Duty Session 237: The Mountain Memorial

The Firefly Festival is drawing to a close, but the somber atmosphere which has fallen upon Yamato is still as pervasive as the first day.

Uta has taken up a request from the Hunters Guild to escort a family of landers up to a place of remembrance. After doing it once, she's now called upon some of her friends to help her escort a second family up there. As someone who has done this before, she thought it her responsibility to give people some tips about what they're going to encounter.

At first it the tips were reasonable enough: prepare for combat. Creatures and challenges await, so make sure both your physical and magical skills are honed. If you can handle animals and monsters, that will come in handy.

Then things started veering a little for the surreal. She recommended bringing heavy coats, but... sure, we're technically entering autumn, but temperatures are still in a range more fit for summer.

And then the whole story became Uta-levels of rambly. She urged people that they wear NO SKIS at all. Absolutely not. And would refuse to say why as if the thought was too terrifying to contemplate.

And finally, she told Jazz to bring her feather duster. In case she were to be asked why, she would just stare and wonder who brought up feather dusters, and say she can't remember anything relating to them.

In any case, when the adventurers arrive, the sun is up, the weather is still warm. The sunny appearance of nature is not reflected in the somber countenance of the family of landers waiting in a field. They are covered in heavy coats, too heavy for the season, carrying walking sticks, and backpacks full of provisions.

A representative of the Hunters' Guild waits next to them. A black coat, a walking stick, a thick mustache.

The first to arrive is Uta, who has switched to a more somber black gi for the circumstances. Switching staffs wasn't much of an option at the moment, so that one is still the caduceus-themed white one she usually sports.

     Monster handlers? Yeah, Fuka could do that just fine, and she was decent enough at combat for the most part! Which is why Fukasa Yuri was there, one of the first to arrive. She didn't bother changing clothing, since her regular clothing was good enough. A black dress was somber enough. And Fuka was bearing her trident as usual. She nods towards Uta with a grin. "Hi, Uta. How's the slimes comin' along? Managed not to get eaten yet, yeah?" There was a slight tightness to that grin though, as she looks briefly away from Uta. Hmm. Hopefully she wouldn't need to use much in the way of water magic, she might actually feel a bit bad about that.

Lin shows up for the Hunter's Guild request, bright eyed and far too enthusiastic for what the rumours say is a literal escort quest with a boulder chained to the party. "Hiiiii!" He calls over to the forming party. "We ready to rock and roll?" The gravity of the firefly festival is lost on him. It's all about participating in a limited event. Rememberance only becomes important when you start to forget things.

Truth be told, Jazz is always willing to help out the Landers. It's just a thing to do for her, and so despite having already escorted one group up, here she is ready to go again. Uta is being very Uta and this earns a narrow eyed look from the Undine Witch. She is dressed no different from normal, however, to those that know her. Witch's hat and black long coat over her maid's dress.

"Yeah," she says, her voice quiet but carrying its distinctive tweeness.

"Hi Fuka!", Uta greets, as cheeful as usual.

She then looks around. "Oh... I mean... uh..." She looks around at the Landers, and the representative from the guild, and realizes that she might have to tone things down a notch. Hands shoot back to her lap, and tries her best to compose herself. "...Hi Fuka. Glad you could make it." Well, at least it seems that Uta doesn't find the meeting awkward or anything. As if everything was completely forgiven and forgotten. "The slime harvest is going to be bountiful, this year," she jokes. "And..." She looks down at herself. "...it seems like I am still uneaten, thank goddess. Hopefully this won't change any time soon."

Uta turns to Lin and greets him with a "Hiiiiiii!" as cheerful as the one she greeted Fuka with. She then turns towards the Landers again. Hands shoot back to her lap. "...I mean. Hi."

"Hi Jazz! Glad you could make it! Did you bring your feather duster?", she asks.

Given the way this conversation went in the past, it's probably best not to even bother answering, at this point.

The first part of the journey is pretty easy. It's a climb up a mountain, and nature treats the Adventurers to bird calls, and animals chittering. Mountain streams, grass, the lingering perfume of goddess knows what flowers, and the occasional tree whose leaves are beginning to turnred.

Then the vegetation becomes sparser, grass giving way to rock, songbirds giving way to bears-

Wait, bears?

Well, yes, that is what one of the Landers in the family says. "Look out! Bears!" He even points to where a small group of besats growl and start to head for the adventurers. They mostly look like they're scared and trying to do likewise to the adventurers, but what with their muzzles being covered in blood... that still doesn't bode well.

     Lin's approach is rather energetic. Fukasa Yuri glances towards the boy. Who will now always be 'boy' in her head, even though he's also an adult. "Hello~. Yeah, I'm ready to go stab some bears or whatnot." She says with a smirk towards Lin, brandishing her spear briefly. Of course, she... isn't... really... that strong of a physical fighter to begin with, really.

     "Hey Jazuhanzu. How are you doin'?" She asks towards her with a smile, lifting a hand to wave towards her cheerfully. She didn't know Jazuhanzu as well as Uta, but she was a familiar face. And then there was Uta.

     "Eh! It's fine. See, the thing is, the thing we need to be somber for is the top, on the way up, a friendly face might be good to have for such a harrowing journey." She says with a quick nod, beginning to make her way over towards the landers. "Sup, I'm Fukasa Yuri, and I'll wash away anything that threatens you~." Speaking of threats, it wasn't long until there were bears. And Fuka lifts her hand, shaking her head lightly. "Come now, you're so frustratingly loud... how about I just... take your breath away." She lifts her hand towards the bear, attempting to cut out its roar by just... REMOVING ITS BREATH.

It is, of course, enough to send Jazz scrambling for cover. The last thing she wants to is get buried underfoot by charging bears! Once she's out of the way enough, she claps her hands together and summons a little lightning and thunder, the air around her swirling with stormy energy. What Sea-witch can't generate a storm or two?

"Eh," she answers, "I'm okay, I guess."

As the party sets off, Lin is in high spirits. What's not to love? They're on a pleasant walk through the forest. Lin fills dead air with friendly chatter, not so much helping as along for the ride. "Would you say you're more ready for the stabbing or the whatnot?"

He bounces off through the grass a few times, sprinting off to see what's ahead before returning. Naturally he was too busy noticing the gradual fade of tree species from aboreal to highland to think about scouting for bears. "Bears? Oh! Finally!" He reaches for his belt and lifts his spellbook, flipping rapidly to the end and picking a spell of completely inappropriate scale for the challenge. A thundercloud forms overhead as he calls out the words of the wave arte. He holds a hand to the sky and dramatically drags it down. Lightning spears down from the cloud repeatedly, splitting the air with thunder and brilliant light.

"She's good at washing things away," Uta confirms, nudging her head in the direction of Fuka. She reaches into her jacket, and extracts a small brick-shaped item. "I brought a bar of soap!"

Fuka's attack leaves the bears jumping around as they gasp for air, looking like they're doing the Fandango; Jazz and Lin's thunderbolt and lightning very very frightening them.

When the bears attack, to finish them off, Uta spins her staff, to generate a spinning column of air, to sweep them away in a sort of majestic bearnado.

Just sweep them away, not caring in which direction.

Any way the wind blows, doesn't really matter to her.

Vegetation all but disappears as the group proceeds, and soon the Landers direct them towards the entrance to a cave. It looks like an abandoned mine, full of discarded equipment, now covered in cobwebs and dust. "Oh, right!" Uta exclaims. "Jazz, did you bring your feather duster? Look at this place. Full of dust, and cobewbs... The first time I saw it, I thought, 'Hey! This place could really use a maid to clean it up!' And guess who's the first person who came to mind?" Uta positively beams, very proud of her intellectual achievement.

"Look here. It's even full of small lizard prints-" The Landers point, and shout. "Kobolds!" "...Kobolds, lizards, I... I'm no animal handler, I don't know the difference between- wait, it's actual Kobolds! We're under attack!"

     "You don't /sound/ okay, Jazuhanzu." Fukasa responds, just shooting a bit of a glare towards her. "Take better care of yourself." She states simply. Yep. As if firm orders from a random person who is an acquaintance at best will totally help. She gives a firm nod towards Jazuhanzu.
     Lin's comment gets an almost immediate laugh in response with Fuka as she continues on with the party, rolling her eyes bemusedly. "Mostly the 'and whatnot' to be honest, my character is somewhat of a mage in spite of using a trident." She says with a helpless shrug, twirling her trident in her hands and then brandishing it playfully towards him. "I do have things that stab /for/ me though, so I suppose that counts." She says with a shrug.
     "...Uta, go back to the bottom of the mountain, that was a terrible joke." Fukasa responds. She was smiling though. And chuckling. She really couldn't help it. It was actually kind of funny. Still, she lifts her hand towards those kobolds. "Oh, look, little lizards. Well... how about I just..." She lifts her staff, spinning it until she can slam the base of it down on the ground. "Come forth, ye drowned souls. Show these kobolds their place upon thine world." Which is apparently under a rock, as several undead sailors appear on an outcropping above them, to roll a rock down the mountain to crush a good few of the kobolds, before rolling down the rest of the way. That's totally not going to cause problems for someone down below. Really.

The majestic bearnado carries Lin's thundercloud away. He smiles into the distance before following the party. The fun is wearing off a little - can't this thing go any faster? Of course not, that's not how escort missions work. He distracts himself by waxing philosophical at Fukasa Yuri. "Makes sense to me. In fact, you could argue that stabbing is just a primitive form of silencing magic. The physical component of the spell is too close range to be really useful without specialising."

As kobolds attack he flips through his spellbook again. The storm was too much. Dial it back, we're inside. He settles on a utility cast. Balls of glowing light spread out through the air, illuminating the area before dive-bombing kobolds and exploding into bright flashes.

Jazz is used to interpretations Uta and in fact pats the feather duster at her side without saying anything at first, but then there's the announcement of attack and a bone-weary sigh escapes her lips. It still sounds cute.

There's a pause as she claps her hands together and brings down vines from the earth surrounding the monsters, snatching and grabbing. Yet, despite their nature, their movement remains characteristic of seaweed under the water despite their... current environ.

"Sounds like Jazz to me," Uta Remarks. "Her usual little ball of sadness and despair. The moment she smiles, THEN I will worry."

The Spriggan begins singing an enchantment to toss boulders around, in the hope to hit the monsters, but alas, the creatures are too quick and even if she manages to hit one or two, the vast majority of her targets are barely grazed. Lin's balls of light sort a similar effect.

The others' attacks are far more effective, and soon the Kobold Menace has been dispatched.

After what seems like an eternity trapped underground, the way angles up again. As the cave opens up into the mountainside again, the light from the day's travels has dwindled, leaving a brilliant red and gold sunset that is breathtaking this high up in the mountains.

The journey continues through narrow ledges in the stone, sometimes making the party have to walk single-file. Along one section, large boulders seem to have become nesting places for some sort of feral birds. The ground is littered with avian refuse.

From above, there is a squawk of alarm which seems to rally a number of others. Wingbeats follow as dire eagles take flight, trying to protect their nesting place from these intruders.

"Look out!", one of the landers yells as she points up. "Dire eagles!"

Soon, birds are diving at them in numbers, sharp talons slashing out towards the party members and Landers alike.

     Bearnado. Honestly that's more terrifying than Sharknado, considering sharks are mostly useless once they land. Bears, however, if they survive...! Anyway. More importantly the conversation just... gets a soft laugh from Fukasa. "Yeah, it's a very primitive and effective form of silencing magic. Can't cast much if there's a trident in their throat, yeah?" She smirks towards Lin. As he does... lighting up the area. Which makes it easier for the party to avoid getting run over by the boulders she summoned earlier!
     A bone-weary sigh and a clap of hands... vines from the earth to snatch and grab... and... well. Really Jazuhanzu's demeanor just gets a deep frown from Fukasa as she watches her. Was she concerned? Probably. Yeah. Almost definitely. Buuuut... Uta was right. It's pretty normal.

     "...I dunno, I just uh..." She frowns. Hmmm. Did she care? How much did she care? Did she WANT to care? "...Anyway, so long as she's fine I guess that's what matters, Uta." Except she was pretty sure that Jazuhanzu was not fine for similar reasons to why /she/ hadn't been fine shortly before the apocalypse.

     Still, as they continued forward there were FERAL BIRDS. Which honestly, most people are freaking out and getting ready to fight. Fuka? Fuka does no such thing. No. She stows her trident into a holster on her back and LEAPS towards one of the birds, wrapping her arms around it and slipping around until she was on its back, whispering into its earhole quietly for a bit. A flash of magic later.

     And now Fukasa was mounted on an eagle, Trident in hand, stabbing other eagles, while her eagle pecks and grabs at other eagles in their talons. Fukasa, of course.

            Was laughing like a maniac the entire time.

"Exactly! Primitive things are always effective like that." Lin goes back and forth with Fukasa on the degenerate nature of stabbing, seamlessly resuming after the brief kobold encounter. When the party sees regular light again Lin pauses for a moment to admire the view. He enjoys life and the moment for possibly too long - shuffling quickly along the ledge to catch up with the party.

"Eagles? More like target practice!" The pooka fumbles through his spellbook, wrinkling his nose at the options presented on each page. Already did the giant thunderstorm. That's single target. Isn't there something here intended to wipe out a pack of angry birds? He agonises for a moment, then decides to act instead of waste time. Lightning, sizzling with an excess of supplied power, leaps wildly from his hands into the sky. He doesn't hit much but the light show is arguably impressive.

The bearnado was interesting, sure, but it was the ghosts that really had Jazz's attention. "Different than mine a bit," she muses, "interesting. You'd think they wouldn't be because game mechanics but -- " and then she's cut off because, well birds she is absolutely unable to do more than ineffectively throw her feather duster around to cutely bat at them.

Fuka's aerial stabbing takes down a large chunk of the dire eagles, even the part that should logically have been taken care by Jazz and Lin.

Flying monsters screech as they swoop down, and Uta manages to mostly keep them off her hair by dodging and slamming the head of her staff onto them. "There is a certain minimalistic beauty to primitive things... I, for one, just /love/ hitting things with a stick..."

Turning to the birds, she shouts, "You like to screech? I'll give you screech!" She inhales, deeply, holds her breath for a moment, and then blasts the flying creatures with a sonic shockwave powerful enough to send ripples across the air, and possibly leaving the rest of the party deaf for a few seconds.

The party emerges into open air again, and continues its journey up the mountain. The combined effects of altitude and the sun setting begin to make the air quite chilly. Uta navigates through her menu, and after shimmering, her black gi is replaced by an equally black winter coat, complete with holes cut in the back to let her wings through. Those who haven't followed her advice to bring a coat might begin to regret their decision at this point.

As the path circles further up the mountain, things begin to look less man-made and more a part of the natural environment. They go entire hours without seeing a single thing that would suggest this was an intentional path made to get them where they are going.

That is, until they come upon what looks to be a ruined bridge which spans a chasm between two parts of the path. Parts of the rock are missing, but there are wooden boards which have been placed across the gaps, though some of those look suspect as well.

As they move to start across the bridge, there is a rumble of something and a huge hand reaches up, pulling a massive troll up from somewhere it had been living beneath. It stomps, causing some more rocks to be broken lose, heading towards the party with a massive club held high.

"Look out! A troll!", the youngest Lander yells.

     "Efficient, effective... and fun!" Fukasa flashes a grin as she rides that poor eagle! Which is less giant than she thought. Really what was a badass moment in her mind was a bird struggling to fly with her on its back, slowly dying as it overworks itself with each flap until eventually it's just... well... it just drops out of the sky and back onto the path, with Fuka on top of it. Is this animal cruelty? Yes. Yes it is probably animal cruelty.

     Fukasa actually looks upset at this too. "Aww... that was fun... poor thing, sorry for tiring you out so much." She says, patting it gently and then... carefully lifting it back up into its nest. It would recover, maybe. At least physically. Mentally was another matter.

     "Hm? Oh, yeah, no these are one of the few things I have lingering from the old game. I went out of my way to make a summoning contract with the drowned sailors. I've seen another person summon them too. I love how their hair looks like it's underwater even when above water." Fukasa says with a smirk.

     And Uta is... enjoying the primitive things as well! "Ooh, sticks are good. When in doubt or too close of range to stab with the javelin... one you let them get too close, but two, that's what the shaft of the trident is for~." She says with a grin. And then... then there was a troll. Hmm.

     She lifts up her trident, pointing it at the troll. And water seems to flow, gathering from the air around her into a magical summoning circle. Several puffer fish suddenly pop out of that circle, and Uta may suddenly have PTSD flashbacks as Fukasa smirks, before stabbing the tip of her spear into that magical circle. She intones several fast words, quicker than can be registered, before finishing with... "DROWNING FIELDS!" And... those puffer fish unleash a massive WAVE of water over the troll, which coalesces in several areas. Around its arms and hands, around the club, and most importantly... around its head. Where it would start to do just that. Drown.

The shame of not landing a lightning bolt doesn't stick to Lin. He's far too pleased with the adventure's progression. "Of course! I'm just saying that you have to specialise in stick-hitting for it to be effective. More advanced magic uses the stick as a staff and gets a lot more utility." As the party progresses up the mountain, Lin huddles inside his coat. It may be time to invest in a wider array of equipment. He's specialised in having a small wardrobe, leaving him without the utility of winterwear. The cold can't dampen his enjoyment of the wide views, and he spends plenty of time gazing off into the distance.

At the bridge, Lin peers nervously over the side. The majesty of a far-off view is a lot more terrifying when it's directly below you. His face grows a little more serious when the massive troll shows its face. He raises his spellbook and flips close to the end and begins to cast a protective spell. Glittering silver dust drifts in the frigid air for a few seconds, settling on the Adventurer party and turning into a flurry of buff icons.

The bit with the eagle has Jazz rolling her eyes. That is something she's do, after all, and she's about to say something right until Fukasa's drowning fields are unveiled.

"... huh," she says, as she casually steps aside blows from the club wielded by the troll, "... gonna need to - erf! - teach me that!" Her feather duster is drawn and it's top glows bright purple with otherwise swirling black energy. A few bolts are fired from it into the troll but they do minimal damage.

Uta leaps and bounds about, leaving nothing behind for that the wooden club to smash every time it impacts against the ground. She eventually leaps so high she ends up sitting on a rock above. "Oh, I specialize in both," she explains to Lin. "My staff is apparently a conduit for for magic casting... but what's the point of having a cool stick if you can't whack things with it? It's a terrible waste of a perfectly good stick, that's what it is."

Uta's eyes doe, indeed, grow wider, and her jaw slacken a little at the sight of all that drowning liquid. But she's quick to shut her eyes closed and mutter, "Water. Why does it always have to be water?"

The troll's attempt at attacking the adventurers or the Landers turns ineffective against Lin's buffs, and once the drowning effect takes hold, he stumbles backwards, making pained gurgling sounds as he, deprived of oxygen, turns suspicious colors (and his HP bar goes down accordingly), until he darts off in the distance. As for Jazz... well... all her graceful sidestepping, coupled with the swishing of her dress, made her look like she'd be really pretty to watch as she waltzes at some ball organized by some noble. It wouldn probably not be wise to tell her.

"You know what I was thinking, Jazz? You'd be really pretty to watch as you waltz at some ball organized by some noble. Want me to pull some strings to have you invited at one? Maybe you'll find The One and possibly raise up on the social ladder!", Uta offers, cheerful. There is no malice or taunting in her expression; in fact, she's beaming, as if she was really proud of the favour she's doing her friend.

The party proceeds. The air gets chillier and chillier, and soon bare rock gives way to frost and snow. Those who have not brought a coat, at this point, will probably be regretting their life choices.

When the memorial stone comes into view, well, something else also comes into view: a Yeti.

This time it is not a Lander that points and yells at it, but Uta. "There it is! Experienced people who played videogames before ETO explained to me that, in videogames, Yetis are naturally prey on skiers. So you should never be wearing skis around them!" She turns to the rest of the team, all serious. "I see you've all been heeding my advice. I am proud of you."

The yeti growls and roars. It grabs large rocks lying about as if they were made of paper-mache, and flings it at the Adventurers. Uta bolts, to dodge as well as she can.

     Fukasa nods sagely with Lin. "Right, very right! Which I'm not so specialized for, though I do have some skill in from my classes~." She says with a smirk. "Still enough to clobber some moron over the head who thinks they've got me just because they got close to the caster, though~." She snickers at that thought. Before the apocalypse, she'd done just that several times to opponents in PVP fights.

     Meanwhile, Jazuhanzu shows interest in her spell, and Fukasa actually nods. "Sure. I traded skills with Kauchemar already to learn something, I'll happily do a similar trade with you, Jazuhanzu. Doesn't have to be immediately either, but in particular if you come up with any neat attacks, I'm always looking to expand my attack repertoire." Fukasa says with a firm nod.

     "I'm a water-focused summoner... that's why, Uta! Sorry! I know, it's cruel, after our duel, to do such in front of you but I mean... look at that troll." She points at the slowly drowning troll, as it starts to turn colors. And ... it runs off. "Yesss, drown, you ugly monstrosity who I might try to tame later!" She says, waving as it leaves.

     The talk of the waltz. And the ball... and something about finding The One and... they were slowly going up the mountain as she thought on that. Hmm. A ball? A ball. That sounds interesting. Maybe. Hmm! And then... there was a yeti. And rocks being flung... she moves quickly out of the way from the incoming rocks, and then lifts her trident again. "...You know... I think... time for some dramatic irony..." She lifts her spear, incanting a quick spell, and unleashes a burst of ice magic towards the yeti. Attempting to freeze it solid and set it up for the rest of the party to finish it off.

How charitable of her.

"Specialise in... both?" Lin's brain goes the way of Fukasa's eagle. Is such a thing even possible? He can't doubt it either - Uta's undeniably effective. "Good points all around. I shouldn't be talking bad about sticks or their evolved cousin the pointy stick. I just carry a book so none of it makes sense. Although..." He drifts off into thoughts about developing book-bludgeoning artes. Nobody will see that coming at all.

As the altitude rises and temperature drops, Lin pulls his coat as closed as possible, deeply regretting his choices. Who knew mountaintops could be so cold? The yeti announces its presence with a roar and Uta drops her awful ski jokes. "Are you sure we weren't supposed to ski past the kobolds and feather dust the yeti? It would have worked!" The fight is on and Lin wastes no time. He goes for the single target spell he neglected earlier. Of course, more lightning. Electricity crawls in sparks over the frigid rock, spidering its way over his body to concentrate at the tip of a finger. A single colossal bolt briefly turns the area into stark black and white, striking the yeti violently and leaving behind a brilliant purple afterimage.

"I am neither going to nor having a ball," snaps Jazz at Uta, more than a little agitated by the suggestion. All the same, her attention swings to the anticipated boss encounter and she leaps back a few steps, the pink bows on her boots glowing softly as she does. Evasion Magic's activated, she proceeds to summon those vines once more, seaweed and kelp that progressively helps to bind up the yeti and slow it down. She's nodding to Fukasa absently, hair hair moving up and down at a delay with the motions of her head, as if she was under the ocean even now.

"...well, okay, maybe 'specialize' in both is a bit of a misnomer. I more like 'Jack-of-all-trade' in both. I'm an Aerialist, a class evenly split between physical and magical. I'm versed in both, but I don't really /excel/ at either like someone whose class is entierely physical or entierely magical." She grins. "But I get to both sling spells and beat monsters up, so it's good fun!"

Uta is no tank, but that doesn't stop her from taunting and drawing aggro to herself. She just relies on lightning-fast dodging and erratic movements to simply not be there when the Yeti's punches pound against the snow. The same is true for Jazz, but where Uta's dodging is more actiony and jittery, Jazz is, as it is going to be for anything involving her, more sweet and graceful.

Once the Yeti is held down by the kelp and seaweed, Fuka's frigid blast impacts full on and does, indeed, encase it in a block of ice; Lin's lightning bolt strikes true, and shaves off a large portion of the beast's HP bar.

The bolt also has the side effect of shattering the ice, but it was worth it.

The yeti runs off at this point, and the family can finally head to the memorial, to engage in their ritual of remembrance.

Uta will stand back, herself, respectfully waiting for them to be done.

"Getting to do everything does look like fun!" Life makes a lot more sense to Lin after Uta's clarification. He can't let go of the thought of branching out into bashing a few heads in with books. He'll just need a bigger book. A big one. Possibly slung on his back.

After the fight, as his mana slowly refills, Lin huddles against the cold. He's note quite as respectful to the family's ritual as Uta is. "Are we escorting them back down too? It's way, way too cold up here."

With all said and done, Jazz observed the Landers and their ritual and the comforts it brought them. She lets them do so without interruption, choosing to linger a moment as the others go and descend with the family. Finally, she goes towards the memorial and kneels down in front of it. "Here is as good a place as any, isn't it?" She lays down a simple black stone amongst the offerings left there by the others who had done so before her, follows by a simple wrapped candy. Two memories for two lost souls. A moment later, she makes her way down the steps, disappearing into the darkness with the others.