2022-09-02: Frayed Ties

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  • Log: Frayed Ties
  • Cast: Lily Keil, Azoth, Citan Uzuki, Emeralda Kasim, Fei Fong Wong, Ida Everstead-Rey, Xenia, Xantia, Id
  • Where: Cardon Forest
  • Date: September 02, 2022
  • Summary: A Black Wolves operation to learn more about Xantia's self-proclaimed sister Xenia and her backers takes several wild turns. Surprising revelations, unexpected actions and /very/ unexpected arrivals turn what should have been an unavoidable confrontation completely on its head.

=============================<* Cardon Forest *>==============================

The thick and lush Cardon Forest exists to the south of Kattelox City's walls. Unlike many other forests that dot Filgaia's landscape, the Cardon Forest is peaceful and quiet, relatively free of any monsters or Fiends that often plague the world. Sometimes, you can see children playing here in the meadows, or a couple out for a picnic. 

But beware of the Digger's Guild warning -- for a structure exists far down south of the Forest, a mysterious Ruin whose entranceway remains sealed to this day.

BGM: Mega Man Legends - The Flutter
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

It has been some time since Leon managed to uncover the name 'Watchful Eye Investment Corporation' through his information network, as a party of interest in relation to Xenia's activities. Seemingly a corporation in name only, there was nothing to be found that suggested an actual company by that name existed. Only evidence that their money was a significant factor in having the Digger's Guild turn a blind eye to Xenia's theft of a giant Refractor many months ago. The trail had since run cold... until recently.

Some distance removed from Kattelox City proper, a single warehouse stands. Though the building itself is not in the best condition, a high wall and metal gate bars entry to all. Supposedly derelict, no activity had been sighted in the area for quite some time. If recent intelligence is accurate however, unmarked trucks have been covertly moving in and out of the facility in the dead of night, protected by black-suited armed guards. And this activity supposedly relates to the mysterious phantom company, the Watchful Eye.

Though there is a lot of maybes, those who have recently had contact with Xantia or Xenia have probable cause for taking some sort of action sooner rather than later. Any information right now could be key in attempting to deescalate the situation between the two. And so, the decision was made for the Black Wolves to engage in a late-night stakeout, in order to see the alleged activity for themselves, and make a plan on how to proceed from there.

Given the reports of heavy guard, a decently-sized group seemed wise just in case, but immediate action was deemed to be unwise. Moreover, it was made quite clear by the intelligence report that should something go awry, timely support from the outside would be unlikely. Close proximity to the city or not, no one would assume anything to happen here. And it's privately-owned besides, expected to take care of its own business - including the business of dealing with trespassers.



So far, the stakeout has been the usual stakeout fare. Just sitting there, killing time and keeping a close watch on the warehouse from a safe distance, waiting for something to happen. Not the most interesting part of the job, but a necessary phase. Of note: Xantia is not present here today. After exhausting herself recently, she's taking Citan's advice to catch up on rest a bit. After all, today is supposed to be an information-gathering effort. Wake her up when it's fighting time.

It's been roughly an hour now with no activity of any kind. The time approaches midnight, which psychologically may suggest that something might happen soon, even if there's no evidence in logic. And indeed... something does happen. It is however not something that was among the expected scenarios. Out of nowhere, without warning, there's a loud--

* BOOM *

...and the entire warehouse collapses in on itself, like a house of cards.

Anyone with experience in explosives can probably tell that this was planned. This wasn't a bombing, it was controlled demolition. And yet, despite careful observation for all this time, there were no signs of any people present in the general area. Timed explosives, perhaps?

Whatever the case may be, all that remains now of the warehouse is rubble, with parts of the surrounding wall knocked down in the process. In the wake of this unexpected development, what is one to do...?

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily Keil has been part of the stakeout team. She was able to focus without complaint on their watching, right up until...

"Down!"

Explosions happen. Lily throws up a barrier of dark power to eat up debris and shrapnel and ducks, but after the explosions are over and the dust settles, she rises to her feet once again. Then she frowns, looking thoughtfully.

"...That wasn't a random bomb. And we didn't spot anyone moving to place it..."

"Timed explosion, maybe? But why? Did they suspect they were being watched? Hmm..."

Lily shakes her head. "We won't know unless we look." She starts for the building's remains. She's familiar with explosives, having deployed them many a time in the army, so if she can find scraps or pieces...

"Be on guard."

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Azoth had wanted to do more for Xantia than he's been able for a long time. Given what the overrides determine his purpose to be, the concept of free time to pursue any other goal that fits into his foundational objectives are choked thin. But Kattelox is a place with overlap: an underground system likely to have what he seeks, and something that has connections to Xenia.

That he was also informed the Black Wolves had suspicions about a particular time and place... that makes it even easier. He appreciates being kept in the loop, and shows his gratitude as cheerfully as ever.

But he is appropriately serious as they wait, perfectly and unnaturally silent and still, not once so much as blinking in his observation of the warehouse, until -- * BOOM *

A shield of light paints itself out in hexagons alongside Lily's barrier of darkness, helping block more of the blast and debris. Only once the dust has settled does Azoth allow it to flicker away.

"Her information network can be... disturbing at times," Azoth says. "So we can't rule it out."

Lily's right. There's only one way to know, and he sets his path toward the rubble with her, his irises giving a faint whirr as he tries to zoom in and out of the surrounding area for a quick, closer look.

<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.

        Leon, it would seem, had fared far better in his information-gathering pursuits than Citan had, himself. The Wolves had of course decided to divvy up the various potential leads after it had become clear that Xantia's situation was on a collision course with potential tragedy. Citan had focused on finding out about Herod and had come up with... nothing. Absolutely nothing, which itself had given him very particular clues about how long this scenario had been in the making. The moment Herod left Shevat, after all, is when he vanishes from the world stage. There aren't even any clear signs of him working through agents -- Xenia and Xantia excluded, of course.

        Herod has either engineered a situation wherein he doesn't need to interact with the world, or...

        When a potential lead emerges, he of course voices his opinion that they should seek it out. Being caught out in the dark insofar as lacking information like this sits ill with him; the sooner they can rectify this the greater their chance of turning the tide.

        Xantia isn't here today. After the incident the other day, he would have insisted she remain behind to recover. She had been on the verge of collapse, all for the sake of watching for her 'sister'. If what Xantia says is correct, though, it means that she can now sense Xenia's presence, and it might not be remiss to suspect the connection runs both ways.

        Besides, this should be a simple information-gathering exercise. ...And after what happened the other night, it's a fair guess that Xantia might well fall asleep during. Better that she gets her sleep on the Karlsefni than in the brush.

        ...

        Of course, then there's an explosion, which rather changes the parameters significantly. He pushes whoever is closest to him down when he drops, which proves a somewhat meaningless gesture when the barrier Lily throws up shields them all far more effectively. "That was... I believe so," Citan remarks, pushing his glasses up his nose once he rises into a crouch. "I am not an explosives expert, mind, though I have handled my share! If only Jessie or Billy were here. ...But if they thought they were being watched and triggered a detonation, I wonder why they picked 'this moment' in which to do it? If their aim was to destroy evidence... hmm, I wonder..."

        He rises to his feet slowly.

        "Yes. Be careful. This seems to have been planned..."

<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.

Emeralda is not great at stakeouts.

She volunteered to come because of course she did, and she can be quiet, but the actual *waiting* is hard on her. It's a shame, because she's pretty good at it; even without any unusual powers she is great at staying out of sight or looking around without getting caught.

She is just, unfortunately, also easily bored when nothing happened (as much at 'thirteen' as 'eight'; that didn't change). She didn't take a nap, but she did get a little less diligent, and once she did stop to eat a granola bar.

An explosion *definitely* counts as something happening, though.

Emeralda takes cover behind a wall, but the good news is that planned demolitions tend to focus most of their explosive power inward. Between that and Lily's shield, Emeralda certainly isn't hit by any, and she pops back up a moment later, eyes wide.

"Well they won't explode again, right?" Emeralda says, sounding less worried than she probably should be. "So it's safer now, and if something jumps out at us it was already in an explosion, so we'll be fine." She takes a couple steps forward, but lets other people more or less catch up before she actually rushes ahead.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Watchful Eye Investment Corporation sounds pretty sketchy just by the name of it. It sounds like a front organization for Grigori, frankly. Ever the Watcher.

Fei has a bag of potato chips he's munching on because he's Fei Fong Wong and he's never not eating. He licks at his fingers periodically. He had brought snacks for Emeralda because of course he did. He might not be Kim Kasim exactly, but he also is not NOT Kim Kasim exactly. He thinks. The whole vision thing is kind of weird. Nevertheless, you don't want your stomach to grumble during a stakeout. Ergo: Snacks.

He wants to deescalate the situation between Xantia and Xenia fast before someone ends up seriously hurt. Perhaps there's even a way to reason with their creator? Father? Perhaps not but in that case he also can just thrust punch his heart out

What? No, of course not, Fei tells himself. You'll just have a nice reasoned conversation and if he doesn't listen to reason maybe throttle him a little but nothing that serious. Maybe burn down a lab or something. Maybe that's crueller in some ways than punching a heart out but hard to know with how little he knows.

There is an explosion. Fei spills his potato chips all over his lap.

"Aw geeze..." Fei says as he quickly shoves as many as he can into his mouth.

"Mphhh...!" He points to the warehouse and then follows Lily towards the debris.

He swallows.

"You don't think... Maybe she could be in trouble...?" He looks to Doc as he asks this.

He is pretty at ease with Azoth. No apparent reason.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        Ida lies on a patch of cleared ground, watching the side entrance of the warehouse like she's been doing for the past few hours. She's within earshot of Lily and the others, and she has a little blue signal flag to raise if she spots something out of order. If nothing else, the absolute lack of activity gives her practice at staying focused, despite the things weighing on her mind: the promises she made to the Conways, and the ever-looming specter of Odessa.

        The forest is peaceful. It's a little slice of lush, green nature in a dessicating world. It's--

        *BOOM*

        Ida flattens herself against the ground, covering her head with her arms. Biometal sweeps out across her forearms, forming shields to meet the bits of wood and metal that fly her way. The sounds of squawking, frightened birds and settling rubble mask the sounds of Ida getting up, brushing herself off, and hurrying over to the others. "Is everyone all right?" she says, doing a head-count and visual inspection just to be sure. "Did they see us setting up and get skittish?" Or maybe skittishness has less to do with it than pragmatism.

        Ida looks at Citan, lips twisting in a frown.

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Following the explosion, all is quiet. Eerily so. If there was anyone else in the area except for the Black Wolves and their allies, they're not moving either towards or away from the warehouse - now a mere pile of rubble. An attempt to cover their tracks, knowing they'd been spotted? Guessing is all one can do at this point. That, and head to investigate.

Getting closer to the remains of the building increases the signs of a professional job. A fire here could have set the surroundings ablaze - careful care was taken to ensure this didn't happen. The remains aren't smoldering even a little bit. Likely, the building's foundations were rigged to explode, to collapse the warehouse in on itself and keep the entire event self-contained. The only other damage was to the outer wall, torn down in several places by falling debris.

Though everything inside the building would have been buried beneath the roof when it came down, it's somewhat curious that there's no visible evidence of there having been anything like crates of any sort in the warehouse. It would be reasonable to theorize that the building was emptied, before it was exploded. Perhaps this operation was just a short moment too late...

A sudden clatter interrupts the thoughts of those present. Turning towards the source of the sound, it is found to be coming from... the building's remains. There's a short moment for the realization to hit - there's someone under there. And they're still moving.

In the next instant, rubble explodes outward, sent flying every which way out from the spot the earlier noise was coming from. And left visible in the newly created hole is... a person. A very familiar person, with short blue hair and wearing a dark military special ops suit. Who coughs, groans, and utters in a very familiar voice perhaps the one and only fitting word in this sort of situation.

"...Shit."

It's Xenia - still alive, but in a very poor condition. Starting with her shades, which lie broken, giving a rare direct view of her red eyes. The glowing lines on her suit have dimmed, indicating a malfunction in whatever technology it contains. Of more direct concern, the position of her right arm is unnatural. A dislocation, or possibly worse.

All of which pales when compared to the most serious part of her condition. A metal rod, sticking straight up through her abdomen, clutched by Xenia's left hand. That... may well be fatal, if nothing is done.

However, something about this is... unusual, to put it mildly. Where the metal has pierced through Xenia's body, one would expect an exit wound. That, and a whole lot of blood. Neither is present.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

The quiet is notable to Lily--she would expect people to have been caught in it, objects to still be blazing, collapses to still be happening. However, there's none of that here. Nodding to Azoth as she moves forward, she considers, and starts looking for clues. "I am," Lily answers Citan of explosives expertise. "Or at least, I was. I haven't used them as much since I started relying more on my magic, but..."

Destroying evidence is possible. Lily considers the idea, as she looks. "...Trouble, huh?" Lily asks Fei, and admittedly doubts it. However...

"No smouldering, no lingering fires... It's completely self-contained." Pause. "And I don't see any signs of anything in it before the explosion..."

Suddenly the rubble explodes outward and Lily turns towards it, immediately bringing up her hands in the sorcerous equivalent of pointing a loaded gun. (She got along with Ethius for a reason.)

But then, she sees--

"Xenia?" Lily wonders, and then notices her condition. Her expression tightens and she glances once to Citan, then to Xenia.

Then she thinks about it for a second more, and starts approaching.

With Fei here, could they really avoid helping her?

"Hang on," Lily says to her, approaching. "I'm not here to fight. I'd like you to answer some questions. But whether you do or not, I'll help you with that wound." Pause. "...Elly would want me to. Now, are you going to fight us, or let us help?" She looks to Citan. "You should take charge. But you can rely on my magic."

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

As Azoth observes the damages, he notes how careful and calculated all of it was. But to what end...? Additional damage was minimized... A good decision. A logical one. More damage means more chances for --

At the clattering, Azoth hurries his pace, rushing ahead, energy shield up like a buckler to parry and bat away more debris from the explosion in his beeline effort to get to whoever might be trapped...!

...and then coming to an abrupt, wide eyed stop at the site of Xenia bloodlessly impaled.

He looks around the area as Lily descends, trying to make sure there aren't any follow-up explosions that are going to interrupt her, or make Xenia's condition worse. Azoth isn't someone with the skills to assist Xenia's condition, and he'd rather not crowd those who can. It's fortunate he won't have to argue a case for it.

"First question: were you attacked?"

Because he'd like to be ready for that.

<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.

Emeralda is anxious to get to the warehouse after the explosion, but she doesn't rush ahead too far. A couple steps only, because while she's not very worried about her own safety, she still doesn't want to investigate alone.

"It really fell down," Emeralda says. She doesn't see much left there. Was there anything inside? Or did it all just break into really small pieces? Maybe if it was all glass bottles or something it would get very small, like that? Or maybe the floor collapsed too and it's all stacked on the basement and there's more in there than she thinks?

When something clatters, Emeralda takes a half-step back to brace herself, and just in time as someone bursts free. Well, like half free. She's still kind of stuck there.

Now, Emeralda herself doesn't really bleed, or at least she stops when she finds it too inconvenient, and she may or may not have an exit wound depending on the type of injury. So that part isn't too weird, at first glance... until she thinks about it a little more, because really, almost nobody else does anything like that.

She goes a little pale, though it isn't very obvious on her. "Are you okay?" she asks, even though she is *pretty sure* the answer is no.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei has a nasty feeling during the approach. It's a feeling that's roughly confirmed when Xenia's wounded form reveals itself. His eyes widen in horror.

FEI PSYCHO UP

...But it does not override his hope. He runs over. "Shit, shit...! Xenia...!" He runs on over at a sprint. "Xenia, are you okay??"

To Fei, Xenia is Xantia's precious sibling. Something they can't afford to lose. He doesn't seem to be surprised by the lack of blood, though maybe he just has other problems on his mind right now. "Xenia, don't move too much. You might aggravate the wound...!"

Even Doc might not be able to handle a wound like this, he fears. Even if he had the knowhow, the tools and equipment might not be at his disposal. Perhaps...

His eyes dart towards Lily as she offers to lend a hand--and asks for Citan for assistance too. "Yes, please...! Please help her..."

If only

He could remember Kim's knowledge, he thinks. HE could help Emeralda. He could help them all...!

"Please, let us help you. If you can't answer anything I understand..."

WOW FEI WAY TO RUIN THE WHOLE INTERROGATION. They could probably force her to let them heal her but that's not generally something you want to do to a patient.

He's pretty sure.

"I'm sorry," He says. "For not being smart enough, for... for not figuring things out."

<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.

        Kneeling by some of the debris outside the building, Citan regards the fragments and frowns, shaking his head. "This was set carefully," he announces, rising to his feet. "Whoever did this sought to keep the damage to a minimum. ...Thus, I suspect it was detonated to destroy something or perhaps, someone, within. ...However, it is possible there could be traps. Be careful."

        Someone might have been the correct answer. It becomes clear that someone is still inside, trapped under the rubble. "Is someone--"

        The rubble explodes outwards and for a moment, Citan believes that it is indeed a second bomb. But...

        "Oh dear," is also the sort of comment that might be appropriate at a time like this. That is a grievous wound, even if there is no... apparent sign of an exit wound. Or blood, for that matter.

        "Lily--"

        Fortunately, there is indeed a doctor in what's left of the house.

Xenia is a problem, it's true. She is antagonistic to the extreme, and even their less combative encounters have been unpleasant. But by the same token, she has information they need. If she dies, there will be no other trail they have to lead them to Herod, the only real chance they have of bringing matters to a close. And she may well be all the family Xantia has left.
        That, and it isn't as if he doesn't understand Xenia's motives.

        "Yes. We are not your enemies, Xenia," he agrees, kneeling by her side. He's taken her wrist unless she truly puts up a valiant fight, his aim to assess her pulse.
        Assuming that she, in fact, has such a thing.

        "We may want to move her, if she can be moved. This is no place for treating such a wound," he tells Lily. "There is no telling if this building will continue to collapse." And it's not clean... assuming that she can in fact be infected by anything organic. "Do not try to pull that beam out just yet," he cautions, in case anyone is thinking it. If she has blood -- or something else -- it might be all that's keeping her from bleeding out.
        Or the equivalent.

        Is it possible the other end has merely gotten lodged somewhere? But there is no sign of blood even leaking around the puncture. No sign of contusions, or swelling, or anything else that would normally be present in even the most resilient of human beings upon such an injury.

        ...No, he doesn't think it's possible that it's merely gotten 'lodged somewhere'.

        "...Lily, by chance," he begins to say slowly, releasing his grip on Xenia's hand and inspecting the entry wound and the area around it more closely. "...Would your magic happen to work upon 'inorganic' matter?"

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        Whomever did this was careful, and thorough. Ida's eyes dart about, scanning the rubble for the blinking of electronics, or any other sign that another trap is about to go off. It would be a solid strategy: lure the interlopers in, and deal with them using a second bomb.

        "There," Ida says, as the rubble shifts--the sound faint, but noticeable. She steps back as the clattering starts, moving as quickly as she can without tripping. "Get back--!"

        Ida huddles behind Azoth's shield, regardless, trusting in him to keep her safe. When she opens her eyes, she blinks, owlishly, at the sight before her. This is not remotely the first time she's seen someone impaled, but she wasn't expecting it to be Xenia. She was also expecting more blood.

        Ida stares into the middle distance for a moment as Fei starts to break down. Would it be rude to mention she has a repair kit? she thinks, as laughable as the idea is.

        For lack of Elly's presence, she steps into her go-to role of desperately trying to comfort Fei. Her boots crunch through the rubble as she walks up to him, stopping at his side. She reaches out to place a hand on his shoulder. "I think we can help," Ida says, her voice subdued.

        Of course awful things are happening again. Of course.

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

The warehouse is a wash, clues-wise, that much is clear. If there was something that was meant to be covered up here, it's been accomplished quite thoroughly. However, the presence of Xenia here turns the entire thing on its head. After all, wasn't the Watchful Eye supposed to be backing her...?

However, her condition is judged to be the more pressing matter. Xenia's eyes briefly widen when the Black Wolves and their supporters file in, then she grimaces, and... looks tired, more than anything else. "...Great. Just what I needed." Not, perhaps, the kind of reaction one would expect if one were glad to see someone capable of rendering aid in what is obviously a bad situation.

She does a double-take at Azoth. That's somebody she was doubly not expecting to see. What's with this team-up? Even in her current state, you can see her trying to mentally work out how things got to this point. Perhaps it's for that reason that she replies to him before anyone else.

"...Not directly," is her simple response. She was set up, is meant to be the implication. A rather violent falling out, that may have been the situation here.

Next is Fei, because Fei is making himself very difficult to ignore. While his reaction is an outpouring of concern regarding her condition, Xenia mainly just looks annoyed with the whole thing. And he is not helping. "Ugh. You think I care about how smart you are? Settle down already." Wait, who's trying to support who now? With Ida joining him, she makes her opinion clear: "Yes, please, he clearly needs help."

Only then does she get around to addressing the two doctors, trying to assist with her injuries. "Heh. Do I look like I'm going to fight?" she asks of Lily, just before Citan takes her wrist, prompting her to state firmly, "Hands. Off." She doesn't actually attempt to do anything about it. Either way, there's enough time to tell that there is... something that's like a pulse, but any doctor worth their salt could tell there's something Not Right about it. Like many things regarding Xenia's condition, it feels unnatural. But as Citan continues his analysis, he is eventually interrupted by a tired, exaggerated sigh.

"Alright, alright, that's enough. If you want me to move, that's fine. But trust me, doc... there's nothing you can do for me." She chuckles. "Because you see..." - and with that she turns to finally respond to Emeralda's question -

"I'm perfectly fine."

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.


With a sudden burst of strength and speed, Xenia leaps out of the small crater she was in, landing perfectly upright some distance away. Well, almost perfectly. She does wobble a bit, but steadies herself quickly.

"Haaa. Okay. That sucked a bit, but I'm not gonna get all bent out of shape over it."

So saying, Xenia flexes her right shoulder - which may be the moment where the true meaning of her words becomes clear. Her shoulder is no longer dislocated. Somewhere in the short moment it took her to go from laying down to upright, her arm fixed itself. Her lopsided grin shows that she knows what she's doing, which may make it feel like she's putting on a show when she raises her right hand, opening and closing it as if to emphasize how much nothing there is wrong with it.

...She's just kind of been ignoring the more obvious injury. When she jumped up, the metal bar went with her. It's still sticking directly through her body. Evidently, she either has an absurd level of pain tolerance, or this is causing her no pain at all. She's just waiting for eyes to be drawn to her midsection, upon which she calmly continues speaking.

"Oh, this? Yeah... that's a little uncomfortable. Let me just--"

Her hands are on the bar in an instant. If anyone thought to stop her, she doesn't leave enough of an opening to act. In one swift motion, she pulls the foreign metal out of her body, with an altogether underwhelming grunt of discomfort.

Something splatters outward. That much shouldn't be surprising. However, the liquid isn't red. It's silver. Silver, which quickly darkens, as if rapidly decaying, into a black ooze.

What remains in Xenia's body is a disturbing gap where the bar used to be. It's not gory at all, there's just... a hole. You can see right through to the other side. For a little while, at least. Right before everyone's eyes, more of that silver liquid seeps out from the sides of the wound, starting to rapidly fill the gap back in. Like some kind of natural patch is forming - though all things considered, 'natural' may be the wrong word to use here.

Xenia is still standing there, grimacing a bit, but trying to maintain that grin as best she can. For what may now be obvious reasons, she singles out Emeralda, seeking to lock eyes with her in particular, to repeat something she'd said a long time ago, upon their first personal encounter.

"Told you, kid. We have a lot in common."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"...It does," Lily answers Citan of inorganic materials and whether her magic works upon them. But Xenia has a different take on the matter. She doesn't plan to fight them, but they can't actually 'help' her, because...

"Ah. It's like that." The shoulder is fine; the landing sucks. Nevertheless...

"So you do," Lily says, glancing to Emeralda for a moment, and then back to Xenia. She is a little concerned for Emeralda, given her pallor and the theatrics.

"Well, I'm glad your sense of dramatics hasn't been harmed," she says dryly. "Fine, so you're fine. But I gather that whoever blew the place didn't particularly mind that you were here."

She flexes her hand, fingers stretching out and closing again.

"And I'm sure none of that took any energy out of you, and the pain is just an irrelevant little matter that's beneath you to worry about."

She shakes her head. "Whatever. Answer some questions or don't. I feel obligated to help someone who's dying, but if you're 'just fine' then it isn't my problem if someone wants to kill you."

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

We're not your enemies, Citan says. "Aww, she knows we are," Azoth counters, chipper. "But that doesn't mean we want to leave you to die."

Not only is Xenia not happy to see them, she was not, apparently, expecting to see them. So whoever did this was expecting Xenia...? Would the Watchful Eye have done this? Xenia's answer to his question is enough to implicate it. Azoth can partition more of his focus on her, then, rather than outside threats.

Because what an interesting situation this is. And with Xenia and Xantia being 'sisters'...

He playfully claps with his mouth in an 'o' of impressed surprise as Xenia leaps out and makes her landing, damaged, but not threatened. Azoth points toward the bar. "You missed a spot--" but Xenia's already noticed and taking care of it. Azoth doesn't react beyond his careful observation of it. He knows what he's seeing. Xenia always claimed that he and Xantia were similar -- that is, in mental construction, not in her other teasing. (But she did that, too.)

Azoth sits down on the edge of the crater, leaning back leisurely on his hands and crossing one leg over the other, which dangles down casually.

"How much like you is she?"

<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.

        "I am a doctor," he reminds Xenia, as she attempts to refuse his aid. "Please, Xenia. You must relax." He's being a little bit nicer than their last encounter, that's for sure. Is it because she's injured, or just because there's an audience?
        Still, he doesn't get very far in his analysis of her wound. This is because Xenia's injury, despite appearances...

        ...was in fact something she could just shake off.

        ...So it's like that.

        Citan watches her as her body reforms, the initial shock of it appearing to soon wear off for him. There had indeed been something odd about her vitals, and what's more...

        Folding his arms over his chest, he glances first at Lily then at Azoth.
        Can he recall Xantia ever having had a wound? A real injury?

        "That collar you wear... no, I suppose that's inaccurate. It is a part of your body or something close to it, is it not? Just now... it was precisely like the sort of response I saw when scratching Xantia's collar."

<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.

This is quite possibly the first time Emeralda has been wrong due to intense *over*thinking, instead of under (or being worried about the wrong thing entirely).

Emeralda had gone pale because she thought Xenia was more badly hurt than she was - because she'd been assuming Xenia was human, or at least something close to human. But that's not how humans react to injury - that's closer to how Emeralda herself does. Though not exactly the same. She either can't or doesn't do some things Emeralda does, and Emeralda can't figure out how she moves so fast sometimes, so it goes both ways.

Now her eyes are wide as she stares. It's a different look. She recovers after a few moments, drawing herself back to her full height instead of bracing her weight back slightly in case of ... something.

"You never said anything like this!" Emeralda seems almost offended by the comparison. She isn't sure what to make of it. She stares at Xenia for a few moments longer, her eyes narrowing slightly in either deep thought or deep attention.

"And we're not the same," she says, eventually. "I don't want to hurt people and steal things and that's at least as important as the rest of it." Emeralda looks over at Azoth - he's asked her question, honestly. How much like Xenia *is* Xantia? Because if they're the same as each other...

...well, Emeralda sees how to deal with some things, now. She has an idea about that collar.

Instead, she asks: "What were you doing in there except being exploded? And were you *always* like that?" That's a bit of a rude question, isn't it?

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Some part of Fei knows, of course, just what Xenia is but Fei is going to blubber about the injuries anyway. Even if this is scarcely a flesh wound for someone like Xenia, is still bothers him. He ignores the insults because he's pretty used to it. He doesn't care.

Xenia makes an impressive leap for an impaled person, even an impaled super robot nanomachine person because there's really only so much that can do when you are mangled up. A body requires certain levels of stability to be able to maneuver. Even Emeralda has to roughly obey physics.

He gives Azoth a bit of a harsh look. "We're not enemies." He says to him.

He's getting a little annoyed by just how chill Azoth is about all this.

He looks to Xenia. "You can't... just assume your body will keep you safe just because it acts invulnerable. The rapid heating of an explosion can create large patches of dead material that the surrounding nanocells don't know what to do with. The healing factor is not infinite."

He exhales. "I remember that much, at least. What if the explosion unleashed an electromagnetic pulse?"

He looks to Emeralda for a moment before turning back to Xantia. "..."

He closes his eyes for a moment. Ida places a hand on his shoulder. His breathing steadies.

"That technology..." Fei says slowly. Carefully. "It is not for continuing the foolish mistakes of the past."

He looks to Emeralda. He makes his way over to her, pulling away from Ida to approach Emeralda. He rests a hand on her shoulder.

Solaris had ahold of Emeralda but this man is from Shevat. Creating someone like this shouldn't be possible for Shevat. Though maybe they learned how some other way. By necessity, Kim had notes.

"You don't want to do this stuff either." Fei says. "But we can't do anything to help if you don't let us."

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        Ida is at a loss for what to do, and she doesn't like it. If they need to move Xenia somewhere, she can help, but she can't think of what to say to Fei, and Fei is distraught. It's jabbing Ida right in the part of her brain that's used to helping people and being the one who knows what to do in any given situation.

        Xenia gives her something else to worry about. The heiress stares, owl-eyed, as she demonstrates regenerative power Ida can only envy. "So that's what you are," she says, her voice tight. "Xantia..."

        "...Was that a farewell gift for you, then? No. It wasn't, was it? They would know. But either way, Fei is right." Right?

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xenia is definitely fond of her dramatics. It's a shame that Lily has to take the wind out of her sails on that. She's right back to looking annoyed after that, making a gesture of helplessness with her hands. "Can't ever let me have my fun, can you? Well, at least I enjoyed the look on the faces of some of you."

Electricity briefly arcs across Xenia's suit -- or, is that actually a suit? The patch that formed to fill up the hole in her body is starting to shape itself... to very much resemble the part of the suit that is currently missing. Be that as it may, in her current state she does appear to be weakened, further evidenced by how she holds up her hands as to say 'take it easy' to Lily, and anyone else who might have some aggressive tendencies.

"Okay, okay, I get it, give me a break here, alright? I just got a building dropped on my head, I gotta do something to feel better after a stupid mistake like this. Just what I needed, more problems." She crosses her arms. "But hey, I'm up for making the most of it while I can. You got questions, ask 'em."

First up is Azoth, who is calm enough, and gets a similarly calm reply. "Pretty broad question, but I know what you're asking. She's flesh and blood. I know at least some of you have seen that much." To name one example: Operation Mi'ihen. That's when Xantia took a serious wound, which very much appeared like you'd expect from a flesh and blood human, and cost her the use of her arm for a while. Or that time when she broke her actual human ribs. Both times, she healed much faster than humans typically do, but still. There's plenty of evidence to prove that this is a difference between the 'sisters'.

Citan gets his response next. "For me it is, yeah. For Xantia, what's around her neck is the only thing made out of the same stuff." A substance colored silver, until separated from the whole, after which it rapidly decays. Already, the fluid that landed on the ground is starting to break apart, leaving nothing left. Since Fei is on the same wavelength, she continues in her response to him. "I know what you're thinking. It's not the same, not exactly. You could say that... this stuff knows what it wants to be, and will always actively try to reassume the original shape."

She doesn't react to the comments on its potential weaknesses. That wouldn't be very smart, now would it? The only other thing she says is, "I think you already know why I can't always just talk like this. Clock's ticking, by the way." She sees no reason to elaborate on that one further.

She slowly turns her head to Emeralda at this point, remaining silent for a moment before she replies to the one she claimed to have a lot in common with. "...I'm sorry you feel that way." After a moment, she adds, "You shouldn't assume that people always want to do the things they do. Sometimes, they have no choice." It's not coincidence that her eyes briefly direct themselves to Azoth. "And sometimes, they have good reasons that they can't talk about. I sure wasn't in this place because I wanted to be, that's about as much as I can tell you about that."

She frowns briefly at that last question. "...This is who I am. I've never been anything else."

And finally, Ida. Poor, confused Ida. Xenia can't help but grin. "Oh, I'm a 'what' now, am I? Bit rude, don't you think? Or is that how you think of yourself, too?" She shrugs. "Well for once, I'm as lost as you are. No idea what's going on here. But I'm going to find out. And then I'm gonna--"

She trails off, suddenly staring off in a direction behind the the others assembled. They may realize what it is she sees before looking back, when they hear a familiar sound coming from that direction. A crackle of energy, followed by a steady hum... the sound of Xantia's ARM.

Looks like somebody woke up, and decided to join her friends on their stakeout after all. And found something completely different. To say that she looks displeased is putting it mildly. Given the activation of her weapon, she's made her intentions pretty obvious, as she slowly walks in the direction of her 'sister'.

Xenia's shocked, worried look quickly turns to some measure of resignation, as she lets out a deep sigh. "Seriously? Now? You want to do this now? Well... then I guess I won't have any choice... unless..."

Xenia regards three individuals present, each in turn giving them a meaningful look. Lily. Azoth. And finally, Fei. They should know. She warned them of this, each of them separately. Now, it's up to them how they act upon that warning.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        Ida listens. Clock's ticking. Is Xenia saying she has only a window of time to speak freely, or is something more macabre going to happen? For a few, awful moments Ida wonders if Xenia has a self-destruct built in, because that would make everything even worse. But she's not talking like someone who knows she's going to die.

        And then Xenia reminds Ida exactly what she thinks of her. Ida's face twists; she looks like she's just been slapped. "I didn't mean it like that!" she says, defensiveness in her voice despite it all. And then--

        Ida turns, but doesn't let Xenia out of her sight. "...Xantia?" She...

        Ida doesn't know Xantia as well as Lily or Fei, but the Xantia Ida knows is not the Xantia that's approaching. "What are you doing?" Her mind rushes back to Dazil. A knot forms in her gut.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"You expect me to like fun?" Lily says to Xenia, lifting an eyebrow. She does get the picture, though. Probably if she were a nicer person she could've let Xenia have this, but she isn't and she didn't. She has certainly learned a few things about Xenia in the intervening few moments though. It's what Xenia is... regardless of what she wants. Azoth has a point; Lily considers herself Xenia's enemy, for one, even though she doesn't hate her. But even so...

"...Looks like it's time," Lily says, as Xantia appears, and starts to crackle, and then... walks. Someone woke up. She doesn't look happy. Her intentions are obvious. And Lily looks right back to Xenia.

"...It's up to her," Lily says. "What she does, what she pursues... As her friend, I'm going to let her follow that road wherever it leads. That's the choice she's made, and I swore to respect it."

She looks to the others, noticing Xenia's scrutiny on them. "If you want to talk her out of it, now's the time. Otherwise..."

She regards Xenia, and then Xantia.

"Citan. Fei. I need all the power you can give me if you can't think of a better way to do this."

Lily immediately starts to turn; her flesh grays, and darkens, until she is nothing more than a three-dimensional shadow, save for golden eyes that shine brightly in the dark. The oppressive sense of channeling Ether is abruptly even stronger than before, as she brings the secondary reactors within her online.

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Fei insists that no, they're not enemies. Azoth, unfazed by the harshness even coming from someone as typically soft as Fei, looks directly at Xenia with a smile. "That's not your decision to make. It's not hers, either. ...Right, Xenia?"

He rolls backward onto his feet and dusts himself off.

This revelation does change his feelings on the subject of Xenia. But unfortunately for Xenia, it does not change Azoth's feelings on the matter of Xantia... Xantia, the one who was there to encourage him in the pursuit of the past. Xantia, who wants to achieve it. Xantia, who wants.

The crackle of energy doesn't surprise him. Azoth closes his eyes only briefly. There aren't many promises he can keep, he told Xantia once. But this one, right here, right now?

That he can do. "Sorry, Xenia."

For once, he means that.

He opens his eyes, flooded with light, as several energy swords appear behind him like bladed wings. Each launch out, firing in a circle around Xenia as an attempted means not to attack her, but cut off her attempts to escape.

Azoth had made his intentions clear to Xenia from the very beginning. Now he's carrying through.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        "Lily?!" Ida's eyes go wide, and she stumbles away from the sorceress. Her arms are raised to chest-height, and her fingers are half-clenched. "Azoth?!"

<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.

        He might not have seen Xantia wounded -- even after Mi'ihen, for a variety of reasons directly related to the chaos of that particular event -- but others have. And Xenia confirms it for herself. Xantia is human. "Then... what Xantia has been sensing of you, is it not through--"

        And just like that, he's out of time.

        His gaze tracks towards Xantia, then back to Xenia. He had hoped to try another way but... alas, at times, even the best of plans can't survive contact with the enemy.
        Whatever and whoever that might be in this particular case.

        "...Xantia," he says, all the same, uncertain whether he will receive a response.

        This time, he's not the one who comes up with the plan first. Lily speaks to Xenia, and tells her that...

        I'm going to let her follow that road wherever it leads.

        'Wherever it leads'. Yes. Precisely. This will be one of the riskier gambles Citan has made in some time. But, should there be some way to...

        "...As you wish, Lily," he tells her, meeting her gaze. He can't explain what he intends. He can't know if it's what she intends. But perhaps something of it might pass between then, communicated by the eyes alone.

        The air clouds faintly around him, molecules jostled about as he calls to them and they respond. Yes, he can give Lily some power. Without question.

<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.

"...I wasn't sure," Emeralda says. Lydia wasn't always like she is, after all.

Does that make them more alike? Or no? Emeralda doesn't feel great. She remembers being made to do things - well, she *doesn't* remember being made to do things, but she remembers being told about the things she did, even though Fei and Elly tried to *not* tell her. So is Xenia like what she could have been? But she was asleep then, and Xenia is (unless she's really, really good at sleep-talking) awake...

She kicks a rock. It doesn't skitter far, because Emeralda didn't kick it very hard. Mostly it's an excuse to look down for a moment. But only a moment.

"No, don't!"

Emeralda jumps between Xenia and Xantia, arms spread wide as if to try to block Lily too. It's not like any of them (well, maybe not Xenia if Azoth is putting her in ring jail) can't get around her trivially. That's not the *point*. "It's not like that! It's not fighting time! She was hurt when we got here, and..." She's not sure what to say. She's not sure *how* to say.

"...It's not right," Emeralda says. "It's not right if you can't even talk. You're sisters! I know you're mad at each other," which is an understatement, "but, but! If it's the collar..."

Emeralda thinks she's seeing around the edge of how to get it off. Xantia, anyway - Xenia would be harder, since hers is probably more 'built in'. But she doesn't quite have the confidence to say she can take it off, right away.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei Fong Wong says, "Says who?" to Azoth.

But he can't argue much longer because Xantia arrives. Even the nature of what Xantia is, is--something he can't dwell on right now. Because everything is distilled, in his mind, to an exquisite terrifying simplicity. Perhaps he had spent more time with Xenia than the others, found more sympathy for her. The fact that her choice was taken from her, that she is dangerous to Xantia for some unknown reason.

It's an already stressful situation in of itself. Fei has to figure out whether or not to let things... end, in a way. Xantia meets with Xenia and it destroys her. It's what she wants, so to deny her this is to deny her will.

Xenia wants her to stay away but is also kind of trapped in working for some kind of ridiculous supervillain with a dumb name (Fei's thoughts).

Fei's heart is pounding. He thinks of Siegfried as he is shot and killed when he is right there. He doesn't want to lose his sister.

He doesn't want his sister to lose her sister. It'd be one thing if Xenia was a remorseless monster, but she is just another kid with a raw shake of things.

Fei looks to Ida who often has the unenviable position of trying to keep Fei nice and lucid. Ditto Citan.

Fei turns to look at Xantia. He looks at her charging weapon. And Xenia is looking to him for help. Looking to him. He...

He can't think of what to do. Is the only choice to kill one or the other?

Lily starts threatening Xenia herself. At least, that's what it looks like. And now Azoth summons his own power to help prevent her escape.

Fei is not strong enough to do anything about that. His shoulders sag. "I..."

Even Doc. Even Doc is going along with this...

But surely Citan knows the risks of doing that. Fei, on the precipice, struggles inside, staring at Xantia.

As that damned cross swings to and fro from his vision.

He feels a woman in a labcoat, bleeding out just one see-through door away from him, their daughter trapped. He can't reach her. He can't do anything.

Emeralda jumps between Xenia and Xantia. Fei blinks once.

She's in danger. He feels it deep in his chest, pounding over and over. She's in danger. She's in danger....

Fei drops into a crouch, panting for breath as his anxiety reaches its peak. He closes his eyes.

No.

And when he opens them again, it isn't Fei standing there. Id stands up in the guise of Id. His pale form, his red hair pulling free with a single gesture of his hand.

He walks towards Emeralda.

He rests a hand on her shoulder.

"I've missed you, kiddo." Id says to her. "How many lifetimes since I thought you were lost to us... And you're just as brave and kind as we hoped you'd be."

He exhales out a sigh. "But... even this, He won't let me hold it. So... do not get too close. The person behind this stomps on bravery and kindness without so much as looking down."

He looks back to Xantia. "I have no intention of letting my sisters destroy themselves."

His eyes slant to Azoth briefly. "It is my decision."

And with that Id darts forward at an impossible speed, tackling into Xantia and pushing her farther away from Xenia--not closer.

But that's not all! Your friend WELTALL-ID busts into the scene, aiming to just crash on through those cool swords and grab Xenia into its huge gear hand.

Judging from Id's words he probably intends to have the Gear blast off again with Xenia.

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xenia can only stare, impassively. As one by one, Lily and Azoth make their choice, and get support from Citan. Even if the others waver, she can see where this is going. She might have known that this is the choice they'd make. Again. Again. What can she do... but laugh. She can't manage to keep the pain from leaking into the laugh even a little. Getting caught in an explosion, buried in rubble, impaled by a metal spike... that's nothing. But this? This hurts.

"...I see how it is. Always, always, always, she's going to be the one you all listen to. Even when you know, you know things are going to turn out badly. You just don't believe in damage control, do you? You're all content to just smash through everything and see what happens. ...Well. Alright. We'll see what happens, then."

Xenia stays where she is. She doesn't make a move, and simply waits for Xantia to approach, with a stoic expression. Xantia keeps her eyes squarely on Xenia the entire time, but she can tell - the advantage is hers. Her friends are supporting her, making sure that Xenia doesn't go anywhere. Finally letting her have this moment. The confrontation she's been waiting for. To finally get her answers, one way or another. Everything is perfect.

Until Emeralda objects. And Xantia stops in her tracks, looking shocked. Emeralda is here. She'd been so focused on Xenia, she didn't even notice. That heartfelt objection... it's enough to cause her to waver. To pause. Even deactivate her ARM. But it won't make her relent.

"...Listen, Emmy..." Her voice is normal, gentle. Her gaze a far cry from the hateful look she was casting Xenia's way just now. "I'll try talking. But, talking's never worked before. You need to understand... she knows everything about me. She's the only one who can give me all the answers I've been looking for. And she won't tell me. She hasn't left me any choice. You know how important this is to me, don't you?"

As ready as she is to literally beat the answers out of Xenia, she needs everyone on her side for this. She needs to be able to do this without any regrets. To emphasize, she addresses those that have already displayed their willingness to assist: Lily, Azoth and Citan. "...Thank you, all of you. But please, let me handle this. If I mess this up, it's my own fault. Believe me, I can--"

Whatever else she was going to say doesn't emerge. Xantia is staring, wide-eyed and with an open mouth, at Id's sudden appearance. Why? Why would he show up now? Things were going her way, weren't they? She was getting what she was after, wasn't she? So... "Why...?" she finally vocalizes. And she gets an answer.

"Destroy...? No! I'm finally getting back my missing pieces, that's all this is! Nobody's going to do any destroying!"

Xenia, quiet until now, sees this as an opportunity to scoff, "The fact that you still think nothing will be destroyed by doing this shows that you've learned nothing."

The argument doesn't go anywhere, because Id's decided that Xantia won't be going anywhere, pushing her back with far more force than she can manage to fight off - even once she gets her bearing enough to dig in her heels and start using her full, Ether-enhanced strength to push back against him. Though she halts her forced retreat considerably, she's still losing the exchange, and can't manage to break free from it. Astonished and angry in equal measure, there's only one thing she can say, and constantly repeat. The word 'why'. Over, and over, and over. She doesn't understand. She can't understand.

Xenia, however, still isn't capable of retreat. If she could use her super speed at its full potential, she would have done so by now. And there's still the possible threat the others present are posing towards her. This problem is unexpectedly solved through getting picked up by a suddenly appearing red Gear. She doesn't have much choice but to go along for the ride... not that she's complaining.

Just like that, the fated confrontation is cut short... in a way that no one could have predicted.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

It makes sense to assume that Lily is preparing to attack Xenia. That's not precisely the case... but it's not not the case, either. As Citan starts to channel power into her, Lily prepares to cast the strongest spell that she knows. She's not sure, frankly, that she'll be able to complete it; she's not sure it won't take more out of her than she can handle. Nevertheless... for Xantia, she has to risk it.

"It's not your fault," Lily starts to Xantia, "But--"

Id shows up. Id shows up, because Fei shut down. Lily's teeth grit. "Damn," she murmurs. It's his decision...

"Damn it, Id!"

Lily keeps charging the spell as best she can. "Are you going to do this every time!? Are you going to make sure they never meet? Because I don't think even you can do that!"

"I get that you don't want them to destroy each other, I don't want that either, but what other choice is there? We just hold Xantia back from ever getting the thing she wants most? We ignore whoever's forcing Xenia into all this?"

"Tell me, Id!" Ether crackles all around Lily, the spell still building up, incredible amounts of power just generating in an effort to even try it.

"Like HELL it's your decision! It's THEIR decision! Just because you have the power to do whatever you want doesn't make it the right thing to do!"

"That's what the Wolves have taught me! That 'power' isn't the only right in this world!"

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Azoth watches as Xantia approaches Xenia, and as she tells him to let her handle it. "Are you sure? You were the one who was there for me every time. Whenever I lost hope... I know how much this means to you. And if something does go wrong... You were the one who told me all we have to do is remember what we treasure. Everyone we care about. The things most important to us. Whatever happens, Xantia, I'll be there to remind you. And if we end up having to fight... then we fight. But I don't want do less for you than you would do for me."

But then -- Id. Someone Azoth's never met, nor fully understands. Azoth's expression turns hurt, of all things, as Id makes his decision. "...Is it?"

The Gear comes, and Xenia is gone before Azoth can do much of anything.

Azoth stands there in the wake of it, as Xantia says why, why, why.

"Xantia..."

Lily's anger flares with it all, and Azoth looks to everyone. "What does it even mean to be destroyed like this?! To become someone else, someone the rest of you don't recognize, because her memories might be different?! I refuse to be someone who cherry picks which parts of Xantia get to count! All she is. All she was. All she's going to be...! All of Xantia is important!"

<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.

"...I know." Emeralda meets Xantia's gaze. "I know it's important. But, but... family is important too. And, even if it's hard, you still have to try. It's not a choice to fight her because she won't tell you something. That won't make you know it either! It'll just get you hurt, or her hurt, or both..." Or dead.

Emeralda keeps her arms spread as a voice sounds behind her. Someone puts his hand on her shoulder.

Emeralda does not, consciously, know Id. But she knows the voice - and she knows the only person who would say words like that. Of all the things she has forgotten, she has forgotten that the last. "...Kim?" Emeralda cranes her head around, though she doesn't otherwise move.

He doesn't look like Kim. But he sounds like Kim, even more than Fei does. Emeralda doesn't know what to do. She freezes up for a moment, and then she starts to smile. "Kim..."

Id moves. Emeralda moves, too - not as fast, and certainly without a Gear. "No! Not you either!" Emeralda blurts it out before she consciously thinks of who she's talking to, and then she almost can't continue. She just told him no. She told *him* no.

"You can't, either! It's - it's wrong! It's family! You can't take people away from their family... even if it's hard... I thought I lost Kim for ever! And then I hadn't. But Xantia helped me want to remember more, and so, and so I'm going to help her too. Fighting might not help but neither will this!"

Emeralda swallows. "Please," she finishes, a lump in her throat. "Please don't." She points at Xenia, in Weltall-Id's hand. "You said you can't always just talk like this. But you can now! So please, talk, and then we don't have to fight!"

<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.

        "I would not... phrase it precisely like that," is what he tells Xenia. No, in truth -- since he heard the tale from her and matched it against the other fragments of information and signs they had witnessed -- he knew that what Xenia asked was likely impossible. Even if he could have dissuaded Xantia, eventually...
        It was treating the symptoms without curing the disease, in a sense.

        There isn't anything he can say to Xantia now. Even if he thought Xenia's plan would work, they are out of time. And so he pivots.

        Perhaps if all takes a better turn than he can presently hope for, perhaps he can explain his thinking. But only if that comes to pass. Even now, in spite of his better efforts -- even now he cannot help but be possessed of a particular fatalism.

        Perhaps this is the passage of fate, itself.

        So he lends Lily some of his own power as she draws upon the deepest wells of her own. His gaze lingers on Xenia then turns towards Xantia, and all he can do is watch and wait. Perhaps--

        He could not miss that aura.

        "Fei?! No-- not here!"

        Not anywhere.

        Is this the closest he's stood to Id? In this moment, he can't recall. "Id, you..."

        His role is to observe.

        "What is your aim?"

        With Xenia and Xantia now?
        With the world?

        Xantia might have made her decision, but Id has made his own. He will not--
        What words fail to realize, power does.

        His gaze follows the red Gear as it plucks up Xenia and prepares to take flight. "Id, wait, this is merely postponing...!" he says, cutting himself off. In those faint moments before Lily, Emeralda and Azoth let fly their own arguments, he is given instead to wonder aloud, "Is this... truly the way of the world? That ones who possess power are the ones who decide its course?" Lily, then Azoth, let fly their objections to Id regarding this turn of events.

        'Which parts of Xantia get to count'... His attention lingers on Azoth, as if to weigh these statements. Where does he fall, with what he plots...? No, there can be no doubting where it would be.

        "Xenia!" He calls out to her now. "The next time we meet-- there may be no more chances! Who is trying to kill you?"

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        Things escalate further. Ida glances at Citan, remembering what he said about Xantia's fugue states, and what they imply. Somewhere out there is a monster of a man holding Xantia's strings, as well as Xenia's; his grip might be looser on the former, but that won't matter if she's got programming, like Azoth, and it somehow reasserts itself.

        There is a solution. Kill Xenia, for good, before Xantia can find out. Fei's freezing up. The others are--

        "Emeralda, no!" Ida shouts, eyes widening in terror. "Fei. Fei, please, you--"

        And then Fei is gone. Ida steps back, a sort of dull shock settling into her eyes. She lets out a little noise that isn't quite a cry of surprise or a sob. Weltall-Id's sudden arrival sends her stumbling back, but even that isn't as much of a gut punch as what the others say. A lock of hair slips down across Ida's face, shading her eyes.

        "This again...?" Ida whispers, and her mind flashes back to milling chess pieces out of Malevolence-saturated granite. Imbuing them with as much fear and frustration as she could, distilling the purity of a no-win scenario where someone has to die. Ida looks at Xantia with eyes that once stared into the abyss. "Are you willing to live with it?" she says. "Because you--"

        Xantia's face flashes before her mind's eye, cold and full of banked violence. "--you have to live with it. All of it. All of you."

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Damn it, Id.

Is he going to keep doing this every time? Is nothing going to change?

Id's teeth grit as he makes a "Tch!" noise. "What is...wrong with you people...?" He says. "You want me to gamble my sister's identity WITHOUT knowing what is actually going on?? To just... trust that all will be well when one half of the equation thinks it's a bad idea?"

Id looks over his shoulder towards them, weaving around Xantia's strikes the way water might pass around rocks. "Are you even certain that Xantia and Xenia--are even different people at all? So what if they are in two bodies, that is hardly an issue. Split one person into two. Or more. You've seen it before within Xantia, so is it so out of the ordinary that you could see one person placed into two? And what of Xenia, should such a thing happen? Would she not lose herself if you were to offer her up to Xantia? Can you be so CERTAIN that wouldn't happen? I can't be."

"We are born into this world with only one wing, Xantia. We must never seek our second wing because that one wing is a blessing. In our imperfection, we need others to fly to the heavens. That is the teaching of Mother Sophia. If I were whole, I would not exist. I know that for certain. And would Fei? Perhaps he'd be much like you knew him, but it still would be a different person in that body."

Id exhales. "...If nothing else... Forcing Xenia into this when she's too wounded to have a choice in the matter doesn't sit well in my craw. Surprised it sits well with you."

Id raises his hand--

--Emeralda tells him no.

"I...I don't want to, but...ARGHH!!!"

Id turns his hand and blasts a pillar sized red ki blast into the sky.

His body sags. "What do I do, Em?" Id asks softly. "These people, Em, they do such terrible things. To your head. To your soul. They'll defile every part of you they can reach. He is no different from Solaris. You don't know what they've done to me, I don't want you to know. They don't let you have a good option, they build you in such a way so there's only destruction and pain no matter where you look."

He turns on Azoth. "Don't you know this??" He demands. What Fei is oblivious to, Id is far more perceptive. "There is no good answer... I've tried, so many times. Don't you get it? Solaris always wins. And Herod is emulating them perfectly."

But he can't refuse a request from Emeralda. "Damn it..."

".... You have my eyes." Id says softly.

"....Okay." He says. "Okay."

Citan asks him his aim.

"...Isn't it the way of the world, Doc?" Id asks Citan. "How many of us have really broken free of Power's grasp. I haven't. Have you? Has Lily? You were about to use your power to do the same, weren'tcha? Maybe I'm just a little more desperate than you, Doc."

He exhales. "...But I remember...Emeralda was to be the future of this world. So here's the deal."

"We'll calm down for a minute. And then I'll let you guys talk to Xenia. Convince her to speak to Xantia and I won't have any problem. Since she can't run, maybe she'll change her mind. Convince her to believe in Xantia the way you believe in her. To make that gamble with you. If you do that, then I'll stay outta the way. Both of us."

He looks to Emeralda. "Does that work for you, kiddo? Every other time she ran or some shit came up. So maybe that's all you'll need. But Xenia is her own person too--if you force her to do what you want, then who really IS relying on Power here?"

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

What is even happening anymore? Mere moments ago, Xantia had thought her mind and course set. Emeralda's concerns made her waver briefly, but she still believed to be doing the right thing. But then Id... of all people, Id...!

Why. She keeps repeating that word, so many times that it loses all its meaning. She's just screaming into the void in frustration, unable to understand what happened to make things go this way. How could it be that after all this, Id would choose to intervene? She refuses to believe that he'd just... betray her like this. If he's stopping her, there has to be a reason.

...Could it be? Is this like that time? The time when she had to stop him from making a mistake, when he'd lost the ability to see that's what he was doing?

She can just feel Ida's eyes on her, at that moment. At that time, the two of them teamed up to hold Id back together. Now it feels like both of them are trying to stop her. One actively, and one passively. And with Xenia gone, taken away by Weltall-Id before even able to think of responding to Citan, she finds herself more and more losing the will to fight, with every word Id speaks. When Emeralda interrupts Id, she doesn't persist either, sagging, then slumping to her knees.

She's only half processing most of what goes on around her, no longer sure about anything. The way Id talks is too complicated for her to fully understand, as it often is. But... she does very clearly make out one voice, speaking in a way that she fully understands. Powerfully too, touching her enough so to snap her out of her momentary daze. She can only really reply to it with a surprised expression, managing no more than, "Azoth..."

Id feels a hand on him, next. It's Xantia, almost casually using him to lean on in order to pull herself back up to her feet. Once she's standing, she closes her eyes, and takes a deep breath, before reopening them.

"Everyone... thank you for everything. For being here, for helping me. Let me be honest... I have no idea if I'm doing the right thing anymore. Or, well. If I'm doing the right thing the right way, I guess. I don't want to have any regrets about this later. So... I'm leaving it up to you. Please. Help me deal with this in the best way. I don't mind doing things the way Id's suggesting. If you can agree with it, then so will I."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily has her anger; Azoth has his faith(?). Emeralda doesn't want this. And Citan wonders... if it's just the way of the world. Lily looks to Ida, for a moment. To her horror. And then, Id...

"Gambling without knowing the result is what mortals do, Id. That's life. If we had the power to know the outcome, if we could force things to be the way we want them just because we want them that way..."

"Then the world would look pretty different."

She quiets for a moment, shaking her head. "...It's not that we don't seek our second wing," Lily says, commenting with her own understanding of the Nisan faith. "It's that we find it in others. Maybe you know the teachings better than I do, but that's how I always saw it. It's not about ingratitude, it's about needing others to be whole."

"...I admit," Lily says. "I don't know what will happen to Xenia. I assume she'll die. That's unfortunate, but it wouldn't be the first time I've let one person die to save someone I was more attached to. Right or wrong... I'm not the one to make that call."

"...If you want to know what I was planning," Lily says to Id, "I was going to forcibly separate them. To seal myself and Xenia or Xantia away, and give the others a chance to talk to the other one and make sure this is what was best. It wouldn't have lasted long... but it wouldn't have had to."

The magic around Lily doesn't really abate, but it loses its focus as she stops actively trying to generate more Ether. The power lacks direction, but she doesn't release it from existence. She may still need it.

"...But you're right. If we force Xenia to do what we want, we're relying on 'power' too. I can live with that... But I don't think all of us could."

Lily lowers her hands, at least a sign that she's not actively planning to blast anybody. "But I think Azoth is right, too. ...It's not up to us, what happens with Xantia and Xenia. Or it shouldn't be. It's up to the two of them."

She stops, though. Stops when Xantia thanks them. And Lily considers for a moment, looking to Weltall-Id and then looking down again, before regarding Xantia.

"...You might not like what you learn. You might change, as a person, much more than I imagined possible. You might become our enemy."

"I won't make this decision for you. ...Because to me, it's yours to make. But if you can agree with giving Xenia a choice, too... then I can accept that."

"I don't know either, what's 'right'. ...It would be easier if you continued on as you are, certainly, for everyone it looks like. But I think that's just delaying the inevitable. So... I guess that means either we talk to Xenia, and try to convince her, or..."

She turns to Id. She doesn't have to say the alternative. "...I support you regardless. And I'll support you even if it means fighting you... or fighting for you."

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Faith. Is that the right word? Can a robot have such a thing? After all, to him, Xantia has been nothing but logical. It only makes sense to listen to her.

Id asks what he knows and Azoth looks back at him, emulating exhaustion in his expression. "Perhaps, but I'm going to believe in Xantia." His voice is quiet, as if he does not wish for anyone to overhear. "Because her being right is the only hope I have left. And it might be Xenia's, too."

Then, he looks to Ida, who declares they have to live with it. Azoth locks eyes with her for but a moment. "Yes. We do." Not will. This is a present tense situation.

He approaches Xantia now that she's back on her feet.

"Xantia... I won't take this from you. I won't anyone else do it, either. But I will stand with you. ...Or against you, if it has to come to that. I think we can handle each other, though." He offers out his hand to help support her, if she needs it.

"I know you aren't here to sacrifice Xenia. If she's afraid of losing something, we can remind her, too, so long as we know what it is. Even if it's only herself... that's something important enough."

He smiles faintly. "Whatever you decide... It doesn't have to be right now. But I meant what I said before. And I know you'd do the same for any of us."

<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.

"..."

Emeralda isn't entirely sure what Id means by all of that. She was to be the future of this world?

'This child... holds our futures and possibilities...'

Something threatens to rise in Emeralda's memory. When she was a child, she would have flinched away from it; now she tries to remember, squeezing her eyes closed for a moment. Nothing. Nothing more, beyond what he'd already said, but...

Her eyes open again. "Yes," she agrees, though she still has a bit of a lump in her side. "Yes - of course that's fine!" She wants to give Id a hug. She wants to give *Xantia* a hug. Fortunately, they are right next to each other, with Xantia using Id to pull herself up, and so she can simply charge at both of them, stretching her arms unnaturally wide (though only a little; she's not as small as she used to be!) so she can hug both at once.

She lets go, stepping back. She's not sure what to think about Citan, or Lily; they're harder for her to read than the others. But Azoth, she gets. At least a little more. "Me too," she says, in agreement. Surely they can all do this together.

...right?