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[Swordstar]

"Sheila, come here, look at me. Breathe. It'll be ok. Leo didn't think that Matilda would attack him like that or that she would have siege magic. If he'd known she would attack him, he wouldn't have gone forward like that. You know that. More to the point, there's not really anything we can do. I somehow suspect Fyra will object to you smashing down her door, if you even could. You need to trust him and Fezz and Julius. They're smart. You know they are. I know you're scared and upset with him, but you also trust him. Even if it's hard to remember that now, I know you do. Right?"

[Blade Master Model 42]

"But we don't know what's in there!" Sheila whined, looking more frustrated than panicked now. "It could be snakes, or skeletons, or poison gas or water or ANYTHING! Why did the doors close? He could be in trouble! And if he's in trouble, I need to save him!"

[Swordstar]

"Yes, and it also could be the emperor's ghost, a 10 foot tall cat, or maybe they just stepped on the wrong stone tile. The point is, you can't know what's going on in there. None of us do. But that doesn't mean he needs rescuing. That doesn't mean you should just charge in without thinking. What if by breaking down the door, you caused something even worse to happen? Sometimes you just need to trust that they'll come back safe. Maybe... look, is there something we can do to take your mind off of this? Surely that would be better than flailing helplessly against a door?"

[Blade Master Model 42]

Sheila shook her head. "There's nothing I want to do right now but see Leo. What if he never comes out? I can't just stand here and do nothing." Sheila tore her arm from Ciera's grasp and resumed pounding the door. "Leo! LEO! Answer me!"

[Swordstar]

Grabbing her arm again, Ciera yelled,

"SHEILA, LISTEN!"

Taking a deep breath, she continued.

"If he could hear you, he would have answered you already. He must be deeper in the tomb. All you'll do by pounding on the door like that is hurt yourself. Come here. Please. Sit down. I... I don't know what it must be like for you. I know I don't know that. But if the seal is so strong that Fyra can't open it, there's nothing we can do. So please. Please. Just... trust that he'll make it back to you. You know he'll do everything in his power to do that."

She wrapped her arms around the other woman, hugging her tight.

[Blade Master Model 42]

Sheila stood quietly for a few moments. Maybe she was overreacting? Maybe Leo really wasn't in danger. But it was a big maybe.

"...If nothing is wrong, it can't possibly take them that long to search. I'll wait an hour. If the door doesn't open and they don't come back by then... I'm breaking down the door. Okay?"

[Swordstar]

"Alright. There we go. Now. Is there something you want to talk about or do while we wait for them to come back?"

[Blade Master Model 42]

"Not really." Sheila sighed and lowered herself to a sitting position on the floor directly in front of the door. "...Thanks, by the way. You and Grifen saved Leo's life. While I'd managed to get myself bloodied fighting Matilda." Sheila's right hand balled into a fist before it relaxed again.

[Swordstar]

"If it wasn't for you taking out Matilda, I never would have been able to reach. It was all of us, not just me or Grif who saved him. He's important to all of us. Maybe not in the same way as he is to you, but don't worry. None of us were going to let him die."

[Blade Master Model 42]

"I appreciate that. I don't know what I'd ever do if I lost Leo." Sheila continued to stare at the unyielding door.

[Swordstar]

Ciera sat down next to Sheila, staring at the door with her. As Sheila mentioned not knowing what to do if she lost Leo though, Ciera's eyes wandered away from the door and focused on tall brown haired figure nearby. She sighed quietly and nodded.

"Yeah. I... I obviously don't know exactly what it's like for you. But... I'm starting to get it I think."

She shuddered slightly as she remembered snapping out of a haze and seeing Alec bleeding... Her sword covered in his blood... She buried her head in her hands. No. He'd forgiven her. It was ok. Ok. Not ok. Never ok. Never...

[SeriousConcentrate]

Leo took out his Antidote staff and let his Priestly training cure the malady while Fezz offered an explanation.

[Sirus]

Grifen approached Sheila uncertainly, not knowing whether or not the taller girl was calming down.

: "Sheila? It's gonna be okay. I mean, Fezz knows his way around these sorts of places, and Julius is all sneaky. If either of them mess up, they got Preacher's powers to save them. I know things might not look all that great right now, but..."The nomad's voice trailed off. She felt certain that it would all turn out fine, but she understood that Sheila was understandably a bit more nervous at the moment.

[Xanmyral]

Before:

Fezz was excited finally be inside the tomb, inspecting everything that was deemed without a trap as they moved along. The skeletons were... Strange though. No early empire ritual called for such, and all of these deaths appear to have been from wounds... Possibly from battle? Why would there be battle-stricken bodies in the tomb? Wasn't this tomb sealed for decades? Was there a battle in the entombing? For what purpose?

The historian pondered this as they moved along, always wanting to lag yet just another moment.

Ghost:

Fezz was taken aback by the voice. Magic of some kind? The apparition of the ghost set the historian on a pure backstep, his mind reaching for what might this be. He recalled... Illusions used, in towers and ruins from ages ago, to trick or distract intruders. Some were harmless, others not so much. Could this be...? But... Illusions from that long often suffered rune decay, becoming splotchy or obvious, yet this seems far too new, too accurate.

...Ghost?

The Question:

Feeling all eyes on him, the historian inhaled a deep breath and taking a moment to calm himself. He appeared far better at handling himself in what he considered a familiar environ, it didn't take long before he was ready to speak. The scholar still isn't sure if this is true or not, the slamming of the doors behind them aiding both cases. Fezz would rather shoot himself with a crossbow though before he'd disrespect the first true Emperor.

The mage bowed deep to the probable ghost of Lionheart. If its an illusion, he'd simply be as he was anyhow, a fool. If not, if there is any man that deserves respect it would be Troy Lionheart.
"Hai--" The man coughed, before quickly catching himself and continuing. "Hail, Emperor Lionheart, slayer of Dragon Mage Eusechius."

"We didn't expect to, um, find you here and still among us my liege, forgive our surprise. We'll cooperate to the best of our abilities, I promise you this. Its disheartening to know that of the others who you've presented yourself to have avoided this question."

"...But, er, I think I can shed light as to why, as a historian." Well, Fezz started strong. A nervous frowning smile was plastered on his face as he started to sweat despite the chill, pushing his fingers together to distract himself as he thought how to best approach this.

The man opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it once more, before thinking better of it and simply sighing. "I... Think it best to take it from the top. Has the good, true, and first Emperor Troy heard of the, erm, Succession Wars? That... Kinda-sorta-happened... Months after you--er--died. Or... The..." The historian looked up at the ceiling as he started counting on his fingers. "One-two-three-fou_{r-five--oh blessed dragon I forgot how many there were--sixth and now seventh...} Uh... Rebellions, revolts, and uprisings."

There was a deafening silence from the historian as he had a look of mortification on his face.

"We... May be here a while, my liege. I... Only mentioned the coups and revolts of the hundred and seventy years you were gone, Emperor Troy. A... Fair bit else has also happened."

[Haspen]

@Tombraiders:

"Unacceptable." The dead Emperor spoke quietly, projecting nausea and bout of chill onto the three, but then he calmed down.

"Then I assume this boy here is not an Imperial Heir or something. Which is strange because the blood is pure." He moved to Julius and reached with his left hand to touch the scavenger's hair. Julius, on other hand, could feel extremely dreadful chill freezing his scalp.

"And even hair color matches..." The Emperor took his hand away, not wishing to accidentally kill his far descendant.

"Next question will be, hmm..." he rubbed his ghastly chin, thinking about it for a moment. Then he snapped his ethereal fingers, producing an actual, audible snap.

"How about that small cult. They worshipped a dragon of some kind. I allied with them for some years - I needed an army and powerful protective magicks to deal with the mages and unite the continent. After my death that cult was supposed to lose its priviledges, and Empire was to assume a polytheistic model, based on the society before the Magic Wars. Please tell me that at least this was taken care of?"