<ROUND 252>

---

Hannah, Adria, and Boshi do some things. Hannah asks if Chi’s willing to meet near the south-east tower, near the Sentinel Bay. She nods, totally unaware that Hannah’s fairly likely the type to stab someone in a back alley.

CHI: I suppose we could.
CHI: I’ll meet you there? Hersilia seems like she’s made a full recovery.

As Freja drags Hersilia's sleeping bag off to a safer location, Chi wanders down, out of the labs. Once she arrives, the chill of the wind seems to put her on edge. Her hands fiddle with her weapon, powerful shivers running through her arms on occasion. What could Hannah possibly want to discuss?

Elsewhere, Adria asks Taeda if she could get Chloe some refreshments. The priestess nods, and rummages around in the inventory for something appropriate. She pulls out a few bundles of Fresh Manabloom, not actually using anything from the inventory. A few blocks of wood also come out, which she swiftly morphs into a teapot and three cups. Setting them aside on the bench, she begins to brew a few warm cups of Manabloom Tea with an Aurora Crystal, watching Adria work while she waits.

Adria decides to try and find a proper spot to cultivate the flower. Taking the soil Chloe found, as well as 8 Luminous Crystals, 8 Sanctified Brick, 8 (0) Gold Ingots, 8 Silver Ingots, a Glass Sheet, 8 Silverwood Logs, a Shock Crystal, and 10 (0) Wire Scraps to create a high-tech planter for the Godblossom! Taeda gives it a quick look-over.

TAEDA: Ooh! This’ll do perfectly!
TAEDA: I-I mean, I’m not an apothecary, but this should be fine, right?
TAEDA: Anyway, come here! The tea’s done! I made some for you, too!

Chloe is sitting up once again, carefully sipping on the steaming cup of tea. Taeda joins Chloe on the pew, enjoying her tea gingerly. It’s a simple, almost plain tea… but quite good for one’s stamina, as well as their nerves. Taeda paps the space next to her gently, where one final cup of tea sits.

CHLOE: Y’know, I’m not much of a tea person… but this is nice.
TAEDA: Why, thank you! Glad to be of service!
TAEDA: Need anything else?
CHLOE: I’ll be fine, but thanks!

Then, the group feels the explosion coming from the house. Chloe nearly drops her teacup, while Taeda actually does. It clatters along the ground, as it’s only made of wood.

TAEDA: A-Ah! T-That wasn’t any of us, r-right?
CHLOE: I-I… don’t think any of us are a smoking crater, so no.
CHLOE: What was that?

Adria then asks if either of them are willing to go and check on the situation. Taeda nods her head.

TAEDA: I-I’m willing to go and check it out, but… maybe we should all go together?
TAEDA: I-It’s risky to leave the Chapel alone, but I think our defenses should keep the Iti out...
CHLOE: Y-Yeah! Just in case something happened, it’d be best if we all went together.
CHLOE: We can fight better as a team, right?

So, what to do? Leave the planter alone and go visit the house? Or maybe one of them should stay behind? And if so, who should stick back?

Finally, Boshi decides to duel a shark. Preparing a bait drone with a hunk of Gravcore Ore, a Shock Crystal, 1 (0) bundle of Silkweed, and a piece of Yggcrawler Meat, he sets it over the water. The “shark” lunges out of the water as expected, the Yggcrawler meat just barely hanging out of reach of the shark’s jaws. He gets a good look at it… and also manages to get a read on it for the inventory! A “Woodreaver”, it’s called.

It’s coated in thick plates of dark, bark-like scales, positioned to minimize air resistance and maximize speed. Looks as if the scales are thinner on the underside of the beast, though. It also has rows upon rows of razor-sharp teeth, tipped with a sort of metal. Perhaps these jaws are designed to pierce the tough bark of many a creature? It dives back into the water about as soon as it surfaced.

Now, how to catch a shark…?

---

Pionobot meets up with Maple! Time for a quick checkup- how is she? Maple, despite her fairly visible injuries, is more than capable of touching down near Pionobot, before giving him a happy grin.

MAPLE: Yeah, I'm alright!
MAPLE: A heroine is supposed to shrug off a few hits, y'know!
MAPLE: Plus, my armor comes with built-in nanomachine dispersal... something or the other!
MAPLE: It patches me up pretty quick, 'long as the damage isn't too serious.
MAPLE: You're holding up fine too, right?

He then questions something Maple said about the equipment here. It was apparently weirdly familiar. Maple nods, jetting over to a nearby pallet of supplies and giving it a closer look.

MAPLE: Oh, it's just that these pallets kiiiinda look like they're arranged in the same way as our supply drops.
MAPLE: It's a pretty distinctive stacking style. I think in human terms, it'd be like... a "jenga tower"? Of course, it's all wrapped in a nice lil' rebel themed cover, but there's no mistaking this, I'd think!
MAPLE: Most of our supply drops were things like metals, crystals, and electronics... and even in this stack alone, there's all three of those things.
MAPLE: Maybe we stole a lot of our supplies from this hangar? I have no idea how we'd be able to do it from under the nose of Cypress, Spark, or anyone else, for that matter.
MAPLE: Someone's gotta have noticed, right?

Maple jets over to the top of the "supply drop", sitting upon the top of it. She crosses her legs as they dangle from the side of the pallet.

MAPLE: Also, sitting on them feels the same.
MAPLE: Not that it means anything. I just kinda like high up places.
MAPLE: There's just something naturally heroic about them, y'know?

Elsewhere, Not!Echoss erupts from the ground, and swallows up a Pinati corpse. He then begins to messily dissect it with his patented "stomach dissection kit"! This is however, a very loud process! Loud enough to bait over the two Yggcrawlers in the area over to him. They promptly stomp on Not!Echoss, forcing him to abandon the surgery and spit the Pinati back up. Surely there's a somewhat quieter way to do this? Still, he was able to at least grab 100 Credits from the Pinati in the meantime. It's a start, right?

The Sleuth is then politely asked to go and scan Cappa and the Mitocysts. He nods, returning with a subscription to Thymium Prime, and a picture of the Player Cap in the corner of the screen. Nobody is quite sure how he managed to get a photo of that. He also notes that... scan results against the Mitocyst were oddly muddled.

THE SLEUTH: The Sleuth chews on his bubble pipe, considering what he's learned.
THE SLEUTH: According to the dame Omorika, the data was like "part of a whole".
THE SLEUTH: More information would be required. Or so he believes, anyway.
THE SLEUTH: He decides to sum this up in a prompt fashion. "Weird puzzle gorilla."

He refunds 50 of the credits, as the job wasn't very well done. Still, it looks like you got SOMETHING on the Mitocyst. Seems there's another associated entity? Also, Pionobot +1's their STR. Nice.

---

Generic does a quick stat shuffle. yeehaw

---

Venia bows down to Regalus. Nia, who happens to still be in the area, shrugs before also bowing down towards Regalus. Sensing Venia's tension, she refuses to speak a peep until Regalus decides to walk back to reception. Nia pops back up from her position once he's out of view.

NIA: So, uh... is that the crazy emperor dude you talked about before?
NIA: Why is he here? And why does he want Maria back?
NIA: And... are you alright?

Regardless of Venia's response, Nia gravitates over to her and gives her a tight hug. Space not-father from space. Never did she think meeting her girlfriend's "father" would be such a tense situation. In what's probably a less stressful universe, Venia and Nidra decide to take down a serial killer.



Oh, also! Something I forgot to do. Venia hands off a Volcanic Regalia to Cypress. He takes it about as carefully as one possibly can. He barely needs to examine it.

CYPRESS: Crystal: suitable. Also incredibly dangerous.
CYPRESS: Possibly too dangerous. Still, is appreciated. Thank you.

He also takes a Crafting Charge from the Arsonist's Lashes, and then hands off the items to R-8733. The fireworks technician begins to fiddle with the items in a very blatantly unsafe fashion, trying to figure out how they might make use of such artifacts.

---

The Reflector rolls perception! According to a roll I got in Dice Hell, you got a 9. Since there's no WIS stat, I'll just use your sky-high RES score in its place. With a modifier of +10 from RES, you can declare with absolute certainty that there's actually no other threats in this room. No alarms or traps of the sort, at least. They then head over to the terminal, triggering a nuclear detonation and try out the password of "vedfolnir". The password isn't accepted.

And... it says "9 ATTEMPTS REMAINING". The Teleporter behind them flares ominously. You'll probably need to beat the password out of someone. Also, isn't Vedfolnir just the name of a creation? What IS the final member of the Zabuton named, anyway?

---

Crya continues to chat with Taeda. But why not do it over a cup of tea? Taeda nods, and with an Aurora Crystal and an improvised wooden teapot, she throws a few Halobloom Petals into a bag and begins to brew some tea.

TAEDA: In the Church of Helix, Halobloom Tea is typically reserved for the highest officials.
TAEDA: As a goddess, I feel that it's fair that you get to try some! It really is something else!
TAEDA: One might describe it as "heavenly"... but then again, that definition is probably different for you. Enjoy!

Taeda meanwhile, treats herself to a cup of Manabloom Tea. Odd, but whatever. The two then discuss celebrations. Do they have any big parties of the sort? Crya describes one of these festivals to Taeda.

TAEDA: That sounds lovely!
TAEDA: Having the whole community come together for a few days of sporting and feasting... that'd be fun!
TAEDA: Unfortunately, the Church of Helix is fairly reserved as far as a church goes.
TAEDA: We do hold ceremonies from time to time, but they're private affairs in which we offer tributes to Lord Helix...

TAEDA: There are a few festivals that most normal people celebrate, though!
TAEDA: Once a year, the Royal Gardens open up the land around the Scale Model of Yggdrasil to hold a grand festival to celebrate the start of the growing season!
TAEDA: All around Yggdrasil, there are shops and stalls, and plenty of beautiful displays of nature!
TAEDA: Flower arrangements, trimmed hedge statues, travelling sages... it's really beautiful!
TAEDA: Although...

Taeda sighs. She solemnly stares into her cup of tea, her somber face reflecting off of its steaming surface.

TAEDA: I-I've... never been to a festival.
TAEDA: I've lived in the Church all my life, and it'd be improper for me to go and visit a festival, or attend a party...
TAEDA: There was one Devout who snuck out to attend a festival, and that's how I even know what it's like.
TAEDA: They put her on cleaning duty for a few weeks when they found out. Which is typically part of what we already do, but she needed to work overtime. It was rough.

TAEDA: I'd love to attend a festival! It sounds fun.
TAEDA: Although... I doubt there'll be one for awhile, with the Sphere and all.
TAEDA: And of course, I doubt I'd be allowed to attend, anyway...

TAEDA: A-Ah, sorry! I don't mean to sour the mood.
TAEDA: Do you perhaps have an event in the festival that you excel at?
TAEDA: And... what's this "wrestling" thing?

While Taeda wonders what kind of a weird sport wrestling might be, Destiny decides to investigate the other side of the wreckage. It's... considerably more ruined than she'd like it to be. There's also large pools of Thyme Matter everywhere, which does little to alleviate any worries she may have. The Chemical Lab... also seems to have a wide variety of threats in it. She may wish to organize a raiding party before entering.

---

Auth continues to do a lot of things. Continuing his adventures in the Rose underground, Auth ponders if the Statue of Helix is a pot itself. Nana gives it a few moments to think it over, before nodding.

NANA: You're probably right!
NANA: A flower like a Godblossom requires a healthy plot of soil to grow, so the statue must be full of dirt or something!
NANA: Let's take the statue with us! H-Hopefully, Lord Helix w-won't be angry with us!

Pop! Auth takes the statue off with a bit of coaxing from the Inkscalibur. And by "coaxing", we mean "violent bashing". Godblossom obtained! Apparently, it's a Tier 8 material. Now, to take it home safely! Nana clings onto Auth's arm as they plan their escape from the Catacombs.

Elsewhere, Auth converses with Chi, calling Cypress incredibly irresponsible. Chi interjects.

CHI: W-Well, you try saying "no" to the deadliest woman on Sussui!
CHI: If Acacia wants something, she'll probably get it. To deny her is to put yourself at risk.
CHI: Especially with how she is now...

The ritual then comes up. Auth quickly explains the ritual to Chi. Her eyes light up when he mentions "Godblossom Extract".

CHI: G-Godblossom Extract? I-It really is prohibitively expensive!
CHI: Do you know how impossibly rare those flowers are? They're extinct in the wild, and it's said there are only a few specimens in captivity in the Citadel...
CHI: Even if that's the case, nobody would be allowed to touch them. They're incredibly coveted for their healing properties.
CHI: They can bring someone back from the brink of death... or even from beyond death.
CHI: ...Unless they've been incinerated, most likely. There are limits.

Auth then apologizes for arriving late. She shakes her head.

CHI: No need to apologize. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, right?
CHI: Besides, I appreciate that you're here now, rather than here never.
CHI: And even though you got here late, you seem to be doing a remarkable job.
CHI: Keep it up, alright?

Finally, Auth tries to calm down Atalus again. Getting incredibly anxious won't stop the end from coming, will it?

ATALUS: No. It won't. I know.
ATALUS: Just really, really don't screw this up, alright?

...Actually, looks like he's fine now. That's a relief. But now I can't do any more insane ramblings. ire is sad now

---

Remiel peeks down the Open Bay in the Shifting Storage! Sliding down some cables to get low enough, they take a look around. Seems like a bit of the island of which the Sky Labs rests on has been carved away to make room for a hangar. Various rooms and facilities jut out of the sloped stone faces of the island, though it seems a good deal of them have been abandoned. Below them, they see a small cargo vessel fly by, its defensive turrets ripping through a swarm of pursuing Harpies. He watches it fly around to the eastern side of the island, where it likely flies into another open bay of sorts. While he could perhaps grab the Airship and investigate... is it unknown if he actually has any business over there.

He then heads over to the east, seeing exactly what Destiny sees. A disaster waiting to happen. As they stare, they decide to invest some skillpoints. +2 SPC, -1 SKI. The universe wonders if Ire has some weird sort of OCD, always trying to arrange stats in the proper order. The answer is "well yes, but actually no".

---

Chara decides to go and find Chloe. Though she's confused about where to go, it seems that Chaos has left an array of conveniently -placed signposts that lead... to his shop, which in turn, has free maps that lead towards the portal down in the basement. Alright. Stepping through the portal, they find themselves on an airship in the middle of the sky. Or at least, they're in its very, very stuffy hold. Too many weapons systems have been jammed into this tiny space! Still, she's able to squeak her way out, popping out on the deck of the airship. The Sky Labs are just a jump away. Perhaps it's time to investigate?

---

Irongutta meets with Cypress and R-8733. Time to make a bomb? R-8733 presents the materials he's been given to Irongutta.

R-8733: Hey, boss! We have two really powerful tools at our disposal!
R-8733: We have this here Volcanic Regalia, which... needless to say, is one of the most dangerous things on Sussui for a Chairian!
R-8733: And, we have the oil from the "Arsonist's Lashes", which is apparently quite the powerful incendiary!

R-8733: Cypress and I could try and work out a way of spreading the oil out after the blast to ensure that the wooden barrier can't regenerate.
R-8733: Could you figure something out with the Regalia itself? I... don't want to touch that thing.
CYPRESS: Neither do I. Please handle it. Much appreciated.
CYPRESS: Can combine. Oil device. Explosive device. Create destructive incendiary.
CYPRESS: Also, greetings. Pleasure: meeting you.

The two Chairians begin working on what appears to be a bomb casing of sorts. It looks sort of like the classic "cartoon bomb", round in shape. Perhaps R-8733 just likes the classics? Also, Irongutta +1's his AGI. Just in case something goes wrong, dodging the resultant explosion might be nice.

---

<GENERATOR WAY, ROUND 5>
The way through Generator Way has been cleared out! Great work! With no barrier (and no sea of rebels) lying between the trio of Chairians and yourselves, the group steps forward. Willow randomly pulls herself into a hug with Ette, who's the slightest bit flustered. How does she tell the wood person she's not actually cuddly, and that her skin is actually quite rough? Clausa meanwhile, remains a fair distance behind Salix.

SALIX: Greetings, Spherebreakers. I trust you've been well?
SALIX: I'm not surprised to find you here. The last glyph is here, is it not?
WILLOW: We're glad you got here when you did, though!
WILLOW: Otherwise, we would've had to fight a bunch of Rebels, and maybe also that snake thingy!
SALIX: Their name is Electrophorus. Not "snake thing".
WILLOW: But that name's so long!
WILLOW: I can't be bothered to remember that!
SALIX: It's a combination of two words. A portmanteau. It's not that hard.
SALIX: But, we're getting off-track-

Clausa pipes in from the back, as he turns to head back down the hallway.

CLAUSA: Thank you guys very much for saving us but we need to report back to the team who's in the Aviation Testing Chamber before they get mad at us
CLAUSA: okay bye
SALIX: No. You're staying here. At least be sociable.
CLAUSA: okay

He returns to his previous position. Meanwhile, Salix gives Nimbus, his Spiralfloof, a few loving headpats and headrubs as he goes on about the situation.

SALIX: So... there's a detachment of Chairian troops taking shelter in the Aviation Testing Chamber.
SALIX: They've been assigned to watch over the Sky Labs. I believe they're under Chairheir Spark's direct control.
SALIX: We were assigned to help them out. Seeing as we've... "killed" multiple Eliti.
CLAUSA: Honestly, I'm amazed they haven't found out yet.
SALIX: They're discussing plans to kill "a big threat". Electrophorus, we believe?

SALIX: Oh, also. They also assigned us to go and fetch Cypress.
SALIX: Do you perhaps know where he is? It'd save us a lot of trouble.
WILLOW: They have a super-secret plan to eliminate the threat, and they need his input!
WILLOW: We were going to grab him, but then... rebels. Y'know?
WILLOW: In response, we were given a keycard, and told to set up the barrier while they called in reinforcements.
WILLOW: I don't think they're here yet though, so thank goodness you guys arrived!

SALIX: Anyway, perhaps we should get going.
SALIX: If they discovered we were talking with you, and of our relationship... they might imprison us, or worse.
CLAUSA: If they end up questioning why we were with you, our cover story is that you took us prisoner!
CLAUSA: Also part of the cover story is that you were going to cut us up and eat us.
WILLOW: That's actually true, by the way!
WILLOW: The cover story, I mean. Not that you were going to eat us.
WILLOW: Wonder what we taste like...?
CLAUSA: please don't

Salix silences his two companions with a loud "AHEM". He gestures to Clausa, who throws something to him. He catches it out of midair.

SALIX: As per usual, though... is there anything we could do for you?
SALIX: For instance... I'm sure we could try and find a way to explain how this keycard went missing.
SALIX: Consider it thanks for dealing with the Rebels.

Salix holds a Level 3 Access Card between his middle and index fingers. He holds it out towards the party. Shall you take it? Or perhaps there's another way to go about this? Nonetheless, it's good to see them again, isn't it? Maybe you could ask them a few things, too.

<CABLE CAR CRASHSITE, ROUND 3>
Not too much left to say. Break down the wall, and make your escape! Most of the opposition is pretty "locked down" at the moment, but lingering around for much longer might mean getting overwhelmed by the Wooden Yggcrawlers. May as well just try and escape ASAP, right?

Horrid. Absolutely vile what is coming out of this room. I guess we will have to deal with it, then...
Despite her disgust, Destiny decides to venture into the Chemical Lab.

-------------------

Crya takes a sip of the Halobloom Tea. She takes a moment to experience the taste and feeling of the tea.
This is… simply delightful! It really is something else, as you said. It’s not the exact same signature, but it’s as if I can feel divinity coming out of this very cup.
...Maybe after this is all over, I can pick up a few seeds and I can grow some Halobloom in Idyll’s Gardens. I’m sure some others from the Pantheon would love this tea.

She takes another sip while listening to Taeda talk about festivals. She thinks about something to say but then Taeda continues. She thinks about it more.

Well that is… unfortunate to say the least. I’m not sure what to do there. Maybe someday things will change. But that harvest festival sounds quite interesting! I’m sure Sancrye would be interested in all that. Lately she’s been sending out some of her Couriers to find plants from other realms. Scalta would also be interested to record foreign flora to for her Infinite Library. Maybe they could come over some time.
For events I excel at… hmm… well there’s this sort of “light show” contest where magicians from all over come to perform and put on beautiful displays of magic. Though, me and Arduous tend to be the opening act so I’m not sure that really counts. There’s this little game where there are miniature fishing rods. You have to use them to fish out small replica fish from a fountain of sorts. You play against three other people and the first person to catch 10 fish wins!
As for wrestling… well it’s mostly a men’s sport so I'm not sure I can really explain it in depth. Destiny is surely more knowledgeable than me, she’s more into it than me. But basically, there’s a small circular area of sorts, and two people go into that ring with no weapons or armor. Then, they go at it, they fight each other using throws and holds of some sort until you either fall to the ground or you concede defeat. There’s three rounds of that, and the first person to win twice wins. Of course, there are several rules to prevent people from getting seriously hurt in the middle of a match, such as no punching, kicking, eye gouging or anything of that sort, and healers tend to the combatants after it is all over. It’s mostly a show of skill in hand to hand fighting as well as pure strength.
Maybe after this is all over... I could bring over a few priests, then bring you over to Ircolces and call it a cultural exchange? It’s a bit of a stretch but I’m sure you’d love it!

Not!Echoss makes disgruntled noises at his gremlin antics being interrupted by the Yggcrawlers and phases up through the ground behind one of them, before setting the Yggcrawler's personal gravity direction to "45 degrees upwards due South". The Yggcrawler disappears into the clouds, before splattering on a specially made tarp at its landing site, which Not!Echoss wraps up and throws in the inventory, acquiring the Yggcrawler drops.


Pionobot:
"Heroine or not, we still ought to look after each other, right?
But yeah, I'm okay. Whatever's going on with my internals, it comes with self-repair modules. Probably.
I don't actually know how I work, even though there's blueprint files in my head, I can't actually read them.
Still, no purple smoke means I'm fine."

Pionobot would furrow his brow at Maple's remarks.
Really? That IS odd.
Also, if they were being stolen, wouldn't they be arranged differently?
Sending acquired goods directly to the frontline without proper sorting and allocation is inefficient.
While my understanding of Rebel tactics is subpar, such a poorly thought out acquisition plan is foolish enough to merit immediate dismissal."
Pionobot blinks for a few seconds, as if he's not quite sure what he just said.
"...but yeah. If they're stacked up that way now... Doesn't that mean that someone here is sending them directly?"

Niaaaaaa (and Cypress and R-8733 and Irongutta, they're also nearby)

"Yes," Venia says, accepting the hug without resistance. "It's him."

She takes a while to start talking again. "... I think... He's retrieving Maria. Before I get any fancy ideas to run off. Before the Sphere has a chance to blow... Makes sense..."

She rises, eventually. "... I'm not really alright. I'm not sure I'll ever be "all right," but..."

Venia turns to Nia. "You could tell, right? In his eyes. Or that smile-he never stops smiling, no matter what he feels. He's dangeorus. I don't know what he's got exactly. I just, I know his dad was... Quite honestly an indisputably godawful piece of shit."

"... Just don't forget 'Your Majesty,' he's literally killed someone over that. Worse than, actually. I'd. I'd rather not talk about that. Only real family members can call him anything else."

Venia embraces Nia a bit more. "... Thank you. Just... Thank you."

A short time later, Venia's peaceful hug is interrupted by the usual chatter of Spherebreakers discovery, more specifically the news of the Chairfriends. "Ah, Cypress... Uh, the Chairian taskforce to the west needs you, a certain force has come to pick you up to help deal with a 'threat' that has been dealt with in vague terms," Venia says, rustling around the inventory. "Now, ah... Look, long story short I don't think it's Electrophorus, and everything else we could think of one way or another would mean fighting that taskforce, and they work directly under Spark, so... "

Venia hands Cypress a book he may find familiar-the spellbook for Spawn Point. "Just hide this on your person and if anything happens you can just funnel in a bit of mana, and we'll be able to arrive fast and nearby to defend you-and anyone and anything else. I understand you're not big on magic, but this should be easy-to-cast and we won't be too far away just in case. This may not look like it'll go hot, but... Let's call it intuition. It's like the Sphere arranges for everything with a significant shot at killing us into doing just that, and making them tougher than they should be while it's at it. Hopefully this'll all end well, though, but you know what they say... Hope for the best, prepare for the worst."

---

Yewscape

Venia smirks as the false image of Acrea rolls off her like wet paint as she gets up. She drops her facade of being made of flesh, as well-perhaps Yew might think that Venia can't be harmed by her poison if she's completely made of water? Certainly, having no vital organs would, theoretically, be a powerful defense against toxin.

"Melt me into a puddle, say? Dissolve me? Waaaay ahead of you," Venia says, clearing the doorway, weapon ready again-loading out the ice crystal for a water crystal. "I don't even know why you're trying to resist us so badly-the one reason that pops to mind is so weak. You can't be that addicted. But, so be it," she says, standing between Yew and Nidra. "Come on!"

Venia points the calm mind cannon at Yew-of course, Yew's probably had enough of Venia's talk and can't wait to fire. Venia only dares fire when she's sure Yew's just about to-an attempt to intercept Yew's own shot and blow it back at her unconscious body, hopefully obliterating it between that and the extreme water pressure.

---

Cable Car Crashsite

"Hannah, out of the way!"

Venia waits for Hannah to move, then she uses the Hat ping on the Ancient Yggcrawler, scoring a stack of Heart. She then spends 5 Heart on Ordo, and uses a stack to ping down the 1st Wooden Yggcrawler because she can, before moving to J16 and using Salvation: Resolution downwards, letting forth a blistering explosion of Pulchritude into the barrier. This will hopefully resolve the map. If she has any Leftover Heart, she immediately burns it on gaining SP. This will hopefully allow Hannah to flee the map, satisfying the final condition.

---

Mariaaaaaaaaaa

Regalus returns to the lobby area with Maria, and Maria returns to Maple, where she immediately started drawing 'frilly bits' around hearts to continue their last conversation like nothing happened. Regalus turns to Omorika. "Apologies for just walking off. I am aware of Venia's tendency to charge into suicidal situations-and survive them to her credit-so I figured I'd have to ensure she wasn't being foolish the instant I learned Venia wasn't with my daughter. It appears she's reigned herself in, however! I noticed she had a charming young woman with her-furnish me with details, if you would!"

STATISTICS

The Reflector +1s their SPC.

---

BATTLES: CABLE CAR CRASHSITE

Both Reflectors... uhh, Guard, I guess? This fight should be over assuming Venia and Bomber don't somehow entirely miss the Gaiawall, so it doesn't really matter.

---

ZONE 5

The Reflector decides to pursue the easier plan of action first. They go find Omorika and tap her on the shoulder.

THE REFLECTOR: miss omorika!
THE REFLECTOR: i do not believe we have formally met formally been introduced but i am sure you have seen us around.
THE REFLECTOR: my question my query pertains to a bit of a puzzle we have been working on and perhaps your knowledge could shine a light, a light on its solution.
THE REFLECTOR: the rebel zabuton has three members, yes?
THE REFLECTOR: pomme, linseed, and another.
THE REFLECTOR: do you remember possess the knowledge of the codename the alias of the third member?

Cable Car Crashsite

Hannah goes first, shuffling out of the way of Venia's attack to (L17), and waits. The moment the wall is down, she books it through the spawn point with her remaining MOV.

---

Skylabs - Hannah

If there's one thing Hannah was, it was the fact that she was true to her word. After a brief detour to check up on Venia and Nidra with Yew (and feeling a touch annoyed that they somehow have not finished yet and doesn't look like they'll be disclosing any details anytime soon), Hannah meets Chi at the requested meeting place.

Though... it appears she's currently without her weapon or even her signature cloak, instead having reverted to her old red cowl and pink dress, along with that brilliant gold coin she normally has on her neck. It's hard to say whether she's foolish or confident to have left her gear behind... but perhaps it's to appear far less threatening.

Just what is she planning...? Fortunately nobody has to wait long. *Ahem.*

She makes herself known, leaning back near the side of the entryway nearest to Chi. "...Uh, are you sure you're alright out here? You want a jacket or anything?"

Depending on whether she wants a jacket/warm clothing or not, Hannah pulls out something that'd keep the wind out at the very least, and hands it to Chi. She waits for her to get the jacket on before continuing.

She does another check around the place to see if anyone else was around, and after confirming there's nobody, turns to Chi, her voice... unusually quiet. Quiet enough so that only Chi herself could reasonably hear. "...Alright, I want to get one thing clear before we start. ...er, okay, maybe two things. I'm not looking for trouble right now. And if anyone asks, this conversation never happened. ...Got it? I'm... really not about to get on the others' bad side, and I've already been pushing it before now..."

After affirming that there's an understanding, Hannah takes a deep breath, a hint of anxiety clearly visible in her eyes that grows as she rambles. "...You're probably wondering why I brought you out here. And I'm gonna be blunt..."

"You're... really bad at lying. Like, it's reaaaaly obvious."

"Like, I get it. This stuff's really stressful, but... woah. Nobody just straight up locks themselves stiff at the mention of certain topics. Kinda like you know a bit... too much, yeah?"

"...But, honestly, I'm just saying this for your own good. You really wouldn't want any of the Legion or any of the more... rowdy Spehrebreakers to catch on first."

"...That being said, I... do have some questions."

"You... remember how I said Venia's searching through Yew's mind, right? Since she started, the only information I got out of her was that a Poison Archer and a Detective Areca existed, and are somehow connected to that weapon. And then the information I got from you. One thing's nagging at me, though..."

"You said the 'Poison Archer' was a 'monster' earlier... could you elaborate on that? Like, what did they do... or, I guess, kill?"
(...and did they deserve it or not? i... honestly hope it's the former)

Hannah didn't make any sudden movements, thinking in the back of her mind that she might've gone in too deep with this whole sentient bow business...

---

Chapel - Adria

...Adria takes a quick look back at the spot where the planter was, seemingly surprised that it just formed without much input from her besides the materials and the blueprint. Perhaps this planet's just magic like that.

...Right, back to the matter at hand. She nods to the other two, clearly itching to get going. "Y-yeah, better to go together! Just let me..."

Adria pulls out a piece of paper, and scrawls a small note onto it. "The other two are gonna be back soon, I-I'd think. Better leave them a note."

"S-so... shall we go?"

Assuming that, yes, it's time to go, Adria exits, with the other two hopefully following. Once everyone's through, Adria locks the door and pins the note to its front, easily visible to anyone. The note reads:

WARNING: ELECTRICALLY CHARGED MECHANISM. USE PROPER KEY TO UNLOCK AND AVOID ANY CASUALTIES.

Currently at the house investigating some sort of explosion. Will be back as soon as we are able.
-M.A.

...There's a picture of the key used to unlock the door at the foot of the note.

She follows the other two back to the house, as she took a few seconds to lock the door and pin up the note. Once back and inside, completely failing to notice the other visitors through the kitchen window, her nose flares up, and she turns her head toward the basement.

"...Soot? I-I think it came from downstairs. Come on!"

Adria wastes little time going downstairs and looking for anything out of the ordinary around the basement.

---

Boatshi

"(Woah... yep, that is a hell of a shark. I'm gonna need a harpoon. Or twenty.)"

Boshi goes fishing again, except this time in the inventory. he takes out a couple Durasteel Ingots and Iron Ingots, making a set of large, barb-tipped harpoons, as well as one attached to a rope. He then drops one last Yggcrawler Meat into the lake, and waits... the moment he sees movement, Boshi throws a harpoon straight at the shark. This'll likely make it easier to track through the water at the very least.

This is gonna go well. Hopefully.

Yewscape

Nidra waits for a good moment, when Yew is distracted by Venia. She then takes out her Sheep Counter and uses it to make Yew fall asleep while asleep, with the practical effect of hopefully knocking her into a deeper level of sleep, where she would lose conscious control.

Remiel maneuvers the Airship into the Open Bay. Somehow.

They call out to the rest of the party and wait for anyone interested to board, then set off into the hangar, following the same route as the cargo vessel. When they near the corner where it vanished out of sight, they bring the vessel to a halt, trying to remain out of line of sight. This other bay might have defenses, better to get closer and check than to charge recklessly ahead.

Auth considers the escape plan.

AUTH: Well, we've got two options here. Either we, y'know... just use the box like the way we came in, or we could go and explore where we've ended up.
AUTH: I think I can kind of guess which you'd prefer, but what do you want to do?

Auth figures Nana would prefer the box-path, but on the off chance she feels like exploring, it might be fun.

---

AUTH: Hmm. Forgive my lack of knowledge, but I thought the burning would be likely to interrupt any paths Mana would use to perform magic? I don't actually know how you do it, so I can't really say, but...
AUTH: I thought that such severe burning would lead to her being incapable of it, at least in the short term. I don't really know, though.
AUTH: That being said, some kind of device that could disrupt magic seems like it would be useful... although I can't really speak to how one might go about that.

Auth smiles weakly at the exclamation of the prohibitive expense of Godblossom Extract. His next comments are awfully quiet.

AUTH: So... say, hypothetically, that we came into possession of a Godblossom...
AUTH: I know that they're extremely fussy, but I don't know much else about them. Such as "If we've got one, how do we grow more?". That's a big question.
AUTH: As for their healing capabilities? I can say with absolute certainty that Godblossom Extract is capable of resurrecting the dead, since our first usage of it involved doing so. With the full force of the flower? I think someone might not be beyond saving even if they were burned.

Auth chuckles as Chi thanks him for arriving... at some point.

AUTH: Hindsight is 20/20. Nothing that can be done about that time now.
AUTH: I'm glad that our work is being noted as "remarkable". We do have a... not inconsiderable amount of time to make up for, after all. Haha.
AUTH: We plan to keep it up, of course. We only have a day's breathing room until the Sphere goes off, after all.

---

Auth sighs, and nods. Glad that Atalus has calmed down now.

AUTH: While I'm thinking about that... hold on a minute.

Auth rummages around in his many, many pockets before procuring a decently sized thermos flask.

AUTH: Here, take this. You probably need it more than I do.

Inside the flask, should Atalus open it, is a hot, sweet-smelling, bright red drink of watery consistency.

AUTH: I hope it helps you keep your nerves under control. I should get going, though. Don't worry about returning that.

<ROUND 253>

Destiny ventures forward into peril! Wading through a large pool of Thyme Matter, Destiny finds herself within the Chemical Laboratory. Mitocysts are all over the place- looks like they're converted this room into a breeding ground of sorts. Large "volcanoes" made of piled-up rubble, filled to the brim with toxic waste, are scattered about the room. Mitocysts seem to spew forth from these, snaking about the room. Are those nests?

However, there's something a bit more pressing to her than all of the Mitocysts. The nest within the center of the room is quaking. Globs of a foul substance are flung all about the room, as what seems to be a gigantic Mitocyst emerges from the nest! Or is it a gigantic Mitocyst?

This creature, whatever it is, appears to be made up of many Mitocysts, with razor-sharp blades sticking out of its body from all angles. It steps out from the nest, slowly approaching Destiny. Four legs, and a squishy, bulbous main body that can only be described as "playdoh blob with four pegs, with additional razor blades on top". While its body quivers and pops like a pool of molten lava, a gigantic tear on its front reveals a solid core of... something.

Energy emanating from this core distorts the very air, the Mitocysts in the area reacting to its presence. Their bodies grow more "molten" as well, creating acidic burns on the surfaces they cross over.

Seems like a full-blown infestation here. This is a problem.





You are accosted by...

MITOSYSTEM
The Infinity Mother

PLAY - First Trumpet (Lobotomy Coroporation)



....While Destiny gets jumped by a gigantic plague doggo, Crya continues to chat with Taeda, over a nice spot of tea. The flavor is to Crya's liking- so much so, that she thinks about requesting a few seeds.

TAEDA: Sure thing!
TAEDA: I'll see if I can hook you up later, then?

The two then chat about festivals. Taeda's never been to a festival, so Destiny takes the pleasure of describing some of the goings-on to her. Crya personally excels at some sort of "magical light show", and some sort of fishing minigame. She also describes wrestling to Taeda, as a 1v1 sort of combat sport. No weapons.

TAEDA: Ah, that's interesting!
TAEDA: We Chairians don't have any combat sports, actually!
TAEDA: ...Or at least, nothing officially recognized by the Highchair.
TAEDA: Our bodies are rather hardy thanks to being made of wood and all, so our punches... hurt. A lot.
TAEDA: A simple fistfight can get quite bloody, so making sport of combat wouldn't happen in our culture.
TAEDA: The Tabletopians however, are far larger and more durable, so... maybe it'd happen there?
TAEDA: I'm not too versed on Tabletopian customs.

TAEDA: I'd love to visit your festival, though! A cultural exchange would be great!
TAEDA: Even a few days away from the Church of Helix sounds relaxing...
TAEDA: ...Then again, I've been away from the Church of Helix for about a month, and it's been anything but!

Taeda giggles as she leans back into whatever it is she's sitting on.

TAEDA: I wonder what other odd things your people do?
TAEDA: Like... this might seem odd to you, but as long as a Chairian gets plenty of sunlight each day, they don't need to eat nearly as much!
TAEDA: Spend all of your time indoors though, and you'll need to eat far more. I bet Cypress eats a lot, just because he's always up here, doin'... stuff.
TAEDA: Our schedules as priestesses of Helix give us plenty of time outdoors- we often have picnics and moments of prayer outside in the sun.
TAEDA: I've heard that humans can actually be burned by the sun, weirdly enough! Must be because they're all soft and squishy.

Taeda briefly wonders what it'd be like to be soft and squishy. Would she be cute as a human? Probably.

---

Not!Echoss brutalizes a Yggcrawler. He launches one of them up into the air, where they're splattered and converted into 3 Yggcrawler Meat, a Yggcrawler Blade, and 2 Yggcrawler Exoshells. Only one left now! The remaining Yggcrawler doesn't seem scared, and punts Not!Echoss out of the area.

Elsewhere, Pionobot chats with Maple. He remarks that if the items were being stolen from the hangar, wouldn't they be arranged differently? But perhaps they're just being sent directly? Maple bobs her head up and down.

MAPLE: Yeah! That makes sense!
MAPLE: Or maybe to reduce suspicion, when items are shipped out of here, they're like... deliberately kept the same so that there's no suspicion?
MAPLE: Like, a random search would reveal that everything's in order!
MAPLE: I mean, that's assuming that our stuff comes from here! Who knows?

it is a mystery :ghostemojiwhichidonothave:

---

Venia does a vareity of things. Embracing Nia, she theorizes that Regalus is here to take Maria home, before Venia herself has any ideas to run off. She then asks Nia if she could tell something was off. His eyes. His smile. All very ominous. Nia nods.

NIA: Y-Yeah...
NIA: Kinda reminds me of mom in a way, except like, at least ten times more sinister...
NIA: I'll be sure to call him "Your Majesty", even if he deserves to be called "Your gorillainess".
NIA: bam gorillain' gottem

Nia giggles to herself, before abruptly pausing and looking about the room. Looks like he didn't hear. Probably, anyway. Nia then theorizes to herself for a bit...

NIA: Hey, y'know.
NIA: If he's like, as horrid of a person as you've said he is, do you think we should like... jump him?
NIA: The Thymefield makes people more "equal", so we could totally get him!
NIA: What's more romantic than a bit of regicide?

While Nia comes up with some plans for committing one (1) regicide, Venia informs Cypress that a Chairian taskforce to the west requires Cypress's presence. Except they're most likely plotting to kill him (not that she mentions that to him), so that'd be awkward. He hands him a tome for Spawn Point.

CYPRESS :Miss Praefortis. This is paranoia.
CYPRESS: Spark and myself. Aligned. Fear reasons: none.
CYPRESS: However. Will take tome. To calm you. You have reasons. Probably.
CYPRESS: Adieu.

Stashing the tome away, Cypress begins his trek towards the western side of the Sky Labs. Is Venia's fear warranted? Perhaps we'll find out! If it isn't, perhaps Cypress will treat Venia with the classic "I told you so", but in three words instead of four. Anyway, elsewhere, Regalus asks Omorika about the "charming young gremlin woman" Venia was with. Omorika sets down her tome, and looks up towards Regalus. Or down. Is he tall?

OMORIKA: Ah, you must be speaking of Miss Khioneas.
OMORIKA: Nia Khioneas is a woman originating from Earth. If I recall, she's eighteen years old, and was formerly controlling a robot under the command of sir Xavier Elem.
OMORIKA: But that is a long story, and I will not bore you with the details. Unless of course, you wish for them.

OMORIKA: Anyway, she and miss Praefortis are romantically involved.
OMORIKA: Truthfully, the two of them fell for one another awfully fast. Perhaps this is an occurrence of what a storybook would refer to as "true love", or "love at first sight"?
OMORIKA: As far as I am aware, the two are quite happy together.
OMORIKA: I do not know how intimate the two are, but I am fairly sure that if we left-

that's probably enough from her

Anyway, Venia and Nidra then band together within Yew's Mindscape, to hopefully finish Yew herself off!

---

The Reflector questions Omorika. What is the name of the last member of the Rebel Zabuton?

OMORIKA: Ah, do you not know?
OMORIKA: I was certain that I brought it up in conversation at some point, but I suppose I have not.
OMORIKA: Their name is "Kudan".
OMORIKA: I believe the name has its roots in human mythos, but I do not know what it means.
OMORIKA: Perhaps if it sounds familiar to oneself, you could enlighten me?

Also, the Reflector does SPC++. Incrementation is fun!

---

Hannah and Boshi do some things! Adria does something too, but that'll be addressed in a later post? Mysterious!

Anyway, Hannah meets up with Chi at the requested meeting place. She makes herself known, offering Chi a jacket. She shakes her head.

CHI: I-I'm fine, thanks.
CHI: We won't be out here for long, anyway.
CHI: A-At least, that's what I hope...

Hannah then tries to make a few things clear. She's not looking for trouble, and if anyone asks, this conversation never happened. Chi tenses up.

CHI: Y-You're... n-not exactly filling me with c-confidence...

Hannah then makes herself blunt. Chi is really bad at lying. Like, wow. Chi freezes up again right when Hannah mentions that exact property of herself. She's silent as Hannah talks, glaring down at the cobbles in shame.

CHI: I-I... j-just don't want to out m-my sister, a-alright?
CHI: Y-Yeah! My sister. S-Surprise!
CHI: I-I definitely, totally have a sister, and... t-that won't work, will it?

CHI: ...Ugh.
CHI: I've never been good with a secret. Especially one as large as this...
CHI: But, since you now know...
CHI: I suppose I should get rid of you.

She glares at Hannah with unbridled fury. Before Hannah can do much, her eyes soften up, and she places a hand over her mouth, giggling.

CHI: O-Okay, I-I'm not going to kill you. I-It's not what I want to do, a-and I don't think I could pull it off, either way.
CHI: Just like how I was never fit for the whole "cold blooded leader" sort of thing.
CHI: It was... well, never really my thing. While I started it, I wasn't qualified, to manage it.
CHI: Nor was I able to intimidating enough to seem like an actual threat.

CHI: Thankfully, I had others to help out with those sorts of things...
CHI: B-But then... w-well, maybe you know.
CHI: The whole effort took on another meaning, a-and... yeah.
CHI: D-Don't tell anyone else though, a-alright? H-Here, I know you're a fan of toxins, s-so...

Pluck. Chi pulls an apple off of her head, and throws it to Hannah.

CHI: Don't eat it, alright? It's incredibly poisonous.
CHI: It's not quite lethal, but if you know what you're doing, it's easy enough to make it absolutely deadly...
CHI: Consider it a payment of s-sorts, alright? Please, please be quiet.

Hannah also has a few "small" questions. Who has the Poison Archer killed? Why are they such a monster?

CHI: The Poison Archer is a serial killer.
CHI: She's responsible for the deaths of at least 48 people, although it's suspected that there are more kills that haven't been recorded.
CHI: A-Among those... w-was my mother.
CHI: That was only a few years ago, though. I really doubled down on my medical research a-after that, so that I c-could maybe help against her next victim...
CHI: And I ultimately was able to save someone, b-but... I wish I could've done something sooner.
CHI: Then, when she was locked up, one day she just... vanished from her cell.
CHI: There was no signs of a struggle, no locks were picked, no window bars were cut... and it's said she disappeared in the middle of the day, to top everything off!
CHI: Nobody knows where she went... or what happened to her.
CHI: There's been no reports of deaths in her preferred manner since her arrest, so it's not quite known what's happened to her...

Chi stands against the fortification behind her awkwardly. What's she meant to discuss at a time like this, anyway? Boshi doesn't need to deal with problems like that, as all he's doing is shark fishin'. With 3 Durasteel and 6 (0) Iron worth of harpoons at the ready, he prepares some bait. A piece of Yggcrawler Meat is thrown into the water, and bam! Shark attack! The meat is instantly devoured, and Boshi manages to spear the thing with two whole harpoons! The creature roars in pain as it dives back into the water. This leaves Boshi with one more harpoon.

Suddenly, WHAM! The entire boat shakes, taking (10) points of impact damage. You may want to sink the Woodreaver before they end up sinking you. Damn thing is pretty hardy...

---

Remiel decides to pilot the Airship. Although... he decides to reconsider for the moment. For one, doing this would almost certainly start a battle! It'd be winnable for sure, and provide a nice thing of loot... but is it worth it? Who knows. The game decides to wait for a sec.

---

Auth continues his conversations. Down in the Rosen Catacombs, Auth proposes two options to Nana- either they use the Projection Box and leave the way they game in, or they cold go and explore. Nana doesn't consider this question for very long at all.

NANA: I-I'd just like to go, please!
NANA: We shouldn't leave the Godblossom in the inventory for too long, r-right?
NANA: Let's get going!

The two likely make their way out of the room, finding themselves back in the endless junctions of the Projection Box. Fortunately, there's a ladder in this first junction, which leads them back out to where they entered the system from. Nana breathes a sigh of relief as the sweet taste of fresh air fills her lungs(?).

NANA: I-It's so stuffy down there...
NANA: I-I'm not a fan, r-really...

Elsewhere, Auth asks a (hypothetical) question about how one might grow more Godblossoms. Chi shrugs.

CHI: I don't know much on the subject, sorry.
CHI: You're best off finding an apothecary.
CHI: All that I do know is that they do take a long time to grow... and they absolutely must not be disturbed.
CHI: The slightest bit of damage to the flower will cause it to wither and die within an incredibly short timespan.
CHI: I suppose that since this flower possesses godly power, it must be truly perfect?

CHI: During the firebombing not long ago, the Citadel lost most of the Godblossoms it had in possession.
CHI: Not because the flowers were burned, but because part of the ceiling came down and managed to somehow damage the plants...
CHI: It would've been helpful to have them around...

Chi sighs, but she perks up in a few. At least there's a few more flowers to go around, it seems. Finally, over with Atalus, Auth serves him a drink. A thermos full of... something. A tea? Atalus takes it and sniffs the concoction.

ATALUS: ...is this poison?
ATALUS: It smells good, though. And if it is poison, lady Chi should know what to do.
ATALUS: I will begrudgingly accept.

Slurp. Seems that he enjoys the drink, whatever the heck it is.

---

Irongutta engages in legal activities! Ever so carefully, he takes the Volcanic Regalia, and hooks up some Joltwire to it in a nice little "sleeve" around the crystal to provide it optimal power. This takes 6 Joltwire, as well as the Volcanic Regalia. Cypress meanwhile, sets up a remote detonator with 3 Joltwire, 5 (0) Circuit Boards, and a remote detonator. R-8733 finishes up the bomb casing, filling the outer layer of a double-layered bomb with the oil from the Arsonist's Lashes. The bomb casing itself also uses up 4 Durasteel. Irongutta then lowers the crystal into the bomb, and R-8733 seals it up.

R-8733: That should do it, boss!
R-8733: This'll make one mighty boom!
CYPRESS: Irongutta. Take this detonator. Use: safe distance.
CYPRESS: Let's back up.

Irongutta receives a remote detonator! Now he can set off the bomb whenever he feels like it! Following proper safety measures, R-8733 and Cypress head down south, taking cover behind the walls of the lab. Now to detonate the thing! Unless Irongutta has any other ideas, that is.

---

...within the Western Hallway, a door labelled "DEATH" has appeared. It swings outwards with incredible force and fury. Coming from a plume of rolling smoke from the doorway is a figure so fearsome and rude, that even Death himself would cry in fear...

THE SLEUTH.

And yes, Death is crying tears of liquid black sorrow, because yet another person has dipped on a rousing game of Life. The Sleuth waves goodbye to Death, thanks him for another Armistyx, and then shuts Death's Door behind him. The door blinks out of existence. Seems like the Sleuth is back, at least.

---

<CABLE CAR CRASHSITE, ROUND 4>
Hannah has escaped the crash site! She should be free to go wherever she feels like now. It'd probably be worth getting out of the forest, though. More creatures might be coming, and that'd be... unpleasant, to say the least.

<CHEMICAL LABORATORY, ROUND 1>
Well, this looks like a bit of a mess. There's lots of rubble around the room, and plenty of other bits of hazardous terrain. Fortunately, there seems to be a few ways to deal with the rubble! Or uh, one way. Fixing up CLNSR will help with the terrain problem. As for the Mitosystem... it's a pretty fragile thing. You could probably beat it to death this round. Wanna go for it?

((For the above update.))
Totally Legal Bomb Construction (also Venia is nearby)

Irongutta nodded, understanding R-8 and Cypress' concerns about working with the Volcanic Regalia. "I gotcha covered on that one! I always carry around a pair of weldin' gloves and some tools fer this sort o' thing."

That said, he put on a pair of thick brown gloves and produced a set of tongs from his belt, using them to carefully hold the Volcanic Regalia a safe distance from his own person and his Chairian cohorts. "We can just use some Joltwire for the internals and give this thing a fuse so we can, well, leg it before we get blown to smithereens." Irongutta pulled some Joltwire from the inventory, handing it off to R-8 and Cypress as they worked. When they were ready for the final component - the Volcanic Regalia itself, he had them stand back as he prepared to lower it into the casing. A tense moment passed as it was carefully inserted, after which Irongutta held his breath as he expected to be incinerated. He exhaled a few seconds later when he realized he was still alive.

"Roight then, we ain't dead after all. Just gotta finish up and we'll 'ave this wall down in no time!"

---

Battle: Cable Car Crashsite

Irongutta moves to H17 and crashes against the Gaiawall with a basic attack!

CHARA: ...

With a dissatisfied grunt, the instance that remained at home closes the lid back on the breakfast tupper. What else is there to be done? A uniform slush literally missing texture is not exactly an appetising foodstuff, and the meal would remain one such black-purple sludge until they went back and checked what breakfast even was in the first place. Such is the curse of living the metaware life.

In any case, there is work to be done! As they were reminded mere minutes ago in a conversation that does not exist, their pronoun die is still... die. On the second thought, that pun does not work. Nevertheless, Chara gets to work on carving a complex spherical shape out of devilbone, followed by-

-oooor they can just summon it out of thin air, alright, that's cool. This is fine.

CHARA: Oh, quit your whining. Would anyone sit through an entire paragraph dedicated to the construction of a dumb little meme? They barely sit through this as it is, if they even do.

Fair enough. Now, would you do the honours?

---

D31 Roll:

18 - She / Her

---

Post machine broke. Under reconstruction...

Character Sheet
+7 to Health
-4 to Mana

Back on the battlefield: Chemical War
Daskter spawns and stays on position (L21).
They eat one of their Manabloom Biscuit.

They proceed to summon a Rocketeer on (M21)

Settings:
Basic Attack: Slashing damage.
Resist: 50% Poison, 20% Electric.
Weakness: 40% Crushing.
Magic Attack: Ice damage.

Niaaaaaa

Venia stares at Nia, eyes lit up-that was genius-and then Venia recalls exactly what that would mean.

"... Three issues. One, he's Maria's dad, and Maria... You saw her, right? She adores him, and I don't think he's ingenuine about it, but he's nuts so I'm just... Super-concerned even though I can't prove anything, and what do I say to her afterwards, I can't just... I can't just do that to her, you know..." Venia says. "Two, he's also the leader of an entire Empire and as much of a lunatic as he is, he's at least a well-intentioned lunatic, unlike a few other people I could see taking over… And that assumes they go the peaceful political route. And three, most importantly, uh, I bet that he's already thought of that himself. He has outs, I'm certain. I'm not the first person who's tried this 'going back to the past' thing. He may not know everything about the Sphere, but if he's here, he's got something up his sleeve-if nothing else then to cover him."

"... Or he's nuts," Venia muses. "... Point is this wouldn't be a simple thing... And to be honest, Nia? I'm scared out of my mind about him, like he's got a flamethrower pressed against my neck at all times," Venia says. (Perhaps her mention of a flamethrower instead of the obvious sword might catch in Cypress's nearby ear?)

"...Oh, and uh... I mean. Let's face facts. It appears any significant obstacle to us taking down the Sphere just becomes ten times worse than it should. I've fought Hersilia before in a duel, and she went down to one shot-then now without any indication that she held back before she suddenly tanks three. My only guess is the Thymefield is deliberately boosting the power of obstacles in our way... Which given how hard everything else of even remote significance has wound up being, makes sense. I don't want to see if Regalus counts for that."

---

Yewscape

Venia gets up and dusts herself off, and observes the area with a general interest, but not too much. Then, she takes the Calm Mind Shard out of the revolver to revert it to normal, and points it at the memory orb-first, to gather a summation of events within, like the readme file of a program. Then, assuming the memory orb isn't a trap or just a way to make her feel unpleasant, she views the information within.

---

Mariaaaaaaaaaa

Maria finishes her doodle of what the metal inserts for the heart-like gems would look like for Maple. "Like this!"

Meanwhile, Regalus's smile windens at the news. "Ah, wonderful! I had figured they might've been associates, but certainly nothing so marvellously fairytale-esque! I'll have to sort out that droll immigration paperwork later, I suppose... And a wedding, mayhaps? Marvellous! Just marvellous!"

"... I have to ask. How goes things with the Sphere? I understand little, the sphere is there, it isn't open to visitors, dreadful nonsense. I don't know why you're here right now, is what I'm saying."

---

Meanwhile...

The remainder of Maria's family remain at the house, doing things as you would. The empress has remained well in her chair, reading a book off of a wristband-like device to herself. The eldest princess sits on the rocking bench in the back and enjoys the world, carefree.

Meanwhile, Rebecca, the middle princess, hovers nervously at the staircase, eyes focused downwards and otherwise quite stiff. Given an explosion just happened down there not too long ago...

---

Build

Venia +2s her MHP. Almost at 60 MPH. Big HP energy.

---

Shopping

-Arbitrary Arbiter-er for 1,000 Credits. "Gibbet ally pls"
-Specialized Training, also for 1,000 Credits. That's a steal.
-An Aspect of Magic and Aspect of Void for Maple, for 400 credits and 16 samples in all.

Stats

Hannah shoves her 2 Skillpoints into AGI.

---

Skylabs - Hannah

Crashsite

As she flees south of the crashsite, Hannah realizes she's about to come up on a dead end. There's a Yggcrawler standing near a Pinati corpse, but she's not really up for dealing with that today. So she instead sneaks around it, ending up next to the glass at (BD25).

Using some of her corrosive material, she melts her way through the glass, the resultant gap only just large enough for her to squeeze through. And I do mean squeeze through; she could barely fit herself through with all her gear still on.

Once on the other side, Hannah seals up her entry point with a few bits of wood, and goes on with her life.

Chi

...Hannah feels a mild chill run down her spine. She hopes it's nothing... anyway...

Hannah does indeed mildly freak out at Chi's (empty) threat, eyes going wide and her posture straightening and tensing up.

...Though she eases up pretty quickly when she realizes it was a joke. Even so, she listens. Chi's fear of Hannah outing her was palpable, and Hannah knew it very well.

When Chi gave Hannah one of her apples, she looks at Chi in... confusion. What in the world was she implying? "...You know you didn't have to give me this, right? I-I mean, thanks, but, well, I wasn't going to tell anyone either way. That's not how I do things, and is why I wanted to do this privately. I mean hey, I'm not exactly clean either, even before yesterday when I took my friend Dorothy's place on the field. ...I-If you want I can tell you all about it."

Then she listens to the information on the Poison Archer. Serial killer, 48 confirmed kills, more potentially unconfirmed...

...The most shocking to Hannah, though, was the loss of her mother. Hannah blinks. Things are lining up scarily well with what Yew herself was saying to her, and how. The utter psychopath. She really did feel zero remorse. Even Hannah herself could feel some remorse for what she does. She doesn't kill innocent people (at least, she thought), while Yew revels in it. To top it all off, Yew has been shown to not be capable of following basic orders, doing something stupid while in the hands of Venia. Highly dangerous, and likely not trustworthy at all.

Hannah's face contorts in disgust. The fact that she naively joined in on the revelry, not knowing what her bow had previously killed. And knowing that Chi likely wielded that same weapon...

...Hannah falls silent for a solid minute, compiling the information in her head. She looks back towards where Venia, Nidra, and her Mirror Image were currently; a large distance away and very likely out of view. Her golden eyes return to Chi, and she nods to her.

"That's... that's everything I needed to know. And I think we're about to see some more answers to the Poison Archer's - Yew's case... very soon."

"After those two get the information they need out of her... I'm killing that bow. I... know from experience that that... thing isn't to be trusted. Can't even be trusted to follow basic orders to not do anything stupid."

"I-I know it probably doesn't mean much coming from... well, me, after... uhm, a-after... Hersilia. B-but I swear I-I didn't know at all and I-I'm ashamed of it!"

...Once again, Hannah falls silent, looking down with her eyes half-closed in guilt.

"...She didn't deserve that at all. Really did seem like a nice girl."

...Another moment of silence and thought. After said moment has passed, she rummages around in the back of her cowl, pulls out two vials of poison, and hands them to Chi. Her clear Anticoagulant venom, and her dark red Necrosis venom. They're labelled as such with paper labels and... red crayon. Despite the questionable writing utensils used, the writing's actually pretty tidy.

"...Make an antidote for this stuff. Both of them are... really nasty in their own rights. One's a blood slash sap thinner. The other rots flesh and bark. I don't think I need to explain the first, but the second is specially mixed to... speed up its rotting properties as anything tries to heal anyone afflicted. That one's usually reserved for big threats, like old wormy up there."

Hannah points to Electrophorus moving about in the sky.

"...I think it's only fair that I give you some of mine in exchange for some of yours."

After that, Hannah awkwardly stands around, thinking to herself.

"...So, uh... want to talk about something less grim? Also do you still not want that jacket?"

---

House - Adria (post-piono's post)

After leaving Chloe and Echoss, Adria starts working on a ventilation device made of Iron, a Cloud Cannon, a Shock Crystal, and Wire Scraps, figuring that it wouldn't need to be too complicated for it to work. But really, it's much more like a vacuum + vent shaft hybrid with a hose attached to it on both ends that can also wash down stuff just in case. It works a lot like a vent fan, except a fair bit stronger.

This time, Adria pokes one end (presumably the output end) of the hose out the portal after she sets it to transport stuff to the Crystillery, and pins it down. Switching it on, she aims the other end (the input end) towards the smoke. Said smoke gets sucked into the hose and blown out the other end. It's somewhat noisy. Such is the way of mechanical machinery.

---

Boatshi

Boshi lobs the last harpoon at the Woodreaver's head before swapping to something a bit more extreme. That being a Railgun. He leads the weapon in the direction the shark was moving in, and shoots, aiming for the face.

BATTLES - CHEMICAL LABORATORY

The Reflector spawns in and flies to E17. They use a bonus action to apply Shields Holding to themselves (SHP version) and Guard (triggering Panic Button), using Protean to swap their Water resistance to Poison and gaining Ignuveil in the process. Just to let the Ohmnic know it shouldn't try exploding.

I have all of the SHP. All of it.

---

ZONE 5

The Reflector, armed with this new knowledge, decides to blow another password entry attempt by heading back to the console and entering "Kudan."

...I see.
Destiny quickly gains Antibody before engaging.
Destiny moves into the Chemical Lab after Nidra and eyes the Console. A Divine Watcher descends at J13.
She spawns at I21 and runs to F19, using the console to move CLNSR to M15 and making it use Foam Bomb before retreating to E19.
However, if Nidra's hack fails, she runs to E18 and activates Phantom Blow before attacking the third Ohmnic, then retreating to E19.

--------------------

Crya listens in on what Taeda has while she has another sip of tea. Taeda mentions sunburns.

Hmm, you know, while I never really thought about those things and they are indeed odd compared to what I know about humans, knowing what I know about Chairians all that actually does make some sense. As for the Tabletopians I do not know so much about them either, so I cannot say for certain, though if they are at such a greater scale, maybe they have some sort of combat sport indeed.
As for the sunburns as we call them… well it is a burn, but we don’t get set on fire or anything silly like that. But it is true that if humans spend too much time in the sun they do get sunburns. Though, generally, it is advised to either simply not go outside when the sun is especially vicious or not to stay out too long in the sun. Even if you do so, you can simply protect yourself by wearing clothing that covers your body. Special transparent pastes that protected your skin were quite common in the Place of Old, and they are something that have been developed by my people. The sun isn’t all that dangerous if you take the proper precautions, and it’s actually recommended to spend some time in the sun for at least some time each week, since sunlight exposure aids in your body’s well being. So essentially, you have to balance your time in the sun so you don’t suffer from the adverse biological effects of being a shut-in but not spend so much time as to be harmed by the sun itself.
For why we cannot simply make the sun not harmful, well it's simply a constant cosmic law, I suppose. If we tried to make the sun less intense we might cause eternal winter to fall upon our people, or even worse, freeze the entire planet over. Those two events would certainly be worse than what harm the sun has to offer in its current state.
As for other odd things my people do or have...

Crya thinks on that for a moment with a "hmm..."

...well it’s hard for me to say because everything about my people are so familiar to me. I guess something that would be something foreign to you are the types of religious traditions various branches of priests use… actually, I think this would just be more of a cultural tradition. Humanity’s relationship with fire is certainly more intimate than the Charians’ relationship with it considering that it is… not as lethal.
But anyways, the blacksmiths of my realm all put great significance upon Ignis, the God of Fire. To become a blacksmith, you must first study for about eight to ten years under a professional blacksmith. Then you must pass a test by forging a ceremonial weapon or some other sort of item. When the test is passed, they take a hot iron stamp and put the Blacksmith’s Crest on the right side of your upper back, marking you as a professional blacksmith. The Blacksmith’s Crest looks something like a hammer striking hot iron. It’s quite a well respected symbol, as it is one of Ignis, who was the one to introduce metallurgy and metalwork to our people.
So I guess that is one odd thing my people do.

Crya takes another moment to think about another conversation topic while she takes an additional sip of tea.

Actually, while we are on this topic, last night when I was checking out all the rooms I noticed the upstairs bath has two faucets. Back in the Place of Old bathtubs usually only had one faucet for water. Could you tell me what's that all about?

Nidra puts

Yewscape

Nidra keeps an eye out while Venia examines the memory orb.

Chemical Lab
Spawn at N21.
Power Nap Daskter.
Move pillow to Daskter.
Move to P18.
Hack the CLNSR.
Retreat to Q19.

Thanks to Ire and Darkside for the help with this scene!


Chloe, Taeda, and Adria make their way to the basement, following the faint smell of smoke and brimstone. The smoke isn't quite heavy enough to be visible in most of the house, but it faintly drifts around the ceiling of the basement.

TAEDA: W-Word…
TAEDA: What happened down here?
CHLOE: M-Maybe that Linseed guy did something…
CHLOE: Hopefully though, all that happened was that Asha tried to cook something again...
ADRIA: G-goodness, is this ‘Asha’ really that bad of a cook...?
CHLOE: You’d be surprised.
CHLOE: Anyway, I think the smoke’s coming from… here?

Chloe presses deeper into the basement, the light from the ceiling mixing with the smoke to create a slight haze. If there was much more smoke, she’d need to consider a mask. Rounding a corner, Chloe comes upon the area where Chaos dug out bedrooms all those days ago. Adria follows a fair distance away, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary outside of the dug-out bedrooms.

As Chloe makes her way into the bedrooms, several things catch her attention, all of them to do with her room. The slightly bent off its frame door, the slight wisps of smoke still coming out from the cracks around it, and the muffled crying coming from within it.

TAEDA: W-Was Asha cooking in y-your room?
CHLOE: N-No…
CHLOE: E-Echoss, is that you?

Chloe places her hand on the doorknob, before immediately recoiling in pain. She shakes her hand in the air, clenching her teeth. Adria was just rounding the corner herself when she saw that Chloe’s burnt her hand on the doorknob. She immediately rushes over.

CHLOE: O-Ow! HOT!
CHLOE: W-What the heck?
ADRIA: A-are you alright!?
ADRIA: Here, let me g-get something cold for that...

Adria pulls out a Frigid Crystal and places it in a towel, then hands it to Chloe. She gives Adria a smile as she holds the crystal in her burnt hand, before tying the towel around them both. An impromptu icepack of sorts. As Chloe steps back and takes a few moments to cool off, Taeda approaches the door.

TAEDA: A-Ah, miss Elem! Allow me!
TAEDA: Although it’s badly burnt, I still should be able to manipulate the wood around the doorknob, and...

Taeda strains herself, closing her eyes and pointing both arms towards the doorknob. The ashen, barely-holding wood is incredibly tough to alter, but she soon manages to get the doorknob to separate from the door. It falls to the ground in front of her with a clatter. She kicks the searing doorknob to the side as what’s left of the door falls forward into the room.

A wave of heat rolls out of the room as it clatters against the floor with a thud muffled somewhat by the burnt parts on the inside, almost like opening an oven. Fortunately, with the door no longer holding it all in, the hallway quickly cools back down to tolerable, on the way back down to just mildly uncomfortable.

Inside the room… is not pretty. While the chest and lamp are both somewhat intact (for a given value of 'somewhat'), scorch marks are seared onto the walls and floor and even some of the ceiling - right over what's left of Chloe's bed. Echoss sits amongst the cooling cinders, curled up against the wall, sobbing into his folded arms. As the three watch, his throat catches and for a second his form seems to destabilize, replaced with a dull orange glowing silhouette before snapping back into the disheveled but coherent state just as quickly. Adria could only look onward in shock, mouth agape, though covered with her right hand. The shock quickly turns to concern for the person in the room, however.

As Taeda peeks into the room from the hallway, Chloe sprints forward towards Echoss, crouching down in front of him. She reaches her left, non-burned hand out towards him, it trembling ever so gently.

CHLOE: E-Echoss…?

Echoss is still radiating warmth, if not heat. Though that warmth increases for just a brief moment as he recoils briefly, backing further into the corner as he looks at Chloe, seemingly not recognizing her with parts of him starting to shift into fluttering wings. As Chloe watches, dark shadows flit out of Echoss's eyes, his form restabilizes, and as the catlike gleam returns to his irises he relaxes slightly.

ECHOSS: Chloe?

His eyes come into focus, and he looks around the room.

ECHOSS: Oh…
ECHOSS: Oh…

Tears are already welling up in Chloe’s eyes. She places her trembling hand on Echoss’s shoulder. It’s certainly warm, but not scorching like the doorknob. Still though, her trembling barely ceases.

CHLOE: E-Echoss…
CHLOE: W-What happened to you? A-Are you alright?

Echoss looks down at his hands. They fuzz for a moment, before collecting back.

ECHOSS: I. I'm sorry. I…
ECHOSS: I didn't mean to… to...
CHLOE: I-It’s okay! I-I just… need to k-know if you’re alright, o-okay?
ECHOSS: I… To some degree I suppose…
ECHOSS: I'm not… hurt. At least.
CHLOE: T-Thank goodness…
CHLOE: I-I’m so… g-glad…
CHLOE: I’m sorry t-that I left y-you alone...

Chloe leans forward, putting most of her weight onto him as she pulls Echoss into a tight hug. Echoss blinks slow, and then hugs her back.

ECHOSS: It's okay. I'm just really, really grateful you weren't hurt.
ECHOSS: I… I've done enough of that already.
CHLOE: Y-You need to worry about yourself more, y-you know!
CHLOE: With what h-happened here, I was worried something awful happened…
CHLOE: I know you won’t hurt us, b-but I’m concerned you’ll h-hurt yourself...
ECHOSS: How do you know that?
ECHOSS: I hurt Miss Needleworker. And Miss Praefortis. I disappeared when I was needed two days ago. You nearly died in the catacombs because of me. I did… this.

He gestures at the room with his free arm.

ECHOSS: Every time I let my guard down people get hurt because of me.
CHLOE: T-That’s not...

Adria takes a step into the scorched room, a concerned frown crossing her face. Taeda nervously follows behind her.

ADRIA: ...U-um… Echoss, right?
ADRIA: I… k-know we’ve only really just met b-but, well…
ADRIA: You’ve… done s-so much good for me, a-and...

...Adria falls silent for a moment. After a few seconds, she gives Echoss a warm, welcoming smile.

ADRIA: ...T-thank you. Thank you so, so very much.
ADRIA: I-I… I would hate to see what would have happened, had you not been there… l-last night.
ADRIA: You’ve done a lot for… w-well, the children, too. The poor dears must have been worried sick b-before then...
TAEDA: Y-Yeah! You’ve done wonders for everyone!
TAEDA: Y-You’ve been a great friend t-to all of us, and we want you to k-know that no matter what’s happened, we forgive you, and we’ll help you through it!

Echoss is silent, and slowly leans into Chloe.

ECHOSS: Thank you…
ECHOSS: I… I'm not sure I deserve such praise. But thank you.

Echoss is silent for a moment, then speaks up again.

ECHOSS: Miss Adria, Miss Loblolly, if it's okay...
ECHOSS: Would I be able to have a private word with Chloe for a bit?

Adria gives Echoss an understanding nod.

ADRIA: Certainly. You two… do seem to trust each other very much.
ADRIA: It’s not my place to pry on p-private matters.
TAEDA: O-Of course!
TAEDA: Adria, let’s go and… try and clean out this smoke while we wait?
ADRIA: Sounds like a plan, dear. Let’s go.

Adria begins to move out of the room and back to the main area of the basement, waving goodbye to the two still in the room. Taeda follows close behind her, bowing politely towards the two of them as she ducks back into the hallway.

CHLOE: S-So, um…
CHLOE: What is it? I-If you wanted to chat in private, i-it must be important...

Echoss breathes deeply.

ECHOSS: I know… I know we haven't known each for very long but…
ECHOSS: I feel like I owe you, at least, something of an explanation.
ECHOSS: Can I trust you with… I suppose 'a secret' will work. There's only one other person I can think of who I know for certain knows of it that is alive today.
CHLOE: O-Of course! Cross my heart and hope to die.
CHLOE: B-But first...

Chloe gets up, grabs the fallen door, and does her best to prop it back up in the doorway. While it’s far from sturdy, it’ll at least keep prying eyes out. Echoss nods, and slides up to a more upright position.

ECHOSS: Alright… You might want to stay on the far side of the room and…
ECHOSS: Please just… don't… hate me.
CHLOE: Don’t worry. I don’t think I could ever hate you.

As soon as Chloe's done with the door, Echoss's form begins to ripple, stretching and expanding, the clothes on his body fading away as he grows up until his head brushes against the ceiling of the room, and further still until he is forced into a bent over posture with his arms holding up his torso. The light around him fades, no longer a gleaming golden but instead a dark and angry red.

His appearance is best described as… demonic. Crimson scales and jet black feathers have equal part across his avian and draconic body, a dragon's head pointed with a beak at the very front, the only thing remaining the same are the golden catlike eyes that despite the strangeness of the form still somehow feel out of place. And yet… there's a strange almost handsomeness to the form, even amidst the dark flames flickering about his head, and streaming out of his tail.

Giving Chloe only a few minutes to register it, Echoss reverts. The transformation this time is much slower, tortured almost, as his form twists and writhes, forcing itself back down into the silhouette and then back down into his body. When it finishes Echoss seems almost… frail. Fragile. While his size is no different, he seems much smaller in a similar way to how he felt much larger than he was during the arguments in the previous day.

Chloe stares at Echoss in stunned silence. As far as she knew, Echoss was some sort of highly advanced holographic image. And now, he’s apparently some sort of draconid demon. All she can do is tilt her head a few degrees, confused. After a few moments of silence, Echoss speaks again.

ECHOSS: Three thousand, five hundred, and twenty seven years before I left my home universe, a council of demons, on the brink of being exterminated by the holy races of the world for their crimes against all relevant peoples, gathered together to make their final, ultimate vengeance.
ECHOSS: Seven infernal engines, each imbued with one of the so-called 'seven deadly sins'.

He holds his hand out in front of him, and images of seven figures flash in the air above his palm, one after another.

ECHOSS: Gluttony. Lust. Sloth. Wrath. Envy. Pride. And… Greed.

With the last word, a form very similar to the one he took on just a few moments before appears, before the whole thing flickers away.

ECHOSS: The council of demons was destroyed, but not before they finished their work, so in the centuries to come, one by one their engines awoke.
ECHOSS: Wrath was the first, and with every fight or altercation, he grew angrier and angrier, his power growing with his mounting rage. His power mounted, too fast, too loudly, and the gods themselves stepped from the heavens and crushed him with a single mighty judgement.
ECHOSS: Pride was second, and took the guise of an adventurer, then a general, then an emperor, with every accolade laid upon her head she grew more and more powerful, until she too overstepped her own powers and was destroyed.
ECHOSS: One by one, the infernal engines awoke, and began their conquests. Except, of course, Sloth, who was slaughtered in his sleep after all of the others but Greed were sought out and dealt with.
ECHOSS: Greed, while still driven by their singular perverse motivation, was craftier than the others, and built up a vast horde beneath the earth, slowly expanding their coffers and enslaving countless subterranean races, as even the slaves beneath their iron claws contributed to the monster's growing wealth.
ECHOSS: And that is where my story diverges from that of the Greed in the original novels from which the story hails.
ECHOSS: At some point, on some version of Earth somewhere in the cosmos, a young teenage girl decided that her mary-sue self insert wasn't special enough yet, so instead of the final climactic battle wherein Greed was, with great cost, finally destroyed, the final infernal engine was sealed, a temporary mind welded to the magical seal to enable its power to be used for other purposes.
ECHOSS: As part of this process, said self-insert, one Echo Ravenstar, bound her name to the demon, the demon's new name, Echoss, becoming part of the very seal which held the ravenous demon behind a mask of intelligence and true sophonce.
ECHOSS: The two were married, to further cement the seal, though I think that Echo herself never truly felt like it was a relationship she wished to be bound to, no matter what her original author intended.
ECHOSS: Is… is this starting to make sense yet? There is… more to the story, but if you've heard enough then...

Chloe nods, trying her best to pretend that she totally understands everything.

CHLOE: S-So… you’re a demon… no, THE demon of greed?
CHLOE: A-And you’re… part of some teenage girl’s original… character?
CHLOE: You’re kinda... reminding me of Marron?
CHLOE: ...Is Chaos a teenage girl?

It is absolutely blatant that Chloe doesn’t understand anything, or why an image of Chaos with twintails has flashed into her head.

Echoss nods in response to her final statement.

ECHOSS: A very similar situation in that particular regard, yes…
ECHOSS: Having met Chaos, I've become somewhat aware of how much worse off I could have been there, but it still… is not a particularly shining example to have as part of my backstory.
ECHOSS: Though it… doesn't really matter at this point.

Chloe tries to work things over in her head. If he’s a demon thing, then how did he…?

CHLOE: So… wait.
CHLOE: I… remember that Terrence, he mentioned something about a rampage?
CHLOE: S-Shouldn’t that Echo woman have been able to… do something about that?
ECHOSS: That was… the original intent, yes.
ECHOSS: The seal was somewhat weakened when our universe was destroyed and some of the mana wellsprings it tapped into were no longer available.
ECHOSS: So, me and a few of the others thought that maybe if we scratched away the rest of the seal piecemeal, the central intelligence of it could take over the demon itself.
ECHOSS: Have full access to the powers without the distant threat of Greed breaking loose to full control again.
ECHOSS: …
ECHOSS: I… There was just enough of me left that…
ECHOSS: that…
ECHOSS: The nightmares. I can't even sleep for a moment without… without tasting blood. Without hearing my own fell laughter echoing in my ears.
ECHOSS: Watching everyone die all over again.
ECHOSS: And… if it happens again… The others won't be there to stop it. To restore me. It'll be over, I won't be coming back.
CHLOE: E-Echoss...

Chloe isn’t entirely sure what to think. She shifts around as she sits. She’s never quite needed to comfort someone over killing all of their friends. Probably a fair deal harder than comforting Nia after she rejected her.

CHLOE: I-It was the demon who did it, right?
CHLOE: Y-You don’t need to blame yourself. You weren’t in control of your own actions.
CHLOE: There’s not much I can do to h-help q-quell your nightmares, o-other than recommend a therapist, but I can do my best to support you.
CHLOE: I’m sure everyone on the Spherebreakers would be willing to lend their shoulders, too.
ECHOSS: I… I appreciate it Chloe but… I think you're not… exactly understanding my point.
ECHOSS: I'm not… real. Not a real person.
ECHOSS: Echoss is a personality overlay, an intelligence simulated and derived from a spell and then forced over the top of what Greed is. Almost like a living mask.
ECHOSS: I've had several people ask why I'm not here in person and it… it's that.
ECHOSS: The spawn point? In the main room of the house? That wouldn't work for me. CAN'T work for me. There's not enough 'me' for such a thing to use to revive. No soul. Nothing.
ECHOSS: When the rest of you are… gone… you'll still, be there in some manner. Off to one of the many afterlives scattered around our reality.
ECHOSS: But when the spell finally breaks, and Greed is back in control of themself...
ECHOSS: 'Echoss' stops being a thing. The illusion breaks.

Echoss has slowly been sliding down the wall, and is once more curled up with his hands around his legs in the corner.

CHLOE: W-Well… y-you’re real to me!
CHLOE: Even if you’re some sort of weird “mask” or whatever, you’re definitely your own person!
CHLOE: A separate entity from the demon, who’s kind and helpful!
CHLOE: I-I understand that it might be hard to accept this, given your apparent lack of soul, but…
CHLOE: You don’t need to have a soul to be… soulful. If you know what I mean.
CHLOE: You’re stronger than Greed. The spell won’t break.

Echoss stares at his feet.

ECHOSS: How do you know that though.
ECHOSS: What's so special about me that...
CHLOE: W-What ISN’T special about you!?
CHLOE: You’re capable of managing and controlling so many things at the same time- such a volume that my brain quite literally couldn’t handle it!
CHLOE: You can handle yourself on the battlefield, and you have so much knowledge of the entire freakin’ universe! All of this in a kind, understanding package!
CHLOE: Meanwhile, I’m just a normal girl! With a sword!
CHLOE: You’re like, the most special thing to ever exist, damn it! If you can handle being all of that, you can survive some silly demon!
ECHOSS: I…
ECHOSS: Thank you…

Echoss leans into the wall. It seems his form has stopped fuzzing out periodically at least. Chloe gives him a warm smile.

CHLOE: No problem.
CHLOE: I know you’d do the same for me, if I was… w-whatever the formal definition for you is.
ECHOSS: I… guess I would.
CHLOE: S-So… h-how are you?
CHLOE: I… still don’t know why you exploded, actually.
CHLOE: C-Couldn’t you have exploded like… not in my bedroom?

She giggles to herself, the concern of all of her belongings being on fire not crossing her mind. Echoss chuckles weakly as well.

ECHOSS: I am… physically okay, at least. Still even mostly asleep at the moment.
ECHOSS: The uh… the nightmares have been worse lately, and got bad enough back in my main part of my mind that I…
ECHOSS: You know how some people get night terrors and do things like flailing around when they wake up?
ECHOSS: Since I'm sort of… using Greed's powers, fire and shadow magic are instinctual to me.
ECHOSS: So if I wake up too abruptly I… explode. Usually not as badly as I did in here though… Sorry.
CHLOE: It’s alright!
CHLOE: It’s kinda like wetting your bed when you’re young, but with additional arson.
CHLOE: ...actually, that makes it sound weird. Sorry. Eheheheh~

Echoss chuckles again, a bit less weakly.

ECHOSS: There's a good saying I know of, 'weird' is just a normal that you aren't used to yet.
CHLOE: I bet there’s an alien culture somewhere where exploding your bed every day is normal.
CHLOE: D-Does that exist? It might actually, f-far as I know...
ECHOSS: I would assume so. I know of a few where bursting into flames is, though not quite exploding.
CHLOE: Huh. S-Scary!

Chloe gestures to the door. With perfect timing, the door falls outward into the hallway, causing Chloe to jump.

CHLOE: A-Anyway, everyone’s pretty worried about you.
CHLOE: Wanna head outside? It’s pretty calm out today.
CHLOE: We’re also exploring this pretty cool “Sky Labs” place?
CHLOE: It’s not a very creative name, but it’s a lab! In the sky!

Echoss nods.

ECHOSS: I won't be able to participate in serious adventuring though, given that the part of me responsible for supplying most of my powers is still asleep… I'm not currently fit for combat.

He pauses.

ECHOSS: Thank you Chloe.
CHLOE: Not a problem.
CHLOE: Now, c’mon! Let’s go!
CHLOE: M-Maybe we could get lunch, too?

Chloe stands up, positioning herself in front of Echoss. She extends a hand out to him. Echoss takes her hand, and stands up. He's surprisingly light.

ECHOSS: Lunch would not be so bad.

Auth nods to Nana.

AUTH: I thought as much. Maybe someone else will come and explore later.
AUTH: Let's get out of here.

On the way back, a question occurs to Auth.

AUTH: I hope you don't mind my asking, but... before, y'know, all this happened...
AUTH: And presumably after this settles down, where did you live? I assume the Citadel somewhere?
AUTH: I was wondering what it was like before... well, the Sphere and the Iti. I assume our march on the Citadel won't exactly be representative of what it was like on the day-to-day.

Once back outside, Auth gives a light chuckle.

AUTH: Truth be told, I don't mind it. I've never been much bothered by the dark, or cramped spaces, or both at the same time.
AUTH: I won't say it wasn't kind of stuffy in there, though.

---

Auth nods affirmatively. Information is information.

AUTH: Thanks, Chi. I appreciate the information, it's more than I had.
AUTH: It... well, it'll probably be fine. I can imagine how severe a blow it would be for you all to lose whatever supply of Godblossoms you had. In this... extremely hypothetical scenario, I believe that in the near future there may be the opportunity for more to grow.
AUTH: I'm gonna get moving. I'm sorry about... the pressure that my teammates and I might've put on you for information.
AUTH: Very sorry.

Auth is trying to think of something to make it up to her, at least.

---

AUTH: Oh, sorry. It's just tea. Where I come from, I'm not really sure if it's the same here, but tea helps people relax. I figure it might help you a bit. More than I think I need it, certainly.

Auth waves goodbye at this point, and goes about his business.

---

Auth spawns on N21, and casts Guardian on himself with Light protection, and set his Trait resistance to Poision.