776/CatP - The Skyward Mirror

CatP - The Skyward Mirror
Date of Scene:	09 October 2014
Location:	A Quiet World
Synopsis:	Adventures at the bottom of the ocean, and a not so chance meeting with a Sheep. When we come back: a confrontation with an artist. Er, well, -THE- Artist. You get the idea.
Cast of Characters:	Kotone Yamakawa, Arthur Lowell, Staren, Priscilla, 183, Riva Banari, Eryl Fairfax, Ayako Hasekawa
Tinyplot:	A Chime at the Precipice

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Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Now that the Amber has been voided of substance in ways that would make its old name meaningless, the group can finally move on to the next destination. Albeit, this will not necessarily happen in the best of spirits. Where once Mizuki might have considered a lighthearted cruise to today's destination, today she offers no such thing. She simply requests that her friends and allies meet her on one of the many islands found in the unrealistically bright and clear waters of Leviathan. There she waits, staring out at the ocean beside a motionless man whose tawny beard sways with the ebbs and flows of the winds.

    Some ways behind them is a lighthouse with gentle, sky-blue stripes that run up its sides in the typical 'barber's pole' pattern. Pretty but somehow lonesome, some subtle neglect shows in the form of some vines that creep up its sides, and some almost unnoticeable rust at its metallic peak. Its light has no cause to shine in the brightness of day, so the light is as still as the island's two other occupants, standing sentinel over the immaculate waves and a small headstone at its base It is adorned with flowers far more tame and formal than are likely native to the region.

When the others arrive, Mizuki greets them with something that borders on a frown, and the tiniest of bows. Recalling what she was like that first day when she had welcomed everyone into the very same place where she is leading them now, her current demeanor is quite something to behold. No longer animated by the smile so common for her, she looks every bit the forlorn ghost that she always should have with her pale skin and red eyes.

    "Welcome, all. A few of you may remember this place." She looks to Arthur first. "... I first met you here, yes? I would not forget such a thing. And Staren, I believe we met here as well. Then of course there was the celestial fireworks display where I had my first genuine conversation with you, Miss Priscilla." She draws a breath, hesitates a moment, and exhales. Her smile returns with the rush of wind, but it's one of far more bitterness than smug confidence. "Such things would be far less enjoyable in an realm of soulless devastation, I must admit. I do hope we can avoid the -senseless destruction- this time around." She raises her eyes to the sky with that, widening her smile in something far closer to anger than joy.

    Lowering her head back to the group, her expression recollects its darkened stoicism. "... no use pointing any fingers, I'm sure. Of course, I am the one to blame for allowing her to stay with us. Faruja was right to be so vehement in his mistrust. But I do go on, don't I?" -Now- the smile returns in earnest, though obviously quite forced. "But without further adieu, a primer. Today, we shall be heading for the Mystical Waterway, a city encapsulated within a magic barrier at the bottom of the ocean. There we will either politely negotiate with the so-called 'Arist' for the next number, or we shall tear it from her mutilated, bloody knuckles. I sincerely hope for the former given that the latter would exacerbate things even further in its own ways." She cycles her head about. "I trust that there are no objections? If not, then we may proceed."

    With that, Mizuki throws her left hand in the direction of the ocean's surface, summoning a fairly large, three-dimensional rectangle of water complete with its own sliding door. Said door yields to the group members as they attempt to make their way inside. The lady herself allows the majority of the group to enter first, herself electing to hang closer to Arthur, whispering something that would likely be inaudible to others. "I know it would not be in keeping with 'her' inane set of rules, but is there anything that you learned that you may share with me? Anything that could distract me from this horrendous farce in which we've all become so deeply entrenched?"

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Eryl arrives without much fanfare, his metal feet leaving deeper imprints in the sand than a man of his apparent weight should. He is clad in his ReGenesis jumpsuit, the dull gray becoming a little lighter and the material a little thinner and looser in response to the tropical sun and warmth.

    But, he is not looking ashamed of the suit as he has in the past. Nor does he wear that everpresent, easygoing smile. He greets everyone with a tight smile and a nod of the head, but after that, the smile slips off again, leaving the man looking cold and serious.

    After Mizuki finishesher explanation, he places hsi closed fist over his heart and says, "Do not worry, Miss Mizuki. We will retrieve that number without any loss of life or destruction. I swear it." That oath comes out cooly, and not a little harsh, Eryl snarling a little by the end of it, his fist squeezed tighter. With that, he looks at the open portal of water-Original Face yelling at him about hoe impossible it is-but he ignores the headache and walks through.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    So. Much. Water! Ayako is positively beaming as she meets up with the group. "Aahh... what a wonderful place." She places the palms of her hands on her cheeks. "Makes me wish I came a little bit early so that I could look around... but no no... there's things to do..."

    Ayako returns the bow towards Mizuki cheerfully, "Thank you for having me, Mizuki." She nods her head quickly when Mizuki mentions to hopefully avoid senseless destruction. Her gaze goes off to the side when Mizuki mentions Sophia/Apathy... avoidance? Or simply not having an opinion? It does return to Mizuki once she mentions the Mystical Waterway, however. She shakes her head slowly, not having any objections herself.

    Ayako claps her hands cheerfully at the summoning of the water rectangle with a sliding door on it. "Oh oh, very nice!" She cheerfully walks through the self-opening sliding door and-winces slightly when she spots Eryl still in that horrible silver jumpsuit. "Eryl! We need to get you another suit. That thing is going to hurt people's eyes-and I don't mean by the sunlight reflecting off of it into their eyes." She giggles softly.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa was not certain about what was happening with mizuki she was a being of thought and her world was her mind, she was blanking parts of her mind, that can't be healthy and what of the parts that seem to have become their own people. This place was a mystery to her which started to concern her. The people who had railed against Mizuki were they mad or did they know something Mizuki did not? The answers were here if sh fared to finf out.

"So under water lovely."

Wait that shouldn't be a problem here, right? She listens to Mizuki for a moment as she moves to force her way through the door ith everyone else. She still wonders what did Arthur lern? All she knows is he'll lilely put it to good use.

"We'll figure out what's up with this Mizuki and get the number back hopefully with less collertal damage this time."

Staren has posed:
    Meet on a far away island? Staren can do that...

    As usual, after stepping through the warpgate, Staren practices reality warping by shifting through several forms -- and then this time, he flies straight up into the air, and summons his mecha. It transforms to jet mode, and off he goes, speeding over the dreamscape at multiple times the speed of sound. If that even means anything here...

    The Star Hawk slows down and transforms to humanoid mode before landing on the island, kneeling down and cupping one hand in front of its abdomen. The cockpit opens, Staren stepping out and climbing down cheerfully... until confronted with Mizuki's expression. What's wrong, he wonders? She's usually pretty upbeat. Staren nods at the description. "I'm not so great at negotiation, but... I guess I can be ready for the other thing." He gives Mizuki a sad look, but then apparently its time to board the watercube. Those he knows get nods of greeting.

    And then Staren realizes something, looking around. "No John. So I guess I really am clean! Thanks, Mizuki!" He flashes her a smile, but still looks worried about whatever's got her down, before heading into the watercube.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur's grin is wide as he swaggers overland to Mizuki. "OH MAN, YEAH. I remember that! We were on a more UNDERWATER side of things, but it was AROUND here! That was RAD." His grin shows a few more teeth as he tries to cover up a wince when Mizuki mentions the regular devastation of the huge locations here. "Y-yeah." He says. "Let's... Yeah, let's try not to have that happen." He seems a little unsettled.

    He keeps close to Mizuki, just as she's keeping close to him. "I... Ghhhhh. I wish I could tell you. But I can't say it. Besides the fact that you... Well, I still need to help you get the numbers and fix the clock. What she told me doesn't change that. I can't... Fix this easier, though." He hangs his head a bit, in a brief slump for his coolness. "I know what needs doing, but we need to stick with what we're doing for now. I'll... I'll do what needs doing when we get to it. And I think it should be for the best, for you, I mean."

    He shakes his head and tries to clear it. "RIGHT, ANYWAY!" He gives a few friendly waves to the people he knows. Eryl! Kotone! He especially knows Staren. Gotta focus on being COOL AND SOCIAL so as to avoid ever having to think about THINGS.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva isn't familiar with what happened before, but Mizuki's demeanor causes her to look very concerned despite the wonderful surroundings. "You don't have to dwell on it, Mizuki. We're here to make things better, right? Now relax, we're going to make this all work out, okay?" Riva takes a step closer to Mizuki, but stops, nodding slightly as she looks towards the rectangle of water. She walks inside with an expression of wonder as she pokes at the 'wall' a couple times.

It's at this point that she seems to remember something. "Oh, hey, Eryl, Diplomacy Man! Good to see you again!" She grins at him and gives him a jaunty clap on the shoulder. She immediately moves over to Ayako, still smiling. "Ayako!" She almost squees. "Great to see you again! That is the /cutest/ sweater!"

She then turns and gives Kotone a fistbump. "Kotone, nice to see you again! Don't worry, Mizuki always seems to have a plan. And if she doesn't, Staren over there sure will. HEY STAREN!" Riva yells, waving. "What's up! I bet between you and Arthur over there, you guys have everything covered." She playfully pokes at Staren. "So what's it going to be? Water breathing magic? Super scuba gear? Parting the ocean?" Her tone is playful, not mocking as she pesters Staren a bit, and then turns to Arthur. "HEY ARTHUR! How's the big man on campus?" She gives him the fingerguns, and grins. "Ready for some INTENSE NEGOTIATION ACTION?"

There's Riva, just going on a happy chattery sweep through the ops team.

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks at Riva. He reaches up and removes his helmet, holding it in the crook of his arm for now. "I've always been able to breathe underwater in dreams. I don't see why now should be any different. As for moving around... I'll work something out."

Riva Banari has posed:
"Awww, way to let a girl down." Riva says jokingly, giving Staren a light slug on the arm. "I've always been weird about breathing underwater in my dreams." She admits.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako giggles when Riva moves over to her. "Hello Riva! It's nice to see you too!" She blushes lightly and looks down at her super fluffy sweater, "U-umm... thank you. I like it a lot too..." She does startle when Staren and Riva mention about breathing underwater. "Umm... if you need to, I can handle that if you'd like." A soft, hesitant smile crosses her face.

Priscilla has posed:
    Priscilla is perhaps, a little out of the loop on this particular adventure. Familiar with the basics of Mizuki's world she may be, but she had recently only come to actually know the girl in any serious capacity, and thus only recently decided to offer her help. There is an 'Artist', they need to recover a 'Number' from her, and previous attempts resulted in the tragic destruction of part of the author's idyllic little paradise. That's about as far as reading the tone gets the crossbreed, and so out of the selfish desire not to embarrass herself by asking, she decides that much is enough.

    "Indeed. I cannot say I wouldst be gladdened to see this place reduced to any less than it is now." She responds with a carefully measured tone, aiming for as little subtext as possible. The wary glance she gives Mizuki instead is all that is really needed to get across how she feels about seeing the girl in this state. "Thou shalt hear no objection from I. The ocean is not so fearsome a place to me." Stepping casually into the strange water-elevator, she takes a second to count heads, before blinking in pleasant surprise that she knows (or at least has talked to) all of them. "Sir Athur, Sir Fairfax, Sir Staren, Lady Mizuki, Lady Hasekawa, Lady Banari, Lady Kotone. Though I meet some of thee for the first time, thou art all familiar."

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva nods to Ayako. "I guess we could use our imaginations to deal with it..." She says. "So many options..." She says contemplatively. When Priscilla arrives, her presence seems to make even Riva rein herself in slightly, as she gives a bow to the regal figure. "Lady Priscilla! It's wonderful to see you again. I pray that your work in Lordran is fruitful. The stories of your struggles there would make for epic stories." She straightens. "I just wish I could find a way to help you more."

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako smiles happily back at Priscilla. "Ah. Hello Priscilla! Umm... please call me Ayako. Being called by my last name makes me feel all weird." She smiles awkwardly... and then looks back to Riva. "Eehh? Well, if your imagination sputters, I'll save you!" She smiles brightly and then agrees with Riva. "Un un, I wish I could help you somehow too, Priscilla."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki's response to Eryl is decidedly neutral, consisting of little more than a reprise bow and a muttered 'thank you' at first. "Were it that we could both be so confident." A sigh, and a series of nods. "... nevertheless, I am sure that your zeal and focus will only help things. Maintain it, if you will." She's likely thinking the same of Ayako as she turns to her with a more genuine smile. "Always nice to know that there are those who appreciate what my mind has wrought, however. No matter the circumstance." She folds her hands. "Assuming there is anything left after all of this is over, you are of course welcome to come here any time you so desire."

    Kotone, too, gets a nod. "Yes. 'Hopefully'." She averts her eyes just long enough to catch a glimpse of Staren's mecha careening toward her, the sonic flashes likely messing her hair as much as it does the reeds and rye on the island's surface. Nevertheless, her expression doesn't budge an inch, his comment with regard to John only making her frown deepen further. She gestures behind Staren, far far into the distant sky where literal holes have begun to open in the atmosphere, spilling forth a viscous black sludge. "You are welcome." Not sarcastic, but not alltogether pleasant either.

    And when Arthur finally replies, she gives a far more emphatic sigh, her face contorting into something reminiscent of a pout. "Is that so." Her eyes are the sharpest of daggers, which is probably why she's quick to close them when she catches herself sneering. "... I see. I shall simply have to trust you, then. You'll pardon me if I'm reluctant to persist in what I believe to be a meaningless endeavor, however." Riva, too, makes attempts to reassure her, which finally causes her to budge to some extent. "I am in good company, aren't I?" Arms fold behind her back, her gait mimicking some of its usual refinement as she enters the makeshift elevator. Once there, she returns Priscilla's glance with a somewhat reserved bob of her own head, and a final smile. 'I'll manage', she seems to say.

    With everyone accounted for, the door slides closed. It might be worth noting that the water, while constantly wavering, feels far more like cold tile than ooze or gelatin. Oddly secure, though perhaps not so much so that it would allay some reservations Kotone may have about this little sojourn. But in spite of any misgivings, the block continues to fall at its leisurely pace, the vast expanse of the ocean slowly revealing itself as they descend. Colorful entities akin to surgeonfish and jellyfish flit by, the latter lighting up in surprise as the group rushes through.

    In time, the sun's radiance fails to permeate the ocean. Things grow darker at first, and then a different hue of 'bright'; azure lanterns dot the sea floor, defining a sort of road with how they parallel eachother. The first checkpoint on the way lies ahead in the form of a... large bed of coral? Or... no. It seems to be some approximation of a city, with some abnormally large sea creatures, many more humanoid in shape, milling about. Beyond that, one could faintly make out the 'dome' of the Waterway. Just how they had left it, in spite of everything.

    The door slides open when they land, and Mizuki is the first to exit. She turns to them again when she does so. "There are some cities with sapient life even at these depths. We may consult the locals for information, or we may pay them no heed. I do not much care either way, really." Then she waits. Seems she's going to defer to the group consensus here.

    The water... doesn't seem to have any effects aside from making people feel wet. They remain firmly in place at the bottom of the ocean, and can breathe as they normally would. Dreams do have their perks, after all.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Failure stings. Eryl knows this. He has failed a few times in his life, failures that resulted in deaths. But, never has he failed so hard that people died needlessly, and a whole city getting destroyed. Sophia really suckered him... But. That should not mean he should be upset with the others, especially when they take the time to be friendly towards him.

    "Yes, I know Miss Ayako. But my mission has top priority over my... fashion sense," he says, letting a slightly sheepish smile spread across his face. He returns Arthur's wave, noting the change in the boy's demenour. What happened before has clearly upset him more than he lets on. "Good to see you too, Miss Riva," he says to the Templar. Slapping his shoulder likely felt unusual-and perhaps painful-to Riva, like slapping a machine. "Ah, I recognize that voice. It is good to finally meet you in person, Miss Priscilla," Eryl says, bowing his head to the crossbreed.

    He cannot help but smile as Mizuki begins to cheer up as her allies arrive. But, they then begin to descend! Again, Original Face is unhappy with this turn of events, but Eryl doesn't let that bother him. He simply gazes out into the water as they descend, his brain and implants recording all that they see. This is absolutely something he wants to remember forever.

    As the underwater city begins to come into view, he begins to steel himself for whatever happens. "More information can not hurt," he says, casting his vote for the group asking the locals for information.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is happy to ahve some people she knows well she looks over to Arthur.

"I mechanically can't swim, you know this right? Still it is interesting."

She looks back to Riva for a moment and seem to share her concern, right? She's glad the Templar is along and she grins at her faintly.

"It's good to see you somewhere that's not crawling in Zombies, you should come to New Port to relax it might be an englightening experiance."

Priscilla gets a look from the cybrog anf she smiles again.

"Good to see you."

She can make use of this world's local properties if she needs to or so she hopes either way, if it comes to swimming she seems slightky more relaxed at this point.

Priscilla has posed:
    Priscilla is taken a little off guard by Riva. The last time she'd seen her, she had been mauled to death by giant arachnids. The level of deference and politeness she offers in return seems like extremely thinly veiled sarcasm. Of course, she knows she's not particularly good at reading people, and so gives the benefit of a doubt just enough leeway to prevent a nasty glare and some kind of mumbled slur from occurring. Maybe Riva is just /really/ weird. ". . . thou hast . . . already done more to help than can be said of most. Things at this moment art . . . complex, but not insurmountable. We shalt see it through." Ayako however, always seems that bubbly, and so nothing she says is particularly suspicious. "Thou art far more ordinary in appearance than I wouldst expect from so ancient a spirit. At least, physically. Thou possess as an unusual soul as any here. I shall press thee not for any sort of aid. The dangers inherent in navigating Lordran art not something I wouldst hold anyone to except by oath." Eryl bowing to her seems to put her in a slightly better mood. It's nice to be surrounded by respectful, intelligent people after all. It's the ones like Arthur, but without the common sense, that she finds hard to deal with.

    The fact that the water is breathable goes unnoticed by Priscilla, since as soon as the door opens, she simply stops breathing. The sights are likely more than enough to distract her from that anyways. It's her first time ever actually seeing what lies at the bottom of a significant body of water, and Mizuki's fertile imagination is far more impressive than even the normally breathtaking reality of the deep ocean. "I am . . . not well versed in gathering information from 'locals'. At least not by speaking. If that is what thou wish, I shalt accompany thee, but I believe I shalt not be of much use in doing so."

Staren has posed:
    Staren frowns slightly when Mizuki points out John's abode. Hmm. "I'm sorry..."

    He rides the watervator down. Once they get to the ground^H^H^H^H^H^Hocean floor, he curiously pokes at the water-air interface, waving his hand through it. "Hmm." He reimagines his clothes, leaving him in a suit of some black, skintight material from the neck down, with a harness of straps for his tools and bag to attach to. There's a hole for his tail, and some sort of shoes seem to be built in. Then he walks out into the water, stopping and taking a moment to appreciate the strange sensation. "If you don't know where the artist is... I guess we should ask around."

    He takes a moment to check if jumping puts one in swimming mode, or if one can swim if one wishes.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "BIG MAN is doin' PRETTY GOOD." Arthur says to Riva Banari, forcefully, as if trying to convince himself more than anyone else. Priscilla is another one who gives Arthur a greeting, and she gets an energetic one back in return. "Oh HEY, I love it when I GET that sorta feel TOO. Always GOOD havin' ZERO UNFAMILIARITY on your side of things, yeah?" He also asides to Staren, interjecting into his conversation with Riva, "You know, I thought we were heading HEADLONG into a CATFISH JOKE myself." Frank and honest kinda tone there.

    Wandering into the... Watervator, he winds up staring down at the tiles with a contemplative sort of look. "I need to try this WALKIN' ON WATER thing more." He finally declares. Then he gives a softer sort of smile to Mizuki, and gives her a pat while the elevator descends and he looks out on the wonderous landscape. "Hey. It's not meaningless. We're doing what we gotta here. It's just gonna be a matter of giving it meaning at some point, okay? Promise I'll pull through on this." He gives a firm, comforting sqeeze to Mizuki's shoulder as he steps out into the water.

    Fussing with his robe-like outfit as it's suddenly soaked, they flicker and are replaced by some swim trunks in the blink of an eye. "There we go." He says. "ALRIGHT, LOCALS TIME! Got any bearing on where the CURATE is, or do we need to get ASKING AROUND for that? Either way, might as well, right?" Arthur's had plenty of experience hassling NPC amphibians before, so he won't have any issue hassling NPC fish-people either! Whatever form the locals take, he really doesn't seem to mind, acting very friendly!

    He sets off, swimming into the coral city, apparently just sort of assuming that the group is gonna hassle locals. He's looking for FISHPEOPLE OF REMARKABLE NATURE, which is to say, NPCs with unusual sprites, to hassle in a friendly way. Anyone that he encounters willing to deal with this RPG hassling gets a small battery of queries about the Artist, their location, and what's necessary to meet with them!

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako nods her head quickly as she returns Mizuki's smile. "Be it real, fake, illusion, dream, end of the world, or start of one, it's all an experience and something to remember!" She smiles cheerfully. "Un. We'll just have to see what happens."

    As the elevator begins to go down, Ayako just glances around cheerfully taking in the surrounding water. Her eyes then close halfway, she side-glances to Eryl and says with a soft grin, "But if you save people looking like that, you're going to scare them more and slash or make them think you're from the future or something." Yes, she really did say 'and slash or'. Out loud.

    Ayako claps her hands together softly once when she sees the underwater city and walks out of the elevator, as if she was still not underwater. Although she does pause... and self-consciously looks back to see if anyone else is 'walking'! "Oh, it doesn't matter to me either!"

    Ayako smiles cheerfully at Priscilla, "Un! I've worked hard to appear like a human girl. I'm..." She glances off to the side for a moment, "Not the type that likes being really flashy, or showy about what I am." She nods her head once. "But all the same... I'll still think about helping you."

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva knew Eryl had cybernetic portions, he mentioned it himself! Though the tactile reponse was slightly unexpected. she glances at her hand for a moment, pondering, but shrugs for a moment. Doesn't cause her any conern, after all! "I'm sure we'll find some things out on the way." Riva comments.

Kotone causes Riva to nod. "I know, right? But it doesn't look like swimming is going to be a problem. Unless you /want/ to!"

Priscilla causes Riva to nod. "If there is anything else I can do to help, please, just ask." Maybe she just doesn't hold the whole mauled to death thing against Priscilla. It doesn't sound like she does, anyway.

Riva pops out into the water with the others, testing her motion and balance. With a contemplative look, a sphere of air forms around Riva's head. And then it becomes a pyramid, and then a cube. And then it starts swirling. She giggles a bit at it, before she pushes off, letting her clothes waft around her in the water without alteration as she casually starts swimming around. Sure, she could walk, but why bother?

Arthur's comment causes Riva to pause, hanging upside down in the water facing them all as she giggles at the terrible pun. "That was pretty good. But I think we'll figure it out. You guys have the right idea, let's ask around!" Riva turns and begins spiralling through the water, swimming her way around as she begins looking around, approaching the first entity that she can find. Possibly one of the sea creatures. "Pardon me!" Riva asks, apparently not really checking to see if the being is sapient or capable of speech first. "I'm a visitng artist and I was interested in the works made here! Do you have a gallery?" This makes sense to Riva, at least.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki makes it a point to gently wave a hand in Staren's direction somewhere along the line. "Don't fret over it. Neither of us could have known, and that area was already doomed." She's about to sigh again, but then Arthur snags her attention, and the squeeze of her shoulder gives her a significant jolt. She blinks at first, eventually bowing her head and murmuring thanks when she has recovered. "... yes. I shall try to find more faith within myself, Arthur. And forgive my despondency. Though I'm sure you can understand it, it would not do for me to disregard your -- all of your -- efforts in this way. Not when you've lent me so much strength already."

    It's a funny thing, but he always manages to grab her attention more when his voice is softer.

    That finished, Mizuki folds her arms and prepares to speak... but is again caught slightly off-guard by Ayako's spirit. She finally allows herself a giggle here. "Quite eloquent for a sentient puddle, aren't you." She hides her mouth with her sleeve a few moments before looking to the group proper. "... anyway. We seem to have a good number of people interested in asking around. Likely the best course of action, in earnest; though I would assume the Artist is located in the most flamboyant local landmark as usual, one can never be too sure. Especially since she seems to have intentionally gone into hiding. However." She looks to Priscilla here, and any others that didn't explicitly mention their interest in info mining. "In the intervening period, I have a few things I would be willing to show to any receptive souls. After all, when time -- or violence, as it were -- has eroded the world we once knew, it may still exist in our memories. I would not mind terribly if someone else would aid me in this plane's recollection." With that, she would meander away from the coral town to an area a bit more wide open.

    Any who follow Arthur in approaching the city would be given quite a warm reception. A few beings with fins where human arms would be - arms placed such that they are more similar to an angel's wings (or would be if they did not possess tails in lieu of feet) - flock to the group, not the least bit shy to get right up in the faces of the newcomers.

    "Whoa, hey! Are you guys from the surface??" Another of them spins at the mere mention of the possibility. "W-Wow! This is so amazing!" They huddle around Eryl first, one of them prodding at his suit. "Ewww. Man, what kind of water have you been swimming in? Your skin has gotten so... uh... dry! Or maybe it's just that ugly..." Yep, definitely very bold. More swarm Arthur, and it's as though he has suddenly gained his own personal quartet of fangirls. Fan... boys? Er, let's settle on fan fish things. "DUDE! Are you in your PAJAMAS? That's a heck of a fashion statement." Another of them picks at his hood, lifting it over his head. 'Whoa, is this their dorsal fin? Why's it all droopy...?'

    Ayako, too, is jumped by another trio of them in short order. "Who're you, huh? And what are you doing here?" It swivels its head at her, as do several others. A -bunch- more turn their gazes toward Riva when she actually -SPEAKS-, though! Wowzers!

    "Oh, uh. Art? We don't have any art. Well, I mean somebody here might draw, but we don't have any galleries. Those are all in that dome waaaaay," They point out the Waterway, "waaay over thattaway." Then they tilt their head. "... but why didja wanna know, huh?"

Staren has posed:
    While Staren thinks /someone/ should talk to the locals, he's not so keen on that someone being him. He eagerly follows after Priscilla and Mizuki when an alternative presents itself. "Recollection? How do we do that?"

Priscilla has posed:
    "I cannot say there is no unfamiliarity at all. At least, with this setting. Still, there art things to be said for being surrounded by those one knows to be trustworthy." Priscilla watches Arthur swim off with something approaching wistfulness, as if jealous of his overbearing energy, or perhaps his willingness and/or ability to chat up random people. She does her best to return Ayako's smile, as ill-practised as it is. "Oh? So by intent rather than by nature. An odd choice for a being of your age and significance, but there art positive aspects to being able to interact easily with humans. Sometimes. I am of the same mind in terms of attracting attention however. If thou art ever of the mind to throw thine lot in with the rest of us, I shalt make arrangements for thee, but I shall not press until thou hast made up thine mind truly."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Eryl nods as people seem to agree to ask around. But then Ayako teases him about his suit, and he actually seems to get a little flustered. "Well, technically I am from the future, so..." he says quietly, rubbing his arm.

    Looking over to Mizuki as she asks some others to go with her to 'recollect' the city if it is destroyed, he says, "If you spot Sophia or the Artist, let us know," he says, tapping on his radio. "In such an event, I'll be there as fast as I can." With that, he goes with the others to ask around.

    Of course, his hideous jumpsuit immediately makes him hard to take seriously. "It is a jumpsuit, not my skin. And yes, I know it is hideous." Okay, he is going to have to get a new suit ASAP. People outside his home universe just won't take him seriously. "Anyway, may I just say that your city is lovely? I would love to look around, but alas, I am here to meet someone. Unfortunately, I do not know where they are. Does anyone know where I might find the Artist? Or a woman with white hair?" Oh yes, Eryl has words for Sophia...

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako giggles softly in respsonse to Mizuki, "Words have a strange power, after all." She positively beams at being called a 'sentient puddle', though. Insult? Hardly. It is what she is, after all.

    A single swift nod is given to Priscilla upon the word 'intent'. She smiles cheerfully, "I consider myself a water artist, and have done a lot of research and work in forming a subtle, yet beautiful and plausible human form among other things. Mostly because I find humans and other living things so interesting. How they react is equally interesting." She giggles brightly and then nods her head once, seriously. "And I will think about it carefully first. I owe you that much consideration and effort before I charge in."

    "Ahh, and speaking of charging in!" She cheerfully follows the others in approaching the city and their inhabitants. Her eyes blink quickly when said inhabitants flock towards the group and are... very bold. "A-ah um... I'm Ayako Hasekawa and... well..." She inclines her head to the side gently, "I'm here to sightsee, of course." A soft smile crosses her face. "Know any interesting sights?"

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    As for Staren and Priscilla, Mizuki ultimately shows them to a cliff, of sorts, overlooking what could only be described as an undersea meadow. Seaweed sways as though it were grass on the surface, and massive pink and blue corals constitute the trees. Creatures akin to seahorses skate to and fro between various landmarks. Far, far in the distance, one might also make out a range of undersea mountains whose curved tips cascade like waves over the most distant extremes of the plains. Like the claws of some too-beautiful monster attempting to rake their way out of a grave, almost.

    Above, the light of the sun still does not show itself plainly, though it is the catalyst for a myriad of bizarre visuals below. Light reflecting off of the smooth surfaces of some stones on the rocky outcroppings that define the low meadow are smooth enough to reflect light as would any mirror, creating effects similar to spotlights pointing toward the sky. The visual of the water from here itself is magnificent, too, if one takes the time to stop -- it is as though the sea has become the sky, here, and that the world of the surface does not exist at all.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    ARTHUR LOWELL REVELS IN ATTENTION. A school of fanfish is nothing he can't immediately bask in the attention of. The gender's mostly irrelevant, given how much Arthur already looks like a girl and also is completely disassociated from aquatic gender binary. "Hah, PAJAMAS?!" Arthur makes a flashy motion, activating his hood's automatic wind-flapping feature, even while it's in the hands of another fish. "This is the GOD TIER ROBE, this shit be straight up fuckin' DIVINE GARMENTS, YO." He doesn't say that he's a god, obviously, but has no reservations about saying that his outfit is godly in nature.

    "So HEY!" He calls out, planting his hands on his hips. "Who knows anything about a dude called the ARTIST? Oughta be WELL KNOWN around here, yeah? Whatever you got, I'd love KNOWIN'." He's got that confident mannerism that makes him sound really important!

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa gives Ayako a good look for a moment and is honestly happy she's here and Kotone looks a heck of a lot better than she did back on Cybertron that much is clear. She looks to Ayako for a moment a bit shocked wait what self aware puddle? No she'll not ask now she's just going to accep things for a moment.

She did take a moment to change her self the lower part of her body is now basically like a mecha mermaids which has handled her swimming issues for the moment she still wonders making use of chanign her self here is a good idea she's not certain but she smiles at the new arrivals.

"Hello."

She's curious about Ayako now and might wnat to talk to her later.

"I'm Kotone it's good to meet you."

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva smiles brightly. Hey, everything's working out! She settles for casually flipping in the water as she talks, enjoying the ability to move in all three dimensions for a change. "Welllll...." Riva says, drawing it out for a moment. "My friends and I want to go see 'The Artist' and we figure they'd be involved with the local art scene, right?" This is totally logical to Riva. "If you guys know where they are, it'd be great!"

Priscilla has posed:
    An artist huh? Well then she obviously fits in here, especially underwater, Priscilla thinks to herself. Of course, she believes there are plenty of other things more interesting in humans, but perhaps she simply isn't old enough yet to have grown sick of them. She lets Ayako leave without much more than a faintly perplexed smile, as if not quite sure why she feels amused. Her attentions are almost completely taken up with furious introspection as to why an ancient water spirit would want to pass herself off as a pretty young girl, to the point that it's a miracle she manages to follow Mizuki and Staren. The new vistas that stretch out before her firmly manage to wrench that attention away however, though the dumbstruck silence is indistinguishable from her usual, expressionless silence. ". . . and what precisely is it that we shalt do here?"

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    The sea angels stop picking at Eryl long enough to acknowledge that he has said something. Many of them glance to eachother curiously, but eventually one of them deigns to reply. "Uuuuhhh... thanks. Most of us like living here, I guess." A few stifle giggles at that, but they become even -more- curious at the inquiry. "-The- Artist? You mean the creepy lady that hangs out in that dilapidated shack to the right of the royal circle? If you mean her, then yeah. I mean, she -does- have white hair." Failed to notice that he was referring to two different figures with that, go figure.

    One of the merfolk floating near Ayako twirls upside down, batting their eyelids a few times. "Sightseeing, huh? I guess that's a pretty good reason to come down here." They smile, gesturing toward the aforementioned mountains. "Guess the Cobalt Sheers are as good a place as any!" The twirl in a circle a few times, coming to rest with a fin outstretched (read: 'pointing') in the opposite direction. "And there are underwater ruins that way! They say that it used to be a part of the Waterway, too, but that it fell apart when everyone got turned to stone." They giggle. "Kinda spooky, right? It's a really popular place for little wadelings to go."

    Several of them outright -LEAP- at Arthur's proclamation of divinity. "S-Seriously? So you're like a God or something?" Another, more meek when swishes over, holding a fin to its mouth in some obscure expression of bashfulness. "... and you wanna know about the artist? Uh..." They're quiet for several moments. "No one really knows much about them. They're a recluse that lives all alone in a city full of statues. In fact, I've heard rumors that they've made every single statue in the city! But I don't believe that. They must be there because of some curse, or really powerful spell, or something..." Another practically leaps over them to chime in. "But yeah, she's -REALLY- creepy! Somebody knocked on the door to her house once and she just yelled at them to go away." They snicker. "Actually, maybe they aren't creepy. Maybe they're just a complete grouch."

    The few by Riva gesture to another of their friends that was talking before. "Well, like they were saying, she lives in this tiny, kinda crummy looking building with a caved-in roof. Really easy to notice because most of the houses around it are so much nicer. I kinda feel bad for her, honestly. Stuck in that ugly house all the time with no company..." They twirl once. "I'm kinda glad that you guys want to give her a visit, honestly~."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    After taking her own, good time to appreciate the view, she turns to Priscilla. "Oh, I wasn't thinking of anything in particular. I just wanted to provide you a quieter alternative to walking into a city filled to the brim with exuberant young ones." She glances back out at the meadow again. "And I thought, since you had appreciated some prior displays of lustrous atmosphere that you might appreciate... ah." Mizuki's gaze wanders behind Priscilla where one of the 'young ones' in question is staring at her in awestruck silence. "It seems that we have collected a friend anyway." As soon as she is noticed, however, she would dash behind the nearest rock for cover, peeking out now and then to see whether or not the halfbreed is still looking. Mizuki doesn't seem to intimidate them as much for some reason.

Staren has posed:
    Staren starts swimming, then decides to just fly along, landing on the cliff edge and peering down. "Wow." It's rare that you get to see an exotic landscape like this! Well, unless you know where to look and go looking for them, he supposes. "Well... it's certainly very pretty, but what exactly do you want us to do here?"

    "Ooh, we have a guest?" He turns and swims towards the rock. "Hey, don't be afraid, we come in peace! I'm Staren. What's your name?"

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako nods her head slowly. "Ah, I see, I see." She quietly notes the special sights and then blinks her eyes quickly upon hearing people getting turned to stone. "Hmm? People are being turned to stone?" Once she hears about the Artist from the other's questions she nods her head once. "I think... the artist would be a good first person to see then. Oh, but once we get everyone back together again." She smiles softly.

Riva Banari has posed:
"Awwwww.... That's so sad!" Riva says, tilting her head as she makes sympathetic noises. "Some artists seem to get their inspiration from negative feelings, though. Maybe she's one of those types. The tormented artist!" Riva straightens herself up and nods. "I think we'll go do just that. Thank you for the help!" She bows to them in the water, and then waves before doing a backstroke back to the rest of them.

    "Man, this place is so beautiful." Riva comments. "You just keep seeing more and more amazing things as the mind unfolds. But then, I guess you have to be that awesome, don't you Mizuki? You can't write if you have nothing to write about!"

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    The diplomat can't help but smile at the sheer exuberance of the fish folk. Compared to the desperare, huddled masses of his own world, it's a nice change. Even if they don't seem to be... well, cognitive on the same level as he. "Thank you very much for your help. Could you direct me to the royal circle?" he asks.

    By now, he has quite a headache going, what with the whole 'walking normally underwater,' 'breathing underwater' and the fish 'mutants' constantly swimming about. But, this is too important to be sidetracked. He cannot let a repeat of what happened last time happen again.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is just hovering off the sea floor right now as she listens to them with intrest.

"I see it's good to meet you."

She bows a bit nearly causing herself to flip over everal times. She's able to keep from doing that and there goes Arthur bringing up he's a deity she jjust looks at him for a moment and nods to the local.

"He really is I'm not kidding ."

She looks to the locals again with intrest. She frowns as she hears a bit more about artiist an wonders.

"This place is a sight to behold yes."

Priscilla has posed:
    "Mmmh . . ." Priscilla waits in contemplative silence at the fact that Mizuki had gone out of her way to provide her an acceptable alternative to being swarmed by people in a crowded city. Despite it now being awkward to say anything after misinterpreting her intent, her features twitch into the faintest expression of happiness recognizeable to the human eye; which is still far more than almost ever comes from the crossbreed without her trying to force it in order to express herself. ". . . thou art far too considerate, Lady Mizuki. And of far too impressive a soul. I reckon that there art few places amongst the fields of thine mind that I wouldst not be enriched by seeing." That's about as good as formal, high praise gets from her. The kind that only happens during a rare moment where Priscilla feels that she actually relates to someone.

    Unfortunately the little aquatic thing following them spoils the moment somewhat. Priscilla isn't the kind inclined towards finding bashful children adorable, though she can't bring herself to feel irritated by it either. She makes no effort to hide the fact that she is watching the little one, except at one point when she peeks out from behind that rock, the crossbreed is no longer there. Maneuvering invisibly, she walks straight up behind the ocean native, picks her up from behind, and sets her down on the rock in plain sight where she wont get the annoying feeling of being spied on. "Thou art not decieving anyone."

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "Oh, a GROUCH huh? Well!" Arthur grins widely, not addressing or dismissing the issue of godhood. "I know how to deal with THAT." He gives a confident pointed finger to the speaker. "And any CURSES or WHATEVER needs dealin' with!" And then he's setting off! "Thanks for the HELP! You guys are GREAT!" He gives his brief little wave and starts drifting off and away, swimming quickly!

    Thinking for a moment, he winces, his grin faltering for reasons that go without discussion. He seems to be contemplating something. Especially right after this demonstration of how different these inhabitants are from the others. He's tempted, intensely tempted, to call out to see if anyone wants to follow along. No, can't, they might get into another fight, and it'd be even worse that way.

    Bleh. Feeling slightly sick, Arthur gets back to Mizuki, swimming to a stop somewhere near her in the "meadow". "'EY." he says. "Heard they're in the old STATUE PLACE and all, kinda CREEPY or GRUMPY to people? Not much PRECISION. Let's pin down some EXACT DEETS, yeah? Gotta AMASS our DATA up in this shit. What're we hearing from the OTHER guys? Or do we wanna just HEAD IN NOW?"

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    One of the merfolk nodnods quickly to Ayako. "Yeah! Or, at least we -think- they're being turned to stone. Nobody really knows! That city has been empty as long as anybody can remember." The eyes of the little ones near Riva bulge a little when when she says that she's leaving, but they don't fuss, instead waving their fins as any human would wave their hands to say farewell. "Y-You're welcome! Good luck, okay, lady?" She leaves behind quite a crowd of bright eyes and smiling faces. It all might make one wonder, were they -all- kids? Or are their dispositions generally that cutesy and cheery?

    Regardless, they aren't done with Eryl yet. This time the one to reply is actually wearing a pair of spectacles! A cute variety that make their eyes look larger. "Oh, oh, that's easy! The royal circle is --" Another one literally dives into the group gathered around Eryl to steal the opportunity. "It's the big circle of buildings and streets built around the Crystalline Palace! The innermost ring of the city! Can't miss it~!" The other one -fumes-. "H-Hey, come on! I was gonna answer, stupid! Meanie..."

    Somewhere a bit further away, Mizuki glances to Riva as she swims toward her. "Enjoying yourself, Miss Banari? You look quite comfortable." It seems like she's regained a bit of her sass, at least! Just enough for her to barely stifle a blush when Riva becomes complimentary again. "... 'a-awesome', you say." Yep, she just stuttered, but she's pretty good about hiding it afterwards. "Well. You're quite flattering, Miss Riva, but the more creative the onlooker, the more vibrant the interpretation. Surely your mind must be one of high artistic capability for you to receive so much in return for beholding the humble images that you see here. Nevertheless..." She curtsies, and lets it last. "... thank you. Earnestly. Your words are beyond touching."

    Then -more- compliments? When Priscilla pipes up, she -does- start blushing. She's evidently cognisant of this because she immediately tosses her arm in front of her face to conceal this while the reddish hues fade away. So after a few seconds, and perhaps a clearing of her throat, "... I simply felt inclined to do that which I would want one to do for me, Priscilla. But you are nevertheless welcome. I am humbled in impossible to parse extremes that the lands of my home have the capability to delight you all so. Truly..." She muffles herself here, '... it is the only way I could ever repay you, for all that you all have done, and continue to do every day'. She tacks on a "thank you" at normal volume to the end of her response, and accompanies it with a surprisingly broad smile. Whatever cloud was hanging over her earlier is completely gone now.

    So she doesn't mind in the least when the little fishy person meanders in and ruins things. She does, however, giggle and hide her expression under a sleeve when Priscilla goes to capture them. Oh, but saying the sea angel is not as enthused by that gesture would be quite an understatement; as soon as they're grabbed, they flail this way and that, their expression turning to one of pure horror for a few moments. "AHHHH! I-I'msorry,I'msorry!" Wiggle wiggle. "P-put me down! I-I didn't mean to do anything bad!" Poor thing doesn't even have a chance to acknowledge Staren before jumping out of their skin. Er, scales. Flesh? Whatever.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki collects herself with another breath when Arthur addresses her, though. It was brief, but she had entirely forgotten why she had originally come here for a few moments in the midst of everything! So his interruption is probably a healthy one. "A-Ah. Well." She straightens her posture. "I had not gathered a cohesive report from everyone yet, though if we are planning to depart now, we should make this decision as a group. Most of us have gathered here, it seems, so allow me to fetch Miss Kotone and Miss Ayako. A moment." She gives Arthur a nod and, completely ignoring all rational physics, sprouts her wings and soars over the city. Naturally, there is no small number of sea creatures gawking at her as she does so.

    She tosses up a stasis field to amplify the sound of her voice. "Miss Kotone! Miss Ayako! Please reconvene near the meadow! We wish to compile the information we have gathered and decide whether or not we should move on now. Thank you."

    And with that, she sets herself back down near the cliff, awaiting their arrival.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako smiles cheerfully to the city inhabitants around her, "Thank you very much for the recommendations! I'll go take a look around-" She smiles at Eryl, Riva, Arthur and Kotone. "While looking for where Mizuki, Staren, and Priscilla went off to." She looks up at the stasis field amplified shout and nods her head once. "Let's meet up near the meadow then!" She winks playfully to everyone around her and then dissolves into thin water!

    She jumps from place to place in the water swiftly, yet methodically, covering the city and it's surroundings in an extremely short period of time. And in the process locates where Mizuki, Staren, and Priscilla are at the moment. Also noting Priscilla's voice and her doing the invisible 'I'm actually right behind you even though you can't tell' thing... and deciding to do the same thing to her! "Really? I thought I was doing a pretty good job, too." Ayako materializes out of the water behind where small ocean native was unhidden. She giggles brightly. "Hee... found you all! I thought I'd go with all of you since I've already went with the other group." She lands lightly onto her feet and smiles cheerfully.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Eryl laughs at the little comedy routine the two fish people put on, smiling and bowing his head to both of them. "Thank you both very much. Have a good day." He walks off, going to speak into his radio... when Mizuki's voice booms over the city. He begins to make his way back immediately, breaking out into a fast jog.

    Upon meeting the others-after greeting them all again, of course-he starts to speak. "The Artist apparently lives in a dilapidated shack by the royal circle. Said circle surrounds the Crystalline Palace." Thank goodness for perfect recall.

Staren has posed:
    Staren sighs as the sea-person panics. "It's alright... I said, we come in peace. What brought you here?" He also notices the approaching Riva. "Hey, what's up? Get tired of talking to people, or do you come bearing news?"

Priscilla has posed:
    Making people blush is not normally something Priscilla does. Normally, people are so used to her offputting nature that by the time she pays them a compliment, it only comes off as nice but a little intimidating. The fact that Mizuki hasn't known her until recently must be the obvious culprit as to why she can take praise from Priscilla at face value, and that fact makes the crossbreed feel all warm and fuzzy inside (as opposed to warm and fuzzy on the outside) for the way it implies how much her people skills have grown. That they have grown at all, in fact. Unfortunately, Ayako does not get her intended reaction. Partly because Priscilla is invisible anyways, so she wouldn't be able to see her startle, but mostly because she can sense the water spirit's soul moving through the ocean as clearly as one would notice a candle moving through a dark room.

    "Thou were, Lady Hasekawa, but I do not rely on physical senses for everything. A soul as bright as thine is nigh impossible to miss." Letting go of the squirming sea angel, she renders herself visible again for the sake of politeness, since she's been told time and time again that it's creepy and disorienting when she just sits in on conversations without letting anyone know she's there. Of course, that doesn't stop her from doing it most of the time, but she's a guest here. "Well done, Sir Fairfax. This will maketh things exceptionally easier."

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva would totally hang out with them longer, but she's got an appointment. Sadness! When Mizuki talks to her, Riva blushes herself. "Oh, you just turned that around on me! I see what you did there!" She laughs, and gives Mizuki a momentary hug before she withdraws, giving her her personal space back. "Well, apparently, the Artist lives in a run-down house near a large number of nice ones, with a lot of statues and such." She adds her own part to the things discovered by the others. She waves to Staren as she rejoins the group. "Just wanted to catch everyone up!"

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "Sure thing!" Arthur says, pretty quickly and simply, when Mizuki sets off!

    He turns to focus on the group hassling with their little follower, mostly just watching with a wide sort of smile. He seems more content to just watch in this case. Ayako Hasekawa gets a wave. "We're all gonna wind up at the SAME PLACE pretty soon ANYWAY from what I'm hearin'. Gotta get that NUMBER and all that." Besides that, not much commentary besides waiting on this business to get going. Eryl Fairfax gets a wave when he comes around. "RAD, that's a lot more SPECIFIC on the LOCATION than the info I got dropped. Should be EASY to get to 'em NOW!"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa has a lot to take in the locals are telling them uite a bit of unseful thing she smiles a nd bows to them while she keep sswimming along as she moves to catch up with everyone and seems ot be in an all right mood. She then gets called in to catch up with the others it doe snot take too long as she swims swiftly for the meadow.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki quirks an eyebrow at Eryl, first. "A dilapidated... shack? Well. I am certainly glad that we thought to inquire about these things, then. This little excursion likely saved us hours of our time." Eventually, the little sea person ceases its flailing to take a few gasps of, well, water, and glances despondently at Staren. "W-Well... uh..." She glances up at Priscilla. "I had never seen anything like her before. And her dress almost looks like it's part of the ocean! Or snow, maybe..." They avert their eyes. "I dunno. V-Visitors are cool, and I thought she looked kinda pretty. So I followed her. I didn't mean to upset anyone...!"

    The camera zooms back into Mizuki just in time to see her getting HUGGED! She bats her lashes fairly rapidly, but somehow manages to hold back a blush this time. She's probably becoming desensitized to the crazy friend gestures at this point! But she still takes a moment to swallow before speaking. "W-Well. I was attempting to be playfully kind, yes." She bows to her almost instinctively with a smile before turning to Eryl, Priscilla, and Arthur.

    And to the former, she nods her head again, resting her eyes graciously. "Indeed. That, combined with Miss Riva's clue, will likely lead us to our destination fairly quickly. And on that note," She sighs, "it would probably be in our best interest to set out now. The longer we stay here, I fear, the less interest I - and if I may be so bold as to presume, all of us - will invest in leaving." She almost sweatdrops there, but not quite. Being underwater probably has something to do with its omission.

    Trusting that she has everyone's attention at this point, she continues, describing the route that the group will take to get closer to the city itself. It's fairly simple, really: she leads the group through the meadow, across a risen plateau of smooth stone, and ultimately to the precipice overlooking the city itself. From there, it's a mere leap away, but... wait. Is there someone there?

    Yeah, there is. A girl of no more than fourteen with a perfectly monochromatic body - alternating black and white on her loose shirt and sleeping gown, pure white hair, porcelain flesh - stands alone before them, a playful grin not unlike Palora's decorating her face. That's to say, it's almost as dark as it is mischievous in its perceived intent. It's noteworthy that she never opens her eyes, yet still makes eye contact with several members of the group as they approach.

    "Hey~." Her first word echoes throughout the region, a toothy grin forming. "Got here exactly when she said you would. Just goes to show, Sophie's always right. Yup." She doesn't seem to have any malicious intent, but then there's an undertone of malice here that's near impossible to ignore. Mizuki notices it, too, herself looking quite a bit more pensive at her sudden appearance.

Staren has posed:
    "How do you know what snow is...?" wonders Staren. But then they're off again! "'Sophie?' Well, anyway, we're here now, and you seem to know for what. What happens now?" he eyes the Artist warily.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako cheerfully follows after the group, humming a song to herself. And then stops to look at the monochrome girl that never opens her eyes. She waves hello happily to the girl once she greets them. "Hello! Hmm... you know Sophie, huh?" An air of Malice? Ayako doesn't seem to care about that!

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    "Happy to help," Eryl says, smiling and inclining his head to everyone who thanks him for his findings. To be honest, it wasn't even that hard... just walk around and ask direct questions. But still, it is nice to be appreciated. He smiles at the fish person that seems to have become attached to Priscilla... until Original Face finally gives him something other than a bunch of complaining. A pattern. In the last city, Mister Faruja gained a new follower. Here, so has Miss Priscilla. Considering the apparent nature of this place, based on dreams and stories... well. Perhaps this is a topic best mentioned later. Could just be nothing

    He walks with the group as they make their way to their destination, tensing when he sees the girl with the white hair. For a second, he thinks it is Sophia... but no. This is someone else. The young man makes an immediate assumption, but given the description of the Artist, he is uncertain. Why would a recluse be out and about like this? Also, what is with this undercurrent of menace he feels from her? He bows his head to the woman. "Greetings, ma'am. I am Eryl Fairfax, diplomat for the ReGenesis Corportation. May I inquire as to who you are?" Even with his head low, he braces himself for any action.

Priscilla has posed:
    It's not the first time Priscilla has been called pretty, but possibly the first time by someone she couldn't imagine having an ulterior motive in saying so. If she were angry to begin with, this would be the place where her glare would soften dramatically, but instead she has been having an altogether pleasant evening. "No, none here art upset by anything thou hast done. Still, it wouldst hath been best for thou to simply announce thine presence. Hiding implies mischief, and to that we take less kindly." For the second time in the same day, Priscilla has to attempt a smile. Gosh her facial muscles are really getting a workout.

    A short while later, in a different place, the crossbreed has no such smile to offer another girl who is seemingly nothing /but/ smiles. She tries to hold back the urge to ask who Sophie is, assuming it fairly obvious that she must be someone Mizuki has a bad history with. The girl's malicious aura is a hundred times more obvious to Priscilla as anyone else, to the degree that it makes the fur on the back of her tail puff up slightly. "Pray tell, shouldst we be possessed of a reason to prove Lady Sophie wrong?" The question comes off less innocently expectant and more vaguely threatening.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    The 'Artist' maintains the smile as Staren addresses her, the corners of her mouth creasing juuust slightly. "You go in, and you do what you do. Naturally. Sophie explicitly told me not to mess with you guys when you got here, but I still wanted to get a good look at you." Then she slowly, almost groggily, cycles her head over to Ayako. "'Course I know Sophie! Known her for a reaaalllyyy long time. Lots longer than you people, that's for sure." She sticks out her tongue playfully.

    ... only to retract it as soon as she hears from Eryl. "... man, what a stiff introduction. Bet you say that to everybody you meet, huh? Boooo~rrring! Really boring! But whatever." She rests a hand on her hip. "I'm Sheep. Pleased to meetcha, Regenerist guy." Then she looks to Priscilla, who earns a faint squinting of 'Sheep's' still closed eyelids. "Nah. You guys all want the same thing, so it's all fine. No problems. She just told me to check up on you and all. Gotta play the role of omissive, stupidly obscure villain and stuff, you know? Or was that Mimi's job?" She makes a shrugging gesture. "Heck if I know anymore. That story got boring a long time ago." She lowers her arms. "... hey, anyone wanna play cards, by chance? 'Cause I'm bored."

    Mizuki doesn't even bother waiting for others to reply here. "No, we do not. Kindly move aside so that we may proceed. Also, in the future, please refrain from using pet names with people with whom you are not yet acquainted." With that, she walks right past her, Sheep sticking to her assumed casual persona and not lifting a finger to stop her. "... man, /harsh/. Why do all iterations of you have to be such bitches?" Mizuki stops. "I would greatly appreciate it if you would cease with the incessant leading comments as well. They are not in the least endearing, and I should know better than most."

    Sheep sighs, and would probably be rolling her eyes if they ever opened. "... whatever. S'what I get for trying to be polite. Later, squares." She lifts a hand to the group and is gone in the bat of an eyelash. This leaves a great many questions unanswered, but at the least they are free to enter the Waterway now.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur follows along, swaggering in his usual manner to the waterway, grin and stride all bared as intensely as he can bare it. He takes the chance to look over the environment with a wonderous sort of wide-eyed look that's traditional for Mizuki's world.

    Then they find the monochromatic girl. "HEYA." he says, simply. "Like your COLOR PALETTE." It's the one Arthur has, so he gives it a thumbs up. "Give 'er my REGARDS if we all make it out of this, yeah?" He squints at her, crossing his arms. "SHEEP, huh? I can't tell if you're the BLACK SHEEP or a WHITE ONE here, honestly, with a color scheme like THAT."

    Then, as they're passing by, Arthur frowns. "OI. No need to be RUDE about all this. We're all CIVIL here, yeah? C'mon." He doesn't mind her disappearance, of course, and follows along to the city. "RIGHT, so we just take the route 'round the ROYAL CIRCLE and find the SHACK, right? Easy peasy?" He sets off, swimming, intending to get right to the Waterway and then around the circumference of the area.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is just swimming along today, She knows she often takes a back seat she might be able t help and has the girl gets a odd look from her but this is a world of thought after all she comes to a halt now and smiles a little bit.

"Greetings."

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako smiles happily at Sheep and nods her head slowly, "Aahh, I see, I see. Nice to meet you, Sheep. Oh car-" Of course, Mizuki quickly ensures that Ayako doesn't get to play cards with Sheep. Oh well! "Later monochrome Sheep!" She returns the insult cheerfully as if she doesn't really mean it, and continues over to Waterway.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    "Cards sound fine, but perhaps another time," Eryl says politely, ignoring her comment about his stiff introduction... perhaps a little too close to home? "And how is Miss Sophie?" he asks, trying to sound nonchalant... but his hand curls into a fist.

    But then Mizuki gets upset at this Sheep, storming past her. "Apologies, Miss Sheep, and farewell," he says, following after the woman, inclining his head to Sheep as he passes her.