Spirit Pulse : Mugen No Sekai [IC]

[Verg Avesta]

Blaise Pendragon
Demonic Server, Hali Bay
11/16/2026
Afternoon, Clear Skies

"............"

It's a flat stare of not exactly disbelief, but more of a pure 'are you people actually serious?'. A certain combination of both disappointment and 'I should have known this', and it all sweeps through the crowd - the escaping bears, the fleeing Jacks, the shadows running away. It doesn't even stop at Tony Redgrave, he was already marked as potential trouble, but that flattest of stares gives everyone else a proper earful, making sure that they know that they have now been seen and appropriate actions will be taken if they're encountered later tonight even though they were given a chance to come clean.

And then, finally, that stare stops.

At the one-eyed creature prancing around in that poor fool's body.

For just a moment, Blaise simply rubs his temples, letting out a sound that's somewhere between a disgusted grunt and a sigh.

"This is just getting sad..." Blaise murmured in response, looking at Anima. "... I know what I said but... you, of all people? Have some dignity for God's sake..."

With that, he turned to look back at his sister, and made a vague gesture the woman.

"This is Animal. I think. She's the type who can't survive without other people's attention, so I suppose we should take some pity on her tonight. I mean... she's also the type to get incredibly lonely extremely easily, so just abandoning her here at the beach would be just cruel," Blaise explained. "The last thing I wanna hear is her bawling her eyes out in that dumpster behind our house. There's enough stray cats there already."

Yeah, best get the truth out as fast as possible, so Noriko won't get any misunderstanding what sort of being they're dealing with.

"So yeah. Don't let that too-cool-for-school attitude she puts up fool you. Most likely she's more or less desperate right now, because otherwise her grand reveal today ended up being just a wet fart - almost literally. That being said, I think she knows she's on thin ice enough as it is, so expect mostly minor pranks today to boost her ego," he continued. "Oh, and I think she's possessing one of the thugs from the other day. Not sure what gender that makes her, but guess we'll find out if we go to the public baths."

What else, what else...

Oh.

"Ah, right. If she tries to pick a fight, just ignore her. That should pass pretty soon," the boy concluded his merciless explanation of the one-eyed woman. "Just think of her as... Ehhh... attention-hungry middle school bully?"

He made a vague gesture with his hand and shrugged.

[Satehi]

Eva Ellet
SLEIPNIR - Common Room (?)
11/16/2026
Monday - Morning

"...Sorry, didn't mean to call ya a stray."

…Something about this apology didn’t seem entirely sincere. Even so, she was hardly in any position to complain- her own response had been rather rude, after all.

“… I may have spoke a little too harshly as well.”

Nonetheless, that didn’t mean she was obligated to respond with a genuine apology of her own. With that said, she turned back to Alexia, and…

"You don't have to leave because she's rude~ We can still talk about all sorts of things, like the first time I met your mother, or this weird fortune teller I saw once... Kind of get her vibes from you, actually..."

…upon hearing that offer, Eva Ellet freezes.

Mother….

It had been, in her opinion, a long time since she had used that word. That wasn’t because it was a word that had no meaning to her: on the contrary, in her mind, mother referred to a very firmly, well defined individual. Her creator. In a technical sense, it might not be accurate, but for Eva there was no disputing that she thought of her creator as her mom.

There was a simple reason that she didn’t use it much anymore - Eva didn’t think that her creator would appreciate Eva thinking about her in that way. The sentiment was not reciprocated.

More bluntly, she didn’t think her creator liked her.

It was a touchy subject for her- one that naturally catches her off guard, since she never expected it to occur in this context.

“I didn’t realize the two of you had met before…”

Even so…

Eva’s creator was an important person to her. Someone who she wanted to make happy. That fact was not conditional on receiving any affection from her.

If Alexia was looking for topics that would catch Eva’s interest, then she had found one- any vague sense of irritation she might feel at the moment was far outweighed by her curiosity here.

“Umm… if it’s not too much trouble, I’d be very much interested in hearing more about it…”

[Airen]

Ludwig Karlfeldt
???

---An absurd existence.

One whose being fits right in with the sound of the church bells, a being that has always seemed reminiscent to a vampire, and yet whose body remained warm to the touch, certainly alive in spite of seeming like a deathless queen of the night.

---Indeed, Theresia Karlfeldt is that sort of baffling existence.

Her shadow swallows up all light; the flames that adorn the walls lose all power and are snuffed out completely, and even the light shining in from the outside, that of the lanterns and the moon, dies upon contact with her existence...

Yes.

'Reaper' is certainly the right term for it.

Her nature strikes fear into the hearts of everyone no matter how brave or experienced, a deep, primal fear that exists within all lifeforms regardless of their nature, the fear of death, of one's existence simply being snuffed out by the entity before them like a candle, casually and without any real effort... Perhaps it is only natural that this translates into a form of charisma?

Rather than in spite of the fear, perhaps it should be because of the fear?

It is because of the fear that eyes are drawn to her, because of the fear that she becomes real even as everything else becomes fake, because to pay attention to anything else in her presence is to court death, to allow the reaper to slip behind you unnoticed, and steal away all that you are, yes...

---Anyone weaker than a Tamer might simply lose consciousness in her presence, but as things are...

You maintain yourself.

For Ludwig Karlfeldt this is no first meeting, the spirit that has carried you thus far is strong and the voice carries no fear within it at all...

Simply respect.

Respect for the eldest.

The oddity of the Karlfeldt's, one who oversees all, and yet seems strangely absent from all the games of politics and betrayal...

Yes.

"Can I ask for your help...?"

In the face of that voice, the woman stops her pace for a moment.

It is but for a moment, to allow you to catch up to her.

You do.

She continues on, allowing you to walk just behind her own steps.

"You may ask, boy. But what help I can provide... It is not enough to change your fate."

She speaks.

Her words seem to condemn you to the end, and yet they do not yet strike despair within you.

"I can open the door. I can escort you to the Truth... And both of these things will lead you to ruin, there is no escaping that now, you are cornered, as are they, this particular game seems to be lost."

She stops.

You stop alongside her.

There is no other choice in the matter, at least not at first.

"Do you understand? We are walking to your death, boy. In this instance, in this moment... I am simply a familiar reaper."

She looks at you.

---Her expression is hard to get a grasp of, filled with a number of emotions and yet none at all, a complicated face for a person who you would normally never talk with like this, in essence...

It is an awkward chat with a family member you do not know well, and yet...

"You can stop and remain here, wait to expire that way, it would certainly be a kinder fate."

She chuckles.

Although it's not clear if she actually thinks it's amusing, or if this is simply her way...

"Or you can continue on, see the Truth and have your mind shatter to pieces before the end, hoping to gain something from your obliteration, a fool's hope, but a hope."

She closes her eyes.

"...Not that you have to answer right away I suppose... As a favor... I suppose I can keep you company in this abyss for a time."

Up ahead, the dark wind grows darker.

A sick miasma.

But the woman ignores it, turning her body just enough to really face you now.

"It is not like we talked much when you were a child, in that sense... I certainly failed as a guardian."

---How strange.

[Zurvan]

Ludwig Karlfeldt
???

To the boy that had seen the curtains raise, and danced and dueled fiercely with the Reaper of Cognition... the end of the play is undeniably within reach.

But he knew this.

The actor that had lifted the veil to witness the Truth now moves away from the stage, away from life.

But he chose to do so.

To call it his plan would be a lie, of all the events that occurred the boy certainly seemed to grasp at truths before his demise, yet the anti-ESPer bullet piercing his heart had proven to end that struggle...

The struggle against the script, against some entity forcing their will upon others.

It would appear that the boy lost that struggle.

The truth is that, once he knew what lay within the existence of LUCID... he would have been unable to truly vanquish that entity. Doing so would undoubtedly have torn him apart.

And so, the boy walks behind the familiar Reaper towards the end.

Theresia Karlfeldt.

The conversation itself bears no ill-will, no revelations of any kind, no admonishing either. It's not the kind of conversation one would ever wish to hear of course, yet all the same for Ludwig Karlfeldt speaking with this entity that caused his mind to elapse back into past traumas, it is certainly much more gentle than he would have ever thought possible.

In some ways, he had revered this entity akin to the manifestation of death, yet now... there is no more need for fear.

For this is the end... isn't it?

Even she says as much... your fate cannot be changed anymore.

"...I cannot willingly ask you to subject yourself to that place..."

There's no reason to put up that mask anymore... not now, not with this person. And yet, the face that speaks final words of kindness looks so oddly at peace.

"But, I myself am only a visitor in this place... your choices aren't mine to make."

And so, for the boy that wanted the Truth... the curtains come to a close.

At the very end he shall observe the Truth with his own eyes, watch and accept it fully, so it can be rejected wholly.

To squirm and defy fate... is what humanity is doomed to do eternally. The Heir of Unity is no exception.

"A fool's hope... and the presence of family... it's more than I deserve."

They reach the doors.
There's much he had hoped to say, as well as what he should say, about the revived Lara Karlfeldt; the nature of the world they find themselves in; about his first encounter fighting the divine; the dangers that lurk the halls of the SLEIPNIR... yet he takes it all to his grave.

Whether the Inheritor will step in it alone... he will only know soon enough.

As the doors are pushed open... and the die is cast.

[Airen]

Ludwig Karlfeldt
???

"A fool's hope... and the presence of family... it's more than I deserve."

---Is anyone surprised by this outcome?

Certainly there was never another option that Ludwig Karlfeldt could take, stubborn even to the point of death, no, the sort of existence that is able to face his own death without fear, not out of naivety...

But familiarity.

Death has haunted you your entire life, whether you knew it or not.

---No, you knew it.

You resisted it all the way, but you knew it was there, and now...

One more time, eh?

---There are things you could say, things you should perhaps say, because the woman is clearly offering to speak with you here in the darkness, but...

That's not your style really.

It is foolish, but you are the sort that are willing to bear impossible things alone, and perhaps because of that...

"No hesitation?"

A single question.

Allowing you to step forward by yourself this one time, as if out of curiosity to see if you would still do it or not...

"How unfortunate, that means you just might succeed, boy."

...That woman's voice twists with an almost manic glee.

Nothing dangerous to you, but like she had just heard the beginning of a joke that was both horrific and hilarious.

A hand stops the doors from falling open, no, the will of Theresia Karlfeldt itself holds them closed as she laughs to both herself and you in the darkness.

"You just might remember, and if you do, you won't be able to leave it alone."

The laughter stops, but her eyes remain bright, strangely so...

Brightest you've seen... Not that that was saying much...

"The last time the World was this twisted up, we drifted for 46 billion years. It was agony, a turbulent ocean upon which those that had been chosen by themselves were tossed about, desperately searching for an answer. Salvation."

She moves.

It's inhuman, a graceful glide that seemed more like the shadows beneath her feet had moved her, rather than her moving herself, and...

---Her hand slams on the door.

It does not open.

Not yet.

She will let it open in a moment, but right now.

---That twisted smile, inhuman but proud, as if this was the correct answer, Theresia...

"You will be tossed out upon the storm. We have all been thrown there, but you will know and you will suffer for it."

She speaks faster, but none of the grace disappears.

She is not mocking you for this decision, even if it sounds like she might be, no...

She is simply stating how things are, and in that sense...

She couldn't be prouder.

"We will go, and we will see, and who knows what will happen to us after we break ourselves upon the storm. To forcibly change the Logic was a dangerous proposition from the start, the Swirl of the Cognition does not like being tampered with, especially in so many different ways... The Sea is a Mystery that must not be solved, and so, it combats these attempts above all other things."

She hovers over you now.

Looking for all the world like an incomprehensible giant, although it is simply inside of your head, yes...

"Thus, Dreams have their own perils. But the sleeping must be convinced that they can awaken, for them, it is the only way. There is no need to rush, but time is also not infinite."

Her hand slams to the side, and with it, the 'will' holding the doors shut disappears.

"As for the Alcheringa... They come from different places, but they were all born from a Single Will."

"It is not the only enemy... But it is the cause of all of this, the reason why any of this was necessary, or perhaps, the one that pulled the trigger to start with...?"

That familiar cavern reappears.

"So let's go see it! The cruel face of the 'Will!' We will be like ants, for that is what we are before it, insects, a thing that may be a nuisance at times, but ultimately harmless, incapable of defying it... Perhaps that thought will be it's mistake!"

"Who knows how this storm will end?!"

---A sea of what your mind can only process as curses, thick choking air, a putrid miasma, a cavernous room where everything is swallowed, dragged into the depths of the incomprehensible darkness.

Or was it darkness?

You could never tell.

Perceptions can fail you more often than one might like, however...

That is not important.

You walk inside alongside your grandmother, who pauses at the edge, looking down into the depths of the curse with a fading smile, a certain sadness overtaking the mania that had seemingly been driving her up until now, and...

The familiar body down below moves.

It twitches, just once, almost as if begging for something to save them, and...

That is what they're doing.

Screaming at the bottom of a pit of curses, on the day where their strength finally gave out.

Drowning.

Sinking.

Someone comes, a familiar figure, pulling them from the depths, but the mind is broken so it's too late.

How many souls hid in this one form?

Piling all their strength together to survive as long as they had, it still hadn't been enough in the end.

The body and mind were broken, even if the souls held strong, but...

A voice calls out.

Different from their savior from the muck.

Something bright.

Something shining.

A magnificent 'Will' indeed-!

[Do you need help?]

The voice was truly like that of the divine.

Melting away worries and pain, like the creator itself had stepped down to lovingly caress their face.

[If so, I just need you to make a wish for me, okay?]

---From an outsider's perspective, it would be a horrific light.

Scorching, burning, like the Sun itself had descended upon the Earth, swallowing up the planet and erasing all life upon it, a forgotten divinity emerged in the modern day, but-!

[Just pray.]

---As a miracle, there can be nothing greater.

So of course, the deal was struck.

A miracle occurred, a wish was granted.

They disappeared and LUCID emerged in their place, and-



[Oh. Who are you?]

The empathy link is cut.

The replay of a memory is halted.

Their savior sees you.

Sees you both.

---It's a horrific light.

---Looking at it alone has already blown away most of your physical form.

But this is your chance.

Hold together the scattered pieces of your psyche, and pierce through that light with everything you have...

Reveal the nature of it.

If it's a single will, then it must be someone that lives in this false world.

You may have even seen them yourself, with your own eyes, or maybe...

Maybe someone else has?

You look.

You look hard, and...

---Ah.

---So that was... Who it was, huh...?

---In any other circumstance you might laugh, after all...

It makes way too much sense, they were the...

Only one that could get away with it.

You aren't sure if you've met them yourself or not anymore, but...

[Ah. Theresia, Ludwig.]

They certainly know you.

That divine hand grasps your soul, naturally it can do such things.

[That's no good, looking through connections like this, it's cheating-!]

There is no possible resistance.

The moment it had seen you, that was it.

Your life in this world was over.

[And cheaters... Well... They get punished-!]

You do see it.

The face of the one behind everything as they pull you close in a loving way, like one family member might hold another, but-

---This isn't family.

[Byebye~]

It giggles.

[Until next time, okay?]

[Airen]

Eva Ellet
SLEIPNIR - Common Room (?)
11/16/2026
Monday - Morning

“I didn’t realize the two of you had met before… Umm… if it’s not too much trouble, I’d be very much interested in hearing more about it…

---The woman smiles.

"Of course we've met before, I was one of her teachers back in the day."

---And continues to be a baffling existence, one without shame, or perhaps...

One whose 'resume' is continuing to grow at an unprecedented rate... Considering her stories from before, it was clear that this woman was far older than her youthful appearance and personality would initially lead one to believe, but to have taught your mother of all things, was that really possible...?

"Leah Ellet, right? I thought you looked a bit familiar, but it took me a little bit to put the pieces together."

Her voice is kind, lacking the more teasing elements from before, perhaps because she's better at reading the atmosphere than her jokey lifestyle would suggest...?

Because if she knows your mother, and you look familiar to her, well...

Then she could put those pieces together too.

The 'truth' behind your 'origin.'

In other words... She knows exactly who and what you are...

"And of course, it's no trouble at all~"

She laughs, wanders over to a nearby table -in what seems to be the kitchen area of her ship- and gestures for you to sit alongside her if you wish, before:

"Evita!"

She calls out to the younger girl.

"What?"

One who sounds quite grumpy...

"Since you're being so snippy today, you can make the tea."

A simple command from teacher to student, and...

"What?! Seriously?! You're kidding, right?"

...is always turning away to do it even as she complains about it, the foundations of her earlier seeming maturity (if not friendliness) falling away as she reveals what is likely closer to her true self, a grumpy teenager...

But like most teenagers in the face of their guardian...

She relents.

---For some reason, it feels satisfying to see her do so.

Although whether you acknowledge that strange feeling is up to you...

Still...

"So, what'll it be then? I have tons of stories about Leah~"

She leans forward, head resting on an upturned arm...

"Our first meeting was fun! Then there was that time she came to ask me about how memories and plumes are intertwined... Or the time she wanted to know what I knew about the Master System..."

She winks at you.

"So what'll it be? She was a precious student of mine, so I guess that makes you like a... Grandchild or something..."

A laugh.

"...Maybe I am getting old...?"

And slow realization of her own age...

[hero]

Amamiya Sho
Aoyama, Sho's Residence
11/16/2026
Monday - Early Morning, Just After Midnight


"..."

I can't make head or tails of what is going on. Reverie Complex? World of Fantasy? Just what is all of this, and why now? Jack... Is this the same Jack that I know, the fiendish little shrimp that goes around causing trouble and misunderstandings? For some reason, when he speaks like that, he sounds like a completely different person.

I am anxious, more anxious than usual, and I am conscious of it. Something in this scene does not match with the records of reality that I have on my memory, but I don't know what to do to fix the issue. I don't remember anything about lucid dreaming, but I can tell this is not a dream. That's what makes it all so bizarre. Is this real... Or is this fake...? For a second, I feel my own heart waver.

I close my eyes for a moment and attempt to focus on what's truly important.

I am a tamer, I take care of supernatural issues like this for a living. At some point it can bring quite a lot of trouble but, if possible, I would like to keep my license, as it ensures a guaranteed income every month. I have not been given permission to act by the SCDC, and any affiliation with Jack Frost has a solid chance of putting me in the same bag as a second-class vigilante, but I don't really have the right to choose who to side with under these circumstances.

Besides, it's not like I'm very well-liked around here, anyways. If the SCDC has a better Tamer to send on the job, then they would have probably dispatched them to deal with the problem already.

... Which means it's up to me to storm their party and steal the spotlight. I, too, would very much like a rise.

"Okay. I don't really get what's going on but..." Walking over towards the closet, I retrieve a raincoat and proceed to gear up. I don't have any spares, not that I would share anyways, so the duo would have to do with a couple of umbrellas. "There are some bad guys I have to take care of, right?"

"Then, let's go. The earlier we're done, the sooner I can begin with today's agenda."




Those chores won't take care of themselves.

[Airen]

Amamiya Sho
Aoyama, Sho's Residence
11/16/2026
Monday - Early Morning, Just After Midnight

"In this case yes, it's hee simple enough to think of it like that ho!"

---A bad guy to defeat.

The World is often a more complex place than that, everyone has a reason to do what they do, a motive behind their actions, and thus, everyone is the protagonist of their own story, so...

"This one should be rather simple to deal with, hee ho! Not that, hee, many tricks!"

...It's a bit odd to hear Jack describe someone that way.

At the same time...

"Let's go-!"

The return of the irreverent tone is somewhat refreshing, it helps to alleviate the odd feelings that have begun to swim across the surface of your mind...

For a moment.

Just for a moment.

---Because the reality that awaits you in the outdoors is bizarre; considering the nature of magitechnology, major storms like typhoons and hurricanes simply do not appear nowadays... While things like rain and thunderstorms aren't considered serious enough to intervene with, weather that would damage physical structures and potentially harm people are stopped, but...

There's water everywhere...

Sounds like waves crashing into buildings, sounds like water lines exploding in place, or things crashing into buildings... It's a bizarre feeling, like your home had been muffling the sounds of some sort of conflict on the outside, or perhaps, like things had simply only escalated to this point recently...?

Whatever the case...

It does not make sense.

Water is both erupting from the ground and falling from the sky, the distant booms of thunder feeding into a city that should not have been allowed to reach this mix of chaos and silence... While the area looks like something has been violently slamming into the streets and buildings -thus causing the broken water lines in the first place- there are no people coming out of the buildings to deal with the mess, no people out on the streets, no lights in the buildings, and no sounds of any footsteps other than those of yourself and the other two, as you descend the stairs of your apartment building and follow along with the other two.

---This scenario is crazy.

---The more you think about it, the more dream-like it really does become...

It's like the city has been emptied out completely, the human element gone, leaving only the infrastructure behind in the face of this bizarre storm, yes...

Even a passing train shows no passengers.

It's a city of both silence and noise, reclaimed by nature, hazy like the fog, and punctuated only by those that continue to linger within it.

---It's troublesome.

---You can tell right away this is going to be something annoying, not just because of all the collateral damage that already seems to have been done in the face of some sort of supernatural phenomena, but...

"...!"

...Because of the car that was seemingly gleefully thrown just ahead of you and the others, sixth sense warning you just in time to step back as it passes in a shower of sparks and steel, the red-haired girl's arm going up almost instinctively to stop you, even as you stop on your own...

"Howdy kids!"

...The voice of the assailant is chipper, the voice of a girl about your age... Although her use of the word 'kids' seems to imply that she either sees herself as older, or is one of those immortals masquerading as a young girl...

"Enjoying the party? I know I'm making a lot of noise, but the night is more exciting like this, right?"

She's sitting atop a nearby pile of smashed cars, absentmindedly crunching the steel around her with the flexing of her hands as she nevertheless waves down at the both of you. She has only a single eye -an eye-patch covering the other- and her dark hair and clothing makes it pretty easy for her to fit into the scenery at this time of night, nevertheless...

"Surprised anyone came out! Everyone else just ignores me, no matter how much noise I make! But hey Sho, Nadia, since you two are out here, wanna fight? Maybe that'll make everyone pay attention?"

She laughs.

"Or maybe I should just keep throwing cars around?"

The red-haired girl turns to face her, pointing a finger accusingly like some sort of overly dramatic hero of justice, but following her mute nature...

Doesn't say anything in response...

But Jack, well...

"See, hee ho! A very straightforward one! A bully that just runs around breaking things!"

[Airen]

Hiyori
SLEIPNIR - Bottom Level, Endless Hall
11/16/2026
Monday - Morning

"...Charlotte."

A simple answer.

Where a brief flash of surprise had crossed her face at the appearance of your cardboard box dragging itself along the ground, as if she had expected many things but this wasn't one of them, there's a moment where a hint of genuine amusement flashes in her eyes, then...

"Just Charlotte, little doll, although Empress Charlotte would perhaps be more accurate?"

...A bit of that self-indulgent aura, that clear mark of a person who absolutely thought the world of themselves, peeks back in through the damaged body and obviously compromised position, to the point where even her voice regains it's perfectly refined airs in spite of all the wounds...

And there are quite the number of wounds for you to heal...

This woman -Charlotte- seems to have been shot over a dozen or so times... The bullet holes themselves are small but pale to look at, almost resembling chemical burns more than they did traditional bullet wounds... It's from these wounds that some black tar-like substance is removed via magic, expelled from the body as it regains it's strength, coiling like a black thing on the floor, a manifest curse that seems to pulse with life for a few moments more before returning to the shape of clay, a dull grey muck...

Those are the worst of it, and to her credit, the woman maintains a painless face the entire time, seemingly motivated by some deep sense of pride that doesn't allow her to show pain for long, and indeed...

"Those hmm... Creatures, are getting more and more brazen as time passes, trying to kill me? Foolish. You? Also foolish."

Her voice never cracks once, even as a particularly nasty wound on her arm literally splits open and cracks in the face of healing magic, red mixing with black before things start closing up again, it's a very delayed healing reaction, taking far longer than it should, and in that regard it was probably purposeful...

Curses were the sort that tended to resist healing after all, and whoever that was before, they had been...

Drowning in bloodlust?

Wandering around with the purpose of just killing everyone they saw?

Those sorts tended to be brutal, so taking a bit to recover wouldn't be unheard of, hell...

When the power of your magic fades, there's still a nasty pale color around the places where she had been shot earlier, looking almost like necrotic flesh, like those particular areas had simply died in spite of the mud being removed, but...

She closes her eyes.

It doesn't seem to bother her too much...

"...Not that you aren't your own brand of fool, little doll. Healing a stowaway on your ship? Someone like me could easily dispatch of a COMP without it's wielder you know? This is reckless. Are you really a member of the so-called Red Shield? Shouldn't you have bound me first?"

She chuckles.

"Is the organization getting soft nowadays, or are you simply a strange one...?"

---She hasn't said 'thank you' a single time, but...

In spite of talking about how easily she could apparently defeat you if she wanted to, it doesn't feel like there's any seriousness in it, more like...

She's saying it because that's the sort of image she wants to present.

...Felt like she wasn't going to stop calling you 'little doll' either...

[Kuroyuki]

Hiyori
SLEIPNIR - Bottom Level, Endless Hall
11/16/2026
Monday - Morning

"...Charlotte."

Oh that’s surprisingly normal. I was expecting something pretentious like Queen Mary Tudor the First of Smugland. Especially since the only thing she has been doing since I’ve seen her is smile smugly and act all super know it all.

"Just Charlotte little doll, although Empress Charlotte would perhaps be more accurate?"

“Nope! Not fitting or accurate at all!”

Ah there’s the smugness flowing from her wounds! Despite not doing anything to fix her wounds, she’s acting like she has the right to boss me around! Actually… Now that I’m looking at her wounds, there’s some kind of weird icky curse mud coming out of her. If I knew she had that kind of wounds, I should’ve used Baisudi first! But I’m a sword COMP not a healer COMP so I doubt I could’ve figured out the gunshot wounds were cursed gunshot wounds. Well… I guess Ross would have figured it out since she hangs out with that shifty evil ship doctor Xavier.

"Those hmm... Creatures are getting more and more brazen as time passes, trying to kill me? Foolish."

“Creatures? But wasn’t that a person or a demon who came in earlier? Even if that was the first time, I’ve ever seen someone so bloodthirsty it added a red filter to a room...”

Well… at least I think it was a person or a demon… It’s not like I ever got a good look at them while I was hiding on the shelf… So maybe it was a creature? But we clearly saw it speak so it has to be someone. Hmm… I’m not sure… Maybe Ross could figure it out with the help of the internet, but I’m sure she would have some issues too...

“You? Also foolish... Not that you aren't your own brand of fool, little doll. Healing a stowaway on your ship? Someone like me could easily dispatch of a COMP without it's wielder you know? This is reckless. Are you really a member of the so-called Red Shield? Shouldn't you have bound me first? Is the organization getting soft nowadays, or are you simply a strange one...?”

“Foolish?! Easily dispatched?! Strange one?!”

She really was trying to get me to give the old one two to the face! I flew up in front of her face displeased… I glared at her in the eye before flying away and getting closer until… I flicked her in her SMUG forehead! After flickering her on the head, I flew above her and landed on her head.

“Baisudi! Ewiger Phönix! I’ll have you know Miss Smug that I’m a COMP of Justice! What kind of person would I be if I just restrained someone wounded despite them doing nothing bad besides stowaway?! A horrible person that’s who! And if anything everyone else in this faction is weird! They’re all power hungry anti-social weirdos who automatically break out into rival dialogue! So if anything, Ross and I are one of the white sheep in this ship of black sheep!”

I eventually quieted down as I focused on Miss Smug’s injuries more... before muttering...

_{“That and besides… If you wanted to attack me, you would’ve done so already instead of being some smug know it all or jumped in when that person noticed me.”}

I stopped muttering to myself and got loud again.

"Anyways even if you're a stowaway, I'm sure Ross would drop you off wherever you need to go because she's a nice person like that! She wouldn't allow someone to be tossed overboard or get thrown into the ship's brig if they haven't done anything bad!"

Rossweisse/Hiyori Wise Up!

Revealed Spells:

Spell Name	Rank (Target)	Element	Description
Ewiger Phönix (Undying Phoenix)	C (Single)	Healing	A healing spell that allows the user to “come back from the ashes like a phoenix.” While it may be seen as a more personalized Diarhan, this spell allows for temporary continual regeneration of the body. While it won’t instantly restore a lost limb, Ewiger Phönix is better for when multiple limbs are still attached but not fully functional. Thus a longer lasting regeneration would allow a person to fight well past their supposed limits.
Baisudi	E-C (Single)	Healing	Removes basic elemental curses/natural afflictions from a single target. (Burn, Shock, Freeze). If the cause is supernatural, rank of the spell must be equivalent to or greater than whatever caused the affliction it in order to remove it.
Dia/Diahan/Diarhan	E - C (Single)	Healing	Restores life-force of target. Does not remove poison, curses or other forms of supernatural affliction, but is capable of closing some wounds and restoring flesh at E and D Ranks. At it’s highest level ‘Diarahan’ is capable of outright restoring lost limbs so long as the wounds themselves were not cursed. Stamina and Spiritual Power are also not restored by this spell, an exhausted target will remain exhausted.

[Airen]

Hiyori
SLEIPNIR - Bottom Level, Endless Hall
11/16/2026
Monday - Morning

"..."

---It's the flick to the forehead that finally managed to break that ever-so-knowing face of hers... Of course it's not a major break in her facade, she doesn't comically rub at her forehead as if it hurt, or melodramatically complain about the sudden hit, but-!

"..."

For a moment, you do see disbelief.

Like she wasn't sure how to respond to someone doing that to her... Well, considering she was trying to pass herself off as some form of nobility (and did seem to be dressed for the part admittedly) there was a good chance no one had ever actually done something like that to her before, so...

"...Because you healed me, I will pretend like you didn't strike me with a finger."

...In the end, her brain seems to come to this sort of conclusion...

Looking mildly annoyed that you had plopped yourself down on her head, but also not doing anything to chase you off of said perch, the woman stands, regarding her body with renewed interest at the application of a spell she doesn't not recognize, and...

"...Yes, you are a strange one. Remarkably efficient for being off on your own..."

Simply mutters this to herself, looking over the slowly shifting skin of her arm -new arising to replace the old- and letting it fall down to her side...

"...But yes, creatures."

She opens the door, leaning forward to check both sides... Before stepping out into it in earnest.

It's a movement done without warning, in a sense, she doesn't seem to care if you stay on her head or fly off to your own devices, but...

She does keep talking to you.

"Make no mistake Little Doll, that thing is still but a dream, it does not really exist... It wishes to exist, struggles to exist, but it has not yet managed to do so outside of specific conditions... What would you call that if not a creature? A monster of sorts? It may have been human once, but it's existence now... Well... It's quite the twisted one."

She chuckles.

"As for me... Well, don't assume I jumped in to save you, that thing simply offended my senses and it happened to be distracted by you... A tactical opening that happened to work out for you, little more."

Sounds vaguely dishonest, but it's hard to say one way or another.

"I could very well be a criminal, here to execute some malicious plan...! Just because I have yet to do so, doesn't mean I wouldn't do such a thing in the future. If that is the case, then you would have just healed one of your enemies, you see...? Reckless."

...It's these words that make it hard to take her apparently villainous nature seriously, after all...

She's trying a bit too hard to make you believe it, right...?

"...But if you must know, my destination is not anywhere a ship would take me... I suppose you could say I'm already where I want to be... So I will have to trespass for a bit longer."

[hero]

Amamiya Sho
Aoyama, Sho's Residence
11/16/2026
Monday - Early Morning, Just After Midnight


Aoyama is dark, silent, desolate. A shadow of its former self. Even so, its current nature does little to prevent my eyes from finding the truth.

It's a Toyota, a pretty common brand here in Japan, its price is around 220.000 yen, and its repairs will possibly cost the owner around half of that amount. They'll not be able to brand the cause of the damage as vandalism and their insurance policy will probably conduct a throughout investigation before concluding that whatever natural disaster caused such destruction is likely not listed under those covered by the company. This is the second main reason why someone like Amamiya Sho does not own a car, in spite of the clear benefits he could gain if he ever owned said vehicle. It doesn't matter if Aoyama is at its peak in popularity of if it has reached rock bottom. Crazy things happen in Aoyama all the same.

In case you are wondering, the first reason why he does not own a car is simply because he cannot afford one. Not the initial purchase, nor the implicit costs that come with its ownership.

"No way. You've got a little girl, a pet snowman and this city's weakest tamer. We're not exactly fighting material."

This sort of exchange is common. Not matter where I go or who I am against, I don't miss an opportunity to throw some lines covered in irony. However, this is not a normal foe we're up against. Regardless of how strong she is, I would have never taken her seriously. But she knows my name. And while my identity is not exactly a secret, that sort of familiarity puts me on edge, my instincts pleading for me to buy some time, if only to figure out who on Earth we've bumped into.

"The truth is that you keep making so much noise I simply can't catch some very much needed sleep. Mind if I take a rain check on that fight? I'm sure everything will be a lot more active in the morning. Hell, if you put on your best show, the Guardians of the Globe might come after you instead of 'my team'."

Then, almost as an afterthought...

"And you got it wrong. This is indeed Nadia's Jack Frost, but this isn't Nadia. Nadia is tall like this, has blonde hair and rides a vehicle everywhere she goes. This is... Ummm...."

Oh, right. I never did ask for her name.

Perhaps I just assumed I would never get it, considering how bad I am at playing "charades".

[Airen]

Lydia
Location: Unknown
Time: Unknown

"..."

---Upon the reboot of your systems, the first thing your sensors read is that your body is being moved by some sort of outside force.

Of course, it is only the first of many sensations, and is quickly joined by a host of other questions, such as who you are, what you were doing before this, why you had been shut offline, and why...

Why it feels like something inside of you is missing, some sort of connection to some nebulous other that you can no longer define.

---That's right.

You cannot recall the events that have led you up to this moment. While you can tell that something is missing, that some sort of important person has been lost to you, their name and face can no longer be recalled, as their existence itself has become forbidden information, something rejected by reality and thus unable to be accessed by anyone inside of reality.

---In spite of that, your form remains the same as it always was; while you cannot remember your origin, your existence somehow remains intact in spite of everything... In some ways it could be called an impossibility, although whether it came about through your own impossible merits, or the impossible connection to someone that does not exist, and yet you feel like you can almost touch, well...

It's unclear.

The only thing that becomes clear in time... Is your name.

Lydia.

That is you and that fact cannot be robbed from you.

Even if everything else falls away.

---After that realization, well...

Sensors realign, and the world around you comes into focus.

A world of white flowers, starlit skies, and a castle overlooking it all, seated atop a silent cliff. There are petals dancing in the air, a consequence of the mild winds running through this area -whatever it is- but that wind is not the reason you're moving no...

That reason is...

"...Oh boy, it reactivated...?"

A strange blonde woman.

---There is a flicker of recognition in your systems at the sight of her, but nothing concrete, simply the feeling that you have seen this person before somewhere, at sometime lost to your memories, and...

When she sees you notice her, well...

"Lara. Looks like you were right. She woke up, same form and everything... Kind of impressive."

The blonde calls out to her companion, who...



"..."

Strangely says nothing in response, although, seeing this one...

You have that flicker of recognition again, a bit stronger, and...

Lara...?

Was that... The name...?

[Zurvan]

---The sea washes it all away.

The pain that was felt, the agony that was experienced, the hopes that were turned to dust.

All because of you...

You had felt it first... as a fool and his most trusted companion had thrown yourself towards hell... only to be pierced through without effort.

You watched as your fated partner, the one you would protect for as long as you could, was tearing apart before your eyes. But that was not the end...

You were embraced by the curse down below... you were the first to feel it searing into you, speaking to you the words you did not wish hear.

That you had failed him.

That his inevitable demise was on you.

That all of this could have been avoided... that if it were anyone else this would have been avoided...

---That you had abandoned him.

But that was not the end... no.

You watched as he got up from that cursed pit, regardless of his dying state, the curse leeching on his back, his heart pierced and broken as his own energy was tearing him asunder.

And in his final moments... hugged his assassin as gradient light overtook your vision.

His loved ones, came to haunt him, to his death... and you couldn't stop it.

In your haste, you hid in a memory, as starlight watched over you two. You talked, pleaded, screamed, cried... but his mind was elsewhere.

You watched as the stars in the sky darkened, as his connection to this World slowly whittled away. Eyes glassy and hollow, his body sinking away into the sea... never to return.

Until abruptly, without warning all that was left in the darkness, was you.

No stars.

No light.

No hope.

No Ludwig.

Only darkness.

Only you.

---But the sea washes it all away.

The pain, the memories, the bond you two forged.

All that is left, is your name, your foundation.

Perhaps... deep down those memories still dwell in your heart?

Who knows...

You do not.

----------

Lydia
Main Processing Unit Online
Partner Condition: ERROR
Location: ERROR, Unknown
Date: ERROR, Unknown
Time: ERROR, Unknown

---Why do I feel so... empty?

Awakening from what felt like a nightmare, Lydia slowly takes her surrounding in.

Something is strange, missing yet, she cannot place what it would be. Had she only just awoken as a new existence, to be bonded with one of these two?

And yet, something inside her tells her she knows these two, one more than the other... Her nose tells her the same but--

---Why are you using your nose? COMPs don't have any real sense of smell, do they?

How strange...

Nevertheless, the situation isn't going to be any clearer standing around looking dumbfounded, even if that's exactly what she is.

"Oh, hello~! It is my pleasure to meet you two, Lara and... terribly sorry I didn't catch your name...!"

Feeling a little bashful in the presence of these two strangers --or were they?-- Lydia simply goes the straight forward way of just asking who she has the pleasure of speaking with. They certainly seem to possess answers she lacks, no good trying to rack your brain open when the answer is but a question away after all.

"My name is Lydia, at your service-!"

...Wait, shouldn't I have a last name? Why do I even have a name in the first place... when I can't remember who gave it to me.

"I must apologize, something seems amiss about my own state of being... Oh noes, maybe I've been corrupted..."

Despite her words, she doesn't seem too alarmed. Simply smiling with a warm and inviting kindness, waiting for answers to hopefully present themselves.

"In any case, could either of you enlighten me to where I am, my sensors seem to have some issues~."

[Kuroyuki]

Hiyori
SLEIPNIR - Bottom Level, Endless Hall
11/16/2026
Monday - Morning

"...Because you healed me, I will pretend like you didn't strike me with a finger."

“Hmph!”

I don’t care how she has to justify her inability to stop me from flicking her, but I still haven’t heard a thank you from her smug face! Your smugness only gets you this far when you’re this hurt! If I had to make a comparison, it’s like healing an uncute and smug Ross after she goes too far! Granted Ross has her uncute moments but that’s like 1% of the time. Miss Smug on the other hand is like 99% condescending smug! Her head is comfy though… But it must be because she likes to use expensive products or something…Anyways! I didn’t move off her head as she started going into the hall.

"...But yes, creatures. Make no mistake Little Doll, that thing is still but a dream, it does not really exist... It wishes to exist, struggles to exist, but it has not yet managed to do so outside of specific conditions... What would you call that if not a creature? A monster of sorts? It may have been human once, but it's existence now... Well... It's quite the twisted one."

“It’s just a dream or something that doesn’t exist so it can’t be a person… But Miss Smug if that was once a person, what caused them to be like that? Like it’s one thing if you come across a demon of concentrated evil, but the amount of killing intent coming from her was no joke...”

Something about Miss Smug’s words felt sad… I mean that person earlier was literally giving off the irredeemable evil boss character vibe, but I wouldn’t say they weren’t people… They clearly felt pain and emotions… So I couldn’t call her an it like Miss Smug. It just didn’t feel right… At that thought, I just silently sat on Miss Smug’s head until she continued talking...

“As for me... Well, don't assume I jumped in to save you, that thing simply offended my senses and it happened to be distracted by you... A tactical opening that happened to work out for you, little more. I could very well be a criminal, here to execute some malicious plan...! Just because I have yet to do so, doesn't mean I wouldn't do such a thing in the future. If that is the case, then you would have just healed one of your enemies, you see...? Reckless."

“Well if you’re a criminal then all I have to do is stop you before you do the crime then! Since a true hero doesn’t wait for issues to occur, but stops them before everyone gets hurt! Or failing that, stopping the villain without killing them! Even then… Damaging this ship is like impossible! Like whoever made this thing must have been super paranoid if even the inside is made up of Alien Nokium Metal EX.”

Despite being in the magical age and having evil become more and more consolidated… There rarely were people or demons that you had to stop them permanently. At least on the human side, there was always the chance you could redeem them. As for demons, well even the absolutely malicious ones you couldn’t place down permanently and maybe exterminating them could make them repent even if it was through force.

“Also as for healing an enemy. I didn’t heal an enemy and sit on their head. I’m just sitting on some smug idiot’s head who keeps saying they’re evil. HMPH!”

"...But if you must know, my destination is not anywhere a ship would take me... I suppose you could say I'm already where I want to be... So I will have to trespass for a bit longer."

“...It’s not like I was going to toss you out in the first place. Sure we’re trapped in this field, but even then a hitchhiker or two wouldn’t hurt in this big empty ship. So go ahead and stay here...”

I think back to her ‘evil’ words.

“Provided you stay where I can see you! If someone else finds you unescorted, they might actually throw you overboard unlike the kind me! They'll see your smug aura and throw you off before you can even say a thing!”

[Airen]

Lydia
Main Processing Unit Online
Partner Condition: ERROR
Location: ERROR, Unknown
Date: ERROR, Unknown
Time: ERROR, Unknown

"...Astrolabe."

---In the end, the one who answers your question first is the dark-haired woman, this strangely familiar Lara. Her voice and appearance are somewhat reminiscent of your own, although the emotionless manner in which she answers you seems strangely... Forced...?

Like rather than a natural emotionless state, it was something forced, a thing of conscious effort and will on her part...?

Regardless, the blonde (whose name you still haven't gotten) shoots the girl an obviously concerned look at this, as if she too was only hearing that bizarre tone of voice for the first time, before...

"Uh yeah, Astrolabe... That is the name I guess, although it won't do you too much good by itself..."

She awkwardly turns her attention to you.

"Best to think of it as... A sort of observatory?"

She blinks, then as if realizing she had yet to respond to your earlier request, sheepishly laughs and bows at the same time...

"My name is Sarah by the way, Sarah Starbright."

...Although the joyful light in them never reaches her eyes, no, they remain concerned and inquisitive the entire time... It's the sort of gaze that makes you feel like you're the patient to the woman's doctor, her attention on you the sort of a healer who is trying to access the damage that has been done to their charge, but...

"And that stoic beauty over there is Lara, Lara Karlfeldt."

...You'd never be able to tell from her tone of voice or body language, only her eyes betray it, showing some sort of training in hiding her actual intentions from the world, yes...

Even as an amnesiac, it seems it is in your nature to notice these sorts of things...?

"We're here to... Hmmm, I suppose you could say we're here to visit someone. It's been a bit of a journey, so we were going to camp here for awhile."

She glances back at the dark-haired woman, Lara, who simply stares back at her with silent eyes...

No...

When they lock eyes, for a moment, a flicker of weakness appears in Lara's, before it's wiped out again through her own will...

"Would you like to join us? You can go back to sleep instead, if you'd like, we won't leave you alone here now that we know you work."

---Ultimately, she makes you this sort of offer, but...

Do you really have a choice...?

[Zurvan]

Lydia
Main Processing Unit Online
Partner Condition: ERROR
Location: ERROR, Unknown
Date: ERROR, Unknown
Time: ERROR, Unknown

---Interesting.

"Is that so... mhmmmm~"

Despite finding herself in a unknown situation, lots of information is exchanged from the brief interactions.

Yet, their actions speak more volumes than their words do, a rather troublesome duo.

Anyone could see the force behind the black-haired maiden... Lara's facade. It doesn't take a genius either to see that Sarah noticed that change too, and is concerned.

They care for another, good.

Either they're terrible at hiding their true selves, or they're good people.

Seems like accompanying them is a wise choice for now, as plenty questions have arisen from when Lydia woke.

---Still, that behavior and name... Karlfeldt.

Why did that hurt...?

"Lara Karlfeldt is it... I dislike girls that can't show their real selves around the people they like~"

Half-convinced the company she keeps is good, Lydia tries to see if there's any lines that shouldn't be crossed, reactions that reveal more about the pair before her.

"Well that... and something else... but I'm not sure how to explain it..."

But that wasn't the sole reason, no far from it.

Her primary reason for it, given the risk it could carry, is--

"It... hurt to see you like that, if that makes sense? I'm sorry I'm not sure I get it myself it just... seemed out of place?"

Like someone you aren't, and could never replace.

...But that part needn't be said aloud. With some luck Sarah could be turned on Lydia's side this time, as her worry is rather apparent.

"Well, if that's not too much I'd be indebted to you ladies if I could accompany you, going to visit someone dear, unless my eyes deceive me."

Taking a bow herself, she graciously accepts the offer. Both to sate her own curiosity, and to learn more about this precious pair of open books.

"I'll be more mindful and respectful from here on out, but... I am a COMP first and foremost. I'm not quite as useful on my own than I would be bonded to another."

Carefully eyeing the responses of both maidens as she says so, Lydia presses on a certain possibility.

"So, would either of you be willing to accept me by your side?"

---And prays she's utterly wrong.

[Airen]

Raz Stone
Aoyama, Tokyo ~ Brewed Awakenings
11/16/2026
Monday - Noon

"..."

A brief flash of surprise crosses the woman's eyes at your rather bizarre -from her perspective- introduction...

Certainly, there is a certain air of expectation that probably exists when one goes to confront Raz Stone for one reason or another, lord knows there were enough stories about you on the internet to make anyone with even a passing interest in you more or less get a grasp at how your more public persona works, and yet...

There is still the shock factor of actually experiencing it.

A dark-haired man with a sparkling aura acting with all the mannerisms of a professional butler, and a skeleton that had moved forward in soundless competition, bowing alongside you in a manner that was clearly designed to be overblown, thanks to the fact that it was a literal animated skeleton and didn't quite have to follow the same flexibility limits as a flesh and blood human body, and...

"..."

Indeed, for a second, the woman on the other side says nothing at all to either of you.

---She's a tad shorter than you, horns standing out amidst well kept rose-colored hair; her figure is muscular (but not overly so) the physique of one who hasn't quite gotten addicted to protein powder yet, but her most striking feature is simply her right arm, bandaged up to her shoulder and pulsing with an amount of reiki that made it clear the limb was probably entirely composed of the substance, in other words...

She's got a prosthetic arm.

And judging from the horns and feel of her aura from this close... Some sort of demon?

Oni?

You were in Japan after all...

"I see... Knights working in cafes now? My my I really do get the lucky missions."

Her voice is deep, a tad husky, but the smile that crosses her face is amused all the same-!

---Outside, no one moves, because she has not given them permission to do so.

It remains an astounding show of loyalty, and raises questions as to exactly what sort of person this woman is... Of course, it's only a matter of course that locals would have more sway locals in certain ways, Aoyama was one of those interconnected towns where everyone seemed to know everyone else, and where picking a fight with a local as an outsider was bound to label you as a bad guy, but...

To hold so much sway over that many people...?

She really must be something special... Another glance at her uniform -a suit- does show the insignia of the SDCD on it, but that doesn't tell you much by itself, and she had basically called herself an agent anyway, so...

It's difficult to get a read on her...

"I don't have any particular favorites when it comes to coffee, so if this is some sort of contest between you, why don't the both of you just surprise me?"

Especially when she seems to play along with your game on one hand, wandering over to a nearby table with that same amused smile but determined footsteps... Even as she has forbid everyone else from entering the building with the other...

"It'll make the discussion more pleasant. I'm sure the Knights hate paperwork as much as I do... You can call me Ibaraki, by the way."

[Tobias]

Raz Stone
Aoyama, Tokyo ~ Brewed Awakenings
11/16/2026
Monday - Noon

There were a few things to note about the way and ways Raz approached people. Obviously one of them was as a flirt. A seducer of men and women alike, though admittedly there was a significant amount of the members of present company whom he would not approach in this manner.

The next way was a a knight. Someone who came on the scene, riding a great, if highly atypical steed. seeking the eradication of evil, the preservation of the innocent, and honorable combat.

There was however, another possibility. One a bit rarer these days, it didn't come up as much due to his increasing presence within the collective id. (Most would have expected the collective ego or super ego, but lets face it, Raz didn't have much to do with those areas of the human soul)

Yes indeed, that rarer, but still valid method of response was....

A new fan!

Yup! When encountering someone who legitimately hadn't formed an opinion of him yet, there was a desire to introduce himself and gain further renown. Sometimes he needed to suppress such, for example the vampire's school where the mission regrettably took priority, but as right now he was simply waiting on the return of his COMP and his stage, he was free to indulge himself!

"Ah, a customer then! Though I had not not expected such a grand arrival to this humbly store, allow me to say then, Okaeri nesai, ojousama!" Raz finished, bowing deeply with one of the serving towels tucked over one arm. A traditional eastern greeting when entering a restaurant, and one that likely had deeper meeting to a member of the eastern nobility, even if that nobility came from demonic blood. He wasn't 100% certain of her back ground buuuut he had several likely good guesses.

Raz was not at all surprised that Matador followed his example. As both of them were functionally in a role of servant, showing respect was the honorable thing to do.

As the pair respectfully followed her in and then showed her to the table, the imposing presence engaged in that oldest and dignified act of requesting a chef's choice. Such was a show of simultaneously a show of respect and a challenge. And certainly, one Raz intended to rise to! When she introduced herself Raz bowed deeply once more.

"Lady Ibaraki then, please allow me and my compatriot to serve you." The bard said gaily.

In some manga or another this would traditionally be the moment to undermine one's competition, but obviously neither Raz nor the Matador ever thought something like that was even worthy of competition. This was a simple duel with honor as the stake and the reward of a satisfied woman as the reward.

...Not usually the way Raz traditionally evoked such, but maybe that's what added to the excitement.

The Matador busied himself in his own little kitchen. Once more, in some circumstances separating the competition would be to avoid sabotage or mischief, but in this case it was just to present inadvertent grabbing of the wrong ingredient, and of course, it was fun to keep the surprise under wraps until the time was right.

A proper meal could force even a reluctant grunt of respect from one's opponent, sometimes even more desirable then victory itself.

Raz considered a traditional Japanese breakfast, but swiftly rejected that idea. Even though such could bring about ages long past, and it was his experience demons tended to value nostalgia, Raz himself wasn't as good with tea as he was with coffee. Plus, as he wished to convert a new fan, it would be better to produce something that showed the pleasure of new things. A western breakfast, light, flavorful, fruity. One that energized, not relaxed.

Plus, when it came to the nobility, demonic or otherwise, that often prized cool elegance and a mature, bitter flavor, the demon known as Iabaraki stemmed from the sea of the human soul...and he seemed to recall somewhere that she...liked sweets.

First, the coffee itself. A refreshing light Yirgacheffe. This was a bit of a cheat. Chefs who received an omakase request often used sneaky tricks like this. The ethopian coffee Raz selected was light and floral, flavorful enough that even someone completely knew to coffee wouldn't have any trouble recognizing some of the complexities of the bean that they might have with darker coffees where a bit more experience is required, and deliciously clean so in a way that even true aficionados couldn't help but be impressed by work done to create a delicious cup of coffee.

If the lady Ibaraki asked, Raz would say 'Let Me Explain' and talk to her about how the delicious and rare coffee came from a delicate process of starving a bean from sunlight and air by use of an extremely tall mountain, thus causing it to take longer to grow, and thus allowing more sugars to develop within the plant. In a way, Yirgacheffee was a bean that showed growth and strength built of adversity.

To pair with it, a simple fruit tart and a pair of madeleines. The cookies had been prepared earlier of course, dusted with lemon zest, batter molded and mixed with a hint of lemon zest, and left to become pleasantly warm in the oven. The fruit tart was the true keynote. Soft strawberries and blueberries mixed over a pastry bed and garnished with a generous dollop of slightly sour cream. Normally that would be the perfect finish but....Raz felt it was missing something....something that went with Ibaraki...

Raz snapped his fingers as the thought popped into his head. With the satisfied grin of a chef he took a cool banana from the fruit tin and cut 4 quarter sized slices and carefully with his gloved hands, placed them in a diamond fashion into the cream.

Banana Oni's tart, he mentally dubbed it. He arranged the meal on a large plate under a wisp of cloth. He would have used a full silver dining top for a dramatic reveal but unfortunately the shop did not have such a luxurious dish on hand, and because his stage was not nearby he did not have access to his own meal prep supplies.

Well, even if he had, it arguably would not have been fair to matador to use anything besides that which was found inside the restaurant.

...Heh, no that wasn't quite true. There was one exception to that rule, which was that if Raz used something, the Matador must also be able to gain a roughly equivalent benefit from it.

When he and his counterpart went to deliver their offerings to the demonic lord, Raz went first. This theoretically offered a very slight benefit to the matador because the second prepare has a moment to figure out how to best respond.

But Raz didn't care, because as he saw it, there would only be one true response.

Whipping off the cloth topping with a flourish, Raz presented his entry, with a short description of the floral coffee notes Ibaraki could be expected to experience. When he finished...?

He didn't have his microphone. He didn't have his stage either, so both his usual methods of preforming.

He did however, still have a harmonica.

A small, simple metal harmonica, a pure novelty item, costing a few pounds from any convenience store, but not poorly made, all in all. A simple, but complex instrument that could be carried anywhere. It had a limitation, in that unlike the magic of the DTG, with which he could play multiple instrument simultaneously, whilst singing, the simple harmonica required him to stop playing music during lyrical portions. Sometimes he simply skipped singing altogether, sometimes he continued, whilst tapping his thigh with the harmonica to keep the beat. In this case, he decided he would opt for the latter.

Raz politely waited until Matador had served, to not do so would be the height of rudeness.

"Lady Ibaraki, a great man, a man whom I idolize and respect, once said...'what is dinner....without a little... music?"

At that, Raz began a well known spicy salsa theme, a celebration of life and death....and one that esteemed itself well to dance, as the kingdom's bard eyed the matador with a challenging look. Yes, the dark haired knight could not use something that would give him an edge...unless the Matador could also use it. Just as in their duel, he had used his buffing spells on the both of them, salsa was best accompanied with a festive dance. And Raz was after all, occupied...

Sowhat was presented delightful entertainment, the admiration and pleasure that came from being waited on hand and foot, the matador's undoubtedly skilled offering, a delicious cup of coffee, and...

Spoiler:

A delicious tart, made from Raz's own hand.


...Huh, that was strange, Raz thought as he played, he only remembered making one of them, but there were clearly two on the plate. He must be a better chef then he thought!

[Satehi]

Eva Ellet
SLEIPNIR - Common Room (?)
11/16/2026
Monday - Morning

"Leah Ellet, right? I thought you looked a bit familiar, but it took me a little bit to put the pieces together."

“Yes, that’s correct. Leah Ellet is my…” She paused. “… mother.”

Uttering that phrase felt… weird.

Uncomfortable. She had decided not to use it, after all, for good reason- she was well aware that given her present relationship with her creator, it was overly presumptuous for her to use… but at the same time, it wasn’t like she had decided to bring it up on her own. Miss Alexia was the one who had brought it up, and she was just going along with it… and Alexia was (surprisingly!) familiar with her mother, so if she had said it, then it was fine for her to use it, right?

And even though it felt a little odd, she couldn’t deny that on some level, she was happy that Alexia had mentioned it.

Overall, it wasn’t unpleasant.

If anything, together with the strange feeling she got at seeing Evita head off to make tea, and Alexia’s offer to share stories… Eva was fairly sure that she was quite satisfied at the moment.

“Still, I would have never expected that you were acquainted with her like so. After all, you don’t really look old…”

Certainly not old enough to be a mentor to her own parent- although going by the way Alexia’s thoughts were learning, she figured it was better not to mention it. Not that Eva had any room to speak: her own physical appearance and technical age were also quite different.

“Any of those sound fine, really.” The choice of topic didn’t matter much: even hearing about something trivial or irrelevant would have made Eva quite pleased at the moment. “If I had to pick, I guess… memories and plumes sound interesting. Or the Master system?”