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Carna     ====Escher====

    Some of the personal items that can serve as anchors for the missing people have been retrieved so far. These include anchors for Count Kord, Kushiko, and Dorian Pavus. Considering his contributions thus far, when Enark heard that on top of 'their own' people, Dorian had gone missing, he had made the trek to investigate and locate it, having to try to reason with (and eventually threaten with having a Lantern sicced upon him) a merchant in possession of Dorian's family crest. Now they have, together, the items that Peacemaker Longita suggested would be the key to rescuing the missing. Or at least for three of them. Two of 'their people', plus a friend.

    And they are back in Escher, approaching the problem of the corrupted Escher-space from the other end. The lobby they initially entered the tower of Escher through a large dark empty space with nothing but furniture mimics in it. They already found out long ago that the door had been left open behind them (a recurring theme, it appears) and those mimics had escaped into the rest of Lumiere.

    So now, they have taken the time to light up the entire area just to make Double Sure, and the OTHER door leading into Escher-space, the one at the top of the stairs, has become their backdoor into purging the corruption, rather than risk going through the Shrine of Light in Enark's study.

    They've gathered what purification wards and magic they can, and have at least put them all around the door this time so that they at least won't be flooded with the gunk. Whatever is on the other side will stay there. Whether they can dispose of it without purification specialists, however, is another matter.

    The Blue Scholar stands with a perhaps initially unrecognizable woman. Sure, there's the long red hair, but it's in a low pnytal instead of draping in a stringy curtain. There's also some recognizable Lantern equipment, including a journal, a flask of Styx Water, and a collection of knives, fire bombs, and a length of dark, blood-red chains coiled about one arm. But the woman looks, if pale, far more alive than Carna ever did, to say nothing of the change in attire. She wears some items of leather, mainly boots, but much of it is red and black gothic coat or something.

    She is wary of those around her, revealing a hint of the familiar Lantern paranoia. But anyone who hasn't seen Carna's face without her high collar or mask before now might not immediately realize that this is Carna.

    "When we are all ready, I will open the door," Enark announces, with far more confidence than he actually feels.
Carna     ====Emblem City====

    Another day like any other began in Emblem City. But as the day rolled on, people gradually heard what has been happening at the Temple of Phoebe. Flaming foot prints in the ground. Rumors of a message inside the temple that no one is being allowed to see.

    People congregating in masses of both believers and skeptics, as well as simple curious onlookers, before the massive cathedral. Noble souls of the dead, experiencing something that has never happened before, and witnessing a supposed 'miracle'. The day continues, the cobalt sun moving across the sky, as reports of weather disruptions start to come out, and no official clarification about what's going on at the Temple. Some even begin to speak not of the temple, but of some massive storm front moving in from over the horizon, beyond the rather expansive boundaries of Emblem City and its surrounding skies.

    Some are in the middle of investigating. Others are going about their days, or may be on their way to joining the others. But something is about to happen. Something is coming.

    And in short order, everything falls apart.

    Explosions echo out from the Temple. Powers began failing, and people who fly under their own power begin falling from the sky or falling out of their teleports or phasing and never unphasing. People's forms, species, even their sexes might flicker and change, swapping with that of somebody else. Someone somehow familiar, and yet also frighteningly alien.

    Some titanic figure has appeared within the storm, moving fast, and raising an incomprehensibly huge blade of flame that has begun to swing downwards. It seems, to those at the Temple, that it is coming towards them. But at that scale, it could swipe through all of Emblem City if it were to land. What happens to souls burned to cinders? Do they die a second time?

    As the burning figure of Phoebe seemingly assaults the city of the dead under her protection, it appears they may be finding out soon.
Staren     Staren was there, too!

    He doesn't relish going back to the tower of mimics, but with enough firepower, they should be able to make some progress, right? Fortunately, it appears getting to the door isn't the problem.

    He's still not sure what he can really do to the corruption PAST the door, though. Given the... mixed behavior displayed by energy weapons, instead of his usual laser rifle, he's carrying what looks like a submachinegun with an extended barrel of unusually large bore, a banana mag and some extra fiddly bits on, with a cable plugged into part of it connected to his armor. As a backup, a futuristic longarm is slung over his back as well.

    If anyone wants breathing protection or the like, Staren happily offers lightweight, compact spacesuits made of smart material that can be slipped on like a jumpsuit that then shrinks to conform to your body below the neck while the hood hardens into a helmet.

    "So, uh... who's your friend?" Staren looks curiously from Enark to Carna. She's clearly a local, but who? Someone from the city they saved, perhaps?

    Whether they wait to talk or not, though, as soon as Enark moves to open the door, Staren braces himself to fire at the door, ready for... something.
Kushiko             -EMBLEM CITY-

Horror and despair.

That's the only way to even remotely describe what's happening. Between what she saw--the statue, the flaming feet, the explosion--did she see that shadowy hoodied figure? It's drawing back to the surface memories she ideally /shouldn't/ have.

Titania, the cyberfairy construct that at least wasn't at all powered by Soupi had managed to get the young girl clear of the crowd and into the streets by the Temple before the young girl almost shrieked out an admonishment, "Stop! Put me down!" The fairy looked silently at Soupi for a moment, before almost hesitantly acquiescing. Even now, as Soupi tried to see if her own 'power' was working, clenching her hand, focusing for a moment but nothing happens. Frustratingly, nothing happens. She can only stare at first, at the burning figure of the goddess. "W... why... we didn't... what did we do wrong??" Despair wells up in her voice. Betrayal.

And for those that catch sight of her, the seemingly normal young dead girl seems to shimmer, her porcelin smooth face altering to show... scars. Blackened blast scarring around the right eye, pieces of smooth cybernetics dotting her forehead, her eyebrow and both eyes pulsing with an eerie glow. Clothes that are... almost out of place, and yet not. Only Titania remains unchanged from the flicker, yet the cyberfairy is only barely restrained from trying to get Soupi out of here and back home.
Leyanne -EMBLEM CITY-

After that... interesting episode, Paird manages to regain control of her flying machine. She's still... why does it feel like she's sitting on her tail? Why does it even feel like she has a tail? The aircraft flies jerkily, its pilot trying to figure out what that smell is. There's just too much input. And then... she sees it.

All thoughts of trying to figure out what the hell is going on with herself are taken out of her mind when she spots Phoebe, sword raised and starting to swing.

#It's... it's...# Anyone who's receiving paird - whether psychically, should that still even work, or through radio/conventional means, will hear confusion and panic in her voice. #It's Phoebe... she... she's attacking!#

Paird hovers in indecision, should she flee? Where should she flee to? Should she save people... how? There's nowhere to land and nowhere to take off from. And... even if she's about to obliterate them... can she bring herself to attack the goddess? She circles above the temple still, not sure what to do.
Count Kord     -EMBLEM CITY-

    'WAKE UP'

    Aepicus felt his heart skip a beat. And then the world became fire and chaos. The shadow's eyes struck at some part of his soul, and he looked down at himself and came to a realization. This was his power. Something about this was wrong. He was spun a big lie, and the world that he has been testing the seams of was some kind of prison. And the thing above him, the figure of 'Phoebe,' the thing trying to attack everyone at the temple with intense flames.

    He reacts without thinking.

    The essence of this soul under the mirage comes up. The man below howls in fury, because this place is the very essence of a world he despises. He decides that if a great 'holy' sword is going to come down, he's going to kill the one holding it, and the howl is accompanied by a blast of intense, flurrying wind that pushes back on the sword, a power coming from him as a person and not the PRAYER system. It's just a ranged wind blast with enough physical weight to knock grown men off their feet and slice big grooves in their flesh.

    I think everyone knows what he's screaming at Phoebe right now.
Empty Tidings Eve Ren awakens every morning, heart pounding, wondering who she is.

It usually takes a few moments for her to collect herself. Here, in Emblem City, she reminds herself each and every day: you are Eve Ren. You are no one else. There is no job, no target, no objective. You are...

...standing on a platform of shining gold among your peers, the throngs of adoring humanity looking on -- but where is your retinue? You turn to your chosen guardian, and see a handsome man's face reflected in the gleam of the polished jade bladeof the betrayer...

Eve stared across the room, eyes wide and blank. She did not move for some time. The vision did not return.

The day moved on, and she with it. She was going to catch the show that afternoon in the park -- she remembers their like from when she was a child. Eve carried a flyer, folding it carefully to tuck it into the pocket of her black coat, the scarlet-haired woman staring off into the distance and walking with no destination in mind.

She finds herself at the edge of a park on the approach to the Temple. Eve stops, blinking and adjusting her glasses with her flesh and blood hand. The prosthetic hangs at her side. She fidgets a little, false fingers twitching as she thinks. She wants to go up there. Maybe she can find someone who will recognize --

-- the procession, passing through streets of black stone and brass palaces. The thoroughfare is crowded with horrifying, monstrous onlookers, cheering and ringing sweet-sounding bells as the newest of their champions is displayed to them en route to the Temple. The poisonous green sun shines in the sky -- only to be shrouded by a massive shape that brings night with it, a colossal dragon that rises to meet its servant. Within its shadow, the eyes of monsters open, crawling from their hiding places...

Eve's legs give out. She drops to her knees in the grass, pressing her hands to her mouth, eyes wide in terror. She looks up at the temple for answers -- and all she sees is destruction, and the one who is supposed to be their protector betraying her people.

Nightmare. This second life has become nothing but a nightmare.
Tomoe -EMBLEM CITY-

It's another day in Jeci's wonderful life, right? Or that's how should be. Today is not that way, as ? Today has gone to hell in a hand-basket. She's up and she's racing away from the temple as it is coming down but she's using some abilities she's never had before. She's seemingly just free running or Parkouring across the debris and other thing sin her way as she attempts to get away from the dangerous area the temple has become. Just because she dead doesn't mean she wants to suffer more pain. She suffered enough when she died long, long ago.

"They lie,...escape?"

That thought keeps going through her mind as she flees for her own wellbring and hse's unaware of what's going on outside this world. She's just trying to not die again in Emblem city.
Wandering Dog Everything's on fire. Why? What's caused this? Balences doesn't remember anything that should connect to this, but there's a primal feeling that tells him how he needs to act. The only way he can act in this situation. In the park with his family, the performer is panicked by the flames, his children cowering behind him and his wife as Phoebe of all people is smashing up the city. Why? What can they do? They need to run...

Or, more accurately, his family needs to run, as Wandering Dog notices Eve Ren. Something he remembers her saying clicks into his head. Heroes help those in need. Don't they? Even though his family would surely disagree, and surely shout out for him, Balences can't betray that notion. He'll be fine.

The performer therefore grabs his mask out of his pocket, looks down at it, and wraps it around his face. The superhero mask of the Masked Dragon now adorns him, as he dashes foward to Eve's side as she falls to the ground. "Hey, get up! You'll get crushed if you stay down like that!" Balence moves to give her a hand and lift her to her feet, dressed in a goofy mask but not actually playing to the tropes of it. "We need to get people out of here, fast. They need someone's help, and our protector obviously isn't here to do it!"

And then, Balences begins shouting out to anyone who can hear him. "Come on, everyone, run! If you need assistance, shout for the Masked Dragon!" Balences has no idea what's coming over him, but...he always wanted to be a hero, and this is how he can do it. He can't fight a giant flaming monster, not like some of the others, but he can lead people to safety.
Dorian Pavus     Gil had not expected such carnage when he woke up that day. When everything started to fail, the Selenes ushered him closer to the statue, as if expecting him to fix it, even as it exploded. The force of that explosion knocked him clear of the area, more or less, so he's out of immediate danger. Though that doesn't mean he's come through unscathed. He's scratched and bleeding from the flying debris, though most of it's superficial. But scratches on the face tend to bleed a lot, and this makes them look worse than they are.

    His sophisticated look is gone, though, the white, modern-ish suit torn and dirty from the impact, and from the blood dripping from those scratches on his face. His hair's a mess and his mustache is in disarray. He doesn't care, though.

    He gets back to his feet, turning to look at the sight before him. It's something out of a nightmare. Gil takes a step back from it. And then another. And another. He's a scientist, an engineer. He has no business here where one of the entities who MADE THIS WORLD has decided to destroy part of it, for whatever reason. He's no warrior!

    And then Aepicus seems to ATTACK Phoebe, and Gil winces. No. There's no way he'll survive. Not attacking Phoebe. She's too powerful, has too much control here. But isn't it fitting? Finally facing one of the creators of the world Aepicus sought to change, about to die to her?

    Yet still, the words come from him before he can stop them. "Aepicus! Get clear! You'll be destroyed! Phoebe is too powerful!" He's not going to stop, is he? He's not. No, Aepicus presses his attack. Gil looks at his hands again. Scratched, but not too injured. And he remembers those other hands. Those hands that were not his. That ring... and something fiery awakens in him.

    ''<<Don't you '''DARE''' let him die!>>''

    His voice, but somehow... not his voice. He runs forward, stopping a short distance from the chaos, his hands glowing blue. He sweeps those hands out to the sides, aiming a round, hemispherical shape of a magical barrier in the area Aepicus is standing in.
Priscilla     -TOWER OF ESCHER-

    The mass Mimic escape of Escher is too late to help by now, but it will never not be something Priscilla doesn't contemplate with intense hollow, dead-eyed chagrin. As much as she might appreciate Enark, the sin of creating those damnable things is one she will never quite forgive him for. On the way up, she is unusually mindful of stepping foot on any kind of stairs, for ostensibly unknowable reasons.

    Priscilla is not a purification specialist. She is, in fact, pretty much the opposite; a profane presence by her own existence. If she has contributed anything to restoring this dysfunctional trio and its island of stability in the sea of degenerate chaos that is Lumiere, it is the exceptionally (relative to her usual self) vivacious 'new' Carna just about beside her. Purification is less what is on her mind however.

tMuch like Staren, she is clearly armed and prepared, albeit with her strangely engraven scythe rather than 'firepower', and probably a borrowed facemask (as if she could wear a suit anyways). "We art not likely to becometh moreso by waiting." Priscilla says to Enark, muffled and a little flat.
Finna ---Emblem City---
    A message that nobody is allowed to see? Nobody who values information or strange events could pass that up. And for Nico Zangt, a studying scholar of the blue tower who writes stories on the side, happens to have TWO reasons to be intrigued at this rumor!

    She's just getting near the edges of the crowd that's already formed when...

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

    With CHAOS suddenly unfolding, she gazes up at the great, world-cleaving sword... and screams in terror!

    "Attack.. an attack.... someone's attacking Emblem City itself! Wait, isn't that-- Phoebe?!" But who? Who could be stealing her form to do such a thing?

    And what was OUTSIDE Emblem City anyways?

    ... There's an OUTSIDE of Emblem City?

    As a bunch of LOGIC ERROR thoughts rush around in Nico's head, her form flickers briefly.

    All the while her forehead burns with a cold fire, the glittering light of a crescent moon gleaming from it as if these are Very Good Questions to be asking.

    Lunar Essence hates being caged, it turns out.

    "I'm ready to wake up about now! Ahahahahaha, the joke's over, whoever's playing with the sky magics... all just a big illusion, right?" She'd be sweatdropping if that was physically possible.

    But with Aepicus over there rising into the sky screaming his lungs out, she knows this is probably serious.

    Wait, what?

    Gathering a bunch of strength into her legs, she springs high into the sky after him, and momentum will carry er quite a ways before she'll need to add more thrust somehow.
Carna     ====Escher====

    The Lantern says, "I am told I am called Carna." If this man doesn't recognize her, then she has no reason to think she once knew him, right? She also doesn't know the significance of this location, or what happened upstairs when Enark was rescued. She had left to go try to find out more about everything, who she is or was, her own space, and so on. Now she has been called back, but apparently they are entering from downstairs.

    Enark nods to Priscilla. "Very well. Then with the anchors for Kord, Lady Kushiko, and Sir Pavus, we can proceed. Or rather, you all can. I will remain behind with anchors for each of you so that you can find your way back. I trust you have prepared a suitable item of personal worth or long-time exposure." He holds up the big floppy hat that Carna used to wear as the Lantern's anchor. Then he cautiously opens the door, not knowing if the wards will remain intact or not.

    Almost immediately, it is clear that Escher-space is deeply changed. They can't even see it. Instead, they see what looks like... A corridor. Running left and right, with paintings hanging on the walls. They appear to be viewing the corridor through a dark film, oily and Wrong seeming. But it is definitely not the huge empty white space filled with stairs and platforms and doors from years ago.

    He tries his hand at using his water magic to penetrate the film, with difficulty piercing a hole in the middle and gradually widening it to the outer edges of the door's frame. "I will... Stay here and... Hold the door open for you."

    Carna looks at Enark, then Priscilla, then Staren. She has no reason to trust any of these people. Has no recollection of them. Still doesn't fully accept her situation or her identity. But she is the first to step through, and find herself in a corridor in an art gallery, cordoned off behind velvet ropes. A larger art gallery lies beyond. Both she and anyone who follows her will soon hear the sound of panicked voices, distant screams, and... Explosions? She advances stealthily, since it seems they just arrived during some time of crisis, but the mission is to save people. And that is what she is focused on.
Staren     Staren's ears and tail droop at Carna's words. "Oh. You've forgotten again... You used to wear a mask, so I didn't recognize... I'm glad Enark found you."

    Reminded about the personal posessions, Staren passes over his labcoat and a tablet without explanation. The LABSCORCHER'S WHITECOAT was alchemized from one of the first items he got in the Multiverse, over ten years ago, so hopefully it counts. Just in case, the tablet contains encrypted, xp-format memories of conversations with Twilight. If THAT doesn't work, his friends will just have to come up with other ideas.

    Staren eyes the 'film' warily -- half expecting it to turn out to be some form of translucent monster that's expanded to take up the entire corridor... When Enark's magic parts it, Staren lets out a sigh of relief, and follows Carna through.

    There are... voices? Screams? "What the hell? Does anyone else hear that? Panicced voices? There shouldn't be anyone here, right?"

    He didn't expect it to work this way. He expected to have to explore Escher, checking countless doors for entrances to the hypothesized 'alternate Lumieres'.

    Which reminds him...

    Now that he's in Escher, to see about getting guest access and asking for diagnostics or logs.
Priscilla     A token of personal, intrinsic values, exposed to oneself over a long time. Is it even a question at this point?

    As loath as Priscilla has been to take it along anyways, she wordlessly hands to Enark a very plain and unassuming, but peculiarly dressed and faceless doll.

    "Personally, I find mine preference to be for whence Lady Carna sees fit not to hide her face from all of us." she says to Staren, attempting some form of firm, if flat, positivity. "There is no need to be so hasty in drawing thine conclusions and opinions of the future. Not whence so much has changed so recently. Focus thineself upon the task at hand, and events shalt play out one after the other." Now really isn't the time to be having a concern crisis over Carna's current, nebulous state of being, especially not after she'd already dealt with Enark's not long ago.

    The missing sight of sterile and boundless doorspace is disconcerting in a way, but also somehow relieving in another. Though the next room opening up into a decrepit and off-colour art gallery of sorts, creepily abandoned and filtered dim and dubious in character, Priscilla doesn't look too unsettled. It at least involves firm (non-Mimic) ground beneath her feet. Her intent to tour around and check the paintings for any common themes or outstanding/mismatched examples is cut short by the sound, however.

    "Shouldst there not?" she poses to Staren, about as serious as can be, and then lets him sit with that. None of them knew anything about the floors of Escher any higher than here, after all, nor much more about where the doors previously lead. Instead, she adopts her typically useful tactic in this world, rendering herself invisible and creeping through an alternate corridor to Carna in order to get ahead and see the source of the commotion first, then report it back to her allies, to prevent someone from walking into an old-fashioned Lumiere deathtrap. If she can examine the paintings along the way, so much the better.
Carna     ====Emblem City====

    It definitely seems as though the giant of light is attacking Emblem City... But the continent-sized blade comes down far short of the city. Though a distance of miles is still naught but inches for such a weapon. Whether it is due to Aepicus's winds (unlikely but hypothetically possible) or by design is unclear. However, the ray of light that strikes forth does not harm the faithful who bow before their goddess. It does not harm the non-believers who cower, or the fearful who flee. It does not harm Aepicus who rails against the goddess, the blast of his rage in the form of wind boiling out into the red-tinted clouds and the steam that swirls around the mighty weapon wielded by her. The ray of light bends around Gil's barrier, doing it no harm, nor to those protected by it. However, it is not blunted by it either. The light, the fire, congeal on the other side, targeting only one person.

    The shadowed figure in the hood, who is presently trying to flee in the face of overwhelming power. Though that figure tries to escape, they are pierced through and sent into screams of pain as the dark confines of their outfit are stripped away by the light, the clothing burning to ash, and revealing a humanoid figure made entirely of shadow, with two horn-like 'ears' on top of its head, impaled and writhing on the flaming blade as their body shoots outwards in every direction in the flame's light, unable to connect to anything, unable to form a cohesive form, just a spiking blob of black.

    The one who damaged her temple is the only one to suffer for the transgression. Phoebe is wrath, but she is also justice. And it would be unjust to punish the innocent. Soupi's despair seems to have been groundless after all. Maybe.

    Aepicus' power eventually seems to draw the notice of the distant goddess after being used against her weapon, and she turns her searing twin-sun gaze upon him in turn. If he hurt her or slowed her strike, it's not apparent. But he has her attention, as he screams and curses. Gil's magic shield might become useful in shielding someone very soon after all.
Carna     Many people flee in the park, most still not realizing the blade has not struck, that it stopped well short, that its target, this entire display, was only for one person. As flames crawl throughout Emblem City like living things, hunting and seeking, and gradually converging on the Blue Tower, however, it may become apparent eventually that they are not harming anyone. Gil, unable or unwilling to repair the statue, is facing away and so does not see the stone masks that form in the ground and walls that gather around it and begin to focus beams of red light from mouths and eyes, gradually repairing what has been damaged. It seems a second god has appeared, Coeus this time, to mend the broken.

    Are they honestly not after anyone but the shadow? The golem-like Selenes in their many forms and outfits are rescuing those who fell from the sky, extracting those in trouble, doing exactly what they were meant to... Yes, there is nothing to worry about. Nothing at all.

    So why was the immediate thought that came to mind, despite all the evidence of the past, that they were against the dead of Emblem City? That they were jailors rather than companions and caretakers? Throughout Emblem City, announcements are being broadcast that the PRAYER System was attacked by an invader and that it will be back online soon. But the cobalt sun in the sky flickers on and off, sometimes sending the sky and clouds into a void of black, and making familiar things seem quite alien and foreign as they switch between other places and times.

    Selenes also seem to be chasing the flames in a veritable horde, abandoning their duties and running for the Blue Tower. No matter how benificient they are, none of the gods or their servants are behaving in a way that indicates everything is normal. Damage has been done, even if the clean-up is already underway. Gods do not lightly take to the streets to capture intruders. And the message in the temple, the seeming illusion of realities shifting and changing, says that things may not have been 'normal' for a very long time.

    Jeci is likely to make it to the park as Balences tries to help Eve, having used her mad parkour skills to get away from ground-zero in short order. Soupi may have quite the view of the entire spectacle from the air. Likewise for Paird, though she has an even better birds-eye view, and can see the flood of people-golems making their way through the city, aiming for the massive data repository and place to practice the arts. That seems, even if only marginally, like a safer location to scout than the one with the giant goddess. And there are people dangling from ledges or in trouble otherwise who could no doubt use a hand getting to safety or out of that swarm of 'protectors' that an air-rescue could be useful in providing.
Tomoe -Emblem City-

Jeci is moving she's moving fast right now not wnaing to go squish but hten something hits her other people are in harms way. She's managed to get away from ground zero a relfx had kicked in she looks back with abject shock she's going to do what she can now to help guide peope to get clear of this chaos. Jeci seems concenred though and sh elooks to Eve.

"Come on people go this way we need to get clear of whatever is going on let the Selenes handle it."

They lie, escape.

She feels odd something is odd something is bothering her hard and she looks to see the Blue Tower she direct those she can and thinks.

"There's more trouble at the blue tower I think. I'm going there I'd get somewhere safe from all of this in the mean time."

With that Jeci is heading off now for the tower...
Carna     ====Emblem City====

    Carna does not respond to the talk of forgetting who she is 'again'. She makes a mental note to ask about how many times before this has happened, though she probably won't remember it later because she didn't make a physical note. "This is a prison, is it not?" she asks. "We have come for prisoners. And it's highly likely there will be jailors. If there was nobody here, that would represent a mission failure before we had even began." Though the sounds of disruptions have her on edge. The corridor they expect from is into a well-lit, clean-looking art gallery, expansive, with fountains, statues, pottery, more paintings, abstract conglomerations of stuff-people-put-together and more.

    The corridor's paintings were of a bleaker nature, illustrating things like a pair of men standing on a balcony while a tidal wave falling from the sky tears apart a city, of some blood-drenched deer-thing with a disturbing red cast to the forest around it, and a neck raw and exposed, of a white-haired woman holding a decapitated figure in her arms as a black rain pours down upon them both, and of a masked monster filling a narrow passage with a gore-drenched club in hand. There is a painting of a Wound in a wall, with many fingers attached to unseen hands spreading it apart, there is a painting of Mars cracked in half and fanged shadows eating it away from the edges, and of a kneeling figure bound before a tower as words flow out of his head in lines of runes. There is a painting of dragons falling from the sky by the thousands as they die in battle, and of a temple with a large black dog standing over a dead girl's body.

    And there is a painting of Escher, surrounded by ruins and the glow of underground furnaces, that Priscilla, Staren, and Carna just came through.

    As museum patrons run out, little seen of them aside from glimpses, it seems that no one else here knows what's going on yet either. Carna looks around for Priscilla and finds her gone. She doesn't know about the invisibility thing, but doesn't let it distract her for too long. Maybe the lady went back into the painting for some reason. She is soon moving from display to display, working her way out of the art gallery, and into the lobby of a huge library. She stops, staring when she hears the clatter of many feet, sees the crowd gathered and blocking further progress, hears their frightened and surprised murmurs, and then the crowd parts in a panic as creatures that look like people but... AREN'T come rattling in, in a staggering array of outfits, body shapes, and appearances. They all have something about them that exposes their inhuman nature. A seam along the jaw, a ball-joint, exposed mechanical inner workings. And they are all running towards the art gallery.

    The chains around Carna's arm flow outwards and form into a blade like solidified blood that reflects only a dim reflection of the surroundings, in the hue of dusk, and of despair.

    She does not hesitate to lash out at them, and start cutting limbs and heads from bodies. But they will overwhelm her very shortly.
Kushiko         --EMBLEM CITY--

For those few, fleeting moments, of confusion, of despair, she was worried. Truly worried. Though despair gives way to a conflicted sense of relief. It's... good, isn't it? That Phoebe came down, and the veritable smiting that ensues is nothing short of /beautiful/, something that makes her cry out in elation. But something nags at the back of her mind. Something in seeing that shadowed, hoodie-wearing figure erupt. There's a minute detail. Or is there?

Yet there's part of her that knows, /needs/ to put on a joyous face, a smile for all to see that /everything is going to be okay/. Even if it really isn't anywhere near /okay/.

"Let's go up!" she quickly says to Titania, who wordlessly and swiftly scoops up the young girl, her wings lighting up with activity, and flying straight upwards so as to let her see. And see she does. The sights are enough to make her face falter, as even her own personal Selene has made a laser-like beeline to Soupi as well. "It is not safe here. We should go home, dear angel," the mannequin lightly pronounces. Wait, is that what she said, or is there something else?

It doesn't feel right. She wants it to feel right. This... all these people. It felt nice to be here, but why were so many of them fighting against it? Fires rage on the lower decks. Blood shimmers in the fitful light. Hunting parties roam the ship. But there is singing and laughter and play... for all the children have come together.

At first, she sees Balences, sees Eve. The impulse is to first check on them, but the fires and flames racing towards the Blue Tower draw a conflict of purpose in the nominally cheerful young girl. The impulse to go home. The impulse to help, to soothe. Aepicus also draws this kind of attention, as much as his rage against the heavens is utterly confounding to her young mind. She's seemingly back to a normal appearence at this point.

"We need to talk to him later," she murmurs to Titania, the enlargened fairy swift to fly her that way at first, before she places a hand on the fairy's shoulder. "But we need to head to the Tower. You too, please Selene?" she implores of the mannequin servant, who is reluctant enough to come along as the trio start flying to chase down the destination of the flame--the Blue Tower.
Empty Tidings Eve looks up, and sees the face of a Dragon.

For the briefest instant, she feels her guts twist in a mix of terror and hatred. Something about that mask makes her want to reach out and crush it, or turn and leave it far behind her. She steadies herself, fighting off the foreign emotions while she's helped to her feet. She nods, shakily, taking a deep breath and raising her right hand in front of her. The filigree silhouette of Phoebe set into the back of the artificial limb seems to glimmer in the light.

It's a pale imitation, truly.

"Y... yes. You're right, of course." Eve looks this way and that. She takes an unsteady step, but then gets her bearings. She moves along a path nearby, dragging stunned onlookers to their feet and urging them away. She looks back, then, at Balences, smiling faintly, a strained expression given the situation. "I think... I think we need to find more protectors." She looks up -- and points towards the Blue Tower. "They're going there."

Eve starts making her way towards the source of the commotion. Someone must be able to help them. She's certainly no hero.
Dorian Pavus     The Blue Tower.

    Gil's gaze is drawn there, and he misses the stone faces repairing the statue. Why is that place suddenly so important in his eyes? What is there that is so important? At this point it doesn't matter. It seems like either it might be a safe haven, or there are more people who need help there.

    "Come on, let's go! We need to get to the Blue Tower!" Does he know why? No, not at all. But now that he's got the momentum, he's not going to give himself a chance to think about what he's doing. Because if he stops to think, he'll run, and he knows it.

    Make no mistake -- Gil is definitely scared. He's afraid something horrible will happen. Will they take him to be 'soothed' once this is all over? What about the others? Will other suffer because of his actions? But no... at least he TRIED this time -- he's not about to let his inactions lead to MORE people's deaths!

    So, that in mind, he heads for the tower as well. Though not before others. There are people who need to get MOVING now.
Leyanne -EMBLEM CITY-

Paird, above, continues to relay what's going on to anyone who can listen. It still feels like her body is flicking between two states, and... there's a slight sensation that something is Wrong. For now... well, people might be relying on her, so she relays everything she sees to those below.

#I am seeing... Phoebe's strike didn't hit the city but... there are flames, rushing through the streets it's... strange. The flames don't doesn't seem to be hurting anyone. - OH! The flame... it's solidified near someone, a hooded figure. Whoever it is, they're burning and... the clothes are gone now and I see... blackness, it's not holding a shape now#

Her attention on the ground below, she's very much in danger of flying into something. Or possibly someone.
Count Kord     Aepicus stares up at Phoebe, who is unperturbed by his shouting or the wind. He thinks to himself... of course that wouldn't work. She holds all the cards here. And so he thinks of something better to do. He turns toward the Blue Tower, and he runs, because he would much rather not get struck by a great big columb of flame if he can really help it. He runs to follow the path of the Selenes, because their odd trajectory. He isn't about to get smote like the shadow just did, not when he could find answers here, when the world was crumbling and cracking.
Priscilla     It doesn't take Priscilla all the way to the end, with the picture of Escher itself, to put two and two together. Not even close. The kneeling figure, and especially falling dragons, are of obvious import, so much that she sends a picture of the latter to Staren. He at least should recall the source of the endless river of blood from the very tip of Escher's tower, and something of a side objective that had long languished in the pursuit of the Dusk Sun and after the trio of Lumiere natives had been broken, in the process of gradually reforging their connection. It doesn't strike Priscilla as much like the grand balls that seemed to happen every Halloween (at least for a time), but the perpendicular sense of deja vu she gets from them is uncanny.

    Stumbling right into a lobby full of civilians, in an apparently civil arrangement, with a clear 'outdoors' implied, and a crisis-in-motion with an entirely new breed of entity Priscilla hasn't seen anything of thusfuar, is a too far out of expected parameters for her to take it at face value. She hasn't gotten where she is by charging at anything that looks threatening, heedless to the situation. They'd come here in an attempt to purge corruption she had /seen/ last time, and to rescue known individuals, and none of them matches up to either of those goals in any comprehensible sense. She doesn't jump into the fray, especially since she hasn't seen the creatures actually attack anyone yet.

    After relaying her coordinates to Staren with a quick image (fittingly, being the person she had adopted that tactic from forever ago), she drops in and quickly hoists Carna /out/ of the melee, invisibly yanking her off her feet and absconding back into the halls. Of course, she takes just a moment to speak into her ear --to tell her to be quiet and still for a few minutes-- due to an expected degree of surprise. At this point, she feels it's more productive to see where the creatures go, what they pursue, and if they do, who they kill and for what reason. Their objective here isn't to 'save the day' from a disaster they didn't plan for. It's to find missing Elites.
Staren     Staren gives Priscilla a confused look. He wasn't complaining about Carna's fashion choices, merely explaining why he didn't recognize her.

    Anyway, he expected a sort of cross-dimensional hub area likely to only be inhabited by the corruption, so an art gallery and screaming people is unexpected. "Huh." Until he realizes he just stepped out of a painting of Escher. Ohhhhhhhhh. THAT makes sense.

    Obviously they need to check each painting, but first, they should secure this area and see what the screaming is about.

    And then...

    ...Carna's fighting a horde of monsters!

    Well, Staren knows what to do about that! He--

    Oh but Priscilla has other plans. The need to support an ally in a dangerous situation momentarily abated, Staren just points the gun at the horde in warning and shouts, "What's going on?" to the gallery patrons.

    Of course, if the horde make any move to attack him or run into him, rather than stopping or running around him, he'll take defensive action. Beam cannons, railgun, and shoulder minimissiles (high-explosive, since he didn't want to use plasma on the corruption) are all ready to be used if called for.

    The possibility that the horde can't speak and only wants to hug him in greeting, and so that fighting them sends the wrong message, is a calculated risk.
Wandering Dog Balences stares at Eve with concern for a moment, as she has trouble moving, before she climbs back up to her feet. Taking a glance back and making sure his family is safe, he nods to her, sucking in a breath. "You're right. You're...right about a lot of things. This isn't supposed to happen..." As she moves forward, Balences pursues after her, worry on his lips as they head to the Blue Tower. "We need to find someone who can get everyone to safety. With everything that's happening, there's not much we can do but keep everyone together. Right?"
Finna Things have been so overfreakily weird today! With her view from the sky, Nico was able to see something pretty severe happen to... a shadow? Where's she seen that one before?

    And why would Phoebe make such a show of taking care of one miscreant and cause a nigh-panic?

    There's too many things not making sense going on, and when things don't make sense, scholars get researching!

    So the energetic girl hyper-dashes across the streets and leaps from rooftop to rooftop back to the Blue Tower, hoping to get in some research.

    Yeah, she wants to see if it has anything on previous displays like this before! Or weird shadow-people with horns. Or anything related to what just happened that might provide answers.

    It's NOT having answers that is pissing her off the most. A strange sensation that somethin's being kept from her.

    And this girl doesn't like things she can't sniff out and take for herself. Not one bit!
Carna     Heading for the Blue Tower is a hectic affair, given the chaos. Though the multitudes of Selenes are heading there, abandoning other duties, they still stop to help people. It's unclear if Paird's reporting is helping the Selenes, but other souls who see those in trouble are using them to navigate to trouble areas, or listening raptly like it's the 'War Of The Worlds' radio broadcast, as their whole world falls apart into chaos.

    The shadowed figure, the saboteur, the invader, appears to have been captured finally. At the very least, it does not seem as though anyone is hurt even after everything. It wouldn't be much of a heaven if people could be injured from a simple fall from a few hundred feet in the air. But it's still a disorienting experience.

    And while the Selenes advise anyone trying to head for the Blue Tower NOT to, to persuade them to turn around and go home, they are not physically restraining or otherwise stopping even the one who just attacked a goddess. Like, even when there is disobedience, they are prioritizing dealing with real threats to shutting down troublemakers. No one's 'temperament' is being 'soothed' today, no matter how badly it may be needed.

    The river of Selenes flooding into the huge cerulean tower, surrounded on all sides by a vast ocean that reflects said tower, giving it the apperance of stretching both upwards and downwards, is a bit of an obstacle to get inside. However, those who seem to still have special powers or tools even without the PRAYER System may be able to fly over or run atop or nimbly leap over or teleport past the Selenes' heads, to get inside and to that beckoning sensation.

    And to the side of pieces of Selenes scattered around while yet others push forward into the art gallery en masse. Some people actually leapt into the water to avoid the wall of Selenes, though it wasn't necessary, and could use a hand up out of that vast sea.

    But inside is where the action is.

    Carna does not know what is happening as she is lifted, though she ceases her instinctive struggles when she is whispered to, and pulled back into the abandoned section of the art gallery. The Selenes continue rushing in, clattering over and knocking into displays, changing the direction of their pursuit to adjust. It definitely seems they are homing in on the intruders.

    Synthetic voices call out, "Intruders not welcome." "Please leave." "Your place is not ready." and other phrases, some of them quite cryptic, in a huge clamour. But they mass in the art gallery outside the corridor and do not retaliate against the damage inflicted to them or pursue into the corridor. Not yet anyway.

    "They don't appear willing to permit us further access. Is disposing of them really not an option?" Carna asks quietly.

    Of course, with all these Selenes focused on them, none of them are watching their flanks.

    But the PRAYER System is turning back on. Powers and appearances are returning to 'normal', likely due to the system's inventor. And that provides many more options to follow the message inside the temple. 'They lie. Escape.'
Leyanne Power! With the Prayer system reinitializing, Paird watches from above as everyone seems to flow towards the temple.

#Hello?# She radios. #Can anyone hear me? Can someone on the ground tell me what's going on, exactly? I heard all sorts of rumours but I've had nothing concrete. There was... some kind of message in the temple?#

The flying machine, more of an gyrocopter than a helicopter, continues to beat the air into submission, Paird shining a light onto the Blue Tower's base. She's trying to see what's going on, buuut she's probably only making things worse by making the place even more of a shining beacon.
Staren     The horde... stops, and asks them to leave.

    Shockingly reasonable, really.

    Staren lowers the railgun. "Alright. Is there anything you can tell us about what's up with these paintings?" He turns around to look at them more closely. The suit has rear cameras and proximity alarms, so he'll know if they suddenly change tack and rush him. He walks up to... the dragon painting, and very gently prods it with the muzzle of his weapon to see if it sinks in like a portal, or if it's just a painting.

    To Carna, he responds by radio: <"We don't know what this place is. Escher's doorways could have taken us anywhere, what are the odds we'd find the world with our friends on the first try? For now, we're just doing recon. If it turns out this IS the right world... we'll be back.">

    And oh hey, someone's sending radio signals from INSIDE the world. Staren considers for a moment whether to just eavesdrop, and then decides to pry with a noncommital #Who is this?# that doesn't reveal he's not of this world. Hopefully.
Finna There is a SCOOP about and as much as Nico feels a bit bad about ignoring the ever-helpful, clearly-troubled Selenes, she IS CURIOUS. She WANTS TO KNOW.

    And so, with or without any help from PRAYER, she takes a FLYING LEAP to the tower and in through any windows or balconies that are handy!

    By this point, the crescent moon's burning brightly on her forehead and even PRAYER doesn't seem to be able to mask it too well. If it wants to, anyways!
Dorian Pavus     Formerly Gil could fly. But the PRAYER system malfunction has nixed that. But he's not wholly without ways to get through. With a thought, his body blurs into a blue-white smoke and blurs forward, THROUGH the Selenes blocking the way. This leaves little more than a chilly sensation, though, and not do any sort of damage. But with the PRAYER system actually starting to re-initialize, Gil finds his devices beginning to work again. Including his radio. And he hears Paird's words. He pauses just long enough to answer her.

    #There's a lot that's just broken beyond my ability to repair. But PRAYER seems to be coming back online. So it looks like whatever caused this trouble, it's being attended to by greater powers than me.#

    External radios may pick his response to Paird up too. It's Dorian's voice, but not his accent, and it's missing that self-assured air he usually has. And it's far less formal than he's known to speak. He sounds casual, conversational.
Tomoe Tomoe sees the Selenes Flooding for the tower, she wonder what the heck is going on here but there are people who need help she keeps moving the woman might be spotted but she looks little like Tomoe and barely like Sheena. Her hair is all that is unaltered Jaci has golden eyes darkish skin and is shorter than Sheena or Tomoe. She moves though as she makes for chaos. She feels an urge to run but there was an odd thing she'd seen a reflection on something as she moved. A red head woman but taller, much paler and with eyes like Emeralds it was odd it didn't really sink in too hard either.

Who was that woman but she does know there's something haunting familiar about things for a moment and the urge to get out is /very/ very strong.

They Lie, Escape.

She makes the push for it trying to get past the Selenes making for the depths of the Tower and she could very well ended up spotted. Something is wrong here she moves past along with Gil.

"Gil there's something not right here!"

She keeps going though he would have a fair chance to try and stop her if it came to it.
Leyanne #Paird.# The clipped British voice replies to the voice on the radio. The noise of the engine and rotors is audible behind her. #Who's thi- oh what the bloody hell?# There. That last exclaimation is very clearly Tiny's rough london drawl.

The gyrocopter veers away from the tower as instinctively Paird puts it into a stable flightpath.

Meanwhile Paird's mind is filled with images of a flat, red plain and orange sky. Metallic dust that she can taste and... smell with her ears? It feels like home. But this is home....

Conflicted sensations flood her body as she nearly crushes the throttle quadrant in her left hand. Even then, she keeps the presence of mind to reply to Gil. #Thank you, Gil.# The stiff Pilot British accent is back. #Keep... keep me posted. I'm... not feeling... not feeling myself, entirely.#
Tomoe Jeci sees the Selenes Flooding for the tower, she wonder what the heck is going on here but there are people who need help she keeps moving the woman might be spotted but she looks little like Tomoe and barely like Sheena. Her hair is all that is unaltered Jaci has golden eyes darkish skin and is shorter than Sheena or Tomoe. She moves though as she makes for chaos. She feels an urge to run but there was an odd thing she'd seen a reflection on something as she moved. A red head woman but taller, much paler and with eyes like Emeralds it was odd it didn't really sink in too hard either.

Who was that woman but she does know there's something haunting familiar about things for a moment and the urge to get out is /very/ very strong.

They Lie, Escape.

She makes the push for it trying to get past the Selenes making for the depths of the Tower and she could very well ended up spotted. Something is wrong here she moves past along with Gil.

"Gil there's something not right here!"

She keeps going though he would have a fair chance to try and stop her if it came to it.
Kushiko With her appearence fully restored, Soupi looks as she should be. Bereft of a peculiar sign or two; hair and face quite normal, sleek little futuretech dress besides. She wasn't... fully cognizant of what it was drawing her there, as much as she could chalk it up to say, that maybe someone needed some help down there.

On the other hand, the strange Selene that perhaps bore a resemblance to someone she didn't even realize tried to coax her towards home. Titania did not listen to Soupi's own Selene; what Soupi wanted was paramount. The words that she saw flashed in front of her eyes as her powers returned to her. 'They lie. Escape.' Was it such a bad lie?

That moment of strange, confounding clarity made her freeze up, for a few moments more. Especially when it came to the swarm of Selenes she was coming up upon from above. What the others are saying, over radio and how they're acting. "Be careful, don't hurt them." she murmurs softly, before leaping from Titania's arms. As she says this, the enlargened robofairy takes flight as Soupi falls--and blinks out of sight. She reappears--blinking as she does, but when she blinks closer, it's with Titania flying in with her above.

More to the point, her 'dash' through when she briefly reappears seems to buffet everything nearby, like a charging battering ram. The Selenes are targeted by Titania in tandem, wisps of energy and dust catching the Selenes to send them floating, tumbling off listlessly so Soupi could get into the Tower--remarkably, following Gil's path, just her own version of dashing through being more akin to a wrecking ball without actually hurting anyone.
Priscilla     "It is not an idea I object to out of concern, but out of practicality." Priscilla whispers to Carna, letting her go in a sufficiently annoying to reach corner. "Listen to them well. They art well trained, or else well built, to repulse those who trespass upon this odd sanctum of theirs, or perhaps their creator, where it is more than certain the others art being kept. Wading through them, blade in hand, wouldst be by far the least sensible and accessible means of locating them."

    She radios to Staren. <<"Note: our place. They art aware of our point of origin, to some extent, and our association with the others. Their maker hath plans for us. Thine question shouldst not be towards from whence we came, but to where it is we art eventually intended to go, as it most certainly wouldst be to the same place as they hath taken the others">> From there, she starts trying to actually get past the crowd and out to the doors. This may or may not prove to actually be practical. One of the flaws of invisibility, even perfect invisibility, is that it doesn't really help if you just walk into someone.
Wandering Dog As they're heading towards the Blue Tower, Balences sees the people stuck in the sea from moving to dodge the danger. "Go on without me!" He shouts to Eve, before moving to go give them a hand. As he dashes over towards the sea, Balences suddenly remembers something...and finds himself slipping off the ledge, falling into the water.

The crashing seas. He remembers them, remembers the feel of the water as he'd dive for hours at a time. Resurfacing to see his comrades, share a joke, and then go on to a new adventure. The praise he was given, for the feats he could accomplish. The long nights on board passed by him telling stories, regaling people about his vast adventures across a world.

As Balences slams into the water, it's arms first, and he's under there for several minutes. Eventually, he gets over the sudden shock and forces himself back up, realizing just how long he was underneath. There's no exhaustion or huff for air, as the water seems to just be natural for him, not getting in his eyes or face. "Come on, let me get you out of here." Offering a hand to those who had fallen into the water, Balences shakes his head several times, confused and concerned about the memories, but confident in what he needs to do next as he begins to climb out. "It's going to be fine. Nothing's going to happen to you while the Masked Dragon is here to help you!"
Carna     Those in trouble are being rescued. As disturbing as the interruption was, it seems things are going to be okay. Everyone can go back to living out their happy eternities. Phoebe and Coeus both are here. Who can stand up to such power? What invader could possibly escape their justice and their wisdom?

    Suddenly, all of the Selenes in a very large area freeze up, as if paralyzed. Those inside the art gallery face people-golems that no longer react or respond. The people who were headed to the Blue Tower can make it inside by their various means, see the library lobby full of Selenes, the confused and scared people on either side, trying to get a glimpse into the gallery where all the Selenes headed and the cries of 'intruders' came from, and also a carpet of black that extends all the way from the Temple of Phoebe, and which seems to be woven into the joints and bodies of the Selenes.

    Struggling out of that carpet of black, an ordinarily cartoonish face, now deadly serious, emerges. Slit-eyed, quad-anged-mouth set in a determined frown. Crow says, "I can't hold them... For very long."

    The Shadow pulls itself up by thin limbs, so much of itself spread out to infiltrate the shadows inside of each Selene, and thus control them, that the strength to do much else is very limited.

    "Get them... Out of here." Crow instructs hoarsely to Staren, and the far-corner-dwelling Carna, as the Lantern looks upon a painting of two children holding the hands of their mother and father. The only 'happy' painting in the entire corridor. Then she looks to the Shadow, unrecognizing.

    "That is our intent." she mutters, starting to stalk forwards again but staying out of range of the golems, even paralyzed as they are.

    Then a voice filled with divine power speaks. "So you can use them that way too. Interesting." A stone mask has formed on one of the walls of the gallery, pushing aside paintings as the wall deforms around it. "You have run far enough. I have many questions for you. All three of us do, but mine come first." Crow tries to turn its scrawny 2-D body around to face the masked being, but with half of itself still at the Temple, impaled upon a giant flaming sword-laser, there just isn't enough to spare, and it is soon bound to the floor by beams of red light from Coeus's mask. This time, as Crow is paralyzed by the beams, there will be no more escapes. The black turns to red... Though Crow refuses to leave the Selenes, meaning all of the Selenes that the Shadow jumped and wove together along the way to the tower are still paralyzed.

    But now, Priscilla is in a position to help any of the escapees who approach get out of there before Coeus's beams paralyze them as well, pushing through unresponsive golems and clearing a path, while the mask remains fixated on the Shadow.

    They can't get everyone out this time. They'll have to make do with those they can. Just knowing they have the right place is a good starting point. But these strange people who are coming, some recognizable, others not, are being pulled towards them almost by magnetism, their anchors drawing more and more of themselves out.

    Now to see if a god will actually allow them to escape a prison fashioned specifically to keep souls inside of it.

    TO BE CONTINUED...
Empty Tidings Eve follows the paths laid out ahead of her. Soupi -- is that Soupi? She doesn't look... right --powers through, opening something like a path. She looks on, stunned, and turns to Balences... who tumbles and falls. She sticks out her hand, futilely trying to reach for him as he goes over the side.

She hears the crash. She winces, suddenly filled with an awful premonition of what might be in the depths. Her skin itches and aches like from a phantom burn.

Eve turns back towards the mob of Selenes. She follows Soupi's lead, trying to get to the door. She ends up having to leap onto some of the toppling Selens, hopping between tilted and hobbled ones in order to get closer. The pull is undeniable, and that message... nobody writes a message like that if they don't /mean/ it.

She lands in a clear spot near the entrance to the Tower. It's a momentary thing. The scarlet-haired woman turns, looking back for a fragmented moment.

The blood of the dragons runs thickly between his fingers. Arash draws the fragment of the polished jade sword out of his side. The blood stops flowing immediately. He turns it end over end, then grips it like a knife, turning to the doors to the great hall as they're sundered by sorcerous force. He steps forward, fury writ on his proud features and power whipping off him like winds 'round the eye of a storm, a beacon of brilliant, golden

sunlight, green and radiant, bathing the world in a viridian sunrise, casting long shadows over the assembled demon-monsters that have come to see her present herself to her masters. The creature of darkness that entwines itself above the temple spire watches with hungry eyes. Silence falls, and a rush of wind strips away ranks of the awestruck onlookers. The sea surges, carrying their bones away in a hissing tide of acidic hatred and liquid jealousy. She is awestruck herself. She cannot find it in her to be afraid.

Eve Ren is afraid.

She turns towards the lure of freedom, one strong hand extended...
Dorian Pavus     Gil nods to Jeci's words. "You're absolutely right, Jeci. There's something SERIOUSLY screwed up here," he says. "The Blue Tower's where the disturbance is coming from -- can't you feel it?" Gil certainly can. That's why he's going that way. He looks to Jeci in the chaos. "Come on, let's see if we can't fix it, once and for all." Yes, he's going in there with intend to CLOSE THE DOOR on whatever trouble has been caused here.

    Even to the end Gil is still damned and determined to preserve this place for the souls that exist inside, waiting for their reincarnation. At least in GiIl's case, his next life HAS to be an improvement over his previous one. And he's not about to let anyone take that away from anyone here. They have to better themselves by the book.

    Paird's words echo, switching from the manner of speaking he's accustomed to from her, to something... else, before it switches back. And he frowns. He doesn't feel like himself either. There's another voice screaming at him from inside his own head. It's trying to push his own thoughts aside, to supplant his memories. Gil pushes back, HARD, trying to maintain himself. This NEEDS to be fixed!

    #...Nor am I, Paird. I'm very much not myself...#

    That was formal-sounding, not like Gil's usual tone at all. And there's an accent there, one he doesn't usually speak with. His voice is soft, almost unheard over the chaos.

    As he enters the Tower, goes to where the disturbance is the strongest. And stops. He's... not sure what he's looking at. Frozen Selenes, a shadow being pinned by Coeus's power, and... he's not sure what's going on. He's confused. Between the flickering memories and that other self, so close to escape that he can taste it, but Gil wanting to retreat, the conflict between them all...

    He'll be an easy target for those red beams if someone doesn't grab him...