Spirit Pulse : Mugen No Sekai [IC]

[Airen]

Daisuke
Streets, Aoyama
11/16/2026
Monday - Dark Hour

"...We'll meet you at the coffee shop."

In the end, Shuichi had seemed to come to this sort of conclusion; it's the conclusion of a man who has been thrown off his element by a certain type of person he is not good at dealing with, but is doing his best to step back up into the older brother position now that it's becoming clear it was necessary, and...

"...And yes, the accelerator is the one on the left. Don't crash. I will fine you for property damage."

...He seems to agree with you that it's bait.

"Yes yes, I'm well aware of your reputation, Mr. Killjoy~"

It's the fae messing around again, Robing being theatrical for the sake of being theatrical... Perhaps as a consequence of the nature of it's most famous story? Regardless of the reason, the mischievous smile the fae had shot your way before cleanly pulling out into the darkness of the empty town made that clear enough in the end...

It could drive...

Or at least, it knew the basics of how to operate that sort of vehicle... Demon competence with human technology was always a mixed sort of bag, by their nature, demons often had a sort of innate talent for interacting with things like the internet and digital worlds, but when it came to more old-fashioned technology, well...

It was hard to be sure.

A car that old isn't really something that can be hacked, right? Which means that if Robin did know how to drive, it'd have to have been a skill that the fae had picked up on it's own over the years, something that faeries didn't often do, considering their origin as manifestations of nature, still...

All's well that ends well right?

Deciding to trust in Robin's words (at least for now) the group changes course, heading back towards the warmth and (relative) safety of a coffee shop that apparently was staffed by a divine being; the trip itself is rather uneventful, rain and lightning continuing their relentless descent, a chill wind finally beginning to sink into the bones of the humans around you.

It'd been a long day...

Not just for you and Shuichi either, the look on Noriko's face is that of an office worker who'd been forced to bring her work home with her, an expression that clearly desires rest but knows that no such thing exists in her future...

Still...

---Warm as always.

No.

Even more than before, actually...

Not only does the chill of the wind and rain begin to recede, not only does the sound of thunder become a distant, inconsequential roar...

There's the distinct smell of food now...

Nothing complex. It's the simple aroma of eggs and some sort of meat coming from the kitchen behind the bar, a clear, classic scent that blends with that of coffee to return the shop to what it should be...

A cafe.

A place to come in the mornings, to get something to eat, to energize yourself, or perhaps, considering it's namesake...

Wake up?

It's an odd thought.

Not one you dwell on long either, as while you can still see Vincent behind the counter (his gaze having been fixed on the door as if he had been watching over it) there's something else happening inside of this place that draws your attention far more than any errant thoughts might, namely...

"...Hey guys."

A tired, weak voice.

That of the bandaged girl sitting at a stall near the counter (a bit past Vincent, as if he was making a point of being closer to the entrance than her) face a bit pained... But still obviously doing her best to greet you with a smile.

"Welcome back."

Lexie sits up a bit in her stall, motioning at Vincent and everything that lay beyond him.

"I managed to talk these guys into opening up the kitchen a little early."

---This girl is too tough really.

---Or maybe she just loves meal times too much to stay unconscious when hurt?

[Airen]

Ayra Lilygrove
Saint Vivienne (?) ~ Clock Tower
11/16/2026
Monday - Night

---You open the door.

Asuka falling in line naturally the moment you decide to take charge, you let her handle any immediate dangers that might be present in the room around you right now, focusing instead on the simple (but arguably more dangerous) task of handling whatever might be on the other side of this newfound door.

Into the unknown.

A precursory scan with your sixth sense doesn't reveal anything alive on the other side, no other souls, no other life forms, just what feels like a long empty hallway that's not too dissimilar to the one you had crossed to reach the clock tower in the first place. Of course things aren't entirely normal, you can sense an ambient sort of reiki hovering in the air all around the outside of the door, like it was a boundary line into the heart of some sort of innately magical area like the forests that dotted Avalon, or that "Starlight Lake" Aoyama was so proud of back home, but...

While there's clearly some sort of magical area on the other side, it doesn't feel... Dangerous.

At least not to someone like you or Asuka, so...

You open the door.

---What lies on the other side is a hall full of fog... Fog that seems to be the cause of ambient feeling of magical energy in the hallway.

It coats everything, pouring through the outside windows and into the building itself, so thick that it's actually hard to make out what's on the other end of this hallway with your eyes, let alone what's outside the windows, but -after basic scans say the fog itself isn't a bio-hazard of some sort either- you do move to the window, silent as you know how, wanting to get as much information about what was actually going on right now as possible before something bad happens, and...

What lies outside the window is not the familiar green grounds of the school gardens, but the stone paths and brick buildings of a city space? It's hard to tell in the combination of darkness and fog, but you can definitely see street lamps adorning the streets, lone pinpricks of light in a world that seems to have been swallowed up by clouds.

"..."

There are no obvious signs of people out there (of course it seems to be late at night, so that sort of makes sense) so...

Wait...

No... There actually is someone out there...

It's just a flicker of movement in the distance at first, a shadow in the fog that betrays those trying to sneak through it, but...

There's someone in a strange suit.

---Multiple someones in that strange suit actually, all carrying what seem to be assault rifles (the sight of them gives you a bad feeling, so it's probably not a normal gun) of some sort.

Making their way through the fog slowly, methodically...

Like a SWAT team clearing an area?

They're moving towards the building you're in, shadows in the fog, so subtle that it's almost a miracle you had noticed them at all, but...

Well...

Can't say this looks particularly great.

It could be something innocent... But people storming a building with guns of that sort (any sort really) rarely ends pleasantly for those inside of it.

But thankfully...

It doesn't seem like they've seen you.

[Rafflesiac]

Logan Starbright
SLEIPNIR - Logan's Room
11/16/2026
Monday ~ Evening

Has it really been four hours? wondered Logan as he briefly glanced at his clock. It certainly didn’t feel like it. In which case, do I have a memory blank? No, I don’t think that’s the case. Since this is a dream, irrelevant content may have been skipped entirely. Or 4 a.m. counts as the next phase of the dream now that combat has ceased. He takes a deep breath. Then, will there be an 8 a.m. phase by which we presumably wake up? Or is there some other condition that needs to be fulfilled for the dream to end? Will it end when Jessica awakens? And what’s going to happen to her? Logan sighs, stretching taut and tense limbs - and starts as a loud thud echoes through his room.

Amelia lies on the floor atop a toppled chair. “Oww, what the hell just happe-?” she says, rubbing her head in pain before trailing off.

0.05 Seconds: Realization
0.08 Seconds: Rising
0.10 Seconds: Bone-cracking hug

Logan widens his eyes in surprise: partially at Rice casually granting an external entity a corpus and mostly at the sudden physical impact that nearly bowls him out of his chair.

“You should play too,” she says softly, next to his ear.

“Alright.” He smiles and pats Amelia’s back, and she gets up and opens Logan’s closet. A couple of sharp clicks herald her opening the box at its base, and she starts ruffling through a box that’s quite clearly larger inside than it appears. “What to play, what to play? No, that’s two-player. Two-player. Four-player. Virtual reality. Cursed. Too hard to explain.

Monotony

Monopoly

. Takes too long to set up. Oh, this’ll do!”

Amelia pulls a sleek black console embossed with golden triangles out, dusts it off, and sets it up before handing out controllers to Logan and Rice. “Have you ever played Four COMP Adventures, Rice? It’s a co-op game where up to four players control a Tamer who went into the Demonic Server to subdue a rowdy Demon calling themself the Demon King and its underlings. You collect spells, items, and Lupees along the way. Whoever has the most Lupees at the end wins, but if the Demon King wins, then everyone loses.”

“So you have to work together, but not too much,” chimes in Logan as he moves his chair. “You should watch out for Amelia; she’s heartless.”

“Am not!” scoffs Amelia, the very picture of affront. “In fact, I might actually have one now.” She frowns briefly - Could I fight like this? - before setting that thought aside to talk to Rice. “Do you want to try this? We can play something else if you want; I think there’s a dominoes set in the box too.”

[Bloble]

Daisuke
Streets, Aoyama
11/16/2026
Monday - Dark Hour

"He avoided answering any questions again..."

Wearing a complicated expression, Daisuke watches the whole reason they'd ventured out again drive away, carrying with him important information and likely an important passenger as well. For a moment he wishes he could be like the robots in the action movies Chris showed him: direct and to the point. The T-100 definitely wouldn't take no for an answer here!

But a proper SDCD COMP would.

Well, at least Robin is helping. In his own way. On the summoner's orders. Which means this would be one of those times where Daisuke is told to just go along with something a little shady, because it's for the best.

"...don't get too carried away out there!" Daisuke calls out as Robin drives off, leaving the boy, the man, and the policewoman alone on the rainy road, to walk back by themselves. Will Robin return as promised to join them? Who knows.


Daisuke
Brewed Awakenings, Aoyama
11/16/2026
Monday - Dark Hour

"L-L-Lexieeeeee!"

A cannonball with a malfunctioning voice box almost flies across the room, very nearly crashing into the injured Davis - and slams with a thud into the wooden counter that is too tall for a child to see over.

Then follows a bit of fussing about and squeaking of damaged rotors as a hand rises up over the edge of the counter, pulling up after it a very relieved young COMP whose glasses have at some point gained a crack.

"You're okay! I mean, we're okay! I mean - I mean - ah..."

Daisuke's overburdened processor loses its train of thought.

[Airen]

Eva Ellet
Karlfeldt Estate ~ Forest
11/16/2026
Monday ~ Evening

"Something else?"

The dark-haired Church Tamer, who had clearly been showing traits of some sort of experienced hunter up until now, initially just responds to your words with a confused frown. Like she was wondering why you would even bother to ask her such a thing, as figuring out if there was anything around the two of you was clearly a task inside of her expertise. But the moment she sees your face she seems to find something in your expression that causes her to take it seriously, a crack in the absolute confidence with which she had been moving up until now, and...

She stops in place, golden eyes scanning the world around her with newfound determination.

The frown deepens.

Wind moves in the trees, casting dancing shadows under the light of the full moon above the both of you; the canopy of trees isn't complete, there are gaps in the leaves and branches, places where the light is able to shine down through onto the forest path, just enough light that the feeling of being surrounded by hungry darkness is ever-present.

But other than the rustling of leaves, the forest is silent, at least to you.

Of course as an android your design left a bit to be desired when it came to utilization of the spiritual senses, it was your weakest area by far, so you being unable to feel anything doesn't mean that nothing's there, and yet...

"...No, I don't think there's anything..."

Catherine doesn't seem to sense anything either.

Had the boy from before simply been wrong? He had sounded sincere... Of course, it's probably easier for a psychic to lie than most, but he doesn't have any real reason to lie right? If that's the case, then what was going on? Was Catherine's senses off, or-

"...!"

Before you can think any more about it, the girl in question shoves you as hard as she can away from her (so hard that she seems to go flying back herself) the sheer abruptness of the kinetic force sending you a few steps back, into the darkness of the woods.

What follows is a crashing noise, as something impacts the ground where the both of you had been standing with all the force of a meteor impact. Dust rises from shattered earth, leaving a cloud of particles that blocks out the moonlight for a moment, leaving the area a complete dark, and...

"...Noticed me?"

From that rapidly dispersing dark, calls a cheerful, deep, female voice...

Voice that rings like a bell...

"How fun."

The owner is the tall figure of a woman in a red, classical dress.

Standing in the crater she had just made as if it was the most natural thing in the world, staring up at the moon as if the sight of it brought about a mild sort of ecstasy, the smiling woman lowers her gaze from the sky to Catherine (who had withdrawn her knife again) and then to you, where...

"Hello, little ones~"

A laughing voice that doesn't come across as inherently dangerous, even if the danger was obvious enough just by looking at her.

"Tis quite the night to be wandering around in the depths of the woods, no? Are children these days truly taught to be this reckless? Parenting styles of the modern day must be lacking in some respects."

She smiles at you.

There are no fangs in the mouth this time, but you still don't detect a pulse, so...

---Another weirdo.

[Airen]

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

"D-Dunce?!"

Sofia gasps, blinks, then after a few moments of clear, blatant deep thinking...

Smiles?

As if she thought she had figured something out?

"Fundamentally wrong? Fairchild girl, you must have misunderstood me, I'm not saying to literally cut your hat in half, I'm saying to get one of half the size!"

She laughs, crossing her arms and nodding victoriously to herself, a dangerous sort of smug, noble energy coming over her as she continues to nod for a good three seconds longer than most people probably would...

"Do you not understand the potential appeal? If you were to acquire and wear a tiny hat, you would become twice as cute, it's an inherent law of the universe! It's why you see cats and dogs wearing tiny hats all the time! They understand the cuteness appeal! The smaller something is, the cuter it is! This is why humans love puppies and kittens! It's the aura of fragility!"

Is she...

Is she really doubling down right now?

"Although a tiny fedora does not work Daniel, you just need to get rid of your hat altogether."

Daniel frowns.

Alisa laughs.

"Still, allow me to demonstrate-!"

Sofia snaps her fingers.

---In an instant, a butler-shaped blur appears at her side. It's only a blur of motion, something even you are just barely able to notice in spite of your high spiritual sensitivity, but the figure (whatever it was) deposits a tiny top hat in the noble girl's hand before disappearing as fast as it had appeared, one that she brandishes once before placing atop her head, where it takes up less than half of the left side of it...

"Don't you see? By making the hat tiny, I look bigger by comparison~" She claps excitedly, as if this will prove everything about her argument. "There is no danger of it falling into my eyes during battle or social situations either! It's perfect!"

[palad1n]

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

"I see." Cosmos said softly as she puts her hat back on, its size allowing it to hide her eyes from Sofia's view; whether it's a deliberate move or not is uncertain. "I'm afraid I'm not nearly as eloquent or well-versed in articulating my sense of fashion as you, Miss Sofia, but there is one thing that I know for certain, deep within my soul..."

She looks up, her hat shifting at just the right angle that she can now look at Sofia right in the eyes with a determined gaze.

"I vehemently disagree with your opinion. Huge hats are better than tiny hats, and Mister Daniel looks better with a fedora than without. And because I cannot win in a battle of words..."

Cosmos began to shuffle her hand at high speed before pointing the back of her cards at the princess.

"Then I shall destroy your fashion taste and arguments with UNO! Prepare to meet your judgement, Miss Sofia!"

'...Why does every single UNO game become so dramatic whenever you or Alyx get involved?'

[Kuroyuki]

Rossweisse & Hiyori
???
11/16/2026
Afternoon

As I picked up Ms. Charlotte with ease, she began to protest as we started flying away from ‘me’ as fast as we could within this space safely. While the hallways felt weirdly familiar… I had to slow down a good bit because I wasn’t capable of casting a spell that made flight easier on anyone outside of my armor and Hiyori.

"Wait-! Stop-! I can run myself-!"

“Sorry! We thought it was best that we got you out of there before the crimson mist affected you more… Umm… Speaking of which, how are you feeling?”

Despite her death grip on me, Ms. Charlotte seemed to be in better health compared to earlier. The only weird thing was the fact that her following protests were progressively quieter and quieter. If it wasn’t for the fact that Spirit Armor were very versatile and could pick up sounds very well despite extreme conditions like flying… I think I might have missed what she said…

"What sort of brute are you?! Unhand me! I am not some sort of glass princess, too fragile to do things on my own!"

“Ahahaha… Sorry… Just hold on for a little bit longer.”

_{"Is the little doll laughing at me? She better not be laughing at me!"}

The second, I picked up Ms. Charlotte. Hiyori switched from her sword form to her power saving mode. While there were several practical reasons why she probably did it... As a good example, while Hiyori was capable of flying in her katana form, she wasn’t… particularly good at it. Well not exactly bad, but there was definitely a marked increase in her flight speed and agility in her humanoid power saving mode. And seeing as how I can’t exactly hold Ms. Charlotte and Hiyori both, it would make sense that she switched forms.

‘...’

However, seeing as how Hiyori was flying independent ahead and not turning around to tease Ms. Charlotte. Hiyori was temporarily in her “serious spirit tamer” mode until she found us a safe spot for us to stop… Where she’ll probably go back to normal and start teasing Ms. Charlotte for some reason. Until then, it seems like Hiyori is going to be fairly quiet…

“Umm… I think you’ll be fine for now Ms. Charlotte.”

For the next five minutes, I had to listen to Ms. Charlotte’s quiet protests as we followed Hiyori flying rapidly through a maze of hallways and doors. Despite passing similar looking doors and hallways, Hiyori kept leading the way and… Thankfully, we didn’t loop back to ‘me’. I don’t know why, but despite knowing that I cut ‘myself’ in half with my strongest technique… I got the feeling that ‘I’ wasn’t done yet. Eventually, Hiyori stopped flying in a familiar place and after stopping…

"...This is probably far enough. Moving around in fantasies can be convenient in some ways... Doesn't have to be completely logical to go from one to another, I think this means we got away from the dream demon that was playing with us. ...Now put me down."

Ms. Charlotte tapped for me to let her down and I was about to… When I heard a conspicuous camera shutter sound. I subconsciously turned my head towards the noise to see Hiyori holding one of those reiki created cameras.

‘Don’t mind me Ross and Ms. Smug! Just taking some photos! Just going to trade them with Ms. Starbright at sometime!’

Despite my shock… I deactivated my spirit armor and I started to let Ms. Charlotte down carefully while there were more camera noises in the background.

"...Um. So how did we get... Here?"

Here as in back on the SLEPNIR which was halfway across the world from Aoyama...

[Tobias]

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

Across the dead shadows of a long dead world, warm blood dripped across cold ice. Raz didn't care. If it didn't kill him it just gave him a sexy "battle damage" look. Then, what he did care about?

Raz tried not to think about it. Tried not to think how Ada likely had her own battles to be joined with nothing but the useful but ultimately unfeeling support of the stage to protect her. Perhaps due to her...situation...Raz didn't even know what magic she actually utilized. Her COMP suggested some separate form of songcraft. Would it be able to combine with Raz's gift?

Possibly but even if it did, the Bard knew from long experience trying to master a new tool or weapon in the middle of a fight was a process in motion. Such an attempt could lead to mental breakthroughs, taking months or even years of patient practice and condensing them into sudden, instant, and vital clarity.

...But the reverse was also true, and instead of being a boon it robbed one of the usual sharp crack of long practiced skills, crippling ingenuity, and rendering one vulnerable and indecisive.

To be honest, big brother wanted to end this quickly and fly to her side.

That was unlikely. The Matador was far more skilled in direct combat then Raz. Erika was authentically smarter.

Further, Raz was limited without his stage, in particular, the Shine in the Moment harmonic. But he had one advantage they did not.

All right, what you got?

Scenario built. The legend of Cain tells the tale of a vain and vengeful brother. He slew his brother and was cursed by God to wander aimlessly. It was said he would be marked so that all would know him. Two points present themselves on that point. I see no obvious physical analogue, though I wouldn't doubt he has one. However the "mark" in this case appears to be more conceptual. You know who he is merely by looking at him. His status is self-explanatory, barring some sort of high-level misdirection. I checked. There is no sign of such a thing.

Well dont leave me in suspense!

I therefor deduce that Erika and the Matador inadvertently triggered the curse. I suspect that Cain does not have the ability to invoke the greatest part of his powers, they are reactionary. It is highly notable he has taken no steps to finish off the pair. He is clearly goading you. Yet he has not, for example, even pretended to attack one or both in order to provoke you into an attack. It is not as if he doesn't have weapons at all, but did you notice he didn't use those cards against either?

Maybe they weren't a threat?

A reasonable guess, he is clearly an arrogant son of a bitch, but this is Cain. He is most known for sinful, shameful, subversive murder? Are we to conclude he what learned his lesson? No. he must have some limitations on what he can and cannot do. I also note he has continued to advance, if slowly. With references to the legend, I can draw two conclusions about the underlying concept.

The ground thing, I remember that.

Correct. Cain was cursed to wander endlessly, beset by hunger, and shunned by men and beast. one could possibly hinder his legend by restraining him. this would avert several parts of his legend. it would prevent him from wandering and might turn his curse inward, and it avoids the Lord's curse as such was only to prevent him from being killed. An attack without lethal intent is likewise not completely implausible as a way to test this concepts reach. However...

However we are pretty limited on those. I have no obvious way of tying him up and no grappling techniques to use. I could tie him to the bed, I'm good at that?

I hate you. Anyway, Erika's gift is not very strong. It will likely grant us a very short window by which to attack and probably will give you a chance to evade if wrong. but likely no more than one chance. That leads me to my final conclusion. This world is dead. Concepts have died here too. If he draws power from the legend, why is he here, and where is he still getting support? The tarots offer a possibility. It occurs to me I remember no obvious parralell between the biblical legend and the fortune telling tool. So perhaps...in his wandering, he found a benefactor? I recall hearing back in Avalon that we are not the only one of recent who have encountered strange situations related to legend of life relayed in the Tarot. Perhaps there is a separate force offering power in exchange for service. I wouldn't doubt that Cain would leap at the chance after God walked away from him due to his crimes. Still...I cant think thats where his powers are coming from. That seems like a separate ability, grafted onto him to mitigate some of his weaknesses. Can you see where I am going with this?

...Yeah...yeah...! If the world is dead...then there is only one source of power left!

The crash of black-haired knight was so sudden and erupt, and so swift as well, that he left even the sound of his own footsteps behind. A nigh berserker level charge, and a swirl of color. In particular, the green light of magic and music coalescing around his feet, even as red lights formed at his ice covered hands, which tore out towards the First Murderer. It was a virtuoso performance, even as purple mistic shields swung wide around his body, twisting in the air to avert a new advancement of tarot cards.

This was purely precautionary. Actually even the DTG found it very unlikely Cain would impede the attack by dtriking out. He wanted Raz to try to strike him down.

A foolish endeavor? A self sacrifice? perhaps an attempt to slay the enemy before he could be slain instead...and yet...when Raz leaped mid rush, changing his momentum, it was no blow he struck. No swing of an ice clad fist, or swing of a microphone. Not even the glowing cut of a golden sword. It was instead...

An arm grab?

Raz himself had noted that was not a high success strategy. But heroes sometimes had to do what they couldn't. That was after all why they were heroes. But this was no hold, that was clear.

Not as raz shifted his weight low, centering himself on the balls of his feet and rotated in a half circle. No, as Cain was rotated and hurled in a fling over raz's left arm, high but not painfully into the air, the Bard demonstrated that just because you had a hold of someone, doesn't mean you have to keep holding them!

if the world was dead...then the only source of power left was the dead world itself! The legend of cain was about his endless trudging through an unfeeling, uncaring world. Which was exactly where Raz encountered him. But then, without a mystic foundation, he had to be relying on the core of his myth carried with him. And the core of that myth...even before cain was marked, even before cain recieved his second curse...

Was that he must walk the world endlessly.

So what happened if something removed him from it? something that in no way hurt him or placed him in danger? Logically that might separate him from the literal foundation of the legend. And separated from the earth...

Then it became possible to then launch an attack!

An almost crazed rictus marred his otherwise handsome features as Raz crashed into the air right behind his enemy. The target? A blue clad fist wrapped in magics, the mouth...no, a spinning uppercut with all one's might behind aimed the underside of his jaw. Perhaps an attack, perhaps an attempt to fling him bodily into empty space and away from the wide, whole world...

Perhaps just an attempt to shut him the hell up...

As he swung out, maybe it was because of the shifting worlds, holes in reality. Or maybe it was a legend from Raz's own world, told in song and myth. Maybe it was the tale of a warrior far removed from anything the knight had ever seen, crawling across the expanse of the many worlds...but somehow, for a crazy second, Raz remembered the warrior who wore a ribbon over his eyes, and created this particular blow.

Its name was...

"SHORYUKEN!"

wise up!

Turn abilities used
Encore: +2 heat

End skills active: Sukukaja, rakukaja, Tarukaja.
Heat score 8:10 ---> Vented!
0:10

[Satehi]

Eva Ellet
Karlfeldt Estate ~ Forest
11/16/2026
Monday ~ Evening

Unsurprisingly, Eva did not have a good first impression of this woman. Her entrance- a hard smash into their earlier location- could easily be interpreted as an attack, which meant she was an enemy. At the very least, she did not seem to be friendly. The natural next step would be to attack first, rather than talking…

… but perhaps first impressions were deceiving?

It was true, after all, that there were people with strange senses of humor- entrances like that did not mean hostility, so much as eccentricity on their part. It could very well have been an odd way to make an appearance. Not to mention that Eva herself had just recently been acquainted with an individual who appeared much more hostile than they actually were, in the mansion earlier.

And most importantly…

… was motive.

There was no clear motive she knew of for the two of them to be attacked by this person- she’d never met this woman before in her life, after all. And unlike the puppet from earlier, this individual was capable of speech, and presumably reason. That meant they could talk it out, or at least, learn why she was after them- in their current situation, the latter knowledge would be very useful.

"Tis quite the night to be wandering around in the depths of the woods, no? Are children these days truly taught to be this reckless? Parenting styles of the modern day must be lacking in some respects."

“We have somewhere urgent to be.”

Opting to merely put on her guard, ready for any more sudden attacks, Eva responded to the woman’s query very seriously.

“I don’t believe we’ve ever been acquainted…” Looking at the woman’s flashy dress and entrance, Eva liked to think that if she’d ever met someone like this in the past, then she would remember her.

“If you don’t have pressing business with us, then perhaps we could talk at some other time?”

[Katie]

Ayra Lilygrove
Saint Vivienne (?) ~ Clock Tower
11/16/2026
Monday - Night

It isn’t the school. That much is evident, but where are they, then? One of these other worlds, like the one Tsukiko was from?

Movement in the fog. Soldiers, probably.

Already of thinking of running away?

Information first. I don’t want Asuka to get into trouble.

But it’s fine if we get into trouble.

Absolutely.

“Asuka.” Ayra’s voice cuts through the silence, just loud enough for her squire to hear. “There’s… soldiers, I guess, approaching from the front. It doesn’t look like they’re encircling the building, so I think it’s best if we make our way around back.”

The plan is not very solid, Ayra knows, but it’s the best they can do for now. As a Knight, it’s the wrong choice of action to scurry out of sight, but rules are meant to be broken under appropriate circumstances. Asuka will get it. She’s a smart girl.

“You’ll go first. I’ll follow, distract them if it’s necessary. Got it? No ‘if’s, ‘and’s, or ‘but’s.”

[Airen]

Rossweisse & Hiyori
???
11/16/2026
Afternoon

"..."

If looks could kill, then the icy glare that Charlotte shoots the way of a certain camera-snapping COMP would have been enough to vaporize the entirety of the SLEIPNIR a second time over, the gaze of a noble who has been caught off guard far too many times for their liking today...

But one that also just sighs in the end at the antics, muttering something to herself about how she'd just 'deal with the evidence later'...

She sounds serious, but the gaze that turns to face Rossweisse instead is one that has pushed her more maidenly moment aside for now, the light of intense thought reentering those eyes at your question, fingers drumming along the arm in an unconscious tick, a light humming noise, and then...

"...Well, they say you dream of familiar things."

...A shrug, as she is only able to present a theory.

""Dreaming is a phenomenon where time and space do not necessarily follow the strict linear rules of the day world, in a dream it seems like anything can happen, although the causes of events are more often than not simply... The works of your subconscious."

Another shrug.

"When you ran away, seeking a safer place... Perhaps this is what your mind naturally perceived as a safe place? The thought then became strong enough that well... Here we are."

She gestures around at the both of you, and as if to bolster her statement, you can see...

Is that...

Is that the door to your room over there...?

"Sort of like Lucid Dreaming? If one is aware they are asleep, there's a certain amount of control you can apparently exert over the world around yourself, although considering all the dream demons wandering around... Well, I doubt that control is anywhere near as absolute as it would be in a normal dream. Might just be a fluke of the moment."

She raises a hand to her chin, eyes closing in further thought, and...

"Although I suppose this could be my fault too..." She continues with a chuckle. "I've been yearning to get on this ship for awhile... Although considering how you look around this place... I get the feeling this is more you than me."

That smug smile again...

"In which case, I have a request... There should be a boy on this ship named Logan Starbright, a doctor named Xavier too."

Her eyes lock with yours.

"Do you know where their rooms are? I'd like to see them while I'm here, a dream approximation should be close enough to the real thing in terms of learning the layout."

---A bold question.

[Airen]

Ayra Lilygrove
Saint Vivienne (?) ~ Clock Tower
11/16/2026
Monday - Night

"..."

While the young woman clearly wants to object to your orders on some level, in the end she is a proper squire, one who knows the chain of command and will relent to it if her hand is forced, so...

The outcome is not in doubt.

"..."

The young woman nods at you, swallowing whatever objections had been ready to rise inside of her throat. As members of the Knights of the Round, it was -at least at a glance- rather unchilvarous to run away from a potential opponent, but rules are never absolute, the situation you are in is quite bizarre even for one used to the Tamer life, and if there was one thing that your teachers over the years had managed to beat into your head, it was:

Recklessness is not the same thing as bravery.

With no windows (except the stained glass ones, which neither of you could break without making a lot of physical or spiritual noise) in the room you had arrived in to sneak through to get around to the back of the building, your choices in directions to retreat in were rather limited... Going through the glass windows of the hallway you were in now meant going towards the shadows in the fog, the area to your left seemed to house an emergency exit door (the alarms above it's frame, as well as the broken (No power? Or had the bulbs simply burned out?) exit sign above it made that clear, and to the right...

The hallway seemed to empty out into a much larger building, or at least, the way the hallway curved to the right at the end of the path seemed to indicate that you'd come out closer to the center of...

Whatever this place was...

---In the end, Asuka seems to deem that direction the safest of the three, since she moves towards it after only a heartbeat's worth of hesitation in her frame. In terms of getting around to the back of the building the exit door would have been the fastest way, but there were an unknown amount of soldiers outside in the fog, and if they were any good at their apparent job at all, they'd have already locked down the traditional exits they could see at the very least. Popping your head out of the door only to be shot by a sniper would be a poor direction for the day to go in, especially since the strength of the soldiers themselves was an unknown...

If you had to place a bet on it...

You'd probably say they're weaker than you and Asuka, at least on paper. The reiki levels in them are normal, around the level of your average civilian from back home, which would imply that they're not on the level of demons, but...

The armor they were wearing...

There was something off about it. The guns too...

Normal bullets wouldn't mean all that much to a Tamer even without their COMP, but some gut instinct was saying that the weapons and armor were far from normal, even if you couldn't figure out in precisely what way...

You were pretty certain they were supernatural weapons, in which case, if they're wearing a full body, bulky suit like that...

The natural abilities of the person wearing the armor... Probably don't matter as much as their skill does, the armor could very well do most of the physical work for them in the worst case.

Best to assume you don't have an absolute advantage until they prove otherwise....

"Is this... An old mall...? Looks almost exactly like LOVELESS..."

Asuka's question helps to pull you back from instinctive theory-crafting, as the hallway gives way to a large open space; dust-ridden tile floors, old-worn out signs for a bunch of restaurants you couldn't recognize, non-active escalators heading up to an equally lifeless second floor, and...

A skylight.

One that covers the entirety of the mall's ceiling, glass panels as far as the eye can see, revealing a -somewhat picturesque- view of a star-filled night sky, the only flaws in it being the fog creeping up the sides of the glass dome ceiling, and...

A massive golden tower, one so tall that you actually can't perceive the top of it, piercing the sky past the mall's entryway...

It's sort of an eyesore, an absurd sort of man-made building that seems to exist just for the sake of people being able to say they made it.

Regardless...

"If it's really identical, there should be a freight elevator up on the second floor that goes to underground parking, although..."

She glances at the map on the wall.

"There's also an emergency exit opposite us, if you're sure they're only coming one way."

Her voice is quiet, contemplative...

And unlike it...

The sound of glass shattering behind you, shattering from the hallway the two of you had just left a mere minute or so before...

Is very loud.

As is the sound of a boot going through a wooden door, mark of them aggressively entering the area the two of you had entered this...

Building in.

---Seems like they knew the general area to check at least, although, if that was all they knew, just the general area rather than a concrete indicator of where the two of you were...

Perhaps getting the drop on them in here is also an option...?

[Airen]

Daisuke
Brewed Awakenings, Aoyama
11/16/2026
Monday - Dark Hour

"Totally fine."

She flashes you a thumbs up with the functional arm, her tone of voice and the smile on her face almost making it possible to believe those words, if not for the fact that she was clearly having some trouble working the damaged parts of her body. Of course, all limbs seem to be accounted for now (had she grown them back already?) with the comically large amount of bandages adding an air to the moment that was both pitiable and amusing, but...

She seems determined to act positively in this situation, heck, glancing at her own arm even as you glance at it again, processor still trying to find the best things to say in this situation, she...

"It'd take more than that to take me out of commission, no worries. Won't even affect my gaming that much, I'm pretty sure I can still beat most people online with one arm! At least for a few days!"

Pats you on the head with her good arm, the words that sing warmly from her lips seemingly designed to put your fears to rest, acknowledging the damaged limbs and treating them as completely unimportant to her life.

"...You're far too stubborn." Sighing, but regarding the young woman with a smile, Shuichi waves his finger at her in a disapproving dad sort of way. "What's with you and refusing to rest? You should still be asleep you know?"

"Bah."

She waves her good arm at him.

"I'm fine. We're all okay right? Just like Daisuke said!"

She nods at you.

"No big deal. I've been jumped before, it's fine!"

It comes out relatively cheerfully, but...

Underneath it...

It feels almost like she's trying to convince herself of that, just as much as she's trying to convince you...

Still-

"So-!"

She looks back and forth at the two of you, glances once at Noriko (who is messing with her hair in an awkward sort of way) and...

"We figure out what's going on yet? Or are we still in the discovery phase?"

A pause.

"Cuz this all sorta just feels like a bad dream to me."

A pause.

"...I mean, the time on the clock changes every time I look at it. Books are all nonsense text too when you look at em, so..."

She looks around herself again...

"I figure this is some weird, mental thing! Maybe a psychic on a rampage?"

[Airen]

Eva Ellet
Karlfeldt Estate ~ Forest
11/16/2026
Monday ~ Evening

"Mm, normally perhaps, but my business with you kids is rather pressing I'm afraid~"

The apparently undead woman smiles at you. Much like the bizarre maid from before, it's a difficult sort of smile to get a grasp on at first, a trait that was beginning to get somewhat annoying with how often you found yourselves facing it inside of the depths of this bizarre phenomena, but, unlike the maid...

"You see, I am something of a... Guardian for the girl you are chasing~"

Eventually you break through to the true meaning of the smile on her face.

---It's a mix of amusement and...

Resolve.

A smile that screams I won't let you go any further than this even if she hadn't quite given voice to that thought yet...

"It is a matter of oaths. My family is sworn to protect hers, no matter who it is that threatens them, or what shape the threat may take, so..."

The smile widens.

"---I'm in a bit of an awkward position. She's running away from you. You're chasing her." A chuckle escapes her lips. "So clearly she doesn't actually want to see either of you."

Her eyes are red, crimson orbs that threaten to swallow anything that gazes into them for too long.

"...Surely you understand? As that girl's knight, do I not have only one real option here?"

She poses the question to you, as the one that seems willing to speak to her, but Catherine...

"...The hell are you? A fiend?!"

Only speaks to her with blatantly simmering hostility, like the woman's existence was pissing her off; her voice is no longer calm, no it's a voice like a finger on the trigger of a gun, mere moments before it is pulled...

Although in response to that voice...

The strange woman...

Just smiles.

[Airen]

Logan Starbright & Amelia
SLEIPNIR - Logan's Room
11/16/2026
Monday ~ Evening

"Sounds fun!"

A child-like answer.

A sort of half-return to the curious, friendly, somewhat shy young girl that you had met this morning in your room.

While the game console was certainly a vintage piece nowadays (COMP specs had made the emulation scene explode the moment they had become available worldwide) the game you were proposing was a classic one, from the early years of the Tamer effort, when fantasies of superheroes had been particularly prevalent among the youth and all those things humanity thought impossible had instead revealed themselves as simple mysteries that needed to be unwound, where a world that had become boring and somewhat stagnant, had had it's possibilities raised to infinity, yes...

It's a fantasy story based off of the reality.

Tamers entering another world to best a demon king, simultaneously working with and against each other, with the goal of not only defeating the Demon King in question, but proving oneself as the strongest Tamer in the process. It was a fun enough action-adventure game, a bit biased towards swords perhaps (the developers seemed to have an unconscious bias towards swords as the default weapon of a hero, but the myriad items that appeared in game play, as well as the faithful recreations of classic Tamer spells (copyright made it difficult to get more unique spells of famous tamers in the game) that could be used, had left a game that was both fun, and a....

Well, somewhat questionable bit of propaganda, glorifying the Tamer life like America had used to glorify their army, still-!

A fun enough game.

---One that you hadn't played in awhile either, but one whose plot you knew by heart.

It was, after all, a rather simple plot.

---Which is why what comes on screen later on is a bit surprising; while the opening of the game was always set inside of a Tamer base, with the sprites of the characters going along with their usual spiel about how a Demon Lord had awoken in the Server and needed to be stopped by collecting certain characters from other stages to break a seal on his castle, before the players hopped into the Spirit Pulse chamber and disappeared, the outside of that Tamer base had always been that of a city, but this time...

It's snowing outside the window.

Of course, that change could just be a holiday specific thing (internal clocks on these sorts of old games could be a bit off at times) and the characters do go through the motions of the opening for the most part, albeit, when it comes to the actual jumping into the Spirit Pulse chamber bit, the characters...

Seem to go into a train that then goes into the server.

---And comes out on the stage select screen.

You had beaten the game before, so you had expected the map to be completely unlocked, but when the four characters (with Rice having claimed the fourth as her AI companion) drop onto the map, on top of an icon of a very strange looking train, there are...

Multiple available paths, none of which you recognize as the usual ones...

There's a mission path lying straight ahead, towards a city coated in fog...

There's another mission path heading up, towards what seems like a tower and then the moon...

And finally, one leading down, towards what could only be described as a lake of...

Tar...?

Perhaps dreams are strange things indeed...

Changing the content of a game like this, although....

"Oooooh!"

Rather than noting the discrepancy in what you told her, Rice just seems excited...!

[Airen]

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

---Rebellion against the common sense.

Magic condenses beneath the will of the Knight of Song, emissary of the Golden Isles, as what had once been a cautious retreat suddenly becomes an absolute charge made with arguably all of the power he can muster in his current form. In many ways it's insanity; acknowledging that he is weaker than his companions that have already lost to this man in the areas in which he wishes to challenge him, the knight nevertheless pushes forward with all of his strength, leaving his regrets to fall into so much stardust behind him.

Objectively speaking it's insanity, a fit of madness seemingly borne from a mind and body that have already pushed themselves far beyond their limits today.

It's a mismatch.

The charge is powerful but clumsy, the mark of a man that does not specialize in these sorts of things. If Raz Stone wished to overcome his enemy, then the answer on paper is to use his allies as his weapons, directing and strengthening them to overcome the enemy in his place. That's the role of the bard, a specialist in support, and yet-

"...?"

-even though challenging his opponent in this way is undeniably foolish-

"SHORYUKEN!"

-heroes are not heroes because they always adhere to the common sense of reality.

After all...

A hero is one that challenges the absoluteness of fate, are they not?

-Lines of magic.
-Born of blue.
-Collapse into a singularity of crimson force.

At the moment just before impact, Cain's body twitches, as if recognizing that the attack before him is dangerous in a way he can't place. But it's too late, for those that are invincible, the cracks in the armor seem nonexistent and arrogance...

Light the path to the heavens.

"...!"

The grounds of a dead world shatter beneath the force of the uppercut.

A story only has power in a world in which it is acknowledged, dead or not, the fact that Cain has been seemingly invincible up until now proves that even the dead can count as worshipers, believers in a story.

In other words, even if humanity is dead, their gravestone continues to sing their tales. While the idea that the entire world could die is an absurd one, that seems to be the reality around you... The mud reeks of death, he who is destined to outlive all others is found walking it, and few other lives can be sensed.

Death is all around, this world is one of mud and curses.

Something that had threatened your world so long ago, back before you were even born... Had claimed this world in earnest, a curse of absolute darkness that had apparently rendered all lives forfeit.

But if the dead can worship, then even this world is one that will support Cain's power.

Perhaps it might support it more than most?

In which case, this plan, your hail mary...

---Remove the both of you from the foundation of the world.

The further one goes from Earth, the less power humanity's thoughts hold; for spells that rely only on the self, it is perfectly possible to continue to rely on it inside of an alien space, as everyone carries around their own personal world inside of themselves, but for powers that draw on the collective belief-!

"...!"

Push-!

Push him out of the foundation of the planet, remove him from humanity's cradle-!

And well, as you put it...

Shoryuken him into fucking space-!

A body gives way.

Gravity is overcome.

Air screams, wind roars, and...

Up.

Up the both of you go, shattering the sound barrier, as the pain of an attack he hadn't expected to hurt him...

Leaves Cain momentarily stunned in it's wake.

Go.

[Satehi]

Eva Ellet
Karlfeldt Estate ~ Forest
11/16/2026
Monday ~ Evening

“I see. That makes sense.”

Eva nodded in agreement with the woman’s explanation of the situation. Perhaps it was a strange thing to do towards an individual who had basically declared that she was going to stop them no matter what, but even though it was clear they were in opposition, Eva’s opinion of the woman went up. A sense of duty, and a clear explanation of her position- both traits that Eva held in good regard.

Catherine seemed to dislike her quite a bit, but Eva did not share the sentiment.

Unfortunately, that did not change the fact that she intended stop them from getting any further.

“If what you say is correct, then it’s true that we have no choice but to fight. But…”

That was only true if everything was as she said.

“I disagree with your premises. For one, I have not seen the girl that we’re currently chasing, and I don’t think she’s seen me either. So, it seems unsound to conclude that she’s running away from me. I don’t think I’ve done anything to justify that reaction.”

At the very least, Eva did not think there was any reason for someone she hadn’t met to run away from her. She did not know exactly what her relationships with other people in this world were- but if Liesl were to be trusted, then things should be an overall improvement. Given that she hadn’t been aware of any ill-reputation of hers in the old world, it stood to reason that ‘upgrading’ into one was unlikely.

“To begin with, the fact that we’re looking for her doesn’t have anything to do with her personally, but is because she’s holding a key that I’m interested in. The original owner back in the castle gave it to her, and when I asked her about it, she told me to go look for the girl. Isn’t that sufficient justification to at least deserve an audience with the individual in question?”

Naturally, Eva understood that from the perspective of this woman, the fact that the girl was fleeing and that they were chasing her was highly suspect. It was unlikely she would believe Eva’s words, and perhaps it was a waste of time to talk, given that the woman’s objective was fulfilled as long as they stayed here and stopped chasing.

But if nothing else…

“… at the very least, I’d rather settle things peacefully. With both you, and the girl who has the key. It doesn’t seem to me like that’s not an option yet.”

… Eva didn’t want to fight before having made her own stance clear.

[Rafflesiac]

Logan Starbright & Amelia
SLEIPNIR - Logan's Room
11/16/2026
Monday ~ Evening

: Was it always snowing? Is that a Christmas or birthday event?

: This was a Christmas gift from the start, and it didn’t snow in-game then. And it’s definitely not my birthday. It doesn’t feel like my birthday in the dream either.

: Okay, there definitely wasn’t any Soul Tracks content.

: These maps are novel, too. A consequence of the dream, maybe?

: So what’s the play here, Logan?

Logan and Amelia turn to each other, and then look at Rice, who’s sitting between them. Her sparkling eyes are fully trained on the screen.

: Let’s play it out.

Which leaves one more question: which stage to play? There’s something innately unpleasant about the tar pit, like it’s an overly processed dessert that he’s obligated to eat but can’t bring himself to even taste. The tower and foggy city both evoke recent experiences; lacking any other stimulus between the two, Logan settles upon repeating a prior decision - going straight ahead.

[Bloble]

Daisuke
Brewed Awakenings, Aoyama
11/16/2026
Monday - Dark Hour

"Bad dream? Could be!" Daisuke excitedly chirps, nearly vibrating in his seat as he peers at Lexie from all angles, telling himself she's really there and okay - even though, if her claim is true, there is not much "really there" at all. It's fine if her energetic act is shakier than usual. She'll bounce back as good as new, because that's how Lexie Davis rolls. Of that, he is sure.

"A mental projection of an alternate 'layer' would be much easier to manifest than an actual one, and just as dangerous under the right circumstances! There's enough strong memory of Aoyama floating around to recreate the city from scratch, minus the details. Maybe that radio signal we intercepted at the bakery was the culprit... as soon as we stepped through the door, perhaps? No, that's not enough. The neighbourhood was already strangely empty before we arrived, so it could've happened even earlier, sometime after we left the mall... though that doesn't explain how everyone else also got dragged into it. It'd be one thing if it just targeted SDCD Tamers, but we've got police officers and fairies too... maybe it has to do with that strange site the signal linked to, or that mass of curse powering it..."

Automated reminder pop-ups pull the COMP out of his musings before he can dive too deep into Lexie's proposal.

"O-oh, right. Um, Lexie, this is Noriko-san. She's an officer. Noriko-san, Lexie's one of my comrades in the SDCD. And this is Vincent, and Akiko-san. Thank you so much for taking care of Lexie, you two. We haven't figured out what's going on yet, but with everyone together like this, so long as we stay inside, and with that odd moon-spell gone, I think the worst of the danger is behind us. If anything happens, we're on the case."

The cafe is almost lively now. Whether it's the number of people or Lexie's inexhaustible energy, Daisuke isn't sure, but regardless, he can feel some parts of his processor that had been caught in nonstop tension loops finally begin to unwind.

"Also, um, Lexie... we kinda invited a fairy here. It's, y'know, that guy..."

Right, that guy. Knowing him, he booked it outta town with the car... is what Daisuke would like to believe, but even his childish side isn't that childish. If anything, he's more worried that Robin will have gotten himself into trouble. For as good at causing trouble as fairies tended to be, they were also the type to get themselves into trouble just as often. If this really was some kind of psychic dream, one processor posits, and what Lexie and Shuichi faced were reflections of their worst enemies, then it's no surprise Robin is here as well; he is the closest thing Daisuke has to a nemesis, after all.

In that case, are there opponents of the others here as well? His detective programming urges Daisuke to ask, but he doesn't. You can't just ask strangers about their worst nightmares.

Oh well. Nothing to do now but wait.