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Citron was blown away by the flurry of questions that came to mind as Lincoln gave them a flurry of orders, each one answering a question in her mentality by replacing it with two more. “R-right,” she replied, a bit unnerved by the frown on his face as she shook her head, before nodding again. “Right,” she repeated herself as she centered herself, a hand drifting to the makeshift sling. “We’ll all, stick together…” her reply tapered off, as Alois’ voice rang out from behind her, commenting on a few of words Lincoln had said, particularly the advice to… Well, stick together. A smile sprang to her face as he volunteered for them to go together, as she knew he was at least capable in a fight - if it came to that - and he also was one of the more perceptive members of the team, at least based on how the day had gone previously. Yet still, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of… Regret? Fear? Unease, maybe, as Lincoln proceeded to say that he would go off alone. That was a bit concerning for all the same reasons it was comforting that he had suggested they move in groups, for the most dangerous part of all of this is how little they knew. Did that mean that he knew more than them? That he was keeping something from them, for some reason? That didn’t seem right. Especially not with someone like him, who had been more down to earth than many of the others that she had encountered in this group, so far. But even that line of thinking couldn’t figure out an answer for the question that had been tugging at her mind since she had arrived and he had given her and Edrick advice: how long had he been there? How long had he known something was awry? The way Lincoln had spoken of it, he must have been here for quite some time, to be able to check all the rooms in a house like this, and yet… If he had entered with Edrick, as she had assumed, why did he need to explain this to Edrick? Sure, his wounds obviously would have had an effect on that, but… That much of one? That didn’t make sense. Not a lick of sense at all. But the others weren’t so perplexed by this; or if they were, they definitely didn’t show it as she possibly had with a confused look or five. As Alois referred to their new group as ‘team country’, she gave a quick smile, chuckling a little under her breath as she raised a hand to cover her mouth. That was it then, wasn’t it? They were all on the same side, and so she needed to trust them. She couldn’t let the strange events of the day get into her head and make her start distrusting everyone she ran into; Lincoln was clearly just as normal as the rest of them. “Team Country, huh?” she started walking with the others as they began to backtrack through the hall, towards the stairs. “Guess that’s a good way to expand from just being team Farm-Hand," she nodded, glancing towards Edrick for a second, before pausing to pass a glance towards Penelope and Gunther and shooting them a quick thumbs-up - again - before quickly moving to ascend the stairs on the right. “We should… Probably get a move on, actually,” she murmured, quickening her ascent so as to not get caught up in the conversation that must have been going on downstairs, after having dodged it once already. But what was waiting for her, at the top of the stairs, wasn’t anything like she was expecting. To be honest, she was expecting more blatant self egotism from the man, more portraits of himself, maybe even some stone and metal busts to show his radiance, given what they had seen so far. Horses, was… Just about the furthest thing from her mind as she came to a pause, glancing around for a moment. “...This is… Strange,” she commented plainly, opening her mouth to expand upon this, but… Finding no, real words that had the ability to convey how she felt about the situation, as she gestured wildly at the horse-paintings in passing, a look of utter… Bewilderment, on her face. Nearly a second and a half, maybe more, passed before she shook herself out of this, realizing now was not the time for her to get exasperated with a noble (at least not in this fashion), rather it was the time to progress, though… Maybe not without thinking, first. “Strangeness aside, this looks, in a… way, to resemble the last hallway, the one on the second floor, which we just came from, which continued with two doors as well before turning to the right, having lead us to the office,” she paused for a second as she glanced between Edrick and Alois, thinking out loud. “So, um... Due to the similarities, that would mean this floor could, uh, maybe, be a mirror of the floor that came before it, I think. Which means…” She paused, trailing off as she began to walk forwards, doing her best to step softly, and keep listening as she walked, just in case there was someone else on the floor they weren’t aware of. “...Um, since the office was at the end of that hallway, something else important, such as the Princess, may be at the end of this one, right?” She asked, smiling as she came to stop, just before turning the corner, pausing so as to let the others catch up, and maybe even take the lead if they didn’t mind; after all, she hardly felt comfortable leading the way in an house that was as foreign as this one was, in every way shape and form.

Penelope and Gunther The man peered up at Penelope and Gunther, chin as red as his nose. His eyes and lips trembled. "Th-that hu-uurt!" He answered the other questions with an "uh-huh, uh-huh." Accepting their help, his legs twisted like a pretzel as he almost fell over again, shoes slipping against the soft fabric of his too-long pants. Eventually, he was back to standing on his own two feet. "Thankee, youse two." The man coughed. "I-I mean, you two. My happy thanks." His tone shifted up at the end, as if he were asking a question. "But I'm right as roosters, see?" he brushed dust off of his vest and arms. "Now, what brings you all here?" He looked around. "Huh, did I miss the others? Oh no oh no oh no, that's no good!" The man pulled at his hair frantically. — Alois, Edrick, Link, and Citron The hall was almost a mirror reflection of the one Link had walked earlier. Wooden walls and floors covered with a thick red velvet carpet. Portraits, most of them of Pylauses, grinned and winked at the group while they walked by. A door to the left leaned slightly ajar. Through the opening, dark eyes and antlers peered out at the passing band. Further along, another door was completely closed, though its bottom glowed orange from the crack beneath. There were stairs around the corner. To the left, an enormous staircase descended to the first floor, each step widening the further it reached the bottom. It was as if it were melting into the floor. At its base, Penelope and Gunther stood conversing with the man who had tripped. Ahead, another staircase climbed up to a landing before turning left, sailing somewhere over their heads. Ascending the stairs would bring Alois, Edrick, and anybody else higher and higher, till they walked through the ceiling of the second floor and up to the floor of the third. There, they stood in another hallway, red-carpeted like the ones below, though the paintings showed horses instead of Pylauses. To their left stood a closed door, and ahead of them, another closed door. The hallway itself continued before turning left. — Tsetseg "Another wyvern?" The woman's shout lashed out like a whip. "That's no good. That could pose a danger if left unchecked." Phai jumped into a salute as well, hand trembling and askew. "Goodwife Gatti, t-the wyvern is of no threat. The rider seems friendly, and Timmy knows him personally." "In that case, I will rely on your word, but if any danger befalls the village, it'll be on your head, Phaidra." "M-Ma'am." "Wells, if'n young Phai says it, then I'm inclinin' to trust her word, Seuda." The man patted the woman on the shoulder, causing her to relax a fraction. He turned to Cora. "Cora, I won't argue 'gainst yer choice, but be careful." Phai puffed out her chest. "We will take good care of Cora, Goodman Posostro—I mean Gatti." She shrank back at Seuda's look. Posostro laughed indulgently. "What a brave 'un. In that case, we're countin' on ye." He winked at Cora. At his side, his wife shot him an unimpressed stare, then closed her eyes and sighed. "Take care." Phai, who had missed the subtle exchange, turned to Tsetseg and Cora. "N-Now, I think we should go find Acantha then! If you haven't met her before, you'll like her—I think." This was to Tsetseg in particular. "She's not as nice as Cora, but she's really cool!" The trip to Acantha's house took even less time than the trip to Cora's. This time, Phai looked more confident and less intense, having relaxed after talking with the Gatti family. Now, however, she tensed up once more. It soon became clear just why when two yellow blurs shot forward, clinging on to Cora like burrs. "Iz Cora!" a blur squeaked. Standing still, it was clearly a small girl wearing a red shawl tied over a yellow dress. Her brown hair was tied in a loose bun at the back. "Cora," the other blur echoed. She also was a girl, and plainly a twin to the first. Her own hair draped over her shoulders in two braids. "Come play wiv us!" "Play wiv us." The two hadn't noticed Phai or Tsetseg yet. OOC

V.S. “Go on and analyze me all you want, O’Hara. But I’ve been studying you all since day one of class. I know your moves, your weaknesses, hell I can even replicate the way you breathe. Now let’s see what you haven’t shown me.” That was going to make things difficult, least from Benjamin's point of view. How would he be able to combat someone with that much of a photographic memory to the point that he could replicate his breathing patterns? A slight exhale escaped his lips, staring down his opponent only to slowly relax his shoulders. He eyed his surroundings of this little battlefield, realizing what he could do. He had a plan now...all he had to do was bring it to fruition. "That's a tall order, [ya know]." Benjamin nodded. Kio didn't move when he threw his spiders at him, so either he was confident in his abilities or wasn't thinking about them...though if he had to wager, it was the former. "But if you insist on me fighting you like you think I should, then fine by me." He gave a whistle, his hands now being covered in webbing as he made a mad dash for the nearest wall, leaping towards it. Once he noticed the webbing was now on his feet, he began to scale the wall and immediately got to the ceiling before making his way to be above Kio for a moment. "By the way, not sure if you intended to let them hit you...but if you can take it, be my guest." Benjamin said slyly, as he gave the mental order: "Those who landed on Kio, it's showtime. Bite the hell out of him! The ones who landed around, start work on keeping his movements slowed." Once the order was delivered, Kio would definitely start feeling the various amounts of bites via the spiders. "Oooooh those will probably sting for a while. Nothing some ice won't fix...maybe some lotion." he snickered, now getting behind Kio. Kio watched as the boy placed webbing in his hands, and started crawling all over the walls of the arena. As he made his way to the tippy top, Kio frowned. These walls were really going to be a pain if Kio was unwilling to use his Quirk…but he’d find a way. Suddenly, a bunch of small bites could be felt all over his body. Not enough to hurt, but just enough to be extremely annoying. “So you launched some small spiders onto me? If they aren’t venomous, this will get you nowhere.” Kio started wiping off all the spiders on his skin, swatting and rubbing, as if he was itching various spots across his body. It was embarrassing. When he was finished, Kio stood up straight and looked back at O'Hara. “So now what? Are you just going to stay up there the whole round? Or do you have more surprises up your sleeve.” Kio spread his arms out wide. “I’m not using my Quirk against you Ben!” The sounds of dissatisfaction began to rumble from people watching their fight. Some even boo’d. “This would be a lousy time to use that ‘Blow Up’ I just got, huh?” Kio laughed. "Sir, you asked me to fight you seriously...so naturally, I am!" Benjamin smirked as he too laughed. "Same time, I'm sure you could've used a waaaaaaaay different Quirk than 'Blow Up'. Honestly the kid with that Quirk just had an inflated ego was all...you're ten times better." Now in his hands, was a sling and small balls made of webbing...as now he was slinging web balls right at Kio, each one with more and more spiders. "Another order for you guys, while you keep going with our original plan: if he isn't using the memory slot...at least a couple of you...see if you can see if that'll cause a bit more pain. Hate to do it to him, but if he isn't using his Quirk, we need every advantage we can get." The beginnings of his plan were in effect...and if he was unwilling to use his Quirk, then so be it. He just needed to do his best to outsmart the super computer...wouldn't be too hard if he could just "overload" his perception and focus.