i'ma gonne enter

6 summons his persona user (who's school day ended) and decided to pay and enter

Among the crowded city streets a young man would be walking along. He wore a gray coat with the hood up to conceal his own face. Under the hood one might observe his tired expression and uncomfortable expression. It was at that point that he would notice the new shop. It was unlike any shop he had seen before as he had never been to a store specializing in mirrors before. Wanting to get away from the crowds of people he would attempt to enter the shop and look over to the woman at the counter. He lifted his hood before speaking now that he was indoors. "Is this some kind of store that specializes in mirrors? I don't think I've seen a place like this before..."

"Awww and I was looking forward to something sweet." The only thing that kept Alexei going was the thought of some nice cheesecake but the shop in front of him didn't really scream pasty place. The bright colors would normally hint at it yet there were no cakes to be seen. He also shook his phone about five times yet the little red arrow continued to mark this as a location. "I wasted so much time coming here too." With a sharp tsk he doesn't really see what else to do except follow the young man that just entered the place. Maybe the shop would have something else worth his time. Thus he follows in before the door can close and looks around at the decor.

6 and Wuintus enter the shop, greeted by the old woman with a smile, against the back wall is a curtain large enough for 2 or 3 people to walk through at a time separating the front from the rest of the area, with a sign near the counter reading “entry 1000 yen”. The old woman looks up to Quintus as she accepts 6’s payment “It’s not really a store, more like an attraction. Kind of like in a carnival, if you’ve ever been to one of those. I usually work out in the country, not sure what you city folk are used to, it’s badivally a large gathering of people for various games and rides in town. Been in the family for generations, and I promise it won’t disappoint.”

OOC: Is it too late to join?

Quintus would be a bit suprised by the idea of a hall of mirrors being some sort of attraction. However, he was also curious as to what exactly an attraction like this entailed. He decided that it might be worth checking out at very least. He would walk up to the counter and pull out 1000 Yen from his wallet before handing it to the woman. "Alright, I guess I'll have to see for myself. The best way to understand is to expierence, right?"

Alexei thumbs through his dusty pockets and manages to scrounge up enough yen. He mentally thanks his sister for providing him cash meant for living. Which he wasn't about to use it for but he was sure his sis wouldn't mind too much. No one had to really tell either. He hands the cash to the woman and motions to follow the group from behind.

“You won’t be disappointed, just be careful, and pay attention to any signs.” The old woman says as she accepts the cash and sees the two through the curtain. On the other side, as they might expect, are two brightly lit rows of mirrors, which go onwards for a few feet before turning to continue to the left. Interestingly, not only their own reflections appear in this place, reflected over a hundred times, but also those of several shadowy figures, some resembling people, others animals such as cats and dogs, and a dark cloud of what might be insects, or fish. No two mirrors seem to have the same things within, all of which act as a moving background to the pair’s own reflections

Alexei walks down the hall with a slowed gait and constantly moving eyes. He wishes to see all the shadowy things in the mirrors. So in an attempt to prod them out he moves his hands in randomized patterns and switches his walking stances. Seeing his white hair bobbing among such dark things even gives him a sort of thrill as if he were the hapless virgin. At one point he turn to speak to Quintus about it. "Hey don't you think this stuff is pretty cool. Like how do you think they made it. I'm personally placing my bets on some fancy lighting or maybe background decorators." He stops near the end of the hall and places his hands across a mirror. Staring deep at his own red eyes he feels the cool of the surface and notices a shadowy animal in the corner of his eye. He playfully sticks his tongue out at his own reflection like a kiddo and laughs.

The boy and his persona walk slowly, the boy feeling the walls to keep in reality, while 6, The persona tries to signal to the shadows

Its no problem, in fact if this is a bad time we can put it off, I’ve waited a few days before, it’s really no trouble As Alexei reaches out to touch the mirror, one of the shadows seems to follow his own reflection, touching its hand in the same spot, the mirror itself feels cold but there almost seems to be a warmth behind it, probably whatever light was used to make this place. As the people move on, for a while it’s easy for Quintus to track the animal shadows, 5 bears, 3 giraffes, roughly 20 dogs even more cats, even things that shouldn’t be with the other shadows like fish. The further they go, the more and more humanoids there are, gathering around the mirrors as though to watch them A few turns later, the mirrors would be broken by a plain door, as one might expect in many businesses, the sign on it reads “employees only, do not open.” Behind the door a high-pitched sound can be heard, difficult to distinguish due to door and distance

6 wanders off and bumps into quintus (whose name ironicly means 5) while the boy is behind, lost in thought

The sligh warmth behind the mirror lingers on the back of Alexei's mind. He studies his hands a bit as if attempting to see some of it but is met with the familiar lines he is used to. Thus he puts it down as warmth from the overhead lights or maybe a lingering sensation from the other guys near him. For good measure he sticks his tongue out one more time at the shadows and pulls at one of his eyes. He then wanders forward between the rest of the mirrors until he reaches a plain looking door. "Maaan what an atmosphere destroyer. Something so boring kind of ruins the whole mysticism of this." He says this to no one in particular and then proceeds to lightly tap on the door. He couldn't find an exit anywhere else so maybe he could ask one of the employees for the way out. That is he could maybe get one of the other guys to talk once said employee came out.

Quintus and 6 go ahead, taking a closer look st the shadows. By now, almost all of them seem to be watching the pair, as though at a spectacle of their own. Some of them even have cameras, while others talk between each other in a lively manner. In one case, one of the two talking seems to vanish, much to the annoyance of their partner, only to reappear a moment later. In the distance the pair can see another pair of curtains, likely to the entrance. As for Alexei, he reaches out to tap the door, only to be stopped by the old woman from up front suddenly grabbing his arm, almost like a jump scare in one of those old horror movies. “Can’t you read? It says not to go in there. For all you know it could be anything.” Though her grip is rather strong for someone her age, she still slips a few times as she tried to bring him back to the entrance

Okay Alexei can't help the little squeal that escapes from his lips. Like who does that? Suddenly appearing in front and grabbing. It was not only a cheap horror gimmick used to scare the crap out of kiddos. But pretty effective on older people too which is what made it so damn infuriating. Alexei hated that he couldn't stop the natural blush on his face and the fact that the woman was almost dragging him out. "Hey im sorry I was trying to look for the exit to this place. I promise that I was not trying to enter or anything. Even knocked just in case." He could try talking his way out of this but words were not the way he did things. Now cunning and trickery was more acceptable. Waiting for a slip moment when her grasp weakened he twists out during one. Making a dash to the now open employee door. While running he makes sure to bump against 6 as a way of making him into an obstacle. If his mad scheme succeeds he will be way past the employee door.

Quintus would observe the figures for a while. It seemed strange, almost like another world. Such a thing made him curious but not curious enough to break the rules. That would be when he notices Alexei running past trying to break into the room. Quintus almost felt like interfering for a moment, stopping someone's movement is what he was good at but would interfering really benefit him? Rather he decided to simply approach the woman again in hope of getting answers directly from her. "That looks troublesome. Do you need some help or do you have another trick for troublemakers? I'm rather curious about these mirrors but it's obvious that now isn't the time for questions like that."

Old as she is, the woman isn't able to give Alexei much of a chase, allowing him to easily make it past the employee door. Its much like the area beforehand, a simple hallway lined with mirrors. Although, unlike the previous area, the mirrors are marked with paper seals, like those used to ward away ghosts a long time ago. In addition, now that he's well past the door, he can make out the sound from before much, much better. It almost sounds like a child, coming from a rounded area of mirrors straight ahead "H... Hello? Is anyone there? Can somebody help me? I don't like it here anymore." The old woman stops just outside the door to catch her breath, apparently exhausted, looking at Quintus, the woman tries to wave him away, before moving to close the door "I.. Its no use. All we can really do is hope for the best at this point. I... This hasn't happened before... I think. M.. Maybe I should have been more specific... Anyways, its best you forget any of this ever happened. The boy probably isn't coming back." And whether or not he does, at least the woman will have answers herself to a few questions she never had the courage to discover. The way the woman glances down the hallway, it seems she's utterly terrified of it.

6 picks up the boy that he brought w/him and tries to get thru the door

Alexei leans against a mirror. Catching his breath as he peers down at the new hallway ahead of him. He laughs at his own escapades and momentarily sinks down to his knees. Resting his head on the tip of them and staring down with mirthful eyes. "Oh sooo spooky. I wonder when the fake skeletons will pop out of the closet. If I'm lucky the lady may have even hidden a fake corpse here. Just for my discovery." Okay Alexei knew he needed to stop talking to himself but he just gave himself such good company. Who else could understand him any better then him. "Should keep moving in case anyone follows." Having recovered some energy he jumps to his feet and pointedloy ignores the child's voice. He has seen plenty of these tricks on tv and there was no way he was falling for it. The kiddo was probably be the child of the woman or something. With this in mind he continues forward.

Quintus would be ready to leave right then and there but then the mention of the person from before never coming back prompts him not to leave yet. This was becoming too much of a risk just to walk away from and all that was involved here definitely didn't feel normal. "Excuse me, but isn't coming back? What's that supposed to mean? Isn't this just an attraction? This is starting to sound really suspicious and believe me when I say I know quite a few suspicious characters. Regardless, could you maybe at least tell me what you know about what's going on. I don't think I could forget this even if I wanted to at this point."

Soon, Alexei enters the single, circular room lined with mirrors. Unlike the outside, this one doesn't seem to have any shadows in them. On first glance at least. Looking more closely, Alexei can make out a single, smaller shadow in the mirror opposite him, simply standing there. After a few seconds, he can make out the voice again "There you are. Can you come a little closer? It gets a little lonely here sometimes. It would really help me out." The older woman pauses for a moment, though she wasn't supposed to tell anyone, and even if she did most people would just call her crazy. Still, with the circumstance as it is, there's no real getting around it. So, she takes a deep breath "I'm sure you've seen your reflection dozens of times before, its nothing new. Everyone knows that much, but not so many know what a mirror really is. Even I don't know for sure, its just a story I've been told by my mother. And her by hers. And so on. They say that on the other side of a mirror is another world, much like our own. This world is full of reflections, and each has a strong influence on the other, what happens to your reflection happens to you, and the other way around. Here, the connection is a bit stronger than normal, letting beings on both side see the other side far more clearly" As though on cue, the many shadows in the mirrors near Quintus and the old woman stand to attention, one even waves at the pair, whether or not they're paying attention "However, as the story goes, there's one being without a counterpart, a reflection that reflects nothing. We don't know what this demon is capable of, and I'd rather not find out."

*6 joins alexei and pokes the mirror with the little shadow, having missed the spheal of the woman*

Okay so now the kid was being bit creepier and asking for him to approach. This definitely run some alarms for Alexei making him take a slight step back. He didn't particularly regret his act of disobedience but now he could kinda see why the woman reacted the way she did. At the very least he was dealing with a kid too into their games and at most something new. He internally hoped that it was the latter. In a show of forced courage he kept his voice deep while making his stance relax in the slightest. "Well you see i'm not really good with people so if you could introduce yourself first. I'm terribly shy and not being able to see your face is making it sort of hard to speak. Or breathe for that matter. Please help a dude out and throw him a starting line for this." He took another slight step back and pushed out a fake laugh. He was prepared to run in case his mental alarms were on point.

Quintus would almost be shocked by the information. A world inside of a mirror sounded crazy but who was he to decide what was and wasn't crazy considering his own circumstances. He would look nervously at the figures in the mirror even returning the wave to the one. He then returns his attention to the woman, his nervousness being replaced by a sudden seriousness. "A demon? I'm guessing this being resides in one of the mirrors past the door. Right, where that guy from before went. Well, I'm not so sure about them but I'm not exactly helpless on my own. I guess I wouldn't really know how to fight something residing in a mirror though. Is there really no way to fight against such a being normally. Uh, maybe I'm overthinking this."

"should I release the "demon" as the woman calls it? it may not be evil" 6 asks Quintus while still holding his user

The shadow sits down, seemingly disappointed, they wave, as though making sure it could still be heard, before continuing"No one's ever bothered giving me a name. They just left me here. You could probably see me a lot better if you got closer. I do have a face. I mean, at least I can see it in the mirror here." The woman, tired as she is, takes the chance to simply sit down on the floor, she seems to have mistaken Quintus's wave as directed at her, raising an eyebrow as she waves back "They had to have contained it somehow. But whatever their secret was has been lost over the generations. If you've ever tried attacking a mirror you know it just breaks leaving the reflection perfectly fine. You could easily hurt your own reflection, just injure yourself, but I don't know how that would help."

Quintus would look back at 6 somewhat dumbfounded by their question. "Well, first off, how would you even go about releasing something that's in a mirror world that as far as we know doesn't exist. Second off, I'm sure there's a reason its sealed away. Personally, I feel humanity has enough demons to worry. So, no, I don't think we should release the entity that we're being told was sealed away for being too dangerous." Quintus would finally turn back to the woman before looking at the door. "Alright, I understand now. Just don't let the demon out and get that other guy to leave, right? Sounds simple enough, I know maybe this isn't the safest option but I'm a bit worried that whatever this thing is it might get out through some trick if it has the chance." Quintus would step towards the door before trying to enter it if he isn't stopped beforehand.

Alexei doesn't quite know how to react to this development and mimics the shadow's actions in sitting down. He crosses his legs as if it were school and sort of leans back and forth in an almost playful manner. He even hums to give the effect of a bored grade schooler. "Well that really sucks." Not being given a name could be a sign of many bad things so really that was all he could say with this new fact. It was moments like these in which he wished that he was better with actual people rather then just tech. At least good enough to sound maybe comforting. "I know my words are probably unhelpful in the grand scheme of this. But erm I could give you a name if you don't mind. Would help with the pacing of this conversation. Hey if you don't know your gender either I could give you a pretty cute or manly name."

the boy in 6's arms wakes up at the mention of 'grade schooler' and says "thats me! Zzzzz." 6 decides t0 take a pic of the shadow in the mirror

The old woman sighs and shakes her head, but doesn't do anything to stop Quintus from entering, letting him see the hallway as before, similar to the outside with rows of mirrors on the wall, however, here there don't seem to be any shadows, instead, the walls are lined with paper spell tags, the kind intended to ward off evil spirits. Off in the distance, at the edge of a circular room, Quintus can see the outline of Alexei talking to... Something or another. He can overhear their conversation The shadow pauses for a moment, before simply laying down down "Are you just here to make fun of me or something? That's not very nice. I can hardly even hear you. Really you're better off just leaving me alone if you won't even let me see you. Better than being teased like this." The shadow's head turns, as though looking at something in the distance, but whatever it is can't be seen from here clearly

"Ahh no I was just trying to be decently sociable but if you really want to see my rougish face." Alexei flippantly shrugs with an exasperated expression and then moves a great deal forward. Close enough to actually see any clear characteristics of the shadow but not near enough for a potential arm reach. If this wasn't enough for the kid then he would probably use his tiny packet of goldfish as bait. See if the kid is willing to come out for cheap snacks. "I have decided to call you Chase by the way since it fits your annoyingly demanding personality. But here is the catch kiddo. I will gender identify you as a female as I call you this just cause I like interesting people. So your officially Chase the cute sisterly type girl. Hope you like it since I ain't giving you any other choice in the matter."

6 and his boy fix their realities in the only way possible: exploding, returning to the entrance, and meeting in the room with chase

As Alexei gets closer, the shadow almost seems to gain a face, blank white eyes and mouth marked against the shadow's plain black features. As he gets closer, so too does his own reflection in the mirror of course. Alexei remains a few feet away, well out of arm's reach, however by now his reflection is fully visible in the mirror. The shadow grins "I had a clever line ready for this moment, but you never actually told me your name." With that, the shadow suddenly leaps forth onto Alexei's reflection, eclipsing it for a moment, before returning it to Alexei's normal shape, only in much more muted tones of grey "See, I told you you could help. Just had to get a bit closer. But I guess we can get down to business now. You're going to help me get out of these damn mirrors. For real." Alexei's reflection adds on a wicked grin, scratching the back of its head rather than simply mirroring his movements. Quintus would have a difficult time discerning exactly what happened, but he would likely see the shadow's sudden movement on Alexei's reflection, and hear the reflection perfectly clearly. 6 would return to the party a little late, but not late enough to miss anything too important.

Alexei find himself rooted to the floor in shock and his mouth just gapes open at this turn of events. What the Chase just did was baffling to him as his words fostered a quiet cold slowly seeping into his bones. Yet either due to his own mania or a stubborn thing know as pride he ended his stupid gaping. Mentally switching into the mode he knew best for any deal in life. "Oh yeah and why would I do that Chase. You may be looking pretty hot in my human physique but i'm the original." With a shit eating grin hiding his internal panic he stands up and crosses his arms. "I believe I should be the one in charge here." He tosses his cheap bag of fish shaped crackers at the mirror to end his statement.

"Oh yeah and why would I do that Chase. You may be looking pretty hot in my human physique but i'm the original." "sick burn." comments 6

obviously the bag bounces off the mirror with no real effect, but "Chase" doesn't seem to appreciate the gesture, ar first, "Chase" does something simple, taking a deep breath before wordlessly biting his right thumb, hard enough to cause a fairly small cut in the finder. Alexei would feel the pressure, right down to receiving the same small injury on his finger "I hope that will give you some idea. As long as I'm your reflection, any harm I do to myself will also happen to you. I could easily make your life hell." "Chase" grins, digging around in their pockets. If Alexei has any sharp objects on him, the shadow would take it out, flipping it between their fingers before pointing it at themselves with a sly grin. Either way, Looking outwards as it is, Chase would look behind Alexei to see Quintus and 6 "Or you could try convincing me to get off on one of these idiots. Maybe they'll be a little more cooperative."

in response to that (quintus) 6 pulled out golden armour, a crackling, golden spear, and a blinking pistol

"Alex, it's your call. What do you want us to do?" says 6, speaking for his boy and himself Also "chase, what do you want?"

Well looks like throwing snacks wasn't the way to go and Alexei lets out a sharp hiss of pain as his thumb is felt. Placing his thumb in his mouth to suck on it he carefully talks out his next move. To the best of his ability of course since this was a shadowy deal. Which he didn't really know much about to begin with. Luckily Alexei may have some time as he didn't have anything sharp in his pockets save for a used coupon. "This is certainly an incentive to play nice with you like a good dog. But I sense that you need me too since that guy ..." He points at 6 "Is clearly armed enough to defend himself. While the other quiet guy you pointed out doesn't seem like much. Which would get pretty boring if I do say so myself. " Alexei didn't really know what he was getting at but he felt that he was on the track to something. That should count. He also couldn't help but feel a prick of interest at what the shadow could do with his form. He always liked new toys and this one in front of him seemed pretty next level. Up there enough to actually make him feel his latent curiosity. Despite being an apparently living creature. "You know I have decided Chase. I like you and may even possibly love you since you share my same handsome visage. So instead of moving to lamer pastures how about you and me discuss what you can possibly do. I sense the beginning of a working partnership here if your not too weak." He wanted to see what the shadow do. He wanted to see badly enough to play at the cocky right about now.

Upon being noticed Quintus would seem to throw the blade towards Alexei's chest, a chain seeming to attach the blade to Quintus' palm, while shouting something out. "Yggdrasil Prime...Earthly Roots." A set of ash-colored roots would climb down the chain in order to direct the blade towards Alexei. If the blade hit Alexei it would deal no physical harm to him and would, in fact, try to pass right through Alexei. However, the root would try to hold the blade inside Alexei, even trying to wrap around him as well to restrict his movement. Whenever the blade passed through a living organism it would try to absorb whatever blood it touched. If the blade was able to be bound to Alexei by the root then it would continuously drain his body of blood. "I'm sure you know I've been listening in and I have a better idea. I drain your host of all their blood and then leave without giving you anything. That sounds like a better deal to me. I don't think a demon should be allowed to interfere with humanity, kind of goes against my own ideals."

6 pulls out a bag of liquid oxygen and some beer"and I can bring him back if need be!" because science

OOC: My cue? I already put in a post so do I do another one?

The blade easily passes through Alexei since he wasn't expecting anything from the supposed people from behind. He is left staring at the item through his chest and starts to feel a bit light headed with its blood draining effect. He should be panicking right about now but instead he feels terribly cold inside. "I see there was someone even worse then Chase in here all along." It's a sort of out of body moment for him in which he doesn't feel much from the action yet wants to almost take Quintus with him for the heck of it. After all if a living being was gonna kill him then maybe he could make him remember it too. "How does it feel back there being willing to kill someone who probably has a family. Siblings. Een a pet dog waiting for him. Tell me is it fun for you using my life as a sort of pawn like this or are you disturbed enough to fell nothing. You incorrigible human person."

6 forces the oxygen into alex to give him air (oxygen aint blood) he also charges the pistol, which makes a whirring noise

Initially, Chase seems somewhat surprised at the mild reaction, he sighs, before standing up "You got short term memory or something? You just saw what I can do, take over som...." That's when he's interrupted, though he could see it coming, as Alexei's reflection, there's nothing he can do to keep the reflection of Hookworm from impaling him as well. Desperate, the creature attempts to eclipse Hookworm's reflection, only to end up with nothing. Their eyes open wide, clearly somewhat panicked, fear in their voice for the first time since it was heard "N... No. Not again. You're NOT leaving me here AGAIN." The creature looks up to Quintus, before searching the mirror for his reflection, unfortunately this would be blocked by both Yggdrasil's roots and Alexei's body, leaving the creature with nothing to work with "Its so lonely in here......"

The absorption of blood would become slowed as Quintus would respond to the entity in the mirror while seemingly ignoring Alexei's comments. "Perhaps we can work something out. I came here under the assumption that you were a demon of some kind but maybe you could tell me exactly what you are or at least what it is you intend to do if you managed to get out. I wouldn't be completely opposed to just letting you leave here but you're going to have to be honest. I believe you could say I hold all the card in my hand right now." Quintus couldn't help but smile. The fear coming from either of them would seep into Hookworm, feeding them. It had been a while since Hookworm had eaten anything besides blood so this was a refreshing experience for them.

Taking Quintus' reaction as a cue Alexei quickly turns around with thorough consideration of how the chain went through and attempts to tackle Quintus down with his full body weight. Note that this is after a quick series of events while Quintus was ignoring him. He mentally planned decent enough and he was sure he could get some kind of advantage on the ground. May his few years of lessons make the difference now. He also sought to appeal to Chase before it was possibly too late. The kid may have tricked him but he didn't deserve bad treatment either. "Oi Chase if you actually try and do something useful then you won't be alone! You clearly have me by the balls so i'm ropes into whatever you want. Just help me deal with the stoic annoyance here!"

"Chase" calms down a little, taking deep breaths, notcing Alexei's movement, he begins talking rapidly "I don't know what I am, I know there's nothing like me and that's why I'm trapped here. All I want is to see your side of the world and be recognized. All the reflections here are obsessed with it, their real counterparts. But I don't have one of those. No one to show me things, on purpose or by accident." Once Alexei makes his move, Chase begins moving between the many mirrors on the walls, slowly at first as Hookworm is still inside him "Just get him near one of the walls and I can handle it from there. If you can do that you'll be off scot-free."

Quintus would barely even have time to react to being tackled to the ground. Watching the mirror he would notice the entity seemed to be moving around. He'd have to act quickly if he wanted to avoid any harm now. The first thing that'd occur would be retracting Hookworm. He couldn't afford for it to interfere with his movement or with his roots. Next, he would address Alexei. "Idiot! It was vulnerable! Yggdrasil Prime! Earthly Roots!" The roots from before would retract back underground as a new set of three roots began wrapping around Quintus while trying to push Alexei off him. Quintus would try to cover his whole body in roots essentially restraining himself to the floor but hoping to cover up enough of his reflection so that the entity couldn't try to copy him.

Alexei just wanted to groan at his bad luck with demons. Why did he have to get one that made him do all the work. Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around like say the summoner class in an rpg. Instead he was on the ground with a dude willing to kill and all he could think of doing was stunning him. Maybe. Hopefully. So attempting to get the high ground with roots pushing him back Alexei uses his legs and up kicks in a crazy attempt to get Quintus up the face with it. He wants his toes to connect with chin just to momentarily stun and hurt for what he tried to do before. "Well I can show you the world and all that cool stuff. I just kind of need to solve our little muderer issue here. Any suggestion. I'm taking since i doubt i can do this. " He says this as adrenaline propels the kick and he can hear his heart in his head.

With most if not all of Quintus's reflection covered in roots, "Chase" simply remains directly outside it, waiting just in case a good opening came up "You're probably best off running and finding someone else to stand next to a window with. Then I can jump off to them and he'll have no reason to chase you. Plus I'll get someone more suited for the job, and everyone's happy." "Chase" pokes the reflection of Quintus's roots, not that that could do anything, and patiently waits by them "If you had a knife I could have tried stabbing his refection, I guess. But wouldn't that be kinda silly?"

Quintus would reel at being kicked in the face but the roots would continue covering his body. It had been a while since he was in a situation like this. He was close to an unfavorable fate but how had this been any different from any of his fights before. He remembered back to when he was nearly drowned to death or when some psychopath tried to freeze him at the order of a snake. He thought he had gotten stronger but it seemed he underestimated his opponent greatly and now was in a position like this. The entity was right though, he could stay like this forever...and he wouldn't. Hookworm still had one more trick. He would muffle out a few words through the roots. "Resonance mode: Roots of Hell..." The effect would be anywhere near as large as if he was using it in combat as only a small portion of the roots covering his body would begin to darken in color before growing eyes. The eyes would look around to locate the entity. Hookworm, after all, couldn't survive without Quintus so to simply copy Hookworm must've either been impossible for the entity or undesirable. Resonance Mode would quickly ware off as Quintus had become aware of the entity's position leaving the roots in their previous state. "Alright, Yggdrasil Prime! Come forth in your full glory!" The Persona would finally take its full form between Quintus and the mirror as a giant tree that extended towards the ceiling. The roots would begin to unbind him as he tried to push Alexei off him. "Get off already! Are you really so blind that you didn't realize my plan? I was trying to bargain!"

"Yeah cuz bargaining with my life on the line was such an appealing position for me! Get off whatever power kick your on and realize how terrible your actions were. You were pretty much more frightening to me than the kid. So congrats your actions made me like the sort of crazy shadow instead!" Allowing the roots push him back Alexei uses the force of the push to sort of stumbled backward toward the mirror. He knew he was placing himself at the mercy of the kid but at this point the adrenaline had him in reaction mode. So act now and potential damning consequences later. "Hey Chase if you really want freedom you better follow me now to the outside." Alexei mentally hoped that this was how Chase's mirror deal worked after consuming old shadow. Placing a foot of his against the mirror he pushes himself forward into a sprinting start and tries to run into the previous corridor he came from. Chase could possibly follow him through the side mirrors of the hallway.

Naturally, “Chase” would have been waiting for Quintus in the nearest mirror, so as to have the best chance of catching him if he withdrew the roots, only to be disappointed by the massive tree blocking any such attempt. As soon as Alexei backs up to a mirror, “Chase” appears there once again, chuckling to himself as Alexei makes it to a much narrower hall of mirrors. Just as his normal reflection had, “Chase” seems to be multiplied, appearing several times in each mirror as light reflects of them. “Like I said, I’m your reflection now. Anywhere you go, I’ll be there too. Get out of this dumb attraction and we’ll be as good as home free.” Alexei can see the door to the main area of the hall of mirrors, wherein there are, of course even more mirrors.

Quintus would simply sit by his tree and watch Alexei leave. He was fearful to make any more actions as he knew such a thing might result in falling under the reflections effects. He wanted to keep the entity from escaping but not if it meant his own well being. "Maybe it was a little extreme but you never go small against a force you don't understand." He thought about maybe sending his roots after Alexei still and trying to completely restrict his movement but then what? Despite his threats from earlier, saying you were going to take someone's life and actually doing it were two very different things. The best option, for now, was to simply wait this out until it was safer. The entity obviously had an advantage in a place like this. There was still a way to deal with this later down the line though. The woman had mentioned a method of sealing the entity away that was used before. If he could figure out what that method is then maybe he could even seal the entity away in a more secure place than this hall of mirrors.

Without glancing back Alexei makes his waay through the main hall of mirrors. Watching out of the corner of his eye as Chase multiplies into various infinites within the mirrors. It was thrilling to watch and the idea of hosting some sort of entity was satisfying his possible curiosity. But Alexei knew that Chase was only behaving so well out of self interest. He wasn't stupid. "Hey Chase you used me the entire time and I don't really mind since that other guy was a piece of work. Buut and this is a big but ... I do mind if you possibly hurt others. Won't do for someone who doesn't like dealing with people." Alexei stops short of the door to the outside of the shop and calmly leans against a mirror as if facing the mirror entity directly. "You have seen what could happen if we don't work together in this so you owe me. Tell me how this can be something beneficial for the two of us."

The pair stop just short of the curtain out to the front, much to "Chase"'s annoyance. Not quite free yet, they have little choice but to sigh and lean against the mirrors as well "Lets get one thing out of the way, I have no intent on remaining your reflection, or anyone else's for that matter. You have been useful to me so far, so here's the deal." The entity raises their index finger "One, you can pawn me off on someone else. Simply convince someone to stand near a reflective surface for five, maybe six seconds and I can jump onto them, letting you return to your normal life a though nothing ever happened. Personally I prefer this one considering how well that last scrap went." The entity raises their middle finger before continuing "Two, you help me gather what I need to escape this damn mirror world for good. Afterwards, you can do whatever you like with the materials. And we're not talking anything mundane like herbs and potions your old alchemists tried. Seven artifacts of incredible power. Once we're done, you could easily use them to obtain wealth, power, status, women, everything a human like you could possibly want. I think that is a fair bargain."

"Well you see there are two problems to the deals you have offered." Alexei thoughtfully gazes at Chase as if studying him. "One, my normal life is pretty boring and tame if ya get what I mean. Plus two, I don't really have anything I particularly want. I'm more of a living in the moment kind of guy but the moment has become pretty tired and lax." He moves in closer placing both his hands on the mirror containing Chase and looking him directly in the eye. An almost unnoticeable smile creeps across his face as the fear from before continuous to inhabit the pit of his stomach. "Today I felt more alive then I have been for the past few months and i'm not sure if I wanna give it up just yet. So i'm thinking more of a long term partnership. Maybe even permanent if you can keep me entertained and fearing~"

Believing the cost to be clear, Quintus would put his hood back up from his gray coat and unsummon Yggdrasil Prime. His next move would be simply, he had to find that woman again. Only she possibly knew of a way to find what he needed now, a way to reseal the entity or possibly the information of what might happen if it gets free. He would begin walking out of the hall to reach the previous area but his steps would be slow and cautious as if checking the mirrors along the walls for anything. He had already begun to become a little paranoid just knowing the enitity could be in any of these mirrors. "Well, guess this is going to be a new worry. I hope I can figure something out or I might have trouble sleeping near my own reflection from now on."

"Chase" meet's Alexei's gaze, completely cold and stonefaced, the demon's voice takes on a playful tone as they examine their fingernails "I'm in a very particular situation where I can hurt you, and only you, with nothing you can do to stop me. And lets get one, little thing straight." The demon's voice drops a few pitches as their tone shifts to a boring, deadpan one "I would rather leave you bleeding out on the floor here and wait for my next victim, than remain trapped in this mirror world for however long it takes for you to grow bored. That said, I assure you these objects will not be easy to get, after all, why would someone leave an artifact of incredible value just lying around on the street?" The mirrors on the side of the employee door would be almost eerily empty, reflecting only Qintus himself, once he returned to the main area of the hall, he would find the woman to be long gone, probably having returned to the front. Of course, since he had traveled the whole thing Quintus would know of two ways getting back there, to the right the way he came, or the left where the intended exit was, he can faintly hear conversation coming from his right, though not loudly enough to make anything out of it, there are only so many things it could be

Yep it was the fear that the demon invoked within Alexei that interested him so. The emotion was precisely a sort of terror that could only come from how uncaring the entity was of Alexei's existence. With it's cold demeanor it proved itself to be more terrifying then the guy who tried to threaten him before and it might be the lack of self preservation talking. But Alexei was now thoroughly invested in what he was about to do. Chase the terribly named demon really won over his heart with those threats creating the need to see more. "Aww Chase your so exciting when you get all threatening like this. You should do it more often it suits you over what you displayed earlier." Alexei finally tugs back on the curtains to the shop entrance and passes through with all the pompous action of a tourist. "Aha and now we are back to the land of the non crazy. He stretches his arms in a lazy manner and yawns. "Almost forgot what natural light looked like."

As Alexei steps through the Curtain "Chase" makes one last remark "As your reflection, merely find a mirrored surface and I will be there to direct you when I can, the OOC is unfortunately not a mirror demon with no need to sleep. I give you one week to make your decision. Choose well." With that, the boy is able to step into the front area, where he finds the old woman from earlier sitting at the counter. It takes her a moment to notice him at first, at which point she looks down at a paper, before suddenly looking back up "You're alive? What happened to that other boy who followed you?" surely enough, Quintus would find a wide variety of figures, back to the mix between animalistic and humanoid from the beginning, however, over time more and more humanoids seem to gather, as though coming to a show, probably due to his continued presence in the area. One of them waves at him, yet nothing they seem to be saying can be made out

Alexei blinks at the woman having almost forgotten her in the height of today. It's a surreal experience being threatened twice only to see a nice old lady greeting you. He wanted more moments like these in the near future too since they were funny. As clearly shown by his sudden outburst of laughter. It takes him a few minutes to recover but when he does he carefully wipes a set of tears from his eyes. Then in an utterly mirthful voice he bluntly states. "The other boy is dead and you can probably find his body all the way in the back. Dude told me he wanted to be burned among the fish of something. He was pretty weird actually. So anyway see ya bye~" With a quick wave and a smile he then leaves the shop. With a new skip to his step plus something to actually look forward too in the future. He might even invest in a hand mirror just to talk to Chase more.

6 decides to invest in stalking equipment, in order to watch the actions of Alexei. he leaves and buys the stuff in a shady store, making sure not to overstay his welcome

The old woman raises an eyebrow, and slowly waves at Alexei as he leaves, somewhat confused, but with little information, she leaves him to his own business Quintus returns to the front, relieved to find only the shadows and, of course, his own reflection. By the time he arrives, Alexei would be long gone, leaving only the old woman counting money at the counter, she glances up moments after he re-enters, blinking as though unsure if she was seeing clearly "I guess there wasn't anything after all was there? Seeing as you're both alive.... Its somewhat of a relief, I guess."

6 leaves the hall of mirrors.

Quintus would notice the woman and start to shake his head back and forth. His expression wasn't a happy one but he knew he had to explain the situation first. "There was something there alright and whatever it is it wanted out and it might've just gotten what it wanted. The guy that went in there first got possessed by whatever it is that that thing does. I tried to make a deal to get it out of his reflection but he attacked me. It would seem he's formed some kind of alliance with that monster. You didn't happen to see him on the way out, did you? You'd probably only be able to tell somethings off if you see his reflection." Quintus realized that he might be overwhelming the woman with this information but at the same time he felt like there may not be much time. "Uh, nevermind, it's not important anyway. You mentioned a way to seal that entity that your ancestors discovered, right? I know this may be a bit much to ask but would there be any way to find out more about that entity or how to seal it away. Your ancestors must have left something behind, in case it ever got out again."

The old woman pauses for a moment, closing her eyes as she tries to recall... Something or another, before breathing out a sigh "I had always hoped she was lying. But yes, I saw the kid get away, I had assumed the door was to remain shut so it wouldn't hurt anyone, never thought to see them escape." After another deep breath, the woman looks off to the side of the store "I was never told more than to never open the door, but there are many things left behind I haven't had the time to sort through. If you think it would help, I can most certainly search for something about the mirror world. However, I will need some time."

Quintus would finally nod trying to remain calm. Nothing about the situation seemed good so far as he had no idea what might happen now that an entity that could manipulate people in such a way got out. The most worrisome part was tracking it down now. He might be able to find the guy from before simply based on recognizing him but if the entity were to move to a new host it would be that much harder to track them down. "Alright, I understand. How much time do you think you'll need? I can come back later if that would be better."

The old woman slowly walks from behind the counter, before fumbling around the wall off to the side, after a few moments, she pushes in a small panel, revealing a series of drawers lining the entirety of the wall "You're probably best off coming back later. I haven't the slightest idea how long it'll take to sort everything out. If I were to rush we could miss out on a vital piece of information after all"

Quintus would nod once more as he got ready to leave. "Alright, I'll be back some other time. I'd like to be able to resolve this issue before it can get any worse but I also understand the importance even smaller details can have." With that Quintus would leave the Hall of Mirrors. He was still anxious and even after leaving would try to avoid the reflective surfaces of the windows of other shops.