by Saless
Chapter 51

"I guess we don't need to fight anything just yet." Jill said. With the lid off the sarcophagus they could see it was actually a stairway.

"Could be all kinds of nasties down there, though." Mike said. "I'll go first." He slithered down the steps before any of them could argue and the others hurriedly followed.

"Vash, do you feel anything down here?" Jill asked suspiciously as they looked around a small room full of gold, jewel encrusted objects.

I believe we have dealt with everything this tomb had to offer. I would still be leery of traps, though. he replied.

"Vash says there's nothing left to fight, but we should still watch for traps." Jill said for Erica's benefit.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Erica asked.

"I think I have an idea." Sarah said and looked at the nearest pile of treasure. A portal opened up beneath it and it fell through. There was a crash from above a moment later.

"What did you do?!" Mike exclaimed.

"I portaled the pile into the room above. That way if the pile is trapped, it will go off up there. If the trap is in here, we don't get near it." Sarah explained.

Jill looked around wearily, but nothing seemed to be happening. "Go ahead and do the rest, Sarah." she suggested. Sarah nodded and opened portal after portal, each one followed by a crash as the treasure arrived above. Soon the room was empty.

"I guess there weren't any traps." Mike said with relief. They climbed back up the stairs to find the golden objects scattered all around the room. "Could take a while to look through all this stuff."

I can help with that. Vash said. He scampered through the pile, tapping a blunted claw against an item every now and then.

"Vash says those objects are magical." Jill told Erica. They began gathering up the objects he'd indicated and piling them off to one side from the rest. Soon they had about a fifth of the objects piled up.

"All of this is magical?!" Erica exclaimed, looking down at the haphazard pile of objects.

Jill nodded, "Yes. He says some of the stuff he didn't indicate is also magical, but it's cursed. He wants you to move that stuff aside, Erica, since it won't affect you."

Erica shrugged and followed Vash around, gathering up cursed objects as she went. She soon had a pile even larger than the other which she stacked against a wall in the far corner at Vash's insistence.

That left about half the treasure lying scattered about the room. "This other stuff is valuable, but non-magical. Does anybody want any of it?" Jill asked. They all walked around the room, looking at the scattered treasure. They found some statues and jewelry that they liked, but the rest they ignored.

"So what is this stuff?" Erica asked, looking at the pile of magical items.

"Vash doesn't know for the most part. He thinks he can identify it with time, though, and he's certain it's not cursed." Jill replied. The pile consisted of a map case (which they hadn't opened to find out if it had a map in it), a very large sword, two smaller swords, three daggers, an axe, a crossbow, a long bow, two quivers of arrows (with golden arrowheads), various pieces of jewelry, and an assortment of armor pieces.

"There's too much here to carry back, I'll open a portal and we can ferry it across." Sarah said, and opened the portal to her living room. Mike and Erica started ferrying things through the portal from the magical pile, while Jill and Sarah gathered up the non-magical objects. Once all of the magical items were through they followed Mike and Erica through the portal.

Mike and Erica had piled the magical objects on the floor in front of the couch, so Sarah and Jill put the non magical stuff on the kitchen table.

"Well, that was certainly some shopping trip!" Mike said with a sigh as he sank gratefully down on the couch.

"It certainly was." Jill agreed, taking her canteen off her shoulder and spilling a few drops on Mike's face. Before their eyes the scratches on his face healed up without a trace. "Good stuff, isn't it?" Jill said with a grin as she capped the canteen.

Mike grinned back at her, "Yes, it certainly is! Thanks!"

"Is anybody else hurt?" she asked. Everyone shook their heads, so Jill gathered up everyone's bottles and put them away in a cupboard that Sarah indicated to her.

"How long is it going to take you to figure out what all this stuff is?" Mike asked Vash, who was already poking around in the pile.

No way to know. The magic of that world is slightly different to what I'm used to. I'll tell you what they are as I find out myself. he replied.

"Let's sort out the non-magical stuff, then." Erica suggested. They all sat at the table and went through the much smaller pile. The only thing Mike had picked out was a dragon statue with ruby eyes. It was about six inches tall and about fifteen long. He set it aside and helped Jill sort out her own picks. Jill had selected two rings and three necklaces. Erica had selected only a pendant and a ring, while Sarah had found a cat statue that she liked, along with a bracelet, two rings, and a necklace.

"I figured I could give them to you when I'm done with them." Sarah said with a shrug at Erica's questioning look.

"Can you really wear any of that stuff?" Mike asked, "Without being mugged, anyway."

"This stuff is so perfect anyone seeing it will assume it's fake." Jill replied.

"Even so, we can only use it for dressy occasions without looking strange." Erica added.

"If you say so." Mike said with a shrug.

With the non-magical treasure sorted out Mike and Jill took theirs back to their apartment. Erica put hers in her luggage, and Sarah put hers away in, or in the case of the cat statue on, her dresser.

By the time they'd all returned to the living room Vash had already managed to figure out the enchantments on the crossbow.

This crossbow is simple enough. he said. It's especially durable, accurate, and powerful. That's it. Jill relayed that to the others.

"Sounds like you've got yourself a weapon." Erica said to Jill.

"Me?! Why me?" Jill exclaimed.

"Mike's our front line fighter. I've already got a ranged weapon as well as my sword. Sarah has her bow and her fireballs. Your only ranged weapon is those kinetic blasts of Vash's and your mental abilities. Which are completely useless against undead." Erica explained.

"Crossbows are pretty easy to use." Sarah said. "This one even has a hand crank for loading. All you have to do is wind the crank to get the bow pulled back, place a bolt inside, aim and shoot. We'll have to get you some bolts for it, but it's otherwise ready to go."

"I guess." Jill said doubtfully.

"Have you figured out any of the others?" Erica asked Vash. He shook his head and continued perusing the pile, so they got comfortable on the couch and Sarah showed Jill how to handle her new crossbow. Once she was sure Jill could load it herself, they went online to order some bolts and a quiver for it.

"Why not buy them in a store, like you did your arrows?" Jill asked.

"Crossbows aren't as common as bows. We'll have better luck online." Sarah explained.

"I think it's about time for some food, how about you girls?" Mike said.

"Sure, sounds like a good idea. What shall I make?" Sarah asked.

"I was thinking of going out to eat, you don't have to cook." Mike protested.

"I can't afford to go out very often, especially now that I have to spend so much money on clothes and…other…female stuff." Sarah replied awkwardly.

"Other female stuff?" Erica asked with a grin.

"She had her first period this week." Jill explained.

"Wow, really? That must have been strange for you." Erica replied and gave Sarah a hug.

"Yeah, it was." Sarah agreed, burying her blushing face in Erica's shoulder.

"Do you really want to eat here, because I'll pay for dinner if you want to go out." Erica said.

"Wellll, a pizza would be nice…" Sarah said hopefully.

Erica laughed and said, "Sure, we can get a pizza. I should have known your taste for pizza would be unaffected!"

"Do you want to come along, Vash, or should we just bring some leftovers home for you?" Jill asked.

I'm tired, I'll stay here. I would be intrigued to try this pizza thing that Sarah is so excited about, however. he replied while nosing one of the rings.

"Okay, we'll make sure to bring some back for you then." Jill said and they headed out.

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