MASKTOURN

Darcy wandered into the refectory and inspected all of the offerings. None of the food looked particularly appealing, at least not to him, but he got the feeling he should probably eat something instead of letting his worry consume him entirely. And there was bread. Bread was nice. @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

Not long after, Kenji enters the refectory as well. He picks out a couple of things here and there, though it would seem like a pretty meager amount, and as he scans the seating area he notices someone nearby who seems to be alone at the moment. Well. Can’t hurt to meet another contestant. “Do you mind if I join you?” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Darcy was midway through idly dipping a piece of bread in some olive oil when Kenji approached him. He straightened up, and took in the stranger's appearance- an older man, bird side, wearing the mask that Darcy had pointedly elected not to put on his face. "Oh, hello. Yes, you can join me. I'm not... waiting on company, or anything." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

A small smile slides onto his face, a little more genuine than the one he’d left Reagan with and tugging faintly at his scars. “Thank you,” he says, sitting down with his plate. “My name’s Kenji. You?” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Darcy. It's nice to meet you." Darcy hummed, though he didn't smile. "You seem... cheery." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

“You as well.” Kenji picks out a piece of fruit, maneuvering it around the scarring with ease. “I..wouldn’t go that far, but I’ll admit I don’t have such a bad feeling about all this anymore.” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"You have less of a bad feeling about... being in a death tournament?" Darcy asked. @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

Kenji’s smile seems to..dim, slightly, and his hand twitches, but nothing in his voice or words notes a reaction. “I was worried at first, but Reagen helped. They’re the one in charge of your side,” he adds, questionably helpfully. “Besides, I… I trust Albanes. Which I guess means trusting the Lifebringer by extension.” (He still seems oddly determined to keep the two distinct from each other.) @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

".... right. Reagan. They left a letter for me." Darcy hummed. "You... trust Albanes?" He offered Kenji to elaborate. @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

No. “Yes.” Where had that come from? “…Yes. I trust her. If this is..what she thinks is in our best interest. I’ve known her for a long time.” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Hm." Darcy frowned. "I don't have the same trust in her... but I don't know her." "Do you know someone named Aarni? He also said he knew Albanes." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

Kenji’s mouth twists into something close to a frown, but still his voice is level. “It…sounds familiar,” he admits. “But I’m not sure..why, exactly. Like I said, it’s been a long time.” That seems right. It feels right. (Not like the faint memory of rain and laughter that tugs in the back of his mind.) @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Hm. Well, he seems to trust her, too." Darcy frowned, unable to keep his suspicion at Kenji's words out of his voice or off his face. "I... once knew someone named Albanes, though I'm not certain this is the same person. She looks the same, older, maybe, but... I'm almost certain the Albanes I knew died." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

Darcy’s suspicions, unfortunately, go largely unnoticed. Instead, it’s pretty open suprise at the rest of what he’s saying. “She died? I’m.. I’m sorry to hear that. That must have been confusing to see someone like her.” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs (edited)

"I wasn't very close with her." Darcy reassured. "It... was a bit confusing, I'll admit. But this whole place is just... strange." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

Now that, he can agree with. “Strange is definitely another word for it,” he nods, picking out another piece of fruit. “This..isn’t exactly what I had in mind coming to Albanes for help. But if she and the Lifebringer think it will, I don’t see a reason to argue.” Absolutely not a weird thing to say at all in any way. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Now that was unusual. "You came to the Lifebringer for help? You weren't taken here against your will?" @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

Kenji’s hand,subconsciously or not, presses against his chest, as his heartbeat thuds in his ears suddenly and he has to hide the deep breath he slowly takes in. “Yyes, yes I did. I traveled here a few..days ago.” He’s not really sure about that, if he’s being honest with himself, but it was unreasonable to think otherwise. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Huh." A willing participant. It seemed that, unlike what Darcy had presumed, they were not all in the same boat. "What do you want the Lifebringer's help with?" He presumed healing- that seemed to be the reason anyone chose to mess with the Lifebringer. @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

There’s that headache again, dully throbbing at his temples. Kenji grimaces faintly, hand briefly tightening around the handle of his fork before it relaxes flat on the table. “I don’t… I’d rather not, ah, discuss that. If you don’t mind.” Easier than saying that he doesn’t know. (Anymore.) @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Darcy definitely took note of Kenji's grimacing. "That's perfectly alright, you're entitled to your privacy." He frowned. "Are you feeling alright?" @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

“Thank you.” There’s definitely a..slight strain to his voice, but it seems to fade slowly. “I’m okay, yes. It’s all okay. ….I’ve, ah, just been getting headaches the past few days.” A quiet chuckle, as he shifts in his seat. “My husband would probably say it’s because I’m old now. Maybe he’s right.” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Mhm. I'm sorry. Headaches are no fun." Darcy said sympathetically. "If it gets too bad, maybe Albanes can help you. Since the Lifebringer's a healer and all." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

“Perhaps. I’d hate to bother her for something small like this, though. They usually pass.” A moment passes, and then he asks, “You and another I met both said you were..brought here. How did that happen?” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"I was abducted. A flaming figure appeared to me, said a speech about... conquest and bloodshed, or something, and I was taken here through... some magical means. I woke in a dark room with Albanes, she told me about the tournament and then knocked me out, and I woke up here." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

Something about the figure’s description seems to leave him on edge. (Fire and forest and running and rage, buzzing beneath his skin.) He doesn’t comment on it, though. “..Do you think this is a different place? Like, different from where you talked to her, I mean.” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"In the dark room, she said this was the Halcyon Citadel, so.... it's probably the same place. I'm pretty sure this is an entirely separate plane of existence, though, outside of our home dimensions." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

“..I see.” He doesn’t say anything more after that for a short while—clearly, it was not what he was expecting to hear. His plate’s still half-uneaten but it seems he’s lost his appetite. When he does finally continue, it’s with a careful and almost monotone voice. “This other figure, it must..be the one more involved, then.” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"The flaming figure?" Darcy asked. "Some of the other contestants spoke to someone named Naiyta- the another Lifebringer, I believe. That must've been them." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

Just hearing the name is enough for his heart to start racing again. “Well, hopefully they stay away from us for the more part,” he says, entirely unsure of where the words came from. “And hopefully we get some answers soon. There has to be some reason we’re missing.” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Mhm. I hope so, about both." Though, if Naiyta really was the one in charge, Darcy doubted they'd really be able to avoid it. "Mhm. That's what I'm trying to do, find some answers. I've looked around this place as much as I can, but all I've found is... old ruins and weird statues." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

As the topic shifts, Kenji slowly calms, though there now seems to be a strange sort of nervous energy left behind. “I saw one of those statues in the river outside,” he mentions. “I didn’t really stick around to look closely, but it had half a face in its hands all crumbled and the other person there said that’s apparently a..conqueror move of some sort?” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Huh. I saw one with a sword in one of the ruins, but that one had a head." Darcy frowned. "I've heard of that before, decapitating statues after conquest... but I'd think you'd do it to all of them, not just one." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

“I suppose, but maybe they’re different people?” Kenji suggests, almost absentmindedly. “Different connections to being here I mean, or something like that.” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Hm. Maybe. I've only really seen the one up close, but it makes sense they'd be different people." Darcy hummed. "Someone I spoke to thinks this entire place is the Lifebringer's creation, though. That raises another question- why would the Lifebringer create a statue, just to deface it? Seems like a waste of effort." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

Kenji shrugs, though it seems jerky and ever so slightly unnatural. “Why bring people here to have them fight instead of just to have them die? The Lifebringer is a God. If they created this place, maybe we’re not meant to understand.” Very casual discussion of all that. Sir can you be normal for like five minutes. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Hmph." Darcy was not a fan of the incomprehensible. "Maybe so. I just... I don't know. It has to mean something. Everything has to mean something." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

“Maybe it does to them. We’re just mortals.” Something about that sentence just feels wrong, but he pushes that thought to the side. “I doubt they’ll just be willing to explain.” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Darcy frowned. "You don't think your friend would be willing to help?" @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

“Albanes? I hope so.” The wrongness seems to intensify, and what’s visible of his face twists slightly. “I’d hope so. But I…don’t think I know.” Yeah, that’s for sure. “I just know that I trust her.” Okay grandpa let’s get you to bed. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"... I hope so too. I think she might be our most reliable source of information here." Darcy sighed. "Not that she gave me much of anything." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

“I haven’t seen her since I came to speak with her,” he admits. “And it’s a bit..fuzzy, I guess. Reagan mentioned that most of the non-competitors here would be out of sight, but I hope that doesn’t apply to her too..” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"... maybe we can find out more about that sort of thing from Reagan." Darcy considered. "I hadn't been thinking of the side hosts as sources of information, because I haven't come across either of them, but come to think of it, they'd probably be helpful." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"... maybe we can find out more about that sort of thing from Reagan." Darcy considered. "I hadn't been thinking of the side hosts as sources of information, because I haven't come across either of them, but come to think of it, they'd probably be helpful." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

@em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

“Mhm. I haven’t met the host of my side yet, but I hope so.” Kenji nods. “Though I’m not sure how much there is to get. Reagan sounded apologetic but everything seems pretty set in stone.” Before he can continue, there’s an…echo, of sorts, in his mind. Somehow, the feeling isn’t new. His only reaction is the slight tilt of his head and a blink behind the mask. “Well. It sounds like we might want to go check that out, then.” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Darcy bristled uncomfortably as foreign thoughts entered his mind. "Ah- yes. I suppose we should. I'm going to go back to my room and get that mask..." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

Kenji nods his head, not standing up to leave just yet. “I think that’s a good idea. I’ll see you there, most likely.” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Darcy stood up quickly and moved to leave. "It's been nice speaking to you. I'll... see you later, I suppose." And with that, he left. @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫