The appearance of the smoke did not bother Lily in and of itself. They had already used a storm to transport them between Realms, so what more was a bit of smoke? Even then, however, she didn't know exactly what was going to happen, so she adopted a more defensive stance, flexing her fingers with erect ears and undulating tails. And that was when it happened. The sound of air rushing by something moving quickly, came from behind her without warning. She whirled around ready to electrocute whoever it was that was attacking her, only to just catch a glimpse of Guðrún's frightened expression before the Lantern shattered at her feet and Lily disappeared. [hr] The lightning bolt struck the railing with an audible [i]Zap,[/i] singeing a portion of the metal black. Sparks still jumped between her fingers for several more moments before she finally managed to calm herself down. She lowered her hand back to her side, breathing deeply to calm her nerves. Of course they had to send them off with a fanfare like that. Why could they not just have done it seamlessly? A fraction of a second later and Lily might have killed someone innocent. And if there was one thing she would not stand for, it was the murder of innocents. If anything that was what ten years of war had taught her: Leave the innocents alone. She took a final deep breath and started to look around. She stood on what could be called the sort of balcony, with a set of stairs on her left leading up, and a door behind her. She couldn't quite determine the function of the building, but she was but it was not living quarters of any description. Beyond the guard railing in front of her was a metropolis; towering skyscrapers, monolithic apartment buildings, and lights [i]everywhere.[/i] It was impressive in a way only possible through sheer size, foregoing interesting and aesthetically pleasing designs in favour of bulk and mass. Still, it was impressive but not the kind of thing that Lily valued. She was about to turn around when the whirring sound of small motors caught her attention. A small drone with something akin to a tiny television strapped to the bottom of it, rose up from beneath the balcony she stood upon. It had no visible weapons so Lily relaxed, waiting to see what it would do. She was not surprised as, in short order, a holographic image of a man appeared on the screen. [i]'Oren,' [/i] as he called himself, was an aggravating individual it seemed. Too energetic and fully under the illusion that he was funny. She allowed him to speak and kindly ignored his crude attempt at a joke about her tails. So her opponent was nearby? Relatively speaking anyway. That meant that he or she would most likely be found inside, a place with many hiding spaces and more than a few opportunities for misdirection. The perfect place for someone like Lily to fight. But she still needed to know as much about the building as possible, and heading inside now might only results in her getting lost. So she turned to the stairs and started climbing them. The stars turned out to simply circle the exterior of the building, which in turn also gave her a better idea of the purpose of the building. The higher she climbed, the more she saw, which in the end made her realise the best was a power plant of some sort. [i]Primitive,[/i] Lily thought, snorting derisively. [i]Back home we got rid of this kind of of polluting trash centuries ago. What would the dryads say if they saw this? Nevermind that dryads, Cernunnos and Terra would be furious.[/i] She continued further up until she reached the Peak. Or rather, peaks. The "Silo", as it appeared to be one, ended in a pair of twin peaks, essentially splitting down the middle once you reached the top and continued to taper further, individually. It also offered the opportunity of a better view of the entire complex. Far more than one building, she saw now, crisscrossed by massive pipes and dotted with smaller silos and tanks. It might have once been as impressive as the rest of the vicinity, had it only not been so run down. As it was rust dominated. Having become this experience and sight richer, Lily shows to head down the stairs once more and start exploring the Silo she had appeared on. [hr] The inside was about as industrial looking as she would have expected: Garish and ugly, mottled brown and greys started with rust on far too many surfaces. A yellow light illuminated in the room she stepped into, in no way helping with making the place any more welcoming. Who ever had designed this room had had in mind solely function. It was a room filled with pipes and dials, various metres that Lily had no frame of reference for. Essentially everything in the here was as alien to her as she must be to some of the other competitors. She glanced over her shoulder to see the drone with the small screen strapped to its bottom side hovering just outside the door, its one purple "eye" focused on her. He had mentioned that he would be her guide, but to what extent? Was he supposed to simply supervise or could he also be used as a source of information? [i]There's only really one way to find out,[/i] she thought to herself, and turned fully around to face it. "Oren!" she called, fully expecting equipment from a college capable of teleportation, to also be more than sufficient to pick up a voice from a distance. "You said you would be my guide. So guide me. I have some questions I would like answered." A few seconds passed before the telltale whirl of fans carried on the breeze made its way to Inari's prominent ears. In no time, the drone popped over the edge of the Fuel Plant, its display already active. "What it is, Fluffybutt! Speak of the devil, and he will appear. Doncha think it's a bit...kit-'soon' to be asking for help, though? Neheheh!" Oren rested one hand over his other's knuckles, holding them in front of his chin. Even with eyes that appeared completely shut, his was an intent gaze. "I'm not asking for help, but information. That lady, just before we were sent off to our individual positions, she mentioned a way to extract the soul of opponent without killing them. I want to know how." A slight furrow of Oren's brow did not compromise his merry demeanor, though it did give his genial grin an edge of bemusement. "Well, that's awfully nice of you given the sneak preview you got of all this tournament's freakazoids -one of which I informed of your general whereabouts roughly twenty-five seconds ago, by the way- but what makes you think I know how those little hearts work?" Lily was getting tired have the Clown's dodging the question. The frown on her face [i]did[/i] compromise her merry demeanor... Had there been one, at any rate. She was about to start demanding proper answers when he started speaking again. The bespectacled commentator gave a shrug, a chuckle, and a placating gesture. "Well, I do, of course. The artifacts in this place really are amazing! Tell me: ever seen a mosquito feed? Little bastards just can't get enough of sticking their little pokers in people's skin and sucking out their good stuff. Of course, contrary to what ya might expect, the one getting sucked is never happy about it. Guess you could say it really 'bugs' 'em! Neheheh. Good luck, Fluffer!" And with that the screen turned off and returned once more to Black. At least she was rid of his ceaseless jokes. Nevertheless he had given her a very important clue. The phylactery out from under her shirt and looked it over. Barely an inch in length, constructed of rubber and metal, it was a strange, small contraction. Not like anything she had ever seen, and as someone who lived in a world where all manner of creatures, both wonderful and horrifying lived, that meant a fair deal. Near where the chain connected the the thing itself she noticed and number of small protrusions, much like needles or syringes, except there was no holes to speak of. Then again, if stabbing her opponents phylactery then she supposed that it could be something ethereal, and not physical. Sort of like electricity, perhaps? She stuffed the thing back under her shirt, its weight against her breast much smaller now that she knew she did not have to kill to effectively win a round. The only question left, then, what what would happen to the who had their soul taken? Lily knew that she left an empty, lifeless shell back when she did it that one time, but the lady had explicitly said that the soul would be taken [i]without killing.[/i] That must mean that it definitely did not take the life if you ever lost their soul. She had to wonder what else did happen, because something like that could not happen without some changes to the person. But that was a question for whenever she had to try it. Oren had mentioned that he had informed her opponent, of her general whereabouts. A fight would happen soon then, so she had to be alert. This room however wasn't quite to her preferences. She hoped the next room did. She strode through the room and opened the door on the other side, coming into a cavernous room filled with pipes and machines and walkways, and so many potential hiding spaces, corners or pipes that could momentarily break line of sight. She felt a tiny smile tug at the corners of her lips. This place was ideal. Thiswas where she would stand her ground. She stepped out of the way of the door and bent the light around her, rendering her invisible. Now all she had to do was wait.