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XX. JUDGEMENT
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@witch2
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Witch
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Unfinished Run [Open] - Posted Apr 24, 2018 16:40:48 GMT -7
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"Well. Except for the freak weather and bad reception I get from time to time. That might be Sanyo City specific." "Heh. I suppose so."Maria chuckled a bit. It was true enough, even if he didn't know the actual reason behind it. Speaking of which... Hikaru's gaze may have been fixed in a forward position towards the stairs leading down to the parking lot, but Maria's began to drift from the path as a familiar nagging sensation pulled at the edges of her supernatural senses. A brief look down a nearby path and she saw it, the familiar haze of ill fortune for anyone who crossed it. "Speaking of which. You ever hear those rumors? The kind that say people go missing on oddly foggy nights and then turn up the next morning with no memory of what happened before?" She'd wait for him to answer before continuing. "What if I told you that I believed them? There's some strange things going on in Sanyo."Her lips curled upwards into a thin smile. "But then again, I suppose it is just rumor."--- Tags: HIKARU NAGASEOOC: Fog rolls in or they make it to the parking lot is your call.
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29
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XIV. TEMPERANCE
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Toshiro
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Unfinished Run [Open] - Posted Apr 25, 2018 15:19:01 GMT -7
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Hikaru suppressed a snort. Of course he had heard of those rumors. He had heard all kind of rumors, especially those that sounded 'supernatural'. Ghosts playing piano in the music room after school, staircases that had an extra step going up and one less when you went down. And while these stories might sound fanciful to the young student (probably even himself when he was young) all of them had rational answers behind them: A wayward student playing while others heard from afar. Students who had simply miscounted how many steps they had taken. The 'foggy nights' one just the newest addition of rumors that were now in people's minds. Hikaru didn't believe in any of the wild tales of course. And he didn't bother to hide that fact from Maria. "Yeah. I've heard of them. Bunch of nonsense." he answered back. After all what was more believable. Group Amnesia? Some kind of dark conspiracy? Or people lying/being too inebriated from the night before to remember anything clearly? When she said she did believe those rumors, Hikaru turned to face her, his eyebrows raised looking skeptic. Hikaru had expected a 'kidding, of course' from the young woman but that never came. Well it's always the people you don't expect Hikaru thought to himself. Maybe the girl wasn't as wise as he thought? "Nothing that can't be explained reasonably," countered Hikaru, perhaps a little louder than he usually spoke. Stopping just below the stairs turned his body to fully face Maria. "And before I start believing in tall tales, I'll start believing in what's been constant for over a millennia! And that doesn't include a 'fog that erases memory' or any other such nonsense." He continued to stare at Maria for a few more moments before he sighed, taking a deep breath and deflating slightly. The haze was behind Hikaru and completely out of sight of the older man. Even if he had been staring directly at it the darkness paired with Hikaru's thoughts would mean it would go unnoticed to the man. After all he was too busy imagining a scenario where Maria, one of those 'ghost hunters' would wander the forest aimlessly trying to find something to prove her theory, only to get hurt in the process. Perhaps by an animal or from a mugger who used fog as some kind of cover for his illegal actions. "Look." Started Hikaru, his voicing ringing with concern. "Don't go chasing after these rumors. Even if there ' was something' going on..." Hikaru rolled his eyes as he said the last part before continuing. "...it would be something to big for just you to handle. It's not your job to investigate it after all." He paused before adding. "Just be sure to take care of yourself first. These rumors aren't worth it." ------------------------------ OOC: I feel like my posts are lowering in quality each time. I'm sorry about that MARIA NAKAJIMA
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51
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XX. JUDGEMENT
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@witch2
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Witch
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Unfinished Run [Open] - Posted Apr 25, 2018 18:29:55 GMT -7
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Maria couldn't help but chuckle a bit again as Hikaru spoke, a light one though. The fog was still rolling in behind them, she could feel it tugging at her senses ever so subtly. The man wasn't aware of it though. 'Ignorance is bliss', they'd say. But ignorance was but an excuse in the mind of the Shadow. It was denial of what was around you, denial about things within yourself. Ignorance wasn't bliss, it was just plain cowardice. Perhaps she should show this man what it was like to know what lurked in the dark of the night. Slowing her pace, she came to a halt as Hikaru spoke again, letting him take a few steps forward on his own, in a sense forcing him to look back almost like Izanagi looked back at Izanami in a situation that he never should have. Granted, the stakes were a bit different, but they held no less the potential for disaster. "And what if I said..."Maria started to speak once more after Hikaru looked back, the fog catching up to her position, starting to roll over her feet. The sensation that nagged at the back of her mind began to roll in like the fog itself, that unmistakable feeling of the supernatural taking over. As it did so, her clothes began to change into regal-looking robes of black and gold. "That those rumors..."A pair of small white feathered wings emerged from her lower back, stretching outwards before coming to rest upon her thighs. A bit of fog rolled away from Maria's sides at their emergence, proof that the wings were real as the brief little gust they emitted pushed the fog aside. "Are real?"And finally, there was her eyes. Glowing golden irises surrounded by a pitch black sclera, her eyes seemed to shine in that moment, bringing with them a mixed feeling of awe and dread. --- Tags: HIKARU NAGASEMARIAN WILSONOOC: It's all good, I think they've been fine.
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43
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XIII. DEATH
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2000
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@mary
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Satori
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Unfinished Run [Open] - Posted Apr 25, 2018 19:08:56 GMT -7
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(( Music)) Going to the forest around nightfall had almost become a regular occurrence. The first encounter with what that strange spirit world had convinced Mary of two things. First, that she could not simply leave such a place along, and second, that two weeks would not be enough time to get to the bottom of the incident it was most likely connected to. A few plans had been quickly hashed out and set in motion, leading to her managing to rent an apartment and schedule an exam session that would allow her to transfer into one of the high schools in the city. She just had to hope that her Japanese was as good as it had seemed from her conversations with locals. But amidst all of that, she had returned to the forest multiple times, in search of the spirit world and the entities that dwelled there, monstrous or otherwise. As she made her way there for the fourth or fifth time now, she could already feel a 'strangeness' in the air that suggested that there was an 'entrance' close at hand. She could feel Melinoe, the skeletal and porcelain entity who had her likeness and seemed to be born out of her own mind, stirring within her. And then, there it was. She couldn't see the spirit world - in fact, everything looked the same as normal aside from the fog. But the sight before her left no doubt in her mind that she'd left the mundane world. The air around her rippled like a heat mirage, and in front of her she could see two people, one of whom had Changed. Regal robes, feathered wings, and shining eyes, and as Mary got a look at her face... "Nakajima-san?"She hadn't fully realized that she was already in earshot. But the woman before her, there wasn't much doubt in Mary's mind that she was the same flower shop owner that Mary had become somewhat taken with after buying a few flowers for her new apartment. But then, did Maria have some strange ability as well? And who was the other person next to her?
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XIV. TEMPERANCE
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Toshiro
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Unfinished Run [Open] - Posted Apr 26, 2018 16:17:12 GMT -7
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Hikaru felt a chill run through him that had nothing to do with the temperature. Nor was it simply how Maria was looking at him to intently, although that did play a part to it. No. It was something far more primal. His instincts were screaming at him that there was some kind of danger coming. Some threat that was looming closer yet that was completely undetectable from his eyes or ears. His breathing quickened. He was feeling panic. But why? His brain told him that were was nothing amiss. Yet his instincts were screaming at him to run. A fog that seemed to come out of nowhere began to cover the area around them. And if it had been just fog, Hikaru might have been able to simply recover from it. But than the changes began. Maria's clothes began to shift from a simple long sleeved shirt and jeans to regal robes. Wings ( fucking wings Hikaru thought in stunned disbelief) seemed to appear from nowhere behind her. And her eyes changed to something that was clearly inhuman. Hikaru's jaw hung low. His eyes widened. His heart sped up. He couldn't think of anything. Not even something as simple as an answer to her question. The only thing he did do was take slow step behind him, his eyes never leaving Maria. The man was terrified, afraid that this Maria thing, whatever it was, was going to launch itself forward and attack him. And to think said a small, sane voice in his head. I thought it would be nice to have some polite conversation with her. He'd laugh if his face wasn't fixed in sheer terror. The only thing that seemed to be even remotely working was his feet. He took another slow step backwards, now having exited the path and getting closer to the misty haze behind him. "Nakajima-san?" said a new feminine voice. Hikaru's head slowly turned to find the origin of the voice. It was a teenaged girl, about a few inches shorter than him with eye-catching blonde hair. Her attention was focused on the thing that had been Maria just a few moments ago. "Ack-" croaked out Hikaru. His voice wasn't working properly and while he wanted to shout out a warning to the newcomer, he couldn't force out any words. Than his brain started to slowly catch up. The newcomer had called her Nakajima. She knew the thing-that-had-been Maria. He looked back and forth between the two of them, terror completely overcoming him. Was this newcomer also some kind of winged creature that wasn't not truly human? Hikaru took another step back towards the haze. "I...Wha...I don't..." he muttered, graduating from croaked out sounds to actual words. MARIA NAKAJIMA MARIAN WILSON
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XX. JUDGEMENT
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Witch
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Unfinished Run [Open] - Posted Apr 26, 2018 16:43:38 GMT -7
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Maria watched as Hikaru reacted with abject fear at both the presence of the strange fog and her own transformation. It was natural though. Humans held a primal sort of nature within them, rarely tapped willingly, but still present in their fears, whether they were conscious of it or not. And so she allowed him his fear, his terror, whatever was running through his mind in this moment. "Nakajima-san?"Her head turned as a new voice joined them. Seeing the familiar sight of the foreign blonde, Maria grinned. "Hello, Mary. Give me a moment if you would." Her tone was relatively casual, no real sense of intimidation in it, even if her presence was still filled with it for someone such as Hikaru. Speaking of whom, she turned her head back to him once more. "This fog is a sign of the supernatural. It is all around this city and inside of it lurks... monsters, for lack of a better term. Shadows, Demons, a great many things inhabit the oddities present within Sanyo. I could feel it approaching." She paused for a moment. "When I said that I had a 'forced' encounter with my issues, I meant it. And from that encounter, I became stronger. Stronger in the mind," She clenched a hand into a fist before poking her index finger at her head. "And stronger in the soul. Enough so to manifest a sort of power within areas like this." She opened her hand entirely, placing the palm onto her chest. The talk was as much for Hikaru as it was for Mary, Maria briefly looking over again at the latter. "My point is thus. You shouldn't simply disbelieve the rumors that you hear, Nagase-san. And now, I offer you a choice. Do you wish to go on in blissful ignorance of what is before you or do you want to do something about what it is that you have only just begun to see?"--- Tags: HIKARU NAGASEMARIAN WILSON
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XIII. DEATH
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2000
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@mary
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Satori
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Unfinished Run [Open] - Posted Apr 27, 2018 16:25:04 GMT -7
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Who was that other person? An older man and more obviously a local than the silver-haired Maria, that much Mary knew, but had she seen him before as well? Maybe when she was touring the local high schools? She wasn't sure, but she could tell from his speechlessness that whatever transformation had come over Maria was completely unfamiliar to him as well. What would be a bit more apparent to both of them, though, was that Mary still approached them. Cautiously, yes, but she was neither frozen nor turning to run in fear. Because, despite how fearful the older man seemed, Mary felt no malicious intent or even desire to intimidate from Maria. At first, she wasn't entirely sure what Maria was talking about. While it seemed meant more for the older man, she also managed to recognize it as an explanation of the strange phenomena in Sanyo - incomplete still, perhaps, but nonetheless more than what Nagano or Ayakura had so far known. Shadows - that's what she had instinctively known the masked monsters to be after awakening. Demons - that was Nagano's dog? Probably? And then recognition started to settle in. While a 'forced encounter' with her 'issues' may not have been accurate for Mary, her own first encounter was still very clear in her mind. Being forced to embrace her own fear when near death, rather than shutting it out and pretending it didn't exist, and to turn it into her own weapon. And then came Maria's offer, directed seemingly at both of them. "I have already chosen to do something," Mary said. She reached up to her face, realizing that at some point while Maria talked the mask of a plague doctor had appeared on it once again. Unlike when it had felt like it was growing on her face, it had appeared with so little fanfare that it might have always been there. Still, she understood what to do, and ripped it off, allowing the porcelain-and-bone doppelganger of her, Melinoe, to manifest in the area behind her. "Although it would seem my own encounter was different from yours as well."HIKARU NAGASE MARIA NAKAJIMA
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XIV. TEMPERANCE
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@toshiro
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Toshiro
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Unfinished Run [Open] - Posted Apr 29, 2018 14:44:29 GMT -7
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Hikaru tried to take in what Maria was saying, but it felt like so much to take in. Fog? Shadows? Demons? Forced Encounters? Souls? Manifesting power? Hikaru could have dismissed it all if he hadn't seen Maria's transformation with his own eyes. But he had. The wings. The eyes-Hell even the god damn costume change!- It had happened right in front of him. "That's...crazy..." said Hikaru, his voice barely above a whisper, his words lacking any conviction to them. Crazy thought Hikaru. That's it. I've gone crazy. I snapped. That has to be it. Of course it didn't stop with Maria. The new blonde girl began to change, albeit smaller. A mask appeared on her, reminding Hikaru of those old doctor masks to prevent contacting the plague from infected patients. Of course that was nothing compared to seeing the half doll, half human looking creature appearing behind her covered in way too many eyes. "...insane..." Hikaru said in that same hushed whisper, his eyes looking back and forth between Maria, the blonde girl, and that doll like human creature that even resembled the blonde girl if you ignored how completely inhuman it was. Despite how unreal and weird the situation was in front of him, it still felt very real. This couldn't be explained by a trick of the light and it was no simple parlor trick. Perhaps you could explain the blonde girl's mask...but Maria? The doll like creature? How does one explain that? You couldn't. Perhaps what Maria was saying was false, but that didn't mean there wasn't some kind of power involved here. Some kind of magic perhaps. Sure he thought sarcastically, and Hikaru let out a nervous chuckle. It's not powers of souls. It's magic. That makes it easier to swallow!It took Hikaru some time before he realized Maria was asking him a question. A choice? Blissful ignorance or down the rabbit hole? Hikaru felt like this was oddly reminiscent of a movie he saw a while ago... Before he could say anything the blonde girl spoke up. Apparently she was choosing 'down the rabbit hole'. He shook his head. Everything was happening so fast. He needed time to process this. Perhaps even a good night's sleep. Than he could convince himself all of this was some kind of 'trick'. A hidden camera show. He looked over at Maria and the doll like creature. A hidden camera show with a considerable budget. But Hikaru knew he wasn't that lucky. This wasn't any kind of trick. He took a deep breath. "The way you frame that question...it doesn't make it sound like there is a choice. What will you do to me if I ask for ignorance. And..." he gulped, his voice growing a little shaky. "...what will you do to me if I ask to see?" ----------------------------- OC: Sorry for the delay. MARIA NAKAJIMAMARIAN WILSON
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51
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XX. JUDGEMENT
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@witch2
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Witch
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Unfinished Run [Open] - Posted Apr 29, 2018 15:05:40 GMT -7
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"I have already chosen to do something," Mary spoke with the removal of a mask and the appearance of a combination doll and skeleton. This girl was an interesting one. Perhaps she should more actively recruit in a manner of speaking. Regardless, before she could reply to Marian, Hikaru started to speak once more. The terror in his voice was plain, the anxiety crashing off of him in waves. She couldn't blame him, not really. Such was the enormity of the situation that he'd had a rather rude awakening to. "The way you frame that question...it doesn't make it sound like there is a choice. What will you do to me if I ask for ignorance. And..." he gulped, his voice growing a little shaky. "...what will you do to me if I ask to see?" She shook her head in response before properly speaking once more. "There is always a choice. If you want to remain in ignorance, then you can simply leave here. Go back to your car, drive away, and forget this all happened. You can treat it as no more than a crazed fever dream from overexerting yourself." She paused, letting her words weigh heavy in the air for Hikaru before speaking once more. "And if you wish to see, well..." She turned slightly, waving a hand back down the path they had only moments ago walked down, now cloaked in a thick fog. "Let's continue our walk."--- Tags: HIKARU NAGASEMARIAN WILSON
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Toshiro
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Unfinished Run [Open] - Posted Apr 30, 2018 18:22:59 GMT -7
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Hikaru thought for a long moment, his eyes darting back and forth between the two directions; first up the stairs towards the parking lot. Than back down the path that Maria gestured too, the fog now encompassing it entirely. His brain urged him to head up the stairs. To get into his car and simply drive as far away as he could. To perhaps not even stop until the last few droplets of gas in his tank were exhausted. That would be the smart thing to do. Yet he always felt his gaze being pulled away from the steps and down the foggy, uncertain path... The blonde girl seemed eager for all of this. I have already chosen to do something. Chosen to do something? Do what? Wear a mask and play with monsters? Something strange was going on. And the only people that seemed like they had any answers were these two. If he left now this 'opportunity' would most likely be gone. Maybe forever. And despite it being the smart and safe plan Hikaru knew that a small piece of him would always wonder what they were talking about. Wonder and regret. Just follow them thought an eager sounding voice that nowhere matched how Hikaru was currently feeling. What do you have to lose? My life answered back reason. Hikaru couldn't refute reason on that one. Hikaru let out a long drawn out sigh. Just tell them you're leaving.Hikaru closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before he opened them again. He was obviously preparing to say something. "I-" Maria's words echoed in his mind, causing Hikaru to pause: Speaking of which. You ever hear those rumors? The kind that say people go missing on oddly foggy nights and then turn up the next morning with no memory of what happened before? ...and what if I said those rumors are real?
His mouth was open but he wasn't saying anything, now looking even more unsure than he had just a few moments prior. He turned his head and looked down the foggy path. Was there really someone.. .something... abducting people. Hurting them in some way? "-I..." he repeated again, still looking unsure. If it was true that people were getting hurt it's something the police should know about. But would anyone believe a tale about mystery fog, transforming women, monster dolls and masks? Of course not. Had he went to them and told them what happened here at the forest they'd have laughed him out of the station. Or something far worse. No. No government agency would help with this. Which left...what? These two women? And potentially him? Against....what? Fog? Ridiculous. "I mean..." And yet they were willing to do something. This teenaged girl and this winged woman. "...I guess another walk couldn't hurt." And him. Whatever that might be. Than, in a very undramatic moment his cell phone battery died, the small amount of light his phone was illuminating disappearing in front of him. He stared at his phone for a brief moment before putting the now useless technology back in his pocket, than stared back at the two woman. "Uh..." he said a little sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I don't suppose any of you two have an extra light I could borrow..." ------------------------------ MARIA NAKAJIMAMARIAN WILSON
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Posts
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43
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Arcana
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XIII. DEATH
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2000
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Tag
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@mary
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OOC Name
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Satori
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Unfinished Run [Open] - Posted May 2, 2018 23:30:37 GMT -7
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The man's words were had to make out, but they seemed to Mary as though he was trying to deny what he was seeing, calling it too insane to be real. But he seemed to gain enough control of himself to ask what the consequences of either choice to be, to which Maria offered to simply let him leave, or to continue with her and see what lie within the fog. While it wasn't directed at her, Mary instinctively understood that the offer was extended to her as well. Interestingly, as well, Maria's only reaction to Melinoe was a momentary expression of interest, in contrast to not only the man here, but Nagano and Ayakura as well. She seemed to know more than either of them did. And while her transformation was...highly unusual, Mary had no reason yet to distrust Maria. After what seemed like an eternity of false starts and hesitating, the man seemed almost reluctantly to agree. Now it was her turn. "Then...I suppose I will join you as well," Mary said. "I still understand very little of what's going on here. I could stand to learn a little more."HIKARU NAGASE MARIA NAKAJIMA
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Posts
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51
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Arcana
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XX. JUDGEMENT
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@witch2
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OOC Name
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Witch
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Unfinished Run [Open] - Posted May 3, 2018 0:04:53 GMT -7
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"...I guess another walk couldn't hurt." "Then...I suppose I will join you as well."Maria smiled towards the two of them. "I still understand very little of what's going on here. I could stand to learn a little more.""There's no shame in that. Even I do not know terribly much of the situation. Though-" She turned, beginning to walk down the path again before Hikaru spoke up, causing Maria to look back over her shoulder. Seeing that his phone had died on him, Maria raised up a hand, turning her palm upwards. "Not necessary, Nagase-san." As she spoke, a ball of light began to gather in her hand, illuminating the area around them. "Both of you stay close now."Maria began to walk again, the ball of light floating away from her hand after a moment more, hovering just above her in order to spread its luminescence for the other two. "As I was saying, I do not know as much as I'd like to either. The simple truth of this matter is that there are monsters in the fog and they seek out humans in one way or another. Some are more benevolent than you'd first believe, but others are quite malicious. The other simple truth of the matter is that this fog heralds their appearance and distorts the world around it. This path, it looks different from before, doesn't it?" She turned and looked at Hikaru. Sure enough, the path seemed to twist and turn, patches of trees were gone, replaced with things like signs, twisted iron gates, or even one massive tree that easily pierced the fog shrouded sky, disappearing into a sea of endless stars. "And the final truth? These patches of the supernatural are everywhere in Sanyo. Some places though... you could say that they're more receptive to these spaces. Such as this forest and its penchant for dark rumors."--- Tags: HIKARU NAGASEMARIAN WILSON
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Posts
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43
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XIII. DEATH
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2000
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Tag
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@mary
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OOC Name
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Satori
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Unfinished Run [Open] - Posted May 12, 2018 7:44:59 GMT -7
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Interesting. Whatever strange abilities Maria possessed, they seemed to be opposite in many ways from Mary's own. While she had just created light to illuminate the area, Melinoe's abilities seemed more focused on darkness and terrors. It was a curious parallel, in the current situation, although getting too deep into it would probably prove to be too much for the older man to bear. As she followed along, Maria continued to talk, explaining what she could of the situation. Most of it was what she had already figured out. There were monsters in the fog - monsters that she instinctively knew to be called 'Shadows,' in the same way that she instinctively knew that Melinoe was a 'Persona.' But there had been more as well. Ayakura's and Nagano's abilities had been different, as was Maria's. At best, Mary could compare Maria's transformation to what she'd seen from Ayakura, but growing wings and changing clothes was far more dramatic than silvery glowing eyes. Next was the 'distortion' of the world. She had seen that as well, how the forest, so rumored by the locals to be haunted (with Mary having seen a little piece of evidence of this even before her 'awakening'), had transformed before her eyes into a 'spirit world' of sorts. But even as she watched the transformation again, she could tell that something was different this time. Instead of wisp-like spirits floating in and out of the trees, most of the trees were gone entirely, and twisted signs and gates took their place. "I had suspected something like that. Wherever the fog appeared and power fluctuations occurred, I would probably have found places like this if I had been there," Mary finally said, when Maria finished her explanation...or at least this part of it. "But I'm confused...this distortion is completely different from the last time I was here."HIKARU NAGASEMARIA NAKAJIMA
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