Persona- Burn On, Shining Souls!

[MarbleZone]

\\Levin Sanders - Chariot Arcana//
Court of Miracles

One second he was so terribly aware of everything around him: the eerie reflections, the flame fairy, the murdering ice sculpture. The next, everything went blank before his eyes as the sharpest pain a man can possibly feel without dying on the spot (leaving many to wish they did) rose from his groin and brought less-than-manly tears to his eyes. His legs went numb and shook under his own weight, and the only reason he didn't fall on his knees was because somebody grabbed him.
Accompanying the unbearable pain was an incessant, equally unbearable feminine voice, that kept talking and talking and talking about something Levin couldn't focus on, but surely had to be related to the atrocity just committed.

Thankfully, soon thereafter, a wave of relief washed over him as suddenly as the pain just before, inexplicably (he had to get used to that word) easing the torment that afflicted him, effectively revitalizing Levin's whole body, and with it, his mind. As if it were... magic.

He found himself noticing his surroundings once more, now that his trance had been broken and the pain subsided. He was being half-carried by a smaller girl, away from the monster that most likely would've killed him where he stood moments before.
Levin had a knack for reading people before they spoke (or, in this case, before he paid attention to what was being said), but even if he didn't, this one was an open book: Her eyes were wide and glowing with excitement, pure thrill and not a semblance of fear. Her outrageous outfit pretty much completed Levin's mental characterization of her... A total lunatic. But still, she probably saved his life...
Suddenly, the memory of a particular sentence that managed to penetrate through the pain and fear rang in his mind:

"... and so I punched you in the balls!"

Yeah, it'd been her. She was the reason the Sanders lineage didn't end with him impaled on several ice blades; she was also the reason the Sanders lineage probably ended with him anyway.
A curious position for a man to be in, rescued by a woman; an even more awkward situation when a man had to thank for an intentional hit to the testicles.
Torn between humiliation and ingratitude, Levin decided to postpone any conversations for a while.

They were running away from the ice woman, who didn't seem fast enough to keep up with them. Something told him, however, that this girl had absolutely no idea where she was taking them. Able to walk on his own thanks to whatever invisible painkiller he'd been given earlier, he took his arm from around the girl and ran alongside her deeper into the maze; behind stood some other fools who, for some reason, found it preferable to attack the aberration head-on.
Just then, Levin remembered he left his spear behind; what had seemed like a great weapon for keeping dangers at a distance, coupled with an aesthetically superior design, had proven to be a terrible decision the minute it was required. He just kept making mistakes that he couldn't afford, and it was pissing him off to no end.

As they ran through the mirror corridors he began to calm down, and soon he was back to his usual self. I have to adapt fast and leave rationality for later. It doesn't matter if things don't make sense, those very things will kill me unless I get my act together and fight back. I can't keep relying on these idiots and trusting them with my life much longer...

After a while, he addressed the cheerful girl, deciding that saying nothing would be much too rude of him.

"I... well, thank you for back there. If it weren't for you things could have gone sour. I don't suppose... you could have snapped me out of it any differently, could you?" he said, smiling warmly. And, for once, part of that smile was actually genuine.

 

[Blivsey]

Sigmund Okonkwo
Mirror Maze [Court of Miracles]


Left. Right. Dead end.

Turn around. Right. Right. Left. Dead End.

Turn Around. Right. Left. Right. Ice Lady at thirty paces.

Nuts.

With nowhere else to go, Sigmund ducked into the corridor and ran straight in the opposite direction from the shadow, running low to the ground as though it would help hide him. Of course, it did no such thing - within seconds, he had already gained her attention. This only spurred him to a sprint to keep himself out of range of its blessedly short[SUP]1[/SUP] reach.

As he approached the end of the corridor, he caught sight of one of the others, just getting to her feet. Must have been knocked down. Didn't matter. Talk later. Run now. Not even slowing down to check who it was[SUP]2[/SUP], Sigmund grabbed an arm as he ran past[SUP]3[/SUP] and pulled his new companion along, quickly rounding the corner to the left.

Sigmund looked left and right, only being able to use the distance to the reflections to tell how close he was to a wall. For all he knew, he could be heading back to the entrance right now. That would be bad. The shadow was definitely catching up to them, and at their current pace it could overtake them shortly. That would be very bad. As much as he hated it, his best chance for survival was somebody else catching the shadow's attention, and that was outside his control. He needed a game plan.

With no other leads, Sigmund stuck the blue card to his head again. Once more, he called Hua Po's name, and the faerie appeared before him, flying to keep slightly ahead. Forcing the shadow to a standstill wasn't going to happen. The only way left was...

"I need to escape! Fly up and find us a way out!"

The red-skinned girl gave a firm nod and began to beat her insect-like wings harder, ascending out of his view. For the next few moments, Sigmund just kept running in a straight line, unable to tell through the myriad images how much ground he was losing to the ice creature. Hua Po took little time in returning, coming back down into Sigmund's field of vision just as she darted to the side and disappeared.

Stumbling only slightly, he turned sharply and darted off in a new direction, following Hua Po closely as she turned again. She seemed to be moving with clear direction. Hopefully that meant that she had found a clear route out of the maze. Better yet, a quick path so that they could outrun the shadow.

"Don't worry, she's got this," he shouted, loudly enough the girl in tow to hear but half to reassure himself. "We'll make it out."


[SUP]1[/SUP] So far.
[SUP]2[/SUP] Though he did see red hair and a definitively feminine body.
[SUP]3[/SUP] Firmly, but not enough that doing so would be painful with his gauntlets on.

 

[GoldenHouou]

OOC: Sorry there’s so much going on in this. Wanted to cover everything and not sure when I can post the next time.

---

Sofiya Mikhailovna Ignatova
Court of Miracles

Sofiya kept helping the new recruit escape, confused as to why he was so slow. Did she need to punch him again? Harder, maybe? Or would a kick be more effective…? She still hadn’t decided on the most painful way to shake him up next when Snow fixed the problem of the boy's speed – or lack thereof – by healing him with a well placed Dia. Sofiya was surprised to see it worked and turned around to throw a quick thanks just in time to hear the boy reprimanding her, which only added to her confusion.

“Sonya, please don't hit anyone else; that isn't helping,” he told her as his Persona faded, and Sofiya blinked in puzzlement. Eh, isn’t helping? But in movies… She felt her stomach freezing over. Oh no, had she done something wrong then? Would her new Private hate her before he even got to know he was her new Private? She gave the boy a glance from the corner of her eye, but luckily she didn’t find him glaring at her or anything. He seemed too focused on running to even notice Sofiya had been talked to.

“I-I’m sorry!” Sofiya half-shouted, half-whispered in response – a curious combination if there ever was any – to Snow as she passed him, hoping he wouldn't be mad either. She noticed that a few members of the group had stayed behind to face the Shadow, and for a fleeting moment there was a longing look in her eyes. Boo, she would’ve wanted to fight too! But a Commander had her responsibilities, and right now they lay elsewhere. She needed to aid the recruit to safety, so deeper into the maze with him she ran, until he seemed to be slowing down again, prompting Sofiya to fix her pace to match his and turn to him.

To her surprise, he was looking directly at her already. Uh oh, would he yell at her now? It might’ve not showed, but on the inside Sofiya’s mind swiftly switched into panic mode as she tried to figure out how to apologize.

“I-“

The boy was faster.

"I... well, thank you for back there. If it weren't for you things could have gone sour. I don't suppose... you could have snapped me out of it any differently, could you?" He said and, to Sofiya’s surprise, smiled.

Sofiya was left staring in disbelief. See, she had assumed he would smile when she had kicked him, then she was told that had been a bad thing and she had expected him to be angryinstead, and now he was smiling anyway… So taht could only mean... she had been right in the end anyway...? She was so glad! A wide smile quickly washed away whatever traces of worry lingered on the girl’s fac, and she nodded, enthusiastic once again.

“You’re welcome, it was no trouble at all! In fact it was really fun!" Her expression changed only slightly as she repeated, almost eerily: "Really, really fun..." She snapped out of whatever state her mind had threatened to spiral towards and continued, more normally this time: "But yeah, like I said, I would’ve shot you down there, but they still haven’t given me a gun, so I couldn’t help it…” Something resembling a pout crossed her face, but she quickly shook it away in favor of striking a pose.

Nodding she declared, self-confident and once again attempting to mimic Sig’s gesture from earlier – with her fist on the wrong side of her chest: “I’m going to become a doctor in the future, you know! So that’s why, that’s why I need to be good at helping people. I’m going to be helping lots and lots of patients and then nobody needs to be sick or sad anymore!”

She flashed another smile and brought her hand back down from her chest, clasping her palms together instead. Without giving the boy much time to get a word in, she already continued: “Oh, I’m also a Commander, and since you’re a new recruit to the team, I hereb… by… herbly declare you my Private. Training will be tough but fun! And dangerous, I guess… my other Private said so, anyway. But he’s silly.”

Completely forgotten about the predicament they were in, she began: “I’m Sofiya, but friends call me Sonya and Privates-“

"Oi, Commander!" A familiar voice shouted just then, snapping Sofiya back to the present. Her other Private was running towards her, apparently in a rush. And before she could ask what was up, he had already presented her with a suggestion: "Commander! Can Horus fly up and scout out the maze? Maybe find Randy too?"

Sofiya glanced down at the evoker she still held firmly in her hand and then nodded. “Yeah, he totally can! Good thinking, Private!” She announced proudly as if the credit for his idea had somehow belonged to her. Then she turned to the new guy with an excited smirk. ”Watch this!”

She brought the card to her forehead and cracked it between her fingers, swinging her arm down and shouting: “Horus! Come on out!”

The sound of shattering glass from the card was quickly hidden under a loud screeching sound as an eagle-like bird materialized before its summoner, golden wings spread and sharp eyes analyzing the environment. Its strict stare happened upon the newbie, and it cocked its head condescendingly. More children.

“Horus, Horus, did you hear what Private suggested? Fly up and find Randy!” Sofiya hurried to explain to the bird who just flapped his wings peacefully to stay in the air, its stare fixed elsewhere. It had already noticed the meek little fairy raising up and planning the same thing.

“As you wish,” Horus’ deep, royal voice echoed as it rose up quickly. He knew what would await him should he linger. And right he was, not a second got to pass after his departure before Sofiya suddenly remembered she had forgotten something.

“Ah, wait, wait, I didn’t give you a good luck’s kiss yet! Come back! Hey! Aww…” Sofiya sighed as the bird’s silhouette got smaller and smaller the higher he ascended. The Russian pulled her hands crossed across her chest and pouted, turning to her two Privates: “He’s aaalways like that!”

 

[Wordy]

Ciara H. Wright
Court of 'Miracles'
The Prettiest, Shiniest Mirror Maze

Ciara caught a flicker of movement in the corner of her compact mirror, and turned herself slightly to see a sheet of something shiny rising slowly out of the ground... paralysed by indecision, whether to run for it or stay put, she could only watch as what appeared to be a mirror finally settled in front of her. Looking around slightly, she noted that many more mirrors had seemed to have formed in a trap around the enclosure, aside from a single passage.

It took a second for her eyes to adjust to the new light, blaring and reflecting between all the mirrors from the moon itself. The Moon... she found herself looking at the card again. She had always meant to find out what the Tarot meant, but she certainly wasn't letting onto anyone else that she didn't know and she always forgot about it. Why did she get the Moon card?

Oh lord, it was that thing. Always that thing, the clown with the tragedy/comedy masks and its penchant for... being weird. Like rat metaphors! Yay.

"I'm well aware of your ability to just ignore the problem, however, and have given you a bit of... an incentive to get through. If you preform well, only a couple of you may get shattered into a fine cold mist. Good luck, and make sure to blame the bitch for everything! Toodles!”

God, who said toodles? And who was the bitch they were blaming now? None of the other girls here were that bad... so maybe they meant an incredibly feminine boy...? Ciara wouldn't be surprised if they were supposed to blame Snow. Pretty boy school band member, clearly a secret demon. He probably cultivated that innocent image to cover his penchant for underage sex, drinking and drugs. Nobody was that sweet unless they wanted something. He was like a male gold-digger in-training. Yep. And the Shadows would bring all that out. Fake goody two-shoes.

Then, Ciara did a slight double-take. Two Lizas? Of course, the girl under a sheet's reaction said it all. Oh, OK, that was Shadow Liza. So, the bitch was Liza? Not Snow- disappointment. Ciara didn't know Liza all too well, but she wasn't surprised. Someone who was that quiet was probably incredibly judgemental and laughed at people behind their backs. Snooty and with delusions of grandeur... but that sounded like somebody else. Aside from the quiet part.

"Well, this isn't something we're going to be able to take head-on..." Ciara murmured, as she watched what unfolded with grim fascination, and just managed to prevent the urge to make a cruel joke about 'blasting off again' as Randy soared somewhere far, far away. It was so gruesome and yet incredibly interesting, to see how the Shadow became an ice sculpture. It could have been almost pretty, if it wasn't an instrument of impending death... but weren't they all? It was like some sort of icy Terminator, the business-like method of it all.

Without even stopping to consider it, Ciara was first to start running, not even daring to stop to think and certainly not looking up to confuse herself with the mirrors, instead just taking in the floor and using spatial awareness with basic instinct to work her way through... and also the first to crash headfirst into a mirror, having ran and ran and taken absolutely no precautions in doing so. Clutching her head as she stood up, the girl began cursing violently, yelling swear words at the mirror in the hopes that it would help.

After venting for an appropriate amount of time (which, under the circumstances, was about five point five seconds), Ciara hissed as she pulled out her compact, and, after a few moments of further groping around, found her lipstick. With a self-satisfied smirk (and a look of relief that no bruises were showing), she tested it on the shiny surface, trying to ignore how disconcerting it was having what appeared to be five more of her doing the same thing within their own little mirror universes.

Well, that worked...

"Oh holy mother****ing mother of ****ing ****ers!"

Ciara began spluttering more curses as she turned around to see more crimson red lipstick Xs reflected in the mirrors all around, and walking cautiously back around she noticed that now everywhere had a red X on it, all reflected from her original. Eventually, she reached back to the original crossroads that she had been at, and she could hear the others further back in the maze. What idiots. Yeah, sure, stay behind for everyone else and get eaten by the ice queen.

It was pragmatic. Leave behind the slow. Still, she couldn't afford to make any more mistakes.

Still swearing and cursing the Shadows under her breath, Ciara pulled out the tarot card and summoned the Kitsune. Without a single word passing between them, it was off, sprinting ahead. There, it could scout out the paths and stop her from making any more mistakes. It would be so much quicker with two who were technically one in that funny freaky Persona way of doing things.

She just hoped that this path itself wasn't one whole big dead end... Just in case, she dropped the lipstick onto the floor as a proper marker. It had almost ran out anyway.

 

[niedude]

<//JP- Lovers Arcana//3
<//Quartermain Hospital//3

Any attempts of support and comfort were immediately brushed aside and ignored by Shinai, who barely gave a glance at JP before continuing inside that oversized freezer, whispering inaudible gibberish at himself the whole time.

Was JP too late? Had the Shadows, or the very court itself taken its toll on the already visibly troubled boy?

“Dude, you ok? Do you know where you are? Do you know what is happening?”

Nothing. JP got no answer, and refrained from asking anything else, instead choosing to observe Shinai and identify just what he was doing and why had he come to the hospital’s cold storage of all places. It’s not the sort of location one usually stumbles upon when in a frenetic and confused state of mind.

“Of course, hah... why would I be the only one? I suppose there's more of you as well? Interesting... I hadn't considered that there'd be more of my kind.”

“Wait, more of your kind?” JP asked, rather bluntly and loudly, in response. “So you have been here before? You’re familiar with the Court?”

He certainly seemed familiar enough to not be freaking out about it. For, as strangely as Shinai was acting, he definitely did not seem scared. The more JP thought about it, the more it seemed that the guy was shutting off the very presence of another one “of his kind,” as he put it, in order to focus on the completion of whatever task he had at hand.

“Listen, dude, just how, or rather, why the hell did you end up in a hospital’s storage freezer, anyway? What are you even doing here?”

For a moment it seemed like JP was being ignored, again. But suddenly, Shinai stopped what he was doing and did not move a muscle, like he’d just come to some sort of unexpected conclusion. For a moment, the image of Dr.House randomly coming up with the answer to whatever overly complicated diagnostics to this week’s episode crossed JP’s mind. If it weren’t for the tense mood in the air, the guy would have probably cracked a joke; but as it was he didn’t even smile.

“I see, she's met the same fate as... how, unfortunate. So, JP is it? How does it feel? To know that you're the cause of all of your problems? To know it's your own decisions and faults that have brought you here tonight? Ah, good. Just what I needed.”

‘W-what?’

JP felt almost like he’d been delivered a physical blow to the gut. Was the guy talking about what JP thought he was talking about? No, it couldn’t be. No one knew about it. Even the ones present were unaware of the deal JP made with the devil.

“How do you know about that?”
That question was said as more of a threat than anything else. JP was looking down at the floor, containing the rage he’d been repressing and redirecting at Shadows for two months; rage which had let him live alone and survive in a hell with an increasingly higher number of victims. All of that was noticeable in his voice, previously calmer and slightly concerned, now much more deeper, at times sounding like a growl.

It was taking all he had to contain himself. A marvel, really, as it seemed the Court had awakened in him a side much like a raging bull. Calm and manageable when kept alone, and destructive, even murderous when challenged (just ask Shadow Izzy, who got caught in the rampage succeeding the release of the boy from his shackles, and Shadow JP himself, that only through a miracle lived through the evisceration of multiple blades and punches calling for the release of Terri from his *****s - both occurrences were somewhat pointless, certainly, as neither had defeated the monsters, but they are clear indications of the unstable nature being nurtured.)

It was when Shinai, smirking, the tone of his voice being playful, joking and condescending (at least to his hears) cryptically answered that in no way could he compare the two’s situations (why would they be comparable?) and that, in reality, all that JP went through was nothing in comparison with Shinai’s own experiences, all while he passed beside JP (simultaneously addressing him and ignoring him)that the bull took the reins.

Shinai had turned his back and JP and was already walking away, ready to end this unorthodox encounter, but the other boy would have none of that. He stomped his way to Shinai, shouting for his attention and being once again disregarded, and that was enough. He forcefully grabbed the other guy by the shoulder and turned him around, then punched him with such force the other boy was thrown back, hitting the wall and sliding to the ground.

“STOP IGNORING ME! Just who the hell ARE you?! How do you about the things you were talking about? NO ONE knew I agreed to that!”

He turned his back to him, tried to take a few deep breaths to calm himself down and walked one or two circles around the same spot. He’d barely just met the guy, and physically harming him after a fit of fury wasn’t exactly the type of first impression he wanted to give… This guy knew something, too. It was best to keep a calm and rational mind in these sorts of situations, especially if he wanted to get something out of him.

He calmed down and exhaled, letting things stabilize before demanding:
“Explain yourself. Why did you say those things? And while we’re at it, how exactly could we relate? Not to mention, why the hell are you leaving with BLOOD PACKS?”

Barring the surreal option of Shinai being a vampire, this really made no sense.

 

[Vivian_Bloom]

Lace Condor
Court of Miracles

Lace and Mana were still in the main circle with that, Ice titan, taking the initiative to pound it. Their two attacks connected and threw up a tower of smoke, hiding the Shadow. That couldn't have been enough. Lace, using her hands as binoculars, peered at the enemy's silhouette. She could see droplets of water falling from its body, but that huge missing chunk of ice that she'd like to see, wasn't there. She turned her head to Mana and smiled. "Are we getting 'that good' now? This thing has got no defense!" As she said this, the smoke cleared away in front of her, and Lace saw just how little they'd done. It stared at the two of them for a moment and immediately made a bee-line to Lace. She shouldn't have called 'it' slow.

There was just enough time for Lace to raise her weapons up when the Shadow smacked her with the back of its arm. Nearly knocking the wind out of her, Lace couldn't grip the ice as she was flown backwards down the path. It was a blur to focus on anything. She could make out some of the others who'd already started running. One of the guys, Snow, shouted out to her. "Lace, you okay?" He said. Lace finally stopped flying, and was rolling on the floor throwing everything she saw into a blur. Snow's hair mixed with all the mirrors nearly made her throw up. He looked like what would happen if you got a cotton ball, spilled green paint on it, and threw it in a washing machine.

"I need a doctor!" Lace shouted. "Call the ambul-" Her speech was garbled as she was on a spin-cycle of her own. She might've bumped into everyone on her trip. She might never stop rolling. Lace blacked out.

On a Plane
Time - ???

Lace was sitting in a window seat. Looking outside, flying inside a bag of huge cotton balls. The sky was pink and the orange sun was hiding behind what looked like a snow-peaked mountain. Its teeth were razor-sharp. To her right, a plump woman wearing a sun hat and flowered-dress was smiling her teeth-less mouth at Lace. She was smacking on something as bits and pieces attacked her face.

"Oh, I'm so, so, so sorry!" The woman looked panicked and ruffled inside her purse. Lace was picking the food off her t-shirt and rubbing her cheeks. A red bag of skittles and a fresh Capri-Sun landed on her lap. Lace halted her cleaning and stared at the bags. She turned to the windows, the strange woman, and then the aisle of the plane.

"Okay, if everyone can just relax I'd like your attention." It must be the pilot over the announcement. His voice was raspy and dry. A small flat-screen TV slowly emerged from the bottom of Lace's floor attached itself to the back of the head-rest in front of her. "This is just a little something to keep you entertained. Enjoy the rest of the flight." The woman spoke up in excitement.

"I love these!" A cartoon came on the monitors. A red tomato was running around a field with a pair of scissors in its hands. The banana, apple, pear, and a block of cheese were all running scared from the scissors. Screaming their eyes out, the woman slowly turned her head to Lace. "Don't...you?" Suddenly all the passengers rose out of their seats. Lace had drunk half her Capri-Sun when she dropped it on the ground with her eyes bugged out. There eyes pure black, and slowly each one of them filed into the aisle and slowly grouped around Lace's section. The plane jolted as if hit by a thunderbolt and looking out the window, Lace saw they were nose-diving right into the ocean.

"Aaaaagh," Lace whispered to herself as she panicked. Turning to her side, the woman disappeared and in its place sat a big marshmallow. It was staring at her and wore a crown and blue sash that read:

"'Ello. I'm Ms. Tennessee!" it yelled. The mouth didn't move. "Come here, you."

"No...that bad accent" Lace spoke. The creature grew arms out of its filling and wrapped itself around Lace. She struggled but the arms turned to white goop which began to cocoon the girl. The crowd was reaching over the seat. Grabbing Lace's arms, they pulled and pulled as she struggled to open the small window to her left. Her teeth weren't strong enough and Lace gave up when she noticed the wave of the salty purple-ocean water flood its way into the plane.

"This next part might not be too suitable for children." The pilot's voice grew more and more sinister. "Please. Put on your headpho-" the plane was completely underwater, and Lace was straining to hold her breath. She was drawn closer and closer to that creature and the other passengers. Her seat became alive -- sucking her in from below. She was going to drown in cotton, staring at all those warped faces.

Court of Miracles

Sigmund was running through the maze with a grip on Lace's wrist. At some point she'd been snatched up. Lace's pace didn't change but as she looked to Sigmund, her pupils, the size of a grain of rice, grew back. She didn't blink, and was staring a hole in his head. He spoke in circles. "We'll make it out, don't worry," he said, but the speech was jumbled to her. Her eyes grew bigger as she caught bits and pieces. From every direction she saw their reflection. Running in a loop on a record player. A pink fairy appeared from a poker card and flew over them. The thing could fly. "I need to escape. Fly. Off. Away. Us. Outta' here!"

"Why are you yelling?" she whispered. Her eyes were all over the maze. They turned another corner. By this time, Lace's eyes were getting hot, so she shouted at him. "That marshmallow's Ms. America? And he has a Capri with him? Why are you thirsty?!" Lace blinked and looked back. Still running she pulled out the card with her free hand and wildly slapped it.

"Satufnydsknl!" The god rose from the floor; gliding beside them.

What?

S'up?

Lace looked insulted and jabbed at the sky. There was a length of silence as Saturnus stared at her before launching a fireball from its core. It launched high into the air above the maze, and exploded. "I call the help for you!" Lace laughed at Sigmund over the action. "We have the ice cube lady. You chase us?-" she glanced back, but the Shadow was out of sight. "We un-run them!" She came back into focus as Sigmund lead them on, with Hua Po's lead. "Oh, hey pink fairy. Can she hear me?"

 

[Kiruria]

OOC: Yeah, I am way overdue for a post. Fortunately I don't have a character who runs at the first sight of danger, so I actually have an explanation for why Halberd may have been standing there doing nothing.
IC:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bryan "Halberd" Donneley
Gymnasium

After Halberd talked to Snow, there was really nothing much else for him to do at the party. He took a moment to look for Russell, and then found him talking to Snow about something. Well, he certainly was a step above him. Talking to someone in a normal fashion. Much better than he himself talking like a pirate at the party. But he was done with that. Leaving the gymnasium, he headed briefly back into his dorm to swap out a couple of things (he exchanged his rapier for his longsword, for one), then out elsewhere into the night. Of course, he made sure he made it back on campus in time for the Court.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Court of Miracles--Mirror Maze
"Let's Think This Through Logically"

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?

Those words could have very well sounded in Halberd's mind when the Court started. Here he was in this room of mirrors, at the centre of a maze as the familiar Jester explained. How funny. Several Courts ago, the Jester was kind enough to let everyone out of their shackles when he said "please" in the so-called wrong context. And now he was... playing a twisted game of the likes of many a horror film. Interesting, Halberd thought. A court that didn't involve a swarm of huge monsters roaming the city like supernatural Godzillas. No, it was Halloween, and therefore something truly special. He would have imagined something more macabre than this, but this would certainly do.

As the Jester explained things and as Shadow Liza appeared in the room, Halberd looked around and started gathering facts. Okay, so the aim was to get out of the maze by the time the Court ends. And apparently "time" was indicated by the shape of the moon. Pretty simple. And then there was the matter of Randy and Wulfgard-sensei missing, and a Shadow that could repair itself chasing after them all the way. Here Halberd smirked. There was only one of her, and ten-summat of him and the other Persona users. An interesting problem. While other people were attacking Shadow Liza (without luck), running away, and other stuff, Halberd was standing there facing the mirrored wall, thinking of a strategy.

And at one point he nodded, having thought of something of a plan. Nearby he spotted Lace and Russell; Lace was one of the Liza-attackers, and Russell was... watching Sofiya punch the new guy in the crotch. He thought about scolding Sofiya on that matter, but Levin seemed to be taking it rather well; he and Sofiya and Sigmund ran off into the maze. Though it wasn't quite part of his plan, Halberd decided to apprach Russell then...

"You all right, Russell?" He looked about the same as he did during the Halloween party, minus the hat and rum bottle and with a different sword. "Mighty nasty Shadow, eh? Seems to be able to just repair herself after every attack. If we attack her, she can learn of our battle styles and use that information to her advantage. For that reason, I will not summon my Persona just yet. For now, let's just run the maze through and try to avoid Shadow Liza as best we can."

Nodding as if to say "Agreed?", he took off for the moonlit hallway leading into the rest of the maze, pulling out a marker from his pocket as he went. A part of him hoped that Russell was following, but if he decided to go off on his own instead, that would probably be fine by him. Halberd wasn't exactly running anyway--just walking briskly along the maze, occasionally writing a small number on a wall he came across. Immediately outside of the initial hallway, for instance, he wrote a small number 1 on the corner.

He didn't summon his Persona. Heck, he didn't even take his evoker card out of his pocket. Or unsheath his sword, for that matter. For this part of the game, he was going to keep himself hidden, unknown. Like the ninja he was. Not.

((OOC: At this point I got ninjad by VB, go figure. This part is in response to her post.))

However, he pulled a full 180 when he saw a fireball explode in the sky. Clearly Shadow Liza, in all her iciness, could not have caused such a thing. Scanning his list of all the Personae he knew in the group, he eventually arrived at the conclusion of...

"Saturnus..." he muttered. "Why is he..." He paused for a moment, and then it hit him.

"Lace!"

Quickly turning to see if Russell was following him, he set off again, this time in the direction of the exploding fireball.

"Saturnus! Where are you?" he shouted along the way, hoping that he or Lace would hear him. Of course, this was a maze, so there was no way of telling which way Lace was exactly...

 

[Zincspider]

Shinai Haitani
Quarterman General Hospital
Court of Miracles- Getting Stared Down by JP

He'd been warned. He knew it was coming. But there was nothing he could do. Falling and protecting his cargo? Possible. Quickly reacting to the punch? He'd have lost something. Perhaps too much. Sure, he'd just be wasting more time picking himself off the ground... but he didn't completely think it through. The only thing on his mid was making sure what he'd come for was safe.
Then the neanderthal decided to ask questions. As if he mattered. He stared at the angry face of JP, and turned to the side, spitting out the small amount of his own blood that had pooled in his mouth. He cocked and eyebrow, and scowled at his assaulter. The boy seemed to be trying to calm himself down.

“Maybe... I'm a vampire?” He answered, almost growling the last few syllables, in obvious contempt. Gone was his playful attitude. Reaching up with his free hand, he adjusted his jaw. It was fine. Nothing to worry about. His lighter was at his side, the flame still burning. The fire gave slight illumination to the otherwise dark hallway, the orange a far-cry from the bright moon outside.

“Hmm... big, stupid, violent and still hits like a little girl. You really are the whole package, aren't you?”

Of course JP thought he'd have the upper-hand. He didn't want to make assumptions based on appearance, but from what Ophidian had told him, he deserved the insults. He'd been given the power to save his 'squeeze's' life. Something Shinai had prayed for day after day, and he tossed it aside for his own pride. The insult seemed to throw the boy off long enough for Shinai to make his move. Reaching up, he placed his hand on the back of JP's head, and shoved it down hard. Raising his knee, the two speeding objects met, and JP's head bounced off in recoil. Taking advantage of the situation, Shinai sprang to his feet. The boy in front of him was beginning to rage once again. Troublesome.
But no problem.
As he expected, he could hear a familiar voice wiggle it's way into his mind. High, breathy... and with a slight lisp.

“Right hook. 85 degreessss. Directed for the left of your chin. Damage ssssignificant. Three ssssecondssss to impact.”

A small grin creeped on his face as he waited for JP to make his move. The snake hadn't lied. Taking a step to the right, JP's fist shot past the now empty location his head should have been in, faster than human reaction time should be capable of. Of course. He'd known about it before hand.
Pulling back his left arm, his cargo held tightly in the crook, he plunged his elbow into JP's ribcage, putting the force of his whole body behind it.

“GACK!” His target coughed, spittle leaving his mouth as a result of the blow. Shinai wasn't done yet. The tables had been turned, but he hadn't been properly punished yet. JP dropped to his hands and knees, breathing heavily. Anger seemed to seethe out of his every pore. Time to end this.
Not unlike a spring, his right leg popped off the ground and traveled in a semi-circle motion, catching his target's temple before completing movement's arc upward.

JP fell to the ground. Unconscious.

“You sssshould kill him... he'll just be troublessssome in the future.”

The thought had not escaped Shinai's mind. He'd, in fact, thought of a few ways to do it.
But as he walked up to the boy, an image flashed in his mind.
A girl with short brown hair, two bells tied into the back, smiled at him. A fresh band-aid was plastered on her forehead, a small amount of a scrape that was a little too wide still visible.
He couldn't do it. Besides, it would shave a few seconds off of his time. He couldn't have that. He'd already wasted enough, incapacitating the fellow.

“That's the only sympathy you'll receive from me...” Shinai mumbled, briskly walking down the hallway. “Do not expect the same mercy next time we meet.”

And he left.

Izzy Simone
Mirror Maze
Court of Miracles

He'd grabbed Miyuki's shoulders and hid behind her as soon as the Jester appeared. He wasn't sure why, but she certainly made him feel safer. Probably the shield. A cowardly action, none the less.

But that had changed after only a few seconds. Liza's shadow showed up and tossed Randy across the damn mirror wall, into what he assumed was the rest of the maze. For all he knew, his friend hadn't survived the toss. Liza soon dashed out of the room on her own, obviously terrified of the manifestation of her faults. In one fell swoop, the only people in the group he knew would look out for him were taken away.
He was alone. Besides Miyuki, the rest of the group either stayed indifferent to him or outright didn't like him because of his own Shadow's actions. Tears began to well in his eyes as he grasped the situation at hand.
Wait... Miyuki. She was here.

Wiping his eyes, and moving himself from behind her, he instead grabbed her hand and began to run after Liza. If he was right (and he usually was) Liza wouldn't have too much trouble getting through the maze. She had a knack for finding the shortest, and most concealed route possible. If anyone could lead them through the maze it was her.

Above the group, two of the flying Personae, Horus and the fairy, had decided to scout by flying upwards. It was a good idea in theory, but they hadn't expected what would come next.
As they rose higher, Izzy began to see somthing forming on Horus's wings. It was clear, and...

“Ice...” He muttered.

The wings of the Personae were soon laden with a think layer of ice, the weight proved to be too much, and even though they struggled to stay in the air, they soon plummeted to the ground, nearly missiles in their own right. Izzy winced, as he was sure that their pain wouldn't be their own.

He didn't listen for Miyuki's own words. He was too focused on making sure she was safe. She was the only person here who cared about him now. Even if it was only a bit, he wanted her to stay.
Ignoring the others as well, he didn't pay attention to their attempts to mark their path. This place was made of mirrors. Any mark you made would be reflected down several hallways, the different and varied angles duplicating your mark. It would be useless. Instead, he focused on the moving image of Liza in front of him. It was broken, moving, and there were multiples of her, but as she ran down hallway after hallway and turned corners, the reflections moved with her. Sure, he ran into the wall a few times (more than a few, if Miyuki was counting), but he didn't stop.

 

[Son_of_Shadows]

Joshua Sands - Tower Arcana - Court of Miracles - Mirror Maze

Thump.

Dammit, again? This is getting silly... For the third time in the space of a few seconds, Joshua had smacked straight into a mirror wall. He rubbed his forehead. He was keeping ahead of Shadow Liza, sure, but what was the good of it if he ended up with a concussion? Better concussed than dead I suppose. This maze was too disorienting. He looked right and saw at least five copies of his reflection. The same to his left. But visually... His brain was just taking in and processing too much information at once. It was causing a lot of mental strain, so much that he felt like summoning Shiva would cause him to throw up.

Others did not feel the same. Sofiya and Sigmund had summoned theirs to scout the maze by flying above it. A clever move... But it seemed that they wouldn't be finding their way out of here so easily. Ice crystals were forming on Horus and Hua Po's wings, and soon they found themselves crashing to the floor. Should've known. That would've been too easy... Joshua's eyes hurt. He could barely keep them open now, just because of how much they had to process. And they were still no closer to finding their way out... Joshua wondered what was happening to Liza, and looked back towards her. She was making her way through the maze behind the group, scraping her right hand's along the wall beside her. Why? What possible purpose could that serve?

Unless...

Suddenly it dawned on Joshua. A guaranteed way to escape the maze, and stay ahead of her while doing so. Unless they hit a dead end. Well, it still seemed like the least risky way to do it. He placed his own right hand on the mirror wall beside him and followed the wall, copying Liza. Sooner or later, this wall would lead him out of the maze. The fastest way to do it? Certainly not, but it would definitely work. And he could easily keep ahead of the Shadow at his current pace. What if he had to encounter her though? Well... Ice magic seemed to affect him less than most of the Court-goers, so he'd probably take less damage from her attacks. He'd probably be fine. This was the guaranteed exit. He had to speak up. "Guys, copy Liza and me. Put your right hand on the wall, and follow it. It'll lead to the exit eventually!"

 

[InnerFlame]

Russell Wilton
In the Mirror Maze

The redhead couldn’t tell if he should be happy or angry at Lace for knocking him to the side. He wasn’t stupid to stand in the way of someone’s attack. But since she didn’t mean anything bad about it Russell decided to put it as she was trying to help. She did apologize afterwards so she knew what she did. Lace continued her assault on the ice sculpture Liza and was smacked down the pathway as shown but every mirror in the area. The next closest target was him so it was time to go. He got up and went straight into a mirror, great looks like he was going to get lost in the hall of mirrors again. He tried another direction. He saw Snowy or a fairly big reflection of his taken care of Lace. Russell made a not to thank her later when he got close to her. He tried his best to go fast get some distance without impacting into another mirror.

“You all right, Russell,” the familiar voice of Halberd asked him he looked at where he thought his voice came from and it looked like it wasn’t a reflection of him. He kind of wanted to try to touch him to see if he was real but his arms were occupied at the moment.

“Peachy,” he solemnly replied with a serious tone. “I’m about as alright as I can be in this dang court.” This court was turning into a pain more than pass two months combine, but maybe it was things like this that would eventually get them to the end of this once and for all... Somehow he didn’t think it would be that simple...

After briefly talking about things that were kind of obvious but at least he thought about these things he said something that seem like a great idea. “For now, let’s just run the maze through and try to avoid Shadow Liza as best we can.” With that he walked off. He could go faster to avoid the danger lurking behind them but then again it wasn’t like the Ice Shadow was moving at mach speeds. There was what sounded like an explosion fire coming from somewhere, as all Russell could see was some different colors toward the top of the mirror. These things looked twice his height. It appeared as if Halberd was looking behind him before he went off again faster. The freshman tried to quickly follow but again he went into a mirror.

“I REALLY hate this,” Russell growled as he glared into the mirror in front of him. It was difficult for people with good vision and his vision wasn’t perfect even with the glasses on. Everyone just kept going to occurring to the multiple reflections; but it seems Halberd was the closest to him as he tried to gauge the height of it compare to everyone else. The fourteen year old had no choice but keep going forward. He shuffled the heavy weapons to his left side quite difficult to hold and his right hand touched the mirror. As long as he followed the wall created by the mirror this he would at least not go running into it in theory. He walked as fast as could as he slightly used the mirror as a bit of a support.

 

[Niihyl]

(OOC): Eh, at least it's a post. My writing is all over the place recently...

Mana Shizuko
Court of Miracles

Sofiya cracked her card against her forehead, drawing Horus forth from her mind. The magnificent bird floated almost lazily in the air, eliciting a murmur from Alice: Those feathers are beautiful. They'd make adorable accessories…

Horus went flying, narrowly avoiding a kiss from Sofiya. Unfortunately, he was almost immediately accosted by the onset of ice. Fragile flakes of frost formed on Horus' feathers, and the Persona was unable to get far before being dragged back down to the ground.

"Sofi - Commander! Are you alright?" Mana said, glancing at Sofiya. She seemed fine, as the ice wasn't too bad. With a shake of his head, Mana glanced around at their army of doppelgangers. "Well, uh, we should keep moving. Getting caught and killed by something that slow would just be embarrassing. Left-hand rule it is, then."

I bet the stupid maze'll cheat, Alice huffed, her voice echoing into his head. Buuuut… it wouldn't be that bad, I guess. I like mirrors!

I pick the red pill, Mana replied drily. And I also pick Option 'not get trapped in maze when Court ends'.

That's 'how deep the rabbit hole goes', you idiot. ばかやろう…

Wait… what was that?

You speak Japanese, I speak Japanese. Obviously.

Mana shook himself back to the present, and glanced at the new kid. Kevin. No, Revan? Nah, kid couldn't possibly be a Jedi. Levin, that was it. Levin Sanders. Probably.

"Hey, Levin! Got your card? Might be best if you don't have the Naginata. Heavy thing'll only slow you down if you don't know how to use it. Keep an eye out, shout if you see anything moving. If you can summon your Persona - card to forehead, shout 'Persona!' - then do it."

Mana placed his left hand on the mirrored wall and began to move. He paused, and tugged the cat ears from his neck. He offered them to Levin with a small grin on his face. "Want 'em? They'll protect your soul from the demons that stalk the night."

 

[GoldenHouou]

Sofiya Mikhailovna Ignatova
Court of Miracles

Horus hadn’t gotten too high up when ice began to form on his wings already, alerting the bird of what was to come. Though, what alerted Sofiya herself wasn’t the ice up in her Persona's wings; rather it was this annoying, tingling feeling in her arms. But before she could realize exactly what caused it, Horus had already started to plummet from the sky at incredible speeds and the slightly annoying feeling in the girl’s arms worsened to stinging pain that caused her to wince. Luckily, ice was her affinity, so the pain wasn’t as horrible as it might’ve been had she been someone else.

“Horus!” Sofiya gasped almost immediately and backed up against one of the mirros, her hands immobile for the moment. She forced the bird to dissipate back into the back of her mind before he hit the ground and could hurt himself more – hurt her more. She didn’t have to look around to figure that the little fairy had met the same fate as her bird had. So apparently, flying over the walls didn’t work. Aw, poo!

"Sofi - Commander! Are you alright?" She heard Mana shout and she quickly fixed herself to look more alert. Wouldn't do to look all pained in front of her soldiers.

"I'm alright!" She chirped, lifting a numbed hand to wave with, albeit somewhat awkwardly. "It's just... well, Horus should have taken that good luck's kiss!"

Knowing she really didn't have any time to rest right now, Sofiya pushed herself away from the wall, her hands shaking and feeling numb but still functioning, which was basically all she needed anyway. They’d get better with time. She turned to her two Privates again, only to see Mana instructing the newest one on how to use his Persona. Sofiya smiled at the sight, it was great that they got along so nicely! That would make it even more difficult for them when she’d pit them against each other as gladiators!

… That’s what military training entailed, right? Oh, but she needed a lion too. Maybe she could find a Shadow lion…

Just then she realized everyone was beginning to move and she was being effectively left behind. She quickly turned and started to run after everyone, a sort of amused smile in place when she realized everyone had their hand on the wall. Was this some sort of new game? They should have told her if they wanted a new group activity, she would’ve had plenty to choose from! Ah well. She shook her head but placed a few fingers on the walls regardless, so as to not stand out as the spoilsport. With that she sped up her run catching up with the others quite effectively pretty soon. As she ran, she looked down at her tarot card, worry on her face.

“Horus, are you alright? I can kiss it better if-“

“I am absolutely, undoubtedly and undeniably fine.”

“...Absol?”

“… Just keep your kisses away, human.”

 

[Blivsey]

Sigmund Okonkwo
Mirror Maze [Court of Miracles]


Hua Po was flying smoothly now, no more than five feet above the walls and with clear direction. The ice shadow was nowhere to be seen. They were definitely escaping now. Everything was working great.

Up until the point where it wasn't.

Sigmund could only watch as Hua Po began to falter in her flight. As she fell gradually lower, he began to feel a steady pain coming from his elbow not unlike the pain following frostbite. By the time her wings were slowing to a stop, the chill had spread to his wrist and Sigmund was forced to let go of his companion for fear of injuring both their hands. His next step sent him tumbling down to one knee, clutching his afflicted arm and shooting one last glance up at Hua Po. The faerie was falling straight past him, nearly half of her body covered in a layer of frost. She hit the ground with the grace of a brick and simply vanished, leaving Sigmund an additional throbbing pain in his skull. Dazed and confused, he collapsed against the wall, keeping his eyes on the watch for the shadow giving chase.

It was a moment before his head was sufficiently clear and Sigmund could see more than just countless reflections of himself[SUP]1[/SUP]. Even then, the most he could tell for sure was that he had been dragging Lace along all that time. One of the other guys was shouting something - what it was, he couldn't hear through the walls and over the pounding in his head. Didn't matter what it was, though. None of these plans were working[SUP]2[/SUP]. There was really no option but to run the maze, it looked like.

Once his attempts at standing didn't send him toppling back over, Sigmund dug a "V" mark in the ground with his shoe, pointing down the corridor away from Lace. Assuming that Hua Po was actually showing them the way out, he at least knew that it was somewhere on the pointy side of the arrow. Keeping one hand against the wall for support[SUP]3[/SUP], he motioned to Lace and started back down the hall.

"C'mon... gotta get... outta here..."


[SUP]1[/SUP] None of which looked at all healthy.
[SUP]2[/SUP] That was, they constituted "work" in that his attempts at escape had drained a lot of his energy, but they weren't "working" insofar that none so far were successful.
[SUP]3[/SUP] And also to keep him oriented as to where the walls were.

 

[Ysavvryl]

Snow
mirror maze, CoM

There really wasn't much to do at this time but run, it seemed, as those that had been fighting Shadow Liza had left her behind to get away. It was all confusion for a moment as the mirrors made it seem like everything was happening everywhere. At this point, there were even bright red X marks on many of the mirrors, marking something.

Quite a few of the others called out to each other, the sound bouncing around the maze too, depending on how loud the person had been. A pair of the flying Personas had been sent above but had been downed by ice; Sonya at least said that she was okay, so while Sigmund didn't say anything, he was probably the same way.

Snow looked to follow the others, but he also watched the floor. The floor was not reflective, thankfully, so it wasn't as crazy to look at as the walls. The bottoms of the mirrors made distinct lines against the pavement and dirt. While that gave him some idea of where breaks in the walls were, it really only gave a small portion of the maze and no real clue as to how to get out.

Instead, he was following the shoes of some of the others to get out. He thought that it was Josh, Izzy, and Miyuki that he was seeing at the moment. “We can make it out, come on!” Snow said, hoping to help cheer anyone listening on.

 

[Zincspider]

Testa Jones
Court of Miracles
Right Outside of His Own Home- Completely Oblivious

Haruka hadn't been completely pleased with his forgetfulness. She didn't blow up at him, far from it, but his lack of costume had certainly been the cause of the lopsided frown etched onto her face the whole night. Well, she might have been playing up the 'Mad (or Angry in this case) Scientist' role of her costume. But that wasn't likely. After leaving the party, she simply pecked him on the cheek and went to bed without him.

Testa knew it would blow over by morning, but he was also aware that the only reason he'd forgotten his “Frankenstein's Monster” ensemble was his study of a certain newsclip he'd been translating to the best of his ability the entire afternoon. It seemed to be a simple story, a man interviewing schoolchildren about their thoughts on the strange fog in their little town of Inaba. But it was the location that mattered to Testa. In the past few months, several strange, unexplained deaths had taken place. Murders. The 'culprit' had been captured, officially, but the buzz from locals never calmed. Not many were convinced of the delusional man's guilt. And neither was he.

The murders were all too similar to a few deaths that had occurred in Quarterman. Several obituaries and articles alike were pinned on Testa's worktable in the attic. Kent Locksomthing, the first of the bunch, was found impaled on an iron fence post after a motorcycle accident. Cause of death, however, was discovered to be electrocution. Since then, no less than three others had been found in similar circumstances. A man found bludgeoned to death, laying peacefully on a raft in his pool. The woman who was supposed to be the coach for the archery team, Miss Claudia Grover, was found with a hole in her chest, going clean through her heart, no sign of a struggle, and no blood... it seemed to have been drained from her body. Miss Grover's death was kept a secret from the children, as to not cause a panic. They had enough to take in with the Apathy Epidemic.

“Sure is chilly tonight...” He sighed, pulling his brown corduroy blazer up closer to his face, careful to not knock his cigarette out of it's position between his teeth. The moon was quite large as well, giving off a slight off-white glow. An extremely strong glow. He hadn't known such a bright light was possible this close to an urbanized area. Granted, Quarterman wasn't that large, but still. “Perfect for Halloween, I guess, huh?”

Not long ago, the neighbors clicked off their lights, and started their decorations up. A thick red substance dripped down the walls of their home, a good ten feet between each vein of 'blood'. Nifty. Say what you will about the holiday, some people went all out.

“I guess I better get going then... still have work in the morning, after all.” He muttered, reaching deep into his pocket, and retrieved a crumpled sheet of paper. Unfurling it, he turned his eyes from the sky and to the small lined sheet. “Right... 2% milk and bread. Hopefully this'll make up for earlier.”

Randy Clopin
Court of Miracles
Mirror Maze- Away Form All Others

He was glad he was right. He had moved too quickly, and for a second as the guitar snapped, he was afraid he'd attacked the wrong Liza. And... that would be bad. But even as his target turned into the world's smallest glacier and gripped him in her talons, he felt relieved.
Now he just felt like he'd been run over by a semi. One tends to, after being tossed a dozen yards into a glass wall. At least nothing was broken.

…

Well, not that he could tell. He'd just been staring at himself for about five minutes. Propped up on one mirror, supported by his newly recovered arm (which now sported a nice long cut thanks to his rash actions), and his favorite shirt neatly ripped to shreds.

“First my jacket and goggles. Then my guitar... now my shirt. This place is set on fuggin' up my wardrobe, isn't it?”

“No, not particularly... though it is a merciful side-effect. Even I found it to be garish.”

Randy groaned and tilted his head to get a better glimpse of the Jester. Who else could it be?

“Leave me alone, joker. I'm too sore for your crap.” He insisted, his 'lost' voice returning miraculously.

“You really are a phenomenal actor, you know that? You almost had me convinced, you know. If only you used your talents for... something. I'm not really sure myself. I think I lost that train of thought. Good or evil... not sure which yet.”

So the Jester knew, eh? Whatever. Randy rolled his eyes, and laid his head on the mirror wall behind him.

“Yeah, well... shut up.”

“Oh, wonderful, I could slice a ripe fig with such wit.” The clown cackled. Randy too notice of it's position: Supporting itself with it's palms, it made a handstand, and walked back and forth with incredible ease. “What ever happened to the whole, noble 'manly man' thing you had going on? Seems pretty low to lie about such things. Now, what could have driven you to such tactics?”

Randy kept quiet for a few seconds, a practice he'd gotten quite good at over the past three days. Finally deciding it was best to keep himself on the Jester's good side, he reached into his pocket and drew his new evoker out. Like the others' it was in the likeness of a tarot card. The Fool to be precise. Not only was the name a bit degrading, but it's image was that of a man's silhouette dancing near the edge of a cliff, his dog at his heels. A roman numeral '0' (or just a zero... he couldn't tell) was marked at the bottom in white against the blue and black background.

“The Fool- A symbol of unpredictability and freedom.” Randy began, his voice monotone, as if reciting something. The Jester recognized the speech immediately, and somehow his grin grew wider and wider. He loved attaching the Arcana of the tarot to his little toys. It was a bit of a habit. He was glad to see his analysis remembered. “Like the Fool, you are varied. In games the Fool may have been played at any time, in a way to save face. No matter the card played beforehand, the Fool adapted. By playing it, you could save your better cards for later. It was a tactic for saving face. For stalling. Like the Fool, you are able to adapt to any situation, the facets of your personality are enough to grant you great power...”

The Jester, flipped down, and sat in front of Randy in the lotus position, waiting for his favorite part. Randy hesitated for a few seconds, and continued.

“... but like the Fool, you are doomed. While you are a tool capable of saving others or delaying your enemies, that's all you are. Like his card counterpart, the Fool... can never win. All victories will be hollow and minor, leaving you more damaged than able-bodied. No matter how hard you try... no matter how hard you train... you'll never know the taste of victory. Doomed to failure for the sake of others.”

Sigmund
Court of Miracles
Running- (Written By Blivsey)

Sigmund's head was clearing up a bit now, at least enough that he could see where he was going. Not that anyone could really see where they were going in this maze, anyway. All he could tell was the distance to the nearest reflection, and that was flanked by dozens of others, all trying to escape, all grinning back at him - though he was pretty sure he wasn't grinning. Slightly confused, Sigmund slowed as he approached the nearest head-on mirror. It was his reflection, all right - it was matching his stride, the rhythm of his arms. The only thing not matching was that creepy smi-

The instant that Sigmund was within a matter of feet of the false reflection, he found himself lifted helplessly into the air. The image had moved out of the mirror of its own accord, and was now trying to strangle him. It was succeeding, at that - Sigmund immediately started to tug at its wrists, but they refused to move. He tried calling for backup. No dice - with his throat being held, he was as good as mute. So he did the next thing and brought his foot upward, jabbing his knee into not-his chest. That seemed to do the trick, dropping him immediately to the ground. Coughing, he rolled backward and pushed himself to his feet, raising his fists against... what was he looking at, exactly?

Randy Clopin
Court of Miracles
Bein' All Broody and Shiat

Dropping his card at his side, he raised his palm to his head and cradled it. “Ever since I remembered these damn evoker things, that thought's been weighing on my mind... and I knew it was true. I've never won anything in my life. I've never even made higher than a 'C' on a major test, no matter how much of the information I knew. Somthing always goes wrong. And it's not always in my control. I had to fake a problem. How else could I get away from the band without it crashing first? I didn't want to hurt anyone else, or their reputation. Sure, we're just a small-time cover band, with no original work... but they have fun. I didn't want to change that. They can do fine without me.”

The Jester shook his head, his mouth now reverse of it's past position. It was odd to see him frowning once more... the smile had much more screen-time.

“Really? You're worried about your bloody band right now?” The Jester shouted, disappointed in his little experiment. “You're little doll is being chased down by something that wants to kill her so very much, and you're going to sit here like a damn bump on a log? So what if you can't win? Stall! Do something! Make a show of it! It's what you're good at!” The Jester was standing now, pacing back and forth. Randy was unsure of his motives, even less than before. What did he care? But... he had a point. Liza was in trouble... he'd almost forgot. He... he couldn't just leave her to get dissected by that thing.

Weakly, he pushed himself off the ground, supporting himself on the mirror. The dozens of images of his actions, reflected in the tilted surfaces, caused him to go a bit dizzy. But in each of the copies, one thing was noticeable to the boy... he was without a weapon. The useless little axe had been dropped during his flight. “Dammit.”

Wait... something else caught his eye. What he originally assumed to be the Jester, due to it's slender body and large head, was something much more familiar. The mad clown had disappeared, and in it's place, was a common spade. It's wooden handle worn, and dark hand-prints formed of Randy's own sweat were soaked in the long pole.

Smiling, Randy hefted his old friend over his shoulder, and began to stumble through the maze, hoping to find the others.

Shadow ???
Court of Miracles
Standing in Front of Sigmund

“You know, I'm not really happy with how this whole thing turned out, now that I get a look at it.”

His exact copy stood before him, well, almost exact. He had to switch a few things to the opposite side for the whole 'mirror image' ploy to work out, but that was in the past. He already felt bored thinking about it. Maybe next time, he'd try wearing a different color shirt. That'd really throw him off!

Wait, off topic. He was planning what now? Oh, right. The maze. How drab. Being all, interconnected and such. So cliché. Why give them a way out? He wanted to have a little fun. Break the mold.

Raising his arms, slowly at first, he stared down his counterpart, daring him to make a move. As he reached his limit, he thrust his arms the remaining way into the air, and in the short burst of speed, a thundering rumble was ground into the ears of all around as the mirrors shifted. He'd always been partial to the figure eight, so that was the form he chose. Pillars both sank into, and rose from the earth, taking a new shape. The group was stopped in it's tracks as a makeshift arena spawned around them, trapping them in an eternal circuit with the demon. Well, it would have been a trap if he hand't left a passage out on the far north end. He wouldn't make the maze a complete trap... that's just mean. He just... mixed it up a bit. No way to tell were to go now.

“Hmm... yes, that should do.” He muttered, looking around. He was positive he'd caught all but two of them in the little section. One was off bleeding half to death, and the other... well she had her own problems to deal with. Best not to get into the affairs of others. He'd only stick his nose in where it was his business... for now anyway.

“Alright, listen Sigmund. I'm you... and you're me. We're a happy family, blah blah blah.” The shadow rambled, walking over to the 'real' Sigmund, the object of his enmity. Bending down mid sentence, he grabbed the boy by his shirt and raised him into the air. “And it's family game night. Personally, I'm tired of 'Sorry' and 'Mouse Trap', so let's try something else. Without finishing the train of thought, he began spinning faster, and faster, the two of them becoming a blur to all that were watching, the twister reflected in the apex of mirrors at the center of the loop, until it came to a stop, only one Sigmund standing in the center.

Then, as if to finish the thought, a voice rang out trough the track, digging it's way into the ears of everyone.

I for one like 'Guess Who'.

He laughed to himself, never changing his expression. He hid in the crowd of students, imitating their faces of horror and surprise perfectly. They had good reason to be shocked as well.
He stood with the rest, in the body of another. She wasn't his first choice, but she seemed the least interested. She screamed at him to get out of her head, but he soon relegated them to the far reaches of his new mind, turning up his personal favorite tune from memory.
This girl, Clarise, he would adapt to her form. Answer whatever was necessary. She no longer had control. Her body was his. And there was nothing anyone could do about it. He allowed a few others to speak up first, before interjecting himself. No need to raise suspicions.

“Wh-what just happened?” He asked, feigning slight surprise and looking around at the mirrors. Her voice didn't change at all, and from what he'd observed earlier, he was getting her little ticks down as well.

Yes... this would work out just fine.

“I wonder which one of you I am.”


---

(OOC: Shadow Sigmund has taken over Clarise's body! Oh noes!
Time to see how everyone's knowledge of past characters holds up. He'll be following you through the maze, if you choose to go on without addressing the situation, calmly waiting for the time to strike. On the other hand, every can start interrogating each other, either based on his mention of the game title, or his last warning (which was echoed from no real location). Intensive questioning should lead you to he eventually as Shadow Sigmund doesn’t know much about her, but I don't think the thespian in me will let someone interrogate her and find out she's the imposter on the first try. That's meta gaming. And I'm being honest.

He'll also start to break character if proper questioning is not applied, so he should be found soon enough.

Also... yes, this means that JK can't play as Clarise currently. Or ever again most likely.
Two weeks since his last check in, in which something was supposed to happen that didn't, and three weeks since his last paragraph long post.
He's already been warned before... so now he's out.
Sorry. But this position could be filled by someone who will actually participate and do something above the absolute minimum.)

 

[Vivian_Bloom]

Lace Condor
Court of Miracles

Lace Condor tilted her head at the symbol Sigmund drew in the ground. They hadn't run into any of the others, so maybe he had a plan to group up. He leaned against one of the mirrors. "C'mon... we got to get out of here." Sigmund wasn't even looking directly at her. She spoke up; dragging the heel of her shoe, making what she hoped was an even larger arrow to go with his. "Hey, least we don't got that Ice-Titan on our backs anymore. I don't even think she-"

Rambling only and dragging the dirt, her eyes left Sigmund and his new... situation. Lace heard what sounded like choking. Her gaze shifted from her now sloppy self-portrait in the dirt, to Sigmund, who waited until now to reveal his dormant power.

Mystical levitation!

She absently turned back to finish her drawing, signed it with her shoe, then spun around to her friend.

"Sigmund!" Lace ran up behind him, tugging at his shirt. "If you’re going to fly, then -- then... Here!" She outstretched her arms, "Don't leave yet! Take me up with you. We can spot the others." Turns out, he wasn't Super Boy, seeing Sigmund knee the mirror in front of him to get back on his feet. He took a moment to catch his breath as Lace put a hand over his shoulder.

"Hey, come on. You alright?" She lightly grabbed his wrist and was beginning to walk them forward when...

“You know, I'm not really happy with how this whole thing turned out, now that I get a look at it.” Sigmund must've brought his twin here. Lace let go of Sigmund's wrist and stepped back. Her hand resting on the dagger's handle.

"You came in through the doggie-door... didn't you? Didn't you?!" She drew out the dagger. "Who the heck're you?" she yelled at it, but the enemy wasn't here for her. This not, well, okay -- maybe, Shadow-Sigmund, raised his arms in the air, transforming the maze into a small coliseum. Lace looked, seeing everyone, save Randy and the Liza’s, were all here. Behind, she stood watching Sigmund's Shadow grapple him, and Lace debated heavily whether she could get to the enemy and cut him before he attacked.

As soon as Sigmund was grabbed, the Shadow disappeared from the group. Everything looked normal, but there was a game that this guy wanted to play. She heard his voice through the area.

"I for one like 'Guess Who'." It took a little while, but Lace did understand that she didn't just imagine that whole Shadow. No explosion? No army of dark soldiers? What? Lace massaged her neck looking around at the others, then back to Sigmund.

"That's got to be... the laziest Shadow, I've ever seen. I guess we can chalk this up as another win," she said, searching for agreement in the group. Halberd, whom she hadn't seen in a while, got the idea that there was an impostor here. He started off by questioning Ciara and Snow.

"Hey, Halberd!" She waved over at him. "Did you see where Sigmund's twin brother went? I... couldn't get him." She sounded disappointed. They'd been split for a while and someone in the group must've seen something to a way out. Waiting for his response, she glanced at the group to see that most of them were just as confused as her.

Maybe... it is one of us.

Well, alright. These guys are smart. They can sort this clown out. But, whenever this thing's ready, whoever it is... I'll be right in there throat.

She hoped no one had seen that brief flash of anger on her face.

Digging in her back pocket, she let out a small cheer when she felt what might be the last four Skittles she'd have tonight. "All reds? Ohhh, yup." Lace tossed them back and started munching as she started to pace back-and-forth, keeping a worried eye on Sigmund, and freely twirling the dagger loosely in her hand.

 

[Kiruria]

OOC: Sorry to do another post so soon... but while I was walking back home today with the intention of taking a nap, I had a (possibly) brilliant new idea about this Guess Who game. So I will delay my nap just to post it. I hope this works...

And I thought Lace was in a different part of the maze... unless that girl Zinc mentioned having "her own problems to deal with" was Liza instead. If so, my bad.
IC:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bryan "Halberd" Donneley
Court of Miracles - vs. Shadow Sigmund
"I Has A New Idea"

While Halberd was looking around the newly reconstructed mirror maze, and all its occupants, for a moment he thought about why Shadow Sigmund was playing these games. Sigmund didn't really seem like that devious of a person otherwise--Shadows were supposed to represent one's dark side, right? Well, at any rate, at that point his train of thought was interrupted by someone calling out to him. It was Lace, of all people. Perfect--just the person he wanted to see. He smiled the instant he saw her--inside, he was overjoyed to know that she was still alive and... relatively well.

"Hey Halberd!" she called. "Did you see where Sigmund's twin brother went? I... couldn't get him." She paused for a while, popping a few red Skittles into her mouth. Yup, that sounded like Lace all right.

Halberd did a little giggle before replying, patting Lace on the head. "You didn't hear what I just said, did you? It seems clear to me that Shadow Sigmund has possessed one of us--after all, he did ask us which one of us he was. I don't see duplicates of anyone in this room, so that must be true."

In fact, at that point he tried to think of a question to ask Lace. Something only Lace would know that Sigmund would not--her Halloween costume would not suffice, nor would her Persona, since Sigmund probably knew what both of those were. But wait... the second he thought of Lace's Persona, something occurred to him. Suddenly he felt as if a lightbulb had turned on in his mind.

He pointed upwards with his right index finger, facing the others once more. "Hey everyone! I have an idea for figuring out this silly game of Shadow Sigmund's. How about we all stand in a line against the wall of this room, and summon our Personae?"

Again he scanned the room to see if there were signs of protest from the group, for anyone who outwardly protested these ideas was either Ciara or Shadow Sigmund--and Ciara didn't seem like the type who was capable of being possessed.

"A Persona is a representation of one's true self, right?" Halberd continued. "So if one of us summons the wrong Persona, we know that that person must be a fake. The real Sigmund should not participate in this, so that anyone who ends up summoning Hua Po is guaranteed to be Shadow Sigmund."

He paused, and a smirk appeared on his face as he pulled out his evoker card.

"You can run from us, Shadow Sigmund, but when you are a Persona user, you cannot hide."

And Scathach materialised in front of Halberd, gazing intently at the real Sigmund. Halberd, meanwhile, kept his eye on the other people in the group, making sure each of them summoned their correct Persona.

 

[InnerFlame]

Russell Wilton
In a Ring of Mirrors

Russell was kind of surprised that he actually noticed with the amount of activity of the mirrors ahead of him. The thing that caught his eyes was the reflection of Sigmund being held up by... Sigmund!? That meant one of three things: Shadow Liza could transform, the mirror can produce evil copy or there was yet another Shadow Person in these maze. The last was the correct one then the wall Russell using as a crutch decided to move on him and he stumbled and fell. This was officially the worst Court ever… okay it was right below his first Court, nothing would ever top the horribleness of that court... The maze changed having them all in the same room with Shadow Sigmund and Shadow Liza still roaming about somewhere.

It seemed like their efforts in the maze were erased as every mirror seemed to have shifted; but more importantly he was worried. He really admired Sigmund’s coolness and strength and he really didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. He really wanted to help but all the people he knew fairly well he was pretty certain Sigmund knew well... Maybe they were the ones his Shadow picked; he could easily pretend to be someone he knew... But then again if he picked some like Levin who no one really knows who would really notice is he was acting strange? Speaking of Levin he ended up staring at him; he seemed to be his still rather rattled from earlier, understandable, and he standing over by Mana and Sofiya. After looking for awhile he decided on it; and marched up to blonde guy who was, of course, taller than him.

“Hold onto your weapon,” Russell voice has a bit of curtness to it as shoved the large blade spear into Levin arms. At this point of time he didn’t care if Levin happened to be Shadow Sigmund, his weapon was heavy and he was tire of lugging it around. Besides Sigmund was fist fighter he probably wouldn’t know what to do with that weapon. “I’m not picking it up again, so do what you want with it.” The tension was obvious trait that was showing at that moment. He knew he couldn’t let his guard down now.

Lace... well seem liked herself, if she was actually Shadow Sigmund he was an ace actor because the imitation the ever-changing mind of that redhead freshman girl would be a feat on its own that he couldn’t attempt to duplicate. And Halberd... seem the same as well; Russell felt he was somewhat forced to hang out with him enough to possibly know Halberd the best out of the group. The Scottish upperclassmen decided that all of them should summon their Persona and that the one who didn’t summon the correct one must be the imposter. It seemed like a simple solution but when had those ever worked? Russell had no reason to doubt Halberd’s reasoning or throw suspicious on himself by not doing it.

The freshman reached into his bag and pulled out his card; he ended up staring at it. It had quite the weird design: the back had a creepy grinning mask; the front of his had the XI which was eleven and for some reason what looked like a lady and lion. He shouldn’t complain but he kind of wished he could have had the seven one; seven was his favorite number and the design didn’t look too strange. But Russell had let his mind stray long enough; the redheaded boy put the card to his forehead and concentrated and with ease Eros appeared in front of him, his bow clasp in his hands. He was ready to fight anything that proved to be a threat to him.

 

[Blivsey]

Sigmund Okonkwo
Mirror Circuit [Court of Miracles]


That was him. Sigmund was undoubtedly staring at what seemed to be himself, visually the same down to his outfit. Normally, this would be completely impossible - a hallucination of some sort. He had been in the court long enough to know better. What he was seeing was definitely real, and definitely bad news for everyone involved.

“You know, I'm not really happy with how this whole thing turned out, now that I get a look at it,” the not-Sigmund jested. Another joker, this one. That much was no surprise - out of all the shadow duplicates that clung to his memory, more than half had run on some deranged sense of humor[SUP]1[/SUP]. And those that had were the ones that ended up hitting the team the hardest. Even Lace had caught on - he could hear her behind him, shouting confused[SUP]2[/SUP] exclamations. He began to tune her out - this "doppelganger" was asking for his full attention.

Sigmund clenched his fists and stared down the copycat across from him. This was not him. This was a twisted, malevolent caricature that was mimicking him as a taunt. These "shadow selves" hardly resembled any of them, let alone him. They were a mockery and they needed to go.

At the first step Sigmund took toward the not-Sigmund, it began to raise its arms, glaring down at Sigmund with smug superiority. By the time that he had sprung forward to close the distance, the ground erupted around them, quaking violently and sending him toppling to the ground. He tried to pick himself up, but before his head ever reached waist level he found himself thrust up, once again dangling from his collar. The not-Sigmund was taunting them again - he didn't care with what. He raised his arm to strike it clean across the jaw.

The not-Sigmund was quicker. In an instant, the two began to spin at an out-of-control speed but in very controlled circles, until Sigmund could hardly keep his eyes open anymore. Just at the height of their speed, Sigmund felt himself drop to the ground, still circling and unable to see anything beyond a blur. He stumbled, ears ringing, light-headed and stepping in wild circles before falling to one knee. He looked around, still not firm on his feet, but to no avail. The not-Sigmund was already gone.

I, for one, like 'Guess Who'.

Another trick - these Shadows could make their voices come from anywhere and nowhere. When they did, it usually meant that they were nowhere that could be reached. And he was sitting just out of reach... laughing at them. What was his game?

I wonder which one of you I am."

That sounded... cryptic. The Shadow was meant to be himself, of course. Sigmund. He had made that much obvious. Unless he meant - and a quick look at the others' unease proved this - he had inserted himself to the bunch as an impostor. Or worse - the cretin could be body-jumping. Possessing them. Of all the jerkfaced moves, taking over even their own minds?

Of course, Lace came up from behind him, carefree as usual, which was out of place as usual, and, as usual, offered no hard solution to the problem. At least he could take some small solace in the fact that Lace was probably safe - that level of "Lace-ness" couldn't be easily duplicated. It was a good thing, too. Sigmund really didn't want to put her life on the line for a second time[SUP]3[/SUP].

Sigmund stared at the ground in front of him, hardly listening to somebody or another sorting her out. The only solution he could think of was for everyone to question each other until somebody slipped up. He was even able to shoot that idea down by himself - the not-Sigmund may well have stolen their memories along with their minds. Everything else was just drawing blanks.

"Hey, everyone!" someone shouted. Sigmund snapped his attention to the speaker - Halberd - as he gave his suggestion. Everyone summoning their Personae - it was a sound enough idea. They were supposed to represent the inner mind or something to that effect, something that the Shadow shouldn't be able to easily replicate. One problem: the test wouldn't work on him. He had to just sit there.

Halberd smugly declared this intentions to nobody in particular and raised his Evoker card. His Persona appeared in an instant, a towering Celtic warrior-woman, glaring intensely in his direction. Some of the others were doing the same. All staring down at him. Judging him.

He wasn't the one on trial here. He least of all wanted to have anybody fall by his account. Yet here he was, unable to even see this Shadow, let alone fight it. And it wanted them to sit there and play guessing games while it was possessing his friends? And when they found it... what then? This situation was just full of dead ends. If nothing else, this shadow was doing a very good job at ticking him off.

But he could do nothing about it. Nothing but watch.




[SUP]1[/SUP] "Deranged" in this case being a synonym for "lethal."
[SUP]2[/SUP] Even by Lace's standards.
[SUP]3[/SUP] Read the full story in Part II: Overpowering Past!

 

[MarbleZone]

\\Levin Sanders - Chariot Arcana//
Court of Miracles

Events in this place had a tendency to move much faster than Levin could keep up with.

Soon after Sofiya had summoned her own mystical creature (he had given up on wondering what the hell they were by now), a golden hawk, and it failed in soaring above the maze, things took yet another turn for the worst.

Sigmund - his first and, effectively, his closest "friend" in this twisted reality -, was faced with an exact copy of himself upon gazing at a nearby mirror wall. The second Sigmund, seemingly a perfect clone, caught his mentor visibly off-guard. Note to self: copies of ourselves are still not something they consider trivial around here.

As this happened, a newcomer that had joined him and the hyperactive Russian, a boy by the name of Mana - who, admittedly, Levin couldn't remember, but that was commonplace -, found it in his best interest to provide him a crash-course on these "summoning rites". Half-distracted by the appearance of a new enemy, Levin could only grasp the basics of the explanation.

«...Got your card?... summon your Persona - card to forehead, shout 'Persona!'...»

Something else about cat ears was promptly filtered away, as his mind began racing once more. It had a tendency to do that at critical junctures - either becoming extremely sharp, or entangling itself in strings of ruinous thoughts, much like before until Sofiya snapped him out of it and his masculinity.

Just then, the doppelgänger grabbed Sigmund and spun around with him at physically impossible speed, and afterwards... it was gone. Only one Sigmund remained, as a voice echoed in their heads.

«I for one like 'Guess Who'.
I wonder which one of you I am.»

As several people around him looked at each other in obvious doubt and discomfort, Levin fought to make sense of what happened, and the options laid out for him.

I don't know any of these people. How can I play his game properly, if I lack the information to play at all?
He was, indeed, the weakest link of the group - everybody else had bonded overtime, and regardless of their individual personalities, they had to have grown closer if they were faced with this world regularly... Even if they weren't all the closest of friends, Levin was sure they at least knew one another. He... did not.
And that makes me a plausible suspect. Whatever they could feel like asking me, they would never be able to confirm my answer. Either they figure it out before then, or I might be in for trouble if they decide to play it safe and kill me. There has to be anoth...

«A Persona is a representation of one's true self, right?»

What?

The question, that clearly didn't call for an answer, came from another member of the group he hadn't interacted with yet. A total stranger, but he seemed to have an idea, and anything was worth listening to at this point. Except...

«So if one of us summons the wrong Persona, we know that that person must be a fake.»

What the hell is a Persona after all?! Am I supposed to follow that Manny kid's instructions? Do it like Sofiya did? I...

He reached for his inner pocket. The cold metal of the butterfly knife touched his hand, but it wasn't what he was looking for this time. His fingers touched cardboard, and he pulled it out. The Arcana card he received from the jester creature.
Thinking back to Mana's instructions, he held the card to his forehead. It felt ridiculous.

- PERSONA!

... and nothing happened. Like he knew it wouldn't.