Dean fills his pockets with food, and then realizing how little extra room he had rolls some items up into the sleeves of his tee-shirt like the guys used to do with cigarette packs.  Anything he can carry flat he tucks into the sides of his shirt above his belt.

  "Time to hit it again, I guess.  Hey Millenia, what's at the top and the bottom of the stairs, anyway?  You ever follow them all the way to the end?"

Barbara nodded
"Good question,  Dean.  There's a theory about the multiverse that it is infinite and never ends, but that feels unrealistic with stairs, for some reason "

"Yes I have and might I suggest never, ever going there." She shakes her head as if remembering something really bad.

Barbara looked sympathetic,  but curious
"I hate to press you, but it'll bother me if i don't ask.    What's there?"

"Do you know what a mobius strip is ? Or the concept of one ? Imagine one being built and also being finished at the same time. There is a lot more to it then that but my mind allows me to perceive things from an entropic nature of things. The Omega of it all I could understand, and empathize with and I think since I am very much into change, evolution, a bit of chaos more then genuinely ending things I was able to escape the viewing of such a thing without going mad. Or perhaps without going more mad." Millenia now looks genuinely stressed.

"It's not like finding the shattered remnants of stair free floating, that I believe is from the old war. It was genuinely like you worded it looking for a beginning or end."

Barbara looked dubious,  and shrugged
"So...basically,  what you think you're trying to say is that reality at the ends of the stairs, though 'end' is not quite accurate,  is so bizarre and trippy that it can cause insanity?"

"Yes and I am immune to all usual causes of insanity. It takes an incredible amount to have any real effect on me. So that is why I am trying to warn you about it. Also you may want to avoid the center of the Stair for a while an area known as the Labyrinth. Not so much because it will drive you mad, though certainly one can get lost but because of the beast that dwells there and has claimed it. I am sure you have heard of it because echoes of it appear even upon the Gossamer Worlds. It's known as the True Minotaur. It hunts in the labyrinth and has even killed Wardens." Millenia smiles.

"Thank you both for asking, so many wardens and others discount my knowledge or me, even if they do fear me."
This message was lightly edited by the player at 10:56, Sun 10 Oct 2021.

Barbara stared at Millennia,  not sure if she were being serious, but hid her grimace when she realized the warden probably was.
"Well, knowledge has always been the ultimate weapon,  and i value your insight "

  "You know a whole lot more about all this stuff than most of us do, so we'd be fools to not listen to what you're willing to teach us about it all.  As far as fearing you, why would they fear you?  I mean, I know you can handle yourself in a scrap, but you seem like a fair and reasonable person.  Kind, even.  Generous, likeable.  I mean sure, if someone gets on your bad side I imagine you could make their lives pretty miserable, but same goes for most people."  Dean says, looking genuinely puzzled. "Unless you mean the whole Succubus thing, but isn't that all tied in with the other person's desires and all that?  They pretty much ask for it by trying to summon you, don't they?  It isn't like you just go walking up to innocent strangers and suck their life force out like a juice box, right?"

"Thank you both of you. It's just that well Eidolon users the users of high order are seen in a better light I suppose. I am friends with some and best friends with one. They can be just as threatening and scary it's just bad PR I guess. When I was a young Warden I worked with others to handle problems way above the pay grade. The Stair did not have many Wardens then something really bad had happened. The really Powerful Wardens were guarding key areas so we, well we were needed to wander and deal with problems on the wider scale. My looks." She looks at herself, "Well you know as you said, when I look like a succubi, were an immediate red flag for some people and since my powers were so new, and I didn't have anyone to train me, and the Umbra drives you more then a little insane for a while I had a really rough go. Some people remember me fondly, you will find some outright love me, but many fear me for the vast actions I needed to take to protect the Stair and often erratic way I went about things. Unlike most Umbra users though I had good friends of Eidolon and Order on my side so I didn't go so wild an unrestrained like most Umbra users do. It's a bad PR thing to be sure people fear change and just my mere presence means change. I changed your lives and hopefully for the better. I am one of the few Umbra users you will find that strives to change and evolve things for the better. It isn't easy but it does lay inherent in what I am and who I am."

Barbara nodded and smiled
"I'll admit that I'm not interested in other people's drama, just in what i can see myself.   And what I've seen so far is good"

"Alright great, let's get your cousin back !" Millenia smiled.

"I was a hero and I can still be a hero. Don't have to rule a hell dimension, or feed a wandering gossamer world of nightmares !"

Millenia seemed psyched to go.


The Crocking looked at her his face showing confusing expressions of course his face was human and most likely he wasn't used to all the muscles and emotions it could show.

Barbara nodded, still not completely sure what she was getting into,  but knowing that she was with the people with the best chance to succeed
"Indeed, let's head out"
She got up to go

Everyone is back out on the Grand Stair again.

The Crocking says, "Ok so can you change me back to my handsome self ?"

Millenia says, "Now what did you look like again ?"

The Crocking's jaw drops open, "Your joking, YOU ARE JOKING RIGHT ?"

Barbara chuckled

Millenia looks around, "Ah your not Dean, Your the Crocking !"

She starts working restoring him to the best of her knowledge to himself. It is still an odd thing to watch for a moment like a 2001 movie moment and then the Crocking more or less is back with you all. For lack of a mirror he feels himself and looks at you all for verification.

Xan just gives him a thumbs up.

In reply to Millenia (msg # 249):

  Dean nods. "So, onward and upward.  Man, too bad whoever built this didn't know about escalators."

 

"Some of my friends thought about adding to the Stair things like that but adding to the Stair does not seem to be something it likes, even though it is obvious that different sections of stair are completely different, there are even the ladders which I am not sure if they are an older section of stair or not."


KingCroc leads everyone again after he is reassured he is himself. He doesn't stop for some time perhaps not wishing for another experience of being human again.

Jill tries her best to keep up and not complain but it is apparent she is having the hardest time.

Dean you feel yourself zoning out at times kind of getting highway hypnosis but on the stairs.
You feel after a time like veering off and at least twice the group needs retrieve you.

Millenia then realizes something, "Oh Dean your going through something I have seen before, you are becoming a Warden. It happens this way sometimes. I think it might be best to let Dean follow his instincts."

Barbara wasn't as convinced,  but shrugged and let the Warden do her thing

  The monotony of the stairs was making Dean zone out a bit.  Had he been more with it, he would have been more keenly aware of Jill's struggle.  Dean tries to shake it off each time until Millenia states that he's becoming a Warden.  That snaps him out of it just enough to notice Jill wincing with each step.

  "Huh?  Wha?  Warden?  Me?  Can't be...aww Jill, babe, you're hurting.  Lemme carry you."

  He's still half dreamy as he moves to scoop Jill up.

  "Okay, let's keep goin..." he mumbles starting up the steps again.

Barbara frowned, but didn't say anything.   This was a serious mission,  and perhaps not the best time for any of them to be "learning new skills".
Still, Dean had been a solid, reliable part of the team so far, so she decided to trust him, and their guide.
Goodness knows she was in uncharted waters,  both literally and figuratively,  at the moment.

Still, she kept her eyes out for trouble,  especially if Dean needed help

Millenia shakes her head a bit then to Barbara, "He might just wander off on his own. He if going through a condition not entirely under his control the Grand Stair is imprinting itself on him or he is learning it. Something that I have witnessed before. So just keep an eye on him."

Barbara nodded,  acknowledging Millenia,  always amazed at how perceptive the woman was

The group makes it's way again.

The Crocking nods, "Yeah been waiting for that to happen to me for a while. Though it seems pretty random who it happens too." There is a tinge of disappointment in his voice.

In reply to Little Mammoth (msg # 257):

Barbara gave the reptile man a wry smile
"Don't lose hope.  The day, and the mission,  are just getting started "