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Carna     The last time they came to the Church of Bleak Mercy, it was to seek information on the missing. Now, they may have found that information at Escher, just as they were directed to, in the form of Enark. See? All according to prophecy! Or something. Either way, Enark is seated just outside the actual church grounds, on a slope beyond the gates, looking out over the town that Elites helped to build for the civilian Lanterns - those who have died and come back so many times that they are but mere husks, lacking even the instinct to hunt and feed themselves, let alone the strength for it. It appears that it has been a very long time since Enark has last been in this part of Barrowville because he doesn't appear to recognize any of it.

    The man previously had a river of black ooze flowing into his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth, from out of some door in mid-air, in his study. He was saved, and seems none the worse for wear, even though everything else that came in contact with that same Corruption was dissolved and absorbed in short order.

    "That didn't used to be there..." he mutters to himself, squinting as he hugs his blue-robe-covered legs to his chest. "Nor this church... And why in blazes is Escher so far away? It used to be right over there. This is all nonsense." Can he really provide any clues about the missing Elites though?
Staren     So they got Enark out of there -- Staren would happily have let him stay at his ship for a bit to recover, if needed -- and now... well. Things aren't as they thought. Something's gotten into the library, and Escher, throwing all previous plans out the window, and it's going to be an ordeal figuring out how to pick up the shattered pieces into something workable.

    "I'm glad to see you're feeling better." Staren observes. "So... what happened back in your study? And what were you building?"
Rebecca Chambers Indeed, they got Enark out the last time they were there. Rebecca was there to see it, and having seen Wilson sacrifice himself, it wasn't until after the mission was over that she began to grieve. It was a bizarre thing to some considering the circumstances, but it proves that Rebecca does have feelings. Of course, she only grieved for a short time, since she knew time was of the essence and they needed to get back on track with everything.

Some might be frustrated with Enark's lack of memory but Rebecca attributes it to the possibility that what happened to him has caused him to experience amnesia, or maybe something has genuinely changed during his time away. In this place, Rebecca considers it possible that the latter could have happened. Regardless of why or how this amnesia has occurred with Enark, Rebecca has a bit of patience with him.

"Take it easy," Rebecca says gently. "I'm sure it will all come back to you soon. You just need a little while." Of course, Rebecca's voice shows a slight hint of uneasiness as she's not truly sure that it will come back to Enark after a while. She's just saying that in hopes of easing him a little.
Yuna Kagurazaka Given how uneasy Yuna was during her first visit to the town, it's probably just as well that she didn't get to see what Enark was going through while the group was here at Escher. Yuna's managed to catch up with the others, though, and she's here now.

She looks like she's at a bit of a loss as to where they need to be looking right *now*, but she's here. And she's been turning up leads on the 'anchors' they'll need to rescue a couple of the missing Elites, so the time hasn't been wasted by any stretch.

She does latch onto one thing, though, and the battlesuited blonde gives Enark a worried look. "So things change here? Buildings and stuff moving around without a clear cause? I wonder what could be causing it, if that kind of thing isn't usual ..."
Touta Konoe Touta returns to the church, hoping that there's been some progress of some sort in the matter of the missing Elites. Sadly he can't say he was apart of Escher's raid, and with his lack of faction information he's left sorta out of the loop, only scraping by with just the bare minimum of information. As he arrives he only knows that this individual's name was Enark, and that he was somehow related to Escher. There was also something about black ooze, but he hadn't been informed enough about that in greater detail.

Upon his arrival he sees Staren once more, and it looks like he's already talking to who he assumed was this Enark person. Honestly in the position he was in right now, he seemed just as bad as Longita was when they first saw her. Uncomfortable and discontent.

That's why he's suprised to see Rebecca being so kind to him. The last time they were here, he remembers Tanya threatening someone at gunpoint, but the change of pace in this situation was appreciated.

While he wasn't as well informed as the rest of the group, at least he's been able to look up some information on some possible locations for Anchors of a few of the others similar to Yuna. They should probably share notes on that later just to be safe but for now he leans towards Staren and nudges him. "Is this the guy that's suppose to know something about that Lord of Fear? Is he alright, he looks really shaken up."
Carna     Enark looks up as Staren speaks to him. "Ah, well. You recall Escher-space? That white barrier realm with the skewed perspectives and all of the doors? You suggested there might be one that showed the Earth from space, just as there was one that permitted one to see the Moon. I opened the door to go looking, and then all of THAT awfulness came pouring out. It pushed 'me' out of myself and supplanted my body with something else. I feel it wished to make use of me but could not for some reason. I also saw Lumiere a long time ago in some sort of... Dream or something. Long before my original death. People were happy. Though some were also sad or angry or lonely. I think I heard Crow's voice." He looks to the people nearby, trying to recall whom he has met and who he has not in his recovering state.

    "I was... Fulfilling a promise. To a dying man." he answers on the question of what he was building. "I think it might have useful implications in future exploration and recovery efforts as well."

    He smiles uncertainly at Rebecca. "I am fine, thank you. I think I would not have been fine if I had allowed it to contaminate my mind, but whatever pushed that part of me out of my body wound up preserving me, it seems. I understand you were one of those who rescued me? Thank you." Then his smile fades to a tired one as he sighs in response to Yuna.

    "No, no. It has just been a very long time since I last saw this area. Billions of years, apparently, not that I counted. Things have collapsed, shifted, or piled together over that time. Perhaps drifted apart. But just changing locations is not normal. Well, not usually. I can not say whether it is normal NOW. Lumiere is not as it once was. Neither as I knew it, nor as in that dream." he waves a hand to dismiss the matter. "No, what matters most right now is closing that door. You see, when I attempted to elude pursuit roughly two years ago, though we are short a few months, Princess Sarracenia was tricked into stepping out onto a ledge overlooking the Bowl of Filth, the area at the very base of Lumiere, where the Unlit swarm up from. They are mindless shells, driven not by instinct but by hunger itself, without any attachment to biological imperatives. There are many still down there."

    He points towards Staren. "I understand that the princess was rescued by Priscilla, but it seems no one ever closed the door leading to that pit of hungering dead. Some aspect of that area appears to have spread out into Escher-space as a result, corrupting it. I believe it has become the tool of something that can control that which is corrupted, and it is that which has now infested my study and was attempting, unsuccessfully, to use me in turn."

    He finally turns his attention on Touta. "Apologies, I do not recognize you. My name is Enark, of the Blue Scholars. Who might you be? I do not have any immediate recollection of any 'Lord of Fear', no."
Staren     Staren whispers back to Touta, 'The darkness just took over his body and his home and killed his pet.'

    Staren just... >:| at the news that this is, in part, Sarracenia's fault. It sounds like it was an accident, but still, does she ever do anything but cause trouble?

    He sighs. "I see. So before we can even LOOK for our friends, we need to find some way to purge Escher of this corruption, and possibly sever the control of whatever's manipulating it."

    He looks to Touta, curiously. "What's this about a Lord of Fear, anyway?"

    And on a whim, something he meant to try yesterday before everything went wrong: Seeing if he can connect to Lumiere's system as a guest or something to get some limited form of access, since someone passworded whatever access he had before.
Rebecca Chambers "Escher-space..." Rebecca repeats the term to herself, then listens to the explanation from Enark. "So that's what it's all about!" She had heard the term before, but never fully understood it until now. "Is that what it is? That's... really something else." Apparently, Rebecca doesn't fully grasp what this whole place is about, nor does she truly understand as much as she thought she did. When Enark makes the comment about being a dying man, she frowns a little, but when he smiles at Rebecca, the medic does her best to return the smile.

"Yes, I was one of those who rescued you. It's one of the things I do for a living, you might say." Her smile turns into a slight grin but then she forces it back to normal. "I'm glad we could be there to help you.

For the time being, Rebecca says little else, until Enark introduces himself to Touta, at which point she faces him and says, "By the way, I am Officer Rebecca Chambers of the Special Tactics And Rescue Service, as well as a Chevalier of the Paladins." She snaps to attention and renders a brief military salute.
Yuna Kagurazaka 'Bowl of Filth' ... that term, or rather name, makes Yuna wrinkle her nose in distaste. "So I presume the corruption needs to be driven back into that 'Bowl' before we can really close the door?" she speculates. "Does that have to come before rescuing the disappeared or not, though ..."

She looks at Staren briefly. "Wasn't that the old king who had that throne forged for himself? The one his soul was trapped in?" Yuna hates to think that there might be TWO bad guys roaming around who pose a comparably high danger to anyone.

... oh right. Introductions. Yuna smiles (a little sheepishly) and bows to Enark, "I'm Yuna. It's good to meet you!" .... just her given name, no surname or title.
Touta Konoe Touta's sorta surprised to hear the whole situation with Enark, though given the circumstances it's not completely unbelievable either. As Staren asks his question, Touta's the one who's confused now.

"You know, the whole 'Lord of Fear' guy. It's the name of the guy that Longita said popped out of the chair when he broke free or something. I didn't know what his name was so I sorta just went with that."

It's at this point that the young man turns towards Rebecca and Enark. Dressed in nearly all black attire of pants, gakuran, and even a black katana the only thing that isn't black about him is red t-shirt. He gives a laid back smile at her salute as he introduces himself to the both of them.

"I'm UQ Holder's #7, Touta Konoe. We're not as big of a deal here in the Multiverse as the three factions, but we essentially deal with things like this going on back in my world. It's nice to meet both of ya. Oh, and I've met a few other Paladins before like Yuna over there and Mairead who both helped me out a bunch."

Still it was nice to get intros out of the way, but they probably should try and stay on track. After all, people's lives may be at stake. "So Enark, you said you were able to build something that could help deal with this corruption in this Bowl of Filth thing right? Is that something that can help us get our friends back?" Maybe some of that got mixed up in Enarks explanation but he might as well figure out what their options are at least right?
Carna     "Miss Yuna, Mister Touta, Miss Chambers... Yes, yes. Good to meet all of you. As to what to do next, as I said, we should close the door. I have no reason to think that Escher-space CAN be cleansed, but it might be possible to save the Library at least. So we should find some way to reclaim my study, if possible, I think. The only king related to the throne that I know of was the Crimson King, who is long gone. He is one of the souls we severed from the the Marble Guardian called the Throne of the Crimson King. By the time I died, he already ruled, and had for quite some time, I believe." He strokes his chin. "I do not know what entity you refer to, but if I recall, Kushiko mentioned some entity or other coming after her near the end of our battle... Might it be that?"

    Staren receives the strange glyph-input as he tries to ping the system for information while Enark thinks.

    Processing query. Between when the Shadow of Los ruled in Lostrata, and when the Crimson King took the role of king, an entity born of human fear and named in human tongues was made the jailor of the dead. As an interim ruler, it was not considered ideal, and its role was only meant to be temporary. When it came time to remove it from power, the God of Invention created a prison for the jailor. This design was later used for other entities of great power but disruptive influence, turning a threatening entity into a tool that could be used for safe-guarding Lumiere.

    Only Staren hears that, though. Enark is trying to figure out what Touta is talking about and looking increasingly troubled. "Err... No. I was making something to fulfill a promise, which might have implications in further exploring and reclaiming Lumiere. I have nothing that can contain any corruption at the moment. Though, you all have mentioned something that is troubling me. Am I to understand you were on a different rescue mission of some kind when you saved me? Who else, exactly, is missing?"
Staren     "Ohhh the chair spirit. 'Being Y'." Staren thought Touta was coming from an entirely unrelated quest for a moment there.

    And then... He gets more than he expected! "Holy shit!"

    So Enark's behind. "Umm... so when we went to find the king who organized the torture of lanterns until they gave up and died? We killed... /something/ that was sitting on that throne, but the throne itself turned out to be another entity. We thought we destroyed it, but it seems it's loose and may have something to do with the disappearance of several of our friends -- Tomoe, Kushiko, Asterios, Count Kord, and others. Anyway, hang on, Lumiere just told me something:"

    He recites the information gained.

    Since his last access got @newpassworded, he doesn't know how long THIS will last, so while he's got a connection, he goes for the information he actually wanted: Diagnostics on Escher. Failing that, any information on Escher or parallel Lumieres would be helpful.
Rebecca Chambers "Just Rebecca is fine," The medic replies politely. "Yeah, we should at least try to close the door to keep things from getting worse... if that is possible." She bites her lip for a moment. "At least we have to try doing whatever is possible to try to keep things under control." She looks down at her hi-top sneakers for a moment as if lost in thought, although if one looked at her face they'd see she looks a little on the embarrassed side.

After a moment of looking down, Rebecca looks up and nods. "Yes, we should try to reclaim your study. Hopefully once we've done that, we can learn a bit more about what's going on." Normally Rebecca would grab her Beretta and load it or something, but she knows they're not going into action just yet... hopefully. "I'm sure we can do it!"
Yuna Kagurazaka Yuna stares at Staren for a long moment, her gaze lingering on him for several seconds after he finishes expositing what he just learned from this world's systems. However THAT works.

"They made their interim ruler out of an incarnation of fear, and somehow they expected it NOT to ..." Yuna trails off with a sigh, shaking her head. "So that's what we're up against. Hopefully we can weaken it by not succumbing to our own fear, or something - and gods know what our friends in its clutches are going through."

She pauses. "Staren ... it sounded like you've been involved in helping this realm for a while, and you certainly have some kind of connection to it now. Were you - or some version of you, anyway, another body you were running - did you send that alternate-you in to investigate with the others when everyone got trapped?" It's something of a long-reaching guess on Yuna's part, but she DOES know he's got backup bodies, or something.
Touta Konoe "Touta works just fine with me too." The little vampire walks towards to Enark trying to pat him on the back for encouragement. "Still, it'd be funny that we have to shut a door to get to where we want to go. Speaking of shut doors though..."

Touta looks back to the entrance to the church, that was a big deal the last time they were here. That was shut right? They didn't just haphazardly do something by not noticing that did they? He hopes not.

"Ehm, so just to make sure I'm following along so far the plan's to close this Bowl of Filth's door. Get your study back to normal, and then just make sure we have those anchors for everyone to bring them back from that other Lumiere or whatever it was that Longita described it as?"

This whole situation has still been pretty hard to wrap the entirety of his head around. Even if he was a vampire...
Carna     Enark takes in that news, resting his cheek in one hand, and his elbow on his knee. "Well, that's certainly worrisome. Even the king chosen to lead them wound up employing the same methodology, though we have learned since he may have been influenced by the same throne he sat upon, which I suppose explains its powerful fear influence. Likewise, for the Holy Grail that served as the core of the first Marble Guardian we fought, in King Arthur's dungeon-fortress. Its influence over despair was... Powerful. But contained. I shudder to think what such a god-like being could do with such a focused ability but no restraints. The sooner we dispose of it, or seal it once more, the better."

    Records contaminated. Further information on Object: Escher unavailable at this time. Lumiere System is not connected to any other systems. Queried information can not be retrieved.

    Drat, seems that's a dead end for now. If they want more information, getting rid of the corruption is the next step after all.

    He sighs, accepting the encouraging words from Rebecca, but trying to be practical as well. He looks with off-handed suspicion towards the church nearby, following Touta's gaze. "Well, I suppose I will need to find a new place to stay for now. I believe I have quarters at the Concord's base of operations, but--" he sits up straighter suddenly, seeming much more awake. "Is Carna with you? And Wilson? And you saw what I was building, Staren. Were those three retrieved as well?"

    He waves his hand as he pushes himself to his feet with the other. "No, no. THAT door is likely impossible to close without purifying Escher-space, and I do not know of any force with sufficient power to undo the taint that has been inflicted upon it. It is the door leading INTO Escher-space, presently open in my study, that we must close. That seems much more manageable, even if still incredibly dangerous. I also need to verify the safety of those three. Carna was staying with me as she... Got her bearings, after the events in Ariamis. I do not recall if she was there when I opened the door or not."
Staren     Staren shrugs at the comment about an interim ruler gone wrong. Clearly there are MANY problems with Lumiere. He gives her a curious look as she mentions 'some version' of him, then sees what she's getting at. He shakes his head. "No... If I was one of the missing ones and I restored from backup to investigate, I'd have told you I went missing. Although... In a situation like this, I'd prefer not to be restored from backup anyway. Because then if I found me, there'd be two of me, and what do we do then? We can't both share the same life. I'm only supposed to be restored from backup if everyone's pretty sure I'm dead and not coming back otherwise."

    He shrugs.

    And now... ah. It seems Enark was not conscious of what happened in his lab. He hangs his head. "We haven't heard from Carna either. ...Wilson attacked the corruption, buying us time to escape. He didn't make it out, I'm sorry. ...At least we managed to save your new project."
Rebecca Chambers Rebecca wants to say something, but when Wilson is mentioned, she lowers her eyes a little, feeling the tears welling up inside of them. When Staren begins to speak, Rebecca feels the tears burning deeper, but then she wipes her eyes and shakes her head. "I'm sorry, we did the best we could to save Wilson, but I'm afraid he didn't make it," The medic says, trying to speak in a tone that is sympathetic. "I'm really sorry."

After a moment of thinking, Rebecca starts to speak again, but then she closes her mouth again as she realizes she doesn't really have anything else to say. Sighing, she looks at the others in hopes that they can say something to make things better.
Yuna Kagurazaka "Fair enough," Yuna replies to Staren. *She* certainly doesn't want to think about how they'd deal with there being two of Staren, if one had to be eliminated.

Enark's comment about the 'Holy Grail' makes Yuna wince a little, though. If it's one of those Grail Wars things, then ... well, her own experience with Grail Wars hasn't usually been pleasant, especially when the Grail itself is involved. This could be something very different, but it doesn't sound too far off from the usual worst-case scenarios.

"What do you all know about that corruption, anyway?" Yuna asks quietly, aware that the talk of 'Wilson' is at the previous foray which she missed. "What did any of you try against it, what was effective, what didn't work? If we're going to either force it back into the Bowl, or shut the Bowl away and then we have to deal with the part that was cut off, we *will* need methods that can work to purge or purify it ..." And that, thinks Yuna, might be where she can play a role. This is 'planning ahead,' admittedly, but it seems like a good time to ask.
Touta Konoe There's a bit of relief in seeing the man who started out with his hands cradling his knees to getting up back on his feet again. It was a good sign to say the least. Sadly the mood takes the turn at the mention of Wilson. Apparently that was the name of the pet that Staren had mentioned before. Looking around this was clearly a touchy subject. It was surprising to see Staren to feel so guilty when he seemed to be so confident and unrelenting from the last time he was here. It was even rougher seeing Rebecca start to tear up, lost for words to say. While Yuna's right in trying to push the conversation in the right direction, perhaps they should say something for the fallen Wilson. Perhaps it was out of place for Touta to say but...

"I really wish I met this Wilson guy. I don't know much about Lumiere or it's people, except for the fact it's inhabited mostly by spirits, er Lanterns. In my world we have a few immortal beings. Some live for so long that they honestly just stop caring about anything anymore. Humanity, friends, family, all of it. I don't know how old this Wilson guy was but the fact he was still willing to put his life on the line for you guys. I think it really speaks volumes of how much he cared."

Touta doesn't know Wilson's story, but he does honestly feel that way about Wilson. From everything he's experienced with people who have lived for such a long time, it was almost as though they became numb to life, yet the fact that he was willing to get the others out of their knowing his own impending demise...Well that really spoke to Touta in a way that perhaps someone with the perspective of an immortal might understand. As pretentious as that sounds.

"Not just for the people missing, but I hope we can get back at this Lord of Fear for what happened with Wilson too."
Carna     Enark takes a moment to breathe after the news from Staren and Rebecca, despite the lack of need for air in dead lungs. Then he sits back down. "I see." He is quiet for a little while. Then he explains for those unaware, "Wilson was the name I gave to a mimic I crafted out of a piece of furniture in my study. A recliner. One of my early experiments in trying to make a mimic with a personality." He fiddles with a loose strand of hair idly as he talks. "It was a nasty, ill-tempered thing, with no interest in me beyond making me its meal. It would not accept anything else I tried to give it, it never learned or changed or grew beyond its original state, and it looks like even in the end, all it cared about was killing something, no matter what the consequences to itself. It was horrible company to spend billions of years with. I'm glad it's gone."

    He lets the strand of hair fall from his fingers and then rests his forehead on the backs of his arms as he lets out a deep sigh. He sure doesn't seem glad.

    Eventually, he raises his head. "Well, first order of business, then, beyond the door and the study, is finding out what happened to Carna. She is in an exceptionally vulnerable state right now. If she returns to the study, not knowing it has been compromised, she might be consumed before she knows what is happening." He smiles at Staren. "Thank you for saving that much, at least. I won't be forced to break another promise after all. But that one can wait a little bit longer. The missing, and containing the corruption, must be our focus."

    He then tries to focus on business. "Miss Yuna, ordinarily ridding something of corruption would be part of my bailiwick, but I get the feeling my particular flavor of doing so is not exactly the same as this... Force. The Corruption we deal with is a Primordial thing. A Power. Not only will we need methods to fight and contain it, we will need power of our own. Any and all resources we can salvage to push it back and contain it are most welcome."

    Next up is Touta. "Lanterns are the result of an Unlit, those mindless undead horrors I mentioned, eating enough of the native dead, like myself, to gain a sort of soul-chimera composed of bits and pieces of the personalities and memories of their victims. Lanterns, like their Unlit origins, are Anti-Soul Weapons of some kind, perfectly decided for killing ghostly denizens of the afterlife like myself. However, Lanterns possess intelligence, and outnumber the native dead as the dominant population in Lumiere now. Carna, an ally of ours, is one of these Lanterns. However, she recently suffered a mishap in which she died multiple times, in succession, and came back... Incomplete. Priscilla and I have tried to mend her, but her new state of consciousness is highly inexperienced. Still, if we need to slay some bizarre conceptual horror by stabbingit in the soul, she may be one of our best bets. So it seems we have our work cut out for us."
Staren     Staren doesn't comment on Enark's eulogy. It's all true, but Enark must've kept Wilson around all that time for SOME reason.

    Staren shrugs to Yuna. "How to purify it? I have no idea, you're the magical girl... Actually, maybe try another magical girl's powers, it does funny things to light. Light and energy weapons seem to be corrupted? Or something. Light doesn't shine far into it, and when I shot it with beam weapons they became physical and tried to grab the darkness. Not sure about the long-term effects of that, we had to get out in a hurry. Physical weapons seem to work just fine for damaging limbs it forms to attack with, at least."
Yuna Kagurazaka Yuna stares at Staren for a moment. "Did anyone try throwing holy power at it? And I don't know if I can borrow any other magical girls' powers - I don't even know how many other magical girls are active in this part of the Multiverse these days, honestly. If I have to stand my ground against this corruption, I'll have to do it with the weapons I already have to work with, and do the best I can. If all I can do is draw attention away from others and just stand my ground against it while others take the shots that make the difference, then I'll do *that*."
Touta Konoe Apparently Touta was off the mark. Or well, he thought he was till he sees Enark go quiet. It does lead to an interesting conversation about Lanterns though, and about a certain need. Though one group of words sorta sink into Touta's mind as Enark says them.

Touta raises his hand slowly almost as if to ask a question, but it doesn't seem to be the case as he talks, "Uhm, if you need someone who can stab someone in the soul...I might be able to do it."

There's a serious look on his face as speaks. He's not saying this to bullshit anyone or at least, he's not intentionally trying to. He actually believes he might be able to do what Enark is suggesting.

"Back in my world we were dealing with this undead necromancer who was trying to cause a zombie apocalypse. Because she was a spirit unless you knew some sort of exorcism techniques it was really hard to hit her, but uhm...I was able to even when she tried to phase out. I don't know if it only works on certain types of spirits but do you think it might be worth trying to find out if it's possible?"
Staren     Staren shakes his head to Yuna. "Didn't have any holy power on hand. Maybe we should try bringing that archaeologist with the magic sunlight powers. Or that might be exactly what NOT to bring.

    Touta mentions his own abilities. Staren shrugs. "Maybe that'd work on the corruption? No idea. You'd have to try it. Perhaps we should round up as many possible-anti-corruption-weapons as we can find and then bring them all to Enark's study and see what works."