Ga Rei: Exodus Nine (IC)

[Verg Avesta]

Medrod Pendragon
Aoyama Ruins

WHAM!

The speed with which Medrod's face met with his palm was fast enough that it would have given even Nyarlathotep a pause. The force behind it was enough to leave a distinct, red mark on the boy's face... which is why it was good that it was almost immediately covered up by the bright red color that flooded Medrod's face, starting from neck and climbing upwards all the way to his hair. It was a small miracle that even his white mullet didn't become pink out of embarrassment.

"NO!" Medrod practically squawked out loudly enough that even Time Devourer must've heard it; a sound very, very uncharacteristic of him. "I mean... No! Maybe! I don't know! I told you! I'm not good at whole this thing! Thiiiiiis!"

Medrod rapidly, and still vaguely, gestured at himself, both chest and head. Or rather, he waved his arms like he was trying to take flight right then and there to escape the noose he had practically jumped into by opening his big mouth in presence of this damn man. Well, maybe he himself had just positioned himself right in front of the noose. It had been Red, face a question-mark as usual, who pushed him into the death-trap.

With more hushed voice he continued, sucking his rapidly-dwindling cigarette with enough force to create a smoke-cloud.

"It's just the guy who I've talked about was -ergh- and Red said she wanted a rematch with him to settle old scores and that I reminded her of him in all sorts of way and it sounded like she didn't want to have a rematch with me even though I -urgh- thought the battle we had was the best fight I've ever had but she didn't seem to think that," Medrod babbled hastily, not knowing whether he was swimming to the surface or digging his hole even deeper. "But I sure don't want to fight with her again if she thinks it just a bore or not as great as fighting that Zerah guy, screw -argh- that I mean why should I care if she doesn't care plus it's like she treats me like a kid sometimes and that's super annoying and I don't know why but it also makes it seem like I'm the second-rate option and I don't wanna be anyone's second choice when it comes to fights even if she helped me realize how horrible I'd been in the past and I feel beholden to her but even that only goes so far...!"

Nearly hyperventilating, eye swirling in his head, Medrod spat out the butt of his cigarette. His next sentence was somewhere between a wheeze and a whisper.

"And the worst thing is that I have no idea why the fact that this here Zerah bloke was her previous Summoner hella bothers me like I was an idiot or something!"

Once again, when pushed far enough, Medrod's ridiculous Osaka-dialect mixed into his speech producing... interesting results.

To save what face he could, Medrod hastily made shooing gestures towards the distant Red, like she had been an overly curious black cat - always in wrong place at a wrong time, ruining things in her wake.

Go on, git! Git!

[Vritra]

Makoto Fujioka
Aoyama Ruins

“That’s-”

Grappling with her rejection of everything my words die in my throat as pain floods through me and forces me to clamp my mouth shut. It hurt, it hurt so much, the dismissals that cut into me, the memories that tear me up and this feeling of burning. Rising and twisting within me it’s begun to replace the sensation of cold emptiness that I had been slipping into as it grows but, choking, smothering, bursting, overpowering, crushing, screaming, splitting and more. Muddled sensation without release and all kinds of pain blending together it’s like I’m freezing and yet also burning up from the inside. Each pump of my heart and each memory that flows through my head only feeds the red sensation piercing my body and squirming in my soul.

I lost.

It was a fluke.

Everything is powerless.

I can only be protected.

Spasms wrack my body as I cough up blood through clenched teeth as thoughts scrap their way through my mind.

THAT’S. NOT. TRUE!

“I still haven’t lost so stop deciding everything by yourself.” Unable to restrain myself I choke out the words as my emotions boil painfully. “My efforts are pointless and I won’t accomplish anything, you and it are both so unbearable with how you’re both looking down on me. Do you think that just because it happened one way that it can’t happen any other way? I won’t accept that, I can and will do it just fine.” Squeezing Sensei in my embrace my body pushes itself to strain against everything around it as the molten desires inside me rampage.

Powerless, loss, a child who can only be protected, each accusation was echoed by a vibrant red thunder as maniacal desire rekindled. A simple murderous desire binding the errant swords that stretched through itself as it prepared. It was a person, a sword and a forge, a sword that shattered, refined and reforged itself to fulfill the murderous impulses it felt. So what if the enemy was great? It wouldn’t, it couldn’t accept anything like that everything was still to be cut down it didn’t matter if it was some absolute or the world. That impulse hungered, that desire pulsed, and that will hadn’t been destroyed, thwarted and fractured but not destroyed. It despised its weakness to a self-destructive degree; if flesh and body were weak then they simply had to be cut away and replaced. Held by this and the self-focused anguish it lashed out at what little it could reach but frustration and anger were becoming a focus. “It” still existed, “It” still was beyond it reach and so it must start again. Absolute or not it was something to be cut down and so gripped by the emotions rampaging inside both its selves it began again. It didn’t matter how many tries it took it would continue until nothing remained and so it let the fires build until everything became molten, gather the taste of time and the absolute to become the purpose and the nucleus and hammer through spiritual pressure. Will and desire would not be stopped so easily.

Unable to stop myself as the red noise scrapping in my ears makes it hard to think I kick away. Burning gripping my body as pressure crushes it I feel like I can’t breathe and yet staring Sensei sensei eye to eye I still somehow find words.

“I refuse... When Sensei gets back I’m going to hug and stab him with everything I have because he was wrong. It’s stupid and there is a better way than his stupid, stupid do everything alone through funny business.” I can’t accept it and I never will but…

“There are some battles that will alone simply can’t win? Why, why, why, WHY ARE YOU TRYING SO HARD TO THROW ME AWAY?!?” Tears pool in my eyes as the pain of her words pierces me. “I really, really hate you and Sensei your always like this, always deciding everything on your own. I’m powerless, I can’t do anything and that I need to be protected, you’re wrong…

I won’t let you ignore everything so you can suit yourselves I not that weak! I might not remember everything like you can but now you’re not even looking at that properly let alone what happening now.

Ahahahaha…”

Choking on my laughter I wipe the tears from my eyes as I narrow them to glare at the person who’s so given up on me that I only register as a helpless child to her.

Stretching out my arms I place my palm on each of her shoulders. “I don’t remember what happened in the past but I know my feelings aren’t as weak as you seem to think they are. So if you think that I’m helpless on my own and that I won’t win then just try to prove it. I’ll show you just how wrong you are and how you can’t even look at me properly anymore.”

A simple challenge, a body sword ridden, broken down, drained and likely to be killed by its own soul let alone an enemy, something that only had its will and overflowing feelings against the strength of a god in an attempt to push her down.

Memories of eight years ago flicker in my mind as my eyes burn with a determined red.

I once stood there surrounded by fire and violent shadows unable to do anything but cry in a futile attempt to deny the reality around me. Everything was dead, dying slowly as blood flowed out. I hid from monsters, I failed to protect anything and was even to powerless to be protected. Everything disappeared but, I’m not the same! I’m not the same as I was eight years ago and I’m not the same as how I was immediately after. Back then I might have needed you and Ane-san Sensei but things are different now I can walk besides you just fine.

I love you Sensei.

I’m not a kid anymore.

I can win.

STOP DECIDING EVERYTHING ON YOUR OWN BOTH OF YOU!

These memories of pain and helplessness burn in my chest, ten years ago, eight years ago, seven years ago, and now. Gritting my teeth and letting these memories of challenge and pain fuel my determination I focus my mind to take in her every movement before beginning. Kyoko has taught me about facing an opponent whose already completed everything before you’ve even started, Ane-san has taught me about facing someone who sees through everything and Sensei has taught me about defeating something formless and untouchable.

Me and this self won’t lose even if it’s against you because the end isn’t a predefined conclusion.

[Airen]

Makoto Fujioka
Aoyama Ruins

"..."

She might be rejecting your words in a sense, but by that same token you aren't listening to her either.

Always making it about yourself, the woman had never claimed that you alone would lose; no, she had followed it up with declaring that she had lost as well, voice steeped in bitterness. If willpower was all it took to defeat the Gods then humanity would have surpassed them a long time ago, but there are certain powers that cannot be denied so easily, 'absolute' things are called such for a reason, and thus...

If she is calling you weak, then she is also calling herself weak.

It is true.

In the end she failed to protect her Summoner, he had gone on ahead without her, simply waving goodbye as if it was the most casual thing in the world, a temporary split before they'd run into each other again someday.

He must have done it for a reason, she had to trust that reason, even if she did not, then she was simply left behind pointlessly and she can't accept that; she had been able to match Chronos, but the "Devourer's" power had torn through everything the moment it had gotten even vaguely serious, and thus, that must be the wall that she couldn't pass with her powers alone, yes...

That thing was certainly a far more "real" God of Time, Chronos itself could crush her power if it could notice it, and the Devourer itself had simply refused to allow them to act at the end at all, that was how far it's powers had stretched...

It had frozen them all, and defeated them before they even realized it had happened; strength doesn't matter at that point, if the fight is not even allowed to start, then they have lost long before they were even born...

Thus...

She is no more looking down on you than on herself, she knows how strong those feelings are, after all she should, but her own feelings had been denied in the end by a 'logical' power that cares little for such things, but-

"I'm not going to fight you."

-More than anything else. She had no interest in fighting 'it.'

Laying a hand on you even in sparring was already an iffy enough prospect for her, but more than that... Those violent impulses had been fed by everyone long enough, she simply refused to give into it even if you hated her for it, because if you kept it on through all of this then the sword really was in control and you really weren't ready; that was fine, she wasn't human to start with, so she could bear a human's hate easily enough, do it without flinching at all honestly-

"I don't think you're helpless. I lost too... You're strong, sure, we raised you to be... But it's not just about strength anymore... We needed something we didn't have at that time... He freed Chronos for a reason, he had to have a reason, had to..."

-and yet-

-That human feeling of 'grief,' of being far from being able to fight not just because she lacks the spiritual power to do so, but because her will simply isn't in it so soon after that sort of event, because even though she might look like she's holding it together pretty well she's actually sobbing on the inside, and those human-like feelings...

Floods out from her to someone who -ironically enough for someone who believes no one really looks at him- simply never listens.

[Airen]

Jonathan R. Black
SLEIPNIR - Star's Cradle
Final Rest

Judging as how she seemed to have a personal room aboard the ship, she was definitely someone of note to the soldiers -or rather the organization- that had taken root in the heart of the city.

She had more or less grabbed your wrist immediately and led you back here of her own accord; while the room was large it wasn't particularly decorated either, there was simply a bed and a solitary bookshelf pressed up against the far wall, a layer of dust indicating it had been a long time since this room had been used by anyone, let alone her, and yet it opens at the touch of her fingers to what seemed to be some sort of scanner on the wall next to the door.

She had half-collapsed on the bed soon after, hand resting on shattered ribs that still hadn't healed completely yet, but-

"...Sorry."

In spite of clearly taking a clean beating from Chiyoko a few hours ago, the first thing that girl does now that she's managed to get you out of the sight of certain people she simply doesn't trust, is...

"Wasn't able to beat her."

...Apologize for losing, or rather...

For what she perceived as letting you down.

[Airen]

Hitoshira Nagi
Battleship S.L.E.I.P.N.I.R ~ Star's Cradle
Top of the Ship

"...Even I don't remember everything, I'm sure Mark forgot most of it as well... We were probably both pawns, in the end."

It's something that is difficult for him to admit, but now that he's been forced to face the reality of his previous actions, he has also taken the time to look at what had motivated him to take those actions before; he had merely had fragments of memories, of a war against Demons that Humanity had no way to win against, a battle that would shake the world in his lifetime and wipe everyone out. He had only had fragments, but those fragments had been enough to horrify him, to set him off on his desperate crusade to ensure that humanity had not died, and in doing so...

...He had played the part of puppet to a puppeteer.

While he did not have proof of this exactly, it is what his soul feels is true; ultimately, there is not much that separates him from the average ESPer, and the idea that he would retain his memories while they did not should have been acknowledged as a fluke and nothing more, but he hadn't questioned it, thought of himself as a sort of Dark Messiah, and in doing so, had been blinded to a much more likely truth...

That he had been allowed to remember certain things purely for the sake of getting him to act in a certain way.

He was no different from the others in that regard, memories or not, he had simply done what had been expected of him every-time and had failed to realize it until now, becoming little more than a glorified distraction for the real plot unfolding in the background of humanity's civil wars and...

"There was a time kinda like this, when everyone worked together but were still killed by the Darkness... I believe that was the first time, but I can no longer be sure. There was an orphanage then, and-"

He goes quiet for a moment, ultimately fails to find the words he was looking for, and then sighs...

"It didn't work back then, and yet it worked now... Was the only difference for you that you arrived early? I... Can't say. I do not believe that the church knights were with you before either, none of the times you were with me at least, and the actions the others took," looking down below, the eyes hold an emotion that can't truly be placed, "...Somehow they changed as well, even I was more aggressive than normal, it is strange... But perhaps this sort of ending is fitting for us."

He shakes his head, it's not exactly a smile, but it doesn't seem like a frown either...

"Everyone is gathered together again, whatever path they took this time, it led them here... That has to count for something... It should be the same for you. Whatever you are right now, that's the you that managed to make your way this far, bad vessel or not... All you can do at this point is believe that it was the right way for you to go."

Because there will be no more repeats.

If humanity loses here, then that is the end, the "Bad Ending," becomes the "True One."

[Frantic Author]

Hitoshira Nagi
Battleship S.L.E.I.P.N.I.R ~ Star's Cradle
Top of the Ship

I'm quiet, as Yagami speaks. It's the calm before the storm, in a way - if we don't succeed, everything ends. That story that I'm so selfishly continuing is eradicated, and humanity is overcome by darkness without any chance of light.

"I suppose if all that everyone has left is fragmented memories, then some of those times... couldn't have been that bad, right?"

I smile at him, a quiet sort of thing as the sky washes over us. It's not easy, to admit that sort of thing - especially not for Ryota Yagami, a person who was trying his utmost to find hope in the midst of despair. Memory, as it is, is just a way of viewing the world, seeing reality betwixt and between those times when we dream and when we wake.

"After all, with the machinations of gods involved, they'd easily remove the ones where we nearly succeeded. They'd only leave the times we failed, so as to remind us that there's no hope. But... I can't believe that, even if I'm doubting myself. Look at the sky, Ryota."

My face tilts upwards, to stare at a sky cleaved asunder. It's beautiful, naturally - I always thought the Kyuubi was a sort of warped, twisted beauty - it's simply humanity made into something crueler, something viler, but there's still beauty in that sort of evil. Being the worst vessel is meaningless, in the end. We're all human here.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? Even though it's disgusting, and twisted, there's still beauty in this world that not even the darkest of us could deny. Oh, I'm sure that there's someone on this ship who wishes for us to fail - there's always despair and depravity when someone reaches this close to the top. But... it'll have to wait, won't it? Because until the world's evils are washed away, it's just a dream. And everyone has dreams."

Dreams.

That's what I had, when I returned to Tokyo. A scattered dream, and far-off memories. Or perhaps it was a far-off memory and scattered dreams? It's hard to tell, in this time, in this place, if every action I took was right, or just; especially when I look back to the past and see the previous Hitoshira Nagi's cruelty in my mind's eye.

"I don't think I'm the worst vessel, any longer. But the ghosts in my soul have been far too quiet for how loud they were previously. Perhaps I'm less open to them?" A smile twitches at the side of my lips, as I stare into the distance. "Or perhaps Lilith has given them a very stern talking to about what being a 'poor vessel' means. I suppose I was always more suited to demons and devils then I was to ghosts and ghouls."

There's still hope.

I have to believe there's still hope.

I can't let go of that possibility that we succeed.

"I don't think we'll fall, here. Oh yes, some of us might fall into despair, but if you set gods against humans, its always a difficult battle. From Herakles to Jesus of Nazareth, heroes can always rise in times of great necessity, and topple gods if need be. After all, Ryota, didn't I topple you, just a little bit?"

My eyes are teasing as I speak, and there's a lightheartedness in my voice that feels like it belongs to someone else. I've really changed, haven't I? From the person I was when I first returned to Tokyo. I'm no longer that quiet girl in the graveyard, selling information with barely a flicker of emotion in my eyes.

"I think... I think I'd like to meet my family again, when its all over. Maybe I'll apologize. Maybe they will. I don't really know what'll happen, in the end. But... I don't think I could bear going up against such impossible odds without a wish, or at least a declaration."

I stretch my hand out towards the sky, fingers splayed, and I can see twinkles of light in between them.

"Tomorrow will be brighter then today. That's what I think."

[Airen]

Medrod Pendragon
Aoyama Ruins

"Woah, you really go off when you get going huh?"

There was something infuriating about the fact that he had clearly been trying to get this sort of reaction out of you, and yet was being all nonchalant about it now that it was his turn to speak-!

"But I get it, I see where you're coming from here, it's like being compared to the super rich, fancy-car driving ex."

He nods.

"But it sounds like she wants to fight him cause she hates his guts, if she doesn't want to fight you she just might not hate your guts, you know? Probably not the fun sort of fight she has in mind for this Zerah guy, seems more like a revenge thing, kinda different from what it seems you want, very different vibe, more likely to end with someone maimed if you know what I mean, could just say you wanna fight her for fun and see how she responds to that, but question-!"

A pause:

"I may be out of touch with the youth, are these euphemisms? Is 'fighting' what you kids call it nowadays? Are you sure you're talking about what you think you're talking about?"

...It is both a sincere attempt to help while also being clearly designed to mess with you.

A horrific combination.

[Verg Avesta]

Medrod Pendragon
Aoyama Ruins

For the first time, it was Medrod's turn to look like a big question mark.

A big, bright red, embarrassed enough to want to dig a hole and bury himself there question mark.

While he had been somewhat nodding along with Dante's words (though his eyebrow had jolted upwards about the way he described Zerah), now that the older man had asked him a question, the one-eyed youth didn't exactly seem to understand what he was getting at. Of course even Medrod wasn't innocent enough to not know what an euphemism was... he just didn't seem to get what exactly the older man hinting at, what this 'fighting' could be a replacement word for.

"What I'm talking about? Of course I know what I'm talking about!" Medrod retorted, flustered. "Fighting is fighting, and that's what I'm talking about. Or am I supposed to be talking about something else?"

Eyebrows squirming on confusion, he leaned a little closer.

"Wait, what are you talking about?"

[Vritra]

Makoto Fujioka
Aoyama Ruins

“No…

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.”

Choked up amid swirling sensations, howling desires, throbbing pains, chaotic fears, desperate hopes and confused intermingled wills, everything both new and old building up with no proper way of release, it was a true sensation of drowning.

“Sen …sei.”

The word was barely audible as I shift trying to push forward but my focus splinters and everything falls apart. Any pretense of strength vanished I topple over, my consciousness flickers in haze as pain, injury, exhaustion and everything else pile on. I can barely even grasp her hand in this trembling powerless grip.

“I’m scared, I hate this, Sensei… why does it have to be like this it’s stupid, it’s not fair, Sensei, how do I, Sensei, Sensei, Sensei, Sensei, Sen …sei.”

A quiet repetition from a bleeding heart that couldn’t figure out how or why everything had to happen or even how it could stop the wounds cut fresh into the scars of the pat. It, he want to help, embrace, to love and yet it only felt like everything simply slipped from trembling hands.

Slowly and quietly everything bubbles out in time to falling tears.

[Katie]

Mikagura Mika
Aoyama Ruins

Sora is like that, I realize. There is a subtle difference between knowing and understanding, and in retrospect it’s plainly clear my godmother has a tendency to become a massive workaholic. So… I suppose I have to find some time in the future to provide interventions, although I’ve never been particularly good at those. But I’m glad I was made aware of this beforehand—dealing with it for the first time most definitely would have been quite the hassle.

And, it seems, my help is ultimately unneeded, or perhaps unwanted. Well, it’s no pressing matter. If Liane feels like she works better alone, it’s not my place to contest, especially when everything is on the line.

“Yeah, I’ll tell Yamuna if I see her.”

Though, before that… I suppose I should talk to the person this conversation has been about first.

>> Sora >>

[Airen]

Mikagura Mika
Aoyama Ruins

Clouds were starting to come in, blocking the otherwise starlit night skies.

While you hadn't seen Sora since the incident with Nyarlathotep, it wasn't like the woman was particularly difficult for you to find; her aura has quickly become familiar over the course of a few weeks, and when you really put your mind to it, the sheer strength of her spirit lights up in a way that is reminiscent to a beacon, or a lighthouse, an impossible to ignore presence that you could probably make your way to with all five of your normal senses stripped from your body.

She's sitting inside of what seems to be a half-destroyed bookstore, face buried in novels and texts that are far too ancient to have actually come from the shop in question; much like Liane she is looking for an answer to this situation even though she knows that one does not exist within the confines of these texts. The knowledge humanity had on the Great Devourer was limited, requests from the 'akashic' record had only indicated that it controlled the "Four Factors: Space, Time, Heat (Energy), and Power."

The extent of it's control over said "Factors of the Universe" was not exactly known to you, but...

Even a little bit of imagination shows exactly how bad things could get in the worst case scenario, Liane had implied that they were looking into ways of perhaps stealing this power, but she wasn't capable of using the methods they were attempting to use, and thus now that they've exhausted her knowledge on the subject and moved on to things that she can no longer help with...

A book is thrown with frustration across the room, collapsing a tower of other novels as a hand goes up to her head; for Sora this is a worst case scenario, she had always assumed that they would have more time than this to deal with this particular enemy, and yet it had simply dropped their presence down upon them suddenly, yanking the "happy ending" out from beneath everyone's feet and declaring that it was going to destroy them come sunrise regardless. While hope is not yet lost, and those that have the skills to do what is necessary are doing their best to fulfill those roles, so that she can fulfill her own role as a soldier later on and defeat the enemy on the front lines, the fact that she feels like she can't help in this moment isn't going away...

"...Damn it."

Shoulders sink.

Now that a future she has found some light in looks like it might disappear for good, vanishing into the void in a fate worse than death she has become somewhat frustrated, the exact opposite of the apathy that had held her for eight years, but...

"Oh, Mika."

Calling you by your first name, the woman looks tired, dreadfully so, clear bags under her eyes.

"Are you alright? Hungry or anything? I think there's a working kitchen in the back here..."

Yes.

Determined to be useful in any way, even though it's wearing her all-too-human body down more than she realizes...

Her immediate response to your presence is to ask after you...

[Airen]

Medrod Pendragon
Aoyama Ruins

"Well I figured you were talking about 'fighting,' you know? I mean you're old enough to get it right?"

It's hard to tell exactly how serious he is being, and in that same sense, it is hard to tell if he is being purposefully obtuse about this or not, but standing up, and punctuating each of his statements with a punch into the air in front of him-

"I'm talking about when you whip the sword out! With great force! Every angle..! It penetrates! Until! With great strength-! You... ram it in! In the end you are both satisfied... And then you do it again a couple days later, until one of you gets mad and kicks the other one to the couch. That's the fighting you're talking about right?"

...Somehow, even though it sounds accurate on the surface.

You feel there is some sort of grave misunderstanding happening here-!

...And people are looking at the both of you now.

Although Tony doesn't really seem to care...

[Katie]

Mikagura Mika
Aoyama Ruins

Ah. So this is what it’s like to see it in action. As flattering as it is to know she prioritizes my well-being, the matter is that she is in a much worse state than I am, and I barely managed to convince the devourer to not kill an idiot and I on the spot. These selfless types honestly need to learn when to take breaks. Something about the benefits of moderation is lost upon these people who can only see how to go all-in on a gamble.

“Shouldn’t I be asking that to you?” I fold my arms in defiance. The only way to force Sora down is to be evidently stubborn about something. “I may not be as good as you, but I can certainly cook for myself, if not others. That, and it looks like you sorely need a break.”

I tell off my godmother with a stern scowl on my face. Put the foot down and refuse to budge. In a contest of petty wills, I am undoubtedly unmatched.

“Besides, I don’t think you’re going to get much out of those books, if they only tell you what I know.”

[Verg Avesta]

Medrod Pendragon
Aoyama Ruins

"..."

The flattest incarnation of 'What' filled Medrod's face, flat enough to put both Salar de Uyuni and Yuka's chest to shame. This man... he was hard enough to follow sometimes with his out-of-context ramblings, but even now that they were (apparently) in-context, Medrod didn't have a hecking clue what he was going on about. Well, he did, but the way he put it was... strange to say the least. As in, all the words made sense but it was like something about them flew right over Medrod's head.

Plus, for some reason the stares of the people around them... it made his earns burn.

Still, considering Dante was showing this much passion regarding all this, and because all his words rang true despite the odd feeling Medrod got, he had to agree with him---!

"Yeah, that sounds like it!" Medrod announced, jumping up, right hand clenched into a fist. "I mean, she doesn't have a sword, but I do...! And considering how high her defenses are, thrusting maneuvers are better if I want to get it in deep and draw the first blood! Mine is a bit blunt but I guess with enough force, even a big thing like it should be able to maneuver fast and strike from every angle..."

Folding his arms, Medrod entered into a state of deep thought.

"Still, I have no idea if she has any resistance towards electricity, considering the recent upgrades..."

Of course there were some stuff that confused him.

"I dunno about the 'kicked onto the couch' thing, though," he spoke. "I mean, if we did it inside an apartment, wouldn't the whole building get trashed? She can get pretty violent when she gets going, and she's got size where it counts, too... just one wrong move and she could bust through a wall. I'm not sure if a couch would even survive all that."

Medrod shot a questioning glance towards the man in red.

"What if we did it outside? Though that could attract attention, and I kind of want it to be a private affair..." Medrod wondered. "After all, the last time we were outside we got tangled up with that female vampire and that ended up in lots of biting..."

[Airen]

Mikagura Mika
Aoyama Ruins

There wasn't much in the kitchen, since it was ultimately a little coffee-shop esque place, the best you could do with the resources you had were biscuits, bacon and eggs. Even then Sora doesn't struggle much, not an ESPer, and thus having been forced to use up a lot of her own spiritual power in order to magically heal her own wounds after the battle, the woman that was awaiting her turn in the ship's healing pods does little to stop you once you make your own particular form of petty stubbornness clear.

"...I thought we would have more time. Wasn't supposed to all happen at once..."

And now...

Now you're sitting side by side at a cleared reading table, making due the best you can; while you're not that hungry yourself it seems that your godmother is a bit more prone to human weaknesses, indeed, while she probably doesn't want to eat anything, denying her body it at this point is the same thing as purposefully making herself weaker in the upcoming final battle, and that...

That she cannot abide, even so...

Her shoulder leans into your own every now and then, as if she's struggling not to straight pass out where she sits...

"Hadn't even made plans for the summer yet, now all of this... I thought a group trip might be fun, the demon and that friend of yours too... Go somewhere sunny, you know? Or America?"

A sip of a coffee, then a sigh...

"Was gonna ask you... Anywhere you wanted to go...?"

Indeed, it is a form of regret, and she's so tired it's almost like her brain has slowed down, but...

One that she is asking in her own way while she has the time, perhaps simply...

To throw another light in the future.

- - - Updated - - -

Makoto Fujioka
Aoyama Ruins

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

It's the rhythmic sound of someone's hand lightly patting you on the back, pushing yourself continuously even though your body has already declared you cannot, it is only natural for you to lose consciousness if you keep doing that sort of thing, and indeed...

That seems to be what has happened...

You're lying on a park bench, atop a blanket next to the teacher that is lightly tapping your form in a comforting way; you are not so close as to reach her knees, but it's close enough that you're right next to them, and indeed, she has simply spent the last few minutes simply watching over you like this and mulling over her own thoughts, and the conclusion she comes too, a conclusion that she should have reached from the start, is simply...

"...It is not fair. But I trust Katsuro."

It is calm.

While her spirit is still torn on the inside, she has regained enough of herself that it no longer seems to be bleeding out of her.

"We will win the second time. The Happy Ending has been prepared... Those were his words."

A pause, just a light one:

"I am sure he considered his own self in those words... So it will be alright."

The hand continues to tap.

The sword recoils from that warmth, and the voice...

Seems to imply that you should go back to sleep.

[Vritra]

Makoto Fujioka
Aoyama Ruins

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Strange…

Indistinct surroundings, undefined sounds, I’m unable to recall where I am and what’s around me.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

What?

No… who?

Indistinct shapes and undecipherable sounds slowly begin to lose their haze and become recognizable.

“Sensei?”

Blinking I struggle to rise only to find that I can’t quite and instead settle for dragging myself the rest of the short distance to hug her despite the positions awkwardness.

"...It is not fair. But I trust Katsuro."

It is calm.

While her spirit is still torn on the inside, she has regained enough of herself that it no longer seems to be bleeding out of her.

"We will win the second time. The Happy Ending has been prepared... Those were his words."

A pause, just a light one:

"I am sure he considered his own self in those words... So it will be alright."

The hand continues to tap.

I haven’t lost the first time, I’m still going to stab him a lot, I…

I can’t think of anything to so, everything sounds so empty and cold but-

“I’m not going back without you.

…you, got hurt to so… you should get, check up and …healing.”

-Quiet words and a broken flow I still manage the mutter a few words that seem like they should be said anyway.

[Katie]

Mikagura Mika
Aoyama Ruins

“Well, we must make do with what we have.” Even now that the end is nigh after we’ve barely managed to triumph over one disaster, there is no point but to tackle the problem head-on. There is simple too little allotted for us to gripe and moan. Heavens know I’d do it if I had the chance.

"Hadn't even made plans for the summer yet, now all of this... I thought a group trip might be fun, the demon and that friend of yours too... Go somewhere sunny, you know? Or America?"

"Was gonna ask you... Anywhere you wanted to go...?"

“America? Last year’s world championship was in San Diego, so…” Not that I particularly dislike California. Rather dry, though. But honestly, it was more that I wasn’t particularly looking forward to travel in the first place. I had taken a year off and was expecting to easily go back into university. Though, beyond that, I was completely unsure.

“Perhaps Europe? Maybe England.” I just throw out somewhere without any real thought. Europe is definitely an interesting place to visit, so I wouldn’t really mind any country. “To be frank, I’d just like to relax when this is all over with. But I wouldn’t mind going on a trip or two.”

Sora’s shoulder crashes into mine once more, and I just lay there, trying to do my best to support her weight. It’s not particularly comfortable, but you have to put up with all sorts of crap for family, right?

[Airen]

Mikagura Mika
Aoyama Ruins

"Hah... Well, relaxing is fine too, as long it doesn't get carried away."

An amused smile.

While you kind of want to ask what she means by that, she lets you know in her own way soon afterwards, yawning out the words as she pushes away a plate from in front of her.

"I know about the bad habits, shut-in behavior from time to time if you're left alone too long, can't really blame you, I do it too... But bitcoin... I don't think bitcoin is going to explode like you think it is... Think your mom agrees..."

Another yawn, then-

"Still, Europe huh? Yeah, that could be neat. Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Ibiza island... Should make a bit of money for saving the world, so that should be doable enough... Alright, that's the plan. Beat this thing down tomorrow morning, relax tomorrow evening... And then wing it from there... Assign the turtle some chores..."

-She loses the fight with herself right there, although you don't notice it at first; having already made an unconscious habit of leaning into you, the you that has already gotten used to it -after all, she ultimately doesn't weigh that much- perhaps even goes out of your way to answer, but when silence and perfectly measured breathing is all that greets you in response...

A woman that normally doesn't let down her guard at all, or rather, one that has been trained to respond to threats even whilst unconscious...

Seems to have simply completely lost consciousness on your shoulder, pinning you there not physically, but with the same sort of mental manipulation as a cat, namely...

...While you're not sure if she's completely out yet or not -she had been drifting in and out for awhile now- on the off chance she really has finally given in to her own exhaustion... It almost makes you feel bad to move her.

[Katie]

Mikagura Mika
Aoyama Ruins

“You are not allowed to critique my financial decisions when I am easily the best stock analyst in the entire planet.”

If I put at least some effort into it, I’m sure I could make more money than anyone I have ever known without even leaving my house through my own abilities. And honestly, isn’t that kind of life the dream? A world of as much free time as possible, to be spent on whatever leisure you decided to pursue at the moment. All the pointless hobbies I could pursue, the lack of care I could give to financial matters, the great sleep I could get…

My mood feels better already just thinking about it!

Though, now that I’ve brought myself to Earth, I realize that Sora may have completely given out this time, which leaves me in an awkward predicament. I still have to find Yamuna and deal with other personal matters, so lying around here and letting her sleep on me is certainly no good. Perhaps I would have considered it another time, but I think that the sleeping woman would agree that at least one of us has to be productive at the moment.

“Come on, at least let your goddaughter free,” I say, noticing how light she feels under my touch. Why is she so light? Shouldn’t she be built like a tank or something? For someone who claims to be human, minor things like this make me wonder if she isn’t actually part of some absurd subspecies instead of myself…

Slowly, carefully, precisely, I try to weasel from out of her reliance, a far easier task than anything Nami has done to me.

“She still has some things to do, okay?”

[Airen]

Hitoshira Nagi
Battleship S.L.E.I.P.N.I.R ~ Star's Cradle
Top of the Ship

"Hopefully."

Leaning over the handrails, the youth that simply shakes his head at the child-like grasp for the stars nevertheless has to struggle to keep himself from emulating the action himself; the opponent is an entity akin to God, something that he knows is on an entirely different league compared to not only his own previous power but the powers of humanity and demon-kind as well, the God that surpasses all others he is aware of, something that is not simply a "God of Time," but...

Hope.

Even though they are outclassed completely, that feeling is still able to bloom, it is Humanity's final weapon, what they fight with when everything else seems on the verge of being lost, but-

"Still... A wish, huh?"

-It's not a bad idea.

Putting something forward past tomorrow, to look ahead into the future, to claim those uncertain days as certain, to put a star in the sky and claim it as their own, yeah...

Down below they're probably doing something similar, and even if he no loner has the right to go down amongst them, even if in the end his crimes must be paid for, for both his own sake as well as that of others...

Hope appears in the form of stars, there's no reason he cannot have his own even in penance.

"Reconnecting with family isn't bad, carrying those sorts of regrets is a poison in life, but me..."

He has to think about it.

Having long ago forsaken his own desires over the belief that he must protect the world no matter the cost, it takes awhile for him to come up with a wish of his own, in the end he even has to delve into half-forgotten dreams to find it, but...

"I suppose there is someone I wish to meet. Someone on an island far away, I do not know why but..."

A pause.

"Of all the wrong I have done, I want to be able to grant at least one wish, so... I will find a way to bring that person to this place."

Even if only a single time...

He wanted to be someone's hero without any of the shades of grey.