Indebted Bargain

Len knew one thing, and that being she wanted what the duo had, and she was going to get it no matter the cost, nothing would stop her or get in her way from this object, not even the two meddling girls they've already done enough. With that being said, though, she still respects them, so if they comply, their consequences won't be that severe. A soul was sent out to look around the city, and now she waits for its feedback to go in and get what she claims is rightfully hers. A few hours pass by, and it's gotten dark now. Len grows impatient the more the clock ticks. After some time, she gets the signal, full of rage; Len has no patience to get there the usual way. So she decides to go her way through the shadows. Meanwhile, back at Crozz and Ash's place, they sit in the living room wondering what this object they were gifted by that strange man was. They know nothing of artifacts, nor did they know they had one right in front of them, but both content with getting what they wanted but still equally curious of its potential, but growing rather tired of experimenting around with it and yielding no results, they begin to give up and just call it a win. Sadly that moment of triumph is soon to be cut short by a menacing force they unintentionally yet sort of intentionally messed with. The room filled with an ominous feeling to it, and the lights began to flicker Crozz and Ash were confused but, more than anything, fed up with this. The power was turned off for a quick second as if the room itself blinked, and the second all lights turned on, standing in the center of the room was Len and in her arms was Crozz being held with a knife pointed towards her. Not even Ash predicted this move, but in her defense, she didn't even know they were being targeted. Ash got up with her hands in the air, signaling that she was no threat. Len calmly and softly said, "the artifact, give me the artifact now, and all will be okay" Crozz looking at Ash confused, Ash reciprocating the same look back to Crozz, who shrugs in pure confusion. Len growing more agitated, bursts out "don't act dumb and hand me the artifact that you two found out about through my flash drive that you two took from me!" The duo's eyes widened in shock. Ash, bitter about losing something but scared to have Crozz get hurt, obliged and slowly got up to get the box they were gifted. Len let go of Crozz to get the box out of Ash's hands. Len quickly opened the box to check for the artifact that was still safe and sound in its box.

Happy with the success of this but still angered that they pulled this insane move on her, she wanted some form of payback, and she knew just the thing to have one of them do. She looked up at the two girls standing there, still in shock and confusion, and said, "who here wants to pay the debt you two have created? And specifically, who wants to visit a legions home?". The duo is trapped in a predicament. They must now figure out how and what they must do to avoid their own demise. Len laughs evilly and pulls them into the shadows to a direct stop at her own place with an idea to exhume something back…

Len and the duo finally get to her place and prepares a stone table with a cloth covering the surface of it at the top of the table, laid down a dagger, and asked, "who's going to be the lovely participant for this 'excursion' of mine? Though this does require partial death, don't worry it doesn't hurt… at least I don't think" at this moment after finally being able to realize who was talking face to face with them Crozz became mesmerized by lens beauty, she was an angel. Without much hesitation, as if something inside of her spoke to her entirely, she said, "I WILL!". Len looked surprised to have someone willingly volunteer; she thought she would have to force one of them herself. But no, here Crozz was ready to serve this new person, maybe to protect Ash from danger or maybe for some other reason. Len proceeded to explain, "this will require for you to have your heartbeat stopped; you need to go into a different realm and locate an artifact; it's a frozen dagger" Crozz realizing what she has gotten into, was starting to feel nervous but didn't want to show it to not seem like she was afraid. Len gave her directions as to where to go, which were to locate lens old studio where there is a tracking map that allowed her to know the path that leads to where the dagger rests. Len also made it clear that she had only half an hour to make it out and that Crozz had to prick her finger with anything sharp to bring her back into her body. Crozz was ready for this mission. Although still pretty hesitant, there was time to back out anymore. She thought she was more fit for this than Ash, and plus, she didn't want Ash to be in any danger. Len grabbed the knife and pulled out a fruit-like object where she pierced a hole and told Crozz to drink the liquid it spilled out. Crozz followed orders, and in seconds she was out cold and empty of life. To Len and Ash, there seemed to be nothing much was going on in Crozz's side. Crozz found herself falling down a black pit that seemed to last forever after some time though she fell straight through a roof and into a dusty room that appeared to be vacant. Crozz thought to herself, "this must be Lens old place" she remembered what she was here for and began searching for the map to find the blade. After searching, she found a scroll that had a path traced on it leading to the dagger; it didn't seem like a long journey, so she stopped feeling as pressured as she was before. She snuck out of the building and made her way through vacant land, she saw herself getting closer to the marked destination, and for the most part, the journey was going smoothly up until she reached the end of the land and was faced with a cliff and a chopped up rope bridge that once was. She grew the courage and began accepting the fact that she was going to have to take a leap of faith to get to the other section. She saw a branch that seemed sturdy enough to swing from, so she gathered some of the hanging from the bridge and threw it to the branch enough for it to tie on and be sturdy to swing from. Once she deemed it safe, she gathered the courage and sprinted off the cliff to give her some force to get farther. Her plan was flawless; the branch was strong, and the push she gave was enough force to get her going faster; what she didn't take into consideration was the rope; the rope was fragile and weak, and soon Crozz found herself flying straight to the side of the cliff. The crash was painful, but the landing on a little edge was worse. Upon landing, she felt a ripping sensation that was followed by a sharp pain, a sharp rock standing up impaled her on landing but thankfully, the rock wasn't too big and got her on the side of her leg. However, this would set her back a bit. She was determined to make it out, and she had to try her hardest not to focus on the pain since it might make her jump back to her body. Luckily Len was on the other side, giving her more juice from the fruit she cut. She figured it would be safe since she hadn't exceeded the time limit. Crozz felt the fuzziness again, which allowed her to forget the pain she was feeling, and now she was faced with the task of climbing this cliff to get to the top. It took some more extra time, and it would trigger some pain waves here and there, but she was able to make it up with no troubles. She was back on track and on the path again to get to the dagger, which was not far from her now. Once there, she stood in front of a cave with a torch. She quickly understood the task at hand, lit the torch, and headed in. She couldn't waste any more time as she only had 5 more minutes left, and she didn't wanna waste them questioning her task. After three minutes of running deeper and deeper down into the cave, she was stopped by an old-looking steel door. She used the last of her strength to push this door open; she was in utter shock. She learned that the map wasn't tracking the dagger but instead the thing the dagger was in. Uneasy and nervous, she proceeded to get closer to the person resting on another stone table. She felt the fuzziness going away, and she knew that her time was ending in fear of the mission turning up unsuccessful she ran to the dagger and took it out, which prompted the place to collapse, starting from the outside and slowly working its way inside. Crozz knew she had to make herself jump back into her body before her soul was stuck here to be crushed. The prick in the finger wasn't working since the dose of liquid she was given was higher now. Panic ensued, and she had no other idea that could help her, so she had to go with the only option she dreaded; she pulled the rock out and began to stab herself rapidly, which sent a wave of pain and shock, causing her to jump back to her body. She let out a gasp and opened her eyes to the view of Ash over her watching her in case anything wrong was to happen and Len in the corner sowing something together and adding it to the stack she had piling up of the same thing. Len looked up in shock and said, "wow, I can't believe you actually came back props to you! Did you do it?" Crozz angered responded with, "wow, so it wasn't set that I was going to come back?! I trusted you!" "Hahaha first rule of business never trust anyone you foolish girl, how did you complete your task or must you pay in blood?" Crozz responded "YES! I did not can you let us go we're done here, you got your item, and we paid you back?" Len nodded and let them leave through the back door. Left to be alone again in the comfort of her own silence, she walked back up to the stone table and looked deeply into it, and began to laugh maniacally, "let's see how you make it out of there, you poor fool. Now I just have to wait, and you better find your way, or you will suffer there again". Len proceeds to walk out of the room, ready to work on her projects again, happy with the results this day has given her and feeling back on track with her desired path.