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Gilgamesh	The invitations are unsigned.      It feels like a trap on every conceivable level. The smart money is that it's a trap. The gold-embossed (with real gold) invitations are too fancy to be legitimate. The *circumstances of the invitation* are too shady not to be a trap. The whole thing reeks of someone who thinks they can take the King of Heroes and all his allies/acquaintances/positively-inclined-individuals if they catch the group off-guard with something that looks legitimate.      The invitations lead to a building. It's a tall skyscraper. There's a penthouse at the top with a very pretty glass greenhouse that can be seen all the way from the bottom. Out front is Mansa Musa.      "As-salamu alaikum," the big man says cheerfully as he adjusts his suit, "I have been looking forward to seeing you all once again."      Gilgamesh's scowl says worlds about how *he* feels about this.      "But I am, sadly, not the one who you will be dealing with today. My Master has sent the invitations, and he gave me quite explicit instructions to take you up to the penthouse as soon as possible." His lip quirks upwards. "Temujin was supposed to greet you, but I am afraid he is off on an errand, so instead I am the guide today. If you would?" He gestures politely for the door, which Gilgamesh walks through without even waiting for the 'if you would.'      The inside of the building is remarkably pretty. It lacks the corporate feeling most skyscrapers like this would have; gold lines along the walls and floor give it a shine that marble alone would make cold, while red stone takes the place of black in between the white. The elevator music is cheerful and upbeat, with a hard-to-identify string instrument in the background.      Mansa Musa steps out of the elevator first into a penthouse lobby overgrown with flowers. He walks over to a pair of double wooden doors and gestures. "Master awaits you inside."      The penthouse is luxurious.      Beyond luxurious. The glass isn't a greenhouse - it's the walls of the penthouse itself, full of birds, trees, flowers, plants, and even animals. No snakes, though.      And the reason for the lack of snakes becomes apparent the minute the group pushes through the trees at the far end of the walkway.      He sits on a throne of gold, one hand against his cheek, his elbow on the armrest. His eyes are a pure and perfect red. His face is symmetrical and beautiful in a way that nothing else in the world is, hand-crafted by something beyond humanity to be otherworldly in its majesty. He needs no crown; he is the crown. On his head is a white turban with a blue circlet around his head like horns, sitting atop hair as blonde as the brilliant sun. He's shirtless, but it means nothing; he has nothing to be ashamed of, and the strange vest of ancient Babylonian style over his shoulders seems more like a royal robe than any form of practical clothing.      "I am Gilgamesh, King of Men," the man sitting on the throne says. He waves his hand to the side; a stone tablet appears out of a gold ripple. "For ease of conversation you may call me Caster at the moment. Good. You're early. The convergence will begin shortly, and I won't have many other opportunities to show you the future that might await."      "For the moment, I'll answer your questions." The King of Men says calmly, ignoring the King of Heroes, "But be brief. There's much to do and little time to do it in."      "How are you-" The King of Heroes starts.      "I summoned myself into the Caster class when I foresaw the possibility created by your living self in this era," the King of Men says, waving his hand dismissively, "Be quiet. You're too young to understand what they need to see, and we'll talk later, in private."      The King of Heroes bristles, but since contradicting Caster would be contradicting himself, he's forced to just shut up and take it, looking chastised in the manner of a child who just got told to shut up by a respected adult.
Kale Hearthward	Kale is used to opulence, of a sort. The empire he's used to flaunts in terms of military - extra guns, extra soldiers, extra airships, extra shiny gear... he himself being an expression of that wealth, with three artifact-grade weapons and battle mage training on top of that, when most officers (and above) get at most one of those things. But that's entirely exterior flaunting - the sort that tries to send a message (I am powerful, I can crush you, I can protect everyone who submits, etc) whereas having an entire greenhouse as a set of walls is... ... A sort of excessive Kale hasn't had a chance to be around much. Pointlessly excessive? Excessive just because one can be excessive? It takes Kale a while to wrap his head around it. "... Convergence?" he asks, but he's distracted - he can't stop looking around at everything. "Jeez, it's like you have a whole zoo up here..."
Gareth	"As-salamu... Alaikum!" Gareth pipes up as Mansa Musa greets the meeting Elites, taking a moment to actually try and return his greeting accurately enough despite mangling it anyway. The young(ish) knight seems rather eager to be here today despite the obvious trap-ness of this whole thing. "It has been quite some time, Lord Mansa Musa! Ah, so we're here to meet you're master today? It looks like he's pretty successful already, if he could manage all..." She trails off, looking upwards and squinting a bit at the top of the skyscraper. "... This! Thank you for showing us in!" She makes sure to tap her boots against each other before stepping inside, and just in time to start gawking at everything laid out the group upon entering. The gawking doesn't stop when she exits the elevator, either, and especially not when she's brought into the penthouse. The gawking especially doesn't stop when they encounter another Gilgamesh, and Gareth glances between them rapidly to try and make sense of what she's seeing there. "Two of...? Caster? But you're a..." There's a long pause as she listens to Caster's explanation, and again as he stops Gilgamesh from speaking. Eventually, however, she snaps her fingers while suddenly looking quite excited. "Ah! Caster Master of Mansa Musa!" She sounds rather pleased with herself at that for some reason. "In any case... Thank you for inviting us here today!" Gareth sounds genuine, too, even as she clearly holds herself back from scurrying around to see what other animals might be hidden in this penthouse. She just lets herself look around a whole lot without actually moving from her spot. "Are we going to be having a party? Or did you have something else in mind?"
Staren	Staren hasn't seen Gilgamesh in awhile. These invitations may or may not be from him, but if someone is doing something in his name he'll probably show up. Her feelings about Gilgamesh are mixed, but... Somehow she has a nagging feeling she should look her best. Is that something that Gilgamesh just inspires in people and she never noticed before because she didn't care how she looked? Problem: She doesn't know what her best *is*. Uhhhhhhh...     Staren shows up at the meeting place in mostly black. Round glasses, a black turtleneck sweater, long black pants, brown... hiking boots, and a labcoat tied around her waist. As they gather in front of the building she feels that maybe a touch more formality is called for and puts the coat on properly, though still open -- It's calf-length with the upper part fitted around arms and torso; There's a big Concord Orange stripe around the waist, and three thinner ones across each shoulder, with a matching symbol on the back that looks like a staff of Aesclepius inside a gear, with negative space 'circuit traces' cutting into it from the left side. A black belt with silver buckle is sewn into the coat at thigh-level and is left hanging open.     She nods in greeting to the King of Heroes, and if he pays more than a glance, adds "Long time no see."     And then they're brought up to see... the King of Men? Staren is struck by how *identical* they look, but also astonished by the other Gilgamesh taking such a title. "...You must know..." She starts, then cuts herself off to get to the point: "Gilgamesh..." No, that's meaningless to say here too, isn't it?     Staren looks at Other Gilgamesh skeptically. "Why are you the 'King of Men'? What went differently in your timeline?"
Hibiki Tachibana	It feels like it's been a lot longer than it actually has since Hibiki visited the Closet of Babylon, but that's probably just because of things that have happened in the interim. And the fact she's leaving alone this time. Still, it'd be wrong to say she doesn't have a...particular relationship with the King of Heroes, and more wrong to decline this invitation. For a lot of reasons. Not which of least being who sent it, which is so obvious even before opening it that she's left squinting.     "...Yeah. Nice to see you again." Mansa Musa was also...a character. She's still not sure what he thinks of him. He's actually really polite. And charitable. But in a way that makes her give him a Look when they're face to face with him again. Seriously, that *has* to have a limit. And also preferably it should take forms that makes them not have to quell rioting mallgoers.     Kings back then were weird.     So she's glad(?) this doesn't seem like it'll be another engagement with him. Though she's noticeably very stiff on the way up to the penthouse, maybe because of the ridiculous splendor of the place, maybe because of the group of the rest of the invitees, or maybe because the man they come face to face with is absolutely another Gilgamesh and she needs a second to process that. Thankfully, she both has some experience in alternate selves and also their own King of Heroes stops her from being the one to pull the 'How are you-' routine.     Instead, she takes a moment to brush some leaves on her clothing off and figure out what she wants to say from her position near the back of the group before settling herself back up against one of the trees at the edge of the throne's space. She's still tense.     Gilgamesh says, "Obviously. Look at him. He's in his sixties at least."     Caster says, boredly, "Seventies."     "Okay," Hibiki acknowledges in the tone of 'that's bullshit but I believe it' before furrowing her brow slightly. "...Then I'll just cut right to the chase. Whatever 'future' you're talking about sounds like something you want to avoid, from the way you're talking. And it's caused by...?" Her attention goes to the not-Caster Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh	"It's a recreation of Sumer in the era of Babylon," Caster replies to Kale offhandedly, "It took some work to sow on my part." He speaks like he did it himself. "I felt that it was appropriate for meetings."      "That is correct. I am Mansa Musa's Master. Temujin's, as well. I summoned them in order to ensure that I had sufficient firepower in the event that my younger self decided to take matters into his own hands, or did some other foolish thing that I would need to handle before things got out of hand." The Caster-class Servant holds up his arm. It's covered in Command Spells. Far more than six. "It was convenient to me. And it provoked my younger self into investigating, and prompted the rest of you to follow along, as I knew it would."      "I see the future. I see all futures involving myself." Caster lowers his hand again. "So it isn't hard to guide his actions, even if I wasn't already aware of my own attitude. I couldn't resist a challenge so obviously placed, a chance to enjoy the superiority I possess."
Gilgamesh	"Yes. Convergence." Caster stands and produces the stone tablet, which glows and produces a circle of magical runes above it. "You've seen worlds beyond salvation. Worlds that are already on the verge of collapse. Worlds close enough to your own, and yet distinct and distant, crumbling to bits because of one divergence. For want of a nail."      Caster walks off the throne. "We call these worlds that should no longer exist Lostbelts."      "Every once in a while, such a world manages to survive. It does not grow, it does not change, it does not live - it merely 'continues to exist' in the manner of something that is alive but does not change."      Caster steps forward and places the stone tablet in the air in front of him. It unfolds further. The magical circle above it begins to spin. "And sometimes," he says, dragging a finger along the circle, "These worlds latch onto others. Like parasites. There is bleed-through. Entities from those broken worlds can reach through the timelines and cross over, and cause havoc."      "But," Caster says, "The reverse is also true."      "Entities from...let's call it 'proper' worlds, for the sake of convenience...can reach those Lostbelts. It's difficult, but possible."      When Hibiki asks him what he wants to avert, Caster waves his hand.      "I have no desire to avert any future. What I want to show you is the twin possibilities that the King Of Heroes' future leads to. Surely he's spoken at length about his great choice, about choosing to rule as Man or God, that that choice will soon come as a result of the decisions of others."      "I am one such future." Caster thumps his hand against his chest. "The other..."      "...I assume you're smart enough that you can understand, and I'm not simply wasting my breath."      Caster says, "It isn't for him. It's for you. It's for you who might have to stand against one of these futures, either the one that leads to me or the one that leads to where you're going."      Caster waves his hand again. "It's to prepare the Multiverse."      "Allow me to be clear. I don't imagine that this future alone would break the Multiverse. But it will cause unimaginable havoc that you will, in your kindness and your compassion and your general desire for stability, wish to avert. And the best way to prepare you is to throw you into that future."      "Into the Lostbelt that is about to connect to this timeline."      "So that you can see the results of the other choice, and plan for something you could not plan for otherwise, because you have no way of knowing, no way of understanding."      Caster waves his hand across the book, and the magical circle above it shifts and warps. "It's a choice he'll have to make. One that can't be made for him. One that may appear to be of benefit to you, even though it is also calamitous. It may be that the thing I show you is something you need to harness to stop some other catastrophe. It may be a price you're unwilling to pay. It doesn't matter. In the end, if you cannot know it, you can only see him as he is, and not as he might become."
Tamamo	Tamamo arrives dressed for a city outing, the general effect of which is far muted compared to her usual dress. She has bronze bell earrings in place of three times the number of heavy hairpins, a thin chain necklace weighted by a black and gold ribbon in place of the full-sized ribbon of her robes, and the same, deep blue for a top, but here in the form of a ribbed sweater, rather than a shrine's maiden. The weather may not be quite right for sweaters, even as Samhain approaches, but hers has a loose, white shawl rather than sleeves, and so, perhaps that balances out.     Somehow, taken at face value, it would seem she's dressed down in the process of dressing up, and certainly not arrived with preparation against a trap, but such an assumption crumbles in considering her evident divinity. Even suppressed to some considerable degree, her inhuman countenance is not so different, in some ways, from Gilgamesh's human perfection. To say that she walks with three fox tails obscuring her back is obvious, but to accurately describe the aura of a goddess in casual dress is hardly so simple.     Let us then dispense with that description, as she is making no (conscious) effort to become the center of attention. She's arrived by invitation and at another's behest, after all.     Naturally, Tamamo arrives with company, as she did during that eventful shopping trip. Whether or not this will be another opportunity for raising spirits remains to be seen. Having heard little of the intended topics until now, as well as the King of Gold's Master being a mystery, Tamamo's reaction is to cover her lips with one hand, eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, my." Looking between the two figures of Gilgamesh, "There is a certain familiarity to such meetings of the most familiar. And it is no coincidence, I see, that the same man, and king of men... pardon, was that title not different...? Ah, but to put that aside, if you speak of telling the future, you naturally have my interest. Such was not among the most popular portions of your tale, although, perhaps, I have not correctly recalled it. By all means, please continue."
Staren	Staren seems able to follow the explanation. Alternate timelines that await the completion of key events to avert paradox, dead worlds lingering in various states, her own recent visit to her world's alternate near-past, Secundus, and now this... Apparently it's something you'll start to encounter a lot if you move in Elite circles long enough...     The other...     Staren glances over at Current Gilgamesh and then at Future Gilgamesh, mouthing the words, 'King of Gods, huh...?'     A moment after watching the magic circle form, she makes sure the wormhole link is working, summoning her forearm vambraces that contain weapons and things, and checking her magic blue messenger bag's contents to find them to her satisfaction. Can't be too careful, just in case the link doesn't work in the lostbelt.
Gareth	"If you're guiding your younger self, then that means..." Gareth looks from Caster to Gilgamesh, once again snapping her fingers as though she's solved something that totally isn't being explained that very moment. Before she can actually reveal what she's 'figured out', though, Caster is explaining a whole lot more than what she was going to guess. It's a lot to take in, and the knight furrows her brow as she tries to comprehend it all. "A world with no future, but continues to exist and threatens those of other worlds... I see! I think. And with your younger self having to make such a choice, possibly sooner than later, he..." She looks towards Gilgamesh, then taps her chin softly. "Then... If nobody else can make that choice, then that means all we can do is learn what might happen, yes? Knowing what risks there are without knowing what will actually happen, and to find which risks are easier to swallow." Gareth guesses, looking towards that book and the circle after a moment. It takes a while longer, but Gareth's expression turns slightly more sour. "... Are we meant to destroy this Lostbelt, then? If we're going to preserve the stability of our world, preventing the connection of these worlds might very well involve... Uh." She struggles for a moment. "Removing what... Helped it to survive the unsurvivable situation in the first place?"
Kale Hearthward	"... That's..." "... A lot to process," says Kale, who is going to be experiencing time dilation *and* alternate timelines in the same timebubbled week. "An alternate timeline?" "... So. Okay. I'm sorta a small picture guy - break it down for me. The immediate goal is just to go to this alternate timeline in order to learn, right? We're not trying to destroy or save or whatever to it, right?"
Brooklynn Bailey	Brooklynn had come, but not because she was summoned but because she heard of the invitation from Staren, and came on her behalf to protect a friend.  Just in case it became an ambush.  Also given the situation, Gilgamesh was likely to be there...who she's decided is also worth helping out, because he's shown to be a good person to look up to.   When things broke down into NOT an ambush, she was forced to take a moment to try and hear out everything, to contextualize the situation.  Some people talk about destroying the lostbelt, but those words were not stated.  She is hearing that a decision needed to be made, between ruling as a man and a god. She tilts her head back towards younger Gilgamesh for a moment, before looking forward towards the older one.  He was the man.  In her head, she seems to consider man.  That makes sense to her, but there was something ELSE in her soul that was not so sure.  Men were...flawed, mankind hurt themselves and each other.  Their own tried to remove those flaws, but those flaws refused to be removed. She was the result left over, an embodiment of virtue at the cost of some of her humanity.  Was she this unsure because of it..?  Was she really wanting to stick to her humanity, or...was she afraid of being abandoned by doing so..?   She shook her head, that's not what we're here to deal with Brook.  Keep your head in the game.  She looks towards the younger Gilgamesh again before looking at the older one.  "So why did you make the choice that you did?  You had two of them, right?  But something made you decide to embrace humanity over the gods..?"
Lilian Rook	Lilian Rook has never been trapped in her life. Never ever. Never never ever ever not once.     Thus it is her way to rise to the *implicit challenge* of the invitation by making no (visible) preparations at all, arriving exactly as spectacularly dressed and made up as would befit meeting the prince at a casual country club, radiating powerful lowkey fashion energy, glowing with confidence exceeding a fish being pretty sure that it can swim, glittering with her favourite bits of orichalcum and white silver jewelry, and blasting two hundred roentgens of faerie queen charisma gifts. The most suspect element of her outfit that could be claimed is insisting on a split skirt, but then with legs like those and smugness of her magnitude . . .     Spitefully smug, at that, upon vaguely sharing a space with Hibiki again, with a plus three passive smugness modifier for being within thirty feet of Staren.     Meeting Mansa Musa again is well within her expectations, given her last encounter. After re-introductions again though, she says "I have to say however, it sounds perfectly strange to hear a man of your stature utter the word 'Master' in that context. I can only wonder if your magi coined that term of relation exclusively to reassure their egos in the face of the brighter, bolder, and bigger men they intended to summon, rather than be subsumed into them."     Upon beholding Caster, she taps her radio for just a moment, to say to him "I understand, and forgive you for everything." After properly (!re)introducing herself to Caster, King of Men, Lilian makes the time to ask just how many Servants he actually has, not believing for a second he'd stop at just two, given how powerful she knows Gilgamesh is, how bossy he is, how she knows that he knows that he would need more than two to make current Gilgamesh knows that he knows that he can't start a fight, and the suspicions she'd started having since Mansa Musa mentioned another. The number of Command Seals on his arm abruptly answers her question. There is a moment where the green of her eyes is like cold and split glass, rather than growing things, when she quite visibly calculates how many Servants she anticipates she can handle at once going blind, and then resumes pleasantly focused conversation.     "Baffling naming conventions continuing aside, I'd like to know if this Lostbelt you have in mind is currently attached to this world in some capacity, or a free radical that serves your purposes of illustration; or if perhaps one is soon to become the other. Likewise, though I presume that you alone are uniquely able to see this future due to its connection with yourself, I'd still like to hear the details of why others with similar powers of clairvoyance might not." Her tone becomes only slightly less businesslike, as she raises her shoulders and spreads her hands. "That said, I've never once said no to being prepared for something. And, strangely, neither time travel."     "However, if you've planned for the eventuality of violence instead of cooperation, and have offered so many possibilities, the window for predetermination in this particular tapestry must be pretty narrow. How, precisely, are we to go there and back? And, being honest, what is it that you expect of us? Even if you're correct in surmising that I'd want to put a plug in a disaster of the magnitude you're suggesting, why does it concern you? Please forgive me for not assuming it to be sheer generosity towards timelines you aren't even a part of."
Hibiki Tachibana	'Worlds close enough to your own, and yet distinct and distant, crumbling to bits because of one divergence. For want of a nail.'     That hits close to home.     The silence that comes from Hibiki is uncomfortable as her eyes follow Caster and his tablet. It only gets more uncomfortable. "Man or God..." ...As a result of the decisions of others. She casts a brief glance around the space - lingering on Lilian briefly with a scrunch of her expression, but any words bit back - before going back to the King of Men. It's not hard to imagine which 'future' she'd rather come to pass. But if it doesn't...     "...So that's why you brought us here," she mutters. Some of the things Caster says go over her head. Calamitous, but beneficial for them? Something they'll need to stop something else? She's not sure she really gets it all. But maybe that makes the fact they need to know it all the more important. To see that otherwise unknowable future and what it might bring. This is much, much more than she was expecting from the invitation, to say the least, but now that she's already here...     ...There's nothing for it. "Alright. Count me in." There's an affirming nod before her expression falls just a tiny bit. "...That's easy to say, even though I know whatever's waiting in this 'Lostbelt' is going to be something else. But--" She glances to Brooklyn and then back to Caster. "...I'd like to know that, too. It couldn't have been a simple answer to come to. Neither of them sound like it."
Gilgamesh	"Whether you destroy the Lostbelt or not is up to your own ability," Caster says to Gareth and Kale, "And your own willingness. The people there cannot be saved. Once a Lostbelt collapses, anything within it, anything from it, will disappear. Only those inscribed on the Throne of Heroes or otherwise recorded in some universal memory can be summoned out of a Lostbelt."      "In the end, it doesn't matter to me. What matters is that you are prepared for that choice that's coming, and that you understand that it will affect far more than just the King of Heroes' philosophy. No one can make the choice for him - but you may very well wish to persuade him in that direction to solve some other problem."      To Tamamo, Caster says, "I sealed away the part of me that is the Wedge of Heaven when I chose to rule as a human. I'm no longer the King of Heroes. It's as simple as that. For me, that title is the past, the wild and younger days. I am the Wise King of Men, not the wild and untamed power of the King of Heroes. If he was to fight me, I would lose, without a doubt. Were I to clash with Priscilla, or Enkidu, I would lose, without a doubt. That I admit that should tell you how much weaker I am. That I gave up that wild power to become Wise."      Brooklyn and Hibiki get a long look. "Because I gained the wisdom of foolishness, and learned what it truly was to make a mistake, and in doing so I found a great joy I had never known before."      After a moment he returns to Gareth. "Future Lostbelts may more thoroughly threaten the stability of this world. This one...nothing can come through to this side. I'm certain of that."      "The latter," he says to Lilian, and then, "Because I've been obscuring this future myself."      "To stop him from seeing it. To stop him from seeing *me*."      "What's the point of a choice if the choice is made already? He knows what's coming, but he can't see the shape of it yet."      There's a long pause when Lilian asks why he's being so generous. After a moment, Caster sits back down on his throne. "I can send you there. Does it surprise you that I have the means? It shouldn't. I'll be utilizing an artifact to confirm your existence and-"      He stops.      "Does it really matter enough to you that I tell you the meaningless jargon or am I able to stop at 'I have the means to send you and retrieve you'?"      Then, "I am the King of All That Is, Was, And Ever Shall Be. Does it really surprise you that I care what happens to humanity, even that which does not directly belong to me? All worlds are still under my care. I would be a poor King were I to turn my eyes from this. Besides, it does concern me. It concerns Me."      "Fuuhuhahahahah!"      Yeah, laughing at his own joke proves that he's still Gilgamesh alright.      "In truth, what I gain from this is also satisfying my own curiosity. I want to see what the rest of you choose. What pragmatism you, his allies, will find. What decision you'll make, not only his. People willing to stand near the King of Heroes are, understandably, not common. For me there was only Enkidu. For him..."      He waves his hand.      "A very different King of Heroes. But the same future. And I wish to see how those around him react. If you'll continue to stand with him, if you'll make use of him, if you'll abandon him, if you'll fear and hate him."
Tamamo	It's among the very first lines of the prologue. 'He who saw the deep.'     "I see," Tamamo immediately accepts this revelation, to smoothly move on to consideration of the main topic. "Of a world that no longer moves, I can see why one might call it 'dead,' being like a ghost of what had been. Though one should not remove the memory of what was, and a spirit may have such value, it is another matter should a wraith sustain itself on the living. Is it because they are lost, that they can survive no other way? Ah, but that is frightfully easy to understand. Can such a thing as a world parasite be so simple?"     Tamamo crosses her arms, though it's only to take a pondering stance, head slightly tilted, one ear cocked as if to better listen. "To know of your own future, do you mean, by this, that is only your own of which you may tell, and of these other lostbelts, you know only that they do exist? Perhaps I should instead ask whether you have experienced such a crisis, or whether it is foreknowledge alone that has brought you to this point."     Are we meant to destroy this Lostbelt, then?     Tamamo is about to ask about this, but the question is answered. "The difference between a world on its way to destruction, and a Lostbelt, is it this, then? That no hope remains, whatever gods or heroes deign to descend upon the land, and turn their efforts toward its restoration. How such a thing may be, I am not certain, but as you said, it is a world that 'should not exist,' did you not? To consider that which should not be is difficult, for myself."     What's the point of a choice if the choice is made already? He knows what's coming, but he can't see the shape of it yet.     These words make Tamamo smile at something distant. She does not say anything of why.     ...or am I able to stop at 'I have the means to send you and retrieve you'?     ...are you ready to embark?     "It is sufficient, thank you."
Brooklynn Bailey	Brooklynn, though saying she was ready did have one final question for Gilgamesh.  One important burning question is because she did not have context for the King of Heroes.  She stares at Caster for a bit longer, before the question she says goes out. 'Why are you the way that you are'.   What she gets is...well the story everyone else knows.  But for her is a bit more personal seeing it from his hands.  The death of Enkidu, the desire to be immortal...the snake eating the immortality herb.  They laugh at the end and realize what it was to be human.   Brook takes a step back, feeling she's now at least caught up with the rest of the class.  "Yeah...I think I'm ready now."
Hibiki Tachibana	"The wisdom of foolishness...?" Hibiki openly ponders that. She's not sure she herself can entirely get finding joy in mistakes...or, after a moment, maybe she can. Being human means making them and changing from them, after all, and that sounds very opposed to 'ruling in perfection'. When you consider Gilgamesh out of everyone, she starts seeing how discovering something like that would bring about a different future. Is that how it went, she wonders?     ...Maybe she should also read the Epic sometime. Then again, she doesn't think she'd really understand in the way she wants to, even if she did, for a lot of reasons. And the Gilgamesh(es) in front of them right now are not the same.     That moment of introspection is broken at the sound of the King laughing at himself, which draws a quietly exasperated sigh out of her. There's a lot of things she could say after his final remark, but she settles on, "...Okay. Then let's find out the answers to satisfy that curiosity of yours. I'm--" She pauses halfway through her reply to being ready to go.     'The people there cannot be saved. Once a Lostbelt collapses, anything within it, anything from it, will disappear.'     It lasts a couple of seconds. Where she really stops and considers what they're going to find in this collapsing timeline, of a possibility that might be.     "...set to go whenever."
Staren	Staren frowns as the King of Men warns that anyone they meet in the Lostbelt cannot be saved. "Of course I wonder how it works. Knowledge is power..." But she won't demand an explanation. She does feel slightly... relieved? to see Old Gilgamesh acting more recognizeably like himself.     Privately, her mind is trying to figure out how to save the people of the Lostbelt.
Lilian Rook	Lilian's pleasant smile turns at one corner upon hearing 'the people there cannot be saved'. Her weight shifts subtly, her eyes turning just a hair up and right, before she decides to just ask what prompts her. "Am I to take that to mean that this world is shortly doomed regardless of anything else? That its continued state of existence is an ephemeral affair at best, and not self-proving?"     Not long after, the source and cast of her tension becomes different. "My. I wasn't aware that rendering the future opaque was a power that the King possessed in equal measure as viewing it clearly. Or much of anyone, really." She shrugs. "Personally, I've invested quite a lot of energy learning jargon for nobody else to understand, but if that suits you better, so be it. I'm *less* surprised to learn that you possess those particular means. After all, it'd be rather pointless for you to bring all of this up and tell us to figure it out ourselves; and I've not known the King to be someone who wastes time giving his subjects vague suggestions rather than confident directions."     She pauses for a couple of seconds of slightly weird dead air. "Well, I don't think you're lying. Or rather, I don't think you're being dishonest with your feelings, seeing as I've not known the King to lie about anything either. At least, not lie earnestly. I suppose if it's that time-sensitive, then we might as well. Unless we'll immediately have to deal with an entire ensemble of enemy Servants in their final fortress or something, I don't think I'll need much preparation. And if we do, we have a few expendable souls here to put up to their brave last stands." It's hard to tell how much she is being facetious about.
Gilgamesh	Once everyone has confirmed that, Yes, They're Ready To Leave, the King of Men waves his hand. "You're staying here," he says to the King of Heroes, "I have things to ask you about. Things I'm very curious about, that only you can answer. And, again...you can't be allowed to see that future."      "You knew of me because of the Epic. You can't know that one. Not until the choice has been made."      Then, he opens the stone tablet once again and spins the magic circle above it. It changes color. The Gate of Babylon opens behind him.      A strange, whirling device of gold and stone settles itself around the party. Lilian, Tamamo, Staren, and Gareth would immediately be able to identify it as something not unlike a fairy circle - not quite the samebut clearly born of the myths of other-worlds, of humans who traveled to the underworld or Tir na nOg or a thousand other nowheres, of the Rainbow Bridge of Asgard, and then some. Caster snaps his fingers and presses his hand to the stone tablet. With an irrepressible glee that shows that, yes, he's still Gilgamesh, he says, "I've wanted to use this for some time." The stone circle begins to click into place. "The chevrons are locking. The convergence has begun. That Lostbelt brushes up against this world."      "I am the King of Men, the Ruler of the Garden of Earth! Hear me and obey - I confirm three times the existence of these travellers, and shall await them here! Open the way, Ereshkigal, through Irkallu-Ganzer - open the way through the realm of the dead to the dying realm! This, I command - disappear!"      The last thing the party sees is Caster wave his hand imperiously, and then the world melts.      The transit is sickening, awful. It feels like spirit and flesh are being crammed together, like soul is becoming body, like existence is becoming twisted up and the idea of existing is becoming confused. There is nothing, and there is everything, and it is deafening in its eternity.      Mercifully it finally ends.      Under a red sky.
Gilgamesh	The first, and most notable, aspect of the Lostbelt is indeed that sky. It is a swirling vortex of red and black that does not seem to stop. It is not rain. It is not clouds. It is simply the sky itself, unending. Where the sky meets mountains in the distance the mountains are peeled away into flame, flame that seems more real than the world around it, as if it's some great truth being revealed by the sky. Flame that predates those mountains.      At the center of that swirling sky is a brilliant red star. It is a radiant, glorious thing, beautiful in a way that nothing mortal could ever be. It radiates Authority, Divinity - Rulership. Nation-Building. Power.      The ground is covered in temples. They are temples to the many gods of Sumer, and yet, they are also all temples to some other god. Each of them is carved not only with holy symbols of Anu and Ishtar and others but with the symbols of that red star.      People work, in perfect lock step, walking up those steps carrying gifts. They labor in fields. The harvests are dragged away from the earth and up the steps. Everything they have, it seems, is given over to the gods. Oh, they seem to live in lovely comfort, in the halls and grandness of those temples, but they are liing as well-kept slaves, as well-kept servants, not as human beings. The Sumerian mythology even says as much, doesn't it? Mankind was made to do the work the gods didn't want to. Everything these people have is placed upon these temples under that swirling red-and-black sky, that swirling sky that speaks of a tale of the Beginning.      In the sky, between Heaven and Earth, are the treasures.      Gilgamesh's treasury unleashed in its full glory. Swords. Axes. Spears. Flying machines. Submarines. Board games. Stranger things besides, things that have no name, things lost and forgotten by mankind, legends from cultures that no longer are. Divine lightning. Unmade aether. Everything mankind has dreamed moves around the sky.      Like...drones.      Like surveillance drones.      They move with perfect purpose, in perfect harmony. The people below work for the gods. The gods reap their work in the temples for their own pleasure. And bringing them together...      The Wedge of Heaven.      That blazing red star in the center of the sky.      A panopticon that sees all things in his garden.      Gilgamesh.
Brooklynn Bailey	The sickening feeling thankfully ends, landing in a different future.  The path there was terrible, and it felt both distantly familiar, but also sickening strange in a way that makes everything terrible.  She takes a moment to get up, as her body purges the illness of vertigo and lets her rise.   She can not even initially comprehend this picture.  It was like seeing something completely alien to her.  The humans below work and toil, but not for themselves...no to see their work be burned on altars and be sent upwards.  Looking up the tools of the divine king being used to keep the peace.   And far above the king stares down, and above him, the gods reap and receive.  This wasn't...right?  Mankind had the potential to be better, to be stronger.  This was completely removed from what Persphone and the Queens had wanted.  No, this was worse, humans were reduced to clay dolls.   On the other hand, she had the realization too that humans, unrestrained did worse.  Here people were taken care of, they did not live in the squalor that was the world she lived in.  They didn't become monsters and use others for their own perversions.  The realization that the world of Persphone and the Queens was a far one.   She stands there silently, watching.
Gareth	"I think I understand, Wise King of Men. I may not be the most learned of anyone here-" Gareth glances from person to person, confirming her suspicions with a quick nod to herself. "-but I trust in the judgment of those here. If anything does sway me so strongly, however, I'll be sure to let the King of Heroes know!" She answers confidently, puffing her chest out and resting her hands on her hips! And then sliding them into her coat pockets while furrowing her brow again. Too much to think about, but it'll probably make more sense once they're there. Gareth's eyes widen when the device activates, actually perking up briefly before remembering where she is and, more importantly, where she isn't. The teleportation process happens, and it's rather awful to deal with. There's not much Gareth can do but withstand it, although she does sneak peeks at everyone else to see how they're taking it if she can even see them in the first place. Gareth, for her part, would look like she's about to puke! Thankfully, she doesn't even after the transport process ends. She does, however, gawk at that red sky when it opens up above them, and she squints as though she's trying to peer through the... "That's... There's no clouds, and it's all red. But those items..." Gareth comments anxiously while staring up at the sky and fiddling with her coat's pockets, noticing that giant red star up above and the many floating treasures moving through it. "You've... We've seen these before, haven't we? They must be..." Should she tempt fate? Probably not, but it's the only way to be sure. "The King of Heroes'. Is Gilgamesh somewhere up there, too?"
Staren	The portal looks about like what Staren would expect.     The transport is what she does NOT expect.     She looks like she's just escaped hell when they emerge under the red sky. Horrified, relieved that it's over, and then realizing that that might just be the beginning...     The world she sees around her is definitely giving off a vibe. Has humanity been reduced to *machines*? This seems like something the King of Heroes would hate even *more*.     She jumps to some conclusions about how this world works. "...But what do the gods need these offerings *for*...?"     Staren looks up at the drones maintaining things. "The King of Men said we might need the King of Gods to face a future threat... But nothing is worth reducing people to this. This isn't life..." She rubs her head. "Would I have felt the same way just a few months ago? Or would I have said that it was worth it for people to survive, in hopes that one day, further on, they would come back from this and flourish again...?"
Tamamo	The earthly form of Tamamo no Mae is twisted, pushed, pulled and compressed, moved through another space, her spirit better able to withstand what results than the body she insists on keeping. She's quite fond of this body, and not a moment after her reappearance, the affirmation of her existence in a world that "shouldn't," does she draw several talismans from her thigh holster, burning them away in the air to release the stored magic. Immediately, all lingering traces of her passage disappear from her body, her mind clears enough to take in the enormity of this new (old) world, and a variety of defensive wards shimmer nigh-invisibly around her.     She's at Lilian's side in the moment after that, offering her the same. Everyone else will have to make do on their own for at least a moment longer. "Are you alright? That was..." Unusually at a loss for words, and even less usually breathless, Tamamo trails off, but there's no need to explain what just happened to another who had experienced the same. "...unpleasant," describes both what she'd seen, and what she now sees.     "This is a world," she says, after some length, "in which I could not exist. Never would She observe that of humankind that took Her interest, in this place, and never will it change, so long as the era of that star does not end. An eternal land, this is, in its stability the perfect balance found by laying oneself at the bottom of an earthen pit." It's somewhat less than praise.     "And if he spoke of that truth which is inescapable, then neither is there any escape for this world. What can be done, for a time that cannot be? But if it were only that, it would be no concern of ours, for it would be only a story of what could have been. The King of Men spoke of more, a danger that must be faced. Now, how shall this be addressed? I would know, first, what danger it does pose, this unreal reality, this false history, against what I know to be."     And so, Tamamo reaches, carefully, lightly, as subtly as she can manage, to find the very edges of the strings of Fate that hold this place together, and find the relation between it and the world outside. How does this place matter? What is the shape of its 'convergence?'
Hibiki Tachibana	The trip, as Caster sends them off, is gut-wrenching. If all travel between all worlds was like this, Hibiki probably would never do it. Everything comes together in the worst possible way. She can't think straight, it's all terrible and confusing, she wants to go back already, this isn't right, why won't it--     It ends. But after the whiplashing urge to vomit is suppressed and some seconds are spared to heave some breath back into her lungs, she's not sure if she'd prefer that over where they find themselves.     The distant mountains, and the fires blazing beyond them. The temples of worship, attended by the people who live here--no, living is a generous word. It's inhuman. And it forms a pit in her gut deeper than any unfortunate method of travel could ever create. To her, this doesn't even look like it's any kind of civilization. It's just laborers, toiling away for...for what?     That crimson star hanging overhead, among those endless treasures and the swirling sky, presiding over everything? Is that...?     "...This is horrible," she finally manages after a long silence, with the mixed disgust and shock in her voice not hidden at all. "They're being watched. Working, giving everything up. Nothing is theirs, they're just...this isn't...a place people can smile in." At least not in a way she could ever understand. Unconsciously, her fist clenches at her side, and an equally unconscious swallow happens. "I don't even know if it /is/ for anything..." She murmurs back towards Staren.     And her head lifts back up towards the star. "...at least not anything I can say is worth it. Even if humanity goes on like this, it's not anything...like what it could, or should be." This kind of stability comes at far too deep of a cost for her...and she's only seen the surface of things.     "Does he...know we're here?"
Kale Hearthward	"..." Kale's silent for a moment, as he takes in everything, hawk eyes focusing near and far, and then he runs everything he picks up through his thought processes and past what he's recently learned in his training. "So..." "... food production's fine... even with the offerings... and the people certainly don't look emaciated..." "... Adequate living space... " "... Adequately defended - or signs of it, anyway..." "... Yeah!" He nods. "This place looks great." And then he picks up on most everyone else saying otherwise. "... What? What's so bad about it?"
Staren	Does he know we're here? "Probably. ...Certainly. So that's why this world is a lostbelt... unending stability. Is this life at all...?" She looks at Kale. "...Really? What would you do here?"
Lilian Rook	Lilian is reminded, instantly, of the standing stones on her own family's land. Then, a split second later, those of the Pendragon clan. Then, just a fraction after, the notes and diagrams of her own thesis, sketched ahead of her final school year. The purpose of the array is painfully obvious. "Please do." she says to him. "It'll give me material to work with." Indeed, the subject of Otherworld travel is . . .     Well, moments later, she certainly hopes she can iron out it being *that awful*. She receives Tamamo's priestessly aid gratefully, briefly woozily fixated on the ground, just long enough to say "I'd be lying if I said I've had worse, but it's not outside the realms of what I expected. Thank you." She looks back up.     The sky, however, is a different cause for discomfort. The crimson air, the swirling black clouds, the scarlet star that pierces space, the white hot flames. It's like something comes over her. Lilian presses the heel of her hand to one eye, gritting her teeth and breathing in a sharp hiss, automatically forcing out hard-edged and feverish words through a clenched jaw and hesitant tongue. "Blue like black, and white like red. Thunder that was words. Everything points in and down is outside." For a moment, it looks as if she might stagger and fall, but somehow she regains her composure instead. Her hand falls away from her face, but a bead of cold sweat drips from her chin with it. Her breathing stops, and every muscle in her body clenches for ten full seconds, before she releases it, and recovers a sense of calm. "I wasn't prepared to be reminded of London. This must be like what it was like to have stood under Mors Caelum."     Lilian, for three more seconds, falls into something of a trance, staring up at that baleful star, red as the light that runs through her when synchronized with Dubh-Ceothan Marfach. She then claps down her dress as if dusting off some unwanted, invisible detritus. "That was rather hasty for someone so desperately thirsty for world-transforming power, little girl." she says to Staren, at least a decade older than her. "*That* is the wedge of heaven. This is . . ."     "This is the world in which Gilgamesh never has his 'dream'. I'm sure of it. This is the chain without the axe. The binding without its mythical betrayal. We're no longer talking about a man with all the treasures in the world; you may as well think of him as a god who owns all of mankind's worth in a literal sense now, if I'm to save you taxing your brain."     She says to Hibiki "Of course he does. *They* do." she gestures upwards. "And have no reason to care as of yet. I advise you suppress your usual instincts; not only do precisely none of you have the ability to engage him directly, none of you possess the ability to escape him either. If you make a scene, my number one priority will be protecting Tamamo and myself to maintain operational integrity, and number two will be reestablishing contact with the King of Men to exfiltrate immediately. Aiding Hearthward as a Paladins Chevalier is a distant third, and recording whatever happens to you as tactical intelligence is an even more distant fourth."
Lilian Rook	Then to Kale "This world shouldn't exist, because the alternative outcome of the tale --the one in which the epic has no plot, no beginning, middle, or end-- is one in which humanity never writes one in the first place. History is over before it begins, and this world exists so long as it befits the pleasure of the gods that it does. The only way to change the state of affairs here to is to kick free the wedge from heaven's door, and the very instance of doing so fundamentally alters the parameters of this dead end's existence; it would collapse pretty much immediately."     "What the King of Men means isn't so much along the lines that 'this is a horror our Gilgamesh may yet visit upon the Multiverse', but 'this is what our Gilgamesh does not fully comprehend that he was refusing to become, or why'. He must have some doubts that ours intends to remain committed to doing so. But perhaps some idea that the King's full potential unlocked like this may be an arguably acceptable means to an end, for some future conflict that necessitates our own mythopoetic Project Manhattan."
Kale Hearthward	"Well, *clearly*, there's board games," says Kale to Staren, pointing at that section of the treasure pile. "For example."
Gilgamesh	The shape of its convergence, Tamamo finds, is very simple. It is latched onto the world, onto the 'proper' world, like a lamprey. The King of Men may not have lied about not caring if it was destroyed or not, but this world, this impossible possibility, is a leech. It drifts from world to world to sustain itself. Things get lost in the cracks. People. Places. Memories. Items. There's no malice in it; the world isn't intelligent, after all. But it's something that's leeching off other times to survive. Because, as the King of Men said - it shouldn't exist to begin with. Stagnant, static, dead. It's just stable enough to avoid collapse by drawing bits of other existence into itself.      Caster may not have sent them here with intent to destroy it - indeed, such might be beyond their current means - but he probably knew what reactions it would draw. He probably didn't tell them so they'd come to a natural conclusion.      He did mention he was curious about their reactions, too. It might've been a test on their behalf as well.      He may be Gilgamesh, but Caster is certainly a more subtle Gilgamesh than the King of Heroes.      Or this...thing. This red star that sees all things. This perfect order.      As Tamamo pulls on the cord there is a moment of something looking back at her. It's probably not Gilgamesh - he doesn't have that capacity, and it's unlikely this one has it, either. Instead, there's a flare of red light.      And then there's a woman standing there, hands on her hips, an imperious look on her face. She's beautiful in a way that defies beautiful - sexy in all the ways that matter, a perfect beauty that matches the desires of anyone who see her. One who embodies Beauty and Fertility.      "Oh," the woman says, pouting. "Gilgamesh alerted us to a foreign goddess but he didn't say anything about her dolls. Still, they're not bad." She walks forward, hips swaying in perfect lockstep, leaning in to inspect each of the non-Tamamos in turn. She gets realy close. Uncomfortably close. Close enough for the smell of fertility, of lust, of beauty, to get riiiight up to the party.      Then she turns on her heel and walks over to Tamamo, sniffing Tamamo's air. "Sun, huh. Sun, Fate..."      Her hand goes back on her hip. "Well, you don't have anything I have to worry about, so I guess I'll welcome you to Earth, foreigner. You smell like you're from the stars so *I* have to be the one to greet you."      The woman brushes her hair behind her. "I'm Ishtar. Welcome to Earth, foreign goddess. If you're here to cause trouble then our security system will take care of you. If you're not, then I guess you and your cute dolls can stay at my temple for a while. It's the biggest, you know." She preens. "Daddy made sure of it."      She points at a temple directly under the red star. It's huge. Around it patrols a golden bull so large it stretches into the sky. "Just pat Gugalanna on the nose. He loves that. He's a big softy when you get right down to it as long as you keep him fed."      "He loves grain and beer, too, so if you want to stop by one of the offering shops and pick some up, he'll probably let you ride him."      The bull is literally tall enough to touch the sky. The only reason you didn't notice it immediately is that it blends into the rest of the massive buildings really, really well.      "So, yeah. Come on over. I'll make sure your stay is comfortable until you go back to whatever distant star or world you come from." Ishtar swings her hips again. "Although I can't say I like that you copied our work with your clay dolls, they're at least really pretty, so I guess we can let it slide."      "Or I guess you could go that way," she waves her hand at a crevice behind them, "And crawl down to see my sister. She's also allowed to welcome you, and honestly, it'd probably be a load off my mind if I didn't have to feed you in my house."
Lilian Rook	Done consulting as much probabilistic scattering as she can do under so much time pressure, Lilian decides, out loud, "We need to move. We went through an Otherworld gate, not a time machine; this is the same year as when we left. Gilgamesh doesn't own his personal pocket cosmos; it's his divinely ordained role to manage the human machine. That means every single one of the pre-history gods not only still exists, but are still at the peak of their power, and benefit immensely from this arrangement at all times. So--"     Ishtar finds them first. Lilian knows it is Ishtar before she says anything. Before she even sees her. Smells her. She knew this was a possibility, encroaching immensely towards the whole integer of One from the moment it manifested. It's why she wanted to move fast. The outlier case is unfortunately faster than that.     §No. No. Whatever you do, don't try to fuck Ishtar. This is not a once in a lifetime opportunity. That is the epitome of playing stupid games and winning stupid prizes. You read the books. Don't do it. Don't ask. Don't even think about it. Let one of the other idiots figure out how dick and crazy mix for themselves. Stay focused. You're better than that. She should have to hit on *you*. Move on.§     Lilian successfully keeps her mouth fully shut via the expenditure of several points of willpower. She wrangles her directives through the contorted shape of humbly advising Tamamo. "I believe, my lady, that Ereshkigal may be perfectly welcoming, if nothing else for want of company, but perhaps mismatching, if not beneath, your station. Lady Ishtar's hospitality would certainly be far more worthy of appreciation, and more apt to learn from. However, it may be best to leave our more troublesome elements in more robust care, before graciously accepting such high-class accommodation."
Staren	Staren bristles a bit at being called 'little girl'. She glares back at Lilian. "The power is for a purpose. If it means making things like this, then it's of no use at all..." She waves a hand at the distant workers. She nods at the suggestion that this isn't the place for heroics. Despite trying to turn things around... she's not sure these are still people to be saved.     If they're here they don't WANT to be saved, right?     Lilian explains that this isn't the future Gilgamesh will necessarily make, but a demonstration of his power. "...Oh. I see... I dunno if I'd trust him with such power, but even so... I guess that's a bridge to cross when... if we come to it."     And then... one of this world's Gilga-pals shows up, and... Oh. THAT is what that feels like. Hhhhh. She can control herself, but blushes at the thoughts going through her head right now. Staren is glad no mindreaders are here.     Oh. This is *Ishtar*? The one Gilgamesh *invented the rap diss* to tell off? The one who *kills all her lovers?* She can kinda see why anyone would say yes anyway, though... NO. BAD BRAIN. Even if she did just call Staren cute. This is really unfair!     Pat the bull on the nose? HOW? She'd need a ridiculous super robot just to reach. Hey wait, clay dolls? They're n--pretty     Dammit why is there not a Phony to hide behind? ...Staren moves so that Brooklyn is between her and Ishtar.
Gareth	The redness grows brighter, and Gareth spots... Someone! Although she's not sure who this new figure is (until identifying herself as Ishtar), she can't help but stare wide-eyed at her as she approaches Tamamo. "Cute?" She blinks owlishly at that, perhaps wisely refraining from commenting on the dolls part after Lilian's recommendation. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Queen Ishtar! Ah... Pretty?" More of that blinking, and Gareth's visibly standing a bit taller on her feet even as she looks over at that crevice indicated. "Your sister is...?" Information is provided by someone calling himself Doomy the attractive sheep. There's a long pause as that takes her some time to comprehend (as with anything else), and then she bows formally at the waist towards Ishtar. "Thank you for the recommendation. Fret not, for we will certainly become more worthy of your presence before you see us again!" Gareth's still grinning ear to ear as she issues that sort of self-issued challenge, although she does have enough sense not to say too much more than that even as she's hearing so much more about the differences between her and her sister. She doesn't have enough sense to not stare, though, until people actually start heading into that hole.
Hibiki Tachibana	There's a fleeting, single moment where Hibiki considers not suppressing her usual instincts just to be contradictory, and then she immediately acknowledges how petty that is and pulls it back. Though the look on her face doesn't change much aside from a deeper frown. "...I'm not gonna. Even I'm not that dumb." 'They'. It was obvious, from the sight of the temples, that Gilgamesh wasn't the only one who had reign here. But that makes it really settle in. She's not sure if that's a good or bad thing.     The last thing Lilian says worries her, though. Seeing Gilgamesh come to a conclusion that leads to him going down.../this/ path, she doesn't want to imagine what would spur it. He was right. They had to experience this to really know it, so she can't blame their own Gilgamesh for not knowing exactly what the end result of that would entail...and she also can't imagine ever doing it as a means to an end, no matter how bad things can get. Or at least, she doesn't want to.     And then they have a visitor. Hibiki is surprised at first, and then she finds her jaw going slightly slack. Resisting the urge to lean back when Ishtar gets way too close is easier than she'd like to admit it is, and she finds herself in a cycle of going red in the face, avoiding eye contact, and holding her breath until the goddess has moved on to the next person.     Only then does she let it all out in a sleeve-muffled sighgroan. "How does she walk around like that...?" She has the unbreakable will known as Having Someone At Home, but nobody walks away from that unaffected. She's just going to keep her big mouth shut for the next minute and take on the role of good-looking 'clay doll' in the mix of the others. This affords her ample time to take in Gugulanna. Yeah, maybe starting fights here really isn't a smart idea.     And also the crevice behind them. Is going to meet Ereshkigal actually that easy...? "Well it'd be...rude to not meet her if she's also been allowed to welcome us..." That's as much as her acting prowess will allow. The less said around this woman the better, probably.
Kale Hearthward	"Hey, wait..." says Kale. He pulls out a notebook and pen. "Is there any chance I can meet whoever architected this place?" He gets informed that's a bad idea. "Okay - then... I'm just going to look around a bit. Look, not touch." Kale clicks his boots on, Dorothy-style, and then takes off to start looking around, notebook and pen in one hand and cell phone camera in the other. What the city looks like, how the people are acting like, the giant mound of treasure, the panopticon (from a safe distance) - he just starts documenting everything he can think of via photos and video and written and voice notes. There is a sense in the back of his mind that having a record of all of this will be useful later, but more immediately he's trying to get a better sense of how this gilded cage functions.
Tamamo	"Among other things, but chiefly of that distant Sun, I am," Tamamo agrees with Ishtar. She does not, out loud, say the warnings that she gives to everyone else. She is perfectly aware that real people tend to take unkindly to being called dolls, and is absolutely aware that she's dealing with a full and proper goddess, even if one of a dead world. It's not a direct confrontation she would rather, even with backup.     More importantly, she sees nothing to gain from starting a fight here. Here, specifically. Standing outside the gate of a city is the worst place from which to declare a war against it. Far better to be either already inside it, or else the opposite, far out of reach. Here would be the worst.     "Remember, everyone: Some predators can only see movement. If you don't want to be seen, don't move." If 'predator' isn't a word made to describe Ishtar, Goddess of Power and Command and the predecessor Aphrodite could only wish to be, then it's a word without any meaning at all. She is immediately and obviously incredibly, nigh indescribably dangerous. There's no time, in fact, to describe the full extent of just how dangerous she is.     Lilian answers before Tamamo can, and it's as much as Tamamo was about to agree with based on Dumuzid's suggestion. How that one tapped into their communication, while Ishtar has not, she's not certain. It is, in any case, fortuitous. It's a wholly unexpected boon.     She doesn't wait for Brooklynn and Lilian to come to an agreement. Anything but an immediate reaction would be odd and telling, and "telling" is what Tamamo doesn't. She has such perfect control of her expression that feigned surprise looks anything but. She knows that Ishtar draws one particular reaction out of almost everyone, but that a god would be among the few who would show resistance. Tamamo shows, then, exactly the amount of apparently suppressed interest in her beauty as would be politely expected, without even knowing what would pass for "polite" in this company. Polite interest, extended a bit for being a purported tourist of some kind, polite appreciation for Ishtar's praise of "her dolls," and polite gratitude for the invitation, reluctant as it was.     "Why, thank you," she says to several things at once. "I am so fond of them, you know, that I simply could not resist." Ishtar would know a thing about that. "I shall take up your kind invitation, and attempt to trouble you as little as possible. You need not worry about feeding them. They will be quite alright by their own devices." She couldn't make everyone here follow her, anyway. Or rather, she probably could, for a short while, but it would be far, far more trouble than it would be worth.     To the point, Tamamo doesn't even look back to see what the others do, nor does she actually tell anyone 'go make contact with Ereshkigal, who will be nicer and a potentially valuable ally.'
Brooklynn Bailey	Brooklynn stands very still for a moment, the feeling of Ishtar watching over them before she appears.  She stands firm as Staren stands behind her, nodding to her.  She is more than willing to protect her ally.  Her face grows annoyed when Tamamo takes control but is followed up by Lilian.  There is some tension for a moment, but communication saves the day.  Brooklynn, more relaxed still maintains her composure. She touches Staren's arm for a moment, aiming to give confront to before she lets the conversation between one god and another continue on.  This is when Dumuzid speaks up over their shared radios, and some things are known.  When the offer to visit her sister is offered, and some things are put into play including the clarification of some problems.   "I can guide them," She says towards Tamamo, as opposed to voicing up any other concerns openly.  When things start to break up she'll motion towards those who are coming with towards the rift and help take the front.  She's hard to actually injure...and while the underworld is probably the safer of the two options... Well, it is the underworld.
Gilgamesh	Lilian gets a big smile from Ishtar, who leans in to put her finger under Lilian's chin. It's like touching lust itself. It *is* being touched by Lust Itself. This is Lust, in its purest, most primordial form. "Aren't you a clever-tongued clay doll. I wonder if you're as clever with your tongue in every way...maybe I'll find out for myself later. Assuming your goddess wants to join me."      Ishtar turns on her heel. "But sure, why not. I'm sure you know which of your servants will best please me," Ishtar says to Tamamo, "So I won't take offense if you send a bunch of them to meet my stuffy sister." With that, Ishtar snaps her fingers and sits down on some kind of strange flying device. "You can meet me if you want. I don't mind if you want to...ride." Everything she says drips with sensuality. She shifts a bit on the golden chair.      As Kale is permitted to wander around, he finds...well, it's not actually that awful? Yeah, it's awful from the perspective of anyone who values free will and freedom, but for someone who values safety, security, and peace, it's actually pretty great. Kale's probably never seen markets so cheerful and lively. So safe. So free. Not even any guards on the streets - though who would ever need a guard with the all-seeing eyes of the Enuma Elish above? Who would ever need such a thing? And they're *happy*, that's the important thing. They're smiling. Families walking around. The only thing odd is that there are no luxuries at all. Clothes are little better than sacks. Rough-hewn. No incense. No sweets. Not even bread and ale. Just...water, water and millet.      Of course. Because bread and beer are symbols of humanity. Of its dominion over the land. And the gods...well, the gods hold sway over that, don't they?      But it's pleasant. Calming. Happy. The temples smell of beautiful luxuries and perhaps humans are allowed to partake of them when the gods find them favored, but out here, on the streets, it's just the barest of minimums necessary to survive.      And this is the current year of the world. This is a world that is, by all times, modern - comparable to the Earth they just left, or to Kale's own. It's a world so stagnant that there isn't even a hint of technology outside the flying machines and submarines that are part of the treasury of the Enuma Elish, flying overhead.
Gilgamesh	Of course going to the Underworld is that easy, Hibiki. All you have to do is die.      So as Ishtar leaves, a golden sheep, who is outrageously fluffy and incredibly cute, appears. He is clearly the Doomy who's been talking on the radio, because he's outrageously fluffy, incredibly cute, and then, in a voice smooth as butter and deep as the ocean, says, "I'll help you into Irkallu-Ganzer." Then he turns and starts walking towards the crevice. He stops in front of it and gestures downwards with his big fluffy horns. "Here. Jump down here and don't open your eyes until you feel the thump. You won't die, exactly."      There's a beat. "What I mean to say is that you're going to die because you're going to the underworld, but you won't be dead, just sort of dead. It's very technical. Lots of jargon. Don't worry about it. You're the first humans who'll ever be down there, and there's nobody down there but the Old Man of the Mountain, Ereshkigal, and that other old man and his wife whose names I don't memorize because they're very dull."      "If you need a push I am happy to oblige, especially if you are an attractive woman."      Doomy is a rakish sheep for sure.      And then, those who are going to meet Ereshkigal are falling, falling, falling, falling. Doomy was right. Closing your eyes is better than opening them. It's safer. By a lot. The *thump* is a calm one, a quiet one, not a painful one, and underground is...      Oh this place is *creepy*.      There's cages *everywhere*. Countless cages. Holding souls. Bodies? It's impossible to tell. There's a lot of...dead...down here. Wall-to-wall. Stocked like shelves in a store. Countless dead people from twelve thousand years of humanity. Billions. Maybe more.      And then there's a shriek like a teenage girl was just caught undressed and a "wait, wait, wait!"      Hurriedly, what is undeniably a young woman - much plainer than Ishtar, but with clear resemblance, at least in her divine aura - runs out towards the crevice. She's carrying a bunch of colorful cloths. "I had Doomy buy these just so I could freshen up if anyone visited and then I forgot to put them up and...!"      She stops in front of the group.      She stares.      "...you're not gods."      "And you're not dead."      She tilts her head sideways. "...?"
Brooklynn Bailey	Brook closes her eyes as per suggestion.  When they finally hit the ground, and they didn't splatter...not that she was afraid of that, she can fly.  Standing up, she looks around.  "...I'd like to say it's creepy, but..." she says aloud for a moment, "I guess it's death and it's supposed to be." She muses after some time.   She walks forward until they reach the goddess of the place, who apparently was a bit late dressing up for them, and is also confused as to why they are here.  "Oh uh.." She says, with a thought, "Sorry we're sent here on behalf of the foreign goddess.." She says, deciding that keeping the story straight was a better idea. "We're here to...get to know you, because we don't like Ishtar, and a sheep said a lot of nice things about you so..." she says, with a shrug of her shoulders, "I'm Brooklynn by the way.." a pause, "I know who you are but I know people love giving introductions.."
Staren	Ishtar is leaving. Good. ...Good. Staren always thought she was above all that. But no. IT'S COMPLICATED SHUT UP.     On to the underworld. "Utnapishtim?" Staren volunteers, when Doomy says he's forgotten the names. And then...     Throw herself off a ledge?     Staren steps up to the ledge and... hesitates. This... shouldn't be that hard. She's risked death before, and this isn't even going to really kill her! Probably.     While she's thinking about it, Doomy presumably rams her off the ledge. He's helping! She closes her eyes...     And when she's not falling any more, opens her eyes and stands up. "Why are there... so many? All this, and the gods didn't even cure death...?"     Oh, this must be the goddess of death herself. "I hear you're friendly to mortals... although, I'm not exactly..." She approaches Ereshkigal, holding out a hand to shake, and smiles. "Nice to meet you! I'm... well, this is weird. For the second time in months, I'm a man out of his time." And then she looks like she hit herself. "Woman. Out of context. Her context. From a world that can never be here. Humanity fluorished, and then was pushed to the brink, and now shares the Earth with all manner of beings. They're from various other places, not all even Earths... Um... I'm Staren. Mortal. Uh. Mostly. How do fairies fit into this world? Although, I dunno if any metaphysical significance of that *actually* applies..."     "...You're sister's a lot. We met a sheep."
Gareth	Going down is definitely safer, even if Ishtar is easy enough on the senses for Gareth to consider just loitering up there a bit longer. She manages to tear her attention away long enough to approach that hole, though, and the appearance of the golden sheep actually distracts Gareth long enough to pay attention to Doomy instead. "Oh! Thank you. Let's... Hm. That's a terrifying idea. Let's go!" Gareth hesitates for only a moment before laughing as she heads right for the hole, apparently trusting him without a second thought. She only lingers long enough to offer her back to climb onto should anyone be frightened enough to need the ride, and then... She's waiting to see if she qualifies as an attractive woman or not. Her curiosity is sated either way, at least, by the time she heads down whether by push or leap. There's an uncomfortable delay before that thump, but it does happen, and only then does Gareth open her eyes to see all those cages, the dead, and the vaguely Ishtar-like woman before her. "... Eh? Oh, I was dead once before, although I'm more knight than god at all. Does that count?" Straightening back up, Gareth dips into another formal bow at the waist before grinning brightly towards the young woman. "My name is Gareth, and it's a pleasure to meet you! We had the..." Just what was meeting Ishtar like? "... We met your sister earlier! But you have quite some charm yourself, too... I can see the resemblance!"
Hibiki Tachibana	Even more than Ishtar is lust incarnate, or maybe as much because that's a really high bar, it does not take long for Hibiki to want to pet that golden fleece. It looks obnoxiously fun to touch, and run fingers through. She just kind of wants to pick him up and refuse to put him down for a while. It's not the voice or anything else, it's the pure fluff. Of course, none of this shows on her face through some effort put in, especially not after what Doomy says.     "You're not really inspiring confidence there," Hibiki responds bluntly, before taking a step over to the crevice and peeking down. She was hoping they'd actually go down it. I mean, they are, but not this way. There's a deep inhale, and then an exhale. Her nerves are calmed down a little by how shameless this guy consistently is. "I'll do it myself, thanks. Alright..."     She closes her eyes and lets herself fall. It's not that different from a lot of falls she's done before. She just doesn't transform halfway down to break it. Falling, falling, falling, expectation creeping up until--     Oh, hitting what she imagines is the ground is actually a lot less messy than she thought it'd be. Still, her eyes remain very tightly closed for a few extra seconds until she opens them, slowly beginning to get back up.     Creepy is an understatement. "This is...?" Hibiki isn't sure what she expected from the literal underworld, but this is something. If being told this was the equivalent of the 'modern era' in their world didn't click, seeing just how many dead there are sure makes it click. She's about to comment on how morbid it all is.     When what can only be Ereshkigal comes running out, and Hibiki is left staring right back at her. Hibiki blinks back. "Um."     She finishes getting up carefully, Brooklynn speaking up helping spur her into action. "And you're...not anything like your sister." Pause. She looks up, then back. "...We met her up, uh. There."     Wow, introducing yourself to a goddess of the dead is kind of awkward, but everyone else is doing it easily enough. She clears her throat and walks forward a bit. "...Don't overload her all at once, Staren. We kind of came down all at once. But yeah. We're with the 'foreign goddess' you probably heard about. I'm Hibiki. And we're, uh..." She scratches at her cheek.     "...I guess they're considered 'clay dolls' here, but we're human."     She glances at every single other member of the group. Virtue, catgirl, and Servant. Close enough.
Tamamo	Tamamo already knows how 'denying Ishtar' or, generally, how 'setting boundaries' would go down, here. Lilian knows, too. She'd even mentioned it. That's why Tamamo only reacts to the last part of Ishtar's comment, when 'your goddess' is mentioned.     There is, again, no way of reading Tamamo's expression as anything but genuine, if politely suppressed, interest. She's wearing 'modern' clothing, at the moment, and without such usual accessories as a fan to hide her face, but that doesn't prove any real trouble in this sort of situation. Her repetition of the word "Maybe~" sounds more like a promise than any dismissal, tempered only by having, presumably, 'things to do.'     Action follows words. Seeing the Heavenly Boat, and having no way of her own to fly, and knowing but studiously ignoring that Lilian does have a way, Tamamo gives a nod, her smile cheery, the slightest flash of her eyes indicating perfect understanding of any and all implications. With just one step over, Tamamo loops an arm around Lilian's waist, picks her up like luggage -- like her favorite 'clay doll,' from whom she can't bear to be apart for the minutes it would presumably take her to travel that way on foot, and makes a small leap to land, lightly, seated on Maanna, with Ishtar very, very close to one side, and Lilian hanging out over mostly open space on the other.     Ishtar is incredibly dangerous. Tamamo knows this well. But if it's a matter of navigating the courts of powerful people, she may have -- no, she most certainly has more experience than anyone here. Keeping them pleased with having you around was always part of that. And she did that before she was fully aware of her nature, and how she could produce, like gravity, an attraction that oriented others subtly toward herself, mutually shaping the sides they showed one another. Just subtly, to be sure, no more than a goddess -- one with far more restraint than the other present -- would create purely by accident, as naturally as breathing. A trust in her sincerity. A desire to see her pleased, with the expectation any favor would be met in kind. That's the ultimate effect of the subtler changes in Tamamo's aura.     "It is certainly preferable than walking the entire way. I had brought no such contrivance, myself, and so, you have my thanks, once more. Oh, have I not introduced myself? I beg your pardon for this, but I am known as Tamamo no Mae. I have heard your name, of course."
Lilian Rook	§Fuck fuck fuck fuck oh my god fuck this; this is bullshit; nobody trains anyone for psychohorrors trying to make you horny; god damn this please just shut up; sashay away, slut.§     "At my lady's pleasure." Lilian replies, pleasantly. She glances sidelong as Kale flies off, but has no opportunity to do anything about it. She'll just have to trust in her assessment that he's the only other Elite vaguely suited to the aboveground right now. Unfortunately, her request for a 'danger PH' by asking the gay bird to rate Ishtar returned a solid 10, so he's probably safer doing recon. The Wedge probably won't give a shit, and if he *does* break some wild law, she'll be well insulated from it.     §Tamamo why did you even have to say Maybe oh my god. Don't fucking picture it. God she's insufferable. No wonder Gilgamesh invented rap just to be a shitheel at her.§     And unfortunately for her, she *does* have to play into the bit. She's already precognitively scoped the risk and reward dynamic to get where she already needs to go, and it's too late to pull out at this point anyways. It takes another significant willpower expenditure to not look like a pissed off cat when being dragged along for the ride. She spends it on image training; specifically who she'd probably have to fight and how to efficient not be in the picture with the Bull of Heaven if things went tits up. Neither entendre intended.
Gilgamesh	'We're with the foreign goddess you probably heard about.'      Ereshkigal looks around. Then she tilts her head. "I, um. Don't really...hear about things. Down here. Nobody really wants to come down here. Actually, you're the first visitors I've had in..."      She starts ticking things off with her fingers. Then - 'You're not anything like your sister.'      Ereshkigal bites her lip. Her eyes close. Then they open again and a forced smile spreads a little too far across her face, like her skin is coming undone around the seams, around a ghost or a skeleton or something inside. She may be trying not to cry.      Right. She's not actually human. She just looks it.      "Um. Oh. Thank you."      The forced smile continues. "Well of course they're human. What else would they be?" She reaches out and touches one of the weird soul cages. "Humans are humans. That's what they were made to be. They till the soil and work the land and sacrifice animals for the gods. That's how it's supposed to be."      There's a little tinge of...something...in her voice.      Regret? Distress? Sadness?      Her fingers play across the cage, and then she turns back to the party.      'From a world where humanity flourished. A world that can never be here.'      Ereshkigal's forced smile suddenly disappears as she surges forward to grab Staren by the lapels. "Another world? You're from another world? Another world where Ishtar doesn't rule? Somewhere where Ishtar's not allowed to be in power?"      Her eyes are bright and wide. "Can you take me there?"
Gilgamesh	"Ta"      "Ma"      "Mo"      "No"      "Mae"      The unfamiliar syllables roll off Ishtar's tongue like sweet wine, dripping into the air. Even the way she speaks is sensuous when she wants it to be, a natural mastery over the mere idea of sensuality. She is the most tempting goddess, perhaps of any pantheon - what can be more tempting, more necessary, more human, than love, fertility, and war? What tempts people more than affection for another and another's received, plentiful resources, and the romantic ideals or profiteering power of battle?      The Heavenly Boat flies to the top of the highest temple. Ishtar dismounts, and then waves a perfect hand, bringing Tamamo and Lilian several naked humans to help them dismount, too. Just off the balcony the two of them can feel Gugalanna's massive force - they're too close *not* to, even though it's on the opposite side of the temple. Above there are occasional lightning strikes and gentle, pouring rain.      Ishtar may have *strategically* soaked herself, if her lounging position is anything to go by.      Several of the humans move into a human chair to accomodate Tamamo. It is evidently assumed that Lilian will either sit on her lap, or stand up.      "What sun are you from, then?" Ishtar asks, pursing her lips as her eyes flit back at Lilian, "And where did *you* get the idea for clay dolls?"      She stands up again, strategically soaked, makes her way over to Lilian, and runs a finger along her chin. "It's a pretty good one, too....you did a pretty good job imitating us. Maybe we should..."      Her eyes briefly go red. So fast it's almost hard to notice. But the way her lips split cannot be hidden. "...examine your process a bit more. How thorough you were."
Staren	Staren is grabbed by the coat. She looks briefly surprised and distressed, and then... a distant sadness, and a different sort of depressed. She has difficulty looking Ereshkigal in the eyes, feeling like a bit of a failure for not being able to grant such a heartfelt wish. "...I honestly don't know if I can, but if I can find a way, I will. But if you leave, what will happen to them?" Staren lifts her eyes to the cages.
Gilgamesh	With all the earnestness of a girl who has been trapped underground for multiple thousands of years, Ereshkigal pointedly responds, "I don't know, they'll throw someone else down here to do the job."      "I care, but the idea of a world without Ishtar is..."      Her eyes sparkle.
Hibiki Tachibana	Ereshkigal's reaction is...hard to ignore. At the change in her expression, Hibiki blinks and her mouth falls open in a very 'oh what do I say /now/?' manner, raising a hand slightly. The inhuman nature of her forced smile is there...but it doesn't bother her as much as the fact it happened in the first place. "Ah--sorry, I didn't mean...um...that was..."     She trails off, taking the chance when she turns away towards the cage to lightly smack herself in the face with a palm. Damnit. She looked like she was about to cry. And honestly, if she had a sister like Ishtar, she'd probably never want to be compared with her at all either. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.     The way she actually talks about humans gets her to stop that however, lowering her hand with a look of slight surprise and then and more solemn frown. When it comes to humans, she...     "Eh!?" That atmosphere changed really quick. She looks at Staren, then steps around a bit to the side. "...Um...like Staren said, I don't know if we can, but /if/ we can, we're definitely gonna try. Honestly, I don't really like her...or the way things are set up here that much. It /looks/ like everyone is happy, but...it just doesn't sit right with me."
Gareth	"I can understand why. Sort of. It's dark and spooky here, but you know...  There's humans that actually like it this way!" Gareth jabbers excitedly to Ereshkigal, circling around her once before looking towards the soul cage that's gotten the latter's attention. She can't understand anything that's being said, of course, but she can at least put two and two together eventually. And if that's not enough, then Ereshkigal approaching Staren certainly confirms it for her. "You're not here by... I see!" It takes Gareth all of three seconds to go from hard-thinking brain mode into eager, wide-eyed knight mode as she strides forward to clap a hand against Ereshkigal's shoulder gently. "We'll find a way! Even if it's impossible, it'll happen somehow!" Gareth states outright despite the severely flawed logic there, laughing confidently before nodding at Hibiki's observation. "It did feel rather odd up there... Brighter, but unnatural. And..." Gareth finally breaks out of smiling and purses her lips as she goes back into thinking mode (augh). "You're sisters, aren't you? Did something happen to strain your relationship to this point?" She pauses for a second, then continues. "Does she ever come here to visit you?"
Staren	'They'll throw someone else down here to do the job.' Staren's not sure if Ereshkigal isn't as caring as initially seemed, or just that desperate to get out. A world without Ishtar.     Yeah, *anyone* would want to get out.     If the Babylonian pantheon is active on Staren's world, she hasn't heard about it.     Staren looks at Ereshkigal thoughtfully. "What, exactly, keeps you here? The others don't seem all that surprised that Tamamo is here... do they ever travel to other worlds to meet foreign gods?" If she's been let go, she walks around the goddess of Death, looking her over and pulling what looks like a half-transparent flipphone out of her pocket, trying to get a sense from the most basic scans whether her body seems to be made of flesh and bone and like a human's.     She doesn't have a *specific* plan yet, but maybe if she gathers enough information pieces will fall into place. Doomy is already helpfully filling in an important gap. "How do gods... work? No, that's not... how do I phrase this... If we have to smuggle you out, what do we actually need to take with us, exactly? Can you take other forms or turn into pure magic or anything? "
Gilgamesh	Ereshkigal's sparkling eyes are welling up with tears, but they're definitely not sad crybaby tears. She has the potential to *escape* a world where Ishtar rules. Even the *idea* has her heart aflutter. Just the concept.      Just the *notion*.      Her fingers tighten around Staren's lapels as Hibiki says that it looks like everyone's happy. "Well..."      "The gods are, anyway."      Ereshkigal lets go of Staren and coughs into her hand. "...it's..."      Dumuzid explains the sisters thing, thus freeing Ereshkigal from a very awkward and long-winded conversation about divinity that she is absolutely not equipped to explain, as she isn't a former mortal. Instead, she says, "Oh, I'm here by choice. I mean, I drew the short stick when Authority was being handed out, I guess, but I do my job, you know? I do my job because somebody should so I do it because nobody else cares enough." There's a hint of pride on her pretty face as she sniffs, and there the resemblance to Ishtar is somewhat more prime, more noticable in their features, before the proud look disappears.      "...but a world where she rules is too sad a place for me to want to be."      She just looks down at her feet. "...I don't want to be somewhere where even if I wanted to leave I couldn't see the sun's shine or hear people laughing."      "It's my job to look after them down here, so sometimes, I sit by the clay dolls and listen to their dreams, and they're all so...empty. They laugh, and they love, and they play, but they don't do anything they didn't do in life. It's just more of the same."      "And..."      She sits down and tucks her knees against her chest. "...and that's..."      "They might as well not exist."      Those words sure do sound like Gilgamesh's, don't they.      The Goddess of Kur looks up at them and gestures for them to sit on the rocky, cold, unpleasant ground.      Staren pulls out the fliphone. Instead of sitting Ereshkigal springs to her feet and peers around Staren's shoulders.      The phone is not happy trying to analyze this, but it ultimately comes down to exactly what Dumuzid said. She's a collection of Authorities. Of 'divine portfolios.' She's got a 'form', a physical form, because she's a god, and she clearly IS a god, because all of Staren's scanners are saying so, but her physical makeup is a temporary one - like an elemental, or a faerie wearing a mask. She might be able to shed it, but she seems more preoccupied with, well, the phone.      Ereshkigal reaches out to make grabby-hands at it and peer at the screen with childlike wonder.      Then, she looks up at Staren, as if remembering. "No, they don't go visit foreign gods. Actually, we've..."      "Never had one."      "Ever."      Ereshkigal frowns. "...actually, that's sort of strange that she'd...uh, no, nevermind. I'm sure your friends are okay!"      "It's fine, probably."      "What is this?" She points at the screen again. "Can I have it?"
Gareth	Thanks to Dumuzid, there's a lot of information for Gareth to take in regarding the whole structure of... Everything. It's a distressing amount of information, and she goes quiet for quite some time just trying to get it all sorted in her head. Eventually, however, it actually sticks, and it certainly helps to explain Ereshkigal's predicament in clearer terms. That goes doubly so with Ereshkigal herself providing clarification on the matter of her reasons for being here and her reasons for wanting to leave. "A world where Ishtar rules, where she doesn't even give time to her own sister, and one where you can't even experience the joys of nature and life until they're already dead... That really is too sad to let you stay here any longer." Unlike Ereshkigal, Gareth is totally getting those sad weepy crybaby tears, and she wipes them off with her sleeve only to smear them all over the goddamn place. Instead of sitting, Gareth first gets on one knee while holding a fist against her chest. "Lady Ereshkigal. I swear upon my honor as a knight that you will see the light of the sun again one day! Even if it is a lot easier said than done, I will see to it that this happens one way or another!" And then Gareth finally sits down, once again furrowing her brow in thought. "We'll need a plan for this, then. Perhaps... Uhm... Hmm." She looks up for several seconds, then towards Hibiki and Staren. "How good are you all at digging? We may have a lot of work ahead of us if we don't have some other ways of finding a way out of here. We just need to get to the... Uh." A new predicament has been identified! "... How /would/ we get back to our world with her, anyway?"
Tamamo	Usually, Tamamo no Mae is pretending to be something close to human. That may sound odd, given her very obviously inhuman features, but it's the truth. Far more of her looks like a human than not, acts like a human, and has the presence of a creature of Earth. It serves her purposes to smoothly get along with humans if they can think of her as someone similar to themselves, and therefore understandable. It's very necessary, even, to be 'merely' extraordinary, at some levels. The rest of her self is hidden away, clad within a body with the appearance of ordinary flesh, though there are times other things are glimpsed, and times she has purposefully let more of her nature shine through, with the flaming light of the Sun.     Lilian's sister once witnessed Tamamo's face in flickering firelight, and proved that an unhealthy fascination with dangerous beings runs in the family.     Here, not only is there no need to keep up a more mundane than actual appearance, but for the sake of 'fitting in,' she has exactly the opposite requirement. As Ishtar radiates her extreme nature with every motion, so too has Tamamo, increased by subtle degrees since first stepping foot in this world, brought up the fullness of her natural, seemingly effortless aura fitting what Ishtar could already tell of her. Light that 'feels' like it comes directly from the Sun, and the knowing mystery of Fate, and power and dignity cloak her, if not any power that Ishtar would need fear within her own domain. Tamamo's never been in just this situation before, and she's never been in one all that much similar to it, but you'd never know that to look at her. She takes her seat like the most natural thing, hardly even noticing the mobile furniture.     That's not to say she shows no interest. If Tamamo's expression were unreadable, that would reveal how carefully she controls it. The lingering motions of her gaze, the slight curl of her lips, each little sign is of one affected by great temptation despite both high standards and the self control brought on by a polite demeanor and a desire to retain that present dignity. It's not 'polite interest,' but 'interest in spite of politeness,' as of one who can't help herself. The easiest lies to tell are the ones that hold the most truth.     "I suppose it would be gauche to claim such as 'it is a secret~' to the end, would it not? I cannot claim to be a goddess of Earth, nor of any world with clay, and yet, I find myself drawn to them, all the same. Ah, but though it is a secret, I wonder if it could be believed, the answer to 'and just how did she make this one doll so beautifully well?' That is a story of great length, told in a span of breaths only in grossest summary." She's clearly enjoying the suspense. For that matter, she treats Ishtar touching Lilian as if Tamamo is the one showing off and accepting praise, in allowing her work to be appreciated.     "Oh, but do not think I have too much advantage of you. Though I did see this world from some great distance, that much showed me but little of your affairs. I only know of your father by this temple granted you, matching the height of your position. I know of your sister only by the directions given to reach her, far below. I know not whether you rule her, as well, nor of what husbands you have taken."     Snapping open a fan, Tamamo's expression turns to one of momentary, contrite surprise. "Ah, perhaps that was too forward of me," said without the slightest hint of irony, "in assuming you must have several. Being one born to love, I, upon seeing you, did think you must be similar to myself in that way, and have an appreciation for," she chooses her words, "fine companionship, as not all are worthy to grant. I wonder if I have yet seen enough of this place to even guess who you might choose." Her gaze shifts over toward the skies, as if searching for this hypothetical harem. It wouldn't be clay dolls, obviously.
Staren	The way that *notion* brings her happiness tugs on Staren's heartstrings, for sure. The relationship with duty... Staren felt strained, trying to live for moral duty, but she suspects some people can draw from it more positively, and if anyone could, maybe it's a god.     And then she talks about the clay dolls' dreams. It's Staren's turn for her eyes to shine. "You GET it! You get what's wrong with the humans here!"     When the goddess is interested in the phone, Staren asks, "Just a moment..." while she takes readings. Then...     Can I have it?     Staren looks from the screen to Ereshkigal. "...You know what, sure." She hands it over.                                    [SCANNER]                                                               (Tech Origin: Sarah Wiremu)                               A little 2"x1.5"x.5" grey plastic box with a foldout monochrome LCD screen. Does everything a smartphone does except have a touch screen and app store. Also radio-enabled. Has wide-spectrum electromagnetic scanning capability as well as 'seeing' magic and discerning its intensity. Can function as an energy weapon in a pinch, inflicting burning pain or actually burning with trauma comparable to a small-caliber pistol. This one is also loaded with hundreds of 8-bit games from alternate Earths!     "It's uh..." Staren tries to think of how to explain. "It's like a flashlight but fancier, it can also use and detect energies you can't see. Well, that humans can't see, anyway. It's also a communication device, although right now it'll only let you talk to us... it can also play games." Staren uses buttons on the bottom half of the device to navigate the interface and show the various modes of operation. "For instance, this mode shows heat instead of light. See how strange we look through it? But, if I were looking at a creature I'd never seen before... I might, for instance, be able to discern what is skin and what is clothes, or what parts of the body see a lot of blood flow. Details like that can help you learn more about a thing, like pieces of a puzzle."     Staren rubs the side of her head awkwardly. "Um... am I making any sense? Look, it can also play games, see?"     If they do have to leave Ereshkigal here, at least she'll have entertainment for awhile. Divine power might even be able to recharge the batteries, who knows?
Staren	Gareth catches up to the issue Staren's already considering. Staren is pleased to have someone else so devoted to the same cause, at least! "I said, I don't know yet. I doubt it's as easy as just walking out of here with her. Even escaping the underworld... if it could be done by digging alone, she'd have done it already, right?" She looks up. "It might take decades for us to tunnel that far, anyway..."
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki listens closely to Ereshkigal, her frown deepening just a bit. Especially after Doomy's explanation and having met Ishtar personally - mostly from meeting Ishtar permanently - she wouldn't even imagine trying to do something as silly as trying to repair their sisterly connection or whatever. After all, she knows a little bit about crappy family members. The really important thing here is...     Hibiki sits down on the rocky earth of Kur, one leg pulled up just so she can rest her hand on top of her knee. "...Empty dreams..." She can finally put a more definite pin on why she's been so unsettled this entire time. The people here are happy. They're happy in the same way that well-cared for animals might be. It doesn't...even matter whether they're alive or dead, nothing changes. Nothing's ever going to change here...even until the day the Lostbelt vanishes. If she lived here, if everyone she knew did...     None of them would be able to smile the same way she's used to. Their dreams, their lives, everything they are...     'They might as well not exist.'     "...I wouldn't want to be either," Hibiki intones absentmindedly, on the subject of sunshine and laughter. She starts pushing herself back to a stand as quickly as she sat down, glancing to Gareth. "...I don't know. Tamamo or Lilian might have ideas. Maybe it'd be as simple as just taking someone back with us whenever we can get back ourselves...or maybe not. But..." She takes a deep breath, balls her hands up into fists, and fills herself with resolve while looking back to Ereshkigal.     "She's right. We /will/ take you somewhere you won't have to be sad anymore. And if for whatever reason we can't find a way to take you to our world--" She brings one fist up to her chest. "Then we'll just have to make this one a world like that instead!" It's a really really stupid statement, honestly. She's already been told how Lostbelts work and what they are, and also reminded how stupid picking a fight would be between the Enuma Elish and Gugalanna. Even so.     "Ereshkigal. Do you think doing anything at all about Ishtar's authority here is impossible?" Is that with a capital or a lower case a? The world may never know.
Lilian Rook	Oh no. Lilian might have to sit in Tamamo's lap. This is so humiliating. She can't believe it. Well, if it's for the fate of humanity, then she has no choice. She'll just have to grin and bear this terrible embarrassment. It can't be helped.     Well, first she has to finish standing at attention for Ishtar to feel her (thankfully, face) up. After all, she is an 'obedient clay doll', specifically only the favourite of this foreign goddess for being the prettiest and smartest and best (so, indeed, the best lies are half-truths). It does make intensely glad that nobody has ever been able to read her mind. That, and other thoughs, even if she vaguely suspects a goddess this intense can probably smell them on her or something. Exercising the relaxed and undistressed but still and attentive posture of a pet isn't something she's used to acting out, but acting, if nothing else, is something she's very good at. She'd accidentally sort of dressed the part too. The rune choker, in colours to match Tamamo's outfit, probably just looks like a collar to an ancient goddess; a thought that suddenly brings her a distant twinge of mortification, amongst several other confused internal reactions.     She does flinch, just the slightest bit, at seeing Ishtar's eyes flash like that right in her face. Or, at least, she reflexively stiffens up and puts her weight on her toes. Even if she'd told everyone else to go somewhere else (a decision she continually thinks of as smarter by the moment), Lilian knows she is playing a perfectly dangerous game here. It's a miracle she wears a pleasant smile the entire time, as if proud (well, a little) to have her 'craftsmanship' praised by a goddess.     So being able to at least sit down in the position of a prized toy (and thankfully out of the rain, knowing Tamamo's sunny aura), further than arm's reach from Ishtar, is a silent relief, simply making herself small for the moment. However, when Tamamo revs it all the way up (for the first time even around *her*), for a very, very, *very* rare time, Lilian finds herself hoping she can just stay quiet, sit, and do nothing, when stuck between these two ladies. Her brain hardly wants to work at all, stuck between two completely different danger reflexes emanating vibrating menace kanji from both sides, and two completely different kinds of temptations as well. Crisis gears get stuck against each other, jam and spark, and take a while to come unlatched before she can think of something useful to say.     "Ah, if I may, mistress." Lilian interjects in the period of quiet right after Tamamo is done speaking, and leaving that Very Japanese open implication out, using her absolutely best sweetly obedient voice. "Were you perhaps interested in the design of that one that is like a clay doll but not?" The fact that Gilgamesh is/was partly human was about the most usefully eloquent thing that sprung to mind, when she looks up at the sky again.
Gilgamesh	Tamamo unsheathing her divinity is absolutely the right call. Though Ishtar doesn't ease up at all, she does seem more inclined to at least believe *parts* of Tamamo's story, if nothing else, as she looks up from Lilian's chin. Tamamo's awareness of Ishtar's nature also serves very well - 'interest in spite of politeness', indeed. There's a degree of safety in following, or at least holding, to those impulses. There's a degree of *sanity* in there; resisting too much is simply unnatural, and is easy to notice. Resisting to the point of refusal is something only someone powerful enough to take a hostile stance against her can do, after all; if Gilgamesh hadn't been powerful, he probably wouldn't've been able to do it, but to be fair, then Ishtar probably wouldn't've been interested.      She licks her lips at 'from afar.' "And did you...enjoy what you saw,"      "Ta"      "Ma"      "Mo"      "No"      "Mae?"      Oh that is some loaded shit right there. Now it's not just poured honey - it's hips swaying, walking forward, closing the gap between them and leaning forward. Lilian is caught between two...well, hard places really isn't the right word, but certainly *massive dangers*. Mercifully, Ereshkigal is mentioned, and Ishtar straightens and waves her hand, turning around. "Ereshkigal's not my problem. Let her sit in her little rock prison and do all the hard work. She's a boring shut-in and nobody wants to go down there except that bizarre old man. I don't even know where he came from, but he can stomach being down there, so I guess he's some sort of weirdo."      "Ha, ha. I've had a lot of husbands. And more than a few wives." Ishtar swirls, looking proud of herself. "But the most recent...he's-"      'The design of that one that is like a clay doll but not'      When Ishtar's eyes flash there's the sound of thunder. The 'human chair' the pair are sitting on falters and fumbles, threatening to dip them onto the floor. The thunder is, without a doubt, Gugalanna responding to its master, because Ishtar certainly isn't a goddess with any such power.      She stalks forward, no longer sexy, no longer swinging her hips, but in the manner of a war machine. Oh, still beautiful, still desirable, but in the way that power is desirable, that people want to rule others, that people want to prove their strength to others, that people want to *dominate*. In many ways this might be even more dangerous for Lilian.      Especially when Ishtar moves to grab her by the jaw.      "And how," she purrs, and it's the sound of a rumbling tank, of a growling engine of destruction, "Would a clay doll from another star know anything about that failure Enkidu?"
Gilgamesh	Ereshkigal can hear Important Upper-Cases, Hibiki, don't worry. "I don't know. You'd need to do something about both Gugalanna and the Enuma Eli-"      As if on cue, the sound of roaring, almighty thunder rocks the Underworld. Ereshkigal shrieks and covers her ears in sheer terror. The scanner falls out of her hands and clatters to the ground.      It's the sound of the sky having a spasm, of the world cracking under the weight of something that bears unrelenting force as a part of its self. Even down here, even invulnerable to all things, the sound scares the hell out of Ereshkigal, and there's a brief glimpse of the golden sheep disappearing behind a cage to hide from both Ereshkigal and...the thing above.      Mercifully, it ends quickly, like thunder always does. She eventually looks up, her face bright red, and picks up the scanner to hide her face in it.      There's a long breath. "I...could leave, if I wanted. Ishtar wouldn't care. I just..why would I, you know? There's never been anywhere I could go that mattered. None of the gods like me. They think I'm too close to humans, and, well,"      She reminds them that there's one place none of them have power.      Not a one of them can defy her in Kur, after all. And if she was a scarier goddess...      Hibiki says they'll get her to another world. Gareth swears a mythological oath as a knight and a hero. Her eyes sparkle again. Her moods swing pretty hard, but then, gods are just like that, probably. She moves over to Hibiki to stare at her. "...you will?"      "So even if you can't get me there, you'll...you'll help this world, too?"      Hibiki's writing a check that her mouth may not realize the cash behind.      Gareth says that it's too sad. Finally, Ereshkigal says, "...I...came out to see the marriage of Ishtar and the Enuma Elish, and that's the last time I was out. And I was only there for a minute when the Star of Creation blossomed in the sky."
Tamamo	Tamamo's treatment of Lilian in this situation is almost exactly just what anyone -- or rather, of what Ishtar, specifically -- would expect. Proud. Possessive, but wishing to show off. Extremely familiar. The only slightest difference is that, putting arms around her as she sits, that her touch is perfectly gentle, where that would be unnecessary with a pet or a toy.     "Oh, yes, I had had some interest in that one."     She looks on coolly as Ishtar professes how little she cares about Ereshkigal (while clearly caring enough to be well distracted by it), then sharply at the sound of thunder. "'Enkidu'? I did see many interesting things from my distant vantage, but 'a failure...' I wonder what you could mean by that. My, but that does ignite my interest."     It is truly and strictly only her commitment to hiding her true feelings that prevents her from moving, which would reveal her hand to no effect, if her understanding of the situation is true. Tamamo has to remind herself that Lilian isn't being harmed right now. Ishtar's making a show of power, not destruction. She's giving a reminder of what was already known. It's fine. It will be fine. She still hasn't harmed so much as one hair on her head. Revealing her anger wouldn't help protect anyone against Ishtar. Think.     Physically, strictly speaking, she must move to retain her seat, as her seat partly crumbles. The result is raising her feet to kneel atop humanback, smoothly keeping the same relative height.     "I saw the past, and see the future. One who was like a clay doll, but not, I saw, and he became as a small star, and remained in the lower of the sky. And as I spoke of this, 'how interesting,' I said, and wondered for what purpose this had happened. But if there is another story you would share, I would not at all mind listening to this. It is certainly intriguing, to think there could be such a thing... but surely not? Perhaps my imagination entirely runs away from me. One does grow a hunger for fantastical stories, with the passage of time, where only perfection exists, and when the future is as known as the present. One begins to wonder what else might be, and even what cannot be."
Gareth	In all that hubbub about plotting to get Ereshkigal out of this place, Gareth's almost forgotten about actually getting out! Alas, it sounds like just digging out isn't going to happen in her companions' lifetimes nor even their descendants', so some other method is most certainly necessary. The problem is all the solutions Gareth can think of involve a lot of impossible movements. "We did fall a long way, yeah... Hmm. I don't suppose either of you could just fly us back out, could you?" She asks of Hibiki and Staren with a laugh, giving them ample time to fill in the blanks while she pulls her knees up to her chest. And then Gulganna shakes the world. The noise has even Gareth cringing from the sheer volume and feeling it rattling her bones, although Ereshkigal's shriek has her jumping into defense mode with one arm slung over her shoulder and the other arm materializing her shield as a precautionary measure. Granted, something that loud and big would probably obliterate Gareth and her shield outright, but that won't stop her instincts. She lets out a relieved sigh when it ends, and then she settles right back down on the cold, hard ground. "This place... Kur is the only place you're safe from them, isn't it?" That makes things even trickier than Gareth was hoping. Hearing it again lets the apparent impossibility of the task really sink in, but that look in Ereshkigal's eyes has Gareth returning that look with her usual wide-eyed and overconfident smile as she concurs with Hibiki. "That is indeed the plan! Even though our... Mm." She looks over at Hibiki, taps her chin, then looks towards Staren. "... I believe most of our group here is more suited towards applying direct force rather than subtlety. Lady Lilian and Lady Tamamo are more equipped for the planning and thinking side of this stuff, but they may be having their own trouble up there." Ereshkigal brings up something that gets Gareth's attention again. "What happened when that Star of Creation was... Er. Blossomed? Blossoming?"
Staren	The under-Earth shakes under Staren. She can keep her balance, having had to manage active combat in worse footing... but clearly it has some particular association for Ereshkigal. "Are you alright?" Staren puts a hand on her shoulder. "It's not just thunder, is it..."     Others make promises they may not be able to keep. Staren is very careful not to, looking away awkwardly when Ereshkigal asks about helping this world.     Staren shakes. Her hands ball into fists.     More than once, she's turned back from paths to power that could push the world closer to how she'd like it, at the cost of giving up mortal existence and life. Friends wanted her around. And if she gave it all up... even if she achieved something great... if she wasn't around to help people any more, would it really be worth it?     "What's the use..." The small catgirl stomps a foot, emotions welling up but stopping just shy of pouring out in tears. "What's the point?! Of always saying 'I'll fix things another time', 'I'll help people later', 'I'll do better next time, when it's something I *can* do', if I can't even do this?!"     She turns to Ereshkigal, eyes watering as her voice starts to break. "You've suffered for longer than I can imagine! You don't deserve it! You can see what this place has done to humanity, and the other gods are monsters for doing *nothing*! For creating this situation and allowing it to continue!"     A tear starts to run down her cheek, and she drops to her knees. "It's not *fair*!" Her palms hit the floor and she stares down at whatever passes for 'ground' in Kur. More softly, she chokes out words, "I should be making it fair... *better* than fair..."     This is the moment where one of those *successful* heroes who win against seemingly-impossible odds would discover some new power -- probably involving some screaming and flashy effects and dramatic action and epic fights against Ishtar and Gilgamesh and whoever else, but ultimately resulting in Staren, Hibiki, and Gareth, bloodied and bruised but ultimately victorious, leading Ereshkigal and the humans out of here with smiles on their faces. The King of Men would say 'Impossible!' and one of them would give some epic speech about how nothing is impossible if you believe in yourself and fight for friendship!     But Staren isn't one of those people. She doesn't get to do things like that. She scrambles to get knowledge and power across the multiverse, scraps from the Table of Heroes snatched and hoarded, but it's never enough. It's never enough!     The King of Men is the way he is for a reason. His practicality and acceptance of things he once raged against is what allows him to thrive in his role.     Why can't she do the same? Why is she like this? Why do others not HAVE to?     It's, uh, probably not a *great* look for someone Ereshkigal was looking to with such hope to be on her hands and knees with teardrops splashing on Kur's soil, but here we are.
Lilian Rook	Lilian had hoped to pass the Wedge of Heaven off as Tamamo's interest, and the reason for coming here, to prompt the direction of interaction without seeming as if she had any independent interest (or desires, really) in the situation. Tamamo, of course, plays into it masterfully, but not before Ishtar has an entirely unexpected reaction.     Lilian can't help one herself. Just a little bit. It isn't possible to stop it.     The swing from the *unbearably* tempting boiling her blood to the conquering, dominating urge taking over the task, is startling enough in of itself, but the thunderclap of Gugulana's stirring is over the line. Thankfully, any little clay doll could be forgiven for startling at *that*. Lilian almost wobbles out of Tamamo's lap, and catches herself with a slightly eerie kind of toe-to-fingertip precision; the kind that comes from a 'clay doll' programmed to move on assembly rather than a real OS.     However, the ramming of her heart against her ribs, the clutching of her skirt in her fingers, the twitching of her shoulders and the squeezing of her jaw; these things can only come partly from an immensely unwise proclivity for dangerous women. She feels the valour roll being slammed over and over just by being in Ishtar's presence, and has to spend willpower to suppress it. Unable to roll over and melt like a true pet, it physically taxes her, to the point of sweat beading on her neck, to keep from being riled up to the same urge. To just leap right out of Tamamo's lap. To exert her strength. To rise to the provocation. To conquer, dominate, control this difficult goddess.     To touch without being touched. To see without being seen.     I can't stand being human like this, Tamamo.     Her outline, in those trembling places, limmed in a wrong-coloured static, flickers for the barest of instants, and settles as she stifles the urge, breathing a sigh of relief as Tamamo takes over. "My apologies. I have no idea who that is." she replies to Ishar more directly. It's mostly truthful. She hadn't meant to bring up Enkidu, and she has no idea what the state of Enkidu is in this world; she'd presumed his creation was completely unneeded, with an obedient and God-allied Gilgamesh at its center. "And my apologies, mistress, for repeating your words incorrectly, and giving a false impression in company. I will accept full responsibility." vocally implied to mean 'punishment', attempting to fake Ishtar back into the relatively safer zone of 'horny' down from 'I am war'.
Gilgamesh	"Oh," Ishtar says, and her war-aura evaporates as she lets go of Lilian. She pats the woman on the cheek and turns away, her hips swinging again. It's a seamless transition. Outside, the thunder dies, and, judging by the small quake, Gugalanna returns to its massive nap. "You meant Gilgamesh."      "Hmph. It's not that interesting a story. We all got together and decided we needed a human king who would bring the people back to us when they began to stray. But he couldn't be human, or they wouldn't all accept him - he needed to be perfect. So we made Gilgamesh to do that. And then,"      She bites her lip. "Oh, he was *beautiful*. If you only got a glimpse of him you can't imagine. Perfect. In every way, down to the cellular level." Oh, right. She knows what cells are. "Two thirds god and one third man. He wandered and found every treasure and became so rich he shone with gold and glory And when I came to him and offered him all the wonders of Heaven he accepted, because I was a treasure he had not yet claimed."      She sniffs. "And then he ascended, and became the Star of Creation that you see outside, to guard our eternal kingdom, just like Gugalanna."      She waves her hand idly. "Things could've gone a lot more wrong, so obviously we prepared a couple backup systems. You don't just make something like that without readying yourself for the inevitable. Self-destructs, that kind of thing."      "Enkidu was one of those...let's call it a *contingency*. In case Gilgamesh decided he didn't want to become God of Mankind. Which is obviously impossible," she adds, throwing her hair over her shoulder in that tremendously sensual way, letting some of it hang down over one eye. "I thought it was a stupid plan anyway. Why does a weapon need a personality? It's not like it's people."      Even here, in a world where Enkidu didn't insult her, the mere concept of it seems to get under her skin. Her irritation, at least, is not as all-encompassing as her wrath.      "Besides, it's too passive to even care anymore, I'm sure. It just sits around all day doing nothing." She shrugs.      Then she turns on her heel. "I'm getting tired, foreign goddess. If you don't mind, I'd like to retire for a while. If you need lodgings I can provide them, but I expect you'll be taking your little clay dolls and going back to your star, won't you?"      She looks over her shoulder, her eyes locking on Lilian's and Tamamo's. Predator indeed.      "Unless you want to stay with me for the evening..."      That is more miles of country bad road than any of the women in this room have curves to cover, and there's some generous curves for sure.
Lilian Rook	Lilian makes a dreamy little sigh at Ishtar's reminiscence of Gilgamesh. Albeit, she does, actually, believe Gilgamesh is *hot as fuck*, and it's not hard to conjure to mind considering she saw him like two hours ago in person, but it still takes a little theatre magic to express that in a stereotypical submissive girly way. "I'm so sad we missed it." she pines. "But the star is beautiful too."     Mentally, a pen is scratching away, recording all of this at lightning speed. She already has a plan. She just needs to know where Enkidu is kept. That requires talking to Ishtar longer, so--     "Can we, mistress?" she asks Tamamo, tugging on her sleeve a little, hopefully enquiring as to the accessibility of the wondrous indulgence before her. Which she kind of just is. Her brain was so busy that she forgot to fake that one.     Fuck.
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki absolutely is. She's the master of writing checks like that. And presented with the option to do it again, possibly a little less driven by emotion--well, she almost definitely still would. Maybe she'd have actually consulted with Staren and Gareth before making such a wild proclamation out of nowhere. Maybe. Possibly.     But seeing the starry look in Ereshkigal's eyes, how sad she is here and about the state of the world, her earnest desire to be anywhere but a world like this...there's no way Hibiki Tachibana, as a person, could ever make any other decision. Therefore--     Gugalanna's thunder rips through the stone, and Hibiki stumbles, barely catching herself before she falls over from the surprise. She looks straight upwards, tensed, and swallows once she realizes that it's not going to happen again. If something did happen...there's nothing they can do right this exact moment. And they're able to handle themselves better than anyone. Tentatively, she looks back to the others.     "...I'm going to do everything I can to help it. I promise. That's easier said than done, but..." Putting on her own Thinking Mode (ow), she glances to Gareth. There's a little 'i'unno' shrug at just flying back out, where also she thinks about the rope that Doomy mentioned. No, she hasn't even planned that far. "Kur...no wonder none of the other gods and goddesses visit it. But...maybe..."     The beginnings of an idea forming hit Hibiki right as Staren explodes into emotion. Wide-eyed, she looks like she's not actually sure what to say at first, or where it came from...though she has a slightly better idea the longer it goes on. Her lips purse and her throat goes a bit dry. "Staren..." She approaches the other girl and leans down as if to rest a hand on her shoulder.     ...But she stops at the point just before contact, pursing her lips. "...You don't have to take on that whole burden yourself. You..." She really doesn't know what to say. Maybe Gareth or even Ereshkigal might know, but Hibiki doesn't. It makes her chest hurt. Her offered hand clenches white-knuckle tight only to loosen. "...Making things fair is...hard. None of us are going to be able to do anything like that alone. We..."     She trails off, grimacing slightly, and slowly looks back up towards Ereshkigal. To voice what was on her mind. "...we might even need your help, to help you. I don't have any ideas on how we're going to do anything about Gugalanna, or the Enuma Elish, or anything else yet. Other than...what if we could somehow confront them here and not on their home turf? ...In Kur?"
Tamamo	As Ishtar speaks, Tamamo thinks back to Gilgamesh, and also to Gilgamesh. It's certainly not hard to see, though, on the other hand... oh, but Ishtar wouldn't care about his personality, of course. Why attach one of those, indeed.     "'A treasure he had not yet claimed,' I see." Yes, she can see that easily enough, too. Who could resist? Certainly no one in this world has. All the more reason to be careful in introducing Ishtar to the concept of rejection.     But if they had contingency plans, they had considered that the perfect solution might not be. Though that, too, makes sense, if the purpose of the original plan was to correct the course of humanity back toward the gods.     Ishtar makes a predictable proposition. Lilian makes one Tamamo hadn't, somehow, predicted, just moments after 'that' had happened. How could she think...?     And then Tamamo is thinking about it, and her eyes move from Lilian's to Ishtar's, and something that's neither sight nor touch reaches out to subtly feel the edges of her form, not in the body she shows the eyes, but in the threads woven into a fabric that stretches into the past and future, the perfect and chaotic and unknowable tapestry that it is a seer's duty to feel and follow. Tamamo examines the interaction of several threads, in that future in which they consider weaving together, and her vision dives into a future that could be.
Staren	Staren's ears perk up as Hibiki says her name.     You don't have to take on that whole burden yourself. None of us are going to be able to do anything like that alone.     Staren sniffles, and wipes her eyes on her sleeve. "You're right." Her voice is still strained for a moment. "None of us has to do it alone." She slowly stands. "Maybe we can... together."     Staren smiles at Hibiki, then looks concerned. "Do you really want me to go listing every obstacle in our path, though? What if it discourages you and makes you think it's impossible too? I was kinda banking on you and Gareth surprising me by pulling it off..."     She sniffles and wipes her eyes again. Then turns away and fishes a pack of tissues out of her bag, blowing her nose before turning back to the others. "It sounds like she's not actually imprisoned here, there's just nowhere to go, and out *there* is where she has to put up with being around... you know."     "It's good to be prepared for the gods possibly stopping us from making such a disruption in the current order, but isn't the bigger problem that we're in a 'lostbelt'? This place can't exist, but sustains itself by sucking some kind of energy out of other worlds. But it's like trying to bring things back from the Secundus simulations that Arthur's been making. People and things from here may not be able to *exist* in the Multiverse, for reasons I don't fully understand and thus am not sure how to begin devising a counter for."     Staren looks at her left arm for some reason. "I don't know how to begin tackling that problem... In the past, I'd... If I thought I had some applicable piece of power, I'd try it and hope it works, but what applies here...?"     Staren paces off, staring into space. "Why *can't* they exist in the Multiverse? They clearly do *here*. And unlike in Secundus, we're not more 'real' than anything else here... so what's the difference?"