An enemy which could see from all sides and could not be cut had lost a face and a hand. The impossible became possible, and they had a chance at last. As brothers and twins, he and Bel had a special unspoken bond that allowed them to work in tandem. When his brother whispered his plans to him in his ear, it didn't take long for him to realize what to do. Bel was the one who distracted people with words and magic while he would conveniently disappear. It wasn't hard since he was quiet and easy to forget with other more interesting things going on. Most people didn't think of something hiding in their shadow. "We can't attack it from the outside, but what if we found a way to get inside of its protective bubble?" His brother said. "Most barriers are made to keep things out instead of keeping things in." He had a good point, and it was worth a try. The trials were tough, but there had to be some way to beat them–or else it wouldn't be fair.

They both went after the statue and he let Belen get ahead. He started throwing small spells at it, calling names, shouting, teasing, sticking out his tongue. It worked too, since it turned its head towards him and stopped caring about Lys and Chrys. Belen was the closest out of all of them at the moment. With its eyes on his older brother, Cyril heard the signal to close his eyes. A bright flash staggered everybody who was nearby, and he was the first to move afterwards having closed his eyes earlier. Slipping into the statue's shadow before it noticed, he laid in wait for his chance. Watching from below he saw the faces rotate until it locked onto the weeping one. There was a few seconds of delay before it entered a state of frenzy, and it was then that he made his strike.

A quick cut from a scythe, the curved blade slicing through the wrist. The hand holding the flower fell to the ground like a weight, hitting the stone floor. Just as quickly as he had detached the hand, he left his hiding place and began putting a good distance between him and the four-faced fighter. The living statue looked at the stump missing a hand, probably shocked and stunned if it could feel emotions. Following up, Belen snatched up the hand and destroyed it before the statue could try reattaching it back on. Now that he thought about it, their fight was somewhat similar to their battle with the rose hydra. Once they took out one of its faces, the others would become easier. The next face they should focus on could either be the weeping one or the face of meditation. The berserker-frenzy of the weeping face was probably the most unpredictable out of them all, and he personally thought they should take it out as soon as they could. The rest had easier attacks to read. 

An arrow tinged with ice hit the statue in the stomach where he had hit it moments before. Frost spread out into the cracks and he could hear them being forced wider. "Cyril look out!" Lys' voice made him snap out of thinking in time to block a slash from the statue's sword arm. Another splash of fire hit from another side as Belen sent fire and spectral arrows its way. Another arm, he had to take out at least another arm. If he did, then it would lose another face and it would have one less set of abilities to use.

"Missed…" Drawing another arrow she notched it to the bow. She meant to aim higher, but it had hit the main body at least. If her brother Efrain was with them they would have an easier time taking this statue apart. She had to be patient with her shots since the boys were fighting it from three sides. Lys was focusing on the sword arm and the other two without weapons were blocking Cyril's strikes. Belen was taking potshots from a distance with his spells, but with everybody moving around so much his accuracy was being impacted too. Throwing a handful of seeds at the ground, she whistled and signaled for everybody to back up. The next moment, large briers burst from the floor and entangled themselves around the three-armed living statue. These vines were pervasive and fast-growing even without her accelerating their growth, so all she had to do was coax them a little with her druid magic and they spread like wildfire.

"I've got it held down for a little while! Hit it as hard as you can!" She shouted through cupped hands. Her brother took the hint and bashed the statue with his shield, holding the arm with the blade back as he swung with his sword arm. There was a visible grimace as his weapon hit the living statue. The strike left small cracks and chipping on the surface, just as if it was an inert fixture. They should've thought about bringing cudgels or maces–most of their weapons were better suited for piercing or cutting. As the statue struggled, the vines were wearing thin. Shoving her older brother back, it cut one of its legs free while snapping out of the rest with ease. There wasn't enough time to sprout more vines again, but she sure as the Circles wasn't letting it off so easily.

With a wave of a hand, she caused the ground beneath the statue to burst up into a raised earthen wall, throwing it off balance. Cyril took this chance to smash the end of his glaive into its foot, and pieces were coming off. Its movements were slightly slower now it wasn't able to walk as easily, however it refused to yield. Switching to the face of meditation, it sent sparks out from itself, forcing Lys and Cyril to back off. Ducking and weaving, she shot a fire arrow at its head. Sensing the incoming projectile, it switched faces to the one twisted in rage and parried with its blade. Their strategy now needed to take advantage of the delay it had when switching faces. Since it could no longer defend, forcing it to change faces continuously would buy them a few precious seconds to land a hit without it being able to block. 

"Guys, we need to throw it onto the ropes! Pressure it to switch faces as often as possible and use that window of time to deal damage! Make every hit count!" She shouted again. "Yes ma'am!" Belen replied, doing a mock salute before evading a spell. Even in the middle of battle he was such a joker. He was always trying to lighten the mood whenever things became stressful.

He hardly had time to think outside of defending and attacking. With one arm and one face gone, the stone warrior had increased its ferocity. When his sister used her vines to restrain the statue for a brief moment, he was grateful that at least she had come along. With Efrain here they would have a far easier time, but they had to make do with their circumstances. At his sister's behest, he moved onto the offensive, rushing and attacking instead of letting the statue come at him. No matter how many times he blocked and parried, it never seemed to tire. It was now using the face of wrath, and they clashed blade to blade. Then something grabbed him from behind, and flung him several meters back. 

Rolling and doing his best to break his fall, he turned to see large tendrils recede into the ground. "Chrys?!" "Sorry, but Belen asked me to! Look, it's switching faces!" She pointed as the living statue's head rotated. Belen and Cyril were already far enough away when it moved to the meditating face, only for Belen to disappear and reappear right next to the statue–blasting it with a spray of ice. Moments later he teleported back as the statue regained its footing. Its head now rotated again to the weeping face, and Cyril threw several shadow blades into its body. The knives lodged themselves randomly, two landing in its upper body and one in its left thigh. They were alternating their attacks and pressuring it to change continuously, not allowing it enough time to fully adapt. By keeping it locked in a state of face-swapping, they were finally able to land blows.

But how long could they keep this up? What would happen if it stopped switching and stayed on a single face? The twins were doing well to gradually chip away at it while at a distance, but he felt he needed to contribute as well. Taking the initiative once it was rotating its head again, he took his shield and hurled it like a discus at the sword-bearing arm. The edge of the spinning shield slammed squarely into the joint of its elbow, rebounding with a loud crack! The statue staggered, and there was significant damage. Glowing light was radiating from the impact area showing that portion was weak. "Good shot bud!" Belen yelled as he rushed to the statue hoping he would make it in time. Face-to-face with the living statue, Lys smashed the hilt of his sword into the damaged joint and broke its entire forearm off.

"YES!!" His victory didn't last long, as the remaining two arms punched him in the stomach with enough force to send him flying. Reeling, the world spun around him as the voices of his friends and sister echoed in his ears. The statue shuddered again as it lost another arm and its face of rage. Now there were only two faces remaining–meditation and fear.

"Come on, come on! Get back up! Lys! Can you hear me?" Belen teleported to his friend shaking him lightly. This wasn't good. On one hand he had to give him credit for taking out the statue's sword arm by himself, but when he saw it gut-punch Lys halfway across the whole chamber–then he was worried. Only Lys and Cyril were the ones who could heal out of the four of them, and if Lys was down that left his brother as their sole healer for the group. In fact, Cyril was the healer, as in he covered all the bases. Sending a message to his twin right away he told him to pull back and help Lys. They would switch places for the time being. Throwing another flash of light to stagger the living statue, Belen changed his appearance slightly so he looked exactly like his brother. It wasn't hard, changing his hair color and clothes was easy for an illusion.

Teleporting near the two-armed statue while Cyril was on his way to handle the first aid, Belen decided it was time to stop fooling around. Signalling Chrys to use her vines again, once they were firmly wrapped about the two-faced warrior he cast a familiar glyph. "Fire in the hole!" Were his last words before the entire treasure room quaked with an earth-shattering explosion! Pieces went flying as it hit its target. He had to reduce the size of its blast lest he blow them all to kingdom come, but when the dust settled his face broke into a cheeky grin as a third face on the statue was splitting apart. "And score!" The living statue was on the ground, now only having the upper half of its body intact. The crying face was broken up now its legs were in bits. It couldn't chase after them with just two arms, and he'd like to see how it could target them with spells like that. 

"Yeah! Just try and chase us now!" He yelled. There was one face left, this would be a piece of cake. Or so he thought, before it pulled out its last trick. 'Don't jinx it!' He remembered Lys saying. He'd thought Lys was just being paranoid, until now. His smile dropped when the living statue's head twitched erratically and the upper half of its ruined body started to levitate off the floor. Moving its remaining arms into a position of prayer, it was no longer limited by the loss of its legs. "What?! Are you kidding me?! You can't pull out a new move as a last resort! That's cheating!" Magic was buzzing in the air as the area was becoming charged with in incoming barrage of spells. Not this again! He thought it was a sitting duck when he blew its legs out. Now with levitation this was even worse! "Everybody take cover! It's a big one!" He yelled to everyone telepathically before bracing himself with magic deflection and a protection spell.

Cyril was finishing up on healing Lys' injuries when he heard Belen cry out for them to take cover. He could feel a great surge of magical energy on its way, and turning to look–he saw an incoming wave. There was little time before the attack made impact, so he shielded his friend with himself as he closed his eyes and cast protection on them both. The force of the spell slammed into him like a boulder. Though the magical protection on them both held, he was nearly sent reeling. The ground shook violently and everything rattled as the spell passed. Pushing himself up, his legs felt like jelly. He wasn't injured, but winded. "We're almost there Lys, one more to go." His friend was able to get back on his feet but Cyril wanted him to rest more. He was sure to protest, so Cyril quickly told him not to worry and let them handle the rest. Running off before Lys could get in another word, he made a beeline for the levitating half bodied statue. 

It was moving around too much for them to land a hit, and it could still cast while evading. Both Chrys and Lys wouldn't be able to get close at this rate; he had to restrain its movement. Using shadow weaving, he pooled all the shadows in the immediate area and formed a long lasso. With a flick of the wrist, he snagged it by the arm. It turned its head to look his way and began resisting, dragging him along. With no time to anchor it down he was being towed behind it like a raft attached to a skiff. "Hold it down! Hold it down!" He shouted for the others to hear. He was being swung about to where he could only focus on hanging on. Things went to a screeching halt, sending him face-first into the ground as momentum continued carrying him over. Grasping onto his shadow lasso, he looked to see what happened. His face lit up with a smile as he saw a vast network of vines tangled around the living statue's body.

"Chrys!" He knew she'd figure out a way to keep it grounded! It was still putting up a fight, but that just made her focus her magic more causing the plant growth to intensify. It couldn't free itself with its remaining arms, and now they had it locked in place. "Quick, get him!" She yelled, and Cyril took this chance to add to the restraints with shadowy chains ensnaring the arms. Lys was still too far away, but Belen was already finishing up casting a glyph. "See ya later, Stone-face! Here comes the thunder!" His brother said right before a barrage of hailstones pummeled the immobilized statue with relentless fury. The frozen chunks were impacting its exterior, and they kept on coming. Over and over, Cyril was sure he could hear cracking in between. Finally it was time for the coup de grace–and Bel conjured a huge mass of ice probably as big as an elephant. With a snap of his fingers, gravity took hold and it fell, crushing what was left of a fearsome opponent with a loud crunch.

When Belen dropped the frozen boulder, the entire chamber fell silent. They were all holding their breath, expecting it to either stay down or break out to continue fighting. Seconds felt like years as they waited. And waited. And waited… They were all hesitant to say what was on their mind, thinking it'd jinx the moment. Her brother came up beside her, and leaned to whisper in her ear. "…Is it over? Did we win?" She shrugged, unable to tell either. Belen and Cyril joined them, and they all stared at the miniature iceberg sitting smack-dab in a small crater. "Should we go and check to see if it's still…'alive'?" She asked everyone. "I don't think we should move the ice rock, just in case it isn't." Her brother said. Belen sighed and waved his hands dismissively. "Oh come on guys–who says we need to move the ice to see if it's still kicking when we have Cyril over here?" He placed an arm around his younger twin, grinning.

"I'll go see if the living statue is still dangerous." Cyril said before leaving to approach the solid chunk of ice. He closed his eyes and did his 'sensing' thing. None of them were really sure how he could do that, but he never had a hard time finding them when they played hide-and-seek as kids. It took a few minutes before his eyes opened again. He gave them a thumbs up, and they let out collective sigh of relief. Taking seats on the floor, they were exhausted. "I thought we were goners when both statues were running after us. Even after we took the gorgon down, I thought the fight would never end." Her brother nodded in agreement, his shield and sword lying across his knees. "With no way to sneak up on it or get within melee range, it seemed impossible. I still can't believe we beat it, albeit with lots of trial and error." Belen sprawled out on the floor, lying flat on his back. "I know right? Whew, what a rush! Let's not do that again, ever. Like maybe they could've just given us one out of two statues instead of both at once? Still, we did pretty great beating it on our first run."

"Can you imagine people having to come back in for a second or third time? We were pretty lucky, even as a group. How can anybody take them on solo?" All things considered, winning this on your own was downright impossible from Chrys' point of view. Unless you had prior knowledge and were a few hairs short of being a god–you'd get wiped out in seconds. The gorgon would make it harder to target the four-armed warrior, and likewise. Belen had a point in his complaining. "Do you think it'd be less difficult if you tried coming in and fighting on your own?" Bel asked her. "You know, like the difficulty changes according to how many people are in." Pulling her hood down and fixing her bangs, she shook her head. "I have no idea. I didn't hear anything from people who walked out after winning. Efrain said the winners get to take something back out with them, but that's it." Now that their lives weren't in immediate danger, she finally had the chance to get a good look at the treasure chamber and its contents.

There were a lot of coin piles, like sand at the beach. Coins weren't the only things here, but they made up a large majority. A lot of it was gold, some of it silver and precious gems. Most of it was items that she didn't really feel compelled to take, even as souvenirs. "Maybe I'll find something for mom and dad. Efrain probably wouldn't care unless it's a book or some ancient artifact."

His injuries were much better thanks to Cyril, only leaving him with a dull ache where they had been. After a maddening series of rounds, things finally slowed down. At last, they could catch their breath. While his sister Chrys and the twins split off to sort through the contents of the treasure room, he sat for a while letting everything that had just happened slowly process. The more he thought it over, the more miraculous their victory became. Even after everybody talked and chatted he still couldn't believe it. Most of the fight had them running around with Cyril and Belen doing the heavy lifting. Chrys' abilities saved them when the gorgon statue was rampaging and there was no doubt that they wouldn't have won so soon if she hadn't been here.

Lys was a bit disappointed with himself. Out of everyone, he felt he had contributed the least. At best he had managed to break an arm off the four-armed statue, but he hadn't been able to land a clean hit without one of the other three keeping it in place. He wasn't in the mood to think about treasure. "Lys, heads up!" He looked up in time to catch something flying towards him. Belen was grinning, having made the throw. He frowned, but Bel pointed at him. "Aw, cheer up. Take a look at what I threw you." Opening his hand, there was a golden clasp bracelet in the shape of intertwining vines with flowers. "What's this?" Belen made a face while pointing at him with carved tortoise shell pin. "That's a present for Poppy. From you to her, obviously. You'll thank me later." The half-fey then gave him a salute before going back to dig through the piles of treasure again.

Turning it over in his palm, he picked it up and inspected it more closely. The flowers were small yet delicate, and had small diamonds in the center as a highlight. The worked metal was smooth, like someone had made the vines out of gold and wove them together. Would she like this? He realized he had no idea what her preferences were for jewelry. He'd seen her wear rubies and rose motifs, but outside of that he wasn't sure. Did she like earrings or necklaces more? He could ask, but–that would be awkward. It wasn't the same like asking his sister what she wanted for her birthday. Maybe he could ask Chrys for her opinion first, then think about it. She'd probably know better than him.

"Let's see…what else can I take with me?" There wasn't a limit to how many items they took as a prize, right? In that case, they wouldn't mind if he helped himself to a few…dozen trinkets. Part of him wanted to see how much the room would let him stuff into his pockets. Was there even a limit for treasures per person? Naturally he helped himself to a few pairs of earrings, necklaces, rings, and other miscellaneous forms of jewelry. Not for himself obviously, but as a reserve for a certain friend of his. Lys was nice, but when it came to making friends with girls–he was totally clueless. Of course not every girl liked accessories, but it's the thought that counts. Treasure-shopping wasn't easy, not only did Belen have to think of what Poppy might like–he had to consider what Lys would think if he was the one choosing it for her. Lys was lucky he wasn't charging him anything for his dating advice.

After taking a handful of things that suited Lys' tastes, Bel moved on to finding any cool stuff he could put in his room. Shoveling away the piles of outdated currency, he fished around until he pulled something different from the mix and looked it over. Most of the time he tossed it back. Stuff like cameo brooches and circlets weren't that special. He found a set of antique engraved metal tableware that looked pretty neat, but he'd probably sell it. Goblets, jewels, statues made out of ivory and precious stone, the occasional ornate dagger. All standard stuff for a treasure trove. "Oh hello~" He whistled as his randomized fishing turned up something out of the ordinary. He found a pair of decorative candlesticks depicting nature spirits carved out of ivory. These would look great in the library back home. 

A short list of the plunder he carried out once he was done was as follows: a silver mirror, books, an old timepiece, a fancy inkwell, a pomander container made with platinum, some medallions, some scroll paintings he liked, and a mysterious decorative wooden box. When he left the room he had his hands completely full, and was met with a fresh set of scathing remarks from Efrain at the sight of him. He quieted down once he shoved a fancy-looking glass flask at him, and moved on to find something to hold his loot. After bribing the Rosenite with some other choice articles, he was able to convince the boy promise to check if there were any enchanted items out of them later. It was a surprise that the others weren't out yet. Here he'd taken his sweet time and still managed to leave first.

"Should I take this one, or that one?" He said to himself, looking at a spread of what he considered interesting weaponry. Unlike his older twin, he thought they were only allowed to take one item as a prize. After all if everyone took more, wouldn't the treasure chamber eventually run out? There was a scimitar that he liked, but then he also liked the halberd too. There were these shotels by the side, but he still liked straighter edges for his bladed weapons. A trident made of some sort of hard material was nearby, he thought it looked interesting as an artifact. By the weight it wasn't metal, but still felt heavy. Could it have been made of bone? He ignored most daggers, especially ones made with silver, gold, or with jewels. His brother told him not to take the daggers in general, saying they might be ones used for sacrifices. Even though daggers made as weapons, the thought of one used to hurt people for those types of purposes bothered him, so he left them alone. Better safe than sorry.

He then wanted to take a staff, but Bel said those might be cursed by sorcerers, and probably wouldn't be practical to carry around. There weren't any bows from what he found, so there wasn't much that Chrys would like. She said metal was too heavy to lug around when camping. "I don't think I'd use these…" Taking the shotels he put them back on the top of a coin pile. Taking the trident, he pressed his lips together in a line. He didn't have one of these, but he didn't really use polearms much either, so back to the pile it went too. He gave it a longing glance before leaving it for the next group of challengers. Now it was down to the scimitar and halberd. The scimitar was more common, design-wise. It was just a curved sword, but a regional variant. The halberd had a longer range and had multiple points to wound enemies, but it was at a disadvantage in tight spaces. However it would be useful if he had to reach something up high and couldn't climb.

Cyril was torn. They were both useful, and good quality. The halberd could be personalized with different tassels and scraps of cloth, but the scimitar was easier to carry around. He insisted on only taking one, despite most people eventually opting to take both. With a sigh, he closed his eyes. Spinning around a few times, whichever one he pointed at would be the one he would bring home. Stopping once he started feeling dizzy, he pointed ahead and opened his eyes…to find he was facing the wrong way. Making a slight turn, he decided the scimitar was the closest, so that would be his prize for today. Taking his shiny new sword, he saw his brother was gone and returned to the nexus, leaving the treasure chamber.

For Chrysanthe, the most that she found interesting was the occasional bauble made of shell or hardwood. The treasure chamber had a vast quantity of precious metals, jewels, artifacts, trinkets, and regalia from a past age. But to her what caught her eye weren't the items wrought in gold or silver. Sifting through the sea of gold she uncovered the first of the few things she'd bring home. It was easy to spot since it wasn't golden–a carved hair accessory made from tortoise shell. Materials like these were rarer in a way than pearls. The rich browns spotted with amber tones were in the shape of a butterfly's wing, making good use of the shell's natural curvature. Now if she could find a few more like these, then she could call it a set. Finding a large polished shield, she used it as a makeshift mirror as she tried it on. "Hm…It'll work better if my hair was up. Maybe I can find a few combs to match it. I hope they're close by."

Less than fifteen minutes and she had a small handful of treasures she had personally picked out. A few hair combs and pins made from tortoiseshell and ivory, pendants and necklaces made from abalone, and her favorite–a small mahogany strongbox bound in brass. A thorough check that her choices were in good condition and it was time for her to leave the chamber behind. Tucking her box full of treasures under her arm, she called out to her older brother who was looking at something in his hands. "Lys! Let's go! Mother and Efrain are waiting for us!" He glanced up, having snapped out of a daze. "…Oh. Alright, I'm coming. What's with the box there?" Holding up the best out of her prizes, she grinned at him. "I found a few things for mother, mother's cousins, and our great-aunt back in Arri. What's that in your hand?" Leaning over she saw the tell-tale yellow luster of gold. "It's pretty. Is it for her?" 

Lys was speechless, surprised at her guess and looked aside. "I won't tell. Can't spoil the surprise, right? She'll like it." She said after seeing his reaction. "You think so?" Her older brother spoke up, blue eyes wide. She nodded, smiling. Taking him by the arm she started pulling him to leave. 

"Mother, we're back!" Letting go when she saw everybody else waiting for them in the nexus, she waved while running into a tight hug from their mother. "Chrysanthe, Lysandre–oh I'm so glad you're alright! Are you hurt anywhere? And what are these?" Chrys opened up the box and showed her mother what she had carried out of the treasure chamber. "I found these in there! Aren't they pretty? Will Great-Auntie like them?" Her mother gasped at the hairpins, and picked up one of the carved hair combs carefully. "Yes, she certainly would. Is this really tortoise shell? Were there more of these inside?" 

"Yes, mother. This was the most I could find. Most of the things there were gold and silver. It was hard looking for them, like losing needles in a stable. Lys got hit, but Cyril was with us–he's better now." Mother was always worrying about them, but she understood. They didn't tell her they were going to attempt the trials when they first came, so they had to explain why they disappeared for such a long time. "I'd hate to impose on you two after coming back from such an ordeal, but we'll need your help with the patients soon. Your father and brother just left to Zets'Ki to ask for their assistance, and our medicinal herbs are running low. As soon as you're able, I'll need you to quicken the growth of what we have planted back home and sow more." Changing the subject, her mother was busy cleaning her mortar and pestle for a new batch of mixtures. "I can go right away, Belen can take me." She raised her hand. "I'll go grab him."

The next hours were a blur as she went back and forth with fresh herbs. There were patients pouring in as the trials were still ongoing, and she quickly lost track of time. By the time things died down, everyone was exhausted. At least once things were finished here they could return home for a well-deserved break.