[center][h3]Helena[/h3]
[@Ithradine][/center]

After a moment of silence Helena narrowed her eyes. No response seemed to be forthcoming, and not just verbally, either. Aside from the stranger coming to standstill, she gave no sign of awareness that the woman in black existed. A couple seconds of pacing later, Helena started to feel ridiculous. Her imposing behavior came to no effect, leaving her a performer without an audience, though that in itself told her of this person's abnormality.

As the ghoul commander started left again, her eyes slipped from the woman's weapon to her face, and with a frown she noticed a very slight, almost imperceptible change of expression. The moment that Helena passed in front of the stranger's face, however, the still-as-a-statue figure became a blur. Helena's reflexes, couched, tiger-like, sprang into action. Her right hand, clasped behind her back, shot around to grasp the hilt of her dagger, but before those digits could so much and graze its pommel its brief journey came to a dead stop. Helena jolted as she felt the woman's hand close around her own, paralyzed not by an iron grip but by her own shock. 

Her dark eyes locked onto the sightless orbs of the stranger, her breath suddenly a touched labored. [i]How!?[/i] the thought resounded through her mind, over the chaotic tumult like a thousand angry hornets buzzing around her mind at once. [i]I-I-I didn't even see her! She must be as fast as...as Garlock, or Baron. How could I not sense her power!?[/i] Heart beating like a drum, teeth clenched, she watched as the woman held her palm like a seer. Some sort of trance had overtaken her, but it lasted only a moment, and in the next Helena came to her senses and yanked her hand away. In fact, she went straight into a shadow dash, bursting a few meters backward before sliding to a stop in a cloud of dust. [i]What did she do!?[/i] She tore off her black glove and examined the skin, finding no mark. [i]Not a physical attack.[/i] Her eyes fell on the stranger once again, who did not seem to have moved. The absence of physical trace could only mean some kind of foray into her spirit or her mind.

The so-called messenger spoke then, stating her duty and then laying bare the emotion that clutched Helena's heart. Her assurance a second later that she meant the ghoul commander no harm did little to assuage her fear. A being as fast as she, boasting the power to behold things magically concealed and to peer into one's mind, posed an incredible threat. Though stronger guardians could take her on, and Volaris could no doubt annihilate her, Helena's own vulnerability came as both an gut-wrenching shame and tremendous liability, since this woman might very well be able to glean from her consciousness some information precious to the guild. [i]There's no telling what she stole from me just now. If I am responsible for losing guild secrets, I must atone for it here and now. For the safety of our guild, I must kill her, capture her, or die trying.[/i]

An instant later, the accursed Void Stiletto was in her hand, and she assumed a battle-ready stance. Helena refused to answer this Priscilla's question, since to some sorcerous beings names held power over their owners. She could feel the eyes of her troops on her, waiting for her orders to attack. They would die for her, but their sacrifice would be meaningless against an entity more powerful than Helena, if not somehow beneficial. Moreover, she did not want to see the lives of her soldiers wasted. She whispered a Message to them: [i]”Run.”[/i] Then, she reached with another Message to the mind of the remaining ally she knew best. [i]”I have engaged a telepathic enemy at the very least faster than myself, northeast of the forest south of a village. I need backup just in case.”[/i] She then looked Priscilla straight in the face and raised her voice.

“You lie, for you have already harmed me.” Her tone came colder and sharper than the steel of her composure, its timbre full of deadly intent. Keeping out the specifics of her background, she got straight to the point. “You have stolen knowledge from me, and by extension my organization. The penalty is death. Explain yourself immediately, or by the authority invested in me, I will enact your sentence.”

[center][h3]Tatter[/h3]
[@Ithradine][@FalloutJack][@Lauder][/center]

“Slaughtered?”

Forgetting Sagi, the Ubergeist treated the newly-revitalized king to a questioning glance, then directed a suspicious one at Morningstar. Assuming the man told the truth, which he really should be given the circumstances, Tatter could begin to put two and two together. “...Hmm. Well, last I heard there wasn't any slaughtering on today's chore list, so try and keep your finger pointed in the right direction, wouldja?” She blinked, realizing another thing Lucius said, and gave him a grin. “Oh wait, you said 'toys', didn't you? You're [i]that[/i] type, huh? That's fun. I hope I get you afterward!” Reaching forward, she tapped the king on the nose, giggling. The dial on her chest flared slightly. “Shame your spirit's already a bit broken, though. I don't like playing with other guardians' scraps.”

She then backpedaled to float around, spinning every so often in excitement. “So, you wanna Message Volaris, Starry?” she threw out the name of the Supreme Lord without much care for Lucius hearing it. “Or ya can squeeze Lucy here yourself. I'd be glad to heee-eeelp!”

The next moment, however, she froze in her tracks. Her glowing eyes were motionless for a few seconds, her attention focused on something only she could perceive. Afterward, her expression morphed into one of determination. “It's Helena. Calling for reinforcement, east-northeast of here. Sounds like she's encountered some kind of super-fast mind-reader.” Turning to the other guardians, she scanned their faces or, as in Sagi's case, face substitutes. “I can go myself, but it'd take forever. We got anyone nearby we can send?”