RP: Requiem of the Shadows ~ Overture to Creation [Day 1]

[Sleuth]

As Shiori approached the statue, blade in hand, murder in her eyes, the white mist suddenly leapt to life, turning into tendrils of light and stabbing her, much in the same way they had not a few seconds ago. Akira instinctively flinched, looking to the ground in case the mist might strike again, but the tendrils did not emerge from the mist of light. Here, it seemed, he was safe-- And it also seemed that Moshi and Shiori couldn't get to him here either. Also, Shiori had a katana that she'd seemingly summoned from... sand? He'd shown his knife, so it seemed fair that he at least knew her weapon in turn-- Though he doubted the knowledge that she had a sword would be of much use if she ever decided to swing it his way.

Interesting, Akira thought. This could make a useful spot if I ever need to hide... Presuming, of course that the people chasing me can't cross into the white mist.

The exact nature of this mist was unclear, but there at least seemed to be something that kept them apart. He wondered quite what it was, but at this moment there was to little data to really get what separated them.

Perhaps, Akira thought, it was because he'd gotten so used to keeping people away... Nah, that's ridiculous. However, it did bother him somewhat that Shiori and Moshi were both on the same side, while he was alone in the light...

Wait, hadn't he had something in mind before? Right, gathering an alliance, or at least, an armistice. It might as well be now or never. He was prepared to lay down his cards (not all of them, of course) on the table, on the off-chance it would at least coerce some information from his two friends. It felt wrong to try and extort information like this, though. He'd never exactly been close to Moshi, and he had to again remind himself that as a whole, the group had only known each other less than a week-- But it felt like so much more, like they'd been friends forever. An odd notion to Akira, who really wasn't so much a "friend" as the odd kid the rest of the group put up with.

He was prepared to speak, but something kept his mouth shut. Instead, he simply nodded in response to Shiori.

"Well, the it doesn't seem to care much for you either," Akira replied, smiling. He would have reached out a hand, but he still stood in the white mist, and it didn't seem to be in his best interest to move anywhere near the painful black mist. Still, they had gotten in just fine, so it should be an easy deal to get out, just so long as they didn't cross their respective boundaries.

"I think we're done here," Akira said, looking at his two companions with a false cheery smile, "Unless either of you has any clues?"

[Master Of Chaos]

Music: Persona 4-Fog

"Sh*t! She's really lost it! So much for talking....!" Yasui thought to himself as Saori charged him, holding the ax in her hands, clearly with the intent to cut him in half. Any chance he had at talking his way out of this situation was now gone...Not like it was ever there in the first place. He had to fight back now or he'd be killed. He watched Saori carefully as she approached him, and stood, waiting for the attack to come. Just as Saori released her strength to swing, he jumped backwards so that the attack missed him, and slammed into the wall. Saori didn't look that strong to Yasui, but clearly, appearances didn't matter. He couldn't let his guard down for even a second. She wouldn't show him mercy. He jumped back again, getting some more distance from the girl.

"I think I'll pass on that 'honor!' I've got more important places to be at the moment, so you can ether let me go, or I can just knock you out and leave. Your choice!" Yasui shouted on impulse. He didn't want to fight, not really, and his comment would probably agitate her more and get her even more dead set on killing him, but he was not about to lay down and beg for his life, much less to Saori. Besides, they had long passed reach the point of discussion. Why hold back what he was thinking? He had to get out as quick as possible, but he couldn't get away from Saori right now...He had to fight for a bit until she was distracted enough. He cleared his mind and concentrated on summoning one of his familiars. He had to be quick. He at least already knew Pyro Jack's powers, so Yasui thought it west best to summon him first and hope for a good result. So, he had to evade Saori, avoid her attacks, somehow make it out of this place, get far enough away to use the magatama, all while making sure that his demons didn't try any lethal attacks on her....Wonderful.

The blood on the floor next to the two began to dissolve, replacing it came a large and bright magic circle that was giving off large amounts of energy and glowing even brighter and brighter, until a flash of bright light engulfed the whole room. When darkness returned, Pyro Jack was floating near the ceiling around where the magical circle had been, it's lantern blighting up the room a bit. He still had the same weird expression that Yasui had seem him with last time....Did it ever change? The Pyro Jack's eyes (If they could be called that) darted back and forth from Saori and Yasui, until it finally set it's gaze firmly upon Yasui, with a questioning gaze. It took Yasui a moment to realize that the Pyro Jack was awaiting instructions, for Yasui to issue a command to him to fight.

"Attack." Yasui commanded. The Pyro Jack wasted no time in carrying out his order. With it's usual exclamation of "Hee Ho!", 3 small fireballs began to form around him, gathering energy for an attack. Within moments, The fireballs were heading towards Saori. They weren't going to be lethal if they hit, being quick-charged, but they would still do quite a bit of damage.

[Hodou Okappa]

Moshi didn't try to stop Shiori from running to the other side, though her change of heart was confusing enough. In any case, he figured it was a good chance to test his theory. Sure enough, Shiori was quickly attacked in the same way as Akira and thrown back to their side of the room. So Akira was trapped in the white and Shiori, along with most likely himself, were stuck on the black side.

Black and white, with a solid border in between. As unusual as it was for mist to make a solid border, he couldn't help but notice the reference to ying and yang. Could that be the intent...? It would certainly explain why Akira was stuck on the opposite side, and given where they were, it would seem to be a likely explanation. He smiled weakly, satisfied with his theory while at the same time annoyed by what would seem to be the truth of their situation. He remembered that first night at the police station; at least, what little memory he had of it. He had always suspected Akira of being an enemy, of course, but to see it laid out so simply felt almost like a betrayal for some reason. Not that it mattered anymore, admittedly. The gods were gone; Moshi had no allegiance forcing them to fight. Shiori... She, on the other hand, had been on his side? If that were true, it would be the first time he had met another of his former master's slaves...

With that in mind, Moshi sighed and stood back up, extending a hand to help Shiori off the ground. He spoke again, almost as if talking to himself.

"There's another strange thing about this place, actually. I could feel them a while ago, but it's hard to describe. They're a bit like... small rooms, but with no entrance or exit. Just solid stone walls surrounding who-knows-what. But I think I could get us inside, and they might just hold whatever the hell it is we're looking for."

He looked at Shiori, still wondering if his theory about the mist was really the truth. Had he unknowingly been drawn to old allies, and away from his foes? If that were true, even from the start, then there were certainly a few people he'd like to see again...

[Sleuth]

Akira tapped his chin. In a world where most everything was trying to kill them, would it be wise to blindly stumble ahead into danger? Then again, there wasn't really much here, other than the white and black mists on the floor, and the statue of Izanagi, looming over them... On the one hand, he supposed that if Moshi could get them in, he could also get them out...

But who's to say it isn't a trap? What if Moshi decides to just leave me there, with no way out...? He wouldn't do that... Would he?

Akira cocked his head to the side, thinking. For one, how did Moshi know this? Was he simply that good a detective? Did someone tell him? Wait, what if it had been a ruse by another-- Perhaps Jun Shisetsu had told him, with the intention of trapping the three of them for all eternity; or perhaps it was a scheme of one of the others. But then again, he doubted Kokoro would ever do such a thing, Yasui wasn't really the scheming type; Perhaps Moshi had discovered on his own after all. If so, how? Is that what his power was? Perhaps it had something to do with the earth... And knowing Shiori had sand on her side...

A sudden thought popped into his mind that made him shiver. Wait, Shiori controls sand... And we're in the middle of a vast, supernatural desert. That's a comforting thought.

"Small rooms?" Akira said, looking around, making an effort to seem collected that was betrayed by a slight twitch in his eye. "I had no idea this place was a hotel. ...How do we get in, though? I'm fairly certain there's no one at the reception desk."

[Blackrune]

Saori did not expect her attack to miss, and the sudden flash of light caught her even more off guard, made her flinch back, and let go of her weapon, which was still in the wall.
Slowly, her sense of danger, which had been numbed by the demons, returned.
As she opened her eyes again her gaze met that of a burning creature that was now covering the place in weak light.
So there was more than just one enemy.

"How cowardly! You dare to set an ambush for me, Saori Sai-"

Before she could finish her sentence the new creature shot fireballs at her. Saori did not like the situation not ebing under her control but jumped back by instinct. One fireball still managed to hit her on the right shoulder, but fortunately didn't cause her to catch fire. While even Saori would have been grateful for that little moment of warmth in these snowy mountains, it also felt like a painful punch.

So that's how it was. He didn't accept his fate at all. He came to try and trick her with such lowly methods.
Saori had to wonder how she could have been so careless to not consider it. Still, she didn't pursue the thought much further, as she disliked admitting any potential mistakes she made.
The new enemy seemed more problematic to her, considering the constant output of light, even if it was still a weak source that couldn't engulf the whole area. Fire had never really bothered her much as a light source unless it was really close. Her weapons would quickly decay near it, and she couldn't hope in trapping this new enemy for long.
Regardless, Saori did not like switching targets in the middle of a fight, it was like admitting she could not succeed in doing what she set out for. As troublesome as this new foe might prove, she still wanted to kill that useless classmate of her first.

If that commoner thought he could perform such sneaky tactics, she felt justified in doing so as well. She had already figured the best plan to avoid any other potential traps set up in this hallway if she charged head-on. Still, the light from that fire demon was not much more than a weak torch, and most of the building was still shrouded in darkness. She saw absolutely nothing except the dark hallway behind Yasui, which made her confident. The problem was still that demon near him, but unless she got very close even a thin weapon shouldn't decay to the point of uselessness too quickly. Her dark weapons can withstand even bright daylight for several minutes once formed. This didn't really compare. Her black portal, an ability to enter the darkness and exit somewhere else, however, would not let her come close here unless she used her even stronger ability to control the darkness. But she wasn't willing to waste that much energy here.

She didn't want to waste much time before executing her new attack. Her goal was still to charge at her classmate and kill him while avoiding the new distraction. Her axe was now out of reach in the wall before her, and she didn't think she could quickly pick up that heavy weapon again with her hurting arms and shoulder. Instead, Saori crouched down and silently pulled a new weapon she could quickly form out of the dark ground: a thin pole with a pointed end. It wasn't even a meter in length and consequently not too hard to hold. After that, she turned around and charged away, hoping the demon would pursue her. In the end, this new problem would just be farther away from where she would soon be.
She rushed back around the corner she came from and was seemingly swallowed by the darkness.

However, she wasn't running away at all, just taking another route. Thanks to her ability to enter the darkness and appear elsewhere, what seemed like her running away was actually an attack of the sneakiest nature. On the other side of the dark hallway, behind Yasui, she emerged from the wall, and continued her charge right at him. This time, she didn't announce her attack.

[Wackyman]

Shiori accepted Moshi's hand, beginning to feel a little embarrassed about her sudden "panic attack." Even though it wasn't of her own will, she still must've looked like an idiot back there. Her two companions didn't seem to pay much heed to it (aside from Akira's off-hand comment) so she decided to drop the subject herself. Whatever it was that just happened she would rather not know.

It appeared that the black mist favored Moshi and herself while the white mist was more fond of Akira. What was the purpose of this mist? Why did the evil looking side of the mist favor her but not Akira? Unless...could it be? Were they really enemies from the start? It didn't make sense for their ties to the Faithful or the Resistance to matter in this new world considering they were no longer participating in that trifling little war anymore. Shiori's head was swimming. First the statue and the effect it had on her, and now there was this strange mist that was somehow related to the past (despite 'the past' being only a few days ago). There were so many mysteries in just this confined area she began to wonder if the rest of the Plains were this convoluted.

As Shiori got back on her feet, Moshi mentioned that he had sensed some small rooms in the area. Was that part of his power? Could he scan an area or something? It was a pretty impressive and useful power.

Ignoring Akira's little joke and poor attempt to change the mood, Shiori nodded. "Alright then, find a wall you can bust through. It's a better option than just leaving I guess. I wouldn't even have an idea where to go next, and just wandering around aimlessly doesn't sound like too smart a plan." She sighed. "This stupid mist is going to make exploration an issue though. I assume they're in the small rooms as well. Akira won't be able to follow us."

Thinking about it, she doubted Moshi would mind that at all. In fact, he probably welcomes the idea.

[Master Of Chaos]

Spoiler : :

Physical contact in this post approved by Rune-Sama.

"Hey, your the one attacking me! Ether leave me alone or stop co-Hey, where are you going!?" Yasui shouted in confusion and frustration as he watched Saori run back towards where she had came out from, having dodged Pyro Jack earlier retaliation (almost) unscathed. She had left the ax in the wall she had hit during her previous attempt at cutting him down, possibly because it took too much effort for her to wield. Yasui wondered whether he should follow her or turn back and try to run, when he saw Pyro Jack going into the hallway and passing the corner, intent on pursuing her and continuing it's attack. He had forgotten to tell the demon to hold back on fighting Saori and that escape was first priority.

"He-Hey! Stop! We don't want to kill her! We need to lea-What the!?" Yasui stopped. He had ran down the hallway in pursuit of Jack, and had turned to look down the hallway towards the small source of light, but instead of seeing the demon chasing down Saori, he saw Pyro Jack looking down an empty hallway in confusion, holding up his lantern to try and be able to see the hallway better, but no Saori was in sight. Yasui felt a feeling of anxiety rising in his gut. He didn't not like what was going on. Where had she gone to? He didn't hear footsteps in the distance....Had she gotten super speed, or a teleportation power, or something like that? He kept his gaze focused on the hallway for signs of movement. A big mistake. He hadn't noticed the sound of running from the room he had just been in until it had been too late. He turned around to see Saori, running at him with what appeared to be a poll with a sharp end, aiming right for the right side of his chest. On instinct, he made a move to slide into the hallway beside him to avoid the attack....Or he tried, at least.

He let out a shout of pain and a loud curse as he felt his shoulder getting pierced by the sharp point. It was a horrible horrible pain, like fingernails being ripped off one at a time. It was impossible to put into words how much it hurt. Blood began to poor from the wound as he stepped back to get out the spear out from his shoulder, which turned out to be even more painful then when Saori had hit him. All rational thought left him as the pain he felt was replaced with anger and rage. It hurt so bad, and he wanted to make her hurt just as much. Pyro Jack was already beginning to form another fireball to counter attack, but Yasui beat him to it. Blinded by pain and anger, Yasui moved quickly in front of her and pushed out both of his arms, giving her a hard shove in retaliation, before retreating backwards into the next hallway, gripping his injured shoulder. Motioning to Pyro Jack for a retreat, Yasui ran as fast as he could down the hall, Pyro Jack soon following behind him, having canceled it's attack attempt.

[Hodou Okappa]

It seemed settled. The last matter was what to do about Akira. While he was certainly eager to get away from this fool, there were undoubtedly certain benefits to keeping him where he could be seen. But he was unwilling to make a choice now, and since for the time being at least they both seemed untouchable it would be easy enough to postpone the decision...

"Akira, looks like this'll have to be where we split up. Meet us back here in about an hour. Sooner if you get bored, or something, I guess."

He turned to walk out of the building from the entrance covered in the black mist, trusting Shiori to follow. As they left the memorial, he headed in the direction of the nearest "room," still preoccupied with his theory about Akira.

When they got some distance away from the building, to where the "room" lay buried, Moshi stopped and stared at the sand. I hate sand...

"It's buried. I didn't prepare for that. But while we're here, we might as well clear one thing up..." He gave Shiori a kind of sideways glance, unwilling to look her in the eye for the question he had prepared. He clenched his fist, rock slowly forming around his knuckles. Just in case.

"Shiori. Do you still owe allegiance to your former master?"

[Wackyman]

Shiori left Akira with a wave. She was reluctant to just leave him alone in such a dangerous place, but she was sure Akira was capable of handling himself. He was persistent, after all. For now she had to follow the leads Moshi had.

Some distance away they encountered their destination, only to find it buried under the harsh sand of the desert. She knew her power was the ability to use and manipulate sand, so this was but a minor roadblock to their destination that could easily be fixed. Actually, thinking about it, she wasn't too familiar with her power and there was quite a large quantity of sand to move, so it might be a bit difficulty. Still, it would've been a waste to walk all that way for nothing. She had to learn how to use her powers sometime, anyway.

As Shiori was about prepare to move the sand, Moshi asked a peculiar question: did she still owe allegiance to her former master? Was he referring to...Izanami? No, technically Izanami wasn't her master, she was...herself? Either way, it was obvious that wasn't what he meant. She knew he meant her alliance to the Faithful. She didn't know if he knew she was in the Faithful or not, but if he had come to the same conclusion she had about the mist back at the memorial, he may have realized she was part of the Faithful, which was supposedly the same team he was on.

Shiori shook her head. "I'm not sure what my master has to do with all this. Either way, we left all that crap back in the old world. I don't care about my "old master" or any of that other stuff I may have done back then while I was on that team. It's all in the past now. I'm just going to move forward. It might sound like I'm trying to run from the past, but...all traces of the past are gone, so does it really matter?"

Shiori sighed. In the end, most of her decisions in the past were just controlled by Izanami, weren't they? She still couldn't discern what thoughts were her own, but as she said before none of it really mattered. She had to shape a new future for herself. Bah, didn't I already come to this resolve? I'm going in circles here.

Shiori concentrated back on the sand. Clutching the back of her right hand with her left, she extended both arms and began to focus her energy on the sand. The sands began to swirl around as though they were being blown away by a strong wind. The sand began to shift and disperse away from the building. Shiori felt herself strain a little as though she could almost feel the intensity of the combined weight of the sand. She moved the excess sand into huge sand dunes surrounding the building. Once her job was complete, she released her grip on the sand and released her breath. It wasn't too hard, but it was still a little straining. She supposed it was like a muscle. It would get easier to use with practice. It wouldn't take too much practice, she hoped. It already felt like second nature, to an extent.

"Well, I've done my part," she said.

[Hodou Okappa]

Moshi was unable to hide his surprise at Shiori's power. He was expecting something involving sand after the incident a few minutes ago, but it looked like at least part of her power was a lot like his own. He stumbled a little on the shifting sand, quickly stepping back to avoid falling into the pit. He looked back at Shiori and saw her concentrating intently, her hands forward as if she was casting a spell. It must have taken her quite a bit of effort to move this much sand. He looked out at the dunes that she had created, still a bit stunned. It was the first time he had ever seen one of his classmates use powers like his own. He knew they all had to be special somehow in order to have made it this far, but to actually watch one of them command the elements like this was kind of... humbling. It was impressive, yes, but it also confirmed that Moshi was not unique among them. Everybody would be able to put up a fight if they needed to, it seemed. He was losing some confidence in his abilities now. If they all had special powers, was it unlikely that Moshi was actually the strongest among them...?

He put the thought out of his mind, trying to tell himself there was no point in worrying about things he couldn't possibly know. What he did know was that the two of them here had no reason to get into a fight with each other yet, and had even once been allies of a sort. That made things easy. He climbed to the side of the crater that had just been formed and looked into it, almost excited to see the large stone box that he had been expecting.

"Well I got no problem with that answer. It's like you said. No point in dwelling on a dead bastard." He sat on the wall of the pit, slowly sliding himself down towards the box. "And I guess even if we were on the same side once, it doesn't really matter now. But still, at least for the time being, we should be allies again. We both have roughly the same info, and it would seem we can at least trust each other more than the others so far. And..." he said, as he clapped his hand to the smooth side of the stone box, forming a handhold with which he started to climb up the wall, "...our powers would definitely seem to be related."

He stood on top of the stone chamber, looking for any existing cracks. It did seem to be completely sealed. He wasn't sure why that concerned him, but he continued talking. "Sand, huh. I've never been good with sand. The grains are too small, and shift around each other way too easily. It's hard to get them to act as a single object. I'm surprised you can move it as easily as you do." He put his head to the roof, as if listening for what was inside. "Give me a second. I don't wanna open this if it's got something nasty inside," he said to Shiori, as if apologizing for the wait.

[Blackrune]

The realization she had hit her target this time brught a satisfied smile on Saori's lips.
It wasn't the first scream she had heard. You could say she was quite used to hearing other people suffer, though usually it wasn't done by her own hands. What she didn't anticipate was the sudden shove. Surprised, she was pushed away, completely caught off guard by the sudden force. She was really careless today, assuming her opponent wouldn't put up any resistance after being hit. Of course she'd never admit that. Trying to maintain balance, however, proved to be a futile effort, and Saori dropped on the ground. She tried to stop her fall using her arms, but a stinging pain prevented her from succeeding. The excessive use of a heavy axe and the fireball, as well as thrusting that pole had strained her muscles quite a bit already.
And thus Saori got to experience the pain of falling flat on the ground.
She glanced in front of her, seeing Yasui run for it.
Despite her back hurting, that view satisfied her. It didn't take long for her to rise up again, but as much as she tried rubbing her back, the pain wouldn't go away this quickly.
Of course, this annoyed her, despite just having inflicted a pain incomparably greater on the person that did this to her.
Overall, she was still satisfied at having the upper hand again.

She followed after Yasui in an almost too relaxed way, a smile rising to her face.

"Ohohoho, are you running away now? I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything else. That's what people like you always do at this point, after all."

She saw the light of the fire demon in front of her. He certainly couldn't get away with such an obvious light source following him around. Then again, he had little chance of getting away in this completely dark place.

"Have you still not realized the futility of opposing me, Saori Saikyou? You can't get away... and even if you did - which is impossible - what good would it do you? In the end, you have no hope of ever beating me.
That much should be obvious, so why denying it?"

Just when she was about to launch what was supposed to be her finishing blow, another sudden thought made her hesitate. As for what exactly that thought was, she was unable to put it into words. There was no reason not to kill him, seeing how that was the point of this whole world at the moment. She wouldn't hesitate out of pity... the faint image of another classmate flashed through her head. The most pitiful of them all... Even you can't deny this.
She didn't remember the context, but she knew she could have denied most of it.
However, something seemed to have changed her mind, as she didn't proceed with another attack... yet.
She realized there was something else she could do. It was very much in her nature to do this instead. While she had every intention of becoming a goddess she saw no real reason to play along in this game, seeing how she was already destined to win.

"But... I'm sure even you realize there is no chance for you to win. In that case, shouldn't you surrender now?"

The black weapon evaporated, as she crossed tilted back her head, looking down on the fleeing person before her as she casually walked after him.

"You have no chance of winning. It's simply not possible. However, I, Saori Saikyou, am very generous. Even you still get a chance. If you realize your past mistakes, realize what your position is, and serve me properly from now on... I may allow you to live for a little while longer. It's not like there is much of an alternative for you.
I'm sure even you could release me of the hassle of taking care of those other pathetic creatures."

As usual, this was of course referring specifically to Akira and Heako, though she'd never bother remembering their actual names.

"I hope someone like you can even realize the generosity of this offer. I, Saori Saikyou, do not grant everyone such an opportunity. This is your chance to prove to me, Saori Saikyou, that you still have a bit of common sense left. It's rare that I allow someone like you to crawl back to me and kiss my feet."

[Master Of Chaos]

"Urghh....God, this hurts...." Yasui thought to himself as he ran down the hallway, clenching his wounded and bleeding shoulder as he ran, the pain making him wanting to keel over. His moment of anger passed, he managed to force himself to retreat from Saori with Pyro Jack floating beside him. This escape so far had not been going well. He had already taken a bad hit, and Saori was still coming after him, apparently with the ability to teleport. And he had no idea where he was going. If Saori decided to teleport in front of him now, he doubted that he could dodge another attack, even with the Pyro Jack's assistance. All he could do was continue down his narrow path.

"Ohohoho, are you running away now? I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything else. That's what people like you always do at this point, after all."

"God, does she ever shut up?" Yasui thought, annoyed by her words. It was true that he was running, but he never wanted to fight in the first place. It had always been his intention to avoid combat. If he was fighting seriously....No, now wasn't the time to think about it. The battle had been lost from the start. He had to concentrate on escape now, and not be goaded by her. If he tried fighting her now, he would be dead quickly.

"Have you still not realized the futility of opposing me, Saori Saikyou? You can't get away... and even if you did - which is impossible - what good would it do you? In the end, you have no hope of ever beating me.
That much should be obvious, so why denying it?"

"Overconfident today, aren't we?" Yasui thought. Her arrogance was starting to grate on his nerves badly. He resisted the urge to snark back at her, as any moment where she was boasting and wasn't attacking him was a good thing. If he started talking back to her, then she might take the initiative and attack. Anyway, the last thing he was trying to do now was actively oppose anyone, but he certainly wasn't going to let Saori get her way. If push came to shove, he would fight her again later with every intention of defeating her. She could boast as much as she wanted, but even she wasn't invincible. If it wasn't him, someone else would kick her off her high horse eventually. He was also wondering why he wasn't hearing footsteps or something behind him.....Was she so overconfident she thought she could chase him down at any time?

"But... I'm sure even you realize there is no chance for you to win. In that case, shouldn't you surrender now?"

"Ha! Like I would ever surrender to someone like you! I'm almost insulted you think so lowly of me." Yasui thought, almost saying it aloud. Defeat or death he could at least accept, but to surrender to HER? He would never do it. He would never give her the satisfaction of admitting he had lost to her and beg.....Damn, how long does this hallway go on!?

"You have no chance of winning. It's simply not possible. However, I, Saori Saikyou, am very generous. Even you still get a chance. If you realize your past mistakes, realize what your position is, and serve me properly from now on... I may allow you to live for a little while longer. It's not like there is much of an alternative for you.

"Might as well ask for me to go jump off the Peaks, while you're asking for things that will never happen." If this was any other situation, Yasui would most likely have turned around, and mocked her for her arrogance. If it was anyone else, Yasui would have put more effort into trying to talk her down. However, his sense of self-control and the pain he felt in his arm quickly reminded him what the result of such an act now would most likely have resulted in. Saori had some sort of connection to this place that gave her an advantage, he was sure of it. Only how? Was it part of her powers, or was there something else?

I'm sure even you could release me of the hassle of taking care of those other pathetic creatures."

This statement nearly made Yasui stop in his tracks. Yasui couldn't believe it. She actually thought so highly of herself that she thought she could not only make him beg for his life, but have him help her kill all of his friends, all to live a bit longer while she became the new god of the world. He was simply astounded. It was really almost laughable. And yet, at the same time, it made him feel more and more angry. Why was he feeling this way? He knew Saori was always stuck up and thought highly of herself. He knew that there would be no reasoning with her if they had ever met. He knew that she had intended to kill then all with no regrets. So what was it then? Was it the threat she posed to everyone else? Was it the feeling of helplessness and despair that came from his frustration at only being able to run, and to not able to fight back or make her eat her own words? He had never wanted to fight anyone...So why did he want to turn back now in some vain effort to defeat her?

"Stop letting her get inside your head and run!" The logical part of his brain shouted at him, reminding him once again who had the upper hand at this point. Why did he keep letting his anger get to him? He had to concentrate on escape and nothing else. Everything else could wait until he was safely out of Saori's reach. He came to a stop when he reached the end of the hallway, which, illuminated by Pyro Jack's lantern, only showed a room as broken down as the others...And with no other hallways inside. Not good. Saori had him like a caged rat.

"Damn it. Lady Luck is not my friend today." He muttered to himself. He kept scanning the room for anything that would help him stall Saori or get away, but no dice. It appeared his path to escape had ended, along with any chances to get out of here alive. So what were his options now? Go back and take Saori up on her offer? No, he'd rather die then submit to her. Fake pleading for his life and attack while her guard was down? No, it would never work...Not here anyway. It looked like a final stand with his demons and then death were the most likely outcome. He did have 2 additional demons in reserve....Perhaps he could take her? That plan relied on how strong the demons were and what they could do, which, at this current time, Yasui had no idea about.

"I hope someone like you can even realize the generosity of this offer. I, Saori Saikyou, do not grant everyone such an opportunity. This is your chance to prove to me, Saori Saikyou, that you still have a bit of common sense left. It's rare that I allow someone like you to crawl back to me and kiss my feet."

"God damn it, do you ever just SHUT UP!?" He finally shouted back, his anger and frustration only getting bigger with the sound of her voice. Why the hell would she try to offer him this twisted sense of mercy? Why couldn't she just do what she tried to do earlier, and attack him? It would be a hell of a lot less frustrating then having to listen to that stupid laugh and her voice, mocking him and delaying what was going to happen anyway. Well, if he was going to die, he might as well go down swigging. At least, that was his plan, until something caught his eye. Yasui turned to face what appeared to be a worn out and cracked wall, small rays of light and wind coming through them. It didn't look sturdy. He wondered....Could he break it down and get out through there? It would involve going through the snowstorm again, with a bleeding and messed up shoulder no less, but considering the alternative was Saori, he decided that it was worth the risk.

He snapped his fingers, getting Pyro Jack's attention, who had been looking behind them, waiting to see any sign of Saori so as to be ready to attack. Yasui pointed at the cracked wall. After a moment, the Pyro Jack nodded as to say he understood. Pyro Jack created 3 Fireballs, and launched them at the wall at full speed. The result was exactly as Yasui had hoped. The wall had fallen apart, the cracked areas of the wall now laying in pieces on the other side, the snow and wind now blowing in at full force.

"Thank you." Yasui said to the demon, and with a snap of his fingers, the Pyro Jack disappeared back into the demon world, though not before making one last bow. Yasui guessed that the Pyro Jack wouldn't care much for the weather and wouldn't be able to do much with all the snow blowing, so it was best that he sent Jack away for the moment. And with that, Yasui jumped over the remains of the wall in front of him, and started running once again.

[GuardianDreamer]

Death. It was a natural part of life, wasn't it? Although the word drew fear from many who heard it, death did not necessarily have to be a bad thing. Indeed, without death, the world would quickly run out of resources as more and more people populated it. From the standpoint of a cynic, one could say that it was actually a good thing that a great amount of innocent people died from hunger, disease, or murder. But Kokoro Ito wasn't a cynic. She looked around the Field of Bones, closely examining the corpses as she did so. If death was a natural part of life, then what did that say about her?

Although Kokoro felt like she was likely the closest to a normal human being among the students who were still living, in reality, it could easily be argued that she was the most abnormal among them. Sure, she was a human that had been gifted with special abilities, while the other students had likely given up at least part of their status as pure humans, but if death was a natural part of life, then that said something about Kokoro. She had the power to bring the fallen back from the dead. If one thought of it that way, then she was actually the least normal among the remaining students. It was strange to think about.

Occasionally, Kokoro would kneel down in order to closely examine a corpse that looked like it could have been the corpse of someone she knew. Perhaps someone who she had only seen once while taking a walk, or an acquaintance that had seemed long forgotten. Kokoro's face still had the same gentle expression it usually had, but there was sadness in her eyes, and she had a melancholy air about her.

Eventually, she noticed one corpse in particular that stood out to her. She walked closer to the corpse, and closely examined it in order to confirm her suspicions. There was no doubt about it. This was the corpse of Harlan Durzan, who she had once fought with side-by-side as members of the Resistance. Kokoro took off her glasses, and closed her eyes. It was rather rare to see her without her glasses. Actually, if memory served, the only time her fellow students had seen her without her glasses was on that fateful night when she remembered her past and regained her powers. Of course, that time, it was a complete accident, and she was too panicked to think clearly.

She offered a silent prayer, and taking a deep breath, she allowed herself to recall a certain memory. It was the memory of their battle with Pazuzu. Even if it hadn't been long, it felt like an eternity ago. Harlan's battle style was that of a guardian. Someone who could take plenty of hits before going down. Because of that, he was a good partner in battle. Kokoro considered trying to revive Harlan, but decided against it, for a number of reasons. First of all, forcing Harlan into this cruel world wouldn't be right. Second of all, she wasn't even sure if she was allowed to bring back those who had fallen in the previous world. No matter how she thought about it, this just wasn't right. Sure, it would be great to have an ally, but it just seemed cruel to force Harlan into this world.

Finishing her prayer, Kokoro put on her glasses once more. With one last look at the corpse of her former comrade, Kokoro Ito decided to leave the Field of Bones. She was completely silent. But she was thinking about something. This world... Perhaps if Kokoro became the Goddess of the new world, she would be allowed to bring back those who had died when the previous world was destroyed. She doubted they would be allowed to retain their memories... They would likely just be alternate versions of those who had died. But it was something that she needed to think about.

Kokoro looked up at the sky for a brief moment as she walked away from the Field of Bones. It definitely wasn't the sky of her world. But somehow, at that very moment, it seemed beautiful.

[Blackrune]

Of course, Saori had expected this might happen. Considering their status, commoners tend to completely ignore the reasonable course of action. That's why they were commoners, after all.
In that case, there was only one thing left to do. He was clearly beyond help, so she only needed to fnish what she had started.
She looked through the hole in the wall... that was a fairly decent way to escape the building, she had to admit that.
Sadly, he apparently didn't realize it wouldn't help him much.
Through it she saw him running away in the distance, as good as manageable through the snow.
Her mouth was expressionless while she looked at the figure, but if one were to include her eyes the expression she was quite clearly looking down on that pathetic wounded person trying to escape through a snowstorm.

For now she remained inside, mostly because it was easier for her to use her powers there. She quickly formed several small knives, holding one between each finger. Her arms were still hurting, so she didn't really wanted anything heavier at the moment. Without wasting time she threw all them after Yasui, then picked up the pole weapon from before and rushed outside.
After a little charge she threw it in Yasui's direction as well. She couldn't yet make out whether her previous attack had already hit, but there was no harm in making sure. Besides, even her, Saori Saikyou's, high quality throwing knives, thrown with her, Saori Saikyou's, perfect accuracy, were sadly unlikely to be enough to actually kill someone. Even she had to admit that much.

[Master Of Chaos]

"Come on, come on, move Yuko...!" Yasui yelled to himself mentally as he ran through the thick snow and strong winds. He was freezing from the cold, and the chill wind pressing against his hurt shoulder, even with his left hand covering it, hurt like hell and then some. He had access to healing magic, but he wasn't very good at it, and with Saori on his heels and the constant wins bothering him, he wouldn't be able to heal it even well enough to lessen the pain slightly, so he decided to try and bear it while he kept moving forward. The blood coming from it was leaking through his hand downward, but he was too focused on the pain and the chill covering his entire body to care. He didn't bother looking back at his pursuer, despite the risks involved in not knowing what she was doing, he decided that looking back was more dangerous, as it would probably end with him getting distracted. This turned out to be another mistake, as it turns out. He heard a sound behind him, like something landing in the snow. He stopped and took a quick glance to find that it was a throwing knife....Covered black.

"That's a very very bad sign, isn't it?" Yasui thought to himself. No sooner did he think that did he feel the pain of sharp hot metal cutting into the lower part of his right leg. He keeled to the ground in pain, while it wasn't anywhere close to the pain of the spear earlier, it did hurt quite a bit, and would impact his running. He took a quick glance behind him to see if anything else was coming towards him, but thankfully, the other knives had ether gone off course or were stopped by the wind. Unfortunately, the spear Saori had thrown was still going....And aiming to go right through his head.

"Crap!" He thought to himself before burying his upper body into the snow quickly, as to avoid the incoming projectile. He was even more freezing cold then before, but the fear of being killed kept him firmly on the ground. A few seconds later, he heard the sound of the pole landing in the ground a few paces away from him. That had been close. Way too close. He got to one knee and brushed off the snow on his face and clothes, before being reminded by pain of the knife that was currently inside his right leg. He had to get it out and heal it quickly, otherwise there was no way he could outrun the girl. With silent determination, he clenched his teeth together as he grabbed the knife by the handle, and quickly ripped it out, and threw it to the side. Ok, he had been wrong. That hurt almost as much as the pole. He refused to cry out or waste time crying about the pain, however, and put his right hand on top of the bleeding wound. He focused solely on it, ignoring everything else. A green aura formed in his hand as the wound began to heal and close. He stopped short of fully healing it, however, as he needed to keep his energy up, and while the pain was still there, it wouldn't bother him anymore and wouldn't impede him. He got up from the ground.

"Christ woman, do you not have anything better to do with your time?" He said irritated, half to himself, half out loud as he saw Saori still behind him when he looked back once again. How was he going to get rid of her? If he just kept running forward, she would tear him apart from behind with more projectiles as he tried to run. To hell with that, he thought. He couldn't just keep running, he had to slow her down somehow. Time to call for some more help. He took his left hand, which was practically drenched in blood, off his shoulder, leaned down, and dragged it through the snow, leaving blood in a trail so that he could call another spirit. He closed his eyes and focused once again on the link between him and the contracts. His mind focused on one of them, one that wasn't Pyro Jack's. This spirit's soul caused chills through his body even more so then the cold from the snowstorm. Sounded perfect to him. The magical circle formed once again from the blood in the snow, concluding once again with a flash of light.

Standing in front of Yasui when he opened his eyes once again, was a short little elf-like creature covered in white and blue. It certainly didn't look intimidating, but....

"Hello, hee hoo! I'm Jack Frost, ho!" The creature said suddenly, cheerfully, without warning, nearly causing Yasui to jump. It had the same attitude as the Pyro Jack did....Why was that? Well, not like it mattered.

"Frost...You can control Ice then, right?" Yasui asked, feeling cold from the snowstorm once gain. He wanted to get out of hear quickly. Jack Frost nodded in confirmation. A smirk formed over Yasui's face.

"Then...You wouldn't mind dropping some non-lethal hail on that girl over there, would you?" Yasui asked. The Jack Frost nodded, then turned around to face Saori. Frost stretched out it's hands and began forming Ice cubes above Saori to drop on her. Yasui continued backing away from Saori's direction, still watching her carefully.