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

Ophelia's mind took in the new sensations with equal parts eagerness and apprehension--she processed the feeling of the wind on her face, the sheer height of the city and the majesty of the vista arrayed before her, and then the [i]gold[/i]. Something about the inscription made her uneasy, the image of people wading into waters unknown... but the [i]eyes[/i] she found fascinating. She studied them from afar for a moment, looking for anything unusual in their depictions, but she did not dare touch it. She found herself oddly sad that none of the little Messengers were about; and also, based on her limited experience with the lamp in Rebirth's Rise, deeply concerned. They'd been practically swarming over her there--over all of them--and now none were to be found at all?

She tried to call for the Messengers as she had before, only for emptiness and silence to greet her in turn. The faint hints of a smile upon her face were wiped away in that instant, and she shuddered as though a sudden chill had run through her. This must be what the golden marker had meant, she supposed... why was the conduit--the lantern--gold? She perked her ears up to the wind and could hear the rhythmic hammering of metal upon metal in the distance, towards the ominous building flanked by inhuman statues. She found herself admiring them quite intensely as she walked up with a leisurely pace, the arrogant air of her invicibility giving her something of a sense of being untouchable... but she had seen enough people die, handled enough corpses, to know what a deeply unpleasant experience it could be. When it had happened to Torquil... she shuddered for a second, unsure if it was the thought or the wind, before continuing apace. She would be prudent, yes... but there was no amount of suffering she wouldn't endure to [b]know[/b] what was going on here--why they'd been chosen for this Dream, what their purpose must be.

She approached the doors with all of the bravado of a person who was meant to be there--knowing full well that an aura of unearned confidence would breeze past all but the wariest of guards or workers or... churchgoers, she supposed. She truthfully did not know what to expect here--but one of them had to find out, and the others were utterly clueless when it came to the Truth. Torquil hadn't been able to see a thing even with the Eye rune, and she wondered if his aptitude for these things was simply low, or he had not come face to face with something that required enough insight to see, or if the ministration had taken enough of his memories that it would just take time. Farren... something about the way he'd acted before they left--his reaction to one of the names--suggested secrets hiding beneath the veil of ignorance. She would help him uncover them, she supposed, if that was what he wanted--and perhaps even if it wasn't.

Ophelia whispered a quick prayer--[i]"Guide me, Mother Moon."[/i]--and attempted to gain ingress to the building. They would only know if they tried.