An Englishman in Castle Aincrad

Floor 25 - Chapter 2 - Children of the Tree

As the pair of a Dark Elf knight and a human knight walked back towards the Old Town, Jet couldn't help but take a look through the book they'd been handed. Luckily for Jet, the Lyusulans of old had made some relatively detailed drawings of the machine, which he was now calling the Dream Catcher in his head. The machine itself was a large drill like machine, fixed in a vertical position with a large chamber in the centre. Helpfully, they'd included a small pictogram of a person for scale too, making the machine around twelve foot in height, if he assumed it was a person of average height. A second piece of the machine lay around thirty foot from its main section, and looked to contain another chamber, this one being listed with a symbol that looked remarkably like an exclamation mark, an indicator that whatever was in that chamber wasn't something they wanted to come into contact with, probably.

''I take it the picture is of use?'' Kizmel asked, looking towards Jet, who'd taken to wearing a pair of glasses to examine the diagram.

''Maybe. Kizmel, you understand the language, right?'' He asked, pretty certain that the answer was yes.

''Of course, as you understand yours.'' She answered nonchalantly.

''The section on the opposite page, is there any chance you can tell us what it says, when we meet up with everyone?''

''Indeed I-oh, oh no. This is bad. Very bad.'' The usually affable smile on Kizmel's face had disappeared, replaced with a look that terrified Jet. A look that has been consistent amongst cultures for generations, and one that should make even the most foolhardy reconsider their actions... a look of realisation.

''What does it say?'' Jet tried to hide his growing terror, as Kizmel read on.

''I believe Tilnel would've be able to offer a far superior explanation, but as I understand it - the salt is a relatively stable energy source, but the production of it requires use of some... unpleasant liquids to produce such a stable source. That chamber, contains the byproducts of its production, and is extremely toxic to almost all living beings. Our forebears had a name for it seemingly - Nightshade, due to it's dark colour, and the impact it would have on a person.''

''So definitely not something we want to be anywhere near, then. Noted.'' Jet put his glasses back into his inventory, as Kizmel continued.

''Certainly, but that isn't the reason for my trepidation... this is.'' Kizmel pointed to the chemical chamber, and Jet looked towards the diagram, squinting to read it, before a realisation set in with Jet...

''That chamber's, what, generations old, and unmaintained... that Nightshade will be everywhere, and we've got to not only find a way into the room to shut down the machine, but also shut it down.'' Jet placed a hand on his head in frustration. They really had a job on their hands with this one, he thought...

His continued thoughts on the matter were interrupted though, as he felt a jolt on his back and arms thrown around him from behind, before a warm and familiar voice spoke... ''I've missed you! The baths were awesome!'' Koharu almost sang the last word, seeming in much higher spirits. One of the many quirks that Koharu had, and one of the most endearing at times, was her almost vice like grip when hugging someone, and as it turned out, this was one of those times.

''Where've you been, anyway? We've been looking for you for the past hour!'' He heard Phillia shout, as she and Rain caught up to the couple. Koharu, now separated from her vice grip on her boyfriend, looked around and finally noticed Kizmel. If she'd been in high spirits before, then those spirits had risen to stratospheric at this point...

''Kizmel!'' Koharu changed the target of her affections, and bolted over to Kizmel, wrapping her in the tightest embrace she could. Kizmel, at first, gave a soft laugh, and expected Koharu to release her grip...