- Zodiac - [Inactive]

Adonna watched in amazement as Hotaru tended to her injury. She'd seen Hotaru's blood manipulation at work during the spider fight, but this was a whole different experience. Though the wound still pained her, it had stopped bleeding altogether. "Thank you..." Adonna said, unable to truly convey her gratitude in the two words.


Shun was dealing with the persistent girl, and motioned for them to go inside. Assuming he had a plan, Adonna gave quick glances to Dominic and Hotaru before heading to the inside of the warehouse where Kenshi waited.
 
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<--


| Evening |


| Saturday |


Date: September 21, 2014

​



Just before Adonna spoke, Shun was there to voice all of their thoughts in one go. Dominic nodded to them both - it would be too much of a task to watch two defenseless students, while they had their own asses to look after. Dominic looked back to Farra who spoke eagerly. From what he saw, it looked like she wanted to be involved in whatever they were doing more so than simply ducking the police. A frown formed on Dominic's face as he was about to do what he hated doing most - let people down.


"You can't come with us, what we're going to do is too dangerous for random students to be involved in." He glanced off towards the town which was still lit by the streetlights and buildings. "You want to help, right?" An idea surfaced in his head that may or may not be just as bad as letting them come. "Watch the front gate. Make sure nobody comes past this point." A stupid idea, maybe, but Dominic couldn't force them to leave, he knew that. At the most, have them do something where they're helpful in the slightest.


Turning to face Shun and Adonna, he nodded towards them. "Alright, let's go. Kenshi and Hotaru are probably waiting on us." With that, he walked off into the warehouse and ended up at the magic circle. Kenshi, who sat patiently for their arrival, stood and glanced at them. "We're all here, let's make sure we're ready before we head in. There's no telling what we'll find on the other side." Dominic nodded, but what would he consider 'ready'? Should they have come with plated armor? Weapons? He hadn't a single clue as to what to expect from the ordeal. "I'll take that silence as being ready. Let's activate the circle." Without any physical manipulation, the drawings made on the ground began to light up, stealing the heat and brightness of the surrounding candles and sucking it all into the center of the circle. The crescent symbol glew a faint blue, while the sun shined it's bright yellow. The air around them began to pull into the circle as a sphere formed. It looked a lot like a black hole materialized right above the circle and was drawing everything spiritual into it. The wind blew Dominic's hair around and would do the same to everyone else. With each second, the bright light that covered the magic circle would intensify, therefor adding more strength to the black hole until it was large.


Dominic's feet began to slide across the ground, he only noticed it seconds later as gravity pulled him toward the hole. "S-Shit, is this supposed to happen?!" He shouted. Anyone else would have been puled toward the portal as well. Kenshi's form disappeared to hover in his ethereal form around Dominic. He felt his own weight suddenly throw him upward and into the portal-like black hole, along with some stray sheets of metal and objects.


As soon as his body fully passed through, he felt weightless, the area around him was pitch black, silent. What is this..? He wondered as his hair and clothes flowed around like he was in space. The experience was the same for everyone else - a black void free of sound and gravity.


The pulling sensation suddenly came back, as the black void suddenly unveiled to a dark sky, silhouettes of dead trees against it. Dominic was on his back, as if he had fallen, but strangely enough, he didn't feel an impact or even realize he was falling. Sitting up, he looked around his surroundings. He sat on the road that split across the middle of a forest. The air felt like ice cold teeth on his skin, a strange feeling, no doubt.





---




​



Down the road, Shun would have found himself in the same situation, back against the dirt staring straight up into the starless sky. Dominic wasted no time approaching him with a most likely equally confused question. "Where are we?" Then, sounds of a bell sounded, from a direction that the path didn't follow.





---




​



The girls, however, would awaken somewhere completely different. Each one of them would find themselves inside of a Queen' room, atop a lush bed. The walls were stone and the room was lit with a few torches and candles. This was no doubt a castle they were in. An open window let in a breeze that pushed the curtains around. Outside that window was nothing but a long drop down to a cliff-face and an endless ocean. From their side, they couldn't see an entrance. Each door was wooden, but locked tight by a magical seal free of any understanding. As soon as anyone would tamper with the door, the seal would form and shine, burning away any flesh that came close. There had to be a way to escape. Maybe the break the seal? Just getting close to it threatened to melt away any meat close to it.


Other than the obvious escape points, were dressers with various Queen-like items on and in them. The wardrobe was full of different sets of clothing for pretty much any situation. The mirror offered a full-body examination of the viewer. How would one break out of there? Suddenly, there was sounds of a bell ringing, louder than ever before.
 
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James had been looking in, curiosity getting the better of him, when the magic circle had activated.


He suddenly felt a force pulling him, like gravity had suddenly gone lopsided to him, and he moved, slid slowly towards the portal.


"Hey! What the hell?! Make it stop!" He yelled as he desperately clung onto anything he could, namely the floor, which provided little purchase.


Eventually, he gave in, and the portal took him in. For a moment, all was black. He felt no gravity, no air, yet he could breathe.


Then, he landed on a road, on his back. Immediately, he was up, looking around.


There, two guys, Dominic and Shun.


"Hey!" He called to them,"where the hell are we?" As he ran over to them.
 
The felling of being drug into a black void was a novel experience for Shun as he curiously accepted his fate; however, it was upon opening his eyes to the starless sky above and the dusty ground below that brought a sudden feeling of nostalgia, stemming to the first dream he had encountered.


Hearing Dominic's questioning voice, Shun turned his body to face the boy and ponder the words he had spoken.


"Feels similar to the world where we met the hounds. Just a bit more landscaped than be--"


Shun's words were cut off by the question of a second entity who had stubbornly followed them through the portal. Letting out a deep sigh, Shun could only shake his head as he continued with the plan he had intended before the interruption.


"Give me a second."


Placing Bastion's mask upon his face, Shun hold out his right arm and began a painting that hovered in the air over his cast. After drawing the pistol and shooting the painting, the outline of an owl began to manifest itself atop his cast, causing Shun to wince in pain from the weight of the bird on his injury. Sending the scout into the air above, Shun summoned a parchment of paper that he quickly began painting a rough outline of their surroundings upon.


Holding the map out for both boys to see, Shun began an explanation of what his owl had seen.


"So it seems there is nothing but ocean behind us, and there is nothing really around us, not even the girls. I assume our destination is going to be this point which is a straight shot ahead. It appeared to be a castle of some sort, and I bet this is where the rest of us are at."


As Shun spoke he pointed at the various places mentioned in his explanation; however, it was the sound of bells that brought his attention to their surrounding area. The last time bells were heard in this world, enemies had manifested themselves before their party, and with this thought in mind Shun quickly rose from the ground and stuffed the map under his right shoulder.


"We have the owl to scout ahead, so we should get moving."
 
As they started moving, James, was really started to get angry.


"Ok, hold on. If I'm going to survive here, you have to tell me where the hell we are, what the f--- is going on, and how the heck you do all this random s---!" He snapped at them.
 
Adonna found herself alone in the room that looked like it belonged in medival times, with only the box of steri-strips beside her that she'd unconsciously held onto. Her first instinct had been to inspect the room with a quick glance. It seemed devoid of danger. Then she went to the door, attempting to open it. The magic seal shined angrily.


"AAH!" Adonna drew her hand back as pain shot through her arm. She held the bottom of her hand, looking at the damage taken. The tips of her fingers were the reddest, tapering off to her palm. She'd been burned, though she assumed it would have been worse had she actually touched the handle. Alright, so the door was off limits... The window was no option either...


She went to the dressers, carefully approaching the handle with her left hand. When nothing happened, she opened the drawers, one at a time, trying to find something to use as a weapon. There was a wooden hair brush beautifully carved with roses on its back. Adonna wasn't sure if such a thing would last more than one hit before breaking, so she kept looking-


When her ears were enveloped by the sound of ringing bells.
 
Hotaru glanced at James and raised an eyebrow. She could have sworn that she heard that the boy was dead. Yet her eyes were deceiving her, showing an image of him in the flesh. Hotaru watched with blank eyes. A more serious face appeared as she shrugged. Shun hushed everyone in to the factory, Hotaru obliged and waved at the wolf again. Kenshi was it not? Kenshi....Oh! It was the know-it-all! Hotaru frowned a bit, Marabel was often bullied by this wolf, was she not? Hotaru need to yell at this wolf, but not now. It would seem as though the wolf activated the circle once everyone arrived. Hotaru watched as the candle's energy was poured into the circle. The moon was glowing a cliche blue and the sun sign was radiating the color yellow. A wide grin spread on her lips as she watched in delight as the air was torn up creating a 2D hole in front of the magic circle. Electricity was spurting at the ends. Hotaru felt very happy something she did and it was working in front of people. Air and light was being sucked into the darkness, the ones closest to the cardinal direction North was sucked in first. West was the last one to be sucked in. Knowing this beforehand, Hotaru placed her herself at the West Chinese character.


Dominic was the first to be sucked into the black hole. His image was being distorted as he entered into the circle. It was no wonder, he was entering another plane. Skewing the entire area, he entered. One by one, Hotaru's friends were sucked into the black hole unwillingly or not. Hotaru looked at the inky darkness and did a two-finger salute to the building before hopping in. The last thing she saw was the black cat running after her. Her ears popped as she entered. Darkness was everywhere, Hotaru's brain made a low ringing noise to make up the sound of nothing. She was in a place where there was no light or sound. Hotaru's heart began to beat faster. She had a small phobia of darkness and emptiness. Hotaru felt claustrophobic, she felt like she was in a small box, limited to her own movements. Hotaru tightly shut her eyes.


She could feel herself move again, Hotaru opened her eyes to a dim lit room, she looking up to a ceiling made of wood. She was on some sort of soft and cold bed. Nostalgia plagued her head, she suddenly felt like she needed to throw up. Clearing her throat, Hotaru managed to sit up. The walls were made of smooth stone. It reminded her of a trip she took to a castle in England when she was younger. Sniffing into the air, cold wind hit her face. There was a distinctive smell of salt, Hotaru hopped out of the bed and looked out of the only window. The night sky blanketed above and the ocean reached on and on to the horizon. Hotaru almost was tempted to jump out. Shaking her head from the thoughts, Hotaru looked back at the empty room. Frowning she looked over to the wooden door, she was stupid to not notice that first.


Hotaru quickly jogged over to the door reached for the lock with her dominant right hand. The metal lock shined and radiated heat into her skin. Hotaru reeled her hand back and took large steps away from the door. She kept from screaming out, instead she bit into her bottom lip. Rubbing her temples, Hotaru looked over to the large wooden cabinets. Inside were filled with clothes for nearly everything. Hotaru frowned and examined the mirror. Upon looking, she saw her tattered and bloodied clothes. Frowning a bit, she sighed.


Loud chimes of copper bells rang and vibrated throughout the room. Hotaru winced as she held her throbbing forehead, "Shut up!"
 

???


| ??? |


| LIMBO |


Date: September 21, 2014

​



Dominic was at least grateful for appearing with proper clothes. Shun's ability to scout ahead from the skies saved them from wandering around like idiots.


"Hey! Where the hell are we?"


The unfamiliar voice initially drew a defensive stance on Dominic, but he eased when he saw it was just the boy from earlier. "How did yo- Why did you follow us?!" It could have been an accident, seeing as how the portal pulled everything in. Regardless, Dominic knew they had a new task at hand now, and it went without saying. He sighed, looking off past the treelines and into the woods. They would have to follow that bell sound, if there really was a castle nearby.


"We have the owl to scout ahead, so we should get moving."


Dominic nodded, wasting no time in walking off the beaten path and into the trees. I don't remember a castle in my time of staying in Limbo. Bastion added, confusion in his thoughts.





"Ok, hold on. If I'm going to survive here, you have to tell me where the hell we are, what the f--- is going on, and how the heck you do all this random s---!"


Dominic bared his teeth, stopping his movement to turn to James. Suddenly, he pushed the boy into a nearby tree and pinned him there with his arm. "Listen, you need to keep quiet, else we'll be spotted. Don't, wonder off. We can't protect you if you run off somewhere. You're in this now." Grunting out of frustration, he backed off from James. "Come on." He muttered before walking to catch up to Shun.


They would be walking for a while - the distance between them and the castle was great. Miles off. Dominic stuck his hands into his pocket as he walked with a gloomy mood. Things were just taking a turn for the worse. He worried that the girls may have already encountered Damian and were in grave danger, yet if they were to move quickly, they might have picked up the attention of some unwanted beasts. "Hey, Kenshi, you there?" He spoke out, to no answer. Whatever.
 
James regarded Dominic warily. He would do well not to irritate him further, he reasoned.


But who would spot them? Someone like Damian? Some kind of weird monster?


He was about to voice these questions, then thought better of it, Dominic was already angry enough. He decided on a more productive question.


"So, where are we going?"
 
Felling Bastion's confusion was not a good sign for Shun, as he concluded that the world they were in was very unlike that what their Zodiacs were used too.


It seems the world adapts to its inhabitants then.


Pausing his walk to allow for Dominic's actions against the newcomer, Shun calmly watched as the boy pinned the other against a tree and began explaining the situation in cold hard terms. It was once the pair had caught up that Shun began intently listening to Dominic's hopeless attempts to summon Kenshi to their aid.


With Bastion unaware of the area, and Kenshi no where to be found, a wave of worry fell over Shun; however, a question from the newcomer broke his train of thought as he turned to reveal the results of his scouting to the group.


"Off to save the girls, it seems."


Shun's tone was sarcastic as he chuckled in response to the sight that his owl saw. Because the area seemed rather desolate, Shun had sent the owl toward the castle where it had scouted the two girl's rooms and was currently perched against Adonna's open window gazing at the girl rummaging through her dressers.


"Adonna and Hotaru seem fine, just confused. It appears that they are in a room where the door is locking them within."


Finishing his explanation, Shun instantly stopped moving as the sudden realization of the unknown world and their roles within hit him. With the pieces of the puzzle slowly beginning to form a complete image in his head, Shun couldn't help but laugh in response to the realization to his new theory.


"It seems we are stuck in a little roleplaying game that one would probably call 'The quest to save the princess.'Unless the girls find a way out on their own, its seems our goal will be figuring out how to unlock each door to free our friends and gain more members for our party."


Taking hold of Bastion's brush once more, Shun manifested a visual scene of his explanation using the mansion from his childhood memories as a replica of the castle.


"If my assumptions are correct, we are in no danger as of yet. It will probably be once we start messing around in the castle that our fun begins."


Dispelling the visuals with a wave of his hand, Shun turned to face the castle in the distance, all while wondering what diabolic events they would be met with inside.
 
The portal opened. As Damian exited the portal he found himself inside a Castle-like setting. There was a large courtroom with a large, red, circular carpet with an intricate pattern in the middle. At the center of the carpet was a throne, behind it were two mahogany wood stairwells that turned upward to a second floor balcony. On that balcony were many closed doors that led to who knows where. The walls were littered with blue candles, giving off a haunted vibe for the interior. For a Castle the interior was underwhelming. There wasn't any other furnishings, no doors around the first floor save for the front doors, and the second floor was just a balcony with 4 doors on each side. Damian looked around, confused as to why he was brought here. "Why are we here?" He asked. The man chuckled. "You're within a special plane me and my Zodiac, Hier, has created. We've been using our power to create a new world. One where Hosts, Zodiacs, and Hollows can live from the prejudice of the real world. Now, mind you, other Hosts have looked at our humble plane as a means to corralling the Hollows but they just misread our intentions. Similarly to how others look at you and Lance." Lance tilted his head. "You know my name?" "Yes, I do. Hier knows of all the Zodiacs." "Funny, I've never seen or heard of Hier." Hier stood quietly, watching the group attentively. He was a lifeless still, hands cupped behind his back. Lance narrowed his glare at Hier, remaining suspicious of both the Zodiac and his Host. "I can understand your uncertainty Lance, but rest assured we're here to help. I must return to the physical world, as my lunch break has ended. Remain here for the time being, I'll be back soon." The man had disappeared into a wormhole of his own, leaving the three alone. Hier had inhaled deeply through his nose, picking up some new traces in his world. Multiple traces. Some where only humans without a Host. The distinction was in there Ethereal makeup. Non-Hosts were not welcome in this world as far as Hier was concerned but he was more worried about his true intentions than a couple of humans. Further away from the heard Hier snuffed out two singled out Hosts. Already knowing what he has to do, Hier vanished into a wormhole. Now it was only Lance and Damian. "So... What do we do?"





~




​



Marabel jumped out of Hotaru's body as if she had leaped from a window. Her eyes glowed with excitement as she scanned the regal bedroom. "Ooooooh! Look at all this Hotaru! It's fit for a Queen! Lay down in the bed and I'll go make you a crown of leaves! Oh! Oh! I can even make my leaf paste for makeup, this is going to be so fun!" Marabel frolicked about the room like a unguided child, skipping about and pulling Hotaru too and fro. Meanwhile on Adonna's side, Ulysses had appeared out of thin air scanning the room himself. He was not familiar with this plane nor what this rooms purpose served. As far as he was concerned this was just a huge danger. He saw Marabel prancing out excitedly without a care in the world. No surprise to him. Ulysses had peered out the window to get a good look at wherever they are. He recalled Adonna being with the group but being singled out must've been a transfer malfunction. "I can simply levitate us all down, but we'd also have to look for the group. I'm certain we can handle ourselves though... There hasn't been a Hollow I couldn't take." Ulysses turned back to Adonna, but before he could even say anything else, he froze. He saw two, blue, glowing eyes glaring at him in the darkness of the room. From that Darkness came Hier. He stealthily appeared into the tower with Hotaru and Adonna, choosing to eliminate them first. Ulysses recognized Hier from one instance before but this Zodiac was forgotten with time. Ulysses thought Hier for passed on but that was no longer the case. "Hierophant! You're--" "Alive? Yes." Hier's hand had arced with a dark blue energy. He poked the air and a wave of ripples had traveled through the air, it looked as if the surface of water had been touched. Hier used that same hand and balled it into a fist and slammed the middle of the ripple with his fist. The ripples had shot out violently and the atmosphere had cracked like glass. With the slam came a sound barrier shattering bang. When the soundwave hit Ulysses it rang his hollow suit of armor, affecting him the worst. The sound was too intense for the Zodiac and rendered him immobile as he clutched his helmet in pain. As he slowly fell to the ground, Hier had reappeared as a transparent shade in front of Ulysses and kneed him in Ulysses' jaw. The force of the blow crushed the bottom of his helmet and black steam splurged from the inside like an overflowed steam tank. Ulysses was thrown into the window sill, his own weight shattering the tower wall. Marabel had been affected by the soundwave as well, but acted fast. The red makeup around her eyes slithered from around her eyelids and blocked Hotaru's ears, making a soundproof barrier out of Marabel's blood.
 

???


| ??? |


| LIMBO |


Date: September 21, 2014

​



As they walked, James asked a question that Dominic himself wanted to answer. Sure enough, Shun was there to feed him only part of their mission as a whole. As he pondered on it, Dom figured it was harmless to tell James of their true intentions. "That, and stop Da-.. talk to Damian, I mean." Dominic wasn't even sure what he was going to do himself.


His attention renewed itself seeing Shun stop suddenly only to chuckle. His guess on what the situation seemed like brought Dominic to smile a little. "As long as they're okay, we're good." He added in. "It's really simple, we'll talk to Damian, and then head back to our world in one large group." Another part of him felt bad for being cold towards James. The man was lost in this world without a single clue as to where he was. He had to silently commend him for not freaking out on the spot. "Hey uh-.. Sorry about how I've acted. I'm on edge." He muttered, scratching the back of his head and glancing off to the side.


 
"It's alright. I guess everyone gets like that sometimes. I know I have myself a bit." James said, accepting dominic's apology.


"So, could you please try to explain what all of these things that have been happenng are? Those invisible people you talked to, your powers, this..." James made a vague gesture around them, "place. It's just all so weird."
 
Hotaru tried to rub her forehead to try to block out the noise. She frowned and jumped back onto the bed covering herself with pillows and blankets. She began to scream into the pillows. Once the sound was muffled, Hotaru ceased her screaming and rolled off of the bed. She hit the wooden floors with a thud, covering herself with the blanket. She struggled to get out of the thick fabric, once she uncovered herself Hotaru quickly picked up the bundle of cloth and placed it on the bed. She quickly fixed her hair so it would not bother her eyes.


Marabel suddenly jumped out in front of her, it was like her soul leaving Hotaru's body because it was too scared. Marabel was in a very happy mood. She began to look left and right at the entire room before giving Hotaru a bright smile, "Ooooooh! Look at all this Hotaru! It's fit for a Queen! Lay down in the bed and I'll go make you a crown of leaves! Oh! Oh! I can even make my leaf paste for makeup, this is going to be so fun!" Hotaru smiled and nodded as she was about to head for the bed. Marabel grabbed her arm and began to skip around the room looking at all of the objects around the room. All of a sudden loud vibrations sounded out throughout the room. It was louder than the bells. Thankfully the sound was muffled by blood. Hotaru glanced over to Marabel with a worried stare, "What was that?" Hotaru quickly ran to the window and looked out.
 
Turned away from the window, Adonna didn't notice Shun's owl perched upon the open window. The ringing wouldn't stop. The bells clanged away as if they were accompanying the chorus of god and not a force in the world were to stop them. It reverberated through her ears and seemed to reach her brain, where it found the relay of nerves and screamed into it. Adonna bit her lower lip. The noise had to eventually stop... it had to... eventually...


It wouldn't. It went own, happily disrupting Adonna's thoughts like a child playing the 'I'm not touching you' game. I can't do anything like this... Adonna took a deep breath, and let it loose. She had to ignore the chimes that kept breaking her concentration. Keep focused. The room gave her no options to act, so she forced herself to accept the next option. Taking another deep breath, Adonna braced herself against the wall with her unburnt hand. Reluctantly, she closed her eyes, and focused on each individual part of her body, one at a time. Relaxing each muscle from foot to head. The darkness her psyche floated in was slowly emptied of her thoughts, fears, and the aggressive need to act now.





"Fwww," she breathed, finally lifting her eyelids open. Her eyes rested upon the eloquently engraved candlestick, the one she'd ignored earlier due to not wanting to mess with any of the light giving candles or torches within the room, lest she further plunge the room into darkness. But now, her mind afresh, she internally nodded at the three pronged metal item. If a threat exposes itself, I can at least use this. She let her fingertips gently come into contact with the cool metal.


What? The once orange flames atop the three candles burned magenta. Adonna recognized that flame immediately. It's Ulysses'! Was he here? She drew her left hand back, and looked around. No, it was still just her. The flames returned to their orange state. Wait... she touched the metal stem of the candlestick again. This time, the flame stayed orange. Why did it... hold on... a small idea tugged at the back of her head. Adonna closed her eyes again and calmed her heart from the excitement caused by the possibility of her Zodiac appearing. Opening her eyes, she touched the metal. The fire turned magenta.


So this must be... what, her power? It seemed to work only when she had a cleared, focused mind, devoid of distractions. As far as she could tell, anyway. Part of her wished Ulysses had appeared. Adonna would be able to make more sense of the power if she didn't need to play guess-and-check. Nonetheless, having discovered this power was better than nothing, she was sure it could be useful for any potential danger in the future. That was, if she could control it... Hers was not a mind that kept clear, this would prove to be a challenge.


As if responding to her mental calls, Ulysses appeared.





"I can simply levitate us all down, but we'd also have to look for the group. I'm certain we can handle ourselves though... There hasn't been a Hollow I couldn't take."





Oh thank the gods or whatever higher power was responsible. Adonna felt a palpable wave of relief hit her. It was not to last. Darkness appeared, and out of it, what Adonna assumed was a denizen of the dream world stepped out.





"Hierophant! You're--" "Alive? Yes."


Were the few words exchanged before Hierophant acted. Whatever he did, it caused a sound so loud Adonna's hands, even her injured one, went up to either ear, trying to shut the sound out. When she refocused, her head splitting in pain, she saw the damage done. Her Zodiac had been slammed through a wall. A wave of helplessness threatened to overtake Adonna, but she forced herself to keep mentally grounded.
 
"An explanation, eh? Well this po--"


As Shun began his reply toward James, he turned around to walk backwards in order to face the two boys for his explanation. He had originally intended to consult Bastion's wisdom of this world; however, out of the blue, Shun suddenly flinched whilst covering his face with his hands and falling over backwards. Because the owl's vision was one with Shun's, the collision of Adonna's zodiac and the window came as a shock for the boy who had been only half focused on his creation. Reopening his eyes, Shun instantly attempted to turn his focus entirely to the owl, but he was met with only darkness as the bird had been unfortunately caught in the shock wave that had occurred.


"We need to go now!"


Rising to his feet, Shun began sprinting off in the direction of the castle while attempting to contact Bastion for intelligence on the conversation he had heard prior to the event.


"Bastion, what is a Heirophant, and why is it important that he is alive?"


While waiting for his Zodiac's reply, Shun quickly summonsed the owl all while analyzing what he had seen in an attempt to conjure a plan on their arrival. If a fight were to break out inside the small room, Adonna's life would be put in danger, and that was under the assumption she could even win.


Best case scenario, a Heirophant was meaningless, and the girls would be perfectly fine, but worst case, they would have to find a way to extract them from the height of the castle.


As he ran, Shun shook his head; either circumstance their current priority was arriving at the castle as soon as possible. What would be done could be determined by what happened next.
 
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  • Farra sighed as Dominic "suggested" to go watch the gate. She stomped over and stared at it, but there was a tugging feeling in her gut. Finally, she couldn't stand it. Farra walked back to the factory just in time to see everyone getting sucked into the portal. A grin appeared on her face. "Hell yeah." And with that she jumped straight into the black void.


Farra landed in a lush queenly room. "Why hello there, bed," she said, laying on the bed gracefully.


Suddenly, a freaky dude slammed through her wall on the left. It left a gaping hole behind. "Damn, what IS this thing?" she cried, jamming her hands over her ears to prevent them from EXPLODING. She rushed over to the creature on the floor and checked for a pulse, heartbeat, ANYTHING, but found nothing. It was hopeless. After a few fruitless attempts at revival, Farra rose up from the ground and looked into the hole. "Hello?" She called.
 
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Ulysses was laid back in a bed of rubble. His helmet still spurting black steam that oozed a similarly colored liquid around the broken spaces. Hierophant scoffed at Ulysses, unimpressed he was downed so quickly. "You're weaker than I remember giving you credit for." Hier said stoically. He turned his attention to Adonna who was downed by the sound crash. The wave had subsided finally, giving anyone within earshot some respite. Hier pointed to Adonna, who was downed currently. "It isn't wise to grovel at your knees. Lest you want to share your Zodiac's pain." Hier's hand arced with energy again. He wound it back in preparation to swipe Adonna with a fierce chop. With Hier's beyond superhuman strength and the high voltage given off by his own power Adonna has a low chance of survival off a blow like this. As he swung his down towards Adonna...





SPLUCH!




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A beam of fire had pierced through Hier's abdomen! The beam had pierced through his Godly sculpted form like a finger through wet toilet tissue. A brine of blood had spilled out with the beam exiting the other side of his body, and piercing from out the tower into the distance before dissipating. Hier had fallen to the tower floor on his knee, holding the searing wound. As he stumbled he coughed blood showing that there was some internal damage with the shot. With the power of irony, Ulysses had dashed over to Hier, kneeing HIM in the face and sending the long haired hulk into the wall. Ulysses had taken Adonna by her shirt collar and tossed her out the window. He soon followed, leaping from the window and forcing himself down with a thud. Before Adonna had gotten too close to the ground Ulysses had caught her with his telekinesis, slowly lowering her to her feet. Ulysses could pick up three other heat signatures nearby: Hotaru, Farra, and Marabel. Ulysses knew he had to get them both out, and at least employ Marabel's help. Even Ulysses knew that Hier would be too much for him alone. "Adonna, we have to get Marabel and Hotaru. Along with your defenseless friend who was dragged in here. Come! Follow me quickly!" Ulysses started sprinting, keeping from flight to allow Adonna to keep up with him as he made his way towards Hotaru's tower... Back in Adonna's used to be tower, Hier was incapacitated... But not for long. His open fist had clenched and his power had surged stronger than before as his frustration of being bested settled in.




Damian sat down on the throne. He hung his head in boredom and disappointment over what's been happening the last couple of days. So far he's been targeted twice and his "friends" haven't once been there to really help him. When Len attacked him, Dominic didn't show up even thought he was supposed to meet Dominic there in the first place. Thinking about it only made things a lot more suspicious than what they already were. Why would Len know where this secret spot is that Dominic only claimed he knew? When Red tried to shoot him down in broad daylight again he didn't see his friends come to his aid. Mind you, he had to vacate the area as his powers were exposed. Or maybe that was the point? To expose him further than what he already was? This all began to eat at him, his anxiety about to make his chest pop like an overdue volcano. The boy started to huddle himself to sort of suppress his wild emotions and spiraling confusion. Lance began to notice that Damian was almost to the point of a mental breakdown, he had to step in. "Damian? Are you okay?" Damian shook his head in response. "No, I'm not." He said muffled within his arms. "The more I think about what's been happening the more possibilities I can think up as to WHY it's been happening. Len found me at a spot only Dom' knew of so what would he be doing there? Plus, why would Red just suddenly attack me? Why would he know of my power when I'm never around him? Only they knew. Len and my... That group of people. I finally gain the power to stop being so weak and the underdog but now that I have it people want me dead and powerless again. Lance, why? I don't understand, I thought they were my friends? I thought they actually cared about me? I thought they would understand my situation? Why I'm doing the things I do?" Lance closed his eyes and listened to Damian with complete sympathy... He knew what it was like to be alone and singled out due to bad judgement calls. "Damian... Let me tell you something. When I was human, I was executed for being a Witch... My parents delved in Witchcraft, they were publicly executed for their crimes. When I was a boy, I was hardly vocal. I was almost mute. I never spoke, never interacted, always wanted to keep my space. Why? Because I didn't have a family to understand what interaction was. What love was... So they all thought of me as some byproduct of Witchcraft. As my anti-socia behavior wasn't necessarily looked at as an accepted social medium. It made me look suspicious. Like I was hiding something from the world... The world is filled with cruel, merciless people who will size you up without any consideration to even figuring out who you really are. I was eventually killed because my fiance was a Witch and they thought we worked together... I did not know of my fiance's Witchcraft. As much as I pleaded... My cries were on deaf ears. So I was killed, taken before my time. This... This reminds me a lot of what you're going through. They all look at you as the murderer. The evil one. Along with me and the Zodiacs. They look at me as Evil. The wrongdoer. Because I'm a dark spirit and so closed off... You'll learn that not everyone is who they seem. Or what you want them to be." Lance was cut off by the sound of another wormhole opening, it was Hierophant's unnamed host. Though, his face didn't look like he brought good news. "They're here." Damian picked himself up and turned his head towards the man. "They're?" "Your friends. They came here to finish what they started." Damian grimaced at the word "friends" to him these people weren't his friends... Not anymore. "If they're were so ballsy as to have a child try to murder you in broad daylight I don't think it would be above them to follow you to the Ethereal Planes." Damian rose from his throne and started to walk towards the front doors. "Damian? Where are you going?" Damian's face was already streaming with tears, warm with fury. He pushed open the double doors, the light of the outside poured into the dark castle interior. "If they're here to find a murderer than that's what they're going to get!" Damian said, his voice breaking.
 
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Clark was about to say his goodbye to the girl until she made a quick turn around and asked for help getting back to the dorms. "Well luckily for you I live in the dorms and I have a map." Clark replied as he pulled his map out. He walked over to the girl so she could see it as well. "Okay so I was here...then I went over to these trees and then there was that bicycle trail... Ah here we are." Clark said pointing the area were him and Nikky where. "Soooo we should follow this path... Yeah that seems good." As Clark said that he began to follow the nearby path that should take him and Nikky to the dorms.
 

???


| ??? |


| LIMBO |


Date: September 21, 2014

​



Dominic preferred answering a Q&A over danger. He had no issue sharing his knowledge of Limbo with James. On another front, it was a means of preparing himself for the task ahead, the calm before the storm. Speaking of storm, Dominic knew the time came when Shun suddenly stopped. Again it was the familiar bad feeling he tried to push away.


"We need to go now!"


Shun suddenly bolted off through the trees, Dominic was soon to follow with equal haste. Judging by his sudden flip in mood, the girls must have been in danger. Did Damian attack them? Anger boiled up inside him just at the thought alone. They continued to sprint, dodging trees left and right while hopping over exposed roots in the dirt. The forest seemed endless, yet the bell noise got louder, closer. Almost there...


His legs began to burn from his intense sprint. He had to keep focused on not hitting anything on the way, but his urgent feeling told him that he couldn't sacrifice the life of those girls for his own well being. He wasn't going to let it happen.






darkcastle.jpg



​



Suddenly, the darkness the trees provided from the moonlight vanished with the end of the forest. There was nothing more than a small ledge beyond that, and a single broken path leading towards what Dominic assumed was the location of the bell sound. His legs shook with fear and exhaustion, but he knew that they were in there, somewhere. He wouldn't let them die off of his own stamina. "They're waiting for us." He stated, clenching his fist and gathering his resolve. For once, he was going to play the sick game Damian had set for them, if it meant saving lives. At once, Dominic began to sprint upward towards the castle. Hang on, everyone.
 
Adonna was on her knees, a ringing in her ears and a slight yet perpetual tilt to the world.





"It isn't wise to grovel at your knees. Lest you want to share your Zodiac's pain."





A molten heat burst in her belly. So he'd mistaken the biting back of rage for cowering. Or perhaps he knew her intentions, but spat out the words regardless to provoke her. It worked, fury flooded her being and pushed up and out of her eyes. Beat it. Beat it down, came a command from the white core of her sin.


But he moved faster than she ever would, and there he stood, towering above her, ready to strike. In this placement, in this angle, her mind played a trick. A flash of one, where for just a moment he was not the Zodiac Hierophant, but a man, a human man, a tall human man with dark hair and readied fist, an image from the back regions of memories pushed down, projected now before her eyes.


All she knew was blind rage.


In the next moment, before Hierophant could send the seething Adonna to an early grave, a beam of magenta light shot through him.


Adonna didn't care about anything else. She pushed off the ground, beat it, beat it's bloody face in, crush it down. She'd stomp on his skull till it cracked under her foot-


Ulysses grabbed Adonna by her shirt collar. The action so stunned her that she was rendered silent even as she was thrown through the tower's window and plummeted down to certain death. Only to be caught by Ulysses's timely use of telekinesis. The fall left her back in her headspace of norm, if not a little shaky from all the adrenaline pumping through her body.





"Adonna, we have to get Marabel and Hotaru. Along with your defenseless friend who was dragged in here. Come! Follow me quickly!"


Ulysses ran alongside her. Though she was as certain as she was of sun rise that he could hover. I'm slowing him down! What an irking thought, she wanted to help him protect the others, not be a burden herself! There had to be some way... All she had was the fire, which she couldn't use in this frame of state... but... Perhaps... if she could use Ulysses' flame, then... "Ulysses! Can I use your flight?!"


 
Lacking in stamina, Shun breathlessly fell to his knees just outside of the tower's perimeter, leaving the other two boys to rush on ahead. Prior to his arrival, Shun was able to watch the conclusion of Adonna's battle through the owl that had been encircling her tower. With her self thrown out of the window and gentle levitated to the ground, Shun had sighed in relief that his friend was safe; however as he watched them sprint off toward Hotaru's tower and Dominic engage in his reckless charge forward, Shun couldn't shake off a ominous feeling that their approach to this world was entirely wrong.


Although he desired to stop the entirety of their group from the rushed approach they had undertaken, Shun figured in the current state his words would be meaningless. Rather, seating himself in front of Adonna's tower, Shun began to gentle massage his temples all while pondering their circumstances in a new light.


Nothing here is making sense, Bastion. We came to this world to meet with Damian, yet rather than doing so, a new piece of the puzzle manifests itself before our eyes.





Heirophant's appearance made him a wildcard in Shun's plans as his identity was entirely unknown to his memories. Having easily cast side Adonna's zodiac, it was easy to conclude that his existence was related to the Zodiacs, yet if this was truly Damian's world, then why would another unknown anomaly be present?


Summoning Bastion's brush yet again, Shun manifested a reenactment of Heirophant's arrival and carefully began inspecting every detail of the events that had occurred. Nevertheless, despite, repeatably rewinding the memory, Shun's understanding of the spirit's purpose became no more clearer than before.


Was he a simple guardian defending his world? If that were the case then he would have immediately sprung into action upon our arrival. Similarly, if he wished to crush our chances of resistance, then Adonna and possibly Dominic would have been dealt with much earlier. If he is our enemy, then why would he give us a chance to regroup?


Sighing in frustration, Shun turned his focus to the owl which had entered the room and was curiously gazing upon Heirophant's incapacitated body. Even through his creation, Shun could feel the power brimming from the spirit's existence; however, much like his understanding of the situation, Shun was clueless of Heirophant's true capabilities. Although the spirit had performed a sonic boom earlier, his actions that brought about such an attack were realistically unable to break the sound barrier.


Then did he summon such an attack to specifically be used against Adonna's zodiac?


Adonna's zodiac was made of metal, and a sound attack of such a magnitude would cause violent vibrations in an entity that was her zodiac. The theory made perfect sense, and with that ideal in mind, a new wave of worry fell upon Shun as Heirophant's existence suddenly became much more threatening than before.


Heirophant knows about our zodiacs, which means if he is the enemy, then he has the upper hand in battle against us.





Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Shun rose to his feet and calmly began walking up Adonna's tower. Ignoring the stupidity of his decision, Shun began contemplating possible weaknesses of Bastion in preparation for his meeting with the spirit. Unlike the other Zodiacs, Bastion was one with his existence, and any attack that would be effective on his spirit would have to effective on himself. Being a human, Shun hardly doubted Heiophant's ability to easily dispatch of his life, yet with the number of theories he held, the youth desired answers, and answers could only come from the source.
 
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Hotaru poked her head out of the window. She would only see the murky water nearly from below. The dark sky, the fog, and the cold ocean wind were a perfect combination for a very cold evening. Hotaru sniffed a bit, taking in the salty air. Using her uninjured arm Hotaru held onto the open window and forced half of her body out. This gave her a better view, but a dangerous position to be at. Hotaru was waiting for something to happen. It was quiet for a moment, she tilted her head in confusion. A rip in the air, sounding similar to thunder and resembling to lightning. Hotaru let out a small shriek as she ducked her head back in to prevent falling.


Blinking a bit, she looked out again. A brilliant red and orange light shot out from a different tower. Hotaru looked back at Marabel and grinned at the scene. Fire. The only fire-wielding person she knew was Adonna with her Zodiac. Something was definitely up. Adonna must have been fighting something, Hotaru had a hunch that it was the person who created those sound waves from before. Hotaru looked down from the tower and then at the opposite tower. Taking in a deep breath, Hotaru yelled, "Kick their ass, Adonna!!"


Laughing she pulled herself in and looked at the room once more. Pulling out some of the drawers she talked to Marabel, "Marabel, are you able to help me down this tower with our blood?" Hotaru paused a bit before asking, "What's your blood type?"


The least Hotaru could do was get out of her tattered and bloodied clothing. Without any warning Hotaru quickly put on a shirt over her own tattered shirt. She slipped her bloodied shirt off, without exposing her body. Feeling satisfied, Hotaru sat down and began to tie the clothes together. Hotaru and her friends were here to bring Damian back, but what forced him to escape here? Sure he was scared, but would he be actually tempted to go into this world? There was a lot to wonder about. Monster. She felt the word was too harsh. That was the only thing people were calling out when Damian killed off Red.


Hotaru shook her thoughts away and bit into her wound and drew blood out. Watching the blood trickle down her arm, Hotaru heard something from behind. Quickly turning around, Hotaru searched for the sound. She heard ruffling of the sheets. Feeling paranoid, Hotaru turned back to her work and continued to tie the clothes together.
 
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Waking up from slumber, her head throbbing with pain all over. She looked around herself and groaned, getting up from her position. It seemed she had been sleeping for ages and under a tree at that. Getting used to the change of lighting, she looked around for her friends but saw no one and noticed an elderly woman not far who happened to be a witness of the incident and her friend's hereabout, walking over to her and thanking her for the help. She went off to found her missing friends.


Running to some weird abandon building, she went in without hesitation and pushed forward not caring about the creepy noises and dim lighting which seemed to have weird shadows dancing. Noticing a weird hole in the middle of the room, she gasped, looking at the weird symbols and candles that surrounded it,"This looks very bad... I hope she didn't trick me..." Alice thought, studying the weird portal thing.


Now finally getting a good look at it, she suddenly thought of a childish story that randomly popped into her head,"This ironically reminds me of Alice in Wonderland but more scarier." She thought laughing at her own joke at her name. Though, it did feel like she was "Alice", the girl who followed a rabbit or mostly in this case, her friends and now she encountered a hole.


She wasn't too sure if she should just jump in or wait till her friends come but it seemed she didn't have a choice, a strong wind suddenly blew through a broken window, knocking her off her feet and losing her balance, falling into the hole like in the story of Alice in Wonderland where she would find herself in a strange world just as the story fore told.


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Falling, falling, falling. Alice was falling and everything around her going black. She was now in a strange land, just like the Alice in the story but she was in no forest, instead, she was in some tower, inside a elegant room that seemed fit for a queen more than a girl like her.


Her eyes fluttered open and the feeling of soft fabric wrapped around her. Getting up from her sleeping position, she rubbed away the wax in her eyes, a yawn escaping from her lips. Getting used to the fuzzy feeling, she examined her new surrounding. Remembering what had happened to her and kicking off the blanket, getting up in such a rush,"Where the hell am I?!" She exclaimed seeing she was alone in some old age castle like place as if she was that girl in the one story who was trapped in a castle forever till a prince came to save her.


Running over to the window, she stared at the dark scenery before her. Her eyes widen at the sight and her body trembled at the dark water below and how the tower stood on a cliff, dangerously as if she moved any more, it would fall into the depth of the unknown.


It felt like a horror version of Alice in Wonderland, way worst than how Wonderland should look like as she stepped back from the window and noticed a closet at the other end. Dashing over to it, she gripped onto the cold handle and pulled the door open, seeing a collection of many clothing of many situations.


Staring at the clothing, she sighed and saw her escape, a door at the side and dashed over to open it and get the hell out of this place but it didn't budge, pulling at it only to get her hand sizzled by it's touch,"Ugh, Hot!" Pulling her hand away from the door, she stared at it and noticed a weird symbol form around it. It seemed as if it was locked and protected by some magic of some sort.


It seemed if she tried to touch the door once more, it would melt her flesh away, deciding that it was best to leave it be,"Sh*t, what do I do now? Where am I? Where are the others? Are they okay?" These questions flowed in her head but then she felt a familiar presence behind her,"Tyrik! Do you know where we are?" She asked the Zodiac hoping the ghost girl would know of this place and maybe even where her friends were.
 
After Ukime got things at the store and found her way to her dorm room where everything was silent and the light was set to low. She shut her door then locked it, yawning as she threw a bag of snacks on the floor and the other onto her bed. First before she began anything would be a simple shower, something to calm her head after the events that had came to pass. Stepping in she let the cool water fall on to her head then the rest of herself. She was in there about 45 minutes and took her sweet time drying off and shaking out her hair of the remaining water. Walking to her main fridge she opened it up and pulled out an ice coffee , mocha flavored. Unscrewing the top she took a big swing before walking over toward her bed. Before jumping on to it she slid her finger across the mouse pad on her laptop, the screen bringing up idle newsletters, spam, mail and role play's that haven't been answered yet.


She pulled out the knife from the bag and examined it. It was shiny, a fine blade. She smiled as she laughed a little, waving it in the air and pretending to jab someone. Her phone buzzed, a school text message nagging her on her skipped days of school . She groaned deleting them before she could read them, tossing her phone near the end of the bed and throwing a pillow over it so it would be muffled. She slipped from her bed leaving the knife their as she hopped into her chair and began to type.
 
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