Duty Session 395: The Phantom Colosseum

     Even with impending war, Fukasa Yuri still wants her things. And among her things is the Phantom Colliseum which has been taunting her with its presence after refinding it for several months. She's been fighting the fishmen there and really not making much progress. So this morning, she decided to call in some reinforcements; that being a couple of members from her guild. "Okay, I've already gotten the boat settled and explained the route to the captain, though they're going to leave the navigation itself to us." She nods, arms crossed and resting the spear against her shoulder.
     "I'm ready to go whenever you two are." The dock that they arrived at is... makeshift. A bit south of all of the cities on the island and at the furthest east area of it, just enough of a dock to get onto the boat, really. But it would afford them the quickest and safest route to the atoll.

Life has taken an abrupt turn for Rylen as of late. He had spent much of the past year working with the peoples of the Ninetails Dominion in fighting off the Undead scourge, but now there is the threat of war lingering. So, he has taken to other tasks, many of which include helping Crescent Moon in whatever way he can. So, that's how he has ended up here.

"Lead on, lass." He offers, cracking his knuckles as he follows off of the boat, stretching arms above him. The Pooka tries to shake out the travel stiffness from his limbs. "Anything we should be on the look out for? I'm afraid this place is a bit new to me."

Uta is following Rylen at a short distance, staff in hand. Having been forcibly freed from her responsibilities at the Slime Labs, Library of Eas, and the Music Conservatory, she now has more time to devote to Crescent Moon guild activities. "Fish people. So many fish people," is what Uta has to offer in response to Rylen. "I think you had the right idea here, Yuri. I had been thinking that we need some sort of way to train our newbies for combat, given the upcoming war, and that coliseum? Perfect, just perfect. I'm glad I get to work with someone with your sense of community and altruism."

     "I'll be honest, I haven't managed to penetrate into the colliseum on my own, I keep getting turned away before the entrance." Fuka responds. "On the intial trip, we mostly just need to try to keep an eye out to avoid crashing into ships in the ship graveyard through fog and be ready to shield yourself or countersong against sirens. The island itself is covered in large amounts of sahuagin spawns, other than that... I'm not too sure." Fuka responds to Rylen.

     "Ah, yeah, pretty much what Uta said. It would be great for training indeed, especially once I get ahold of a good set of monsters it will be good for newbies and skilled adventurers alike." Yep. Totally the reasoning behind it. Not just that she wanted her colliseum and hadn't really planned that much for it. "Alright, I'll helm the ship. I know the route for the most part, so let's get going." The start of the boat trip is... mostly unremarkable. A bit foggy, but not dangerously so. That was until there was a sound that rang out in the darkness. The sound of singing. Beautiful, alluring, and intensely distracting. The sirens Fukasa /just/ warned about.
     Fukasa starts to step towards the singing sirens, her eyes half-lidded a moment... before she lifts her trident to point it towards the singing sirens. "...You can't sing if you can't breathe. Crush their throats, Pincushion! DROWNING FIELDS!" A monster pufferfish appears in front of Fukasa Yuri, unleashing a wave of water towards the sirens. Which leaves behind several choking spheres of water towards the sirens, consuming them and dampening their songs down a fair bit. "Drown out their songs or shield yourself against them!"

"Lovely. I'll probably need several showers before I return to Carmina Gadelica Marina, then." Rylen replies, although his expression seems to shift to one of concern after he says it. Uta, having lived and worked in close quarters with Rylen and his companion, Xander, would have noted that the Salamander had been acting strangely as of late, something likely weighing on the Pooka.

Thankfully, travel and the prospect of a good fight distracts him from that, and he easily settles back in to his usual, easy-going persona. He remains on guard, watching for any signs of trouble along their way, until the sound of that siren song hits his ears.

At least there is warning for it. That doesn't help for some of those on the ship who are drawn to it. Rather than being able to strike back at them, Rylen ends up too busy trying to grab and hold back those trying to throw themselves overboard to get to the source of the sound. He isn't entirely successful. He seems, at least for the moment, unusually immune to their call. Perhaps his concerns over his companion tune out the draw to anyone else.

As for Uta, it is no secret to anyone who's been on the Alliance channels that she's had some sort of emotional breakdown at one of her shipments of slimes having been slain during an encounter with Shirin, a 'sheriff' from the Palace Lands who tried to first arrest, and then multi-kill her. They will also have noticed that she seemed to resume her composture relatively quickly, she has not been -quite- the same since: while still prone to occasional bouts of rambling and excitement, she's been pensive and quiet for more time than she used to be.

"Good thinking, Fuka!" she exclaims. "You squelch the transmitter. I jam the receiver!"

Uta is quick to rush up to the young Adventurer who's manning the helm: she grabs him by the lapel and shakes him, with calls of, "Hey! Hey! Don't listen to them! Look at me!", even attempting to slap him back to consciousness. But that doesn't seem to work: each time, after a short moment of confusion, his dreamy gaze turns away, towards the Sirens' song.

Uta sighs in resignation, eyes closed. "Alright, I guess I have no choice."

Uta begins to sing, a voice crystalline and pure, harmonizing on the same song as the Sirens, but closer and louder, and more capable to 'read' the audience due to vicinity. It works, and soon the young adventurer's dreamy gaze, instead of longing for the Siren, stares at Uta, longingly.

After a few notes, Uta blushes, and slaps the Adventurer again. "Hey! Hey! Look at the sirens!", she says, pointing.

The story goes on alternating like this for a couple of times, leaving the Adventurer at the helm very confused, but at least not lost to the sirens.

     "Probably, yes. Lots of sea water, lots of fishy smells." Yuri responds cheerfully towards Rylen. "I think those were remnants from the maidensong isle, which is the main launching point for the assaults on the phantom colliseum, with a makeshift base on it. I thought that we'd cleared most of their spawn dens already, I must have missed some." The undine taps her lips with a slightly displeased look. "I'll have to sweep the island more later, sometime. It wouldn't do for my colliseum visitors to be harried by sirens constantly." Though, if she tamed them. Hmmm. Now that's a thought. She could use them as entertainment or something.
     "Yep! Just like that, Uta! Keep him distracted from the sirens and... uh." And then that cycle begins. And Fuka is just kind of watching a moment. The poor guy at the helm, on the other hand, is basically completely distracted from the actual directing of the boat. "..." Fukasa darts over and elbows the guy out of the way, almost knocking him into Uta as she starts to take control of the helm.
     There is an issue with this of course. The navigating adventurer is distracted, and Fuka, the person with no navigating skill has taken over for him. "Just ... keep him alright, Uta." Fuka mumbles, and soon they are away from the sirens! And ... in a thick fog. The young adventurer takes back over, but by then it was too late.
     The fog and Fuka's lack of navigational skills already set them far off course, and when they make land, Fukasa is looking around in confusion. "This isn't the colliseum's city." Fuka says, frowning confusedly. "How did we get here? This is like, the opposite side of the island. Well, whatever, let's look for a way into the colliseum from here. I'm sure there's some sort of back entrance."
     It's around then that one of the crew members calls out, "Hey! I found something. The sand has a hollow sound here." And he lifts up a ... hatch of some sort?
     Out bursts. A ... disheveled man. His hair in dreadlocks and his movements a bit awkward and off. He smells strongly of alcohol. "What're you doin' at my home? And where'd all my rum go?" Pause. Squint. "...Wait, are you here to rescue me? Or bring me more alcohol? Hey I'll show you how to get into that colliseum if you help me!" Fuka, thoroughly disenchanted with this drunk, walks over, and reaches for him. "You'll tell us anyway, you drunkard. Here, let's help you sober up in the seawater." He, of course, being a squirrely fellow, just... ducks around Fuka's attempts to grab him and drag him to the sea.

In the end, Rylen isn't all that helpful against the sirens, but at least he is able to hold a few people in place long enough to be lured under Uta's spell instead. Though, with his role as NotDad, that might still feel a bit weird.

He doesn't seem to have any great skill in navigation either, offering himself more as the 'muscle' behind the group, despite the fact that a certain Kung Fu Nurse can also take on that role, no problem. Even so, he looks on curiously when the strange hatch is discovered, along with the even more unusual individual inside it.

Threatening people isn't often his forte, but if nothing else, he can back up what Fukasa is already doing. "You better listen to the lady. Otherwise there's fare worse fates." He does grab for the man as he escapes from her grasp. "We could take him back to the sirens, I'm sure they'd be interested in a meal..."

Those who know Rylen, know that he isn't the sort to actually make good on the threat, but... he can act the part when he wants to.

Uta shrieks and barely dodges out of the way. Due to the embarrassment and surprise (not to mention the boat's rocking motion), instead of her usual acrobatic melodic-martial-medical elegance, she ends up slamming angainst the deck (which explains why Rylen has to take up the role)

She lies there for a second or two, and the saddest bubble of lightning one has ever seen briefly fizzles in and out of existence around her, like a broken light bulb.

"...am I getting better at magical barriers?", she asks, stunned, with an unsteady voice.

The poor Adventurer at the helm is healed, and after many bows, excuses, and mutual reassurances, the party eventually disembarks, and while Fukasa and Rylen are busy with their *ahem* intense negotiations, Uta just... wanders off. Not a word to anyone, not anything. She just roams randomly around the island, gaze lost in the distance, until something hard and cold hits her full-on.

She blinks after realizing she's just been bounced backwards by the impact, and she's now sitting on the ground. She tilts her head up, up, up... to realize she's just bumped into the coliseum.

"Hey, guys, I think I found it...", she says, regardless of whether anyone else happens to be around or not.

     There's something to be said about dodging one person, and then having others go after him. Threats from the second adventurer, and threats of taking him to /sirens/? Actually that doesn't sound that awful at the same time. And yet he doesn't /really/ want to die. "Fine, fine, I'll show you the wa--" And then Uta bumps into the secret entrance to the colliseum. "...How the heck did you... of all the dumb lu-- you know what." The man takes the chance made by the distraction to dive back towards his wooden hatch. "LET IT BE KNOWN TODAY IS THE DAY YOU ALMOST CAUGHT PHIL PHEASANT!" And the door is slammed shut. THere's the sound of a lock being clicked. And Yuri just kind of stares at it for a moment. "You know what. Okay."
     With the entrance led into by Uta's accidental wanderings, Yuri makes her way over and takes the lead, beginning to make their way down into an underwater tunnel, since the colliseum itself is in the middle of the atoll's lake.
     The travel through the underwater tunnel is... quiet, beyond the occasional drip of water and it's. Well. It's damp. Eventually the party gets out to a larger room, only to encounter a submerged tunnel. "...Ugh I'll have to fix this later. Let's see." Fukasa starts looking into the water, before starting to dive into the water. When... rather suddenly, a strong current just. Drags her away. As much as she fights against it, there's just. Not much one can do when the current gets ahold of you and drags you under. She doesn't even have much chance to warn the rest of the party before she's just. Gone. Leaving the party behind her unaware of the danger.

Rylen just stands there, looking puzzled for a moment, "Who?" Obviously, he has no idea of the identity of the unusual individual who just escaped back into his hideaway. "I'm starting to think this island that you've brought us to, might be a little odd." That is an understatement.

Scratching at his head, Rylen shrugs and nods to Uta, not questioning their abilities to sometimes stumble on something unexpected. "Well, at least we know where to go."

However, underwater tunnels don't exactly work with his tendency to keep his feet on dry, solid ground. Seeing Fukasa get swept away, he makes a sound under his breath, likely refusing to curse, and then dives in after her, trying to play the hero and come to the rescue.

Unfortunately, he does little better against it and ends up being swept away right along with her.

Uta... well, we all know what happens when Fukasa Yuri, Uta, and Massive Amount of Water are mixed. Spun around by vortices, shot around at breakneck speed through rectilinear passages, slammed around rock walls by the currents, between one concussion and the next, Uta mouths "Water! Why does it always have to be water?!", but no sound comes out, only bubbles, while gurgling liquid fills her lungs.

That HP bar is draining fast...

     "It /is/ called the Phantom Atoll with the Phantom Colliseum. Back in the day it had a ton of weird events and had a halloween event revolving around a tournament on it as well with funky and creepy stuff going on. It had some underwater events where there were enchantments that let even non-undines breathe for the fights. It's part of why I wanted it so badly, it's an amazing lore location in addition to being a great location in general." Was Fuka's response to Rylen before they were swept away.
     Uta's cry actually results in her... getting a fair amount of Fuka's attention even as they get swept away. Maybe a bit of risidual guilt? As they're swept away, Fuka's control of water is sent after Uta to help control her movements a bit more... but... it doesn't really stop the ultimate outcome of being swept away:
     The entire party is slammed against the deck of the sunken shipwreck, their HP dropped a fair chunk by the impact, and the party now left to recover and try to find where to go from there. Also to find where BobTheDestroyer, one of their party members got swept off to. Fuka speaks over chimlink, 'I think we'd be better off trying to find our way back to the surface if we can, the current is too strong to go back up to the colliseum, and while I'm fine down here, the rest of you won't last much longer.'
     Attempting to bubble the rest of the party for a refresh of their air bubbles... the bubbles don't hold, popping under the pressure of the deep water before it can do much to refill their oxygen meters. Time to swim, either towards the surface, or to the first sign of possible air.

None of Rylen's performances revolve around water stunts. While his natural grace and strength means he can swim reasonably well, it isn't with the capability of an Undine, not by a long shot. Soon enough, he starts to feel the pressure of the water and the frantic urge for breath that comes with it.

However, he has spent the last few months in physical training, so he is able to swim for the surface, ready to grab either of the others should they falter. He reaches a hand out, pulling some of the rocks from the cave and using them to create a force of water behind them as well, hoping that it might 'shoot' them out somewhere with breathable air.

Uta's rollercoaster ride ends with her slamming against the ship. One second passes, two... then the flimsiest bubble of air forms around her, and immediately pops into a million tiny bubbles, the kind you find in carbonated water. She mouths something about needing to improve her magical barriers.

There is much coughing and sputtering of the water Uta had swallowed during the brief period where the bubble refreshes the party's oxygen. Soon everyone is underwater again. Unable to speak the way Fukasa does, Uta just nods in confirmation, the only sound coming from her direction being the low rumbling, sloshing of water as she swims her way along in the desperate search for air. While her wings might be close to useless on dry land, she opens and flaps them anyway, even though they're probably too flimsy to be of any use. But hey, a in the middle of all this danger and nonsense, a Spriggan can cling to a dream to give herself hope, right?

That mostly works. Mostly. Because she does needs to be caught by Rylen as she gets dangerously close to passing out.

     As the party starts to swim higher and higher... the current proves to be too much once more, sending them back towards that ship. Even with that small refresh of the oxygen bars, it's starting to look a bit more desperate as HP drains for... almost everyone. Fukasa Yuri looks mostly fine. She's an undine underwater, after all. And yet she looks concerned in spite of this. Not for herself, but for her party members. "... The ship." She turns, quickly swimming back towards it, kicking hard to dive deep and back towards it, before lifting her hand towards the locked door. "Do whatever you need to to get into there, I think I see a room without broken windows, there might be air." She lifts her hand towards the door. And does all that she can think of to do. "... Uta. Look away for a moment." Several different monsters appear around her, including a salamander(The monster, not the race) contained in a bubble of water. PTSD intensifies, as Yuri calls out, "BLISTERING DEPTHS!" She points towards the door. And molten lava forms over the lock, beginning to melt it as well as making the water around them nice and toasty, which is probably a ncie change. This has been a cold journey.

Rylen is starting to wonder why it had to be an under-water passage that they found themselves stuck in. It just doesn't work well with most of his abilities. He looks around, as if hoping to find some alternative, trying to use raw physical force to move himself in the water.

However, the ship and the door seems to be the only option they have. He normally wouldn't talk, as that would likely use up more oxygen, but ... there is only one ability he has that is good at breaking things. "Get out of the way!" He bubbles.

And then starts pulling up rocks from the surrounding area, which are ignited by the Salamander that Fukasa had summoned. Somehow, they manage to remain ignited, looking more like balls of lava as they are chucked one by one into the door, slamming against it with intense force.

Uta's vision blurs, her HP is in the low digits and dropping, there is little she can do, except...

Well, it looks like that by the time the order to look away reached the higher processing center of the Spriggan's brain, the visual cortex had already been treated to the sight of a devastating outpour of water.

Uta gasping in her already critical condition was... not exactly what the doctor ordered, and when a shockwave of hot water washes over her, she loses any semblance of rational thought, and in full fight-or-flight mode, she begin singing an aria, alternating high and low notes, enough to make tendrils of light dance on her staff, coalesce in her gem, and shoot a red beam of energy towards Fukasa Yuri, and a green one towards herself.

It might not be exactly -pleasant- for Fukasa, to feel her life force being sapped, but at least Uta's HP bar finally begins to edge up from the single digits. That was a close call there, even if it costed her an Orange status...

     The stuck door is pummeled by molten rocks, blistering depths, and a strong push from BobTheDestroyer (Oh hey he showed back up!) ... meanwhile, there was a rather sudden betrayal! Uta uses a spell on Fukasa Yuri! Drawing on her life force and causing a screech to come from the woman, looking around with her trident at the ready. And her monsters turning towards Uta. Before she realizes who it is, and the situation she's in. And immediately she dismisses her summons as the party is drawn into the stairwell by the sudden rush of water going into the ship.
     A moment later, Fuka just decides to do what's easiest to get her 'revenge'. Grab Uta and toss her slightly less gently up into the area with air. Hmmmf. "You're lucky I like you and it's not the time for squabbling." Fuka spits towards Uta, before stalking over to the skeleton in the room, looking over it. "Look around, there might be loot if it's been sealed like this. This might be a world first discovery. Congratulations."

As they burst into a space with air, Rylen gasps to catch his breath, taking a few minutes to gather himself and to check his HUD. The man has obvious concern over the others, so he is reviewing their health and... why is Uta combat flagged?

"Uh... is everything okay?" He asks. The instruction to search the room is met with more confusion by the Pooka, who just shrugs. "Sure, I'll take a look around." He looks suspiciously at the skeleton, scrunching his nose at the smell. "Yeah, let's not spend too long here."

"I... I'm sorry Yuri... *Cough* *Sputter*... I... I was dying there and... *cough* *cough* *gach*... I... I'm sorry... I thought... I..." Uta is confused and stunned, but otherwise she looks like she'll live. "I thought about draining your monsters, but... Not sure... they... *Sputter*"

It takes a while for her mind to clear, and when she does, she starts to say, "Where was I? Oh... oh, right. I... I'm sorry Yuri. I... I think I owe you one. A big one. I- I was dying and... realized you could breathe water and... your HP was so high and... and... I thought you wouldn't have minded sharing a bit and... and... and..." As she grows increasingly distressed, a whirlwind of gauzy darkness spins around her, so thin it's barely visible. Blink and one'll miss it before it evaporates. Completely distracted by her previous train of thought, she mumbles, "...I need to improve my magical barriers..."

"I agree with you, Rylen. Let's get out of here as soon as possible. Let's not spend one second more within- Oh, what is that?" Uta, suddenly ignoring everyone, goes over to the skeleton, and begins to inspect it with interest. Possibly even touching it for a medical inspection. "I think I'll bring this one back to Setsuna as a present..."

     "It's fine, Rylen. She just saved herself using me. I just wasn't expecting it and got angry." Yuri responds to Rylen, shaking her head as she starts to look around. Let's see. Some cups. A rotten bit of paperwork. Some coins used for an event that isn't even active right now...
     "No. No. You don't owe me anything, Uta." Yuri responds as she looks towards the spriggan. "In fact, for the moment, we're even." Somehow, that sounds... worse... than owing Yuri something, the way she says it. "You do need to improve your magical barriers. Also next time we will need to bring more waterbreathing potions, probably." The severity from moments ago just... gone, as she starts to open a chest. "Ah, here we go, this is some good loot." And she grabs it. A ring, that the rest of the party acquires as well. "Alright, grab whatever else you want and let's get out of here."