The Tale of Amaretto

Twenty-Eighth Grain

New Machina; Second Great British Empire - Cloister of Science...

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 weapon. She sliced through the first two of the IronMen that were there in erratic hasty thrusts and slashes. 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 through the chest. The iron heart blasted through the other side of his body clanking to the floor. "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 watched as Johanna continued to slice ribbons the last IronMan. She turned to Katherine and said, "What is that Rapier made out of? She shouldn't be able to cut through the Iron like that."

Katherine smiled and then said, "Look at the blades quillon. There's a small function in there that oscillates the blade to vibrate at such a high intensity that it allows for it to cut steel." Katherine then allowed a wicked grin to curve across her face as Amaretto tried to search for it. She continued, "Or it could be simply magic..."

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, 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 it is at the end of an 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.