Even though the map he found had a note attached to it warning those who found it that all of the treasures within the ruins had been taken long ago Buukaz could almost feel that there was still some hidden treasure within the ancient palace. His jade eyes scanned over the dried map long and hard as he tried to search for the truth for which only the subtle whisper within his mind knew the answer to. When he couldn’t find anything specific the red bangaa spent several days going over old tomes which spoke about the area in question, until he finally noticed some marks which were so easily missed that he had to place on a pair of glasses in order to be sure that he was actually seeing them. 

The red scaled bangaa had praised himself for his dedication after he noticed that, yes, while all of the treasure on the upper and lower floors of the ancient sanctum had been marked as having been taken, there was a sub basement area for which the various treasure hunters journeying through the area hadn’t traversed into. Said areas were cut off from the map, more than likely because they had caved in on themselves after years of disuse, and so they would be easy pickings for him and BT once the two of them went out to raid the place. Of course the bangaa wasn’t so foolish as to believe that going to collect whatever treasures were still left within the ancient palace would be easy, especially after having been told by some of the mercenaries who had traveled within the area that the ruins were home to monsters such as goblins and skeletons. This had slightly shaken Buukaz’s courage, as every adventurer worth his salt knew that these sorts of creatures were merely scavengers within such dilapidated places; the real master of the ruins was probably something along the lines of a mindflayer or ahriman, however Buukaz was sure that he could handle such creatures, given that he was getting better and better at his magical studies. 

Despite still having trouble casting the higher level -aga spells, thanks to his mouth being unable to properly speak the words in question, the bangaa had increased his raw magical ability by training for weeks on end within the magic guild that he had signed himself and BT into. That he was becoming more and more proficient at creating potions and other tools helped to bolster the bangaa’s confidence when thinking about journeying into these ruins. 

Buukaz blushed slightly as he recalled BT having complimented him on his use of the magic shuriken which he had forged the other day, the blue behemoth hadn’t really understood the use of such a tiny tool, but he had found himself quite impressed after watching his little herdmate use the bladed weapon on a wooden practice dummy. The blue behemoth even went so far as to lick him across the face and neck in a show of pride for his accomplishment several days later when he found himself using three shuriken at once on a target while blindfolded.

With that thought in mind Buukaz was sure that he could easily infiltrate the ruins with some well placed bombs all the while dousing whatever goblins or skeletons were within the upper levels with a few fira spells before slipping down deep into the lower levels of the structure to face off against whatever monster ruled the sub basement area. Buukaz was so assured of his potential victory that he decided to go out and purchase some leather armor for the upcoming journey, sadly the only thing that had been available for some of his size and build was a strange black and gold one piece suit that the armorer had been unable to sell thanks to its rather...strange design. The bangaa had talked the merchant into coming down from the original sale price by about twenty percent after he pointedly told the armorer that if nobody had purchased his oddly designed suit then no one would. The hume had been annoyed but had accepted this as a truth after ten more minutes of the bangaa badgering him to come down off of his price him. Buukaz, while ecstatic with his purchase, had felt somewhat bad for the other, and so he offered to model for a set of bangaa tailored armor the next time he came around. 

Convincing BT to take them to the ruins had been simple enough, as the miniature intangir had been getting rather sick of having to be so tiny in order to walk around the halls of the magic guild that the two were staying at; that the blue behemoth was actually able to properly walk on his hind legs was something that Buukaz had found great amusement in, especially as BT now took pride in being able to move about the floors of the guild hall without stumbling over onto his backside. The first time he had seen the other trip over his own tail the bangaa was ashamed to admit that he had burst out laughing, much to the annoyance of his magically shrunken companion. Buukaz had made up for embarrassing the intangir by getting him several large chocobo steaks from the local eatery down the street from the guild hall, he had to make sure that BT was asleep before he went off about his way, as the blue behemoth would be quick to try and follow him if he were awake, claiming that he didn’t want to let the other get out of his sight, less he find himself in trouble. 

Buukaz had assured him that he wasn’t some sort of magnet for chaos, all the while pouting as best a lizard could. 

Of course the blue behemoth might have been right about his earlier statement, not that the bangaa would ever admit this aloud, as, once they were able to get into the interior of the ancient ruins, which were thankfully spacious enough for BT to travel through, the pair instantly found themselves getting attacked by several flan type monsters. 

One of the gooey creatures fell down across Buukaz while he had been on top of the intagir’s backside knocking him onto the ground, while at the same time a large gaggle of the slimy creatures worked to cage the intangir into a large circle for which he couldn’t charge his way out of. 

BT didn’t bother to think about trying to escape the ring of monsters. Instead, when he could no longer feel the weight of his herdmate on his backside, the blue behemoth immediately turned to try and help the fallen lizard. This proved to be a nearly fatal mistake, because the second he turned away from the wobbling creatures in front of him was the moment when the gooey troop surged forward to tackle him. BT roared as he attempted to swipe at the creatures, yet his claws proved to be rather useless against the gelatinous monsters’ bodies, as evident by them slathering up across his forelimbs, which in turn rendered his natural weapons useless. When the flans trailed up onto his massive form the intangir bit and snapped at them as best he could, his attacked ultimately proved to be pointless though, as the gooey monsters merely slid around his jaws in order to tightly wrap his muzzle shut. Air quickly became a privilege to the blue behemoth as he found the inside of his nose clogged with slime; seconds later his vision became blanketed with dark spots as more and more of the flans oozed up the side of his body. Soon enough BT’s massive form was so completely covered by the slimy creatures that it was hard to tell where he began and the blubbering monsters ended. 

That his body was starting to tingle slightly was not a good sign in the intangir’s mind.

Thankfully for the both of them Buukaz was able to get himself free from the flan attempting to suffocate him after he cast a fira spell over himself. The gooey monster let out a warbling hiss of terror as it was melted down into vapors, not that the red scaled bangaa cared about the fate of the creature as he quickly coughed up tendrils of colorful green goo which had been trying to fill up his throat and nose. Turning to look at his companion Buukaz let out a fearful roar as he noticed BT’s current state. Without thought the bangaa quickly cast several fira spells onto the blue behemoth, his bone chilling fear that the other would suffocate pushed aside the very idea that could possibly burn the blue behemoth. 

His action proved to be the right one to take, as seconds later the flans melted away into thin wisps which then evaporated into the air. 

BT quickly coughed up green goo a second after the flan stuck onto his face was slain, the blue behemoth then turned to see his little herdmate roaring like a dragon as he casted more and spells over the other gooey monsters which were attempting to surround them. Ten minutes later not one single flan was left alive, much to BT’s amusement. The blue behemoth let his golden eyes fall over his little lizard’s backside, noting with great concern that the other was quivering where he stood in front of him. Shakily getting up and then leaning forward to lick the red reptile across his backside BT was not prepared for the other to yelp and then stumble over his tail while turning around to see what was now attacking him. The blue behemoth let out a chuff of concern as he leaned down to look the other in the face, the pair stared at each other for several seconds as the tension of their near fatal experience washed through their bodies and minds.

“Well that was fun!” Buukaz laughed once he realized that BT would not say anything until he did. “Who knew this place was so exciting, right?” the red scaled bangaa chuckled in obvious nervousness as he shakily stood back up onto his feet. “But as with all good things, they should be done in moderation, so with that said, let’s move on, shall we?” the bangaa chirped while marching forward down the long hallway.

BT said nothing in response to the other’s outburst, instead the intangir dutifully followed behind his little herdmate, his nose exhaling massive amounts of air in short bursts as the scent of the bangaa’s terror wafted up from off of Buukaz’s body into his nose.

Getting to the area where the map had shown there to be a path leading to the lower level of the ruins proved to be rather simple, as there seemed to be no other monsters within the ancient palace. Buukaz silently wondered if the slimes had digested them all after swarming over the creatures but he swiftly put such a ghoulish thought of his mind. The bangaa quickly set down one of his handcrafted bombs along a weak spot on the floor and then backed himself and BT up out of harm's way. Setting the explosive on fire with one of his spells Buukaz cheered when he saw the small hole that his bomb had created. Going over and then securing a rope onto a nearby pillar the red reptile hoisted himself down before BT could let out a growl of complaint.

“Don’t worry! I’ll be fine!” the bangaa called back even as the blue behemoth began scratching onto the floor in an attempt to make the hole bigger. 

This proved not to be true of course, as once he got down to the lower level of the structure the bangaa seemed to stumble into every sort of trap imaginable! 

From poisoned spikes, which he just barely missed getting skewered by, to pit traps, to floors that let out when you stepped onto them the bangaa was forced to do an impressive amount of running and jumping in order to keep from dying. That wasn’t to say that all of his suffering was for naught though, as Buukaz was able to stumble over a dozen or so odd chests filled with treasure while searching through a bunch of uninhabited rooms. However after pocketing several thousand gil and a six odd potions the red scaled bangaa found himself coming across a truly awe inspiring sight. 

Rubbing his eyes just to be sure that he wasn’t dreaming Buukaz found himself letting out a wild cheer of excitement as he looked upon a massive dragon statue made out of sapphires. 

‘This can’t be real!’ he thought as he stepped up closer to the stone dais the statue was set upon. After all, who would make such a treasure and then bury it deep down within these ruins?

Buukaz didn’t know the answer to this question, nor to the question of how he was going to get the statue back up to the upper areas, however he did know that he was in deep trouble when he stepped in front of the dais and then heard a loud click resound within his four ears.

The bangaa’s heart instantly jumped into his throat when the sound of a stone door being opened caught his attention.

When the light of a small lantern filled his vision Buukaz had just enough time to send out a merciful prayer to Lord Bahamut before his jade eyes took stock over the little green figure that was carrying said lantern. The flashing knife within the other’s tiny hands was the last thing Buukaz saw before he turned and then fled back to BT.