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Andromeda practically wanted to gag as Gilbert declared that the overall picture still placed wisdom with his proposed actions. It sounded like something that would only be said either in a Star Wars film, Game of Thrones, or in a long long Shakespeare play. She knew that she herself had been buying into letting the Emendators call the shots, as they were experienced at this and they were all a bunch of rookies... But she had always hated it in college when people talked like that, trying to kiss up to the professor by showing the expanse of their vocabulary and syntax. It irritated her then and it irritated her now. Death couldn't change some things. She agreed with Faith's sentiment, as much as the end of it struck her as a little odd - she was always wary when people said that they needed something. It usually wasn't followed by anything good.

She felt a bit like putting a bullet between her own eyes as Giouse took what felt like a solid leap backwards. Not only was he continuing to move like a sloth, but he also was proposing that Faith wasn't trained in whatever needed to be done. She had missed some of the conversation but it seemed clear to her that Faith could save Evelina in a solo quest. Why waste time? Yes, they had all of the time in the world but her gut was telling her that it wasn't really that simple. What was stopping the Destruere from coming into the loop? The carnival people had shown up, after all. "Not to be rude but... Faith needs to go on her solo journey, no matter what, if we want to save Evelina. So let's get that crossed off the list. For the rest of us, well... It would make sense that we go learn from someone with abilities similar to my own. Neither of you can summon a tornado or cause sickness with a touch. I know that you can shift as well Gilbert, but James might benefit from someone who shifts into animals. Sophia's senses and ice also don't align well and neither really do Bart's abilities..."

"What I'm trying to say is - while we do have to work harder, we have to work smarter. I don't think doing the same method of training is going to be sufficient. I think we all need to walk a path that will be tailored to our powers if we are going to stand any chance."

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Siduri's reaction cemented the feeling Gio had had. The time loop was by no means a guarantee that they had as much time as they could waste on their hands. Moving forward they would need to be decisive in action, but at the same time, he needed to ensure that nobody got ahead of themselves and rushed needlessly into danger, as Faith seemed desperate to do. Still, the Paradoxes were chomping at the bit to progress so a gameplan needed to be laid out. But first, questions must be dealt with.

"Niburi, the point of transition." Gio grasped his chin and concentrated on the term for several seconds before returning with an answer. "It does not immediately call to mind anything, but perhaps it will come to me later when I'm not on the spot. Perhaps Niburi refers to now as we transition towards the end of days. Or perhaps it is some point in the near future. Or the distant past."

"As for the matter of Miss Faith. Yes, of course she's going to have to undertake the journey, that has never truly been the question. It was a matter of when, but seeing as time is short, it is likely that she will have to go post haste. As for the rest of you, we lack the time and attention to be able to undergo more thorough direct tutelage. And as nice as it would be to source trainers specifically tailored to each of your talents, such a pool of teachers is probably out of reach with our current resources."

"I fear that the best option available to us might be having to send you out on your own and let adversity be your master. That said, we still might be able to decide some other path with a bit more deliberation. Putting aside all else, it would be best if nobody left until they've had a good night's sleep. It is quite late after all. Setting out on a journey sleepy is getting off on the wrong foot at its finest."

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Well it seems that Gilbert is finally deciding to use that big brain of his. Go big brain because it paid. Standing there, thinking, instead of you know not, Gilbert starts to put two and two together. Evelina said don't go after her. Siduri kept saying certain things basically re-enforcing the fact that maybe going after Evelina wasn't the thing to do but she went ahead and gave them what they needed to. Faith needs to go talk to Babylon. It wasn't three people that could help Faith, it was three people that could get get Faith to the person that could help her. Maybe she is figuring it is their best hope right now. So now that is straightened out, let's go a bit deeper. Gilbert is also figuring out that when Siduri says time is growing short, yeah, that means the loop is growing short.

That is going to be re-enforced by a feeling that Gio is going to get right about... ~checks her watch~ Now. He is going to start feeling his grasp on the time loop slipping. Not that he has lost the ability to create time jumps but that holding a steady loop is wearing off. This is further re-enforced outside but hey, no one is out there looking and well since they weren't then, they can't now. Sorry, no one is noticing the outside. Only one that would this round coming up is Gio, because well when you get that tickle that shit is going down, you tend to look for a source. (No meta!)

Outside Ben nods and steps off the porch, taking the lawn back around and towards where the Carnival is set up. Siduri is standing there, not really seeming to do anything right now but she is. What she is doing, well maybe you will find out eventually but for now. She just stands there, holding perfectly still like Evelina used to when in thought. If only she was dressed in blue and a pipe right then it might seem eerie.

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Sophia watched as Faith started to get up and left the room to get her things ready for her own solo mission as she leaned back in the chair she let out a slight sigh and ran a hand through her hair and watched James getting ready to get up and leave as well. She wasn't sure what else to do right now either as her attention turned towards Gio as he spoke. The way he said earlier sounded completely different, but she had said what she wanted to as well. She also did like Andromeda's suggestion on getting trainers that were more tailored to their own abilities which would be pretty helpful.

Some night sleep would be pretty good now at this point as well, she stretched slightly as she looked at the others who were in the room she did want to get out of the loop for a little bit now as well. "Some rest would be good." Sophia said as she looked at Gilbert and Gio if they needed anything else from her as well. Siduri had said what she needed to, she wasn't sure what else to say or do either and thought about going back to her room for the evening for a moment as well. "Is there anything else we should discuss while we are all here?" Sophia asked them all.

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A heavy sigh issued from Gilbert as, and very sadly, he began to realize some of what Siduri was communicating. The cryptic, deity-esque woman never liked to come straight with her news nor her advice, like it was a game somehow. Or a test of character. Or intelligence. Come to think of it, he didn't really have a clue as to what she was thinking at any given moment. It was a little unsettling. Even his ability to access things about human history had little to say on the woman. But, riddles or not, she had to have come here for a reason. When part of that reason clicked, Gilbert began to grow very concerned.

"Time is growing short. For us. We might not even have the time to properly train our people anymore. What if Siduri did not utilize a power to arrive here? That is to say, if she just knew that there would be a vulnerability that manifested on this cycle?" Gilbert, like the other Emendators and the older Paradoxes who had lived through the sundering of a Loop knew full well what happened when one broke. "Triage. As much as it pains me, and it does, it will take time to get Faith ready to find Evelina. She expressly said that she does not wish to be followed, and time is again a finite resource. But I believe that we all should be ready to depart at a moment's notice, at all times."

"Giosue, how long do you think this Loop has left?" He had other questions, such as, "Can it be repaired?", or "Have we a spot established for a new one?", or even "Might this have to do with 'Nibiri', as we know it?", yet the first question required answering before the others were priority in the slightest. Even provided that time remained, that talk with Babylon might not be a bad idea anyway. A creature such as her whose existence was tied to ancient lore, not unlike himself, might know something they did not. If they had the time yet.

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Just as he promised he would, James began to make his way up the stairs and across the upper deck, above the main porch in the front of the building. He was barely cognizant of himself, mostly running on autopilot, let alone the grander strokes of his environment. He knew that something huge was about to change with his living circumstances, but considering the massive swings in the conversation downstairs he had no earthly idea what it could be. He just knew that he had made a promise to have a tiny ritual in the memory of a dear friend who ...ascended... just that morning. The bravado and smiles associated with the day really reflected an ebb and flow of processing how he felt about that. More importantly, who he wanted to be to reflect the positive influence that she had on him.

Just for a moment, just a single space of time, the Emendators and Goddesses could all do their own thing, separate from him. He wold rejoin and help as best he could, even if that just meant sitting in a corner and making fun of people who needed it. He was okay at that. But right now he needed to ponder things for himself and give honor where he said he would. Slowly, James opened the door to his room and stepped inside. There was, among the few items of his allowed from his previous life, a picture of a newborn baby and a mostly full bottle of tequila. He picked up both, weighting the importance of either for a healthy few seconds. Which one caused his friend to slip away into the Great What-Came-After? Surely not directly, but which one gave her the feeling of completeness or finality or whatever that led to her passing onward and upward?

James popped the cork out of the bottle and turned it up, taking a respectable swig. Looking at the picture, he repeated the name told to him: "James Sally." He coughed once, unaccustomed to taking straight spirits like that with the same familiarity as he once did. "Mmm. Ha-cha-cha... Always with the hard shit, huh?" he said to no one in particular.

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So it seemed, in light of the evidence provided, that the best option they seemed to have was to send all of them, sans Faith, out on their own to survive or die as a kind of training. That was a scary thought for sure, he himself having no rightful idea on how he'd ever make it on his own with the threats that loomed over their heads. He'd resolve to do it, for sure, but it was certainly a scary thought. Cracking his knuckles out in front of him, he said, "Yeah, getting a full nights rest sounds like a good idea, looks like we have some long days ahead." He agreed, and stepped away from the group, but he didn't head right off to bed quite yet.

Following after Faith, he met her at her room. If they were about to go off again, then he might not see her for a long time, or even at all. The friendship they'd garnered, crazy and ethereal as it was, meant something, and leaving things unsaid between the two of them wouldn't be right. "Hey you." He said, cracking a smile outside her door, "Ready to play the hero and save all our asses?" He asked, slightly sarcastically. He knew she couldn't be feeling good about this, even if she didn't say it, and he wasn't gonna force her to confront that by any means, but he hoped she'd at least talk about it with him. It wouldn't be good for her to keep all this bottled up.

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Andromeda couldn't help but feel more and more frustrated with the Emendators. They had someone who could teach to Faith's skillset and given that the Emendators appeared to be able to travel to just about any time and any reality, combined with the fact that they had Elder Paradoxes scattered everywhere, why couldn't they find someone to teach the remaining paradoxes? Even if the ability match up wasn't exact, it made the most sense to Andromeda. She also was a bit curious as to why there had been no mention or discussion of bringing back the other Emendator - Nancy - to help with this situation. If they were dealing with an end of days event, then they needed everyone - especially the person who could peer into the future. Andromeda's pride had been tempered so far, as she tried her best to just listen to the Emendators, but her frustration was starting to get the better of her.

Gilbert then brought up a troubling conclusion - that the loop was seemingly breaking or something along those lines. Her stomach twisted at the thought, realizing she had found herself in another situation where something was growing wrong with time - great. Even if it was just as Gilbert suggested, time growing short or that there was some sort of vulnerability in the loop, it didn't bode well in her mind. "Maybe see if you can recall the Cards," Andromeda suggested, before she retreated to her own bedroom. Her mind flickered towards Fairfax. He was from the 1920s, but due to problems with time in her own timeline, they had met and she had even formed a bit of a crush on him. He would have been eating all of this up and Andromeda knew that she ought to have been enjoying herself more. This was what she had always wanted - to see behind the curtain and learn more and more about the strange and unusual.

Instead, as she sat down on the bed, it felt like a nightmare.

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Just breathe. A simple action. Natural. Automatic. Yet at times it isn't that simple. The hooded eyes of Siduri closed and she focused. Focused on the winds around her, the rustling of leaves in the trees. The sound of her heart beating in her ears. Count. Breathe in, count. One, two, three, four, five. Breathe out, count. One, two, three, four, five. Yes, there it is. Breathe in, count. One, two, three, four, five. Breathe out, count. One, two, three, four, five. Do you hear me? Breathe in, count. One, two, three, four, five. Breathe out, count. One, two, three, four, five. Yes, I hear you. Breathe in, count. One, two, three, four, five. Breathe out, count. One, two, three, four, five. Where are you? Breathe in, count. One, two, three, four, five. Breathe out, count. One, two, three, four, five. There you are. Breathe in, count. One, two, three, four, five. Breathe out, count. One, two, three, four, five. Would you? Breathe in, count. One, two, three, four, five. Breathe out, count. One, two, three, four, five. Even for a short time? Breathe in, count. One, two, three, four, five. Breathe out, count. One, two, three, four, five. Thank you. Breathe in, count. One, two, three, four, five. Breathe out, count. One, two, three, four, five.

Ballet pink slipper eyes opened and flickered rapidly as she stepped off the porch. Her fragile form seeming to glide over the ground as she moved around the main house and towards the swamp. Towards the waters edge. Towards the tree. Her long face tilting to the side as the grave came into view. The dirt still loose. There wasn't much time. It would only be temporary but it was an added figure to their small arsenal. Swallowing, her thing throat bobbed slightly. Leaning down, her white dress piling up around her ankles as she pressed her hands into the fresh earth. Running her fingers through it and letting it fall like sands through an hour glass. A small quake reverberated through the loop. It wasn't something that anyone would miss.

Breathe in, count. One, two, three, four, five. Breathe out, count. One, two, three, four, five. Fight for it. Breathe in, count. One, two, three, four, five. Breathe out, count. One, two, three, four, five. It won't be easy. Breathe in, count. One, two, three, four, five. Breathe out, count. One, two, three, four, five. There, keep coming. Breathe in, count. One, two, three, four, five. Breathe out, count. One, two, three, four, five. Follow the pull. Breathe in, count. One, two, three, four, five. Breathe out, count. One, two, three, four, five. Don't stop, you're so close. Breathe in, count. One, two, three, four, five. Breathe out, count. One, two, three, four, five.

There it was, she felt it. Skin to skin. Hand to hand. Earth shifting, soil moving, rising and falling. Lacing fingers together she slowly stood to rise and he rose. A layer of the swamp covering him, dirty but dry. Dead but alive but was that anything new in these parts? For this one, it was. His jade green eyes shining as he blinked and stepped from the grave. He looked confused, lost. She looked understanding as she lead him from the hole that sunk in as his body left the space. "You? You, it was you?" he asked in an British accent. She just nodded. Yes it had been her. "I thought it was a dream."

"No my child but like all dreams, this will end." He seemed to understand. This wasn't permanent, this was only temporary. Then again, life always was.

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She had all but finished collecting her things when Bart entered her room. Odd that in her past life she would look at the boy and think nothing of him. He was cute, sure, but his presence would have put her off. Or she just would have been a bitch in general, because that was who she was. No longer the case, she had grown and learned she was more than that. She had to be more than that if she had any hope of surviving this she had been blessed or cursed with. On top of it all, she now had the extra task of being the sole person who could learn and save Eve and, potentially, them all.

So, she was feeling immensely pressured. She had put on a brave face below, but it seemed Bart had saw past it. She wondered if the others did too. Perhaps she couldn’t hide her feelings well. ”Truth be told, I am about 10 seconds away of saying ‘fuck it’ and running back to whatever portal I can find and living my life in that time period. But I know this needs to happen and I know I need to be the one to do it. Doesn’t make it any less real or any less terrifying should I fail. I have people counting on me now and I have myself to prove it too just as much as Gio and Gil.”

“So to answer your question: yes. I am ready to save your ass. Let’s be real, this was always how it was going to be.” she said with a wicked grin. After, she felt the shake of some earthquake rattle throughout the mansion. She looked up. "The hell was that?"

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"How much time does this loop have left? Not very much. I'll say that much." Gio hated being right in situations like this, even if it was only the gut feeling telling him the truth of the matter here. It would have been so much more convenient for them if they were afforded at least awhile longer to try working up some experience before fate hit them with the End of Days, but unfortunately they would seemingly have to make do with what they had. Gio pull out his pocket watch, flipped it open to stare at its face before shutting it again.

As distressing as losing control of the time loop should have been, Gio felt remarkably calm. Maybe the full weight of the implications had yet to hit him, but he got the distinct impression that he should be freaking out. What was troubling was that he couldn't be sure why his control was waning. Of course, the easy answer was that it was this Niburi kicking in. Or that time itself was starting to fall apart. But he knew that his control over time was not absolute. He could not reverse death or go back more than a few seconds. However, their guest had shown herself able to change day to night without much exertion, a task he'd never been capable of; he could easily see this Siduri wresting away the loop as a means to spur them into action. Or mostly Gilbert into action. He seemed most content to rest on his temporal laurels of the lot, although the Watch wasn't going to say as much.

"Of course, Nancy deserves to be aware of everything that happened tonight as well." Although Gio had the most troubling feeling that the end of days would adversely affect Loki as well. Her cards might fail to come up answers for the third time.

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Dipping back into the mostly reliable pool of knowledge of human history and events as the should have been throughout the various timelines gave Gilbert only a sense of unsatisfying blankness. Yes, the Great Goose Egg of usable, relatable knowledge on the topic at hand had reared its ugly head, giving Gilbert just as any answers about the utter, blatant uncertainty falling around his ears as he had naught but an hour before. Whether the others in the room were aware of it or not, Gil was absolutely filled with the same level of frustration about their situation as the other were, including the Paradoxes. He sat with a lack of presentable options to a problem that seemed to grow worse by the second, and moreover without the wherewithal to begin solving them. Giving this ample consideration, Gil lifted his eyes and looked about the room, curious as to WHY THE FUCK EVERYONE WAS GOING TO BED.

He stood, glancing about to see who exactly was still left and giving marginal thought to planting those who weren't into the ground with only their heads above the soil like so many human cabbages, when a ripple of concussive energy shook them all. His mouth stood agape, as he was about to yell something Gilbertish and without discernible use of contractions at its onset. With the look of a marathon boxer about to enter a late, punishing round of fisticuffs, Gilbert strode toward the door leading to the hallway, around the back of the Main House, and toward the direction of where he the ripple seemed to originate: The Swamp. Whatever fresh hell awaited them all was going to get a more than fair amount of attention from him.

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Well, far be it for James to take a single moment for himself in the proper memorial of a good friend, a lady who he had known for two lives now, a prolific drinker of tequila and lover of hot sauce. Yes, it was a little stereotypical of her, considering her culture of birth, but to hell with the naysayers! Tequila kicked ass. So did hot sauce. But that wasn't really the main topic swirling about in his head at that point in time. No, this was the finite nature of life, even one with the potential that this Paradoxical one had. It could end. It did end for Alicia, and also Alexandra, apparently. But the odd Russian lady just wasn't as close to him as Taco Belle was.

Oh yes, that one, single moment for him to pay respects. James had just slipped the Santa Muerte cameo back around his neck and was taking another hard pull from the bottle of tequila when the world around him seemed to give an extended hiccup. James fell to a sitting position on Alicia's bed, simultaneously spit-taking half of the dram that was mid-swallow. Coughing, he looked down at the bottle, hacking out, "Hot dayum that packa punch!"

His free hand rose to his face, wiping the droplets of burning booze that trickled from his nose. "That... that you, girl?" he inquired to the air around him. He looked over at the statue of Santa Muerte in the room. A quiet whisper addressed the image of Sainted Death Herself, "I'm sorry... was, um... was this f'you?" He then felt immensely stupid. This was something that happened inside of the Destrehan Plantation grounds, outside of this room. Like a plane crashed or something. It seemed to come from behind the house. Without bothering to set anything down or wipe his face further, James exited the room, made his way downstairs, and poked around outside.

"Um, that you, Mr. Hat?" he said, finding Gilbert just coming outside as well.

"Yes, Mr. Grady. Thank you for joining us."

"Hey, slow y'roll, Boss! I said I was coming back. For real!"

"Is that Alicia's tequila?"

"Umm... yeah," he admitted sheepishly. James walked fully into the backyard area, joining the Emedator.

"Excellent. I could use a drink." He held his hand out and accepted the bottle, took a respectable pull, and handed it back. "Thank you. It came from that way," he informed, pointing toward the Swamp. Gilbert continued forward. James followed close behind.

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Sophia looked around as everyone one by one started to leave the room, just leaving her and Gio in the room now as well she was wondering why everyone was leaving now as well. As she looked over at Gio, she was pretty much bored and didn't have anything else to do right now as she stood up and stretched again. She was curious what everyone else had gotten up and doing now she wasn't really sure what to do right now either. "So, is there anything you need me to do Gio?" Sophia asked, since there was just them within the room right now, and she thought about going to her room, or going over to the carnival grounds for a little bit and see what was going on there.

Even though she had just been in the carnival area she was curious if anything was up and running, or if Siduri decided to have them all pack up and leave as well now. Sophia was curious what was going on with the timeloop as well, and if they were also in any sort of danger as well. "Also what is wrong exactly with the timeloop that Gilbert had said before he left?" Sophia was curious and wanted to also prepare if there was any sort of trouble with it if it ended up crashing down around them.

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Andromeda had been intending on sorting through her things quickly and getting ready for an abrupt move. Giouse had told them to go get some sleep, but with the end of the world seeming imminent and all, she wanted to be prepared to move at a moment's notice. It helped that she didn't have very much in the way of items. She glanced at her telescope, film projector, and tin of old films. As much as they had been comforting to her when she first arrived, she only really was considering bringing the telescope along if things went dire. It was a concrete connection to her past and something that could also prove useful. However, her mind was shocked out of those thoughts as she felt a small quake.

She had some friends in her old life that had lived in earthquake country, claiming that they could sleep through the smaller earthquakes. Her initial response to feeling it was fear and panic. Was this how the end of the world started? She clutched onto the frame of her bed for a moment, trying to reassure herself that it wasn't just one massive quake that would crack the world like an egg and end everything as they knew it. She didn't know where it was coming from, so Andromeda hurried back to the sitting room where the others had been. "Did you guys feel that?" Andromeda asked. She was really hoping Giouse would say that it wasn't a sign of the upcoming apocalypse, but from what Siduri had more or less said, the Emendators knew as much as the Paradoxes when it came to all of this.

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Bart smiled as Faith seemed to be able to actually address her feelings. To him, this was a signal of great progress for her, something he would have normally taken the time to recognize and congratulate her for, but the earth begun to shake and rattle beneath him. A look of worry crossed his face, and he said, "Whatever it was, I doubt it was good." He said uncomfortably responding to her. "Let's go check that out. Now." He said, turning his back to her, and starting towards the door. If Niburi was coming this quickly, they were fucked beyond all measure. That being said, he found it hard to imagine that this was anything else.

As he walked towards the backyard of the house, he had a troubled spring in his step, evidently scared of what may lay before him, but nevertheless resigned to confronting it. As he stepped out to the back of the house, he saw The Hat and James congregating outside, heading towards what he could only assume was the source of the disturbance. As he stepped towards them, he figured that announcing their presence to them would only be good, keeping people aware in times of potential danger was obvious protocol. "Faith and I aren't far behind." He called out to them, making his way closer to the swamp. "Any idea what we're dealing with?"

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Gio is trying to maintain the loop for as long as possible and it is holding, for now. It is more steady now that he is focusing on it. Thing is, even as he steadies it and keeps the veil from lifting, or worse, merging with other time lines, one thing he is rather sure of: It won't matter how strong he is able to make it, it will fall come the end of the loops day and October 31st will turn into November 1st. It wouldn't be the first time a time loop has been closed but it would be the first time it closed without him failing to hold it or without him closing it personally. This is something new.

Sophia is having to work through all the white noise of things rustling and shaking of everything because of the quake. As it dies down she can hear the people over at the Carnivale yelling to get things packed up, they seem to be ignoring the quake after it is over. She will hear the other PC's speaking, though it is hard to figure out just how far away they are from each other or if they are all grouped together.

Andromeda might come to the conclusion that this quake, while not being the end of the world, could be something leading up to those times. So many times in occult teachings and prophecies it is mentioned that the world would turn to quakes. Such beliefs go far back, further back than even the written word. Though in occult practices, dating back to shamans in Africa predating even the known times, such things have also been coincide with the supposed resurrection of the dead and necromancy.

Over in the Swamp, Siduri opened her lace umbrella even though it was dark outside and let it rest against her shoulder as the man next to her laced his arm through hers and started walking around the tree where the grave was located and back towards the house. Stopping she caught sight of some running in their direction. "Why? he asked her, still dusted with soil, making his eyes seem far brighter than they normally did.

"When times come to a point and an end is near, sometimes it is needed to have another by ones side. This is what is required of you," the pale woman said quietly. He looked at her strangely but nodded before looking back at those that were approaching and held a hand up. Slowly lowering it and running his his finger along the length of the scar on his face as he used to regularly.

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Faith had followed Bart outside, aware that the potential for danger was high. After all, they had just discussed the danger they were all facing as well as what would happen if it was not addressed. She could only assume a quake of that sort meant things were already in the process of changing, which only solidified her resolve to seeing things restored and fixed. Or, as fixed as they could be.

She saw Gil outside along with James as they headed towards the swamp area. Bart felt it best to announce their presence and she had to admit she hadn’t considered that important, but if they were worried about being attacked at any point, it might be best to ensure you knew where everyone was at any given time. ”Has it already started? The crumbling of time or whatever?” She may have sounded flippant, but she was anything but. She was prepared and ready to learn what she needed to get the job done.

”I didn’t mean it that way. I get the danger involved, but we also are running short on time and if this type of thing is going to continue happening, we can’t put things on pause to go have a look-see. I am ready to go whenever you lot are ready. It’s not like I have many worldly possessions I wish to bring with me.”

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It was uncommon for an Emendator to walk into a situation with absolutely zero knowledge of what was going on. But if only for today, that seemed to be the norm. In its own way, it was actually quite humbling. To possess abilities far beyond that of common humanity, knowledge beyond the most well appointed libraries on the planet, and yet again Gilbert had no clue what was going on beyond what he could see. So maybe that was the best course of action; getting out there and looking for one's self. His eyes were just as serviceable as any healthy man's of his apparent age. Laying them on the source of the disturbance was likely the only way he was going to figure out a damned thing.

Joined by others, specifically Bart and Faith, Gilbert tarried just long enough to field their concerns, such as he was able. "You have just as much knowledge about this as I, Bartholomew. I would suggest caution. And with my apologies, Faith, let us get more insight before we depart. I do not know what might happen if we are on the other side an open portal that leads back here when the Loop breaks. It is unprecedented." Though his voice was of calm control, he really had no concrete answers for them.

Continuing forward, Gilbert felt his muscles tighten with apprehension of what might be waiting for them. Perhaps this was an partial degradation of the Loop and he would find a ragged hole of temporal nothingness that was growing slowly, their reality pouring into it as it was destroyed by the entropic nature of the nothingness that awaited a metaphysical concept such as their repeating period of time and space. Maybe it was the forced infiltration of something hostile, the concussive waves being the result of the sudden presence displacing their reality.

Of course, he was wrong. It had happened before. Now at the Swamp proper, Gilbert looked to Siduri. She had done something that was expressly mentioned was not supposed to be possible, at least by the younger man, Ben's, abilities. Though by the context of the discussion, he was led to believe that it was a serious no-no anyway. Humility wasn't his strong point, though he had to admit that this was new territory for him, of which he was fully uneducated. He did recognize the object of the formerly forbidden application. It made sense. After all, this was where he was buried.

"Good evening, Peter. You are looking well, all things considered."

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James took another long swig from the bottle of tequila. He couldn't help but remember the first time that Evelina saw he and the other Paradoxes drinking, saying that she would Not Tolerate Drunkenness. It was a fair enough concern to raise. And true to form, James had consumed less alcohol here, as a Paradox, than he ever did in his timeline of origin. And back there, it looked like everyone and everything was trying to kill you. Well, except for the guys you were drinking with. For James anyway; he had a pretty damn good group of apocalypse buddies. He was lucky that way. But that was literally another lifetime ago. Also, in his defense, he was toasting a fallen member of his old group, kinda. Same Alicia, different timeline. These things got confusing sometimes. Or all the time. Yeah, all the time.

The backwoods Wereboar gave a friendly nod over in the direction of Bart and Faith, offering a casual, "Sup," though his senses were on his personal equivalent of high alert, what with the localized quake and proclivity of the people here to vanish in a flash of light. Oh, and the news of imminent doom sloshing toward them like an overflowing crapper in a bus station bathroom - that was just one more layer of fun. As a tangent of thought, James wondered if Paradoxes could get stress ulcers. He'd have to ask someone later on, if in fact there was a proper "later on" to have.

When he finally got over to their destination and saw what the others saw, James was a little taken aback. "He the dead'un, ain't he? That's the dead'un. You the dead'un, right? He dead. Like, dead dead? Dead. Dead?" he stumbled verbally, eyes wide as he tried to process the length and breadth of what was transpiring. James had caught a glimpse of the guy as he was brought in from an assignment elsewhere, quite deceased. They had a small ceremony and everything, but here he was, plain as day, with loose soil still dusting off of him. Remembering something that passed for manners, James looked to the recently living-impaired individual with a more cordial, "You awful spry for a dead fella. Tequila?" He offered the bottle in his hand over. James figured that Alicia wouldn't mind, given the unusual circumstances. Besides, if James was pulled out of the ground a couple of minutes ago, he definitely would have wanted that drink.

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Andromeda was drawing on her skill base as she contemplated the earthquake and its potential causes. She doubted it was just a coincidence. There were a lot of occult beliefs that essentially predicted the world would be ended by quakes. Yet at the same time, she recalled that some occult practices mentioned that earthquakes were connected to necromancy. She really hoped that there wasn't an army of the living dead or anything of the sort outside. At the very least, she was able to conclude that this quake wasn't the end of the world - though it could still be connected to it, just sort of as the prelude to an apocalyptic symphony.

Neither Giouse or Sophia had answered her question as to whether or not they felt the quake as well. Her heart was pounding a bit and her pride was starting to get to the better of her again. Sure, she was trying her very best not to dwell on the past and all, but she just had this sense of urgency. "I'm going to go look outside, see if there's anything going on," Andromeda told Sophia and Giouse. She hoped that one of them would go with her, but she wanted to see what their surroundings looked like. She had died thanks to damaged time and she didn't want to repeat that, especially since quakes had never happened inside the loop before. And as someone who loved both logic and the bizarre, she figured going outside to get the bigger picture might help. "Maybe we ought to all go look together - or just Sophia and I can."

Buddy system and all.

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Sophia had her eyes closed as she listened in on everything going on around her, aside from the sound of the earthquake and the whitenoise going on around the area she could pick up some bits of conversation going on around her. From the carnies nearby packing up, and then the others were talking. But she couldn't get anything concrete on any of their conversations, and she assumed that they were on the other side of the grounds now at this point. When she opened her eyes again she didn't even now that Andromeda was in the room, as she stood up she looked over at Gio who still hadn't replied to her. She wasn't sure what was going on with Gio exactly as she turned her attention towards Andromeda.

"I can go with you, I heard and felt the ground shake, and the carnies are packing up it seems from what I heard them say. I couldn't pick up to much on what the others are saying, but I think they are a bit further away from the house itself." Sophia said as she, Sophia couldn't help but be worried what was going on exactly or why there was a sudden earthquake either as she motioned for Andromeda to join her, as well as Gio if he was coming with them or not. She thought about getting her things if she needed to, but decided at the moment she needed to see that the others were all alright.

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Gio sat motionless, not looking at anything as he focused on holding the time loop in place. Or at least letting it slip at a rate he was comfortable with before speaking. Sophia's and Andromeda's voices felt muffled and far away. As if he were hearing them from the inside of a glass bottle. But he still heard them. Just he was not going to answer while he was busy concentrating. As bad as it was to lose the loop unwillingly, it would be far worse if the undoing of the loop ended up shooting them thousands of years into the future, or they end up lodged in the middle of the timeline where they were the automobile was never invented. He hated that timeline. They just used these gigantic trains to get around. They were so noisy you could never get proper sleep, no matter how far from the tracks you were.

"Yes I felt that as well. As for what's wrong? This is the last night of the loop. As soon as midnight hits, time will again begin to move forward. I have no choice in the matter. Right now I'm doing my best just to keep everything stable. Think of it like attempting to land a plane that's falling out of the sky. One wrong decision or slip and you end up crashing into a building, mountain, or worse yet, another plane, but if you remain calm and all goes well, the plane comes to a standstill peacefully."

"I believe it would be best if we went outside as well. The less information we have to share between ourselves the better." Slowly, Gio rose from his seat and began to make his way out behind his fellow Emendator. In other circumstances he may have upped his pace from this even more measured than usual gait, but he needed to make sure the unraveling of the loop didn't suddenly spin out of control while he wasn't paying attention.

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