Jonas noticed a small room as they were walking along the hallway. There wasn't anything remarkable about it, but he did notice another door that was left open in the room that led to a hallway that wasn't as well furnished as the one they were in.
He didn't have a reason why she should go in there, but a feeling came to him that he should go in that direction. He was sure that Elmo would be fine on his own. Especially since he suspected that the doppelganger they were following likely took that path, which was why the door was open.
There wasn't any reason for him to suspect that, but it's what he could make sense from the feeling of why he should go in that direction. He wasn't used to going with felings like that, but with the environment they were in, it only felt like that was the only way he'd be able to get the upper hand against the doppelgangers.
While he only had the mythology of doppelgangers to work with on knowing what to expect from them, he couldn't be sure that the mythology would be correct in any way. Some things got blown out of proportion or even exaggerated in order to make whatever story more interesting. Such things did often take on a life of their own, to the point sometimes where everything had become completely fictional. On rare occasions things like that would remain mostly true, it was typically hard to tell which would be true and which wouldn't.
Even the last doppelganger that they'd fought, he hadn't been present for. He merely had seen the results of the fight, so he couldn't be sure that anything he'd learned about the doppelgangers from their mythology was true or not. Aside from what he could correlate from what those in his team had mentioned to him. Such as the ability to take on the shape of another, which he'd essentially been able to see firsthand with Elin a few minutes ago.
There were things that he couldn't be sure of that he suspected Elmo had merely assumed. Which was that the doppelgangers would not only copy the physical appearance as well as any abilities their tartget had, but also that they knew how the other person thought and possibly the thoughts of that person.
Jonas had to assume that it was merely Elmo's speculation on it, but at the same time, since he couldn't read minds himself, like Owen, he couldn't be sure if that was accurate or not. Just as he couldn't be sure that they would really, truly take on the complete persona of whoever they were mimicking.
After all, one of the best ways to spot a fake was to recognize subtleties that a person isn't even aware of that they do. Such as the words they phrase things in or various gestures they make, like maybe rubbing their nose at times or scratching behind their ear. All of that could be used to identify an imposter if you knew what to look for. Which he seriously doubted the doppelgangers were that well versed in Jonas and everyone in his group.
Not that he was sure that he'd be able to identify them through that method as well. It felt like it would be an exercise in futility if he tried. Which was part of the reason why he hadn't argued about helping Elin. Unless he was sure who he would be fighting, he didn't want to take the chance of aiding the wrong person. Especially in this situation where the consequences could be more devastating than he'd like.
Jonas entered the passageway at the back of the room, and now that he was far enough away from the light of the lamp Elmo had, his Shadow Sight was back in full measure. However, he couldn't help but detect a faint light in one direction along the hallway. He really didn't want to move into that direction and lose his ability to see into the shadows, but he also knew that Kim didn't have that ability, so if there was light in that direction, he suspected that it would be more likely to lead him to Kim.
If nothing else, he wanted to at least rule that possibility out. After all, he didn't have any idea where to start otherwise, so this would be as good of a direction as any. It woulnd't exactly help him out if he was wrong, but at the same time, it would let him know that he'd done everything he could if it turns out that he wasn't able to get to Kim in time.
Joash sighed. He wished there was an easier way to go about this, but it wasn't like he had anything that he could put on everyone so that he could keep tabs on their locations, or essentially bug them. Not only would it be more ofa stalker-type-ish move, but that sort of things was certainly available, outside of any potential magical means of doing the same thing. Not that Jonas could be sure that that was a thing.
As Jonas neared the light, his ears started picking up the soft sound of metal striking metal. He doubted there was a smithy here in the middle of the manor, let alone someone using it at this time of day, or night, and in these circumstances. Especially since he doubted that anyone working in it wouldn't have been either part of this assassination attempt or would have escaped along with the other servants.
The farther Jonas moved, the louder the sounds go, but it felt like the twists and turns were winding him around the manor in such a roundabout way that he would have been able to make better time if he could have known which walls to punch a hole through. If he knew that, then he probably would have been able to get to the source of the sound within minutes rather than however long it was taking him now.
The lights weren't especially strong along here, but they were lit up and provided enough illumination for him to move along quickly. He wasn't quite at a run, but he certainly wasn't walking at this point either. He was determined to get there quickly, but felt like he was taking much too long.
A fear began gnawing at the back of his mind, that by the time he reached Kim, that she'd either have already been killed or that he would arrive just in time to see her cut down.
Eventually, the ringing got so loud that he began to anticipate seeing whatever was making the noise, which he suspected was Kim and the doppelgangers, but he didn't want his expectations to cloud his judgment, in the even it turned out to be something else entirely.
When Jonas rounded the last corner, he had to stop moving for a minute to assess what he saw before him. Not because he didn't want to jump into the fray right away, but rather because he couldn't be sure of what ehe was seeing at the moment.
He saw three Kims ahead of him, two fighting ther other one. His immediate instinct was that the one fighting off the other two was the real Kim, but he wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be a trick of the doppelgangers, not that he had any reason to think they would do something like that. The only reason he could think of would be that they were somehow aware that he was approaching.
Though, he also suspected that if the one being double teamed wasn't the real Kim, she probably would have doubled her efforts to take out the fake Kim so she would be able to reduce the numbers opf her opponents down.
Jonas looked for anything that would potentially give him an advantage, especially while all of the Kims in front of him weren't showing any sign that they were aware of his presence. As such, he felt that he had a little more time to come up with some plan to help out in the fight. If he didn't, and his suspicions on which Kim was the real one, then he knew it would be only a matter of time before they overwhelmed her and killed her.
Jonas sighed as the fight made one of the lights in the hallway go out. He couldn't say who's sword cut the lamp off the wall, but when it landed on the ground, its flame went out, creating a pool of darkness that he knew he could use.
Without hesitating, or even trying to let Kim know he was there, he allowed himself to merge into the shadows, ready to disable all of the kims in the battle. He didn't want to kill them, just in case he would accidentally kill the real one.
However, as soon as he looked at the Kims through the shadows, he stopped. Something wasn't right and it took him a minute to even figure out what it was. All he could be sure of was that he now, somehow, could tell which was the real Kim.
When he realized what was different was the fact that there seemed to be a shadow over the two Kims that were fighting the third. He couldn't say what caused it, nor was he willing to kill either of those two Kims until he could be absolutely sure, but it at least gave him a starting point to work with.
It was more than he'd had a few minutes ago, and it would also help end this quicker, so long as he played his hand correctly. It would require precision as well as speed. If he took to long, and it was the doppelgangers he was attacking, they would realize quickly what he was doing and it would complicate his efforts.
However, he didn't have much choice in the matter and the longer he took, the more MP he was going to burn in this for nothing. He had to act now. His options were few and the window was a lot smaller than he'd like, but this was the chance he'd been waiting for. Now was the time for him to end this quickly.