1525/CatP - The Future

CatP - The Future
Date of Scene:	08 February 2015
Location:	A Quiet World
Synopsis:	Yes there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there's still time to change the road you're on.
Cast of Characters:	2, Kotone Yamakawa, Arthur Lowell, Priscilla, 152, 183, 253, Riva Banari, Eryl Fairfax, 570, 596
Tinyplot:	A Chime at the Precipice

---

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Oddly enough, Mizuki is nowhere to be found as the group makes their way through the massive, gilded doors of Silent Night. Rather, only Fenestra is, a cloak hung around her slim shoulders and the light of a candle in her hands coating the left side of her face in an amber-gold vaguely reminiscent of sunset. As is her custom, she would greet all those who enter without a single word, though this particular night she would not smile or wave either. She could just as easily be a specter cursed to stalk these halls until Infinity has collided with some horrible end, and stalk she does -- she would beckon them onward and turn soon thereafter, her gaze fixed on one of the winding staircases far in the back.

    Those wooden steps would lead the group to a hallway whose floors are checked black-and-white, like a chessboard or a palace that should have been kept locked away from the mortal aperture. One might assume the latter when they see the smoky black silhouettes that walk with and from them, many of the ghostly apparitions wielding books that are every bit as indistinct and dark as they themselves. Only rarely do they gaze up from their reading to acknowledge the group, but when they do they would likely exude an aura of annoyance. Something perturbed that would whisper in a rasp that should only belong to the Reaper, 'Go away,' or 'Leave us to our peace'.

    Which is but another reason why it's all very well that they need not linger for any time at all. In what would seem like the bat of an eyelash, the group would find their way to the extreme end of the second floor hall. Light from a stained glass pane would filter in, shining down as any spotlight on Fenestra's hand as it turns the lock on the door. Once this movement is complete the chiseled, ornate gate would creak open with all the rapidness of one lain in the doorway of a haunted manor, allowing each of them to see its contents.

    At first glance, it might seem like any other room in the building: each wall is stacked with shelves and novels, some portraits cropping up hither and thither where those relent. Unlike those other rooms, however, this one has a number of sculptures as well, most of them concealed under thick tan sheets as they might be in a museum storeroom. Turn the corner with Fenestra, though, and you'll see the room's centerpiece. A gargantuan marble podium dominates there, and it is abundantly clear that none would be able to turn the pages of the book that rests upon it without the aid of some superhuman strength, telepathy, or another quite inhuman device. Nor would they have been able to break the flame-shaped lock that lies opened on the floor to the right, at the feet of someone quite familiar.

    Mizuki is here, arms wrapped behind her back as usual. She makes not the most modest attempt to conceal her agitation -- her face is already twisted with nervousness as they enter, her toes curled shamefully beneath her feet. She would struggle to maintain eye contact with those that enter, and her gaze would occasionally stray elsewhere when she needs a moment of comfort. Still, she would at least manage a simple "Good evening," albeit in the muffled, tiny tone that it comes.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    "I ask you again to forgive me for whatever it is you may see tonight." Her look locks on to a specific tile of the floor and remain there. "It... is a mess of preconception. Once, I might not have been shameful of it, but now --." She would shake her head. "Again, I will be unable to join you properly. As I slip into the pages, I will lose myself to my more innate, uninhibited thoughts. This time, however, that effect should not extrapolate itself to you all. No -- it /will/ not. I feel I can say this conclusively." Finally, her eyes would bring themselves to see them properly. "So at the least, we should... have no reprise of what happened before. You will not be tempted. Tested, perhaps, but not tempted." Her arms would fall cleanly to her sides, some of her apprehension at last subsiding. Or at the least, giving themselves over to a sense of more calm resignation.

    "We may open the tome now, or we may wait. As before, I leave this to you. When it is opened, you will all be drawn inside where... where you may see /a/ future. I'll not call it an ideal future, or a pretty one, but it is a feasible circumstance. Or it might be. Even that I cannot say for sure since it is so colored and consumed by my own, narcissistic, egocentric, inwardly-focused, reprehensible --" Her voice would break as Fenestra would place a ginger hand to her shoulder. She would give no words in response, but she would nod faintly in understanding, proceeding to take another, small breath.

    After some moments pass, she would repeat, "Whenever... you all are prepared. Pay me no mind. In any event, this must be done, and there is no way around any of it." Beyond this, she would mutter to herself, 'Oh, if only there was'.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Hesitant to return, but somewhat required to due to obligations, Psyber is here. He is in a somewhat conservative stance, remaining towards the back of any given group and avoiding being on point for any sort of travel or introduction. He remains mostly silent and keeps a neutral expression on his face.

    His hands are in the front pockets of his coat and he is not currently smoking. He keeps a flat expression as he says, "Greetings, Mizuki. Despite the inherent hesitation to return so soon after prior traumatic experiences, my personal promise to help you in matters pertaining to your world holds me to a level of obligation to be here." He pauses for a few moments, watching her carefully.

    "So whatever observable effect or outcome of this next incursion will be solely based on your own psyche as projected by the pages?" He inquires evenly, tilting his head a bit and then straightening it again.

    "I do not have a substantial opinion on if we open the tome now or wait to do so. I will proceed with whatever the group decides is the best course of action," He notes in a deferring tone, blinking a few times and then watching Fenestra comfort Mizuki.

    "Speaking from personal experience in this matter, you should remain somewhat assured that whatever projections exist as a biproduct of your thoughts, I find it unlikely that you will be judged for them," He reassures her in a blank tone, "I have personally experienced numerous ventures into the psyche of Elites as well as had several of my own darker or more self-centered impulses projected and I did not suffer socially for doing so."

Faruja (152) has posed:
All along the walk, shadows and the strange beauty of Mizuki's mansion are utterly ignored. Faruja Senra, clad in his usual vestments, cuts a grim and worried figure. Silence, other than a hand at his cross the entire time. His rattish gaze does not leave his friend's back the entire time. His aura of worry and purpose entwine.

Her greeting gets a slightly subdued bow. He won't forget his graces as robes dip, and his cane is squeezed far too tightly. Tense and worried.

Finally, does Faruja speak. He can't hold himself back any more.

"...Mizuki. My Lady. My friend, dear as blood. For such an intelligent woman, you can be utterly cruel to yourself." The words are pointed, his gaze boring into Mizuki's eyes. The rat is here for her, but he is going to have his say.

"We too have fought our dreams, our shades, our bloody shadows of desire and need in the depths of our heart. And yet you cast insults inwards when you need every ounce of resolve, strength, and purpose? I will not see you reduced to a mere slave to one's own heart as I nearly was, if I must drag you from your own depths through sheer force and magery. You are friend and family to us all. This book will conquer neither us, nor you. On that, I give you my oath."

The rat lets out a heavy sigh.

"When all of this is over, you and I are having wine - not tea - until you tell me every ounce of your life's story and I hear your voice /laugh/." The rodent is utterly forceful this day, and his lashing tail bodes ill for whatever awaits them in the book. He's in high, zealous, angry spirits today.

"Mere demons and stray thoughts of our flaws shall forestall us not." States the rat, nodding in agreement with Psyber.

Riva Banari has posed:
"Doo de doo, books books, bookity books." Riva hums to herself despite the somber atmosphere of the area. She seems in a significantly better mood as of late, especially since it's time to get back into businsess with the Adventure of Mizuki. Sidequests can be terrible sometimes, even if they do come to a satisfying conclusion.

She doesn't particularly annoy anyone reading unless her mere presence is enough. She doesn't have any need to interrupt the spectres' reading. Instead, she focuses on the area around them. She leans in to look over the detail as they enter the sealed room, and she blinks at the huge podium. "Whoooooa. That's huge!" She comments, hopping forward to come closer to the book. She looks to Mizuki and listens to her once more lay out the situation, and she quirks up an eyebrow. "Oh Mizuki..." She sighs with a tilt of her head. "You don't need to be so hard on yourself." She reaches out to tap the end of Mizuki's nose and give a wink. "Even if we're stuck in a crazy possible future, we'll make this all work out!"

She's about to say something else, when Psyber engages in EXTREME WORDS. She looks over to him, and nods, listening to him. She squints a little at his conclusion, but doesn't say anything. About that, anyway. "I don't think there's a point to waiting. What we're looking for is in the book, right? We have to stay in motion."

She then grins to Faruja. "Preach it, brother!" She says in a faux-evangelical tone, and holds up a hand. "High five, Faruja, that's the spirit!"

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    It would be safe to assume that Shinobu Kimiko will not soon be forgetting her previous visit to this world. She may never forget it. If she had never pushed those older memories from her mind, having them dredged up would not have been so troubling. She prefers not to repeat anything connected with that.

    Still, she's here again. There wasn't much thinking involved in that. There doesn't seem to be much of any concern in her expression--but that's rather normal. She is not one for overt expression, whenever it can be avoided. She doesn't even mention those past events. She just nods in light acknowledgement of those gathering, walks and watches spectres, then nods again to Mizuki as they arrive. She listens, and waits.

    She has no prior, relevant knowledge to the tome in question, so she makes no direct opinion of it. "We'll do what we must."

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Having arrived with Psyber is Homura. After suffering through that... thing... last time, it feels kind of wrong to simply abandon the matter. You don't walk out on something that's already cost you a lot-- it's like investing in something and pulling out halfway, but you don't get your money back, and there was no guarantee things were going to flop at all.

    As long as they don't have to dive into that one book again on a personal level it should be fine and she won't complain too much.

    "Same as Psyber. Do it when you're ready," she says, idly.

    Personal greetings would be dispensed to everyone as they arrive (or as she arrives), but the player needs to EAT THIS CHICKEN. Also she's wearing a white shirt with semi-formal black pants as usual, nothing new here. Her hair's in a side-tail, glasses are on.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    ARTHUR LOWELL is here. As always, of course. He's swaggering his way in, though in a way that's faltering a bit. He's restored a lot of his faux-energy, making as convincing a show of it as Arthur ever actually does manage. Through the halls, up the stairs two at a time (though obviously with care; stairs are dangerous!) and then into the room, where he listens to Mizuki's discussion with both an attentive and an energetic posture.

    "Well, MIMI, ain't gonna JUDGE. We all got OUR psyches BLOWN OUT by the LAST ONE. Ain't gonna judge, right?" He scratches his head sheepishly. "I mean, can't be that much worse than some of ours, y'know." He gestures at Psyber. "Yeah, see, BASICALLY no JUDGIN' going on. Pretty sure this is just a FAIR way of doin' this. EVERYONE'S got some AWFUL they gotta DEAL WITH deep down." Another reinforcement of Faruja here. "But, I'm sure you don't wanna spend a lotta time TALKIN' about it, right? I know how THIS SHIT is. AGONIZING to stand around YAKKING about this, 'cause the ANTICIPATION just gets worse? Seriously, open 'er up WHENEVER YOU'RE COMFORTABLE."

    He takes a casual posture and makes a sort of "pfft" noise. "And THIS time we got RIVA around so I won't get my DUMB ASS STUCK AGAIN, I'm sure we'll PULL THROUGH here." And there's Kimiko too! Arthur... Very distinctly remembers the severity of what he saw, and so there's a moment of staring at her for a while before he cuts himself off, going back to awaiting the book!

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl is here too, but he can tell that he might be the odd one out in terms of mood. While others who were in Heaven seem somewhat scarred by what they saw within, he only felt motivated, more driven to complete his mission to make it a reality. But, he kept all that to himself, to avoid opening the emotional wounds of the others. Instead, he just offers quiet greetings to everyone else.

     Walking through the library, he greets Fenestra with just a bow to match her own silent greeting. Following after her, he takes in the library, trying not to smile as he marvels at the architecture. To the shades (whom inspire a spike of pain from Original Face), he also offers a polite bow, just in case they are sentient enough to recognize such a thing.

     Upon reaching their destination, Eryl immediately recognizes the distress that Mizuki is feeling, and so just greets her quietly. Listening to her words, and examining the enormous book, he gives a resolute nod. "We will succeed, don't you worry." He recognizes what is troubling her so. She is scared that everyone will judge her after seeing what the book contains... or perhaps, are already judging her because of Heaven. She needs something a little more than kind words.

     With a quick motion, he removes his cape and neatly folds it into a square, which he offers to Mizuki. "This was a gift from Miss Banari, and it contains a gift from Miss Ayako in a pocket. I treasure each of those gifts... and I trust you to hold onto them until I return." He put some subtle emphasis on the word 'trust' and offers a kind smile. "And when you give them back to me, I expect you do so with a smile. Okay?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone has had a bad time the last week or so but she's here to help she looks over to Mizuki for a moment then to Riva and smiles faintly.

"At least we'll be in a crazy possible future with good company, right?" %% She howeer halts saying anything else after Pysber speaks up she's not in the union but she's long known to pay attention to Psyber when he's got something to day given his massive level of experiance. She nods she can only wonder what her own pysche is like, yet she dismisses it in short order as they need to focus upon helping Mizuki. He own issues can wait after all she's just glad she might be able to do something to help a friend.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Psyber would get an incline of Mizuki's head. In an even tone similar to the angel's own, she would assert, "Yes. You... all will certainly assume roles in the novel, but the tale should make no express effort to make you adhere to them. Whether or not you do is entirely your affair, and I've really no way of knowing whether it would help or hurt your case. And if things pan out as I fear they will..." She would avert her eyes for a fleeting moment before her pupils dart back, "... it will matter very little, either way." She would close her eyes at the next words that come, though. She... had hoped to avoid this. For every ounce of healing they may accomplish, there is the double-edge of some guilt. Guilt at begging attention with what she had already said. All the same, she would sullenly conclude, "Thank you."

    She would almost wince as Faruja begins anew. He... has this way of speaking that makes her feel more involved than she might at times appreciate. When he calls her 'friend', says she's 'dear as blood', she can't help feeling as though she's been inextricably linked to a narrative. In a way, it makes her happy -- she will always have a friend in him, and likely many of those who continue to aid her. But in another, that means that, should she ever leave, there would be pain. Sadness. Confusion. There is a weight on her, now; obligation. Such a blessing, and yet...

    ... and yet, as always, his sheer vehemence snaps her out of her reverie before it can enrapture her completely. Talk of 'dragging', and 'oaths'; words of such magnitude, especially for a man of his occupation and particular fixations. To be held to placed upon such a high mantle in anyone's mind is perhaps more than she had ever expected. Perhaps more than she could bear, as she's soon squeezing her eyes shut to hold back a distinctly human, mortal expression of emotion. Concern. All too late does she realize that the fabric of her world may make those tiny droplets disappear so that she may keep her eyes open, and by that time, she's smiling. "You have a way with words, Faruja." Her words are like an echo, but if indeed they are, they would ring so continually within his ears that they may feel closer than many he has ever heard.

    This grin would persist as she looks to Riva. She would give her most ginger, subtle nod, arms moving to her back where the fidgeting of her digits can scarce be seen. "Do not mistake my self-doubt for misgivings in your abilities. No, I shall never doubt what you lot are capable of. Not as long as I persist in any form that may be identified as a consistent individual presence." A weird way of parsing her feelings, maybe, but 'funny wording' is probably her schtick more than anything else. And it would find its way of resurrecting her spirit so that she might raise her hands in a shooing gesture. "Go, lovely rose! Go and tell these phantoms of the might-be how transient, how inconsequential, and how fragile they truly are." Somewhat more quietly, her voice would echo, 'Do this, that I might believe it as well.'

    Kimiko would get a deep, oddly firm nod. It lacks all her usual elegant fixtures in favor of something more earnest. Telling. "... you will. I trust you perhaps more than I trust most to be able to banish illusions, and to forge on in spite of them." She would give her a lingering look. "My faith is with you, for whatever it is worth. Go in courage. Emerge in victory."

    Then, Homura. She gets a nod of her own. "My words to Kimiko echo to you, Miss Akemi. These figments are nothing you've not surmounted before. But all the same, go with my faith. Go..." Her expression would droop a bit when she realizes how silly this all must sound to someone like her. "... go, and come back." So she makes her conclusion a bit more lax.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Yeah.

    Afterward, she would accept Eryl's cape, her face still kept in some semblance of a grin. "You may depart with one as well, Eryl. Lay your trust and me, and I'll certainly lay mine in you." She would pause a moment before adding, with some measure of quiet power, "... this world is not your own. And yet, it - and all it represents - has come to view you as a savior even so. Remember these words. Let them empower you."

    Arthur's words would get an understated sort of laugh in reply. Far gone is the time when his loudness would disorient her. Now, all it does is encourage her to speak with an even greater softness than she normally would. To serve as a contrast and, perhaps, to soothe the nervous spirit underlying it all. The silken lyric of her syllables would deliver just so here as well: "Take care of yourself, Arthur. You have my every confidence, and when you return you will all have a distinctly imaginary feast to look forward to." Smile~. "I'm sure you recall what it was like when I first had you in the waterway. Return, and we may enjoy all that again. We do not celebrate enough after our travails here, I feel."

    Kotone would get a final nod before Mizuki's hand would raise into the air, palm flat. She would hesitate a moment, taking a deep breath... before that hand would swipe left, throwing the book open in a flurry of pages and sound. It cover would land on the other side of the podium with a mighty thud, but even this could be considered calm before what comes after. A veritable black hole would emerge from the binding, its vortex threatening to lift them from the ground and consume them whole. If it is allowed to do so, it would carry all those present away save Fenestra, who would be there to witness - in her usual, austere way - as it slams closed. Funny how that now that none are present, she would finally see fit to wave.

    On the other side of the portal, the whole group would find themselves on a ledge wrought from stone. Though they might be an azure tinged with silver in their natural state, they and the grasses in the valley below are tinged orange by the sky. Not just by that, though -- there is something else teasing at the atmosphere and coloring it so. It's flickering, oppressive, sering; it's something that only warriors such as those who find themselves here now should ever become so familiar.

    Fire.

    A great conflagration has engulfed the walled city far below, dooming it to extinction. Not a voice can be heard here -- only the dull crackling of wood that has been cast into the furnace the world has become. Only one person seems to be left to observe all this, and their dark silhouette lies suspended in the sky just beyond the cliff, its brilliant black wings gently fluttering to keep her afloat. She holds another, smaller figure in her arms, and is flanked by two other familiar figures clutching scythes. There is no mistaking them.

    Beyond them all, something vaguely crystalline in both shape and form hovers. Silver rims levitate around it as though they were a part of a celestial gyroscope, gradually quickening with each revolution.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber doesn't seem scarred by the prior experiences, so much as he just doesn't seem much of anything. Completely neutral in actions, tone and mannerisms.

    He looks over towards Riva and simply gives her a nod when she squints at him, having a brief exchange on radio. He then waits. He looks towards Homura when she is next to him and speaks. He briefly extends a hand towards her and rests it on top of her head in a fleeting gesture before removing that hand before she gets too embarassed. He doesn't ruffle or anything, it was just a solitary pat.

    Mizuki doesn't get much more response from Psyber, the half-angel taking cue from her responses that she does not wish him to press. Faruja seemed to do a more effective job of evoking a positive response than him anyway. He carefully waits for the sequence of events to begin.

    When they are transported to the new location, Psyber looks around carefully. Heat does not bother him a great deal, by his reaction, though he does sweat slightly. He thinks and then looks around, "I see. This is her predicted outcome. Mass destruction with herself as a surviving entity. Her fear is that we will not be able to affect a great enough change to properly resolve the system presently in motion."

    "This is all a theory on preliminary observation, and so subject to incorrect evaluation," Psyber says before he stops to think, watching the crystalline shape in the distance.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko acknowledges Mizuki's words to her with another nod. Yes. There is no doubt. Even should Kimiko, herself, fail--there are those here she trusts to make it through. This isn't, one might suppose with knowledge of her thoughts, quite the same as faith in her own success. But that's as far as she allows herself to hope.

    Then, the book is opened.

    "The fire has spread too far," Kimiko notes with a mildness out of sorts with the situation. "It would take more people than the city holds to put it out." She looks on for another moment, moving to the edge of the ledge and shielding her eyes. "I can go through it to look for anyone remaining. If there are people." One looking closely may note that the heat, even at this distance, does affect her. She's just not saying anything about it. Actually going into the city would be far from harmless, without ample use of her magic.

    There's also the matter of the floating figures, and the crystal, but that's not what she's focusing on.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa 2emit wonders what sort of role she'll end up with. She does pay close attention to it they are low on time or so it seems so it's time to get moving isn't it? She wopnders what else this will entail but she's alway in for a penny so she might as well be in for a pound. She passes Faruja givin the Rat Paladin a nod and she look to Mizuki ther'es no more words it's time to go. She's pulled in she let out a bit of a suprised cry but soon it's over they have surived the trip and now are somewhere else.

"Tht does seem to be a good point you do have more experiance at this stuff than I do."

She also wonderds what roles are they going to end up with and will playing along help or hinder their goals.

"So what do you want me on? Kimiko want a hand with that?"

Faruja (152) has posed:
Faru's angry groove is, if not halted, paused by the utterly irrepressible Riva Banari. Really, he likes the woman. She's like this younger cousin that simply never runs out of cheer or energy, no matter the situation.

Faruja /huffs/ at Riva, very nearly scowling. He stares at the hand. Pause. Pause. His tail droops.

Cue a high five, likely with much reaching upwards. Being short sucks.

"Ye art an exhausting and oft irritating woman, Dame Banari. And I wouldst not have ye any other way." He can't help it. Riva finally puts a weak smile on his muzzle.

Speaking of irrepressable, Arthur helps. Suddenly, this whole idea feels more /doable/. After all, what mere book could withstand the combined volume, cheer, and energy of Riva and Arthur Lowell. Faruja rubs his forehead.

He's almost starting to feel /sorry/ for the book.

Mizuki's voice lingers in his ears long after she stops speaking. Gazing into her eyes, the rat can't come up with words in response. He doesn't need any. By her standards, his life will be a brief whisper. Faruja slowly nods. She understands.

"To victory."

And then it begins. Faruja Senra finds himself in a place very different, and yet, so very, very intimate to one of his kind. A burning city. His single eye widens, and all of that anger, irritation, and pure desire to do violence returns.

His snarl is very nearly a roar. Eahc one of those figures, familiar indeed, receives his glare.

"And art any amongst ye responsible for /THIS/!?" After the visions of the other book, the rat is hardly assuming these to truly be his compatriots. From the looks of things, the Inquisitor is sizing them up like the worst of Heretics to be purged. The pulse of gravity magic rising around the nezumi likely doesn't help that impression.

Nor does the rat seem to be hearing his compatriots right now, lost in old horrors and seeking an outlet.

Priscilla has posed:
    Priscilla arrived a little after everyone else. She has little to say; still of mixed feelings after their last journey into a book. She does however, cast an exceptionally wary glance towards Psyber. "If the Book of Heaven were so obscene a trial as to eclipse our attachment to thee, than none of us wouldst be here at all. Think not so harshly of thineself. If this time we art together and possessed of our full faculties, I see little reason to be nervous so." That's about the extent of what she has to say to Mizuki, before she is promptly drawn in by the monolithic book.

    The scene before her seems as though it should be radically different than she had expected, even though in truth, she had been expecting nothing of any kind. She stands near the edge of the cliff, casting her gaze downward at the burning city, then up towards the towering crystal beyond, and then to the hovering figures. "I like not the look of this place." She concludes. "That in the far distance doth appear to be building towards something. It makes me wonder if we art pressed for time in this venture." She then gestures towards the two scythe wielders. "I am familiar with them, but not the one between. Wouldst anyone care to elucidate?"

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Homura gets a headpat. It's the little things but it puts her in a slightly better mood, which is always a plus. She looks towards Priscilla and echoes those thoughts to Mizuki: "There's truth in that. That aside, I already told you there was no point in blaming you anyway. The blame is all here," she says, pointing at her own head briefly.

    Then they go in.

    Psyber assesses the situation while Homura glances about. Searching for survivors isn't really her thing-- if these are illusions, it's wasted effort. She may be misunderstanding how this works, though.

    Instead, her attention focuses entirely on the figures above the flames. Homura's form flickers and she disappears, to reappear standing right in front of the figure. The addition of small pink-purple wings on her back explain why she's hovering now, to remain before whoever this is. She could simply have taken a glance before, but she prefers to see how they react to her sudden appearance.

    And the questioning, to get it straight from the source.

    "What happened here?"

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     A happy smile crosses Eryl's face when Mizuki calls him a saviour of this world. He's been kicked around quite a bit in the Multiverse, so it's nice to hear that his efforts are being acknowledged, at least. Standing resolutely, he allows the portal conjured by the book to pull him in!

     Once he comes to, standing on the cliff, he begins to look around. The fire burning below breaks his heart as he watches grand buildings collapse into debris and dust. He sniffs softly and turns his gaze above, spotting the three figures floating and the crystalline structures in the distance.

     He heaves a great sigh, as Original Face pieces together what could have happened. "That could be it," he says to Psyber, "Or it could be that this is something she might do if the cycle were broken. There is not enough information."

     Everyone else seems to be taking the initiative on engaging the quartet above, so Eryl just spends the time warming up his weapon systems and calculating firing solutions, just in case they attack.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur nods to Mizuki. "Lookin' forward to it." He says, confidently. The effects of this black hole are evident on Arthur, but he allows himself to be carried much more gracefully, seeming almost to recline on his way into the vortex. Landing heavily, he stands properly, observing the area. "Jesus Christ." He says. "The whole goddamn CITY'S on FIRE. I got NO IDEA what's GOING ON here but I'm gonna assume that's BAD!" Diving low, he tries to look at the city for corpses, for survivors, despite the silence. Sure, they may be illusions, but Arthur can't help it! His heroic instincts can't be denied. Are the people here dead? Evacuated? Completely missing? The smoke may choke his lungs and the heat may blister his skin but Arthur Lowell won't let that stop him.

    As he does, he casts his magical senses to the churning, crystaline apparatus in the distance, trying to figure out if there's anything his space magic senses can detect it's doing.

    If he can't find anything worth rescuing, though, he'll likely approach again, coming up somewhere alongside Homura and Faruja eventually, to determine what's going on here, and get the chance to listen to this figure and their... Seekers? Or is it just other people who happen to have scythes...?

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva isn't that tall herself, but hey, it takes all kinds in the Multiverse. "I'm glad you like it! I don't come in many other varieties~" She laughs, teasing for a moment as she leans in. "The more the merrier, right? I'm sure between us we'll cover all the bases."

Riva grins to Eryl as he mentions the present. "Hey, Diplomacy Man, glad you're liking the cape! Hope it's working for you." She looks over to Arthur and nods. "Hey, Arthur, don't worry about it! I know if I was in a huge jam you would come help me out, right? It's all MUTUAL BADASS BACKUP." Helping Arthur's personal presentation, or something else? Who knows? She grins and gives him a thumbs up. "We've got this."

Riva, ever alert for oddities in her friends, squints slightly at the strange echo, but she has little time to comment on it in her own Rivaesque way, as they're drawn into the darkness of an unknown possible future. "WHOOOOAAAAAA!" Riva yells, moments before she is swallowed up.

Blackness.

And then... Light. Riva looks up and around the area, gasping in horror at the flames that consume the area around them. "WHhaaaaaaaaa?" She trails off, taking in the horrors around them. "Well, I guess that's a valid fear, Psyber! But damn, what do we do?"

She grimaces for a moment, and watches everyone begin to split up. Riva looks around, trying to think of what to do. She cups her hands around her mouth, and calls out, "HEY, ANYONE OUT THERE!" She calls. "Ugh... This fire is /intense/." She grumbles, looking up at the sky speculatively.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki's shape would seem to respond to Psyber's voice, though she would not seem to have heard him well enough to grasp their content. Still, her head would turn faintly to half-face the group. The figure in her arms is offered to Palora before she vanishes, reappearing just off the edge of the precipice, arms wrapped behind herself, expression... quite severe. She would say nothing for several moments, instead allowing her hair to flow with the violent breezes. She looks... extremely guarded, to say the least, and this is all but proven when Aelinos flashes into her hands. For the moment, though, she would remain perfectly still.

    "Hello, my shadow." Her first words are directed at Psyber. They're completely devoid of feeling. "No matter how many years segregate these occurrence, it seems you always find me. Always." She would squeeze the grip of her sword, narrowing her eyes. "... and yet, you make no move against me. Knowing what's yet come, you do nothing. I really must wonder: why? Have you thought of some words that may finally reach me? Have you some lecture that I've not yet heard? I had thought us decided some years ago that, whenever we encounter eachother, there would be no exchange asides that of blows. Do you retract your end of this?" She would level her sword at him. "... speak quickly. Your behavior," She would glance to the rest of the group, "and that of the others... it reeks of wrongness. You will pardon it if I am somewhat cautious, even knowing you would never intentionally deceive me."

    Her gaze would scroll to Kimiko next. With that same, apathetic tone, she would state firmly, unequivocally, "I am meticulous, Miss Shinobu. You will find no living thing here beyond the girl Callia holds in her arms." Lowering her sword arm slightly, she would finish, "This world has been cleansed. Soon, there will be no possibility of its ever becoming plagued again."

    Then, Faruja. For the first time, her expression budges, her look caving somewhat. She's frowning. "... indeed, my other most fervent pursuer. This world was filled with what you might have called 'heretics'. Now, they are gone. Now, this world may be brought under my banner safely, and without risk of infection from some absurd notions of 'hierarchy'. Such notions that would justify the torment the girl Callia holds has suffered." Her sword would lower itself completely, now, hanging pensively by her side. "But I do not believe that would justify what I have done to you. No, it scarcely 'justifies' anything in my eyes either. But it was necessary. A necessary evil. That the primacy of the human heart may be remedied in a lasting way, this was inevitable."

    Mizuki would look to Eryl next, her head tilting in confusion. "... Eryl?" The only one she still addresses by his first name. "Eryl, what on Earth are you doing with them? They know of your affiliation with me, do they not? Quickly, come here that we might have the best chance of remaining a full, cohesive fighting force. If we are to delay them, I will need to borrow your strength. You know this. I will not be able to bar them on my own." Her confusion only deepens with his words. "... what is this talk of cycles? The 'cycle' to which you must be referring was broken and resolved ages ago. Your words are incomprehensible to me." She would shake her head, suddenly raising her sword again. "Have you rethought your loyalties? ... I would not spite you if so, but please, speak honestly. Duplicity is not in your nature."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Then that blade would point toward Homura. "... it's been many years, Miss Akemi, but I suppose it makes sense that you would eventually come. You and Psyber are stronger together." Her eyes would squeeze shut. "... if I may be honest, I am not entirely certain of my prospects this evening with so many strong sorts present. But this day has been far too many years in the making, as it always is, for me to surrender now." Her eyes would dart open. "I will not falter."

    Then, Arthur. Her blade arm would immediately fall slack at the sight of him, and her eyes would go wide. "A-Arthur? Why...?" Her head shakes slowly back and forth, as if in disbelief. "... how have they convinced you to come here? I had thought --. I had thought you had sworn to maintain neutrality with me! This is a betrayal of the highest order! I would never have thought it within any of your capabilities to set upon me with such dishonesty, such surprise!" Her sword would gleam in the light of the fire, aimed at the young God with a certain degree of... malice? That, combined with confusion, compounded further with a sort of inscrutable dismay.

    After hearing Priscilla, her body practically whips around. "And you as well, Priscilla!" She would grind her teeth, face twisting with a sort of anger that none have likely seen from her before. "I! I had thought you -agreed- with some of my thoughts! This girl -- do you know what they had done to her?" She would throw her hand back in a mad sort of gesture indicative of her agitation. "They -locked her in her own home-! They fed her only to keep alive, so that they might treat her as a pariah! And why? Because the parents wanted a male child that would carry on their name!" Her sword would slice through the air. "It is REPREHENSIBLE! This world would have been damned whether I'd visited it or not! I lack any capacity for concern if you disagree -- these people deserved no mercy! Each and every one of them perpetuated this philosophy of selective torture!" Her arms would find their way of relaxing through her heavy breathing. "... and now, they are all gone. To the last. Their beliefs die with them, and the girl who has suffered their blasphemy so long will now be given her due reward. Her life in the heaven that will overspread this blighted corner of creation."

    Kimiko would soon be proven right. Without another word, Mizuki would time-travel back to the crystal. "Callia! Palora!" She would shout their names. The former would gather near the crystal, placing a hand upon it as a Palora moves herself in-between Mizuki and the others. A dim, warbling sphere that discolors the world caught inside of it would begin to spread slowly from the crystal. Once it has spread to Mizuki's position, a lattice of lavender butterflies would emerge from her palm, soon coalescing around the shimmering stone in the form of several barbed shields.

    There is absolutely no mistaking the violent intent in their movements, but they seem to want the 'invaders' to attack first. As such, they hold their positions for the time being.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber nods to Eryl, "You are correct, there is not enough information to reach a fully formed conclusion," He then turns towards the being that appears before him and levels a sword.

    Psyber, for his part, speaks in a dull tone, "This is not a situation from which violence will produce an outcome that benefits anyone to a substantial degree," He begins, half-lidding his eyes and staring at the shadow, "There are many situations in which the appropriate application of a measured level of force will produce the most beneficial outcome, and if this were such a situation I would be prepared to fight you. However that would be counter-productive to the ultimate goal of our current incursion into this world."

    "And while I disagree with your assessment of my ideals and dialogue, I will accept and acknowledge a level of truth to them. In the specific area of reaching Elites using the correct arrangements of words and emotional cues, I am substandard in both my delivery and my ability to choose proper vocabulary. It is entirely possible, or outright likely, that speeches or lectures delivered in the past suffered from a deficiency in proper delivery that made them ineffectual, but I cannot know this for certain as they are beyond my capacity to currently remember."

    "Owing to these facts, I have a level of understanding in regards to your mistrust of me and my motives as well as a lack of desire to enter into discourse with me. I apologize for my failed attempts in the past and any emotional reaction they may have garnered with you," Psyber adds with a bland tone of finality, "But I will also repeat my prior belief that violence will not provide a beneficial conclusion to this interaction."

    His hands remain in his pockets as he stares simply at the figures, "If you wish to pursue a violent interaction, I will caution you that I will be forced to respond appropriately. But you will need to initiate the exchange of violence, as I refuse to due to personal beliefs over this situation."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    "You stay your hand at your own peril." Mizuki would keep her eyes locked on Psyber's, her voice reaching him with perfect clarity through some unknown - and likely magical - device. "You should know well the nature of the crystalline dream I've brought with me. Its intent is to obliterate the physical feature of this world, and to assimilate it with mine. If left alone, it will be ready to do so in a matter of hours, drawing every remaining living being on this planet into my realm of influence. If you are not able to distance yourself in time, -you- will be included among this number." Her eyes would narrow. "... you all could fight your way out as you've done before, I'm sure, but there would be as little practical purpose in that as there would be in fighting now."

Faruja (152) has posed:
If this is how Mizuki expects the world to end, having destroyed a city like a conquering warlord and so many lives laid to rest?

Faruja cannot find it in himself to discount the possibility. The two, in many ways, are alike. He could well see himself in Mizuki's shoes, willing to shed blood and lives for the sake of that elusive dream of peace. After all, he has an advantage in body count in that regard already on Mizuki.

Faruja can't help but smirk bittery. So too would he dog her for attempting to implement such an insane idea of peace.

"Come now, my dear. Can you do nothing but retread old ground? Ye hath me at a disadvantage. If what ye say is true, then mayhaps they art so. Indeed. Mayhaps a full half of this place deserved the gallows."

And then his face hardens, zeal and fury entering his eye. There's another pulse of power. He knows what it is to be crushed.

"Ye art a poor Inquisitor if ye do naught but crush and maim. I thought better of ye. The pains inflicted upon mineself are irrelevant. Inevitable mayhaps. But not the act of one fit to judge men."

"Ye do not burn and slay to the last man. The entire point is to save souls. May this poor girl never again know such torment. However, ye hath the right of it. 'Evil'. As ye cannot justify this death, even with thine dream, then ye leave me nay choice but to cast ye down. Faram forgive both of our sins."

The rat doesn't move, until Mizuki leaves the side of her guardians.

The rat happens to love plays. He falls into the role of an actor naturally, though only in part.

Showing someone whose home was so burned away is not a good idea. Golden light, lingering power slowly gathers upon the rat. When he reappears in his teleportation before Mizuki, there is nothing but the sum of old wounds reopened, and knowing well the pain of the dead here.

The Burmecian opens his hand and simply tries to shove it straight into Mizuki's stomach. HIs free hand crushes a timepiece, and powerful time magic seeks to freeze the woman in place before he teleports higher. He floats on a cushion of magic, staring down like a judge on high.

Then he lets /go/, and that infinitely small, yet impossibly dense ball of gravity magic explodes should Mizuki not manage to ward away his Banish spell, the resulting black hole seeking to consume the woman.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    "More powerful with Psyber? Hn. I don't know about that. I guess it's true, in a way. It has been a while since I've truly put effort into stopping something and he wasn't present, so I see how you could get that impression," Homura answers, outstretching one hand. A quick, simple purple flame washes over her from one foot to the opposite hand, burning her clothes into her magical girl outfit instead. In her outstretched hand, the holy blade Tyrfing appears, the purple, thunderbolt-ish shaped sword already arcing with electricity.

    "However."

    "I feel no particular need to justify or explain myself to you, as you are not yourself at the moment. But then that is why you asked us to come. I do not have to aim at you to harm you in these circumstances, either."

    The swordtip is pointed at the shielded device. Homura has no intention to aim at Mizuki or her guardians, that much is true. She is aiming at the device, unleashing a powerful discharge of purple, holy lightning towards the crystal. It isn't enough to threaten the machine yet-- but surely it would be foolish to give Homura a blank check to keep hitting it. They'll have to expend magic or health to protect it, and it should create openings for others to abuse.

    Others with stronger, more meaningful words to say.
    She was never really one for speeches. Not good at it.

Priscilla has posed:
    This is a little much to take in. Priscilla needs a few moments to sort this new narrative out. To the best of her reason, in this 'timeline', Mizuki has already sorted out the cycle of oblivion and recreation, but she is unhappy with her Creation. She rules over it as a god, and now decides who lives and who dies. She's become deeply embittered over some conflict in the past with the people present, due to some kind of schism in ideology, likely stemming from disapproval in her way of running her world, and what kind of person she's become. Psyber has broken off relations with her after trying his hardest to reach her, and has finally decided to keep his distance, promising nothing but a fight should they ever meet again, which seems strangely in character for him. Homura has done something of the same, having apparently sided with Psyber, which also seems likely. Faruja has tried and failed to reach her in past, but she seems to harbour no real animosity for him, as it is doubtful he could ever raise a sword against her. Kimiko is somewhere in the neutral zone, likely having removed herself from the conflict. Eryl had sided with her in past, giving himself over in full to supporting her no matter what, further confirming some level of plausibility. Arthur swearing neutrality seems strangely unlikely however. And as for herself, Priscilla has apparently taken Mizuki's side, but distanced herself from the conflict. Unfortunately, from what Mizuki describes, Priscilla can actually imagine herself doing so with some persuasion.

    The puzzle finally clicks together. Mizuki either hasn't, or hasn't limited herself to, being a tyrant over her realm. She is actively subsuming other worlds into hers, so she may dictate how they exist. This is something that doesn't especially evoke an ideological reaction from Priscilla one way or the other, but imagining what changes must have come over Mizuki for her to want such a thing suddenly makes her feel sick. At Faruja taking offensive action, she readies her scythe, steeling herself with the idea that this Mizuki, this Callia, and this Palora, are completely illusory, but some unbidden fear that harming this shadow would hurt the real Mizuki, supposedly some part of the book, as well. He hesitates to act, torn at the unthinkable consequence of harming the girl she cares for. She finally voices her concern, looking warily to those gathered around her. "Art we truly sure this is not some part of Lady Mizuki herself, rather than such a simple illusion?" She desperately hopes someone has a firm, definitive answer. She can't make a movement otherwise.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    The second Faruja enters that spreading barrier around the crystal, he feels as though he had been transported back to Mizuki's world. In fact, it looks like it too -- for those brief several moments, the seas of flame are transformed back into their rightful blades of grass. They sway with the breeze, and in the moment that his fist makes contact with Mizuki's abdomen, it's as though all he had heard her say moments ago was but a dream within a dream. He might even wonder why he had struck her in the instant before he arcs upward and out, leaving Mizuki frozen in time, but he would likely remember just in time to see the black hole explode.

    She is not consumed, though her only saving grace is her own wield over time. She would come unglued literal milliseconds before he would release his grip, giving her just enough time to dive out of its way. The explosion of gravity and magia would still leave her with copious amounts of azure flecks swirling about her - those telltale signs of her wounding - but unusually, some regain their color and return to her. It's as though the small sphere they find themselves in is actively replenishing her, somehow.

    Next he looks, though, Mizuki would be right in front of him, attempting a flurry of strikes at his sides, his arms, his legs. Her gestures are as crazed and unfocused as the words that soon emerge from her mouth. "Can you not see the beauty in this, Faruja? Once the entire world is caught in this veil, all this suffering will become immaterial. We trade moments of suffering for an eternity of bliss. I'll alter language so that crude concept cannot be expressed, I'll alter the mind so that it cannot become tired of the tranquility..."

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko falters--no survivors? About to join Arthur, below, she instead stares at this particular incarnation of Mizuki. There is some confusion, here, but it isn't Kimiko's, and she'll leave it to others to remedy. Her gaze is hard and measuring--but this, at least, is unlikely to either surprise or confuse, if she's here remembered as an enemy. Her hostility may be far colder than Faruja's, but she does not shirk in offering it, under circumstances such as this, where speech is unwanted, and even claimed to be useless. If she is remembered otherwise... but to her, that doesn't really matter. She IS hostile.

    And yet, she holds. This Mizuki claims that words will not reach her, but that was in a former narrative. That's an unfitted background. Kimiko stands at Psyber's side and waits, with her right arm held across her waist, as if to draw a sword that is not yet there. She waits, and she hears the response.

    "So. There are yet survivors."

    Independently, she reaches a similar choice of action to Homura. With a burning flash, her clothing is replaced, her appearance transformed, and her will to act made evident. She leaps from the ledge, straight into the air, and lands her foot against a small, shining-silver spell circle. She continues forward without loss of momentum, another circle appearing beneath each step. Had she wings, she would have a more effective means of reaching a target high in the air, but this is all she can manage on her own.

    Her target is the crystal. Specifically, that apparatus rotating about it. If she reaches it unhindered, she'll summon one lance after another to jam between the rings, but she expects a more likely result of being intercepted during her precipitous advance.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is trying to not think about the chaos and destruction this is not only a possible fate of a world, but the fate of someone's mind as well. Given what the hunter capture drone had partially done to do. She's gained a bit more of an understanding of Mizuki's own personal issues. She was going to make for the city however it seems something else is planned more or less. She has a feeling this this really is the end of the world as they now face down the arrival.

Kotone sees the Crystla and gets their friend is going ot be busy with that, however she does get some ideas if this is going to end up being a fight. She would get at this point whatever is going on here she's been utterly overlooked and perhaps she can put that to uuse however. She's not about to attack yet after all Psyber is making use of words but she does generate those metalli blade like wings she's ofuen using here so she has some form of good defence, at least while she's near the crystal she has no idea if they will hold if she leaves it's effect but for now she's got something.

"We shouldn't waste anymore time. If we didn't think yoiu were worth helping we wouldn't be here now would we? I know I'm worth about nothing in the multiverse but I'm not exactly zero and I do intend to do what I can. Kimiko! I'm with you!"

She now leaps after Kimiko and takes to the air using the strange wings to fly, she's going to come under attack she very well suspects and well she's going to try to get on the evasive. If she's able to get there in some wort of workable shape she's going to start using those wings as wepons to try and go after the Crystal much in the same fashion as Kimiko has.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva gets no answer, and she slumps, turning to listen intently to the responses from the Mizuki figure. She holds a blade and stands in judgement, a wrathful god over her own creation. She speaks to each of these people in turn. and Riva listens, considering each in turn. As she learns of the general situation, the way that people have had their relations established, and what is to be, she realizes something.

She wasn't spoken to.

She's not part of the narrative. Her abilities, her nature, and her relationship have not been extrapolated out.

And if that's the case, then this means she has options. She looks up at a house, partially on fire but with a handy fire escape. She launches herself upwards, quickly climbing the side of it while trailing faint gleams of Anima behind her. With a grunt of effort, she flips on top of the peaked building, and calls out. "Halt this travesty this instant! This isn't the Mizuki I know at all!" She points dramatically.

"You cannot justify this action, nott with a sham of an argument like that, and you never will! Release the true Mizuki at once!"

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl just quietly assimilates information as Mizuki addresses everyone. It seems that this is a future in which Mizuki has been doing this kind of thing for quite some time. Psyber has opposed her in these acts, and Faruja had attempted to talk her out of it. But what follows stuns him so greatly that Original Face actually fails to process it.

     He... joined her? His eyes look down at the burning city, fear and revulsion churning in his stomach. He would never consent to this, would he? Mass murder and destruction of centuries of work? He actually feels a little nauseous at the thought, for the first time in 108 years. Fiercely shaking his head, he pushes such ideas from his mind and answers.

     "Miss Mizuki. Look at what you have wrought." He indicates the flaming city once more, his face steely. "Eradication of so much time and effort. Lives taken so indiscriminately. Perhaps the inhabitants had sinned, but to take their lives without giving them a chance to be better? I expected more of you."

     He places his hands on his hips and gives a small sigh. "Why did it come to this?" He just feels kind of tired at this point, the idea that he would ever be party to what happened below... "... this will not come to pass. I will not let it. Miss Mizuki, Miss Callia, Miss Palora, please. Just end this, or at least allow us to stop it. I don't want to come to blows against any of you, but I will if I must."

     He points up at them, the gesture obviously meant as a threat, face torn and saddened.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    At the sight of the oncoming lightning from Homura, Palora would charge. She would jump to and fro in the air and leave doubles in her path with intent to confuse, though this would not last long before she simply begins throwing down a hail of icy spears at the girl. They're not meant to do a lot of real harm -- just to get her to move. If this doesn't work, she would close in, threatening to slash across her the girl's stomach with her scythe. With an odd sort of calm, the girl would brandish her usual smile after whatever exchange occurs. "You guys are actin' really weird today, you know?" She widens her grin. "But, whatevs. We've won four times and lost four times. I aim to tip the scale in our favor with this one. And, you know? I'm really psyched to fight you and red-hair. Mizuki's kinda scared of you guys. And I like scary people."

Faruja (152) has posed:
Faruja's gaze widens, his mind momentarily freed of those bindings, those narrative thoughts foisted upon him. Only his inner demons, and the words that Mizuki offers him as she phases back into time and the sphere begins to heal her does the rat finally /remember/.

Burning cities. He can remember that in the best of dreams, and worst of nightmares. Mizuki's blows are frightening to behold. The rat draws canesword at the last moment, his own sword skills a horrid match for Mizuki's far superior abilities. The edge he /does/ have is a lifetime of hunting heretics and having people try to stab him.

Violence is a way of life for the rodent, at times. A strike to his side is met with his blade clumsily. His legs are pierced, right at the knee, at his wound. Hands go up, barely able to defend and take the strikes on metal beneath silken clothes of his armor. Even then, he bleeds, and he grunts in pain.

"Beauty?" The rat hmph's.

"We suffer of our sins, Mizuki! Doth ye truly believe that bringing all into a mere dream shall end this all!?" That waning golden light builds. Inner power waxes even as his conviction grows. Those clumsy defending strikes do not gain in skill, but they grow in increasing fury.

And then the rodent simply attempts to punch his fellow Time Mage right in the face as if he were in Lindblum's pub.

"COME OFF IT!" He even manages the local dialect pretty well as he tries to slam that gauntleted fist into her.

"That is our difference, my friend." The fury halts for one moment. There is suffering in his eye. He hates that he has to end her.

"Ye wish to cover the worlds in thine dream and devour that reality. I wish to turn mine reality into that dream. Wake up, mine friend. Please. By God, ye know I would do aught to share a table with thee once more."

"Wake up. OR BE CUT DOWN BY THE FURY OF GOD!"

Faruja lets go of the building power, his gaze once more wrathful as golden wings burn into existance upon his back. The four ethereal limbs carry him aloft as he exudes an aura of the purest, most concentrated holy magics. The force alone may well be enough to toss Mizuki out of her healing sphere of her own world.

The gold-skinned Esper of Earth that arises at but a mere wave of the rat's hand as his Trance settles upon him, holy strength only furthering the Earth-esper's power and muscle as he seeks to grab, and slam Mizuki in holy-infused hands, straight through her own world. If she remains in this healing sphere, even with his current power, he would eventually be overcome. He /has/ to alert the others to the sphere's purpose.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    To Priscilla first, Psyber reacts. The half-angel looks towards her and says, "You may be correct. As any iteration of Heaven we experienced was a projection of our own psyche to some degree, this too could be some manifestation of Mizuki's inherent traumas and feelings. This is not an impossible conclusion and has a high likelihood of being correct."

    Towards Mizuki, Psyber still makes no action to take against her or the crystal. Others are making their choices and taking action in his stead, leaving him to stay behind and simply engage in discourse, "The crystal and the outcome of this excursion will be functionally meaningless. I likewise refuse to play into a pre-written narrative in relation to this world."

    He doesn't have much else to say about that, and is more or less just kind of watching things play out.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur's pale and shocked and strained in his voice and expression. Comprehension has hit him like a ton of bricks, slamming his swaggering confidence to a halt. His hands ball into fists, his eyes cast down, and his expression goes grim. "Mizuki." His voice gets strained. "You know why. You know why I hated bringing death on such... Huge swathes of the Quiet World." His teeth grit intensely. "It's not our place. Not for gods like us. We don't smite whole worlds. We don't bring death on cities. Fire and brimstone and pillars of salt and floods are /bullshit/ ways of dealing with this." This has struck a bad chord with Arthur Lowell.

    "I don't know what agreement I swore in this or what I thought before, but this is wrong." Arthur can't bring himself to really hate Mizuki or anything like that. But this scenario has wounded him fairly close to the heart, and he's not able to NOT take action! He has to focus on the number, the practical matter of how exactly it is that they're going to deal with the matter of the number. There's two immediately obvious options. The crystal -- which other people are dealing with -- and the Future False Mizuki.

    With a... mildly distraught tone, he speaks up to Priscilla, on the side. "Does it matter?" He says. "Everyone's got their horrible shades. You saw mine. No damn grudges for Mizuki, no matter what this is. But this..." His clenched fists go white-knuckle. "Don't hold back. But I'm pretty sure it's not an illusion."

    The others are going after the crystal. It gives Arthur the perfect justification to go after a personification of what he has such an intense and horrible complex about. His BATTLE BROOM is suddenly in one hand, and blasting off, towards Mizuki, with Arthur yelling aggressively! When he arrives, it'll be in a flurry of blunt, metal-bristled strikes, unless intercepted, but Palora seems busy elsewhere. His strikes are rapid and full of distorted, dysfunctional emotional energy, but they're done in tandem with Faruja's assault; he's trying to keep up with Mizuki if she gets tossed around and he'll try to keep her from avoiding the grab or getting back into the sphere with his frantic swings.

Priscilla has posed:
    With only Psyber's half-answer forthcoming, Priscilla is wracked with a moment's indecision, before Homura makes her move. It wouldn't resolve this conflict with Mizuki, but it seems like an obvious way to at least make her back off. Something she feels shocked to have not thought of, so preoccupied with her inner conflict. While Faruja keeps her busy and Homura fighting Palora, Priscilla uses the confusion to quickly turn invisible, sprinting through the grass to gain enough distance that pinpointing her location should be next to impossible. Invisibly, she dismisses her scythe and summons the sword Moonlight, clutching it tightly as she nears the cliff's edge once more.

    She draws the blade in a stately fashion above her head, taking a deep breath to concentrate as she gathers her energy, pouring the power of her soul into the weapon's length. A soft, blue-white glow shrouds the grass and stone around her, like a faint haze of snowy mist under the light of the moon. When sufficient soulmass has gathered, she swings the blade down in a lightning swift arc, cleaving empty air. From her location issues forth a conjured blade of pure spiritual energy, racing through the air like a gunshot towards the barrier, hopefully splitting through it before impacting one of the crystal's rings and exploding into a howling tempest of volatile magic.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki and Palora are both occupied, leaving the path to the crystal completely open to Kimiko and Kotone. However, as they arrive in the barrier, their aperture into the world would suddenly change. As it happened with Faruja, the land would change, and the flames would disappear. All would be placid as they approach their target, but perhaps too much so -- so much as to be disarming. Still, Homura's lightning would come rushing forth, breaking a large hole in the barrier that Mizuki had placed around it earlier. The shield itself would flail apart, its lengths lashing out like spiked whips at both Kotone and Kimiko, before quickly recombining. Still, this would likely not keep her from her target entirely. The lance she summons would slip through the hole Homura created, jabbing through the silver gyrus about the crystal. It breaks, but the leftovers pieces continue to levitate around the crystal, and the barbs surrounding it would respond immediately. In the blink of an eye they would close around her wrist if she is unable to respond quickly enough, sinking their spines into her and threatening to keep her in place. Likewise, the guard-whips would continue assaulting Kotone as long as she remains within their range.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Palora, assuming she's allowed to do so by circumstance, would retreat from Homura, moving to Eryl. She would attempt to cut his stomach as she zooms past, stopping at the end of her dash to face the man more fully. "Y'know, I always hated you, pretty boy." She would point her scythe in his direction, twirling it about as she speaks on. "You made Mimi more 'peaceful'. An' unlike her, I don't think there's anythin' good about that. We get shit /done/ when you're not around us to yell at us to be 'fair' and give shit time to happen. I mean, seriously." Her hand would roll in an oratory fashion. "If any of this could be fixed with time, why hasn't it been already? You've got all these worlds in the Multiverse an' not one of 'em is free of bad things. And the ones that are pretty good get polluted by worlds that suck! So why can't we just, like, cut off the bad organs, huh? Why can't we just destroy the bad worlds? There's no point in saving those, 'specially when, after they're gone, it's like they never existed at all." She would widen her smirk further. "No use in mourning something that never was, hey?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Ktone gets confused for a moment as evehthing seems to change. The land change the carnage vanishe and things are placid very placid she's not sure what the heck to make of it for a momenht hs's confusd but then comes Homura's action which seems to help he focus and then come the spike she's just barely able to dofge them or otherwise use her wing blad to parry the attack.

"No I'm not done here."

She will strike out again.

"I will not let this happen and nore will I let you do this for your own sake!"

Sye yells even as the whips keep comming she keeps trying to fight them and maybe if she's lucky slip a hit ot two in on the crystal. Hopefully she'll be a good distraction for Kimiko who seem to have a plan. Either way Kotone is proving to be a very stubborn girl today.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    From her position in front of Eryl, she would look to Riva. "Would you shut the hell up already?!" She would sneer, spitting out a toothpick that had previously been held between her teeth. "Seriously, all the people that died were idiots. /Animals/. People who were totally controlled by the 'cycles' that Mimi talks about so much. How do you save somebody like that? There's just as much of a chance of them fuckin' you up and making you think like them as there is of you helping! Why would you even bother?" Her scythe would point to her, next. "It's not like Mimi /wants/ to kill people. I mean, I do, but that's my thing. She just wants to get rid of what she has to so she can build the perfect mind. It's not easy, you know? She doesn't just wanna make the perfect world -- she wants to make the perfect mind to play around in that world, too."

    Then she shouts on about the 'true Mizuki'. Peh. "... you must not know her very well if ya think this isn't the 'true Mizuki', girl. Or you might just be really, really stupid."

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Homura is attacked by Palora-- the icy spears are only narrowly avoided through a series of backflips and side-strafes, but it means she plays right into the scythe-wielder's hand. The blade cuts through the Puella Magi's clothes and draw blood underneath-- not cutting so deep she'll have to worry about things leaving her body, but deep enough it's an uncomfortable red line right across her stomach.

    She is smiling, though, despite the obvious fact she's forcing herself to do so through the pain. "Have you forgotten what I can do already?"

    Palora has moved on to Eryl-- Homura's sword has been planted into the ground, her large black bow produced instead. She lets loose a dozen purple-ish arrows of light towards the girl to try and cut Eryl some slack-- and to keep Palora occupied. Occupied why?

    A surge of temporal magic ripples out from her-- and the lightning bolt from earlier rewinds and repeats itself, from the same angle and position, with the same amount of force. Again and again-- once for every time anyone tries to strike the crystal, to keep the barrier thoroughly occupied.

    As for not fighting-- she would answer Psyber, but is a bit busy right now. It comes down to 'they obviously won't back down, but breaking that thing will force them to'. It seems a safer bet than just talking, but distracting them while they talk is fine too.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Faruja's fist would pummel her. She would recoil, doing an airborn soumersault back and gripping the region of her stomach that had been impacted. She would glance up just in time to witness the holy explosion that comes as Faruja transforms, sending her hurtling back, just out of the sphere of influence. In this moment, Callia would glance toward her, speeding the growth of the sphere for an instant -- just long enough for its distance to encapsulate her again. She would just have gotten her bearings and redrawn her sword when the hands would threaten to smash her down. She's mostly helpless against an attack of this magnitude, but not completely. She would hold her sword out against his hand, making another materialize in the opposite with the power of dreams so that, when they slam her, they're each impaled by the blades in kind.

    Still, Faruja would be able to do what he sought to, pressing her into the blazing ground of the city. The world would flicker for everyone in that instant, giving way to television-esque static that blurs everything in sight. In that time, though, Mizuki would rise, rushing on crooked wings back to her sphere. She's in bad shape, but if she can just get back...

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Sudden changes of location that alter reality on fundamental levels are something in which Kimiko has some experience. This is not to say that she's used to it, as it's not really something anyone can 'become used to.' However, she does not allow it to distract her from her mission. She accepts no false peace.

    Her armor is summoned in response to each attack, soon covering her body even as slivers of it are shorn off in screeching tears by the assault against her. Her mobility is limited in this mode, as she can only leap from summoned surface to summoned surface. Her hands are occupied with the important task of striking the crystal device, and she has little with which to defend herself.

    In truth, 'defending herself' was never her greatest strength. She has too little focus upon that goal. This is made all the more apparent when she momentarily breaches that barrier, as she does not retract her hand. She pushes in. She only has to get inside.

    "Useless," comes out a muttered breath. At what, Kimiko does not clarify.

    The armor over her bound wrist doubles and strengthens. If the lattice attempts only to bind her, it won't matter, but this will buy her time should it attempt to do more. As it must, if it wants to truly halt her. At the tips of her fingers, within that shield, silver light flares for several moments as a chain in clutched in her hand, its ends ignoring gravity as they grow, instead looping to try to encircle the crystal, as well as the rings surrounding it. Encircle, and bind, and then be used as a summoning point for the attack that follows. In rapid bursts, knives and arrows, sickles and hammers, swords and flanged maces are summoned with force, each individual attack weak for its awkward positioning from the girl summoning it, and each weapon sure to shatter into pieces upon contact--but also to explode with the force of the magic with which they're summoned.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl is conflicted, tortured by what is happening. But he is not so distracted that Palora can get a clean hit on him. Quickly stepping back, he avoids the slash, with only a tiny tear to show for it. Right, now that there is an immediate threat, he has something to focus on.

     "You think people exist in a vacuum, that morals and beliefs spontaneously form? Nonsense. Given time, anyone can change, but in settings where immorality and cruelty are rampant, how can you expect anyone to become moral and kind? People create a society, and the society influences the people. By changing society, you change the people."

     He steps forward, face cool and impassive as he regards Palora like he would an ant. "That is why I campaign for the slower method. Because everyone deserves a chance. After all, you got one didn't you? Miss Mizuki gave you one, which is why you are now one of her Seekers. But you would deny everyone else a similar chance? If so, you are just as selfish and cruel as you claim they were." He indicates the burning city once more.

     "In fact... you live in an idealistic universe, that I would call near-utopian. You spend time with peaceful sorts, and yet you still seek only blood and carnage. I think that speaks volumes of you. You are likely even worse than those you killed. Because you have the environment, the support to become kinder... and you have not."

     Eryl is done talking here. He has a lot of complicated emotions to vent, and Palora just painted herself a big target for all of them. He points both his index fingers at her and fires all fourteen shots, scattering some to make dodging a little more complicated.

Faruja (152) has posed:
And then he's joined by Arthur. Faruja's imperious look doesn't soften, but there's a deeply respectful nod to the man as he uses his Battle Broom (!?) to fend off Mizuki's strikes. He keys up his linkshell, blasting a swift message to the man.

"Be wary, Ser Lowell! This sphere seems to be part of her world. It seems she intends to devour this one with her own world of dreams. We must make her quit this place, and dismantle it. It heals her, and we shall be overwhelmed shouldst she remain here. Nevermind her powers. We must alert the others." Speaks the rat in the linkshell burst.

Even Titan's holy-infused skin cannot take the strikes of Mizuki's blade. No blood comes from the magic-fueled esper, only whisps of golden energy that would feel the very same as that amplified magic of the Inquisitors. But she's tossed away, only for the sphere to expand. Titan doesn't move, the rat nodding to the spirit before he too stepping outside of the sphere. Only then does he face the powerful time magic of his old friend's.

Only reflex and some small manner of resistance allows him to shatter a time piece in turn, magic clashing against magic. His own loses, until it shrinks to just around his own body. But it's enough to keep him from being utterly stilled. Though glacially slow by Mizuki's own speed, it now takes but a moment.

Summoners almost as a rule cannot hold but one Summon. Many have tried, and almost all have died or went insnae from the sheer strain upon soul and mind. But his Trance not only grants him holiness, but the power to utilize all that he has Pacted. A golden-scaled Bahamut fades into existance, and quite simply tries to batter down the flying time magess with its claws and wings. Then he transmits to the others.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Priscilla's sword looses a powerful shockwave. Homura's lightning begins to travel, continually and without ceasing, toward the barrier. Mizuki, likely just returning to the barrier, would react to this with all the horror she can express with her small form. She would hold up a hand, calling forth a seemingly endless stream of butterflies that collect around the barrier. Flecks of azure fly off of her more quickly than they can return, and soon she's fighting to hold back screams, but nevertheless she would persist. Each line of butterflies would form a new barrier, and another, and another, isolating her, Kimiko, and Kotone from the larger world and even the outermost reaches of the crystal's sphere. Each one would be battered until they are completely destroyed by a combination of Homura's and Priscilla's strikes, but when again the innermost barrier is accessible for them, Mizuki would not move.

    She would hold her ground. Several of Homura's lightning bolts assail Mizuki's form. She takes one. Then another. Then another. Each impact would cause yet another flicker of the world until, finally, Mizuki is sent flying to the ground. Her form is smoking. She's completely immobile.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    By the time Arthur arrives, the Mizuki his attacks collide with would have no method with which to resist. She's pummeled like a ragdoll, his strikes bearing into her with all their intended strength and then some considering her present vulnerability. More of those colored flecks come off of her, but they're getting increasingly more dim -- so dim that they can barely be seen as blue any longer.

    Inconveniently, though, she would be thrown back into the barrier by these strikes, giving Callia just enough time to 'catch' her. Mizuki's body teeters on the brink of consciousness there, slowly regenerating unless anyone interferes further.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva slumps a little bit as Palora answers her challenge, calling out and justifying Mizuki's actions. "How do you save someone like that..." She looks down and away, staring into the flames. "What you said they were doing... It was not right. You're correct in that much. But... Palora, what does this accomplish? It is just obliteration. This is the path of conquerers and tyrants. 'Those people are different. They do something I do not agree with, and they are evil. Come, let us work to force them to believe in the proper path.' Isn't that what you are saying we should do?"

Riva does not produce her guns. She is already marshalling her weapon, and it isn't bullets. He clenches her fists. "You think I don't know about Mizuki? Let me tell you about her." She begins ticking off on her hand. "Mizuki is a woman who is unsure of her place in her world and all others. She loves a gloudy autumn day before a warm fire, with tea and books to curl up with on a comfy couch. She is often formal and proper, using her demeanor as both a window to look out upon the world as well as a wall to protect her from the dangers around her. The Multiverse is a strange and chaotic place, and you never know what might happen next, What the next person who might be encountered might be like? Who can you trust?"

She turns away and gestures to the others. "But Mizuki has found a lot of good friends, people who care about her, who want to help her find a path through the problems that assail her. Even this one!" She proclaims, gesturing into the flames. "We are here for her, and always have been, and always will. Sure, we might not always agree, but isn't any story better with a little peer review and editing?"

Finally, Riva thrusts a finger forward. "And finally, I know this isn't the real Mizuki... Because Mizuki, above all, is an author. And an author, like any artistic pursuit, has to love their creation, has to learn to love the world around them, or their creations will be hollow and barren. LOOK AT THIS!" She throws her arms open. "Where is the love in this? Where is the empathy and understanding? This is nothing of the kind! This is hatred! This is wrath and intolerance! How can you lead anything or anyone to heaven when you stain your hands with blood and filth?"

She lowers her hand. "And this is why this is not the true Mizuki. Because she does not love her creations... And she does not love herself. The true Mizuki would know better, in her heart, even if might deny it now and then."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Kotone batters the crystal twice before the ahead of her would dent, sending several barbed whips down at her. Each would wrap around her arms, and legs, attempting to keep her stationary, but she can tell that she's put several cracks in the surface of the crystal. The thing seems pretty fragile once you get through to it -- it's just the defense mechanisms that you really have to worry about.

    For Kimiko, the medieval weapons that appear would have even greater success in their task. One after the other, they would collide with the sphere, putting more and more cracks in it until, finally, pieces of it begin to fall off. The sphere of influence would retract visibly as this happens, and Callia, still watching from her position, would shift her priorities. What 'arms' of the barrier are not already committed to restraining Kotone would suddenly begin to lash out at Kimiko in full force, repeated jabbing at her with intent to break through her armor. Others would simply flail madly, attempting to both do her harm while also obscuring her vision and focus.

Priscilla has posed:
    Priscilla does not seem dissuaded by the additional barriers. If anything, she is galvanized by the additional ways she has to go before breaking that crystal. The knowledge that her companions are fighting Mizuki, and in doing so, hurting her, tugs at both her heart and mind, but there is likely nothing she can do to convince them to stop, and even if she did, there's no telling in what Mizuki would take advantage of the situation. She sets to her task with a single minded determination, swinging her blade in arc after arc, flowing from shoulder to hip to shoulder in sweeping succession, each movement launching a new blade of soul magic. She swings at the fastest her body will allow her to, attempting to overwhelm the barrier imprisoning Kimiko and Kotone, sever the binds that hold them, and to detonate their explosive power against the crystalline world-eater.

    Only once she has completely expended her spiritual energy, and the limits of her inadequate physical stamina, does she turn to check up on the battle. Seeing Mizuki beaten so badly, her expression reflects a flicker of shock, and more worry than is healthy. Without thinking, she rushes over to the girl's side, interposing herself between Callia and Mizuki, and Faruja and Arthur, holding her arms out to her sides. "That is enough. I will not tolerate any further risk to Lady Mizuki's safety."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Palora would do okay dodging Homura's arrows for a while, but she can only keep this up for so long before two collide. One jams itself in her shoulder-blade and another sinks deep into her stomach, forcing that smug look of hers to bend in agony. She would be preparing to charge at Homura again, but before she can, she's interrupted by Eryl. The first pair of explosive shots would hit directly. Countless numbers of fuschia sparks trail behind her as she spins through the air into another bomb, and another, and another. Eventually this would send her flying back where it seems she's poised to fall to Earth, but she would get her bearings just in time to look at Eryl again.

    Her forehead is caked in blood.

    "Because I'm not a 'Seeker', you idiot." She would cough, wiping her mouth with a sleeve. "... I'm her ID. I'm the childish side that you get when you take away Callia. I -enjoy- killing people who deserve to be killed. I'm -supposed- to be a bad person. But, you know? You were wrong about the other thing, too: I wasn't given any chances at all. The second I came into existence she hated me. You think she's just playing when she bitches at me on the radio? No. No, she's not." She would heft her scythe. "Do you think I -care- about being hypocritical? No, I don't. I know Mizuki's a gigantic goddamn paradox." She would bar her teeth in attempt to smile. "... the point is that I. Don'. Freakin'. Care."

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "WAKE UP." Arthur says, tensely, his voice a bit torn by some heavy emotional wounding. The harsh phrasing is accentuated by the sudden roar of the blender in his broom churning. "You know how wrong this is. You can't just do this! You burn enough todays for a brighter tomorrow and /all you're going to have/--" His broom sputters to a stop when Priscilla interposes herself between him and Mizuki. He remains still for a moment and then grinds his teeth. "Fine." He says. He swipes his broom aggressively now and blasts off anew! This time, heading to... Kimiko!

    "ASSISTANCE INCOMING." He calls out, blasting in from behind! All his accumulated frustration gets vented into the arms that lash out at Kimiko as he dash-rockets back and forth across the line of fire between the crystal and Kimiko, swiping at the barrier as hard as he can. Assuming, of course, neither "Seeker" interrupts him.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    The moment Mizuki goes down, the lightning bolts stop looping. It is far, far too much strain on Homura to keep that going for long. Looping like that isn't quite a talent yet, it's more a clumsy thing she figured out watching Vruasa's bullshit a lot. It's inefficient, poorly thrown together, but at least it works. One could have noticed her pink wings darkening a bit with every bolt, although now it's calmed.

    And Palora goes down too-- so the arrow storm ends.

    Homura sighs, dismissing the bow to put a hand over her bleeding stomach. It's no bandage but it'll do for now. She'll admit; she doesn't know Mizuki quite as well as these people. Nor does she know all that much about the two guardians and what they represent.

    To that end, it is a lot easier to settle by Eryl's side, and let him handle the speaking. He seems to have this down, and he knows what he's talking about. But she can ask a question, at least.

    "And where do you think Mizuki would be now, if not for you? Do you think she would be further ahead in life, or further back? I may not know you all well enough to judge, but from the way you interact, I feel it is the latter. You are essential to her. But to express those feelings like you are, it is fairly obvious you are more than just a facet of her. A simple facet would lack the capacity to dislike its position and treatment."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki would gently begin to right herself as she regains the energy to move. She does so in just enough time to see Priscilla guarding her, arms outstretched. Her eyesight is somewhat foggy at the moment, but if she's still willing to guard her after all those accusations, all that anger, all that poison... she really won't quite know what to say. But she hears Psyber's voice, too, and in her delirium it's all she can presently fathom a response to. So, in the quiet rasp that her current quantities of energy afford her, she calls back. "What in Creation do you mean functionally meaningless? It's not as though this is some sort of simulation, or..." Her eyes widen.

    Something might click, but one wouldn't be able to tell for sure. At the very least, she remains still for the moment.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is still not the most experianced fighter in the multivese and she may leave her self open bug she's learned to never run off alone, which is par tod why she's moved to ssupport Kimiko whose far more experianced than she is, so far as she's aware of. Still she's lerned to use these wing blades pretyt well and she's not well ended up falling yet but who knows how long she can last. Even as those closer to Mizuki attemnps the epic war of words she attempts her own battle here.

She score a hit but ther'es a praice the whipe do get a hold of her her wings kleep flailing at it as she tries to get dree but who knows how hard it's going to be to get lose.

"I could use some help here!"

HEr wing blades might be able ot get her free but it could take a mone and well this hurts a heck of a lot too.

"I ... won't ... fail Mizuki here not here, not NOW!"

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Lashing or cutting she'd prepared for, but jabbing with intent to pierce is more troublesome still. If Kimiko is cut, she can pull free. If she's stabbed while still bound, she's no method of escape. None, save one--but she has this vague feeling that someone is going to be upset if they learn she cut off her own arm to escape a death-trap she plunged knowingly into. Being worried over is troubling.

    Arthur's quick entry saves her from this dilemma, adding his weight to Kotone's and Priscilla's in breaking apart the barrier. It's enough that she can actually begin to wrench herself free, pulling at the bits of the shield still holding onto her, somewhat precariously as that is, in fact, the only thing holding her in the air, and she will otherwise drop like a crate of steel plates. Her only recourse against that is the same summoned, ephemeral platform she used to reach the crystal--which she now uses to launch herself at it.

    The defenses may lash and whip and stab, and draw their blood, but Kimiko refuses to let her momentum be denied, as she swings down a flat-ended, iron maul against the cracking crystal.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber has been here all along. Letting others do the fighting while he focuses on the talking part. There was no inordinately huge gap or incongruency in the timeline, shut up.

    When Mizuki responds to him, Psyber tilts his head to the side and says, "That is precisely what this is. I believe this is a manifestation of your perceived outcome as determined by still-forming opinions of those participant in the aid of your world." He monotones this evaluation and then places his hands in his pockets.

    "Others are making more valid emotional appeals and it seems my assessment that violence was an inappropriate way to enter into discourse with you was incorrect. I apologize for this mistake on my part and will adjust it in my future interactions," Psyber begins, continuing a moment later, "But please be aware that if you do not break this role you have found yourself thrust into, you will not have the psychological strength to defy this predicted outcome."

    He half-narrows his eyes. Others can fight, Psyber is being immensely indifferent towards combat and simply standing around. It's pretty useless if you really evaluate it.

    "Warned that his child would one day kill him, Laius abandoned his newborn son Oedipus to die, but Oedipus was found and raised by others. When he grew up, Oedipus was warned that he would kill his father and marry his mother. He left his home and travelled to Greece. There, he got into a fight with a stranger, his real father, killed him and married his widow, Oedipus' real mother."

    "You are presently engaged in a self-fulfilling prophecy that will be guided into actualization the more you adhere to your self-formed opinions. Please remedy your current psychological pitfall."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Palora would glance back and forth between Homura and Riva, but decides to respond more completely to the latter first. "... God, I really hate it when people like you are actually right. Yeah. Yeah, this is a side of her -- hating people who can't control themselves, wanting to save the people who are hurt by them -- but what she usually talks about is tea by the fire, beaches at nights when there's a full moon... that boring sort of shit." She would stare at her for a long while, eyes narrow, expression betraying some irritation, but ultimately? She would simply toss her scythe on to the cliff where it clatters to a halt. "... I don't care anymore. I'm a selfish bastard. And this selfish bastard is tired of being hurt for the time being, so I'm gonna call it a day."

    But not before Homura speaks up, apparently. As she speaks, her body would seem to lose what little energy it still has, and she would land on the ground slightly before her. Left fairly helpless on her back, she would simply reply, "Yeah. She thanks me every so often, too. She says things like, 'Thanks for helping me to not be like you', and stuff. I always thought she was being sarcastic, but maybe she was being serious. Still a pretty shitty thing to say to someone, though." Idly, she would let her arms fall to her sides. "... you people are really boring. Every last one of you. So. Freakin'. Boring."

    Her eyelids would close. "... but you know? There's something else Mimi used to say to me, and I think I get it now. She said that, if you're going to do something good but that people would hate you for, you should make them all hate you first. She said that it would be easier on them if they could just hate you, too, instead of having to fight through their tears. 'Parently she didn't try hard enough to make herself the bad guy, here."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl quickly scans the battlefield, seeing Priscilla in the distance protecting Mizuki. Palora is all but disabled due to the combined assault and has cast aside her weapon. Even so, Eryl takes the time to reload. The point where the blade of his hand and his wrist meet pushes out the clip for his 'One Hand Clapping,' which he exchanges for fresh ones from his coat pocket.

     He quickly regards Homura when she lands next to him, Original Face gauging her exhaustion, the directions she is most likely to fall if she collapses and the best way to catch her if so. Patiently, he listens to Palora as she rants about her nature, cursing it. He goes to answer...

     But, to his surprise, Homura basically takes the words from his mouth. He smiles, and nods along as she does. "Miss Akemi has the right of it. The id, as Mister Freud wrote, is a beast that cares not for what others think or feel. The very fact that you are upset with your nature, that you give even an iota of thought to the opinions of others shows you are more than that."

     His cold expressions shift to one of warmth. To be honest, he's still a little shaken by all this and angry and Palora. But that's the wonder of implants; he can suppress any expression of that. "So, though you said you hated me - and I can understand why, by the way. I can seem very wishy-washy and wait-and-see at times, - I do not feel the same towards you. I only wish my world had Unified sooner, so that I could have helped you. Helped everyone." He is... absolutely serious, despite all his heartache. It seemingly radiates from his every pore.

     Though, when she recites what Mizuki once told her, he sighs and shakes his head. "I disagree. It is a sad fact that people will disagree at times. But from conflict comes growth, compromise which can lead to new, better ideas. To make someone hate you is to make them utterly disregard anything you have to offer, no matter how wise or beneficial. Civil disagreement between those who respect each other is the ideal path."

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Homura shakes her head. "Perhaps Mizuki was right. Perhaps she was wrong. I admit I share her view. If you know you are going to do something that will turn your friends against you, and you do not wish to hurt them, it is best to engineer a situation that makes them no longer able to be hurt by your actions, so much as dislike them. On the other hand, that also ruins the surprise and all associated advantages." But that's from a strictly pragmatic point of view.

    "Whatever the case on that angle, I believe you need to focus on who you are. Are you happy with who and what you are? If you are not, you possess the capacity to change, for you are not some psychological facet given form but an autonomous being. If you are happy with who and what you are, then do not give others the pleasure of making you angry through their disapproval. But more importantly, I don't believe Mizuki is as good with words and honesty as she says she is. Perhaps you should have a long talk with her. About your place, purpose and future. About YOUR desires."

    She really wants some bandages right now. Something to cover the gash in her stomach. ... oh, wait. Purple flash, roll of bandages appears in her hand. Time to anime that shit and just wrap them over her clothes like it's the new style. Stop the bleeding until her regeneration kicks in.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    As Arthur slashes at the barrier, its attacks seem... sluggish. It's as if the mechanism guarding the crystal itself has become sluggish, as a sigh from Callia would indicate. As such, Arthur would be able to eviscerate the larger half of the barrier that remains with relatively little effort, freeing both Kotone and Kimiko, the latter of which would come armed. Her maul would collide seamlessly with what of the crystal remains, shattering it into pieces. Each shard would lose their shimmer, falling into the ruined city below. Likewise, the silver belt that once surrounded it would fall as well, bringing what remains of the crystal - and the barrier - to a very swift end.

    Callia's hands would fold neatly at her waist, and she would gently move to Mizuki's position. The lady would take her servant's hand and use it to help right herself. It does not seem like she'll be doing any more fighting this evening, but she probably has quite a lot to say. To that effect, she would look to Psyber first.

    "Oedipus." Her voice is extremely quiet. "I... am ashamed to admit that the majority of your allusions are lost on me, even if their intentions are not. But that... that tale is one that I know quite well." She would gingerly brush some hair out of her face. "In fact, do you recall the riddle of the sphinx...? That reflection on the human condition is only loosely applicable here, but it does remind me of the complexity of the human condition. How much people are capable of change, and how much of that majesty I must have disregarded by behaving as I have this evening." She would look to the ground now, morosely. "... I am cognisant of myself again now. But this is precisely why I apologized before you set foot here. It was because I knew of these preconceptions and how they would manifest." Her gaze would meander to Priscilla. "In short, though in the larger world they are inhibited by some sense, what you have seen this evening... this is a valid part of me. This hideous anger, this distinctly human hypocrisy... wracks my being nearly every day. And it is because of this imperfection that I would never be able to preside over the world I would wish to create."

    Her gaze would wander to the sky, now, where rain has begun to fall. She's likely made it so. "... this is why I revered you as an 'antihero', Psyber. I lust so after that characterization that I fashion stories about myself. I gloss over a childish urge to play a role with philosophy that is scrambled justification at best. That... is how callous I am. That I contemplate ending worlds, just to achieve my own ideals." Her eyes would close fast. "... this poison spreads so throughout me that I must contemplate whether everything that has transpired in my world thus far was something I orchestrated myself, long ago. Something I did to give myself a story in which I may play the primary role. And if that is the case..." She would let her head bow low, low to the ground, "then I am sorry. I lack the skill to say anything more impactful, but I am. Completely."

    In the wreckage of the crystal, a number can be found floating. Mizuki would certainly make no attempt to stop the others from taking it.

Faruja (152) has posed:
Faruja balks a moment as Priscilla actively defends their erstwhile opponent.

Then, his gaze narrows. The quiet woman has always been nearly impossible to read, even for someone so used to people as a preacher and Inquisitor. But if he's learned nothing else, that the woman always has her reasons. And God forbid he strike an ally. He's playing the wrong role for that in this play.

"Ye doth not strike me as one to be held down by our 'roles' as it were. She is an illusion, as the others were the previous book." The lingering wrath eases for a moment.

"Ye suspect something." A pause, and then a nod to the dragon woman.

A smile. "I shall trust in thine judgement, oh maiden of the lost and frozen. Back to playing the furious priest. Call if ye need assistance."

His cybernetic compatriot, speaking of, could use some help. Gone from the half-dragon in a flash of magic, the rat concentrates and focuses on the crystal as Arthur tries to free Kimiko as well. But by the time he's about to summon a meteor upon the grand crystal, it shatters. With that, he teleports back over to Mizuki as she awakens. That number is plucked, even as his wings and espers fade. It's offered as gently as a cup of tea. The rat smiles.

"Mine dear, ye art possessed of flaws that make ye remarkably as mortal as the rest of us, even with thine impressive age. Certain exceptions discounted." A smirk torwards Priscilla.

"When I said that I wouldst not judge ye this night, I meant it. Two sides of a coin we art so often, Lady Mizuki. Ye saw mine Heaven, didst ye not? Just /how/ exactly wouldst ye guess I managed such purification? Tea and biscuits?" A bitter chuckle.

"'Tis a path ye hath not yet walked on. Think, contemplate, turn inwards and /write/ with the utterly divine skill ye ever use. Be the storyteller and author ye art. Methinks tonight shall leave many of us with thoughts most dire, mineself included."

A nod. "Now let us get ye out of here. Ye needst recovery, ye owe me that aforementioned wine as well. Let us duel again some day. A true joy ye art to cross spell and blade with." With that, he takes off his cross, and places it about the authorial creature's neck with a smile, and a tossle of her hair.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    As her strike connects, and she feels the solidity of the impact and its results, Kimiko understands that a second blow is unnecessary. The maul is dropped, to disappear entirely, and her hand reaches out as she falls for that chain with which she'd earlier wrapped the crystal and its surrounding device. With that, she has the leverage needed pull herself to the fall ring, and then use it as a board from which to launch off of, all in the few moments in which she is descending.

    All of that was merely to reduce the effective height from which she must fall, as she continues to be one of the seemingly few people around who can't just fly wherever and whenever they want, not that she's jealous or anything. In any case, it occupies her time, and she has nothing in particular to say to Mizuki, even after landing and seeing that she's regained her true memory.

    What she could say would likely be neither kind nor helpful. She lacks something in skill or temperament to be kinder in speech than in silence.

    Other promised not to judge. She did not. The most she can do is withhold the words.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva nods to Palora. "The id, eh? I admit, I didn't really look at it that way." She hunches down next to Palora and looks between Homura and herself. She quirks an eyebrow. "It would take a hell of a situation to make me stop caring or being hurt by something like this. But then again, who knows, maybe I'm just a silly idiot."

She smiles to Palora. "But for now I'm going to continue being a silly idiot. Homura's definately right about you, though. You don't have to settle... And if you are her id, then your desires are super important. She needs you just as much as you need her, right?" She winks.

Priscilla has posed:
    "I am not certain what to say." Priscilla really isn't. "If this is truly how thou wouldst see thine own future, then thou hast an indescribably deep disrespect for thineself. I say once again. If anything these trials hath put us through were such a burden as for us to think so much less of thee, we wouldst not be here with thee now. Thou thinkest too little of thineself, and perhaps too little of us. These art not preconceptions. These are worries. Fears. Nightmares. I know in thine logical mind that thou wouldst not entertain such a thought. This is but a possible future, rather than the sole and single one thou expecteth."

    She goes a little quiet at the proclamation of Mizuki's adoration for the antihero stereotype, perhaps a little more guarded this time. "It is not unnatural for any of us to imagine what we wouldst do if given the opportunity to resolve things through the simplest path. It is always easy to fantasize that a problem may be fixed by asserting dominance over others, or else removing them shouldst they be problematic. Pragmatism doth not an antihero make. The word 'hero' remains in the title for the reason that one hast the sense to realize when these thoughts shouldst be restrained. I believeth thee a good and intelligent enough person, especially if the hypocrisy of it is already apparent to thee."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Palora would continue to glance back and forth between Eryl and Homura. Once they both finish, she would give a deep, deep sigh, this time responding to Homura first. "No, she's not that great with words, and she's completely shit with honesty. You weren't here when she had people read that book, but that one about the girl and the seagull? That freakin' /sucked/. The loud kid has more evidence than anyone about that, though, so I'll just let you ask him." She would pause for a while before addressing things of greater relevance. "... but, she's not really that bad. I think being in this angry damn future book made me say a few things I didn't mean, too. I guess it's more that I -thought- she hated me. I've never really asked." Her eyes would turn to the sky. "... meh. You're right about the rest, too, though. Maybe I could try to get some jobs with Psyber, move out, do something else. Would be cool not to have to do everything Mimi says all the time, and to be some sorta awesome hyperspace detective. And --." She would smirk. "... proof that I'm distinct from Mimi: I like football. She totally hates it. Proof. Freaking. Positive."

    Tiredly, her gaze would shift to Eryl. "Man, you are looking at this in totally the wrong way. See, Mimi isn't a logical kind of girl. She runs from -everything-. Hell, she built a freaking -dream fortress- around herself to hide herself from the rest of the world. I don't think you can even -get- much more whiny than that. But my point is, she doesn't think about what would produce the best outcome, or whatever. She would want to make people hate her so she could feel okay leaving everything behind again. If she made you hate her -- not saying she could, but if she did -- she could slip back into her self-induced coma and not have to worry about anything. You getting me?" She would sigh, resting her head back against the ground. "Sure, it's stupid. But it's the way she works."

    Riva, for her part, would get a final smile before she wraps her hands behind her head, folding one leg over the other. "Now what the hell juicy personal secrets are you gonna tell me? This is hella one-sided."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "I am not a suitable role model that one should strive to emulate. My habits and existence are not conducive to being a productive or functioning member of any sustained social structure," Psyber notes flatly, giving Mizuki a very blank stare. There's no hate, anger, or emotion behind it, it is a detached statement of fact. If anything, though, her last statement may have given this (albeit falsely imposed) iteration of Psyber the chance to make a speech to Mizuki that will hold a greater efficacy.

    "I will give you advice that will likely be anathema to many other advice that will be given to you in light of your admissions," Psyber says very blandly. He is utterly detached and almost monotone, "You are not an author. You are not a detached being. You are not a God. The persona which you project contributes as much, or more, to our failures as any given obstacle we face in here."

    He rubs at his mouth faintly with one hand and then let it falls back into his pocket, "The constructed personality that you project is a defense mechanism which you believe makes you more personable. It is constructed, I am willing to wager, from media sources such as literature or television in order to project what you believe to be the most appealing qualities. In actuality it makes you feel, at times, superficial." This harsh assessment is given with that same detached tone as always.

    "You may, then, use tonight as the catalyst for two separate outcomes. I will describe both to you," Psyber watches her carefully, "You may take the failures and falsehoods and rearrange them into a more sturdy and functional false persona, using your learned mistakes. Eventually you will fashion a mask as to be indistinguishable from true social interaction. Or you may abandon your detached attitudes and your childish visions of who you should be and use this as the opportunity with which to become tabula rasa. A blank slate. Your projected persona stifles you emotionally, and if you allow it to remain shattered as it was tonight, you have a potential for emotional growth which may prove beneficial both socially, as well as a key to overcoming the obstacles you are to face in the future."

    "However, and I cannot stress this to you enough," Psyber says with a firmness to the monotone, as if stressing this point without stressing his point, "I will again discourage you from using me as a role model. It will be very antithetical to the emotional growth you wish to experience."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone isn't held muchh longer at this point she sees they managed to do what they came to she looks to ARthur and calsl to him.

"I owe you one!"

She spreads hee wings again so she doesn't farll and well now she looks at the crystal which is falling the barirer is down and now she's going to get back to terrafirma or what passes for such in a world like this. She does hear a few things as she decents nd she prays this isn't something Mizuki did that she forgotabout to keep herself from being bored? Still she doesn't think there's a lie involed with the apology that was offered. She also looks to Kimiko.

"Thank you."

She is quiet for the most patt as Psyber and many others are better spoken than she is tonight on this certain topic. Psyber also hits some major point and now she wonders which path will Mizuki choose?

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl nods his head as Palora explains that this book made her say things she didn't really mean. It's the closest thing to an apology that the brash girl might ever give, and he accepts it.

     He nods when she muses on breaking off from Mizuki and doing her own thing. "That is a fine idea. Go and experience life for yourself. The whole Multiverse is your oyster here." But then she goes into Mizuki's psyche a little bit. "I see... she wants to feel like a martyr, a misunderstood soul, so she attempts to inspire feelings of loathing in others..."

     He then chuckles and shakes his head. "Well, she'll have to overcome 21 years of conditioning and 108 years of practice in loving everyone before she can make me hate her. I doubt she can do it, don't you worry." It's clear that he's trying to inject a bit of levity into the situation, but he's also quite serious about that.

     Now, looking to the woman herself, he calls out, "Have we succeeded? Is the number secured?" While everything seems to have worked out, he's eager to quit this place, and the implications it holds for his own future.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki glances between Priscilla and Psyber. To the former, she would quietly reply, "... how could I not loathe myself, when I am surrounded by people who have suffered - really, truly suffered - whilst I continue to be a child? A coddled child. It was only natural that I wish for some more complex persona when I lack any of my own. Though do not mistake this for self pity -- this is introspection. It is something with which I make seek new growth, as Psyber says. I will attempt to acknowledge these... facets of myself, recognize how little substance I have, and fashion something with what fragments I do find." She would sigh, briefly covering her eyes with a hand. "I had always thought it better to try to build a person out of myself. I had never much cared to 'find' myself, but to shape myself. It seems, in both ways, I have failed. So I suppose there are only so many alternatives I have left."

    She would turn about, finally facing Psyber more directly. "And, there it is. You know everything there is to know about me now. Nothing this world would show you and nothing anyone else would tell you would ever reveal anything else, because there is nothing else to find." Her expression would finally find its niche in a more solid, unchanging position, likely after a long period of indecision. "I will not use you as a role model, don't fret. But I will choose one of those paths. You will know which when you see it, but for the time being I'll leave which I select open. To you, and to myself." Even if nothing else she has ever said was honest, that last statement, at least, was. He would be able to tell that much.

    Then, Faruja. She would look to him miserably, her countenance not shifting at all as he continues. At the end, she would simply say, "Thank you," but that would come with a rather pronounced caveat in following. "Right now, I do not need encouragement. I have explained to you before my dishonesty, and you have seen for yourself how little substance I earnestly have. I am no author -- I am a cad. I wish to document the lives of others, and yet I am too self-absorbed to make anything of them. This is a trouble I must either surmount, or blind myself to that I may never feel its sting again. If you would seek to convince me otherwise, please do so... at another time. When I would be more receptive to it." Her eyelids would close. "Now... I need to think."

    Finally, her eyes would wander to Kimiko, whom she would exchange glances with just long enough to understand that she should not try words. So she wouldn't. Rather, she would make a waving gesture to those still gathered around her. "One of you take the number already, please. Let us end this farce."

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur finishes off the swiping, coming to a stop and then planting hard in the air nearby Mizuki as this finishes up. His semi-irrational mindstate is a bit heated by the events and how this hypothetical so directly impacts his complexes. As he gets here, his fists ball up again. "Mizuki. I know how this shit goes. They're talking about 'detachment' but you know what this is. You live long enough, you see enough stories, you start to not give all that much of a shit about the extras. I get that. I completely understand that. Hell, I've watched every single goddamn one of my childhood friends fucking punch headlong into that kind of apathy."

    "If you ever get to the point where you can kill someone just 'cause you don't know them, /something went wrong/. With circumstances forcing it, with a bunch of necessity, fine, but it's wrong. But if you're talking about dozens, thousands, hundreds of thousands of people that you can kill without /knowing/ them and just 'cause of an agenda, you gotta think about that." He swipes his broom and casts it away. "Look. Mizuki, if you need this fixed, you need to do what I did to fix it. You need to connect with what being /human/ is. That means hurting, and it means hurting a lot. It means ramming headlong into the kinda pain mortals feel and it means never saying that's OK. Everyone else is right: This doesn't make you a /bad person/. But it does mean there's a problem you /need/ to fix, okay? I had to fix it, and it took a long time and it hurts constantly, but this," He gestures around at the burning city.

    "This is the alternative, a /lot/ of other people getting hurt. Just... think about ways you can connect. You've already seen plenty of mine, I'm sure, but you /gotta/ find a way." He glances to the side, over to Faruja. "Faru's got the number, I think. We can go, get outta here. This is a place that doesn't make anyone unhappy in a useful way, it just makes us stressed out."

Faruja (152) has posed:
Faruja quite simply sighs.

"Rest, mine dear. We shall see what becomes of ye later."

With Arthur's words, he waves the little number. Next mission? See that Mizuki's tucked in, get very drunk, and try not to think about his own choices in life and where they're leading him.

"I truly hate these books."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "You claim you have not suffered, and yet here you are. You claim you have no substance and yet this bothers you so," Psyber notes, staring at her in an expressionless way.

    "However I will be curious to learn which path you choose," Psyber says very deferringly, "And apologize if I spoke out of turn. I, as I told you at the start of this, will hold you no extended animosity nor will I harbor ill feelings over the events of tonight."

    He detachedly stares at Mizuki for a long few moments, "If it is time to leave, I will not object to this fact. Exiting would, for now, be beneficial. My words are of little help and I am tired. I can likely lend little additional help at this time."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa does yet yet banish her wing she flexes them a little bit as she hears quite a lot of empassioned bits from the other, the speak ofg Mizukis problems or their own feelings to her. She does agree about the stress.

"Look Mizuki it's been a heck of a night we'll see what happens next but your not alone right? You say you havne't suffered I'm not sure but it seems like you might be lying to your self. Look for what it's worth I think you will be able to get though this, I mean you helped me move forward in my own life even if you not realied it."