With boat stored and new fancy blank card in hand, it was once again time to roll the gacha. Rose laid the blank card down on the table and sat down quietly, her eyes shining as she anticipated what wondrous manner of creature could appear today. Would it be a legendary Vassal in the same vein as Titanica, a great warrior from another world like Henry? Or would it be the last thing you expect to be powerful, a small fairy with unlimited durability? The possibilities were truely endless, but it was almost guaranteed that any new addition would only add to the crew.
Ami meanwhile, was counting her coins with a sour look on her face. All these cheaters had gotten crazy amounts of these stupid Bee things, racking up 120 thousand just from something dumb like prior planning. Meanwhile she had only managed to get 300, even though she had scored the biggest hit on the boss! They should be splitting their cash with her, without her they probably all would have died! She idly glanced over to the pirate chick as she did something lame with the cards, a gimmick Ami refused to participate in. She was gonna make it through the Tower with her strength alone, no ghost pals needed.
And with a bright flash of light, Rose's Serei card appeared. And in that exact same moment, Rose's look of anticipation drained into one of sheer unadulterated fury and horror. "GOD FUCKING DAMNIT!"
Shimmering light revealed in full a black cat made flesh and real. It plopped atop the table with a low thud and thunk, the great and almighty Noire curled up in a cat nap without a care in the world, or for her summoner. Well, not quite. She raised open a single eye, noted who it was who just took time out of her day to play around, before yawning. "Oh it's you. Lame." She closed her eye and went right back to sleep like the cat she was.
Rose's eye twitched as Noire sleepily dismissed her, a vein on her head bulging as she clenched her fists on the edge of the table, immediately splintering the wood with her rage fueled strength. "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN IT'S ME?! I SHOULD BE THE ONE SAYING THAT YOU STUPID GOOD FOR NOTHING FUCKING CAT!" Rose screamed, slamming her hands on the table in front of Noire to make her pay attention. Her breath was heavy with fury as she glared at the damned cat who continued to torture her, idly thinking about just selling the card right now and trying for a new one.
A choked laugh from the next table over had Rose's head snapping to the left as Ami tried to suppress her laughter, the aura of smug rolling off of her practically palpable. "What's wrong, had a bad draw?" Ami snickered, covering her mouth with her sleeve as she leaned forwards towards Rose.
"Oh fuck off you edgy goth bitch, you have no idea just how bad of a fucking drop I got. This stupid perverted cat has been torturing me for entire floors now, and I keep fucking RUNNING INTO HER!" Rose roared as she grabbed the table Noire was on and flipped it in Ami's direction, an uncharacteristically violent action from the normally relaxed and happy go lucky pirate.
".-."
Whatever wink of sleep Noire was trying to get was ruined by the extravagent and unneeded outburst by her summoner. She opene dher eyes, looking up at Rose's seething features and expression with an exasperated look of her own. BUt up and before she could do anything about it, some second party joined in on the screaming match; less of a match though when Rose was doing all the screaming. Noire blinked from one girl to the other, even as she felt the table be lifted up by Rose's rage-fueled tangent before promptly flipped forward towards the other girl. "<.<" Noire promptly dropped off from the wooden slab and onto the ground before she was carried with it. "Rude >.>" The slab didn't go much further before a blue blur dashed across both girls's sights and caught the massive chunk with a screech of boots on the floor, just before it hit Ami. Slowly, carefully, Cait popped her head out from the other side with a yawn, paused with her bout with Clair.
"Eheh, no rumbling in my bar please. If there's a problem or disgression, please either take it with the shopkeepers or in the sheets upstairs, thank you~" Despite her cheery demeanour, the barkeep flashed Rose a glinted warning. With a huff, she slowly cradled the table above her head before waddling off to the side to either replace it or fix it, whichever was cheapest. By the way she moved, it was clear lifting such a thing was an easy enough effort for her.
"Wow, you really are a screamer. You need to be quiet more >.>" Noire mused from her spot on the ground. Her tail was already lashed around Rose's throat in a collar of spiny needle and fur mixed with wire as she tugged Rose along towards the upper floors. "Ahhh, so much better. No screaming in my ear. Oh hey, I guess you can come along too you know, nyah." Noire casually split open the ends of her tail for wires to snap along Ami's neck as well, the black cat tugging and almost dragging the two up the stairs. "Don't worry, I'll keep them from breaking more stuff, the two girlfriends ^-^" she called out to anyone who cared to listen, bounding up the stairs-only to pause and sniff at a certain door.
"Eww, smells like dead whales and Kanbaru <.<" she mused before finding an empty room to drag her meals into.
It really did make Rose feel better to vent her frusturations, even if she knew it would ultimately do nothing in the long run. Ami reached for her sword to slash the table apart, but such an action would prove unneccesary as she sliced into empty air, the table already having been snatched by the surprisingly nimble owner of the bar. She blinked dumbly as the cat girl yawned and carried the table away, she was a lot stronger than she looked.
Rose huffed as she sat back down in her chair, only for the air to get caught in her throat as Noire did what she did best and began choking Rose up the stairs. Of course her first instinct was to merge with her little fairy card, though that would ultimately be a futile effort as the wire simply tightened harder around her now small neck. "H-help me, don't let her take me!" Rose choked out, earning naught but a smug smile from Ami.
That too would be rewarded as the cat looked at Ami and decided on a whim to bring her as well. "H-hey what the hell do you think you're doing you bitch!" Ami cried as she immediately grabbed at the wires choking her, attempting and failing to slash them apart with her black fire sword. "What the fuck are you made of?!" And screams of such a nature would be the last thing the rest of Rose's crew heard as the dastardly cat dragged the two troublemakers into what would surely be hell.
And just like that, they were in an empty room. Absolutely horrific, this room would almost certainly haunt their nightmares for years to come. "Y-you managed to grab her card right? I left it on the table-" Rose squeaked as the wires tightened further, though Ami had done no such thing. The card was just lying on the floor outside, their only hope for freedom basically miles away.
"Hm, Hm. Oh hey, you turned into your fetish fairy form. FFF, nyahah~" Noire was much too busy wiring the door knob completely shut with more sprays from her tail to really notice the plight of her prey. But once she did, there was a mischievious glint in her gaze, specifically directed at Rose first. "You're looking kind of cute with your little fairy boots. Boop~" Noire flicked out a claw and poked it against Rose, not enough to skewer her, only a friendly little boop; as friendly as the cat could get though. "Oh I'll deal with you soon hottie~" she called out to Ami, making sure to tighten the wires around her throat enough to make sure she didn't get any funny ideas of escape. "Though....hey wait, aren't you that blonde from Miso City? Yeah, yeah, I think I ate you out one time. Er, well, one of you. Look, there's alot of blonde weirdos in that place but you were spicy so trust me, I'd really remember <.<"
Rambling aside, she leapt atop the nearest bed, purring filling the air. Her tail let go of Rose's throat, waiting just a bit for the fairy to have some preconception of escape and freedom reach her face. Noire lowered her haunches, tail swiveling behind her like a predator, completely uncaring how that would affect Ami in the long run. Then, as if she was hunting a fly, she pounced in the air, snatching Rose in her paws before bringing her back down to the bed. When the world would eventually stop spiining, there Noire was, trapped Rose under her paws, and leering above like the apex predator she was. "So you messed up my nap. That's rule #1 in keeping me around; don't mess up my naps >.>"
"S-shut the fuck- urp!" Rose cursed as Noire sprayed the door shut, each wave of her tail yanking her tiny body around like a rag doll. And then Noire started paying attention to her again, poking and prodding at her with a very sharp claw. This seemed familiar, which Rose really hated. "You're dead cat, you hear me? Dead!" Rose screamed as Noire turned away from her nonchalantly, now paying attention to Ami.
Ami quirked an eyebrow in confusion, she definitely didn't remember any kind of event with this obviously suicidal cat. If this had happened in Miso City, the cat wouldn't be around because Ami would have dedicated the rest of her days to skinning this moron alive. Like she was planning on doing after she got free. "I have never met you before in my life." Ami deadpanned as Noire leapt away, yanking her into the bedframe as her tail dragged behind her. "Oh you are so fucking in for it once I get out of this!" Ami yelled as her body began to heat up, her hands gripping the tail and pulling with all her might to tear it apart.
Rose knew Noire was playing with her as she loosened her noose just enough to escape, she knew that Noire was just waiting for her to run. But her other option was to stay in place and just let the cat do whatever she wanted, at least if she ran there was a miniscule chance she could outtrick the feline monster, maybe slip under the crack of the door! It was actually also a zero percent chance, but Rose was staying positive as she darted off at the speed of a bullet.
And then was promptly pinned down by two very heavy paws that covered her whole body. "I'm going to get your card and shove it in my boot." Rose spat, fury and hatred very clear in her face. Something that was no doubt amusing to the cat.
"My my, flirting with me already. That's so much like you little Primrose, nyahaha~" Noire leered down with a cat's grin, only to pause and sigh as she felt something warm up her tail. "Hey you, I thought I said I'd get to you in a minute <.<" She snapped her tail once, tightening up Ami's collar but everyone in the room knew that wasn't going to be enough. That was why the end of her tail suddenly sprayed out gush after gush of long, thick wires that looked almost akin to a fire extinguisher. And much like the comparison, they stickly plastered themselves to Ami's form as such, a cold and hollow sensation immediately spreading from contact, creeping up from her chest and throughout all her body. "You a demon now? Sheesh, I liked it better when that other you was still a Magical Girl, nyah." The spray of thick coolant wires continued to shoot out, very eager to completely coat Ami from head to toe until she looked more like spider food than anything else, coocooned and cooled off.
Noire stretched a hind paw back to tip her over to the ground with a claw, uncaring for how loud the thunk was. Only when she was sure Ami wasn't getting out to ruin her fun did her tail snap away completely. "Pssssh, betcha wish your friend could do stuff like that. What was her name? Tico? Taco? Tuuka? Eh <.<" With the firelight taken care of, Noire looked back down on the fairy, jaw opening unnaturally. "Ok, time to discipline you too~ Imma eat you up now and save firecracker there for the main course~" She dipped down, feline tongue bristling over Rose's face as she lapped the fairy once. Then, from the darkness that seeped out the abyss that was Noire's throat, more wires shot out, eager to snap along whatever it could find of Rose's body before slowly dragging her into the black cat's maw. "Yuummy, yuummy ^-^"
Ami ignored Noire completely as she continued trying to wrench the tail off her throat, the yank of the appendage further tightening it's chokehold around her neck yet not deterring the firebrand in the slightest as she continued to heat up. And then just like that, she got a metaphorical bucket of ice water dumped on her head. Ami's struggles intensified at first as she jerked in surprise and confusion, a scream of "WHAT THE FUCK WHY IS IT SO GODDAMN COLD!?" piercing through the walls as Ami kicked her legs wildly. But there was nobody to answer her question as she started shivering, her struggles dying out as her entire body was encased by foamy wires.
The cocoon was tipped over without a care in the world, a muffled "Ow" being heard through it as Rose continued to spit insult after insult at the psycho cat. And then Noire's attention was back on the fairy, unhinging her jaw and giving Rose a nice good look into the blackness. This shut her up. "H-hey, you better fucking not!" Well not completely. Noire's tongue was like rough sandpaper, rough wet sandpaper as it scraped along Rose's body, the fairy tasting distinctly of cherry as the cat savored her flavor. "H-hey, fucking stop it! I'm not some fucking snack for you!" Rose yelled, though she was wrong. All she was to Noire right now was a snack, a snack she would swallow whole as a multitude of wires shot from her throat and tied themselves up around Rose's body.
She struggled fiercly, though even her strongest of wiggles was hardly enough to even budge the wires as they dragged her into Noire's mouth, only stopping once she was lying down on the cat's tongue, inside the wet cavern. She was surrounded by sharp white boulders, her floor was a wiggling pink muscle, the ceiling dripped onto her form. "I swear to god Noire, if you fucking do this I'm going to shove your card into the first monster I find and leave you there!"
"Sorry, can't hear you," Noire said, though it was more muffled with Rose waggling on her tongue. There was the distinct notice she could have dragged the pirate faster with her wires, but chose instead to be as slow and precise as possible, if only to drum up any theatrics. Thus, it was with a slow burn Rose was shoveled into Noire's mouth, the cat still having it open. Then, those sharp teeth that made up the ceiling descended down, lower and lower, light fading away into only hot, wet darkness as Noire closed her mouth completely. Funny. Her tongue immediately bounced Rose up and about, shaking her around and around as she crashed into warm walls, the wires jangled in a mess around her. Then, the cat upturned her head, letting gravity and her wires do the work as she felt the fairy slide down her throat into a hollow gut. Indeed, the cat's body lacked proper flesh and blood but there were organs stitched together in metal and fur sticking out. Whether she had just made those organs just to emulate a true experience for Rose was hard to say, but they made heavy crashing obstacles as the fairy peetered down and collided with them.
"Soooooo. What to do with you." As the fair had fun in getting close and personal with her new Serei, Noire leaned a cheek on her paw, looking down at Ami.
Each syllable that rolled off Noire's tongue waggled Rose around, her slurred speech slamming the fairy pirate into the ceiling and then letting her plop back down onto the tounge with a wet slap. "You can totally hear me you fucking bitch!" Her tiny voice echoed in the cavern of Noire's mouth, though she was silenced as the cat closed her mouth and sealed her away into darkness. And just as any cat would, she played with her food. The tongue was as big as Rose, maybe even a little bigger, and it was certainly much stronger. Even if the wires had unwrapped from Rose's form she wouldn't have been able to do anything as Noire used her tongue to press Rose into every corner of her mouth, rolling her along her teeth and pressing her against her cheek without a care in the world.
And then gravity shifted once more as Noire tilted her head back, a scream echoing all around Rose as she fell into the bottomless pit that was Noire's throat. It was not a fast fall either, each and every milimeter of Noire's throat carressed and squeezed her as Rose was slowly squeezed down, dragged down by unbreakable wires. The bulge in the cat's throat disappeared past her breasts, and soon after Rose plopped down into a hollow fascimile of a stomach, pulsing metal and fur all around her as Rose wiped the drool from her face. The first thing Rose noted, was that she could see in here, total dark vision. Wonderful in any other case, awful here as she was witness to every squelch of Noire's wire stomach.
With a roar of rage she got up and bashed her shoulder against the stomach walls, knowing it would do nothing yet having nothing else to do. And she would go again and again, giving the Serei what amounted to an internal massage as she vented her frusturations.
Ami of course had no idea what was going on outside, more preoccupied with shivering inside her cold cocoon. It was so goddamn cold, a very new experience to the girl who had been nice and toasty for the past... god knows how many years of her life.
With how much Rose was bumping around and sliding down her gullet, it was a miracle on the pirate's part that Noire didn't immediately hurl her back up like a hair ball. Instead, their fairy found herself plopped into an interior that resembled more of a puppet than anything else, fur and wire stitched together in some mock and crude representation of interior. The "digestive tract" was really nothing more than a conjoined mess of wires and strings pulling on each other, roughly shaped into organs. Much like flesh and bone, they shifted and grinded against each other like clockwork, Rose having wandered into an internal factory of sorts, though one could liken that to any living creature's internal organs. One of the wires holding Rose yanked suddenly, having been caught on one of the many shiftng organs, dragging Rose out and about until she was eventually crushed between what looked like a kidney and a pancreas.
If there was supposed to be a massage happening, Noire didn't much feel it, as artificial as she was. No, instead, her sights were plastered on Ami, the cat droppong off the bed until her entire body was atop Ami's coccoon. "You make a nice pillow, nyah <.<" The only source of warmth and heat would come from the cat resting atop her, Noire eager to plant her ass directly where she thought Ami's face was, smothering and waggling.
Rose yelped as she was suddenly pulled into the mosh pit that was Noire's internals, being whipped about all over as the cat moved and did things that people do. Yes, even the normal and unconscious movements of Noire were enough to disrupt Rose's attempts at... whatever it was she was doing. Certainly not escaping, that wasn't a possibility at all for the pirate. Maybe being an annoyance? Even that was questionable when Noire hardly even acknowledged her presence, so really all she was doing was venting her frusturations about her current circumstances. But of course that was interrupted as Rose was dragged further into the body, squished between two rough masses of wire that were probably supposed to be organs. Rose had never been swallowed alive before, but even she could tell that this was a very poor job at recreating what the inside of someone looked like, whoever made her really needed to brush up on their biology. She angrily punched and kicked Noire's "kidney" to push it off, though not much success on that part.
As for Ami, her situation was still as unknown and confusing as before. A weight had settled on top of her cocoon, something kind of warm and annoying sounding. She furrowed her brow as she glared at the wall of her prison, mustering up the energy to buck up and try and kick Noire off of her. She needed heat sure, but she'd be damned before she accepted heat from this fucking feline.
"Oh no, no, no, no bucking me off." Noire weighed her ass down directly on Ami's face, tail curling somewhere behind her head until it snaked around her throat. With a yank, it pushed Ami's face up as much as her coccoon allowed, giving her a pristine view of the cat's rear in all notions. "Oh hey, you're like, the best seat warmer ever ^-^" Noire purred, a motion and noise that rattled bones and sank into flesh as she grinded her ass into the fire girl's face. At the same time, her internal organs reacted just as any would to being punched; well, perhaps not anyone's, but the cat's creator had no notions to care for any true biological aspects. As thus, the kidney being so poorly abused lashed out in similar kind, wires unfurling to smack around Rose like a whip before once again dragging her to be place between two random organs. This time, they vibrated, shaking the interior roughly as Rose was trapped between a rock and a hard place, each organ being just as solid as such despite their wirey composition.
"Sooooo. Are you two gonna be my playmates from now on~ We have to establish a pecking order here," she called out, enjoying the treatment of both girls.
Ami's struggles were stopped summarily as Noire exerted her strength, wrapping her tail around her throat roughly and shoving her face directly into the cat's ass where it belonged. Her temper flared as her internal furnace roared in indignity, however the chill of Noire's cocoon was enough to absorb the heat before anything meaningful could be done with it. And then she started grinding, that cocky little bitch started grinding her ass in Ami's face and purring. Purring! If she could move her arms right now, she would be beating the shit out of this dumb cat for even daring to think about doing something so humiliating! Only her senpai was allowed to treat her like this!
And on Rose's end, things were much the same. The organ unfurled to smack Rose around, the rough hit of the wire whip sending her flying into another set of organs, before dragging her in between them and trapping her once more. The lashes left angry red marks on Rose's skin, but even still she was still just as boiling mad as before, unwilling, no, unable to stop thrashing around in righteous indignity.
"Hell no!" The two cried out in unison, unaware of each other yet united in their goal to defeat this cat... eventually. They were more similar then they knew. The vibrations of Noire's purr shook them both, though it shook Rose much more as the two heavy organs shook her around like a rag doll. Ami certainly didn't appreciate it either, but at least she didn't have to feel her very organs vibrating from something as simple as Noire expressing her satisfaction.
When at last it seemed everyone had finished their tasks and upgrades, Cait summoned everyone’s attention with a resounding clap of her hands. The noise was enough of a bark to catch people’s attention and by the way Cait wrung her hands about, she didn’t expect that much force behind her blows anyway. “Alright people, break time’s over. It’s time for the next Floor~” Much like before, she directed the group towards the billboard of jobs to take, two scrolls plastered onto them with thumbtacks as usual. One looked familiar enough.
Crimson Pact: Survive the dangers of the supernatural and others who dwell in the darkness. Voyage the unbound castles if you dare or choose to scurry among the local life instead. Bring back valuable items or defeat bosses for prizes! Be wary of the red moon.
“Technically nobody actually beat it,” Cait called out, knowing someone would question why this Floor was still there. It was much unlike the other parchment, one that hung almost soggily as if it had been drenched in sea water before being laid out to dry under the sun. Blackish blue ink sprawled lazily on its text like festering oils drooling down its surface to the bottom.
Grimmest Grotto: Darkness waits at the bottom of the depths. The surface holds the dying world set on a timer to doom. Gather what you will of treasures if you must. There is only one goal in this wretched place: Survive to the end.
Cait shrugged. “I don’t write these descriptions. I leave that job to the interns.” With that said, the cat took her place back to the bar, probably to polish glasses-no, there she went, making herself a stiff drink. While the others talked amongst themselves of which Floor to choose and which scroll to pick, the familiar face who saw them off on their last departure was back in her spot upstairs.
Katie watched the others just as she did before, leaning over the rails. “You know, there’s a clue in there somewhere,” she couldn’t help but call out. If anyone bothered to pay attention to her, she’d simply point over to the empty shop stand parallel to Emilia’s. Indeed, it was still lacking an operator and at this point, slowly collecting dust. “Just a hunch, but if you found Emilia in one Floor, wouldn’t you find the other keep in a Floor too?”
There was a violent ruckus going on in the private rooms that spilled into the halls, beginning with the sound of a boot kicking a solid wood door before engaging in what sounded like furious cat wrangling. At least, the cat sounded furious, with a low droning 'Weeeeee' sound coming through the halls, drawing closer to the tavern proper before Kanbaru appeared, one hand holding the tail of a massive, red whale plushie currently resting over her shoulder, while her other arm was curled around the midsection of Noire and hefting her onto a barstool.
"I'm really disappointed Noire. Not only do you leave home, but you don't even think to ask the bartender if she had milk before assaulting Rose and Ami? Come on, you gotta go for the low hanging fruit first." The now white haired Kanbaru chided the feline, seemingly familiar enough with her to not get skewered with wires, though the plushie did seem recently used....
"Oh hey, we have new floors to explore...wait, no, a new floor. Huh, they didn't finish the spooky one? Damn, we should finish that. Might be some useful vendors there who don't clam jam me." Kanbaru noted aloud, looking to the posters while signalling Cait over and pointedly ignoring Emilia's presence. "Can you get my friend here some heavy cream to drink? She's a big eater and I don't think we want her marking her territory around here when we can just keep her fed."
"That’s theft right there," Clair called in an, at least a little ironic, statement once Cait confiscated her phone. "You can’t just go around taking a pure-hearted maiden’s phone like that. I didn’t even get to delete the browser history," she added as she moved back to the bar.
"Anyway, I guess I’ll let it slide if you make me a strawberry sundae on the house. That’s the least you can do, right?" The blonde thief smiled, trying to convince the cat to get a bigger discount from the bartender feline.
"There’s no need for more courtesy on my part. I believe they’ll have the chance to get more than they wish for from the next set of floors. Especially, if they play their cards right," Emilia replied to Cait’s laidback comment. A mysterious smile followed the comment of the solo traveler.
"Hey, you again? Why don’t you come with us this time? I bet it gets boring goin’ around this place on your own," Clair said as she ate her dessert while the others were away doing god-knows-what. Judging by the noises and creaks coming from upstairs, it couldn’t be many things, though.
※ ※ ※
"Anything is fine by me! I don’t think I’ve been to any of those floors before, so it’s gonna be a fresh start either way," Clair said after they, or rather Kanbaru, seemed to have settled on their next destination. "If that’s the best option we have, I don’t see why not take it," she said as she licked her spoon clean, almost being done with her sundae.
"By the way, what happened to you up there? You look kinda… different, I guess?" Clair said, looking at Kanbaru’s rather unique new looks, the not least important of them being the sudden change of hair and eye hues.
A disgruntled looking Rose and Ami soon emerged from behind Kanbaru and Noire, both looking like they had been through hell and back as they grumbled and talked to each other about something unheard. Ironic how just half an hour prior they were practically at each others throats, yet now the two looked thick as thieves. Looks like they really bonded over their shared nightmare. The conversation faded as they went to their respective seats, close to Kanbaru yet making sure to keep her in between them and Noire. "Hey Kanbaru. Nice outfit change." Rose tried to make herself sound perky as usual, but it was really hard to appear friendly in conversation when you were constantly glaring at another person.
"I'm voting for Crimson Pact. I like the color red and trust the instincts of my First Mate here." Rose motioned to Kanbaru, lightening up slightly as she looked to Cait. Only slightly though. She was a catgirl too, can't trust em.
Ami just grunted noncommittally, looking around on the floor for... something. A familiar voice called out from above, bringing everyone's attention to the floor above. "Yeah, it would be pretty nice to get some nice new armaments for my vessel. Maybe some furniture and decor for captain's quarters, things like that." Rose commented as she pulled out the card storing her ship from her sleeve, spinning it on the tip of her finger before flicking her hand and watching it disappear into her sleeve once more.
Light. That was the first word that came to Thomas’ mind as his eyes snapped open, almost like some strange force was dictating his gaze. Surrounded by darkness, before him three glowing items hung suspended in the air: a sword, a shield and a rod, each one almost beckoning him to them, his thoughts becoming a clouded, hazy mess. In his confusion he tried to speak, to question what was going on, but nothing escaped his lips, only silence. He couldn’t even hear the sound of his own breathing. Was he even breathing in the first place? He clutched his shirt, just over where his heart would be, panicking slightly, but to his relief he could feel it. The uneven, yet somehow still rhythmic, beat still coursed through him.
He kept his hand clutched to his chest for reassurance, but he looked up to the three objects before him again, now calmed down. He looked at each one separately for a few seconds, considering his options, letting his thoughts try and clear so he could decide more easily. However, once he looked at the sword, he knew which one he would choose, almost like a primal instinct pushing him towards it. With one hand on his heart, he reached out with the other and took hold of the sword, grasping the hilt tightly. Almost instantly, a blinding light invaded his senses and the darkness he’d found himself in, squinting both eyes almost completely shut as the light got more and more intense, the sword quickly becoming barely visible behind the radiant rays that engulfed him and everything else around him, but he kept grasping it, never letting go. Eventually though, he felt himself slip away, overwhelmed and forced back into unconsciousness. Light. That was the last word that came to Thomas’ mind as he fell back into darkness.
A loud creak forced Thomas out from his slumber, his eyes slowly opening and adjusting to the light as he felt more creaks give way from underneath him as he lifted his back off the floor, laying his palms against it to help hold himself up. It was at that moment that he also realised the sword had vanished from his grip, which surprised him. Even if he did assume that the whole thing had been a dream before, it had felt so genuine, but perhaps he was overthinking things. Blinking himself completely awake, he scanned his surroundings, quickly surmising that he was in some kind of tavern. The wooden floor beneath him had provided the creaking that had pulled him out of sleep, and combined with the lit candles and the general aesthetic of the area, it gave him a sort of warm and cosy feeling. Where exactly was this tavern, though? How had he managed to get here?
Inquisitive to know more, he stood up, a multitude of unusual, and borderline uncomfortable, senses rubbed against him, coursing his whole body. He looked down at himself and was startled when he noticed that he was wearing completely different clothes to what he had been wearing previously. Well, not completely different. Instead of a normal white shirt, he was wearing a white shirt that you might see in a movie about pirates, made from linen and loosely fitted, a small v-neck pulled together slightly by some brown lace. Instead of his usual slim-fit black jeans, he was wearing regular black trousers, slightly looser and lighter than the former. His black high tops had been replaced by more boot-like brown shoes, fitting the theme of everything else he was wearing, except for one thing. The only thing that remained unchanged, was the blue jacket that Thomas was wearing, the same one that he usually wore as well. Given that it was the only thing from his previous wardrobe that he was still wearing, it was slightly idiosyncratic when put against his other clothes, but somehow it still matched. It made him feel like there was still a part of himself, from before whatever had happened, with him. Getting back to the task at hand though, he began to look around the tavern in more detail from where he stood, noticing a sign from the corner of his eye that caught his attention. It read: ‘Dangenki Café Club’. He raised an eyebrow, reading it over several times in his head to familiarise himself with it. Was that where he was, then?
All of a sudden, he heard voices. Caught off guard, he quickly turned towards them, a surprised and confused look on his face. A group of people, a motley crew for sure, were all sat around the bar. From the angle he stood at he couldn’t make out many faces in great detail, but… was that a catgirl? In any case, how had he not noticed them before? Had he really been so caught up in his own thoughts until now? Mind you, given their lack of reaction to him getting up, he assumed that the same applied vice versa, but if he was going to get anywhere at this point then asking them would probably be his best bet.
With a hint of nervousness, Thomas made his way over to the group, clutching his arms together to make himself feel slightly less vulnerable as he spoke. “Uh… sorry to interrupt, but… where are we?”
Akiko nodded as she made her purchases, also buying an extra Serei slot when she had gotten her card back since it couldn't hurt to have one extra one in her pocket... maybe two. Yeah, two was much better than one. Brought her up to the starting hand size in that one weird card game she remembered her brother playing. Magiyoh? Something like that.
Her new card, however, definitely interested her. Along with the arrow, of course, but the card mainly was what tantalized her. It was a little creepy to see such a mushroom man on her card, but she shrugged and simply wrote it off as she summoned the new card to see what he was like. "Rise, Bonesword the Hellish Wood."
As if on cue, in a dark cloud of a sickly green smoke, a skeletal figure of what could barely be described as someone once human stepped out. Their ribs were covered in the same fungus that weaved in and out of broken bones, some looking much older than others, and almost as if the body was an amalgamation of two different skeletons that were mashed together. Parts didn't seem to match with other ones but, somehow, likely due to the fungus, the body moved fluently as one whole organism, like this body had been very well known by the user.
"We have been summoned." The skeletons voice echoed, two distinctive voices speaking at the same time, in the same pitch, almost like a unity of two souls. "We taste the light of a new area. Who would summon us to such a location..." The being gazed around the bar with hollow sockets, the lights within gazing along all different forms but finally resting onto Akiko. "You."
They stood straight, eyes dimming, and finally galling into a bow. "We are your Serei. Our name is Bonesword, second in command to the great general Ira of Hell." He stood once again and waited a moment, seemingly wanting Akiko to act, which she... well, did. Her eyes flashed in the familiar glint as she got what she needed to from Bonesword, and as she realized more and more things about this husk of a knight, a crooked grin grew across her face.
"You'll fit in well. For now, you are dismissed, Hellish Wood. Trust me, I'll call on you when the time comes." As he was dismissed, Bonesword fell into a pile on the ground, quickly beginning to turn to dust in the wind and completely dissipating back into a card form. Interesting card, and a fine addition to her collection of cards.
The next order of business she wanted to address was simple - this arrow. The glint from earlier definitely helped key her into how this arrow worked, but only in one vague way - she needed to stab herself with it. Ok, maybe stab was the wrong word, but it needed to pierce through her for her actually work. So, she took the arrow in her hand, and took a deep breath. "I dunno if this is gonna hurt, but here goes..." Within one fluid motion, Akiko jammed the arrow into her shoulder, the head diving through fairly cleanly and coming out the other end, covered in blood but the wound itself didn't seem to start bleeding, likely from Akiko's other hand holding the Red Relic to keep the blood from going all over the place. She didn't wanna get kicked out of Cait's Bar juuuust yet.
"Yeah, that hurt alright..." she grunted, reaching around to pull the arrow all the way through and allow for the Red Relic to clot the wound properly. It certainly wouldn't be flawless anymore, but a scar was fine if this arrow awoke something in her... which, so far, though nothing had appeared around her, she was fairly certain that she was less alone in this moment, even with the 3 people she had in card form. Regardless, she tucked away the bloody arrow into wherever her inventory was, just in case she needed it later.
If Cait had bothered to look at Akiko's card, she'd clearly notice that something, was coalescing from behind her. It was too blurry to make out at the moment, but it was certainly forming from seemingly nowhere.
"Alright, my bloody shoulder aside, who's the new kid?" Akiko asked in reference to Thomas, who had just entered the room and everyone had ignored this whole time. Judging from his reaction, this was all new to him, too. It took her only a few seconds to realize what went on. "Another adventurer. Man, how many people from down below is this place going to bring." She flicked her hair out of her eyes before she stood and walked over to where Rose and Kanbaru were, watching the stranger as she walked. "Can't you read the sign? This is sort of the hub between different floors of this Tower. Cait can probably explain things to you better, if you want to wake her up." Akiko pointed her thumb towards the barmaid as she walked past, pointing Thomas in the right direction while she made her decision about the next floor.
"Crimson Pact seems fine with me, if we're all moving through to the same floor. Might as well clear out one of the earlier floors before we move to a harder one, in any case." She offered her opinion before she spoke again. "Plus, I'd trust a world like that to have actual people in it to give us an armorer, compared to how the Grotto is described."
"Hey, you should really fix the floorboards here, KitKat. This place is beginning to sound like it might fall apart at any moment," Clair said to Cait once she noticed the creaks and cranks coming from the other side of the tavern. Sure she was joking, but this wasn't the first time today when people walking by—or doing some less pronounceable things—made the floorboards creak like that. "Money can't be the problem with how much you charge for stuff around here," the blonde thief pointed at the phone the cat confiscated.
"Anyway, it's just like she said, kid! This place is our hangout while we go around, farm loot, and try to reach the top to get our one true wish fulfilled. You may be new 'round here, but you'll get used to it in no time," Clair said as she spun around on the bar stool to face the newcomer kid after Akiko did so first.
"Oho~ It's been a long while since I've seen one like you 'round these parts. Name's Clair by the way. Clair, the thief. If there's anything ya wanna, be it money or a heart, don't let me know or I'm gonna get it from ya," she added, finishing her introduction with a finger gun—complete with a "Bang!"—once she noticed that the newcomer was in fact a boy around their age. A rare sight outside of the floors of this tower.
※ ※ ※
At the same time, another person... being, also took notice of Thomas' arrival. Even though, it couldn't be said that she was part of the group that gathered around the bar.
"At last, another adventurer has crossed the threshold into this land of wonders," the mysterious looking girl said from her place behind a desk in a room adjacent to the tavern marked with the name 'Magic Shop'. "You should be glad for the chance you were given. Many would die—or kill—to be in your place right now. Even so, if you choose to pursue the path that leads to your heart's purest dream, you'll need companions to help you along the way or power to seize your own fate. It's up to you to decide," she said in a smooth, yet ominous voice as she pulled three cards from a sealed spellbook.
"Consider these to be a gift, from a seeker to another." As the witch-like girl spoke, the cards disappeared from her hand in a flash of light. If Thomas bothered to look, he would find them resting on his pocket, where there was nothing until a moment ago.
“You’re the worst Kanbaru .-.” was Noire’s reaction to being so roughly yanked off her fun prey. Practically dragged downstairs to join the others, the feline Serei rubbed her head, flattening her ears and staring at the used plush whale hanging in Kanbaru’s hands. “You never let me have any fun. You just whack me with whale dolls like some kind of animal abuser >.>” Before Cait could really provide for the situation, Noire was already huffing and returning back to her Serei card in a flash of light. It was amble luck too when Cait had other business to attend to.
“Psssh, you’re no pure-hearted maiden!” the bartender said to Clair almost incredulously. The cat looked about ready to keel over and laugh her tail off at the sheer assertion. Eventually, she steadied herself from her tasks, still snickering at the prospect. “Yeah, sure Foxy, I’ll make you a treat. You deserve one after giving me a good laugh on the house, hahah!” Her back to Clair, she swiftly prepared an almost glamourous-looking strawberry sundae before sliding it down the thief’s way on the bar. All of this was watched by Katie from afar until she was acknowledged.
“I dunno, you’d probably cramp my style,” Katie called down to Clair from her perch up above. “It’d be weird of me traveling with a bunch of weird looking people like you all. Especially that one.” She pointed a thumb towards Kanbaru; at this point, her new appearance was the elephant in the room. All the same, Katie nodded to Rose’s agreement. “I’m not saying that’s gonna happen; really, you should ask your other shop keep about details. But something tells me the next keep will have more variety. Just saying.” Thus, it seemed, the decision was made of where to go next.
Perhaps that was why the winds of change rippled in the tavern with the coming of a newcomer. Everyone felt it, for it was impossible to ignore the sensation of something new and fresh in their midst. Katie flicked her gaze over, mirroring Cait’s as the newcomer revealed themselves…rather, himself. “New customer! Now this is getting interesting~” Cait announced. Her words held a double meaning known only to herself as she caught eye of Akiko too. Something indeed seemed different about her, and not just the new wound on her shoulder.
“Fun~” Cait mused to herself, glancing carefully at the cards in Thomas’ keep, before clapping her hands. There was no need to explain anything more to the boy, not when the lovely ladies around him did her job for her. No, now it was time to begin the next Floor. She pointed over to the door that led to all, the entrance and the exit to the tavern and the only real pathway in this hub of a place. From there, as soon as the group walked through the door, they would enter the desolate hallways where Caprice’s group once walked.
Darkness waited for them in the crimson lit world as red seeped through the windows, bathing them in an almost bloody coloration. With it came the melody of music in the air.
Thomas visibly winced, recoiling back slightly as he saw Akiko stab through her own shoulder with an arrow. He didn’t want to look, but couldn’t help but stare on in curiosity as she pulled the bloodstained arrow out and put it away, in a way that seemed pretty casual considering what had just happened. He was tempted to ask just what the hell he’d just watched, when the same woman spoke in reference to him. He was confused: Adventurer? People from down below? Again, he opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted again when Akiko spoke again, addressing him directly this time. His eyes widened as he heard her mention ‘this Tower’. Tower? What Tower? His eyes followed Akiko’s gesture to Cait, though that was just instinct. Inside, his mind was searching for an answer to where exactly he was, his violet eyes appearing to be glazed over.
And then it came to him. The more he thought on it, the more obvious it seemed. He was on the Tower. The one he’d seen looming over Miso City not long ago. It made sense; it was the last thing he remembered seeing before he’d ended up here. How he’d managed to get here was a separate issue he’d think about later, but why he was there was becoming clear to him now. It was slight, but he felt a sense of purpose from deep within him now, one that pushed him forward as he began to approach Cait behind the bar.
Before he could reach her though, another voice rang out from nearby, this one sounding more enthusiastic than the last. At least this time he felt that he immediately understood most of what this person was saying, now that he’d figured a few things out for himself. He felt reassured by what she said though, giving her an affirming nod in response to show that he got the general gist of what this all was. However, he was caught off guard by what she said next, as the sudden realisation that he was the odd one out here for more reasons than one suddenly came to him. He felt himself get a bit flustered and overwhelmed, a hint of red lingering on his now-warm cheeks, but he tried to ignore it; thinking on it would only make things worse.
A distraction quickly came in the strangely mesmerising finger gun pointed at him, which set off with a loud bang, dispelling him from his trance. After a second or so of silence as the ‘rabbit-in-headlights’ face began to clear away, he spoke back, realising that he’d hardly said a word at this point.
“Uh, well, it’s nice to meet you, Clair.” Was all he could manage, unable to introduce himself before another voice caught his attention from further away, female as well. He gave Clair one final glance before walking over towards where the voice was coming from, listening carefully to what it was saying – it sounded important, after all.
He finally reached the room the voice was coming from, noting the room’s title, the desk and the girl behind it. He simply looked at her as she continued to speak, the somewhat curious expression returning to his face, especially as the cards came out. He couldn’t make out what was on them really, and in any case, within seconds they were gone with a sudden flash of light. Almost immediately after, however, he felt a slight weight in his pocket. Barely noticeable, but a distinct enough change from complete emptiness for him to realise.
He slipped a hand into his pocket, letting out a very small, but surprised, gasp as his fingers found and rubbed against what felt like cards, three of them after some more feeling around, presumably the ones he’d been shown before. He lowered his eyes down to his pocket, then back up to the girl. “Uh… thanks.” He gave the mysterious girl a final nod before returning to the group in the tavern, momentarily pulling out the cards he’d received to look them over, before putting them back in the same pocket. Of course, he wasn’t sure of what they did, or of their purpose, but he figured that the other members of the group had them too, so he’d probably learn soon enough.
For now though, he simply followed Cait’s pointed finger to the door, moving slowly and carefully, but making sure to keep up with the rest of the group as they entered through it into the unknown, for him at least. It was unusual how little he was questioning and second-guessing himself and his situation, he thought. Perhaps it was that sense of purpose that was driving him on. The purpose that would lead him to the top of the Tower, that would help him find the truth.
Once he was through the door, he took a moment to let his eyes adjust to the dimmer light, a new shade of red coming over him, though from the outside this time. A chill running down his spine, one that originated from a whole pool of varying emotions, his gaze wandered around, looking around the torn up hallway: its ornate walls, grand decorations and presentation, one that would probably be very well kept usually, but was now fractured, for whatever reason.
Much like a feline was want to do, Noire had fled from Kanbaru rather then let herself be lavished with attention. The white whale would have lamented this if not for the inn exploding with delightful chaos, everyone emerging at once, transactions to be had, choices made, and a new soul entering their wicked inn at just the right moment to get swept up in an adventure. It only took a forward tilt of the head for Kanbaru to dash off her bar stool, alighting beside him to clap Thomas on the shoulder with a grand laugh.
"Glad to see a fresh face joining us on this floor. You look like you can handle yourself, but if you need a hand, the name's Kanbaru Otoko, but I'm pretty chill so everyone just calls me Kanbaru." Her other hand came around, flashing him a victory sign around the plushie she grasped, idly twirling the body before trotting ahead, gaze turning back and forth to take in the spooky castle atmosphere. "I have experience with night time monster hunting, but I gotta say, this is my first castle and it's really living up to those Castlevania expectations of mine....saying that, I hope there aren't any medusa heads. All that jumping around sounds bothersome."
Talk about a strange new place to walk through. The dark and mysterious hallways did a lot more to raise questions then they did to cue in the new arrivals to their new location. Akiko rubbed her shoulder as she stepped forward and away from the rest of the group, though she didn't leave their immediate company just yet. She felt like she needed to introduce herself, since Thomas was a newbie and it was better for her to keep him in the know.
"Honestly, it's not too bad having someone new around, so long as you don't leave us like Tokuda." Akiko offered her commentary on the situation before she turned to face Thomas and the group directly. "I'm Akiko Miazaki, though everyone around here just refers to me as the catgirl or some variant thereof." She waved her two tails in front of her before they settled down at her side, and if anyone cared to pay attention to it, her eye would gleam yet again as she gazed onto Thomas. What sort of stories did this newcomer have to tell, she wondered.
Though, only to Kanbaru's eyes, something was much more prominent behind Akiko. A purple fog coalesced behind her, only for a moment, and took the form of something... vaguely humanoid. Maybe with large cat ears, but there really weren't other features that she could tell in this brief moment. As it began to dissipate, along with Akiko's gleam in her eyes, a sound came from it, though it was very soft.
[ I wake. ]
Akiko, herself, seemed to notice it, and turned behind her for a momeent. "... anyone else hear... ah, whatever." She turned back around fully and spoke once again. "Excuse me, just going to make sure nobody surprises us."
Akiko brought her hands up towards her face, took a breath, and it had seemed that she lost the same whiskers that she had moments before, her mouth extending a little bit forward and her nose growing much larger considering her human features, finally settling into the full form of a wolf muzzle. She took a large breath in, trying to pinpoint where anything was with an impressive sense of smell. Whether or not she'd smell anything, though, was to be decided.
"Monkey's card was a nice grab if it lets me do this. Pretty solid intakes, so far."
Caprice did not bother giving introductions to the newcomer, it seemed Akiko had set herself upon that task. Instead she simply gazed at the hallways they found themselves in. She hadn't made it quite this far on her last adventure, instead being dumped into an underground lake before making it through the garden. But it seemed they were starting past that point this time.
"Last time this place was little else but traps and monsters. Though, after the dreary doubletalk of that 'school', I almost find myself nostalgic for such straightforward simplicity." Caprice juggled small sets of cards two or three at a time as she looked around. She simply poked her nose in wherever she felt like checking. For her talk of traps, she didn't seem too worried about springing any.
"Well, that was nice~ I'll be back for more later, KitKat," Clair smiled to Cait after finishing her sundae. And, with all said and done, it was finally time to dive into the maelstrom of adventure once again.
※ ※ ※
Clair didn't waste any time when she reached the other side with everyone else. If anyone cared to look, the blonde thief would already be stretching up and warming her muscles. "That's a fancy place if I ever saw one. A little dilapidated, but I bet there're must be some shiny trinkets to claim here," she said as she got ready to leap into action like a springy feline.
"Hah! Don't think too much about it, boy. Everybody gets nervous about their first time. Ya'll be at home in no time," Clair said as she approached by Thomas, smacking the boy's back with a few hearty slaps.
"Ok, so how are gonna do this? Do we split apart like last time or go as a team—" Clair interrupted herself not long after Akiko made her remark about a mysterious sound nearby.
When a pack of beasts that looked like a crossbreed between demonic hounds and ill-kempt, thorny bushes jumped on the group from around a corner, it was evident that their arrival hadn't gone unnoticed.
"I guess that's gonna have to wait," Clair said as she drew her blade swiftly and fell into a low stance, ready to fight or flight.
With Rose lollygagging and monsters already before them, Kanbaru shrugged and decided she may as well take first swing at the monsters. She noted the ones around her weren't exactly the most prone to violence, the new boy notwithstanding as a complete unknown, so it didn't seem anyone would complain. Giving him one last hearty clap to the shoulder she strolled past, head turned to give an appreciating whistle as she took in Akiko's strange new Serei hovering over her shoulder. Funny since she didn't see her summon it, but then again, there was a lot going on.
"Funny how the trickster wants things straight forward." She murmured with a measure of bitterness passing Caprice, and quickly channeled that ire into a Quick Dash forward. Kanbaru emerged before the nearest thorn beast and grasped her whale plushie with both hands upon its tail. Spurred by intent it was encased in water, creating an echo of the whale as she swung underhanded against her foes jaw. And while the physical blow was far greater then what such a soft weapon would imply, the water echo itself struck after, hitting with the force of surface tension like concrete against a plant wolf's jaw.
"Oh hey, new guy! Welcome to the crew kid, we have lots of fun around here!" Rose called out as Akiko stabbed herself in the shoulder in the background, leaning against a table casually and watching the kid try to puzzle everything out amidst the chaos. The range of emotions crossing his face in the span of a minute, now that is some amusing shit. Nobody really gave him a good explanation, but he was smart enough to puzzle things out based on what little info he was given, good quality to have around here. Nobody ever told you shit flat out, everything was always wrapped in some kind of riddle or mystery.
Meanwhile Ami had finally gotten a hold of Noire's card after she returned to it in a flash, a sigh of relief escaping her lips as she handed it off to Rose. That damn cat was never coming out again if they had anything to say about it. "We're in a big ass tower in the sky kid, it's pretty easy shit." Ami called out to Thomas as she passed by him and slapped him on the back, straight and to the point as ever. "Friendly word of advice, look out for Kanbaru. You're the only guy around these parts and she's a real man eater if you know what I mean." She continued as she walked away, shoving her hands in her pockets and rolling her neck. Ominous stuff.
But hey, who cares about that, time to get to the next floor! Rose followed behind the rest of the group as they stepped through the door and into the next world, these ruined halls familiar to some among their group but entirely new to both Rose and Ami! "Tch, you have experience. No need to undersell yourself Kanbaru, aside from me I'd say you were the best when it came to slaughtering those nightmares." Ami chuckled as she stopped beside Kanbaru and looked to the distance, her ears twitching a little at some unknown noise. "We've got company by the way."
Company indeed, a group of demonic bushes shaped like dogs charged them from around the corner as everyone snapped into battle mode. Everyone aside from Rose, who looked strangely relaxed as she hung back and watched Thomas. She knew she could handle herself in a scrap when worst came to worst, but she was curious to see how the newbie would react to mortal peril. The captain leaned against the wall idly as she pulled out her favorite card, twirling on her finger before disappearing in a flash of light and reappearing on top of Thomas's shoulder. As a fair of course, she wasn't trying to crush the kid. "Alright kid, time to prove your worth. Go fuck up those wolves and help me decide whether or not you're entertaining enough to keep around. Eyes forwards, sword out, stick em with the pointy end." Rose smiled as she patted the kid on the cheek, lazing about on his shoulder as if she was watching a movie.
And Ami? Oh man, Ami was in her element. While Kanbaru dashed forwards with a water powered swing of her whale plush, Ami was the exact opposite as she raised her clenched fist in the air and encased it in a dark inferno. In that clenched fist manifested a great sword of flames, pointed downwards as she slammed it into the ground with malicious glee. "Stay out of my fucking way if you don't wanna get burned!" Was the only warning the rest of the party would receive before several gouts of flame burst from the ground around Ami, grabbing a wolf that was pouncing towards her and instantly reducing it to ash. Looks like these puppies didn't know that fire beats grass.
Between the multiple slaps on the back and the words of advice imparted to him, some more unusual than others, Thomas felt himself relax a bit more to his surroundings, or was distracted from them at the very least. Enough for him not to freak out or have his mind racing as he got to grips with the broken down area they found themselves in. Emphasis on ‘a bit’ though, he was still coming to grips with being thrust in a group entirely composed of the opposite sex. He’d get used to it though… probably.
That being said, as Clair passed him after giving him a few jolly claps to the back, he figured it would probably be better if they had a name to put to his face, other than them just calling him ‘boy’ the whole time, formalities aside. “Actually, my name’s-” Thomas began to speak up, if a bit tentatively, though it was clear he’d been a bit distracted from what Akiko had been saying, not at all ready for his introduction to be interrupted as they were confronted by a pack of… well, whatever they were supposed to be, the beasts were obviously not friendly.
Thomas simply stood in place, taken aback at the sight of the monsters, eyes wide and heart beginning to beat faster as a tinge of adrenaline indicated what seemed to be, at least on the surface, fear. He seemed to snap out of it slightly though when he felt a sudden light weight pressing onto his shoulder, moving most of his attention to that. His eyes almost got wide again when he saw what, or who, it was. It was…! Well he didn’t know her name yet, but in any case, she was hanging out on his shoulder as though it were a couch, at a size that was tiny in comparison to the seemingly normal person he’d seen before. Was this the result of one of those cards, he wondered, noticing a few people pulling some out themselves in his peripheral vision.
However, in the meantime, he just gave Rose a slightly dumbfounded look as she told him what to do, giving him advice that most people would deem questionable, but there wasn’t really much else to it, once he thought about it. “Uh… sure thing.” He nodded, the pat on the cheek a slight boost of confidence, though one that became almost negligible when he looked back at his foes and allies, all of them seeming fairly dangerous in their own way, in battle-ready positions or indeed already battling. It was at this moment, though, that he realised he didn’t have a weapon. The memory of the sword in his dream still burned brightly and clearly in his mind, but it seemed that the sword, no matter how real it had seemed, hadn’t followed him here, at least that’s what it seemed like.
“But wait… What do I…?” Thomas thought out loud, his words a slight cry for help from his shoulder-riding companion as he looked down at his hands, and then back up to the pack of beasts not far ahead, hoping none of them had sniffed him out yet towards the back. He could feel his nerves returning to him now, his hands shaking as he looked at them. Or was it his head that was shaking? Both? He realised he probably looked a fool at the moment, but he couldn’t help it, his body overreacting and working against him, keeping him practically frozen in place as he tried to do something. His fingers began to feel cold as his mind envisioned a shadow of death looming over him, though whether it was genuine or not, he couldn’t know for sure.
But then, however, it came to him again. The vision of his hand grasping the sword as clear as day, the same light blazing in his mind that he’d seen before, his thoughts becoming almost palpable. His body began to warm up again, calming itself down. But that wasn’t all. A shimmer of light in his hands gave way to a small but sudden flash, forcing him to blink. When he did, his eyes laid upon something very real. His hands grasped a long double-bladed weapon, a glaive, longer than Thomas himself, with a metal hilt coated in a layer of dark leather practically as long as the blades themselves, each one curving in a different direction at the end, made from steel which seemed to fade into a colour similar to the colour of his eyes towards the edge of the blade. He stared at it for a moment, already feeling it naturally relax into his hold, despite its weight.
“Woah…” That was all he could manage at the moment. Finally more at ease, and very pleased with what he saw, Thomas smirked slightly, something that seemed uncharacteristic of him from what the others had seem of him so far, and indeed of what he’d seen of himself. He was still nervous, he knew it, in fact he could begin to feel himself shake again as the rush of getting this new weapon, along with his smirk, faded, but at least now he could try to defend himself. Plus, if he got in trouble, which in all likelihood he probably would, he hoped that Rose in the passenger’s seated would offer him a helping hand, along with the others around him. And, just like that, he went to go catch up with the others, being careful to not accidentally drop the glaive on his foot along the way.
Shit! Akiko was able to be prepared for the attack as soon as it came due to whatever sense of smell she had from her wolf stunt, but she wasn't ready in any physical capacity! Her Serei cards weren't summoned and these hounds were about to attack! She desperately fanned through her cards looking for Lorelai, when one hound suddenly leapt at her...!
[ Cease. ]
But, only visible to Kanbaru and Akiko, a paw came rocketing out of a purple cloud and promptly smashed into the bush hound, knocking it right at the wall and smashing it's head into dust, promptly killing it. Akiko was dumbfounded. What that voice... was that what just rocketed out of the cloud? Speaking of that cloud, the purple smoke began to grow and solidify into something... more. Something greater.
At first, it was humanoid in shape, but as it began to stretch and grow its form began to swap and change to fit what it really was. Two large ears sprouted on top of it's feline head, the body accompanying it lithe, yet toned. What would've been hands on this figure were no more than large paws, complete with razor-sharp nails and, somehow, thumbs. It had cuffs on, almost like it had been broken free from arrest, and the same cuffs were around it's knees, if you wanted to call them that. They were more... digitigrade in nature, paws at the end instead of human feet and toes. This was... odd, but considering who it was protecting...
[ You won't get near. ] It's voice was almost like Akiko's, but it seemed to echo with a darker, male tone. Like, it left a masculine aftertaste to it.
Akiko staggered backward. "What... what are you..?"
The being responded accordingly, though only Akiko and Kanbaru could acknowledge it. [ I am your subconscious, your psyche, your soul, and the manifestation of your fighting spirit. Normally, someone like you wouldn't be able to have something like me, but this Tower of Fables has helped you reach greater potential. You are a pacifist, but that doesn't stop you from wanting to fight when you have to. ] The being stood fast, another hound approaching, and knocked it to the side without any worry, this hound leaving a sizable crater in the wall. Of course, nobody could see it, but it was really cool to see Akiko 'knock' these babies aside.
[ I am your Stand, brought about by the arrow. I am Castle. ] The figure said, its eyes gleaming with a red tint. [ I fight close by, and any cards you have summoned I will keep their abilities, so you may utilize your newfound strengths even if you choose to leave this tower. I will not leave you. ] Castle moved to behind Akiko, taking place behind her and raising its hands to fight.
"So... that's what that arrow did..." Akiko offered a smile, dashing forward to another hound and knocking it once again to the side with Castle. As she batted it aside, she caught Rose kicking back as if she was watching a movie. She frowned. "Good to see you're helping, Fortis." Akiko chafed. She didn't really need any help with Castle at her side, but her point still stood.
"Guess it's fight, then?" Clair said to none in particular as the others quickly moved to intercept the wolven interlopers. Or where they vegetables? It was like the chicken or the egg question at this point. And, just like that, the answer didn't matter much to the situation at hand.
It wasn't like she had much of a choice either, since a moment later Clair had to dodge a lunge. "Broccoli isn't my thing. I guess I'm gonna have to pass," she said as she kicked the wolf—sending it flying with surprising force on a collision course with Caprice—and using the force of the blow to launch herself into the air. In a single swift motion, she threw a handful of smoke bombs at a couple of wolves as she spun through the air and... "Ok, let's see how you like this. Starshot!" blasted them with a volley of magic missiles, using the power of her newly-acquired blade.
※ ※ ※
Little did any of them know that this was only going to be the first challenge of their ascent through the cursed castle. Deep within the halls bathed by in crimson moonlight, an ancient evil overlooked each of their steps with a disinterested gaze.
"Seems like our guests are more capable than I anticipated. Would you bother keeping them company, my one-and-only knight?" The Countess said in a cold voice.
The only answer she got was the flashing of fangs, unlike and yet so equal to her own. The very lighting of the decadent throne room dipping for a moment as if a part of her very shadow took a life of its own and crawled out to do her bidding.
"You know, guys, setting the dogs on us is usually the first sign you aren't welcome in an establishment. I'm starting to think we're burdened with a poor host if this is how she handles guests entering her home via interdimensional portal." Kanbaru's snark flowed with all the ease of her plushie's Water Echo, both weapon and it's aquatic shadow pummeling lupine flora with disgusting ease. These were nothing more then canon fodder after all, threatening only in how they drew attention from true threats and the weight of numbers pressing against you. Given castle hallways weren't that big, there was little to fear from the latter possibility.
"Really, not even a handsome butler to offer to take our coats? I'd take an innocent maid balking at our outlandish clothes." Her plushies settled across her shoulder as her empty hand lashed outwards, grasping upon all the water she'd splashed about pummeling wolves and raising them as a storm of skewering spines to mince what foliage was caught between them.
It would have been cool if a wolf wasn't smacked with such force it smashed a trench through her icicles, causing the water user to turn and balk at the feline being hovering around a shockingly aggressive Akiko. "Sheesh, kitty, did that Serei turn you into a battle maniac? I thought that was the knight's job, but now you've gotten another cat to boot!"
