Owen, with the help of a few others, quickly tried to make his way to the Guild to see what was happening, hearing the tail-end of some of the conversation. It helped that Cal was there to silently give him more of an idea of what was happening.
"Yer fella with the illusions," she hissed through gritted teeth. "Could he have duped you with sleight of hand? Or have used yer badge to send a false message? I'd bet my fuckin' tail it's him we're after."
Soda's eyes twitched. "I was blown into a goddamn wall!" He pointed a claw at Brisa, snarling. "How in the--"
"I know what Soda's presence feels like," Maple said with a similar hiss as Brisa, not even acknowledging that she had dropped Cal.
"Are you kidding me? You gave it to yourself? Brilliant. You did the single most obvious, predictable thing possible, and in doing so, you undermined the entire purpose of the randomness. I bet he didn't even need to be told who had the stone: You're the first one I'd have checked, too."
"If Sword was on any of you..." Maple's fist was shaking. "Then that shadowy creature, Giovanni, anyone, would have abducted you or attacked blindly in search of Sword. That is what I feared. None of you would have been able to stand up to it. Giovanni... left the moment he got Sword. He would have only prolonged the fight..." She looked at the bag, then at Cal, like she was somehow to blame.
"And now one has to wonder what this all means for these shades and the ultra stones they inhabit. Will they spawn eternatus larvae as well? If so, that makes them potential liabilities. Ticking time bombs."
"We don't get rid of folks just 'cause they might be a danger. That's the kinda shit what makes you a goddamn danger."
"In this world... I can hardly be considered a danger. I tuned my aura to defenses."
"'Scuze me?" Cal muttered, bubbling. "Look, I know you're being some kind of death seeker right about now, but don't drag me down with you. I'm only a handful of months old, and I'd like to keep that number going up."
"Ain't it obvious? We're constantly bein' exposed to corruption. Your corruption. Team Spectrum uses Radiance and Shadow every battle we fight. If shades absorb that corruption just by bein' nearby..."
"I'm with Brisa," Cal said. "I don't feel all that corrupted. Sure I might look it but I've been perfectly well-behaved mostly! And even if that's true... well, what would you guys do without us, huh? We should keep trying instead of making us all weaker."
"A few lives or an entire planet. Sometimes you don't get the luxury of preserving both. And we were summoned to rescue Cibus, which these shades and Darkwhite aren't native to in the first place."
"I dunno if I want to take the advice from someone who decided
genocide was a nifty idea back in the day." Her golden embers flared to life. "Not like it did your world any favors. Chances are, Eternatus is
already here. Trying to kill people to quiet the world down isn't gonna work with whatever you think is gonna happen. And you know what? I think you constantly trying to hit the kill option is making the enemy stronger, too! I bet Giovanni told us that there are spies so we can stop trusting each other. He didn't need spies to pull this off. You're falling for his trap!"
"Cal," called a sharp voice, "that's enough."
Cal gathered together her goopy form and shaped up. "Oh--wait, Wishkeeper, I'm guessing?" Cal frowned at the dark, cracked pattern that crawled up Owen's torso, as well as the black flame on his tail.
"We've been looking at this from the wrong angle from the start," Wishkeeper muttered as Owen floated around him, scanning for further damages or injuries. He pointed several others to weak points to reinforce or tell others to keep away from. "There is no use in trying to blame others for their best efforts." He looked to Celeste. "And there is no point in trying to argue for killing members of the team." He looked at Bahamut. "No matter how reasonable it may seem to you, it's simply not going to happen given our dynamics. Bringing it up will only lead to a drop in morale. And in this world, morale is tangible."
Wishkeeper approached Maple, then Soda. Both were still seething. Soda in particular looked like he was ready to lash out at anybody nearby, particularly Brisa.
"Giovanni gave up and left too quickly when we defeated Darkwhite the first time," Wishkeeper said. "That was because it was part of his plan. He had us tricked from the very beginning. We'd been tricked from the start. He is not the sort of person to hand Sword over unless he had a means to get her back. ...But with how coordinated this was... I do not think Giovanni could have done it alone. But don't take what he said at face value, either." Wishkeeper looked at Maple. "We may have a spy, but they may not be willing or even aware of it. And I wouldn't trust the number Giovanni gave, either. Just that it isn't zero. Which means..."
The shadows left when Owen finished his inspections, and Wishkeeper withdrew. The cracks receded, and Owen's flame returned to orange. "...If we want Sword back, we have to beat Giovanni, first. Not tear each other apart."
