[ keigo pursed his lips. this wasn't exactly anything different from august and the weird bullcrap that went down, but it was still jarring. maybe ragna's background input was giving it that vibe. ]

Um. I guess I just wanna know... [ he glanced up at the spirits, tilting his head to the side. ] ...what are you, anyway? You're not ghosts, right? Like, not people that've died here or somethin', yeah? [ pressing further, keigo took a step closer to them. ] And what the heck is that darkness anyway?? Is this crap gonna hurt us?

[ the group only gave a moment's pause before speaking again. ]

We are merely spirits of knowledge, nothing more.

[ well, that was good and vague. ]

The darkness itself is a plague on this region. It is slowly consuming and altering the very essence of all things by use of black magic. But reaching the Door of Nine is the key to solving this puzzle.