baraquiel

Avalia

Woe and Pain

Name: The Masks of Zaturna

Species: Soul-infused homunculi

Danger Level (1-10): 6 when alone, 8 when together

Joined Abilities:
- Madness Miasma
- Sorrowful Aura
- Illusion-casting
- Shadow-travelling

Weaknesses:
- Light Magic
- Purification Magic
- The sun
- To free the souls of the children, one must break both their Masks at once with the same ax used to split Zaturna's Mask in half.

The story of Zaturna has long been forgotten by the people of Avalia, yet his memory still exists in hushed whispers and frantic rumors. No one even knew his species as they say he was even more terrible and horrifying than a demon as even speaking his name out loud brought shivers down their spines. However, legends say that his soul is infused within his mask and whoever successfully finds and wears it will be granted power beyond their wildest dreams. All those who tried and failed to find his mask end up in both madness and sorrow until the only thing that can bring them freedom is death. Those who succeeded in finding his mask couldn't handle the power it possesses and they too end up dead. Even when he is not here, Zaturna still finds a way to bring woe and pain to everyone...

Pain

Name: Zatu, Mask of Mania
Individual Abilities:
- Madness Miasma
- Illusion-casting

Zatu is the male half of the pair. Unlike his sister, he is more energetic and animated. His body is stronger and his reflexes are faster, allowing him to easily battle a group of skilled warriors on his own. Those who stand near the Mask of Mania or even dare to look at him will be consumed with pure madness. They will act on their darkest impulses and will turn into the primal, savage versions of themselves. It is said that those consumed with madness brought by Zatu have known to go into a killing spree, murdering anyone in their path. He is more powerful when he is with Urna.

Woe

Name: Urna, Mask of Sorrow
Individual Abilities:
- Sorrowful Aura
- Shadow-travelling

Urna is the female half of the pair. Unlike his brother, she is more quiet and stoic. She is known to do a haunting yet elegant dance over corpses, humming along to a tune only she could hear. Those who stand near the Mask of Sorrow or even dare to look at her will be consumed with deep sorrow. It will remind them of their deepest feelings of regret, sadness, and grief all at once. They will lower their defenses as grave sadness consumes them until they are devoid of emotions. They will find they can't do anything to stop their sorrow; they will have no choice but to accept the sweet release of death by killing themselves to end their woes. She is more powerful when she is with Zatu.

Avalia

---

TIME: Many years ago
LOCATION: Slums of Roshmi City
INTERACTIONS: none

---

"Stop that kid!", shouted a guard to his men as he pointed at a child running away. The child mention looked back at them and stuck his tongue out in a teasing way before running and disappearing into an alleyway. The guards chased after the kid but when they got to the alleyway, he was gone. The alleyway was filled with random junk and the kid just hid behind one of the bigger ones.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are... You little brat", the guard said with spite. The kid closed his mouth so he wouldn't hear his breath as the guards walked closer and closer to his hiding spot.

Just then, one of the guard's men called their attention. "I found him, sir! He went inside a shop!". The guard ordered his men to go to that area. The guard stayed behind for a bit, growling and leering at the pile of junk, before leaving the alleyway and following his men.

After a few minutes of tense waiting, the kid emerged from his hiding spot. He looked at the direction where the guards were heading to and then, making sure the coast was clear, he went in the opposite direction with a smug look on his face. There were those who have seen the child, but those who live in the slums were too caught up in their own problems to care about some random kid's law-breaking.

The kid passed a grungy store with windows to look at his reflection. Bits of dirt and grime were on his ragged clothes and his yellow-ish-green-scaled body was etched with various scars he gained from living on the streets and fleeing from the city guards. He looked at the bag he stole which comprised of freshly baked bread he stole from a baker.

Neither he nor his younger sister knew anything about their parents; they don't even have names. The only thing he could remember was living in an orphanage, where he grew up to become a wild troublemaker while his sister grew up to be mute. He would always end up in fights with the other kids who teased his younger sister. The siblings were not likable by prospective parents either as they don't want to adopt a hard-headed troublemaker boy or a special-needs mute girl. Knowing that no one will ever love them, they both left the orphanage as they believe it's better for them to live in hardship together as they always knew they had each other's backs.

In this part of Roshmi, it's every demihuman for themselves. The young boy made sure that he secured a spot for him and his sister so they'll never have to worry about finding a place to sleep in. As the boy approached their spot, he could hear a bunch of children laughing and it seemed that it came from the direction of their spot.

The boy rushed to the place and discovered that a bunch of other street children was teasing his sister. They were more heartless than the kids at the orphanage; they tugged at his poor sister's hair, pushed her around and kicked her, while she could only cower in a fetal position as tears ran down her face. One of them grabbed the girl's cherished stuff toy and began to tear it apart right in front of the sister, and that's when the young lizard boy first heard his younger sister cry. It was so loud and full of pain and hearing it made the brother remember all the hardships they have endured together. He felt the bread he stole drop to the ground, and then he blacked out.

When he came to, the first thing he saw was his sister's face that's full of fear. He looked around and saw the children that were once teasing his sister were now lying motionless on a pool of blood. They were covered in scratches, bite marks, and bruises; most of them even had broken bones. He looked at his hands and was surprised to see that he too was mostly covered in blood, their blood.

He fell on his knees on to the pool of blood, realized what he's done and cried in anguish for the first time in years. His sister crawled to him and hugged him as he shook in fear and shock, not caring about her becoming stained in blood. They cried in each other's arms: the brother because of how much of a failure he was from not being able to give a better life for the both of them, and the sister because she knew how much her brother sacrificed for the both of them.

"If only there was a way, huh?"

The siblings stopped crying in surprise to look at the person who just spoke. The brother immediately faced the stranger, spreading his arm to keep his sister protected behind him. The stranger was using an umbrella and wore very foreign clothing. Her long, white hair flowed through the wind, and she looked at the siblings with a glint in her pupil-less yellow eyes.

"There is nothing more powerful in this world than the bond of a family. You have endured so much together, experienced so much together, at such a tender young age. You may call me Sakura and I'm here to help you. I know you want nothing in this world than to be together forever, so I have a proposition to make...

I want both of you to help me do some work. In exchange, I will both give you power you can't even imagine, power you can use to defend yourselves, and power you can use to hurt those who dare hurt you back. Of course, both of you will be inseparable. Nothing and no one can ever tear you apart from each other."

As Sakura said that, she knelt down and handed out the little girl's stuff toy that looked good as new. The girl's eyes brightened and she grabbed her toy while smiling graciously at Sakura. The boy was still confused about whether or not to trust this stranger, because no one actually paid attention to them nor showed them kindness.

"If you agree to my proposition, all you have to do is take my hand." Sakura said as she opened her hand while smiling serenely at them. The girl smiled at her brother, eyes twinkling with excitement. Trusting his sister's judgment, he looked at Sakura, nodded, and shook her hand.

---

TIME: Later than night
LOCATION: Sakura's place of witchcraft, somewhere in Daka Island
INTERACTIONS: none

---

The siblings, once feeling cleaned and refreshed from taking a decent bath and having a decent dinner for years, now knelt in the middle of a blood circle while facing together. Candles surrounded the perimeter of the blood circle and Sakura stood at the edge, holding a large wooden mask. Standing beside her were two figures made of various materials, mostly wood. Their heights were exactly the same as the siblings'.

When Sakura began chanting, the flames on the candles turned grey and grew in size, surrounding the three of them in a large tornado of grey fire combined with the shadows of the night. The siblings began to cower in fright, but Sakura wrapped them in an embrace and gently shushed them. "Would you like me to tell you a story?". Sakura kindly asked the two of them, and they nodded.

"There was once a man, grey and hollow
Where woe and pain were sure to follow
Weighted by the curse of being alone
Burdened with sins he hoped to atone..."

While Sakura told them the story, the grey fire began to consume the siblings. They arched their backs and screamed in immense pain. Their eyes and mouths began turning as black as night. Despite that, Sakura continued:

"As he lived on, time receded his sanity
Until his heart had forgotten how to be happy
So he picked up an ax and split his core
And he finally had a friend forevermore..."

Their bodies shuddered and they kept on screaming until two bluish-white orbs, their souls, came out of their mouths. Black energy emerged from the wooden mask, grabbing the children's souls and infusing them within it while their physical bodies burned to ash. The plan mask began to change until it turned into a despicable object of terror, a mask so horrifying that it will cause anyone who looked at it to fall into madness and despair.

The mask was brimming with power and Sakura simply picked up an ax next to the ground and split the mask into two. Both of the two halves let out a blood-curling scream and they flew around in the air, vibrating violently. They both flew into the faces of the child-like figures beside Sakura, changing their appearance to look more like two smaller versions of the original mask. The energy from the two masks flowed through the two figures' bodies, and they shook violently, their bodies jerking and snapping until they finally came to life.

"From then on, they no longer felt hollow
In their wake, woe and pain will surely follow
And when someone dares to separate the two-"

"THE MASKS OF ZATURNA WILL COME FOR YOU."

Avalia

---

TIME: Morning
LOCATION: Roshmi City
INTERACTIONS: Ayita @13org, Cadence @Helo

---

Sakura looked at how Ayita was acting like an excitedly oversized child. It was a wonder for the demoness on how the human wasn't even fazed about Aklenroth's announcement last night about hunting her kind. She should be terrified right now, hiding in the shadows and survive on insects and rats until their timely death, but here she was in plain sight and in one of the most populous cities of Avalia. Sakura even remembered about the two of her companions being so easily trusting to other people. Cade should definitely know Sakura was a demon and not all demons were to be trusted, yet he just hugged her yesterday and was even genuinely happy about having her on their side.

Suddenly, this world didn't make sense to Sakura anymore.

However, she was glad about seeing the familiar chaos of Roshmi City once again. "I have been here before, but I believe I hadn't explored the wholeness of this city yet," Sakura admitted to Cade. It was the truth: the only times Sakura had ever been here was when she was tasked by Aklenroth to assassinate someone, and she only did those as quickly and quietly as she could so this was her first time going to the city as a tourist.

Even with her umbrella opened to protect herself from the sun, she could see a handful of people throwing side-glances at her. There were lots of different kinds of races that come and go to this city, all of them have their own stories to tell from the unique adventures and types of lifestyles that they have. Sakura has yet to know what kind of secrets this bustling city had to offer.

"A weapon merchant's store? How barbaric, Cade. Everybody knows spells and hexes are far more superior than swords and whatever," Sakura scoffed with a smirk as she teased the demihuman while they walk. They said you'll get to know a person more once you know what makes them tick, and Sakura was very interested in how the large, burly cat and the strange, naive human will react to being angered. Finally, this day just got better for the demoness.

---

TIME: Morning
LOCATION: All over Avalia

---

Sakura's shades were scattered all over Avalia, each of them tasked on seeking a human and keeping an eye on them. The hard part was they were easily eradicated by light, especially sunlight, so some of them have no choice but to seek out shelter in the shadows. Thankfully, no one could ever see them unless that person was adept was sensing magic as these shikigami have a portion of Sakura's life energy inside them. They could go all night but they can't really do much in the morning. So they hid in dark corners and alleyways, sewages and even empty caves, waiting for the sun to return to its peaceful slumber again.

---

TIME: Morning
LOCATION: Sakura's house, somewhere in Daka Island

---

Click...
Click...
Click...

THE OUSAMA GAME | a Short-Term Horror

Risa was still sitting down on the ground, clutching the finger where she plucked her nail from to let the pain subside from even a little. On second thought, she really would've just used the nail on her coffin as an alternative for the King's order, but she was still unsure about everything that's going on that she decided to play it safe. Since this game was all about pain and suffering, she might as well go with the flow to win. However, it might not be that worth it when all her limbs were cut off so she had to think of a way to outsmart the King. Risa also observed the looks on everyone's faces when she acted and pried her nail off. From her perspective, it seemed that they did believe her to be nothing but a weak-hearted little girl, which meant everything was going to plan.

No matter how much fun Risa was having, her focus was still blurry from the pain brought by her finger. She saw something land next to her and realize it was a necktie. She looked up to the blond who motioned her to use it as a bandage, at which Risa replied with a grateful smile and nod. The blood stained through her red coat and she replaced it with Seven's necktie. Was this an alliance brewing or did he just feel pity for her? In any case, it definitely got her blushing a bit.

What she didn't realize was how One was so calm and collected throughout the entire process. Was she giving out an act like what Risa was doing? It definitely worked, and Risa thought of One as one bad-ass girl. Risa can't help but be excited to hear out how One will cry out in pain and agony as the game continued.

She turned her attention to Four, and Risa thought: Oh yay, looks like we have another scaredy-cat in our midst; of course, she didn't say that out loud. Then again, she doesn't blame him. Some of her 'playmates' back at her mansion were just like him: desperately trying to think of a way out, only to be met with the most excruciating way to die brought upon them by yours truly. Whoever's giving out these orders were definitely human, which meant they were kill-able.

What Seven said could also be true. If there was someone upstairs, no way would they be unarmed in any way. She looked up at the ceiling. It looked like it was so rundown and would collapse at anytime, but that might happen in a few years or so. Time was not something the group had.

She heard Seven sharing the idea of unlocking one of the doors using the key he had, which was quite questionable. "I-I want to go explore too", Risa said as she stood up and followed Seven. While he was walking towards the door, a girl with long black hair spoke up, suggesting that we try not to follow an order and that the punishment was just a bluff. Another interesting thought, but Risa didn't want to go beyond the line. After all, that's why she chose to pry her own nail off instead of getting the one on her coffin. She couldn't risk agitating the King and ordering her to take all of her fingernails out. However fun that may sound, the pain was still not worth it.

Just as Seven was inserting the key into the hole, the familiar sound of the dumbwaiter could be heard, descending from the second floor as it brought about another set of orders. The girl who spoke up was the one who approached the dumbwaiter to read the orders. Hope drained from her face while she was reading the card before she held it for everyone to see. Risa approached the girl and read the card aloud for everyone:

"Player #3, rip out all of Player #4's eyelashes. Player #6, consume the blood, tooth, nail, and lashes."

Risa's eyes lowered to look at the girl's bloodied hand and gasped, looking at her with pity. On the inside, she was bursting with laughter.

Avalia

---

TIME: Morning
LOCATION: Roshmi City
INTERACTIONS: Ayita @13org, Cadence @Helo

---

Week Summary

Sakura never really had any solid experience with talking to people. A demon's vocabulary was limited and always ranged around words 'kill', 'die', and 'death', while the dark elves were always lurking in the shadows and spoke so mysteriously that Sakura couldn't make heads or tails of what the heck they were talking about. So to have actual people with decent speaking skills to talk to were kind of surprising to the demoness, and she was even more surprised upon finding out she was enjoying her time with them. Not to mention that time when Cade hugged her. Sakura only heard of hugging in books but she never experienced it in real life until that moment. His fur was so soft, and she could actually feel his firm muscles underneath that soft fur of his. As the trio continued their adventure, Sakura would often times need to mentally stop herself from reaching out to feel Cade's fur again.

She always hated demihumans and light elves but due to that experience of Cade hugging Sakura, she couldn't wait for all of this to be finally over so she can bring Cade home to Daka Island as her personal pet.

In their journey to the forest, Ayita spoke of the world she came from where Sakura and Cade listened with utmost interest (moreso for Sakura as any information she will get was vital for her mission), and Cade relayed some of his knowledge about heroism and the various legends of Avalia. Sakura didn't really have any interesting things to share so she decided on teaching Ayita about how magic works in Avalia instead. Sakura was debating whether or not to teach Ayita how to use her magic, but she figured she had to for the sake of her mission. As time flied by, the trio continued their journey until they've reached Roshmi City. Things will only get more exciting from here.

---

Present

"Cade is right, Ayita. While the huge population of Roshmi City might look a bit scary, most if not all people will not care about what you do, what you are, and what you look like as long as it doesn't concern them," Sakura said as she and Cade help Ayita in putting on the fake elf ears against her human ones.

Sakura herself had also been to Roshmi City several times for her missions, either for intel gathering or for assassinations. She loved the diversity of the city, and it was always nice to have a nice change of scenery aside from the usual 'hellish fire and chaotic darkness' she always saw back at Daka Island. Though her hatred for elves and demihumans still ran deep, she couldn't help but be impressed in how they do things and how they lived their lives all this time, especially in how they delved into magic. Sakura always made sure to pick up a thing or two from the elves so she can also use it in casting her spells.

She smirked upon hearing Cade calling her 'she who faced down the dracolich'. "Ayita, you worry too much. Not all elves look as white as snow, though I'm not so certain if they discriminate against elves who're darker skinned...", Sakura said. She couldn't say the same about demons when one discriminated her when she doesn't look demonic enough. Sakura was kind enough to give that demon a swift and painless death.

The demoness finally sighed. "If you're concerned about fitting it, I can use a disguising spell on you to make you look and feel like an elf, though I would need a body part of an actual elf for that. Since we don't have that, we need to work with what we have." Sakura looked around and spotted a bush of blue berries. She gathered a couple and crushed them against a stone, then wiped their juices off the stone using her hands. As Sakura drew a magic symbol on Ayita's forehead using the crushed berries' juices, she chanted:

"We fear the light that bears all
Unveil our masks where pain befall
Fool the eyes that see within
Hide the truth from those not kin."

As Sakura finished her chanting and drawing of the symbol, it shined once into a pink light then turned back to its bluish color as a shimmery veil surrounded Ayita. "All done. To me and Cade, you look just like yourself. From the perspective of others, you look like a very normal light-skinned elf without the symbol on your forehead. Most magically inclined elves will notice the presence of my magic surrounding you but don't be afraid, magic is as natural as breathing for elves. Just don't wipe or wash that symbol off as it will undo my spell. I hope I helped end your doubts, Ayita the Elf," Sakura told Ayita with a reassuring smile.

THE OUSAMA GAME | a Short-Term Horror

Risa was just sitting back on her closed coffin as she watched from the sidelines. She wanted to know what kind of people she was with, and how they cope in stressful situations. She definitely keeping an eye out for the tall blond, but her attention was caught by more people emerging from their coffins. Her eyes lingered longer on the last one but it didn't open, making her think if the person in it was dead or was just too much of a scaredy cat to go out of its litter box.

Just then, she heard a creaking sound like the rest. It was a dumbwaiter that descended from the upper level, revealing two cards and shards of glass. The black-haired guy read the cards out loud. Basically, all they had to do was kill the King and rest will survive; the opposite will happen when only the King was left standing.

Risa's face stayed emotionless, but she was brimming with excitement on the inside. She has never even heard of this type of game before, but it gave her the impression that this was a psychological game as well, because all they needed to do to win was to find out the King.

Then the guy read the message on the other card, stating that either #2 or #7 should cut or bleed. A couple of moments passed and the blond guy walked past them with a grim look on his face. Risa managed to see the number on his hand - #7 - before he opened the coffin and began to cut what seemed to be #2. Two seemed to be so surprised and horrified by what just happened, it made him look like a confused puppy. Risa resisted the urge to laugh and sneer at him.

She turned her sights back at Seven, and her admiration of him grew tenfold. Risa bit her lip. She cannot wait until she can play with him and hear him scream.

Upon the completion of the order, they all heard the familiar sound of the dumbwaiter lowering again, only this time it sounded smoother than before. Seven walked to it and read the cards as he also said there was a nasty pair of pliers inside. Risa finally stood up and approached the dumbwaiter to read the message herself. Her lips quivered as she nervously raised her hand back to the group, revealing to them the #5 on her hand. With her other hand, she picked up the rusty pliers and looked up at the tall blond.

"I-I want to get this over with. I'm s-so scared, but... I wanna live", Risa said to Seven as she looked at him with sad, puppy eyes. She looked back down on the pliers on her hand and decided to remove the nail on her pinky on her non-dominant hand. Risa thought of outsmarting the King to remove the nail on her coffin instead, but where's the fun in that?

Risa removed her red coat and folded it before she bit on it. She knelt to the ground and stepped on her pinky finger to keep it from moving. She clasped the nail with the pliers and, taking deep breaths, channeled all her might into removing the nail. She filled the mansion with her muffled screams as tears started to fall from her eyes due to the pain. She bit down very hard on her coat so it would at least pacify the pain.

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity of pain, the nail finally got off. She felt like she stuck her finger into a fire from all that pain she's experiencing. She tossed the pliers away from her in fright as she cradled her bloodied finger, still kneeling on the ground in pain and shock. She didn't realize she tossed the pliers in the direction of #1.

Beneath all that pain though, was Risa having the most fun she had in years.

THE OUSAMA GAME | a Short-Term Horror

A girl awoke because of the muffled voices she heard. It took her a second before she felt her whole body completely in pain, most particularly on her head and on her hand. She couldn't remember anything that happened prior to her being in pain and in a very dark and creepy place, but it was not remembering that sent her into panic mode. She listed out all the important information about her in her head just to be sure: her name was Risa Watanabe, 20 years old, and a student at a prestigious university. She was left at an orphanage at a very young age and was soon adopted by a filthy rich couple who couldn't have a child of their own.

Risa breathed out a sigh of relief. At least she remembered all the important things about her.

It was then that she started assessing the situation. It looked like she was in a foul-smelling box and right in front of her was the stuff of children's nightmares. It's a head of a play doll with its hair tied on the nail. Its eye sockets were hollow and its chin even looked like it was burned. It had a paperclip stuck on its mouth that said 'It's time for the naughty girl to play a different game.'

Risa's eyes widened. As far as she knew, no one but her and her 'playmates' knew her secret. She even made sure to never let her playmates tell her secret to anyone. Well, not that some of them can anyways. She wondered if its their headservant, her personal bodyguard, or even the new maid that knew it. If she ever got out of whatever situation Risa was right now, she will surely find whoever knew her secret.

She lifted her hand to try to push against the cover of the box when she realized why her hand was hurting so much. Someone carved the number 5 on her hand and it still looked fresh, judging from the amount of blood dripping on it. From the doll's head to her whole body aching, Risa groaned softly not only from pain but from excitement as well; it looked like the person who did this to her really knew how to push the right buttons. It only made her determined to meet that person and make them her next 'playmate'.

She felt a little weak because of the pain but she slowly and surely pushed through the covers of the box, supporting herself as she stood up and stepped out of it. Her hunch was right: it was a coffin, though it looked poorly made for her taste. She still couldn't walk that far but thankfully, she didn't have to. She was standing in a dimly lit foyer with a bunch of other people inside yet another poorly made mansion. Heck, it wasn't a mansion, it was termites holding hands. She could hear the rain and thunder outside the mansion yet she couldn't see outside since all the windows were barred. She saw some words on the wall that looked like were written in blood, stating the rules to a game.

"King? Orders? Punishment? Wha- Is this some kind of sick joke?", Risa exclaimed. She made it look like she was angry and horrified, but she was actually feeling very excited.

Risa turned her attention back to the people with her: a black haired guy, a long-haired girl, and a tall blond man. She thought the black haired guy was super cute, but the blond guy was a total hunk in her eyes. She also noticed three more closed coffins next to them. If the four of them got out of coffins, surely there were still others inside them who're still unconscious or maybe they're just already dead.

She bent down to close her coffin so she could sit on it, letting her ease up the pain she's feeling even for just a bit. "Ugh, my whole body's in pain. Why is my whole body in pain?", Risa said as she eventually laid on top of her coffin while trying to think of ways to escape. As much as she loved playing games, Risa was getting the feeling she wasn't going to love this.

Avalia

---

TIME: Morning
LOCATION: Forest near the Sun Elf Kingdom
INTERACTIONS: Ayita @13org, Cadence @Helo, Soruklithbaal @Alivefalling

---

Sakura giggled like an excited little girl as she ran away from Soruklithbaal with the human and demihuman. She feared that the dracolich would destroy her cloud shikigami since its only purposes were to distract the dragon and to keep the forest from being burned more, but she was glad it was just as distracted as she hoped it would be. She didn't know if the dracolich was smarter than what Sakura originally thought or if he was really that distracted by her shikigami. Whichever it was, it was sure helping her plan a lot.

She glanced back as her shikigami continued to do its job, so much that she could only see glimpses of the dracolich's bony body and wings. She also knew her father the Lich King can see everything through Soruklithbaal's eyes. 'Sorry big guy, sorry father, but a demon's got to do what a demon's got to do', Sakura slyly thought to herself.

As their trio ran, Sakura took notice on the human's movement. Were humans supposed to be this fast? Even the demihuman seemed to be having difficulty catching up to her. Sakura was also surprised to find out who fast the human was; she had to infuse her umbrella with her own magic and rode it just to keep up with the two.

Upon further concentrating, Sakura could sense the faintest essence of magic emanating from the dark-skinned female. Sakura's knowledge about humans was limited, but at least she knew they're the weakest race of all. Judging from the small amount of magic the human was using, it seemed like the human didn't even realize she was using her magic in the first place. Does that mean all the other humans who arrived in Avalia can also learn magic?

Sakura smiled. The demoness was always keen to acquire new knowledge. She couldn't wait to get one back home to Daka Island to... study them. For now however, she had to continue on with her mission.

Their group ran as far away from Soruklithbaal as possible, then she motioned to the two to stop. "We have been fleeing for quite a while now. I suggest we take this moment to stop and rest," Sakura said to the two of them. They could still the dracolich's roars from afar, but Sakura hoped the big dumb dragon would understand her plans and leave them alone for now. She got off her umbrella and absorbed the magic from it to regain her life force back. "So, the rumors are true then: humans have arrived in Avalia. I expected more but I never knew humans would look so... basic," Sakura said as she approached the human.

Then she stopped herself and laughed. "Oh dear, where are my manners?". The demoness held her skirt and curtsied in front of the two. "Greetings, you may call me Sakura. It is such a pleasure meeting the both of you", Sakura said as she gave the two her serene and bright smile.

THE OUSAMA GAME | a Short-Term Horror

#5

Name:
Risa Watanabe

Age:
21

Gender:
Female

Appearance:
Risa has long black hair, very fair skin, and reddish pink eyes. She is of average height, and she always likes to look presentable and wear pretty clothes whenever given the chance. She might seem ditzy or naive because of how she acts and speaks cutely, but deep beneath her cheerful exterior lies a girl full of malice. Her true nature will come up in certain situations but she really likes to act all girly as much as she can because she believes 'not acting girl enough' makes her less as pretty.

To the observer, Risa even looks like a character of purity and calmness as he always likes to look and feel clean. He's more of a silent type, though he won't hesitate to have conversations with other people so he could invite them to appear in his web show. He likes to think of himself as simple-looking though he did have a few admirers in the past. He doesn't like conflict that much as he prefers it if any misunderstanding can be cleared up with a simple talk, but that doesn't mean he can't defend himself.

Personality Traits:
Cheerful | People-Person | Sharp-Witted | Cunning | Sadist | Manipulative

Relevant Info:
She was left at an orphanage when she was just a baby. None of the nuns running the orphanage knew who they were and why they left her there, but the nuns gave Risa a necklace that they found on her. It had a gold chain and a blood-red oval crystal surrounded by a golden circlet. She held on to it after all these years as she misses them dearly every passing day. She couldn't wait until they could be one whole happy family again and show them just how much she missed them.

D A R K - S E C R E T:

Hider

Ever since growing up, Risa had always been different. She liked to play with dolls a lot but she took glee when she'd rip them apart piece by piece. That wasn't enough for her, and soon she moved on to small animals like birds and frogs. She would even rip apart a cat too, just to see what it looked like on the inside and how it would react. For some reason, Risa liked hearing their cries of pain but the problem was they die too soon.

The nuns at the orphanage began to worry about Risa's well-being and she just kept getting returned because her adoptive parents would always be horrified of her. Things turned worse when she stabbed another child with a dull pencil over and over again. The fear in their eyes, the pain in their voice, Risa thought of what she was doing as art. It was the nuns' turn to be horrified and they sent her to a mental hospital, in hopes that they would rehabilitate her and 'save her soul from damnation'.

After a long time, Risa finally came out of rehab as the sweetest and most cheerful girl you'd see. She was soon adopted by a very wealthy couple who didn't care about her medical background at all. They gave her everything she wanted growing up, including her own money to spend with whatever she wished. Mommy and daddy were always out on business trips, so they didn't know their little angel had her secret 'playroom' within their huge mansion, where all kinds of torture devices were there. None of their maids and bodyguards knew of her dirty little secret. But when they do, that's when Risa will have the chance to find a new playmate.

Avalia

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TIME: Morning
LOCATION: Forest near the Sun Elf Kingdom
INTERACTIONS: Ayita @13org, Cadence @Helo, Soruklithbaal @Alivefalling

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All the passengers of the Amora heard that familiar roar. They all rushed outside to the balcony of the Amora and there they saw Soruklithbaal the great dracolich, burning a portion of forest to ashes. They all cheered and hollered for it, as they knew no one could withstand its might and power.

"Oh dear, looks like I'm late to the party," Sakura said as she watched the dracolich unleash another torrent of flames. To the other demons and dark elves, it might seem that the dracolich was merely causing chaos and destruction, but the demoness knew that it had already found its target. While the situation did put a dent on Sakura's plans, it was nothing major from the demoness's perspective. She should simply just, as aquatic demihumans would say, 'go with the flow'.

While the others were too busy gawking in awe at Soruklithbaal, Sakura separated herself from the crowd, opened her umbrella, and flew upwards to the sky. She yelped in pain as the sun's rays touched her skin, but she withstood it and continued flying straight through and inside a huge mass of clouds. Within it, she held a blank talisman and chanted.

"From the skies of order and seas of strife
I the rule breaker, defiler of rife
Reveal the fatal flaw
My word forever law
Seek the insentient and grant them life"

As she chanted, she could feel a portion of her life energy flowing out of her body and pouring unto the blank talisman. She knew the shikigami she would be summoning would take much more of her energy than her past creations; hopefully, it would get its job done as quickly as it can before it continued to drain more of her life energy. The talisman now bore pink markings on it and it hummed with energy. "Come to me, fulfill your duty!," Sakura said. The cloud began swirling around her, gradually picking up the pace and protecting her from the sun.

The demons and dark elves noticed what was happening and were looking suspiciously at the swirling clouds, with some of them even drawing out their menacing weapons. Sakura only smiled and giggled as she controlled her new shikigami and made it fly straight towards the direction of Soruklithbaal.

It will look just like any other cloud for some people, but upon further observation, they will notice it had a talisman on its head, signifying that it was a shikigami, a creature brought to life by the magic of Sakura. It flew at high speeds until it crash-landed on the forest, dispersing its cloud body and killing the fires brought by the dracolich with its cold air and water vapor. Then it swirled around the dracolich to confuse it and block its sights.

"Hello", Sakura said behind the demihuman and its dark-skinned female human companion. Looked like her intel was true; just by sensing the forest, Sakura could tell the pair was alone. And for the pair, it might look like Sakura just appeared behind them out of nowhere, but the demoness actually just jumped in time as the cloud landed and she ran behind the pair. "While thinking about attacking the lich king's dracolich seems brave but moreso idiotic, I would like to offer you a choice instead: either we should run away as quickly as possible while it is still distracted, or you choose to stay and become Soruklithbaal's breakfast. What say you?"