Inside

[Hraithre]

[Day of the Duel]

As Michalson spirals deeper into despair, behind him, an invisible hand lifts up the silver polaxe. Unseen to the detective, the spectre of a man glances at him. He weighs the weapon in his hands, shaping it like soft clay, into the shape of a sword. "Path of Destruction: Armaments of the Reaper", a voiceless voice intones. "Last Flame of the Dying Sun Burns All Creation."

Meanwhile, the swordsman stands victorious against the shambler. Once he's cut its forelimb off, he doesn't even finish it off. He can easily walk around its aimless thrashing. But, before he reaches Michalson, he has to lift his sword again in defense of his self, to block a strike from a sword of crimson flame.

"I've already struck you down twice", he growls in disbelief, locking blades with the spectre. "Why? Why do you persist?"

"Because I choose to!", the spectre replies, "It's not over before it's over! If you do not like that, do your job like the man you're supposed to be!"

The detective can only see half of what's going on. It still feels like someone just lit a bonfire behind his back. To Lia, the sight is much more dramatic. Standing at Death's door, the world is awash with crimson and blue fire. It burns her spirit as it becomes more and more exposed as her body withers away. She might soon become acutely aware that the horse of heatless flame is following close at her heels. Hell is here to claim its own, but it is not averse to taking one additional soul with it.

[Earl of Purple]

Market Street

Having finished her doughnuts, Boada swipes an unwatched wallet from a table and then ducks down an alleyway. This is really the best chance Jason has, since she's currently on her own in an alleyway and licking her fingers rather than paying attention to everything around her.

[[brackets lover]]

[Philip Memorial Library]

Khannie hands the three books off to Asami. "Here, you hang onto those we'll keep looking. What else were you thinking? The empyreans and astarans or something? That's, what, star people or something?" she inquires.

Moving on to a new shelf she finds lots of books on werewolves!

"Nope."

Still going.

"Oh, huh. The books on fox monsters are right next to the ones on werewolves. I guess that kinda makes sense? Cuz they're both dog sorta things?"

What is a fox but a small, tricky wolf?

[Philip Memorial Library]

As Khannie seemingly pays little mind to Asami's question, Asami raises an eyebrow before realizing it'd be awkward to bring attention back to it. Instead, she accepts the books and answers, "Uh, no, I said Astrans. Like I said, I wouldn't count on that name being right. Supposedly, they're the mortal forms of 'fallen stars'"

A Real Arcade

"Ahhh! It's not funny!" yelps Darko, flailing wildly at his attacker, which doesn't react at all. Instead, it just chews more aggressively at his arm. Asami's vision reveals that this creature is the same temperature as the air around it, and certainly isn't alive in any way.

Thinking fast, Darko struggles out of his hoodie, scampering back and leaving the zombrioche with its prize. It doesn't immediately pursue him, seemingly too stupid to realize that clothing isn't edible.

Straightening out his tshirt, Darko glances nervously between the zombie and Asami. "I think my magic summoned it somehow. Maybe it's a test? It doesn't actually seem all that dangerous..."

[A Real Arcade]

Asami can't hide her amusement at all as she covers her mouth and lets out a giggle. She walks over to the zombrioche and puts a hand, albeit one covered under the sleeves of her coat, on its shoulder. She turns to Darko and teases, "Clearly, you two should get to know each other. You look like you'd have a lot in common!"

[Morty]

[Day of the Duel]

Sandels might be the most stubborn man Michalson has ever met, to cling to this world so tenaciously.

"Well? You berks are 'reapers', aren't you? You're supposed to send him to where he's goin', aye?"

Telling the barmy sod with a big sword what to do might not be the best option but it's all he can really do.

[Shadowcaller]

[Last Known Address via Nightmare Night]

"That reminds me, I ought to take a bath at some point." Raheeda remarks, seemingly failing to see the point Khannie's story. Considering that Harley and her had just been looking around at a dump, Khannie can probably tell.

"And yeah happy nightmare night and thanks! Very good buns!" She waves farewell to yet another stand keeper before devouring the rest of the bun.
Then Khannie goes into what she describes as 'god-stuff'. Something she and Raheeda probably have very different ideas of. "Yul usually just inspires disasters and blood sacrifices, but I guess that counts too? But maybe she can inspires that too in exchange or something. But then the people doing the sacrificing would probably be pretty disappointed."

[Rebonack]

[Philip Memorial Library]

Khannie is pulling a book off the shelf titled 'Fox Spirits: Malevolent, Capricious, and Benign'. She cracks it open to go over the table of contents 'cuz those are really helpful.

"Huh?" she replies to the clarification, taking a moment to disengage from what she was looking at. "Oh. Fallen stars, huh? Like... meteors coming through the atmospheres? Or angels that got kicked outta heaven? Or, like, an actual star that got in trouble somehow? I read an old story about that last one once it was SUPER weird."

Extremely weird.

[[brackets lover]]

[Philip Memorial Library]

Asami scratches the back of her head, feeling a bit nervous. The inkling of curiousity in Khannie is clear, and Asami has no choice but to appease it with a partial truth. "I'm gonna go with actual stars. One of them stated her age as four and a half eons, which are billions of years, according to Moogle. That's roughly the age of the star in my homeworld's planetary system, which we call 'the Sun'. Which is weird, if you think about it. Like, what's the reason for adding 'the' to its name? People would know what you're talking about if you just said 'Sun'."

[quillpleasant]

Day of the Duel

Through a thousand tiny eyes, Lia sees the scene refracted, an endless array of fire and light and color. As the reapers clash once again, she floats up, ghostlike, coming apart at the seams.

Beneath the ground, the mycelium veins see through her eyes. The life force from whence she came is undeterred by the burning. After all, despite her protestations, she's just a part of a greater whole. But to this piece of her, this fragmented soul that is Lia, there will be no continuance. This is all there is.

She feels the horse's presence, and it does not deter her. In fact, in a way, it's welcome. After all this time chasing oblivion, would she settle for hell? Trading a known terror for an unknown? Is that what must be done?

"To be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause..." Lia murmurs. As her body turns gray and brittle, the last spores beginning to fall dead to the ground, she musters her will, and the body of the fungal behemoth behind Hoshiki collapses into a cloud of devouring spores. They head directly for him, silent and swift. If he's focused on Sandels' spirit, then perhaps they can do some damage before he realizes what's happening.

A final blow, a final act on the quest Lia committed to. And with that, the spores making up her body crumble away, and her soul is laid bare, completely unprotected from the hellish flames.

~

Last Known Address via Nightmare Night

"Happy Nightmare Night to you too!" says Harley cheerfully as they continue on. How pleasant these people are.

"Yeah, I was one of those wandering gods, when I wasn't busy doing tasks for Moon. Fly around, find mortals to bless or mess with. I imagine the more powerful a god is, the more likely they have an actual agenda and not just... following their whims." He shrugs. While he wasn't a very good god, from everything he's heard, Yul sounds a little worse, with the exception of the Sun thing. Not that he'd ever say that out loud.

"We're doing a sacrifice now, right? A sacrifice of buns. I guess the difference between an offering and a sacrifice is pretty blurry." Buns can't beg for mercy, which is a pretty big difference.

He takes a deep breath of the cool autumn air as they walk. "So who's Civvy, another god?" Harley isn't sure how he feels about meeting other gods, but it might be kind of nice to talk to some that don't hate him.

~

A Real Arcade

"It's not funny," protests Darko, "That thing could be really dangerous!" But his words ring a little hollow considering the zombrioche seems more than happy to chew docilely on his hoodie. It doesn't even react to Asami touching it.

Darko takes a step forward, frowning at it. "That was my favorite hoodie. Bastard." He gives Asami a helpless little shrug. "I don't know, should we just leave it?"

The appearance of this creature does seem to imply the possibility of other characters being brought out by Darko playing games, although that could certainly be a risky venture.

[Hraithre]

[Day of the Duel]

Hoshiki barely hears Michalson's words, because he has to change his position to deflect another blow. The ground rumbles and the rain turns into steam as steel clashes with fire.

But he does hear them and it all clicks in place. Is it not exactly what the man told him at the tavern? They are both Reapers and evil spirits. Who could send such a thing to the beyond, if not another of its kin?

"I am Star of Hope Shines Eternal in Pitch-Black Universe", the swordsman says solemnly, "whatever duty or madness still binds you to this world... I release you from it!"

He disengages his blade, ducks past the spectre's attack, and then slashes upwards in angle, just like he practiced a day ago on the beach. The arc of his sword seems to become a thing of its own, cutting not only the ghost but also the corner of a nearby building and then the clouds themselves. The rain stops falling for a brief moment and few rays of sunlight make it down to the ground.

Through its mask, the spectre stares wide-eyed. Then, it relaxes. "It was about time." The flame around his sword is extinquished and the silver weapon slips from his grasp as his spirit disintegrates, bit by bit, a gust of wind carrying the pieces through the gate now open behind him.

Near them, the horse roars victorious as Lia's spirit is left defenseless before it. It sounds like the laughter of a thousand men. Then, it bites her, dragging her feeble soul through the gates by her arm.

Hoshiki stands still in the sunlight for a few seconds. Them, he once again takes a step towards Michalson, but this time is beset by the voracious spores. He quickly discards his coat and shirt, and when that doesn't seem sufficient, he lifts up one hand: "Path of Destruction: Pale Lightning!"

If Michalson does nothing to stop it, lightning will strike again, this time directly from above, and hit the swordsman himself.

[bc56]

Market Street
Jason steps into the alleyway behind Boada. With a glance behind him to make sure no one is watching, he twists his watch dial to project a dome of hardlight around him and the winged pickpocket. "I believe you have something of mine?"

Ruinous
Selekhael squints in a direction most people have no name for. She can see the alterations to the timeline, the probing attempts for the monster to escape its fate. She raises her blade and then throws it, a chain of force linking the weapon back to her hand as she attempts to predict the creature's movement and then hook it with her weapon, pulling it into arms reach.

[Earl of Purple]

Market Street

"But that'd make me a thief, and do I look like a thief t'you?" The answer is undoubtedly 'yes', but Boada sounds surprised and offended at the accusation. She turns around and looks around at the dome and Jason, reaching out to poke it to determine its solidity. She's apparently impressed by that. "If I did steal something of yours, would it be so fancy as the doohickey which does this?"

[Rebonack]

[Philip Memorial Library]

"Huh," would be Khannie answer to that little bit of exposition. "So did the star disappear or something when she got cast to earth? Or is it still up there doing star stuff and now there's some lady running around that kinda represents the star?"

In so far as Khannie is aware, 'star stuff' consists of shining and exploding. Unless they're talking about that evil star thing that Victoria was obsessing over. THAT definitely wasn't doing normal star things.

At the commentary one weirdness she gives a shrug. "Maybe 'cuz it's a title sorta? The Sun. Like, hey, this is OUR star so we're gunna call it THE Sun. But I did meet a guy a while back who called the sun from his world Sun, no the. So it was just a name."

Khannie stows the book she's selected and stuffs it under her arm, her eyes roving across the titles and falling on-

Werewolves: Myths, Mysteries, and Reality

She wrinkles her nose at it.

"Did this one get filed in the wrong spot or something?" she mutters, pulling it off the shelf and examining it.


[Last Known Address via Nightmare Night]

"Just so long as you don't turn anyone into deer," Khannie amends to Raheeda's idle observation. "Inspiring disasters sounds like it would be a pretty lousy job. Like, if that's the only thing you ever do is make people miserable? What kinda life would that even be?"

Honestly it makes Khannie feel bad even thinking about it. How miserable would someone have to be to do that to other people?

"Inari's the goddess of rice and I think she's mostly just interested in introducing rice as a food crop to more people. Like, that's her whole jam. 'Have you tried rice? It's great!'" Khannie says, in reference to the local goddess of rice but also foxes. "It sounds like you were more of a messenger? That's my friend Keiko's job. She does her own thing a lot but she's sent out to do the work for the people she works for."

Khannie wrinkles her nose.

"Y'know I just realized that it seems like I've met a whole lotta gods."

She gives her head a shake.

"I mean, I guess we could do the offering now but we've only got one bun. That doesn't seem like much of an offering? There's other stands giving 'em away still. Do you guys wanna get some more or just try the offering now?"


[Ruinous]

Sele's got the right idea!

The bad-guy zipped out of Lapis' reach in a weird way but Sele was ready for it! Though she missed, Lapis burrows deeper with her sight, highlighting for Sele precisely where to strike the horrible thing of wires in order to obliterate it. After getting yanked like that the wire monster SHOULD be stunned thanks the touch of Sele's blade, leaving it vulnerable to a devastating follow-up attack.

This means Lapis can turn her attention to other things.

They need to stop a song.

And the song seems like it's hurting Sarah and it's coming from those speakers?

There's bad magic coming through them and Lapis has just the thing for that! Probably!

She points her sword toward one of the speakers and-

"Infinite Sword Arts: Incandescent Soul Searing Strike."

-cuts.

There's foul magic flowing through the speakers. And this cut divides that magic to transform it from something foul into warmth and light. Lapis' cut should go racing through the speaker system, blasting the wiring into a molten mess and quite possibly smacking whoever's singing on the other end square in the face. And blowing out all the speakers in the process. Probably half the electrical wiring in the building, too.

"I think that will stop the bad music from playing Miss Sarah do you feel any better?" Lapis asks, concerned for the well-being of the 'regular people' around her as ever. If one can call Sarah regular.

[Morty]

[Day of the Duel]

Was Sandels trying to do this all along? Force Hoshiki's hand to send his soul to wherever it's meant to go? It might not be relevant anymore. Michalson considers blocking the lightning strike for a split-second but thinks better of it. He doesn't want Hoshiki dead. He just wants to protect Bunny. He starts walking backwards, keeping his eye on Hoshiki. Nothing more for him here... he can only hope Lia does keep Bunny safe.

[Shadowcaller]

[Last Known Address via Nightmare Night]

"I've met a lot of gods too, so it's not that strange I think." Though perhaps she and Khannie hadn't lived the most average of lives. "Gods are supposed to go around, right?" She had also heard and seen rice. It was yet another of those crops humans grew.
She had assumed it was ant-eggs or something at first but turned out it to be something quite different.

"But I do have some rations left, though I don't think those are fit for a spirit feast. I don't know about how folks living in a city get food though. Go to one of those stores?"

[[brackets lover]]

[Philip Memorial Library]

"Huh," would be Khannie answer to that little bit of exposition. "So did the star disappear or something when she got cast to earth? Or is it still up there doing star stuff and now there's some lady running around that kinda represents the star?"

In so far as Khannie is aware, 'star stuff' consists of shining and exploding. Unless they're talking about that evil star thing that Victoria was obsessing over. THAT definitely wasn't doing normal star things.

At the commentary one weirdness she gives a shrug. "Maybe 'cuz it's a title sorta? The Sun. Like, hey, this is OUR star so we're gunna call it THE Sun. But I did meet a guy a while back who called the sun from his world Sun, no the. So it was just a name."

Khannie stows the book she's selected and stuffs it under her arm, her eyes roving across the titles and falling on-

Werewolves: Myths, Mysteries, and Reality

She wrinkles her nose at it.

"Did this one get filed in the wrong spot or something?" she mutters, pulling it off the shelf and examining it.

[Philip Memorial Library]

Asami doesn't quite know how to answer Khannie's question, so she just says "um" and pauses, letting the conversation move on. Khannie manages to earn a light chuckle out of Asami, who jests back, "I bet my sun could beat your sun in a fight."

A Real Arcade

"It's not funny," protests Darko, "That thing could be really dangerous!" But his words ring a little hollow considering the zombrioche seems more than happy to chew docilely on his hoodie. It doesn't even react to Asami touching it.

Darko takes a step forward, frowning at it. "That was my favorite hoodie. Bastard." He gives Asami a helpless little shrug. "I don't know, should we just leave it?"

The appearance of this creature does seem to imply the possibility of other characters being brought out by Darko playing games, although that could certainly be a risky venture.

[A Real Arcade]

Asami doesn't pay Darko's concerns much mind. She tilts her head and repeats under her breath, "Bastard?" She stretches idly for a bit, casually replying, "Don't ask me, you're the one who created it. Why don't you give it a teething ring and take it back to the theatre with you?"

Asami takes a few steps away from the zombie, looking over towards another machine that looked significantly older than the ones they were nearby. It was decorated with some pinkish representation of a human from a human top-down view, sorely lacking in detail and unlikely to be recognized as such by one without the capacity for imagination. The demo showed off gameplay of a nondescript character in the bottom moving from left to right and projecting a pixel upwards as the pink people slowly moved down. The game was titled "Personal Space Invaders". Asami excitedly pointed towards it. "Ooh, ooh, you should play this one! Its a classic!"

[quillpleasant]

Day of the Duel

So this is how the story goes, in the end. Not a happy ending, but a fitting one. Every step of the way, Lia had known she was walking a path that would lead to her demise. She had chosen it, time and again. Only once did she turn from it, to make sure that innocents weren't dragged along with her. And now, at the end, she has no regrets.

As Sandels' spirit is cut loose by Hoshiki, Lia watches him drift through the portal, then turns to look up at the sky. It's fitting that there should be sunlight after this. She doesn't resist as the horse seizes her, closing her eyes as it drags her towards an uncertain and likely terrible fate.

But it's the fate she chose. And as she vanishes through the portal, all she can think is what a beautiful existence this was. Then she's gone.

The devouring spores eagerly encircle Hoshiki, only to be burnt to ashes by his lightning strike. Then there's nothing left of Lia, save for the silken ribbon soaked in blood, already washing away in the rain.

~

Last Known Address via Nightmare Night

"God of rice? That's a great domain, rice is one of the best foods there is. From what I remember, at least," says Harley, rather impressed. If you're going to be a good of food, being the god of one of the most important and reliable crops in existence in the way to go. "And yeah, I was kind of a messenger, courier, that sort of thing. Herald, I guess." Gopher. Odd job boy.

"Also, don't count me as a god you've met. I'm just a mortal now, that's kind of the whole deal." An ex god, sure, but Harley isn't about to claim that he's still divine.

He shakes his head at the idea of having the offering right away. "No, we don't want to be insulting, we should definitely get more food first. If there's anything gods like, it's people putting in real effort on their behalf." Plus, it does seem like people are happy to just hand out food here.

~

A Real Arcade

Darko nods slowly at Asami's suggestion, whether it was fully serious or not. "Yeah, the Wizards might like it. Especially Father Easter, he likes... he likes that sort of thing." Bread, or zombies, it's unclear which. For now, Darko follows Asami over to the next game, keeping a nervous eye on his first creation.

He looks dubiously at Personal Space Invaders. "Well, I can relate to this premise at least. I hate when people invade my- yeah, it looks fun I mean." He's just remembered that Asami seems to make a habit of doing just that, and he doesn't want to make her feel bad.

Taking the controls, he begins to play- and actually seems a little better at this one. Maybe it's the simpler control layout, or just his motivation to keep people out of his personal space, but he manages to fight the pink people off quite efficiently. "Hey, this is fun! Do you want a turn?"

There's a strange humming sound from elsewhere in the arcade, as if another anomaly has been generated. Surely that can't be the case though.

[bc56]

Market Street
"Don't play dumb. I've seen you work. The flash drive, please."
The dome is smooth and slightly warm to the touch. It jitters a little under pressure, but remains solid.

[Earl of Purple]

Market Street

"This thing? Sure. Don't know how much I'd be able to fence it for, anyway. I live in a shoebox." Not a shoebox apartment; an actual shoebox. Still, Boada pulls the memory stick from her pocket and will toss it over. "Can I go now?" Boada smiles, winningly, but she's put a hand behind her back and is using the break in line of sight to fetch a weapon, in case the answer is 'no'. The weapon in question is a wooden sword, sized for a child and glowing with magic.

[Rebonack]

[Philip Memorial Library]

"Heck I hope not. Stars getting in a fight would probably cause a huge problem," Khannie laughs as she spots something in the book she's got that looks promising, snapping it shut and putting that one under her arm as well. She snags two more books off the shelf and shrugs off her backpack to put them away. "Okay I think I've got everything I'm gunna need here. I guess we can try to find some books on empyreans? What sorta stuff are you wanting to know, exactly?"

She sets off again, looking for a shelf that contains relevant books!

This place is so obnoxiously big and the way it's laid out really doesn't make any sense.


[Last Known Address Via Nightmare Night]

"Honestly I dunno if gods are supposed to do anything. Mostly the ones I've met have just seemed like people with really big responsibilities. But that's how it should be, right? If you've got lotsa power you should be responsible with it otherwise you're just gunna be a bully or worse," Khannie reasons as she trots toward the next bun stands. Well. Not just buns. The bakery in question has a variety of treats laid out but moon buns feature prominently since that's traditional. "Yeah, mostly people buy food from stores. Stuff gets grown out in the country where there's more room and then it gets brought to the city where all the people are and gets sold at the stores. It works pretty well I guess?"

Khannie nods to Harley since he seems to have the right of it. More buns is a good plan! Because they'll get to sample more buns AND their offering won't be so meager. "I feel like maybe we should buy some, too? It might be kinda insulting to offer something that didn't cost us anything."

It really isn't a sacrifice if it isn't meaningful.

But then!

Something distracting happens.

It's like watching a ripple moving through a pond. The various equestrians, the unicorns and kirins in particular, suddenly shiver and all turn to look in the same direction one after the other.

To Khannie it feels like someone just dunked her horn in ice water, sending wholly unpleasant sensation not unlike an ice-cream headache running through her whole body. What the heck WAS that? A buncha other equestrians musta felt it, too, 'cuz they're all looking for the cause. Khannie squints up at the sky, trying to figure out what it is she's looking at.

It looks like a small dark cloud, small enough that you could block it from view with a hand at arm's length. But it's steadily growing.

Equestrian horns aren't just for channeling spells; they're a magical sensory organ, too. And a whole bunch of ponies are feeling something really foreboding. The people of Carousel Court seem uneasy, uncertain. What should they do? Just... keep up the festivities? Keep things calm so the foals don't get worried? Gradually the sounds of conversation and laughter fall away, replaced with the occasional troubled whisper and a silence heavy with terrible anticipation.

"Hey, uh, sorry you two but I've gotta go check that out," Khannie says, her tone apologetic. "You guys can keep doing the offering if you want but this looks really important."

Lowering her head slightly, Khannie takes off in a gallop toward the growing magical anomaly. Maridia is doing her best to keep up.


[The Widening Gyre]

Above Inside a dark cloud has formed, rotating slowly and gradually expanding into a broad spiraling disk. Dark and storm, crackles of unearthly colored lightning lick across its surface. A sourceless wind tussles through the streets, catching debris in little whirlwinds and carrying with it a deep sense of foreboding.

It's a relatively busy evening with Spooktober in full swing, and people are pausing to gawk at the unusual weather.

"What is it, Midnight Glister?" asks a little fairy dragon, landing on an approaching purple unicorn's back.
"Dunno. Feels like something bad. And it feels like we're gunna find out HOW bad real quick," the unicorn replies, so absorbed in the sight that she totally forgets to glare at Maridia for calling her Midnight Glister.

[Shadowcaller]

[Last Known Address Via Nightmare Night]

"Yeah, a sacrifice always requires some kind of kind of sacrifice. Of effort, time, resources... stuff like that." Raheeda nods in agreement with Khannie. "So wherever you buy stuff, we should go there."


Then the unicorn suddenly pauses though Raheeda cannot tell why. So she uses this opportunity to poke her nose, or well, what she had of a nose. It was more of two nostrils and a suggestion of one. So it wasn't all that easy to poke it. She couldn't even really fit her finger in there. Just wiggled some of her nail in-

Then Khannie suddenly speaks up again.

"Huh? What?"

She looks around in search of the 'that' the unicorn was talking about. Which is when she finally spots it.

The world before her taking on a unusual shape. She tilts her head as if trying to see it from a different perspective. Yet it still made no sense to her. It just looked really weird and judging by Khannie's reaction, it was something to be concerned about.

"Don't worry! We'll help out!" Gesturing for Harley to come she goes running after the unicorn.

[bc56]

Market Street
Jason catches the drive and twists the dial of his watch again. "As much as I find your 'profession' distasteful, I'm a man of my word." The barrier disappears. "If I ever catch you again, things will go very differently."

[Hraithre]

[Day of the Duel]

A wall of sounds hits Michalson a split second after the flash. This close, it's not much different from someone firing a cannon next to him. The stench of ozone fills the air. Hoshiki stands at the point of impact, his torso bare - his haori trampled in the mud and his kimono shirt eaten away by the spores. His veins and his scars burn blue against his tanned skin, as if his body captured the lightning within. The swordsman's hair, untamed at the best of times, stands on its end, framing his face with great black mane, as if he's some thunder demon come to flesh.

Then, nature reasserts itself. The sunlight fades as the clouds flow back together. Rain resumes falling and presses the swordsman's hair down. He flicks his sword, as if to clean it of the blood of enemies defeated, and sheathes it. Then, he kneels to pick up the silver sword from the ground. "You and that girl robbed me of any satisfaction I could've gain from this", he calls to Michalson as he stands back up, "I suppose I ought to be mad."

Walking closer, he observes the detective and glances at the body of the fallen Reaper. "I admire your courage, detective", he says "but I must say it was an odd choice to stand in his defense after denying him the one thing that could've let him fight me as an equal. Not that it would have changed the course of things. Do not mourn him. Do not blame yourself. He did not come here with the intent to survive."

[[brackets lover]]

[Philip Memorial Library]

Asami takes a second to think before responding, "Oh, just how their powers work, their psychology, strengths and weaknesses, culture. If something can be done about their soullessness, i'd like to know that too."

[A Real Arcade]

Asami has a mischievious grin as Darko cuts himself off. "Hmmmmmmmmm," she reflects ominously. While he's playing, she remains intent on making sure she doesn't distract him at all, staying at arm's length. "You're still in the middle of a game, though..."

As the humming sound is heard, Asami looks off unnervingly in its direction. She turns to Darko and holds an arm out in front of him guardingly.

[Rebonack]

[Philip Memorial Library]

Khannie nods along with Asami's objects. Sure sure. Just a bunch of relatively normal stuff. Nothing out of the ordinary or-

Wait.

What was that last one?

"Did you say soulless? How the heck would that even work?" Khannie asks, completely baffled by this concept. The idea that souls are very real and very important things is deeply embedded in Khannie's mind for SEVERAL reasons.

"I mean, I've talked to Lapis a couple times. She's a weird kid but how could she be soulless? She's a person not a, I dunno, vending machine or something."

Khannie can't imagine any way a person could be a person without a soul. That's where their personness comes from!

[Morty]

[Day of the Duel]

"Courage? More like stupidity. Picked it up while young and looks like I won't shake it till it puts me in the dead-book." An oddly prickly reaction to being called brave. "He's not the first person to die in my place. Hopefully he'll be the last. But I came 'ere to protect the person that you call a thing. Makin' you mad wasn't in my plans... but it is a nice bonus."

[[brackets lover]]

[Philip Memorial Library]

As Khannie talks, Asami puffs out her cheeks and droops her head to the side. "Um," is again Asami's answer as she puts her hands on her hips and awkwardly blows some air. "So, do you play any video games, Senpai?" she casually inquires.

[Rebonack]

[Philip Memorial Library]

Okay.

So Asami definitely doesn't wanna talk about that subject. Does it make her uncomfortable or something? Gunna be honest it makes Khannie kinda uncomfortable even thinking about it. Her soul kinda does the jump thing when she sleeps. What would she be without it?

Just a body that never wakes up?

Or worse, one that DOES wake up and just zombie walks around.

Ugh.

But anyway!

Video games.

"I played Smash Brothers and Splatoon a bunch with my uncle before I started going to PREP. I don't really have much time for em anymore," Khannie admits.

Also unicorn hooves aren't the best thing to hold a controller with.

"What about you? You got any games you like?"

[Hraithre]

[Day of the Duel]

"Yet, you brought her here and tried to stop her from fleeing she wanted to", Hoshiki recounts without passion. He scans the detective from head to toe. "I do not see her on you." He doesn't see Bunny anywhere, really, having lost track of where Lia hid her in the chaos of the battle.

If Michalson thinks a little, he might realize the fact that Bunny is not in his possession is why the swordsman's ceased to attack.

[Earl of Purple]

Market Street

"You willing to give me a job that pays my rent and my food bill? Those six doughnuts will keep me going for an hour, tops. If not, you don't get to judge me. I do what I have to to live, not like that bloody jackdaw. She steals because it's easier than getting a job." Boada frowns at Jason, though there are some jobs she could do that would fit the bill- fast food retail, for one. Also working as a messenger for criminal organisations, but that's frankly more dangerous than picking pockets and swiping purses.

[bc56]

Market Street
"Don't give me that sanctimonious crap. No one has to 'give you' a job, it's on you to get one, and crime, petty or otherwise, isn't a sustainable solution. It's only a matter of time before you get caught by someone less merciful. And it's not like jobs aren't plentiful. New businesses get warped into Inside all the time. Heck, I know the bartender at Trog's Tavern has a habit of taking in strays and that place is literally right around the corner from everywhere." Jason has very little tolerance for the "I steal because I have to" argument. He's heard it plenty of times and it never really rings true.

The Widening Gyre
Ominous clouds and a sense of ill ease catch the attention of a muscular lizardman below, with an axe and a shield; he quickly points it out to his smaller companion, who carries a bow.