[center][h2][b]Ophelia[/b][/h2][/center]

Torquil's unease fading to ease only widened Ophelia's smile, and she gave Torquil's shoulder another reassuring squeeze as he moved to grab the bodies--she felt the connection between them in his gaze, something about the way he looked at her shifting to... recognition, if she didn't know better. She certainly didn't remember Torquil: but that was a question for later, as the pallid man had expectations of them and pieces needed to be moved into place for their plan to work. Ophelia was about to turn on her heel to follow after Torquil when she heard the first [i]ring[/i] of the bell. The sound was... almost familiar, but not quite. It was certainly different than it had been before, something about the act of using it seeming to imbue it with a depth and resonance it hadn't had while simply jostling around in his clothes... And then there was another, and this time Ophelia noticed movement in her periphery as she looked over the cots--the Messengers sank away into the floor from whence they came, as though the sound was... painful? Wrong? Ophelia couldn't tell--but they didn't like it one bit. Then another, and her eyes were immediately diverted towards the red glow and the otherworldly passenger that climbed out of it.

Her eyes widened at the sight of the Mad One--and then she audibly gasped as she saw its face. Its eyes... normally they'd be white, glowing like little stars--but this one... This one had dark, sunken pits instead of eyes, much like the pallid man. Something in Ophelia's stomach turned at the sight, and she sucked in a steadying breath as she hurried over to the body with Torquil and enacted her earlier plan. Keep this dead Hunter far away from these... she hesistated to even call them people. The beastman certainly wasn't, and the pallid one... Ophelia had her doubts about that too.

Stepping into the next room, Ophelia saw Farren moving for the lantern--exactly what she'd have done. There were other Messengers, though, aiming to get her attention--and Ophelia went straight for the one pointing toward the scroll, knowing that all the blood and gold in the world paled before the value of information.