Ga Rei: Exodus Nine (IC)

[Airen]

Jacques Dussault
Aoyama ~ Bridge
Noon

"Look for someone wearing a full body cloak by the bridge... It might be easier to check during the day. At night... Well, I think you'd both miss each other."

While she had said she would give you a clue in exchange for your help, in the end, it had seemed much more like she had just given you the actual answer to your missing person problem.

Of course, by the time you had exited the prison, the sun had already been in the process of going down. In spite of the fact that you were pretty sure this 'in-between' world was enchanted, it more or less followed the same rules as your usual reality. The sun was up for the same amount of hours a day, night fell for the same amount of time a night, and even the stars shone like they always did... Albeit, maybe a bit more brightly here.

...So you had had to wait a day to put her advice into practice.

Even so, Gisela definitely wasn't the type to tell falsehoods. Having been on the end of a murder threat by her, you had an instinctive understanding of the fact that she didn't lie, if she said something...

Then that was what she believed.

And so, here you were.

Making note of the fact that Gisela had said she purposefully avoided people, you stood on the riverside, watching, waiting, superhuman senses picking up on every little thing that crossed the bridge.

Most were ghosts.

There was a point where Kenji passed by, lugging a box of parts around while Maiya complained about him, and yet another where Tomoya walked across, seemingly following a younger blonde man somewhere, even one where Liane rode across on her motorcycle, in as apparent a rush as always, but...

Standing by a few food stands, all of which didn't charge a dime for service, you don't really mind the wait.

It might take awhile, but you were determined to set things right...

Because you were sure that there was something 'wrong' with the girl that she just wasn't telling anyone about, and-

There-!

Finally, just a little after noon, when the sun is highest in the sky, you spot a figure walking across the lower section of the bridge, the one reserved for walkers, rather than the ghostly vehicles that were zooming by up above.

Dressed all in black, as if afraid of the sun, and with one arm out as if helping to balance herself, an enigmatic figure slowly seems to stumble across the bridge, almost as if she was drunk, or otherwise struggling to put one foot in front of the other. The flow of traffic around her was almost non-existent. Everyone having already made it to where they planned on being for the afternoon, the cloaked one is left alone to walk... Which is probably why she chose this time in the first place, and...

Stopping halfway across, the figure faces out to the river below, a spark of gold hair emerging for the slightest of moments...

Before putting her back to a railing, and seemingly huddling up into a ball... Either hugging her knees, or looking at something she was holding with an inordinate amount of interest.

[Airen]

Mikagura Mika
Library, Balcony

It was a story she had known she would have to share eventually, but one that she had selfishly kept to herself in spite of that... And it was perhaps this knowledge, more than anything else, that kept the literal half-goddess from flinching at the question.

It was a story that didn't have the same impact in words.

While she certainly bears the memories relating to it, as a purely positive entity, she didn't think that she could successfully explain it all well, so when you ask, when someone who could "read" memories, visit them like she was watching a film had asked, that Goddess...

"I will show you... Then you can come to your own conclusion."

Had beckoned, or rather, pushed your power into activating on her own whims, and...

Opened a record that both she and Tamamo had kept to themselves all this time.

---

Yami
"The Ones I Loved"

While she no longer got any real benefit from training her body, she often went through the routines on her own. Shifting from stance to stance to stance, the artificial goddess of life attacks an invisible opponent relentlessly, there are no wasted movements, each blow builds momentum for the next, becoming a graceful chain of punches and kicks that embody the "perfected," version of human martial ability, and while some would consider it superhuman to keep up such motions for even an hour or two without pause, the blazing goddess has been at this for a time that humans would call days.

While it's not exactly goddess-like, she has always had her quirks; it's just a habit she had inherited from those souls she had been incarnated from, and while one could think of it as justification for her role as Guardian of the human world, she is actually doing it more for fun than anything else, to ease the boredom that came with endless observation of the soul sea.

While speaking with the spirits was interesting in it's own right, the collective lacked the charm that individuals had, a result perhaps, of them acting in unison to shape the world.

Either way, acting remarkably human for a goddess, the only thing that stops her self-imposed training regime, is the sound of a human's voice, coming from behind her.

"Ah, you're strong! Really strong!"

Standing here watching, an abnormality in this garden, is a child who can be no more than eight. She has blue hair, long enough to reach the center of her back, and while the Goddess had been moving so fast that even the heroes of old would lose her if they weren't careful, the girl that had observed everything without missing a beat, claps her hands happily and runs forward, towards a person she doesn't know.

"Oh, a human."

Responding with a smile, the goddess that resembles Tamamo, but carries a genuine gentile smile, puts her arms behind her back and leans forward slightly as the girl approaches her. It's not the first time this has happened, because her Garden lies in between the world of the living and the world of the dead, some humans, spiritual prodigies, would occasionally find their way into this place on accident.

"Hello, little one. What's your name~?"

But this one was a bit young, so young that the only thing the goddess can really think about is making sure her soul makes it safely back to her body.

"Elizabeth. But my name's not important!" Remarkably disrespectful to the silver haired woman, this goddess, Yamuna, being one of the few of the Divine who can take such a thing without offense, just chuckles at the child's behavior, "You're so much stronger than my teacher! Please show me how to fight like that!"

"Eh? But why would you want to know that, Elizabeth?" Trying, and failing, to be the responsible adult, the goddess tilts her head to the side, "Kids shouldn't fight... Violent dreams are more like nightmares, dear."

But the girl would have none of it.

"If it's a dream, you should let me decide how it goes-!"

"Aha..."

And that, on a day thousands of years ago, was how a Goddess met the person who would become her very first knight.

The record skips, dozens of images flash by in the span of a few instants, and the story they tell...

Is a happy one.

The Goddess was simply supposed to watch over the world, but in spite of that, more and more humans started to make their way into the Garden to visit her. They were young when they started, gifted children from all around the world that were destined to be heroes, and while she had been condemned to a life of simply watching over the Soul Sea, she wound up growing attached to them over time.

Some of them wanted her to train them.

Others just came by because they "felt like she was lonely."

Some were were accidental meetings, each and everyone of them had come to her in a slightly different way, and while she returned them to their homes each time, they always came back of their own volition, led by their feelings.

In the end, there were twelve who had befriended the Goddess, and as if playing out some grand destiny, all of them had become her precious students.

People who would go out and save others, their stories are not known in this world, they were never legendary enough to be of the same fame as heroes like King Arthur or Heracles in spite of their power, and while the world they lived in, the reality beyond the Garden, was a war torn wasteland, they were those who would see that war come to an end, to see peace restored, the world reformed into the paradise it had always been envisioned to be...

Because they thought the world had potential to be beautiful, that it was worth protecting.

While she had started to lose faith over tens of thousands of years, her friendship with those humans had rekindled her hopes. While they were heroes in many ways, it wasn't like their only dream was to save the world; one was a simple Shepard girl who just wanted her town to be left in peace, yet another was a young man who sought to become the greatest musician on the planet.

They were all different, her twelve knights.

But they would fight for the world, it was, after all, their world.

While they were different in many ways, they were all bound together by that same love of the world.

And it was a love that would be tested in many ways.

It was during their lifetime that the creature that would later be known as the 'Kyuubi' would emerge from the depths of the Soul Sea. Bearing an unbelievably powerful curse, and a body that brought everything it touched to ruin, that monster, a thing they had called the "Black Beast" back then, started it's rampage on a battlefield that had originally been made by humans. Tearing both sides to shreds in spite of their magical prowess, it's existence distorted reality, drew the attention of one of her knights, and a fierce battle ensued over the course of weeks, a battle that slowly, one by one, drew all twelve of the knights together along with the Goddess to finally put the beast down.

Just like her, that monster drew it's power from the Soul Sea.

A mass of grudges that had finally been pushed too far by a war that had threatened to engulf the world, it had lay waste to everything it could set it's eyes upon. It's breath was death, it's attention an impossible curse, and while they had defeated it, broken it into pieces and sent it crawling back into the sea...

That defeat was a temporary respite.

Days later, it reemerged, a screaming, flailing black monster of human spite.

And this time it was stronger.

Critically wounding the Goddess in it's emergence, damaging her so badly that she was forced to sleep to recover, the knights gathered once more in an attempt to push it back.

But the rampage would not cease.

Shrugging off everything that was done to it, the war that had consumed the planet bolstering it's strength to levels that could no longer be matched, the knights came together and made a decision.

When the Goddess awoke, the monster was still in the world.

However, while it was there, it was not moving, not a single bit, as if it's impossible blood lust had finally been abated.

It had taken her awhile to understand what had happened, feeling an air of familiarity from the creature that hadn't been there before, it was only when she had touched the embodiment of the hate-filled darkness that she had sensed...

Eleven lights pulsing inside of it.

Unable to destroy it, but unwilling to let humanity destroy itself...

Eleven of those knights, the children she had raised, had watched grow, people she had cheered for...

Had all thrown their lives away for the sake of stopping a monster that should not exist. Throwing their souls into it, holding back the endless screams of the damned for vengeance, for a world of oblivion, where no one could hurt or be hurt...

It embodied much of humanity at that time.

A hate-filled, war mongering race that hated the world enough that it wished oblivion upon itself, that died cursing other members of their kind, that wouldn't let grudges go, and couldn't see past their own self-conceit, believing the world owed them everything, that if they were unhappy, then everyone else should also be unhappy.

...For the first time she felt disgusted with people.

Spites and grudges, scum of human beings that she both pitied and despised, she had been crying then, trying to figure out how to get those humans that were still worth something out of their self-imposed seal, but...

They had assured her it was fine.

Calling out to her from deep within, they had made a request.

Don't worry about us... And finish it off.

Send it back to the Sea.

For them inside of it, there would be no reward. Stuck with the souls of the damned, holding them back forever, until their grudges faded, until the world changed...

They would be just as damned as the ones they held back.

She didn't want to do it.

But they begged, pleading that they couldn't hold it much longer like it was now, asking her to save the world in their place.

She didn't want to do it.

They pleaded.

She couldn't deny them.

So she had done it.

Along with her last knight, she had struck down the beast one more time with her own hands...

And silenced the cries of the humans she had loved at the same time, condemning them to the same dark place as the monster.

Naturally, or perhaps unfortunately, her heart broke, and she was overcome with emotions she was never supposed to have.

The next time humans started fighting, she forced them to stop.

When they turned on her, she destroyed all of their weapons and made an example of one of their cities, sinking it to the bottom of the ocean as a statement of what she could do if they did not listen.

Sensing a distortion in herself at this action, one that she feared would eventually cause her to completely turn on the people she was supposed to protect, the Goddess attacked herself and was split in two. Fighting off the hostile half with the aid of some powerful humans, the light half banished her darker, angry, grieving half back into the Soul Sea along with her own self, making it law that they could not come back without consequence, and thus returning the world completely to humans.

...And just like that, the story, a flip-book of memories, ends.

"..."

And sitting across from you, hands in her lap.

Yami just waits silently.

[Katie]

Mikagura Mika
Library, Balcony

It’s a terrible story. Mundane knights, with hopes and dreams like any other, wiped away by self-hatred. Depression, despair, those took away those who thought the world was still worth living in, still worth protecting. If one wanted to be cynical, this story could easily serve as an allegory. Even those who shine can fall to despair and never climb out.

Even the goddess in front of me, beautiful, kind, yet so irrevocably inhuman despite her status, is the shell of what she used to be. Someone who wears an insincere smile. It’s not that Yami herself wishes to act dishonestly, but she made herself this way. By rejecting the grief that she felt, she became something less than human.

The child who smiles to reassure her aunt and uncle, despite her parents being gone, is still hurting. The widower who tells his niece everything is fine is still broken. That’s just the way the world is. Even if time may ease the pain, these wounds still linger.

And for someone like Yami, who literally rejected everything that hurt, that let her grief fester and become unmanageable, she’s the most broken of all. Even so, the fact that the goddess Yamuna thought about others, even in her rage, her sorrow…

I think she’d be the goddess I want watching over humanity, and that she should have had more faith in herself. If the goddess of humanity doesn’t have the human attribute of tenacity, should they be protecting us? She could have pulled through… is what I think. Is what I assume.

“Loss is such a cruel thing,” I say, sipping my tea.

It just comes to my lips. There’s no real meaning to statement, other than it’s just a fact. I’ve nothing to convince Yami or console her or anything like that. It’s just how it is. How life is. How humanity is.

A bittersweet existence.

“Yamuna was a kind goddess, if she thought about others, afraid she would go too far. That’s a goddess I would entrust humanity to. After all, that’s an incredibly selfless act for someone so entrenched in anger and despair.”

It’s a weird sort of compliment, but I’m just saying my thoughts now. How do I get to any sort of point?

“You were afraid of… lashing out at the things you hold dear. But you know, humans you protect, the humans you were modeled after, meant to represent, they do it too. I’ve hurt Sora just as much as I’ve helped her in the past few days. But, if you truly love them, you can make amends. You and Tamamo still both love humanity, right? You two wouldn’t care otherwise.”

A pause. I’m not sure what to say anymore. I’m commenting on something so long ago, that nothing I can say can really have an effect. I’m just one of many human beings. A drop in the ocean.

But perhaps, I could be just a bit more.

“And I promise you, I will serve, as a jaded knight for a jaded age. Someone who still has tattered hope despite our growing despair. Even if you want to tear humanity apart when you reunite, I promise I’ll stop you and set you on the right path. If humanity wants to die, then you should drag them, kicking and screaming, until they want to live again. And if you ever falter in your belief of humanity, then I will make you believe in them. Even if I go, even if something happens to me, just remember there will always be someone else. If you wait, there will be another knight for you that still believes, because parents raise their children so that they can live. And surely, there will be one child that listens, that wants to live in the world that was made for us, no matter how bad it gets. Surely, there will be a glimmer of hope in humanity’s anguish.”

Surely, I think, is too confident of a word.

[Airen]

Jonathan R. Black
SDCD Base ~ Corrupted Airs

"...She was probably mocking you."

Looking rather frustrated at this, at the things that had gone on while she had succumbed to a particularly nasty curse, the rose-haired young woman lets it fade after a moment, somewhat enjoying the fact that she had regained the ability to even do something like that...

As deep in the curse as she had been, an urge like that before...

Would not have ended well for the next "opponent" that had appeared before her eyes.

"She's a witch that runs around treating the world like her own puppet show... She probably did all of this just because she thinks its funny, like she thinks consequences don't apply to her..."

While that sort of thing doesn't bother you, it seems to bother her much more, and while your second question catches her off guard, her expression...

Remains a somewhat bitter smile.

"Plenty of stories... And none of them end well."

Just like Michio had said, and what you had theorized, the world was stuck on repeat.

According to Akane, it was stuck like that because someone or something did not like the outcome that lay at the end of the world's journey.

Death.

Death for everyone.

While she couldn't remember specifics, it seemed that at least that much...

Was a constant in all of her "recollections."

Only remembering one other "possibility" yourself, you can't say that the experience is comparable, after all...

From what she was saying... It was easily dozens of repetitions.

"The more times it happens, the more people seem to remember about it... But, this is the first time you've gotten your own memories back... At least that I can remember... Before this time, well... You were always doing your own things... But this time it looks like I was the one that went a little crazy."

A pause, then-

She shoves herself out of bed, landing on slightly shaking legs.

"...You're not going to work anymore right?"

Quieting the shaking with sheer willpower, the girl reaches for a discarded crimson jacket.

"Looks like crazy me thankfully put a stop to the whole ESPer genocide thing, so we should be fine... Do you want to go get something to eat? We can ditch Michio here for now... I'm sure he'll find ways to entertain himself."

...In spite of the overwhelming power you could still feel radiating off of her, for just an instant...

You were reminded of her old self, that harmless young woman from another time and age.

[Airen]

Watanabe Tomoya
Memorial Site - Park
Morning

"Out of the three options... The closest is probably minions. But they're really just... Volunteers."

Leaning back against the raised edge of the roof, the muscular young man follows through on his earlier offer and tosses an icy water bottle your way. While you were pretty good at feeling out when things are going to get dangerous, and had unconsciously tensed up a bit as you felt some sort of event getting closer and closer, your brother seems remarkably calm... And not in the forced, fake way he had used to do when trying to 'man up' in the past.

It is a complete calm.

The clear-hearted calm of a person who is absolutely certain in their ability to control the situation around them in whatever manner they see it.

...It felt a bit strange.

"It's going to be a bit flashy... But I have a kind of bait she won't ignore; at least, according to rumor."

It's vague.

Annoyingly so, as if he wanted your help, but also...

Wanted you somewhat in the dark about the whole thing... For reasons you couldn't quite place, reasons that could range from fear of you not approving of whatever it was, to a simple desire to annoy you a bit like most younger siblings occasionally got the urge to do.

Yes.

This wasn't accidental withholding of information, he was actively choosing to phrase things in as subtle a way as possible.

"But if all goes well, it'll end today... Got a plan so that reviving nonsense doesn't happen, so we can finish off the gothic draculina, make the Old Man proud from his place in the sky, and finally put all of this behind us."

Eyes closed, the young man just seems to be talking now to fill what would otherwise be silence.

Or at least you think that's what he's doing, until...

"Still, I'll be able to thank the shitty vampire for one thing today... Got you to come back home, right?"

From warm words... To a strange nothing-

"It'd been awhile, you just vanished out into the world... You know, if none of this had happened, did you have any sort of plan on when you were going to come back? Was America and all those trips that fun...?"

-An edge that he had hidden away, slips out ever so slightly.

[Snax]

Jonathan R. Black
SDCD Base ~ Corrupted Airs

"...Heh."

Jonathan smirked as he thought about the lofty woman who had just left.

"I don't mind being mocked, as long as I can use her. I'll use what I can use, and if I show her a show entertaining enough, perhaps she'll even be more complying. She knows what I wants, yet she doesn't try to get rid of me off the bat. I'd say that's good enough for starters."

Jonathan paused at her question, scratching his chin for a bit. Food, eh? How long had it been since he had eaten anything properly? He couldn't keep track.

"Well, aside from the tea I made that witch just some time ago, I haven't had to eat anything properly. I say that's a good idea, getting something to eat...As for work."

Jonathan chuckled, dangling a pocket watch in front of himself.

"Eh, it's not my shift."

[Airen]

Saki Ryuumonbuchi
Moon Under Water
Noon

"Hmmm, I see," while her smile is short lived, the aura of the stranger continues to exude a sense of good humor, despite the fact that her clear gaze seems to naturally pierce right through you, "Unfortunate contract, huh? Yeah, I guess Belial would be a tough one. You're doing very well for a beginner, most people would have burned up trying to hold him. But don't worry, if he acts up... Pretty sure your Mom could take him with the power he has now."

Knowing not just your name, but the Demon you were housing in your body, apparently so well she can tell how much power he can manifest at the moment...

The woman crosses her arms and continues, glossing over that particularly sensitive piece of information as if it wasn't unnatural for her to know about it.

"Normally I'd have to insist on you leaving, rules and all... But well... The problem is definitely a bit bigger than just the four of us can handle."

Trailing off into silence, it's your mother's interjection that breaks her focus on you.

"...Surprisingly lively today, Geirin. Did your makeup with your Goddaughter go that well?"

While framed as something that she shouldn't know, the only real change in Geirin's expression is a slight lowering of her eyelids.

"...Something like that."

"That's good. You brooding off in the corner, drinking the day away every time the four of us met up was starting to become irritating..."

"Yeah yeah, sorry. But have you learned to crack a non-slasher smile yet? I had to drink to deal with all the trauma you caused me."

"Working on it."

...It's friendly banter.

Going from criticizing to warm in a heartbeat, even taking a playful (horrifyingly, it had shaken the building) punch on the shoulder without doing anything about it other than 'lightly' punching her back, there's an innate sense of 'trust' here that your mother didn't share with too many others.

In fact, thinking about it...

The amount of people that could joke with your mother and get a positive response out of it...

Could probably be counted on a single hand.

Of course, it's a conversation that seems rather unfitting for a meeting of Demon Summoners, and as it goes on for a bit, with your mother listening to the other woman go on and on about how reliable some girl named Mika had grown up to be...

"Alright, I put up the usual one-hundred and eight barriers, and the Herald added a few of her own. I think we can finally talk without being overheard."

The appearance of another woman, brings the tone back to a heavier state.

"Not waiting for the old man?"

One eyebrow raised, your mother seems to question the turn of events, but...

"Can't find him. Even the Herald doesn't know what happened to him... We're assuming the worst case scenario."

"Unfortunate."

Voice going back to emotionless...

The real meeting between Demon Hunters was set to begin.

---

"Alright, let's confirm everything we know before we start jumping to conclusions on anything."

The name of the newest arrival was "Kuzunoha Raidou," and according to Belial, the name she had inherited was regarded as the absolute peak of the Kuzunoha.

In essence...

The one who held the title "Raidou" was the strongest Demon Summoner in Japan.

And her instantly taking the head of the conversation, as the four of you sat around in the back poking at a pizza, was enough of a subtle hint that everyone was aware of it, or at the very least tolerated the idea that this was the case. But there is no hostility in it either, getting the sense that these three were used to having these sorts of meetings, and thus, were completely used to working with each other, it seems that they were simply following the usual steps to make things go as smoothly as possible...

Which left you with a lot of room to listen.

"The Summoner of the "Great Devourer" is Fujimoto Chiyoko, who has gone missing after last night's weather broadcast. The identity of the Great Devourer is theorized to be Chronos, albeit, we have no heavy proof on the matter. In addition to this, the "Kyuubi" is acting up again in spite of the nine stone seals, numerous Demon Summonings all over the city have been detected by the Herald, and the Conception is theorized to occur sometime in the next six months."

Listing off a series of things that can only be called "problems," the sheer scope of how bad the situation will be in the future doesn't seem to be unnerving them too much.

"Some of these problems are clearly linked... The summoning of demons taking place before the Conception isn't abnormal, and according to Geirin, Chronos is supposedly on humanity's side with all of this. Every time we are wiped out, be it to the Kyuubi, or to the Conception, he returns us to a certain point in time before all of this... For this we also have no hard evidence, but..."

...It's something everyone feels is true.

You in particular, having fought a "phantom of time" can easily believe that such a thing is the truth.

"While I can believe he is certainly rewinding the clock when we lose... I do not like the idea that he is doing it simply out of sheer goodwill. The amount of power such a task would take out of a God, especially in this world... Is not so insignificant that it would be done on a whim."

In essence, this woman, Raidou, believes that the God must be getting something out of it.

And not knowing what that 'something' is...

Puts them all in a dangerous situation.

"Agreed."

Nodding once, your mother taps on her phone a few times, as if looking for a specific file.

"...I've been tracking Fujimoto for about a month now. While I was unable to confirm the sighting of a demon belonging to her, she has certainly visited places where summonings have taken place. Of all of these areas, the magical signature of the demon was always wiped out shortly after it appeared; in terms of identity of the entities I can confirm the destruction of the Four Devas, as well as Ares... The others I wasn't able to deduce."

Speaking in somewhat of a monotone...

"Saki. Are you paying attention?"

Your mother suddenly calling out to you... Makes you jump a bit.

"If we were to make an assumption about these circumstances... That assumption being Chronos is attacking the others, and has enough stored power that he is able to defeat them effortlessly... What would he get from aiding humans in an endlessly repeating war? Why hasn't he won the Conception on his own already?"

She asks you a question that she already has a theory towards answering, curious as to what you would say.

...And while the others have also reached their own conclusions...

The pressure seems to be on you...

And as far as you can tell, the answer she's fishing for seems to lie in the nature of the Devourer...

The one who was known for devouring the generations after his own...

Eating other Gods...

'...In the place we come from, there is no real time. Even if this world repeats, unless we came down into it... Those in the void would stay the same.'

And a cryptic hint from a certain demon.

[Vritra]

Makoto Fujioka
Nakamura Residence (Ghost World) ~ Living Room
Morning

“Yoooooooooou.”

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMN!

Hugging Megane, grinding my teeth, glaring at full strength and fuming uncontrollably I reject her words with everything I have. Wrong, wrong, wrongwrongwrong mine, mineminemine ALL MINE, Megane, Kimichi, Hitomimi, Akido, Canada, Kyoto, Ane-san, Sensei, I refuse to give them up. “Mine, they are mine, mine to hug, mine to be with miiiiiiiine.” Teeth barred and absolutely defiant of her I can feel my insides twist, the feeling of a scratching noise echoing all around. It feels like my insides want to pull themselves free, like my bones are flexing and like my guts run with something molten, burning, twisting, and scraping.

Hugging Megane I find refuge in her warmth before answering stupid lady.

“Stupid, terrible, annoying, cold, bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh.” Punctuating my summary with a face and blown tongue I feel everything surge like molten metal crawling through my body desperate to escape. “Stupid, stupid, stupid terrible lady trying to get away with funny business, I refuse, I won’t let you. I refuse to let you dance away inside like you want terrible lady, I won’t let you get away with anything stupid lady I won’t give you any hugs and I’ll kick you down terrible lady with a bad hat!” Everything flowing out into an absolute rejection like spilled metal pressed together to make a red hot blade I glare at her with all my strength as I refuse to budge and inch.

“Ah…

No, no, no your right Megane is always being stupid so she needs to rest before she can face the rest of her punishment.” Switching tones completely as I realize something I smile like a sword as I get up as move leave, move to leave by planting my feet, unleashing all my strength ( and even more than that! nothing she will do will let me let her stay if I can’t) and pushing her out in front of me as I head towards the kitchen to help Kimichi.

“Yooooou, I won’t let you get in my way no matter if its fixing Megane being an idiot or anything else, no matter what.” A whisper underneath breath that carries an unnoticed metallic and red hunger that escapes his notice.

[Airen]

Mikagura Mika
Library, Balcony

"..."

While Yami does not respond to your words immediately, it is only because your words have momentarily left her stunned in a way she hasn't been in hundreds of years. Having shown you everything up to the split as you had asked, and knowing now that she could easily be considered the villain for what she had done to her other self, the fact that you still have faith that she'd do the right thing in the future...

That...

"I see, thank you. I will do my best to live up to your expectations-!"

A glimmer of hope existing in humanity's anguish, a promise that reminded her of that of her lost knights. While they had called themselves that, they were really more her friends than anything else, her companions, but...

In the end, they had given up everything to protect her along with the world.

As someone who knows that, as someone whose words reflect that knowledge, the weight of what you have just told her has certainly not been lost on the Goddess that was now beaming at you with renewed confidence, but-

"...Pretty words."

The words of someone unexpected... Immediately shifts your attention from a Goddess...

To a Goddess in disguise.

A disguise that is meaningless on you, who have met her before.

"Waiting for them to accept the world? Those that hate it are ruining it for everyone that wants to live... Their minds won't be changed, they need to be completely cut away. The one child that believes, as you put it, will be dragged endlessly to their death otherwise... As will everyone with that same will."

Floating outside, Tamamo-No-Mae's pose bears a dark confidence. One leg crossed over the other, form flickering with shadows, the Goddess's darkness makes no moves to attack her other half.

"...Ah forgive me, am I interrupting story time?"

[Airen]

Makoto Fujioka
Nakamura Residence (Ghost World) ~ Living Room
Morning

Planting your feet into the polished wooden floors, and summoning up as much of your supernatural strength as you can, you plant your hands on the back of the particularly annoying woman with the intent of pushing her out of the room. Her actions seemed suspicious, at least to you, and while you knew the Nakamura's had a bad habit of picking up unusual people off the street, this one...

Just seems bizarre in a way you've never encountered before.

Perhaps that is why you're not entirely surprised when you push...

And nothing happens.

While you are putting forth as much effort as your body could manage on it's own, the woman is enduring it all with so casual an air that it's like you're exerting no physical force on her at all.

But it's only for a moment.

A few fractions of a second, a time in which her head turns back to you, her eyes lock on your form, and you feel like you're suddenly staring at the form of an impossible giant.

But-!

"My, my..."

A voice like an ice queen-!

"...My hat is not terrible. Silly child."

...Strangely, the words that follow are not the queen-like tone you had expected, but a simple comment on how your fashion sense left something to be desired; and just like that...

Your push gains traction, and she does little to keep herself from being shoved out of the room...

Noting the metal underneath, but caring little about such trivial things.

---

Like everything else she did, the act of Kimiko cooking was one made with machine precision; while she was not one for blades, the sight of metal flashing through the air at impossible speeds, dicing eggs, cutting up vegetables on one side while afterimages seemingly cut up meat on the other...

Fast-!

Not as fast as a certain photographer friend, but the sort of speed that came with years of practice in a certain place-!

Shaking you off as you enter the kitchen, the dark-haired woman with the questionable hat doesn't do the obvious and return to Megumi's room, but rather takes a seat at the kitchen table, watching Kimiko work with emotionless eyes.

"...Well I'm out, congratulations," now aware that you instinctively disliked her, the woman's response is to change absolutely nothing about the way she acts, "What's the plan now, little one?"

...And she keeps calling you a kid.

[Vritra]

Makoto Fujioka
Nakamura Residence (Ghost World) ~ Living Room
Morning

Victory! Victory, Victory, Victory is mine!

While terrible lady cold was too busy realizing her bad sense I snatched victory and ejected her from the room, mhmm ~ take that terrible lady for your funny business, you won’t be getting anything past me, responsible older brother Makoto!

Now having verified that she accepted I can begin the spooooils of victory!

“Nyahaha silly old, old gran gran, now is victory time.”

Shaking my head at her silliness I prepare! An deep breath, an instantaneous silent acceleration, a stealthy warcry, a perfect maneuver to overcome meanie Kimichi’s absent understanding of how wonderful hugs are!

“KIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIICHIIIIIIIIIIIIII MEEEEEEEAAAAAAANIIIIIIIIIEEEEEE, don’t start without me! Aha, just, just watch I’ll show so, so, so let me help!

Thus getting revenge for Kimichi starting without my I dive forward with a flying huuuuuuug ignoring the knife in her hands or her penchant for natural reactions after all… I WON’T LOSE TO SUCH SILLY THINGS BECAUSE TODAY IS THE DAY I SHOW OFF ANOTHER ONE OF MY RESPONSIBLE OLDER BIG BROTHER MAKOTO POWERS!

Things are super delicious and don’t explode anymore nyahahaha, even Ane-san praises me, although… grrrrr, she’s always trying to sneak off and doing it all herself.

.
..
…

…well things don’t explode much, but there's nothing to worry about something like that won't happen this time.

[Mooncake]

Jacques Dussault
Aoyama ~ Bridge
Noon


I stood there for a while, watching the comings and goings of the crowd. It had already been a full day since Gisela, a night of lying on my bed, listening to the whispers of the shadows. I hadn't heard them before I met the Kyuubi, but maybe they'd always been whispering, in a tongue I couldn't understand.

I bought a box of kreteks and lit one, letting the smell of cloves drift out into the air. I'd smoked five by the time I saw Kenji lugging parts and Maiya by the hand, and I gave a little smile at their closeness. I was almost through the pack when I saw Tomoya going across, striding with purpose and a younger man behind him. I almost called out, but held back.

A distraction here would lose my chance, and I knew it.

I'd bought another pack to the roar of Liane's motorcycle, and sat down to wait by the cigarette vendor. All the ghosts passed me by, so that was fine. I waited until the sun was directly overhead. A little after that, when the noon rush had cleared a figure all in dusty black began to stumble across the bridge. Her cloak must have been hot, and the woman underneath it drunk or injured from the way she walked. At least, it seemed that way.

Eventually she sunk to her knees against the side of the bridge, curled into an unmoving ball. I took that as my cue and got up, freshly-lit cigarette between my lips. I could have walked through her shadow, made a door out of the shadow-space between the cracks in the road, flash-stepped there...

I didn't.

I got up and walked like I was approaching a rabbit, slow but confidant. I walked until I stood next to her on the bridge, and opened a parasol I'd bought on the way. If its shadow covered her more than it should have, well, that wasn't anyone's business but mine and hers. I took another drag on the kretek.

"Hey, Mina. Been a while."

[Spinach]

Saki Ryuumonbuchi
Moon Under Water
Noon

Listening in was enjoyable.

Saki had wondered what kind of meeting she would bear witness to. This was one of the many layers of the world, one she had only just learned the existence of. Not only that, but it was also another light to see her mother in. That alone would have made this meeting fascinating.

It was odd, she thought, taking a small, ever so tiny bite of pizza.

The tone didn’t match the setting at all. Here these women of immense power were, discussing the world’s impending doom over pizza.

It felt… a bit off.

Saki couldn’t shake that tiny gripe, even as she listened in, respectfully keeping silent.

Fujimoto Chiyoko, is it…

The name of the owner of the voice in the radio, the one who had sent back Suzume the Demon Slayer. The Summoner of…

Chronos.

She had suspected such, but receiving confirmation brought her relief, as well as unease. Saki wasn’t sure why it was, but Belial’s purpose in this world was two-fold. One of those reasons he had come was to battle Chronos, and in entering a contract with him, she had made the decision that it was her fight as well.

In that sense, the relief was almost like clarity. Her vision unclouded. There was a name to her enemy, and a means to find it.

But just as well, doubt. Not quite fear. The Ryuumonbuchi burnt her fear to ashes before it even began to take root. The fire that had extinguished that dread called itself Belial. There was no gross overconfidence for her. She could feel it, her inexperience. Geirin could see through her at a glance, not only seeing the true identity of Belial, but the power he held at present. If their perception differed so much, it wasn’t difficult to imagine the gap in power.

Normally, such doubt would be whisked away with the assurance of “time,” but now, “time” itself was her enemy. Saki could grow stronger. With time.

But so too could her enemy, and it had… infinite time.

"Saki. Are you paying attention?"

The young girl’s back snapped straight as she turned to her mother.

"If we were to make an assumption about these circumstances... That assumption being Chronos is attacking the others, and has enough stored power that he is able to defeat them effortlessly... What would he get from aiding humans in an endlessly repeating war? Why hasn't he won the Conception on his own already?"

Her mother always was one to give tall orders. Having taken her first steps into ‘this’ side of the world, Saki was already finding herself tested by the ever demanding mother of hers.

Truthfully, she couldn’t hope to perfectly pinpoint the god’s intentions. Trying to understanding the meaning of its actions, when she only partially understood the significance and rules of the Conception…

“Is Chronos truly amassing power for an enemy it must fight during the Conception?” A question to answer a question. “Rather, is victory during the Conception its goal, or simply a stepping stone toward its goal?”

Speaking formally, the girl presented her immediate thoughts. Pressing her index finger against her chin, Saki tilted her head slightly, thinking earnestly about her own answer. Proposing questions that would hopefully lead herself to an answer.

“Turning back time as the world ends unquestionably aids humankind, and perhaps that is the wish of Fujimoto Chiyoko, to give us infinite chances, but do the intentions of a god and its Summoner always coincide so perfectly?”

Asking such a thing, Saki reflected upon herself. Belial was not brought into this world by her. Their contract was not a pleasant one of shared goals or philosophy. He wished to remain in this world, and she wished not to see those two die in front of her. Perhaps in the future, there would be a greater foundation for their coexistence. Time would tell if he and she would ever share anything other than a contract.

“Belial has little interest in the Conception himself, so he didn’t tell me much about it… But he did tell me that the victor gets the right to meet the ‘Creator’.”

It was a self-evident title.

Although Saki knew now that there were beings that were certainly gods, the title of Creator implied a sort of absoluteness. One who truly could be called God, master over everything, creator of all. She never felt the need to implore further.

“Perhaps it’s a race? Can humanity avert its own destruction before Chronos can amass enough power to challenge that… Creator?”

[Airen]

Saki Ryuumonbuchi
Moon Under Water
Noon

It was clear that, at the very least, Chronos and his Summoner were amassing power for some sort of purpose; Belial's words implying that anyone the God of Time struck down and absorbed would not reappear even if Time were to reset within the confines of the world, the opponents both he and humanity would face during the course of the Conception, and even before it, would be different every time.

In essence, he was making a point of absorbing as many of his fellow "Demons" as he could, a fact that you seemed to have picked up on...

And known in the past for devouring other Gods in order to keep his own reign absolute...

"That certainly seems possible."

Responding with a completely calm voice, once again...

The feeling that there's something off about the tone strikes you... Namely...

That they're not panicking about the situation at all; talking about matters as grave as the world being forcibly ended through various means, they're completely calm enough about the situation that they are able to discuss it over something as mundane as pizza from a western style restaurant. For you, the situation should deserve a far more grandiose response, but it's only now that you get a hint as to why they're acting like this...

Simply...

Situations that could "end the world," are...

Situations that they are completely used too. Relaxed around each other to a bizarre degree for people so powerful, you get the feeling that this is not the first time they have gathered like this to discuss the fate of the planet. It was probably more tense earlier on in their careers, but while they all seem quite youthful, the air they all possess...

Is much more "sage-like" than anything else.

"Chronos was once the ruler of the Universe... There is plenty of evidence that he does not appreciate the existence of other Gods, he attempted to devour his own children to take their power and stave off the prophecy he would be overthrown," speaking her own theories aloud as if to support your own, your mother speaks somewhat robotically, "The Conception is an event that will inevitably draw them out of hiding, and humans are willing to fight the Gods themselves... He is not the most powerful existence, but if he works alongside humanity from the background... He could certainly reap the rewards without drawing attention to himself, or even exerting more power than he must."

The Gods had been betrayed during the last conception.

A seemingly sympathetic God that would save them from the resulting divine wrath... Even if he was discovered, it would certainly seem favorable in the eyes of humanity.

Fighting until humanity averted it's own destruction would give him plenty of time to absorb the power of the fallen, repeating the war would let him take down Gods he hadn't gotten the previous time...

It seemed like a paranoid theory but...

It was probably their job to be this sort of paranoid...

"The winner does get to meet with a piece of the Creator... At least, that is how it was explained to us. Going by how he is portrayed in Legend, gathering power from other divine beings before attempting to dethrone the Creator to become an absolute God himself... That is certainly within reason."

Yes, going by his motivation in legends...

When Chronos was done... He would be the God standing at the absolute peak of power, but...

"Is it just those two? If he's saving up power, and the world already rejects the existence of Gods, there must be a limit to what he's willing to spend each turn of the cycle, so he and his Summoner can't be covering everything up all on their own. If the Gods realize they're being hunted, they'd band together and hunt him down in return."

Head resting on folded hands, Geirin seems to think aloud to herself...

Someone working along with Fujimoto... Would have to be aware of Chronos on some level...

Was there... Someone who fit that criteria...?

[Airen]

Jacques Dussault
Dream Aoyama ~ Bridge
Noon

The woman in the black cloak jerks in place at the sound of your voice.

Having failed to move even as you approached, as if she wasn't able to hear the sound of your footsteps, or simply assumed that anyone that would be going by this place at this time would just pass her by and keep on going with their life (or unlife in most cases), the existence of the bars on the side of the walkway finally does it's job in keeping someone from slipping off the side.

...While you're not 100% positive about it, you're pretty sure that it's her.

While most of them simply accepted it as natural, ESPers automatically picked up on the spiritual signatures of other people in most cases, and just like fingerprints, there were small, subtle differences from person to person. The more you met with a specific someone, the easier it became to pick up on their signal, and thus, you were familiar with what Mina's spirit 'felt' like, but...

While it certainly felt like hers...

There was something 'off' about it...

It was a bit too strong, she had been a normal person before, but now it was blazing like a beacon, and...

There was an uneasy feeling here... One that would have sent a chill down your spine if you hadn't already steeled yourself towards confidence.

"Ah, Jacques... Hello-!"

Suspicions are confirmed a moment later when her voice emerges from beneath the hood. Jumping up to her feet in a clumsy (but fast) sort of way, the woman automatically enters a state of what you can only call barely suppressed panic.

Beneath the cloak, she smiles.

Crimson eyes glow dimly beneath it, and the smile doesn't reach them.

"It has been awhile, huh? But this place is kind of weird, so that's probably to be expected-!"

Hands twitching...

She casually shoves them into the pockets of the black coat.

[Airen]

Jonathan R. Black
Moon Under Water
Evening

(BGM On)

It was the one restaurant in the Entertainment District that specialized in Western Dishes, and a place that you had visited many times before during your stay here in Aoyama. A place for those bizarre foreigners that saw all the strange things that happened in this ward and decided to stay in spite of that, it was a restaurant that could be said to gather the brave or the stubborn, those that didn't believe in ghosts, or just didn't care enough about their existence to leave town because they may or may not have seen something with dozens of teeth in an alleyway one night while drunk.

...In essence, it was a pretty fun place.

Filled with the usual growing cheer of the freshly off work clientele as bottles of wine and cans of beer alike emerge from the back, it's a place that's brightly lit and clean, without any sort of shady past or hidden darkness.

An honest place in a bizarre ward, and...

"Ah... I always wondered what it was like in here."

A place that Akane had seemingly never been too before...

...Actually, come to think of it, now that you were sitting here in a booth along with her, you can't help but wonder...

If the two of you had ever done anything this normal together before, even in that other possibility...

The exorcists had been looking for her then, so probably not, in fact... As far as you could remember...

She had always just hung out at your place...

"Oh! Wow, there's a ton of tea on here..."

...And judging from how excited she was getting right now, it seemed that even this Akane...

Had mostly just stayed in back alleys, and other out of the way places...

"It's... A bit too much of a selection for me... What kind is good? Chamomile?"

Cheerfully asking your opinion...

It seems the ball of the conversation is being thrown your way.

[Spinach]

Saki Ryuumonbuchi
Moon Under Water
Noon

“The thought is… troubling, but…” Saki spoke up, gaze falling downward and voice dropping as she left her statement half-spoken. The previous conversation with Phenex returned to her mind, the suspicion she felt no fondness for had come to her there, when the false maid had asked her if she wished to return to school. “Coincidences are not something I strongly believe in.”

Troubling put it lightly.

A more ‘Saki’-esque phrasing would be to call it heartbreaking.

“It is difficult to recall in absolutely good faith the last topic Nakahara-sensei assigned to our class before my ‘house arrest’ began and I was prevented from attending.”

The Ryuumonbuchi heiress brought her eyes back up. Staring at nobody in particular, just forward. A mere effort to not avert herself from her suspicions.

“It is even more difficult to believe that he prepared such a detailed lecture about the Greek god Chronos at such a time by coincidence.”

She still refused to make any accusation. In a sense, the moment in her bedroom that she had connected these thoughts together, Saki’s first thought was that the man had chosen such a topic to try and be discovered. Rather, it was impossible to see it as anything but an effort to be discovered. That in itself made her doubt where the man placed in all this.

Rather than ‘being discovered,’ perhaps it was meant as a warning. Precautions for his students, to understand what dangers loomed on the horizon, casting a dark shadow throughout time over their world.

A macabre, dark shadow.

Even if the humans in this world were to help the King of Heaven accomplish his goal, Saki couldn’t imagine such a being simply leaving them be. The Chronos of legend, in the young girl’s mind, could only be called a coward. He feared the future, and devouring the next generation to preserve his own status.

How would he treat humans, who in a future where Chronos reigned as the solitary God, could be seen as the “next generation?”

“I cannot say what allegiance Nakahara-sensei has, but I believe he knows something.”

[Snax]

Jonathan R. Black
Moon Under Water
Evening

<BGM ON>

"One good thing I'll have to admit about this wasteful amount of people and the world revolving around the masses, I guess...is all this mass-consumer-based service, which is pretty damn efficient. Hopefully I'll be able to retain this system someway in the future."

Jonathan shrugged, a wry small on his face. Apparently Akane had always been either in hiding or out of eyeshot of annoying bugs such as the exorcists, and an honest, normal place like this was new to her. Even after her power grew, perhaps she instinctively kept out of the light, staying in the shadows.

"C'mon, lets get you some food and drink together. Sipping just tea in a restaurant isn't the right way to do things in a fully established restaurant - and yes, I know how ironic that sounds coming from me, saying what's right and what's wrong..."

Chuckling, Jonathan shuffles through the menu.

"Well, good that they have Italian on the menu. English food is the worst ever. Let's see...some of this salad with dressing, Gorgonzola Cheese pizza with honey dip, this nice looking seafood pasta with rosé sauce..."

Jonathan then flipped the menu to the beverage section.

"Ah, tea. I just had chamomile myself, and for food something a bit more tangy, refreshing taste would fit the palate. I'll have some of this lemon tea. Would you like the same?"

As he asked Akane, he waved at the waiter.

[Airen]

Makoto Fujioka
Nakamura Residence (Ghost World) ~ Living Room
Morning

"...Who the hell are you calling old?"

Having finally managed to land an insult that seemed to do actual mental damage to the woman with the bizarre hat, you attempt to do the impossible for the second time today...

Piercing through Kimiko's defenses.

...In the Nakamura House, there was a certain rule Kimiko held when she was in the kitchen, and that was that as long as she was in there, it was her kitchen to do with as she pleased, the mark of a hidden obsession as a potential chef in the making, the sort that knew everything that went on in her kitchen, because if she did not, certain younger siblings (even two particularly childlike adults-!) would sneak certain bits of food when they thought she wasn't looking-!

Whether the opponent was her foster mother, her foster father, or even her foster siblings, all met with the same bitter rejection at her hands.

"No need, I'm almost finished. Go wait somewhere else."

Yes.

A blunt denial, one that cared absolutely nothing for the feelings of the other person-!

...And in this case, having been present during a particularly explosive cooking event at the start of the year...

There was... Absolutely no way...!

A perfect counter.

Ducking beneath your hug attempt in spite of the fact her natural senses had absolutely no way of finding you, the silver-haired teenager casually shoulder-checks you across the room, firm enough that you became airborne from the strike, but placed skillfully enough into your body that it didn't actually hurt, and-!

Landed you perfectly on a chair.

Like some sort of circus act?!

Denying this, you stand again, determined to at least mix the eggs, and-!

"No dammit-!"

A culinary battle that was disturbingly close to another sparring match (one with rather bizarre rules) ensued...

---

...In the end, you had managed to slip past her for long enough to not only start the toast, but butter it as well. It had taken many feint strikes on more important areas like the scrambled eggs, and the milk on the counter, but...

At least... This small victory-!

Far more tired than Kimiko, whose only sign of distress was that her apron was no longer completely wrinkle-free, her last forceful push for you to let her "take care of it" sends you stumbling down the hallway-

"Hiya-!"

-Into the open arms of your foster mother, who had just waltzed right into the entrance-way as if this was her own home.

"...Bit early for this kind of rough-housing, don't you think?"

[Airen]

Jonathan R. Black
Moon Under Water
Evening

"Oh, Lemon huh?"

A smile.

"Well, I don't have much experience with that sort of thing, so I'll just take your word for it; I'll have whatever you're having, Italian seems neat~"

And a sing-song agreement, easily the most cheerful you've seen her be over the course of the past couple of days. Encouraged by this, you wave the nearest waitress over, and impeccably, just as fast as always, a well dressed woman gracefully makes her way over with a well-rehearsed "hiyo!"

"Good evening, welcome to Moon Under Water. My name is Kayo, and I will be your waitress for the evening."

Disregarding honorifics, the usual practice in this place, the woman that reminds you somewhat of the time witch in terms of looks, with that similar hint of foreign blood shining through, nevertheless possesses an aura that's distinctly different; and while you catch Akane glaring at her for a second, she seems to realize it's not the same person at the same moment as you do, and sheepishly drops her hostility in such a way...

That it was clear she was hoping you hadn't noticed...

Kayo certainly didn't seem to notice it.

"It's a busy night, so even the management is having to help out."

Explaining her more high-class appearance with a casual air, the woman nevertheless brandishes a notepad with an overwhelming aura of sheer professionalism, jotting everything down with a single pass of her fingers, and...

"I'll get that right in for you. Be back in a moment."

Vanishes like a purple blur, darting towards a distant kitchen with the grace expected of the apparent manager, leaving you alone with Akane once again.

"Hmmm... Well, she's pretty," making a dry comment about the other girl's appearance, her eyes linger on her back for a moment before locking on you again, "Tall, flawless skin, flawless hair... Kinda jealous."

A pause, then...

"...What kind of girl do you like anyway? We never talked about it back then, I was always a bit curious."

...A suspicious question emerges.