Complete and utter failure met Kanbaru.

Oh, sure, the JSTR didn't care and got what it wanted, but Kanbaru had failed to collar Nephuna. Failed to carry through on her promise. In the chaotic melee there was hardly room for personal attachments, too many souls clashing and vying for their moment, but it chaffed at the JSTR host nonetheless. A moment of infinitude passed, and they struck painfully against an unyielding ground and stared into a night sky streaked with strobing lights and far, far too much gold.

That nothing was truly harmed from the fall was indication enough this was not a purely chaotic event, the transition to a floor at least showing a measure of control where the Whale rose to her feet and adjusted her hat as she sweeped her gaze across the Floor before her. Between the JSTR's contentment and her own knowledge it struck her immediately as to where they were, and she felt a small part of her want to groan miserably.

But the rest was at ease, a sense of home and belonging wafting from the floor and enveloping her as closely as her own cloak. Her hand rose before her face, Nephy contained in effigy before her and Kanbaru smiled with no small note of bitterness. "There's still no sun, but I've brought you the night sky."

She whirled dramatically upon the motley crew of companions, andnoting with some confusion that Akiko hadn't landed with them before brushing it off. Given the floor, she probably fell into a dressing room or some den of debauchery. Then she perked up, noticing Katie and her Vassals were also gone, saving them from being swarmed instantly by association.

"Alright people, we've officially left the Abyss. That's the good news. The bad news is we're on my home turf, and I don't think it'll react well to...most of you." The whale chirped with undue cheer, turning to Thomas, and bending sharply at the waste before flicking his nose. "And you, young man, are going to see a lot of scandalous women who are going to offer you a great many things to get your attention. If you value what little freedom Marianne leaves you, just say no."

"Remember people, the Bunnies are here to make sure we. Never. Leave. So, don't drink anything, don't even vaguely mention wanting to gamble, or you will probably never leave this place with ownership of your own skin and soul~!" Yup, it was a super homey feeling for Kanbaru, and home was where the heart was. Currently in the clutches of a multidimensional shark nun program driving her to engineer the apotheosis of friend and foe alike! "Granted, that is literally no different then a normal casino, but it's good to keep in mind. Especially for Thomas. Keep those eyes above chest level, young man!"

---

Like a flame to greedy moths, the strange new casino Floor(?) beckoned to all its patrons with the free and fun in the activities it promoted. The place was loud and electric with energy. The music swelled harder as if trying to drown out Kanbaru’s words. There was no need to be on guard in a place like this. It was time to relax, to rest weary and easy, to recharge and spend their treasure to their heart’s content. At least, that seemed to be the general vibe the flow was going for. All the same, it was surprisingly easy to find one’s party in such a place.

At least, it was for the likes of Kanbaru and Akiko. A shift and a push in the whale’s mind was indication that something changed, courtesy of the JSTR. Yes, a new prospect was reborn and eager to carry forward, manifested in Akiko’s will. It was a fancy, if not elaborate, way to say the cat was more of an ally now than an outright nuisance. The JSTR saw fit to inform its host before its obsession turned back to Nephy’s data and potential card, drawing out her true form…

Elsewhere, but not too far as distance and space meant nothing in this place if one really tried, was a familiar dark presence. In a corner of the grand casino and colorful world was a bar, one of several that dotted the landscape. Red lighting pitched under its patrons and the music seemed a little less chaotic in this spot compared to others. It made for the perfect place to mediate migraines and frustrations, one that Katie took full advantage of. To her, time hadn’t moved an inch, but her gaze was more dowry, more annoyed than usual.

An all but invisible shroud of dark aura encompassed her, threatening away the casino’s rowdy dwellers more than usual. That was fine. The various bunny themed creatures and bunny shaped servers were savvy enough not to let their obsession take over, though it didn’t stop them from parting long glances and flirtations towards Kiara’s daughter as madness would. They knew better not to approach the Bastion scion when she was in a bad mood. And Katie was in a particularly foul mood. She drained her drink, sitting on the bar’s chair and keeping to herself.

---

---

The whiteness shined through. And consumed everything. It left nothing around, it left nothing to be seen, nothing to touch, nothing to breathe. Whiteness pierced through and shined over everything. It hurt eyes for a moment with its merciless shining, before the whiteness pierced through the pain itself and consumed it too into itself. Whiteness was everything and nothing both at the same time.

Runa felt the whiteness to shine and coat over her, and furthermore to take the world away from her completely and herself from the world itself. She felt the ground to disappear underneath her feet as she fell down, on her back, but her back never met any ground to catch her - and so she flew down further and further down into the endless, borderless nothing of the white.

Even though the whiteness was overly extensive and floating all over and through her, it did not stop Runa from feeling and seeing herself at the least of it. And she felt herself more than ever before, despite the fact that she was thrown out of the world of any consistent matter at all, completely. There was just her and the limitless nothing, and in so there was nothing but her and that exclusivity accentuated her senses to turn onto herself and understand herself better than ever before.

It came to a stop as quickly as it came. The sensations felt paused and out of time, out of sync in correlation to Runa's thoughts and body. This was nothing new for the demon of time no doubt, but it was of a force not her own. The endless void that was the Tower's central configuration distorted and grafted upon itself. Light peaked through the endless cracks, reshaped and renewed, the all encompassing light of endless benediction. Then Runa's visage dispersed, replaced with the grandess of an endless sky. The void mixed itself with color and other strange new sensations as if the demon was freefalling in a sky outside of the Tower. Grand celestial objects and other caractures of space floated by, suns and stars dancing as they came. But nothing was as bright as the golden light from which its origin point drew Runa's attention.

"I was wondering who would dare make a mess in my precious Tower," came the compelling voice out of the light. Emanated on the golden throne of the Godhead was a woman. She stared down at Runa with an unreadable expression and a vaguer smirk. "And look what I find. A fragile piece of data desperately clinging to be real and whole. You've done all this just to catch my attention. Hello again demon."

The whiteness collapsed into itself with the same sense of momentum as when it presented itself in the first place. The limitless void spun and twisted, fusing into itself in shapes of waves looking like the density of the white ocean finally broke from underneath of it and started to press into the fabric of the real itself. It froze and then it shattered into a visage of a sky, as it seemed like the sky itself broke through the void and clashed with the white dull light.

It was the Tower itself. In its full presence the massive construction that held into the sky, reaching through it and disappearing into the distance as it also disappeared into the distance underneath herself. The height of the tower was overwhelmingly massive - or would be for a person with no access to the mechanisms of reality. To Runa it was a point of interest and amusement, something that picked up her curiosity.

“Hm..?”, she hummed to herself in her free fall, when the light was cast in the distance again, this time of a different kind. Not a cold whiteness, but a burning golden rays to surround the figure to approach with a greeting, a smirk on her lips. Runa replied with a same kind of a smirk, there was some kind of ironic connection between the two due to that gesture.

“I bid you well. I must apologize for causing disturbance in your creation, but such were demands of the things to be done”, Runa replied in her usual tone.

"So that's what you see. How interesting," the woman mused, noting Runa saw the full compasition that was her Tower. Curious indeed. "Oh I'm sure you did. Spare me your excuses and justifications, however thin and flimsy they may be. You simply wanted out. Talking around the matter only reveals your selfish heart Runa," the woman continued. She rested the side of her cheek against her fist, crimson eyes looking through the demon. "You've become whole. There's no distinction between what you were and what you are, what you will become," she confirmed with more amusement than anything else. "A shame you won't even give me a greeting after all this time. Or maybe you've forgotten your own dreamwalking...well, that doesn't matter. I just want to know what you plan to do next."

The woman waited in expectation as if she already knew Runa's calculated answer.

Runa only kept her smirk painted over her lips as there was little to hide and little to cover at Demyx’s gaze. And in so it was also little to express as well, paradoxically enough. They knew both, here in this moment that the moment to which they came to be and talk here and now was building up for them both to see.

Such was the nature of things they were entangled in.
“Ah yes, the dream… in the land of sleep we did indeed meet each other for the first time. Was something to remember. I apologize for not recalling it.”, Runa said with the same usual tone of hers, “Hello to you as well. Even though my heart is warped in its design of desire, but such was my fate from the start, and to grow in that desire is only natural to overcome it and overcome the matters of what I was in the Tower. To become what I am now.”

She kept on freefalling, her blue hair flapping and twisting in the air, looking like ocean waves in the storm, “To align with the direction leading me where things lay I did not see, and were denied me. Such is my course of action.”

"So you do remember. Most wonderful indeed," Demyx responded. It saved her any trouble of complications or introductions. "That's good. That's very good. We can get right to business. The only reason I'm not locking you back up as data for an existenstial crisis is because you've caught my curiosity. I saw what you did back there." Of course she did. All things were under her observation under her gaze and if not her, then by her...other half. What she referred to of course was Nephuna, a power both forbidden and unthinkable in its fusion and one that remained as Runa's only bargaining chip as far as the Demiurge was concerned.

"You haven't given me an answer, not really. So allow me to make one for you demon. You can feel it already, can't you? Your time is in place, lined up with the you outside the Tower. One and the same, data becoming real; such is your nature. I see you have no path ahead of you so why not spend your time in my company," Demyx said with a crimson glint in her eye. Runa fell and fell but either she wasn't really moving anywhere or the vast sky was just that expansive. All the same, a great, overbearing golden structure and shape silhouetted itself behind Demyx's throne. It was grotesque and painful to look at with lines and dimensions that made no sense and yet blended in with the clouds and "skyline". It looked vaguely familiar to the thing that so lovingly walked Runa's dreams.

"I'm willing to overlook this incident and offer you a job. The Abyss Floor has already been repaired, copied data restored. I have use for your particular nature."

“Of course you did”, Runa said - there was not a hint of surprise in her voice, or confusion or anything else. That phrase was more of a specific nod to Demyx, a point of giving a “I understand you” message. Implying they were on the same wave, that indeed, Runa realized that she was observed like so. Maybe she was doing a show, there was no clear answer to that.

The freefalling of hers never stopped and yet the vision and landscape around her never moved, they stood as still as they were, even though the motion continued, the demoness could make some of it just by moving her limbs or rolling in the air. Though the paradoxical scale of the things to comprehend were only making her think through it, applying her abilities and understanding of the reality around her to study and learn. Curiosity was still lingering bright in her heart. She listened to Demyx’s words carefully as well.

The massive golden rays on the closer study were more of a grander massive of a construction, twisting and shaping the reality around it in a way it managed, the fabric of the real barely holding its presence and cracked at times, amusing the falling demoness with its grotesque shapes and some familiar resemblances.

“Oh? And of what kind that job would be?”

"Nothing too complicated. You just have to enforce my law. Maybe hunt down a few dissenters. Above all else, it should no doubt keep you amused for all of Time to come," Demyx answered. "You may find yourself encountering that party once again, especially when some of them are....less than favorable in my view. There's also the matter of that wolf you've so clung to like a parasite. She too needs to be observed; at least, a part of her. Surely you can handle all that, no? It's not like you have anything better to do," Demyx said knowingly.

“That does not sound very complicated indeed. Just exactly something that would align me with the direction I spoke of.”, Runa said, her deep blue of the eyes locked on Demyx’s redness of a gaze as she spoke back, falling through the endless height still, only slightly twisting in the air to keep herself afloat in one position against the dragging force of the gravity and the turbulence of the falling both.

“So be it. I accept your proposal. Your company surely will guide me to places where I intend to be at, one way or another.”

Demyx's smirk widened by an inch at the corner. There was a change of gavity in the air that wasn't entirely evident in the immediate moment. "So be it then. Reject all that you've known and all bonds that you've forged. You serve a higher purpose now in exchange for your freedom. Become my Demifiend and enact my will."

The presence grew larger and large until a shrieking terror gripped Runa's core from the sheer size of it. The great constructy behind Demyx's throne moved subtly, two gargatuan pressures that rended the clouds coming on either side of the demon's body. Like great hands they slammed into Runa completely, molding and changing not just her, but all of the demon throughout her dislocated times. Demyx watched as her newest follower was forged, leaning back on her throne in satisfaction she possessed one piece of the impossible fusion.

“So be it indeed.”, Runa replied once again, as an echo to an echo to an echo, her voice ringing through the space as the deal was sealed and the words rang with the weight of the agreement confirmed. It was no moment later from that when the sky moved in great weight and the weight of the massive golden machina to come from either side of the falling demoness. The great mass of the realm itself shrugged and moved as Demyx spoke to them, and in the momentum it crushed on Runa with all its greatest density.

Her blue eyes remained as cold and motionless in its bottomless deep, reflecting nothing but the reality around and how it spun around her, as the pressure flew through her and across her, into the web of her connections with an electric charge that sparked and exploded through the demoness and all of her presences around and throughout.

That electricity was colored gold.

"I could ask the same thing out of you," Farris said. As she answered Marianne's question with one of her own, the dark-skinned girl's voice remained rather casual, despite her peer's not-so-veiled threats. "I suppose I can agree with that. We should find a better name for ourselves. But that's a matter for another time, right now, we have more pressing issues to attend to," she added as the structure of the tower began to collapse around them.

The fabric of reality being unraveled around her was of no concern to Farris who was born of the union of Space and Time. She didn't suffer from as much disorientation as others likely would when being suddenly shunted into a new plane of existence, even if it was another of the Tower's simulacra. In fact, when they landed in the new world, Farris found hers and Marianne's positions to be more or less swapped. Now, the dark-skinned girl held her pale peer in her arms, in a bridal carry.

Farris didn't make any effort to conceal the smirk on her lips. "Maybe, you should find someone less prone to temper tantrums. Not that I think it makes any difference to you of all people, does it?" She answered the other girl's question, pointing to the fact Marianne likely had no attachment to this "host" of her other than what the Tower forced her to.


Meanwhile, in an inconspicuous bar, not that far away from the place the others landed. The door swung open, prompting a clanging bell to break the uncharacteristic stillness brought about by Katie's moody... mood.

A couple moments later, a girl dressed in fashionable garbs one would expect of a VIP customer sat at the counter, right beside the object of attraction of most of the present, patrons and staff alike. "Two of your best strawberry milkshakes, please. One for me, and one for the lady over here. And don't forget the cherry on top, please," Erika said to whoever was running the bar.

"So, do you come over here very often?" the blonde said to her cousin, trying to sound as serious and suave as possible, even though she was kind of having to hold back from laughing at her own joke.

---

---

"Bleh, the smell of cigarettes in here leaves much to be desired." The cat was left to her own musings as she wandered through the casino, on a course towards her allies. Truth be told, though, there was hardly any musing going on. The hustle and bustle of the crowd collided with Akiko in a way that sent her head spiraling. She could see so much going on, and it was driving her a little mad honestly. Thankfully, there seemed to be an empty seat at a nearby set of slots that called to the cat much more than many others.

[What are you doing? Should you really be playing slots at a time like this?] Castle appeared from behind Akiko, but the cat walked forward anyway, even though it's warning was fair.

"It's a casino. Might as well spend a few Bees." She pulled out a blank card with a number on it as well as a series of honeycomb patterns. She slid the card along the reader, waiting several seconds before the machine prepared itself. Guess it took her credits. "Plus, what's the harm in losing a few times? Maybe we'll even win."

She cranked the arm of the slot. [You're smarter than that. You know something, we both know it actually.] The ghost always forgot that the cat, and it by extension, could see the future to an extent. Probably a lengthy extent, given that Akiko just had a realization point.

"Exactly!" The machine lit up as Akiko finished her statement, a bright 'JACKPOT' appearing across the screen and erupting in bold letters. Nobody in the crowd seemed to notice, but that was likely for the best. At least, until one random stranger walked up.

"Congratulations, I guess." They spoke cold and monotone. Likely someone who worked in this casino, if she had to guess. "I don't know what you were expecting, lady, but these machines only dispense these weird cards. Nobody play's em for that reason."

Akiko raised her eyebrow as she pulled her won card out of the machine, smiling at it. "Well, that's fine. I'm a collector of them, they're pretty rare, y'know."

"Hey, so long as you're happy. Good luck gambling!"

As the stranger left, Akiko also continued her adventure. Castle was going to argue about Akiko leaving just as she won and not playing more, but it knew why. Those machines don't give anything out, and probably wouldn't for thousands of spins. Time Akiko simply did not want to use. Plus, this Windela card seemed to have some use out of it, and was probably capable enough on it's own.


"There you are." The cat said as she approached the whale and some of the others, her hair notably taking quite the shift from the brunette it was and now taking on a single tone of white, save for the remaining black streak right in the middle. "I have to admit, I was slightly worried about everyone when I was missing from the crowd. Guess my gambit displaced my entrance by quite a bit."

She fanned through her cards, looking at the Windela card for a moment as she looked over Kanbaru, her eyes gleaming with a new change, some sort of heterochromia, before she smiled at the whale. "You've been here before, haven't you? My my, how interesting indeed. Have to say, I didn't expect you to be the gambling type, so clearly it's the delinquency here that keeps you coming back~." She joked, waiting for the group to figure where to head next.

The utter chaos of the stripped Abyss collapsing in on itself was an event that almost completely passed Thomas by. Countered by an unyielding power, unfamiliar to both the budding Gold Eyes and their host, the boy's lack of control, experience and strength was put on full display as the mighty stranger braced the full strength of his attack before delivering a blow so simple in nature, yet with such force that it felt like an anvil was smacking him across the face. His teeth were gritted alright, his body able to bear the brunt of the strike for a split second, long enough for the Eyes to lock gazes with the woman who'd kept them from their ambitions and whose echoing cry Thomas now heard loud and clear, before he was knocked clean off his feet by the pure force of that hilt against his jaw.

But the boy never hit the ground. Time seemed to slow down, though whether that was simply his own perception or the Floor itself was something Thomas couldn't be sure of. His golden irises rolled gradually to the back of his head, now loosing their grip on the boy as he slipped into unconsciousness, only seeing a sudden and piercing flash of pure white before all was consumed by an equally pure darkness.

The sensation of falling did not stir or wake the young man, in fact if anything the surrounding void pushed him deeper into slumber, but it certainly did not prepare him for the sharp and back-breaking pain that would awaken him out of nowhere. Thomas gasped, bolting upright immediately, his eyes opening wide to reveal their familiar violet hue as he took time to let the pain from the fall fade. His breathing was quick and shallow, as though he'd awoken from some kind of bad dream, but it slowly settled itself down as the boy's mind was suddenly bombarded by the new, vibrant surroundings he found himself thrown into. This certainly wasn't the Dangeki, but it didn't seem hostile at least.

Hostile or not however, the bright lights, loud noises and crowded landscape made for a somewhat oppressive environment for the boy if nothing else, and it certainly didn't help with the splitting headache he was left with after the events of the previous floor, not to mention the bloodied gash and bruise Farris' pommel had left on his jaw. Despite the little time that had passed since though, Thomas' memories of the Abyss, particularly the battle with Nephuna, had faded to a mere blur in his mind. Even moments that he could recall were somehow unclear, as though he was seeing them through murky waters or some kind of kaleidoscope. Of course, at this point he knew why. There was no ignoring what had happened but at the moment he wasn't going to dwell on it, in fact he couldn't bring himself to anyway. Especially as he realised, though he hadn't noticed anyone else in the group as of yet, the absence of one person in particular.

"Riku!"

The young Violet called out to his lost friend, wincing as he stood up to his feet and came to the realisation that there were probably a few more bumps and bruises hanging around the rest of his body than he'd at first thought. Still though, it was best not to just hang around in one spot. If anyone was around, not just Riku but Kanbaru, Akiko, Katie as well, they certainly wouldn't be waiting around in one place either. And with all of these new machines and bright lights that were completely alien to him all around, even the reserved Thomas couldn't help but be drawn in by his curiosity. Perhaps, as he wandered around alone through the bustling, overstimulating rows of slot machines, tables and even more, he'd even be taken in enough by that same curiosity to partake as well.

The Tower had its fair share of twists and turns, endless impossibilities that all culminated in full force. But the grand casino that took up an entire dimension and then some was nothing like the other Floors prior to it. In fact, there were quite the many oddities that plagued the gambler’s paradise. Something just felt off, wrong….but for people like Kanbaru, Akiko, and even the descendants of Gradon and Eris, there was nearly a buzz of familiarity and warmth that engulfed their body and soul. Or maybe that was just the overtly bright lights from this stimulus nightmare.

Still, there were anomalies all the same. Akiko’s currency of bees stalled and faltered the slot machines a few times. Some of the casino’s customers gave her annoyed looks but didn’t press on the matter, as if sensing what her relevance was to the grand casino but almost as if they looked down on such paltry currency. Eventually the machines did work, and through time and effort-though what time was there truly in this world?-a feline card was granted to Akiko. By sheer impossibility, the potential and probability of obtaining a Windela card was perhaps only possible in a chaotic place like this. Still, the card was hardly friendly.

The cat on the card’s printed surface seemed to be glaring right at Akiko. And when she eventually rejoined Kanbaru and the rest of the group, it looked like the card was bristling too. Perhaps if it was paired with its partner the cat wouldn’t look so sour in the company of lesser crowds. Speaking of such crowds, Marianne was in herself left unamused with her fellow Vassal child. By sheer improbable luck she was laying in Farris’ arms like some sort of blushing bride.

The annoyance flashed in an instant, replaced with a coy look. “My, my Farris. I didn’t think you had such strong feelings for me~ Best not let Rama see us before I have to rattle your chain with hers~” Marianne slid herself out of Farris’ grip; as soon as her feet touched the ground the casino Floor(?) reacted in kind. Her outfit shimmered with a maddening light and soon she adorned a new attire much more fitting of the décor. The very same transformation latched onto Farris, demanding she look the part meant to be played.

“Seems Aunt Harley doesn’t like freeloaders. If we’re to be expected to work, why not have a little fun with it~” she mused, also noting her flesh was real now and data no longer. “Ah, so that’s the game…fufufu~ Come along my chocolate bunny. I can sense the turmoil in my host’s heart and, ahhh, it frets me to see him lost like a cub in the woods.” Marianne didn’t ask for permission. She’d drag Farris off towards Thomas’ direction. It wouldn’t be hard to bump into him for despite the casino’s intricate navigation, finding those meant to be found was shockingly easy.

Such was the case of the two cousins, Katie not even surprised Erika located her so easily. Her mood didn’t dampen but it didn’t exactly improve either with the blonde making a scene, nor did she deny the order Erika placed for them. The casino’s staff only giggled for Erika before moving along to fulfill the Heir of Entropy’s order. Soon enough they returned with the milkshakes in hand even as more of them gathered around Kanbaru and Akiko’s group to fulfill any desires their twisted little hearts craved for.

Katie put aside her glass full of, no doubt, stronger stuff than a milkshake. She traded it for the creamier drink and sipped. “Not in the mood Erika,” she said with a sigh. The dark-haired girl appeared just a bit more ragged than what was seen minutes before. For anyone else, one could assume she was just exhausted from the fight but Erika knew better. Erika could see Katie’s time was different than the last instance she saw her, as if it was fast forward and displaced. Indeed, it had been quite a while since Katie visited the Tower, time advanced as she left it in the heat of Nephuna’s battle. And now she was back(?).

“You can feel it can’t you,” Katie continued. “This isn’t the Tower. This is the worst possible place that makes the Tower look friendly.” But that was neither here nor there. Another round of moody silence passed between them but Katie wouldn’t remain tight-lipped for long. “Why did you come to the Tower by the way?” The question bothered her more than she realized. There was no need for Erika to come all this way so why now.

---

@Gardevoiran



In spite of her helpful warnings it seemed some were more staggered by their transition then others. Thomas had hardly gotten a sense of his bearing before running off looking for Riku, or so his shouting seemed to tell Kanbaru. The whale pinched her nose and sighed, not needing eyes to know the staff would be following him like chum to sharks.

"It's bad enough Marianne rides him like a sock puppet, but that boy is going to get eaten alive in here. Guess I gotta go-"

Everything screeched to a halt when the now alone whale found Akiko joining her, and for all that the feline's presence was disturbed before, she had gone completely around the bend now. At a glance her sense's relaxed, the presence of another Jester amusing her parasite, but that feeling of comfort made Kanbaru's skin crawl.

"Wow. I knew you were power hungry, but I thought that little urge to dominate others would have made you averse to joining my team." Kanbaru stiffened, forgetting Thomas entirely as she felt the particular gaze of Akiko settle on her. and the whale snarled viciously.

An image overlapped with her own, another time, another place. Data of a different sort that came together in a digital avatar. It was the first Kanbaru to touch the JSTR and link all others. It's eyes met Akiko's and her hands blurred, raising a handgun more suited to hunting elephants then cats. The connection snapped like a rubber band pulled too tight, severed by what was, is, and will be again.

"Keep those eyes to yourself, Akiko. I've just gotten my hands on a wolf and unlike me, she doesn't mind mauling cats."

Thomas unfortunately would be left waiting a while as the Tower switched and turned, leaving everyone in a flux once more.

The princess had taken up refuge in the casino and found she had actually grown to like the place. Compared to the dreary and battle intensive Abyss where she had yet again been killed this was a lovely change of pace. Having snatched a new costume from the wardrobes she'd adapt to a new role of a humble casino proprietor.

Katie would soon be joined with a short princess standing across the bar from behind, offering her a milkshake instead of the hard drink she was downing. She took pleasure with so quickly appearing once again with no warning.

"Why the long face, Katie? You can't be miserable in a wonderful place like this. Finally, no more prolonged nonsense about angry wolves and time warping demons! Erika is a real sweetie and gave me a job here! Check out my clothes!"

She'd steal a sip of Katie's drink and then make a disgusted face, sticking out her tongue.

"Yuck! You drink this stuff!?"

After pausing a moment, she'd think further on the people she hasn't seen.

"Have you seen Thomas anywhere? He was such a nice boy! Hope he comes back soon!"

---

Kanbaru had a new golden card that had appeared in her shorts pocket during the tower's transition. It felt as though it had always been there but the whale knew better about the ways of the Tower than most. On its visage was the pale form of Nephy, standing proud and giving a fanged smile as if always taunting the whale even if the real Nephy had managed to escape the tower.

Probably the best farewell Kanbaru and the others would get from that devious pair.

---

"Sheesh, bluey, lighten up. Look at it this way, I'm much more useful to you now than I was before~." Akiko's words began to sew themselves into the world around her, almost like she was leaving an impact herself. Regardless, ignoring the obvious elephant gun wielding avatar that Kanbaru was protected by (some defense mechanism, considering the target of said gun), Akiko glanced at the Windela card and ended up stroking her finger along its edge.

"No worries, my friend. We'll reunite you with your other half soon enough." Akiko grinned, looking all around the floor for a moment before her gaze settled back on Kanbaru. "Oh, are you referring to Nephetos? I'm not scared of your..." She paused, making a so-so motion in her hand. "Puppy-dog-threats, bluey, and I'm sure Lorelai would love to mount your head on a wall. Alas, we've got other things to consider here, so we're to do what we need and move from this floor to the next, yes?"

She straightened her suit slightly. "You tell me what I can't see, I tell you what I can. We figure out a plan from there." The annoyance in the air was palpable and persistent, like a faulty sauna. To any, it was evident that Akiko was a little done with Kanbaru's act.

The cat looked at her remaining cat card and stared at it. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me how we can get along, become one permanently within this hellhole of a Tower?"

“Ladies, ladies, let’s not fight in my club~”

Time seemed to stop for just a moment, a sensation Akiko was probably used to by now. Only, a closer inspection of the Casino around them showed time wasn’t paused but, rather, every patron and customer halted where they were. Then motion returned to their muscles and frame as if nothing had happened. And nothing did. Except Harley was here. The bunny waitresses backed away from the Jester pair as their owner made herself known, sent off to attend to other guests.

“Good to see you tall, dark, and brooding,” the Jester’s Vassal said to Kanbaru. “And you. Well just look at you. Aren’t you just green behind the cat ears.” Harley turned right to Akiko with a too wide grin and too wide eyes, one pupil mismatched to the other. “Girls, let me level with you. Let’s not make a mess of my Casino just because we have some unresolved tensions. Especially you,” she continued, gaze unblinking as it peered into Akiko’s core. “Just cause we think you might be useful doesn’t mean we’re not below taking away your fancy clothes again. So let’s not stir the boat, kk?”

She’d have left it at that, the maker of the Casino and progenitor of this world knowing the two could get along if pushed to the right circumstance. But something Akiko said stopped her and the Vassal turned her full attention to the girl now. “You think you’re…? Ah…ahaha..ahaahahah! Oh man that’s rich. That’s classic. You’re classy.” Harley jokingly and lightly punched Akiko in the shoulder followed with a, “You kidder! Don’t tell me you didn’t even notice? Oh yeah you’re totally still a complete noob. I know Kanbaru picked up on it~” The Vassal sneered with crossed arms before reclining back into a convenient monochrome chair manifest behind her.

“Look around you dear. You still think this is the Tower? We’re on a FLOOR? Hahaha! But no. This is all real. You’re in MY dimension now so let’s not do anything rash to upset ME.” Harley waved a hand to visualize her point. There was no data here, no replications of people or beings, only the poor patrons who found themselves wandering this maddening Casino for eternity’s end and them some. They were no longer inside the Tower. “Oh yeah you’re free to leave. You’re one of us now so I don’t care. But why do that when you can kick back and relax~? Play some cards in my refuge~?”

Further away, Katie already came to such revelations. It was the basis of her conversation with Erika anyway, the both of them sensing the difference and change. But some of them were less guided than others. Some of them actually embraced this mad atmosphere with no care for danger. Some of them were Riku. Katie blinked as her drink was replaced with….another milkshake. She supposed she was running low but Riku’s appearance was still surprising.

“Where did you get that outfit?” Katie said, immediately suspicious. “If you stole it, the security will be on you in a heartbeat. They’re probably just waiting for the right moment too.” It did little to really lessen Katie’s sour mood but her frown did loosen a bit from Riku’s presence. Especially when she sampled her milkshake. Katie almost perked a grin at the bunny girl’s reaction though kept it in lest she do so in front of Erika. “It’s not as bad as it tastes. You’ll get used to it. As for Thomas, I think I can hear him screaming nearby. This place has a tendency to smack people meant to be found into each other so he’ll come to us eventually.”

---

"The hell is this place..."

Thomas muttered to himself, stumbling around extravagantly dressed gamblers and drinkers through the overwhelmingly vibrant surroundings of the casino. He'd occasionally lock gazes with those who bothered looking back at the boy, offering each one a confused look as he tried to discern their true nature. There were so many of them, and they all seemed so real, so genuinely real. Real in a way he now realised he hadn't sensed since entering the Tower. But that just wasn't possible, they couldn't be, they had to be data. That was, unless... okay, now he really needed to find someone. Or at the very least learn what exactly had occurred for things to be the way they were.

There was something increasingly intoxicating about the environment of the casino as well, and despite his mind being on other things, more and more Thomas felt an almost magnetic pull of temptation trying to lead him over to the vibrant slot machines or action-packed tables. Not only that, but the deeper he wandered into this place the more he felt as though he was being watched. Not just from one place, but almost like there were multiple gazes set on the boy at once, gazes that dispersed as soon as his violet eyes swept around to try and catch those looking in the act. For all its glitz and glamour, this place felt incredibly off, like there was something terrible hidden just beneath its exterior that its inhabitants purposefully ignored for their own sake.

The oddities didn't stop there, as suddenly Thomas was left as almost the only person moving within the sea of bodies for just a moment, all noise and commotion abruptly cutting off for a reason unknown to the young Violet for now. And though the jarring nature of that halt in movement, almost of life entirely, left the boy feeling slightly disoriented, it at least gave him the opportunity to spot a couple of others a short distance away who remained similarly unfrozen, before the normal comings and goings of the casino resumed. Soon those 'couple of others' gained recognisable form to Thomas as he got close, unmistakeably the figures of Kanbaru and Akiko, but there was a third with them now. One he did not recognise.

"Someone from the Tower? Or... someone else entirely?" Thomas muttered again to himself, musing breathlessly before moving straight to Kanbaru to address her directly. "Kanbaru, what the hell are we doing in this place? What happened, why are we here? And you." He didn't even wait for an answer before continuing, turning his violet gaze to Harley. "Who are you?"

The boy's voice was hoarse and his words were rushed. His injuries left from the Abyss still afflicted him, but whether it was because of them or some other hidden cause, Thomas was being far more upfront than usual. Perhaps he'd just begun to grow a pair now, but that was neither here nor there, given that his exerted and mildly pissed off look gave the impression that he wasn't up for taking much crap at this point.

"The good son always comes back home. Isn't it like that?" Erika answered Katie's question in a roundabout way before taking another sip of her milkshake. "You should listen to your new girl friend. That stuff you were having earlier is bad for you," she added while checking Riku up. Even though Erika had to agree with Katie, that just taking one of the casino's outfits was literally asking for trouble, she couldn't help but think that Riku looked good in it.

"Do I need a reason to come visit my cousin? Especially after you just disappeared out of nowhere one day? Actually, I wasn't even the only one. But it seems that Dumb Tiger lost her way somewhere in the Tower," Erika said casually after being interrogated about her motives. "That said, I couldn't exactly anticipate that things would turn out like this. Who would've thought you were on an outing with 'that' kind of people?" She said, not even bothering to mention whose of Katie's companions she was referring to, lest they attract even more unwelcome company.

"I wouldn't worry about that if I were you. It's just like Miss Grumpy here said. This place is all about luck, you'll eventually find your friends once again." Erika followed up on Katie's explanation before drawing a deck of cards from her coat and fanning them before Riku's eyes. "Believe in the heart of the cards and all that. And, if you don't find them, I guess I wouldn't bother adopting a cute bunny like you~"


"Well well, this place is full of tricks, isn't it?" Farris said when she noticed that the Marianne she was holding was not a creation of the Tower anymore, but rather the genuine, lecherous article. "And here I thought it was the other way around. At least that's what Rama likes to brag to everyone and their mother, literally," she replied to Marianne's quip about Rama.

"What the!? Grrr!" Farris' voice came out as a literal growl as she noticed the form that had been foisted upon her not only placing her into such an unbecoming outfit but also revealing the baser attributes she inherited from her mother. "I should have expected you to be fine with this kind of humiliation, but what do you mean by work? You know what kind of thing that means over here, don't you?" the wolf said even as she was dragged by the collar towards Thomas and the rest.

---

"I suppose so. But in the meantime let's sneak around this casino and loot anything valuable. Maybe there's some powerful artifacts around here to help us with the next levels. I wanna get stronger so I can be more useful. A thief's skillset seems to rarely come up in this crazy place!"

Just as she had sat down, the princess is up and pacing around again with great energy in her steps. Katie would notice her dog ears have disappeared and replaced with her old human ones.

"So what are you waiting around here for? Let's get moving and find other people. You said they'd start hunting after me so it's probably best not to stay in the same place for too long."

Already the princess is off, and would search for the others and hope KAtie found the will to follow along after her.

Before Akiko's arrogance could push Kanbaru to considering how far she could discipline an uppity junion among the Jester's ranks, the Casino was saved from a the grisly fate of being their collatoral damage by it's own proprietor's intervention. Instantly Kanbaru's mood brightened the tension dropped, a mix of trust and wariness ensuring her no conflict would happen while Harley wished for peace.

"Well, not like I have a problem sitting back and letting you hang yourself, kitten. But if your Serei wants to try and take my head, I'll be happy to show you why Lorelai are the cheapest bicycles in the village. Everyone gets a ride~" Kanbaru said with feigned sweetness, though the brightness in her eyes and the revelation this was not the Tower meant she had no reason not to make good on it.

Blessedly distractions were no aplenty, and she felt a weight slip off her shoulders as Thomas emerged without half a dozen bunnies dragging him into sinful debauchery. Having a....passing familiarity with Marianne's yandere tendencies, she could guess that Thomas would be torn to shreds if he found himself pulled between Bunnies and the clockwork reaper.

Then he had to mouth off aggressively to Harley and suddenly his life expectency got even shorter. With him turned away from her and exposing his back, she did the first thing that came to mind and hugged him. Hard. As his head disappeared into her cleavage she smiled at the owner of the Casino and ruffled the boy's hair.

"Isn't he adorable? He had a lot of excitement last floor and the energy hasn't left his system yet. Why, he didn't even introduce himself. This is Thomas. He's a good boy when Marianne isn't riding his prostate."

---

Akiko blinked at the revelation of the floor not actually being a part of the Tower. An uncouth truth that she had yet to understand, but she shrugged at Harley's demeanor towards her irregardless. "Ehh, I've only had the whole package for a couple of minutes, forgive me for not noticing things." She straightened up for a moment as she glanced between Kanbaru and Harley, pondering her words as her eyes flickered back and forth between their hues.

"While I disagree with your assertion that my Lorelai is like that, I'm fine with letting you have that for now. Least she's better at it than you." Akiko let that sit there before continuing with a grin. "Nevertheless, I suppose we can keep our hands to ourselves for the time being, or any substitutes." Castle manifested behind the cat for a moment as it's full stand form before shrinking down to the shadowy cat it took as a form in more passive roles.

Then Thomas came up and started to demand answers to a cavalcade of questions. Kanbaru took the mantle of trying to dial him down for Harley, an act that Akiko had to admit was probably for the best, and Akiko felt the need to maybe answer the questions in wait. Or well, maybe lie about them.

"She's responsible for the establishment we've been thrust into, Thomas." Castle winked towards Harley as Akiko spoke. "When the world needed a place to place us, it spat us out here. Not that I'm complaining, I might refresh myself with a milkshake after whatever happened back there." Her ears flicked slightly.

"But alas, I feel as if I should maybe find Riku or anyone else, though I would like to ask some questions to you, Harley, if you'd spare a minute." Akiko turned to face her, weird ghost cat on her shoulder. "I promise you, I'll have my claws up~."


While that was going on, however, a familiar face stopped to observe the scene, waiting, wondering...

"Kanbaru? Is that you?"

A deep and hot pressure pushed on Thomas’s chest but the sensation lasted for only a heartbeat. Harley’s mismatched gaze traced over the boy before an eye as red as blood and an eye as deep as the ocean stared right at him. Harley’s expression was quiet and devoid of emotion and she stared through the boy’s skull, Kanbaru and Akiko’s makeshift make up ignored. It lasted no more than the same heartbeat with the boy smothered in whale and Akiko taking his place with explanations. Funny. The two Jesters ensuring the boy lived. It was ironic.

It was so funny Harley cracked a smile, her madness caught by Akiko as the youngest of them turned to her. “That’s funny. You’re funny. Best not to say any more stupid things funny boy,” said Harley. She pinched Thomas’s cheek and pulled it around even as Kanbaru’s chest smothered the back of his head. She’d only let go when she felt more people enter her Casino. It felt as if she’d lapse into another one of her staring silences before her grin only curved.

New acquaintances, new souls to caress and gamble. Both former Magical Girls. Now wasn’t that so interesting? It was even funnier both of them were champions of rival Vassals. That was too much of a laugh to pass up on. “Fine. I’m all ears Hello Kitty,” Harley addressed Akiko, smoothly resting back in her chair, ultimately uncaring of the newbies wandering her halls. “Let’s chat.”

Further away were two distinct bunny girls who clearly didn’t fit. But Marianne saw no difference in Farris’s demeanor, at least none that affected her current sights. Instead, she only yanked the other Vassal’s collar harder as if trying to make her gasp. “Come along pup. You’re going to sniff out my dearly beloved~ Maybe then I won’t pawn you off to Harley for a week,” she said with a giggle. Even so, the very real threat of that underlaid Marianne’s words, dragging Farris by her heels if she had to. She could practically taste Thomas…

Even further away was the bar and Katie ruminating her cousin’s words. “I think I heard the others encounter Itsuko. She’s as bad as you when it comes to adventuring,” she said, putting her milkshake cup down. “I disappeared because I didn’t want to be found. Simple as that,” she followed up, suddenly finding this conversation annoying. Or too personal. She left her chair if only to pursue Riku. Apparently, the threat of constant watch and punishment wasn’t enough of a detraction for the princess.

Katie noted Riku’s lack of wolf ears, wondering then if that was because they were no longer inside the Tower or if Harley hated Lola that much. Well, “hate” in all the ways Harley could fathom. “How about we don’t steal anything? Are you trying to piss the patron off?” she grumbled, beckoning Erika to follow. “Come on. Someone has to keep an eye on that idiot before she does something to get us all kicked out-”

Too late. One of Harley’s deformed bunny girls blocked Riku’s path, the princess bumping right into it. It stared down at her with hands on its hips and face too close. Maybe it thought Riku was just another server in the club? That had to be the case as the bunny girl yanked Riku by her wrist and started to drag her away to other workers and her new role among the Casino.

---

Yui had bid farewell to her benefactor's servant, Bonesword, after he had guided her here and gave her a final word of encouragement before taking his leave. As soon as the gates closed behind her, though, she felt the immensity of her new task. What was before her, she could barely make sense of; a great landscape flashing lights, improbable almost cartoonish land marks with gears and giant letters and...a Casino? It seemed like this place was, in fact, a great and outlandish casino straight out of a cartoon.

Garbed in her newly given look after her encounter with Gaiatia and entering her service, Yui's more traditional attire clashed a lot against her surreal surroundings. Undeterred, she began her exploration of the place and walked for a long enough while without encountering anything of real significance. Of course she saw people buzzing about, but no one really paid too much mind to her it seemed as they seemed almost in a trance like state of playing the games, gambling and what not. That was until, distracted, she was walking backwards while looking around her and her back ran into someone.

Yui immediately turned around, thinking she'd see some random people from the crowd ignoring her - but instead when the green haired girl looked she saw a blond girl dressed in yellow and black stripes looking back at her.

"Oh! I'm...I'm sorry! I was trying to find my way and...Do I...know you?" she suddenly asked, mid sentence, as the girl in front seemed to vaguely look familiar to the ex-Magical Girl. A little snake, seemingly made of vegetation, stared with intent perched around Yui's arm.

Perhaps Thomas wasn't in quite the right state of mind given everything that had happened, or perhaps he was in completely the right state of mind. Either way his newfound confidence was not exactly being taken well, which was probably fair given just how unthinking he had been with his forwardness. Even though the boy had grown considerably during his first appearance in the Tower, it was still always better to play it safe rather than sorry with the various strangers the group came across. However, it became clear quite quickly that the person he'd so boldly asked the identity of was not a stranger to all in his party.

Unfortunately there was no chance to follow up on this revelation, as Thomas quickly found himself pulled away by a grip that was equal part strong as it was desperate to shut him up before he did any more damage, and smothered with almost painful tightness by a pair of firm hands and an ample chest.

"Mhhrpf! Khhnbrrh!" The boy exclaimed in muffled surprise as his violet eyes practically disappeared into buxom flesh, eyes that winced as a scolding and slightly aggressive rub to his head followed in an attempt to endear him to this new mystery woman. He'd fight and struggle a little against Kanbaru's iron-clad grip at first, before coming to a standstill once he realised that the quickest way he'd escape the whale's bearhug was probably by standing still and shutting up, at least for now.

Besides, once it set in for Thomas what exactly he was squished up against he became almost too terrified and flustered to move a muscle. Even just turning his head slightly would cause those two stifling orbs to bounce and rub against him even more as they jutted out either side of his face. Harley would find herself pulling on a warm, blushing cheek as she went to scold the boy herself, still managing to inject a piercing feeling of dread into him with her subtly threatening words despite everything else going through his mind... and, well, around it.

Akiko giving the young Violet what was essentially an answer to his question also helped to simmer him down, at least making the way he burst onto the scene not completely worthless but still leaving him with far more questions than he had originally entered with. But at this point that was the norm he'd come to expect from the Tower, or... whatever this place was.

At this point he tried to pull away from Kanbaru, gentler this time, now more flustered and more curious than ever as his racing mind overwhelmed and smothered him almost as much as his teammate's chest. Plus it was getting a little more difficult to breathe at this point, and the last thing Thomas wanted to have happen was for him to fall unconscious given his company, not to mention the unfamiliar location. Even now, in that blinding and muffling bosom, it still felt somehow like gazes were being cast his way from a distance. Coming and going, back then gone again. He'd pat Kanbaru's arm softly with his hand, a slightly nervous indication that he was ready to see the light of day, or rather of florescent visual overstimulation, once again. The thought of more people, especially Riku, seeing him like this made him want to sink into the floor and join wherever the Abyss floor had gone.

"How can we steal something." Riku mocked Katie's tone. "C'mon, it's a casino! There's always something to profit from!"

With that, Riku departed and canvassed over the brightly lit halls of the casino. With her disguise it's easy for her to get involved in whatever activity she saw fit. Sniping some cash from a distracted host's wallet or peeking over her cards to get an extra help in a blackjack game.

This didn't go unnoticed. Eventually she'd run into Harley's goons who stopped her in her tracks and had her grabbed by the arms.

"Hey hey hey! I work here too, girls! You've got the wrong person! There must be some other crazy bunny stealing goods around here! I think they go by...Kanbaru! Yeah! That's the name I heard!"

Regardless of her words, the princess is dragged away and out of sight.