Ga Rei: Exodus Nine (IC)

[Airen]

Interlude
Nakahara Katsuro & Toriumi Yoko
'Shine on You I'

"..."

With nothing to say about the scenario, the teacher that locks the door behind him as he goes out of habit, is one that does not seem to act accordingly to the situation. The sky a brilliant crimson, one that bears an infinite number of darker clouds, it is a world that seems to have opened a door or two to hell, as the dead have begun to rise, and the gods have begun to descend, the shrieks of the people drowned out by the sudden advent of supernatural combat.

It is a scene that certainly would have startled him once.

Indeed, it is one that had caused him some distress in the past.

But once again, like many times before, his heart is leading him away from the suffering of the people. In the eyes of many it is a cruel action, indeed, even rationalizing it with the thought that 'others will appear to help' and thus 'it's okay if I don't' can only be called weak at best, and just a front for cowardice at worst.

He had been a coward many times.

His introduction to this whole affair had been one tinged in cowardice, after all...

And that was something he would never forget.

But not this time.

Walking through a city that was being torn apart by many different forces, some belonging to heaven, some belonging to hell, most belonging to humanity itself, in these moments, going forward to do what his heart is telling him he must, this man has the most bravery out of every ESPer in the city.

Even so, it was cowardice that had led to this bravery.

Thousands of years, no, perhaps millions of years.

He had lost count a long time ago.

Even so, he remembers this routine.

"..."

Yoko meets him at a crossroads. Having been silently waiting until now, the two acknowledge each other only with the smallest of nods, before starting off together, side by side, heading for a certain hotel, a certain tower.

From there, those who remembered, would always watch the world come to it's end.

While the air is different this time, Yoko does not comment on it, from the start, or rather, over the course of all of these years, she has become the person that understands Nakahara Katsuro the most. Just looking at his face was enough to understand his thoughts, and understanding now that the time has come, the two that had worked together long before all of this had started, continue on without pause, both aware of what awaits them at the end of this path.

...No matter how many times this repeated, they had both continued to become teachers. The reason was a feeling he couldn't quite place, but even so, it was something that he had felt he always had to do, to continue to make up for his original sin, no...

To make up for the sins he continued to commit.

If you asked him if he was a good teacher, he'd probably say he wasn't. The reality was that, every time before this, all of his students had always been killed; of course, he had tried to protect them each time, but even so, that failure continued to stain his heart.

Because even though he tried, he never truly gave it his all; in fact, more than once, he had died before giving it his all, telling himself that it was alright, because everything would just start over again.

And he had tried, even if only a little.

Justifying it for the greater good, acting as he did because he believed that he must.

Because there was only ever going to be one shot at this, because if he tried and failed, he would never get another chance.

And that would be that.

So he should make absolutely sure that he would succeed before trying.

However... Was that really the case?

Or was that just his excuse? His way of avoiding reality, of telling himself that if he allowed things to go on as that woman planned, then in the end, happiness would be achieved for everyone without him taking that risk?

So that he wouldn't notice that he had given up on any other possibility a long time ago?

That he wouldn't have to face the fact that he had surrendered to fate?

Had become the pawn of a God?

...Cowardice had been his original trait, so in the end, he was sure it was that.

Even so...

Even so...

Everything was in place now. His hand had been rushed early, this cycle was different from all of the cycles that preceded it, but what had to be done remained the same, had always been the same, and had just been impossible because of his cowardice.

Or perhaps...

This really was...

Just the right time.

The final time, for the world's last stand.

"..."

He wouldn't have time to give a proper goodbye.

As a teacher, there were many things he had wanted to say to those kids, not just his daughter, but his students at the school. Some silly things, other serious things, somethings that were in between those other two categories.

'Eat well.'

'Sleep well.'

'Learn well.'

'Don't be afraid of the future.'

'As long as you hold onto hope, nothing is impossible.'

He laughs as he reaches the base of the elevator.

Yoko laughs to, she was thinking the same thing.

Even so, that laughter turns to melancholy.

Even now, he's feeling a little selfish.

Not getting the time to say goodbye, or even to tell them to watch his back one last time.

Wanting someone to witness what came next...

If he had one last wish for himself... That was probably it.

He didn't deserve it though, so this...

“Now, that gray future I so frantically tried to paint over with power seems more colorful than I could have ever thought. There are still many things left to sort out, but I see a place for myself in the distance, once I’ve won the Conception.”

“Grrrrr you’re the one looking down on me I’ll show yoooou! I’ll show the world that I can surpass it and how it can’t bind me with its icky foods.”

Remembering those words... Even the silly words...

Was good enough for him.

The elevator opens up to a lavish penthouse. Even though the rest of the world is beginning to burn, here, nothing ever really changes. The television set is still on, even the lights and heating continue to work, as if this room, this one room, was in a different flow of time than anything else.

The reporter and the police officer are on the balcony outside.

A lavish thing that is far too fancy to be practical, so large that a helicopter could use it as a landing pad without a problem. They turn to face him, him who was one of them, and-

(BGM off)

"Yo Chronos-!"

To his students, that cheerful voice had always promised safety, but here, at the end of the world-

"Sorry, but I'm here to kill you."

That laughing voice carries an infinite weight.

Because they were his friends, he would not assassinate them, however, there were things he could no longer allow them to do, and a certain crime he could never really forgive.

If they succeed, the future his students wished for would never come true.

Humanity would become something else, and the world would become a stagnant paradise.

For the sake of wishes that may very well never come true, for his daughter's future, and the sense of humanity he had thought he had thrown away...

The man consigns himself to a death-match with a God.

One that was thousands of years in the making.

Interlude Out

[Snax]

Jonathan R. Black
Primordial Mist

[Well, worth a try.]

Jonathan's eerie voice chuckles dryly as the Mist rolls about, mingling with the enemy's power.

"To be threatened by Amatsu's chosen... Billions of years pass, and yet that fool remains the same."

"A world of chaos is it? Survival of the fittest?"

"Do you understand what that truly means? Or are you just drunk on your power? Ignorant to the fact that in the end, you will not be the strongest one?"

"I suppose it matters not. Foolish human who has forgotten his place, envoy of the end... Come, learn for yourselves whose wrath you have brought down!"

Jonathan eyes the storm of black lightning approaching him at high velocity, twisting a finger. The mist roils and trembles, oscillating even faster, rising up in high speeds - forming more than a mist, but something more akin of a conductive, black thundercloud. His sickly mist rose into the air completely, leaving behind howling winds - which ripped through the Mist of Illusion. Perhaps it wouldn't disperse it completely, but it would have some effect.

Back to the main point at hand, the lightning. He wasn't a lightning ESPer, but he knew his science lessons to some level that electricity, no matter what, would always target the more conductive matter. Even if it was magic, nature was nature. Even more so if the enemy was a God, beings sometimes known as the very concepts with which nature was imbued with.

Of course, his very Self was merged with the water and souls of the thundercloud...however, he wasn't aiming on getting off unscathed.

[.....Kahahaha - ]

The lightning pierces the black thundercloud, rumbling within it. Powerful shocks strike across Jonathan's very being, but as the nature of his ESP was, it was spread out and weakened - not concentrated and deadly. It wasn't something he couldn't stand, not with his Reason, not with his newborn power. He was fine....for now.

[You jest, Izanami-no-mikoto. I know of your legend, as said before.]

The black lightning was absorbed inside the cloud, rumbling and crackling. Each crack shocked Jonathan to a little extent, but the pain of his Soul was subdued by spreading it across all of the souls he had absorbed.

[You, abandoned by Izanagi, threatened him to kill 1000 of the living every day upon being released. And here you are, trying to stop me from weeding out the masses. If that isn't hypocrisy, what would it be? Why would you, of all Gods and Goddesses, be the one to stop me from subduing the World into one where the Strong, no matter their status or state, are able to be Free?]

Smirking, Jonathan drawls on.

[I never said I was the one to be the Strongest, the most Powerful, the Leader of the Era. All I wish for is to create a World where that is possible for the worthy. I would be glad to let someone else lead, as long as I find someone worthy. I wouldn't mind dying for that, either. Better than a world ridden with maggots and trash, eh?]

He was getting riled up and talkative now. More akin to his old self, rather than his usual Eclipse state, which was more....calm. Perhaps it was the aggressive impact of his current Reason.

[So, let me ask you, Izanami - what do you aim for? What is your Reason for stopping me?]

Smiling thinly, Jonathan encompasses the dark lightning with his thundercloud, and then dropped his finger down. The cloud exploded, fully expanding into a broad raincloud that would again flood the Land - not only with a devouring Sea, but with torrential poison that would keep the water from freezing normally by switching freezing points.

He hadn't given up on destroying his enemy ESPers, after all.

[Frantic Author]

Hitoshira Nagi
Battleship S.L.E.I.P.N.I.R - Rothschild Mobile Base
Control Room
Evening

"...Amatsu."

It's a name I don't recognize, but even still, she turns around and says it - and there's a shiver that runs down my spine, like I can feel the bleakness of the name in my gut as it's spoken, and a jagged line draws its place across my face.

"Rosenkreuz mentioned Amatsu; if it was important enough for her to try to get that information to me, then she must have been referring to Amatsu-Mikaboshi, the August Star, the God that feeds on humanity's negativity, that can twist and control those things to his liking, a Sealed God, but one that could easily bring our ruin."

A... what? I don't understand. These terms they're... they're meaningless. Just words, phrases that I can't possibly understand.

"Earlier, you admitted to the Kyuubi infecting you. If that is the case, and I do believe it is, you would fall under his sway relatively easily... If there is a God that could control the Kyuubi, it would be the August Star."

Weak. Yes. It's true. I'm weak but --

"There is no problem there, I will not allow it."

I don't have to be.

"The Kyuubi's whispers mean little to me. I cannot be overcome by such regrets, if it becomes too much for her, I will reroute that darkness to myself."

Darkness doesn't seem so bleak when someone is next to you.

"You say that, but... You..."

I can't help but glance at Lilith, as she stands, as she lectures and I... I...

I don't understand what I've unleashed and bound to myself.

"...The ideal time you're looking for is not going to come, Admiral, This one is bad I'm sure, but I believe it will also be the last. There will be no more retries... That effort you're saving, that unknown factor... If you don't cash it in this time, there won't be another chance for it. This time, everyone has to fight their hardest, there's no room for keeping people back out of worry, if we fail, the future of everything will disappear."

She says its because its true, isn't it? In the end... everything ends.

"What's this, shocking my summoner into silence, well done Garden Walker."

Garden. I look at Lilith.

"They make a good point, Summoner. All of the theories are coming together, just like you thought, might as well go for broke with everyone."

A garden. There's only been a few of note in all of human history.

"Very well. But if you become a liability, I'll put you down myself."

"And if you stop me, I'll turn your ship inside and out and carve out a place for you in the space in-between worlds."

Hitoshira Nagi
Battleship S.L.E.I.P.N.I.R - Rothschild Mobile Base
Night

It's tense. You can feel it in the air, with every breath, that this place is about to embark on a battle. My fingers wrap and unwrap around my axe, tapping out a rhythm I can't hear, to a beat that doesn't exist. It's the waiting that kills you, not the actual battle - the knowing of what is going to happen, but not having it happen, of waiting and doing nothing and being left with nothing but the thoughts in your head.

I look up at the Admiral, feel the tendrils of a skill I was only taught once reaching out.

"...Alright, we're approaching the airspace around Tokyo now. Alex, how have the other groups responded?"

"Everyone is assuming the worst, and preparing the cities under their protection to withstand God's Thunder. Back up has been sent after us from our base, but it's likely that they will not arrive until the morning, as expected, we will be the first ones on scene. As you ordered, the COMP users are entering the preparatory stages, and will be able to join us within the hour."

"Alright, that's about as good as we could hope for... I'm going to go over the scanners with the Vice Admiral again, review what we know of the situation with the others in the meantime."

"Understood Admiral."

There's no need to listen to the speech. I ignore him because I can feel something occurring - and I turn and -

The ship moves.

There's something above the ship.


"Oh dear, Ananta seems angry."

"He's not the kindest of summons, is he Lilith?"

I stare at the face of a serpent of flame and fire with a sneer on my own. It's pitiable, really. Making this sort of dare, this sort of attempt to match us - oh Yagami, how far behind you do you think we are?

I reach back my hand, holding an ax, and throw. It carves through the air in a second, and I look at the Admiral, a mad, mad grin on my face.

"You can go on ahead. I'll catch up."

Crush the world beneath your heel.

Tear down creation just to see if you can.

Desecrate everything.

Ah, but Kyuubi, to do that, I'd have to unleash my arm, and I have no need for that. The stars twinkle brightly in the night sky, and I can feel the coolness of the wind on my skin.

"Lilith?"

It's not a question, but a statement.

I reach out my hand, and reach inwards into my sea of souls, watching the red with a faint eye, and the remnants of seats where a hundred ghosts had once stayed. I don't need them anymore.

They were a crutch. A way to use the past to gain power that I couldn't understand. But I do understand - just like Yagami understands, just like the Kyuubi understands, just like Nakamura understands --

An 'Eclipse Diver' and a 'Kyuubi Ascendant' are two sides of the same, blackened coin. And on the side, trimming the edges of the coin, is your power.

I take a step.

To 'rip a hole in space' is an easy thing. I've watched Yagami do it, I've watched Mark do it, and I've done it myself. To control the space in between spaces - it is not hard. It is a simple task. It is just what 'is', and humanity is infinite and endless.

I, Hitoshira Nagi, am a human standing before gods.

Ananta roars.

I roar back.

[Lion's Howl]

And then I reach into the space in-between spaces, and tear my ax back to my hand. I cannot move myself - it is not as easy as it one was. It requires talent, skill, and training that I do not have the time for. But this ax - I've seen it leap through illusions and time and space to my hand.

To move it a measly fifteen feet?

This is a child's game.

"Tell Ananta that if he desires to devour, then I'll tear down that facade he dares to call existence, and eat what's underneath."

There's no more time for pretenses, to be anything other then what I am. The clock of a hundred thousand sinners ticks ever-onwards, and when it reaches midnight, everything ends. I am human, yes. This is true. I am also a monster, yes. This is true. So much like Yagami, but...

Yagami's monster and mine are different.

He's repeating endlessly to change events that he knows are unchangeable. He's trying to be a hero so badly that he has become a villain.

It's nature, nature versus nurture.

By nature, Yagami is heroic. But events have caused him to be a villain.

I am the opposite.

By nature, Hitoshira Nagi is the girl Yagami desires more then anything in the world on his side. By nature, Hitoshira Nagi is stabbed in the gut by a spear that once belonged to the king of all Gods, and destroys her city with a smile on her face. By nature, I am a villain.

It is through events that I have decided to make an attempt at heroism.

These are things that Elizabeth has no need to know, and yet she does.

These are things i had to admit to myself, even if I did not want too.

But Lilith can look into my soul of souls, and read the messages carved into every corner, the ones that I had hidden from the ghosts. And there's vestiges, vestiges of power of ghosts that I once had, skills and talents that I need in order to defeat Ananta.

I throw my ax again, watching detached as it whirls through the air. And then I pull myself towards it.

It is a weapon of blood and thunder.

And I have never desired more in my life to carve everything in my path into pieces.

[Airen]

Interlude
Amatsu-Mikaboshi & Tamamo
'Broken'

He hadn't been able to finish her off.

Staring down at the fallen form of a Goddess, their battlefield a burning wasteland of black and crimson flame, the silver-haired form of the God of Darkness bears absolutely no expression, because while a certain problem had appeared right at the end, even that sort of interference hadn't been able to keep the Goddess from losing her struggle with the Darkness, no...

All it had done, was let her dodge death one more time.

Yes.

Having devoured the Kyuubi in it's entirety, the God of Darkness has already far surpassed the limits of his former self; the souls that burn with negativity feed him their chaos, their Magatsuhi, and while most Gods would be scrambling for the sort of Spiritual Power necessary to win the Conception, this God of Darkness had secured that flow of negativity as his own source of power.

Limitless, a curse that fell right in line with his affinity, his meaning for existence, and bent to his will as a result.

Drowning in their negativity as they were, there was no way for them to get away from him. His grip on those billions of souls was steadfast and unbreakable, and that realization, the realization that they were trapped, and that there was nothing they could do to avoid following his commands...

Caused them more distress, more anger, more rage.

Those feelings not only empowered him further, producing even more spiritual power, but also placed them further under his sway.

He was the Darkness, the Negativity of Human Hearts, a God that could twist even the lightest of emotions from white to black, love into obsession and jealousy, ambition into greed and power-lust.

An incarnation of Chaos.

The God most suited to holding this curse, to direct it's power as a Divine Force.

But there had been one flaw.

Amidst all the darkness, there were a handful of lights. Having swallowed the Kyuubi whole, he had failed to realize it at the time, buried beneath everything else as they were, but there were souls amidst the darkness that shone with a brilliant light.

Like stars in the vast emptiness of space, pinpricks of light that stood out simply because everything else was so dark. They too were a part of him now, having been swallowed along with the Kyuubi, and while there were only a handful of them mixed in with that curse...

That handful had made it impossible for him to destroy the Goddess. Acting up whenever he attempted to do so, the strength of their resistance, when combined with their presence in his soul, was so great that even he was forced to halt his actions, even if only for a moment.

That, and that alone, was the only reason this Goddess still drew breath, even so...

It was probably for the best.

A similar existence to the humans, she too could be twisted, if given enough time to work on her consciousness.

Everyone breaks eventually.

Because darkness is present in everyone, no one was immune to his powers. There were some who were resistant, like the souls of Light that had foolishly made their presence known to him, but they too would break, and in comparison to their resistance...

This woman... This Goddess...

Half a being as she was, she was already an avatar of negativity.

Abandoned by herself and others, grieving over the loss of loved ones she had never been given time to cry over, judged by herself and others for failing to live up to her duties, the pressures of those duties, of trying to protect every member of humanity all by herself, having to make the hard choices while her 'light' half fooled around with the humans... Being hated for making those hard decisions, while her other side was loved for encouraging their impossible ideals, the burden of betraying her old demonic comrades for humans that ultimately didn't give a damn about her, yes...

He could read her heart just as easily as that of the humans.

The question wasn't whether or not she would break, she was practically already broken, no...

The question was merely how fast he could break her, reach into those cracks and turn that Goddess who had given up everything trying to protect people into one of their destroyers.

Ironic, because despite her anger towards the humans, she had still fought this battle for their sake.

A hand that could shake the planet reaches down to grasp the throat of the fallen Goddess.

While he should be focusing more on spreading fear amongst the living, to further bolster his power, the God bears the absolute confidence of the Divine. Having already claimed the darkness as his own, the only one that could possibly hope to challenge him was being betrayed by one of his own followers even now, and Jonathan was spreading enough fear on his own that the hearts and minds of the living would fall into his lap of their own accord, his mere existence enough to slowly drown the planet in despair.

Once he had the living, he would use that power to take the rest of the Soul Sea.

And with that, even the power Chronos had gained from his systematic absorption of the Gods would fall short of being able to oppose his rule.

So...

He could take his time to break one or two existences personally...

Remove all traces of his own weakness, before the world was born anew of chaos and fear.

Interlude Out

[RacingeR]

King
Empty Tokyo/Hazama???
Time: Meaningless

“…”

King finds himself unable to reply or to ask any questions to this wraith. Is it the ghost of her sister? A wraith taking on her shape? The hand he’s touching is real, solid, if fragile. He is confused, yet alert…

And he just follows her in silence, at least until she ushers him into a place resembling an eerie aquarium, her hand fading away. Trap? Or she merely cannot follow? Her words imply the second.

He decides to trust.



“I do not know whether this place is real or not, and if this Liane is real or not…” The sudden sound of footsteps interrupts the scene. King’s voice is calm and collected, completely dissonant with the scene as he, one step at a time, moves forward until he is at Kyoko’s side. “But if there is something that I know…”

Golden eyes stare fixedly at the thing shaped like Liane Cross…

“Is that one first has to pass through this King before speaking to his subjects like that.”

[Airen]

King
Empty Tokyo/Hazama???
Time: Meaningless

"Huh... King?"

Queen was not the sort of person to throw emotions other than anger into her words, but here, when someone else appears on the beginnings of what can only be her nightmare, the relief that you can here in her voice is so thick that it's almost tangible.

You don't know what's going on here, what sort of relationship she had with Liane that something taking her shape would be enough to unbalance her like this, however, what you do know, now that you're closer...

Is that you will not allow it, and...

That this thing is not Liane.

The feel of her soul was much warmer than this fake, even a single meeting had made that much clear.

"My oh my, how did you wander in here?"

Eyes flickering over to you, the thing, whatever it was, giggles lightly to itself at your statement, as if something about what you had said was amusing in a way you couldn't place.

It's whole form flickers for a moment, as if cementing her unreality, her existence that is much like a hologram, then...

"Oh? Is that how? Your victim felt sorry for you and is helping you out...? Well isn't that delightful..."

The mocking gaze becomes a cold glare, as if your existence had gone from being funny to her, to something more akin to a notable annoyance...

"Well, don't feel too relieved that he's here, Kyoko-chan~ This guy is kinda like you, he can't really save anyone-! Or is it that he's so reckless and self-absorbed that he actively gets other people hurt...? Maybe he just has a problem with abandoning others without thinking about how they feel...? Really, this is kind of out of character for the guy."

Talking like she knows you.

Poking at knowledge she couldn't possibly have, twisting things, laughing to herself...

For a moment, when she flickers out...

You think you see your brother standing there, even if only for the briefest of moments.

[Mormarth]

Watanabe Tomoya
Memorial Site - Park
Morning

I listened quietly, intently to the inhuman being that spoke, demons, gods, spirits an' all that, I'm used to some sort of screaming rage or being a shithead or otherwise giant walking giant of flame.

This guy just seemed a bit cranky.

I shrugged, "Paradise is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose. It's not perfect, but things rarely are. I suppose even if something was 'perfect', I wouldn't be satisfied with it, so this suits me alright for now."

I stretched my arms, craning my head to squint idly at my brother's position.

"I'm not usually in the position of askin' for help, like to solve things with my own hands, sorta a pride thing, but it's mostly just me being stubborn and not knowing my limitations,"

I met the 'demon''s faintly glowing, opaque gaze, "But yeah, I want this thing dead, it's existed in this world for too long. If you're willing to help me out with that, that's cool."

I'll just keep winging things until I know more about what's going on.

[RacingeR]

King
Empty Tokyo/Hazama???
Time: Meaningless

“Well, at least that lets us know you are fake.” King replied nonchalantly. He’s disturbed by the sight of his brother, but doesn’t show it. “Scenarios designed so that we couldn’t win, is that it?”

He does not sound amused… and, eerily enough, the always calm and powerful King does seem slightly unnerved here… but nonetheless, it doesn’t seem like the words of the specter are getting through him, or having much effect on him at all. Rather, he seems to have already predicted this result.

Suddenly, a golden aura bursts from King’s body, sundering the darkness apart, surrounding him and Kyouko, like a protective shroud, a warm light trouncing the cold night.

“Words are useless here, specter… whether you take the form of Liane Cross or… Kirin. We know fully well that you are fake.” There is a powerful weight in each and every one of the words spoken by the blonde man as he stands before Queen, between her and the creature. The words, loaded with power, weigh down over the monster. “So, what are you intending to do? Fight?” He interrogates the monster without bothering to answer its provocations.

[Airen]

Watanabe Tomoya
Memorial Site - Park
Morning

"Very well."

Easily setting a record for the most amicable demon you had encountered so far, the being acknowledges your round-about request not only with words but with the smallest of nods, gaze unblinking and fearless, but not unkind.

"The Blood Countess is beyond most humans, so I will assist."

Referring to the shitty vampire by a title, a more official one rather than the one your family had taken to using, it seems that the demon is aware of whatever, or whoever his counterpart here happened to be, but-

"...We're not supposed to befriend the bait."

Descending lightly, moving from the roof to the ground nearby with a single casual leap, your brother starts grumbling at you the moment he hits the ground. Much like the demon, his gaze is fearless, but as he looks from you to the demon...

All emotion drains from them.

It goes beyond simple coldness.

Staring at it as if he thought of it as an it, something that was far, far less than a human, something worthless, almost like he was looking at a piece of garbage.

...It's unsettling.

An expression that does not fit how you remember him, a completely inhuman gaze, but...

"It's dangerous. We should have let them fight it out between each other a bit before stepping in, demons are the enemy, remember? In a few months, the city is going to be crawling with them."

Looking over at you, the frost-like gaze warms, but only by a little bit.

"Don't make friends with things that will eventually have to die or become a tool."

Fearless.

Threatening it in a round-about way, the demon further proves it's amicability...

"..."

By responding only with silence.

[Airen]

King
Empty Tokyo/Hazama???
Time: Meaningless

Fake.

While it had seemed to laugh off that insinuation when Kyoko had made it, the response the thing has to you saying it...

Is a bit more potent.

Every word seems to shake it's existence, and the annoyed expression becomes an infuriated one. Flickering in and out like static, the thing definitely seems to be negatively affected by the words, however, whether it was because of the nature of your abilities as an ESPer destabilizing her existence now that you had declared that she was fake, or some other factor...

Was difficult to discern.

"Fight? No, no, now that you're here that won't work it seems... Damn brat..."

Glaring behind you, perhaps at the wall of fog you've left behind, perhaps at the lost sibling that resided within it, the thing makes a mocking show of thinking about what to do, even as it's form continues to show flaws.

"I guess I'll just keep you here for a bit."

It smiles.

"You'd be amazed at how much people will believe when they're all alone... Who is waiting to be saved now, I wonder?"

Cheerful words that imply a subtle sort of terror.

"Who will be late again?"

It smiles.

[RacingeR]

King
Empty Tokyo/Hazama???
Time: Meaningless

“Keep me here for a bit?” King’s voice is, despite the horror implied by the entity’s words, mocking. Then, he laughs. It is a laughter charged with so much spiritual power that the golden aura swells and ebbs at its rhythm.

“You think too highly of yourself, fake.” King says calmly, the power of each word aimed to weigh upon the creature, to hurt and damage the very root of its existence. “You are nothing before me… and there is no need for me to deal with you in the first place.”

Saying those words, King grabs Queen’s arm, and with a small nod of his head, points towards the wall of fog where the wraith in the form of his sister had separated from him. There is no need to say anything else. Kyouko will understand with just this.

“Heh… not only are you a fake, but you happen to be quite the stupid one, too.” Are King’s final, amused words before being teleported away along with his subordinate.

[Airen]

King
Empty Tokyo/Hazama???
Time: Meaningless

The world shifts and turns.

Understanding the order, but only really seeming to snap back to her usual self when you grip her arm, the young woman's only response is a light nod of her head as the wraith keeps smiling at the both of you.

It is a very unnerving grin, and while the key to your victory seems to have fallen into your lap the moment you had realized this was a battle that simply did not need to be fought, the fake continues to wear it's expression of cheery confidence.

...The world shifts and turns.

...Then realigns with the old reality.

As if caught in a trap, Kyoko is clearly trying to move the both of you into the distance, but...

This room seems to have something akin to a gravitational pull, or rather, no matter which direction you go, the moment you touch the fog, you find yourselves reemerging from in back into the center of the room.

"Stupid perhaps... But I know a few more of the rules than you."

Her eyes were delighted, the message of 'did you think it would be that easy' dancing in her eyes, but...

"Fuck you. Damn fake-!"

Gritting her teeth, more angry than anything else now, Kyoko puts more effort into it.

The result is the same, at least at first.

Vanishing and reappearing, like being stuck in what was certainly a sort of nightmare or dream, the room is a black hole that offers no escape, or at least that seems to be the case, but-

"Not real."

Quietly.

Your sister's voice joins in on the attempt.

"They do not have to stay. You cannot make them, you have no will to keep them here, you are so weak you refuse to stand alone, you are so weak you use someone else's face."

A pause.

"You are not real. Brother has already denied you, go away. Scatter. Leave."

The words are like bullets.

Blasting away parts of her physical form, the calm voice is eerie, eerie because of who it is coming from, but...

"Tell her once more brother. Firmly and with conviction... This world is that of perception, in a Dream, all one needs is their will."

[RacingeR]

King
Empty Tokyo/Hazama???
Time: Meaningless

The attempts fail. Perhaps, it shouldn’t be that surprising that they do. It does seem like this entity, or whatever is behind that entity, has some sort of control over the world surrounding them… at least enough to lock space itself. The room has become an inescapable black hole that always drags them back…

Kyoko is angry, as she tries harder and harder to teleport out, but King is merely thoughtful, his golden eyes staring at the entity. Despite it all… the mockery in the blonde man’s eyes has yet to disappear. He seems to be hard at work to think a way out of this trap, he seems well aware of the entity’s power, and yet…

His sister puts his thoughts into words… and tells him the way through.

“Karin…” King’s face changes for a moment, a complicated expression flashing by. What he thinks at this moment is unknown, a part of himself that he thought long gone stirring briefly. He closes his eyes, and sighs…

Before snapping them open and unleashing a blinding golden glow that annihilates the darkness on his path, two pharos of blazing light bearing down on the fake Liane, the willpower of humankind shining through the nightmare.

“DISAPPEAR”

[Mormarth]

Watanabe Tomoya
Memorial Site - Park
Morning

I nodded agreeably, there, guy's being pretty cooperative in all this, giving him some direction so he's not just gonna go and blunder all over the place, not feeling like a glorified piece of meat on a hook.

"Arright, looks like you know a thing or two about the walkin' leech, mind if I pick your brain a bit-"

"...We're not supposed to befriend the bait."

I lifted a hand into the air without looking, palm up.

I swear to God, this kid'll be the death of me.

I turn, and silently note the 'less than dirt on my shoe' look he throws in the direction of the seemingly cooperative thing from beyond I'd been trying to forge a working partnership with.

I didn't like it, a person should never give another thing that can think and feel that look.

It lead only to bad things.

"It's dangerous. We should have let them fight it out between each other a bit before stepping in, demons are the enemy, remember? In a few months, the city is going to be crawling with them."

He looks at me, frost cracking a small bit.

"Don't make friends with things that will eventually have to die or become a tool."

For his part, the demon responded with silence.

I worked my jaw a bit, staring down this harsh-gazed little punk thinkin' he's tough shit because I got a little mushy for a minute.

"Why shouldn't I?"

I responded in a flat tone of voice, eyes narrowing, feeling my mental heels start to dig in.

"I've interacted with three, actual, bona-fide demons besides this guy here (Sorry fer talkin' about ya like you're not here), and they've all been cunts of some shape or form."

A finger comes up, "That vampire bitch."

Another, "That walking giant fire guy, Belial."

And the last, "And Mr. Head up his own ass, plugged with mistletoe, Baldr."

"They've all been shit, really, but I'm not going to be a giant sweeping conclusion-jumper and assume I know anything and anything, and just deal with the crap in front of me."

"This guy," a pointed finger, "Doesn't seem like much of a cunt! I'm coming down here so I can finagle this situation into looking a little less like we're stringing him up for bait. What's in front of me, right now, is the fact that I want to make that bitch dead, he seems to be down with that. That makes him cool in my book for right now, if later he flips out and tries to do some crazy shit, I'll deal with it then."

I spread my arms, "Maybe that makes me a flipping moron, but I'm an optimist. I'm not a grand thinker, and I don't do well with trying to expand my mind to the whole world, I try to stay away from that. But I don't go spitting on help when it's offered, and I don't go spitting on somebody because I don't like where they're from."

"You got me involved in this, and maybe there's some big memo going around that there's some crazy shit, but no one has ever sat me down and explained it, because for some reason, I tried to focus on the people I cared about, and then that comes to nothing. So maybe I am an idiot, but at least I don't try to be something I'm not."

"So with all due respect, Little Brother, I'll make friends with whoever the fuck I want to."

[Airen]

King
???

Everything vanishes into light.

Not just the false Liane, but the room itself, the fake tanks of the Aquarium, the dim glow of the tanks...

All is overcome by the command, and as a result, everything disappears into the void from which it had first emerged; it is much like breaking an illusion, the fact that nothing is here now does not change where you stand in space, and with everyone returning to fog, the impression you get is that of a world that had quite simply shattered all around you.

"Damn thing... Filling my head with all sorts of crap..."

Anger tinged with what was almost certainly confusion, the sheer amount of emotion Kyoko is putting off now that everything is over makes it clear that she was somehow shaken from the event in a way that you yourself had not been...

You weren't sure what she had been told, and while it was possible to piece a few implications together, she doesn't...

"I don't know a Liane... Coming after me with that face, that voice... Shit-!"

Seem to be in a mood to talk about it.

"...This girl is one of your friends right?"

On the other hand, having returned to being a shade in the fog, your sister's voice again appears from your side.

"You got one back, congratulations."

While the words themselves imply happiness, her tone is still very even-

"But you should really leave now."

-And leads back to this...

"Brother is getting closer... And you don't need to worry about your friends anymore, a girl is taking care of them now. They will be fine, so you should leave now while it's still possible."

"Leaving? Not likely..."

Listening even with her head in her hands, the insinuation that her friends are still in trouble seems to once again jolt Kyoko from her bizarre state of melancholy...

"I'm not getting out of here until I pay someone back for whatever the hell all of that was-!"

[Airen]

Watanabe Tomoya
Memorial Site - Park
Morning

"..."

He's remarkably calm about the situation.

Having come down here to lecture you, and having become the one that was lectured instead, the young man doesn't even try to interrupt you, he lets you speak your piece, say what you need to say, and while the old Josuke would have at least backed down at the lecture, perhaps thought a bit more about the way he was behaving, this one...

"You're angry."

Is dead calm.

"Emotions that strong will lead you astray one day... But I guess I get it, you've just been stumbling around like always, trying to fix whatever problems happen to pop up in front of you... I get it. That's just how you are, and it doesn't lend itself well to long time plans."

The expression softens.

But only superficially.

Eyes still very piercing, the empathetic smile bears a sort of insincerity that strikes you as upsetting.

"...So after this, I'll tell you everything. More than what I told mom or sis, I'll tell you everything I know, all of it. And when I do... Then you'll understand, this is bigger than just our family... But it can fix everything."

While your speech hadn't seemed to affect him at first, those words at the end...

Sounded almost like he was saying them in order to convince himself of something; but for you...

Perhaps the admission that he apparently knew things and just hadn't bothered to tell the rest of the family...

Was more upsetting than the distortions in his personality-

Of course-

"Tomoya. Other human. Pay attention."

"Now now boys, weren't you setting a party for me? Is now the time for brothers to be fighting?"

-The vampire chooses this moment to make herself known, mocking voice floating across the air as she hovers, perched on the top of a nearby streetlight.

"That kind of behavior breaks the hearts of parents you know?"

[Vritra]

Makoto Fujioka
Nakamura Residence (Ghost World) – Rooftops
Morning

Fwaaaaa ~.

Staring off into the haze of a blurred world and air pressures behind me thing begins to blur together and time loses meaning.

Wa ha ha hahahaHA! EXPLOSION Super Duper effective!

Smirking as thing finally slow down enough to recognize my surroundings I close my eyes to bask in the roar of the wind and the events that led me to flying here …only to open them seconds later.

?

??

???

Tilting my head as I’m struck by a strange feeling…

Ane-san is certainly nowhere in view or anything yet I feel… I feel Ane-san, super duper straaaaaaaaaaange. Ane-san must be trying funny business. Giggling to myself at the thought and certain feeling like Ane-san is being all fired up about things. Wish I got to see what face she made, would have been funny I bet.

A feeling that is confirmed as Ane-san comes into view shooting herself forward again and again with explosions and an improvised jet burner. Was kinda annoying that managed to catch up so quickly when I put everything into exploding, same with how she was determined to still catch me but CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! Smiling at her antics I begin to think up strategies that I can use to grasp victory …only to realize I’m having trouble thinking of things that won’t just end with getting in trouble. I really want to consume my leg with my power before exploding it and jumping off that again but, but… Ane-san gets pouty and stuff when I do things like that.

Aaaaaaah… If only I could do that I could knock her back at the same time I jump forward with even more power than normal but Ane-san …or actually everyone gets worked up when I think up things like that so I guess I’ll just continue racing? Yeah, yeah I’ll just continue to show off to Ane-san, it will work for better grasping how to do the zoom step.

One.

Two.

Taking a deep breath to steady myself I coalesce my powers around my legs before beginning everything over once again. Let the unstable swords lose themselves and super boom before grasping the shockwave to kick off it. Steady the spiritual energy, repeat, trace the flow of power and continuously sharpen it until it not even Kyoto or Chiaoko-nee can catch me.

Three.

“COME ANE-SAN LET ME SHOW YOU THAT WHETHER ITS YOU OR KYOTO OR SENSEI SENSEI OR CHIAOKO-NEE I CAN CATCH YOU ALL!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeexploooooooooooosssssssiiiiiooooooooo on RACE!"

[RacingeR]

King
???



“Karin… I…” King stares straight at the shade half-hidden in the fog, unsure still of what to make of it… of the fact that she still remains hiding in the fog, of the evenness of her voice…

He closes his eyes. There is… simply not enough time to talk about this right now.

“Yes. She’s one of my friends. Her name is Kyoko… likes being called Queen.” King replied, patting the distraught girl on the back once. Then, he continued speaking.

“It… is not possible for me to leave. Not without ascertaining my friends’ safety. This whole situation, is simply not something I can leave alone.”

“This is exactly why I am called King now.”

“So even if brother… if Kirin comes around, even if I have to face him once again, I will prevail.”

“This is why I left the me from the past behind…”

His words stop. There is an emotion in his voice that he has never shown before. It is odd… almost out of character from him to offer explanations like this. Almost as if begging for forgiveness from the shade of his little sister. Perhaps he is.

If there is one person in the whole world he has to apologize to, that person is Souma Karin.

Either way…

“Karin, please… guide me. To the others.”

If I am not out there, saving everyone, guiding humankind… then what was the point of it all?

That is what he thinks to himself.

[Mormarth]

Watanabe Tomoya
Memorial Site - Park
Morning

Boy I am just building up a good head of steam.

My little brother is too much like me to give in that easily, he might've thought about, considered my words carefully, gone through things rationally and made out a nice compromise that maybe he was being a bit racist.

Instead, Josuke stared me down, ice in his gaze.

"You're angry."

I bristled, I'm not even close to being angry, this is being annoyed.

"Emotions that strong will lead you astray one day... But I guess I get it, you've just been stumbling around like always, trying to fix whatever problems happen to pop up in front of you... I get it. That's just how you are, and it doesn't lend itself well to long time plans."

He smiled a smile that other people would call understanding, or sympathetic, reasonable, even.

It looked so false I wanted to bust his snotty little nose right there.

But I didn't, and I won't.

"...So after this, I'll tell you everything. More than what I told mom or sis, I'll tell you everything I know, all of it. And when I do... Then you'll understand, this is bigger than just our family... But it can fix everything."

I scoffed.

Look at this kid, keeping secrets, playing the game, putting on that fake smile like he's some sort of anime mastermind, get outta town.

Panaceas are a myth.

Still, there was another thing to attend to-

"Tomoya. Other human. Pay attention."

Right, while I was having it out with my brother, the guest of honor appeared.

How wonderful.

"Now now boys, weren't you setting a party for me? Is now the time for brothers to be fighting?"

She perches atop a streetlight, eyes gleaming with malevolent mirth.

"That kind of behavior breaks the hearts of parents you know?"

I pointed a finger, "Oi, fuck off, I'm getting set up to a dramatic reveal over here, where my kid brother says he's got all these super secret shit goin on, when I know that can't be the case because he couldn't keep the fact that he broke my Game Boy for two hours!"

"I never got to beat Red, you fucker!" I hissed.

I fumed in silence, venting my anger like heat, I'd need a clear head to deal with this broad. No more flailing around like last time.

I curled my fingers, flexing my hands as I stared her down.

The Blood Countess, he called her.

It sounded familiar from somewhere.

Hngh.

I shifted my balance back and forth.

"The hell would you know about parents and family anyway?"

I met Josuke's eyes again, quirking an eyebrow, I was a bad planner, this much was true, so go ahead little brother.

Show me that big brain of yours.

[Airen]

Watanabe Tomoya
Memorial Site - Park

"I hid it for three hours..."

The expected response from the brother. (Two and half really, but who was counting?)

"I'm offended! I'll have you know I was a human once too! I had quite the loving family!"

A somewhat less expected response from the vampire, who was again approaching the entire situation with a casual laughing air that didn't quite fit a scenario in which she was a soon to be victim, winking at the three of you as she sits down atop the streetlight, one leg thrown over the other.

"They weren't as supportive of my life decisions as I would have liked I guess," swinging back and forth, the woman's smile continues to widen as she regales you with her stories, "Kill a couple hundred people and they lock me in a castle until I die, but hey, it wasn't an execution right? That's love isn't it? Shielding your family no matter how 'repulsive' other people think they are? They didn't toss me to the mobs! Well..."

A pause, as if she was really getting into this, then:

"Maybe they were really saving the peasants? It was so long ago it's hard for me to remember the motive-! Ah, but thinking about it, they certainly sealed me away~"

The voice is steadily losing it's calm, it's cheerful tone...

"To a place where even my voice couldn't be heard, I suppose that was why it was so easy to cross into the void-! Oh, it would have certainly been better to kill me~ But it's impossible, die as much as I like, the demon will just come back again in the next nightmare~!"

She just keeps talking.

Ignoring her completely, not giving a damn about her life story, the younger brother smiles in a way that just says one thing, even as his gaze burns when the vampire is in his line of sight:

'Do what you'd normally do. And I'll take care of the rest.'

He doesn't elaborate further, because it wasn't necessary to do so, nor did he have the time to simply say these sorts of things out loud. Entrusting it to you, the youth moves, darting like a shadow behind one of many memorial stones, and as he goes-

"Bathory-! You talk far too much...!"

-Your new friend proves that it doesn't quite care for the vampire's psychotic, teasing monologue by...

Slamming it's fist into the earth before it, the sheer titanic force behind the strike crumpling streets, tossing boulders into the sky, and-

"Heh..."

Causing the vampire to jump straight into the air, clinging to one of the dislodged airborne boulders like a spider to keep from having her balance compromised by the fact that the ground upon which she had used to stand...

Had become little more than a massive crater over the course of a single strike.