Multiple Settings Anima Studies

[Juju]

Lazzo Solirus Verite November Witch

Although she didn’t laugh at the joke, Marianne felt a wave of relief when the stars stopped spinning around the self-proclaimed ‘Star-Attraction’. Now that Valerie had hit her second wind, Marianne took a step back to grant her more space.

“It does not matter what you are called, so long as the job gets done.” She said, keeping her eyes firmly on Deerhead. Yet one of Valerie’s comments made her pause, earning a confused look that momentarily replaced her stony frown. She blinked. “What on earth is an ex-man?”

She wasn’t quite certain what Val meant by Jubilee either, though she understood the definition well enough. Still, now was not the time for clarification. Defeating their foe took priority over learning foolish modern terms.

Sparkles spun in glittery threads, bursting one by one to create a dazzling show, but Marianne couldn’t afford to appreciate them. Her eyes narrowed as the demon was cut cleanly in half, carefully watching its regeneration and searching for any indication it had slowed. Unsurprisingly, it remained the same, and also unsurprisingly, the taunts from Valerie had reached their mark. Deerhead’s anima flared up dangerously, but hopefully at the cost of draining its reserves.

The twins shifted into an evasive stance, ready to match the gait of the charging deer. At least, until something shattered the delicate balance of the mirror waltz. A giant anchor was falling from above, thrown with good intentions by Crimson. At least the demon had the decency to warn them, but that didn’t change the added danger of their current position.

First the puddle and now this?! Once more the carefully trained stances of the twins were interrupted by a marine threat. There was no choice but to retreat and then look for another opening. Taking her role as Valerie's defender seriously, she quickly glanced back at the girl.

"Look out!" Marianne called to her. She then dashed to the side, reached out to take hold of Valerie’s wrist and then… froze.

Hubris was the death of many, but doubt was a silent killer. Memories of the previous day intruded in waves, just like the exhaustion. Her concentration faltered, and so too did the augmentation. Movements slowed, vision blurred. A lapse in judgment and a moment’s hesitation were all a demon needed.

When would she learn that all her attempts to help only ended in harm. Once again she just made things worse. What an idiot. She wondered if her blood could count as an apology. It was a lot easier that way.

Red sparks scattered through the air as Annamarie dispelled her weapon, freeing both hands. Instead of dodging to the opposite side of the demon, she lunged across its path, arms outstretched for Marianna and Valerie. She grabbed their shirts like kitten-scruffs and tossed them out of harm's way.

 

[Verite]

Valerie Vu - Starstruck
Interactions: Solirus November Witch Juju

​

"Oh, jeez!"

Valerie could only gasp out as she realized she was in danger of getting caught in the crossfire of Crimson's anchor. For the briefest of moments, she froze up, unsure of what move she should make if anything. She didn't want to accidentally move somewhere that would actually only put her in more danger, like a checkmate that would result in her instant loss, nor did she want to get further away from Marianne and make her job that much more difficult.

As Marianne dashed to her aid, Valerie was afforded enough time to look the other girl in the eye, observing that slight instance of hesitation. What was she doing? Would she be able to...?

And yet, it was ultimately Annamarie who ended up saving the both of them, tossing them aside like, well, kittens. Another surprised yelp escaped Val's lips as she rolled to the side, managing to evade Deerhead's charge. Staggering back up to her feet, Val brushed herself off before giving a wave toward Annamarie.

"Thanks!" She merely called out, still feeling a bit awkward about interacting with her, but of course, she was willing to play ball, especially after a save like that.

Looking over to Deerhead, trusting that it needed an extra while to contend with Crimson's anchor if that hit managed to connect, Val clamped her hands on Marianne's shoulders in a surprisingly forward gesture and shook her a bit. Only just remembering the mood Marianne had been carrying since the morning, probably since the last night for all she knew, Val let out a breath. "C'mon, Marianne! We gotta keep our heads in the game, or else it's curtains forever!"

Val gave a surprisingly serious look. Her lips were tightened with a trace of excitement on her expression, as if this fight or something about the situation excited her, yet it was contrasted with a surprisingly pointed look in her eyes. "I... I don't know what's been bugging you lately, but I'm really counting on you here! We all are! As much as Crimson won't admit it."

From there, she leaned in closer in an almost conspiratorial manner, threatening to invade Marianne's personal bubble. "Between you and me, I... honestly don't really like depending on other people. Before I came here, it was always just me. But I figured, if there's one person who probably has their shit together, out of the whole class here, it's probably you! I mean, that's what I always thought! You always looked like you have this stuff on lock, like I bet you're the smartest person out of all of us, so please, let's get through this together!"

With that attempt at words of encouragement, she finally pulled away from Marianne, giving a spry wink as she raised a finger to her lips. "Or maybe the reason you hesitated was because you were so starstruck by my performance? I guess that's likely too," Val grinned, flipping from one tonal extreme to the other, before looking over to see how Deerhead was faring now.

 

[seasonedcat]

Aries | Park Forest
Aries noticed the incoming projectile barely a second before Nikklaüs did, his attention snapping back to the hunt instantly. Just as Aries had warned, talking makes people sloppy; thankfully, this time, it didn't result in someone dead... yet. It wasn't long before Curious had turned its gaze to him and the scent of blood and anima was obscured by a layer of dirt in his throat and nose.

Aries's eyes burned from the familiar sensation of dirt in his eyes, a trick he was not new to. His eyes screwed shut on instinct to try and keep more of the dust from causing more irritation. It wasn't hard for Aries to slip into refined vision to see the filthy anima of the demon clear as day despite his eyes being screwed shut. Aries managed to block the demon's lunge before attempting to land another punch on Curious.

just like Curious, Aries didn't notice Nikklaüs's approaching from behind, and his nose was too muffled with dirt to smell the arcanist stench or the metallic blood in the air. Aries didn't care to check on the other or even worry if he got injured. If Nikklaüs died, that would be one less arcanist in the world; that hardly seemed like a bad thing to Aries. If he couldn't survive this, it would only be a matter of time. Maybe then Aries would finally get silence.
interactions | Solirus Yakov011001

 

[Solirus]

• Improvisation
• Climax

• 
  
  Improvisation
  Yakov011001 seasonedcat
  ​
  Successfully managing to block Curious's lunge, the demon quickly blocked Aries's counter, now more wary of the students' strength. Curious, once more prepared to launch another attack at Aries only to fail and notice Nikklaüs who'd snuck up behind the two and struck. The blade crashed down against the oblivious demon, only the blade was unable to pierce let alone move the demon, Zantetsuken was as dull as a butter knife.
  
  ...suppression will make your anima dependent abilities weaker and make you more vulnerable to attacks... Nikklaüs could hear Jaquie's words in his minds, memories of his first days. Now, not only was he more vulnerable to attack, he was slower too.
  
  Curious feinted his attack on Aries, instead quickly grabbing onto Nikklaüs's arm before he could return his anima to its original strength. The demon swung Nikklaüs like a club, slamming against Aries before finally slamming Nikklaüs onto the dirt, finally letting go as he charged at Aries again smiling, enjoying every moment of this fight.
  
• 
  
  Climax
  November Witch Juju Verite ​
  
  Each of Deerhead's steps practically shook the ground as it headed straight for Valerie. With the quick reflexes and action of the pale twin, they were able to avoid the point of collision between the demon and the anchor. When both clashed, it would be the anchor who would shatter against the charging demon, its metallic form now flying across the arena like shrapnel.
  
  Acting as their shield, Annamarie would take the brunt of the shrapnel as it pierced her back, but not stopping it from reaching Valerie and Marianne.
  
  Undeterred, Deerhead blinding continued its charge towards the end of the arena.
  
  At that moment, Crimson was reminded of her life as a demon. Regardless of how they lived their life, there was always a constant: survival. Such required demons to be aware of the anima they used, their very essence. In fights, they would never use up too much, such was their methodology and their own physical limits, to ensure their continued survival.
  
  This demon had chosen to willingly shattered their limit, even if led them towards oblivion.
  
  Deerhead crashed against the wall of the arena, shattering the entire structure as the force released a shockwave, pushing the team back. The demon turned to face the students, its anima still surging indiscriminately, that singular attack had taken practically half of its entire being. The demon didn't appear to care, however, as it slowly turned back toward the students, standing tall and proud.
  
  "I shall leave you all buried and forgotten!" Dearhead exclaimed, its form slowly cracking from the overuse of anima as the red hue disappeared into a colorless glow. The earth shook once more as the shattered wood of the arena dug themselves into the ground. The ground beneath the students cracked and slowly sunk, threatening to take them to the very depths of the world.
  
  On the shattering ground, the corvid remained calm, observing.
  

 

[Yakov011001]

Nikklaüs flinched when Zantetsuken just... didn't work. All that pain he forced himself to feel again, and for what? To get swung around like a bat and deposited onto the floor like yesterday's shit. Curious passed over him with a dismissal that reflected upon him like the world had. His fight, everyday that he's lived for years. How could it mean anything to anyone? There was only one person who made that push to understand, and that push to get him to face those days again—to confront them, and finally let that hold on him go and leave it behind. How did he repay her?

---

Regret (in collaboration with Juju )

Nikklaüs needed a fuckin’ break. Three weeks was closing fast, and the Rank II assessment was approaching faster than he wanted. It was starting to piss him off, hearing from Valerie, Sophia, and others about all the new skills they picked up and the new ways they could utilize their artes. What has he managed to get done? Despite all his training, he can’t get his arte to work with him; he couldn’t get it to do anything new. Which is why despite being dressed for it, he decided he wouldn’t be going to train. Even if it was Sunday and even if the assessment was tomorrow, Nikklaüs didn’t have the patience for it. He wanted to get out somewhere, but he couldn’t afford to go snooping around the way he had been last week after Sophia caught him red-handed. Looks like he’d just have to find something to do back home.

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Nikklaüs checked to see if Bit Check Arcade was open. It’d been a while since he’d gone, and he had a reputation to maintain: he couldn’t let Leif and Felix believe they owned the Third Strike and MvC cabinets while he was out. His train of thought broke at bumping into the back of Marianne at the end of the hall.

“Aye, it’s called a walkway, not a standway.” Klaüs let loose before thinking, his frustration and impatience having started to overtake what would have been his friendlier demeanor.

She rounded on him in an instant, her look of shock fading into one of stern objection. Arms crossed and brow furrowed into a signature expression of irritation, “I beg your pardon? I was walking! It’s not my fault that you're myopic.”

Having been holding hands with her, Annamarie peered over and looked at Nikklaüs in mild interest, her crimson eyes blinking and her porcelain face unmoving.

“Myopic? I have perfect vision! I just couldn’t—” He drew a line from his eye-line soaring over Marianne, exaggerating their height difference. “—y’know? What’re you even doing here? You usually keep yourself pretty busy.” He remarked.

Well, more recently anyhow; he hadn’t seen very much of her over the past few weeks save for the handful of visits he made to the library. That was probably the most suspicious part: the natural oddities of the library made it so that it was naturally difficult to find other people inside—

—unless you’re looking for the same things.

“Really? Using your height as an excuse!?” Marianne hissed, narrowing her eyes. Pursing her lips, she looked away from him. “I was on my way out to go on a walk. The examination will be upon us soon, and I must prepare for it. My performance last examination was lacking, and I do not wish to make the same mistake twice.”

It did not appear that she wished to elaborate on much else, leaving her plans vague.

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Nikklaüs pushed past her and to the kitchen’s island where his wallet was, scooping it up he stopped himself at the door. “Or!” He turned around like a lightbulb just went over-current in his head. “You come with me and we train together, we can’t do it here because of ‘required supervision’—” he mocked with air quotes. “—but I know a place in my home town. What’d’y’say? Surely you’re the kind of person who can appreciate outside input? Additional perspective?”

Marianne moved to the side to let him pass her by, scowling. Her grey eyes flickered between Nikklaus’ face and the wallet he had retrieved. As he offered his suggestion, she titled her head to the side, interested in the proposition yet suspicious. “What sort of training do you have in mind? Additional perspective is indeed wise.”

“Nothing special, but I think you could benefit from learning a way to handle yourself without a weapon. You two trade off on scissor time pretty often, don’t want that to be exploited, right? Though, we are going to be walking through a public place to get there, might want to do something about this right?” He gestured to his own face, but there wasn’t any confusion as to what he meant.

“Professor Jaquie has been training me in unarmed combat.” She sniffed defensively, chin tilting upwards. “Though I admit my form is still lacking.”

At the mention of venturing into a public space with Annamarie in tow, she seemed hesitant. “It is risky to needlessly bring Annamarie into a place where nulls frequent. Just how long will this take? I can hide her eyes, but lengthy excursions run the risk of her demonic featured being spotted by nulls.”

“All the more reason why you need my ability to weigh in, right?” He placed hand over chest in emphasis of himself. “As for disguising Annamarie, well—” He put on a devilish smirk at what he just found on his phone, offering for Marianne to see. “—Boom! Two-day anime convention, right down the road. You’re talking to the king of ‘spinning that shit’, didn’t you know? Besides, you both pass off as pretty convincing vampires: you got the whole ‘even a single ray from the sun will kill me’ look down pat.”

“Anime? Like those Japanese cartoons?” Marianne muttered in confusion, leaning closer to inspect the phone. Her retinas burned with images of coloured contacts, outrageous hair and rather revealing outfits. That and Nikklaus’ comment was enough to bring a pinkish tint to her pale face. “I look nothing like a vampire! And I get enough sunlight, thank you very much…”

She turned away from him, chin tilted up and eyes closed. “I still don’t think this is a good plan. Where is the final destination anyway? Seems strange that we have to pass through a crowd of cartoon mascots.”

“Strange? These are your people!” He continued to tease, avoiding the question entirely. “Look at her, she’s dressed just like you.” His pressure continued. “Of course, we could always spruce her up if you think she needs it, but knowing what it’ll look like around there the worst she’ll get is a couple fans. Actually, yeah, that might be bad.” Nikklaüs brought his hand up to his chin in thought.

At all the attention placed on her, Annamarie tilted her head almost innocently, oblivious to the issue at hand. Her eyes ping-ponged between Marianne and Nikklaüs as they bickered.
“You are most certainly not playing dress up with Annamarie!” Marianne exclaimed in exasperation, “Especially not in the outfits I saw. That is far too much skin! I will not suffer a bunch of sweaty men fawning over her!”

Cursing under her breath, she stormed off to her room.

“Oh, come on! What kind of degenerate do you take me for!?” He shouted after her. The sound of things being moved around, and more cursing, could be heard before Marianne returned with something in her hand. It was none other than a vintage pair of 1960’s fashion sunglasses. They were big, they were haute couture, and they were no replica.

“My grandmother lent me these for whenever I must bring Annamarie somewhere other than the estate or her property.” Marianne explained briefly before handing them to Annamarie. The doll slipped them on, the bulky plastic frame and dark glass hid her unnatural eyes perfectly. But still—

“Annamarie—” Nikklaüs whispered past the hand he covered his mouth with. “—that really—” He started to keel over from trying to keep it in. “—those really suit you!” He burst with his laughter. “Alright, so that means you’re coming with right? Let’s go, you two!”

Annamarie titled her head, staring at Nikklaus in confusion. Or at least, it seemed she was. It was pretty difficult to tell beneath the large oval shades on her face.

“They are perfectly fine!” Marianne exclaimed, her face reddening. She balled up her fists and held them at her sides. “Would you just lead the way already before I regain my senses and find some better use of my time!”

---

“Oh! The look on your face when we ported in from one of the convention exits! I told you we’d fit right in!” Nikklaüs seemed to be entertaining himself, the way he continued to poke at Marianne. “Well, here we are!” He brought an arm up in fanfare of their destination: Bit Check Arcade. Turning back to meet her eyes, Nikklaüs braced for Marianne's wrath at his deception with a nefarious grin.

“I think I’d rather march through a den of rank III demons than return there.” Marianne shuddered, looking back at Not-Annamarie.

Oblivious to the cruel fate awaiting her, she followed after Nikklaüs and stopped when he did. There was a moment of silence as she just stared up at the entrance, her mind trying to grasp what was happening. Her lips pressed into a thin line, her anima flaring upwards as she went to great effort to hold in her anger.

Slowly, she turned her head to face him, her eyes wide and glowing in cool wrath. “Nikklaüs…would you KINDLY explain what the hell is this? I’ll give you one chance.”

“Well, if I only have one chance to explain, I should probably wait until you’re ready to listen. You already seem pretty set on doing not that.” He turned to enter the arcade. “Besides, I invited you out, and you accepted. Surely you’re not so uncouth as to back out now, would you? I’m paying, by the way.” That last bit he tacked on seemed less mischievous and more like a warning: a ‘it’s not your choice so don’t even try’ kind of warning.

Marianne grit her teeth and took a deep breath. It didn’t seem to do much to calm her though. “You said this was supposed to be training. Not… whatever the hell this is! You lied to me!”

She chased after him, Not-Annamarie following behind like a swaggy shadow. “Don’t run away! Nikklaüs! I’m talking to you! And you’re not paying for anything because I’m taking Annamarie and going back to the dorm!”

“I lied to you because I know your work-a-holic dumbass would’ve turned me down at the prospect of—” Nikklaüs turned to meet her, slapping either side of his face and putting on his best impression of Van Gogh’s The Scream with a surprised gasp. “—having fun!?!? Besides, it’s not your decision anymore, what if she wants to? How about it, Annamarie?”

The abrupt stop nearly caused Marianne to bump into him for the second time that day. Her scowl deepened at the joke, clearly unamused. “I don’t have time for stupid games. Or whatever this all is!”

She gestured wildly around her. Yet something Nikklaus said gave her pause. It was clever of him to have brought Annamarie into this, even if it was only for a moment. The doll looked at him blankly, tilting her head. She then turned her eyes upon a flashy arcade screen, seemingly interested in it.

“This is too busy!” Marianne hissed, taking Annamarie’s hand into her own and pulling her closer. Her eyes followed a child as they ran past. She lowered her voice, leaning closer to Nikklaus so that he could hear, “It’s too dangerous!”

“Demons are dangerous, darling,” He hit her with the alliteration, that’s how you know it was the truth! “I know you’ve cursed yourself with some divine purpose, but I think both you and Annamarie deserve to live a little. This isn’t dangerous: burnout is dangerous, and you keep the candle lit at both ends.” At that, he put his hand out for her or Annamarie to take. “So you’re gonna let me drag you around for a bit, y’hear?”
Marianne looked down at his offered hand, though remained as she was with her hand held in Annamarie’s. Her eyes raised to look up at him, the irritation slowly being toppled by uncertainty. As it so often did, anger was masking fear. “This is… well, this is the most crowded area she has ever been to. Plus, there are children present. There is a good chance that I may have to leave abruptly.”

“That wasn’t a no.” Nikklaüs accused. “It’s not just you and her, you’ve got me, okay? If we have to, I’ll be right behind you.”

After the words of reassurances, she stared down at his hand again once more. There was a brief moment of consideration before she thought better of it. It was left empty. Yet as that offer was denied, there seemed to be hope for the other. “Fine. Go ahead and lead, then. Mind you, I can only stay for a few hours at most, but this may be an opportunity to test Annamarie’s training.”

“A few hours!? That’s plenty, let’s go!” His open palm quickly became a fist he pumped in front of him. “I win.” He whispered to himself as he led them into the arcade. Fortunately Marianne, they had token dispensing machines. A way to keep interactions with other people low, but it gave them plenty of time to take it all in while Nikklaüs chucked some money in the machine.

Despite the lack of overhead lighting, it was bright in this bitch. As it turns out, when every machine is flashing however many lights at you saying ‘hey, pick me!’ that fills the room pretty convincingly. The place seemed to be sectioned off into a handful of categories: the right wall lined with retro cabinets organized by year, and just off the wall in its own aisle various fighting games. Continuing from one end to the other, the cabinets got more and more modern and sub-categorized from there: with ticket printing games towards the front; and at the back, games made more for the experience or score attack competitions.

As for the people, Nikklaüs wasn’t lying but neither was Marianne. It was busy as all hell, but the clientele was a bit skewed today from the nearby con: there weren’t too many kids around compared to normal, and the people were all dressed so colorful, frilly, sharp, and everything in-between. He didn’t think they had to worry at all about Annamarie being discovered.

Marianne was oddly alert as they made their way through the crowd, her eyes searching for the nearest exits and scanning the corners of the ceilings for video cameras. She kept Annamarie close, her hand tightly clutching her twins.

“Alright, you lot,” Nikklaüs held out two cups for Marianne and Annamarie to take. “That’s twenty for each of us. Anything catch your eyes?”

“It’s difficult to say if anything doesn’t catch the eye with these gaudy displays.” Marianne sniffed, shifting her disapproving gaze across the sea of bright lights and trilling sounds. “Sensory overload is what it is at best. I daresay I’ll have a migraine by the end of it. Just standing here is almost too much.”

Annamarie seemed just as dazzled as she was, though perhaps the shades helped somewhat. Her head swivelled this way and that, tracing the whirlwind of movement and sound around her. Thanks to the unusual crowd, she didn’t even stand out for once.

“I do not even know where to start.” Marianne sighed in defeat. “You go here. Where do you suggest we begin?”

Nikklaüs didn’t offer up any words, instead mischievously wagging his finger and raising his eyebrows in assistance of that dumbfuck grin that was the bane of Marianne’s existence. Leading them to a machine set with twelve holes in a three by four pattern, and a little felt mallet tied to the machine. On the face of the machine was the trademark ‘Whack-a-Mole!’ printed in extremely inconsistent lettering, as if it were emphasizing how wild it was.

“Allow me to demonstrate.” He signed in service of Annamarie’s lessons.

Slipping a token into the coin slot, Nikklaüs took up the mallet and began doing the word one, word two. You already know. The clock gave him sixty seconds, and it started slow at first. Only one at a time. Of course it got more frantic as it continued, only twenty seconds deep three were popping up at a time and only for that one second. Damn shame Anima didn’t help with reaction time, not that Klaüs needed it. You don’t make your name as the class’ dedicated defender without your reactions being on point. Not that he didn’t miss any, the final twenty seconds reaching an inhuman level of speed as most cabinets get. Once the clock had finally run out, the machine gave him ‘bonus moles’—according to the cabinet’s goofy and uneven voice. After a short countdown popping all twelve moles from their holes at once, with just as short a countdown’s amount of time to whack them all. Nikklaüs settled on the strategy of raking the mallet over the holes in a down-up-down pattern and taking all twelve points.

“One-forty-two isn’t bad, I think,” Nikklaüs seemed satisfied with himself, turning to hold the mallet out for either of them to take. “Which of you want to take next?”

“A test of reflexes and hand-eye coordination. Useful.” Marianne observed dryly, the point of the game being for fun seeming to soar above her head. Her cool gaze moved from the scoreboard and then back to Nikklaüs. “Indeed, the ratio of hits to misses was rather high. You did well.”

While she was busy analyzing the results, Annamarie reached out a hand to take the mallet. She just held it though, idling without a clear directive. Perhaps she didn't really know what it was for, or perhaps she was waiting for the attack order.

“Annamarie, would you like to test your accuracy?” Marianne asked, crossing her arms thoughtfully.

The doll nodded her head dutifully, still awaiting.

“Then kindly replicate exactly what Nikklaüs has done. Eliminate all targets as they appear using only this mallet here. Your scissors are not needed.” Marianne instructed. She leaned down to drop another coin into the slot.

Once more the moles sprung to life, and once more they were slammed down. Annamarie was quick to hit the “enemies” as soon as they emerged, her strikes falling in precise yet jarring movements. In a way, it was like two machines competing against each other. As the rhythm sped up, so too did her movements, until the moles popped up at impossible intervals. Like Nikklaüs, she began to lag behind. During the bonus round she even mirrored the exact strategy she had observed from Nikklaüs.

Perhaps she mirrored him a little too well, for when the results flashed on the screen it was as if nothing had changed; 142.

Marianne eyed it a little suspiciously and then pinched the bridge of her nose. “Well it was certainly followed exactly...”

Oblivious to her results, Annamarie turned towards Nikklaüs and held out the mallet for him to take. The blank expression she would usually give him right now was blocked behind the gaudy shades, but it was still there in spirit and he had to stifle his laugh, hand-over-mouth again. Just like her, she did exactly as she was asked after all. Honestly it was even more impressive than the prospect of her getting a perfect score.

“Yes she did, and I am so proud of her for it,” Nikklaüs cooed like a girl dad, taking the mallet in his left hand and petting the top of her head with his right. “That means it’s your turn, love.” He offered Marianne the mallet to give it a shot.

“Do not pet her! She’s not some hound!” Marianne hissed, swatting away at Nikklaus’ hand, even though Annamarie did not seem to mind the gesture. She ripped the mallet from his hand without thinking much of it, yet once she held it she looked hesitant. “Is there not some other game we could try instead? This one seems rather daft.”

“Aye! Do not—!” Nikklaüs rather sharply and abruptly raised his voice at Marianne before catching himself. He reined himself in with a deep breath, the hand she slapped pulling close into his left hand’s grip as if nursing it from some phantom pain. “Do not do that again, please,” He checked around them, fortunately the hustle and bustle of the arcade made the outburst understated and there weren’t many eyes on them. “It might displease you, but whether it displeases her is her decision to make. Especially now that she can communicate that to me, isn’t that right?” He asked Annamarie. “That means this one is your decision too. We don’t have to play this one, but isn’t that a waste? Denying a new experience off-hand like that?” He tried moving on quickly from the outburst. It’d be a shame to spoil his attempt at getting Marianne to relax, to take things easy with something so trivial. Any other time, he probably would’ve just taken his lumps. Why was it that this time he got so angry?

The sudden shout caught Marianne off guard. Her eyes narrowed, chin tilted inward and her face stony. A defensive reflex of her own. Indeed, her tentative calm was replaced with those familiar bristling walls.

“It won’t happen again if you don’t touch her!” Marianne retorted, her lip curling into a sneer. Her eyes flicked to his cradled wrist, but she couldn’t afford to show concern for it or the reasoning behind the outburst. “What matters is that I keep her safe. She looks to me for judgment, and my decision is that you refrain from touching her. Do not make me repeat myself.”

Both the shouting and the unexpected PDA had Marianne once again in a high-strung bout of agitation. It made her answer a little too quickly, and perhaps a little too honestly. “I do not particularly enjoy new experiences. It was foolish of me to even come here to this noisy… flashy place! I can hardly even hear myself think!”

Nikklaüs could only sigh at that, his arms coming in to cross over each other as he lowered his head, eyes closed in some level of intense thought.

“Fine. You’re right. This was a waste of time. You want to leave? Let’s go.”

Without regarding her, he snatched up the cups of tokens she’d held for the both of them: stacking them up on top of his and taking an about-face towards the exit. Unfortunately, he had a bit of poor pathing on his part, something that caused somewhat of an intervention.

“Hey! You know you’re not allowed near that thing, Nikklaüs!” An employee shouted from behind the prize counter, so suddenly that it made him jump. Especially since he didn’t think he would run into anyone he knew. Who was he kidding? This was his hometown! It would be stupid of him to expect anything less. Maybe he wasn’t as clever as he thought? Only proven to him when he was met by exactly who he should’ve guessed.

The shouted name put Marianne on edge. Despite her previous argument with Klaüs, she moved closer to him and narrowed her eyes at the possible enemy. With one hand, she gestured for Annamarie to hold, keeping the demonic doll on stand-by for now as she assessed what she thought was a threat.

“Felix?” Nikklaüs called to the employee, who wore a shit-eating grin for whatever reason or another. “When did you get a job here!? And what do you—”

Turning around to see what Felix was referring to, Nikklaüs found that he’d passed by the punch machine. No Klaüs allowed! Is what it read. Oh yeah, I did absolutely obliterate that thing at one point, huh? The fact that it was standing here today and functioning was something of a miracle.

“Klaüs is here?” Another employee blurted out, barging out of a door against the prize wall. Eyes locking with him instantly, she charged him. “Klaüs!”

“Ah! Leif, wait!” Klaüs barely got out before getting glomped in a full send, absolutely horizontal, straight balance-throwing hug that almost sent him to the floor. Deflecting some of the momentum sideways into a full spin, Klaüs couldn’t help the laugh he let out as he spun down to let Leif back onto the ground. “Felix! Leif! Y’all work at the arcade now?”

Marianne prepared herself to intervene, but as soon as she heard the joyful laughter, she paused. She loosened her stance, the focus in her eyes deflating all at once. Silently, she stood to the side and watched the friends reunite. It caught her by surprise, even if she wasn’t sure why she would be. Nikklaüs made friends as easily as he breathed. Perhaps the most confusing thing of all was the ache she felt in her chest. The only thing she could do to quell it was biting down hard on her lower lip. She caught herself staring at the trio and swiftly averted her gaze to some meaningless patch of floor.

Feeling even more out of place than before, she once again scanned the perimeter for exits, though for a different reason this time. Somehow, it was a lot more urgent. She was quick to spot one and even quicker to make her move. Without excusing herself for fear of interrupting the reunion, she took Annamarie by the hand and quietly attempted to exit the scene. Only to be thwarted of course. Love that for her.

“You look pretty clean-cut for somebody hanging out with this lump of coal.” Felix stood in her path though, almost out of nowhere. He emphasized the ‘lump of coal’ with a dismissive thumb.

Marianne stopped in her tracks, startled by the movement. Her eyes followed the gesture, falling onto Nikklaüs for a moment. She wasn’t exactly sure what to say to that, but in her defence she wasn’t really given a chance.

“You two are so pretty!” Leif rocketed into Marianne's personal space, grabbing hold of her hand with a fervor. “Those cosplays are so well made! Who are you cosplaying!?”

“I’m… we’re not…” Marianne sputtered uselessly as she froze up, eyes wide as she looked down at yet another alarming display of public affection. Panicking, she tried to move her hands away, “This is my typical attire!”

“Leif, try not to harass my friend, please.” Nikklaüs pleaded with her.

“Nope! Your friends are my friends.” She giggled mischievously, suddenly pulling her in a hug. Her cheek against Marianne's. “Right?” She asked, as if Marianne had some kind of choice. Sure.

“Why does that sound like you're stealing her from me, and not sharing?” It was an automatic response, but reading it back in his head twisted the sentence into something that gave his face a little more pigment. He made the utmost effort in his power to hold that poker face.

Marianne’s voice raised an octave, “I beg your pardon?! There is no sharing or… s-stealing to be had!”

Her face turned a deep shade of red, and she began to struggle out of the girl’s grasp with all the desperation of a cat being brought to water. It was all fun and games until she sensed a familiar presence approaching. Stopping everything—and for a moment surrendering to the tight hug—she looked over to the doll.

“Stop.” Marianne ordered sharply, simple and direct. Enough to make Annamarie freeze mid-action. With arms stretched out towards Leif, it almost looked like she was asking for a hug. Or maybe like a sunglass-wearing zombie. Of course, given what Marianne had seen of Leif so far, there was only one possible interpretation to her.

“Oh! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to leave you out!” Leif energetically switched targets, excitedly hopping ‘into Annamarie’s arms’ so to speak. Something that caused Nikklaüs to look to Marianne with wide, nervous, knowing eyes. Hand circling over chest again, he signed to her.

I’m sorry!

It was Marianne’s turn to freeze. Her eyes widened and all signs of embarrassment drained from her face as she could only watch in horror as Leif offered Annamarie a hug. Her first ever. She caught Nikklaus’ signing, but made no response, simply keeping her eyes locked on Annamarie.

The doll remained as she was, arms still held out. It seemed that, like Marianne, she was processing it all a little slowly. She rotated her head to face her twin, expectantly awaiting the attack order.

Marianne tried to leave as little to chance as she could. “Hug her… gent-gently, please. Like she is doing.”

With jerky movements, Annamarie curled her arms around Leif and replicated what she had seen. Porcelain arms tightly squeezed the human trapped in them, unyielding and suffocating. The doll made no smile or any happy expressions Leif had done, but thankfully she released her in the end.

“Damn girl! You strong as hell!” Leif seemed surprisingly unfazed by the intense pressure. “It’s nice to know huggers that don’t hold back like these wet paper towels.” She flicked back to Nikklaüs and Felix with an icy glare.

“Bitch, don’t act like I don’t commit to it. You’re just a more effective femur breaker than me!” Klaüs shot back indignantly, arms crossed.

“So if you’re here, Nikklaüs. That must mean you’ve got a few rounds of threes in you, right?”

Threes, or rather ‘3-S’. As purveyors of the FGC, Nikklaüs and Felix were big fans of Street Fighter III: Third Strike. Looks like he was getting challenged. Not that he could refuse—

“Come on, I’ve got time. Let’s go, let’s go.” Felix started physically dragging Nikklaüs along behind him, with frantic ‘wait’s and ‘Felix, hold on’s falling on deaf ears.

That was the link that tied the Tolkein siblings together. They might’ve been on a massive differential as far as social pace and tact goes, but they always commanded the flow of conversation: saying no to them was just too hard. Of course, that quickly turned into Leif and Mari/Annamarie alone together.

“He could stand to be a little more patient,” Leif shook her head at that, the irony of her hypocrisy somehow lost on her. “Though, I suppose three years would do that to you.”

Marianne still seemed rather stunned by everything. Between the hugs and the strange terminologies she didn’t understand, she was left rather baffled by everything. A moment alone with the femur-breaker was somehow an unexpected reprieve.

“Pardon me, you said three years?” she inquired, keeping one hand tightly around Annamarie’s own. “Is that how long you were apart?”

“Oh, yeah,” Leif visibly deflated at the question. “Angela and Damien didn’t really like it when he spent time with other people. We saw him in that time very occasionally, but he was—” With a strange amount of contemplation in her voice for someone as hyper as she had been moments ago, she clicked a token out from the dispenser on her hip and slotted it into the punch machine. When the target came down it had a poster stapled to it, it was of… Nikklaüs? “Different. It just made me want to punch him!” She slammed her fist into “Nikklaüs’” face, sending the target up into the cabinet. “Not that it’d do too much to him,” She solemnly quipped, her score on the machine a lowly 345. “You want a turn? It makes me feel better.”

Marianne frowned in concern at the Nikklaüs punch-machine and shook her head, “No thank you. I do not make a habit of targeting humans.” She blinked for a moment, remembering who she was talking to. Quickly she added, “Which is normal, uh…”

She cleared her throat and quickly changed topics, “Who is this Angela and Damien? Siblings of his?”

It was such an innocent question, a question that froze Leif with a gaze of fear. She brought a hand up to her mouth.
“Well, if you don’t already know, I think maybe I shouldn’t’ve said anything,” She turned away, looking back at Nikklaüs and Felix on the 3S cabinets excitedly and somehow simultaneously annoyedly yelling and shouting at each other. “Maybe it doesn’t matter anymore. I haven't seen him get so upset and defensive at someone in a long three years,” Even if she said she shouldn’t speak, Leif did think maybe there were some hints she deserved to have. “Seeing him as dismissive and unwilling to stand up for himself as he was with them, it made me miss him. Whatever you’ve been doing, I think it’s good for him.” She met Marianne’s eyes again with a soft smile that somehow still held those somber tones from before.

Marianne looked terribly confused, an expression that darkened at all the dancing around the topic. She knew what it meant, though usually it was her on the receiving end of things. Her eyes followed Leif’s gaze, watching Nikklaüs at the same time as her.

“I believe you misunderstand. I haven’t done anything.” She waved off the allegations in a dismissive fashion, her cool demeanour only betrayed by her hand tightening around Annamarie’s. “We are merely classmates. Well, and we share a dorm, but that was assigned to us.”

Her cool logic took over even as she shuffled uncomfortably, “He was certainly angry during my first meeting with him, so I highly doubt I had an impact. How long has he been separated from this Angela and Damien? They are family, I presume?”

“Don’t you think that’s something you ought to ask him?” Leif raised an eyebrow at the question. “I’ve given you enough hints after all. Instead of yapping, what we should be doing is finding out what to do with those, huh?” Leif pointed down to one of the nearby cabinets, it looked like Nikklaüs had left their tokens sitting on a nearby machine. “Can’t let them go to waste, can we?” She took Mari/Annamaries’ hands into hers and started pulling them along without a care for any interjection. “I wanna show you my favorite machine!”

“H-hey! Slow down!” Marianne protested, her eyes wide as she was tugged along. Beside her, Annamarie followed along without a care, simply gazing at the whirl of arcade games and players as they zoomed past.

Leif dragged them both to the back-most wall of the arcade where they were met with a cabinet on the larger end of the scale of arcade cabinets; not quite as big as the Raw Thrills cabinets, but still pretty beefy. It featured a large screen with very little in the way of button inputs, just a pair of arrow keys and confirmation buttons, but it had a wide stretching pad on the ground in front of it that flickered and danced with lights. How fitting for a game with the title DANCERUSH STARDOM plastered on it in big letters.

“What is this?” Marianne asked, peering down at the strange screen on the ground, “I do not see any controls?”

Annamarie also inspected it, crouching down to look at the bright patterns of lights as they flashed across the pad, seemingly transfixed by it. The blinding patterns reflected off her cool shades in a dazzling display.

“Allow me,” She said with a smirk, stepping onto the pad. “Watch and learn.”

Clicking another token out of her dispenser, she popped it into the machine and started mashing the down button. On the screen, a long list of names scrolled by at a speed that made things barely legible until Leif stopped on a song titled Crazy Shuffle. Tapping the right arrow, the difficulty scale attached to the song spun up to the maximum of Lv. 9! Then she started to do it. Scrolling down the rails of the screen to the score line, blue and orange notes coming down for Leif to stomp down and hit. It started pretty fairly paced with only one note on each beat, but even still Leif made that look impressive in utilizing her body in many more ways than the minimum the game was asking. Tapping down with each foot to hit the note, but with such exaggerated swagger that it pushed into her anchoring foot in a way that created an energy even beyond the song. Of course, it started to make more sense as the charting picked up its pace, the song revving up in anticipation to some kind of strong kick. Leading up to it, Leifs arms became a bit more active in a motion that made it seem like she was far more proficient at dancing than just what the game demanded of her. Where on this thing does it ask you to swing your arms, y’know? A skill only more exacerbated by the way she spun away from the screen at the beat drop, looking to Marianne and Annamarie as the song was at its peak.

“You guys dance, don’t you? It’s hard to hide that with the way that you girls walk.” She asked, paying no heed to the perfect after perfect that pinged the bottom of the screen with each motion. “Thought something like this would be more in your ballpark. It’s so funny how considerate and inconsiderate Klaüs can be at the same time. I bet he tried getting you on Whack-a-Mole to ‘start things slow’ for you two, huh?”

“Is that something he often does?” Marianne stammered, blinking in surprise as the girl seemed to keep pace with the flashing lights on the screen behind her. “Is… is this something you often do?”

It was difficult to mask her astonishment as she just stood to the side, watching Leif’s movements match the flashes of the screen. The moves were irregular and seemed to be made on the fly. Freestyle? She of course had heard of such interpretive dancing, but it certainly was not her style. Still, she could appreciate it. As she sat there, judging Leif with mild interest, it only then dawned on her that she was going to be asked next.

“Is the grading determined by just your footwork?” She asked, taking a moment to study Leif’s movement and the flashes of the screen. “It’s a rather limited space, but workable, I suppose.”

“Which means you want to try it, huh?” Leif said with a smug smile before turning to face the screen again and continue on the song. “It’ll be nice to finally have a girlfriend to hang out with, get away from those meatheads. I wanna go to my local dance meets but Felix has the constitution of paper mache, and Klaüs has two left feet, so—oop, hold on.” She interrupted herself before chanting the countdown along with the machine.

Marianne was unsure of how to process what was said, so she opted to watch Leif's footwork. Arms crossed and eyes narrowed in focus, she took note of how the other girl managed to keep up with the whirlwind of lights and music. Reminded of something, she nodded her head.

There wasn’t a lot of slowdown for the rest of the song, not for the machine and not for Leif. But at the end of the final stretch she hit a crazy, unknowable, eldritch spin move to end facing Marianne again.

“Your turn now!” She excitedly huffed out, obviously out of breath. Almost concerningly so.

“Excellently done.” Marianne praised Leif stiffly, though her gray eyes glinted with approval. She tilted her chin up, voice turning matter-of-fact once again. “It is a measure of coordination, reaction speed and stamina. More useful than the groundhog game, to be sure. If only its application could be applied to an Art.”

Catching herself speaking once more of Anima around a Null, Marianne felt warmth creep up her face. Speaking to those outside of Arcanist society was clearly something she was not used to. She coughed into her hand to gather her thoughts.

“This hip-hop… freestyle…” She paused a little on the title, trying not to sound too judgemental, “Is a far cry from the waltz, yet the square pad here is roughly the same as the imaginary square for each movement.”

Thinking about it a little more, she placed a finger under her chin. “One's partner can be substituted for the lights, matching the movements of the opponent. A mirror of footwork to mimic the stance…”

She muttered more on it, justifying her use of this machine. “... and altogether you have a mincemeat of the usual waltz. A bastard variant. It would be curious indeed.”

Her eyes flicked back to Leif, looking a little eager but still unsure. “How do I set up a song to play and create the light pattern?”

“A mincemeat, bastard variant, huh?” Leif crossed her arms, a little displeased. “Is that what I just did?” It dripped with sarcasm as she stepped onto the square to join her, taking Marianne’s hand into hers and guiding it to the buttons where she puppeted her into scrolling through the songs. “I think you might be reading into it too hard. A measure of coordination? A reaction test? You have so many rules, too many rules. Don’t you think they might be getting in the way sometimes?” Leif looked to Marianne at that, having settled pretty close behind her in her gesture to teach her the machine. “You do know how to have fun, right?”

“Rules are the only thing preventing society from collapsing into chaos. There is no such thing as too many, especially personal ones. They are meant to get in the way of disorder.” Marianne said seriously. She seemed genuinely baffled and most certainly missed the point completely.

“Of course I know how to have fun!” She objected, though had no real claim against said allegations. It made a bubble of irritation rise up at the poor girl just trying to help her. Suddenly hyper aware of the hand guiding her own, she squirmed in Leif’s grasp, trying to free herself, “And would you kindly let go of me? What is it with you people treating strangers like close mates?”

As perhaps unappreciative as she was, Marianne indeed figured out how to navigate the menu with Leif’s help.

“No good? S-sorry, I guess I got a little excited,” She sheepishly separated from Marianne. “Uh, you navigate using the arrows: up and down for song choice, left and right for chart difficulty.” She offered before backing up off the pad and joining Annamarie.

“It's fine.” Marianne stated a little too sharply. She wasn't exactly sure why she was so irritated, but she was, and the feeling only grew as Leif backed away hesitantly. Scowling, she dialed the difficulty up to the maximum it could go, “How should I choose the song? There are so many.”

“Hm, maybe I have an idea,” Leif took over from the other set of arrows and started scrolling down the list. “Something with a heavy bassline that won’t get lost in the melody. That should help things out, y’think?” She scrolled down and picked a song for her. “Honestly if I didn’t find something for you, who knows how long we’d be here.” Clicking the select button, she gave Marianne somewhere to start: Death by Glamor - Toby Fox.

“This should suffice.” Marianne said primly as she strode forward onto the platform, her steps trailed by splashes of pixelated light.

One could swear she was looking down the barrel of a gun by just how serious of an expression she wore despite the upbeat music. She took her stance, one foot in front of the other and chin raised. Though she did not wield her scissors at this moment, she kept her dominant hand loosely by her side, as if to mimic it.

The lights came in rhythmic waves, and Marianne was quick to mirror them. Her movements were swift, though less erratic and jovial. Each hop and step were carefully measured, and just as she had hypothesized, it was a dance that was some Frankenstein monster of modern hip-hop and classical waltz. Lights glittered across Marianne’s face, which was locked in a scowl of deep concentration. One could swear her life depended on it.

“Y’know,” Leif leaned towards Annamarie in a whisper. “You’d swear she was being held at gunpoint, y’get me?”

Annamarie rotated her head, staring silently at Leif. Seconds stretched on, and still she stared at her, eyes hidden behind the outrageous shades. The silence grew into an uncomfortable one, the only change on Annamarie’s face being the reflection of the arcade machine’s lights on her glasses, and the silhouette of Marianne dancing.

The stage was alight with Marianne’s dance, skirt fluttering with twirls and graceful steps being forced into a breakneck pace. In the beginning it seemed stiff and forced, yet as the song reached the midway point it seemed to flow a lot better. She began to settle into the rhythm, and what was once a look of seriousness began to show signs of satisfaction.

When the last note hit, Marianne stomped her foot in time to it, striking the same pose she had in the beginning; legs crossed and arm holding her imaginary weapon. Her chin was tilted up, chest heaving from exertion, and a pleased smile on her face. “Well, that was less than ideal, but perhaps not absolutely terrible...”

“I’ll say,” Clapping sounded from behind Leif and Annamarie. “I certainly wouldn’t be able to pull that off, what’d you think?” Nikklaüs and Felix stepped in from… wherever it was they had evidently been watching from.

“I feel like I need my inhaler having just watched that. I don’t know how y’all do it.” Felix offered his input.

Marianne froze at the familiar voice behind her. That smug grin drained away in an instant. Straightening her posture, she slowly turned on the stage to look at her up-until-now unknown audience. Her face pinkened at the praise, which she tried to compensate for by crossing her arms and frowning. “It wasn’t anything worth praising, really. My instructor would have my wrists slapped for such poor form.”

She quickly tried to retreat off the stage, her steps leaving behind ripples of light.

“Well, I’m not your instructor am I? Unless you wanted me to take you by the wrist?” Nikklaüs laughed, entertained by the idea she would be so indignant at the thought of having a good time, like she was above that. “I’m just glad you were able to find some enjoyment in it, even if only a little.”

Marianne was completely caught off guard by the words Nikklaus said to her. Halting her steps completely, she stared at him with wide eyes. The pinkness of her face turned red, her frown upturned in utter shock. She was bamboozled, disbelieving and perhaps even a little terrified. All the poise left her as her jaw hung open in shock. “I most certainly beg your pardon!?”

“Right? Right!? It was fun wasn’t it? You can’t hide that smile you had from me!” Leif chimed in at that. “You’ve got a lot of tokens left, we could try some of the other songs.”

“Skeeball is always a safe bet too.” Felix added options.

“I would love to see what Annamaire could do to one of those things.” Nikklaüs mused to himself. “Your decision at this point. I think I’m done dragging you around for today, Marianne. I could bring y’all back to campus if that’s what you want.”

Still struggling to comprehend what she had previously heard, Marianne’s shock began to bleed back into the usual frown. Her voice turned sharp, her eyes sharper. It was a delayed response, one that made her anger seem to flare out of nowhere. She looked between Nikklaüs and his friends, seeming to suddenly panic.

“No, I think we are done here.” She announced rather abruptly, grabbing Annamarie’s hand and walking as quickly as she could away from the group. Flee attempt #2

“Hey!” Nikklaaüs demanded her attention. “I know you are not about to fuckin’ leave so unceremoniously. Act like you have some couth and say a proper goodbye.” The worst of it all is that he knew he couldn’t take her by the wrist and drag her around, he couldn’t do anything anymore to get her out of that hyper-avoidant fuckery she was always on. Unfortunately it was her choice. Was she even capable of making the correct decision though?

“Woah, Klaüs, hey. That’s not necessary,” Leif stepped in his way though. “You can’t talk to my friend like that! Besides, I don’t need a goodbye as long as she promises to come around again, right?” She offered Marianne a hopeful glance.

Marianne stopped in her tracks, shoulders tense and expression hidden as she stood with her back to them all. After a moment’s pause, she turned on her heel. In one abrupt motion, she rounded on Nikklaüs and stalked towards him, grabbing for his hand with the only free one she had left.

“I said we are done here.” she hissed as she tried to drag him away, though her voice was thinner than usual. Her eyes glared into his, but no amount of anger could mask the pleading, desperate look there.

“Y-yeah. Of course, s-sorry for pushing you so hard.” Nikklaüs allowed her to take him, only allowing himself a sheepish wave to Leif and Felix. “I’ll be around more often, promise.”

The apology received only a scowl, though relief was clear on her face when he offered no resistance. She turned away then, both from Nikklaüs and his friends, retreating out into the sea of blinking lights and people. It was nauseating, and Marianne felt her head swim as she guided Nikklaüs and Annamarie at a pace so quick it was close to a run.

She tried not to think about it, but with Annamarie in one hand and a living being in the other, she couldn’t help but realize the oddness of it. How after so long it felt wrong to hold onto something that was flesh and blood. This wrist was warm, with a pulse within. Realizing she was clutching too tightly, she loosened her hold a little, though still held on. She had half the mind to release him, but seeing as they were almost outside, there was no point.

Marianne stormed out of the arcade, tugging her two companions outside. She blinked in the burst of sunlight, something that seemed to make her temper worse. Scowling more, she then attempted to drag the two around the arcade, back towards the alley used for garbage and the emergency fire exit.

Nikklaüs’ eyes snapped to the wrist she held as he was dragged out without resistance. He stared. That’s all he could do, stare. With each step his skin became paler and paler, and his Anima more turbulent and oppressive. Despite it all, he didn’t have a single thought to hold onto. They were flying by too fast for him to keep track of, probably for the best.

I said we’re done here, Nikki.

Once they were in the dingy, yet more private alleyway, Marianne let go of Nikklaüs’ hand. She didn’t waste much time between release and interrogation, turning back around to face him with narrowed, accusing eyes. “Why did you bring me here, Nikklaüs? What were you hoping to accomplish, hmm?”

“I don’t know.” It was a stark answer he gave, one that came too quick and without any discernible tone. No yapping or over-explanations, no indignance or anger, no—

No Nikklaüs.

Marianne paused for a time, staring at him in subtle horror. The knowledge she had no right to know weighed heavily in her mind. It made her chest burn, the black thorns of her anger twisting and growing by the second. She could hardly stand to look at him now.

Her voice sharpened into a bite, “Those people inside? The workers. They are your friends, yes?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Marianne felt the rotten thing in her ribs flinch at such a dead response. It bled, so she cauterized it with anger. It was so great that she feared she would crack Annamarie’s hand, so she released it and stepped closer to Nikklaüs.

“No. No, that cannot be true.” She said lowly, her eyes flashing in rage. “They have no right to call themselves your friends when they just stand by and watch you burn. Let you get dragged off by…”

There was a small pause and a look of shock as she realized something. “By me.”

The flames in her eyes ran low, but did not die out. Somehow, there was a stronger intensity there, like smouldering embers. Wounded, vengeful, violent. “Tell me. Who are Damien and Angela?”

It was a question that made Nikklaüs flinch, hard.

“N-no. They’re not—they’re not important.”

Unlike with Leif, Marianne pressed the issue. She leaned closer, glaring into Nikklaüs’ eyes, so he couldn’t escape her gaze. A wild hatred spiralled in the depths of her pupils, or perhaps it was something else.

“Not important?” She sneered, lip curled up in disgust. “Not important enough to keep you away from others and cause a shift in your personality, let alone anima. Do you see yourself? Do you honestly believe I would fall for one of the most pathetic lies I’ve ever heard?”

Her pressing caused him to step back. It was maybe small in stride, but much longer in a different way. He took the left wrist she had led him by into his grip, clutching it like he was about to tear it off the joint. His eyes were wide, and with a fear worse than what could be afforded to any demon. But he said nothing, instead bringing his left hand up to cover his mouth where his nails dug into his skin threatening to tear into his face.

It made Marianne halt her approach at once. She knew the look of fear in his eyes well, but never on the opposing end of it. The realization made bile rise to the back of her throat and her chest ache, despite all her attempts to burn it out.

Marianne backed away too, holding her hands together as if burned, or perhaps so that they couldn’t burn him. She shook her head and stared at him in horror, her voice broken down into a whisper, “What did they do to you, Nikklaüs…”

Unlike all the others, it was not a question. She wasn’t asking Nikklaüs, nor anyone in particular. Her eyes looked through him, hazy. It was a statement, one spoken in surprising softness. Good thing too, because if it was a question, it would go unanswered.

Because he ran.

Nikklaüs turned and ran, and Marianne did nothing.

She just stood there and watched. Even long after he had disappeared.

---

Spoiler: Release: the First.

Just like him to repay that kindness the way he did, by abandoning her. There was a rage that boiled up in him in that moment, a virulence, a vitriol that permeated his whole self—his fractured self. Something that only caused him to break more. The earthshattering roar that followed could only be described as piercing the heavens and rupturing the hells as the scar under his chest tore open to release a violent jet of ultraviolet Anima that overtook the left side of his body from the scar up. The pulse following pushing out traces of his Anima to the furthest corners of the testing area—no, not his Anima: something sinister. The jet that torched out from his body dissipated, leaving in its place a sleeve of armor that threatened to suddenly begin taking the rest of him.

Spoiler: Its Influence

Kill.

With no more words and only one thought, Nikklaüs left Zantetsuken behind and pushed into meet Curious with a speed and fervor not before seen from him. Thrusting the arm out to take Curious by the throat, a chill descended upon the air as a frost began to form over the gauntlet, like claws primed to tear it asunder.

 

[November Witch]

Crimson

~{Playing The Part Of Savior}~​

Status: Rage & Hatred
Location: ???
Interaction(s): Juju Verite Solirus

“What the fuck?!”

Crimson exclaimed as her ‘arcanist’ teammates acted more like normal humans. Freezing and watching as danger approached. If the deer didn’t do it, her anchor would. What kind of arcanists were they? A clearly telegraphed attack, and they stood there like that one animal humans always kill with their cars. A deer in headlights, or however the saying went. What idiots. Crimson pulled hard on the chain, pulling the anchor closer to herself and away from landing on the pair last second. But it wouldn’t matter, seeing as the other demon stepped up and saved them. What a role reversal, huh? Well, it was Annamarie at the end of the day. That was kinda her thing, saving Marianne.

Her anchor, instead of hitting its target dead on the head, shattered as the deer’s aura now overpowered the anima construct before it could fully impact the intended target’s back. Well, that was that. Almost as it happened, it was unsummoned. Crimson knew she had to conserve anima. She caught Mariana’s phone as a tendril threw it back to her. Without even looking, she pocketed it once more. Though as the demon’s anima surged even more, it became obvious what was happening.

“It knows it can’t win! It’s trying to take us down with it!” Crimson called to the others. “You’ve lost, you pathetic worm. You realize doing this is just going to put more eyes on us when we overcome you, yeah?”

The harder it made it for the arcanists, the more they would shine after defeating the demon. Surely it knew that, right? So why continue to fight? Or did it still want eyes on its final act of desperation? Crimson didn’t know, but she was frustrated. She wouldn’t be able to inflict the pain on it that it had to her and Mariana. “I can’t imagine how pitiful you are, taking yourself out. You have no shame, do you?”

Crimson felt the ground under her feet begin to tremble and fall away. Looking at the others, and where they were thrown, Crimson knew they couldn’t get to their feet and escape the radius before they were swallowed. As the ground fell away under her feet, she decided they needed rescuing more than she did. So, beneath the three, the same familiar vortex that swallowed the civilians appeared and swallowed them up this time. It was like they were sucked under the current at sea. Salty, dark water all around them for a moment, before their heads beached the surface. The two would find themselves, drenched in cold saltwater, but they were safe, and outside the radius of the crumbling earth. Marianne, Annamarie, and Valerie were all together and safe. The three could see Deerhead about a quarter of the way around the gaping hole from them, but Mariana, and by extension, Crimson were nowhere to be seen.

 

[Juju]

Falling Action Solirus Verite November Witch

Spoiler: song for nerds (me)

Lost in her thoughts, it was unlikely that Marianne would have heard Valerie had she not grabbed onto her shoulders and shook some conscience into her. That being said, the action made Marianne flinch. Unfocused eyes sharpened as they were forced to make eye contact.

“I…” she stumbled, struggling to get her thoughts in order long enough to compose a response.

The words of encouragement fell onto deaf ears, until one sentence cut through the mire like a knife. Valerie was counting on her? For a moment she recalled the words she had exchanged with Mariana in the garden. It had been nearly a month ago, yet she still remembered how the other girl somehow convinced herself that Marianne was immune to fear.

Did they really think of her so highly? In the back of her mind she could still hear Mariana’s sobs after the last exam, and the tight hug that had taken her by surprise. She couldn’t remember the words Mariana said to her, but she could clearly recall the feeling of arms wrapped around her.

When Valerie leaned closer, still holding her shoulders, it became too much. As pathetic as it was, Marianne squeezed her eyes shut. It was all she could do to escape her gaze and those biting words. Why was she saying all this, and worse, placing so much faith in her? Mariana, Nikklaüs, Valerie… why did any of them care?

It all felt like one masterful lie she had fooled every single one of them into believing; that Marianne Mongomery was not the disgrace of her generation. That she was worth any of this.

Before Marianne could even think of a response, Deerhead collided with the anchor and shattered it into an explosion of shrapnel. There was nowhere to hide from it, except within the shadow of Annamarie. The demon doll stood in front of Marianne and Valerie, shielding them as best she could from the majority of the shards.

Porcelain shattered and cracked, exposing the hollow void within, but still she stood her ground. Even as black anima leaked from her like inky blood, Annamarie’s face remained as sterile and emotionless as ever. After the shower of shrapnel stopped, the doll slumped over and fell to her knees.

“Annamarie!” Marianne cried, reaching out for her twin.

Shrapnel had torn through Marianne’s clothes, painting the cloth red from cuts beneath it, but Marianne minded her wounds as much as Annamarie had. Scrapes like this were nothing. All that mattered was that she lived. That is why she had to get to Annamarie. If she could stabilize her, it would be alright.

She was so close, but before Marianne could reunite with her twin, the shockwave sent them both tumbling away. Marianne forced herself to a shaky stand and stumbled across the sinking ground, undeterred by the arena’s collapse. The whole imperfect world had shrunk down to nothing but them. Right now, nothing else mattered.

She would save her this time.

It was the ground that betrayed her yet again, this time warped into a yawning void. Temporarily weakened as she was, Marianne fell like a ragdoll into the vortex. Dark water swallowed her up, lightless and breathless, pressing down on all sides and dragging her deeper.

Far in the depths she could only hear rushing water and the beat of her heart, slowing as she held her breath. With eyes closed, she focussed on her anima, sensing for the link that bound her to Annamarie. Somewhere in the depths, she could sense her, alive for now… and so long as she was alive, it would be okay.

It was in opening herself to the flows of anima that she felt something else. This feeling rippled through the cold water, stealing away what little warmth she had left. For a moment, she swore her heart stopped. There was no mistaking the anima she sensed, even as horribly warped as it was. How could she when it had become nearly as familiar as Annamarie’s?

Marianne didn’t have to guess what had happened, nor could she trick herself into surprise or denial. The signs had been clear since the beginning, and while she had no absolute proof, part of her had always known the truth.

She had known this would happen, and in a way, she had mourned him the moment she met him. Yet despite the knowledge of the inevitable and her every attempt to remain detached, why did the rotten thing in her ribs flinch? Had it learned nothing? With half the mind to rip it out, she dug her nails into her chest, gripping the bloody cloth. Sharp metal bit into her palm as it pressed against the forgotten medallion below, a reminder of all that had been stolen.

Nearly a decade had passed, and yet the grief was just as fresh as it had been on that day. Then again, she hadn't changed much. No matter what she did, she was still powerless to stop the cycle of agony from turning. All the research, all the countless hours spent searching for answers, only led back to a singular end.

Was there no escape from this fate?

"Whatever you’ve been doing, I think it’s good for him."​

I’ve done nothing but cause him pain. These hands were made to hurt, not soothe. I don’t even know how. And now he’s gone. I’m sorry.

The salty water was warm in her eyes.

"I... I don't know what's been bugging you lately, but I'm really counting on you here! We all are! As much as Crimson won't admit it." ​

"You always looked like you have this stuff on lock, like I bet you're the smartest person out of all of us, so please, let's get through this together!"​

​

Why do they put their faith in me? How can you be so hopeful?

Unbidden, the memories flooded back.

"Are you joking? So many people need us! The whole world does!"​

​

You didn’t even know the world you were fighting for, did you? I kept it a secret, but I didn’t care about the world. Not then. It was too big and far away. But you were my world, and your dreams mattered to me. Even after the world ended, they still do.

But how can I save your world when I couldn’t save you? I can’t even save him. If fate is inescapable, can I even save anyone?

I'm not like you.

The air was like a slap of warmth against her face as Marianne resurfaced, gasping for air. Blinking the salt water from her eyes, she turned in spot to take a quick headcount. Annamarie and Valerie were close by and safe. Come to think of it, Annamarie had never been taught how to swim, but thankfully her hollow form let her float long enough for Marianne to drag her out of the vortex.

Water pooled beneath them like blood as Marianne cradled Annamarie’s head on her lap and began to focus on siphoning her anima to the demon. Bit by bit, the worst of the cracks began to meld and the leaking anima slowed into a trickle. Relief glimmered in Marianne’s eyes as the demon was finally stabilized.

“Thank you for protecting us.” She whispered softly, placing the doll down ever so gently into the grass. “Rest now.”

Marianne was just about to rise to her feet when she heard the crackling of porcelain again. Alarmed, she looked down to see black lines tracing through the doll’s face. Flakes of marble visage crumbled away as the doll’s jaw parted.

“Marianne?” spoke Annamarie for the first time, her voice so breathy and fragile that Marianne had to lean closer to hear, “I’m sorry I’m not her.”

And just like that, the whole world collapsed into a very fine point. It was sharp, and it was biting, and it ran deeper than the chill in her bones.

“Neither of us ever will be. Nor should we.” Marianne answered in a clarity that caught her by surprise. She wasn’t quite sure where it came from, but she knew she felt very, very tired. It was like finally letting out a breath after having held it for so long. “It’s time we stopped pretending.”

Red motes of light floated up from Annamarie, condensing around her hands as she held them up to Marianne. As low as her anima reserves were, the doll chose to summon the scissorblades once more. Yet be it to consciously conserve anima or otherwise, what appeared in her chipped palms was different than before. Only half of the scissors had appeared, creating one long blade with a rounded handle.

The twins were both silent as Marianne took it, though their eyes met. Annamarie’s expression was the same, as always, yet today they almost had an emotion in them. Trust. Reliance. She had given all the anima she could spare for this blade. Perhaps it was just Marianne projecting onto her, or maybe Valerie’s words had sunk in a little deeper than she cared to admit.

“It’s time to end this charade…” Marianne muttered, standing now with sword in hand.

It didn’t matter if she deserved their trust or not. They deserved something more than this wretched world, and she was unafraid to use her power to bring fate to its knees. Some would hate her, maybe even her peers, but she didn’t care. If they compared her to a demon, then perhaps they had a point. She was prideful, she was manipulative, and she was cruel, but this was her power. This was her anima, her very soul. This was who SHE was. If that meant she was a monster then so be it, but she was done confessing. Let one hundred sins run rampant if she could do one good deed.

Marianne began to run towards Deerhead, keeping along the edge of the arena. “Valerie, Crimson is buried in the ground. I’m unsure if you can retrieve her, but I’ll handle Deerhead until then. Also, the black demon is mine.”

A cackling like a demented hyena heralded the arrival of Sam. He emerged from behind Marianne in a crackle of red, running even as his form manifested into the material realm. The demon was roughly the size of a wolf, though had a long tufted tail and claws more akin to a feline’s. Two curved horns sprouted from his head, and his bulbous eyes were faintly glowing spirals. Perhaps the most iconic feature was his blood-red fangs, all contorted into a wide grin.

The creature was practically shivering with excitement, claws prancing in the dirt beside Marianne, eyeing Deerhead with anticipation. He began to howl, mimicking the sound he had heard from VP’s hellhounds. Seemed he had a flare of drama to him.

If Deerhead didn’t already notice their charge, Marianne was certain her next action would gain it’s attention. Skidding into a crouch, she held a hand to her eyes and called to Sam, “Like we practiced!”

Still howling, the beast leapt onto her back, and together they created a springboard. The demon flew up high, mimicked the sound of gunshots out of pure excitement, and then activated one of his horns. There was a loud pop and then a brilliant flash of light.

As Sam landed, Marianne broke into a sprint. With blade in one hand, she leapt for Deerhead’s flank and stabbed it into a crack in Deerhead’s hide. She used the blade as an anchor and then swung up onto the demon’s back, clinging to its mane.

“Your body is collaping. It’s over.” She shouted as she ran the blade deeper into the demon’s flank. “You’ll die, forgotten and consumed. But it doesn’t have to end here. You can be so much more. I can save you.”

Sam had joined the attack now, biting at the moose-deer’s hind leg like a hungry wolf in a nature documentary. Red fangs easily sank into Deerhead’s crumbling form, drinking in the anima that oozed from it like blood.

“You will not only be loved, but feared. Free to linger with humans, free to grow without intteruption from arcanists. I can make you immaculate.” Marianne let the anima flare up from within her, reaching out for Deerhead’s waning, corrupted anima.

Unlike the asylum this was deliberate, unafraid of staining what was already an impure soul. There was something about falling from grace that was strangely… liberating.

“Surrender!”

If she could bind this demon then perhaps...

 

[seasonedcat]

Aries | Park's Forest (why does everyone else get theme music???? I have no good music, so take this shit I found in one search. I am funny. :3)
when the dust cleared enough for Aries to see again, his gaze fell onto Nikklaüs's failure. A part of Aries almost wanted to laugh if the other part wasn't so focused on the demon right in front of them. The minor distraction caused Nikklaüs to come crashing into Aries, sending them both tumbling for a second. Aries was quick to jump to his feet, ready to make a snarky comment, when something tore Aries's attention away from his frenzy.

the look on Nikklaüs's face made a chill run through Aries, one that clenched his stomach in a vice grip of fear and desperation. Faces flashed through his mind, ones that he wished he could remember enough to properly forget them. Distorted faces with too few features but overflowing with an emotion that brought up far too many feelings inside his chest than he needed right now. Aries's falter couldn't help but cause him to take a hit.

fear. What was Aries afraid of? It sure wasn't Nikklaüs or this damned demon. All the anxiety from before came flooding back into him as he went from hunter to prey, his heart rate flickering as his anima sputtered. The feeling of his powers weakening, even for a second, the frenzy fading as if leaving him behind, made the splinters of fear turn into a stake.

what the fuck? Aries didn't lose. Aries didn't show fear. Aries didn't hesitate. The fresh scars on his body burned like they were gushing blood down his limbs, weighing him down like hands pulling him further out of his frenzy. Aries couldn't let the frenzy fade, gripping onto the bloodlust with blood-slick fingers that just kept slipping. He felt small in a shirt two sizes too big, surrounded by faces he didn't want to know.

screams roared. Blood coated every inch of him. The frenzy pounded like a drum, there was never enough of the copper on his tongue. He had to fight. God, he had to fight. They were all watching him, each eye a lump of burning coal on his skin. He had to fight. Those eyes were desperate to see him stumble and fall; each wound a monument to celebrate. Cheers, the beast bleeds and cries like any other stray on the side of the road. Again! Attack him again! I want to see him bleed!

when had he grown so weak? Was it in the days of change when he dared to let some wounds scab? His chest had been torn again and again and again and again. So much so that he had forgotten what it felt like to not be bleeding, and yet that never hurt as much as this. How could such a thin layer of dried blood make an old wound hurt so much again?

'you will be safe here,' they had said, a lie he knew from the start, and yet something in him had grown to trust the idea that it would never be the same again. Aries could see how well that went. Stolen again from the clutches of safety. He is never out. He was a beast built with claws and teeth that were not his to tear and kill. He was not some babe crying over memories of friends lost or blood split. How pathetic he had become.

the scent of a new demon brought the slipping composure of his bloodlust back in full force, the reminder of where he was and what was happening, shoving him back into his blood-filled mind. His eyes locked onto the beast, finding only Nikklaüs and his body changing. The scent was pungent as any other demon, yet it tinged with something he wasn't sure he knew. That did not matter.

it almost would have been a betrayal if Aries had given enough shits about the other to feel anything more than pure disgust and hate. The only betrayal was the small sliver of Aries's distant memories connecting the idiot with another idiot. He did not deserve even that small lapse in Aries's judgment. It turns out Nikklaüs was worse than he expected. He didn't even have the decency to be arcanist trash; no, he had reduced himself even further than that. Demon scum. Was it for power? Fame? It would matter little in the end.

Aries now had two demons to kill. Those odds did not scare him. All that was left was bloodlust, the scent intoxicating to his aching blood. This exam had become an arena for beasts, though Aries grew tired of curious. He wanted to kill the new one, the one called Nikklaüs. It almost filled Aries with satisfaction to watch Nikklaüs finally grasp it and make it stop moving. It was ripe for the maiming. Aries aimed his punch to the back of the demon, gathering up his anima to amplify it and hopefully put an end to this pest.
interaction | Yakov011001 Solirus

 

[Verite]

Valerie Vu - Dear Me
Interactions: Juju November Witch Solirus

​

"Uh-oh."

Valerie gritted her teeth as she raised one arm to protect herself from the flying shrapnel, counting on most of it missing them, though quite a few shards manage to rip through her clothes and even scratch at her skin. Oh, shoot. At least she wore long sleeves today.

As Deerhead cursed them and vowed that they would be buried and forgotten, Valerie couldn't help but let out a soft breath in response, a peculiar twinkle flashing in her eye. A breath out of fear, apprehension, or maybe even amusement? Who could say but Valerie herself? She didn't think to respond aloud to the demon in that moment, but her brain had enough time to muse on that statement for just a few seconds.

No, not at all, Valerie thought, her eyes piercing right back at Deerhead for just a moment. I'm not like you. I'll never be a memory.

The moment didn't last long before she blinked, her train of thought breaking as she and the Montgomery twins were sucked into the ground, a void swallowing them up. Her breath hitched, freezing up as she instinctively held her breath and temporarily forgot to let it go again, and just as she'd gotten used to the oppressive water surrounding her, she was hit with a burst of oxygen that was just as oppressive as she resurfaced, hitting her like a slap in the face.

As she gathered her bearings, Valerie turned to her side and bore witness to Marianne having a personal exchange with Annamarie, who seemed quite the worse for wear. The young woman felt awkward for that brief moment, feeling like she was intruding on a personal moment, yet she couldn't take her eyes away, as if she was finding out about a new part of Marianne that she had worked hard to hide this whole time.

And then Marianne stood up again, with a new resolve burning inside her that Val couldn't help but blink as she beheld it for the first time. And to think this was all supposed to be a normal school test.

"H-Huh? Oh. Uh..." Val stammered, tripping over her words as Marianne spoke to her again, reminding her of Crimson. Where did she go? How was she supposed to find her anyway? Not even Marianne seemed to know, but as Deerhead remained in sight, the pink-haired girl gulped. Marianne was gracious enough to give her the less daunting task, and Valerie had only said her piece; she was content to place her trust in Marianne.

Standing up on her feet now with her back faced to Marianne, her head craned back to look at the other girl, and then to Sam as he materialized before her, startling her slightly. One of these days, she'd have to properly ask Marianne what her anima even was, specifically. "R-Right. You can count on me," she said. A request in the form of a statement. A request that just as Valerie placed her faith in Marianne, she hoped the courtesy could be applied back to her as well. But before long, Marianne and Sam were already off, leaving Val to herself.

I sure hope I can live up to that faith though, Val thought as she realized she had no idea on how to even start looking for Crimson. Alright. In for a penny, in for a pound.

Gingerly looking around, Valerie began to walk across the ground, putting her curled hand to her mouth to amplify her voice. "Marianaaaaa?!" She called out, wondering if that would elicit any reaction, before switching back to the active persona's name. "Crimsoooon?! Where are you? Either of you guys?! Hellooooo?"

She ran forward. She ran away from the danger, hoping to leave behind Deerhead in the past and not even afford him a final look as an acknowledgement of his existence. She ran forward, hoping to be the salvation for her friends in need.

 

[Solirus]

• Shock
• Crumbling Conclusion

• 
  
  Shock
  Yakov011001 seasonedcat ​
  
  The pulse that emanated from Nikklaüs echoed across the entirety of the testing ground, rustling the leaves of the furthest trees. Curious hesitated, turning to face Nikklaüs, only for the student to close the gap in a heartbeat.
  
  Nikklaüs claws tore through the demon's neck, messily cleaving through it. The head fell to the ground, its eyes frantically looking at every direction, any corner, in desperation. The body remained tall for a moment, only to be struck by Aries's fist in a sudden moment of vulnerability.
  
  Aries's punch tore a hole into the demon as it fell to the ground, writhing like the things it had copied. Anima leaked both from its head and body, through instinct did the body try to drag itself away, but after a single pull, it fell motionless, its form laying lifelessly, slowly fading into nothing.
  
  The demon was dead, their exam was surely now over. Only Aries could sense the thick rotten scent of demon in the air coming from Nikklaüs. While, Nikklaüs could clearly sense the murderous intent of his so-called teammate, ready to strike at any moment. Why wait for the other to strike first when you could be the one with the upper hand? A hunter should always strike first.
  
• 
  
  Crumbling Conclusion
  November Witch Juju Verite ​
  
  Deerhead remained unaware of Marianne's charge even as she summoned Sam. The demon appeared oblivious, slowly losing its basic functions as it crumbled. Only when Marianne plunged her blade into the demon's open wound did it appear to react. The ground ceased to shake as it turned to face Marianne, her blade only worsening the demon's condition.
  
  "Nonsense, I -" the demon managed to utter as Sam bit into its hind leg. Deerhead's form crumbled further as it fell to its knees.
  
  The demon remained silent at Marianne's attempts of persuasion, only appearing fixated on itself.
  
  "NO, this can not be my all!
  I -"
  
  Deerheads legs shattered into pieces, falling onto the dirt. It paused again as Marianne's power took effect, the shattered remains slowly making their way toward the arcanist.
  
  "You..." The demon struggled to speak as its body was slowly absorbed to the point only its head remained "empty... thing..." Deerhead uttered before it finally shattered, the shards floating towards Marianne. She felt that instantaneous moment of exhaustion hit her, though now, it was far more manageable. Perhaps the demon was more intact than before, perhaps it was a stronger demon, or perhaps she had gotten used to it. What mattered now, however, was that she won, she had completed the exam.
  
  
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------​
  
  As Valerie searched for Crimson, she would find a corvid almost out-of-place in the mayhem. Calm and composed, the Corvid took a moment to look at a certain direction in which a second later the students could sense a faint sense of anger and wrath, familiar yet foreign and tainted.
  
  The corvid would turn to face back down at the hole from which Crimson was making her way out of with composure and control, each tentacle sprouted acting as a staircase for the demon to walk up.
  
  "Had enough?" The corvid spoke, in an uncharacteristically regal voice, its question directed towards Crimson, while it made no attempt to hide itself from Valerie.
  

 

[November Witch]

Crimson & Jaquie

~{Incomplete Information}~​

Status: Confusion, Relief & Worry
Location: Edge Of The Hole
Interaction(s): Juju Verite Solirus
Post Theme: Released

Crimson had used her moment to escape as a moment of concentration to get those two out. The vortex was only open for a moment, and so her concentration was only needed for that long. She had fallen near the wall of the arena, so she was near the wall of the massive gaping hole. She’d caught herself with a black tendril that emerged from the wall, and started to make her way out. Tentacles sprouted from the wall, making a moving staircase. One would emerge for her to step up onto, and the one her foot left would slip back into the wall of earth, disappearing. She was still fuming, hatred and rage radiating from her. Yet, she had calmed significantly from earlier when they’d first felt it.

Her arms were crossed, and she emerged at the top of the hole, stepping onto solid ground finally. She hardly spared a glance at the corvid and began to walk around the circle in the earth towards her teammates. “You know, asking questions you already know the answer to makes you seem stupid. Of course I’ve had enough.”

Her eyes scanned the area around them, wondering if anyone had seen what just happened. After all, as far as she knew the exam was still going, and with the racket going on over here, someone could’ve come to investigate.

“I merely wanted to hear you say that.” the corvid responded, but quickly shook its head, “No matter, I have not come to waste time. I have come to offer a contract.”

Crimson would stop for a moment, turn around to face the bird, and raise an eyebrow. Not at the prospect of a contract, but that it wasn’t here to torment her more. Though, with the rage and hatred still running through her, and the culprit of her pain before her, she turned again, continuing to walk away. “After what you’ve done to me, just for refusing to answer a question? Yeah, no thanks. Humans have more patience than that.” And that was saying something. At least no human that she’d met had tried to attack or curse her for not answering a question. “Besides, I can’t trust anyone that petty.”

Crimson said all this, while continuing to walk away, not caring if the bird followed or not. Not caring if she got out of earshot and the bird couldn’t hear her. That would be its problem.

“I will remove the curse, if you accept the contract” a voice echoed within Crimson and Mariana’s mind, not unlike that of the corvid.

Crimson sighed. It looked like she was being backed into a corner. “Get to the point.”

“I remove the curse, and you owe me a single favor.” the corvid proposed.

“Tell me what exactly you want me to do, or I’m saying no.” Crimson commanded as she stopped, and turned to gaze at the bird once more.

She didn’t care about the curse. She’d lived with it so far, what was another few months? Hell, what was a year or two? She roughly knew the limits of the curse and had gotten used to them. It was an everyday part of life at this point. She disliked it, sure. But she disliked the demon more.

“That I cannot say.” the corvid commented “Yet you are eager to deny my contract. As such, if you deny it, I shall worsen the curse.” the corvid stated.

Crimson visibly laughed at the demon. “Is this about pride? Are you really that butthurt over someone being an ass to you?” After a moment, her gaze would sharpen slightly, and the amusement would fall away from her face and voice. “Why me? Why don’t you just ask someone else?”

“That I will not say.” the corvid responded, its normal movement halted for a second as Jaquie’s foot slowly stepped on it.

In an instant the professor had appeared, both hands placed on his pockets as his eyes glared at the corvid. “Don’t even think about moving.” Jaquie ordered as his foot slowly squeezed the corvid.

“Sorry about that Crimson, I forgot to turn on my data.” Jaquie chuckled for a moment before returning to the corvid.

Crimson blinked in surprise as one moment there was nothing, and the next instant Jaquie was just instantaneously there. Though just as quickly as it had appeared, her surprise was gone.

“Sooo…” She looked at Jaquie, expectantly. As if waiting to hear what he had to say about the proposed contract. She kinda just assumed he had heard it.

“Don’t even consider it. Too vague. Instead…” Jaquie squeezed the corvid again, “we bargain.”

The corvid seemed to want to speak but refrained from doing so, “I can’t remove the curse, and I can’t kill birdie either as this isn’t its main body. However, I can hit it hard enough to weaken it and force it to feed where eager arcanists will likely find it.” Jaquie added further.

“Even so, a contract must be struck to remove the curse.” The corvid finally spoke up. “I am… willing to bargain…”

Crimson brought a hand to her chin and throat. Her eyes, again, scanned the area for any nulls that may be around. But she found none. Just Valerie nearby. But she didn’t care if that girl overheard what was happening or not. It might even be good for Mariana if she had someone to talk to about the curse besides Jaquie.

“Then tell me what exactly you’ll want me to do. Don’t give me that ‘I can’t’ bullshit either, because you obviously can.” With Jaquie on her side, and the corvid seemingly a little nervous, she became more confident and assertive. She walked towards the bird and squatted down in front of it. “Go on now, little birdie~”

“Very well…” The corvid responded with an awkward pause following, “I shall share with you what I can share, but these words shall only be for you, Crimson. You shall not be able to share what you learn today with others. Do you accept those terms?”

Crimson sighed and rolled her eyes dramatically. She looked up at Jaquie to gauge his reaction, but also pose a question. “Please tell me that talking to me isn’t this annoying.”

Jaquie responded with a simple and lighthearted shrug.

She turned back to the bird. “Listen, it’s black and white. There’s no grey area to bargain in. You tell me what I need to do before I accept the terms, and I decide then. Not after I accept. I’m content with turning around and walking away without a stupid contract.” Crimson explained her terms clearly to the corvid.

Surely if it was asking her and threatening her, it needed her help specifically, or it would have just gone after another equally powerful demon, right? So, she had to have some leverage here. It needed her for something after all.

The corvid sighed with annoyance, “Apologies, I forget we are not on equal planes.” the corvid offhandedly mentioned before continuing. “I offer two contracts, the first is so you may learn the information of why we show interest and so you become aware of the favor in exchange for not sharing the details with others. Then once you accept that first contract, I will offer the second contract whilst you are aware of the conditions of the favor. Did I explain it properly?” the corvid explained in a partially annoyed tone.

Crimson also seemed annoyed with the verbiage of the bird. Why were things that could be spoken to one another being called terms or contracts? There was no blood being spilled over them, and no signatures being written. “Fine. I’ll keep silent. But I can’t promise that Mariana won’t find out. We’re inextricably connected in ways even I don’t fully understand.” Crimson told the corvid.

“Very well” the corvid stated. Darkness momentarily engulfed Crimson, losing sight of both the world around her, alongside Jaquie and the corvid. From the darkness a pale arm with partial feathers sticking out extended itself offering a handshake.

An annoyed sigh was all that escaped her lips. “Things can never be easy with you, can they?” She would wait a moment, before accepting the hand.

The hand firmly shook Crimson’s hand before retreating back into the darkness. “We are not interested in you. We are interested in your vessel; we are interested in Mariana. Your condition is pitiable; however, you have use. The favor is as follows: Even should it cost you everything, protect your vessel. Keep Mariana alive no matter the cost.” The darkness disappeared and Crimson was returned to the world.

The words spoken to Crimson were odd, and due to her nature, she immediately thought of contradictory ways she could act. But there was nothing she could do. If Mariana died, so would she. Why was the bird being so weird about this? Why did it curse her in the first place, if it just made it more likely for them both to die? Or was that just the demon’s pride being harmed? The only part of her curse that made sense was that the bird could see through her senses. But even then…

Something was off… If they wanted Mariana, surely it could just kill Crimson and take her, right? Or at least help her try and find a way to free herself. A thought occurred to Crimson. If they were going through these hoops rather than doing any of the aforementioned ideas, she must have more control over the situation than she thought. Crimson was so caught up in thought, she barely noticed the world return around her. She stood up, looking confused, but also confident, and slightly relieved.

“Why go through all this to tell me to do something I’ve been doing since I got trapped? Why show yourself and make yourself look suspicious if that’s all you want?” Crimson was thoroughly confused at this point. “Duh, I’ll do it. For my sake and for hers. Uh, no contract needed though.” Crimson always felt like something shady, or unsaid was happening to her when the world around her disappeared. They could make a verbal agreement just fine, as far as she was concerned.

“For caution’s sake… we live in a precarious world” the corvid commented seriously.

“Tell me about it” Jaquie added along as he kept squeezing the corvid.

“Very well, thus the contract is sealed.” the corvid declared as its eyes momentarily glowed purple. From Crimson’s abdomen, a similarly pale arm would emerge holding a small beating heart pierced by feathers. With decisive action, the arm would crush the beating heart, crumbling it to nothing as the arm would fall limp and fade into nothingness too.

Crimson felt a weight on her shoulder lift, she saw the anima from her own body once more as clear as day from the anima that was there and the one that she had expended. Following that, Crimson could feel the subtle feeling of absorbing the ambient anima, a sensation which was only noticeable when it was gone.

“I forgot how good this felt.”

A sigh of relief followed, and she raised her hands up to chest level, looking at them both. The relief she felt overpowered the weirdness of an arm emerging from her abdomen. It felt like the muddied waters had cleared. Like she was now out of the swamp and in the open ocean.

“Now that that’s over with, I hope I never see you again~” Crimson said very sweetly to the bird under Jaquie’s foot. “Go and be unnecessarily annoying to someone else now, okay~?”

“The feeling’s mutual… but the future is cruel…” the bird commented as it tilted its head up observing Jaquie.

Jaquie raised his foot and gave a light and playful kick to get the corvid going. The corvid however saw through the glasses and into the eyes of the professor and found only hostility and contempt.

Silently the corvid flew away, disappearing into the treeline.

“That’s one issue dealt with… now for the second one” Jaquie tiredly commented, facing where the pulse of hatred had come from and vanishing from sight.

Crimson wasn’t exactly done talking to Jaquie. She wanted to assure him her and the demon weren’t colluding, and that she wouldn’t be doing anything bad because of it. But it seemed another urgent matter required his attention.

Or did he actually trust her?

Nah, there was no way. She doubted he did. Her eyes met Valerie’s, who’d witnessed a good portion of what happened, and she walked towards her, and past her. “The exam is still going. Keep an eye out for the curious ones who get too close, or for anyone else who saw what happened. I’m gonna help Annamarie.” Crimson said as she passed.

Thankfully, she hadn’t ended up far from where she teleported everyone before. So, after some seconds, she was by Annamarie’s side. She got down on her knees and placed a hand on Annamarie’s left shoulder.

“I’m in for an earful when she comes back over here, aren’t I?” It was a rhetorical question. Crimson knew Marianne would be pissed. That fear and worry she could see in Marianne’s aura was going to turn to anger soon enough. What was left of Crimson’s anima reserves opened up, and a connection was offered to Annamarie. “Well, I’m gonna fix what that deer did, so she has no right to bitch at me. Patch yourself up with my anima… Well, It’s more like Mariana’s. But it’s the same thing at this point.”

Her eyes were on Marianne mostly, but they also flicked between their surroundings as well. They didn’t need civilians, or an unclaimed demon showing up to wreak even more havok…

 

[Verite]

Valerie Vu - At the End of It All
Interactions: Juju Solirus November Witch

​

Fortunately, it didn't take Valerie too long to spot Crimson out in the distance as she searched for her. She tried waving and calling out to her, but she seemed to be indisposed. Staring at... No, talking to a bird? And... was that Jaquie close by? What was he doing there?!

Once she'd come within earshot, Valerie had intended on assailing them with all sorts of questions, yet the conversation between them and the strange corvid erased all immediate intent of that. In that moment, Valerie felt like she was intruding on something far beyond her depth. She may be an arcanist now by definition, but there was still so much about this other world, this culture if she dared call it that, that it all still felt alien to her, and this was a perfect encapsulation of that.

Val silently listened to the conversation unfold in front of her, unable to make heads or tails of it, barely able to absorb every other word. She almost felt like an unwelcome eavesdropper, but the fact that Crimson made distinct eye contact with her without a care in the world meant that it didn't seem to matter so much. And then, once that conversation ended, Jaquie immediately disappeared before Val could get a word in, leaving Crimson to be the only victim to her shrill words.

"H-Hey, what was that all about?! Where did that bird come from? What's this about like a contract or curse you have? Are you cursed? Are you gonna die soon?!" Valerie asked like a machine gun barrage, gasping between questions, while Crimson seemed less interested in dwelling on it as she moved toward Annamarie instead, seeming intent on healing her. In line with Crimson's instruction, she gave a passing glance around the area while she was at it to make sure there weren't any witnesses, and was satisfied that there were no watching eyes from the look of it.

With that, Val puffed her cheeks a bit as she honestly didn't actually expect Crimson to answer, but the girl couldn't help but give an endeared smile as she looked at the demon. "Well, at the very least, I'm glad you're alright," she said, suddenly more calm than before. "I dunno what I woulda done if you got yourself hurt or something, but it looks like you've got energy to spare."

A wry smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "Patching up Annamarie like that? I didn't think you cared! Guess you're more of a softie than I thought."

 

[Juju]

Resolution Solirus November Witch Verite
With the demon’s form dispelled, there was nothing to hold Marianne up. And so, she fell. Luckily, the ground was there to catch her, and the pain helped to dull the surge of foreign anima that had snaked its way into her own. Wracked with exhaustion and overwhelming nausea, Marianne simply lay in the disturbed grass with gritted teeth and closed eyes. It was all she could do to keep herself from gagging as her soul made room for its newest resident.

The anima that had made up Deerhead was erratic, wispy, and corrupted. All demonic anima was, and yet in absorbing it she had the unfortunate opportunity to understand it on a personal level. The unnaturalness of it all was obvious and keenly felt. Unlike an arcanist, the anima that made a demon was never from just one source. It was a coalescence of everything it had consumed, made from the forgotten pains and emotions of so many people that it all blurred together into one regurgitated mass.

If she had to describe what it felt to willingly invite it in, it was perhaps the closest thing one could do to drinking bilgewater.

Marianne lifted an arm over her face, blocking the glare of the overhead sun from her tired eyes. Part of her mind was still catching up the events her body and soul had endured. She had chosen Deerhead because she needed proof – that what happened in the asylum was no fluke, nor a matter of lower demon intelligence. She could control it, wield it, and in turn… wield them.

She eyed the sun’s glow filtering through her hands, turning the edges of her fingers into a cherry red. Using a demon’s anima against them was one thing, but absorbing a demon without compromising one’s anima was by accounts impossible. At first she had feared she was possessed, similar in fate to Mariana, but now she could see that it was different, and perhaps far more concerning. This was her art.

Still, there was something that lingered on her thoughts. What had Deerhead meant by ‘empty thing’? Was it referring to her or something else? She could have easily brushed it off as just another insult had it not been for the dread she felt in her chest. What was she now? A desire for answers gnawed at her, knowing that she would be left without them for a while yet. Perhaps she never would.

While Marianne lay on the ground, recovering, Sam trotted up to her side. His red smile came into focus as he peered over her, black fur blotting out the sun. Swirly eyes centred their rings, making as best eye contact as they could. The demon then echoed the final words of Deerhead. “NO! This cannot be my all!”

Marianne squinted up at him. Was he mocking her?

Defiance, and the familiar yet not familiar anima in the air, acted as a powerful motivator. There was no time for rest. Deerhead may be defeated, and her test completed, but it wasn’t over yet. The true test had only begun.

Marianne forced herself into a sit, and then into a crouch, and then into a shaky stand. Jaquie, Mariana and Valerie had disappeared from sight, but with the professor involved, Marianne had no reason to worry.

Grateful for that, she then turned her gaze to the primary issue. Somewhere in the trees, the husk roamed. Nausea gathered in the pit of her stomach, but Marianne pushed on. Face pale and eyes narrowed, she stumbled back to where she had left Annamarie.

“Don’t leave me here!” Sam screeched, scampering after his host.
—

The doll was laid in the grass, her porcelain ‘skin’ laced with hairline fractures and chipped holes from where bits of shrapnel had shattered through. Her ruby eyes were shut, an unusual sight for the nigh unblinking doll. Perhaps it was to conserve anima, for once Crimson offered a steady supply of it, those eyes clicked open. They flicked to Crimson like a compass' point, head rotating slowly to get a better look.

She listened to Crimson, silent as fractures began to meld back together. Then she spoke.

“Hurt. It hurts.” Said Annamarie, her new voice still low and breathy, almost in a conspiring manner. “She trusts you.”

The simple and fragmented sentences left a certain vagueness in who this ‘She’ was. Annamarie’s cracked face didn’t express signs of pain, and Marianne’s scowl as she approached made it questionable what level of trust she had for the demon.

Marianne knelt beside Annamarie, on the side opposite to Crimson. She brushed her hair out of her face to better inspect her twin, some of the black locks now dyed with rusty copper. It would seem the sentiment she held before the exam had been true after all.

Unaware of her own irony, she gave Crimson a serious and tense look. Her lips pressed into a thin line, and when she spoke her words were careful, but not curt. Instead of anger, she just sounded exhausted. “I appreciate your assistance, but please allow me to take over. It’s best that she uses my anima.”

Not elaborating further, she closed her eyes and focussed on pouring more of her anima out for Annamarie to take.

As she busied herself with tending to Annamarie, Sam stalked over to Valerie. Snickering at some joke only he knew, the wolf-sized demon circled her with the same curiosity a fox might have for a hen-house. He cocked his head to the side inquisitively and then parroted her voice, “Are you gonna die soon!?”

He certainly had an odd way of greeting new ‘friends’.

Between Mariana and Marianne’s offered anima, it didn’t take long for Annamarie’s damage to seal. Only small scrapes remained, but it was enough for now. Marianne’s energy was running concerningly low, and there was no time to linger.

Gently, Marianne helped Annamarie back to her feet. "Are you well enough to move?"

After a brief nod from her twin, Marianne turned away from her teammates. Though eager to leave, she paused and looked back at the cephalopodic demon behind her. “Crimson? You have my gratitude. That fight would have looked a lot different had it not been for you…and certainly had it not been for me. I’ll see to it that I don’t make the same mistake twice.”

Marianne set her sights on the forest beyond the park. “Valerie, you did well too. I wasn’t sure what to expect in the beginning. I… am not accustomed to working with others, but in the end I am grateful you both joined me.”

She paused, awkward at having admitted to such. It must be the exhaustion. Straightening her posture, her voice cooled into manner-of-fact. “Our test is complete, but there’s a personal matter I must attend to. I’ll see you all at the entrance.”

With that, the battered and exhausted Marianne summoned up what remained of her strength and sprinted off towards the forest. Annamarie took her hand, running side by side with her twin. As for Sam, he lingered near Valerie for a little longer than he should have before being forced to dash away after the twins, lest he be left behind.

As they ran past the spot where Deerhead had been defeated, Marianne grabbed the half-blade that had been abandoned in the soil and ripped it free. Eyes ahead and expression steeled, she tried to ignore the bile rising in her throat.

It didn't matter if she was the absolute worst person for this, or even if he didn't like her very much. Hell, he could hate her if he wanted to. What mattered was that there were people out there who cared about him. All those people at the arcade, whom she had separated him from. They missed him when he was gone, and they were happy when he was around. He mattered to someone, and even if she still thought they were cowards for not defending him and idiots for placing their trust in her, she would do everything in her power to give them a chance to see him again.

 

[November Witch]

Crimson

~{Awakened}~​

Status: Anger & Confusion
Location: Destroyed Picnic Field
Interaction(s): Juju Verite Solirus

A sigh escaped Crimson’s lips as Valerie bombarded her with questions as she knelt, helping Annamarie heal herself. This human was much too talkative and energetic. She was a beacon of annoyance. But another beacon was how Deerhead still lingered. He didn’t vanish as demons normally do. No. He was still here, if only very faintly. And at this point, Crimson had a sneaking suspicion…

“I was cursed during the last exam, so I’ve been handicapped since then.” Her eyes moved away, watching Marianne as she lay on the ground some distance away. Just like the last exam, it had to be within her. “No one’s gonna die, it’s nothing for you to worry about.” But her gaze would return as Valerie expressed her concern. “Of course, Mariana’s alright. I wouldn’t let that thing hurt her.” Her gaze then traveled to Annamarie once more. “Yeah, well us demons have to stick together. It’s nothing.” She dismissed the compliment, turning her focus to the twins as Marianne finally stirred and started to approach.

Though Crimson was certainly caught off guard when Annamarie spoke. Something she almost missed, her voice was so breathy and light. What was it supposed to mean though? Was it Annamarie talking in 3rd person? Did she trust Crimson? Or Mariana? Or did she mean Marianne? There were multiple ways this could go. But Crimson wasn’t going to let it weigh on her mind. Not now at least. There were more pressing matters currently.

“You need to learn to use that pain to your advantage. Learn to enjoy it, or let it fuel you.” Crimson told Annamarie with a quiet voice and a wink, hoping to keep that from the approaching Marianne.

Though after what she had told Mariana, maybe she didn’t need to keep it quiet. But then again, this was Marianne. She treated the doll like her daughter. Anything it experienced or knowledge it gained had to go through her first. At least, that’s what it seemed like Marianne wanted. But that's neither here nor there at the moment. Perhaps the doll would be more inclined to speak in the future, seeing as if had just done so. Prior to this, Crimson wasn’t even sure she could speak. At least now she knew.

Crimson looked at Marianne skeptically as she spoke but obliged with her request. She seemed exhausted and still insisted on doing things herself. She’d learn at one point or another, that she would have to rely on others. And by others, Crimson didn’t mean her little ‘pets.’ It was a lesson Crimson was still currently learning here. Yes, it hurt her pride to need Jaquie to help her with the bird. To need Mariana to keep her updated on her own Anima level when the curse was still active. But they were necessary for Crimson to perform at her best. She had a feeling that if Marianne were to understand such a thing, something drastic would have to happen.

Crimson watched Sam trot up to Valerie and use its mimicry to ‘greet’ her. So, this was the thing she’d sensed inside Marianne all those weeks ago. She’d slowly sensed it more and more as it grew and had a feeling of the very day it likely manifested. It was much stronger and pronounced at that point. Crimson was about to speak up and tease Marianne about it, but Marianne beat her to it, speaking to her first. A compliment? Certainly unexpected. Actually, how Marianne was currently acting was all unexpected. She’d expected a screaming or at least steaming mad Marianne to confront her about what happened to Annamarie. Crimson felt as if it would’ve been this way had Marianne not been totally exhausted. She also complimented Valerie, which was less odd, but still a bit out of character. Or so Crimson thought as she stood up as well.

But as Marianne mentioned a personal matter, Crimson got intrigued. As Marianne dashed away, Crimson spoke to Valerie. “Well, feel free to follow or tell the proctor Marianne is taking care of something.” With that, Crimson ran after the twins.

She caught up quite quickly, summoning tendrils below her feet as she ran that actively pushed her forward as she pushed off the ground, granting her immense speed. Driving this decision was the intrigue in whatever Marianne was doing, but also the want to feel herself absorbing anima yet again. But the latter was quickly shattered when the three arrived at the site of the scissors and Deerhead’s defeat. But no anima remained. That was odd. Perhaps Marianne had absorbed all of it when intaking it.

“You really took it all, huh? Leave some for me next time. You know I can’t get stronger like you guys can.” Crimson said, visibly upset. Well, with Marianne the way she was currently, she figured it wasn’t a good time to talk and that she’d speak to the girl later. When things weren’t as tense and chaotic as they were currently. She watched Marianne turn away from her and take her first step.

But Mariana had other plans.

Their right hand reached out, grabbing Marianne’s right wrist. “You’re not going alone.” Crimson stepped back, out of Mariana’s body, separating the two. "You can barely stand." The irony of that statement would soon reveal itself.

The lingering pain left as Crimson left Mariana’s body. Thankfully pain didn’t function the same in demons as it did in humans. Mariana fell to her knees, as it seemed the lingering pain from activating the curse earlier wasn’t erased when the curse was. It had permeated every fiber of her body, and was manageable now, but it made everything ache. Like she had just worked out for 48 hours straight. Her muscles were shaky, weak, and ached like never before. One bloody palm on the ground, the other bloody hand on Marianne’s wrist. The blood had stopped flowing from where her nails had dug into her skin minutes before. It was a mix of sticky, almost dried blood, as still fresh liquid. But she looked up at Marianne with determination in her eyes. It was slowly washing away the glaze of pain that had clung to them moments before.

“I didn’t even notice you woke up. Look at you being all sneaky. I like it.” In reality, Crimson was relieved Mariana seemed to be alright.

 

[Solirus]

Agony​

Adrenaline was always something that one could never truly account for. When it was present, one felt like an unstoppable machine. A machine that could still feel some pain, but that could push through it, to focus purely on survival and if necessary give you the strength and guts to take another life for the sake of preservation. Only adrenaline didn't last forever. When it would inevitably retreat and fade, the full brunt of exhaustion and pain would become apparent.

The breeze of morning blew against Isaac, emerging from the lake as a soaked mess. The cold that hit is body was only a partial nuisance in comparison to the agonizing and stinging sensation of open wounds slowly losing blood as the poor excuses for knots were slowly unmade. Isaac struggled to move himself, choosing to lean against a nearby tree to inspect himself further. It was a combination of the bites scattered across his arm and the slashes that littered his body. Thankfully, his clothes hadn't been entirely cut off. The school could mend wounds, but Isaac wasn't sure if they were capable or willing to mend clothes. The examiners could be watching now. Isaac thought as he slowly turned around, hiding his most apparent wounds from any would be observers.

Isaac would find the place rather empty. So there's no one here... Maybe I should've tried facing Goldfish here... or the examiners are good hiders. They wouldn't hide, right? That would be unfair, they would be acting as normal common civilians, not as professional hunters. Isaac argued as he felt the pain magnify once more. He felt awkward simply leaning against the tree. Staying there for an extended period of time would draw too much attention. Or perhaps it wouldn't, people always seemed to focus in on themselves more than others. Isaac thought again, this time surprised by his reasoning. Though he felt utterly exhausted and in excruciating pain, he felt calm, almost in control, or perhaps lacking that ever-present shroud of anxiety, crushing and unceasing. It felt nice, but it also felt wrong in a way, I should just get going. Isaac arose from his leaning position and, with the support of augmentation, trudged his way back to the examiner.

A surprisingly long trip, only having encountered a runner with the typical athletic attire. So long as Isaac acted in his usual manners, the runner didn't appear inclined to stop and check. They didn't care about him, though perhaps they simply didn't want to care. The one who did seem interested was the examiner, having switched their newspaper for a book to spend the time: 'The Clash of kings'. A book from a very popular novel series. Isaac tried getting into the series, but there were certain aspects he didn't find appealing, alongside the constant dread of character deaths. Reading it felt like suffering, as his stomach would churn and complain as events became tense and unpredictable.

The examiner looked up from the book towards Isaac expectantly. "I took care of Goldfish." the words came out naturally as the examiner pulled a pair of binoculars, pointing them in the general vicinity of Goldfish. Those seem awfully useful. Isaac thought as the examiner finished and put them away. "Your exam is complete. I'll need you to return me the bottle" the examiner stated in a monotonous and practiced tone, extending his arm out. Isaac concurred, handing over the unused bottle to the examiner.

Putting the bottle away, the examiner reached and offered Isaac a distinct bottle small vial, no bigger than his thumb. "This will take care of minor injuries and stop the bleeding, you'll need to find a healer to cure the more severe wounds you have." Hesitantly, Isaac took the vial, unscrewing the cap and drinking the transparent content in it. It tasted bitter and sour, a wholly unpleasant taste. His body then squirmed further as the vial took effect, it was far from a soothing sensation, but once it had passed, the bleeding stopped, his wounds mostly recovered, only the deep cuts still being partially there.

His clothes, however, were still in tatters. What was I expecting? Wait... Isaac inspected his pockets, noticing his fully drenched phone. It was most definitely broken, Perhaps Jaquie could... He's not here. So much for others not noticing me. Didn't even notice I got here first... I least... I have some time to think. Isaac tried being optimistic, sitting down and laying against a tree. Only, instead of a peaceful moment, Isaac felt the agonizing pain turn into a truly bothersome itch.

 

[Yakov011001]

It was a gratifying feeling that washed over him, as Klaüs cleaved clean through the throat of Curious; leaving its head to tumble to the floor, with a frost slowly overtaking it. There was a heat that rose up inside him, his arm growing hot and the air surrounding overcome with a deathly chill.

Spoiler: The Bloodlusted v. The Frenzied

There was an eerie quiet that settled in the air between the two. The falling of one foe, only to give way to another. Klaüs—or rather, whatever had taken him away—brought its frenzied eyes to meet the gaze that matched it in its bloodlust. There was never going to be any hesitation, so Klaüs made sure to strike first. Thrusting its left arm up to take Aries by the throat the same as it did for Curious.

The feeling of Aries’s prey was sweet, his blood singing as he could feel the demon's blood once again coat his flesh. Yet, even with the demon dead, Aries’s bloodlust was not satisfied; instead, it turned its hot gaze directly onto his next prey. Nikklaüs.

The desire to kill ran through Aries just the same as what ran through Nikklaüs, their thirsty eyes meeting as Aries moved at the same time to strike the other. Aries recognized the movement as the same one that Nikklaüs had used on Curious moments prior, moving just out of the way to avoid it and aiming his fist to punch Nikklaüs’s side. A punch that made him recoil out of it, but not breaking his focus.

Its arm soaring past Aries head as he ducked into his punch, it pushed his leg out to anchor in front of him and pulling back its outstretched arm it pulled inward on the back of Aries head. The motion pulled him into its outstretched leg and sending Aries face-first into the dirt, a frost forming over his hair where his head was in contact with the armor.

There was an echo that pulsed out into the forest of a rhythmic hissing, an ultraviolet Anima spraying from the corners of its mouth as it raised its hand up off Aries’ head. At its apex, ice came to overtake the fingers on the armor to create needle-like claws that threatened to descend into his heart.

Aries' breath was knocked out of him as he hit the ground, as he quickly tried to regain his breath. He let out a low growl, only noticing the descending claw as it was in motion, rolling out of the way just in time to mostly avoid it. It managed to slice his arm slightly, but nothing that would even be noticed through the haze of bloodlust.

Aries quickly returned to his feet, baring his teeth at Nikklaüs as he went in for another punch, hoping to hit the other before he completely recovered from his strike.

But this time—that thing—it didn't run away. It ate Aries' punch right in its chin, the insane force becoming a momentum it carried into a corkscrew to create a devastating kick right on top of Aries' head. Still, that was a lot of force going directly into its head, and it came down from its kick into a kneel to shake the dizziness out. But before it returned to its assault, Zantetsuken returned to its grasp.

The satisfying feeling of the punch connecting once again was interrupted by the pain in Aries’ head that sent him stumbling back a few steps as the other also recovered. Aries’ gaze fell onto the blade in Nikklaüs’ hands, and let a wide smile filter onto his face. Things were finally getting interesting.

Without a single ounce of fear in the beast or a moment of hesitation, Aries dove back into the fight. His fist raised up, enhanced by his anima in the hope of really dealing damage to the other this time. Aries wanted to make the demon filth bleed.

Zantetsuken in hand, Aries and that frenzied thing stepped into each others’ ranges for what looked like one last exchange. With hand on hilt, there was a surge of Anima that began to break from the seal—the seam of the blade’s sheath. Despite not having built up much energy previously, it threatened with a strike far more devastating than Nikklaüs had ever managed before. But where from? A chill overtook the air on all sides of Aries as the frost building on that creature's gauntlet became a glacier that almost seized the arm’s movement entirely.

“Be severed.”

seasonedcat

 

[Juju]

Into the WoodsCollab with Verite November Witch

Marianne stiffened when Crimson once again reminded her of how similar the use of her anima was to demonic feeding. Reluctant to admit her lack of fine control in the matter, she simply looked away from Crimson and remained silent, intent on leaving the park as soon as she could.

As it would happen, fate had different plans. She was mid-step when her wrist was caught and she was pulled to an abrupt halt. Her shocked expression lasted only a moment before her face was painted with a deep scowl, “I said–”

Mariana’s collapse made her pause for a moment. There wasn’t enough time to catch her, so Marianne stood over her, eyes flicking between the bloody hand locked on her wrist and Mariana’s anguished face. Why did she insist on staying with her, and why did she look so pained? Did it have to do with Crimson’s new use of whirlpools? For one reason or another, Marianne’s guilt flared brighter.

“Do you honestly think you’re better off? Look at you!” Marianne objected, trying to pull free of Mariana’s bloody grasp. “It’s out of the question. You of all people don’t need to see this! What you need to do is stay here and rest.”

She tugged on her wrist again, voice flecked in subtle desperation, “Now let me go!”

There was a lot that Valerie had to take in, in just a short amount of time.

She gave an uneasy look at Sam as it seemed to mock and parrot her words, walking around her and taking an interest in her, though she’d managed to get used to its presence faster than even she expected. Perhaps that was how the world of arcanists had conditioned her. In fact, Valerie was almost tempted to pet it; it was cute in a sort of… fugly way, but even she knew now wasn’t the time for that.

Val blinked again when Crimson casually admitted that she had been cursed during the last exam, and though she seemed to dismiss the notion that it was particularly fatal, the thought still gave her an uneasy chill. Past all that, when Marianne announced she still had other personal matters to attend to before they could call it quits, Crimson closely followed, leaving Valerie to either follow along or go off by herself.

What do you think she did?

“Stop fightiiiiing!”

Like a bull in a China shop, Valerie burst into the scene between the two girls. She ran so furiously, yet the sand impeded her movement to the point she practically looked like a cartoon character whose legs spun impossibly fast to denote how fast they were running.

Stepping between the two girls, she first bent over at Mariana, clasping the girl’s hand in her own. “Mariana, are you okay?! Jeez, you shouldn’t push yourself like that,” Val said like an exasperated mother, even though she only had the vaguest idea why Mariana might be in such a state, trying to help her up to her feet.

But that didn’t mean Marianne was off the hook, as Val used her other hand to lock on to her wrist in turn.

“And you! You’re not in any shape to be going off by yourself either. Both of you!” She exclaimed in a chastising tone. Her eyes gave an intense, serious glare at first, before softening up along with her voice. “I wish you two would… count on me more. I mean, I’m literally the least worn out of you guys, right?” She said, having seemed to entirely walk off smashing her face into a tree.

“I dunno where you’re heading off to, Marianne, but you’re definitely not gonna get there in the state you’re in. And sorry to say, but it looks like you’re gonna have to let us help you do what you gotta!” Val continued, letting an angled smile return to her features. “You don’t really think you can brush either of us off and leave us in the dust right now, do you?”

Maybe she did, for Marianne could only silently glare at her in response, hand caught like a beast in a steel trap. While tugging away, she let go of the half-blade, which Annamarie quickly caught instead. Unbeknownst to her, freeing up Marianne’s other hand.

“Stop fightiiiiing!” Sam parroted rather unhelpfully, smiling smugly as he watched the interaction.

Mariana took a breath in to respond to Marianne. But what those around her would see, is that she wasn’t relenting. There was no hint of shyness or doubt in her normally unsure gaze. Though she wouldn’t speak, as Valerie burst into the scene, she’d interrupt the two.

“You call this fighting?” Crimson muttered under her breath as Valerie went on.

Mariana’s gaze moved to her, and held the pinkette’s own for a moment. She was thankful for Val, she really was. But she had wanted a moment alone with Marianne. But it seemed like that wouldn’t happen. She looked away as Val asked her if she was okay. Well, she thought so. Aside from her nails digging into her hand and causing it to bleed, she was fine. It was just, everything hurt and ached. It felt like she’d just completed a full body workout that lasted multiple days. While she couldn’t exactly overcome the shakiness her muscles exhibited, someone here could. As Valerie helped her to her feet, her other hand reached out to Crimson and she pulled on the demon’s wrist hard, and she stepped back into Mariana. One eye turned red, showing that both of them were here and present. Mariana’s body immediately straightened up and she stepped away from Valerie, seeming fine now.

Her gaze locked onto Marianne, and only now did she let go of Marianne. “See? I’m fine; and so is Vee. You said it yourself, that the exam’s over. So I’m going to choose what I do in the meantime, and that’s gonna be helping my friend who’s struggling with something.” Her gaze moved to Val for a moment as she would speak again, before moving back to Marianne. Her hand grabbed Marianne’s free hand this time instead of her wrist. Her other hand grabbed Valerie’s hand and her gaze softened, showing more hope and confidence in them all. “I think Vee’s chose to do the same thing, so if you want to do this, we’re gonna do it together.”

As if she had been hit, Marianne flinched. She looked down at her hands, now joined with those of Valerie and Mariana in one big circle. It was almost funny, how terrified she looked now compared to when facing a demon. Valerie and Mariana would no doubt feel how shaky her hands had become.

Her thoughts spiraled as she tried to process what was happening. Why did they insist on following after her? Didn’t they compare her to Deerhead just before the interaction with the demon? Did they actually care about her? And why was she the one getting support!? This gesture served only as a reminder of yesterday's events.

Panicking, she tore her hands away and backed up a half step. To keep them from attempting to grab her again, she ended up hugging herself. “No, you don't understand! I don't need your help, or your pity! I need you both to stay out of this! You shouldn't see him like this… or what they'll do to him. I’m the one who caused this, so I should—”

Marianne cut herself off with a short laugh, but there wasn't a hint of joy in it. This was bitter, dripping with irony. She recalled Lief's words, that she had somehow helped Nikklaüs. The weight of it was crushing; a sick, cruel joke. It bordered on insanity as she was faced with the self-awareness that every effort she had made to steer away from this outcome had only made it arrive sooner. Again.

A part of her knew the natural response was crying, like she had seen Mariana do after the last exam, but she couldn’t even do that for him.

Her gaze locked onto Mariana's, eyes tearless and helpless like a trapped animal. “Do you even realize how remarkable you are? I read through four hundred and thirty nine possession cases, and every single one ended with the death of the host.”

She paused, voice lowered somewhat in subtle disbelief and awe. “You shouldn’t exist.”

Marianne gestured to Sam and Annamarie behind her. The latter holding the half-blade in attention, and the former licking a paw in amusement.

“I shouldn’t exist either, but I’m not you or him. I had a choice and I bound myself to demons, sparing them instead of killing them.”

There it was, confession. Rot laid bare for judgment. She looked at them then, awaiting their reactions. Her eyes almost looked pleading, as if she wanted them to hate her.

“Arcanists like you should want my head. So why is it that you act like I deserve sympathy!?” She pointed off towards the forest. “It’s people like him who deserve it, and if there is any chance I can help them then I don’t give a damn about what happens to me.”

Valerie frowned deeply as Marianne forcefully pulled away from the two of them, and even preemptively held herself to prevent either of them from grabbing her again. She said nothing as Marianne insisted on keeping them out of whatever she had going on here, but ultimately, Val didn’t even know what was really going on here, and on some level, she didn’t really care.

Her other hand gently pulled away from Mariana’s, not out of rejection for her in any matter, but because she didn’t want to hurt her. Not with how hard her gloved hands started to clench and shake as she listened to Marianne’s tortured words. Terribly harsh, yet so pitiable at the same time.

She couldn’t stand seeing Marianne like this. Under this light, she reminded Valerie of…

“You… big… dummy!” Valerie exclaimed through gritted teeth, a perhaps unexpected outburst directed straight at Marianne.

It made the other girl narrow her eyes, yet she made no objections or retorts. Once again she had fallen silent.

“I don’t even know what’s going on! I don’t even know who this he we’re talking about is! I have no idea what you’re talking about!” She said, shaking her fists in an exaggerated gesture of frustration. “I don’t know what you’re talking about with… with your shoulds and your should nots! I don’t know why you’re deciding what I should and shouldn’t be feeling or doing!”

Gathering her breath, she continued, her voice softer and shakier now. “Please don’t say that. Please don’t say you shouldn’t exist. Please don’t say people like us should hate you. No one… deserves to have such lonely feelings like that.”

“More than that, I don’t know what… what dumb rules arcanists are supposed to follow or what they’re supposed to feel, but whatever you think I’m supposed to think, they don’t apply to me! There’s no one like me but me! There’s no one else like Mari here! You people have your stupid rules and your complicated arcanist lores, but… you can’t understand that none of that matters to us? You don’t get that friends look out for each other?!” Valerie admonished, before her lips curled into a bitter smile.

“I… I’m not a good person deep down. There’s nothing that special or exceptional about me at the end of the day. But when I see my friend looks like she’s gonna cry, I don’t even need to know the whys or hows behind it. I just want to be by her side. And you might not care about what happens to you, but like it or not, we do! Don’t think it’s fair? Tough shit! That’s what happens when you start living outside of yourself for once!”

Even Valerie was duly aware of the roller coaster of emotions she just put on display, but it had to be done. For better or for worse, it had silenced Marianne for the time being, forcing her to listen. The girl was still frowning, but her gaze was lowered now to avoid looking at either of them in the eyes.

Mariana wasn't quite sure who this mystery third party was. She was still partially dazed from waking up, and having to steel herself through the aching and the pain. However, she felt she knew who Marianne was talking about. It was hard to see her like this. She seemed so desperate and frantic. A far cry from the normally composed and clever girl they all knew and loved.

It was safe to say Mariana was surprised when the conversation was directed to her and her possession. She was unprepared for the… compliment she received? Or was Marianne cursing her in some way the girl didn't understand? Was it both? Mariana decided she didn't care. What she did care about was Marianne revealing her anima art. Saving demons instead of killing them.

So she's running a rehabilitation clinic…

Crimson joked inwardly, but Mariana didn't pay it any mind. She hated how Marianne put herself down. It seemed constant. Not super obvious, but little things in passing. But not here. It was clear she was trying to make herself look as bad as possible. Borderline evil. Trying to make herself the villain. The villain to what? What was she doing that was so bad? Did she want people to hate her? It seemed like it's what she wanted in this moment.

She opened her mouth to reply, only for Val to open her mouth and speak. Rather unexpectedly, too. She removed her hand from Mariana's for whatever reason, and went off on Marianne. It was… a bit harsher than Mariana would have put it. Or probably could have ever put it. Mariana didn't think she could ever say something like that to Marianne. Thank goodness for Val.

When Val said she wasn't a good person, Mariana snatched her hand again, as if trying to reassure her, and held it between both of her own. That wasn't true at all! For either of them! At the very base level, they were putting their lives on the line to save others. They had to be at the same level of good as police or soldiers, right?

When Valerie finally finished speaking, Mariana finally seized the opportunity to add her own piece. “Vee is right, Marianne. You can't choose what we feel. I don't know who you're talking about, but I can guarantee we feel the way about you that you feel about him. We just want to help you. I don't care how injured I am, or if I'm not even conscious. In that case, you have Crimson.”

Mariana let one hand leave Valerie’s and retook the ground Marianne had gained earlier with a few steps, pulling Valerie along. This time, Marianne didn’t back away from them.

“I'm not sure what your art has to do with anything if I'm honest. You use demons to fight, and so do I. If you think that's a sin, then I'm sinning with you.” Mariana knew arguing in the open next to a massive hole was likely to draw attention. So coupled with the clear anxiety and worry Marianne was feeling about this mystery male, she changed the subject.

“I think we can talk more about this later. But I can tell you want to help whoever it is. So let's do that first, and finish this talk later. That okay girls?” Without waiting for a response, she trudged off in the direction Marianne was heading before this dialogue commenced in the first place.

Marianne could only stand there in stunned silence, gaze flicking between the two. Disbelief swirled in her eyes as she questioned the validity of everything before her. Did she dare to even consider it might be true? The implications of it were more terrifying than any demon.

Many words and sentiments were exchanged, but it was the anointing of Marianne as a friend that seemed to catch her off guard the most. The words pierced through her like the bullet of a gun. Is that what they truly felt about her? Was that possible? Her connection to demons had branded her as a monster until the end of her days, and yet neither Valerie or Mariana seemed to see it that way. Like they didn’t even care. They weren’t afraid, or disgusted. It wasn’t even pity in the look that they gave her… just acceptance?

Marianne blinked, feeling an odd sensation that her vision was blurred. Though hazy, she caught sight of Mariana running off the direction of the threat neither she nor Valerie even knew the identity of. Valerie had even claimed that she didn’t need a reason, but was that possible?

She wasn’t quite sure what to feel at the moment, but it made her chest gnaw and ache. Her ribs burned in a molten cage and even her anima felt strange. Regardless, what Mariana said was right. There was no more time to waste. Suppressing her discomforts for now, Marianne took the half-blade back from Annamarie and sprinted after Mariana. She only slowed when she had matched pace with her, choosing to run beside her rather than ahead or behind.

Annamarie took up Marianne’s other flank while Sam rushed ahead of them all, leading the way like a hunting dog. Perhaps he got a bit too carried away in his role, for he soon began to mimic the baying howls of a certain arcanist’s hellhounds.

With her mind now refocused on the matter at hand, Marianne’s face returned back into her usual stony look of concentration. All signs of despair or pain had been wiped clean, though by the way her anima spiked up like a sea-urchin, she was far from calm.

Assuming Valerie was following, she would wait until the other girl had caught up before speaking.

“If you’re staying then there is one thing you must remember above all else: what you see isn’t him.” She paused, tightening her grip on her blade. Her eyes trailed the waves of twisted anima snaking through the trees, “It isn’t Nikklaüs.”

Val gave a smile when Mariana said her piece; even despite the heated emotions going on here, she still found time to be a bit proud of the girl, once so withdrawn and shy that she could hardly squeak out a word to others, and now here she was, speaking her mind to Marianne.

When Mariana put a pin in the conversation and moved on, prompting Marianne to follow suit, the pinkette naturally skipped forward to catch up with them as well, maintaining that trademark cheerful smile of hers, though her expression took a more quizzical look when Marianne spoke again.

“Huh? What’s he got to…” She began, before remembering the emotional state the two of them were in to begin with when the exam started. Looks like that business was coming back around to rear its ugly face again. “Huh… Whatever you say.”

What on Earth could Marianne mean by that? Valerie couldn’t really fathom it, nor could she imagine what she was supposed to brace for when the time would come, but hey, things couldn’t possibly get any freakier than Deerhead, right?

If only things could be that simple.

Mariana remained silent as they went, silently mulling over Marianne’s words. Or perhaps she was speaking with Crimson about what it could mean. Whatever the case, she didn’t say a word. But after a few moments, Crimson would.

“It’s a demon.” She would state in a serious tone. “But there’s something different about it. Not like me or Marianne’s demons. But something different in nature.” With even Crimson giving a warning, the air was now charged with tension while the three continued onwards, unsure of what to expect…

 

[Solirus]

Imminent
Juju November Witch Verite Yakov011001 seasonedcat ​

Traversing through the forest was the harder task for the girls, the ground becoming more uneven and less charted. What proved simple however was their destination, that initial and faint signal that slowly grew more brightly, more pronounced. Raw unfiltered wrath seeping out, clashing against an equally ferocious signal of bloodlust, the primal desire to kill.

Arriving at the scene, the girls would witness the two who'd they known as their classmates, seemingly reduced to mere beasts, slaves to their instincts. The air felt cold as Aries recovered and dove back into the fight, raising his fist as anima flooded into it, preparing to strike at the wrathful creature before it, aiming to make it bleed.

In sync, Nikklaüs would charge back against the frenzied thing before him. With hand in blade, Nikklaüs's anima poured into the blade as ice soon began to envelop the rest of his armored gauntlet. With wrathful focus, Nikklaüs would swing his blade with might toward the thing before him as he let out a war cry and a declaration.

Hesitation was not a luxury one could afford at this very instant. Only action could prevent a crisis.

 

[November Witch]

Crimson & Mariana

~{Awakened}~​

Status: Confusion & Interest
Location: Forest
Interaction(s): Solirus Juju Verite Yakov011001 seasonedcat

Crimson would start to pull away from the other two girls, but once a few feet in front, Mariana made her keep pace with everyone. So, she led the way a few feet in front of the two, Crimson controlling her body like before in order to keep the pain at bay for the girl. Plus, Mariana couldn’t run as fast as Crimson could in her body, bypassing the exhaustion a normal human would feel. It wasn’t long before Crimson could see through the trees ahead, and the figures there. Traces of the targeted demon were quickly dissipating, meaning it was dead. Of course then, the two would be fighting each other. She had no doubt the two would resort to such a thing. Even if Klaus wasn’t possessed (?) she assumed something like this would happen.

Sure enough, once she emerged and her vision wasn’t obscured by foliage, she would see the two duking it out. Something was most definitely wrong here, but there was no time to question it. The two were lock step in a possibly fatal dance.

“You morons!”

Crimson shouted as tens of tendrils emerged from the ground, trees, and other nearby objects, reaching out from all directions to latch onto the arms, legs, and abdomens of the two in order to prevent further punches and slices. Assuming the tendrils latched onto the two, they would pull them away from one another.

“You’re acting more like demons than humans right now! That’s my thing, so cut it out!” Crimson yelled at the two, hoping the other three humans that just arrived on scene could talk things down. Cause she knew for a fact she couldn’t. She’d just focus on keeping the two away from one another for now.

 

[Juju]

The Battle Within Solirus November Witch Verite Yakov011001 seasonedcat

Marianne’s footfalls thundered down the corridor, stirring the once dormant silence of the old wing. Her little heart was as frantic as a grounded bird, and her lungs ached from all the dust she had breathed in. Still, she sacrificed her breath to reassure the one who was left behind. ​

​

“I’m going to get help! I’ll get grandfather!” ​

The tiles had become moss and dead leaves, the faces of dead progenitors replaced with the gnarled bark of trees that flew past. They lined her path much the same, eyes just visible beneath their veils. Like ghosts, like memories, they haunted her.

No. It's not the same, she swore to herself, burning the very thoughts into her mind until they scarred. I can help. I can save her.
As the trees thinned, so too did the air. The waves of impure anima had driven away the summer heat, the early winter sinking into her still damp clothes and hair. She shivered from it, yet the discomfort only served to sharpen her focus. By the numbness in her fingers and the ache in her bones, she knew that what lay ahead was no memory or nightmare. No matter how much it resembled what lay behind.

This time she would not run.

Marianne knew what to expect upon entering the clearing, but no amount of preparation could have prepared her for coming face to face with it. Grey eyes settled on the source of the supernatural chill, pale face awash in the cursed violet afterglow. Ice attempted to claim him, twisting hand into claw like chitinous armor. yet perhaps the cruellest thing was just how recognizable the anima was to her, and yet ultimately foreign. It was little wonder why Valerie or Mariana were unable to identify the anima that had surged across the park.

Despite everything Marianne had told the others, she couldn’t help but pause when she saw him. Just as Crimson had said, this demon was unlike any she had encountered before.

Then Crimson moved ahead and Marianne was spurred into action. With half-blade in hand, she ducked under tentacles and sprinted closer. While Crimson had made her move to restrain the two fighters, Marianne knew the moment of opportunity would not last long. A strategy would have to be created in motion.

If anything, the fact that Mariana and Valerie seemed unaware of the odds and consequences they faced was a blessing in disguise. They would not know the near futility of their fight, or realize the uncharted waters before them. Yet somehow, Marianne suspected they would have stood beside her all the same.

All hope hinged on a once in a generation fluke and a sacrilegious art. It was insanity to tempt fate, but Marianne was beginning to understand that Anima Studies was not home to the soundest minds.

“Mind yourself of Aries!” Marianne warned her teammates with a shout. “I’ve seen him like this before. He’ll attack you if you’re in his way!”

The signs were all there; a crown of horns and eyes ablaze with an insatiable hunger. A beast in all but form. Aside from a lack of fear, he was behaving just like the last time she had faced Aries, before they were attacked by nulls. In remembering that moment, she was struck with an idea.

Marianne charged into the fray, skidding to a halt to take her place between the two madmen. She turned her blade to Not-Nikklaüs—ready to parry any strike that made it through—and her back to Aries. An interesting choice, considering what she had said, but in truth this was a test. Aries had targeted Annamarie near exclusively in their last encounter, yet with so many demons around, she needed to identify just how he chose his targets. If they wished to avoid disaster, they could not afford a war on two fronts.

"Apologies, but I cannot allow you to kill this one either." She said to the frenzied peer behind her, though didn't dare move her gaze from Not-Nikklaüs. “Sam, suppress Aries if he steps out of line. Non-lethal.”

The doll and the smiling imp took their places at Marianne's sides. Sam was by far the most eager between them, fluffed up like a spooked owl and cackling at his own inside joke. Eyes widened, teeth gnashed, and he trotted in place out of sheer excitement. When he spoke, his voice was the shout of some man only Marianne would recognize the voice of. "NOBODY MOVE OR HE GETS IT!"

“As for you,” Marianne growled, pointing her ivory blade at Not-Nikklaüs, “you’re mine.”

 

[Verite]

Valerie Vu - By Any Other Name
Interactions: November Witch Juju Yakov011001 seasonedcat Solirus

​

Oh. Okay. This... is bad.

As Valerie, along with Mariana and Crimson, ventured through the forest and eventually reached the other part of the exam, her breath hitched up as she saw quite a disturbing sight. Beings that were once Nikklaüs and Aries going at it like rabid beasts. The cheerful girl's eyes widened in shock and awe at the monstrous display before her. There were demons, there were arcanists, and... there was whatever was going on here.

Okay, maybe she understood why Marianne was acting like that now. But... well, in for a penny, in for a pound. She had no idea what was going on with either of them, but she put her faith in Marianne, who seemed to have some inkling of the situation and how to solve it.

Hopefully.

Deciding to let Marianne work out her own troubles with Nikklaüs, Val decided to focus her attention on Aries. Even with Sam watching over him and Crimson's tendrils restraining him, Valerie decided to err on the side of caution and summoned her own golden rope, thrusting her palm forward and letting that magical string shoot out of it and coil around Aries's form, further entrapping him than he already was as she pulled as tight as she could.

"Y'know, full offense, but I always figured from the look of you that you'd like being tied up like this, so live this up while you can!" She exclaimed with a strained breath, using her wisecracking as a front to mask that she truly did feel uneasy about the situation. "So what's the deal here? Can you even understand what I'm staying, or are we--nngh--full beast mode right now?"

 

[Yakov011001]

A shame to be interrupted before having the chance to cut Aries down. He would have to wait, but in his place was a most gracious gift. That creature brought its left arm up, Zantetsuken in hand. Taking the brunt of Aries strike onto the gauntlet, shattering the ice and freeing up its movement again. With that it dropped down low—almost to the floor—watching Crimson's tendrils soar over him. Flicking over to the impromptu girl's night party, there was a wicked smile that overtook its features as Marianne approached; something only made more unsettling with how the armor had manifested up Nikklaüs' neck to cover the bottom-left quarter of his face.

From that vantage point under the tendrils, Zantetsuken was finally unsheathed: the would-be restraints torn asunder and opening up the airspace for him to jump out. Snatching up one of the severed things before it dissipated, with a violent yank it slingshot itself out of the middle of the fray and onto one of the outside trees. Resheathing the now bladeless hilt mid-flight, Zantetsuken became a vantage point for it to stand on as it sunk the sword into the trunk of the tree.

"As for you, you're mine!"

That sent a shiver down its spine, down Nikklaüs' spine. What started as an unsettling chuckle grew quickly into an unnerving laughter, and finally into maniacal cackling. Something Wicked this Way Comes.

"Simply amazing, Marianne. You really did remember me this time. I'm so FLATTERED!"

Klaüs dove at Marianne, using his armored hand to snatch her up by the throat. Taking her up and slamming her down into the dirt, Nikklaüs began to drag her away from the rest of the group and deeper into the forest.

"But you're too late!"

The pressure of that grip caused the sharp fingertips of the armor to cut into the sides of Marianne's neck, but her blood didn't run; frozen instantly before it could go anywhere, as a frost began to overtake her starting from where he grasped her. After getting some distance on the others, Nikklaüs lifted her off the floor in a thrusting motion that saw her thrown into a tree with such force she bounced right off.

"You came for me!? Spit in the face of everything I've done—done for you!" As she came down from her flight, he thrusted a fist out to catch her chest. It sent her into the tree again with such a force that it shattered the front half of the trunk. "And now you're here to save me!?" Clutching her by the collar, he pulled her close in. His wrath-tinted eyes staring deep into her, his scalding breath washing over her. Klaüs' voice came down to a whisper. "Go ahead. Try it."

Juju

 

[seasonedcat]

Aries | Park's Forest
The rush of bloodlust filled Aries with each moment of the fight. Each hit he received and each one he landed sent a rush through him. As the ice cracked and Aries moved to go for yet another hit, cool tendrils grabbed onto his arm.

Aries let out a cry of annoyance, tearing through the bindings on his wrist with a growl. Just as he got free, taking a singular step forward, another restraint tied around him. Aries struggled against it in annoyance, his sharp teeth barred as he watched Nikklaüs run away from him, Marianne in tow. That hunt was mine.

With each struggle the string felt like it grew tighter, the anima feeling heavy like chains. Aries heart raced, his hot gaze turning from the fading Nikklaüs to Valerie, disgust mixing with his rage. Just like Nikklaüs and every other arcanists, she did not know when to shut the fuck up. Aries wished for little more than to make it so she never spoke again, but the death of the demon came first.

Aries body turned to Valerie struggling to hold him in place, growling before he ran to her instead of away. Amplifying his speed, Aries charged at her, his head lowered to direct his sharp horns right at her. She'd either dodge or get hit, either way she could not keep him restrained forever. Aries would not be suffocated by containment.
interaction | Verite
mentions | Juju @Yakov011001

 

[Juju]

One Good Deed Mili - Iron Lotus (Key Ingredient ver.)
Interaction: Yakov011001

Sleep-deprived, exhausted and overindulged in demonic anima, the shrapnel-kissed Marianne could only look up to see the fruits of her challenge. She felt the increased pressure in the air quicker than she saw the beast lunge for her, and yet even still there wasn’t enough time to react. All there was left to do was lock eyes with it and wait. Pain would reunite with her soon, but if she had but one virtue to all her vices, it was tenacity.

Born of impure blood, we are sin-eater and grim.

Slammed down, the world spun around her in a dizzying blur of violet, green and far-away sky. Her back screamed as it was torn and scraped, her fine dress mangled by dirt, stone and root. Blood froze in her veins and her breath was strangled by the cold hand of consequence, and yet the one worry she felt clawing at the back of her mind was a fear that the medallion’s chain would break.

In blood, consecration.

Frost crawled across her skin, a white rot that curled around her neck like a second hand and froze the damp collar of her dress. She struggled against it, prying at the gauntlet until her fingers were numb, but it was no use. Unable to free herself, Marianne was dragged off into the forest, Annamarie and Sam lagging behind.

Dark spots fluttered in Marianne’s vision as she began to suffocate, but she was spared from unconsciousness when the claws released her into a toss. Marianne managed to take one last breath before she crashed against a tree and the wind was knocked from her yet again. There was a sickening crunch, like a branch snapping, yet she knew by the blossom of pain in the back of her ribs that she was the one who had broken. The blade she had been holding slipped from her hand.

In death, absolution.

Marianne retreated within herself, hardly trying to make sense of the darkening world as she was tossed around. Her ears were ringing, drowning out all sounds except her ragged breaths and the snarling words of this monster that dared to speak for Nikklaüs. Even if she knew it wasn’t him, those words hurt more than the second slam against the tree.

Broken ribs jarred beneath the blow, collapsing into a white-hot pain that pierced through her side and blurred her vision. She coughed and gasped for air, every breath a battle not to scream. Blood painted her lips and her breaths were shallow and laboured. She was above water, but she felt like she was drowning.

There was a certain clarity to it all, the familiar agony sharpening her vision until the entire world had burned away. Isolated from her demons, her newfound allies, and even Nikklaüs, there was nothing else but her pain and that twisted, sneering face. It mocked her, insulted her, yet everything it said was right. Even if she could speak, there would be no objections or rebuttals.

Sinners.

Wrath, Bloodlust, pain, these were born of imperfect flesh. They were what monsters and men slaughtered their kin for, all byproducts of an imperfect and horrendously cruel world. She could feel the wrath dripping from every word, see it in the eyes it had stolen and twisted into such a hateful glare. The sight of it hurt so comfortably.

Though dull and hazy, her gaze was unflinching as she held his. There was no hate or wrath in hers, not even the grief that plagued her. The emotion that swelled there was nothing born of this agony, even this flesh.

Perfectionist. Idealist. Visionary. Words like this were common, yet served only to bastardize and oversimplify. In truth, what drove the heart was far more than that; it was a desire to bend fate and mould it into the picture of the perfect world. The farther reality was from that vision, the stronger it grew. In times of hopelessness it burned the fiercest, and yet it knew no peace. It existed beyond reality, unachievable and untouchable. A restless cycle of torture, a self-made prison with one’s heart as the warden. Chasing forever, it was never meant to be touched. That is why it remained pure.

“I never... deserved it...” she wheezed, her voice barely a whisper, “But...he deserves a...chance.”

We wretched things remember our vow.

Marianne knew that she was at her limit, both in body and soul. Conquering Deerhead had drained her energies and destabilized her anima. It had taken her a week to recover from Sam, and she wasn’t sure what would happen if she used her anima art again so soon. Hell, she wasn’t sure if she even could use it on this strange demon, or one possessed by it, but insanity never stopped her before. No matter the consequences, she would save him.

Throwing caution to the wind, Marianne called upon her rediscovered art one last time. It felt like her soul was tearing as she forced her anima to flare out, bristling like overgrown thorns, the red and black hue fractured like stained-glass, shivering with embers. It collided against the anima of Not-Nikklaüs, skittering across it like the legs of an arachnid testing its web, feeling each delicate strand for signs of decay and damage. Prying, it searched for any hint of weakness to exploit and ensnare.

One hundred sins and one good deed.

 

[Silent Child]

Team Bullseye
Featuring: Solirus Spoiled Bread Tiguidi Silent Child​

Leander’s breath hitched as the crystalline spikes embedded themselves into the ground around them, humming ominously. His heart raced, but he forced himself to stay focused. They're not aiming to kill us directly... They're setting something up. His mind raced, trying to piece together the purpose of the spikes.

“They could be setting a trap... Maybe an area attack.” He bit his lip, unsure whether he was overthinking it. But with everything about this demon being unpredictable so far, caution felt necessary. “Cobalt, burn a few spikes—see what happens," Leo suggested quietly. "We need to know if they're reactive before they try anything worse.” He tried to steady his breathing, feeling the weight of his role settle on him. I can't fight like they can, but I can help them get through this. Glancing between his teammates and the glowing eyes still scattered in the sky, his attention was also drawn to the spikes, a creeping sense of unease settling in. That humming... It’s not just for show.

Without waiting for confirmation, Leo shifted his position beside Sophia, angling himself to keep both her and Cobalt within his sight. He crouched slightly, one hand brushing the ground as he eyed the spikes warily. His anima tendrils remained connected to both teammates, maintaining a steady amplification flow. His voice, though soft, carried urgency. “Sophia, if those spikes are channeling anima, you might need to block something big… are you ready?”

“I will try…” Sophia said as she watched the surrounding spikes intensely. Her voice was rather shaky despite her initial confidence, yet her anima seemed to emanate even stronger than before. She puts her still working hand onto the ground under her, ready to conjure a barrier the moment any attacks happen.

Despite his still expression, Cobalt was glad to see his strategy of spreading his flames working. A good number of eyes have been destroyed but it looked like they wouldn’t all go down without putting up a fight. Or... whatever these spikes were.

He briefly stopped his assault on the eyes above to glance at all the crystalline spikes on the ground. “... I don’t like that sound...”, he softly mumbled, eyes going from spike to spike. He shifted his stance and was about to repeat his wavy motions towards the protrusions closest to him to get rid of them but stopped himself as he heard Leander’s suggestion.

“Reactive... Good call, Leo.” Stretching an arm forward, he opened his palm and instead aimed at a singular spike a bit further away. “Here goes nothing.” Producing a small mote of soul flames, the boy fired away to destroy the crystal. And on the off-chance that the spikes close to him were explosives waiting to be triggered, Cobalt got ready to activate his flaming cloak to hopefully absorb any incoming damage.

The hum grew louder as the small mote approached the spike before finally exploding, releasing anima and shooting up the grass and dirt beneath it. The anima from the first explosion spread, causing the other spikes to begin humming loudly, ready to explode.

As Cobalt had feared, these crystals were literal mines, ready to explode on contact. At least he and the other two would have a moment to ready themselves -they may not have been so lucky if Cobalt had attacked one of the spikes right next to him. “Careful-!”

Still feeling Leander empowering him, Cobalt folded his arms over his chest in an X shape and used his Anima Art to conjure his flaming cloak, enveloping his body with the soul-burning fire. If the spikes released explosions of anima, hopefully he’d be able to burn off the brunt of it before taking damage.

His flaming cloak flared up around him, being much larger and intense than even Cobalt could remember. Maybe Leo’s Art empowering him would be enough to do the trick.

But this sense of security lasted for only a brief moment. Almost as soon as his cloak appeared, he felt the tugging on his anima -the tether coming from Leander, get weaker, as if overshadowed by the intensity of his flames. “It's burning-?”

And then, it ruptured. The tugging stopped, and his cloak immediately decreased in both bulk and power, going back to its regular size. Leo’s eyes widened as he saw the tether’s connection deteriorate, almost like a rubber band, flowing back towards Leo’s anime aura. Now the flames still looked much more potent than a few weeks ago thanks to Cobalt tirelessly training his Anima Art but the sudden snapping of Leander’s tether still briefly startled him, as the flames flickered. “What just happened-?” The tether to Sophia strengthened slightly at the loss of a connection to Cobalt, supplying her with a little more than before.

Watching the event unfolding in front of her with her refined vision on, Sophia could see the interaction between the two anima arts, though she’s still unsure about what actually happened.

“Cobalt, you’re detached from Leo. Get behind the barrier quick before the mines explode!” With Leo’s amplification solely channeled to her, her barrier became seemingly more solid. Hopefully enough to block the incoming explosions.

Though the flaming cloak handled the anima headed his way, Cobalt still felt the force of the explosion itself pushing him back. It would be thanks to Sophias barrier that the remaining explosion were soaked up, barely causing a dent on the augmented barrier.

Dust and anima from the explosions created a smokescreen surrounding the students. From the obscurity, the students heard quick footsteps scuttling around them.

Leander swallowed hard, his chest tightening as the tether to Cobalt broke. He hadn't anticipated his amplification being overpowered by Cobalt’s own flames. I need to control it better... he thought, frustration flickering across his face. But there was no time to dwell on it. He shifted his focus, fully channeling his anima into Sophia’s barrier, watching as it grew denser in response.

As the explosions subsided, he coughed, waving a hand in front of his face to clear the dust hanging in the air. The muffled sound of footsteps skittering through the smoke put him on edge. “Stay close,” he whispered, voice steady but low, hoping the others would pick up on his plan.
Keeping his stance low, Leander scanned the murky surroundings, his eyes hoping to catch brief glimpses of movement. It’s taunting us, waiting for us to make the first mistake. He bit his lip, tightening his grip on his own anima flow. Though he couldn't see the demon directly, he sharpened his focus, attempting to sense any anima signatures nearby. The scuttling was unpredictable—this creature wasn’t just fast, it was calculating.
He gestured toward the thicker parts of the smoke, not sure if they could see. “I think it’s circling. We could possibly trap it if we herd it toward more trees. Use the smoke to our advantage maybe?”

“I think it will be better if we can get it to a more open place. Force it to fight us directly.” Sophia said as she coughed out the smoke.

“So far it’s been keen on using hit and run strategy.” Unfortunately that would be easier said and done. She didn’t even know how to keep it in place other than probably trapping it with herself inside her won barrier, but if she did that she wouldn’t be able to attack it.

Cobalt grit his teeth as he felt the explosion hit him. Fortunately for him, the group had been fast enough in defending themselves, mostly thanks to Sophia’s Anima Art. After the attack, he steadied himself, assuming a defensive stance by keeping his arms raised. “Thanks, Sophia.”, he voiced, carefully glancing around. His cloak was still up, offering him additional protection in case Eyes decided to rush him.

“Don’t mind it~” Sophia nodded at Cobalt.

“There’s too much anima around us after those explosions...”, Cobalt quietly pointed out after scanning the area with his refined sight. “... I’m going to leave myself open to clear it all up.”, he announced. Trusting his allies to deal with defense for now, Cobalt began waving his arms forward and above the group, his flaming cloak stretching out and matching his movements. With the residual anima serving as additional fuel, he hoped to be quick enough to burn it all away so they could locate Eyes before it attempted anything.

Sophia followed Cobalt a few steps behind, ready to defend the other students should the demon come at them. Though, remembering the previous instance of Cobalt’s flame burning the tether, there’s something that she’s curious about. She moved her barrier forward slightly, enough for it to touch Cobalt’s cloak.

“It doesn’t burn…” She murmured to herself. A small crack would form at the tip of the barrier as it made contact with Cobalt’s cloak. It didn’t truly burn like fire, but it was a danger all the same.

Cobalt’s flames extended outwards clearing the smokescreen that had been created as the dust too began to settle. Their reclamation of sight would be met with a plethora new set of eyes now placed even closer to the group tightly surrounding them.

Instead of firing however, the eyes would begin to glow and hum similarly to the spikes, only this hum was far louder.

Brows widened in surprise at the sight of all the eyes in the air. “That’s... not good...!”, Cobalt let out.

Leo’s heart pounded as he watched the new circle of eyes begin to glow and hum around them. The stakes had just been raised. Cobalt’s flames were effective, but seeing his tether burn had reminded him how vulnerable his abilities were in comparison. And now, surrounded by an eerie hum, he felt his sense of helplessness grow.

But that wouldn’t help his teammates right now. He forced himself to take a breath, recalculating. What else can I do? With his tether to Sophia still active, he realized he was amplifying her barrier beyond what she’d need for a static defense. Enhancing her for this is no good and Cobalt's cloak burns the tether, what if… What if he could turn the tether against the demon? He could attempt to redirect the surrounding anima from the eyes to himself, absorbing as much of it as he could… maybe.

Steeling his focus, Leo quietly removed his tether from Sophia and redirected it towards all of the nearby glowing eyes. His own aura flickered as he sent a small pulse toward them. If this worked, he might be able to weaken their attack—surely. His voice came out soft, but with a hint of urgency. “Hang tight... I’ll try pulling some of the anima away from these eyes. If it works, we’ll have a bit more breathing room.”

Cobalt nodded at Leander’s suggestion. Taking a stance, the boy got ready to lob a fireball towards the eyes, but waited to see the results of Leo’s attempt. “If it fails, please boost Sophia again. I’ll try to attack the eyes again but they may blow up -and I’m pretty sure we’ll need that shield.” Leo simply nodded to this, keeping his focus on the targets.

“T-that sounds risky… but I trust you!” Sophia nodded supportively at Leo’s strategy. She didn’t know if it would work as well as he thought, but they wouldn’t go anywhere if they wouldn't take risks. She just needs to be ready to protect her teammates.

The eyes shrank as Leo’s tethers slowly weakened them. But the countermeasure was not quick enough, as the eyes ceased to hum and exploded violently.

The force shoved those exposed out of the barrier back, cracking it upon impact. Dust and anima spread even further from the explosions, creating an even denser fog of both. From it, eyes would peek inside attempting to search for the three students, the fog too thick for even it to see through. It inspected them, hoping the previous attack had been lethal.

Due to standing a little ways away from Sophia's barrier, trying to draw the anima his way so she wouldn't deal with as much, Leo barely had time to register what was happening before the shockwave of anima burst through the air. The force hit him squarely in the chest, sending him hurtling backward like a ragdoll. His back slammed into the ground, the impact reverberating through his body with a brutal, bone-deep ache. For a moment, he couldn’t even breathe, the world spinning as he struggled to make sense of the pain now radiating from his ribs.

His hand instinctively went to his side, his fingers brushing over what he quickly realized were fractured ribs. A sharp, searing pain pulsed through him with each shallow breath, his lungs feeling constricted under the tightness of the injury. He attempted to move, to push himself up, but every slight shift sent fresh waves of agony spiraling through his torso. All he could manage was a faint gasp, each breath a battle against the white-hot pain.

This... hurts so much… Leo thought, his vision swimming. He could barely keep his focus on his teammates, the dense fog and dust obscuring them from view. Helplessness gnawed at him as he lay there, each attempt to push himself upright thwarted by the stabbing ache in his side. It was a sensation he’d never felt before, and it terrified him. Even his anima felt scattered, like he couldn’t hold onto the threads he previously used to connect to Sophia or Cobalt anymore. His heart pounded erratically, each beat amplifying the ache in his chest. The desperation to stay conscious, to stay present, pressed down on him, even as his vision began to blur.

“LEO!!!!” Sophia screamed as she saw Leander hurled away by the explosion. She immediately ran and kneeled next to him, trying to shake him awake. Her anima started to twist and swirl unstably as her core emotion started to dominate her mind: fear.

Sophia didn’t mind herself getting hurt. She would still charge forward even if she would endanger her own life. but her mind couldn’t stand the thought of losing someone else she knew to another demon. She was supposed to protect them, and she’s also the one who proposed to hunt down The Eyes. Yet here she’s standing as the least harmed. She had failed. Again…. No! Please!

A pained gasp escaped Cobalt’s mouth as the explosions hit him. While the protective cloak burning around his body was able to hamper some amount of damage, the raw force of the explosions sent him back. “Gaghh-!”, he hissed as he felt his back collide with a tree. A crack was heard, and the boy wasn’t sure if it came from the tree itself or his body as his adrenaline was through the roof. The brief panic of sustaining wounds and losing sight of his teammates made his flames flicker, the protective cloak disappearing from around his body, like embers in the rain.

He had a knee on the ground, trying to control his breathing. He could still move, although constant waves of pain traversed his body, making his breath sharp and irregular. A quick checkup revealed multiple scrapes on his skin -there was also a small gash on his cheek, slowly oozing blood. ‘Damn it, we weren’t quick enough-!’ There was no doubt that his partners also suffered heavy damage from the attack. He hoped that the demon wouldn’t be able to locate him, Leander or Sophia before they could recover. ’Locate... Wait, locate...!’ Clenching his teeth, Cobalt got up on his feet, regaining his balance as he looked around, confirming the thickness of the dust and anima.

“Y-You two...! Are you both okay...!? Where are you?”, Cobalt cried out, interrupting his call out with a cough because of the dust. “Remember that... Eyes is deaf-! We should be able to... communicate!”

Instead of a proper answer Cobalt would instead hear a loud shriek from Sophia. A loud, angry and desperate cry as she charged blindly into the thickest dust while her anima flared brightly like a beacon in the darkness. She didn’t intend to hide, instead she invited the demon to find her.

Amplification: Defense.

No barrier prepared, Sophia focused her anima to instead fortify her own body. Her eyes wildly scanned every direction as she fully expected an attack. I’m going to gouge its eye out, even if it cuts me in two.

Just as Cobalt had expected, Eyes didn’t appear to react to the noise they made, its one singular eye continuing to scan its environment. The demon’s attention would snap at Sophia’s charge as she exposed herself to its presence. Without hesitation, the demon dashed towards Sophia, its claws swiping directly for her neck. Only this time, the claws would do nothing more than barely graze her skin, hardly enough for the venom to take effect. For a split second, Eyes was left vulnerable.

Letting out another cry, Sophia lunged forward towards the demon, practically hugging it with her working arm and conjured a barrier around herself and the demon, trying to tie herself to it.

“IT’S HERE WITH ME!! BURN ME!!!!” She yelled at Cobalt.

Hearing Sophia’s cry almost made Cobalt forget about his coughing fit, his head snapping in her direction. His muscles tensed despite the pain running through his body, thinking his teammate had been found by the demon. “S-Sophia!?” Little did he know, it wasn’t a cry of pain, but a powerful warcry.

His eyes widened once he heard her shout at him. He took a step in her direction, but momentarily stopped as he properly processed her words, his eyes slowly blinking. “Burn... you...?”

The screeching noise of another cry made its way into his ears, but it wasn’t Sophia. No, the voice this time belonged to Valerie -rather Cobalt’s memory of the sound she had made upon touching his soul flames back when he was less-trained in their usage. “Aaah, a-aghhhh!” Cobalt winced as he heard it again, causing him to freeze in his movements. It had been a brief touch, lasting a second at most, yet it had caused her so much agony. He could still remember how hard she had been gripping onto him because of the pain. Even though it had been an accident, this scene had replayed in his head many times since the quiz at the asylum. If he were to consciously expose someone to enough fire to kill the demon...

He shook his head, not having realized how ragged his breathing had become while he reminisced. “A-Are you crazy!?”, he finally yelled back, a little louder than he was used to. “This’ll kill you!” No, this wouldn’t happen again. “I-I refuse! Just hang on, I-I’m coming to you!” With newfound adrenaline, Cobalt made his way toward Sophia’s voice, clenching his teeth and ignoring his wounds.

There had to be another way.

Hesitation followed by refusal to act after Sophia’s gambit allowed enough time for Eyes to free itself from Sophia’s grasp who, although had admirable defense, hadn’t put enough into her own strength. In that instant, Eyes blinked away, leaving behind an exploding eye.

Frustrated by the demon’s escape, Sophia extended her hand and grabbed the eye it left behind with her barrier. Then with a loud scream she tossed the eye as far as she could.

“Don’t go near me! It already knows my location!” She shouted at Cobalt. “Just, just keep Leo safe. I will, I will defeat it.”

Amplification: Speed.

Focusing her anima on her legs, Sophia charged ahead out of the dusty area. She used refined vision to scan her surroundings and try to find any track of the demon.

Cobalt pursed his lips, pausing for a short moment. He could feel Sophia’s frustration through her shout, but this frustration was slowly making its way to him in turn. But even minor traces of anger would visibly affect his abilities so he needed a few seconds to gather his thoughts.

Breathe through the nose. Exhale through the mouth.

“Leander, are you close?”, he called out, turning his head to try and glance through the screen of dust. His voice returned to its usual neutral tone. He had a feeling Sophia was growing desperate, and that would only endanger her, especially with Eyes going after her.

Leo stirred faintly at the sound of Cobalt calling his name, but the sharp pain in his chest kept him grounded, his breaths shallow and labored. Every inhale sent fresh waves of agony through his ribs, the fractured bones grinding faintly with even the slightest motion. He clutched at his side instinctively, fingers trembling as he fought to stay conscious.

“Close…?” he rasped, the word barely audible. His head tilted slightly, trying to locate Cobalt through the haze of pain and the swirling dust, but his vision blurred and doubled, making it impossible to focus. He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself to concentrate. His tether to Sophia was already broken, and his usual role as a support felt impossibly far away now. Yet, even in his weakened state, the thought of being completely useless gnawed at him.

No. I have to help... somehow...

Gritting his teeth, Leo extended his hand weakly, trying to summon his anima again. He groaned softly in frustration, realizing the extent of his injuries. He couldn’t amplify anyone… not Sophia, not Cobalt- not like this. The thought of them fighting without his support left a hollow ache deeper than the physical pain he endured.

I can’t just lay here. I can’t let them–

Another wave of sharp pain surged, stealing his breath. His body refused to cooperate, forcing him to sink further into the dust-covered ground, his head spinning. He could faintly hear Sophia’s voice in the distance, angry and desperate. Cobalt’s steady, focused tone followed shortly after. A tether reached out towards Cobalt's voice, though simply a means to connect them to each other rather than amplification. Leo could only hope that he would win the fight against the growing darkness creeping at the edges of his vision while this went on.

"Just… hang on…" he whispered, unsure if the words were meant for his friends or himself.

Cobalt’s eyes darted around in search of a visual cue that would help him find Leander; he hadn’t heard the group support’s words and feared for the worst for but a brief moment. He opened his mouth to cry out again but noticed the brief shimmer of a tether making its way towards him. Cobalt let out a sigh of relief; this anima was undoubtedly Leo’s.

Since there were no soul flames surrounding his body, the tether was able to connect to him without any problem, with Cobalt not wasting any time in following it to its source. If Leander opted for a tether instead of vocally responding, this could only mean...

“Leo!” It took a few seconds of jogging along the tether for Cobalt to reach Leander. He crouched down to try and give support to the other boy, helping him up. “You... don’t look too good...”, he stated, as if he didn’t have an oozing gash on his own cheek. “Can... Can you move?”

Leander winced as Cobalt crouched beside him, his hand instinctively clutching his ribs to try and brace against the sharp ache. His breathing was ragged, every word a struggle as he looked up at Cobalt with a faint, apologetic smile. “I’ve... been better…” His voice was hoarse, the pain lacing his tone unmistakable.

As Cobalt helped him into a slightly more upright position, Leo let out a pained grunt, his face contorting with the effort. “Moving’s... not really an option right now, or... not yet,” he admitted, his usually sharp wit dulled by the haze of pain clouding his thoughts. “I think... a few ribs... broken...” He tried to chuckle weakly, but it came out more like a strained wheeze.

Cobalt replied with a dry chuckle of his own. “Yeah, all those explosions were no joke...”

Despite his physical state, Leo’s mind was still racing. He knew he couldn’t fight, couldn’t even amplify his friends properly in this state. But his eyes flickered to Cobalt’s determined face, and he felt a spark of guilt. “Don’t... worry about me... Cobalt,” he rasped, trying to push himself upright but immediately faltering. “Sophia... she needs you more... Eyes... it’ll kill her if she keeps charging in alone...” His words were labored, his fingers weakly gripping Cobalt’s arm as if trying to anchor himself.

“Just... don’t let her do something reckless...” His voice wavered, pain and frustration mixing together. “I’ll... I’ll manage here.”

A small sigh escaped Cobalt’s lips. He knew Leo was right. Now that he knew Leander was safe -well, relatively speaking, he’d need to follow Sophia and try and finish Eyes off before things got dire again. The last thing the trio needed was another set of explosions. “... Understood. Rest up then, in case we need you in a few minutes.”, he said with a hint of a smile.

The air became clear again to Sophia as she left the fog that obstructed her sights. Eyes could be spotted standing atop a tree, its singular eye peeking out of the leaves, surrounded by no more than 5 other eyes. Upon spotting Sophia, the eyes glowed similarly to when they had fired their spikes, but Eyes seemed to join in their endeavor as its eye began to glow too. Only something felt wrong about it, the amount of anima that seemed to be converging onto Eyes appeared far more alarming than the anima gathered within the other eyes.

Looking up from the ground, Sophia’s gaze was locked on onto the demon. Unfortunately it would be hard for her to reach the demon, but she’s not out of options yet. Ever since the asylum quiz she had been practicing a particular technique with her anima. She wasn’t really confident about it yet, but she’s willing to make the Eye into a target practice.

Sophia conjured a small piece of barrier on her hand. Just slightly bigger than her palm. Its uneven shape makes it look like a shard of broken glass. Better yet, It’s also as sharp as one.

She wonders if she could still call it a barrier.

Then she thoughtlessly tosses the sharp barrier towards the demon’s direction. Normally, it wouldn’t even hit it as she didn’t bother to aim it, but immediately after she tossed it Sophia’s hand twirled around before pointing her index finger at the demon as if giving the barrier a command. Like a small homing missile, the sharp barrier followed her hand’s movement, spinning and twisting as it launched itself towards its chosen target and attacked from its side. Sophia seemed to be very keen on aiming at the Eye’s eye.

The sudden change in trajectory would catch Eyes by surprise as it moved in time to avoid the shard from striking its eye, but not fast enough to avoid it entirely as it dug deep into its side.

The glow from the eyes and the demon ceased as it was staggered momentarily. With its awkward claws, it attempted to remove the shard still embedded on its side.

Managing to find his way out of the lingering dust cloud, Cobalt’s eyes darted around until they landed on Sophia. Even through the fog, he had sensed a surge of anima, most likely coming from Eyes, making it pretty obvious it was going for a literal killing move. Though the boy’s brows lifted in surprise at the sight of the barrier shard lodged in the demon’s body, a bit further away on the tree.

“Did you...? No, questions for later.” Taking a stance and minding the tether still attached to him, Cobalt summoned his protective soul flames, although only surrounding his arms with them. “Sorry, it’s the second time I ignored your directives but Leander’s out of commission.”, he spoke up as he approached Sophia, flames dancing with each step. “It’d be best to finish it now, though it looks like you did a number to it already...”

“It’s not done yet.” Sophia said somberly, her eyes were still locked on the demon. She didn’t want to let it escape her sight anymore.

Cobalt kept his eyes on the struggling demon, pondering his next move. Would he have a free opportunity to kill it from a distance? ... Probably not. With nothing to obstruct its movements, Eyes would just dodge. That said, he couldn’t help but notice a lack of eyes in the air, apart from the few that were close to the demon. They’d need to attack it while preventing it from switching places with other eyes.

“... Sophia, do you know how pizza ovens work?”, he simply inquired. His tone was neutral, yet he couldn’t help but smile a little at his dumb idea.

“The big one? Yeah, my grandma had one.” She replied curiously.

“Let’s do that. If you can trap the demon and all the eyes at once, I think I could destroy them all without Eyes teleporting away.”, Cobalt mentioned. The flames around his arms preemptively got larger. He’d need to be quick. “I’ll just need a hole in the front so I can send flames inside.”

“That… I think I can do that.” Sophia nodded. Making a hole in her own barrier wasn’t something she had done before, but as long as it keeps the overall simple shape it should be possible.

“Here I go!” She extended her hand forward and moved her hand repeatedly as if she was holding an orb on her hand. It was the same gesture as the one she used to trap the demon before, but this time it’s more calculated and less rushed. She made the first one with the intent to crush it. This time she simply wanted to trap it. The demon’s surroundings flickered as a round barrier manifested around it, the barrier was quite large so it also trapped the smaller eyes inside it. Then Sophia flicked her index finger backward and a hole the size of a watermelon appeared on the barrier.

“Is this enough?”

“Excellent. Let’s see how that goes.” Raising his hands in front of him, Cobalt focused his fire onto his palms as his gaze locked into the small hole in the shimmering barrier. With how often he practiced lobbing fireballs at small targets, firing through a hole of this size would be no problem.

Anchoring his feet on the ground, Cobalt let out a grunt as he released the fire gathering in his hands, akin to a flamethrower headed directly towards the hole made in Sophia’s barrier. Sweat glistened on his forehead as he wasn’t used to unleashing his flames like that. Constantly expelling projectiles was taxing on his body and anima reserves alike, though the results would hopefully be worth the cost.

With precise aim, the stream of soul flames entered the spherical barrier, which kept them inside and allowed them to burn and consume all the anima inside. But even as the improvised oven combination seemed to work at first glance, Cobalt had his eyes and ears peeled for any signs of the demon escaping. If there was one thing he learned fighting it was that ‘slippery’ wasn’t enough to describe it.

Then came a small surge—the tether connecting Leander to Cobalt had never broken. Upon feeling the disruption caused by Cobalt's anima, Leo focused intently and attempted to enhance him from afar. To his relief, it worked. The amplification reached Cobalt even at their current distance, and Leo clung to the hope that it would make a difference. This singular purpose consumed him, drowning out the pain wracking his body as he concentrated solely on his task.

Cobalt’s eyes briefly widened as he felt a sudden surge of power coursing through him. “Thank you, Leo...”, he mumbled to himself as he redoubled his efforts, teeth clenching as he maintained the roaring flamethrower.

Eyes writhed within the golden furnace, the flames engulfing its form as flames flickered and bounced around the barrier. The shell of the furnace soon began to crack and shatter as the flames intensified.

The eyes surrounding Eyes popped, but the demon, hardly standing, lunged at Cobalt with desperate swiftness and power, knocking the student to the ground.

“Whoa-!”, Cobalt let out in surprise as he felt his back hit the grass below. He had raised his arms in defense, the amplified flames directly making contact with Eyes.

Eye's form began to melt like wax, its claws constantly regenerating, fighting against the flames. As the demon stood atop Cobalt, it swung its claws down to end this incessant flame.

Cobalt hissed as he felt the demon’s claws slash at him through his flames. It hurt, and he could already feel his arms slowly getting affected by the numbness venom, but the boy remained calm.

“... You’re exactly where I want you to be...!” Anima surged through Cobalt’s body as he used physical amplification to increase his strength. Fighting through both pain and venom, he wrapped his arms around the struggling demon to tightly keep it in place. At the same time, he fully activated his flaming cloak, engulfing both Eyes and himself in the wine-colored, soul-rending fire. Thanks to Leander’s tether further amplifying Cobalt’s Art, the initial burst of flames was much more intense than normal, although the tether itself soon burned away.

Stepping next to the two wrestling figures, Sophia held her flashlight in her right hand, a slim rectangular sharp barrier anchored on where light should be coming out. Making it looks like a yellow translucent giant box cutter.

“DON’T HURT MY FRIEND!!!” The girl screamed as she lunged forward and stabbed the demon in the eye.

Sophia pierced her makeshift blade into the melting demon's eye. Mixing with the fire once more the shard would break inside of the eye, piercing it further inside. Eventually the struggle would end, and the demon would drop lifelessly, its body molten as the anima it released too was burnt by the human pyre that was Cobalt.

The timing was fortunate, as soon after the demon was slain, all the fire disappeared from around Cobalt. He looked paler than a few minutes earlier. This, in addition to all the small gashes around his body made him look like someone who just experienced a car crash. “... I think I literally burned through all my anima reserves, and I can't feel my arms.”, he plainly stated with a deadpan expression, weakly flexing a single finger. Looked like he'd need to wait for the venom's effect to wear off.

Cobalt lifted his legs, trying to get a grip on the ground to get up, but with his arms being out of commission, it only made for a very awkward display, like a fish out of the water. “... Can... Can you help me up, please?”, he voiced, head shifting toward Sophia.

“On it!” Approaching Cobalt’s side, Sophia tried to pull him by the hand, but her arms would instead tremble greatly before she too, collapsed on the ground face first next to Cobalt. Once the adrenaline wore off the exhaustion just hit her at the same time.

“Sorry, I think I did it too.”

“... Leo? Help...”

Through the clearing smoke a few minutes later, Leander emerged, his body trembling but still standing. Despite the agony from his broken ribs and his body screaming in protest, he pushed forward, his anima coursing through him, amplifying his legs just enough to stagger toward his friends. His arms hung awkwardly at his sides, but his resolve burned stronger than the pain.

Breathing heavily, he surveyed the scene—Cobalt and Sophia sprawled on the ground, both utterly drained, and the molten remains of the demon smoldering nearby. Leander’s lips twisted into a grim smile. “Guess... it’s my turn,” he muttered through gritted teeth.

Focusing what little anima he had left, he amplified his strength just enough to lift his two exhausted teammates. With a hiss of pain, he crouched, hooked an arm around each of them, and heaved them upward. His knees nearly buckled under the combined weight, but he forced himself to stay steady. Each step felt like dragging a mountain, yet he pressed on, carrying them out of the clearing.

“Rest up... both of you,” Leander rasped, his voice strained. “I’ll... get us somewhere safe. No more surprises today.” The pain flared with every breath, every movement, but he refused to stop. All that mattered now was ensuring they were out of danger… and so he hobbled... right back to where they started.