[OPEN] Mission 157

[soul_mods]

Characters: Open to participants who signed up here.
Location: Nocturne Bazaar
Rating: Gen.
Time: April 5th.
Description: The battle to destroy the last of the three Madness Emitters is upon us.

It happens early in the morning: a strange and lingering air of disquiet, almost imperceptible even to those trained to recognize it for what it is, quickly rising to a mind-shattering crescendo. On the floating island above the city, black liquid bubbles up from the cracks in the cobblestone streets and materializes into tall, thin, clown-shaped creatures. Oversized carrion birds take wing from the rafters of buildings, trailing dust from their dirty wings. The screams of civilians are clearly heard even from Death City so far down below, waking its citizens up from fitful, nightmare-filled slumbers.

The Witches are here!

It doesn't take long for the defenders to rally: Kid sends out the call to arms and, after admonishing all but the most skilled pairs to stay off the island, instructs those attending Mission 157 to prepare to get on the gondolas which still remain the only way to and from the Bazaar.

The streets are not as packed as they were the past two days, but there is no less commotion. The carnival workers and residents, fleeing from the marauding monsters, clearly have no hand in this deception. In between trying to save their lives, striking down the Black Blood-formed clowns and avoiding the talons of swooping bird familiars, the pairs certainly have their hands full.

At the epicenter of the battle is the yellow-bricked fortune-telling building. Waves of Madness emanate from it with an almost physical force. If you aren't careful, you may run into the black-feathered Witch guarding it…

By the end of the conflict, the island is incapable of supporting its own weight. With the help of volunteers shuttling civilians and fighters alike from the Bazaar to the ground, everyone must race back to the gondolas before the entire rock crashes in the sands.

OOC NOTES.
- The event summary post containing all relevant links is located here.
- Make your own threads, but please indicate in your subject line [CHARACTER(S) | OPEN/CLOSED]
- If you have any further questions, the mod thread on the coordination post is here!

Comments

[computations]

"Since then, yes." Now that she thought back, it had been since then. Especially when she had asked that Yuri to do things for her instead of Sion. That had frustrated her. Even now, she felt lingering twinges from that.

"But I doubt it had anything to do with your attitude."

[ritsu_kouyou]

"Then I don't know what the problem is, Sion."

Akiha finished the wrap and smoothed her skirt back down. Turning to her partner, she started to cross her arms in annoyance, but stopped herself. This was not a time for closed-off body posture, even if she wasn't sure how to fix this.

"But I do know that you're my partner and you're the one I count on when things get hard here. I'm not used to this style of living, having to hire myself out as a common soldier." She tucked her hair behind her ear. "At least I have you with me. It makes it... not so bad."

[computations]

"Can you just do me one favor?"

Sion turned to face Akiha but she didn't look her in the eye. She didn't have the courage to do that, especially with what she planned on asking Akiha to do next.

[ritsu_kouyou]

Akiha raised her eyebrow. What possible favor could Sion want?

"And that would be...?"

[computations]

"Can you...close your eyes. Just for a moment? I ask for no more."

Sion squirms just a little uncomfortably at making that suggestion.

[ritsu_kouyou]

"Close my--" Akiha gave Sion a confused look and then shook her head with an exasperated sigh. "Fine. If that's all you want..."

And she closed her eyes. Whatever Sion wanted, it better be quick. She could hear another scream and was impatient to go do their job. She just knew the two of them had to come to some kind of agreement or their wavelengths weren't going to resonate well enough.

[computations]

It was quick. All she did was wrap her arms around Akiha in a hug. It...settled her conscience a little. Sion wasn't aware of why, only that the physical contact helped her feel better, even if it was Akiha that had made her mad in the first place. Hopefully Akiha wouldn't think she was too weird for this.

[ritsu_kouyou]

Akiha's eyes didn't stay closed. They flew open at the contact, her body tensing up just a bit in surprise, and her hands came up to Sion's shoulders.

"What--"

But she didn't push Sion away. Face flushed, she relaxed and slid her hands about her partner to return the hug. It was... nice. Akiha let out a small sigh.

"Y-you could have just asked..."

[computations]

Yes she could have. But Sion didn't think she would have been able to work up the courage either way. But, for whatever reason, any issues that had existed in their connection evaporated from Sion's end. When she let go, she could finally look Akiha in the eye though she did have a red face.

"I am in a well enough state to continue now."

[ritsu_kouyou]

Once free, Akiha busied herself with pulled the headband from her hair, running her hands through it and then putting the band back in it to make sure it was in place. And it bought her some time to tame her own flushed cheeks.

"Alright." Akiha held her hand out. She would focus on business for now, glad Sion's wavelength had calmed down. "Let's go investigate those screams. We're supposed to also lend support to the evacuations."

[computations]

Without hesitation, she transformed back into a staff and landed herself into Akiha's hand. Hopefully, they could finish up soon so Akiha would be put under too much stress.

[ritsu_kouyou]

With the staff in hand, Akiha rest it upon her shoulder and headed out of the restroom. She followed the sounds of the screams, keeping an eye partially on the sky in case there were more giant crows.

When they found the panicked crowd... Akiha didn't see any enemies. The people were freaking out, running around like idiots.

"Tch." It seemed she was going to have to direct them. Stepping out into the open with the staff clearly visible to identify her as from Shibusen, Akiha called out in a loud voice, "Everyone! Try to stay calm and head to the eastern gondolas. There are Shibusen agents there to make sure you make it down to Death City safely."

She moved in closer, brow furrowed as she looked for enemies, seeing as very few of the people even paid attention to Akiha. She didn't see the black, inky substance slithering along the ground to the side, steadily drawing closer, given how many people there were.

Akiha grabbed one of the men passing by, intending to manually direct him down the correct path, when she suddenly went rigid. A wave of red swept over her vision, pain exploding in the back of her head, as something pushed past her willpower.

Kill.

The meister dropped the staff, her other hand grabbing the man as she stared at him with the most disturbing, almost innocent-like smile.

[computations]

Sion didn't take well to being dropped at all. But she also knew that perhaps, right now, there were some extenuating circumstances. Before she hit the ground, she was already on her feet and steady. There was no sense in getting angry or being rude.

Instead, she realized that she had to be the calm one of the situation. Something for Akiha to stabilize on. Sion grabbed at Akiha and jerked her away from the person she had latched onto. Almost as if to prevent Akiha from doing much else, she wrapped her arms around the girl.

"Cease this, Akiha."

[ritsu_kouyou]

Akiha lost her grip on the man with one hand as Sion grabbed her. She was aware that she was being pulled back, but it was an annoyance right then. Like a fly buzzing in the background, easily drowned out by the pressure in her head, the madness pulling her deep, demonic urges to the front. It was like something specifically targeted her with the madness wavelength, blindsiding her with it.

The half-demon strained against her partner's hold and pulled the man close enough to her that she bit his shoulder. The man screamed in pain on top of the hysteria and, teeth holding tight, Akiha... giggled.

[computations]

Guh, Akiha was getting out of control. There was only one method she knew would have even a slight effect but she hadn't tested it either. And it took quite a bit of concentration from the alchemist. With the situation as it was, she couldn't risk doing much else.

So Sion focused and, thankfully, it worked. Her right arm half-transformed into the bottom half of the staff. She didn't want to hurt Akiha, only knock some sense into her. Which she tried doing by bringing it down on Akiha's head with carefully calculated force.

[ritsu_kouyou]

CLUNK.

The staff came down on Akiha's head soundly, jolting her. She ended up releasing her teeth and her grip on the man slackened, leaving him free to shove her away from him and book it, blood dripping down his arm.

The half-demon blinked, tongue snaking out to lick the blood on her lips. Automatically, her hand came up to wipe at the blood on her chin, but at the sight of it... she went rigid and stared at it.

Blood. Not only blood, but blood from someone she bit and, had Sion not been there, would've killed.

A whimper of pain slipped from Akiha then and the girl dropped down to her knees Her clean hand went to her head as she fought against the madness. It was so intense, so much more than before. It made her want to kill them all, listen to the whispers and desires of her demon blood. It hurt to resist it.

Help me...

[computations]

Sion wanted to help her but she also knew that Akiha had to help herself. If she relied on Sion, it wouldn't do a thing for her. But she would do what she could to help out her friend.

Sliding an arm around her, Sion helped lift Akiha back to her feet and kept her arm where it was. She had hoped the contact would help a little or at least give her something to focus on.

"Take a deep breath and focus on me."

[ritsu_kouyou]

Once on her feet, her bloody hand grabbed onto Sion's arm. It wasn't meant to hurt, but to help steady herself. The grip may have hurt some...

"Why is this--?" She squeezed her eyes shut. "My hair..." It was still black, but she wasn't sure with the way she felt.

[computations]

"Your hair is fine. Take a look at it yourself."

Her hand moved up to Akiha's back and started to rub it, hopefully allowing her to calm just a little.

"This was not your fault so just steady yourself."

[ritsu_kouyou]

It took a few seconds after Sion started rubbing her back for Akiha to open her eyes. She looked down at the hair draped down her front. Black. It was black.

"...not vermillion. I didn't..." She licked her lips again, tasting the blood. "But I did." Bowing her head, she growled in frustration, still fighting against this stronger madness wavelength.

Not too far away, the inky black substance slithering along the ground formed into a black clown.

[computations]

Sion didn't quite notice the enemy, focused more on helping Akiha stabilize herself.

"You are fine now, though. Think not of anything else."

[ritsu_kouyou]

She was fine? Was she fine? Akiha wasn't sure. She could feel the intense pressure against her wavelength that wasn't Sion. She could still feel the random urges to go after the people running in panic. But... she wasn't. She wasn't, because...

Akiha let go of Sion's arm and turned to hug her partner.

[computations]

Yeah, that caught her by surprise. She tried to tug away, wondering what suddenly came over Akiha.

"Wh-What are you doing?!"

[ritsu_kouyou]

"Thank you."

Akiha wasn't letting go. She meant what she said and the hug. It was also helping her calm a bit more. Enough to notice that black clown over behind Sion.

"...shit. Enemy."

[computations]

It was nice to hear those words. Sion would have reveled in the moment and contemplated her own feelings but Akiha's next words kept her from doing so.

No sense in wasting time looking at the creature, whatever it was. Since she was already in Akiha's arms, she transformed so the half-demon was ready to go into combat immediately.