Spirit Pulse : Mugen No Sekai [IC]

[Airen]

Rossweisse & Hiyori
Tokyo ~ JAXA
11/16/2026
Afternoon

---A long creaking sound, like a ship swaying dangerously over turbulent waters.

That's the only thing that happens in response to your taunt, your affirmation that the thing haunting you has no actual way of being you, because it should understand that these sorts of tactics do not work on people like you. Of course, most Tamers can jury-rig an ability to 'fly' when necessary, often through rather creative and unorthodox uses of their other spell formulas (such as turning agi blasts into rocket boosts). But such methods of flight are unwieldy and almost always lack grace and control, very much unlike yourself in this instance, on-board anti-gravity systems kicking to life and quickly stopping the bizarre gravity-like force that had tried to yank you out of the room and into the hallway, one that lets go after a few moments as if it had never existed at all...

---You're not sure why that force had wanted you out there, but the swirl of moving shadows was more than a little ominous, still...

The voice doesn't appear again, simply that dull creaking sound, again like the sound of a swaying ship atop stormy waters. It's a sound that has no clear source of origin, somehow coming from all around you in spite of that not making any sort of sense at all, and Charlotte...

"..."

...Has gone quiet at all, completely still, eyes no longer looking around the room but directly up at the ceiling, where...

"...I see, dream logic is quite problematic isn't it?"

She says this, chuckling to herself in a way that was both amused and a bit forced, like she didn't want to admit to any other feeling besides amusement...

"We can be moved under a body of water just like that, with a snap of some invisible fingers, and it doesn't have to make sense in a direct, conscious way."

Under a body of water?

Looking up to match her gaze, you-

"I think the ceiling might very well collapse in on us," she grins, gaze dropping from the ceiling to you, "Do you think you'll need assistance holding your breath? Swimming? It seems they intend to drown us."

-find water dripping down in a steady stream through newfound cracks in the tile.

---Like she said, it doesn't make sense, but...

Again that creaking sound, but this time alongside more sounds...

Cracks of lighting?

Surging waters from up above?

What the hell was going on...?

[Airen]

Eva Ellet
Saint Vivienne ~ Strange Manor
11/16/2026
Monday - Evening

---Bite the bullet.

If all of this is a dream, showing undue fear of anything might actually result in that something becoming more of a threat to you... It's a bit of logic that seems to come naturally to you, the sort of thoughts commonly used by others to avoid turning dreams into nightmares, that is, not allowing yourself to get swept up in the flow of terror at all, after all...

Once the ball starts rolling in those regards, it often cannot be stopped.

Things that you fear happening to you in nightmares are the things most likely to happen, an idea latched onto by your own brain because you thought it up...

A traitorous little habit of the mind...

Still...

Striding boldly into the room, walking across it as if you belonged here, as if you were a guest of the house rather than an invader, you address the maid head-on without showing undue fear, and-!

"...Brown hair you say? A little rude?"

Voice like the darkness, as low and smooth as a new moon expanse, as a night without the light of the stars or the moon.

"Would you by any chance mean Lady Liesl?"

When she moves to face you, you again get the strange feeling that she's somehow a part of the floor... No... A part of the house itself? Her dress seems to melt into the carpets and walls, joining the canopy of darkness that seemed to bleed into every aspect of this room, like everything in it was connected to each other, connected to the maid, like...

She was a piece of furniture herself...?

Regardless...

"If that is your inquiry... Then yes, I do in fact know her. She is one of the residents of this estate."

The woman's voice is friendly enough, but no smile graces her pale, almost vampire-like features.

Instead, she gazes at you with an emotionless heart.

"However, before anything else, I must ask something of you."

She leans forward, tall, much taller than you, her unblinking eyes peering right into your own, as if she was trying to look into the very depths of your soul.

"...Are you a guest here?"

She tilts her head to the side, this nexus of rippling shadows...

Now looking a bit like a very curious owl.

"...Or some sort of bandit? One who breaks and steals? Or are you perhaps... A lost and hungry child?"

Here she smiles at you.

---It's impossible to tell the meaning behind it.

"I hope you haven't been running in the halls..."

[Airen]

Raz Stone
???
??/??/????

"Ugh..."

In response to that horrendous pun, comes that oh-so-classic groan of a younger sibling that can't believe she has to deal with this nonsense. It's of the perfect pitch, just low enough to really make the disdain in her voice clear, while being loud enough that it almost seems to reverberate all around this strangely empty world of mud and curses...

"Keep that up and you're gonna burn your bridge with her before you ever meet..."

Ada sighs out, glancing down at her guitar and then back up at the both of you. At your somewhat expectant faces, now that the legendary shut-in has finally drawn out her COMP in order to take control of the stage. She sighs again at this interest before looking back down at her instrument, a sign that Tamer and COMP were having a high speed conversation between themselves about something, before-

"Ah well, why not. This was bound to happen eventually, might as well get it over with, eh?"

-she says this to the guitar, who apparently disagrees judging by the silence that follows, but the silent argument ultimately seems to end in victory for Ada, as some of the stage lights begin to twitch on their own, movements slight and gentle, like someone who was afraid of damaging something they didn't own, and then...

"..."

The hologram of a young woman appears, one standing in front of an artificial setting sun, one of the more eye-catching settings on this particular stage.

"..."

She stares without saying anything, first at the DTG and then at Raz, and then slowly, as if working up the courage to do something...

"...Raz... Stone...?"

She sounds a bit like she's in shock, but her expression betrays none of that... Or well, it wouldn't, if a light flush hadn't crossed her cheeks at the same time...

"Oh no, no, you can't be serious." Says Ada at this behavior, staring at her COMP as if it had suddenly become a complete stranger, "You can't get nervous here! No! It's a trick! All he's got is a pretty face, everything else is bad-! Stop looking at him like that-!"

"But... It's Raz Stone-! Raz Stone! In the flesh! Looking at me! Me!"

...What?

W-was this the appearance of a new fan...?

"...Wait."

She says, sudden gloom entering her voice.

"He's looking at me... Me... The trash of the galaxy... Put me out of my misery..."

...This was certainly an interesting personality for an A.I to have...

[Satehi]

Eva Ellet
Saint Vivienne ~ Strange Manor
11/16/2026
Monday - Evening

Eva’s suspicion appeared to be correct. This woman was in some way affiliated with Liesl.

In other words, she was indeed, bad news.

… but perhaps that was overly pessimistic. She did not immediately seem to be hostile- and while under normal circumstances, someone acquainted with Liesl was likely to be someone difficult to get along with, she had come to this castle precisely to learn more about the girl. In that sense, this was actually a good thing.

“Lady Liesl… I suppose that has to be her, but it’s strange to hear the individual I know of referred to that way.”

"...Are you a guest here? …Or some sort of bandit? One who breaks and steals? Or are you perhaps... A lost and hungry child?

Eva tried not to think about the latter accusations. Perhaps it was some weird sense of humor on the part of the maid...?

“A guest, I guess.”

It wasn’t quite accurate- for one, Eva was fairly sure that if this maid asked Liesl, then Liesl’s response would be to have her removed from the castle immediately- but of the options presented, it was the natural choice.

“I came here looking for Liesl. I have some business with her…”

Eva’s gaze wandered over their surroundings again. Liesl had mentioned her situation in the old reality was rather unpleasant- either there was something about this place that matched the eerie impression it gave off, or Liesl’s luxurious castle life attended to by strange maids came to end sometime. As for which of the two it was…

… here was the perfect person to get answers from.

“… but I had no idea that this was what her home was like. The Liesl I’m familiar with gives off a very different impression, after all. She didn’t like to talk much about her past or where she was from.”

[Airen]

Daisuke
Tokyo, Aoyama ~ Brick Lane (Rooftops)
11/16/2026
Monday - Dark Hour

---What is trust?

By pure definition, trust is a "firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something." More practically it can take many forms, a belief that something you've created would work, or that the world functions in a certain way...

But more importantly...

It's the feeling that lets you entrust your back to someone else, to believe that one's friends will do as much as they can to protect you, that they have no interest in seeing you hurt in any way, that someone cares about you and has no ulterior motives. This sort of trust, belief in one's friends and comrades, is a legendary sort of force that has turned the tides of battle long before the magic age, even back in the time of the Battle of Thermopylae, it was belief in one's comrades that turned a rout into a three day struggle, a smaller, conventionally weaker group holding off the jaws of a massive force, because one's comrades were at their side...

Yes.

Trust is certainly something, when placed in the hands of those that deserve it.

Just as it is completely devastating to the one that holds it, if it is placed in the hands of those that do not.

Which was it?

---By it's very nature, one who takes this sort of bet can only believe in the first-!

In respect to that force, you launch yourself from the sewers with the last of your power, no destination but the air itself, blank space, a desperate leap past the opponent that has no plan beyond that empty space.

It's dark.

Different from the darkness created by the vampiric fog, the darkness that has so-suddenly fallen across the city does so as the moon disappears behind thick black cumulonimbus clouds.

Clouds that have covered the sky in an unnatural way.

Clouds that even hide the dragon as it crashes into a howling, shrieking moon, like an errant bolt of lightning returning to the heavens instead of crashing into the ground... But no, the dragon is far grander than lightning and yet the sky you see now is alight with rampant electrical charge, arcs lancing from cloud to cloud, the smell of ozone becoming heavy and oppressive, sensors showing minor errors as an unnatural electric charge begins to interfere with their readings like it might the nervous system of a human being, that strange feeling of dizziness and sweat that comes with a truly powerful storm, one that interferes with the nervous system and heats your body, that causes the heart to leap and stammer as the electrical current they run on becomes imbalanced, but...

Simultaneously, along with the strange storm, comes the form of your opponent.

Having launched themselves at you with pure brute force, the nature of that same brute force is one that had made it impossible for them to catch you mid-dash; much like an arrow cannot change it's target after being launched, so too was the White Shroud incapable of intercepting your escape, however-

"...!"

-as a hunter of the supernatural, their mind adapts to such unnatural escapes just as quickly.

Metal shrieks, an errant pipe screaming in abuse as an arm catches it on the descent; a normal human's bones would shatter, come apart at the sheer force of that impact, and even the pipe itself ultimately breaks at the abuse, but bones and muscle hold strong, downward momentum becomes upward momentum as the figure swings themselves with one arm, redirecting momentum back at you so swiftly, so seamlessly, that you won't even have time to reach the ground before they come crashing into you again.

---Monster.

Physically speaking, this person is a monster-! A brute, a rampant berserker crashing through everything with the unfitting form of a slim person, and-

-in response, comes a single knife.

One of Shuichi's throwing knives, simple combat implements, hurled with supernatural strength but inherently unfitting to stop the charge of a monster, but perhaps the best the boy in the sky could do from where he was?

Indeed.

It was unfitting to stop a monster. That hooded figure bats it away instinctively with the back of it's right hand, it's figure a streaking white that is already drawing back a fist to crush the three of you collectively in one blow. It comes in a haze of steam, the sheer heat erupting from it's body burning away the falling rain, coating them in a malevolent mix of grey and black, then-

-lightning explodes right next to your head, shooting past you with unnatural accuracy and crashing into the form of the White Shroud.

Or rather, right into their arm, to the hand, where a brilliant crimson seal has fashioned itself into a sort of target marker-!

Electricity strikes.



Not just once either.



Again.



And again and again, like the storm itself is targeting the figure, battering them as they fall, and that is exactly what is happening here-!

It's an auto-skill, Shuichi's, generation of a lightning storm in the area around himself-!

The White Shroud plummets, propelled down by a storm of lightning strikes, down towards the hungry vampiric mist.

You fall, drawn by gravity, albeit a bit slower than your stunned enemy, and yet...

Despite all the abuse, as you watch your enemy plummet towards the earth...

---They still seem to be very conscious.

Sturdy to the point of absurdity.

What kind of monster...?

[Airen]

Cosmos Fairchild
LOVELESS, Moon Under Water
Monday - Noon
11/16/2026

"Giant, mechanical, Sefirot..."

Sofia muses to herself, having already chosen to take you seriously no matter how absurd your claims sound now that you're saying them out loud...

"Well, I suppose that fits too... A number of higher angels take mechanical-looking forms in our World, representative of their nature as tools of the Ancient of Days."

She glances down at her menu, those intelligent eyes flickering from top to bottom as hands lazily make their way through the pages in the way that's truly only fitting for a regular customer at a certain restaurant. She hadn't given any money limits when she had brought you two here either, so it seems like you were set in that regard too, as could be evidenced by Daniel calmly and methodically jabbing at his own and nodding to himself, as if he was making some sort of grand list inside of his head...

"Well I suppose the more common term would be God, but doesn't he have something in the upwards of 1000 different names?" Sofia's eyes sparkle a bit in amusement, "I find Ancient of Days a lot more interesting to say. Easier too, considering the uh... Number of things claiming to be divine beings nowadays..."

She shakes her head a bit, setting down her menu and returning her gaze to you. She's got clear eyes, eyes that lock onto your face and don't look away as she comes to rest her chin on steepled hands.

"But I shot it with the satellite did I? Things must have been quite bad, firing that thing off is apparently cause for an international incident. Something about having a satellite cannon hovering over the planet makes people nervous, you see?"

She grins.

"I don't see the problem myself, clearly I was right about it being necessary... And it's not like mine is the only one up there, I can think of at least four more off the top of my head!"

Well...

That's an alarming thing to say so casually, still-!

"But was this... Sefirot it?" An eyebrow raises, "Anything else stick out in your mind that you can remember? If Daniel believes you I believe you, but then we run into the problem of exactly how everything you're talking about was simply... Undone..." She frowns, pulling her chin back from her hands, "Time Travel would be simple in a dream I suppose, but if this is a dream, it's clearly not a normal one... Things behave more or less as they're supposed too, there's no real sense of chaos from what I can see, no sudden disconnected events or rampant symbolism..."

At this-

"...Jester."

-Daniel interrupts, or rather, Daniel finally...

Decides to allow the conversation to move towards that particular entity...

[Airen]

Blaise Pendragon
Brighter Days ~ Yuriko's Room
11/16/2026
Monday - Morning

"I'll be fine."

She snorts dismissively, waving off the concerns about her health.

"Haven't gotten seriously hurt on guard duty yet, it shouldn't be an issue."

She smiles a bit smugly, crossing her arms against her chest and regarding you with a single open eye. It's a pretty confident look, one that seems designed to assuage fears that she might get herself hurt wandering around the city, but after a moment that same face becomes clouded a bit, eyes moving a bit to the side as a certain memory comes to the forefront of her thoughts...

"That... business with the... Cat thing doesn't count. That was more... Mental damage than anything physical..."

She chuckles to brush the memories aside, memories of an encounter that had certainly seemed like a fever dream at the time, no...

It still felt sort of like a fever dream now, really...

Like it really wasn't something that was supposed to happen in normal reality... And there was a meaning to that abnormality...?

Whatever it was, Yuriko doesn't give you time to worry about it. The moment you mention your hair, or rather, the moment you ask her opinion on whether or not you'd be able to pull off the shaved look, she...

"..."

Sighs.

Then with a bit of a half skip lands in front of you, reaches behind your head, and...

"See this?"

Grabs your ponytail and shows it to you...?

"Lot of guys would kill for hair like yours. Always healthy no matter what, hell..." She grumbles, pulling at her own hair as if to make a comparison to yours, "Yours is healthier than mine and I baby mine to keep it in good shape. Meanwhile your hair is about as invincible as you."

A surprisingly more feminine side for her...?

No.

More importantly... She has invaded your personal bubble in order to do this, and doesn't seem too worried about being right in your face-!

"So what I'm really saying is, if you shave your hair I'll take it as a personal insult." Still messing around a bit with the golden threads sliding between her analyzing fingers, her frown deepens as she continues to speak, as if realizing something about all of this as she goes along, "Hell, your hair is long enough that it could be played with... I know some girls that have fun doing that, could even be a charm point for you..."

She says, looking for all of the world like she sorta wanted to play with it...

[Verg Avesta]

Blaise Pendragon
Brighter Days ~ Yuriko's Room
11/16/2026
Monday - Morning

This was... unexpected.

Strangely though, not unpleasant.

He had known Yuriko for... how long had it been again? A long time, though. Long enough that while her getting this close was a surprise, it didn't feel wrong. There weren't too many people Blaise let his guard down in front of, after all. In fact, he could count them with the fingers of his two hands. So, for once when something like this happened, it felt... sorta nice.

Not that he'd ever say it out loud. Blaise had a sneaking suspicion Yuriko might get smug about it.

She was weird like that.

Still.

"Well......."

He was going away for a while, wasn't he? And since his Kouhai had a sort of unspoken question in her eyes...

"... Since I'm headed out for a while, do you wanna... uh, 'play around with it'?" Blaise asked, sorta awkwardly. "A fresh style might be nice. Y'know, for a new chapter and all that."

Then, he frowned a little.

"But don't think I'll make a habit out of it," he added. "I can see some ridiculous stuff in my future if I do..."

[Bloble]

Daisuke
Tokyo, Aoyama ~ Brick Lane (Rooftops)
11/16/2026
Monday - Dark Hour

What makes something a monster?

Electricity sparks in Daisuke's processor as he watches his foe descend towards the mists, wracked by lightning. By all accounts that woman is a monster just like the one Chris had warned him about. A berserker who fights with pure strength and destructive power, a successor to the title of White Shroud that makes even other Tamers take pause, and a force of nature who nearly felled one of his friends. Is that what makes her a monster, though? Is it really? A part of him is dissatisfied by the answer. He has, in the process of clashing against this person, realized it is insufficient.

What is a monster, really?

Not a demon. Not a fairy tale creature. Not merely a powerful foe, as this one is. No, the reason he thinks 'this is a monster' when he stares at the incomprehensible shape falling below is...

"...ah, right." The answer clicks into place, and the fear in Daisuke's core dissipates.

Surely a monster is a being that can only trust itself.

"Tch-!"

He is annoyed. For even he recognizes he is about to do something very stupid. His buddy sure has it hard with a COMP like him.

Daisuke's discarded arm, falling from above, grabs onto a light post as it's drawn towards him by the leftover energy of Return. With it unable to descend, Daisuke himself must ascend. His fall stops and reverses. He is pulled upwards, away from the mist. With a click he and his lost limb are rejoined.

As for his other arm...

"Spider's Web - Wretched Reel."

A crackling web shaped like a net with hook-like ends is thrown downwards, encircling the stupefied Shroud. The hooks dig into the white cloak, Daisuke's fingers clench around the gathered strands, and-.

"Get over here-!"

Their fall, too, halts.

Daisuke flips atop the light pole and kicks off. He flies down, the lightning lure looped over the lamp lifting a flapping white cloak even as he dives back into the fog. He and lands next to the fallen Tamer in an instant, blazing with desperate speed even as his other functions degrade. There is no more time. Even with History functional, she'll be in danger down here. Protecting allies takes priority over subduing the enemy. The adult-form COMP kneels down next to her and picks up Lexie Davis in a one-handed princess carry while his other hand tightens around the strands of web.

"Starve," he tells the mist surrounding her. "There's no more for you tonight."

White flaps in the breeze behind them. With Shuichi's storm comes wind, a wind that will surely blow away this awful night. He turns back and faces it.

Though her injuries are concealed, they surely exist. She appears terrifying because she fights with the desperation of one without allies. That is how a monster does battle.

"Monster? You're no monster. Behind that cloak, there's a girl."

It is not sympathy or mercy, for she has given them none. This is an enemy and they are in a battle. Daisuke will subdue the target by whatever means necessary as a Tamer, just as she goes for killing blows again and again. His spell is not one of rescue; it is one of imprisonment and electric assault, bringing the White Shroud closer to the sky. Even if the bonds are flimsy enough to be torn apart in an instant, it's fine. If he can't grab more than a scrap or the cloak, that's fine as well. The important part is to reach out.

For if this woman were to disappear now, still faceless, she would remain no more than a monster in the mist.

Status!

Auto-Skill: Active-Sync
Spells Set: Phantasm Step, Thunder Break, Return, Spider's Web, Zio Line, "Black Dragon Immolation Wave"
Spells Used: Spider's Web
Action Used:
Heat: 0/6 -> 3/6 (reset at start of turn!)

Active Sync - C
An Auto-Skill that links Chris and Daisuke (or a willing ally) together, ensuring their statuses do not diverge. Whenever one of them sustains a condition or injury, it will either only be effective if both of them suffer the same condition (for weaker conditions), or its effect will be divided between them, hitting each for half strength (for stronger conditions). Additionally, by syncing their Harmonizer fields together, they can share their senses and achieve a higher degree of battlefield awareness than normal telepathy. Must be activated by touching a willing ally.

[palad1n]

Cosmos Fairchild
LOVELESS, Moon Under Water
Monday - Noon
11/16/2026

"Well, I suppose that fits too... A number of higher angels take mechanical-looking forms in our World, representative of their nature as tools of the Ancient of Days. Well I suppose the more common term would be God, but doesn't he have something in the upwards of 1000 different names? I find Ancient of Days a lot more interesting to say. Easier too, considering the uh... Number of things claiming to be divine beings nowadays..."

Cosmos shifted uncomfortably in her seat as Sofia kept talking, focusing her attention back on the menu as to not meet anyone's eyes.

Of course, even when she heard the term the first time the thought had crossed her mind, but the imminent battle managed to be a good enough distraction for her not to dwell on it; but now, with no such distractions in place, the implications is truly hitting her full-force.

Namely, the possibility that the Sefirot was sent by God.

Her only solace in this matter is the fact that it came from Judaism instead of Christianity, and Aunt Alisa had said that the Sefirot only wished for destruction and must be stopped... so it's probably fine...

'Cosmos...'

'I know, I know I must focus! I just... Mrgh, why am I starting to have all these doubts now...'

'...They say that faith without doubt is no faith at all. The important thing is for you to keep believing, to keep having faith despite those doubts.'

Cosmos frowned, but didn't retort. She didn't think that Illia was right in this regard, but then again having too much faith without doubt might be what makes a zealot. But to doubt this subject, to doubt God... does that not count as blasphemy...?

But before she could dwell on the matter further...

"...Jester."

A single word broke her out of her musings and pulled her back to the real world, her eyes shifting from the menu to the NWAB agent.

Daniel was the one who said that they shouldn't be thinking about him too much, but at the same time no progress would be made if they keep avoiding it altogether... so this must be a signal that they could breach the subject now.

Cosmos took a deep breath to continue when Daniel left off, silently thankful for the distraction.

"Yes, Jester of the Masked Circle. If there was anything that stood out, then it was him. We only saw him through a security camera footage, but he somehow was able to converse with us just fine, even when that footage was supposed to be from a month back." Cosmos frowned. "Jester seems to know a lot of what is going on, and is without a doubt a force of evil. He did nothing but to taunt and antagonize us, and he might even be the one to set me on my path on that dream..."

She clenched her fist at the memory. She really wants to blast the clown with multiple Aster if given the chance.

"I don't know if he is directly connected to the Sefirot, but he definitely had a hand in this mess. Enjoying it, even. Trying to turn this dream into a nightmare so that he could have a greater control over it... at least that's what Aunt Alisa said."

[Tobias]

​Hey we should ask ada if she wants to trade.

…seriously?

What? It’s a great idea!

…

Just answer me this, would you prefer to work with me, or her?

…Now that you mention it…?

”Madam, trash of the galaxy?” The bard said eloquently, dipping into a courtly bow. “If that describes anyone, it would be me of course. To be honest, before you appeared I had been preparing to lie to you, you see, and a lying knight is a despicable thing!”

He let that moment draw out before continuing.

”Now, what was I going to lie about? Well, had you been a muscle bound warrior, as I had assumed, I was going to give the whole big brother speech about you take care of her or I would “take care” of you, but I would have known all along that I was just pretending I wasn’t happy to meet the person my sister entrusts her back to. And a guitar!”

Raz took a step back. Sure the projection was a manifestation of her identity, but her true “body” rested in his sisters hands, even as the microphone housed the truth of the DTG. Therefor it was to the guitar he directed his flattery. “She is my sister in every way that’s important! I can’t deny, I would be thrilled to hear your variant of songcraft. I haven’t even heard you play, and I can already say I am so proud of you two I can’t even stand it!”

The best compliments were the ones that had the ring of truth, and Raz meant every word. How about that? He would have supported her no matter what she had done of course, but a magic guitar! The bard would have paid a great deal to have been there the day they bonded.

“I wonder what they will call you two…I was dubbed the hard of the kingdom but I know style when I see it. The elegant Duo? The twin enchantresses? If someone like my wonderful sister takes the field, with an elegant flower like yourself at her side, I can’t help but think that it won’t be to long before they start introducing me at important events as ‘Ada Stone’s brother.’”

The black haired man grinned, looking positively enthralled by the idea.

“Now then,” Raz said, clapping his hands together, “I believe I promised someone a turn behind the wheel. Big brother is teaching driving lessons! But I don’t suppose you would do me the honor of your name?”


…It was right around then that a certain white haired man sidled up to the Guitar Comp, seeming to be entirely ignoring the knight’s flowery speech. Instead, he pulled a small silver flask from an inner pocket of his long coat. He offered it with a look of long suffering commiseration.

”Have a drink toots, with my condolences…now that he knows about you, he ain’t ever gonna leave you alone.”

[Airen]

Eva Ellet
Saint Vivienne ~ Strange Manor
11/16/2026
Monday - Evening

"Doesn't like to talk about her past?"

The maid laughs gracefully at these words, back straightening out to once more regard you with her full height, her far-too-large shadow completely swallowing you up now as those oddly emotionless eyes remain blank, completely stoic even in the face of her own amused words.

"Why would she? To her, this place is... A prison of sorts..."

The smile widens, and the flashing of sharp white teeth, pronounced canines in the darkness, again bring to mind the image of a classical vampire...

Regal, graceful and beautiful, with a hint of ever present danger...

Still...

She remains in the pose of a dutiful servant in spite of that obviously intentional imagery, another add-on to the heap of contradictions that seem to exist inside of her...

"It is here that she was... Crushed by family expectation... Or perhaps I should say it was where they were crushed by family expectations?" She pauses here, that hint of amusement fading from her words as her smile turns contemplative and tense, like she was recalling some sort of distant memory. "Yes... Considering you managed to make your way here, I suppose you must be similar to her in spirit... You and that... Delightfully energetic friend of yours downstairs..."

...So she knows?

Clear eyes shimmer in the darkness.

"All of you burdened by what others want you to be, all feeling like you were thrown away or abandoned when you failed... Yes, I suppose it's only natural you'd make your way to a place like this..."

Knows a lot of things it seems...

"Although I suppose the two of you didn't have things... Quite as badly as them in a conventional sense... But one should never compare their suffering to that of others I find, pain is pain, no matter the source. Wouldn't you agree, Eva Ellet?"

---She smiles at you again, but...

This situation just keeps getting weirder and weirder...

[Airen]

Ludwig Karlfeldt
???
11/16/2026
Monday ~ Evening
Weather: Snowstorm

"...Oh?"

You dodge.

Footsteps carry you back, a natural retreat from the girl that had chosen to playfully assault you with all the cheerful energy of a girl that was supposed to be long gone... It's a graceful movement that even seems to catch Lara off guard, her cat-like pounce catching nothing but snow and the amused voice that follows that dodge is done with a bit of sarcastic praise as well, namely...

"Faster than I remember, nice~"

She whistles at you.

Just once, an impressed sounding -but also vaguely sarcastic- whistle that deflates all seriousness from the conversation, like the two of you were more wandering around on some sort of beach than playing in the snow, but...

"Fine then, I'll bring the snowman to you."

...With deadly seriousness, with a voice that sounds more fitting for declaring the death of an opponent than torment of a younger sibling, the girl dashes to the side -figure flickering behind one of the many trees that surround the estate- and...

Comes out...

Holding a snowman over her head?

The whole thing?

One with a corncob pipe, button nose, and two eyes made out of coal?

Did she...

Did she intend to hit you with that...?

"Punishment for trying to keep secrets."

So saying...

She brandishes the snowman like a particularly demented club, an easy abuse of superhuman strength and...

Yep.

She definitely intended on hitting you with that-!

And what was with this hypocrisy about secret keeping?!

[Airen]

Logan Starbright
SLEIPNIR - Flight Deck
11/16/2026
Monday ~ Evening

---The clown takes off at an inhuman sprint.

It moves in a way that would seem to lack transitional frames entirely were it not for Eye of the Fates, a figure that goes from mockingly standing to sprinting out over the ocean in a bid to escape the razor winds that have suddenly been released into the area. The storm screams at the further abuse, the newfound razor gale sweeping past the far more mundane winds of this bizarre storm of rolling waves and crashing thunder bolts, pursuing a masked figure whose laughter can be heard over everything, who has started giggling like a demented child the moment you had seen fit to attack it instantly-!

"So bold!"

Words that come out like praise-

"So brave!"

-but that are clearly mocking, poking fun, a court jester laughing at it's own jokes even if the court themselves does not understand the meaning behind them...

"So flattering! But really, I'm here as a personal therapist I swear, so a title like dream demon is just so... Rude!"

It cackles, out amongst the rolling waves.

It floats atop them like an unreal specter or some sort of twisted messiah, having lost the storm you had sent after it in a burst of flash-truth like speed, the figure is now a distant one on the lake, although it's voice continues to boom as if it was using some sort of mystical megaphone...

"I couldn't help but notice all your unsightly crying fits you see -some of those were real painful to watch let me tell you, just like my soap operas- and I think I have the solution for what ails you! A little exposure therapy! Visit from an old demon pal of yours! I think it'll be good for the both of you to get a little closure, you know? Really open up your hearts to one another!"

From the rolling waters, it waves at you with both arms, hopping up and down like an overly excited child...

"Don't worry! She'll be here real soon! I took care of the whole summoning ritual part while I was waiting for you to show up!"

Wait...

What...?

What did it mean by that...?

[Zurvan]

Ludwig Karlfeldt
???
11/16/2026
Monday ~ Evening
Weather: Snowstorm

"Pfhah! You're one to talk. Of course, you must have forgotten our reunion, haven't you Sis?"

Compared to how these siblings once were, it's only natural that they've grown in speed. His sister had aged, and as part of the new X-Cross she would naturally have to excel as a Tamer. However, the younger sibling certainly did not stand idle. Trained by the legendary commander of the SLEIPNIR, Ludwig's training had certainly not been in vain. The increased gravity and daily sessions aboard the ship had seen an increase in his speed, reflexes and senses, as well as something else that had begun to blossom in his time there.

Something that ended up crushed with ease... reborn into a world where no one he knew could truly be trusted, aside from his COMP of course.

And so, he kept secrets. Refusing to speak to Anna openly, withholding information from Astra. Dangerous information can be as lethal as any weapon, especially in this peculiar quantum-dream-realm.

Chiyoko and Chronos could handle themselves, but even they didn't need to know the enemy responsible for this new world state had placed herself in the ESPer's bedroom. Unseen, undetected within what should be one of the most secure places around.

Unless directly questioned by Adala, even she would most likely not be told all that Ludwig had come to know in these last few days. One of few people he could not get himself to lie to.

But above all of those, even Theresia and Ida, was Lara. The one person he could trust with everything, no matter what.

---At least, such is his instinct, even now.

If she had indeed linked her mind with the boy before he awoke from his mortal slumber, she would have learned much...

The presence of Marlene, Ludwig's defiance against her world, the quantum simulation everyone found themselves in, even the incomprehensible draw that the boy felt towards Anna would have been laid bare before Lara's mind.

...And certainly, the Karlfeldt Inheritor would not have resisted such a mental connection in his previous state... nor in his regression to such a state.

---Yet, a silent determination grows in spite of this slowly dawning revelation.

Let her resist if she wants, shielding her and the others is no mistake. They've already had to endure more pain than anyone deserves, so why wouldn't he try and shield them from more? It's only right for the Inheritor to protect them from what lies ahead, and even if it wasn't his duty... it's his own desire.

To see them happy, together, alive.

While Ludwig yet clings to his duty, to a title he may very well have no right to any longer, his wish to spare the others more misery is honest.

They were crushed once before... they need not walk this path any longer.

Yes, childish indeed.

Focusing his mind fully on a possibility, the boy tries to melt away the snowman with his thoughts alone.

After all, if they are within his own mindscape... he should have some measure of control...

[Airen]

Daisuke
Tokyo, Aoyama ~ Brick Lane (Rooftops)
11/16/2026
Monday - Dark Hour

---The web catches the girl for only a moment.

Certainly, for a less physically powerful foe it could be quite the trap, the spider's web that holds the target for a roaring dragon, but here, under these circumstances, against this particular opponent...

Bindings do not seem to mean as much as they should, electricity crackles, scorching the figure that has been yanked violently upwards by the sudden halt of gravity. At this point they're taking constant damage, not just from the net, but by the scattered lightning bolts that continue to crash mercilessly against their form, a force of over 300 million Volts being applied again and again with a violence that almost seems unfitting for Shuichi, but no...

It fits the boy perfectly.

As the Ace of the SDCD, he could be said to embody the values they treasure, and in that regard...

Those that touched his friends would pay for it.

Dearly.

---And yet, no matter how battered the opponent becomes, they continue to struggle. Lightning rocks their form for the fourth time, then a fifth, the scent of ozone climbs higher and higher, and yet....

"Ugh..."

Muscles strain against the web and break the line, a body tumbles from it's perch, landing with one knee on the ground below, and yet...

It's disguise does not shatter.

Cloth does not tear, after all, it is not truly cloth...

The figure of the White Shroud is one generated by magic, a cognitive disguise that forces all that view it to perceive it a certain way... That is why simply trying to look beneath their hood is impossible, the face simply does not exist, the White Shroud is an alias that a number of different people take on for different reasons, and the disguise was designed to accommodate that, however...

While the cloth can not be torn because it is not really cloth... It is a disguise that can be broken like any other auto skill...

"Hah... Hah...tch..."

It happens in an instant.

A shattering sound like glass orbs smashing into a concrete floor, the oppressive feeling of an opposing Harmonizer Field disappearing as the damage the girl has sustained strains her systems far too much to keep them online, and the slow, slow unraveling...

---Of a face that looked an awful lot like Lexie's, the same sort of hair, the same sort of face.

Just younger.

Face you yourself had seen in the windows earlier, as a manifestation of what seemed like Lexie's fears, and...

A face with blank eyes, unseeing, like a mannequin or some sort of puppet. Her body is coated in electrical burns, visible welts from straining against ropes and bonds can be seen on her arms and legs and even her knuckles are bleeding from what you can only assume are the many titanic haymakers she's been throwing out into buildings and floors, but the girl shows no discomfort at these things, no...

"Hah... Gah... Ha..."

She just breathes, staring at you with blank eyes that just seem...

Lifeless?

No...

Lost?

---Certainly it's not the gaze of a normal person, she doesn't say anything about it, but for a second something like confusion wells up in those empty eyes. She looks around herself a bit, as if not entirely recognizing her surroundings, before...

Behind her, it's figure shadowed in the mist, something moves. You can't tell what it is, it's just a shape, a shadow-like figure that seems to draw the girl's attention away from you and to it, shape that coincides with her clear blue eyes changing to a much more sickly yellow, a very familiar yellow, yellow that comes a fist rising to meet the next of Shuichi's lightning bolts head on, smashing away the approaching energy construct with what seems like pure brute force, her body once again coated in those strange shadows, the momentary lost expression from before replaced with a determined line, a narrowed gaze full of disgust that lingers on Lexie for a moment...

"...Next time."

Before turning and running away into the fog, down into the nearby sewers, and...

"W-wait, Myra!"

Lexie calls out for her, even though she's barely conscious, while Shuichi...

"...Running, huh?"

Finally lands on the ground next to the both of you.

"Everyone stable? No critical injuries?"

White Shroud

Name: Myra Davis (?)
Gender: Female
Class: Spirit Tamer
Age: ???

Stats

STR: A
AGI: B
VIT: A

Traits

-Shadow Possession-
???

[Bloble]

Daisuke
Tokyo, Aoyama ~ Brick Lane (Rooftops)
11/16/2026
Monday - Dark Hour

Even as she recedes into the mist, the yellow eyes of Myra Davis' Shadow linger in Daisuke's memory banks. They are familiar yet different, and he wonders for a moment if Sakurako would have done something similar.

"Everyone stable? No critical injuries?"

A familiar voice snaps the COMP out of his stupor. Daisuke starts running diagnostics, glancing down at the girl in his arms before meeting Shuichi's eyes.

"Lexie got hit by some kind of anti-demon poison. We have to treat it before I can heal the wound." That won't fix everything, though. "Not sure what to do about the arm..."

Daisuke is sure that the Lexie Davis he knows would be able to shrug off a wound this serious without breaking a sweat. She would be joking around, talking about pirate hooks and cheating at fighting game tournaments and integrating History into a sword-hand. The one staring into the fog is not that Lexie Davis. The deepest wound she bears is one of the heart, one beyond either of their capabilities to care for at this time.

What would Chris do? The young COMP yearns for his buddy who isn't there. She would certainly know the proper move in this situation.

"As for me... functions have degraded after using a B-ranked spell, and there's internal structural damage from that hit earlier, but I can keep going."

Should they follow the fleeing White Shroud into the mist? The cursed moon that brought madness has been felled, but the one who created it is surely still at large. Now is the time to capture Myra Davis and bring her back for treatment, before she can get away and return to plague their nightmares once more. Yet, Shuichi hasn't pursued. Even though his Bullseye should still be on her. He must have rightly decided such a pursuit would be foolhardy. Especially given their state. Only questions remain, and no answers.

"I'm... not sure about anything, really..."

Daisuke's fingers tighten. He clutches his friend closer, wishing he could do more for her. He looks up at Shuichi, eyes wide.

"Saya? History?"

Are the other COMPs okay, at least?

[Rafflesiac]

Logan Starbright
SLEIPNIR - Flight Deck
11/16/2026
Monday ~ Evening

“Tch.” The clown is fast, absurdly so. It giggles and cackles, twisting itself into contortions with its malevolent laughter and jeers. Logan narrows his eyes as he takes stock of the situation.

That movement likely wasn’t accomplished through physical ability alone. A spell, then. But not a teleportation one, given its discrete movements. Sealing its superior speed is best, but- The masked Demon cavorts upon the raging surface of the lake like a circus monkey. -it has the advantage in mobility as well. Ranged attacks won’t work at this distance, so I’ll just have to pursue until I can close the gap. That just leaves one thing.

“Nightmares are easy to deal with; simply acknowledge that they’re not real and you’ll wake up. The second part’s a bit troublesome at the moment, but the first part still works just fine.” Logan pats Rice’s shoulder. His voice is quiet, yet firm. “Don’t bother listening to a single word of that thing’s drivel. It’s incapable of creating a single thing of value.”

He sprints down the deck like a fighter jet accelerating down a runway, kicking off its edge to launch himself toward the puerile pierrot like a guided missile.

Amelia, prepare Garu. Preferably for when the Demon reacts.

Logan’s rush parts the howling gusts and then the churning waters as he lands and dashes toward the babbling bastard, staff at the ready to silence with violence.

---

Spoiler:

Spells Selected: Garu line, ???, ???, Eye of the Fates, ???, ???
Spells Used: Eye of the Fates
Support Magus: Garu
Auto Skill: Revitalize
Heat: 10/10

[Airen]

Daisuke
Tokyo, Aoyama ~ Brick Lane (Rooftops)
11/16/2026
Monday - Dark Hour

"Poison?"

Shuichi frowns, although the ace seems to have returned to his state of ever-calm now that the conflict is apparently over.

"...Yeah, I guess you can call the Arc Legus that for those with demon blood." He looks over Lexie with his usual eyes, although as his gaze lingers on her more serious injuries a pained light runs through them, and you can almost hear his teeth grinding against each other in his mouth, "Inflicts wounds that won't heal through magic, or well... Some say it's the reiki of it's users that does that, either way, they're not the sort of wounds we can just ignore. We'll have to get her somewhere and wait it out, do things the old-fashioned way until her regeneration kicks back in."

His gaze goes towards the sewers, now filled with the slowly receding black fog, and his hands clench instinctively into fists...

"So that was Myra... Goddammit..."

Before going back to you.

"This isn't... How she wanted anyone finding out. Lexie is... Sensitive to her heritage..." The young man explains quietly, fingers zipping across the buttons of a holographic screen, "She dealt with a lot of crap about it as a kid... Coming back to hit her again all these years later... White Shroud bastards..."

He swears under his breath, a bit of the rage from earlier peeking through that otherwise stoic face, before he sighs one final time and sets it all to rest.

"We won't chase Myra. Priority is Lexie's injuries, can't risk any more than we already have," declares the Ace naturally, instincts telling him to take charge of the situation. "No one at base is answering any calls, and everyone in the city seems to have disappeared, so the situation we're in is problematic. Best to figure out what's going on before doing anything else."

As for the COMPs...

"..."

History, who now that you look at her again, has Myra's face doesn't say anything, although whether that's because she herself is 'unconscious' or simply absolutely focused on her -now unconscious- user is unclear, but Saya...

"...Fine."

...Saya seems to have shaken everything off at least, or rather, much like Shuichi she's probably incredibly pissed off just beneath the outer layer of her shell, and is just hiding it with her more usual dutiful tones...

"No lasting damage to on-board systems, we're not so weak a virus could do us in." The COMP reassures you, her voice tired, "Perimeter scans show that most of the buildings nearby are empty too, no reiki signatures that can be directly picked up, but..."

A pause.

"...There are lights on in the Brewed Awakenings down the street... Sounds too. Like people talking?"

Shuichi seems surprised about this for a moment, then...

"...Guess that's where we'll go next then, see if we can figure out what's going on here."

Meanwhile...

The fog in the sewer -and with it Myra's presence- grows fainter and fainter...

---

Cosmos Fairchild
LOVELESS, Moon Under Water
Monday - Noon
11/16/2026

"...?"

Lacking proper context for your words, Sofia simply looks back and forth between you and Daniel with a mildly confused expression, a cute one, but one that was also somehow unfitting for the girl who normally seemed to know pretty much everything about... Well everything, but...

"Yes. Jester of the Masked Circle. An Alchera Spirit."

While a hint of distaste does cross Daniel's face when he says it's name, the NWAB Agent ultimately does smile at you in a reassuring sort of way, as if sensing your apprehension and trying to signal to you that it was alright...

"Considering the nature of your story, I presume Jester came to us when it was dark? Storming outside perhaps? Entities like them thrive in places and times of mystery, when the brain wanders a bit too much and allows possibilities you normally don't consider to linger... Like how after watching a horror movie, you might be a bit more inclined to think there's some sort of monster waiting for you in the darkness, even though you know that's not the case... They thrive on that sort of feeling."

He sets down his menu and adjusts his hat ever so slightly, the lid of the fedora falling down over his eyes for a moment.

"I suppose I should explain more clearly though... Start with definitions..."

A chuckle.

"When it comes to Alchera, or the more traditional name Alcheringa... It's an Arandic word, used to refer to a concept called the Dreamtime, or The Dreaming" his voice is clear and almost clinical, like a doctor prescribing a patient, or a detective talking about the facts of a case, "It has a few other potential meanings, like eternal or uncreated, but the reason we stuck them with that title is, well..."

Here he pauses again, smile fading slightly as a more conscious effort to pull memories from his mind is made, before:

"The Dreaming is used to represent Aboriginal concepts of Everywhen, during which the land was inhabited and molded by ancestral figures, often of heroic proportions or with supernatural abilities. These figures were distinct from gods, as they did not control the material world, but they were responsible for shaping it into what it is today... In essence, we call the Alchera the Alchera because they claim to be from a civilization before our own, that they're our distant ancestors and that our World was born from their ruins... Whether or not it's the truth is another matter entirely, one I'm not exactly sure of myself, but they do seem to be associated with dreams in general and they have... Strange... supernatural abilities..."

The man looks to you both after this to see if you're paying attention, Sofia has crossed her arms and settled into a lean against the side of her chair, becoming a newfound unblinking existence, so it seems he's satisfied with what he sees:

"But one thing that can be said for sure is that they are not exactly real, they don't have a natural existence in our World, so their appearances are often limited to dreams, or the eyes of those with heavily altered states of mind... Like those that are feeling intense emotions or who are overusing certain drugs... They can appear to those sorts of people. Their goal when doing so is to attach themselves to that person somehow, some might appear to a lonely person and make friends with them, some might torment the target so they grow scared and resentful of them, connecting to them through hate, some might outright possess the victim after wearing their minds down, and still others decide to be... Faustian about things and make actual contracts with their target in exchange for magical powers... Regardless of the method, the goal is always to become tangible enough to enough people that the World must acknowledge their existence as something more than a fluke, which would enable them to exist in the World without a host of any sort. Although if we're in a dream right now, they may have a bit more power than they usually would..."

He chuckles darkly, although the look on his face as he thinks about it is one of relative disdain for the entities...

"Am I making sense so far?"

He asks.

"...My day is certainly escalating quickly."

Says Sofia in response.

---

Blaise Pendragon
Brighter Days ~ Yuriko's Room
11/16/2026
Monday - Morning

"Fresh style?"

Her eyes light up and you immediately get the sense that this may in fact have been some sort of mistake-! Hands fall on your shoulders in a manner that seems both friendly, like how one friend might wind up touching another in conversation, but also like how a bird might latch onto it's prey with talons, that is...

In a manner that doesn't allow the

victim

target

to escape.

"I can? You'll let me? Really?"

---Danger.

---This situation is escalating far beyond what one would first assume it would-!

"I won't do anything too strange of course, that'd just be silly, but at the same time I do have a few things I wanna try-! Yeah, could be a good day to break out the hair gel, spikes never go out of style if you do it right-! You could totally pull it off! One-hundred percent!"

So saying, she starts to drag you off towards the bathroom with both unsurprising strength-!

And a surprising lack of shame-!

"Don't worry, I'm good at these sorts of things! Do it for the kids all the time!"

"It won't take long at all-!"

Time may not be the problem here-!

[Katie]

Ayra Lilygrove
Saint Vivienne ~ Ayra's Room
11/16/2026
Monday - Night

“Of course she likes me,” Ayra says, putting her hands on her hips with a sigh. “She idolizes me, after all. But that's just it. I’m just… her senior that’s achieved her goals. That’s all.”

If Ayra was lying, she certainly didn’t look like it. That exhausted sigh was genuinely pained. It seemed that even bringing up these thoughts had knocked the wind out of Ayra’s sails.

There is no way you’re this daft, are you?

Excuse me?

She’s super whipped for you, wants to hang out with you all the time, and fights with your ex constantly.

...

Wait. You were pretending not to notice the entire fucking time?

You just let it get to this point??????

In my defense, I really didn’t notice at first!

But then I thought if I didn’t do anything about it, she’d get the hint…

And after Tsukiko I figured… it was better to leave things awkward than poke the hornet’s nest…

Indefinitely queerbaiting Asuka is even worse! God, Tsukiko has ruined you and I am gonna give that bitch a piece of my mind.

Okay. Now that I’m aware you were only to be pretending to be a moron, I’m going to make you fix it.

Can’t that wait until after we save the world?

NO!

“Anyway,” Ayra says, her face still locked into placidity, “tell me something I don’t know.”