Data missing. Requesting update...

[Endesu]

From his stance, he couldn't truly identify the girl... but, indeed, from what little he could discern, he would find that this person wasn't anyone he knew. No matter.

The counter was heavily covered with some sort of curtain, perhaps for the healer's privacy. The ringing of the bell, however, brought about a shift; the curtain was partially pushed away as a figure of some sort, dressed in white mage togs, appeared at the counter, looking Greg over. From Greg's perspective, the figure had set the hood in an apparent attempt to foil identification...

... but the figure was still able to see him clearly, as it began to speak. "Yes, yes, can I help you?" the healer inquired, apparently still visually inspecting him. "You look healthy enough. Do you have something else? Blight, bugs in your gut, maggots in your brain? All can be cleansed, provided you have the cash. I'm not running a charity here."

***

Justin sighed, having regained his senses, and watched the Minions do their thing. Minions... Anti-Minions... it was difficult to tell them apart at this moment. Infinity... or rather, their scientist Ninten, had made the Minion doubles eerily faithful to the original product. As to why Ninten had bothered to make Minion androids... well... there were truly some questions which could never be answered.

The apparent plan at the moment was to sit and take a brief respite from the chaos which had been transpiring as of late, and it wasn't a bad idea. However, he had to do something more... and so he attempted to open up telepathy with his 'brother' of sorts, once again.

Kelne... can you hear me? We should be a bit closer to your location by now...

Stephen remained by the wreckage for the moment, wiping his blade on his torn cape, and apparently lost in thought. Something was troubling him, that much was certain.

The Minions would find that, for some good distance away from the crash site, there was... not much. More wasteland, stretching on for miles on end. Not much that was of immediate interest or amusement, sadly enough.

***

The two would slowly pull themselves up and out of the chamber, as there was no apparent way down from there. Their ascent would uncover where the monstrous being posing as End had been, and in its wake it had opened up a rough entrance of sorts to the apparent primary path... with no Ikei in sight, either. It would seem that going down said path would be safe... for the moment.

42 sighed. "I've got the worst feeling that religious order has something to do with alla this, too. I know 93 means well and all, but... there's just something about her cult that I just can't quite trust in. That and that... image of her appearing earlier."

"... thing is, while I'd love to meet whoever's apparently responsible for any of this, I get the feeling things will only get worse from there. You'd think dealing with hordes of cannibalistic mutants on a daily basis would be enough, but apparently not."

As the two continued downward on the path which seemed to lead towards said 'holy water', a chill began to fill the air... perhaps not even a chill, more so a gust of icy cold wind.

[Kelne]

"Well, if nothing else, there's the fact that the religious types have set up shop in the middle of a tower full of said ravenous cannibal mutants with no apparent fear of being attacked whatsoever. Doesn't speak well for their common sense." Kelne shook his head, "It's all going to end badly sooner or later."

He was continuing forward, idly wondering what might be causing the sudden chill and whether he'd have to kill it, when the message came through.

Ah, Justin. Good to hear from you. Whereabouts are you?

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

For now, the cleanup operation continued, the assembled minions showing no particular inclination to venture off the ship. At least, not without something interesting presenting itself.

[Endesu]

"... I often wonder..." 42 began, but he stopped his thought midway, instead shaking his head. Perhaps at the idea of the thought, or something else altogether?

The chill persisted as the two continued to descend on the seemingly eternal staircase. It began to build as they went further, and actual icicles seemed to have formed here and there on the walls. The very building material of the tower, at this point, appeared to have shifted color to a deep, cool blue.

Hmmm. Well, as they say, there is good news and there is bad news. The good news is, we're here on this godforsaken planet.

The bad news? ... an idiotically persistent Infinity assassin decided to tag along, and ended up causing us to crash in the midst of a seemingly endless wasteland. Needless to say, this has set us off course by... oh, just a tad.

You wouldn't happen to have some sort of overly convenient macguffin, would you? Perhaps a magical portal that can gather us all up in one burst?

***

Needless to say, said cleanup operation would take quite a while, as the ship was in a very terrible state of disrepair. At the very least, there was nothing attacking them at the moment...

[Idran1701]

Glancing over her, he steps aside, gesturing to Jikuro. "Not me, it's my friend here. We were jumped, and she was hurt pretty bad. Potions weren't enough for her...can you help?"

And though the concern in his voice is truly genuine, the action is only partially, as Greg takes the chance to scan this woman's thoughts as well, hoping that she too is just what she appears to be. Wary about her hood, he prepares to snap his hand down to his hilt, but for now, he shows nothing but worry for Jikuro's state, doing his best to betray no sign of his suspicions on the off chance they prove valid.

[Endesu]

Jikuro stepped up to the plate, nodding. "Yes, I'm a bit worse for the wear."

"Well, what's your story, then? Mauled by a bear? Had a building fall on you? Wait, was it one of those Valthi trucks? I've heard about those... send you flying, leave an imprint on the way. Unfortunate business."

"... er, not quite. Just a bit of a... fight, really."

From what Greg could tell, the mage's thoughts appeared to run along the lines of...

A bit of a fight, huh. What do we have here... domestic abuse? Or maybe it's the other way around... or maybe it's mutual. I don't know anymore... people have issues. I'm not a mind doctor. Though I could be... though healing's good enough for now. I'd like more money, though.

The rambling state of mind aside, the thoughts appeared to betray nothing suspicious about the healer. For the moment, it seemed that Greg could put his suspicions to rest.

"Well, then, both 'a you can come on back. Just open the door. It's not locked... although if you opened it without my permission, I'd be liable to use my warhammer and make your skull collapse in upon itself... then heal you for that and charge you for it, too. See, I take my business seriously."

The mage peered at the sleeping woman for a moment. "Ah, she's still out. Well, good. That friend of hers was also in pretty rough shape. Worst shape I've ever seen for one of those little Muglits. Like someone playing with a teddy bear, and decided to rough up the works before tossing it away for a new toy. Which reminds me, I need to go visit that damned Ninja, his last plush toy was a piece of crap..."

Still going on, the mage turned back, allowing the curtains to close. It seemed that Greg and Jikuro could now enter the back area...

[Idran1701]

Relieved that they've found someone not wanting to kill them, Greg stays by Jikuro's side protectively as they head back, glancing around the room; curious, yet still a bit suspicious as well. As he looks about, he opens his mind to Jikuro's, speaking forth while he waits for the healer to do her work.

They both look safe. But that woman in the hall...I saw images of the moogle and the mage from that image you showed me in her mind. And Shamash too...it looked like the three of them went up against her some time recently, so she's probably on our side. And I'd bet good money that that "muglit" was the one we're looking for.

[Endesu]

The two would thusly head back into what was apparently the 'healing' area; therein was an almost exacerbatingly white area... white observation tables, white counters, white walls, white cupboards... all in all, a very sterile image, which may or may not have been the right image to use for the place.

The 'muglit' described by the healer had been set out on one of the observation table/bed structures, and was currently resting. It looked somewhat young, and a dead ringer for the one Greg had seen in the resting woman's mind.

The healer prompted Jikuro to take a seat, and promptly began to weave a few magical spells, mumbling a syllable here and splicing a syllable there. A gradual sparkle began to surround Jikuro, but apparently no actual healing had begun as of yet...

Jikuro kept on a false smile of sorts towards the healer, but gave a mental 'nod' of sorts to Greg.

Then this may be a stroke of good luck for us. Once I'm patched up, we should see to having these two come with us by some means...

[Kelne]

Quite possibly, yes, Kelne sent, relaying an image of the mechanism, along with a summary of the note, I don't suppose you know the password? He didn't sound particularly hopeful; his luck didn't run that way.

You should probably watch out for the Ikei. Bunch of degenerate lunatics, supposedly in charge of most of the planet. Apparently, they attack every day at noon, like clockwork. While we're at it, do you know anything about this place? They call it a Nerve Tower.

[Endesu]

Justin received the image, and was quick to expound upon it. Hmmm... interesting. From what I can recall via my stored information files, that mechanism is actually one of Infinity's models... easily exploitable via a particular key code combination. Originally programmed in by a programmer but never fully removed... this fault was realized some time later, and mostly ever single placement of that device was replaced with a more secure version. The fact that it's still here means that the Infinity presence must have been absent from this world for a fair degree of time...

... I digress. That exact key code... the exploit that you can use to get past it... I'm trying to recall it, but the data has either become partially corrupted as a result of recent events, or has simply been misplaced. I can get back to you on it, but it will take some time. Perhaps you can wait it out there a bit? You're not on a time limit, are you?

Justin paused while considering the second part of Kelne's message, before continuing with, Ikei? Nerve Tower? ... immediate files say nothing about the two items, but I'll do my best to search for some sort of definition. What can you tell me about them, beyond their attack patterns?

***

(Summarization of events in chat; Greg and Jikuro entered the healing area! Jikuro was healed, in the midst of further rambling from said healer! A price was discussed, and the total came up to more than either had at the moment. Assassin soon after came by, looking for the two, and ended up having to pay their fee. With Jikuro healed, the effort then turned to waking up the woman who had been resting. tbc lol)

[Kelne]

Well, I don't particularly want to stand around doing nothing under the circumstances. We've got Astrynax circa 1308 running around obsessed with 'revenge on the moogle', some cast-off of that Heart of Evil thing badly disguised as said moogle, gods only know what else getting up to mischief in the depths, and on the outside, I daresay we're looking at the closing stages of an end-of-the-world scenario.

Kelne paused to relay a history of recent events according to his hosts, not stopping his forward progress. Justin's off-hand comment had set off that sense of impending doom - an impression that yes, they were on the clock, and they really wouldn't like it if their time expired.

Bottom line is, Infinity's perpetrated their usual sequence of disasters, and the machinery they used to do it is essentially up for grabs. Now I don't know about you, but I don't trust anybody with that kind of stuff.

[Endesu]

Hmm... I see. Whether any of that is better or worse than having to deal with your Minions and mine combined... well, it's certainly up for debate. Duly noted, though... doubtless, you've already begun moving on. Just try to keep the spot in mind. Who knows... we may stumble across an unlikely nugget of luck.

Justin paused for a good bit of time after Kelne's transmission of recent events. This pause allowed Kelne to truly notice how much colder the temperature had become in this part of the Tower - so cold, in fact, that the entire structure had apparently become as ice. That blue color earlier had been hinting at what was to come, apparently. The stairs descended on, ever endlessly...

Dire events as of late, it would seem. Particularly information concerning that Heart of Evil... I was fairly certain your lot had killed it, but then I suppose that nothing related to Infinity knows when to die anymore. Why it's posing as that moogle, I couldn't say.

There was another pause in the transmission before Justin's voice continued. Listen... something just came to me. You said 'Nerve' Tower, correct? If so... then your time may most definitely be limited. Given the presence of the Ikei and the religious order you mentioned, your circumstances have worsened by at least tenfold. Somewhat impressive, actually.

42 finally spoke as he and Kelne continued their descent downward. "The ice... you see this ice, frozen around us? ... I, I can't say for certain how, but I know that this was, at one point, Pure Water. It flowed liberally here, but... conditions transpired.

... the Water, for better or for worse, is leading us downward."

[Kelne]

Kelne frowned somewhat. It sounded almost like 42 was saying that there was something deliberate at work here. He brushed a hand up against the ice, taking care not to let it become stuck, and tried to get a sense of what energies might be at work here.

If it was, as 42 said, a single frozen block of water, then the presence of stairs descending through otherwise solid ice was indeed suspicious.

Oh, it gets worse. There's an Enlil duplicate leading the cult. Calls herself 93. I'm also taking the tour with one 42, which rather suggests there's a production line working away somewhere.

Kelne frowned slightly. Every so often, some thought would remind him just how thoroughly his world had been overturned. In his younger days, he wouldn't have had the faintest idea what a 'production line' was, let alone been able to reference one in conversation. Not that his improved knowledge base gave him a huge edge in dealing with the latest techno-magical monstrosities Infinity produced.

"I'm not sure I like the idea of being funneled," he remarked out loud, "But I admit to curiosity as to what purpose freezing all this water serves."

[Endesu]

Said ice, unsurprisingly, had a bit more to it than just being your standard example of frozen water. Rather, some sort of unique magical energy flowed hither and thither through it. What sort of energy, and why this water possessed it...? Kelne couldn't be sure. The sense that he would receive from this "Pure Water" would be much unlike anything he had ever gotten a hold of.

"Who can say...?," 42 responded, shrugging his shoulders. "The Nerve Tower... the meaning of so much of it is impossible to narrow down as of yet. The fact that it stands tall amidst so much wasteland... that much of the Earth's surface outside of this tower is barren, yet within the Tower, the water flows freely..." Meandering on, he eventually mumbled himself into complete silence. He certainly didn't have an answer for any of Kelne's questions at the moment.

Is that so... Justin thoughts paused once more. Well, I'm certainly filing away that bit of information. Nothing entirely helpful to report back to you as of yet, so I'll have to check back with you later.

[Kelne]

Kelne didn't bother to respond to either. The topics of conversation, for the moment, seemed to have been exhausted. He simply continued downwards, on the lookout for any of the expected horrors that supposedly infested the place. He wasn't entirely sure whether their absence from this area was a good thing or not.

[Endesu]

For some time, then, the two progressed downwards. The temperature continued to drop, yet the appearance of the tower around them remained much the same...

... eventually, however, the stairs descended into a room. The room was, more or less, empty, and there seemed to be of little interest beyond an opening into yet another flight of stairs leading downward...

... save for what appeared to be a somewhat tall man dressed in religious robes, staring off into a seemingly random corner of the room. He appeared to bear a miniature set of fluffy angelic wings, but the rest of him was most certainly not fluffy; his bald head was stark and impossible to ignore. His eyes, though they appeared to see the two of them, were entirely milky white.

Further, a similar-looking face appeared to have been transplanted onto his mid-section and also glanced at them briefly before looking away. For whatever reason, said second face was vertically flipped.

42 stared at the new man. "... this man..."

He caught himself for a moment, shook his head, and then pointed onward. "Never mind, he seems to be one of the religious type. Let's move on before he preaches at us."

[Kelne]

"I'm going to regret this," Kelne muttered before stepping forward slightly, "Greetings, sir. Might I ask what brings you to this little corner of the tower?"

The face affixed to his stomach suggested he might be some variety or other of ikei, but he hadn't attacked them yet, it was possible they might get some information out of him.

[Endesu]

42 hesitated, staying back as Kelne approached the man in question.

Said man took a longer look at Kelne as he approached, sniffing slightly as the former tyrant spoke. He did not speak for a moment, and simply took the time to stare. A semi-uncomfortable silence later, he finally spoke, with a rather condescending tone, to boot. "I am a Lesser Angel of the Order of Malkuth, and I am currently searching for something. What purpose does one like you, who is defrocked of any attachment to God, have in exploring this tower? If the creatures above did not slaughter you, they will surely do so below."

[Kelne]

"I'm sure they'll try," Kelne said, "Now, I suppose I could respond to your derision in kind, but holding the moral high ground over a celestial amuses me. So I'll give you the opportunity to rethink your stance." He waited for a few moments for the self-proclaimed lesser angel's response.

[Endesu]

The apparent celestial snorted. "Perhaps the Ikei can better grant you an audience? I have more important tasks to attend to beyond standing here with you. There is a traitor loose within the tower, and traitors must be dealt with the utmost of severity."

That said, he began to simply walk away from Kelne, apparently annoyed enough to move on.

[Kelne]

"Good luck with that," Kelne said, deciding that had been a collossal waste of his time and making for the stairs down.

[Endesu]

The apparent lesser angel ascended the stairs behind them, leaving Kelne and 42 alone. Naturally, the duo wasted no time in returning to the stairs.

42 waited for a bit - perhaps attempting to insure that the man was a fair distance away - before talking to Kelne, tone unsteady. "That man... he was one of them. Their religion... that priest above, 93, and all of those other fools. All a part of the Order of Malkuth.

... I am not entirely certain why, but seeing that man made me feel all the worse about this entire situation, especially given the Order's possible connection. I..."

42's partial rant apparently went on long enough to temporarily distract the two. As his speech halted, the two found that not only had the stairs opened up into another small 'room' of sorts, but that the ice had apparently thawed at this point, and was not flowing into a large fountain of sorts near the center of the room. A large variety of luscious flora grew here and there about the fountain... an unusual sight in a barren world like this.

Above the fountain floated what appeared to be a woman in a tattered red and white robe; the sleeves were quite long, and extended over her hands. Her hair, long and blonde, spilled over her shoulders, revealing a long and twisted 'hair pattern' of sorts. Her eyes, while blue in color, also seemed 'empty'.

What had apparently halted 42 was her rather empty glance; it was apparently enough to bring him down to his knees. "... here... as well..." So saying, he cowered slightly behind Kelne.

She seemed to stare through Kelne, looking at 42 still. "Your water... why did you never give me your water? We... we were unable to become as one..."

She waved a seeming hand over the fountain. "This pure water from above... it continues below... uninterrupted..."

With that, she seemingly disappeared in mid-air, leaving the scene with simply the fountain, Kelne, and 42. The fountain was indeed flowing with water, most likely the thawed form of the ice that had covered a number of the floors above. It seemed unusually clean and picturesque, which may have explained the presence of plant life in the area.

"..." 42 remained in a dumb silence for a moment, but he slowly picked himself up and brushed past Kelne without a word. He remained standing for a moment longer, next to the fountain... before charging down the stairs leading further downward, apparently trying to leave Kelne behind.

[Kelne]

"Hold it right there, mister!" Kelne snapped, pursuing at speed, "You do not get to dash off and get yourself killed on my watch. I don't care how creepy the denizens of this place are."

[Endesu]

42 seemed to, at the very least, hear Kelne, and slowly came to a halt. "... it's... it's not that... given the nature of the Ikei, a floating woman would certainly be the least of my worries... but..."

He had kept his back turned to Kelne during this time, but he slowly came to face the former tyrant now, eyes downcast. "... she seems... very familiar, somehow. I... I thought she had simply gone further down, and... I feel like I need to follow her, is all. No... not that I will, of course. I have a job, so if you would excuse my choice of action here...."

He mumbled something else just under his breath, but ultimately came back up the stairs into the fountain/plant chamber of sorts, eyes still downcast as he did so.

[Kelne]

"Right then. Just so we're clear," Kelne said, "Not much point in staying up here, but let's try less of a breakneck rush this time, shall we?" He started down the next set of stairs. It the pattern thus far was anything to go by, there would be some other weirdo in the next room.

"You need to remember that however familiar many of these people may seem, the vast majority of them are probably quite capable of getting you killed if you let your guard down."

[Endesu]

It is late at night. Perhaps only a hour or so before dawn. This is typically a time where most would remain at rest.

This unspoken rule did not apply for one man, who found himself sitting up in bed. Taking a moment to allow his ragged breathing and thumping heart to settle, he gradually brings himself off of the bed and into a standing position. He takes a few steps towards a nearby table and briefly fumbles for something... a cigarette. One more fumble produces a box of matches to go with it.

Once he successfully manages to combine the cigarette with a match's flare, he walks over to the window and peers out at the night sky. The glittering stars there briefly comfort him, and it is only now that he allows himself to take a drag on his cigarette. He peers downward, looking over the city of Doma at large. Briefly feeling bitter over those who are able to successfully rest without having to worry about the odd onset of night terrors, he steps away from the window and makes his way downstairs.

It has been... how many? At least ten? Ten years since the so-called "Seven Plagues Incident". Honestly, the "Psychic Killer Incident" would have worked just as well, but... well, one thing at a time.

His destination is the same as always: his office. Not much of one, considering it basically turned into a storage room after his retirement, but the decaying smell of paper is enough to give it the same feeling. He cracks open that one particular box, uncovering that one particular folder.

"Gareth Daneis Case Files". He flips through the contents, already knowing which page he's aiming for. The "Seven Plagues Incident" hits him before he's ready for it, but no matter. He pores over the contents. He already knows what he'll find here. There have been no further clues. However... he still needs to do this. It's the only thing that allows his heart and mind to settle, if only until the next time.

Job postings for a serial killer supposedly targeting psychics. The destination listed did not exist at the time of the investigation and most certainly still did not. The woman who had apparently talked to potential applicants - a woman with pointed ears and a gun - seemed to have disappeared off the face of the planet. This wouldn't have been much of an issue by itself, but the corpses and disappearances popping up almost immediately after complicated things.

The bodies of unidentified individuals turned up. Some in the city. Others in the forest and beyond. A large man, missing a head. A Nekonian with multiple gaping wounds. A White Mage apparently bludgeoned to death. A man dressed only in filthy bandages, apparently having frozen to death. A document turned up from parts unknown, identifying some of these individuals as "The Seven Plagues"... descriptions of them brought about eyewitness reports of them being seen locked in combat, but for what purpose? Why? There was no way to know, now.

The disappearances... a number of individuals well-known to the Doman Guard seemed to have vanished off the face of the planet right around the time of these events. Acquaintances of the missing were unable to give any further elucidation. All of these things happening around the same time... it felt as if there must be something connecting all of it together, but what? Having reached the end of the document, he glared at the ceiling, as if hoping the ghosts of the past would peer down through it and answer him.

Time had moved on. The bodies had been buried in common lots. Those who had disappeared were mourned by those who remained, but that was all that could be done. Doma had marched on as it always had. At this point, it seemed, only he was still haunted by this case.

As his cigarette slowly began to sputter out, he began the final step of his cycle. The folder was returned to its resting place. The box was resealed. He left his former office, making his way up the stairs and eventually reaching his bed once again. He snuffed the dying cig out in an ashtray that cried out for cleaning, and gave the night sky outside one more glance before he returned to bed.

He hoped that, perhaps, whichever force out there had decided that things should turn out in such a way... with so many questions left unanswered and so many fates unaccounted for... was, at least, unhappy with how things turned out. That was the only way he feel he could get some rest.

[Endesu]

Elsewhere, perhaps around the same time. Perhaps not. A voice is distinctly heard.

"Idiot. What are you doing, just sitting there? Shouldn't you be doing something to help? You're not just going to let him do all of the work, are you?"

The recipient of this harshly worded greeting said nothing, but they couldn't remain silent forever. Their conversational partner would wait for a response, regardless of how long it took. Said response was a deep-throated murmuring, indistinct to any but the other person there.

"You know just as well as I do, don't you? That thing caught me off guard. I've prepared for quite a bit, but... not enough for that, I guess? Heh. Regardless of how well you think you've prepared, something's always bound to pop up and remind you how green you still are.

I'm... not tryin to just make him do the labor here, but it can't be helped, you know? I'm kinda stuck like this."

A click of the tongue in response. "Tch... what happened to you? I thought you weren't going to go through all of this again. Look, I get it. You feel like you owe this guy quite a bit. In spite of everything that had happened prior, he still gave you the space you needed to pull yourself back together. I can understand starting to get a bit soft around him. Everything else, though... losing a body part here, getting caught off-guard there. If you had made mistakes like this on any of your previous jobs, you would have been dead a long time ago, you know?"

"Well... this place isn't like any of the other jobs before. Before, if we really needed em, the others were around somewhere. Now? Even if some of em are still kicking, who the hell knows where they are? Wherever it is, doesn't do us any favors. Place is bad, too. Kinda hard not to get worn down when everything's set up in the worst kinda way."

"You're not wrong... but you're still making excuses. Just shut up, OK? Listen to me."

"..."

"We made a promise, didn't we? We weren't going to give into what fate apparently had lined up for us. We've stumbled a few times by now, but something's always brought us back up. We can't always count on that. If the worst happens, we'll need to support ourselves. Do you understand that?"

"... I'm not ditchin the guy at this point, OK?"

"I already know, dummy. Listen. I'm just saying. We're not going to let the worst happen, but if it does, we need to carry on regardless. It's not a task we're happy about taking on, but we need to do it. Once all's said and done, we can reevaluate things from there. For now, we just need to actually start thinking again. Use what we have instead of sitting and crying until the man comes in to save us. Now, what do we have?"

"Bastard took our stuff, so. Nothin."

"We've picked up something more useful than anything in those bags, you know? Just like me, it'll also never leave you. You just have to remember to actually use it. Maybe if you'd done as much in the first place, we wouldn't be here right now."

"Ah... you're talkin about that, huh? Think I should let him know?"

"No... let him focus on what he's doing. We'll take care of this."

The conversational partner could not be seen by any but this person. Regardless, their presence was undeniable for the individual there. These words... this reminder of their company... was enough for that inner strength to begin returning.

[Endesu]

"Excuse me... madam?"

The servant created for the very task of rousing her knew that his voice had been heard. He also knew that his master would rise when she so wished and no sooner. Indeed, one of her favorite activities of late seemed to be little more than listlessly floating in the void for hours... days... weeks at a time.

At one point, he had asked her about this, making sure to phrase it as eloquently as possible. "Madam, your opponents do seem to be making some progress. Are you sure you wish for them to continue unimpeded?"

"Yes." That was all she had to offer on the subject, and he knew quite well there was nothing to be gained from pushing it. He was quite aware that she could tear him apart easily, much as one would a sheet of paper. Granted, he knew his dissolution was inevitable, given her plans... but he had no issues with continued existence. Preferred it, in fact.

So it was that he could do nothing but stand there as untold amounts of time passed. A blessing, perhaps, that the concept did not really exist in this setting. An eternity of waiting for others was business as usual for him.

Finally, she spoke. The girl remained as a collapsed heap, but she spoke clearly enough.
"Tell me... what was your name again?"

"Droug, madam."

"Droug, right." She slowly came to stand and stretched, yawning. "Pardon me. I am not intentionally trying to forget your name, but ever since I had to... do that, I haven't been up to much in the way of thinking. Made it very easy to forget about things such as names and the like."

"It is not an issue, madam."

"For so long, I've been thinking."

Droug had prepared himself for this. She had said nothing to any of her underlings for so long that her words had surely been building up, just waiting for the proper audience to verbally unload upon. Once she got her monologue out of the way, they would finally be able to move on with things.

"Just what am I doing? What is it that I really desire out of all of this? I've stained my hands with blood that is impossible to clean away... killing the person most important to me. The love of my life. I did that so I could get on with that whole 'eradicate all of existence' thing, kicking things off with that fake world and the people trapped on it! The more I've thought about it, though... where I am now, and how things have been going... the less any of it seems like something I'd want to do. More like what that stupid spider made of hate would want." She sighs, shaking her head in disgust.

"Are you feeling... bad about any of this, madam? Is destruction of everything not what you desire?"

"It is what Daddy created me to do, and I did enjoy my time with it... when I was going up against her. An opponent who could match my moves. Who could, potentially, defeat me even with the odds against her. If I didn't have that dumb beast's power, she may very well have done just that! Now, though... with her gone... I find myself struggling to care. Who's even left to stop me, now? An ex-conman. A dumb cat who doesn't know how to shut her mouth. Two hired killers way out of their league. The corpse of a has-been mage. What can they even do?" The girl, clearly agitated, began nipping at her fingernails. A bad habit, to be sure, but one Droug knew better than to comment on.

"Do I just go and kill them now? Do I wait for them to overcome all of those worthless life-links the hate beast established and THEN go kill them? I'm not even sure if I'd care whether one of those life-link things did the job for me.

Do you get me, Draug? I've set myself up with such a severe handicap yet they STILL seem incapable of making a difference. Where's the fun in kicking off the apocalypse of existence itself if victory here seems like it would be so hollow?" She's really digging in on those things. Draug verbally intercepts before she can make too much progress.

"Have you considered other ways of going about this, madam? Attacking them in a manner that is less physically-oriented?"

She sighs, waving a hand dismissively at him. At the very least, she is no longer chewing on her nails. "I already tried something like that with the stupid man and the cat. Both rejected me. So boring." She sighs again, deeper and more despondently. "It would have been truly fun to see that dumb conman go through with it, too... oh well."

"There are other methods of attack, madam. Consider all of the tools we have available. If you want your victory to be more interesting... strike at weak points. If you want your victory to be more difficult... introduce more conflicting factors. There is also nothing stopping you from getting things moving elsewhere, so to speak."

The girl nods and smiles. "You're right, Draug. God, you're so right. That's why I keep you around. Giving me that little boost to help push me right out of ennui!"

The man bowed deeply. "I live to serve, madam. Shall we get going, then? There is much to do."

"Yeah... let's make things interesting again. I swear that by the end of things, I'll stain these blue borders with red."

[Endesu]

He had no doubt that the irritating man would not be returning anytime soon, but he remained in his position at the blackboard. He most certainly did not want to return to his seat, make himself comfortable, and find himself forced to deal with an unwanted guest once again. He was aware of the existential absurdity of waiting for time to pass in a space where such things did not exist... but no matter. It was the principle of thing. There was no sense in second guessing his actions at this point. If he intended to stand and wait like a fool, he was damn well going to do as much of it as he liked.

Once he was satisfied with the amount of (non-existent) time spent on this one player waiting game, he finally allowed himself to return to the table he had been sitting at previously. With nary a flicker of hesitation, a bottle of spirits was hefted into the air. A portion of its contents were poured into a waiting glass receptacle, and the contents were downed. This action repeated itself once... twice... thrice. He had room for more, to be sure, but he had discovered an unfortunate side effect by way of a bit too much of this solo imbibery...

"Astrynax, Astrynax, Astrynax... haven't I warned you before not to drink in excess? Your mind and soul can still be poisoned in place of your body, after all."

He sighed. Naturally enough, here she was. Somehow, his miserable drinking habits had brought about... hallucinations? Alcohol-induced daydreams? Whatever the case, his poisonous habit was capable of conjuring up an imaginary Enlil to harangue him over his current failings. Never in a particularly harsh way, mind, but in that well-meaning, almost-but-not-quite-passive-aggressive tone she had been capable of weaponizing. A silver tongue that could wound its target better than any physical weapon or spell...

"You'll excuse me if I don't take your advice to heart, Enlil." He always responded readily enough, in spite of knowing how pointless such an action was. He never cared to think about the how and why of it, but his own personal loneliness was an obvious factor. That and as irritating as her insistent moralizing always tended to be, she had been one of the people he earnestly respected. He was, ultimately, incapable of ignoring her words, imaginary or otherwise. "I don't really have much else to spend my time on beyond poring over the same old forbidden tomes. A bit of liquor always did help when it came to dealing with accursed knowledge."

From her seat opposite his, she gave him a mildly patronizing glance before sighing and shaking her head. "You say that, but it's not as if you're short on tea to drink. Your enclosed space holds more than books. The only thing keeping you locked into this cycle is your own personal desire to not move beyond it. We both know you're capable of doing better."

Astrynax scoffed. "It's easy for you to say that. You've always been the moral paragon. Acting above vice was second nature to somebody like you. I know you're not trying to peer down upon me too condescendingly from your ivory tower of virtue, but..."

Before the mage could go off on a caustic spiel, the hallucinatory celestial held up a hand to shush him. She sighed. "Please calm yourself. I am not here to start an argument with you over something like this. Astrynax... I know you are lonely. I know you are filling the void in whatever way you can manage. You think me to be nothing but a creation of your inebriated mind, but... I am far more real than you think. I've come to give you some solace after so many years of isolation. Company. A new direction. All you need to do..."

Her hand opened up and extended towards him. "... is take my hand. You can leave this place behind, and return to a path of spiritual healing. I will be there with you, my friend."

Something stirred within Astrynax's heart, and it was with no hesitation that he seized her hand... and almost immediately regretted what he had done. Far too late, he realized that none of his previous hallucinations had attempted to physically interact with him. They had remained as obvious figments of his alcohol-addled imagination... this one, however, had a physical hold on him. An all too real sensation... and the reasoning for this became clear as 'Enlil' sloughed off its fake skin. A girl barely half his height had taken her place. A ludicrous-looking child with pale skin, red highlights, and a flowing robe that was clearly far too big for her. By all rights, this should have been a sight of mockery... but something within this child was off. There was no humanity to be found within the shell in front of him. Something much more monstrous raged there instead, and merely beholding it was enough to terrify him.

So it was that his immediate reaction was to pull up a technique he hadn't considered in nigh-on a decade.

***

The girl knew she was alone, so she allowed herself to stomp on the floor. Stomp, stomp, stomp. She wasn't trying to create a hole or anything... she just wanted to let some of her frustration out. That was where everything had gone wrong. The mage had blown himself up. She had been caught offguard by such a stupid move, and while it hadn't hurt her, it blinded her long enough to give that bastard a chance to escape.

Now he was gone, and she had no idea as to where. This was what she had wanted, sure... she didn't want any of this to be too easy for her... but something about how this had turned out did not sit well with her. She stomped a bit more, knocked over a random bookshelf, and finally tracked down an extra copy of that mage's robe, tearing it to pieces with her bare hands. For a moment she remained standing there, glaring at the tattered remnants of red cloth... before she sighed and shrugged. "Fine. FINE. I've got other things to do anyway."

She disappeared from the ruined space, leaving silence in her wake.

[Endesu]

The man lingered at the bar for far longer than he had originally intended. By this point, he was no longer actively consuming the stuff but nursing it, making it last. Not the ideal way to go about drinking, to be sure, but it was the best way to put the inevitable off... until, as luck would have it, the unavoidable came knocking. Not knocking so much as taking a seat next to his and blowing cigarette smoke into his face.

No sense in dragging things out, then. The rest of the glass went down his gullet. He set it down but did not turn to face his guest. There was no need for it. "Little young for a place like this."

"Funny. I'm surprised she hasn't found you yet." His conversation partner snuffed her dwindling smoke out with the assistance of a nearby ashtray. "You're not exactly trying to keep yourself hidden here."

"I came this far only because I make it my business to not be noticed." His glass was set down onto a coaster. The ice within clinked slightly. "You're one to talk about staying hidden, coming out to a place like this. You died, yet here you are. If the wrong people see you, they'll talk."

The girl smirked. "Don't worry about that. I'm just taking advantage of a loophole."

The man nodded. "Broad strokes, I understand. What next?"

"You're going to be needed at the church."

"..."

"Look, I know you like your drink and all, but they're going to need your help..."

"No. I just wanted to keep the kid waiting. I had this idea in mind of jumping out and surprising her..."

"... well, you can still do that. Just, with a bullet. Aimed at the enemy. That would be a better surprise. It would keep them alive, too."

For the first time in this conversation, the man dropped his perpetual stoicism to force a fake sigh. "Your ex isn't there?"

"I mean, she might be? There's a sacrificial lion left behind, though. No way she'll pass up on that. By the time she's done with her, you should be done."

He nodded. "Transportation?"

The girl smirked again. "Got a ride waiting for you just outside. A grounded airship. It uses an array of shovels and netting to propel itself along."

The very concept of it sounded ridiculous, but that didn't really matter to him. As long as it worked. "Does it come with a pilot?"

"An entire army of them. Just say you know 'the Boss' and they'll go right along with things. Just don't count on them for much else. Their ringleader can barely keep them in check."

That was enough. He stood, reequipping his colorful mask. He glanced back towards the girl, but she was gone. Of course. He turned to the bartender, who did not seem to be aware of a conversation just now transpiring in front of her, and tossed a small wad of bills her way.. "Thanks."

The pink-haired woman caught the currency with a practiced hand and cheerfully nodded. "Come on back, now!"

Nothing more to say or do here. He was already heading out the door to the waiting shovelship.