Astronomika - Shooting Down Falling Stars (IC)

[Ayakashi]

--- Vivienne Bianchi Date: 11.09.1994 (SAT) Location: Road's End - Woods Phase: Evening Phase Weather: Overcast ---

Status

HP	2 / 16
STR	E
END	E
AGI	B
WIL	?
INT	B
EGO	?

"..."

It is the same silence Vivienne often displays in the face of adversity, in the face of hostility and trials. But this is something far graver than she has ever faced. One would have thought that the force of the bullets would have killed her on sight, but she remained standing, no, she forced herself to stay standing, keeping her foot while blood spilled all over her ashen-white sweater. A crimson rose blooming over the fertile grounds of death, a morbid blossom heralding the crossing of the river...

... with her injury, with how this was all playing out would it really change anything that she had survived his attack? This man was just going to reload and shoot again. It seemed determined that no matter the actions she would take, it was bound to be the end of Vivienne's journey. Even if she kept walking forwards, all that was left ahead was an early finish line. An incomplete race, tarnished by unfulfilled promises and goals...

...still, there was still something she could accomplish here. Even if the next attack from that man would definitely be fatal, perhaps that if she desperately continued her onslaught, as ineffective as it may be, exposing herself instead of taking cover... perhaps that she could penetrate his defenses, or at least buy enough time for Hwan to act. As Prushka had forcefully given up her own life so that Vivienne may continue walking her path, maybe that now was the opportunity for Vivienne to put the borrowed time she had been given to good use. Was there a guarantee in success?

Of course not. It was entirely possible and quite likely even, that this would fail, that her contribution would not save Hwan either. But did Prushka know that? Of course she didn't, when she gambled it all away. Thus why not take the gamble as well, if it is the only thing left to take? A broken soul has no hesitation after all, for when fear, joy, sadness have been reduced to ghosts, fleeting suggestions in one's conscience, then what is there left to ponder?

Self preservation was a means to an end, an end that was now unreachable; it was not something that had to be taken into account anymore.

Vivienne's hands reached out to recall the blades she had thrown, and as quickly as they came back to her, the wounded girl unleashed another flurry of daggers at the man.

Her eyes locked with the man's own, their gazes clashing like two invisible blades. No words but spoken, but the man didn't need them -- the message in Vivienne's stare was quite obvious: 'come and finish what you started'.

Equipment

Shards of Mjolnir
Rank: E --- AP Cost: Free --- Damage: +2 --- Element: Steel --- Type: Weapon Arc-Relic, Throwing --- Range: Melee - 12.5m
A set of black-metal daggers stored in an elaborate sheath. While not indestructible, they are made of fine dwarven steel, and thus prove to be supernaturally resilient, easily keeping a sharp edge. They double as both thrown and melee weapons.
A set of 10 Daggers.
At the cost of one Attack, they can be called back into the user's hands.

Revealed Abilities

[Persona of the Other Self : Anima - Animus]
Rank: F --- Element: Soul --- Target: Self --- Duration: 1 Hour
A mask crafted to resemble the Colombina masks from the Carnival of Venice, but possessing details in its design that allude to a Roman Theater Mask. It is focused on representing the acting, theatrical part of masks, albeit it also has the ability to channel the Greco-Roman god of Arts’ abilities.
Gives access to the Spells: [Blessings of Eleutherios], ??? & ???.
Grants Persuasion and Performance Skill rank equal to Occult Rank as long as it is worn.

[Blessings of Eleutherios]
Rank: D --- Element: Soul --- Target: Self --- Duration: 20 mins
One of the abilities of the mask to turn the user into what they are pretending to be, rather than what they are… but instead of applying the literal meaning, it affects the metaphysical and gives the wielder skills and traits that they should not bear naturally.
Replicates one desired skill of the person and apply it to one-self.
Vivienne needs to see the skill being used by the person in question before she can replicate it.

[Persona of the Wild Parade : 百鬼夜行]
Rank: F --- Element: Soul --- Target: Self --- Duration: 1 Hour
A mask crafted to resemble the masks of Asia. Its main shape is evocative of the famous Kitsune mask of Japan’s Shinto culture, but upon closer inspection on can discern the presence of many other mask’s details, such as fellow Japanese Tengu masks, Chinese Shigong Masks, and Korean Sandae. While most of the masks featured in here are either decorative or bear a ritual purpose, each mask represents great beasts and beings from East Asian myths. This mask when donned tends to display an overall confident, yet cautious personality that relishes in combat. Out of the masks vivienne has at her disposal, most likely the one best geared towards proper combat. Its spells greatly enhance the offensive power available at her disposal, allowing her to deal with foes in a much swifter and effective manner than if she was using her other masks. A testament perhaps, to the prowess and might of all the beasts embellishing this mask.
Gives access to the Spells: ???, [妖] & [煙々羅 影].
Grants Intimidation and Athletics Skill rank equal to Occult Rank as long as it is worn.

[妖]
Rank: B --- Element: Curse --- Target: Self --- Duration: 5 Turns
Ayakashi, a general portmanteau term that encompasses an extremely wide spectrum of beasts. Even some divine creatures could be lumped in there -- however, this version of the spell is limited due to Vivienne’s lack of knowledge concerning East Asian Folklore, as well as being not too experienced herself yet in crafting of Ceremonial Magic Masks. At the moment, the ‘empowerments’ that this mask can give are limited to the Japanese Youkai: Tengu and ???. Vivienne knows them from a wallpaper scroll that’s been decorating the house’s living room since she was small, showing these two facing off. Since this spell is similar to opening an entire book and searching for a single passage to read, it actually costs more effort to prepare it than required, however, in exchange it offers high versatility. Different from the other mask abilities that would let Vivienne emulate a creature’s ability, here instead she channels them through herself to empower her body.
Tengu ver. increases STR and AGI by one Rank (all stats are upgraded in accord), as well as granting wings, giving her flying mov. spd. (double of normal)

[煙々羅 影]
Rank: E --- Element: Darkness --- Target: Self --- Duration: 10 Mins
Emanates a cloud of mysterious smoke that is closer to solid darkness. This shrouds the user and makes it impossible to discern what is going on. Said cloud of smoke is in fact a crystallization of the Enenra’s smoke, a youkai that is known for being made of pure darkness and an extremely light, surnatural smoke. This can be deployed as a smoke screen or as optical camouflage when moving around at night.
When used during night or in a dark place, grants E-Rank invisibility.
Attacks made against a person shrouded have their Accuracy Score reduced by 1.

[Persona of the Golden Witch Doctor : шаман]
Rank: F --- Element: Soul --- Target: Self --- Duration: 1 Hour
A mask that bears a medley of design evoking all kinds of masks from the Americas, one can find the likes of Iroquoian ‘False Faces’, Yup’ik Masks from the Eskimos, and Navajan-type masks from the Southwest of North America. This mask holds all of the primal connections to Mother Earth, serving as an excellent medium towards all of the many great Spirits and Elementals that deign give their blessings upon the wearer of this Persona. Specializing in Nature, Water and Life, it actually has very little use when it comes to murder-related subjects most of the time, rather, it is better suited to keep people alive than killing them. This mask when donned turns Vivienne into a thoughtful and soft-spoken individual, perhaps to reflect the nature of the Mother Gaia.
Gives access to the Spells: [Wakan Tanka], ??? & ???.
Grants Nature and Survival Skill rank equal to Occult Rank as long as it is worn.

[Wakan Tanka]
Rank: C --- Element: Life --- Target: Single --- Range: ???
Lifts all ailments and curses by calling within the holiness that resides within every single entity by invoking the name of ‘The Great Spirit’. This call expunges all filth and rejuvenates the target
Heals 6 HP and purges negative ailments of D-Rank or lower.

[Verg Avesta]

Anna Vandemeel VS Netherworld Paper Dolls (Round 6, Turn 19/20)
Location: Road's End - Outside End's Mercy Hospital
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

The world shimmered.

Amidst the destruction, amidst the sudden onslaught of liquid metal, amidst the collapsing hallway... the two of them, Anna and Travis, simply faded away as the wind picked up, bringing with it the overpowering scent of willow that mixed in with the stench of blood. The world around the two overlapped with another view, a view of a familiar patch of forest starting to take over as they were whisked away from the darkness of the hospital and into the fog-covered landscape outside. At the same time, the floor above the duo and the ceiling underneath them gave away, rubble and debris raining like it was the end times.

The last thing the two of them heard...

--- Was the crazied shriek of Zhou Coastrise as she dashed from whatever she had been hiding, trying to get at them with her sword made out of nothing but shadows.

But.

Then.

They were gone.

And instead...

--- They were thrust into the underbushes of the forest just outside End's Mercy Hospital.

"G-gah...! Guh... Jesus..." Travis muttered painfully as he collapsed to the ground, dyeing the grass crimson red. "That... I don't know even what... w-what the hell..."

The boy winced as he gurgled up more blood, coagulated big chunks that had already grown dark. Even he himself seemed to understand what was going on as he touched his own chest and back while writing on the ground, then bringing his vermillion-covered hand in front of his eyes to see. A sardonic, bitter look rose to his face as he saw just how much he was bleeding.

"Shit... I might be going into hypovolemic shock soon... not... not good..." Travis muttered as he tried to push himself up. "Need to stabilize... the blood loss... o-or I'm really gonna be in deep shit... but -ggkk!- first... first, that guy..."

After getting himself to a barely sitting position (it was clear that the boy was using all his strength just not to collapse again on the spot) Travis put his hand on Anna's side. First to catch his attention... but then it became an attempt to keep himself upright as most of the strength in his body had left him. His skin was starting to grow pale, and cold sweat was rising up from his face. Even just looking at his breathing rhythm could tell that his heart was going into overdrive the very moment they spoke.

And still, even at death's door, Travis managed to focus on the important matters at hand.

"--- He said he was tracking you ny scent or some other shit like that..." Travis warned the raven-haired girl, eyes boring into hers. "... I don't think we're outta the woods y-yet..."

And, as if to answer his words, they both could hear something that sounded awfully like one of the larger windows of the hospital's second floor shattering upon impact, the fragments of glass raining down onto the asphalt yard with a harsh sound that echoed in the area. They both could guess what that meant. If the sword-wielding boy had escaped the last attack that Anna had left, then... they had only prolonged the confrontation and switched it into an environment that might be more advantageous to their side.

But, there was no denying it.

They were fighting for their life.

Even now, it was like they could smell the stench of death and carnage all around them and---

... No.

Not "like".

Both Travis and Anna could smell fresh blood all around them... and it wasn't a scent coming from Travis.

It was the smell of something that, at least Anna, had experienced many times before. A disgusting fragrance that hung over fresh battlefields and even clung to old ones like an oil-stain. Her senses were only now getting accustomed to the normal world around her, getting over the psychedelic and nauseating vertigo of what Zhou Coastrise had turned the corridor into... and immediately they were thrust with this sort of smell of blood and gore.

--- "Luckily" she was much more accustomed to this scent.

But, nevertheless, that left the question.

If they weren't the source of this stench, then what...

"Oh? That was faster than expected."

Foot slammed against the forest floor.

For a moment the pine trees themselves seemed to bend out of the way, shivering in fear as they retreated from the path of the one approaching. One gong-like step after another following that deep, booming voice that was undoubtedly female but... also something else. Something hard to pinpoint. It was the type of voice that demanded attention with every word and sentence, the type of voice that one could expect to hear from the deepest, darkest corners of one's darkened closet at night.

"I guess they must have caught up with us by now."

The speaker came to a halt.

There was an odd dripping sound from somewhere... like heavy droplets of something other than water were falling from the branches of the pine trees. Indeed... weren't they? Some sort of red rain, one that had gathered up as dew upon the leaves and needles and which was now, slowly, falling to the soft ground with thuds that made one's skin crawl. It was a realization that had dawned upon them only when they realized they were accosted by someone... someone standing right there, not far away from them. Coming from the same direction where others had been holding fort.

Someone... dressed in nothing but purest of white, unsoiled by the forest or whatever this red rain was.

"Tell me..."

Travis shivered as he stared at the woman.

Whoever this was, it didn't feel like the two of them had escaped from the jaws of death. Indeed, it almost felt like they had just ran away into the arms of something much worse. A much heavier presence that made breath lodge in one's throat as they gazed upon the tall form. The woman was somewhere in her mid thirties, most likely, perhaps a bit older... but the aura that radiated from her was like that of an old glacier. Or perhaps a mummified corpse in tundra.

Whatever the feeling... it was upon the two of them now.

"Did you manage to kill at least one?"

The woman asked a gruesome question with a raised eyebrow.

---

--> COMBAT PAUSED

---

New Being Met!

[Katie]

Lucille Faraday VS Vier Wolff VSA-gyoh (Round 3, Turn 8/9)
Location: Pinefall High Dormitory
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

Vier tells her to retreat, but how can she?

Perhaps it is better that the other girl is trying to escape. Perhaps it isn’t. None of those decisions particularly mattered—if the Lord decreed she would live, Vier would live, and if not, this was no doubt the fates deserved for a failure and a sinner. But one thing remains for certain.

Her body really cannot hold out for much longer. And with her literal lifeblood pouring out of her with every second, what is the point of stalling? If there was a healer like Elise, perhaps, but right now…

Better to die trying than to give up.

She can’t muster the words to yell back at Vier—her body is too mangled to muster the extra energy—so she puts everything she has left into swinging the Parting Gift, the holy blade just nuisance enough against the Divinity of Wolves. The blade glides through the air, aiming to sever flesh, and she prays that her death can buy time.

She wants to die with purpose.

----

Swinging at Tonkori x 2

DT: 2/4

HP: -15/24 -> -17/24

[Verg Avesta]

Vivienne Bianchi VS Nameless Gunslinger VS Hwan Bin (Round 2, Turn 5/6)
Location: Road's End - Woods
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

Again, the daggers fill the air.

Again, the shards of thunder and metal are let out like a volley from a machine-gun, this time aimed at the man from an almost point-blank range. Were the two of them any closer, it would be impossible to get a good throw in, but as the gunslinger himself needed to leave some room to make a shot with his remaining revolver, he also left an opening for Vivienne to deliver her own attack after recalling her weapons---!

But.

Alas, again...

The nicks and cuts the daggers cause are just too little to make him lose a hold of his weapon. The man's elemental strength directly repelled the force of the Arcana Relic, turning almost any strike into a glancing hit. And while the cumulative damage caused by the flurry of attacks did seem to mount up, while his body was riddled with cuts that were bleeding, the man himself did not seem to care.

Instead, he grunted.

His left eye closed shut.

He lifted his revolver.

--- And let out two shots from that same point-blank range!

Two holes of white-hot pain.

One into the shoulder where the large-caliber bullet tore apart flesh and muscle.

One into the pelvis, and Vivienne could hear the shattering sound of bone followed by a shock that ran through her body.

Something had been properly broken by the bullet this time.

It had ripped into the bones, shattered them and lodged itself deep within her.

"----Hk!"

With another grunt, the man suddenly leapt backwards while reloading his revolver, his legs moving still with that accelerated speed that came from some supernatural source Vivienne could not recognize. He rolled to the side, disappearing behind the heavy trunk of a pine tree. The mute girl could hear empty shells dropping to the forest floor while new ones were inserted, and she could sense the gaze of the gunslinger still pin-pointed at her despite the direct line of sight being cut.

Did he have some way of seeing through solid objects?

Dit it even matter at this point?

After all...

... The blood was everywhere, and Vivienne Bianchi could feel life fading from her body fast---!

---

[Hit! Nameless Gunslinger: 3 / 2 - 5 = 1 Steel Damage (PHYS Defense)!]
[Critical Hit! Nameless Gunslinger: 3 / 2 - 5 = 1 x 2 = 2 Steel Damage (PHYS Defense)!]
[Critical Hit! Nameless Gunslinger: 3 / 2 - 5 = 1 x 2 = 2 Steel Damage (PHYS Defense)!]
[Critical Hit! Nameless Gunslinger: 3 / 2 - 5 = 1 x 2 = 2 Steel Damage (PHYS Defense)!]
[Hit! Nameless Gunslinger: 3 / 2 - 5 = 1 Steel Damage (PHYS Defense)!]
[Critical Hit! Nameless Gunslinger: 3 / 2 - 5 = 1 x 2 = 2 Steel Damage (PHYS Defense)!]

[Hit! Vivienne Bianchi: 12 - 5 = 7 Modern PHYS Damage (Modern PHYS Defense)!]
[Hit! Vivienne Bianchi: 12 - 5 = 7 Modern PHYS Damage (Modern PHYS Defense)!]
[Injury! Vivienne Bianchi - Damaged Pelvis: Reduce your Movement by 1 Meter, to the minimum of 1.]
[Vivienne Bianchi: Entering Desperation Turns...]

[Hwan Bin - Paralyzed for 2 Rounds!]


--> Round 3, Turn 7: Vivienne Bianchi
--> Round 3, Turn 8: Nameless Gunslinger
--> Round 3, Turn 9: Hwan Bin

[Verg Avesta]

Lucille Faraday VS Vier Wolff VS A-gyoh (Round 4, Turn 12/13)
Location: Pinefall High Dormitory
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

It's a desperate struggle.

On both sides, it's no longer a true battle for one's victory or the defeat of another.

Right now it's nothing but a desperate struggle for survival, no, not even that. The possibility of survival was long gone from both sides. The flames of life were still burning, they were flaring up and they were becoming an all-confusing inferno of the will to struggle, but at the same time, they burned that same energy of life even harsher, even harder, until it would finally be used up completely with nothing left alive. Such was the nature of their flames, and such was the nature of their battle. Nothing left alive, nothing but scorched earth, burnt to ash by the force of their wills. Locked into a true fight to the death - truth that was evident on both sides.

And that was why the blade came down once more.

While Vier Wolff disengaged behind cover to treat her wounds, while she took cover behind the rubble to cling to the life a little bit longer while yelling instructions to her compatriot, Lucille Faraday planted her feet, stood her ground and brought down her massive sword in yet another furious swing meant to defeat the monster before her.

The monstrous blade struck.

It carved itself deeper into the flesh of the Divine Wolf A-gyoh, a beast from a far-away land where it was counted akin to angels of the Christian Lore.

The blessed sword of freedom was guided by the hands of the blonde girl who, despite her own imminent destruction, sought to buy some time, sought to make a different, sought to stand her ground... but for what?

Conviction.

Conviction to protect others, no matter the cost.

A conviction rising from a broken heart and soul, something others might have ridiculed as a form of insanity.

But in this place, at this very moment...

--- That conviction itself brought forth a miracle!




A True Form Undone.

The furious slash of the blade finally broke the form that the loyal hunting dog of Subaru Iburi had taken, shattering the physical form of A-gyoh, Divine Wolf, into fragments of mirrors and sunlight on snow. Blood coursed in the air and stained the yard, painting everything - including Lucille - in deep red hue. A vicious roar was let out of the mouth of the monster as it was forced back into its Sealed Shape - the form that it had used to escape the crushing effect that The World itself had upon anything supernatural or paranormal. A powerful, divine denizen of the Turnside it might have been, but it could not go against the might of The World for too long.

Were you to wound it enough, it would tax the creature and its physical majesty.

And if the damage it took was great enough to shatter its own willpower, its own surging soul to stay in form of a Protector Beast, then---!

... Then the one fighting against it was offered a free chance to slay the beast right on the spot.




One strike.

One strike was all that it took after that.

The second swing of Lucille Faraday was powerful enough to rip into the skin of A-gyoh itself and tear it apart.

So what chance did the spiritual, luminous form of the dog known as Tonkori have as it was revealed from behind the truth again, made vulnerable and unable to properly defend itself as the end came?

None.

Absolutely none.

With a single swing of her weapon, Lucille Faraday put an end to the nightmare that had slaughtered their friend and proved herself victorious in this clash to the death.

In a sense, it was a true moment of irony.

Despite Lucille beind the one who had died first of the two of them...

... She was also the victor of the duel, in the end.

The one who had lived for longer --- died.

In a pitiful whimper and with snarled teeth as Tonkori still tried to protect his owner.

Nothing remained of the animal anymore.

Nothing but the wounds and the blood.

And a desperate scream of true madness that rang across the whole of Pinefall High's campus grounds.



"IIIYYAAAAAARRRGHHHH!!"

A scream of agony from one whose heart, already destroyed by the horrors her friend had suffered, was now completely shattered.

For some to lose someone dear to them could change them forever.

For it to happen twice, well...

... It could drive even those insane into a moment of terrifying clarity.



The string of the Azusa Bow was plucked, creating a melody that pierced the fog-covered campus grounds. At the same time, a mad spiritual heir, a divine warrior gone insane, stepped out of her hiding place from behind the tower of the school building. She had raised her gigantic bow on high, aimed it at the sky itself while loading two arrows simultaneously on it. They were not one of those Supernatural-Killing arrows from before, but both had clear sense of magic in them. Each had been wrapped into an odd litany of prayers, written on a paper and then coiled around the arrow.

In that moment, the mana of a ritual prepared beforehand screamed.

It took hold of the world for a moment.

And then, it bent the rules.

As the melody of the bow still hung in the air, the words from the mouth of Subaru Iburi were still clear.

Crystal clear.



"Makurakotoba: Sora Mitsu no Ya."



Subaru released the string and with a furious sound, the arrows disappeared into the grey sky, vanishing from the view.

It was just a split-second flash of magic, but in that moment, Lucille Faraday - with her vision dyed in a red hue, could see how the two arrows had their forms swallowed up by a sky-blue portal of clouds that formed ahead of them as they reached their maximum speed towards the sky. She knew not where they were heading, but whatever the plan of the insane priestess on the rooftop, it couldn't have been anything good.

Yes... unfortunately, each of the two girls only got one half of the truth.

As while Lucille saw the arrows disappear...

--- Vier Wolff saw the sudden appearance of a sky-blue portal right next to her.

And from within that portal, two messengers of death came striking forward.

The first missing by hair's breadth, narrowly avoiding her head.

But the second one...

With an unerring accuracy...

Dashed towards her throat, and...

--- Ended the life of yet another combatant.

---

[Hit! A-gyoh: 9 / 2 = 4 Holy (Arc-Relic) Damage (Supernatural PHYS Defense [NEGATED])!]
[A-Gyoh - WIL Saving Throw failed! Form reverted!]
[Hit! Tonkori: 9 - 0 = 9 Holy (Arc-Relic) Damage (Supernatural PHYS Defense [NEGATED])!]
[Tonkori Dies!]

[Miss!]
[Hit! Vier Wolff: 10 - 3 = 7 Alkahest (Arc-Relic) Damage (Modern PHYS Defense)!]
[Vier Wolff Dies!]


--> Round 5, Turn 14: Lucille Faraday
--> Round 5, Turn 15: Subaru Iburi

---

New Ability Witnessed!

A-Gyoh of Retaruseta

STR: B

END: B

AGI: A

WIL: D

INT: E

EGO: ?

Statistics:
HP: 0/40
ACC: 1
DOD: 5
Movement: 1m

Perks:

Animal Senses
You possess keen instincts and five sense of a predatory animal, and thus are not hampered by certain effects like a human would be. When tracking, your Survival Skill Rank is automatically counted as A. Your Perception is also increased to Rank A. In addition, if you are blinded, your ACC is only halved as long as your other senses are working.

Divine Form
Once per day, you are able to take upon your true form of the Divine Guardian Beast, revealing your true statistics. This transformation lasts for 1 hour, during which you cannot be deduced to be your fake self by divinations or magical means. The same applies in reverse. When you are wielding your fake form, only logical deductions by people around you can connect you to your true form. When battling in your true form, you are extremely powerful... but beware. Once you fall below half of your Hit Point maximum, you will need to make a WIL Saving Throw for each time you take damage. Upon failure, you are reverted back to your fake form, as The World crushes your true nature. Further information pending...

New Ability Witnessed!

Subaru Iburi

STR: D

END: C

AGI: A

WIL: ?

INT: ?

EGO: ?

Abilities:

Makurakotoba: Sora Mitsu no Ya
Rank:B
Element:Azoth
A ritual spell that connects one place to another. Choose a location you can pin-point within the range of 300 meters. When casting this ritual spell, make up to two attacks with ranged weapon of your choice. Instead of counting you as their starting point, these attacks will count the point you chose as their starting point instead. In other words, with this spell it is possible to shoot around corners, into hard-to-reach places, even places where you can't see. As long as the point you chose isn't in a total cover (for example, within a metal box with no way to see inside or no route there) it is possible to create this one-way portal. Further information pending...

Equipment:

Annihilation of Unknown

Hama Yumi: Hama Ya

Type: Arc-Relic
Rank: A
Charges: 0/1
Element: Alkahest
The arrow launched from a bow carried by a legendary Japanese Emperor, Jimmu. Not only are bow and arrow a sacred weapon in this far-off eastern land, but there are few bows as mythical as the one carried by Subaru Iburi. An imperial regalia of its own right, the power of the arrow launched from this weapon is comparable to an intercontinental ballistic missile. Its famed feat of destroying a supernatural so deep and powerful that it beget the human understanding of reality - darkness that could not be by mere mortal mind - has cemented it as one of the most powerful Anti-Numen and Anti-Supernatural Arc-Relics in the world.

When activated, the Supernatural-Destroying arrow is launched towards one target. The arrow delivers 20 Alkahest Damage versus the target's EGO Defense. However, based on the target's strength as a supernatural being, how far they are removed from human being, how human they are and how in-line they are towards reality, both positive and negative modifiers may be applied that affects the total damage. In other words, the more inhuman you are, the weaker you are towards this strike. However, beings such as androids and espers - who are born of humanity - are much less wounded by this attack.

Modifiers discovered:

• Partly Inhuman Blood: Base Damage x1.5.
• Mana Points: +1 Damage for every 10 MP in target.
• Ichor Points: +1 Damage for every 10 IP in target.

[Mellon]

Anna Vandemeel
Location: Road's End - End's Mercy Hospital
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

"Did you manage to kill at least one?"

“Hmph…” A tired snort echoed out from Anna, something born more out of habit than anything else. “Well, I dumped a couple of tons of concrete on them on the way out. Can’t imagine both of them made their way out of that completely unscathed.”

Her eyes flickered momentarily towards the distance, past the red haze and back towards the hospital that was now looming in the distance.

“Though I wasn’t probably quite as thorough as I’d like, I suppose.”

The woman in front of them was… well, something alright. Shrouded in white, she strode forward from woods with an almost overwhelming, nay supernatural, presence that made the very trees around them seemingly coil in fear. The way she held the rod in her hands, the way she moved. There was a gravitas, a weight, in her presence that reminded her of some of the more senior lecturing fossils at the Orloj or the Glass Castle.

…she reminds me of that stuck-up bitch, Primacelsus. She even got that casual air of insufferable haughtiness down pat.

Von Hohenheim, my ass. That woman’s overblown sense of pride is so large if it expanded any further it would explode from all the hot air that was trapped inside.

And yet in this case…. there was a raw, animalistic, current that hung in the air, overpowering… or perhaps more accurately complementing the almost overwhelming stench of blood and gore in the air. A smell of a beast. Of a predator that hunted outside the realm of reason.

Which made the fact that there wasn’t even a spec of mana surrounding her even more puzzling. While there were some in the Pentagrammon who far surpassed her in this particular field of magical study, she herself was no slouch in sensing currents of mana. Her past had made sure of that.

At this range, this close, none should be able to fool her in this regard.

Droplets of deep ruby fell from the sky, striking the trees and undergrowth around them with heavy thuds. The stench of blood in the woodlands was almost overwhelming. No “clean” kills had happened here. Someone had been blown to pieces at least, vaporized at worst.

Outside of the smell of burning flesh, perhaps this was the scent that most characterized the word “battlefield” for Anna Vandemeel.

She bowed down to Travis, who was now sitting upright, his face becoming paler by the second as his eyes remained transfixed upon the blonde-haired being that had arrived before them.

Anna placed her hand on his shoulder. It didn’t hold enough strength to harm the boy, even in his near-death state, but enough to make him aware of the situation.

“Do not get overwhelmed by her presence. If you lose your awareness of what is happening, you will die, understand? What you need to do is start stabilizing yourself.”

A brief pause.

“Can you do that?”

Having brought the boy, hopefully, back to reality, Anna stood back up and turned back to face mysterious being in white. The Estonian witch wasn’t particularly awed by the presence in front of her. Anna had interacted with many similar beings in the past. She had butted heads with her share of lecturers in the Orloj and those dumb old fossils at the Devil’s Table. Hell, she'd even been taught by that idiotic lovesick old hag in her shabby hut in the middle of fucking nowhere in Karelia. After that, it was hard to have any respect left for these “wise and honorable” figures of the supernatural world.

They were all nuts.

…much like herself.

Indeed, in many ways, her own position in the grand scheme of things was probably very close to that of the woman in front of her.

Which is why Anna knew. If the two of them fought, she would, most likely, die. As things were… she would be hard-pressed to face off against any of her peers.

The raven-haired mage slowly opened her right hand in front of her. One of the crimson droplets fell down with a heavy thud, landing perfectly in the middle of her palm. Anna’s eyes gazed at the ruby droplet, clouded over in thought, while her face was set in an unreadable expression. Crimson gazing at crimson.

“This your doing? A bit too wild, no?” A small self-deprecating smile flickered on her lips, as Anna raised her eyes to meet with the woman in front of her. “Well, perhaps I shouldn’t be the one to talk. I did just collapse two floors of a hospital.”

“So. Any of us still alive back there?”

[Kuroyuki]

Lucille Faraday VS Vier Wolff VS A-gyoh (Round 4, Turn 12/13)
Location: Pinefall High Dormitory
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

Lucille didn’t fallback. She didn’t run away. She was determined to stand her ground and finish off the foe in front of her. Lucille must have known that she was going to die and that I couldn’t do anything about it. So she decided to not waste her last breaths like me desperately trying to live longer by disregarding her teammate. Lucille Faraday decided to face death head on. Even if she walks into the valley of death, she shall fear no evil.

So it was to my surprise that Lucille was not only holding her own against the beast from the Turnside, but actually winning despite her huge handicap. Her victory was assured when the beast transformed into a very familiar form. The beast was indeed a morphed Tonkori and that he was defenseless as Lucille swung again to avenge Aleen. I breathed a sigh of relief. All I had to do now was counter-snipe Subaru Iburi…

After I made that plan, I saw a flash of blue appear off to the side of me. I didn’t question what it could be as I attempted to move away from in front of it. The first arrow whizzed by the front of my eyes. The second arrow… I was not as lucky at dodging. That arrow impaled itself into my throat. I stopped my body's automatic response to pull out the arrow. I only had a few moments to live and I knew there was no way for me to recover from this. So I used those last moments to slide Lucille my precious HK M4 and to send one last message via ESP.

‘Lucille when you see Aleen up there. Tell her I’m sorry.’

I leaned back against the wall and looked at the remains of Aleen... I’m sorry for failing you. I’m sorry that I wasn’t there to protect you like how ‘I’ wanted. Nor will I ever find out if you were the person that I was close to… I’ll never know seeing how I’ll end up in hell... unlike Aleen and Lucille. Also I’m sorry 40… Looks like I messed up again... I hope you make it up... to heaven if not… Lets sneak out... of hell... together...


Vier Wolff has died.

Vier Wolff

Stats

HP	0/24 -> -7/24
STR	D
WIL	E
END	D
INT	A
AGI	B
EGO	?

Equipment

Unknown First Gun

Size: Medium (?)

Damage: ?

Range:

Description: A gun of some kind? If you had some knowledge in guns, you would probably be able to figure it. All you can tell is that it's not a pistol. Seems to be equipped with a different scope than the HK M4. However, it also seems to be equipped with a Suppressor as well. Further details pending.

HK M4

Size: Medium

Damage: 7

Range: 150m

Description: Created by Heckler and Koch to satisfy a request from Delta Force in the 1990s. Similar to the commonly used M4 Carbine, the HK M4 is superior due to its increased part longevity, reduced malfunction rate, and an overall increase in reliability. Currently equipped with a 3-12x (+15% ACC) Magnification Scope and Suppressor (Can't be heard unless Perception is higher than C).

Guitar Case

• Currently holding more gun supplies

HEIAP (Consumable - Rank C, Uses 3/9)

• HEIAP stands for "High-explosive incendiary/armor-piercing ammunition." An ammo type meant for armored targets such as AFVs and IFVs. In Vier's line of business, it normally means the rapid neutralization of Androids or other modern equipped specialists like herself. Further details pending.

Vier's ESP

Telepathy E Range 20 meters, 1 target. Allows Vier to speak telepathically to another person. Editing Memories C Allows Vier to edit memories. This can go from muscle memories to a mental memory. In the case of muscle memory, it would cause a person to suddenly gain or lose their body’s familiarity with an action or object. For mental memories, they will remember the false or editted memory as if it was a real memory. Manipulation of Sight D Commonly used ESP by Vier. This ESP allows her to feint out her foes or disengage at will by manipulating their sight. It can be anything from seeing multiple new objects in field of view, blinding, or even not spotting Vier. Range 6 meters, 1 target. If the target has an INT defense of 8 or lower, can be used to manipulate their sight for 3 Turns. This includes creating illusions, making them blind for the duration or cloaking Vier herself.

Vier's HK M4 with HEIAP rounds has been slid towards Lucille.

[Verg Avesta]

John Dove?
Location: J. Edgar Hoover Building - Fifth Floor
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 24.07.2015 (FRI)
Weather: Sunny
[BGM]

Get out.

Get out.

He needs to get out.

That's what every fiber in his body is screaming out, that's what every nerve-ending in his corpse is yelling at the top of their lungs. His brains are overheating and everything has been veiled into a similar thick fog that had brought him here in the first place. The body of a young boy stretches and coils like a spring, so when the hands and firm grip of Agent Briggs eases for just a split-second, he bolts towards the door through which he arrived. John can hear the two men yell after him, one telling him to calm down or he has to tackle John, one telling him to calm down and try to remember the truth of where he is right now.

Where he is?

When he is?

... What about who he is?

Those sorts of questions run rampant in his head as John dives towards the door that allegedly lead to a corridor and threw it open. For a moment, just for a moment, he saw a carpeted floor and off-white walls of an office hallway, but that was just a trick of his own mind - what he had been told to expect there. Instead, it is almost immediately replaced by that accursed mist that had whisked him away from Pinefall in the first place, stolen his time and left him stranded in a strange and unknown future where he apprently still existed. A nightmare never seemed so welcoming as John dashed into the fog, embracing its cold and damp atmosphere as he escaped from the room with the strangers who did not view him as a stranger.

And all that he could hear echoing after himself was The Director's voice.

A cold voice full of meaning.

"Are you still unable to forgive yourself, Mr. Dove?"

What did that mean?

What did she mean?

What the hell was she even saying?

The instincts that had screamed of escape now screamed of question, and as John Dove finally sprinted over the treshold of his own

past

now

, leaving behind the strange

now

future

, he---

He---

He felt his existence waver.

He---

He felt two sharp cutting sensations of agony on his very soul.

He---

Saw a Broken Dream.

How ironic.

Special Agent Ferguson's dream was more spot-on than he probably realized.

Though...

He hadn't said anything about it being an expensive imported car from Europe.

---

[Hit! John Dove: 9 - 2 = 7 Soul Damage (EGO Defense)!]
[Hit! John Dove: 3 - 2 = 1 Soul Damage (EGO Defense)!]


[Hit! John Dove: 15 - 2 = 13 Damage (PHYS Defense)!]
[John Dove: Entering Desperation Turns...]

---

Hisa Momoi VS Elise Pelltier VS Me (Round 3, Turn 7)
Location: Ghostwood National Forest
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast
[BGM]

WHATTHEFUCKINGSHITWHATSORTACHEATINGISSHEDOING-----!?

The water is everywhere before I even know it. Seeping through my cloak, taking a stranglehold of my throat, swimming up my nostrils and mouth in an effort to drown me on dry land.

That's it.

THAT'S IT.

What the hell does Elise think she is, attacking me from the grass like she think she's some sort of water-pistol-wielding assassin!? I'll burn her, I'll scorch her, I'll make her wish she had never been born because if there's one person in this goddamn tragedy allowed to cheat it's me! My cloak should negate all the supernatural abilities once so why does hers get through when the thaumaturgy portion hasn't even---?!

Oh.

Wait.

Waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait---!

It's the demon.

The goddamn demon that's using her head as free real-estate!

Demon's powers aren't counted as anything of the six categories, only magic-like in their nature, so of course such a ridiculous little loophole is enough to literally get me wet and have me drowning while floating three feet off the ground with that baconface still clinging to me and spouting teenage-level insults and showing fashion sense at all! Gaaah, I hate this, I hate this, I hate this, I hate this, I hate this, I hate thiiiiis! I'm so sick and tired of these two not dying already like the big brute did, clinging to life like they had all the time in the world! Graaah, that's it! That's it for the last time! If you guys aren't gonna die like good little corpses, then I'm going to make sure that there's nothing left of you even fight anymore! I'll scorch this whole forest in nuclear fire and leave nothing alive!!!

Fuck this.

I need my power.

Gotta yank John out of that place.

THIS IS MORE IMPORTANT!

My right arm raises.

Again, the reality tears itself apart.

The face of Oppie hungrily eats its way through the fabric of reality, along with another, and another, and another. And another and another and another and another---!

Seven heads upon which sit ten crowns, ten crowns which point like ten horns, ten horns which are the ten kings that are yet to come in to power, but right now, along with me in this hour, shall be named as Mysteries of Annihilation---!

The seven jaws flank me like a ring of enlightenment, and they all open up their hungry maws, and for a moment, the world is bathed in the fierce furnaces within their mouths. It's the colour of the world, the colour of light, the colour of space and so many myriad shades that no human eye can understand it. To stare into that Light of Annihilation is to stare upon the madness itself, and just as the Sound from the Rings announces me, so shall this light that I have stared into, understood, and made a power unto my own.

Behold.

Behold as the world is turned white and loses all coherency.

The light is too bright.

We are at the Heart of the Atom now.

There's only one step closer from here, but that's not necessary.

No.

I'll show you two what I saw back then.

THESE ARE MY PARTING WORDS TO THEM

SAID WITH MY TELEPATHIC PRESENCE

AS I TEAR OPEN THE REALITY WITH SHEER PHYSICAL FORCE, JUST AS HUMANS DID IN 1945




The Crowns, The Heads and The Beast converge.

Energy coalesces and becomes, for a moment, infinity.

All Seven Jaws release the unfathomable elemental energy they had gathered, the Cursed Element of Humanity's Sin.

The Rings Afar scream in the name of revenge.

Hah.

I didn't want them to see it.

I didn't want them to know.

At this very last moment, as seven pillars of nuclear light rain upon the forest and swallow everything up in a explosion of pure photonic energy...

... I went and showed both Hisa and Elise something that was both beautiful and horrifying.

The Color.

Can they understand The Color as it swallows them up and disintegrates their body?

And what are these sentimental thoughts that linger in my head?

I left them behind long ago.

Right now, the only thing that matters...

... Is that I turn the Ghostwood Forest into a crater.

With a familiarly-shaped cloud rising far above the treeline.

EVERYTHING ANNIHILATES.

---

[Hit! Hisa Momoi: 16 - 3 = 13 Nuclear Damage (EGO Defense)!]
[Hisa Momoi: Vaporized!]
[Hit! Elise Pelltier: 16 - 1 = 15 Nuclear Damage (EGO Defense)!]
[Elise Pelltier: Vaporized!]

--> Battle Ends...

---

Check This Out!

Me

STR: ∞̛ͤ̽̈́ͫ͗͌ͫ̅̑ͫ̈̆̾ͫͬ̊͟͝͏̳̙̼͎̼̝̳̬͉̮͔͕̗̠͓̰̼∞ͩͪ͆̈́ͩ̓͋̈́̿̒̚ ̵̘͍̦̘̭̘͕̰̪̋ͪ͝͝∞̷̥̤͎̼͉̰̬͚̟̩̦̼̹̀ͬͮͭ̈̉͊̎̐̇̂̋̚̚͜͜͝ ̰͉̤

END: ∞̶̼̜͚̳͉̍͛̅̒̆́ͭ̊̍͑̆̂̌̓ͫͨ̇̈́͌́͝∞̡̡̹͈̟̞͉̗̩͙̟͗͐ͦ̈́̆͊̉̓ͭ∞ ̸̷̢̢͉̦͙̫͙̣̘̪̲̭̹̬̫̗̰̠͖͐͊̊̐̈́̌ͬ

AGI: ∞̶̨̨̬̯̞̹̟̰͎̳͖̩̪͐͌̔ͧͧ̐̿̈́̿͑͆͊̐ͥ̈́͘͝∞̷͔̱̪̤̟̩̹͕̪̌̓̋ͪ́͠∞ ̸̛̰͇̫̫͚̜̞̟́ͪ͛̑̊͂͑ͮ

WIL: ∞̹̰̙͔͇̤̣͖̮̮̮̞͕̖̭̙͍͌̐̀̔ͤ̓̔͗̇͒̿̈̈͗ͮ͊͌̅ͪ͟∞̋̀̓ͩ̿̅̓̾ͥ̇͏ ̠̰̭͓͈̭̙͕̹͈̜͡∞̤̰̗͖̯͉̱̳̦͕͈̿͂͆̿͆̑ͮ̒̽̀̀͐̈͘͝

INT: ∞̴̤̼̜̹̭͉̳̘͖̟̟̼͚̻̖̣̰͚͈̄ͥ͂͌̏͆ͯ̀ͩͧͤ͛͛̈́ͥͬ͗̽̚͘∞͋͛̌̍ͧ̉̈́̽ ̰̺̗̦̘̬͉̬̞̝̑ͭ̔ͥͫ̎̈́͘͟͡∞ͣ̿͊ͧ̋ͤ̒̍̈҉͏̙̙̹͇̠̝̫̼̜̠ͅ

EGO: ∞̡ͣͬ̈҉̤̗̣̦̮̬̮∞̴̽ͨ̈͐ͭ̆̾̍͊ͬ͒̌҉̦͓̣̯̬͔̞͈̪̳͕∞ͥ̅̃ͮ̎ͭ̾͑͠҉ ͏̫̹̟̯͎̗̥̯̼͕͎͟

Equipment:

???
Type: ???
An absolutely awesome cloak that covers the wearer. The purple colour negates the first ESP attack towards the wearer. Further information pending...

Spells:

Mana Fission (?)
Rank: E
Element: Light
Mana Cost: ???
Doubles the spell that is cast next. Further information pending...

235 Bombardment (?)
Rank: E
Element: Nuclear
Mana Cost: ???
Launches 10 magical missiles towards an enemy that each deal 1 Nuclear Element damage upon hit. Further information pending...

???
Rank: ???
Element: ???
Mana Cost: ???
Further information pending...

Spectrum Shooter (?)
Rank: D
Element: Nuclear
Mana Cost: ???
A spell (?) delivered by a formless creature that tears itself into reality, appearing as a mass of colours of every possible spectrum that resembles - very faintly - an animal skull with a crown growing from its head. Targets an enemy within 10 meters of me with an attack roll. Upon hit, the target takes 10 Nuclear damage. If their END Rank is also overcome, they are afflicted by Ultraviolet Suffering. Further information pending...

Spectrum Trinity (?)
Rank: A
Element: Nuclear
Mana Cost: ???
Everything is destroyed. Those who die are disintegrated. Delivers 16 Nuclear Damage on a radius of ??? Around the user. Those who fall to 0 HP are vaporized on the spot. Further information pending...

[Verg Avesta]

Anna Vandemeel (Combat Paused)
Location: Road's End - Outside End's Mercy Hospital
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast
[BGM]

“This your doing? A bit too wild, no? Well, perhaps I shouldn’t be the one to talk. I did just collapse two floors of a hospital. So. Any of us still alive back there?”

While Travis was doing his best to act upon Anna's instructions, fighting against the incoming shock and the pressure of the unknown woman's presence to patch himself the best he could, the newcomer to the scene... simply took Anna's words in a stride, letting the hidden sharp point in them and the accusations flow past her like it had been water and she had been a glacier in the middle of a stream. Her eyes coolly took in the sight of the beaten-up duo before her, one hand resting against her hip and one gripping that strange rod of winter-imagery she was holding. At the same time, that animalistic presence in the air grew stronger, to the point that Anna could almost hear a beast growl somewhere nearby, hidden in the fog...

"One. Such a tragic scene, to witness the death of a girl barely past her first ten years. To choke on one's own blood is a particularly cruel death, even in the cavalcade of this world's suffering," the unknown woman responded, her voice booming like a darkened bell in the forest. "It could drive a young artist mad with grief, and it could traumatize a young boy beyond recognition, to the point of wishing to just disappear from this gloomy and unforgiving reality."

Those footsteps... they were like gongs echoing through the forest as the woman strode forward. Her eyes, hidden in the shadows of her bangs, drilled a hole through Anna's brain and heart with their mere glare. The fluttering white jacket, almost like a cape, and the militaristic outfit adorned with rough and coarse fur of some animal made her frame appear even large than it was. Though the woman was tall, her shadow was even taller, and now that it fell upon the two, well...

... It wasn't just the implications in her words that made Travis stare at the woman in utter horror.

"Pitiful. You drove my son to the point of insanity with your actions, brought him to a moment where he has lost all hope... and thus, he allowed me through. Truly a worthless child. His only reason for existence was to keep me at bay, and upon the first death he wishes upon me to simply make it all disappear," the woman spoke, her deep rumbling voice like the movement of Antarctic ice. "All that was required was to enhance your scent after the death of the youngest sibling. I saw how the demon played with her body, and thus I made my move. After all, you were a spitting image of the elder sister."

The final step resonated with purpose and reason.

The trees swayed.

For a moment, Anna almost felt like the woman before her was a giant looming over her, veiled in shadows.

And her voice matched that illusion.

"Two people who have lost their all, yet persist in the world. One through rage, one through apathy. Homelands ravaged by war yet proud of their lineage, it is as if you exist out of spite. What worthless reason... A young woman full of anger, but who loathes to kill. And a young woman full of love, but who loves to slaughter. Two sides of the same coin... I would laugh at the irony if I had not arranged it myself," the unknown woman continued, some sort of dark satisfaction in her tone. "You were unable to stop the enemy you had not seen from destroying you from within, and now you are all paying the price. Indeed, because of your inaction, because of distrust, I am now free..."

The shadows seemed to become part of her.

The beast somewhere roared.

And the world felt like it had turned into a fish-eye lens staring straight at the woman before Anna.

"Gabriela Bahkauv."

Her eyes were unrelenting.

"The darkness in the heart of every human on this planet."

[Mellon]

Anna Vandemeel
Location: Road's End - Outside End's Mercy Hospital
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

"The darkness in the heart of every human on this planet."

It felt as if the very air around them had frozen solid into a block of ice. The shadows grew longer, the light faded, and they could hear the ephemeral beast roaring somewhere in the far of in the distance. For a brief second the maiden in white seemed to loom over her like a giant, out eclipsing everything in her sight. The perspective of the world shook…

CLICK.

The tip of the wooden toothpick in Anna’s mouth lit up with an orange glow. Seemingly utterly uncaring of the supernatural presence in front of her, she took a languid, deep, breath. The smoke emitting from the wood coiled in the air a manner that could only be described as utterly unnatural, the strands of smoke twisting towards her.

“…nevermind. Primacelsus may be a stuck-up bitch, but even she isn’t quite this full of shit.”

Suddenly, Anna’s right fist tightened to the point where it almost drew blood and her eyes snapped open, their red hues blazing with an utterly inhuman fury that seemed to blaze like the very heart of a star.

Almost as if waiting for that very moment, the entirety of the clearing lit up with a blazing flame. In a flash, the land itself was transformed into a living inferno. Trees lit up like candles. Grass blackened in the heat. A blaze that refused to be put out even in the face of overwhelming shadow. It was not a thing of spells or direct magecraft. It was simply the effect her raw, unfiltered and unrestrained, being had on her surroundings. A supernatural presence that every mage carried within them. A spark of supernatural that even the world could not fully deny.

If oppressive shadows and overwhelming darkness was how the supernatural presence of the woman in front of her made itself known, then this was hers.

“I drove your “son” to madness? Really? Really?!”

Anna let out a burst of utterly incredulous laughter. The flames dancing on the trees flickered in rhythm with the sudden sound that filled the clearing.

“How rich, coming from you, shade. How convenient of you to absolve yourself of all responsibility. But what else am I to expect of a woman proclaims herself to be the “darkness in all men’s hearts.”

“I suppose that darkness includes utter cowardice.”

“The only failure here is that of a so-called joke of a parent.” Anna’s voice was dripping with contempt. Utter and absolute contempt at the woman in front of her. “If anyone has broken Gabi, it was you and no-one else. No-one here twisted that boy to end up the way he did.”

“A mother? Don’t make me laugh!” The flames roared defiantly alongside Anna’s voice. “You don't deserve that title nor the meaning that it carries within it.”

“As for that nonsense you were spouting about me.” Anna’s voice was suddenly filled with ice, but not a shred less venomous. “Spare me of your vacuous sanctimonious grandstanding, you fucking parasite.”

“Stop acting as if you have any basis to judge anyone or their actions. A self-proclaimed sentient pile of mankind’s worst emotional garbage has no right to lecture anyone.”

The raven-haired witch took another deep breath, causing the spirals of smoke in the air to ripple erratically, before changing direction mid-air and flowing directly into her lungs.

The defiance and anger, mixed in equal measure, that was pouring out of the witch in red could almost be described as an actual physical force.

“So.... Are we done here?”

[Thalraxal]

Elise Pelltier
Location: Ghostwood National Forest
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

Elise allowed herself a moment of satisfaction as the water seeped through the thing in the cloak's defences. She reached for its face, mouth, and nostrils, seeking to deprive the thing of the air even it needed to breath. She reached its eyes. She soaked its clothes. Even if she died here, she could at least ensure that the next few hours of this thing's life would be uncomfortable.

Hopefully it can't just laser me into dust while its choking. Can't do anything to stop it's... pet thing? from defending it though. I just need to last long enough to incapacitate it, and hopefully either Hisa or I will be able to finish it off...

Elise as a sharp pain from her ribs remained her that her life was hanging from a particularly frayed thread, and she found her not liking her odds.

She glanced at Hisa, who was hurling insults towards it regarding its terrible sense of fashion. She was certainly looking worse for wear after taking a blast from the that thing that gnawed its way through reality, but perhaps there was still a chance she might be able to make it out of here.

"Hisa-"

The hovering cloaked figure made its displeasure at being drowned on dry land evident. It raised its right arm, and Elise felt her heart sink as its minion, that thing that'd gnawed its way through reality, was joined by another of its kind, and another, and another... Soon there was seven of them, and Elise realized to her horror that there only ever was one. The thing that gnawed through reality shined brightly, revealing itself as a seven headed beast that looked like it had stepped straight out of the Book of Revelations, and, indeed, perhaps it had.

Any hope of extraditing either herself or Hisa from this was burned away in an instant. She could hardly move as she was. Barely standing, all she could do was clutch her ribs and watch helplessly as her doom took shape.

"Hisa... Hisa I'm so sorry."

She wanted to say more. She wished she could say more, but it was lost in the light and din.

I hope Mercedes was able to get far enough away from this to survive. Sorry to leave you waiting at the car. At least Lucille, Vier and Aleen are safe back at the dormitory, Elise felt some comfort in that thought, along with a pang of guilt knowing that she'd just become one more death that would likely weigh on Lucille's conscience.

She wondered whatever had happened to John and Elaine, and hoped that wherever he was, John was safe.

Sorry, John, I guess you won't be able to borrow That Book from me after all.

Elise spent her last breath on a short prayer for Hisa, hoping that she might find some peace in the hereafter. She'd already lost sight of her in the all too bright light. To her eyes, it seemed as if the whole world was gone now. All that was left was the all consuming light.

The light and colour was beautiful, in its own terrible way. She stood transfixed, staring into the heart of it. It was all too bright, and full of colour that she strongly suspected the human eye was never intended to gaze upon. At least not for long. Under normal circumstances, she might've averted her gaze in an effort to protect her eyesight, but that didn't seem to matter now. She didn't think she'd have eyes for much longer. She wasn't going to be much of anything soon enough. Not in the face of this terrible force. She couldn't help but smile to herself with the knowledge that soon she'd be nothing more than dust and ash, at best.

Ha. I bet you're disappointed by this, eh, LBJ? There isn't going to be a whole lot left of me for you to play with after this, is there? thought Elise to her constant companion.

The thing in the cloak shared its parting words with them. And then-

[Elise Pelltier was vaporized]

[Katie]

Lucille Faraday
Location: Pinefall High Dormitory
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

She doesn’t expect the illusion to shatter—for the divine beast’s presence to wane against the unerring pressure of the World—but as soon as she catches sight of the defenseless hound she shows no mercy. Tonkori becomes a splatter on the floor, the blade crushing the dog more than it cleaved.

A long unanswered question suddenly has an answer in her mind, but the thought is blotted out by Subaru’s scream of anguish, a wail that Lucille could almost find lamentable, tragic, even.

But those who kill have no right to grieve when death comes to what they love.

“‘Tis the fate of false idols,” Lucille forces out, mostly out of spite.

Those words are drowned out by the piercing melody of speeding arrows, vanishing into an ethereal, heavenly blue. Her brain is just a tad too slow to catch on—by the time she understands what is happening—

A piercing noise erupts from behind her. The distinct sound of blood being spilled rings from behind, but the strength has already vanished from her body. Steadfast determination crumbles as Lucille falters, leaning against her blade for support, trying to stand for no other reason than just not to fall.

She knows the sound of failure very well. It haunts her memories, echoes in her dreams, resounds in her decisions.

And now she has to dance to an even more miserable tune than the one she can’t forget.

There is no scream. She doesn’t have the energy or the will. All that is left is a defeated silence, the despair of a girl who gave everything she had only to come up short where it mattered.

The only sound is the scrape of the rifle as it slides across the floor.

‘Lucille when you see Aleen up there. Tell her I’m sorry.’

…

It’s a sin to assume people will go to heaven.

In the corner of her eye, the firearm lingers. Her heart wonders if there’s any point. She can’t protect anyone. And what good is vengeance for the dead? Vier, Aleen, and herself are all dead regardless. Is it any good for her? What is the point of her own gratification? She’s already failed. What right does she be any sort of “happy” if all she does is leave corpses in her wake?

Then again, it has never been about her.

Whoever sheds human blood,
by humans shall their blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made mankind.

She is obligated to try. Not merely as a

angel

divine messenger

, but as a

human

person

.

Lucille reaches for the gun with numb fingers, aided by distant memories of a trip to the California desert, where Sakura told her it was something she might need to know, just in case. She thought it was dumb. When was she ever going to fight something that a gun would be able to pierce?

…She hates it when Sakura is right.

Unsteady, untrained hands take aim. Her eye peers through the scope, Subaru in her sights, but… She has no idea if she can even hit anything, like this, bleeding out and barely alive. But she is obligated to try and punish the wicked. If not for those Subaru has hurt, for those Subaru will hurt.

She fires.

-----

Action: Shoot twice

DT: 3/4

HP: -17/24

[Ayakashi]

--- Vivienne Bianchi Date: 11.09.1994 (SAT) Location: Road's End - Woods Phase: Evening Phase Weather: Overcast ---

Status

HP	-12 / 16
STR	E
END	E
AGI	B
WIL	E
INT	B
EGO	?

DT Turn 1 of 1.
Natural Physical Defense halved.
Movement reduced by one.

A paralyzing pain shot through the entirety of Vivienne's body. She tumbled forwards, strength leaving her as the excruciating pain melded into a hazy, lulling numbness. But it wasn't the end yet, there was a little time left for her, there was still something that she could do. No matter what she was going to do, all of them would lead to her demise; it was logical, the natural conclusion of a fight where she had been caught unprepared, out of resources, and where she was pitted against someone that could shrug off the only means of attack she had left... still, even if it was meaningless, there was still something she could do. It was either act or don't -- in the face of death, what else could Vivienne do but go on and follow the motto that she had adopted ever since her soul broke? It was the same thing she had told to Prushka:

'To keep going, until the journey ends.'

Thus she got up and sprung back into action, as painful as it was. She darted around the tree the gunslinger had taken cover behind to get a clearer aim at him and then threw her four remaining daggers at the gunslinger, as ineffective as her weapons had proven to be. Her aim was to pierce his eyes, robbing him of sight -- if she could at least do that, then Hwan may be able to deal with him.

However, this wasn't the end of her offense -- rather than dashing back behind the tree for cover against retaliation, Vivienne closed the distance further, just like how the man once did to shoot her point blank. She didn't have time for anything else, she could feel it. The pain that had been invading the entirety of her body was starting to disappear, replaced by an all encompassing numbness -- her eyesight was failing, her limbs were growing sluggish... she was on the verge of death.

With a final surge of celerity, drenched in her own blood, Vivienne approached and ducked under the man's guns, putting all of her remaining strength in one final attack: a punch.

She uppercut him as hard as she could. Her fists most likely broke upon impacting his chin, doing more damage to herself than him, but Vivienne couldn't even feel them by now. The empty vessel had little luggage to mind, thus it was possible to achieve all of this even though her willpower was no different from a normal human being's.

"..."

There was no sound, no breath. How she even stood after all this was a mystery -- the man could give a slight push and she'd fall over like an inanimate object. Vivienne Bianchi had now become a statue. But this statue glared at the man whom she had fought -- it seems like if he didn't confirm that she was certainly dead, she would move once more and continue to impede him. It was a continuation of her previous invitation, of telling him to finish what he had started with her.

[Daneel Rush]

Location: At the Threshold (?)
Date: ????

“Are you still unable to forgive yourself, Mr. Dove?”

What did she say?

John Dove steps through the door he flung open, letting the all-concealing fog also envelop him, rendering the ever-hollow world all the more grayer and emptier. Even the existence called John Dove (Really? Is that really my name?) seems to dilute and lose physicality within the fog, until “where am I?” becomes “who am I?” which becomes “what am I?”

Forgive…what? What did I do? I’ve done nothing—

“—that is precisely right. You have done nothing, ‘John Dove’.”

A voice. His own voice.

Spoiler:

They…were already doomed. They were going to kill themselves and me along with them.

“But they did not. They were murdered.”

Spoiler:

That man…he crashed his car into my guardian’s. I just happened to be there; I do not even remember the man’s name.

“Yet, he was murdered, his mangled body to be found in that alley.”

Spoiler:

…young people recklessly living their youth. What they did after school was none of my business.

“Yet, they were murdered and thrown away like the trash they were in life, right?”

Spoiler:

…my cousin, Evelyn. We…perhaps, we were ‘friends’.

“And there you found her. Dead, on her very bed.”




I did not kill any of those people.

“But they died nonetheless.”

Not because of me.

“Is that what you truly believe, or what you need to tell yourself to get up every morning?”

There is no point in dwelling on the dead. They are gone; slivers of nothingness in a world already hollow. Thinking about them does not change that. With those words, those unnecessary dregs of memory become sediment left forgotten at the bottom of the sea called psyche...

“What about this one, then?”

I…I did not call Her. I have no control over Her—

“Yet, She who killed her was beckoned there by your presence.”













“What about this one, then?”

He told me to stay behind in case something went wrong.

“And something indeed went wrong. Not that you could’ve done anything about it.”













“What about this one, then?”

I couldn’t have watched over her every second of every day!

“Not that it would have made any difference. Yet, you longed for her, didn’t you?. You saw radiant color in her. Was it really like that, though? Weren’t you just trying to see Her—

Silence!

It is his own voice that accuses him. Perhaps it is “the John Dove that should have been”, the one whose existence was denied over a decade before by The One Wreathed in Blood and Moonlight. The one who was hollowed out, his substance replaced with Her and only Her.

“What do you have, ‘John Dove’? What does your life amount to? A library of knowledge with no use nor purpose, and a trail of corpses and missing persons left behind. Both subjectively and objectively speaking, that is the result of your search for Her.”

However, deeming it “another John Dove” is only an excuse. Even now, he wavers. What he calls “accepting everything” merely means he detaches himself from everything, believing he can pretend not belong to the world to gleefully obsess over inhuman beauty.

The voice comes from within himself, after all. It is the result of applying to himself the same standards he applies to the hollow world. Alone in a world his eyes and his mind deem “worthless”, upon learning the truth of his past and of that night, it is only natural to reach this conclusion.

The events of that night were completely fortuitous, a combination of circumstances completely unrelated to him and beyond his control. He does not possess some “special attribute” that drew Her to his side, nor do they share some sort of “fated connection”. The tragedy of that night was not the beginning of a grand romance, nor a hero’s origin story.

There is nothing remotely of worth about him, and he has achieved nothing of worth. The “truth” he longed for and desperately sought for over ten years was almost ridiculously simple and cruelly dismissive, as if She had ripped out the needle of his compass, leaving him aimless and adrift in the middle of a grey ocean.

Finding a new purpose? Taking Elaine Winters’ mission for his own? Is that a joke?

Elaine Winters was strong and determined. Her eyes shone with the spark of purpose until the very end.

“John Dove” is a directionless nobody.

He feels two sharp wounds somewhere defying description. Pain that he cannot dismiss nor deny. Whether it is some metaphorical lament of his soul or something else matters little. It hurts.

It hurts.

Yet, he dreams. A dream not his own.

What…who are you…just, leave me alone!

People he does not know murmur words he does not understand. Words he does not wish to understand. Because taking those words unto himself means acting on them, and “John Dove” does not want to act—rather, does not know what it means to act. He has been the hapless soul adrift in the grey ocean, caring nothing for where the currents carried him. Now that his obsession is resolved, he needs to start paddling, to swim somewhere, anywhere.

But this hopeless dreg of a human being does not know how.

Somebody hit him, for God’s sake. Maybe that will jolt that useless brain of his into being somebody.

Well, there you go.

The impact is real. The sensation of his body bouncing and scratching the ground is too real. The shaking of his innards as he rolls one and two and three times before coming to halt is most decidedly real.

His broken mind hurries to pull off the tried and true mental trick, all the more so in response to such abrupt and severe trauma. If anything, it is convenient that it was a car of all things. This was not ill will directed at him, or some absurd destructive power from the Turnside. It was just a car. Just something that happened. Fortuitous and circumstantial, like everything else in his hollow life in the hollow world. Like that, like every single time it is convenient, “John Dove” detaches himself from the things

he does not want to regard

not worth regarding

. Like pain, for example. Pain is annoying, so why would he let the gray world make him feel pain? That would be absurd.

It does not change the fact he can taste his own blood and he is finding it awfully hard to move, though.

In any case, he is the victim of a car accident. There is a certain protocol to follow, certain patterns of behavior expected in such an event. Therefore, the liar who goes by the name “John Dove” begins his careful performance of “a car accident victim”.

“…ow.”


[John Dove – Health: -1/24]
[John Dove: Entering Desperation Turns...]

[Verg Avesta]

John Dove
Location: Road's End - Streets
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

Considering the things that had transpired...

... It was laughably mundane.

Getting hit by a car and then thrown like a ragdoll across the unkempt asphalt road, hitting the side of the road and then rolling into the ditch filled with rocks and roots... it was almost ridiculously normal way to be brought to death's door after witnessing time itself be broken, after witnessing a presence of the moon, after witnessing so many horrifying and wonderful things of this so-called Turnside. It was like fate itself, or something else controlling John's traipse through time, had a particularly twisted sense of humour.

But the humour was all gone now.

There wasn't enough air in the lungs to laugh.

Even his eyes merely saw the tops of the pine trees of the now-familiar Road's End, and the grey sky far above everything else.

And what leaves his lips is only a meager:

“…ow.”

At that very same moment, the tires of the car screech to a halt and the driver nearly loses control on the old asphalt road. But once the expensive-looking import car from Europe has come to a halt, its driver's side door is flung open and a new noise enters John's ears. Something other than the rumble of the engine and the frantic beat of his own heart. No, this sound... it's hysterical sobbing. The wailing of someone on the brink of losing it, and who is currently - just barely - holding onto any resemblance of control.

Fast, approaching steps.

Screams that sound like an apology.

Somebody slides down to the ditch right next to him, and next...

"Oh God... oh God... like, why the hell were you standing in the middle of the road!?"

The sight of Mercedes West's crying face fills John's vision.

The actress knelt next to him, her hands making awkward and panicked gestures like she didn't know whether or not she was supposed to lift him, try to stop the bleeding, make him stay put or what. The mental shock must have made her mind completely numb at this point, because she had none of the poise or composure that she usually had. Instead the starlet had been reduced to a blubbering mess that had no idea what to do with the broken body of her classmate.

"First Graddie, then, like, Pyry, Hisa, Elise... goddammit, I don't even know where Lucy is! Why... why... why is this happening!? What the hell, like, did we do wrong!?" the girl cried out as she finally tried to lift John's head to a proper angle and support him upright, despite lacking the strength. "W-why... why is all this happening to us...? Where did you, like, even come from...?"

Any remains of dignity were gone.

All that was left was a crying girl.

"Why did the world turn mad today...?"

And as if to answer that question... the sky changed.

While Mercedes West did not see it, John Dove did as he stared upwards, his head resting on the girl's legs.

He saw how there was, first, a sudden white flash.

And then, what followed...

... was a spreading wave of phantasmal hues, expanding towards the skies.

[Verg Avesta]

Vivienne Bianchi VS Nameless Gunslinger VS Hwan Bin (Round 2, Turn 8/9)
Location: Road's End - Woods
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

Four more to go.

Four more to the road.

The last remaining shards of metal and thunder pierced the air and howled on their way towards the man who had hidden his form behind the trees. They were fast as before and as inhumanely accurate as before - there was no denying it. As much as he tried to avoid them, the nameless gunslinger was unable to completely dodge their sharp edges - but he didn't need to. That same elemental affinity that gave the daggers, the shards, their power also robbed them of any meaningful power when it came against this man in particular.

But still she did it. Still she fought on.

Just like the small girl that had given her life to protect Vivienne earlier that day, she now gave her life to protect the boy who was still writhing in the ground - staring with utmost fury and rage at the man who had so easily caught them at them unawares and dealt with them.

Four more wounds to inflict.

Blood was spilled.

But not nearly enough.

The man had seen that his moment had come.

He had already half-stepped out of the shadows of the tree now that Vivienne was not armed and raised his revolver towards her.

He had started to aim towards her forehead with utmost precision.

Yes, he had been all too ready to finish up this battle and then move on to dealing with Hwan Bin, the man who was still capable of fighting and who most likely had more means of hurting him.

That's when it happened.

The unexpected.

Instead of letting her arm fall down against her side now that her daggers were spent, Vivienne Bianchi...



Let loose one last attack.

A punch aimed squarely at the man.

A furious uppercut that was the last resort of an empty girl, fighting for what she could even if the odds were so nightmarishly stacked against her.

The strike went through the man's defenses, came up from under his extended arm that had raised the gun, and...!

Collided with the skin so hard that Vivienne could feel her knuckles fracture.

It was... it was as if punching metal itself.

The man was more than someone capable of summoning weapons.

Looking at his cold, gunbarrel-like eyes from this close.

This man... he was a weapon.

"... I see. So that will be your last effort. The candle and the wick were already burnt ten seconds ago, but the flame... it flittered and sparked for just a moment longer," the man said, his voice as gravelly and deep as before. "Still, that's it. There's nothing left anymore. The flame may burn brightest just before going out... but now nothing but ashes remain."

He glanced at the fist that was still connected to his cheek and jaw, trying to push him back for a second or two longer. A fist that refused to give up, despite the battle being already lost. With an annoyed sigh, the man lowered his arm, lowered his gun and turned his full attention to the girl before him who refused to stand aside. His tall form, and those gunbarrel-like eyes, they bore a hole through her with their glare - the backdrop of an overcast sky, hidden sun and the darkened forest making his form seem even more potent.

The man stayed silent for a moment.

Or a two.

And when he spoke... he spoke with bitterness.

"Really, it's clear in your eyes. That dream of a miracle. That dream of somehow making it out of this situation. That dream of buying enough time for him to regain his strength. What a load of bull. Dreams are dreams. They aren't reality. Reality is what's standing before you," the man said, undercurrent of hatred clear in his voice. "See, the reality is that you will die. Your life is already forfeit, counted in seconds. And when it's over, it's over. There's nothing more left than that. Dreams won't help you there. Dreams are the the weapons of fools - those without the power to act. And that's all they shall ever be - nothing more than fool's hope."

He shifted his head, letting the fist slide off his skin. At the same time, he moved to the side, causing Vivienne's body to finally lose the support it had had, the one that had kep it upright. With a slow movement, almost as if from a movie, the mute girl began falling forward. The ground and the forest floor were approaching fast. The only thing she saw in her blurring vision anymore, as her field of vision twisted around, was the tall man with countless cuts all over his body thanks to her efforts at stopping him.

And then there were his parting words.

The ones he spoke quietly, but full of bitter fury.

The last thing Vivienne Bianchi heard before her corpse hit the ground.

"... So drown in your dreams and die."

Really... in the end, what was it for?

The prey had slipped away - she hadn't even began to find it.

She had gotten wrapped up in so many other things.

Things that were far too mundane.

But then again... it had been completely unlike what her life had been for quite a while.

And even if there were losses, even if things didn't become a perfect happy ending...

... Her actions must have had some effect, right?

And maybe they could meet some day...

... In a tiny town beset by forest and the ocean.

---

[Hit! Nameless Gunslinger: 3 / 2 - 5 = 1 Steel Damage (PHYS Defense)!]
[Hit! Nameless Gunslinger: 3 / 2 - 5 = 1 Steel Damage (PHYS Defense)!]
[Hit! Nameless Gunslinger: 3 / 2 - 5 = 1 Steel Damage (PHYS Defense)!]
[Hit! Nameless Gunslinger: 3 / 2 - 5 = 1 Steel Damage (PHYS Defense)!]
[Hit! Nameless Gunslinger: 2 - 5 = 1 Unarmed Damage (PHYS Defense)!]

[Vivienne Bianchi dies...]

[Verg Avesta]

Lucille Faraday VS Vier Wolff VS A-gyoh (Round 5, Turn 14)
Location: Pinefall High Dormitory
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

Two shots ran clear through the campus area.

Two shots from a weapon given to Lucille Faraday by the last strength of her ally in this fight against the crazed shrine maiden.

Two bullets coursed through the air, heading straight for the tower of the main building, and...

"................................... Eh?"

Ended the combat in a terrifying instant.

Despite the rage and the turmoil of the battle that had been ever-present just few seconds ago, now it was completely silent. It was as if the two bullets Lucille had sent flying towards the smaller girl had caused all sound to cease - even the wind died down. For what reason was there for such horrible sounds to exist anymore now that the victor had been made clear? Yes... the victor had been made clear. Yet at the same time, it was clear that there was no true victory to be found in this vile combat. Everyone present had lost, and they had lost dearly. It was if Gods of Irony themselves had descended to laugh at their expense.

The death of Vier Wolff.

The death of Tonkori.

The death of Aleen King.

And now --- the deaths of Subaru Iburi and Lucille Faraday.

They had all been so very, terribly, meaningless.

There was no reason for any of this to occur, nothing was gained or achieved with this ridiculous tragedy, and yet... and yet... it had happened all the same. As if fates themselves had twisted so that such a sad and worthless ending was achieved despite all the odds. And now that it had come to pass, all that was left was blood on the ground and the taste of ash in the mouths of those that were left.

It was as colorless of a victory as the overcast sky above them.

But still, in this silence... in this horrible silence, Lucille could hear it.

She could hear the voice of Subaru Iburi as she nearly fell over, took two steps back, and cluthed her stomach where the bullets had hit.

"W-why...? Why... no... no, this is not... this is not how it was supposed to... the evil should not win... such monsters cannot be... they cannot be allowed to live..." the tiny girl spoke out, red staining her mouth and clothes at a rapid pace. "One... one was defeated... yet the other... still lingers... she even killed my friend... my dearest friend, the only one I have... no... NO!"

With last remnants of her willpower, her fury, entering her voice Subaru bent over and held her stomach, trying to stop the bleeding but without succeeding in it. Instead she took three steps forward, each as difficult looking as keeping herself alive was, her maddened eyes burning with hatred and with the concept of revenge as if she wanted to burn Lucille to dust where she stood.

"You monsters...! You beasts in the guise of humans...! Were it not enough that you took a-away Cesarina!? Are you n-not satisfied till you slaughter all that is good in this world!? Do none of you feel shame of your wanton destruction!?" Subaru screamed out, her face twisting into a mask of pure hatred with her eyes bloodshot and crazed. "Oh, I know! I know it all, your hidden dark secrets! Elise Pelltier revealed me your sins and your cruelty, and how deep your darkness really is! You would trample upon this haven for the lost and the poor, those without place in the world, just to laugh at their faces when you cut them down like cattle and play with their bodies!? Unforgivable! You are beyond forgiveness!"

Her screams were like the raging wind. Her weapons were forgotten and tumbled down towards the ground. At the same time, the frame of the tiny girl full of fury swayed as her strength left her with her blood. Her skin grew paler and her look more and more disheveled. She had not long now. She had not long in the first place. Judging from how she was bleeding... she may have been wounded from the very beginning.

But that look...

That look of pure hatred in her eyes as she stared down to Lucille Faraday on the ground.

--- It was a look of rage that would last even past death.

"It was just as he said! The words of Michael Lowgate were true! You truly are a wicked beast, abandoning all for the sake of your own amusement and pleasure! A betrayer of those who believe in you, who trust you and who count you as their ally in troubled times! The innocence of Cesarina Feroce, who came here to heal, so easily crushed by your cruelty...! I will never forgive you. Never. To my dying breath I spit at the sight of you and the darkness you represent!" Subaru Iburi howled, pouring the last of her strength into her screams. "Know that the world has now seen your darkness and it will not forget... it never will. Just like you once abandoned him and put him down that road, so too shall your evil deeds one day be brought to light, and then...!"

"WHEN YOUR SINS FINALLY CATCH UP TO YOU, I WILL BE THERE TO DRAG YOU TO HELL!"

But that was the last of it.

The last of whatever strength the tiny girl had left.

With that roar of defiance and rage out of her body, she swayed once more... this time for the last time.

Her balanced shifted, and for a moment, it looked almost as if the wind would catch and take away her tiny from.

But even though lithe she was, that was a foolish hope.

Instead, the center of her gravity tilted to the right.

Her eyes, now suddenly clouded and unsure, adopted a confused look as her world turned.

She seemed unsure of what was even happening.

And just before she reached the tipping point...

Just before she entered a free fall...

The last quiet words left her mouth.

"Subaru...? Will you be there, waiting for me...?"

Thus, with that...

--- She fell.

---

[Hit! Subaru Iburi: 10 - 0 - 3 = 7 Modern Damage (Classical PHYS Defense)!]
[Hit! Subaru Iburi: 10 - 0 - 3 = 7 Modern Damage (Classical PHYS Defense)!]
[Subaru Iburi: 18 Falling Damage!]
[Subaru Iburi dies...]

---

[Katie]

Lucille Faraday
Location: Pinefall High Dormitory
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

The wind stills.

Lucille blinks as Subaru’s words wash over her, trying to stop her vision from getting blurry. In the haze of dying she finds it hard to focus on her enemy’s words, charged and frantic as they are. Her brain tries to focus, courtesy and lament ingrained into her instincts, to listen to the rambling of a foe because surely there must be someone in this world to hear someone’s last words.

Elise, she hears Subaru say, revealed to me your sins and your cruelty.

What would Elise know…?

She furrows her brow from both pain and confusion. Was Subaru listening in on the conversation she had with Elise earlier? Even then, what she had said… What she said was nothing…

"It was just as he said! The words of Michael Lowgate were true! You truly are a wicked beast, abandoning all for the sake of your own amusement and pleasure! A betrayer of those who believe in you, who trust you and who count you as their ally in troubled times! The innocence of Cesarina Feroce, who came here to heal, so easily crushed by your cruelty...! I will never forgive you. Never. To my dying breath I spit at the sight of you and the darkness you represent!" Subaru Iburi howled, pouring the last of her strength into her screams. "Know that the world has now seen your darkness and it will not forget... it never will. Just like you once abandoned him and put him down that road, so too shall your evil deeds one day be brought to light, and then...!"

“I didn’t abandon him!”

Her voice is a roar of fury and misery, but just as sudden as her scream of denial is the pain that wracks through her body, piercing the numbness she was beginning to grow accustomed to. Lucille topples backwards, bloodied side meeting the pavement, and the only sound is a labored hitch in her breath.

How did she abandon him? Stained in his blood, clutching him in her arms, begging, pleading, praying, crying… Feeling his heart beating its last…

If she truly abandoned him, she would have forgotten those feelings long ago…

Her thoughts are mixed with tears, her body between numbness and pained sobs. She can hear Subaru curse her with her last breaths and regretful words that make no sense to Lucille at all. She does not mind. Subaru can hate her as much as she wants, because the shrine maiden is wrong yet right. Lucille’s sins will catch up to her. Even if she has no inkling of what Subaru had accused her of, she still had plenty already.

Lucille closes her eyes.

“Lord…”

It is the natural state of things in this world to be flawed. That is why she is human. Much like how Tonkori had to be a dog, she had to be a person, because the world is designed to reject their wondrous splendor. It makes perfect sense.

“…please forgive me…”

Even so…

What value is there in imperfect angels?

“I couldn’t do anything right…”

They say that you can see a light at the end, but all Lucille can do is let herself sink into the darkness.

[Daneel Rush]

John Dove
Location: Road's End - Streets
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast



The fog is gone.

John Dove’s ability to point out the obvious is top notch. However, the driver of the offending vehicle—he just does not have any luck with those today, does he? Walking is the best, after all—interrupts any further reflection or observation of his surroundings, rushing to a halt to hurry to where he lies prone. He hears sobbing, he hears mumbling; he hears a person on the precipice.

Ah, so this is what she looks like when she is honest.

Is it too much to say something good has come out of this entire mess? He cannot begin to imagine what pushed Mercedes West to this point, but the person behind the carapace of lies seems to have come out at last. That at least is not a bad thing.

She wails familiar names and laments whatever it is that happened to her and them. What did they do wrong? Why is this happening to them?

“Why did the world turn mad today...?”

The world was turned against them today. There is a difference. Even if Ramia Ramalsaqr had a personal issue with him, the accumulation of that plus all the other events happening simultaneously on the same day is too outrageous to be coincidence. Somebody prepared this grotesque stage and forced them to act it out for their…amusement? Vindication?

Disembodied Man…perhaps, just like the knowledge of inhuman natures of Alexstrasza, Elaine Winters, Ramalsaqr and His Moonlit Goddess already existed in his mind, he might be able to grasp the truth of the Disembodied Man if he met it face-to-face. Well, no point in dwelling on “maybes”.

There is no point in dwelling on the whys. Perhaps Cesarina Feroce, Colton Davin and the others were in fact monsters who deserved what happened to them. It would be no surprise to find that at least one of his classmates was a truly dangerous, truly wicked person. However, to assume such a thing without basis, he feels, would make him the monster. It

is more convenient

makes more sense

to believe their fate was undeserved, that there is no justification whatsoever for the cruelty unleashed upon the students of Pinefall. That there is no justice, no correctness being pursued here, merely a deviant’s desire for wickedness.

What John Dove decidedly knows is that he is wary of Mercedes West because she is a professional liar. To this young man, people who lie for a living are just scary. However, he also believes Mercedes West does not deserve…whatever this is. And he, John Dove, most certainly does not deserve her tears.

John Dove cannot comfort this devastated girl. What would he even say?

“It’s okay”? Of course it is not okay; he of all people can tell how hollow that would sound.

“Don’t worry”? As if those words would mean anything from somebody who is pretty much a complete stranger.

“I’ll protect you”? Now that would be the joke to top all jokes.

The attempt at coming up with the right words is broken by a flash of light. Without warning, John Dove’s world is filled with color again.

It is a beautiful image, but to expect awe, wonder or anything like that from John Dove is beyond absurd. If anything, he feels a little upset.

If somebody taking me for a fool? Of course I know the sky is not supposed to look like that; I remember that much.

Feeling upset is not a bad thing. It heats up his blood, which then delivers that heat to his still limbs. It feels like a call to action; his soul affirmation that anything is better than staying there doing nothing. After all, his aim has not changed ever since he set foot out of Pinefall, has it?

He wills his right arm to move, and this time it obeys almost eagerly. As if it had been waiting too long for this.

“Miss West,” he calls out calmly and gently, patting her thigh a few times. It is an unnecessary gesture, but a pragmatic man like John Dove seizes an opportunity when he sees it.

“Your thighs are most wonderful, but I believe there is a better use for our time.”

With that, he uses his other hand to push himself up to a sitting position. It is not supposed to hurt, because his mind rejects the very idea of pain, but the grey (now Technicolor) world enthusiastically reminds him that a car indeed rammed him and that for all the virtues of his broken mind, his body still follows the world’s rules.

“Alright, this is new,” he mutters. Well, yes, dealing with the aftermath of being rammed by a car is a completely new experience for John Dove. Slowly, carefully, he turns his body to face the tear-stricken girl properly. It really feels like the limit of his capability for action at the moment. In lack of better words, it sucks.

“It is disturbing to think of it, but I must consider the possibility that this accident was arranged. Or perhaps it was indeed a coincidence and I am merely looking for the supernatural after everything that’s happened.” He shakes his head. Again, he is dwelling in pointless things. This young woman is tired and lost, so he needs to become the compass among the two. It is easier to keep going when your mind is occupied with something else, right?

“Regardless, I am in need of your help for a while,” he continues in a more insistent voice, hoping to get a complete hold on her attention. Now is not the time for Mercedes West to lose it over the colors of the sky. “I have a first-aid kit, but my bag must have flown somewhere else. Can I ask you to look for it, please? For that matter, can you perform first aid?”

John has the strong hunch that they need to move. That remaining on the same place in this town, on this day, is perilous. Therefore, he has to hope Mercedes West can patch him up so that he is not a complete burden. If she cannot, then…the right thing to do would be urging her to take that car and leave without him.

A stray, yet important thought strikes his mind, and John realizes he has to give out further indications. The better to keep her mind occupied and her will engaged. Regardless of the whos and the whys, regardless of the apparent unfairness of it all, regardless of the finale awaiting them at the end of this play nobody asked for, the one thing they cannot ever do is to stop moving forward.

Walking aimlessly is better than not moving at all. This is John Dove’s conclusion.

“When you find the bag, be mindful of the bottle. It does not contain water. And you can take the leather notebook if so wish. It is yours in the first place, right?”


[John Dove - End of First Desperation Turn]

[Verg Avesta]

Anna Vandemeel (Combat Paused)
Location: Road's End - Outside End's Mercy Hospital
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

“So.... Are we done here?”

For a moment, it was completely silent. The dark red eyes of Gabriela Bahkauv stared a hole through Anna, the darkness in them too vast to be measured completely. Her form seemed to waver ever so slightly, almost like some sort of static on the surface of a television screen. The smell of the beast got even stronger, to the point that Travis was already dragging his wounded body further away from the tall woman as quietly as he could, trying not to draw attention to himself. But she, on the other hand... the woman with a presence that was as booming as her voice... she simply stood quietly, taking in the defiance of the raven-haired girl before her.

But even that came to an end.

And it ended with a quiet, menacing chuckle.

"Very well. We are done conversing. But make no mistake, furious child, screaming at the world..." Gabriela Bahkauv announced, her right hand rising with its fingers extended. "Do not mistake effect for a cause. I did not break anyone. I do not induce madness in anyone. I do not corrupt anyone. I do not make anyone go insane."

That raised hand... it quivered.

The smell of the beast got unbearable.

And in that moment...!

------- The hand was clenched into a fist.

"I am that insanity."

---

---

Initiative Check!
Gabriela Bahkauv: 3 VS Anna Vandemeel: 3
Coinflip!
Gabriela Bahkauv Wins!

BATTLE START!
Round 1, Turn 1: Gabriela Bahkauv

---

Anna Vandemeel (Round 1, Turn 2)
Location: Road's End - Outside End's Mercy Hospital
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast
[BGM]

On that very second, the world exploded with Odic Particles.

What had been a quiet forest darkened and covered with fog was now dazzled by the reflective fragments of ESP's activation, one released at the very same moment as Gabriela Bahkauv's hand was clenched into a tight fist. The explosion of Odic Power was unexpected and felt like a concussive shockwave that struck Anna straight into the stomach. That heavy feeling of ESP pressing down onto the world as the laws of reality were rewritten to fit those of the inner world of the woman before Anna... it was a feeling of danger unlike anything felt today yet. In a sense it was certainly a power that paled in comparison to the one used by the bespectacled girl, but the sheer gravity of this presence... it was on a completely different scale.

The red eyes were staring down at the raven-haired girl.

The blonde woman took a step forward.

The pressure of the ESP changed course, started converging into a proper shape and form.

The mental world of Gabriela Bahkauv took form.

And suddenly---!

--- A shadow fell upon Anna Vandemeel.

It was... something.

Something that words could not do justice for.

A warped creature of teeth and fangs, flesh and venom, fury and madness.

Something that was like it had been ripped straight out of humanity's nightmares and thrust upon Anna Vandemeel.

A misshapen beast of ever-changing proportions, its limbs, heads, tails and spines switching places and melding together, only to separate.

The forest was blown apart like a house of matches as the creature emerged from it in full gallop, throwing aside trees and boulders and destroying ground upon its wake, heading straight for the girl in red. And as it approached, the form twisted again, it's crocodile-like jaws extending with a hungry look gleaming in its eyes. The massive monster let out a screech or a roar that shook the woods with its fury, a sound that was enough for human body to instinctively try to protect its ears.

[################!]

And as the beast clashed with the girl...

--- The blonde woman simply stood and watched.

Pain.

Pain screamed through Anna's head as the beast's jaws slammed shut around her waistline, lifting her up in the air and swinging her around like she had been a rag-doll. The gigantic fangs dug deep into her flesh, and it was quite likely that some sort of venom was being pumped into her flesh at the same time - venom that only made the pain worse. No, not just pain... this was something else - there was something other than pain mixed into this horribly situation.

The world was revolving as the beast trashed around, trying to end Anna then and there.

Her field of vision was constantly swung around and she saw both the ground and the sky at the same time.

Red liquid was seeping into her clothes from the puncture wounds.

The beast was refusing to let go, like it was trying to bite through her.

But even so, even so, this shouldn't have been... this creature, as nightmarish shouldn't have been too much...

Yet why...?

--- Why was fear assaulting Anna Vandemeel's mind like an overflooding river?

---

[Hit! Anna Vandemeel: 13 - 1 = 12 Melancholic Damage (INT Defense)!]
[Anna Vandemeel - Restrained!]
[Anna Vandemeel: INT Defense Overcome! Frightened for 2 Rounds!]

--> Round 1, Turn 2: Anna Vandemeel
--> Round 2, Turn 3: Gabriela Bahkauv

---

New Ability Witnessed!

Gabriela Bahkauv

STR: ?

END: ?

AGI: C

WIL: ?

INT: A

EGO: ?

Abilities:

Animus Thanatos
Rank: B?
Element: Melancholic
An ESP that is capable of summoning a monster that seems to have a mutable form. The beast appears to be within the beck and call of Gabriela Bahkauv, inflicting grievous wounds with its fangs and claws and scarring the psyche of those it attacks with a deep, primalistic sense of fear. The attack of the beast seems to count as an activation on Gabriela's part? Further information either pending or obscured...