Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Long ago when the ocean wasn't as high and the hells were much closer to the overworld, there existed a valley of volcanic mountains in which a clan of steel dragons were forged and then born. Their arms were the size of titans, their breath more ferocious than any beast of hell, and their scales tougher than any armor the world had seen till then. But exceptionality drew attention, and thus came the spears, the arrows, the sword and the mages, hurling at these creatures until they'd been felled for their scales, limbs and everything else in their bodies.

Alas, a handful scattered throughout the world and created their own clans away from the human eye. And in one such clan was Gallaria born, a child of joy and a forever optimist at life. Even now as she sat in a chair inside a castle built by those who'd slaughtered the rest of her clan, the only thing she saw was excitement and joy.

"A new king, I see." Leaning forward on the chair and resting her chin over her hand, she smiled at Raven as he walked into the treasury. "And what brings you here, my sweet new lord?"

Sitting straight again with a chuckle, Galleria crossed her legs and stretched her hands on each side. With a tilt of her head, she hummed behind sealed lips as the Raven and party grew closer.

"Want to take a look at the treasures held inside? Get a taste of the contempt they hold for you and the people you'll soon be serving?" Laughing yet again before covering her mouth with one hand, Galleria glanced through the crowd before landing her gaze on Choux and her injured dragon. "Oh if it isn't the unfortunate girl, I'm assuming you wish to see the necroflower. Too bad Aran already took it a few days ago."

"We know he did," taken aback by his words, Galleria winced and pulled her head backwards. Lifting her gaze to match the stern mage, she crossed her legs the other way and tried to figure out what he was after. But before she could, he said it himself. "We're here to check if there's another flower in there or anything that can help us bring her brother back."

Gallaria's eyebrows raised themselves at the sentence, and she was instantly reminded of a disappointing revelation–at least disappointing to the new king.

"That was the last flower he took and the only one we had," grabbing the armrests, Gallaria pulled herself out of her chair. Hopping off with a pep to her step, she quickly turned around and whirled her fingers in a circle before leading the group towards the vault. "Everything inside of here hates your guts, they're special relics from different ages. They hold special value and great vitriol despite being inanimate objects–well most of them are inanimate at least."

Turning around to face the group once she was standing before the vault, Gallaria picked the top hat off of her head and gave the king a gentle bow.

"Since Aran's death, it means the curse of the flower worked on him as well. What makes you think touching something inside would work out any differently for you?" Looking up at Raven with her head still bowed, Gallaria flashed him a smile before shifting her gaze to Choux. "Just ask that girl how having that rifle turned out for her. Was it worth losing her brother and the rest of her family?"

A hushed gasp left Choux's lips as the dragon stared right at her. The fox girl didn't like her and the feeling was mutual on Gallaria's part. Even Daema wasn't fond of the dragoness and he remained quivering beside his master who was also now hiding behind Raven.

"I-I don't think that we should go in there if it's cursed…" Understandably terrified of a curse, Choux pulled on Raven's clothes to drive him out of the treasury. However, already determined to check the vault, the threat of a curse wasn't enough to deter him.

"Elanaria cured a curse from me before, I'm sure if we ask her again she'd be willing to do so if there's really some kind of curse lurking in those items," looking back at Choux, Raven grabbed her hand and moved it off of him "We'll be fine, but you can stay outside if you wish."

"Very well, in that case…" Interrupting their conversation, Gallaria grabbed the vault's handle and moved to the side, opening it.

Revealed to the party was a dark space filled with nothingness. Crawling out of that hole in the wall were countless shadow hands more than willing to pull anyone who came close in. The sight was far from welcome, so much so, that Raven and the others were made to reconsider their decision. Read new chapters at empire

"The foolish king walked inside a man and walked a dead man, you standing here is proof of it," smiling in that overly girly frame, Gallaria kept teasing the party, menacingly. "Will you make the same mistake? The other kings died the same way you know? Looking for power beyond what they should've held."

As silence took over the room, none moved an inch. Unsure whether taking a risk that wasn't really necessary was worth the risk of a curse, Raven couldn't just blindly walk into that vault. The longer his indecisiveness kept him from doing anything, the more the dragoness kept closing the vault's door until eventually, it locked shut, snapping everything out of their heads.

"No need to rush it, you have a lifetime to think about it–however small that may be," not waiting for even a word, Gallaria moved back into her chair and began staring at the entrance just as she had before the party had entered the treasury. It was almost as if she was looking into the future at a time when Raven and his group were back to claim the relics inside that vault. "Go on, leave, I know you're not going in there today. At least make the trip worth it and revive that girl's brother if it's possible."

With an unknown threat lurking inside the vault, Raven and the others decided that it wasn't yet time to look inside that place. Thus leaving the room with a lingering sense of disappointment, they moved on to the only thing that was left for them to do on the island–revive Choux's brother and then leave these islands.