"I see..." Histoire, through some divine magic - fitting really - managed to translate the dribble of 'blah-blah-blah' Neptune spat out as an 'explanation'. Nobody else was shocked by this, as they were much too used to such plot and continuity contrivances by now.
"We didn't get much more than that..." Uzume shivered mid-sentence. "Especially after we found out it was the same place Bigsy and I visited."
"And yet you claim to have entered from a different dimension, is this correct?" Histoire asked, and Uzume shook her head vigorously.
"Yeah! You can as Bigsy herself!"
With that the fairy looked over to the suitably larger Neptune, noting how she managed to keep her own emotions in check... and then she saw how the woman was eyeing something behind her. Histoire turned, and saw her Neptune gaming away - seemingly now done with the day after one measly telling. Understandably annoyed by this lack of focus literally seconds after the animated explanation, the oracle simply chose to let it go, and address the older looking Nep herself.
"Is this true?" The miniature woman tried once again.
"Huh?" Big Nep snapped from her distracted state, and upon seeing Histoire's impatient expression, kicked it into high gear. "I-I mean yeah! Sure... whatever you said!"
"I was asking for confirmation on whether you and Uzume entered the Lock-on shrine from a different dimension." The clarification sparked an overly expressive face of understanding; no different than a child taking a mouthful of pure sugar.
"Yeah! Yeah, it was! We entered from the crazy dimension-"
"So a usual Thursday." Uzume threw out there as Big Nep continued.
"And we had a snack break and everything. And then BAM!" Slamming a fist into her open palm, she faced the guide and guardian of Planeptune's goddess with a sure fire smirk. "Out of the blue, this dimension's shrine has the same litter we left behind!"
"So you admit to littering?" The simple question from Histoire froze the two involved women solid, and the protector - and arguably only sane official - of Planeptune's government could only sigh. "Look, I'll pardon it this time, as it solidifies some essential information for us."
"It does?" Uzume questioned, melting back into a more flexible state.
"You will?" Big Nep followed up, still rightfully wary of what was said.
"Yes." The fairy took a moment to shake her head in disappointment before readying herself once more. "Now then, we know the shrine is the same - which should frankly be impossible, but that hardly matters when you're all involved - so can you tell me if there was anything off about it during any point during all this?"
"Which trip?" Uzume questioned.
"Either of them."
This prompted a moment of thought from the two. On the one hand, Uzume could recall the weird feeling she got from both trips, but she wasn't sure if that meant anything substantial. Aside from that however, there was nothing all that off about the place, besides the fact it was the same in both dimensions anyway. Due to this she decided to tell Histoire about the experience anyway; it was the only thing strange enough to recall.
"It felt a little weird when I walked in, but that was only in the final room of the shrine." Uzume told, catching Histoire's attention.
"Weird, how so?"
"I don't think I can properly explain it." Uzume was wracking her brain trying to think of how to tell it. "The air just felt... wrong, is the best I can do. I mean, it was the same air as always, just different. It's like... my body knew it was different, but there wasn't any change to cause it; I just knew it was off."
"That complicates things..." Histoire hummed to herself, taking a moment to throw out one final question. "Have you tried asking Croire about any of this? After all, is it not she who's most experienced in multi-dimensional phenomena?"
Big Nep delivered a resounding slap to her forehead.
"Why didn't I think of that before!"
The oracle could only stew in her disappointment as she grumbled to herself.
"Why is it no matter the version, Neptunes never think things through?"
Ignoring that little jab, Big Nep reached into her pack and pulled out a small notebook. Ah, the specimen book: currently the only tool fueling the woman's bug-hunting addiction. For some reason Croire had been quieter than usual, but that was about to change.
"Hey, Croire, you still there."
"Finally remembered me, eh?" The voice came from the duo of wings taped to a particular page as they struggled just the barest bit against the adhesive binds. "What is it now?"
"Can you answer a few questions for us?" Big Nep slipped a few squeaks into her voice for added 'cuteness' effect.
It wasn't very effective.
This apparently didn't matter.
"I guess I can; not like I've got much else to do anyhow, unless of course you're planning on letting me out of this stupid book."
"Maybe later, if you're willing to behave that is." Big Nep responded before clearing her throat. "Anyway, do you remember the ruins we were at before, the one where Uzume said she lost one of the artifacts we found?"
"The Lock-on shrine? Yeah, what of it?"
"Well, we were hoping you might have kn- wait..." Big Nep paused, doing a double take. "You do?"
"Duh. Sheesh, you losers are always so slow in the head." The voice was lazily cocky for someone still taped to a page.
"Well why didn't you say anything before?"
"You never asked." Croire's statement had a good few of them collapsed on the ground. "Hell, you bitches don't ask a lot of things; you just take whatever catches your eye."
"Let us please keep this civil." Histoire broke in, relaxing her voice as everyone else tried to collect themselves. "Croire, may you please explain what you know about the shrine?"
"Sure, I guess it wouldn't hurt. Originally the place was constructed to hold the relic Uzume so brazenly stole."
"I didn't think it would hurt anyone." Uzume offered weakly with a sweat - she wasn't a thief, honest!
"Whatever the case, it was a stupid move regardless, especially considering the reason they locked it up in the first place."
"Hold on." Croire was interrupted again, this time by Noire. "What do you mean 'reason'? Didn't they lock it up because it failed in its design?"
"If you'd quit cutting me off I'll get to that, sheesh." Croire evened her voice again. "So as I was saying, it was locked up for a reason. Yeah, the hunk of plastic failed to transfer data as the creators planned, but they ended up doing something monumental by mistake; they created a barbaric version of dimensional warping."
There was silence for a second, mostly involuntary, but somehow Histore - as always - managed to keep a clear head, and asked the appropriate question.
"Excuse me, but can you give us a more detailed explanation of what you mean?"
"You see, at the time they made the relics, the four nations were just about to make the first of many generational leaps, and with it they released a series of consoles in response, all of which utilized various different strategies. Most were moving to disks due to the larger amount of space it offered, leading to more detailed and extensive games, but the Lowee Goddess of that time period was different. She chose to stick to cartridges, preferring the speed they offered in loading times, however this brought with it a lot of restrictions."
Noire jumped in right there.
"Wait, I think I've read about this before. Wasn't that the console with the weird controller?"
"Yeah, good old three-prong." Croire softly released a cheeky laugh. "Anyway, so there was this group of developers who decided they'd try to not only work around these limitations, but also push the console's functions to its limits, usually through more creative means. There was a small quirk with the hardware they believed could be used to circumvent the data limits the console's cartridges had, and they toyed with the idea of splitting features between games by using that exploit."
Big Nep knew where this was going.
"The whole 'Stop & Switch' part, right?"
"Bingo. So they were working on this system right, and then the next thing you know, not only is it found out to be dangerous for both system and cartridge, but the newer released versions of the system itself essentially 'patched' that little exploit out, making the damn thing impossible. You'd think it would be shelved there, but these guys were persistent. They tried a number of other means afterwards, which was when they ended up creating a 'scarring' event by mistake; heck, it was that very event which caught my eye to begin with."
"Scarring event, hmm..." Histoire pondered the thought; she'd certainly heard that term before. "I'm sure I know what that is, but can you please refresh me on the subject."
"Basically, a scarring event is when the fabric of reality is warped in such a way it leaves a permanent mark throughout its very core. When I first felt it, I shifted through my records for multiple dimensions to find the one of origin, but the effect their 'scar' had was... wild."
"How so?" The other tome inquired, and Croire couldn't fight off the excitement in her voice.
"The crazy bastards left an imprint of that particular space in their dimension across all the others. That 'weird feeling' you had at the shrine, that was the imprinted space."
Uzume hopped in here.
"What? I don't get it."
"Consider this: my records state that the 'shrine' you walked in wasn't always a shrine, it was once a lab."
This raised the eyebrows of Noire.
"A lab? Wait..." She paused for a bit, seemingly coming to an answer of her own accord. "Are you saying the 'scar' happened in that lab, and they just kept the relic there?"
"Exactly; you're not too bad." Croire was most certainly smirking at this point, despite not physically possessing a mouth at the moment. "So check this: these guys didn't know if it was the relics themselves which caused the scar, or if they'd somehow did it on their own - it spooked 'em real good. And so, to avoid any sort of risks they just locked the entire area down, only returning every now and then to slowly convert the lab into a shrine to hide the darn things. At that point, the reality warping powers of the scar seeped into the relics." It was at this point her excitement dropped off. "Unfortunately, I haven't been able to figure out what their power is, so you're dead out of luck seeking my help for that."
"Okay, hold on." Big Nep paused a moment before speaking. "So what you're saying is the 'scar' is a spot in space-time where a few dimensions intersect?"
"Kind of... it's not where a few dimensions intersect, it's where all dimensions intersect." Croire regained her cocky attitude. "You've seen a similar thing before, between Hyper Dimension and Ultra Dimension right, with that weird cave?"
"Yes, we have." Histoire was the one to say, and Croire continued from there.
"Well unlike that one, which happened naturally by both dimensions passing by one another and getting entangled, this one was forced through all of them by the accidental mixing of perfect amounts of share energy. But not just share energy, I also felt a huge amount of delusional energy as well. I don't understand how those idiots did it, but it was that perfect mix which caused the scar, and I also think it might have been that mix which caused the relics to react with Uzume the way they did."
"Stop right there!" Uzume shot in. "What do you know about its reaction to me?"
"A fair amount, at least if we're talking about your average tome here, but the important thing I picked up on was the energies stored in the separate cartridges themselves. The red one you have now contains an abundance of share energy; pure and effective. The blue one on the other hand, it was loaded with delusional energy."
"Delusional energy..." Uzume really didn't want to hear about that power again - those ideas she was having earlier were starting to bubble up again. Only one person in all of Gamindustri has ever had access to that form of power naturally, and Uzume was hoping that wasn't the case here.
"You know the type, all dark and twisted; especially good at causing mayhem." Croire was starting to sound giddy again, and Big Nep took it upon herself to snap the troublemaker out of her daydreaming - quite literally it would appear.
"Hey!" She snapped her fingers multiple times. "Stay focused here. You were talking about the cartridges and their reaction with Uzume; don't quit out on us here!"
"I get it I get it, keep your braids out of a tangle." Croire kept up her sassy tone. "Both relics were syphoning power from the scar - follow me here - and so each of them were altered. What they gained from this change has yet to be seen, but whereas Uzume's other half once had access to both share, and delusional power, it's safe to assume some of that mastery the crazy bitch had over the two was transferred to our Uzume when they merged and resurrected."
"I see..." Histoire then compiled the information aloud. "So what your saying is that thanks to the scar changing the relics in such a fashion, they were both naturally aligned with Uzume's divine powers. And that, because Uzume's revival brought both halves of her soul together, somehow resonated with her other half's latent forgotten abilities, which then caused a reaction of sorts."
"To a T." Croire sounded... satisfied? "It's nice that someone around here isn't a bubbling moron."
Ignoring the insult, Noire cornered the idea with some concern.
"But that doesn't explain what happened to the other relic, nor why the fake Uzume has it."
"About that..." Uzume reached into her pocket, pulling out her own red relic. "Are you absolutely sure it was the same as this?"
"Yes, only blue." Noire crossed her arms. "We already discussed this before."
"I know, but I wanted to confirm." Uzume slipped it away, her mind treading down a darker path now.
She'd hoped Noire had been wrong, that the relic her 'fake' carried was only similar to her own. In hindsight it was a stupid belief, denial really, but even so the implications of it all only made things worse. A blue relic... the one that disappeared back when she found the shrine had been blue, and if this was indeed the same relic Noire saw her fake carrying, then that begged the question...
How did she get it?
It didn't help that Uzume herself had no idea why the relic disappeared in the first place. Croire telling them it was a reaction to her powers explained the reaction itself sure, but the reason for that reaction was the more pressing issue... and, well... secretly she was worried that a certain someone was back.
Uzume placed a hand over her chest, or more specifically, over the spot that felt just a little bit wrong; a little bit hollow.
The woman began to recall the final bout she'd had with her tortured half, and the desperation in both her eyes and stance. Uzume had been fine with dying if it came to that, and sure, she wanted to live, but she cared about the safety of her juniors more. Kurome - as the others began to call her - felt anything but acceptance at the thought of erasure. Her other half had been so swallowed by desires for vengeance that it coated her very appearance.
Uzume may not have recalled much from that time, but she did have a vague remembrance of her appearance. She couldn't quite make out the exact details, but she knew for sure she wasn't as ragged or worn as Kurome, neither was she sporting harsh colors like red or blue, she'd been a softer shade; yet she couldn't quite recall what that shade had been. Most noticeable however was the eyes, as looking at Kurome before that decisive battle presented the orbs as lifeless and consuming.
It was only during the last moments of the fight where Uzume saw the spirit of fear manifest into emotion through the glassy orbs, and with it came the phantom's final words, just when Kurome believed she would meet her end. It was a simple plea, so low and teetering on the edge of tears, and one that occasionally haunted her to this day.
"I don't want to die."
"Yo, Uzume!" Big Nep's call pulled the woman from her retread history, and she faced her buddy. The larger Neptune wore a face of concern as she tilted her head. "You feeling alright? You kind of zoned out there for a bit."
"I'm cool." She lied. "Just trying to think of why the blue relic vanished on me, only to turn up in the hands of some imposter."
"Yeah, we're kind of trying to figure that out too." Big Nep smiled. "But we can do that later; we can all use a little rest, don't you think? All this stuff is hurting my head."
"Right." Uzume nodded, letting the worries fall back into place at the bottom of her thoughts. "That sounds good; I can use a breather."
The older looking girl then turned to Histoire.
"Do you think you can dig up some information on dimensional alterations? I think it might help us figure out what effects the scar had on the shrine, and the relics; it could help us discover what happened when Uzume took them."
"I understand." Histoire nodded with a small smile covering her features. "I shall prod away at it when I have the chance."
"Hey!" The voice came from Croire again. "Can you let me out? I want to dig up info too!"
"Really?" Big Nep appeared a little confused. "Why? I thought you didn't care about anything other than chaos?"
"I care about interesting history damnit! It's not my fault all the good stuff's always born of chaos, and besides, things like the scar are almost as rare as a dimension reaching its end; this is the exact thing I've been wanting to record for a while!"
"Uh..." The Nep looked towards Planeptune's oracle. "Do you-"
"If she's offering aid, then I have no qualms; so long as she doesn't cause trouble."
"I won't, I promise." Croire answered as her nerves became verbal. "Now let me out already!"
"Calm down, I'm letting you out now!" Big Nep worked her magic - pulled the tape off the wings gently - and sure enough the pair flew out. After a few seconds there was a bright light, and a fairy resting on a darker tome than Histoire's gave off an animated stretch of her limbs.
"Finally! Feels freaking stellar to have leg space again!"
"Yeah, well, you know the deal." Big Nep threatened, but the lazy looking fairy just waved her off.
"I get it, research dimensional chaos. It's going to take some time you know, and I can't exactly spend much time with you all when I'm digging in the good stuff. Until I get the info, you and Uzume are stuck here in Hyper Dimension; sound cool?"
"That's not a problem." The Nep seemingly brushed all concerns aside. "We were here to relax anyways, and~ I think it's about time we got to that, don't you agree, Uzume?"
"Yeah." The aforementioned tossed out. "I can use a break."
"Whatever..." Croire merely rolled her eyes. "Just try to stay out of trouble until I got the info."
"Please..." Once again the human Neptune was throwing away any forms of stress. "Nothing's happening here, so what's the worst that can happen?"
.
.
Kurome sighed, wondering just why it was that things were never easy. Crouched behind the small ice-cream stand, she began to reminisce on how she even got into the shootout to begin with.
Once the pair had finally left the factory, it had been up to Kurome to let the boss know what really happened, and by that, it meant telling him in such a way that he didn't take it out on Warechu. Luckily for them though he'd simply brushed it off. The boss had been more concerned with what the Lerulians were up to, and to learn that they were only a small group of five came as 'beneficial circumstance' to him.
He seemed more interested in the trades Lonk mentioned.
With that little manner taken care of - and Warechu subtly lowered from the chopping block - they took their leave. Their drive back was nothing special, and once they got home and told Warechu about the new apartment... well...
"Cityscape luxury here we come!"
He was a just a little happy.
"It's just another apartment." She herself had stated. "And yeah, it sounds a little better than this dump, but so would anything else."
"You don't understand!" Warechu shot a glare at her, and Kurome found herself intrigued with the mismatch of visual and audio expression. "Icarus Suite is more than just 'another apartment', it's one of the most laid-back and expensive places in Planeptune! The only thing that comes even a little bit close is the goddess's lodging at the Basilicom itself!"
"Right." Kurome offered a plain look. "So just another apartment."
All life faded from the little dude, and seeing this Linda hopped in with the save.
"What he's saying is the place is super expensive. With our current pay, we'd never be able to afford even an hour in the joint." She threw on a smirk. "But now thanks to you, we get to live there!"
"Don't count on it." Kurome added, having decided to quell the excitement then and there. "He's only doing it because he has a thing for me. Once he gets it through his head that I'm not into him, he'll eventually start charging or kick us out."
"Yeah." Linda sighed as her shoulders fell alongside her head. "I know, but still; it'll be nice to kick back in the high-life for a while." The excitement in her body powered on again, although much more reserved than before. "Say, didn't he tell us we'd have our stuff moved later tomorrow anyway?"
"He did, and he also gave us a job, remember?"
"The 'toll road' right?" Linda brought her fist up, lightly shadowing her lips as she focused. "Now how are we supposed to deal with that? I mean, it can't be as easy as telling them to stop, or beating them to a pulp, but he said something else too..."
"He doesn't want any of them dead." Kurome confirmed, narrowing her eyes along with the statement.
Sure, that hadn't been the exact phrasing, but it was the gist of it. Now on first glance that shouldn't have rung any bells; not killing was a common practice to avoid the goddess's wrath. However, therein lied the problem: the fact he chose to clarify it was... troubling. From what she knew already, Kurome was under the belief that the local gangs used non-lethal means of combat to avoid the heat of divine intervention, and with that being the case, the request to specifically avoid murder posed a prominent question...
Why would they even consider it?
Lonk knew their boss, at least from how he spoke, and with that he also must have known and understood the rules and reasons for non-lethal combat as well. The problem was, again, that he chose to clarify this to them, that he didn't want any real bloodshed. The clarification alone meant that he thought they'd resort to it, which caused a slue of other concerns to anchor themselves in Kurome's thoughts, and it was here she realized they were asking the wrong questions. It wasn't 'why' the trio should have been asking, but rather...
What would force them towards deathly means?
Lonk was expecting something, and based on all they knew, that 'something' had the potential to make a lethal approach not only viable, but superior.
She understood it all now, right as a bullet pierced the metal of the stand.
"I don't think they'll be letting up any time soon!" Linda shouted over the noise, and Kurome could only offer a humorless look of 'really, I hadn't noticed' to her companion. Sarcasm aside, Kurome couldn't shake the irritation of it all - a surprisingly common response for a goddess to have in these scenarios.
They'd woken up this morning expecting less trouble and more mild annoyance from the job. They drove out, and as planned had Warechu start 'negotiations' with the apparent leader of the group. It had been a sunny day, and Linda proposed they grab a popsicle from the vendor on the sidewalk, right next to the public park.
Watching the frozen treat shatter in her hand as Warechu screamed wasn't something Kurome expected to see so early in the day.
The shots slowed a bit, as they did on a one minute interval. From what she was able to gather so far, these guys were using actual ammunition, as in deadly weaponry. It was here where Kurome understood Lonk's request.
She could hear it, the cries of children and parents huddled low to the grass and behind the few benches and trees of the park, and with it came the scent of fear. It was coming back, just like with the bitch of a cult leader; the delusionary energy. Kurome had to restrain herself for a moment, wondering just how much she could hold out; the terror was tempting her, and she could feel the ecstasy running across her skin in its desire to be free.
"These guys are maniacs, chu!" Warechu could just barely be heard from across the street. He was positioned behind a tree right at the edge of the park. She could see him trying to take a peak at the bastards shooting up the place, but every attempt was frightened off by a bullet grazing the tree. "If we don't stop 'em quick, they'll drag the goddess out, and then we're all screwed!"
Kurome already knew that, but a problem like this wasn't easily solved. A good portion of the fear and pain was getting to her head, and every now and then a bullet would strike someone's limb, and with it came a new tide of delusional power. So far nobody had been killed, at least from what Kurome felt, but people believed they were going to die, which only enhanced the flood of horror unwillingly soaked up by her body. The dark energy brought with it a mysteriously familiar sort of pleasure, one she'd only ever felt by miniscule amounts during her merged life with Uzume; specifically when she went streaking through a city at midnight.
Thank makers that particular dimension didn't have cameras.
I... I need to- augh~ Okay, this was getting ridiculous; clearly, holding back wasn't going to help. She needed to expel it somehow, and fast, otherwise she wasn't sure what would happen. Kurome stilled her focus the best she could, and setting her sights to her hand she allowed the delusional energy to manifest into a tangible form.
In her palm sat an orb of swirling vortex, with purple and black being swallowed by the center.
The thing was volatile, she could feel it, but even so Kurome kept directing her power towards it. She needed to get rid of the darkness, and she also needed to deal with the pricks who were shooting up the park, and so she figured: why not take out both? Yes... that idea sounded nice. It was effective, and so wonderfully simple. All she needed was to hurl the darkness their way, and the orb would do the rest, rending the flesh from their miserable bodies as it ground the useless meat into a fine paste. And once it was done...
They'd paint the road a beautiful shade of crimson.
"What's that?"
Linda's shouted question cut through the woman's insanity, and in an instant every part of the plan was scrapped in a panicked rush. She'd lost herself again, but at least this time it was only for a bit; before she could do any real damage. Kurome shook her head, staring hatefully at the orb of delusion, which had now grown to the size of her torso. It was itching to begin its rampage of destruction, and she could feel it tugging lightly at her hair. Suddenly however, Kurome felt something different, and her eyes widened in realization.
An idea sparked.
The orb was sucking the ends of her braided hair in, but the hair itself was unharmed. The ends just sat there, innocently restrained and suspended in the orb. She pulled on one, and sure enough it came out effortlessly. Toying with the idea in her head she focused, and as expected her hair was no longer pulled; nothing was being pulled into it anymore. Kurome smirked, it was just as she thought: she could control what it tried to consume.
This could work... no, this will work.
Kurome raised the orb above the cart they were pinned behind, and watched with a more vicious grin as the bullets seemingly appeared instantaneously in the bubble of shadow, being pulled to the center and crushed as more filled the chaotic space inside.
"Woah..." Linda's lowly state of shock was almost drowned out by the noise, but even so Kurome heard it, and as if directly called, faced her friend and spoke.
"Stay here and wait for my signal. On my word, I want both you and Warechu to pop out. We're teaching these assholes what happens when you play these types of games with us."
"Got it!" The gray-hooded girl fashioned a similar smirk to her own, and Kurome had to once again drive away the devilish desire to go wild with her power. She saw Linda wave to Warechu from the corner of her eye, and a quick look proved he'd somehow understood the signals she sent his way.
Strange... it's always Linda who wakes me from the delusions hold.
Keeping the pasty-skinned girl in mind for that very reason, Kurome left the safety of the cart, and slowly she walked towards the gang of shooters with the orb raised. She made sure to place a noticeable amount of sass in her walk; Kurome wanted them to know just how outclassed they were. They kept firing of course, but the forgotten chaos-bringer couldn't help but suck up the panic now crossing her opponents mugs.
She stood with the leader, face to face as his gun fired the final bullet; it was ripped upwards not a centimetre from the barrel.
"H-how?!" He stuttered, slowly backing away. "W-what the hell?!"
"No no no." She tsked disappointedly. "Hell won't save you." Her smile grew exponentially as he fell on his backside, dropping the weapon and trying to scamper away. Her boot pinned his back to the road, and she called out to the others. "This is what happens when you screw with our turf!"
A solid minute of silent stillness passed, and Kurome let her stance drop with a heavy sigh of disappointment. She placed a hand over her face, doing her best to fight off the headache born of the now thoroughly massacred mood.
"That was the signal guys..."
"YAH!"
Both Linda and Warechu hopped from their places into action, but it was far too late to salvage the epic scene which now lay unceremoniously spoiled in the baking heat of the sun. As the two went to work restraining the gang with a series of cuffs, provided courteously by a couple huddled low underneath a nearby bench - Kurome was not about to ask why they had them. Lowering the orb from overhead, Kurome - with a bit of focus - dispelled the gathering of chaos.
A perfectly circular hunk of solid metal fell to the pavement below and began to roll.
Not letting the ball get away, Kurome picked it up, feeling the collected weight of the remolded ammo. The delusional vortex - a name she just made up right now - had not only ripped the bullets from the air itself, but also crushed them entirely to such a degree that she couldn't spot a single crack. Everything was so perfectly pressed and smooth; all it needed was a bit of polish and it would make a perfect mirror, a round and silly mirror, but a mirror nonetheless. The thought of just how much power it took to perform such a feat was impressive, especially with how disturbingly easy it felt to do.
Kurome walked over to a nearby couple who were hugged together behind a tree, and handed it to the little girl enclosed in their arms.
"Here." She said as the child smiled widely and took the ball. It seemed a little heavy, but the kid appeared to like it anyway, and she faced Kurome brightly.
"Thank you miss!"
Kurome merely smiled and returned to the others, cracking her knuckles as she stared down at the terrified gunners, who were now left with nowhere to run.
"Now then..." She began as the other two lined her sides; each wearing a nasty look of their own. "Why don't we start with telling me why you locked down this road?"
Author's note
...
Sheesh, Kurome's scary when she's mad.
Whelp, for once it wasn't Histoire to slap everyone with the history lesson - Croire, it turns out, is our exposition dump of the day. Yes, I know this chapter may have been a bit on the more reserved side, but it had to be done.
Couldn't leave Uzume and the others alone in the depths after all.
Good news, we've been provided with a simple telling of how the relics work... or at least how their shrine works anyway. Now how this all plays out, that remains to be seen.
Kurome however is getting ready for a beatdown; taking information has never been so cathartic.
Catch you soon.