Riverside

[Arkhosia]

[Dulcie Dreams]

"I am a psychopomp, which means that I shepherd the souls of the departed. But I rarely talk to them before they become... clients. So I don't hear a lot of 'sob-stories' since it would make my job a lot harder than it needs to be. Surely there's a way to avoid your fate though? The nexus is a world of opportunities. I know a powerful wizard right here in Riverside who might be able to help out in fact." The goat suggests as they tilt their head again, giving Dulcie a curious look.

[Dulcie Dreams]

"Erm, well..." Dulcie shifts, a little awkward. "We've, like, tried magical treatments, at least before? But it never really... worked out, I guess. I think it's been resistant, just like with everything else." She sighs dramatically. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try -"

Suddenly, Dulcie pauses, a thought springing up. "Hold on! You're like, a death-shepherd or something! Are you even like, allowed to stop people from dying? And weren't you in the perfect spot to listen to me making a big old sob story a moment ago?" This doesn't add up!

[Ironsmith]

[Room with a Goat]

Baphoreth cannot see the invisible but no magic or technology could hide the guilty from her sight however. So unless Stacy felt no guilt over what happened then Baphoreth will see her as clear as day.
To Melody there will be little difference to Baphoreth's emotional demeanor as she sees all this however. Just an brief glimpse of a sense of satisfaction that stands out against all that maternal love just before the fey comments on her thoughts.

"There's strength in unity yet as you said, you barely know anyone outside your band. Even after all this time. So to use an analogue, it seems to me that you are a fortress of four that have built walls around yourself. Yet now it seems like the fortress is starting to crack, doesn't it? Even if Marianne was spared from true death it seems what you had might not have been. Lies, deception... you can see how things have poisoned your foundation."

The fey then pauses as to let all this sink in.

"So as I said, there's strength in unity and while you should never abandon what you've built together you shouldn't shy away from the outside world either. Since if the foundations of your fortress crack and the walls fall apart it's important to remember why you built those in the first place. The world you fear might not be as bad as you thought. So to extend the analogue a little bit, true strength doesn't lie in fortresses. It lies in alliances.

After all, if you close yourself and others out in you will find yourself buried in the rubble if it falls. So while Marianne likely has the best of reasons to advise you against this group I still think it's important that you connect to the outside more than, as you said, just a voice. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that the world can be a terrible place and that you might end up burned for your efforts yet it's better to reach out and try rather than closing yourself in."

[Room with a Goat]

Oh, it's just that easy, huh? Just got to put myself out there more?

...Sorry. I didn't mean to make that sound so, um... snarky.

But... that's just so much easier said than done. Especially in Riverside; I might as well walk around with a sign that says "lynch me, please" around my neck.

...

But you're right. I can't keep relying on the band. They've all let me down before. Maybe... maybe I should reach out more. Maybe if I was less of a burden to anyone in particular, they wouldn't drop me at the first sign of trouble.

...You know what? Yeah. If I get a body again, I'm marching right up to DAMN and volunteering. Screw what Marianne thinks.

[Gullara]

[Theories of Necromantic Adhesion]

Reilana's eyes follow the movement of the toys. Yeah, that's what she was looking for. "Reilana." She provides her name, turning her attention back to the man. "I'm not exactly here about the toys. More about how they're made. You're a necromancer, right?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Dulcie Dreams]

"Erm, well..." Dulcie shifts, a little awkward. "We've, like, tried magical treatments, at least before? But it never really... worked out, I guess. I think it's been resistant, just like with everything else." She sighs dramatically. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try -"

Suddenly, Dulcie pauses, a thought springing up. "Hold on! You're like, a death-shepherd or something! Are you even like, allowed to stop people from dying? And weren't you in the perfect spot to listen to me making a big old sob story a moment ago?" This doesn't add up!

[Dulcie Dreams]

"No one can stop mortals from dying I'm afraid. My job is just taking care of them when they move beyond that threshold. Ideally once they die from natural causes." The goat explains. "Since after all, for people to die they must live. For me to have a job it requires people to be alive in the first place, yeah? But I wouldn't be able to save you I'm afraid. Though I'm sure the solution is out there somewhere and like you said, there's still time. Like the saying goes as long as there's life there's hope."

[Room with a Goat]

Oh, it's just that easy, huh? Just got to put myself out there more?

...Sorry. I didn't mean to make that sound so, um... snarky.

But... that's just so much easier said than done. Especially in Riverside; I might as well walk around with a sign that says "lynch me, please" around my neck.

...

But you're right. I can't keep relying on the band. They've all let me down before. Maybe... maybe I should reach out more. Maybe if I was less of a burden to anyone in particular, they wouldn't drop me at the first sign of trouble.

...You know what? Yeah. If I get a body again, I'm marching right up to DAMN and volunteering. Screw what Marianne thinks.

[Room with a Goat]

"Nothing that is worth doing is ever easy. Pain means that you're alive, only death truly puts us at peace. Or at least that's how it is supposed to be. I know little about your beyond-death court." Barhoreth mentally shrugs.
"Be warned however, if you return to life I see more betrayal in your future. I also see-" Bathoreth pauses. "Death. Not yours but one that recently crossed your path. Interesting."

Another pause.

"But it seems like our time together is coming to an end. We are reaching our intended destination."

[Ironsmith]

[Room with a Goat]

Already? It feels like we just started talking.

...I guess I shouldn't complain. The less chance there is for me to get digested, the better.

...On the off chance I don't get to speak with you again... thank you. For the... for the advice.

...

I really want to hug you right now, but I can't do that without arms. Sorry.

[Arkhosia]

[Dulcie Dreams]

"No one can stop mortals from dying I'm afraid. My job is just taking care of them when they move beyond that threshold. Ideally once they die from natural causes." The goat explains. "Since after all, for people to die they must live. For me to have a job it requires people to be alive in the first place, yeah? But I wouldn't be able to save you I'm afraid. Though I'm sure the solution is out there somewhere and like you said, there's still time. Like the saying goes as long as there's life there's hope."

[Dulcie Dreams]

The pale teen raises her brow, more out of interest than anything else. She hadn't really expected a death spirit to have so much value for life itself, considering the general topic. "Mm, yes, well - the Nexus can be a pretty miraculous place, but my parents have tried a lot, and I'm starting to worry that we've gotten to the point where clinging onto the possibility something wonderful might happen is just a foolish little thing to do."

Dulce sighs and leans back into the headboard, looking up into a pale blue sky that wasn't there a moment before. "Ugh, and it's such an annoyance! I don't want to let Kahu down, and I promised that I'd stay with her as long as possible - but I don't want to give her or anyone else any false hope, you know?" She giggles. "I don't want them to kill themselves from sobbing too hard at my funeral, after all!"

[Shadowcaller]

[Dulcie Dreams]

"Don't worry about that, people rarely do. Kill themselves because of a loved one dying I mean. The grief they feel on some level people usually realize that if they too die then everyone they know is going to feel just as terrible as they do in that moment." The goat remarks and seem to consider something for a moment.

"Do you know where you would go if you die? The nexus is connect to many underworlds and some of them are quite nice. Mine is... not so much. But you would probably end up in a much better one than that."

[Room with a Goat]

"I could manifest a space for you to do that if you wish. Though I know most people would prefer not seeing me." Baphoreth explains, suddenly given off a sense of amusement.
"There's still time. I was just giving you an early warning to mentally prepare yourself. After all, you are expected to control this vessel for a little bit."

[Ironsmith]

[Room with a Goat]

I... think I'll defer to your judgment on this one.

If Baphoreth is surprisingly terrifying, it's probably not a good idea to get all worked up before she's supposed to talk to her friends. That's going to be stressful enough.

Just, um... know the sentiment is there?

...Still doesn't seem like enough. Okay, you know what?

Mwah~

There. And you don't even have to worry about any toxins.

...All right, I think I'm ready.

[Arkhosia]

[Dulcie Dreams]

"Don't worry about that, people rarely do. Kill themselves because of a loved one dying I mean. The grief they feel on some level people usually realize that if they too die then everyone they know is going to feel just as terrible as they do in that moment." The goat remarks and seem to consider something for a moment.

"Do you know where you would go if you die? The nexus is connect to many underworlds and some of them are quite nice. Mine is... not so much. But you would probably end up in a much better one than that."

[Dulcie Dreams]

Dulcie blinks, seeming to pause for a moment. "Erm, I mean - I don't actually expect anyone to commit suicide over me! I'm just... well, It's like I said. I don't want to get everyone's hopes up just to devastate them even further. I'm worried about how my friends and family will take it when I finally die. My parents have already gone through so much to support me."

As Dulcie speaks, the floral wallpaper patterning the room around them seems to shimmer and fade, dissolving into film-grain static. The image of a living room coalesces into being, warm and cozy and lit by a fireplace. An elven woman sits in a loveseat, tall and willowy and with hair like a wisteria in bloom, the mayhem loosely restrained by a hairband. She's dressed in a paint-stained lab coat and talking indistinctly to a somewhat heavyset man in his forties on the couch opposite, trimmers in hand and green eyes intent on a bonsai in his lap.

"I don't know how my siblings will take it either," Dulcie goes on, seemingly unaware of the change around them. "Cayenne's always been so positive, and we aren't super close but she's always wished me well on my treatments." The static shifts to show a ginger-haired girl a little younger than Dulcie, all motion and verve as she juggles a soccer ball in the air on the front yard. She turns to wave at the camera, lips a wide smile.

"And Euryalos..." at this thought, Dulcie hesitates, hands fiddling with the comforter."Well, I don't think he hates me anymore, but -" This time, the image is grainier, older. A nine-year old boy stands on a linoleum floor, thin and fair and full of embarrassed rage. He looks the spitting image of what Dulcie must've been at that age, blue-eyed and ginger-haired. His voice slips into the dream, pitched and hurt. "A-and stop wearing a dress when my friends are around, ya hear? Jake thought you were me earlier!"

Dulcie winces, then shakes her head, banishing the unpleasant recollection away. What surfaces instead is the same boy but older, more sullen. He lingers by a bedroom doorway, hesitant to step in, and looks to the same olive-skinned man from earlier. "She's... she's going to pull through again, right?"

"I'm... I'm worried the most about Kahu, though." What comes next is much clearer than the rest, crisp as a summer's day. A teenage girl with brown skin and dark eyes stares intently into the camera. Mascara and tears trail down her face and a pale pair of hands squeezes her own, scared to ever let go. "I- I couldn't imagine being without you," her voice echoes. Dulcie wipes away a tear. "That hopeless idiot. She still just can't say it."

"it's all gonna hurt them in some way when I go, and - I mean, I don't even know if I'll see them again. I don't really... follow anything. Maybe it'll be Elysium if I'm lucky." She sighs. "Probably not where Kahu's ending up, though - culturally, I mean. Not that I'd want to see anyone I love there with me for a long time."

[Shadowcaller]

[Dulcie Dreams]

"Oh, uh, I'm used to talking death casually. I thought you were actually worried." The goat admits, suddenly sounding rather sheepish goatish.

Then it stops talking simply to listen to her and looking at all the family members and friends she conjures within the dream space.
Staring at each one of them in silence. It's expression being one of a goats, it's impossible to read for any non-goats.

"I could always try to have a word with whatever guide comes to claim you when the time comes." The goat pauses for a moment as if chewing on something as its mouth still moves. "...and you know, there is actually someone I know that might be able to tell you the future of things to come. I don't usually offer these things to people but you seem to be more in need of it than most."

[Room with a Goat]

Baphoreth chuckles.
A dark but mirthful sound that seems to echo even in this seemingly featureless space.
"Thank you child dear." More feeling of mirth. Perhaps even a sense of pride.
"But let us see what situation you're getting yourself into before jumping in, shall we?"

--------------------------------------------------------

Melody will see Jaahlyn either knocking on or ringing the doorbell to the door of the apartment. Then simply waiting for someone to open.
But she will also see herself standing there outside the door though the satyr does not seem to notice her.

[Ironsmith]

[Room with a Goat]

Jaahlyn has every reason to expect an apartment. That's a typical domicile for starving artists, right? A comically-small studio apartment in a shady-looking building with a recurring pest problem that makes for a great running gag?

Maybe.

But if she follows Melody's... memories, or instincts, or something, she's going to find herself in front of a completely different setup; a nice, four-bedroom house in the suburbs, not even in Riverside, but some sort of richville retirement town by the name of Butterfly Bay. The driveway is occupied by a gently-used four-door sedan, complete with an obligatory "SXYB1CH" vanity license plate, parked right next to a black motorcycle with a flame-patterned paint job.

The garage is currently open, and features two of the three people Jaahlyn is going to want to talk to; Exstacy, who is currently on the phone with someone (Jaahlyn won't be able to tell who), and Euphoria, who is bent over a spinning pottery wheel, making a rough attempt at a long-necked vase.

"...angle the daylights out of her." The taller demoness growls, clenching her fingers around the clay. "The bloody hell was she thinking? What do they put in angel food that's made her so... so..."

"Insufferable?"

"No. You're insufferable. She's... she's... anathemic."

"Ooh. Breaking out the six-figure words." Exstacy grimaces and pats Euphoria on the shoulder. "It's okay. Get it all out in the clay." She massages her thumbs against the sides of Euphoria's neck in an effort to calm her. "It's okay. Jaahlyn will be along any minute and then we'll get this all sorted out."

ding-dong!

"See? I bet that's her now."

Exstacy pokes her head around the corner to confirm what she heard. She turns and flashes Euphoria a comforting smile and a thumbs-up, before stepping out to talk with Jaahlyn directly, her expression considerably more grim. "What's going on? Did Melly get out of there okay?" She asks, voice lowered so she won't be overheard.

[Arkhosia]

► SHOW SPOILER

[Dulcie Dreams]

"Oh, uh, I'm used to talking death casually. I thought you were actually worried." The goat admits, suddenly sounding rather sheepish goatish.

Then it stops talking simply to listen to her and looking at all the family members and friends she conjures within the dream space.
Staring at each one of them in silence. It's expression being one of a goats, it's impossible to read for any non-goats.

"I could always try to have a word with whatever guide comes to claim you when the time comes." The goat pauses for a moment as if chewing on something as its mouth still moves. "...and you know, there is actually someone I know that might be able to tell you the future of things to come. I don't usually offer these things to people but you seem to be more in need of it than most."

[Dulcie Dreams]

"I... hm." The suggestions seem to give the teenager pause. "Y'know, I really wouldn't mind someone to put in a good word for me, if that's something you can do. It's not like I've actually done much to earn a particularly cushy place in the afterlife, but you never know how far some generous flattery can go." Dulcie grins like she knows exactly how far some generous flattery can go.

"The future, though..." Dulcie furrows her brow. "I mean, I'm not convinced I need it and that it'll fix any of my problems, but - oh, to the hells with it, who am I to deny a little prophetic insight?" She titters, her face lighting up with another one of those winning smiles. "Worse case scenario, I learn no one gets me flowers and positively die of embarrassment!"

[Shadowcaller]

[Dulcie Dreams]

"I actually meant less of a good afterlife, since I'm sure you've earned that already, and more the same afterlife as the others." The goat attempts to explain.

"But, uh, I can get my friend then. Whose also me. It's a 'death spirit' thing." A the goat pauses briefly.
"Now, her form is rather different from mine but as you don't seem to fear death goats I'm sure you will have no problem with her. She's like a big old grandma' really." Another pause as the goat really seem want these words to sink in before it introduces whoever this is. Then the goat closes its eyes. "So give me just a- oh."

Without a further explanation to what that 'oh' was for the goat starts to grow.

And grow.

And grow.

Its front legs becomes arms ending in hands and its back legs extend even if they never lose their hooves. Then more limbs sprout out from its frame. Another set of arms just below the first pair and then wings which grows faster than the rest of the now huge body.
It floats up and crosses its hooves in a manner similar to meditation. It's head and facial features flatten and become rounder but don't get much less goat-like than before. But the torso changes more drastically however, shifting to become humanoid in form. It never loses its fur but do gain other humanoid features such as a pair of heavyset breasts and a broad shoulders.

A set of new horns grow out from behind its ears while one sprouts out from the middle of its forehead just as the creature is about twice as tall as her. Then it's eyes finally open. Two where she would expect them to be and then a third just below its new horn which pupil is shaped like a star.
"Greetings, child. I am Baphoreth." The creature speaks in a deep voice. "Do not fear, while I may be different I am also the same. The person you've spoken to all this time is a part of me as much as I am a part of her." The being explains as the first pair of its four arms are brought together as if in prayer while the second pair gestures out to her.

[Room with a Goat]

Jaahlyn demeanor is equally grim as she shakes her head. "But I have her soul with me." She replies in a hushed tone. She didn't really feel ready to face the band with these news but what could she do? At least Marianne's plot had finally been revealed, right?

-----------------------------------------------

"In the past I could have recreated you, Melody. When I still had the light of creation." Melody, and only Melody, can suddenly hear Baphoreth's voice speak. If she turns to the source she can see something she should not have missed earlier. An enormous creature described in the scene above which is floating in the air with their legs crossed.

Baphoreth besides being louder than she remembered also sounds like she was just beset by melancholy. "But the past is the past. Now we can only look ahead."

[Arkhosia]

[Dulcie Dreams]

"Um... okay," Dulcie responds, not entirely understanding. A "death spirit" thing? Were all of those just like, fractured into bits like that? Wait, was that why the goat went from spooky and monotone to nice and friendly earlier-

Then the goat starts to drastically shift shape. Dulcie's eyes widen as the room darkens and warps, moon and star speckling the ceiling-sky while walls stretch to contain the strange guest. Dulcie herself scrambles back in her bed, the dream-facsimile of the girl beside her fading away.

"Whoa! Uh, okay. Holy shit." Dulcinea swallows, looking Baphoreth up and down. Jeez, that was not at all what she expected. Since when did a goat even need a weird quasi-human form? It would have been much nicer of it to stick to the mundane goat shtick, it was wayyyy less off-putting. But really, what did she know? "Well, uh, nice meeting you, Baphoreth. I suppose you're going to go check out my future then?" A beat. "Or is this like, one of those three-question deals?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Dulcie Dreams]

The goat-being seems to smile, though it doesn't like their facial features really goes well with the idea as it probably comes off as more unnerving than anything.

They stroke their chin as if considering something. "Yes, why not? Child, you may ask me three questions. One about the past-" Their left eye ignites with crimson red. "-one about the present-" Their right eye is lit up in an eerie blue. "-and one about the future." The third eyes star-like pupil suddenly burn in a bright golden color.
"If I don't want to or cannot answer one of your questions you may ask me another one. Any answer will be the truth as I see it." They fold their first pair of hands together and gives Dulcie a respectful nod.

[Shadowcaller]

[Project Icarus]

HALlelujah exists in the walls just about everywhere within the base. No corner goes unwatched, no room unsupervised, no deed unnoticed.

To its knowledge.

"Ohhh you can? How ter...wonnnderful. Yes," HALlelujah proclaims, its loyalty programs not expiring upon death. "That's... a hard ask. By my understanding Cessie Mithar shared dreams of her past and would know much of Mistress' life in the Watchtower era, though not much further. Her brother is MIA and her father has been relatively absentee, though I believe her stepmother holds an unusual possession of knowledge. The consort Anika Sunfletcher has been closest recently. There's been several business dealings with the King in Rags, but I don't get the impression Mistress confided in him about her personal life. She didn't confide much in an-"

"I'll do it," a quiet voice cuts through the AI's rambling options. Looking over towards the source reveals little until Tauron also looks down. A small three-year old child in a spider pattern onesie, barely two and half feet tall and sporting olive skin and curly black hair stands behind Tauron, having managed to somehow silently sneak into the room. Nahlrae's black eyes emotionlessly stares at Tauron, ignoring the corpse of his mom.

[Project Icarus]

Tauron considers Hallelujah's briefing silently until it's interrupted by another voice. One that the phyrexian was only vaguely familiar with.
The child's.

It felt like his memory failed him as he gazed upon Nahlrae. That or the child was growing faster than the average humanoid. Either way, it was something he had to try learn more about... later.

"Oh. Salutations." His mechanical claws fold together while he stares back at the child. "May I ask how much you knew about your mothers life?" He wanted to say something about how the memory of a humanoids this early in their growth cycle didn't have a well-developed memory yet but he couldn't actually say just how old Nahlrae actually was.

[Arkhosia]

[Dulcie Dreams]

Oh. Oh gross, goats are really not supposed to smile like that are they? Fortunately, Dulcinea's able to bury the feeling under a friendly face and nod. "Oh! Yes, fantastic! Hmm, I'll try not to agonize too much about this, that is a lot of possibility to consider."

Dulcie strokes her own chin and looks off to the sky in thought, furrowing her brow - then, she turns back to the goat, eyes bright. "Okay! First one," she announces, raising a finger, "When exactly did Kahu start having a massive crush on me?"

She grins, then looks from red to blue. "Second! So like, what's the deal with Ana right now? She was really skittish at the Spooktober party, and I haven't been able to get a word from her about it since." Two fingers now.

Dulcie turns to the golden star - and this time, she seems more hesitant, more unsure. She didn't have any really serious ideas of what to ask with those first two, truthfully... but this one had so much more to potentially know and agonize over not knowing. After a long moment, she finally asks, somberly, "Third... is Kahu going to be okay? Like, I know I'm only so significant, I'm sure she'll move onto someone else eventually, but... I'm not going to mentally scar her irrevocably, am I?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Dulcie Dreams]

"We shall see." Baphoreth declares and they're being quite literal when they say that as suddenly the left eye flashes and Dulcie's vision is drowned in crimson.

But when they seem to return to have returned to normal again Dulcie will instead of her dream space see her home. Or rather, her home as it was a few years ago. The exact date isn't immediately clear but she might remember this event anyway as it features her and Kahu watching a movie with clear fantasy elements judging by what's happening at the screen. It might take her a moment to recall this movie if only for the wordplay she kept laughing so hard at. It's 'The Witch and the Bride', she remembers now.
But while her own memory of the movie is clear this isn't it as she's watching herself from the outside and that might make her realize she isn't the only one.
Reilana is obviously staring at her as she's laughing. Paying little attention to the movie itself. Indeed, with the memory now clear in her mind she might recall thinking it was a bit odd that Kahu didn't laugh with her and now it makes much more sense.
Since even Kahu seems to realize that she wasn't hiding it particularly well and that's the reason she said she wanted to make popcorn when Dulcie was laughing the hardest. The puzzle pieces all fall together now.

Of course, with all that laughing she tired herself out more than usual and its in that moment when she falls asleep against Kahu it really happens.

Dulcie can almost pinpoint the exact moment when Reilana realizes that she was lovestruck with this fool.

Then there's another crimson flash and she's back with Baphoreth in her dreamspace once again.
She might note that the crimson light in the goat-beings left eye has gone out, leaving only the right and upper eye still burning with energy.
"I hope that vision was to your sanctification."
They nod to her once more.

"Now for your second question..."

And suddenly the glow in right eye turns even more intense as the world turns blue.

As the glow fades she will find herself looking at some place completely unfamiliar this time.
She seems to be looking some kind of indoor tree-themed battle arena.
Though it isn't the arena that will first draw her attention, it's the people in and around it.

The only one she can recognize is Ana and only barely as she is dressed up in a rather peculiar dress that she has never seen her wear before. She is staring down in shock at the arena where a girl that look about her own age is holding a huge sword stained with black blood which source is obvious.
Since at her feet lie a headless woman and not far from her, her head. Taken cleanly off her shoulders as if it had been done by a surgeon.

There are other strange looking people such as an red-haired elf woman upon a throne surrounded by rabbit eared women dressed in either black or white. An imposing woman in a red dress who doesn't stand far from Ana herself.
But if that wasn't enough she can see something strange with Ana and the girl with the sword.
There are spectral hands coming out of their shoulders which all seem preoccupied with hitting them over the head over and over again. A barrage of spectral fists which neither of the two even seem to notice.
They just continue to stare at the headless woman on the floor until the girl with the sword starts to throw up. The hands hanging over her head seemingly just hitting her harder and harder yet never even causes as much of a strand of hair to move.

And as the vision focuses in on Ana's horrified expression, the world turns blue once more before she's returned to her dreamscape. Baphoreth's right eye now fire less as well.
"I apologize for that vision. But I said I would show you the truth as I saw it so I won't hide even what’s unpleasant."
They raise one of their four hands, displaying their palm as to stop her. "So without further ado I will answer your third and final question."

The third star shaped eye stare down at her and in a flash of golden light she is shown the shortest yet perhaps most impactful vision yet. It's of Kahu with eyes that look so sore that she must have been crying a river. Even her young age can’t hide the dark underneath her eyes as she appears completely exhausted.

Yet despite all that her face is lit up by a wide smile of genuine joy. Looking like she does in only their brightest of moments together when everything just seems right in the world in the face of everything.
Then her face disappears in a flash of gold and Dulcie is back in her dreamscape. Baphoreth looking at her with all three eyes burned out. "Was that what you wanted?" The being inquires in a soft tone.

[Murkus]

[Theories of Necromantic Adhesion]

Reilana's eyes follow the movement of the toys. Yeah, that's what she was looking for. "Reilana." She provides her name, turning her attention back to the man. "I'm not exactly here about the toys. More about how they're made. You're a necromancer, right?"

[Theories of Necromantic Adhesion]

Sticks makes a choking sound.

"That-- I would appreciate it if you refrained from the use of that word while referring to my personage, young lady," Sticks says, clearly startled. Something quicker and older and stranger behind the eyes of the kindly toymaker takes the girl's measure with mounting acuity. "It is not one the average folken takes kindly to. It is certainly no boon to a toymaker. Do you understand?"

"Why do you ask me such a thing?" The tall man asks, fixing her with a shrewd gaze and scanning her more seriously.

[Arkhosia]

[Dulcie Dreams]

Dulcie flinches and half-turns away as the dream turns red. She looks around for a moment, a little confused - and then instantly realizes where and when they are as past-Dulcie bursts into peals of bubbly laughter. "Neptune's bones, this is like, two and a half years ago! That's over a year before I - ohmigods, she's been crushing on me that long and she still hasn't-" She breaks off, incredulous.

Then, the next vision comes, and the shock on Dulcie's face shifts. "Oh my gods." She covers her mouth, unable to stare away at the blood. "What did I just-" A flurry of horrified questions wells in her throat, but Baphoreth silences her before she can continue, and the final vision begins.

When everything fades, Dulcie swallows down a shuddering breath and blinks the tears in her eyes away. She nods, finding her voice - then pauses, and shakes her head. "What? No, that - I mean- well, mostly, I suppose." She swallows

"Gods, that last one... she looks so happy despite it all." The gears turn in Dulcie's head, and a slim smile plays on her lips as she dabs away some lingering tears. "If I can just figure out how I'm supposed to do that, make her the most overjoyed in the entire Nexus despite all the pain I'm putting her through, I know I can die happy." Then her expression turns stormier.

"That doesn't mean I'm at all satisfied with the second vision though! By the gods, that - that didn't have anything to do with what I was asking for! I don't even know those people, and I didn't understand any of it!" Dulcie covers her mouth again, eyes aghast. "Gods, that poor girl... what do I do? I can't just... not see that! Do I tell Eliseo? I'm not remotely equipped to handle helping her deal with seeing that!"

[Gullara]

[Theories of Necromantic Adhesion]

"Oh, right right." Reilana waves her hand. "My dad doesn't like that word either. Kinda old fashion if you ask me, but whatever I can respect it."

The girl shifts back on her foot, hooking her thumbs in her pockets. "But you work with spirits, right? That's how your toys work." The latter is not a question. She didn't come here uninformed.

[Reinholdt]

[Project Icarus]

Tauron considers Hallelujah's briefing silently until it's interrupted by another voice. One that the phyrexian was only vaguely familiar with.
The child's.

It felt like his memory failed him as he gazed upon Nahlrae. That or the child was growing faster than the average humanoid. Either way, it was something he had to try learn more about... later.

"Oh. Salutations." His mechanical claws fold together while he stares back at the child. "May I ask how much you knew about your mothers life?" He wanted to say something about how the memory of a humanoids this early in their growth cycle didn't have a well-developed memory yet but he couldn't actually say just how old Nahlrae actually was.

[Project Icarus]

"I downloaded her memories from before I was born while I was waiting," Nahlrae says, like it's normal to just copy your mom's data while still in the womb. "She's been recording everything else. She doesn't know I know. She doesn't know I watch."

HALlelujah didn't know it was possible to know panic. Nahlrae definitely shouldn't have access to those files. HALlelujah has been commanded the strictest confidentiality on the matter and barely has permission to view the files under certain circumstances. He should probably delete them now, just in case, but he doesn't even have the permissions to do that, short of wiping out everything, itself included.

"Mother gave me life," Nahlrae's eyes slide over to look at her for the first time. "Now I will give Mother life." His emotionless gaze lingers on the corpse for a moment before returning to Tauron.

"Then we will be even."

[Shadowcaller]

[Project Icarus]

Tauron wasn't all that knowledgeable about children but he was fairly certain this wasn't what they were supposed to be capable of. Not even his mother was supposed to be capable of this.
Perhaps he should have been paying more attention to the child after all.

The ramifications of this, should it be true, were staggering. If he knew everything Ilpholin did, did that also mean he knew he knew about all the upgrades Ilpholin had- no, slow down. Had to confirm it first.
"Can you... prove this?" Presumably by saying something only his mother knew about her own past.

[Dulcie Dreams]

Baphoreth raises their hand again as to stop Dulcie's speculation. "I will give you this as I promised the truth as I see it. There were things I could not include in the second vision as it would have made you unable to see Ana herself."

They wave the hand and instead of a flash a small projection of the scene from the second vision appear before Dulcie. It's like those little scenes captured inside snowballs except larger. Yet in this projection she can't quite make out the people that are supposed to be in it since instead of snowflakes there are black blots storming inside the projection. These blots seems to be drawn to anyone that isn't the red-haired elven queen and what seems to be her handmaidens.
They are all over Ana, the girl with the sword and the lady in red like bees around honeycombs or perhaps flies around cadavers. The former might in this case be a more appropriate simile as these blots have, just like flies, 'trunks' which they move all over Ana and the others like tiny vacuum cleaners. Seemingly sucking up something they exude. They seem particularly drawn to those phantom arms which reached out from Ana and the girls shoulders since they seem capable of landing on them too even if no one in the seen seems to notice either them or the blots which they attract.

Then after perhaps half a minute the projection fades. "And there you have it."

[Reinholdt]

[Project Icarus]

The child stares at Tauron, processing this request before eventually replying. "You first came to Mother in a dream, asking for permission. She said yes. She didn't feel she really had a choice. Just like you, now."

[Shadowcaller]

[Project Icarus]

Tauron scarcely dared to ask the question but he had to know now that the child knew far more than he had imagined. "Could you clarify what you mean by 'no choice'?" He inquires as his claws twitch nervously.

[Arkhosia]

[Dulcie Dreams]

Dulcie give Baphoreth a look of befuddlement. "What? No, this makes absolutely no sense at all! I have positively no idea what I'm looking at!" She sighs, closes her eyes and waves her hand dismissively. "Whatever - it's fine, you promised to show me what you saw, and now you have. It's not exactly your fault that none of it makes any sense to me."

[Shadowcaller]

[Dulcie Dreams]

"I would suggest asking the other me of that vision. She will know what you saw." Baphoreth claims, however suddenly the star-shaped eye starts glowing again. "However, I've foresee that in just a few seconds you will wake up so I suggest seeking her up in the waking world. Her name is Jaahlyn Hesperos."

By then Baphoreth and the rest of Dulcie's dreamscape starts becoming more faint...

[Arkhosia]

[Dulcie Dreams]

Dulcie blinks. "The other you? Hold on, you mean the goat, don't you?" Oh dear, is she going to have to try and track down a goat in the waking world? Those don't exactly show up in the yellow pages, much less online! Then again, most goats don't talk, even in the Nexus, or have full names like "Jaahlyn Hesperos".

"Well!" Dulcie straightens, composing herself. "Baphoreth, it was wonderful meeting you, even if you were an utter terror at first. Thank you for your time." And with that, the dream subsides.

[Shadowcaller]

[Dulcie Dreams]

"Follow the name, Dulcie. We will meet again." Baphoreth responds rather cryptically before the dream fades and Dulcie will take up.
Her memories of the events will be a bit vague but she will recall the important parts such as the answers to the questions she asked and that name...

[Ironsmith]

[Room with a Goat]

Jaahlyn demeanor is equally grim as she shakes her head. "But I have her soul with me." She replies in a hushed tone. She didn't really feel ready to face the band with these news but what could she do? At least Marianne's plot had finally been revealed, right?

-----------------------------------------------

"In the past I could have recreated you, Melody. When I still had the light of creation." Melody, and only Melody, can suddenly hear Baphoreth's voice speak. If she turns to the source she can see something she should not have missed earlier. An enormous creature described in the scene above which is floating in the air with their legs crossed.

Baphoreth besides being louder than she remembered also sounds like she was just beset by melancholy. "But the past is the past. Now we can only look ahead."

[Room with a Goat]

"What do you mean, you have her s-" Exstacy goes pale and she slowly backs away, hand over her mouth. "Oh... oh god. She's not... oh, god. I heard she got hurt, I didn't think she was..." She glances back into the garage, quietly confirming that Euphoria was, in fact, listening in, and it might not be a good idea to actually say what Melody was in an audible tone.

"Are you going to..." Exstacy points upward insistently, her hand just around the corner so Euphoria doesn't see the gesture. "...Like with Marianne?" She didn't like how Elysium had changed their drummer, but it seems massively preferable to the alternative.

Which, Jaahlyn can probably infer, means Marianne did not let them in on the full details of the mission. Or at least, she hasn't told Exstacy.

-

"I... have no idea what that means, but I appreciate the sentiment." Melody smiles and reaches over to pat the goat-lady on the back... before quickly realizing that she had the topographical situation there all wrong, her hand only ending up on Baphoreth's knee. "...Oh. Um... you're a tall one, aren't you?" She grimaces, not turning around, thanks to the warning she already received about Baphoreth being unpleasant to look at. She found something to pat, she'll just keep her hand there.

pat, pat