“You think Jex split away from you on purpose?” Vark asks curiously. He glances down to the mask again… then back up to Matteo… then back to the mask… finally he looks up again and asks, “Do you think we could talk to him? Like… right now?” He gently holds the mask out to Matteo. “I know you’re scared of him but don’t worry, there’s no evil stuff he can do in here. He’s not gonna try and kill us. If he tries to run or something we can stop him. I just think we should hear his side of all this.”

Matteo shakes his head. "He doesn't get a say. I'm not letting him out, each time it's made him louder. He... He doesn't want to talk anyway, he's too... Ashamed? I can't tell exactly. But he only came out before because you needed him."

Vark’s eyes cut to Bründir, resignation shifting to frustration before settling on resolution. His body tenses slightly, and after all the battles they’ve been through together  Bründir knows the mage is about to try something.

“Matteo I’m sorry but… I don’t… I don’t really think that that’s fair.” Without warning he thrusts his crimson hand out towards the broken man and the veins flare with power. Hellish chains manifest around Matteo’s form and tighten, locking his muscles in place.

”I’m really sorry but… we do need him.” With his other hand, Vark takes the mask and presses it on to Matteo’s face.

Brundir stands blustering and fumbling over what to do as Matteo freezes in place, "Wha- I don'....Could'a let me get some rope first, dammit!" Unsure of how exactly to handle a petrified person, let alone a friend that's likely not so friendly anymore, Brundir stands behind Matteo and wraps him tightly around the arms and stomach.

A look of fear crosses Matteo's face as Vark raises his arm, but it's too late and the all too trusting Matteo doesn't react as fast as perhaps Jex would have done. As the mask descends over his face the fear disappears from his eyes.

“Sorry, I just thought he might run,” Vark replies. Once Bründir has him in his grasp and the panicked look fades from Matteo’s eyes, Vark slowly releases the spell. 

“J-jex?”

The half elf's body relaxes as the spell releases. He gives a slight nod to the question, his expression not visible beneath the mask. He gives a slight pull with his arms, testing Brundir's grip on him.

Brundir resists the half elf's test and shakes his head as best as he can, "Nope. Sorry, friend. We've got a few questions of a maybe...sensitive nature."

Jex twists his head around to look towards Brundir, though he can't quite twist far enough. There is a sharp hissing sound as he exhales and his knees tense, slightly bent. A second passes and Brundir feels Jex's body relax as though he is submitting to the hold, his breathes calm, 1, 2, 3, 4. But it soon becomes apparent it was a ruse, Jex's knees bend, his arms twist inwards and the half elf springs from the floor, pushing his spine back into the dwarf's shoulder as he uses him as a platform to roll over. 

Landing neatly behind Brundir, he glances around, spying the shut door he instead backs slowly towards the window, keeping the dwarf between him and Vark.

“Jex! Wait! We… we just want to talk, we want to help!” Vark calls out. Sparks crackle at his finger tips as he prepares to magically bind the half-elf if need be. “Please… we… Matteo wants us to get rid of you, but we don’t want to do that.”

Bründir struggles to recover before Jex can start moving towards escape, "Vark's right! Matteo wants us th' mask, an' he hopes it takes ye with it. We think there's somethin' else goin' on an' wanted yer say."

Jex pauses a second, looking at Vark and then pointedly down at the magical glow around his hands. His weight shifts slightly as though ready to spring, but he holds a moment.

Vark’s eyes follow Jex’s down to the spell buzzing in his grasp, ready to be released at a moment’s notice. 

“Jex, I…” he closes his eyes and shakes his head in frustration. “Really we just want to talk. Matteo is saying that you’re a- a- a sociopathic murderer. That you’re evil, that we should… kill you. Obviously we don’t want to do that but… you gotta say something. How… how has this… this split been for you? What’s going on in there?” He looks down hard at his hand, ruby veins flaring with stored power. There is a tense pause, then he sighs and the spell dissipates. He turns his gaze back to Jex with a pleading look. “Just say something… please.”

"Such friends." Jex hisses. "So helpful." He looks from the window. "So ask." His voice rasps like someone who hasn't drank for days, lingering over the Ss and each word choked out beneath the mask.

“Well, I mean… do you have any idea what’s happened? How or why the mask split your personality in two? Matteo seems to think that he is all the good parts of you and you’re all the bad parts. What’s your perspective on it though? And… do you want to be put back together?”

"Pfft" Jex scoffs as he leans against the wall. "I don't live in this mask. We're in the same head. He couldn't stomach what he did and he packed me away, like it made him have done it any less." He lets out a throaty noise, perhaps a laugh, but there is no mirth in the sound. He leans back against the wall, half glancing out of the window at the square below. "His are the parts that can't handle who we are or what we do. If mine are the bad parts, then was it bad to scream into his head until he let me out when you were in danger? Perhaps it was when I look at how you treat me now."

Vark crosses his arms, annoyance beginning to grow in response to Jex’s petulant demeanor. He resists the urge to push back against the ‘how you treat me now’ comment and lets out a sigh instead.

”We’re on the same page, Jex. Matteo says you’re ashamed but… clearly he’s the one carrying all of that. He thinks destroying the mask would destroy you, but I don’t think that’s right. Maybe destroying it would fix the situation, or maybe fixing the mask would fix the split between you; there’s a small crack on the inside of it,” he gestures with a nod. “What do you think? Do you remember how this happened in the first place? Mateo doesn’t, or wouldn’t say.”

Jex shrugs. "It probably couldn't cope with our split. I wouldn't know much about it. Could have happened in the fight, could have been after when the person it was attuned to became 2 minds."

“So… you think the split had nothing to do with the mask then?” Vark asks, tapping his increasingly bearded chin in thought. “Maybe what we really need is a cleric…” he turns to Bründir. “Have you seen Aiden today?”

The dwarf shakes his head, confused at the whole mess, "Nah, not t'day. Suppose we should round up th' whole gang, eh? Gettin' a bit tiresome walkin' all over Sheercleft fer a meetin'. Be easier t'just shine a light up or somethin'."