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[Annabeth's face pops up, curls a mess as usual, but considering the turtle developments, she doesn't look nearly as cross as usual?? There's the sounds of water splashing around somewhere in the suite, but she doesn't appear to care.]

It goes without saying that the turtle's health started improving at last. [Because powers! And it's swimming again!] I know various numbers of us were tasked by Evandau into investigations, and I don't know how all the other situations turned out, but Doctor Soranik Natu, Rogue, Percy Jackson, and myself found something probably worth sharing.

We were assigned with investigating a string of robberies initially, but really, the important part is we discovered a series of incomplete archways in several different homes and attempted to recreate one in its entirety.

The whole "world between Life, Death, and Dreaming" thing everyone gets on arrival? Start taking it literally, if you weren't before. Keeliai as we live in it here is the Life plane. The archway opened up a portal of a kind, and said portal took us to the Death plane.

[A blob of water floats across the screen, blurring Annabeth's face, but it's still possible to see her turn around in a huff, and from somewhere off screen there's an "Oops, sorry!" before the water flies off. She continues unperturbed.]

It was basically a version of Keeliai gone awry and ruined, everything rotting away, and we found markings in the form of some kind of blood magic, directly over where the Emperor's Palace is in this plane. Scans proved it to be kedan blood in origin, some of it fresh, and the pattern was being drawn by - you know, what we're here to fight, in a magical attempt to kill Tu Vishan. We were able to wipe the incomplete blood slate clean and stop this part of his illness before leaving the plane. [By 'we' she mostly means Ocean Jesus did A Water Thing.]

Unfortunately, or fortunately, the way in seems to be gone. The archways all disappeared once we got back, as did that particular methodology in creating them. [Melted pins ahh. A pause.] The Death plane is probably where our infamous threat is hiding. Its domain, so to speak.

Tu Vishan's health is picking up, but this - this situation here, with this thing we're up against? It's definitely not over.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

We're not going to die. [He says that with sudden determination, although he's not completely sure what they are going to do yet. He smiles a little after that.]

It always gets better.

Death is always a possibility. Especially with something like this. [She sounds like she has experience in this.]

Aren't you an optimist. [She likes you better than the Tony that used to be here. For now, at least.] I do think we're better prepared, though.

Okay, it's always a possibility, but as long as we can fight back, I'm not going to make that easy. [So there. He is asserting he is a hero and stuff.]

I'm a realist. But, realistically speaking, I know moral and potential depends on what you want to believe as much as what is. The future is there. We just have to make it happen the way we want it to. [He's a little more idealistic than the other Tony, but much of that is just forced thought. He wants a reason to look ahead.]

We can take him.

Our choices are important, but sometimes things are meant to be. [It's not exactly disagreement. She's just had too much experience in prophecies and fate.]

You really don't need to make the impassioned hero speech to me though. I know there's always fighting back, that our decisions can have impact. [She's a ripe old Hero herself tbh.] And I'll always fight back.

Things are never meant to be hopeless. [He's a die hard believer in tomorrow, which sometimes makes him a little hokey, but it's better than giving up.]

I hope I don't need to, but you never know. Sometimes it's the one thing that people relate to.

[He might be joking or just trying to lighten the mood.]

But it's nice to know some people won't stop fighting.

Pretty sure the bad guys like to think oppositely. [She is just being contrary and difficult tbh. She's not all that fond of hopelessness either. Hope at the Hearth, and all that.]

I never have. I never will. It'd be easier if more people felt the same.

The bad guys can get bent. [He's a little more playful when he says that. There's really no reason to be angry when he can't do anything.]

I'll give the Emperor credit for her pick of younger visitors. She chose a lot of warriors.

If only they did that more easily. [She almost rolls her eyes.]

We're here to help her fight the - Mally. Warriors were probably her prerogative.

If only. Well, I guess that's what we're here for.

Okay, you've got a point. But her accuracy didn't seem to be that great. Unless she's secretly got a plan for just dumping us and letting us mill around waiting for the next strike. Not that I'm a proponent of drafting. I just don't get how she's aiming us. If she is.

It's a lot of powerful people to have in one spot with questionable direction.

The first time I spoke with her, she said something went a little wrong, and she ended up pulling some people she didn't mean to.

Could be a mark of their desperation. We have evidence of how powerful Mally is now.

Still, you'd think she would give us more of an idea of what she wants. Or send someone out to deliver the message, but those seem to be vague at best.

[Of course, they aren't sure what Malicant will do next, so he does understand to a point. But he still complains.]

It doesn't seem like they know how to actually defeat it either, given the last time it looks like all they managed to do was push him back somehow.

It took us months before we even got a name. Which, yeah, I get it, saying the name alerts its attention, but they seem to think we can handle it without too much direction until it becomes necessary.

They're keeping things tied down. Not just because they don't want us yelling out his name.

[He still thinks there's more to this and personally has had trouble with the whole idea of trusting the Emperor.]

Makes you wonder what they have us waiting around for.

It's entirely possible they really just don't know either. I mean, they definitely know more than they're letting on, but that's an uncomfortable truth I'm used to. [Even if she'll never like it.]

Do you believe that?

[A short, simple question that is heavier than it sounds. He's grown to feel comfortable enough with Annabeth's judgment of the place to ask her things with more gravity behind them.]

Maybe they don't know.

I believe... they're in the dark about some things, yes. Like how to get rid of this creature permanently.

Well, that's why we're here, I guess. We'll figure something out.

Someone has to, at some point.

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