[center][h2][b]Ophelia[/b][/h2][/center]

The journey down was less disorienting for Ophelia on the second time, and her mind was so preoccupied with thoughts of what was to come that the loss of physical space as an anchor only gave her more time to focus. She stumbled terribly when they landed--falling to one knee as she'd not been trying to brace herself for it--and got up in short order with a determination that bordered on the fanatical. It was much different to be aware of Arrayah's distant presence and hear her frenzied chanting before being physically confronted with the immensity of her being, and the weak and drowsy whispers of her blessed blade elucidated the madness that must have coursed through her. She must've been down here for an exceptionally long time, and they'd seen what the Hunger rune had warped Irreverent Izzy into... Arrayah was all that and more, infinitely madder after an infinitely longer period of time... and with a wrathful presence to guide her descent. Ophelia shook herself from thinking about it: there would be time for those thoughts later. For now, there needed to only be the fight.

She did her best to simply look around, letting herself catch Arrayah only in her periphery to avoid suspicion, and at first did not notice the lack of the piercing blue gaze that had haunted her so terribly in her last moments here... but when her bigger eye focused, Ophelia most certainly noticed. Her pulse quickened, her body tensed, and she had to close her eyes for a brief second and exhale sharply through her nose. She clutched the Holy Moonlight Sword tight, and readied herself to dodge... only to find that Arrayah had gone for Farren, and not her. Farren's reactions were superlative, and he sprung to action with a murderous efficiency--Ophelia followed along closely, the time for her feigned inattentiveness over. When he went to parry Ophelia was already prepared, loading a quicksilver bullet into the Holy Moonlight Sword, and her gaze followed along with Arrayah as she went careening into the wall. "Now!" Ophelia said to Torquil, rushing forward into action and firing off a coruscating blast of energy towards Arrayah's humanoid upper half as she ran towards her. She did not quickstep, but kept herself ready to at an instant's notice--this was not about winning. They would only learn what Arrayah could do if they could survive long enough, and she would focus her efforts most keenly on avoiding Arrayah's retaliation once she recovered.