Riverside

[Gullara]

[Fight or Flight]

Eliseo comes back into the room a moment later and pauses just inside the door. He gives her a bit of a funny look, as he's gotten a slight read on the mood. "Uh, I got these bandages. I think that should work to wrap it on." He steps fully into the room and over to her. "Maybe you can hold it in place and I'll wrap it?"

[Ironsmith]

[Croquet with the Queen]

If Nye takes offence at Siana's suddenly cold tone she doesn't show it. "Oh no, something far more useful than a crutch or a cane. What I offer you is a molded armor. Something which can not only help you move but protect you at the same time." She claims while gesturing ahead as Siana sends her ball flying. "Oh, great slam! Seems like you know how to do this after all."

[Croquet with the Queen]

"Not a clue." Siana admits. "I just thought good play wouldn't be especially important here. I mean, we're here to talk first and foremost, right?" She lifts the bat and slides it back into place on her mount. "Back to the subject at hand. Before I say anything about what you're proposing... how would you presume to get molded armor in the first place?"

She decides not to mention the fact that she technically already has some. They're her bones now.

[Reinholdt]

[The right time and place]

"That seems like a better idea. While I consider them friends I haven't know them that long. So if they would risk anything for me is- well, not as much as they would risk for one another."

She pauses.

"But if there was nothing else... you can reach me on my number when you have need of me. Make sure to call way ahead though as I will need time to get wherever you need me to be."

[The right time and place]

"I'm afraid that you're going to have to take that up with Marianne. You already know you're supposed to be at the Northside Graveyard, but as to the when, she's going to contact me about that. Almost certainly last minute."

Some unusual Nexus based foresight tells Ilpholin that she will only have twenty minutes leadway on that call. Even the nymph finds this short period quite inconvenient.

"If you don't feel like you'll have enough travel time, you'll just have to stake the area out and wait. Don't ask me for alternatives, it's out of my hands. But I will ping you when she pings me at least."

[Arkhosia]

► SHOW SPOILER

[MERC Office]

"I knew things were bad, but this... is worse than I feared." Wenomir paces up and down a little, frustration getting the better of him. "The invasion... we beat back the Cuthun monsters but the damage they did is still poisoning the city. And Blanche is right. We could send our members to patrol the streets and stop people from harassing demons or suspected demons, but... that can escalate really quickly." He turns to look at Jaahlyn, something she said hitting him now. "You say Ilpholin is spear-heading these attacks. Do you think she's encouraging or backing those anti-demon sentiments somehow?"

[MERC Office]

The satyr nods. "I don't have any evidence for it but it makes sense. There were groups and individuals, like Ava, trying to stop the concert in various ways. They weren't connected as far as I could tell. Just unorganized entities that all happened to be gathering in one place. But if I were someone who hated demons and wanted to push against them I would have suddenly just found a lot of allies. All I would need to do would be to unite them."

Jaahlyn pauses, her gaze turning to Anika. "Which leads straight to my question, what exactly happened to Ava after you took her from the hospital? Since she was one of the key allies Ilpholin could have use of."

"She's in prison now, 'kay?" Anika hastily replies. "That had always been my plan. Just wanted to fix that... black thing you did to her."

She rolls her eyes, making her for a moment appear more like the teenager her apparent age would suggest rather than a immortal fey creature. "Which I was there to correct?"

"She wouldn't have let you, dude. Didn't you see how she panicked? She would have killed herself rather than letting you get close to her."

"Which is disturbing in its own right, but-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know what you're getting to." The druid interrupts. "Ilpholin was involved, in fact. She was the one giving me the idea in the first place. Kinda. I got the impression that she was really freaked out about the black thing."

Jaahlyn looks to Wenomir and Blanche. "See what I mean? I believe she's gathering allies and expanding her reach over Riverside."

[MERC Office]

"We could still consider some forms of defense," Blanche suggests, "like offering to help provide security for future demon events. Go for something more reactive and on-hand in case something happens. Less of an antagonistic look towards anti-demon sects than patrols or other proactive measures."

Stepping closer to the druid, Blanche rests a hand on Anika's shoulder, doing her best to ease some of her nerves. "Freeing Ava is its own nest of issues and I still don't agree with the choice in the first place, but Anika isn't fully in the wrong here. I think she's entirely right that Ava would have never accepted your help, and curing her quickly has denied the Anti-Demon movement a martyr to rally behind."

Still, she frowns and looks back to Anika. "It is worrying that Ilpholin gave you the idea, though. Did she want you to let Ava go free? Was there anything she might've said that could have suggested she wants to further this violence? I understand the two of you are close, but we need to know if she's going to try and make something like this happen again." The look Blanche gives her is surprisingly soft and concerned considering the urgency of the matter.

[Morty]

[MERC Office]

"That is a good idea, Blanche." A brighter spot in this situation. "We can send our people to large events and gatherings, to try to prevent outbursts of violence. It's not much, but it may be all we can practically do." Wenomir shakes his head. "if Ilpholin is working on spreading anti-demon sentiments, things will only get worse. But I'm not surprised she panicked. If she thought it was the Cuthun corruption... well, she has first-hand experience with it. As do I."

[Shadowcaller]

[The right time and place]

The satyr nods. "Very well, I shall at least try to stay within city limits then. Make myself accessible." She pauses. "Oh, one more thing, there's spirits in the city feeding off various negative emotions. I'm trying to deal with them, as is my job, but they've grown pretty strong. If you ever feel influenced by something it might just be them doing it."

[Croquet with the Queen]

"Well, we're standing on what would the source of the armor so that part is simple. I simply need to shape it to suit your needs." She gestures to the ground. "These bat-mounts are made from the same material in fact. Which is of course my mate. Since this wouldn't be a very mundane armor. It would be as long as you are." A beat. "Perhaps even a bit more."

[MERC Office]

Anika rubs the back of her head, trying to think back.
"Uh... I actually think she got the the idea that Ava was a loose cannon after hanging out with her. Since if you guys think Ilpholin is crazy, Ava is like ten times that. I tried talking to her but I'm not great at that sort of stuff. Ilpholin was the one that made her agree to follow me peacefully to VIGIL... and you know the rest of the story after that." She looks to Blanche who probably recall Ava trying to run away from them.

"Since as bad as she sounds, Ilpholin is still super-smart and has some pretty good reasoning."

"I'm sure she had a perfectly good reasoning to murder those band members." Jaahlyn remarks dryly before also turning to Blanche. "I'm not saying you're wrong, miss Blanche but I caused Ava all that distress so I could hardly ignore it." A beat. "Though to be frank I caused... more distress than intended at that concert. If you ever talk to Ilpholin she's likely going to mention it to paint me in a bad light. So let me try to defuse her claims. See as I already mentioned I'm a psychopomp. Meaning that I deal with death a lot. This also means that my psyche-" She pauses and let's out a small sigh. "This might get a bit lengthy but I need you to know the context here."

"-basically, you know how when people live for a very long time they have a hard time recalling everything that has happened in it? Like, the brain can only contain so much information. Well, let's just say that I've been around in some form or another for quite a while. But while my physical brain can only store so much my fey-brain can recall everything perfectly. So when I die I come back with a new brain with memories that my fey-brain decided were the most relevant, right? Well, it has created this off-shoot of me. Like a work-personality. The kind you only have at work y'know? Just much more extreme. No compassion or empathy, only focused on the job." Jaahlyn pauses as to give them a chance to catch up before continuing.

"Well, that got activated during the concert with all the people dying there. Now I say that as if it was an accident but I still allowed it to take control so that's on me. Frankly, it's less of a alternative personality and more me but with some emotions turned off and I could have turned them back on again whenever I liked yet... It's like... when you see all awful things going on around you it's just easier to not think about it and just focus on your duty?" She pauses yet again as this was lengthy.

"That's what it was like. If I allowed myself to be distracted thinking about it all then I felt as if I would have been rendered useless. So I made people feel calm to counteract another fey's influence on the crowd and I probably overbalanced on the calming effect. Then I could also have handled the Ava situation better but the way I saw it back then I was being effective and couldn't allow myself to question anything I did in those moments. Regardless how questionable they might seem in hindsight. I can't even feel guilt over it now as that's what your working personality is for. It just blocks all those things out. I'm sure you've might have felt something similar in your line of work."

[Ironsmith]

[Croquet with the Queen]

"Well, we're standing on what would the source of the armor so that part is simple. I simply need to shape it to suit your needs." She gestures to the ground. "These bat-mounts are made from the same material in fact. Which is of course my mate. Since this wouldn't be a very mundane armor. It would be as long as you are." A beat. "Perhaps even a bit more."

[Croquet with the Queen]

"...Wait, wait. You're saying you want me to wear your mate." Siana confirms, her face scrunching up in disgust. "That's... I can think of at least a dozen things wrong with that. I don't think I could accept such a gift."

There's no part of that explanation that doesn't just feel weird to her. Especially the more she internally emphasizes mate. The concept of Nye being essentially married to a tree was already enough of a strain, but now she's basically asking Siana to wear said husband like a suit, and the mental image that normally comes to mind for that is gross even by her standards. That said mate might even be volunteering for this job only made it worse.

Plus, there's the small matter of the implication that said armor would be alive throughout all of this. Having a stranger wrapped around her at all times, explicitly for the purpose of moving so she can't (and therefore implicitly being able to do the reverse, making her unable to move), was just... all kinds of creepy.

Also, having an apparent god on her person would probably qualify as blasphemy.

"...I'm... going to say no."

[Arkhosia]

[MERC Office]

Blanche pauses a moment, taking in a deep breath. "...Yes, I can relate to that kind of mindset. Compartmentalizing everything else, focusing solely on the mission - it's a necessity that also gets you to slip up, fail to take in some crucial little bit of information that puts things into a different context."

Thinking through the information Anika supplied earlier though, her brow furrows. "Ava was volatile, but she was also young. I'm not sure what Ilpholin might've been thinking there." Was she just trying to discard a troublesome pawn? Did she hope that Ava would somehow be a way to draw the organization into backing her? Hard to get a read on what someone's motives might be when you don't know them very well.

[Morty]

[MERC Office]

"Do we know if Ilpholin and Ava were working together? I thought it was just both of them deciding to attack the concert independently." Wenomir isn't sure what to say about Jaahlyn's "other personality". He understands it on some level, as someone who deals violence as his calling in life. But on another level, he feels like it's not something he can conceptualize. So he focuses on the practical questions. "This other fey - who were they? Were they affecting the concert somehow?"

[Meowmai]

[Fight or Flight]

Eliseo comes back into the room a moment later and pauses just inside the door. He gives her a bit of a funny look, as he's gotten a slight read on the mood. "Uh, I got these bandages. I think that should work to wrap it on." He steps fully into the room and over to her. "Maybe you can hold it in place and I'll wrap it?"

[Fight or Flight]

Oh no. That look. He hadn't heard her rummaging around, had he? Thankfully, he moves on quickly. "Yeah, sure, that'd probably work." Atsede gestures him over with her one free hand while her other keeps the ice pack in place.

[Gullara]

[Fight or Flight]

He doesn't seem too suspicious, at least. He comes over and will proceed to wrap the ice pack amalgamation to her face. "Ehh, I think it'll hold for long enough at least. I wouldn't go for a run with it." He shrugs, then beckons her over to the video game area and pops down on the couch. There's not a lot of space there, so Atsede will have to sit right next to him.

"So what do we wanna play? Pretty sure this one's multiplayer and it's, like, a beat em up game. That's your style, yeah?" The game he's holding up features box art of two girls standing back to back, one with a bat and the other spiked knuckles. It's titled 'River City Girls'.

[Reinholdt]

[The right time and place]

"That right? Why is it never positive spirits feeding on happy emotions?" It's a cruel world where fear is fed upon, but hope lies in rot. Then again, if a spirit of hope did try to make their way into Riverside, the King in Rags would likely see to its demise as quickly as it could manage. "You mentioned something about that, at the concert, yes? What was it?"

[Recaiden]

[Into the Looking Glass]

When her head stops spinning, Skye looks around and finds several guests suddenly gone. Nye is one thing, but where could Siana have gotten to so quickly?
She slowly rises from her seat and wanders away, thinking- does the yu-seed itself have anything to say? Maybe it wouldn't talk to a person, but is it so much more distant than the King in Rags?

[Shadowcaller]

[Angelic Aftermath]

Ilpholin shrugs at Anika, though smiles at the idea of the night elf in drow clothing. "Go right ahead, be my guest. You might have to choose some of the more... strapless options." The kind that can flexibly fit a woman of her height.

The exotic dancer nymph nods to Tina. "If you're sure." She won't force the angel to take the mask loot. She will however, shift her clothes away from the sheer see-through silk she's been wearing to something more appropriate to match the other two as they pick and choose their outfits. Still, her focus is mostly upon the two women undressing and dressing in various ways before her. "You two shouldn't look so good in those. Maybe we should make it a crime, so I have an excuse to take them off..." Ilpholin bites her lip suggestively.

[Into the Looking Glass - Kingly Audience]

"This city is useful to me in many ways, but ultimately only that," the King admits. "My ambitions lie elsewhere. Beyond the fields these people know."

[Angelic Aftermath]

"Ok, cool! Thanks, Tina!" She gives the angel the tumbs up, looks to Ilpholin-
-biting her lip.
Thus making her turn back to Tina again. "Also, you wanna have sex with us?"

[Into the Looking Glass - Kingly Audience]

"All our interests are beyond these mortals. Except of course for my mate's who has a special bond to them. Which is why we're here and not anywhere else." Nye muses with a laugh. "But regardless of your ultimate ambition you have need of this city right now don't you? Since I was-" She suddenly pauses, looking annoyed.

"-so my mate just informed me that one of the guests is misbehaving and that I'm going to have to talk to them. Now, I had been planning to introduce you to them either way so would you mind if I brought them here? I know I said it was going to be a private meeting but I think you'll find this guest interesting. They were the one playing the accused in our little dinner game."

[The right time and place]

"Spirits feed on strong emotions and concepts. The more extreme the better and most things taken to an extreme end up pretty bad for people in general. If they had been spirits of joy or kindness it might have been just as bad since they all encourage extreme behavior." Awful creatures really.

Ilpholin's next question makes her pause though. So she was interested in that, huh? "...well, fey can be similar to spirits in a way in that we too can get things out of emotions and concepts. But unlike spirits we don't need it to survive. It just empowers us. So while I couldn't tell the identity of the fey spreading fear at the concert I know why they were doing it. It sought to become more powerful and if its aligned with fear then this city is ripe with it. There was a fey in the city not long ago who used rats to do the same thing and I felt this fey's presence within the rat fey's realm at one point. So I'm pretty sure that whatever it is they were working together to spread fear across the city. This fey picking up where the Rat King left off."

[MERC Office]

Jaahlyn seems relived that Wenomir and Blanche seemed to acknowledge her point of view. "Thank you for understanding."

Then Anika feels like pointing something up as Ilpholin and Ava working together is being discussed. "Yeah, they were totally not working together. Ava looked surprised when they first met and she seemed almost afraid of her after they had interacted for a while." Anika claims. "Don't think Ava would have been able to manage to work together with anyone really for the reasons Blanche just pointed out. But I think the main reason Ilpholin wanted to get Ava out of the hospital was to save her from turning into dem-" The druid suddenly seems to be reminded of Jaahlyn's presence mid-sentence. "-not-demon. That's the whole reason for saving her. Not net-working or anything like that."

Jaahlyn doesn't even bother giving Anika a stare this time but she does seem to want to clarify a few more things after the druid's explanation.
"Even if she didn't want to work with Ava for those reasons there were far more reasonable candidates present at the concert. For instance, there was an organization of mothers, I can't recall the exact name, that were protesting there. So you might want to check those out if you're concerned about extremist elements in Riverside."

At this point Anika leans down to whisper to Blanche. "Um, what does 'extremist' mean?"

Then the satyr continues, now addressing Wenomir. "I cannot say who they were only that they were spreading panic and feat among the crowd, feeding on it. I know this for certain as my own kind of fey can feed off it too though I cannot say for sure if it was one of them. I wasn't too long ago a fey of my kind known as the Rat King came to this city.
They did awful things to the city's rat population and then turned them against the people of the city. A group of citizens managed to get down into its lair underneath the city and put an end to it but I know for a fact it wasn't the only fey down there. Since I felt the presence of the fey that was at the concert while I was in the Rat King's lair. Thus they were likely working together."

[Into the Looking Glass]

"Do you need any help, General?" White Pawn asks as she comes up behind her. "You were great on the stage by the way. Quite impressive."

[Shadowcaller]

[Croquet with the Queen]

"...Wait, wait. You're saying you want me to wear your mate." Siana confirms, her face scrunching up in disgust. "That's... I can think of at least a dozen things wrong with that. I don't think I could accept such a gift."

There's no part of that explanation that doesn't just feel weird to her. Especially the more she internally emphasizes mate. The concept of Nye being essentially married to a tree was already enough of a strain, but now she's basically asking Siana to wear said husband like a suit, and the mental image that normally comes to mind for that is gross even by her standards. That said mate might even be volunteering for this job only made it worse.

Plus, there's the small matter of the implication that said armor would be alive throughout all of this. Having a stranger wrapped around her at all times, explicitly for the purpose of moving so she can't (and therefore implicitly being able to do the reverse, making her unable to move), was just... all kinds of creepy.

Also, having an apparent god on her person would probably qualify as blasphemy.

"...I'm... going to say no."

[Croquet with the Queen]

"I don't think that's accurate to say." Nye remarks when Siana is freaking about 'wearing' Fusago. "They're certainly not present within the item you would get." She pauses. "I don't think anything I say on the matter is going to convince you though so let me ask you something instead. What do you want, Siana? Since I had intended that every person that participated in my games would walk out of here with a little gift. Something to remember this night by. It doesn't even have to be for you as long as you give me an idea of what you desire."

[Ironsmith]

[Croquet with the Queen]

Siana falls silent for a moment, but by now Nye should be aware that she's not actually considering the question anymore. That was three back-to-back attempts at giving her the ability to walk again, all of them some degree of wrong to her. And with that off the table, all the suspicions that she'd formed over the course of the night come flooding back; the toothipede, the persecution of Ana, the hypnotist, the choice of guests, the purpose of the banquet, all of it.

"...I'm not convinced I'll need anything to remember this night by." Siana says finally. "So what I really want is answers. I want to know what that thing Ana and I found backstage is doing here; the yokai with all those teeth. I want to know why you brought us all here in the first place; me especially, since I'm not even from Riverside. And I want to know why you put that poor girl on trial for our entertainment."

Her eyes narrow as she regards Nye, perhaps a bit too confident in her position, but the more she talks, the more she realizes she absolutely should not trust this woman, or her offer of gifts.

[Shadowcaller]

[Croquet with the Queen]

"Oh you want knowledge. I can grant you that." Nye remarks in the same casual tone she's been using the entire evening. Acting as she's not even aware of Siana's hostile attitude. "I'll make you a little token for it. But first, your questions. I will admit that I wasn't in charge of the games. Those were Limuria and the yokai's ideas. They just went them by me and I said yes. So if poor Ana was tormented I had no idea. She certainly was... quiet. So nervous all the time. I wish she would have mentioned it to me. But oh well." The queen let's out a small sigh. "I think I have to get rid of that entertainer. Quite a bothersome thing that one, especially concerning what you've just told me." Nye shakes her head.

"And yes, there was actually a third game planned involving the 'thing' you describe finding in the servants quarters. It would have been after the dessert but we ran out of time for it. That 'thing' would have been leading a Simon Says-like game. Sounded quite entertaining if I may say so. It was really too bad we couldn't make it." Nye looks over to Siana. "Was there anything else? Oh yes, why you're here. You were actually recommended to me by the 'thing' you found. That yokai seems to have taken a liking for you so you probably shouldn't call them such hurtful things."

[Morty]

[Into the Looking Glass - Kingly Audience]

The King inclines his head. His further comments about his need for Riverside will remain a mystery for now.

"Certainly. This should prove to be quite interesting," he simply says.

[Ironsmith]

[Croquet with the Queen]

Siana frowns. How did this woman manage to say so much to answer her questions and still not manage to answer them at all? "I dropped a building on its head." She deadpans, flicking her thumb against the rim of her cane. "So forgive me if I'm not inclined to believe it asked me here because I look good in red."

She does, but that's beside the point and the yokai had no way of knowing that anyway.

She gives the queen an accusatory point. "And there's no way you can tell me you didn't at least ask for an explanation when it recommended me. Or that you didn't ask basic questions when your entertainers brought forward game ideas." She points back behind her, in what she thinks is probably where the backstage is in relation to them. "And you've provided no explanation for how you know the yokai or how it relates to you."

The strigoi continues to glare at Nye. "Care to answer any of that? Honestly this time?"

[Reinholdt]

[The right time and place]

"Spirits feed on strong emotions and concepts. The more extreme the better and most things taken to an extreme end up pretty bad for people in general. If they had been spirits of joy or kindness it might have been just as bad since they all encourage extreme behavior." Awful creatures really.

Ilpholin's next question makes her pause though. So she was interested in that, huh? "...well, fey can be similar to spirits in a way in that we too can get things out of emotions and concepts. But unlike spirits we don't need it to survive. It just empowers us. So while I couldn't tell the identity of the fey spreading fear at the concert I know why they were doing it. It sought to become more powerful and if its aligned with fear then this city is ripe with it. There was a fey in the city not long ago who used rats to do the same thing and I felt this fey's presence within the rat fey's realm at one point. So I'm pretty sure that whatever it is they were working together to spread fear across the city. This fey picking up where the Rat King left off."

[The right time and place]

There's some silent thought before Ilpholin's reply. The Rat King, huh? She had decidedly missed most of that situation, presumably too busy being Compleated at the time. If her memory serves her correctly about the timing based on the news reports. "How disappointingly vague. Still, I suppose it can't be helped. I will stay aware of any unusually emotional people, just in case." Ilpholin won't go so far as to thank Jaahlyn for the warning though. She also won't keep Jaahlyn any longer, the guns pointed at the satyr lowering back into the ground.

[Shadowcaller]

[Croquet with the Queen]

The queen stops her mount in its tracks with a light tug at the reins. "Now that's a bit rude, Siana. I've been nothing but honest with you. It just wasn't the right time to reveal the circumstances regarding your invitation at the dinner as I already explained. Since what you describing is exactly the reason I wanted to find out more about you."

The wooden emu turns again so that Nye can face Siana as they converse. "'The yokai' showed me the aftermath of your encounter you see. I saw you talking and then walking away with that half-fey. You looked so distraught and vulnerable yet had caused such destruction. That duality fascinated both me and the yokai I think- well, in their case it was because of all the anger you caused of course."

The fey queen smiles as if finding the situation amusing. "See, this yokai isn't like you and me. It thrives on anger which is why I imagine it's made up of gritted teeth. As long as you inspire the emotion, the concept, it thrives on it doesn't mind attempts at its life. While my people often compare spirits such as it to mere beasts they're not really what you see as animals either. They lack the same emotional responses which you can find among mortal beasts. For instance, I imagine the reason it revealed itself to you was simply to make you upset again and I could also sense your anger flare up several times during your time here. Like now for instance."

[Into the Looking Glass - Kingly Audience]

"Then brace yourself dear King as you're about to meet one of your guests." Nye gestures towards a door which may or may not have been there before. Though right now it suited the narrative so it might as well be.

It's then slammed open by what appears to be the headless corpse of Ana. It marches inside followed by the loud hissing sound coming out of its neck. Almost as if it was attempting to talk without a head.

Nye looks decidedly unimpressed by this entrance, especially as the corpses was walking right up to the King of Rags.
The walking corpse then stops when its a few meters away, lifts its right hand up to its stumped neck and then moves it along the inside of it, absolutely drenching it in blood. Then it gets down on its knees and starts to drag its bloody fingers across the floor.

"Really?" Nye rolls her eyes at these antics.

It's soon clear that the corpse is using the blood to write something all the while it looks like the insides of the neck, along with all its blood, are threatening to spill out while it's kneeling down.

Soon it becomes clear that the blood is spelling out a name well know to the King, what then follows is a bit harder to read though.
ILPHOLIN MURDER NOW
Once it finishes the corpse simply stops moving and turns its stump towards the King.

Nye gives it a sarcastic clap. "How dramatic. Great job." She let's out a deep sigh. "Allow me to translate then, dear king. They are upset that Ilpholin threatened Ana, that fox-girl. Enough so that Fusago had to put them on time out before they threatened their peace. Now this yokai thinks that you can do something about it."

[The right time and place]

"It's the way of these beings I'm afraid. Most people don't even realize they exist until it's too late. But if I do find out more about the fey in question I'll be sure to give you a call. They're likely a threat to the city after all so I figured you might be interested." The satyr pauses as she notices the weapons being lowered. "Anyhow, I will take my leave now then. Farewell." Jaahlyn makes an elegant bow and then backs away a couple of hoof-steps before turning to walk away.

[Ironsmith]

[Croquet with the Queen]

The queen stops her mount in its tracks with a light tug at the reins. "Now that's a bit rude, Siana. I've been nothing but honest with you. It just wasn't the right time to reveal the circumstances regarding your invitation at the dinner as I already explained. Since what you describing is exactly the reason I wanted to find out more about you."

The wooden emu turns again so that Nye can face Siana as they converse. "'The yokai' showed me the aftermath of your encounter you see. I saw you talking and then walking away with that half-fey. You looked so distraught and vulnerable yet had caused such destruction. That duality fascinated both me and the yokai I think- well, in their case it was because of all the anger you caused of course."

The fey queen smiles as if finding the situation amusing. "See, this yokai isn't like you and me. It thrives on anger which is why I imagine it's made up of gritted teeth. As long as you inspire the emotion, the concept, it thrives on it doesn't mind attempts at its life. While my people often compare spirits such as it to mere beasts they're not really what you see as animals either. They lack the same emotional responses which you can find among mortal beasts. For instance, I imagine the reason it revealed itself to you was simply to make you upset again and I could also sense your anger flare up several times during your time here. Like now for instance."

[Croquet with the Queen]

Siana gives Nye the certified, teen-classic "are you serious" look at the queen's insistence that she was being honest. She wants to go in on how that means a lot more than just not lying, and she should know, the distinction has screwed her more than once, but the more Nye's lecture goes on, the more she realizes the effort would be wasted. Getting the words out wouldn't even be cathartic, and she certainly wasn't going to listen to her.

Besides, she let slip something important just now.

"...You can sense what I'm feeling?" She asks, her tone a little more hushed now. It's entirely possible she's bluffing, or means that in a mundane way, as Siana does not have a particularly impressive poker face, but if she can, in fact, sense emotions, then... maybe she wasn't as different from the yokai as she claimed. It would certainly explain why she kept it and listened to it.

[Recaiden]

[Into the Looking Glass]

"Do you need any help, General?" White Pawn asks as she comes up behind her. "You were great on the stage by the way. Quite impressive."

"Ah, thank you pawn. All that was required of me was to trust Limuria, and do some addition. I remember that much mathematics."

"There's someone...with me who was hoping to...speak(?) with our other host." She waves an arm around them to indicate Fusago, for the spirit is all around them, isn't he?
Skye's eyes light up, in the quite literal sense that they emit a pale blue glow, shifting and flickering like flames, and where the air around her was chilly, it should become suddenly, painfully cold.

[Morty]

[Into the Looking Glass - Kingly Audience]

The King gives another humorless laugh.

"A curious request. But this seems like a matter between Anastasia and Ilpholin. Nor would killing Ilpholin benefit me, even if I believed I could easily do it."

[Arkhosia]

► SHOW SPOILER

[MERC Office]

Jaahlyn seems relived that Wenomir and Blanche seemed to acknowledge her point of view. "Thank you for understanding."

Then Anika feels like pointing something up as Ilpholin and Ava working together is being discussed. "Yeah, they were totally not working together. Ava looked surprised when they first met and she seemed almost afraid of her after they had interacted for a while." Anika claims. "Don't think Ava would have been able to manage to work together with anyone really for the reasons Blanche just pointed out. But I think the main reason Ilpholin wanted to get Ava out of the hospital was to save her from turning into dem-" The druid suddenly seems to be reminded of Jaahlyn's presence mid-sentence. "-not-demon. That's the whole reason for saving her. Not net-working or anything like that."

Jaahlyn doesn't even bother giving Anika a stare this time but she does seem to want to clarify a few more things after the druid's explanation.
"Even if she didn't want to work with Ava for those reasons there were far more reasonable candidates present at the concert. For instance, there was an organization of mothers, I can't recall the exact name, that were protesting there. So you might want to check those out if you're concerned about extremist elements in Riverside."

At this point Anika leans down to whisper to Blanche. "Um, what does 'extremist' mean?"

Then the satyr continues, now addressing Wenomir. "I cannot say who they were only that they were spreading panic and feat among the crowd, feeding on it. I know this for certain as my own kind of fey can feed off it too though I cannot say for sure if it was one of them. I wasn't too long ago a fey of my kind known as the Rat King came to this city.
They did awful things to the city's rat population and then turned them against the people of the city. A group of citizens managed to get down into its lair underneath the city and put an end to it but I know for a fact it wasn't the only fey down there. Since I felt the presence of the fey that was at the concert while I was in the Rat King's lair. Thus they were likely working together."

[MERC Office]

"Someone with extreme or fanatical views for which they're willing to advocate for or even resort to drastic, violent action," Blanche explains quietly. "Like how Ava didn't just hate demons, but wanted them eradicated and was willing to bomb a concert for it."

As Jaahlyn elaborates on the fey whose influence she sensed, Blanche's ears flicker and perk up and she looks back towards Wenomir. Something that fed off of fear and panic... didn't that sound like something they'd encountered before?

[Morty]

[MERC Office]

"Feeding on fear... that sounds like the King in Rags. We've dealt with trouble he caused before. He seems to be spreading his influence far and wide but staying out of sight."

At the mention of the King in Rags, Dipsnig sits up suddenly, more attentive and visibly uneasy. He sits back again, hoping no one noticed.

[Shadowcaller]

[Croquet with the Queen]

Nye taps her chin thoughtfully. "Sort of. I can sense certain kinds of emotions much like mortals can sense heat or cold. But that means I can't always tell who they belong to. Usually one can tell with context clues though, like in your case." The queen gestures to Siana. "Why do you ask? Since it does sound like I can't do much for you, Siana. But perhaps there will be a time, hmm? You can always come back later once your heart desires something which I can grant you."

[Into the Looking Glass]

"Ah. Of course." White Pawn nods. "But excuse me for asking then, but what do you wish to talk to them about? Since Nye, I or one of my sisters might be needed to translate. Fusago do not speak in words they use visions which might not always be easy to understand. They also don't like being spoken to directly unless they deem it important."

[MERC Office]

"Yeah, uh, I think something was wrong with Ava. She probably needs help to... be better. A lot of bad things had happened to her." Anika adds hesitantly.

Jaahlyn's attention is drawn to Wenomir however as he seems to have a theory. "That is my next question then, tell me everything you know about this fey king." She looks between the three VIGIL members though it already seemed clear that Anika didn't seem to know anything about him considering her expression. "Let's see if he fits with my profile." She sounds somewhat skeptical but she wanted to hear them out now.

[Into the Looking Glass - Kingly Audience]

There's another loud hiss coming from the headless corpse as if gas was escaping from it and then it starts to make a new line of text on the floor.
This time it hastily write out two words and a question mark.

Distrect elsewear? The way the corpse had hastily scrawled these letters suggest that it was quite upset.

Nye let's out a sigh as she sees the poorly spelled words. "Well-" She claps her hands together. "This is why I'm here. To put the right people in touch with one another. Since despite your obvious differences you have a shared interest. While you don't feed on the same kind of emotions they're linked, correct? Murder creates fear, fear creates murder and so on. The same is true for the other guests I have here tonight. You're all linked in some fashion and I believe that if you work in tandem things will turn out great for everyone."

She gestures towards the door that the corpse came through which is now somehow closed again. "You saw what was happening down there. It doesn't take much to make them feed you whatever emotions you can imagine."

[Ironsmith]

[Croquet with the Queen]

Nye taps her chin thoughtfully. "Sort of. I can sense certain kinds of emotions much like mortals can sense heat or cold. But that means I can't always tell who they belong to. Usually one can tell with context clues though, like in your case." The queen gestures to Siana. "Why do you ask? Since it does sound like I can't do much for you, Siana. But perhaps there will be a time, hmm? You can always come back later once your heart desires something which I can grant you."

[Croquet with the Queen]

"That's likely."

It takes more self-control than Siana has to keep the snarky response from escaping, and in hindsight, mouthing off to Nye probably wasn't the smartest idea... even if it was an honest, forthright declaration of her intentions. She's not sure she could accept any gifts from Nye; she's got no reason to believe that the queen didn't have some hidden ill intent, especially with how little Siana's words seem to affect her. She could probably maintain a stoic facade while running a dagger all the way through someone's back. Why would Siana trust someone who lies like that, so readily and habitually?

She can't. She can't even be certain that what the queen's told her already is true. For all she knows, this is another game she likes to play, taking disparate bits of information and weaving them into what she thinks her listener wants to hear.

...Even so, there might just be a grain of truth in Nye's explanation somewhere. She's just going to have a hard time finding it.

"...You said the yokai was interested in the destruction I could cause." Siana says finally, changing tack. "And by extension, you were, too. Why would you look at something like that and think 'I'm going to invite that girl to dinner'?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Croquet with the Queen]

Nye tilts her head. "Siana, while the destruction had drawn the yokai's attention, it wasn't what got me curious. It was how you reacted to it." She pauses as to give Siana a moment to consider that. "So since you brought it up, do you feel comfortable telling me exactly how you felt in that moment? Since I can't help but to draw certain parallels between you and Ana whom you seem to have been drawn to."

[Ironsmith]

[Croquet with the Queen]

"No. I don't." Siana replies, crossing her arms. Again, the truth; "comfortable" would certainly not describe her feelings in this situation. "...But... if you're trying to make a point and you have to know..." She runs her hand down to the head of her cane, clutching it tightly. "...Regret. Instant regret. I made the wrong decision and people suffered for it. Not just the people in the building... Miss Hesperos, too. And my superiors back at MERC. And... and me, through all of the above. The whole way back, I kept going over it in my head, wondering if somehow I could have done things differently. And... I'm certain I could have. Miss Hesperos and I weren't in any real danger, either of us; we could both come back from anything the yokai could throw at us. The right thing to do would have been slower, more careful, more methodical. Instead, I ended up doing the quick, easy and risky thing, like my superiors were afraid I would." She shakes her head. "...It got me thrown out, obviously. And rightly so. I think it very nearly got Miss Hesperos thrown out, too, but I'm not sure I could read our boss well enough to tell for certain. She was responsible for me and I let her down, hard."

The strigoi lets out a deep sigh. "...Is that enough? Or do you need to hear more?"