Ga Rei: Exodus Nine (IC)

[Airen]

Medrod Pendragon
Aoyama Ruins ~ Ground Zero

"Hah..."

A quiet laugh.

Your body's systems were so fundamentally broken than even your 'dream' self was more or less paralyzed, and yet the sheer force of will that erupts within your chest is one that slowly forces those same systems to start up again regardless; while it appears to be impossible, she never had any real doubt that you would be able to do it in the first place. The power the "rest of you had" to challenge fate was something she had admired but had also lacked, so she is not surprised at the action; it is slow, indeed, willpower can only move a broken body so far, but...

You do make progress.

That progress relieves the mind of impossibility and makes it easier to move; in a sense she is proud, happy even that this sort of thought had appeared in your head even though she was a 'stranger' to you, but...

---It's also bittersweet.

"I'm not really a good person."

Because there is one thing she can do now.

"Everything that's happened... Up until now, I allowed it to happen."

It's the truth.

She could have certainly saved everyone a lot of trouble by acting earlier on, but the need for her plans to be 'flawless' was one that she could not bring herself to disregard, and she had stayed in the background as a result.

...She had kept an eye on everyone, but only an eye.

"Tragedy, crimes, loss... I could've stepped in and stopped it all, but after awhile... I just didn't bother. I thought as long my plan succeeded, then none of it would matter, I would be able to just write the happy ending myself, and everyone could forget about what happened in the past... Utopia... A world of happiness without end, no death, nothing to make anyone miserable anymore."

But she had messed up in a number of ways.

And that power was gone now, and there was no way for her to get it back. Her tone of voice does not try to make herself too sympathetic, as far as she is concerned she is a 'villain,' these chains in this hell are her just desserts, a fitting punishment for her 'betrayal' of everyone she had done all of this for...

And it's a good thing, that she can be viewed as a 'villain.'

There was one thing she could still do, and it would be easier for everyone involved if she could project that image of a 'villainess' for just a little bit longer...

"...So don't worry about me. It's not worth the effort."

Yes.

One thing she can still do.

"As long as it's in my body... I should be able to weaken it, even if only a little bit."

...It's better if the others don't remember. They're already starting to show signs, flashes, of 'old memories,' and if they remember too much there's no way that most of them would do what she felt needed to be done. For most of them, there was an inherent 'heroism' that she lacked and had always admired, and they would shoot for a 'happy ending' even if attaining it required them to do the impossible.

In other words, they'd have a problem with what she wanted to do.

If the Devourer was capable of being defeated, than it would only be when it was in her body, when she was holding it back due to that 'connection.'

"So take us both out at the same time. I'm sure there's something out there that can do it. I will weaken it as much as I can... That will be my contribution to the effort... And it should save Chronos as well since they've been seperated... Heck, I even have a daughter running around... I should do at least one thing as a Mom... Can't stay as this kid forever..."

She smiles.

...She does appreciate your efforts, however.

Hiding behind all of you had gotten you guys killed the first time around; while a part of her wants to scream to be saved, another part is alright with an outcome where 'everyone else survives' at the cost of 'herself.'

...That is fine.

It is time to repay that favor.

---You finally manage to stand, but the progress is still horrendously slow.

She closes her eyes.

It's easier to deny everyone if she can't see them, and...

Slowly...

The dream begins to break apart...

Because it's not yours, it turns out...

It's actually her own.

The 'place' where she had felt safest...

And where she now had to push you out, because...

All of her friends were stubborn.

[Verg Avesta]

Medrod Pendragon
Aoyama Ruins ~ Ground Zero

"Not worth the effort... who the hell are you to decide that?"

Move one leg. No matter how painful or hard it is. Move another leg. No matter how much his body screams him to stop. He couldn't stop now, not while he saw this. He had told it to Yamuna, hadn't he? He just wanted to make sure no one he saw had to cry needlessly. So if Chiyoko stood there, looking at him with such a defeated expression, speaking words of self-sacrifice that he hated so much... then that went against the very happy ending he was searching for. Medrod didn't like this. He hated this. To be so weak that his body barely responded to his orders at a crucial time like this...!

Wasn't this why he had wanted to become strong in the first place?

To make sure he'd never be too weak to help anyone.

"It's not us ourselves who decide what we're worth," Medrod grunted, dragging his body tortuously slowly forward. "It's those who are close to us, those who know us. We're not defined by ourselves, but by how we're seen by others. So... don't put words in our mouths! There's no one in this world who's not worth the effort! No matter how horrible someone is, that doesn't make them worthless! I experienced it first hand, and so... I'll show it to you!"

Faster. He needed to be faster. The dream around him was breaking down and his time was running short. Desperately Medrod tried to activate his aura, hoping that by driving spiritual power full of hope into it, he could force the fleeting dream to stay just for a little while longer. Just long enough for him to reach Chiyoko. His body was acting against him, making it hard to even get out his voice. But he had to try. He had to do this. He couldn't allow his friend to fall like this.

"I'm not gonna sacrifice you to destroy the Time Devourer, and it if comes to that, I'll stop anyone who tries, damn it!" Medrod practically screamed with a hoarse voice. "A happy ending paid with blood of someone else, innocent or not, is not a happy ending at all! Especially if that someone is our friend, even if she tries to act like she's not! Stop thinking there's something noble and pure in you giving up your life to help us! There isn't! Stop thinking that you can atone for what you've done just by sacrificing yourself!"

He remembered well words that had been spoken to him once.

Words that he now passed on.

"Resigning yourself to death is a the coward's way out. What you've done has consequences, yeah, but if you understand that yourself then simply dying is running away from your responsibilities. It's cowardice! There's no point in lying down and dying! The value in our lives is what we leave behind after we go," Medrod spoke, driving strength to his body with every word he spoke. "And if you think you'll leave behind a happy ending by giving up your life for us, then think again! Who the hell would be happy about seeing their friend die!? Because believe me... even if you try to stay forgotten to make it easier for us to sacrifice you, I won't allow it. I'll make sure every single person out there knows who you are. I'll make sure they know what sort of idiotic thing you're trying to do... and that they'll be ready to stop you too. Just about everyone out there is a better person than me, so don't think for a second they'll go: 'oh, okay' and sacrifice you without a second thought!"

Medrod tried to make his arm rise, tried to make his hand reach Chiyoko. He had to get to her before this dream crumbled completely. He had to get to her in time. He didn't even know what sort of difference it could make, but... he just knew he had to do something! He couldn't let this be the end for her, not a pitiful fate like this!

So he pushed on. Because his heart screamed him to.

"And if you still try to persist with this, then you really are nothing but a kid! A snot-nosed brat who apparently didn't learn anything during your repeated lifetimes!" Medrod continued his verbal assault. "What sort of parent would be fine with making their kid sad!? If you really have a daughter out there, you should protect her from sadness and pain! Yet you're actively trying to cause it!"

As he spoke, Medrod hissed loudly as he focused his mind. He tried to find those toughest scales around his heart, tried to open them up to the whirlpool of willpower that was within him. He begged for the souls within him to hear his call, to understand his plight, and give him aid. He himself needed more strength. If only he could activate that power, even for a second, he'd have a shot at saving Chiyoko, somehow! Wasn't this the purpose his power!? To save those he saw, no matter how desperate or hopeless their situation!?

So, please...! Hear me! Help me!

"... even worse, you apparently never learned to lie properly during those times, either," Medrod spoke, keeping his eye trained at Chiyoko. "Just goes to show you've got a long way to be an adult. This whole charade shows you're fooling no one but yourself, if even that. You deny you're a kind person, and yet you try to give up your life for others. Only a kind person would be moronic enough to do that! So stop lying to me, Chiyoko!"

He had to get to her in time. He had to do something.

"Because beneath your lies of being content with this, I can practically hear your screams for someone to save you...!"

[Frantic Author]

Hitoshira Nagi
???

"Are those acceptable terms?"

I grasp Lilith's hand, and shake it with a smile. There's no need for words, here. All of our interactions have been based on a "give" and a "take". I'm giving, here -- giving her the opportunity to find herself, the chance to become something more, and the desire to be braver then she is. That's all there is to it.

I let go, and watch as she disappears into my soulscape once more, and silver fire wreathes itself around me as I vanish from this place, searching for another person who I hadn't thought of in quite some time.

After all, it's not every day you meet a god.

>>>Yamuna>>>

[Vritra]

Makoto Fujioka
Aoyama Ruins

Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, “Kimichi terrible!”

Glaring, pouting, moping, resisting! Super battle form eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeenGAGIE!

Arm locked, range of movement and actions restrained. It was a naturally disadvantageous position and yet, I refused to give in. Reading the situation I act. ‘Flow’ is a collection of results and thus something that can be resisted and reshaped even if one side tries to impose it another the other. Kimchi moves for a locking pin and I meet it with a grin.

Set the image and summon the feeling, creation, destruction, refinement, recreation more and more I need to taste that sensation. Kimichi shapes her flow and I twist mine, catching me in an armlock I embrace and push deeper into it. Barbed blades like hook push through her oppressive air and grow like hairs. A normally fleeting grasp that would last but a moment but that single moment is all I need to turn it into an inescapable grasp. Hooking into her skin like the touch of a spidey hero to hold it hostage I envelop both her arm and mine in a full powered wrap of blades. Determined and resolute the blades like strips of cloth wrap around both our arms to the shoulders hooked into each other, layer upon layer. A mummy wrap because I fully intend to not let this hand go.

“Nyahahaha Ane-san was funny, like mumumumuuuuuu!”

Refusing to pause, one action is melded into another continuously; I build my own flow as I push myself into arm lock. Uncaring of the pain I twist the move that was meant to restrain me into my advantage. Giggling as thoughts flow through me, gears click and spin while clouds bounce around. I got it, I got it like waaa paam! At once the resistance from my elbow join ceases as it simply breaks apart. Blades shall be my muscles, blades shall be my tendons, blades shall be my bones, blades shall be my blood vessels and blades are my soul. Pulling apart and severing the joint I build an artificial connector and extendor to overcome the pinned arm. Hunger, desire and the rush of sensations that fuel and are fueled by it pump through me as I my laughter echoes in mind. Pushing through as the resistance of my elbow ceases I squirm and twist to switch our positions in tandem with the assortment of soul constructs howl of their own accord to cut down any possibility that Kimichi could realize to escape or counter.

--More, more, more, more, moremoremoremoreMORE!

Taste, touch and dive into remembered and desired sensation, Kimichi will be intensifying the pressure of her field, annoying fake fake will be intensifying the weight of its self and I must push through it all! Declaring this contest something that I can’t back down from I resolve myself and push on ahead through twisting indestructible wall and all the while through each move my spiritual energy grows more and more turbulent.

It’s a simple action that exists as both a challenge and a strategy. The opponent excelled in detection so it was only natural to obfuscate it. Even if they could see through it in the end it increased both effort and the likelihood of mistakes. Self-detriment was hardly a concern after all ‘it’ or even ‘he’ was an existence founded and thrived on that very chaotic self-conflict.

Nyahaha however!

Not content to simply stop there and recognize that I must go above and beyond I take a deep breath as my arm modification trap is sprung and externalize myself. Using the exhalation as a catalyst a deep crimson dust of swords pours from my mouth and skin to envelop us. The chaos within is now mirrored without through a cloying, clinging cloud as I transform the space we’re both in into an extension of myself. Bubbles of dust swords rise and pop like fireworks or solar prominences, a cloud of dust swirls and seethes and a soul sings a howling sword as it seeks it comprehend everything so it can form an antithesis.

“She asked me about being the strooooooooooooooooongest sword to let her use!

Ane-san meanie…

Haven’t lost at all to annoying fake or anybody else, don’t even feel like losing or anything. But, but something felt missing so I came to Kimichi!”

Mhmhmhm Meanie, cold, denying, solitary, Kimichi always standing just out of reach but always helping, mhm suuuuuuuuuuper duuuuuuuuuuuper terrible!

…but, sometimes she feels super warm.

“Hehehe kinda get it now thought, have to be strongest but also need to be able to go swiiiiiiiiiish all around while I push past everything. Soooooooo let’s goooo because I’m going to hug you lots.”

A power originating from a single point, the fluidity with which to change in response to the situation and the escalation of determination and ability fueled by the challenge it meets. Point blank, the elimination of lag and so the enablement of continuous interplayed offensives. If the opposition is an existence that thrives in a close quarters environment then without a doubt the challenger is another such existence. The close one is the more the offensive is enabled to be all encompassing. That is to say…

-I won’t lose!

Bubbling with determination I press on, older sibling, younger sibling I realize now that it is all irrelevant. Whether younger or older nothing truly changes. Feelings are feelings and this desire is universal. I want to, I should and I must indulge in this feeling so that she can feel it to. A simple embrace and a statement of persistence even in the face of mandated distance I don’t know if it’s right or wrong or even wanted I simply know that it feels like something I should do and that it is something I want to do.

Hug.

Squeezing out the anxiety tinged uncertainties regarding the coming battle and the possible absence of tomorrow, acknowledging that aggravating gratitude that had built up over so many years, reinforcing the bonds that persist in spite of distance or standoffish pride and unleashing the hunger for victory.

From simply one person to another, I want to let her hear the intoxicating ba-dum that will tell her she’s always home. That is why I’ll press onward no matter how strong Kimichi makes her anti-hug field and I’ll make sure that everyone from Akido, to Ane-san, to Usami, to Chiaoko can all sit around and have fun.

Victory will be miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine.

“Kimichi, kimichi love love ~~~ ♥”

[Airen]

Medrod Pendragon
The Remains of a Dream

...She's making it difficult.

Closing her eyes and wishing the dream to end, the crumbling of the scenery does not stop; from the start, this place is simply a 'refuge' her soul had made for itself after her body was lost, the place she felt safest, but now that she no longer required it, it was simple to banish it from her thoughts, even if only long enough to ensure that you fell out of it and would up back where you were supposed to be...

...Or at least it should be simple.

Words strike a bit too true, and thus the destruction of this false world is delayed by a few more seconds; she feels obligated to listen in some ways, and in others, she is simply getting a bit too close in nature to her 'self from back then,' but either way...

---The delay isn't enough.

While it seems that the souls agree with your decision, the truth of the matter is that you're not the only one that's pushed themselves far beyond their limits; throwing back the God of Chaos had taken a monumental effort from the souls within the Sea of Souls, and while humanity is certainly a generator of 'limitless' power, it still... Takes them time to do so...

The bonds binding this girl are absurd; it is a representation of the Devourer's Grip, a God that could be thought of as a "true one."

Challenging it with anything less than their full might...

Wouldn't even generate a 1% chance of success...

Even so, they try to do so anyway; the story that they are hearing is sad, too sad to simply lie down and accept, but-!

"...Geez. You're still kinda mean."

A smile that appears, and then fades slowly through closed eyes.

"A good story ends with the villains being defeated... There's no reason to look any more into it than that; I am responsible for every wrong, I could have saved your parents, and yet I did not do so."

Again she stresses this point.

She could have fixed everything, but chose to save that 'reality' for an endgame that can no longer come to her.

As a result, she is 'responsible.'

...It's only natural for her to think so.

She's felt responsible for a long, long time. If nothing else, she had forced everyone to relive a 'tragedy' countless times, and when it had come time to give them their reward for that perseverance, she had fumbled that and made everything pointless.

"So it's fine... The kid hates me anyway..."

---You almost reach her.

Close.

Mere inches away, but-!

Right afterwards, the ground falls away. The sudden appearance of nothingness leads to a fall that is inescapable for your broken self; you pitch backwards into the dark, staring up at a rapidly disappearing light -and a still smiling young woman- and...

"I'll do at least one good thing with this life."

---Even that disappears eventually.

"...And make everyone's victory possible."

---A stubborn brat.

---A stubborn brat.

----Where had she learned that from?

The answer is a crushing echo from a forgotten past.

---Soon enough you'll awaken on a military cot, one watched over by a humanoid dragon.

---}i{---

---

Hitoshira Nagi
Medical Tent

---A flash of silver-fire illuminates a room of eleven bodies and a Goddess.

Or rather, a room where a Goddess watches over the bodies of friends she had never expected to be able to see again, even within her theoretically limitless life-span; the sudden burst of supernatural activity might have seemed threatening in most cases, if the Goddess had been her 'negative' half this certainly would have gone in a more volatile direction, but as it is...

"...Oh. Hitoshira."

The Goddess just quietly acknowledges you as you appear... Her tone of voice lacks energy, but in a different sense from when you had met her as 'Tamamo,' it is not an existential tiredness, but rather a sense of sadness... Or perhaps a denied anticipation?

Either way...

She's so quiet it almost seems like she's instinctively trying not to wake them up.

And sitting on a chair at the head of the room...

An unconscious Kae -strangely perfect in spite of a time of hundreds of years- rests on a bed at her side.

The others are harder to recognize.

Elizabeth is sitting on the other side of the medical tent, not so close at to be in the room, but where she had been when you had spoken to her last...

---Seems these two were guarding the same thing.

"...I did not expect you to come to me."

She looks different, feels different, like a more 'complete' person. Where she had only radiated negativity before, there is a certain sense of innate 'calm' that comes from being near this person that is difficult to deny...

Probably fitting, for a Goddess that seemed to deal with the human souls in this world.

---

Makoto Fujioka
Aoyama Ruins

"...You put so much effort into the weirdest things."

Coming from a person that was ready and willing to get into fistfights over the right to use the kitchen, it is probably somewhat hypocritical that such a thing is the first thing she says after getting into a mini friendly 'scuffle' over the right of you to hug her.

To be frank she does not enjoy those sorts of actions normally, merely cracking a smile when her younger siblings did it, but because it seems to be something that you want -and because she is somewhat impressed by a continuously adapting offensive- eventually she decides going full force defense is a bit much for this sort of thing, and doesn't resist -too much, hands remain checked in safe places- when her guard is finally cracked by that same offensive...

---She was getting a bit too soft.

"But really, you shouldn't say things like 'love love' so easily, friends or not. The reporter will go after you, you know? Hell, she might come after me too... Would be fun to fight her off, but at the same time... It would kind of be a pain in the ass."

...Deciding to chat a bit, since you seemed to be trying to cheer her up. (Although she didn't really need it.)

The woman points out something Sensei had also deemed important.

[Verg Avesta]

Medrod Pendragon
The Remains of a Brat

"CHIYOKO!"

His hoarse yell reaches no one. Medrod jumped out of the bunk-bed with desperate look in his eye, jolting awake with clear fervor and determination... something he immediately regretted. After all, the beating he had taken while fighting Zerah was not something that would go away so fast. Indeed, while his body's resilience and healing might have been greater than that of most Espers, right now it was like a lonely ship in a storm - it'd take far longer him than this to actually be in prime condition once more; most likely till dawn, when things really went down.

So, instead of a desperate jump out of the bed, Medrod was left lying in a tangled pile of limbs, hissing loudly at the pain he felt.

It had been a while.

It had really been a while.

He couldn't remember the last time he had been in this sort of messed-up state. Perhaps back when he had been but a child, but not once in his adult years.

It just went to show the obsession with which he and Zerah had pummeled each other with.

Through the pain, Medrod's blurry vision saw finally where he was. A lonely military cot, with no one but the human-shaped dragon there to watch over him. His ears were ringing and he had no idea whether they were near or far others. Even his sense of smell was full of nothing but his own blood, not to speak of his tongue that tasted nothing. Hell, even the sheets that he was now tangled up in felt like sandpaper upon his skin. This was no condition to act so rashly... yet he tried to anyway. Medrod stubbornly separated himself from the makeshift bed, trying to lift his exhausted body upwards to take a note of the situation he was in.

... And that's when he finally, truly, registered the sight of the creature before him.

Her.

The Crimson Queen - Dragon without equal.

Or so she had come to appear in his eye.

"............... Red."

Medrod's voice was naught but a tired whisper as he looked at her. There were many things he wanted to say to her: some of them words to apologize with; some of them words to explain with; some of them words to assure with; ... and yes, some of them words to confess with. In a way, he wanted to come clean of the myriad of emotions within him when he saw the dragon. But that very desire was also a one that made him stop and stare at her, wide-eyed and pale-faced. Almost like he was a child with nowhere to run.

If he saw her now, it'd make his determination waver.

If he acknowledged her now, it'd make him doubt his decision.

If he talked with her now, it'd make him unable to act as the burning wish in his heart.

In other words... while he wanted nothing more than to finally explain everything to her, from his actions to his confused state... he found his mouth snapping shut. Was it really right to tell her all those things now? Wouldn't it just serve to confuse her further? Wouldn't that... just make her afraid of him? He was nothing but a boy who never had a real chance to grow up. To a creature like her, his emotions and feelings must've been naught but whispers in the wind, meaningless and something she had heard time and time again. They were worlds apart in more ways than one. To tell her how he felt... was a foolish errand: a knight tilting at the windmills. It was like admiring a star in the sky. The star had no reason to care how the one admiring it felt. It stood in a realm far removed from the source of that admiration.

So... wouldn't it be best just to save her all of that foolishness and be silent?

A coward's way of thinking, yes, but at the same time... one that Medrod couldn't help but to feel was right.

She might've played and acted humane every now and again, but the truth of the matter was, she was not a human.

She was a dragon.

And he was but a knight.

A knight who had just experienced a harrowing trial, seen a sight most pitiful. His friend, somebody he should've known much better than his memories told him of, caught in chains of despair and self-defeat. Chiyoko was out there, all alone, with no one to save her. She had given up already. She was ready to sacrifice herself in order to bring down the Time Devourer, thinking it'd atone for her crimes.

Crimes like letting his family die.

Something that made that fury within Medrod rise up in flames. After all, she claimed to have responsibility over that. And yet, at the same time, she chose to run away from that desperately. If that brat really wanted to take all the blame from the atrocities that had happened, Medrod wouldn't allow her to die. Just like with Zerah. They had lot to answer for... and he'd make sure they'd be alive to receive their punishments. Not form the world, not from Time Devourer, not from death... but from their friends.

In other words, he'd have to go out there and find a way to inform everybody.

Even if he had to climb to the highest point in the camp and yell at the top of his lungs.

He'd have to make them remember Chiyoko, make them see what sort of foolish end she was trying to achieve.

And... he'd have to make sure they'd refute that end, just like he was going to.

Even if it meant challenging others he was supposed to fight with.

------- Yes, he needed to save Chiyoko.

So, no matter how much he wanted to stay with Red and bare his feelings, no matter how much he was afraid of the outcome, no matter how it would never come true... he had to go.

That was the decision of Medrod - a knight who had decided to value others above himself.

And that was why...

"... Sorry!"

He tried to scramble out of the bed, with his broken body, before the dragon could stop him.

>>Red>>

[Airen]

Medrod Pendragon
Medical Tent

---The movement was almost certainly more impressive inside of your head.

A heroic dash filled with willpower, one that carries you off of your newfound bed and into the darkness outside; as it was the night of a new moon -and the stars themselves were strangely absent- there is zero light coming from beyond the closed flaps of the tent, and while it's unlikely that you've been moved particularly far from the others, you still aren't able to hear them.

---You stumble.

The broken body missteps, and a dragon in human form is able to more or less push you back onto you cot without a single sign of visible effort. It just takes one arm and some of that demonic strength of hers, and back into your previous position you go, a bit more roughly than you'd like, but...

"...Enough running around."

---Yes, this is a problem.

Returning to her seat with arms crossed, Red just stares directly at you without flinching, eyebrow raised as if vaguely amused that you thought you'd be able to just run past her so easily...

"If you keep at this so relentlessly, you really won't recover before tomorrow morning."

To be fair, the Admiral had promised to heal everyone via technology earlier, but it seemed she was taking a stand against your current behavior in spite of that-!

"Even if only mentally. Humans require sleep to function, a half-immortal body doesn't change that."

In other words...

Go back to bed...

That's what those eyes say.

[Verg Avesta]

Medrod Pendragon
Medical Tent

"... I don't have time to rest."

Medrod murmured that almost rebelliously, falling back to the bed and using his hands to rub his temples. As much as he hated it, Red seemed to be right in this case. With how he was now, he wasn't exactly going to run around. If only for a little while, he would need to gather his strength, make his legs works again. There was still time. It was disappearing fast, but there had to be still time... right? He could afford a moment or two to catch his breath.

Just enough to get back his bearings.

"... I saw something. Someone. A girl who thinks she can make this all end by sacrificing herself," Medrod quietly spoke, filling the night air with his words. "She's still out there, trapped by her own despair. I can't... I can't let that happen. The way I see it, she's just running away."

Not wanting Red to see the complicated expression on his face, he turned his back on her, wrapping himself in the crude sheets.

"You know what I mean, right?"

It was a stupid question to ask. After all, she had been the one to slap some sense into another person who had acted just like Chiyoko had. And it was because of that that Medrod was embarrassed. He didn't exactly know when it had happened, but he had certainly taken Red's advice to heart. Admitting it was... awkward.

Not that her presence made Medrod awkward already, no sirree.

"..."

Then, as if to take advantage of the words still hanging in the air, Medrod quietly uttered few words more. He wasn't exactly sure how she'd react to those words, so he tried to have them pass by quickly, almost stealthily.

"... By the way, I found him. Zerah, I mean. But he, he got away. Got few good hits in but... that's it," he muttered. "......... Sorry."

Why was he apologizing?

[Spinach]

Saki Ryuumonbuchi
Aoyama Ruins
Devil May Cry

“Dante, is it? Not a bad name.” Settling on the ‘stronger,’ more ‘unique’ name Saki took the strawberry sundae from the hand of the hunter of his own kind. Any guilt she might have felt eating one ‘junk food’ after the other couldn’t be found in her. Not due to the schedule of the universe ruling that her world would end in the morning, making such concerns moot. She had already decided to rewrite that schedule. The itinerary of her planet’s fate had already changed once, soon she would change it again.

And any excess calories would be burnt in the process.

Taking a bite, she smiled.

“Found my resolve, I suppose that’s a way to put it. I wouldn’t say it’s excitement that had me wandering. It’s closer to… anxiousness. No, that’s wrong too. Or perhaps more correct than I want to admit. I’m anxious, in both ways.”

She took another bite, sweetening her tongue to wash away any bitter sentiments.

“It’s… difficult, to put into words. Being so eager for the sunrise, but also wanting to stretch the last hours of the night as far as I can.”

She chuckled briefly, taking another bite, this time taking the strawberry from which the sundae gained its distinction from along with the ice cream.

“Recently I became much better at understanding myself, what I want and should do, but right now it’s a storm swelling inside me, and even I lack the verbosity to describe it.”

[Airen]

Saki Ryuumonbuchi
Aoyama Ruins
Devil May Cry

"Heh..."

A chuckle appears in response to earnestness.

"Well that makes sense, life is certainly hard to describe at times, especially when you're around that age... But hey, if you get ityourself, that's already a step above most teenagers... Although, most teenagers also don't have to deal with a 'last boss' type appearing in their lives... Might be a bit of a case of situation-induced maturity, coming-of-age story?"

Light-hearted.

He doesn't ask what it is you want; to him that's the sort of information that will naturally appear if you decide you want him to know about it, so it's not something he particularly needs to know about right now.

"Still, this particular story seems to have quite a few twists still laying around, found this when I was investigating the reporter, figured you might want to see."

So saying, he throws out a photo:

---You're in it.

So is Phenex, Nakahara-Sensei, and a purple-haired girl that reminded you somewhat of the Weather Reporter; albeit with a shorter stature and a much less serious expression, a light smile that didn't seem as fake as the one that appeared on the television set every morning...

The scenery is that of the interior of some building, and...

...You're playing some sort of card game with her? No... Further inspection reveals tarot cards, so it looks like one of you was trying their hands at fortune telling...

---You don't remember this, but-

"Found her apartment. She had a whole wall of pictures like this hanging around, didn't know what to think of it, so I took some as evidence."

[Spinach]

Saki Ryuumonbuchi
Aoyama Ruins
Devil May Cry

The girl turned her attention to the picture as it slid across the table, cast out with a flick of the wrist and before coming to a stop directly in front of her. A spoonful of ice cream froze in place at the entrance of Saki’s mouth as she observed the photo.

Even possessing no recollection of the scene captured before her, she could tell that it was real. Something ‘she’ had truly experienced. The Ryuumonbuchi daughter couldn’t say which cycle the picture came from. At the least, she could observe that it must have been one of the earlier repetitions. If the bearings of the Weather Reporter, of Fujimoto Chiyoko, are far different than those of what she had seen in this ‘time.’ The woman in the picture’s resemblance to the Weather Reporter appeared to be no more than skin deep, and yet…

“Surprisingly sentimental then, isn’t she.” The shackles of ice holding her spoon thawed, and the girl took her bite. “I suppose it makes sense. She and Sensei were aligned. Friends. He wouldn’t have sided with someone harboring ill intent. I’m sure when this all started, her plans were more optimistic. More hopeful.”

Time is the greatest sculptor. Saki had learned that well, and perhaps the Weather Reporter is one of time’s most labored upon work. Seeing it in such a way, a pang of pity flashed through her. Circumstance had forged their fates into opposition. Yet here she saw undeniable proof that it was perfectly possible for them to share a peaceful moment such as this.

Saki laughed.

“Really now, I wonder which one here is having their fortune read, and who is doing the reading?”

[Airen]

Saki Ryuumonbuchi
Aoyama Ruins
Devil May Cry

"Well, judging from her apparent obsession with time, I'd have to say it's most likely her."

She must be the villain behind everything that was going on, at least in some capacity; while she had not been present for the fight with Chronos or the first encounter with the Devourer, the fact that she had been behind the plot to erase Humanity's Negativity -as well as the existence of Demon-kind- does not disappear...

Even though it appears as if the Devourer itself has usurped the role of final boss for itself due to Nakahara's failed assassination, even if that event had not have happened, it would have been inevitable that you would have faced her sometime during the Conception as an opponent that must be defeated, while her current whereabouts are unknown, if 'The Great Devourer' was just another aspect of 'Chronos,' then...

It was possible she would remain the opponent, perhaps not as herself, but as the victim of some sort of possession...

...Actually.

It was strange.

It felt like that was exactly the case... Problem is...

It's a 'nostalgic declaration' that your soul makes all on it's own, as if some sort of distant link had 'woken up' inside of you in a manner similar to the Eclipse, linking you to the reporter herself in some fashion...

Or perhaps you were simply imagining it.

"...I do agree with her having noble motives. House wasn't exactly fire and brimstone when I got there, nothing that screamed evil, it was just filled with photos and other odd trinkets, but I think it's safe to say all the actions she took -misguided or not- were done for the sake of others... Or well, to selfishly protect her friends."

A pause, then:

"If that person is truly the enemy... What do you think her fate should be?"

Genuinely curious, with a hint of the philosophical...

It's a surprisingly mature question from someone who didn't seem to take anything seriously.

[Spinach]

Saki Ryuumonbuchi
Aoyama Ruins
Devil May Cry

“Defeat. That is the fate I, we, will deal to her.”

A plain and simple answer, unfit for a question so vastly sophisticated. Because the answer isn’t what ‘should’ be her fate, but rather what her fate ‘must’ be. That resolve had already instilled itself within the ESPer. She had made the decision to enter this war and win. That meant defeating everyone.

Everyone.

“What comes after that…”

Saki placed the empty glass that had housed her strawberry sundae on the table, eyes still fixed on the picture. Something stirred in her soul, a feeling buried under time itself. That this question was one meant to prepare her for what she must do in the coming battle. A decision for her to make.

“Is for her to decide. She can find her own place in the new world, or decide her sins are too great and disappear entirely. I won’t judge her as evil, I won’t banish her from the world of the living, or cast her into the Shadow Vortex. I will only deliver unto her a true defeat. The new world will be open to those who wish to be a part of it, but it’s up to each and every soul to decide if they want to be a part of it.”

[Airen]

Saki Ryuumonbuchi
Aoyama Ruins
Devil May Cry

"Heh... Well, alright."

He stands up.

Was that the answer he had expected, one he had wanted to hear? While his behavior is that of someone who 'doesn't hate' in spite of what he hears, it is still difficult to understand the true meaning behind the things he says, in short...

"This war will be a little odd... This time around, it seems that 'everyone' will be involved in it. Will demon-kind appear to help? Will humanity allow them too...? Yeah, I wonder if those wills will mix or conflict...? Will things go as they are supposed too, or will a different path manifest itself...?"

---A textbook trickster.

"But that resolve sounds fine. Very well, there are some things I gotta finish before tomorrow, but before that... Let's play one more game. See how good your luck is, kid."

So saying, he reaches into his pocket.

Again, a coin appears between his fingers.

"Heads or Tails."

He spins it towards you, twisting away without looking back.

---The answer is obvious.

---This sort of thing isn't even a luck game.

[Spinach]

Saki Ryuumonbuchi
Aoyama Ruins
Devil May Cry

A silent smirk. As soon as the man mentioned one last game, she pushed her seat out from beneath her and stood up. As Dante’s hand reached into his pocket, she nimbly scooted the chair back under the table with one foot as she spun toward the door.

In a sort of unison that seemed pre-planned, the two turned away from each other simultaneously as the ring of the coin filled the room.

Really, this again?

Knowing him, it was entirely possible he had switched to a coin that read tails on each side this time.

Yet just as well, he could really be trying to pull the same stunt.

Or even this time, he may even be using a normal coin.

Chuckling, she took a step toward the door. Behind her, the coin tumbled through the air, flipping over and over again, until at last its flight path took it directly over the middle of the table…

Where a crimson lotus exploding directly above it shot the coin straight down, landing perfectly still at the precise center of the table.

Either way…

“Neither.” The charred coin lay still on the center of the table, its face burnt into an unrecognizable shape, tiny wisps of flame still lingering about it. Whatever the coinflip’s outcome may have been, nobody could say anymore. Hand rising up to the doorframe, the girl tilted her head. Not quite looking back, but ever so slightly adjusting to carry her voice to the man behind her. “I wouldn’t bother checking the other side, Dante. You saw my work with the olives. We Ryuumonbuchi are thorough, never leaving a job half-finished.”

[Airen]

Saki Ryuumonbuchi
Aoyama Ruins
Devil May Cry

"Denying luck huh?"

It's not a chuckle.

This time he actually seems to think it's funny enough to laugh about for real; with synchronized movements bringing the coin's final fate to a third path that 'shouldn't exist' or at least breaks the rules, he actually has to pause for a bit to regard it as "unexpected."

But after a moment's thought-

"But completely destroyed... Man, I'm gonna start running out of those."

-He decides it's probably the most appropriate answer.

Humans are known for taking the third option after all, sometimes because they simply don't like the options presented, and other times simply because they're being petty, but if this is your 'answer'...

Then even though it wasn't the excuse he had been looking for, he decides he can regard it as a 'correct one' anyway:

---Of course he is also being petty.

He was trying to be a cool mentor, but these damn kids...

"Here, should be helpful. You don't really seem like the in-your-face kind of fighter."

...He chucks a suitcase at you.

Your body is still turned away, but you sense a 'heavier' object coming your way in spite of that; it's a sudden escalation that's hard to see coming, and is somewhat designed to have you frantically spin around (although the option to ignore it exists) but...

A briefcase...

One of the items he had scattered around the shop.

---It was sort of a bad luck charm, but for someone who denied luck, that sort of thing shouldn't be a problem.

He's already gone before you can make a decision.

This too, is a sign of a petty desire to be the one that vanishes 'in a cool way.'

...Remarkably like a child, this one.

The irony likely isn't lost on you.

---}i{---

[Spinach]

Saki Ryuumonbuchi
Aoyama Ruins
Devil May Cry

“…”

Both hands clutching the suitcase, body now facing into the show that had in an instant become barren, Saki silently stared at the space the man called Dante had once occupied. Mouth left ajar, the girl lifted the suitcase at a snail’s pace, eye’s moving at glacial speeds to finally inspect it.

Just how?

How could he utterly demolish all her efforts at making a scenic exit so easily? How could he find it in his heart to take such a moment away from her, here at world’s end? At the final stop before oblivion? Not only that, but how? How had he managed to do it in a way that, against all odds…

Didn’t particularly upset her?

An eyebrow twitched as she stared at the suitcase, held up to eye level.

Much like the others Dante had been tending to, it had the aura of a Demon in ‘weapon-form.’ What sort of weapon a briefcase could be was beyond her. Yet he had given it to her with such confidence that it suited her that Saki couldn’t find it within her to doubt its worth.

Yet all the same, that still didn’t explain anything.

With a sigh, she turned back around, and returned to the night with the briefcase at her side.

Kayo

[Airen]

Saki Ryuumonbuchi
Aoyama Ruins

Pandora

-Pandora (?)-
A mysterious briefcase that was labeled with a tag reading "Pandora 666." Seems to be a shape-shifting ranged-weapon that responds to specific thoughts of the wielder; consulting the souls has led to a general agreement amongst the 'voices' that it probably has 666 different forms, however, the problem is that you yourself can't seem to think of that many of them-! Using your imagination a bit may prove helpful (or necessary) in utilizing it properly-!

Not from this world, actually shouldn't exist at all.

Takes time to swap between forms, and this seems to be the obvious 'weakness.'

Poking at the briefcase as you head into the darkness, there is plenty of time to stew over the fact that the man had denied your dramatic exit right at the most inopportune time. Of course, the 'souls' whispering at the back of your thoughts seem to take the task of 'figuring out what it is' onto themselves, and while none of them are sure about it, the group eventually comes to a sort of consensus that you are able to acknowledge later on...

---It still felt strange.

To have 'voices' lingering at the back of your mind, but they had been coming and going ever since the battle with the false Suzume, and so it is not alarming, merely...

Strange.

Still...

Listening to them bicker amongst themselves, your gaze moves to the surrounding area; the groups that have formed seemed to have become larger in the brief period of time you spent with the half-demon, and while there are no stars or visible moon, the glow of campfires and the lights of a neon Tokyo serve as 'something' to prove it is not a limitless dark.

Amongst them you spot a number of people you know, even your mother seems to have kicked her way out of whatever medical facility they put her in, and is sitting by a fire attended only by a laughing Phenex.

You spot many others as time goes by, but eventually...

You realize one is missing, someone new, a person you had met a mere two days prior, but someone who was likely even more devastated by the day's events than anyone else, yes...

The mission becomes a search for Kayo.

It feels natural, one you had simply taken up before you realized it; her aura is strong in it's own way, and when she doesn't answer her cell-phone you use that to track her down.

---She's near the edge of the clearing, far away from anyone else.

Standing tall, with her back to the gathering, but an aura of overwhelming 'malice' radiating from her...

The one that exists across from her...

Is a certain police officer, or rather a certain God of Time, clutching at one arm and feeling far far 'lesser' than he had in your last encounter.

The sight of it induces panic, but at the same time, you do remember that your Teacher had apparently split him off from the Devourer for the purpose of 'saving' Chronos, but...

---This seems to have just happened; judging by the fact that they're just staring at each other, it can't have been a stand-off that's existed for very long, but-

Kayo's hands clench into fists.

---She's probably not thinking too heavily about anything.

[Spinach]

Saki Ryuumonbuchi
Aoyama Ruins

It isn’t a welcome sight. The vessel is the same as the final opponent waiting at sunrise. An enemy who casts absolute despair, holds unchallengeable power. A visage suited for a world ender, yet… It isn’t the same. ‘He’ is not the same as ‘him.’ The one standing opposite of Kayo is ‘Chronos,’ that which was split off from the Great Devourer by Sensei.

Yet in the moments before making that realization, every fiber of Saki’s being, the stirring souls within her, had once again returned to the tense self that had stared at the apocalypse before. It’s a mentality that isn’t easy to enter, and it’s even more challenging to shed. Dilated pupils watch from afar, before finally mustering the understanding to give way to courage, and approaching.

Something seems ‘wrong.’

Thinking so, Saki watches the older girl, Kayo, raise clenched fists.

It’s definitely wrong.

This isn’t what anyone needs right now. That God of Time is not the enemy they must defeat. Nothing good can come from this. Fighting him won’t…

It just…

Fire runs.

A wall of near-illusory flame erupts from the earth, dashing across the earth, drawing a boundary between Kayo and the one that can also be called her ‘father.’ It's a pitiful barrier, if it could even be called that. Either side could easily tear it apart. The meaning being that this is no true measure to stop either of them, that if it comes to it, she really won't. But that the one intruding upon this confrontation wants to stop them. That she will try.

An echoing footstep resounds behind Kayo as Saki plants her feet behind her, staring at the back of the older woman’s head, as if her gaze could run right through her, impaling daughter and father alike.

“What will that accomplish?” In a harsh voice, one she didn’t know she even had, Saki spoke.

[Vritra]

Makoto Fujioka
Aoyama Ruins

“Muuu Kimichi it’s not weird! It’s important to do things properly. Hug, hugs are hug, hugs! Warmth, feeling, connection, one hundred and tweeeeeenty percentoooo! See important things like hugs, cooking and, and …and, sleeping and stuff… Mmmm important things should be done properly!”

Indignant and excitedly I declare the proper order of the world. Important things are important so they should be done importantly!

"But really, you shouldn't say things like 'love love' so easily, friends or not. The reporter will go after you, you know? Hell, she might come after me too... Would be fun to fight her off, but at the same time... It would kind of be a pain in the ass."

However her second thought brings me pause, “fweh?” Trying to make sense of an incomprehensible phrase I bob and weave inspecting Kimichi from every angle. “Shouldn’t say? What does that mean, did I say it wrong? And reporter… Kyo… to?

…

Mmumumumu, dun get it. Ane-san said Makoto should be like

Makoto

Sincerity

so why is it wrong to say feelings …Kimichi strange.”

Honesty and sincerity, even though the first was hard at times I found the second easy, say the feeling when feelings it and yet, Kimichi seems to have found something wrong. “Warm is warm, love is love! Though if I did it wrong then I’ll do it again oooooooooooone hundred and tweeeeeeeeeenty percentooooo!”

Releasing Kimichi and scooting back so that we sit opposite each other. A clear view like a cloudless sky, feelings like rays of sunshine. Clasping her hand in mine and raising it up, a loop of knotted rope tethering and anchoring one to another. Feelings swell and flow to the intoxicating sound of a drum called ‘A Heart’. Ba-dum, ba-dum, like the sun standing proud and distant in the sky whose still shines beams of warmth, like the comforting sound of rain its gentle and soothing pitter patter dispersing all worries and hesitations, like the snow and pine that sit across the yard at Megane’s, distant and proud beckoning you forward so that you will feel the embrace of the snow while you follow the guidepost to where you should go. The Kimichi practicing in the yard with silent energy, the Kimichi sitting around the dinner table determinedly explaining school work answers before coming up with new questions for us, the Kimichi running off by herself to make sure nobody saw her helping and the many other Kimichi’s whose exist like endless facets of a shining gemstone. Squirming with gently bubbling energy and vestiges of half remembered shyness, giggling with intoxication at the hypnotising sound of two heart beats and smiling with unhesitating sincerity I simply smile and speak with everything that comes to mind.

“I love Kimichi.

I really, really, really love Kimichi, warm, cold, distant, close, guarding, guiding, teaching, denying, wrestling Kimichi!

Mhmhm love Kyoto too ~~.

…

Muuuu…”

Realizing something as I simply let feelings flow freely I stop and think.

“Cold, distant, denying, wrestling, oldering, mmmmmmmm change I totally, don’t and haven’t for a long time now love stupid meanie Kimichi!”

Puffing up, turning up my nose and turning away I promptly deliver a steely rebuttal in revenge.

Totally, totally.

.
..
…

“Mmm so how has Kimichi been?”

Eternal determination to stand against the tyranny of the self-proclaimed eternal elder-!

…lasting until curiosity wins once again.