part in. The mere thought of the activity made Bliss shutter. Shutter with enough force to pry the chisel from the handle, lending Bliss with merely a metal rod to try and escape with.

Even though it cleared the camp, the violent ruckus outside still let Bliss know she needed to join those workers in escaping. Maybe after some payback, but definitely she did not want this place to be her tomb. She thought about what she would say once she got free and ran into the giant who acted as the catalyst to her predicament. Then she saw his face peering in through a flap. "Mppphhh." Bliss unleashed everything she could imagine into one unrecognizable sound. His brute strength reached down and tore the bandanna from her mouth. "I could have told you that and saved me the misfortune of being a cultist's prisoner." Red marks would last around her wrists and ankles for a while, but at least she did not have to look at those dirty, hempen ropes anymore. "Where are you going?"

"Mpphhh." The sound peeking from Abby caught Bliss' attention. Made sense he would leave Bliss the rest of the work. It stopped bothering her when she remembered the fight waiting for him.

"Calm down." Bliss untied the two knots in the bandanna behind Abby's head and let the piece of cloth fall down to her shoulders. "I need you to go find her headquarters and get me any information you can. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, just keep me out of that fight." Abby stood to her feet as Bliss untied her arms, letting her take off running out of the tent.

"You're going to help me fight." Overlooking the bandanna, Bliss went straight to work getting Sara loose from her bonds. She could handle the gag herself. Right now, Bliss needed to be helping the person who she hated with a deep sense of resentment.

Bliss and Sara ran out of the tent, into the cool night air suddenly alive with the heat of battle. "Make a wall. I'll do the rest."

"Got it."

Sara took the lead, moving towards the veiled woman. A ground swell of rock would rise up from the ground, just under the woman. Each direction of the shard would branch out, putting barbs in any direction the woman chose to move. "Well, if it isn't my little rats. I see someone let you free." Black tendrils emerged from the ground, attempting to stab Bliss, Sara, and Faith. Bliss fought the tendrils off the best she could to keep Sara well and fine. A spot of red swelled up around Sara's torso as one of the tendrils struck home. The sand ate most of the blood as Sara fell, but the ever persistent archaeologist continued her attention. Once the shard reached critical mass, Bliss filled it with enough telekinetic energy to cause the rock to explode, sending the woman to the ground and dislodging the spear.

"Now's your chance!"

Faith would stare down the cultist woman after freeing the woman he had fought before, his sword in his hands to keep the electrical energy away from his body. Faith watched as his new allies had finally gotten free and began their attack, the Cult woman retaliated with black tendrils, Faith simply raised his sword above his head sliced the middle of the tendril. The magic splitting apart before evaporating. He looked to the woman who was then blown from her stand and the weapon fallen, Bliss's words had reached his ears but his mind was already in action as he ran and jumped, rising his electrified sword with both hands so the blade would run right though her. Faith would feel the air move as he fell from above to drive his sword right though her chest.. and maybe the head depending on how tall the cultist was. His sword being quite wide itself.

A well struck blow tore through the woman's veil. What body lingered from her dissipated into the ground, soaking into the sand like water into rice. Slowly the purple and black began to fade away, leaving nothing but the wind blowing the sand off towards the dunes. An enchanting night under any other circumstances. To all but Bliss it would seem. "So, I think now is a good time to go ahead and give me the rundown on every reason I should have to not destroy you while you're hurt." Bliss kept her distance from the lumbering man, better to keep distance if the man felt threatened.

"I'm not really up for round two." Sara sat among the sand, pressing a handful against her side to soak up the blood. "And he helped us."

"From a situation he got us in. We'd have made our way out of the tunnels and been on the other side of the world right now if he didn't attack us. Ambush is more like it. Caught me unaware and I still-"

"I found something!" With the lower half of her body still cloaked in invisibility, Abby moved towards the group, holding a manifest. "It says there are occurrences like this at other ancient sites. Yucatan, Siam, Vietnam. Even one in Illinois."

Bliss snatched the manifest from Abby. "We need to find these places and figure out what they going on about." Pushing the manifest back into Abby's chest, Bliss picked up the spear the woman used to create the vortex. "This is probably a major key to what's going on. We'll keep it somewhere safe. Ship it back to California-"

"It's probably best we keep it in our possession until we find somewhere suitable." Sara spoke up from her grounded position. "Also, could someone get me bandages. I think I'm going to pass out."

"We're going to take this cult down." Bliss moved, causing Abby to scurry away. "If you want to help, we can tell you about one of these places and send you after them. I don't know if you're smart enough to put things like this together, or Hell, even read, but you seem good at fighting. Not as good as me, but good enough to come in handy. So, what do you say?"

Faith left his blade where it ran the cultist woman down and sat, a groan of pain followed as he felt over his back to the warm tickle of blood and the hard feeling of metal that was lodged into his skin. The woman asked for a reason that she shouldn't kill him now that he was injured and he gave a small laugh. "Dragons and giants have pained me more then this and I still sliced their heads from their necks. I am deeply sorry for the trouble I had caused.
They hired me after I found them and the strange building." Faith would say as he pointed to the triangular rock building. "But you put up good fight for being normal humans.. even if you ran from me half the time." Faith finished as he looked to the invisible woman who then talked about more cultist camps which released another groan of annoyance.

The woman spoke some more before offering him to go hunt down some of the camps and in turn Faith stood up and faced them, an unhappy face, a sad look was upon him. "I don't hunt cults anymore. In my world my friend lost her eyes and almost her life because I decided to hunt down cults. Bad luck I am. And I can read." Faith would say as he pulled his chime out once again and pour his magic into it, a circle of light emitted and once it was gone, Faiths wounds were no more, the metal on the ground as if it was pushed out. "I am sorry that I can't help, if I come across one of these cultist camps I will destroy it. And again I'm sorry for bothering you with this mess. I don't think they would have captured you if it wasn't for me." Faith would finish as he turned to the pyramid and picked up his sword.

"Now if you'll excuse me. I have a strange mountain to climb and chop apart." The cult woman was also wrong on this part. He didn't seek power atop this strange building, he only wanted to see how high and how hard the rock was. "Heh. Stupid Cult lady."

"See! It's his fault." Bliss pointed over the more important revelation Faith touched upon- they were on their own. "We're going to Palo Alto to figure this out. Then, we take down this cult. Alone." Bliss shouted over as Faith began to walking towards the Pyramid.

"Yeah, stupid cult lady." Sara sat down on the crate as the breeze ran along the base of the pyramid. "And the poor unfortunate souls chasing after them."

"Well, Abby's make believe contract with you is over now, so, you can leave."

"Wait, wait. She's useful."

"That's right. It's you who's useless."

"I'll have you know it's your plans that get me in to situations that compromise my mission."

"I liked you better in the tent."

"Yeah, next to you."

Bliss narrowed her eyes while she wore away at a filling in her back molar.

"Well, I'm coming with you to investigate this spear. You need me. I'm coming." Sara hopped down from the crate and grabbed the spear from Bliss. "So, are we taking your car or mine?"

"I don't know. My plane or yours?" The friction of the power struggle continued from an interpersonal relationship to a physical struggle for the spear.

"I guess I'm driving, then it's all up to you." And the struggle continued as Abby took to her cell phone to get in contact with Ashley.