Alicia Rosenkopf (& Servant Assassin)
Miyama- Homurahara Academy
Night Phase
Once Alicia Rosenkopf sets foot inside the main school building, the first silhouette she manages to make out amidst the darkness is that of death itself. Indeed, for a moment, nothing seems amiss, but then, all of a sudden, one of the school shoe lockers mysteriously slams itself open and something comes out of it at unbelievable speeds, stretching out to reach the exposed neck of the little girl in but a split of a second...
Only for Assassin to proficiently shove it out of the way with a single motion of her arm. No, to say Assassin merely deflected the attack would not be correct. After all, the moment Assassin and 'that thing' came in contact with one another, the resulting noise was enough to leave it quite clear that whatever had intended to harm her Master would not be allowed to live any further than that.
"..."
It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust to the supernatural lack of light that has invaded the school building. But, once they do, you are able to spare a glance at what remains of the mysterious attacker. Though there used to be a pulse where there is now none, whatever you are staring at is, at the very least, no longer human. The right word to describe it would be 'tentacle'. A strange eldritch appendage made of flesh directed its full attention to you the moment you entered its field of perception and, as a consequence of your Servant's actions, has lost every ounce of life that willed it to move.
---Heartbeat.
------Heartbeat.
You can hear the sound of your own heart beating. Except that, as Assassin eventually points out, it's not the beating of your heart what you are hearing... Though it's hard to see in the dark, this place is filled with similar creatures, chunks of rotten flesh not too different from the ones you've seen on your way here, save for the fact that they appear to possess a consciousness of its own. Almost as if... Almost as if... The School itself had become a living creature. Even so, this revelation doesn't pose much of a threat to you, not with an Heroic Spirit on the scene. The level of intelligence that these monsters sport is neglible, to the point that it would not be mistaken to claim that the ugly appendage that attacked you early did so mostly in response to being threatened. So long as you don't go out of the way to disturb them, Assassin should be able to take care of the bold ones trying to go after your head.
The biggest problem here seems to be the Mana-heavy air that is even stronger inside than it was outside when you crossed through the gate. It might be hard to discern for a simple home-tutored Magus, but for a Spiritual entity, it's ultimately simple to tell that the level of contamination present in your surroundings can actually prove to be harmful. Negativity and dark thoughts can be felt with all five senses of a human body, putting this place ahead of any haunted house Japanese people might have visited in the last decade. It's a lethal drug that is applied in a small dosage unbeknownst to its user, eventually drawing them closer to both madness and death.
It's not the kind of thing that one has to worry about if one is to stay for an hour or so, but any more than that and it might just distort a human's psyche.
"..."
Coming down the stairs is a gaseous like substance. There is little of it, but there is no mistaking it. This is the same as the 'mist' that you've encountered yesterday. So it does come from here after all...! If you follow it, you should be able to find the true point of origin and put an end to this tragedy before it gets the chance to spread and cause more damage. Cautious, but following this line of thought, you advance and make it all the way to the second floor hallways.
Much like the front gate, this floor also present signs of clear deterioration due to aging, on top of a stronger presence of creatures. At first it didn't make sense for the school to display evidence of having being abandoned for a long time, but now you see that such was never the case...
Whatever this mist is...
It's using the reality you know like a canvas, overwriting it with its own terror-like fantasy. The negativity it exudes is manifesting into the material plane and changing the surroundings to match its will. If its left to it's own devices for too long...
It wouldn't be unthinkable to believe that it might end up swallowing the entire country in its delusions.
The room where it all started. And the room where it all reaches an end.
It's name is...
'Homurahara Occult Club'
Inside, it's just another classroom. Or, at least, it should have been.
Instead, there is something clearly out of place with this one.
And it has nothing to do with the desks being arranged in such way that they leave a big, circular space in the middle of the room.
No, it has more to do with the strange rupture in space that is suspended right there, in front of your eyes.
That... And the girl in a torn, black school uniform kneeling there, sword at the ready.
"Not another step, or you will regret it."