Scene #1778: Rotten Wind

Owner	Pose
Ainsley	- AZTLAN TUNNELS WEST * WISDOM - A great big black curtain of strange supernatural force that looks like the void of space blocks the way halfway down this tunnel. Looking at it for too long is probably a bad idea, because many of the stars seem hostile somehow. That's not what's important. What's important are the stone doors that bar the way into a room labelled, in big Spanish lettering: LIBRARY. Here, Ainsley is standing in front of the door, and she looks kind of silly. She is wearing a pair of insulated gloves, as well as insulated boots, and she's carefully changing the combination on the door so that she is ABSOLUTELY SURE that she doesn't get electrocuted. After seeing it kill Wuyin, she's not about to take chances. She asked people to gather with her in case there's Trouble. With a capital T, like that. The Aztlan Tunnels are carved out of a dark stone that seems like obsidian, with elaborate decorations set in strips showing artistic representations of Quetzal and the purpose of each tunnel. The artistry is actually more angular and alien than Mayan or Aztec decorations, suggesting that their real identity developed into something more bizarre and dark. "Who develops a lock in a public hallway that ELECTROCUTES people who guess wrong?" mutters Ainsley, "The Illuminati were one thing, guarding a tomb with poison gas, but this?" She is nervous. She has a resistance to electricity, but it doesn't mean it won't hurt a lot if she gets zapped. The way to the western tunnel is clear of monsters, aside from the stray blind zombie Quetzal here and there that wandered from the northern or southern tunnels into the hub room. Entering the tunnels must be done from the Eastern stairway, because it's the only accessible stairway, leading into the surprisingly clear Eastern main tunnel, up to the wide open plaza hub in the center of the underground, and then to where Ainsley is, in the western tunnel.
Sakura Kinomoto	Sakura is being Stealthy. Not the way she's done so in the past, though. There's no magic cheating involved. She's simply carefully distributing her weight, sticking to patches of darkness, and so on. She's also wearing her Hashshashin robes... which don't really do much to keep her concealed, considering they're pink, but they make her -feel- more stealthy anyway. Why is she sneaking? Because she's in an ancient ruin and it feels appropriate, of course. She's soon in the western tunnel... but decides against possibly surprising Ainsley while she's fiddling with something. You never know what could be trapped. So instead she just leans against a wall and waits. Under her Hashshashin cloak she's wearing light leather clothes with far too many pockets. It's not precisely -armour-, but it's more protective than what she usually wears at least.
Staren	Staren is ready for Trouble with a capital T. He's here in his robot body with full armor and everything! As he approaches, he nods to Sakura, greeting quietly, "Hey Sakura, long time no see." He watches Ainsley curiously. "Maybe it's another tomb. And anyone who was part of their crazy cult and not a spy or an adventurer coming by later would /know/ that and not to mess with that door. Or maybe the monsters they became are even /more/ resistant to electricity? Or maybe they want to filter out members who can't remember combinations for every door. I dunno. Want to try using my psychometry gloves on it? Actually, want to try my telekinesis amulet?"
Faruja	FWOOOOOSH! Goes Faruja's Blaze Gun as one of said Blind Zombies is reduced to charring, flaming bones and flesh. The Burmecian gives a satisfied little sigh, before crossing his chest. "Ashes to ashes, et cetera, and may ye be returned to God's arms!" The nezumi has been taking great relish, as usual, in burning the undead while Ainsley works. Tail flicking, despite the circumstances, he looks happy as a clam. A bit of violence against the undead is good for the mood after all. But he'll hardly ignore his love, glancing at her as she works every now and then. "Sadists, my love. Torturers and wretches whom oh-so-love to draw out suffering. Why, I once cleared out an ancient tomb where one of the traps was specifically designed to hold a person down and bleed them out from the wrists while upside down. Nasty bit of work." But of course, Sakura and Staren are here as well! Cue bows and blessings to them both. "/Do/ remind me Sir Staren to get a demonstration of that amulet of yours. I wouldst quite like to see how it compares to Time Magic's gravitic effects."
Inga Freyjasdottir	Vacation over. No more lovely trees, fresh caught fish and long, hot baths with tall, dark and handsome. Time to get back to work, where everything is generally there just to give her nightmares. Ah well, the gods use their chosen hard. It is just the way of it. The wisewoman arrives, walking toward Ainsley, the click-clack of her staff heralding her presence in echoes a few minutes before she actually arives. Today she's back in uniform so to speak, dressed like the norse seid witch that she is. An ankle length red dress, belted at the waist, from which hang many talismans of bone and carved wood and iron. The sleeves of her underdress are drawn up, leaving her forarms free for the almost inevitable need of blood magic in the near future. White hair hangs long in a braid pulled over her shoulder. She bows to those present, not yet noticing Sakura, who is being all stealthy. "Ainsley, Sir Faruja...shall I? I know a spell for the occasion," she offers. Not to mention, if the door's spell kills her...well. It isn't permanent.
Riva Banari	"You know, you could just ask one of us to do it and tell us what to do." Riva comments. At her side is a leather loop on her belt holding a large paintbrush, her new Abstractum. "I thought you said it was supposed to just zap someone harmlessly." She glances over at Sakura, and squints, considering things for a moment, and then looks back, shrugging to herself. "Either way, um... yyeah." For the moment, she's standing to one side so she doesn't get hit by flying bodies if someone sets that thing off again.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa would have to agree fully with Ainsley over the issue of the traps in both cases. Seriously this was nuts and to hell with the Illuminati. She also is wearing her optic cameo gear today so body suit, light armour plates and combat webbing. She looks at the door a bit and moves to pull some gloves out which seem to be made of rubber. "You want me to take a crack at any others I came ready this time." She looks to STaren. "Its still a public area, Faruja still you got a point. Also I brought a few things thanks to one of my employers elsewhere. Which could help, a little applied explosives and to hell with more puzzles." Kotone really dislikes death puzzles she really /does/. Even if the option isn't the best it is on the table now right? She moves a bit in place flexing and eyeing things before keeping up with the party. Inga meanwhile gets a look from Kotone with a grin. "Good to have you along but if your doing what I think we are, we should try other options first." Sakura is new and gets a hard look over from Kotone, and she eyes the girl for a moment longer. She has no real idea who she is so she speaks up. "Kotone Yamakawa." She looks to Riva and sees Riva's mind is going the same way as Riva's and sighs a bit. Seriously the bees really did change them. Either way she's happy to have people for the most part she knows and trusts here. The unknowns are clearly trusted by Ainsley so that's enough for her right? Kotone fades back from the entrance a bit to get ready for any nasty surprises.
Ainsley	"It's SUPPOSED to be a joy buzzer. It's rigged to cause arc flashes," Ainsley tells Riva, "Someone modified it." She glances aside to Faruja, quizzical of his words and smiling with wary amusement at the note that it's sadists or something like that. She turns to look at Inga and shakes her head, "No, I've got this. It will be fine. Bear in mind that this whole place is built on principles of repelling magic, so I'm not really optimistic about spells." She gives Kotone a Look when explosives are suggested, and looks around the tunnel and back to Kotone. "You are aware we are underground, right?" she points out, and goes back to what she's doing. "There's tons of dirt and stone above us." She doesn't really want to see one of her friends get electrocuted again, immortality or no. Kotone's suggestion makes her visibly unhappy. CLICK. She presses the button. The door rumbles, and both panels swing inward, slotting into two recesses to leave a boxy doorway. "Alright," Ainsley says, removing the gloves and the boots, dropping them aside haphazardly. "Go ahead." She gestures with a hand into the... very dark room. It's impossible to tell what's inside from in the tunnel. None of the lights within are on. The floor is somewhat visible, but... Scanning, natural vision, and all that is going to run into the supernatural darkness and bounce off of it. It is actively making that room dark.
Faruja	Faruja smiles just a little /too/ widely at Inga's offer. "Ye wouldst have mine gratitude, mine dear." Risk the (quasi-respectable) heretic over his love? He /is/ an Inquisitor. And the rat can't help but be a touch curious himself. A glance to Kotone. He /shivers/. He knows that voice, but the body is different. Recalling her words some time ago, the rat can barely keep from launching into a lecture. Sigh. "...Ye know, whilst not exactly subtle, I am not against the use of explosives here." Staren's original idea of 'burning it all to the ground with high explosives' has some ever-increasing charm. There's a nod, though, at Ainsley's words. And then it clicks. The Inquisitor laughs. "My, my, my, art ye entirely certain ye were not a burglar at some point? Well done!" Then his demeanor hardens a bit. That supernatural darkness has his fur rising, and he's right behind his love as he follows along. A few words, and the living torch that is Phoenix blazes into view. The bird is notably smaller than usual, given the area. The Summoner concentrates, trying to feel for dark magics and sources of said magic.
Sakura Kinomoto	Sakura raises one hand to Staren and Faruja as they greet her. "Yo," she says, cooly... then giggles at herself. That sounded weird coming from her. Note to self: you cannot do the 'cool and collected rogue' thing. She waits patiently as Ainsley works to open the door, then peers into the dark room. Her head tilts to one side, as she produces a couple of Cards from absolutely nowhere visible - her sleight of hand skills just keep getting better - and produces her wand with a similar gesture. Summoning her wand was actually magic though. "...That feels like magic darkness. I could try to use Light to dispel it, maybe..?"
Staren	When Kotone mentions 'other options', Staren observes, "We could always blow up the door. Or the wall next to it." He looks at Ainsley. "If a small, directed explosion at a piece of this wall brings it all down, I have to wonder about the standards set for construction of /public/ buildings. Of course, we could always remotely trigger it from a ways away, just to be extra safe." The door opens. "See? If the door can slide out of them like that, there's no way those parts are the main, load-bearing wall..." Staren peers into the darkness, then turns on a flashlight. "What the..." he shines it around, determining the edge of the effect. "Antimagic covering its own darkness? Hmm... how else might we 'see' in here?" He suddenly checks the wall to each side of the door, inside. "Maybe we have to find the darkswitch and turn it off."
Inga Freyjasdottir	Inga looks to Faruja, raising one eyebrow slightly. Goodness, he seems awfully pleased with her suggestion. He's likely imagining the horrible things that might happen to her! Inga gives Faruja a very knowing look, the kind that is just natural for a Seer. CAN SHE READ YOUR THOUGHTS FARUJA!? The door is opened. Inga lets out a small sigh. "Mm, indeed. Well, let us continue," she says, moving over to stand by Kotone and Riva as they are met with a wall of darkness. "...that...is not normal darkness," she frowns, nodding to the others. For this occasion? She is not so sure she has a spell.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa says "It was an option, I was bringing to the table I'm not going to force it." Kotone doesn't want her friends frying themselves /either/. That's why she brought up the subject of mundane explosives. Still looking into more solid breaching charges for this she lets it slide however she honestly did not mean harm. After a brief bit on the radio it seems settled or so she hopes and she looks to. "It's Ainsley's call on that." If Faruja asked why she upgraded Kotone would happily tell him, and it boiled down to. She didn't want her hang ups costing her the means to protect people she was involved with. "I'm useless on magic save for I have an idea of what not to stand in or touch." She peers at the darkness as an old nerd joke pops into her head but she chooses not to say it. She does however move to cover Inga a bit now as Inga links up with her. "So this certainly is a thing isn't it?"
Riva Banari	"Pfft." Riva shakes her head. "We're not going to be blowing up any of these things." Riva waves a hand, and smiles as Ainsley breaks the seal and gets the door open. "Allriiiiiight! Nice work, Ains!" She calls. "Let's get this wagon train a-movin!" She says, walking forward to look at the darkness. She pauses. She shrugs. And then she lunges into the darkness. Maybe she can ind a magical light switch!
Ainsley	Staren finds a switch. It clicks. Nothing happens. Not immediately, at least. A shuffling noise of paper happens inside the library, and a frantic whispering like someone is hiding in there and muttering to themselves. It quickly goes silent again. Once the group has thrown together some kind of magical light, from Faruja at the very least, the darkness gets pushed back some and shows the front desk of a very large library with shelves reaching up into a dark ceiling above. It feels very mystical. Once magical fire shines on the crystal lights, they hum back to life and remain like that, keeping the darkness at bay at least for now. "I just knew the combination. It used Aztec mythology, the cardinal directions and their respective elements," Ainsley explains to Faruja, "Wuyin got it wrong the first time and got zapped. I guess it only zaps people when it's done wrong." Ainsley lets out a fussy noise, fearful of the room, probably rightfully so. She soon starts advancing into the room, leading the group. She nods in Sakura's direction, approving of her suggestion. Riva lunges into the darkness. She quickly feels a lurching sensation in her whole body, as if the power of dark mana had hit her all at once. Then she'd feel like she's dying, but not exactly dying. Then it would stop, and she'd feel mostly fine. She'd be able to see where there's light, but the darkness is still inky and impossible to see in. It also feels AWFUL and even itchy like it's trying to pull her blood out through her pores. Ainsley shouts, "Riva!?" Now the lizard is trembling like a chihuahua, incredibly frightened that something just ate her friend. It won't do that, but it sure isn't pleasant when someone touches it. The darkness can only be held at bay at a certain range, so it's impossible to see even a tenth of the library from where the party is, and many of the shelves block the light completely.
Sakura Kinomoto	Sakura nods her head to Ainsley - then yelps in surprise as Riva just dives right on in! Sakura hurries through an incantation now that time may be of the essence. Maybe. "O holy light, bring us deliverance from the darkness!" she calls, tossing both cards up into the air. Her magic circle appears at her feet, as she spins that wand around in both hands, perfectly timing so that when she brings the wand up the cards neatly fall into place just above it. "LIGHT!" There's a burst of magical light - and then a woman appears before Sakura. A regal-looking woman, with pure white skin, wearing a white dress and a white tiara, with long flowing white hair... She's shining. All of Sakura's card-spirits glow, of course, but the Light is shining almost painfully brightly. She raises both of her arms, closing her eyes - and a wave of light erupts from her body. It's bright enough that it should, by all rights, be painful, but it feels oddly gentle as it washes over the party.
Staren	Staren squints into the darkness. Is someone there? But if he shouts, it might alert them... /Some/ lights come on. "Okay, that was the /light/switch, but better than nothing I guess..." Riva runs into the darkness, and Ainsley seems terrified. "Hey," he calls, reassuringly, and walks over to put a hand on her shoulder. "Worst that can happen is she dies, right? She'll be fine." Still... since light seems to be working /somewhat/... note to self, next time get some kind of crazy overpowered light you can use. For now, though, he'll see if /many/ lesser, still pretty bright lights can work. If Sakura's light /still/ isn't enough, Staren reaches into his bag and starts tossing little superbright LEDs wired to little batteries into the darkness.
Inga Freyjasdottir	Inga gasps, "Riva!" but she's already gone. % Inga looks to Ainsley, sighing. "Usually, it is you I'm yelling at when you leap ahead," she grumbles. Inga reaches for the iron hammer talisman around her neck and cautiously steps forward.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa takes note of Ainsley's word had given last time has few books on their mythology loaded into her cyberbrain, it would take time but she'd have an on hand source to research if she was lucky. After all she'd have to know what she was looking for. She watches Riva go in, she feels tense sh feels worried but nothing happens. She takes a moment, takes in one deep breath and now move to on in. She's got a flash light in hand as she starts to look about. "Any idea what we're looking for in here?"
Faruja	Faruja, for his part, is right beside Ainsley. Phoenix and Faruja's Blaze Gun carefully offer fire to the Darkness, trying their hardest to not burn any books in the process. The rat woudl sleep on the couch for months for such a transgression.
Riva Banari	Riva jumps into the Darkness. IN MAGIC MESOAMERICA, THE DARKNESS ATTACKS /YOU/. There's some rummaging noises, and an immediate yell of "OH, UGH!", then some cursing as she stumbles back out, looking significantly the worse for wear as her entire body looks bruised, specks of blood leaking out of some portions of her flesh. She stumbles back into the light, groping for the light as she hisses, "Okaaaaaaay that was not the best plan." She mutters, her voice pained. "I don't know what's up with the bad mojo in there, but ugggggggggh. It felt like it was trying to pull my insides out."
Ainsley	It's a good thing Faruja is not burning the room down. Ainsley would quickly devolve from fear into primal rage at the sight of a library burning. As it is, she looks fretful at Riva's state when she emerges from the dark, and tells Staren pointedly, "I do not enjoy the frivolous approach to death. It is still pain and it is still not... necessary." She rubs at her own face with both hands, trying not to panic over such a thing. It's quite clear her nerves are thoroughly frayed today, for whatever reason. Inga's remark gets a pronounced frown out of her, and she shrinks back to hide behind Faruja some. When The Light casts light, the darkness shrinks back almost completely from the elemental push. What is revealed is a main center cooridor in the shelves. At the end of it is a black-scaled Quetzal, someone covered in feathers from head to lower back. He has a skirt made of leaves, and a ratty head dress on. He is covered in smeared white runes that don't seem to be glowing or anything like that. The bizarre nature of his presence is that he isn't making much, if any, sound, despite apparently reading a tome he has opened in front of him, occasionally turning a page with an agonizingly slow reach of one of his apparently intact hands. The priest's back is turned to the party. There is no blood, no sign of madness, just the careful turn of page after page, as long has he remains uninterrupted. The light hasn't even disturbed his reading at all.
Sakura Kinomoto	The Light lowers her arms - but she remains in place, rather than simply melting back into the form of a card. Perhaps making sure the magic remains active, so the darkness doesn't suddenly come back to swallow them? Sakura winces a little bit at Riva's appearance. She looks hesitently into the room, then carefully steps beyond the threshold, ending up standing next to the Light. The elemental spirit just continues to look straight ahead, however. She's not really blocking anything. "Um... h-hello?" she calls to the priest. Welp, element of surprise ruined.
Faruja	Faruja is a steadfast (if short) obstacle to hide behind. More importantly, Phoenix is there. So Ainsley should be relatively safe from any encroaching Darkness if Faruja's snarls are any indication. Faruja spies those runes, the page-turning priest, and immediately scowls. In the space of a few seconds, he has his finger on his Blaze Gun's trigger. "INQUISITION!" Comes his voice, loudly and full of authority. It seems 'jurisdiction' isn't something that's on Faru's mind right now. "Stand up, turn about, and explain why ye art not one of the walking dead if ye wouldst be so kind!"
Inga Freyjasdottir	When Riva arrives out of the darkness, Inga is ready. She quickly slices open the pale skin of her inner arm, the blood swiftly directed toward Riva. A crimson aura surrounds her, healing her by speeding up her natural (supernatural) regenerative abilities. "Well...that's.." She stops, as the darkness is dispelled. Inga blinks. "Well done," she comments. With a sigh, Inga moves forward, her eyes settling on the figure calmly reading. She frowns, then looks a bit to the side of him, her pupils widening to dark pools as she embraces her Sight, careful not to look directly at him in case he is infected. She's looking for any sort of vision that would tell her anything about what is happening and who he is. Any little threads of the wyrd that might happen to hover around him.
Staren	Staren's brow furrows slightly, though it's hard to see behind his visor. "Okay, but... there's a difference to testing hazards we have to get through," he waves a hand at the darkness, "and, say, dying a bunch of times so her bodies form a pile we can climb to get over some obstacle when we have other ways to solve the problem. That'd be messed up." He frowns more. "Although... I guess it's true here that we have lights... I don't know. This doesn't feel like a frivolous use of her power, taking this risk." His eyes widen in shock when Riva returns. "What... That... that's, uhh, that's messed up. I guess we'd better avoid that... I wonder if it works on robots..." but he doesn't seem to be in a hurry to try it. And then there is light. "So there /was/ someone in here. Reading in the darkness. I wonder how that works? Does it not affect him? Can he see in the dark? Or is he just going through the motions?" Suddenly, he makes the connection that runes /might/ have to do with filth infection, and tries not to look at them too closely as he takes up a defensive stance. "You there! Who are you? And how can you see in the darkness?"
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa looks to Staren for a moment and she looks to Ainsley. "You make life cheap? You make people cheap too." She notes before she looks back to the matter at hand, the light and tries to get a look. She looks at the person who is reading a tome, wait he was reading in the darkness. She keeps closer for a moment and looks to Faruja and just stared. Okay that was a hit to being diplomatic a fairly bit one also wait he was reading in the darkness. How does that work? There's a creeping feeling of horror in the back of her mind now.
Ainsley	The feathered priest doesn't stop reading when shouted out, not immediately. It causes a twitch in his body, like he's fighting some sort of reflex. He soon straightens up to a proper stand, and stares forward, his posture slightly askew, like he's half-asleep. He stays like that for a few seconds, not making any quick movements. When Inga gazes into the wyrd, she sees something vibrant and exact. She sees a wayward Quetzal stepping onto Solomon Island through Agartha, looking confused and lost. She sees him wandering across the island in flashes... and then drawn toward a pool of darkness, stopping at the edge-- and the vision abruptly stops making sense, burning like an old film reel and flooding the senses with nonsensical input. Flashes of despair flicker, and then fade, and the vision ends. He still doesn't turn around to face them. He does, however, speak to them. His voice is distorted, broken. Full of a creeping madness. "Power. Hungry for power, power to protect. Protect all of us. But it cannot be. We are doomed, all of us, doomed from that very day. I could not see it. The truth was always there, we were blind to it We are all the walking dead. Dead. Dead. Dead-" "Why?" he croaks in a tone like he could just give on living, putting his hands to his face. "WhywhywhyWHY WHY WHYYYY--" It goes from despair to absolute fury in a grating howl and he lashes out at a nearby shelf, knocking dozens of books down. Then he snaps around, and focuses INTENTLY on Ainsley, who shrinks back in terror. His hunger boils through the room, and he looks between each person in turn, as if they were food, and he visibly fights it with shuddering, twitching, gasping and wheezing. His mouth, cracked slightly open, spills black ooze and slick black tentacles wiggle out from his maw as if his mouth is full of eels. His eyes are infinitely deep black pits, deeper black than his very scales. And the darkness expands from him and contracts, and he's gone, abruptly, without a trace. All the remaining darkness fades from the room, and the crystal lights hum to life gradually.
Riva Banari	Riva doesn't really jump in on the inquisition of the priest. At the moment, she's too busy dealing with her blood wanting to leave her body. It's not pleasant. Inga's magics wash over her, the blood sacrifice giving her an aura of healing. The bruses and blood-streaked eyes begin to repair themselves, her damage dailing as she falls back and leans against the wall, trying to catch her breath. "Okay." She mutters. "I thought it was just darkness, I didn't think that it was going to do /that/." She is in no condition to help defend against the priest, but thank goodness, it doesn't look like she HAS to. She shudders. "Whoa...." She shakes her head at that. "Is that... Was that the guy?" She asks. "What was he reading?"
Sakura Kinomoto	There's a soft 'snickt' from Sakura's left hand. A blade glints in the light, extending just past her palm. She takes a half-step back, putting her left side slightly forward as her hand switches up its grip on her wand - holding it more like a weapon than the cheerleading baton she usually treats it as. But then the mad priest(?) vanishes in a flash of... darkness. Sakura stares dumbfounded for a moment. Then... "What the -hell- was that?"
Staren	When the guy stands LIKE A ZOMBIE, Staren raises his right arm, ready to fire. He frowns again. Hungry for power to protect... he can understand that. Is there anything left of this man to save? This quetzal isn't a mindless monster -- he's fighting the infection. Like Joe Slater. "We can save you--" Staren starts, but doesn't lower his hand... And then he's gone. Staren just stares at the empty space where he was for a moment. What can he say to that? After a moment, he asks, "Okay... now what?"
Faruja	Faruja's response to mad-voiced priests, lashing out, and spilling black-tentacles might be fairly predictable. "PHOENIX!" A massive ball of fire begins forming at the fiery bird's beak, but too late; the preist vanishes just before the bird is about to unleash it. Slowly, the fire dissipates, leaving the library intact and safe from fiery doom. Faruja angrily throws his cane where the quetzal once stood. "BLOODY ABYSS! Knew I shouldst hath burned the little wretch as soon as I saw the Heretic." Huff! Then the male shakes his head, and stalks forward. Kneeling down, he concentrates as he attempts to peer into the past to see just /what/ the priest had been doing. This may or may not be a horrible idea.
Inga Freyjasdottir	Inga stands frozen, watching as the vision plays out in her mind. It isn't just like watching a series of detached images. When the vision is strong, Inga truly /feels/ it, as if she were there. Sensitive as she is to these things, the feelings of horror and despair crash over, screaming in her soul. There are answers, though, once she can process them. The man stand and raves. There's something about the voice. Something about the way of speech....as if it has a /color/. A scent. A feeling of creeping tentacles... And there they are. "Get back, don't touch him!" she cries, ready to draw more of her blood and fight...but then, he's gone. Inga still grips her knife, teeth clenched. "Stay away from where he was...he's infected. It was him who brought The Filth here," she pronounces. Inga looks to Faruja. He's trying to do it again! "Are you daft!?" she says, reaching to grab him. "You are not even warded!"
Kotone Yamakawa	She looks at the priest as he keeps reading but his body twitches. She's not sure whaqt's going on her as he mvoes to stand wait no she's not sure what he's really doing. She seems to be very on edge at this point. She however can not see whatever it it that Inga seeks. She hears what they say however she does look at them and starts to get on edge at htis point. She watche them lash out and she moves to get her weapon but it's soon gone and she can't help but feel a horror as she gts the idea this guy is infested by she thinks the flith. "Were they ... filth infested?"
Ainsley	The book Faruja looks at is incredibly mundane. He might get a glimpse of an illustration of happy families merrily chiseling in the walls of the tunnels, surprisingly detailed. A Quetzal artisan apparently teaching his son the family trade. This was the page the Quetzal priest was looking at when he was interrupted. The book looks untouched by black smudges or pollution. In fact, there's no sign of the Filth anywhere, not even smudges on the floor where the sludge dripped from the priest's mouth or on the books he knocked over. Ainsley has, by this point, retreated up against one of the walls of the library, slid down to sit on the floor, and pulled her knees up to her chest, staring forward distantly with eyes at maximum wideness, as if afraid to even blink. She doesn't make a sound.
Faruja	Daft Priest get! Inga catches Faruja by the tail, yanks him back, and then he's tumbling head-first towards his best Herefriend. Hopefully she can catch him before he has any embarrassing tumbles. "Faith is my shield!" He offers, rather weakly, only belatedly realizing the idiocy of his own actions. He looks a bit ashamed, here. And then Ainsley is very obviously traumatized. The Inquisitor is soon stalking towards her, and glances to the source of highest Friendship Levels of all time: Sakura Kinomoto. There's a motion of his head. Tag-team love and friendship go. Thus, Faruja slides down the wall, and wraps his arms as he holds onto Ainsley's right side. More than enough room for more hugs and friendship. No words. He doesn't have them for this level of defilement. All he can do is offer his presence to the woman he loves, and prays Sakura has ideas he doesn't. The book goes utterly ignored.
Sakura Kinomoto	Sakura relaxes a little bit, her Hidden Blade slotting back into place after a few moments. "...Seriously, I'm kinda confused, what just happened? What's 'Filth'? I may not have been paying enough attention..." But then... Ainsley is in trouble! She frowns sympathetically, walking over and kneeling down. Her magic circle flickers to life - without Sakura seeming to do anything! - and a small, toddler-sized card spirit materialises in the air in front of Ainsley. It's wearing what appears to be a cross between a harlequin outfit and a... cloud. It has pointy ears and a blue, cloud-shaped gem in its forehead. The Cloud tilts its head to one side, then reaches out to Ainsley and pats her on the head.
Inga Freyjasdottir	Inga isn't really the best person to catch anyone. Indeed, grabbing him send /her/ off balance and she nearly falls--so when he almost tumbles, she doesn't catch him. She just falls beneath him. There is a brief tangle of zealouts. Inga tries to maintain her dignity. "While I applaud your faith, I am quite sure you god would caution against idiocy like giving the Filth a path into your mind," she replies heatedly, getting to her feet again. Inga looks to Kotone, nodding grimly. "Yes. As I said...it was him. Somehow, he found his way to Solomon Island. There, he found the Filth. He has brought it back here. He is most certainly infected," she replies, looking around again. Quickly, guardedly. "There doesn't look to be any residual however. Which is...strange," she adds, brow drawing together thoughtfully. % Ainsley is deeply shaken. Faruja goes to her. Inga wonders if there is anything she can even say to help her deal with this. She would so likely to offer something positive, some hope.... But she comes up short. She fears all that's left is damage control. "Ainsley...we need to find him before he can spread it further. We will have to kill him," she says, pointedly glancing toward Staren.
Riva Banari	Riva is beginning to feel better now. She pushes off the wall and walks into the library. "Huh. This library is pretty awesome. But that priest dude was... um... Those symptoms looked familiar. I think that was the guy who's responsible for all this." She looks over to where he was. "But it doesn't look like he was actually here. Or was he?" She pokes around, and then looks over to Ainsley. She'd join in on comfotying her, but it looks like the others have it well in hand. She starts rummaging around, maybe if she could find some kind of hint... "The Filth is a thing from my and Inga's home world. We don't understand it, but we do know it's highly infective and it causes people to go insane. We seem to be somewhat resistant to permanent effects, but there's been a couple instances of Elites getting infected to lesser degrees. Apparently that guy brought it here."
Staren	Ainsley is traumatized! On his way over to comfort her, he stops to explain to Sakura: "The Filth is a... it's a sort of virus from Riva and Inga's world that turns you into a monster, and can spread through ideas. Don't read any mad wall scribblings. It's combined with something from here to form, uh... Crazy goo-covered skeleton monsters that try to eat everything." He walks up to Ainsley. "Ainsley..." he sounds concerned, but he's not sure what to say to that.
Ainsley	Ainsley remains still, staring forward even as Faruja hugs her. The comfort of The Cloud seems to flow over her and not do much. Eventually she starts to relax, reaching forward to grab the cloud elemental and pull the magical entity up close for a hug. The lizard girl closes her eyes. "I wanted him to be evil. To be someone to fight. I didn't want... Not this... Not again..." She starts to cry. She's not going to stop until later tonight, when she's back home, and there's not an ounce of love, friendship or comfort that will stop that.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is not evne going to look at the book, she's actually afraid to given what they are dealing with. She is honeslty still scared evne if the glance she took showed it to be clean. She sees Ainsley is really hacked up and she can't fault her she's very scared. "Something tht taids and twists all it touches. I'm not the best person to explain it." She looks to Inga and listens. "I know I'm disturbed by how clean it seems I don't trust that book." She's on edge and now going to keep watch oever everyone else but Riva's done a good job talking about the flith. "I think it's beyond a simple Virus Staren, when magic's involved. Everything goes out the window." Now she turns to Ainsley. "...Hey Ainsley?"
Inga Freyjasdottir	Inga sighs quietly, nodding. It would be easier if the man hadn't been so...normal. A normal person, meaning to do good, who misstepped and brought tragedy. It would be nice to think they could save him. Inga's already accepted that just insn't the story being written here. Inga sighs. "I can explain more about the Filth later. I do not even like speaking of it so close to its presence," she replies. "Lets get out of here," she suggests.
Sakura Kinomoto	The Cloud frowns a little bit, and nuzzles its head against Ainsley, clinging tight. Poor Ainsley. :( "Master. We should quit this place," comes the voice of the Light. Wait, Sakura's Cards can -speak-? Sakura sighs a bit, standing up. She holds up one hand - conjuring up a -bright pink- door in the middle of the room. It seems vastly out of place. Sakura opens it up - revealing the foyer of the Castle of Stars beyond the threashold. "...If you need to take anything just put it in the magic space castle. It's easier than carrying stuff." With a flick of her wrist, the Light is returned to card form - and Sakura makes to leave. The Cloud is. Still in Ainsley's arms. Sakura doesn't seem to have noticed. Or maybe she left it with her on purpose.