[Area] The Lethean Dream

'Hm...interesting.' Another note to jot down.

'Currently we are only in the planning stages...We must refrain from engaging with Maiden Zwei for now as she will definitely abuse her vessel. Though perhaps we can have you get rid of some other major nuisance.' more notes.

'As for your question...Lord Eins is the other master of the bubble, who can also manipulate the bubble to her will. She's gone missing due to Lady Ananke's disappearance. And the only thing we found of her was her weapon.' she shows the photo of the mace.

The girl in black looks slightly bothered. She's never had to deal with a crowd as large as this before. And now they've lost focus.

She was about to speak until she hears the sound of footsteps.

Someone was here.
In a place where only few can enter.

The girl in black turns toward the sound of the footsteps.

'Someone is here, and I don't know who.'

The dimly lit hallway shows a figure in a hooded cloak, holding a mace that looked exactly like in the photo. The girl in black becomes even more wary, until she noticed the figure behind the figure. A taller man with his hair covering his right eye and a noticeable top hat was walking behind them with a serene expression, which pacified the girl in black.

'Hypnos? Who is the one in front of you...with Lord Eins' mace?' the girl's voice had a tone that expressed both worry and alarm.

The hooded figure steps back, clinging onto Hypnos like a child.

He smiles at her. 'Ciel, it has been a while, hasn't it? This girl here is a recent visitor...and she was quite drawn to the weapon, so I am letting her borrow it for a while.'

The figure besides Hypnos simply nods. She seems to be looking at the floor, her hood obscuring her features.

Ciel stares for a while, until she sighs in defeat. 'Very well, if you can trust them with it then I will have to accept it. But you're quite late for the meeting, I'll have you know. Our guests have started to get bored.'

'Ah, is that so...Haha! I was never really someone who likes discussing about war tactics, but I must say that I am glad to see quite a group of visitors! Despite our somber situation, I welcome all of you with open arms.'
Hypnos raises his scarf-hands as a kind gesture. The one next to him simply clings onto him tighter.

Thoren glances over at Hypnos and then thinks back to the other Hypnos that was in the elevator. They don't seem at all alike. Probably for the best that the prospit dreamer didn't tag along, for confusion sake.
The clinging figure and her mace seems to pique his interest.
"Hello." Thoren plainly greets with his typical obscuringly stiff professionalism.

A random seth in the back says something.
"Hey, when the fuck do we get to kick some ass?"

"The safety of those who reside here is enough." Thoren assures Ceil.
"We all joined here to protect those that are precious to us here. You can be sure that we will use our forces to defeat any that may threaten the peace here."

In a way, its not entirely accurate for the whole group. Some of them are merely fighting for fighting sake. A valid chance to be violent without impunity. Thoren somewhat recognizes this but refrains from mentioning it.

"So, what the fuck are we supposed to do now?" a random seth asks.
"We wait until further orders." Kusari answers.

Thoren is still curious about the hooded figure. Alpha Seth tries to suggest being friendly with her, but Thoren seems to be having a hard time just being nice for no good reason. Why should he be nice to a stranger when strangers have never treated him well? At most he'll act in a restrained socially accepted manner towards others to gain a desired outcome, but sincerely showing kindness? It's too risky.
Never show weakness. it never works in your favor.

---

Fighting for his life upon the endgame platform of the elf session, Thoren couldn't risk any survivors. They all wanted him to enter that door.
That fucking null tainted door.
Did they even know what the null would even do to him? He's only heard stories from his mentor before, but after trying to interact with the one null player of that session, he knew for certain that its full effect would likely be fatal.
Either not understanding his allergy, for lack of a better term, or flat-out low-key trying to kill him seemed to be their motives at play. To them they only saw it as the gateway to a new universe. They had nothing to fear. Thoren had everything to fear about it. And he wouldn't let anyone force him through that door.

So he mercilessly slaughtered every single last elf there, except for one. He hesitated on one of them.
Daisy Nukem was her name.
She seemed almost more dwarf-like than an elf, being the hard working orphaned daughter from a long line of coal miners.
That hesitation gave her a chance to fight back. She brandished her orichalcum pickaxe and swung wildly at him. She managed to almost strike him upon his already permanently injured shoulder, but it didn't hit clearly enough. Thoren knew then that there was no use in holding back, even on the closest thing he had to a friend throughout his entire adventure.
Having trained with her extensively in the past, he knew all her weaknesses, including the optimum timings for when to counterattack. Just as she was lifting the pick off the ground again, he shot her with a magic laser blast at point blank range. She fell easily. He swore he'd never get too close to anyone ever again.

That plan didn't exactly pan out.
Despite doing everything his instructions told him to do, when he arrived in the next session, without warning, the very man he knew as his mentor, Chronos, suddenly appeared and ripped his heart out of his chest with his bare hands. He crushed it right in front of him, blood oozing down his inky black arm.
He should have never trusted that bastard.

---

Alpha Seth tries to get Thoren's attention after that flashback. He answers a short while later, expressing his lack of desire to trust anyone. Seth can tell he won't be able to do much this round so he stops bothering him for a bit.

After a few minutes, Thoren slowly approaches the hooded figure, keeping a safe distance.
"...that's a badass mace you got there."