With one last collective strike from everyone, the Oni was finally defeated. With its strength faded, each repeated blow of magic sent a dust of glass flying, ripping away parts of its body like parts of a figurine. Before they could go in for another all-out-attack, though, the Oni evaporated into a mist of glass dust that flew away in the breeze. A flash of glass reflection revealed a quick image of a smiling couple, but it was far too glimpse and it didn't seem to stir any kind of memory within Sato, so he opted to ignore it for the time being.
Suddenly, presumably because they had defeated the shadow, the oppressive air of the village seemed to lift. Sato smiled to himself as he breathed in the fresher-seeming air. It felt a lot more like the real world, which was quite a relief when coupled with the fact that Megumi shared of how the area seemed to be completely absent of shadows now. The group decided that they were pretty much done after dealing with that mess, and opted to head back out and rendezvous with Rui's group-- they had little doubt their team had overcame whatever challenges they had met. Sato walked over to Shizuka's side after, offering her his help if she wasn't feel well enough to walk all the way back out. She had taken quite the hit, after all.
Outside, back at the warehouse, the group waited for a few minutes before Rui's group emerged as well, revealing that they had managed to save another victim from the Mirror World. Kami offered to carry them over to the hospital, but with that they had nothing else to do or discuss, leading to a quick disbanding of the group. It was already getting late, so Sato decided he should head home, but not without walking Mako home first. They went down the streets a little slower than usual, and when the time came for Sato to part ways, the moment to take those parting steps felt like an hour.
Once home, Sato decided to try to study for a bit, but the fatigue of their Mirror World weighed on him heavily. It felt like a drug was slowly pulling away from the world of consciousness, so for the sake of his back, Sato slinked away from his desk and fell into his bed. Though his body seemed to melt away into sleep, his consciousness felt like it was still alive, something beckoning his mind...
JULY 22TH 2015, THURSDAY
Middle of the Night Sato's senses slowly came back to him, gradually becoming aware of his surroundings. Once the black faded from his vision, Sato looked around, quickly realizing that he had found himself in the Velvet Room once again. Sato found himself getting frustrated with the familiar murkiness and droning music that characterized the place, but he tried to ignore it and realized that all of the seats had finally been filled, even if he couldn't quite make out who each of the silhouettes were. Though, just as Sato's consciousness began to fade, a clapping sound resounded throughout the room. The room suddenly lit up, the lights piercing through the fog that had previously obscured the room. With the new-found light, Sato found himself finally able to make out everyone else in the room. His fellow guests turned out to be nobody else but every other member of the investigation team. Rui, Mako, Shizuka, Matt-- everyone was here, all corresponding to a tarot arcana, even the last couple of victims they had just saved the other night (and the hawk?). Though, for some reason, all of them were also in overly fancy outfits. Some of them were impressive, actually, but that wasn't the point.
Like always, Sato's body felt disconnected from his consciousness, and he could only manage to move his head, unable to rise from his chair no matter how much he wanted to. He briefly wondered if he could try to talk to the people that sat next to him, but before he even bothered trying, he decided that it would be better to just listen to the man with the long nose.
"Welcome," Igor said, with a deep drawl,
"to the Velvet Room."
