Dark Corridors

Everyone

"Hmmm. I already know that half of you aren't going to like this, but the best way to catch any fish is with some bait..."

"No way.  Too dangerous," Alice says.

Mattea looks annoyed.  "Hey, come on.  I think it's worth discussing it, at least."

"I'm with Alice.  It's too dangerous," Tom says.  "I got into this to protect people, not put them at risk."

"But isn't it a bigger risk letting that mean lady run around?" Fox suggests.  "She already turned me 'n' Katie to stone.  Kinda..."

"Yeah!" Tia says.  "She really messed up the Soul Labyrinth!"

"I'm for taking the offensive, too," Grant says.

"Yeah, but who would be the bait?" Katie asks.  "Not it!"

"Ugh.  If this many people are open to the idea..." Alice begins.

"Tai's idea," Mattea adds.

"...then maybe we can consider it as a last resort.  Does anyone have any other suggestions first?" Alice finishes.

"There's a fortune teller in the mall whose shop is covered in feathers, right? Has anyone ever taken a closer look at those feathers, seen if there's anything unusual about them?"

"Oh!  I have to sweep them up sometimes!" Tia boasts.  "Her flying Dogachus are really fun.  Oh, except Terry.  Terry's an asshole.  He bites."

"Pecks," Kiran corrects her.

"No, Terry," Tia says, confused.

"So?  Are any weird?" Katie asks.

"Any what weird?"

"The feathers!  Do any look like they don't come from the birds?" Kiran says.

"Oh!"  Tia exclaims.  "I dunno."

"Oh wait! She basically confirmed that the ferret mafia was real, and that Laura would be replaced with ferrets in a Laura costume if we failed." Karl says.

Everyone turns to look at Karl, then turns back.  "So maybe Tia could help us get a sample of feathers?"  Fox suggests.

Karl continues.  "Oh, yeah, she also said she was always watching me specifically."

Everyone stares at him again.

Wondering why she was aksed here while she is unaware of anything anyone is talking about, Leia just listens, visibly confused.

"Okay, besides thse two and literal fucking Death here, are there any other guardians that are cooperating with us? And if not, why? If Mercia wants all the souls and we can't get her to come to us, then we'll just have to get to them first. Meaning we need to find the location of the rest of the portals around town, and fast."

Mattea smirks at Alice.  "Tai's right, again.  We need to-"

"Whoa, slow down.  There's a lot to unpack there," Tom says.

"Mercia already has some of the souls," Laura says.  "Tia?"

"I saw her using the Wind and Water Souls!" Tia volunteers.

"Which means she's either killed some of the other guardians and taken their souls, or..." Laura continues.

"Or they're cooperating with her," Death says.

"Which... means maybe we can't trust all the other guardians..." Grant mutters.

"And some of them probably don't even know what's going on," Buttons says.  "A certain... someone asked me 'n' Nat to track down all the guardians and warn them.  Which has been going poorly.  Like Tai said.  We need to figure out where all the entrances are first, then we can worry from there."

"Someone asked you to...  When were you going to tell us all this?" Alice asks.

"Oh.  I'm sorry, Mom.  I didn't realize you were still in charge of me," Buttons sasses back.

"Hey, now.  Alice is just trying to help get everyone on the same page, especially after what happened with Levi and Morgan..." Tom says.

"Oh, yeah.  And who gave Morgan a key, again?" Mattea demands.

"That's-!"

"Yeah, that's great and all?  But I seem to remember she's here in the psych ward and-"

"That's not fair!" Katie yells.

Fox nods.  "Yeah, they all saved us when we-"

"When you got turned to stone exploring some weird place you had no business-"

Karl cuts in.  "C'mon guys, I'm a valuable member of this team! I have the best intel! I'll even be the bait, to uphold my reputation as a team player!"

People turn on Karl in an instant.  Laura and Alice in particular look furious.

"Team player!?  You nearly got me killed!"

"Both of us killed!  Because you can't keep your mouth shut!"

"Guys...

"How the fuck could you be bait when all that angel bitch has to do is leave you alone and let you tell her everything!"

"Who invited this idiot, anyway!?"

"Guys..."

"Who's it going to be next, Karl?  Huh?"

"Maybe you just want to tell everyone about the Otherworld, huh?"

"Guys!" Somnis yells.  "Is this really helping?  Ugh, look.  We just... need to figure out what everyone wants from this."

"We need to figure out who this Mercia person is and neutralize her!" Alice answers immediately, still clearly angry from yelling at Karl.

"Uh, I'm more worried about finding all the guardians and uniting them," Buttons follows.

"Mmmm...  We're not really interested in all that," Katie says.  "We just want to explore places.  We'll help rescue anyone who gets in trouble, but..."

Kiran is thoughtful.  "Y'know.  I think... we kind of need to consider the possibility that maybe she's right?  Mercia, that is.  About this end of the world thing.  I'm not saying we should work with her, but..."

"Huh... Huh... Did... Did we find one of these guardians in that portal where Natsu... The one on the beach?"

Tai sighs, too tired to deal with this. He crosses his arms and leans against the wall, feeling no worse for the weary.

"Okay? What exactly do you expect us to do? Unless you know of a way to revive a guardian then there's no point in wasting energy. Neither of us were there. Yeah, be pissy about it all you want, a Guardian is dead, but what the fuck do you expect us to do? Cry? Start an activist group? Perform one of your lackluster rituals? I get your point, but what's done is done. We just have to be more careful next time and make sure it doesn't happen again."

Everyone

Buttons crosses his arms and shrugs at Tai. "Fine, whatever. Nat's the one who was pissed about it, not me. As long as it doesn't happen again, I don't care. Unless we have a good reason. And, y'know, talk it through first."

Grant looks at Karl. "Assuming we can convince them to help us, yeah. And we don't walk right into one of Mercia's henchmen or a trap. Or one of the other Guardians like Dragon."

Somnis looks thoughtful. "I seem to remember the Plant Guardian being really nice when I met him. And the Light Guardian was kind of weird, but also nice. Mmm... Oh! The Neutral Guardian was also-"

"The old Neutral Guardian has passed on, dear," Death tells her granddaughter.

"Oh..." Somnis looks dejected. "Oh! And before you ask, I don't know where the portals to their worlds are. I've only ever gone from here. I guess if someone has a preference where to start then Tia, Grant, and I can probably remember some about their territories? Maybe some clues could help. Or not. I mean, the Howling Cliff is kinda like the beach but the Magma Scar's... not... that."