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[h1][color=slateblue]Abyssal Forge - False Promise[/color][/h1][/center]
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	[color=757163][i]Xiuyang reunites with the others, only for them to be required to split up again. She chooses to follow Seviin into the fog between them and the Forge, and in an ill-conceived attempt to comfort her, ends up hurting her instead. They end up separated in the fog, where Seviin confronts her inner beast—and Xiuyang is challenged by her obsessive love for Ciro, and her yearning for an ounce of warmth in Halge Larchelon. Xiuyang rejects the false promise of eternal bliss and returns to Seviin to make things right. Two girls who both view themselves as freaks confront their self-loathing and fear of rejection together, but the conclusion of that conversation is left for a peaceful day.[/i][/color]
[hider=Rejection][color=757163]They had all united at the square, where the box had told them to meet. Some were chipper, some were shaken, and some were even still tired from the performance they had just put. The gang was back together, at the very least, for better ...

Or for worse.

[color=8B008B]“Y'know,”[/color] spoke Juulet, her figuratively reptilian eyes locked onto Kaureerah with Leon getting a few glances. [color=8B008B]“if you're gonna sacrifice your best piece to win the match, at the very least TRY to get rid of the big bad.”[/color] she hopped until most of the gap was closed - it took a little, given she only had her spear as support. [color=8B008B]“It's one thing to be dumped in a latrine. It's another to end up with the turd still ALIVE!”[/color] she wasn't happy, not quite angry or maddened, but the discontent was being made very obvious. [color=8B008B]“That would've killed all of us if I were anybody else.”[/color] venomous were her words, just as was the glared she dedicated to the popular, piscine bard.

Xiuyang looked... about as well as could be expected, given who she had for company. Her left arm had been obviously and brutally crushed with a blunt object and hastily mended. She was still trying to heal painful micro-fractures, but such precision was beyond her when even sensing in this environment was quite difficult. She offered Seviin and Yuli a pained and apologetic smile, as though she felt like she'd abandoned them.

Xiuyang was unconcerned with Juulet. If she hadn't abandoned her to die, she wouldn't dare to harm anyone here. [color=slateblue]"Well, I'm not going back down there."[/color] She put her foot down on that matter as she considered her options. Frankly, neither of the likely heavily-guarded locales appealed to her. Splitting up was the worst thing they could be asked to do when even their safety in numbers was already just a tempting illusion. Besides, she told herself, the Forge was the entire reason she was here, and it wouldn't do to give her classmates any opportunities to shut her out of it.

She snorted dryly. Just what had she called this, back in Cantativa? A little 'adventure?' A good excuse to escape the public eye for a while? Just what good was she doing, here? All she'd managed to do so far was save the life of her archenemy. It was with that weight on her mind that she joined Leon, Seviin and Yvain in the fog. She supposed that she would drop dead in tandem with one of the other, braver souls any minute. Or, perhaps it would be a long time before the horrors of this place allowed the first of them to die. Maybe the boxed voice's magic would even have worn off by then. She wrapped her arms around herself as she pondered her many possible fates.

She could do little but keep praying. [color=slateblue][i]Ipte reunite me with my love, in life or in death. Shune guide my steps. Oraff protect me from these abominations against creation. Eshiran deliver me from the hands of those who mock you from beyond the grave. Dami judge me worthy.

...

...Tyrel... live a long life, okay?[/i][/color]

Seviin, meanwhile, had little to say. They'd all made it there, though Yuliya looked bad, like she was hurting. She simply... healed, as best she could with her magics muted. She healed, as best she could, through the feelings of anger towards the faceless horrors of this place. She healed, as best she could, through her sense of betrayal by the ones who'd sent her here. She healed... because people needed healing, and that was what a priestess of Oraff did. 

[color=FF4000][i]But if you had just [b]fought[/b] - protected them - they would not need healing, and they would know not to attack you again.[/i][/color]

Horrified at the stray thought, she misaligned a blood vessel in Xiuyang's arm, causing a large purpling bruise. She shook her head and quickly fixed the damage. Seviin's fists clenched and unclenched. It was the animal in her speaking - the animal she would [i]not[/i] let out, the animal who would only destroy. Besides, it was a false sentiment. She'd been nowhere near most of the others when they'd been hurt. 

Perhaps it was guilt that drove her, then, or maybe just the familiarity of Xiuyang, but she walked into the fog with them. It certainly wasn't fear that she would not be able to fight for herself. Priestesses of Life did not fear Death.

Xiuyang was glad to have Seviin's company, but she jolted at the sudden pain of her distracted blunder, and watched with tired eyes as she shook her head and clenched her fists. [color=slateblue]"Seviin, are you... okay? You seem a little..."[/color] She appeared to search for the right word, but regardless of whether she chose to say she was tense, distracted, or just 'off,' it was going to mean the same thing.

Seviin had murmured something noncommittally confirmational Pluurii's way, but this one was one of Cascal and Esuul's hounds, for all her meek nature. The tyro priestess had seen her in Tanso and the sniper's presence made her uneasy. 

She shot Xiuyang a smile that had no happiness in it. [color=F0FFF0]"I think 'okay' is a relative term right now."[/color] She shrugged, striding ahead, but her neck twisted a couple more times and her eyes pierced the murk slightly better than a huusoi's could to regard her fellow Tarlonese. [color=F0FFF0]"but how about you?"[/color] She blushed in embarrassment. [color=F0FFF0]"I made a mistake and left you with a bruise, Mother Oirase forgive me."[/color]

[color=slateblue]"I'm... better,"[/color] Xiuyang decided. Not quite okay, but better, as she surely must be after relieving herself of Juulet's presence. Her eyes were evasive, like she'd been found out somehow. [color=slateblue]"It doesn't hurt,"[/color] she added. The truth was that it hurt much less than a broken arm. She strained her eyes to see into the fog, but she wouldn't see anything more than Seviin could. [color=slateblue]"Are you hungry?"[/color] she asked suddenly, and somehow meaningfully.

But the weight behind her question surely must have been Seviin's imagination going wild, because Xiuyang was holding out some food. They were seaweed wraps with rolled-up dried meat, cheese and bean paste. [color=slateblue]"I uh, tried my hand at making... [i]something.[/i] I don't know if you'll like it, but even Juulet said it was good, so I hope it at least... isn't bad. ...By travel food standards."[/color] She busied herself looking into the fog rather than at her friend's face.

Seviin's eyes darted to the offering and to the one holding it. [color=F0FFF0]"I, um... a'lethei, suunei."[/color] She bowed her head and reached out to take it. 

She froze. She froze and nearly retracted her hand, for it was unmistakable. Her fingernails had always been thicker and sharper than those of huusoi - such was perfectly normal for yasoi - but they were claws. They were claws and a thin film of flaxen gold hair trickled down her forearm and across her hand. The priestess swallowed. She [i]was[/i] hungry; there was no denial to be made, but...

[color=F0FFF0][i]You are not me. I am not you. You will [b]not[/b] emerge.[/i][/color] She stood there, for a moment longer, paralyzed by her reaction.

Xiuyang also froze, briefly, her survival instincts forcing unwanted goosebumps upon her. She herself belonged to a family of shapeshifters, and they were on good terms with a few sanguinaires. By now, she shouldn't even be surprised by this. It was almost comedic, how everyone close to her seemed to have some dark secret or other.

Her heart bubbled with empathy. She wanted to tell Seviin that it was alright, but the words were vapid and caught in her throat. What kind of person was Seviin, really? Could she ever accept herself as she was? Would she accept the Solari, if she knew? It seemed a simple solution, to just spill each other's beans, but that was very...  merchant-like. [i]Transactional.[/i] Seviin was different from her, and that left Xiuyang feeling a little uncertain—but, maybe a little uncertainty was okay among friends.

[color=slateblue]"Suunei."[/color] She spoke a single word. It was meant to be firm and grounding, but it came out harsher and more demanding than she wanted it to, like the next words she spoke would be a command, rather than the... what [i]did[/i] she plan to say, anyway? Did she have a plan?

No. She realized that she didn't. She just felt a sudden urge to take Seviin's hand before she started spiraling, like Xiuyang knew she would likely have done if their positions had been switched, and Seviin had found her out. Her eyes were determined, as someone who knew what they saw and refused to brush it off or look away, but that determination wavered when she once again remembered that she didn't quite know what to say. [color=slateblue]"W-What... are you thinking right now?"[/color] she tried, her hand shaking. She let go of her hand, leaving the offering of food in Seviin's palm as she pulled the inferno blanket tighter around her shoulders.

[color=F0FFF0]"I..."[/color] Seviin's fists balled and unraveled and she didn't have words any more than Xiuyang had. [color=F0FFF0]"I am worried that... I am about to become something..."[/color] She swallowed. [color=F0FFF0]"...I do not want to become."[/color] She hated the squeak in her voice. It made her sound like a child - a 'precocious upjumped little pipsqueak with too much to say and no sense'. That was what cousin Esmii had called her, and her blood had boiled then. 

She was not that person now - she was not the animal. She continued, voice unsteady. [color=F0FFF0]"There is a... [i]wrongness[/i] inside of me that I cannot be rid of."[/color] She glanced down at her shoes and and then out into the murk in the direction that Pluurii had gone. [color=F0FFF0]"That one is an agent of the Diarchy and she is not here for innocent reasons. At the very least, she will try to make me... turn."[/color] Her eyes snapped back to Xiuyang and then to the food. [color=F0FFF0]"If I am overcome, if I become more beast than woman, promise that you will not risk yourself. Whatever happens is down to my will and that of the Gods."[/color] She reached out to take the offering in earnest this time.

Xiuyang blinked, like a thought had occurred to her, and she swallowed. [color=slateblue]"You're right about it being the will of the gods. Since Mother Oirase makes nothing that is unnecessary, right?"[/color] She tried on a smile, but positivity was a precious resource and she could not spare much. [color=slateblue]"We may not understand it, but what if it isn't wrong to be more than what we seem to be?"[/color]

Seviin went still for a good long moment. She breathed. Her muscles tightened. After an interval, she began to come out of it and a dozen different responses flashed through her mind's eye. She could feel the pressure building behind her nose and eyes and she knew that she would cry. She hated herself for it. Abruptly, she turned and stalked off into the mist without saying a word.

The tension in Xiuyang's heart dropped and created a pit in her stomach. She never knew what to say in a situation like this. She had a feeling that she'd just made her friend cry, but was it a good and necessary cry, or had she just wounded her more deeply than she could imagine, knowing nothing?

Should she give Seviin some space? It hardly mattered, because in this situation, she couldn't afford to. The best she could offer was to give her a bit of distance, keeping her within sight but giving her as large of a personal bubble as she dared, and to keep her footsteps quiet and inobtrusive. It wasn't difficult to make her presence small when this place engraved the feeling of smallness into her very being.

She longed to console her friend, but she bit her tongue and cursed herself for saying too much with too little information. There was no way she'd said what Seviin needed to hear. Once more, her own need for validation had caused her to harm someone she cared for.

It was on these terms that they wandered into the mist, the great oppressive shape of the tower fading into its listless depths. Seviin became disconnected, there. She simply wandered forward, vision swimming with phantoms in the fog, mind bleeding one paranoid thought over the other. She clenched her fists so tightly that blood dripped from them. Blood and pain. The pain would centre her. It would ground her. [i]This[/i] was what the animal did: it caused pain.

It was not long before she had no sense of direction, but for a vague sense of Xiuyang behind her, and that began to pick at her conscience. [color=F0FFF0][i]Stupid yanii,[/i][/color] she tried on for size, but it was a thought full of hate and didn't reflect her actual feelings. The presumptuousness, though! As if Salomé Xiuyang Solari knew the first thing about her! As if she understood what Seviin [i]was[/i], what it meant to [i]be[/i] what she was, what she had [i]done[/i]!

[color=F0FFF0][i]Then maybe you should tell her.[/i][/color] The fifteen-year-old's steps became stiff and avoidant and she stalked forward a little faster. So much anger! The tears came down her face. So much! She wasn't like this. This wasn't right! How could she have so much anger in her? And, yet, had she not felt a white hot hatred towards the diarchy? Had it not...

Her mind reeled and she backed away from where that led. She backed away and just kept crying: crying and walking through the endless murk in this miserable place. [color=F0FFF0][i]I am sorry, Mother,[/i][/color] she thought into the universe. [color=F0FFF0][i]I am trying so badly, but I am failing.[/i][/color] Her friend... She had wounded Xiuyang back and she turned about to search for the Revidian, but she was nowhere to be found. There was only this grey... [i]nothingness[/i].

[color=F0FFF0]"Suunei?"[/color] she tried, feebly, but it was deadened in the mist. [color=F0FFF0]"Xiuyang!?"[/color] This came with a bit more urgency, and she waited, heart beating in her throat. 

There was no response.

This place fairly [i]pulsated[/i] with emptiness, but it was a ripe [i]expectant[/i] emptiness that oppressed and bore down and promised ill if not offered the blood money of a response. [color=F0FFF0][b]"XIUYANG!![/b][/color] Seviin screamed into it and the mists swirling was her only response. Who would want her as a friend? She was no fun. She was heavy and dour and closed-off and refused to be anything else.

[color=F0FFF0]"Xiuyang..."[/color] She was being pathetic. The priestess reached up to dab her tears away with her sleeve and took a couple of steadying breaths. 

That was when she sensed it.

The fog rippled and writhed and, charging out of it was a colossal white lionbear. It galloped toward her on all fours, grunting and snorting and she had a good few seconds to watch and know it to be herself. It neither stopped nor slowed and the girl's eyes widened. She dived out of the way as a massive paw came swiping for her chest, saved by instinct alone. She came up in a roll but it was already after her: relentless, rearing up and crashing down, and she threw herself back out of harm's way.

Seviin scrambled, once more, to her feet, springing away in a randomized direction. The bear stood on its hind legs and ripped through the mists with bellowing roar. The girl called upon what little of the Gift she had and tried to conjure a barrier, but it was too slow. It was no good and she knew it almost instantly. At a half-gallop, loping along between twos and fours, the beast crashed upon her and, once more, she twisted free but, this time, she felt a hard impact and her world spun and swam. The mists swirled and her scream deadened and she felt blood trickle down the side of her face. 

She tried to calm herself. She tried to centre herself, but it just came at her again: something that she could not heal or placate or bargain with.

She reached up to heal the wound - a gash along her hairline - but it was slow going and she stumbled free of the beast's next murderous attack. Its eyes, dark and hot and full of hatred, bored into her and she could feel that it was not a mindless thing: it had [i]intent[/i]. 

Internal Chemical magic! With so little of the Gift, it was her best bet, and she sprinted away, blinking the blood from her right eye and trying to focus. There was nothing to climb! Nothing to hide behind! No safety to be had! Her limbs trembled with exertion and adrenaline and she tried to take that energy, to turn it on the animal. 

How it [i]burned[/i] amid these ashes: incandescent, defiant, but it meant her doom. It reared up again and let rip a snorting roar. She reached for its mind. She reached and...

How easy it would be to cause damage - to harm another living thing. She need only have unspooled some basic connections, changed a few substances around, and it would be irreparably damaged. How [i]easy[/i], and then she would be indelibly safe.

... until the next time something attacked her? Something like Pluurii? Something like Miret or maybe a Consoi who saw only an enemy, or a sanguinaire who saw only an enemy?

She tried to make it sleep and her magic had no effect. [color=FF4000]"Sleep, damn you!"[/color] she screamed. [color=FF4000]"Why won't you just [b]sleep[/b]!?"[/color] 

Heartless, relentless, it barreled forward, and Seviin trembled once more. [color=FF4000]"...[b]Sleep[/b], damn you."[/color] her teeth hissed and scraped against each other and she shook and cried. [color=FF4000]"What have I done?"[/color] Her eyes snapped up and bore into the beast as it closed in. [color=FF4000]"Is it [i]that[/i] thing!?[/color] she snarled. [color=FF4000]"[i]Is[/i] it, you fucking animal!?"[/color] 

The bear rose up on its hind legs and reared back with a massive arm and Seviin's own arm erupted with muscle and claws and flaxen bristly hair. She struck back at it with all of her fury: every ounce of her repressed rage, every resentment, every fear, every lie that she had lived by. 

And she met it, strength for strength and did not need to run any longer. She could not hate herself either, for she had lost that ability for now. Blow after blow she exchanged with the animal, healing nearly instantly, craving to rip its soft skin open, to gouge its eyes from their sockets, to tear into its neck and cover herself in its steaming maroon blood. The girl had become the beast.

It was some time later. It was hard to tell how much time had passed. The bear had torn through a half-dozen others like it before its violence had tempered. It trundled through the nothing, lost and angry and purposeless, sated but never sated. It stood on its hind legs and let out a long slow moan, its blood-soaked snout tilting first one way and then the other.

Dimly, in the furthest reaches of its simple mind, it began to be conscious of a girl named Seviin - a grim thing that had always hated it and kept it from life. She was looking for something. She was looking for someone. 

It had nothing better to do and so it looked as well.

Somewhere, well off in the distance, it picked up the aroma of meat and beans. Another ways away, it came upon the ozone stench of something like lightning, and the oxidizing smell of rust. It did not know what the girl wanted and it hated the girl anyhow: the girl who used it only to fight and claimed to hate fighting. 

It carried on for some time more, lost and lonely, rearing up and sniffing every once in a while, hoping for something green or warm or pleasant: for a meal, or a soft den, or a sunny glade or cool stream to drink from. 

This was a dead place and those were not to be found here. Finally, exhausted and weary of a fruitless search, the bear could fight the girl no longer. It found a place as good as any other and went to sleep, not knowing if it might ever awaken again.

Seviin never left Xiuyang's sight.

She knew that losing sight of Seviin would be the end of them both, so she kept her eyes locked on to her, fighting against the natural instinct to look toward the ground in shame, fighting against the anxiety that the sight of a friend's back instilled in her.

Speaking more could only escalate things, so she kept silent. She visualized a flask of fluid reacting to a foreign element she'd introduced, causing a reaction that made it bubble up to the rim. The wrong words now could cause Seviin to boil over, but if she waited a bit, she could try something else. She just needed to find the right words, and everything would be fine again.

Seviin never left Xiuyang's sight—but, for the brief moment that "Seviin" had been a flask of roiling emotions, Xiuyang had lost sight of the girl in front of her.

[color=slateblue]"Seviin..?"[/color] Xiuyang called out, quickening her pace. She could hear another set of increasingly fast steps in front of her, but though she matched her pace, the taller woman's steps quickly quieted into nothing. Xiuyang kept racing forward toward where the sound had been until she found a wall in every direction but where she'd come from.

[color=slateblue]"No... no, no, no, no,"[/color] she muttered, shaking. [color=slateblue]"Seviin, please, come back..! I can't do this on my own..."[/color] she wept.

[color=FFE4C4]"You won't have to,"[/color] replied a familiar voice.

[color=slateblue]"Ciro?!"[/color] Xiuyang cried in disbelief. [color=slateblue]"No, you—you shouldn't be here!"[/color] she denied adamantly. She'd come here to protect him from the Doge—from this. If he was here, then what was it all for?!

[color=FFE4C4]"I came to get you home,"[/color] he insisted, his voice pacifying and reassuring as he knelt in front of her.

Xiuyang desperately wanted to believe it was true. He looked, sounded and even smelled like Ciro. [color=slateblue]"You heard me calling for you?"[/color] she asked, reaching out with a trembling hand.

[color=FFE4C4]"Don't I always?"[/color] he replied smoothly, taking her hand and helping her up. The hand and his smile were warm. She wanted to melt into him.

[color=slateblue]"You..."[/color] she choked. [color=slateblue]"What were you thinking?!"[/color] she demanded of the man who'd sent her to her death, willing herself to forget for the moment that this was [i]her[/i] idea in the first place.

He was taken aback for but a moment before he threw his arms around Xiuyang.[color=FFE4C4]"I'm so sorry, [i]amore."[/i] I never wanted you to be hurt. If I'd only known it would be this bad, I would never have let you go—and I'll never let you go again. Let's go home."[/color]

[color=slateblue]"But what about your mission..? I've... failed,"[/color] Xiuyang replied, holding back tears. [color=slateblue]"What about the Doge..?"[/color]

[color=FFE4C4]"I'll get it taken care of. We'll flee the country if we have to. All I need is for you to be safe,"[/color] he said as he stroked her face.

Xiuyang smiled ruefully. So this was how it felt, being told what she "needed to hear." It was... rather condescending, wasn't it?

Gently, she pushed the man away. [color=slateblue]"You're not Ciro,"[/color] she sighed, disappointment in her voice. He took a step towards her, but she quickly drew a pistol. He raised his hands in defusing posture and softened his voice even more.

[color=FFE4C4]"[i]Amore...[/i] I know this has been hard on you, but I need you to trust me. It's really me. I'm [i]here,[/i]"[/color] he emphasized, in a tone of voice that broke her heart, but she stood her ground.

[color=slateblue]"You're pretty impressive—but even if you can access my memories, it seems you really don't know what you're looking at. My Ciro is certainly a romantic, but he wouldn't give up his ambitions just for me."[/color]

The impostor Ciro pursed his lips, as if he couldn't help but keep the man's mannerisms even after having been found out. [color=FFE4C4]"Maybe I don't know much about you, Xiuyang—but it doesn't have to stay that way."[/color] Xiuyang cocked her head in disbelief as her surroundings took on the shape of a familiar townhome in Cantativa.

[color=FFE4C4]"You can't fully trust him, can you? But you can trust me, because the only thing I want is for you to stay out of the forge."[/color]

[color=slateblue]"And in return?"[/color] Xiuyang replied, businesslike.

[color=FFE4C4]"If you want to see the world, I can show it to you. If you just want to go home and be with Ciro, I can be your Ciro. Anything he can offer you, so can I. You can live your ideal life and never have to doubt my intentions."[/color]

Xiuyang paused, as if considering, but only for a moment. [color=slateblue]"But there is one thing Ciro can do for me that you can't,"[/color] she replied confidently.

[color=FFE4C4]"Really? And that is..?"[/color] he replied, mirroring her.

[color=slateblue]"To let go of the hurt in his heart, and be happy, just like he helped me to do."[/color] Xiuyang smiled a bit sadly. [color=slateblue]"I can't mend the hearts of people who aren't real."[/color]

There was silence between the two for a moment as the impostor grit his teeth. [color=FFE4C4]"But I [i]am[/i] real, Xiuyang!"[/color] he pleaded, standing up from his chair. [color=FFE4C4]"I'm right [i]here,[/i] I'm—"[/color]

But she would never hear whatever he had decided he needed to say next, because she drew her pistol from underneath the table and placed one bullet in his forehead before he could finish. She could not bear to listen any more. If he'd worn down her resolve any further, she feared she might actually accept his offer to give in to the illusions of the fog, and hope to one day forget the real, terrifying Sipenta ever existed.

He was revealed to be a mindless thrall as the idyllic scenery around her dissolved. Again, she was cold and alone in the fog, a harsh and immediate reminder of the danger she was in, a danger that the impostor had offered to rescue her from. Numbly, she realized that only now had she considered whether or not he could have guaranteed her safety in this place. She expected to cry, but no tears came, despite having just put a bullet through the face of the man she loved—even if it was "merely" a very convincing illusion.

Yet in all this, Seviin never left Xiuyang's mind. There was another heart that she needed to mend first, one that might be on the brink of despair beneath the veneer of anger. Perhaps she would never find the right words. Perhaps there were no right words to find, but only a right thing to do. She would worry about that after making sure she and her friend got home in one piece.

Xiuyang stood up, feeling more cold and numb than ever, and yet also more self-assured than ever, as she put one foot in front of the other.

In the cold and the darkness waited a bear. It was... something like asleep, its breath coming out in soft puffs that momentarily disrupted the swirling mists before they rushed back in and claimed the space.

It was both peace and violence and it was suddenly present, first as a vague notion, and then an indistinct shape before coming into focus. Xiuyang had walked for however long and grown almost inured to her surroundings. Then, the lionbear was simply there: its fur the same colour as her friend's hair, its form radiating a sort of dangerous stillness.

Xiuyang knew the feeling well. Predators of every kind—wild animals, grizzled fighters, assassins and psychopaths—had a certain ease about their movements and even their stillness, as if nervous energy were a foreign concept. The presence of a mere human was hardly a cause for concern for this beast, sleeping or not. It was not the hair color that gave her away at first, but rather, the absurdity of this large predator living hale and hardy in this dead place. Somehow, it just followed logically that this was Seviin.

That was what terrified Xiuyang. It was not about the bear—it was what the bear represented. Xiuyang knew what it was to fear the loss of her own self, never to be regained, at the whims of tiny creatures living in her veins. She knew what it was to feel [i]infested[/i] by [i]things[/i] she never asked for, to have her own hopes and dreams depend more on them than on her tireless efforts, to be at once blessed and cursed and in some circles, sub-human.

Xiuyang was temporary, but the Solari would be with her until the day she died. She, her father, her mother and her sisters—before they were individual people with unique and recognizable faces, reputations, careers and relationships—all of them were "Solari." Tiny, invisible creatures with no discernible purpose but to imitate, infiltrate, and infest the populace like a disease. Someday, it might happen to Ciro. She knew that a part of her would be happy, when he became a part of the Solari like her.

It was disgusting, that feeling she had. It was wrong. Maybe she was disgusting and wrong, too.

And though there was a chance she would never lose herself—if it could happen to someone as pure and undeserving as Seviin—then a flawed and broken girl like herself stood no chance of remaining as "Xiuyang" until the very end. The best she could do was pray to become someone better than herself when it did finally happen, rather than someone like her father.

Xiuyang found herself frozen in something like fear. She could not leave Seviin's side, but she could not approach the bear, either. She settled on climbing a nearby metal ladder which led to some cold and equally metal scaffolding. She was too numb to question why even the presumably temporary structures here were made of metal, or to notice how uncomfortable it was to sit on.

[color=slateblue]"I'm... sorry, Seviin. I made too many assumptions about you... like that you were born this way, or that... my words could help you accept yourself, like you always seem to be able to do for me,"[/color] she choked, dryly, her voice gravelly. [color=slateblue]"Please, don't... stay like this. I can't do this alone. I need you. I need you in my life, too..."[/color] she trailed off, unsure if she could be talking to Seviin, or just a bear, or even the cold and empty air between them. Exhausted, she leaned to her side, against the cold and hard brick wall.

It was sudden and yet not. The bear stirred and snorted, the ever-present dust stirring before its feet.

Xiuyang blinked, looking down at the bear with what she imagined might be hope, but her ability to express emotions seemed to be down for the count. Had she been nodding off just now? [color=slateblue]"Seviin?"[/color] she prodded softly.

Absently, she remembered that bears could climb. The scaffold wouldn't support her weight, but she could pull her down if she really wanted to. She allowed the thought to pass through her without paying much mind to it.

It snorted and, eyes still closed, its form tensed. A low, rumbling moan and a wheeze fluttered its lips. Then, all at once, its eyes snapped open, bulging and blodshot. 

The immense beast rose up and let rip an ear-hurting howl. It dropped violently back onto all fours and swatted and pawed at the ground, kicking up dirt and debris. Again, it hollered, spinning on the spot and lashing out. Bloody spittle speckled its muzzle and fur and its eyes seemed not to have fixed upon Xiuyang... yet.

Xiuyang froze and tensed, feeling a bit like a scolded child. Again, the flask of boiling emotions came to her mind's eye. She shoved the sight of it off the metaphorical table, but in its shattered absence she found no useful tools in her metaphorical hands. If even the sound of her own name angered her, Xiuyang truly had nothing to do but wait and hope this just... wore off, somehow.

...but, what if it didn't?

Then came the blood: [i]all[/i] the blood... and the [i]noises[/i]! The animal that was Seviin thrashed and wailed and it began to vomit thick red blood. Blinding hot steam and the thick iron smell of blood filled the air. It collapsed and writhed upon the ground, its thick furry skin slackening and going loose and sallow. A great bone poked through its shoulder and it choked and spasmed and chunks of... [i]something[/i] came from its throat. 

Again, a howl, but it was an uncanny thing, cracking halfway through, as much girl as beast. The skin began to fall away, its fur thoroughly reddened by now, and more bones came out. The first to emerge from the violent white haze cracked and Seviin thrashed some more. Her eyes had gone dark and, now, she seemed desperate - clawingly desperate - to get out, to escape the bear.

Out from the skin crawled a small humanoid shape - small [i]comparatively[/i] - but for the head, which still wore the skull of the bear, its meat and blood and scraps of its skin still clinging to the person inside. She trembled and tensed and screamed, reaching up with clawlike hands to try to rip it away - to tear her own head off. 

Naked but for blood and scraps of fur, she staggered and shrieked and fought with the [i]thing[/i] that would not let her go. Milky white gases rolled off of her form, melding with the mists in the air, swirling, fighting them. The heat was incredible.

And then there was a snap.

The figure slumped to the ground and lay there, still for a moment, eerily so. Then, its ribs rose and sunk and it curled into the position of an infant and sobbed softly, long white-gold hair stained deep red and draped like curtains all about its form.

Xiuyang was like a peasant watching the mages turn ordinary soldiers into mincemeat. There was so much blood and cracking—the cracking was the [i]worst[/i]—and though she wanted to look away, she found that she could not.

There was nothing the binder could do, out of her depth as she watched the unfathomable and macabre [i]art[/i] of Oraff play itself out before her. To interrupt the horrific genius of it was the height of arrogance and could only hurt Seviin more, if not cause irreparable damage. That was Xiuyang's hope that she clung to throughout—that there was some divine and esoteric method to the madness.

After a short eternity, Seviin was delivered—that was the word Xiuyang's mind reached for—back to the world of the living. She lay there, sobbing and vulnerable, begging to both be comforted and left alone in that paradoxical way that Xiuyang never quite knew what to do with. In this situation, where they both lacked the luxury of time, she could only embrace her own fault in these delicate matters, and hope for forgiveness later.

Xiuyang floated down and reached out with her senses for anything she could use to bind Seviin a towel and cover her with it. Her eyes were shut as she focused. [color=slateblue]"Sorry. I'm lousy with these kinds of promises,"[/color] she said softly. She never did promise to stay away from Seviin if she turned—such was the Revidian's sneakiness—but she chose to overlook that fact.

In the end, it was a quick, crude and simple thing, but it preserved the yasoi's modesty. Small greedy hands, with their spindly calloused fingers, clutched it close and the breathing both quickened and seemed to slow. Paradoxes, it would seem, abounded.

Seviin did not look up. She merely lay there for a couple of minutes longer, breathing, but she was not fully idle either. It was not immediately noticeable, but the caked-on blood began to peel away into nothing and disappear from the girl's hair and soft pale skin. The ruins of the creature she had been also decayed from sight.

Then, all at once, covered in the simple garment that Xiuyang had provided, Seviin rose into a seated position. Her eyes flicked the Retanese's way for  only as second or two, before finding other landing places. [color=F0FFF0]"I..."[/color] She trailed off, rising to her feet. She glanced over for a moment more and, when she spoke, her tone was not explicitly condemnatory. [color=F0FFF0]"Now you know."[/color]

Xiuyang's eyes also found much more interesting stains on the wall to take in. [color=slateblue]"I know nothing,"[/color] she said simply, in perhaps a declaration of intent to keep her secret. [color=slateblue]"Except... I don't want you to hate yourself. I know that feeling, and... more than anyone else, you don't deserve it. ...That's all I really meant to say."[/color]

There were stains on the ground, too. There were also some more things Xiuyang wanted to say, but, apparently, it had been much easier to say them to the bear than to Seviin.

Seviin did not turn. She merely walked alongside Xiuyang, her posture still erect and her body still tense. She breathed and they walked and the mists swirled. For a moment, they were alongside each other. She reached out with a quick hand and squeezed her friend on the shoulder before awkwardly retracting it. [color=F0FFF0]"You are... a good friend, suunei."[/color]

[color=slateblue][i]I wonder about that...[/i][/color] She had the thought, but chose not to voice it, and let it exit her mind slowly. She walked and breathed, and it was awkward, but she allowed herself to be comfortable with it, vocalizing her gratitude with a nondescript noise and leaving it at that.[/color][/hider]

	[color=757163][i]The survivors of Halge Larchelon explore the reception area of the Forge. With some awkwardness still lingering between Xiuyang and Seviin, she joins Leon, but the two are quickly captured by the Forge's denizens and interrogated. Xiuyang navigates this situation the way she does best: by bringing genuine emotion and a lot of truth to the table to cover one small but effective lie. She convinces the Hegelans that she is being used by a mutual enemy, and her only interest in the Forge was initially curiosity and a love of exploration. They pity her for the helplessness she clearly shows, and she is spared the horrible fate that awaits the prisoners of Halge Larchelon: being forced to wear a bodysuit that can puppet its wearer.[/i][/color]
[hider=Arrival in The Forge][color=757163]Leon had been uncharacteristically silent on the elevator ride down. He leaned back on the copper handrails at the back and looked at the doors ahead. Looks toward the others were rare passing glances. This was far from the person they had seen in the fountain square before the fog.

He had no Hegelan knowledge to speak of. So he wandered to the door by the desk and looked inside.

The door did not budge. What it did have, however, was a button right next to it. Should it be pressed, it'd merely light up and gears would begin to turn inside. Something was ascending towards the door, much like the elevator they had just taken.

He had certainly done something. He heard whirring and something rising toward him. In the meantime he investigated the desk next to it.

The desk itself was alabaster white much like the walls, though it wasn't integrated into the foundation, just like the chairs. There was nothing on it. Three drawers could be searched, one with blank papers, one with a stapler and paper clips, and one completely empty.

Except, the last one seemed just a little shorter than the other, or rather the marble back end was much thicker. Upon experimenting with touching and the gift, he'd find a little compartment containing something made of metal.

Seviin seemed, somehow, changed. She did not try to preach to or judge Leon. When they arrived, she merely fanned out in a direction different from the others, heading straight for the large door with the tracks. [color=F0FFF0]"I will check this one,"[/color] she announced, stretching out with her senses as much as she could, trying to see what - if anything - was amiss in this strange place.

The bright lights buzzed loudly over the concentrating Yasoi. There was so much electricity running through the walls, regular sensing was becoming almost overwhelming. On the other side there would be as much electrical current and she would notice the next room to be far more spacious than this one. Stacks of cube-shaped containers of which the contents were difficult to discern. There wasn't anything alive, at the very least.

The door itself resembled the same one they had used to enter the elevator. It looked heavy too. To the left, there was a switch with two buttons, one with an upward pointing arrow, and the other downward.

Seviin considered. Perhaps it was a small moving room like the one she had recently been in. She did not want to move up or down to another area - at least not yet. however, it didn't feel much like that small room did: sitting in a vast vertical emptiness. No... perhaps this door merely opened upwards or downwards. [color=F0FFF0]"Be prepared,"[/color] she advised her human counterparts, pressing the button which she hoped would make the door slide upwards.

Loud machinery with a low rumbling that reverberate through the nearby floor signaled the imminent rise of the door. Piece by piece, it opened up to reveal a dark room, and once the door had risen in its entirety, the electrical current ran through the spacious area. It wasn't as 'white' as the previous room, but the cleanliness was consistent.

Inside were piles of crates, some wooden, some metallic, some looking particularly reinforces. Some were stacked, others were on shelves. Some were place aside from the clusters. There were a couple of peculiar, wheeled objects with a chassis none had seen before, with 'arms' that could fit into the openings many of the crates had at their bottoms. Further north, there was a long, rectangular platform with yellow stripes painted upon it and railings on reach corner. 

The music persisted even in that room.

It was nothing short of wizardry. Seviin knew this for a work of men and not Gods, however, for the works of the Gods were always effortless, and had a feeling of nature about them, while this... did not, wondrous as it was. She twisted back and called out over her shoulder. [color=F0FFF0]"I do not think any of us should be left alone. Should we split into pairs?"[/color] The yasoi turned back and her eyes wandered about the space beyond and its strange contents.

The recently revealed room had some strange contraptions that only a Hegelan could think of. Wheeled . . armed, metal things. Was it a cart of sorts? Or would it have another purpose than one? He could not quite come to a concrete solution. However, the one thing he did know is that it intrigued him. 

[color=00e600]"Would these be for something akin to a draft horse?"[/color] He pointed towards the 'arms' [color=00e600]"No, that seems to be impractical to have that much steel for just one animal."[/color]

The contraption and the seat inside of it seems ill-built for someone of Yvain's size. He could definitely sit inside if her hunched himself forward in this clear Hegelan-make chassis.

[color=#2d8a5f]“ᚨᛏᛏᛖᚾᛏᛟᚾ ᛁᚾᛏᚱᚢᛞᛖᚱᛊ. ᛏᚺᛁᛊ ᛁᛊ ᛁᛟᚢᚱ ᛚᚨᛊᛏ ᚹᚨᚱᚾᛁᛜ. ᛞᛟ ᚾᛟᛏ ᛏᛟᚢᚲᚺ ᚨᚾᛁᚦᛁᛜ ᚦᚨᛏ ᛁᛊᚾ×ᛏ-”[/color] 

The speaker was back with this intelligible moonspeak, but she seemed to have been cut off.

[color=#b481c7]“ᚱᚢᚱᛁᚾ, ᚱᚢᚱᛁᚾ! ᛏᚺᛖᛁ ᚲᚨᚾ×ᛏ ᚢᚾᛞᛖᚱᛊᛏᚨᚾᛞ. ᛚᛖᛏ ᛗᛖ ᛏᚱᛁ!”[/color]

A new voice emerged. The details were still muffled by the nature of the speakers, but it was a tad more high-pitched and distinctly female too.

[color=#2d8a5f]“ᛏᚺᚨᛏ×ᛊ ᚾᛟᛏ ᛈᚱᛟᛏᛟᚲᛟᛚ, ᛗᚨᛁᚢ. ᛞᛟᚾ×ᛏ-”[/color]

[color=#b481c7]“कृपया ध्यान दें मेहमान! जहाँ हैं वहीं रहें, हम आपकी मदद करेंगे!”[/color]

From one strange language to another …

Regardless, the peculiar vehicle had a couple of buttons surrounding the steering wheel. Simple for those in the know, absolutely eldritch to most humanoids.

He stared at the seat, to sit down in general would be tempting, let alone on an actual seat. While he is not one to give in that easily, his legs were quite weak from the mental anguish from before.

Yvain seated himself down onto the rather small chassis and let out a sigh of relief. [color=00e600]"Not the worst seat I've had to endure."[/color] Then the buttons began to take his interest . . Which caused him to randomly press the left most one.

It was quite a trial for the man whom had never been among such steel beasts, yet it did not deter him from this test. After many trials, he managed to someone tame this metal beast. It seemed to be a self-moving cart of some sort. Yet the strange arms were still a question to him. Pressing some of the strange buttons, he managed to lift these arms up and then down again. 

The crates then took his interest, compared to crates that he was accustomed to. These had holes on the bottom seemed to align with the arms and it gave him an idea. It took him a couple tries, but eventually he managed to balance the crate onto the arms and as if it were instinct, got it between the gaps on the shelf.

Reinforced crates seemed to be more difficult for him as it wasn't the smoothest, but it got the job done after a couple hit and bumps. Yet, instead of driving further, he got out of the cart to check out the reinforced crate.

[color=#2d8a5f]“Эй, не трогай это!”[/color]

Vossoriyan was next in the language soup.

[color=#b481c7]“Рурин, смотри, он на самом деле очень хорош. И красивый~”[/color]

The reinforced crate was carefully placed, but it had yet to be opened. It resembled more a safe than anything else with a combination lock. The issue was that there were over a hundred numbers and an unfathomable amount of combinations.

The Rettanese thought Seviin's choice of door an odd one, seeing as it was clearly designed for cargo, not to be used by people. As such, she tried the door next to it, expecting to find herself in the same room without having to wait for the door to roll up, but she instead found herself faced with a square flight of stairs leading down. They were brightly lit and fit the same architecture of the waiting room, making them a bit more inviting than the warehouse, but only just. They were descending, after all, and descending brought her closer to that [i]thing.[/i] Her hesitation was just long enough to hear Seviin say that they should stay in pairs.

Xiuyang peeked around the corner into the warehouse, her face an unreadable sheet of white. [color=slateblue]"Right,"[/color] she agreed easily enough, as she stepped into view, taking a few hesitant steps. The line between the waiting room and the warehouse felt like a natural divider, and the relatively much greater distance Seviin had put between them compared to Leon made the proposition of switching these imaginary parties awkward. Was now really the time to worry about being polite? Seviin was still on edge about something, the air between them charged, if not tense, exactly...

No, she decided. Each party should have a binder. There was no need to make it any more complex than that with unnecessary thoughts. [color=slateblue]"Be safe, [i]Suunei.[/i]"[/color] She made the sign of Oraff and excused herself before Yvain would start his joyride.

Turning to Leon, her eyes locked on to the object in his hand, the fruits of his search. [color=slateblue]"Strange key,"[/color] she observed, somewhat blankly. It was hard not to notice that neither of them were as chipper as their perceived "normal." She was always meeting famous people at her lowest, it seemed. How... awkward.

[color=slateblue][i]This sucks,[/i][/color] she thought with a short sigh, easily missed. [color=slateblue]"If we want to find that magic dampener thing, the smart money's on the locked door, I think... we should find that first."[/color]

The performer was seemingly snapped out of a daze when Xiuyang brought attention to the key. Whatever theatre played out in his mind had its curtains drawn as his attention was brought to the forefront. He inspected the key's piscine ornamentation.

[colour=fff200]"Strange key, hmm? It is certainly fishy."[/colour] With a chuckle, he held it up near his head a gave them a jingle. Xiuyang could tell a plastic smile when she saw one, the sudden shift in mood was unconvincing given his earlier behaviour. But at least the attempt seemed earnest enough.

Then his eyes surveyed the elevator. It seemed slow. He had intended to wait it out but it didn't seem to be going anywhere and there was plenty to explore.

[colour=fff200]"I have a feeling the door we seek is down those stairs. Maybe you would like to join me?"[/colour] He spoke in a friendly manner with a familiarity that didn't befit how little the two knew of each other. Perhaps that settled the awkward air between them, he didn't look to show the toll the fog had placed on him and seemed to look passed the toll it had on her. Maybe that only made things more awkward.

[i]Ding[/i]

Leon had inadvertently summoned an elevator and now it had arrived. Why it took so long was something they would find out sooner or later, but for now the bowels of the much smaller means of transport than the previous one they had taken remained open until ordered otherwise or recalled. From a first glance, there wasn't anything flagrant about it: A mirror, metal bars for support, more instructional glyphs they couldn't read. The keypad remained out of sight for now.

It was 'fishy,' he said. Xiuyang snorted in appreciation, Leon's remark coaxing out a smile that, really, still looked like a frown. Yvain was riding a metal mammoth in circles and staying in the vicinity of it was not very appealing. Eventually, he seemed to get a hold of what he wanted, but it was emitting a rhythmic high-pitched screech that put her equally on edge. Then, the locked door opened. Did simply having the key in their possession cause it to open, somehow? Anything seemed possible.

[color=slateblue]"I'm more curious about the route that warrants a lock, even if it does go to the same place."[/color]

[color=#b481c7]“ᒪᒥᐊᓇᖅ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᑕᐃᒪᐃᒍᓐᓇᙱᓚᒍᑦ.”[/color]

There was a brief pause before that same voice continued.

[color=#b481c7]“ᐊᓂᔭᕆᐊᖃᕋᕕᑦ, ᐱᐅᓂᖅᓴᐅᒐᔭᖅᑐᖅ ᐱᓯᒪᙱᓪᓗᒍ ᐅᕙᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᓚᐅᖅᑕᐃᑦ. ᖁᔭᓐᓇᒦᒃ. ᒪᒥᐊᓇᖅ, ᓱᓕᒃᑲᓐᓂᖅ. Haha.”[/color]

Following the awkward laugh, the more authoritative voice spoke up in a different language. One likely familiar to some.

[color=#2d8a5f]“工具又变了，他们可能没听懂你的话。我们也没办法理解他们。”[/color]

Their discussion would be punctuated by a series of voices in different languages, one of which Xiuyang managed to catch. [color=slateblue]"They're using some kind of tool to translate, but I don't think they have a handle on it. They said it changed again. [i]Oi, maybe stop touching it?[/i]"[/color] she barked back in Rettanese, hoping in vain to reach them.

Leon's head tilted toward the now open door. It certainly drew more curiosity than the stairs.

[colour=fff200]"I agree. Seems it's some moving contraption like the last one; not an unpleasant ride.[/colour] With a small step a pivot to the side, he gave a gentlemanly bow and gestured inside. [colour=fff200]"After you."[/colour]

Calm, composed, the new Leon looked like he had it all planned out as he aimlessly pressed buttons on the inside of the elevator with the hopes of sending it down.

There was no response from the loudspeaker just yet. More music, the same jazzy loop for those who patiently waited on one of the seats.

The elevator's interior wasn't particularly unique, and the only new thing they'd come to discover was the keypad inside, by the door. There were eight locks, all with numerical glyphs that resembled Rettanese for the first three numbers and then deviated into unknown territories, though perhaps this would be an easy means to learn basic numbers. 

Clicking said locks did nothing, obviously, which contrasted the other switches so far. They also came in different shapes.

[color=slateblue]"One, two, three... fish,"[/color] Xiuyang quipped, deadpan. [color=slateblue]"I do wonder if it works on any of these, though."[/color]

[colour=fff200]"Ah, yes of course, I knew that."[/colour] He very apparently did not. Instead of pushing the locks, now he tested the key on each until one worked.

The right one so happened to be the fifth one. Who could've seen that coming?

Ding

The door began to close. Slowly.

The elevator door closed and ...

A little thud. Then a little shake. And then it went down. 

Not too slowly. Not too quickly.

Leon was about to start his speech to Xiuyang. Then disaster hit, his nose itched. It was unbecoming of his persona to simply itch his nose in front of her. He held back on the rails hoping it would go away. But in the mean time, he let it be silent between the two. He simply whistled along to the tune.

[color=slateblue]"Do you trust that Perrenchman?"[/color] Xiuyang asked, without warning, as soon as a floor had been put between them and the said Perrenchman.

Leon paused. She was straight to business. The performer of course preferred to warm up with gossip and small talk usually. But it wasn't the time or place for that.

[colour=fff200]"I do."[/colour] He replied bluntly and leaned back on the rails to look up at the roof. [colour=fff200]"We fought together against the White Thresher in spite of the flags we were born under... But you're well aware the Forge has a greater draw than some sea monster, aren't you? You think I should be worried?"[/colour]

[color=slateblue]"I don't know. I haven't spoken a word to the man. I'd like to believe that you're right, but this is a soon-to-be war, not a school trip."[/color] While Leon gazed at the ceiling, Xiuyang inspected the floor. [color=slateblue]"We should be disabling the magic dampener and meeting our mysterious, faceless associate soon, if we can trust what he says. The more cards get put on the table, the messier the game gets. I just want to know where you stand before then. The Perrench at school aren't exactly lining up to offer olive branches to me."[/color]

[colour=fff200]"I can see your anxieties about it, I worry about the draw this Forge will have on our companions. But he is a good friend in spite of everything. Let me handle Yvain."[/colour] 

He was looking back at her at this point. [colour=fff200]"I've been meaning to ask: what brought you to this hell vacation? Or would 'who' be more appropriate?"[/colour]

Xiuyang was silent for a moment. The urge to blame someone else circled about like a hungry thresher, never quite settling on a name. How much did Ciro know? How much did the Doge know? Was the voice in the box higher even than him on the pecking order? [color=slateblue]"I went in place of someone else, to protect them. I thought I was stronger and would stand a better chance. I was not,"[/color] she decided.

Leon shifted his attention away from her. He wasn't studying her body language intensly, but there was a curiosity in trying to understand someone he had far too little contact with for who she was. [colour=fff200]"I gathered you didn't come on a matter of your own desire. Was this a labour of love?"[/colour]

[color=slateblue]"Does it matter?"[/color] Xiuyang sighed, slightly irritable. [color=slateblue]"If it matters, I'd rather not hear a song written about it until I know how it ends."[/color] Irritable became grumpy, and a pale facade gave way to slightly colored cheeks.

He took notice of the girl losing her cool exterior. [colour=fff200]"Of course it matters Xiuyang, it drove you to this place against your own interest. I'm happy to know it's love over coin. But I'll save you the ballad until you're old and grey if you want."[/colour] He finished with a jesting grin.

Then it was back to business. [colour=fff200]"What do they want with the Forge?"[/colour]

[color=slateblue]"I don't know, but it isn't hard to imagine,"[/color] she replied speculatively, glancing up to meet his eyes. [color=slateblue]"I hope you'd tell me if you knew more."[/color]

[colour=fff200]"No, it isn't hard to imagine."[/colour] Leon maintained eye contact. [colour=fff200]"And you should go back and tell them the Forge was destroyed a long time ago."[/colour] The proposition was firm and he only broke eye contact when it was concluded.

[colour=fff200]"Bring them back a resident as a souvenir,"[/colour] he joked.

[color=slateblue]"A resident? You mean a cadaver?"[/color] Xiuyang raised an eyebrow. [color=slateblue]"If you're proposing we fail the mission, then how do you propose we get out alive?"[/color] There was also the matter of standing a chance against Perrence, but to assume Leon had any interest in solving that problem might be a step too far, too fast.

[colour=fff200]"A walking cadaver. It would certainly make a statement at parties."[/colour] He answered dully. [colour=fff200]"Let's keep it away from the warring world. I don't think anywhere on Sipenta deserved to be turned into a replica of this place, friend or foe."[/colour]

[colour=fff200]"But I'm not proposing we fail. There is power in that Forge, I'm sure of it. How about instead of handing assets off to Ciro, you [i]become[/i] that asset instead."[/colour]

A bit more color and emotion returned to her face. How easily Leon understood her real reason for being here. Perhaps it was just a lucky guess, but he did. It created complicated feelings inside her. How she spent much of her life yearning to be understood, but at the same time, feeling so understood made her feel like she was being manipulated, and it was hard for her to separate the two.

[color=slateblue]"Give the Doge a sample of this biological freakshow? I think I'll pass,"[/color] Xiuyang quipped back. [color=slateblue]"But if it helps me protect the people I love, I'll take a power boost, and let tomorrow-Xiuyang worry about the whole 'absolute power corrupts absolutely' problem."[/color] Her frown became a half-smile. [color=slateblue]"You know, in ReTan, it's not good to stick out, but I don't think I care much about that."[/color]

The truth was he had no idea what Xiuyang or Revidia was planning. He simply expressed what he wanted to happen and acted as though he had some clue.

Leon didn't hide the fact he was weighing her measure, who she was, what she valued, if his proposal had really gone over that easily. She wasn't just a puppet of the Doge; it was a settling thought.

But he didn't press any further. He simply leaned back again, broke eye contact, and relaxed. [colour=fff200]"Unless you're the one of the Twin Emperor's of course. Maybe you should start thinking of yourself on their level after this."[/colour] He grinned at her, his tone was only half-joking.

[color=slateblue]"I don't want to live forever,"[/color] she chided, with a half-serious tone that mirrored his. As if in response to her comment, the elevator stopped, having reached its destination. [color=slateblue]"Or force anyone to marry me,"[/color] she added with a playful huff, as if she knew that he wished to know how she felt about them, too.

As the elevator stopped, Leon joined her by the doors. [colour=fff200]"Well if you change your mind and need to do some Ciro-wrangling, I'll help."[/colour] He returned a playful wink as the doors opened.

Ding

They had arrived at B4. For a few seconds, nothing was happening. Then there was another Ding and the doors slowly opened like a curtain unveiling a long awaited scene. 

A hallway. Just a normal, white-walled with grey tiles on the floor and more of their low buzz on the ceiling lighting. With their limited range they couldn't really sense anything out of the ordinary either.

[color=slateblue]"They say the hells hath no fury like a woman scorned, but I guess I wouldn't know."[/color] The playful drunk was starting to come back out again. She exited the elevator first, the muzzle of the shotgun she found earlier slung over her shoulder. [color=slateblue]"This buzzing is giving me a headache."[/color]

Leon only chuckled in response to her joke, a terrifying flurry of pots and pans from a second-story window in rural Eskand came to mind. He made way close behind her while checking doors as they passed.

There was no music on this floor. Only mild buzzing. The tiles felt like any other tile and the hallways spanned a good sixty meters each side until they branched out in two opposite directions with directions written in the same glyphs as before. Lined up on he walls was the occasional door with a lock. Although before they could even reach one, the lights instantly shut down.

The buzzing was gone too. In its place, a high-pitched alarm rang ceaselessly. Lights flickered on and off, making their movements appear as though they were in slow motion. 

The elevator door had since closed. 

[color=red]"ᛁᚾᛏᚱᚢᛞᛖᚱ ᚨᛚᛖᚱᛏ! ᚨᛚᛚ ᚱᛖᛊᛁᛞᛖᚾᛏᛊ ᚱᛖᛈᛟᚱᛏ ᛏᛟ ᛁᛟᚢᚱ ᛈᛟᛊᛏᛊ!"[/color]

Behind them appeared a red specter resembling Xiuyang.

In front of them, about a second after the appearance of the first ghost, was one mirroring Leon. 

Both beings swelled with energy, asphyxiating the duo of more than just air. 

[color=red]"ᛁᚾᛏᚱᚢᛞᛖᚱ ᚨᛚᛖᚱᛏ! ᚨᛚᛚ ᚱᛖᛊᛁᛞᛖᚾᛏᛊ ᚱᛖᛈᛟᚱᛏ ᛏᛟ ᛁᛟᚢᚱ ᛈᛟᛊᛏᛊ!"[/color]

Without thinking or saying anything, Xiuyang took off running, using every ounce of her available magic to speed herself up and fight the inability to breathe. Why would she make the deadly assumption that a mirror match in this place would be a fifty-fifty? Of course the ghosts would be superior to them in every way.

Leon tilted his head at his own clone. Handsome, but red was decidedly not his colour. Considering they lacked coporeal form and the performer lacked his typical magic, he resorted to the only tool he knew effective. He played the lyre in the same instrument chords as the fountain district.

Xiuyang had the right idea, if this wasn't a relatively tight hallway. She was made to collide with the translucent copy of her's that had displaced itself to get in the way. In retaliation for this collision, immense heat accumulated in its body. A familiar killing move.

Leon quickly discovered the complete artistic ineptitude of the cheap copy. Where the power of music was sollicited, the might of the laser death beam was conjured by the imagery. Surprisingly similar to the performer's finisher, just as Xiuyang's arcane spells were akin to how her copy was trying to end her.

--

In the background, between announcements via the intercom, was a lot of bickering between individuals. Yelling came to shoves, shoves came to more yelling with culturally relevant slurs flung about. Eventually, one had the upper hand and raced for a control panel within a room full of them.

On the screen above was the corridors with the spectral executioners about to scorch the entire narrow pathway. 

Click, tap, tap. And then a twist of a key.

--

[color=red]"ᛟᚢᛖᚱᚱᛁᛞᛖ ᛁᚾ ᛈᚱᛟᚷᚱᛖᛊᛊ[/color]

Both ghosts froze in place. They did not touch the ground, they didn't even flicker. They just froze, all energy they had sollicited slowly dissipating to nothing. 

The lights changed to dim lighting shining from the thin corners between the flooring and the walls.

[color=slateblue]"Make it quick then, bitch!"[/color] Xiuyang screamed at her other, leveling the shotgun with its featureless face. Then, it stopped. Unconvinced, she turned in every direction, expecting the real opponent to have simply teleported again, leaving a fake behind. It was a good twenty seconds or so before she calmed down.

[colour=fff200]"See that, Xiuyang?"[/colour] He remarked, awfully proud of himself. [colour=fff200]"The power of music. And I was just warming up too."[/colour]

Xiuyang only looked at Leon with tired eyes. [color=slateblue]"They seem to draw energy from this place. We destroyed some kind of energy hub earlier. Maybe their supply has run dry. We should run before they move again."[/color]

But before a decision could be made, one of the doors in the hallway opened. It was swift, just like the four armoured humanoids that spilled out of it. Clad in marine-blue riot gear and gasmasks, though they may as well resemble monsters to Xiuyang and Leon, they pointed their weapons, guns as big as their stocky forms, at the duo. 

There was shouting from all of them, muffled by the masks and intelligible to the Constantians. There was a lot of cannon waving and anger. One of them was already beginning to press on the trigger.

The room dimmed, not from darkness—but to better showcase him. His aura made light itself a servant. The undead wretches of this place were fools to oppose him when he had the skeleton key to their fate. Further entranced in his tune of divinity, he fell to his knees, busting it down on the melody.

Xiuyang just stared at Leon for a moment before playing her only card: the universal language of dropping her weapon on the floor. There was no urgency on her face or in her body language, no fight left. She was simply tired. The mission had ended the only way it was going to.

They didn't shoot, but Leon's performance only had them shout even louder.

[color=#b481c7]“Can you hear me?”[/color] it was the voice again, but in Avincian. [color=#b481c7]“Wait, that's it, I got it!”[/color] cheered the unseen woman. The glee, however, did little to pacify the armed individuals.

[color=#b481c7]“Oh, crud, wait. Darn it. Uhm, you music man, stop that.”[/color] she ordered without much authority of conviction in her voice. [color=#b481c7]“Just, get on your tummies and hands behind your heads. I promised them you'd cooperate! So, uhm, pretty please?”[/color]

[colour=fff200]"People?"[/colour] He blinked a little bit dumbfounded at the soldiers in front of him. It took him a while to adjust, the flow and energy he had put into his performance had come to a dead stop. He put the lyre away but stayed on his knees instead of fully obeying the orders. [colour=fff200]"I don't think there's any need for that. We can talk now. How about we do that instead?"[/colour]

[color=slateblue]"What else did you promise on our behalf?"[/color] Xiuyang replied—however, she did as she was instructed. [color=slateblue]"What is there to talk about? They get what they want or we die."[/color]

The enforcers approached, not shouting nearly as much except for the one that got very close to Leon. The barrel of the heavy gun pressed against his temple while a butch but feminine voice ordered him around.

[color=#b481c7]“That you would also accept being interrogated. And imprisoned. Pleaaaaase comply!”[/color]

The other three surrounded the duo, less on edge but still pointing their guns.

Seeing immediate danger in front of him, Leon finally complied. Xiuyang merely waited, offering no more witty remarks.

Cautiously, the enforcers cuffed the two humans with metal bracelets. Their magic remained but the bindings were advanced enough to potentially be trouble even if they hadn't been hampered.

[color=#b481c7]“Thank you soooo much! I promise you'll be okay.”[/color] an awkward pause. [color=#b481c7]“I hope.”[/color]

They were escorted into the door they came from, where a simple and unused office was found. The head of the enforcers operated what would be known as a thermometer, which in turn opened a concealed door to yet another elevator.

They were on some unknown floor. It wasn't nearly as bleached or proper, the walls were blue with cracks on the paint and the floors were carpeted with some sort of synthetic green material. Each was brought to different rooms - interrogation rooms, clearly, with the whole setup, although there window wasn't one way. The chairs were on the low side, as were the tables. There also wasn't any sort of bright light in the middle of a dark room, it was all just buzzing with lights from the ceiling.

After being alone for a moment, each were visited by an enforcer. A odd contraption was pointed their way like it was a gun, but all it did was produce a few beeps before being put away. Whatever it said, it was enough to make the Hegelans comfortable with removing their helmets.

Xiuyang's designated interrogator was the same blonde woman from the poster she hadn't seen, barring the worker's get-up. Or at the very least resembled her. 

Leon was graced with the presence of an elderly man with a tripped but thick grey beard and a big, toad-like nose. His hair was about as long as his beard. 

Both made away with some of the padding of their gear, revealing ribbon-like threads coiled all over their bodies like a full-body jumpsuit, except for their heads. Almost exactly like the 'living' cadavers they had encountered outside. 

Both sat opposite of their attributed humans. 

[color=#b481c7]“You will be asked questions. Please answer them truthfully. They have their translators up to date.”[/color] the woman behind the loudspeaker assured. [color=#b481c7]“I will be checking on your friends.”[/color]

As soon as Xiuyang saw the woman wrapped in the familiar bandages, she knew she'd made the right call. Compared to her and Leon, these opponents may as well be immortal given the circumstances. Given their level of technology and the presence of their own allied, disembodied voice as well, they probably already knew or had easy access to the answers to most of these questions. They were, in Xiuyang's estimation, probing for cooperation and truthfulness first, before asking the truly important questions—and there were no useful lies to be told here.

So, Xiuyang answered honestly. She gave her name and capacity, Revidia as her country of origin, and made sure to mention that she was a student at Ersand'Enise. It was always harder to sweep a death or disappearance under the rug if the school was involved. She recounted the story of how she arrived here as she perceived it: she'd received a mysterious letter which had essentially advertised an opportunity for adventure. She downplayed how suspicious it was, claiming such notices were not unusual at the school, but didn't hide her frustration at how she was essentially kidnapped and forced to cooperate with strangers, under penalty of death. She'd been told to expect opposition from "ghosts," traps and other "devices," but no living, sapient beings.

She told the woman that there were three in her "group," eight total that she knew of, and left open the possibility that there may be more, remarking that she didn't trust the "man in the box" to give her truthful information, either. There was no confidence in her tone or body language, with all signs showing that she had abandoned all hope.

Every piece of information given was recorded into a device integrated in the table. The blonde Hegelan woman merely stared right into Xiuyang's soul, occasionally nodding. Her lips were concealed under her thick yet well-kempt blonde beard, making her expression difficult to determine beyond her half-lidded blue gaze. 

[color=#2d8a5f]“Box?”[/color] Rurin repeated without the translator. [color=#2d8a5f]“What do you mean a box?”[/color] this part was translated, taking what she had said in her native tongue and swiftly converting it once she was finished. [color=#2d8a5f]“What information did this man share? Is the other half of your group still communicating with him?”[/color] there was an intensity in her voice - not quite panic but deep concern. [color=#2d8a5f]“What did the box look like?”[/color]

The interrogator then uttered something to the guard posted by the door, hand on the translort device on her collar to silence it.

Xiuyang smiled mirthlessly. Of course the one puppeting them was the only thing that would concern their captors. [color=slateblue]"Small, with a covered hole... a filter, like cheesecloth,"[/color] she tried, demonstrating its rough size with her cuffed hands. [color=slateblue]"He shared very little. Told us barely enough to survive by our fingernails. He said none of the other groups he'd sent before made it as far as we did, but I don't believe him. He said we would see him soon, then went quiet. I don't think he's communicating anymore."[/color]

Rurin furrowed her eyebrows. She turned to the guard again and did a writing gesture, prompting him to quickly leave the room for an errand.

[color=#2d8a5f]“Others have come to Halge Larchelon.”[/color] she confirmed. [color=#2d8a5f]“We ward them off, punish those that persist, but none made it this far.”[/color] she leaned in closer, arms crossed over the table. [color=#2d8a5f]“Why did you accept coming here?”[/color]

The guard had returned with a notepad and what looked like a pen. It had a pointed end and did not look quite like those she would use in Ersand'Enise. The material used for it was novel too - plastic! [color=#2d8a5f]“Draw the box.”[/color]

[color=slateblue]"I knew it would be dangerous, but I thought I could handle it. I was given almost no information."[/color] She drew the radio to the best of her ability, but her lack of artistic skills and understanding of what the box was definitely showed. [color=slateblue]"As I said before, I wasn't informed that there would be opposition from living people. I thought this would be something like an archaeological venture. No one told me it was some puppet master's suicide mission,"[/color] she growled bitterly.

The enforcer chuckled dryly at the naiveté confessed by Xiuyang. [color=#2d8a5f]“A lost city that's not truly lost. I would be afraid.”[/color] when the sketch was finished, the bearded woman squinted before stepping off her seat. Without an additional word, she left the Revidian alone with only the silent door guard scrolling through some sort of device in his hand.

[color=#747d7c]“Nobody ends up here without wanting something, be it real or chimeras.”[/color] the old Hegelan known as Orvil remarked, taking none of Leon's evasiveness. [color=#747d7c]“There's a good reason you're the first to make it here on our own in over a thousand years, boy.”[/color] 

The interrogator was interrupted by the blonde enforcer, beckoning for him to step out with her. Both captured humans were left to marinate in their interrogation rooms for a good ten minutes or so.

Orvil, the older Hegelan, stepped into Xiuyang's interrogation room. In his arms was a broken radio, looking exactly like the one she had first encountered. [color=#747d7c]“Is this it?”[/color] inquired the man, repeating the question a few times like he was in a hurry. [color=#747d7c]“Are you sure?”[/color]

[color=slateblue]"I [i]was[/i] afraid. Now I'm just... tired,"[/color] Xiuyang admitted to the female enforcer. It was truer than she realized. In the roughly ten minutes that Xiuyang was left alone, she nodded off.

She was startled awake when Orvil arrived, and it took her a few seconds longer than the man's patience for her to remember where her last conversation had left her. [color=slateblue]"Yes, that's what it looked like. There were several of them all around the city, and underground. What is it?"[/color] she asked, curiosity finally gaining the upper hand over fear.

Orvil pursed his lips hidden under his big moustache. [color=#747d7c]“A radio, but not from here.”[/color] he sighed and leaned back into his chair. [color=#747d7c]“Not from your world either. Or sea people. Or other mountain people. Or Tree people.”[/color] 

The posted guard shuffled uncomfortably.

After rubbing his eyes, Orvil continued. [color=#747d7c]“This is from Missai.”[/color] he pointed at the broken device, his gaze now that of a hawk ready to predate. [color=#747d7c]“Who are you really? How did you get through the Director?”[/color] there was a deep, buzzing ire in his voice. A man that saw things, a man that was afraid of what this omen could mean.

Xiuyang couldn't know what a radio was, but she got the impression that it was not a point worth lingering on. [color=slateblue]"I've not lied about who I am, and I... don't know what you mean by a director,"[/color] she admitted sheepishly. [color=slateblue]"Was that what caused the hallucinations?"[/color] she speculated.

Orvil shook his head. [color=#747d7c]“That is the fog. A defense against intruders, meant to be non-lethal dissuasion.”[/color] he explained. The chewing of his cheek was an obvious pacifying gesture, the man was concerned. There was no more mention of this 'Director' however. [color=#747d7c]“Hmmm.”[/color] he regarded Xiuyang with an evaluative gaze. She was exhausted and clearly out of her depth. Orvil made a decision.

[color=#747d7c]“You're clear.”[/color] he determined. But before he could get on his feet, he paused. [color=#747d7c]“What was the last thing that radio told you to do?”[/color]

[color=slateblue]"To find something called a magic dampener and shut it down,"[/color] Xiuyang answered plainly. [color=slateblue]"He didn't tell us where it would be, other than 'inside.' Or what it looked like."[/color] She still wasn't hiding her annoyance with the 'man in the box.'

The elder Hegelan straightened his posture and shook his head. As he was about to speak, the loudspeaker cut him off. 

[color=#b481c7]“Orvil, bring her and the cleanshaven to the lab. Their stories line up. And I forgot to cut the translator- Goat-cock!”[/color]

Orvil chuckled. [color=#747d7c]“Never change, Maiv. In chains?”[/color]

[color=#b481c7]“In chains. We've a conflict of interest. I'll explain soon.”[/color]

Orvil stood up and gestured for Xiuyang to follow. They would pick up Leon on the way and.

You guessed it.

Another elevator was imminent.

Xiuyang slowly followed. [color=slateblue]"So... what exactly am I clear from, and why are you taking me to a lab, in chains?"[/color] she asked hopelessly.

[color=#747d7c]“From being turned into a prisoner, for now.”[/color] answered Orvil as he twisted a key on one of the floors, speaking as if it were a casual conversation. [color=#747d7c]“Like those you saw outside.”[/color]

[color=slateblue]"Ah. That's... good. I think I'd rather die,"[/color] she replied numbly. He hadn't answered her question, but she didn't press the issue. He wasn't going to.

If you judged by the Sun King's face, the elevator ride must have been a pleasant and smooth experience when it was anything but. A quip here, a joking remark there as the metal cage bumped along its shaky passage. He could feel that they were going deeper into the beast rather than being escorted out; some of his good mood was genuine.

The doors opened to a hall with multiple four-way intersections and ending at a massive blast door parallel to their elevator. The first on the right held an automatic dual door that opened when approached.

[color=#b481c7]“You made it!”[/color] a pudgy and quite short Hegelan woman with a shaved neck but very stylized moustache came to greet them. She wore a white blouse with a green jumpsuit under it. [color=#b481c7]“Come, quickly!”[/color] chipper yet undeniably a nervous little critter, she was quick to get the job done and escort her guests.

The laboratory was white - walls, ceiling, floor and even the tables. The picture of sanitary. Vats filled with liquids and machinery with flickering lights were abundant. There were hospital beds with modern equipment where Yuliya was guided, as well as any other needing a checkup, and a single, middle-aged looking Hegelan woman waiting for them.

[color=#102a4d]“Thank you, Maiv. I’ll be taking over from now on.”[/color] With a pleasant nod, the helpful yet somewhat skittish younger Hegelan girl backed away and the matriarch regarded the taller humanoids with an evaluative look. [color=#102a4d]“To this day it was inconceivable that someone could reach the Forge. And yet here you are.”[/color] she gestured toward one of the beds big enough to hold even an Ougaraq. 

[color=#102a4d]“I am Zuri, Director of what you call the Abyssal Forge. I invite you all to take a moment to recuperate.”[/color]

Orvil’s group arrived shortly thereafter, escorted through a longer maze than the first group, but they made it all the same with Zuri introducing herself once more.

As they turned the corner to meet the others, he was recounting some comedic, unusual, but ultimately meaningless tale to Xiuyang. His head turned and he was met with the sight of Yuli unconscious in the bed and Kaureerah recently healed from bad burns and crippling injury. The visions of the fog stabbed back into his mind like a dull knife and the colour in his face drained. His composure was just held thanks to no small amount of effort.

The cuffed performer looked over Kaureerah, he didn't speak a word, his eyes slowly drifted to the floor, was it shame? Guilt? Like the eeaiko's injuries rested solely on his own actions. Then his attention shifted to Seviin, whose manas still seemed to radiate under the effects of the magic dampener. [colour=fff200]"Are you the one to thank for healing her?"[/colour]

Somehow, Xiuyang had managed to make it this far without giving up the one piece of information she most wanted these people not to have: the knowledge that the key to their infiltration was inside their bodies. She didn't want to speculate on the kind of invasive experiments that would surely ensue if they knew of the "seeds." Yet here they were anyway, in a lab, leaving Xiuyang with just one question: did Leon sing? Or, did they somehow just know? Or, did they have fun terrorizing outsiders?

The Director turned out to be a person, which was obvious in hindsight. Was she a tethered whose detection they'd somehow avoided? She gave them a moment to breathe, but it was too soon to consider her an ally. They had no reason to ever let the students return to their old lives with the intel they now had, and every reason to keep them alive just long enough to patch the holes in their defenses, then do gods only knew what afterward. As the superior force, they had no incentive to follow through on their end of any bargain involving their cooperation in the capture of Juulet or the man in the box.

There were no viable cards to play, so for now, Xiuyang simply waited for their captors to dictate terms.

Kaureerah swayed back and forth, these days, not literally, but emotionally. There was, as ever, a desire to care deeply about the world, about her friends, and about herself. She had braved that awful place and fought a monster with only her special magics to call upon. She had rescued Yuliya, whose sanguinaire manas were, even now, coming apart and warring on each other. She had come to this place, after all, perhaps for Leon.

Yet... every victory was either a small or an ephemeral thing. Always, there was some fresh hell, some new monster, some circumstance that was well beyond her capabilities to handle. Maybe that was why she had sung. Maybe it had been to lighten the mood, but there had been nothing tonally appropriate about it. Maybe it was just her way of... dealing with everything. Maybe she sung so that she wouldn't cry or perhaps she had passed beyond the threshold of caring. Whatever the Gods had planned for her, they would carry out, and Ahn-Dami's promise was iron pyrite at best.

Leon was there and she was not sure if she loved him or resented him, but he would not meet her eyes, much less speak to her. He was hurting, beneath his facade, but there was a coldness there too: one that only she or another as close to him might recognize. He was plotting but, first, he addressed Seviin.

The tyro priestess' white robes and hair had been restored to their usual resplendence during the elevator ride. Now, she might've seemed almost a natural thing in this place were it not for the... [i]hardness[/i] of it, and the faint warm glow of her skin, the subtle uncertainty of her darting eyes, and gentle ruffle of her hair and fabrics - in short, her [i]softness[/i]. Yet, as her dose of plushtail had worn off, it had become increasingly clear that she stood alone in this place as the sole being with the Gift. 

She inclined her head at Leon's question. [color=F0FFF0]"I serve Mother Oirase,"[/color] she replied. [color=F0FFF0]"I have done all within my power for the both of them and I require no recognition."[/color] She furrowed her brows and one could not see the nervous curling and uncurling of her fingers as they were hidden in her long sleeves. Her eyes swept Xiuyang and she was well enough in body if not in spirit. She was handcuffed, and something began to boil inside of the sixteen-year-old. She breathed and returned her attention to Leon. [color=F0FFF0]"Are you, too, in need of healing?"[/color]

For a moment, she gave her attention to the gosoi as well, but thse did not trust them. The others had had their Gift dampened, and she felt that this was an unholy thing. Indeed, most gosoi were unholy creatures, who warped and chained and manipulated the Gifts of the Pentad in ways that were arcane and unnatural. [color=F0FFF0][i]Most, but not all,[/i][/color] she allowed. These ones were guilty of it, though; she was certain. They were guilty of it and, if they knew that the Goddess had blessed Seviin so that she retained full use of her Gift, they would move to strip it from her. [color=F0FFF0][i]I place myself as a bulwark before those who would do your people harm. I know not fear, for thou art with me,[/i][/color] she reminded herself. [color=F0FFF0][i]Wisdoms, 42:40.[/i][/color]

As much as Seviin could, she began to very gradually and subtly release the extra energy she carried, as she fidgeted about: just a regular twitchy yasoi, nothing special, nothing [i]plotting[/i]: just a bit of kinetic energy. That was when she felt the pinches behind her ear.

[color=deb887]<Leon. Seviin. Can. Others. Be. Trusted.>[/color] Kaureerah had, for some time, known pinch language, thanks to those long afternoons spent with Keearah at the relay station, when she'd been her younger sister's guardian. For a moment, a pang of loss hit her. She had not seen Keearah in over three years. She had not seen any of them, but that was neither here nor there. [color=deb887]<Send. Message. Back. If. You. Know. Language.>[/color]

Zuri's warm presence darkened, her expression turning grim. [color=#102a4d]“I'm afraid ...”[/color] produced from one of her pockets was a stethoscope, one that was conveniently multi-purpose. [color=#102a4d]“This is a very advanced condition of dampening poisoning.”[/color] she shook her head, proceeding to a few physical examinations, from testing eye reactivity to drawing from the gift. [color=#102a4d]“My husband may elu-”[/color]

[color=#5e332c]“Zuri, beloved, I never thought you'd ask!”[/color] a Hegelan man with a thick, black beard suddenly popped out of the automatic back door. He had been waiting for his moment ever since he had been stalking the situation. [color=#5e332c]“Tarvin, Head Forgemaster and husband to our number one Director.”[/color] he did, in fact, offer a handshake to every humanoid that wasn't his wife. For those in cuffs, they happened to unlock the moment his hand approached. Zuri facepalmed. [color=#102a4d]“My emerald star, they want to know about their friend.”[/color]

Tavin wagged his pointer finger. [color=#5e332c]“That's right, that's right!”[/color] he shuffled over to Yuliya and conducted his own test, starting with the crude pricking of her shoulder with a large needle. [color=#5e332c]“Is she an assimilator or beast by any chance?”[/color] he began, completely casual about it all.

Kaureerah's eyes flicked to the others. There seemed no point in hiding it now. Perhaps she had even said something during her song without meaning to. [color=deb887]"She's a sanguinaire,"[/color] the eeaiko replied, with equal nonchalance. Still, she did not wholly trust these people, but the voice in the box was all-but brazenly using them as cannonfodder. These could hardly be worse.

Tavin furrowed his thick brows. [color=#5e332c]“Is that how they call them now?”[/color] he then shrugged. [color=#5e332c]“That makes sense, I think I'll name a next batch something akin to that!”[/color] ever jovial, until the reason for his inquiry hit him. There, his expression became grimmer than his wife's. [color=#5e332c]“Errr ...”[/color] he sought reassurance from his partner, but she too did not know how to communicate the problem. 

[color=#b481c7]“They can't help her.”[/color] Maiv broke the ice and quickly shut off her microphone.

Tavin looked away, Zuri exhaled in frustration.

[color=#102a4d]“The dampener, and even the air of the city, poisoned her. There is nothing that can be done.”[/color]

Yvain's composure was lost for but a moment as the fishy woman revealed his friend's secret with zero care. Yet the words from the man after shocked him even further. [color=00e600][i]Next batch? What do you even mean, next batch?[/i][/color] Were these scourges upon humanity Hegelan-made? It couldn't be, it's a disease! Even the mind of a Hegelan most vile would not think of something so horrid. 

[color=00e600]"So she is going to die, no matter what?"[/color] He crossed his arms, hand clenching his upper arm to keep himself mostly composed. However the frustration was visible upon his expression. [color=00e600]"If there isn't even an attempt at saving her life, then it was nothing but an empty promise."[/color]

Leon looked over the priest and only now recognised how young she was. Too young to have a target on her head. For Oirase, for virtue, or because she could, she had helplessly saved Kaureerah when it may have been against the interest of some hypothetical Tarlonese mission. It was a debt he could only pay back by warning her about the bandaged woman after her life. But it was not to be said in front of everyone. [colour=fff200]"No, I don't need any healing. You say you don't need recognition, but I will thank you regardless."[/colour]

He walked toward Kaureerah unsure what he could do. It seems his greatest sin was neglect but he was unsure if dumping attention on her would resolve anything or make it worse. A performer who only knew affection to solve the worlds problems was lost to understand the woman in front of him despite the months they had spent together. What came out was an awkward chuckle and a bashful smile. [colour=fff200]"We're both still breathing. I'm glad you're well, I'm really happy... I would hug you but..."[/colour] He rattled the cuffs in front of him. 

He did feel the sensation of the pinch language, furrowed his brow, but didn't show recognition. He had never learned it outside of 'hello', 'thank you, 'goodbye', nor did he recognise the sender of the message.

After shaking hands with Tavin and the cuffs were off, he moved past Kaureerah with an affectionate gesture along her waist then sat at Yuli's bedside looking at her condition. He did flinch when the reveal of her sanguinaire identity was let out, but it was muted. Maybe the craziness and hell of this place had become the norm. To learn this secret either didn't have time to register or he had become numb to such twists. He only wanted to see her better.

[colour=fff200]"You can turn off the disruptor."[/colour] Leon remarked coldly, his eyes still fixed in worry on his friend. [colour=fff200]"You say theres nothing that can be done, but you're still poisoning her."[/colour]

Xiuyang watched the cuffs fall from her hands with some measure of detachment, like the gesture didn't mean anything. For a few seconds she did nothing, as if expecting Tarvin to correct his mistake, then she simply pulled the inferno blanket closer to her body. It also took a moment for her to process that Yuliya was going to die.

But that meant... two of them were going to die, and then these horrible people who saw flesh and blood as nothing more precious than mud and dust would be one clue closer to knowing that there was something useful to be learned by taking her and her friends apart like a child's wooden doll collection. She looked at each of them in turn, her eyes seeking... what, exactly? Even she wasn't sure.

Zuri stared down both men who protested. [color=#102a4d]“We cannot.”[/color] cold, detached and distrusting. She knew where this could lead and for whatever reason, such alternatives could not be tolerated.

Tavin backed up, but still in range of Yuliya. He continued to non-invasively examine her. 

[color=#102a4d]“I am sorry. I will not torment you with a speech about the many versus-”[/color] she cleared her throat. [color=#102a4d]“When you've likely heard this from warmongers from your home already.”[/color]

[color=#5e332c]“She is too merged with the disease to restore ...”[/color] mumbled Tavin just loud enough to be heard by the group. [color=#5e332c]“Although, we may buy [i]some[/i] time if we keep her cold.”[/color]

[color=00e600]"Too merged? But isn't she supposed to be able to fight it better than any of us here?"[/color] He paused, that was slightly unprofessional on his part. After am exhale he continued. [color=00e600]"Will her body be able to fight it of if we keep her cold? Will you try to find a solution for this?"[/color]

To think he'd get lectured about those speeches so far away from his very home. It only  caused him to get further frustrated with the situation.

[color=00e600]"As for my final question, do you have a way to keep her cold?"[/color]

[color=#5e332c]“No.”[/color]

[color=#5e332c]“No.”[/color]

[color=#5e332c]“I might find a solution in a few years. Maybe.”[/color]

[color=#5e332c]“Yes.”[/color]

Were Tavin's answers to Yvain as he stared at the young man, wide-eyed.

[color=00e600]"Put her in some kind of temporal stasis if it takes years, then!"[/color]

Yvain knew these people were beyond his own scope in terms of advancememt. There had to be some way.

[color=00e600]"If it helps you may even use my own body to save her."[/color]

He had some clue on the adaptibility of his own manas. And if they created these 'batches' surely his very essenve could be useful to this effort, no?

[color=deb887]"Thenk yoo for the rescue end yoor waurm welcaum."[/color] It still lingered in her mind's ear. She'd smiled and shook hands and and introduced herself as Neki Kaureerah Wenhan. None had answered her message from earlier. It had been a longshot anyhow.

[color=deb887]"Well, eet looks like they finaully did whaut they shoolda done yeers ego,"[/color] she teased Leon, pulling his hand close and wrapping it up in hers for a moment. She looked at him with large eyes that communicated more than others who didn't know them would understand.

And then came the bad part: the Yuliya part. Nobody could see inside of Kaureerah's head, and it was just as well. She shook her head sadly and walked over to stand by Yuliya. [color=deb887]"I do naut like this deceesion,"[/color] she said with a shake of her head, expression inscrutable, [color=deb887]"baut I aunderstend it. The needs auf the meny autweigh those auf the few. They cennaut toorn the dempener auff jaust to seve her or thees whole plece coold faull epaurt."[/color] She took an unsteady breath and pinched the bridge of her nose, hanging her head in regret.

[colour=fff200]"And it looks like you got away with everything."[/colour] Leon teased back but he returned her look. One of understanding and one who believed her to be in the same mind. She cared for Yuli just as much as he did and that meant going to great lengths. 

He keep his mouth shut but his mind raced. How much did he trust these people? Was Yuli's condition really so far gone that disabling the magic disruptor wouldn't work? Or did they just want to keep it on and let his friend pay the price? It was yet another reason to disable the disruptor. These hegelans were neither friend nor ally. He sat beside her with a hidden anticipation rising. He wasn't going to let Yuli die; he wasn't going to let these people hold him from the forge.

Seviin, meanwhile, was ever the gracious guest. She thanked Leon. She did not allow Yvain to annoy her, and she bowed and introduced herself to these gosoi who mocked the goddess' work as a priestess of Oirase.  [color=F0FFF0]"I cannot use much of the Gift at present, but I remain a trained binder,"[/color] she offered. [color=F0FFF0]"I am willing and eager to help if you need me."[/color] She found herself standing beside Xiuyang. She rested a hand upon her friend's shoulder and squeezed. [color=F0FFF0]"Do you remember what happened in Belleville and how you felt?"[/color] she whispered to her shorter friend, mouth barely concealed behind the top of the shorter girl's head. [color=F0FFF0]"This is nothing like that."[/color]

[color=slateblue]"A lot of things happened in Belleville,"[/color] Xiuyang replied quietly. [color=slateblue]"Which one are you talking about?"[/color]

Perhaps they did not know each other well enough, Seviin supposed. Perhaps she had been too oblique. She tried a different approach. [color=F0FFF0]"Our hosts,"[/color] she whispered, [color=F0FFF0]"kind of remind me of Dory, actually."[/color]

[i]Dorothea[/i]—one of very few people that Xiuyang supposed Seviin wouldn't disapprove of her for killing, but also a person that she felt powerless to do anything about. Yes, that about summed it up. What exactly did Seviin expect her to do, here? Of the ever-shrinking list of things she imagined possibly adding to the blank page of solutions in her mind, violence had been dismissed long ago.

While others argued with some sense of urgency, Xiuyang simply took a breath and spoke when it seemed like there was a pause, and nothing was going anywhere. [color=slateblue]"So, I'm inferring that shutting off the magic dampener could theoretically save her, but it's not an option... so, we can assume that, if 'nothing can be done,' that you have no intention of ever letting us leave, either,"[/color] Xiuyang interjected, her emotionless words cutting the mood of the room like a scalpel. [color=slateblue]"What's next, then? Someone said something about a conflict of interest..."[/color]

She held her arms around herself in a self-soothing posture, in contrast to her confrontational words.

Some showed resentment, some understanding and one even bargained his own body. Zuri, as a leader, had dealt with crisis before, but hardly ever with outsiders, and even less with such an existential threat.

[color=#102a4d]“Not just this place.”[/color] corrected Zuri, predictably more amicable when working with an understanding voice. [color=#102a4d]“The dampener keeps our most insidious enemy at bay, not just outsiders. But also,”[/color] Tavin reached for her shoulder, imploring her to think twice before admitting to the next bit. [color=#102a4d]“We will all die, as well as over two-hundred million people on this side of the globe, should we shut it down now.”[/color] deadpan, emotions stifled and voice modulated after years of leadership. She had to be sure nothing detracted from the message.

[color=#102a4d]“We cannot let you leave.”[/color] the director nodded toward Xiuyang. [color=#102a4d]“Not until we've uncovered the truth regarding your group, and rounded the last two.”[/color] she then looked up at one of the hidden cameras. [color=#102a4d]“Get Rurin to gather the enforcers and retrieve the remaining outsiders.”[/color]

Meanwhile, Tavin had been taken by a peculiarity in Yuliya's body. Lowering his goggles, he sifted through the different lenses. [color=#5e332c]“Do you people usually eat big, undigestible seeds?”[/color] he inquired upon turning towards the others, lenses very much trained toward their stomachs. [color=#5e332c]“I could not sense them either. Very odd.”[/color]

[colour=fff200]"What enemy?"[/colour] Leon replied almost as soon as it was mentioned, his eyes remained on Yuli. [colour=fff200]"I can understand the decision, it seems she wouldn't survive it either way then. But what are you holding at bay?"[/colour]

Kaureerah tilted her head as well. She had faced something monstrous out in that factory and managed to escape and possibly destroy it through luck and the mixing of large amounts of extremely volatile chemicals. Surely, nothing could've survived that explosion. [color=deb887]"Is there enauther headless?"[/color] she asked, suddenly raising her eyes and becoming intense.

[color=#102a4d]“The last surviving founder of this Forge.”[/color] answered Zuri. [color=#102a4d]“We haven't seen him in generations, but he's the one ...”[/color] Tavin interrupted his search for seeds to interject. [color=#5e332c]“He knows our technology's limits and has been creeping closer. We had to find new solutions.”[/color]

The comment on a 'headless' prompted the couple as well as Maiv in the control room to freeze and stare right at Kaureerah. [color=#b481c7]“Another? Did you mean that big thing without a head?”[/color]

[color=#747d7c]“That would be the Director.”[/color] said Orvil as he found it appropriate to step in from the other room he had been listening from. [color=#747d7c]“Director Makerty. He sacrificed himself to stop our enemy.”[/color]

[color=#102a4d]“What did you mean by another?”[/color] asked Zuri, riddled with concern. [color=#102a4d]“There's only one. And he's only kept at bay because of the dampener.”[/color]

[color=#747d7c]“And now he is as big of a problem as the founder. A short term remedy becoming a long term curse.”[/color] Orvil sighed, seating himself in a corner to not be too intrusive.

Kaureerah blinked. [color=deb887]"Deed he naut die een thet hooge explosion?"[/color] Her eyes darted about. [color=deb887]"Sorely, yoo aull felt it."[/color]

Maybe [i]they[/i] couldn't defeat the founder. But he had a chance, Juulet had an even greater shot if it got between her and the forge. To save Yuli, to gain passage to the forge, it was a necessary risk.

[colour=fff200]"We could only pray that a sunrise would bring them to rest. I will side with what is right."[/colour] He delivered it in a defeated tone as if accepting the hegelan's decision. The phrase about a sunrise would have been meaningless to them, but to the others it said 'I am willing and ready to face whatever comes'.

Xiuyang's body tensed at the mention of the seeds, and relaxed when the subject was changed. It was subtle, but not impossible to notice, especially for Seviin.

[color=slateblue]"Is this founder... the man who speaks from inside the radio?"[/color] she ventured cautiously.

Seviin stiffened as she realized that it must've been. [color=F0FFF0][i]Xiuyang, you sharp little... person.[/i][/color] She leaned in with interest, her piece already having been said by another.

[color=#5e332c]“That was a big explosion.”[/color] emphasized Tavin to his wife.

The woman shook her head. [color=#102a4d]“It's only gotten stronger since our last encounter with it.”[/color]

[color=#b481c7]“Wait.”[/color] interjected Maiv. [color=#b481c7]“You said you blew it up. It was pursuing you. You survived ... Director!”[/color] 

It hit the Forge's leadership figure in that moment. [color=#102a4d]“If it's not dead, it will probably be after the other two. Get in contact with Rurin!”[/color] Zuri rushed off without addressing Xiuyang's question.

But Orvil did. [color=#747d7c]“Proof say yes.”[/color] he said without the translator. [color=#747d7c]“Box. Missai. Old Boss.”[/color]

Tavin continued to scan through everyone's bellies. [color=#5e332c]“That would explain the seed. A new tool, no doubt.”[/color]

[color=deb887]"I... deedn't [i]caunfoorm[/i] anything,"[/color] Kaureerah admitted. [color=deb887]"I waus raunneng foor my life."[/color] she gestured to Yuli. [color=deb887]"end hoors."[/color] She shrugged. [color=deb887]"Though I cen't eemegine [i]enytheng[/i] soorviveng [i]thet[/i]."[/color]

[color=#747d7c]“Can you imagine something living without a head?”[/color] retorted Orvil using the translator.

The current situation the hegelans and others were discussing was beyond his comprehension and thus he only listened. While it annoyed him to no end with how little of the current givings he understood, all he knew was to make sure his friend would be safe. Hearing Leon give up on Yuliya ticked him off. Oh, how he wished to curse him out, even if he knew his conclusion made sense.

Kaureerah shrugged helplessly. [color=deb887]"Es I sed, I cooldn't caunfoorm."[/color] There was a hint of an edge to her voice now. [color=deb887]"baut I em aulso only waun mege, who ees naut very straung, who did naut heve use auf her fool Geeft."[/color]

Tavin prodded further. [color=#5e332c]“So these seeds ... Did you willingly take them?”[/color]

Xiuyang visibly reacted when it was her turn to be scanned by Tavin's device. She looked to Orvil. [color=slateblue]"You believed me when I said he was using us as pawns, right?"[/color] she pleaded, a hint of hesitation still in her voice.

The forgemaster nodded.

Seviin shrugged. [color=F0FFF0]"Then you have your answer."[/color]

[color=slateblue]"We didn't,"[/color] Xiuyang confessed to Tavin. [color=slateblue]"He said we would die without them. I don't know what they do. I don't know what they'll do if you try to remove them. He made it sound like he could use them to do anything he wanted to us if we defied his orders. I just—"[/color] she sobbed. [color=slateblue]"I don't know anything..."[/color]

Xiuyang always relied in her wits to survive when her RAS wasn't enough. She could see the board moving, but the value of the cards was obscured to her. She didn't know anything and couldn't do anything. Her friends were drawn to violence, the default reaction to the unknowable, but this place had taught her that violence was always useless and always punished. Running away had always been the answer until now, there was nowhere to run to. She had nothing and felt like nothing. Where did her friends get their confidence from? Was she pathetic, broken, useless?

She just didn't know anything.

Tavin raised his goggles and caressed his beard. [color=#5e332c]“You are clearly able to use some of your abilities, when the signal should be making it near impossible.”[/color] he remarked, now deep diving into his hypothesis. [color=#5e332c]“Then it would be logical that the one who sent you was truthful. The toxic air and the signal are made to have you slowly succumb to it. And yet, here you are.”[/color]

Then, after a moment of exchange between the scientist and the group - Xiuyang, mostly - an alarmed Maiv spoke through the microphone. [color=#b481c7]“Orvil, you're needed in the first floor, now! Forgemaster Tavin, please get to your panic room!”[/color] the elderly soldier wasted no time and wore his mask mask helm before rushing out. Tavin, worried, addressed the group. 

[color=#5e332c]“S-stay here. Maiv will help. I need to find Zuri.”[/color] with that, he rushed off too, leaving the group alone in the laboratory's infirmary room, surrounded by cupboards and closets, although most seemed locked - barely a hard limiter to those with an ounce of the gift.

It was eerie silent, there wasn't even the constant buzzing from the lights like in the other rooms and halls. At least they could sit and lie down semi-comfortably. But Yuliya was there, dying and not 'cold' like they had proposed.

Yvain stared at the scene and walked over the dying sanguinaire. [color=00e600]"Least you could do was to help keep her cold before leaving."[/color] With what little of his capacity he had, he began to draw the heat from the Vossoriyan, trying to regulate the body's temperature to cool down. 

Even if he wasn't the biggest fan of cryomancy, he knew that among the people, or rather from what he has seen from them, was the most adept in the thermal sub-school.

It was their opportunity. Leon wasted no time once the group was alone in the laboratory. He went to the closed door to sense if any guards remained in the hallway.

There were, in fact, no guards. However, the doors did not open when he got closed, contrasted to their total obedience to every Hegelan that passed through.

He checked around the doors, trying to determine a way to open them.

There was a keypad with ten keys, the bottom one being a 0. He could try his luck in determining the code.

Yuliya's body got colder, but her internal functions hadly changed. She was an icevein, after all. The process was a bit more complicated than just keeping her cold.

[color=#b481c7]“The Director-”[/color] Maiv began. [color=#b481c7]“Our Director, is the granddaughter of the Director outside. He's the real reason we can't just shut it down. If we do, he'll destroy everything.”[/color] there was a brief pause. [color=#b481c7]“Please don't try to escape. I know it isn't convenient but we need to confirm he's dead first.”[/color] 

The eerie silence when Maiv wasn't speaking was deafening to some, but enlightening to others. Kaureerah, in particular, with her fine hearing could pick up on subtler cues. 

There was, in real time, a loud commotion happening just outside the spire, where they had entered the Forge from. Still, even an advanced sonic mage would be hard pressed to detect this when subjected to the dampener. 

The elevator crashing down and causing a loud explosion at the top floor, however, was enough for her identify the threat. Something bad was happening, but it was too far to really get a good idea of what.

[color=#b481c7]“I just lost sight in the main lobby. Uhm ...”[/color]

Xiuyang slumped onto a nearby bench. She'd all but begged them to find a way to free them from the seeds, but there was no urgency for anything except keeping the magic dampener intact, even if what competed for their attention was the chance to make allies toward that end. [color=slateblue]"...What are you doing?"[/color] Xiuyang inquired of Leon idly. [color=slateblue]"Surely not thinking of wasting the only ounce of goodwill I've managed to find in this hell?"[/color]

In his mind it was fifty fifty. On one hand, that Director the hegelans worried about was knocking at the door and causing full alarm. On the other hand, it might be Juulet and the bandage woman with her gun. Of course, he wasn't about to allude to the latter.

[colour=fff200]"You have your magic disruptor up and the old Director seems to be giving you trouble regardless."[/colour] He replied back to Maiv, making no effort hiding that he was looking around for a code for the door. [colour=fff200]"We could help but we're useless like this. You could disable the disruptor and take a chance on us or you could hope that your own forces are enough... But you just lost sight in the main lobby."[/colour]

There was a brief moment of nothing.

[color=#b481c7]“You don't understand.”[/color] spoke Maiv, sounding slightly exerted and nervous. [color=#b481c7]“If we turn off the dampener, the thousands of people he has eaten and turned to more ... Layers.”[/color] Xiuyang in particular could recall the thick layers of fabric around that thing. Fabric full of manas and power, that had recently sucked up the energy from that bizarre terminal. [color=#b481c7]“People, prisoners, even power sources. All in one big body. Imagine, a hundred of you-”[/color] 

Another interruption, along with another 'goat-cock' curse.

[color=#b481c7]“Imagine that, but without a mind to guide it. It will unleash all of its power in an instant.”[/color] she spoke grimly. [color=#b481c7]“It will wipe out the entire city in a flash, as well as the forge. If the core is hit, then the Director's assessment of two-hundred million is ... Conservative. It doesn't consider the poison that will end up in the air.”[/color]

[color=slateblue]"She isn't lying,"[/color] Xiuyang offered. [color=slateblue]"It... stripped bodies of their flesh and added them to itself. Juulet and I already fought it. It was functionally invincible."[/color]

[color=00e600]"Then what if we help with the Director issue? Would there be a chance to help her then?"[/color] He looked rather serious about his question. [color=00e600]"We are not at our strongest but we should be able to be of assistance."[/color]

Leon's face turned learning the reality of it. Yes, he had confidence in his own abilities, but not nearly enough to think he could go toe-to-toe with a one man legion of thousands.

[colour=fff200]"Alright, I'll drop that idea... But we aren't going to be much use stuck in here. You got the code?"[/colour]

Kaureerah stood there, silent as the others talked. As their captors gave reason after reason as to why they should just stay the course and let Yuliya die and probably just die themselves. She strode over to Seviin and got on her tip-toes and whispered something in the yasoi's ear, since she hadn't responded to pinch messages earlier. She had sensed it. She knew it for truth, and it was their only shot.

Seviin straightened. She swallowed uncomfortably. Her eyes went to the door and the siisoi was right: there was no more room for vacillation. [color=F0FFF0][i]I serve life by destroying a place that warps it,[/i][/color] she told herself. [color=F0FFF0]"Father Exiran, empower me,"[/color] she muttered under her breath. Then, louder, she turned to the others.

[color=F0FFF0]"My manas are blessed by the goddess,"[/color] she called out, [color=F0FFF0]"and I have full use of them. To sit idly by is to serve death best by dying meekly."[/color] She stalked towards the door. [color=F0FFF0]"I will not die meekly and I doubt that you wish to either. Whatever may come next between ourselves and our captors, both will die if we do not intervene."[/color] She placed her palm upon the heavy door and it exploded outward in a shower of sparks and debris. If she appeared calm and focused, the fact that she nearly jumped out of her skin at the commotion put the lie to it.

[color=F0FFF0]"You are weaker than I for the time being, so do not act rashly. Do not force me to waste my strength rescuing you, because I will. I serve [i]life[/i]. Stand behind and allow me to be your shield. Act within your abilities and we will decide what comes next."[/color] With that, she strode through into the smoke and alarms.

[color=#b481c7]“I don't even-”[/color] again, Maiv was distracted by something. [color=#b481c7]“Prisoners have entered the Forge. Err, right, right ...”[/color]

In the midst of her panic, Maiv hadn't noticed Seviin actually going through with her ramblings. The door was blasted, the destruction causing a very mild reverberation throughout the giant sphere they were in. 

[color=#b481c7]“Why did you do that?!”[/color] an absurd question. [color=#b481c7]“You don't even know if the Director is even-”[/color]

A perfectly timed interruption had her change her tune.

[color=#b481c7]“Oh fuck, the Director's here.”[/color] she said absently. [color=#b481c7]“OH FUCK, THE DIRECTOR'S HERE!”[/color]

Leon jumped to the side of the door watching it explode. Something Kaureerah had said to the seemingly passive yasoi had her rialled up to an extreme degree. But still, she was moving in the right direction. He shot the songstress an approving smile.

He let the priestess pave the way forward. Seeing her devotion reminded him of that debt, she had saved Kaureerah's life, he could help save hers. While others followed Seviin's lead, he hung back and gathered Xiuyang's attention.

Some time between the moment Xiuyang realized no one was going to listen to her, and Seviin's rousing speech, she'd pulled out the mirror again just to check if she might see someone on the other end. The answer, [i]of course,[/i] was still no.

Slowly, her eyes raised to meet Leon's. [color=slateblue]"Sure. Let's hear it. Whatever pep talk you have in mind, I'll stop listening to the voice of reason in my head for one minute. What's it done for me lately, anyway?"[/color] She laughed absurdly as she stood up from the bench and prepared to follow the group of either damn fools or fearless legends that stood before her.

Leon did not match Xiuyang's laugh and surrender to madness. His tone was serious and direct, he didn't sense ample time. [colour=fff200]"The priestess, she is your friend, no? But she is still Tarlonese, do you trust her?"[/colour]

[color=slateblue]"More than you,"[/color] Xiuyang replied. [color=slateblue]"...With my life, more than anyone,"[/color] she added, as if regretting the bite of her first choice of words.

He got real close, spoke words only she could hear. [colour=fff200]"Between you and me, the bandaged lady has an itchy trigger finger for her."[/colour] Then he stepped back and went to join the others.

For a moment, Xiuyang was left behind, stunned by the admission. Then, she sighed heavily and followed, as if against her better judgment.

THUD,
Something had stuck the outer shell of the spherical building they were in. 

The alarm was activated, lights on the floor guided all toward the exits, though soon some of the horrendous, fabric-wrapped thralls that dive bombed into the Forge would push into these openings in spite of their shattered bones. 

Then, suddenly, Juulet popped in the middle of the group as they prepared to leave. Covered in blood, dust and other, peculiar sludge.

[color=8B008B]“Yo.”[/color] she said, barely balancing herself with her spear. [color=8B008B]“So, uhhh, short people with guns found us. So did head-guy. Turf war ensued aaaaaaaand fuck it all, it's after our asses.”[/color] big shrug. [color=8B008B]“Yeah, I dunno guys, the thing doesn't give a shit how much we punish it. Also why the FUCK is the magic not on?!”[/color]

[colour=fff200]"The whole place blows up if we turn it on."[/colour] Leon walked up to join her. [colour=fff200]"We need to take this thing out before that... and quick."[/colour] He added, thinking about Yuli.

Kaureerah flashed a smile back Leon's way and set about her other task. If the Director was here, then that likely meant Juulet and Pluurii were as well. She scurried over to a closet she had idly opened earlier and grabbed a pair of forearm crutches from it. They were made of a strange lightweight metal and seemed to be adjustable. They were currently on the shortest setting they seemed to have, but she didn't exactly have time to examine them in-depth. [color=deb887][i]Olives and branches.[/i][/color]

She was hurrying through the breach when Juulet appeared. Kaureerah merely arched a brow and tossed her the crutches. [color=deb887]"Cetch, bruja. Be e tripaud egein, end it's because we aull tried taulkeng foorst."[/color] She shrugged. [color=deb887]"Lessaun learned."[/color]

Seviin started when the one-legged yasoi appeared, stumbling back towards Xiuyang, who seemed to have just finished a discussion with Leon, but she could not afford to fall to the middle of the pack. It was her duty to be the shield here. [color=F0FFF0]"Suunei? Can you follow?"[/color] she asked in a softly urgent voice, reaching a hand out. Her eyes cast about, nonetheless, for Pluurii. There was something about the sniper that unnerved her. She wasn't sure what yet, but she reeked of Tarlon, and not in the way that a Chad or a Tyrel might've.

[color=slateblue]"Yes,"[/color] Xiuyang replied, a sense of urgency finally returning to her voice. Whatever Leon had discussed with her must have worked to spur her to action, somehow. [color=slateblue]"I'll be right beside you."[/color]

[color=8B008B]“Oh.”[/color] Juulet nodded. [color=8B008B]“Right. So we're ass-fucked.”[/color] 

A sudden Kaureerah crutches reflex-checked Juulet. Being high off escaping the monster, she'd have what it take to catch them. However, she was having a twitchy addict moment. [color=8B008B]“OW FUCK!”[/color] she screeched, although didn't register it was from the eeaiko. The moment she realized they were crutches, however, she tune changed to perfectly-twitchy normal again. [color=8B008B]“Oh, nice. Grassy-ass.”[/color] tripod Juulet was back and she could follow without too many hitches.

[color=#b481c7]“Wait!”[/color] exclaimed Maiv through the loudspeaker. [color=#b481c7]“... If you do kill the Director, you'll need the keys to the jammer. Some of you come to the control room. Follow the blue lights.”[/color]

The emergency lights on the flooring split off, green ones showing the exits while blue diverged from them. [color=#b481c7]“Doors unlocked too. Hurry! I hear them!”[/color]

No matter how much he tried to help his friend, nothing seemed to show any sign of true effect. It seems resorting to violence was the one and only solution. Violence in a way to protect was his mantra for most of his life, but as of late he had tried the pacifist's route. The diplomatic way out of conflicts. [color=00e600]"Then I guess I should join in the coming struggle."[/color]

He clenched his new sheath. Why was fighting all he was adept at? Thoughts on the upcoming conflict raced through his mind for just a second. Would he be a hero of his people, or would be be a butcher, an executioner? He stood up to abandon his post by Yuliya's side. [color=00e600]"I say we don't delay this any longer."[/color]

Leon was one of the first to branch off. There was little he could do to fight this monster, instead, he would follow the blue lights. He gestured for Kaureerah to join him, but it was half-hearted, knowing her primordial proved useful against the headless earlier.

There was a gamble to be had. A risky one, but if all seemed lost they could do it. Turn the magic back on and pray Juulet could send it to space before it blew.

Seviin shot Xiuyang a quick smile back and moved to shield the others from the approaching threat. Tearing liberally from things that did not appear particularly useful, she began to form barriers and hiding places. She began to warp the floor, to make it sticky in places and impossibly slick in others: small things that would buy them time and protect them. They could use every bit imaginable.

Meanwhile, Kaureerah glanced at Leon as he began to split from the others. She hesitated. [color=deb887]"Leeaun, shoold I stey aur shoold I go?"[/color]

Leon stopped in his stride, turned back to look at her with worried eyes. Something processed through his head, then again as if he didn't like what the answer was the first time around. A subtle gulp of nervousness.

[colour=fff200]"We do this for Yuli. If that thing doesn't die, then its all for nothing. You have the power to change things here, follow your heart, and stay safe."[/colour] He wanted more than anything for her to be safe. But maybe her joining the fight was the best chance they all had, including her. With that, he turned his head back to his task resigning himself to let her choose. Maybe she would join him, maybe she would not.

Kaureerah took a few steps after Leon before pausing. [color=deb887]"You theenk I shoold fight."[/color] She paused for a moment that couldn't have been more than a second or two, but seemed longer, somehow. [color=deb887]"Stey sefe, El Sol."[/color] She winked and took a few steps back. Then she turned, and ran to go join the others.

[colour=fff200]"And to you, La Luna."[/colour] He remarked a parting goodbye, against his heart and desires allowing her to run into danger. There was nothing to be done about it. She was precious to him, but he had to relinquish the need to keep her safe. She was the one who the world needed this time while he sat incapable. He had to shut out the piercing visions of the fog, every thought that screamed at him; he had to trust she would succeed.

[color=8B008B]“Fear not, sunbro.”[/color] Juulet zipped to Leon's side with a big, fat grin on her face. [color=8B008B]“You 'n' I, bucko. I also deserve a break from horrors beyond my comprehension. It's, like, five today at this point.”[/color]

He wasn't so quick to greet Juulet with a beaming smile and hello. [colour=fff200]"Let's hope we don't see any horrors on the way then."[/colour] He quipped somewhat mirthlessly.

The group had split, two to find Yuliya salvation, the rest to confront Halge Larchelon's jailer. The latter group followed the green path until they came across a small handful of crippled but still active thralls with most of their heads mangled and hanging from pieces of meat. The rest of their bodies were wrapped with the same fabric worn by the enforcers, albeit in either red or yellow. The instant they sensed Seviin's use of the gift, they all rushed her down, and consequently those that came with her.

Kaureerah wasted zero time. Catching up, she was already drawing. It wa snothing flashy. It was nothing complex or overpowering: just simple dragon's fyre to burn the poor thralls to cinders. [color=deb887]"I em here,"[/color] she announced, panting from the effort to catch up. She began to imagine something: massive fungal tendrils sprouting from five of the corpses, threading themselves together and growing a mushroomlike head with a dozen black orbs for eyes, and breaking free: a beast of her own.

Yvain's blade set neatly into it's scabbard as he made his way down the halls. His rush forward almost got him hit by one of these thralls. Just as it was about to hit him, he remembered. He remembered the mechanism of this strange scabbard and out of instinct released it. The blade shot out of it's sheath in a rapid motion, nearly being too fast for him to even catch. The swiftness and momentum of the sword's movement sliced through the thrall's arm as if it were butter, making the next slash through it's abdomen harder as it relied on his own strength more.

He stared at the blade, realizing what he was able to do with such speed and precision. [color=00e600]"Oh, good."[/color] He chuckled to himself. [color=00e600]"Why that's very good. Yes, I like that."[/color] 

His blade went back into the scabbard to try it again, now with more of his magical prowess added to it.

Xiuyang hid behind the cover Seviin provided, drawing her twin pistols from under the inferno blanket where they had, somehow, remained unmolested and unconfiscated by the Hegelans. Well, in their defense, who knew how much time had passed since the last time they had to check someone for weapons. Or perhaps she'd seemed so pitiful to them that they didn't see her as a threat. That, too, was a survival strategy of a kind, she supposed.

She fueled her pistols with binding and chemical reactions, firing with precision at the weak scraps and ligaments holding the thralls together. If she missed or didn't hit hard enough the first time, the second shot was always more than enough. At least one head exploded when shot by the second pistol. [color=slateblue]"You're not mad that I told them... almost everything?"[/color] she asked of Seviin during a reload, before going right back to work.

Seviin blinked. Had Xiuyang caved? Had there been a great harm in doing so? It hadn't, truly, even occurred to her. Seviin's goal in going here was twofold: thwart whatever Tarlon was planning, and protect Xiuyang, who appeared to have been guilted into joining in the place of another. She didn't have time to scowl at that, though she might've. 

The tyro priestess shrugged. [color=F0FFF0]"We owe no loyalty to that founder,"[/color] she advised, concentration split between speaking and erecting another barrier. [color=F0FFF0]"You said what you thought you needed to."[/color] She glanced the Revidian's way for a moment. [color=F0FFF0]"I trust you and know you would not speak as freely when it comes to secrets more personal and closely-held."[/color]

That was all that she had time to say. Another thrall came towards her and, in the near distance, there were [i]massive[/i] foreboding noises...

Xiuyang swallowed. She'd like to think that Seviin was right, but was she? If they'd thought to ask her about Seviin and Yuliya, would she have kept quiet? Confinement was one thing, torture another, but losing her free will, becoming an undead puppet forgotten by the gods, being shredded and fed to that monster... this hellish tomb was another level of horror she never wished to experience again.

She decided not to think about what her limits would be. [color=slateblue]"Seviin, I... Thank you. If we make it out of here alive, there's something I need to tell you. And, if I ever find out who sent you here, I'm going to kick their ass."[/color] For now, she took her anger out on the thralls.

Seviin opened her mouth to speak. [color=F0FFF0][i][b]I[/b] sent me here...[/i][/color] However, before she could actually deliver her pronouncement, the Director arrived and they had an entirely new - and deadly - set of problems to deal with.[/color][/hider]