soul_logs | EVENT: Battle Against the Kishin Adachi

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EVENT: Battle Against the Kishin Adachi

Characters: Anyone who signed up for Mission 254
Location: Matsue City, Japan
Rating: PG13
Time: September 11th
Description: It's time to bring down the Kishin Adachi, once and for all!

Matsue was once a lovely city and a nice place for tourists to visit.

It is now a ghost town.

Some lucky citizens had managed to escape the city before things got really bad, but they are the minority. Even fewer still are those who stayed and are still alive.

Most of them are dead, or worse, they had been driven mad by the Madness the Kishin Adachi exuded and killed their fellow citizens and consumed their souls, becoming Kishin Eggs. To make matters worse, sometimes when you're fighting you'll hear the distant rattling of chains and some primal part of your soul knows, something wicked this way comes.

And then there's all the Yellow Fog...

Only those who persevere will make it to their final destination: the Adachi Art Museum where Adachi is.

It will not be an easy fight, but in order to prevent the fate of this city from befalling on another, everyone will need to try.

((OOC: Please indicate in the subject: Character || OPEN/CLOSED. There will be a separate thread for encountering Adachi. Event information is here.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Rosalia didn't understand why anyone would want to do this. The city was in ruin and the air was heavy with Madness. The young girl had to suppress her shivers as - together with D - they worked on eliminating the Kishin eggs roaming around. She kept a medium-sized smoke animal at her side as company since D was in her hands.

It was weird though. All of the sudden, it had just become really quiet. At the corner of the street, she looked left and right as though checking for traffic, but there was nothing.

"I wonder where the Kishin eggs have gone..." They couldn't have beaten them all, could they?

Once again, Miss Rosalia had asked for his help and D found himself agreeing. She was a sweet girl, the type that gave him some hope for humanity despite his family's grudge. Together, they traveled through the foggy streets, unleashing small packs of dogs and wolves on the kishin eggs they encountered, collecting several souls.

The smokey animal currently at her side resembled Dreizehn, the doberman he had sold Miss Karen as a bodyguard back in California. Although still not completely opaque, it appeared much more solid than animals they had created before, the souls he had absorbed in Costa Rica giving him the ability to create larger and stronger creatures.

Within the soul space, D concentrated, trying to sense any enemies that might be hiding in the fog. It's a bit difficult to tell for sure with the Madness that filled the city but... "There doesn't seem to be anything else in this block or the next. It almost feels as if something has scared them away."

In the distance, there was a faint rattling, so faint that one might be inclined to think it was simply imagined due to the Madness.

She thought she heard the rattling, but she had been effected by Madness before.

"Scared away? Why would that be? Aren't they on the Kishin's side?"

If anything, they would be excited right? Maybe, be around with the stronger support? Kinda like going up against a Witch or a familiar. Well, Kishin eggs were proving to be confusing for the young doctor again.

Streets clear, she began crossing. The sound of the chains was still there.

"Hm..." Should she point it out? But if she was the only one hearing it, that might scare D.

She likely knew more about such creatures than himself but he could speculate on the reason.

"Perhaps, instinct has told them that even they should fear this Kishin. After all, he is said to have consumed a great number of souls, has he not? It could be a matter of the big fish eating the little fish."

And she wasn't the only one. It was an ominous sound, slowly getting louder, as if whatever was rattling those chains was drawing nearer.

"Miss Rosalia, do you hear something? Be on your guard."

Whatever it was, didn't seem close enough for him to detect yet but he allowed smoke to curl through the filigree of his lid, just in case.

"Hm... maybe." That did make some sort of sense. Kishin eggs were always acting in different ways when she encountered them.

Walking a few steps more, she stopped and looked around. Another few, and she stopped again, tilting her head. She still wasn't sure if that was real, or if she was hearing it because of the Fog and Madness.

"Oh, you're hearing it too?" That probably wasn't good. The smoke, she quickly decided, needed to be a bird. Where was the sound... coming from?

"Yes. It almost sounds like a chain." It reminded him of how the detective liked to brandish his handcuffs with the threat of arresting him someday.

The smoke coalesced into a red-tailed hawk, hovering above them. "Let's see if this hawk can find the source of the sound."

Perhaps, it would be able to lead them to whatever was causing the rattling...

"Yeah..." Though, she had only heard a chain once before, it's kinda distinct.

Looking at the hawk above, she took D's advice and sense the hawk to scout ahead. She patiently waited to see what happened.

The hawk rose in the air, start to circle but didn't get far. With a series of bangs, bullets tore through the bird, scattering it into mere wisps of smoke in a split second.

They had come from the direction they were walking in and D felt a chill despite his usual calm. There was something terrible up ahead, something they certainly wouldn't be able to handle if one of their animals was defeated this easily without even approaching it. Even worse, the rattling was slowly getting louder.

"Miss Rosalia, turn back and run!"

Immediately Rosalia flinched and soon, froze in her spot, the two shots having paralyzed her. Guns, guns... no, no, no! She was trembling, unable to run despite the chains growing closer and the dark form making itself more visible as whatever it was approached through the fog.

Slowly, the Madness was creeping in. The dark, hovering form coming towards her wasn't floating, but walking, coat billowing behind.

"N-No... don't do this..." D's yell did manage to get her to turn and run, but she wasn't running from chains. It was something else entirely; something completely human.

D frowned, uncertain of what she was talking about. The girl didn't seem to be addressing him and he sensed she was frightened. The way she froze at the sound of gunshots made him wonder if she'd had some traumatic experience in the past with firearms. But now wasn't the best moment to ask.

"Keep going!" he urged as another shot rang out, nearly striking the doberman. "I can create some more birds as a distraction."

Several small birds formed from the smoke and took to the air, merely pigeons this time to serve as targets for their pursuer.

She wasn't about to stop, running faster as the flurry of smokey feathers passed her. There was no looking back because, if she stopped, she was going to die again. Rosalia didn't want that to happen; she still had things to do in Death City.

The birds distracting... whatever it was, she quickly wound into the buildings, taking to the smallest routes possible. Anything much bigger than her shouldn't be able to follow. Hopefully, it couldn't follow.

The birds served their purpose, sacrifices to their unseen assailant to gain time for them to escape. Eventually, the chains grew fainter and then died out completely. After a couple of more minutes with no sound other than Rosalia's footsteps, they were in a cramped alleyway and it seemed safe again.

"I believe we've lost our pursuer. Are you all right?" He didn't think she had gotten hurt during the chase but it seemed best to be certain.

Rosalia remained hidden though, crouched with her knees pulled up to her chest, even after the sound died away. Her heart was still pounding and she was holding D close. Really, she was on the verge of tears, a few escaping her eyes.

"I-I'm okay... I have to be okay if I'm going to help anyone..." With one hand still holding him, she wiped her eyes and sniffed.

"Miss Rosalia, what's wrong? Perhaps, we should return if you feel unwell."

The way she curled up like that, like a little child hiding, she was obviously distressed about something. Attempting to continue with her in this state seemed unwise.

"No, what's really unwise is that you're allowing yourself to get attached to a human again."

The voice came through the fog, a distorted version of the count's, as the Shadow stepped into the alley, the only thing distinguishing him from D's human form being two yellow eyes rather than a mismatched set of yellow and purple.

"But... I don't want to leave everyone behind fighting..."

She would come out in another minute. Rosalia just had to get the Madness under control.

That's hard to do when the voice called out though. She jumped and blinked, almost fumbling with Count D. Tilting her head, her brows furrowed a bit. "C-Count D?" But... wait, she was still holding him. And then she noticed the eyes and how both were bright yellow. "Ah--!"

D wasn't happy to see the Shadow. The two yellow eyes made it look exactly like his grandfather and it was almost as if the man who had raised him were admonishing him again.

"Careful, Miss Rosalia. Let's get away from this illusion of the fog, shall we?"

However, the duplicate had other ideas, moving closer and blocking their way.

"But shouldn't she hear about how your family's goal was to kill all humans?"

"Uh... okay..."

She stood up and turned, but the Shadow was there. Rosalia stared at it, holding onto D.

"... Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Don't pay mind to that imposter. It's trying to trick you."

At that, the Shadow's smile seemed to become a little more sinister, a malicious gleam entering its bright yellow eyes.

"Trick her? It's simply the truth." Those yellow eyes looked into Rosalia's. "That man that you're holding cares little for human lives and has helped bring many to an end."

Though D said to ignore it, it was kinda hard to ignore the double in her path. Not to mention, how it seemed to become more intimidating. She took a step back, head ducked slightly.

"He... has? But... what about Chris?"

"Chris is fine. He regained the ability to speak and returned to his relatives." That was the truth, nothing sinister there although D had been sad to see him go.

"Yes, Chris. That boy and his brother were two of the humans he got attached to. But others weren't so lucky. He didn't hesitate to feed those who crossed him to his dangerous pets."

"That's... good." But the Shadow was still talking. And it looked so much like Count D, it was hard not to listen to it.

"Cross him? Cross him how?" And to his pets? But... but why? Rosalia was confused and it wasn't helping her fight the Madness.

"It could be as simple as threatening him. Thugs who broke into his shop or attacked him. They usually became pet food."

Meanwhile, the real D was becoming irritated within the soul space, something his partner might be able to sense through their connection although he tried to keep his voice pleasant.

"Miss Rosalia, let's try exiting at the other end of the alley."

She could sense it, but she was having very mixed feelings.

"O... kay..." Turning, she started to the other end of the alleyway. They were supposed to confront it, right? She didn't know if she could make D face himself though.

But the Shadow wasn't going to let them go so easily. Following, it placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned close to her ear.

"Don't leave yet. You haven't heard about the customers who died after bringing home one of his pets."

"They were warned the shop couldn't be held responsible for the consequences if they broke the contract," D coldly stated. "Now, stop manhandling Miss Rosalia and we will be on our way."

Rosalia was not feeling very comfortable.

"D... didn't they say you had to... accept what it says?" Because she wasn't sure if she would be able to run away. There was fog everywhere and this one kinda just... appeared.

Rosalia and D | Closed

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