Prometheus sat back in the dusty cave, eyeing his surroundings.  Something seemed odd to him but at first he couldn't quite place it.  The more he stared at the roof of the cave, the quicker he came to the finding that the inside of the cave was shaped completely different to what it should have been.  From the exterior one would assume the inside was a rectangular shaped room, but in this case, from the inside, the room was shaped like the inside of a cylinder, all sides round and smooth.  Prometheus didn't think much of it at first.  As he tried to stand, he noticed that his body had wiped much of the ash away from the floor, revealing the bare ground.  Prometheus took a fleeting glance at the floor before turning back t the group.  Just as he was about to speak, he heard a slight noise, barely audible in the harsh night.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">tick-tick</span><br/><br/>Turning back, Prometheus began to follow the sound, until he could identify it's origin.  Ever so slowly, the irritating ticking noise began to pick up speed,<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">tick-tick-tick-tick</span><br/><br/>Frustrated, Prometheus lunged toward the noise, finding himself sprawled in the same spot he had first sat.  The ticking continued, slightly muffled by Prometheus, but still strangely audible.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">miph-miph-miph</span><br/><br/>Standing now, Prometheus began to scoot the ash from the floor with his clay feet.  Slowly, he began to make out an intricate pattern of ancient, corroded gears and symbols, and as more and more of them were freed from their ashy blankets, the noise intensified.  Prometheus began to back away, scared of whatever this place really was.<br/><br/>***<br/><br/>Crane hung limply from a cobblestone wall, it's chilly and damp stones protruding into his back.  The wounds inflicted on him earlier in the evening had already healed and left nothing more than translucent scars.  The shackles holding him were made of a strange blue stone that would react negatively to any otherworldly magics Crane could summon.  Every time he tried to incinerate the shackles or slip through them in a ghost form, he would immediately feel an intense pain in his chest, right below his heart.  The pain would spread every time he tried until his entire body was shivering in agony.<br/><br/>"Crane."<br/><br/>The single word rung out about the room, it's familiar warmth and comforting presence rang out across his bleak cell.  Not without much effort, Crane managed to twist his head upward, looking at the cell door.  There a few feet in front of him was an ethereal construct, an avatar of Aclan.  It came in the form of a large gryphon, it's wings barely fitting in the small, cramped room.  The creature stared intently at Crane, almost as if it didn't believe the incarcerated, weak being was indeed the son of a titan.<br/><br/>'          "Aclan, I have failed."  Crane lowered his head in shame.  Perhaps he wasn't ready for this after all.  Maybe he was doomed from the start.  He had no hope in the mission, for as long as he sat in the dark cell, his companions were contending with the Badlands, and his arch nemesis was reviving herself in her own dimension.<br/><br/>'          "Crane, do not speak of failure there is no such time for petty regret, you must-"<br/><br/>'         "You don't understand father," he replied, shaking his head in shame.  "The aid I enlisted will never make it, and I'm forever trapped here in this prison.  I probably won't even see the light of day again.  I failed.  It's over, she wins."<br/><br/>It was a long time before the construct spoke again, this time it's voice had a hint of something that not even Crane could place.  "My son.  My child, you have to be the one to defeat her.  I-I will not speak to you again on this matter, for when we next meet you will indeed be done with your mission.  There are only two ends to this story.  If you truly believe you have failed, then you've doomed everything you helped create in this world to the tyrannical reign of a power-hungry titan.  You cannot hope to-"<br/><br/>'         "How can a measly reconstruction god defeat a titan?  Especially when they have an army, and two gods of their own?"  Crane was becoming increasingly angry, his forehead burning with shame.<br/><br/>Aclan's construct began to fade, but before it did, it's essence seemed to surround Crane's shackles.  Slowly, the blue materials began to sizzle, but as they burned, they depleted the power of Aclan's form, reducing it t almost nothing.<br/><br/>'          "My son.  You must go now.  It will give you some consolation to know your companions have made it to the Badlands unharmed.  You must meet them, you cannot take this mountain yourself,"  Before Crane could utter a response, the being was gone, leaving the spiked iron cell door wide open.<br/>Slowly a small fire began to burn inside of Crane.  The anger and need for revenge inside of him began to fester on him mind, clutter his other thoughts until he could think no more.  Ever so slowly, he began to walk towards the open door, slipping through the mountain's insides.  He would leave now, but he knew that this place would inevitably be were he stood last as the man he was now.  Hephaestus would be his very own challenge, this he knew.