MASKTOURN

Aarni walked up to the stage, looking from one Lifebringer. "Hello again, Albanes", He greeted, and nodded politely to Naiyta as well. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Albanes and Naiyta's tense conversation had died down a bit, and she seemed relieved to see Aarni. "Hello, Aarni. It's nice to see you again." She managed a weak smile. @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"You too. Can I sit here?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Yes, of course," Albanes said, and extended out a hand to help Aarni up onto the stage. The gesture was met by a glare from Naiyta, but it said nothing. @Twig | Seki / Aarni

Aarni smiled faintly and took Albanes' hand, stepping up to the stage. "Thanks. You have a cozy place here", he hummed. He looked over to Naiyta and spoke with a neutral expression, or, his usual resting-bitch-face. "This is your... pre-de-ces-sor?" he asked, putting some effort to pronounce the word right. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Thank you. Have you gotten anything to eat yet? We have some bread here, if you'd like." Albanes followed Aarni's glance to Naiyta. "Yes, this is Naiyta Hauryan. Naiyta, this is Aarni. My old friend." "Mhm." Naiyta regarded Aarni. "Welcome to the Citadel, Aarni." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Thank you, nice to meet you", he bowed his head a bit to Naiyta, before turning back to Albanes. "No, I just came here. But thanks, I could have some," he smiled slightly. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Albanes moved a plate of flatbread and olive oil a bit closer to where she and Aarni sat. By the looks of it, neither she nor Naiyta had eaten a lot of it. "Help yourself. It's very good." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"It does look good", he reached out and took a piece, although he didn't particularly feel like eating, it was kind of easier to do than jumping right to the heavy topics. He munched on the bread and watched the other contestants wander about. "I met someone who had been in a different tournament", he hummed, to start from somewhere. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Mhm. That's... the case with a few of the guests here." Albanes nodded. "Some were taken from... a different timeline." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"But it wasn't our tournament. I figured it was led by an entirely different group than ours." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Right. There was a different version of me at that tournament, and it was run by a different version of my mentor, Juno." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Juno? The one who took your heart and kicked the bucket?" Aarni huffed, turning to Albanes again. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Yes. That Juno." Albanes sighed. "From what I can tell, he did about the same in the other dimension." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Well fuck that guy", Aarni grumbled, and stuffed the rest of his bread piece into his mouth, chewing grumpily. Once his mouth was empty again, he asked: "How many timelines are there?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs (edited)

"Infinite." Albanes said. "But the people here are only from a handful of different ones, ours included." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Huh... That's a bit more than I can imagine", he chuckled dryly. "Are there tournaments in all of them, too? That would explain why they suddenly feel so common." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Ehh... not really, but more people who had previously been to tournament were selected for this one. I... don't know why." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Huh, interesting... So you didn't pick who was invited?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"I didn't. Or else, I wouldn't have brought you here." She glanced a bit towards Naiyta, but they weren't paying attention to the conversation. @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Hmm, well, thank you for that", he smiled sadly. "Hmm... There's a thing I thought about. If someone from our timeline, for example, won the tournament and went back to the point where they were taken from, and that point was in the past for you, would that cause some, like, time mess-ups?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"No. The Lifebringer is.... continuous through time, so it wouldn't mess anything up. It would only mess things up if the Lifebringer somehow stopped existing, but... that would cause other, more immediate problems for all of you." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Huh... I was just thinking, hypothetically, if you told me what happened to Maddy, and I got back, I could tell her so she couls avoid it from happening, or prepare for it, yeah? Then you wouldn't have to become the Lifebringer again, right?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"... I don't think there's any way you could stop what happened to her." Albanes sighed. "But thank you, anyways." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Oh", Aarni frowned. "Are you sure? Hm..." Aarni seemed to deflate a bit, and he sighed. After a quiet moment, he reached to take another piece of bread. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Even if you told her, I don't think she'd have believed you. Madelyn was... stubborn like that." She sighed wistfully. @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Huh, I guess..." Aarni mumbled, looking at the piece of bred in his hand. After a moment, he looked at Albanes sadly again. "You probably miss her a lot." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

".... I do." After a while, she added. "I miss all of you, really." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Aw..." he shifted a little closer. "Well, I'm here now." He smiled slightly, extending his arm to wrap around Albanes' if she let him. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Albanes didn't move towards Aarni, but she didn't move away from the embrace. "... mhm. You are." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

He put his hand lightly on Albanes' shoulder, patting a bit. He sighed. "Hey, uh. This is not a nice thing to think about, so sorry that I'm asking, but... If I die here... How does that affect our timeline?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"... the timeline will branch. There will be one timeline where this never happened, and another where you never made it back." She paused. "The others won't ever know what happened, in either." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Oh, that can happen? Damn..." he sighed. After a moment he took his hand off of her shoulder. "Mm, I heard that there's a few haunted statues around here", he changed the subject. "Who are those?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"It happens every time you make a choice- but usually, the differences are less drastic." "..." Albanes's gaze grew distant, and she didn't immediately answer the question. @Twig | Seki / Aarni

Aarni waited for an answer for a moment, before deciding to round the question a bit. "Do you thikn I might see ghosts if I went to check them out?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

".... I don't think you'd see ghosts-" Albanes said, "But please, Aarni, don't get yourself in trouble. There are dangerous things at play here." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Hm?" he glanced at Albanes with one brow slightly raised. "I've seen ghosts before, I'm not scared", he said, perhaps childishly. "And... I think I am already in danger anyway." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"I'm serious, Aarni. This place is different." Albanes's voice was grave. "Seeking out the wrong kind of trouble could get you and others here seriously hurt." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

Aarni furrowed his brows slightly. "What does that mean?" he asked, a little quieter. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"It means," Albanes sighed, "That Naiyta is as unmerciful as it is unpredictable. Drawing their attention is a bad idea." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Hm, and they wouldn't like if I looked at the statues?" Aarni's forehead wrinkled slightly. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"You can look, but just.... be cautious." Albanes cautioned. @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Of course, when am I not?" Aarni smirked slightly self-ironically. "What would you like me to do then? If you don't want me to draw attention?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Lay low. Get others to do the same. Keep to yourself, do what you're told." Albanes said. "That will be best for you." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Hm, I see..." Aarni hummed, his eyes darkening a bit as he looked away with a small frown. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"I know it's not what you want to hear. But I want you to stay safe." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

He sighed. For a moment again, he didn't say anything. "...I don't have my vengestone bracelet anymore. I'm worried the fox will take over again if I use my powers", he hummed instead. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"That's not good. You should've been given it." Albanes frowned. "I'll see what I can do about getting it back to you." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Okay, thanks, that makes me feel better", he smiled slightly to Albanes again. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Of course. It's... the least I can do." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Mhm... I wish Firefly was here. Although, I wouldn't want her to be in danger." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"I know." Albanes sighed again. "I know. I'm sorry." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"It's okay", Aarni sighed. "It's not your fault." He paused again for a moment. "Are the goats friendly?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Some of them. I can't remember which of them are more even-tempered." Albanes turned to Naiyta, "Which goats are the nice ones?" "The black-and-white one with the spots on her ears, Marja, is the nicest." Naiyta hummed in reply. @Twig | Seki / Aarni

Aarni nodded. "Sweet. I might go try to pet her at some point." Goats were the closest thing to a horse he could get here. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Try bringing her some beetroots or carrots too. She likes those." Naiyta suggested. Their tone was even, and cheerful, though not in a malicious way. @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Mhm, I'll keep that in mind", Aarni replied. "Do the goats ever climb over the ruins?" he mused. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Not really. Not much grazing to be done there. They usually keep to the fields, sometimes they go to the more gentle-sloping parts of the mountain." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Ah, yeah, makes sense. The goat that we had a the stable would always climb on roofs of the shacks and everything, hm. I guess they have a whole mountain to climb here." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Hah, yeah! They love to climb, and there's plants that grow on the mountains that they can't get in the fields." Naiyta nodded. "You tend to animals?" Albanes just... sat back and let them talk. @Twig | Seki / Aarni

Hm, he didn't think talking to Naiyta would be this... natural? Normal? He glanced at Albanes furtively before replying. "I work with horses at my father's stable, yeah. I compete in show jumping." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Albanes just shrugged. "Ah, horses, I see." Naiyta nodded. "What is show jumping?" @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Mhm, we have a couple of sheep, a few chickens, cats, ducks, dog, and the goat, too", Aarni listed. "Show jumping is a competition where the horses and riders ride across a showjumping course, which consists of hurdles that we jump over. The goal is to be fast and not drop any rails", he explained. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Oh, fascinating. A horse competition." Naiyta said, seeming actually pretty interested, before Ace's approach caught its attention. "I'll leave you two alone, now. Thank you for indulging me." Albanes watched as Naiyta turned away. "I'm sorry. I didn't know they'd get so... involved." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

Aarni nodded to Naiyta, and turned to Albanes. "It's okay. At least they weren't that scary just now. I like to talk about horses", he chuckled softly. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Mhm....." Albanes glanced towards Naiyta and Ace again. "Still... it'd be best to stay cautious around it. It isn't easy to predict." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"I understand. Hm, so... is that what was inside you before the surgery? I always imagined to be,,, shapeless. Like a blob of light. Maybe wings." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Ah... not exactly. The manifestation of the Lifebringer that exists within my body is... different. Naiyta is more like Juno was- a past incarnation of the Lifebringer. It was just the first one." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Oh", Aarni seemed puzzled. "So Naiyta was human before?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Albanes didn't blame him for being confused. "Yes. A very long time ago, they were human." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Huh... wild," Aarni glanced at Naiyta. "So... where did the Lifebringer... power or whatever... come from? Did it just appear out of nowhere to them?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"That's... a complicated question." Albanes sighed. "The Lifebringer is an incarnation of the primordial entity of Eternity. Eternity, plus a mortal body and soul, makes the Lifebringer." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Jeezes. That's deep", Aarni stated, his brows raising a bit. "So you have that entity in you as well?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Albanes nodded. "I do. The eternity that exists in Naiyta is... more pure than in me. It gets.... changed after going through so many incarnations. I carry part of the past Lifebringer's souls." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Oh wow... how many has there been?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Seven, including Naiyta and I." Albanes hummed. @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Huh... how does it feel? To have six different people's soul pieces in you?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

".... it's weird." Albanes sighed. "But I'm kind of used to it, by now." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Hmm, maybe I can kinda guess how it feels, a little bit. Having this bastard inside", he said, waving his wrapped-up hand a bit. "How can you and Naiyta exist in the same place and time?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Albanes sighed. "Maybe you can, more than others...." She moved to the next topic. "We can only both exist here, in the Citadel, because it's a manifestation of our power. The Lifebringer's power. It's imbued with the same power of Eternity that makes us Gods." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Ohh, right, that makes sense", Aarni agreed. "How come there aren't more Lifebringers here, then?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"That's- hm. That's a complicated question." Albanes sighed. @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Ah. It's not as simple as just that there can only be the first and current Lifebringer?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"It's- a bit more complicated than that, yes. But we don't have to get into that." Albanes sighed. "Right now, there can only be the first and current Lifebringer here." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Mhm", Aarni nodded, and didn't question it further. After a moment of silence again, he asked: "Hey Albs, I don't think I ever remembered to ask... but why are we here? Why is this happening? A guy I talked to earlier told about his tournament, where the Lifebringer needed to steal powers to bring back his dead wife... er..." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Albanes was hesitant. "Naiyta.... believes there is something wrong with Eternity, with this realm, and with our power in general. They wish to fix it through this tournament." She sighed. "I'm not trying to revive Madelyn. I promise." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Ah, hm..." Aarni replied, clearly not thinking that was a good enough reason to arrange a mortall combat with unwilling contestants. "Madelyn, huh? I don't think I ever heard Maddy's whole name before." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Ah- she started going by it more over time, I think around the time we got married." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Aarni couldn't help his face brightening, and then immediately becoming bittersweet, still smiling. "You got married? That's awesome. Was I invited?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"You were actually my best man." Albanes smiled wistfully at the memory. "It was... really nice." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"For real, me?!" Aarni seemed genuinely surprised. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Aarni, you're my best friend. I don't know who I would've picked if not you." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

Aarni seemed almost pained by that. He had never considered himself worth to be someone's best friend. He was silent for a moment just because he didn't know what to say, and because he was afraid he'd start crying if he tried. "That's so fucking sweet", he eventually choked out with a small chuckle, smile, and a headshake. "Thanks, Albs.. I hope I was a good best man and didn't embarras you, hah.." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Oh, you didn't embarrass us," Albanes laughed, and put a hand on Aarni's shoulder. "It all went perfectly.. well, up to the part when Kallum crashed the reception, but it was perfect." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"He wha-ha-hat?" Aarni laughed. Oh god. Sounded like something Kallum would do... @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"I can't even remember why, though- who really knows with him." Albanes laughed, though her expression was bittersweet. @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Yeah, man, he brought an element of surprise to the party I'm sure", Aarni chuckled. His expression softened, though he was still smiling. "Dude, I'm sorry that things are how they are, but I'm super happy you had a good time too, with her and everyone.." "I wish I had seen it too", he added in his mind. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Albanes couldn't express how intensely jealous she was of Aarni. He had all the joys of life, joys that she had already lived through, ahead of him. "Don't apologize." She sighed. "It was nice while it lasted." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

Aarni nodded with a gentle smile. He hestitated for a moment, before lifting his arms a bit. "Can I hug you?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Albanes opened up her arms so Aarni could hug her. "Of course." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

He smiled and leaned over for a hug, wrapping his arms around Albanes and holding her securely, but not uncomfortably tightly. "It's nice to see you again, regardless of everything", he mumbled. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Albanes wrapped her arms around Aarni in a warm hug. "It- thank you. It's really nice to see you again, too." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

Aarni enjoyed the warm embrace and words, taking a moment to take refuge in their comfort. After a little while, he pulled away, a friendly expression still on his face. "If you don't mind, I could go stretch my legs a bit, but we should talk again soon." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Alright. Have fun at the gala." Albanes smiled, and pulled back away. "We'll talk again soon. I'll see you later." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Alright. Have fun at the gala." Albanes smiled, and pulled back away. "We'll talk again soon. I'll see you later." @Twig | Seki / Aarni

"Yes. Laters, you try to have fun too", Aarni smiled, patted Albanes on the shoulder, and stood up. He regarded Naiyta with a subtle wave as well, before stepping down from the stage.

Albanes waved goodbye. Naiyta was too busy doing... whatever that was with Ace to acknowledge Aarni. @Twig | Seki / Aarni