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Ashurbanipal pov (Throne room) 10th floor

Opening the door to the exit of the throne room, I meet Sephiroth waiting patiently to the side. I instructed her to ask Karthus, the guardian of the fifth floor, to scout the surrounding area of the pyramid. I wasn't sure if the NPC could leave the Pyramid. She replied affirmatively in her servile manner.

I re-entered the throne room, ensuring to close the door behind me. I found Nyx still seated on the throne, her gaze locked on me.

"Would you care to answer a question?" I asked, approaching her until I was halfway across the room before coming to a halt. The thought had been on my mind for some time now, but hadn't she been unusually calm? When the shutdown failed, Sephiroth had asked if something was wrong, and Nyx had promptly requested her to leave for privacy.

She responded with an unnaturally calmly and quickly, which had left me feeling uneasy. I wasn't suspicious that she was the cause of it all, but her behavior was certainly off-putting. She had seemed confused as well, however, something just felt off about her.

A frown creased Nyx's features, and her eyes scrutinized every aspect of my appearance with intensity. After a moment, she relaxed her expression into a neutral one.

"Why do I appear to be in an interrogation?" she asked, her pale face adorned with a cute expression. Two fangs were visible when she spoke, a characteristic feature of a vampire.

"Because you are," I replied, crossing my arms in response. After a moment, she nodded, indicating that I should ask a question. "Why were you so calm after the failed shutdown?" I questioned.

"Huh?" a confused expression crossed Nyx's face. "I wasn't calm, I was confused and panicked. You should know this, you were right there," she replied.

"Were you?" I questioned, expressing my disbelief. "You weren't as panicked as I was. But, you replied so quickly and calmly to Sephiroth's inquiry," I pointed out.

"Is it because I said you were adorable, as you left. Did I make you feel embarrassed… so cute." My face became stiff as stone, she clicked her tongue "No fun" she looked away as she said that and looked back.

"I was panicked at first, but then I felt a strange force calm me down. I'm not sure why, but it helped me to calm down, not fully, but I wasn't as panicked or confused as you. That's why I was able to respond to Sephiroth so calmly and ask her to leave," she explained.

"An emotion limiter? Emotional suppression?" I mused to myself quietly. 'Isn't she an undead? Vampires do count as undead in Yggdrasil, could it have transferred here as well?' I thought.

"What are you mumbling about over there?" Nyx demanded, her voice filled with annoyance. "I don't appreciate being talked about behind my back, you know?" she continued, her expression growing more stern. I remained silent.

"I think I might have an explanation for it," I said calmly. "I'm not completely sure, but it's the most logical conclusion I've come to." Nyx stared at me for a few seconds before nodding, indicating that I should continue.

"You're an undead, aren't you?" I suggested calmly. "Don't undead have an immunity to mind manipulation? If so, maybe it changed when the game failed to shut down, and now you're incapable of feeling strong emotions." Nyx hesitated for a moment before returning to her neutral expression.

"That does make some sense," Nyx agreed, sounding more thoughtful. "So, you're saying that I'm incapable of feeling strong emotions?" she asked, her voice filled with curiosity and a frown.

"That's just my theory, I'm not 100% sure, but it does make the most sense to me at the moment," I replied, approaching her. I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and offered words of consolation for her loss of humanity.

"You're not helping you know?" She said grumbling her frown growing even more.

"You know, a good friend of mine once said, 'Such is life.'" She looked at me with a frown, evidently feeling a bit spited, I had done the same thing to her as she done to me. I simply smiled back at her.

"That same friend of mine once said, 'Life works in mysterious ways.' And look at what happened. Pretty mysterious right? She's quite a smart one, isn't she?" A smile spread across her face, and a small chuckle escaped her lips. I must admit, I'm a much better counselor than she is.

"Hey, how did it go with Sephiroth?" she asked, moving on from the questioning I had subjected her to earlier. My smile faded, and a neutral expression replaced it.

"I asked her to ask Karthus in my place, to scout the area surrounding the pyramid," I relayed to her, getting back up and heading towards the exit. I signaled with my right hand for her to follow me. As we went down the hallway, we continued our conversation.

"Karthus is the fifth floor Guardian?" She asked with her finger on her cheek in a curious manner. I shook my head. How could she forget? Fourth floor, sixth floor is Malykith, I corrected her as we walked.

We reached the balcony we were at earlier today? I'm not sure since the transfer I haven't been sure. As we witnessed the view that had once been available to us had now disappeared. "This isn't good,"