Lindsay just nodded.

"All right." he replied.

"Good luck." he told them.

"I hope, for everyone's sakes, that this goes well." he finished.

With that, he said his goodbyes, and swiftly left the room, shutting the door behind him.

After a few seconds, both women heard Lindsay's voice again.

"No... nooooo... no, you stay away from there. Come on. Come on, now." he said, as his voice became quieter and quieter.

As she walked, the mist continued to surround her, making seeing very hard. However, the quartz she was carrying suddenly started to pulse slightly.

She was at least headed in the right general direction.

As she walked in the direction that made the quartz pulse more rapidly, she noticed the silhouette of a village starting to form in the distance.

It looked like a village straight out of the past... however, whether it was actually out of the past, or merely looked like it, had yet to be seen.

What she knew, however, was her father was there. He had to be, given how the crystal was reacting.

As a result of her not paying any heed to the shadows... or perhaps the shadows not paying attention to her... Aedan and one of them collided into each other.

Not hard... but when she did, the figure seemed to shake and almost lose form for a second.

".....hey...." it then said.

"Watch where you're going." it told her.

"...you look like you don't belong here." it then commented, seeming to look her over.

"What are you doing here?" it asked.

"...........Garridan?" the shadow asked.

"Yeah." it then said.

"Lives on the outskirts of town." it told her.

"Keeps to himself, mostly." it went on, before pausing.

"...and he's your father, huh?" it then asked.

"Heh. All right then." it chuckled, before pointing in a direction that was difficult to glean, in terms of cardinal directions.

"Just keep going until you find the house with the grey door."

After a few seconds of silence, she heard quiet footsteps behind the door... before they stopped.

"...yes?" she heard behind the door.

"Who is it?" the voice asked.

"And if it's you, Bartholomew, don't worry, I'll make it to drinks tonight." the male voice continued.

"If it's anyone else, what do you want with me?" he then asked further.

"I stay out of the way of everyone, so why come to me?"

There was a long silence from the other side of the door.

"......Reveka...?" he then asked, before the door creaked open and a familiar face peeked through it.

"....Reveka." he said.

The door then shut, and she heard some clicks and clanks, before the door fully opened, revealing a man with black and grey hair, stubble, and a white lab coat.

"I... please... come in." he stammered.

"....indeed." her father replied.

"I still think it was a mistake that I'm here." he said.

"But anyway... you say you need information, and that people are dying in the mortal plane." he said further.

"How can -I- help?" he asked.

"I'm just a scientist that history wants to forget." continued, before shaking his head.

"Right, enough self-pity." he then said.

"How can I possibly help you?"

"......oh no..." the man said quietly.

"I thought I'd buried that cursed knowledge." he said further.

"...right." he then said, shaking his head.

"I'll... we'll discuss that statement about my being in texts in a moment." he continued.

"Do you want to know anything in specific about the statues?" he asked her.

"......" the man was silent, and then sighed.

"I can impart all my knowledge of them to you." he said.

"However, it will be quite the rush of knowledge." he warned her.

"You have to be prepared to receive it, and deal with it." he continued.

"....are you?" he then asked.

"I'm willing to bet you are, given that you've come here, but I must ask anyway."

"....things are different here." her father replied.

"I need you to close your eyes... and concentrate." he told her.

"Concentrate on... well... the feeling of this realm." he said.

"You need to be taken out of the present, so that your mind is more receptive to receive this information." he explained.

"Because this will literally be implanting the knowledge into your brain."