Sorry for the really long delay!
Crimson is no longer be able to edit my work, so I have to transfer this to LightRiver33. Now she has a lot of my work queued! lol.
Thank you for understanding though!
Thanks for reviews/comment/faves/follows too!
The group got into the first room.
Never before have they seen such a neat room but it had a cold and heavy atmosphere. They found Eli sitting on another part of the council room.
"Uwah! Eli-chan! We've been looking for you!" Honoka said And moved to approach her.
"W-wait…something doesn't feel right!" Umi said as she held Honoka back.
The Eli they saw remained silent.
"U…uhm…Eli-chan, wh-where's Nozomi-chan?" Hanayo asked.
The blonde still kept quiet and she kept her focus on the paperwork as the others wondered why she was doing that in this place.
"E… Eli-chan…?" Kotori tried to call her as well.
"Hey, answer us already, we don't have that much time!" Maki said.
The blonde sighed at them heavily.
"Why can't you all stop bothering me? I don't have that much time for your stupidity." she replied coldly.
"W-What did you say?!" Maki clenched her fist, she is about to argue with her, but Niko quickly held her back.
"Oi-oi! No fighting!" the little senior said.
"She can at least be nicer, can't she?!"
"It's useless, you can't change her, she is only an emotion…" Yuki—who just entered the room, said.
"E-Emotion?" everyone was flustered.
"Yes, this is pretty much how almost every powerful but clueless soul create their realm. Their emotions are split into many souls and are placed in a room according to what they often show on the surface. The deeper it is, the truer they become."
"A-ah…so, that means… We should just go deeper inside instead?" Umi asked.
"Yes… but we still have to ask permission…." Yuki said as she looked into Eli's coldness.
"I don't care about you all. So if you want to go, just go. You know the risk…"
"Well, we are here to support Nozomi, so… we don't care about you either." Maki said before she headed to the door.
"There's hatred in the next room, act like that and she won't spare you." the coldness said.
Maki cringed.
"U-uh, then I guess we will be very careful!" Hanayo said.
"Y-yeah-nya!" Rin said.
"I'll get through to her…" Maki said before she braced herself to pass through the door.
The rest of the group is a little scared of what could be happen but they just shrugged and quickly beckoned each other to follow Maki.
Somewhere outside the other world.
Unconscious bodies were lined up inside the temple… each of them were posed as if they're sleeping deeply. Hanako, Reiko and Akamanto patiently took care of them and the room was quiet until Reiko started a conversation…
"Hey! Don't you think, Eli looks like a mean antagonist?" Reiko said—she isn't looking at Eli right now since her body is not present in the line. Instead, she is looking at Nozomi's unconscious body.
"Reiko-nee-chan, I think you should stop talking about people behind their backs. You'll get karma again!" Hanako said.
"Oh, come on! Imagine when you're looking at her! Even though she is doing nothing, she looks like she is frowning and… look at her pale skin! She totally looks like Kagemi!"
"Uhm…well, she definitely looks like Lady Kagemi in a way, but to be honest, I think Lady Kagemi is not a bad person either."
"I know, she is not… bad, she is evil and merciless! I wonder why anyone likes them! Dai Mao surely has such a taste! Boobs-chan also has a terrible taste…"
"Uhm… so, what qualifies as 'good taste' for you…?"
"Of course—it's….." Reiko stood proudly.
"Someone like me!" she continued with a cheerful high-school girl pose…
"You mean, someone like Niko-nee-san?"
"No... little imp is too short… my body is perfect…." She replied.
"Uh….. Maki-nee-chan then?"
"No, she is slightly too tall and those long and slim fingers aren't sexy at all, plus, I'm humble! Not a jerk like her…"
"S-sounds like Umi-nee-chan and Kotori-nee-chan!"
"Nope, nothing like them too, I have the perfect qualities!"
"Uuh… I don't know anymore…"
And just a second later, a very quick wind slashed through them— Hanako quickly dodged it along with Akamanto, while Reiko was still standing with her pose—and, once again, she got sliced into two…
Her legs fell apart and disappeared….
"You bastard!" a very loud shout.
Hanako quickly tried to look for the source but less than a minute later, Kagemi and a woman with purple hair rolled in into the room—and it looked like they were in the middle of fight.
But perhaps the bigger question should be—how could Kagemi fight with anyone if she isn't supposed to be able to be untouchable to mortals . Then there's the question of who this person fighting with her is.
"I'm taking their bodies, that's everything I need!" said the other woman, parrying Kagemi's sword with her bare arm.
"I don't care whatever space or universe you came from! You are not going to lay your dirty hands on them!" Kagemi said as she pushed harder.
"My hands have done more hand jobs than your sword did sword jobs!"
"W-what does that even mean, you idiot?!"
"Nothing in particular. I'm just messing around, of course! It's not like you need a reason to make love with anyone…!" the woman said playfully.
"A-Are you speaking about being intimate?! You perverted, shameless creature!" Kagemi raised her sword again and before she was able to slash the woman, the woman quickly jumped away.
Kagemi turned around and—
The other woman kissed her.
Kagemi was stunned in place, still holding her sword and she trembled in shock.
"L-Lady Kagemi….?" Hanako's eyes were wide opened—she was also shocked by the event.
It's just too random…
too sudden….
and too brave….
The woman turned around after removing her lips from Kagemi…
"Wooooo! Eveee! I achieved my goal!" she shouted.
Another woman walked in to the room with a palm on her face and reddened cheeks.
"….G-G-Goal….?" Kagemi tried to confirm what she heard.
"Yep! Kissing the demon Empress! Now I'm going to do the Demon King!"
"Y-You are not going to touch my husband!"
Back into the realm.
Nozomi still has no idea what kind of emotion she will meet in this very room. The room is beautiful and luxurious with comfortable looking furniture everywhere and a strong scent of chocolate in the air, plus a set of erotic decorations with only women.
"Over here… come…." A sultry voice she knows came from the luxurious bed.
Ah—this emotion is….
And before Nozomi was able to think…
A powerful force pulled her to the bed, then a pair of long chains quickly locked both her hands.
"Welcome…to my room, honey…." The voice is now clear and is coming from nearby—but she can't see the person anywhere…
"Are you looking for me?" the voice chuckled.
Nozomi kept looking around, wondering where she could probably be.
"Well…there are two ways for you to find me…" she said.
Nozomi remained silent, still trying to figure out exactly where the voice is coming from.
"The first is you will have to play a game with me… and the second one, you have to choose to return to where you belong and be the good girl you always are…."
Obviously, Nozomi doesn't want to choose the second option since that meant that she has to give up on looking for the real Eli.
"I'll play your game but please make this quick. I don't have that much time!"
"What are you saying? You have enough time. You can reach the last room in just five minutes and perhaps watch her be eaten by her own emotion?"
"I won't let that happen! So please… I'll play whatever game you want… but make it quick!"
"Sheesh...and here I thought I was always be the serious one… but since you are being too much of a worrywart, I'll make you this deal…"
Nozomi remained silent.
"You can win against her in under 30 minutes. I will tell you everything you need… but that's only if you can satisfy me…"
"So what do you want from me, exactly?"
"…First… strip yourself… slowly…and I want you to enjoy yourself while doing it…."
"Are you watching this from somewhere…?" Nozomi asked as she kept on looking for her.
"I am… and before you try to outwit me by asking where you should look as a way for you to know where I am— I already find myself to be watching from a perfect angle."
Nozomi remained silent because she really was planning to do that.
"Well, ok, but now… can you un-chain my hands? I can't strip with these chains…"
"Sure…" the voice replied.
The chain moved and released her hand—but instead of disappearing, the chain slid to her ankle.
Nozomi is flustered. She wondered what she can say to get this Eli to release her from the chains completely.
"You don't need to move your ankles… I don't mind if you are just partially naked at the bottom…I like it either way…."
"Sheesh? Really? You sound like you're just making up an excuse to chain me up…"
"Hmm… making up excuses? No way… I just love chaining someone up… or bind my property…"
"Why? Afraid I'm going to escape from you?"
"Afraid of you escaping?" the voice chuckled.
"Nope… not that. It's all just my selfish desire. I always want to keep someone for myself…someone whom I will never share with anyone…but now, enough talking… expose that nice skin of yours for me…"
"Hmm… fine… you're an eager one, aren't you?"
The voice chuckled again.
"I am her lust after all… and guess what?" the voice stopped.
Nozomi could feel hands on her shoulders…
"You are the only one I want for myself…" the voice whispered softly in her ears.
Somewhere further to the front.
The group finally reached the next room… somewhat scared to keep going—but they knew they have to…
By the time they reached the center of the room, they found themselves surrounded by coffins. Looking at those already made them shiver, yet they all tried hard to keep going— with Yuki as their only source of light in their path.
A mischievous laugh is heard from the room but none of them know where exactly it comes from.
"I can sense fear…." the voice said deeply—causing the group to freeze in place.
"H….hatred….?" Maki slowly turned around.
"Yes…. It's me. I heard what you said to Coldness…" the hatred appeared and she is in a shrine maiden dress.
"And….?" Maki prepared herself for any sort of incoming strike.
"Well… nothing more…. Are you expecting me to do something to you?"
Maki remained silent.
"No…? Well… I wouldn't want to do anything to you anyway… you're someone she protects…"
"She….?" Maki flustered.
"Nozomi…. She's got your back…and everyone here are people she protects… so I won't do anything….unless… you have something you want to do to me?" the hatred smiled at her.
"Nah—let's just go everyone… ignore her…we need to do something for Nozomi too, right?" Maki said.
"Wait…" Umi said, halting everyone from moving to the door.
"…something feels off…and I don't want this to bother me…" Umi continued.
"W-what is…Umi-chan?" Kotori asked.
"Don't you all feel strange when hatred told you that she won't do anything to people who are protected by someone?"
"Uh...no?" Honoka replied.
"Well, I understand what you are saying, but… can we really do anything? She is meant to be like that…" Maki said.
"What I mean is, I need to get this straight…" Umi turned to hatred who has been watching them with her hateful eyes.
"None of us trying to be closer to Nozomi—or intentionally want to harm you or her…we're all the same…no one is higher than anyone…"
"You're pretty sharp, aren't you?" the hatred replied.
"So I was right, you did have a problem with us…"
"I have…and yes… it was when you all suddenly became more important to her than me…"
"You do realize that what is happening now shows something else to you, right?" Umi replied.
"I do…. That's why I'm not doing anything to you at all…"
"…this is what I feared… I don't like anyone holding grudge against me so, if you have problem with me, let's deal with it. Right now." Umi said bravely.
"You're wasting time, Umi… it's no use for you to do anything like that…" Maki said.
"Then you all go first. I want to deal with this one…" Umi replied.
"Huh? There's no way I can do that… I'll stay here too!" Maki said.
"B-but…aren't we supposed to—…." Hanayo spoke, attempting to convince the others to move forward.
"Ahh, you're all so slow! Let's go ahead and get the information to her…" Niko said before she pushed the rest of the group to past the door—leaving Maki and Umi with Hatred.
Deep in the Room of Lust…
Nozomi lay on the comfortable bed with her ankles chained and her bare body was being enjoyed like there was no tomorrow. Her nipples were suckled and her core was rubbed as the slippery fingers penetrated deep into her hollow.
After she was told to do so many sexual acts with the emotion's soul, she still has no idea how her soul could react the same way as her physical body—perhaps this is all just a thing that created by this room?
She could feel her fingers digging deep into her tight walls and the way she stretched her elastic hollow…and the way her nipples tensed…
Everything is too mixed up and the only thing that was worrying her is the time limit that she has. More than half an hour passed and the time keep ticking away. She doesn't know if she is truly enjoying this. The thrill of her excitement and the worry in her heart were mixed together…
1 hour, 20 minutes….
The clock that hung near the bed read.
When will this lust be satisfied? Should she try to ask when? Or perhaps, she should just try her best to cooperate? She honestly really loves this but it's just not in the right time.
Now she could feel her core touching hers, while she humped her and rubbed the slippery skin together. This is just weird, so weird in many ways! Could she say that this is being intimate as a soul-mate? She is literally having wonderful sex with her soul.
When this will be over? When will she get her reward?
She asked herself those questions over and over as her excitement heightens, her breathing hastens and….
"Ericchi—I'm at my limit!" Nozomi begged.
"I've been waiting for you to say that…" the blonde smiled and they both reached their orgasms together— the timing is too perfect and it's almost impossible to happen in such an exaggerated fashion. How this could happen might be a mystery but it's not what Nozomi wants to think about right now. She just wants her information and permission.
"….I'm done… that was great…." The blonde said as she lay on the bed.
"So, I'm getting my reward?" Nozomi asked.
"Of course, a deal is a deal. You can even start wearing your clothes to make this quicker since there's only an hour left…" the lust said.
Nozomi nodded and she quickly took action.
"….listen, when you get there… the thing that you should know about is how to identify the real one… if you truly know her deeply, you will know…"
"Any clues that you can give me?"
"Yep. First of all, we all actually used to be one until she decided to make room for each of her emotions. Her reason was that she needed to do it so she can live with her life at that point in time. Most people will only split into two or three but she had to do it many times."
"Then what about that creature? And why did there have to be so many of you?"
"For your first question… that 'creature' you're talking about is actually one of us. She was tainted by lies and she began to devour the others. As for your second question, it's because she was forced to do that. It's hard to live as her when everyone always expects her to have a specific emotion when facing them."
Nozomi nodded.
"I see…."
"…isn't it amazing…. For one soul to be able to make this sort of thing happen…?" the lust said.
"I've heard a few souls are able to do such… a twin soul created by conflicting emotions of one powerful soul… while the good one moves on to the light, the bad one stays and haunts the place…" Nozomi replied as she wore her clothes.
"Leaving for the light is the most optimist thing I've heard. Most of the time, while the 'good' one is trying to decide whether it's right or wrong to do something, the bad one will decide faster and devour the 'good' one so that her soul is stronger…if the host is still living, then they will most likely turn from an isolated person into an actual anti-social…"
"An actual anti-social, you say?"
"Exactly… that's why… you have to be careful…and I hope our love session today was enough to recover your senses…."
"Oh…? So this love session isn't simply just your way to satisfy yourself?"
"I could do that…yet I chose to be an effective person…I'm happy, you're happy…"
Nozomi giggled.
"You know what, I think I've found my favorite emotion of yours…"
"Well, here's the not-so-good news, honey… you need to get us all back together as one soul, else you won't be able to bring us back to our physical body easily."
"How can I even do that…?"
"Remember what she said about our fox soul? You need to somehow feed the creature to the right soul… you can do this by force or by wit—and that is something I have no recommendation for. Either way, you will win this—I'm sure…or at least I am at our current state…"
"At your current state?"
"Yep, the barrier is weakening as our 'mother' soul has gained some confidence and the creature is weakened— thanks to someone who beat her up so badly—but, alas, this is why she is created this realm for us. So that she can try convince the 'mother' soul to become more like her and give her more power…"
"Alright, so what I should do is to beat this creature up and feed her to the 'mother' soul?"
"You don't have to do that, you know. At this state, you can change the 'Ayase Eli' personality to your liking. Each of us will still exist but who becomes more dominant is the most important thing for you to consider…"
"Hmm...so that means, I can feed her to you as well?"
"Only if you want to have nice sex with me everyday. I promise I will always be aroused when looking at you."
"That's tempting, but I'll see…ok?"
The lust chuckled.
"You know what, if that is truly what will happen, I'd feel bad for hatred. She was promised to be the dominant emotion by a specific someone…"
"Specific someone…?" Nozomi wondered.
"Yes… the demon Empress paid a visit to this realm long ago… she didn't meet me, but she did stop at hatred's room and decided that she is her favorite since someone like her will really be useful as her worker. She was so close to making all of us fodder for her but she didn't do it since her right hand—the snow girl— suggested to wait for you."
"Now I wonder what can make a demon empress stop? I mean, I'm not that good!"
"Not yet that good you mean? You have a bigger potential than you think—all you need to do is to stop slacking and work that ass like how I humped you. Or maybe start to realize something called as urgency?"
"If only studying and urgency are as sexy as you—I'll do them like there's no tomorrow…"
"Trust me, urgency is sexier than orgasm when you're much more up close…" the blonde said.
"Really? I still find you sexier… especially with that sparkling skins of yours…"
"Colored by the sweat of most beautiful Goddess I've ever known, or to speak of her name: Toujou Nozomi."
"See? You're such a big flirt… I might give it all to you…" the purplenette said as she headed to the door which lust showed her.
"Good luck, honey… choose wisely."
"Ericchi… can I have one more kiss before I go?" Nozomi asked seductively as she stopped for a moment.
The blonde only replied with a playful giggle before she jumped off her bed and gave her what she wanted.
The Hatred's room.
Umi stood right in front of her with a spiritual katana in hand. Maki didn't bring anything but she always made sure her fist was swinging towards her.
Eli's hatred looks somewhat exhausted. She wasn't sure why but every time she fought, she could feel herself weakening.
"…are you done with this yet…? Or you want to finish me off later…?" the hatred asked.
"Finish you off…? I don't plan on killing anybody here. Even if I did, you will only get stronger, right?"
"Hah…you're right, even if we fought, I've never seen you actually trying to harm me…you were recoiling my attack and stayed defensive instead of attacking…." Hatred said as she sat down and rested.
"I still don't get it… what are we fighting for again…?" Maki asked.
"I just want my message to get through her…" Umi replied.
"What is this message…?" Maki asked.
"I just want to tell her that everybody makes mistakes and there's nothing wrong with that. But when it just gives birth to hatred, then I suggest beating her than letting her stay and grow…"
"So, why don't you want to kill me again?" the hatred asked.
"I told you, if I'm going to be the one to kill you, then you're just going to be stronger. So… you have to do it of your own will…no one can make you perish but yourself…."
"Hmm….so you're basically telling her to kill herself…" Maki said.
"I didn't intend to tell her that. Honestly, I understand that hatred will be born from time to time and that even if she dies now, there will be a new her in the future."
"Aren't you a bit complicated…?" the hatred asked somewhat mockingly.
"Maybe… but we all know—and you do know… that the wisest choice lies within yourself…"
"Hah! You will find no wisdom in me—I am not the wisdom… if you're looking for her, then you should probably look deeper, not in the surface like this."
"Wisdom isn't an emotion—it's what supposed to exist in every emotion…" Umi said.
The blonde remained silent.
"…being wise does not mean being perfect but to understand what needs to be done in order to reach that perfection…" the bluenette said.
"There is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you to get better, stronger, richer, quicker, or smarter. Everything is within. Everything Exist. Seek nothing outside of yourself…."
She continued again as she sheathed her spirit weapon and then, for whatever reason, spiritual sakura petals also spawned and flew around her.
"I…isn't that….M…Miyamoto Musashi's quote….?" Maki asked.
"Yes…" Umi replied with her brave face.
"Oh…." Maki replied before the room stayed silent for a while.
It's so awkward for Maki that she has no idea of what to say. Umi is suddenly quiet while Eli's hatred also stopped speaking to them.
Until finally, a sudden burst of laughter came from the blonde. Maki become a lot more confused and Umi's expression lightened—surprised that she laughed out of nowhere.
"What's with that, suddenly copying a warrior's quote…" she said between her laughter.
Umi and Maki didn't respond as they observed her action...
"…but sheesh…why do I exist here when there are people like you in this world… people who dare to create trouble just to find a point where we can get along..…" she chuckled.
"….maybe I should've said….someone like Nozomi… someone who jumps deep into hell just so she can reach me…and perhaps I would say the same for you…. for you all who dared travel here to save me…" she continued.
"I hate existing…. But I can't remove my existence…."
"Why do you have to hate yourself for what you are, huh?" Maki asked.
"Maybe she is talking about her being the hatred…" Umi said.
"Yeah, I know… but, really…you don't have to hate yourself for existing. If you keep doing that, you might as well hate yourself and you're not supposed to do that to yourself…" Maki said.
"I'm not sure what you are getting at but… I think I understand why it was hard for some people to ease their hatred… perhaps someone like Honoka will easy forget their existence, but not for her…and it was not for me too…" The bluenette replied.
"Then tell me, what did you do to your hatred…?" Eli's hatred asked.
"As what I've told you…I beat them up hard… I scolded them so that they won't dare to be my emotion…they will be part of me—but not as anyone who can control what I do or how I speak to others…"
"What about you, Maki?" Eli's hatred asked.
Maki is slightly surprised that she is called by her name…but, either way…this might be progress…
"Well… I love the way I become myself…So I just do what I wanted to do… there's nothing wrong with that huh? It just that, maybe at some points, I'll find myself in the wrong and I will try to seek for the reason—then later, I'll do my best to fix what was wrong. Heck, I thought I learned that from watching you two always working together…or maybe I should've said that I'm learning from things around me…"
Umi and Eli remained silent, trying to process each word Maki said.
"H-hey…do you two understand what I mean?!"
"Somehow…." they replied.
"D-Damn it! You two made me say all that but you still don't get it? How much of an idiot are you two?!"
"Maybe it's your fault for not speaking clearly …" the hatred said.
"Sadly, Maki… I have to say the same… I'm confused with… finding yourself wrong and finding the reason… I mean… you got to know the reason why you're wrong when find that you're wrong, right?" Umi said.
"W-well! You don't always know the reason why you're wrong before you realize that you are wrong! I mean—hey now! Anyone can tell you when you are wrong while you still have no idea why you are wrong, right?"
"You're right…." Umi and Hatred said together.
"B-Besides! Why do we look like we're fooling around now?! I thought we were supposed to be serious!"
"Ah—!" Umi and Hatred raise their eyebrow then they suddenly began to fight with their weapons again.
"T-The heck?!" Maki complained.
Watching the two fight, Maki felt like she probably missed something but….
"Heh…guess I'm just soooo done with this stupidity…" she sighed.
The hall to the deepest room.
This is where Nozomi will decide the fate of her dearest girlfriend. This time, she tried her best to control her breathing after the running that she did.
When she looked at the time, she saw that she still has about 40 minutes left to finish her business in this realm. Hopefully, she will be able to save her before then.
She opened the door slowly.
The first thing she saw are two nine-tailed foxes fighting against each other. The other one was chained and bind, but she seemed to be strong enough to defend her soul from the attacker. Nozomi remained in silent—she didn't want to break the focus of the one she wants to be safe.
She may not know who exactly is who right now since both foxes looked similar—but one seems to emit an uncomfortable aura around her body while the other one looks neutral.
Obviously, the uncomfortable one is the one who needs to be removed while the neutral one has to be the real Eli– The one who sits in the deepest room of all…
But now that she thinks about the information given to her, she remembered that recognizing them is the first step. The next step is to somehow merge them—which she assumes that what she needs to do is to feed one of them to the real one… but she also said it doesn't have to be that way.
Which means she can use the rest of emotions as fodder for her favorite emotion—Eli's lust.
Or perhaps what she said meant something else…?
Seeing the two nine tailed foxes fighting, she began to realize that perhaps to 'make them into one' is not to feed them to one emotion but to stop them from fighting each other.
But how can that happen?
She has to do something quick before any of them kills or devours the other.
Nozomi quickly ran to the middle of the fight.
"Stop!" she shouted—but the foxes moved too quickly to listen to her and the two continued to attack each other. Fortunately for her, the neutral aura one realized her presence and quickly used her barrier magic to protect her.
The sound of the strong barriers reflecting the power was heard across the big room and Nozomi swears she could turn deaf from the loud sound—it's a good thing that she isn't in her physical body right now.
Without delay, the other fox blasted another flame mercilessly. Another barrier was put up to protect Nozomi but…
"Hrghg!" the fox who tried to protect Nozomi received an unexpected attack from behind… then, without delay, the other fox turned big and began to swallow the other fox.
"W-wait! Listen to me, please!" Nozomi begged.
The other fox didn't care—she continued to devour the other one.
"Ericchi!" Nozomi shouted as she tried to pull the fox out—but the other fox is too strong and it aggressively absorbed both of them into her soul.
In the other the room.
Kotori, Hanayo, Honoka, Rin, Niko, and Yuki arrived at the Shyness's room. They weren't able to actually find the owner of the room—but Hanayo did sense her presence somewhere around the room full of books.
"Uhm….I can't find the owner of this room…. But I can't find the next door either…" Honoka said.
"I swear this place was so much deeper than I thought…" Yuki said.
"M-maybe you can scout for us, Yuki-chan?" Kotori asked.
"Uh…did you know that all of you can fly here? You just need to believe that you can and you will fly…"
"Oh…" Kotori remained silent for a moment…
Then starting from Rin, they all began to float and fly in the air.
"You're right!" Kotori said.
"W-waah! This is so exciting-nya!" Rin said.
"Yeah!" Honoka excitedly flew around.
"U-uh…everyone…I think we should keep searching for the next door…" Hanayo said as she stared at the door that she immediately found as she floated up.
"Wait…. what about we search for the owner of this room and ask what's the deal with all these books, like…ask if she is some sort of a nerd?" Niko suggested.
"Eli-chan who owns this roooomm!" Honoka shouted immediately.
No response…
"I think we need to search for her…." Kotori said.
As they began to look around, Rin noticed someone sitting behind some stacks of books that was turned into some sort of a hidden cave. It's rather cute than embarrassing for her—she feels like she knows what needs to be done.
"Hehe…everyone! Why don't you all just go ahead? Me and Kayochin will do the searching-nya!" Rin said.
"Eh…? Sure?" Niko asked.
"Yeah-nya! Hehe…it will be faster if we split our team anyway! Hehe…" Rin replied.
"Alright then, we should move!" Honoka said.
"Ok! Take care-nya!" Rin said cheerfully.
Hanayo waved to the group as she watched them enter the door. Soon after the other group left, Rin beckoned to Hanayo and pointed to the cave that she found. They both smiled softly and nodded—agreeing to do what they can for the emotion who owns the room.
Nishikino Clinic;
"Hnngg….. Eve…don't you think they're taking a bit too long?" Lilith asked as she stared at the eight bodies placed around the room, posed like they were just tired from waiting for Eli to wake up.
"I'm a lot more worried about you, you know. Now you're in her wanted list…what could possibly happen to you if she found you, huh?"
"More kisses and sex maybe?" Lilith replied cheerfully.
"You clearly pissed her off! Goof head!"
"Oh, come on! What's wrong with literally being kissed in the ass?"
"It is wrong in so many levels because she is clearly married, idiot!"
"Well… she seemed to enjoy that one tongue kiss though and maybe she is just shy to admit it?"
"She was so close to cutting off your tongue!" Eve complained again.
"I'm ok with playing rough…" Lilith chuckled.
"That's not even 'playing rough'…. She is clearly trying to kill you!"
"Kill is such a sexy word for orgasm… no, actually, even spoon become a sexy word… you have heard of spooning, right?"
Eve sighed heavily.
"I'm so done with you…"
"I believe Nozomi will agree with me…I mean, if Eli somehow told Nozomi that she is going to kill her, I believe that she will offer her heart…"
"Are you being 'the wise sister' or some sort?"
"Eve, my dear sister…. I'm far from wise, you know… wise is when you can make a good judgment over something… but you have seen and you know that I always make poor choices."
"I was being sarcastic, silly…"
"It's ok, Eve, you can just admit your mistake…we should get to know each other some more—let's have a little sisterly fun…"
"No thanks… leave me alone…"
"So, would you like to get some balloon? Candies? Cakes?"
"Oh shut up…" Eve sighed heavily.
"Tsk-tsk, it's fine, Eve… Sometimes rejection is necessary to test the efforts of one being to find 'true love'"
"Sometimes you give me the urge to bang your head on the wall…"
"My wall isn't that tight anymore, you see? There are so many heads banging it… from finger sized head to a baseball bat size head."
"I don't even want to know what 'head' you're talking about…but really, you should worry about yourself and let these kids solve their problem. Hell, I think you should get outta here before those spirits find us and take away their bodies."
"Ahhh! You're right, Eve! I should head there and actually find Dai Mao—see if I can get his head to enter my wall!"
Eve once again sighed heavily.
"Sister….please…."
This time.
Nozomi has no idea of how she ended up to in another room instead of getting crushed from being devoured.
"Nozomi…" a familiar gentle voice called her from nearby and the purplenette quickly sat up and looked around. It didn't take her long to find the source of the voice—a nine tailed fox is talking to her right now.
"Ericchi…?"
"I'm glad you are awake… how do you feel?" she asked.
"Not bad. Where are we right now?"
"Apparently, we're now inside a merged soul… we were swallowed by it…"
"Ah….so…we're stuck here?"
"No, there's a way out. Remember what I told you? I can keep souls inside my soul and take it out any time."
"Right…so how we can get out?"
"It's simple but it needs to be done quickly before we run out of spirit and fully merge with her power."
Nozomi listened intently.
"….all we need to do is find the master soul—the brain of this soul…then next, we need to convince her to take us all out…or kill her…"
"You seem to know who the brain of this soul is…." Nozomi replied.
"I do… it must be one of emotions that was twisted by lies… I won't be able to kill them, but you should be able to…"
"Wait…killing her emotion sounds a little risky, don't you think?"
"Better than your spirit gradually being drained out— and if you happen to run out of your spirit, your soul will merge with her power… there won't be any way to take you out after that…."
"Will this harm her?"
"Maybe she will lose one emotion but fear not… it will be born again and she gets to return to her life until something triggers her to find that emotion…"
"I see…"
"But remember…our step is limited, kill the wrong emotion and the rest of them will be warned. If the brain knows, you'll be doomed while I will be stuck here forever…"
"How do we know the brain of this soul?"
"Honestly, I don't know who becomes this creature too… it just started to eat…and eat….and eat…then I was the only one who was able to communicate with her—stopping her from spitting her twisted lies to corrupt the rest of her emotions…."
"Do you know what happening out there right now without you?"
"I don't know… but this might be a bad sign for the rest of emotions. I hope Lust will be able to hold her too…she is the closest one with me…"
"Hmm…alright… but this is funny, I mean…for a lust to be close with someone who sounds as sane as you…"
"This realm is created much like how she presents herself. Coldness wasn't the person in the front room before… there were the others… then, Lust used to be the one who occupied in the deepest room…"
"Hmm…alright. So what other emotions do you remember being there…? Any idea who might become this creature?"
"I'm not quite sure to be honest, but I'm sure the suspects are the three emotions who used to be in the front rooms… they are Happiness, Worry, and Anger…"
"Hmm… from the name of the creature—the anxiety—I think it's obvious who the brain is…"
"Don't forget, Anger could be the candidate as well. Perhaps she is the one who drove the two emotions to rampage…"
"What about Happiness…? Do you think she can be the brain?"
"Honestly… I'm sure any of them can be the brain… you just need to find the exact reason…"
"Hmm..alright, I guess we just have to meet them anyway…."
"Yes…and remember, show no sign that you are trying to kill them…"
"Of course, I'll make sure of that!"
In the realm.
Yuki, Niko, Honoka and Kotori continued to move. This time, they reached a room with a pool of water which seems to have slightly receded recently.
The four of them kept silent and observed their surroundings. They could see someone cleaning up the room—or to be more specific, a specific blonde is cleaning up the room. Her eyes were swollen and her nose is red. It looked somewhat adorable but they couldn't say that because she clearly just finished crying.
"I believe in her…I believe in her…I really do…." the blonde said as she kept working.
"What's with her crying…does she even realize we're here…?" Niko asked quietly.
"This is probably sadness. It may be better if she can disappear on her own or we can ignore her too but, if there's any of you willing to help her disappear…" Yuki said.
"How can she disappear…?" Honoka asked.
"By making her feel the opposite emotion. It also works with the rest of emotion but, sometimes, it's better to let them be …"
"Hmm…I don't think having sadness is fine. Maybe we should cheer her up?" Honoka asked.
"Mm…I have to agree… being sad is fine, but to be sad until she can fill a pool with her tears is not fine…" Kotori said as she looked down at the pool of water.
"We're probably close to the center right now… maybe we should split again?" Yuki suggested.
"Ok!" Honoka and Kotori agreed.
"Huh..? That means there's only you and me left…" Niko said.
"We will do fine as long as you don't try to tick off whatever emotion is the next room…"
"Alright then… you too—don't tick her off!"
"From what I remember, I've never been good with getting anything heated…" Yuki said confidently as she and Niko walked towards the next door.
Kotori and Honoka looked at each other to confirm that they both are ready to work on what they think they should do.
"Eli-chan!" Honoka called her playfully.
The blonde turned to face them.
"Are you all here to save the real me…?" she asked immediately.
"Yep!" Kotori said.
"Then—please, instead of saving me, can you help Nozomi?"
"Hehe…I'm not that much worried about Nozomi. Niko-chan and Yuki-chan should be able to help her…what about you though? Do you need help with cleaning this room?" Kotori asked.
"Me….?" the sadness replied with her sad face.
"Yup! Hehe! We all care about you—so that's why….everyone is coming here to save the real you! We all split into groups to deal with each emotion!" Honoka said.
The sadness stared at them in awe and her sorrowful face eventually lightened up, yet her body also slightly faded at the same time.
"Well then, I'd be really happy if you two help me to clean this room until it's sparkling…!"
"Ok! Then that's set! We're helping you!"
Back inside the soul.
Nozomi and the nine-tailed fox searched through the place. They talked a bit as they moved around—apparently, being in that place is very risky and they need to keep their spirit up by keep talking to each other and feel nothing or at least be intrigued with their task. Some new information was given to Nozomi—now she knows that she is currently with Eli's wisdom and she explained how they split into many emotions.
Back then, they were all one soul. Eli was a cheerful and innocent girl who takes a lot of enjoyment from dancing and reading books. She not really good at socializing and she was often awkward when she had to do so. Eventually, the people she considered her friends called her weird.
This made her dream about being accepted, which led to her splitting her soul into many emotions with the hope that they won't get mixed up and screw up her attempts to socialize. But instead of being accepted, Eli was bashed and suspected of having a personality disorder. The constant bullying in her homeland gave birth to the anxiety creature. The actual source is still unknown but wisdom was sure that it was created because one of the emotions is tainted by lies.
It worsened when Eli reached her puberty and realized that she is into women instead, unlike how 'normal' women should be. She distanced herself from everyone and stayed in isolation. Wisdom also remembered that something else happened— Eli met someone specific, someone wearing a black dress whose appearance scared her. Perhaps it's the reason why Eli imagined her anxiety in such a way. The next thing that happened to Wisdom… she remembered dying and she witnessed nothing before the emotions began to rampage. Most importantly, wisdom also remembers that she was born again by the time Eli met Nozomi.
It has been such a long fight and it is finally time to decide. If they win this, they should be able to win the rest of the fight …but if they lose… then everything will be over for good.
"In all honesty, I'm glad that I met you. If my girlfriend wasn't able to see through me like this, I bet she will have left me and strengthened that creature…" Eli's wisdom said.
Nozomi giggled.
"You're praising me too much. There's also those kids too, you see?"
"I should also tell you that you are truly my Goddess. I am nothing without you and those kids won't reach me without your help."
"Now-now, shouldn't we keep our focus on what we need to do?"
"You're right. Hmm…I feel like someone is close by…"
They traveled and found themselves face to face with a specific blonde.
"Nozomi…." the blonde said furiously at her.
"This must be the anger…" Wisdom whispered.
Then before Nozomi was able to say anything, the blonde transformed into a nine-tailed fox and angrily jumped at her.
"Why on shattering earth you are here? Why did you risk your life to save me?!" she yelled so loudly. Nozomi remained silent.
"Anger! Control yourself!" Wisdom yelled.
The anger backed down, she is still growling at Nozomi.
"Listen, we're both trying to find the way out so just relax and support us if you think you can do it…"
"Why would I want to support someone who doesn't even listen to me? I told you to run away and look what happened to us all? If only you stayed and thought more about yourself!" the anger said as she pointed at Nozomi.
"Then we will all never be saved! Just accept this, will you?" Wisdom said.
"I won't accept this! This is bullshit! None of you respect my efforts to keep you safe!"
"Fine! Then just to shut up and help us look for the others!"
The anger sighed heavily.
"Fine, but I'm still pissed off by this…I'd kick you all out if I could!"
Nozomi remained silent, still observing the emotion she just met.
The Room after Sadness.
Niko and Yuki reached the room and they thought everything will be just like the previous rooms. They walked in and with the choice to ignore or speak with the emotion but, instead of walking on their own, they were both pulled in by an unknown force and were immediately tied to the wall with ropes.
"W-what the heck?!" Niko panicked.
"W-what's happening here?!" Yuki exclaimed.
"Welcome…" a sultry voice spoke.
"….to the room of love…." the voice continued—a woman with naughty tight leather suit appeared in front of them. She carried a whip and wore a pair of sexy looking high heels.
"EEEEEEPPP!" Yuki and Niko screeched in fear.
The blonde giggled.
"Now…isn't that rude of you to react like that?" she smiled.
"Hmm…?" she played with her whip in front of them.
"T-this is bad! Really bad! Yuki do something!" Niko said.
"I—I can't! You do something!" Yuki said in panic.
"Sheesh…you two— none of you will do anything, I'll be the one who will be do something here…." the blonde said with her sexy voice.
"G-gh! P…please… contain yourself—Eli!" Niko begged.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill anyone… we're just going to play a little game…"
"Ok! S-So let's play hide and seek?" Yuki said.
"Y-yeah!" Niko said.
"Hmmm…. Sounds fun, but… it doesn't involve anyone screaming or moaning in pleasure, so…." the lust smiled.
"Y-You can do that with Nozomi! Not us!" Niko said.
"Ohh… hm…. You're certainly right… Nozomi is so much sexier than both of you…"
"S-see? uh…We… are both planning to help her…so… just…let us go….?" Niko asked.
The lust giggled again.
"Alright…" she said before the rope loosened. Yuki and Niko quickly ran to the next door, trying to open it in their panic.
"But… I don't want to see any of you returning to this room without her…" the blonde continued.
"W-We know! We will do our best! Please let us pass!" Niko said.
"Ok!" the lust giggled again before the door opened immediately. The two ran away in such a hurry, leaving the room's door open as the amused emotion watched.
A little further away.
"Eliii-chaaaan! We're going to look for you again!" Rin shouted.
"L-Leave me alone!" a voice said.
"Hehe—a person in hiding shouldn't talk…" Hanayo said as she approached the place where the shy Eli hid.
"Y-you two are bullying me!" the blonde complained.
"No-no, we're not trying to do that. We just wanted to talk to you and be a friend—you were so quiet before!"
"I…is it ok to call me a friend? I'm bad…and…I'm awkward! I just don't have anything to offer as a friend!"
"Hehe, who cares about that-nya! Just play along with us! It's ok to look silly-nya!" Rin said as she quickly approached.
"Yep! All we need to think about is how to have fun with friends!"
"But…I don't know how to be fun—I'm just going to ruin everything….I'm just going to make everyone disappointed! So please… leave me alone!"
"It's ok! You don't have to be perfect! You will eventually learn! Have some courage-nya!"
"I believe Nozomi wanted you to do that too, right?"
"Nozomi… wanted me to hang out with you…?"
"Not quite—but to hang out with others and have some fun! Or at least, anything that would make you stop thinking badly about yourself!" Hanayo said.
"Yeah! You're cute-nya! So don't be afraid to try-nya!"
"Yep! I agree! You are cute! So please be brave!"
The shyness stare at them in awe then, when she smiled, her body began to fade.
"Ok! I'll try!" she said before her body faded completely.
"E-Eh…? Sh-she disappeared?" Hanayo said in surprise.
"Y-yeah-nya…" Rin was surprised as well.
The room began to fade as well, leaving them in a common hallway once again.
"Hey! Rin! Hanayo!" Maki's voice shouted from a distance. Rin and Hanayo turned to her.
"Maki-chan! Umi-chan" they called when they found the two standing a bit farther away.
They gathered together.
"Did the room just disappeared-nya?" Rin asked.
"Yes… it happened to Hatred too… she just suddenly disappeared while we fought." Umi replied.
"I wonder about the others…" Hanayo said.
"We saw coldness's room is still there, but we didn't want to take the risk so we're tried to look for the rest first."
"Maybe we should go to the next room and see if—…."
"Everyoneeee!" Honoka's voice heard from distance. It was so loud and everyone swears that their ear drums would pop if Honoka wasn't that far.
They waited for Honoka and Kotori to arrive.
"Hey, did you two see Eli's emotion disappear?" Maki asked.
"Yeah… and it happened because she felt the opposite emotion." Honoka replied.
"Oh…. so that means, we were somehow able make them feel the opposite… that's good, I guess…" Umi said.
"Sadness told us this: it may be good for the negative emotion to disappear since it may also weaken the anxiety. So…if we deal with all the negative emotions, we are helping whoever is currently dealing with her." Kotori said.
"Hmm… Then if that's the case, we may need to deal with coldness as well."
"Should we split the team again?" Honoka asked.
"I don't think we need to. Sadness told us that there are only two rooms left." Kotori said.
"Alright. Then we should do this quickly! I'm a little worried about Niko-chan, you know…" Maki said.
"Ooo—Maki-chan! I'm going to tell that to Niko-chan-nya!" Rin said.
"W-what? Why?"
Back inside the soul.
Nozomi, Rage, and Wisdom walked together to look for the next emotion. Both Wisdom and Nozomi could swear that rage can't keep quiet, though Nozomi decided to just stay silent as she listened to her ranting.
It's basically always about everything that happened in the past and the fact that Nozomi is here trying to save her. She doesn't care about anything else and, to be honest, it's kind of adorable to hear her ranting that way.
However, Wisdom seems pissed off and if not because Nozomi aren't complaining about it, she would have already beaten that emotion up herself.
When Rage finally stopped, she took a deep breath and spoke.
"Hah—you! Such an embarrassing emotion!" she pointed. Nozomi and Wisdom turned to where Rage was looking and found a scared nine-tailed fox whimpering and shaking as she sat in a dark corner.
"Hmm...this must be… Worry?" Nozomi said with a smile.
"N-Nozomi! W-Why are you here?! W-What if anything happens to you?!"
"Worry, please don't worry…" Nozomi chuckled.
"I-I'm too weak to protect you! I—I can't! I just can't and you should not have done this! Y-you could've lived a better life without me!"
"You worry too much, Worrying Ericchi…." Nozomi said again.
"…I can take care of myself…!"
"T-Th-There might be no way out of this place! Y-y-you have to kill the brain of this place to do so! B-But the brain is so strong and she has made this soul swallow a lot…!"
"Huh..? You're saying it like the brain is someone else outside this place…" Nozomi said.
"T-this soul is nothing but a puppet… the brain could be out there… th-that's why…there might be no way out if we have to kill the one outside this place."
"That means Coldness, Hatred, Shyness, Sadness, and Lust might be the brain as well…" Wisdom said.
"Ridiculous! Why on shattering earth would we want to kill each other this way?!" Rage said.
Once again, Nozomi took a note of those words.
"Why don't you ask to yourself about why on shattering earth you're ranting over the smallest problem?" Wisdom said.
"Look, someone isn't happy about this, you see? She wants us to live peacefully and be someone who isn't a many faced liar!"
"Yes, we know about that. That's why you should help us figure out who is responsible for messing up like this in the first place instead of yelling aimlessly!" Wisdom said.
"P-Please! Y-you two! D-Don't make it harder for Nozomi!" the Worry said.
This is another event that made Nozomi think about the emotions she met.
Wisdom sighed heavily..
"If only there's a way to make you all shut your ego and unite… we wouldn't be as messed up like this…"
The deepest room.
Niko and Yuki finally reached the last room, feeling relieved that they got away from the creepy emotion of Eli.
"That was…. scary…" Niko said.
"I never knew Kyuubi-chan is up for something like that…." Yuki said.
"Heh—well… I guess now we also know what kind of kinky world Nozomi and Eli have each days… I wish I never knew, though…" Niko said.
The two sighed softly before their eyes went to the dark and quiet creature in the middle of the room.
"W-whoa! A huge fox!" Niko exclaimed.
"Hmm…something doesn't feel right. She is looking at us but it doesn't feel like she's really looking at us…" Yuki said.
The two decided to try move a little closer but the creature didn't make any response or movement. A transparent barrier is still up around her and dark aura enveloped her soul.
"Heh—well, I'm glad she is not moving. We could be doomed if she does." Niko said.
"Hmm…Niko-chan, can you use your ability on her?"
"Huh? Well…I think I can definitely do that…but I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to look for."
"Uh…well…what about you look into what happened an hour ago?"
"An hour ago…? Ok…." Niko replied before she attempted to channel her power towards the silent creature.
A few flashback showed up in Niko's vision: about how it began with a quarrel between two foxes which ended when the fox swallowed the other fox and Nozomi—who suddenly showed up and tried to stop them from fighting.
"W-what the heck?!" Niko exclaimed.
"W-what's wrong?!" Yuki asked.
"N-Nozomi is inside that creature!"
"W-what?!"
"C-Can we somehow take her out?!" Niko asked.
"I…If we're not too late, then perhaps we could! But…uh…." Yuki tried to think.
"Hmm… why does this creature feel like a puppet…" she continued.
"A puppet?"
"Yes… even though this creature is supposed to be the one born as anxiety, one who has its own mind, there's one soul or emotion that is driving this creature— 'the brain', We need to kill this soul or convince it to release its control. After that, the souls that can still be saved will come out and we can destroy this soul for good."
"Could the brain be anyone from before…?"
"Maybe. We need to make them think of the opposite and see if they disappeared. If they did, then they aren't the brain of this creature."
"Huh? They disappear…? Isn't that bad?"
"A soul isn't supposed to be separated like this… if they disappear, that's good because they will be returned to its original source."
"Huh…? Ok… then we need to make them somehow think of the opposite emotion, right?"
"Yes. Or we can just kill them straight… but killing them might cause them to make hatred stronger—or immortal. She may get furious… unless… someone else will decide."
"Someone else…? You mean…Nozomi?"
"Yes. If Kyuubi-chan truly loves her, whatever decision she makes, she will obey."
"Hmm… then… we probably need to play it safe, huh? Do you think you know how the brain should be like?"
"Not sure but, perhaps, it is someone who is trying to dominate over the other emotions and make them appear like a pet to them. This is honestly a bit complex and I suppose we have no other clue than that. We really need Nozomi-chan to understand this realm but, maybe for now, we can try to going back and ask some question to that nearest emotion?"
"Heh, you're right… Sheesh…why did she have to do this stupidity anyway? She could've waited for us…"
Inside the soul.
This time, along with Rage, Wisdom and Worry, Nozomi traveled around the place. She has lost track of time and, perhaps, she is already too scared to look at the time.
When she found the last emotion—Happiness— her hand began to feel nervous. This is pretty much the last emotion she needs to consider.
"Happiness…" Wisdom called.
"Ah—wis…." Happiness paused when her eyes met the purplenette. Then she stared at the other foxes who showed pretty much the name of their emotion with their facial expression.
"Nozomi…." Happiness said with a faint smile and, at the same time, her body seemed to fade a little.
"Ericchi…" Nozomi replied, bothered by the fact that she could see to the emotion continue to fade.
"What an idiot, disappearing at first sight! I knew that emotion is just too weak," Anger said.
Worry remained silent.
"D…Don't worry! I'm fine!" Happiness said to Nozomi.
You are not….
Nozomi said in her mind as she watched Happiness begin to crumble and get absorbed into the ground.
"H-happiness! Wait! We just met and we need your help!" Wisdom said.
Happiness remained silent. Her smile remained as she gazed into Nozomi's eyes.
"Damn it…Nozomi! You can't let her get absorbed like that! Make your decision now!" Wisdom said.
Nozomi couldn't move since she is still trying her best to understand the whole thing and it is just happening so quickly.
"Nozomi! This might be bad for us! Do something!" Wisdom called her out again.
Still no response from the purplenette…
"Nozomi!"
Swiftly, Nozomi summoned a spiritual gun as her weapon and, without hesitation, she shot—
Who? Let me know about your guesses or theories! I always having fun reading it.