Titanomachy Rebirth (IC)

[Mormarth]

Alexandra Gray
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Courtyard – Tree Garden)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

HP: 50/70

I considered the still writhing tree gravely.

Slender vines and writhing limbs curled and undulated in the air, the knots and curling wood creating a depiction that was thoroughly Gigerian.

What sort of horned-up sicko birthed this travesty?

I took a moment to level my finger firmly at it, a disapproving frown firmly on my face.

"Gross."

Truly, it was gross.

Something that gross shouldn't exist in this world, if I was able, I would find some gasoline and burn it to the ground.

I nursed the gashes on my back and my aching ribs with one hand as I kept the pair of crows in my general awareness.

As I thought, they weren't so dangerous I couldn't deal with them by themselves.

But this area was untenable, between the tree and the approaching murder, the area was rapidly become too dangerous to casually linger in for long.

I shot a look around, lips pursed. But there was no landmark within sight to mark my location, the copse of plantlife I found myself within so dense and oppressive that the only light that filled the area was the curious, cyan glow that came from above.

Judging from the flow and movement of air, I was outside.

What could that light be, then?

Something to consider later.

My mind whirled, I was potentially surrounded by things that were unable to be reasoned with, and lacked any and all regard for their own lives.

I had no landmark, and I had no idea where I was, blindly swinging in a sea of trees.

It was, I reflected, not optimal.

Still, I noted, keeping an eye on the slithering vines, staying in this position was untenable, I would have to move.

The best place would be to find some manner of high ground, but that was both time-consuming and potentially hostile.

So for now, I'd have to proceed on foot.

I eyed the distance between myself and the offending tree that had smacked me silly.

Hm.

So, taking that into account, I'd have to maintain a distance skirting that outer edge as much as I could, given the proximity of these trees.

They were the threat I'd have to contend with, I'd gotten the measure of these crows, and unless they had any nasty tricks under their feathers...

[The Language of Violence]
[The Nameless Style]

[Mutated Crow A (Wounded): - 3 to STR]
[Mutated Crow B (Unwounded): - 3 to STR!]
[Alexandra Gray: + 2 STR/DEF vs Mutated Crows A and B!]

I'd crush them utterly.

So, with that in mind, I noted the direction the croaking crows were coming from and adjusted my course to proceed in Not That Direction.

If I was on good enough ground, even if they were rushing down at me from all sides, so long as I was prepared. I'd swat them all right out of the sky.

I'd need to keep an eye on my footing as well, I wouldn't discount any of those trees trying to lay an ambush.

Or an am-bush.

Heh.

Hm, speaking of those trees, they don't appear eager to cozy up with those crows.

Maybe if I could knock one of those crows into a tree, could pick a fight.

Given a crow's group dynamic, it might buy me some time. Not like I had anything to lose by it.

Might get a better look at what those trees are hiding, too.

So, pressing away my pain and anxiety, I focused my mind, took a breath, raised my arms...

[Impact Guard Prepared!]

And so I set off on a brisk course into unknown territory.

Wise up!

STR: 22 + 2 (US (Crows A/B)) = 24
DEF: 12 + 2 (US (Crows A/B)) = 14
AGI: 22
EVA: 14
The Language of Violence -
[The more Alexandra knows about an enemy, the better she becomes at dealing with them. Every 3 stats revealed, she applies a -3 penalty to the revealed stat of her choice. When fighting against perks fully revealed to her, she may conditionally reduce their effectiveness in a case-by-case basis as long as she can justify it in some manner. Allows slightly increased battlefield awareness and danger detection.]

The Unnamed Style - A nascent martial art that Alexandra has begun construction of, it is the third pillar of her being, ‘Adaptation’, in comparison to most other martial arts, it is flimsy, inexperienced, lacking. But it’s key advantage is its ability to take in all facets of what she is facing and begin countering them. Their breathing, their movements, the twitching of their eyes. All of these things are taken into account and used against them, growing, striving, even in the midst of desperation.

[+4 to STR and +2 to AGI when fighting bare-handed. Increased situational and interpretational fighting against a martial art that Alexandra has fought against once before or observed intensively. Additional +2 to STR and DEF when fighting an enemy with one stat penalty applied by TLoV.

....

Additionally, create one martial arts technique based on this style.]

[palad1n]

Kaguya
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Distorted Hallways – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

How can a corpse be so ridiculously fast?!

Kaguya supposed she shouldn't be surprised when said corpse was already much stronger than a human, but seeing it in action was enough to send a shiver down her spine. Only the initial distance and the twisting hallway kept it from catching up to them, but it's clear that they couldn't outrun it; they have to do something or it'll eventually catch up.

They kept running, and just as Kaguya began to despair at the hallway seemingly stretching on and on with no end in sight, the view started to change; there's more lighting, there are windows (which strangely emits teal light), and there are two doors up ahead...

Her eyes met Hiyori's, and seeing that her beauty still managed to charm the blonde even in this situation managed to calm her down a little as she forced a confident (if shaky) smile to reassure Hiyori, her mind going thousand miles an hour as she assessed the situation and what they should do. Seeing what each room holds and then decide is the best option, but from the foul smell that's getting closer and closer she knew they wouldn't have the time; no, they have to pick a room and stick with their choice, hoping that whatever's in the room would allow them to get the living corpse off their backs.

The closest door is a complete unknown, but it's probably safer. On the other hand, the further one is slightly ajar with blood on the door's handle, which might mean that there's something dangerous inside...

Entering the closest door is tempting, but then what? The thing chasing them cannot be stopped by doors, and fighting it is suicide. On the other hand, the second room is riskier, but they somewhat knew what to expect: enemies, and probably corpses. Kaguya doesn't know how exactly the thing behind them chased them, but it still have its eyes, nose and ears, and if that's the case then maybe they can trick it.

They just need to be lucky enough that there will be corpses to blend themselves in and no additional threats in the room.

If not, then...

Well, she'll think about it when the time comes.

With something barely resembling a plan in mind, and knowing that Hiyori will follow her lead, Kaguya ran and entered the second room, closing the door after Hiyori entered to buy them some extra time, no matter how little.

She surveyed the room with heavy breaths, hoping that this wasn't a mistake.

Wise Up!

Ethereal Beauty
Beauty should be a subjective thing, as what people consider ‘beautiful’ varies from person to person; however, Kaguya’s beauty is an objective truth for humans, such that her entire life had practically revolved around this single, inherent perk. It is said that make-ups don't work for her because she is already perfect, and that any pictures or artistic rendition of her pales in comparison to the real thing; it is also well-known that her beauty had attracted both men and women alike. Even if she had just finished training or woke up from her sleep, Kaguya will always be beautiful.

[Gain moderate social bonuses when interacting with those capable of appreciating human beauty, although the attention gained won’t always be positive. Further details unknown.]

[RacingeR]

Johnny Justice
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Distorted Hallways – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

Zombie Jamboree
Turn 1

A punch.

It is just a simple punch.

And yet, for the zombie in front of you, it looks like an incoming train.

A steel hard fist sinks into his face.

Battle calculation

Johnny’s Speed
-21 (Johnny’s total AGI) > 3 (Decayed Being (HS) A’s EVA)
Johnny’s Attack
-21 (Johnny’s total STR) – 10 (Decayed Being (HS) A’s DEF) = 11 damage.

His face sinks. The sound of bones shattering can be heard. Teeth snap and fall from a bloody mouth as brackish blood sprouts. The undead being is blown backwards by the impact.

But it does not fall. Despite the enormous damage it has suffered, the enemy yet stands.

And the other two enemies haven’t stayed still all this time.

Battle calculation

Decayed Being (HS) B’s Speed
-17 (Decayed Being (HS) B’s AGI) < 19 (Johnny’s EVA)
Johnny’s Attack
-25 (Decayed Being (HS) B’s STR) – 15 (Johnny’s DEF) = 10 damage.
10 – 50% = 5 damage.
Johnny’s HP: 120 – 5 = 115 HP.

Johnny’s Counterattack
Johnny’s Speed
-21 (Johnny’s total AGI) > 0 (Decayed Being (HS) B’s EVA)
Johnny’s Attack
-11 (Johnny’s total STR/2) – 10 (Decayed Being (HS) B’s DEF) = 1 damage.

Battle calculation

Decayed Being (HS) C’s Speed
-17 (Decayed Being (HS) C’s AGI) < 19 (Johnny’s EVA)
Johnny’s Attack
-25 (Decayed Being (HS) C’s STR) – 15 (Johnny’s DEF) = 10 damage.
10 – 50% = 5 damage.
Johnny’s HP: 120 – 5 = 110 HP.

Johnny’s Counterattack
Johnny’s Speed
-21 (Johnny’s total AGI) > 0 (Decayed Being (HS) C’s EVA)
Johnny’s Attack
-11 (Johnny’s total STR/2) – 10 (Decayed Being (HS) C’s DEF) = 1 damage.

Mere scratches and bruises. They threw strong attacks, with a power that reached the very limits of humankind. But you had witnessed these limits many times. They meant nothing to you.

You shrugged off the hits and countered with your own, half-power quick attacks. Their undead flesh absorbed the hits, but you blew the first attacker away. The second one, however, took your counter-punch to the stomach with ease.

They don’t feel pain. An obvious issue. Punches aren’t going to stop them by themselves, even if a tough street rat would’ve been screaming in pain that did not equal to the damage caused.

He managed to grasp your sleeve, grabbing onto your right arm, weighing you down. You felt a chill go down your spine as the monster grappled you. You had a bad feeling about this.

Meanwhile, the zombie you had blown away with a punch to the face came back at you. His features had been pulped and rendered completely unrecognizable, but that was not enough to stop him.

He walked towards you. He was fast, despite his shambling stride and uncoordinated steps. And then he stopped.

An enormous figure, taller even than you were, loomed behind the creature. A hand that for a moment seemed all-encompassing closed itself around the zombie’s head.

Encountered Timothy Bolton.

And the boy grasped with all of his unequaled strength, and smashed the head of his victim against the nearest wall with the force of a natural disaster unleashed.

Battle calculation

Surprise Attack!
Timmy’s Attack
-27 (Timmy’s total STR) – 10 (Decayed Being (HS) A’s DEF) = 17 damage.
17 x1.5 (Surprise Attack) = 26 damage.

The head of the former student exploded like a pinata on impact. Gore and rotten brains smeared the boy’s sleeve, who frowned slightly, letting go of the remains, and shaking his arm a bit.

Decayed Being (Human Schoolboy) A has been slain.

At that moment, you heard the sound of more shuffling steps, and of more moans.

… There were more. Out there, in the darkness, you could hear them come. A veritable horde, some still far away, but all in the same hallway.

Three more enemies emerged from the darkness.

Encountered Decayed Being (Human Schoolboy).
Encountered Decayed Being (Human Schoolgirl) x2.

Three more dead students. A boy missing an eye and half his face, with his guts hanging open, and two girls, one with her throat ripped open, the other with a hole on her chest, at the heart’s height.

Codex update

Name: Timothy Bolton
Race: Human
Attributes: Human, Unbound
Spiritual Rank: 1

Stats:

STR: 22

Perks:

(Focus) Forged Body
Timmy Bolton is strong. That is all that can be said. Why is he so strong? There is no particular mutation or another strange reason like that. His body is big, yes. He comes from a lineage of big men and women. His body is muscular, yes, but he has trained and forged it since childhood. This forged body is the result of pure and undiluted dedication to create the ultimate muscles and the ultimate strength.
[When grappling an enemy, +2 STR to attacks executed while said enemy is grappled. Other details unknown.]

Brute-Force Style
The style of a big, strong man who has eschewed subtle and fine technique for the ability to wield all of his strength in the best way possible. A style strongly resembling that of MMA, mainly centered on forceful techniques and overwhelming the enemy with pure, unstoppable strength.
[+4 to STR and +2 to AGI when fighting barehanded. Other details unknown.]

--------------

Name: Decayed Being (Human Schoolboy)
Race: Undead
Attributes: Unliving
Spiritual Rank: -1

HP: 30

STR: 25
DEF: 10
AGI: 17
EVA: 3

Perks:

Painless One [Unliving Trait]
As an undead being that has abandoned the realm of the living, this creature is now a shambling monstrosity, a decayed spirit moving the decayed husk of what used to be its body. Due to this, undead beings are unable to feel any pain, no matter how much their body is battered. Breaking their limbs is useless, as only complete destruction of said limb would be able to stop them from using it. Their body will keep going no matter how gruesome or severe the wounds are, until it is damaged enough to become unable to serve as a vessel for the decayed spirit.

Terrorize
The ghoulish, uncanny visage of what used to be a human being is able to terrify even the most valiant of humans, reducing all their physical stats by one. Only those who possess defenses against mental attacks of the Terror type are able to focus enough on their own survival to ignore the sight before them. Only affects those with Human Attribute.

[RacingeR]

Aaron Arturio & Willow Durand
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Detached Building – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

“Eh, uh, what? Zhong did, whuh?” The red-haired boy’s reaction is of utter confusion at Aaron’s words. “Hey, you sure this guy didn’t get hit in the head?”

“No, I’m more concerned on how he got it right with the undead thing.” Bryanna answered, somewhat deadpan, rubbing her head with her free hand.

Suddenly, the both of them looked pensive. As if trying to remember from where they recognized Aaron’s voice. Bryanna clearly figured it out after a moment, but the boy looked confused, and shrugged it off.

Marie meanwhile seemed pretty confused. It was plainly apparent that if Aaron’s presence hadn’t been so friendly and he hadn’t looked relatively harmless, the girl would’ve backed the hell down already.

However, Willow’s smile works wonders to calm the girl down, and so do her words. “Ah… it’s no problem. I’m… I’m alright, really.” She smiled weakly, and approached Willow unconsciously, drifting towards her comforting presence. Her knees are trembling a bit, and she looks a bit too pale and scared still, but she does seem to be reassured, especially with more people around.

“Anyway, I’m Jason Lockwood. Part of Zhongli’s people, so if I were ya I’d watch out who you diss.” He said rudely to Aaron, but without presenting hostility towards him. He had other concerns in mind. “Anyway if you’re gonna stop being a fucking weirdo, you can grab one of these.”

He pointed out to a few broken chair and desk legs deposited on the floor. Both he and the other three persons were wielding the same thing, although Jason had his improvised club awkwardly sheathed on his pants.

Suddenly, there was a thumping sound that startled the hell out of everyone.

The triangular room had two doors. One of them had a lot of desks, chairs and what looked like a small cupboard piled up on top of it. The noise had come from that door. Something was hitting it. Hard. The debris piled up to seal it trembled with each impact.

“Ah shit. Here we go again.” Jason grimaced.

“No time to screw around, then.” Bryanna sighed. “Alright, let’s make this quick. I’m Bryanna. This kid over here-“

“I’m 14! I’m not that much younger than you guys!” Marie puffed, though from her attitude you’d have guessed she was younger.

“This girl over here’s Marie Klein. You know Lara Klein, the Acrobatics Team’s captain? Her little sister. The two guys over there are Kevin and Mike. The girl who looks like she’s about to brown her drawers is Connie.” The reporter introduced. “These guys are Aaron and Willow, by the way.”

The girl, Connie, gave Bryanna a dirty look. This was someone Willow knew, a classmate, though not someone she had talked much with. Connie was part of the local queen bee’s, Tamara Ackerman’s, circle, and had a lot of negative fame as a small-minded bully.

Another heavy hit on the door. The fortifications resist. Some moaning can be heard from behind it. It doesn’t sound like the noise a human makes.

The reporter breathes in, and regrets doing so immediately. The odor in the room is vile, given all the corpses there.

“Anyway, Zhongli’s got nothing to do with this.” She said curtly. “And I hope you come in contact with reality soon or we’ll be neck deep in shit.” She closes her eyes and rubs her forehead. Poor girl looks really tired. “And also, I can defend myself.”

“Uhh, losing track there, Ms. Nosy.” Jason pitches in.

“Shut it, Jason.” The pinkhead looks up, sighs again. “Anyway, here’s a summary of things. We woke up knowing exactly as much as you do. I woke up a while ago, Jason here we think woke up a bit later, we ran on the rest running around here.”

“The school’s uh, how to put it in words, changed entirely. It is a goddamn labyrinth. We all woke up in this detached building, the one the teachers use, and we’ve been going up and down like crazy trying to get our bearings. I found the gun on the first floor, I think it is from a guard, he was dead already when I got there. I think there’s something else going on with it, but I can’t really get the clues together yet.” She paused, then faced you two seriously.

“It is full of monsters here. I know some sound… not all that threatening when described, but they’re pretty bad when you see them. You have the zombies…” She waved her gun towards the rotted corpses. “They look like these. They die, re-die, easily enough but they can hit pretty hard. We also have some sort of slime monster around, their body is made of acid, hurts a lot if you touch it. Shoots bullets of that acid too. And there’s worse around. One girl we ran into mentioned seeing a ghost, too.”

“But then we got ambushed by a bunch of those zombies, and we lost her and two other guys.” She said grimly.

“We found you two here. We weren’t the ones who did the killing here, I think there was a battle earlier, before we arrived here, which suggest we’re appearing on the school in staggered batches, perhaps? Or they left you two behind because you didn’t wake up.” The reporter entertained the thought, then shrugged. The thumping at the door increased in rhythm. “Anyway while we worked on waking you up, Jason and Mike scouted ahead. The way forward is clear for a bit, there’s a bunch of cubicles there, that’s where we got the stuff to seal that door.”

She pointed to the door on the opposite side of the triangle to the one that was being hammered on.

“I think that’s all. I have no idea of what’s happening or why, but there’s a lot of danger afoot, my friends aren’t returning my calls, and I have a gun. So try to not start shit with each other, okay?” She spoke. For a moment, she sounded incredibly strained and tired. Just how long had this girl been running around, chased by monsters?

“Any questions? I think that door will hold by a bit more, so if you got anything to ask, get it out of the way now.”

[Tangerang]

Myo
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Courtyard – Northern Yard)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

Myo sighed, and sheathed her weapons. Would this be considered a mission failure? Well, she didn't have enough information to make that judgement. Then for now, she'll be putting the mission on pause. That seems to be the most prudent thing to do.

Next, she took stock of her current location. Based on what it looked like, it would seem that she's currently in the school's northern courtyard. With that being said, it would appear that the building is in a much more... degraded state. Well, everywhere she looked, things to be in some sort of state of ruin.

Now for the final issue at hand. Before her were some sort of strange monstrous rats. A pair of them to be more accurate. And given their current posturing, seem to be highly aggressive.

She was a bit curious about how these rats ended up in such an extreme state, but she had more pressing matters to take care of.

Although even if she didn't, she had no intention of playing around here.

Perhaps one could call it her creed. Or maybe it's her pride as a professional assassin.

But for Myo, the only times she takes lives is during the execution of a mission, or if it's an inescapable life or death situation.

Even though the others considered Myo odd for it, but Myo had a strong belief that those tasked with swinging with the grim reaper's scythe should be all the more aware of the weight of a life.

Such power over life and death is not something meant to be swung lightly. That was their noble responsibility.

Otherwise, they would be no different from a common murderer or serial killer.

Turning around, Myo proceeded to dash away. With her speed, it was unlikely that such creatures would be able to keep up with her and stop her retreat.

Hopefully, the layout was the same as the school she had spent the last few months at. It was time to begin investigating to see if she could learn just what happened.

[Frantic Author]

Johnny Justice
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Distorted Hallways – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon
Zombie Jamboree
Turn 2: Johnny's Round

"Thanks for the assist there, Big Guy!" Johnny said to the new entry with a wild grin, giving the man a thumbs up. "Tell ya what - you wanna bash some heads in? Deal with the newcomers! I'll take care of this riff-raff!"

Johnny shrugged, cracking his neck as he eyed the zombie grabbing his arm.

"After all, it's pretty impolite to keep a lady waiting! 'Course, fighting against women..."

Johnny's fist clenched like steel.

"Talk to me Ace," he muttered to the air, "Didn't you always say it was pretty rude to hold back?"

The angelic face next to him giggled softly, and he smiled like the devil.

"So maybe it's time to get a little fancy--!!"

Johnny slipped, that was the only word for it.

His body twisted, his arm rotating time and time again inside of the grip of the corpse, all the while Johnny grinned like a demon. And then, Johnny's fist smashed into the zombie grabbing onto him, and twisting his body as he did so, until he could feel his fist slam into the neck of the creature - a natural weakness for anything so abnormally inhuman. But humanity was something that had been left aside, in their movement from the normal world to whatever this was. But that didn't matter to the boy who had once been the King of the Concrete Jungle --

He was already used to violence.

[TARGET: Zombie Schoolboy A: Precision hit to Neck.]

[RacingeR]

Jordan J. Jones
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Distorted Hallways – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

When you showed your message to the girl, she frowned, then shrugged. So, she didn’t know either.

You arose and moved carefully, picking up a piece of rubble. The slime didn’t seem to notice your movements, so you chanced a look through one of the windows.

The sky was fucked up, but you pushed that thought to a corner of your mind. You instead tried to look for geographic landmarks. Which proved harder than you’d thought.

It was all changed. The courtyard was there, but warped, changed entirely. You’d been here for most of your high school life, and yet you couldn’t recognize the gnarled, nonsensical splash of bushes, trees and grass you were seeing there.

Of course, now that you thought about it, you didn’t recognize this hallway either. And given that there was a classroom right there, this was one of the main hallways… was it not? It was true that the school building was utterly massive, but you should be able to recognize this place.

At least you knew you were in the fourth floor, judging from the height of the window. And that over there was the Tree Garden, wasn’t it? If heavily changed and with trees that looked more menacing than the slime near you. So, if the overall location hadn’t changed, you should be at the southwestern corner of the school.

Didn’t mean quite that much yet, but at least you could get your bearings now.

That done, you proceeded with your plan. You reared back to throw the rubble, and the girl looked like she wanted to stop you for a moment. Then she bit her lip, and stopped, looking ready to bolt the moment things went wrong.

The piece of debris went sailing over the slime, and hit a point farther away. The slime stilled for a moment, and then you saw it shift, the backside of it trembling for a moment before a huge maw appeared there.

It didn’t notice it quite you yet, instead moving from the doorway and facing towards the rumble. It vibrated slightly, producing a screech, and then moved to investigate.

Giving you a window of time to do your own investigation, which you took advantage of.

And quickly regretted doing.

The inside of the classroom resembled an abattoir. That was the most accurate way to describe it. It was absolutely caked in gore, blood and body parts. Nothing there was even recognizable as human anymore, and the smell was putrid enough to make you gag by itself.

No, wait.

There, on one of the sides of the classroom, behind an overturned desk.

There was a blue-haired girl there, lying face up on the blood that coated the room. Her chest rose and fell softly, indicating she was asleep, probably in the same state you were when you had been just now, before you woke up.

Encountered Adelyn Josephs

She looked unharmed, at least. Just asleep.

[Bloble]

Jordan J. Jones
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Distorted Hallways – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

Oh god.

Oh man, oh god, or man, oh god, oh fuck.

They're dead. All dead. Only blood and bits of body remain.

Bile rose in Jordan's throat. The smell and sight of something so wrong in every single possible way, right after what had been a normal exciting day at school, was like taking a hammer to the brain. Like running past a linesman and feeling an illegal uppercut to the gut. Like having a guy twice your size pound you into the dirt and jump on your back to crush the air from your lungs. The gruesome display hit Jordan J. Jones all at once and for a single moment he stood wide-eyed and dazed, staring open-mouthed at the sight with all thoughts gone, his head utterly empty.

Then some unknown instinct crept up from his spinal cord into that empty space and took control.

He leapt forward, across the bloody pond. Jordan's long, loping legs landed on the cleaner patches of floor without disturbing the pools overmuch. Half a dozen strides took him to the other side of the classroom, behind the desk where fortune had saved a familiar face from a horrendous fate. Adelyn, huh? Jordan was faintly fond of the girl the same way one might be fond of a stranger they've only ever hung out with once. She was one of the more normal people in Zeus, much like him, and they'd once had an exceedingly regular conversation.

Jordan knew instantly, upon touching the sleeping girl's shoulder, that she should not wake up to this. Adelyn would scream, or worse, and the slime would be upon them. So he gently, slowly, scooped up her figure, football practice finally coming in handy. Then he turned, carefully, smoothly, and made his way back across the classroom of death.

His phone displayed a single message to the blonde girl in the hall.

run

He would catch up.

[Katie]

Eleanor Lansing
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Distorted Hallways – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

Freezing. She puts her hands on the floor. A sticky, unpleasant sensation greets her touch. The daze of waking up fades in an instant. Eleanor knows this sensation all too well.

Blood.

Her eyes adjust to the dim light. Cold and bloody. It reminds her of imprisonment, but she is not in pain. Still, it reminds her of the lulls in her three months of captivity. When she had nothing to do but stare at her bloodstains on the floor.

She gets up and wipes a bloodied hand on her shirt. She must look insane or like a murderer. Both labels she’s heard before. With her clean hand, she pulls out her phone. Signal and charge.

Eleanor messages her father.

Emergency. Natural disaster, possibly. Lots of blood. I’m alright.

It doesn’t send.

She tries again.

It doesn’t send.

She tries once more.

Nothing.

Eleanor curses under her breath and decides to try something else. Most likely, someone else has already called emergency responders. If the network was working, she would be better off checking up on the others, like the people who were with her.

Did someone move her?

She texts Kaitlin instead.

Are you alright? Is the gossiper with you?

This does work. She tries to message her father for the fourth time. No dice. It doesn’t seem right. That’s not how jamming technology would work. There wouldn’t be a signal in the first place. Whatever. This is not her foray. She just needs to survive.

Eleanor walks through the bloodied hall, slowly, carefully. Every footstep makes an irritating wet splash under her feet.

[RacingeR]

Neru Sune
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Twisted Classroom – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

“Hah, if you had picked a fight with me, you’d be needing hospitalization, not just a bit of a snooze.” Lizbeth snorted. “No, you dumbass, I didn’t clock you.”

“He does sound like he suffered a concussion of some sort.” The unknown boy offered, his intense eyes analyzing you.

“Hm. Then maybe if I punch him, that’d heal his concussion, right? Just gotta rattle his brain on right.” The boxer offered.

The boy stared at her, speechless.

“Shut it, you two, he’s just confused. I was confused as hell when I woke up too.” Rosalin rubbed a hand on her face, looking for all the world as if she was tremendously tired of dealing with these two.

“No, Lizbeth didn’t punch you. I think you experienced the same thing we all did. Do you remember? The quake, that weird noise, the darkness and the teal light? And then… that.” That. The sense of being altered by something else in a way so deep it couldn’t be described.

“Well, if you don’t, then better recall it all quick. We don’t have much time, I’m afraid.” Rosalin said, and then grimaced. “As silly as it sounds, there are monsters crawling all around the place. And the layout of the school has changed entirely. And- and I’m fairly sure this isn’t a nightmare.” Her voice trembled just a bit.

“We’ve been running away from these things for a while. That’s the only reason we’re alive… and others are not. So, I do really need to know if you follow so far.”

“Probably should ask the poor guy if he can even stand up first, before overloading his probably concussed brain with information.” The boy answered.

You noticed that the other five people in the room, that had yet to talk, had fed up expressions, and had mostly clustered around the door, keeping watch on the outside. Save for one of the girls, all of them looked to be various degrees of hurt.

“For the love of god, Stockley.” Rosalin grumbled in irritation. “If you aren’t going to contribute can you do us the favor of shutting the hell up?”

“Hey! I just contributed!” The boy protested. You had the impression that this trio had been bickering for hours already.

“Anyway, what’s your name?” Lizbeth asked. “I think that if you go look out the window and take a look at the sky, that’s gonna shock a bit of sense on you.”

[RacingeR]

Masaki Tomomi
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Twisted Classroom – 4th Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

“Well, she’s a sharp one.” Zhongli observed, staring at you with curiosity.

“Told you she’d be worth saving.” Stacy said dryly, though once again she seemed annoyed. “Damn, didn’t think of the crafting club. That’s a good idea.” She clicked her tongue as she considered.

“What about the lab?” The gang boss asked.

“Wouldn’t be advisable. The rooms that were there before still exist, but many have changed as well.” Stacy replied. “We don’t know how the labs have changed. They could be dangerous right now, and in any case if we end up fighting a monster in there, we could have a bad accident.”

“Then let’s not risk it. I know the martial clubs have been raided already, but it is worth looking into the crafting club.” Zhong concluded after thinking about it for a bit. “We’re near the stairs to the fifth floor, right? We could get there and see if we get lucky with locating the club.”

Her underling nodded, and then fell silent, apparently in thought.

Neither of the two seemed inclined to console you despite the tears in your eyes and your nauseous appearance. It wasn’t any ill intention or anything like that. It was simply just how they were, you realized. They didn’t care for shows of weakness: they might not punish you for it or take advantage of it, but they also wouldn’t help you with it.

Zhong’s philosophy that prized strength over anything else. The strong ruled. And of course, it wasn’t merely martial strength, wasn’t it? Stacy had never seemed like a fighter to you, her position as second in command had to do more with the strength of her brains.

Which was why you could tell the gang leader’s evaluation of you as an asset was quite high right now.

Despite your almost-order, nobody seemed inclined to start moving right now. The two boys you had noticed before were watching the door, while the two girls were helping the wounded duo you had noticed before, none of which were part of the gang. They were improvising bandages with strips of clothing.

The wounded duo didn’t look very good. Everyone was winded and tired, but these two, a black-haired boy and a brunette girl, both of your age, looked like they barely could keep moving. You suspected Zhong had stopped more for their benefit than anything else.

You looked at Stacy, but you gave up almost immediately in getting anything out of her. Her ability to control even the most minimal detail of her body made it impossible to get much of a read out of her. She could be as inexpressive as a marble statue when she wanted to. Like she was right now, aside from having at some point unwrapped a lollipop that she was currently licking.

Then, she started to take phones out of her pockets. Which was a point where you noticed you were lacking your phone. Because Stacy had taken it. In fact, taken all the phones of the people here, and was using them to form an improvised communication network.

“Alright, Pintsize.” Zhong suddenly called your attention. “You want me to explain what the hell’s going on? Too bad. I won’t. Because I don’t have any fucking idea.”

You looked at the gang leader, automatically considering her. Everyone else in this room seemed exhausted, leaving Stacy aside. But Zhongli looked fresh like a rose, despite bruises evidently visible below torn clothing.

… She had an intimidating presence you couldn’t adequately describe. It wasn’t like she was trying to be intimidating or mean, not intentionally. But she had the presence and feeling of a predator, a sense of natural dominance over the room, like the alpha of the pack.

And as long as you were part of the pack, she’d protect you. It was as brutally simple as that.

“We woke up after that weird drug trip happened. The school’s been changed into that fucking labyrinth you’ve seen. There’s bad stuff coming from outside the school building. Bunch of acid blobs of slime. They killed people. Those people started to get up all rotten and shit and kill and eat more people.” Zhong shrugged. “That should cover all the important bits. We’ve been running around and fighting since then. At some point we did have a whole platoon of guys together, but Tanner made bad decisions and we got fucked. So, we’re all split up again.”

“Still can’t contact Tim.” Stacy said, working on the phones. “Most of the information I’m getting is quite incoherent, but apparently its true the lobby’s safe now. They’ve got the numbers there to hold on. And apparently the dorms are entirely safe, the monsters have avoided them for some reason.”

“The bad news is that there’s a lot more bad things around. Something about rabid birds?” She asked.

“Right, Lance ran into one of those.” One of the girls mentioned.

“Well, we can’t be more fucked than we already are.” Zhong said philosophically. “Options, Stace?”

“The crafting club is one. We could go down a floor and try to get to the cafeteria’s kitchen. People have gone there and grabbed some knives already but apparently there’s a bunch left. The long-shot would be getting to our base and grabbing the hardware there. Not sure of how we’d get down, we’ve not located the fire escape stairs yet, if they haven’t fallen apart or something.” Stacy replied after a brief pause.

“I think our ultimate targets would be getting to the lobby or the dorms. We don’t have the numbers to set a good defense. And while I’m not sure of how the zombies keep eventually tracking us, I’m sure our numbers have something to do with it, too, so I don’t think trying to set a defensive position would work out for us.” She summarized.

“Yeah, I know that.” Zhong grunted, then rubbed her chin, before looking at you. “Alright, you, Tomomomi-“

“Tomomi.” Her underling hissed.

“That, whatever. What do you think?” She asked.

[Tobias]

Neru Sune
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Twisted Classroom – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

“This isn’t a nightmare.” Neru blurted out distractedly, his thoughts going all over the place. When his comment drew attention he flushed red.

It was still not easy dealing with attention. He had already had more social interaction then normally occurred in a week. Maybe two weeks.

”Dreams don’t feel like this. Nightmares neither. Jury is out on a mass hallucination or some sort of chemically induced delusional construct I guess.

That was a lie. Mass hallucinations that weren’t chemically induced were a media creation, and Neru had enough experience with hallucinogens to know what was and wasn’t the result of them. Not that he was about to start talking about that with people he barely knew of course.

Absentmindedly he patted his pocket. At least that’s still there.

”And yeah, I can stand.” Neru said, demonstrating such by pulling himself to his feet. Yeah, his head rang and he was dizzy, but that was cake compared to some of his previous experiences. Shaking it off was child’s play.

He did require a bracing breath when he trudged over to the window. Even if it wasn’t a nightmare, the twin feeling of not wanting to know what was out there, whilst also being compelled to look felt familiar. Almost comforting in its familiarity against the backdrop of the unreal.

”…Oh yeah, sorry. It’s Neru Sune. Try not to call me tuna though, I recently found out it’s annoying.”

[RacingeR]

Ishmael Freeman
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Distorted Hallways – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

“Huh?”

You hadn’t advanced much when you heard a soft sound of surprise come out of the darkness.

Once again, you saw it, in front of you. A sphere of… solid shadow? danced under the light for a brief moment… and then turned around.

“Hm. A human.” The voice spoke, this time, lethargic and numb in tone. While you try to comprehend what you’re seeing.

It looked like a window to elsewhere, fixed in the weave of space. You were seeing a completely different place from where you were at. For once, you were seeing actual soil there. Blueish and dry, but actual soil. And what looked like greenery, if greenery could be used as a word to describe the vague kaleidoscope of plants you were able to see.

But that was mere background for the girl standing on the other side of the spatial crack.

Encountered Witch Zeta

You… were fairly sure that this girl didn’t belong to Zeus High School, as humanlike as she looked. The black one-piece dress was a bit too eccentric to belong, yes, but you were sure that regardless of how many classmates you had, you’d have remembered that enormous witch hat.

The girl tilted her head, examining you closely. Inexpressive, this one. Though you thought she seemed a bit surprised, perhaps because she hadn’t detected you until you talked.

[RacingeR]

Xavier Augustus
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Twisted Classroom – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

The ghost tilted her head as she listened to you. The last question in particular seemed to have caught her attention, as she stared at you as if you were particularly daft.

“What does it look like?”
“Looks like what it is!”
“It’s a slime.”
“A slime is a slime!”
“Maybe he hit his head when he was thrown in!”
“Maybe he’s just not very smart!”
“Good-looking guys tend to not be!”

… Had Cynthia cast some sort of hex on you that attracted nearby brats to your immediate position? The ghost laughed annoyingly at you as she spoke with two voices. And laughed with two voices, which somehow managed to duplicate the annoyance factor.

“And isn’t that obvious?”
“That you are in the Warped World!”
“In the place where everything is warped.”
“Even you yourself!”

The ghost floated even higher, looking down on you.

“And behold, you are in the presence of the great!”
“The magnificent!”
“The beautiful!”
“The perfect!”
“Infis!”
“Infis! Hey! Wait a minute!”

At the side of the ghost… a smaller ghost appeared, one that looked like a miniature version of the bigger ghost, whose appearance glowed just slightly more, and whose voice sounded just the slightest bit more ethereal.

“Infis? That’s not what we agreed on! What does that even mean?”
“Dunno! Thought it sounded cool and mysterious. Better than admitting that I have no idea of who I am, right?!”
“No, no, that just sounds wrong, you know? If you are going to make something up at least try to get something that makes sense!”

The ghost descended back to her initial height, apparently deflated by arguing with herself. Or her other self. Or another ghost. Whatever was going on there. Even the slime looked a bit confused.

Infis took a look around, and then tilted her head. Correction, tilted her whole body in the air.

“Maybe I was a student in this school? And then I bit it.”
“Gave up the ghost!”

The both of them laughed out loud at that, as if it was the funniest joke they’d ever heard.

[Vritra]

Ishmael Freeman
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Distorted Hallways – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

So there was something there.

“Hm. A human.”

“Hm. A cute girl?”

How strange…

Shifting and peering at the sight in front of me I try to make out just what it was. Its like someone suspended a flatscreen tv with a video of a technicoloured jungle with blue soil in midair? I guess this is what portals look like? I’m almost worried that Mila drugged me for some shady cartoony experiment. Probably not.

If this parade of inexplicable sights continues I feel like I might have to change my name to Robinson Crusoe.

Nah always liked The Whale better and besides it sounds better.

“Nice to meet you by the way.” Finishing my examination of the (maybe?) portal I quietly hide my knife behind me my while waving and flashing a happy (if perhaps awkward) smile. How to do this, how to do this… I’m pretty confident I know about close to nothing about this whole thing that’s happened or this place, whatever it is. But admitting ignorance is simply a declaration of weakness and an invitation to be taken advantage of, or worse. Best to remain friendly while trying to draw out information?

…

Aaaaaaah, these cat and mouse games are so annoying and tedious. Dealing with people is such a pain.

Taking a moment to erase the momentary grimace on my face I once again replace it with a disarming smile “Aha I suppose its best to reiterate it since I seem to have caught you off guard but I’m Ishmael. A soul of daring and adventure sailing through August world. Unfortunately, aha I seem to have been caught in this grand whirlpool. So, since chance has brought us together might I ask, uh, who might you be?” A touch of drama, a touch a subtle strength, the acknowledgement of some ignorance while not outright saying why yes, I have no idea about anything, all tied together with a disarming gentle foppishness. Good enough and soooooo go go chill vibes zazazazazaza. Summoning all the affable and harmless presence I can I flick one of my bangs out of my eyes for dramatic effect as I take the mysterious girls measure and study her response.

“That’s a very pretty hat.”

When in doubt, complement the hat. Or I guess a girl’s fashion in general.

Maybe if I play my cards right, or maybe more likely if I’m lucky, we can team up and I can leave it all to someone who hopefully has an idea of what’s going on.

[RacingeR]

Lorelei Weber
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Twisted Classroom – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

“I ran into one before. I was with a few other students.” Nives looks at you with curiosity, making a note of your reaction, or rather, lack of one to the gruesome spectacle beyond the door.

“They’re not that strong, although more dangerous than the zombified students, I’d say.” She took a moment to organize her thoughts and then spoke. “They’re not very resistant to damage, but just touching them hurts you, and their attacks hurt a lot. They’re hell on our weapons, too.”

“I can’t say much about its behavior, but I think it certainly seems to respond to noise. However, it prioritizes attacking us over all else, I think, so if it sees us, it’ll attack regardless of other sources of noise. I’m really not sure about it but they don’t seem all that intelligent otherwise.” She continued. “I did also see a bit of a bigger, yellow-colored slime that I suspect is a lot more dangerous. But I think we can take it down. We’ll just get hurt some while doing so.”

She summarized all her knowledge almost mechanically, while still keeping an eye on the monster outside. Not many could keep their minds cool enough to get all that information out of what you surmised to have been a brief encounter, you noted.

You also noted she didn’t mention what happened with the students that had been with her. Given the circumstances, she probably didn’t need to.

“I’m afraid I’m as lost as you are. The school has become a true labyrinth, so I’m not sure of how to go about finding other students. I agree it is our best chance for survival, however.”

[Vorbis]

Lorelei Weber
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Twisted Classroom – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

"Then... I see." Lorelei thinks for a moment. She puts the lamp down and starts removing the top of one of the desks in the classroom, choosing the one which had the least amount of wear on it. "If you came through the hallway before finding that slime, then that means that if we are to encounter any other surviving students... they would be beyond that slime. The best way forward is through it."

"In our World History courses back in Germany, we studied a number of older civilizations. Their cultures, triumphs, failures. The Greeks come to mind now. They were the most advanced in warfare in their time, the days of spears and slings. They constructed what we know today as a Phalanx with their soldiers."

After getting the desk top free from its trappings, she works off her jacket and retrieves a swiss army knife. A gift from her father. A rather mechanical gift of utility.

Fitting really.

She flicks the blade out, cutting the sleeve off and using a few of the screws from dismantling the desk to attach it through the hems of cloth.

"The strength of it, of course, was that it was in a time where the most common war tactics involved running at the enemy; brute force. They would catch the waves of soldiers on their spears, using their eagerness against them. Something like that... a, monster," she stumbles over her words a bit as she ran her arm through the attached sleeve. She found it satisfactorily attached (though she was a bit sad about the ruined jacket), and nods. "A monster such as that, unintelligent and hungry, is bound to act much the same. And so, we should respond in kind. Like the Greeks."

She hefts the shield, appreciating the weight of the wood Zeus used in their desks. If it were like one of the plastic ones from Germany, it wouldn't be very useful.

"So." She turns to Nives, now with makeshift spear and shield, "That is the best thing we can do, faced with something so illogical as this. Stay behind me. It may throw itself at me to attack; when it gets close, stab it. We can get new weapons; we can't risk it hurting us by running past it. It's best to face it head on." Lorelei takes a breath.

"..."

She takes a moment to text Jozefa on her phone, which bizarrely was still working. Of everything going wrong, this method did not seem to do so.

'Are you okay,' she texted, quickly adding 'I am with someone, we will try to gather students, try to stick with others if you find them'

Putting her phone down, she sighs. "You may think me cold. Seeing that, outside, and... well. Not, panicking. Screaming in disgust. I am very disgusted by it. But it does nothing to panic. And it's everything to find the others, get these things out of our school, and get... get..."

She looks a mixture of fearful and and worried. "I don't know what we can get to fix this. Nothing makes sense."

But then Lorelei steels herself, allowing lassitude to be her mental girding. "It's just best to focus on what we can do I suppose. Follow me."

Raising her shield in a manner she remembered seeing in her history books, Lorelei took point, replacing Nives at the door. "On three. One. Two."

"Three." Lorelei flings the door open, quickly gripping her spear.

Makeshift Spear, Makeshift Shield
[Martyr's Syndrome]

[Lorelei: +4 STR/DEF, +3 AGI/EVA.]

Lorelei advanced on the slime, keeping her wits sharp the second they stepped into the hallway. She was currently very glad that she played sports. It was a great way to improve physical ability, but more importantly to this situation, reaction time.

However fast this thing would be upon her shield, she would be ready for it.

She raised her spear behind her shield, ready for it to leap.

Hoping Nives was as cool headed as she seemed to be while they talked in the classroom.

[TARGET: Green Slime: Prepared Counter]

[Machine Girl]
[Technique - Living Shield]

[+5 to STR when performing Prepared Counter]
[Protecting Nives from harm]

[RacingeR]

Aster Hunter
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Broken Rooftop)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

Approaching the corpse is not that particularly difficult. It is unaware of your approach, and it doesn’t seem to be paying much attention. In fact, as you approach, it drops on its knees and starts munching on the leg of a nearby corpse.

It is, however, an intensely tense approach. The main issue isn’t your target, but the birds. The peck, fly, peck, and move around, risking your movement to be detected by them at every second.

The floor of the roof seemed to be rather intact in your surroundings, although farther on, especially towards the center, you could see pits opened here and there where the ceiling below had collapsed. You could also see quite a lot of cracking all around the rooftop.

The fencing however was pretty much intact, save for a rather big section that had collapsed and opened a huge hole on the north side. Not very useful, since the stairwell down was on the southern side. Although, perhaps the fencing wasn’t exactly intact. Some of it looked twisted, perhaps as a result of whatever had befallen the school, and other portions looked bloodied and cracked, perhaps as a result of the fighting. And those sections were everywhere around, especially in places near the border where there was a corpse.

You finally crawled your way near the corpse. It was still near the door, feeding on the corpse, and completely unaware of your presence.

So far so good.

The noise of wings distracted you for a second.

The crows seemed disturbed, their feeding frenzy slowing down somewhat. Now there was a problem, you realized. The moment you acted against the zombie, these crows would undoubtedly detect and engage you.

[Erlkonig]

Masaki Tomomi
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Twisted Classroom – 4th Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

The lull in the conversation gave Tomomi the time she needed to get ahold of herself, if only barely so. In the back of her head she knew that there would be a reckoning in the future, there were too many things right now she did not want to think about. Even a slight glance inwards would very likely endanger her life, especially in front of these two.

She had managed to wipe at her tears and sweat with her pocket handkerchief by the time Zhong had decided to address her. The red stains on her clothing wouldn't be so easy to get rid of, unfortunately, but she could do with ignoring their existence. She could really use a hug, though. From Genna or-

She blanked out for a moment, the name on the tip of her tongue fading.

"Eh?" It was Zhong's question that brought her back down. "You... Are asking me?"

How should I know? Is the answer that she would've given anyone but Zhong. She was no military strategist, her talent lied in collecting facts and laying them down but that was completely different from the process of decision making. Strategy was more than the sum of its parts, it was an art cultivated by the wisdom of experience. She and Stacy would know far more about such violent thoughts.

She reconsidered these thoughts. A cold chill went down her spine as she realized it was in Zhong's hands that she was in. Perhaps she was a good person all along, a misunderstood soul, but Tomomi highly doubted it. Confusing circumstances notwithstanding, the facts were clear, she was at these two girls' mercy.

At least the rules of the game were easy enough to understand. The strong lead, and the weak serve.

Tomomi was not strong. But she could help Zhong be, and that was a strength on its own merit.

"A lot of the crafting club's power tools require a power source. Some of them are also kept under lock and key, to prevent random students from just grabbing a blowtorch or electric saw from the room..." Tomomi answered, laying a finger on her lip thoughtfully. "If you don't have anyone from the crafting club, it might be a risk taken in vain if we can't properly salvage the equipment."

There was also the matter of it requiring them to go up a floor. Tomomi did not feel like going up was a good idea if there were monsters roaming around the school.

"The cafeteria sounds like a good idea. It's an open space compared to the crafting club and it has multiple exits, so if there's a need to run quickly we have an escape path. Clubrooms also tend to be placed on the far wings of a building, but the cafeteria is a central location with multiple access points... It's a low risk choice with reasonable rewards."

She didn't say anything about their hideout. She didn't even know where it was.

"We don't know the exact layout of things so the safest route is likely to go down at the first opportunity and look for the cafeteria. Time is of the essence and if we're being..." Tomomi shuddered. "If we're being tracked, then we want to stay on the move constantly. We should take the approach that doesn't see us looking for a corner to put ourselves in."

As for where to go from there...

Tomomi laughed nervously. "I think any safe place is good, isn't it? Lobby or dorms, it's the same."

She was about to fall quiet after that, but a spark of realization made her look towards Tirrel and the phones on her hands.

"Wait, you have comms..." Tomomi's eyes widened as her voice rose a pitch. "Can you get names? Gennadiya Petrova? Rachel Raeburn? They were with me a while ago! A-And..."

She hesitated. No. Don't think about him. Don't ask.

"...No, sorry. That's it."

She had to see him with her own eyes. Only then could she allow herself to think of Masaki Taichi.

[RacingeR]

Rika Griffin, Sakura Sumeragi & Eilian Aubrey
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Distorted Hallways – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

Nothing but darkness.

That is the first impression Sakura and Rika get as they peek through the eastern hallway. There’s not a single light illuminating it. Even with your eyes becoming slowly adjusted to the low light conditions in the room, this darkness is impenetrable.

But the smell that comes from here is stomach-turning. It smells truly putrid. As if something’s been rotting there for weeks already.

And then they hear… some steps? Distantly. They can’t be too far away, as they can still hear them, but they’re muffled and sound strange enough to make them incapable of calculating the distance. There are other noises, but they can’t interpret them from this distance either.

Still, no other scream. Or a noise indicating a fight.

Suddenly, Eilian, who’s keeping an eye on the other entrances, hears a metallic, scrapping noise. It is incredibly loud amidst the silent darkness. She’s not quite sure, but when the scrape repeats once again, before finally ceasing, it would seem that it comes from the north.

The silence is so oppressive by now that it almost seems to have an entity and weight of its own.

Rika’s phone vibrates with a message from Bryanna. The girl seems to have typed quite a few lines expressing her relief as well as being mad you didn’t reply to her calls, before assuring you of her safety and asking about yours.