The Inner Gambit of Darkness - Continued (Part 4)

Dane bounced off the hollow ground like it was a trampoline. After almost falling into the sea of poison surrounding the circular area, the sage took deep breaths trying to control his racing heart.

Soon after, Farore fell and landed on the giant drum. "Its okay! Come on down." she yelled upwards.

Lyn watched the entire scene, greatly amused.

"My turn," she said- but instead of jumping down herself, pushed Dalikos down the hole, laughing. She would then follow soon after by leaping down the hole after him.

Dalikos was caught off guard and was flailing in the air. He hit the bouncy grand face first, and once he stopped bouncing, he rolled over to look up top.

"Was that necessary?"

Lyn chuckled as she landed easily next to him.

"No, but it sure was fun," she said with a smirk.

Dalikos hopped up and looked around. All he could see was darkness. Well, that and the ground. Which was much like a drum.

"So... anyone else see a way out of here?"

"There is no way out." a familiar voice chuckled.

Sergius had just landed on the drum, not long after, Cyrus appeared and bounced off the giant instrument.

Lyn looked up, surprised but not scared at the voice. She scoffed, taking out her dagger. "There's always a way out," she snapped cockily in return to the voice. "Now show yourself so we can kill you and get this over with quickly. We've got a schedule to keep."

Dalikos drew his sword, but he kept thinking something.

"That voice?... Is that?" Dalikos looked at Lyn.

"Does that voice seem familiar?"

Lyn's eyes snapped open as she recognized it. Her knuckles became white with how tightly she gripped her dagger, and she made for taking out her bow.

"Veritas..." she hissed, her voice dripping with poison and hatred.

In a fashion similar to on the ferry, the aristocrat rose from the center of the drum.

"Speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear." Veritas smirked.

Without hesitation, without saying anything and without a moment for so much as blinking an eye, Lyn had lunged forward, swinging her sword heavily in front of her in an attempt to cleave the devil in front of her clean in half.

"What do you want this time Veritas?" Dalikos asked, as Lyn lunged.

Veritas avoided the swing as if he had seen it coming. He did not fight back, change his stance, or even look at Lyn; he simply stepped out of the way.

"I merely desire what you have forfeited." the demonic-eyed aristocrat shrugged nonchalantly. "Tis what I have wanted since you first entered my home."

He looked over at the unfamiliar faces and immediately put on a welcoming smile. "But my my my, where are my manners? Welcome all, to my humble home. I truly hope you have found the entertainment enjoyable thus far; Termagant knows I have."

Lyn hardly wasted a second after her failed attempt to try again, her face engulfed in fury and rage as she once more leapt for Veritas, swinging her sword mightily and tactfully as she once more tried to separate the demon's head from his body.

The aristocrat stepped back far enough to just avoid the blade, as if to show Lyn how useless it was to fight him dead on.

After Lyn's two initial lunges had failed, she stood, slightly panting, still glaring at him.

"Stop running away, you damned devil!" she spat, still infuriated. "Either stand and fight or go crawl back to your hell!"

Finally, Veritas turned his attention to his attacker.

"Your words are daggars to my ears, Lyndia." he pouted, pretending to be hurt by her insults. "Is it too much to ask for a civil conversation? After all, I have only just met these fine Heroes; I would very much like to get to know them."

"Veritas?" Sergius asked "I've heard that name before somewhere."

The comment piqued the aristocrat's interest. "Have you now?" he said as he turned to face Sergius. "Tis rare for those above ground to know I exist, let alone my name. Where, perchance, could you have heard it from?"

"Veritas..." Sergius repeated, thinking "I think Impaz told me a story of someone with that name."

Veritas let out a hard chuckle at the woman's name. "Is that fool still alive? My God, she must be ancient by now!"

The aristocrat turned around and walked closer to the edge of the drum, recollecting his thousand years of imprisonment. "Twas several generations ago, I suppose--being down here for so long, I regretably have lost track of time--that a band of Sheikah entered my home to strengthen the seal made centuries before. I was once a member of that tribe myself, you see, and was familiar with their culture, responsibility, and magic. I knew everything necessary to wipe them all from existence, and what I knew not was superfluous. It was tragically dull killing them, I assure you.

"But as I felt the leader's skull crack open beneath my fingers, it came to my attention that there was still one Shiekah alive; a puny little thing, perhaps no older than fourteen. Ipaz was her name, and I spared her life to send a message to the Sheikah people:"

At this point Veritas had stopped his recollective stroll and was focusing on his clenched fist, squeezing so tightly that bood was beginning to run down his palm.

"Do. Not. Provoke me."

"I remember now." Sergius said "And how dare you insult Impaz in front of me." he had deep connections with Impaz, for it was her that protected him when his parents were killed by the invading Novafaitan force.

"And how dare you repeat her mistake!" Veritas snapped. "Tis not enough that a fool like yourself enter my domain; you must also mock me with a cheap immitation of my God's gift to the Sheikah clan!" The aristocrat was pointing a blood-stained finger at Sergius' eye patch.