MASKTOURN

Kenji enters the refectory somewhat tiredly, and relieved that it doesn’t look like too many people are around for lunch. He’s not..super hungry, all things considered, but he might as well take advantage of being here while he can. He’d gone back to his room to change first, and while his robes are slightly disheveled at least they’re dry, unlike his hair sticking to his horns and the back of his neck. He sits down more off to the side away from the few others here, meager plate in front of him, and finally takes the mask off again to shake the water out of his hair the best he can. Definitely not expecting anyone to approach! @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

10:57 AM

Well, he wouldn't be alone for very long. Kenji wouldn't see Naiyta enter, probably wouldn't know why they were there- but here it was! Itignored the others in the refectory for now, and strutted over to his table. "Got caught in the rain, did we?" @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

Kenji jolts at the question, though it isn’t until he turns to see it that recognition dawns on his face—and his heart thuds into his throat, inexplicably. “I— Not exactly ‘caught’, but.. yes..” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Shame." Naiyta hummed, and didn't say anything more. It sat directly across from Kenji. "How have you been faring lately? Aside from the rain, of course." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

Why does he feel cornered? They’re just sitting. Kenji tries to ignore it, but the urge to put the mask back on is itching at his fingertips. “I’ve.. had some interesting conversations,” he says after a moment. “Met some interesting people. That’s, ah, probably the best word for it all.” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Interesting." Naiyta repeated, almost mockingly. "And how have your headaches been?" @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

His gray eye doesn’t quite meet theirs. “It’s always kind of there,” Kenji shrugs, somewhat uncomfortably. “Today hasn’t been bad. Last night was worse.” He’s half-tempted to ask why they’re asking, but that feels oddly rude. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Hm." Naiyta leaned towards Kenji, studying him. "What happened last night? That would've caused it, do you think?" @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

Kenji leans back, ever so slightly, though on purpose or not isn’t quite clear as he grips the mask tighter. “There was..something in Aarni’s room.” Naiyta would be able to see the tiny scrapes and burns it’d left littered across his skin. “It… It said I knew it, and it said that name again too. And— it said it made Aarni lose.” Just the thought of it makes his head start to hurt again, but there’s anger in his voice there too. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

1

Naiyta's brow furrowed in concern. Their voice grows grave. "What sort of something?" @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

1

Kenji swallows, tensely. It feels like he’s made a wrong step. “I.. I don’t know, it was— all kinds, light and flames and teeth, but it could talk or at least I could hear it.” He..holds back, about it crawling into his mind, at least for right now. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Naiyta definitely seemed upset- though, not necessarily at Kenji. "Did it seem to hold any sort of power? Could it do anything?" @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

“I mean, it- it attacked me, a lot…” Kenji clearly wasn’t expecting to be interrogated about it, but at least he’s not the center of conversation. “I fought it back a few of the times. It said it was stuck. I..I think it used the word ‘tethered’?” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Hm. Hm." Naiyta frowned. "This is not good. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I will have to clean up this mess... later." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

“You’re..welcome?” Kenji sounds unsure about that. It also sounds like there’s something else on his mind… It takes him a good few moments to actually ask. “…Did it know me?” Yikes. “I mean— I know I knew Aarni and it knew him, it showed me him, and..I know there’s things I’m missing… I feel like I would have remembered something like that.” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs (edited)

"I don't know! I don't even know what this thing is." Naiyta scoffed. "All I know is that it does not belong here." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

“..Ah.” Evidently it’s not the answer he was hoping for, but it’s not exactly one that leaves a lot of space for a follow-up. “I..figured if anyone you might know. Since you brought them here.” It’s not quite accusatory, more..neutral, maybe. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"I brought Aarni here. While I was aware he might be bringing something else along with him, I wasn't aware it would stick around after he died." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

“It got mad and then ran away when I called it a parasite,” Kenji says slowly. It feels like there’s a puzzle right in front of him, only with half the pieces and the box cover missing. “That’s the same thing Aarni asked me about at the gala, before…” Yeah. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"That, essentially, is what I believe it to be." Naiyta nodded. "Hm. You don't need to concern yourself with what he said." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

“Why not? He was my friend.” The question is genuine. “I would trust him like I trusted Albanes.” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"He was mistaken. He doesn't understand what's going on here." Naiyta said. "And you shouldn't trust Albanes, either. She's lying to you." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

Maybe Aarni was mistaken, but both him and that thing connected to him had said the same thing. It’s not really something he can ignore. Interesting pivot, though—Kenji frowns, taking a moment to consider. “How so?” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Everything she's told you about why you're here, and what's going to happen to you, is a lie." Naiyta said simply. "She is a liar." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

“Maybe she is. I still chose to come to her.” Kenji seems oddly unfazed. “She says you want us to die. That doesn’t seem all that out of line with what I’ve seen so far.” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Has she told you that she intends to keep you safe?" Naiyta asked. "Because that is a lie." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

“She has,” Kenji concedes, carefully, and trying to keep his expression more neutral. It’s not quite working. The cracks aren’t completely noticeable yet, though. “We’re safe, until we die. That doesn’t make it..exactly a total lie.” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"She does not intend to keep you safe. Even if she had any power to keep me from killing you all, she wouldn't." Naiyta leaned in close to Kenji, and in a hiss said, "She wants you all dead." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

“Then why haven’t you?” It’s…surprisingly not as combative as it could have been said. “You both are meant to be a Lifebringer, I thought. You’re healers.” Kenji doesn’t really want to dwell on the rest. It’s not that he believes them outright, but he doesn’t feel like he needs to argue against that. That realization is…well. It’s a little scary. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"My plans require a more methodical, more strategically loss of life. Believe it or not, I do not intend on wiping you all out of it isn't strictly necessary." A pause. "Unlike some here. I act only to preserve the lives of the greater masses. It is Albanes who has forced my hand into greater measures." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

That one takes a bit of time to digest. “..What’s that supposed to mean. We’re, what, saving people’s lives by dying? None of us are anything that special. We’re not gods.” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Naiyta took in a breath. "Do you know what the Immaterial Fold is? It's an afterlife, governed by us Lifebringers. Currently, Albanes has complete control over it. And she has made some... alterations to it that threaten the very fabric of our reality. If balance is not restored, I fear the power I uphold in the world will crumble. I don't know what will happen if that happens, but I can only predict the very worst." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

“Alterations?” Kenji repeats, raising an eyebrow. “When I first came here I didn’t even know she was fully the Lifebringer. Now a bit later she can just— control other..realms, or whatever?” He’s making his best attempt at rationalizing it out. All this talk of death and afterlife is really starting to grow the pounding in his head again, but it’s… it’s worth it for the information Albanes had refused to give. Whether or not it’s actually true. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"It doesn't surprise me she's been downplaying her own abilities to make it seem like she's on your side. She isn't. She's the Regnant Lifebringer. At this point, she's more God than human." It scoffed. "Not that she acts like it." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

More god than human. Why does that hurt so much? Kenji clenches his jaw, no longer meeting Naiyta’s eyes. “She didn’t want that when we were younger, we didn’t want—“ No, that’s.. That’s not right. Odd. “She didn’t want that. I don’t get what could’ve changed. We weren’t in contact as much as I’d’ve liked, sure, but— everything seemed fine, she was just..far. Even when I came here she seemed the same. More..solemn, maybe, but.. But still my friend.” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Perhaps she changed. Or perhaps, you didn't know her as well as you thought you did. She did choose this." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

Kenji’s quiet for a while after that. Eventually, he asks, “So what’s her goal, then? You said it’s different from yours.” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"I'm not certain. I have no idea why she'd compromise the integrity of our powers, of the world itself, for what she's done. It's frankly ridiculous. You'll have to ask her." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

“I already did,” Kenji admits. “According to her, it’s complicated, and there’s nothing she can do to stop you.” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Well, she's not wrong about part of that. There is very little she can do to stop me." Naiyta scoffed. "But the situation itself is very simple, and she knows that. She's just trying to avoid blame." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

Kenji’s fingers drum against the table as he considers his next question. “So how do— how do I fall into this? Everyone else was brought here. I was just, what, wrong place wrong time?” It’s been eating at him for a while, practically the whole time he’s been here. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Something like that." Naiyta said vaguely. @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

Kenji glares off to the side for a moment, clearly not happy with the half-answer, but carefully reigns in that anger when he looks back at it. “Albanes says she’s still helping me, but how am I supposed to believe that when I somehow don’t remember what she’s helping with? And what does it matter if I’m dying anyways?” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Well, that's easy. She's lying to you and not helping you in the first place." Naiyta shrugged. @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

“Doesn’t change the fact that there’s still something wrong,” Kenji insists, gritting his teeth. It’s a long shot, but the questions slip out before he can really think it through. “Why does that word make things worse? What is Amara?” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Naiyta only gave Kenji a mocking smile. "Amara," it said, "is an old enemy of mine." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

It feels like his entire body is revolting against him. His grip on the mask, already harsh, tightens so much it nearly splinters. Kenji sucks in a deep breath through clenched jaws as he forces out each word. “I’ve… I’ve only been here for a—“ Pause. Breathe. Push through. “—f-for a few days. I don’t— know you. What does that have to— have to do with me?!” He doesn’t notice Naiyta’s smile, all energy thrown into speaking. Whatever Albanes shouldn’t, couldn’t, wouldn’t say, there had to be something that made sense. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

With cold and bony hands, Naiyta forcibly takes Kenji's hands away from his mask. "I don't think asking these questions is doing you much good." @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

Kenji yanks his hands back but doesn’t try to reach for the mask again, both eyes wide yet gray one seemingly flickering. “I don’t—“ He swallows, chokes on the words, exhales sharply. “I don’t care.” @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Naiyta rose from their seat, and looked down at Kenji. "Even if I was going to give you an answer, it's no use if you can't comprehend it. Go rest, Kenji." It's more of an order than a suggestion. @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

It’s painfully clear how badly Kenji wants to keep pushing the topic, but luckily he does still have enough sense of self-preservation not to argue with the order. He stands, slowly and without meeting Naiyta’s eyes, and grabs the mask back off of the table—fixing it back in place before leaving the refectory. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

It’s painfully clear how badly Kenji wants to keep pushing the topic, but luckily he does still have enough sense of self-preservation not to argue with the order. He stands, slowly and without meeting Naiyta’s eyes, and grabs the mask back off of the table—fixing it back in place before leaving the refectory. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Naiyta didn't make a move to stop him, and left shortly after. They had work to do.