I said that I was sorry about the last week and how I didn't seem to get anything done, so here is a small bit of what I wrote to make up for it:
The small group of women continued to run up the rest of the stairs, passing landing after landing that appeared to either go nowhere, or in some cases, contained a certain amount of certain death. The eighth landing had six IronMen waiting for them as they reached it. Johanna was the first to pull out her rapier and then slice through the first two of the IronMen that were there. From behind, Alice shot another IronMan as Amaretto quickly stumbled her way through the incantation once more to get rid of another one that was standing behind them as well.
Alice giggled as she pointed her gun at another IronMan and shot him. “This is ridiculous fun and I can't say that I am not enjoying it,” she remarked rather haphazardly.
Amaretto grunted as she moved past another dead IronMan on the floor. “I can say I've had more fun in a lot of places.” She then turned to her aunt and gave her a murderous glare. “I however don't recall anything about being killed being in the job description.”
Katherine made a mocking face and then said, “I could do with more whiskey at the moment, but you don't see me complaining about it.”
Amaretto was about to say something else when she heard Tempus shout in her head. “I think I have found it!” She was about to repeat it when she realized it was not the spell that she was looking for. She mentally chided herself and then replied to him.
“What are you talking about?”
Tempus' voice was giddy with excitement. “I've found the source of the coordinate. I think I found where the Stone of Communication is!”
Amaretto's eyes widened and she was about to respond when another IronMan clanked into view. She raised the ring at him and began her chant. By the time she was finished, she no longer felt guilty about doing it. Not that she had felt guilty in the first place, but she knew that somewhere, deep inside herself, there was something that abhorred the fact that these poor men had been transformed into metal abominations. She quickly skirted aside the IronMan she had just felled and quickly walked towards the next landing, following after everyone and Alice behind her.
“Where is it then?”
Tempus responded. “You have been blindly going up. On the next floor, the landing will lead off into a hallway. Take that hallway and follow it all the way to the end. I believe there you will find what it is that you are looking for.”
“So at the end of the ominous hallway? Isn't following Johanna enough?”
Amaretto heard Tempus almost frown in her head and then he said, “Why yes, I do think that it could be, but I am telling you right now that there is something else with that stone.”
Almost as if on cue, on the next landing, Johanna turned sharply to the right and into the long hallway that was there. There was a red carpet that was on the floor that was plush and as they walked on it, it retained their footprints. They continued down the hallway and as they did, Amaretto noticed that there were several paintings on the wall. The portraiture at first seemed rather needed. It was only after the first few portraits that Amaretto began to notice the differences. It wasn't that she thought of them as if they belonged in a fun house, they were just strange. Instead of the normal pictures of people sitting in chairs and standing next to bowls of fruit, the people stood in long and sumptuous gowns and amazing looking suits with cravats. The only change was the jewelry at first. From the necklaces to the earrings, to the rings on their fingers, there was a distinct difference in the shape and design of many of the pieces. Long sweeping styles that seemed to mimic art nouveau.
Long styles soon gave way to thinner and thinner people, until finally, Amaretto noticed that hey were not getting thinner, but they were in fact, replacing body parts with thin mechanical machines.
In fact, there was not much else to see but people with machine arms and legs and even in some cases, one woman had her throat replaced with a long thin metal casing. As Amaretto looked at all of the pictures, she began noticing that the names under the plates were all strange in the fact that all of them were doctors.
Amaretto was about to comment on it when another IronMan came around the corner in silence towards them. This one was a little different than the others that they had come across however. He was taller and a little bulkier in the shoulders. Instead of the traditional red cape that most of the other IronMen wore, he was dressed in a cape of deep velvet the color of a darkened sky. Amaretto looked at him with curiosity and as she did so Alice stepped forward.
“Don't worry. I have him.” She aimed her pistol and then fired directly into the center of the IronMan. As she did so the IronMan grunted and doubled over once struck. He staggered for a minute or two and then stood back up, clutching around the hole in his chest.
Amaretto looked a little shocked. “His heart didn't eject? Alice, his heart is still intact.”
Alice looked rather surprised herself as confusion swept across her face first and then soon was replaced with concern. “I shot him in the chest. I know I did, why didn't his heart eject like the others? He should be dead by now!”
“He's still walking towards us,” Amaretto said with an edge of panic in her voice. “He's not dying.”
Katherine spoke hurriedly at Amaretto, “Amaretto, use the damn ring!”
Amaretto jerked her hand up as she stumbled backwards over her own feet. “Voices of Ancients long ago past," Was all she could stutter when all of a sudden, the IronMan lurched forward at a sudden pace and threw himself at Amaretto and Alice. Both Amaretto and Alice shrieked. As the IronMan got closer, he reached out with his hands and sudden lines glistened from in-between his fingers as he reached out towards them. Amaretto looked at it and heard a sound much like fishing wire being tightened and she realized what was interlacing itself between the construct's hands.
Amaretto ducked to the side, not finishing her incantation as she ducked to the side. As she did, she bumped into Johanna who hit the ground with a groan. The IronMan jerked to the left and tried to grab hold of Alice. Alice shrieked in a manner most unbecoming of a woman and fired her pistols twice. Each shot went off the sides of the wall and the IronMan managed to dodge all of them. However, as She hit the wall on the fourth and final shot, a painting fell downwards and the IronMan lifted his hands upwards to protect himself. There was a loud sound like wires being pulled taught and then the painting fell between his hands. As it hit the wires between his fingers, the painting shredded into a thousand tiny little bits.
Alice gasped. Amaretto lifted her ring once more and began to try to chant, but Johanna was too quick for either of them and managed to use the rapier that she had been given to stab the IronMan repeatedly in the head. The strokes were sudden jabs, but she actually managed to get both of his eyes. The IronMan reached up to claw at his gauged out eyes and there was a sudden sound as the wires sliced directly into the automation's head. The IronMan fell to the floor and Johanna frowned at the body.
“I really feel that we should not be here,” Amaretto said as she turned to her aunt. “No where did you tell me that this could happen. I've almost died several times now!”
Katherine frowned and said, “The gift that is yours comes with a responsibility Amaretto. You can't just get rid of it because you want to.”
“Then why did you give it to me?”
“Would you believe that I didn't realize what I was giving you?” Katherine shrugged her shoulders.
Amaretto grimaced and then said, “Actually, yes. I can totally believe that.”
Katherine growled something under her breath and said nothing afterward. Johanna pointed down the hallway. “I can feel it. The Stone is over there.”
Amaretto looked at where Johanna was pointing and all but crowed. “There's a door! I can finally get this over with!”
Katherine hissed at Amaretto. “That's not nice!”
Amaretto shrugged off her aunt's words and began running towards the door. AS she did so, she could only think of how fast this whole ordeal could be over. She Almost tripped over the hem of her dress and continued on. It was almost too much excitement and she almost didn't hear Alice when she yelled out. Amaretto spun her head around to look at Alice quizzically. As she did, she saw Alice waving her hand hurriedly, a rather concerned look on her face. Alice was frantically waving at her and pointing behind her. Amaretto turned at what could have been the last possible moment.
An IronMan loomed before her and his hands were out in front of him, the strange thread running through his hands and a grimace on his face. Amaretto blanched and thought suddenly hos she hadn't heard him at all. His steam and geared parts were not making any noise. Amaretto ducked down and tumbled along the ground and threw her hand up. She yelled the incantation that Tempus had given her to trigger the ring and the IronMan jerked backwards. Alice Jerked her pistols and shot the IronMan twice in the chest. Johanna threw a battle cry and threw her Rapier like a javelin. The sword jerked across the space between them like a flimsy javelin and struck the inside of the IronMan.
Amaretto heard a creaking sound and then heard the sound of gears grinding together and a gear shot out of the automation's chest. It was then followed by another one and another one until finally, it seemed as though the automation stopped moving and was mere inches from Amaretto's face. Amaretto breathed in a sigh of relief and tried not to be frightened anymore. It wasn't working. The fear that she thought she had been holding at bay was getting ready to burst through her chest. The way her heart thudded, she thought she was going to hyperventilate. Her aunt came up behind her and gently helped Amaretto scoot away and then stand up from the IronMan that stood before her.
"That was a little too close," said Katherine with a murmur. "If you want to play hero Amaretto be prepared to be killed. If you want to live to see your home again, let other people be the hero."
Amaretto scowled at her aunt; it was the only way to prevent herself from shrieking and breaking down at that moment. Amaretto took a deep breath and then said, "Well, I'm no hero, but I refuse to be a martyr as well." Her aunt pursed her lips and said nothing in response.
Alice rushed over in a swirl of petticoats and there was a deep frown on her face. "Are you all right then? The monster didn't hurt you, did it?"
Johanna didn't say anything in response. She merely looked up and away from Amaretto and then turned to the IronMan. Leveraging one foot on the fallen lump of metal in a most unladylike fashion, she yanked back on the ward, only to find the inside of it stuck. Closer inspection revealed that the inside of the IronMan's cogs had wrapped themselves around it and now were unable to move because of the impediment to their furious motion. Amaretto smiled if only for a moment before she realized that there was nothing she could do about it. Johanna yanked at the sword once more, and still nothing happened.
Katherine tsked out loud. "Ahh well. Might as well leave it there. It can't cause too much damage. I'm sure it will find a way back to my purse somehow. "
Johanna looked a little sad at that remark, but there was nothing to be done.
"I'm sorry for the destruction of your sword," Johanna said.
"It saved a life," Katherine said with a shrug.
Amaretto rolled her eyes and pointed down the hallway. "The door is what I think we should be focused on."
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