Fandom &nbsp; Soul Eater: F.A.T.E

EmperorsChosen · Nov 21, 2023

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Eloise Keegan - Hallerbos Forest, Belgium
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As Midori said his peace, a sly grin shone on Elly's face as his golem form melded around the enemy pair. Elly was far from content. It was a show, rather than a representation of how she felt. In most cases, Elly would have done the part of Maria in triggering the ego of the opponent, though in this circumstance the witch did just fine. It was to piss Royal Pain off further, nothing more.

The rev of the chainsaw came next, and Elly observed the panic in the woman's eyes, the way the tail of her soul fluttered as death invited her. Unfortunately, though, the woman was far from done.

Elly's smile disappeared as the meister twisted her body, allowing her arm to be ripped asunder. There was a subtle wince of her eyes, a sign of displeasure at the gory sight as flesh tore and blood splattered. Were it not for Midori's position, she would've been in the splash zone.

Then there was the witch-hunter's escape plan, which involved--shedding? Elly wondered if there was any human left. If she took hold of her tail, would the woman detach it? What followed the woman was just as quick, a blur to the physical eyes, however Elly could see with her Super Soul Perception. There was no longer a soul tangled in Midori's mass. There were two, Royal Pain for one and the other had to be the weapon.
Elly watched them go briefly, before turning her attention to the group.

Elly felt the weakness before the pain, her legs turning to mush as her arms felt heavy. She stumbled slightly, easing herself against a torn tree for support.

She watched as Zosar immediately responded to the blood that seemed to hold acidic properties. What a revolting creature, toxic in every sense of the word. He asked for a plan and Elly made a soft sound of discomfort as she adjuster herself against the trunk.

"Make sure your skin isn't melting off, get Maria's dolls ,and pull back," Elly replied simply, pausing, but elaborating further as if predicting some manner of pushback. "I can hardly move and am useless in any engagement we enter. Nay, a liability. Maria is at least partly depleted in her reserves. Zosar is injured and also likely sore, but is otherwise combat ready with Wren, as well as Midori. Our element of surprise is gone. We have no way of keeping up with Royal Pain any longer. On top of that, this Lady Crimson is referenced to be superior to her, meaning even at our prime, it wouldn't be a guarantee we can even keep up with her."

Her voice was stern, clear, listing off disadvantage after disadvantage as she saw them, slow enough for them all to follow, but firing them off quickly enough that it emphasized she wanted to be gone from here quickly.

"I very much doubt Lady Crimson doesn't know her ally got into a bout with us. She now will be assessing how to proceed: continue with the original mission and pursue Stein... or circle back and finish off the shambling DWMA agents that almost killed one of Eros's 'premium' golems. You all did fantastic in turning a death sentence to a victory. I'd rather not give her the opportunity to reverse that effort."

RedArmyShogun

RedArmyShogun · Nov 22, 2023

Maria Mayer - Hallerbos Forest, Belgium

Watching the trickery of the lizard golem and her twister weapon, and the escape and acid blood, she was less pleased to see the enemy escaping and confused as to why Zosar decided to strip into nothing, showing how short lived his memory was, though, judging by the rate of burn. If only she had lime or baking soda. That might work, yes? She asked herself. Still, it would help to prevent him from stripping yet more, local officials may press charges or file a complaint. His earlier remarks on her long forgotten by the outlandish display before her. "-Penultimate." She said, summoning magic to her right hand, a simple spell upon getting closer that shimmered over Zosar as it had earlier before. "Penultimate. I use wind and aspects of fire or water for temperature control to protect self and others within a limited range from elemental discomfort and contamination. Though it has its limits, I cannot mend what has already been lost. So, your clothing, well, had I been here faster..."

With Elly's next words, she no longer paid any attention to Zosar as she stretched out with her threads, placing seals upon the ground as she searched out for her self same Mana to find Alicia,

With a wave of her hand, she looked over and Elly and mostly talking to herself continued. "I purposefully don't need to recite or call out my spells, but it may help you all know what I'm doing to you in the future." Finding Alicia, the four smaller dolls would be a harder prospect, but one she had to do. Waiting for the human sized doll to come over to the group with a few more spells and commands, she then stares briefly at it, removing the cloak that hid a battle tested doll with scars, dried blood and steel armor fashioned akin to a knight, with high quality workmanship. It was somewhat obvious why the doll was kept under the cloak, this would either make half of the public shout out how cool it was, and the other half to scream in a panic. With the dark blue cloak in hand, she simply walked over to Zosar and handed it off to him. "It will do for now."

"Royal Pain, Lady Crimson. What names to be chosen. The first was not regal by any measure and the pain seems to be from that she gives others or causes to her own. Is Lady Crimson worth the name? Though if she is stronger... Unless I can play out things better than here and now... Retreat may be the best option. Running away and coming after us would be another matter altogether, I still have capacity to fight, but I am not very confident in being able to deal with these alone. Do our weapons have opinions?

Interactions:

EmperorsChosen (Elly)

Sir Les Paul (Midori)

The Regal Rper (Zosar)

Haze- (Wren)

Sir Les Paul · Nov 22, 2023

Hallerbos Forest, Belgium

ATTENTION, ATTENTION!

Not long after the final words uttered by Maria following the apparent decision not to pursue the golem known as Royal Pain, a wide sweeping broadcast across all DWMA comms hit the ears of each agent present. Even those transformed into weapons were capable of receiving the emergency broadcast.

"CALLING ALL AGENTS WITHIN THE HALLERBOS FOREST AREA! These instructions include those within the municipality of Halle, Flemish Brabant, and Walloon Brabant as well as any further out within range. Enemy contact has been made within the Pygmalion located at coordinates 50.711772175612175, 4.295961631018018. As of last confirmed census, eighteen DWMA agents have initiated combat. One target confirmed Astila Stein, the other an unknown female operative. Reports claim targets were in also in combat with each other.

Instructions are to provide back-up to the agents present. Both Eastern and Western Branches of the DWMA have approved platoons consisting of twenty-four more agents en route. Do not allow either threat to escape, kill or capture.

This is not a drill or training exercise. Neutralizing Astila Stein and any partners are our primary objective. All agents involved, regardless of rank or branch, will be credited with the elimination of the eighth slot in the DWMA Most Wanted list if achieved."

Haze-

Sir Les Paul · Nov 22, 2023

Midori☆Hoshi

"Dark Star"

Species Death Golem
Partner Eloise Keegan
Rank Two-Star

Location Hallerbos Forest, Belgium
Mission Belgium Blues
Status Focused

Tags: The Regal Rper RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Haze-

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The pearlescent pile of goop that had shielded Elly from both the blades of Nikka and the toxic fluids from Roya did in fact take some time to return to its normal state. Not because the shift itself was time-consuming, but because the form required some humanoid semblance before it could yet again return to flesh and blood. There were several disadvantages to this form that Midori rarely explained to anyone. One of import right now is that while he was an amorphous shield taking on a human shape, he just plain could not hear anything said by his teammates. This wasn't always the case; if he kept himself humanoid in shape, he could still use most of his senses. Until he returned to that humanoid shape, however, he was mostly deprived of his senses.

The first and only thing he heard once he was in his regular form was Maria. Anything said before that was lost on him. The sorceress questioned the naming conventions of the golems and posed the question as to whether or not they should pursue. It took Midori a moment to regain his composure. No matter how many times, although it was admittedly limited due to his distaste of the form, he shifted into that golem monstrosity, recovering from total sensory deprivation was always jarring. He even lacked Soul Perception in that form. A double-edged sword. His marble flesh had no weakness to spiritual attacks, but he also couldn't use any. A flaw that had apparently been mended in later iterations.

"We're named after colors... golems are, I mean,", Midori said, offering some explanation to the naming convention. "Unless he's changed his methods. My codename was apparently White Death. He probably picked Royal because it means blue..." Midori went on.

"I don't care what you four do, I intend on pursuing them even if it's al--" started, making his original stance and determination to see this Lady Crimson clear. Before he could he finish, he was cut off by the broadcast.

He listened to it in its entirety.

"Eighteen agents in combat... still requesting more. Platoons of twenty four mean this place will be flocked with well over fifty or even a hundred agents in the next half-hour," he mumbled out loud, mulling over the new information. He pulled out his phone only to see the DWMA had already forcibly placed a marker on his maps application. It wasn't terribly far from their current location. A hop, skip, and a jump away. There was a chance, even, that some of the wind blasts from Royal Pain and her weapon had affected the Pygmalion.

"I'm still going. I doubt even those two, especially if they're in opposition, can fight nearly twenty high-ranking agents on their own. Astila is strong, but she's no Fredrick," he told them flatly, explaining what he knew of the renegade Stein. "I admit that I can't imagine Lady Crimson winning against her alone, either--if she is who I think she is. Then again, there's no telling what has changed in half a decade," he told them, having considered if he truly thought his Ao would ever be a match for a monster like Astila alone.

"If no one wants to go with me, that's fine. After our encounter, the intel we have would sufficiently cover disregarding those orders," he told them, outright giving them an out.

"I don't care who the leader here is and I'm not coercing you as a mentor. I'm telling you that I'm going and you can decide to follow. If you are, decide quick," he told them, still flat and staunch in his decision to proceed right into danger.

"None of us may be at our best, but don't go making excuses. I can tell now that Zose is fine aside from his burns, Wren could keep going, and Elly can fight with me from a range or just use her eyes to keep tabs on the fight and relay information. Maria already said she had the capacity to fight, but she could also just fly and survey," Midori told them, giving them his assessment of the situation.

"Head west if you want to retreat. Otherwise, I'm heading east to those coordinates with or without," he said, offering them his final ultimatum on the matter.

The Regal Rper · Nov 22, 2023

Zosar | Hallerbos Forest, Belgium

Way he saw it Crimson could have stopped by already and they'd all be dead. Wouldn't even know it.

He’d watched Jõse, his parents, Hiroshi clear out an entire group of obstacles in a minute on operations that required them to hit and raid a location or eliminate serious threats that would hamper whatever work fledglings like them could do.

Sure, that was years ago, when he had been starting out. Before K.O. Jo joined and others, but it didn't change the impression it left on him. You never forget seeing your superiors wipe the floor with the enemy like they were nothing, or go toe to toe with opponents you struggled with when you thought your power exceeded theirs as a inexperienced chaval only to have it proven to you either when they pulled up or when you assumed erroneously the strength of one's power was all that mattered in a fight and not the skill to execute it.

Fact was if Crimson showed up he knew they would be dead.

Fact she hadn’t rose the question of what it really meant.

Royal had shown the great gap in their differences, it didn't really need pointing out but he took it more that Elly was speaking for the sake of stating the facts clearly in case someone was still insisting they move forward.

Even as Maria worked her magic and the flaring pain at various points along his body ebbed to a random pulse if he moved that part of his body or if a breeze touched the reddening flesh, he theorized already there were reasons Crimson wasn't making her way here already.

Didn't care to bother, mission was far more important, there was something that he couldn't foretell behind it, or Astilla was much more trouble now when she was fighting without Royal’s assistance.

Either way he didn't really care. If she stayed the hell away he was fine.

If she didn't…well, one thing at a time.

Leaving was the most logical course of action. He didn't argue with Elly there, and wouldn't bother. If they were going to leave, it should have already been happening in his opinion. They should have been moving now while talking. Though Elly’s state was something to consider. Sure, he was sore, in a lot of pain too, but he had pushed through similar growing up and reliving his training in Midori's home country. He would be fine.

Didn't mean the others would be ready to leap by extension and he knew that.

A hand flexed and he checked the digits and back to make sure none of the burns were there. He had ripped the gloves off first and his hands had come with no burns thankfully. Not only would that have severely fucked him in holding Wren, he knew for a fact the hands were a Meister's greatest assets. Lose those and you were screwed.

Lady Lucky really wasn't treating him like her bitch all the time after all then.

"I very much doubt Lady Crimson doesn't know her ally got into a bout with us.”

Doubt wasn't even a factor. The woman knew for sure. No one missed something that big unless they were miles and miles out.

Maria's explanation on what she said her spells wasn't something he hadn't figured out on his own. It was basically the same thing as what mages of his old group would do. Though to avoid tipping opponents off they came up with codes, signals, signs that changed and merely meant their ally was about to use their magic to assist or act in support of one of them. The really good teams, like his had been, or his mother working with his dad or others, didn't need those anymore.

Maria was new though. For him to get used to her skillset he had to learn a bit more about her, like the Enlighteners encouraged all their Meister and Weapon members to do with their Mage Division. It wasn't a request, it was a requirement. Every team had a mage, one that played a supportive role or could play an offensive or defensive to cover something the group was missing either in personality, tactics, logistics, whatever it was.

Frankly he thought it was something DWMA could use more of. In EAT the two sides weren’t that prone to fighting together, even with the upper tier students. There were interactions but what he had seen had never been enough.

Maybe it was biased because of who his mother had been to the Enlighteners Mage Division but he had grown up interacting with many Witches, most of whom had deferred some form of respect to his mom. He understood there were logistics as to why DWMA and the Guild didn't do pairings between the branches so young, there were different things each side studied and approached uniquely, but still, it was something he thought could be done way more often in the earlier ranks like it had been with him when he was starting out.

Would really throw a chink in all those shady rumors One Stars hear starting out or go into thinking and carry if they never got much exposure to the other half.

As Maria summoned her doll and he listened to Elly go on, his mind turned to Midori.

His friend's whole insistence had been tied to the relation with Eros, a crucial part of his past, his life, and from what he could understand, he couldn't fault him for feeling so strongly.

Could however if it had gotten anyone severely injured where out here you were basically shit out of luck.Hell, if it weren't for a bit of luck he would be severely injured.

He was aware Maria was nearing but his thoughts on what might have been lingered as he realized his stroke of luck had been perfectly timed.

Watching Midori shift back into his human form was its own bizarre process of understanding.

This is what Eros did. When he got his hands on you, he altered you. Whether it was turning you into his puppet or making you his obedient, loyal servant, the shapeshifter really was as the bits of Enlightener Intel had it, a skilled manipulator of the mind and body.

He didn't feel any sadness for Midori once he reformed. All he felt was a general understanding. Even as he spoke, explaining Eros likely old methods, it was info he could use for whatever benefit it may have in the future. The dots were connecting, Midori's story was making a lot more sense.

What didn't was his determination to see this thing through to the end. Not at least in the full light.

If Royal and Crimson were both former DWMA agents and Midori was still pushing to go, then there was clearly information he was leaving out again.

A disappointment really, considering he and the others had put their lives on the line to go forward with something he had insisted on in the first place.

That's where the alarm cut in, pulling out his own phone to check those very coordinates mentioned and how far it was from their location.

He weighed in on what he could bring if he did decide to go. There was no question he could still fight. Burns aside he had been shot, knifed, bruised, bloodied, and still kept going because giving up meant giving in and letting death catch up to you.

That wasn't wasn't his way.

He could gamble his life on some things, but he would never do it without believing in what he was doing and without a certainty he could twist the hand of Luck and get his way in the end.

This though...this just didn't seem worth it.

The message however was clear, if they were bringing out this many agents for one Astila Stein his theory had been right, fighting her would have been instant death.

Point was, Midori's point at so many being there and the fact they could fight sounded more like a way to poke holes in reasons they didn't want to go.

If the jackass weren't so deadset, he wouldn't be thinking about it himself.

Then again, his choice didn't affect only him.

He thought about Wren. His decision might affect hers too. She, like him, had seen partner after partner, failure after failure, and if the acid had crippled him in some way or put him out of commission for a couple weeks it would mean loss of progress for them both.

Worse it could have meant having to find new partners all over again, a possibility that would have infuriated him for ever allowing himself to feel that back up coming was a justifiable reason for agreeing after his initial refusal.

Like Elly, he wasn't pleased with how things had went but he was pleased they were still breathing.

Right now as Midori spoke there was something he said that tipped Zosar off and drew his mind to an earlier hypothesis.

‘Half a decade’, ‘no telling what has changed’. It was all signs that he was still not saying things.

It was honestly kind of shitty. Putting a choice that to a situation he hadn't bothered to explain to anyone except save Elly, since she knew about his form's capabilities.

Right now the stance, not his lack of clarification, reminded him of someone.

Himself, on that day.

There was a difference though.

He hadn't given an ultimatum. It was: I'm going, you leave without.

He hadn't waited and hadn't cared to. There had been no time.

There had been a stand, similar to this-- brief, seconds, a pause. Arguing, instead of a decision to choose, it had been why he was choosing wrong. Why he chose now to be the rash impulsive Rapture that twisted the script and did something unexpected or almost insane to flip the cards.

Except the cards he had been flipping that day wouldn't affect anyone but his, his friend the Eclair, and her group while his got to go without any losses.

He left. Unlike this group, his team hadn’t been quick enough to stop him even while they had yelled at him on their private comms to return.

He hadn't. He knew arguing with Midori would be just like that. Ripped the comms out and moved on like Midori was clearly planning to do now. He could see it like he had foreseen his potential end with the DWMA.

Only difference was Midori was giving a window to see if anyone would go with before he truly left.

They could have chosen to come, they hadn't.

He didn't blame them for it.

Part of him said that was a lie.

Part of him said he deserved what he got.

Part of him said one day, Lady Luck would cash in, and his way would be at the end of the road.

Somewhere deep down, that thought amused him because he knew it was a lie. Just as his soul was chaos incarnate he would always do everything in his power to flip the script.

He could have chosen to stay but then an Eclair grandchild would have died, his friend, all of them would have died and he would have been culpable for turning a blind eye.

Did Midori know that? Was he playing some sort of appeal to emotion or was this genuine? He knew he would leave without them.but how much was the wait, a test to see if they would come or not. He knew so much already as a mentor, but how much of his life did DWMA really know aside from the association to the Enlighteners. There were years of things he had done under so many different aliases in so many different countries, and all of them were contracted with the Inc, it would take far too much time to dig into all that encrypted information, and ultimately for someone like him, it wasn't worth it.

Finding out if Lady Crimson was someone he knew or not, apparently was though. It made sense with the previous statements, that Midori felt he knew her. There was a sense of familiarity there in his words that was easy to tell. Another connection to his past and Eros.

He couldn't blame him for it. Not really. Not when he had felt the intense hatred in him or the underlying layer of conflicting emotions in the moment of their Chain Resonance before it had ended.

“ I'm going” he said it with a sigh. “Look, all I ask is after this, you tell me what about Lady Crimson has you so set on meeting her, if not that, tell me what she's capable of so I don't get killed out there and haunt your ass for however long you live. Same applies to the Stein. I know who she is, knows some of what she's capable of, I don't know everything. If you do, spill it .”

Whatever the hell his friend wanted to see, he would help him. Owed him that at least.

He hoped it would be worth it. Wasn't even sure what the fuck he could even do up there. Wasn't like he was the fastest person here. Royal had proven that, so frankly he has no idea what agreeing meant he was getting himself into.

All he knew is that he wanted to see what on earth pushed Midori to go this far.

His piece said he shifted his attention off Midori to Wren. About to speak only to pause at Maria’s offering. The cloak.

Looking at it, then her, his brow cocked, he gave her a momentary look of curiosity.

Was his wardrobe really something to worry about? Had she not been exposed to a few ruined articles of clothing in combat?

In their business tattered clothes was normal. Common courtesy kept you from looking. He'd cleaned wounds as a kid before he started out on the field. First Aid training. Did their enemy just not run off butt naked seconds ago?

Shouldn't she also be used to this from Ark? He never wore a shirt much on field because his shirts tensed to catch fire.

In the span of a few seconds of staring at her with a look of silent consideration and curiosity, none of which was hostile or confused but hard to read, he cracked the smallest smile.

“Thanks but I'm good. At worst it'll irritate the wounds again. I'll take it after we deal with this though.” Because it was extremely unlikely there would be spare clothes where they were going.

“Wren, what's your answer partner? If you don't want to go, I'll understand.”

Wouldn't change his answer if that was the case. Would certainly change his involvement

Mentions:

EmperorsChosen

Interactions:

Merciless Medic · Nov 23, 2023

Sara Middleton

Date: September 19, 2067
Location: South Central Avenue, Downtown Los Angeles, California
Interactions: Eva, Nadia, Dani, Adrian, Raph
Mentions: N/A

As Sara followed, her nose was deadset on the individual, following his trail closely without being too close to him physically where she’d be spotted.

Then… The mother of all twists…

In terms of locations at least.

The motherfucker jumped down into a courtyard within the mall, the food and madness hitting her nose like smelling salts. Even without her spiritual senses, she could smell blood and she groaned. Over the comms, she spoke of her findings. “Physically, blood and pancakes are coming from this food courtyard. Spiritually, it smells like there is a lot more stolen blood than just the man we were chasing tonight. I think there were a lot more murders and they all just convened here. The place also smells of madness.”

She waited for a response, her grip on Eva’s handle tightened as she glared at the people down below. Nadia gave her thoughts and then orders. She looked at Nadia, concern in her gaze. “While I do think we have murderers in there, I don’t think those cops know. I don’t think they’re being corrupt… Nevermind, I'll find proof when we get in there. Just don't try and hurt them.” While she had no evidence, she was going to find out. She would have to give them an up-close sniff to dispose of the thought that they were in on this, too.

Closing her eyes, she felt like she was no better than the April Fools’ dolls that destroyed countless lives that day.

Nadia gave her orders, and she froze.

Breathing heavily, she maintained her resonance with Eva and jumped down after Nadia began brandishing Dani as a weapon.

She noticed that Nadia wasn’t actually aggressing, but was just trying to scare them while going after one person, then defend herself if they tried to fight back. Maybe she could slip in and sniff out those who were actually innocent and hope the lingering scent of madness and murder wouldn’t stick to them. Maybe she can sniff out those who weren’t corrupted and help them understand what’s going on.

Slipping down and going near the cops, she made a quick sniff while talking to them, keeping her arms up and her weapon away from them. “We're with the LAPD! There's murdering cultists here. We are only here for them, so don't do anything crazy.” Hopefully… Hopefully they didn’t fight back.

If they do… Death forgive her…

Merciless Medic · Nov 23, 2023

Raphael Valerias

Date: September 19, 2067
Location: South Central Avenue, Downtown Los Angeles, California
Interactions: Sara, Eva, Nadia, Dani, Adrian
Mentions: N/A

The fact that there could’ve been a 24/7 breakfast joint did not occur to Raphael, and he pretty much laughed when Adrian brought it up. “Huh, good thinking- huh, what?” Adrian asking if he can’t scale a 40 foot building had him deadpanning. He felt like his abilities were being questioned, and his pride spurned. “Do I look like a meister or weapon to you?” He cleared his throat and closed his eyes briefly to control his anger, his tone evening out again. “No, mages can’t just scale a building like that. I’d have to take a tree like our buddy there in order to climb up that building and I’m not physically built for things beyond running and jumping over low obstacles and fences, but I really am not taking that route. No, I’ll just go around.” He tried his best to make his words not sound too harsh, but he was sure he angered Adrian anyway.

It wasn’t like he wouldn't have been able to do it, he just knew he was going to slow them all down attempting to climb that thing and he would honestly just prefer to run around the mall. Not like he'd admit that, anyway.

He left to run around then enter the building to try and meet up with the runner, it didn’t matter as they all convened at one spot and Raph kept himself hidden, watching those in the courtyard through the windows.

An asian breakfast place.

Raphael groaned. “Man, it all would smell great if our sniffer didn’t also smell blood coming from the place, spiritually or otherwise.” He was starting to get hungry.

He wondered if he could just have a little taste…

No, no, they were on a mission. Honestly, it had been ages since he was on a mission with meisters and weapons, he had to up his game.

Then, Nadia gave her orders.

“Uh, what now? Okayyy… Kind of a terroristy thing to do.” While they were the enemy, he still felt a little weird. He ran around the courtyard, placing anchor runes on any doorways that led outside and activated his chains, chaining up the doors that would prevent anyone from leaving. “Alright, doorways are sealed.” He said in the comms so Nadia could enter the premises. Though, he didn’t take into account that she likely already had.

Now… He had to get inside… Somehow...

“Fuck, I did not think this through.” He had to break his chains to open a door and reassemble the chains behind him. Now, he was inside the courtyard and he noticed Sara trying to confront some cops.

He blinked, unsure what he was supposed to be doing now, but he guessed he had to just suppress those who fought.

Whenever he saw someone go in and attack Nadia or even Adrian, he'd throw a long length of chain at them to wrap them in a slight lasso and pull them back.

Merciless Medic · Nov 23, 2023

Michael M. Moreau

Mission: Disturbance in Qena w/

Date: September 20th, 2067
Location: Campsite -> Digsite of Eastern Shrine, Qena, Egypt

Feng wanted to split up, and seemed amenable to not wanting to shoot the Anpu. That was good at least. Aki’s naive-seeming words though had him wryly grinning. Ohh, youth…

Gauss, however, wasn’t willing to spread out. That was a given, especially after Annika said there might possibly be survivors. Though, given the harshness of Egypt and the attack, it was likely they didn’t survive. He didn’t have his hopes up.

Visiting the temple it is, and he would guide them to the digsite. The more methodical method of having the team go in a diamond and having designated points though had him nodding his head with an impressed expression. Whoever put him through the ringer really did do a good job, if not a bit stuffy. But he couldn’t complain. He felt much safer knowing that this leader knew what he was doing with his comrades.

When Michael entered the digsite and avoided the shambling dead as much as he could, he couldn’t help but take in with awe at the digsite. It was always such an honor seeing such majestic pieces of artwork - even if it were made by slaves possibly - hold their form after millennia.

However, as they walked in, his eyes fell on the letter immediately and - upon reading it to himself briefly - he closed his eyes and took a moment in silence.

“Our tomb raider Evans is likely dead. No man can survive without water for longer than a week and even less than that in Egypt’s harsh heat regardless if we’re in a temple, and he only had supplies that lasted him until the ninth. As for the other two…” He trailed off, not finishing that sentence. He looked at the splattered blood trail leading down the tunnel leading to the right. Then, his eyes caught sight of the translations on the wall.

“That blood doesn't look fresh. Don't get rash and run off now. Our quarry won't be the only ones dead if you do that, since the way ahead is quite dangerous. If you want to go forward, I’ll have to safely disarm some traps and - if you ever have to go further without me, knowing what to look for and how to disarm them would be crucial to your survival. I would ask that one of you take a picture of the translation on the wall. That might prove useful for giving an idea of what we’re dealing with, and we can worry about translating it on our own time and not on someone’s borrowed time. Where to?” He looked towards Gauss, his expression unnaturally stoic to hide his mourning for a fellow tomb raiding friend.

Once everyone was done reading the note, he went to take the knife and pocket the papers, so he may be able to preserve Evans' words.

Merciless Medic · Nov 23, 2023

Noah Wiley

Date: September 20, 2067
Location: Campsite -> Digsite of Eastern Shrine, Qena, Egypt
Interactions: Gauss, Arkayis, Annika, Wes, Aki, Feng, Ark, Moreau
Mentions: N/A

Noah’s eyes seemingly glazed over at the talking and more talking. Of course, he listened to what Moreau had to say about his answer to his question and Gauss’s ideas and orders, smirking slightly at the mention of Scooby-Doo.

A classic.

Though, learning about how the attack possibly happened had piqued Noah’s interest. How did this former monster hunter figure all that out? It looked so muddled to him.

Whatever, looks like he had to “level up” his tracking skill.

Aki’s annoying remarks about this temple sounding ‘fun’ had him squeezing his eyes shut. Kudos to Moreau for not reacting to that, though he couldn’t help but wonder if the guide was annoyed or tuned it out like an annoying gnat.

Standing beside Gauss as he took the left flank, he pulled up his arms and rested his hands against the back of his head by interlocking his fingers, letting the hot breeze at least attempt to clear out the smoldering heat that stained his armpits.

Was his scalp sweating? He cringed.

He pulled out a highly absorbent wash cloth, poured some of his water on it from a thermos with ice cubes in it (courtesy to Moreau saying they should pack something with insulation to keep the outside heat from spoiling cold water), and set the wash cloth on his head, draping it over and letting the cool water drip down his neck.

Ahhh, that hit the spot.

He wasn’t needed for the trip there, but still stayed ready just in case he needed to transform.

The digsite really reminded him of nearly perfectly preserved shrines in video games, so to see this in real life piqued his interest. How did it survive for all these years? It looked like someone had been taking care of it recently.

Considering the Anpu were afoot… It left him wondering if the Anpu were responsible for its upkeep.

That was when they walked inside the place and his eyes immediately saw the blood. Concern immediately flooded him, but Moreau’s interest in the letter had his interest pushed towards the note. He read it, then pulled up his phone to take a picture of it so he had a copy of it. In fact, he had taken the liberty of taking pictures of most journal entries, manifests, and any other written things he found, as well as tracks and trails.

The only thing he didn’t take a picture of was the body. He didn’t want that on his cache.

Upon hearing Moreau say something about the writing on the wall, he pulled up his phone to take a picture of that, too. He felt almost gross that he was desecrating the place by taking pictures but it wasn’t like he was going to show these pictures on his stream.

He looked to Gauss, wondering where to even go. Though, considering Evans likely took a left and an obvious blood trail went right, he hummed in thought. “The left has more traps ‘n’ we’ll likely see Evans. The right has an unknown ‘n’ we might not see many traps, as whoever w’s injured likely didn’t care ‘bout how many traps they set off. I dunno if it was someone who's injured though, could be that guard that awoke from what that letter said, 'n' if that's the case, the traps may not be recklessly set off. Evans’ letter said somethin’ ‘bout not havin’ the relic gauntlets anymore, so goin' to see him might not be a good idea, especially if Moreau's sure he's dead. No offense, of course.” He looked at Moreau to direct that at him, figuring he must be feeling pretty bad about a comrade. “After this is all said ‘n’ done, I’m sure someone ‘r ourselves can get the bodies out, right?” He looked at Gauss, hoping he didn’t toe too far over the line. “Since the Anpu’re Anubis’ peeps, if we show that we respect the dead, maybe that’d help in keepin’ the Anpu off our backs?” He was surely hoping it would, but he wasn’t going to bet his life on it.

Merciless Medic · Nov 23, 2023

Alek

Date: January 15, 2067
Location: Myremeke Mines, Daedolon Island
Interactions: Shiro, Astor
Mentions: N/A

Alek’s eyes deadpanned as Astor went on a tirade against Shiro for being rude. Why did everyone have to have such touchy egos? He wasn’t about to get between them and their stupid feud. Honestly, he was very close to taking the golden ring off Astor’s hair himself if it weren’t for his attempt at having patience. Those sexy ladies at the therapist wing would be fucking proud of him-

His patience plummeted as the mines came alive with scurrying ants. And they were huge.

A lot larger than he was accustomed to coming from ants, but considering scorpions were this big or bigger in the Nevada desert, he found himself not really caring too much.

His eyes squeezed shut as Astor asked in a condescending tone, and he snapped. His volatile soul flared, letting some of his constraints go as he yelled at Astor. “I don’t care what beef you have with Hoshi boy over there but you are NOT going to talk to me like that! Now, make a bait and lead with your deathdamn gold hair ring so we can get inside without getting us lost or killed, or I can do it myself!” He spoke with contempt, sounding like a completely different person, this side of him not having been seen since his days in the DWMA as a hotheaded, impatient asshole. This was not the chill demeanor he gave earlier throughout their entire trip, the only inkling of it was his bitter remark towards Aegis when they were still in that repurposed mage tower.

He created bandages out of his white blood, readying himself to grab Astor and Shiro and hop on an ant… Or take what’s in Astor’s hair without care if it tugged on his hair or not.

He was so, so close to just wrapping Astor up in these deathdamned bandages and using the entire werewolf as a bait and lead.

Sir Les Paul · Nov 23, 2023

Downtown LA

It was unfortunate that Sara was not on the mission in Romania. If she was, she might have learned from Gauss' that flashing a badge--or in this case, announcing your cops--so quickly could prove to be a mistake.

Following her abrupt announcement, a mild Madness Wavelength flared in the area. Not a powerful one, such as the outburst Adrian had at the Fool's Festival, nor did it seem like it radiated off of one individual. Instead, it permeated and pulsed off of nearly every individual in the food court. It was not a specific type of Madness, either. A general, low-level Madness Wavelength that would take ample time to truly seep into the psyche of any agent, but could easily eat away at the unprotected minds of civilians. Those with collars and brooches would be all but immune to this affect. Despite that inherent resistance to the madness wavelength, it would still be obvious--with or without Soul Perception. The food court wreaked of madness.

In the immediate areat, there might have been twenty-five patrons total, including three people working the pancake stand. Of them, twenty-two total stood up to face Sara, and the madness that radiated from them was the most intense, if only a little. No reply was made, no words were said, but change in atmosphere was plain as day. Moments later, roughly half of the patrons pulled out firearms, all small arms though of various calibers. Others pulled out their own weaponry, ranging from large bowie knives to concealable clubs. Sara had just poked a bear and the bear was about to swipe back.

The sounds of gunfire all trained on Sara echoed through the air, coming from a large, sweeping range due to the spread out size of the food court. Worse off, it appeared that at least two of the vendors were in on this. Whilst once ducked out to hide in the back, the other two reached under their counter for their own weapons. One with a modified AK-47--ignoring the fact such would be incredibly difficult to acquire in California to begin with. The other a sawed-off, double-barrel shotgun that had cleared seen better days.

Nadia would not be happy.

Haze- · Nov 23, 2023

Wren
Hallerbos Forest, Belgium

She felt drenched head-to-toe in blood, half-expecting to open her eyes and see Royal split clean down the middle. Instead, she heard the scampering footfalls of a lizard running with its tail tucked between the legs. Wren didn’t even bother to look at the carnage, just sighing, letting the engine of the chainblade die out — “Clever’s one way to put it.”

Finally, like a damn porpoise shooting out the waters for its first intake of air, Wren took a breather with her blades settled on the ground. For anyone else, nicking off the tail-end of yourself just to escape death’s grasp would’ve been a death sentence in off itself— blood loss being the silent killer that it is. Clever wasn’t the word for it; desperate might’ve been right on the nail. Live, only to die slow a couple minutes later.

For one of Eros’ golems, however; she doubted they wouldn’t be seeing Royal Pain back with an extra arm to replace the one they’d taken. You had to off a snake’s head before you chipped its name out of the kill-list; that she knew.

The truly clever part of Roya’s grand escape became clear in Wren’s head the moment she felt that heat building up around her, a swelter of steam trailing off her blade, a bubbling ring of acid-blood eating away at the soil around her.

It was as though she’d stepped out of a sauna after being locked in the room for hours on end. Even after Zosar had chiburi flicked the blood off her blades, whatever remained dampening her at surface level was enough to make her chainblade feel searing to the touch — ”Shit.” — Her eyes shot over to Zosar, realizing she hadn’t been quick to warn him.

That worry subsided when she saw the damage at relative skin level, not beyond. He looked like a swarm of moth’s had eaten him through, but nothing serious aside from his poor pick for underclothing showing, she wanted to believe. Even if she could tell he was biting back a hiss from the pain, playing tough.

He would’ve only felt a slight, disgruntled sense of mortification coming off her, almost scolding as he asked for a game plan instead of first aid— would’ve felt it come back up again the moment she laid eyes on Elly, stumped against a torn log. She wasn’t looking worse than Zosar, but it wasn’t a pretty look on her either.

"-Penultimate."

That concern for both was cut out of frame soon enough. Magic shimmered around her shape, the remaining heat quickly drifted away from her chainblade. She shifted out of weapon form, head dipped in focus once she got accustomed to her own balance on two legs. A pair wolf ears popped out, followed by a tail, then her muscles grew a size or two to fit her dress shirt — "Thank you, Maria."

Her breath snagged, bare and shallow through her clenched fangs— the look in her eyes was thoughtful as she started rolling a shoulder. It was quiet on their soul space, no room for useless thoughts. Outside of it, the immediate realization of how many times they could’ve died hit her straight like a punch on the nose.

Bittersweet; they were living that one life out of the ten others where they died. Lucky, crafty bastards. All five of them.

Elly began talking, and as she was, Wren slung the gigantic backpack she was carrying all the way over to her front, squatting to rummage through it. She was intent on listening to what everyone said, holding off on her own thoughts for later.

She was half-way through nail-punching a hole into a bag of chips and popping a hunger suppresser in her mouth, but Midori took the mic this time around, and her face scrunched up nasty, a frown bundling her brow just as she was about to take the first bite.

The chip in her fingers cracked, crumbled to the ground

“Sei scemo…?” — Just hearing what he had to say immediately brought out the mobster inside her — “Levati dai coglioni…” — She pursed her lips, shooting a pinched expression down at the ground and letting out a defeated sigh. Wren ran a thumb over her temple, trying to force out a smile— play it cool.

There was something, someone, that had a personal grudge going with Midori in this forest. The real weight of what he truly meant hung in the air, ‘You’re coming with me, or I’m leaving without you.’ No coercion, apparently. But it sure as hell sounded like he was coercing them.

In her past life she’d learned a thing or two about individualism; it was all con-men and street rats for themselves out there. Never about the poor bastard suffering beside you, unless it concerned you. A younger Wren would’ve turned around, left Midori to go on and solve his own issues. ‘If it isn’t any of your troubles, don’t bother.’, it was something her uncle had taught her, engraved it into the back of her mind.

Hell, even the DWMA had drilled the importance of that individualism back into her. She’d honed herself, her control; Wren never made it personal, never lost her temper. The only thing that ever troubled her was the bigger picture, the mission.

Yet, this became her trouble right as Zosar spoke up. He was making her glare holes at the ground again.

The wind went heavy with meaning, she had a pause before addressing his question — “I’m on Elly’s boat here. I think the sanest thing we could do right about now is turning around and heading west. We’re not at 100% after our run-in with little witch lyncher over there.” — She gestured a chin over to the folded skinsuit and the trail of blood Roya had left behind.

“With all those agents on the field, and our sorry asses trying to keep up with them… It just doesn’t look pretty for us.”

“But…” — Wren sighed, knowing the shit-show she would get her future self into with these upcoming words

“Thank Death my headshrinker already diagnosed me with every mental illness under the sun, so no problem with me not making sane choices.” — She chuckled, finally biting down on a potato chip — “I’ve always been looking for cool ways to off myself, y’know? Getting gutted by this Lady Crimson or even Astilla Stein sounds like a pretty metal way to go out.”

“If you’re both going, I’m coming too. I ain’t leaving anyone to go on their own little suicide mission without me— don’t want any of you on my conscience.”

“’Sides,” — The were-weapon folded arms over her chest, the bag of chips crumpling against her. She stepped up beside Zosar, bumping her head lightly against his — “Can’t just leave my partner behind now, can I? This guy’s lost without little old me.”

It was a show of why she was truly following behind Midori. Zosar was her one and only partner. And there was no way in hell she was going back through the strenuous process of waiting for someone crazy enough to accept her. Not again. He’d given her a chance to see a world she wasn’t supposed to be a part of anymore.

If he was going out to get himself killed, she’d be right behind him. She at least owed him that amount of loyalty.

Interactions:

EmperorsChosen · Nov 24, 2023

Eloise Keegan - Hallerbos Forest, Belgium
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And here it came.

Elly expected Midori to insist. It was the entire point she listed almost every possible reason for why pushing on was absolutely stupid. Almost. The other reasons for why this was stupid all could not be elaborated on without disclosing personal information Midori had shared with her about Ao and his time with Eros.

Worse than Midori's idiocrasy, however, was the terribly inopportune timing of the agent broadcast. Elly had fully intended to stick to her guns and die on this hill of not dying on the hill Midori wanted to. However, now they were more or less being ordered to engage. The Irish meister couldn't help but pinch the bridge of her nose in irritation as the message played, followed by more of Midori's arguments.

Bullshit. Complete bullshit.

He spoke so confidently as to allied numbers, as if that meant anything. He couldn't know how many agents would respond, nor even how many would be present when they reached the two. He couldn't know of their ranks, their abilities. Midori spoke as to how Stein and Lady Crimson couldn't possibly withstand that, as if he knew of their limits. As if he knew they wouldn't temporarily put aside their grievances with each other for the sake of eliminating the greater nuisance, as if even if they didn't, he knew they couldn't face the odds presented to them.

He didn't know. He was making presumptions based off of outdated, flimsy, and nonexistent information.

Then there were the statements about them. He wasn't coercing them. That too was bullshit. He could be off if that was the case, instead he more or less told them that they could still fight and her observations about their inadequate physical state weren't an issue. Yes, they could fight. Elly wasn't on the brink of collapsing. That mattered little when she needed to be amplified past her body's limits to even keep up with one of their enemy's sidekicks. That's what Royal Pain was, a sidekick. A miniboss. A lieutenant. And he thought that if she targeted them, that in their current state, they would be okay? Elly wouldn't be able to react to Midori rushing her as is, let along Astilla Stein or Lady Crimson.

If Elly's soul wasn't so difficult to read, it would be radiating irritation. Add nuisance to nuisance, Zosar and Wren spoke up volunteering to follow.

Death take her now.

"Fucking langer..." She growled under her breath, pushing herself off the dilapidating tree trunk she was resting against and approached Midori. "We have orders. I'll look ahead with my soul perception while we move to make sure that they aren't all bloody dead and we aren't running into an even more daft engagement--more than it already is."

With that, she narrowed her eyes at Midori. "You don't leave my hand. Understand?" She said, holding out an open palm, though it certainly didn't sound like a request. "Maria, I would prefer if you accompanied us, but I also won't hold it against you if you decide against."

Haze-

RedArmyShogun · Nov 24, 2023

Maria Mayer - Hallerbos Forest, Belgium

It would seem the DWMA had more to ask of them, but Maria wondered why the sudden orders and seemingly how the DWMA knew about this. The use, or rather waste of manpower was also a concern. So many people with the potential that there would be deaths and no replacements for just two people, well it frankly struck her as absurd. Looking at the two Meisters and two weapons, they were much more worn out than she was. Wren seemed a bit too over excited, and Midori had his ultimatum, which coaxed the idea of leaving being okay, all so he could pursue his objective, one he still was not sharing with them, which in turn had Zosar agreeing with very little in the way of words.

Which in turn had a reluctant Elly agreeing to go and offering Maria a way out. She really didn't like this about the Humans at times. They would always offer a way out and say it's fine to take it, but orders and expectations left her no choice but to go. Had they spent the time thinking up a plan and not making up false premises, they would be making better use of their time. "No. I'll go, the DWMA is pretty clear on that we must all go, though I wonder how they came across this information to direct us all. Also, if I did not, what would you do without me? There is no telling what awaits."

Looking at the four in kind, Maria stopped to look at Midori. "We should move now, and you should share who it could be. I admire your construction, but Eros is in the business of mind breaking and turning people into special purpose monsters it seems. Who you are wanting to see will quickly become a what will you see. Do not forget that. It may never be possible to undo the damages and taboo that madman has made."

Turning to look at Elly in kind, Maria seemed to have more to say. "I cannot heal any of you more than what I know now. My specialty is in demon tools construction and what amounts to controlling my darlings who are akin to a form of Golem. I know an assortment of survival and wind-based magic and can fly fairly high and fast with my broom, but I don't think I can carry more than one of you, with the exception of the weapons. Unless an emergency forces it and even then we cannot get far." With that, Maria paused for a bit, looking at her own hands. What would happen if she interfaced her wires and command sigils over something like those made by Eros, would the soul overwrite what she did, or could she contain them like a cruel puppet master? Did they even count as living things which would be Taboo to do? And was such a thing even wise to attempt here and now.

Little and frail they are, as once was I, before the forces of magic and as Mirai helped me, so do I in turn try to help them. A Kindness, for a kindness. Most sorcerers simply end up as the tutors for witches, or go unnoticed... Or have to reside in the Witches Realm, because man sees us as no different, the hatred of both sides has put on a war that has lasted eons for no gain... I must try and change that, I cannot leave them here for the sake of the dream I inherited from Mirai, and if I wish to face Dani and Nadia again after this, I cannot run.

Though am I much larger outside of Magic and its effects upon this world? At least ideas have come to me out of this.

Interactions:

EmperorsChosen (Elly)

Sir Les Paul (Midori)

The Regal Rper (Zosar)

Haze- (Wren)

Sir Les Paul · Nov 24, 2023

502-Best-anime-boy-images-in-2019-Anime,-Anime-guys,-Hot-.jpg

Thaddeus Thales

"Gauss"

Species Human
Partner Noah Wiley, Arkayis Misonuka
Rank Fate Agent

Location En route to new temple, Egypt
Mission TBD
Status Focused

Tags: Merciless Medic Peckinou Mook-LandStrider EmperorsChosen Shotgunpenguin The Regal Rper

"Ark, use your seismic sense and those circles to map out as much of this temple as you can. If you find areas that are less dense or oddly designed, they may be a trap or mechanism originally made of wood. More dense, and it could be brass or ironworking. If you can find any signs of life, note them down. Otherwise, I just want some idea of what we're heading into," Gauss said, spouting instructions before they moved forward.

Caution was the word of the day. Caution created consistency, and consistency would be a pattern that prevented the errors in Romania.

"Everyone else except for Annika and Moreau will document as much as we can without disturbing it. Pictures, written notes on your phone, whatever is necessary. Until we have a clear direction in mind, we're going to information-gather," Gauss announced, making the decision to at least keep everyone busy.

"Annika, trap detection and disarming if possible," he told her, giving her specific instructions due to her unique skillset.

"Moreau, at the moment, we're primarily only here for potential survivors. Corpses aren't relevant," Gauss said, shifting his attention back to their guide that had once put the choice of direction on him.

"In a moment, Ark should be able to recreate a 3D map of this place using earth sculpting magic, if that's useful. Fact is, you're the expert here. If you think there is a direction with a higher likelihood of survivors, either people that were in the temple before or people taken to it, I want to pinpoint it so we can assess for threats and make sure we have a direct path out with anyone alive. Efficiency is key," Gauss told him, outlining the objectives that stood before them. Part of those leadership classes included delegation and the use of local resources. To Gauss, Moreau was exactly that: a local resource. He refused to allow his ego to get in the way of greater knowledge.

Moreau asked which path to take, but he would have a greater say in that decision than he initially anticipated.

RedArmyShogun · Nov 24, 2023

Nadia Semyonov - Daniella Ethalyn - Streets of LA

To her grave disappointment, Nadia found her other two nearest allies were either calling her a terrorist or feeling sorry for the souls whose deeds were stained upon them and that were steeped in madness. Not all were guilty but it was clear they all were lost.

And then just like that, when Nadia was going to teach them the point of fear and to provoke a reaction, to see just who was helpless and who could be knocked out rather than killed. Sara ruined the surprise while the mage locked down the area. The later was fine, the former angered her to a great extent. More so now that all of these so called innocents that she doubted her senses with were armed to the teeth to standards and weapons illegal in California and they had the other disdain and disrespect for the LAPD.

Sara did not follow her commands, did not trust what she could see and now had blown away the lightning attack Nadia was making now. Then the stupid mutt had the nerve to put her weapon to the side and surrender herself, telling their full intentions.

And as Nadia seethed, she poured wavelength into Dani and told her in terse command. ‘Resonance now!’ Only three of 25 were innocent. The rest were all in on this. That would have been acceptable casualties, though Nadia was going to knock out anyone not obviously a part of this. But now that was shot to hell, and so was the Wolf. ‘<Stupid Mutt, flea infested bitch!>’

‘Fuck…’ Dani murmured as the suspects reacted. Upon Nadia’s cue, Dani was already taking what the giantess gave her and matching it before amplifying it. The blade gleamed, basking in a red hue as the resonance took form. On the one hand, the blade was wondering what the hell Sara was thinking, but on the other, Dani had a link with Nadia. She could tell what the woman intended to do, even without the meister-weapon link. Sara, on the other hand, didn’t, and obviously didn’t trust Nadia not to do something nuts. ‘Worry about not getting shot, kill her later,’ Dani cautioned.

‘I know that, but I wanted some of them alive… Tch. The AK man dies first. Partway through when I can get amongst them we’ll switch tactics to simply taking legs or hands from them if need be. The fools. These men and women are all insane, armed and have been killing others to no consequence. It is time we remind them of fear.’

With that Nadia switched to her free left hand and procured one of her 8-inch blades and flipped it so the blade rested in her hand and then threw it with precision and power, causing it to turn end over end as the first shots left the weapon, impaling the man with enough force that the back end of the blade was sticking out, all the way to the guard and hilt. That weapon had to go out of commission first. For all of the pretenses of acceptable civilian losses, there were acceptable losses, then there was negligence, and that rifle would have punched holes through the exterior walls and given anyone a bad day. ‘I wonder if they would let me keep the rifle as a trophy, provided I find nothing better.’

‘You can still take some. They’re random guys with guns and shivs. Take out who we need to and we can safely KO the others,’ Dani reasoned from within their connection. ‘Not that I’m gonna feel bad for most of these creeps…’ She murmured before a pair of deadpanned eyes appeared in the sheen of the blade. ‘They’re some random mugs, not a griffon. The hell kind of trophy can they give?’

‘It’s not them I worry about, as to the trophy, the rifle, it is Russian, or an inferior import of a Russian Rifle, the greatest rifle of the 20th Century. Though you are right, there are leaders of all of this who have given actual power. Maybe they will have something more worth keeping.’

Now there was the issue of the 21 remaining men, and the three who had nothing to do with this, taking off to one of the nearest stands, Nadia gives it a swift and super powered kick, causing it to buckle and bend as it flew out with speed towards the other vendor turned cultist and the five men nearest, with luck they would survive. If not, then it was all the same, as Nadia spoke angrily over comms with the sound of gunshots drowning out her voice.

“We shall have words when this is done, Werewolf Mutt, provided you live. Adrian if she is not dead within that opening salvo, make use of your talents to defend her. Raph, collect the weapons and drag them away, the woman in the blue coat, the man in the brown shorts and flannel shirt, and the…” With that Nadia had to shift positions to not be shot as her voice lingered. “...the man with the white baseball cap and some sort of rock band emblem on his shirt, bind them and move them from the rest. They are hostiles without hostile intent till we see who is who. But the guns above all else, lets not let the next man pick up the rifle of the fallen.”

‘Don’t call werewolves mutts…’ Dani chastised with a deadpan, trying to keep things somewhat productive. Arguments and rants could happen later when the situation was over.

‘Would you rather I call her a Mongrel? She has endangered herself and all of us aside for her weakness. It is hardly my fault they did not have the presence of mind to decide upon actions based upon the target's reaction… She will likely be a hindrance again should our enemy be of her concept of innocence. This area is drowning in Madness.’

With that Nadia started looking for more targets and glanced at Dani from within. ‘Next target I want you to set fire to his stall, the shotgunner. I’m going to grab one of the hunting riflemen and use him to hit said shotgunner through the flames, after that, end our resonance. The rest should be no problem for my enhanced speed and deflection with you alone.’

‘I’m saying ride her ass when we’re not in a fight. It pulls your focus and probably hers too,’ Dani remarked back. Inhaling slowly, the aura of the blade grew more erratic before igniting, passing its fiery haze onto the stand as Nadia drew closer to it. With an exhale, the flames dispersed along with the sword’s red glow. ‘Even I can feel that much.’

‘Heh. It can then.’ She said in response to the first. Enacting her own plan Nadia quickly dives behind a portion of the gunmen line, grabbing one man with a semi-auto hunting rifle by his face with her left hand and in one deft movement picked the adult male off of his feet and threw him through fire and flame upon the shotgunner, with considerable force and speed. They shouldn't die. Maybe. "Heh."

Interactions:

EmperorsChosen (Dani)

Sir Les Paul (Adrian)

Merciless Medic (Sara - Raph)

Mook-LandStrider (Eva)

Sir Les Paul · Nov 24, 2023

Hallerbos Forest, Belgium

A Long-Awaited Reunion

From the scarred battlefield left from their encounter with Royal Pain to the Pygmalion would have only consumed seven or eight minutes in their current state, even less if they were at the same pace they were prior to their battle. A relatively simple trek, too, though the bluebell carpet transitioned into a more standard terrain as they went further and further east. The beautiful forest--that they left half-destroyed--was only a bit for the show. The rest of it was much more natural. It was an oddly stark shift. Somehow, the forest without the famous carpet of flowers was more beautiful than the area their battle had left a wake of destruction.

Emerging from the forest line to the area designated the Pygmalion didn't necessarily make sense. It was mostly relatively small areas of farmland with a few large buildings scattered along an old road. They were on the outskirts of a nearby down and all that was really there were a few sheds, houses, and the larger Wellness Centers that were nearby. Whatever made this area a Pygmalion, including on the map, wasn't necessarily clear. Regardless, it's current state was obviously the location of a previous skirmish, though despite the volume of numbers that were allegedly here, it was in far better shape than the forest they had just left. A few pieces of torn up ground, some crops burnt and charred, but otherwise, little of note. Closer inspection might have shown some blood or torn clothes, but at first glance, it just looked like a few resonance attacks--or explosives--had gone off in haphazard order.

Not far from the slightly scarred land or even the forest line was a bright-haired, red-headed woman of incredible figure and absurd clothing choices. Leaned against what appeared to be a freshly-broken tree, she had her arms crossed upon the emergence of the band of five. Behind her on the trunk of the tree were another three individuals, each with their souls suppressed. Demon Weapons of hers, one male and two female. It wasn't until Elly neared that she could even sense them with the level of suppression they had; and, to both Zosar and Midori, they would been entirely blind to them. A terrifying talent for a Demon Weapon to possess, surely, but a good sign that each of them were merely chatting with each other in their human forms.

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"You made me wait nearly ten minutes," she said, her tone laden with impatience and perhaps a touch of self-entitlement. In her defense, she was everything Midori had described and more. Slim, toned, curvaceous, brilliant eyes, flawless skin, and long, fiery hair that flowed down her back. She showed as much if not more skin than Royal Pain, and it suited her. Had not been agent, she could've been a model in another life. Unlike most female agents, she even donned a full mask of make-up into the battlefield. Her slanted eyes brightened by its accents, her lips only that much more voluptuous due to them.

She kicked off the tree stump, but otherwise did not walk forward, nor did she uncross her arms. A half-glare remained steady on her face, clearly a case of resting bitch face that even Elly could not compete with. "Anata ga koko no hanbun ni tōchaku suru mae ni, watashi wa anata no buka o 20-ri koroshimashita. Gakkarida yo. <I killed twenty of your men before you even got half-way here. I'm disappointed.>" she said, breaking out perfect Japanese; something that only Midori in the group would recognize.

Midori knew precisely who this was. By extension, so did Elly. This was in fact Ao. Ao Mitsuki. She was older. More mature. She had grown into her age perfectly. Midori was enamored by her before, but now, it was even worse. Though, that feeling is not what overwhelmed him. He wasn't so simple as Zosar in that regard. No, Midori was overwhelmed with plenty more emotions. Elation that she was alive. Sadness from how much time he had missed with her. Rage that she had been kept from him all this time. Each emotion, in fact, didn't have a single source. It was a maelstrom inside of him. There even existed a tinge of guilt and shame. He knew Elly would be privy to all these feelings he had, and how he perceived Ao. That couldn't be good for their relationship. But, then, he had the overwhelming feeling of being a failure.

An awkward pause. Lady Crimson, or Ao depending on your perspective, let out an annoyed sigh, then rolled her eyes. She shot daggers at Elly, then raised her eyebrows. The look on her face was of pure annoyance. Not quite hateful, but almost there. The type of frustrated look that not that along ago was also on the face of Elly. "Elly, is it? His new partner? Kindly let the man transform and speak, please, else this is going to be real tedious," Ao requested, releasing her inner Karen as if the entirely logical act of keeping Midori transformed was absurd in this context.

"My instructions were to kill Astila Stein--which I did--and anyone that attempts to prevent my escape," she said, her tone lightening, but only from that of a Karen to a strict instructor, "so, if you don't try to prevent my escape or attack me, I won't have to kill you. Not that him being in your hands would matter if I wanted to; he's let him self go since the last I saw him. I thought he'd be a three-star and a Death Scythe by now, but here he is barely any stronger than when I last saw him. It's a damn shame."

Those eyes of hers quickly glanced over to Zosar, then Maria. "Same for you, too. Don't attack, and I won't kill you. Your werewolf partner can transform if she wants to as well, I'm sure she's not enjoying the feeling of Roya's blood on her," she said, acknowledging their existence, too. Though, she did scan over Maria for a fair bit longer than Zosar and Wren. "I admit, I'm surprised you made it out alive. Roya has an unhealthy obsession with killing all things magical," she told her in the same disapproving tone, though this time targeted at her own ally. It seemed even they couldn't escape her judgement.

The Crossroads

It was true that the group could have reached the Pygmalion in a mere few minutes. Close enough that with focus from Elly, she could widen her Soul Perception to see what was currently going on, or at least what was happening to the souls in quick succession. How she interpreted those events might vary, but what she saw would be plain as day.

The soul Astila was simply there not there. Or, at least, the soul that she intended to look for. Midori had agreed to the demands of Elly. Their connection was weakened from their internal strife. Midori was laser focused on meeting this Lady Crimson and Elly was frustrated that said focus put her in the line of fire. Still, they could communicate within their souls and Midori was capable of describing what to expect from Astila Stein. He was the only one that had met her prior.

Astila possessed a Primal Soul of Flame. Easily the one of the rarest soul types as only one Primal Soul of any element existed at a time, and even then they didn’t come back into the world immediately. The soul type itself would appear not as any normal Human soul would, but instead, more like a bonfire, constantly burning and shifting. Large and powerful, comparable to Zosar albeit more stable.

Nothing like that was present. Instead, there were only nine other souls by the time she could see them. Just as she could count them once, their numbers would dwindle. Nine, then seven, then just three, all up until only one remained. These happened in astonishingly quick periods with little delay between the pairs that went missing. Though, more concerning, was that the souls were just vanishing. Even if killed, a soul should linger and remain visible. There wasn’t a solid explanation for this.

All that truly remained was one soul. One quiet, blurry soul that resembled the arrows that were flung at them prior.

The natural reaction here would likely have been to stop and reassess the situation given how adamant Elly was against running into a death trap. She hadn’t accurately gauged the power levels of each pair, but from the flare ups in wavelengths that briefly preceded the spiritual vanishing acts, it was a pretty easy inference that some pairs were at or above their level.

Prior to that team-dissolving confrontation, Elly and Midori were ripped from reality and drawn into their shared soul space. The very core of it. Combined, their soul space was a dismal thing. The sheer darkness with only dim candlights from Midori and a cold, wet floor combined with the distorted, hazy fog that Elly was so well-known for created an ambiance that unfortunately synergized together so well that it could have been transplanted directly into a b-rate horror movie.

The two could at least see each other there in the lighting that was available. The candle stands of bamboo and brass that held the light sources above the ground were positioned in such a way that the dancing flames would wax and wane from their faces, less so their bodies, but still allow them to know they were nearby.

“And then there was one…” Elly muttered with an irate albeit quiet sigh. Before she could elaborate further on that, she found herself within their soul space. While having this argument within their space was probably for the best as it gave her time to drill through the thick head of her partner, she had not intended to enter. “...What just happened?” She questioned aloud as she looked around, though Elly wasn’t sure what she was expecting to see through the darkness and fog.

”I’m not sure…” Midori replied, just as confused as Elly in this situation. Entering their shared soul space was a generally sensitive topic for both of them, as they were both relatively private people. For such reason, it had only ever been done for training and for brief periods, essentially only as a proof of concept. While getting here was possible, being pulled here by force wasn’t something Midori knew was on the table.

”What a pair you are,” chimed in a female voice. Bodiless. Directionless, in fact, seeming to come from all directions at once yet none at all. Even more disorienting given the sheer unending blackness of their soul space.

”Paired together are two untrustworthy people that equally don’t trust anyone… both selfish, both only driven by their own personal desires,” echoed in another, though this one much deeper, aged and seasoned with a dryness to its tone.

Elly practically jumped when she heard the voice. This was supposed to be an impenetrable space from all but who she directly connected with. No one else should be capable of existing here. She stepped back cautiously, though it wasn’t as if she could determine where the voices came from. “...Have you ever heard of a circumstance where someone could gain entry to a soul space by force?” She questioned the other. She certainly hadn’t.

”We’re right here, talking about us is if we aren’t is a little rude…” the first voice responded, though her tone carried a tone of teasing more so than anger.

”Uh…” Midori replied at first, somewhat dumbfounded by the situation.

”Well, yes, but even for the few that can, it requires direct contact… I don’t recall anything touching us,” Midori explained, wracking his mind for any example of forced entry to the soul. It was rare and normally took someone of extreme skill. The Hoshi used it to extract information from hostages. Others, like Fredrick, could use it for training.

”Well of course you didn’t, silly, we didn’t touch you and we don’t have to,” responded a third voice, younger, more whimsical. Almost child-like, but too mature for that. Mid-to-late teens, perhaps.

Elly seemed to pay the voices little mind, or rather, what they said little mind. The fact they were present at all was of great concern. She wracked her brain for a way out, some kind of plan, but that was quite hard to do when she didn’t know what was going on. Leaving her soul space was always quite easy, but she found any focus spent on that was met with an absence of results. So, Elly swapped to the alternative strategy of bartering. “Okay, disembodied trespassers… What, pray tell, would you like in exchange for letting us leave?”

”Weeeell, maybe if your souls weren’t such abysmal places to be, you wouldn’t be in such a hurry to leave,” the voice replied, still jovial and poking fun at the two. A joke, perhaps in poor taste, about the state of their individual souls.

”It is probably wise to amend that issue, besides… as we’ve said before, seeing is believing,” the first voice, which now seemed to balance out both the younger and older one, said in response to the comment made by the youngest.

Following that final comment came a blanket of golden fog sweeping through their soul space, carpeting everything and briefly encircling both Elly and Midori. Only moments later did it settle to reveal an entirely different landscape. A beautiful, blue sky no pastel painter could ever replicate with clouds as white as virgin cotton. Rolling hills with long, tall grass that created a verdant sea with visible ripples created by the warm air in the gentle breeze. It was a pleasant, picturesque view of the countryside so perfect it might have been cliche.

The distance between the two was now the mere length of a simple dirt road, unpaved with no gravel, carved by the marks left by hundreds of carriages and wagons. There were no defined lines here, only pebbles and rocks and places where the grass invaded the road.

This road led to only one place. A single large apple tree with both its flowers in full bloom and fruit ripe to be plucked. To its left and right were two identical roads split by the tree itself. Behind them, for the curious, the road continued on until it curved behind one of the emerald hills out of sight.

Under the shade of that tree stood three women, each of similar build. Porcelain skin, eyes even greener than the sea of grass around them. The left woman with an auburn hair and a soft, kind smile, though she looked more a girl than a woman. The middle adorned with hair as black as coal and a snake wrapped around her body, cradling it gently. The final woman with white hair like fine silk, her face wrinkled and aged, though without any other imperfections of aging. They stood under the tree as a trio, focused as much on each other as they were on the guests inside this new realm.

The middle woman first spoke, her eyes raising up to Elly and Midori to acknowledge their existence in these new verdant fields. ”Our normal introduction would be wasted on either of you… we mean no harm, but we say that and you see danger. In your case, dear children, we will be more direct. You are at a crossroads, and we offer knowledge. If you wish not to attain it, you may leave at any time; just say so. We seek to make sure you are not prisoners of fate, after all,” she told them, speaking to them in a nurturing tone with no small amount of personal understanding. While not unnatural, her voice carried a calmness. It’s softness sparing what might have been misconstrued as condescension to preserve the camaraderie she presented them.

Elly narrowed her eyes slightly at the remark of one of the voices. Nonchalant, jesting. They were being toyed with, though the meister didn’t see how they could do anything but allow it. Elly’s head whipped around as their soul space turned into something entirely that she wasn’t familiar with. It resembled the space of her old partner slightly, but this was—so damned bright. She raised a hand to shield her eyes from the brightness of the mock sky and her gaze settled on the three. Smiling thinly at that, at least the three knew who they were talking to. “You’re correct, I don’t believe any of that,” She replied with a slightly chipper tone, possibly to mimic the younger woman’s. “I can appreciate you cutting to the chase, however. What knowledge do you offer?”

Midori genuinely had no clue what was going on here. In his years of extra experience, this was new. He had died twice in his lifetime and had his soul rend plenty, but never once thrown around quite like this. Even illusions would pale in comparison to this. They would have to be mages the likes of Maba or Eibon, or some rare Fae. That, or just as concerning, have some god-like power to shape the realm.

When put into a situation as questionable as this one, Midori reverted back to his core training and proceeded with caution. ”I’ll follow your lead…” he whispered, quietly as for only Elly to hear.

”Son of death an’ man, my ears may be old, but we can still hear you, the eldest of the trio said. She was perhaps the most frail of the three. Silken white hair, her face creased with wrinkles. She was old, but in good health. Not like the elderly that were often stashed away in old homes in plastic beds.

”Besides, silly man, if you were really following her lead, you wouldn’t be here in the first place!” the youngest added, offering a quick giggle. She was more entertained by how quickly Midori had shifted from giving ultimatums to taking orders.

Midori glared at the trio. They were still some quite some distance off at their tree in the forked road, but his two-tone eyes were fixated. He was called out and with general stress of the situation lacked the composure to just let it slide off his back per his norm. ”The situation in Hallerbos is a little different than being transported through your soul to a place that looks like a Windows background,” he spouted off, trying to defend himself.

”Oh, my child, you are mistaken… we didn’t transport you anywhere. You’re still in Hallerbos, on your way to the Songbird. The only things here are your minds so that we may speak,” the middle woman corrected him. She had dark hair, a very thick and luscious set of brown locks that flowed down her back much further than the brilliant, rustic red of the younger woman. The snake itself was primarily in her arms, actively curling around her as the youngest girl pet its head, playing with it while the conversation continued.

”Poking and prodding them will make this no easier,” the eldest of the trio said, gently scolding the others. She let out a soft sight, then ran her thin fingers across her forehead. ”Come closer, to the tree, so that we may explain what a crossroads is, and what lies on either side,” she told them. ”We don’t have the power to harm anyone… even now, our time is limited and your time is frozen in that forest. Your hesitance is understandable, children, but it only harms yourselves here,” she told them, being quite blunt with her phrasing and even more direct than the other two.

If Elly hadn’t been dragged into her soul space against her will, she might have shed a genuinely amused smile at the youngest of the women. However, it would take more than some woman agreeing with her to erase the rest of this odd situation. “We aren’t leaving until they’re done… so do try not to aggrieve the mystery women who pulled us involuntarily into our soul spaces,” Elly warned Midori with a sigh. She knew enough to tell who had superior leverage and here, it wasn’t them, despite it formerly being the space within their own souls. Cautiously, Elly stepped closer to the trio until they were close enough to speak, though even then the meister kept some distance. “Well then?”

Midori, though frustrated by the entire situation and more so feeling like this was a group of girls ganging up on him, knew well enough to comply. If he wasn’t absolutely sure there was no way in Hell that Elly could do this herself, he would have believed this was some new tactic she had to convince him to back down from his demands. Still, he caught her being wrong, or at least by the words of these three. They could leave, if they just asked. Rejected this offer.

He doubted such an obvious point was lost on her, so he could only reason she was truly curious about what was occurring here. If she wanted to know so bad and time truly was at a standstill outside, then it did no harm to indulge her. He complied. Quietly.

Once the two approached, the women finally resumed speaking. Aside from the fact they could now speak more quietly instead of half-shouting over the distance, there was truly little changed here. At least, from a practical standpoint.

”A crossroads is an important decision or action that divides a path in two,” the middle woman explained, again getting right to the point here.

”It might be better to just to show them what will happen if nothing changes,” the elder woman added, changing the direction of their little course on fate.

The youngest nodded, lifting her hand from the snake she was petting to clasp her hands, then quickly release them as if mimicking an explosion of sorts. Following this, the golden cloud returned, albeit much smaller in scale, swirling off to the left until it created two ghostly phantasms of Elly and Midori.

There, they were allowed to watch the events unfold. Elly confronted Midori within their Soul Space, refusing to proceed due to the potential danger. Logic. Rational. Irrelevant to Midori. Midori insisted. An argument ensues until the two reject each other, causing a burn on the hands of Elly as Midori was in his blade form at the time. Midori was vulgar, cursing, and insulting. Ultimately, even Zosar saw this side of Midori and elected to leave with Elly. With the two Meisters in agreement, Wren and Maria followed.

Midori was left to face the danger himself.

The scene transitions quickly, time fast forwarding through events for Elly. Midori rarely appears. He is out on his own missions again. His own hunt. His exact fate is left uncertain.

Elly goes on for some time without a partner, though she does ultimately acquire a new one. A rapier of sorts. Elegant and well-dressed, a woman she could get along with. Time continues to fly and a pattern emerges. Time after time, when things become too dangerous, Elly choses to run. This continues until those actions seem to result in the loss of life of some civilians, then agents, and ultimately, Elly is removed from active duty.

Worse later, events unfold during a routine check-up. Reality was, Elly didn’t care if she was in active duty or not, only that she was safe and secure in Death City. Her rapier partner went on to get another, but a secret she had been hiding–even from Midori–was let out. That golden scarab. She was interrogated about it. Explained that it was from Ulysses, but strings were pulled far above her pay grade, resulting in an imprisonment for her as a traitor, locked away in the DWMA dungeons.

There is no flip back to Midori. The entire illusion ends, somewhat abruptly.

”This is what happens when you two separate,” the middle woman explains, using a very specific word choice here. ”Should either of you children stray from your path together, you end up in the situations you fear most,” she told them, her tone now somewhat belittling but not entirely rude.

”Neither or you trust, both of you are deceitful… but you are both creatures of habit. Your habits catch up to you if you don’t break the cycle,” the eldest woman said, adding her twist on the series of events, again sounding somewhat judgmental.

Elly listened to what they had to say stoically. It wasn’t until they began showing them predictions of what was to come that her face shifted. It wasn’t the idea that she would be removed from duty, or arrested or imprisoned that caused her concern. These were nothing more but predictions. It was the revelation of the scarab that elicited a subtle shift in her expression. Eyes widened slightly, then narrowed. None of them could know of that. Then again, they shouldn’t have been able to enter their soul space either. Either this was an illusion of some kind of her own creation, playing off what Elly herself knew and what she was cautious of, like a dream, or these were creatures well above their recognition.

“...What’s your gambit in this?” Elly questioned with a low tone. Surely they didn’t just want to help out of altruism.

”Pause on that,” Midori spoke up, seemingly frustrated but obviously confused.

”What the fuck is that scarab, what does D-Stein have to do with anything, and why did it land you in prison?” he asked, with a not-so-small hint of betrayal laden in his tone.

“They just showed you disappearing into the ether and my imprisonment is your concern?” Elly shot back, deflecting his question. “Perhaps they can instead show us a movie of what happens if we all keep running forward, though I’m fairly sure I can spoil that ending.”

The youngest of the trio listened to the response from Elly and cut through the whole exchange with a fit of laughter.

The middle woman only smiled. ”I guess it is in your nature to miss the point…”

The eldest simply shook her head with disappointment. She lifted her cane, then slammed it into the ground. Conjuring more and more of that golden cloud and it spread out infinitely over the vast, verdant hills.

Thousands, no hundreds of thousands, of new scenes played out. Countless variations of Elly and Midori fighting. With each other. Or, against others. In hundreds of scenarios, Elly loomed over Midori in one form or another. A corpse or pile of rubble at that point. In some others, the two seemed to be more like a couple than a partner. Some were scenes of weddings, some with children, and oddly, some didn’t even have the two together at all. Instead, Elly might have been with someone else. Ulysses, Zosar, random men and sometimes even a woman she didn’t know. Meanwhile, Midori had the same fate. Many times with Elly, both other times being in the hands of Ao again. Sometimes, he was with Maria. Others, random women like Aki. There even existed a world where Midori and Gav seemed to be lovers.

”We can show you every possible outcome,” the old woman told them, her voice stern and much more judgemental than the other two. ”We can tell you that if you go to the Songbird, you will not die so long as you do not attack her,” the woman continued.

”But, in countless crossroads, we can tell you that you consistently undervalue those around you. In worlds beyond count, the son of Death has died for you. Sometimes for your mistakes, not his. We can tell you that sometimes, love blossoms, and you, daughter, have no idea how to cultivate it,” the elderly woman points out, as if scolding Elly for her immediate behavior.

”Crone, weren’t you the one that said prodding them was pointless?” the middle woman said, cutting into the rant the crone had started on.

”Weeeeell, in her defense, the son of Death is so fixated on Songbird right this daughter of man probably doesn’t even consider jealousy as an option,” the youngest said, defending Elly and her immediate reaction.

The illusions faded again. Never lasting long, and in this case, hardly long enough to take in the sheer amount of different instances occurring before them.

Of all the things Midori could have said, his brain at the moment could only parse a simple reply, ”anyone but fucking Gav…”

Elly’s eyes narrowed again. “I do not want to cultivate any love you speak of,” She replied coldly. “And forgive me if I don’t believe that we won’t disappear from existence as all the other agent souls did. We just crippled another one of Eros’s servants, we’re prime targets for another,” She said, folding her arms.

The middle of the women simply sighed, somewhat defeated, but more so annoyed.

”You don’t now, but you lack the ability to see the countless threads of fate that we do, the crone told her, cutting into the conversation before the middle woman even had a chance to finish her sigh.

”If Songbird wanted you dead, you would be, the youngest responded, crossing her arms and opting to mimic Elly and her petulant behavior. She even one-upped it by offering an exaggerated huff. ”The souls aren’t vanishing, they’re being stored, stupid girl. She could backtrack, kill you all, suck up your souls, and you couldn’t do anything about it,” the younger woman explained, all before electing to stick out her tongue and pull down her eyelid, if only to illustrate the behavior Elly was demonstrating now.

”But, she doesn’t,” the middle woman told them, ”in fact, if she wanted to escape, you would never catch her. She’s going to wait to talk. If you take a moment to consider the situation, the only reason you would ever catch her is if she wanted you to.”

“And why not? If you can see everything, surely you know the answer,” Elly remarked back with suspicion. “And you never did answer the question of why you even approached us in the first place.”

Midori finally took a moment to voice his opinion. He had been taking in a lot of information. It was, undoubtedly, a difficult thing to process. Especially for a man that already questioned things heavily as it was. Down to his very own identity. In this moment, though, his own existential questioning proved useful. He often separated himself and his identity and his body; never knowing what was truly him.

Right now, according to them, it was just his mind. He was separate from his golem body, separate from his stolen soul. It was just him and his thoughts separated in a vacuum. Once it really struck him, it gave him some clarity.

”Elly, slow down. Really take in what they’ve said,” Midori told her in a tone more calm and collected than he had since the mission started.

”Just assume for a moment, they’re being honest… they said our problems start when we separate. They told us we are both creatures of habit. Stuck in our ways, toxic ways–and you can’t deny that,” he told her, explaining his stance on the matter.

”Even now, I know how stupid it is to chase down this Lady Crimson thinking she’s Ao, but I just don’t care. Just like you say you don’t want love–because you don’t care,” he went on.

”But, people change. Sometimes the catalyst for that is other people. Actually, most of the time, it is. It only makes sense that we go down our worst routes when we’re left alone. You have no one to push your boundaries and I don’t have anyone I care more about than my past,” Midori continued on, speaking quickly, but only because a lot of these thoughts were still donning on him as he verbalized them.

”If there are infinite outcomes, then yeah, we’ve died countless times. Fell in love countless times, not even with each other. Apparently, there are universes where I found love in Gav–and trust me, I’m not happy about that prospect. But, in theory, it exists; and, you can’t get all bitchy over theory,” he said, some finality in his tone, but also a lot of deep thought going on.

”They’re right, though. If Lady Crimson is Ao, she trained with me under the Hoshi. We couldn’t catch her if we tried. If she has nothing slower her down, the only reason we would catch her is if she waits. If she wanted us dead, she’d save time and catch us herself,” Midori told her, reiterating what the three women said, but in a more concise manner, more so making it strategic in nature.

”But, think about this… I want to see her again. You ask why she would wait or spare us or anything like that,” Midori told her, becoming more serious and focused, ”but maybe she wants to see me again, too. She’s a slave to Eros, she can’t disobey his orders, only find loopholes in them. I know what that’s like–you have no choice. No amount of willpower will let you defy him.”

Elly let out a soft sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose as she let him speak uninterrupted. “I have never once promised that I was good person or not toxic,” She expressed in a tired tone, not contesting that point. “Theories of different timelines concern me less than the current one, and everything you just said is precisely the issue, Midori.”

Lowering her hand, she looked at him not with one of mock stoicism or that sly smile that was typical of her. She looked genuinely irritated and tired. “All of that. All of those points were not in your head when you had us set off. You were shooting in the dark and, as you said, if she didn’t want to see us, which you were not thinking about when we left—And don’t try to make me think otherwise—then we would be dead for it. And even if this is true, then what?” She asks seriously. “Best-case scenario. She doesn’t kill us all, or steal our souls, or whathaveyou. You both have a chat and she leaves. What does that accomplish?”

”Accomplish? Accomplish?! I don’t even know, nor do I care–that’s not the point,” Midori shouted, finally blowing his top over the whole situation.

The youngest of the trio of women began to pipe up, only for the middle with the dark hair to lift her hand in a hushed tone simply say, ”let it happen.”

”You don’t give a damn about anything or anyone around you. If you did, you’d understand the importance. Even Zosar understands, but that’s probably because good ole Zose actually has had to struggle in his life,” Midori continued to shout, letting his rage and frustration seethe through.

”We’re all killers. I’ve killed, Zosar killed, you killed, but the difference is, you got to kill with a silver spoon in your mouth. You were a white collar criminal at best. You’re in hiding because, guess what, you don’t want to deal with the consequences of your actions,” Midori told her, no longer holding back any of his actual opinion.

”Zosar was locked away in an prison tower and had assassins on him just so that some odd info wouldn’t be leaked. Why? Because he was tied to the Enlighteners,” Midori continued.

”The original Midori was killed just because he was a prime target as a Hoshi to become a spy. Those were the families we were born into, and those are the consequences we suffered just for being born,” Midori explained, stepping closer to Elly with every ounce of aggression and anger just radiating into the air.

”My life? The original Midori was killed before he even knew what his life was really about. The second time I came back? Again, killed, a backseat passenger in my own body as Eros’ orders took over to try and assassinate a Witch delegate. And, now? I don’t even know. The answers I have don’t give me a direction, don’t give me closure–they don’t do anything for me. I don’t know what I want in life,” Midori admitted, really just spewing the truth.

”But, I know I’d die for some answers if they even gave me a shred of understanding,” he told her.

”You don’t get that because all you care about is trying to get to your next comfortable day for as many years as you can,” he went on.

”What you don’t get is that some of us aren’t content with that. Some of us don’t even know how to be content. Zose just wants to do some good to make up for his time in the Enlighteners–at least he has that going for him. You don’t even care,” Midori told her, returning to his rage-prone fit of just tearing into her.

”You’re just a two-bit criminal still trying to avoid justice. If there was even an ounce of human empathy in you, you’d stop being a total bitch about why I want this. Why I need this. Proof in point, Zosar and a complete stranger Wren at least fucking get it–and they know less than you,” Midori told her, ending his rant. At this point, he was speaking at such a rate with such intensity, even his breath was short. Apparently, Midori had been holding this back a while.

Elly let out an aggravated groan at the rant. “Death, you are fucking thick,” She remarked with a scowl. “There is a keen difference between understanding and agreeing. I’m not against you meeting Ao, or whoever this person is, I’m against dying so you can do it. Now, we’re stuck. We don’t have a choice now, aside from that you’ll apparently disappear if you go alone. What about before? Because for as much as you chastise my selfishness, you didn’t even share a base amount of information that may have helped all of us cope with the threat you had us give chase to. Even when I keep secrets it isn’t to the detriment of everyone and a risk to their lives!” She growled back with a glare.

“Perhaps you also fail to consider what this indicates. Or, are you able to look me in the eyes and honestly tell me that this won’t happen again? That you won’t ditch us to go chasing you past, mid-mission even, or risking our lives to do so? Surprising as it may be, I don’t lack all human emotion. However, I’m not going to die or get stabbed in the back for it!” Elly added with venom in her tone. “Do you think I have closure? The Loch still exists and the people responsible for my parents aren’t gone, you idiot. I have no bloody closure. Zero. Nill, None. Do you think I don’t ever dwell on it? No, because I don’t want you to think that, and I don’t let it get you killed or hurt.”

”I didn’t want to be wrong, Elly,” Midori admitted, shame and anger pouring out of him.

”I didn’t want to have some shred of hope that Lady Crimson was Ao, but the moment I saw those arrows with that unmistakable wavelength–there’s nothing like it,” he said.

”I didn’t want to be wrong about you, either. I thought–or maybe hoped–there was more in you. And, if those death-damn golden illusions tell me anything, maybe there is. But, it’s real fuckin’ hard to see now,” he told her.

”You have never once brought up that you wanted closure over the Loch, else we could have worked at it. You haven’t said shit. So for-fucking-give me if I can’t take into consideration what you won’t communicate,” he continued shouting, still irate, and hardly calming down, ”and I can’t promise I won’t ever go off to chase something. Just I like I can’t promise I wouldn’t run off to save you even if it meant my life was on the line–and apparently, even these three know that’s the case.”

Now and only now did the eldest of the three, the crone, decide to interject. ”A point to be made here about this son of Death and man is that he has an innate ability even he is unaware of,” she said, directly after Midori finished his next part of the tirade.

”Those eyes of his are a bit special, but not like yours. A Shinigami can judge a soul and see its potential. It’s how the original ones picked out the strongest of man to be in their legions,” she explained, sounding more like a historian than anything.

The middle decided to add her piece, ”it’s also probably why he thinks he saw something in you even when you don’t believe it. He saw potential, but not all potential is fated to be brought to fruition,” she added, explaining a small tidbit about some of the behavior Midori had displayed in the past.

Had they thought about it, it might make sense. Midori defended Zosar against all odds, and in the end, Zosar chose the DWMA. Ninety-nine chances out a hundred, someone in his shoes would have returned to the Enlighteners. Midori might have just saw the potential for something else.

Finally, the youngest chimed back in, ”you can get back to your screaming match now. We don’t get to see arguments in person often; this is kinda fun.”

Elly opened her mouth to respond, but paused at the interjection of the three, her eyes resting on them briefly as they spoke before stopping at the youngest one. She narrowed her eyes slightly before returning her focus to Midori. “You don’t get points for saving theoretical mes when you’re also putting me at risk,” She began in her return rant. “And those eyes obviously don’t see everything, because a year ago I would have let your arse run off and get killed by yourself.”

The crone elected to interject, albeit this time in the middle of a rant. ”He didn’t die, that version of him simply ceased to be,” she explained. She then tilted her head and pondered on the topic. ”We really ought not really too much about the future; doing so can be dangerous… but, there is a way around that,” she said, now stroking the fine hairs on her chin.

”In countless futures, Midori returns to Eros for Ao. He has no reason to stay in the DWMA. Maybe you die, maybe Zosar dies, something goes wrong–there are several crossroads that cause it. When that happens, Eros takes his willing soul and rebuilds him, strips that tiny sliver of the Shinigami out, and imbues it in himself,” the dark-haired woman explained, stepping over the line the crone refused to.

Then the youngest yet again chimed in, ”so basically, you don’t let his arse run off to die, you let him run off to allow one of the most dangerous people in the world become that more so.”

Elly’s eyes narrowed again and glanced at the three. “Thank you for that specification,” She said with a tone that did not hold much gratitude before turning back to Midori again. “My point stands in that I am spending infinitely more time than I would have trying to prevent you ceasing to be,” She said, using the trio’s terminology this time. “And of course I didn’t communicate that. My parents were killed by my uncle. He orchestrated it, or one of the others. They were blood, and that didn’t mean shite. And sensitivities are an open wound and prime target. I don’t share them for a reason. But they were my parents and I love and miss them, but I’m trying to play it smart.”

Midori had to pause. This was a lot of information to take in. Not only what Elly said, but about what the fates said. He could see the potential inside of souls? Really? What was that like? Was it passive? Was it some urge? Did he need some clarification from Kidd on how that worked? Worse, though…

…there realities where he returned to Eros? For Ao? Midori wanted him dead. Could life really get so bad that he would return to Eros?

Midori thought on it. Maybe it did make sense. Eros could give him purpose, at least. Purpose in a meaningless life. Maybe at his worst, Midori would seek out some inglorious purpose over this haze he lived in for so long.

Midori became somewhat sullen and yet again ashamed at that thought.

He inhaled deeply, calming down if only because that shame and sadness were taking the place of some of his rage. He just needed a moment.

”Elly, I know your history. I have known it,” he told her bluntly.

”And, had you asked and meant it, I would have helped you get any closure you wanted. If it would have helped that open wound heal, I’d have done it for you,” he explained, being quite sincerely, although riddled with emotions. Not that Elly could read them with her soul perception in this environment; such skills couldn’t be used here.

”It wouldn’t be for some selfish reason, like getting closer, or aligning you more with the DWMA–or anything. I’d have done it just because I saw one aching soul need help,” he told her, ”an aching soul I’ve grown to care about.”

”But, let’s talk about playing it smart. I tried for two years to find even a tail on Eros and came up short. The entire DWMA hunts him; he’s on the Most Wanted list and is probably the furthest from being caught,” Midori explained, wording this in a way more aligned with her mindset and word choice.

”In five years, today is the first and only day I’ve had any reason to believe Ao was made into a golem, too. And, right now, there’s a chance to make contact–even if we can’t kill her. Miss that chance, it may not occur again for another five years. Miss that chance and anything we can learn just goes out the window,” Midori said, pointing out the rarity of this situation.

”Even if we die, agents will take our place eventually and do our jobs eventually. The chances of them getting this kind of intel are slim. Maybe I do value life less, but what is on the line here is greater than any one of our lives,” he told her, laying out the facts as he saw them.

The youngest of the three chimed in yet again. ”Should we show them the version of the daughter that’s a golem? Maybe she’d understand more if she saw herself in–”

The middle woman outstretched her hand to cover the mouth of the youngest, jostling the snake that rested on her shoulders. ”Continue on, ignore that,” she said.

“Because I want to live more than I want closure,” Elly interjected briefly before part of her expression seemed to soften somewhat. A hand rose to rub her forehead as a sigh escaped her. “Dying for the greater good is not what I would call playing it smart,” She murmured softly.

Collecting herself, she turned to him somewhat more reserved than before. “I don’t want to die, and I don’t want you to die either, Midori. That’s the whole point. Helping you get closure is one thing, but I can’t do that being dragged around with no intel. If we do, we need to do it smart, not like how it’s been done today,” She expressed. “Eros is smart and running around with our feelings on our sleeves just makes it easy for him. It doesn’t apply now. What’s done is done and we’re either dead or we’re not. However, for the future, it needs to.”

”Every day that we’re agents, we risk death–that’s just a fact,” Midori told her, about as blunt and reserved as she was being with him.

”You can question the decisions made, but fact is, before we even knew what we were dealing with, we had every opportunity to die. If Astila was still there, I don’t think we could fight her. We beat the snake bitch because she’s probably best at killing Witches, not Meisters. And, Ao? If she’s out hunting Astila, we’d have no chance at her,” Midori explained to her, painting this picture out.

”You keep saying what’s done is done as if mistakes were made, but any minor change to this sequence of events could have been a promise of death. We would have just been collateral damage, nothing more, nothing less,” Midori told her.

”Try to play it as smart as you want, but sometimes, an opportunity emerges and you have to decide to play it safe and let it slide by, or take it and risk the reward,” he said, forming his opinions into more nuanced wordplay. ”I don’t want to die, but I’m not about to let opportunities fly right by me. The only threat right now is Lady Crimson and if she wanted us dead, we would be. It makes no sense for her to wait for us if escaping is her goal. If she wants to outrun us, she will. If she stays, it doesn’t make sense to me that she would increase her risk of capture to kill five more small-time agents. What I see is an opportunity that far outweighs the risk of her making some illogical decision to stay behind for us.”

”You can play it smart and ultimately make a stupid decision,” Midori told her.

“The mistake was giving chase in the first place, Midori. That was the mistake, one we were lucky not to have suffered more from,” Elly stated tiredly. “Now, there is no mistake or choice. We’re here. If she wants to speak with us, or you, then that’s what’s going to happen. As you said, and as I did, she can kill us if she wants to, so we have to see this through. However I do recall that one of us was less fond of risk in Romania,” She said calmly, not so much throwing that in his face as pointing out she wasn’t entirely risk averse. “Intelligently. That’s the key. Not running headfirst hoping things will work out. You thought this through now. Not back when we first set off. That’s the crux of the issue I have. If there’s an opportunity that, could you capitalize on it, would be a great benefit, but you are certainly to only lose from it as you are in the moment, that isn’t something you should shrug and roll with,” Elly further stated before pausing. “Shortly put. Risk is fine, it’s part of the job. Suicide is not. We’re going to meet Crimson. However, in the future, you cannot just lose your head and run forward with reckless abandon. Think, strategize, ask for help—something other than just running through the fog.”

”Look at that, give them a moment to think and the problem resolves itself…” the dark-haired woman said, commenting before Midori had a chance to say his piece.

”It would be unwise to neglect the guidance to get here… changing the frame of mind is just as important as the facts themselves,” the crone said, pointing out the flaw in labeling this problem as ‘self-resolving’ as the dark-haired woman did.

”Yeah, it isn’t that easy to see clearly in the heat of the moment, otherwise, they wouldn’t have failed in the normal course of events,” the youngest of the three chimed in, piggybacking off the oldest. ”I’m more interested in seeing how frustrated they get when we tell them they won’t remember any of this,” she then commented, entirely changing the subject.

Midori again took a moment to process what was said, both by Elly and the other three. There was a lot to think over, but it suddenly stopped mattering if they wouldn’t remember any of it. ”You’re going to wipe our memories?” he asked, curious and puzzled more so than confused. Granted, he wouldn’t mind his memory of himself and Gav being wiped from memory permanently.

Elly’s eyes turned to the three as they said their memories would fade. On the one hand, that meant she didn’t have to worry about Midori remembering the scarab. On the other, though, what was the damn point then? “If we can’t remember any of this then how is anything going to change?” She asked blatantly, just as tired of the three as this whole exchange.

”Wipe isn’t the right word,” responded the youngest of the trio.

”A crossroads is a spiritual place… only at them can we commune. It is not a physical place. It is merely a place your mind can wander free of your body and soul. Once you leave, all that you learn fades into the crossroads,” the dark haired woman told them, trying to explain what a crossroad was. It wasn’t an easy thing, though. Without seeing the entire flow of time and how spiritual energy flowed with it, making sense of this was nigh-impossible.

”You won’t remember much. It will be a haze. Souls and spirits traverse along paths you cannot see in your current forms. They will be but faint memories. What boon we can give you, if your decision is to meet with the Songbird, is the answer you came to on your own. We can give you the clarity you found here. You would have normally figured this out later in hindsight, years after damning the son of Death a thousand times over, but we can gift to you early,” the crone explained, cutting through the more muddled explanations–or lack thereof–that the other two provided.

”You’ll just use your own logic to agree to go,” the youngest repeated, simplifying it all.

”As for the son of Death an’ man, we can gift him a realization he also makes later. The mistakes he makes that drove you away. The reasons you end up closing your heart to him forever; sometimes, before it even opens,” the middle woman said, making sure Midori ended up with his own revelation as well.

”Not that you care for it at the moment, but there may come a day that you appreciate the option,” the crone added with no subtle hint of condescending forethought.

More or less, they would get a feeling for the gist of this after they left, even if they would not concretely remember what transpired. Elly pinched the bridge of her nose, ignoring the tone of condescension. An early revelation they would say. Elly wasn’t sure she believed that, but apparently she wouldn’t even recall being suspicious of it. This was more tiring than the fight with the witch-hunter. “...Very well, may we leave now then?”

”As you wish… daughter of man, beauteous and deceitful, know this. We have provided knowledge at thousands of crossroads. You will never know it, but our goal is altruistic; to avoid the destruction of this world. It is… a draining task to prove knowledge when it is so vast,” the dark-haired woman told her, her tone shifting slightly to a more poetic, almost flowery version of the direct one she had previously.

”Yes, daughter of man and child of death, you are both likely your greatest enemies. You are not alone with this trait; many great souls we have encountered since the very beginning of this world were impeded most of all by their own stubborn nature. It is a shame we could not give you any further advice… you may like the life you could have more than the one you will earn,” the crone told them, though more so providing an ominous warning.

Finally, the youngest gave her farewell. ”Goodbye, sister. And, farewell to you, too, son of Death; though, you are no brother of mine. Still, though, there is much that blooms in you. So much that could be grown, but is disparaged as it is seen as a weakness. I do wish for the day to come that see how that which you so hate could be your strength,” she told them both, her tone much brighter and compassionate than the more snarky attitude she had previously.

With that, the youngest of the trio, the red-haired maiden, raised up her hand to grab an apple from the tree. Once plucked, the innocence of that apple was lost. Its brilliant, red hue shifted into a metallic sheen, a golden leaf across its skin. It was swift, the change of color, and just as swift that the golden apple withered away. Turning to dust in the wind.

As it did, what should have been the most minor amount of dust from such a small fruit turned into the familiar tsunami of golden clouds that had surrounded them before. It did not roar, nor was it menacing like a sandstorm. If anything, it might have been particularly pretty to see the gold dust completely fill the air and sparkle within the sunlight. Though, that sunlight was not fated to last long. As the dust settled, the space they were in returned to the ones they had a left. The hazy fog surrounding the dim candles that illuminated the darkness.

Midori came to and was confused. He knew the place they were in. He knew that cold, still water. That infinite darkness. He knew, too, that the still fog that obscured his vision came from Elly, so this was their shared space. His own personal one was crystal clear despite its darkness. ”Why are we here, Elly…” he murmured, unclear on the situation that brought them here.

As the sunny raise and gold mist was replaced by the fog of her soul space, Elly glanced around, confused. “...I…’m not sure…” She muttered, very unsettled. “At least, I didn’t intend to bring us here… You didn’t?” She also felt tired, and annoyed for some reason, beyond that of what she was already, though she couldn’t pinpoint the reason.

”N-No, I don’t think so… ‘sides, it has to be a mutual thing,” Midori responded, his voice a little sluggish and his normally acute word choice being slightly askew. That hyper-fixation he had was muddied at the moment, too, due to his confusion, but it also seemed as if Elly was in the same boat.

“Right…” Elly mused, disconcerted but moving past it. “Perhaps it's for the best. We need to talk. How strong do you recall Ao being?” She asked, upfront. “Because all the souls I see ahead of us just dropped like flies, far too quickly. I’m not even sure they were killed. The way they disappeared is… off,” She explained what she saw. “What doesn’t make sense is that if she’s that strong or fast, we don’t have a choice of whether to catch her or flee… Yet she’s still there. It doesn’t make sense.”

If anything was going to sober Midori, it was mention of Ao. He had avoided using her name for a reason. Even it was enough to hit him hard. It was one of his least favorite parts of visiting his own homeland; it was a relatively common name.

Regardless, he focused on the situation. The agents would have to be killed. Perhaps Ao had gone so far as having her Demon Weapon consume the souls of the innocent? That was rare, but not unheard of. Even more problematic if it proved true.

”Ao was only a high two-star when she died, but keep in mind, she was just nineteen. She got to train with me in the Hoshi homeland, but she earned it–nothing like Zosar. She was amazing. Resonance, Chain Resonance, should modify complex resonance… they used to say she was nothing short of a Stein,” Midori explained, answering the question as best he could, though admittedly praising her as the mental image he had still remained immensely positive.

”She could be waiting. I doubt she has to receive orders. If she knows we’re en route, she likely knows that others are, too. I doubt she would stand still knowing an ambush is on its way,” Midori told her, thinking through the logic of the situation. Elly was right. If this Lady Crimson wanted to escape, now was her chance. Her best chance.

”Ao was a prodigy in wavelength control. All aspects of it. But, she wasn’t aGenius Meister. Couldn’t use multiple weapons, didn’t have all the cheats the Steins do. Pretty sure she couldn’t use Soul Sutures,” Midori shifted back, adding more information about Ao.

“She’s waiting then…” Elly mulled that over with a hum. “So clearly she’s advanced beyond expectations… As a benchmark, when you were amplifying me to my maximum against Royal. How did I compare speed-wise?” She inquired further, picking apart what information she could from what was available. “To Ao back then, that is.”

”Five years ago? Your best was her standard,” Midori answered flatly. ”Thing was, we were monster hunters… she hated fighting people. It’s hard to judge because of that,” he added, giving more context to the skill of Ao.

“Then from the range we’re at now, even if we made a sprint in the other direction, she could run us down,” Elly pointed out, though was more commenting aloud. “I don’t know what game she’s playing, but I don’t think it’s killing us… I also don’t see Astilla there… Though I have no idea if the woman escaped or just disappeared like the souls of the agents.”

”We’ll find out soon, we’re getting close… but if the soul matches the wavelength you saw in those arrows, it most definitely is hers,” Midori replied, ”and if we were fated to die like the others, she wouldn’t have waited.”

“That’s what concerns me… I’m not sure they’re dead. Disappeared,” Elly corrected calmly. “Remember what I said. Don’t leave my hands… what good it would do,” She murmured the latter half of that sentence.

”Damn, Elly, meet one ex-partner and you already get this clingy,” Midori retorted, a quick and sarcastic remark starkly contrasting the situation. Regardless, there was little more for Midori to say. Outside of the souls being consumed, he had no answer for them disappearing.

“Let’s hope she doesn’t get jealous either,” Elly remarked back, though her tone was anything but amused. As their shared space dissipated, their consciousnesses warping back to match the real-time, Elly spoke through the communicator to the rest.

“Regarding the agents that have engaged, they’re gone. I don’t even see Stein’s soul ahead, just the one that shot the arrows at us initially. Good news is, I’m fairly sure they aren’t interested in killing us. The bad news is, I know that because based on how quickly they wiped out the other squad, even if we had used chain resonance to sprint away, it likely wouldn’t be enough,” Elly spoke calmly. She wasn’t going to take the heat from the others for not telling them and then they all arrive to see a massacre. “Likewise, if they wanted to leave, they would be gone… So, standby and try not to give them a reason to change their mind.”

Haze-

RedArmyShogun · Nov 25, 2023

Maria Mayer - Hallerbos Forest, Belgium

As the situation unfolded, Maria was liking it less and less, the weapon was much too emotional, the leader too quiet and via her own intuition and the silence of the forest, she knew those agents were all dead. Secrets were being kept and privy to one another. This team had survived, but this mission had seen pointless damage to her darlings, and all because any and all information on the enemy was being kept. It was like her previous fight and on the island, constant improvisation and adaptation. However, the Island, Rand could truthfully say they had no information. Here information was being hidden or this series of events was purely by chance with DWMA orders and the timing of units.

They should have never gone after that woman in the first place. To be a mentor, he was acting like a scared child. She could not judge him too harshly, but his whole situation from what she gathered was an unstable one. To use humans, their souls as tools, to implant them into a construct... It all struck her as too much. With her own goals and motivations this Taboo was just too much the Conservative Reformist to tolerate. She could not fight, or at least not fight enough to beat her... That was clear, though she would not pretend she was happy with all of this, to break bread with an enemy, or to allow the weakest link at present to upend all of this.

"I am not so easily to kill, though desperate improvisation is not something I enjoy, I seem to three times now to have a skill for thinking outside of the box..." She said in response to still being alive being a surprise to her enemy. Looking at the sheer numbers of deaths, Maria wasn't like a number of witches, that would see this as nothing but dead Leafs in the wind. Her mind was already picking at the words and all she had heard and learn to this point, leading to her asking a number of questions, either in an attempt to take control of the situation or to at least refocus Midori and to have the Meisters search in avenues they may have not been stable enough for in the current time.

"How much of your skill and appearance is from age or the mad smith's hammer, or should I say Lord Eros? And how much of your orders were in fact orders or commands? Astila Stein was a traitor and on the run, but my allies have not noticed any such corruptions. Tell me, if you would be so kind, to a mage who also makes dolls, is she next for the Mad Smith to strip away the will and flesh to turn into a new Golem? Her soul was remarked to not be here. But I rather doubt you came out in pairs to just kill one person, no matter who they were.... Also I am curious, were you the archer who fired at us initially of was that the Stein? I've no plans to fight you. Not in the here and now at least... But you were standing here to have a chat with the one you have deemed a failure..."

She had no way to know if her questions would be answered, but if the attention remained on them and just how helpless they were, then that was all it would ever be.

Interactions:

EmperorsChosen (Elly)

Sir Les Paul (Midori)

The Regal Rper (Zosar)

Haze- (Wren)

The Regal Rper · Nov 26, 2023

Zosar | Hallerbos Forest, Belgium

The little head bump she gave him could have meant nothing more than just her style of nonverbal communication. He wasn't sure if it was a werewolf thing or just her style at play.

It was funny, being around a few werewolves of different clans, of different forms of communication, and still having to guess ways in which a werewolf communicated as a result of all the different cultural nuances. Even Sara had her differences, the focus she put on the senses and collectivism were vastly different from the more physical aggressive and individualism of Ungu Clan members like Quill and Cleft. Or the more in your space nature of Lunari members like Dianca.

Wren's headbut was clearly affectionate, matching the loyalty she was showing.

He wasn't sure what to do with both.

Adra had ordained to stay and he could have stayed with her but he didn't want that after learning about the Fool's Event. They had wanted different things.

He had thought if he stayed a bit longer she would change her mind, come with him, but that hadn't happened.

He had been disappointed but accepted it in the end. Forcing her wasn't going to change anything and he ultimately wanted what was best for her. The parting had been amicable.

It hadn't been what he really wanted though, but settling for something else was better than sacrificing what they had built since going to Japan.

He and Markus had seen things differently that day, just like he and Becky and all the others had, the result had been the same. A major turning point. A desire for something different, had led to the end.

Somewhere, he realized a part of him had thought this might be another turn to the end. Another thing where they didn't agree and the partnership was over before either of them truly knew it.

The amount of relief he felt knowing that wasn't the case now, hit him in a way he hadn't realized till muscles that had slightly tensed upon her answer released when she said she would stay.

Ambivalence was such a pain. He was relieved this was the breaking point, at least not yet, but now he felt that familiar weight that made him aware he wasn't just gambling his life, it was hers too.

Instead he didn't voice that.

He shoulder nudged her, cocked a brow and said: “‘Lost without you’, huh? Bit presumptuous. My understanding of direction isn't that awful.” He muttered in a low voice of faux annoyance but there was teasing amusement in the tone.

The thought of pulling her into a one armed hug or noogie sounded appealing, but he didn't. He briefly wrapped one arm around her shoulders, gave her a quick squeeze, and uttered a soft “Thanks, Snowball” at a distance from one lupine ear so as not to irritate it with his voice knowing how sensitive werewolf ears could be.

He was going to say, “This means a lot to Midori, and your support means a lot to me” something along those lines, but it wasn't worth it.

Midori's situation was a sensitive one, his conviction to see it through was the only reason he was going. If it weren't, he would've let this opportunity slip for his friend, mainly because he had no idea how truly important this was to him. All he knew was what he had felt from Midori during the fight and what he was seeing now.

He couldn't leave the guy.

Something told him if he did, if any of them had let Midori go alone, they wouldn't see him again.

Even if he had to go by himself with the guy he would have. Even if it had ended with him dying, something told him that that specific death would have made it so Midori would somehow find a way to return. The similarities yet major contrasts to his situation and Midori's were too strong to just ignore.

They were wearing the same shoes, different brands.

Someone had to go with him. In this case, the more the merrier.

Now though, he had to make certain whatever happened up there, he didn't drag Wren into it.

The closer they reached their destination though, the more he wondered how much of this was a trap as Elly relayed information. He didn't fault Maria for making requests on wanting more clarity. All of them did, save clearly Elly who by default as the partner likely has far more insight. It seemed though what clarity they would get would have to come from the exchange.

Neither Elly and Midori shared much in detail, and it only illustrated their similarities in his mind for it.

It didn't take a genius to understand however, that one person attacking multiple individuals, near or above their own capabilities, and making them do a vanishing act in the span of a few short seconds in between, to show that attacking or feinting one at Lady Crimson, would be instant death.

Right then and there before they even reached her, Zosar deigned to stay as far back away from her as possible.

As beautiful as she was and her beauty did leave his eyes to linger, she was lethal. It was similar to how he had viewed Royal Pain. Pretty but deadly.

Though, LC had a greater appeal he couldn't deny when compared to Pain. For one, she didn't open her mouth and start unleashing smack talk at their mage. Though her natural bitchiness threw his mind back to a handful of people. Miss G being the first.

He had seen beauty and lethality many times as an Enlightener. Seeing it here, seeing her suppressed Demon Weapons not far from her, seeing not a soul or Astila in sight, the announcement that Astila was dead-- it all had him acutely alert.

At least she was focused on Midori. Even with the once over she gave Maria and them.

Still, it just reeked of this being some sort of plot by Eros. Some sort of bait that they had taken.

Wren could feel the sense of heightened caution and even greater sense of understanding that LC really could just finish them off. Even more though she could detect his suspicion.

It had practically been confirmed when she started speaking that she had been waiting for Midori. All the statements about what Midori could have been, were things he factually ignored. To him, it sounded like hopeful expectations and frankly they were quite dimwitted ones if she was aware he had been one of Eros' puppets too.

Maybe she wasn't though, could have been why her expectations were so unrealistic. He didn't say anything then but he certainly considered speaking depending on Midori’s reaction.

Whatever the point was, her point was clear. Move in an act of hostility, die. He wanted that avoided.

‘It won't matter either way. I would suggest changing. It makes it less likely for her ‘orders’ to take us as a threat if you aren't in Form, even more so if backup arrives at the worst time and she goes on a killing spree it may put us off her target list for listening if she has as much autonomy as Pain did.’ It was cold. Willing to let Agents die if it meant they got out alive, but he didn't really care.

There were limits on how much a person could do. He was no god like Lord Kidd. Was nowhere near the level of the Star clan head or any top agent. They were all sitting ducks. If the backup arrives and if he could get a warning in, that was the limit of what he would be willing to do.

Joining backup though to help fight? After seeing this personally?

No way in hell. There could have been a hundred agents here and he wouldn't have moved to do a thing unless it was to provide first aid if any survived.

With her being basically alone though, that wasn't likely to be the case.

‘Go ahead and change. Moment you do, stand right beside me. Won't matter like I said…but I'll feel better with you closer beside me.’ His tone was instructional, hard even but there was a touch of genuine concern and warmth mixed in that she could only tell because of their link. He wanted her safe.

There was a fierce sense of protectiveness Wren could feel him displaying he hadn't before, not just towards her but over everyone with how alert he was and that was a new feeling, a sign of development in their resonance. Deeper awareness like what someone could feel in a resonance and who their emotions might be directed towards was progress. Good progress.

Too bad it wasn't the best time for celebrating.

Maria's questions however also require a focus. Her questions likely wouldn't get answers but if they did get anything it would be phenomenal insight.

How much of the real Crimson was still there? How much was just under Eros' control? Did she truly want to even meet Midori or was it just the programming giving whatever lingering feelings her past self had some opportunities to express itself here in line with Eros agenda?

He was curious, but not so much he didn't keep note of the exact position of her Demon Weapon friends.

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EmperorsChosen

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The Regal Rper · Nov 26, 2023

Ark | Egypt | Rings: 0/1

Sensing magic from the statues at the entrance to the Temple of Anubis was not comforting in the slightest. If anything it just made him think more of how this whole trip might end up being akin to Dall Island. Magic fuckery at his own expense, and the detriment of this team.

The very environment of this place should have made him invincible. The sand was limitless, the heat provided plenty of set ups to create various temperature effects in conjunction with the environment. Yet the experience at Dall Island if anything was to expect the likelihood that just because the environment could be his play field didn't mean it would obey.

Entering and spotting the message at the same time as their guide, Ark’s shoulders merely shifted slightly down before straightening again with a shake of his head at the unfortunate fate of Moreau's friend. However what the message in the note did convey was that something was after these old artifacts. The name of Ismael carrying a book did nothing to appease Ark’s mind neither was the knowledge that the Anpu or whomever had been the cause of Evans flight, had been aiming for the gauntlets also.

“Before we go picking a path, Sir Moreau, Ismael, is there anything you can tell us about him in particular?”

As Ark said this he took a wide spread stance, focused his magic, and stomped into the ground, sending a pulse of magic through the environment.

The wave of magic spread down and all around, like a crashing body of water. Far below the depths of where they stood as Ark rose his hands and bended the sand to create a map of their position and the position of the rooms nearby and below them as far as he could make the structures out to be.

The first pulse he sent out gave him a sense of the layout, the next was for greater detail. He did this multiple times, growing the distance he was covering so as not to be overwhelmed within a almost a minute he had mapped out the entire structure and the areas below it to the greatest of his clarity. A five pointed star, representing them.

“On the left going down” he waved his hand, an ‘x’ appeared, “I sensed movement. Faint magic in the atmosphere I believe that must be like the circles we found above, their pace is off, their forms feel disturbed and posture strange but past those suspecting undead, I was pretty certain I sensed signs of life. Not just on the left path but the right also. Both sides seem to have possible survivors. Their movements, from what I detected based on their steps and what I could feel from the vibration were far more stable compared to the amble of the undead we have come across. I detected no magic in their immediate atmosphere either, like that of the undead from earlier. If any of you can feel the spiritual presence of what I am saying, confirm it now before we proceed.”

He however wasn't done though. “My range seems to have been scattered a bit the more I pushed outwards, I believe that is because of some warding effects in place interfering with my magic. I can say on the right, there's tunnels that go down to another area I wasn't fully able to get a clear idea on” he explained. It likely meant as he suspected using his magic further below would be dicey. Splitting up could be detrimental but it would also mean if they moved as a group they would have to double back to go rescue what possible survivors were on the other side.

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Merciless Medic

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EmperorsChosen · Nov 26, 2023

Eloise Keegan - Hallerbos Forest, Belgium
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Elly's eyes centered on the woman in front of them before turning them to the treeline behind her where the suppressed souls sat. She could track Midori with some focus, and she was doing nothing but that on the way here. Were they Hoshi to have a level of suppression so beyond that? That was an irritation, but good to know that there was a level of suppression she needed to accustom herself to.

When the golem's eyes turned towards her, Elly stared back. Though the Irishwoman's gaze was less of a glare and more of a focus, reading anything she could from the woman's soul, appearance, creases from her expressions, anything really. Elly's mouth curved into a small smile, the first she had made since they began on this death march. However, it was not one of pleasantries, rather anxiousness.

Elly was aware it didn't matter if Midori was in her hands, but it gave her some semblance of control and defense in all this. There was also the wash of emotions running through her partner at the time, which was another reason she was hesitant to let him go. He wasn't in a headspace for this. More or less reduced to shocked puppy.

Then there was Roya. Elly's soul perception focused to search the area for her signature. Perhaps Midori's ex didn't plan to kill them, but if Roya came back that would present a problem. Not to mention, lizards could regenerate to an extent, so who knew if she could nurture that taken limb. The way the woman ran was much akin to a lizard shedding its skin and abandoning its tail too.

However, Elly also didn't feel that this request was a request, and between risking the ire of Roya or Ao, she would take her chances with Roya. "...Since you asked so politely..." That was a blatant lie. You can put 'kindly' or 'please' in the sentence but if your face looks like you cave the other person's in, that's hardly polite. Nonetheless, Elly retracted her fingers and loosened her grip, letting Midori transform should he choose. "...Kind of working on that assuming you don't lob off our heads or place our souls in a jar..." She remarked to Midori's status, keeping a calm voice despite her internal stress. "...Does that offer extend to your friends in the trees as well?" She asked, which of course referred to if the suppressed souls weren't feeling particularly bloodthirsty.

Haze-

Haze- · Nov 27, 2023

Wren
Hallerbos Forest, Belgium

She twisted away from his nudge, drama queen fashion, like he’d broken half-a-dozen ribs with his bare shoulder— groaning, hissing and deflating with a shit-eating grin on her face. A good moment of brief reprieve, plain stupidity to take the edge off, break the tension — “I’ll have y’ know that— unlike any of you freak-shows— I have a map of the are..—” — The word immediately got yanked out of her mouth when his hand reeled her in.

There was a slight second where she cringed a little, made a face at that tingle in the ears, yet it slowly wiped to a half-smirk. She hadn’t been one for endearment these last few years of life; that emotion got sapped dry the moment she reached adulthood; but with Zosar, she was getting used to the feeling again.

Learning to string out the proper reactions for it again.

“You’re having fun with the nicknames, aren’t you?” — Snowball was a new one. She wasn’t sure if it was a step-up from plain Silver, though.

She sighed, deep-pocketing the entire bag of chips inside her bag and crunching a plain blank pill between her fangs. Wren gave both Elly and Maria an apologetic glance, still chewing, eyes lingering longer than they should’ve on Elly. She was genuinely heartfelt for the lack of common sense within the group, that they were walking into this mess knowingly.

Yet, she supposed there was little more to expect from a team of rejects. They were all grown adults, with their own made-up excuses for why they were running straight to danger instead of tucking tail. She couldn’t blame Midori, only herself — "Let’s get going, then.”

Life, after all, was nothing but a messy play on choosing your jogging tracks— picking the right path. Knowing that the door would close right behind you. Live with the memory that you’d just made the dumbest, avoidable mistake of your life.

Crossroads, something like that.

She was getting tired of all these analogies in her head by now.

The five of them reached the Pygmalion, just beyond the treeline. The smell of flame-crisped farmland hit her, followed by a tinge of blood permeating the aftermath of the skirmish; the blood of 20 something agents, she assumed. She didn’t start regretting where her damned feet had taken her to until she saw the woman in front of them.

Royal blue and crimson red; Lord Eros needed to work on his names, that much was clear to Wren.

The redhead was dolled head-down, like a human sized porcelain figure. Not a crease, not an imperfection— worse, not a damn beauty mark. Not even the slightest ghost of a cut on her outfit. Not even Stein managed to leave a scratch on this woman before going rough into that goodnight. That fact alone made things clearer for her. Astila had ran her legs off, and for good reason it seemed.

Over a dozen agents gone in the blink of an eye; she was likely a monster just like all of the elites at the DWMA. That clarity only left the question in her mind of why she was down in the hillock mingling with the ants in the first place. Was Midori that important to her?

For the first time since their goose chase started, Wren froze up when Crimson addressed her and Zosar. In another scenario, with someone else, she would’ve spun up her chainblade out of sheer pettiness. Given her a resounding, booming — ‘Fuck you.’

But they were working on a short fuse here. There was no telling what would set this girl off; and she didn’t want to give her an excuse to blow her fuse, bound by ‘commands’ or not.

“What if she…?” — She spoke through their link, her thoughts choked behind that knot in her throat. ‘What if she touches Midori?’, she held a quiet pause, cackling just a moment after — “Guess it won’t matter, huh?”

Their resonance was tightening even under all of this pressure, coming with a flood of new feels hitting her square in the head. She felt his poise, mixed in with that underlying concern for everyone in the team — “I wasn’t planning on leaving your side either way… Hell, I didn’t plan shit.”

On the other hand, he might’ve felt that sweaty-palmed, heart racing sense of hurry Wren had been keeping behind curtains this far into the skirmish. She was playing it cool, stoic, but her survival instincts were cranked to the max. Pure awareness, throbbing in her every muscle. Her mind wasn’t trailing, heart wasn’t skipping beats. Everything was lucid, stolid.

Though, the only problem with being at this constant edge was the fatigue coming to a build-up. Wren wanted this over with, as quickly as possible.

She was already leaving Zosar’s hands as Maria began her questioning, brushing the wind off her bangs with a hand.

“Reckon the chick’s not enjoying herself either, wherever she is,” — Wren crossed her arms, quirking a brow up at Crimson — “So we’re fair n’ even…”

“You didn’t wait ten whole minutes here just for a chance to belittle Midori, did you?”

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