XBLAZE - Concurrent:Butterfly [IC]

[palad1n]

Watanabe Yuuki
Abandoned Amanohokosaka Shrine, Tomobiki
Day, April 11th, 2056
Event Stock: 2

The shrine is certainly something else.

Overlooking the floodplains and the Shopping District, something about it had sparked an interest in him, and after choosing to not cheese the trek with his drive and jog for fifteen minutes instead...

What greeted his sight was a worn-down and abandoned shrine.

Yuuki frowned.

In Tokyo, shrines are mostly taken care of well enough, and there are a lot of things that one can do upon reaching it; admiring the shrine itself, praying, buying charms, or even just observing the shrine maidens doing their duty.

None of which could be applied here.

After fifteen minutes of trekking through countless steps of stairs, he felt cheated.

"...Locked."

But no, Yuuki refuses to have wasted time and energy only to gain nothing in return. He could see that Evelyn is clearly curious - understandable, given that he had never actually brought her to a shrine before - and decided that it was at times like these that he is grateful to be a Union.

"Eve." He walked right next to her before the locked door, and offered his hand with a small grin; he rarely do something like this, something that is certainly shouldn't be done...

Which is why there is a sense of excitement as he offer his white-haired companion to indulge in this as well.

The offer is clear.

Warping past through the barrier before them.

[Airen]

Watanabe Yuuki
Abandoned Amanohokosaka Shrine, Tomobiki
Day, April 11th, 2056
Event Stock: 2

It's not breaking and entering so long as you don't physically break and enter into the building right?

While a part of you wouldn't have been surprised if it was impossible to use supernatural power to enter this kind of holy place (after all, sorcery had already proven to be capable of all sorts of things) you're still pleasantly surprised when the short range hop through space goes off without a hitch, and you find yourself standing, hand-in-hand with Evelyn, inside of a-

"...?"

-dust free shrine...?

While the outside had deteriorated notably, the inside is actually much better off than what you had initially assumed from glancing at it from inside. There is the faint smell of smoke, as if a fire had been lit here sometime over the past week or so, and there's a rolled up futon, neatly made with an extra purple blanket thrown over it, a clear sign that someone has been living here, or at least...

That someone has spent the night inside of here once or twice over the past month.

There are blankets pinned to the walls by the windows -seemingly to give the appearance of there being nothing but darkness within- and even a telescope, pushed off to one side of the room, pointed out one of the windows that was now covered by cloth...

"Huh... Not abandoned then..."

But certainly like someone had been hiding out in here.

[palad1n]

Watanabe Yuuki
Abandoned Amanohokosaka Shrine, Tomobiki
Day, April 11th, 2056
Event Stock: 2

Well, this is certainly unexpected.

He had expected the inside of the shrine to be just as abandoned as it looked from the outside, but to his surprise, it is much cleaner - and better off - than it looked from the outside.

Not only that, it seems someone had used this shrine as some sort of a hide-out, if the futon and blankets pinned to the walls by the windows are of any indication. There is even a telescope here...

Is there some sort of a vigilante in Tomobiki?

Still, it is undeniable that the seemingly abandoned shrine has just gotten much more interesting than it first looked like.

... And then he realized that they are still holding hands.

If someone else is here - like Chiasa or Aoi - then he's sure that he'd be a stuttering mess, embarrassed and quickly letting go of Evelyn's hand to avoid further teasing and such...

But they are alone, and he rather enjoys linking his hand with hers.

He remembered that it was Evelyn who first did so two years ago, the day when she first waited for him at the gates of the school; the day when she gently took his hand and made them exit the train before their supposed station in order to explore the district at night, and perhaps find a good place to have dinner. He had begrudgingly went along back then, too used to his routine that a break in it felt weird and unusual, and only went along because he cannot left the girl alone.

Only later down the line did he realize that Evelyn had made the effort to make him live instead of simply existing. To break him out of his hollow routine and replaced it with something much more.

And so, hand-in-hand...

"Let's check the place more thoroughly. We might find more than these."

He suggested to delve deeper, together.

[Kuroyuki]

Yoko Aoyama
Ice Cream Shop, "32 Below"
Day
Date: April 11th, 2056
Weather: Clear Skies, Chilly

"Yes, I was informed that it was Ariel...

I have heard nothing but good things about her. The principal as well, so you should be in very good hands. Even so, to encounter a disease I am unable to treat is rather distressing for me... But you seem to be in good health...

Still, if you say you're alright, I will believe you. I cannot treat the disease directly yet, but I am attempting to study, so I'll be able to bring you back soon enough, this won't be a forever thing"

I was expecting her to say that she was going to experiment on me in the name of SCIENCE so that she can be the first one to cure this in the name of the GREAT DOCTOR. OHOHOHOHOHO~

Instead, she gave me a solemn promise that she was going to cure this disease for me. I almost forgot who was in fr-

Also, it is not good to suppress sugar impulses, I saw those glances at the cake. Don't hold back, get whatever you'd like, it's not like I spend money on all that much anyway. Here...

Then she slid forward half of her ice cream cake towards me. I looked at the cake in disbelief then at her where she gave me a 'It's a secret' kind of look.

"It's a reward for being brave. Don't tell your sisters though."

Somewhere in the back of my brain told me that there was something wrong. Something very very wrong, but I couldn't remember what could it have been... Oh right this ice cream cake. I should thank Irmina-neesan for this!

"Thank you Irmina-oneesan!"

I started happily eating into the ice cream cake. It's so much better than my first sundae~ Without meaning to, I started wagging my tail and my face relaxed to reveal a carefree smile. It's so delicious! I considered eating all of my newly gained cake but that's when I realized that Kasumi had a different cake.

"Kasumi! Kasumi! Say ahhhh."

I pointed a fork with some cake on it in her direction. After she takes a bites of it, I'm going to make it obvious that I want some of hers too.

[Daiki]

Lucas Guerrin
Lucas's Room, Boy's Dormitory
Phase: Evening
Date: April 12th, 2056
Event Stock: 1

Lucas didn't have words for that last comment, since it perfectly resonated with his own assessment of the situation.

The eerie silence that followed was only interspersed by the girl's humming, too busy slaughtering a perfectly equipped kitchen to pay attention to them.

Lucas realized how much danger the boys were in right this moment.

They had to find a way to keep busy before their willpower would crumble from the sight of perfectly viable ingredients being turned into treacherous weaponry. There will be enough horror visions for the meal, didn't need to damage their sanity further by watching the process.

"Oh yeah, you mentioned Arcana Soul, right?"

Lucas pointed a finger towards the old console on the floor.

One of the items his partner had thought would be a necessity in Japan and insisted to leave in his room for her personal use. A relic compared to more advanced form of gaming nowadays, but it had a retro feel to it that was not unpleasant. The cartridge inserted inside, proudly displayed Arcana 2 - Fall of Wadatsumi as title. One of the earliest releases, when the franchise had yet to spawn its own series of fighting games.

Lucas wasn't particularly invested in beat' em up games usually, but this one had coop and the combos came naturally. The Sleipnirs had spent an unhealthy amount of time trying to clear the hardest difficulty but had yet to succeed. The danger of sharing a pool of limited continues with Hailey, who was, without surprise, more inclined towards shooters.

"Let's have a go while you tell me more about Tomobiki. Heard you even had your own version of Batman."

Out of the six available characters, Lucas picked the scientist-type since, for some unspoken reason, it associated strongly with the image of an unbeatable PC.

[Airen]

Watanabe Yuuki
"Abandoned" Amanohokosaka Shrine, Tomobiki
Day, April 11th, 2056
Event Stock: 2

The fact that someone is clearly trying to hide the evidence of their existence here, is enough to ignite the natural curiosity of the explorer's spirit. By pushing any further, the bounds of what constitutes breaking and entering becomes much much blurrier, and leaving traces of your own presence here will become an inherent possibility, but curiosity is strong in the young, and more often than not it is difficult if not outright impossible to defy.

And so you don't, after all, you're just taking a look around the place, and...

Whoever was living here, likely wasn't supposed to be living here either.

The first and most obvious place to hide something would be under the pillow or blankets; and indeed, while Evelyn seems to flip through the curtains as if looking for posters or the like, you go for the obvious place first, lightly tugging on the blanket and pushing the pillow aside, revealing...

A single picture frame, with an old -so old as to be considered antique- picture of a woman dressed in a kimono with seemingly only a single eye, as well as darker hair, possibly lavender, although the sheer age of the photograph made it difficult to say with any real certainty.

In spite of the age of the picture, it's easy to tell that the woman in question is quite the looker, good-looking in that 'older-sister' kind of way in spite of the eye-patch, but while you're not the type to really care about that sort of thing too much...

...For some reason it's hard to put the photo-frame down after you pick it up, it's a strange impulse that lasts only for a few moments, and when it fades and you instinctively put it back down as you had actually meant to do from the start, nothing about the photograph has changed in any real way.

But...

Down where the photograph had initially been, and where you had now returned it too, was a silver-ring with a strange gradient blue gemstone sitting atop it's surface...

Had that been there before?

You don't think it had been, but then again, something simply appearing out of nowhere was the more unlikely of the two scenarios, right?

Regardless... It's strange...

Looking at it...

The impulse to pick it up and put it into your pocket is almost staggering in it's strength, something innate, as if your crystal itself was telling you to pick it up and keep it...

[Airen]

Lucas Guerrin
Lucas's Room, Boy's Dormitory
Phase: Evening
Date: April 12th, 2056
Event Stock: 1

"Batman...? Oh, you mean Zero."

Eyeing the archaic council with an almost reverent, respectful eye, the youth forces his gaze away from his death manifesting in the other part of the dormitory, instead joining you by the television set with a "sure why not" kind of air to his motions. Although admitting to never having played the old retro games in the franchise before, the youth wastes no time in picking the main character for himself; a passionate young-man cloaked in red with silver hair, who used the weight of his fists alone to battle monsters from beyond the world because that was his "duty as a human." Your normal protagonist type, in comparison to the more technical scientist-type Kiiro who relied on deploying robots to fight for her; he was the jack-of-all trades type with average stats in every area.

A safe choice, if a little bit boring, but-!

Already doing better than when playing with Hailey-!

"Eh.. I wouldn't call Zero the Batman Type. Doesn't really strike fear into the heart like Batman does," surprisingly invincible in spite of claiming to have never played these earlier games, Daisuke doesn't really elaborate on Zero until the brief pause before the first boss, a giant robot stolen from Kiiro's lab in the opening cut-scene, who would be invincible if not for the good old fashioned trope of revealing it's own weakness -the black orb that was it's power-source- after every two of it's combos or so, "Sure, she beats up thugs and the like every once in awhile, but she's usually pretty peaceful... Only really seems to act up when people new to town show up and try to do something dumb; no one native to town is afraid of her, she's pretty nice I've been told, so doesn't really strike fear into the heart."

A shrug.

"Of course, people have apparently met her, but at the same time no one can describe what she looks like after meeting her, so I guess it's possible she's just a joke the whole town is in on... Haven't met her myself so I can't really say either way."

[palad1n]

Watanabe Yuuki
"Abandoned" Amanohokosaka Shrine, Tomobiki
Day, April 11th, 2056
Event Stock: 2

This ring...

What is it...?

Something about it drawn him to it; the feeling to just pick it up and put it in his pocket is strong, unbelievably so, and it took all of his willpower to resist the temptation of immediately taking the ring for himself.

He must think about it carefully.

Looking at the faded photograph again, and trying his hardest to ignore the fact that the woman wore her kimono in such a... risque way, the ring had appeared after he picked that photograph up; Does whoever stayed here knew that this would happen if it is picked up, hence why it is hidden under the blanket?

No. They would have hid it better if that is the case.

So perhaps something of a sentimental value...?

... He was getting off track. Yuuki frowned as he looked back at the mysterious ring.

Assuming that the ring had just appeared to him at this very moment, there must be a reason why. If he left it here, then there is no telling what the ring can do, or what danger it may possess should it fall to the wrong hands...

That's why he should pick it up. So that he could maybe ask the principal or Ariel about it.

Satisfied with his reasoning, Yuuki quietly picked the ring up and put it in his pocket before continuing his task of searching the shrine for more oddities.

But whether all of his reasoning and deductions are of logical thought, or just an excuse to pick the ring up and have it for himself...

Even Yuuki himself doesn't know, nor does he realize this fact.

[Airen]

Yoko Aoyama
Ice Cream Shop, "32 Below"
Day
Date: April 11th, 2056
Weather: Clear Skies, Chilly

"...H-Huh?!"

Strangely enough, your easily distracted by sweets friend responds with both rapt attention and a flushed face at your clear attempt at feeding her a forkful of your newly acquired ice-cream cake, it's a slightly bizarre reaction -after all she is a clear secret glutton so it's not like she'd turn it down- and yet for a few moments she doesn't seem to really know how best to respond to the sudden offer, as if it had incited a whole lot of unnecessary thought for some reason-!

But there was no need for that, cake is cake!

"Uh, ah, I can feed myself you know-! B-But if you insist, I'll-!"

See, that's a bit better!

Of course, her face is still strangely crimson, but she opens her mouth obediently enough for you to more or less spoon-feed it to her.

Like this she'll owe you one, and you can definitely get a slice of her cake too, but as soon as the first forkful enters her mouth and you draw your arm back-

"Fufufu, that's a pretty blissful face..."

A certain silver-haired woman is lowering a digital camera with the most innocent of expressions on her face.

"Could you both turn more towards me next time? This is the sort of thing I have to document as the Great Doctor you know?"

"W-W-W-Why are you always like this?!"

Kasumi reacts rather strangely to it, all things considered-!

[Airen]

Tsugumi Uro
Location: Northern Cross Academy (Eclipse)
Morning, April 12th, 2056
Event Stock: 2
Seither Rating: 80
Union Phase: 2

With your range of motion already somewhat limited by thread, you instinctively understand that it's over for you if it manages to wrap you up any more than it already has; feeling your crystal churn as you use it more and more, almost gleefully giving you what you want from it as it slowly begins to heat up like some sort of internal furnace.

Your enhanced speed makes it possible to keep it from ensnaring your other leg; it was clear that this was what this power was meant to do, an autonomous binding system that would hold the enemy in place while the owner -or in this case the doll that had likely borrowed this power from the owner- set up some means of landing a devastating strike, in this case, it was likely a way to mitigate the slow movement of the doll, which seemed to rely on feats of brute force rather than that of agility or dexterity.

Of course, this was not true for the wire, which moved much, much faster than the doll.

Fast enough that, even in the enhanced time, it felt like it was keeping pace with you to an alarming extent, moving normally in spite of the fact it should be slowed to a crawl, as if it was hitching a ride on your powers or was simply so fast it didn't have to do so to keep up with you. Already ensnared by a number of the threads, the friction that comes with rapidly rubbing the gauntlets against them, along with the edges of those gauntlets, is enough to do some notable damage to the threads; many snap from it, and it becomes clear that while they can't be pulled apart per say, cutting or burning with fire worked well, problem was...

They seemed aware of that too, which is why, completely of their own volition, many of them are trying to coat the blades enough that you would no longer be able to take advantage of either route. For that reason freeing your wrists -and ensuring they stay free long enough to throw them off completely- becomes the most important task, and while this certainly leaves an opening for the doll to yank you in by your ensnared leg, perhaps bash you against the walls or floor if it was feeling particularly sadistic, the most that happens is it drags you down to the ground again when it takes a particularly massive step forward, it's sheer body weight tugging you painfully towards the center of the room even as you slowly but steadily work your wrists free with small, rapid-fire movements against the wire.

"..."

Amidst the storm, standing alone now as a titan finally stands before her, Motou Chiasa looks at it not with fear, but a harsh determined glare; she is not a fighter in the traditional sense, you wouldn't see her running up on the titan to stab at it's weak points, or getting into fist fights with anyone. She was far more comfortable in the back, a more traditional user of sorcery when compared to most modern magi, who more often than not were not exactly averse to running straight towards their opponent and taking them out with martial arts.

That was just society in the magical world nowadays, being unable to defend yourself physically was a traditional weakness, and one that the society had taken some steps to correct amongst it's youth.

Even so, she was never big on that sort of thing.

Even so, she doesn't show any sort of fear as it closes in on her.

She was a fortune-teller, not a witch; that was what she had told Zero.

It was true enough, but...

She was also a Union.

A hand raises, held out as if it sought to choke out a giant; it's a laughable gesture, nothing happens with it -at least not at first- no burst of fire or flame or lightning; no sudden emergence of a black-hole or summoned swords, no...

Instead.

Two massive hands, hands the size of the doll itself, seem to mold their way out of the floor; made of tile and concrete, sculpted from materials that had certainly seemed to exist in reality, that young woman closes her hand and the hands close in in response. Massive stone fingers curling around the gigantic doll and dragging it down to it's knees; it's emotionless face giving off an air of what was undoubtedly still surprise as it is somehow overpowered by what seemed to be some sort of application of Chiasa's drive, however...

Azure lightning flickers up and down the body of the young woman.

Unable to do more than pin it down with a frankly absurd weight, her body shakes and shutters along with the surge of supernatural force; and one hand going to her head in a sudden bout of dizziness, this world along with a few other things taking it's toll...

She slowly falls backwards onto the ground, eyes going dark as unconsciousness settles in; and in that same instant you finally manage to rid your body of the thread in it's entirety, swiping at the line binding your leg to free yourself completely.

[Bird of Hermes]

Tsugumi Uro
Location: Northern Cross Academy Grounds (Eclipse), Tomobiki
Phase: Morning
Date: April 12th, 2056
Weather: Sunny
Event Stock: 2
Union Phase: 2

All of this was utterly incredible.

The automated speed of the dolls wires were able to keep up with his enhanced speed, being able to break free of the wires but above all else the most incredible thing he saw was Motou Chiasa.

Of all the things that were escalating around this waking nightmare, he would not have expected to see the ground itself reach up and drag the giant that was Alice down.

But...

Chiasa was down, such a feat seemed to have taken it's toll and beaten her down, The flash of azure light almost seemed akin to that of a crystal changing colour, but that wasn't how it happened. He hadn't looked down at the crystal embeded upon his chest, it wasn't needed. He already knew that he had jumped to the next phase. That meant he was a step closer to death, but if he didn't defeat Alice here and now then Chiasa and Zero's sacrifices would have been for nothing and they would have all died meaninglessly.

Even so, Chiasa was down.

Even so, Alice could get back up.

Even so...

He needed to act now and with his crystal already in the next phase he had little to lose - he'd pin it all on a final assault . The strings had kept up with 'Double Time' but he could go even further.

Tsugumi was one to settle and be content with mediocrity, now he was going to do something he had never done before, push his limits.

"Gear Change"

Pushing himself to his limit, he could make the world stand still, but not forever. Not knowing how much time he had and needing to take as much of the advantage he had been given, he fell more and more deeply into the song his crystal resonated as it gave him what he needed.

He sprinted forwards and once in range dove in with his hands outstreched and dug his claws into the previously weakened area!

But he didn't stop there.

Not indulging into a primal instinct to claw at the weak point like a ravenous beast, the moment he had made contact he now maintained focus on the crystal and forcibly lessened the pressure back into Double Time to evade the wires best he could - now climbing straight up with his eyes on the prize.

The head.

[Kuroyuki]

Yoko Aoyama
Ice Cream Shop, "32 Below"
Day
Date: April 11th, 2056
Weather: Clear Skies, Chilly

"...H-Huh?!"

My suggestion wasn't immediately taken like I thought it would... We both liked eating an extraordinary amounts of sweets. I liked to think that it was due to our constant usage of Seithr requiring us to have a higher calorie intake, but that might just be wishful thinking. But whatever it was, we really really liked eating sweets and we never turned down the chance to eat some. So it felt weird to see her pause especially since we used to do this all the time when we were younger.

"Uh, ah, I can feed myself you know-! B-But if you insist, I'll-!"

But despite her protests, she went to take a bite without hesitating any further. I was worried a little bit when I saw that her face turned red, but I let her take a bite out of my cake. I thought about closing my eyes and just opening my mouth to wait for her to return the favor but...

"Fufufu, that's a pretty blissful face..."

Eh? I saw Irmina-oneesan lower a camera for some reason. On her face was an innocent (?) expresssion, but for some reason part of me said it wasn't innocent... I couldn't place my finger on it...

"Could you both turn more towards me next time? This is the sort of thing I have to document as the Great Doctor you know?"

"W-W-W-Why are you always like this?!"

I wonder why Kasumi was protesting right now... Aren't we getting some free ice cream out of this? All you can eat free ice cream and all we had to do was get photographed! Photographs kind of remind me of Christmas where everyone opens up gifts while mom and dad take pictures. Oh right... I still haven't opened that box from the principal.

"Kasumi before you return the favor... Let's open this!"

I placed the ? box on top of the table. My curiosity temporarily overpowering my desire for more sweets.

[Daiki]

Lucas Guerrin
Lucas's Room, Boy's Dormitory
Phase: Evening
Date: April 12th, 2056
Event Stock: 1


The improbable duo proved to be faring far better than he had expected. It came as a surprise to Lucas, who was used to follow up on Hailey's various mistakes, acting as a safety net whenever her character tripped over an error in timing.

Playing with Daisuke was less of a drag.

Engaging the second level with their continue pool intact, the Sleipnir felt confident with their odds of beating the ever so out of reach top difficulty.

Controlling a summoner-type was not exactly the most effective way to engage against quick footed and fast recovering mobs, but whenever he found himself in a situation where he would have usually engaged those with a counter, Daisuke was there, bringing assistance in order to keep the rhythm going their way.

With optimal use of invicibility frames and his own Astral (was it really his first time playing the game?), the Tomobiki native displayed good judgment as to when to leave Lucas bring in the heavy artillery during gaps in his own attacks. Their extended combos allowed to replenish their gauge on a constant basis, making short work of opposition.

Only really seems to act up when people new to town show up and try to do something dumb.

Lucas reacted to this.

"There's a chance she might show herself then..."

The line had been said with a distracted voice, since Lucas had most of his attention on the game.

The odds of generating chaos were increased for each individual union brought to Tomobiki. Let alone such a number that would get to interact together. Even mundane teenagers could be a handful. Funny ideas could stem from testing new abilities around town. Yes, if anything would trigger the vigilante's attention, it would be that.

no one native to town is afraid of her, she's pretty nice I've been told, so doesn't really strike fear into the heart.

As he had expected, if Zero could convince even Sleipnir elements that she was not all that bad, her reputation among the locale population wouldn't be that far off either. Maybe she was not so bad, after all.

Haven't met her myself so I can't really say either way.

"Would be nice to know of a way to contact her. Know someone who can't wait for an encounter."

Maintaining decent cooperative work, the two boys progressed through the game relatively unchallenged until they reached a boss Lucas had never seen before, the Easter Egg kind that required hidden triggers to reveal its existence.

The Sleipnir almost let go of his controller at the sight of what could only be described as a green penis on a chariot, a Boss ...of the Tower Arcana. Design, dialogues and attack naming where all about phallocentrism. Lucas cringed when his character voiced her relief about being able to attack it from afar. Daisuke's avatar answered in a less pleased manner, something about 'being a man' and the irony of karma.

The fight was not particularly difficult in itself however. It was only when Mara used 'Firm Stance', clearly a counter posture (or God forbids, the premise for another kind of mortal trauma), that Lucas rolled his eyes and paused the game to look at Daisuke.

"But enough about that. You must have questions, I suppose."

Lucas gave him an inviting gesture.

"I don't think I came across anyone who could get as much involved with the two of us as you did in such a short period of time. Even more so considering the circumstances in which you got mixed in," a pause, the Sleipnir searching for his words, "we're pretty much strangers for you at this point, and you revealed enough about your own life earlier."

A basic thing, just enough to be on a similar standing.

"So I think it fair to share a bit about us. A last favor before execution, if you will."

[Airen]

Watanabe Yuuki
"Abandoned" Amanohokosaka Shrine, Tomobiki
Day, April 11th, 2056
Event Stock: 2

Justifying it in your own way, you give into the strange impulses and pocket the ring before moving on with your search.

Shrine Ring

Shrine Ring
Equipment Type: Ring
Grade: Unknown (Magical)

Properties:

-Kioku No Kakera (?)-
A ring that bears an obvious supernatural presence, it seems to weigh heavily on the minds of those who see it with the desire to take it as their own, however the ring itself does not come off as malicious -instead bearing a sort of innate loneliness to it- although whether this has to do with it's alluring properties is unknown. While clearly enchanted, whatever powers it may have beyond this are unclear. Wearing it may produce some effect, however if one wishes to know more, they should have it appraised by a specialist in the area of supernatural charms or weaponry.

You don't find much else.

Even working along with Evelyn, ultimately, the photo of the woman with the rather risque choice in kimono's is the only other thing of particular note just lying around inside of the shrine. There are some food and drinks stashed away haphazardly in the back as discovered by Evelyn, things like potato chips, soda and candy bars; indications of a poor diet on the part of whoever was using this place to crash; as well as some rolls of purple and black cloth, which had been cut into many pieces and seemingly used as the source of the curtains darkening the windows.

With a careful search taking a bit longer than normal, the sun is already starting to set on the horizon by the time the two of you decide to call it quits. Tidy as always, Evelyn does her best to put things back as to how they had been before you had arrived, even leaving a handwritten note saying "Please eat better, this diet is flawed" along with the snack food in the back, and...

That's when you hear the shrine door squeak open somehow, in spite of the fact it was locked.

You turn automatically to look at who it is, excuses already spinning through your thoughts but...

"..."

The thing standing in the doorway is only about three feet or so in height, and it isn't quite a person.

It's a doll.

Long black hair, and dressed in crimson clothing, you can recognize the sight of porcelain for what it is; and indeed, looking over at the doorway, a doll is sticking it's head in from the side, as if sneaking a glance at the contents of the room.

And then... Your real eyes locking with glass eyes...

It shuts the door just as quickly as it had opened it up.

[Airen]

Yoko Aoyama
Ice Cream Shop, "32 Below"
Day
Date: April 11th, 2056
Weather: Clear Skies, Chilly

They were about to wrestle again...

For some reason, Kasumi was really taking offense to the light giggling of the silver-haired woman, who had opened her arms up again to catch the sudden launch across the table, but the emergence of the item Isako had given you on the train; the box with little adorning it other than a giant question mark, is the sort of eye-catching item that possesses the same sort of power as all hidden presents.

When something is inside of a box, it is human nature to want to find out what thing is...

They can't help it.

Curiosity is a powerful thing.

And so you pry open the box; it doesn't take too much effort.

Inside is another box, it's a pretty bad joke, so you open up that box too when you can hear the others suppress a collective sigh.

Inside of that box is a key.

It's a metal key, old-looking in terms of the carvings adorning it's handle, but well-polished and shined as if someone had taken a cloth to it recently and removed all the rust that would have accumulated over it's many years of existence.

And attached to that key, was a small tag that read "Amanohokosaka Shrine," on the front and...

'Having the Shrine's Shed repaired this evening, but anything and everything else is up to you-!'

On the back...

[Airen]

Lucas Guerrin
Lucas's Room, Boy's Dormitory
Phase: Evening
Date: April 12th, 2056
Event Stock: 1

"I have a talent for getting involved with troublesome people."

Ultimately commenting like that, shrugging his shoulders and laughing aloud as if to say 'it can't be helped' the young man nevertheless raises an eyebrow at your offer to answer a question or two. It's not like he doesn't have any questions, but at the same time, he was someone who simply drifted through life and accepted things as they came; answers that he needed to know tended to come to him with time, but in this case, since it was either this or observe the young woman putting the finishing touches on his death meal with a flurry of a thousand knives, he...

"Hmm, well can't think of too much, but..."

Another shrug:

"Why did you come to Tomobiki? Might just be opinion as a native, but no one in my experience ever comes to this city without a reason for it. You looking for something?"

[Airen]

Tsugumi Uro
Location: Northern Cross Academy (Eclipse)
Morning, April 12th, 2056
Event Stock: 2
Seither Rating: 80
Union Phase: 3

Putting everything you have into the strike -intent on completely burying your foe in a single instant- the result is something akin to simply slicing the porcelain body into two halves.

It's a violent climb, your climb up to the thing's head, one hand dragging it's way up through something that human muscle strength should not be able to just shear apart like this, the combination of the world's stresses and your own push on your crystal causing it to heat up even more as you clench down and really mean it this time, an odd feeling of elation running through you as an impulse to tear runs somewhat inhibited through your system.

You can recognize the feeling as foreign, an 'idea' introduced to you by your crystal; and while you don't exactly mean to indulge in it completely, you're a bit more wild than you have to be when you reach the doll's head, tearing one of your hands through and out of it so hard that the lightly enchanted gauntlet simply tears to pieces in your hands, turning into half of a card that flutters off into the now calming winds.

The inside of the doll seems empty.

Thinking that as porcelain and concrete fall down beneath and around you, supernatural energies giving way now that their wielders had been incapacitated through one means or another, you hop off of the crumbling body of the giant doll, brushing off now lifeless threads as they glitter and float throughout the room, no longer charged to the brim with Seithr or any other form of power.

Is it over?

While you'd like to say yes, the more rational part of you thinks of this as being "too easy."

After all, that had simply been ghost girl's doll, so where was she-?

As if summoned by this thought, the girl appears amongst the fractured remains of her once giant doll.

"Now now Alice, now is not the time to lie still... There are many more games to play."

And her words seem to cause a change amongst it.

Pushing it's way out of now moving rubble, the smaller doll, how it had been when you had first seen it, emerges from the shattered remains of what should have been it's own self as if it had managed to recreate itself once again in order to move to it's owner's side once again, staring at you, but clenching a massive hunk of stone in it's hand as if it was intending to use it as a sword...

No worse for the wear... But... Having destroyed it with your own hands already... Seeing it do something like this...

No...

"Ready for round two? I like to play until I win."

Calling out to you like that...

Your vision pulses as threads slowly start to thrum to life once more.

[palad1n]

Watanabe Yuuki
"Abandoned" Amanohokosaka Shrine, Tomobiki
Day, April 11th, 2056
Event Stock: 2

"..."

He stared, dumbfounded, at the door that is now slammed shut.

He was sure that what he had just seen was a doll - a doll that seemed to move on its own - and somehow, despite the door of the shrine being locked (and many times bigger than said doll), it managed to open the door and peeked at them before running away upon making eye contact.

It was certainly bizarre.

Still, with the supernatural actually being real, he could no longer chalk off what he saw as just a hallucination or a prank go wrong; he didn't know the exact circumstances, but a doll moving like that is not impossible.

"Eve." He extended a hand towards the kindhearted girl who would care about even the well-being of strangers, smiling apologetically as he once again selfishly asks her to follow his whims; his intent is obvious now that they're finished searching the whole place, his eyes reflecting wonder and curiosity at what he just saw.

He wanted to know more.

"Let's chase that doll down."

[Daiki]

Lucas Guerrin
Lucas's Room, Boy's Dormitory
Phase: Evening
Date: April 12th, 2056
Event Stock: 1

Lucas gave an awkward smirk in response to Daisuke's curiosity.

"Going for the jugular, huh?"

A layered inquiry, which would prove difficult to answer without going into details.

Outside of the fact that, as an Union, Lucas would have been forced to come to Tomobiki, he had his own rationale to be there.

To start anew? To find hope? To recover something he had lost?

All true, but not exactly the kind of thing that felt right to mention here.

If Lucas had to be honest, there was another reason. Something more personal, that he had never thought he would share with anyone. And certainly not a guy who had no clue about his past.

Or perhaps it would be easier to talk to him since he doesn't know?

"You could say that I was curious."

There was moment during which Lucas observed his interlocutor, then looked away.

"At some point in the past, I had reached a dead end. Rock bottom tier. Thought there was no going back. Skipping details but wouldn't be far off the mark to say that I wasn't fit for company anymore. In fact, I doubt anyone interacting with me could have found anything human left. Those who found me quickly gave up, thinking I was just another nutcase."

A long sigh.

"Then she showed up. A foolish woman who had much better things to do but waste time with a broken kid. Yet, she kept showing up. Day after day. She enjoyed talking to me even when I had nothing to say. She kept coming even when I offered no reaction to her visits. Over time, it became a routine so I stopped noticing that she was even there. As if, her presence had been the most natural thing to me."

He could still remember how she would sit by his side and engage in monologue for hours on end. Her enthusiasm undeterred by his lack of attention. A familiar scent of coffee and citrus when she approaches him further to show a couple of pictures of vague interest.

"Eventually, I had to talk to her, when she showed no sign of giving up. Her whole behavior was unnatural to me. Why would she go out of her way to interact with some schmuck with an existential crisis? So, I asked her that. And she retorted with a smile that nobody was beyond help."

Her unstoppable passion about people she has no relation to surprise the young boy. He can picture himself covering his ears in order to gain some amount of peace but the adult keep going all the same, a grin on her face nonetheless.

"Of course, that kind of sick idealism didn't convince me. But, to her credit, she built me back to a functional state. It took time and patience, and while I would not call that a proper recovery, I thought that maybe, if only a little, there was some truth to her words."

He sees them carrying her body, or what is left of it. It is covered to hide the worst but Lucas has had plenty of time to see what's under. He should be angry or sad, yet can not even muster that much.

"She died as she lived, trying to reach for another person. I suspect she was still smiling when it happened. To me, it was an expected result. I always knew she would keep doing it. She had done it for me and many others, so why even stop? She was stubborn in her belief that even those called monsters could find salvation with a little help."

Him sorting through her belongings, and stopping when he finds a couple of photos that seem familiar. Now that he pays attention, he can identify two different Unions, wearing the distinctive bracelet. Both are smiling, probably at something she said. They look like they have a good time.

"While I think her decision to pick indiscriminately was stupid, I can't exactly deny her. So, I wanted to confirm. To observe those society would consider inadequate and see for myself whether they deserve an extended hand or not."

Likely a foolish act, but one meant to preserve a shard of a bond he never realized existed until too late.

[Bird of Hermes]

Tsugumi Uro
Location: Northern Cross Academy (Eclipse)
Morning, April 12th, 2056
Event Stock: 2
Seither Rating: 80
Union Phase: 3

"That... that was fun."

Tsugu - no, I tore apart that broken toy. I once though of it as indestructible but just taking that one extra step had made it all too easy.

Standing amongst the ruins of Alice's remains, I see that girl, as if summoned by thought.

"Now now Alice, now is not the time to lie still... There are many more games to play."

I can't help by give out a little involuntary laugh at the proposition as a second, much smaller doll arises, wielding what appears to be a pseudo-sword.

"Are you sure? She seems pretty tired after all that, why not give her a break so she's fresh and ready for the next game?"

It's a jest, she's refusing to speak to me with dignity so I don't see why I should extend the same curtsy any longer. Now as my crystal sings blue, I know that I'm even closer to oblivion but honestly that final attack was easy even, dare I say. However even though I can keep it up with no issue and can always get treated later for this later, Chiasa can't say the same. I need to keep it together for her.

"Ready for round two? I like to play until I win."

So that was her game, she's going to stall me out till I enter Phase 6 and either die or join her here. Perhaps I can stall her myself.

"Time out."

With the wires starting to coil back to life, I make a run to Chiasa's position to at least inspect her and keep us both safe for now- though she's seemingly unresponsive. I doubt I can bargain with this girl but I can always try.

"Are you sure we can't reschedule? Both our friends are tired out from playing and we both have work to do, why not let us abscond for now and when we're good and ready we'll play later." I ask her, now outreaching my naked hand with the gauntlet now cradling the fortune teller. "Why not come with us? We can have a tea party, I can make cheesecake and scones."

Now I doubt that'll work but I've one last plan. Alice will keep getting up as long as this girl is present so I need to get rid of her.

"Why not tell me about yourself. I'm Tsugumi Uro, 17 years old, third year of Northern Cross Academy." I tell her, my eyes looking around; the best place to hide Chiasa, the best place to strike, the best place to run should an exit arise, etc. "Recent resident of this damned eclipse from the looks of it all. What about you?"

My plan of attack already formed, I should be in range for me to safely initiate that 'pseudo time-stop' as I've started to coin it for two to five seconds which is the safe limit. If I strike Alice or this ghost hard and fast enough with a single strike to the neck with my remaining gauntlet then that should be the end of it.

I'd rather not strike at this girl but she's Phase 6, she's not alive per-se so I wouldn't really be killing her. More like exorcising an evil spirit. I would really rather not but still. I'm... not my usual self here, I'm acting in ways I'd dread previously but I knew that it was a facade just to hide in. Is this the Union Drive taking its toll-

Or is this killer instinct just my true nature.

The scariest thing is that I don't care either way.