Inside

[Hraithre]

[Widening Gyre]

Being grabbed by the swordsman is less like someone holding your hand, and more like being a feather caught in a powerful updraft. Kothar might feel almost weightless as the swordsman pulls him along. The paladin's axe never hits the ground - using him as a counterweight, the swordsman pivots mid-air and dives, catching the axe with his left while his right grips Kothar. "Up or down?", Hoshiki asks, giving a meaningful glance upwards. If the paladin wants to take this fight to whatever force brought it upon Inside, the swordsman can carry him - or perhaps even throw him - there.

[Morty]

[Intersection Precinct]

"I wish I'd been quicker to find a new body before that berk wrecked the gargoyle... oh well." Michalson sighs, a profound weariness nestling in him, before placing Bunny's marble in the body's mouth.

[Widening Gyre]

The serpent having gone down, Michalson steps out of cover and hurries over to Harley and Raheeda. There's a lot of other people here in various situations but he focuses on trying to close the portal.

"Smash 'em, but one at a time. Because somethin' will come out."

[Shadowcaller]

[Destiny Temple]

"In a way." Salestrah echos but remains silent for the entire elevator trip.
As the doors open the will find a panting Raheeda. "I won!"

The room they find themselves in is dominated by a huge pool which is nearly completely surrounded by glass walls and a glass ceiling. This gives viewers a fairly spectacular view of Inside and even the horizon as the spa was located close to the harbor. There's people just floating around in there relaxing and enjoying the view.

Salestrah clears her voice and steps out of the elevator. Refraining to comment on Raheeda's behavior. "Now, can I interest you ladies in a massage? Or do you perhaps fancy a swim? We can lend out bathing suits if you prefer." Since it does seem like clothes are optional in here judging by the guests.

The Widening Gyre

Raheeda was just about to do something about the pylons, though she wasn't quite sure what, when the cries of a child distracts her for a moment. Had the magic child been hurt?

But then Harley comes along and then an elf!

Elves were magical so she assumed that he knew what to do and also since she had the same idea. "You got it elf-man!"
Now, she'd prefer to use her spear for this but as the describer of things had yet pointed out her seeing it, this glaive would have to do.

So she attempts to cleave it in twain, swinging it down at the pylon-
Wait, hadn't she heard a child cry earlier?

[Morty]

[Destiny Temple]

"You sure did. Good job." Raheeda is odd, but Hiep feels compelled to encourage her behavior in case it puts Salestrah on the back foot. "A massage after a swim sounds just fine." And taking a swim will let her look around the place more freely. "No need for a bathing suit, though."

[bc56]

Widening Gyre
"Up!" Kothar barks. He has a grip like a titan to match the swordsman's apparently inhuman might.
Far be it from him to shy away from danger.

[Hraithre]

[Widening Gyre]

Up it is, then! Kothar is yanked upward and the ground is left even further behind as the swordsman runs in a spiral towards the top of the chain and into whatever Hell-realm it originates from. He can only hope there is something for Kothar to stand on when they get there.

---

[Intersection Precint]

A moment after Michalson places the pearl in the body's mouth, the young woman open her eyes. For a moment, she stares straight ahead, before suddenly darting up to a sitting possition. She crosses her legs to find balance, looks at her hands, feels her face, wriggles her toes and does a number of other things to find the limits of her body. "Only four limbs... only four limbs... okay, I can stand up now", she mutters. She nearly falls on her face when she does stand up. "Oh right... no wings... different point of balance... take it slow... whoa! You're a lot smaller than I remember, detective!"

She looks at Michalson and leans against the nearest wall. "How... how much time has passed?"

[[brackets lover]]

[Widening Gyre]

Khannie approaching doesn't seem to register in Asami's mind as the pain took her attention. After the initial shock of the injury wore off, Asami's crying got quieter with only a few sobs and moans here and there. Hand still pressed to her injury, Khannie finally gets noticed by Asami through a mist of tears. "Sen- pai?" says Asami in confusion and while getting choked up.

[quillpleasant]

Intersection Precinct

Lia smiles at Bunny, significantly more warmth in the expression than her mean spirited comments might have suggested. "It's good to see you again. It's been about a week. We can... fill you in on what happened." Her smile drains away at the memory, and she crosses her arms as if fending off a sudden chill.

But speaking of that, there's another matter that should be fixed first. "Detective, do you have any... clothes, or a blanket or something for her?" The body didn't come with clothes, and she'll probably get cold without them.

[Shadowcaller]

[Destiny Temple]

"You sure did. Good job." Raheeda is odd, but Hiep feels compelled to encourage her behavior in case it puts Salestrah on the back foot. "A massage after a swim sounds just fine." And taking a swim will let her look around the place more freely. "No need for a bathing suit, though."

[Destiny Temple]

Raheeda gives Hiep a thumbs up but then turns to Salestrah and shakes her head. "That's when you get rubbed, right? Don't got the skin for that I think." Or rather, the lack of it.
Salestrah doesn't address Raheeda's concerns however, her focused is on Hiep at the moment. "Excellent, there's lockers through the door right there if you want to secure your equipment first." She gestures to a nearby door which reads "Female".

[Morty]

[Destiny Temple]

"A massage is more about muscles than skin. And you seem to have those. Maybe they've got someone here familiar with scales."

With that said, Hiep will go to the locker room and leave all her clothes there. She'd prefer to keep her sandals on, but she'll make do without them if a fight breaks out. She then returns to the pool, naked and seemingly not put off by it.

[Intersection Precinct]

"Aye, you won't have to look up at me quite as much," Michalson comments in a weary tone. "It might not be quite the right size, but let me get one of my coats." The detective walks over to one of the walls, where a spare coat is hanging. It's heavier than what he usually wears. He'll hand it to Bunny.

[[brackets lover]]

[Night of Silence] (open scene)

As the sun descends and twilight falls over the city, a group congregates in the street. They each have some sort of accessory to block out sound. Earmuffs, noise-cancelling headphones, etc. Some of them were armed with weapons like baseball bats they had lying around. The group was made almost entirely of just dozens of common, everyday people. Standing out in front of all of them was a tall woman with long red hair and dressed in a long white robe. Her expression was a cold one, her lips wavering to neither smile nor frown. She surveyed the city with an unfeeling, purely analytical gaze. Once finished, she tilts her head back towards the group and then thrusts her hand forwards.

The group throw their hands up in excitement before rushing forth, some surging towards a set of tvs on display in a shop. With their weapons, they smash through the windows and destroy the tvs til they let out not even the faintest of sounds. Street signs with words on them bore the fury of these rioters as well, some attempting to smash them until others brought in a bucket of paint, splashing it on the sign to completely cover every single letter.

Throughout this whole situation, the red-haired woman stood completely still and remained completely unphased. The rioters made not a single noise on purpose and there weren't many random citizens around either.

[Hraithre]

[Intersection Precint]

Bunny reaches to take the coat from Michalson, but when he lets go of it, its weight almost makes her fall down. "Huh. This body is quite weak for its size", she comments as she straightens up and wraps the coat around her.

She looks at Lia. "You look different too. No, wait. You aren't the same at all. Just similar." As soon as she makes that observation, she seems to lose interest in the mycoid. "So, a week, huh. That's... that's long. What... what happened?"

[Rebonack]

[Widening Gyre]

Okay.

Some things are happening.

First of all, the swordsman and the axelizard both go zooming up the chain and into the portal itself. Apparently they've decided to stop fussing around on the enemy's terms and take the fight directly to whatever is causing problems. Not a terrible idea, but we'll see how that works out for them over in Planeside here shortly.

As for Khannie, she gently pokes Asami with her nose. This is one of the downsides of not having hands and also being a unicorn. Your options for comforting someone in distress are a bit more limited. "How bad are you hurt?" Khannie asks. "Is it okay if I look?"

As always she has some first aid supplies in her backpack. Always. Just in case. It's one of the most important things taught in Costumed Heroics. Being able to administer first aid is often the difference between life and death with disasters in spandex decide to knock a few buildings over.

Then?

One of the plyons is slashed through by Raheeda!

Once again thunder like a trumpet reverberates through the air, LONGER and LOUDER than it was the last time.

Once again a lightning bolt descends from on high, striking some distance away from our heroes behind several rows of buildings.

And once again a foe materializes.

Remember how that last snake was very specifically not the size of a train?

Okay.

So this one is.

An absolutely massive storm serpent, its every steel scale bearing the visage of a face twisted in agony. The horned serpent lifts itself on high, lightning dancing across its body, as it opens its jaws above a frightened crowd. Something like wind comes rushing into its maw as people collapse like puppets with their strings cut, the very breath from their bodies drawn out of them and into the enormous snake.

Hmm.

Yeah this one might be a problem.

[Shadowcaller]

[Destiny Temple]

"A massage is more about muscles than skin. And you seem to have those. Maybe they've got someone here familiar with scales."

With that said, Hiep will go to the locker room and leave all her clothes there. She'd prefer to keep her sandals on, but she'll make do without them if a fight breaks out. She then returns to the pool, naked and seemingly not put off by it.

[Destiny Temple]

"There are of course." Salestrah answers the question even if it wasn't really hers. "As any self-respecting spa we try to care for the needs of wildly different bodies. While we mainly cater to humanoids scales are hardly the most unusual we see here."

Indeed, there are loxodons (elephant people) and a kua-toa swimming around in the pool.

Raheeda seems to consider this as Salestrah excuses herself. "But enjoy your swim. I will be back in an hour for that massage, alright?" She turns to walk away as Raheeda tags along with Hiep.

"But why would touching muscles make you feel good? I don't really like it when people touch me." She remarks as they enter the changing room.
Unlike Hiep, Raheeda seems to insist to bring with her things into the pool. Not clothes mind you, those she strips off, but there's two belts she wants to keep around her waist and perhaps most concerningly, a spear which she somehow pulls out of her robes once she's gotten out them.
"Ssan, this ssucks. I wish humans had skin pockets where you could keep your gear. But all these holes are just for pooping and stuff. How are you supposed to relax if you don't have your weapons and armor with you?" She complains as she's suddenly drawing far more attention than Hiep by entering the pool room with a weapon.

[quillpleasant]

Intersection Precinct

"More similar than you know." Lia stares down at the floor, resolutely refusing to blink. She hasn't been looking forward to this conversation, and despite being the most emotionally stable version of her, some things still cut deep.

"As for what happened... me and the detective saved you. I turned on Sandels in order to do it. And then Hoshiki..." Her voice trails off, and she draws in a ragged breath before continuing. "Hoshiki killed him." She clenches her fists, red talons digging into her palms.

"I kept you safe underground until I was confident Hoshiki wasn't looking for you. Then I brought you here." There's more, a lot more. But maybe Michalson can share some of the burden of recounting it.

---

Widening Gyre

Harley whoops as Raheeda smashes yet another pylon. But his celebration is short lived upon seeing the absolutely massive snake appear. Well. So far, he's been able to hold his own against the portal monsters, but even that last snake was touch and go. And this thing seems capable of just draining people's breaths, which he has no defense against. Attempting to fight a monster like this with just a knife would be absurd.

But what kind of hero would he be if he backed down now, when innocent people were being killed?

He glances at Raheeda and Michalson. He has no knowledge of the latter's capabilities, but Raheeda, despite being significantly tougher and more skilled than Harley, is still just mortal. Any of them could be easily pulverized by a monster of this size, so they need a strategy.

"Okay, so its scales are going to be really hard to punch through. Our best bet is going to be to attack its eyes. It's a fair distance, so I think we should try to get into one of the buildings and attack it from range." It it can be blinded, that would go a long way to evening the odds here.

[Morty]

[Intersection Precinct]

"Aye. Specifically, Sandels took a blow meant for me." No use sugar-coating it. "I don't think he went there expectin' to survive. When Sandels sent him on the way the Reapers are meant to, he said... 'it was about time'."

[Destiny Temple]

"People don't generally expect to be attacked while in a pool."

Hiep doesn't add that she's more dangerous naked and unarmed than a dozen heavily-armed soldiers. She then hesitates, not sure if she wants to comment about 'skin pockets'. Or if she's even able to. Instead, she simply jumps into the pool and lies back, floating for a few moments.

"Have you never done any relaxation unarmed?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Widening Gyre]

Raheeda turns to look back in the direction she had heard the cries as soon as her attention doesn't need to be on the pylon anymore. However, no sooner has she done that when the giant snake appears and she's forced to once again leave the magical child unattended for.

Now, big snakes were pretty terrifying to her but probably not for the same reason as for most people. It was more akin to having police showing up and not knowing if they were gonna shoot you too just cause you happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

And considering what it had just done to those people? Yeah, this was definitively (sort of) like that.

Raheeda leans over to Harley and Michalson. "Scales are not as strong as they look. Gonna go for the throat. Cover me please." She tells them in a hushed tone.
"Now I'm gonna see if I can get those people's air back." The yuan-ti then starts sprinting towards the giant snake. Aiming to keep a relatively low profile for once as she's quickly closing the distance between herself at the snake.

[Destiny Temple]

"Exactly. My people knows this well." Raheeda sagely nods."Now watch this." she steps back as to gather speed since she then runs forward and takes a leap so big that she manages to do a somersault, with the spear and all, before she lands in the water big a big splash. One that draws further ire from the other guests. "Whoo!" She exclaims as she emerges from the water. Unlike Hiep's hair hers don't seem be be weighted down by the liquid as it doesn't absorb any of it.

Swimming back to the exalt Raheeda is all smiles. "Now what were you asking? If I can relax without weapons? Yeah, if I got close, capable, friends nearby. But then I'd be a liability if a beast attacks. Or assassins. So it's best to always have trusty ol' speary with me." She waves with the spear for empathize. "Especially if you're in a, uh, temple like this."

[Hraithre]

[Intersection Precint]

Bunny stares at Lia dully as the mycoid recounts her version of the events. "Of course. Of course he killed him. I said it, didn't I? That he was just going to get himself killed." Bunny slumps against the wall and sits back on the floor, staring at her toes with a blank expression.

She listens to what Michalson says with half an ear. "That's stupid. So stupid. Who goes to a fight, expecting to die? That inconsiderate moron. No thought spent on how I would feel - how any of us would feel. I... I was made to keep him alive, to keep him company and... now he is dead again and I can't go where he is and I'm back to the start... on and on it goes..." She sniffles and hugs her knees.

[quillpleasant]

Intersection Precinct

Lia nods sadly. "You knew it, Michalson knew it... I was the only one who actually thought he would win. I thought a lot of stupid things." After a moment's hesitation, she follows Bunny's lead, slowly lowering herself until she's kneeling on the floor.

"I wish... I wish I understood more why he did what he did. He was so stubborn, so driven. And for what?" Lia unclenches her fists, staring down unseeing at the bloodless cuts her claws have left. "But I wasn't any better. I blindly followed him because I thought he was my ticket to oblivion. But even though the Lia you knew chose to die with him, I'm still here, left with her memories." Her eyes flicker up to Bunny, tears forming in them despite her best efforts.

"I'm so sorry, Bunny. Sorry I couldn't stop him. Sorry I didn't try sooner. And sorry I didn't listen to you from the start. You deserve a lot better than all this shit."

[Morty]

[Destiny Temple]

Her people know... wait. Does she mean that her people take advantage of people feeling comfortable in pools? To attack them? That's vaguely ominous.

"What do you mean, temple like this? Should we expect trouble?"

[Intersection Precint]

"I had a feelin' he was looking for an entry in the dead-book but I never got the dark of why." Michalson gives another long, weary sigh. "Don't know if it matters anymore."

[Shadowcaller]

[Destiny Temple]

"Well... um..." Raheeda awkwardly rubs the back of her head as she nervously glances around. "They probably wouldn't attack me. I think. Not that I'd let them just kill someone..."

Hiep gets the feeling that she needs to give the yuan-ti some more incentive to talk to a near stranger here. Even if her relationship with "her people" seems complicated at best she doesn't give away their secrets to just about anyone.

[Hraithre]

[Intersection Precint]

"Why? Why?", Bunny repeats angrily, rocking back and forth, "because he had a hole for a heart, that's why! We two were just toys he cast away when we couldn't fill that hole. So cruel... so cruel..." Of course, by now, Michalson knows it isn't just a fancy saying. The spirit world has a habit of making metaphors into literal truths, the man really was heartless all that time.

[quillpleasant]

Intersection Precinct

"I always knew he was cruel. I just... thought that in the end there'd be something good in him as well." And perhaps there was, but not enough to turn him from his path. Lia stares at the ground, replaying those final memories yet again.

Then she glances up at Michalson for a moment before crawling the short distance to where Bunny is hunched, reaching out a tentative claw to touch her shoulder. "Both of us made the same mistake, following a man who didn't return our love. Now all we can do is... try to find another purpose. A better purpose." Which will undoubtedly be harder for Bunny due to the particulars of her creation. But not impossible.

[Morty]

[Intersection Precint]

"For what it's worth, I also had to walk away from the ashes of what I used to believe in." A different circumstance... but not entirely. "It gets easier... eventually."

Michalson has known many knights of the post, but Sandels was a league of his own. He'll never know how much of what he said was true. But he doesn't care at this point. He just needs enough information to get Hoshiki off Bunny's back.

[Hraithre]

[Intersection Precint]

Bunny doesn't react to Lia touching her, continuing to stare at her toes. Michalson may need to squeeze more information out of her, but she might not be in the state of mind to give him any. He might need to wait for the worst to pass before pressing the issue.

[Morty]

[Destiny Temple]

"Right, you're here for that evaluation. What does that entail, exactly?"

Maybe asking Raheeda about something else will open her up. Hiep certainly seems oddly trustworthy.

[Intersection Precint]

"What are you going to do now, Lia?" Michalson asks in the heavy silence that follows. "Seems your involvement with this mess is at an end."

[[brackets lover]]

[Widening Gyre]

Asami opens her mouth to speak, being swiftly interrupted by the thunder bellowing out. "Kya!" Asami shouts, covering her ears with her hands as a stream of tears flow out. It seems simple earplugs weren't enough to deal with sound of that magnitude, either that or Asami didn't put them in very deep to begin with.

Khannie can see that Asami's injuries amounted to large scrapes around the bridge of her nose, the bleeding itself being slight and managable without aid.

[quillpleasant]

Intersection Precinct

Lia watches Bunny with concern. While the mycoid has had a few days to process everything, the duel is still fresh and raw for Bunny. Perhaps it's something that only time can help, but that doesn't make it any easier.

At Michalson's question, she chuckles dryly. "Yeah, hardly. After the first Lia got dragged to hell, we realized that our true consciousness can't be gotten rid of that easily, so we decided to multiply. There's several Lias now, with different jobs. My job is to deal with the aftermath, protect Bunny, and maybe one day go after Hoshiki." The latter objective is about as likely as her blotting out the sun, but it makes for a nice thought at least.

She grimaces. "The others kind of put a lot on me because I was made to be tougher and more stable than them. I doubt I'll be able to live up to all that, but I'm here for the time being."

Getting to her feet, she sighs. "Do you have some way of getting hot water? I can brew a tea to help her sleep."

[Shadowcaller]

[Destiny Temple]

"That's a, uh, complicated thingy. Since it's actually a, eh, reevaluation. Y'know like a second one? Which shouldn't really be a thing unless you change massively after your teens which I'm pretty sure I haven't done." Raheeda explains as she rests her elbows on the coping of the pool. "But what they do is see if you match one of Ssethris aspects- like that one."

Suddenly Raheeda gestures with her spear, now dripping with water, at a curious fountain near the opposite end of the pool. It depicts a curvy woman, rather similar in appearance to Hiep herself, who is cupping the undersides of her breasts from which the water of the fountain are coming. Hiep might realize that it's the same woman that she saw depicted on the pillars in the lobby and the sauna.

"Can't remember what it's called since we always called it 'the piggy'. Some long religious name probably. But yeah, they measure your body and stuff." The yuan-ti makes a face. "So no, not looking forward to it. But if I pass they would probably give me some important job I imagine. Since not many people get evaluated twice."

[Hraithre]

[Intersection Precint]

When this new Lia expresses the desire to go after Hoshiki, it elicits a short, grim laughter out of Bunny. "Ha ha. You, go after the swordsman? That's a death wish. I understand now why he took a blow for the detective but not for the other you. You have no hope. No hope at all."