TheWendil

The Devil Hunter Agency

Where once the park experienced mild and pleasant sunny weather, it soon became bubbled in a dome of darkness courtesy of Limen. With the addition of Da-Xia becoming decommissioned from any fighting, the barrier-making demon was proving to be a formidable force by himself to the DHA. How long it would last however, given his abilities and new distraction with Hanako, was anyone’s guess, but the ghost’s efforts, as unappreciated as they were, gave the rest of Da-Xia’s team a chance to formulate some plan. That plan boiled down to simply following the bugs.

Wreathed in her tornado of fire and feathers, Beniha was able to cut clean through the chittering bug Youkai that lined her path. Experienced as she was, she would find no delay in eventually reaching where the insects gathered, deep into the wooded section of the park. It was there Rufus and Haruka had their conversation before being interrupted by the shrill hisses and chitters of the bugs. The Youkai, mindless and reliant on instinct as they were, immediately noticed the black rock supply. Without warning, they shrilled and bombarded Rufus and Haruka with near-suicidal intent, the black rocks remaining neutral even as they were collected.

It was this hellish scene that Beniha would walk into. Kaze would also eventually find his way, though at a much slower pace both from his power and for the bugs finding more attraction towards him. When he arrived, he would find a good chunk of the swarm had followed him into the fray of the woods as well. Such vibrant chaos was to be expected of those who laid in the shadows and it was almost no different to what played out at the shrine as well.

It was there where Hoshio’s team were swiftly making work of Shika’s puppet-like creatures; more importantly, the barrage of arrows rained down by Hoshio did quick work in shattering the black stones. Unlike before, instead of detonating, they disintegrated completely upon brute force impact. The rocks gave off a screech only the demons could hear before, like sprouts, they dove underground and away from the hunters. Their next appearance wasn’t too far away, popping up like mushrooms before the doppleganger Envoy and Mai, all gathered in one place.

As Maria faced the ongoing tide of red swept her way courtesy of Shika, Mai was left to handle the “civilian” before her. Indeed, there was no indication the fake Envoy was anything but human, especially given her very real reaction. Even as she fled there was already a story forming to spin to Mai about how she was simply curious about the black stones. That was assuming the hunter could catch her because the force that spooked the double revealed itself.

A large, overbearing presence wrapped over Mai and pressed down like a crushing grip. However, if she checked her surroundings, she’d notice there were no Youkai in sight. This didn’t stop the force from tightening around her as if she were caught by a hand. Perhaps this new creature was invisible? Whatever it was, it may have also been responsible for the shed skin seen littering the holy shrine grounds just before the fighting broke out.

Tower of Fable

Disjointed as they were, it seemed this latest group within the Tower had enough sense and compassion to look after one another. Or perhaps it was practicality that drove on the efforts to heal Clair. Whatever the case, Rose’s group was left relatively undisturbed by snakes and monsters when one of their own was stewing and suffering in venom. Different ailments were used from all sides, including elven magic and conjured pizza. The scene was almost peaceful were it not for Clair’s condition and the sounds now rocking the entire mansion.

Indeed, the noises of battle were beginning to rupture and shake Victoire’s estate all around as mighty forces clashed right in front of her. Within the throne room, the scenery was filled with water, fire, and fog of all kinds as the two-way battle raged as it did. While Ami and Riku continued their bout with serious intention, Annabel only sighed and propped herself back right-side up on her broom in response to Kanbaru. “What’s with you all making this a water park,” she mused, her broom suddenly moving with all the velocity of Kanbaru’s motorcycle.

She skirted and skeened off the pillar of water aimed for her, even riding it like an actual wave with her broom as a surfboard no different to Riku’s maneuver. “Hey hatty, can’t you see I’m having a nice chat with the lady here? Maybe wait your turn and I’ll think about buying you dinner.” However, any conversation continued with Victoire was to be intruded by the appearance of another. Being the only one to notice the converging source of power soon to break through her throne room doors, it was appropriate Victoire was unphased.

The snakes that attacked Rose’s crew had long since converged into a single, dark shape that now burst through the doors without a second thought. Emerging from the darkness rose a serpent as black as coal, the very same that attacked the theater room; only now it was big enough to reach towards the ceiling. Eyes gleaming a hellish purple, it gave a low reptilian hiss that shook the bones of everyone in the room as well as casting an after result. Suddenly Annabel was floating upwards without control of her broom; they all were, as gravity became displaced by the snake’s very presence.

Water and embers and fog all hovered in stasis midair, along with the rest of the room’s patrons. The snake shook its head, swiveling side to side as if looking for its next prey. When it laid its gaze upon Annabel, it blinked once in impossible regard before conjuring a dense orb identical to the one it used in the theater room. “Ah, well, guess this makes us all target practice,” the huntress said with a nervous gulp, trying to swim her way through the air to avoid line of fire.

---

The Devil Hunter Agency

Irony aside, there's nothing wrong with her. How long she'll last, we'll see. Put her in the Character Tab, @Unlucky0013.

The Devil Hunter Agency

@Unlucky0013, looking to join?

The Devil Hunter Agency

So far they seem good to me. Wait for @KoL‘s opinion.

The Devil Hunter Agency

“Well, well~” With each passing moment, by choice or chance, Shika gre to impress the Envoy. Selfies aside, the eye-patched girl watched from her portal as her distended arm was used as a model for a complete doppelganger in her image courtesy of Shika herself. It was nearly identical in appearance, though it lacked the Envoy’s voice and overall charm. While it smiled and waved when needed to, it didn’t do much aside from follow Shika around. “Overall, not bad. Color me amused~” the Envoy chuckled before Rufus’ portal dissipated at last.

Alone with her, her, and herself, Shika’s plan would yield itself into action. While the Envoy doppelganger moved off to do as it was told and collect the black rocks, the temple’s area was soon surrounded and filled with more of Shika’s spawn. Indeed, it wouldn’t be long before her plan would attract both the DHA’s attention and, in theory, whatever had left their scales laying around the holy shrine. Eventually there was movement, spurning the hunters to act, though Maria’s approach was no doubt something crasser and blunter than what Shika expected. At least the rocks were easy enough to spot, littering the place.

Over at the park, the antics of battle were underway as well. Drawn in by the black stones, the bug Youkai buzzed and swarmed where they could. Invisible to humans as most of all Youkai were, some were drawn in to feast upon the park’s residents though most were headed towards a direction that could only be assumed to be where the black stones were. If nothing else, it was supported by Hanako’s assistance, her directions aligning where the bugs were scampering to. Being attacked of course also sent some bugs to retaliate towards the hunters.

The efforts of Kaze and Beniha swiftly made short work of those few bugs who lashed out. Even Da-Xia was following to order, albeit in her own strange and unorthodox ways. With the bugs invisible to the humans, being yelled and chased at by a foreigner on a bike was enough to send them fleeing. Strange, but it accomplished her goal of clearing the area of bystanders. The air chittered and chattered harshly as the swarm of bugs continued making their way to the stones, acting as unintentional guides for the hunters and for Rufus and Limen.

Tower of Fable

The dark snakes that remained in Victoire’s theater room saw purchase in restraining their targets. However, where they bit and hissed at the trio, only one actually launched itself with clear intent and meaning. The snake was undeterred by Clair’s cries as glinted fangs met soft flesh, biting through and latching onto her throat. Immediately venom that burned her insides and scrambled her sight would take over, though it was short-lived. The snake hissed just as the foxy thief was about to counter attack. Sensing her building magic, it gave her one final squeeze before unlooping around her, uncaring if she fell to her knees before slithering away.

It made a hasty escape through the smashed door left behind by its other spawn with good reason. The remainder of its kind were being devoured by manifested bugs that crawled out of Rose’s form like a mound of ants. The snakes hissed even as they were consumed, each one eaten so fast it was as if their flesh and scales were disintegrating. Curious enough, neither left bone in their wake, only dissolving in the same dark glow as from which they spawned. Thomas responded in similar fashion, the greenish glow of his Serei summon blowing back the snakes holding him before a platoon of arrows embedded themselves into their heads.

As for Caprice, some of her movements found results in stumbling the snakes. Most however, simply enlarged their jaws and gorged upon the pastry treats, though this too served to slow them as the pies created great lumps in their bodies. Luckily for her, they broke off pursuit once she exited their line of sight. No, now they turned their heads and bodies towards the sounds of battle, slithering as one great mass that was headed straight for Victoire’s chambers. It was there where the air was filled with smoldering ice and fresh smoke from gunfire.

Grinning lowly and name-called, Annabel met Kanbaru blow for blow. Unholstering a pistol of her own, she quickly dispatched of the shots heading for her with her own. The air clang with sparks and heat with the two deadlocked, Kanbaru’s bullets blown away by Annabel’s. Unfortunately, her intent was meant for her perching spot more than anything else. With a grip on her hat, Annabel leapt off from her leverage spot, only to casually balance atop a broom that defied gravity that may or may not have been there from the start. “Hey hey, easy there hotshot. Don’t wanna ruin my hat, you know? From huntress to huntress,” she snarked at the whale, noting Kanbaru’s own hat.

In one swift moment, she unlatched several orbs from her pocket and hurled them right at Kanbaru. Upon impact with the ground, they spewed out more and more heated smoke that hissed and dissolved away Kanbaru’s ice nearly immediately. “Red Riding Hood! We’ll talk about payment for my help later, yeah?” she called out to Riku’s tussle with Ami before finally turning towards the elephant in the room. "Yo, Victoire. Whasup?” Her grin got even wider as the vampire saw right through her. She innocently put her hands behind her head and leaned back on her broom. She would have fell had the fronts of her boots not caught its length, displaying the huntress lazily hanging upside down from her broom.

“Now come on Victoire, you really think I’d steal something as lame as books? Nah, I got something better for my money~”

---

Tower of Fable

The scene that Caprice and Thomas walked into in the theater room could be described simply as chaos. Since the appearance of the snake, the surroundings had either been smashed or outright destroyed by the efforts of the fight happening. Indeed, it seemed no matter which way the dark serpent moved, its crushing weight bent and sent debris flying with the stalwart force of gravity by its mass. Clair’s efforts only further annoyed the reptile, the water and icy gusts dissipating like dissolved mist in the presence and heat of the snake’s charging attack.

Its scales, where once black and dark as coal, lit up with a vibrant purple hue as the orb gathered crushing energy in its maw. However, it didn’t expect Clair’s strike to fully commit and soon, the spinning blade was hurled before it could react. Catching the snake by its chin, the orb was fired prematurely at the two girls. The air itself bent and twisted as the orb flew in the air before crashing into Rose’s newfound shield. Indeed, the power of Suparna’s card was more than enough to not only deadlock the projectile, but send it barreling right back at the serpent as well. The snake hissed as its own energy was sent towards its face and the entire room rippled harshly.

Items suddenly flew up and outwards before being violently ripped backwards to their original position as gravity distorted momentarily. The snake was sent crashing backwards in a flopped daze of a bundle. No sooner could it recover did cards suddenly manifest around the snake’s eyes, blinding it by merit of Caprice’s magic. Perhaps it was choice or chance, but the three of them, now made four, had successfully coordinated and executed an attack of their joint efforts, concluding with the snake’s hisses cutting sharply short by Thomas’ blade.

The boy fell the great beast with his strike, his attack cutting clean through the serpent. But where a creature of Victoire’s making may have fallen by now, the snake did not do so kindly. The serpent near-exploded in streaks of shadow that slithered in piles along the floor, racing at breakneck speeds. Some were slowly growing back to full size, launching themselves at the team of four to coil and wind around, scaled muscles working to crush bone, organs, and armor. While the majority of snakes slithered out the door, the one holding Clair with its body bared its fangs before snapping its maw around her throat, piercing through.

Back in Victoire’s chamber, the tide of battle swiftly fell back on Riku. While Akiko bided her time in smooth talking the mistress of the manor, Kanbaru and Ami took it upon themselves to take the princess by force of reason. Perhaps it too then was choice or chance, enacted at the same time but in rooms apart; no one could say for sure. But as Kanbaru lifted Riku up high to claim her prize, freezing the princess where she was dangled, Akiko and her Castle would notice the slight gleam in the air that dashed quicker than the human eye could perceive.

Trailing off its streak was hesitation and only on closer inspection could anyone realize it was a bullet. It headed right for Kanbaru’s arm, only to be knocked out the air by her own invisible protection. But where one came down, more rained as well, and this time they lacked the instinct of doubt Akiko could sense. This time they aimed for Riku. Instead of piercing her body directly, they embedded themselves precisely in the thin-iced layer around her clothing, sending cracks spindling and chinks forming enough for her to break free of her own.

Because the one firing off each round was certainly not going to approach on her own merit. No, she was quite fine with staying high up in her peeking position, perched somewhere in Victoire’s rafters. “Aww, hell, now don’t tell me I just gave away my position for some gawking girl. Hey you, with the cloak. Start moving cause I don’t save people for squat or for free~” said the huntress with confidence.

---

The Devil Hunter Agency

Limen was only half correct in his observations, because it wasn’t like the Envoy had a choice in the matter of transportation. For the first time that night-or day perhaps since Rufus’ portals revealed the early morning light-the Envoy’s confident smirk faltered with some confusion in her single eye. So surprised was she that she didn’t have much time to say anything to the one dragging her; such was the confidence now put in Shika’s stride. This persisted for some time before eventually the hand Shika was holding seemed to flop dead and lifeless.

That was because, just before hopping the gate, the Envoy had long since disappeared; or rather, most of her had. The nature of Rufus’ portals was strange indeed but it seemed to have enough sense to follow Shika around until she realized she was only carrying the Envoy’s arm in her grip. Behind the portal, back in the bar, was the Envoy herself, waving with her remaining arm. “You’re a very eager girl when you want to be, huh,” the Envoy observed a bit of her smile returning back to her face. “Sorry but you’ll have to carry on alone. You see…”

Deigning that it was better to just show Shika rather than explain, the Envoy placed her free hand against the portal, only to be batted back by some invisible force. “Seems I can’t move around too freely outside this place. What a strange world we live in! But don’t worry, I’m still with you in spirit.” She gave Shika a thumbs up and in turn, the arm in her hand mirrored the motion. “A piece of me can remain with you outside these walls; I’ll need that back eventually though.” Thankfully, by choice or chance, it didn’t seem the waiting time for that notion would be very long because soon enough the familiar distorted melody of the black rocks rang in their heads.

From Shika to Rufus and Limen, the strange music from before echoed and rung in their ears as a guide to draw them closer. For Limen and Rufus, it directed them deeper into the forested portions of the park. For Shika, the Envoy’s arm simply tapped her towards the long stairway leading to the massive shrine that was their destination. And with the call of the haunted, so too would come the eventual trace of demons and Youkai as well.

It was only a matter of time before they’d crawl and fester towards both locations like locusts. Even Hanako would hear some variation of the noise in her head, though whether anyone on Da-Xia’s team would believe her or the problematic knight’s stories remained to be seen. In Hoshio’s team, Mai’s bell would ring suddenly in response to the sudden change in the air, but only once. Perhaps it was the black rocks or a wandering Youkai. Perhaps something greater.

The Devil Hunter Agency

"Oh? But that... means.." Da-Xia is deep in thought at the Envoy's words. She ponders, her eyes gaze back and forth. She rises and strides over to the Envoy. And then, she goes for a hug.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY! It is not everyday you achieve your big Zero!" After the hug, whether successful or not, she will begin clapping. "Ooooh oooh, what's the equivalent of the happy birthday song in Japanese?"

"Can you make cakes too?" Da-Xia asks Shika, overflowing with enthusiasm. It seemed that now that Da-Xia had jumped to the conclusion that "newly born" meant "today", nothing could stop Da-Xia for wanting to throw them a proper birthday.

"Tragic? You think so? I never really thought of it that way," said the Envoy to Hanako. She crossed her legs and propped her cheek into her knuckles with some expression of amusement or reflection. "I am but two hours old, so stuff like that's never crossed my mind, let alone those I speak for-ooof." And just like that she was grabbed, hugged by the Devil Hunter's living enthusiasm before Da-Xia settled back into some form of civilry. "Well, well, please take these treats from Shika as a toast then, for both our new member and my arrival," she mused, taking the one offered to her and "eating". Held in her hand, the tomato rapidly tore down into smaller and smaller pieces at an unnatural speed, as if it was being rewinded on an old tape. The Envoy didn't open her mouth at all, but did hum when the tomato sped itself into nothingness.

"The black rocks are the beginnings of a new demon," the Envoy said to the ghost girl. "In Japan I think you call it a...Youkai? The ones I speak for are frail and weak. It will take some time for them to manifest. They called out to you because you are the same, something not quite right with this world of humans. We're all strange, aren't we? I guess you can say, the ones I speak for called you all here because it wanted to reach out to those like them." The Envoy smiled and shrugged. "There are many of them, many rocks scattered in this city. Personally, I'd rather they be found by us then destroyed by someone like the DHA."

"Well," Shika laughed, "Making a cake from scratch would take a while, especially if it was a big one. Really though, Envoy, you should have told us ahead of time that you were having a baby."

That probably was not the case though. The curly-haired human leaned against the counter of the bar, sipping at their definitely-not-alcohol again as they toyed with the latest bits of news coming from the eyepatch-wearing devil. "So, these black rocks, are they like eggs that would burst into a bunch of little critters? Or do you need to collect them together to make a god-demon of obliteration?"

The delightful broth and noodles Limen had been treated to earlier — courtesy of Da-Xia — were still churning in his stomach. As such, the sight and scent of what was surely a delicious homemade dish did not quite cause hunger pangs from him. But it was still good manners to try some, so he took one or two tomatoes and plopped them in his mouth. Sweet and savoury; not bad.

Having fulfilled his obligation to the chef, Limen turned his attention back to the Envoy’s discussion. “Ah, that reminds me. I brought some of the rocks along. Doesn’t count as kidnapping, I hope? They’ve been a lot more docile now than back in the warehouse, so I think they’ve taken a liking to me.” A wave and a tug of his hand swiftly manoeuvred his backpack, still enclosed in its protective shielding, through the doorway. Setting it on the floor and at last doing away with the (perhaps excessive but still totally justifiable) barriers, he carefully slid out the chunk of demonic rock onto the bar top. “I saw a DHA fellow make off with some too, so they’re probably vivisecting it without anaesthesia as we speak.”

The bartender had the good grace to turn aside and cough, swallowing his resentment towards the rocks with the advent of their new residency in this lower dimension. Far be it from him not to empathize with the growing pains of struggling to this...confining, plane of existence. A subtle manipulation had the jars emptying their murky liquids into the bar's nearest sink, the faucet directly replacing hobo piss with cleaner water.

If he added the contents of an entire bottle of soap and overtly did a little flourish behind the bar to shake the concealed worried anyone, well, he was just giving the kids a bubble bath. Kids loved baths!

"Yeah, I've got some my own left over. Squeaky clean at no extra charge, as any good barman should." He nodded his congratulations to the Envoy, smirk broadening at Da-Xia's antics and a feigned attempt at Sleight of Hand seeing the rocks emerge from his sleeve and be tossed in an arc to land on the Envoy's couch. His other hand pocketed a tomato, keen to save a snack for later when he was alone with naight but the cold and corpses for company, and munched the other with a verbal pur of relish.

"Ahah, well, something like that. If that's the correct term for birth, then yes, I guess it would be the case," the Envoy said happily to Shika's question. "But it's the latter, not the former. For now, the rocks will just reside where they are so long as no one interacts with them. They seem to attract others of your kind though, so it's best to take them out of sight and out of mind." No doubt thoughts of the ghost-infested warehouse came to mind as well as the rocks' influence on supernatural creatures. Speaking of which, the Envoy was given such rocks by Limen and Rufus. "Nice~" Scooping up the ones Rufus tossed at her, she noted, as anyone else could, the glinted glow sheening the rocks as two of their kind were close now, the ones in her hand and the ones Limen deposited on the bar top.

"Well, I'm glad everything worked out. I got to joust a tree and it's somebody's birthday." Da-Xia seems fine with the situation.

Hanako wondered briefly what 'tragedy' was to a Demon if not Demon babies being hunted down and potentially killed in infancy, but it seemed a futile effort. Demons simply worked differently than Humans, physically, mentally, and emotionally. She wasn’t certain a demon was capable of empathizing as fully as she could. Or, for that matter, hating as thoroughly as she could hate.

She reached a short tangent about if Demons were philosophically even capable of being as monstrous as Humans due entirely to the fact that demons generally killed Humans out of necessity whereas Humans would kill other Humans for more disgusting and base reasons. This, however, was a dangerous line of thought because Hanako’s dual nature made her essentially the worst of both. Fueled by flesh, blood, hate, and fear.

Was she the most disgusting monster in the whole room? What, if not man itself, was-

“Oh! Japanese birthday songs,” Hanako piped up, looking to Da-Xia, “yeah, it’s the exact same as the one they sing in America except you have to use broken English. It sounds like ‘happi basudei to yuu’. It’s not super traditional, but it’s what everyone does so…”

Hanako shrugged before looking back to the Envoy.

“I guess it makes sense if they’re basically a baby demon. When a Human baby cries, their mother goes to help them. That’s how their brain is wired. Although nowadays, that ends up pretty counter-intuitive. In the information age, there can’t be a gathering of demons without someone finding out about it and investigating. They’re just lucky the DHA didn’t know what they were or how to handle them, otherwise that congregation would have been a straight death sentence.”

Hanako watched curiously as the rocks were gathered together. She always was curious about what went into a demon. Or at least, a non-ghost kind of demon. Basically what it amounted to was…

“You get enough stones together for a pull, and hope it’s a 5-star super rare,” Hanako concluded, nodding sagely, “gotcha. Or rather, Gacha.”

Her wisdom imparted, Hanako floated over to the bar to retrieve her Piano Woman, which was a fake drink from a video game. She just wanted to see what the bartender would do.

"Mmm, thank you for the hospitality, Bartender! I think that's all for me, I'd better head home before temptation takes me and I can't drive safely." Da-Xia was an unsafe enough driver when not drunk, what with driving through doors an all that, so her being even less safe probably wasn't good for anyone, mortal or devil. She sent her glass sliding back across the bar back to Rufus before making for the exit. She paused in the threshold to look back, "Do you two need a lift or do you have your own ways home?" She asked to Hana and Limen.

The older demon gave his hunter friend a parting wave. "I'll be all right. Thank you for the meal. See you tomorrow, and try not to run anyone over." Tomorrow? Limen wasn't really sure that would be the case. But Siracha wasn't exactly a sprawling city, and the DHA was sure to be out and about as soon as daybreak came. Perhaps they would indeed see her again soon.

"Hm."

Shika’s eyes settled on the Envoy, before sweeping around to the rest of the demons present. Whether by natural intuition or something else, Da Xia had avoided eating a single tomato despite being eager enough to accept drinks. Curious little hunter. A bit unfortunate too.

"So," they said, their customer service smile stretching their facsimile of a face apart. "Not one of us after all, huh."

"Seems like it," the Envoy said smoothly, catching Shika's eye. An empty glass was placed on the couch arm where she sat while she herself leaned forward now, resting her chin on her hands. "That's fine though. Better to root out anyone not fully committed now instead of later, you know? But man can it be a real bummer sometimes...." The Envoy slid her one-eyed gaze over to Shika, who seemed to be the most competent of the bunch. "Shame indeed. Not one of us."

Hanako looked over her shoulder at her new hunter friend, a little saddened that she wouldn’t be continuing the party. Hanako stretched out, let out a fake yawn, and replied.

“Sure, I could use a lift. As interested as I am in what’s going on here, I can hang with demons any time. Hunters, on the other hand…”

Hanako’s curiosity was what saved her from becoming a real monster. With enough distractions, undeath could remain interesting enough to occupy her time without going into the darker places in her psyche. In this case, learning about how the hunters operated was a once in a deathtime opportunity that she just couldn’t pass up! She hoped it would be fun enough to occupy her for a few months at least, like when she was a hardboiled detective in Kabukicho in the ‘60s. Good times.

“Just lemme use the facilities and I’ll be right out.”

Hanako quickly tagged the bathroom so that she could come to more of these weird meetings in the future, and floated outside with Da-Xia. She got on the woman’s motorcycle, and smiled.

“I’m a helpless, homeless little ghost. Could you take me home with you, brave hunter? I’ve always wanted to see what the DHA looked like on the inside~”

Shika blinked at the declaration of the ghost, then placed their hand on the countertop. That complicated things, for sure. They tracked the movements of the incorporeal being to the bathroom, before letting their senses spread further, slipping through the wood, past the foundations, into the dirt, and finally outside.

A dandelion cracked open on the sidewalk, its fluffy seeds dispersing moments later.

Back in the bar, Shika waited for the human and their ghost-pet to leave, before turning their smile to the others. "So, just to clarify real fast, but that was an incredibly atypical encounter with a Hunter, yes? The rest of you would usually, under most circumstances, put in an effort to kill them? Like, everybody here’s not a pacifist vegetarian soyboy, right?"

They let out a baffled chuckle.

"Cause damn, that was fucking weird."

"Ahah, no less weirder than the usual antics of humans," the Envoy commented once Da-Xia and Hanako finally left them in peace. By choice or chance, only those who truly responded to the rocks' call remained in their abode. "I think it's pretty obvious what needs to be done. Or rather, what's being asked of you all tonight. If it is still night. I'd appreciate it if you helped bring the ones I speak for back to a complete state. Speed up the birthing process, yeah? I'm sure I don't need to elaborate what's in it for you." The Envoy smirked softly at each and every one of them.

"But just in case~ The DHA. Those kinds of people...well, they've not left a good impression on my employers, especially if that Da-Xia is a template. I'm sure we can all agree we'd be much happier without them breathing down your necks, yeah? Help my employers and bring back more of the black rocks, and we can find the answer to exterminating them together~ Well, that might be too harsh of a term, but I think we can settle on linguistics as we go along." The Envoy settled back in her couch, splaying her arms out to with a recline. "I can hear them, sense them, and I know you can too. Screaming out for you to find them. Follow that instinct and you'll find our target~ Some in a lakeside trail of an old park, and some in a shrine just uphill from that park. Let's work together to make these streets a happier place for us Youkai~" She suddenly paused.

"Oh, and if anyone gets in your way...yeah, do what Shika said. Kill them. Especially the ones who've witnessed us tonight."