Money, strength, and so much of it. I'm surrounded by dozens of beautiful women, all of them looking at my crystalline body with lustful gazes as we lay on a bed fit for royalty. As I'm kissing one very passionately  they all part way for the most beautiful one of them all, the only other crystalline person I know, the love of my life, and maybe my sister, Nyx. She approaches me, leans Into the side of my head and whispers softly, making me shiver as the vibration reverberates throughout my crystal head.

"Ares, wake up, we need to make money today"

At the word "Money" I wake up with a start, accidentally hitting Nyx in the head, while amplifying my own headache. I may be crystalline in nature, alcohol still effects me, for better or for worse.

"hey, dumbass, wake up, we need money! We blew a lot at the bar and we need more! cmon!"

"Hey there, gimme a sec, hangover's a bitch"

"And I'm about to be a bigger bitch if you don't wake up, Latho's been going fuckin crazy since he woke up"

"Latho is always crazy, its just who he is"

"Yeah no shit, but right now hes actually making a little sense and what hes saying is concerning, so get your bitch ass up out of bed and lets go"

"Alright, I'm going"

I leave the warm and soothing embrace of the bed and leave the dilapidated room I've been staying in. I go down the worn stairs and they creak and groan under yet another person abusing the worn down ancient steps. What awaits me is my crew of friends, the muscular, kind yet narcissistic Tyr, the image of peak masculinity, the long, slender, elven frame of Isis, pretending to read a book but secretly gazing at Tyr's muscles, the tall and lean body of a cold and cruel man, wearing his professional suit and tie, with his sunglasses, gloves, rings and watch, Seth, and finally, the mess of a man, completely in shambles and muttering to himself, hair wild and unkempt, Latho. Latho takes a glance at me, his eyes widen and he immediately rushes over to me.

"A-A-Ares, Ive been waiting for you, the old ones, yes the old ones indeed, theyve given me another prophecy, a prophecy of-of glory and riches, but also danger, lots and lots of danger, they seem to favor you, yes favor you indeed. The stars are so right tonight, or is it tomorrow night? These visions are so very vague, my mortal body isnt supposed to handle this you see"

"Yes, Latho, I do indeed know, now, what did you see in your vision?"

"It was a man, but he was no man, made of steel and copper, a being that does not breathe, but yet it lives, and it dwells deep, deep underground, and the entrance is the same one we scouted yesterday."

"Is it dangerous?"

"No, it shall become one of your greatest friends, I saw you going into battle with it, destroying ships and cities with it"

"Oh, a weapon, and a fine one at that. Well, ladies and gentlefucks, I know what we're doing today!"

Tyr speaks up

"Not even going to ask us to vote? Thought we were a democracy my crystal friend"

"We are, until shit like this happens. Now, field trip bitches!"

Everyone laughs, save for Latho, since he never laughs. We all take a couple swigs of booze, waking us up and helping our collective hangovers soothe, and we walk out the house we all saved up for, as shabby and ruined as it is. We pile into the massive, bulky hover car we bought, and begin driving to the ruins we found yesterday. On the way Seth does his usual teasing, Tyr stares into the mirror the whole time while Isis takes peeks here and there, Latho is still mumbling to himself, while me and Nyx talk in the front seat.

If you look at it right, we look like a family, which we kind of are. We all grew up together. I remember Tyr's old man telling us he found me and Nyx as small, cool looking crystals back in the day, and over time we grew into small children, and we grew along with Tyr as siblings, and over time our little family grew to include Seth, Isis, and eventually Latho. Latho was still as messed up as he is now, but we were kids, and decided to hang out with him, eventually learning how to interact with him and learning what he means. As we grew into adults, we followed Latho's prophecy and became freelancers, doing odd jobs here and slaying monsters there, delving into dungeons and ruins along the way, making money. So far, Latho's prophecies have never been wrong, so i'm banking on that today as well.

We get to the entrance, and what awaits us is an old, moss covered black pyramid that pierces the sky. We enter the pyramid and a stone stair well is found. I run my fingers along the walls, my crystal fingers not leaving a single scratch, telling me this surface is very hard indeed. Along the black stone walls, symbols are found, etched into the stone itself. 

"Oi, Isis, you recognize any of these symbols?"

"Lemme take a look.....No, not a single one. This must be an ancient civilization no ones ever uncovered before."

"I see..."

As we go down, it gets darker and darker, so I ask Seth to provide some light. He does, and we continue moving down the stairwell, Seth complains a little, and I'm surprised Isis doesn't but I turn to look and see that she is busy studying the symbols along the wall. All of a sudden my foot sinks a little lower than it should, and I hear a hissing noise. Nyx grabs me by my shoulders from behind, and yanks me backwards. Where I was, blue laser fire at from the side. I would have been evaporated had Nyx not saved me. 

"Thank ya kindly"

"Watch out, damn"

Everyone makes sure to avoid that spot as they go down, and we keep an eye out for more like that. Eventually what we thought was a never ending stairwell does in fact end, and a giant cavern, with grass, trees, moss, rocks, and even a waterfall and a small pond. Isis speaks up

"What is all this doing underground? This isn't right."

Latho finally says something comprehensible since we've been here

"We are close, so very close, I can feel it"

I speak up

"That settles it, we're doing this, lets go find whatever this thing is and go home."

Various noises of acknowledgement are heard, and we split up in three teams of two to find what we're looking for. I go with Seth, Tyr goes with Isis, and Nyx goes with Latho, a perfect synergy of long range and close range fighters. Me, Nyx, and Tyr are all hard and close range, while Seth, Isis, and Latho are all spell casters and long range fighters. Me and Seth split off from the group and begin heading out towards the waterfall and pond. As we get closer, a growl is heard from the waterfall. A serpentine creature appears, it seems to be a male lamia, a human whose legs have become a reptilian tail. It holds a trident, and below the waves I see more of its kind, with webbed hands. I realize that they seem to be a hybrid between lamias and merkin. I take out my duo sword guns, and begin charging at the one on land, while Seth fires at the ones under the water. 

I swing my right sword, and the trident catches it between its prongs, I swing with my left, and the lamia uses the shaft to block it too. I use this opportunity to swing with my right again, and again, and again. The lamia keeps blocking, but its getting tired, I can see it, However, before I finish it off, I hear a yell from Seth

"Behind you!"

Oh shit, I strafe to the right, just in time as another lamia swings at where my back wouldve been. Both turn toward me, and stab at me at the same time, I attempt to block both, but I only manage to block one, the other stabs me in my shoulder. A burst of pain akin to fire engulfs my shoulder, making it harder to swing with my left arm. A piece of my crystalline body drops to the floor and liquidizes like it usually does, but the ground absorbs it,  and the ground beneath me begins to vibrate, more intense as time passes. The lamia get scared, and quickly run away from the pond with expressions of fear on their human faces. 

I look to the pond, and what I see confuses but also excites me. A giant metal sphere emerges from the depths, and it revolves quickly, removing layers with each revolution, until eventually I see a giant humanoid frame, but it's made of metal and alloys. It has digitigrade legs, and wings at the back, with horns on its head, but it still definitely humanoid in nature. I make eye contact with it, and red light flashes, from its eyes, and vein like parts that snake throughout its body. It speaks, the voice sounding young and synthesized.

"Are you the one who awakened me?"

"Uh, I guess?"

It takes a second to gather its thoughts

"Well if thats the case, hello elder brother, its nice to meet you!"

"Elder brother?"

I say with a look of confusion on my face

"Look at that crystal body of yours, of course youre my brother! I use to chat with your kind all the time, after all, theyre the ones who made me and older brother Taan!"

"Wait, theres more of my kind? And we made you? And whos Taan?"

"Well of course, but its been a long time since i've seen any, and since they weren't around to give us power, me and Taan ended up going to sleep."

"What powers you?"

"Your body, well, the crystals that make up your body"

"And how long will that piece that I gave you last?"

"About two days"

"Wow, you really don't need a lot do you?"

"Well, I can also use the radiation from stars but it doesnt last as long as the crystals from you."

"I see, let me get the rest of my friends and we can talk some more"

"Ok elder brother!"

I message everyone over the net and tell them to come over to the pond. About 15 minutes later they all assemble, and I lead them to the metal being. They all immediately start asking it questions

"Whats your name?"

"What are you?"

"Who made you?"

The being speaks, and it sounds a little nervous

"My name is Korr, and the people who made me, the Star Crystals, called me a 'Mech', Its a pleasure to meet you all, are you all elder brothers friends? Oh wait, I see an elder sister too!"

"Hello Korr, Im Ares' sister, Nyx. Do you know something about our people?"

"I know quite a bit actually. What do you want to know? Wait, first, I really need your guys' help, I need to find my other older brother, Taan, hes a lot like me, but hes a space ship instead of a mech. Please help me find him, I'm sure he'll be willing to help you out afterwards I promise you."

I huddle together with my crew.

"Ok, I say we do it"

Seth thinks other wise

"Its too dangerous, I have a feeling that thing could wipe us out in an instant if we managed to offend it somehow"

But alas hes the only one who thinks so. We all turn towards Korr.

"We have talked amongst ourselves, and we have agreed to help you out!"

"Yay, thanks so much!"

"Korr, do you know anywhere Taan likes to be, or is usually at?"

"He should be deeper into the ruins, but theyll be a lot more dangerous, so you'll need to pilot me in order to do so, your fleshy friends are going to have to stay up here, especially considering the security measures against organic life down there"

"Can me and my sister both pilot you at the same time?"

"No, but I can carry her with you while you pilot"

"Alright, Its a done deal, me and Nyx will go with Korr to get his brother, and everyone else, well, you could stay here, or go up by the entrance, since we're finding a star ship there should be a way up with it so we can meet you up there with it"

They all agree to meet us above ground, and me, Nyx, and Korr go delve deeper into the ruins