Guiding the Lobstrocity from her exterior perch atop its apex, Jillian had more or less helped Gforte to remember the route back the way they came, up to a certain point. At this 'certain point', Jill had called for a halt, hopping down easily and checking the surrounding foliage for... something. It was a familiar act, if Gforte had recalled their first trip through this part of Oreyndur Forest.

At this time, though, Jillian pushed away from of the surrounding brush, opening up a hidden path into a glade beyond... a rather dismal sight, as it were, considering the only thing now residing in this glade was a tree carved utterly in half, and the charred remains of what used to be a log cabin. Even the surrounding grass had turned brown and burned away in some spots.

Jillian frowns softly at the notice of this, and allows herself a sigh. "I was expecting an unfortunate sight, but this is kind of scary. Even to me."

Gforte had no problem with this act, but lazily armed the Lobstrocity's weapon systems again. He wasn't keen on being jumped by a suddenly enraged pile of teenaged unlimited potential if the kid had so happened to spy them coming back to his house. Still, he pushes the mech through the hidden entrance, not rather caring for keeping it hidden. "Easy as, Jill. Just need to pop in, and take the shards."

Gforte opens up the hatch to his mech and slips out, taking the spear he kept inside as a safeguard when something went wrong. It could have been suddenly moving, or catching the air, but Gforte's breath catches for a moment before he descends into a fit of hacking and coughing.

Gforte straightens himself after a little bit, growling and wiping at his mouth. He doesn't even bother shooting the succubi a venomous glance, in case she commented. Instead he held a hand to his own chest, conjuring a soft white light to channel into himself before starting towards the remains of the cabin.

Jillian is somewhat alarmed by the sudden respiratory issue, raising an eyebrow. She didn't say anything though, in part due to her main concern being elsewhere, and in other part being that if it was something wrong that she needed to know about, he'd tell her. Maybe. In either case, as he assumes to be okay, she also heads into the glade, surveying the wreckage with a small frown that won't fade. "It's fortunate they were able to alleviate the issue that caused this before worse could be done. But.

But..." Jillian looks around for a moment, gesturing subtly with one hand. "They are here. Three of them, anyway. If you don't have a problem with it, go ahead and start digging; if they had kept them indoors, they're bound to be somewhere in the ruins."

"I'll help, too." And Jillian does, in fact, as she takes a few splintered log pieces nearby and begins overturning them, still looking fairly uncomfortable.

Gforte sets into the work quietly and easily, obviously used to digging through the remains of what was once left behind. Things that remained were sorted as he enters the charred mess into 'shit' 'half-useful' and 'what I needed', though for the most part everything that he was finding was heading directly into the pile for shit.

Jillian kicks a couple pieces of overturned earth out of the way, turning and looking at something for a moment. Putting something obvious into her thoughts, she steps over a lot of the outside refuse, and examines the ruins as a whole, calculatedly. "His father wouldn't have known much about them... so it is unlikely he kept them, himself. The boy probably kept them with him... in his room. So..." She turns, eyeing a decimated portion of the building where Ambience's room may have been. At least, the fact that something on top had kind of given it away to Jillians perceptiveness, anyway; a half-buried, char-edged doodle of what looked like it might have been a large and majestic tree, now a dismal reminder of what only was and no longer is. It flails lightly in the breeze, unable to fly free due to its half-covered state.

Gforte catches what Jillian is saying, and moves over where she stared. Having proven he had no problems with sad reminders of the past, he only paused for a moment to wonder why she cared so much for this place. But, that wasn't his target at the time. Instead Gforte begins digging through the mess, attempting to uncover a means to possibly end the world.

Jillian seems to find herself unwilling to dig further, remaining where she is. She watches the paper flutter and flail, eventually flying free after its weight had been dislodged, and she watched as it departed into the air, only managing to get itself caught on a set of tree limbs not far away.

Jillian watched Gforte dig for a moment, at him, and at the ground. At both, really. She didn't speak, but just allowed him his near-victory for the moment. There would be plenty of time for questions, either sooner or later.

Gforte searches steadily for a few minutes before his foot catches on something. Amongst the charred remains, a clack sounds before he bends down and brushes the ash and debris away, uncovering the shards he had been searching for. Collecting them, he looks over to Jill and hoists them up, before stepping back in her direction. "We can get out of here now, if you want."

"We don't have to hurry, if you're afraid of the previous owners returning to claim what is theirs." Jillian spoke quietly, looking up at him for a moment of silence before speaking again. "One shard remains, Haut. I need to ask you this, one more time, for the sake of it as much as your own reiteration. Are you sure... absolutely sure, without any doubt in your mind... this is what you want to do?"

Jillian seems... scared? Like, legitimately scared. Probably for the first time since she'd tagged along with him.

Gforte looks at Jillian evenly for a while, judging her reaction before he speaks again. "How much do you know about me Jill? How much do you remember of what I've said, and how much have you inferred from that?" The question seems a bit out of the blue, but Gforte seems to be going somewhere with it.

Jillian shakes her head. "I understand your conviction. What I don't understand is your moral standing. What do you seek these pieces of glass for? Yourself? Power? Surely after I've warned so many times about the dire, of unexpectable, consequences this scavenger hunt will lead to, you would at least give it a second thought, once in awhile? But you don't even bat an eye at the notion. I just... don't understand what you want. Truthfully."

You say 'You have to understand... somewhere... that what may come of this could cost people their lives. It could cost you YOUR life. Is curiosity worth that big of a risk..?'

Gforte looks at Jillian for a few more moments before his eyes turn sad, and he walks back towards his mech, seeming less a scavenger and more just... tired. He stops for a moment to continue. "People's lives mean nothing to me, I've killed more than my share. Curiosity isn't the point, it's an angle, and the wrong one that I'm approaching from." Gforte turns back to Jillian, looking like he wants to say something before he stops. "You want the truth? Rot does a lot to motivate a man. It's more than that, though. This is a rare time. A time when you can take a death dealer and turn him into a saint. Yeah, I'm in it for selfish reasons. Never think of it different than that. I'm more than willing to gamble people's lives I don't even know in the hopes it'll take me where I want. And I need to get there soon Jill."'

Jillian looks wholeheartedly like she has so, so many retorts to give in return for this. She opens her mouth to say something once, twice, three separate times... but stops herself and withdraws, each time. Perhaps she just realized that none of it would matter; his path was set, and he'd follow it no matter what. Realizing this, she nods, looking down and closing her eyes. "Then I guess that's that. The last shard? He has it." Jillian speaks bluntly, but assumes her meaning will be caught.

Gforte growls. "Damn. Didn't want to involve the kid. Too much of a variable. This will take work. Don't want to activate it before I'm ready." Gforte returns to his creation, opening the hatch and slipping the shards inside before he turns back, leaning against it. "The kid's smart. He'll know they're important." Gforte clenches and relaxes his fist a few times, before looking at his spear. "Chances he'll let it go?"

Jillian nods, strangely enough. She doesn't event hesitate. "He will. If we ask, he will. He understands more than some people might give him credit for. He might... no, definitely won't agree with your methods. But he will relinquish the shard, with a bit of coaxing." Jillian's tone has a trace of creepy 'knowing' to it, but only just enough to lace her words.

Gforte grunts. "Good. In that case we can put assassination out of mind. Works, I hate business like that." Gforte eyes Jillian again, a trace of his lighter self creeping back. "Welp, after ruining my chances with you by being hard headed, let's get on with it. Where's the kid, Jillian?"

Jillian looks at him for a moment, as if deciding what to tell him. Why bother holding anything back, at this point? "The Mana Holyland." She pauses. "But if you'll give me a moment, I'll contact my superior and arrange for them to meet us here in the middle realm. Just a second." She turns without waiting for a reaction or response, tapping the side of her head lightly and peering partially-skyward, running the tip of one finger along her temple as she stands there following this act, wordlessly.

Gforte nods. "There's a mountain range nearby. Try to get him to meet us there." Gforte grits his teeth, remembering something and the measuring it against himself. "Yeah. I'll just have to live for that." This part was said mostly to himself, but he continues to wait for Jillian.

Jillian furrows her brow at something, shaking her head a couple of times, and closing her eyes after, pretty much for the remainder of whatever it is she's doing. Finally, she lowers her hand with a sigh. "Lorien Highlands. They'll meet us there, just west of the Monastery." She turns, her expression still very much apprehensive. "I want you to understand something, now that there's no going back, Haut. It may happen, it may not. But I want you to be prepared for it, if it does."

You say 'Things may not turn out the way you're likely planning them out in your mind. At this point, you'll certainly get what you want, to start with. But I want you to know that whatever happens from here is not known. Not by me, not by my superior, and not by the boy or his mother. Where we go now, we go without knowledge of the future, or what it holds. Do you understand?'

Gforte shrugs. "Doesn't matter to me. I've been running on uncertain grounds for a long time now Jill. Welcome to how I operate all the time." Gforte sets his spear back inside the lobstrocity. "If I fail, you can damn me all you want Jillian. Spread my name, let people know who failed them in their darkest hour. With any luck enough people will care enough to damn my name for eternity. If I do get a victory though, you get to spread my name about in glory, how about that?"

Jillian frowns, watching him prepare to depart. Why did acknowledgement have to matter so much? Hardly anybody knew who SHE was, and she was completely okay with it. She didn't have to risk peoples' lives, or risk her own, simply for the sake of acknowledgement. It was utterly baffling. Pride... another of mankind's fallacies. She shook her head, speaking aloud none of this. "I will do no such thing in either scenario. You will carve your own path, with or without my help, and the attention that falls upon you, whether for good or ill, will be of your own making." Jillian turns, glancing toward the opening in the glade and heading back to the main road. "It isn't far from here, the Highlands. We'll get there in under an hour. Just remember what I said... and when it comes time to judge, don't look at me or those I house arms with. This is your choice, and I'm not going to stop you."

Gforte turns to face Jillian, and grins flippantly at her, full tones of his original ease now on his voice. "Nothing to do with it then, huh? Don't suppose I can even get a good luck kiss out of you?" Teasing Jillian helped take Gforte's mind off things, and if she actually did kiss him, well, all the better then.

Jillian stops in her tracks, looking in the direction she was going. Her expression was unreadable, but when she turned around, the sadness was evident. He didn't care. Not one bit. People could very well be killed in the midst of his ambitions, and he didn't care one bit. She approached him quietly, her footfalls making very little noise as she crosses the grassy gap between them, and fanfarelessly leaned forward, planting a bare trace of a kiss on the side of his head, right above his ear. She whispers upon doing so, her voice shaking visibly. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything, 'Haut'. But what can you do? You can't help it."

Gforte whispers right back to Jillian. "Keep walking, one foot in front of the other and hope I'm right, lest I betray myself at the core." Gforte leaves it at that, climbing the metal creation of his own hands in preparation to face his self-wrought destiny.

Jillian watches him do this, giving one more sigh. Mortals always thought they knew their own destinies... yet she could count on one hand how many of them had guessed correctly. If you can't control the flow of the world itself, how can you think you can control something like your own destiny? Before it maddened her, she did as he asked, turning around and heading out toward the main path, westward toward their destination. No further words came from her lips.

Gforte starts the roar of his mech's engines, and follows after her. Inside, Gforte sits, staring blankly at the screens as he pushes his hand to his own chest again, forcing white light into himself.