A/N : Ok, should be the final chapter for the maze,
Boss Battle chapter is next.
Thanks for Review/comment/faves/ follows! I appreciate it!
Nozomi showed us a room to have our lunch,
It's a room with big garden on its side which can be seen through the giant glass window. It's a very comfortable place to have our lunch especially with the view of the blue sky.
Apparently too, Honoka's persona, Mui, can make some Japanese sweets for us, then Hanayo's persona, Diana, she love to make rices or anything related to it, Niko's persona too, Xiong Mao, she can make some cooking for us. Nozomi only wanted my cooking, or Kitsune's since it's still the same— but she don't mind with the others cooking to fill her stomach.
Maki's persona, Minerva— she provided us with a gentle music as we eat. Umi's persona, Sachi, she gave us some mineral water to drink. It's important to drink those, but she is a little bit too strict about it. She forced everyone to drink 2 liters in this lunch session.
Speaking of which though…
"Ah, everyone… I have something that I wanted to give…" I said.
Everyone looking at me,
"Accessories, do any of you actually need them?" I asked.
"Well, I think you can upgrade this ring that Kotori made for me…" Umi said. She showed me the ring on her finger. It's made of leather with a blue sea wave pattern. It's really beautiful but yes I think I can upgrade that.
"Ah, then please upgrade mine too!" Kotori said as she showed me her leather ring which has gray wind pattern.
"Honoka want one too!" Honoka showed me her leather ring which has red fire pattern.
Looks like they're all made by Kotori…
"We have a ring but I'm not sure if it can be upgraded…" Hanayo said as she showed me silver ring with green paint.
"Maki-chan bought us this and Niko-chan enchanted it with a power, nya!" Rin said, she showed me her silver ring with yellow paint.
"Hmm… I know about what Kotori's ring do, but what about yours?" I asked.
"Uh... well, my ring supposedly helps me to dodge better…" Hanayo said.
"But…why? You don't even need to dodge…" I asked.
"I…I don't know…" Hanayo said.
"My ring help me to block, nya!" Rin said.
"But you're better in dodging…" I said.
"G…Gh… is it alright if mine adding more spirits?" Maki asked.
"Yes, but I wouldn't use that if I'm you… you spend a lot of spirits on your skill set, you need something with regeneration or just maximize your damage." I said.
"M…Mine is giving me more attack…." Niko said.
"Nikocchi, you're not even attacking…" Nozomi sighed.
"Then just go trade up your rings…." I said.
They look into each other.
"Rin, go trade with Hanayo, Maki, go trade with Niko…" I said. They look somewhat shy. Did I say anything wrong?
"Or actually, just give all of your rings to me, let me twitch the usage or upgrade them…" I continued.
"Do…Do I need to give you my ring too?" Nozomi asked shyly.
Ah…right… that ring….
Kitsune made it. I don't really know what it used for, but I know it's already too good and I don't think it require more upgrade. I turned to Kitsune, she shook her head to me. Maybe she knows more about the ring that Nozomi currently wear?
"You're fine…" I said.
She blushed and turned away.
"What Nozomi's ring do?" Honoka asked.
"My ring…? Well…. It doubles my spiritual power… so I can use more magic and summon… Ericchi made it for me…." She said shyly.
"Doubles your spiritual power…? That's…. that's wow…" Umi said.
"T..Then! What about your ring, Eli?" Maki asked.
"Is..is it doubling your life or something?" Honoka asked.
I can't possibly tell them this is to replace one missing soul for the seals…
"Yes… something like that…" I said.
"W…woah… that's so…. Nice…" they said in awe.
I turned my eyes away. I can't stare at them if they are being like that.
"Now, just give me all of your rings and see if I can do any upgrade to it…" I said.
"Ah right!" Honoka said as she took off her ring and handed it to me. Everyone followed her to do the same too.
"Thanks. Please wait…." I said.
After we finished with Lunch and upgrades,
I decided to just add the opposite element defense to the Trio, that would be Ice defense and dodge to Honoka, Fire defense and dodge to Umi, Electricity defense and dodge to Kotori.
There's almost no one in our team have electricity element, but I can do it with The Magician or The Justice Arcana. I believe Nozomi can do it too, then Umi have one but she only has Zionga— the medium electricity attack.
At first I thought Rin would have one but she is in fact more into Fire than electricity, she only have decent defense to electricity while fire is her main element.
Then as for the other four, I just decided to upgrade their power, except for Hanayo. She doesn't need block at all since she already strong to almost all elements, so I twitched her ring usage into the same like Niko's new ring—increasing spiritual power and also halving its usage.
"Woah… it feels so different when using this…" Honoka said. I added a metallic part on the trio's leather ring.
"Yeah, I like it…" Umi said.
"I like this too!" Kotori said.
"I really like the new gems in the ring…" Hanayo said as she stares into the small emerald that Kitsune added on the ring.
"I really like the thicker and more decorative silver part-nya!" Rin said.
"It looks somewhat powerful, yeah…" Maki said.
"I like this pink quartz… it's shaped like heart…" Niko said.
I smiled to everyone.
"Now, since everyone is ready, shall we go further?" Nozomi asked.
"Yeah!" they replied.
"We're back to Lily White, Printemps and BiBi, until the seventh phase… then for the eighth phase… it's the hardest phase here... so let's go for broke. Honoka, Kotori, and Umi should be in one team. Maki, Niko, Rin, and Hanayo in one team. Then for the last…" Nozomi glanced at me, I can see her blushed a little.
"It's going to be the hardest room, so I think only me and Ericchi can handle it…" she said.
"Somehow I think the only hard thing in that room will be your love button down there…" Niko said.
I can see everyone suddenly blushed… what's a love button?
"Nikocchi…. Do you want to witness my power again?" Nozomi intimidated her.
"I...I mean! The hardest thing! Yeah!" Niko smirked.
"That's just the same thing idiot!" Maki yelled.
Nozomi grinned like a devil as she raised both of her hand and posed like she is about to grab someone's breast….. hmm.. is she?
"N…Nozomi! I'm just saying the truth!" Niko smirked in panic.
Everyone closed their eyes and sighed. Kotori and Hanayo clap their hand and began to pray. Nozomi is getting closer and closer to the frightened Niko.
"May you be in peace… Niko-chan…" Kotori whispered.
"Amen…." Hanayo said.
I can see Nozomi grab her breast and squeeze it really hard. That looks really hurt…
"Aaaaaaa!" Niko screamed.
Back into the BiBi team,
I hope they're getting better now… and well, I feel like I've done a lot of mistake to them too. Maybe we should really start over our agreement in team while waiting for Printemps and Lily White to finish their regular puzzle.
"So, how you will do the signal, Niko?" I asked.
"Well.. I've talked to Hanayo and Nozomi about this. They told me that we can signal each other with special words to tell them about what are we going to use. Nozomi used sport terms since Rin and Umi are good with them, then Hanayo used food names since Kotori and Honoka can remember them easily…. So it's basically not supposed to be you two that listen to me, it's me that should adjust to you two…" Niko said shyly.
"But we wouldn't want to make you forced to adjust to us, let's find something that we all have in common…" Maki said.
Something that we have in common….?
"Idiots?" Niko asked.
"Why am I an Idiot…" I asked.
"According to Nozomi, you're idiot…" Niko said.
"More like daft, but still the same thing anyway…" Maki said.
"But we can't possibly use that as signal…" I said.
We went to silence for a while….
"W-wait! I'm not an idiot! Why am I an idiot?!" Maki asked.
"You just realized that! You're late! Stupid!" Niko yelled.
"Why do you even suggest that? Silly!" Maki yelled.
They began to argue again with each other.
These two…. Sigh….
"Stop fighting… I'll be angry…" I said.
They look into me so sudden… it's like they have something in their eyes that tells me…. That's a brilliant idea…
Hmm…. Wait a minute…
Angry….
Ahh! I know!
"Ah! That's it!" I said.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Niko asked.
"Yeah, I'm thinking what you're thinking!" I said.
"Really? Is that the same with what I'm thinking?" Maki asked.
"Probably!" I said.
"Let's arrange it then!" Niko said.
It's finally our turn to do the puzzle,
Our room just opened and this should be a pretty difficult room as always— our room in this phase is unique because we are not moving forward but up like climbing up tower. We always have to be accurate with timing here. Also not to forget about the amount of damage we have to deal.
"Ready everyone?" I asked.
"Stop asking! Idiot!" they said.
That means they're ready.
"I'm going!" I said as I dashed to the first ladder,
"Moron!" Niko yelled.
She is signaling me to watch for the incoming shadow from the sideways rotation.
"It can't be helped!" Maki said as she jumped to the second ladder.
Means that she will take a lead step.
"Faggot!" Niko yelled.
Means that she has to watch for the shadows from bottom side, but that would be my task to eliminate them for now. I changed Kitsune to The Chariot Arcana, She is wearing hoodie like Rin's Arcana but its white and long, her weapon is a slim and long sword. This Arcana have a low defense, but it's very quick and flexible. The Area attack too has a wider range than any other Arcana except the Magician.
Kitsune cleaned the shadows in just a few second, then we moved up swiftly before the ladder started to fall and swallowed by the appearing darkness flood down there.
"It's not like I want to help you or anything!" Maki said as she offered her hand as she climbs next to me.
It means that she will help me jump and take the job to clean the next shadow. I should focus on grabbing the orb which is part of the puzzle. I need to give this orb to Niko once she is able to transport herself to the upper floor with Maki's help, but as for now I need to keep climbing up.
She threw me up before she quickly slid to the room on the side of the wall and stowed Minerva. That's where she supposed to go to help Niko getting up with the lift. I still have to hold the Orb until I could reach upper floor and unlock the room which supposed to be where I meet up with Niko and Maki.
Kitsune keeping me save from the ambushes while I keep on jumping through the ladders. Sometime I have to jump around the wall because the ladder doesn't looks save enough for me. It wasn't really a pain in the ass to finish this, but the last thing I have to do is a pain. There's several locks I have to unlock with one hand since the other hand carrying the orb. Kitsune tried to keep on watching the area.
I wish I have Maki's time control ability…
Or actually…
I do…
Kitsune turned to the Fortune Arcana and she paused the time for me. I can feel my energy drained very quickly. Perhaps this is why Maki was exhausted before. I tried to unlock all the locks before I deactivate the time stop. I jumped into the room along with Kitsune and locked the door again.
I turned around to see my surrounding. I can't see Niko and Maki here. Where are they?
I tried to check on my tablet that I kept on Kitsune's bag. I can see that they're still somewhere around the tower. But what takes them so long I wonder? Did they argue over something?
Either way, I think I need to be the one that make the move. I began to explore around the room. This room has a lot of books around the wall bookcase, then there's a small window on the side. I tried to check it out. This is indeed a tower with huge and beautiful garden on the side. It's like a fairytale.
Hmm… haven't I talked about this before? Something about maiden in the tower….. Rapunzel…?
"Ayase…" I could hear a voice from somewhere above me.
"Nozomi…?" I replied. I tried to look around the room. There's no one there.
"Why are you there? Come on up and let's have some fun…" she said—somewhat cute and sultry. I still can't see her around the room and there's no stairs or ladder around this room too. I can't even see other door too.
"I need to find Niko and Maki, I'll deal with you later…" I said.
I can hear her giggling.
"You're daft. I'm inviting you for fun, Ayase. Are you not tempted?" she asked.
"Not now…" I said as I just walk away from the window and began to search for any clue of Niko and Maki somewhere around this room. There must be a hidden switch or something around this place.
"Ayase, you're ignoring me!" I can hear her complained... now I heard her from outside… Hmm… is there anything outside?
I decided to check out the window again, then look through around the area.
I can see a long and braided violet hair along with golden vines hanging above me.
"Oh? Ayase isn't ignoring me…" she said.
"What on earth is this….?" I asked as I grab her hair.
"I thought you know about the Rapunzel story…" she said.
"I know, but why are you offering this to me…" I said.
"You're the prince… or… the thief that will steal my precious thing…" she said.
"I see… but I'm not interested right now. I still have to find Maki and Niko…" I said as I released it and went back to the room.
"Ayase! I'm only offering that to you… you don't want another climbing it up, right?" she said.
"What can climb up here anyway? Your hair isn't long enough for another to climb up from here!" I said.
"Really? Then what about the thing on the ceiling?" She asked.
I tried to look up into the ceiling.
A really huge spider-like creature has been watching me— and it shots a huge sticky web into me which I dodged quickly along with Kitsune. Whenever I see this thing at my place, I usually just let them go, but this time— well… they have to die.
I changed my Arcana into The Sun. This creature surely has weakness to it. It jumped into me and I dodged it quickly again before Kitsune slashed her fire sword into it. It looks pretty fragile enough, but it wasn't….
The shell it has is pretty tough and in fact— it's immune to fire. Now I wonder if fire is actually the thing I need for this.
I changed my Arcana again to The Empress. There's not much space around this room so an Arcana like The Empress will benefit me. Kitsune used Twin slash on the spider-like creature— I can see it getting a high damage from it and it falls to the ground.
It's weak to physical attack? Well... that's new. I rarely see anything like this.
As it fall, I noticed two figures wrapped in webs are kept under its stomach… one is small and the other one is tall…
Don't tell me…
I quickly approached it and tried to pull out the smaller figure first, then put it away. I was about to grab the other one but it wakes up again which I quickly smack down with my fist again before it once again fall in weak state.
I swiftly pulled out the second figure and place it away too. I suppose I can finish this thing now. Kitsune quickly slashed it again very swiftly before it exploded…
And giving birth to thousand small spiders— Hell, I squealed and quickly jump into the bookcase along with Kitsune.
"Kitsune! Don't jump too! Kill it!" I said.
She nodded and jump down again as she used her sword to spin around the area very quickly to kill those small spiders and they turned into dust.
I'm glad they're weak to physical attack… but still…
Those spiders are creepy and so crawly. I hate it when they're being like that. I climbed down from the bookcase and approached the two figures I just took out from it. I gently cut the webs with my knife starting from the bigger figure.
Just like what I thought. Red hair…
This is Maki…
Kitsune and I quickly peel off all the webs.
Maki fell to the ground and she seems to be…. Fainted? I hope I'm not too late.
What happen to them I wonder?
Kitsune went to peel off the other figure which probably be Niko.
After the two are clean from the webs, I changed my persona to The Priestess. Kitsune is now wearing white and long robe with hoodie, then using a big hand-fan as weapon.
Kitsune used Samarecarm to them.
The two woke up carefully after it.
"Urhh… where are we…?" Niko asked.
"I'm alive…?" Maki asked with lazy eyes.
"What happen?" I asked.
They turned to me.
"Ahhh! Eli! I'm glad you came to save us!" Niko shouted as she hugged me and began to cry.
"Yeah, what happen though?" I asked again.
"I don't really remember, but when I got into this room, we saw a giant spider… then we could feel something stab our feet… I don't know what that is but it was painful and we're paralyzed too after that…" Maki said.
"I swear I detect nothing other than the Giant Spider…" Niko said.
Ye-ah sure you're still blamed for missing that!" Maki said.
"D-Don't just blame me! Blame yourself too for not detecting it!" Niko yelled.
"Now-now, where we should put the orb?" I asked.
"Oh… well, it supposed to be up there, but… the lift isn't even able to get up there…" Maki said.
Hmm…
"I'm sure there's a way to get to the upper floor…" Niko said.
There is….
"You found anything, Eli? I believe your eyes are still a lot keener than her.." Maki said.
"H-Hey!" Niko protested.
"Wait a minute…." I said before I gave the orb to Niko and went all the way to the window.
I looked up again, the long braided hair still hanging. I tried to pull it, it seems very strong and I should be able to climb this.
I step on the window.
"W-wait! Eli! We're supposed to go up! Not down!" Maki said in panic.
I ignored her and keep on doing what I wanted to do.
I climbed up with the hair— it's not a very high place but it made me a little curious. Is she actually there?
As I reached to the top, I stowed Kitsune and she flew to me in card form. I can see there's no one there and the hair isn't hers. It's just a fake hair that tied strongly into the pillar. Then there's also a small podium which probably be the orb.
"Eli?" I can see Maki looks confused as she looks around through the window.
"Up here…" I said.
Maki turned up and noticed the hanging fake hair.
"Climb it, it's save…" I said.
Without comment, Maki began to climb the hair and Niko followed her. They got up here in no time.
"Told you she has keener eyes…" Maki said to Niko.
"Hmpmh!" Niko pouts.
Well... actually… someone is telling me about this… but ah well… I can't mention it to them yet. I still don't know her true intention.
"Ah! That's the podium.." Niko said before she ran to it. She placed the orb on the podium.
Then we could see it began to shine after Niko did something on it.
"Done… let's tell the others…" Niko said.
We turned on our walkie-talkie on our glasses.
"We're done, where are you all?" I asked.
"Ah, Ericchi, we just finished the extra puzzle too. It was fun!" Nozomi said happily.
"I..It's not fun! So scary, Nya!" Rin said in horror.
"It was, I really like the part where we got chased by the ghost! I always want to try it!" Umi said cheerfully.
Looks like they're having fun…
"We already placed the orb on the podium too and it shines!" Nozomi said.
"Harasho, the same with us…" I said.
"We should be able to move to the next phase after Printemps placed the orb…" Nozomi said again.
"Let me try connecting to the Printemps…" Niko said.
She tried to connect with her tablet and it's connected so quickly.
"Printemps, BiBi and Lily White is finished with the Puzzle, what about—…." Before Niko could finish, Hanayo screamed. We can see the view on the screen is moving very quickly.
"Someone pleaseeee heeeeeeeeellllppp! Aaaaaaaaaaaa!"
I guess they're still on the run….
"Eeeeekk! Crawly-crawly legless nurseeeee!" Kotori screamed.
"With chopping knifeeeee and Bell peppers!" Honoka screamed.
Just what on earth they're doing...
"P...P-Pyramid headdd! Aaaaaaaaa!" Hanayo screamed again as we could hear her still running.
Pyramid head? I wonder what that is…. Sounds fun.
"Woaah! That one! You can't kill that one! Keep running!" Nozomi said.
"J..Just…what the hell is this place…." Niko sighed.
"Nozomi… just why you have so many horrors in this place…" Maki asked.
"I like Horrors… I'm a big fan of Pyramid head because he can do deadly Nipple twist in the movie!" Nozomi said.
"What….." Maki and Niko said lazily.
She somewhat remind me with what written on that newspaper…. Ayase Eli the Nipple twister… sigh….Did she actually really likes nipple twist? I'll make sure to try doing it to her later and see how she reacts.
"I'm not sure that's a horror or a porn…" Niko said.
"You should try watching it with me later, Nikocchi! Ericchi doesn't like watching horror so you can watch it with me…" Nozomi said.
"No thanks…. You're horror enough…" Niko replied.
"Excuse me Nikocchi?" Nozomi's voice changed to gloom.
"N-Nothing!" Niko said.
"Anyway, so what can we do now?" I asked.
"We have to wait Printemps to finish this phase to move on into the next phase…." Nozomi said.
"Is there no way of us to help them out?" I asked.
"Nope, the rule of Puzzle is three people at once…" Nozomi said.
"So I guess we're stuck here until they can finish the extra puzzle…" Maki said.
"Something like that…" Niko said.
We all sighed.
"But at least we finished this puzzle without any errors…" I said.
"Huh? We got caught by the spiders…." Maki said.
"Yeah…." Niko said.
I smiled to them.
"But we have a team-work and we're all safe…" I said.
"True…" Niko said shyly.
"Yeah… you're right…" Maki replied shyly too.
I gave them pat on the back.
"Let's be a good team, ok?" I said.
Niko and Maki turned to me and smiled,
"Yeah, we're BiBi…!" Niko said.
"Eh? You're not into Cutie panther again?" Maki asked.
"I...I just think it fits now!" Niko said.
"But you were all into Cutie Panther before!" Maki said.
"BiBi is fine!" Niko said.
"You said Cutie Panther!" Maki yelled.
"Now is BiBi!" Niko yelled back.
They began to argue again.
Oh well…. Wonder how we will do it in the next phases….
We finally get through all phases until the seventh phase,
It was a rough phases as they suddenly messed up with their signaling words. If only we practiced more with that, but either way we made it with hard work. We're taking a short break too before going to the eighth phase.
"When I heard you all signaling… we really thought you're all fighting…" Umi said.
"They're literally fighting nya…" Rin said.
"I mean… fighting each other…" Umi said again.
"I'm seriously worried too but it was all just another signaling method…strange one… but you all made it anyway…" Hanayo said.
"Yeah….." I, Maki, and Niko said before we sighed.
"Alright, everyone, this is the last phase that I know about. We will gather up again after this phase to examine the next phase…" Nozomi said.
"Alright!" Honoka replied cheerfully.
"Tell us when you're done, let's open the next door all together…" Nozomi said again.
"Ok! Let's go nya! We almost made it to the last!" Rin said happily as she marched to the middle path along with Maki, Niko, and Hanayo.
"Let's go!" Honoka said cheerfully as she walks to the right path along with Kotori and Umi.
We're left alone here. Nozomi remained quiet and staring at me with her shy face.
"So… Ericchi…" she said, I can see her twiddling her fingers.
"Do you…. Want to do it after or before?" she asked.
"Do what?" I asked back.
"Ericchi! You're the one who asked me for that!" She said.
"What is that?" I asked.
"Ahhhh! Ericchi! Did you forget what you ask to me?!" she looks upset.
What did I do wrong? Why she is suddenly upset at me?
"Maybe, what did I ask?" I asked.
"That!" she said.
"What is that?" I asked again.
"You were asking for that! How could you forget?!" she asked me angrily.
She is still cute when angry…
"You keep saying that, if you are not telling me I wouldn't know…" I said.
She pouts very cutely.
"Th..th…that Ericchi! That!" Nozomi said again nervously. Her face blushing madly...
I think it will take a while to get the answer.
"Let's just do the puzzle and talk about it later, ok?" I said.
"Fine!" she said as she pouts cuter and walks into the left path. I decided to follow her.
She seems to be less upset as she walks…
But…
Seriously though… what did I ask to her?
We finally reached the room we should deal with,
Nozomi seems to be quiet as she starts to examine the room. This place is dominated by thick glasses as the wall. I can see a huge aquarium on the left side of the wall, then a huge and beautiful garden on the right side of the wall. The floor also made of glass and I can see ocean floor under it— along with the fishes and corals. The ceiling also made of glasses and we can see the beautiful sky from it. This place is seriously beautiful with all nature scenery around us.
"Ericchi…" she called me.
"Yes?" I replied.
"Can I…. borrow Kitsune?" she asked.
"Borrow Kitsune?" I wondered.
"Yes… I'm…. I'm a summoner… I can take control of Kitsune…" she said.
"Why?" I asked.
"Well… I…. I want to spend time with you… I got a little too tired from all the puzzles, so…..I…. I want to …. I want to spend time with you…..uhm…" she blushed madly.
"What is it related with taking control over Kitsune?" I asked.
"I…If I control Kitsune, I can finish this puzzle in just ten seconds…" she said.
Hmm… should I let her borrow Kitsune?
I can let her borrow since she seems to be really wants to spend time with me, but I can just refuse and go do the puzzle with her….
[I decided to let her borrow]
I handed Kitsune card to her.
She looks really surprised as I gave it to her.
"E…Ericcchi…. You…. You believe me?" she said softly.
"Yup, go on…" I said.
She smiled happily.
"Thank you, Ericchi! I'm so happy!" she said.
I just gave her a smile.
She turned around and break Kitsune's card. Kitsune summoned in The Fool form.
"This Puzzle is difficult with two people since this requires the same mind on every single step, but with just one mind controlling over two summon, this will be very easy…" Nozomi said as she summoned a creature— a dark horse with bull horn, blue fire as tails and hair.
I wonder… are they actually personas? Or… are they just demons? I know she is a demon summoner, but she know a lot about persona too, is it related?
Nozomi changed Kitsune into The Empress form. Then I can see her jumped into the dark horse and began to run through the halls— slashing a lot of things that I don't even know why. They even jumped around appearing panel up then down and I noticed Kitsune keep changing Arcana in a few steps, I don't think I know what they're actually doing… but either way, Kitsune card returned after ten second.
She was then giving it back to me. I put her back to my pocket.
"Here, Ericchi... now we should be able to take a pleasant walk…" she said shyly.
I smiled at her before I held her hand.
"Then, let's go…" I said.
We walk through the place quietly. She is really shy right now. It made me feel somewhat wanting to do some little force to her. I don't know why. But perhaps I should try to make a topic instead of suddenly groping her.
"This place is really beautiful, Nozomi…" I said.
"Is it?" she asked.
"Yep… with all these natural scenery… I feel very comfortable here… despites all the fogs…" I said.
She remained quiet.
"but honestly, from all these views… there's only one place that really catch my eyes…" I said again.
"Where…?" she asked.
I stopped. She also stopped to see me.
"Wherever you are…." I said as I gently stroke her hair.
She blushed and turned away.
"Ericchi… you're charming me again…. It's hard to resist you know, especially to see you in that clothes…" she said.
I remained quiet to watch her shy eyes. She made me want to touch her more…
"Do you still need to resist me?" I whispered.
I can hear her giggle softly.
"I guess not…" she said with a sweet smile.
I grab her closer and kissed her deeply. She hugged me tight and began to join my lips on the play. My hand began to explore her body as our lips touched each other. I can feel her dragging me to the left wall. Seems like she wanted to do it over there instead of in the middle of this place…
My hands started to grope around her waist and trailing down to her ass. She still hugged me tight as she also sucked my lips timidly. I play along with her, also began to lick around and inside her mouth. I really like her taste for some reason. It's like everything of her is very likeable without exception.
I gave her neck some gentle kisses, too bad she is wearing a costume right now. I feel like opening it and giving her breast some kisses too… beggar can't chose though. We're not supposed to be in this kind of situation right now.
Perhaps I should just focus on what's down there… but I also like her body scent right now. Perhaps it was getting stronger after all the works out in the previous phases.
I sniffed around her body, she started to giggle as I did it…
"Ericchi! There! You're acting like a dog!" she said.
Speaking of dog…
I grinned at her and turned her around.
"E…Ericchi?" she wondered.
I grab her waist and pressed my crotch on her. I may not be able to do it like a real male, but I can do this.
I slipped my fingers under her skirt and prod it on her core. I can hear her moaned as I did it. Perhaps I should go deeper now since I feel like she is already wet. I let my fingers sneaked in through her underwear, then I realized I'm still using glove. I took it out again and bit my glove— taking it off from my hand and sneak my fingers back in.
Now I can feel the sticky liquid here, then I began to rub from her core to her tip of hollow entrance. I may not be able to her clearly but I could feel the liquid made an exotic noise that I somehow love to hear. She bent down and holds herself on the glass wall— watching the fishes that swimming around the aquarium. It feels really funny to do this while watching and being watched by those fishes.
But I don't really care. I just keep rubbing my fingers inside and sometime prodding in to tease her and myself. I really can't wait to lick her but it just feels better if my desire to do it is postponed until it almost reaches to the top. Let's save the best for the last.
I wonder if I can kiss her now… I missed her lips already… maybe I can do this…
I moved to her side, grabbing one of her breast and rub it gently as I insert my finger from the backside. Then I pushed her up a little to tell her that I want to kiss her. She understands my intention and began to kiss me as well.
I inserted the second finger and slide it a little faster. I can hear her moaning louder as she kept kissing me. She began to use her hand to touch mine as well. I think I'm also wet down there too, but I wonder what she wanted to do with it.
I can feel her inserted her finger as well, then started to twitch my hardened core. It was somewhat ticklish but I like it— and it made me feel like gripping her closer to me. So I dragged her closer— and I didn't expect her to move her legs closer, released my finger off hers, then she hopped on me, crossing her legs around my waist. I tried to hold her body while also looking for a way to insert my finger back in again in this position. She released her fingers off mine and showed her wet fingers to me.
I remained quiet as I watch her wet fingers, wondering what she going to do with it.
She smiled and leading my eyes down— she inserted her wet fingers into her own and moaned.
That….
That just….
Somehow ticking something inside me.
I bent down and placed her on the ground, she looks a little astonished. Though for some reason, I wanted to bents her legs up and penetrated my two fingers very roughly on her… and I decide to actually do it after I watched her blushing face staring at me as if she wanted it too.
"Ericchi! Be gentle!" she said between her moan, yet I keep on going with this pace. Somehow… even when she started to screams and placed both of her hands on her own cheek— I have no will to make it any slower. I made it even faster and added third fingers into it.
"Ericchi! It hurts!" she moaned as she keeps struggling.
I still don't want to care about that yet. It supposed to be elastic, right? I think it can make it even if I insert five fingers in? A whole fist…?
Worth a try while I'm in it. I'm curious anyway.
I tried to do four fingers…sliding it for a while as I watched Nozomi writhed in pain. Why am I not feeling a single guilt from it?
Then I tried to put in my thumb in and managed to get the whole fist in….
It feels so warm and good— I just somehow have a strange pride in it. I slid my whole fist deep into her. She screamed louder and her face seems to be between enjoyment and pain— for me at least. I just feel like she enjoys it…. or maybe it was my delusion?
I feel her being more tensed as I kept sliding my fist in. She began to cry as she moans and scream louder.
"Ericchi! Stop! Stop! I'm going to…" she took a deep breath. I can feel something coming out from her and it's so warm. I released my hand off her and—wh…what the…. Blood?
Did…did I hurt her?
"You tore it…. now you have to marry me Ericchi…" she said
"Wha….what….?"
"My hymen! You tore it!" she said again as she smiled at me.
Hymen…. One that so called as mark of virginity…
I tore it…? It didn't tore up in the first time?
"I…I'm sorry…. Does it hurt?" I asked.
"It is! So marry me and the pain will be worth it!" she said again.
"I… I will…." I said.
But how? I feel like cursing myself now…. what I've done…. I feel a faint headache now…
She giggled at me.
"That's my Ericchi. Now help me walk…." she said.
Oh dear, does it really hurt?
"I…I can heal you! Will that work?" I said as I helped her to stand up.
"Nope! I'm not going to let you escape that too… you have to marry me before you do your duty…" she smiled at me.
Oh dear… oh dear….. I know I have to be responsible…but….I'm going to disappear? Then she wants me to marry her before? How?!
"It doesn't have to be officially! I accept anything as a sign of it! Like… call me as your wife now?" she asked teasingly.
Is she teasing me now? But I really did take her virginity! What should I do?!
"Don't panic now Ericchi!" she giggled.
I remained quiet as I watch her cleaning her tears from her face.
"I like the pain…. And it was nothing too… every time I spend with you is already a pain… a sweet pain…Ericchi…" she said as she took out her handkerchief and clean up my hand.
"A pain that worth in every second… I already know you will have to disappear ever since I met you…." She continued as she took my glove and wears it back to my hand.
"But I want you either way…. You made me fall for you in each day, you made me want you in every time…. And there is no if in this, Ericchi. You and I are meant to meet each other… you and I are meant to feel this love… and we both have our own burden…." She continued again as she stare into me sweetly.
"Nozomi…."
I don't know what to say to that…. now I feel guilty but…. I know I have to disappear… for her… for everyone….
"I love you Ericchi!" she said again sweetly.
If only there's a way to keep her with me…. If only there's something I can do about it….
I love her smile, her love, her passion, her comfort…. I love everything about her… but I love the world too and she is too… a world for me…
"Nozomi… I love you too…" I said as I hugged her.
She hugged me back as she nuzzled against me.
I don't know what to say now… I feel an ache in my heart… and I want to hug her close a little longer.
"Sheesh… Ericchi, you have a strange mind you know that?" she whispered.
"What strange mind?"
"You're wild… you do what you want to do… but you can be so polite and disciplined at times… then, you can be so flirty and forceful…. But also so ignorant about love at times… you keep changing face with times and they're all truly coming from your heart…. But that's what you are as The Fool…. And I love it…" she said.
"Then… what about you as The Jester?" I asked.
"Me…? Well….I made myself able to change to another so that people like me….or at least, pay attention to me… just like how children are… it's nothing like you… but we're equal…." she replied.
"So we're equally strange?" I asked.
She giggled.
"Yes, we're both strange, Ericchi… but life isn't fun without you…" she said.
"My life is fun because of you too…" I said.
She smiled at me.
We stare into each other quietly for a while before we got a call from the others on Nozomi's tablet. Nozomi accepted it.
"We just finished, Nozomi! Active your earphone! Honoka and the others are finished too!" Niko said.
"We will be there soon…" Nozomi said.
We active our earphone and we could hear Honoka and Rin talk about each other puzzle. I missed the early details but it seems like their puzzle is actually difficult but they are all able to make it somehow.
"Hello…" I said.
"Eli-chan! How was your puzzle?" Honoka asked.
"Fun…" I said as I winked to Nozomi.
Nozomi giggled.
"It was painful though!" Nozomi said.
"Our puzzles are painful too! We can't miss a single timing or we will get hurt by the traps!" Honoka said.
"Mine have to be really gets the right power amount, nya! It's annoying since Niko-chan always mess up with the counting!" Rin said.
"What about yours? What are you two doing?" Honoka asked.
Uhm…. How do I say it….. maybe this…
"I have to insert the right amount and speed or it will explode too early?" I said.
Nozomi snorted.
"Whoa… that sounds like decoding bomb or something, must be very complex…" Honoka said.
"Wait a minute, Nozomi, did you just snorted?" Niko asked.
"Ericchi exploded the bomb with her fist!" Nozomi said as she giggled.
"And you're laughing on that… how insane are you…" Niko said.
"T..Thats dangerous, Eli-chan… are you ok?" Hanayo asked.
"She is perfectly fine! But that teach her a lesson to not being too forceful next time!" Nozomi said.
"I thought it's going to be a perfect run since you two are together…" Niko said.
"Ah? Nikocchi is complimenting us… but no it's not sadly. I got a little accident myself… but we're fine…" Nozomi said.
"I guess that room is just really difficult then…" Niko said.
"I wonder how hard that is to make them working hard…" Umi said.
"We have our challenge… now let's get to the next phase, ok? We shouldn't waste too much time…" Nozomi said.
"Yeah!"
We gathered on the next room.
This place is somewhat strange, as if it has a lot of podium with roman numbers but there's nothing to place here. We noticed there are three doors and it probably has something to do with these podiums. We also noticed the floor is made of glass and we can see ocean floor from here too.
It's a lot beautiful from here because there are a few bright corals that shine down there.
"So I guess we have to split up again now?" Niko asked.
"Yes, let's get back to Lily White, BiBi, and Printemps to investigate…" Umi said.
"I agree, it's the most balanced team…" Hanayo said.
"Alright, then let's search around with that team…" I said.
"Nozomi-chan, are you sure you're ok, nya?" Rin asked.
"Me…? I'm ok… what's up?" Nozomi replied calmly.
"Your walk is a little strange, nya…" Rin said. That's awesome of her to be able to notice it. I thought she was able to cover it up nicely. I can't tell them it because I just fisted her a while back too.
"Do you need heal?" Hanayo asked.
"Please don't heal me now. I'm fine!" Nozomi said.
"Are you sure?" Hanayo asked.
Suddenly, Niko healed her. Nozomi got surprised and she quickly turned to Niko.
"Ni….Nikocchi…." she said in anger.
"What? I was being nice!" Niko said.
Nozomi gloomed as she approach her.
"W-what the heck?! Why now?" Niko smirked.
Nozomi quickly grab her breast and squeezed it really hard.
"Aaaaaaaa!"
Everyone sighed as they watched it.
I guess I'm the only one who know about the reason… but either way, I think I'll just tell her this…
"Nozomi, promise is a promise. That part doesn't matter…" I said.
Nozomi turned to me…
"Ericchi…." She looks at me in awe.
I smiled at her.
"Alright then, it's ok!" she said as she smiled to me sweetly and released Niko.
"Now let's go everyone! Let's finish this!" Umi said as she pointed to a door and walk to it
"Go-go Lily-white! Let's do our best!" Rin and Nozomi said in high spirit as they follow her.
"Let's go too, everyone!" Honoka said as she marched to the other door along with Kotori and Hanayo.
"Printemps—Oui! Bon Appétit!" Kotori and Hanayo said cutely.
Maki and Niko stare at me.
"Let's go?" I asked.
"Stop asking, idiot!" they said.
I wish we have better signaling method now…. but we already agreed to it…. ah well…
BiBi team,
We're exploring around the area, though we couldn't find anything that looks special. This place that we're exploring is like just a place to keep a few unique statues which we can't move from its place.
"Sheesh, none of them looks loose enough to be moved…" Niko said.
"Yeah, there's no hidden switch anywhere too… what about you, Eli?" Maki asked.
I've been browsing around too, even trying to look around the curtains around the room. I can't find anything.
"No… sorry…" I said.
"Hey…you two, what do you think about this one?" Niko asked. We turned to her. She is standing in front of a statue… it's a statue of…
"Nine tailed fox…?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's very close to your Kyuubi no Kitsune…" Niko said.
"You're right…" I said.
This one really close to humanoid Nine-tailed fox…. The statue is sitting right in front of a gate.
Maki approached us.
"Huh? Now I think these statues might made sense…" Maki said.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I've heard stories, but also some other stories that only told from mouth to mouth yet never be written or being paid attention of…" Maki said.
"What stories?" Niko asked.
"Hmm… have you ever heard of the story about Fox wife and Tanuki Husband?" Maki asked.
"No… Can they even breed…" I replied.
"It's a mythology, Eli… but anyway, that story is about betrayal, loyalty and trickery. You might can find that story online, but anyway. This is another story that I used to hear and pretty much summarized in these statues…" Maki said as she beckoned to us to watch from the furthest statue.
"There was once a female Tanuki whose family got slaughtered by hunters after they failed on their attempt to steal in the nearby village…" she started as she showed us a statue of female Tanuki standing near dead Tanuki.
"Since then, she always lives all by herself. At first she was living finely in the forest, yet day by day, the forest began to be explored by humans and they even build home there— more importantly, they started to shoo her away and call her as nuisance for them…" Maki continued again as she showed us a few statues that pretty much tell about it.
"At first, she was so confused by that, she thought it was because they always think Tanuki as a thief— just because of what her family used to do back then…. And she started to think of a way how to make them forget about that and be friend with human, she want to be liked and being taken care of too…" she continued again with the story as we keep going through the room.
"But all of her attempt was failure. Human always brush her away and even if she hasn't do anything, they attempted to murder her at once... then at one day, she decided to try to convince one man and remained on his side even when he tried to brush her away, but it was useless and she got beaten until she was close to her death…. Then got dumped into a pit which was told to be full of demon…" Maki continued, we're close to the Nine-tailed fox statue.
"She thought she was hopeless, so she just lay down there and waiting for her death…. But she was wrong. A demon offered her a deal… the deal was about her being carrier and master of their kind forever, but she have to trick the gate guardian to unleash the greatest demon into the world…" she said as she stopped at the nine-tailed fox statue.
"This nine-tailed fox here should be what they call as the gate guardian… I don't really know about the rest though…. I was angry too when my granpa stopped in this part…" Maki said.
"This gate guardian…. Eli…. If you're Kitsune… then you are a gate guardian?" Niko asked.
"Me…? No way…." I said.
"That story is already over five thousand years ago too. She can't be possibly that. Beside, Nine-tailed fox isn't only one too. There are so many of them but mostly they're tasked to protect something as if being the seal of a gate and remain there forever… or at least being a key." Maki replied.
"I see…. what do you think will happen next?" Niko asked.
"I think the Tanuki will still trying to do its job. It was a deal she made with a demon— and demons are always true to their promise although it always involves some trickery. But what does she care about the world anyway? She was being humiliated by the world— I think she will have a deep grudge on human being as well…" Maki said.
"True…." Niko said.
Just right after that, we could hear Niko got a call on her tablet. Niko accept it.
"BiBi! Please gather up again! Lily White found a clue about this room…" Hanayo said.
"Alright, thanks!" Niko said.
"Let's go then…?" I asked.
"Stop asking, idiot!" they replied.
We gathered up again in the room,
Printemps and Lily White already waited for us there.
"What do you see in your room, BiBi?" Honoka asked.
"We just found a few statues and Maki tell us story about it…" I said.
"Ah, I see, I'm curious about that story but maybe we can share that after this finished…" Umi said.
"What about Printemps?" I asked.
"We found nothing! The room we're exploring are just room full of old Japanese fashion…" Honoka said.
And they seem proud of that… okay…
"Alright, so this is what we found…" Umi said as she showed us a map. It's a map of this room and apparently… there are about twenty podiums here, one of them is hidden in the center.
"We need to place our Persona card on the correct podium. Just look at the number of your persona Arcana, then place it on the podium, Nozomi will do the rest of the empty podium…" Umi said.
"Why not just tell her to do everything?" Niko asked.
"We can't, we need a big power to active the hidden podium in the center…" Umi said.
"My cards are not as strong as your persona cards, they're all dispose-able. Besides, it just going to takes a while too. You won't lose your cards…" Nozomi said.
"I think it's better if we all distribute too…" Kotori said.
"Yup, let's always do everything together…" Hanayo said.
"Alright, let's do this!" Honoka said cheerfully.
I tried to look for number zero podium, but it looks like it start from one. Maybe the hidden podium is The Fool?
I decided to wait them finish.
As they placed their card, the podium closed itself and began to shine.
"Ah! looks like it's working-nya!" Rin said.
"Yeah, it is just like the instruction!" Umi said.
The middle podium appeared from above and it's actually podium for The Fool.
I keep staring at it for a while.
"Go on, Eli-chan… that should be yours…." Honoka said.
"Yup, let's finish this!" Umi said.
Alright then…..
I walked to the podium and placed Kitsune card on it.
Nothing happen…
"Maybe you should step a little further?" Umi asked.
I took one step back.
Still nothing happen.
"Do another…" Nozomi said.
I took another step— and suddenly the floor gone and I fell on the water.
What on earth is this…
I tried to get up but the glass floor is solid again. I can see Maki and Niko ran first and they tried to slam the glass floor. Honoka tried to use her hammer to break the floor yet nothing happened to the floor. I also can see Maki tried to use her gun, but the bullet didn't do any damage to the floor.
I can see Kotori and Hanayo looks panic, Umi and Rin too are trying to break the floor.
I couldn't hear them but I can feel how panic they are by just looking.
But someone is missing….
Nozomi….
Where's Nozomi?
Where is she?
I tried to look around and couldn't find her on the surface. I tried to look around me but she is nowhere to be found too.
Damn it…
I can see darkness spawning from the ocean floor and it's coming towards me…
How do I get out of this?
A/N : so let's see if anyone have guesses here about what actually happening. It's a pretty common plot for my opinion...
I can't wait to write the next FF story too btw! lol. I saw a few funny KotoUmi stuff on the internet and idea just popping out everywhere on my head lol.