2019-03-08: Krossing Paths

• Log: Krossing Paths
• Cast: Layna Manydays, Ashton Anchors, Ethius Hesiod, Xantia, Fei Fong Wong, Gwen Whitlock
• Where: Castle Krosse
• Date: March 08, 2019
• Summary: Not long before the final push towards the throne room, a number of Drifters gather in one of the kitchens of Castle Krosse, help themselves to a meal, and discuss the crisis at hand.

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<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

With the situation in Krosse becoming dire, many had jumped at the call to action to enter the castle and try to put a stop to the Malevolent Domain before it could grow even further and consume the land itself. Among these was Layna Manydays, the pirate captain. She didn't seem the sort who'd involve herself with something like this, but even so, here she was.

She had done some investigation into the castle itself, but now it was time to take a second to rest. The cause of the problem would undoubtedly take a great deal of effort, and she wanted to make sure she was at her best.

And so, with that in mind, she'd secured one of the kitchens. Some others might have had the same idea, as well. The food was still in good condition, at least - she had tested it to make sure.

They probably wouldn't mind that she was eating their food. ...Or maybe they would. In the end, she didn't care - for, now, she simply lounged, enjoying a brief break from all the fighting.

<Pose Tracker> Ashton Anchors has posed.

There's a good pot of stew going - root vegetable and goat. Ashton Anchors is currently giving it a stir before pouring himself out a bowl.
 
"I really do need to ask miss Schrodinger about this when I get the chance," he notes to Captain Manydays. "I suspect this is the Demon King she was talking about. She -did- threaten to force me to help her investigate and make a big-deal hero out of me." The sellsword laughs a little. "I'm not sure if I should apologize for getting ahead of her or not."
 
He pours out two bowls. Taking a seat, he sets one down on either side of him - and lets the dragons start to go at it while he sits peacefully in the middle.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

        And then there is a sudden Ethius, just right there, descending from the floor above like a Sam Fisher about to have to reload his save from the last restore point, just dropping down in a crowded area like that. He doesn't look all that worse for the wear from before.
        "The Research Hall has been scouted and secured," he remarks to the gathered, "the matters being as they are--"
        Then, without missing a beat, turning his head towards the pot. "You are making food."
        The silence that follows sure does seem like he's paying interest on beats because he's going to miss the next three.

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Among the Krosse refugees who are holed up across various safe houses established in the city, there's sure to have been some mention of the superhero Metal Digger Locus and their sidekick Mystery Hero X. They've been quite busy making the streets safer and getting as many people to safety as they could. That would explain what Xantia's been up to during all this, since Mystery Hero X is quite obviously just Xantia wearing a domino mask.

It's a bit unlike her. More commonly, she'd be focusing on smashing through to the center of the problem, ignoring everything else for the sake of ending things. But recent events changed her outlook on things a bit, and made her feel like she has a lot to make up for, besides. Focusing on acting more like a hero would, by directly protecting the innocents, felt more right to her at this time.

By now, however, it feels like she's done all that she can in that area. It's time to take the fight to the next level.

...But first, she's distracted by the smell of food, which she detected from a mile away, and caused her to come running straight for the good smells. The sizable black duffel bag slung over her shoulder doesn't slow her down in the slightest.

Spotting the pirate captain first, she waves enthusiastically, seeming in a good mood, as usual. Of course she would be, even in the unlikely event that she weren't before, when there's food involved.

"Heeeey, Layna! What's that nice smell? Is there any left over? I could really use some food right now!" Or any time, really.

She skids to a halt when she sees the other two people there. Ethius and Ashton, they were there when she suddenly attacked everyone in sight back in Dazil. And since she hasn't seen them since then, they miiiiight not be up to date on what that was all about, and what happened since. That's... a bit awkward.

"O-oh, hello, Ethius! ...and, your name is Ashton, isn't it?" She's at least heard of him - it's hard to keep a particularly low profile or get a case of mistaken identity when you have a couple of dragons attached to you. "I, uh, I'm sorry for... back then. I... wasn't myself." She rubs the back of her head. Probably not the best apology or explanation ever, huh? She wasn't exactly expecting to need either one of those things right now...

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei is not wearing a domino mask, but Fei is giving Xantia who is concerned looks in the background. It's not that he doesn't understand the appeal. Anonymity can protect you! It's nice in that regard, right? But it's not like everybody doesn't know it's Xantia. Because uh... it's obviously Xantia. It's not like someone will see her with her mask off and be like 'I WONDER WHO THAT COULD BE'.

(Honestly, now that Fei has thought that, it will most definitely happen).

But his concern isn't just the mask. Xantia's had a rough time as of late and this is a malevolence infested city, a combination which folks know is not exactly great. He has elected to look after his friend considering she's had a rough time of it lately. Maybe Mystery Hero X is just what she needs right now.

"Oh hey it's Ashton." Fei says, waving a hand in his friend's direction.

He looks towards Ethius.

A bead of sweat drops down his face.

He looks towards Layna. "Hey Layna. Long time no see."

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Layna glances toward Ashton as he speaks. A Demon King, huh? She considers it for a moment, and then shrugs.

"I dunno if he's the Demon King, but it's a pretty fitting name." She replies, and then smirks. "It's fine. The important thing is that 'e gets dealt with, aye?"

And then, suddenly, there is an Ethius. Layna looks his way with a raised eyebrow as he delivers his report, then pauses to note the food.

"...Good eye there, lad." She comments, then smirks toward Xantia. She must've overheard that, or at least smelled it. "Aye, lass, there's plenty. Have at it."

She isn't aware of what Xantia means by 'back then', but she's talking to Ashton, so it's probably something he's aware of. So, instead of asking, she looks over toward Fei as he acknowledges her and offers him a nod.

"Aye, lad, that it has. Good to see you again!" She replies with a grin. "I trust you've been behavin'?"

<Pose Tracker> Ashton Anchors has posed.

Layna's response gets a nod from Ashton. He's honestly just happy to have a moment's peace right now. "Agreed. All else aside, this is something that needs to be handled. 'Tis fortunate that we were able to gather as fast as we did."
 
A moment's pause to wave to Fei, of course. ...And largely not comment on Ethius, because what can you really SAY to Ethius? That's speakable in mixed company?
 
But no - it's Xantia that gets his attention. She identifies him and apologizes. Ashton smiles and nods and... very visibly has no idea who this is. "Well, I'm afraid I can't remember you causing me any offense, Mystery Hero X. But there's been word enough of your good works that I'm sure whatever it was is nothing."
 
Oh my god, the domino mask has entirely worked.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

        The white-haired Symbologist goes quiet to all the friendly greetings (and the one passing apology) as he stands upright, arms folded behind his back... in the company of a camp-out, in the middle of a Malevolent Domain.
        That gaze of his falls upon Xa-- Mystery Hero X as she speaks his name aloud. Who could forget that incident he happened upon, got swept up in? That he hasn't seemed to make any sudden moves to strike at her at a moment of distraction, or much of anything...
        "Our objective is to resolve the Malevolent Domain." Ethius remarks the obvious. "It is imperative we not dwell on this matter." So yay apology accepted maybe kinda sorta?! Maybe? He takes a few steps out towards one of the few intact, consistent doorways leading out of the kitchen, where he then turns to put his back up against a nearby wall.
        A hand goes to his forehead. This situation might be useful for helping get the myriad Drifter teams together and on the same page about the status of various points of interest in the castle, perhaps.
        "I will keep watch for others." Ethius remarks, flat and rehearsed-sounding as always, instead of partaking in tasty stew. He really should eat... more. He's a sorcerer, they have greater calorie requirements.

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

If the city's state had any ill effects on Xantia, it certainly isn't showing right now. She seems to be doing just fine, other than the obvious distress of feeling like she needs to apologize for something really bad and having had no time to prepare for it at all. When Fei catches up, his added presence aids her greatly however, a smile quickly returning to her features.

"Fei! You smelled the food too?" Aaaand she doesn't appear to have even noticed that he'd been following her for a while now.

Ethius's response... honestly doesn't surprise Xantia. It's part of the reason why she didn't actively seek him out - she had a feeling this exact thing would happen, him just going 'forget about it' and stopping any further apology or explanation attempts dead in their tracks. "...Well, okay, if you say so," is the best she can manage. Surely he'd ask if he wanted to know more, right?

Ashton's reaction however... that visibly puzzles Xantia, who blinks blankly, touching her face when the realization hits, "...oh! Th-that's right, Mystery Hero X, that's who I am! Ha ha ha..." She sighs, and shakes her head. No, that won't do. It feels like being dishonest, it'd be like she never apologized at all. She holds up a hand towards Layna to indicate waiting with the food for a moment. Yes, she's actually delaying food to do this properly, it's that important to her.

And so, Xantia's whole Mystery Hero X Thing becomes even more difficult to understand given that she clearly doesn't value the anonymity part of it much either. Here she is standing in front of a bunch of people, and she just casually takes the domino mask off in full view, sliding it into an open side pocket of the bag she carries. OH MY GOSH WHAT AN AMAZING TRANSFORMATION in which nothing magical happened at all, now she's just Xantia without a mask on. Otherwise wearing the exact same things that she did back in Dazil, minus the cloak.

"...Actually, my name is Xantia. I'm really, really sorry you got caught up in that whole... thing." It's one term for what happened.

She looks back to Fei afterwards. He seems to know Ashton. Maybe he can help out with some quick explanation that will make everything magically okay.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei looks at Ashton, mouth hanging open. A little bird flies into his mouth, rests on his tongue for a moment, preens, then flies out of it while he's staring at Ashton. Fei doesn't even notice.

"I...I smell it." Fei says, laughing awkwardly. "Right Mystery Hero X I--"

Xantia takes off the mask. Fei clamps his mouth shut for a moment. He exhales again, rubbing his neck. "Well, I guess if that's how you want it to be.

He turns to Layna and says, "For the moment!" That's not a great answer Fei. "You?"

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

        "Man, something smells good."

        It's a Gwen. Where did she go? How did she get back here? Where did she put Gulliver? None of these questions will be given an answer beyond 'she's a courier', which could be a justifiable reason by itself. She did deliver to Krosse, after all. Before... whatever happened.

        And like Ethius, she needs calories. Unlike Ethius, she is not a magic-using person, but a person with an ARM that is constantly producing and consuming energy. Thus, as she returns back to the capital with a glut of supplies for the effort, the kitchen seemed like a good place to be. And thankfully, there are people there to excuse any awkwardness over a courier coming into the royal kitchen and helping herself to their precious supplies.

        "Hey guys! How's it goin'? Is there enough for another person? I'm starvin', so I'd loveee some of whatever's there. I ain't picky. But even if I was, I'd still want a bowl."

        Freeing a head of light red curly hair from underneath her hat with a sigh of relief, she uses it to fan herself. "Man, it's hairy out there. I'm guessin' things are gettin' to a boilin' point." From... something. What was it again?

        "Okay, so, uh." Gwen looks about, back and forth between the crowd. "I was kinda... outta commission durin' the last bit of things before the whole lot of us got transported t'Lunar n' all that, and while Ragnell was nice enough t'fill me in, could we just go over what exactly happened? Somethin' about the king kickin' everyone out, a Malevolent domain happenin', and... yeah."

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

"Aye. Who knows what woulda happened if we'd lingered too long. This thing's spread too far as it is." She says with a nod of agreement toward Ashton. Ethius says much the same, as well.

She sends Xantia a nod, though, as she decides to wait a bit for food. Surely this was a sign there was something wrong. Layna raises an eyebrow, but instead nods and looks toward Ethius.

"Sure you don't want anything?" She asks. He had a feeling she knew what his answer would be, though.

And then there's Fei.

Layna chuckles a little at his answer.

"Well...my original plan was gonna be storming in here with my Gear, but...my friends convinced me to take a little more, ah, measured, approach...so I guess it's 'for the moment' for me, too, aye?" She admits.

And that's about when Gwen appears. Layna offers her a grin and a wave.

"Aye, lass! Come on in an' help yourself." She offers. And then Gwen takes a second. Layna frowns pensively.

"That's a long story there, lass. But I was there for most of it, so I might be able to fill you in. Let's see..."

She takes a moment to think it over, deciding where to begin.

"...So, there was a lotta weird things happening in Krosse. Nightmares, disappearances...things like that, aye? And what with the Metal Demons returning an' all, the King started getting pretty paranoid, aye? So he tightened up the borders, turning foreigners away...at least, the ones he didn't have his people abduct." Layna explains. "We found that out when my friends an' I, an' some other groups with the same idea, decided to 'investigate' one of his checkpoints."

Layna chuckles ruefully.

"...'Course, he didn't like that. He sent a band of his men to attack my friends, my crew an' I at the settlement we'd built up. We fought 'em off the best we could, but they still managed to torch the place an' abduct some of my crew. ...You can imagine how I felt about that, aye? So, with some info we picked in our 'investigation', we infiltrated Krosse alongside a bunch o' other folk who were doin' their own investigations, rescued my crew members...and ended up comin' face to face with the king 'imself, an' the Trial Knight. Couldn't tell you what they got out of it, but..." She explains. "...Turns out, he'd been working with them to create this weird Orb. Attacking places like Wehaca so it could eat up Malevolence. We tried to put a stop to it, but...the Orb was activated, and we had to escape - as you said."

Layna takes a moment to let this all sink in, as well as eat some of her food.

"...And then we got sent to Lunar, and now we're back only to find the king's working with some fellow named Lovelace to control the Orb, create monsters and cause the Domain to expand, so we're going to go put a stop to that before it swallows up the entirety o' Krosse." She concludes.

<Pose Tracker> Ashton Anchors has posed.

Ashton gasps! The truth of Mystery Hero X is revealed! "Oh, it's you!" Now he gets it.
 
Both dragons lift their heads up from their bowls of stew to look at their human with the universally obvious expression of 'really?'. Then they go back to their food, because they're basically murderous cats.
 
"Well, still. My statement still holds true. I cannot hold what happened against you, and happily accept your apology." Ashton still has a bit of a grin on his lips - it's an easy forgiveness for him. "While it was perhaps not the best first meeting, I've had worse." A quick glance is given to each of the dragons in turn. "Claude Kenny's, for example."
 
Why no, Ashton doesn't look sour at all! Why do you ask?
 
But he moves on. Gwen enters, and Layna does the recap. Ashton missed the beginning parts of the saga (ie everything before the last few days), so it's actually really good for him to hear, too. But he tries to look knowledgable by nodding along as if he was already entirely aware of this.
 
At the end of it? He claps his hands. "And that's where we are now. And it's a good thing you didn't come rampaging in with a Gear - if you had we wouldn't have been able to save as many of the tainted as we have." Ashton gives a slight motion of his head to Ethius. "We were able to save one of Lovelace's assistants in the Research Wing, thanks to the cat-eared fellow. Well worth it, too, since the poor fellow'd been purposely altered."

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

        "Miss Layna, your hospitality is appreciated... but I must decline." It's really freakin' good stew, though, given the environs and everything... unless his preference for 'food' is so dramatically pronounced that none of this ever registers as food to him! Mysterious... but also worrying?!
        His mind seems to be squarely upon the mission at hand, letting himself largely out of the way of the group aside from where he presently stands. He regards Gwen's entrance and query for further details with the usual expected quiet, as a number of people are caught up on some of the tangled threads of the whole mess.
        "Mister Ashton speaks the truth." He remarks as Ashton recaps the events that saw to the rescue of one of the assistants. "There were no observed stationed patrols of the area. The area must not be seen as being critical for the King nor Lovelace to hold secure from intrusion."
        When the place they're holding all sorts of deadly bad science is no longer seen as being worth to hold secure, then...

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

The relief is easily visible in Xantia's expression, happy to find that the Dragon Man (as she'd been privately calling him) is friendly and quick and forgive. Not an attitude that's particularly remarkable to her - after all, she'd probably have responded the same way if things had been reversed - but it's certainly a welcome one.

"I'm glad! Then let's be friends! I promise to only fight you for fun from now on!"

Wait, what?

Xantia's already turned into the direction of the food, feeling like everything she said made perfect sense, and she can now move on to what she originally came here for.

And that's when Gwen arrives. There's a momentary flash of concern in her eyes, but it passes quickly, and she puts her smile back on. That brief moment of contact during the fighting in Krosse was enough to calm her initial worries. But they should still talk, in more detail. Over cake. Xantia was promised cake, she's not going to forget about that.

But since Gwen is coming here for food, clearly she doesn't have any cake with her right now, and thus that discussion is going to have to wait. As such, Xantia's greeting is a simple wave of her free hand. "Hi, Gwen! Don't worry, things'll be better once we take care of things in here!"

With that, she carefully sets down the duffel bag she was carrying. From the sound of things, whatever's in there is made of metal. If she's even thought to explain what it is that she's brought along, it's not going to take priority over food, obviously.

Thankfully Layna is there to provide further exposition, Xantia is clearly no good for that. Chances are she put most of the details out of her mind, or didn't pay much attention to them to begin with. She generally doesn't need much more than Bad Things Are Happening as motivation to go and try to solve the problems by punching them.

However, as she finally goes to help herself to a bowl of stewy goodness, her interest is raised by some of the later details that Layna adds to the picture. She'd understood K.K. was somehow involved, but not exactly in what way. "...So that's what they were doing," she murmurs to herself, feeling that much more motivated to go deliver that punching that she already had in mind.

Bowl of food obtained, she remarks on Ethius's comment a few spoons in. "Maybe they don't expect us to attack from here, then. That's good, right?"

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei sometimes wonders about Ethius. And usually the wondering begins and ends with 'I wonder about Ethius'.

"Well to be honest, considering the state of the city." Fei says. "I'm guessing there isn't going to be too much well guarded anymore. A lot of the Guard seems to be hellionized and well that's not conducive to keeping a city safe. Few guards center their identity around being guards." Even in Dream Chasers Mush this is likely to be case, especially more so in non-feudal kingdoms.

He smiles, brightening when it becomes apparent that Xantia is already offering friendly fighting matches. She's always been quick on the rebound.

Fei will eventually help himself to stew as well. Honestly, even if he is a man of appetite, he always feels so much on edge in this city right now that it's hard for him to really appreciate the act of eating which is Fei's favorite part about food with nourishment being a close second.

"Oh, yeah. Ashton." He says. "Glad you didn't get hurt too bad."

He listens to Layna's recap. Fei was around for most of this particular adventure so he says, "Lovelace. Josephine's father." Fei explains. "She wishes to say something to him. Please allow her that time." That's probably almost entirely for Ethius since he's the only person here who would instantly shank someone that he can think of.

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

        As Layna gives permission, Gwen's eyes light up. "Then I'm diggin' in!" Suddenly, she's over by the pot, eagerly spooning simmering broth and chunks of meat and vegetables into her ready bowl. As Layna begins to explain, the ladle slows in its enthusiastic speed, decelerating to a stop as the events grow more dire in scope. ".... So that's what happened." Some of this were things Ragnell had gone over, but at the time, between the booze and Gwen still reeling over the Cascade gang's demise, some of it hadn't truly sunken in, until now. "So Lovelace is related to Josie, huh... I wonder how she feels 'bout all this."

        Ashton mentions Claude, and Gwen debates asking. She wasn't aware of the two ever meeting in the first place, much less that it went badly. Heck, she still can't figure out how Ashton's dragons work. Are they ARMs? Can ARMs talk? Maybe it's magic? Or maybe- damn it she needs to ask, one of these days!! Just not now.

        She, of all people, should know better than to openly ask about something someone may or may not be singled out over.

        "Yeah. I was surprised t'see you all in here. I figured I'd grab somethin' from the kitchen despite bein' uninvited, but when I saw y'all I realized I'd be fine." She begins digging into her bowl with gusto, nodding to Xantia. "That, or we're small fry to 'em. I mean, it's how I managed to skirt by a lot of the time. Sometimes you can get out of a lotta situations just by playin' dumb and havin' extra supplies on ya."

        Gwen Whitlock, Super Courier.
        

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Layna chuckles as Ashton mentions Claude.

"Hah, I can only imagine." She says. Once she's finished recapping, she nods toward Ashton.

"Aye. 'Cooler heads prevail', as they say." She says, then frowns as he recounts some of his own journeys with Ethius's confirmation.

"...That about lines up with what we saw too, aye. There were more patrols in the Military Wing, but not as many as you'd expect." She comments. "Could be they're all stationed around the king and Lovelace. We might have to force our way through..."

She looks toward Fei as he provides a bit more context - 'Lovelace' was Josie's father.

"...Josie's old man, huh...? I had a feeling that was the case." Layna considers. "Well, my beef's with the king. If she wants to deal with him, I'll stand aside."

With a nod, she offers a grin toward Gwen.

"Ya go with what works, aye? Nothin' wrong with that. 'Sides! Not like anyone else's around to eat all o' this anyway! Would be a shame to let it go to waste, aye?" She jokes. "And ya shouldn't go punchin' monarchs on an empty stomach. It's bad luck, it is."

<Pose Tracker> Ashton Anchors has posed.

There's a pause by Ashton as the dragons finish their stew bowls. He takes each in turn and wipes their mouths with a napkin.
 
"I should..." He pauses. He frowns. "I'm not sure you're going to like what we found in the Research Wing about the old man."
 
Ashton takes a deep breath. "The elder Lovelace was experimenting with the Orb. Infusing it into subjects - human subjects - purposefully as experiments." The sellsword looks to Fei. "I fear that allowing her the time may not be a wise course of action."

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia already knew the bit about Josephine's father being involved. She looks down when Fei mentions him. And when Gwen wonders aloud how Josie feels, she clarifies with a bit of an understatement, "Josie wants to fight him." After a short pause, she adds, "I... don't."

She doesn't say any more than that on that subject, but it's plain to see she has reasons for this. It must be odd to Fei, hearing Xantia saying that she doesn't want to fight somebody, but then again, he would have the most educated guess about why that might be.

Besides, it's not too out of character, given that she quickly follows that up with a cheerful, "But I'll make sure nobody gets bothered while they fight him!" Because she's planning to punch the other parties present, naturally. See, no need to panic, she's fine, the same as usual. So fine and so as usual that she's already finished her bowl and is going for seconds. You know there's going to be at least thirds, probably more than that.

When Gwen offers her 'small fry' theory, Xantia lifts one hand off her bowl and makes a fist. "Yeah? Well, I'll small fry them!" And then her hand is briefly on fire. She may have thought that she said something clever there. Cooler heads, indeed.

Speaking of heads of which at least one is literally cool, Xantia sure is taking Ashton's dragons entirely in stride. Just treating it as the most normal thing in the world, since she doesn't have much of a sense of what normal is supposed to be. She's a lot more concerned hearing about what Josie's father was up to. And, quickly enough, angry.

"What!? But that's evil! No wonder she wants to punch him!"

Shoot him, Xantia. She wants to shoot him.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

        Counterpoints are raised to Ethius' statements, and yet, there is some element of this man that seems insistent that this is something that is probably a very important thing.
        "A lack of expectations is one thing, Miss Xantia--" Fei weighs in about the idea that there won't be much of a 'guarding' any more what with the mass number of Hellions (a number that continues to climb steadily even now).
        "That assessment could be so," that seems to be a roundabout 'maybe you're right,' and yet, the man has not visibly relaxed any. He almost never does. The idea that Gwen would think any of them would be considered 'small fry' when no small number of those part of the Drifter team going into Krosse's catacombs are still present... that would say a lot about the confidence of the King in his plans then, wouldn't it?
        "Without knowing the full lay of their ambitions and whereabouts beyond an educated guess," Ethius speaks up again, "I cannot make promises as to the amount of time she will have with him."
        Fei is probably right to be concerned - this is the same man who tried to raise his palm to cast something at the King moments before the Domain zapped everyone of their sorcerous talents.

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

        "Though I 'spose it's more likely that everyone's spread real thin," Gwen muses as Ethius continues. "We're not the only force here. I just delivered some supplies to help out the people trapped in here, n' there're doubtless other Drifters cooped up with em' as well."

        The musings stop as Ashton reveals what he and others had found. "... I was 'fraid of that..." Gwen winces. "I wonder what the Trial Knight's part in alla this. I keep thinkin' it's just because they want to make everyone stronger, but then I think of stuff like this. If their purpose was to make people like us or someone else stronger, are any of us really worth all these means? What use are trials if the obstacles are made from other people, even their sense of self? Unless they didn't think it'd lead to this. But I don't think they'd be naive enough." Maybe, Gwen's just wrong about the knight in the first place, as she was so many times before.

        Gwen quiets as Xantia voices her reluctance. Does she have a connection to Lovelace? Or is it because of what happened, when Xantia was taken over? "... Are you feelin' that because of what happened earlier, Xantia?" Gwen cryptically asks, her spoon pausing over her bowl. "I mean, it's okay. You wouldn't have been the first, n' I wanted to spar you sometime anyway."

        Ashton and Ethius make good points. There's a frown on Gwen's face as she ponders over this, her stew still untouched. "I think she should have her chance to have her say, no matter what. We all have our debts to our past that we gotta pay, one way or another. If she doesn't get her chance, who's t'say it won't drag at her from then on?"

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Layna frowns as Ashton recounts their findings.

"...Well, that explains a lot." She replies with a frown. "We found some info, too. Sounds like they found a way to control it with Symbology. I guess one thing lead to the other..."

She can't help but smile as Xantia expresses her resolve to keep people from being bothered as they fought Josie's father. There was an earnestness to her that Layna had to respect.

"The Trial Knight...still don't know what to make of that one, m'self. But I can't say I've ever had a face-to-face chat with 'em. Or, uh...face to helmet, I guess." She replies, then shrugs nonchalantly.

 She looks toward Ethius, then, and...reluctantly nods with agreement.

"The King and Lovelace's plans are gonna keep goin'. We might need to be quick about whatever it is we do." She says. "Hopefully she gets her chance to do what she needs to do. Even if not...we gotta shut it down."

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Well. 'Was' might be a little cruel, but judging from Josie's behavior it might not be far off from how she sees it.

Fei looks towards Ashton. "She stopped me from blowing up Adelhyde." He tells him. "I owe her that much." Certainly everybody helped but firing an artillery shell into Weltall's cockpit probably did a fair bit of heavy lifting in shutting down that final assault. Not that Ashton impaling him twice didn't help but Fei tries not to think about that part. There wasn't even that much scarring.

He looks to Gwen and adds, "It's good to see you too, Gwen." His smile widens.

Fei doesn't correct Xantia's misinterpretation of Josie's hopes and dreams here because truthfully Fei would be happy if that were true. The idea of shooting your own father, well, part of him understands that temptation. A mysterious man left him in Lacan and if that man was his father--which Occam's razor would suggest--then he abandoned him. Besides which, he always feels a little weird about dad-talk. And dad-situations. These things tend to give him Dadly Premonitions.

Fei doesn't seem that relaxed even with his own words so he might have some similarities with Ethius after all. "Well, I can't expect you to keep my promises." Fei admits to the man. "All I ask is you try within the realm of your own judgements." That is a terrifying amount of leeway to give Ethius but what's he gonna do? Punch Ethius before he shoots Josie's dad with some super magic? That is a bit much. Josie said she only wanted to say one thing. One thing should go by quick.

<Pose Tracker> Ashton Anchors has posed.

While there's a bit of reluctance to it, Ashton does nod in agreement to Gwen and Fei's words. "She does deserve the chance to come square with things. It's her family, after all." He motions with one hand to Layna. "At the same time, the captain is correct as well. Even if he is not too far gone from the Malevolence, the man has done terrible things that cannot be tolerated."
 
Of course, there are still a number of questions. Like how to actually do that. Or what's waiting ahead for all of them. Or if the Malevolence can be cleansed even if they succeed at stopping the King and the elder Lovelace.
 
Ashton does think about those, but he doesn't bring it up. One cannot prepare for that which is impossible to know, and there's no gain in worrying.
 
He does reach over to get a heel of heavy brown bread from the small pile of scavanged provisions, using it to mop out the two bowls before him. "The comfort, at least, is that this cannot be as taxing as the last devastating crisis." How little he realizes. "We persevered through that, and we shall again."

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia, in the middle of raising a spoonful of stew to her mouth, suddenly drops the spoon when Gwen asks her a question that she wasn't expecting. "E-eh? W-what do you mean?" She knows exactly what that was about, of course. If that reaction wasn't enough to give it away, the nervous laughter following it would. The surprise is the only reason why she even questioned it, lord knows she couldn't hide her feelings to save her life.

"...Sort of," she eventually semi-answers, semi-dodges the question. At the moment, she's more confortable admitting to a different side of the equation. "I just think... she should decide what happens, you know? Once I start punching it's kind of hard to stop. I'd rather be able to punch without worrying about stopping."

She lets that serve as her reasoning for leaving the matter of Josie's father in the hands of others. Though given the way she frowns whenever the Trial Knight is brought up, perhaps it was a non-issue to begin with - she may have her own preferences about who to punch, should they make an appearance here. With Gwen talking about them and then Layna as well, she finally decides to speak up on her own feelings.

"It doesn't really matter what K.K. wants, does it? So many innocent people are getting hurt or worse because of whatever they're trying to do, that has to stop. That's all there is to it. They got me good last time, but this time..." She pats the bag beside her, declaring, "This time's going to be different."

Hopefully she didn't learn from Josie and also brought a big cannon along.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

        The man that stands near one of the few coherent, stable passages out of the kitchen... is still standing there. His gaze fixates on the contents of the room as if to be absolutely certain about whether the lot of them are all in as secure a location as is going to be.
        "Understood." He replies. Normally this is about the time where he puts a hand to his forehead and presumably has himself a think, or maybe a headache. He does not. He idly watches the purple miasma waft to and fro, their attempts to intrude and infest nowhere near able to pierce any of their collective spiritual strengths.
        "It will be time to move soon." Is he going to give a signal, or a sign, or some idea to the lot of them to use as a measure beyond 'nope I say we go, we go, just 'cuz' or anything of that sort? Probably not. Is he going to have anything to eat? It doesn't seem so.
        ...
        NO THE GOOEY STUFF HE HAS TAKEN FROM WHO KNOWS WHERE AND IS SNEAKING UNDER HIS MOUTH IS NOT FOOD THEREFORE IT IS NOT EATING
        IT IS GOOEY STUFF IN ONE'S MOUTH
        THERE IS NO VERB IN THE UNIVERSE THAT WANTS TO CALL 'IT' ON DESCRIBING THAT
        EW