"Nobody in their right mind could expect you to know what all that was. Lucky for you, though, I'm more the left-minded type." Lyric shot off a grin, staring back to the mural. "Maybe Fate wasn't so moody, after all."

The Seraph's face was painted with some sort of excitement, as proven by the jolt in her eyes upon looking back to him. "Still can't remember anything?"

"Bells, but not loud ones; this is, like, the third time I've said it. Think it might be worth just filling me in, yourself?" Though, Kyoya was at least far from where he'd been before, thankfully. If nothing else, that much was worth considering a victory.

"No-can-do, sorry. It's a different story when you figure it out yourself, literally. I'd only be doing you a favor by keeping it to my end only, at least 'till you figure all that out. Wager it'll come naturally, soon enough."

"Noted. But, in that case, what does that mean for you? You don't seriously think I'm just gonna let you keep tabs on me-" The Miscreant was met with a waggling finger.

"That was pretty much my plan, so let's keep questions to a minimum for a spell, m'kay? You and I are gonna have a LOT to talk about here pretty soon, I promise. So, just stick around..." Lyric's eyes began to wander, an uncertainty in that amber glint shining off as clearly as any mirror. "Please?"

Kyoya was still trying to figure out why it was so easy for so little as words to make him feel as though he'd been socked in the gut right after a hearty lunch. This second tone shift multiplied that blow's impact tenfold, leaving him no option other than compliance.

A light sigh escaped him, the boy offering a dopey smile to ease her spirits.

"I guess I've got nothing to lose, anyway... Why not."

Almost immediately, Lyric threw her arms up in cheer. "I knew you'd come through!"

She didn't seem to notice her voice almost rocking the floor of the Archive.

"Yeah, yeah. So what's the move, now? Did you ever even read up on whatever it was that you needed to check out?" Kyoya asked with a titled head.

"I was actually looking for updated records about what it was you just saw... But now that we got to see it first hand, I doubt there's any need to bore you with any more book business; I'm way too psyched about this little development, anyway! Alexandria's gonna lose her mind!"

"Sounds like you've got some serious plans for me..." He laughed along with her excited rambling. "I'll owe you. I'm still not totally sure what's bringing all this about, but I can only assume you've put a lot into it. I'll do my best, whatever it is."

Calming down, Lyric nodded to herself.

"Then let's make it official." She offered a fist, presenting it to him. "All my friends get a unique handshake; let's see if you can remember ours."

Truthfully, he hadn't the slightest idea what she was talking about, the first thought being her and Ryder's special little exchange back in the cargo hold.

But, when she moved her fist up once, his hand began moving seemingly on its own. They exchanged a top-down bump followed by the same action but with Kyoya starting from the top. After that, they tapped elbows, followed by the back of each other's wrists, and ending by intertwining their pinkie fingers.

"Listen, I really don't know what that was-!" Kyoya did his best to scramble for an explanation, unsurprisingly being met with no such luxury. They separated after a few moments, Lyric loosing a relieved breath.

"Dunno why I was so adamant about that... You couldn't have forgotten, anyway."

She trailed off with that, seeming lulled into a strange, but visible and radiant comfort. Some aspect of it managed to calm even the subconscious thoughts in the furthest back parts of his head. "But, I'm glad you're willing. To see this through, I mean. I understand that it seems really sudden, and we don't know one another too super well, yet-" The girl cut herself off. "I'm rambling again! Don't worry about that, just know I appreciate you taking the time to consider it."

"Hey, you ramble, I think too hard. We've all got something up in the head."

"Yeah... Right." She agreed, eyes gliding about once more. "So... anything you were meaning to do once you got here?"

The Miscreant thought back to his conversation with Reika, remembering that he didn't actually have any objective in particular, beyond exploring potential mechanisms of Fate. Suffice to say, he didn't know the first thing when it came to that, so the next best guess was obvious enough.

"Just came to come, really. I wish I could give you more of a straight answer-"

"Don't worry yourself about it, then; I'm a pretty solid planner, believe it or not. And this planner happens to know the perfect little café in Midtown-"

Lyric's "planning" was cut short.

The Archive's foundation began screaming in a cacophony of shattering glass and crumbling stone, seemingly the effects of an earthquake taking the entire kingdom off its hinges.

"That couldn't have been good!" They both held onto a mostly stable pillar, the rumbling beginning to die out after roughly thirty seconds.

Though, just as the ravenous quake relented, screaming replaced it.

"Definitely not good." Lyric instantly reacquired her wits, that peaceful amber in her eyes glazing over to a stone-cold, gilded autumn storm.

A repulsive aura quickly found its way to the boy's senses. The air around them was physically thicker, no longer simply feeling as though it were tight. A methodical ambience of dread and decomposition had overtaken the atmosphere, as a reddish haze fell upon whatever it so pleased. The yelling was intensifying, and didn't seem to have any intention to stop doing so.

"We need to move." Kyoya finally brought a long-awaited seriousness about him, this time well aware that he'd be offered no more second chances.

Losing now meant the end.

"You read my mind... What's the diagnosis, Blue?"

It wouldn't have taken anyone any more educated than a peasant to tell just what was unfolding. For years, this feeling was one that made for absolutely sure that he never, ever, forgot it.

Lyric seemed to pick up on his distraught state of mind, standing a smidge closer and putting an arm on his shoulder. "Ease up, we'll be alright. If you can tell me what we're dealing with, I can start prepping to make things easier on us when push comes to shove."

Their eyes met briefly before both stared out in front of them, looking through a demolished wall and staring straight out to Altra Castle, the home of Altaire's Royal Family. Its grand courtyard stretched almost a square mile, and even from the Archive, an ominous crimson smog was billowing from the center.

No matter how much he willed to pass it off as another one of his psychedelic fever-dreams, no amount of lying to himself could sway what he knew was the reality of the matter.

The boy shot his signature glare as a vessel through which to issue his challenge, all of the presented factors bringing Kyoya to one chilling conclusion.

"Demons... Whod've thought."