Author's Note: God, I managed to release this, thank god.
Black Rock Shooter and co. belongs to Huke.
"The Ivy" - the HIATUS
Black clouds covered the checkerboard sky as Dragon Slayer, while carrying an unconscious B RS, dashed through the dead forest, Geshumaru trailing after her by a few feet. Fighting against the Spirit Eater wasn't easy, but they would be lying to themselves if they thought all of them would get out alright. Icicle wasn't holding back by any means, and trapping Dead Master and Chariot just by manipulating the shadows around the area was proof of that. Slowing down, Dragon Slayer bent down and put B RS on the ground, coming back up and turning around to face Geshumaru. There was no time for their differences to come to the forefront, even if they are on even terms, some things just won't change.
"The hell you thinking, forcing your energy to short-circuit hers?!" Geshumaru hissed.
"What Shooter was planning was reckless, can't have her kill herself…" Dragon Slayer stated.
"But you can't do that to her," Geshumaru shot back, "Mato's connected to her, one short-circuit equals double the pain that's inflicted upon them..!"
Dragon Slayer frowned, "One small sacrifice for a hundred justified reasons"
"Still keeping that globalized view on things, hun?" Geshumaru inquired, frowning at the amber-eyed Anomaly's response.
"If that helps me see the things that you can't, then I will keep it," Dragon Slayer told her, turning around for a moment to eye B RS, "It's proven you wrong many times over, so you know that it isn't flawed like the black-and-white perception that you originally had"
Geshumaru looked away, "I will... give you credit on that, but..!"
"I understand, I put her at risk, but would you want her to go through what Dead Master and Chariot did," Dragon Slayer inquired, her eyes glowing for a second, "I chose the lesser of two evils, besides, best to get a win out of this loss"
"Elaborate," Geshumaru told her, arching an eyebrow.
"Using whatever information I had on Icicle, I was able to deduce her identity by pointing out what I know," Dragon Slayer stated, "I would have said that the water in the fountain turned black when I inquired about her, but that little giveaway would have her hunting it down"
"So whatever information you have is all there really is to Icicle?" Geshumaru summed up, confused.
Dragon Slayer looked away, frowning slightly as her thoughts strayed away from her conversation with Geshumaru, and into a distant memories. She could remember the smell of blood as she slashed away, hearing voices and words that were different from what she's used to, the body parts that laid on the semi polished floor. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she forced the memory back before looking at B RS, trying to understand how they all reached this point, aside from the two fights today. Icicle was the start of it all, and judging by how everything goes on from here on out, it looks like she might be the end for them all as well. Pushing back the stray thoughts, Dragon Slayer looked back at Geshumaru and brought her attention back to their conversation, fully aware that she needs to give Geshumaru a response.
"Well, there is the 'embodiment of darkness' thing that I brought up," Dragon Slayer told her, "I'm figuring that you're unaware of what I'm talking about"
Geshumaru nodded, "Just what is the 'embodiment of darkness'?"
"The darkness is practically negative emotions within real selves, the grief, regret, and anger that real selves bottle up, which results in our creation," Dragon Slayer explained, "When an other self gets killed, that darkness gets eliminated, but that causes a backlash that shouldn't occur"
"In other words, the real self loses memories of what caused that," Geshumaru said, earning a nod from Dragon Slayer.
"That backlash could either be temporary, or a lasting permanent effect for a real self," Dragon Slayer continued, "But anything that's resolved naturally without the Otherworld interference, causes that darkness to fade from the real self, but the other self still keep their existence... and something more"
"Power?" Geshumaru wondered.
"And clarity to their existence," Dragon Slayer told her, "Antithesis are tricky to gauge in that regards, but that's beside the point; when the darkness leaves the real self naturally, it doesn't just dies as expected"
Geshumaru looked down at the ground, deep in her thoughts, "The difference between fade and die is big, so what does happen to it then?"
"We got our result from Icicle, but to explain it in words," Dragon Slayer said, taking a couple of steps to her left, "It lingers around the Otherworld, just one regret that assimilates with the other regrets, merging and becoming twisted as regrets piled up together, to the point where the remaining regrets becomes a desire"
"But oblivion requires a strong enough wish, any regret right now can't accumulate to that point," Geshumaru stated, "Even if they come together"
Dragon Slayer nodded, "Unless it took a couple of centuries for it to grow, with the turning points coming around early to mid-1900's"
"How?" Geshumaru asked.
Dragon Slayer was about to explain further when she heard a groan coming from behind her, B RS slowly waking up from the short-circuit the amber-eyed Anomaly put her through. Even though she couldn't hear Mato wake up, B RS could still feel her presence within her, and once she regained full control of herself, she remembers what happened. Getting up in an instant, B RS brought out her Black Blade and dashed towards Dragon Slayer, ready to slash at her. Dragon Slayer pivoted on her right heel and grabbed B RS's left arm before punching the girl in the face, forcing her back to the ground. Halting her fluid movement, Dragon Slayer looked down at B RS and stepped on the sword, preventing B RS from trying to attack her with the sword.
"If you're done acting like a child, realize that there's nothing you can do for them," Dragon Slayer told her, her tone commanding.
"Damn you, I could have saved them..!" B RS shouted, glaring at Dragon Slayer.
"Then what would you do, try to escape with two incapacitated other selves who got punctured many times by Icicle?" Dragon Slayer said bluntly, her eyes narrow.
B RS frowned, "I could get them out of there..."
"At the risk of your own life, which is unacceptable given the circumstances," Dragon Slayer told her, "If you got caught, Mato would get caught in something that would torment her, and being impaled by those spike isn't much better"
"But they... it shouldn't have happened..." B RS said, looking down as her conviction wavered.
"Nothing happens without reason, understand that Shooter, and that applies to you as well Mato," Dragon Slayer told her, sending the last message to Mato before looking at Geshumaru, "We can't stay here for long, it the iron-cast clouds is any evidence, Icicle is spreading out to different areas in the Otherworld"
Geshumaru looked up for a moment, watching the clouds spread steadily, "I see, then we have to find a place to hide out for a while"
Dragon Slayer nodded and started walking away, "There's a route that we can take, it will get us away, but I doubt we will know what happens to the Otherworld"
Geshumaru stared at Dragon Slayer, trying to understand what she meant until it clicked in her head, "We're going to seclusion"
"More than that, we're escaping from the Otherworld and into the real world," Dragon Slayer told her, "Understand Geshumaru, you can't open a rift under these circumstances, I rather avoid a debacle in the real world if possible"
Geshumaru nodded slowly as Dragon Slayer's words sank in, her thoughts breaking down the facts and creating a scenario revolving around Icicle making use of the rift in some way. She normally opens a rift when she can't get to the Otherworld by any other means, and all the other methods aren't any better, so there's really no other choice than making a rift her main method of traveling between realities. To have her safest method of reaching the real world eliminated, trusting Dragon Slayer to find another way for them seems like the only route, but it isn't without drawbacks, primarily of the trust category when it concerns the amber-eyed Anomaly. Watching Dragon Slayer walking west, Geshumaru took a couple of steps in the same direction before turning to face B RS, who looked like she was mulling over their fight with Icicle.
"Shooter, Mato, I know you're worried about them, but things will get better," Geshumaru told her before looking at the black dot that was Dragon Slayer's back, "Now let's go, before Dragon Slayer leaves us to die"
B RS looked at Geshumaru walking away before doing the same, "Damn it..."
[It's... it's my fault...]
B RS didn't say anything as she dashed along the ground, trying to catch up to the other two Anomalies that were heading to the safe haven that Dragon Slayer mentioned.
For Yomi, she has deal with many things within a time span of a year, whether the issues connect with the real world as she tried to live her life as a teenager, or the Otherworld with her other self: Dead Master. Throughout all that though, she changed slowly into the person she is today, which isn't a bad thing considering what happened to her. From having a heart carved on her body, to losing Dead Master and the grief that tormented her, all the way to switching bodies with her own other self. The body switching incident wasn't ideal in any way, but if it wasn't for that moment, she wouldn't have survived in the Otherworld, and never being able to see her friends is a scary thought. She went through all that and managed to survive, but now she feels as though something is forcing her down, a chilling sensation that threatened to consume her.
"Just what is going on, why am I feeling cold..?" Yomi wondered, ignoring the irritation coming from wearing her glasses.
One of the drawbacks from going through all that is that she needs to wear her glasses, which are actually useless to her now that her vision got corrected about a week ago, and wearing them would probably bring her vision down to what it once was. She did enjoy her vision being what it is now, but wearing her glasses puts up the guise that she still has vision problems. Yomi couldn't understand how one moment in the Otherworld caused her vision to correct itself, but thinking twice on it wouldn't help her in any way. Taking off her glasses, Yomi rubbed her eyes as she felt her spine going cold for a moment, causing her to suck in her breath. That's about the third time that happened since the morning, and that's what leaving her confused since getting chills down your spine doesn't happen like now.
Yomi closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths, "Calm down and focus on your work Yomi..."
Yomi reopened her eyes, but something wasn't right with what she was seeing, and she looked around the classroom as everyone was frozen stiff in a grey-scale scene. Rubbing both of her eyes, Yomi wondered if it was a trick, that something was wrong with her vision again, only to see that nothing changed. Aware that something was wrong, Yomi moved to get out from her seat, but nothing happened as her body moved and shifted back to place, directed forward with both arms on her desk. Yomi tried to move her body, but it wouldn't budge as she watched the shadows on the floor shift, moving around as they slithered to her, rising up from the tiles as they became black wisp-like tendrils. She watched the tendrils near her, moving around like a snake sizing up their prey before going for the kill, all while she heard a familiar voice calling out to her.
"...mi.. Yomi...!"She heard as she blinked.
Opening her eyes again, Yomi saw everyone talking about with their friends, going about their day like nothing happened as Kagari stared at her with a slightly worried expression on her face. Class ended about a minute ago, but Kagari knows Yomi was out of it for a good seven minutes before the bell rung, and that's leaving a lot of questions in her head. Watching Yomi shake slightly, Kagari was about to lay a comforting hand on her shoulder when her best friend got up from her seat and grabbed her while heading out of the classroom, dragging the blonde-haired girl along the school hallway. The sudden movement caught Kagari off guard, but she snapped back to reality and loosened Yomi's grip on her uniform before getting up, trying to keep up with her. She watched Yomi stop for a moment and shake slightly before she continued walking, arching an eyebrow before she felt a chill crawl down her spine, her body shaking before she rushed through the hallway and catch up to Yomi.
"Yomi, where are you going?" Kagari asked, her eyebrows scrunching together in worry.
"I need to talk to Saya," Yomi told her, continuing forward.
"Is it about the chills down our spine..?" Kagari questioned.
Yomi looked at her for a moment before looking forward, "Among others..."
"What's going on Yomi," Kagari inquired, keeping pace, "Why did you zone out back in class..?"
Yomi didn't say anything as they walked through the hallways, nearing the consultation room as the moment back in class played back in Yomi's head.
"Ahh, finally got myself a break..." Saya sighed in content before taking a sip of her favorite coffee drink from her cup.
Sitting down on the couch, Saya laid back a bit as Yuu watched her with an arched eyebrow, taking in the sight of Saya relaxing while there's the potential of some classmates coming to the room with problems. Seeing Saya act like this is unusual, but not to the point where it's completely alien to her, especially since Saya likes to wind down once getting back home from doing some paperwork. Every staff has to do paperwork, Yuu remembered Saya saying one day, also remembering the next part with Saya slightly ranting how it's a bit of a pain since she gets no chance to relax at times while working. To say that Saya got her wish was a bit of an understatement, especially since Saya was capitalizing on the opportunity as much as possible, and Yuu knew in the back of her head that Saya's good mood was going to end. It isn't a matter of haphazardly guessing Saya's good mood is coming to an end, it's just a matter of ethics and that, no matter how much she can wish for relaxation, Saya will have people with problems coming to her.
"Saya, I hate being pessimistic, but you do have to work," Yuu told her.
"Don't worry about it, just having this moment for me is good enough," Saya said, taking another sip from her cup, "Besides, what's the chances I have to deal with anyone today?"
"The same amount of students at school," Yuu deadpanned.
"Well, I'm not worried and everything is fine," Saya said, sighing.
Hearing the door slide open, Saya looked to her right and saw Yomi and Kagari step into the room, "Ah damn, I stand corrected..."
"Fun time's over," Saya mumbled as she got up from the couch and moved towards the chair, looking at Yomi and Kagari, "Still haven't found Mato..?"
"Yeah, there's been news reports since this morning, so Mato's mom and brother are worrying about her," Yomi responded, sitting down on the couch, But that isn't why we're here..."
Saya blinked, "Well, Mato disappearing is big news, so what could overshadow it for the both of you?"
"Since this morning, I been having chills down my spine constantly and... things haven't been right," Yomi explained to Saya, leaving out the moment where time just froze and everything went grey-scale.
"Could it just be that you're coming down with something?" Yuu asked.
"No, my body only feels cold at times, but I don't feel any different other than that," Yomi told them, "You can even ask Kagari, she's going through the same thing..."
Saya and Yuu looked at Kagari, who raised her hands in defense, "I know I'm going through the same thing, but I'm clueless on it"
"I see... but Yomi, why worry about chills, it's common?" Saya inquired, taking a sip from her cup.
Yomi frowned, "But this doesn't feel normal... and I think it's connected to the Otherworld"
The first half of Yomi's comment, Saya partially listened to, but the second half got her choking on her drink from the abrupt vocalized thought of the Otherworld being related to the chills Yomi and Kagari have been feeling. Clearing her throat, Saya threw Yomi an incredulous stare, wondering what was going through her mind trying to connect those chills to the Otherworld. There's no way to connect two things that's unrelated with each other, it's ludicrous to even think that way, so for Yomi of all people to say that caused Saya to think that pigs were flying around somewhere. Aside from that, Saya couldn't just deny Yomi's worries about the chills, and there's the variable that it might be related to the Otherworld, but the chances of that is slim. Snapping herself back to reality, Saya tried to understand what Yomi said, logic conflicting with her knowledge of the Otherworld as she tried to piece things together.
"Yomi, can you explain to me why you think the chills connect with the Otherworld in some way?" Saya asked, keeping her voice even.
"Well, the Otherworld is always related to other incidents that involved us," Yomi told Saya, "Plus, when I get chills down my spine, my body feels like it's getting turned into ice, and that feeling isn't going away"
Saya hummed for a moment, letting Yomi's words sink in, "I can't deny the first statement, but I don't know if you're right..."
Yomi was about to protest when Saya raised her right hand, signaling her to stop, "Hear me out, people sometimes get chills down their spine for no reason, so if you told anyone what you told me, they would think you're delirious"
Whatever Yomi was going to say to Saya got forced back down her throat, her brain going over what Saya told her and what she told the woman, trying to understand how crazy she sounded saying all that and how worse it would be if she told anyone else. Yomi can understand what Saya is going with the issue, but the green-eyed girl can't shake off the feeling that there's more to it than what she knows. The thought of telling Saya about the time-stop moment Yomi got sucked into crawled up to her head, but she couldn't understand what that was about or what it even meant. Just when she thought that explaining one problem wasn't hard enough, she also has to understand what happened in class, but there's the possibility that Saya thinks it's a part of the Otherworld. Holding back a sigh, Yomi glanced at Saya before looking at Kagari and Yuu, the other two people in the room looking back with an arched eyebrow.
"Can you two leave the room for a moment, this is something I need to tell Saya alone?" Yomi asked them.
Kagari and Yuu looked at each other before a cough caused them to look at Saya, "Go on, if it's personal, then Yomi can either let you know about it or keep you out of the issue"
"Fine..." Kagari said, hiding her disappointment as she and Yuu got off the couch.
Yomi watched them exit the room, the sliding close as she looked back at Saya, "There's something else that might connect all this"
"And that would be?" Saya inquired.
"After getting one of those chills while I was in class, the moment I regained my bearings, the entire class was frozen as everything became shades of grey," Yomi told her, frowning as she tried to figure out how it happened, "I wasn't sure what was going on when the shadows just moved on its own, turning into these... things and tried to attack me"
"What?" Saya said, her eyes narrowing.
"I didn't get it, and I still don't," Yomi told her, raking through her hair with her right hand, "Do you know anything about it..?"
"More than anything, but I don't like the implications behind them," Saya thought to herself as she looked at Yomi with a grim expression on her face, "Yomi, I'd be careful about anything you do from here on out"
"So you know what's behind all this?" Yomi asked, her hope rising a bit.
"I can't tell you anything about it, but just watch your back," Saya told her.
Yomi frowned, visibly showing her displeasure at Saya's response, "And you can't tell me why..?"
"It's complicated, to the point where I don't get it myself, but I understand the risks that go with it," Saya stated, "Believe me, I'm not the only one who's trying to understand this, but other than that, I can't help you"
The last few words locked themselves in Yomi's head, the way that Saya stated that she can't help her regardless of the information that she has now, and that alone is enough to anger the green-eyed girl. Getting up, Yomi stormed her way out of the room, her anger catching Kagari and Yuu off guard as she walked down the hall, fuming. Saya walked to the door frame and looked down the hallway, watching Yomi's disappearing back as Kagari ran after her, probably curious about Yomi's reaction. Yuu looked away and stared at Saya, making her way across the hall as she started thinking on what caused Yomi to react the way she did. Sure, she didn't know about what they were talking about, but whatever response that Saya gave to Yomi about whatever problem she told her, it wasn't the one the green-eyed teenager was looking for.
"Saya, what did you tell her?" Yuu inquired.
"That whatever problem she has, I can't help her with it," Saya responded, sighing, "In the end, I only made the problem worse, and Yomi's going to hate me for a while"
Yuu arched an eyebrow, "Was there a choice..?"
Saya frowned as she moved back inside the consultation room, trying to relax as she took a sip from her cup.
The smell of brimstone and the howling sounds coming from mechanical wolves caused Dead Master to wake up slowly, her eyes slowly examining the area around her. She couldn't tell where exactly she was, but the sense of death that laced around the air gave her an idea, and that brought up a moment that she didn't want to relive. She heard movement coming from her left and turned, watching Chariot slowly get up from the floor as she now looked around the area, trying to regain her bearings. Getting up, Dead Master examined the bars that surrounded them before delivering a punch to it, trying to break through with pure strength so they could get away. The punch connected with the bars, but Dead Master felt the bones in her right hand snap from their joints, causing her to reel back as the damage caused to her hard healed itself.
"Where... are we?" Chariot wondered out loud.
"Somewhere I don't want to remember," Dead Master stated, flexing the fingers connected to her right hand, "We could try to get out, but I highly doubt we'll be able to break the bars"
"Great," Chariot mumbled, remembering how they got into this predicament, "That Icicle... damn her"
Dead Master thought about how her last fight against Icicle went about, "She's good, but this time, she showed us how strong she really is"
Chariot got up from the ground, moving around their cage, "I don't like this, this feeling... it's completely off..."
"This area surrounds us with that dreadful feeling, like a hundred souls burning and howling from their pain," Dead Master said, causing Chariot to look at her, "It's just like the last time I was here, but now it's worse than before"
"Than before.. are you saying this would is..?" Chariot started, slightly surprised.
Dead Master turned around and looked at Chariot, her eyes harden as Chariot silently got her answer, the weight of the situation coming to light as she moved back to the bars, leaning against them. At the moment, they were too caught up in their situation to notice how the bars shifted slightly, their form morphing and bending into the cage. Sensing the aura around their cage shifting, Dead Master noticing the bars moving before turning towards Chariot, who saw what was happening. Before she could even get away from the bars, a black, airy claw grabbed her as the wall turned black, the claw dragging Chariot towards the wall. Dead Master rushed towards Chariot, grabbing her wrist as she tried to pull her back, but with a jolt, the claw yanked Chariot to the wall and she phased out, disappearing into the eternal darkness as the black wall reverted to a simple stone wall.
Chariot felt her body shift all around aimlessly, flying through the darkness before she exited through a wall, dropping to the floor of a vast hallway covered in red with stone pillars along the sides. Getting up, Chariot looked around, trying to figure out where she was now as she felt the hallway drop ten degrees in an instant, causing her to whip her head to look behind her. Noticing Icicle staring at her, Chariot dashed forward, bringing out her sword as she slashed at her, trying to behead the unnatural other self. Icicle didn't move as her head left her neck, fading away into black smoke along with her body as Icicle appeared again, standing to the side while leaning against the wall. Chariot noticed her and made a sharp right turn, rushing towards her as Icicle fade into the wall, escaping from Chariot's potential attack before rising up from the floor a couple of meters away from the yellow-eyed other self.
"How incompetent, your skills are too raw for you to even kill me," Icicle told Chariot coldly.
Chariot narrowed her eyes, "Shut up, I'll make you pay..!"
"And your anger blinds you, perhaps this is from your real self focusing her emotional turmoil into a basic form of anger..?" Icicle mused as she took out her katana, her sword gripped in her right hand.
Chariot growled as she dashed towards Icicle, her sword out in front of her as she tried to pierce through Icicle with a direct stab, only for the attack to get parried to the side. Chariot's right wheel spun rapidly as it caused her to turn, allowing her to launch a slash at Icicle, who blocked it without moving her eyes away from Chariot. Taking a step back, Icicle blocked an overhead slash before she moved forward, delivering a kick to Chariot's ribs, knocking her back several feet before flexing her left hand. The shadows around the hallway twisted to Icicle's control as they became black tendril, rushing towards Chariot, who just got back to her feet. The tendrils pierced through Chariot before wrapping around her limbs, rising her up to the air before slamming her against everything based on where Icicle directed her index finger, causing Chariot's body to take a heavy beating as Icicle watched with uninterested eyes.
"I thought you would put up more of a fight, but it seems I was wrong," Icicle commented, flexing her index finger down, "How did that real world saying go... 'all bark, but no bite'..?"
Chariot looked at Icicle before she felt her body rushing down, seeing the floor near as her body hit it, causing a small crater to form as the tendrils disappeared into smoke. Chariot rolled her body over so she was lying on her back, her healing abilities taking action, but the damaged caused to her body told her it would take a while, time which she didn't have. Looking up, she saw Icicle walk up to the crater, along with seven copies surrounding the crater as they stared down at her with lifeless eyes, dissecting her with their piercing gaze. Chariot tried to get up, but the strain on her body forced her back as she saw black wisps surrounding the eight Icicles' left arm. She watching them bring their left arm up as a massive black sword appeared for each of them, each Icicle grabbing their own with their left hand.
"How disappointing..." Icicle muttered.
Chariot watched them, seeing the facial features for the seven copies of Icicle turn demonic, their mouths turning into feral grins as all eight Icicles stabbed Chariot with their swords. Chariot felt her right eye get obscured by one of the swords as she felt a burning sensation in her legs, arms, and chest. Yellow-tinted black blood spurted out from the holes caused by the stabbing, the swords causing the blood to spread out to the sides, covering the crater as the seven other Icicles disappeared into the floor, the shadows shifting back to place. Icicle removed the sword and let it dissipate into smoke, moving into the crater as she bent down and looked at Chariot, who was staring at her with one pain-filled eye. Chariot couldn't understand what she was feeling, but she knew something wasn't right inside of her, because she could feel some one else is in pain.
"You can feel Izuriha Kagari pain, you can feel your pain, and all this come from the fact that neither one of you can protect what you care about," Icicle told her, "So concerned for your so-called friends, but in the end, do you get the credit you deserve, do they even think about you..?"
Chariot's left eye narrowed, "Go.. to hell..!"
"Such a shame, she feels useless because of her friend's disappearance, and her poor, naïve friend Yomi, not even caring about her or letting her in on things that she knows," Icicle continued.
"St-stop..!" Chariot shouted.
"It's sad to see how far they don't care about you, it's like you're alone again, alienated by the people who call themselves your friends, but it seems that you were never meant to have friends," Icicle said, "Perhaps it's better if they understand how you feel, how Kagari feels, correct..?"
Chariot watched Icicle raise her right arm, watching the skin peel off and become black smoke as the black bones flexed themselves, "I can give you everything, and understand this, you don't have a choice in this decision"
Chariot watched Icicle move her right hand quickly, and her body got consumed with pain and darkness.
Dragon Slayer stopped walking and looked up to the sky, her eyes slightly wide as they glowed gold, her powers activated based on her instinct. Looking back, she saw Geshumaru and B RS stop as their bodies shook a bit, their minds trying to comprehend what they were feeling as Dragon Slayer heard a scream from the back of her mind. Grimacing, Dragon Slayer turned around and tried to continue walking until she heard rapid footsteps heading her way, already aware of who it was. Moving back a step, Dragon Slayer grabbed B RS and lifted her into the air, slamming her back down as both their eyes glowed, one impassive while the other showed pure anger. Dragon Slayer leaned back to avoid being blown apart by B RS's Rock Cannon, and judging the size of the attack, she can assume that Mato is thinking the same thing with her counterpart.
"Didn't we already gone through this?" Dragon Slayer inquired, frowning.
"Damn it..!" B RS roared, getting back up and charging towards Dragon Slayer.
Dragon Slayer stepped to the side before kicking B RS in the gut, taking out her sword and pointing it at B RS, "Listen, I don't need a large attack to cause damage equal to its size, but if you don't rein in your emotions, you'll get us caught"
Dragon Slayer placed her sword back and walked away, examining the area, "There's vegetation growing around here, so we're on the right track..."
Geshumaru walked up to B RS, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry, but we can't do anything; Dragon Slayer has the right idea, so we have to follow her"
B RS grunted and got up, trailing after Dragon Slayer as the older Anomaly continued going straight, passing through the bushes and trees that were growing in the dead forest. Geshumaru looked at B RS's disappearing back and frowned slightly, understanding what B RS is feeling now since the issue with Icicle escalated to the point where they can't take immediate action. Looking up at the sky, Geshumaru thought about Kanna and the family, thinking that they're worrying about "Naomi" missing and probably kidnapped. She could only hope that she can get back and ease their worries, but there was a feeling in her gut that told her otherwise, and that's isn't a feeling that she wants. Looking forward, Geshuaru started running to catch up with B RS and Dragon Slayer, hoping that they can get to the real world with no problems to go with them.
Sadly, fate has other plans for them, and none of them are aware of it yet.
"Easy Yomi, just a couple more periods..." Yomi said to herself, rubbing her eyes before focusing on her school work.
Having her hopes crushed by Saya not giving her information on what's going on and who is probably causing these problems was bad, much worse than having a heart carved on her body by Kagari while she wasn't right in the head. The chills been more frequent since talking to Saya, and for Yomi, it isn't a good sign by any means, especially since something is happening in the Otherworld. Despite wanting to know about what is going on, there are variables that are preventing her from finding out about whatever is happening. One was that her connection to Dead Master got disrupted by something, and she couldn't figure out why, but it's definitely related to whatever is happening in the Otherworld. The second one is that Saya is keeping everyone out of the loop when it concerns the Otherworld now, even Yuu has no information on what's happening, and seeing Saya react the way she is confusing and out-of-place.
The third variable is that Kagari is now becoming a pressing issue for her, and she couldn't understand why Kagari is acting differently from how she usually is. At first, Yomi thought that Kagari was doing this to fill the hole that Mato left in the group's chemistry, but the way Kagari is talking, Yomi could feel the hairs at the back of her neck stand up slightly. For some reason, just being around Kagari is making her feel uncomfortable, and trying to talk to her about what she's doing isn't getting anywhere since Kagari just brushes her off like she isn't worth her time. It's weird and strangely familiar, but to what degree still eludes Yomi to no end, and that's causing her to lose her focus on her work. Either way, it's an issue that Yomi should talk to Kagari about when she gets the chance, and do it quickly before Kagari can get out of the topic by ignoring her.
"Plus, it isn't like we don't have a lot of time together," Yomi thought as she got back to work, "But I do need to capitalize on the opportunity..."
Writing out some answers on the worksheet, Yomi started thinking about the answers for the questions before her when she felt something hit her calf, catching her attention. Looking down, Yomi noticed an eraser right by her left foot and bet down, picking it up and looking around the classroom, trying to figure out where the eraser came from. As she got up, Yomi noticed the entire classroom flicker between normality and grey-scale, causing her eyes to widen slightly as her head whipped around left and right, time slowing and speeding up at random intervals. As her head lined up with her left shoulder, Yomi was sure she was seeing things as she watched Kagari move completely normal despite reality flickering before her eyes, pulling out an object from her book-bag. Yomi watched Kagari turn her head slightly, her eyes obscured by her hair as she raised her left wrist to eye-level, a scissor gripped in Kagari's right hand nearing the joint.
Time was flickering, but Yomi's reaction wasn't as she moved from her desk and rushed towards Kagari, her eyes wide in shock, "NO!"
Yuu leaned up against the wall, standing next to the door that leads to the infirmary room, "Great, another problem stacked on to the list..."
As soon as the bell rung, Yuu rushed to the infirmary room to check up on Yomi and Kagari after the scare they managed to pull off in class, or rather, Kagari managed to pull off on Yomi. From what she knows, Kagari didn't managed to slice her wrist wide open in what appeared as a suicide attempt, but there was something more to it and it doesn't take an idiot to know that the incident is unnatural. At least in that moment, it looked like the scissor was going for the sleeve, but from what she knows from Yomi after she got there, it seems that whatever the green-eyed teenager told Saya happened again, and the phenomenon is when she saw Kagari trying to slice her wrist open. Hearing the door slide open, Yuu looked to her right and watched Saya walk out of the room, the woman sighing as she raked through her hair with her left hand. Yuu knows that it's never a good sign when Saya gets stressed out, and the pinnacle of it is that whatever Yomi told her, she's having second thoughts about it.
"It's bad, isn't it..?" Yuu asked Saya, walking away with her.
"Yep, I should have listened to Yomi, and maybe told her about..." Saya trailed off.
Yuu frowned a bit, "Saya, what is it that you're hiding..?"
"Something Dragon Slayer and I talked about," Saya told her, pinching the bridge of her nose, "She told me not to tell any of you anything, but things are changing if stuff like this is happening..."
"And how did you managed to talk to Dragon Slayer..?" Yuu inquired, raising a questioning eyebrow.
Saya stopped for a moment before walking again, "She... possessed, I guess, one of the students and talked to me that way"
"... Okay, so what was it on..?" Yuu asked.
"Underworld Icicle, an other self that caused problems for Gold Saw... among other things," Saya informed Yuu.
Yuu stopped walking and looked at Saya in shock, "What?!"
Saya looked back at Yuu and sighed in resignation, "I'll explain back in the consultation room, come on..."
While Saya and Yuu headed back to the consultation room to discuss about Saya's conversation with Dragon Slayer, Yomi sat in a chair in the infirmary, rubbing the side of her head while watching the unconscious form on Kagari resting on the bed, breathing smoothly as her chest softly rose before dropping. That moment became hectic for Yomi, and hopefully she didn't have to deal with it again, but her mind kept replaying the scene and it felt like it was trying to split into two. There was something missing in all this and it keeps passing her with no chance of grasping that missing piece, the piece that would tell Yomi the reason behind everything that's happening and why it had to start now. Shaking her head, Yomi tried to force the thoughts away, but she noticed reality flickering again, and for a moment, she was sure that she was somewhere else. In that moment, she felt a surge of power and felt everything shift as she found herself connected to Dead Master before she got grounded back to the real world, the sound of groaning from Kagari catching her attention.
"Kagari..." Yomi whispered, watching Kagari move around in the bed a bit.
Kagari moved her left arm over her eyes, her mouth twitching slightly, "Hmm.. Yomi..?"
"Ah, I'm here," Yomi told the waking Kagari, "That was scary what you did back in class, at least it was a shallow cut and didn't hit anything vital..."
"Really..?" Kagari said, the tone in her voice causing Yomi to flinch a bit.
Yomi watched Kagari slowly get up from the bed, her bangs covering her eyes as she raised her left wrist to eye-level, examining the bandaged joint with what appeared as curiosity. Reality was flickering again and Yomi tried to ignore it, more focused on Kagari, who was mumbling something to herself before she turned towards Yomi. As Kagari turned towards Yomi, the green-eyed teenager was sure she felt the temperature in the room drop considerably as she locked eyes with her childhood friend. Reality stopped flickering as the room turned completely grey, and Yomi was all too aware of it as she felt the piercing gaze coming from Kagari, the blonde-haired girl reaching up to the ribbon that tied her hair. Grabbing one end of the ribbon, Kagari yanked on it as her hair fell, draping over the back of her uniform as she watched Yomi get up from her seat, her eyes wide in shock.
"Kagari, what..?" Yomi let out, her words failing her as she stared deep into Kagari's eyes.
Yomi watched Kagari smirk at her before rushing out of the room, her eyes darting around as she saw no one moving, time frozen as she dashed through the hallway before reaching the stairs. Yomi went down the stair as quickly as she could, almost tripping the second time around as she rushed out of the school, her thoughts rushing through her brain at a speed unlike anything she has experienced. Kagari's eyes weren't like they usually are, and to add to that fact, her eyes looked as hollow as when she was still in a wheelchair before Chariot got killed and her grief disappeared. Running through the inactive streets, Yomi didn't think about where she was going, she only wanted to get as far away from the school as possible. The rows of houses came to a stop as Yomi continued running, reaching the river channel as she nearly lost her balance, rushing down the grass-covered slope towards the water.
Yomi looked down, seeing her reflection on the water's surface, touching the still water with her right hand, "Dead Master, can you hear me, please say something!?"
For a moment, Yomi thought her reflection in the water changed to Dead Master, causing relief to fill her before it disappeared, with no response coming from her question, which caused her to see what exactly is going on. Getting up from the slope, Yomi ran right back up and started running down the streets again, watching time flicker as everything went back and forth between color and grey-scale. There wasn't many places she could hide for the time being, and if she was thinking rationally, she wouldn't have run straight back home. Opening the front door, Yomi let all rational thoughts behind as she raced up the stairs and rushed to her room, closing the door and locking it after she entered. That let some of the tension go away, but she didn't have time for relaxing, which prompted her to go straight to her desk and find a pen and some paper that she probably left in her room.
"I hope someone manages to find out about this," Yomi said as she found some paper and pulled out a pen from her desk drawer, "Mato, wherever you are, you better find this..."
Yomi started writing down a note, rushing through the kana she jotted down as she looked towards the door every minute or so, making sure that she doesn't hear Kagari entering the house anytime soon. She wasn't sure how much time passed, but Yomi knew it couldn't have been that much all things consider, it isn't a short walk from her house to school and vice-versa. Folding up the note, Yomi looked around, thinking about where to hide it when she spotted the book: Li'l Bird Li'l Bird Colorful Colors. For a few seconds, she contemplated putting the note in there, but thought otherwise on slipping the note in there since if Kagari suspects her of doing something like this, she would check that book first. Going through her stacks of books, Yomi slipped the note inside one of her textbooks, placing it back in its place as she heard the muffled sound of the front door opening.
"Kagari..." Yomi mumbled as she watched the color in her room disappear.
Yomi could hear Kagari's footsteps coming outside as the blonde-haired girl made her way up the stairs, her voice resounding outside Yomi's room, "Yomi' the more you hide, the more I want to break you..!"
Yomi gritted her teeth from Kagari's sing-song, dead-like tone, "Shit..!"
Yomi moved away from her desk and towards the wall, opposite to the door, trying to calm herself as she heard the soft padding of Kagari's feet on the floor, each footstep getting louder slightly as she neared Yomi's room. Yomi heard the footsteps come to a stop as she heard the doorknob jiggle from Kagari trying to open the door, which is impossible considering that Yomi locked it for her sake. The jiggling stopped, which caused Yomi to let out a silent breath of relief until she heard something pounding against her door, Kagari hitting the door repeatedly. Yomi leaned up against the wall as she balled up her hands into fists, frowning as her green eyes flickered with determination, watching the door as its hinges groaned. The hinges broke under the strain of Kagari hitting the door, ramming into it as the door burst open, the blonde-haired girl rushing towards Yomi.
"I warned you..!" Kagari shouted as she rushed towards Yomi.
Yomi moved to her right before positioning her foot in front of Kagari's, causing the blonde-haired girl to trip and slam her face against the wall, which bought Yomi some time as she rushed out of her room. Yomi made her way towards the stairs and was about to go down as quickly as she could until Kagari rushed out of her room and grabbed Yomi by her ankles, causing the green-eyed teenager to hit her forehead on the edge of one of the steps. Grinning, Kagari got up and wiped the blood leaking from her nose as she dragged Yomi from the stairs, moving towards the bedroom again. Yomi groaned slightly in pain as she rubbed her forehead, flinching slightly from the pain while looking at Kagari through bleary eyes. For a moment, she thought she was seeing the shadows move again like they did in the classroom, but she didn't care about that, it was the least of her concerns given what's probably is going to happen to her next.
"Dead Master..." Yomi groaned as she got dragged into her room, groaning before letting out a scream as Kagari dug her nails into Yomi's skin.
Dead Master's eyes widened as she heard a muffled scream, but the voice was all too familiar as she tried to connect to Yomi. Something isn't making sense, Dead Master thought to herself as she paced around her prison cell, trying to understand the situation. As she moved about in the cell, she saw the bars move and bend slightly, their form breaking down into the black wisps that Icicle is capable of manipulating into whatever she desires. Narrowing her eyes, Dead Master brought out her Dead Scythe and twirled it around in one hand for a moment, preparing herself for what's to come. The black wisps moved slightly before launching themselves towards Dead Master, grabbing the other self as she got pulled into the darkness, her body moving through the eternal void.
"Damn it, where am I going..?" Dead Master thought as she felt her body get thrashed around in the vast blackness.
Feeling the wisps around her shift slightly, Dead Master could feel the small amount of air leaking thought, which told her that she was reaching her destination shortly. Tightening her grip on her scythe, determination shined in Dead Master's eyes as she got launched out from the darkness, straight to the ceiling of a hallway. Feeling her body drop from the launch, Dead Master flipped herself in mid-air, landing on the floor before taking off down the hallway. This is the second time she traversed through Icicle's area, but the first time she had to find someone who got taken by someone else, including the malevolent being. Rushing through the hallway, Dead Master noticed the shadows coming from the pillars were moving beside her, and despite their harmless movement, she knew that there's something more to the situation.
Dead Master looked to her right, eying the shadows until she jumped back, avoiding the tendril that came at her from the left, "Figures..."
Jumping back a couple of steps, Dead Master watched the tendril rip through the floor as it tried to reach her, the shadows to her right shifting into a second tendril to block her off. Looking back, Dead Master grimaced before she landed on the floor, digging her heels into the tiles as she tried to stop herself before pivoting on her right leg, letting her Dead Scythe follow her movement. The scythe cut through the tendril, but Dead Master knew nothing was predictable, so she jumped into the air, avoiding the tendril that was chasing her as it passed where she once stood, colliding and merging with the sliced tendril. Flipping in mid-air, Dead Master landed several meters away from the tendrils, spinning her scythe before gripping it in both hands, lowering herself closer to the ground. The shadows twisted before appearing as one giant tendril, rushing towards Dead Master as it tore the floor apart, the black mass spinning rapidly.
Narrowing her eyes, Dead Master moved to her left, jumping up to the wall before pushing herself off, causing her to get above the tendril as it passed her. Spinning her Dead Scythe, Dead Master waited as she felt her body drop towards the tendril. She looked behind her back, her green-eyes glowing as she moved the scythe to the right, the base for the blade leveled with her head as she swung, letting her power flow through her veins and straight into the attack. A green wave of energy rushed towards the tendril, digging into it as it slowly got split in half, the shadows disappearing slowly as Dead Master dropped to the floor, her heels locked on the bottom half of the blade. Stepping on to the floor, Dead Master took a couple of steps forward until she heard someone clapping their hands, causing her to look to her right as Icicle stood several feet away, looking unimpressed.
"I must commend you on showing your talents, perhaps switching bodies with Takanashi Yomi was more beneficial than what it seems as," Icicle stated, walking towards Dead Master.
Dead Master turned to face Icicle completely, "Where's Chariot?!"
Icicle stopped walked and cocked her head to one side, "Chariot... I assume you mean her..?"
Icicle raised her left hand as her shadow stretched and turned into black smoke, the smoke slowly turning into a cocoon of sorts as Icicle flexed her fingers, moving the smoke around. Dead Master watched as Icicle moved her left hand away from the smoke as Chariot appeared from nowhere, her head drooping slightly with her hair blocking out her eyes. Dead Master was about to break out into a run when she felt the hallway get cold as icy stalactites formed on the ceiling of the hallway, causing her to look into the hollow red-orange orbs that belongs to Icicle. Dead Master could feel her body stiffen in reaction to Icicle manipulating the area, but didn't let the fear consume her as she raised her scythe, ready to fight Icicle. Icicle merely raised an eyebrow as she moved to the side, the shadows shifting around her as she backed away from Chariot.
"It seems you're mistaken if you think I'm going to fight you," Icicle said as the shadows slowly consumed her, "After all, isn't it fitting to have someone like a broken doll to fight against its friend, the perfected one..?"
Icicle faded away from view, but managed to see Dead Master having to defend herself in an instant since Chariot was upon her in seconds, her swords clashing against the scythe. Chariot jumped back before dashing towards Dead Master again, the distance between them closing within seconds as Dead Master tried to parry every attack that Chariot launched at her. As the two traded blows to each other, Dead Master couldn't help but realize that the yellow-eyed other self 's movements were too focused and elaborate, unlike the steadfast movement that Chariot is known to make use out of. They weren't rigid as most would expect, and that when Dead Master's thought process trailed off as she got kicked to the side, her body hitting the wall hand before sliding down to the floor. Getting up slowly, Dead Master tried to find Chariot, only to feel Chariot dig her fingers through Dead Master's arms, green-tinted black blood oozing out a bit as the yellow-eyed other self looked up.
Dead Master looked down at Chariot's eyes, noticing the lack of glow and the hollowness within them, "Chariot, what did she..?"
"You know, everyone practically ignores me," Chariot told her as a smirk graced her lips, "But, I'm going to enjoy breaking you..."
Dead Master's eyes widened at what Chariot just told her, aware that she is starting to react like she did when Kagari was still in the wheelchair and obsessive of Yomi. Hearing the floor crack, the green-eyed other self kicked Chariot in the gut, feeling the fingers get ripped from her arm before jumping in the air, avoiding the chains that burst through the floor. Remembering the stalactites on the ceiling, Dead Master shifted her body mid-air towards the wall, pressing up against it before launching herself towards Chariot, gripping her Dead Scythe. Chariot regained her balance from the kick before blocking the vertical slash Dead Master unleashed, both of them glaring at each other before they pushed away, wounding up on opposite ends of the hallway. Both of them could feel the tension and they kept their guard up, ready to attack if their opponent makes the first move, but Dead Master almost cracked when she heard another muffled scream come from Yomi in the real world.
"Sounds like Kagari is doing her part," Chariot commented, flexing her right hand as she moved slightly to the left.
Dead Master gritted her teeth, feeling her anger boiling slightly, "Why are you doing this... what's the reason?!"
"Neglect, perception of being weak; Icicle showed me the problems behind everyone's actions and how they all cause a negative reaction upon us all," Chariot told her, shrugging slightly, which managed to piss off Dead Master even more, "She even told me after beating me that Kagari felt the same way, and the only way to correct the problem is to show the real selves the darkness in life"
"That's wrong and you know it!" Dead Master shouted, infuriated at Chariot for being easily swayed by Icicle.
Chariot narrowed her eyes, "And that's why we're going to show you that Icicle is right about everything, especially about Yomi..."
Dead Master felt her anger come to the forefront, feeling her existence get compressed harshly by the comments Chariot was making, as well as Yomi's screams being amplified slowly, but steadily. Dashing forward, Dead Master slashed at Chariot, who faked to the right before stabbing the green-eyed other self in the lung, watching blood spill out of the wound. Dead Master grunted before leaping away feeling her lung repair itself quickly as Chariot sped off towards her, the floor getting ripped apart as black tendrils followed her. The green-eyed other self felt her eyes widen at the black tendrils as they raced towards her, destroying everything in their way as they closed in on Dead Master. Said other self jumped into the air, avoiding a tendril that ripped the floor apart, only to get smacked into a pillar by a tendril that rushed at her from behind.
"Damn it, Yomi, I need you..!" Dead Master thought as a tendril wrapped itself around her left ankle.
Dead Master felt her body get forced back as several black tendrils pierced through her, causing her to spit out some blood as the tendrils smacked her against the floor and walls. She could feel her body try to heal itself quickly in compensation to the beating she was receiving, but the damage was occurring too quickly for her body to handle, causing some parts of her body to suffer in agonizing pain. The tendrils removed themselves from her body as they threw her down the hallway, Chariot still pursuing her as the tendrils receded into the shadows, ready to come out if needed. Dead Master looked up slightly and saw Chariot rushing towards her, so in response, she leaned back and allowed her body to right itself by flipping before descending to the floor, allowing her to dig her heels into the tiles to slow herself down. Twirling her body forward, the green-eyed other self swung her scythe, the blade impacting Chariot's sword as they locked weapons for a moment before attacking each other like before.
"Her thoughts are nothing, they aren't even worth a damn," Dead Master roared, her green eyes glowing as she swiped at Chariot, "She's good as dead!"
"Ha, you don't know what she's capable of, she holds our fates in her hands," Chariot told Dead Master, avoiding the swipe, "She's a goddess that can't die, and no one can match her..!"
"You're delusional," Dead Master commented, blocking a downward slash from Chariot.
Chariot narrowed her eyes and smirked, "You're hopeless, but that's something I can easily correct"
Before Dead Master could launch another attack at Chariot, the yellow-eyed other self dashed away and disappeared into the shadows, leaving Dead Master alone in the hallway. The green-eyed other self kept her scythe up, aware that Chariot could appear from anywhere as she looked around the hallway, feeling the tension and cold air surround her. As she looked towards one pillar, she felt a slight breeze as cold metal ripped through her back, causing her to hiss in pain as she looked behind her, seeing nothing but the wall and pillars. As she took a step forward, she felt the cold metal slash through her calf, causing her to fall to the floor for a moment as she gripped the limb, her blood leaking through and around her claws. Dead Master got up as quickly as she could at the moment and turned to her right, raising her Dead Scythe to block Chariot's attack, her body healing as she managed to stand on both of her legs.
"I'm not done just yet..!" Dead Master shouted, pushing Chariot back.
"But that's the thing, this was over the moment you got back up," Chariot told her as she moved to the left.
Dead Master's eyes widened as she saw Icicle rushing at her, katana drawn, which caused memories of when Dead Master was in the barren, magma-covered dystopia to come up to the surface. Reacting on reflex, Dead Master slashed at Icicle, who became nothing but black smoke as the green-eyed other self turned around, trying to find the malevolent other self. Icicle disappearing after attacking her didn't make any sense, especially how their previous encounters went about, and that's when Dead Master realized just what happened in that moment. Chariot stabbed right through Dead Master before she even got a chance to turn around, the green-eyed other self dropping her scythe and grasping the blade that protruded through her chest. Chariot smirked as she watched Dead Master's knees buckle before they hit the floor, the horned other self looking up as she heard someone nearing them, the sound of hands clapping together echoing throughout the hallway.
The shadows covering the walls and floor twisted as Icicle walked towards the two other selves, clapping her hands, "I must say, despite this fight being one-sided, this was truly a magnificent display of power"
"What's... wrong with me..?" Dead Master coughed out, her body rigid.
"A simple isolation ability; Chariot knows how to make use of the power I gave her," Icicle commented, flexing her fingers.
Chariot moved around Dead Master, "Don't worry, it's nothing damaging..."
Dead Master gritted her teeth as she watched Icicle loop her right arm under Chariot's chin, her right hand patting the blond-haired other self's cheek, "But your actions... no, rather, Takanashi Yomi's actions are..."
"The hell you're talking about?!" Dead Master inquired, narrowing her eyes.
"Izuriha Kagari felt like an outsider due to the current circumstances on... Kuroi Mato, correct?" Icicle told Dead Master, watching the other self's reactions for her answers, "Considering you real self's fixation on finding this Mato, Kagari felt neglected, and neglect is such a harsh thing to burden yourself with"
Dead Master felt her eyes widen slightly, "Yomi would never do such a thing!"
"Oh, then I suppose that focusing on one of your friends while thinking passively of another isn't bad?" Icicle inquired, narrowing her eyes at Dead Master.
Dead Master was silent for a moment looking away before glaring back at Icicle, "Even so, she wouldn't ignore her for no reason..!"
"No, but it was enough for me to show her that no one would care if something important came up, even if its significance isn't on the same level," Icicle told her, the skin around her hands disappearing as she raised them, the black bones bending, "Other selves gain power from everything, just to achieve their goals, Black Rock Shooter when she went insane is a good example of this"
"What?!" Dead Master shouted, her eyes locked with Icicle's as they widened considerably.
"The darkness can become power for other selves, I proved this with Chariot," Icicle stated, black wisps encircling her hands, "And you'll prove it too..!"
Dead Master didn't see Icicle move her hands in the brief several seconds it took for Icicle to phase her hands through Dead Master's skull, but the effects of what occurred came up in an instant. All Dead Master could feel was pain as everything aside from her sight got numbed out, her eyes darting around as various images flashed through her before she could comprehend it. Dead Master looked directly at Icicle, watching her near as the malevolent other self smirked, her mouth slowly widening as she was within inches of the horned other self's face. Within seconds, the mouth opened wide, the tissue around her mouth getting ripped apart as Icicle munched on Dead Master's head before ripping it right off. As the body dropped to the floor, the clacking of heels could be heard as Dead Master walked up to the headless copy of her body, watching the blood ooze out from the decapitated neck.
Dead Master's eyes widened in shock as she raised one hand up to her neck, feeling it as she heard her name being called, causing her to look to her right as she heard the familiar tone in the voice. She watched Yomi walk up to her, her eyes hidden behind her bangs as the teenage girl swayed slightly from left to right, causing Dead Master to rush up to her. She watched Yomi trip and fall to the floor, seeing the various blades that were through her back, red blood leaking out from her school uniform. Reaching up to her, Dead Master stared at her in shock before shaking her body a few times, believing that she wasn't dead until she turned the body around, her eyes looking deep into Yomi's glazed, blank ones. Hearing Yomi scream again in her head, she gripped it with both of her hands, backing away from the body as she felt something crawl up through her skin.
"No, no, no..!" Dead Master mumbled, ignoring the tension around her body.
Dead Master looked down at the tiles for a moment before looking up, watching Chariot bent down as she wrapped her hands around her neck, tightening her grip as she glared at Dead Master. The green-eyed other self grabbed Chariot's wrists and thrashed around, trying to get Chariot off of her until she felt her neck getting twisted around to the right until she heard a split second snap. Several meters away from where Dead Master's body dropped to the floor, her neck snapped, was another Dead Master who was backing away from the scene, looking at both of her dead bodies. She could help but wonder why she kept on coming back, watching herself get murdered, watching everyone fall before her. Every time she comes back, another one of her dies, and she couldn't bear looking behind her as she felt the air fill itself with her death.
As she took a step forward, she heard a mechanism cock before her entire body got blasted wide open, the remaining parts dropping as another Dead Master watched. Dropping to her knees, she looked behind her, watching the dozens among dozens of herself drop from the stalactites, their bodies broken and bleeding as the floor of the hallway got covered in green-tinted black blood. She felt her body get cold as she felt something creep up her skin, able to see a faint reflection of herself on her blood, noticing the black markings moving up on her skin. Countless questions were popping up and she could handle it, she just saw herself get killed hundreds of times with no end approaching. How many time does she have to watch herself get killed or watch Yomi die, what was the point of letting all this continue as is?
Dead Master kept on gripping her head until she heard laughter coming a few meters from her, "What..?"
Looking up, she saw someone leaning up against the wall, laughing at the scene before her with all the mixed corpses surrounding the hallway, which caused something to stir within Dead Master. She got up and walked towards the person, slowly able to make out her form as her skin burned slightly, the marking reaching her face as the sclera in her right eye slowly turned black. As she got within a few feet of the person, her eyes widened as she saw Mato just laughing while pointing at the bodies, looking like she was enjoying the moment. Dead Master heard the splatter of another body falling from the ceiling, but she focused on Mato, her mind trying to comprehend why she was laughing at the scene. A couple more bodies fell to the floor, the memories causing Dead Master some irritation as blood dripped from her nose, but her eyes remained glued to Mato.
"Why... why are you laughing..?" Dead Master asked, her skin burning even more from the markings.
Mato looked at her smirking, "Isn't it funny..?"
"Mato, what are you saying, this is me and Yomi dying, and you think it's funny..?" Dead Master inquired, incredulous.
Mato stopped laughing and smirked as she eyes narrowed, "It's quite pathetic really, Yomi follows me around like a pet, and when I go missing, she tries to find me"
"She's your friend, she's only-" Dead Master started until Mato grabbed her by the collar and pulled her down.
"Friends, didn't you see me laughing at her and you dying, frankly, I don't want her associated with me, too much of a pain to take care of a broken little bird," Mato told Dead Master, her lips twisting into a animalistic grin, "Frankly, watching her die is a huge relief for me, besides, it's better to live a life with no pain, right?"
"No pain..." Dead Master repeated in her head as she responded, "You're not Mato..."
"What would make you say that, hmm?" Mato inquired in a sing-song voice.
"Stop it" Dead Master told her, scrunching her eyebrows as she felt something boiling inside her.
"I guess it's because you're just like Yomi, you're both afraid to take action and it wounds up with you two causing problems for all of us," Mato told her, "In fact, me and Rock wouldn't be in the situation we're in if it wasn't for you; both of you should just die..!"
Before Mato could laugh again, Dead Master grabbed her and smashed her head against the wall, causing blood to leak out from the forehead as the green-eyed other self dropped Mato to the floor. Dead Master got on top of Mato and started punching her in the face, watching the blood stain her claws when she pulls back before launching another punch. The burning sensation wouldn't stop, and the bodies kept on dropping, but it did nothing to sate her anger at Mato for laughing at her and Yomi's misery. Dead Master kept on punching, losing herself in her own rage as she saw the flesh and muscles dropping to the blood-covered floor, the head becoming nothing more than scattered remains. The floor started to crack from the amount of power Dead Master was putting into her punches, but she stopped when she heard a crunching sound that didn't sound anything like broken bones.
Pulling her hand from the floor, Dead Master looked at it and noticed the small glass shards that pierced through her claws, staring at them for a moment before looking at the small crater on the floor. In the crater was a crunched up, but unmistakable pair of green rimmed glasses, which caused the other self to get up and move away from the body as she looked down upon it. The body was much different from Mato's, and that revelation made the scene all the more horrific for Dead Master as she sunk to her knees, letting out a strained chuckle while staring at the body with wide eyes. The strained chuckle soon raised itself as Dead Master gripped both sides of her head, her shoulders moving up and down rapidly in tune to her laughter. She felt the burning sensation pass as the markings stopped growing around her cheeks, both eyes now bearing black scleras as Dead Master looked up to the ceiling of the hallway and screamed in horror of her own actions.
As Dead Master screamed, she couldn't see the truth or reality as Icicle removed her hands from Dead Master's head, Chariot smirking at the sight, "So that how it was for me, hun?"
"As the ivy spreads, she will understand the truth behind it all," Icicle stated as she got up, the skin reforming around her hands, "It'll take several minutes until it's over..."
"Guess Kagari's happy now..." Chariot commented.
Icicle started walking away, "I'm not, there's a lot of things that needs to happen before Ragnarök; take Dead Master with you when she recovers, and cause as much chaos as possible"
Chariot narrowed her eyes for a moment, "As you wish..."
Yomi's mother was humming to herself, focusing on the food she was preparing as she heard a subtle thump come from upstairs, which caused her to raise an eyebrow. There was no way anyone else was at home, Yomi and Kagari were at school, or were since they are coming home since school is over, and her husband is busy with work, so what exactly was going on. Hearing the footsteps that neared the stairs, she snapped out of her thoughts as she heard someone head down, their feet keeping a consistent beat as she heard someone head towards the kitchen. Looking forward, Yomi's mother saw her daughter reach the kitchen, looking beaten and disheveled, but otherwise okay. For a moment, she wanted to go towards Yomi and check up on her, but something kept her rooted where she stood, and it didn't help that she felt shivers down her spine.
"Yomi, what happened to you?" Yomi's mother asked, watching Yomi look at her without her glasses.
She watched Yomi smirk at her, which caused the shivers to come back, "Kaa-san, we need to talk... about a lot of things..."
Fire burned throughout the area as mechanical wolves ran through, launching fireballs at built homes and structures, hooded other selves running or cowering in fear as the machines launched their assault. In one isolated area, Gold Saw and STR were fighting back, ripping the machines to shreds as they tried to attract them towards where they were at. Gold Saw parried a fireball before rushing up to the machine that fired it, kicking its head right off before slashing another one in half, her eyes locking-on to the next one. STR, on the opposite side of things, was firing at the machines, the bullets ripping through several of them at once before she had to stop, her Ogre Arms reloading within seconds before she started firing again. Back to back, they were ripping through their enemies, but they were aware that the job was far from done, especially since they were the ones trying to rebuild the area as a safe haven for hooded other selves.
"How did they find this?!" STR asked Gold Saw through the rapid release of the bullets.
"I don't know, but we'll find out either way," Gold Saw told STR before slashing one of the machines apart, "STR, let's go, we can't waste anymore time here!"
STR nodded and covered for Gold Saw as she dashed out of the area, her eyes scanning the area for a moment until she came to a stop, closing her eyes for a moment. Hearing an explosion coming from where she was at before, she opened them, relieved that STR managed to get her signal and end the fight over there before it got any worse. Gripping her King Saw, she moved through the barren streets, watching the smoke and fire rise up, blocking the checkerboard style sky as death loomed around the area. Hearing explosions occurring a few meters away, Gold Saw rushed up to the corner of a building and took a peek, her eyes widening at what she was seeing. Hearing footsteps near her, Gold Saw whirled around and saw STR coming up to her, her Ogre Arms gone as STR placed her hand upon the wall of the building.
STR looked up at Gold Saw, noticing her weary expression, "What's wrong..."
"A lot," Gold Saw responded as she looked around the corner, STR following suit.
As they looked around the corner, they came across Chariot and Dead Master, but STR could see why Gold Saw felt disgusted because of what the two of them were doing. Chariot smirked as she stabbed a hooded other self through the chest, their bodies going rigid as black marking crawled up their skin, the scleras in their eyes turning black. For a moment, STR felt like looking away and throwing up, but realized that she couldn't as it was more of a human trait, and being in the Otherworld restricts actions more commonly found in the real world. As they looked on, they watched Dead Master do the same, but it looked like she was reaping something out of the hooded other selves, her smirk taking on a more devilish, sadistic aspect. Looking away, STR looked at Gold Saw and saw her clench her teeth tightly, fangs appearing as her face twisted up in anger.
Chariot sighed as she leaned up against a wall, "I can see why she wanted us to get this done"
"It doesn't matter, I only got one goal in mind, and if helping her will help me, then fine," Dead Master told Chariot, stepping away from the petrified other self.
"Ha, but think about it, to exist somewhere outside this world," Chariot said, looking up at the smoke covered sky, "Won't that make it easier for the both of us?"
Dead Master smirked, planting her Dead Scythe into the ground, "Perhaps, but I rather wait until it happens though"
Gold Saw and STR watched them talk until they heard a familiar tune being played, and they both knew who it was before looking up past both Dead Master and Chariot. Gold Saw growled as she watched Icicle play her violin, black wisps moving about as they hunted down all the hooded other selves in the area, phasing through anything physical before closing in on their targets. STR saw Gold Saw tightening her grip on King Saw and grabbed her sleeve, tearing Gold Saw's gaze away from the malevolent other self. Gold Saw watched STR shake her head in negative to whatever Gold Saw was thinking, which caused the red-eyed other self to look back at the scene. STR knew that she's torn between starting a fight with them or backing away and wait for another day, but now wasn't the time to start something if both Dead Master and Chariot are working for Icicle, even without them knowing the entire story.
"Don't Gold Saw..." STR told her, worried.
Gold Saw took another look at them before looking away, grimacing, "... Let's go..."
STR nodded and watched Gold Saw rip through reality with her King Saw before they both jumped into it, the gap closing as the destruction in the area continued, Icicle's influence spreading steadily.
Author's Note: Alright, so a lot has happened in my life in the past two weeks or so, but I'm not going into full details on it. Either way, this chapter really cements how far I'm going to push myself in terms of what I'm delivering, and I'm not talking about the word count. I'm gonna bump up the rating after I post this chapter because my ideas for future chapters will show why, but this is clearly the main one. I think I read/watched Black Lagoon by Hiroe Rei too much (even though I love the hell out of it), since I could clearly envision all this in his style. Well, guess I'm gonna show my sadistic side more often than before.
Please review and hopefully I'll have the next chapter out in a month, provided I don't slack off.