The Lost City

"He wasn't great," Aegeas said, after a minute's thought. He regretted being at the head of the group. The others were at least keeping pace with him, but that pace just happened to be slow. And the longer it took to get to the armory and then the strange dot, the more nervous they were likely to get. He started walking faster. "Dresses funny - like Bo or Raiden - has blue hair. He calls himself a god, but he's just a prick who likes controlling people. Don't trust everything he says. Also, he bleeds a lot."

Bo wasn't going to address Kartiel's wardrobe. Aegeas probably only thought it was weird because it was foreign to him, which was inconsequential.

"Hm. I mean, Aegeas isn't wrong." Bo looked up in thought, rubbing his beard a little. "We like, didn't talk to him for very long, so all I have to go off of is a first impression. But it seems like he's powerful and he knows it. Maybe a little cocky. He's confident, maybe because he knows he's on a different level than us. I don't know where he stands on the uh... spectrum? Of mortality? Like, it's clear he has some kind of regenerative abilities or can take other forms or bodies or whatever, so there's no way for me to tell how old he is. But judging on his reaction after getting stabbed, he's probably taken many forms, and injuries and pain no longer surprise him or affect him much. Traditional means of killing probably won't work. Not that uh, we need to kill him, really. He might be the only person to get us out of here and back to where we came from. That said, I don't know how much we can trust his word. His explanation of his motives leaves something to be desired, but I don't know what reason he would have to lie in the first place. So... yeah, I dunno exactly. But yeah."

So Kartiel could send us back? That could be the key to everything. If I could just learn more about him, perhaps I could earn his help.

''That does help, somewhat. He is a functionally immortal being with an inflated ego and a god complex? I can work with that. I'm very persuasive when I want to be.
I can feed him lines to stroke that ego, and if I am unable to wrangle any bargains or useful information from him, the banter will at least make a good distraction for swift acts of sudden violence.'' I said in my confident, casual tone.

''Should they be needed, of course.'' I added.

I had no plan whatsoever for a Wraith, but there was no point in saying so.
What we came to, we would come to, and that was that.

"If it is this Kartiel that's sitting there, waiting for us, I apologise in advance if I anger him with insults," Raiden said, an apologetic smile on his face.

"I'm guessing he's already angry," Aegeas said, turning around a corner. "Turns out I don't like getting mocked and pushed around by a fake god." He took a deep breath to stifle the fury in his voice. "Good news is, if we have to fight him again, he's going to focus on me. So, if you're going to distract him or flatter him or whatever, that'll be the time."

He stopped suddenly, standing in front of a door. It slid aside when he reached out for it, revealing a room stuffed with a variety of weapons. They crowded shelves, spilled out of boxes, and hung from the ceiling. Most of them looked completely alien to him, though he swore he could spot things that resembled daggers or axes. "And we'll be armed," Aegeas said, stepping into the armory.

"That, we will."

Bo looked into the armory with suppressed excitement, but the wall full of really high-tech-looking guns caught his eye and he bee-lined over to it. Like he would've guessed, it didn't look like they used bullets, but rather had some kind of laser or energy based kind of bullets like in the sci-fi movies. With eagerness, he looking around, picking them up and feeling them, before he found a large one with a comfortable weight, and two smaller ones he could shove in his belt. He turned around to see how everyone else was doing with finding things, ready to offer assistance to those less familiar with weaponry. Of course... this particular high-tech weaponry was even foreign to him, but in theory, he could help.

Both Nadira and Codix scanned the room for any familiar weapons; Codix was looking for weapons from modern Earth societies, while Nadira was looking for something more advanced. Despite their slow and careful search, the closest that either one could find was a beam gun of sorts - it shot bullets, but the bullets were highly concentrated light.

They each grabbed one. Better be safe than sorry, right? Then they looked for some other weapons, because it was always better to be as armed as they could be. Nadira found a small rod that extended into a staff. She wasn't that partial to it, but it was easy to move with and she liked how it looked in general.

Codix was still looking for something when he spotted a small canister near the back of the room. Giving a glance at the others, he slipped over to it and started to mess around with the controls on it. "Hey, Nadira, what do you think this is-"

A beam of light abruptly shot out of the device, taking on the form of a thin sword. Startled by the sudden light show, Codix stumbled back into the rack of weapons behind him and knocked all of them to the ground with a loud crash.

Nadira spun around and stared at him.

"Uh..." he hesitantly started. He glanced at his weapon. "I know it's a mess, but look!" He pretended to wield it like he actually knew how to use it. "I'm a Jedi now."

Bo rushed over, laughing, with a big smile on his face. Once in front of Codix, he imitated a small bow. "It's an honor to meet a Jedi, Master Codix."

Aegeas wandered around the armory, picking up and studying different weapons to look for something he understood how to use. He had his swords, and he was comfortable enough with them already, but he thought it wouldn't hurt to see if anything else caught his attention. Besides, he could only use one sword, thanks to his shoulder injury. Maybe there'd be a better one-handed blade.

After a couple minutes, he found an white and blue-colored ax resting atop a shelf, squeezed between strange weapons. Pulling it off, Aegeas quickly discovered it was far too heavy for one hand. He accidentally drove the ax into the shelf, causing the shelf to break in two and scatter its contents on Aegeas's feet. Stifling a yell, Aegeas threw the ax down. He decided he'd just stick with his swords.

"Everyone found what they wanted?" Aegeas said, turning around to find the others.

Bo, figuring it'd be good to have something for close combat as well, decided to grab one of the light-sabers that Codix found, and added it to his collection around his belt.

"I have. Does anyone need help?"

Raiden appeared from behind a shelf which held grenades and swords and other weapons along those lines. He grinned at them all.

He was armed to the teeth.

Pistols strapped either side of his hips, two large guns -- one an assault rifle and the other a shotgun -- strapped to his back, a sword made of black metal strapped to the side of his one hip, and for some reason he had a belt on, with pouches that were on his lower back. He even had this black armour on that kept all his guns on him. It covered his whole body, save for his head, and in his hands he held a helmet.
"I think I'm ready. As long as there's no microwaves."

Bo laughed at how decked out Raiden was. "Well, looks like you're definitely prepared. But oh!" A lightbulb came on and his eyes lit up. "Armor! Protective gear! We'll really need that! Obviously!" He smacked his forehead at having forgotten. "Everybody try and see if there's anything in your size. Having weapons is good and all, but armor is just as important."

I was admiring a dagger of intriguing and yet tastefully uncluttered design, shinier and lighter than the one I had brought with me.
While I hardly needed another dagger, necessarily, it never hurt to have a spare, and I could sell the beautiful weapon from another world for scandalous amounts of money when I made it home. So I pocketed it for the time being, promising myself I wouldn't pocket too much more in the future.

Then I turned to find that Raiden had taken the exact opposite philosophy to heart.
I frowned at Bo for encouraging the boy, before turning back to him.

''Gadzooks, man, I sincerely hope we never have to undertake any stealthy endeavours, lest you condemn us all with so much as a step.''

Raiden squinted at Boris.
"No you," he countered, putting the helmet on. It covered his whole face, and it reminded him of a motorbike helmet. From the outside, the visor was tinted, so nobody could see inside. But inside, a heads-up display came up.
"Woah-" a voice inside cut him off.
Hello, Mr Raiden.
"Guys! There's a Jarvis in my helmet!" Raiden yelped, pointing frantically to the helmet.
My name is not Jarvis, it is-
"It is now!"

Hmph. Aegeas had never worn much armor; it was heavy and inconvenient, not to mention costly. Still, if they really were going to fight against a Wraith, he'd be better off with at least a breastplate. So he walked past the heavily-armored Raiden, who was apparently arguing with his helmet. Aegeas made a mental note to keep as far away from Raiden as possible in a fight. And otherwise.

After a minute, Aegeas found what he was looking for. The suit of armor was about the size, shape, and color of Raiden's, suspended from the ceiling by thin wires. Pulling off the breastplate, Aegeas tried to put it on. Fortunately, it was surprisingly light. Unfortunately, thanks to his small size and the sling around his shoulder, the armor slipped down and trapped his arms against his chest. He struggled to free himself, finally shaking until the plate fell to his feet, whereupon he could step out of it.

And a minute's glance told him there didn't seem to be a suit of armor that actually fit him. Great.