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

[Sleuth]

Akira sighed. It was a sigh of half-relief, half-boredom. Though his friends (and he'd decided that for the time being they really were his friends) were gone for now, he still had the issue of what to do next. Sitting there like a stone wouldn't benefit him or anyone else-- But straying out too far on his own might not be too good an idea. Considering he didn't know what-- or worse, who-- could be waiting out there, the best bet seemed to be to stay safe in here, where he at least had the safety of the warm white mist to protect him. But remaining here also had its risks, and it would be unwise to stay put-- not to mention boring.

Akira rubbed his temples, frowning. How many times had he played out this mental tug-of-war in his head? It seemed that every time a decision had to be made, he'd have to stand around and think for at least ten minutes about whether he'd react in five. Either side had benefits and flaws; and though he'd never admit it, Akira's growing paranoia had not helped his judgement in the slightest. He had to do SOMETHING, that's for sure. But if that something could lead to your demise, and along with you, the demise of the future world, how could he make that choice? But if he didn't, then he might end up dying either way...

He slowly stood up. I can't just stay here and go insane, Akira thought. I might as well explore a bit; at least if I die, I won't be bored.

He tried to muster up a laugh, but it quickly faded, his face devoid of its usual grin. There was no one around to see it, after all. He slowly stood up and began to leave, careful to stay within the boundaries of the white mist.

Half an hour, eh? Akira thought. Wonder how far I can get in that time?

His echoing footsteps had left the Memorial, now, and he slowly opened the map from his pocket.

"I wouldn't want to stray too far in case I need to hide," he muttered, arching his eyebrows as he thought, "But then again, I can throw exploding shadow pens. Probably shouldn't need to worry too much."

With that, he began to walk out towards the Inaba Ruins.

[Blackrune]

Saori got the impression that at least something hit her target, seeing how he appeared to have slowed in his movements and did indeed drop to the ground in a desperate evasive maneuver.

Thinking this was it, Saori proceeded to casually go in his general direction. The fire demon from earlier could hardly be a threat out here in the cold. That was probably the one pleasant thing about this snowstorm.

Just as she had that thought, she noticed Yasui doing something in the distance. There was the same flash of light as before, but no sign of the burning creature from earlier.
Annoyed, Saori sped up towards her target when something suddenly hit her from above.

She felt a tingling pain on her head and shielded herself with her hands. Her eyes noticed an ice cube falling to the ground. It wasn't so large that it could have seriously injure her but still big enough to hurt her. The honor of being praised by Saori with one positive attribute was instantly stripped off the snowstorm again, in her mind. Even so, she couldn't conceivably figure out how such a single solid piece of ice could suddenly fall out of the sky.

Before she could finish that thought another hit her on the shoulder.

"What impertinence-"

As she was glancing up another hit her in her face, although covered by her hands. There were apparently more to come.
If Saori had somewhat calmed down, the mixture of pain and coldness certainly managed to make her furious again while trying to avoid the pain. Pinned to the ground, she realized the most obvious way to get out of this.
It was just difficult to perform with the ongoing hail trying to pin her down. Out of the darkness she tried to form something to counter the storm. After some gritting her teeth, she managed to pull another dark creation out of the darkness, and quickly proceeded to hold it above her.

It had the form of what could be described as a black parasol. Despite the circumstances she did not omit forming needless decorative laces at the edges... well, as decorative as one can get with darkness alone. While a normal parasol certainly wouldn't have withstood such a hail, hers was obviously a little thicker on the inside. One could also add that darkness in general seems to be a somewhat sturdier material... at least once formed into something by her, Saori Saikyou!
She didn't know the hail had been instructed to be non-lethal. If it had been aimed to be a deadlier force this shielding would only have been a very temporary solution at best. As things stood it deflected the cubes from hitting her.

"Ohohohoho. Take that, snowstorm. Did you seriously think I, Saori Saikyou, would be defeated by the mere forces of nature?
Soon, I will rule over all of you. In fact, I will make sure there are none of you sickening blizzards in my new wor- hu- uhhh?"

Before she could finish, she realized something was wrong. She had been firmly grasping her new shield, which had indeed blocked the incoming hail from above. However, though she would never admit so, opening an umbrella while strong mountain winds are blowing wasn't exactly the best idea. Before she could let go she was already several feet above the ground.

"Why youuuuuuuu-"

She was still directing her entire anger at the snowstorm itself, not realizing at least some of the problem had been caused by Yasui's new demon. Not in the air, she could hardly form a new weapon to get her out of this. Letting go of her parasol would also result in a painful drop. She kept clutching it tightly, waiting for a good opoortunity to jump back to the ground. The cold air pierced her even more now, and holding her whole body weight wasn't exactly free of pain, especially considering her previous labor of lifitng heavy axes, among other things.

After some huge arc through the air she finally hit the ground and didn't even have the strength to hold on to her black creation. The snow weakened the pain of the impact, but almost being buried in it did yet again inflict pain in the way of being unbearably cold.

Enraged, she slowly got up after what must have been several minutes. Looking around she was unable to say where exactly she was now. The building was still nearby, as a silhouette undoubtedly evidenced, but she was unable to locate the commoner she had been pursuing.

"HRRmmmm.... I COMMAND YOU TO COME BACK HERE AT ONCE, YOU COWARD!"

She just shouted into the darkness she didn't find all that pleasant at the moment. If she knew of a way to get back at snowstorms, this one could have looked forward to years of torture starting there and then.
As it stood, Saori had to settle for being in an outstandingly bad mood, and the one nearby individual she could have punished for it was out of sight. Forming a cutlass as her next weapon, she began to make her way through the storm, demanding luck to obey and let her run into the aforementioned target once again.

[Master Of Chaos]

Yasui watched carefully as Saori approached toward where he and Jack Frost were waiting, both of whom were backing away slowly from her direction. Yasui was becoming more and more worried, as Jack Frost was holding out his arms, and yet, nothing but the already present harsh winds was holding back Saori from coming his way. Then he saw Saori stop moving and begin covering her face with her hands, a grin rising to his face. It looked as though Jack Frost's hail storm was beginning to work it's magic, as Saori seemed to be pinned down where she stood.

Yasui's grin soon disappeared, however, as he saw Saori pull out a black parasol from the ground, and use it as a shield against the oncoming ice. "So that's how she does it..." Yasui thought to himself grimly. It seemed that Saori could pull out whatever object she desired from the ground, as long as she had the energy, and (Yasui presumed) it was dark enough. He had to admit, for a spoiled princess, it took determination and strength to be able to do something like that while being rained on by hail. Still, he had no time, and no desire, to praise Saori's quick thinking. He had to think of another plan to get away from her, while she was still stuck. Perhaps he could start running again now, and then he would lose her-

His thought process was halted by what he saw next. In what Yasui could only describe to himself as truly epic karma, Saori had been lifted into the air by her parasol, and was being dragged by the strong winds of the storm in the other direction. At first, Yasui could only watch the sight in front of him in awe, unable to understand what had just happened, or why. Then, in spite of the sharp pain in his right shoulder, in spite of the cold winds that were beating down on him, in spite of the situation he was in, in spite of everything, Yasui began laughing hysterically. It might have been because he was becoming more and more exhausted and delirious. Maybe it was the irony of Saori's own weapon backfiring on her. Or perhaps it was because the sight of the usually arrogant, bossy, spoiled, much disliked, and as-of-recently, murderous, Saori Saikyou flying helplessly through the air holding a parasol, with no way back down that involved a nice and soft landing, was too funny to watch while keeping a straight face. Maybe it was all three. In any case, he just continued to laugh for a few moments, until a blast of wind nearly knocked him over into the snow head first, and reminded him exactly where he was.

Yasui got back up and looked around, but he could see nothing other then more snow raining down, and a bewildered Jack Frost staring up at him in confusion. It seemed that she had been carried off somewhere else by the storm. He couldn't have been more lucky. At least, that was his intial thoughts, before he heard a shout of anger coming from somewhere. He couldn't make out the words, but he was sure it was Saori's voice. He couldn't see her, but it seemed as though she was quite far away, for now. He took it as a cue to leave. If he wanted to escape, it was now or never.

"Withdraw." Yasui commanded to Jack Frost, cutting off the mana flow he'd been using to keep Jack Frost's physical form in this world. Jack Frost waved Yasui a goodbye while it became more and more transparent, until it had completely disappeared. He grabbed the Magatama around his neck, and held it close to him. He began to wish for his return to the mansion...But that wish was soon halted by a twinge of regret, and guilt. Wasn't this running away, cowardice, just as she had said? It felt shameful that he was running away from Saori, of all people, being hunted down like a dog, and saved only by luck and chance. He had told himself that he would prevent Saori, or anyone else from taking over, no matter what...So what was he doing running away? He still had Jack Frost and one other demon he could summon. Perhaps he could find Saori again, and continue on...

He shook his head and stopped that line of thinking. First of all, assuming he COULD beat her, then what? He had vowed that he would not kill any of his friends, even if he had to fight them. While Saori didn't classify as anything even close to a friend, wouldn't it be hypocritical to his ideals to kill her and spare the others, despite her intentions? Plus, he doubted that he would even be able to bring himself to do it, if it got to that point. In addition, fighting Saori was a waste of time to his goals. Time that he could be using to look around for other leads, or breaking up other fights. The longer that he wasted time, the higher the chances would be that someone would get killed.

Secondly, he was assuming he could even beat Saori in the first place. While she had been carrying heavy weapons, chasing Yasui around, and had been hit with annoyances such as small fireballs and hail, as well as recently been blown around in the air, Saori hadn't taken that much damage during the chase. At worst, she would be cold, tired, and very, very, angry. Yasui, on the other hand, despite using demons to fight for him, was tired, freezing to death slowly, in very much pain where his shoulder had been pierced, and couldn't do much to defend himself. Saori seemed intent on going after him over the demons, which wasn't good. If Yasui fell, then it wouldn't matter what demons were out at the time, as they would just disappear upon his death. Also, Yasui didn't know how they worked exactly, but he guessed that Saori's powers had something to do with darkness...And the current storm was letting almost no light shine through. If Yasui was right, when Saori found him again, she could most likely teleport behind him, and that would be the end of it. There was also the threat of Jun looming about. Jun said that after a specific amount of time in battle, he would come in and choose a winner of his own accord, and kill the loser. If that happened, there would be nothing Yasui could do to stop the result.

Thirdly, he was really sick of the cold. It felt like he would be frozen solid with each passing second. He'd had enough of the Peaks to last him a lifetime, and while he hadn't explored all of it, he doubted there was anything really valuable to him here. Even if there was, it would be much more easy to come back and search when he wasn't fighting someone else. He made his decision, and cleared all remaining doubts from his mind. He focused on his desire to return to the Reaper Mansion, away from the peaks, away from Saori. Then, darkness swallowed his senses once more.

____________________________________________________________________________________

When Yasui woke up again, he found himself looking up at the ceiling of the Reaper mansion, laying on the floor of the ballroom. At first, he thought he might be hallucinating, but as he looked around and began to sit up, he realized that he was indeed out of the snowstorm and inside heated walls. Somehow, he'd done it. He had taken on Saori's wrath head on, and against all odds, escaped. The thought made him smile. He hadn't really expected to survive, but here he was, still breathing and (mostly) alive. Perhaps he wasn't so useless after all. Perhaps he could make it through this mess.

It wasn't a clean getaway by far, however, as Yasui soon remembered upon trying to stand back up. The pain in his shoulder intensified, no longer being dulled by adrenaline or the determination that had been driving him to keep going before, and his right leg was also begging to hurt again as well. While the heat would eventually warm him up, right now all it did was serve as a reminder of how cold Yasui was when he first arrived in the peaks. He was shaking from head to toe, and it was a miracle he hadn't caught hypothermia. He was also exausted from his battle against Saori and the snowy winds that had been pushing against him.

Yasui sat against the wall of the ballroom, and looked at his shoulder once again. The snowstorm had not helped it at all. The flesh was open, twisted, had a steam of blood surrounding it. Despite Yasui holding his left hand against it for most of his escape, a lot of the blood had run down the right side of his shirt as well as the area around it. If Yasui had been a normal boy, in a normal world, it would have most likely have needed extensive surgery. But this wasn't the normal world, and Yasui was anything but normal, despite being completely human unlike some of his other classmates. Thankfully, the extra strength and defense he gained from the Ley Line with his demons had done it's job of preventing any truly serious damage, but it still needed treatment. Yasui put his left hand against the open wound, and forced himself to focus. His hand began to glow a green aura, and the wound began to close and fix itself. Within a few minutes, the wound had been fully healed and closed, leaving a rather ugly looking scar behind. The pain was still there, but it wasn't life threatening and was no longer unbearably painful.

Yasui let out a big sigh of relief. It had only been his first struggle in this world, and it was certain not to be his last, but he had survived, and for now, he was safe. He could rest easy and recover his strength, until he was ready to set out once again on another investigation, looking for another solution. And hopefully, this one wouldn't involve a certain princess.

[GuardianDreamer]

If Kokoro could describe what she was feeling right now, she probably wouldn't describe it anyway, simply because of how exhausted she felt. How long had she been walking, anyway? It had felt like ages. ... It was strange. These past few days felt like they had went by in a flash, yet at the same time, it felt like she had known the others for years. Strangely enough, she smiled at that thought. Maybe it was strange to feel nostalgic, but she didn't mind that. And of course, that was tinged with sadness when she thought about all the people that had died.

Of course, that bittersweet feeling was very useful right now as motivation. Kokoro realized now that... Well, she found something new to appreciate about the heroes of many of the stories she had read. They were able to endure the hazards of traveling long distances, at conditions even worse than this. Of course, most authors chose to skim over the details of a long journey, and for good reason. It certainly didn't help that Kokoro wasn't particularly athletic, and that she had to be careful where she traveled. She knew that there could be monsters roaming The Plains, and fighting them while exhausted was likely a recipe for disaster. She thought about ways to use her powers to make traveling easier, but none came to mind. Still, perhaps she'd think of something... If nothing else, perhaps she'd be able to intimidate any potential enemies into fleeing.

After a while, she arrived at her destination... If you could call it that. She was now just outside the Inaba Ruins, the destroyed town now in her sight. What had she been expecting to find? Perhaps some side of her had hoped that it would still be okay somehow, that the world was in better condition than she had been led to believe. But the harsh reality was present before her. Strangely enough, she didn't feel any particularly strong emotions from this, likely because she didn't have much hope that the town would still be in good shape. She did not enter the Ruins just yet. Perhaps it would be better to wait. She decided that it was likely that at least one of her classmates would also feel nostalgic, and come to the ruins of what had once been their town. So although Kokoro seemed like she was only paying attention to the destroyed town, she remained vigilant. After all, there was the possibility that one of the demons of this world would attack her if she wasn't paying attention.

[Sleuth]

Akira raised his arms over his face, shielding himself as another gust kicked the Sand of the Plains into his face and clothes. With an irritated grunt, he spat the sand out of his mouth and wiped the dust off his face. This was stupid-- He should have stayed in the cave. What if Moshi and Shiori had found something, or--

Enough of that, he thought to himself. I'm tired of thinking about this. I won't get anywhere just sitting around. Even if I have no idea where I'm going...

But he had already begun; to stop now would be to die here. And as much as he hated running, he didn't particularly care to die, either. Not here, at least-- It'd be rather undignified for anyone to simply walk by and find him weak and exposed; that desperation drove him on.

Keep moving. Keep moving. Just keep moving like someone is chasing you-- Oh great, now I'm thinking of someone chasing me.

At this point, Akira was beginning to wonder whether there was an "off" switch to his brain. The stream of consciousness he'd relied on now seemed to be chattering away uselessly more than anything. Even though he'd always known he wasn't exactly a brilliant tactician himself, he'd prided himself quite a bit on his cleverness, at least more so than anything else-- And now that his mind was pulling blanks, his only choice left was to follow his gut instinct. Like an animal. Even so, complaining wouldn't keep the dust away; his only choice was to press on.

"...Wait," Akira muttered, peering through the dust, raising a hand over his eyes. He looked closer-- Yes, there it was! Buildings! Or what was left of them, anyways. In the distance, just a bit away. A genuine smile crossed Akira's face, and he quickly rushed ahead towards the ruins, excited to finally see his destination at last. As he crossed over, another figure slowly faded into view through the sands; Akira quickly rubbed the sand from his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

"Kokoro," He muttered, both surprised and relieved to find another living soul. He smiled again, approaching slowly, now, walking as if he were taking a stroll through the park rather than through a desolate wasteland that was all that remained of the world.

"I do hope I'm not just hallucinating," Akira said when he was in earshot, smiling at his classmate-- No, his friend. He'd decided that if there was anyone in this twisted world he could truly trust, it could only be her. He spoke again, this time a bit softer to show he was genuine. "I'm really glad to see you, Kokoro."

[GuardianDreamer]

Kokoro wasn't sure what to do. She was prepared to encounter anyone, but now that someone had actually shown up, she realized that she wasn't sure what she was going to do next. Akira seemed friendly enough, which was certainly a good thing, but now what were they supposed to do? A greeting would probably be for the best. Thinking about it, most of the others likely distrusted Akira for one reason or another, so it was a good thing that Kokoro managed to find him so quickly. Perhaps it was rather rude of her, but she knew that Akira had taken rather impulsive actions before, and that could easily put him in danger.

"Akira, I'm glad to see that you're safe." She said, then realized that there were quite a few topics that she could bring up. But what was she supposed to say first? She decided to talk about the first thing that came to mind.

"If you don't mind me asking, I'd like to know what you intend to do now. To be completely honest... I haven't decided myself. Not completely, anyway. I want to stop this conflict and find a peaceful way in order to make everything fine once more... But perhaps I'm being naive in thinking that that's possible. But I want to try to follow that path, and see where it leads me. Just to make sure, you aren't here to fight me, are you?" Kokoro said, ending with a question. She realized immediately after saying it that it probably sounded rather silly. Akira wouldn't have approached Kokoro like that if he had intended to fight, after all. Or at least she hoped that this wouldn't lead to a fight.

[Sleuth]

Akira smiled weakly, brushing some sand from his hair. "I certainly hope not; I'm not particularly in the mood right now." He let out a weak laugh, suddenly rather disturbed-- Could she have somehow known he was coming, preparing an ambush of some sort...?

No, cut that out. She wouldn't do that-- I have to trust her if I'm going to get anywhere. Besides, she accepted my pen earlier...

Feeling uncomfortable, he decided to shift his gaze to the ruins nearby before answering her other question. His eyes softened as he looked at the little town-- Only home he'd ever known, only bit of the world he lived in. It was so big, and so wide, and Akira had only known this little corner of it; and now it sat here in front of him, a tattered remnant of all he'd ever known.

"I..." Akira slowly began. Just be honest, he told himself. "I thought I knew what I was going to do, but now... I'm not really sure anymore. I thought the right thing for me to do was to... well, to become God of this world. I figured... I figured I'd be able to make things better. Fix the world. But... I'm not sure anymore. Maybe that was just me trying to give myself an excuse to survive."

He laughed a bit, his pupils shifting back towards Kokoro for a moment. "Does that sound arrogant of me? It's okay to say yes... I'm kind of a selfish guy, after all."

[GuardianDreamer]

"No, not at all. If anything, I'm the selfish one for believing in such an idealistic outcome, but having no plan to achieve it. It gives others a false sense of hope. But I want to follow that path anyway. ... Perhaps this is slightly off-topic, but if I have to create an ideal world, then I want to have everyone else be a part of it. I want to see all of you happy once more, even though I know it wouldn't really be you and the others, but rather, alternate versions that likely won't remember me or any of these events, for obvious reasons. I wonder if that's humble or selfish... Ah, pardon me. I don't know why I'm saying this." Kokoro said, trying to apologize. Of course, she realized why she had said that. She had wanted to tell that to someone, anyone, and Akira was the first person she could have a proper discussion with after she had thought about the matter for a bit.

But it was strange to think about it, wasn't it? She wanted to give the others happiness, even if they ended up forgetting about her in that 'new' world, but wasn't it to make herself happy too? While some people believed that in order for one person to be happy, another needed to be unhappy, Kokoro didn't exactly believe that. Rather, she believed that by causing other people to be happy, she would also be happy. She imagined that explaining it to anyone would likely make her sound childish and naive, but it was what she honestly believed in right now. Kokoro had to wonder what the others would think if they heard her explain that. But she decided to stop thinking about it for now, and continued talking to Akira.

"Let me ask you something. Did you side with the light or the shadow? ... Though I suppose it doesn't matter. I was aligned with the light, but I was wondering if there was a way for light and shadow to coexist... To be allies, I suppose. Ah... I suppose I might as well say this now. I'd like to be allies with you, whether you sided with the light or shadow previously, I still trust you." Kokoro concluded. Not sure what else to do, she gave a rather awkward smile, hoping that what she had just said wasn't as embarrassing as it had sounded.

[Hodou Okappa]

The chamber seemed to be mostly empty inside. Moshi felt a mixture of relief and disappointment at this; he had been hoping to find at least SOMETHING inside, and if this was all pointless... Well, that would kind of suck. He saw Shiori on the ground, prepared for whatever came out.

"Alright, if you're ready...!"

Moshi pulled back his fist and slammed it hard against the roof of the chamber. Large cracks ripped through the stone all the way to the chamber's base, splintering off into the rough shape of a doorway. The side of the chamber fell apart like gravel, giving Shiori a clear view of the inside.

When nothing came out of the chamber to horribly devour his partner after all, Moshi jumped down himself, looking into the gap he had created. The inside of the chamber was mostly empty, as he had predicted; but it wasn't at all uninteresting. For one thing, he could see a very familiar shrine. It reminded him of one made of sand, that had been in the room where he fought "the Shadow" and obtained the magatama. He stuck his hand in his pocket, just now remembering the small trinket after all this time. He wasn't sure it was the right moment, but he would have to remember to ask Shiori and the others if they had received similar objects. Maybe it would even help him to glean some information on their true natures...

Oh. And the other thing was the bloody writing on the walls. Odd that this wasn't the first thing to catch his attention.

[Wackyman]

Shiori allowed her partner to scout ahead. After hearing no response from him - and no signs of shouting or a struggle - she made the assumption that the chamber was safe to enter and followed suit. The warped sun that bathed the barren wasteland provided a dim light for the chamber hidden beneath the sand. It was still a trifle dark in the room, but enough natural light was provided to see the inside.

The scene seemed like a familiar one...or at least a more demented version of it. The room seemed different, as the walls were no longer made of sand and bloody writing was scribbled on it, and there was strange symbol was found on the ceiling of the chamber that Shiori did not recognize, but it was obvious that the chamber was similar to the one she had woken up in. Examining the room a little further, she noticed a piece of paper lying on the chamber floor. Shiori began to recollect her experience with her own sheet, learning of her past origins. She wondered if it was the same page...Her palms were a tad sweaty as she picked up the paper, hoping to not receive a reminder that she was just a monster.

Saori Saikyou
Daughter of Hecate, the Witch of Darkness

The writing came as a surprise. Shiori turned back toward the writing on the wall and got a closer look at them to ascertain what the writing spelled out. Scribbled in blood on the wall was "SAORI. HECATE."

"So this is where Saori woke up..." she concluded. It seemed that the storm that had ravaged the Plains had buried the chambers in the sand. It was surprising to know that the chambers were even in the Plains. Assuming the chambers were still connected to the mansion, that would imply that the mansion was also in the Plains. Was it nearby, or was there more to it? As she pondered this, she stared curiously at the strange symbol of the ceiling as well. She could not ascertain its meaning, and it just caused more questions to swim in her head.

Ugh...Everywhere we turn in this world, we only get more questions with no answers! Shiori thought. When does it end?

"So, now what do we do?" Shiori wondered aloud. As she thought this, she felt a slight chill. It was almost similar to the sensation she felt at the Memorial, but not as severe and barely noticeable. It was only because Shiori slowed down for a moment that she became aware of the anomaly's existence. She prayed she wasn't on the verge of going berserk again...

[Hodou Okappa]

Moshi pondered the contents of the room. Saori had been on their side... If only he had SAID something. Anything. He should have at least tried to IMPLY who he was, and see if she could pick up on the hints. But she, too, had dropped no clues, and the two of them were stuck at arm's length.

At the time, he wasn't sure whether the regret he felt was because of the missed opportunity to seize an advantage, or missing the chance to get closer to... No. To worry about something so inconsequential? After apocalypse? In the midst of a fight to be all that remains? It was pathetic. Miserable. Worthless. Human. That's what it was most of all; human. Clearly, he was not cleansed entirely. What sick part of his mind would fantasize about surrendering a perfect body and demonic power to permanently assume such a low status as "human?" There was no benefit in that anymore, no stealth to the human form. They had been reduced to worms in a sea of birds. The only reason he even had to keep associating with them was to avoid those which were secretly snakes, but to have an emotional connection to any of them would be beyond disturbing. It would be a tactical error.

Though, Saori had been different for other reasons, he remembered. The way she commanded the entire room, orders and insults sharing the same breath; she was a woman of power from the start. She, too, had seen the others as worms, even when it was inconvenient to do so. Perhaps that was the true nature of his infatuation -- she could only act like that if she had no fear, which could only stem from lack of either a brain or a weakness. And if she was powerful, then his attraction might prove to be valuable after all.

"Perfect. I think we know who to look for next."

He paced away from the wall, scanning the edges of the room for an alternative exit that probably didn't exist anymore.

"Do you remember this? I'm guessing we all went through it. But it doesn't look like we can follow her footsteps from here -- the stairs are obviously gone."

An idea came to mind, though he wasn't sure of the value of it.

"Before we go, maybe we should dig up the rest. It might help to know what else we're dealing with."

[Sleuth]

The words took Akira aback, his smile fading. A pang of guilt worked its way into his heart. Her? Trust him? Now he just felt bad... Here he was trying to wonder whether she was trustworthy, when he was the one literally lurking in the shadows. What kind of girl trusts a guy like him? It was like some sort of joke. And yet, he felt happy; happier than he'd ever felt in recent memory. Was it odd that he had looked back on his time with his friends, the madness, the mines, the fighting, and the end, all of it... Was it strange that he felt so fondly for those moments? Any sane person surely would not wish to recall such memories. He smiled; it all seemed so mad nowadays.

"Me?" Akira said, responding to Kokoro's question. "I was on your side. Same as you, I mean. Personally, though, I'm more of a 'shadow' myself. Not like the other guys, though. It's... complicated."

He looked down towards his own shadow as he did so. The shadow of a shadow. Shadows were everywhere, it seemed. Everything had a shadow, so long as there was light. So as long as there were things and as long as there was light, there would be shadows. But how could "light" be known if there was no shadow? What if the rocks cast no shadow, and light engulfed all; then all there would be was light, but light that could not be understood. A world with endless light... would be just as blinding as a world of endless darkness. The truth was not black or white; it was a shadow, somewhere between light and dark. A shadow... like him. Perhaps only a shadow could truly unite the world...

...Or perhaps he was thinking too much into it. Completely possible, more than likely. After all, it seemed incredibly unlikely that he was fit for godhood. An arrogant assumption to say the least. Still, that would be the only way he could come out of this alive... And alone, at that. That was a thought; die together, or live alone as a God. It was so pitifully black or white, a lose-lose situation... But then again, it still seemed a little too black and white. If there was anything he'd learned over the last few days, it was that nothing was what it seemed, and there was no such thing as "black and white". So, perhaps there was another way...

Akira gave a small smirk. "And as for your question... I think that it's entirely possible. I mean, thinking about it, you can't have shadows without light, nor light without shadow. Don't you think?"

[GuardianDreamer]

Spoiler : :

A really quick post this time around, since I'm not really in a writing mood, and because I have to do other things, including a post for OS, so I can't afford to spend too much time on this. Hopefully the drop in quality isn't too noticeable.

Kokoro breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps it was rather silly, considering everything else that was happening, but it felt nice to see that someone shared her beliefs, even if it was only to a limited extent. Kokoro thought about something. Sure, she could revive the others, but if she herself died... That was it. She doubted any of the others had the power to resurrect her, meaning that she would have no second chance. And if she died early enough, then she would be unable to bring back anyone who died as well... She decided to stop thinking so pessimistically. Even if she did die, the others would be fine, and there would be at least one person who could carry on her goal... That was what she wanted to believe.

It was then that Kokoro noticed something... The sandstorm was picking up. While it was certainly nothing that she couldn't endure, it would make talking very inconvenient. Not to mention the possibility that demons could use this possibility to ambush both of them. While she and Akira were almost definitely stronger than normal demons, a surprise attack could easily be enough to severely injure either of them. She knew that the other students could also launch a surprise attack, but she didn't consider that as much. Mostly because she didn't want to think about fighting the others any more than she already had.

"Ah, Akira. We should head into Inaba... Or rather, the ruins of Inaba. It seems like it would be safer. Oh... Unless it would be painful for you. My apologies if that's the case." Kokoro said, at first walking towards the ruins, then stopping to turn back and look at Akira when she realized that what she had just said may have been insensitive. She waited for Akira's response.

[Wackyman]

Spoiler : :

Got permission from Hodou to have Moshi auto-follow

Shiori nodded in agreement. It was quite possible that the rest of the chambers would mirror Saori's exactly and yield no results. However, they were completely out of leads and simply wandering the expansive ruins was not a wise idea. She prayed that at least one chamber would lead to a new development. The more dead ends they came across, the more likely it seemed that killing the others might be the only option available. The thought unnerved her.

Shiori peered through the hole that penetrated the ceiling, realizing that she was marginally not tall enough to simply jump up, grab the edge and pull herself up. Trying to move the shrine to provide leverage to climb up proved futile as it was rooted to the spot it stood. One of them could hoist the other on their shoulders, but that could be potentially awkward. Giving it a second of thought, she recalled her sand powers. She commanded some sand to seep into the tomb and created a small pile of sand to provide a bit of leverage - just enough so she could reach the edge of the hole. "Alright, lemme see if I can find another chamber. Another one should be close by." She was ready to pull herself up, but she stopped momentarily and turned to Moshi. "Don't look up, by the way."

She mustered up her strength and successfully pulled herself out of the chamber, with Moshi is pursuit. She never excelled in gym class, but she was athletic enough to get by, thankfully. Upon emerging back into the sun-drenched expanse, she wondered where to begin looking. Progressing a few feet, she felt her foot sink into the sand. She backpedaled a bit and began fiddling with the sand. It seemed there was a small crack in the ground covered by sand. Concentrating harder on her sand powers, she emptied the opening and peeked inside. It was definitely another chamber. It would be a squeeze, but the crack was big enough for her to get in. The crack must've been caused by the shift in the world earlier. Lucky for them.

Shiori carefully lowered herself into the chamber as grains of sand followed in pursuit. Entering the chamber, she experienced the same feeling she had in Saori's chamber. However, it was no longer just a mildly annoying tick that she could easily ignore. The feeling enveloped her, filling her with a sense of dread and unease. It was immediately apparent, without even having to find the paper or look at the blood markings on the wall: this was her chamber. It looks nearly identical to Saori's, but the memory of her awakening and her near breakdown made this room seem so distinct. Her own personal hell.

The chill in her spine did not come merely from awful memories. She knew something in the room was resonating with her. Bad memories alone could not trigger a reaction so volatile. She forced her body to move, inching her way to the shrine in the room. The shrine...was that the cause? She did feel an overwhelming aura from it that felt identical to the feeling she had. Something about it drew her in. It beckoned to her, and she instinctively heeded its call. Her hand shook violently as it reached out to touch the shrine.

Her magatama let out a blinding orange light upon the touch as an intense pain rattled her. At that moment, Shiori Kimura's mind went blank. Her magatama glowed eerily as the husk turned toward the direction of the demon that followed her into the chamber. Sand began to seep slowly from the walls, and the grains of sand that leaked from the hole above began to fall at a slightly more rapid speed. She slowly removed her sunglasses and threw them on the ground. Her eyes bore no malice, no aggression, no hostility...they were just hollow spheres that bore no emotion. They stared not at Moshi, but through him. Sand began to crawl down her hand as it emerged from her sleeve, beginning to take form of a katana. She raised the katana and pointed it at Moshi.

"...beneath me...you are all...beneath me..."

[Sleuth]

"Oh," Akira said, shaking his head, "No, it's fine. I'm... actually a bit curious as to what's left."

The sand was whipping him in the face now, so he followed Kokoro down towards the ruins of his former home. His first steps down the slopes of sand reminded him of where he was-- Of what had happened to everything. The streets he'd known and seen were now drenched in sand, the buildings all around crumbling to dust, jutting out of the desert like islands of rock. And all throughout, a strange, desperate feeling of absolute loneliness. Akira slowly focused his power, seeking out the shadows of any survivors. There were none.

"Spooky," Akira said, trying to keep up his facade of calmness, "There doesn't appear to be anyone here, though. At least, not that I can tell. I mean, I can sort of tell... It's my power, you see."

He pointed to his eyes. "I can read negative energy in people. Pain, anger, jealousy... That sort of thing. Their 'shadows', so to speak. ...Though it only really works if there are people around."