3176/Found (Part II)

Found (Part II)
Date of Scene:	08 October 2015
Location:	A Quiet World
Synopsis:	Chatrinelle and Chatrilaine's memories are restored.
Cast of Characters:	Kotone Yamakawa, Arthur Lowell, Staren, 183, 253, Riva Banari, Ayako Hasekawa

---

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    When the group had left before, they had recently arrived from the war-torn streets of a nameless city into the prestigious home of wealthy noble. There they had found two little girls strongly hinted to be the past selves of Chatrinelle and Chatrilaine just coming inside from playing in the garden. Previously, the group had seen these two cowering near the corpse of their father, so seeing them so hale was a welcome sight -- or it was until the resident butler, breathless, came running down to greet them. He claimed to have come with dire tidings, though after seeing the terrified faces of the girls to tell her what that warning might entail, Mizuki paused time. She said that she was ready to close the book for now, but insisted that those who had accompanied her return on a later date.

    It is now that later date, and Mizuki has made her way into the novelette prematurely. She has progressed up the steps with the butler, holding the hands of both the girls through their advance. The earliest arrivals may begin to join Mizuki, here: it's a spiral stair punctuated at intervals by oval windows with ornate designs to decorate their panes. Doves ascend inside of each aperture with light of a brilliant afternoon sun. Symbols that bespeak some form of religious inclination litter the next several before, at the peak of the walk, one can see clouds parting to allow rays to shine in. These artistic, ornamental additions are a great relief from the subtle cracks in the otherwise plain blue-gray stone of the walls, though they do little to curb the charge in the atmosphere.

    As more and more Multiversals join the scene, they'll likely be surprised to see a man whose aura exudes such tact, such care, such posture running along with such abandon. His brow is covered in sweat, his glasses are off-kilter; he continually stumbles such that, were he not so attentive, he might have fallen forward many times before. Though they have no frame of reference, still would any onlookers get the distinct impression that this is wrong. This scene is a jarring exception to what should have been a peaceful, even joyful day.

    Only once the butler has flung open the doorway at the top of the spiral do the girls finally let go of Mizuki's hands, running after the servant with the same haste. They and all others can easily follow through: in stark defiance of form, the butler has left the door ajar, even allowed it to crack against the stone of the wall in such a way that would have him dismissed from his position in any other circumstances. He nearly trips over himself again as he tears across the long, stretching crimson of the carpet. He finally slows once he reaches the largest opening on the left, turning quickly to enter the bedchamber. The girls, as ever, are not far behind, nor is Mizuki.

    When they enter they will see the woman they had seen in the portrait on the mantle, her body lain within white curtains that obfuscate her form. Only when one grows closer will they see how pale she is, and how motionless. Though her hand is being held carefully, tightly by a distinctly younger man with golden curls and a slim frame, she does not respond. She does not react when he bows his head to her, nor when he cries over her, nor when his body begins to quiver in silence. Likewise, that man does not react when a doctor crashes into the room behind him, and another servant near the entrance somberly shakes her head. Still, the doctor would put his stethoscope to her heart, take her pulse, order the servants to find a mage to assist him.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Thinking better of this himself, the butler who had rushed in with them in the beginning quickly falls to his knees, hugging the girls such as to obscure their vision. He continually runs his gloved hand along their hair, shakily promising that 'it will be alright'. He only remembers to clear the path so that the rest of the group can enter some moments later.

    It seems no one here cares that the new arrivals are strangers to them. They have more important things to concern themselves with.

Staren has posed:
    Staren returns, feeling a bit pensive. Maybe the brief action of seconds wasn't enough to make that much of an impression. Still, he hopes the girls will forgive him.

    Once again he's in his Selendos clothing -- an open white robe over a red tunic and sea-green trousers and leather boots. More suited to the setting. He still has cat ears and tail though...

    Before Staren can ask, though, they're led to... a sick woman. Staren's face falls. Then he looks to Mizuki, leaning in to whisper, "The girls /remembered/ us. Perhaps we can make a larger change to the story? Save her?"

Psyber (253) has posed:
No I can't slow down
I can't hold back
Though you know I wish I could
No there ain't no rest for the wicked
Until we close our eyes for good

    Despite of the events of Sunday, Psyber is here and wearing an iPod at his waist. He's got the earbuds in his ears and a cigarette hanging from one corner of his mouth. Music turned up as it is, it's not hard to overhear the song blaring into his ears as he goes. Whether it's him being dramatic, or him rekindling his flair for style, is left up to debate. Either way, he has set aside whatever was on his mind and arrived here to this particular venue.

    While he wasn't at the first one, owing to personal business he had to attend to, he's shown up for the second. When he arrives, he looks at the clearly Butler-inspired man and half-lids his eyes. He exhales a soft plume of smoke and then sets to following after the young man. Boots fall heavy with each step as he trails after the butler, coming across the scene proper.

    He doesn't have much to say, or rather won't speak to hastily. So instead, he quietly watches the scene to try to appraise precisely what is going on.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako might not have been here when Mizuki and everyone else entered the book the first time, but after hearing about what they witnessed, she wished to come along this time. She arrived in her normal, everyday clothing, although not in the normal fashion. Rather, she emerged out of the fountain and made her way over to the book portal. Quite novel for her, as she hasn't entered a book before. But that was then.

    Ayako curiously joins Mizuki and when the girls and butler begin to hasten their way to the bedchamber, the water spirit follows right after them. Upon seeing how pale the woman is, she acts immediately, running over quickly to the bed and looking her over with the experienced eyes of someone who has been a healer for a very long time. Just what is wrong with her? And... more importantly, what can she do?

    When the doctor stumbles in, she nods her head once to him quickly and firmly. "I'm a healing mage, yes. If I can help, please let me know." Nonetheless, she will try to see what she can find out herself!

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva returns, arriving in her Templar uniform. It seemed more suitable to the setting.

The current critical situation befalling the two girls, however, is something that fills her with something of a sense of dread. Despite this, Riva does her best to try to keep calm. She's on the clock, she can flail later. She follows the group, watching the area as they ascend, making mental notes as she takes in the surroundings almost instinctively. Mizuki's seen Riva sort of 'sample' an area before and try to encapsulate everything in a kind of 'feel'.

A hand brushes near some of the religious iconography as they ascend the stairs, the Templaress watching the procession. "Anything's possible, Staren. But that's not why we're here." Riva points out. "Remember... People generally don't make deals with Mizuki to become a Seeker because their life is happy."

They reach the bedchamber, and Riva steps to one side, studying the event forming up before them. The woman is clearly gravely sick... Or worse. She doesn't know who most of the people here are, so it falls to her to figure things out by context.

She looks to Psyber, frowning to herself for a moment as she considers... something. What is she thinking? That doesn't take long, however, as she looks to Ayako, nodding. "You can do it, Ayako." She offers her support quietly. Ayako is, to her knowledge, the most gifted healer in the group.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki, who had been quietly waiting off to the left side of the entrance, gives a distinctly sullen nod to all those who join her. To Konoe and Psyber who had not joined them previously, though, she gestures for them to join her. "Welcome," Is all she has to say at first. "I... suppose I should clarify exactly what our business here is. Miss Banari, Staren, the rest and I had come here previously to recover memories lost by Miss Chatrinelle, one of my subordinates. As it turns out, though, it seems we're being made to live through those memories rather than to simply retrieve them. Where at first I believed this was a completely unrelated story, I have been proven quite naive. And now..." Mizuki gestures to the woman in the bed. "It seems that someone important to them has just passed away, or is near enough to that point. Though I do not believe any of us know... whom they were, or where we are, quite. These memories are terribly erratic even to me."

    A few moments later, a pair of young women, Chatrilaine and Sutri, step inside the room. The former gives a brief glimpse to the pair of children before giving the brown-haired of their pair a quick brush across their hair. Afterwards she walks over to join Mizuki at the wall, where she also gives Konoe and Psyber a small bow. "It is good of you to come," She says. "I am Chatrilaine. You may remember Chatrinelle, one of the Apostles? I am..." She stops herself. "... perhaps it would be simplest to say I am her sister. Suffice it to say, Psyber," She says, turning to face him more fully, "I remember you even if you do not remember me. As does Chatrinelle. She's quite glad to see you, actually; she says that you make her feel safer. For that reason, I'm quite glad to see you as well. Whatever makes her happy makes me happy."

    "Though yes," She continues, "it is as Mizuki says. We have already lived through two of our memories: those of the time when our hometown was attacked and our parents were killed, and then those of..." She winces. "Of this time." At this point, she clears her throat, speaking such that the rest of the group can hear her. "As I recall, we had been taken in by a kindly old woman who had come to the ruins of our town once she had heard of the attack. She stole us away from that place and gave us a home here. She was already old then, though, and her health had been dwindling for many years. So it was not very many years later when she..." Chatrilaine looks sadly to the bed. "When she finally succumbed."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki looks to Staren a moment. "These..." She pinches the bridge of her nose. "... these are memories. Memories of real events, involving real people, that had -- have -- a real impact on Chatrinelle's and Chatrilaine's minds. However, all that we can change is how they recall these events. If we 'saved' her, then Chatrilaine and Chatrinelle would remember that she had lived rather than died, but..." She shakes her head, facing him more fully. "Do you understand, Staren? This isn't time travel, this is something much... something very different. In all likelihood, these events are millions of years old, and might even have occurred in worlds that aren't encompassed by the Multiverse. Many of my Seekers have come from worlds that never merged. In the end, I do not know what good it would do to save her."

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur ascends the stairs warily. Stairs are dangerous.

    But he follows along, with a calm sort of confidence. He follows pretty wordlessly, and his aggressive swaggering is sort of set to the side, emotionally-speaking. He follows along to the stop of the stairs, still just sort of taking things in. He takes on a bit of a somber expression. "Seems like every time we show up, it's right before something hits this family." He asides, to Mizuki, in as much capacity as she might have stayed behind at the door.

    He makes a vague, plaintive gesture to Staren. "Doesn't matter if it's inevitable or not, Star." He says. "Only two things matter. Making good choices even if it seems like doing good won't matter, and respecting other people." He gestures at Ayako. "She knows what she's doing, I think. Follow her lead." Psyber helps ease his mind a bit, being someone who he trusts and relies on a great deal. Riva, as well, in a more distant sense; getting a bit closer to his side seems to put him subconsciously more at ease. He's going to wait on the 'plot' of the memories to move a bit with the prompting of the others.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa has returned again to see this all through, she didn't like leaving things unfinished, so here she is once more to see thing though she's glad to not be alone though and the new faces here are honestly welcome. After all some of them are far closer to Mizuki than she is..

"They recalled us to be sure but is it a simulation ion that they react in a way they might actually. Either way I'm with Arthur on this doesn't matter if it seems pointles or not."

Staren has posed:
    Staren folds his arms. "I thought maybe this was like an alternate timeline type deal..." He nods to Arthur, "Yeah." He walks over to Ayako, standing next to her. "I'm... not a healer, exactly, but... perhaps I can find a way to help. What, um..." Staren looks from the woman to the doctor. "What's wrong with her?"

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    The moment Ayako chooses to speak to the doctor, she becomes a part of the story as well. Wasting no time, the man waves her over. "Quickly, then, quickly! She barely has a pulse. Can you move her blood manually for me whilst I try to find a way to resuscitate her? If you can keep blood flowing throughout her body, she may have a chance. She may have a chance..." At that, the curly-haired boy holding the old woman's hand jolts from his crouched position.

    "E-Excuse me? You're just going to let this," He looks angrily to Ayako, "this idle stranger tamper with my mother this way? Do you have any sense at all, man? Do you want her to live tainted for the rest of her days? Do you --" The doctor narrows his eyes, giving the boy an incredibly intense glare -- one that immediately stills his tongue. Lowly, the man retorts, "Son, this 'idle stranger' is the only chance we have. If we don't give her a chance, then your mother won't have any more days to live, tainted or otherwise." In that instant, the blond boy jumps out of his seat alltogether. "That isn't your decision to make! This is wrong! I'll report you to the --"

    The servant not currently holding the girls restrains him, giving Ayako a meaningful nod. The doctor does likewise. "Please," The latter murmurs.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    There's a long moment where Psyber looks at Chatrilaine and Sutri, as if gauging how to react. He knows that the Apostles generally have a positive impression of him, save for Sutri and Lillian, both of whom have overtly expressed a dislike of him. One of whom is here right now! Psyber remains silent for a moment longer.

    When he speaks, though, it's in a relaxed tone, "Chatrilaine. Nice to meet you again, or more formerly, as the case may be. Sutri, you look well," He states the second part in a gruff tone, exhaling a bit of smoke and nodding to them, "If my presence helps, I'm glad to be here. And to help an way I can. I'm just a detective and a fighter, but I'll pitch in on whatever you need," He states with a slightly hesitant tone, taking another drag from the cigarette.

    He doesn't notice the reaction of Riva to his presence, nor the strange looks he gives him. His gaze turns sideways to Arthur, whereupon he delivers the Space Mage a suitable COOL GUY THUMBS UP as if to affirm that it is, in fact, Psyber present and operating normally. Or at least, to give that impression.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Soon, the brown-haired girl breaks out of the servant's embrace. Though he clambers to regain his hold on her, his initial swipe fails, and he thinks better of trying again: better to keep hold of the one he still has than to lose both. So he only tightens his grip on the red-haired girl, averting his own gaze from the bed to focus on her. Meanwhile, the brown-haired girl looks on after the curly-haired boy's rage in horror, eventually meandering to Riva once she's had enough. Frantically, she asks her, "It's... all going to be okay, right? You all are going to fix everything like you did before, right? Save us? Save mom?" She falls her fists. "Please, say you will. Please..." Her eyes well up. "I don't want to lose my mom again... I don't... Sara doesn't either."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Chatrilaine looks to Psyber again, taking a deep breath. "I don't know what it is," She says, "but I get a very bad feeling about the next memory. Even worse than the feeling I had about this one when we first came in. I think that one may be the end. If it is," She averts her gaze momentarily, "then we very well may need a fighter. I don't know how this tale ends yet, but I do know that I did not survive until adulthood. So if the last memory is the final one, then it will likely be as violent as the first."

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako blinks her eyes slowly and then nods her head once. "I could do that. She would have to drink a drop of water for me to do it, but yes." She shakes her head slowly, "It might help me find out what's wrong with her as well. Only with your permission, of course."

    Once the 'Please.' comes, she nods her head once and gently opens the pale woman's mouth with her hands. Her pointer fingers come together and a drop of water from each, one with a red tinge and one with a purple tinge mix together and fall into her open mouth. Ayako's eyes unfocus for a moment as she concentrates on the task at hand. They soon regain their focus once she starts keeping the blood flowing through the woman's body. At the same time, she observes from the inside. What is going on to cause this?

Staren has posed:
    "Do you want her to /have/ a 'rest of her days', or would you prefer this be her last?" Staren narrows his eyes at the young man while he waits for the doctor's explanation of what happened to her.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Poison.

    Almost as soon as Ayako's droplets enter the woman's body, she can sense this: the woman has been poisoned, and it's paralyzed her heart. It seems as though she could easily remove it, but this also raises the question of who, exactly, poisoned her. Who in this room would commit foul play? There's the obvious choice, of course, but could it have been someone else?

    Regardless, it likely won't be Ayako who solves that riddle; she has to keep her attentions on the woman for the time being. It will take a while to flush all of the poison out of her system, and even then she'll likely have to keep her blood pumping while the heart regains its natural functions. Luckily, though, many of the group are versed in sleuthing. She just needs to relay the information...

Riva Banari has posed:
Arthur's presence gives Riva stability too. No one can get through something like this by themselves. That might be part of why the Book of Heaven was so insidious for those trapped inside, on reflection. You need multiple perspectives in order to stay grounded. She takes a couple steps to one side, repositioning as the son begins objecting, and she gives Arthur a quick squeeze on the shoulder as she passes. Just a gesture of support, as she moves to similarly put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Please, listen. We are going to do everything we can to help. We do not mean any harm to you or your family. Take a deep breath, okay? You're going to need to decide what is more important to you: The life of your mother, or whatever creed it is that you follow. Choose well. It's what you're going to carry with you for the rest of your life."

When the brown-haired girl approaches, Riva hunches down and gives her a hug. "We're going to do everything we can to help." She promises the girl. "It will be all right." She holds the girl close, trying to console her with her presence as the others do their work.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "You did not survive, and yet you are here?" Psyber asks to Chatrilaine, not quite understanding the way it all works. He tilts his head a bit and seems to narrow his eyes, "Pardon me for not understanding the full... way this all works," He asks to her, scratching the side of his head as he drops the cigarette and snuffs it out, "Can you be saved, or are you a temporary fixture?"

    "Either way, if a fighter is needed, I will gladly supply."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is unable to get blood after all she has none in the context og being the clockwork construct whose form she's taken once more, looking clearly doll like and dressed like she fell out of a steampunk novel. She cringes at the whole medial bit she can't help but think of her own origins but she's not a heler she looks to Psyber as he speaks of his unease. She then listens to what Ayako has to say., she waits on Ayako and what she might uncover.

To say Kotone seems unsettled is a lie this hits very too close to home. She looks as Riva speaks up, she would too but she feels it might be best to remain quiet for the moment.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    "We become Seekers after death," Chatrilaine answers Psyber. "In other words, no Seekers live until maturity. Most of them are killed in their childhood, after which Mizuki interrupts whatever local cycle affects souls to 'retrieve' us, and to give us our Choice. She releases us back to that cycle if we aren't interested, but if we elect to stay with her instead, a few things happen. One, we adopt a new name that serves as proof of our contract with her. Two, we gain a scythe. This scythe can function as a weapon or something entirely different, but all of them are imbued with our desire to live. Our reason to continue on affects whatever 'gimmick' our powers eventually have. Then we join her in the Quiet World and we're allowed to do whatever we choose unless some extreme circumstances arise."

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako blinks her eyes quickly. "A-ah? This... this is poison!" She shakes her head quickly and cups her hands in front of herself. "Healing Water..." And an indigo Healing Water fills her hands. She swiftly pulls apart the liquid mass as if it were a bread roll and drops one of the ten small drops into the woman's mouth. "I can neutralize it, but... still... who would poison her?"

    She still has to concentrate, though! Dosing indigo healing water with someone so throughly poisoned has to be timed right, not to mention she has to keep her blood flowing well. Another indigo drop is guided into the woman's mouth.

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks at Ayako. "You can tell that just from... whatever you just did?" Staren looks at the young man. "Well, there does seem to be only one person here who /wants/ her dead... but that's not conclusive. Can you... extract the poison for study, Ayako?"

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    The boy struggles at first when Riva puts her hand on his shoulder, his face contorting in such a way that might nonverbally communicate a haughty iteration of the phrase 'unhand me'. When he sees the look on the brown-haired girl's face, though, and then looks back to see Riva's eyes bearing into him, he relents. He allows a sigh to escape his mouth, and he nods. "... very... very well. You have the right of it. Whatever you do to my mother... can be cleansed. Through prayer, through confession, something -- but I can not believe that Concordia would allow such a devoted one of her children to leave this world if she could be saved." He nods his head several more times, falling quiet. He briefly raises his eyes to Staren's, too, though he doesn't say anything.

    For what it's worth, he looks contrite now. Seems seeing the brown-haired girl like that really shook him. That said, hearing that she was -poisoned- shakes him even more. "P-Poison? What? You must be mad! No one in their right mind would want mother to die!" Looking to Staren more fiercely now, he seems ready to yell... but he takes a deep breath instead, closing his eyes. "Think of me what you will," He says, "but I would never on my life harm my mother. Do not confuse faith with ill-intent."

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako blinks her eyes quickly at Staren's request. "E... ex... ex-extract? I... what?" Another indigo drop goes in. She inclines her head upwards as she thinks to herself for a moment. "I... no one ever asked me to do something like that before..." Her eyes close as she puffs her cheeks out in a pout. "Uuu... you sure know how to make life hard on me... getting a bit of the poison out while trying to neutralize it..."

    A few moments after... "I'll try." Drop number four goes in as Ayako tries to gather a drop of the poison for Staren to look at. This is new to her, so... she doesn't know if she can do it or not!

Psyber (253) has posed:
    The half-angel's face goes somewhat placid and unexpressive as she explains the origin of her nature as a Seeker. The half-angel seems to ponder over the situation, make a judgment, and then promptly decline to voice that, "I see. And how do you feel about that arrangement?" He inquires to the girl idly, simply electing to smoke for now and wait for the story to progress itself.

Staren has posed:
    When the boy points out that noone in their right mind would want mother to die, Staren just stares back at him. "That's what I'd have thought, anyway. I hope you remember that in the future."

    Staren looks back to Ayako and nods. "Well... right now it's our only clue to who the killer might be."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki looks to Riva and Psyber, chiefly, when Ayako mentions poison. "I know not whether the culprit is actually in this room," She says, "but Knox's Decalogue of Detective Fiction would posit that any good mystery is one where the the perpetrator is a character that has already been introduced -- one that has been known since before the mystery itself arose. Given that, if this is indeed a good story, then the evildoer must be one of those inside this room. We know it cannot be anyone outside of the story, and so we are left with two servants, a doctor who took an oath, and an ill-tempered boy. Given that Knox's Decalogue also states that a good mystery is not one where a servant is the culprit," She looks to the blond boy, "then I would say that we do not have many other choices."

    At Mizuki's glare, the boy shakes his head fervently again. "I-It was not I! How could I have? My own mother! Concordia's Commandments say that we are to -respect- our parents! How could I swear by faith if I were already in contempt of that faith when I did so?" He struggles again against the hold of the servant. "P-Please! You must believe me, the evil lies elsewhere!"

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur gives his own COOL DUDE thumbs up back to Psyber, in response to his previous one. He gets to frowning now. Looks like a whodunnit of a sort. He shakes his head... "Alright." He says. "Motivation and the circumstances of right now aren't gonna be a help. I'm just gonna keep some faith in you guys." He looks out on the whole family, the children, the boy, the butler, with a soft smile. "Hey, guys. When did she start feeling more down this way? Sometime recently? What's she been doing all day? All we know's that she's got some toxins in her. We don't know if it was just recent, we don't know if it was even on purpose. Let's just figure out what we know, and not fill in any blanks 'till we know the borders of 'em."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    It's difficult, but Ayako will likely be able to carry along a bit of the poison as she improves the blood flow. Doing so, she could likely make a small glob of the stuff congeal, after which she might be able to reverse the flow of the blood to retrieve a fairly large sample of the poison. The process may be a bit messy in its execution, but it -should- be possible.

    Still, do they actually have something with which they -could- analyze the poison? It's unlikely that forensic technology exists in this world, and even less likely that any such things exist in an isolated manor of all places. Regardless, Staren will likely have his sample shortly.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber looks over to Mizuki, "You're overlooking a suspect," Psyber says to the author in a very bland tone. It's not one that's condescending, so much as informative, "There is someone in this room who had the most to gain by seeing that the woman did not grow older and succumb to a death through age," Psyber notes as his eyes slowly shut.

    "The alternate suspect, besides the boy, is the woman herself. The possibility she poisoned herself to avoid the hazards of growing much older, or for some other motive, and had we not been here it would have looked like a natural death."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    The curly-haired boy seems to have finally calmed down, so the kind-faced woman who had been holding him until now finally releases him. Afterwards, she gives Arthur an answer: "The missus has always been somewhat fragile. As I here, this has been true since long before I came to work here. That said, her condition had been stable up until... up until moments before you all joined us here, really. It was awfully sudden. She was just drinking her morning tea, having her breakfast, then suddenly..." Then the girl's eyes shoot open. "-- oh! Speaking of that!" The woman kneels down. Apparently, the aforementioned breakfast tray is still there, though its contents are in shambles. Tea has spilled all over the carpet, but there seems to be a bit left in the cup. "Here," She says. "Perhaps rifling through this may help you. Perhaps you'll be able to find poison in one of these things since she took ill so soon after eating...?"

    The butler, the doctor, and the curly-haired man have no more to say for the moment.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    The blond-haired boy sneers at Psyber. "She would never do such a thing," He retorts with a shake of his head. "Not when she might've known something like this could happen. Not when she had those girls to look after." The brunette girl, likely still with Riva, actually adds her own voice to help substantiate that claim. "Y-Yeah. Mom was a happy person, and she always has been. I don't... I don't think she would do something like that."

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Another drop. That's half of them. "Hmm... The poison's neutralized now. Working on healing anything nasty the poison might have done now." Ayako nods her head once... and then reaches into the woman's mouth with her pointer finger and thumb. "Here Staren... I don't know what you're going to do with it, but... here."

    Ayako holds out a bead of water encasing a drop of the poison she extracted from the woman's blood pinched in between her finger and thumb.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "Alright. That's a start. It might have been in the tea. But I guess we don't know. Can someone please give it a look?" He takes the tray and hands the cup off to anyone who looks like they'll be able to analyze things like this. Staren? Who knows, whoever. Arthur is notably in a much more gentle tone of voice right now. Those kids are stressed out, and he's not about to mix up their emotional states with a lot of EMPHATIC NOISES. Seems like he really has a soft spot for situations like this.

    He combs through the tray, mashing the interact button on whatever he can see on it. Let's check what was all around it. "Anything special she had today particularly?" He asks, curiously, while he combs through the tray's other contents. "Seems like the kinda lady who wouldn't have people grudging her. Before we start thinking about motive, I wanna start thinking about accidents. Mistakes, slipups."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
There's a whole lot of information flying about fro,m the nature of what happened, she tilts her head for a moment at the mention of the bit about Seekers. She frowns at this but thena gain Mizuki did let them go if they said no right? Still it's a sad thing to know all the seekers had their lives cut short.

The tale plays out before her and she thinks they have to look into things now ith the posion. She gets the idea whoever did it is in this room yet Arthur's going to go out and see what's going on. She too seems of the same idea as moves out much like Arthur to see what she can dig up about what's happened here.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva looks to Psyber, Staren, and Arthur. When it comes to a whodunit, Riva couldn't really ask for better people to be on hand. They are already asking any questions and more she could have asked, so Riva spends her time paying attention to the people in the room. The girl in her arms, especially, because the stress of it being revealed that it is not merely sickness, but (maybe attempted) murder is exceptionally unpleasant and stressful even for adults. "Murder by narrative rules..." Riva comments to herself quietly, and simply shakes her head, giving the girl another hug. "Everything will work out. We'll find out what happened." Riva assures her, even if she doesn't quiiiite feel so confident herself.

Staren has posed:
    Staren looks at the boy. "While I may not have a high opinion of faith that demands letting loved ones die... my desire for the truth outweighs that. We'll find out who did it." Staren looks from Ayako, to the tea tray. "Can you tell if there is poison there? Or would that be spreading yourself too thin? I just need you to keep that bead a moment longer..." Staren reaches into his bag, pulls out a pair of gloves, and slips them onto his hands. Black cloth, with clear crystal ornamentation set on the back. He extends his right hand and prods the bead. The gloves pick up psychic impressions. This is kind of a weird situation -- trying it on poison that was inside someone -- but it's worth a shot at least!

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    The doctor, the young man, and the servant girl all look to one another at the mention of slipups. The doctor shakes his head, but the maid eventually speaks. "Please," She says, "we must tell them everything that we know. Her life is at stake. If someone sought to punish her, then they will succeed besides if we do not find the answer." She looks to him seriously. "Please." The doctor sighs, rubbing his forehead. "Fine," He says. "And I shall say it. I do not want your future tarnished because you were accused of slander." The curly-haired boy eyes them both frantically. "S-Slander? What on Earth are you talking about?" After a pause, he demands, "Speak!" After one more look between them, the maid nods to the doctor, and the latter begins to speak.

    "She's notorious for smuggling food to people affected by the war," He says. "People from the cities that were conquered during the war are considered tainted and subhuman, but she's been sending any of her servants that agreed to do so to occupied territory as a sort of relief effort. Moreover, she's notorious for letting even more of those people work for her. That alone was enough to rile the local clergy, but she's also one of the few nobles who have had the guts to speak out against the actions the Theocracy took during the war. If you put all that together, it's not so hard to think that they might've sent somebody to cull her."

    The curly-haired boy looks dumbfounded. "... a-and she... and she never thought to tell me?" He slumps to his knees. "Oh, mother..."

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako shakes her head. "Normally, I could do it, however... I'm busy right now... it might look like I'm doing this effortlessly, but... it's actually pretty difficult!" She drips another drop. She will hold onto that poison drop, though-and make sure not to accidentally confuse it with the antidote indigo drops!

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber continues to smoke as he's sneered at, looking down at the boy, "You know, in my day, someone spoke like that to an elder they got five across the eyes. You're lucky I'm a much more patient man," Psyber places his hands in his pockets.

    Other people are handling motive, Psyber furrows his brow a bit and thinks. What would the murder weapon be. In order for it to have happened, even in her breakfast, the culprit would want to be gone or obscure their suspicion by the time she fell ill.

    He looks to the butler, "Has she recently restocked the tea leaves she uses to drink with her breakfast? Or has she been gifted any new sorts of leaves in recent history. If it were a poison meant to build up in her before suddenly making her ill, ingesting it every morning with tea would work well."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    The maid looks to Arthur, briefly. "Sorry to gloss over your question like that," She says, "but I... I don't think this was an accident. We definitely don't keep poison anywhere near our ingredients. Considering that insect repellents are mostly applied through spells these days, I doubt that there would even be any in the house unless someone brought it in from the outside. So I don't think this -could- be an accident."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    The maid looks to Psyber, blinking. "N-Not that I'm aware of, although... although there was someone, one of the cooks, who said someone had given him a 'special new tea blend'. It's against policy, but he kept it because it was going to save him a trip to the store." She sighs. "But I don't think he's here right now -- the cook lives locally, so he goes home in the evenings. I'm sorry."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Staren does indeed receive a vision following a sudden, painful twinge at his left temple: he sees a muddy figure - one that he can't quite discern - holding a knife to the red-haired girl's throat. She claws desperately against their arm, but no matter their writhing they can't seem to break free.

    Nothing else comes, for now.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber nods his head, "It's possible she was poisoned slowly through her tea," Psyber theorizes, rubbing a hand under his chin and considering it, "But without him here, the only way to verify is to check all of her tea or to ask him personally. Vexing," The half-angel notes. And then he abruptly realizes that he's making this way harder than he has to.

    Taking a fork out of a pocket on his jacket, Psyber decides to cut out the guesswork. he starts picking pieces of various parts of the breakfast off the floor with that fork and taking a bite, manually testing for poisons. He finally dips a finger in the tea cup and puts it in his mouth to taste. He'll know poison if it goes in his system, but he won't be threatened by it.

Staren has posed:
    "Nnngh!" Staren winces and holds his free hand to his head. "It was..." He moves a hand towards pointing at Past Chatrilaine, then realizes that might give the impression and drops it. He pulls a vial from his bag and collects the poison, to relieve Ayako, stoppering it and putting it in his bag for now. "It is the one who attempted to kill Chatrilaine. Held a knife to her throat..." He looks to Sara expectantly. And watches the butler out of the corner of his eye. Narrative rules... this is a /memory/, not a story. Reality, whatever reality it may have been, however far away, cares not for narrative rules.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Psyber tastes, and surely enough the danger lies within what little remains of the tea. It's telling how much of the stuff remains when there is so little tea left in the cup -- it's as though the whole thing had been laced with whatever harmed this poor woman. At least he can be sure, now, that whatever it was came in her breakfast... but there's so much that this might not even have been a gradual killing. It's more likely that, given her already poor health, this was simply a quick one-two; this seems even more likely knowing that she seemed to have a heart attack after the meal.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    As soon as the poison enters his system and tries to damage him, it's purged out by the conceptual template resetting itself. The half-angel squints a bit and then says, "Mn. Definitely poisoned tea. Not gradual, either. They dumped it all in as it was getting made," Psyber muses on it, looking immediately towards the butler, "Who made her tea this morning? Who brought it to her?"

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    "I brought it to her," The maid quickly responds. "A-Ah, and... and the servants make the missus breakfast whilst the cook is away. I can't believe I forgot to tell you as much sooner..." She bows deeply. "I'm sorry."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Chatrilaine cants her head at Staren. "Attempted to kill me? But --" She blinks. "Ah. You mean..." She looks to 'Sara', her younger counterpart. She's still in the arms of the butler and has only recently emerged from his embrace to get a better picture of what's going on around her. She looks to Chatrilaine with some confusion. "I'm sorry to ask such a strange question," She says, kneeling down to her, "but we would like to know: has anyone here tried to hurt you before? Has anyone threatened you before?" Her younger self shakes her head back and forth in contemplation. "N-No... I don't think so." Chatrilaine sighs, standing again to regard Staren. She shakes her head negatively.

    It seems it wasn't a past event after all, which means...

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako finishes dropping the last of the indigo drops into the woman's mouth and then smiles softly. "She should be okay now..." She smiles gently at the children... and then curiously listens.

    Still, she stays close to the woman. After all, the poisoner might still be around. And might try a more... direct approach now that the poison is neutralized... not to mention that everyone's detective skills seem to be getting close to narrowing down the suspect. She quietly readies a barrier, just in case.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Outside of the room, there isn't much for Kotone to see. It seems most of the servants are on different floors tending to other chores -- cleaning is probably standard morning procedure after breakfast is served, and in such a large house it would make sense that not all the workers have been made aware of the mistress's illness yet. Consequently, there's not a lot to find here and she likely won't know what to look for unless she tries to glean more information, more leads from those already in the room behind her. She -could- go and try to make contact with the chef -- he was the one who took the new tea blend, he might be able to tell her who gave it to him -- but that said, he's in another house. It'll probably be a bit of a walk, and she might risk getting left behind.

    All in all, there's not a lot to find outside of the room, and going further might not be the best idea.

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks. "Huh?" He looks between Chatrilaine and Sara. "Then... is there someone who /wants/ to kill you? ...Ugh, we're back at square one!"

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Suddenly, it happens.

    Staren's vision comes to life. A loud noise sounds from the corner of the room -- the sound of the butler's elbow hitting the side of the wall. With his earlier look of terror utterly evaporated in favor of one eerily austere, he pulls a knife on Sara, restraining her with the opposite arm. "That's enough," He says, calmly. "I'll end this whole charade sooner rather than later. I will allow her to live, and you all to go free of prosecution, but you will allow me to report back to the clergy. Otherwise," He says, twisting his knife, bringing it closer to the flesh on Sara's neck, "I'll kill her." The blond-haired boy's eyes shoot open. The maid recoils, covering her mouth with her hand. The doctor takes a deep breath.

    "You CAD!" The curly-haired boy hits his fist against the wall in abject anger. "You threatened my mother's life and you have the -gall- to demand anything of us? Fool! -Heathen-! Worst still, a heathen who would profess to do justice! You have no right to live, to breathe! Die where you stand!" He lunges forward at the servant. The maid attempts to grab him again, to keep him from putting himself in harm's way, but this time she fails. The butler raises his left palm, loosing a bolt of fire that sets his body aflame. The boy then falls flat, screaming in agony.

    Without any further words, the butler begins to inch toward the door. "Let me go," He says, "Unless you would like her to meet the same fate."

Staren has posed:
    Staren doesn't wait, or think, he reacts. The moment the butler pulls the knife, he draws his laser pistol and fires at the butler's head.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    It all just happened so fast. The moment she heard the loud noise, she knew something was about to happen. Of course. It was the butler. It's always the butler. It's a cliche because it's true, of course. Ayako can't do anything. Right now, all she can do is stay in between the woman and the butler, ready to create a barrier in case he tries to finish the botched job. She can't do anything about the knife by Sara's neck.

    When the boy rushes the butler her eyes widen. Is Sara's neck about to be cut? No, the butler had a fire spell readied. She quickly flings a ball of purple healing water at him to both put out the fire and heal him. But other than that... she can only really watch.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "You know I can't let you walk out of here with the girl. You leave the girl, we'll talk about it," Psyber says firmly, pointing a gun right at the butler, "You've got two attempted Murders on your hands, possibly a third. You take a hostage, you're not wa-"

    The half-angel is cut off by Staren opening fire with a laser gun at the guy taking a hostage. Psyber's avenues of action immediately become severely narrowed. He moves almost instantly, his superhuman physiology kicking into high gear. He might not be able to outrun light, but he CAN outrun the average reaction speed of a human if he really pushes it in tight quarters.

    So rather than attack the butler, Psyber is almost flickering towards him in a burst of speed, hand coming out and... right for Sara's throat. Psyber's entire hand wraps around it and grips. Not hard enough to choke her, but hard enough to be really hard to remove.

    It also means that for the butler to cut her neck, he's going to have to saw through Psyber's hand or hit something less vital for Sara.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is looking about outside she doesn't find too much she gets the whole bit about cleaning early. There's a lot of work and not many of them would know about it. She doesn't find much, but she still had to check after she finishe up there with a few brief converstation. She could go find the chef but she's not sure if there's enough time. She turned about as she comes back right in the middle of all the chaos.

The Reveal comes as she arrives back with the group and the Butler did it? If this were fiction it would be very cliche but this was real, very real once.

She sees Staren open fire, she's going to move in but Psyber is faster she does however move to cut off one means of escape using her body the machine doll is 'not' happy with this at all.

Riva Banari has posed:
The slam of the elbow causes Riva to start. She wasn't expecting this! But then... "I thought it wasn't supposed to be the butler..." Riva says in shock, immediately moving to protect her young associate. "Look, don't panic, we can talk abo-"

And then Staren shoots. "FFFFFFFFFFudge!" She grimaces.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "Holy shit, are you fuckin' /jokin'/?!" Arthur speaks up, in a stressed, strained voice. Psyber's got Guardian duty covered. Kotone has escape covered. "Christ, did you /really/ just..." He starts, then swears. He doesn't have time to yell about poor choices. That's one child he can't help, but the other one, he can.

    The brown-haired child is the one he goes after now, the younger self of... Chatrinelle, correct? He doesn't have time to think about it. All he knows is that he immediately swoops to grab her, and with Kotone blocking the door only for the butler, he goes to move in behind her, holding the child in his arms. "Everything's gonna be fine, everything's gonna be fine." He mutters, in as calm a voice as he can muster, trying to make sure another errant fireball doesn't cause some horrible brutality... And trying to make sure that one doesn't get to see the other get their throat torn open.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    The butler sees the gun raise.

        In an instant, he pulls the knife.

    In that same instant, Psyber lunges forward.

    Psyber's arm comes a second too late, but also at just the right moment: he quite literally punches the butler's arm forward, causing the stroke to miss the jugular. Instead, the knife scrapes across the girl's neck, leaving a bloody mark there only just superficial enough to not be fatal. The gunshot sparks against the butler's head at the same instant, and searing flecks shed off on Psyber, then on to Sara. In the end, Sara is left with two painful scratches on her neck, cheek, and shoulder, Psyber is left with burns from the shot of the laser pistol, but mercifully, the butler lies motionless. Sara desperately grips at her neck before her body is caught underneath the Butler's now lifeless corpse.

    The brown-haired girl tears away from Riva, and is only stopped from walking into the line of fire by Arthur. The moment he lets her go, though, she starts madly attempting to lift the body of the butler. "S-Sara? Sara??" She doesn't have the strength to lift the body, and it's obvious. The doctor and the maid come over to help her, though, freeing the red-haired girl and allowing the brown-haired one to embrace her. When the maid sees the wound, though, her hand raises to her mouth again in surprise. "Doctor --!" He drops to the floor, opening a brown leather bag. "I know." He quickly breaks out antiseptics and other instruments, laying them out before he lays Sara down, getting to work on the wounds. Meanwhile, the golden-haired boy, now clad in tattered clothes and rather horrific burns across most of his body, curls up against a corner of the wall. His flesh is a patchwork of pink skin and skin that has begun to burn and peel away, but he was at least spared greater pain - even death - by Ayako's healing water.

    For her part, Sara is visibly shaken, though she manages to croak out the name of the brown-haired girl in her stupor. "C-Claire," She says, before the doctor gingerly presses a finger to her mouth. "Shhh," He says, "don't talk now." If she strains the muscles at her throat, she might actually worsen the damage dealt by the knife. Speaking of, the 'present' Chatrilaine suddenly falls on bended knee, herself suddenly grasping at her throat. When she removes her hand, a scar appears there. She looks to Mizuki before the dream witch swiftly clarifies, "This is a dream that only impacts memory of those associated with it, but then Seekers' existences are culminations of their thoughts." Mizuki says no more afterwards, instead walking over to the now-inert body of the butler.

    She searches around his body briefly before she finds a silver insignia -- a badge -- on the floor. From its corrugated edges reverberate the same aura that emanated from the jar in the ruined city. This is likely the item that will advance the group to the next, last part of the story. Mizuki leaves it be for now, but does remind people: "When you all are ready to advance, tell me, and I shall touch this item here. It will then move us to the final part of this journey."

    She seems surprisingly unconcerned about all that's transpired.

Staren has posed:
    The butler falls. Sara is not mortally wounded. The boy might be, but whatever happened wasn't immediately fatal. NOW Staren has a moment to think things through. The snap decision he made, that they could have saved Sara from a neck wound with the people and powers and resources here, seems solid, at least within the framework of thinking of this as real instead of a story. ...Yeah, it still seems like a solid course of action to him. Everyone lived. Staren lowers his pistol, then holsters it.

    The catboy looks at Chatrinelle in concern. She has a scar now? Mizuki's explanation makes sense... he nods to that, then gives Chatrinelle a sort of... half-apologetic look? He's still reasonably sure he did the right thing. He kneels by the boy. "Ayako, can you heal him too, or is that stretching your powers too thin? He starts rifling through his things. But he does not have /that/ large of a supply of healing nanites on him, to fix burns this extensive.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako runs over to Sara quickly the moment the butler drops to the ground. Her neck got cut! Her neck got cut! She swiftly throws a ball of purple healing water towards her neck to heal her and, oh thank goodness it wasn't a deep cut. If it was a deep cut, nothing short of... that would have saved her. And... wait!

    Staren doesn't have to ask twice. Ayako runs over to the boy and begins dousing him with purple and red healing water. She's really too busy to focus on what's going on with Chatrinelle!

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber withdraws his hand away from the girl's throat after the butler falls over and he takes a grazing laser shot across the back of it. He lets out a wince of pain, both from that and the cut of the butler's blade from where it didn't catch the neck. He pulls back a few steps to clear away from the girl and reach into the pocket of his coat.

    He pulls out a roll of bandage that he boredly begins wrapping the injured hand up in for the moment. Not because it hurts, but to spare people the sight of how his regen works when it actually has to heal a moderate injury. He does all this with an almost bored or tired look on his face before placing the roll of bandage back into his jacket and taking out his pack of cigarettes.

    A Lucky Strike is stuck in his mouth and promptly lit as he heads over towards Mizuki and Chatrilaine, "I am ready to proceed." He says to them before looking over to the one who is newly scarred, "Are you going to be okay?"

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur lets Claire do what she needs to do, letting her go once it's clear -- ABSOLUTELY clear -- that both children are going to survive. He stands up, rubbing his forehead, muttering awkwardly. "Seems we only show up when something awful's about to happen. I'm sorry about this, kids. Really." He says. He also... Makes sure to get between them and that corpse. The corpse, of course, has him in an awful state, as corpses often do, but he does his best to stick to the more stable, tender tones he's accustomed to using for miserable children.

    "Ergh... Yeah, I think we oughta go, Mimi. Move on from here. Seems like these two need their alone time. I hope the old lady pulls through this..." He mutters that last bit more to himself than anyone else.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako sighs softly and smiles gently at both the boy and Sara once they are healed to her satisfaction. "I'm sorry I can only heal. Not prevent such... things from happening..." She bows apologetically towards the both of them.

    Ayako then walks over to Mizuki and curiously looks down at the badge with its... odd aura. "Un. I think I'm ready to go on now." From how things have been going, she prepares to make a barrier-from what Arthur has said, odds are there's going to be trouble again the moment Mizuki touches that badge!

Riva Banari has posed:
Everything falls apart. Riva's expression is glum as, within seconds, everything ends up... well, maybe the best it could be. Maybe not.

'The best' is something that just comes back to bite you in your memories. Riva sighs, and looks back to Arthur and Claire, nodding to him and then going to them both. She kneels next to the little girls again and nods. "We're going to have to go now. I'm sorry that we can't stay longer. I just hope that next time we see each other, everything will be better."

Riva then gives the girls another hug, the wounded one of course being far more gentle, before she stands up and gives Arthur another supportive squeeze on the shoulder.

Even though she, too, is steadfastly not looking at the corpse. It's not like the malformed zombie horrors she has to deal with elsewhere. It's worse when it was... a person.

She nods to Mizuki. "Ready when you are."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa had blocked th way but it's just too late for her to act even her mechanica body has limits. She can only watch get out of the way and does what she can to help. She knows too many cooks she sstand back she looks quite sad but there's not much she can do save do what she can. She gets this is a memory and they can't really change much yet she's now more keeping guard should anything else happen. She frons a b it more as she takes a deepbreath. The past is hard she has terrible memories of her own but who would she be without them?

"I don't think there's much more we can do here, I agree we may be best served by moving on..."

She's afraid to ask the answer about what happens to the old lady and the kids after, though.

Staren has posed:
    Once Ayako's tended to the boy, Staren turns to Mizuki and nods. "I'm ready."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Chatrilaine mutters to herself, though for some reason it seems that she's directing her words at Riva, partially, and Psyber; perhaps because they're the only ones nearby. "I..." She looks around, rubbing her head. "What... happened before?" She looks between both of them. "I know... I wasn't originally cut, and yet... I don't remember. It's... I don't know. I don't understand. Something changed in my memory, and now it seems that that's all... that there was." She seems dazed a few more moments before shaking her head and patting her cheeks as if to spur herself back into awareness. "Haha... n-nevermind me. I'll figure this out. I'll..." Only after she trails off again there, though, does she actually manage to pull herself away from whatever is making her so preoccupied. To Psyber, she asserts, "Yes! I'll be fine," Before promptly rushing past Mizuki and tapping two fingers to the badge rather suddenly.

    Mizuki's eyes widen somewhat at this, and she quirks her brow. The look in her eyes seems to ask Chatrilaine why she had been so hasty, then what is bothering her, though in neither case does Chatrilaine give any kind of reply. Quite the opposite, really: she looks over to Mizuki for one, short split-second and is absolutely certain not to make eye contact with her again afterwards. This only makes Mizuki cant her head further, deepen her expression of concern... but she is not wont to try anything too ham-handed, not after that. No, she needs her time.

    So Staren is left concerned, Ayako is left tending to the curly-haired boy's wounds, and the rest are left to wonder. As soon as Chatrilaine's fingers touch the metal of the badge, though, everything falls apart. Psyber, Ayako, and all others who had helped Mizuki break the cycle would recognize this phenomenon as eerily similar to what used to happen when the numbers were retrieved: the world dyes alabaster, the atmosphere fades out, and everything falls silent. Ayako and any others still trying to interact with the residents of this fragment of memory would quickly find that they, too, have been 'erased' -- though the silhouettes, the outlines of their forms remain, they can no longer be felt or interacted with in any way. After a few more seconds, however, one cannot see them any longer, either.

    In a newly white space where the entire group seems to stand on air and within void, one could now see Chatrinelle standing in Chatrilaine's place again. She silently takes Riva's hand, her face expressionless -- especially for a girl who is normally so upbeat, so energetic, this is a rather disturbing thing to bear witness to. She is the first to break the silence that shortly reigns after the world deconstructs itself. She turns to Arthur. Her face is blank, and her words monotoned.

    "It's okay, Arthur," Is all she says, as if in answer to what he had said to the girls before.

    ...

    Soon enough, the all white world begins to resolve again into something... else. It's a new sight, certainly, but not entirely -- the group have again found themselves on a burning street. They're in another domestic warzone. Another city is being sacked. Notably, though, the group would see a disturbingly familiar manor at the edge of the road. Soldiers march from here to there, though these men are clad in blue, not red. It's a different army.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Suddenly, though, the group would here something rustle behind them: armor, close by. The rattle of chains. As soon as the group turns to face this threat, they would see two soldiers, one of which has pierced two girls - two girls that have at this point become so regular to them - with this partisan. Sara stands in front of Claire. She had been trying to take the strike for her sister, but both of them took it instead.

    In the distance, through the smog and the haze of fire, one can faintly make out the shadow of a figure clad in a long, flowing cape, heavy armor, and pauldrons on horseback. He yells a barely audible 'Stop' to the men, a haunting desperation in his inflection. He repeats himself again, and again, and again, until he is fully visible as a messy brown-haired man who bears a striking resemblance to Chatrinelle. As he arrives, the soldiers back away from the bodies of the girls, and he takes both of them into his arms.

    "Y-You told us to kill everyone, sir," Says one of the soldiers. "No mercy," Reminds the other.

    "They were my nieces," He quietly, distantly whispers. "I had thought them long dead. I had thought them long dead, and yet here they are." He looks up to one of the soldiers, his eyes welling with rage. As he gingerly lowers the bodies of the girls, the two soldiers begin to back away. "Why are they here?" He repeats.

    Chatrinelle, still without emotion, murmurs as though she were some form of narrator. "So they came to take revenge on the people who had destroyed them," She says.

    The life fades from the caped man's eyes. In an instant he stands, in the next his lance has cleaved one of the soldiers in half. The other man attempts to run, only to be felled by a bolt from the tip of his partisan. Then his head lowers such that his eyes cannot be seen, and he points his lance toward the group.

    This is the end of the memory, yet there is still one more thing to be done.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber lets his eyes fall upon the two deceased girls, impaled on the lance of the soldier. He lets out a tired frown and then watches the man cut down his own soldiers in retaliation for following his orders. He can, on some level, understand the Uncle's grief. And on the other, he also can't forgive the recklessness of an order like 'Kill everyone' in a situation that leads to the death of a child.

    Calmly, professionally, and with a neutral expression, the half-angel reaches past the 1911 on his hip and towards the small of his back. He pulls out a much larger revolver, which he calmly opens the cylinder of and begins sliding bullets into. As he does so, he calmly states, "Genesis Nine, Verses Five and Six both say... 'And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image."

    The half-angel lifts the .454 Casull Revolver and aims it square at the head of the man with the partisan, "Amen."

    He pulls the trigger on the huge gun, letting rip with the massive shot.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako blinks her eyes as the world washes away into pure white. This... this was way, way too similar to watching the world wash away when a number was taken. She shudders slightly... and then watches carefully. It could come from anywhere once they arrive. Once the world starts to reform again, Ayako's expression hardens slightly. A warzone.

    At the sound of the rustle, Ayako swiftly turns around to see Sara and Claire being skewered by the partisan. Her eyes widen and she just stares for a while... until the look in the caped man's eyes is seen. That look... Ayako just freezes in place. She knows that look. Why should she run into that look here? But, there's no time for that. She knows what's going to follow. He's going to charge, thrash, and kill anything and everything he can.

    At least, she prepared the barrier so she doesn't have to think much about it. And a surge of water magical energy swirls about everyone to strengthen their attacks!

Staren has posed:
    Staren looks at the confused Chatrilaine. "You are your memories. As far as you're concerned, this is what happened now." Staren blinks, and gets an 'a-ha!' expression. "So that's it. We're not changing what originally happened... but it's /your/ past, because as a Seeker, you're a being of pure thought, now. So what happens here... is... yeah."

    And then, another warzone. Staren looks around, and his ears splay. "This again?" He speaks, annoyed.

    And then he sees the girls. "No!" ...Ah, he realizes. They can't change this. She's a Seeker -- she is already dead, after all.

    Staren watches the story of grief and revenge unfold. "I see. A tragedy, indeed."

    And then he realizes the man is pointing his lance at the group. Staren blinks, as if in... disbelief. It /might/ be a threat -- can they die in memories? But with the group here? No, the man will not be able to hurt them in any permanent way. Staren looks at him coldly, and then... sadly. "There's only one thing you can do now that matters." He waves a hand to the speared girls. "Make your peace with them, in their last moments. Unless you do not care, and want the last thing they see to be your rage."

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur rushes forward now, drawing his broom. He's not able to actually kill the man, in terms of his psychological capacity, but he is more than willing to break a few limbs. He won't get between Psyber and the man, but as Psyber loads his weapon, he will attack, and speak to the uncle. "No! Woah, hey, /no/! Enough death in this story! There's not one bit of happiness you people have squeezed out of killing yet! There's /nobody/ that's been made more happy by doing this! You can't just keep adding more pain to the mix and expect the hurting to stop! Back down! Back down, deal with what you did with dignity!"

    He's going to go for melee strikes, presumably keeping this man occupied while Psyber loads his weapon. The fact is, he knows that this narrative is angling towards this man being impossible to reason with, and in fact he doesn't expect any of what he just said to get through to him. But he says it anyway, and sticks to nonlethals anyway, because even if an outcome is inevitable, the choices you make along the way still matter.

    Assuming this man doesn't back down -- and he won't -- Arthur will have to back off at a clear moment for Psyber to take his shot.

Riva Banari has posed:
Everything washes out into white. Riva turns, standing as Chatrinelle takes her hand, and the Templaress nods, before looking forward to see what happens next. She wants to believe it will be all right. Things will work out.

But she knows it can't. She told Staren herself.

People with happy endings don't become Seekers.

However, there's a bad ending, and then there's... this. When the situation suddenly becomes apparent, Riva's voice cuts through the air. Even as the tragic man kills his soldiers in hollor revenge, she calls out in a despairing wail.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

She has collapsed to her knees in shock, staring at the girls who have been killed together, a hand to her face as she shakes, teary-eyed. She lets go of the girl's hand as she tries to reconcile that she saw these girls not seconds ago... And now, this. When the lance is levelled towards them. Riva's sniffling quiets, overriden by something more important. She goes quiet, looking down with her tear-stained face as she stands up. "I wish there was something I could do to make this right." She says quietly.

She removes her own gun, the Anima Circuits etched into the MP5 seething with power as she brings it up. "But it's too late. There isn't anything right. You can't undo what has been done. There is only ending the pain." She levels the gun. "May you be reunited one day, wherever you go."

And as Psyber fires, so does Riva, unleashing a fusillade of blue-green bullets. She knows Arthur will be out of the way when it matters.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa starts to get worried as it seems there's some changes to Chatrilaine. She cringes but there's not much else she can do, they seem to be changing things. Then they are cuaght by something else. Before long everyone is wisked away again and they are now somewhere else in the void. She looks at Chatrilaine for a moment as she tilts her head. Then she ees it a city unee seige she hears about. The opressed rose up but in one man's urge he cost himself the very thing he thought he'd lost which started him. She hit emotionally in the gut at this point. She hopes that someday the dead will meet echother again but there's nothing to do but now but join in the assault as she turns her wings into a mass of blades and drops into the enemy ranks turning into a whirl wind of blades and pistol shots.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    In an instant, the knight sprints forward.

        He does so without any regard for his defenses.

    In the end, it ends up looking like he willfully stepped into the bullets; like it was a mercy. The moment Riva's and Psyber's bullet pierce the space between his nosebridge and his eyes and otherwise litter his face with holes, he staggers forward, dropping his lance as his body comes to rest against Psyber in a way that's almost gentle. One of his eyes was taken out in the barrage, but the one that remains communicates much to Psyber. For one, he had been dead since the moment his home was attacked before -- he had been living solely off the rage of his departed family, and even if this had not happened, he would have been lost once his vengeance had been finished. He was a creature who existed for the sole purpose of rendering his own, desperate form of judgment, and now that that judgment has been rendered, the ghost can finally rest. As his one remaining eyes slides closed, Psyber would likely understand him far more than most would believe that he deserved to be understood.

    The invading armies will continue to kill everyone in this city to the last man until, finally, they realize that their leader - the Uncle - had been killed when they find his horse loitering in an emptied street. But there will be survivors -- there are always survivors. Some day in the future this town, too, will attack the blue-armored people with a renewed, righteous fervor. So it will continue forever unless someone is able to break the cycle.

    Chatrinelle's eyes seem to fill with a somber sort of knowing as the world fades out one, last time, and the group is returned to Silent Night. Interestingly, Mizuki, too, seems to have attained some knowledge; a knowledge that she shares when the lot of them have been returned to the great library. "When I... rather, when Shiori gave Chatrinelle and Chatrilaine their Choice, she had to do so exceptionally quickly. Since the both of them died in nearly the same split-moment, she did not have time to divorce their spirits from one another. As such, their souls were 'compressed', for lack of a better word, into one space. They are therefore always able to speak to eachother in their minds, but they can never see eachother, nor exist in a physical space at the same time." Looking back, she inquires, "Isn't that right, you two?"

    An all-too-quiet Chatrinelle nods her head, but she doesn't look sad anymore; rather, she's somehow summoned a smile back to her face. "Yeah," She says, "but honestly, knowing that just makes me even happier to know that we can be okay together now. It was a little hard for a while because we were together CONSTANTLY, but we got used to it." With the same pep as before she wraps her arms behind her back, swaying in place. "So I guess it WAS nice to remember, after all! I mean, even I got curious sometimes why I randomly raise my voice now and then." At that, she gives a meaningful look to Arthur. "Buuut anyway, we'll see you guys later. We're gonna go back to our room in the palace and just think a while. Feel free to visit us now and then, though, okay? It was really nice to see you!" Something about the way she says that makes it sound as if she's addressing old friends. To her, she just might be.

    And so she walks out of the doors of Silent Night with a hop in her step, her arm held out to her side as though she were grasping a hand that isn't there.

Staren has posed:
    Staren winces slightly as his allies open fire. He doesn't try to stop them, or say anything. That's that. He looks at the children. Then at Mizuki. "Do we need to, um..." the world fades out. Staren nods slightly. "I see. Well... I am glad we could restore your memory. Both of you."