@TheMinorFall

She looked confused at the nickname, but it didn't take magic to figure out why his face fell as it did, and her eyes widened as they filled with tears. He'd shown her enough of his daughter that, while she didn't really think they looked that much alike, she could intuit where the name had come from. Amuné watched him go, wrestling her emotions back under control. It was harder, with a fresh loss she'd not even had time to process.

Mae spoke, and the Seer looked over at the other woman, wiping her eyes on the back of her wrist. "Yeah, I...sorta guessed." She glanced at the door briefly. "How long has it been since he...?" "Lost" seemed inaccurate, and saying Tsitua had needed to kill the girl would be incredibly bad taste. She was curious, to some extent, but Amuné was also grasping at straws. Just a bit longer. Just until she wouldn't make things worse if she shared what she'd Seen, and then she could excuse herself to mourn without worrying that someone would put the pieces together.

---

The kami looked over at the newest arrival. He'd come too late for the fighting, but he seemed to be aligned with the one that had stepped in. "Cain, then. I am Sini. And you are?" She removed the spike that had killed Zane, closing his eyes and moving him to lie beside the fallen ghoul. A somewhat stained cloth appeared in her hands, and she draped it over the corpse. "'Put a stop to this'?" she echoed, frowning. "You speak as if this is but part of a larger movement. I had thought there were signs of organization...." Sini trailed off, thoughtful, then shook her head. "Regardless, the pact of neutrality has been violated. If there are others that worked with the attacker, they shall pay the price. Even if we wished to, we could not keep this news quiet." She tilted her head to the side. "The Circle of Death...I will remember that name. Again, you have our thanks -- and mine."

---

Cera arrived not too long after. The battle hadn't lasted very long, and cleanup was well underway by the time she burst through the door. A few words with Curly, who had his shoulder bandaged by then, and she knew the rough details of what had happened. Her eyes met Orion's briefly, but she did not smile. Instead she went to where the two bodies lay, and knelt beside them. Bart was her friend, and she at least interacted with Zane on a semi-regular basis. It was hard to believe they were gone.

@shylarah"A few years." Mae said. She would have cut the girl off if she hadn't trailed into thought of her next word. "You guys shared something didn't you? You're the Seer he was talking about." She deduced. Everyone was aware of why Amuné was there. "He must have shown you then." She added, executing a series of strikes before turning to the girl. She gave Amuné a serious look, "We all lose people. Eric and I lost a kid. Victor and his siblings lost their parents. But Tsitua... he feels deeper. He clings to his grief because he's the leader here. Maybe it's because he's mostly human, but in any case he's genuine. And you're lack of trust in him is insulting. I can see you holding back, and I can tell you now, if some thing happened to you he would be even more broken than he already is. You bear a small resemblance to Zeela, sure, but your chakras feel exactly the same."

Mae took a moment to calm down before adding, "Zeela was my friend. And I don't want what happened to her to happen to anyone. She would have yelled at me for talking to you like that..." she went back to hitting the bag in frustration.

****

"Orion Frost." The ghoul responded weakly. "And don't thank us. We weren't fast enough." His eyes went to the bodies, then up to Cera's ruby gaze. He broke the eye contact abruptly.

He knelt down with her, grasping her hand in his. He said no words, but conveyed his message with a gesture. He released her hand and retrieved the mask from the kid's work locker. Apparently he hadn't taken it home yet. He went back to Cera and Bart's side and inscribed the fallen ghoul's name onto the inside of the mask with a piece of broken glass.

Slowly he donned his old badge of shame and rose to his feet, "Cera, we have work to do."

"I am." Even if she hadn't already spoken of her abilities in front of the other woman, Amuné suspected most of the base knew about her. So much for keeping to herself. "And he did, yes." She heard Mae's words, and frowned. No, despite her efforts, the fact that she believed he meant well, she didn't really trust Tsitua. "I've known him for a day. And I would say that's not really knowing someone." The young woman's voice turned sharp. "Would you have me put my faith into every Tom, Dick, or Harry that crosses my path, even if their particular sob story is true?" Her expression twisted in disgust. It was a tactic that had been tried before. One time they'd sent a child--

"If he feels responsible for me, that is /his/ problem, not mine. I didn't ask for him to step in. I didn't ask for any of this. You think I /like/ it? Knowing what could go wrong? Knowing what might have been, if things were different?" Amuné knew she wasn't handling it well, knew that between the stress of being targeted again, of old memories stirred up and Zane's death, she was at her limit. The emotional turmoil was affecting her control, which then made things worse, but she couldn't get a good hold on it. The tight, steady pattern was coming undone, tendrils of her power sweeping out at random. Usually her signature was subdued, a side effect of the tight weave she used, but now the Seer flared bright. "You think I like being blamed, simply because I knew my mother would die before it happened? That I like being seen as a tool, a target? Chased after because my power might be useful? Do you think for an instant, if I could change the past so I'd been born without it, that I wouldn't leap at the chance? Sight is less a gift and more a curse." Amuné spat the words. Her hands had curled into fists and she was pacing again, trying to keep her breathing steady and let out some of the anger in a harmless way. "There is no 'safe' for me, not ever. And it doesn't matter how well-intentioned someone is. 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions'. Actions have unforeseen results and I can't forget that, not for one instant. So don't tell me I'm insulting when I have every reason to be wary, and every reason to doubt the outcome." A ripple ran through the growing tangle of energy surrounding the Seer. "Shadows lie heavy on the land, and they will grow darker before there is even any hope of dawn. So /excuse/ me for seeing that we head into darkness."

---

The vampire squeezed his hand tightly, but she didn't look up. "He is -- was -- one of the sweetest, happiest guys I know," she said sadly, tears leaving dark spots where they soaked into her pants after dripping from her face. "He had never hurt anyone. I doubt he ever would, not if there was another way." By the time Orion returned, her hands were clenched, her jaw set. Cera was angry, and the expression she turned on him when he spoke her name held echoes of the deadly and uninhibited creature she'd once been. But it only lasted a moment before she shook her head. "That we do," she replied, getting to her feet in a single, smooth motion. "But whatever this Circle of Death is...and as much as I'd like to drain any others dry...that's not who I am anymore. My place is here, with the others." Quite suddenly she pulled the ghoul into a hug, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll be thinking of you, cutie," she added, though it was a half-hearted flirt at best. "Don't blame yourself too much. Whatever's going on, sounds like it's bigger than any of us."

@TheMinorFall

@shylarahKetsuoana, who had been completely masked both in chakra and from Amune's Sight suddenly spoke, and with his words came a sudden and intense conspicuousness. His power dwarfed Tsitua's a hundred times over. He was shorter than their leader by a couple inches, but equal in muscle mass. A quartered circle with a 'Z' centered on it was branded on his chest along with some tattooed inscriptions. He had thick, black, buzzed hair and experienced features. He was old. Very old. Even though he didn't look it, his age was so great that Amuné would be able to sense the very concept of thousands of years passed in him. His eyes were pitch black, excluding a thin whit circle with an equally white spec for a pupil. She would feel that he could see right to her very core. He could see things she couldn't even comprehend. He wore a pair of loose pants that were strapped down at the calf just above bare feet. The black fabric was clearly Asian in origin, almost like what some kind of monk might wear. It was held to his waist by a wide, obi- like belt with the same insignia printed on it as was scarred on his chest.

He regarded her with an unreadable expression and said simply, "Silence, Mae." He was looking at Amuné, but Mae received the message. Hearing his deep, rugged voice, she immediately dropped to one knee, as one would to a king, and replied.

"Apologies, Lord Ketsuoana."

Ket's presence and ease of focus immediately overpowered the youn Seer's imbalance, settling the waters of her chakra almost immediately. He couldn't help her mood, but he wasn't about to let her energy go haywire. After this he turned his gaze to the firey-haired woman and spoke again.

"You know nothing of being hunted for your entire life. To be sought with intent to harness your power. You are weak, and therefore have no say."

"Understood, Lord Ketsuoana." She replied quickly, lowering her head even further.

"No, it is not." He retorted. His eyes went back to Amuné. She was likely surprised at a being of his stature appearing seemingly from nowhere, but he could see that she was accustom to surprise; even if she had, for the first time, never Seen him ever appearing at all. He was above time itself, and was one of three beings in the physical realm that exsisted outside the strings of fate.

He was Lord Ketsuoana Zerusealious.

****

Orion had an angrily confident look on his face, not that she could see it, but his tone conveyed it, "Not quite." He said, placing one hand on the girl's head. She had come to be like a little sister in his eyes within the last day or so. He moved his hand behind her head and pulled it to his chest in another embrace. "You haven't seen the half of what the Circle is capable of. We will win." And with that he released her and left. He would meet Cain and go back to the ship to report his intel.

Shock wrote itself across the Seer's features, but it didn't root her in place. Instead she grabbed the nearest thing that might be used to defend herself, or else dove for her knife, if there was nothing to hand. That was two, now, that had defied her Sight, and relying on it as she did to help keep her safe, the girl was understandably anxious. The newcomer was blinding, a power beyond any she'd ever encountered, or even imagined. Ancient, and able to see right through her. Amuné felt naked under his gaze, and she didn't like it. Her instinctive reaction, pounded into her over years of torment, was one of fear. The young Seer did not think this was someone she had any chance against. Mae's reaction gave her pause, but she couldn't tell if it was respect or fear.

But the man -- Ketsuoana, apparently -- was overwhelming. Her sensory web was blown away, tangles and all, and suddenly it was a simple matter to pull herself together, to reestablish a solid, steady pattern. That, and the impressions she got from both him and Mae, made the girl think perhaps he did not mean her ill. However she felt no tremors in future paths from him, nothing at all save for an impossible level of energy, and the two still scared her. Amuné relaxed from her active combat stance, but she was still wary, and she didn't relinquish her weapon. Instead she waited, watching with her pulse beating in her ears. It was his move, and she wanted to see what he'd do.

---

Cera didn't really like the hand on her head. It was far too familial for her tastes, but she tolerated it well enough. "Oh I know we will. Or you will -- I guess it doesn't matter too much. Bart, Zane...it's too late for it to do them any good. But we won't stand back and watch." A fierce smile, full of teeth, spread across her face. "And if you're the one that gets Queenie, you give her one for me, yeah?" She watched Cain leave before going to help the other staff with recovery.

@shylarahMae turned a bright shade of red as she looked even harder at the floor. She seemed to be trying to bore holes in it with her gaze, but it was a matter of immense respect with a tinge of fear. It wasn't like she was worried that Ket would hold malice, rather the kind of fear one holds for their master. It was the kind of fear one would experience around a figure of great authority.

The black eyed lord watched Amuné with calm study as she reached for the nearest object. A knife, small and simple, was in her hand now. He tilted his head in interest. With a sort of grunt he deduced aloud, "She immediately moves to defend. You have been running for a long time then." He returned his head to its original position, flicking his eyes to meet hers in a solid gaze, "Much too long for such a short life." He didn't move even a millimeter. Not a single muscle tensed for a long moment, but it seemed like he had shifted slightly closer. Amuné might feel a sting of confusion, having thought there was more distance between them, but was there? Had she moved away from him at all? All the while his gaze remained fixed. He was waiting for her to act. To do something or say something. It was like watching an exotic animal in its natural habitat, but not in a way that he seemed above her. He was genuinely fascinated by her, despite his lack of expression. That much was clear.

Silence hung heavily in the air as he waited.

The girl's eyes widened and she tensed. Hadn't Ket been farther away? She hadn't seen him move, he'd stayed almost entirely still. What was he? It seemed he had the same idea as she did, to wait for her to make a move. The way he looked at her was uncomfortably intense, and she could feel her skin prickle with goosebumps. "...I have," Amuné said at last. She had been running for forever, it seemed. And now her pursuers had caught up. "But in the end they found me anyhow." Her eyes burned. They found her, and they hurt the people she cared about. Quite suddenly it was just too much to keep in any longer, and the threatening tears spilled down her cheeks. She didn't want to be crying, not now, not in front of people, not when she couldn't even say why. Had she been somewhere else, she might have turned away, pretended that just because her face was hidden they wouldn't know. But she was reluctant to turn her back, even as she was reluctant to put her knife away. Wariness was familiar, as comforting as the weight of her knife in her hand.

She settled for wiping her cheeks with her free hand. "I'm sorry, it's...don't pay me too much mind." She might have left, retreated to regroup and settle herself, but something told her not to. Had they found out yet, she wondered? Did Tsitua know of the dead, know what had happened at the Upstairs? She reached out with her power, searching for a thread of the present, but instead her Sight caught something else. A fragment of recent past.

Amuné's eyes went round and she paled, looking sick. But she held the vision anyhow, seeing the mages that had opened the portal to the space station, as they had been before Cain discovered them. This she could share, and as it seemed Ketsuoana had considerable rank here, she did. "They're dead, though they still live," she told him, trying to bring the images into better focus. Anger flared and her magic responded, but the powerful presence before her stilled it. "He did it -- a challenge. Not the first ones he's killed, to send a message to Tsitua." No, that part wasn't relevant, and she shrugged it aside. "Nor the last -- for both of us." An image of Jareth, equally broken, flitted through her sight and she had to take a deep breath to keep from losing her cool. He was family, closer even than her adopted parents in many ways. She wanted to keep him safe, as she had not been able to keep those of the Upstairs. As she had not kept Zane. Another wave of tears flowed down her cheeks, and she didn't even notice. Tsitua's daughter followed Jareth, and then... Lya? "...Twice?" Amuné sounded confused. "That's not even possible...." Had the attack earlier left her worse off than she'd thought? She couldn't afford to let herself spiral out of control, and broke away from the vision with a wrench, returning her full focus to the one before her. "The mages, they're...I don't even know what that was," she elaborated, able to be more articulate now that she wasn't half elsewhere. The girl covered her mouth with one hand. "...I don't think I've ever Seen something like that," she added softly. Those after her usually sought power. Kabuto, it seemed, enjoyed pain.

@TheMinorFall

@shylarahAnd there it was. Ket watched as the young woman accessed her sight. Her chakras began to unravel again, but he held them in place as she Saw. He watched the visions as they played to her. This was an ability that only he and his lineage had. The Death Eyes showed him the truth of all things when he used their power. That meant seeing the truth at the very core of whatever they were focused on. For the moment, that was the youthful Seer as her visions came and went. He caught the flashes and soon he saw the turmoil within her.

"That was a gesture. A demonstration of his power. Humans of your planet are particularly fragile. You've not yet learned to tap into the chakras that flow within you." He released the veil that hid his energy from her sight. He had ethereal wings and horns much like Mouse, but his were corrupted. They were made both of heavenly light and hellish, black fire. "Demons are foolish. They attack directly and rashly, but if their power grows and they become devils, then they begin to understand that their tactics have to change. They put things in motion, and destroy their prey in an almost indirect way. Kabuto will kill your friends and family. He will torture them, break them, even turn them to his will. And when you've had enough, and you can take no more, he will collect you. We exist to keep that from happening." He said, turning away and walking toward the door. "I believe Kabuto seeks you to use as a tool to kill the only one to defy him, even stop him in his tracks from becoming a fully realized devil." He added, opening the door with expectation that she would follow.

Amuné flung her empty arm up instinctively, trying to shield herself from the sudden brightness that assailed her senses, making her take a step back. She said nothing in response to his words, at first. Her last thought before he turned away, one he might catch the gist of, was that she'd had enough and more already, years ago. "Not the only one, not any more," she said quietly, wrestling her feelings into line and putting her thoughts in order. "I am nobody's tool. If he wants to use me, then I am going to fight as well." Her confidence had taken a blow, and her determination was shaken, but she tried not to show that too openly. Somehow she still managed to find the quiet strength she drew on when things took a turn for the worse, even though this was far beyond any of those times. But she said it as much for herself as for him, reminding herself where she stood.

Ketsuoana seemed to expect her presence, so she made to follow him. Mae still knelt on the floor, and after a few steps the young woman paused and looked back at her. "You want to protect him," she said after a moment. "Tsitua, I mean. It's...not an unfamiliar feeling." The Seer sighed. "I don't blame you. And I'm not angry at you. Not really. ...I'm sorry too." She managed a weak smile before hurrying to catch up with the strange man that had just left the room.

@TheMinorFall

@shylarahMae gritted her teeth. She wasn't sure if she was frustrated with the other girl, or had found a new respect for her. In any case, she felt a little better after the Seer apologized. That was enough for her be more at ease. She was right. In her own way, Mae wanted to protect her leader, just like anyone else on the ship would.

****

Ketsuoana led the way through the corridors of the ship until they came to a stretch of hallway lined by thick glass on either side. Tsitua was there, leaning against the glass. He gazed sternly at the stars and nearby Earth as thought churned in his mind.

"Ketsuoana. You grace us with your presence." He said without looking away from the view. There was a familiarity in his voice, befitting the closest of friends. There was also a hint of resentment in it, as if he didn't want the man to be there.

"Miss Amuné was just telling me a little about herself. It seems this goes deeper than we thought." He replied, avoiding his student's rude greeting.

"I'm listening."

"Kabuto sent us a message through her. He's made a mess down there, and he knew we would see it." Ket explained.

"Indeed." Cain said, stepping out of a shadow. His body was still fully armored, but no one could deny it was him. The robotic, metallic voice as well as the way he melted in and out of shadow was unmistakably his MO. He updated the two other men through the neural link with images of his encounter.

Tsitua sighed, and looked to Cain. "Update Victor and Eric. They are to start putting a team together. I need to be with Amuné, in case anything else comes to her." He turned to face his elder, but the man was gone from everyone's senses. Clearly he had accomplished what he had set out to do, so the hybrid lay his eyes on Amuné. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have called you that." He couldn't hold back the pain in his voice, but there was a sincerity there too. Was he apologizing to her, or to his deceased daughter? He wasn't sure.

@TheMinorFall

She still had questions for Ketsuoana. She had questions /about/ him. But it wasn't the time, and the young woman stayed quiet as he and Tsitua spoke. It seemed they knew each other well. She knew even before Cain stepped into view that he too was present. The way he pulled at her was no longer as strong, after that first encounter, the same as with Tsitua. But where Nunque had been /knowing/, a connection, the warp and weft of time, and Tsitua was potential and stability, the unexpressive man in the mask was something else. She couldn't place it, and that bothered her. There were so many unanswered questions.

The others left. Ketsuoana simply vanished. One moment he was there, and then somehow he was not. And though he was close to blinding, somehow she'd not noticed his departure. Who exactly was he? She shook her head, and set the questions aside as the man who'd brought her into this apologized.

Amuné looked at him in silence for a long moment. "There's no need to apologize to me for that," she said at last, looking away. "...Mae told me a little more. Not much -- barely anything, really. But it was enough." Her eyes stayed on the stars, searching for familiar patterns. Even the deepest wilderness of the planet below could not reveal so many. She'd had a dream once, as a little girl. It had been back before things went wrong, but she still remembered it clearly. The stars were falling from the sky to burn out around her as they hit the ground. One had seemed to be coming right towards her, but instead of being frightened, she had been amazed, reaching her hands out to catch it, even though it was so bright that it seemed to be more likely to swallow her up in fiery light. She'd never figured out what it meant, or if it was just a dream. Still, the sense of wonder was something she associated with stargazing, even now.

"I'm not her, Tsitua," the Seer said softly. "I can't replace her, and I don't want to. Trying would only hurt everyone. She was special, and will always be so. Nor could you replace the father I once had. Bonds forged are lasting, and they connect us even beyond death." A flicker of a sad smile crossed the young woman's face, and she dropped her head. "...No matter how twisted they might have become." Her father's face, blurred by a decade and a half of separation, crossed her memory. For all that she blamed him for his errors, for his suspicion, for how he had given her up, he would always be her father. Some things did not change.

She sighed, and lifted her gaze again, seeking out Tsitua's reflection in the glass. "I would guess you've heard about what happened by now from Cain. All of it." Amuné watched long enough to see his nod of confirmation before focusing again on the stars. "Then you know lives were lost. Some of them people I knew." She took a deep breath, bracing herself for what was coming. "Do you happen to know their names?" She exhaled, slow but on the shaky side, when he replied. Two names. Both familiar. One a stab through the heart. "Thank you." The young lady closed her eyes and let her forehead rest against the window. "As they were in life, so may they be remembered in death." The statement bordered on religious in tone, but she'd be quick to deny it.

Though some had escaped her earlier, it was now that the tears began in earnest, coursing silently down her cheeks. "That's what I Saw, earlier. You sensed it, I know you did. Right before the spar." Amuné's voice was very soft, and uneven. "I Saw it, and I knew. Not -- not precisely who. I didn't actually See Bart. There were a couple others it might've been. But it was always Zane." She crossed her arms tightly across her chest, as if to give herself a hug, and turned to lean her back against the window. "I knew, and I could do nothing about it. Couldn't even say anything." A brief and bitter laugh escaped her, more a huff of breath through her nose than anything else. "That's the worst -- when I know, but I know saying something will make it worse. And this is only the beginning."

A few deep breaths, and the girl wrestled her emotions under some semblance of control, and reinforced her mental barriers where they had weakened. She dashed the tears from her eyes. More would come later; grieving was a process, and it took time. "He thinks he can kill people I care about, that threatening my loved ones will make me submit?" Her mouth twisted into a grim smile. "He's wrong. When he comes for me, I want to be able to crush him. I'm not a tool. If it's a fight he wants, then he's got it." The Seer looked over at Tsitua, her grey eyes meeting his without reservation. "I'm in. Whatever it takes, he doesn't win. Not this time."

@shylarahTsitua heard her words. She was ready to fight. He admired her passion and her youth, but he knew better. She was far too important to allow into the field. At least for until he was sure she could really defend herself against a full fledged demon.

" You realize this means that we can't let you or your friend leave here then. At least not soon. You need to be trained, and he can be used as leverage against you." The leader turned his eyes to the girl, sending her the vibe that his lack of response to her comment on replacement was intentional, silent understanding and agreement. "We'll make a real fighter out of you before you step onto that planet again. Leave your mind open only to me so that I can update you and guide you around my station, you may keep your end closed, so long as I am able to give you information. I have matters to attend to as do you." He instructed, "You don't have our Neural Interface so I can't simply send things to you as I do my team." He added.

He placed one hand on her shoulder. Sure she would not replace Zeela, but a new bond was forming between them, whether either of them would acknowledge it aloud or not. He trusted her, and he hoped she would trust him.

Amuné heard the tacit acknowledgement and smiled in return, some of the tension leaving her shoulders. She shook her head at the next comment, eyes unfocusing to look at a memory for a moment. "These hands have taken lives," she told him, holding them up in front of her with a wry smile. "I don't think it gets any more real than that. But a better fighter, that would be useful. I'm pretty far out of my depth, here." She said it without resentment; she'd not reached her current level of skill by refusing to learn when given the opportunity. "If I can learn to utilize my Sight more effectively, that'd be good too." The young lady's jaw worked silently. "But my mind...I can't. Not yet. Maybe not ever." Amuné couldn't hide the shudder that ran through her. "I'm sorry, I just...I'd try to counterattack. It's automatic." She took a deep breath, resettling herself. "I mean, you could text my...oh. No, I suppose you couldn't." A cell phone wasn't much good when there was a moon between her and the nearest cell tower. She sighed. "We'll have to figure something out."

When he put his hand on her shoulder, the Seer covered it with her own. She didn't mind staying so much -- indeed, she'd expected it. But her friend.... "Jareth will freak if he isn't back in time for his lab on Tuesday. He'll lose his scholarship if he doesn't keep his grades up." She frowned. "I only let him come at all because of a feeling I had. It's really not clear, but...I agree, he should stay. The problem will be convincing him. He won't like it." Amuné brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face and grimaced. "However, if it's leverage you're worried about, he's hardly the only one. My parents, my roommate, my friends at the Upstairs and on campus. It isn't possible to protect all of them. But..." The young woman's voice turned soft. "I can't say it wouldn't matter in a fight. Faced with that sort of decision, and time only to react...I don't know. But as ransom?" She shook her head. "Not an issue. After all...I know what happens if I accept." No matter how badly it hurt her, the teenager knew that her giving herself up in exchange wasn't the real concern. Her perception of the choices offered was very different. It was no exaggeration to say she'd die before she went willingly into captivity. If it was that or giving in, she had no doubt which she'd choose.

@theminorfall

@shylarah"At any rate, we will maintain the ground we can cover." He told her. He thought for a moment about the mind updates. They had a means of updating her without such invasive or potentially upsetting ways. Surely Victor could cook something up for her.

He updated the bulky engineer with his work order as he removed his touch from the Seer. "This place probably feels like a cage, doesn't it?" He asked, having gathered her general discomfort for the station from the beginning. This was also an attempt to change the subject and frankly stall for time until he had more intel. "There's a room aboard this ship I like to go to when I miss the ground. Maybe you would like to see it?" He asked, hoping she would go with him. He needed to relax, and figured she would enjoy his room of solace.

"In part," she answered, a slight smile acknowledging that Tsitua was dead on about her unease. "I don't like places without a couple different ways out, and here...it's a giant tin can." The Seer's gaze drifted to the window again. "But it's also just.../empty/. There's you and your team, and Jareth...and then nothing. Threads lead to places and things as well as to people, but it is people that most often shape events, and the strands that connect them are generally the ones that pull the strongest. I've never been anywhere so...open. Quiet, I guess you could say." The fingers of one hand went to fuss with the hem of her shirt. "I suppose in a way it might be nice, not feeling that constant pressure. But I'm not used to it, and it's unnerving." Amuné shivered involuntarily. "I'm not sure I like it."

The mention of a room that felt more like the surface intrigued her, and she nodded her assent. "If it wouldn't be any trouble, that does sound interesting." She fell in beside Tsitua as he headed off down the hall. "Who was that?" the Seer asked abruptly. "Ketsu-something, Mae called him? And a lord? He came out of nowhere, and then he just /vanished/ -- who is he? /What/ is he? What does he want?"

@TheMinorFall

Tsitua let out an almost-scoff. He knew that question was going to come up. It was not something a Seer ever experienced, a being that exists outside the threads of fate. But how to answer such a question?

"Amuné, you have no clue how difficult it is to answer that question." He took a moment to think about his answer as he led the way, "Lord Ketsuoana's real name is Zerusealious. He was born from an Angelic mother and Demonic father. He had all the strengths of both without their weaknesses. Thus began the Great Conflict. The angels sought to destroy him, seeing him as an abomination. Denosealious intended to gather his son and use him as a weapon. He ended up being recruited by Death himself to work under neutral rule, but that was not enough. To make a long story short, the wars lasted millennia. I fought in some of them under Ket's leadership. When they came to an end, the Archangel Gabriel came to destroy him, but he offered himself up freely. He left with Gabriel, and we didn't see him again for a long time. He only returned within the last year, helping with little pushes like you saw."

They came to a door of frosted glass that opened up to a sort of garden. Soil had been lain into a recessed floor and grass had been planted. The room was big enough to be a small lawn with a variety of plants from flowers and vines to small trees and mosses. A light in the high ceiling mimicked a sun, emitting the vital radiation for photosynthesis. The air was rich with oxygen, leaving it almost sweet to breath. A small stream was placed on the far side with a short fall that trickled softly against walls lined with velvet-like material to prevent an echo. The room was nothing if not fragrant and peaceful. "It won't help the empty feeling you have, but it will help ease your mind. I feel the same over-sensitivity you do, but with chakras. The lack of life energy around me can get maddening and I can't think, so I com here." He told her. "Have a seat in the grass, and we can talk more." @shylarah

The girl was surprised by the room, but supposed it made sense to have on a spaceship. Plants made breathable air...or something like that. The sound of water running over rocks was soothing, and she sat in the grass, one hand testing the ground, trying to figure out if it was sod or something else. "It is nice. I didn't really expect something like this in space." Amuné turned her thoughts back to the matter of Ketsuoana, a matter she'd been diverted from by the sight of the greenery. "So that's where he came from. You said it's a hard question, but that's...really not what I was asking." She leaned back and shut her eyes, putting her hands on the ground behind her and tilting her face toward the false sun. "He's there. I can tell he's there, and he's influencing things. But nothing connects, not going forward, and not looking back. If he was among the causes of so great a war, then I would expect a whole knot of connections. And they're not there. Though I suppose he might just be too strong for me to sense them. They're lost in everything else. The Seer opened her eyes and looked at the man beside her. "Which makes it all the more unnerving, how he could appear and disappear." She shook her head with a sigh. "Millennia, huh? I think you mentioned the Great Conflict. But it's not over, not really. Just another link in an endless chain of them. There was something my very first tutor said once -- or I think he did. I can't -- the memories, they're...not very clear. I didn't have a solid grip on reality, back then." Her grey eyes clouded as she tried to bring the the blurred memory into better focus.

"He said...the idea of the end of existence being calamity was a possibility. Certainly such an event would result in a great deal of death. But his personal belief was that peace -- lasting peace, something he had never seen, and I get the impression he'd lived for a long time -- lasting peace, that was how the end of time would come." Amuné fixed her gaze on Tsitua again. "I think he might be right. At least, when I don't think I hallucinated the entire thing." Another sigh, and she turned her thoughts back to Ket. "What I wanted to know, aside from what the whole...separation and vanishing act means...What sort of a person is this lord of yours? What do you think of him? What's he hoping for?"

@TheMinorFall

@shylarahThe leader sat across from Amuné in the grass with a meditative posture. His legs lay crossed and his palms rested on his thighs, but his eyes were locked on the girl as he read her chakras. They had eased, even if it was slight.

Her words of peace were hopeful, and warm. Her chakras burned with the longing for peace, although Tsitua believed it was inner peace she truly desired, and who could blame her? This who knew torment were the ones who truly understood it's value. The common man knew only the path before him. The hybrid armored that about her. She was insightful beyond her years, and yet she was curious befitting her age. She had questions about his old mentor, and he was concerned his lack of adequate explanation might concern her. He had to give her something, so he did his best.

"Ketsuoana doesn't appear, nor does he disappear. He's not leaving and returning, it's simply an act of perception. I don't know for sure, but my guess is that he is no longer a... 'person' if you will. He's more of a sentient energy that is above even my comprehension. I always sense his chakras, even now they're all around us, but he is not always in a form that we can perceive. I believe he exists on the precipice between dimensions. A kind of purgatory, but not like the religions of earth have described. As far as what I think of him, a part of me wants to hate him. His selfish need to defeat his father and remain alive caused a seemingly unending string of wars. Only long after he was gone did I realize this. A bigger part of me loves him like a son loves his father. I first boarded this craft when I was only thirteen. He made me the person I am today. He showed me true pain and yet true beauty. He taught me the harsh reality, and that the smallest things are most important. I would trust him with the fate of all humanoids again in an instant. Even if he seems evil at times, he always knew exactly what he was doing. I guess that comes with being an entity meant for a higher plane of existence." Tsitua caught himself ranting inn nostalgia, and abruptly cut his words short. "I would trust him to look after you." He added.

"Why don't you tell me more about your mentor?"

"A complicated person, then. ...As is everyone, I suppose." The way Tsitua described Ketsuoana, she thought perhaps he did not need to be a particular concern. Still, the final comment about him made her eyes narrow and her expression harden. She trusted very few people well enough that she would say something like that. Was this the depth of his trust, or merely a sign of someone who could afford to be generous with it?

The question was a surprise, and Amuné blinked, trying to come up with an answer. "He was the first of many, though only a few are worth recalling," the Seer replied. "In some ways, your lord reminds me of him. That same feeling of countless years, of witnessing the flow of ages firsthand. He wasn't disconnected, as Ketsuoana is, but he was always...blurred. I never saw him in any of my visions with a single exception, and I'm not even sure of that. He somehow never gave off any ripples. He was the one who taught me meditation. I remember that far more clearly. Always patient, even when I was terrified, when I couldn't stand being around anyone." She ran her fingers through the grass absently as she spoke. "I think it was because I'd already known him for a while by then, from times when I was too lost to have memory of it, but somehow he never bothered me as much as anyone else." A small smile played across her features. "For a while I thought he was as imagined as the rest, but though the hallucinations faded, he remained. He never told me much about himself -- he had a way of dodging questions, and answering without actually answering. Other times he would say a great deal with only a few words. I don't actually have a name for him, just a title: Keeper." The girl's expression turned solemn, and she lowered her head. "He saved me, Tsitua. Just how many times I couldn't say." Her right hand went to circle her left wrist in a subconscious gesture that inadvertently drew attention to the faint traces of old scars there. "Once from the Ring. And...I think it might have been him that finally helped me find reality again, afterwards. I don't know. I couldn't make out the face, and he has none of the power I felt then. Yet for some reason...I think the two are closely connected.

"He was kind. He never yelled at me, even when he was angry or disappointed. Only rarely raised his voice at all, though he could be forceful, if I simply wasn't listening. And always just a little sad. Like he was looking for something even though he knew he'd never find it. After I started learning from other people, he would turn up now and then. I still run into him, on occasion, usually at...at the Upstairs." Her expression flickered briefly, but she resolutely pushed through the stab of pain that had accompanied the thought of the restaurant. "He seems to know everyone. But I'm not sure how well any of us know him."

@TheMinorFall

@shylarahQueen let out a shrieking cry of rage as she threw a dumpster down the alley and into the long-abandoned street. The demon, Kabuto, watched with disinterest as he rested both hands atop an aristocratic, ebony and platinum walking stick. His suit matched; a regal, black velvet material trimmed with scaled platinum and solid sapphire cufflinks. Even his shined, leather shoes had scrolled, platinum plateibg on them for decorative purposes. The demon was nothing if not stylish, but vanity was not uncommon among higher-classed demons. His face was partially hidden by the shadow of the alley, but those eyes almost glowed with blue brilliance. The product in his faded and slicked hair shimmered in what little light entered that deep into the alley.

Queen whipped back around and darted to the demon, anger and pain twisting her lovely features as she screamed at him, "You! You did this! This is your fault!" she released a tentacular rinkaku that ripped through the air on a path to impale the demon's head.

But it stopped just breaths away from its target. Kabuto's gold-plated teeth now reflect light as he smiled a lazily sinister smile. He had tilted his head back to look down his nose at Queen, but had otherwise not moved. She, however was hanging in the air seemingly by nothing. Stifled gasps and groans escaped her lips as she fought for air. Her neck began to bruise with the invisible force that applied such pressure to her throat. Her legs kicked and flailed as her face began to change color and tears flowed from her eyes.

Kabuto spoke in a chilling voice, one that could capture your attention with only the bad feeling it would place in your gut. "You will do well to remember your place, ghoul. You may have demonic power, but you're still a humanoid. You need silly little things like air and sustenance." He released her and she collapsed onto the concrete, coughing and gagging as her crushed trachea began to mend with her accelerated healing. A sickening, animalistic growl rumbled from nowhere in particular as Kabuto returned to his previous posture. "Find me that boy. The one that Sees things."

****

This 'Keeper' sounded familiar, as if Tsitua knew the term, or had heard it somewhere. He wondered if it was he who remembered it, or his eternal companion. Coodaudu often gave him a sense of knowing things he didn't. He shook the feeling and returned his attention to Amuné.

"Sounds like an honorable mentor.." he surmised, touching his chin with a curled forefinger. His mind was still alight with the Keeper. He couldn't help it.

Suddenly he got an NI update from Victor.

Reduced demonic presence near the Upstairs. They're moving.

Good he replied, Keep on them. I want them pinpointed within the cycle.

Roger Victor confirmed.

"Well," he said aloud, addressing Amuné once again with a smile, "it's your turn. Ask away."