Scene #8356: Escape from Sarafan Keep

Owner	Pose
Raziel	Chasing Kain through the portal, you were plucked out of the timestream by Mobieus the Timestreamer. Here he attempted to gain your trust, and failing much to his chagrin. He did, however, tell you where Kain was, and provided some history from his point of view. However, ultimately, he did leave you in this room with the expectation that you'd be making martyrs for his cause on your way out. The room you stand in overlooks a small basin in the center. There are three exits out of here, one leading to the time-streaming chambers you were just in and how you arrived. The other door looked similar to the first. However, above it, was a crystal that seemed to be attuned to elemental energies native to Nosgoth. The last exit appears to be locked up. There must be a way to open it...and looking around the room there are several busts of people. Raziel currently is looking at each one, studying them rather than the other door, as this was a piece of history he'd never gotten to see before. 'Here before me was the memorialized faces of the circle of nine that formed the Sarafan brotherhood. Each one has played no small part in the destruction of vampires as well as the death of the legendary figure of Janos Audron. All but three here are long since dead, killed in a surprise attack carried out by Janos' offspring, the vampire Vorador.' Raziel also spends a few moments regarding the depictions of Vorador himself. "I wonder, if the vampire is as monstrous as depicted, or if the goal here was to leave an impression of how they felt about the vampire and his attack.." Things in Nosgoth, as it was turning out, were hardly ever so simple. The question is, how does one leave this room without going back to Nosgoth's grim future?
Trudy Grimm	> "And thank you, too, Trudy. For holding back. I know that people like Moebius and Kain make it hard. But I want to believe in us, just like I believe in Woz. Thanks for all the work that goes into being you." The witch closes her eyes, letting out a sour-sounding sigh, "It's nothing to thank me for." The shadow at her feet rattles and clatters, bleached white bone crawling free and rising, assembling into skeletal fascimiles of human beings. There is no sign of the distinctive, towering elite undead she often fields, her so-called 'Cute Friends'. "If I'd hazard a guess, you've seen into the past and the future plenty of times," she offers as her skeletal squadron starts pulling swords, bows, and other weapons from the pool of void-black at her feet, "How do you deal with it? Seeing a future you don't want to?" Her eyes open halfway. Palm-up, she lifts her hand up to eye-level, staring at the green-stained Eiwaz rune blazing away to raise her minions, "Do you fight against it, or ignore it? How do you know which route doesn't lead to it happening?" Eyes shifting, Trudy fixes her gaze on Sougo, "It really is the curse of clairvoyance, isn't it?" Thus armed, skeletal warriors begin lining up around the door, waiting for its opening mechanism to be sorted out and activated. Ready to pour out into the castle, "It might not even be real in the first place. It could just exist to give me anxiety." "All-Father knows I have plenty of that as it is."
Angela	With a significant chunk of the Control Team IN JAIL (they'll break out soon don't worry about your pals Parker, Jeff, and Rook!), Angela has resorted to sending out the Information Team to investigate the Time Portal and--ostensibly--help Concord ally Raziel. Perhaps this will be an excellent source for Abnormalities to bring back to L Corp. The Information Team consists of Sal, M.O.M, and Chewie. Sal is young woman with green hair done up in a pony tail and is wearing an aquamarine and blue suit with little fairy wings on the shoulder. She is also carrying a large mace, also with aquamarine with little wings on it--looking kind of like an oversized bug at the end of it. M.O.M is an older guy with grey hair wearing a flower patterned suit and carrying a similarly colored fan. Chewie is a shaggy brown haired fellow wearing a black suit with a purple armband with the letter Y on it. Strapped to his back is a datapad where a serious looking purple haired man with overly pale skin and brown hair--wearing a similar suit as Chewie but as a turtleneck--is visible on the viewscreen. "I'm going to ask that you two listen to orders for once." Sal says gruffly. "We still don't know what 'Townsville' will be doing to half our Control Team so we can't afford to lose too many agents." "Back home, Bloodfiends are practically extinct, so this'll be exciting, Ha Ha HA!" Mom adds. "Wonder if there's anything exciting here..." is Chewie's addition. "Just help Raziel with what he needs and learn what you can. He should be a vampire ghost with a sword that is also...a ghost." The agents process this for a moment. "Well it's not the weirdest thing I've seen..." M.O.M supplies as the crew file in. Sal approaches Raziel and clears her throat. "Sir Raziel. We are from Lobotomy Corporation. We are here to assist you with...whatever you may need. We're the Information Team so our specialty is gathering information from Abnormalities and Distortions but we can fight if you need us to." Sal takes a look around at the memorials, taking it all in. Chewie immediately gets bored and tries to knock over one of the busts with his riot stick. Maybe they think it's a puzzle where you have to smash busts with your riot stick.
Hellwarming Trio	"Hey. Uh. Master. Can we...?" "No, Orin. She's working." In most areas, the yokai trio have a fairly limited knowledge base to work off of. Having access to libraries is quite different from actually understanding all of the knowledge contained in them, and handling actual sorcery is generally outside of their usual field of expertise. After feeling something coming from that strange crystal, though, Utsuho's decided on studying that crystal above the second doorway, trying to get a better feel for whatever energy is coming out of it. The problem: She knows a lot about nuclear energy, but the elemental energies coming out of it probably aren't that. Still, she's insisted on trying to force a round peg through the square hole, so she's going to be a little busy while Rin and Satori try to actually figure out a way out of this room with Raziel and company towards something less doomed-Nosgoth-y. Problem #2: Rin sees Chewie going for the busts. Solution: Satori grabs her by the scruff of her neck before she can run off and join in on that. Instead, Satori starts dragging the Kasha around to check AROUND the busts and, if possible, lifting them briefly to see if there's any hidden notes underneath them.
Timespace Riders	"Probably not," says Sougo. "I'm sure it actually happened," he notes with a frown, "But I'm starting to notice that a lot of Nosgoth's history is... people picking at old wounds and making new ones because of it." There are only two potential ways out. The first is marked with that strange crystal, and the other is locked tight. The Demon King's retainer isn't here, having left to confront whatever demons were stirred by the vision he saw earlier. When Sougo steps up to the locked door to run his hand across it curiously, he does so alone. After taking a few moments examining it with a mind to what kind of lock it is, he answers Trudy sadly. "Yeah," he says, looking over his shoulder with a wan smile. "I have. And I have people from that future, who come after me for what I do in it. It's hard to deal with, but I try to keep a few things in mind." "For Kain, and Moebius," he says, turning fully to peer down the basin with his hands in his pockets, studying it for any kind of association with the crystal or the locked door, "This is their past. But it's our present. We don't have the same associations and feelings tied to it, and that means we won't necessarily look at it the same way. Changing what will be starts with changing what is. That's what I think." He stands and ponders a while longer, before new voices have him standing upright and surprised. "Oh! Lobotomy Corporation!! Hi--" Sougo peers at Chewie trying to knock the bust over in mute confusion for a moment, before continuing awkwardly, "Um, I'm Sougo. Right now, as you might have guessed... we're looking for a way out of here, without things going the way they did in the original timeline. There's a good chance we'll meet mercenaries who will see Raziel and think we're the bad guys, so... please be gentle with them, so that we can prove that isn't the case."
Raziel	The warriors Trudy has summoned gather up on the door that exists the room and wait patiently. Right now there is nothing to indicate that there is any immediate threat or any martial of forces outside the door. True to his word, at least in this regard, Moebius isn't summoning his forces and does appear to be trying to aid you. The new arrivals from the Future of Nosgoth cause Raziel to welcome them politely. "I appreciate your assistance, but as you can see we appear trapped in this room and thus our progression impeeded. Mr. Sougo wishes to talk to Kain more, I am willing to listen but my desire to forebear Kain's death only goes so far." The busts are moveable, by both Chewie and Satori. While the busts do not break when they fall (they appear to be made both heavy /and/ well) each pedestal they sat on appears to slightly move...as if they were some sort of pressure plate. There is a strange movement, that appears to correlate to the lock on the door that leads out into the main keep. The elemental seal on the other time machine does not respond to Utsuho's elemental fire. ODDLY, it seems more than CAPABLE of handling her elemental energies, but it's quickly determined that she isn't using the right ELEMENT. Raziel himself pauses, considering it. The dark crystal pulsing with elemental magic... He attempts to draw the Reaver...but can not. Frowning, he shakes his head, "For now that lock is beyond us. Though something tells me that the principles of that elemental energy are more attuned to Nosgoth's own...and my Reaver may not be properly embued with it yet." Sougo does not see anything important about the basin, it is exactly what it is a basin that can be used in magical rituals to look at faraway places. Right now, it continues to show Kain, standing in front of the Pillars of Nosgoth. The /uncorrupted/ Pillars of Nosgoth. They are pristine, white, uncracked...and whole. One might suggest by the way he is standing there, that he is waiting for you.
Angela	Chewie looks over to Sougo. "Oh it's the King. Hey King." Seems like Sougo is starting to get a reputation amongst the Lobotomy Corp team. "Well that's a familiar feeling." Sal mutters as RAziel reveals...they're trapped! "Chewie stop messing around." But surprisingly, Chewie actually helps on accident as he notices the pillar is starting to move. He pushes at the pedastal trying to see what will happen if he pushes it about and looks back to the look periodically to see what's happening. "I'm helping, Captain!" M.O.M laughs heartily. "Ha ha ha! Well, we can listen to both of you! We can try to be nice to mercenaries AND we can kill Kain! Ha ha ha!" He's helping too! Sal considers this for a minute and admits, "We should try to gather information on Kain." M.O.M knocks over another bust to see if that'll reveal more of the puzzle but also because knocking over this stuff is fun. Sal's eyebrow twitches. She points towards the basin and asks, "Sir Raziel, what's that? Those pillars. They seem important." She frowns as she stares and looks at Kain.
Hellwarming Trio	Sighing lightly in exasperation, Satori lets Rin busy herself with picking up busts and dropping them on the floor to see what happens while focusing her attention on actually trying to figure out which busts and which pillars create the most movement. Leaving the busts where they started clearly isn't going to work, so that just leaves brute trying to brute force a solution by moving one bust to each pillar until something different happens! Coincidentally, that might be easier if she can coordinate with Chewie and M.O.M on it. She pauses to peer into the basin, though, squinting at the Kain in that image briefly. She turns to Sougo afterwards, raising an eyebrow curiously at his reply to Trudy. "People from the future? You don't seem the sort to be so..." There's a pause, clearly trying to think of the right word. "... Hostile towards anyone. What are they accusing you of?" Utsuho, meanwhile, leaves that elemental seal once she finally concludes that her fire won't open it up. Instead, she too joins in the BUST PUZZLE SOLVERS club, moving things around with little rhyme or reason outside of Satori or anyone else directing her. "Hey... Uh. Raziel. Do these head statues have any kind of order to them? Like... Uh. Who's the oldest one?" Thankfully, Rin does settle down soon enough that she actually helps with moving busts around and things, too (since Satori's getting tired already). She does get a little distracted from time to time watching Trudy's rune work, though, circling around her every now and then while totally not planning to touch a rune just to see what happens. Unless Trudy looks away, that is. Then she'll totally touch one to see what happens.
Trudy Grimm	Trudy closes her hand, snuffing out Eiwaz in the process and closing her eyes, "You're right, of course." It wasn't really what she was asking about, but the perspective on Kain and Moebius' presence in this point of the timeline is worth keeping in mind, compared to the perspectives of outsiders like themselves. With her skeletons ready to storm the castle once this is all figured out, Trudy glances at the Grimoire hanging from her shoulder. She considers it for a moment, then glances up at the crystal Utsuho is messing with. The statues that Satori and Chewie are investigating. The basin that Moebius left on the Kain Channel. After a moment, Trudy lets out another sigh. In one hand she lifts up the Grimoire of Malice, flipping it open through pages scrawled in runes and encrypted text, "If our intention is to just escape, is there really any need to be delicate about it?" "If Mister Moebius didn't want us to damage the place, he should have opened the door before fleeing for his life." Above the Grimoire projects Gebu, the Gift rune. As she grasps it in her other hand, the rune projects a series of nested runic circles. Her hand twists the inner circle, the outer circles starting to twist and warp in turn. The stonework of the doorway weathers rapidly. Metal corrodes. Wood rots. It ceases when Rin reaches for the rune and Trudy dispels the effect, moving her Grimoire out of reach while maintaining wide-eyed eye contact, "--What are you doing?!"
Timespace Riders	"Hi!" The would-be Demon King beams, despite his otherwise glum demeanor. It's nice to be recognized in a positive, or at least, not overtly negative way. Sougo settles into helping Chewie and Satori with the puzzle. Which is to say that a second Sougo has suddenly appeared in the chamber, who seems to know a lot of the answers. He's dressed exactly the same, and his counterpart doesn't seem bothered at all by his presence. "But that's always the story, isn't it?" Present!Sougo asks Satori. "No one ever seems like they have bad things inside them, until it all spills out into the world. There's a future where I become the worst, most tyrannical king. A world without any hope, where me and two other tyrants are fighting for control of what's left." "Some of them accuse me of killing a friend, or family, or a loved one. Some of them just lay the blame for that world at my feet." He shrugs. "I've seen that future myself, so it's not like they're exaggerating. And I know myself well enough to know how things could get so bad." He sighs, sadly. "Everyone wants to say that the worst parts of themselves don't exist. But if you don't acknowledge that they're a part of you, you'll never be strong enough to overcome them. And if you spend your whole life, all that you are, running from them, only those things will be left, when you get tired of running. That's why... I'm trying to change myself into someone who isn't ruled by those things. So that I can be the greatest, kindest Demon King." Once the puzzle has been solved through Chewie and Satori's experimenting and Future!Sougo's hints, he disappears in a pillar of pink light, followed by Present!Sougo briefly doing the same (in order to convey the answers in the first place). After returning, he nods at Sal. "Between all of us here, especially Raziel, I think there's a lot we could tell you about Kain. Those pillars are important. And in this time period, Kain is thinking of destroying them. The thing is... he might not be wrong to want that, or at least, knowing what I do, from looking at his history, it's easy to see why he would. Nosgoth is older than those pillars, but that isn't common knowledge."
Raziel	With the arrival of another Sougo, and Raziel taking a moment to observe the pressure plate puzzle before them... "It seems that there are three that do not belong. Three survived the assault from Vorador that day. That was Mortanius, who would go on to create the Vampire Kain, Moebius, and Malak," and when the other Sougo removes those three busts, the door starts to unlock... Then is quickly rusted open, while the mechanisms in the door break down and rust, unable to be shut again. "Or we can just break holes throughout the past. I am sure that won't have any consequences in the future." As they walk out, Raziel starts explaining the situation to the members of LoboCorp. "Kain was my maker, the one who turned me into a vampire, but also the one who killed me by betrayal in a jealous whim. We chased him here because he fled into the time portal, but we were separated from the path he took." The room they enter next is a hallway. There are two exits, one to the far north, and one around the bend heading right. Checking the door that goes right is open, and the northern door appears to be open, but... There are mercenary forces waiting for you in front of it. They are armed with various bladed weapons, including short swords, long swords, and polearms. They are, hilariously, not very effective against skeletons. "Those pillars...those are the Pillars of Nosgoth, which he singlehandedly destroyed by refusing to sacrifice himself to redeem them. Because of that...the world I am from is currently nearly lifeless. A corpse of its former self."
Angela	Chewie gives the second Sougo a nod. They seem to be a little unsure of what to do with two Sougos but are also clearly intent on rolling with it. If it's important, it'll be made obvious or it'll kill them all. Sougo seems friendly for the moment so it doesn't seem like too much of a problem right now. "Made you just to kill you huh... That's some wild shit. Even in the City, we don't usually kill our own family." "What a foolish action by a shortsighted beast." Yesod says about Kain's decision. There's a bit of extra scorn in his tone but he doesn't explain it. Chewie and M.O.M get to town on the mercenary forces waiting for them. But true to Sougo's request, they try merely to beat them to unconsciousness instead of to murder but, you know, they are only going to try so hard on that. A single slip up could mean they're dead forever and they doubt that they'll be as gentle as Sougo. "Seems rough," M.O.M asides to Sougo before laughing, "Ha Ha Ha! Why would he be 'not wrong' in destroying the pillars? Isn't self sacrifice for the common good suuuper popular?" "Some people have their own dreams." Chewie disagrees. "I just want my tastebuds to regain their sense of flavor." Sal grimaces. "Can't take the District 23 out of the chef... Sougo, where did you get this information about Kain from?" They are getting what feels like conflicting stories here.
Hellwarming Trio	Caught red-handed messing with Trudy's runes, Rin gets that dopey look on her face as she stares right back at Trudy from where she's squatting. She withdraws her hand quickly a second later, then looks away while trying to look nonchalant about it. "Uhh. Nothing." She's also purposely looking away from Satori at the same time, and Utsuho's just biting down on her lip while her cheeks puff up, clearly trying not to laugh. "Rin, please. Behave." Satori scolds with a tired sigh, then turns back to Present!Sougo with a slow nod and curious noise coming from her throat. "How troubling. That doesn't sound possible from what I've seen of you, but I've..." She pauses, like she's remembering something. "Heard of other people acting truly out of character when pushed into a corner." She understates, although she actually keeps a fairly even expression while saying that. "People doing things that they might not have foreseen the dire consequences of, especially if they thought they would be protecting others." Satori takes a moment to touch a hand to the eye over her chest as he continues. "Acknlowedging those parts... Yes, you're right about that. Running towards everything else instead of away from the bad parts has been much more interesting, definitely. It's even gone much better than expected so far." She lets out an affirming noise, looking over at the group and especially at Utsuho and Rin (both of whom are bickering with each other over something stupid), then smiles after another moment. "I'll look forward to your coronation, then. Just... Do be careful not to ignore your own heart for the sake of others. If you can't even take care of the worst parts in there, I doubt you'd do a good job taking care of everyone outside of it." That smile gets just a little bit smugger, as though she's particularly proud of that bit of improv. With the door finally opening up for them, it's time to leave that weird time hole! Utsuho's eager to stretch her wings out, and Rin's still slinking a bit after getting scolded. Spotting the mercenaries and remembering that they maybe shouldn't just kill them all, the trio gets into FIGHT MODE. They don't really have room to take to the sky, but spewing projectiles in fancy patterns down a hallway will have to do. Luckily for the mercenaries, it's with their colorful magic bullet bullshit rather than actually setting everyone on fire. "So if we just toss Kain into a volcano, everything'll be fine?" "Why a volcano?" "I dunno. Sounded right, I guess."
Trudy Grimm	Trudy stares at Rin without saying a word when the cat tries to act like nothing happened. Eventually, she extinguishes Gebu and closes her grimoire with a thump. Releasing the book, it dangles at her side on its strap, "Please don't touch strange magic. That could've rotted your hand off, there." Raziel chides Trudy, who welcomes the change in tone with an eyes-closed shrug, "Mister Moebius knew I was going to do it, obviously~." And once the LoboCorp crew gets into it with the mercenaries, the witch adds, "We're about to be the origin for some other legends you probably already heard, too." Raising a hand, she snaps her fingers. The skeletons she'd produced snap to attention, then surge forth through the ruined doorway in a clatter of bone and steel. They're weak. Trudy intentionally made them so, after Sougo was able to talk her down. But it's hard to ignore a small army of animated bones erupting out of the keep's inner sanctum where the resident Shifty Wizard lives. Trudy herself walks rather casually after her skeletal mob, letting the bones do the work while trying to just walk past it all.
Timespace Riders	"So, the mercenaries are this far back, huh..." Sougo reaches behind his back and procures a belt with a bulky white centerpiece. It fastens on its own when pressed against his waist, announcing itself as the TIMESPACE DRIVER. From his pockets, he retrieves one futuristic stopwatch for each hand. Each one announces itself--ZI-O and DECADE! Pressing the stops on each watch, he slots them into ports on either side of the belt, which briefly flashes two different years on its red LCD display: AU30, one year ago (for the Zi-O watch) and AU16 for the Decade watch. Legs spaced apart, Sougo's hands form a circle like the motion of a clock's hands in reverse, before mashing the stop on his belt and spinning it. "Henshin!" A dizzying sensation follows, as a dozen different phenomena we clumsily call by the collective name 'time' all adjust as if making space for Sougo. There is heard, then, the chime of a clock, as silver clock faces from various eras appear behind him, and pink gears encircle his body to flash-forge armor upon it. RIDER TIME! o/` Kameeeen Rider!! o/` - ZI-O. . . ARMOR TIME! Kamen Ride. WOW!! o/` Decade, Decade! De-ke-i-dooo! His armor is pink, white and black, square and compact with a barcode motif on the breastplate, pauldrons and faceplate. He leaps into the fray to put his superhuman traits at issue, attempting to use simple but effective punches and kicks to wear the mercenaries out, while withstanding the worst of their weapons. "I don't think it's just because of that," says Zi-O, to Raziel. As a clarification for M.O.M., he continues, "Nosgoth never 'needed' those pillars to begin with. It was a certain 'god' who put them up, to protect his source of food from people who refused to venerate him. Who he knew would have tried to stop him, once they figured out what he was doing. They're less like an engine, and more like a fence or a wall. This god--he's called the Hub, and I've seen a little of his history, too." Sal can assume, in other words, that Sougo is a time traveler. His 'intel' is witnessing events first-hand, it seems. "He doesn't experience linear causality like we do, but essentially, when someone dies, it looks like the soul stays with him, instead of being put back into the cycle. And I think... I think he's less concerned about saving Nosgoth for altruistic reasons, and more concerned that he'd have to find someplace else and do all of this work again." When the mercenaries have been handled, the rider gives Satori a thumbs-up. "I'm working on it," he says softly. "And I really appreciate the advice."
Raziel	The Mercenary forces were an efficient army, but because of teamwork, numbers, and Moebius's staff. In fewer numbers, and without their benefactor, they are far less efficient. More come from the chapel behind them, but much like the guards outside, these ones are not much better than before. Between modern weaponry, advanced Damaku, legions of skeleton warriors, and the power of Zi-O they all fall. Thankfully, hurt but not dead. They'll likely need time to recover, but they'll only remember what happened with some hurt pride rather than going to feed the wheel of fate. Raziel speaks for both Sougo and Yesod as they go. "Yes," agreeing with Yesod's insight into Kain's decision to betray him. "I served him faithfully for a millennium." When Sougo reveals a bit of what he witnessed, he frowns. While true that the Pillars were definitely not created by human hands...why did the old one create them then? Why would he lock out potential meals, if the other part of what Sougo says is true? Well...no he knows it's true. Something about that tells him everything he needs to know. Raziel, however, distracted in his thinking seems to automatically walk into the sanctuary itself. When he enters there is a strange sensation. Displacement and vertigo are felt across the group...and Raziel himself seems drawn to something in it. In fact, he seems to be drawn towards the farthest part of the sanctuary, towards the farthest chapel. 'As I neared the stronghold's inner sanctum, a strange sensation crept over me. An indescribable feeling of displacement, a sense of vertigo. As reality itself appeared to warp and bend around me.' As he approaches, the depictions of a younger Kain, fighting a younger Wilheilm appear. Each one is armed with a version of the Soul Reaver. It...appears this is where Wilheilm the Just was laid, martyred by Kain, lead here by Moebius's tricks. The source of the displacement was the broken reaver laid across his sarcophagus. Raziel, almost mesmerized seemed to approach it, his hand running up the broken blade...and the sense of warping and vertigo increased. Raziel's hand, the one with his own spectral version of the reaver grips the hilt. Energy is drained out of the Wraith, as he slumps over. His form seems to fade in and out... But right as it looked like Raziel was about to fade completely, it stops, and the blade...the physical blade, is restored. More than that, both versions of the reaver seem to be VERY aroused right now, the spectral energy manifesting both on Raziel's arm and on the blade itself. The sense of vertigo and displacement isn't stopped, however. Behind the group, Moebius appears, apparently drawn to the disturbance. It was ravenous, hungry, and deranged from years of imprisonment. "What have you done to me, Moebius!? Is this your trap!?" "How Mine? You forget it was Kain that lead you here, not I. While you curse me, the only soul in Nosgoth willing to aid and assist you, Kain revels in our folly and revels in your dismay!" "These blades, now coiled in sinister embrace have inspired fear in being far more durable than you old man. Bound together as they are now, I could only imagine what they could do to your soul bound as they are now.." he says, as Moebius looks /absolutely terrified/ at the threat of Raziel.
Angela	EGO weapons are so modern you can't get them anywhere else in the city. Actually there's a reason for that beyond modernity but for any outsider it looks just like weird looking weapons. Notably, the Agents seem to be pretty skilled at using them--even the fan--though they're hardly masters they can make do. "Hell that kind of looks like Ego Armor." Sal says in surprise at seeing it. But she's considering the Trio's 'Volcano' suggestion strongly. That feels like something that oughta work. M.O.M listens to Sougo. Despite the proper nouns and everything, they don't get entirely crosseyed listening to it. Yesod is probably writing this all down at least so they don't have to keep track of everything Sougo says just this second though while also fighting mercenaries. "So the Abnormality didn't do what everyone thought it did. But Kain didn't know the truth so he's still kind of a dick." M.O.M summarizes. "But he also killed Raziel here so he deserves a bit of vengeance if he wants it right? Not always the smartest idea but you can only live the way you want Ha Ha Ha!" "I wonder what a god tastes like." Chewie adds. "If we could examine the pillars properly I'm sure we'd learn a whole lot." Sal follows after Raziel and whistles as Raziel seems to ... "Hey! You okay?" Sal looks to Moebius after and squints at him. She swings her weapon against her shoulder and says, "Seein' some fear in your eyes there. You say you want to help him? Then how about you cut the crap and help him or he'll test that shit out on you and we'll figure it out on our own. Can start by telling us your deal and how to catch back up with Kain so we can have some dialogue with the fucker.")]
Timespace Riders	"It's..." the armored rider pauses uncomfortably, stopping in his tracks after crossing the threshold into the sanctuary. His helmet slowly sweeps left, then right, before he steps out of the way for the others. "It's brittle, here. Something is near us," he explains. "I don't mean in space, but within our perception of the passage of time." A gloved hand reaches up to cradle the side of his helmet, as he searches for the right words to explain a sense few people have. "Um... depending on the decisions that get made here, there could be drastically different timelines. I think it's--" the sword. It has to be. This sanctuary is a memorial for Wilhelm the Just, who met his end at Kain's hands. So history says, anyway. The more complicated truth, as Sougo had seen himself, was that Moebius had tricked an unprepared Kain into fighting him for a better future--which, unbeknownst to Kain, was the one where a martyred Wilhelm was the spark to ignite a war against the vampires. "Wait, Raziel!" his hand is outstretched, and he rushes over to try and stop the vampire from grabbing it, too late. He tries in vain, growing steadily more panicked, to pry the swords from Raziel's hand, until, with a heaving sigh of relief, it seems they won't take his life. He wheels around at the sound of Moebius' voice. "I really wish I believed you," says Zi-O to Moebius. "But Sal is right. Every person you've 'helped' was just a stepping stone for something you'd never trust them to know. I can't forgive you on behalf of those people. So if you really do want to help, then tell us what you really want. If it was to save Nosgoth, then you'd be sending us after the Hub, before he got so big that he was everywhere. As much as you want to blame everything on Kain, you and I both know the pillars are younger than Nosgoth, and we both know what they really do."
Trudy Grimm	Trudy leaves a handful of skeletons behind to guard against reinforcements, though they're ordered as before not to kill anyone. This results in a gaggle of banged up boney boys roaming the corridors, brutalizing anyone they find conscious until the animated dead are finally destroyed. Trudy herself follows, though when that sinking feeling hits near the mausoleum, she jolts to a halt with a complex expression on her face. Proceeding, she grows more and more uncomfortable. She finds herself clutching the Grimoire in a white-knuckle grip, staring down into the crypt, eyes crossing the carvings to rest on the central sarcophagus. Raziel reaches for it, she shouts, "Don't touch it--!" All too late. The swords interact. Reforge. Energize. Trudy's expression becomes a tense frown and she thrusts a hand downward. Her shadow expands and, from within it, emerges a hulking warrior in black plate armor; riddled with cracks and dents and growths of green crystal. The Black Knight raises his greatsword, resting it over his shoulder. It's about here that Moebius reappears. Trudy swings her gaze his way. In the same instant, with the faint groan of metal rubbing on metal, the Knight's helm turns towards the Timestreamer as well. She gestures with one finger, "Seize him." While summoned in case something was going on with Raziel, the Black Knight turns fully towards Moebius and reaches for the wizard with one big, meaty, metal-covered hand.
Hellwarming Trio	"Gh...! R-really? Oh geez, I think it's turning already!" Rin's face pales a bit at Trudy's revelation, and she checks it out several times before showing it to Satori. Satori just sighs lightly and gives it a look before shaking her head and rubbing Rin's scalp lightly to calm her down. She gives the Rider an affirming nod, too, still smiling a bit despite trying to look a little more indifferent. "Anytime, future king." After the mercenaries are pushed aside, the trio continues onward with their companions. Utsuho and Rin still flit about somewhat aimlessly, although they do actually pause to listen to the information Zi-O reveals about Nosgoth and the Hub. "Then... What if we go back?" "Into that time zone we just left?" "No, I mean before all this stuff happened. You know, to fix whatever the Hub did before Kain went all nuts and broke things in Nosgoth." "Do time zones work like that?" "Perhaps if you travel fast enough." Heading into the sanctuary, the trio watches the visions of the battle between Kain and Wilhelm, and then spot that broken reaver. It's not until Raziel looks like he's being drained that they pick up the pace in case he needs to get pulled out of there, but the immediate danger seems to fade as he and the blade seem more... There? Although they're not sure what to make of it, they do seem to assume that nothing terrible is happening. The same can't be said for Moebius, though, as they step aside to leave a clear shouting path between the two. While Moebius and Raziel exchange words, though, Satori just signals her pets with vague head gestures, and the three nonchalantly circle back around to the entrance right about when Raziel starts issuing threats to Moebius. None of them seem willing to get between the two, but all of them happen to be in the way of Moebius' escape. "Might wanna take Sal's advice there, bro. No tellin' what Raziel's sword could do to someone all time-jumpy like you, right?" "Or not. We're not your parents." "Or are we?" "... No."
Raziel	Moebius is seized by the undead, his escapes are cut off, and he's faced to look down Raziel who seems to have had more than enough of his games, and Raziel and the group have been in Nosgoth's past for barely an hour. Moebius continues to plead for his life, "Raziel I beg you to stay your hand. This was none of my doing! I've only tried to aid you in your righteous quest!" "Why you're trembling Moebius. Has your confidence abandoned you? You seemed to have made a fatal error in leaving your precious staff behind," Raziel draws the sword up. "Is that where all your courage comes from..?" Moebius continues to beg, "Listen to me. You don't know what you're doing. I have taken an enormous risk by being here before you so unprotected, yet eager to prove my good intentions! If there is anything left of the Sarafan within you, you won't do this..! While you threaten me, your true enemy eludes you.." Though he seizes on something Sougo has said, "Y-yes. the Pillars. They were raised by the ancients. They serve as some sort of lock that keeps the ancient's foe at bay but also is connected to the lifeblood of Nosgoth itself." Moebius, continues to speak, "The Wheel of Fate is who I serve, yes. He does feed on the death of this world, but he does also spin life into it! He's a benevolent god...he raised Raziel back from death, did he not? He's trying to restore Nosgoth by killing Kain is he not? If you strike me down, you're striking down god's own attendant...and I don't think you'd risk that?" he says as if almost regaining some confidence. "I acted against the Vampires like you did against Kain. They killed my fellow members of the circle, their folly has put Nosgoth in great peril...and all the time I am still trying to prevent those creatures who are locked out of Nosgoth from corrupting the rest of the circle in the future. If you kill me here, /nobody/ will be able to stop it...the madness the circle descends into will be far worse!"
Trudy Grimm	The Black Knight, having seized Moebius, looks towards his mistress. She cants her head thoughtfully, though whether it's for show or if she's seriously considering the Timestreamer's latest round of words isn't entirely clear. The Knight takes this as a cue to hold the wizard out for Raziel to have easier access to him. His other hand, clutching the greatsword, unseats the weapon from across his shoulders, spins it around, and drives it into the stonework at his feet. This frees up the Knight's other hand, so that he can snap it up at the ready to punch the wizard he's holding. The Black Knight does not, in fact, punch Moebius. He might just want to see the wizard squirm. He lowers his fist after a second, his shoulders shaking as if he were laughing-- but only a raspy hiss comes out. "Given the shortage of souls in the time we came from," Trudy offers, "It doesn't seem as if your god is doing a particularly good job 'spinning life', hm?" Leaning forward a bit, the witch adds, "You wouldn't see that, since it's from after your death. You told me yourself that's a limitation of yours." Her gaze shifts from Moebius to Raziel, "--Are you alright, though? I can't tell what happened, there." Her gaze shifts back to the wizard, "Other than 'what this guy wanted', I suppose..."
Hellwarming Trio	BEFORE 'I wonder what a god tastes like.' <J-IC-Scene> Hellwarming Trio \| Utsuho says to Chewie, "Hot. Like... You're trying to eat pure sunlight." <J-IC-Scene> Chewie says, "Sounds spicy. You eat pure sunlight before?" <J-IC-Scene> Chewie considers, "I wonder what goes well with pure sunlight...Maybe some iced tea so you don't burn your tongue." <J-IC-Scene> Hellwarming Trio \| Utsuho says, "Yeah! I ate Lord Yatagarasu a while back." NOW 'If you strike me down, you're striking down god's own attendant...and I don't think you'd risk that?' "I ate a god once before and I got all this power, so..." Utsuho trails off and shrugs indifferently, then turns to Raziel. "Hey, does this mean whoever eats this guy'll get freaky time powers?" "Hey, yeah... I got dibs if Raziel doesn't want any!" Rin flashes Raziel a toothy grin, then turns it towards Moebius with a fair bit more menacing in her expression. Satori, not looking all too willing to stop her pets from adding to the visible torment, just starts probing at Moebius' mind while he pleads for safety from Raziel's wrath. She can't believe what he says normally, but she might be able to believe what he's thinking if it actually lines up. "This is getting us nowhere... Moebius, just tell us already. Why did you really come in here now? And what just happened to Raziel with that blade? It looks..." She pauses to look over at Raziel again. "It looks stronger now, but what about him? And be frank." There's a pause, and then Satori lowers her voice considerably. "I could use those kinds of powers myself, come to think of it."
Timespace Riders	"He is not!" Zi-O throws a hand out to the side in anger, stepping forward and pointing a finger at Moebius, as the Black Knight threatens him. "Those 'enemies' were a civilization, who lived here, on Nosgoth," he angrily asserts, again pointing in condemnation. "Their great sin was refusing to worship him, so he sent his 'chosen people' to fight them. And they won--but not as cleanly as the Hub wanted. Those 'adversaries' made the Hub's chosen people into the vampires. And then he threw them away. Moebius... what's benevolent about abandoning someone because you can't bear knowing that you're responsible for what happened to them? He does it to you, too--you saw your own death." >It doesn't seem as if your god is doing a particularly good job 'spinning life', hm? Zi-O's head is turned to look at Trudy, as she makes her observation. Having calmed down somewhat, "He made the Pillars to cover for his own actions, and to make everyone dependent on him. Including you, Moebius, whether you want to believe it or not. It wasn't out of goodwill..." "And the fact that the Circle exists at all should be all the more proof. Why are you spending so much of yourself to stop us, when you've been hurt just as much as anyone else has? Stop acting like the only options are bad or worse!"
Angela	Sal feels a little more confident even as out of depth as she is for someone's first outing into the multiverse. She might not know what's going on precisely, but even if she's from the Nest she knows when someone's trying to get one over you even while they're at a disadvantage. She frowns as Moebius keeps at it though and crosses er arms, getting real impatient. The other two are already well past their patience limit and are largely not trying to club Moebius upside the head because Raziel already has him and he's the Client. "Ha ha ha he's desperate, now's the time to be unreasonable!" M.O.M suggests to Raziel. Meanwhile Yesod looks at something offscreen and says, "Mm. So that's his story... We've gotten what we can out of him. Continue assisting Raziel." Chewie approaches the two of them as well. He aims to take Moebius's arm and take a long look at it. He sniffs. "Not good meat." Chewie says to Raziel. "It'll be stringy, but I'm not gonna judge if you want to take a bite outta 'im--but if you give me some tools I can make a plate you wouldn't forget."
Raziel	"The blade is repaired...and there is some strengthening that has happened to the Reaver attached to me. That's not important right now.." the vertigo is reaching a crescendo. Whatever is going to happen will happen in the next few seconds. Moebius looks positively terrified, but... Despite everything, he has not said one single lie. He is a snake, he is very deceitful...but right now nothing he is saying is a deliberate deception. He feels strongly this way about the ancient race, he feels strongly this way about the Wheel of Fate. Even when Sougo goes into him, he remains terrified...but eventually, Raziel shakes his head. "I tire of you, Moebius," he says and discards the Soul Reaver to the side and walks past him. "Now that I know you fear me, there isn't any need to kill you. Stay here, old man, and forget about me." He steps outside of the chapel and into the main sanctuary. "This way is blocked, so we have to retrace our steps to the other exit, I think..." As he says this, Raziel attempts to draw the Reaver. When he does this time, instead of a whispy-wraith blade that looks somewhat like a sword... It looks just like the physical blade but is made spectrally. "It seems the barrier between us has lessoned...and I can feel the blade more keenly. It's not just a sword, but another presence. It's a sentient entity...and I believe it wants control."
Trudy Grimm	Raziel discards the Reaver. His opinion of Moebius is made extremely clear. Trudy gestures to the Black Knight, then turns to follow the Reaver, "So the Soul Reaver might have its own soul? How very curious. I wonder if it's a product of the weapon's creation or perhaps its purpose... Accumulating remnants to build something patchwork, and such." Behind her, the Black Knight swings his head back to the wizard in his grasp. His gauntlet-clad fist snaps up again. This time he actually does punch Moebius. Just once, right in the midsection. A carefully calibrated blow to knock the wind out of most people his size. The Knight then just-- drops him, retrieves his sword, and stomps off after his mistress. His shoulders continue to shake with raspy, hissing laughter. What a bully, but one can probably expect that from the Black Knight. "You'd best be cautious with your weapon," Trudy advises, "I don't know how safe you are when it's attached to you like this. Perhaps some form of appeasement. I'm sure miss Tamamo knows some ways to please the spirits that live inside tools and weapons."
Hellwarming Trio	"... Hm. That's unexpected." Satori murmurs as she gets the read on Moebius and finds that he's being surprisingly upfront. Before Utsuho and Rin can take their 'totally pretending to want to eat him' gimmick too far, she tugs on both of their ears to follow along with Raziel. "We're done here, girls. Leave him be." That's enough to get Utsuho and Rin off Moebius' case, too, although the latter still gives him a vaguely threatening look after the Black Knight's gut punch as if trying to strike the fear of god (eating) into him. Catching up with everyone else afterwards, RIn circles around Raziel and Trudy a few times before looking up at the Black Knight again. "A weapon with a soul, eh? Wonder if they can talk." Without further thought, the kasha slips over to where Raziel's holding the weapon, leaning in close to get a good look at its new form and also to cup her hands near her mouth. "Hey! You in there! Can you hear us?" "Maybe they're shy. Or... Like a newborn or something?" Utsuho suggests with a light shrug. "I mean, that sword was really different looking before, right? Maybe it's like a baby bird that Raziel has to start feeding now."
Timespace Riders	Zi-O's flat-faced helmet is fixed on Moebius for a long, awkward moment after Raziel washes his hands of him. Even for a moment after the Black Knight punches him. "...I'll make sure that Nosgoth is safe. But I'll also build a better future, whether you and the Hub like it or not. Goodbye, Moebius." He turns his back on the prophet, moving to join Raziel outside the chapel. "You mean... it has wants, and dreams? Raziel... look." An armored finger points at a stained glass window in the sanctuary, depicting the human martyr (in this timeline, anyway) Wilhelm. Locked in battle with Kain. Each one wields a Soul Reaver. "Trudy is right. In this timeline, Wilhelm died because of Kain. But the whole reason Kain fought him in the first place is because Wilhelm was a... he was a ruthless tyrant in that timeline." "And having a Soul Reaver, well... it's one thing that all three of you have in common, now." Zi-O's image flickers, again. He must have gone on another temporal jaunt, but why? "Just keep it in mind, okay? I don't want to lose you."
Angela	Chewie in a smooth motion draws out a kitchen knife and makes a quick strike with the blade, intending to carve out a thin slice of meat from Moebius. Despite saying that he wouldn't be good meat, now he's been thinking about it and you can take the Agent out of District 23 but you can't take the District 23 out of the agent. "But it'll still make good jerky." The idea that Moebius might not appreciate that doesn't seem to occur to him. He intends to follow after the others, obliviously. "It sounds a bit like an EGO weapon," Sal asides to Raziel. "Does it feel like it's trying to talk to you? Careful to not let it call too many of the shots." "Ha ha ha!" M.O.M says. "Looks like you've got some good friends, Raziel!" He seems to have made that determintion about Zi-O after a comment like that!
Raziel	"Mm.. not quite new. I would say that the weapon was only recently reawakened," Raziel says with a frown. "Whatever happened here, the will of the reaver was reawakened, as for what purpose.." he looks back at the very unconscious Moebius. It could be the old snake is telling the truth, and this could be the will of another. Perhaps it was Kain's will..? What is that man planning..? Raziel turns to give Sougo a smile, "Thank you, my friend. Though I am put more at ease with friends and allies such as yourselves beside me. I feel I haven't said this enough, especially with the quagmire of this world around us." Moebius does not shout or wake up when he's gotten a strip taken out of him, due to being punched out by a large black knight. The Soul Reaver does not respond to either of them, but instead seems to hum with life. It has a will but does not seem to be inclined to speak to anyone right now...or at all. A sense of hunger seems to well from it, but right now nothing other than that. Much later, after the part has moved on... Moebius, with a strip of flesh missing, and groggy from the punch comes to look at his surroundings. "You almost had me, my little assassins..." he says, standing up. "But that will be the one, and only chance you have..." he says with a chuckle and fades from view.