Wizard101: Guise of Grandeur

Chapter 1: Guise

The Four wizards walked through the underground halls of the Cabalist installation. Its gold arches ran down the endless corridor in a line with no end. Each one was chiseled at the top and smoothed out as they came down. They were absolutely beautiful but knowing who their crafters were made some of the group wince at the thought of praising anything they made.

Their pristine bright gleam only served to keep them on edge. Luke looked over to Alice who was contemplating something. He saw a smile start before her face went confused, then she shook her head and looked forward again stoically. He almost gasped. "That's a first...You're never not smiling..." he said, now more tense.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah I was thinking 'hey, how should I leave this place after we finish' but this place is mostly metal and marble." She said disappointed. His expression went from concerned to blank faster than a storm criting. "Even now you're thinking about burning things down. We don't have the time to sit and watch you plan out what corners you're going to burn first. I still don't understand how pyromania and OCD mesh at all." Pax said, not looking back.

"For once I agree with storm boy." Jack said warmly. She looked over at her other three friends and put a hand on her chest as she turned around, stopping in front of the three. They could feel her motherly aura start to radiate outward. It was almost smothering. "Please do leave it intact this time. Even if we don't find anything, somebody else with better resources may." Alice averted her eyes from the Ice Wizards gaze. "I-I was gonna...this time.." her voice quietly died down as Jack smiled at her.

"So Intel man, what were we looking for again?" Jack now looked at Pax with a wide smile. He continued walking again, not bothering to look at her. "Anything." He said emotionlessly. "Uhh, anything what...exactly." Luke said. He wasn't confident as they had been walking in this place for fifteen minutes and seen the same identical layout the entire time. Not a single pillar or a spec of dust had been any different. Pax took something out of his garb before fiddling with it, quickly sheathing again.

"After the wizards' victories caused the cabal to disband some of HoldMouths' groups were dispatched to gather intel on all their branches, big and small. The more volatile ones were sought after first while less known ones were prioritized if they got too rowdy. Then came the outliers." He stopped and looked around as if gauging something.

"This place apparently had a couple hundred members before. The branch didn't really have organization or leaders but four of them in particular stood out. One was very proficient in shadow magic, enough that they could basically always keep the form without any tax. The second had a proficiency in moon magic. They could even transform others against their will. The third had a magic that no one could describe after they fought them, like they would always forget. That one had also never lost a fight. And the fourth..."-

Footsteps echoed out from all around. They didn't grow louder or quieter but fear grasped all but the most stalwart of the two. Pax continued to look forward and Jack came to join him. She wrapped her arms over his shoulders, closing her eyes and smiling. "You always get cut off right before you say something important." She laughed. He could feel the chills from her body numbing his back slightly but he didn't move. The threat at large felt like a greater demon than the one behind.

They heard a crack like bone, then a short deep half labored breath, and, before comprehension, the same sigil they were used to took them. The magic flowed, their energies charged, but not a single thing stood opposite of them. Something flashed in each of their minds, then everything happened at once.