2018-07-31: We'll Be With You

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  • Log: We'll Be With You
  • Cast: Riesenlied, Noeline, Lily Keil
  • Where: The Mind
  • Date: 31st July 2018
  • Summary: Riesenlied, Noeline and Lily recuperate after the events at Uzda il-Jam... and decide to do a bit of soul searching.


<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied absolutely... needed some time after the battle with the Beast of the Lost Land, after entering the sanctum of Uzda il-Jam.

The experience was harrowing, to say the least -- a spiritual influence that had well and truly pushed her extrasensory senses past her physical ones, and made her lost on her sea of personalities...

And that's why she's here at the beaches of the island, perhaps due to Noeline's ushering to get her somewhere comfortable and inviting; she's taken a lot of damage in that battle, but her Fereshte gown is fairly well-made owing to the threads that run through it. With Lily on hand, she's probably received medical treatment too!

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline has certainly been quietly insistent about Riesenlied taking some time to rest - and loudly insistent as well, as she ushers the other Metal Demon to some cover under some beachside trees within sight of the waters. While they don't have much in the way of things with them to enjoy the vacation, she has at least been able to procure together some blankets for Riesenlied to sit on, and another for her to throw over a nearby tree branch to provide some sun cover.

The spy herself looks ridiculously out of place sat on the beach, largely due to being massively overdressed for it - not that Noeline wouldn't try to vogue if she'd had the chance to prepare, but as far as either of them knew they were chasing Riesenlied's voices rather than preparing for a spot of sunbathing.

"... haaah..." she sighs to herself, but it's a relieved noise more than anything as she bumps against the other demon's side.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Indeed, Lily made certain to /insist/ on checking out Riesenlied after everything that happened, though it's not hard to tell that the battle took a great toll on her, as well. She's pale to the point of being ashen, and there was blood trailing down her face--her eyes are /still/ bloody, though it doesn't seem to impact her vision much. She agreed to get some rest herself when it was assuredly insisted on.

Now, though, Lily looks... almost less out of place? Given that with most others leaving, she's elected actual beachwear, a two-piece black swimsuit that shows most of her strange circuit markings fully; the way they stretch now to the base of her neck across her clavicle all the way down to her fingertips, cradling her arms, and then down her sides as well. No scars, as usual, though she has her armored jacket draped over her shoulders as she stretches out a blanket to sit on herself.

"Nn," Lily agrees, closing her eyes for the moment. There's still a faint glow to them, in addition to... the rest, and she has a strip of cloth and a bag of bandages handy.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

It-- it may be, ultimately, a good thing that they didn't have a chance to prepare. Because Riesenlied probably would've melted red and flailed and gotten a bit jealous...

... as is /still/ somewhat the case as she tucks her head down and looks away bashfully from Lily. "This place was not what I was hoping... in a way, yet at the same time..." she draws in a shaky, struggling breath for a moment. She presses a hand against her chest, making a stilted little noise.

"Thank you... the both of you. I feel like it was... with the help of both of you that I was able to return to my senses."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline looks quietly amused, shaking her head slightly to herself at the sight of Lily next to them. She's obviously taken notice of the circuits and the way their reach has extended - but she knows when to leave topics well enough alone, and isn't the sort to push matters at times like this - or at least has learnt a little more in the way of patience and restraint.

"... it is certainly rather curious. To have a place so free of Malevolence... it makes me wonder what exactly is beyond that seal, but I can't say I'm terrifically fired up to check it right here and now," she sighs with quiet amusement, fanning herself lightly in the sun. With some of her armor stripped and laid in a pile to one side, she looks a little smaller.

"... I only did what I had promised - to call for you, if you're lost," she replies quietly, and with a small but genuine smile.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

As unusual as it is for Lily to let people /see/ her circuits to this extent, there are some clues about why she might to those who look. As she sits down, she seems to treat the markings gently, as if the skin around them might be sore. ...But she doesn't dwell. "I wasn't expecting this place at all," Lily admits. "But such a clear place..."

Lily nods. "I couldn't say what's there. I intend to find out, but..." She trails off, stretching her legs out and crossing them at the ankle, one hand down to support herself and the other reaching into her bag. ...Lily doesn't look much smaller without her armor, really.

...She doesn't draw attention to Riesenlied's bashfulness. "I..." She stops, closes her eyes again. "I'm not even certain what I did," Lily admits. "But I had to... find you. I couldn't..."

It's hard to say. "...You two wouldn't rather be alone, would you?" Lily finds herself saying, suddenly self-conscious herself.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied glances to those circuits for a moment. She's seen them before, treated around them before... even sensed a little of the magics coursing through them. It's another way in which they're mirrors, with how the scales have been growing over her skin in a threat to take over.

"... to be honest, I had high hopes of finding an Elw teleporter. So much of this place-- reminded me of that, but after what had happened... maybe not?" Riesenlied tilts her head. "It felt likely that we could have found a way back to Filgaia here... but perhaps that is wishful thinking."

She smiles a bit wider, amidst her soft wheezing. "... I heard you both. I know it... I don't know what happened, but-- that much I instinctively... just know."

She looks to Noeline again, then back to Lily. "No, of course not. We'll have a lot of time to ourselves later." She squeezes Noeline's hand. "... I should teach you how to... reach me. I think you have the power to do so now, with the Medium awakened within you..."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"... given the sensation in the place, I wondered if it might be some sort of anti-Malevolent temple. Of course, then it decided to let the Furies show up, and tossed a gigantic Malevolent dog at us," Noeline grumbles as she folds her arms, leaning against Riesenlied comfortably as she sighs. "A way back to Filgaia, perhaps-- but I would take a means to prevent the spread of Malevolence, as well. I suppose all we can do is have a look inside later."

She gives Lily a glum look, but it's entirely fake, and the light of amusement dances in her eyes. "... it's fine," she allows after a moment with a huff of air. "As Riese says, we will always have time later, and it isn't as if we know whether the effects of the temple have all been resolved just yet. Better we stay in numbers for the time being, I would suggest."

She has to pause at her partner's suggestion, and her eyebrows hitch upwards in genuine surprise. "Ah... are you sure? I have never been as good at you at such things, but... the more ways we have, the better."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily doesn't meet Riesenlied's eyes for a moment; it would seem that, much like her scales, Lily finds her patterns to be something that sets her apart. But then, it's more comfortable for her to keep her eyes closed, regardless.

"...I'd have liked to have found a way back," Lily admits. "But the dampening of Malevolence is worthwhile on its own." She pauses. "...It seemed to me that it was containing the creature, here. Preventing it from doing more harm elsewhere."

The glum look actually makes Lily crack a smile once she recognizes what it is. "...All right," she says. "Yes, it's wiser. I was just... Aware. I didn't want to be in the way." Awkward, compared to Lily usually. "...I'm glad you did. I just thought... I was drawing so much in already; I know how to draw in life energy. I'm just relieved I didn't hurt you trying."

She still feels a connection, she thinks, but it's hard... to pin down. As if it didn't quite break.

"I..." She pauses. "I was actually wondering, if... You wouldn't... mind trying to connect to... me, sometime. It--Ah, that sounds wrong. That's not what I mean."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily doesn't meet Riesenlied's eyes for a moment; it would seem that, much like her scales, Lily finds her patterns to be something that sets her apart. But then, it's more comfortable for her to keep her eyes closed, regardless.

"...I'd have liked to have found a way back," Lily admits. "But the dampening of Malevolence is worthwhile on its own." She pauses. "...It seemed to me that it was containing the creature, here. Preventing it from doing more harm elsewhere."

The glum look actually makes Lily crack a smile once she recognizes what it is. "...All right," she says. "Yes, it's wiser. I was just... Aware. I didn't want to be in the way." Awkward, compared to Lily usually. "...I'm glad you did. I just thought... I was drawing so much in already; I know how to draw in life energy. I'm just relieved I didn't hurt you trying."

She still feels a connection, she thinks, but it's hard... to pin down. As if it didn't quite break.

"I..." She pauses. "I was actually wondering, if... You wouldn't... mind trying to connect to... me, sometime. It--Ah, that sounds wrong. That's not what I mean. God," she mutters, putting her face in her hands. "I mean my mind is--" ...Lily /might/ actually be red, for once in her life.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"It felt a bit different. Perhaps because of its sheer loyalty to the daughter in the vision..." Riesenlied whispers, pausing. "Despite being a Hellion, it felt-- different in a way. Like it was enduring it. Perhaps Uzda il-Jam let the more corruptive elements of it at bay."

She looks at Noeline with an encouraging smile, leaning against her. "The only way to learn is to do, and I would be more comfortable knowing you can help me out if the worst comes--"

She pauses at Lily, turning a little red for a moment as well as she clings to Noeline's arm for a moment. It might be the closest Riesenlied has ever come to looking impish, which is not very much.

"... should we try it? It might be a good time, given that this area feels safe, and my body needs a while to recover anyway."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"I don't doubt that you're both correct. I suppose what I'm concentrating on myself is how exactly it managed to do that. If it were something we could replicate, or learn for ourselves..." she trails off - but then puts it out of her mind a few seconds later, shaking her head. "In any case, it can wait. Better that I not concentrate on 'what-ifs' until we're a bit more hale and hearty."

"No, I understand," she snickers at the warrior next to them. "Consider that we're used to having the children around, and then Fei or the Fiends or the rest of the Ebony Wings. We're used to having people around us - and it's not like I'd let that stop me too much if Riesenlied needed some affection," she adds point-blank, the glitter in her eyes suggesting she's only saying it to see people squirm.

Keeping up her theatrics, her gaze 'cools' as she looks between the pair. "--hmph-- maybe it's me who should leave the two of you alone?" she claims with an imperious flick of her hair - and then can't keep it up any further, breaking into a laugh. "I suppose so. Just-- please forgive me if I am a little rough or unpracticed. I'd hope instinct would see me through, but still..."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"...Maybe," Lily allows. "Or maybe we just had a chance to see what it was before it became what it did. ...Is it unusual, to be able to hang onto what you are, on some level? I just don't know." She pauses. There's something she isn't saying, of course. But the matter of learning, of helping--

"Ah, yes, it's good to... focus on what's here..." Noeline snickers at her, but that much is fine. "...Yes, that's true," she allows. "I suppose I'm just uncertain. I miss Leon," she admits. ...There's a /little/ squirm there. Just a little. But--

Noeline's teasing causes Lily to slump her shoulders that much harder. "Ah..." When she laughs, Lily finds herself relieved. "I appreciate it. I... Well, my body needs to recover too. But I... With the... strangeness, going on with my memory, I..."

She stops. "I feel like a schoolgirl," she sighs. "It's hard to ask for something like that. But yes, I think... it might be wise to try. Just tell me what I should do."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Is it unusual, to be hang onto what you are?

It's an incredibly relevant question for Riesenlied right now. "We'll get back to Leon and the others before too long," she encourages for Lily, smiling at Noeline as she says, "And I want to see the children again before long myself. Everyone's been working so hard back home..."

She draws a breath as she looks at Lily and Noeline, holding her hand out. "I'll form the conduit for the both of you, since I have the most experience with such channeling. I suppose... Noeline, if you concentrate your essence into the Medium and project it outwards... and Lily, if you do the same as you did within that battle..."

The Dragon's Tear begins to glow.

Riesenlied is scared, in a way, since she isn't certain... what they'll find inside. Going in deep means... she won't be the same, after all, behind her mask. But perhaps she's gotten a measure of the courage she needs to do that, with how much they've endured with each other.

The stream of light begins to illuminate the area, effulgently covering their senses and beginning to link them together...

Nasrin's eyes widen for a moment as she stares upwards. A gate of light is beginning to form within the mindscape. "Eh? Id?"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

With a rather aggrieved sigh, Noeline puts a hand to her head. "... it would be 'pleasant', perhaps, to sit down with one of the Furies and ask them what exactly being a Hellion means. However, I doubt that any particularly useful answers will be forthcoming," the spy grumbles unhappily, folding her arms as she makes it quite clear that she considered that the understatement of the century.

Still, she chuckles afterwards, shaking her head. "We'll see you back safe to him, never fear. Though, chances are he'll have done something ridiculous and injured himself, but I suppose we can allow a lecture or two once we find our way back to him."

She sits up a moment later, her attention laser-focused on what Riesenlied is saying and suggesting. It makes her puff out a breath, and flex a hand uncertainty. "... I see. As a means to display what we should be sensing?" she wonders to herself under her breath; Duras Drum is the Guardian of Illusion, after all, and perhaps Noeline can think of what they're about to do better by thinking of it as a hijacking of their senses.

The newfound ease with which she can call on the power within her has not left after leaving the temple; the rush of sorcery comes much faster than she expected, flowing through her without racing across her skin like fire - and then radiating outwards, as the space around them grows dark and shrouds their senses--

--"... not exactly," huffs the Metal Demon, one hand on her hip.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"...No, I don't think they know themselves," Lily admits about the Furies. "...Not that I can... trust..." Lily considers the main voice she knows of on Malevolence, and shudders briefly; Riesenlied can /feel/ that mix of fear and discomfort. Lily moves on from it quickly.

Meanwhile, Lily's not used to needing encouragement--or well, allowing it. But in this case, she dips her head a little and manages a smile. "It's been too long already. Though..." She waits a beat, "Well, I hope not." Lily does worry. Much as she doesn't tend to admit it.

But the instructions come, and Lily feels as much as sees the glow. She can feel that fear, too--at first. "All... right." Sorcery floods her senses just nearby. But it all starts to grow dark, and Lily draws in a breath. "Do... what I did..."

She tries to find that focus, to /pull/ the way that she did before; it may be an uncomfortable sensation for Riesenlied at first, before Lily finds the strength in the tie and... Lets go.

There's a thud, back in the real world, as Lily's body slumps, a puppet with cut strings.

A hazy Lily stands at the gate, dressed in her black military attire. "...No," Lily answers, and her voice is quiet. "Not Id."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied bristles for a moment, in the real world. She certainly has sensed the Domains of Ida and the others during that fight, even with her senses clouded... it's difficult to deal with, especially in the context of a battle where a thousand myriad emotions are swarming the place at a time.

But then...

~*~

Let's not make this whole scene dark gray.

The mindscape Noeline and Lily enter is... a dark, hexagonal room. It's frigid -- Noeline can immediately tell this is the exact frigidity and weather of Arctica, during a particularly moonless night. It'd be a problem, but...

Well, cold in a mindscape is not exactly physical cold, but a manifestation of a mental symptom conjuring itself such.

Loneliness. Isolation. Grief.

The room has the auspices of a Baskar household, though it's in deplorable, ruin-like state. Timber furniture has been shattered and besotted with frost; a large Fereshte ankh sits upon the back wall, glinting as it hangs to one side.

In the middle is...

A blonde Hyadean with scales covering her flesh, seated upon a chair. Horns protrude from either side of her head. She's dressed in a tattered, old garment that Noeline can identify as a Photosphere neonate suit; it's been shredded with shards of ice and exteme weather. But most strikingly of all--

She's wearing a mask. A mask with gentle features, warm and nurturing... her head droops to one side, as if she's asleep.

"You are... Noeline? Lily?" the corpse called 'Nasrin' asks, genuinely surprised as she steps back.

Nasrin herself looks the part of a Baskar shaman from Elluria, though... it rather does look like she has been dead for weeks, if not years. Slathered in what might be her own blood, her flesh tattered and rotting, her hair bitten with frost right down to her fingertips where they turn a cold-blue from similar conditions.

"How did you get in here? /Why/ are you in here?"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline takes in the whole scene, sucking in a breath that's more instinctual than intentional. In the immediate aftermath of her first quip, whatever else she was about to say dies quickly on her lips. Her eyes are wide, first at the abrupt change in sensation, the feeling of coldness as real as anything she felt back on Elru - and then at their surrounds. She never ventured out into the wilderness of the nomad tribes, but it doesn't take much in the way of local knowledge to pick out where this influence comes from.

Next is-- the woman sat in the middle. It takes an effort for Noeline to not dart forwards and assume that Riesenlied is in danger; she even jolts momentarily, in fact, before catching herself as she realizes this isn't something she can translate so literally back to the real world. Instead she's forced to swallow, tamping down the knot in her stomach as she glances towards Lily.

A movement out of the corner of her eye indicates her form is mutable here; one moment she's a young neonate with her hair unbound around her, the next she's the Crimson Noble who danced around Adlehyde as she pleased. Noeline lets out a sharp, almost annoyed noise - and then focuses on herself and her sense of identity, resolving herself back into the black knight of Lunar.

There are questions - but the pause has given Noeline time to catch up, and she lets out a softer sigh this time before fixing her gaze directly on the dead girl, taking in the sight. "... Miss Nasrin. I-- apologise for the intrusion," she says, because who else could it be? It's kind of a lame start, but she's got to begin somewhere. "To be honest, I'm not sure I wholly understand /how/ we are here. ... but the 'why' is because-- Riesenlied wished to show us. It is under her tutelage and permission."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily doesn't seem to feel the cold. She does not recognize it, of course, though she comes from a cold region, as well. Nortune's winters are harsh, as harsh as in the mountains proper... Though maybe not to Arctica's extent. No, the loneliness strikes her more, and Lily at feeling /that/ starts to cross her arms about herself, uncomfortable. She knows grief too well.

Lily looks to the ruins, to the trappings she knows only secondhand, and spots the blonde. ...And the mask. The corpse, now--

Lily blinks, turns to look at her; she sees her obvious deathly state immediately, the blood, thinks she might smell the rot.

...But Lily is not in the best of states, herself. She's practically translucent, a ghost, pale and drawn and insubstantial.

"...?" She doesn't recognize the name. "You... know Id?" she asks first, stops as if dazed, shakes her head. "...Yes, I'm... Lily." She pauses, straightens, "Lieutenant Keil."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Much like the cold, the rot that Nasrin presents is no less a design of the architect that is the mind. The way she lingers for far too long, long after she should have expired. The way certain wounds linger on her, seemingly fresh with blood that should have dried long ago.

She carries with her the trauma of an incident left unresolved for far too long.

"Ah... you might not know me, that's right," Nasrin shuffles uncomfortably. "I'm... Nasrin. Nasrin al-Rashid."

al-Rashid... there's that surname again. The same as one of Riesenlied's psuedonyms, Nazgul al-Rashid.

A pause, as she ruefully, self-effacingly chuckles. "But-- not the real Nasrin. A memory of Nasrin that this Hyadean--" as she pets her on the head, "--has clung tightly in her heart for all these long, lonely years."

She shakes her head, looking genuinely surprised at Noeline when she explains, as she watches her shift through her form, assert her identity.

"... I do know Id. He comes here, sometimes. ... we talk," Nasrin responds, just a little cautiously. She... doesn't want to divulge anything personal between the two. She's promised him that much.

"I've watched the two of you for a long time, but... I never expected you to come in here and talk-- to me, exactly."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline's second sigh is out of sheer relief that the spirit of Nasrin is not the sort of angry and vengeful type that might chase them out; it wouldn't exactly gel with what the spy knows of her, working off of Riesenlied's memories, but she's far out of her depth and refusing to take anything for granted right at this moment. Her second sigh is quieter, as she listens to Nasrin's words. "... a memory. A memory of a girl that she thought - for the longest time - she had betrayed," she mutters.

That leaves her silent for a moment, before she slowly shakes her head, looking back up. "I cannot say I ever expected to do so myself, to be honest. But - for the sake of better connecting with her, for the sake of better helping her when she needs it - I have to at least learn."

The quiet moment dissipates, though only with a little in the way of effort; Noeline covers for her nervousness by planting her hands on her hips and letting out a heaving grump. "You are kidding me. I hope, at least, that he does not make a total mess of the place."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily finds herself leaning against one of the walls, somehow smaller than usual as she looks down at the floor, thinking. "I don't," Lily admits. "...Al-Rashid..." She inclines her head, in greeting, recalling the name Riesenlied used, but--Ah. A memory. A memory, that--

"A memory, then." She glances between Noeline and Nasrin then, and her own form does not change, and does not gain much vitality.

"...Id has his secrets," Lily answers, with a shake of her head. "I won't ask you to reveal them." She pauses. "You.. See what she sees, then? You've watched us?"

Betrayed, Noeline suggests. Lily wonders, for a moment, about that. "I didn't expect something like this, either. I'm trying to understand. ...To understand myself, I suppose."

No, that is a difference; Lily's expression is not the emotionless mask she so often prefers, but is a visage of sadness; quiet, eyes downturned, wounded in ways hard to express.

"...She and I have... a connection," Lily says, and shakes her head again. "...I wouldn't..." She switches languages without noticing to a more ancient tongue, ""

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"A memory... like-- ever have the lingering impression of someone you haven't met in years?" Nasrin gestures idly. "It'll be nothing like the real person, but when the real person has been dead for... oh, four centuries now..."

She shrugs her shoulders, taking note of Noeline's sigh. "I'd say I still feel pretty betrayed, but at least she's trying to make /something/ of it. A /little/ progress is better than none." She has a somewhat cynical laugh as she leans her head Lily's way. "Hyadeans have a tendency to leave things alone for centuries, given how long-lived they are."

Given who she is and who she represents, maybe that's a light jab at both herself and Noeline.

"I do," she answers, when Lily asks whether she's seen what the physical self of Riesenlied sees. "Not perfectly. Not physically? But a lot of her impressions, emotions, regrets, grievances... they trickle very easily down here."

She notices Lily speak in that ancient tongue, which she doesn't understand. "A connection... I can feel it."

"... but really, if she invited you here, I should be shocking her out of her reverie! Throw her out of her comfort zone. Leaving the speaking to me is just hiding behind another mask."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline pauses, and frowns slowly. She can somewhat grasp the nuances of this place, but her habit of doing so intellectually rather than empathically is a little tricky to work with, and she glances to Lily shortly after Nasrin does, before looking back at the dead girl.

"No... my apologies. That isn't quite what I meant. Riesenlied blames herself for your death, but-- she could blame herself for the morning rain if she tried, and her memories are far from clear. We have already pledged to return to Elru; to understand and make clear what exactly happened. I will see her there safe," she promises quietly. As a summary, it's probably more meant for Lily than for the shaman in front of them, but she keeps her voice steady and her gaze quietly determined nonetheless.

She's about to continue, when Nasrin brightly and breezily talks about waking the figure in the centre up. "Is-- that alright?" she wonders automatically, her brow furrowing; she takes in the design of the mask once more, and it's not terribly hard for her to understand /that/ facet of the mental space they're experiencing. While she might be terribly proud of the Noeline she is now, it's still something that had to start somewhere. "If the reverie is deep enough to be real, isn't that fine?"

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"..." Lily looks into nothing, as she considers Nasrin's words, and answers, "Or someone you thought you knew." She pauses. Four centuries... "Betrayal doesn't lessen well with time. It grows, develops. It's like wine, in a way." She pauses, "But it's like her, to try." She doesn't seem to join in the humor of the jab much. Maybe she's just humorless.

"I see. So... Some. Through a filter, some things." She pauses, glances ato Noeline, and nods. "...Yes, that sounds like her, too. She blames herself for a great deal."

Nasrin can feel the connection. Lily wonders, for a moment. But she thinks she can, too. "...It's like this place... Drew me here," she murmurs. But--

"Would it harm her?" Lily wonders. "...Maybe I don't... entirely blame her, for using a mask. Isn't it something we all do? To let everyone see what lies beneath it..."

Lily shivers. Maybe she did notice the cold.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"... ... I have no reason to not trust you with that," Nasrin remarks of Noeline after a moment of introspecting it for herself. "You know better than she does that looking away from the truth can only harm in the long term. As it already has, even."

The mask's gentle features do not correspond to a... /person/, per se, but it's very clear, just from the surface impressions, that it is the...

... the 'Riesenlied' they are familiar with. The kind, determined, but troubled head of Wayside who seeks a new world. A world where they can all flourish.

She chuckles faintly at Lily. "I'm part of her, so what she feels with you, I get some of it too. ... and, that's true. My anger is there... it might be cold, but it's there."

Nasrin presses a hand to the mask's side, and responds, "... and that's why -- to be honest, I don't know if it'll hurt her or not, but -- /I/ know the last thing I want to do is shelter her." Rather impishly, she implores, "Wake up!" as she rips the mask off in one fell swoop--

And there is a flash of insight, a swarming of emotions and sensations; there's something approaching a scream of fright and panic--

"...nn-NOOE...lIInEee... lIlllY..."

--and when that flash dissipates, the manifestation of guilt has disappeared...

...the young Hyadean is still there, easily a whole foot shorter than Riesenlied would be, huddling into herself, arms clutched to each other. And where there was once a mask...

... there is a hole, where her face should be. An emptiness, with a single mote of light in the centre of its void. A flickering candlelight in the darkness, so easily doused, but hanging on its lonesome...

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"Sometimes it isn't a matter of what's 'beneath' it," Noeline comments to Lily; her voice is light enough, but her mouth is drawn into a thin line. "Sometimes, you need a mask just to get started. Over time, you can build and build that mask, and once it's indistinguishable from the rest of you--... well," she sighs with a rueful little smile. "Then you end up with a Crimson Noble Metal Demon Shaman, I suppose. I wonder if I've collected too many words along the way."

Her humour dissolves as Nasrin steps over to the dreaming figure; instead, Noeline's attention sharpens to a point as the bloody shaman reaches for the mask. What exactly about to happen, Noeline isn't exactly certain, but she's determined to be prepared--

--and is still surprised when the world scatters into a cacophony of noise, wincing against the static sensation as one hand claps over her ear. "Riese!" she blurts out before she can stop herself, and this time she can't help but push forwards through the confusion, her legs carrying her forwards to the figure on the chair.

The world - such as it is - restores itself around them in an instant, but Noeline isn't paying attention to their surroundings. Instead, her gaze is locked on the girl in front of her, her mouth hanging open for a moment before she can catch herself. This isn't the time to lose her composure, so she sucks it back in with a breath... and slowly goes down on one knee, to offer the young Hyadean a fond smile. "... we're here with you," she promises.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

'Just to get started.' Lily doesn't answer that idea. She can see the importance of it, certainly. ...But she can see the strange trust between them, too. And the way that Riesenlied's mask, is... this, here. It is not entirely comfortable.

"I--" Of course. Of course, angry at Riesenlied, the shaman would not hesitate to risk her. She goes for the mask, and Lily steps forward, /feeling/ the panic welling up within her, around her--

"...Riesenlied...?" Lily blinks, seeing the way she holds herself, the emptiness that was her mask. "...I couldn't tell you what's too much," Lily finally says to Noeline as she steps forward, kneels before the chair. "We..."

The world starts to shift, again; there is a sense of /tugging/, of being drawn away from this room, and the landscape swirls into mist.

The mist remains, even as a setting begins to coalesce--no, maybe it's simply revealed. A girl's bedroom, a small bed in the corner neatly made with red sheets. The room is neat, and tidy; a wardrobe there holding clothes, a black coat hung up. There is a window, but it is blocked up and covered with a thick curtain beside, and a clear additional lock on the solid wooden door. The walls are soft, off-blue, and the room is large, as such things go. The desk, in the corner...

The furnishings are metal, largely. There is little wood here. Even the floors are covered over in stone.

But it all feels faint, insubstantial, hardly even present, even as a place to sit for Noeline and Riesenlied resolves itself, a small couch by the closed window.

A beautiful ARM with a stock of red wood is on the table; a set of notebooks, beside it. And Lily herself, still pale, looks smaller, less muscular, younger, a teenage girl in a black dress seated on her bed.

It is quiet.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Perhaps it's not really a surprise that with Nasrin gone--

--so is the cold-stricken chamber of grief, as if it was pack and parcel with her. As if that was the only circumstance, the only environment within the mind that she could exist in...

"... iI-- I'M Not..."

There's timorousness and bashfulness in her voice, as she shrinks into herself. She barely gets a moment to orient her senses as the world shifts around them-- into mist... and a setting reveals itself around themselves. A bedroom. A lot of black... it looks nice, though. A large room, for someone who she feels is pretty well-appointed.

"... i'm not... riesenlied..." she admits, as she obediently sits on the couch by the window. She clings to Noeline's hand sadly, her head down and looking somewhat ashamed.

She looks up towards the teenaged Lily, on her bed. "... lily...?"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"... I see," Noeline offers gently to the little Hyadean; she's not absolutely sure she does, but this is a white lie she's prepared to let slip for the sake of comforting the faceless girl in front of her. It isn't even a lie, really - she's seen enough to have an inkling of the situation, or at least to draw parallels to it. "Then, I apologize. ... but I'm still going to stay by your side, if that's alright," she adds as she places her hand atop their joined ones.

That much said, she looks up at the space around them at last. The mental space is too human to be anyone but Lily's; there's an abundance of metal, but it isn't the gunmetal look of the Photosphere, and very few Metal Demons have ever given a damn about curtains as far as she's aware. Kislev, if she had to make a guess, but it isn't just the materials that spur that thought - she glances at the door, the security on it, and the quiet girl sat at the table.

Kislev is a prison in many ways.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

There are no circuit markings on the young Lily's arms. There are some bandages, however; wound about one hand, applied around her other elbow. She looks surprised, above all, as much as she looks like anything; she is only half-here, after all. "Who...?"

Lily's voice is different; it lacks the same weariness. There's a spark of something almost innocent in her eyes. "...Oh, I know you..."

"Not-Riesenlied," she repeats, sympathy shifting into her expression as she looks to the obedient, sad girl. And then a glance to Noeline. "...Miss Carver."

Polite. Maybe to a fault, almost. "I-I'm not..." She glances to the side, "No one can be here... It's safe here." She pauses, purses her lips, "...No, you're fine." There is perhaps something claustrophobic about the room--or, if one allows the aura of the place to settle... Something cozy, instead. Protected. Far away from the world outside.

"I didn't think you'd really come..."

There's a faint noise, audible to the ear, though it is not really a sound. A strange static, between Lily's words, as if something were missing, or something weren't here.

"...They said Father was coming home, but..."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

The nameless Hyadean clings to Noeline's hand still, as if she'll fall off if she doesn't cling to something. There's something withering about her mannerism, like she really were exposed -- as far as manifestations of metaphors go, being literally faceless isn't the most subtle.

"... no one can be here..." she whispers -- 'whispers', given that she doesn't have a mouth. But something like a voice, and sound, echoes out of that flicker of light.

"... safe..." she settles down just for a moment.

"...this is... your room...? are you alone?"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

The Crimson Noble is trying her best to stay gentle; she's well aware that she can push too hard at things sometimes, stubborn in her pursuit of answers, and even if her mind is sparking with curiosity she draws in another breath to herself and keeps her hands around the nameless girl's. "... I won't leave your side. And I am not upset, I promise," she adds quietly, feeling the need to say it. Perhaps more for herself than for the girl in front of her.

Drawing in a breath, her eyebrows raise. "... Miss Keil," she returns the greeting with a ghost of a smile. "I apologize for the surprise. It-- it's a little tricky to be sure of where we'll end up, I suppose. We certainly didn't mean to startle you."

Her gaze flicks across the girl, puffing out a breath. "... were you waiting for your Father, then?" she asks, frowning after a moment as she realizes she's misjudged their surroundings - on the other hand, she can't imagine the current Lily having a great deal of nostalgia for the Colonel. "... have you been waiting long?"

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

The Hyadean's lack of face doesn't seem to upset Lily very much. She looks curiously at her, wonders. But it doesn't scare her. "Mm. That's what the locks are for. ...To keep everyone out."

"...They're all... They're all so noisy. Noisy, and different. They have their strange words... The way they talk, it's all... wrong, on my ears. I never get used to it. They make me nervous. They have something I don't... I know they do. But I don't understand."

"...I'm never really alone," she admits. "But I try."

She looks at Noeline, nods, after a moment. "...Accepted. It's all right. I don't mind. We're... friends, aren't we?" She doesn't sound sure. "...It's okay for friends to come here. As long as they're careful."

The question comes, and Lily's gaze grows distant. The mist, the haze don't much improve. She starts to talk and again there's static, but it only lasts for a little while before, "--know he's been away. ...The last things he said don't make sense. They aren't like him. So I'm waiting for him to come back. To explain."

She nods, slowly. "...It feels like it's been a long time."

She tilts her head to the side. "...Are you really here? Or are you another illusion? I thought someone was here before. I don't remember..."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"... so we're somewhere ... no one else can get into ..."

It's probably not terribly surprising, but that factoid seems to calm her immensely. Even if it's drawing on terrible habits about her desperate desire to shy away.

Her head pulls up as she 'looks' at Noeline, then back at Lily, nodding a few times. "... friends ... you're friends with ..." she hesitates, as if she's about to say 'Riesenlied', but isn't quite certain. The two are very, very distinct people in her mind, after all, between herself and the mask.

"... was there someone here...?" The Unit hears that noise, inbetween Lily's speech. She's not certain. "... what did he say...?"

A pause, as that anxiety starts to stem back up at Lily's comment. "... am i an illusion too ...?"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline prides herself on her observational skills - but they don't mean a great deal when she can't pick out what the things she's seeing actually /mean/. The fuzz and the static imply a distance, as if they're somehow 'deep' in Lily's memories - but at the same time, the metal demon has to wonder about the lack of markings, and whether this Lily might be removed from the one they know.

... they're not questions that she can answer, not by herself.

With a soft chuckle, Noeline shakes her head at Lily's comment about her father. "... it truly has been a while, hasn't it? ... I'm sure you'll be able to catch up to him soon," she adds, picking the words carefully. It may not mean much to the girl in front of her, but perhaps it might to the woman of the present.

With a glance at her charge, Noeline runs her free hand through her hair for a moment, flicking it back. "Well-- we are not illusions, but we are reflections of ourselves, I suppose. We are here in the ways that count, I suppose."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"Yeah," Lily says, and lowers her shoulders a little, looks to the Unit. "...It's okay. You can be safe here, too. At least for a little while."

Noeline's observation nets her the fact that the lantern flickers lightly. There's no sunlight filtering in; it could be any time of day, really.

"He..." There was someone here, she thought. She looks to Noeline, wonders again. "...Yeah... All right. I hope so. He..."

She stops. "So, you are here..." Lily nods, thoughtfully. "I don't think you're an illusion," she offers to the Unit. "You're too... here." A tilt of her head. "You..."

She slides off of the bed, padding along in stockinged feet towards the others. She steps closer, kneels beside the Unit. "...You seem cold," she says softly. "...You're hollow too, aren't you...?" Lily cups her hands together, and markings bloom into existence from her fingertips to her forearms, brilliant blue circuitry as she conjures a little flower of ice; a lily. "...Here. The cold's not so bad, when you get used to it."

She stops, suddenly, as if hearing something inaudible otherwise. "Ah... It's changing soon..."

Young Lily looks between the Unit and the Knight. "...You should go, quickly. I don't know how things will be when it changes."

Already the walls start to fade; Lily herself is practically transparent, though she seems to have substance to the touch. "...He said I was strong. Strong enough to do what I have to. ...I know what he means. I do. But I don't want it. I want things to stay as they are."

"...They can't, though. They never can."

The fog starts to get thicker...

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Safe, just for a little while. It's a comforting fact, something that lets her settle for a little while longer. Her emotional landscape certainly isn't very stable, prone to miniscule changes with comments and observations happening around her.

"... hollow ... maybe, yes ..."

The Unit looks to Lily as she walks towards them, and her little light brightens softly as she accepts that little ice-flower. That circuitry is back, causing her to bristle... out of concern, perhaps, more than anything else.

"... the cold's pretty hard to deal with ... b-but i'll hang in there ..."

The fog starts to thicken around them, and there's a startled noise from the Unit. "... ah..."

She shifts, and hugs towards Noeline's side. "... i'm scared ... are we going to be okay...? is lily... going to be okay...?"

She hears what Lily's dad had to say. Strong enough to do what she has to... ... does he mean her friends, or? Or the events happening up to the point where they were massacred...?

"... we--"

She hesitates, but then that light intensifies as she says:

"... we'll be with you, even if things change...!"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

The metal demon watches as Lily offers the flower to the little Hyadean; her frown is quiet and solemn, wholly uncertain as to what to do to progress either of the circumstances she's seen today. Instead, she sets her jaw as the markings flare into life; she can't say for sure that their presence is going to change the metal space they're in, but something about their sudden appearance makes her deeply suspicious.

"... I don't think either of you are hollow," she grumbles in a rather contrary fashion. "Memories, and thoughts-- those count for a great deal, regardless of their source."

That's as far as she gets before the space around them thrums, and begins to dissipate; at the same time, Noeline can feel the burning of her veins as her overuse of Duras Drum's power begins to take its toll. "--you're right. Things can never stay as they are - but you have the power to shape them as you wish. if you don't want to do something, you don't have to," she lectures quietly, but with the determination born of a couple of centuries of exactly that.

The room throbs again, the walls drifting to white; Noeline shifts as well, kneeling to envelop the little Hyadean in a full hug. "We're going to be alright. All three of us. And none of us are going to be going away any time soon, if I have anything at all to say about it," she promises, and then huffs softly. "Not that Lily would want that, either."

She squints with effort; maintaining the last of this space is starting to be beyond her grasp - so instead she lets it go, hoping that's the right choie to make. "Miss Keil-- we'll see you later."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Once the flower is passed into the Unit's hands, the circuits fade away again, a little at a time all at once over the course of seconds. Lily glances to Noeline with a sad smile. "It's nice of you to say so," she answers, with all the certainty of the teenager.

"You can do it," she says to the Unit. But the space is fading. "You'll be okay, if you go," Lily says. "...I know what to do." Her golden eyes finally rest on Noeline for a few moments. "...Even my power can't do everything. Much as I'd like it to. ...I think we will meet again, though."

The Unit offers her light; Noeline her reassurance. As Noeline lets go the space, it all fades around them...

When the island on which the strange ruin rests is reality again, Lily is sleeping on the beach, her head tilted down. There's almost something peaceful in her expression; the details indicate she might've fallen unconscious as soon as they started all of this.

She'll wake up eventually.