2023-03-09: Imagine

• Log: Imagine
• Cast: Leon Albus, Emeralda Kasim, Lunata Croze, Tidus, Elhaym van Houten, Fei Fong Wong, Ethius Hesiod, Jacqueline Barber, Citan Uzuki, Shalune Amira, Yuna, Lulu
• Where: Sin
• Date: March 09, 2023
• Summary: With Sin in a weakened state -- or perhaps dazed? -- there is a chance to enter the beast itself...

---

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

The Fahrenheit has docked with Sin.

It would be a momentous, unthinkable occasion. To see Sin calmed -- paralyzed, one might say -- is odd enough. The exertion of Jecht's will, though, and the calming effect of the Hymn of the Fayth has made Sin simply hover outside of Bevelle. It is a sight that the people of Spira greet with nervous uncertainty.

And now, the Al Bhed airship is docked outside of the very space -- above Sin's mouth -- that Sin's core was fought by Yuna and her Guardians.

Cid stands on the docking plank, which connects to Sin's mottled flesh. He has his arms crossed; he towers over Lilka Eleniak, who looks on at the entrance into Sin's depths.

It's a hole -- where the core was -- that leads into a misty expanse.

"All right," Cid says. "We don't know what's down there. I'm gonna be monitoring from the Fahrenheit. You get hurt, fall back. And Lilka..."

She smiles, then holds up an empathite radio. "...I'll be in contact with you! And providing support. Consider me your operator!"

Amidst those going in, Leon Albus adjusts his duster. The blonde-haired man frowns, as he looks over his shoulder -- and back at the entrance into Sin's body. He frowns for a moment.

"Well," the Captain of the Black Wolves says. "This isn't the usual sort of ruin, to say the least. Let's keep our wits about us, eh?"

<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.

Emeralda is also here. Surprise!

Emeralda practically runs across the docking plank and onto Sin itself (himself?), because she wants to call herself the first one on, whether or not that ends up actually being accurate. She hops off the dock onto the flesh, bounces once or twice in place ("First!" she says) and then trots back to the main group so as to not get separated. When they go down, she will too.

"This place is kind of gross," she adds, afterwards, because although she has been around large beings before she's never prepared to go in so much... meat. Is it meat? Or is it pyreflies? She doesn't know and she's not sure the answer will make her very happy no matter *which* one it is (or something else entirely), and so Emeralda doesn't ask.

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

    The Fereshte has not opted to join in on being a point of entry to Sin for the Drifters, in part because it's not certain what threats may still linger, and because it confuses things. And also, as predicted from using the empathite transmitters to transmit what feels all of Spira, Riesenlied is...

    Riesenlied is pretty flat right now. It'll take her some time to become round again. The Wayside Outreach is wishing you all the best, though.

    ~*~

    Lunata's opted to arrive along with the others, having parked the Rephaim... well, actually, she's put it back on the lodestone, since those are really magical devices. She's not sure if she can summon the Rephaim inside Sin, but it's good to have your Gear on hand when you need it.

    "... it feels alive, but also not," Lunata admits. "Kinda like... ... um. Well. Kinda like me, I guess. It's hard to tell." She nods at Leon and Emeralda. "I'm ready."

<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.

    "Cool! Thanks, Lilka," Tidus tells their operator, smiling back. He doesn't know her, but he appreciates her energy. It helps him maintain his own sunniness.
    
    After all, they're going into the belly of the beast. More or less literally? Who knows what Sin's insides are structured like, but they're entering a little too close to the mouth for comfort.
    
    At least it's stopped for now. If Seymour and Jecht are both inside, they're going to have to kick Seymour's ass once and for all first thing. Tidus really doesn't like their odds if Seymour takes over for good.
    
    "You said it," he tells Leon. He may not like the guy very much, but this time, he can agree with him wholeheartedly. To everyone else, he gives a firm nod and a hopefully invigorating fistpump. "Let's do this, guys!"

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

 
The Fahrenheit...

Has docked...

With Sin.

Elly just rolls with this stuff nowadays.

Land the Regulus. Get out of the Regulus. Take a two minute shower in the locker room's adjacent hose-off facility. (She got there first, but she doesn't leave hair in the drain, at least.) Put on her OTHER dress - the denim sundress and durable leggings from her fishing adventures plus boots - and stagger her way out of the locker room.

NOW

Elly, smelling vaguely of the oddly botanical soap the Al Bhed pour into their liquid soap dispensers (and isn't that proof of an advanced civilization? Elly thinks so) emerges.

"... it's... a hole," Elly begins, before Emeralda leads the way! "Gwaaaa," Elly says, running after Emeralda with a somewhat maniacally-rueful glance back at Leon, Lunie and Tidus.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei Fong Wong is only his usual mix of anxieties when entering a... ruin? A Whale. Mostly it's because he feels like someone is helping out from the inside of the giant whale which is--truthfully--a superior set of circumstances than he's used to. Relative to his initial terror of the whale--well, this might be just another day as a Black Wolf for him. Maybe this time when they kill a God, he won't lose anybody who was like a brother to him.

He gives Tidus a thumbsup and what he hopes is an encouraging grin.

Fei isn't determined to be the first or the last and frankly, a normal mix of anxieties is plenty of anxiety for Fei! The sad truth is, invading a giant death whale for the fate of the world is starting to feel--not ROUTINE exactly but unfortunately rather more typical than he would have liked.

"Don't go too far ahead!" He shouts after Emeralda, shortly after rushing after her.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    The damaged Aiguille returns to the Fahrenheit. The first thing Ethius does is re-hydrate, as the direct hit from those fireballs nearly cooked him alive in his cockpit. Other than that, he's... walking, upright. He's once again dressed in decent-quality magenta robes and taking hold of another new quarterstaff that for some reason one of the defeated Sinscales dropped as a walking stick. (It's merely 'okay'.)
 
     His steps are measured and cautious in comparison to Tidus' enthusiasm, a free hand to his forehead as if taking in the whole enormity of all of this.
 
     It takes him a bit to find the gumption to speak.
 
     "I will be following your lead," he offers, as if more a confirmation of his presence and assistance rather than a rallying cry to action. He does seem a bit lost, but this is a man who has always struggled going 'off-script,' especially now that a new story is on the verge of being written.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Sin is unmoving, hovering outside of Bevelle. It's a strange sight. In the back of Jacqueline's mind, she fears that at any moment it'll rear up and attack. ...Well, this is the best possible opportunity they'll have. They're past the point where they can allow fear to control them. There's no choice but to move forward.

She spends her time between returning to the Fahrenheit and docking with Sin making preparations - taking a moment to swap around her spells and those of any others who might need it or Crest Caps recharged.

Now, she stands with the others, looking out onto Sin's body and the gap created from the destruction of the Core. ...She grimaces a little, as she considers the surface they'll be walking onto.

"...It is a little." She admits in agreement with Emeralda, before sending Lilka a smile. "Thank you. We're in your hands."

She looks briefly toward Lunata as she makes her comment. 'Like her'... She might not be far off.

"Right." Jacqueline says toward Leon. "I'm fully expecting Sin to have some manner of internal defenses - to say nothing of anything else that might be inside."

<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.

    This is, in a few words, going to be their only chance.

    And there will be no way to accomplish it but to go inwards.

    "Well..." Citan stands just above the gap that leads into the depths of Sin. He rubs at his chin, furrowing his brow as if in thought. "I cannot say that I have experienced anything quite like this before. At the very least, it does not appear to obey, ah... all the rules of a living being."

    He had left Heimdall behind. Between the damage it had taken and the various unknowns about venturing into the body if a Clysmian, it felt best to leave it. Besides, if the circumstances do require the use of a Gear, he can see that Lunata has the matter handled. Perhaps if they are particularly fortunate, Rephaim may be all that they need.

    "Oh--"

    Emeralda has just volunteered herself to go first, with Elly and Fei in hot pursuit. Citan follows, venturing down after the two. "Please, do not get too far ahead! We do not know what awaits us," he says, for Emeralda's sake far more than Elly's or Fei's.

    Emeralda may not be the average child, but he is a father, and she does serve to remind him -- in a sense -- of his own daughter.

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

    Noeline has stayed behind with the Fereshte, and not just because Riesenlied is flat on her back and an overriding priority. As someone who relies upon the Medium within her a lot when it comes to matters of the Guardians and for whom it is effectively part of her, she's not really sure about sending herself into the belly of a Clymsian.

    She's sent other help instead, because Shalune still has a potential paycheck to earn. "It feels like it should be sticky," the mechanic says with visible distaste, frowning at the descent that awaits them. Her fingers itch slightly, and she's sorely tempted to pull out the Little Dipper and maneuver her way down. "You remember when I was up to my elbows in Diablo's innards, and it turned out they really were innards? Xenometallurgy is weird."

    She whines slightly in her throat as other people start to make their way 'inside'. "Can't we just talk to it from outside? It must have some really big ears. Maybe if I just disbelieve in it real hard it'll go away. Sure," she puffs out a breath as she finally starts to trek after the others. "Let's just-- enter Sin's hole," she grumbles, her volume falling away until she's just muttering under her breath. "This is gonna be the only ancient ruin I don't take anything from."

<Pose Tracker> Yuna has posed.

Yuna is a quiet but far from passive presence among the group. She stands at the fore, shoulders back and head held high. She is very grave; that is often the case -- lighten up, Yunie -- but perhaps today she has more reason than most times. After all, it is unprecedented for denizens of Spira to go on such a mission INSIDE the omnicidal creature that has murdered them for centuries, let alone a mission with the goal of ending that threat forever.

She turns away from the hatch to bow to the entire group, very deeply. Her slightly-frayed beaded earring sure has come a long way from Besaid Island. As it slides over her shoulder to dangle perpendicular to the deck, it comes a couple inches further.

"Cid -- Leon -- everyone."

She straightens.

"Thank you. All of you. For your bravery, and your trust."

And then -- Tidus' influence, perhaps -- she smiles, gently but encouragingly. At him and his fistpump, and all the rest.

"Let's make sure to take care of one another out there. Sin has taken enough people from us. I would not lose any of you to him as well."

<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.

Lulu is quiet, since the battle. Then again, she's usually quiet; that's not strange. She has been talking some with Lilka, over the downtime, showing interest in the young mage's journey, and showing her the Onion Knight in turn. But that was then.

Now, she is with those closest to her again. Lulu looks around, and then nods to Lulu. "Yes," she says. "...We'll be careful. But you, too." Her voice is gentle. Despite the horrific scenario at hand...

They will do this.

Then, to Shalune, "That's good. I don't recommend you take anything. You never know what it could do to you."

She starts forward, at that.

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"It's... not ideal!" Lilka says to Emeralda, with an awkward laugh. "But at least, um. We're doing something about the gross place?"

Then, Lilka flashes a smile at Tidus and Jay both. She nods her head. "Don't worry about it! Irving wanted to be sure ARMS was supporting you. We're not leaving you out to dry here!"

Cid looks at Yuna -- and he smiles, once. He nods. "Go get 'im," he says. "But you come back, too, y'hear?"

Leon glances at Lunata, then. Strange, he thinks, how far she's come; he remembers that terrible fight in Macalania Temple. She seems more whole, now. "Agreed," he says. Then, he looks at Yuna, after she thanks him. He smiles, once, and nods. "Of course, Lady Yuna. We're with you. Until the end."

Then, he looks at Tidus. He considers for a moment before he nods. "Lead the way, Tidus."

After all: it was Tidus's idea that got them this far.

Though, he does look after Emeralda -- and Leon cracks a smile. "Well... after her, perhaps."

The hole is, at first, meat. Emeralda is right.

But it changes as they walk inside of it. The flesh becomes more leathery and hardened, and then more angular, and somewhere along the way, the flesh becomes stone. It turns into a long, long stairwell that descends into the mist. And instead of being warm...

...it is cool. The mist billows around them, and the steps end on a surface that is spongey -- a dark blue, like mist condensed, and with white mist billowing all around. And in the midst, there are glyphs floating.

They're Spiran glyphs, though they are of all ages and times. Glyphs from recently; glyphs that are ancient and harder for those fluent to read. They flash single words, single concepts.

FEAR.

INEVITABLE.

DEATH.

Then the glyphs float away, their light winking out.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"Hey it's your giant whale, not ours." Fei says to Yuna.

He makes his way in. He looks at the glyphs.

He reads the glpyhs.

"...Welp." Fei says in a faux-chipper tone.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

 
Elly doesn't go far, staying with Emeralda. She gives Yuna a curiously embarrassed smile at her words, though it's as much tension as anything else. She nods once towards Fei and Citan, and her gaze lingers on Tidus for a moment or two.

But there really isn't a lot of time to have a long conversation. Even so, as she gets near to the other Wolves, she says to Citan and Fei both - "Something strange happened, towards the end. Um. I think I contacted... We should discuss it later."

During the actual, non-coup-claiming walk in, Elly grimaces squeamishly at the flesh. Then it seems to change. To harden. "... is there a core space of some kind?" Elly asks, and then they get into a soft surface. One step onto it brings a horrible memory to Elly, or at least horrible in this associated space: the yielding mat material of an elementary-grade gymnasium.

The flashing. The glyphs are hard for Elly to read, though she did learn the rudiments of the script. Wordlessly, she finds herself standing closer to others, particularly Emeralda and Fei.

<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.

    Tidus gives Fei a thumbs-up back. No impending death here, nossir! ...Elly, don't make it weird. DON'T.
    
    His expression clouds a bit as he looks at Ethius--he doesn't look his best. (Understandable if he almost got cooked alive, but Tidus doesn't know about that part.) "You all right there, Ethius?"
    
    He smiles, though, warmly, as Yuna bows to everyone and offers her own encouragement. Lulu response positively, and Tidus gives them both a firm nod. To Lilka, he laughs, touch dryly. "Tell Irving thanks too," he says.
    
    Emeralda at least doesn't run off too far ahead, coming back soon after rushing ahead. Tidus snorts at Leon, but nods. "All right. Let's mosey! ...Just kidding," he adds with a laugh. "Let's move out!"
    
    The meat hole welcomes them. That's an awful statement. It is true nonetheless. At least it isn't flesh for long. What faces them next is not really better, though.
    
    "'Fear, inevitable, death.' Yeah, we knew about all that already," Tidus quips. He looks around at the mist and the spongey surface that seems to be a dead end. It can't be, though. "Is this a puzzle? Do we have to, like, rewrite the glyphs somewhere?"

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

    It's a little awkward to be standing next to Leon and the others again, when her last interaction was when she was in her worst place fending them off in Macalania Temple. But as he notes, she's a lot more whole and assured now.

    "... we've come a long way," she reassures to Yuna. "I'm really proud of you, and Tidus, and Lulu, and Rikku... honestly, all of Spira too, after seeing the miraculous thing that happened today. But we have this chance to break this cycle, and I'll give it my all."

    Even if she doesn't know if she can escape her own cycle... as she said to Shalune once--

    She wants to at least go, if the worst comes to the worst, knowing that she helped break another cycle.

    Tidus' cheer spurs her on, and she smiles to Jay and Shalune as she steps closer to them, and Ethius as well. "... gonna rely on you all again. Also, Shalune, you know you'll just find the weird radio Jecht used earlier and abscond with it. You'll be the first to pioneer flesh radio technology."

    They go inside and... it's cool. It almost feels like the chill of death. Maybe she's biased. Sometimes something is just cold because it's cold, Lunie.

    The glyphs flash.

    "... see? Death!" Lunata feels validated.

<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.

"I hope so!" is Emeralda's response to Lilka. "I know it's a bit more than just 'gross', but..." It is kind of gross.

Despite running *onto* Sin first, so she could set a single landmark she chose to meet, Emeralda does not feel obligated to lead the way *into* Sin. She will, if nobody else does. But she's not going to force anyone else out of the way to do it. "This isn't like the rest of Spira," she says, which may be one of the least insightful things she's said in a while, and she realizes it.

She stays with Fei and Elly instead, though if they seem to be lagging behind they might need to not do that to keep up with her; while she doesn't insist on being at the front she definitely doesn't want to be left behind either.

"Blech," she says, walking through the first part of Sin. It gets a little better as they move deeper inside, though 'better' is up for debate. Stone, certainly; Emeralda crouches down near where it starts to change from one to the other to try to figure out how it does that, but gives it up as a bad idea. It just seems to shift to her, and then after a while it's plain stone.

She hunches down. Something about the interior of Sin is deeply unpleasant to her for reasons she isn't sure of and couldn't explain even if she was. It's not something from her memories, though, or at least not something she recognizes as even a fragment - it's unsettling in entirely new ways. What Yuna says reminds her, though.

Be brave. If she's being thanked for it, she can't very well stop doing it, can she? Emeralda stands up straight afterwards.

Emeralda can't read all the glyphs. She can read some of them and she doesn't like what she *can* read. "I don't think it wants us to go any further in," Emeralda says, and for once does not stray from the group at all.

<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.

    "Something strange...?" He folds his arms over his chest. "I see. Then, let us speak of it later," Citan tells Elly. "Well, let us follow your lead, Tidus."

    It's not quite the flesh one would expect of a creature of its size and nature, or at least, not the flesh one would expect of such that was still very much 'alive'.

    Insomuch as one could, perhaps, call the monstrosity that is Sin a proper living creature.

    It grows the less so the further in they venture -- other than the soft ground they step upon here, that is. There are lights within.

    "'Fear'... 'Inevitable'..." There is a long pause here, wherein Citan squints and readjusts his spectacles. "...Oh dear, I did not quite catch that. ...'Death', was it?" He is hardly a native reader of Spiran glyphs, though he did learn the fundamentals while stuck here as it seemed to him to be a worthwhile use of his 'downtime'.

    "All concepts associated with Sin..." As if in contemplation, he bows his head. "I see."

    "I agree," he tells Emeralda. "'Yu Yevon'... I wonder if what is left of him knows our intent?"

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    "I am all right," Ethius replies to Tidus, succinctly. "I'm... merely taking measure of what's ahead." Merely? "I do not have any sort of past experience that I can... leverage, here." They don't have huge spirits-of-the-dead powered whales in space. Probably. If they do he's not telling. Or thinking about it.
 
     This is a man who typically seems unmoved by a lot of grisly things happening around him (or sometimes, by his hand), and yet...
 
     "...I appreciate your concern, but this is... hm. It appears this part of the world hasn't kept much stock in records beyond the recordings of Spheres, but nonetheless... should anything be preserved by whatever medium, it's yours to do so."
 
     "You can be assured I'll see to that much." He says as he steps forth into the strange fleshy passage, terminating into something more hardened and calcified like stone as people take hold of ancient glyphs and share what they feel of it (when they know).
 
     Every culture deals with the (almost universal - almost) inevitability of death and the end. This is one of them. As Lunata expresses her consideration and trust, however belatedly, Ethius looks back to the lot of them among the Caravan Kinship.
 
     "If you are concerned, given... the incident with the bugbears of years by," he says mostly to Jay, "even this has me a bitt off-center."

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

"Still, it's appreciated. We'll make sure his trust doesn't go unrewarded." Jacqueline replies with a nod toward Lilka. They might be tackling separate issues, but so many people are fighting for the sake of the worlds now. It's heartwarming to think.

Shalune's comments get her to crack a smile.

"...I remember that." She says with a small laugh. ...It's hard to forget, honstly. Lunata gets a smile, too.

"And we'll be relying on you, as well." She says... and can't help but smirk. "...If anyone could do it, it'd be Shalune."

...She's not sure she wants to dwell on the topic of 'flesh radios' any longer, though.

She follows Tidus as he leads the forward, her gaze drifting downward as flesh gives way to stone.

"...How odd." She murmurs, brow knitting in thought. Stone steps, eventually, end in a spongy, dark-blue surface. Jacqueline looks at her feet for a moment, taking a moment to test it out before turning her attention toward the glyphs.

"'Fear, inevitable, death'..." Jacqueline murmurs in consideration... and, briefly chuckling at Lunata's excitement, before considering Tidus's question. "Perhaps if we write them on the ground below us?"

She considers, and then shrugs.

"I'm half-tempted to counter with glyphs of opposite meaning - but somehow, I don't think it would take that well." She pauses, then, sending a slight smirk to Ethius.

"It is... worrying familiar." Jacqueline admits. "Even you, though... this situation is serious."

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

    The mechanic flashes a quick grin at Lulu, entirely uncowed by the imposing figure she cuts. "I'm just saying, I'm around Lunie all the time and I've been okay so far. She's basically a mini-Sin with the havoc she causes," she adds, a light dancing in her eyes as she's unable to resist the comparison.

    That thought immediately makes her turn more solemn right afterwards, as a memory is recalled upwards. When she looks towards Lunata the glance is a bit sharper than she really intends, and it takes her a beat to soften it and transition into a quiet smile and a nod. "We've got your back. ... just let us know if you start to feel a bit-- send-y, okay? We'll get you out of here as quick as we can."

    Despite the fact she surely has a lecture coming her way, she still has it in her to give Ethius a brighter smile. "If you did have past experience to go off here, I think that would be more worrying. ... don't worry. I probably won't go for the flesh radio. At least, not straight away. Even if it did have a call sign attached." Her promise is rapidly dwindling into nothing, and she wisely shuts up before she gets any further.

    Her cheer gives way to remarkable quiet as the passageways give way to old stone and a stairway downwards; she touches the walls as gingerly as she dares to gauge how cool the stone feels. She doesn't need to be able to read the glyphs to make the comparison - it's been a long time, but part of her is instantly transported back to Rujm el-Hiri and the way the ruins there hung in time.

    "It feels like a memory," she decides, not sure if she's talking about Sin or herself. They drift downwards, and she finds herself amending: "... it feels like a lot of memories."

<Pose Tracker> Yuna has posed.

Yuna bows a second time to Lunata, Cid, and Leon. It is the only possible reply.

"Death," she echoes, Lunie and Tidus both. The inside of Sin, and its weird, otherworldly light, makes her eyes seem monochromatic for the first time in her life. Neither the brilliant blue or the vivacious green dominate; they are a sort of deep, rich gray.

Her booted feet are all but silent on the stone. Not because she's an extremely stealthy person, but because she is walking with enormous... intent. As though every step feels significant to her. At one point, she rests a hand very softly on an outcropping.

"To hear the fayth speak of Yu Yevon," Yuna remarks to Citan and Shalune, thoughtfully, "Probably not. They told us that he is... beyond thought of anything but summoning; there is no who, only a what -- what he does is what he is. He does not even dream, as fayth do. He may not even remember. He only summons. Endlessly. Perhaps even helplessly. He can't... not. Laying him to rest... is a kindness, not an execution. His current existence is a bleak one, even outside the consequences to Spira and everyone else."

<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.

Lulu is quiet, on the walk. She does however lift an eyebrow at Shalune's description of Lunata. "Is that so." Her tone is not amused.

The sigils do not faze her; she recognizes enough of them to see what they mean. She can 'sense' this area here...

"Not just the end, for some of us," Lulu speaks up to Leon.

She nods thoughtfully to Citan as he opines, though. "The concept your shamans associated Sin with," she says. "'Obsession'."

She listens then, to Yuna. She listens to her, in silence, before she comes up beside Yuna and looks to her.

"..." She says nothing, but she offers wordless support. Until she thinks of it again.

"'Obsession', they called it. ...It sounds like Yu Yevon might be the one, rather than Sin itself."

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei glances to Elly as he mentions that she was... CONTACTED by someone inside? ...How?? Though she does have that cool robot...

Fei doesn't lag behind but he doesn't exactly rush either. He moves quickly enough to keep up, but he does nod to Emeralda. "Seems that way. But we don't got a choice on the matter."

He smiles at Elly, "Yeah, we'll talk about that later. Seems smart to do that." Later!

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"You bet!" Lilka answers Tidus.

And down they go.

"Mm. Later, then," Leon agrees to Elly, his voice quiet. He looks at Lunata -- and then he cracks a smile, a little. "Let's not put too much stock in strange floating letters. I can't imagine they have anything good to tell us."

Then, he looks at Citan... and frowns as he considers that. Perhaps it is part of Yu Yevon's will.

Or what remains, as Yuna says.

It's a grim thought.

"A memory," he repeats, after Shalune. "I think that puts it well, Shalune. A... memory. It wonder if it's the memories of Spira -- or Yu Yevon -- or both."

The mist, at first, seems to stretch on forever. The glyphs all float around; they circle and spin about, fading in and out. Then, though, they can make something out. Ethius, with his sharp eyes, sees it first. Ahead, there is a hint of a stone path.

So it goes -- stone in places, ancient flagstones that have been worn smooth with time, separated from each other. They're a way forward, though. Ancient grey stone, with writing almost faded, that seems to lead them onward.

<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.

    Inside Sin is a hard place to be cheerful, but that's exactly why Tidus does his best to keep his spirits up. It's already helpful for folks like Lunata, though he snorts again when she seems cheered by the 'death' glyph, half-smiling. "You sound *way* too happy about that."
    
    "Yeah, I bet not," he remarks to Emeralda. Citan suggests that maybe this is Yu Yevon's doing, and that gives him pause. He hadn't thought about that--hasn't given a lot of thought to Yu Yevon, despite him being at the literal heart of things--and he looks over at Yuna. When she weighs in on the matter, he nods slowly. Right. The fayth did say that, huh.
    
    Lulu's insight is even more mindblowing at that. "Woah, you think so? That *would* make sense! After all, Sin is just Yu Yevon's armor, right? The fayth said something like that, too." He looks over at Shalune. "It could be memories. That's basically what pyreflies are, right?" he says, first to her, then to Yuna and Lulu.
    
    To Jay, he says dryly, "Yeah. I'd say do it 'cuz 'what's the worst that could happen?', but uh, the worst that could happen is we all die." Definitely cause for caution.
    
    His expression turns thoughtful at Ethius. "I hadn't brought a recording sphere in... Wish I'd thought of that now. If we double back, we *should* bring one in. This is history in the making." Paine probably would've been perfect for that. Maybe she's doing it already. "Well, as long as you're okay," he concludes.
    
    Then: "Woah, what's this about a weird radio and Jecht??" he utters to Lunata and Shalune, not knowing that it was Elly who pulled that particular feat off. He doesn't really know what's at the center of Sin, so he hadn't answered about his core, but if he hears about who Elly made contact with...
    
    Thanks to Ethius managing to peer through the mist, they find that there isn't a need to solve a puzzle after all--that there's a path forward. Tidus is grateful for that much, though the thick pea soup fog isn't much better, and neither are the flashing glyphs phasing in and out around them. "Keep your eyes on your feet, guys! I don't wanna imagine what might happen if anyone trips and falls in here!" he calls to the group as he moves from stone to stone.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

 
Elly doesn't respond to Fei's faux-cheer. She actually shivers a little, though it doesn't seem to be resentful.

Elly's eyes turn towards Tidus - "You're taking this really well," she says to him, hesitantly. Elly, at least, fears Sin, even if it's for very different

(crash landing into Azado, Vierge struggling in vain to respond to commands)

reasons than most of the Spirans. She glances at Emeralda and back towards Citan, towards the others. "If it's a puzzle, it's one I don't have much idea on how to solve," Elly confesses. Yuna explains something - the nature of Yu Yevon. Elly was near enough to overhear, but other than a glance, she doesn't reply. Out loud, anyway.

    ... How sad.
    I feel sorry for 'Yu Yevon.'
    I suppose I don't have any place to.
    But it does sound terribly tragic...

"Memories... then, that's what pyreflies are, ultimately?" Elly asks Tidus, afterwards. She's hugging herself now. "... I wonder whose were in that fishing sphere, then."

"Or - oh, oh no," Elly says, her musings derailed also by Tidus bringing up to watch their footing. Despite everything and probably despite her relatively matured corporeal form, Elly unfolds a hand to reach for Emeralda's own.

"Do you think it's..." Elly says to Fei, primarily but not exclusively, but she actually finishes the thought. "It's like the reflexive privacy that people like to have? Even if you're very open, it's an unpleasant surprise to be found when you're vulnerable. Though I suppose it would be, um, more literal. In this case."

<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.

Emeralda was actually listening, too.

"So... he just summons the Clysmian over and over?" she asks, because she thinks she's gotten like 50% of it and that's enough for her to open her big mouth. "And... it comes because he's Obsessed, and he made it the way it is, into Sin?"

This is awfully complicated for her, who doesn't know anything about Summoning and not much more about fayth.

Emeralda crouches down to look at the flagstones, too, when they get that far. She even runs her thumb over them before straightening and wiping her thumb on the side of her skirt, as if to clean it off. She does take Elly's hand afterwards, though not without a moment of delay, because she's like thirteen now and she does *not* have to hold her mom's hand.

She does anyway, though.

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

    "Bugbears...?" Lunata asks to Ethius, unsure of which incident he may be referring to. She's sure not going to disagree with being a bit off-centre, though. This entire place is awkward to be a part of.

    "But it's probably not the worst idea to record what happens here, through Spheres, or other devices. Future generations deserve to know -- and remember, so that they don't make the same mistakes."

    Jacqueline suggests writing them on the ground. "Hmm... maybe..." She gasps, though, scandalised. "I'm a mini-Sin?! That's what you think of me, Lunie?! I don't think mini-mom is piloting me inside. ... I hope not. That'd be weird. Don't make Miss Lulu madder at me...!"

    Yuna explains of what Yu Yevon is -- someone who has ceased to be beyond what it is he must do. She frowns quietly.

    "... a lot of undead are like that," she points out. "Lingering spirits that cling to the feeling or action or regret that ends up defining them most. ... I agree."

    Will she be like that, one day...?

    ... it's a horrifying thought.

    The mist stretches on forever, but it eventually proceeds into... stone. There's stone! She probably shouldn't be so surprised, but she's still surprised. "Is this... manmade?" she wonders. "Maybe that's not the right term... but..."

    Though to Tidus saying she's so happy about it, she conveys a truth to him:

    "Of course! Don't you know? Death heals Zombie! It's like a full heal for me."

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    "A path is here."
 
     That Ethius initiates that discovery and calls to it is a far cry from someone from the man who only would do it if it gave him a means to deal with a perceived issue (real or... as was the case sometimes, 'just' perceived).
 
     "The footing appears solid thus far." He taps the stone with his staff for the echo and confirmation it's not a series of pressure plates. "A different make from the surrounding... mass."
 
     He hesitates to call it 'biomass.' He does not want to be the one to give it a novel name for what it is (was?) if it's not biomass, for reasons of ethics of his society of origin.
 
     He does lift his head up at mention and reminder of having made contact with someone in here, and thoughts of memories.
 
     "It is liable anything that could be retrieved will be lost with a Sending, Shalune," as if to help ease her in the idea that maybe she doesn't need, or really can, take anything from here.
 
     "In the event someone has brought Spheres, I... I admit I am camera shy." That might be more than just ethics concerns talking, as he waves a hand. But he is now inevitably a part of peoples' memories here.

<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.

    It's a thought. He of course has already heard the tale -- that little to nothing remains of Yu Yevon, that he is a vessel only for summoning now. But is it not possible that something might remain?

    "Of course," Citan answers Yuna, nodding the once. "What remains acts only on reflex. I do not mean to ascribe 'intent' to him as he is now, but rather... I am wondering if some vestige of him remains that is as yet aware of us. I have heard stories of those fallen into a deep coma yet perceiving the world around them in subtle ways and was wondering if it might might be similar, in some broad sense..."

    Or perhaps, as Shalune puts it, it might be something even more abstract than that: Yu Yevon's memories. Or possibly even the memories of Spira itself, given the nature of Pyreflies.

    "Yes. That is the name they gave it. Such... beings are not unknown to Filgaia, though it appears they scarcely reach such a scale as Sin," he replies to Lulu.

    Obsession may well be the name to append to Yu Yevon, himself. "Hm..."

    Citan looks pensive, now.

    "Yes, that is correct, Emeralda. You have the essence of the situation. It now remains to us to end the cycle." Within here, the 'tissue' of Sin gives way to stonework. It is a curious thing, one that prompts Citan to stoop for a moment to inspect it a little more closely. "And, it still feels like the real thing," he muses before getting to his feet.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Memories... They do have great power. Is it any wonder that gathered memories would be able to do such a thing...?

"A fair point." Jacqueline replies, with a smirk back at Tidus. Though, the revelation that Sin is Yu Yevon's armor... that does make sense. She thinks on that for a moment, before looking toward Lunata.

"This one," Jacqueline says, pointing toward Ethius. "Decided to haul a bunch of owlbear corpses from a previous Incident we'd faced into my shop in Adlehyde for examination. It was grotesque - I was scrubbing the floors for weeks."

She shakes her head. ...And yet, she's still retained a friendly relationship with him, even through everything that's happened.

...And now, they walk through the biological armor that is Sin together. Fate works in strange ways.

She proceeds forward across the stone path, her eyes occasionally glancing downward. She looks toward Citan, too, as he examines it.

"It's rather odd, isn't it? A stone pathway... It feels too deliberate to be an accident, from the shape of the stones. It's almost as if it's intended for people to come this way..." She considers. The further they go, the more questions seem to arise.

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

    Shalune lapses into silence as Yuna explains the situation. The mechanic is painfully aware that she is not a religious person, especially when it comes to Spiran religion - her time amongst the Yevon Church confirmed that even before the experience was distinctly soured. But Tidus asks, and Shalune quietly bites at her lip as she wonders if she should mention anything. "Something-- someone in here managed to hear us. I guess they're holding it in place?"

    She only got bits and pieces of the story and certainly can't put a name to the transmission, fighting for her life as she was, but it's impossible to forget the way Elly's voice broke over the radio in relief and hope. She doesn't add that she suspects that sending Sin is going to mean sending whoever contacted them - or that she suspects that would be a kindness for them, too.

    The mechanic give Lunata such a look. "I'm not the one cheerily pointing out how comfy it is in here! If you get on Miss Lulu's bad side it's not my fault!" she counters, practically ensuring they'll both end up getting a lecture later - but there's a smile on her face as she thinks back to the way they used to be. Perhaps it's strange to be so comfortable around the topic of Lunata's undead nature and what might happen to her in the future, but she's decided she prefers being strange to being on eggshells.

    Shalune turns her fake frown right around on Ethius - but unexpectedly, sobers as she tilts her head in a nod. "... yeah, I agree. Or rather, I hope it does. If I'm going to draw the line anywhere it should probably be between revitalizing old technology and dragging lingering regrets out into the world." Her eyebrows raise as Ethius makes an admission that she knew was the case but never expected to hear out loud, and she can't help but grin lightly despite their surrounds.

<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.

"I recall the one that Seymour created," Lulu says. "The 'Clysmian.'" She nods to Citan. "Yes, I see. Sin is... still unique."

The footing is good enough. It is what it is. Lunata speaks of the undead being like that, and Lulu is thoughtful. The undead...

"Yes," she says. "In time, they often lose touch with their humanity entirely." 'Don't make Miss Lulu even madder at me...!'

"...But that is in part because of their isolation from the concerns of the living. One who could remain in close contact with the living, who could be in tune with their needs... That one might be able to remain intact."

"Pyreflies certainly contain memories," Lulu says to Elly, thoughtfully. "I am not certain that I would say that is what they 'are', however."

She regards Ethius at Jay's pointing. Hmmm.

"Someone, or something, wants to be observed here," she remarks to Jay instead..

She just shakes her head at Shalune's antics, by the end... but doesn't set anyone on fire. Progress?

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"Mm..." Fei says to Elly. But he's not sure HE feels sad about Yu Yevon. Fei gets depressed all the time about his own bullshit but it's mostly directed at himself. As in, just how much of a monster are YOU Fei? And so it's had for him to be too sympathetic towards the guy who chose to become a civilization destroyer himself.

Still, it's nice to know that Elly does care about people like that even as it shames him. But he's not sure he has an answer for Elly.

"I don't know," He admits.

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"I think we should be ready to double back," Leon says, after a moment's thought, when Tidus muses on the recording sphere. "This place is enormous. We'll need to have somewhere to evacuate wounded, to come back and rest at times, and to resupply. The Fereshte could bring them if needed."

He looks at Emeralda -- and he frowns. "That could be," he says. "Either... Yu Yevon became the Clysmian or he is its summoner. I think it's hard to say, though. But Lulu may be right."

He wishes, for a moment, that one of the Baskar were here. Maybe Cyre will catch up.

When Ethius points out the path, Leon nods. "Good eye."

He starts down the stones. Those who lean down to look closer find they are terribly real -- down to the wearing one might expect -- and with engraving on it. "I wonder," Leon says, when Jay says that. "Did they? I doubt anyone's been here, and yet..."

He frowns. It's built for someone to come. Or, perhaps, imagined that way. He looks to Lulu, then he nods.

The stones wind along. It becomes clear that, in some places, the mists are much too thick. The path is important to follow because stepping too far off the paths could lead one to being terribly lost. The light barely even shines through them.

But there is more than that.

They can see pyreflies here and there. Sometimes, they can see where masses of pyreflies gather -- and then they hear something through that. A bestial roar.

Leon tenses. Then, he mutters: "Fiends. I suggest we make sure we stick in groups if we need to split up."

<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.

    He pauses when Elly comments on him taking all this well. "You think so? ...I guess it's because we're not at the end yet, and I know there'll be a lot of steps before we reach... Jecht." His smile fades. "It's not like I don't think it's dangerous or messed up in here. It's just... I don't know. I gotta keep a good game face on until the end."
    
    Lunata jokes about zombies and Death. Or 'jokes.' Maybe it's one of those things where it's funny because it's true. "Ha, I did know that, thanks to Yunalesca," Tidus says dryly.
    
    Lulu answers Elly on what pyreflies are. "I'd listen to her over me," he adds. Then, as a joke: "I'm not from here."
    
    He frowns a little when Shalune hedges about something in here hearing them. There's really only two someones that could be, right? Still, with an, "Okay," he lets it drop... for now. Even if they *did* talk to Jecht... he doesn't really know how to feel about that.
    
    Something else to hold off dealing with until later.
    
    He laughs a little at Jay's anecdote about Ethius and the owlbear corpses. "Eww, really? Still, that sounds like something he'd do." Then Ethius admits he's camera shy, and Tidus grins, fully genuinely. That's honestly adorable. Being familiar with a man's pride, he doesn't say that aloud, though.
    
    Instead, he nods to Leon. "Good point. Something for the next time in, then."
    
    The path moves onwards. Tidus's warning to people to watch their feet is one he takes to heart for himself as the mists gets worse and worse. Still, they manage to stay together and on the path--up until a roaring sounds in the near distance up ahead, past a mass of pyreflies.
    
    Tidus tenses, reaching for his shimmering blue sword. "Yeah. Who knows how tough the fiends in here are," he murmurs to Leon and anyone else close enough to hear. "Everybody stay on guard."

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Jay calls out one of Ethius' most infamous early endeavors, to which...
 
     "One aspect of my line of work," he starts with his usual tone, "is identifying when a novel weapon or technology was utilized in an area it should not have been deployed. It is often a precursor to more troubling discoveries." As if that would absolve him of all wrongdoing! "I do apologize for the... inconvenient location at the time," he offers to Jay. Culturally in Spira, handling corpses in general is probably considered deeply unclean as a practice. But this is Ethius, he's always been shady even when all of it's been dragged into the light by a strange shrubby tree... thing. Had he been able to do anything with that residue or the stolen Hyadean blood... well, no, Adlehyde's tragedies are years in the past.
 
     He seems to shrink a little at Lulu's mentions, as if her gaze and attention even by periphery is A Thing of Note(tm).
 
     "Fiends." Ethius brings a hand to his forehead. "That may be a good sign, of... a sort. If we are in the presence of Sin, who utilizes immense amounts of pyreflies to maintain itself and its remote 'Sinscales,' loose Fiends having coalesced may confirm that we have succeeded in greivously wounding Sin."
 
     It doesn't cross him at the time, but there's another reason why 'loose' Fiends could presently be spun together and that would mean something far, far worse awaits them.

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

    Lunata takes a moment to grin and look at Ethius. "... it's okay, we'll just tell them that you don't want to be filmed." It feels a bit weird reassuring the man, but she knows he's also being honest in a way he didn't before -- so she wants to acknowledge that.

    ... at least, until Jay explains about the owlbears that Ethius dragged back. "... whaaaat?? That was YOU?? Jay came to the Saloon to find cleaning products strong enough to deal with it and whew, that was the worst reek I've dealt with!"

    Jay speaks of intentionality, and she has to wonder: "... if Sin is an armour, are these pathways intentional, or... like Shalune says, memories? It's convenient for us, though..."

    But Lunata doesn't miss the way Lulu's trying to make her feel better -- that undead become that way because they're isolated from the living. "... thanks, Miss Lulu. So long as I have Jay and Shalune and the others with me... I hopefully won't get to that point."

    She huffs at Shalune to say, "Look, I'm just saying I probably function a bit better in here, so I can take the brunt at the van or something."

    Leon speaks of practicalities, and Lunata nods. "Yeah... and uh-- if this really is as load-bearing as it seems, we'll need to figure out how to get out in a hurry too."

    A grin at Tidus. "Oh? Sounds like you came out ontop with that new knowledge, huh?"

    A roar consumes the air in front of them, and she frowns. "Oookay," she draws Orochi-Agito. "Should've expected it's not gonna be that easy."

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Don't feel bad, Fei. What matters is what you think, perhaps also what you feel. Not every question will have an...

Answer.

Elly's eyes turn towards LUlu. "I'm sorry," she says to her, which may be really familiar to Lulu for some reason, but look, people are where they are on their journey. "I didn't mean to impose. It just... When I was trapped somewhere, I think the pyreflies in that Fishing Sphere I found..."

    They saved me, didn't they?

"I suppose isolation doesn't do anyone any favors," Elly remarks, this mostly to Fei.

Leon, meanwhile, talks sense, and Emeralda may notice it more in the *lack* of something; her grip loosens up at talk of defenses and evacuation routes. "It seems strange to build defenses in a situation like this, but it does make sense. The Fahrenheit might be able to bring down some sort of weapons - do any of the Gears have anything we could dismount?" Regulus doesn't, sadly.

"I don't think we did that," Elly answers Ethius, remembering the last horrible time someone* shot a deadly ray at Sin. "... Though I wonder if Lombardia could have... well, it doesn't matter." (cheer for dragon, hiss vinsfeld rhadamanthus)

And then something roars.

Elly's grip tightens again, although other than that she makes no external motions. She may not quite need to.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline nods grimly at Tidus and Lunata... but, she isn't able to keep up that look for long, a smile crossing her face as Ethius apologizes.

"...It's alright. It's just something we can laugh about, now." She replies. Now's the best time for that sort of thing, when the future looks uncertain.

'Someone or something wants to be observed'... Jacqueline 'hm's to herself, considering Lulu's words. She's probably right. She nods toward Leon, too.

"Yes..." She agrees with a nod, before considering what Lunata has to say. "That's a good question... but it is convenient. So while it lasts, we'll take advantage of it."

She says, and then smiles.

"We'll always be right here with you, to keep you grounded." Jacqueline assures her.

But as they proceed, masses of pyreflies begin to gather... A frown crosses Jacqueline's face.

"Right." She agrees with a nod toward Leon and Tidus both. "The last thing we need here is for any to be separated."

<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.

Lulu might lecture Shalune and Lunata later. For now, it's probably better to let them talk. It's a serious moment.. but it's better than their going mad with anxiety, for one.

She has no plans to head back, though. Maybe soon enough there will be a point of no return... and the rest of them don't have to go beyond, if they don't wish.

But she suspects they will.

Lunata notices what she's doing. "See that you stay with them as long as you can," she suggests to Lunata, of her 'anchors'. "They'll want the same, I'm sure."

Then she looks to Lulu. "You don't have to apologize," she says gently. Perhaps because it's familiar. Maybe for other reasons, too.

A roar... Lulu narrows her eyes. "Of course there would be Fiends." She pauses. "You may be right, Ethius." She uses his first name; most Spirans don't have last names. She still prepares a spell.

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

    The mechanic slowly nods her head to Lunata. "I bet they're based on memories, at the very least. Really old memories," Shalune adds as she leans down to touch some of the scars across the stone, and quirks her frown to one side of her face as she purses her lips. "Which kind of makes sense, you know? We're travelling through things that have been obsessed over for a long, long time." The realist in her had been trying to track how far downwards they've travelled, to pin down whether they're still physically in Sin or have crossed over to some other place, but it's too disorienting to really keep track of.

    There's sympathy on her face as she tilts her head towards Tidus in a nod. "Sorry," she finds herself adding, picking for a moment at some of the hair at the side of her head. She kind of wishes she had her bobble hat right now, if only as a security blanket she can't quite give up. "I don't want to get any hopes up when I don't know exactly what happened. Or down," she adds much softer, almost to herself.

    She's silent at Jay's story, having barely missed it with her return to Adlehyde, though the rather aghast look on her face says it all. "Ooh, that must've sucked. You're gonna end up with a ghost shop full of angry owlbear spirits. Actually, it's been long enough I bet you already have one." It slowly becomes clear that she's taking the same tack as Tidus; her constant natter is more to keep her own spirits up, and as many other people as she can manage.

    Her staff is in her hands at the first roar, though she puffs her cheeks out at the same time. "... somehow, I really don't want to see if I can call Diablo up in the middle of Sin. Even for me, that idea seems a bit too terrible for words," she notes towards Elly. "I'd be terrified that it'd actually work somehow." She hesitates for a moment, then gently taps Lunata with the shaft of her weapon. "Just don't take any more brunt than you have to. That's part of feeling 'alive' too, right?"

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

Leon makes a face at the tale of the owlbears. It sounds like a bloody mess -- in both senses of the word.

Then, he looks towards Ethius. He blinks -- but he nods. It's a reasonable supposition. Granted, if Sin is wounded, it means that he might also grow desperate... it's a complicated situation. He looks towards Lunata, then, and he nods. "We will. Especially if... Sin begins to collapse, as a defeated fiend does. Or is Sent."

He has no doubt that Yuna will do a Sending, if it is possible.

He looks at Elly. "Maybe," he admits. "But that could be hard to get down those stairs. Still, making a base camp near those stairs may not be a bad idea..."

He does look at Shalune, though. Like, for almost thirty seconds. She better not try to summon a Golem into Sin.

The monsters are a worry. Leon looks at Jay, then nods. "Groups of three, at minimum," he says, agreeing with her. Some separation may be unavoidable, if they need to double back or check on something, he thinks.

As they move along... they see why it might.

The stone path splits into three different onces. Leon looks at them for a moment -- then he frowns. "...This may be more complex. We may want to divide our force carefully," he says. "And set up that base camp."

<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.

    Handling corpses is probably considered gross by most societies. Ethius has indeed always been a weirdo, though, so it's okay. In regards to the meaning of the nearby fiends, though, Tidus comments, "You're surprisingly optimistic sometimes, Ethius."
    
    It's not a bad thing at all. But Tidus has a bad feeling about these fiends, and his bad feelings are usually on the money.
    
    Are the pathways intentional, though? "Who knows? I'm pretty sure we're the first living people who've ever been inside Sin," Tidus replies to Lunata. He almost jokes about asking Auron, but... he decides not to, in the end. He does do a dry little fake laugh at the comment on new knowledge, though. "New knowing I *never* wanted, yeah."
    
    He gives Shalune a little smile. "It's okay," he reassures her quietly. Hopes up or down, huh... He leaves that one alone. Even he's not sure which it is for him now anymore.
    
    Groups of three. That sounds pretty smart to Tidus, who has been pretty used to fighting in groups of three up 'til now. Tidus considers the split in the stone path, then nods to Leon. "Yeah, base camp sounds smart. It'll make it a lot easier to explore deeper if we got somewhere partway in where we can rest. Let's do that now and then figure out how we're splitting up--" He looks around at the group. "Sound good?"
    
    It might take a little time to do that, though, especially if they need to double back to the Feresthe for supplies. But it'll be time well spent, for the sake of the rest of their Sin spelunking.

<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.

    He cannot help but hear the conversation that passes between Elly and Tidus. Yes, that is right. Sin is born from a sacrifice: the final Aeon becomes the threat, i time, that another Summoner and one of their Guardians must lay down their lives in order to destroy. Thus the cycle repeats, the Calms growing ever shorter. It never was sustainable...

    And there is no returning from the being Jecht has become. Tidus, certainly, must know this.
    In this moment, Citan says nothing, for there is nothing to say.

    The Pyreflies are growing thicker in much the same way as the mists. And where there are Pyreflies--

    "...Agreed, Captain. We should not venture forth in too small of a group, either. Fiends that dwell within Sin are not likely to be just 'any' Fiend." He pauses. "Three should be sufficient."

    Lunata makes an important point, however. "Yes... we may need to have a quick exit ready. I wonder if Rephaim might be sufficient..."

    Probably not. He might need to discuss this with Leon before the time arrives. Perhaps the Al Bhed have something at the ready.