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The Ultimate Beetle and the Doom Chicken

Scene details

Setting: The party travels to the Lonely Woods where Kernunnos's shrine slumbers after Ivo claims that the demigod has sensed a curious presence there. Then Ivo promptly begins gathering flowers. But Kernunnos did indeed sense a presence: that of the Heavenly Crowned Beetle, the ultimate six-star Ultra-Mega-Rare specimen. Our heroes now have one quest. Catch that beetle! But what will stand in their way...?

Log


 "Hm, hm, hmmm..."
 It's an unusual sight. Ivo is humming a whimsical little tune as he carefully plucks flowers from a bush into a little bouquet. Granted, the young man is often in a good mood when on a peaceful venture like this. But he typically attempts to self-consciously evince a dilettante's faux-careless poise. Amidst the sweet-scented wild roses, he seems to have forgotten himself in an almost child-like manner, a pleased flush upon his cheeks.
 The party has returned to the Lonely Woods, where the misdirecting enchantments of the druids that had once confounded them are no longer any object. With Kernunnos in Reize's pendant, it is a simple matter to return to the secret entrance to his shrine, where the wild roses grow. Ivo had once explained that the plant population here serves as the origin of the many varietals of domesticated roses now cultivated in the gardens of Oradian nobles. But such memories may be distant now. Yesterday, before recommending this venture, all he said was that Kernunnos had sensed something here.
 And... now Ivo is picking flowers.
 "She'll be sure to love these," he murmurs, nearly giddy with self-satisfaction. It is truly a mystery to whom he refers. Well, they were planning on returning to the manor for more information about the disc from the catacombs.
 It would be reasonable to assume that Ivo had just lied to everyone about his intentions. But Reize's pendant is flickering. As though attracted to the light, the sacred beetles that once flew to this secret passage to bring Kernunnos stored sunlight begin to buzz and gather harmlessly around Reize, their horned crowns twitching as though curious or befuddled.
 "We are close," the eidola's voice echoes, Kernunnos's grave seriousness a striking contrast to Ivo basically giggling over by the bush. At least the real quest-giver for today isn't acting a fool. "The presence I sensed is nearby... there!!"
 As the hidden demigod's voice suddenly raises, an extraordinary beetle buzzes out from behind a tree. Even amongst the iridescent shells of Kernunnos's other servants, its scintillating colors stand out. The insect radiates not sunlight but some transformed energy that crackles and sparks between its little twin antlers.

> A Heavenly Crowned Beetle (****** / Ultra-Mega-Rare) has appeared!

 "Ah!" Kernunnos emits what sounds like a rapturous sigh. "The Heavenly Crowned Beetle! I have never seen it myself! My high priestess, who cultivated the Crowned Beetles," he explains, immediately launching into unusually excited exposition, "had been breeding a new cultivar to mimic and invert the abilities of the Crux of Creation itself, and transform sunlight into other forms of energy! But she could not endow it with the faithfulness of the Crowned Beetle, and so it would not return to bring its energy to me... I had assumed they had all died out!"
 The eidola is spending so long talking, pendant pulsing at rapid fire on Reize's chest, that the Heavenly Crowned Beetle is gliding away, taking no notice of the party whatsoever.
 "After it!" Kernunnos enthuses. "This is the rarest beetle of all!"
 Ivo looks up, still prettily flushed.
 "Aw," he replies, "I'm almost done, though."
 Correction. Both quest-givers today are acting a fool.


  Reize, truth be told, was along for the ride in this trip. There was technically no sort of goal that the boy had planned. This is one of the times that he was happily willing to acquision guidance to Ivo, who would lead them along. What did catch his attention was that Kernunnos would be leading them somewhere.

  It brings them to the forest.

  While Ivo was content with picking flowers for whatever particular reason that he had, the boy had looked over at Ruidosa, mostly curious if the flowers would catch her attention. As he does reach over for her hand...

  'We are close'

  "Ah?" Reize looks curious as the eidola's more serious tone catches his attention. His eyes drift over towards the sight of an extraordinary beetle buzzing. "Oh...! It has been a while!" Those colors definitely stand out. Between Ivo doing some flower picking and his other guide within the pendant beckoning for him to give chase, Reize opts to the latter. The boy is certain that Ivo can manage the goal that he had on his own. For Kernunnos to be excited is a rarity and the boy is happy to fulfill a usually dour and solemn friend's need.
 

Ruidosa La Crima has spent the trip back and right now reading back pages in her book on the catacombs, reading up on what her and her sister explored before she met the group and what the group encountered down there. It was moving from... actually useful burial ground to strange things like 'Labs' and such. Cults do strange things in search of immortality. Though that 'Laboratory' was the furthest explored thus far. What lied deeper? She seemed to tap her bottom lip a bit as Ivo picked roses for...

Who? Who was he picking roses, for, H-e-y. She's about to ask what has him in such a good mood- as Reize reaches for her hand--- which she doesn't notice because yes, the flowers and Ivo have her preoccupied- when there's a sudden Epic Rarity Beetle appears as she raises a hand and blinks. Okay. "Uhn... what do you want us to do when we catch it!? Won't it just wander away again then!?" she asks as she closes her book and moves to try to track the sparking beetle as she huffs.

"I should had brought a net. I need to bring a net. Net next time." she makes a note in the book. Net.


 "What do I want to do when we catch it!?" Kernunnos repeats Ruidosa's question with a hint of indignation, as though the answer should be obvious. But then he's silent.
 Almost like he hasn't thought about it yet.
 "It's getting away! Go, my champions!"
 Oh, he's just ignoring the question now.
 Ivo, hurriedly picking a few more wild roses, looks over his shoulder at his friends. "I've got a few vials for containing samples of unprocessed aether crystals for use in elesphere production. I think one of those should-- ow!" He winces as he pricks his finger on a thorn, the cost of paying insufficient attention.
 The Heavenly Crowned Beetle is weaving its way through the Lonely Woods without any discernible objective. But the lightning crackling between its horns is surprisingly loud and sends rabbits and squirrels scattering where it passes through dense foliage and by thorned brush. To pursue it at a pace that might eventually catch up, one will have to move at a possibly reckless speed, even when Kernunnos able to give directions.
 "Ah, beware the plants ahead--!"
 The eidola's warning, while vague and distracted, may at least help to call the party's attention to the threat. As they move into the next small clearing, five of the carnivorous pitcher plants they contended with last time are present, their entangling vines stirring as the sound of the beetle's energies passing nearby rouses them.
 To follow the beetle, one may have to risk dodging between the plants below or bravely hopping along their rims above, or taking the long way around and risk losing sight of the party's quarry.
 "I-I'm on my way!"
 Ivo, his full bouquet desperately clutched in his arms, is rushing to catch up with his friends, maybe not paying quite as much attention to the pitcher plants as he should, trying to just charge right between them before they can become sufficiently aware of the party's presence.

Ivo Galvan rolls 1d20>=10.
Comment: Go, Ivo, go! Does fortune favor the bold?
Roll(s): 18. Total result is 18. This is a success (by 8).

Ruidosa La Crima rolls 1d20>=10.
Comment: Fear vs. Plants.
Roll(s): 4. Total result is 4. This is a failure (by 6).

Reize Seatlan rolls 1d20>=10.
Comment: Out of my way! *WEEDWHACKER MODE*
Roll(s): 14. Total result is 14. This is a success (by 4).


  Reize looks back at Ruidosa, "Well, we'll keep it hold until Kernunnos gets to talk to it, of course!" It makes sense in Reize's head. He has no idea that Kernunnos, the great being of the eidola, had no idea of the next course of action after they caught it.

  Nevertheless, Reize had pushed through to follow the Heavenly Crowned Beetle as it weaves along the Lonely Woods. He cannot help but perk at the sight of the squirrels and rabbits scattering. He can see the hint of the horns emitting lightning, "...Interesting." Something to ward off potential predators?

  The plants are noticed as Kernunnos's distracted, Reize is ready with both boomerangs in hand. He is full on aggressive as he holds his boomerangs invertedly.

  What does Reize do?

  A glow emits from the boy as the aether builds up around him. It radiates from his body before it converges and it explodes.

  "Hunting Hawk!"

  He bursts through, swinging the boomerangs out to slash through the monstrous plants to tear them out of his way. He had enough of running into them since before!
 

Ruidosa La Crima could turn into a bat, fly after the beetle. Catch it. EAT IT AND THEN GAIN IT'S PO---- no, no, no. Need to catch it and then give it to the... god in a pendant. You know, that sounded less weird when she didn't think about it like ''that''. Thusly, Rui follows along without turning into a bat, lest she damages the beetle with bat-like claws or gets the bat urge to shove an entire beetle into her bat-mouth. This makes her scrunch her nose. That also sounded less weird when she didn't think about it like that.

Then she comes to a dead stop, skiding a foot in the forest dirt as she stops when they reach the plants. Oh...oh dear nope. She remembers the last time, one of her first adventures out and a plant almost ate her. ;_;.

Then Reize weed whackers into the plants and she follows quickly after in his wake, and whews, she looks relived that she doesn't need to worry about the plants herself. Okay? Look. When your first adventuring experience is carnivorous plants you kinda have that impressed. ;_;


 For once, Ivo is charging ahead of Reize, forgetting himself in his general enthusiasm. All he knows is that he's supposed to run after the beetle and that he absolutely must not drop any of these roses. So consumed is he by these specifics that it honestly does not occur to him that he is getting ahead of the rest of his party and diving amongst the enemy in doing so.
 Reckless courage may not be his style, but it works out. He successfully rushes through all the plants, which turn instinctively, their sensitive vines triggered by the rampage of his footsteps. This turns out to be a serious tactical mistake. When Reize attacks, the already keen and powerful assault's effects are only magnified by the pitcher plants dropping their guard. A few of them are completely obliterated, the others being forcibly knocked back and making more than enough room for Ruidosa to follow at her own pace, safe from another plant attack and subsequent bout of embarrassing profanity.
 "There! We're so close!"
 The party's successes have helped them catch up to the beetle, and Kernunnos's passion mounts accordingly. The eidola is really riled up. One wonders if this sort of singular obsession is the demigod's eidola nature, often involving odd and inexplicable goals or interests, emerging. Or maybe, instead, this bizarre fascination is Kernunnos's most human quality.
 "Ah-- below and above!"
 They've charged deep into the Lonely Woods, straying from anything resembling a path or trail, and have come across a half-dry creek bed amidst the trees. Checking below reveals that the silt is suspiciously slushy. This is a mud trap, and stepping carelessly will mean sinking into waist-high gunk. But there are rocks, albeit slick ones, to aid one in hopping across.
 There are also vines hanging high above, which one might use to swing or, if one can fly, simply flutter among. Kernunnos's warning about the threats up here is a little harder to parse without a keen eye. It is unfortunate that he is not more specific. But hopefully any party members who attempt an aerial crossing will notice that some of these vines are not vines at all, but camouflaged snakes, waiting to grapple and constrict any who touch or approach them!
 Ivo, lacking the agility or inclination for any vine-swinging in any case, attempts to keep up his momentum and just hop across the slick rocks. No fear! Full steam ahead! For justice, and more importantly, for love!

Ivo Galvan rolls 1d20>=10.
Comment: Go, Ivo, go! With blazing passion for, uh, beetles? Sure.
Roll(s): 18. Total result is 18. This is a success (by 8).

Reize Seatlan rolls 1d20>=10.
Comment: Out of my way! *WEEDWHACKER MODE*
Roll(s): 14. Total result is 14. This is a success (by 4).

Reize Seatlan rolls 1d20>=10.
Comment: Combo-Wombo Time to Clear his Path
Roll(s): 6. Total result is 6. This is a failure (by 4).


  The good thing is that Reize managed to clear the plants out of his way. He took the more aggressive approach in his strikes, passing through them with the devastating swing of his boomerangs. This not only gets him out of the way, but does leave them taken out. The young explorer is brightening his smile when Ruidosa's path is cleared. "Hee, glad you can join, Rui."

  They have successfully caught up with the beetle. That is good! To see Kernunnos like this is surprising, but a welcome one. Reize wants to make sure that his Companion is able to experience some joy.

  ....ANd of course, there are snakes.

  Reize lunges in to push past them, leaping into the air with a spinning kick to strike down the camuflauged snakes, "I see you!" ...And they ensare him, grabbing him by the legs and constrict around him. "!!!!"
 

Ruidosa La Crima follows along after Reize now, if she had a moment to not chase fast moving beetles she might have heart eyes and such over him owning a bunch of dumb plants she hates with a passion, but right now she's chasing the bug. Running after the group before they get to a .... dried creek bed that looks muddy. She isn't interested in sinking waist deep into mud so she considers flying across.... there's just...vines in the way right?

Kerny (Rui's internal name for Kernunnos in her book.) also seems hopeful to catch the beetle. Still, she's about leap when Reize exposes ''snakes''. Okay... she frowns and jumps into the air and---- two bat wings unfurl from her back and she glides forward, trying to grab Reize's arms and drag him out of the morass of snakes, as best she can as she hrrrrrrs and pulls.

"Shake 'em off. And get to the other side with me, Reize!" she says.


 Maybe Ivo should act like this more often. OK, he probably shouldn't. But the point is moot, because he's barely aware of what he's doing in any case. He has more important things on his mind, namely, fantasies about how happily the mistress of the manor will receive his lovely bouquet.
 So with a boldness that exceeds his nature, the young man leaps across the slick rocks, momentum supplying what his native surefootedness might lack. As soon as he receives the other side, however, he hears Reize and Ruidosa's exchange, rousing him from his reverie. Spinning on his heels, clutching his roses in his off hand, Ivo draws Hauteclare and projects its blade, sending it to help harry and fend off the snakes, far enough away from Reize and Ruidosa to not risk accidentally hurting them in the struggle but close enough to likely create some space for them.
 After he's confident that he's chosen the proper distance, he looks back over his shoulder, only to see their quarry, sparkling as bright as ever, descend into some sort of hole or den in the earth.
 "Ah, I think we've got it cornered!"
 He frames the matter optimistically, despite their current predicament, but the hole is rather too small for Ivo to crawl inside. It might be fearless leader sized, though.


 

  The snakes were entangling onto Reize, who was looking very alarmed, even readying his boomerangs to bash its head repeatedly until they would let go. However, it is by the grace of Ruidosa, his vampire partner, that he is dragged out from the morass of snakes. This is aided by Ivo, who had the foresight to aid them with Hauteclare.

 "Ahh, thank goodness..." There are tears of joy coming from Reize's eyes.

 When they do finally arrive, he stares down deep, looking at the hole that is very small and fitting for him. There is a bit of a sweat running from his head.

 "...Did it really go down there?"

 The last time that they visited the place...

 There is a sound of clucking heard from the hole.

 Cluck cluk. Cluck cluck. BAWK CAW!
 

Ruidosa La Crima gets Reize across and thank goodness, it's all over, the beetle is in the hole! They can catch it- and if it's Reize size, it's clearly Ruidosa sized too. She eyes the hole however as there's cluks from inside as she peeks with a little blink.

"Is...that a delicious chicken I hear?" she says into the hole. "Come on out delicious chicken. I won't hurt you. Just roast you for lunch!" she says as she almost wiggles like she's ready for a cat pounce down the hole almost.

Look, a beetle. AND lunch? Who can blame her!


 As Hauteclare returns to its hilt with a satisfying click, Ivo glances between Reize and Ruidosa. Gorgeous bouquet still safely clutched under his left arm, not a single petal disturbed throughout the whole mad dash, with his other hand he pulls a handkerchief from his cloak to dab the beads of sweat from his brow.
 "Shall we eat?" he remarks casually. "It's up to you, brave hunter!"
 Beaming as he tucks away his kerchief, he gives Reize a big thumbs up. Ivo's really not doing risk assessment right now. The fantasies are back.


  There is a look of trepidation from Reize as he looks down the hole. While Ruidosa doesn't seem too concerned, Reize cannot help but to feel awfully concerned, "... Don't you two feel that?"

 There is that feeling of overwhelming power, dark power to be exact, emitting down the hole. It is overwhelming in a wway. "...I.. Uhh..."

 Suddenly, the cat that they rescued a while back passes by to chase a butterfly, "Meow!"

 It smacks right onto Reize's leg.

 "Wh---whaaaoaaaaaaooooaaahhh!"

 And Reize goes down the hole.

  ...

 ...

 ...

 There is silence.

 Reize finds himself within a large crystalline field. The ground has various markings on it, showcasing its more exotic nature. However, what stands before him is a chicken. A black chicken.

>> The black chicken is watching you.
>> Waiting. Plotting its time to strike.
>> Raw power emanates from its time body...

  "BAW-CAAWWWW!!!!"

  "... Oh no."
 

Ruidosa La Crima rolls 1d20>=10.
Comment: Resist versus Squeee!
Roll(s): 3. Total result is 3. This is a failure (by 7).

Ruidosa scoffs. "What? No. It's a chicken. It's delicious. Go first." she says.

Then the cat helps Reize down the hole so she follows down after, floating down delicately on her bat wings which are still there like some sort of dark angel as she lands on the floor.

"Woah. Pretttty...." she says with eyes at the area they're in. Except for.

The Chicken. it's entirely black, denominating dark power and Ruidosa's eyes light up.

"Oh no...." she repeats.

EXCEPT.... "It's Adorable. ;_;. Reize we can't eat that! I need to hug it!" she says with hands clenched up in front of her with wide eyes.


 Ivo curiously watches the cat emerge and dart into the underbrush, not being able to join his allies for this bonus challenge. But it turns out he will have a task all his own. For you see, the overwhelming aura and/or cuteness(?) of the Doom Chicken is likely to distract his friends for the important fact that the Heavenly Crowned Beetle, for whatever reason, has had enough of the den and is lazily floating its way out of the hole.
 "Ahh!"
 This means that it's right in Ivo's face. Hurriedly, he pulls an aforementioned vial from his cloak and dives for it... for once, and the only time so far on this jaunt, putting the goal of helping Kernunnos and his friends above his goal of preserving the wild roses at all costs.

Ivo Galvan rolls 1d20>=10.
Comment: Go, Ivo, go! You can have it all! Complete both quests...!
Roll(s): 9. Total result is 9. This is a failure (by 1).


  Reize squints at Ruidosa, "...I would be worried about more than just 'eating it', Ruidosa..." The boy notes with her complete name.

 The chicken lets out a loud, uproarishly cluck. It makes a call of battle.

 Out of nowhere, there is a manifestation of five massive balls of flames, appearing like meteors. All of them are coming down towards Reize at a concentrated barrage.

 "GAH!"

 The boy is already on the run while he tries to avoid the Doom Chicken's meteor bolt.

 Noticably, it's not even attacking Ruidosa. It's just focusing on the intruding boy explorer.

  And of course the beetle would depart after getting the boy in the trajectory of doom.
 

Ruidosa scoffs! "What can a chicken do to us that's so menacing?" she asks.

And then the chicken starts conjuring fireballs, as she watches this with a sweatdrop as she awks! and yells at Reize. "Reiiiiize. Keep it busy while I try to..." hug it. "...Negotiate with it." she then turns around and kneels down to the chicken and says. "Hiii Chicky. Who's a pretty chicky, you are, you are!~" she says as she tries to then stroke the chicken under the beak.

"Pretty pretty black chikadee~" she almost sings... while there's explosions in the background. Reize will be fine! JUST FINE as she tries to chicken negotiate!


 "Got you!!"
 Ivo has done it. With a dexterous sweep, the Heavenly Crowned Beetle is swiftly bottled, the baffled bug entrapped within glass that the young man promptly and triumphantly corks. He grins in satisfaction, lowering his guard for just a moment, just the splittest of a second.
 "No--"
 He only has time for his expression to change from a bright grin to a rictus of horror as the roses tucked under his left arm slip and, as though in slow motion, descend to the muddy ground.
 "Noooo!"
 Reaching out in a futile attempt to stop their descend, the flowers impact against the ground, a couple petals fluttering away.
 "Noooooooo!"
 Ivo sinks to his knees besides the bouquet. Actually, it's mostly fine. Some of the flowers have been slightly bent out of shape or have gotten muddy. Really, if he just removes a few roses from the bunch--
 "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"
 Clenching both hands, Ivo shakes his fists at the heavens, wailing at this cruel fate, this tragic loss of floral arrangement perfection, sinking to his knees before the flowers and vial, in which the beetle tentatively taps at the glass, its crackling energies of no use within its prison. But what prison can compare to Ivo's despair?
 If he hears the sound of meteors, he doesn't show it.


  Meanwhile...

 As Ruidosa approaches the Doom Chicken, it looks her over with curiosity as she attempts to negotiate it. Given that she's kneeling down, it stares at her for a few moments.

 <3 <3 <3

 The chicken is easily won over by the vampire as she strokes its beak. It leans over to Ruidosa, happily cuddling in her arms. Of course, eight more massive fireballs appear over its head and they all, of course, target Reize.

  "GAH!! WHY!!" *KABOOM!" "WHY!" *KABOOM!*

  All targeting Reize.
 

Ruidosa strokes the chicken, yes, good chicken, placid chicken, chicken... still launching fireballs at Reize. She scoops up the chicken and then asks. "Can you please stop targeting my friend? I care for him a bit and he's basically no used to me cooked!" she asks. "Could you do that? Please?" she asks with the chicken, making flutterly eye lashes at it. She's trying to commune with the chicken, come on chicken, you can understand her. Leave him alone.

Yessss come on cute chicken, stop the chaos. She whispers 'you can probably peck him on the head later' to the chicken, quietly.

She shiftyeyes over at Reize, who is hopefully too busy dodging fireballs to hear it.


 "It's unworthy of her now," Ivo is saying despondently to the Heavenly Crowned Beetle, which has stopped buzzing around to stare up at him, twitching its little antlers. "She deserves nothing less than perfection. I had it, and it slipped through my fingers."
 He looks down at the vial, spreading his arms plaintively.
 "Literally!!"
 Then he blinks.
 "Hm?"
 At last distracted from his grief, the Cosmopolitan picks up the vial to examine the beetle more closely, noting the colors of its shell and the flow of energy throughout its carapace. His eyebrows raise, then his eyes widen.
 "This is..."
 The organic process of aether conversion occurring within this specially bred beetle seems to be allowing for an otherwise improbable harmony between different aetheric forces. The lightning appears to be a product not of Creation domain aether, but of wind and fire elemental aether being fused within the creature's thorax. This might explain why it does not seem attuned to Kernunnos and was for the druids a failed experiment.
 "But that's..."
 In their desperate battle against Thael, Ivo had attempted a technique beyond his reach, the Elemental Spectrum Slash, which combined multiple elespheres of different elements within his sword's pommel. But the unstable reaction blew the hilt out of his hand and foiled his efforts. If he further observes the natural processes within the Heavenly Crowned Beetle, he might be able to mimic its means of stably fusing aether and create more advanced elespheres that combine multiple elements. And if he were to then load those into Hauteclare...
 Something within Ivo stirs. Wonder. Delight. Excitement.
 The thrill of the new.

> The party has obtained the Ultimate Beetle!
> (An extended version of the 'you found a special treasure' jingle plays. Actually, it's very extended. Normally the jingle is six seconds or so, but this one goes on for a while, and then brings in new instruments, and then starts a whole new movement. It ends up being two minutes long in total, during which the game is paused, so you just have to wait and listen.)
> (Then there's the sound of eight distant explosions.)
> A special questline, "Hauteclare Couronne, Beyond my Father's Blade," has been unlocked.


  The Doom Chicken has been placated by Ruidosa, who is currently scooping it up. It looks at her as she tries to convince it to not target the boy explorer, who is currently its designated 'MUST DESTROY WITH BURNING PASSION' target. Drawn to the girls's eyes...

> Extended version of "You have Found a Special Treasure" jingle plays.
> The Doom Chicken has joined the party as a 'Pet'.
> Congratulations, you've gained your first 'Pet'!
> The Doom Chicken only listens to Ruidosa.
> Lord help Reize if its in its sights.
> Reize is the main playable character.

 ...Welp.

 As the fireballs finally stop, Reize lets out a pant and he collapses on his face, "Guhhhh..."

 Right in front of him is a special crystal. It is a diamond shaped crystal, blue colored-hue. It is just within his reach.

 After reaching a hand to grasp it.

> Extended version of "You have Found a Special Treasure" jingle plays.
> The party has obtained Mysterious Crystal #1.
 

Ruidosa hugs the chicken. The chicken obeys.

Ruidosa has gained a new friend. She yays! "Reize, it stopped, you're okay now!" she says with a smile. She blinks as Reize picks up some sort of crystal. "Huh." she says. "I wonder what that is." she says softly as she looks up the hole and then yells.

"IVO WE NEED A ROPE." she calls up, as she huffs.

She then frowns a little, and eyes the hole. "Also I made friends with an adorable chicken!~" she calls out up the hole. "Hello!?" she calls. "That Beetle better not have eaten you or something now." pause. "No, wait, I hope it did a little, you can't give my mom flowers if you're unalive!" she says cheekily. Clearly a sarcastic, joking tone. But seriously halp. ;_;.


 "Ah, right!"
 Ivo, still brimming with newfound energy, hears his friends call for help and sends out Hauteclare to sever and bring over a long vine, which he then brings to the hole to help his two allies and their newfound companion ascend back into the light.
 "Ha ha, success!" the young man pronounces cheerfully, showing Reize and Ruidosa the vial containing the beetle. "The beetle is ours. I'm reliable as ever." Yes, that's the adjective most associated with Ivo. "Our work here is done--"
 The flowers. That's right.
 "--oh, no."
 In his excitement, he had completely forgotten. But Ruidosa's teasing reminds him. Despair seems to wash over Ivo's features again, blotting out his sunny disposition.
 "My bouquet! It's ruined!"
 And he falls on his already-muddy knees before the scattered flowers all over again, leaving Reize's sooty and smoldering appearance uncommented on.