A young, grey-haired girl approaches the village, choosing to remain in the shade of the trees, with a small, black, humanoid device on her shoulder, roughly the size of a child. As she finally approaches the destination in question, the girl pauses for a moment, before whispering to the device "Uno, stay hidden until further instructions. Would rather not freak anyone out." With that, Uno jumps off the girl, stationing itself in the underbrush a fair distance from the road so the girl can enter the village seemingly alone. She watches the children enter ahead of her, before walking into the marketplace with a frown, her eyes always alert.

A boy wearing a gray coat of sorts would already have been heading to the village seemingly as if looking for something else. He had heard rumors of strange happenings within the Amazons that had some possible supernatural connections, however, he would soon realize that upon investigating the place in question, it was quite empty and the rumors had been nothing more than that. "Geeze, a lot different from the days when rumors were fact but that was a long time ago I suppose and I only witnessed it first hand once. Perhaps not best to think too hard back onto that event, unpleasant memories that would do no good but to trouble me. I think we should find a place to stay for the night, Hook. Getting out here wasn't exactly easy. and I'm sure you can feel my hunger as well. We'll need energy if we're to make the trip back." There would be nobody else around him despite him speaking as if there was. He would briefly take a look at a journal he had in his pocket that seemed to be for taken quick notes on his own objectives. "Oh, I wrote here that there's a village nearby. It should be about this way..." With that the boy would begin moving towards the village in question with the intent to enter it and begin looking for a place to rest. He would have the hood of his coat over his head to hide his facial features and provide a small amount of shade to his oddly pale skin.

The kids in the village would slow down and stare at Orchis. It was obvious they hadn't seen anyone with her hair color and was interested in the fact they were seeing someone they never saw before. "You have pretty hair" one of the kids said as they began to gather around her and start asking questions like where she was from and why she was here. Mono would walk up to one of the men who was sitting down behind a stall with some fruit. "The name of the village? That's be Puerto Onicido. A small village in the amazons. You gotta be real lost to not know where you are. Since you're already here how about buying one of the fruit." the man would laugh and point down to the assortment of fruit he advertised .

Monochrome nodded his head. I would like to buy some fruit from you, but I don't have any money, not in the currency you use anyways. Monochrome then walked away from the fruit seller and into the middle of the marketplace. Puerto Onicido... Never heard of this place. Why would my teleporter send me here? Life is a pain sometimes...

Sorry about that. Please ignore post #6 Once you take the time to look around a little you notice the village is divided into two sections. The lower section where you found yourself, and the upper section where you could see tree houses and walkways between them. You could see some people pulling a pulley that would take jars of water to the tree houses. There were some parts of the village that didn't seem like they saw much use or maybe it was just because they hadn't been taken care of very well. The market place itself had a few stalls that sold things like fruit and baked goods while others sold things like traditional clothes and handcrafts. The village was pretty lively yet it somehow gave a feeling of emptiness as well. The kids in the village would slow down and curiously look at Orchis. It was obvious they hadn't seen anyone with her hair color and was interested in the fact they were seeing someone they never saw before. "You have pretty hair" one of the kids said as they began to gather around her and start asking questions like where she was from and why she was here. Mono would walk up to one of the men who was sitting down behind a stall with some fruit. "The name o' da village? That'd be Puerto Onicido. A small village in da amazons. You gotta be real lost to not know where you are. Since you're already here how 'bout buying one o the fruit." the man would laugh and point down to the assortment of fruit he advertised. When Quintus and Kevin arrived they would be stared at by some of the girls walking around in what seemed like traditional robes. Giggling among themselves as they gossiped about the new arrival. One of the girls in a group of three waving to them with a big smile before the other girls began to tease them. One girl in the market place seemed a bit different from the others. Her sun-kissed skin would make her seem like a local but she held features that weren't originally from these parts. She seemed to be about the same age as some of the other girls, between a healthy 14-16. Instead of the black and brown hair of the other girls she had vibrant red hair that fell down to her waist that almost reminded you of fire when the wind blew it. She was roughly 5'5 and was currently looking through the fruit at one of the stalls.

Ummm.. Thank you? The girl stammers a bit, like she hasn't actually talked to anyone in a while, she takes a deep breath and starts to slowly back away when the children begin surrounding her, eyes darting between them as she tries to answer everyone's questions I... Was living in Japan... I was just looking to see the world a bit I guess. I'm... Not too familiar with other countries. Um... Please don't get too close. My hair's not that interesting. Orchis soon finds herself backing against the wall of one of the buildings, in truth she hadn't actually thought through how she was going to talk to people, now there are an awful lot closing in at once as though expecting something from her

Kevin was happy that the odd girl attracted most of the other kids attention. He did his best to ignore the girl's teasing. They obviously spent their entire life in this village so they wouldn't know he was going. Then he spotted the unusual girl looking at fruit. She didn't look like she was around here, if she was a traveler then she could at least point him in the right direction. He awkwardly made his way over the girls teasing him towards her. Slowly. One foot at a time. It's a girl mate, not a dragon His familiar "reminded" him. Thanks I forgot Kevin responded mentally. Yet it still took him a while to reach her and finally ask if she knew how to get to the Jahandar Family from the village.

The girl looking at fruit looked up to see what the commotion was when she noticed the grey haired foreigner and the kids surrounding her. She walked over to the group as she waved off some of the children. "Okay okay. That's enough harassing the traveler. If you don't get the water back your moms are going to have a fit." she chastised them before they groaned and left Orchis alone "Sorry about that. They don't usually see new faces around here so they got a little over excited, hope you can forgive them." she gave a wry smile to Orchis before suddenly being asked about the Jahandar family. She'd turn to Kevin with a pondering expression but then shook her head "Sorry, doesn't ring any bells. Haven't heard of them before and we don't get much news about things outside the village here." Quintus would walk around and not really hear anything of importance. Most of the residents talked about the little happenings in the village such as who had a crush on who and about a marriage event that was happening next month. He would hear a few ramblings from the elderly nearby wondering about what he was doing here like the other girls. " Haven't seen so many young travelers come through in a while." and old man would say stroking his beard as he eyed the numerous guest "Yeah. Not since the plague some years back. How long has it been now....20....maybe 30 years?" an old woman probably his wife would ask as she fanned herself with a paper fan "50 years honey. Its been fifty years." He would sigh as he looked around "So many young'ins died back then." a somber look on his wrinkled face The wife would nod her head then scan the streets. "But things are much better. Who knows. Maybe all these travelers will bring us good fortune." she would say with a cackle as she looked at the children. As Quintus wandered he would soon realize there was only one Inn and it looked more like a small shack than an inn. It obviously didn't see much use and therefore the owners probably didn't think to keep it to hotel standards if such things were even applicable so far in the middle of no where.

Orchis breathes a sigh of relief as the children moves away, she was never very good with crowds, and after a moment the tension seems to fade from her as Orchis bows to red-haired girl who helped her T... Thank you for the help. I... Not very used to crowds is all... Umm.. Orchis awkwardly shifts her weight between her two feet, both hands behind her back before she finally brings herself to ask the obvious question W.. What's your name? And.. Do you think you could show me around a little? I don't know the area after all..

Hm.... Standing here won't help me find why I was sent here. Mono noticed a small shack with a little placard that said Inn. Sigh... I guess I'll head to that inn. I normally gets some good info in places like that. Mono walked to the inns door and walked inside.

looks like you judged a book by its cover lad Kevin sighed in disappointment, but luckily he became interested about what he overheard the elderly couple said. He walked towards the old man to ask if he knew directions, and maybe about the plague if he didn't know about the Jahandar Family.

"My name is Camilla Moralis and I don't mind showing you around but well" she would scratch her cheek with her finger "there's not really much around here to show you. It's a small village so we don't really have many places. There's one inn but it only has room for three people max." She pointed down the street to a rugged shack with a sign on it that said Inn. "Then there's the upper area with the tree houses. Mostly for the few times there's a flood but some people took a shine to living up there. That also means you should probably watch where you step." Right after she said that she would grab Orchis by her arm and before she had the chance to resist you'd here the sound of something shattering where she once stood. Behind her she would see a broken jar with water all over the ground and above you would see a woman waving to the group apologizing and asking if anyone was hurt before turning around and chastising her daughter whom was the culprit. "The river is a ways north east of here if you ever want some free drinking water or want to wash your clothes or something. That's really about it. If you don't have a place to stay you can spend the night at my place. It would be nice to have a guest for once." she said with a smile Kevin would walk up to the couple and like before they would shake their heads when they heard the name Jahandar. The old man would look at Kevin while stroking his beard. "The plague happened nigh on 50 years ago or so. Hit the village around the time of world war 2. Took most of us." he would shake his head with a sigh "Including our kids and grandkids" the old woman would finish for him as she stopped fanning herself and put the fan on her lap "It was a wretched time to be sure" she said with a faint tremble "Aye, we weren't the only victims. When we finally realized it was something we couldn't handle some of the others left to one o' the other villages to find a cure. Most were killed during the trip by enemy soldiers. When we finally got the cure most of the village had already died." the man would say with a sigh as he grabbed him wife's hand to give some comfort She would smile back at him and give his hand a little squeeze in response "But things are better now. We've recovered and the village is becoming lively again." she said Quintus and Mono would enter the Inn to see a small table up front with a girl sitting behind it that seemed to be about 11 or 12 years old. She would yawn as she stretched. When she finally noticed them standing there she would rub her eyes and then fall out of her chair onto the ground out of surprise. Quickly getting up and running to the back while calling for her father. While you look around the Inn the interior seems old and in some parts falling apart. Looking behind the small table that is probably the reception desk you could see other doors but they were so close together that you had to wonder how small the rooms themselves had to be. Soon a man came out from the back covered in soot and grease and would look at the group with the girl hiding behind him. "Sorry about that. Been a while since we've had anyone visit. Will that be a room for two?"

Mono walks up to the reception desk. I am going to need a room for two. I don't that man over there. My guess he needs a room for one. How much would it cost?

Quintus would decide to ignore Mono and address the person at the counter directly. "I just need a simple room. I don't mind if it's small it is as long as there's privacy. How much would that cost?" For A moment he was almost curious what else was in the building. He thought perhaps to investigate but he realized he might be being paranoid, plus it wasn't exactly like investigating undetected was the easiest thing to do.

eh? Orchis lets out a little surprised gasp as she's pulled out of the way, the girl's grip loosens her long glove a little, but Orchis quickly straightens it out before it can get past her elbow. She looks back up to where the jar came from, awareness is vital then? Hadn't thought coming to such a small place would end up being so dangerous. Orchis looks to the northeast, its where most of the people get their water, which means the river is probably visited daily by pretty much everyone. Though that begs the question of the girl's offer to stay with her a bit, she seems nice and might be nice to see her family after all. Orchis looks around the village nervously for a moment as she replies T... Thank you for the offer, but... Well.... As nice as it might be to have a place to stay, and she likely wouldn't have any reason to worry about food either, but with such a small home odds are Orchis would be close to the family for an extended period of time. It would be difficult to keep what she is a secret, and then they might treat her differently. I'd really hate to intrude.... I.. Think it would be better if I checked to see if the inn had any rooms available first.. Especially since we just met.

Camilla would laugh as she looked at Marionette. "Sorry sorry, I guess I came on a little strong there huh?" a slight tap to the side of her head "If you want a place at the Inn then you should probably hurry. Considering the other visitors I saw it might not have any rooms left." she said pointing behind her to the Inn again The man in the inn rubbed his chin for a few seconds before replying. "I've got three rooms available. 900 peso's each. We also take american dollars which would be 35 if I remember correctly." he would ponder for a while and then nodded. "You can take any room you want and we provide the water for free but we don't provide food. The bathing barrel's out back. Just tell us when you want the water heated and I'll get right to it." If you payed him he would return to the back out of sight. The girl would look at the group from behind the corner after her father left. The fact he didn't hand you any keys might surprise you a bit but you'd come to the realization there is no key hole on the door thus no key. Apparently having no real security. The rooms themselves were small. Big enough to have a single bed but not much else. There was a window on the wall for you to see outside but the window glass didn't seem like it originally fit so another plank of wood was cut to cover the part the glass didn't fit. The room itself was a little dusty and you would notice there were no sheets on the bed as well as some stains you may not want to think about. A knock at the door with the little girl holding a fresh pair solving said problem. The elderly couple would look at each other before shaking their heads. "You'd probably have to go to another village to know anythin about some other people and some such. We don't get much news about the outside here." the woman would say to Kevin

Right.. Good idea. Orchis nods to the girl, starting to walk towards the inn, though before she takes a few steps Orchis thinks to look back and asks Um... Do you think you could point out which house is yours for me? I can still visit, even if I'm not staying there. Just... After I get my own room of course. T.. Thank you again Camilla. After receiving her answer, whatever it was, Orchis would bow to the girl before heading over to check the inn. There were quite a few other travelers around too, so its important to be able to get somewhere relatively isolated to rest. At the very least she couldn't exactly share with anyone.

Mono gives the money to the inn owner. Have a good day. Mono walks up to his room, walked in, and splits into Whit, a boy who is as bright as the sun, and Chrome, a girl who is as dark as a hole. Whit: Good Night, friend. Chrome:Good Night, asshole. They both go to bed.

"Even water is more than I could have asked for. I can feed myself pretty easily, especially in a place like this. Anyway, thanks for the room." After paying what he had in cash to the innkeeper he would go off to find a room to stay in. The lack if security didn't bug him in the least bit. As soon as he arrived at his respective room he'd simply place his hand on the door briefly as he closes it shut. Suddenly, several thin yet sturdy roots would seem to form out of the ground without actually damaging the flooring. They would create a makeshift barricade over the door to disallow anyone from entering without permission It would only be upon looking away from the roots that he'd notice an issue. There were no sheets on the bed. Quintus would sigh with annoyance as he heard the knock on his door. The roots would seem to fade in mere moments as he opened the door to see the girl arrive. "Oh, new sheets. Thanks, uh, don't think I asked your name before."

Camilla would tell Orchis that her house was on the north eastern end of the village. The only one with a mail box. She would then see her off as she walked back into the market to grab a fruit from the stall she was eyeing earlier before returning home to make herself dinner. The child would nervously begin to fidget after being asked her name. Seeming to not want to make eye contact. "......Maria." she said as she looked like she wanted to run away. She would stand there almost visibly shaking before finally looking at Quintus's face and opening her mouth as if she wanted to say something more. She would stand there with her mouth open as if the words were caught in her throat before closing it. "H-have a n-nice night" she would say bowing to him as if to avoid eye contact again and then running out only to run into Orchis on her way out. Letting out a small yelp as she almost ran into the grey haired girl she would try to stop herself only to fall onto the ground again. She quickly ran to the back like she did with Quintus and Mono and soon her dad walked out again whipping the soot from his hands with her trailing behind him. "Sorry about that. My daughter can be really shy but she's a good girl." he said, putting the rag into his pocket and then scratching his head. "We sure do have a lot of guest today. Sorry but all of our rooms are full little Missy. Course if you're desperate I could lend you that there area over there but as you can see you wouldn't have much privacy." pointing to a room behind him to the far left was a small area that looked like it was made for two or three people to get together to play cards or such. There were no walls seperating it from the reception save for a small room divider that only helped you realize it wasn't apart of the reception area. The old couple would think for a little bit. "If ye don't mind sleepin wit da dead den you can probably sleep in one o' dem there old houses. Some o' da one's in da back been abandoned fer years. Place feels cursed though so's no one really uses 'em." the lady said as the husband nodded his head and pointed behind his shack. Apparently he meant the buildings on the outer edge of the village

Chrome wakes up and knocks Whit out of bed. Whit wakes up angry at Chrome. Whit: Hey! What was that for?! Chrome: You didn't wake up before me and I hate waiting. Whit: Sigh. Let's go. Whit and Chrome combine back into Monochrome, clean up the room, and heads to the main room.

After nodding back to Camilla Orchis walks into the inn, only to be surprised by young girl nearly bumping into her Er... S... Sorry. Are you al.... Orchis attempts to help the little girl up, only for the girl to scramble away before she can. Surely she didn't see anything right? Is that why they're scared? Orchis breathes a sigh of relief before looking back up to the innkeeper. twirling the end of her hair around her finger T.. That's a relief. I thought I might have done something..... Out of rooms you say? Orchis looks over to the small commons area. It doesn't really have anything she might need, for her purposes its as bad as sleeping outside, possibly worse depending on the people here, outside she could at least have Uno keep watch and wake her if needed. Though.... She did promise Camilla she would come over tonight. She doesn't want to be a liar after all Its fine... T... Thank you for the offer sir... Is there... Anything I can help you with while I'm here?

Kevin thanked the elderly couple, the houses were perfect to spend the night. He opened the nearest one to him and was assaulted with dust. After a coughing fit he looked around the house. Cobwebs. Dust. Creaky doors and floor boards. Holes and scratches on the walls and floors. Old Paintings and- Aye it's a haunted house alright [i]Kevin's familiar told him. He decided to sleep inside of what must've been a child's room. There was a stuffed doll on a bed in the corner. It was torn and dirty but Kevin recognized it instantly. How could he not? He'd been given that exact same doll just three months ago. He zoned out staring at it for awhile before his fatigue reminded him why he was there. He slept on the surprisingly comfortable carpet on the floor while his familiar kept watch.

Quintus would watch as the girl scurried away. It wasn't like he was too unused to seeing people run but normally he'd have to have done something first. "I can't exactly be upset over that. I'm sure I was the same way when I was that young. Usually, shyness just goes away with time or at least diminishes." Quintus would look over to Orchis for a moment as if trying to gauge her. "Not everyone grows out of shyness though I guess. Uh, I guess I never gave out my name before, can't expect people to do so first always. Well, while I'm still out of my room, I'm Quintus. I was just traveling through here on a small amount of business. A pleasure to meet you all." Quintus would think to himself for a moment, considering the current situation with rooms. "You know what, I suppose I wouldn't mind giving up this room and staying in the commons area. Not exactly the most ideal choice for me but I can live without privacy for a night."

Oh... Orchis grabs the end of her hair and twists it around her finger for a moment as she takes a deep breath while looking off to the side, as though trying to avoid meeting Quintus's gaze H... Hey there. I'm Orchis, Like the flower. Its a... Pleasure to meet you. while Quintus's offer would be more convenient for Orchis, she hardly knows this Quintus, and its hard to believe someone would just give their room up to some stranger, there's probably something wrong with it, or they want a favor of some kind. That's how it usually works. So the girl shakes her head I'll be fine... Quintus... I.. Received an invitation from one of the villagers, and I promised to visit them anyways. I'll.... Simply be with them. Thank you for the offer though. Orchis bows respectfully to Quintus, before offering him a smile

"Nah, don't need no help round here really. Working on an old car out back but its more a personal project than anything that's needing any attention." After he noticed Quintus out of the room and began talking to Orchis he would shrug with a small smile. "Youth huh?" he'd chuckle "Better impress her fore another young strapping man takes her away first" the chuckle turning into a hearty laugh as he began walking down the small hallway towards the back again. "You got any changes on yer sleepin 'rangements ya just let me know" His daughter Maria decided to take shelter behind the table that served as a reception desk and just watch the two. Intermission You have unlocked Market Place, Onicido Inn, River, Lower Abandoned area, Upper Tree houses. 1 action allowed until nightfall Each place visited will take half of your day meaning two places visited will be an entire 24 hours. In this intermission you have 1 action until the next story even where it will become nightfall. If you wish to skip the intermission simply post end. Remember the intermissions take place in the discord channel in the in between the lines categories.

The sun had finally set and the beating heat that once plagued the village was replaced with a humid chill in the air. The village had already begun to quiet down during the sunset but now only the sound of chirping insects carried on the wind. The village itself seemed to have fallen into slumber then again it was pretty normal for places like this. As Kevin was wandering the abandoned area he would come across a person that seemed completely out of place. Orchis being in the same area would come across this person as well albeit from a different direction and Monochrome whom followed this person here. Another girl with vibrant red hair that seemed to be about 19-21 years of age. She had in her hand what appeared to be a staff a cosplayer imitating a Magical girl show would have. She wore vibrant green plaid pants that seemed to nearly cover her pointed shoes and a button vest with a checkerboard design in bright orange and yellow. A small top hat that sat on the left side of her head and a yellow star that seemed to be painted around her right eye. She seemed more like she belonged in a circus. She would turn to the boy with a big smile. "Hiyo~!" she would wave as she bent backwards and looked at Kevin upside down. "I am not suspicious" looking at Orchis now, moving her arms around like a mime with a face of focus before letting out a laugh at her own lame joke "Enjoying the game so far?" she would ask with a slight tilt, the smile not diminishing in the slightest as she looked over to Monochrome "Of course they aren't. It's absolutely boring." a hand puppet she suddenly put on said to her on in a British accent "Eh, the game master is so lame. There should be pezah and kablams with fire works. Not this low budget film." she would reply as if the others weren't even there "But then that is why you are here isn't it darling. To bring a little life to this dreary funeral." the doll said as it seemingly patted her on the head "Aw shucks. Ya making me blush." She would say with a blush of embarrassment before looking back at the two "So that's how it is." She said throwing the hand puppet on the ground next to Kevin and pointing the staff at Orchis. "No game is fun without a little cheating here and there so here's a little hint. Try not to be too distracted with lies when the truth is right in front of you." the same big smile but eyes that held no emotion. The Inn Quintus was in would be deathly silent. At this point it could be assumed that the owner and his daughter did not sleep here and probably had their own place. For now you wouldn't really feel anything out of the ordinary. At least not anything obvious.

Monochrome looks around at the 3 people in front of him. That was an awkward moment... My name is Monochrome. Can you tell me your names, please? I am seriously confused about what is happening and what this place even is.

“Are you insane?” Orchis calmly moves some of the hair out of her eyes before glaring at the... Cosplayer? The girl sighs and shakes her head, softening her expression a bit “Sorry, I’m not in the greatest of moods. What I meant was something along the lines of ‘I didn’t come here for games, and would appreciate it if you didn’t treat it as such.’ I’d also appreciate you not pointing that at me. Out of habit more than anything else.” All that said, Orchis would try to lighten up a little, letting off a bit of a smile, as she glances around at her other companions, and answering Mono’s question “My name is Orchis. You must be really, REALLY lost to not know what a village is, there’s not too much else to say about the place after all.”

... alright laddie I'm officially tired of this god-forsaken area. Sorry mate but clowns is where I draw the bloody line Kevin's familiar snapped. And he was finding it hard to argue with him. Kevin grabbed the puppet she threw at him. "Um, my name is Kevin. What's... all your guys names?" Kevin was a bit surprised at the sudden appearance of all these people after wandering the abandoned area for a while.

Well. Nice to meet you, Kevin and Orchis. Monochrome turns towards the mysterious girl. I have a lot of questions for you, but I am guessing most of them will be answered with time. I do have one. Please answer honestly. Were you the one who brought me here to this universe?

Quintus would wake up after sleeping for what felt like days. He had been a lot more tired then he thought and there wasn't nearly as much fear of death as he believed there would be. He'd need to drain something else to satisfy Hookworm soon if he couldn't feed them via the normal method. It was strange though, he thought there'd certainly be the kind of fear he was looking for in a place like this. It was only a small village after all, without many resources of its own yet nobody seemed to be suffering much. "Hookworm, you feel that right. That's right, nothing...Looks like there may be something happening here like we originally thought. Though, if we can't feel it through our normal senses then this might end up being a bit harder to detect. Alright, looks like I'll need to try this instead." Any roots he had out to keep people out of the room would disappear as he walked out of the hotel room to try to leave and get a close look at the town square. He would need to be in a clear and open area to effectively employ his plan.

"Eh~,but I like pointing random objects at people and who doesn't like games. Games are what makes the world go round and round and round." she would say as she began to spin around with her arms spread out. "Unhand me you uncivilized plebeian" the hand doll said while in Kevins hand "Everything in this world is just a game." She stopped spinning as she began to twirl the staff in her hand. "The only difference is how its played. The world is simple when you think of it that way. Winners and losers. Futures that are determined on whether you make a high score or not. People who die from getting a bad role of the dice. It's all the same." her smile never once leaving her face and yet you could feel something dangerous behind her hollow eyes. "Even now you're caught up in a game of fates own design. Unfortunately the game master doesn't like me and wants to continue this boring soap opera. Oh whoa is me." making exaggerated crying gestures "Do not stain your beautiful face with tears darling. Surely your arrival will change things." The British doll said before complaining again about being held by Kevin. "Well enough of that." she would stop crying and look at the group around her "Your tears were fake!" the doll cried out in surprise "Such marvelous acting. Ugh, I don't like being held by dirty male swine hands!" She would compliment the girl and once more turn her attention to kevin "Surely you guys think the entire system this stupid game is rigged on is stupid right?" She would say as she looked around to the group. Quintus would have no trouble finding an open area simply on the main road ahead of him. With everyone asleep the place was completely deserted for whatever it is he planned to do though if he wandered into the abandoned area he would soon begin to hear the strange girl talking as he came closer.

"I'm starting to think that you hate me holding you" Kevin put his hand inside the sock puppet and began to mimic his british accent "she shouldn't have thrown you at me if you hated it so much. Oh yeah, you haven't told me your name Circus Girl" Mate, you might wanna let go of that doll or at least be ready for it to do something Kevin agreed and nodded towards Monochrome. What brought him into this universe? Once again Kevin's curiosity was peeked. Did this girl know about the plague? What is she even talking about?Game master? Did... she start the plague? That was a long shot but wouldn't b- Stop zoning out lad! You need to get that bad habit in check "Sorry Tim" Kevin apologized and focused again. He began to take slow and steady steps towards her, ready to use his power anytime. Maybe even use the puppet as a hostage.

Orchis looks at Monochrkmr out of the corner of her eye, giving him a swift glare in response to his question “I don’t think anyone knows what you’re talking about. Probably best to roll with things.” Orchis shrugs, giggling to herself as she glances between the girl and the doll Kevin picked up. Everything is simple when you put it that way, but it also doesn’t change anything, which might be the point. Regardless Orchis would shrug “That’s certainly one way to look at life. I guess. Not really my style though. I prefer to look at it all as a machine, the same cycles repeating over and over again towards its own persistence.” Orchis bears her own fake grin, not dropping eye contact with the girl as she continues on “Using that metaphor I’d agree, the entire system is ridiculous. But I don’t really think you’re one to talk, honestly I thought you were a clown at first.” Orchis closes her eyes with a shrug “So what? You planning on breaking this ‘game’ somehow?”

Quintus would simply stand in the center of the road for a moment as if clearing his mind. He would slowly atune his senses to that of his Persona, trying to feel the earth as the roots did. With a simple wave of his hand he'd call it forth believing nobody was watching. "Yggdrasil Prime...Spread your roots forth with your full power..." A blue aura would seem to envelop Quintus for a moment as from the ground behind him emerged a great tree with ash colored bark and golden leaves all over it. Several strange fruits that seemed to share the color of the leaves would also sprout from its branches and on the most visable of the branches a golden serpent would be coiled with eyes that appeared more similar to red gemstones than anything biological. Finally, at the center of the tree there would be a hole from which a golden glow eminated giving the appearance of an eye. "Been a while since I've summoned the full thing at once. I don't think I'll need your power this time, Hookworm. I should be able to just feel the roots myself." From beneath the great tree several roots would begin to try and spread beneath the ground. They'd try to dig their way beneath the village in order to try and set up a network of sorts. Normally a task like this would be impossible in a city or even a town but Quintus was hoping the village would be small enough to at least cover most of it. He'd try to use these roots to detect vibrations, possibly from anyone walking around at this hour or any other activity thay would involve a large amount of movement. "That should be fine for now. Not sure how long this will take." Of course, he would also hear the voice nearby. He'd try to get a little close to it's source on his own. He couldn't stray too far from Yggdrasil Prime without losing control of the roots but he'd hope he could at least approach enough to listen in on whatever was being said.

Hm... So we are in a game where it's system is rigged against us. I would say it is stupid. What are you planning? It better not be to kill innocent people. Monochrome points his double bladed sword at the mysterious girl.

Quitus would be able to hear the conversation from his location and make out that all three of the other village guest were present as well as a guest he had not seen yet. Other than that he wouldn't be able to make out any other larger movements for a while until he felt someone move up in the tree houses. That person would move outside one of the houses with something in their hand and then take a pose usually used in Olympic pole tossing tournaments. He would throw the object in his hand and wait for a few seconds. The strange girl would turn to Kevin with a grin and then make an exaggerated gasp. "Oh no! Once again my beauty has entranced the feeble mind of yet another man. I'm sorry but I must reject your confession lest you lose the ability to live without gazing upon my magnificence!" a grand pose as if she was on stage before returning to a more natural stance "Besides, I don't date Esper normies." giving a thumbs down "To think such a vulgar monkey would even think he could woo the this worlds greatest treasure. How preposterous." the doll would remark She would then turn her attention back to Orchis. "A clown? Isn't it obvious I'm just a pure innocent maiden? What's the world coming to if your perceptions are glitching out this much. Even a cheat can save you now." she gave a pitiful look as she shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. "As far as killing innocents." She then turned to Monochrome "Isn't that what PVP is for? Why should I care if a few players suck at it? Besides, going around killing players isn't going to help in this game. At least I don't think it will." She put her hand up to her chin and began to ponder for a few seconds. "Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to try right. The worst that could happen is I lose a life rig-" she was cut off as she looked off into the distance. "Tch. The game master noticed me huh? Ah this really sucks. WHY WON'T YOU LET ME PLAY TOO!?" she screamed out into the air A few seconds later an object fell from the sky ripping through her torso and splattering her remains around the area. You would notice the inside of the body was hollow and what erupted forth from the carnage was hardened stone. The woman was a construct. The object hit the ground with enough force to cause the air pressure to swirl and push everything back a few feet and created a small crater in the ground when it landed. Upon closer inspection you would realize the object was a silver pole arm with a pale glow. "Parting is such great sorry" The upper half of the woman said before her upper body hit the ground and crumbled. "Noooooo! Darling!" the puppet cried out in great distress before falling limp in Kevin's hands. After this happened Quintus would feel the vibrations caused by this and see that who ever the person in the tree house was would walk back into one of the shacks after confirming the other guest gone.

Well shit. I unintentionally killed two beings... That's a record. Monochrome goes to the crater and grabs the polearm. This causes him to split into Whit and Chrome with Whit holding the polearm and Chrome welding the double bladed sword. Whit & Chrome: Well shit.

That... that just happened lad. Lad? "She knew I was a esper" Kevin reminded Tim. He felt kinda sorry for the sock puppet. He never even knew the girl's name either. It was like someone just wanted to dump a bunch of questions and then just leave. Kevin didn't know what to do with the sock puppet so he left it in his hand. He began to walk towards the Circus Girl when Tam told him to stop. No need to worry about the "pure innocent maiden." She's already dead (probably), so why don't you look at the other NON CRAZY (probably) lads around you? Kevin paused and looked around him "Does... anyone know what just happened?" He asked.

Orchis flinches upon the initial crash, holding both arms in front of her face both to protect from any shrapnel that might fly her way and to help keep her footing as the girl's hair blows around her. Pretty impressive throw, to say the least. Once the area has settled down, Orchis would calmly walk up to the construct's remains, scraping a little of the body's dust between her fingers, and muttering to herself "Stone. Which means its a crude golem, highly expendable and fairly easy to make for some people. Plus she was willing to risk it just to screw with people. Which means that whoever made it probably has several spares. More importantly, its destruction proves they weren't just spouting nonsense, and that this whole thing is a setup." Finally noticing Whit and Chrome around her, Orchis stands up and steps back. flicking her hair to the side as though nothing had happened before shrugging her shoulders and looking at Kevin "Dunno, seemed kinda random to me. Whole thing really kinda ruined the mood. Now, I believe I had somewhere to be." Orchis smiles and begins to walk off back in the direction of the river, if she can put a little space between her, Kevin, Whit, and Chrome, she would raise her left arm as though yawning and begin muttering to herself "change of plans Uno, I've walked through most of the lower village, so I want you to investigate and report the upper half. Now go." with that, the device previously hidden in the woods near the village entrance would spring to life once more, in the cover of darkness its sleek, black, metallic shell would make it difficult to discern as it aimed to reach the nearest treehouse and climb up into the upper pathway

Quintus wasn't about to ignore those vibrations. He was almost curious about what had occurred but he thought it might be better not to let himself be known to the others just yet. "Looks like we have some work to do, after all, Hookworm. Who knows, maybe this will help us collect a nice helping of despair. This place has been oddly barren, even now. Almost wish I had stayed home but guess it's too late for that." Quintus would first return to Yggdrasil Prime and lightly tap his hand on the trunk of the tree. Slowly it would seem to disintegrate into a wave of golden light but the roots in the ground would remain. They would become absolutely still though as if all the life had been taken out of them. "Better to at least keep them in the ground for now. Might be able to do some recycling if the need arises later. Now, about our mysterious friend from before. Let's see if this Game Master has some answers." Quintus would retrace the vibrations he felt before to try and find the shack the individual came out of. He was unsure where he'd be led exactly but seemed unconcerned for now.

The pole arm that chrome held soon began to break down into a collection of small lights and disappeared leaving nothing behind but the destruction it wrought. Orchis would find herself near the Onicido river and much like Monochrome before her, would not find anything of interest. But even stranger is the fact their was nothing of interest. For a place that served as the water source for the village you didn't find anything. No signs of the herbs near the riverside or the riverbed being picked. No signs that this part of the river had been visited at all. Of course this could simply point to the fact they used a different part of the river but you didn't have all of that information right now. Quintus and would find himself above the village on the platforms made in the trees to avoid flooding. The upper area didn't show signs of much use and parts of the floor boarding was rotted through. You could tell just being up here on such unsteady footing was dangerous. Uno found itself wandering the upper area as well and as he was examining the area he would realize the tree houses would be empty with no signs of any use in decades. A wonder they were even still standing at all with the harsh environment of this rain forest. Maybe it was because of how well made it was or maybe some other force was keeping them from falling apart but Uno had no way of knowing. As is wandered it would see Quintus a fair distance away and if it wished to would follow after him. As Quintus used his memories to get a feel for the exact shack the mysterious person he felt before was, he would find himself at a shack that seemed to be in slightly better condition than the others. Pulling the curtains back that blocked the entrance you would find a single man sitting on a raised bed with his back against the wall almost as if he was waiting for you. He had shoulder length silver hair and dull green eyes. His body seemed weak and a little malnourished and he was covered in sweat but his expression was calm yet unreadable, not letting a single emotion show. "It's been a while since I've had any visitors. What does a persona user want with me?" he would speak up to the young man whom walked into his home. The inside of the shack was nothing special but you would be able to take note of some dim colored jewels laying scattered on the floor. On a small shelf to the side of the bed was a lock box that seemed to have a few more jewels but unlock the ones on the ground they gave off a dim glow.

Quintus would seem to almost smile upon hearing the man's reaction. It seems the man could be a bigger source of information then he realized if he was able to tell what he was just by looking. "I'm not here to disrupt things if that's what you're worried about. Not that I think I could even if I wanted to. I'm just an investigator of sorts, I take it upon myself to look into odd events. I'm surprised you knew I'd be coming so fast and even more surprised that you know of my Persona. I'm just here because I have a few questions regarding what just happened. I happened to overhear things and it seems there's more to this village than I originally thought. Would you be willing to answer my questions or perhaps you're too busy at the moment? Though if you are too busy then I'll just have to leave to continue looking into things anyway. I've always been the curious type when it comes to the supernatural, you see." Quintus would remain smiling but he couldn't help but show a bit of excitement in his eyes. He knew he might be in trouble but whatever seemed to be going on might lead to a much bigger find then he could ever have hoped for.

The polearm disappeared and Whit and Chrome recombined to Monochrome. Aw man. I thought I was going to get a new weapon. Well... I guess I'll head back to where I was. Monochrome heads back to the river via the path he found earlier.

Kevin simply watched as everyone left so he could inspect the crater and golem. There was a couple of questions he had for monochrome because randomly spitting in two had raised some concerns. Kevin walked to the crater and observed it. The spear came from the sky, but the golem knew it was coming. It was heavily implied the "Game Master" had struck her down. The Game Master had most likely silenced her due to what she was saying. So she said something the Game Master didn't want us to know. Alright mate that's what we know, now what don't we know? Well, we don't know who the golem or Game Master is. We don't know why she was struck down for what she was saying and why she was even telling us that. She sees this world as a game, so the Game Master might also think that way explaining why he/she silenced the golem to make sure she doesn't ruin the game. Maybe. Kevin stared at the sky to try and see where the pole came from. That's when he realized something even more odd. Why did it matter? Why would that golem telling us anything matter to the Game Master if we were all doing our own things? Unless, was that the game? Is everything that happens in this village all under the Game Master's control? Is this village... even real? You sound like you need some sleep Kevin's familiar suggested. Kevin sighed knowing that he'll get no answers standing around and headed towards the Inn

The man would sigh at first showing his fatigue before reaching into the lock box and pulling out one of the glowing gems. He would hold it in his hand for a few moments and as the gems light began to dull his own complexion improved a little. He would drop the gem on the ground after it lost its glow as he turned his attention back to Quintus. "Visited by a persona user and" he would glance over to Uno "one of their creations huh? Maybe this is fate.....not that I ever believed in such things." he would mutter to himself before closing his eyes and leaning back. "This village is of no interest to you. It would be best if all of you just left.....then again none of you are the type to do that huh." opening his eyes as he stares at the ceiling "What is it you all want? I only wish to be left alone. To allow her to continue dreaming." a tired look in his eyes Monochrome would return to the shack with the path leading into the cave. There wasn't much more of interest and if he followed the path back he simply find himself back at the waterfall. Though that would be different if he was use a light down there. Kevin would walk back to the main street towards Inn. He would notice how quiet it is, deathly so despite the noise. Something that you may find strange. Even with the noise caused by the pole arm from earlier not a single person was walking around or looking outside to find out the cause. The Inn itself would be empty with all of its renters out in the village.

Having been discovered, there was no reason for Uno to continue to hide, the device would step further into the building, since there's no way for them to know its owner, the risk is fairly low altogether. Uno fully enters the doorway, remaining near a wall in case escape was needed, and slowly shuts its red eyes before asking in an overly high-pitched and friendly voice "You're referring to Camilla, aren't you? What is it you think you owe the child to go to such lengths? It seems foolish." though the automated tone might sound friendly, Uno's words are simple, cold, and calculating, as one might expect from a machine, straight to the point and with little consideration for emotion

Hm... I have another idea. Monochrome splits into Whit and Chrome. Whit grabs a match and the rope. Whit: I have another great idea. How about we do the same shit we did before but you hold this match while it is lit. Chrome: Whit. When we get back to our universe, we are going to have a talk. Fine, let's do your stupid idea. However, you are the one holding the match. Deal? Whit: sigh deal. Whit ties the rope to each other and lit the match. The light wasnt that big but he was able to get around in the dark. Whit starts going into the cave.

Noticing the machine Quintus would begin quieting down. He'd rather whatever this machine was doing the talking for a while. It seemed to get to the point more than he dared to and even if the man got angry he'd rather he took it out on the strange machine rather than him. At very least it could give him some time to get away if things got messy. "Allow her to continue dreaming? Interesting...Perhaps we were trying to track the wrong trace..." He would speak to himself almost muttering. He wasn't too certain on what was going on but he felt as though it might be better to begin detecting life force rather than simply fear. It wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do as it would involve actually bringing Hookworm out to look themselves. Quintus wasn't exactly eager to let people know about his own secret.

The man would look at the machine as it spoke to him. He would gaze at it as if looking for something before finally speaking. "First I have a question for you." he would say before turning silent. At the very least within this shack it seemed so but back at the river where Orchis was she would hear his voice right in front of her her. "I'm sure you wouldn't want strangers to hear my question." He would say as he was standing right in front of Orchis. Even through the sensors she could tell he was still in the shack with Quintus yet he also stood before her and seemingly continuing the conversation without pause with Quitus. "Your Creators. Were they apart of the soul clan? Were you...their final legacy?" he would ask Orchis, as before no emotion on his face. As monotone and cold as if he no longer had a flicker of life in him. Back in the shack the man would turn his attention to Quintus after the short pause. "This village is exactly what you think. Created for but a single person." he would say without continuing as he waited for the boys reaction. Whit would walk back through the tunnel but unlike last time he would see the numerous skeletons that filled it. Some rats scatters as some even ignore the two and continued to chew on the bones. Unlike above you would realize this was more of a grave than a cave. Kevin would find himself up on the upper part of the villages and would realize just how unsteady the footing was. It was a miracle that he didn't fall through the rotting wood to his death. As he walked around he would notice just how desolate a place this was. Not a single house was occupied and they didn't seem to have been used in years.

Whit: C-chrome, I'm-m scared. Chrome: You made a choice and you live with it. Whit: There are Skeletons and rats everywhere. I think whoever used that house used this as a dumping ground. Chrome: We walked by dead bodies?! That's so cool! Whit: It's sick not cool! Whit walks in deeper as chrome follows behind.

Quintus would look at the man strangely. It was almost like he was reading his mind or maybe he was just a good listener. Regardless he would continue on, giving a response since he was addressed directly. "I see, that adds up thinking about some observations I've made on this place. However, I suppose my next question is obvious. Why exactly? Is there a reason for keeping someone in a dream-like world like this?"

"What the..." Orchis would attempt to scurry back in surprise, only to remember she set herself up by a tree, not much room to back away, backed against a wall, she reflexively tries to call Uno back, and back in the treehouse the device begins to move towards the door, however she soon remembers its too far away to be any good, and Uno falls motionless. Orchis takes a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment, great, another person who knew at a glance, is it really that obvious? The girl begins trembling as she tries to steady herself. But, there's some good news, whatever she is reminded the person of... Something... If he knows something about Master, it would be worth a shot "I.. Don't know. Master never said anything about clans, simply that there were bad people out there, and that's why he couldn't visit as often. He barely started teaching me last time I saw him..... How long ago was that?" Orchis puts her hand on her chin, time didn't mean much to her, not for a long while, she couldn't hope to know the days, how long its been "Anyways, I'm sure he's out here somewhere."

He continued to stare at the girl as if trying to see something in her but ultimately closed his eyes. "....I see." were the only words that left his mouth before he faded away, leaving Orchis alone once more In the shack his gaze would wander Uno then bck to the boy before looking at the ground. "Simply because I am selfish. I no longer wanted to watch her suffer and thus I created this dream." You find no falsehood in his words but you sense a deep exhaustion that fills his every word. He once again takes a jewel from the box and like before it would lose its glow as his exhaustion seemed to alleviate even if only a little. Soon Quintus and Uno would hear screaming from outside. The man would sigh saying "another nightmare" and walk outside before grabbing yet another gem. Outside you would see the village engulfed in flames. Around you would be the faces of people you don't know screaming at you. "Murderer." some screamed "You did this to us! You used us!" others screamed "Bring me back my child!" "You bring nothing but death you wretched demon!" These voices caused the very air to vibrate. You could feel the hatred that oozed out from these people. Their anger and despair. A vortex of negative emotions that spilled forth threatening to drown you in a sea of madness. The silver pole arm would appear in the mans hand and he would simply swing it down while muttering the word 'Silence'. The flames died down and the voices disappeared. The hell that once was disappeared without a trace returning the village to its somber silence. The man would drop the pole arm and fall to his knees covered in sweat again. Like before the gem in his hand would turn lose its light and his complexion would improve. He would walk back into the shack as he sat back down. The pole arm on the ground breaking down into particles of light before disappearing. "If you have no more questions then please just leave." He would say with a tired tone Kevin would have witnessed this happen and probably find himself shaken from the view he just witnessed. "I lose conscience and awaken to being kidnapped then I am shown such an incredibly horrid sight. Oh, won't you save me my loving darling." The puppet suddenly mutters "Such an evil, atrocious thing. Though I admit I'd much rather be in your sweaty hands than have to experience that again. Some things are not meant to exist." the doll would say with a somber tone. Continues in next post

In the cave White would come across a desk with some papers on top and an old diary. The papers were mostly ruined by the high humidity of the cave and the diary only had a few readable pages. It has been ____ months since the plague has hit us. Many of our people have grown too sick to work. Too sick to hunt. Because of ____ have been having food shortages. Some adults have chosen to ____ there remaining food to ___ children. A noble thing yes, but then the adult dies and the ____ has no one to look after them so they die as well. The other day a woman died of starvation and her new born soon followed. We didn't even realize she had stopped producing milk. The child ______ died before the mother. It has been two _____ since my last entry. We've been seeing more and more soldiers around the area. They don't speak our language. The chief says ____ are German. I don't know too much about such things but the chief has informed us that _______ start preparing for the worst. Some of us have left to find a doctor to cure the plague but they never returned. It has been 2 weeks since my last entry. I don't know what to think anymore. My own body is _____ to fail me. I'm growing weaker and no matter how much water I drink my thirst remains ever torturous. When will this end? Poison. This was no plague. It was poison put in our dri_____ water. I don't understand why this is happening to us. I have lost two broth__, three sisters and my two sons because of this. Why must there be war? Why must we s__fer for the sake of someone else ____les? Have we been forsaken? We have done nothing wrong. I don't want to die. I'm scared. My last child has died and my wife has taken her own life. I fear I too will g___ into such temptations. The others have tried to persuade me ____ but what else do I have to live for. All I feel is hate to the Germans. To the people ____ feel they must fight this petty war. Humans. Humans are such ____icable creatures. They understand the suffering they cause and justify it through their since of morality and duty. I wish them all a slow and painful death. The rest was too worn and unreadable

Orchis grins and closes her eyes, she knew such feelings well, a burning desire for vengeance, a passionate sorrow for those lost. The frigid despair, realizing there was little they could do to change anything. After all, Orchis herself had felt such things. The girl stands up, breathing out a sigh as she begins walking back from the river. As she goes, Orchis once again puts her arm up in front of her mouth, this time her own voice rings out from Uno "Suit yourself. The best thing you can do is apologize for your deception, and live with her. Try to make up for what's happened. But people like you never do, you'd rather stick with your decision." As for Uno, it follows suit, walking to the house entrance and opening the curtain, only to briefly turn back to the old man "I need to be up front with her too. I won't tell her anything about your actions, merely my own. Afterwards what happens is out of my control." With that, Uno leaves his house, scrambling over the treehouses until it reaches a point where Orchis would soon pass over on her way to Camilla's house. When she does so, Uno would jump down, landing on the ground next to Orchis with a *thud* and following her along like some kind of pet

Whit: What weird scribbles. Someones been making too much fiction. Hey Chrome! I found this Diary with stories in it! Chrome: Keep it. You don't know when that will be useful. Whit grabs the diary and puts it with his belongings. He continues down the cave with Chrome behind him.

Kevin was so started by the sudden explosion of flames the puppet nearly phased out of his hands. Once he caught his breath he looked at the doll. "What the hell is happening?!" He asked it. Tam had been silent despite all of this happening. Kevin ordered Tam to form a shield around them just in case something happened again.

Quintus would put his hands in his pocket and sigh as if tired just from witnessing the whole ordeal. All that negativity too, it reminded him too much of things long past, things he already was trying to forget. "All that negativity, makes me wonder what exactly happened here. I won't bug you anymore though. It seems this all really was none of my business." Quintus wondered if that despair could be useful in such concentration. It was a possibility but exploiting a tired old man and a girl who had suffered a great deal would leave too much of a bitter taste in his mouth. He'd simply leave the shack and begin looking around wondering where he should go next. It might be reasonable for him to simply return home but there was still an ich in the back of his head as if there was something he was missing. "Hookworm, what is it? Won't hurt to check I suppose. Let's find somewhere a little more private though just in case. I'd rather not make anyone uneasy." He'd begin moving away from the shack in order to find somewhere more isolated for the moment.

"Isn't it obvious you dunce. That man you just saw is the cause of all of this. An evil existence that lives through deceit. His every word bringing you closer to a horrible end. However, it would seem he is in a greatly weakened state right now. If its now you would be able to strike him down. To free yourself and the souls of these people from this hell hole once and for all. Though I'd prefer if my mistress did it she can't even get within a mile of this place without dying." The puppet would say with a harrumph to kevin As Whit headed farther into the cave she would see places where it seemed as if some type of mining took place as well. It didn't seem to have progressed much but you saw small traces of iron in the wall. Most of which rusted over because of the humidity of the cave. Beyond the notebook however, there is not much else of interest. As you came back to the part of the tunnel that was naturally created it seemed to branch off back to the place where the water fall was and further back in the opposite direction. Orchis would make it to the house with no problem. The man would be waiting next to the front door but would simply watch and say nothing else, making no attempts to stop you. Inside of the house Camilla would be sitting at the table with a lantern on. Staring into an empty picture frame. She would look up and notice Orchis. "Orchis? What are you doing here?" A bit of relief at the appearance of her new friend but also anxiety for her late night visit. Quintus wouldn't have any problem finding an empty place. After all, beyond the house the silver haired man was in, the entirety of the upper area was empty. The only other person being present would be Kevin but it wouldn't be hard to find a place with no one in it at this moment.

Orchis closes her eyes and grins silently, closing the door behind her as soon as Uno makes it in, as though the privacy might mean anything when the village is empty. "Don't worry about it. I just needed to apologize for lying to you. There wasn't any room at the inn or anywhere, I simply wanted some privacy. If we ended up remaining too close for too long, you might have seen well..." Its rather hard for her to fully explain, so instead the girl decides its best to show. Orchis uses her right hand to slowly roll down her long, black glove to a little ways below her elbow. Her upper and lower arms meet at the elbow, the two parts joined together by a ball to allow the arm to bend and simulate normal movement "I'm not exactly human myself. A living doll of sorts. I'm going to need to move on pretty soon, we probably won't see each other again, but I thought you ought to know." Orchis closes her eyes again, slowly pulling her glove back up to hide the joint once more under the fabric before she continues "People've wanted to use me as a tool for much of my life, just for what I am. But whatever happens, whatever anyone else might think. I want you to remember. Whatever you've done, whatever the rest of the world might think of you. You get to choose the kind of person you are."

Now that he was alone Quintus would concentrate on Hookworm's presence. It had seemingly been a while since he brought his weapon forth but he still remembered the feeling. "Armed Mode: Hookworm!" From his palms two hooked blades would seem to grow, wriggling out of his skin before taking a solid shape. The blades were black in colour with the hilts which would form last having beady red eyes near the top, where Quin's hands wouldn't be in the way. The eyes would look around steadily before focusing in on Quin. Two chains seemed to be attached to the blades as well. The chains would seem to grow out of Quin's hands as well. "There we go, now hopefully nobody will question why I have such strange looking weapons. Ready to detect who's actually alive and who's not, Hookworm? I'm sure it will be more fun then it sounds." Quin would begin moving back to the center of town. Hookworm all the while would be looking around for traces of blood. If Quintus was right in his assumption then there should only be two traces of fresh blood in the area though he might have to look around a little as Hookworm could only detect such things in close proximity.

Kevin processed what the puppet just said. He thought carefully about what he was going to say next. "What's your name? And also, if you know where the Game Master is, can you please take me to him?" Kevin had many questions he wanted answers to, and based on what he just saw the Game Master had to know at least something about what was going on in this village. Tam was still silent as they listen to the puppet

As Quintus would use hookwarm to try to detect fresh blood in the village he would feel only two. One belonging to Kevin who was still in the upper area. The second belonging to Camilla who was in her house with Orchis. You wouldn't feel anything else from the village. Not from the houses. The Inn. Or the main street. The village was truly empty. You didn't even sense the smell of fresh blood from the man whom you just spoke to, though despite that you would know him to be alive even if only barely. "You should feel honored to have my name grace those sorry excuses for ears on your head. It is Bridget." The hand puppet would say with great pride before looking in the opposite direction. "The 'game master' you so aptly called him is in that rundown hobo hut. The one that doesn't look like its coming completely apart at the seems." Monochrome would make it back to the main street where he could barely see Kevin in the tree houses. The village was deathly quite, a large contrast from the bustling streets it once was when they were last here. Desolation was the only word to describe this quite. Camilla would stare at the elbow and took in every word she heard. After a few moments she would look into Orchis's eyes. "Thank you for sharing your secret with me. Being a living doll sounds like something straight out of a fairy tale. It would explain why you're so beautiful." A small smile on her face. "Just like that fairy tale." her eyes would close before looking down at the empty picture frame in her hands once more. "It's strange when I think about it. All these pictures in the house are my family. I feel a pull to them that can't be explained in any other way but......As I try to think harder and harder, try to remember I can't seem to pull out anything concrete." her gaze fixated on the frame "I had a nightmare before you came over. It woke me from my sleep. It wasn't nothing more than the screams of people I didn't know telling me how awful I was. I was.....scared." tears began to role down her cheeks. She would turn her gaze back to Orchis. "I'm afraid to know.....if I'm really myself." her voice cracking as if she was pleading for an answer.

Monochrome looks around in surprise. Wha. Where is everyone?! Tons of people were here before! How the hell did they just disappear?! He notices Kevin up in the treehouses. Maybe he can help. He runs after Kevin to see if he knows anything about the diary.

"That's a nice name" Kevin told the puppet. "Mine is Kevin" He began to walk in the direction of the shack before Tam warned him Behind you lad you've got company Kevin dropped his guard once he saw who it was. The robots ran to Kevin asking if he knew about a diary they found in a cave. Kevin grabbed it and read through the parts that were intelligible. "Seem like the final words of a dying man" Kevin told them "I think this is probably during the plague and the war this village had... also, you guys were called Monochrome right? Or is it different since you're split in two now? And what did you mean when you asked the golem about being from another universe?"

Orchis tries to give the girl a reassuring smile, though she’s never been so good at that. It’s probably not a good idea to mention that she saw it too, instead, Orchis lets out a sigh “Sounds like they were scared too. Everyone’s scared of things they don’t know.” Finally, Orchis takes a few steps closer to Camilla, aiming to put a hand on the girl’s shoulder and look her in the eyes “It’s like I said, the past doesn’t matter. You’re the only one who can decide who or what you are. I’m afraid I can’t really say much about the sins of another, but I think you can do it.” Orchis briefly glances to the door behind her, though her Sun comment can be taken as a general statement, she hopes that man from earlier would get that it’s directed more at him. After all, she can’t say much more without breaking her word

Quintus would let Hookworm guide him as one of the blades seemed to begin pointing him in the direction of the girl known as Camilla. He thought for a moment about the first life sign he detected but that was still in the upper area and he didn't feel as if what he was looking for was there. "Well, looks like your theory was right on point, as usual, Hookworm. So, what should we do? Think the girl knows anything about...well, all of this? I'd be interested in possibly learning how to recreate something like this myself. I'm sure the boss would too. Could be an almost endless supply of despair if done correctly." He'd follow the trace hoping to find Camilla. However, he wouldn't approach if he was able to see Orchis with her. It wouldn't be too good if a stranger saw Hookworm. Especially one who seemed like they might be trouble. It would be clear to him that Orchis was no simple girl.

Camilla would stare into Orchis's eyes for a few moments before she looked down at the picture frame. "You're right. I am myself....and I shouldn't be afraid of learning who I am. I.....I should....figure this out. Who I am. What I've done. I need to face these things if I want to leave this place one day." slowly wiping her tears on her sleeve she then gently takes Orchis hand into her own with a sincere smile. "Thank you Orchis." Following the trace hookworm found he would find his way to the house. The silver haired man standing outside of it while staring up at the stars. "To end the dream....can you really say that if you knew." he would mutter to himself before shaking his head. "Then again. I never gave you that choice before." He would look over to Quintus and return to silence. Showing his unwillingness to even try to stop him much like Orchis.

Well. While I am one being, I am Monochrome. Monochrome splits into Whit and Chrome. Whit: While we are split, we are Monochrome split between good and evil. I am the good side. Chrome: I'm the evil side. To answer the question about the universe thing, we arent of this universe. We were traveling to a resort for our annual vacation, but we were pulled here while traveling. We are asking if they were the ones who pulled us here so we can get them to bring us back to our universe. They formed back to Monochrome. Does that answer your question, or do you have more?

"Ah, no that's all for now. Actually I have one more." Kevin pointed to the shack the puppet told him about. "Do you want to come with me to meet the 'Game Master?'" Good choice mate. More the merrier *sigh* Kevin smiled and ignored Tam he's hoping Monochrome would be a friend instead of foe.

Orchis isn’t quite used to being thanked, and kinda awkwardly scratches the back of her head with her free hand, stammering out her reply. “I.. It’s nothing to thank me for... I mean....” Orchis takes a deep breath, steadying her nerves a bit to return Camilla’s smile “I think you’re growing up a bit. Parents would probably be proud.”

Meeting this game master could be useful... Sure. I'll come along. Better to be in a group. Monochrome is now following Kevin and Tam.

Quintus would look towards the man with his weapons still out. However, he'd draw them back into his hands just as quickly as he pulled them out. He noticed something odd seeing the man again. "An illusion? Or do you have no blood in your body? What exactly are you? Are you...dead? This whole situation seems a lot messier than I anticipated." Quintus would lose interest in tracking down Camila as more questions began popping up in his mind. He felt there was a much more horrible truth behind the man then he realized. He assumed he held some kind of magic but it almost seemed like he wasn't human or at least not human anymore.

When Kevin and Monochrome walk into the shack the man was still sitting there. Simply looking up to the two before him then looking back down with a deep sigh as though he lost interest. "So this time an Esper with a familiar and some type of conscience construct. What exactly do you want with this me?" he would ask obviously becoming a bit annoyed However before anyone had the chance to react the doll named Bridget that was in Kevin's hand quickly broke free as it flew up opening its mouth. At that moment the man noticed the anomaly and then looked up. The moment he noticed the doll was the moment it was too late. A beam of energy shot out of Bridget's mouth piercing the mans chest and even shooting through the shack wall and reaching the ground below. He fell back as the pole arm appeared in his hand but this time it simply fell from his grasp onto the floor. He quickly reached for the lock box but both him and the box fell onto the ground as the gems scattered out of his reach. "My mistress sends her regards." She says as another beam began to form in her mouth. Outside Camilla's house the man would look at Quintus with tired eyes. "I'm simply a man whose selfishness has brought far more harm to those he cares about than he would like to admit. The things I once fo-" His words would interrupt as a hole in his chest would appear and blood would come out from his mouth. While he was still falling he muttered "what have you done?" before he faded out of existence. A scream would be heard inside the house with Camilla and Orchis. She would be holding her head as she writhed around in pain. Soon the village like before began to return to that same hell as before. Faces of people you didn't know would begin to appear around the area blaming you and the others for your sins. The village became a whirlpool of negative emotions that swirled into a playground of madness. Flames began to appear around the area. There heat burning the air. The upper area of the village slowly beginning to collapse and fall to the ground as if the force that held it together all this time has disappeared. On the outskirts of the village was the girl from before with the strange clothing looking at everything with a pair of binoculars. "Well that was easy. That Esper's personal reality hid Bridget's mana well enough to get her close enough attack." she said putting up the binoculars and began to walk towards the village while twirling the staff in her hand with a smile. "London bridge is falling down" she would begin to sing to herself as she came closer to her goal.

Kevin! What the hell is that thing?! It attacked someone with a beam! Monochrome pulls out the double bladed sword and tried to attack the doll.

"Wait don't hurt it! It might've done a good thing!" Kevin said trying to stop Monochrome. It wasn't until he heard the screams that he started to second guess himself. Still there was hope that it wasn't actually bad Tell that to the souls of the damned mate. His familiar joked while forming a shield around the shack just in case.

Quintus would for once show complete alarm as the man disappears. He didn't expect such a sudden occurrence to take place but he wouldn't have long to show concern as Hookworm would begin warning him of the smoke nearby and the cries of the girl in the house. He'd be assailed by a few of the voices but almost seemed to be shrugging them off. Something could even be heard from him but in a muffled tone. "Whatever you say, nothing was my fault so be quiet..." Quintus would enter the house without warning and immediately begin speaking in a concerned tone. "Hey, think it's time to leave. Not the safest place anymore and I have a feeling things will only get worse the longer we're here."

Orchis flinches from the initial outburst of the village, taking a moment to regather her thoughts. Is this that old guy’s doing? Or did he just stop altogether? Whatever it is there’s obviously something dangerous going on. For now, Orchis grabs Camilla’s shoulder and shouts in hopes of being heard over the voices. “Camilla, I’m going to need you to calm down a bit. Just focus on the sound of my voice, everything should be alright. “ Orchis has her doubts about any of this helping, but it would be nice to be able to do something about it, even if just this once

The silver haired man would be on the ground not moving. He still seemed to be breathing so he was alive but only barely. The doll would shoot another beam aiming for his head before monochrome attack would cause the beam to veer off course and shoot through the floor next to his head. Kevin getting between the two as he protects the doll and Tam creating a barrier around the shack. None of which helped when the shack had caught on fire and the voices of the damned began blaming them. The floor had began to become unstable as it began to fall apart. The floor boards began to fall down to the fiery hell that waited below. "Tch. Can't stay here much longer." the doll said as it look around for a clear exit. The man on the ground could be heard say the name Ai as he seemed to struggle even breathing. Camilla would be on the ground writhing in pan as she screamed. "IT'S NOT MY FAULT! i NEVER DID ANYTHING! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!" she screamed over and over as you could see the very veins in her head begin popping out. Her started to become pale as her body arched and her nails dug into the floor boards enough to bleed. Even with all the fire around she continued like that for a while until among the voices she heard Orchis. After a while of struggling she finally stopped as she looked into Orchis's eyes, her nose beginning to bleed as tears streamed down. "O-Orchis...?" she said as her eyes didn't seem to be able to focus. "Who...am I...? a question popped out of her mouth as she continued to stare at nothing in particular When the door slammed open And Quintus came rushing in the voices seemed to be getting louder. It was at this moment that Quintus would probably realize the anomaly of this girl. That she was the center of all of the negative emotions in this village. The amount of despair, anger, hatred and pain she had was abnormal even for a regular person. Enough to fill this entire village. She would look out beyond the two as her eyes were turned to the direction the shack that the silver haired man was in resided. "......I.....saac.....I must....leave." she said without moving

Orchis looks up to the open door to find the guy from the inn again. Her device Uno initially springs between the two, only for Orchis to wave it down. “I’d rather not leave without Camilla, but she doesn’t seem to be in good shape right now. Help me carry her.” With that said, Orchis begins trying to help Camilla up and out of the house, slowly and calmly talking to the girl the whole while. “Your name is Camilla, but only you can choose what that means. We should try getting somewhere a bit safer. I know it’s probably a lot to take in at once, just remain calm. The voices only have as much power as you give them”

Sweat began to trickle down Kevin's forehead. The floor breaking and the screaming made it feel like he was caught in the earthquakes he read about. Kevin took a deep breath. Tam can only make one shield at a time. "Tam! Take the shield off the shack and put on around the puppet! Also try first aid on the Game Master!" Kevin yelled over the screams. He recognized the jewels in the box. Maybe... Kevin reached into his pocket and began to run towards the man. Wait lad! I can't protect you while I am doing two thin- Tam wouldn't finish before Kevin's leg broke the floor and trapped him. In a panic he threw the jewel in his pocket at Monochrome. "Give it to the Game Master!" He told the machine. Tam suddenly went silent. He realized the reason why Kevin wanted to bring the jewel to the Game Master. All he could do was hope Monochrome could reach him in time.

R-right! Monochrome rushes down and gives the jewel to the Game Master. Here. You need this.

Quintus would nod calmly before walking over to try and help the girl as well. The question the girl asked Orchis was a difficult one, one that he himself remembers having to answer. He still wasn't quite sure what it meant to be himself but he imagined everyone struggled with this at times. "I never thought about leaving her behind but her state is a lot worse than I imagined. It would seem this world might react to her in some way and that man outside was a sort of overseer to help control it. Not that any of that matters right now. Things will only get worse if she stays here. This space would likely only grow worse the more she suffers."

"Are you all complete idiots!? Why would you try to help the man who created this warped reality!? Killing him will end all of this" the doll would scream out to the group. Monochrome would get to him and hand him the gem. The man would take the gem into his hand and then it would lose its glow. The wound did not close but he seemed to have enough strength to slowly stand up. He grabbed his pole arm and used it as a crutch as he stood. The floor began to crack as the flames ate away at them. He would glare at the puppet whom would then begin to charge another beam despite the barrier. The floor began to collapse in the house signalling to everyone that they needed to leave soon. Quintus and Orchis would have no problem helping Camilla out of the house and though they were outside the heat from the flames made it difficult to breathe. With each breath they took the hot air felt almost as if it was burning their throats and lungs. Parts of the upper area was falling down making it dangerous to move around carelessly. Though you wouldn't be able to pin point the singing you would hear it coming from around the area. A song that didn't seem to match the area with a voice all too familiar. "London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. Where are you Ai." the giggling of a girl would resound around the area

Quintus would cough a bit with the hot air entering his lungs. He never was one much for fire but he knew the girl's life was more important than his discomfort. It would take him a moment to concentrate but he'd attempt to bring forth four roots to surround himself, Orchis and the girl. If any rubble were to come down on them he hoped to try and use a root to either swat it away or make a small barrier. The only issues would be that the roots weren't very fire-proof. All it would take is a moderate amount of flames to completely burn one of them away. "I'll make sure nothing falls on us but I'm having a hard time navigating in this heat. It makes it hard to think..."

He might be the one in charge of everything, but he might be the only one who can bring me back to my universe. Monochrome looks at the man. Can you walk? We need to get out of here. If the man says yes, then they will try to run away from the scene. If the man says no, then Monochrome will try to defend the man.

Though she can feel the heat for sure, Orchis would be relatively unaffected by the flames, artificial as she is, so, the girl still takes the moment to glance at their surroundings especially up in the treetops, the fire is obviously going to be a problem, but she doesn't really have any tools to deal with it effectively. For now, she glances over to her nearby device, Uno and starts shouting to be heard over the flames "We're going to want to make it to the river, do that and even if the flames follow us we'll be safe. Plus there was almost no evidence of people last time I was there, so it should still be safe. Uno, head back to the treetops and begin cutting down the walkways in our path. We'll have to climb over them, but its better than praying they don't fall on us." its orders given, Uno would do exactly that, rapidly climbing the trees along their path in order to cut down the connecting bridges that would lay directly in their path before the three reached them as Orchis would try to lead the trio towards the river. It'll be somewhat slow going, but it would at least reduce the variables, with only fire to consider rather than also having to worry about the crumbling structures above

The flames surrounding Kevin made it feel as if he was melting. Think Kevin think... He tried to get free but to no avail. Monochrome is a robot so he should be unaffected. "Monochrome keep giving him the jewels until he can walk and get out of here! I'll find a way but if he dies it'll probably get worse." Kevin turned to the puppet. "Tam get rid of the barrier around the puppet and protect Monochrome while he leaves" Kevin grabbed the puppet as soon as it was released. He made sure it couldn't properly aim at the man and wouldn't be hurt in the chaos. Laddie! You better not get hurt! Tam warned him. Kevin smiled. He wasn't going anywhere with his leg like that.

"Yaho~~" a voice called out behind Quintus and Orchis. "It's been a while peeps. Nice to see you're still alive. Now if you would be so kind as to leave Ai with me I would super duper appreciate it. No reason to PK each other right?" she would say still twirling the staff around in her hand with a big smile; her eyes however were not smiling at all. The moment Kevin tried to grab the doll it immediately took distance taking note of the fact Kevin couldn't move properly and shot the beam at the man once more. The barrier that was placed around Monochrome interfered with the beam causing it to miss once more, agitating Bridget further. "I was trying to be nice you little street rat but I will not ignore such ungrateful behavior." She said as a magic circle flashed in front of her before the very flames around them gathered and shot towards Kevin. Monochrome had no problem handing some of the scattered gems to the man whom absorbed the energy within them promptly. With Monochromes help they exited the small shack and saw a sea of flames below. The entire platform was creaking as you saw parts of it falling down below. Some of it seemed to even be being knocked down on purpose. In fact, upon closer inspection you would notice Uno purposely tearing down parts of the path ahead.

Monochrome yells at the figure ahead tearing down parts. WHAT THE HELL! WE NEED TO GET OUT HERE! He then looks at the man. We are going to have to risk it. It seems like our only way out. Monochrome and the man tries to traverse the broken path ahead.

The roots would seem to move more like a group of serpents getting ready to strike as Quin turned to face the girl. His expression seemed to become completely calm though there was already a certain annoyance lingering in his eyes. "Orchis, take the girl and keep moving. I have a feeling we're dealing with someone who's not too friendly. The important thing should be getting that girl to the river for now. Seems like you have that...whatever they are to support you." With that said Quintus would focus his full attention on the girl with the staff. In his hands, Hookworms blades would quickly form before hed grabbed down on the hilts of the blades. "No offence, you don't look like the type I should leave the girl with or anyone for that matter. Ai though? And PK? Uh, what kind of nonsense are you talking about exactly? I suppose that doesn't matter, the bottom line is you have two choices. Either you can give up and leave the girl alone or we can fight until you run out of blood or energy. I'm okay with either one really, even if you beat me I doubt you'd be able to do much more after that."

Tam followed Monochrome protecting him from falling debris. He suddenly paused and looked at the shack. A bad feeling loomed over him but he decided to keep at his job to defend Monochrome and the Game Master. Kid... Just don't go too far... Tam thought mostly to himself. Kevin closed his eyes and focused. Monochrome and the Game Master won't see so it should be fine. "I can't die here... not yet!" Kevin yelled opening his eyes seconds before the flames engulfed him. However, the puppet didn't even have the chance to boast by the time it saw Kevin standing in front of it. Kevin had used the flames to get closed enough. It was simple how he did it though. Right before the flames attacked he made his leg able to phaze through the floor and sprang up. Right after that he jumped towards the puppet making the flames phaze through his body and masking the fact he had survived until he stood face to face with the puppet. "Before I capture you" Kevin began with a fire of emotions in his eyes similar to the flames surrounding them. "Do you know anything about the Jahandar Family?"

“Tch” Orchis briefly glances back towards the sound of the voice. So this is their doing then? Or maybe it’s more an opportunistic happening. Either way if they’re after Camilla it’s probably nothing good. Orchis looks back at Quintus, keeping a hold of Camilla as she nods “R... Right.” It seems weird he’d go to so much trouble, but Orchis can’t worry about that now. Uno isn’t really built for fighting, so avoiding it is her best option. As Orchis tries to make for the river again, Orchis shouts back “And just what does a nut job like you want with us anyways?”

"A nut job? That is so super mean. After I was so nice and helped you out before, this is how I'm treated? Such horrible friends!" She said while making gestures as if she was crying before stopping and wagging her finger back and forth "What I want doesn't have anything to do with you guys." pointing directly at Camilla "I only want that girl, Ai." she said before she puffed her cheeks out as if she was pouting "Besides, I saw her first. Been trying to get her for a little more than a month now. Kinda irritating when newbies come in and take your treasure y'know." Her attention would then be brought to Quintus after hearing his statement. "And what do you mean by that? I am the picture of a good Sumerian. People usually love me." she said while making a pose with a peace hand sign and her empty hand on her hip before her attention was brought to his weapon. "Hm? Well you don't see that everyday. Living weapons huh. Welp, I'm interested. Can't say I'm interested in your options though. I prefer the third or fourth." a crescent shaped smile creeping onto her face as a blade of pure mana extend from the top of her staff. She then flipped her hand around and cards appeared between her fingers. "Tell me, do you like magic?" She asked as she threw the cards at Quintus and then charged straight at him while spinning the bladed staff. Orchis after leaving the two behind would find herself at the main dirt road that cut through the town. The path that would take her directly to the river blocked by the burning debris of the buildings and the above platforms. You would either need to take a detour around the inner edge of the village or try to find a path through the abandoned area in the back of the village. Both paths with uncertain dangers as the voices seemed to become louder in your head the longer you stayed with Camilla. As if her emotions were slowly starting to infect you through touch, you began to slowly feel just how bottomless her pain felt. "That woman said my name is Ai....but then....who is Camilla?" the red haired girl would ask as her hand remained on her head with a pained expression on her face In the shack where Kevin was with Bridget she simply snorted as his attempts to look tough. "You are a hundred years too early brat" she said as the fire ball she shot earlier hit the ground causing the floor of the whole shack to cave in. "Even if for what ever reason I can't hit you, you're still human. Even you won't survive a fall from this height." she said as she began to fade and disappear before reappearing outside a few minutes later By this point Kevin would probably realize the puppet was a familiar this whole time and thus was returning to her incorporeal form. Bridget would look around before she saw Monochrome and the man walking through the flames and crumbling pathways. The flash of a magic circle appeared before the surrounding flames began to gather before her again and shoot towards the two. Monochrome and the man would feel the heat of the flames at their back before the ground under them gave way dropping them before. Luckily they would land atop another platform below whose path wasn't as affected by the fire but would still be burning and falling apart. The fire ball flying over their heads and only barely missing. Bridget would fly over and you would see her begin to charge yet another beam of mana in her mouth. "For my mistresses sake I will not let you wretched mongrels escape." The path you was on had burning debris from the upper area on it as obstacles that could also be considered cover. Unfortunately you were also in a race against time as the platform was burning and falling apart. Below a sea of flame, behind numerous obstacles that could be used as cover but the path was more unstable, the front with less obstacles thus less cover but was more stable and a more clear path to the stairs that lead down, and above was Bridget who would surely attack while you were vulnerable.

Monochrome splits into Whit and Chrome. Chrome: You work on getting the old man out of here. I'll try to hold off the doll. Whit: Ok. Chrome: Take the front path and go! Whit and the man go through the front path while Chrome is ready to attack the doll. Chrome: Alright you Raggy Anne-looking motherfucker, come get me!

Kevin grit his teeth and ran towards the door. The ground gave in with each step he took. Kevin jumped as soon as the floor under his feet crumbled. In order to grab the ledge he would have to make his arms solid. His hands were red with burns and black with ash as he pulled himself up. "That damn doll..." Kevin mumbled between gulps of air. He looked at the path in front of him. Monochrome probably went this way. Kevin's mind was in a frenzy from using his power. He barely manged to walk towards the path. I'll shield you laddie! Tam talked to Whit for the first time, forming a dome-like shield around Whit and the old man that could move with them.

Quintus would be fast to try and react as first he would swing one of the hooked blades to try to catch the staff as it spun around. "Magic? I've always preferred gardening as a hobby actually but a magic show every once in a while isn't so bad." At the same time two out of four of the roots would begin to react. They would extend outward towards the girl and attempt to constrict and restrain her arms. "So, what now? Gonna ask me to pick a card? In that case I'll pick the middle card."

Orchis shakes her head, letting out a light chuckle in hopes of boosting Camilla's mood while considering her options "Are you seriously going to worry about what that maniac thinks? I'll call you whatever you want but I don't see how that changes anything. Camilla, Ai, whatever that means is up to you. And I'd rather not let them use you as a weapon or something. Anyways, we should probably keep moving." Orchis takes a deep breath, glancing around again, so the man from earlier, Quintus Geminus, he hadn't shown up very often, at least not in major news event, so its difficult for her to try judging their abilities. Considering that both him and the person chasing Camilla are both unknowns, its probably a bad idea to waste time. In addition, she knows their opponent can make constructs, which very well could be in use right now, in which case they'd probably be coming from the outer edge of the village now that the barrier is down, thus it would be safest to take the shortest route. So Orchis moves to go through the inner edge of the village, giving one more order to Uno "Keep ahead of us and watch the area from above, if it looks like there's going to be trouble, inform us so we can find an alternate route, I'd rather avoid any danger if possible." And so Uno would remain in the upper area while possible, climbing along the treetops in order to scout the path ahead of them and searching primarily for any golems that might be around

The cards would cut into Quintus skin however they were shallow cuts, one card getting stuck in his left shoulder as the others fell onto the ground. The woman would get caught by the vines yet the smile on her face never once falling while letting out a cheerful laugh. "I love gardeners! If you weren't getting in my way I'd almost be inclined to date you. Ah, by the way. You should have chosen the left card." The moment she said that she disappeared and in her place a card floated with the. "Joker" she would say as he felt a searing pain in his shoulder. Where the card once was the blade of her staff now existed with her directly behind him. She would kick off of him freeing her blade from his shoulder and taking distance with a grin. The stab wound wasn't exactly deep probably because of her mediocre and clumsy movements but it was definitely bad enough to effect his left arms movements. "Oopsies. Well, the other cards are pretty dangerous too you know." she'd flip her hand showing him a card with hearts on it. At his feet were the other three cards all with hearts on them as they began to glow red. It wouldn't even take a second before Quintus would realize they were about to blow up. She would flip her hand again but this time throw a card with the diamond symbol on it and another with the spade symbol on it. Bridget would ignore Chrome. As far as she was concerned she was out of range from any attack he could do at the distance they were at. She would then fire the beam of mana at Whit in hopes of putting a rather large hole in the back of her head, even more so now that Tam wasn't putting a barrier around her anymore. Kevin himself was not safe as even as he pulled himself up the entire platform was falling apart. The floor under him began creaking until finally falling down and most of the path ahead of him was already gone leaving questionably stable places he would have to jump over to in order to move forwards. He wouldn't see Monochrome or Bridget considering they were a level lower than him much further ahead. He would have no choice but to move forward and head to either the stairs or the pulley that was used to bring water to the upper levels. Both of which may or may not have even survived the flames thus far. Camilla would move to the inner edge of the village and just as she suspected, she would receive periodic reports from Uno of more figures walking around with the appearance of the strange woman from before. None of which seemed to even be trying to hide themselves as they all hummed the tune to 'London bridge is falling down'. By avoiding them she eventually would find herself behind the Inn that seemed to have mostly fallen down. Behind it seemed to be an old armored vehicle left behind in the previous war. It was mostly rusted and parts of its metal plating was already torn off but it was in a good enough condition where a small fix would have it up and running. If Orchis decides to fix it she would have a vehicle that could tear through most of the villages obstacles but would give her location away to the enemy. If she decides to ignore it then she would continue around the inner perimeter of the village. The detour taking a bit longer but ultimately being safer if you ignored the fact that as a human the flames and scream were effecting Camilla's health both physically and mentally. She almost seemed ready to collapse at any moment but she would simply smile at Orchis and say she was fine if asked.

Chrome noticed the blast that is heading towards Whit. WHIT!! Chrome rushes towards Whit to block the blast with her body.

The initial plan was to head to the river in order to get away from the flames, however, this had not taken into account the idea that they were being chased. Now that we know there are pursuers, they would no doubt search the river, if they had not already blocked the path themselves, so sneaking could very easily backfire. On the other hand, Orchis begins looking over the armored vehicle, silently calling Uno back to her and Camilla. Taking something this loud to the river would almost certainly make it there, but with little way across, it would also invariably result in being cornered once there. If Orchis had her full set of marionettes present, as opposed to a single Uno, it might have been feasible, as it is, getting cornered is as good as suicide. However, the golems individually aren't that durable, and the vehicle itself is. Thus, Orchis would set Camilla to sit down by the Inn "This won't take long, it looks like there's a change of plans. No way they've set the whole forest on fire, so we just have to get far enough away and you'll be safe." with that said, Orchis would turn her full attention to the vehicle, not only examining the outside, but also reaching a hand within the hole so that her strings can extend from her fingertips in order to examine the inside, searching for any internal pieces that might be too damaged to hold up for long when the whole thing is up and running. Meanwhile, Orchis glances back to Uno "I'll need you to stay down here with us, might need some pieces." of course, if anything was heavily damaged or rusted, Orchis would move to take pieces of Uno in order to reshape and use them as replacements, she could even convert part of its power source into electricity in case the battery needs charging, and until the vehicle itself is fired up it would all be fairly quiet. Considering how long it'll take to not only sneak through the village but also fix up a car I would suggest moving on without me tonight so the others can do enough for the timeline to somewhat make sense, as their actions are logically taking up less time than mine

Quintus upon realising the nature of the card would waste no time. A swarm of three golden leaves would surround his body as a torrent of wind was formed under his feet. The wind would launch him into the air, hopefully, fast enough to dodge the explosives. He'd fly back a little grasping his shoulders before the leaves faded almost as quickly as they appeared. This would cause him to begin falling to the ground as he focused his energy. "Persona! Yggdrasil Prime!" The mighty tree would grow out of the ground below him to break his fall. He'd fall atop the leaf covered branches that somehow seemed to support his weight. After a moment of recovery, he'd stand up atop the tree and turn to the girl. The cards she just through would have landed where he was before and if not would continue flying until they reached Yggdrasil Prime. It wouldn't matter in a moment though as Quintus prepared his next attack already. "I'm flattered by your words but I'm not sure you'd be my type. Anyway, this area is getting pretty boring, isn't it? I think it's time for a change of scenery." He'd begin lifting up his right hand rather than his left which would still be stinging from the earlier attack. All at once 6 leaves seem to dis-attach from the trees branch and swirl around his right hand. "World Tree's Wrath!" Quintus would bring his right arm down as the 6 leaves would fly out and begin surrounding the area as a whole. Each one would already be surrounded in a vacuum of concentrated air as if building up energy. The leaves would begin swirling around Yggdrasil Prime, Quintus, and the girl faster and faster as the wind began to whip wildly through the area. Quintus would be holding onto Yggdrasil tightly as the tree seemed to grow around his body as if to ensure he doesn't get tossed away by the wind. Before either of them knew it the leaves would have formed a swirling vortex out of their battlefield, hopefully knocking the cards away as well. For a moment, even Yggdrasil seemed to start getting disrooted as the wind only seemed to grow more intense.

Tam would reinforce his shield around the old man as much possible in the hopes that it'll make sure the beam wouldn't kill him instantly. This is the best I can do! Tam told them as he watched the events unfold. Kevin jumped across another gap in the floor nearly falling due to how exhausted he was. Ashes rained down with the burning wind carrying it farther. He wiped the sweat off his brow, choosing to go to the stairs making sure his steps didn't break the floor boards under him. He hoped there was something at the end of stairs to help find Monochrome or to beat the doll.

"Hoh~. A persona too. You're giving me goosebumps." she said as the wind began to pick her up She didn't even try to resist the winds as they picked her up. But then the anomaly that is the girl would only begin to deepen at the point. As she was being thrown around within the vortex as random times you would see her wave her staff around. It looked more like she was just flailing around at first but the she flipped her hand revealing a card with the symbol of the clover on it and then it quickly enlarged with her riding on the top of it as a surf board. She was literally riding the winds and she began to release numerous cards into the vortex. "And the people on TV make this look so easy." She said as she looked like she could fall off at any moment, despite this her smile remained the same as she made her way up the vortex. When she made it to a significant height she used the spear once again to change her trajectory just enough to be in the center and at that moment she threw the bladed spear straight down towards Quintus and with the force she threw it with, she herself would be at the whims of the vortex once more. If he paid attention he would see a card attached to the spear but the only thing he would be able to make out is that the symbol on it was black meaning it was either spade, joker, or clover. After a few close calls Kevin finally makes it to the stairs. Stairs that were in barely any condition to be used. Most of them were destroyed and the few that weren't looked like they could collapse at any moment. They were far and in between and he would need to continually jump to the next without falling down in order to make it to the lower levels upon making it he would see the beam from Bridget as it tore through the side of Chromes body and collided with Tams barrier. The barrier would shatter upon contact but the beam itself would disperse as well leaving Whit and the man unscathed. A magic circle would flash before the surrounding flames would begin to gather again. This time Bridget would not shoot the ball of flame immediately but would let it collect. The ball of flame began to grow in size and you would know that when she is done you would be in a lot of trouble. She was most likely planning to bring the entire platform down. Camilla and Orchis could see the vortex of wind from where they were as well as the noise from the upper area a ways away. Orchis continued to work on the car as Camilla's breathing became a little more rugged. Her eyes losing more focus as she tried to keep her attention on Orchis. "Orchis.....why are you.....doing so much for.....me? Even that boy.....is fighting right now. Risking himself.....for a stranger." her words coming out in between breaths.

Chrome: AAAAAAAAGH! Whit! Get the man out of here! Whit: But what about you? You're hurt! Chrome: Don't worry about me! I can defend myself! Whit grabs the man and starts sprinting down to the path. Chrome looks at the doll. Chrome: The doll seems distracted. I might be able to attack it. Chrome gets her sword and throws it like a javelin towards the doll with all of her strength.

Orchis doesn't look back to Camilla as she continues working on the vehicle, it takes a good bit of focus, and she's largely having to learn it as she goes, but its simple enough to see where everything connects, at least for an experienced builder. So, with Uno at her side, Orchis calmly replies "That brat in the magic outfit. They see you as nothing more than a tool for whatever it is they're after, and don't mind hurting anyone in order to achieve this goal of theirs. I can't stand that kind of person so, if you want, you can think of it less as me helping you and more me screwing them over. That's a normal human motivation."

Quintus would be surprised by the sudden bladed staff flying right at him. He didn't think the girl would have such a trick up her sleeve and would be unsure how to react. Quickly, he'd let go of Yggdrasil while hooking one of Hookworms blades to the tree and jump off the branch into the vortex to try and move out of the staff's trajectory. Yggdrasil Prime would finally completely be de-rooted as it began moving up into the air. The vortex would seem to follow it. Quintus while hanging on by Hookworm's blade would begin focusing on the leaves and Yggdrasil Prime. He'd will the vortex to move in the direction of the town square. "Running low on options while it seems she still has plenty. Time to go for an all or nothing plan." The vortex might be slow at first in its movement but it should begin moving in the direction he willed it to.

A loud crunching noise would reverberate as the platform began to sway and shake. Down the path from the opposite direction you would see a vortex of wind tearing through the platform as if it were paper as it headed towards Chrome, Whit, Kevin, and the 'game master'. The Blade that Monochrome veered slightly off target as the winds changed it's trajectory. The blade, instead of tearing in the center of the doll, would instead tear through the lower left side. Causing her to yelp in pain and stop gathering the flames. The fire ball did not disappear however, it simply dropped down and though it wasn't big enough to destroy the platform anymore it would still cause significant damage to it and all those unlucky enough to be caught in it. The vortex continued to teat through the platform as it came closer giving you even less time to collect yourself. The events past this point happen right after what ever decision Kevin and Monochrome decide to make so there is no confusion between events. Within the vortex the bladed spear hit Yggdrasil prime, missing Quintus but being embedded into the tree by the blade. The card flashed as the spear disappeared with the girl replacing it while holding onto the branch of the tree. "You know the really cool thing about magic tricks?" She asked Suddenly you would hear multiple explosions going off within the tornado. When you look you would see the cards she scattered earlier all around the inside as they glowed and began exploding. She had begun carpet bombing the inside of the vortex and after a while the vortex finally gave way dropping them back into the streets below. The girl flipping both of her hands revealing cards between her fingers. Throwing them at Quintus, three being hearts, two being spades, and the last being diamond. Right after that she pulled out a clover one, quickly expanding it and sitting on it as it floated down. She showed Quintus a peace sign as she continued to smile before she began to hum London bridge again. The place you would drop to wouldn't be the town square but you would ultimately only be about 20 meters from that location.

Chrome: Oh no! Whit! Keep running!!! Whit: What do you mean- Whit sees the tornado. OH SHIT! RUN!! Both Whit and Chrome are now running down that path with the man still being held by Whit! Whit&Chrome: Curse you, Wind God!

Kevin felt the wind pull against him. He turned and saw a vortex ripping everything in his path. And Kevin was currently in its path. He sighed and began running towards Chrome, Whit, and Tam. If he could make it in time he could give Tam a jewel so he can make a shield strong enough to withstand the tornado. Of course assuming they were also running away from the spinning destruction. Where the bloody hell did that come from!? Tam screamed. He knew it'd be a waste of energy if he made a shield due to how low his mana was. All he could hope is that the old man and puppet doesn't slow them down.

As the vortex fell apart the leaves that spun around would quickly slow down before beginning to dissolve. Quintus would quickly reach out towards one of the leaves and draw it towards him. The leaf would quickly blow towards him as it continued to fade away. Finally, upon reaching him, it would seem to have life breathed back into it as Quintus seemed to grow tired. He'd hold his hand out towards the cards as they flew at him, the leaf would swirl around wildly as it's windy aura returned. A blast of wind would fly forward to try and disrupt the cards path as well as knock Quintus towards the ground faster. He'd land about 10 feet away from Yggdrasil Prime from both jumping away before and trying to blow the cards away now. The leaf that had been with him would quickly begin fading away with all its power drained. Quintus would rise to his feet as quickly as he could. The impact of the fall certainly bruised him a bit but he felt he was close to something now. Yggdrasil Prime would fall to the ground between him and the girl as its roots seemed to dig back into the ground once more. Unseen to most the roots would already quickly begin drilling through the earth and start heading towards the center of town in order to reach something Quintus had left behind before. "Not my day...Perhaps the gamble I've been taking was too risky. Just a little longer for the payout though." Quintus would bring out both hooked blades and throw them outwards and around Yggdrasil Prime. He was hoping despite his hurt arm that Hookworm's influence could bring the blades far enough to extend beyond Yggdrasil and attempt to ensnare the girl to Yggdrasil via the chain.

The girl wouldn't even try to resist as the chains bound her to the tree. In fact, she seemed more interested in the weapon itself than she does of her situation. The smile not once leaving her face during the entire time they were fighting. she would struggle a little to look over to see a clear view Quintus. "Exactly where do I need to farm to get rare drops like living weapons?" she asked curiously though not really expecting an answer. She actually seemed to be curious what exactly it was the boy was planning. Whether it was because she was confident in her victory or something else was unknown but Quintus wouldn't feel the slightest bit of unease from the girl. She would simply watch him do whatever it is he was attempting while showing her intrigue in Hookworm. The group with Kevin, Chrome, Whit, and the game master would be running away from the vortex as it tore through the platform at an alarming speed. Just as it drew close enough where they could feel the vacuum trying to pick them off the ground they would hear a series of large explosions within the vortex. The vortex would burst open as explosions rang out and destroyed what remained of the platform they were on. The explosion being enough to throw them onto the stairs they sought after before. Beyond the constant screaming of people blaming them for their past mistakes they could find some respite in realizing they survived. The stairs themselves seemed unstable but for the most part they could use them to descend and when they did they would find themselves in the abandoned part of town. Just like the upper area most of the houses were on fire. "We need...to find Ai." the silver haired man would say between breaths. You could tell he was beginning to slip away. Since this all started he hadn't retrieved any real treatment and upon closer inspection you would even notice cracks on his arm and face. His eyes were beginning to cloud over as he struggled to move.

Whit meet back up with Chrome and they combine back to Monochrome. An idea sprang into his head while heading down the stairs. I have an idea! I know of a house here that has a secret path to the river. If we can get to it, we should be safe from the fire! Monochrome follows his plan and heads to the house with the secret path.

Kevin wobbled and swayed as he stood up. He quickly checked if anything was broken before turning to Monochrome. Oh they're back together again. Kevin couldn't get out a word before Monochrome began to run somewhere with the Game Master. Christ that robot can recover fast... Kevin reached into his pocket and pulled out two jewels. Only 16 left. He held one in front of his necklace. The glow from the jewel seemed to swirl around the necklace as Tam absorbed it. Thanks Lad He gave the other one to the old man. "Who is Ai? Do you know where they are?"Kevin asked following them.

Yggdrasil Prime's roots would finally reach their destination. They would find the roots that were once in the square and with a simple touch would reawaken the sleeping roots. They'd all begin moving back towards the tree itself as Quintus began concentrating yo have Yggdrasil sprout more and more. He'd be able to bring forth 3 more on his own which would begin wrapping around the tree to take over the chains job of trapping the girl. Meanwhile, Quintus would bring the chains back before walking around the tree to look at the girl directly. "If you want something like Hookworm then I'd suggest getting in contact with a shady looking man who works at a gym. I'd also suggest brining a body with flesh and blood if at all possible. Then again, you were talking to everyone before, weren't you and it sounded like you might've been struck down there. Guessing that it doesn't really matter if you live or die, you'll always come back or something along those lines. Perhaps a false body with the real one being elsewhere or maybe your just a soul transferring from body to body. Doesn't matter too much to me." All three of the roots would try to restrain the girl while the others would do much of the same whenever they arrived. It would almost look like another tree growing over Yggdrasil, one without any leaves. If Quintus wasn't interrupted by anymore antics then only the girls head would still be fully visable. "I wasn't planning to kill you anyway. No real point in even getting close to killing someone who doesn't have any fear."

The girl would listen intently as Quintus would speak. "Shady guy in gym. Golly Gee mister, that really narrows it down." She said with obvious sarcasm before commenting on what he said next. "A living body? Why would that be necessary for a weapon?" A pondering expression before her eyes widened and she burst into laughter "Wait wait wait. Don't tell me. Its living inside of your body!? So it's like, a parasite kind of thing right?" She laugh again "That is totes freaky." After she finally calmed down and heard the rest of what he had to say she would simply continue to smile. "Not planning to kill me? You really are nice huh. By the way. You never did answer my question. What do you think is the really cool thing about magic tricks." She said as she gazed into his eyes with an amused glint Monochrome and Kevin wouldn't have any problems finding the old house. Still standing but only barely as the flames on the building seemed to be nearly done eating through the foundation. If they were going to go through the path in the basement then they would need to hurry. "Ai is the reason this place exist." He said to Kevin as they moved forward. "I....don't have enough strength remaining....to locate her." a hint of worry in his voice as a shadow cast over his face Walking around the area they would notice a few silhouettes that matched what they remember the strange girl wearing. They would need to be careful if they continued to proceed. The engine of the armored van Orchis was working on had finally begun to rumble as it came to life. The repairs were done and though the tires had signs of rotting it would be more than enough to serve her purpose. The extra parts needed came from Uno and though it was still operational, many of its functions were of no more use. At best it could probably only serve as a decoy or shield now. Camilla's face was flushed red with a high fever as she looked over to Orchis with a smile. "Y-you did it. You really are....incredible." She would say between breaths as she struggle to even remain sitting up right. Her condition was only getting worse the longer she stayed here.

Guys! Quickly! We need to get to the cave! Monochrome goes into the house, gets to the ladder, and goes down. Hurry!

Now missing a good portion of its body, Uno would barely be moving on its own, so Orchis goes ahead and picks the device up, tossing it into the front of the truck before going back to help Camilla, helping the girl up and leaning Camilla on her shoulder to bring her to the passenger's seat It was nothing really, all devices function on a similar principal of using the fewest parts possible to maximize the effect. All it takes is knowing what its supposed to do and the way everything links up will pretty much fall into place. Orchis hides her grin away from the girl on her back, helping her settle into the passenger's seat, before walking around and taking the driver's Fasten your seatbelt, This thing's probably going to get pretty wrecked. Especially if any more of those golems decided to help the first out. Orchis puts her left hand on the steering wheel, once again the strings emerging from her left to enter the machine and allow easier control while leaving Orchis's right arm free. With which she begins dissassembling Uno further, down to its base pieces, little more than a jumbled mess of metal pieces, some sharp, some round, some cylandrical, all as she pushes the gas pedal and glances upwards Now then... Where was it again? Orchis would begin driving, not to the river, but rather circle around back towards the center of town, and from there back towards Camilla's house in hopes of finding Quintus, of course if she sees him anywhere along that route she'd stop there rather than keep on going. The tires, the only piece she had no way to repair, probably wouldn't last too long, so she can't afford to waste too much time looking, but she feels the need to make a token effort at least

Kevin stopped and leaned against a corner so whatever is casing the silhouettes wouldn't see him. The reason this place exist? Kevin paused and looked at the old man. "Don't worry, I'll find her then." He told the old man with a smile to reassure him before Monochrome took him away. Kevin stayed behind and watched the shadows. You sure about this kiddo? Tam asked worried. Despite the heat surrounding them Kevin broke into a cold sweat upon making his plan. "One of those things has to know where Ai is... I... I have to capture one" Kevin stuttered. He quickly thought about what he had to use. He was nearly out of energy, but Tam was fine since he gave him a jewel. He only needed one so ambushing them was a solid idea due the cover the broken down houses provided. Tam's rubber shield could bounce them away from the other enemies. Kevin rubbed his hands as he began to sneak towards them.

Quintus would almost smirk as the girl commented on what he said. Freaky? He was aware of how much of a freak he was and wasn't really bugged by such a thing anymore. "If being freaky means I don't die then that's fine by me. If you're ever still interested then perhaps we could meet again one day without the whole burning village thing as a distraction." Suddenly with her question Quintus would grow suspicious. It almost seemed like she was looking for a response of some kind. "The cool thing about magic tricks? That a magician always has another up their sleeve and it's hard to guess what they might do next, right? That's an awfully worrying statement when thinking about a fight but I'd imagine that it's that kind of thrill that an entertainer seeks." The roots would seem to grow tighter as Yggdrasil Prime began to disappear in a burst of golden ashes. The roots would try to quickly make up for the small amount of loose space that'd be created. "Maybe I should perform a disappearing act before I regret it... I've already seen what you could do with a little bit of preparation and I'm not sure if there's much of a point to this fight anymore."

"The answer is misdirection my good sir" Quintus would feel a searing pain in the back of both of his legs as he fell to his knees. Behind him were two more golems wielding the staff with a blade of mana coming out of the top. A blade that had blood dripping from it. One of them put the blade up to his neck with the same creepy smile while the other walked to the one being held by the branches. This golem would then reach into her mouth and pull out a card with the joker symbol on it and put it into Quintus's pocket before standing next to him. All three taking turns as they talk. "Honestly, I don't want to kill you either. You have a lot of interesting tricks that have caught my eye. Why not help me instead? I only came here for Ai, no reason for you to die for someone you don't even know right?" they would say to Quintus while searching his emotions. If he looked around he would begin to notice other golems standing at the corners of buildings simply watching. Despite the fire and screams they seemed unperturbed as they continued to smile. It was then that Quintus would hear the engine of some type of vehicle. Orchis would have just turned the corner from the street the Inn was on and would see Quintus surrounded by the two with the other one bound. Monochrome would have no trouble getting to the tunnel before the house collapsed up top effectively sealing that way out. The silver haired man would groan as a small flame appeared before the group and floated above them lighting up the whole tunnel. "Ai's influence....is weak here. The flames....shouldn't be able....to reach here." he would say as they moved forward. Unlike before though, as they moved farther in you would see people around the cave. Some seemed frightened while others seemed to be trying to console. They were all transparent making them seem like phantoms. Even the table where Whit found the journal had a man sitting at it writing, though since the journal was no linger there he seemed to be writing on air. "The lingering thoughts......from that tragedy." Soon you would see some people rushing into the cave from the other side wearing uniforms. They began to let loose a hail of bullets on the cave. You would almost think you were being shot until the bullets simply passed through you hitting the others and killing them. You would hear their screams as this happened. You would see as a woman would beg for her child to be spared. Of how she was torn from the child and forced to watch as it was killed in front of her before they then killed the woman.

Of how some of the villagers pulled out their weapons to shoot as well but without any training they too were gunned downed before they could do anything. Of how the man who was writing ran over to his last remaining relative before seeing them gunned down. The moment he was kicked onto the ground and shot in his side and the moment where right as he was about to be killed like the others he suddenly screamed out, cursing them, wishing for them to die, praying they would be burn in underworld before his eyes began to give a crimson glow. The soldiers shot at him and he waved his hand as a wall of flames appeared protecting him. He would rise while ignoring the blood that gushed out from the wound. Screaming in rage as the soldiers panicked and began shooting again. He would wave his hand burning some of the soldiers but they weren't just lit on fire but became smoldering charred skeletons. He would repeat this action over and over. For each bullet hole opened in his body another soldier would meet their end. He would chase them further into the cave with sluggish movements. Bent on killing each and every one of them. These scenes would repeat over and over again as you remained in this part of the tunnel. Kevin would find himself at the corner of one of the other houses as he watched the golems pass by. A little further he would see one wandering around alone. They all seemed to be searching for something or someone.

Quintus would be powerless to do anything as the pain coursed through his body. Despite the situation taking a turn for the worst he'd seem to just smile in response. It seemed he was being played the whole time despite believing himself to have some kind of upper hand. He tried to cheat the dealer without even realizing the odds were tilted from the start and now he was paying the price for partaking in a dangerous game. "So, that's how it is? I get it, comply or die, right? I'm no idiot. I'll give in to your demands for now but it's not exactly the most ideal situation for me. So, how exactly is this supposed to work? You give me the card and just teleport in to go after Ai? Can you detect what's around the card or is it just guesswork. I should warn you that the girl with Ai isn't someone you should just approach carelessly. One false step and I'm sure you'd lose your chance."

Monochrome is horrified at the sight of what happened. He quickly gets him and the old man out of the cave. Old man... What the hell was that?! Who were those people?! What fucked up universe am I in?!

Looking onto the street from the vehicle, Orchis gets a vague glance at what’s going on with Quintus. Looks like the golems were able to outnumber him and get an advantage from there. She doesn’t have much time to make a decision, so what ends up happening is a compromise between her two basic choices, help Quintus, or run away. Orchis throws several of Uno’s Leftover pieces at the pair of golems, they’re sharp in most spots but overall it would be like throwing fairly large rocks, it would hurt enough to get their attention, but not a real threat to them or anything. “Your target’s getting away idiots.” After giving the golems a second to turn around and see the vehicle, Orchis would step on the gas once more, driving towards the village entrance. All she has to do is get far enough away from this place and the golems to both help Camilla and hopefully get a chance to call a few of Orchis’s more combat-focused units over. Admittedly there’s not much of a plan for when the repair job gives out, but for now the only priority is making it to the main road and getting as far from here as possible

The golems standing over Quintus would be distracted when they are suddenly pelted by Uno's parts so when they turned around and saw Orchis drive off they laughed as they commented on how much pep the girl had. They would then turn back to Quintus with the same smile as before. "Welp, using you as a hostage seems like a bad idea now. Now where were we?" they would return their attention to the boy "Well, considering the situation can you blame me for being a little rough. You were kinda in the way even when I asked nicely. So how about we make a bet. If you remain with these people then one day you will betray them. I'd like to watch as the entire thing unfolds. So in exchange for your life I'll let you leave here alive. If in the future you completely resolve yourself to remain with them then I've lost the bet and I'll tell you one of my weaknesses. If you do end up betraying them or if they turn on you then you'll become one of my subordinates." She put her hand out towards you in a friendly manner as you saw a magic circle appear on the back side of her hand. A big evil grin appearing on her face as she seemed to be looking directly into Quintus's soul. As if seeing right through his true nature and not giving any room for arguments she waited for you to make a deal you could not go back on once made. "Your eyes have really caught my interest and its hard finding competent people nowadays. So how about it? Willing to bet your life?" Orchis would be speeding through the village towards the entrance as she saw numerous golems running out from the buildings throwing cards with heart shaped symbols on them at the armored van. They weren't fast enough to keep up with the armored car at full speed but they hoped to damage it enough to stop it. Explosions rang out around the car and with each explosion one of the plates were torn off. A loud ringing in their ears accompanied by the continuous burst of hot air made for a bumpy ride but they could soon see the village entrance up ahead. Great considering most of the armor was torn off by now and they were far enough where none of the golems could reach them. They didn't even seem as though they were in a great rush to catch up. Monochrome would make it to the end of the tunnel at the waterfall and see the moment where the man with fire powers who wrote the journal was faced with an entire military company with three armored vans with turrets on top. It was a quick end as he tried to fight back but the hell of bullets tore him to shreds leaving naught but a silent corpse in the river. A corpse that one of the soldiers picked up and put on the back of the armored van before moving out. "These are....the vestiges of....past events. The lingering thoughts......that remain....made visible from....the unstable domain.....that covers this place." he would say to monochrome. Pointing down stream he would tell Monochrome that if Ai escaped then it would be there. Kevin successfully managed to get the golem in the barrier with him whom then looked at him with a grin. "Didn't I just reject you last night? Y'know, girls don't like clingy guys and I'm not exactly into being choked." she would laugh before showing him an amused smile "So I'd appreciate it if you got off me twerp. You'd get nothing out of trying to rape a stone body......unless you're into that kind of game.....then I guess I should be concerned huh. Man, this got awkward quick."

I guess we have to go down the river. Monochrome and the old man head down the river.

Kevin sighed while sitting down. Both to show he didn't have any tricks up his sleeves and because of exhaustion. "Don't push me into one of your sick fantasies. I don't have much time until your friends find out. Or maybe they already did. Who cares? You're looking for the game master right? Or is it Ai? Well I don't care about those things. It doesn't effect my goal. So here's the deal. I know I've been a pain in your side since I got here. I shouldn't be here. Tell me where the Jahandar family is and i'll leave. You don't have to deal with me anymore and I can get back on track. It's a win-win. If you don't know then just point me to someone who you think does and I will disappear. Deal?"

Orchis briefly closes her eyes as the vehicle is rattled with explosions, though the heat might be more bearable from her, she can still feel it, it’s... Uncomfortable to say the least, and a relief whenever it stops. She can only hope that her little distraction actually did something for Quintus. For the time being, the girl glances up toward the entrance, before looking over to check on Camilla “You still there? Looks like we’ve got a breather, for now at least.” Of course, Orchis would keep driving, aiming to get as far away as possible before the tires gave out, hopefully somewhere that could help Camilla, or at least far enough to give Orchis the chance to call her backup

Quintus would think over his options. It seemed at very least Orchis had given him a new opportunity. He already had accepted his defeat and it seemed the only way to keep living was to accept this bet. If it were just him...then maybe he'd simply find a different way out. He'd return what never belonged to him in the first place and that'd be the end of the story. However, he had Hookworm to think about as well. He had to keep living, even if it was in servitude to someone else. "Alright, I accept your bet, not that I have much of a choice given the situation. The bet doesn't sound bad though. Regardless of who wins or loses I get to live so that's all that matters." Quintus would hesitate for a moment before eventually reaching his hand out towards the girls. "Oh yeah, I never asked for your name. Might be important if I end up working for you one day."

Laughter filled the barrier that the girl and Kevin were inside of. "How cute! You think that you've been getting in my way. Look around you kid. You are the reason things are like. You've been more help than obstacle. I have zero reason to tell you anything." her laughter would begin to die down as her eyes turned into upturned crescents. As if this whole thing was simply amusing. She showed no sign of tension as she spoke to Kevin. "Acting all high and mighty when you're just a weak child who doesn't even know how the game works. Pretending you have all the cards. Well here's some news." she said as numerous cards with the heart symbol fell out of her clothes filling the underside of the barrier. "I have more." She said with a smile before they started glowing red and blowing up. The entire inside of the barrier was met with explosion after explosion eventually even destroying the barrier and if Kevin couldn't react in time then he too would have perished. The golem grabbed his hand and as she did the magic circle appeared on the back side of his hand as well before he could feel pain running up his arm as it embedded itself into his body. The pain would be brief but he would be able to notice that she even felt it meaning that not only was he bound but he was bound as well. The golem he was shaking hands with crumbled and turned to dust as what was left in his hand was a small object that seemed to be a pill about the size of his thumb. "For now you can call me Ambrosia. Keep that with you at all times." she would say before the remaining golem that was holding a blade to his neck flipped her hand and found a card with the queen symbol on it. She would place the card on his back and he would feel his wounds heal. The fatigue would not change and though his wounds healed they only healed to the extent he could move again. First aid at best it seemed to make sure he didn't bleed to death. "Now that our business here is done it's time for me to gracefully lose this game of cat and mouse. Well, not that I don't have a few other plans set in motion already. Hope you enjoy the game." she said before the body of the golem the tree had and the one who healed him crumbled. Camilla would smile at her without saying anything. The van would reach the outskirts of the village without much more issue. If you continued you would eventually come across the lower part of the river. The flames around did not seem to die down and in a way seemed more like they were following you but as a whole you would find no other obstacle before you. It would only take a few minutes more before the tires finally tore but it would only take you another few minutes to reach the river. Monochrome also would not find anymore obstacles as he moved down the river. Eventually he would come across Orchis and Ai moving towards them from the direction of the village. Both people they were protecting in really bad shape. Not even noticing the other was there.

Monochrome looks down the river and sees the people. Oh, some other people! Hello. Glad to see you again Orchis. Who are these people with you?

Quintus wasn't sure how to respond to what had happened. He wasn't quite expecting the mark to hurt but the fact that it did already indicated the nature of this deal to him. He would struggle to stand as the Golems faded away. He was already low on energy despite the healing he'd received. He'd look down at the odd pill before placing it in one of the pockets of his coat. "Ambrosia, seems I've met a rather interesting person. Despite having my life threatened can't say I dislike them. Guess I'll play this game along with them, not much of a choice though I guess it could be fun. Why'd she think I'd betray the others anyway. Seems like I've gotten myself involved in something bigger than I realized." He'd smile for a moment before grasping at his shoulders, still sore from the injuries before. He'd wonder where he should even be going now but figured the best place to head would be where Orchis' vehicle had gone. He'd begin walking that direction hoping it wouldn't take too long with his stiff limbs.

The dust cloud died down to reveal Kevin still siting down where he was. His right arm didn't phase in time. It was red with blood seeping down. Despite all this Kevin was looking at the sky. His eyes empty. Mate? Plan B? "Is that it? You don't want me to be here and neither do I. The deal was so we can both walk away happy. So why couldn't you just accept it? Even if it was a lie. Is it because I would be happy? Is it because you don't want someone like me to have what he wants? Have you ever thought how I feel? I didn't want this to happen." Kevin's skin would appear to brighten. His eyes beginning to dimly glow. "I didn't want this. What was I supposed to do? Just curl up and die? I never asked to be born like this so stop... looking at me like that Isha. I never asked to be like this!" Lad! Ca- Kevin's skin would radiate more as he stood up. His eyes were glowing, filled with blind rage. His body would flicker like it was holographic. Kevin slowly began walking to her with killing intent.

after breathing a sigh of relief, and unsure of whether or not they’re still being followed, Orchis would simply run the tires down to their end, coming to a stop by the river again. It would take her a second to realize she wasn’t going much of anywhere, at which point she’d finally stop the vehicle, and move to help Camilla out “Overall that could have been worse I guess..... But now what?”

The Ambrosia that he was talking to him was nothing more than a ruined mess. The golem had already fallen apart from bombarding itself alongside Kevin. Two more golems would come from behind Kevin stabbing into his body with the mana blades as a third one leaned against the burning wall of a nearby building. If Kevin was phasing then he wouldn't receive a wound but he would feel a sever pain coursing through his body. "Oh? Going all glowy now. That seems like fun. Not quite a boss but maybe a mid-boss? Well, either way, a wild beast is a lot easier to handle." She said with the same smile on her face as a card with the spade symbol spun on her fingertip. Upon noticing the girl Camilla be helped out of the armored car the silver haired man would summon his silver pole arm and use it as a crutch to lift himself off of Monochromes shoulder and walk over to her. They both seemed in bad condition and Orchis would be able to take note of the apparent hole in his chest that was certainly not there her last meeting with him. Camilla would bring her attention to the man and mumble the name "Isaac" before tears began to role down her cheeks. "I am happy you are well." He gave a sigh of relief ".....Why do I know your name? Who...are you to me?" she would ask almost pleading for an answer, using Orchis's shoulder to hold herself up. The man would turn his gaze over to Orchis before giving a sigh and bringing his gaze back to Camilla. "You are....." he seemed to be searching for the words as his eyes searched her face "the person whose suffering I didn't wish to endure. So i created this dream so that you wouldn't have to anymore." his gaze turning dark as he turned his gaze to the ground. Silence filled the space between them for a time before she finally spoke up. "So these memories......are really my own?" she furrowed her brows and let out a light chuckle that didn't fit the heavy mood "You cared enough about me to put me into this dreamworld. Does she know?" ".....No. I did it without her consent." he replied "I see......These memories are too heavy for me to carry. The more I remember.....the more I feel my soul scrape away.....and my mind begin to crack." she said with the same fragile smile she had before The apparent guilt showing on his face as she spoke. The pain rearing its ugly head in hollow of his eyes. "Then what do you wish to do?" he asked, almost frightened of what her reply would be. "I can't handle the burdens of these sins......but she can. I....." she would turn her gaze to Orchis as she reaffirmed herself before turning back to him. "I am afraid......but I need to wake up from this dream. I am me....but the current me is powerless.....and so......she needs to wake up." she said as she pushed off of Orchis shoulder and though she stumbled a bit she stood up trembling all the while. The man would remain quiet for a time before looking back into her eyes. "Even dreams must one day end I suppose." he would say as he put his hand on her forehead. his own complexion worsening as hers began to improve. A fair distance away you would see four golems headed in your direction with their bladed staffs in hand. It would seem they were on their way for a last confrontation to stop what it is the two were doing. Each one already holding cards in their hands with the same smile as before. Quintus would only just make it to the town entrance as he saw the other golems around the place standing still and watching as four were running ahead off in the distance. He would be able to tell that that was most likely where the others had gone.

Are you..... Orchis grins and closes her eyes, there’s no reason to ask that question. Whatever they’re doing, they’re decided, and there’s no reason to try holding Camilla back. When Orchis looks back up, she noticed the four golems, of course they were still following them, though they’re still a fair distance away. That just gives her time to make a last few preparations, Orchis steps back to the truck, strings trailing from her fingertips and reaching inside to pick up the largest ten of Uno’s remaining pieces with them, attaching her strings to the metal and bringing them out. Orchis glances over to Mono as she steps out. Get ready, looks like we’re not done here yet.

Ok. I guess I'll have to go all out to protect these two. Monochrome goes into a ragelike state. Instead of hearing Monochrome's voice, you hear both Whit and Chrome's voices. I'm ready!

Quintus would continue following the path the four forms had left. It seemed as if Ambrosia really was willingly letting the others get away. He almost believed they were lucky he had made his bet, if not it seemed almost certain that the others would've stood no chance against this many golems. He could barely fend off one afterall. He was still low on energy and thus was trying his best to conserve his strength. If the others were injured he might be the only healer they have. While walking he also couldn't help but wonder exactly what Amrbosia was planning. It seemed odd that she would purposely lose unless she really did have another goal here. Actually, why was she after Ai in the first place. What were they planning to do with her? He knew he wouldn't get any answers to these questions yet but he felt it was worth pondering if just for the moment.

Calm down lad it's not him! "..." Kevin moved through the spears as if they were never there. He couldn't feel anything. "...I'm out of here" Kevin began to walk to the cave Monochrome went to. He didn't slow down in the slightest seeing how it was caved in. He simply walked through the obstacles until he saw Monochrome. Kevin's face showed no emotion as he saw Orchis and a person he can only assume as Ai. He turned to see what they were facing. The golems charging. Kevin knew they could probably handle it. Tam was doing first aid on his arm when Kevin asked him to support the other two. His glow slowly faded as he sat down in front of the game master guarding him.

We are to never talk about the post above. Kevin flinched when the blades passed through him. He paused before letting out an uncharacteristic roar. "Why do you keep hurting me!? What have ever I done to you!?" He made a mad dash to one of the golems, phasing through any obstacles. He grabbed Ambrosia and froze her along with his left arm. Kevin's smile didn't fade even if she attacked with a blade. He tilted his head while stretching his arms upward like he was being hung by them. "Does it hurt when you're frozen too? Why won't you speak!? It's fun right!? Why aren't you laughing this time? LAUGH!!" He would scream at the frozen golem in his hands. Tam looked on in horror as he screamed out. Lad calm down! Kevin would drop the golem onto the ground shattering it upon contact before looking at the other golems with an insane glint in his glowing eyes. "I'm going to hang you. All of you!" He roared as he charged at the remaining golems.

The moment the four golems came within 20 meters of Orchis and Monochrome they put strength into their legs and launched themselves to the two, covering the entire distance within seconds. If nothing was done to stop them then two would go after Orchis and the remaining two would go after Monochrome. One of the golems going after Orchis would swing their staff horizontally at her while the other jumped into the air planning to drive the bladed staff directly into Orchis's skull. One of the golems after monochrome would pull out three cards with hearts on them and throw them at Monochrome at an angle where if he dodged then the cards would fly straight for Camilla and the silver haired man while the other was coming from the side while spinning the bladed staff hoping to cut Monochrome from below. Quintus would come within range of being able to see the fight take place. Whether he decided to intervene to help and stay back to watch was completely at his discretion. At the moment his life would not be threatened. The golems fighting Kevin would laugh as they tore their blades through Kevins phasing body over and over while trying to avoid his onslaught. He would make groan each time showing they were effecting him but every so often one of the golems would be caught by his weak grip and either flash frozen or flash burned. At least three of the golems had already been defeated as they fought through the abandoned part of the village. Though if Kevin was in his right mind he would notice that not once did they use the cards they had shown themselves proficient in the use of. As if they were guiding his steps a new golem would pop up as an old one fell to his hand. "What's the matter? I thought you were going to hang all of us? This is why you noobs are so pitiful. You get one power up and think you're unbeatable." they would continue to taunt him as they fought

Monochrome sees that the cards were taken care of by Orchis. Thank you for that! He turned his attention to the one who is swinging the bladed staff. He jumps up and tries to cut off the golem's arm so it will drop the bladed staff.

Sweat trickled down Kevin's chin. His eyes had dark circles around them. Lad think straight! Their baiting you! Kevin ignored Tam and burned another golem. Tam formed a shield around Kevin. Not for protection, for containing. Kevin paused before smiling. "What are doing Tammmm?" You're going to die at this rate! Kevin grabbed his necklace. "I'll hang you too" Kevin said while walking towards the shield. Go ahead. Just make sure you explain what happened to Lana. Kevin froze. He looked as if he did it for the first time. All of what happened hit him at once. His glow was still there, but it had begun to fade. Kevin fell to his knees from exhaustion, barely conscious. Tam reinforced the shield with nearly all his mana.

Just as Orchis wanted the blade of the golem in the air would slice through the first golems arm, lopping off the right arm holding the bladed staff. The golem who had its arm cut off would immediately turn doing a roundhouse kick into Orchis's side. If it connects Orchis would be thrown back two meters while the golem who lopped off the arm would charge straight for Camilla and the silver haired man. The golem Monochrome was fighting would sweep her blade from below but upon realizing what monochrome was attempting would pull back just enough for the shaft of the staff to block the attack. As there weapons were locked in place the golem that threw the cards thrust her staff at Monochrome aiming for his upper thigh. Ambrosia would walk up to Kevin outside the barrier with the same creepy smile but disappointment in her eyes. "And here I had high hopes for you too. Considering you could phase, use ice and fire both." looking at his burned and frostbitten arms "and the fact you aren't immune to the effects its safe to assume your power isn't phasing. It's pretty simple what it really is once you think that far but man what a let down." She put the staff against the barrier. Two other golems followed suit as they put their staffs against the barrier. Then the blades shot out like a jackhammer. At fist the blades bounced off and nearly caused the staffs to fly out of their hands but they repeated this process a few more times. Each time the barrier would tremble but eventually cracks began to spread. Tam no doubt feeling the strain of having to continually repair the barrier. The cracks continued to spread and Tam knew if nothing was done they both would most likely meet their end here. "I guess I shouldn't have expected much from an Esper" one of the golems near Quintus spoke up before it began to charge towards the others who were fighting a fair distance away. Everyone would be able to easily notice what happened next. The flames that enveloped the village, the faces that appeared screaming, the voices of blame, as if they were all tangible things they ripped themselves from the village and flew into the air like a vortex of despair. Concentrating at a point before shooting out towards Camilla as if wanting to pierce her. The vortex of despair was far to quick for anyone to try to do anything about it as it pierced into Camilla's body, draining into her. As this happened her hair turned from red to a beautiful pitch black as if cut out of the very night sky itself. The more the vortex flowed into her the more the red receded letting out her long black hair. Despite this the golems did not stop their attempt to stop this. As if they were more desperate now the ferocity of their attacks increased.

“Where do you think you’re going?” The two strings still attached to the armed golem’s staff would immediately jerk back, aiming to slow it down enough for the three strings left dangling in the air after blocking a different golem’s cards to be able to wrap around its leg. This would take her attention away from the dis-armed golem, whose kick squarely connects knocking the girl back. As she flies back, the strings attached to the leaping Golem would pull taut, putting the momentum from its partner’s kick to pull on its staff and potentially leg, hopefully dragging it back with her. Finally, the five strings holding onto the disarmed golem’s weapon would swing the scythe downward towards the disarmed Golem, using gravity on the scythe’s head to put force behind it more than anything. This would make it fall with a bit of an obvious delay, making it easy to dodge, and after the swing would continue its motion upwards in hopes of catching the still armed Golem on the upswing if the strings manage to pull it back. If not, it would end up severing the strings attached to the Golem going after Camilla instead

Kid their breaking in! Wake up! Kevin still laid there, between awake and unconscious. Memories of what he was doing filled his mind. He saw his body filled to the brim with dots. Anytime he froze something they slowed down. Anytime he burn something they sped up. He still remember the feeling that caused the dots to dance like this. What was he doing again? Kid!! Wake the bloody hell up! "I'm here..." Kevin mumbled barely able to sit up. He looked at the dots in his hands. "Tam, can you... move the barrier... slightly upward?" Tam didn't understand, but he did it anyway. Kevin looked at the dots and took a deep breath as he placed them on the ground. He smiled. They looked like they were slow dancing. A burst of frost and ice shot in the barrier, breaking it. The frost would freeze the golems if they didn't avoid it. Kevin closed his eyes and finally passed out.

Quintus would slowly begin to recover as the soars began to fade. The fruit wouldn't do much for his overall remaining energy but he had a few moments to catch his breath regardless. He'd begin speaking out loud though he wasn't sure if the golems was listening. "Never heard the term Esper before. It appears there's still a decent amount I don't know about the world but I guess that can't be helped right now. If your listening, would you mind explaining what exactly is going on? It's occurred to me that we don't really know what we're fighting for. Most probably want to protect the girl based on a sense of morality but what is she really?" He still needed a moment to regain his power, especially after how much he had already exerted. He didn't want to push his limits to far until he was certain of what he was doing.

Monochrome splits into Whit and Chrome. Chrome: Now I got an idea. Whit: Oh no. Chrome gives the sword to Whit and chucks him at the golem trying to attack with the pole. Whit: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The ground was frozen around Kevin as he lay there. Tam screaming his head off to the boy before suddenly being grabbed by one of the golems. Looking back you would see two of the three golems in a motion where they pulled out a card but was frozen before succeeding while the one in front had the clover card expanded out in front of her like a shield that took the attack. She looked down at the boy then at Tam. "If he remains this way he'll lose his arms from frostbite. Really is a stupid child...." she said as she looked down at the familiar. "I could crush you if I wanted to but then whats the fun in that." Her smile would begin to deepen "The head of the Jahandar family is currently in Ark located above japan. He has two months to kill him or he'll never get another chance. Give him that message for me when he wakes up kay." she released the familiar and walked away leaving the two behind. The golem attacking Monochrome would stop in surprise as Whit came flying towards it with weapon in hand, putting up its own weapon only to have it knocked out of her arms upon contact and sending her several meters back. The other one that was still engaged in combat with Mono would let out a series of thrust at him. The wires that captured the legs of the golem were soon cut afterwards as the golem staggered a bit only to make a mad dash towards Camilla. The one that was running towards them from a distance came from behind Orchis as it threw a card at her with the diamond symbol on it. The golem that was charging towards Camilla and the silver haired Game Master pulled out a series of cards with hearts on them between the fingers of both hands. The vortex of fire and despair continued to pour into Camilla's body before finally disappearing. Her hair was now completely black. The hand The silver haired man had on her forehead cracked before falling down onto the ground severed from the middle of his upper arm. Cracks continued to run through his body before even his leg shattered bringing him to his knees as his hold of the Pole Arm was the only thing preventing him from falling onto the ground. "How many years?" She asked, none of the warmth from before was present in her voice ".....19 years." he said to the girl, not making eye contact as his eyes remained on the ground. Without even looking back a blue like mist exuded from her body that shot out and quickly took the form of a hand as it grabbed the golem rushing towards her and crushed it as if it was nothing. "You took from me.....19 years." the frigid cold of her voice could be felt by everyone "I will never forgive this." "I understand." he merely replied "Then once more pledge yourself to me." "I, who gives birth to deceit, now pledge myself once more to you. Bequeath upon me a name so that we may be bound." he said as the remaining arm cracked and broke off, causing him to fall onto the ground. "Your name shall be Isaac. Serve me with your entire being and sacrifice your everything for my sake." she said to him before he smiled and slowly disappeared. She then turned back to the others as she layed eyes upon the others as if gauging who were allies and enemies. "What if I told you she was a sort of key?" one of the golems said to Quintus without looking back at him before continuing "An esper is on the ground a little north from here. He'll be of use to you if you know how to use him properly. This'll be goodbye for now." that golem said before charging up towards the others with staff in hand.

Whit: Got it! Whit rushes up to the golem and attacks it multiple times Chrome: Good job Whi-Owowowowowow! Chrome gets hit be the thrusts and is sent back a few meters. WARNING: LEFT LEG DAMAGED. FUNCTIONS BROKEN. Chrome: Goddamn it!

Quintus would smile at the vague response. He hadn't expected to get too much information but it seemed as if he was told what he needed to know. With the golems departure he'd begin moving northwards to find the Esper she was referring to. He wasn't exactly sure what an Esper was or why it was important but he felt as though trusting the advice of one more knowledgeable then himself in this situation was his best option. Of course, it was his only real option here rather than standing around. "She said he would be on the ground. Hope that doesn't make them harder to find."

Tam didn't know what to say. He looked at Kevin's nearly ruined arms. Giving himself near frostbite before he gave his poor arms second degree burns over and over made them a deep purple. Lad... Is the head of the Jahandar family really worth this much? You have so much potential, why does it have to be for... this? Tam would think about it while healing Kevin the best he could manage. Isha... you've made a monster.

Quintus would find little difficulty finding Kevin laying on the frozen ground, arms purple and needing immediate medical attention. Around him you would see a few broken golems either burned into breaking or frozen and directly around him were two frozen golems. You can tell a battle had occurred. The cards embedded in her body would blow up greatly damaging Orchis and as the two golems came in to finish her two of the same blue arms from Camilla reached out and grabbed them, crushing them in seconds as the girl wrote runes in the air before her. A magic circle flashed as lightning shot out towards the golems Mono was fighting, destroying the head and causing the body to collapse. Looking at Whit it would seem she had already taken care of the golem she was fighting back. Camilla then walked over to the three with cold calculating eyes, a sharp contrast to the girl you once knew. "It would seem I owe you all my thanks. My name is Ai. Would you please explain to me what has happened to the world these past 19 years." She asked as she gazed at Orchis.

Orchis remains lying on the ground, her damaged back now exposed. "This is why we don't go outside", she thought. Its a lot more intense than what she'd feel from her constructs... Orchis remains there for a bit, before saying something simple "Far as I can tell, you didn't miss much."

Quintus would take a moment to look around. Taking out this many of the golems was impressive but it almost seemed like he did it in a last burst attack. He immediately knew what Ambrosia was talking about when she said he could be useful but he still wondered what exactly an Esper was. "Well, certainly did a number on these golems but certainly made a mess of his arms in the process. At this rate he may even lose use of them, that'd be rather inconvenient I'd imagine." A root would begin forming out of the ground next to Quintus and from it a branch would grow just above his hand as he brought it out underneath. A piece of golden fruit would rapidly grow on the tip of the branch and drop into his hand. "I could treat the frostbite, heal his burns, and even mend his bones. That much my healing magic is capable of. Can't say how much of his vitality would be returned right away but it's better then him becoming useless." He'd walk up to Kevin and try to force the golden fruit into his mouth. If he was able to it would immediately dissipate into a golden liquid that would flow down Kevin's throat and begin healing him.

What in the bloody hell are you doing!? Tam yelled forming a shield between Kevin and Quintus. Quintus could see Tam was on his last legs by how thin the shield was.

A black door takes shape behind Quin and Kevin, laughter which the Persona user might recall ringing out from it as a young man in a school uniform steps out with a casual wave to them. "Heyo Quin! So come on, how's it going tonight anyways? Still trying to figure out that whole deal with the robot or did you find a real answer to it all by yourself." The man laughs, a dark shape of a masked man in blue taking form behind him as black flames fly straight past the two, they'd hit some random bit of the area as Reverse Apollo vanishes once again. "Anyway, I didn't come to kill you two or anything... Just felt like dropping in and saying hi honestly! But, somehow I doubt you feel like chatting right Quinny? So I'm gone!" With that, he steps back into the door and it vanishes. Nowhere to be seen, though for a moment after he departs an echo of laughter still sounds out before fading.

Chrome: Finally... GAH! The leg injury was worse than what Chrome thought. She can't move it. Chrome: Whit. Carry me over, will you? Whit: Sure. Whit carries Chrome over to the main group.

Ai would look out over the three. Looking over their bodies. "Unfortunately, I don't know much about how to repair machines." She would say as the blue mist exuded from her body forming an arm and gently lifting Orchis off of the ground and sitting her down upright on the passenger seat of the armored car they were in before. By this point Orchis would probably realize she can now send out communications to the other units she controlled. If she or the others payed attention to the village in the distance they would realize how different it seemed from before. There wasn't any burn marks anywhere or any sign of fire whatsoever. The village was dilapidated and didn't seem to have had any residents in decades as it was filled with overgrowth. The upper area was completely gone as some parts of wood could still be seen attached to the trees. There was no sign whatsoever of fire or battle remaining in the village. "19 years.......I spent....19 years here, doing nothing but wasting away." she said, her expression unreadable as she looked over the small village while clenching her small fists before loosening her grip and letting them hang at her sides Her irises began to glow a faint sky blue. "Three more souls in the village. Are they your allies?" She asked the three as Mono and Whit came over. Quintus would find difficulty with the barrier suddenly being put up by Tam. Though the barrier was weak the fact was Quintus hadn't exactly recover much of his vitality from this whole ordeal as of yet. Something that they all shared at the moment. Currently if nothing was done however Kevin would surely lose the use of his arms. It wouldn't take long for Tam and Quintus to realize the difference in the environment though. Other then the ice and fire from Kevins fight, the area itself was filled with overgrowth and broken shacks of rotted wood. Nothing resembling the village from before was present except the few walls that were still barely standing.

Whit and Chrome combine back into Monochrome. What a strange man...

Orchis grins and closes her eyes, focusing on her devices. they'd be split around the country, the world, some of them wouldn't be able to reach her, but that's fine, they're not all needed anyways. Nothing happens for a while save Orchis answering I can repair myself, I just need my tools to do it. It shouldn't take too long. As for the others. I know one of them is, bit of a pale man, summons trees or something. He helped us get away. The other two could be anything.

Quintus would grow frustrated at the voice. He wasn't sure where it was coming from but it seemed to get the wrong idea about his intentions. "Did you not hear me? I'm going to heal his arms. Unless you believe you can treat burns and frostbite with your own magic. At this rate though I'd hope your magic is fast. He may very well never be able to use his arms again at this rate and that would be an inconvenience for both of us I'd assume. Now, are you going to remove the barrier and let me treat him or would you rather take the risk and heal him yourself?"

I... God damn it... Do what you can but I'm watching you. Tam released the barrier, too focused on saving his master to pay attention to his surroundings.

Ai would look around the area, eyes still giving the dim glow before they returned to a normal grey hue. "I'll be back." She said as she walked down to the village leaving the two behind. Quintus would find no trouble healing Kevin once the barrier was released and his body could be seen visibly healing. The boy would most likely remain unconscious as his energy would not be replenished. Even with the healing his arms would also still take more time to heal. One of the golems would be watching from a distance before crumbling into sand like all the others in the village. Ambrosia was no longer here. None of you were in anymore immediate danger for now. Even the wildlife had slowly begun to come into the remains of the village as if whatever force kept them away was now gone. The morning sun slowly peaked over the horizon as if to tell you that the nightmare had ended as everyone began to feel the physical or mental fatigue of that night. All that is left now was to regroup at the river.

It seems like the threat is gone for now. AGH! Monochrome gained the leg injury Chrome had. This leg! It's killing me!

It working! Thanks, I owe you one mate. Tam was relieved over Kevin's recovery even if he wasn't 100% it was better than what he could do. So... what's the plan now stranger?

"Don't know, fortune telling isn't my power and I'm not exactly sure what's going on either. Seems as though any reminensce of the village dissapeared though. I think I saw all those odd spirits float into the girl from before. What was her name? Camilla? Ai? I guess that doesn't matter. For now I'll stay with you guys. I'm not sure why but one of those golems made his well being sound like a big deal while I was fighting it. That's not much but it's all I have to go off of." Quintus would finally feel the price of the energy he used up in both the battle and in healing himself and Kevin. He felt somewhat dizzy and began leaning back on whatever surface he could find. The root he had out before would begin rotting and warping until nothing remained.

Orchis would sigh, remaining in the truck for now. It would take a while, but soon more metallic figures would begin to emerge from the forest. A few small humanoids roughly the size of a child, identical to the first Uno, would be among the first to arrive. These devices would of course, approach Orchis, paying no attention to Mono and Chrome, and climb into the truck with her. "There we go. Help me for a moment." With the units help, Orchis would get out of the truck, laying down on the ground to expose her damaged back, which the Unos would quickly begin to work on.

After a while Ai would come around the corner and find Quintus and Kevin. Her hands had dirt on them as it seemed she was busy with something before finding them. She turned her gaze to Quintus who seem too tired to do much of anything and the unknown boy on the ground. She sighed as the blue mist exuded from her body, forming into two arms and gently picked the two up as she began to carry them back to the river. The arms felt solid but not like any materials he'd ever felt before. Almost as if they shouldn't be real at all. He could clearly see through them with a light blue tint and he didn't feel any magic power from them or any power at all. As if they were simply natural things in the world. "What was your reason for fighting for an absolute stranger?" She would ask Quintus out of nowhere as she carried them. He would be able to tell a complete change in her way of talking now compared to before. The fact she had long straight black hair now instead of the read he remembered her with. The cold calculating eyes and cold voice that left her mouth. It was as if she was a completely different person than the girl he met from before.

Quintus would see the arms but something about them wasn't surprising after everything he had witnessed today. He let them carry him without any resistance. Camilla's new form was surely different but he could only assume it was a result of what he witnessed before. "Not sure exactly. Maybe a sense if empathy? The voices all around started to remind me of something else. Maybe I just don't like seeing those who seem helpless be attacked. It's almost like another voice takes over my own and I just make rash decisions like that. I honestly can't say exactly what it was."

Ai would remain silent as she heard his answer. Not trading anymore words with him as they came back to the others waiting at the river. She gently laid them down on the ground as she looked at Orchis whom seemed to be in the middle of repairing herself. Everyone seemed to be the worse for ware and she was practically the cause of all of it. She would leave only to return with fruit for them to eat and would remain silent as everyone made their repairs or rested. The sun would be setting on the western horizon by the time Kevin awakens, still feeling sore and ready to collapse again at any given moment. Ai by this point had already made a makeshift camp and started a fire. She would remain silent for little while before giving a deep sigh as though she was done thinking. She then stood in front of the group to gain your attention. "I'm sure some of you have questions and I believe I may owe you an explanation. Ask me and I'll answer what I can and am willing to share." She would say to the group

Kevin's eyes cracked open, with dark circles under them and dead pupils he turned his head towards Ai. He didn't say anything. He laid there thinking about happened the day before. You ok lad? Tam asked him. Still, he stayed silent for awhile before asking Ai: "What are you?"

Ai stared at the boy before she turned her gaze to the familiar hanging from his neck. "I am a Magi. A word that should be pretty familiar to someone like you." she answered with indifference.

After some time in repairs, Orchis would sit up, a pair of Unos behind her making finishing touches, the girl would slowly look around the assembled group, looks like she's stuck with them for now. There's Quintus, she didn't get to see his abilities very much, so its hard to judge them. He survived fighting the golems at the very least, so non-organic targets probably aren't a problem. Then there's the two, Mono and Chrome. They don't seem to be very well-coordinated, all things considered. They would likely have trouble whenever they're outnumbered. Finally there's the other guy, whose arms were obviously hurt. Still human, to some extent, so its likely one could wear him down, and Ai simply arrived before it became too bad. Back to the matter at hand, Orchis looks back at Ai, hands down by her sides. She doesn't know much about the other girl, but there's one obvious question "Any idea why that freak might have been after you? They're not too likely to give up after all.

Ai would then turn her attention to Orchis before writing a root word and having a small pillar of earth come up from the ground for her to sit on. Afterwards she would ponder for a few minutes in silence before answering. "I honestly don't know. I've basically been dreaming the past 19 years. I don't remember ever meeting that woman before. Though if she was a victim of the previous war then it would only make sense that she wants me dead." she answered while looking at Orchis

she should have expected something like this. Orchis sighs and slowly shakes her head “from my understanding Golems typically aren’t made in their creator’s image. They’re probably some creepy old guy. I doubt they want you dead. While you were... Asleep, they tried to get us to leave you with them, rather than simply killing you. Maybe they’re really just that screwed-up.” thinking along that line any further doesn’t seem very beneficial. The girl sighs, slowly looking between her other companions, eyes eventually resting on Quintus “Anyone else have any ideas?”

I... I don't. I'm just hoping I can just go home somehow and fix my leg... God it hurts...

Quintus would close his eyes for a while as if almost falling asleep. It occurred to him that he hasn't really slept the entire night either, something that was starting to get to him. He'd force himself awake by staring at the fire. The flickering light would remind him of his old life for a while but he quickly threw that idea away. He'd instead simply be listening to the questions everyone asked before noticing Orchis look to him. "If everyone has asked the basic stuff I guess I'll start by asking why exactly this happened. The village, the chaos, and the mysterious man who seemed to be running it. You've already talked about how you've been dreaming for 19 years but what does that mean exactly and why?"

Ai would pause as she looked at Quintus. Seeming to be careful of how to choose her words or maybe from where to even begin. "That man was my familiar, Isaac. He has the power to warp reality within locations where he sets up his domain. He created that world....from Camilla's memories. Effectively suppressing mine so that I would live in peace without my consent. Since he suppressed my memories then I also forgot his name." she said as her gaze turned to the dancing embers of the camp fire. "That probably severed out pact. As a result his power grew weaker over time and it became more difficult to suppress the more powerful of my memories. The hell you saw before were nothing more than my nightmares. Phantoms of my past that continue to hound me in both my waking and my slumber. As for why he did this.....If I had to guess. It was most likely because he didn't want to see his master suffer from a few trauma's anymore." she would say as she stared into the fire. "Does that answer your question?" turning her attention back to Quintus

Yea, I have a question. How do I get back to my universe? I was brought here and now I want to go back. Monochrome sharply inhales in pain. The sooner the better.

Orchis glances down at Monochrome’s injury, non-organic, which is a start at least. Though she may not understand the technology perfectly. With her own repairs done, Orchis sighs You should have mentioned that leg earlier, idiot. You have a builder right here. Are there any unique materials that go into it? What exactly is the injury. Are there important internal circuits damaged? If nothing else I can probably make a functional replacement..... Orchis starts muttering to herself as the three Unos with her spread out a bit, collecting the tools they used to repair their master

"I unfortunately know nothing about why you're here and how to return you home. The fact you're from a different universe in general comes as a surprise to me. Almost as much as the fact that you three automatons have souls, something that isn't usually possible." Ai would shake her head to Monochrome.

Monochrome splits into Whit who talks to Ai, and Chrome. who has the leg injury. Chrome: Yea... The metal isnt that special. But, the main fluid pipe that helped with moving my leg has broken and it has leaked into moving parts. Whit: You see... I'm part of a 6 manned group called the Monomen. We were made by humans on U12's earth to spread advancements and basic information about humans so universes without humans can know what humans are. After all 6 of us were built, our world was attacked by the Eon Don Empire. Their ruler, Richt, killed our creators. 5 of us escaped to different universes, but our sister, Monorule, was captured. I was brought here via a wormhole when I just escaped to a new universe.

That’s it? Orchis breathed a silent sigh of relief, a broken pipe is fairly easy to replace after all, and since there’s no weird metal involved she could probably even make a perfect replica A broken fluid pipe is no problem at all, though it’ll probably be easier to fix if you shut down temporarily and fluid will stop moving All I’ll have to do is disassemble your leg, replace the broken part, drain all the fluid, and it’ll be good as new. With that said, the three Unos would approach Chrome, tools held loosely in their metallic, claw-like hands, ready to begin the work of rebuilding his leg. As for Orchis, with that being done, she’d glance back at Ai I’m a puppet, not an automaton. It’s a difference in intent. Automatons are carefully planned out and typically mass produced in the same way as Golems. Puppeteering is more of an art form, based heavily on the artist’s mental state. As such even if you follow the exact same instructions twice the results can be very different

Chrome: Ok... MONO6-1 COMMENCING TEMPORARY SHUT DOWN... Chrome has been shut down.

"A puppet?.....I see. I seem to remember someone else who was a puppeteer a long time ago. It's not my area of expertise so I don't know too much about it." she shakes her head as she looks at Monochrome shutting down "Still, the fact that two man made beings retain souls. It is something that was never achieved before my slumber. Maybe the world has changed a lot more than I think. At the very least Magi-technology seems to have advanced quite far." her gaze turned to the single star that shined in the orange colored sky as the sun set. "Now I feel the need to ask all of you. Who are you all?"

Whit: I'm Mono6-2, but most call me Whit. That person over there is Mono6-1, or Chrome. We have another part of us that only comes whenever me and Chrome can't fight anymore. His name is Mono6-3, or Robomono. Pray to your deity that he never comes here. I already told you my back story so.

While the UNOs work on fixing Chrome, Orchis would look over hands, before breathing out a sigh My name is Orchis, a living doll with my own soul, one of only two in existence.... As far as I know anyways. I... Orchis looks back down at her gloves hands, thinking for a moment before silently shaking her head I didn’t get to go out for a while. So once I did I wanted to see this world Master always cared for so much myself.

Kevin grabbed one of his jewels, only 15 left, and gave it to Tam. He made sure to use as little as motion as possible, wincing when he curled his fingers around the jewel. "You're a Magi? I see... You said your name was Ai right?" Kevin asked flatly.

To see the world her master cared about. For a moment her expression became softer after hearing those words. That was until she heard Kevin's question. "Correct. My name is Ai." she replied with a raised brow

Despite Kevin wounds he sat up against a tree. He began to laugh to himself before taking a sigh of relief. "Ai... well at least we both have something in common." Tam would begin to heal his arms as best as he could. "We're both supposed to be dead."

Ai would give Kevin a cold glare. "As I thought. You were once a Magi.....or maybe a cursed child. So even after 19 years the magi society still throws your kind away." she scoffed as she stood up.

Kevin laughed, even if it hurt his ribs he couldn't help it. "That's a fitting answer coming from a terrorist. Not that I'm better. So, tell me, why aren't you six feet below the ground?"

Quintus would mostly be quiet during this time as if the question of who they were wasn't even directed at him. He'd look over at Kevin with a cold stare. "By the way, I was the one who fixed your arms. Do me a favor and don't do whatever it is you did to them again. The energy required to produce healing fruit strong enough to repair injuries like that isn't a cheap trick. Small wounds are fine but broken arms are better treated at a hospital."

The moment she heard Kevin call her a terrorist blue mist exuded from her body as it quickly formed into an arm, grabbing him and lifting him into the air. His body would begin to feel even more pain as the hands grip would tighten and even if he tried to phase through it he would come to realize his phasing wasn't working. No. It was working but wouldn't allow him to escape from her grasp. "Terrorist!? You understand nothing! We were the ones who fought, the ones who bled and died so that you would live!" She screamed out at him as if he was the enemy "We were the ones who sacrificed ourselves for!....." She paused as her expression looked as if the air in her sails were completely gone. As if all energy she had before expelled. She gently let him down as her hands trembled. ".....That's right. They died." she said as she looked up at the dark sky, a river of stars slowly forming "They all died. For my ideals." a single tear rolled down her cheek. "And yet I live." a click of her tongue before redirecting her gaze back to Kevin. "Do not speak so lightly of things you do not know." she said as her expression returned to the same cold one she wore a while ago. No emotion could be seen as her cold eyes seemed almost hollow.

Kevin recovered taking a deep breath before smiling weakly. He first turned to Quintus, thanking him for healing him. "Looks like I hit a nerve huh? Well I guess you have a few skeletons in your closet war criminal, it must've a great war if my kind is still being thrown away right? Not to mention you were also thrown away, sleeping in a village that wasn't real. Heh... So how are you still alive?"

Orchis initially recoils, she never really liked these sorts of outbursts, but she really shouldn't show that much. The girl takes a deep breath, forcing out a faint chuckle to keep up an aloof air "Just like I said. You didn't miss much. They already forgot about you and painted you as a villain for convenience sake. That much has never changed."

"That is none of your business." she said coldly to Kevin before sitting down once more and turning her attention to Orchis "No. It's as he said. I'm nothing more than a war criminal now. We thought we could change things but came short in the end." a self depreciating chuckle leaving her lips. "We defeated the Magi council but in the end failed to defeat a mere teenager. A teenager that has grown to be our society's king now. It's so ridiculous it's laughable." turning her gaze back to the dancing flames "But the winners are the ones that decide history."

Quintus would be listening along but had yet to understand the true meaning of any of this. It was hard to determine what the exact reason Ai was being targeted by Ambrosia was. He finally would smile upon hearing the last line, it reminded him far too much of other events. "Under the right circumstances, a teenager can single-handedly doom the world so it doesn't surprise me that one can become a king."

"And so......" Orchis grins a little, laying down on her side as she looks back at Ai. The girl drums her fingers against the ground and finishes the question "Plan on doing anything about it?"

Kevin smiled before deciding to listen to what the others had to say. I know I should've said this earlier but you're acting weird lad... "shhhh, they're talking Tam" Tam paused, considering to tell Kevin about the Jahandar family... but he couldn't. He stayed silent.

Her small fragile smile would float upon her face as she heard Quintus's words. Ai would continue to stare into the flame for a while before closing her eyes after hearing Orchis's question. "I will see with my own eyes what the new king has wrought. If he is causing this world to teeter closer to destruction or salvation." she would open her eyes and star down at her hand "And I will decide what to do from there. If the world cries out for change once more." she would say as she slowly stood "Then I will once again bring down the fires of revolution. Even if I must once again wade through a sea of blood." "I only hope it will not come to that again." she would say as she clenched her fist. "For now we should rest. It has been a long ordeal and I'm sure everyone still needs rest. I don't know what your plans are but you can figure things out and tell me in the morning." She said to the group as she laid down upon a sheet she spread over some straw she piled together earlier. Everyone has a small blanket to sleep upon and though it wasn't exactly comfortable, it was still better than laying on the raw earth.

Orchis closes her eyes and grins. For now its not like she has anything better to do than hang out with the group. Besides, it gives her a chance to see more as well. "Don't worry about keeping watch. We'll be warned well before anything happens, after all, my marionettes see everything." Though the 8 unit Dues at her disposal would keep themselves hidden in the forest for now, they'd spread themselves out evenly to watch the whole area around the group, watching for any threats from the outside while the 3 Unos finishing their work on Chrome would keep an eye on everyone within. It'd be almost impossible to make any movements near the camp without Orchis knowing it.

That night, in a certain city, within a certain location, and inside a certain room a girl with long messy red hair that covered her eyes and wearing blue and white pajama's yawned as she stretched out onto the floor of her room. The room was relatively dark with a the blue light of numerous game screens that covered the entire wall in front of her being the only thing illuminating her surroundings. She leaned back on the bean bag chair she was on as a game controller fell from her hands. The door to the room opened letting in the light of the morning sun flood into the room. The girl would wince as she hissed at the sudden light. A boy slowly walked in as he walked around the outer edge of the room observing the things on the wall. On the wall you would see multiple human sized dolls with no features and a work table under them. On the table you would see multiple tools and different types of clay and other magical tools. A few unfinished golems lay on the floor as well wearing what seemed like circus clothes. The boy was wearing what seemed to be a private schools uniform brown winter uniform. He had black leather gloves and a thin frame. An eye patch covering his left eye with a few tattoos around it, short brown hair and a piercing green eye. He ran his fingers on the worktables as he walked around the room. "You seem to be in a good mood. I hope that means you've accomplished your mission?" He would say before lifting his fingers from the table and looking at the dust and sand on his fingertips. She would stare at the boy through her red bangs while hiding under her beanbag from the light. "It was a bust. There were others who got involved" she replied, watching his every move "And are you saying these others were an actual hindrance?" he asked with a raised brow "At the very least they held me off long enough to let her wake up." she said as she crawled across the floor like a caterpillar in an attempt to close the door. "So she's awake now too?" he said as he rubbed his hands to get the dust off "You know she won't be happy about this after all the time spent tracking Ai down." he turned to the girl, giving her a cold glare The girl stopped as she felt his stare. Looking back at him with a nervous smile. "W-well, It's not a total loss. I managed to find a competent persona user that can be used."

"Is that so?" he said as he closed his eyes "but do you really think that will be enough to pay for this failure" the next moment she was lifted off the ground with his hand around her neck, squeezing enough to cause pain but not enough to stop her from talking. As soon as he did this some golems moved into action with there signature bladed staffs aimed at him as she let cards fall out of her sleeves and surround the man. He didn't pay any mind to them as the tattoos around the eye-patch began to glow red. She cursed under her breath as she gasped for air. "W-wait! They can be useful! Knowing her she'll go to Ark and with them in the middle of the summit, they can be used to distract them! All the pieces will be in one place!" she pleaded with the man before he let her down on the ground and the tattoos stopped glowing. He began to smooth out the wrinkles in her pajama's and dusting her off as he looked at her with indifference. "Is that so? Thinking that far ahead. I commend that. But for now on only focus on the assignment that you were given." he said as he finished and walked by her. He would stop next to her as he put his hand on her shoulder and leaned in so he could talk directly into her ear. "Even if she forgives you, I will not tolerate another failure." He walked out the room closing the door behind her, leaving her alone in the darkness. Her eyes became cold as a smile crept onto her face. "You'll regret not killing me now, Kaito-kun." she let out a small giggle. The night cam to an end as the morning sun came out from beyond the horizon. Waking everyone from their sleep. As everyone got up Ai looked at the group to ask the question that remained in there minds that night. "Have you all decided what it is you'll be doing from here on out?"

Orchis takes a deep breath, the three Unos gathering around her. The girl stands up, looking back at Ai with a grin "That's easy. For now you're just wanting to watch and learn right? I'd like to look into these Magi as well, so that makes our goals align." Orchis lowers her right arm, allowing one of the devices to climb up it and perch on her shoulder "As long as my network's with you, we won't miss a thing."

Kevin didn't sleep much that night, but during it Tam realized Kevin would find out about the Jahandar family even if he hid it. He decided to tell Kevin what Ambrosia told him during the night. Of course Kevin knew what he was going to do when Ai asked them in the morning. His arms were now only a light shade of red, but he wasn't going to waste a second longer here. "Do you know where the Ark is?" Kevin asked.

Whit: My goal is to find a way to find a way out of this universe either by finding another wormhole or contacting one of my brothers. I hope for my gunslinging brother, Monoarty. Though Monobunkle would be good fit. If MonoDj comes along, it will be a nightmare. I hate his guts. Whit starts grumbling about MonoDj while Chrome wakes up and continues where Whit left off. Chrome: In order for us to get contact with them, I'm going to need help. I would like to be friends with you guys and help any way I can!

Aina would nod to the two before hearing Kevins question. She would stare at the boy with indifference. "I do, but I see no reason to share that information with you." Turning to Quintus whom seemed to be caught in his own thoughts she would ask him of his plans. "Have you decided upon your plans. Will you remain traveling with me or will we part here?" she said to the boy with far less poison on her words than what she directed at Kevin before.

Quintus would look back at Ai with his mind finally made up. "I think it'd be good for me to gain some insight in regards to this situation as well. I barely understand anything going on here yet and that doesn't sit too well with me. For now, it would seem as though traveling with you is my best option." He wasn't too sure if he really should be traveling but part of him really did want to see things through, another part hadn't forgotten about his bet yet and was eager to see who would win in the end as well.

Kevin chuckled before beginning to stand up. He looked towards the village before looking at his hands. He couldn't see that dots anymore. Ambrosia said his power wasn't phasing, but that doesn't matter since it wouldn't find the Jahandar. "Well, that's fair enough, i'll just find someone who does have reason to share that information." Kevin began walking before he paused. "That guy, the game master, is he alright?"

Aina would nod to Quintus before hearing Kevin's question. "......He's resting for now. It'll take him about two months to recover." She said, not making eye contact as she walked back over to Orchis and Mono at camp to gather what little she still had.

Orchis sighs and pets the Uno. She didn’t bring anything other than her devices, so she’s pretty much ready to go. Orchis looks over at Kevin “ Odds are if this “Ark” place is important I’ll end up watching over it at some point. Whatever you’re going to choose make it quick. Try following us in secret and you’ll get to learn about my second marionette. Not as friendly as Uno here.”

Kevin would nod slowly. "...I'm sorry. He'd probably wouldn't need to recover so long if it wasn't for me."he'd then look at orchis. "thanks for the offer but I'll find another way... some how"

Whit and Chrome look around and gather up their belongings. Chrome: Oh no! My sword! I lost it back when we were running from that tornado. I guess it is lost forever... Whit: Don't worry. We will get better weapons on the road. Chrome: True... They do a last check, and combine back into Monochrome. I'm ready.

Quintus would hear Kevin's words and couldn't help but too respond. He'd begin speaking without even facing Kevin as he bagn to walk on ahead. "I see, the Ark must not be too urgent to you if you're willing to deny help over a petty disagreement. I suppose I'm the last person to criticize another over wanting to do things alone though. But it seems as though you'd deny your objective for the sake of your pride." He'd walk away not even caring to hear Kevin's response.

Orchis herself shrugs, glancing over to the Uno on her shoulder, before tossing it towards Kevin “Suit yourself. Hope you don’t mind if this little guy follows you for a while. Just close enough to listen. You ARE a security hazard after all.” As Orchis said, the device would remain a fair distance away from Kevin, ready to follow him wherever he ends up wandering from just out of sight. As for Orchis, she’d take the hint and start heading out with the rest of the group

Quintus would walk only a few feet before Kevin put his hand on his shoulder. "Also thanks for healing my arms, I may be edgy but not so much that I won't return te flavor... When I can at least." Kevin then turned to Orchis, then to Uno. "You want me to just carry a microphone and be okay with it?"

“Well, no.” Orchis yawns, glancing over her shoulder, then back to Kevin “First, Uno’s going to be monitoring both sights and sounds, hiding the whole time. Second, I don’t really care if you’re ok with it, I just thought it’d be easier if I told you, just in case you happened to find him while he was following you. These things do take time to make after all.”

Kevin frowned while staring the robot. "This is an invasion of privacy. Where are my rights? I mean what gives you the right to do this?"Kevin sighed and looked at Uno. "Can he it at least point me in the right direction? Can it even talk?"

Aina would simply wave back to Orchis to tell her not to waste her breath. "I've already wasted 19 years in the middle of no where in the human world. I'd like to return to the Magi world as soon as possible." she said as she continued to walk.

Orchis grins and keeps her mouth shut, the girl drums her fingers against her cheek, as her voice transfers through the Uno unit "I don't see how that is relevant to the issue, but yes, I am able to communicate through Uno at will... Well, if I'm not too busy to focus on him anyways. I could direct you wherever, but I also don't really see why I would. Simply put, this is to make sure you don't blab about our plans, location, abilities, and other things." Orchis clears her throat, returning to talking herself rather than through the machine, and gesturing at the rest of the group "We obviously have at least one enemy, whoever sent the golems, and Ai here's apparently considered a criminal, so consider this a mere safety precaution to make sure you don't sell us out. Its either this, murder, or kidnapping, so I thought having Uno watch you would make the best compromise." With that, Orchis sighs, following after Ai without waiting to hear Kevin's response "yeah yeah, I'm coming. Just a safety precaution, it shouldn't be a surprise that I don't trust him."

"Woah that's amazing." Kevin poked Uno's cheek. "Alright I'll guess we'll keep him right Tam?" Just make sure to not feed it after midnight. Kevin smiled before beginning to walk away with Uno. "What did she mean human world...? Hmm, I guess i'll find out one way or another."

Well. Till we meet again, Kevin. Mono turns to Orchis and Ai. He starts running over to them. Hang on guys! Wait up!

A little girl with long black hair was running down a hallway. Her grey eyes scanning the surroundings as she called her. "Papa!" "I'm right here Camillia." a mellow male voice replied to the young girl as she ran followed it into a nearby room. The girl would enter the room and see a man that seemed to be in his mid twenties, with long brown hair in a single ponytail, and wearing a blue kimono. She would leap into his arms as he hugged her and slowly sat her down onto his lap. "Papa. Papa. Read me a story, Please Papa." the girl would energetically plead as she bounced around Her father would merely chuckle before reaching the nearby table and bringing the book atop it onto his lap in front of her. He opened the small picture book as he spoke "Okay, but after this you're going to bed." The girl gave a big nod as she sat in his lap with her back turned to him. The picture book lay on her lap as he loomed over her and began reading. "Once upon a time there was a girl. This girl lived a happy life with a wonderful family. Never needing more than what was given her. She was loved by all those around her" he said as Camilla looked at a picture of a happy family with great detail as if painted like a portrait before he turned the page. "But one day tragedy struck. Because of the jealousy of the very people they protected, they were one day betrayed and killed." The picture was now of a fire and battle. As if the artist was someone different, the strokes were chaotic and the art seemed to drop in quality. The girl seemed concerned as she looked on in silence but the father continued to read as if nothing was wrong as he turned the page. "The girl, left all alone was filled with grief and soon that grief turned into hatred. She swore revenge and thus she set out on a path of carnage. Becoming a monster herself and devouring the lives of all those around her. Killing. Killing. Killing. Killing. Killing. Even as she was neck deep in a sea of her own blood she continued to bring death and destruction where ever she went." The pages now seemed as if they were drawn with crayon by a child as a character in every page after was killing another person. "Papa! I don't like this story!" She screamed as tears began to form in her eye, covering her ears with her hands as if to block out his voice, but the voice continued to ring in her head nonetheless. A red droplet would fall onto the picture book, followed by another, until it seemed like a constant flow of the red liquid. "Why not Camilla?" the man would ask concerned The girl would look back up to see her father, with no eyes, bleeding from all of his orifices as they were completely surrounded by fire. "The story is about you." She screamed as she leaped back out of his lap onto the floor. The moment she touched the floor it cracked open and caved in. She looked up through the hole as she fell as she saw the fire engulf her father before he asked "Why didn't you die too?" She suddenly felt herself break through the surface of water as her body jerked back. She couldn't breathe so she tried to swim back to the surface but she felt herself being dragged down. When she looked down she saw a mountain of corpse that seemed to reach up to her from the dark abyss. Grabbing onto her clothes and dragging her down.

"Why didn't you die?" "Murderer! Murderer!" "You were supposed to guide us! So why do only you live!?" "It hurts. Please stop the pain." "I thought I could trust you!" The numerous voices ringed in her ears as she was dragged down into the depths. She continued to struggle but to no avail. Her efforts were in vain as the corpse dragged her down into the watery abyss. A scream rang out in the room. Ai was sitting up in her bed drenched in sweat as she seemed to be desperately gasping for air. The room was dark and the only ones in it were her and Orchis. She looked around as if to make sure of her surroundings before looking down at her lap trying to calm her breathing. Afterwards, she would get out of bed and head to the bathroom where she washed her face and looked into the mirror. They had been walking north for two days before arriving at this small town and learning they were about a week away from the border to north america. There were bags under her eyes from the increasing lack of sleep these nightmares have afforded her. "I tried so desperately to live yet in the end... Why did you live?" an older woman with long purple hair could be seen in the reflection, bleeding out of her empty eye sockets as she embraced Ai from behind. "You must atone for your sins. You must change this world. Paint your path of blood again so that we may be put to rest." the woman whispered into her ears. "Silence!" She screamed to no one. The woman gone from the reflection. All that was left was the girl whose past continued to haunt her.

In the remains of the village they once found themselves in merely two days ago was two people. Their gender could not be recognized through the cloak they wore and the white mask that covered their face. One of them walked up to an old piece of wood, recently planted into the ground with the words Camilla on it. "Camilla. You don't think?" "No reason to speculate. That woman has been dead for over 20 years now." the other one responded as he was knelt down onto the ground trailing their hand through a trail of sand. He rubbed his fingers together before deciding to take a sample of sand. "A special type of clay used for golem crafting. The reports that their was a strange magical anomaly here weren't false." he continued "Their is still ambient mana left from the magic. Seems like a large scale magic for that matter. This mana signature is....strange. It doesn't belong to a human. A familiar perhaps?" the one standing next to the grave marker commented as he walked to a nearby tree "do you have any readings 13?" 13, the one who took the sand sample, stood up as he walked to the center of the village. "There are a lot of strong thoughts in this area. Might be a bit difficult with so many. It's like someone was keeping them active." he said as he prepared his magic. It took another 30 minutes before 13 was ready to use his magic for such a large area. When he cast it, all kinds of events replayed right in front of him. Some events from 50 years ago, some from 30 or 20. Most mundane and others of the German occupation. A lot of random information about plagues and poisons, war and betrayal, but none involving magic. That is, until he was lead to the arrival of two people. Two people he would not ever forget. A man with sleek, combed back silver hair and shades with a young woman with long black hair. They seemed tired after their journey. He could feel the exhaustion that poured over the two. The girl seemed to be haunted by night terrors and the man feeling powerless as he watched. It seemed like he made a decision and did something. She was against it but he did it anyways. After that there was nothing. At least for a long while. As if the string thoughts just vanished. Until the arrival of four others. Most of the information around that part was muddled by a flux of emotions and thoughts that filled the area. His magic ended there. "We need to inform the king. Ai may yet live." 13 said as he turned from the place and left The other man in a cloak followed after him. They soon both disappeared in the darkness of the night.

Kevin and Tam wandered for a while. Not really making any headway and still not coming across any other people. That was until this night. As he lay on the ground, exposed to the elements a single figure walked out of the shade of the trees alerting Tam to her presence. He wouldn't say a word upon seeing the doll like appearance of the woman in maids attire, something that did not belong in the middle of the jungle. Her face held no expression as she slowly walked over to the boy. "I don't understand what master sees in this child. A complete and utter idiot. He doesn't even realize he's no longer in the Magi world. Though I guess you're no better for keeping that from him." she said as she looked at Tam whom simply remained silent "If I weren't helping him he'd have died months ago." she said turning her attention back to the boy, kneeling down and looking over his face "Lana died for this. Incomprehensible. Finding people who could help him accomplish his goal then leaving because of pride. I can't bring myself to understand such idiocy. But a promise is a promise. I will continue to protect you.....for now. Prove to me that you're worth her life. If you don't, then I will end you myself." She said as she stood up and dusted off her maid uniform. She left some edible fruit nearby for him to find as she walked away. "Tam. Don't disappoint me." she said as a warning to the familiar, as if reminding him that the boy needed to know his situation before walking out of sight, leaving the two alone once more. Tam knew that woman well from when he was still with Lana's family, before meeting Kevin. He knew about how dangerous she is and how twisted she could be. This was simply a game to her to pass the time. In the end, Tam would be left with no choice. If he wanted to protect Kevin then he would need to play her game. A decision he hoped he would not come to regret later. Part 2B End