Multiple Settings &nbsp; Anima Studies

November Witch

Upon landing outside once more, Crimson would notice the several individuals surrounding the building, all well composed and calm, appearing far more occupied with anyone or anything approaching the perimeter rather than the place itself. Then there was Jaquie, the man was laying on the grass with both hands behind the back of his head, relaxing and enjoying the cool weather. Only when Crimson and Mariana exited the building did the man turn his head to face them, his expression unreadable and his anima far less. Jaquie however did not utter a word and instead turned back to face the general direction of the building.

Back within the halls of the Asylum, the demon had seemingly ignored Crimson and instead moved to the next closest target. Its blades would grind against the surface of the asylum, to cause an awful and painful sound which Marianne could hear approaching bit by bit. It could sense it, her fear, her pain, all clear and bright scents to follow. But just as it was about to close the distance, those emotions seemed to vanish.

The demon paused once more before smashing its blade against the wall it what could only be described as pure anger and annoyance. Chunks would begin to fall near it and Marianne, with the ones hitting the demon itself having little effect on it. With it short tantrum over, the demon would turn the other way and walk back whence it came, dragging its blades against the floor.

November Witch · May 24, 2024

Crimson/Mariana

Status: Thrilled & Worried/Terrified & Determined
Location: Abandoned Asylum
Interaction(s):

Solirus

Upon seeing their teacher, Mariana gave a little smile and wave to him, despite their circumstances. However, seeing him in close proximity and somewhat cognizant of the situation made her feel much less scared. Enough to peek her head through the window she just clambered through. She saw the door to the hallway, and the demon meandering past it. Well, the demon hadn’t followed them out… Was it after Marianne? She was injured right?! Suddenly, she became scared again, but not for herself. Though as her fear rose, so did her determination.

“Hey! Leave her alone!”

Mariana picked up a rock, throwing it through the window, through the doorway on the opposite side of the room, and hitting the demon in the leg. It was just a rock thrown without any anima. So it may have not even registered.

“Pick on someone who’s not hurt you bully!”

Mariana started to climb back in through the window…

–

Crimson was frustrated it didn’t follow, and was also worried about the demon running after Marianne. She ran back towards the building while her tendrils still made their way through the ground towards the asylum. She would enter through the hole she left, look to her right, and see the demon standing right near the twins before smashing the wall and turning around. Heading right back towards her.

‘If I say duck, then duck.’

She communicated to Mariana inwardly, before walking further into the hall and grabbing ahold of the massive anchor laying on the ground.

“Aww, what’s the matter? So much hatred, but obviously not enough to keep fighting me, huh?”

She mocked it. Whether it could understand her or not was up in the air. But at the very least, it made Crimson feel better.

“Then we’ll play on your territory, and I’ll still win. How does that sound?”

Crimson was on one end of the hallway. Then further up on the right side, Mariana was in a room. Further down the hall was the demon, and past it, the twins. If she threw the anchor, Crimson knew she would have to be mindful about possibly hitting one of the demons. Her only hope was that the demon was more interested in her than Mariana or trying to find the twins. Speaking of her host, she was currently being an absolute idiot. Crimson knew she’d have to have a talk with her later.

Yakov011001 · May 25, 2024

It was like a spider-sense going off in his head, it made his adrenaline return to him with a fervor, but that rage within him before was gone and his self-control quickly came back to him. This next decision was his own. Without a word to Cobalt and Valerie, he moved. He didn't doubt they'd felt it too, and what they did next was their decision. He couldn't protect them in this past fight, but still he couldn't let that stop him from trying to protect whoever else needed it. If they were smart, they'd retreat unlike him. The entrance wasn't very far anyhow, and in that vein he decided to pass through that direction in order to make sure the way was clear for them. Bursting out the door, he sprinted down the halls with an even greater energy than before.

That strength, that aura. That can't be anything else than the Rank II! On the way, he shuffled through the people he'd expect to meet. If it was Sophia's posse, he was confident in her barrier's ability to stall for help or retreat. That said, he couldn't remember for the life of him who tagged along with her, Isaac was the only one he was confident would be there too. Next, it was his understanding that Marianne had gone in alone and Mariana as well, but they both had people they could rely on in Annamarie and Crimson. Particularly, Crimson was a reckoning force compared to the rest of them. Though he didn't imagine she wouldn't appreciate some kind of assistance.

Turning what he felt was the final corner, he saw it. That mug wasn't even something he could call ugly, it was just gone! But yeah, that motherfucker was big big.

"Then we'll play on your territory, and still win. How does that sound?"

At the end of the hall was Crimson, and between her and himself he saw Marianne and Annamarie the closest to them. He couldn't see their anima, and it quickly clicked in his head. Fuck, I haven't suppressed my anima. Nikklaüs wondered about the inherent discreetness of his anima, if that was enough to have covered his approach. Before he continued, he made a conscious effort to suppress his anima by pulling the emotion of excitement to the surface of himself, something he felt next to zero of. Not knowing what else the demon might perceive, he moved as quietly as he could, approaching from behind Marianne who undoubtedly didn't notice him from her focus on the demon. He snapped his fingers lightly from behind her to get her attention.

"Aye, has Crimson separated from Mariana?" Nikklaüs signed as he spoke, signing the words 'sharp' and 'soft' in substitution for Crimson and Mariana respectively.

Juju · May 26, 2024

Yakov011001
━ ◦ ※ ◦━

Plaster and dust fell down around her, but Marianne didn’t dare move. Her shoulders shook from the sheer effort it took to both suppress her anima and resist the innate instinct to fight or flee at the sight of this monstrosity looming over her. She held her breath, and after a moment that seemed to last a decade, the demon finally turned around and…

November Witch said:
“Hey! Leave her alone!”

Mariana picked up a rock, throwing it through the window, through the doorway on the opposite side of the room, and hitting the demon in the leg. It was just a rock thrown without any anima. So it may have not even registered.

“Pick on someone who’s not hurt you bully!”

In horror and disbelief, she looked down the hallway to see Mariana crawling back through the window, attempting to draw the demon away.

What was she doing? Was she insane? Why would Mariana put herself at risk for someone like her? Marianne struggled with a new uprising of anima, bits of it seeping out of her iron grip of suppression. She clutched at her chest, nails digging into the blood-encrusted cloth as if it could help keep inside everything that was threatening to burst from between her ribs. She didn’t deserve this. If Mariana got hurt for her sake… no, she couldn’t bear to imagine it. It was too much. If she let these thoughts out, it would mean that Mariana’s efforts would have been wasted. She had to suppress it, to make this act of selflessness worth something more than herself.

Consumed by these agonizing thoughts and her struggle to keep them suppressed, Marianne did not notice Nikklaüs until he was right behind her. She flinched at his snap and slowly turned her head, grey eyes wide with shock and the faintest hint of a new horror. Now it wasn’t just Mariana at risk, but Nikklaüs as well.

“The rank II found them.” Marianne whispered, her voice choppy from her short, panting breaths, “I tried to help, but now it's worse. They can’t fight it. They… they should have just left. It's too dangerous.”

Now that demon had moved further away, Marianne's legs and arms shook once again. Fresh blood was seeping out like sap from beneath the bandage on her leg, where one of the gashes had been reopened by her desperate flight. The ugly bite on her shoulder burned, every movement digging hot stakes into her bones, as if the teeth were still there gnawing at her. Her dress was torn and stained in large patches of her own blood, and her hair was covered in dust. Saying that she looked worse for wear was quite an understatement.

Annamarie did not share her wounds, but the red of her eyes had dimmed. Like Marianne, her anima had been suppressed, but she still had enough strength to support Marianne's weight as she clung onto her. She helped Marianne to balance as she took a shaky step away from the fight, limping back in the direction of the entrance she had used before.

Each step was agony, but Marianne grit her teeth and forced her pathetic body to move. She was too weak to help herself, let alone Mariana or Crimson, but the least she could do was get away so that she did not burden them any longer. It was idiocy to think she could have done more. All her efforts had done nothing but put the two in greater danger. Once again, someone else was paying for her failures.

"I have to leave." she coughed.

Tiguidi · May 26, 2024

COBALT ULAR
Location: Asylum

While the trio managed to finally find a moment of respite to rest, it was short-lived as the anima around them seemed to flare up. No, that wasn’t quite right; it felt more like a single anima signature deeper inside the asylum, piercing through the rest of the lesser anima. “Urgh, alright, I feel like our break’s over already.”, Cobalt sighed. He’d need to ignore the pain in his leg for the moment. This ominous anima probably belonged to the Rank II, and he didn’t want to stick around for too long and find out whether or not his theory was true.

Movement detected in the corner of his eye alerted him as Nikklaüs sprinted off, leaving him with Valerie. “Wait, Nik-!” But it was too late, the swordsman having already left without hearing Cobalt. “... And away he goes.”, he commented with a click of his tongue. “Knowing him, he’s probably rushing towards the Rank II, assuming that’s what I’m sensing right now.” He glanced at Valerie. “Mr. Jaquie clearly said we should avoid the Rank II, but... shouldn’t we also make sure he doesn’t put himself in unnecessary danger...?”

Still, his voice was filled with uncertainty. The three of them struggled to defeat a Rank I demon, and Cobalt himself was wounded; what would he even do if he went to help?

Verite

Solirus · May 27, 2024

Onslaught

The demon turned only for a second as Nikklaüs approached, appearing confused the instant that Nikklaüs suppressed his anima. Its attention had been grabbed by the sudden appearance and disappearance of that signal, but the moment Mariana and Crimson reentered the building, the demon wasted no time facing them after having plainly ignored the stone thrown its way.

Without pause, the demon would lunge forward, smashing the wall to bits as it shortened the distance to the closest target, Mariana. It swiftly raised its blades and swung them through the cloud of dust formed by such an uncaring onslaught. With the purest intent to kill.

November Witch · May 28, 2024

Crimson/Mariana

Status: Thrilled & Worried/Terrified & Determined
Location: Abandoned Asylum
Interaction(s):

Solirus
A scream left Mariana’s lips as the demon essentially ran through the wall before her. The scream echoed out into the hall and all those nearby heard was a scream and the shattering of a wall. It kicked up a cloud of dust, and she backtracked, falling down onto her back, flat onto the floor. She begged for Crimson in her mind, but the other was already completely aware of what was happening.

“Duck!”

Crimson told the other and could only hope Mariana got low as she threw the anchor in her hands at the other interior wall of the room. If all went right, it would crash through, and strike the demon. It would be clueless as it couldn’t see through the wall, right? It would hopefully pin the demon to the other wall, giving Mariana time to escape. As for Crimson? She was along for the ride! She wouldn’t let go of the anchor. Instead, she’d told on tight, and as soon as she was able, tendrils would latch onto the hopefully stunned demon, all over it. Arms, legs, hands, thighs, torso, neck, stomach, everywhere. They would then attempt to squeeze as hard as possible. Upon her hands, metal scraps would emerge, and she’d claw and dig into the demon herself, laughing maniacally as she did so.

Solirus · May 28, 2024

Removed

November Witch

Through Crimson's quick thinking, was Mariana's life spared as the anchor flew towards the demon. However, with such a thing being made of anima, the demon was quick to react, holding one blade to block the impact of the anchor. Yet even upon blocking it was the demon sent crashing to yet another wall, maintaining composure unlike the previous time. The tendrils would follow, attempting to apprehend and immobilize the demon, but as she lunged inside, Crimson saw the miasma travel into the demon itself as if taking a deep breath.

Crimsons tentacle would break as the demon's anima surged once more with unstable power. The previously dark hue of hatred was now replaced by chaotic colors and fluctuations, causing a shockwave that would push Mariana and Crimson back. The asylum, desperately maintaining its structure, would begin to crumble as fissures would form on the ceiling, causing debris to begin falling atop the three of them. In that singular moment of chaos did the demon lunge towards the two of them far faster than it had previously demonstrated, outpacing even the debris itself. The demon raised its blades once more to rid itself of these nuisances, however when it finally swung, it found nothing but the floor itself as the debris collapsed over it, burying it.

In the blink of an eye, Mariana and Crimson no longer found themselves inside the asylum and instead found themselves outside covered with blankets. Jaquie, who was right next to them, appeared to be laying on the grass minding his own business.

Verite · May 29, 2024

Valerie Vu - Asylum
Interactions:

Tiguidi

Juju

"... Oh."

Well, into the frying pan and into the fire.

After the harrowing encounter with the Rank I demon earlier, Valerie had hoped that that would be the end of their trials and that the rest of the building would have already been explored and taken care of by then, but of course, there was never any rest for the wicked, as it wasn't long until she, Cobalt, and Nikklaüs seemed to feel a new anima signature deeper within the building, and Nikklaüs himself suddenly ran off without a word. Looking over at Cobalt with a strained grimace of a smile, Val shrugged uncertainly.

"Well, on one hand, I'd definitely like to take any excuse not to pick another fight, especially so above my weight," she breathed. Even though she had less tangible wounds on her, compared to Cobalt, other than the little incident of her soul feeling like it had touched an oven, Val was certainly less than eager to rush into the next fight, and yet...

"On the other hand, I just know when Teach told us to avoid the Rank II at all costs, it was definitely something like reverse psychology, right? Like he definitely secretly actually wants us to do it, right?" Valerie reasoned. She didn't like it, but from her perspective, this sort of logic was sound, thinking from the point of view of a teacher. "... Not that I'll complain if you'd rather we just beat it instead," she said with a weak attempt at a wry grin.

Just like Cobalt, Valerie questioned what she'd even be able to do if they were to choose to jump into the fray. Even with just that Rank I earlier, blinding attacks and little explosions could only do so much against it. Using such basic techniques against a Rank II would surely be a case of diminishing returns. Still, Nikklaüs had already run on ahead, so what could they do? Leave him behind? Try to drag him out and run away with the Rank II in hot pursuit? No, their choice was probably already made for them.

"... Well, we'd better catch up to Nikklaüs first. We oughta at least help him out if he's about to bite off more than he can chew. I'll go on ahead," she said to Cobalt, mindful of his leg wound but also cognizant that they couldn't waste time here. After giving him a tentative nod, Valerie began jogging after Nikklaüs and the mysterious anima signature they'd all sensed, hastily remembering to mask her own anima as well while she was here.

By the time she had caught up, standing just at the edge of the corner, she poked her head around to see Nikklaüs, Marianne, and Annamarie huddled together, while Mariana and Crimson had only just disappeared before the pink haired woman could spot them. Trying to lock eyes with Nikklaüs and Marianne, her anima still suppressed, Valerie tried to silently sneak over to them, whispering harshly toward them.

"Psst, hi! Hope I'm not interrupting anything," she said, too uneasy to expense with the pleasantries like she'd normally like to. "... Uh, we're not really gonna fight that thing, are we, Nik? And for that matter, you okay, Marianne?" Valerie asked, before blinking as she almost forgot herself. "... oh, and you two, Annamarie?"

It seemed they were a bit worse for wear from their run-in with the demon. Valerie didn't revel in the idea of having to fight that thing, but if Nikklaüs were to insist, she was already beginning to form some semblance of a game plan, just in case.

Tiguidi · May 31, 2024

COBALT ULAR
Location: Asylum

“Throwing ourselves in danger again it is. Me and my big mouth.”, Cobalt mumbled with a pained sigh. Still, despite that, he doubted he’d have run away and given up on the others, even with his wound. He still felt waves of pain coming from his leg but he was slowly starting to adapt. At least walking wasn’t as torturous as it was a few minutes prior. And fortunately, he had plenty of ranged applications with his Anima Art; as long as he found a way to stay at a distance and use his fire from afar, he’d be good.

“Well, let’s hope you’re right about this being reverse psychology or else we’ll be in big trouble once this is over.”, Cobalt commented, straining a smile. He glanced in the direction Nikklaüs ran off to. “Better go deal with this thing, then. I’ll catch up to you when I can. Think I can walk now but running’s out of the question.”

Watching as Valerie jogged away, the boy let out a groan as the brave face he had on partially crumbled. “Great, now I need to think of a way not to be useless while we fight a Rank II...” He shook his head, keeping the negative thoughts out. It probably wouldn’t be something impossible. If anything, his first step should be to actually head over there and calmly assess the situation.

Now to be fair, it wasn’t very difficult to catch up to the others; all the screaming, the walls breaking and other fighting noises were as easy to track as a bonfire in the middle of the night, and that wasn’t including the demon's very obvious anima signature he picked up with his refined sight.

But speaking of anima, a thought made Cobalt pause in his steps; a higher-ranked demon would most likely be able to easily spot him since he was still having trouble concealing his anima. He couldn’t sense the others -meaning they were hiding, obviously. And if Cobalt came along, he would just act as a beacon and bring the Rank II right at him. And with his leg, he couldn't exactly imagine himself dodging attacks or running away should it come to that.

“Tough luck...”, he mumbled to himself as he tried to focus on hiding his anima the best he could before going further.

Spoiled Bread · May 31, 2024

Sophia Hughes
Anima: Thin gray veil in the air

"R-right." Sophia nodded in agreement as Isaac urged them to be quick. She too felts that terrifying presence and would like to get away from that entity as fast as possible. She knew she said her barrier was too clumsy for detailed task, but...

"I'm bringing the entire lump down!" She said, trying to sound as confident as she can. Taking a kneeling position on the floor, Sophia once again made a circular formation by bringing all of her fingertips to touch each other. On the ceiling, a barrier surrounding the skewered demon flickered into existence. She then pushed her hands down, trying to make the barrier do the same thing and carry the demons along. Instead a spark of anima could be seen flying out of the barrier as it grinds against the nails before it snapped like a balloon.

Sophia let out a brief yelp but she quickly reassume the stance and try again. She's determined to get all of them a level 1 demon each! Once again, a layer of barrier encased the demon. This time the barrier had a much darker color and looks thicker.

"Get... down... here...!!" Slamming her hands down, the barrier jerked downward and rattled the nails in its place. Sparks of anima spread around it like mini fireworks and while the barrier was able to withstand the friction, the nails still didn't seems to budge. Instead the demons were squashed between the nails that keep them in place and barrier that tries to pull them away. The struggle ended when the demons' body gave up from all the pressure, with a sickening crunching noise the demons were forcefully pulled out of the nails. Freeing them from the pin but also tearing a large hole on their body where black blood started to seep out. The demons let out a thrilling shriek and started to desperately eat each other before they explode into miasma.

"..." Ooopsie?

"I-I'm sorry!!!!!" Sophia looks horrified at what she just done, she accidentally killed all of them!

_Yua Watanabe_

Silent Child

November Witch · Jun 2, 2024

Crimson/Mariana

Status: Thrilled & Worried/Terrified & Determined
Location: Abandoned Asylum
Interaction(s):

Solirus
Mariana had been covering her head and in the fetal position when she was transported outside. This had been in an attempt to protect herself from the falling debris and the wall that had just shattered as an anchor flew straight through it. She would blink, look around, and let out a sigh of relief before sitting up. She’d see the professor next to her and where they had been previously a distance away. She’d look back towards Jaque with a nervous look on her face.

“Thank you, professor,… Uhm, does this mean we’re disqualified?”

Mariana really hoped they weren’t. But she thought the teacher stepping in like that might have led to that outcome.

Meanwhile, Crimson was fuming, cussing out the professor openly as she stomped back towards the building. A tentacle reached back and wrapped around Mariana’s wrist, pulling her up and back towards the building. What did that idiotic human know?! Crimson was fine! Tendrils aren’t the only way to defend herself! She would have been fine fighting that demon! Especially since she was just as strong as it! The difference was she had brains, and it didn’t. Who cares if she was at a disadvantage, not being able to absorb anima from her surroundings? She’d beat it with a handicap easily! She’d show whatever that bird thing was that whatever it did won’t affect her. She doesn’t need the handicap of anime like other puny demons.

“Oh, uh, s-see you later.”

Mariana said to her teacher as she was pulled off towards the building once more.

Yakov011001 · Jun 3, 2024

"I have to leave." Marianne mused more to herself than to Nikklaüs, or so it seemed.

Before Nikklaüs could pipe up in agreement. The demon charged down the hall in their direction, and he stepped in-between it and Marianne but without really an idea as to how he could answer this. There was a small sigh of relief when it blindly busted into the classroom off to the side. So it had no target. Well, the bloodcurdling scream of fear that came out of the room told him otherwise, and the fast pursuit by Crimson informed him of the situation in its entirety.

"I'm inclined to agree," Nikklaüs backed up into Marianne before scooping her up from behind himself. Guiding her arm over his right shoulder and settling his forearm in the crook of her left knee. He winced at the strain of hoisting her up put on his wrist. Fuck, that might be worse off than I thought. "Bare with me on this, but we need to hit the jets so this is happening." He turned around to run before almost plowing into Valerie.

"Psst, hi! Hope I'm not interrupting anything," She said, her energy a bit more on edge than normal. "Uh, we're not really gonna fight that thing, are we, Nik? And for that matter, you okay, Marianne?" Valerie asked, before blinking as she almost forgot herself. "Oh, and you two, Annamarie?"

"No, we aren't. What the fuck are you doing here?" He leaned in an aggressive whisper through gritted teeth. "Where the fuck is Cobalt? I was trusting you two with each other." Can't trust nobody with shit around here. "We're leaving," He started to dash off again this time in backtrack to the main entrance, but not before he could reprocess the conversation.

"And don't call me that! that's Klaüs to you!"

Verite

Solirus · Jun 3, 2024

Concluded
November Witch

"Not the exact word I would use." Jaquie responded to Mariana, standing up from his laying position and turning to face her. "I would rather say your quizzes have concluded." Jaquie continued as he began his stretching routine by pulling both arms back. "Generally one concludes their quiz by leaving the building after taking out one or two rank ones, but when you stumbled onto the rank two, you decided the best course of action was to fight it, which prop's to you overall for the performance. But if I hadn't pulled you out last second, you'd have both died." Jaquie calmly explained now pulling on one leg to stretch it. Before Crimson could leave any further, their path would be interrupted by a wall they couldn't see nor sense, but was physically present.

"If it was only you Crimson, you might've lasted longer against the demon, but Mariana wasn't as lucky. The debris or the demon's blade would've done the job. So we'll be working on that in the future." Jaquie explained further, finally finishing the rest of his stretching routine. "Anyway, I think this quiz has gone on for long enough." Jaquie would place his hand on his mouth, as the students would begin hearing a light ringing sound. "The quiz has concluded, come back outside." Jaquie's voice would echo in the head of the students before fading away. "Well now that that is done..." Jaquie moved to the back of the tree, pulling out a large basket, "We can set up the picnic!" Jaquie's demeanor seemed to change, appearing more joyful than before.
Relief
Spoiled Bread Silent Child _Yua Watanabe_

Isaac would watch in silence as Sophia attempted to pull all the demons down, so the rest could get credit for the kills. Through all of it, however, Isaac remained on edge, tightly squeezing his hand. The sight was already unnerving enough, but the implication seemed far worse, something had taken the time to attach each of these demons onto the ceiling to purely suffer. If whatever had done that was still lurking across these halls, then he couldn't bare to face such a thing.

He could see himself taking the place of those demons, nails piercing each part of his body as the force of gravity would pull him down, increasing the suffering. Isaac had to look away from the demons to stop thinking about gruesome futures. He would flinch as Sophia's trick would finally succeed forcing him to turn and face the scene, only to find the demons dissipating from their wounds.

"We're in a team, I'm sure it'll count for all of us" Isaac tried to say to calm Sophia down. He wasn't sure what the exact regulations were, but he'd hoped that Jaquie would at least be understanding.

"The quiz has concluded, come back outside." Isaac heard Jaquie's voice echo in his mind before disappearing. A sigh of relief washed over him hearing those words, "Okay let's go, there's nothing left here and Jaquie expect us back."
Poisoned
Juju Yakov011001 Verite Tiguidi

Buried beneath the rubble, the demon's anima would surge once more in chaotic fashion. Bursting from the debris, the demon cried out in fury and confusion. It attempted to look around, appearing incapable of spotting anything. Its form mirrored its anima, a chaotic maelstrom that couldn't maintain its form. Its legs would shift in thickness and length, its arms would crack and twist unpredictably.

Bit by bit, however, the maelstrom appeared to ease, the demon's form morphing in a slower pace than before. At this rate, it would not be long before the demon would stabilize itself and restart its hunt.

November Witch · Jun 3, 2024

Crimson/Mariana

Status: Interested & Worried/Distraught & Determined
Location: Abandoned Asylum - Outside
Interaction(s):

Solirus

A sigh of relief left Mariana’s lips as Jaque told her the test had concluded instead of them being disqualified. Mariana also felt a bit of pride well in her chest as their performance was praised by the teacher. But most of it was felt for Crimson, her friend. She was so proud of her and for her! The teacher had complimented them, which had to mean something good, right?! But the next part made her heart drop. While she may have been scared, and was still trembling too bad to stand up, she still had faith in Crimson to have protected her.

Though as the mood seemingly switched gears, Mariana’s certainly didn’t. She was still trying to come to terms with what had just happened, and what could have happened. As she was pulled to her feet by a tendril from Crimson and they hit the wall, she turned to the teacher.

“Please let us go! Marianne was hurt in there! At least let us see if she’s okay!”

Mariana wasn’t privy to the fact others had shown up. For all she knew, the demon was in there looking for the injured girl. She seemed to be frantic about it too, and on the way to becoming distraught. Her adrenaline and racing mind had made Mariana gloss over the fact she was hurt too. A small just on her cheek, left arm and left abdomen. All cuts that were bleeding. Albeit very shallow and little blood.

All the while, Crimson was laughing uncontrollably at Jaques words. They both would have died? That was honestly the funniest thing she’d ever heard! She was almost crying, with tears forming on the corner of her eyes that she wiped away after a long few moments of laughter. The fact he’d said it so seriously! He truly believed what he said! Boy was he stupid.

“Yeah, whatever you say, teach.”

Crimson spoke when she was finally able to. Much of the pure anger and rage she was feeling had turned to amusement at Jaques words. She’d let him think whatever he wanted to think. Now that she had a moment to look around and take in the situation, she wasn’t as keen to rush back into the building. She was more focused on the wounds Mariana seemed to have.

“I’m not an expert or anything, but shouldn’t you disinfect those and treat yourself first?”

Crimson told Mariana as the two met gazes.

“No! I need to make sure she’s okay!”

Mariana exclaimed, slamming the wall with her fist repeatedly. Crimson looked positively perplexed, and surprised.

“Where’s this fiery side of you normally? You never look me in the eye. I like it.”

Crimson smiled at her, before turning her attention to the teacher. She was waiting for him to say something, or for the wall to disappear so the two could go check on Marianne.

Juju · Jun 3, 2024

Solirus )

Nikklaüs’ drastic movement was enough to stop Marianne in her tracks. Just what did he think he was doing? It was absolutely ridiculous, no different from Mariana’s spur of poor judgment. Why were they both so daft!? Didn’t they understand that they were going to get hurt? It made that ugly, helpless anger rise up again. Part of her knew their reasoning, but she still couldn't understand why. She did nothing to deserve this.

She whipped around, ready to tongue-lash Nikklaüs for his audacity, when a scream pierced through the miasma like a knife. Marianne’s eyes widened, cracking her stony frown. Through Refined Sight, she could just make out the cowering form of Mariana and the demon poised with its two wicked blades. The sight of it held her firmly in place, making it difficult to breath. She couldn’t bear to watch, and yet it was all she could do.

The walls collapsed over top of all three; Mariana, demon and Crimson, who had lunged at it mere seconds before the fall. Then, all at once, Crimson and Mariana's anima vanished. For a moment she feared the worst, a case of her emotions getting the better of her. Then in desperation she searched for reason. They couldn’t possibly have died. Not in a test. Jaquie would not let them perish.

In her state of distraction, Marianne didn’t seem to notice Annamarie passing her over for Nikklaüs to hold. The demon-doll’s eyes were dull, her movements sluggish, but she had the wits about her to interpret Nikklaüs’ gesture as an extension of her current order; assist Marianne. In this regard, he was her assistant too. Friend. Porcelain arms carefully lifted their bloody twin into Nikklaüs’ own.

“Hm?!” Marianne gasped when she finally realized her change in carrier.

Her whole body tense up all at once as she slowly turned her head away from the distant rubble to stare at Nikklaüs in utter shock. There was a brief moment of silence as her frazzled mind caught up with the situation. Then the objection tumbled out.

“Wh-what? No, no, put me down this instant! I’m perfectly capable on my own!” She insisted, face warm with embarrassment.

As if to prove her point, she tried to struggle out of his grip like a feral cat, but the weakness of the movement and a stifled whimper of pain lead to a very unconvincing act. Her subtle shaking and the paleness of her face didn’t help either. Eventually, she had no choice but to give up when the pain became too much and the fruits of her efforts too little. Although she was loath to admit it, the best course of action was to accept his help. So long as her anima was suppressed, Annamarie’s ability to carry her properly would be under strain. The Rank II’s anima still hadn’t dissipated yet either, and should they need to retreat, it would be nearly impossible.

Silently, Marianne cursed her own frailty. This was her fault. She had been sloppy and stupid, and now Mariana and Nikklaüs had to pay for it. Even after all her time at Anima Studies, she was still as useless as ever. Sharper than thorns, her anima balled up like an urchin to cut at her insides with each self-critical thought.

That’s when Valerie arrived, only adding to Marianne’s humiliation. Her response to the question of her wellbeing was shrill and tense, “I’m fine, thank you!”

As for Annamarie, she nodded her head when addressed and held up a hand to sign “yes”, just as she had mimicked from Nikklaüs.

Then the conversation turned tense. Marianne was at first taken aback at Nikklaüs' frustrations with Valerie, at least until she learned of the situation with Cobalt. She had to agree with him. An injured arcanist was like blood in the water for a low ranking demon. It was irresponsible for Valerie to have left him behind. Yet before Marianne could even say anything, she heard a familiar voice echo through her head.

"The quiz has concluded, come back outside."

Not even a second after the last word faded, she sensed an unrest in the miasma. Marianne looked over Nikklaüs’ shoulder to witness the quickly mutating form of the headless demon rise from the rubble, anima erratic. It would not be long before it resumed its search. They had to leave as quickly and subtly as possible

She took a moment to scan past the decrepit walls with her Refined Sight, yet she found no sign of the wine-coloured anima of their classmate. While he was missing, it was a comforting piece of information. It meant that the demon would be unable to find him too. "I don't see Cobalt's anima. It's likely he's leaving the premise as we speak."

Marianne glanced back at the chaotic whirling of anima behind them. It was beautiful in a way that made her skin crawl with disgust. She didn't know the extent of its metamorphosis, but she did not intend to stick around long enough to find out.

“The Rank II will recover soon. It can only see through Refined Sight, so mind your anima.” She lifted a bloodstained finger towards the Left Wing she had recently purged of its resident demon. “The nearest exit is down that corridor. Annamarie and I used a side entrance there, just through the kitchen.”

Solirus · Jun 3, 2024

Determination

November Witch

"Look, kiddo, I'm not letting you back into that place. Marianne and the others will be fine, It'll take them only a sec to come back." Jaquie explained, removing a large tablecloth from the basket and laying it on the ground.

The moment Crimson began to laugh and retorted with sarcasm, Jaquie gave the demon a puzzled look, "Are you stupid Crimson? You've only got like ten percent left in the tank, tops, a bit more fighting, and you'd fizzle yourself out of existence." Jaquie spoke flatly, there didn't appear to be any form of deception coming from the man, but Crimson didn't feel tired nor did her anima reserves seem affected in the slightest. In fact, her anima supplies seemed to be perfectly fine. She couldn't sense anything wrong with herself.

Mariana's insistence however Piqued Jaquie's attention, the color, and shape of her anima spoke of determination, but it did not roar of it. "Tell me, Why should I let you go through? Crimson's depleted, and you're bleeding, are you that willing to continue?" Jaquie smiled expectantly waiting for Mariana to respond. Perhaps coincidentally too, the wall felt began to feel more like a cloud with each strike, yet still seemingly impassable.

Silent Child · Jun 3, 2024

Leo couldn't help but be relieved as his classmates quickly agreed that the demon they had dropped was better left in the dust. He eagerly followed as they entered the classroom with all the pinned demons. "I'm bringing the entire lump down!" Sophie said, not quite sounding confident, but brave enough so Leo could place faith in her. "Y-yeah, let's do this." He spoke aloud, urging himself not to take a step back in preparation as she began to cast barriers to draw the demons down. The first attempt seemed to pop and fizzle out. "You got it..." Leo spoke quietly, not quite sure if the others could hear him. If anything, it was him motivating her and reassuring himself. Sophie then made a second attempt, looking significantly denser than the first and practically yanking all the demons away from the ceiling, off of their nails, only to plop on the ground and disappear in dust. Everyone sat there, a moment of silence before Leo felt a pang of panic enter his mind. It wasn't his emotion- it belonged to- "I-I'm sorry!!!!!"

Leo didn't manage to be the first to calm her down, Isaac beat him to it, though Leo couldn't help but doubt the truth in his statement. "We're in a team, I'm sure it'll count for all of us" For Sophie's sake, he nodded in agreement. "Yeah, surely we'll be fine... if anything, you guys have got credit for handling demons. both of you-" He shot them a reassuring smile in case Isaac also needed lifted hoped that he'd do well. He avoided bringing attention to himself where he hadn't quite done anything yet... nor would he get the chance to.

"The quiz has concluded, come back outside." Leo couldn't help but sag his shoulders in a bit of defeat. He'd done literally nothing here due to hit lateness in entering the building. He'd definitely have to talk with Jaquie later to see what he could do to make up for it. "Okay let's go, there's nothing left here and Jaquie expect us back." It seemed the other two couldn't be happier about being able to get out of this place, and Leo definitely wouldn't disagree. "Yeah, that's probably best..." He constantly fought the thought to remain there to prove he could do something, but he stayed silently behind both Isaac and Sophie as they made their way back to the entrance.

Verite · Jun 5, 2024

Valerie Vu - Asylum
Interactions:

Juju
Mentions:

Tiguidi

Solirus

"What? Well, excuse me for caring! You ran off like a dog with a bone and I was afraid the demon was gonna like, I dunno, explode your nuts off without my help or something, after how well the last demon fight went!" Valerie hissed sharply back to Nikklaüs, puffing her cheeks in a pointed pout. "Besides, Cobalt's fine! He gave me the okay to go on ahead, so here I am!"

Technically, that was a lie. She just decided she was gonna go on ahead and left Cobalt to just agree on his own, but Nikklaüs didn't need to know that part. Besides, he was right behind her! She assumed. She had no actual way of knowing, but she wasn't going to think about how reckless she was. This wasn't on her. Definitely.

Before anything more could be said however, that was when the voice of Jacquie would suddenly ring in her head, and from the looks of it, everyone else. She gasped in mild surprise, but managed to register the message to report back outside. Well, that was one problem fixed. The decision was out of their hands now; there was no reason to take on the Rank II anymore... if there ever was really one to begin with. Now they just had to actually do it... which was probably going to be easier said than done.

Novice as she was at the whole anima sensing business, even Valerie could sense the shift in the air, as the demon that the others had just taken care of burst from the rubble, its body and anima seeming to shift and twist unnaturally, a sight that made the young woman shiver uneasily. That was not something she even wanted to keep looking at, let alone have to fight.

As the uprooted Marianne pointed toward where the nearest exit seemed to be, Valerie pursed her lips and nodded. "That way? Alright, let's get a move on then. I'll follow... uh, Nikklaüs while you can hang tight there. You sure look real comfy thre," she responded, her face tightening as if straining to suppress a giggle now that the image of her on the young man's shoulder finally registered to Valerie, though she made sure to remember to keep suppressing her anima. "Ahem, anyway, Annamarie's fine, right? I don't have to like, carry her too?"

That'd be awkward. Just carrying it around and feeling its piercing gaze probably burn a hole in the back of her head. Yeesh.

November Witch · Jun 5, 2024

Crimson/Mariana

Status: Interested & Worried/Distraught & Determined
Location: Abandoned Asylum - Outside
Interaction(s):

Solirus

Mariana didn’t care if it would only take a second for Marianne to come out. It would take that demon the same amount of time to catch up and eviscerate her. She was the only one there with it! Mariana was a little too high strung and stressed at the moment to think that they might be fine. The teacher obviously wouldn’t let anything bad happen to them. But the thought slipped her mind in all the chaos.

Mariana didn’t really know how Crimson was holding up, but she knew Crimson wouldn’t willingly approach a situation she didn’t think she could win. Besides, she only wanted to bring Mariana out. They didn’t need to fight the demon. So long as Crimson could stay out of its reach and keep moving, it wouldn’t matter how much energy Crimson had left.

It wasn’t until now that Mariana really realized she was bleeding. But after a mere moment of looking at herself, she found they were shallow. They could probably be fixed with some band aids. But she was fine, and as far as she knew, so was Crimson. So, the answer was clear.

“Of course I am! She’s hurt really bad, and in there with that demon!”

Mariana exclaimed, pushing her whole body into the wall as she felt it start to move in an odd way.

“No one deserves to face something like that alone!”

Crimson, meanwhile, stood there, eying the Mariana she hadn’t seen before, and continuing to think the teacher was an absolute idiot.

Juju · Jun 6, 2024

Verite

Solirus
Marianne was completely unaffected by Valerie's pouting. She gave the other girl an unimpressed look, her voice flat. “Regardless of what Cobalt told you, it is irresponsible to have left an injured arcanist alone in demon territory. This test is meant to simulate a hunt, and had it been real you could have placed him in serious danger.”

Her grey eyes flicked forward, scanning through the miasma with her Refined Sight. Although she may be crippled at the moment, she did not intend to be completely useless. While Nikklaüs carried her, she kept her wits sharp for any remaining demons. Thankfully, the hallway had remained free of demons since she cleansed it of its previous inhabitant.

Just thinking back on it made her shoulder throb with pain. She could still see its curved smile in the back of her mind, and the feel of its anima drawing towards her own. There had been little time to think about it, but the strange sensation had persisted. Ever so slightly, like a stain refusing to be scrubbed, she could feel something within her anima had changed. Tainted. She felt unclean, even below the layers of blood and dust covering her.

Marianne didn't have much opportunity to ruminate on it before Valerie made a rather bold statement about her comfort. It was so bold that Marianne completely froze up, struggling to find any response.

“I--” Marianne sputtered, her face growing hot with embarrassment. “I beg your pardon!?”

Just what did mean by that?! It was bad enough that she had to succumb to being carried around like a rag doll and now Valerie was poking fun at her? Preposterous! Did she think she enjoyed this? This was completely out of necessity! If she had been fit enough to outrun a demon she never would have suffered such helplessness! If it wasn't for the fact that she and Nikklaüs shared a dorm she probably wouldn't have trusted him enough to pick her up even despite her horrible condition. Now that she thought about it, she probably trusted Nikklaüs more than her other peers, save perhaps Rook or maybe Mariana.

Unless… that’s what Valerie meant?

Marianne's face was a lovely shade of pink now. She scowled, her voice raising an octave out of sheer bewilderment. “I've been savaged by a demon and narrowly avoided a beheading by a Rank II that is now literally hunting us, and you're saying I'm comfortable?! Just-- just what do you mean!? I can't possibly outrun that thing in this condition! And would you quit smirking! This isn't funny!”

To hide the embarrassment on her face, she turned her head away from both of them to stare pointedly at the walls. "And in case you missed it, Annamarie already said she is fine!"

Annamarie hadn't broken eye contact with Valerie once, not even to blink. It was almost as if she could sense the unease. Once again, she repeated the ASL gesture she had learned from Nikklaüs. This time instead of ‘yes’ she correctly used the gesture for ‘okay’. The doll didn't seem to care about Valerie's response though, for as soon as Nikklaüs took off at a sprint she followed behind. Her head twisted around unnaturally to keep eye contact with Valerie as she passed by, but rotated back into place after a few seconds.

Tiguidi · Jun 7, 2024

COBALT ULAR
Location: Asylum -> Outside

Cobalt shook his head as he felt his anima diminish, slowly but surely. “Dammit... Of all the things to be bad at, it just had to be the one preventing me from getting spotted and killed...” Glancing once more in front of him, he winced as he sensed a sudden burst of negative anima -most likely coming from the Rank II. Cobalt clicked his tongue in annoyance. “What am I even doing here...?”, he questioned. He could walk without too much difficulty, sure, but there was no way he’d be able to fight without his ability to run or dodge. His ranged utility be damned; he was just a sitting duck.

Hesitation prevented him from moving further. Being useless to the others who were fighting, or risking getting even worse wounds? Thinking about both options made his mind sink with uncertainty and self-doubt. A single misjudgment. A single suffered wound made him this way.

"The quiz has concluded, come back outside."

The familiar voice resonated inside his mind and fortunately made the decision for him. That also meant that the others would stop fighting the Rank II and get out, right?

His anima briefly fluctuated as he mumbled a curse under his breath. He’d exit the asylum and then berate his performance in the quiz. Getting someone to look at his leg would also help in alleviating his mood.

The exit wasn’t too far, fortunately, so it didn’t take him long to get outside. Mariana was already outside and engaged in conversation with Mr. Jaquie, but Cobalt didn’t pay too much attention to them for the moment, instead finding a spot in the grass not too far away to sit on. His anima was quick to return to normal -well, somewhat normal. There was still a lingering gloominess in his aura, flames resembling slowly flowing ink through murky waters.

"... We do have medics here, right...?", he finally voiced, loud enough for Jaquie and Mariana to hear. He gestured at his wounded leg, not feeling the need to explain why he asked his question.