Fandom The City That Never Weeps

[Veradana]

A scant few others managed to join them. And among those who did were another injured man and a woman whose escape looked to be more narrow than the breadth of a whisker. But another man was already aiding her. Not noticing the man’s initial hesitation, Don León glowed with renewed hope and energy. Truly these were stalwart companions who he’d been so fortunate to encounter just in his time of apprehension. And the other man, who despite his injured arm, took care to supply the other with fresh clothing after their wet escape, and then for him to immediately recognise the necessity of investing the Greenhouse, what relief there was, that Don León would not be alone and would have others by his side as it had been before with Naofumi and the others. However, there were still some matters to attend to before they left.

“No. No, this is decidedly a dreadful situation.” Don León turned to address all who’d gathered.

“If you would all be so kind as to heed my words,” and then, continuing whatever response he received, “I must explain myself, and a great deal of other things, mustn't I? As I have already introduced myself to Kenzo Honda, and we must make haste to aid the entrapped victim within the Greenhouse, just as your friend so diligently noticed, I will be brief. I am the great Don León, and you have found yourselves in The Garden. The Shadows here are far more peaceable than those you will encounter in that Greenhouse, but it is a necessary risk that we must take to liberate it from that red string. Should we fail to do so, whosoever is the string’s captive will be trapped forever, lost to all, just as those Shadows that wander below.” he furrowed his brow,

“I suppose an explanation regarding Shadows may be necessary as well seeing as though you will be facing them in great numbers. To put it as simply as I can find possible: Shadows are born from humans, and can take as many forms as there are stars in the sky, and I can see that you have already encountered some in your journeys. You plainly know how wild some can be. They are a danger to humans in this state, but there are times when I see them leave humans to go about their business." He took a final look from the group to the Greenhouse.

“Well then, shall we be off? There is a great ordeal in front of us, and no time like the present.”

“As well, we should be diligent about sheltering ourselves from this dreadful rain.”

He arranged his cape so that it covered both himself and Kenzo. Always looking over to ensure that the young man was still close as he moved along towards the Greenhouse until they reached the entrance. Once they were within, they would be safe, from the rain at least.


CapRock (Shirou) Midrick (Jordan) Refaulted (Kenzo) Jeef_jones (Alex) Thepotatogod (Ross) Haz. (Rei) Hououin Kyouma (Ginjiro)

 

[Veradana]

When the shadow fell over her, Yuzuki froze. Already halfway mumbling an apology, when she glanced up and heard the voice of just who it was standing over her, her still tearful face curled in revulsion. She recoiled and tried to push herself up, preferring to keep using her sleeves to wipe her face than anything Lancaster had to offer. Growling, she weakly threw a handful of dirt at his feet.

“Don’t act like you care.” Couldn’t he see how few of them had survived? Down from sixteen to only five. And here he was acting nonchalant and flirting with her.

“This isn’t something you can fix.”

Despite her words, she was still a little shaky. Begrudgingly, and refusing to even meet his eyes, she accepted his hand, letting him pull her up, but pulling away the second she was on her feet, wobbly as her legs may be, and hugging her arms close around her trembling body.

“Thank you.” It was blunt, but it was the most she could manage for him.

She would just lean on the doorway, under the awning, until she felt ready to move again.

Or until she was forced to. That seemed more and more likely. She was only slightly more aware of her surroundings than before, but somehow even the creepy, noisy lion-man had escaped her notice until he started talking to them as if everything was laid out nicely in front of them. There were so many steps missing in the path. She’d been blindly leaping from one to another this whole time, and it didn’t seem like it would be getting any better any time soon. Dreyer didn’t seem to care. He was already heading off, taking one of the umbrellas with him. Yuzuki chanced a glance back into the sewers, but the stench, and the thought of the flood nearly made her head spin away from her again. Would they have to manage with just the two they had? She was already drenched, but that was no reason to make the problem worse. She looked back over at Dreyer and shook her head, turning instead to Feron and walking over to him.

“e-excuse me, Feron-san?” she hesitated. Her voice still felt stiff and brittle. Feron was pretty noisy back in the detention room, but she still barely knew anything about him. “I don’t think there’s any more umbrellas, or that we can go back and look. C-can I share with you, please?”

CapRock (Shirou) Midrick (Jordan) Refaulted (Kenzo) Jeef Jones (Alex) Thepotatogod (Ross) Hououin Kyouma (Ginjiro) Haz. (Rei)

 

[CapRock]

Location: ?????

Characters: Rhyme Aegis Hershel Thexcentrichilean Katja Midrick Chiyo

As soon as the group crossed the door, it became painfully clear that what they crossed in their attempt to escape was far from a simple door.

While the walls and floor vaguely reminisced the color and tone of Elixir-777, everything else made such resemblance hard to tell unless you’d spent far too much time in the bar: the kitchen had been replaced with sofas, desks and lockers, and a sickenly red hue bled through the doors and windows to wash over it all. Scribbled sheets, used soda cans and bullet cartridges alid sprawled across every free surface. The place wasn’t merely messy, it had been ravaged, turned upside down by indelicate hands or a hurricane and left to rot.

Taking center stage of the scene there was a wall of evidence made of pinned notebook sheets and pictures on a corkboard. The left edge was the one that held the most pictures. They security card shots of people that seemed familiar, perhaps even close to them once - a market vendor, a school teacher, a childhood friend - who had since walked out of their lives and never found or even missed again, as though as if our heroes had met them in another life altogether. Next to it, a note read “Disappearances” in large and poignant letters.

But it didn’t stop there. Reaching out below, the words “Euphoria drug” found themselves surrounded by long-distance shots of men in suits carrying around large silver suitcases. TO the right, Garden and Greenhouse popped into view, with a strange picture of what could only be described as a glass structure that had been crumbled to dust by red string amidst an eerie field of flowers.

From every word and note came an arrow, the lines converging into the main sheet at the center. Whatever information it held, however, was long gone as the middle of the paper had been ripped off and out of the wall, leaving only a myriad of smaller annotations such as “What is it? What’s its goals?” behind, surrounding the crime scene with a crowd of whispers.

While there was not a trace from the entrance they first came in from, the backdoor exit was busted down and left open, leading into a flower field much akin the one shown in the picture next to the word “Garden”, flower fields connecting into one another almost as sure as the rain that dominated the weather outside. Was that all that surrounded them? It seemed that the only way to know for sure would be to step outside.

Chiyoko Mizushiro



I was THIS close to beating the villain 3 acts early, I swear!

Tagging: The bar gang

Chiyo had everything set to save the day, but alas, her teammates’ cowardice would get in the way. Before she knew any better, Chiyo was already far off the ground and on the way out, escaping the pursues just in the nick of time into somewhere safe. With her heart still pounding out of her chest from the adrenaline, the Mikasa cosplayer took notice of her position and glanced up, locking eyes with her savior. For a brief moment there, she seemed transported to a completely different dimension - well, even more so than she just had been - and not a care in the world as she mumbled the words to him:
“...I do.”
Then, in a quick snap back to the cognitive world, Chiyo choked into a fake cough and slipped out of the hold and back into her feet, dusting off her clothes and stiffening her expression back again. She put a hand over Hershel’s shoulder and added, her voice a couple tones lower than it usual:
“I wasn’t in need of help, but thank you. I won’t forget this.”
Only then Chiyo actually took in her surroundings, a sight that did short work of any number of lesser worries in her head. Her gaze leapt around each detail like a flea on cocaine, on hand reaching over the other to try give herself a pinch - ow! Ok, this was very real. She couldn’t hide an ear-to-ear smile anymore as she looked over at Rhyme and said:
“All this time we’ve known each other, and not once you thought about telling me the kitchen looked this cool?”

 

[CapRock]

Shirou Lancaster

I got this under control, maybe.

Location: Someone's Greenhouse (entrance)

Interacting with: Yuzuki, Don Leon Veradana Jordan Midrick
Also there: Kenzo Refaulted Alex Jeef_jones Ross Thepotatogod

Shirou winced in a brief moment of anger when dirt was thrown at his socks before returning to his normal, bastardly smirk. He kept it even as Yuzuki took his hand and chastised him harshly, nodding to it as if it were an honest compliment, not a trace of sorrow apart from the eerie lack of a spoken reply. Instead, he chose to focus on the new arrivals: While Alex and Jordan having both arrived fine served to ease his guilt a bit, it was what Jordan carried truly had his jaw drop.
“Y-you got them for me?”
When Shirou was offered his shoes back, his first reaction was to crouch next to them and examine them closely, trying to check if there was some ill-intended shadow goo or needle placed inside the sole or anything along the like. Absolutely nothing. With Jordan’s shirt firmly in hand and safe from the rain, he took out his wet socks and put his shoes back on, bearing a sight of relief from the feeling. He looked Jordan straight in the eye and said:
“...Not bad. I’ll get you a beer later.”
As they made way towards the Greenhouse, the hulking cat-man person began explaining their situation, and oh boy did he explain things - even doing his best to pay attention, focus had hardly been Shirou’s strongest suit, and there were many concepts to take in at once. However, there was at least one crucial bit of information he managed to understand well.
“So someone in there needs saving, huh? Should’ve started with that!”
Shirou then took out his camera and took a one-handed picture of the Greenhouse. Whatever happened coming forward, having himself a souvenier of the craziest day of his life was, at least, a welcome reassurance.

 

[Aegis]

Rhyme Ryujin
Location: Who knows?
[Interacting with Mizurshiro-san ( CapRock ), Hershel ( Thexcentrichilean ) and other bar gang members]

After everyone fled through the door Rhyme slammed it shut without even considering his surroundings. He spun around like a skater on ice before he was frozen by the oddity surrounding him just as quickly. His brain attempted to gather up the information but the scene contrasted so harshly with what Rhyme knew of the kitchen in Elixir that it racked him with frustration and confusion. The walls made up of his skull pulsed with all the bright red hues and he immediately sprung a headache. What was this? A washed up 50s detective flick? Gonna string together all the wires "what could this mean?"? Wait... what is all this stuff? Why are we here and not running into and alley right now oh god i'm not gonna be able to go back home tomorrow i'm gonna die in some fucked circus act in the back of the shady restaurant I have no business working in and then after all that I'm gonna make my parent's hate me and...

This thought process carried on in rapid successions of negative statements over and over and over again as Rhyme was shell-shocked at the sight of something so bizarre. Rhyme's jaw hung loose, a door barely hanging from its hinges as it failed to hold back his surprise when he spotted the field of flowers outside bathing in red and rain. His thoughts choked, his pulse rocketed, his body stiffened, and he couldn't help but want to cry out but he couldn't collect a shred of motor function.

Then it came:
​

She couldn’t hide an ear-to-ear smile anymore as she looked over at Rhyme and said:
“All this time we’ve known each other, and not once you thought about telling me the kitchen looked this cool?”

He felt something snap inside him as he turned to face the girl who had made her way from her savior's arms and was marveling at the sights. He turned toward her swiftly with malice dripping from his eyes. "I always thought you were aloof but imagine my surprise at finding out you're JUST. FUCKING. STUPID," all of Rhyme's frustration and confusion found a conduit in blind rage directed at someone entirely undeserving of it "HOW IN THE FUCK WOULD I HIDE SOMETHING LIKE THIS BACK HERE? WHAT FUCKING PLACE EVEN LOOKS LIKE THIS? THERE'S NOT A FUCKING FIELD BEHIND A BAR TUCKED INTO AN ALLEY IN THE MIDDLE OF A FUCKING CITY!!! WHERE THE FUCK DID YOUR LAST FEW BRAIN CELLS GO MIZUSHIRO? THEY CRUMBLE AWAY WHILE YOU DID THE MAKE UP FOR YOUR NEXT ATTEMPT AT BEING SOMEONE WITH AN IQ HIGHER THAN 30?"

His outburst was enough to shrink away the sound of rain from outside and had his voice been higher pitched he might've been able to shatter glass at the volume he was screaming. Rhyme huffed as he struggled to choke in some air after his fit. Guilt weighed temporarily on him before he spun to look away from her almost as if he was knocking it off the menu. He felt somewhat relieved and deadened whatever he was supposed to be feeling at that time.

"..." Rhyme stared at his companions sideways for a moment before his breathing finally leveled out. His eyes locked with the foreigner's as he felt annoyed that this foreigner was able to carry Chiyo out selflessly like that. Annoyed at his cowardice. Annoyed with everything and wishing he'd just fucking shrink away and not have to deal with this anymore. He closed his eyes in an attempt to actualize that to no avail. No apology was provided, or even so much as a shred of remorse. The only thing that could be said about it was that it was the most emotion Rhyme had ever shown any of them.​

 

[Thexcentrichilean]

.

This had not gone as the foreigner had expected. Far from it. He was ready to sprint outside of an alley to go get some help for the people still stuck with the men besieging Elixir... only to be met by a room that would fit either at a police department, a private investigator's room, or a conspiracy nutcase... and he wasn't quite sure which one was more fitting at this very moment. The overbearing red hues were harsh on the eyes too, nothing about this room seemed familiar to the bartender in question too if his expression was anything to go by...

Things couldn't bode poorer for Hershel at the very moment. At least in his mind, it felt that way, did the german man just get tangled with supernatural phenomenon due to following along the idea of someone? As a matter of fact, the German man was so out of it that he didn't quite process what the cosplayer had said as she got off his arms, only giving a nod at the thanks as he wracked his own brains to try to figure where in the world he was right now...

Albert's best guess was that they had traveled to... somewhere. But that had to be put aside for the moment. Hershel's whole attention had been grabbed by the girl's naive and out of place display of excitement. Maybe in another context, it would have been endearing, but currently, all it did was cause a vein of anger to pop on the german's forehead.

Then came yet another infuriating reaction from the bartender this time: a frankly unneeded, aggressive, and rude outburst towards the girl's out of place action. It had gotten right into insults which made the young man pinch the bridge of his nose in exasperation. Hershel still made sure to wait until the man's outburst was over for then to walk in front of the pair but with the same distance to both. He wore a cold, scornful expression.

"So... where to start with this... Girl. This is hardly the time for something like that. I don't agree with the man on calling you stupid for it, but it's naive and misplaced. Save it, for, later, when we are not in harm's ways. The foreigner put extra emphasis on his already chilly and reproaching words while staring right at the cosplayer. He let a sigh escape his lips... it was one of mental exhaustion. Next, he turned towards the man who just had the outburst in question.

"As for you, bartender. I truly, completely understand being exasperated and confused at this very moment... but you should save the squabbling and name-calling for the same reasons I told her. Figure out where we are, and get to safety, preferably save the others too before you let your outburst waste our valuable time. This time his tone carried some legitimate cold anger along with the reproaching tone... he was truly done that these two deemed it fit to be this childish during such a critical juncture. With that the German would finally ease up his expression and body language, letting his arms hand by his sides once again instead of behind his back like a military sergeant.

As a matter of fact, once he was done with his lectures... Hershel bowed down slightly to both unprompted.

"I think. This is how the Japanese do it?" He sighed yet again before straightening his back to face the pair.

"I'm sorry for my lecture, but I feel like, we should get our act together if we want to get out of here. Letting tension brew is the worst way to go about it in that case... is it not? So, let's try to work together, not necessarily get along... and for the record, my name is Hershel. It would have been nice to meet under better circumstances"

The man's posture had completely loosened up by now, rubbing the back of his head with his other hand on his waist, troubled expression while closing an eye... this really was not the way he wanted to spend his evening, for sure.

.

Location: Elixir? the room of a conspiracy nut? who knows, not Hershel.
Interacting with: Chiyoko ( CapRock ) and Rhyme ( Aegis )
In the area: Katya ( Midrick )

 

[Refaulted]

本田 謙三
Honda Kenzo
The Justice Arcana

Kenzo couldn't believe what he was witnessing. After Don León finished with his lackluster explanation, the first thing Kenzo expected from everyone else was to think about how to escape this horrid place. He was sure that, aside from whatever horrors the others had witnessed, the flood that almost certainly...killed...the other kids who weren't able to make it out was enough of a deterrent for them to think about possibly avoiding the place with even deadlier monsters looking to kill them. But instead, off Jordan went to go presumably kick down the door, without a care for what was on the other side. Yuzuki was approaching Alex after having her own well-deserved meltdown, asking about sharing shelter under the umbrella the blonde had grabbed. Shirou was even taking a picture. A goddamn picture. He wished he was able to recover as quickly as all of them. They took it all in so well, while his head was still reeling from what was actually going on. Shadows, Gardens, and Greenhouses, all of which were words he understood, but seemed to have wildly different meanings than the ones he knew. Most of his confusion probably stemmed from exhaustion, but the welcome break from being able to sit instead of having to hobble his way around this weird space was helping him regain his focus.

And as much as he wanted to get out of there, just go home and collapse into the welcome warmth of the familiar Kayatomi he knew all his life, he knew that, on his own, he wouldn't last more than a half an hour before a monster, or Shadow, came and just gobbled him up. And since no one else seemed keen on just leaving the mysterious Greenhouse as it was, with Don León seemingly wanting them to go in and take care of it, Kenzo was sure that he would have to face that endeavor alone, and while the flood probably took care of that wild Shadow he had faced, a twisted feeling deep in his gut told him that he was most likely wrong. His best course of action, in this moment, was to stay with the group, even if it meant he was going to end up slowing them down sooner or later.

As the rest of the group made their final resolves, Kenzo pulled his hair back, no longer obstructing his filth-covered face. His body was still shaking, mixed from the chill set in from the sewer and the apprehension of what they were about to face, but he tried to control his breathing, at least to an extent, so he could walk without tripping over his own two feet. Thankfully, the muck stuck in his hair acted almost like hair gel, holding it back from falling back to much into his vision. Then, with a heave and a long-winded grunt, he stood up from the chair, using the back of it to support himself until he was sure he wouldn't simply fall over onto his face. Once steady, he allowed himself a few shaky breathes. "Okay...okay..."

As his feline companion began to walk, Kenzo made sure to stay huddled under his cape. The lion man was making it an important point to stay protected from the rain, which Kenzo was feeling uneasy about being actual water, and the boy wasn't going to do anything rash at this point, like simply going on his own. For once, he welcomed another person's help. As they made their way to the Greenhouse, with Kenzo limping lamely next to Don León, his gaze slid over to where Shirou was taking his picture. The blue-haired boy felt for Yuzuki, as he was equally upset at their smaller numbers, but he knew lamenting over it would only delay them further, giving whatever other Shadows were out there enough time to converge on them. If anything, there was time later to mourn. But something about seeing Shirou take the chance to gather a souvenir, at that moment, made Kenzo wonder if he understood how dire their situation was.

Kenzo had to focus now. He raised his voice as much as he could, which was just above a hoarse rasp, and called out to Jordan and Shitou. "Hey, Shirou, probably a good idea to share that umbrella with Jordan!" As much as he made him uncomfortable, Kenzo only had one person he could ask questions to. "Don León, these Greenhouses, what exactly are they? You mentioned we have to save someone, so would I be wrong to assume it's someone we know from Kayatomi?" He risked a look up to the sky from underneath his makeshift shelter. "Also, this rain. It isn't normal, is it? Or else there wouldn't have been that weird sign with the umbrellas. And you wouldn't be making it such a point to keep me covered from it, which I am thankful for."

Spoiler: Mentions/Interactions

Mentions Yuzuki Veradana , Alex Jeef_jones
Interactions: Don León Veradana , Shirou CapRock , Jordan Midrick

 

[CapRock]

Chiyoko Mizushiro

Leave me alone, I’m not that fragile.

As soon as Rhyme began to yell, all of Chiyoko's facial expression muscles froze solid, imprinting the shock of the reaction deep into each fiber of it. She stood in absolute silence as he lashed out, each word making her body wince as if it was being directly struck. Even as the German began speaking, she spoke not a work, fighting her own breathing and discretely wiping away some stubborn tears off of her face. From then on, her face make-up had turned into an unsightly multi-colored smudge, but her expression and voice had hardened as much as she could muster for the moment. She said:

"No, Mr. Hershel, it's alright. He didn't say anything that wasn't true. I'll… Head out and try to find where we are."

No longer capable of staring at anyone else in the room, Chiyoko turned away and made her way to the door, flinching again as the rain hit her. She hugged her own arms and trudged onward, trying to make sense of the strange scenery around her. Out in the distance, a group of silhouettes seemed to be approaching their location. Were they help? Threats? Were they even real? An unsettling feeling began welling up in her chest, but the drive to act upon it simply was not there.

Tags: Thexcentrichilean Aegis Midrick

 

[Jeef_jones]

View attachment 789261
Alex Feron
Location: Outside and heading to the greenhouse
Interacting: Veradana
Alex continued to watch the greenhouse as he listened to don Leon's (Can't be assed to do the accent) advice on shadows, and also how they were created. Then it seemed like he was off towards it, trying to avoid getting himself and Kenzo wet, that was probably important...he would hear Yuzuki ask if they could share the umbrella to get over to the greenhouse, to which he nodded "Of course! even if the sign didn't say to share the umbrella with someone, I'd still be down for that!..." he then looked over to shirou, who also didn't seem to have an umbrella. When yuzuki would join him under the umbrella, he headed over to the greenhouse with don leon, now having something to say for him "Well if someone needs help then...I want to help save them! although I don't understand much of what's happening, even with what you explained, I know that I should help however I can!"
​

 

[Aegis]

Rhyme Ryujin
Location: Field of Flowers
[Interacting with Mizushiro-san ( CapRock ), Hershel ( Thexcentrichilean )]

​

As soon as Rhyme began to yell, all of Chiyoko's facial expression muscles froze solid, imprinting the shock of the reaction deep into each fiber of it. She stood in absolute silence as he lashed out, each word making her body wince as if it was being directly struck. Even as the German began speaking, she spoke not a work, fighting her own breathing and discretely wiping away some stubborn tears off of her face. From then on, her face make-up had turned into an unsightly multi-colored smudge, but her expression and voice had hardened as much as she could muster for the moment. She said:

"No, Mr. Hershel, it's alright. He didn't say anything that wasn't true. I'll… Head out and try to find where we are."

No longer capable of staring at anyone else in the room, Chiyoko turned away and made her way to the door, flinching again as the rain hit her. She hugged her own arms and trudged onward, trying to make sense of the strange scenery around her. Out in the distance, a group of silhouettes seemed to be approaching their location. Were they help? Threats? Were they even real? An unsettling feeling began welling up in her chest, but the drive to act upon it simply was not there.

Rhyme stared on in silence as the words worked Mizushiro over. Her make up trailed her face and her body shook as at each enunciation. For a moment, Rhyme felt a tinge of guilt over his actions as Mizushiro didn't say anything worthy of such a verbal assault, but he doubled down on his vicious attack and simply watched with a stone face incapable of being eroded by any tears. His eyes followed his companions around the room-- blank and uncaring as the foreigner provided her with a bit of criticism and then he turned toward Rhyme:
​

"As for you, bartender. I truly, completely understand being exasperated and confused at this very moment... but you should save the squabbling and name-calling for the same reasons I told her. Figure out where we are, and get to safety, preferably save the others too before you let your outburst waste our valuable time. This time his tone carried some legitimate cold anger along with the reproaching tone... he was truly done that these two deemed it fit to be this childish during such a critical juncture. With that the German would finally ease up his expression and body language, letting his arms hand by his sides once again instead of behind his back like a military sergeant.

Rhyme produced a half-cocked grimace as the foreigner took to diplomacy despite his clear disgust at Rhyme over his actions. Anger laid the foundation of the man's words as he charted a logical and reasonable course of action with his words. The student wouldn't disagree with the man, but his only response was an unimpressed glare. After calming down a bit, Rhyme knew there was no purpose in continuing to drag out this outburst and he didn't need this random guy to tell him that. He honestly didn't need him to tell him what to do by any means. Who does this guy think he is? As far as Rhyme was concerned, he was nobody. It was someone he didn't know, didn't care about, and wasn't even worth being upset over. Protect people? Rhyme was in this all for himself.
The foreigner introduced himself but Rhyme hardly committed it to memory. They would never meet again after this temporary collaboration.

"..."

Rhyme nodded in acknowledgement as he followed in Mizushiro's footsteps-- albeit about half a minute later. The student emerged from the strange building and the rain immediately took to cooling his anger. There was something about rain that always calmed him down regardless of the situation and for a few moments Rhyme stared toward the red sky and watched as it dripped a red hue into each drop of rain. He squinted his eyes to prevent any direct impacts and just let the rain envelope him for a moment paying no mind to his companions or the figures approaching from the other side of the field. After the sky extracted the rest of his annoyance, the student's gaze fell toward Mizushiro with a solemn and melancholy look generated by a mixture of guilt and the effect of the rain. His eyes scanned past her for a moment to see the figures approaching-- wait, figures?

Rhyme dove into the nearby flowers in an attempt to hide.​

 

[Veradana]

As they approached the Greenhouse entrance, Don León would once again calmly attend to Kenzo’s questions, turning his head as they walked together.

“Well, to begin with, you shall see the truth of the Greenhouse soon enough, better to learn by your own sight and actions, if I may say so. But for the structure itself, you see those strings coming down from the sun, yes?” He twitched his head in their direction, curling his lips in a snarl, “ghastly things, vile. The Greenhouse is the victim’s protection. And as to their identity…, hm.” Don León paused, twitched his ears, “It is quite possible that you would be familiar with them. This world is not as large as one would first believe.” and finally, about the rain, Don León quickly moved in step with Kenzo, glancing up as well.

“The rain is rain, but it attracts something… strange, when one is unprotected.” His tail thrashed in irritation, “My apologies, Kenzo Honda, but it may be difficult to explain. Their scents are unlike humans, unlike Shadows, unlike anything I have ever encountered before” His grave expression gave way to a small smile at Kenzo’s thanks,

“Of course, you are quite welcome.”

And so, they reached the doors to the Greenhouse, and Don León was easily able to throw open the doors. Unfortunately for the little group, however, they would find no welcome mat, no warm fire by which to dry themselves, and no further return to their poor ideas of normalcy, for just beyond the entrance was not the glass walls and spanning rows of trees and flowers that would so characterise a greenhouse.

Instead, the walls were rough stone in some places, hewn in others, and furthermore encroached by elegantly cut and arranged wood, as if it were some wealthy landowner’s mansion. A few feet beyond them, slicing across the room, was a river that shimmered like opal. Beyond the river was another wooden wall, and a hefty looking door.

It would seem that this was the only way forward.



CapRock (Shirou) Midrick (Jordan) Refaulted (Kenzo) Jeef_jones (Alex) Thepotatogod (Ross) Haz. (Rei) Hououin Kyouma (Ginjiro)

 

[CapRock]

Shirou Lancaster


You've got to be kidding me...

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry." Shirou told Kenzo, checking out the photo from the camera leaving it hanging from the sling again. "I ain't letting this one get away."

Even as they approached the Greenhouse's entrance, the giant fur-clad man's monologue continued strong. Shirou glanced lazily at the strings coming from the sun before distracting himself again. He picked up on a lot of speculation from the explanation they were being given, but found very little of it was actually useful for them there and now besides the core concept that rain was back. Well, absolutely no need to tell him that twice. His stance on the matter was so strong, in fact, that at first he embanced the concept of a shelter with open arms and a folding umbrella. Soon enough, though, the cozy relief slipped away like sand between his fingers as he picked up on the walls, the ceiling, the door and - most of all - the river.

"More water? Bullshit!" He spouted, the last word slippng out in English. Faced with quite the unsurmountable challenge right off the bat, Shirou's eyes rolled up and he grabbed his own nape, turning a bit to stare longingly at the exit. His eyes squinted. "Is that guy with us...? So, someone else made it-"

Shirou's words fizzled out from his mouth before he could finish it. The image of Yuzuki punching the ground, the look in Kenzo's eyes as he arrived - both seemed to have stuck around like annoying stickers on his windshield. Shirou bit his lip and eased his breath, taking his eyes off of the exit and back into the river, staring down at it with an almost defeated pain. There was no doubt that pressing forward was the only way to clear those damn nuisances from his conscience, so his choice was already made.

Just had to... Actually do it now.

Interacting with: Midrick Refaulted Jeef_jones Thepotatogod Veradana

 

[Thexcentrichilean]

.

Well, this was just fantastic. The girl was quite obviously beating herself over and would not be in top mental capacity... and the boy? His expression and demeanor screamed that he was not happy and would not be cooperating fully... what a pain, it made the german want to tear his hair out. He managed to abstain from such a reckless action at least, mostly because he wanted to at least keep his composture externally... the last thing he could do with a troublesome group was lose it himself. Then, all would be over.

Oh, great, and they were moving ahead without evaluating if the rain could be harmful or anything of the like! Talk about bad decisions...

"Haaaaa..." The black-haired man was pinching the bridge of his nose while letting a sigh escape from his lips, understandably exhausted from what he was having to deal with already. Next, he pulled out a familiar model of phone from his pocket, checking the screen for the current status on connection. Unsurprisingly for him, there was no reception in this area... but that also meant in all likelihood that once they were out of there, it would connect and he would be able to call for help! There was, still a lot of people they had left behind in their hasty escape...

"..." Only now had he gotten a chance to stop and think about those left behind at the mercy of those strange men besieging the building... and what could happen to them. As Hershel stared at his phone, it felt heavy despite it being quite average... like holding a lead brick. His body felt heavy for a moment, like the burden of responsability had only now fallen onto him.

...but if that was the case, Albert would stand up to the challenge. He gripped his phone tightly in resolve, nodding to himself as a way of confirmation before putting his device back in his pocket, and taking out another 2 similar devices from a small sneaky bag he had with him just in case, along a small pocket umbrella and rushed to catch up to the other two.

"Hey, hold it a bit! I got something for you two!" Once outside with the odd sky Hershel would open his umbrella with one hand and carry the two devices on the other. After having caught up, he would attemp to extend his hand towards them with the phones.

Well, that was what he WANTED to do until the black-haired boy dove into the bushes nearby after looking in a certain direction. That was, quite the ominous sight in this specific situation. The foreigner stored the phones in his pocket once again, closed the umbrella and dragged the girl by the wrist into a nearby bush, mimicking the hostile teenager's idea to hide. He kept a way eye open as he was pelted by the dropplets falling from the sky, in full alert.

.

Location: A surreal, rainy garden.
Around: Black-haired spiteful teenager/Rhyme ( Aegis ). The fellow european girl/Katya ( Midrick ).
Interacting with: Cosplaying girl/Chiyoko ( CapRock )

 

[Veradana]

Yuzuki thanked Feron for his help as the approached the greenhouse. She was only sort of able to pay attention to what the lion-man was saying to Honda, exhaustion setting in again where adrenaline was fading. The rain and the red-strings were dangerous; that was the gist of what was able to sink in. Those were hopefully the most important facts that she needed to remember. She rushed forward through the doors behind the others, desperate for the heat after the chill of the sewers, only to be met with another jarring shift in scenery. Yuzuki stopped in her tracks for a second, staring at the jumble in front of her.

Nothing made sense. An elevator led to a nightmare led to a sewer led to a garden led to a greenhouse led to a cave. Who in the hell knew what it was that would lead them back to the outskirts of Kayatomi.

She flinched away from Lancaster’s shouting, not moving towards anyone or anywhere in particular, and hugged her arms around her chest, rubbing them to try and get the warmth back. She wasn’t looking forward to the idea of a dunk in a river either, especially not in a place like this. She wanted to get out of this hellhole probably as much as he did. But if someone really was trapped farther in, could they really just abandon them?

Yuzuki had started shivering again, as she tentatively approached the edge of the river. It didn’t even look like real water, the way the bizarre light reflected off of it. After another few seconds of hesitation, she let out a shaking breath and turned back towards the others. It wouldn’t do any good for her to just jump in by herself, not that any of them had a choice on where to go at this point. Her eyes wandered to Honda’s and Dreyer’s injuries. The two of them were obviously strong if they could make it all this way like that, so she shouldn’t need to be worried.

“We should be able to just swim across, right?” she mumbled, glancing around again. The mix of wood and stone caught her eyes. It didn’t look like much, but if they were able to rip a plank or two off, maybe they could make a bridge.

CapRock (Shirou) Midrick (Jordan) Refaulted (Kenzo) Jeef_jones (Alex) Thepotatogod (Ross) Hououin Kyouma (Ginjiro) Haz. (Rei)

 

[CapRock]

(tagging Thexcentrichilean (Hershel), Aegis (Rhyme) and Haz. (Etsu))

Location: The Garden.

The silhouettes grew closer to our heroes, making it to their position just moments after they’d managed to slip into hiding. Even there, peeking from underneath the flower bed, it was clear that the threat was beyond supernatural: the approaching figures bore parts of animals, humans and plants grafted together like chimeras, floating menacingly about a foot above the ground. Their movements carried not only intent, but precision to them, whirling around a particular presence that couldn't be spotted directly inside the crowd.

But it was definitely there. They felt it deep within their hearts when a voice pierced and ripped apart the delicate veil of silence:
“Kikikiki… Playing hide and seek, are we?”

Then, a sudden standstill. Something seemed to have caught attention of the main presence as all of the monsters stood still in their places, some mere inches away from those they searched. The threats spreaded such along the flower field that attempting to flee without running into at least one or two of them would be unfeasible. The voice broke was quick to pick back up again, saying:
“Aww, time’s up already. But don’t you worry, I’ve got a little parting gift to keep company. It was nice knowing you!”

The cryptic message had barely been told before a dark blur zipped away, heading towards a faint gleam in the distance. The rest of the creatures, however, stayed put and kept close watch, guard dogs ready to lunge at the faintest sign of life. It might have seemed like a standstill, but in retrospective, they would probably wish they were that lucky. It crept up slowly. Tinted sickly green, half-transparent and of effects unknown, a cloud of gas swerved between the flowers, claiming terrain as it expanded in a steady takeover of the flower field.

And with that, the stage had been set. The clock was ticking. They had to make a choice now, lest the choice be made for them first.


Chiyoko Mizushiro

This can’t be happening right now!



Much to Chiyoko’s dismay, a girl simply couldn’t wallow in regret for a full minute without Murphy’s law coming into effect at full force. Hearing Hershel’s call made her snap out of her mood for a moment, turning back to check on what he was saying - just enough distraction to miss Rhyme’s tactical dive. When she heard the noise the bartender made and tried to check on that, she was surprised yet again by getting herself dragged into hiding as well. Oh, right, they were being pursued by mobsters or something. She turned to Hershel and whispered:

“Do you think that’s still them? We didn’t come from there... Maybe it’s the cops!”

A few moments later, however, the silhouettes began to take shape and Chiyoko had to hold a gasp.

“Ok, not cops not cops not cops-”

The now-nearly-unrecognizable Mikasa cosplayer ducked even further down and remained as still as she could as the voice spoke, not daring to even breathe until the strange presence had been gone. A million thoughts darted through her mind as she glanced to Hershel, then to Rhyme a little further away, opening her mouth, only to close it again. That’s when, from the corner of her eye, she picked up on the ever-nearing gas cloud peeking out from between the flowers.
Chiyo’s first reaction was to get as far away from whatever sort of demonic fart that seemed to be, scrambling to drag herself backwards as far as humanly possible without popping out from the vegetation. She managed only a measly couple steps, though, before a sudden change made her stop. A sudden dip in brightness had taken over her surroundings. Chiyoko’s face cringed in panicked terror as she asked out loud:

“It’s… Right behind me, isn’t it?”

Slowly turning her trembling head, the girl was with none other than half a flying green horse, its lower ends undoing itself into a mess of kelp that wavered ominously in the air. One good stare into its bloodthirsty red eyes was enough: Chiyoko scrambled back the way she came and then a little more, stealth and caution be damned. Out of the frying pan, into the fire. She realized one moment too late she had stepped into the gas to gain her distance and took a deep breathe in. From then on, she resisted only a couple seconds more, bobbing her head forward and back before giving in and dropping out cold on the floor.

 

[Thexcentrichilean]

.

The young german was trying his best to remain quiet while watching the approaching figures alongside the cosplayer, but just like her, unable to keep completely quiet.

"Die Arschmade, Miststück!" He had started quietly cursing under his breath in his home language instead of japanese, as he hid back into the bushes in a panic starting to slightly hyperventilate... which really. It was just the beginning of things worsening for the group.

Then that creepy, awful piercing laugh broke the fabric of silence and ultimate was the thing to break Hershel's nerves, as the young man was starting to really panic, only now noticing how the girl had tried to inch away from the direction of the abominations that had been so ominously threatening them, not even having noticed the approaching gas... his mind was way too all over the place by this point. As he kept hyperventilating, having a ragged, irregular breathing pattern, he reached his hand towards the cosplayer as she asked if the monster was right behind her...

Only for everything to go black and feeling his body hit the ground in an instant. Unbeknownst to Hershel, the fumes had spread to his location first and he had inhaled them in his panic, promptly and whistly crumpling like a puppet with its strings cut as he tried to help the girl he had rescued... he didn't even know her name or that of the hostile boy...

In his last moments of consciousness, he heard that piercing, creepy laugh echoing in his head, haunting him, taunting the man in how he never had even a chance to escape in the first place...

.

Location: the dirt of a flowerbed
Around: A cosplayer (Chiyoko. CapRock ), a grumpy teen (Rhyme, Aegis

 

[Aegis]

Rhyme Ryujin
[Interacting with Mizushiro-san ( CapRock ) and Hershel ( Thexcentrichilean )]

Rhyme's self preservation instincts were on point today again, and it seemed the others caught onto his plan just as quickly. No sooner had they jumped into concealment than some person of questionable character come and begun to accost the hidden group.
​

The silhouettes grew closer to our heroes, making it to their position just moments after they’d managed to slip into hiding. Even there, peeking from underneath the flower bed, it was clear that the threat was beyond supernatural: the approaching figures bore parts of animals, humans and plants grafted together like chimeras, floating menacingly about a foot above the ground. Their movements carried not only intent, but precision to them, whirling around a particular presence that couldn't be spotted directly inside the crowd.

But it was definitely there. They felt it deep within their hearts when a voice pierced and ripped apart the delicate veil of silence:
“Kikikiki… Playing hide and seek, are we?”

Then, a sudden standstill. Something seemed to have caught attention of the main presence as all of the monsters stood still in their places, some mere inches away from those they searched. The threats spreaded such along the flower field that attempting to flee without running into at least one or two of them would be unfeasible. The voice broke was quick to pick back up again, saying:
“Aww, time’s up already. But don’t you worry, I’ve got a little parting gift to keep company. It was nice knowing you!”

The cryptic message had barely been told before a dark blur zipped away, heading towards a faint gleam in the distance. The rest of the creatures, however, stayed put and kept close watch, guard dogs ready to lunge at the faintest sign of life. It might have seemed like a standstill, but in retrospective, they would probably wish they were that lucky. It crept up slowly. Tinted sickly green, half-transparent and of effects unknown, a cloud of gas swerved between the flowers, claiming terrain as it expanded in a steady takeover of the flower field.

And with that, the stage had been set. The clock was ticking. They had to make a choice now, lest the choice be made for them first.

In mere moments, Rhyme was glued to the floor. It reached out and cradled him the in the safety of the flowers. He was safe. He was hidden. He was invincible as long as he--
Mizushiro began moving through the flowerbeds and before long it seemed several of the creatures had found the other two. Rhyme huddled closer to the ground as if shrinking closer could prevent what was about to happen but as he squeezed his eyes shut his fears were realized with the sound of two bodies hitting the ground with a dull thud barely audible over the rain that had become the physical personification of the fuzz and white noise that began to cloud the young man's head. His breathing became ragged and uneven. He struggled to cope with the situation as he was now alone and they were all going to die. Oh my god-- we're all gonna die. Wait-- maybe he could use this opportunity to escape? The other two were distracting them. No. He couldn't. He couldn't outrun a horse, or whatever looked like a horse. A tingle started from his eyes and ran down his spine until it settled as butterflies in his stomach. Fear crashed and tore through every corner of his body as it continued to wreck his breathing.

Something green snatched his vision deep within the flowers. A mist crawled maliciously along the ground-- as a matter of fact it was nearly on top of him! It caught up to him just as he exhaled during his panic attack. Rhyme's body begged him to stand as he disregarded all external threats and shot above the flowers with a desperate gasp of air that grabbed the attention of several of the monsters around him. The gas had just barely tickled his nose and the smell was rancid like rotting meat. However, it wasn't enough to take him down. The boy red in the face and off-balance from the rapid amounts of fear-inducing inputs, took off sprinting of the direction of the other two. There was strength in numbers and all he needed to do was pull them out of this gas--hopefully. He didn't see the monsters do much of anything but watch whatever happened so he could assume they hadn't done anything fatal. Rhyme stumbled as he made it back into the open grass and did his best to regain composure. The rain had made the grass slick so when he came onto it full-force and off balance he lost footing. The student hit the ground and slid for a moment like a sack of potatoes but just as quickly forced himself upward and took more of a graceless runner's start into the flowers on the other side. Luckily, his impact dispersed the gas just long enough for him to get back up without breathing in any more. They offered no concealment as any dip below their surface could render him unconscious like the others he imagined.

The young man ran forward to the two human-sized partings in the flowers as the monsters began encroaching from every side cutting off all avenues of escape. "FUCK FUCK FUCK!" Rhyme yelled in a panic before remembering he needed to be cautious with the gas so close. There was still one monster hovering over the two from what Rhyme could tell so he launched in with a few unsuccessful punches at the creature as it bucked and swayed away from him. Not to mention, he couldn't commit. He didn't want to get hurt and that thought lingered behind every punch as he prematurely pulled away dampening the force and speed they may have had. It seemed enough to at least surprise the creature as it made a few steps back allowing Rhyme to lean over and snatch his two unconscious companions up from the floor by the collar of their shirts.

Rhyme had fallen right into the creature's trap. It had stepped back to get a run-up and the second Rhyme began dragging away his companions it charged straight at him and reared it's legs back bringing them crashing into Rhyme's torso like he'd been hit with a wrecking ball. The force was enough to send him and his two unconscious companions flying a few feet back into the open. Whatever air he had managed to get back into his lungs was immediately expelled by the kick and then when his two companions landed on him it stifled his recovery further. He laid for a moment beneath the mound the two people created on him as one was splayed over his right side and one across his legs before he erupted from between them hacking and wheezing from the sudden and unexpected hit. He forced himself up again and pulled the other two above the gas before he even started breathing. His vision was darkening and he couldn't keep get knocked around like this. The student watched as the monsters circled around him and drew in closer causing him to throw his arms over the other two in an attempt to shelter them. He held them as close as possible while keeping them above the gas. The sooner they woke up and in the better condition they woke up in the sooner they could help. He just had to take these incoming hits.

He looked down first to Hershel "Aren't you gonna wake up hero, or is this too much for you suddenly?"

Then to Mizushiro "Hey I could use some help here from a bona-fide titan slaying badass." Revealing that he had indeed read a bit of Attack on Titan after Mizushiro had suggested it to him last time.

Maybe that's why she came dressed as Mikasa this time? God-- this was no time for guilt...​

 

[CapRock]

Chiyoko Mizushiro

What’s going on? Make. It. Stop!


Finally, a bit of peace.

Chiyoko Mizushiro couldn’t quite recall the events that led her into this particular place and time. There was a faint, vague feeling of sadness and stress in the past, those having been snuffed out like a candle to wet fingers fairly recently, leaving naught but a faint smoke trail of guilt in their wake. But who cares? What matters is the present, the right now, as the young cosplayer stared wide-eyed and jaw-dropped at an environment she could only describe as an impossible paradise.

The one and only San Diego Comic-con!

In no other place little Chiyo could feel more at home; each costume was an absolute feast to the eye, each stand and personality, a life-changing experience just waiting to happen. She looked down at herself. Her Mikasa cosplay was wet and ragged, her make-up was still a smudge and her hair had been left an unruly mess. The sight yearned a grin from ear to ear. A perfect costume for a perfect day!

Nothing would stop her now; she skipped from one object of interest to the next, tossing jokes, engaging in debates, taking selfies with excited fans. At one moment, she was helping a bunch of cosplayers re-enact a skit from Kaguya-sama, at the very next, casting an earth-shattering spell alongside Anos Voldigold, only to jump into a chocobo and ride along Cloud Strife himself. Imagination and reality had blended into an indiscernible blur, flickering its shape to tend to her ever-changing whim as she pressed onward, diving deeper and deeper into the dream… Up until something came along to break the mold.

“Chiyo! There you are. I was looking for you.”

The voice was a bucket of icy cold water to the face. Chiyo dropped off of her latest divagation and turned to greet the speaker with a smile. How could she not? Her sister Claire always had a way of making her day a bit brighter, though this time, she didn’t seem quite as sunny as usual. There was an impurity - a poison, almost - to those gold, glowing eyes of hers, to which the diligent sister reacted to with a curious tilt of the head, an uncanny combination alongside the still-strong smile.



“What’s the matter, sis? How can you not be having fun in the best place ever?”

“It’s because I’ve figured it out, Chiyo. The truth.” Claire admitted.

Her words laid out a curse on the atmosphere, spreading quickly to tear apart the sweet air and turn it chilling and unforgiving. The light grew scarce, darkness swallowing the all of the environment until only the two of them were left. Chiyo’s body tensed up. She clenched one arm with her nails, feet tapping at the ground quickly, and said:

“Truth? What are you talking about? This is a weird joke to make…”

“Since when do you hate me?”

Chiyo swallowed hard. Her smile began to wane, her voice, to falter.

“Don’t be silly! I love you sis, always have. We get along so well!”

“That’s what hurts me the most, really. All those years, you’ve tried your best to be nice to me, to be there for me, to be my friend. But deep down, you can’t shake it off, can you? The feeling that I’m the favorite. I’m the fastest, the strongest, the most accomplished, the most popular. And you’ve been left to pick up the scraps, to be ‘Claire’s sister’ and nothing else.”

“T-that’s not true. Who told you that?!” Chiyo began hyperventilating, and her nails dug deeper into her sleeve. Instead of replying, Claire gasped.

“Oh my God. I just realized, too! Your cosplay hobby… Is that just a gimmick? To stand out, you’ve made yourself into a caricature, something so pathetic and senseless that it trumped over any hope of comparison. Better to be laughed at by your own terms than left to rot in oblivion, is that all there is to you?”

“N-no!” Chiyoko’s eyes glimmered wet. She shrunk further into herself and looked away - never had it been this difficult staring her sister in the eye. “Why are you saying that? It hurts…”

“But don’t worry. This isn’t your fault.”

Another atmosphere change. By then, the previous location had slowly faded away and given way to the inside of Chiyo’s room - only that every single action figure, every manga book and prop had been torn open and left to shreds. A rainbow-colored massacre inside a claustrophobic box. As soon as that phrase was uttered, every breath began to burn the girl’s lungs, to boil her blood over and harden her voice. She knew what was coming next.

“Claire, don’t you dare say it-”

“This is my fault, Chiyoko.” Claire’s voice shed its intensity and now grew heavy with sorrow. It was now her eyes that quivered and welled up in tears. “I’ve left you no choice, have I? I’ve selfishly taken away every other approach you could take without even realizing it. And then I even acted nice to you, forced you to smile back at the one who was killing you softly. I feel like a psychopath.”

“Not everything in this world is about you, you egoist prick!” Chiyo yelled back. Her hands had clenched into fists now. Claire, however, didn’t seem fazed by the aggression; if anything, it seemed to motivate her further.

“It’s alright, Chiyo. Let it all out on me, I can take it. I have to make up for my mistakes. What would make you happy, dear sis? Would you like me to stumble and err more so you have a chance to compete? Would you like me to be meaner and rougher to you, so you’d feel better about hating me? Or, maybe… It would be best if I just stopped existing altogether.”

“W-what… What are you talking about!?”

But Chiyo didn’t need an answer. She felt the truth, in her dry mouth, her chilling bones, her skipped heartbeats. With tears rolling down her bitter smile, Claire produced a handgun. Chiyoko froze. As Claire slowly aimed the barrel towards her own temple, Chiyo shivered intensively, eyes wide open. She was helpless, stuck witnessing the most rotten, ugly recesses of her own mind emerge to the occasion. Precious seconds that could define her own sense of self forever. Finally, Claire gave her final words:

“Goodbye, sis.”



“Over… My… Dead… Body!”

It took Chiyoko every ounce of her willpower and courage to free herself from all that and begin a mad dash towards her sister. The gun’s safety clicked. Well, alright. Maybe she’s had thoughts like those sometimes. Horrifying stuff. But for every time she had felt like that, there were a dozen other memories to contest it, and they now all screamed at her in unison: “Don’t let this happen!” With panic settling in and only a few moments left, Chiyo made a leap for it, tackling Claire right as the trigger was pulled:

BANG!

At first, it hurt. A lot. A bittersweet pain of triumph, followed by a flash of despair. Was she going to die!? Chiyoko looked down. Strangely enough, there was no blood, and her cosplay had turned dry and tidy once more. There was no sign of her room or Claire anymore, only an endless white. Even the pain was all gone! Now that it was all said and done, all of her fears turned tiny next to the peace and joy that followed.

Not much later, she noticed it: A single strand of fabric, hovering just next to her hand. She followed the fabric with her eyes and came face to face with the most beautiful woman she had ever come across, a tempest of fabric, color and jewelry so intricate that she could stare at forever and still find a brand new detail by giving it another look. Despite not having a proper face, the figure spoke to her:

“I am thou, and thou art I… I represent thine boundless spirit taken wings-”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Chiyo interrupted. “Is this really happening? Am I getting ANIME POWERS???”

“Thy maketh a correct assessment. All that remains is to call for my name and embrace thine destiny.”

“Don’t need to tell me twice. Weave a tale of victory, Sheherazade!”

Finally back at the flower field, Chiyo’s eyes opened again. The tears? Gone, alongside with any shaking and screaming. Now, all she had to offer the Shadows was a daring smile.

(tags: Aegis Thexcentrichilean , Midrick because I haven't given up on Katja yet and Haz. because I want you to read this)

 

[Midrick]

For future reference, don't dive into LSD lakes.

The greenhouse had a distinct lack of green on the interior, looking more like a gothic mansion or piece of similar Architecture, the most unnerving part of the inner structure was the moat that looked like it was filled with polluted water, judging from his previous experience it definitely wasn't that, probably some crazy nightmare fluid that spat out whatever he, Shirou, and Alex fought back in the sewers. Jordan looked around at their group, no one seemed to be volunteering to inspect the mystery moat. Jordan stepped up to Yuzuki and looked at her and then back to the moat. "If this turns out to be acid or the like, I'm going to haunt your asses." he said as turned back the rest of the group. He looked down at the opaque liquid. "Pitter patter..." he muttered to himself now all that was left now was to actually do the deed.

Jordan took a step forward Into the liquid, and immediately sunk like a ton of bricks. The sensation of falling was definitely odd while submerged, the pitch black didn't help with his sense of direction, however color soon returned and the ground was rising to meet him, all the sudden he found himself Standing in front of him was a building not dissimilar from Nageku, a strange haze limited his vision, almost as if a dense otherworldly fog was concealing something sinister that was waiting to be found, or rather it was trying to find him...

Jordan had half a mind to call out and see if anything or anyone responded, but he had seen enough slasher flicks and played enough horror games to know that it wasn't really a good idea to do that. He had just noticed the noises, he could hear the hustle and bustle of students and school life clear as day, but he couldn't see anything. He decided that most of the people back in the greenhouse besides Kenzo possibly were too chickenshit to jump in after they saw him enter the liquid, Jordan willed himself forward despite the fact that every alarm bell in his head was ringing that this seemed like the beginning of a horror movie. "Mama didn't raise no bitch..." he mumbled in English to himself more than anything that could be lurking in the miasma obscuring the halls and classrooms, he had also just remember the time he played call of Cthulu with some friends back in the states, as well as knowing what usually happens in anime whenever tentacles are involved, the second he saw any of those bad boys, Jordan was Audi five thoudi.

After some more roaming deeper into the school, Jordan finally began making out some objects and could finally see people as well as faces. Not many people seemed to be paying attention to him, although it could just be how people normally acted around him, he had a feeling that to the people inside the school he was invisible or just unobservable for some reason. A relatively large mass of teenagers had gathered at the lockers and Jordan decided to inspect the area to see if he could glean any more useful information about where he was. "What's the holdup?" One of them asked, obviously irritated. "We're waiting for Ginjiro." Another said which only seemed to increase the annoyance of the former speaker. "Who is that nerd and why does that name sound familiar?" Jordan asked himself, he wouldn't get anywhere asking other stupid questions, and decided to resume his observation.

Veradana CapRock Refaulted Jeef_jones Thepotatogod Hououin Kyouma Haz.​

 

[Refaulted]

本田 謙三
Honda Kenzo
The Justice Arcana

Realizing that he wasn't going to get any straight answers, Kenzo let out a dissatisfied sigh, and simply limped alongside Don León. He didn't want to see it all with his own eyes. He wanted someone to explain it to him, to help him make sense of it all, but he couldn't think too long on that. He was riding the flow, simply following the group so he wouldn't end up lost and alone. Unlike him and Jordan, everyone else seemed to have minimal injuries, so if there was a fight, even if he was useless, at least he wouldn't be completely holding the rest of the group back. And as much as he hated to admit it, Don León seemed like he could handle his own, even if the rest of them were powerless.

As they approached the Greenhouse, Kenzo thought he had the same ideas as the others on what to expect inside. Sure, they would probably be met with another horrible situation, but at least it wuold be warmer than the gloomy outdoors they were faced with. And of course, as soon as they stepped inside, he had no idea why he even thought to expect what he wanted to expect. For once, he agreed with Shirou on something, and that was being tired of all this damn water.

Now inside and out of the rain, Kenzo took the chance to step out of Don León's protection, hobbling over to the water, but staying a couple feet away just to be safe. Yuzuki had the same idea, and had no trouble getting closer than he dared to. From the distance he was at, he could at least feel reassured that, if they had to swim across, it didn't look as filthy as the sewer water he had just previously been wallowing in. That was assuming it was water in the first place and not some weird fluid that could mess with their minds again.

And suddenly, his attention was pulled to Jordan shouting, and Kenzo turned to look just in time to see him disappear beneath the surface. The act caused Kenzo's breath to get caught in his throat, and he didn't think twice before hobbling closer to the edge, staring down into it to see if he could see any sign of the other teenager, but there was nothing. He winced as he lowered himself onto his knees, trying to get a closer look, but still, there was nothing he could make out.

Standing back up, he turned to the rest of the group, exasperation plainly seen on his face as he tried to process what had just happened. "Someone needs to tell me if Jordan actually jumped into the river or if the sewer water is finally making it's way to my brain." He pointed back to the strange river. "No one understands we can die at a moment's notice, right? Just me? Every one of you just thinks this is some fun field trip where it all works out in the end and we go home for ice cream? We should be sticking together, not just going off on our own because we all think 'fuck it', you know?!" Kenzo's emotions were getting the better of him, but this was just all so much to take in. A group that just dove headfirst into threats that could kill them was really testing his patience. Especially when another injured person decided to just jump into the weird river that could cause whatever consequences for them if they did the wrong thing.

He dropped his arms, and turned away from the group to look back to the river. The tension in his body began to ease up, his shoulders slowly beginning to lower as his breathing slowed down after his outburst. He didn't make a sound as he just stared silently at the door on the other side of the river. There was no discernible way to get across, no bridge and no craft of any sort, and building a bridge would take too long with what supplies were laying around, and that was even assuming that what they had would support them in the first place. Swimming across was impossible, and jumping across was even less likely, especially for him.

He finally broke the silence, letting out one quick shout of anger as he hastily made his way to the edge of the river, steeling himself as he stepped into the strange water and began to sink.

Veradana CapRock Midrick Jeef_jones

 

[Thepotatogod]

--Ross Aisatsu--
Verdana Refaulted CapRock Midrick Jeef_jones

His footsteps sounding like the pit patter of the rain, a young man clad in a black blazer and a red scarf had finally arrived with the rest of the group, seemingly staring down at a strange looking river inside an equally bizarre Greenhouse.

"Finally...More people..." The young tap dancer breathed out an exhausted sigh, having ran all the way. However, it seems that his arrival wouldn't be greeted with answers, but instead, a loud battle cry as what looks like a fellow Teenager stepped into the river, starting to sink himself. "H-hey, should we do something about that?!" Ross asked, rushing to the edge of the shore, observing what's going on, confused himself.

 

[Emperor Of Embers]

"Oh c'mon honey! It'll be fine!"
"Mom, there could be better opportunities than that! Think about it! A person in the restaurant business probably makes more money than a dancer!"
Egon and her mother, Eva, were arguing over job opportunities to take on besides dancing at Elixir 777. But it was useless as Eva had won. The two entered the bar, with Eva talking to the owner. Egon noticed some people her own age sitting at the bar, and sat a distance away, watching them and observing their mannerisms and behavior. She wanted to say hello to them, but they looked like an intimidating bunch for sure, and having just moved a while ago does not help her situation.

After some time while she was watching the band of misfits, a strange man with his group of men walks in, with the head honcho stating he has business with the owner of the bar. Her face, pale as fear settled in. Once she realized that these men meant business and she was about to be snuffed out, she booked it with the others to the kitchen, where everything changed in a rather strange manner.

The room was red, in fact, everything seems like a twisted version of the bar she is in. She saw the wall of evidence, and many words that she knew not the meaning of. “What is this…? Where am I? Is this the same place?” She whispered as she looked around, and found the word “Garden” on the wall. “Guess I gotta go out and see…” She said, the others had left already, probably still haven’t noticed her at all.

After some walking around, she makes it outside to the flower garden, where it looked like some creatures were surrounding an area, probably where the others were. She was paralyzed with fear as she studied them. These creatures were not normal in the slightest. In fact, these creatures looked as if they were from some sort of fantasy tale, but they looked as real as ever in this hellish place. Against her better judgement, she called out to the creatures, "Hey you uglies! I'm over here!" She then begins to regret her decision immediately. CapRock Midrick Aegis Thexcentrichilean

 

[CapRock]

Shirou Lancaster



If your friends jumped off a bridge...

Shirou’s trance was momentarily broken as he realized the others began discussing alternatives. Yuzuki suggested swimming, which seemed to be in line with his idea, and Jordan- wait, where the hell did he go? As if his words heeded a prophecy, one step into the strange liquid and he dove into it, his entire presence erased within the second. That marked the moment when all hell broke loose. The first to react was Kenzo - perhaps understandably, freaking out over it. Shirou leaned his head forward and massaged his nape as he heard him rant.

“Well, look, man, safe to say that no one here but maybe the NFL mascot over there has the faintest idea what sort of shit we’re into. But that’s never stopped me before! You wanna stick together? Then-”

And then Kenzo leaped into the water.

“...Do that, yeah.” He leaned over to stare closer at the liquid, raising an eyebrow at the complete lack of movement. He wasn’t exactly an A-grade student, but no acid could be that strong, right? He snickered. “Still counts as swimming in my book.”

Then, as the cherry on top of the cake, another appearance. It was hardly someone Shirou knew that well, but if he made it, then it meant others could have gotten out too, and that alone seemed to make the situation a bit brighter. He greeted Ross with a raised hand, insufferably nonchalant for all the insanity that had just ensued.

“Yo.” Then, Ross mentioned Kenzo’s dive. “Oh, you mean that? Well, it’s obvious ain’t it? We follow ‘em!”

Finally having built the courage he needed from flaunting around, Shirou turned to the pool, took a couple steps back, a running start and dove right in after the two, the back of his mind already picturing the news header: “Three dumbasses found dead after dipping mindlessly into a pool of [insert dangerous fluid here] for no apparent reason.” Instead, however, what he was greeted with was, perhaps expectedly, far too weird to make it into any news outlet.

When he came to again, Shiro found himself next to Kenzo - and with Jordan barely visible through the fog, standing next to some unknown kids further down the hallway of some school he didn’t recognize. While everything there felt… Off, it was still far from the chilling lack of control from his first dream. Had the situation changed, or himself? It was hard to tell. He dusted off his clothes and turned to the blue-haired young man next to him to say:

“Man, it’s exhausting being right all the damn time. C’mon, let’s catch up before Jordan gets all the glory for himself.”

With his intent expressed, Shirou turned back forward and made his way to meet up with Jordan.

Veradana Thepotatogod Refaulted Midrick Jeef_jones

 

[Veradana]

Yuzuki shrank away and took several steps back when Dreyer glowered down at her, and jumped more as Honda’s yells echoed in the cave. How could he think they were having fun? She certainly wasn’t! With every passing second, this place was falling lower and lower on the list of places she wanted to be. The only thing that cut through was an unfamiliar voice and the clattering of shoes on the stone floor. Yuzuki looked at him, wide eyed. He hadn’t been with them before, even at the elevator entrance, so where had he come from? Had he been in that sewer too? Did that mean that the others could have escaped as well? Could she let herself believe something like that? But before she could try and ask the new boy if he’d seen anyone else, Lancaster made a mockery of the mood, leaping into the river without a care in the world. And that was that. Yuzuki’s face fell; they were really just going to have to do this, weren’t they?

Yuzuki gingerly stepped to the bank of the river. She took one final look back at those who remained, as well as several deep breaths that couldn’t manage to calm her. She closed her eyes, and walked her trembling body off the edge.

It wasn’t really water. They all had to have known that by now, but she still held her breath before she sunk. For a brief second or two, darkness surrounded her, but when it seceded, instead of falling into the new reality, the world took shape around her, her feet already firm on the tile floor of the foggy, unfamiliar school. And, unfortunately for her, the first thing she heard was Lancaster’s grating bragging.

Yuzuki wrapped her arms around her waist, gritting her teeth. How did he manage to be like that, even now? She looked up at Honda and stepped back from him, expecting his irritation. She really didn’t want to follow Lancaster and be stuck around him and Dreyer, but she couldn’t walk off on her own either if she expected to get through this. She looked up at Honda again, and then down at her feet.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, then forced her voice to be solid, “I’m sorry, if you think I’m not taking this seriously enough. I want to get out of here too, I just, I just-“ her breath hitched in her throat, and her voice fell back to a near mumble, “I just don’t know what to do anymore.”



CapRock (Shirou) Midrick (Jordan) Refaulted (Kenzo) Jeef_jones (Alex) Thepotatogod (Ross) Hououin Kyouma (Ginjiro) Haz. (Rei)

 

[Thexcentrichilean]

.

Calm. Familiar. Warmth.

Hershel didn't remember what he was doing until now. All he could remember was fuzzy memory static... like the lost connection screen of an old antenna tv.

The German boy was sitting in front of the dinner table at his parent's home, a piping hot bowl of potato and leek soup waiting to be devoured in front of him. To his left was sitting his home tutor Emma who just happened to visit during this time of the year, even if it was winter! His old nanny Nicole was sitting to the right of the table, emanating her warm, motherly aura that felt soothing to just be around.

The man at the table was spacing out, looking into the background yet nowhere in particular, and so visibly that his middle-aged tutor waved her hand in front of him.

"Hello, earth to Hershel? Are you doing alright? Was the lesson too long? If so, let me know and we can adjust them so the burden is more spread out."

She didn't literally stand up from her seat, but her concern had prompted her to lean forward a little. It was subtle, but it was her own way to show concern for him. Despite her professionalism and superficial coldness, she still displayed a lot of care and worry for the boy she had been teaching for years, and takes his health very seriously.

The man fretted for a moment like he was a teenager again before waving his open palms accompanying his words.

"No no no, I'm fine, really! Sorry, I'm just... thinking, I guess." He let out a sigh, soon showing a slight smile. It was small, but this kind of gesture made him feel cared for. Soon after he finally grabbed his spoon, and scooped up a bit of one of his favorite soups, blowing a little before finally delighting himself with the familiar, homey flavor.

Nanny Nicole let out an amused chuckle at the boy enjoying her food so thoroughly, almost as if he missed it somehow, how adorable!
"Now now Bärchen (Little bear), if there's something bothering you, just be honest. You can trust us"
As usual, her motherly tone had such a way to make the man feel at ease every time he heard it.


"I..." Despite trusting them, he didn't know what to say and hesitated. Did he have things to open up about? Yes, actually. A myriad of concerns, worries, and even deep down... a few more things worthy of note. Yet, all he did was shake his head while looking at one and then the other from right to left.

Yet before he could even open his mouth, there was a whisper at the back of his mind.
"They don't need to know how weak you are. Just keep going as is. Don't rely on others, even they will only fail you."
Hershel flinched for a moment before straightening his demeanor, earning some more silent concern from his basically true guardians, but who respected his judgment and choice to stay quiet.

"No, not that I can think of right now... but if anything does come up, I'll let you know!"
Right after saying that, he went back to looking at his soup, moving his spoon closer to it and seeing his own reflection on the metal piece of cutlery... one, which didn't match his current slightly forced smile. Its demeanor was more confident, wearing a slightly intimidating grin, and seemed to be talking?!

"Ah right, I forgot that you a coward... can't even be honest about the simplest things. Not that it matters much. You are far too soft to be truly effective at your desires, too weak to have the resolve needed to truly change the world"

Hershel's demeanor started to crack, his forced smile contorting into an expression that was half angry, half sad, and upset while looking at his spoon.

"No... I'm just, I'm just trying to be kind, and to do things with the aid of others through trust is more efficient anywa-"
Unbeknownst to him or the women in the room, the glass and metal of the kitchen had... started to crack silently, with a myriad of irregular lines running through items, windows, and shelves alike without mercy as the German man was cut-off by himself.

"Stop making excuses you weak bastard"
Now even the granite and stone had started to crack quite noisily, with the poor women concerned and scared for both Hershel and what was about to happen. Albert in the meanwhile had now hyperfocused on arguing with his reflection, one which now showed in all reflective surfaces in the kitchen, the entire room creaking under some kind of ghastly pressure.

"Shut. Shut, SHUT, SHUT UP YOU PIECE OF TRASH."

"And at this rate, you'll never stop being weak. You'll never accomplish any of your ambitions. YOU'LL NEVER AMOUNT TO ANYTHING IN THIS WORLD.

"FUCK, STOP AT ONCE"

The moment both Hershel's shouted, the kitchen finally couldn't take it anymore and the cracks finally brought the material to its knees. Glass, stone, and steel all cracked into shards that exploded out in all directions at fast speeds, like the items were somehow loaded with explosives of some kind.

Luckily, two things happened: Emma had anticipated that something dangerous could happen, so she gave Nicole a knowing nod, who promptly yet slowly due to her age, hid under the one item that hadn't cracked explosively yet: the dinner table.

As for the tutor herself, she had grabbed onto the german man and dove under the table in the nick of time as everything. Hershel himself was flabbergasted as to what had just happened. What is this?? What is happening?? Why, when...

Despite the protection, the three of them would some form of damage. Big or small, they could only know by daring to look and heck, something Albert didn't feel able to do at all, choosing instead to keep his eyes closed as his breath became more ragged... he felt a few sensations of stinging pain on his limbs and some other parts of his body.

As for Nicole... she also seemed fine enough, bleeding in a couple of places, but ok enough.

But what about his tutor? She grunted in pain a few instants after landing, feeling a searing, burning pain on her back and exposed side, but not caring at that moment.
"Hng... Hershel, are you, ok?" Once the woman had managed to catch her breath, the first thing she did was check on her precious pupil with her usual, confident smile.

The black-haired man finally dared to open his eyes when she heard her reassuring voice, only to flinch in horror at the piece of stone sticking out from around the side of her stomach.
"I... I'm sorry. I should have done something on my own, I-"
Sadly the man didn't even get a chance to finish his own poor sentence, for from 2 remarkably pieces of glass that had embedded into the floor close to them, came... 2 shadowy hands came out suddenly the moment Emma had loosened her grip in the young man to face him properly, grabbing onto his shirt and forcefully dragging him away through the glass, away from safety. It all happened so fast that none of them had even managed to let out a sound in reaction.

.

As the aspiring politician was dragged along the cold, smooth flooring of the house and then the new place's, he felt the stinging pain of his wounds flare-up.
"Gah-" The man grunted in pain as he finally stopped being pulled by the unknown hands, only now being able to stop and look at his surroundings, trying to gauge what in the world to do now and where he had been pulled to.

The surroundings seemed very... grey. Lots of neatly cut grey stone... multiple rows upon rows of blue chairs and curved black desks all in different elevations surrounding a core auditorium... he lifted his vision and saw... a glass dome. Moved it a little more as he placed his hands on the floor, lifting himself up, and eventually saw and impossible to miss eagle emblem posing proudly over the main speaker podium in the whole place... this, this was.

"The Reichstag?? Why, how did I get here... its many kilometers awa-" Just as he had finally gotten back on his feet, and was looking around talking to himself, Hershel had been punched with great strength right on the left side of his face, being caught by surprised and throw towards the main stone podium, barely saving him from an appointment with the cold hard floor. It took Hershel a couple of seconds to recompose himself, looking in the direction of his assailant only to find... himself?

That was, him??? That smug-looking, confident prick? What in the world was happening right now. Just as Hershel was starting to spiral into a deep and panicked train of thought, the commanding man of the same face finally spoke up with a condescending tone.

"I see you are not so weak as to be broken by a single hit. Good. That would be no fun... oh and where are my manners..."
Contrary to one would expect, the man with piercing yellow eyes bowed for a moment with a smug smile after dusting himself off.
"My name is Hershel Albert... I am you. Well, to be more specific, the non-spineless, determined you. The individual that is willing to do whatever it takes to get things done. You are an absolute dishonor to the ideals you hold, so, I'm here to put an end to this!"

Right on cue with the last sentence, the alternate Hershel threw a punch aimed right at the other's face, aiming to seriously harm them by hitting them against the stone wall for the podium behind them. But this time, he was ready. His guard was up, both arms in front of him like a boxer aiming to block a punch. Contact was made between the both of them.
It hurt, but, this was manageable even with injuries. But before the real Hershel could react, he suddenly felt like he was out of breath completely, unable to take in any air as he hunched over forwards a bit. Less than a moment later, he was able to see properly now what was going on: there was a kick he could do nothing about aimed towards his ribs, he bad been kicked right in the solar plexus.

His vision of the world sped up and blurred as he was thrown off his feet for a moment and towards the left of the room, barely putting his arms to catch himself from slamming full force onto the floor. He wheezed, struggling to breathe again after such a painful set of blows so quickly one after the other, as the yellow-eyed man confidently walked towards him without a worry in the world as if taunting him.

"Just give it up. The easy way out is the most fitting, FOR SOMEONE LIKE YOU"
NO. Even if I've had easy paths in life, I'll always, I'LL ALWAYS WORK AS HARD AS I CAN.
It was obvious. It was clear as day what he was going to do speeding up and with that pose. But, could he do anything about it? He was still screaming at himself inside his mind, to try, to keep trying. While barely being able to breathe the german pushed himself off to the side ever so slightly, avoiding the full force of the aimed kick to this stomach, instead of feeling the slight burn of friction coming from the sole of the shoe against him.

"You little- You, are, NEVER GOING TO, HAVE THE STRENGTH, TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER, PLACE" The man was growing increasingly more irritated over time due to the original's defiance.
Maybe... But I'm not going to let it happen without a- The erratic stomping that the angry alternate Hershel had been doing, one well placed hit hurt the original german badly on his shoulder, stopping his train of thought altogether for a moment, before snapping back, now with his breath back, by rolling out of the way the moment another stomp was aimed at him. Not even a moment later he had picked himself back up from the floor after a grueling minute of desperate dodging. He was still wincing, his body hurt the most it had in all his life, even more than when he had gotten involved in bar fights.

Yet, he didn't feel defeated. He was not 100% sure he would be able to win either, but it didn't feel hopeless anymore... the other was losing composure, showing openings, he could do this. and right on cue, shadow Hershel howled in anger, louder than any time before

"STAND DOWN ALREADY YOU FUCKING FAILURE. YOU FAILED EMMA AND NICOLE, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO CLAIM YOU'LL MAKE THE WORLD BETTER FOR THEM, OR FOR ANYONE" The man was winding up a bit yet predictable punch. It should be easy enough to counter but...

I... Hershel was hesitating again, even if it was only for an instant this could prove fatal. Yet as the world kept moving slowly around him due to the adrenaline in his system and the situation... one specific and very recent memory came to mind... the smiles of the women who raised him once they saw he was safe from the barrage of shards...

A small smile crept onto his face for the first time since the start of this fiasco, and he prepared his own punch.

The shadow had been expecting a satisfying hit on the end of his fist. Instead, for the first time in this whole one-sided brawl, it felt pain. Due to its poor stance, the punch from the battered Hershel had knocked it off its feet and onto the ground. It wore an expression of disbelief as if his mind couldn't properly process the signals his nerve ends were sending it as he placed his hand on his cheek.

The real black-haired man was now the one walking confidently, looking down onto the other-self who now looked quite pitiful.

"Exactly because they care so much, and they have helped me so much, is why I feel like I should pay it back, that I can do much more by relying on them... and the many more I will probably meet in my life. Mark my words you dretch. No matter what happens, I'll inch close to accomplishing my dream for the sake of this wretched world, because it has good in it worth helping" Along with his speech, he held his close fist forward with a resolute and confident smile.

This caused the shadow who had been inching away to regain their footing to finally snap. It stood up and made a mad dash towards Hershel, another dumb, big, and predictable swing prepared. The german simply prepared to counter it yet again, this time running towards his opposite at the full speed he could currently muster

"YOU BASTAAAAAAARD- UGH" just as he was screaming, a straight punch landed on his right cheek yet again.

"I'll prove that the ends don't justify the means, and that callousness is unneeded."
One last sentence, as the last blow of this bout cracked the dreamworld at its roots, shattering as the pain and the scenery of the Reichstag disappeared, coming back to the garden he had originally fainted at...

Close to him, a somewhat familiar yet different figure he knew all too well appeared, his extravagant black and yellow- tuxed and turban along with his quill and parchment, an expression that contained endless wisdom behind those scrutinizing eyes. Behind him were a group of soldiers in ever so distinct uniforms, all with somewhat eastern traits yet not fully human by any means, all armed and at the ready of his beck and call.

“I am thou, and thou art I… harness the power of the many, and shape the world anew."

"Huh... Suleiman. I'll borrow your strength, mighty ruler. Let's vanish these foes from the face of the earth"

“We shall display mine and thou's strength and wisdom."
It was all so odd. This power... it was so unnatural yet felt so right and fluid to call upon... he decided, for now, to just go along with it, considering he could now see the monstruosities that had caused so much trouble before. As Suleiman nodded to the german, the man cracked his fingers and then his neck, soon turning to look in the cosplayer's direction since she was impossible to miss.

"Before we inaugurate this party, I never caught your name. Will make it easier to deal with these bastards" He pointed with his thumb towards the two creatures of vaguely half humanoid shape with a confident smirk... the matter of other's safety was still in his mind, but this came as a priority first. But, if Hershel was honest with himself, he was raring to give some of the culprits in putting so many people in danger some hell. He also had spotted that girl who had accidentally taunted the beasts... yeah, better to get ready to fight now while waiting for that response.

Right on cue the 4 soldiers of Suleiman, wearing traditional jannissary uniform, got in formation with their muskets and got ready to fire, with Hershel picking up a rock from the floor.

.

Location: The same damned garden!
Interaction: the cosplayer (Chiyoko CapRock )
Around: the grumpy teen (Rhyme Aegis ), a foreign-looking newcomer (Egon Emperor Of Embers )