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Gilbert was a man of many long centuries, during which he was present to many long conversations of varying levels of importance. The grand scheme of the universe, multiverse, or nigh-infinite timelines existing within them all could be best described in their own histories as a series of important conversations alternating with a series of important battles. As it turned out, Gilbert was an huge fan of both. Especially if the discussion concerned the approach of an important battle. This one seemed to be the klaxon call of a campaign on the outset. He was intrigued.

As the conversation seemed to be centered around the potential application of Faith's gifts as a Paradox, Gil quietly sat with a small smile on his face and allowed the discussion to continue past his own observations, learning as much as he could about their situation at hand. He was well aware of, and acquainted with, the persons of whom Siduri was speaking. Before she decided to meet any of them by herself, she needed a highly in-depth introduction into their world, beyond what Evelina had already shown her. And something to ensure her safety from the more aggressive elements of their culture. The one piece of Siduri's conversation that addressed him could be responded to with a simple reminder of, "My base nature has not changed, only the level of my refinement. Of course I will fight." An ounce of grief passed over him as he remembered that the most vocal person discussing his level of refinement (or lack thereof) was Evelina.

It appeared that he had inadvertently answered Giosue's question in the discussion with others in the room, but he had no problem reiterating his thoughts. "These children are not ready to fight a dragon yet, Giosue. With proper training, they might be ready to fight a war soon." Continuing, he added, "What I would like to do is strategically place each of them in different combat settings throughout history and let them take experience the hard way, but that would do nothing to develop their gifts. As powerful as we believe we are, we can only guide most of them partway. They must either teach themselves, or locate those who are better versed with their gifts then ourselves. Either way, I believe that we require a period of reflection here in the Loop, after which training should begin again."

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To James, it looked like most of the people in the room agreed with each other. It was just a matter of having the conviction to move forward. The nature of life and death, whatever it meant to be a Paradox, and the squishy nature of time were all secondary to what was sitting before him. He had come from a timeline that the Bible might have referred to in Revelations. He and others carved a life for themselves in the middle of Hell with blood and sweat and raw determination to survive. Everything that he knew was destroyed and he got to see almost everyone that he cared about die, one by one or en masse, sometimes right in front of him. The only thing that truly mattered anymore was the collection of people that you took to yourself as family. Even the horribly dysfunctional people around him right now. Even if the things they needed to face were different and/or more dangerous than the living dead of his home timeline, one just needed to learn the rules. Or discover the rules. Whatever.

When Andromeda found her way over to him, he kept it very short and fairly quiet. "Hey girl, y'ok now? Get some shit worked out? Aight, nuthin over new from what we was on about befo', right? Just workin' out the hows an' whatnot. Ain't a thing certain. Give ya them tiny details later." He set a hand on her shoulder, nodding supportively. "Gonna be ok, ok? Ok. Welcome back."

Then Gilbert went and said something that made James want to slap him. Again. Drop them off in combat and let the learn the hard way? Oh, what bullshit. James lived a life of elbows and knuckles as a young man, and then all of the living dead shit? Nuh-uh. He'd lived enough time sticking around places of constant warfare and turmoil, waiting patiently for the next huge chink of drama to take more people he cared about away from him. Then he gets resurrected as a neophyte wereboar, forgetting all of the practical skills that he knew before? Sure, he'd trained up a good skill set from these people, but it was a crock of shit that he had to lose who he was to get it. And yes, he did get a piece of it back, coincidence though it might be. He still didn't handle a bow exactly like he did before. Damn good, but different technique and how the ass did his brain download all of this Russian shit? ...oh yeah... Belladonna. He had to learn it from another Paradox, a much, much older one. It just came to him pretty easily.

Giving that thought consideration, maybe the same would be true of is Paradox abilities. They had barely scratched the surface. Okay, stay with his people (because that's what these guys were now) and see this through. Maybe even be a badass real soon. That whole "dying" thing? Already did it once. Old hat. Bring this next shit on.

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Bart's face fell at that. Eve had told them when they had first came that they'd had the option to opt out, he just never though any of them would take it this late in their training. He wasn't going to cry about it or anything, but that made him feel pretty crappy. He had though there was a bit of hope for her after they looked over their reports together, but, apparently she hadn't. It was a shame, she was his only friend here that he wasn't Stockholmed into liking. Not that he didn't like Faith, but it looked like she'd be going away for awhile. He supposed it would give him a chance to bond with the other Paradoxes more.

"That's unfortunate." He said quietly, but tried not to dwell on it more in the moment. He turned his attention to Gil, and processed what he had to say. From the sound of the current plan, they might all be going out on their own kind of training. This would probably be good for him, he could use time on his own to reflect on the current course of events. Furthermore, he would like refinement of his powers, though the implications of doing so was a little worrying to him. It meant either a lot of blood, or a lot of him mucking about in people's heads, and getting willing participants to that didn't sound easy.

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Siduri sat there quietly, noting the two that came in a bit late. They had been with them earlier but had branched off. The woman gave no indication that anything was off by them coming in late. They were quiet when they entered and didn't seem to disrupt what was already going on around them not those talking. Ben glanced over at Andromeda as she came in and then looked away, back out the window. He just seemed to be watching as the last rays of light came in from the setting sun, lost in thought or just trying to avoid the conversation. Why he was there wasn't exactly evident as he didn't seem to talk much and only helped Siduri around right now when she moved from one point to another. Having her seated right now, it didn't seem as if he was needed but he didn't leave.

Glancing over towards Faith there was the slightest of shrugs from the woman. "Wo tends to be about, though she prefers New York. One should try Chateau De Babylon. The woman.." she said before pausing and trying to find the right turn of phrase for this. "Is an experience, no matter the mood you catch her in. I do hope she is feeling friendly," Siduri said in soft voice as she rested her hands in her lap.

There was a slight smile as her eyes drifted over towards Gilbert. "One is never ready to face a dragon until after they have fought one. Though I have to wonder why you wish to face one instead of another," she said before looking away and towards the window where Ben was standing. "Perhaps once you have closure you can focus on the true issue. The humanity is surprisingly high among you all. Both an advantage and a disadvantage at this junction I would say."

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Andromeda wasn't really sure how she felt about Giouse's proposal - that they needed to face the dragon without training and hope to not get eaten? She didn't want to bring it up, but they all had faced some form of a dragon before - and they all lost. They had died. No one here died from natural causes as far as she had been able to tell. She caught the name that Faith mentioned - Miss Babylon - and it struck her as significant. No ordinary person in her experience had a name like that - at least, not when it came to the Emendators. Gilbert's words then indicated that it wasn't only Faith that would need additional training - that they all would. They had been doing so much grueling training so far, but it hadn't been specific to their abilities, that much was true.

She nodded at James, giving him a slight smile as he checked in on her. "Thanks James - I appreciate it," Andromeda said softly. His hand on her shoulder was more comforting than she would have cared to admit and she returned her attention to Siduri. Chateau de Babylon? Yes, her earlier guess was right - whoever Miss Babylon was, she was clearly powerful and important. People rarely had buildings named after them and were consulted on the apocalypse if that wasn't the case. At Siduri's words on choosing the dragon to face, the dread in her stomach grew again. The apocalypse that Siduri was here to discuss... Eve's disappearance was just a side quest on the main storyline. At the very least, like a video game, the loop gave them all the time in the world in theory.

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Sophia leaned back in the chair as she started to listen to Gilbert as he started to speak up, she would certainly like to get some more training down. Pertaining to her two abilities she had used her sense acuity the most, which was pretty useful when it came to hearing and smelling things. If she focused more then she'd be able to be useful most likely as well, Sophia eyed Ben for a few seconds as she noticed that he had been pretty quiet for the most part and looking out the window as well. She wasn't sure if it was about what had been said in the kitchen house with the other woman or not, as she ran a hand through her hair she continued to listen in on the other conversations in the room.

Faith seemed to be going on her own personal journey to find Eve and save her as well, and going to see this Babylon woman was her best bet most likely. She wasn't really sure what else to say or do right now since there wasn't anything that she felt like would be useful to say as well. It did suck that they had lost Alexandra as well, but she was most likely in a better place now as well which was also for the best most likely as well.

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The speaking in riddles was beginning to make Gilbert's head throb. Not that he was the type that ordinarily got headaches (except for that last one earlier that was due to overly straining powers he had been cultivating for... well, forever), so maybe this one was purely psychosomatic. It was distinctly possible that Gilbert came from the culture that invented the ancient concept of riddlemaking, and it was still a thing which, in this day and age and most especially now that there was the possibility of universe-ending shenanigans in the mix, he did not wish to be a part of. This was not a thing where one has an introspective moment in which the jagged edges of realizations come clicking together to form a perfect whole, thereby helping him gain enlightenment. To his opinion, this was far less of an ideal time for guesswork and more for solid assignments and action. This is what needed to be done and this is how we were going to accomplish it. Definitely some discussion on the best route to take to accomplish the objective.

"Of course you know, Siduri. I have always done what I thought was best for my tribe, whatever form it took. If these people need closure to focus, then they should have it. They must have the full extent of their minds and bodies dedicated to the work that must be done." Truth being an option, he could use some closure, too. Gilbert was very fond of Evelina. Their constant bouts of "boardless chess" were something that he would also miss. It wasn't like there was anyone else in any creation that knew the game in quite the same way that they did. "Respectfully, Siduri, if there is a more logical course of action, I am always open to new intelligence."

She was absolutely right about one thing, which Gilbert agreed with wholeheartedly: There concept of Humanity was high with these people. It was with him as well. Gil had grown to appreciate damn near every facet of what mankind had to offer, the good and the bad; cultures and concepts that spawned philosophies which influenced ways of life unique from each other, as a fingerprint might be. Over his eons as either hero or villain, Gilbert had developed an unmistakable bond with people and their living world.

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Ok, seriously? The talk about killing dragons was starting to make his eye twitch. The only dragons that James remembered seeing came on The Learning Channel, way back before that round bitch and her almost equally corpulent tyke got involved, turning it into the very shortened "TLC", as if they weren't even trying to hide the fact that nobody was learning shit off of that waste of airwaves anymore. Except (and this was a pretty big exception) maybe that the basest level of entertainment still held sway over enough people to keep it around. Like dogfighting. Or Jerry Springer. But back to point, dragons? Not in the classical sense, just those huge lizards on those islands that Darwin wrote about. He didn't sign up for it. Come to think about it, he didn't sign up for anything here. James just didn't didn't opt out.

Wait, or was he thinking about Animal Planet? Hmm...

"Yeah, no worries, girl. I gotcha," he said back to Andromeda, shifting his attention back to the lady of the hour when his very pale fellow Paradox did the same. James also heard the name Miss Babylon, and after a moment came to think that he had heard it before. If not that exact name, then one of the others that Siduri had used to refer to her over the course of the conversation. That was all in reference to the same person, right? James thought it was. More than that, he could have sworn that there had been a mission, training or otherwise, to New York recently. Has they already been in this mystery woman's stomping grounds? "They" meaning the Ville au Camp group, Emendators and Paradoxes collectively. And so long as they were on the topic of outside help to specifically train the new batch of ...them, who were they going to have to locate for him? How many Wereboars were around? That being barred, shapeshifters of any kind? James had so many questions, but really wanted to wait for a solid Q&A session to really vent. But one question pecked at the inside of his head a little harder than the others:

"So, um... Dragons? Like actual dragons, right? They really a thing?"

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"Relax, Mr. Grady." Gio spoke up a slim smile of bemusement on his face, gesturing with an open palm towards the wereboar to signal things were alright. "The dragons in all of this conversation have been purely metaphorical. I was speaking in a more generalized sense. A dragon can be any problem you have to face. The desire not to face your boss at work. Alcoholism. Impending health issues. But in this case the danger the dragons pose are far less mental and emotional and more in the concrete physical. Probably even more dangerous than an actual dragon. But enough of this metaphor, we have worn it out enough as it is." Notably, Gio made sure to not actually give James a direct yes/no answer to his question of dragons actually being a thing. It was fun to let them sweat about these things, even though it was a bad time to be messing with people.

"Now," Gio now stood and turned to direct his words directly at the Paradoxes, "this is the time for all of you to affirm or deny your stake in this gambit. What's that phrase they use at weddings these days? Speak now or forever hold your peace? I'd like to hear from each of you, are you going to stick with us and assist in our battle to find Evelina and avert the End of Days? It will be rough, and there's a not insignificant chance that you may die. Again."

"As shorthanded as we are, the last thing we need is someone dragging their feet because their heart isn't in it. Alexandra already opted out. Any of you are free to do so as well, but for those of you that remain, I expect utmost diligence from here on out. Well? Are you in, or out?" Perhaps it was somewhat of an odd time to pick for a gesture such as this, but they had reached something of a course to set sail on. The Watch determined that it would be best to weed out any remaining people that weren't fully invested before hunkering down with the minutia. In a loop or no, time was not to be wasted.

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Given Siduri’s description of this Miss Babylon, she seemed like she might be right up Faith’s alley. And New York? Seems like she would be going back, though she hoped the trip would be better than last time. The news of Anastasia should have upset her, right? It wasn’t like she was about to lie and say she was a friend. She barely knew the girl, but she was part of the team. She was a Paradox and they just lost one of their own in the face of upcoming tragedy.

And speaking of. Gio and Gilbert seemed intent on aiding them and preparing them. They would need it after all, but wasn’t she the one in need of it most? She was the one person with the power to help Eve. She was also only able to do so alone. Surely they recognized that? The others would need to get stronger to face the danger ahead, but she needed to be strong for it all. There was more than one weight on her shoulder now.

So, when Gio posed the question if everyone was ready, she knew her answer even before he asked. “I know I have a choice, but I don’t. I need to do this. Eve needs help. Everyone needs help and if I have the means to do it, I want to learn and grow. I want to be stronger. I want…I need this.”

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Bartholomew kept his eyes locked on Gio as he spoke, admittedly wanting and answer on the existence of dragons, and being a bit disappointed when he never got one. Running over Gio's question in his head, he did take a moment to consider his options. The unknown of death, or the mountain of preventing the End of Days. In his eyes, there were two main points driving his ultimate decision. For one, if he failed, he'd end up dying anyway, and two, it was just the right thing to do. He couldn't sit idly by and let everything end, not when he was in a privileged position to actually do something about it. This was a greater calling for him, something he'd needed for awhile.

"Of course I'm in, no matter the odds, we have to at least give it a go." He responded, crossing his arms. He'd fight, and he might die, that was a new thing he'd have to internalize, and even after accepting this responsibility, it still seemed distant in a way. Acceptance of the difficulty of the situation wasn't defeatist in his eyes, it was key to them having a chance for success. The weight of the consequences of their failures demanded that; that they understand that they'd have to give everything to make it through and have a chance of preventing to End of Days. That was how he saw it, anyway.

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There was a sideways glance from Siduri towards Gilbert. "All intelligence is new, if one only looks at it from a different angle." Her voice was calm, ever calm as she spoke, but those eyes. Lilac in color flickered so rapidly. White lashes falling and rising with reach blink. Attention turned as others spoke and she looked back out the window, past where Ben was looking. Rising from her chair, her feet gently padded across the floor and she reached out to him, placing a had on the boys shoulder and edging him out of the way as she got closer to the window. Still looking out at it. Night had fallen, and the hours were ticking by now. Growing late. So much information had been given, so much over looked or ignored. So much more that perhaps could have been given but there was a lingering thought in her mind that stopped her from speaking right then. Something, from long ago, lingering there in the vast recesses of memory.

Then her lips parted. "Yes, dragons do exist. In many forms. Some are the ones we create ourselves. Some are the base of stories you were told as a child. Knights in shining armor, to kill the dreaded beasts. But isn't that every dragon? Something we feel we should slay even though in truth we are usually the very monsters that should be hunted. Far too often our own dragons are the pain of our past or our fear of the future. A refusal to let others live as they wish and only to bind them to what we believe, no matter their wishes or desires. Even if it is their final wish, we say no. Intent on slaying their dragons when in fact they are our own. And then we become the very thing that needs to be hunted. It was so simpler so long ago. Not because we were simpler but because we were not such a swarm. Like locusts, swallowing and infecting everything like a plague. There are no second chances. Not really. Just our own blindness as we try to rewrite our own story. It becomes mucked in the process until there is nothing left but the darkness."

Her voice was melodic as she spoke and then there was a pause. A long one as she turned and looked back to them. "Then again, there are dragons from somewhere else, beyond our touch, that have come here. I am surprised you would chose Babylon but so you have." Taking a step towards Faith she looked the girl in the eye. "You know where to start and whom to ask to find her. It is not like you have not spoken with her before." That was a telling set of words. Tilting her head to the side slightly she walked back to the window and looked out. It should have been more obvious or at least spoken by now. Faith and Bart had already met Babylon. They had seen her abilities below Club After Dark. It was when things started to change.

"Time grows short, whatever your plans maybe, you need to do them. I do wish you luck on this journey. May it not have the outcome I fear it shall."

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As James asked whether or not dragons were actually a thing, Andromeda had to imagine that it would be in the timeline Belladonna had spoken about - the one similar to her own yet still vastly different. James' question was quickly dismissed by Giouse and Andromeda found herself slightly irritated with the Emendator's demeanor. She knew that Siduri was concerned about this end of the world - but it seemed like Giouse was merely commenting on the weather or as to whether or not he would be participating in the county fair's pie bake. He then stood up and Andromeda raised an eyebrow slightly. From what she could tell, there was no magic opt out button that she could press. She had no idea how to even go about opting out if she wanted that - so she figured that the fact that she was still there meant she was opting in.

Siduri's words gave her pause. Arguably, they could be seen as the villains from just a different perspective. The Emendators preserved the timeline - they ensured that the course of history went a certain direction and removed obstacles in that path. Was there really any free will then? Or was it just an illusion? Was time fixed or did they have an option to choose their own future? The philosophical questions started to gnaw away at her and it made Andromeda wonder if the Destruere saw them similarly as monsters. She had no illusions that the Emendators were attempting to protect life. They were neutral. It was a troubling thought and she shifted slightly. They weren't the heroes in this story.

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Sophia turned to look over at James for a moment, they had came from a timeline where the dead would simply come back, and you either died and eventually turned or you tried to fight everyday just to survive. And then this new life being a Paradox also was just as strange traveling to various timelines was still confusing sometimes. So of course there would be dragons somewhere out there she was pretty sure anyway that is. Sophia stared at Giouse for a moment as he turned to all of them, of course she was in and she wanted to help out however she could in someway. "Of course i'm in, we are all here for some kind of reason." Sophia said looking over towards him, and then over towards Siduri.

She listened to the woman as she spoke she didn't really understand riddles as she spoke more about dragons and looked around at the others within the room. She ran a hand through her hair as she noticed that it was now dark out and the day was about to be ending soon by the looks of it. She wasn't sure what they would be doing for the time being or where to even start as well and there weren't to many of them as well which felt like would make things difficult as well for them all.

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Dragons, choices, free will, end of days. There were a multitude of concepts being spat out all at once, and understandably, people were having a difficult time sorting them out. Not just sorting, but the very idea of giving them priority was becoming tedious. Despite the extreme military background of the eternal soldier known today as Gilbert Summers, he was actually a fairly easygoing guy. Things that most considered massive events in one's life passed as the memory of an eyeblink to someone like him. It made him seem aloof at times, but in reality, he just had a broader sense of assigning importance. Maybe this was why the whole conversation was becoming somewhat irksome to him. The conflicting ideologies of giving priority, based upon the factors of these people's existence.

It was also becoming apparent that Siduri was trying to steer them away from finding Evelina. One dragon for another, indeed. "It becomes apparent that we must triage our problems." It was a simple statement, not an accusation nor command. And there was probably a good piece of truth in those words. "The overall picture still places wisdom with my suggested course of action. We have fledgling Paradoxes that do not have an acceptable level of control over their abilities. This must be repaired. Unreliable agents of our collective will do us more harm than good." But of course, he had been saying this all long. No one had overtly disagreed, yet no one attempted to make any plans around it, either.

"Twenty-four hours repeat here ad infinitum. We almost literally have all the time in the world here. As soon as we leave the loop, the clock starts ticking. Let us assume that we wish to contact Evelina. We simply cannot do that now, and we shall remain unable until Faith expands her abilities. Again, if she leaves the Loop, time continues forward for her, leaving the rest of us doing nothing here. Regardless of what task we set to first, we need to become stronger as individuals and as a unit. We may yet accomplish this." He turned to Siduri, "Niburi. Please tell me more. Where we may begin is an excellent topic." They required well utilized time before they could find closure about The Dice. Perhaps they should address it proactively.

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It wasn't an amazingly huge question to ask, and damnit, everyone knew what he was asking. James gave a generally uncharacteristic grumble, speaking really to himself despite the words actually leaving his mouth, be it quietly: "I just wanna know why a country-fried soul brudda can't get a straight answer 'bout no dragons? Fo' real." He switched to a horribly attempted falsetto to approximate an ideal(ish) answer to his question, "Ooh yes, Mr. James, sir! Them flyin' scaly muthafuckas what's got big pointy teeth an'a breathe lava on yo' ass f'8d20 damage (save for half)? They totally exist and imma show you on the YouTube, yessir!" Not his finest moment perhaps, but the grumble quickly turned into a somewhat bemused smile, as out of absolutely nowhere a scene from one of his childhood movies came to the forefront of his mind. Specifically, the El Guapo Speech from The Three Amigos.

The ensuing chunk of muted laughter coming from the man might have been taken for madness, as if the stalwart blackneck had finally cracked under the pressure of dying, coming back as a Paradox, and turning into a pig. Admittedly, it was a lot to process. But people from his timeline had seen horrors that had well braced him for all sorts of odd things that a rational person would never believe possible, including a great many things that simply should not be, yet were. Nah, he had this. James was just laughing at his own private joke regardless of the very serious nature of the discussion around him. He reached out to Andromeda and gave her hand a squeeze, then announced aloud, "Aight! Y'all done sold me, I'm in. Even if'n our El Guapo is th' End of Muthafuckin' Days - trademark pendin' - what am I gonna do? Sit back and not try? Hells naw! Imma be the best damn beer swillin', camper terrorizin', cow fightin' walkin' hotdamn bacon factory I can be, or my name ain't James Mandingo Grady! Y'all a-dults just point me in the right direction. We got us a purpose in this world still, no matter what we done or had done to us before. An' if me turning into a wild boar while commandin' my squad of tree squirrels led by General Fuzzy hisself can do anything to keep everythang from endin', then you can count me in." He hesitated for a second, "Not that I ain't gonna have questions, aight?"

One who didn't know James very well might definitely think that he was mad. Like, Happy Tablet Academy style mad. But he had his ways, even if no one else alive might understand them fully.

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Faith didn’t necessarily want to talk to Babylon again either, but it was choosing the lesser of all the evils. And if it meant she could help in finding Eve and stopping whatever danger was to befall them, then she would eat her words from before. She eyed Bart, knowing full well what happened when they met before. Dragon or not, she would face it head-on. She knew she could do it.

It seemed that the others did not believe that. Especially Gil. He and Gio were the only Paradoxes here, but they were acting like they held no authority. No power. Almost on their hands and knees begging Siduri to help them. “What are you doing? Why are we still sitting here then? If we know what needs to be done, then let’s get going. The coming danger isn’t going to pause because we aren’t strong enough and we won’t get there if we keep twiddling our thumbs asking each other what to do. I want to train and master my abilities and I will do whatever it takes.”

She sighed and sat back down, aware she was getting heated again. “I’m just tired of not doing anything. Of feeling left out and powerless. If I was chosen to be a Paradox then I want to prove it wasn’t a mistake. I don’t want to be like Alexandria. I want this. I need this.”

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Well, everyone was on board. Or he had to assume so. Andromeda didn't say anything either way, but she'd been ready to dive in all the way up until this point. Well perhaps discounting that brief stint after Siduri mentioned the end of days and before she made her way here. That seemed to have shaken her up a bit, but regardless, her time to speak up about that had passed, and if she wanted to opt out, she'd have to do it the way everyone else did.

"Well said, Gilbert." It was a succinct explanation of the loop, although he could not help but feel that Siduri was well aware of the time loop in place, but that her reason for haste persisted even with that fact in mind. But that was merely a hunch he did not want to put to words just yet. Again, it did no good to bring unnecessary panic to the conversation which was packed to the brim with impending doom as it was, so if she did not bring up some issue to undercut the safety of the time loop, neither would he.

"Patience, Faith" Gio reprimanded the Paradox. "Just because you know where to go for a trip doesn't mean you leave without packing. We need a solid plan in place that covers everyone, not just you. You want to cross a desert without preparing an appropriate amount of water beforehand. Now that we're certain that our will is indeed collective, we can indeed begin planning on how exactly we're going to become stronger as a unit as well as individually. You might not like the delay, but the time spent with proper preparation pays dividends."

"And if you will forgive me for cutting in on your question, Siduri, I'd like to begin with a proposition for how to begin as well. At least the sparse framework of how we could proceed. Begin by splitting our current class of Paradoxes into two groups and allow them to run a mission by themselves, and if each group succeeds in their quest, than they run a short-term mission solo." He would rather ease into this more gradually than the structure he had laid out here, but he could not help but take into account the feeling that even in this loop they did not have the apparently infinite reserves of time that they appeared to have. And if they were to quickly build up competence, it would be through struggle. With this plan, they could first work towards unity and then self reliance.

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Siduri stood there, looking out the window, looking at the sky and perhaps beyond it through the leaves in the trees as they flittered in the wind. Her eyes drifted towards Andromeda and she nodded. Then they went to Faith and there was a tug of a smile at the corner of her lips. Then she glanced towards Ben, who had a look on his face. He shook his head slightly, giving a bit of a chuckle. The woman took a breath between a small part in her lips and turned around slowly. "You miss the world planning, you miss life while over thinking. " It was all she said before she went silent.

Ben had this look on his face as he rubbed the back of his neck and then shrugged. He too let out a sigh. "You ain't listening. You're hearing her but you ain't listening," he said before stepping towards the door. Siduri nodded and followed him, the two of them stepping out of the room and making their way to the front porch. Looking down the drive and the lawn, Siduri watched as the stars moved. Time was drawing close for the day to reset. For it to all begin again. Moments ticking by. Ben pulled out a cigarette and lit it up. Taking a long pull from it as the cherry burned bright. "Refusing to understand?" he asked her as he pulled the cigarette from his mouth and the smoke billowed over his lips.

Siduri nodded. "Some are so caught in their own ways they refuse to see the light before them. They waste time for they believe they have all the time in the world. Time is an illusion. Life is just a hiccup between death. We only observe in the cards what we wish to see. We only pull from the shadows what we want instead of seeking what we truly need. We only see what we wish. And we rewrite the story to fit our version of it." Looking up at the sky her fingers laced together and rested low against her body. "Some minds are set like stone and I have not the time to alter that, my rains would not be fast enough to carve out what they need. Not before everything comes crashing down."

Ben nodded as he took another puff. "That's why you sought out the other?" he asked and she cast a glance in his direction. A knowing look on her face. He seemed to understand. Perhaps he was young enough to not have had so much time or mortal enough to understand that not everything was forever. That there wasn't all the time in the world. He took a step forward and looked at her again. "And why... Now I see," he added before looking at the trees. "Damn, that's heavy." Siduri gave a simple breath to his words. "Is it too late?"

"That I know not. Though the fear in there. Not for me but for them and others. Gather our things, we shall depart."

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As Siduri walked out the door, Bartholomew pursed his lips. It seemed as if they'd reached the extent of help from the two of them that they'd be getting. The sentiment of them hearing, but not listening was worrisome, it meant that they though they'd missed some key point, but it seemed they weren't willing to reiterate or explain any further. The only thing he could possibly pull from their words was that they should somehow throw caution to the wind and dive in head first to save Eve. He could only assume something like that would impose massive risk, and would almost certainly result in disaster.

Looking between the present Emendators for their reactions, he hoped they'd had some clearer understanding into her intentions. He had no idea how to properly react to, or deal with this. His first impulse was to step after her and demand further explanation, but that sounded like a plan that could only end poorly. Reminded of what Alicia had told them not so long ago, he knew that, as seemed to be the default lately, he was out of his depth, and was to act as a subordinate to the Emendators. Let them decide how they'd react to this, and go along with it. That sounded like a far safer idea that might actually get them a little more help.

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Sophia listened to James as he spoke as she leaned back in her chair and looked over at the others within the room, and ran a hand through her hair as she heard Faith as she spoke. They had their way to bring back Evelina, which had to deal with her ability however it works with trying to find Eve she wasn't sure. But Siduri did give her a teacher and looked towards Gio as he started to speak towards Faith reprimanding her which she didn't think was necessary at all really. She rubbed her eyes slightly and shook her head slightly as the other Emendators asked Siduri for guidance.

"May I say something? Siduri mentioned three people with Faith's ability similar to her own that would be able to somehow find Evelina. Now I don't know them at all, but the one Faith chose seems to be able to help, and she could get all the training she needs from this Babylon person. As far as I know no one else here has the glassability or whatever it's called here, so no one here would know her ability as well. So it's logical that she get her training from her and find Evelina that way." Sophia said as she looked towards Faith for a moment. "And the rest of us can have training sessions under you guys."

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It appeared to Gilbert that their honored guest had spoken her piece and that was that. There was a definite insistence that time was, in fact, not of their side, no matter what precautions had been put into place. Not even the temporal isolation of the Loop was adequate to keep them from succumbing to whatever dark and nasty power sought to end all that was. Which in a very strange sort of way made sense, if one looked at it from a fourth dimensional point of view. Imagining that time was a solid, immutable concept, the destruction of a portion of it could the destruction of it all, simultaneously. Even the same repeating day. Much like sundering a great glass rod suspended upon two pillars at either end. If a hammer crushed through part of it, all of it would fall into the abyss. Was that what they were dealing with? Outside of the Loop, everything kept marching forward around them. If these people knew what day it truly was, from the perspective of the Destrehan Plantation, it might surprise the hell out of them.

Gil sighed. "So many things to take into consideration." He wasn't lying. "If this place is subject to visitation by Siduri and her troupe, then there must be a way for others to do the same. It does not give the full privacy that we had always assumed it did. Perhaps this requires a more immediate response, though I do not know what that is." For all he knew, it was precisely the strange in-between stage of a neophyte Paradox that was necessary to make whatever needed to happen, happen. "If we are vulnerable here, we must act sooner rather than later." But where to act? "She mentioned Niburi. Does that have any specific meaning to you, Giosue? Or to anyone else? Perhaps we should start there. Faith? Just in case, get yourself ready to take a trip."

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James felt no small amount of confusion as Siduri and Ben got up and left the house. There was scolding involved, as if they were all missing out on something obvious. Well, chalk James up as one of those who didn't have a clue as to what was going on nor what to do about it. It was as if there were a sudden, life-and-death decision that had to be made between his ass and a hole in the ground, and James was pondering over which was which.

In fact, the whole sticky mess reminded him of that time when he and his family went out for All-You-Can-Eat Barbecue Rib Night at the local Sizzler. His uncle Iggy (shortened version of his nickname, Igtholomew, but that's a whole different story. He wasn't even his real uncle anyway, so go fig.) had taken it that the gauntlet had been thrown down with All-You-Can-Eat and proceeded to hit the porcine lung protectors with wild abandon, horking back tender and smoky meat in a manner that might have suggested a phone call to the Guinness Record people. It wasn't until he ripped a shart that hit the back of his pants like an alien trying to birth itself that he even slowed down a bit. When the people at the next table noticed what was going on, they got up and left (with comment) not unlike what the albino deity and that Ben guy did. Except the table full of people were a lot ruder about it. Not that James really blamed them, it was a sight and stench to behold; even prompting the expression, "Never fully trust a fart in public." Most especially where greasy ribs and tangy sauces were contributing factors.

But anyway, James did feel a little let down that, just as soon as he declared his readiness to jump into the fray, the party broke up. Maybe it was something he said. Life was like that sometimes. "Well, I'm already standin'. We need to get suited up or what?" Not that he had a "suit" really, at least not one that we intended to wear specifically for outings or missions. Or maybe he should? While he waited for an answer, James began to ponder some of the last words Siduri said to them. Missing the world planning, missing life by overthinking. So now was a time to leap? Leap it was, then. But to where? "Aight, look... I gots me somethin' to take care of on the quick 'fore we do anything else. You lemme know what you need of me after."

James nodded and moved to the door leading out to the hallway. Whatever was going on they obviously didn't have a lot of time left, so he needed to fulfill a promise he made to Alicia at the time of her ascendance. It shouldn't take long.

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Faith eyed Siduri as she departed, knowing full well she was in the right. The longer they took to plan, the more likely they would be in danger. She didn’t want to sit around anymore and plan. Now was a time for action. And, it seemed, everyone else was on board with that. Gil got it through his thick skull now that time was of the essence, but he did have a point. If Siduri was able to visit them then others could too. And these others may not be a wacky circus troupe the next time. She never said that the others didn’t need training also. If they wanted to survive this, they would all need to be prepared.

She nodded her understanding. “I’ll go get my things ready then.” With no more words to be said, she left the room and made her way to her bedroom. It wasn’t like she had much to choose from or pack. But she would need a weapon or two, surely. Just in case. She was going to go at this alone, after all. She didn’t mind that necessarily, but it was kind of ironic. In her reports, she was told she needed to work better with others and now she was being told she would need to go at this alone in order to bring Eve back. Fate was weird like that.