Persona- Burn On, Shining Souls!

[Ysavvryl]

Snow
school parking lot, 10 PM

It had been a pretty fun party overall. They'd talked to some of his friends, some of her friends, and watched some of the sillier students get into weird antics. Melissa had gotten one of the guys in Drama Club to take a picture of them with her camera phone, and she promised to send him a copy of that later. At one point, there had been an excessively long but amusing banter about eating (gelatin) brains.

Another time, one of the sophomore girls came over and asked Melissa if Snow was her boyfriend. She didn't seem sure what to say, so Snow said that they weren't, just hanging out together tonight. The older girl then asked Snow if he wanted to dance with her, to which he refused. After all, he was with Melissa for this party. She had seemed annoyed, but Melissa was happy enough with that that it seemed like the right thing to have done.

But she had her curfew, and so at ten o'clock, they were back out near the parking lot. The night had turned out nice, actually, not too cool with a nice (proper) moon in the sky. As a number of the younger students like them were leaving too, there were quite a few others out there. Cars were passing on the roads constantly, but that was just background noise by now. “Thanks for asking to come with me,” Snow said, smiling. “It was fun.”

“Yeah, I had fun too,” Melissa said, smiling back. She seemed uncertain though, clasping her hands in front of her and swaying a bit. “Um, Snow? Do you think, um...?”

Did he think what? After a moment of leaving the question hanging, Snow asked, “What is it? Something wrong?”

She shook her head, “Oh, no!” Now she was blushing. “I was just wondering...” and right then, a set of bright headlights hit them at just the wrong angle to cause them both to wince. Melissa sighed, her face still pink. “There's my Dad, of course right on time. I'll see you tomorrow in class.” She took a few steps away, then paused and turned back. “Oh yeah, and I'll come over to your dorm some weekend and make you watch cartoons!”

He laughed at that and waved to her. “Sure thing! Good night Melissa!”

For some reason, she squeaked and blushed harder, with a big smile on her face. “G-good night, Snow!” Then she got into the car and left.

Since she was gone, Snow headed back to the dorms to change for later tonight. He also got his supply bag, tonight with apple juice and pumpkin-shaped gingersnap cookies (there had been lots of candy available to buy, but he didn't think overloading on sugars was good and Lace would probably have plenty of candy with her). On a whim, he also grabbed some colored markers.

And back at the school party, he offered the markers to Sonya and asked if she would like people to draw on the apple box to add to her costume.


Court of Miracles

After two months of experiencing the Court, Snow didn't feel as bothered by the shift from normal time to this strange time. Some of the Shadows were still a little intimidating, but when he was with the group, Snow felt safe. He did his best to make sure everyone was in good shape, leaving much of the fighting to the rest of them.

Sig seemed to be helping their new peer, Levin, so Snow got his boomerang and went to find Russell. “Hey, did you have something to do with Melissa asking me out tonight?” he asked his friend, still in a great mood. “Well she didn't say exactly, but it seemed like you did. Thanks for that; I'll have to repay the favor some time, I promise.”

 

[InnerFlame]

Russell Wilton
Against the Gym Wall at the Party

The Costume ball went by peacefully a few people approached and talked to him especially those of the Drama Club. They seem thrilled that their ‘little’ member had decided to come. A couple of them tried to get him to the dance floor which Russell strongly opposed to. They teased him saying they saw him enter with his tall, manly pirate date. He made sure to empathize that they were friends and they laughed joking at his offensiveness on the matter. Overall the party was fun more than he expected it to be. But as the time got later, the redhead decided to make his exit; he needed to change his clothes, he would hate to damage the costume lent to him.

One outfit change later... Court of Miracles

He changed into his normal clothing that he was wearing earlier: a thick dark grey sweater shirt, a pair of blue jeans, tennis shoes and a light blue-grey beanie hat he had started wearing with the decrease of the temperature. Even when it wasn’t that cold he had always been a little weak to lower temperatures. Also it was worn to remedy another problem his hair. Russell had let it get too long and now it was bothering him. How Snowy, Halberd and everyone else with long hair dealt with it was beyond him; his coarse red-orange hair would constantly block his vision irriated hs neck and face. It was taking much of his willpower to stop him from messily chopping off the strands himself. This weekend was it, no matter what he was going to get it cut.

His annoyance set aside Russell remembered to retrieve his Rapier that he stored in a baseball case. With everything needed counted for he ahead back toward the gymnasium. As the Court time came he refused to enter the building again; even if it wasn’t real blood it was close enough to make him incredibly uncomfortable on sight. Reaching the Van it seemed a couple of people were there. It was about time and the redhead slid on his round lens glasses getting a clearer view of Sigmund and the other person. He vaguely remembered him as that guy in his homeroom... He believed his name was Levin but that was the limit of his knowledge of the person.

Since he was going through the van that meant he was another person pulled into the Court permanently until death. Pulling out a spear weapon, the freshman climb into the vehicle carefully and pulled out his axe. He was unable to bring with him for obvious reasons so it remained in the truck until he needed it. It was still heavy in his hands but he could use it. Hopping down to ground level with the axe rest over his shoulder, he heard his question to Sigmund. Though before he could say anything Snowy motion him over. He walked over and could help but feel a smidge jealous, why couldn’t he have grown a couple of inches?

“Hey did you have something to do with Melissa asking me out tonight?” He suddenly asked. By the look on his face he had not only accepted her offer but had a fun time. Lucky... he was stuck in as the midget that is fun to pick on. The fourteen year old teenage boy found himself getting increasingly envious of his freshman buddy; though he decided to keep it to himself. It was his fault that genetic decided to bless with height while he was a late bloomer, hopefully. “Well she didn’t say exactly, but it seem like you did. Thanks for that; I’ll have to repay the favor some time, I promise.”

“There’s no need” he replied strongly, more so than he meant too. The sincere of that thank you felt like too much Russell didn’t think he really deserved it. “I didn’t do anything. I just told her I didn’t know if you had a date and ask you herself.” And really was all he did and he sounded so stern when he told her that too. It was her choice to go and actually ask him and Snowy’s choice to accept her offer. He was no matchmaker that he knew of... it would explain his connection to Eros. “Glad you two had fun. Be careful tonight... Never know what the Court will throw at us.”

It was a bit of a worried be careful to his friend. Russell would help light haired boy the best he could but dying for him was still not something on his list. He cared and didn't want him to die but he didn't want to die himself. He hoped that his Court anxiety would just remain that way.

 

[Niihyl]

<OOC>: Drinks spiked with vodka? Totally happened at my school. It was an act of monumental idiocy and hilarity. I salute them, those dumbasses.

Additionally, I will want Sofiya's album at some point. Left lying about in the lounge, perhaps, where it can be found by Ciara (for sadistic comedy) or someone nice like Snow (for uncomfortable hilarity).

Mana Shizuko
Dormitories

“I think Josh is just curious, and is starting out by finding the closest embodiment of both genders he can. Ciara fits that pretty well. At least she looks female. We’ll need to make note of checking her Adam’s apple, or see if she pads her bra. Failing that, I expect you to volunteer to grope her nether regions. At worse, you’ll confirm our suspicions – any eventual castration a risk you need to take – and at best you’ll have a handful of the reason why I love them b!tches," JP remarked.

Mana froze. He stared at JP blankly for a moment, vainly trying to process the words. "Uh… sorry, but castration is pretty high up there on my 'sh!t I don't want happening to me' list." The list no longer includes cat-bondage, as of today. "There are safer ways to get some anyway. Like at the Halloween afterparty, where the drinks will totally not be spiked. 12:01, if I'm not dead…" Mana shrugged.

“And I wasn’t planning on hitting that party either. The best parts would only happen after I’d be beaten to a bloody pulp by the court. And explaining why your clothes just inexplicably ripped while you kissed is a difficult thing.” JP mouthed believe me as he stepped towards the kitchen.

"You sure, Cinderella? You could tell your partner that you had to be off by midnight," Mana said, leaning against a wall.

“Anyway, I’m hungry and there’s this risotto recipe I’ve been meaning to try out. Wanna be my guinea-pig? I always overcook when I’m trying on a new recipe."

"Just a romantic candlelit dinner for two?" Mana remarked drily. "Real food's a godsend man. I've only had cafeteria food and ramen for the past six months now."

Death Social Link Rank Up!

Bellow High
Court of Miracles

Mana had bid JP farewell after eating. The guy was a good cook. Who would've guessed? The red-haired Asian boy had driven out to Bellow High afterward, and had relaxed in his car for the rest of the party. His bow and knife were ready, and he had the Persona card. He was dressed in a tough hoodie, jeans, and combat boots. Rather than headphones, he had the black cat ears around his neck. 'Protect his soul', huh? Worth a shot.

As the boy waited, he thought back to the dorms. JP had been acting a little odd. He hadn't come along to Bellow High, and he had packed up Terri's clothes nicely… perhaps he was going to return them? Now? In the middle of the Court? Running off alone was a f*cking stupid thing to do.

Also, Halloween was not the time to be in a hospital. Hospitals were unnerving at the best of times, but when blood dripped from the walls and demons stalked the night? Not a good place to be.

The moon glowed green and blood poured from the walls. "Court is now in session!" Mana said, a grin forming on his face.

Oh goody, it's finally the day! While your playtime with the Madwolf was really fun, I wasn't able to play with you... It's okay, Halloween is my favorite day, did you know? Alice said cheerily, her voice appearing into his mind as soon as the Court hit. Mana fingered the card in his pocket. Ready.

Mana exited the vehicle and jogged towards the others. He noticed Snow and Russell already outside. Alice continued her commentary in a high-pitched tone. Oh goody, it's Snow White and his One Dwarf. Now they'll be helpful when the Shadows come to kill us. At least the Mummy Man is here. Mana resisted the temptation to laugh.

"Hey guys. You all ready? It's Halloween Night, and I think the ghosts and goblins will be coming out to play any time now."

 

[niedude]

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

‘23:56’

‘There’s still time.’

JP revved up the throttle and sped up, not giving a flying crap whether or not he was pulled over. He just wanted to get there before the Court started, so he could dismount before it was too late; if he was still riding his bike when the Court started, then he’d be doing it too when it ended... and if he was suddenly pulled back on top of a moving vehicle he’d most likely crash before he’d regain control of it.

This if his theory was correct. Maybe the bike would be stationary when the Court ended, or something. He’d never really dared to test his theory out.

He gave a quick glance at his wristwatch again.

’23:58’

He pushed his baby one last time, and it sped up again, but the engine’s noise wasn’t too pleasing. Luckily, he wasn’t too far off from the hospital. When his wristwatch’s alarm set off at 23:59 he was comfortably within walking distance of the hospital, so he just parked his bike somewhat carelessly and set off on foot. When the Court rolled around he was already by the Hospital’s front entrance.

He took the same route he’d taken every other day for the past two months. He’d become so accustomed to it he could probably walk it with his eyes closed; which is just as well, really, as the already unsettling hospital’s walls did not become all that cheery when the Court rolled around. A putrid green coated the air and hindered vision while disturbing blood like substances ran down the walls.

JP had to admit to himself it took balls to travel to this place during the Court. During goddamned Halloween.

‘I might just be asking for it,’ he feared.

He didn’t feel safe being in this place all alone; no one would. So he got the card he’d gotten from Randy out of his jacket’s inner pocket, admired how weird it was that in all this time it hadn’t gotten a single tear, or even a wrinkle, and held it up to his head.

The card itself seemed like further evidence of how JP’s fate has a sense of humour. Its illustration appeared to be some biblical allegory of the Adam and Eve myth: a tree, out of which grew a giant, bleeding heart, separated a man and a woman, whose assigned background’s differed in colour, probably to further illustrate the difference in worlds. Or simply the difference between them in particular. To top it all off, it was entitled “The Lovers” and seemed to be made specifically for JP himself. The hell, right? Randy was quite lucky JP didn’t mistake the card for a bad prank and proceed to break every bone in his body, but the bad mood had made the big boy somewhat catatonic bad then.

Just as the card made contact with JP’s skin, a similar sensation to the Gun Evoker’s swept him, and the familiar sound of breaking glass accompanied the forming of JP’s Persona: the Cruel King, Pedro.

Feeling safer, he made way to Terri’s room. It was a short yet very disturbing journey; JP even swore hearing faint screams of creepy girls. Pedro heard no such thing, so they dismissed it as JP being a pussy and playing too much F.E.A.R.. JP made a vow never to play any horror games again.

<//Terri’s Room //3

JP simply left the bad on her bed and left. No word was said.

Though Pedro did became unstable and almost vanished when JP let go of the bag.

 

[Wordy]

Ciara H. Wright
Hallowe'en 'Party'
Monday Night

"So, do you want to... dance or anything? I'm still getting used to this whole mysterious thing?" he smiled gawkingly. Ciara wanted to hit her head against a wall. Lord. Hopeless, hopeless boy. Not that there was a point to any of that any more... maybe she could coach him more extensively before a better event. An event where being envied would be more significant, as opposed to a dorky joke of a disco.

Ciara raised an eyebrow, and then completely waved him aside. She knew what he was doing, trying to distract her like that. What was achingly clear was that she had wasted her dress's premiere appearance on a no-hope school disco. Typical awkward teenagers, not making the effort to look fabulous wherever they went. Ciara's dress was like a prom dress, honestly. It was the dress by which all other dresses should be judged... in any case, it was far better than any of the competition, who were all dressed cheaply in what was practically peasant-wear in comparison to her splendour.

"You know what? I should have just waited for a better occasion to take this dress out, like... tomorrow. It's more suited to a fancy restaurant." She downed the punch in one gulp, before crushing the cup in her hand and dropping it onto the floor, "Jesus, I could have just done the nun or the nurse... you would have liked the nurse," she remarked wryly with a sly grin as she looked into his eyes, abruptly breaking the eye contact to look at her nails again. She had let go of the broom a while back... where was the broom? Ah well, somebody would trip over it soon.

"But, sure, whatever. Dancing. Keep my mind off the fact that Miyuki is still with that Izzy boy and not following my advice to cast the net a little wider. She's a perfectly attractive girl, honestly, and she needs to at least try other men before going all out for some puny loser goggle-head..." Ciara carried on with her criticisms, talking loudly about the faults and flaws of everyone in earshot, but allowed herself to be pulled onto the floor. After a while, she stopped considering the extraneous things and focused only on what was in front of her.

...
He was a decent enough dancer. She would give him that.

Although, of course, there was always room for improvement.

11.49pm
Dorm Room

Ciara grinned as she admired herself in the full-length mirror, marvelling once again at her sense of style, grace, and the fact that God had blessed her with all that was necessary to pull it off. A purple, sleek one-piece minidress that came down to just about midthigh, with a pair of soft black tights saving her pride and keeping her legs nice and covered. Around her waist was a belt in which she had slotted her butterfly swords on both sides into their holsters, and she had wrapped an elegant black scarf around her neck, where it was somewhat covered by her long, elegantly-layered auburn hair. A neat pair of two-inch heeled faux leather short boots completed the ensemble, giving her a look that was 'feminine yet dangerous'; which she could swear was the tagline for the fragrance she was wearing, but whatever. She should totally work in the fashion industry.

She struck a pose in the mirror, her lips tantalisingly close to the card labelled 'The Moon', pouting in an exaggerated fashion and leaning over somewhat. A high laugh escaped her lips- she would have to take a photo when she had the time. Or, hey, Miyuki could do it! Ciara had totally been planning a little shopping trip to buy some new outfits for the two of them for a while now (and Izzy and Joshua were perfect shopping bag carriers), and afterwards they could have a fashion shoot and try them on and do all manner of wonderful things....

In any case, wearing a new outfit in the Court was good enough for her. The old one was dreadfully plain and a bit boring after two months of it, whilst this one gave her surprising ease of movement for what it was. In any case, she had three of those mini-dresses in different colours, a whole host of tights and too many scarves to count, so it wouldn't matter too much if this outfit was somewhat ruined.

Ciara took one last look at herself, nodding appreciatively, before walking out of the room.

Court of Miracles

She arrived at the regular meeting-place just as the Court began; it was weird, but after two months these occurrences seemed perfectly day-to-day, and she would honestly be more surprised if it didn't happen than if it did. Her entire life and schedule seemed to revolve around making time for it, with neat assigned blocks of homework, training... her whole life had become regimented around this thing. Having a system felt good.

Completely ignoring the minor annoyances that cluttered life and seemed to exist purely to make her life difficult as well as miserable, she walked over to her own spot just out of hearing distance from their wittering conversations so that she wouldn't be drawn into their pathetic little lives. She couldn't be bothered to look around for Joshua and Miyuki- if they wanted to have a chat before the fun began, they should make the effort to walk over.

In the meantime, she flipped the familiar compact out of its hiding place and began checking her make-up and fluffing her hair, waiting for the first enemy to pop up so she could crush it into dust. The Moon was ready in her right hand for whatever came her way.

 

[GoldenHouou]

Sofiya Mikhailovna Ignatova
Bellow High
Party

The rest of the party had been wonderful. But then, weren’t parties always wonderful? Sure, she had suffered from anxiety when she had helped Randy up and the boy had pretty much… ignored her and went on his way, leaving the girl fearing she had done something wrong. But then the music had flowed into her ears, people had gotten the courage to go dance and Sofiya just couldn’t remain worried when there was so much fun to be had. There hadn’t been an award for the best costume – a shame, she was sure she would've won! – but quite a few had stopped to stare at her, obviously admiring her get up. Well, there were a few who pretty much fled when she came close, but she was pretty sure that was because her applebox was so very scary.

At one point Snow had walked up to her and offered her markers, asking if she’d like to offer her applebox for people to draw on. Sofiya had audibly gasped at that and gone on a rant about how you did not provoke the malicious spirit of the applebox by doodling on his body, but had accepted the markers regardless with a wide smile and an excited “thanks”. A gift was a gift. It had been a while since anyone had bought anything for her – her parents were always so busy around her birthday they never managed to get her anything but a passing “congrats” as they headed to work, and the situation didn’t differ much on any other holiday you were supposed to be dishing out gifts in. So, she decided she’d treasure these markers to the best of her ability, and she already knew how – from now on, whenever she made a paper crane to add to her growing collection, she’d color them with the markers. That way, when she got all thousand of them done and showed them to Pyotr, she could also show she had made friends. Real friends!

The punch bowl emptied at a steady pace, and Sofiya was responsible for consuming at least one fifth of the liquid overall. She was also responsible for the near heart attacks some of the party-goers almost suffered when she decided to show off the album she had filled earlier. They must have been so astonished by the cute they couldn’t but scream. She knew the feel!

When the clock ticked close to midnight, Sofiya drank the last drops of the punch and jumped down from the table she had somehow managed to heave herself on top of. Stretching, she skipped off to the restroom and laid down her schoolbag which she had never had the chance to drop off. Not since what she had seen at the dorms had distracted her and forced her to change her plans. But far be it from her to go in between two lovers, even if they are of the same gender and unable to have sweaty funtimes, as she had dubbed the act going on in the videos.

Either way, Sofiya opened her schoolbag and put the album in before quickly changing attires. Her military uniform still lay inside the back, but she didn’t feel like she could use it half heartedly. No, it was something only Commander Ignatova was allowed to wear, and right now she was just plain old Sonya. So she went with her original plan and left on her nurse costume instead, one which she had seen on one of the videos and decided looked fun and fitting for her. She was going to become a doctor after all, and nurse was close enough. Doctors’ clothes were boring anyway.

She put away the rest of her costume and slipped her bag under the applebox, certain nobody would dare try and steal anything with the vicious container of fruit on watch. She fixed her bun, made sure she had both her knife and the card used to summon Horus once more and then smiled at herself in the mirror. She was ready!

Court of Miracles

Just as Sofiya exited the bathroom, the atmosphere changed and the world gained a green hue. The Court. During the past few months Sofiya had grown more and more attached to this hour of fun they had each night. There was nothing to take your mind away from earthy troubles like killing things, after all! She walked outside with a smile, looking around as she did and concluding that most everyone was present. Even someone she didn’t know. Instantly she let out a gasp. A new recruit?! So awesome, maybe she could become a teacher for him, too. That way Mana wouldn’t be all alone! For now though, it seemed Sig was handling teaching the newbie pretty well… so she had competition! Well, she wouldn’t lose!

Determined and ready for a tough but friendly competition, she walked up to the two and tapped Sig’s shoulder from behind. Lowering her voice and making sure she had eye contact, she whispered: “Don’t think you’ve won yet. I will not allow anyone to take away my title as the comm… Uh, community of the group! This means war!” Not a second got to pass before Sofiya started to worry she had been too rude and insulted him on accident or something though, so she quickly flailed and added a bit panicked: “I-if that’s really, really okay with you I mean!”

 

[Son_of_Shadows]

Joshua Sands - Tower Arcana - Bellow High Gym - Monday evening

"You know what? I should have just waited for a better occasion to take this dress out, like... tomorrow. It's more suited to a fancy restaurant." She had a point, they did look quite overdressed, and probably stuck out like a sore thumb. Not so much of a problem for Ciara, who looked fabulous - there were probably dozens of guys drooling over her right now and jealous of Joshua, being here with her. It was slightly more of a problem for him, who felt pretty average by comparison - at best. "Jesus, I could have just done the nun or the nurse... you would have liked the nurse." Somehow, he didn't doubt that, as she flashed him a smile, but he tried not to let it show.

... Wow, my thought process is in the gutter tonight.

"But, sure, whatever. Dancing. Keep my mind off the fact that Miyuki is still with that Izzy boy and not following my advice to cast the net a little wider. She's a perfectly attractive girl, honestly, and she needs to at least try other men before going all out for some puny loser goggle-head..." Ah, yes. Izzy. To be honest, Joshua still felt uneasy around him. To be brutally honest, he did wish Miyuki would go for someone who hadn't been responsible for someone's death yet... Rather bitchy of him, yes. It wasn't completely Izzy's fault, it was his Shadow. But he couldn't shake his prejudice. And now he felt guilty. Particularly as he chuckled inside at some of Ciara's more creative insults to everyone around her, devil may care. She really was awfully cavalier about this whole thing. Perhaps now would be a good time to try the whole suave, mysterious thing again. He put on a casual and smooth, yet still warm voice. The sort of voice that could turn an average girl to honey. Of course, this was Ciara...

"Forget about them. They're not even here. Tonight, it's just us."

Jesus that was corny. Well done genius!

Still, the evening was about fun, and fun they had. Well, he did anyway. If she didn't, she didn't show it. The cape had made dancing slightly awkward as some tread on it, but it came with the territory.

---

11.45 PM - Restroom

Ciara had gone to change, and so had he. In all honesty, he could probably just ditch his cape and jacket, but he preferred his regular outfit which offered a good combination of mobility and toughness. A tan leather jacket with a simple T-Shirt underneath, light blue jeans, and his black, beaten Converse. He could probably do with new ones. But yes, he liked this outfit. Comfortable, good for the Court, and it looked... decent. Well, the jacket clashed with the Converse, but he'd rather be unfabulous than more easily cut.

12.00 - Court of Miracles

And it started again. Same as every night. The blood down the walls, the sickly sky and the hideous moon. He was starting to become desensitised to it all. Seeing it every night will do that to a man. Joshua walked out to the van and pulled out his usual fencing saber. He now had the basics down, and was starting to work on some advanced moves... And he could almost use Frigid Blast perfectly. Last night had proved he didn't quite have it yet though. Who had he landed on? He couldn't remember, he was so dizzy when he got hit... Sigmund approached now, dragging a new guy behind him. Hadn't he been pulled in last night? Well well, a newbie.

"Evenin' Sig," said Joshua as the new guy started rummaging around for a weapon he liked. "Have you filled this guy in yet?"

 

[Jason-Kun]

Clarise Stone
Court of Miracles

Clarise followed Lace over to the table, grabbing herself a cup of punch. "They probably will not charge us anything for this you know." she told the younger girl as Lace tried to hand her a stick of gum. Shaking her head, she waved towards her as she disappeared into the crowd.

Making her way through the crowd, she waved to the others she passed as she went to the door.

At fifteen minutes to Midnight after changing her clothing, she returned to the gym. Decked out in her school uniform and normal shoes once more, she still wore the jacket. Going inside, she walked around as she waited for the Court to start. Once it began, her first move was to summon Konohana. Feeling some of her energy leave her body, she followed the others to the van, waiting for her chance to pick up her weapons. "So. How long do you expect them to give up before they try and attack us this time?" she asked the rest of the group.

 

[Vivian_Bloom]

Lace Condor
Bellow High Gym

Clarise went back into the crowd as Lace popped the gum in her mouth. She's probably heading back to change and get ready for the Court tonight. Other BEAST (the Persona users) members were leaving. The bathrooms and up to the dorms were the best spots. Lace chewed three more sticks of gum and went back to dance in the crowd before she went to get ready.

11:55 PM
Outside the Dorm

Lace was out of breath and sitting on the street with both daggers crossed in front of her. Wearing a plain white short-sleeved t-shirt, red pants, and tennis shoes, all her make-up was cleaned off. That Hawaiian Punch she spilled in her room needed a ten-minute scrubbing. No more drinking in the swivel-chair.

The town was deserted and everyone was either in their dorms -- or wrapping up the night at the dance. Sitting with her arms hung over her knees, Lace looked up and blinked at the sky until the Moon took on that same yellow and green look. It's already been two months since this became a regular thing with the others.

Lace groaned and rubbed her neck. "This is getting annoying," she muttered to herself. For a little over two months they were no closer to finding out anything about the Court. No one can say where the shadows come from, or why they just love to hit here so much. For the first couple weeks she was thrilled... Being in the middle of a mystery:

She made a note to herself to talk to the group about this after tonight's Court. Fighting the enemy like this -- every day, every week, it wasn't getting them any closer to a reason. Lace spun herself around and lay on the floor gripping both daggers. Springing back on her feet she spun around her blades and walked down towards the gym.

Court of Miracles

She was outside the gym now. This dance wasn't going on all night. Lace spotted Clarise, Sigmund, Sofiya, and the others around the van. She wasn't the only one to go run and change up.

Lace was in the middle of seeing how good she makes a cursive "L" on the outside gym walls a little ways from the van. "Le' Tigre," she said to herself, going over the sloppy work. She heard Clarise call out to the group.

"So, how long do you expect them to give up before they try and attack us this time?" she asked. Breaking her stare from the wall, she turned; spinning her daggers by the hilt she looked in Clarise’s direction.

Lace grinned. "I'll say...," she glanced around the group before going back to her daggers. "Maybe, they're changing out of their party clothes first. Either that, or they're just waking up," she walked over to the side of the van and leant against the side. She was getting frustrated, struggling to stuff the nearly foot-long pair of daggers into her pockets. Not speaking directly to anyone;

"I wish they'd hurry up and bring the big guys out already."

 

[Zincspider]

Unknown (Although it isn't hard to guess who)
Closer Than You'd Want
Court of Miracles

“So. How long do you expect them to give up before they try and attack us this time?”

'Soon, kiddo! And I couldn't be more excited!'

“I wish they'd hurry up and bring the big guys out already.”

'Oh, I feel like a d'jinn right now! Just a few final touches...'

“Woah! Watch it kid, that's not exactly what I'd call a first time weapon. Uh... if you really want to, just kinda use it to pike things away. Don't hurt yourself.”

'Yes, don't deprive me of my chance to do so first, you little git... although, seeing some fruit gut himself with a giant scalpel would be damn funny, I must admit. Done.'

The group of boobs were all standing in the same damn place. Perfect. No need to round them up, at least.

'Let's get this show on the road! HeeheHehEEhA!'

Garret Wulfgard
With Everyone, Sans JP
Court of Miracles

Not three seconds after walking to the back, did Garret see what he assumed would be the last of the group to show up. Randy, having changed out of his costume into a simple black shirt, emblazoned with an orange and yellow sunset (One that Wulfgard had seen a bit too often... did the boy wash the dang thing? That guitar was still slung over his shoulder as well. Did he just change his shirt? Well Sofiya did spill punch on him...) He wandered over to the van and rummaged through it, trying to find something he hadn't tried yet. For the past month, he'd been attempting to replace his shovel with a real weapon, but hadn't had any luck finding one he felt at home with.

The new kid, however, seemed to have a much easier time... finding a naginata. One of the more exotic pieces in Wulfgard's armory... it was basically a glorified glaive. But a japanese glorified glaive, so it was expensive as hell. But it isn't the easiest weapon to just pick up and start going to town with. It wasn't very light, and someone without proper training would tire very fast trying to swing it around too much.

“Woah! Watch it kid, that's not exactly what I'd call a first time weapon. Uh... if you really want to, just kinda use it to poke things away. Don't hurt yourself.” Wulfgard advised, walking up the kid... who's name he still hadn't discovered. “Only use it when necessary.”

To the right, Wulfgard caught Izzy passing out walkie-talkies from a large sack. They were a variety of colors and shapes, as Wulfgard had to scrounge around to find enough for everyone to use (Russell was handed a regular black business model, while Sig got stuck with a 'Hello Kitty' shaped device, for instance). After Izzy had shown just what he could do, Wulfgard had assigned him to charging and distribution of the communication gear every night. While there were probably more uses for Izzy's electrical generation, he didn't want to put a strain on the boy, he still wasn't sure how much he could provide without hurting himself.

A large clattering caught Wulfgard's attention. Stemming from the van, he turned to find Randy knocking a large hammer out of the way to pull up a simple, one-handed axe. It wasn't large... or made for battle. He was pretty sure it was just a simple fireman's axe he'd found at a garage sale a couple years back (what that crazy old lady was doing with an axe, he'll never know). Randy lifted the tool to eye level and admired the red paint-job on the head. The edge of the weapon, a bright silver in contrast to the scarlet, still managed to reflect a beam of light from the moon into Wulfgard's eyes, cause him to wince.

It was brighter again. Over the past two months, the yellow light of the moon had become increasingly brighter, to the point it was almost white now. The greenish glow had lifted somewhat, and the red stars in the sky shone brighter than ever. It was almost eerie (-er than usual). He couldn't exactly recall if it meant anything though... he remember important events, but not everything from his past experiences. And a brighter moon shouldn't really mean anything.

“Tell me, Wolvsey. Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?”

That voice. Wulfgard briefly remembered a white porcelain face, stuck in an inhumanly wide smile, overcoming the edges of his face even. His own sword being plunged into the white and red outfit of the clown, mocking his inability to harm it. The Shadow with no name, who always seemed to have his hand in any big fight. The kids called him 'The Jester' and sometimes spoke of his single appearance. The way he moved, like a manic puppet with no strings, the fact his face changed based on his mood, but you never saw it happen, or the way he'd casually warn you of impending danger right before trapping you... just to let you go when you asked 'please'. And, according to Randy, the being who supplied everyone with their new evokers. He couldn't think of a better name himself.

But his high pitched raspy voice, that always carried a hint of joy, was most likely his most recognizable feature. And it was coming from right above him.

Looking up, Wulfgard's suspicions were confirmed. Sitting on top of the van, leg's crossed and hands on the knees, the Jester looked down at Wulfgard, the same insane grin plastered on his face as before. His eyes were dark pits to match the emptiness between his lips, yet neither ever moved, even when he spoke.

“Because I have. And it's not exactly a joy, old pal.”

“What-”

“Let's see how you fare all alone. It just wouldn't be fun if the kids had your help here.

Wulfgard wasn't sure of what happened next. One second he was staring at the Jester. The next, the Shadow had gone missing. The next... he was about one hundred yard away from the rest of the group, and watched helplessly as dozens upon dozens of ten-foot tall sheet of something bright and shiny rose from the ground. The sound of erupting sheets of glass (?) rumbled all the way to where Wulfgard was standing, the last one popping up not three feet in front of his nose, cutting his hand that he had thrown out, in a feeble attempt to do something But no sooner had he started shouting than the even had finished. And Wulfgard found that he was looking at some fool dressed as a mummy with a bleeding left hand... him.

It was a mirror. They were all mirrors.

“What... what the fu-”

Shinai Haitani
Quarterman General Hospital
Court of Miracles

Cold, bloddier than usual, and devoid of light, Shinai was having trouble fumbling through the hospital. Closed windows, and shut doors made his path a little easier than he expected. But he would never have been able to do this during the day. The snake knew that. And he knew that Ophidian would have expected him to do this tonight. They were both to smart to fall for the other's tricks without knowing it full and well... but why not go along with it?

The snake was mad. He knew that. Crazy, insane... but oh so knowledgeable. It knew things that would make the top minds in every field from anthropology to robotics weep. And it was all at his fingertips. Things he would never have dreamed of. Things that humanity would never discover for centuries. So why not trust the damn thing when it offered him a way out for Assua? No one else could tell him anything... his own intellect was useless. It was his only choice.

Of course... was the snake the mad one? Was Ophidian crazy? Or was it just him. This whole other world, where being of inky darkness attacked the helpless, where he could summon a being of power who claimed to be himself, and where he'd seen himself ki-... no matter. Even if he was mad, what could he do about it. If this was all a dream, than nothing wrong could come of it. It was a win/win.

**COUGH**

Inside of Quarterman General, Shinai raised his hand to his mouth. It had started again. Quickly withdrawing a large white handkerchief from his pocket, Shinai covered his mouth just in time to catch the wave of coughs, hacks, wheezes, and all of their discharge. His whole body shook violently, and he was unable to stand. His eyes watered as he began to stumble, falling into the wall, just a few inches away from a large red dripping.

Just two months ago, it's been a simple cough. Presumably allergies. But it hadn't cleared up. It'd been getting worse for some time, and he had no idea how to stop it. At least once a night, he'd be thrown into a fit, leaving him weak and shaken afterward.

“No... not now.” Shinai insisted breaking the fit long enough to utter the few words. He pulled back the cloth, revealing a trickle of blood running down his dark lips. The inside of the wipe was soaked with the red essence of life. “I have to get... **HURGHOFFCUFF**” Picking himself off the wall, Shinai supported himself with his free hand, and began to make his way down the hall. He was so close. His right hand became stained with the liquid dripping from the walls, as his left hand was started to become stained from his own.

The sound of his pain echoed throughout the entire building, the whooping and gagging noise liable to wake the dead.

Soon, however not soon enough, it began to die down. Leaving Shinai breathing heavily in the middle of the hallway, the final dregs of blood falling from his mouth onto the floor, before they finally ceased, leaving nothing behind but a light film and taste of iron in his mouth.

“Not yet. I have to hurry.” He muttered, throwing the now red rag on the ground. Marching forward, he looking in front and saw exactly what he needed to. The cold storage section of the hospital, still in the same area as it had been when he'd toured the building as a child. Opening the door was a cinch. Without electricity, the digital locks were useless. He just twisted the handle and walked in.

“Now... O-negative...”

Liza Monroe
Inside the Mirror Maze
Court of Miracles

'What... just happened?' Liza wondered, underneath her sheet. One second, she was handed a large red walkie-talkie by Izzy (which she was having trouble finding a place to stash. The front pockets of her jacket having to sufice), and the next... Wulfgard dissapeared, and the whole group was surrounded by a circle of huge mirrors. The van stood in the center of it all, Randy still holding an axe, and looking left and right, trying to absorb what had just happened. Mute and confused... sounds like a sad little puppy.

Still, Liza tried to keep her cool... sure, this was scary, but from what she could tell, it wasn't immediately dangerous. The room was circular, with only one entrance, a narrow corridor created by even more mirrors reflecting the light of the moon, causing the whole hallway to seemly blindingly white. If they just guarded the doorway until the Court ended, everything should be fine... they hadn’t faced any of the stronger shadows in a while so...

They hadn't faced any of the stronger shadows in a while.

That was it. This was just like what had happened with Izzy and Jerk Pants' shadows. Their own little world. Something was coming...

”Welcome my pets! Time for a little experiment!”

That voice. Liza immediately reached down and wrapped her arms around her middle, as if to protect it. Luckily, she was still under her sheet... no one would have seen the nervous reaction.
Her fears were confirmed, by looking up. The Jester was perched on the nearest pillar like a monkey, his hands grabbing the mirror between his feet. Looking at him also allowed Liza to see the rest of the group and their shocked expressions. Great, the clown had his own reaction video for everyone to see. Everyone had gathered around, save for Randy, who had chosen to lean on the van instead.

”Now, you'll want to get out of this here maze before the Court ends. Like rats, basically. Except there's no cheese. Just life. For tonight at least.” the joker rambled, ignoring any and all cries from the kids. “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!” The Jester turned for a second, and then looked right back. “Right, almost forgot. Here you go, newfag. Enjoy!” With one swift motion Liza couldn't follow, something flew from the Jester's hand right at the new kid's feet, the corner of the card, stuck in the ground. An evoker card.

Incentive? Bitch? What was he talking about?
Liza took a look around to see who was here:
New kid, Clarise, Russell, Halberd, Miyuki, Liza, Sigmund...
Wait. Liza? She was Liza... No. Oh no. She had to say something... warn them... but... she couldn't bring herself to shout out. She froze in place, staring at her counterpart's blank expression. It was so... uninviting. Did she always look like that?

Instead of doing anything else, Liza slowly walked backwards... and just as slowly, her Shadow advanced, no one putting two and two together. Probably didn't notice her with the sheet. Hell, they probably never noticed her without the sheet. She was nothing. And it was her fault.

But her staring contest was interrupted, with a couple fast chords of a guitar being played. Her doppelganger turned to see the source of the noise, only to find a red instrument landing right in her face, hard enough to snap the blunt weapon in half. Her head snapped the left with a sickening crack, but her expression remained unchanged. Randy stood behind her, holding the useless remains of his guitar.

“RUN!” He shouted, his voice raspy and broken. He winced in pain, the small word too much for his vocal chords to handle at that volume.

But Liza wasn't paying attention to him. She was looking at her shadow as it melted... or rather, its skin melted. Her dusky tone washed away, along with the white from her hair and color leaked off of her clothes. The puddle of pigment fell to the ground, landing as a simple puddle of water, glimmering in the moon light. Left behind was a sick representation of herself carved completely out of ice. Light blue and completely solid, it's head slowly slid back into place, staring right at Randy.

Randy raised his new axe, anticipating a fight, but he didn't receive the chance to use it. Her Shadow's right arm extended, ice building on ice, until a large collection of frozen blades long enough to scrape the ground replaced the limb. Five long blades, positioned as her fingers would be. In one swift movement, she gripped her aggressor in a cold, slicing grip and lifted hin off the ground with little to no effort. He flailed his arms, attempting to scream, but the only coming out were small chirps and gurgles. His walkie-talkie fell to the ground and shattered, followed by a small trickle of blood from the wounds her claws were causing.

“RANDY!” She shouted, but she couldn't do anything. She could only watch as she herself tossed the boy over not only their mirror wall, but over several. She couldn't follow his flight path.... but she knew one thing. He was beyond her reach. And she'd done it. He was tossed away from the rest of the group, left to wander the maze alone. And it was done without an ounce of effort.

So she took Randy's advice. Tossing her sheet off, she ran as fast as she could.

-

(OOC: So, that's Shadow Liza. One out of three. She isn't affected by status effects, any damage received will repair itself within a few seconds, and lost body parts will regrow. You much keep trying to get through the maze, while still avoiding her. No, you won't run along Randy, and no you can't get out in a single post. Any other questions should be brought to the DT)

 

[Blivsey]

Sigmund Okonkwo
Bellow High [Court of Miracles]

Sigmund was a bit worried as Levin first pulled out a butterfly knife[SUP]1[/SUP], but he promptly put it back in his pocket and produced an oriental-looking spear with a blade for a head[SUP]2[/SUP] from the truck. Not something that he would have chosen, but it looked cool enough.

Levin turned and started asking for advice from no one in particular, leaving Sigmund with not much to do. Idly, he took the card from the pouch at his hip and started flipping it in his hand, looking at it without really examining it. He already knew the faces well enough - a colorful one with birds, cups and the like on it and one side with a sort of theater mask. The whole thing was numbered XIV, apparently part of a "Tarot deck," whatever that was. It was on his list of things to look into on a rainy day, but for now it didn't seem to matter.

Sigmund was so caught up in his train of thought going nowhere that he was caught completely off-guard by a familiar mess of black hair in a nurse's uniform. Sofiya Mikhailovna Ignatova was usually not a person who you wanted to let catch you by surprise, but now, at least, she seemed to be conducting herself at a more manageable level, claiming in a hush that Sigmund "hadn't won yet" and would be able to take away her title as "community" in a playful declaration of war. Or a serious one. He could never be sure which. Sigmund chuckled roughly as her mind apparently caught up to her mouth and stuck one fist over his heart[SUP]3[/SUP] in a proud gesture.

"Not at all," he replied, feeling that it couldn't harm to play along. "I gladly accept the role of Vice-Community until the time I can rightfully claim your title." Almost as soon as he had begun to relish in the ludicrousness of what he had said, he was joined by Clarise and Joshua, who respectively made a rhetorical remark about the Shadows and asked briefly about the status of their newest member.

Sig nodded to both and answered them in turn, "Hopefully not too much longer - there always seems to be enough time to get our wits about us, at least. As for the new guy, he's pretty much up to speed save for field experience and summoning. Only one of those we can fix right now - maybe one of you could give 'im the run a' that? You two are better at using your Personas, anyway."

"Not at all," he replied, feeling that it couldn't harm to play along. "I gladly accept the role of Vice-Community until the time I can rightfully claim your title." Almost as soon as he had begun to relish in the ludicrousness of what he had said, he was joined by Clarise, Lace and Joshua, the last of whom asked briefly about the status of their newest member.

Sig nodded to both and answered them in turn, "Hopefully not too much longer - there always seems to be enough time to get our wits about us, at least. As for the new guy, he's pretty much up to speed save for field experience and summoning. Only one of those we can fix right now - maybe one of you could give 'im the run a' that? You two are better at using your Personas, anyway."

By the time any of them could give another suggestion, a familiar voice began to speak to them, half-joking and all-irritating. Sigmund turned about to face him,[SUP]4[/SUP] already knowing what he would see - an almost mannequin-like figure with an eerily white face, taking the appearance of some manic court jester. Honestly, he could take the shadows. They were straightforward. This joker? Not so much.

He spouted off his usual rabble that Sigmund tended to mostly tune out in the first place before mentioning something about how they would fare alone, then just vanished entirely - another one of his irritating habits. In the next instant, before Sigmund could even track where the Jester had gone, the world suddenly became very confusing. They were surrounded by what looked like a perfect copy of themselves... and the van... and everything else. Or a mirror. That one made more sense, actually. Probably a mirror, then.

The Jester appeared before them again, smug as ever, before declaring them to be part of some "experiment." He picked out the useful bits of the rabble - that they were in a maze of some sort, and that they had the next hour to get out. Then, in a huff, he left, with Sigmund standing slightly confused. That was it? He just dropped them in a maze for an hour and called it quits? Usually the Jester put more effort in than that. His threats weren't even specific - just something about a fine mist or whatever. All that for what? Running in circles and hoping they wouldn't get killed?

"RANDY!"

His attention snapped around instantly - Randy getting himself hurt was nothing new, but the urgency of the wailing brought him to face the source out of reflex. There, standing frozen with fear, was Liza, who was being stared down by a literally frozen figure. Possibly of her. He couldn't tell at this distance. Whatever that was, it was supposed to be their "opponent" for the night. Not something that they wanted to attack directly, if the maze was any indication. What options did that leave, then, besides playing by the Joker's rules?

That wouldn't do, of course. He'd seen these movies before. Nobody ever really won by getting out of the maze. The only way anybody truly escaped a trap like this was by breaking the rules somehow, which would only be harder in some haunted, confusing maze with mirrors everywhere. Mirrors made of glass. Which were totally breakable. Which made for an easy way out.

Good thinking, Sigmund.

Why, thank you, Sigmund.

Don't mention it.

He gave a quick nod to the others, remarking, "Y'know what? We'll do it live. Watch this." Turning on on his heel and rushing toward the nearest wall, Sigmund brought the card still in his hand up to his forehead. Not even bothering to stop his sprint, he shouted out a very familiar name.

"HUA PO!"

As if waiting to be called, a figure appeared out of the very air above Sigmund, a young woman about a foot tall with red skin and large butterly-like wings. Wasting no time, Sigmund brought a practiced command to the front of his mind.

Blazing Burst!

The word seemed to jump out of his own consciousness, and obviously taking it to be a command, the small figure dove down and around Sigmund's arms, setting each ablaze with a bright flame that he couldn't even feel. Not breaking his sprint, he brought his clenched fist forward, meeting the wall with fire and hot steel.

Contrary to expectation, the "glass" didn't shatter. In fact, all that was left to show for Sigmund's efforts were a slight scorch mark and the pain attributed to having just punched a wall. Hua Po and the flames around his gauntlets faded away, leaving him clutching his right hand and gritting his teeth.

Stupid move, Sigmund.

Told you so.

Oh, shut it.

Looking back at the others and seeing that they had already began to run off, Sigmund sprang forward to join them. He might die anyway if he followed the Jester's rules, sure. But he would definitely be dead if he didn't get moving. A dash through the maze it was, then.



[SUP]1[/SUP] Which was kind of a dangerous thing to rely on as a main weapon, he reasoned.
[SUP]2[/SUP] Despite Sigmund's large number of past interests, medieval-era weaponry was not one of them.
[SUP]3[/SUP] Or, more accurately, over his left lung, but anatomy wasn't his best subject, anyway.
[SUP]4[/SUP] "It" was probably a more correct word, but using "he" made the situation at least a bit more rational.

 

[MarbleZone]

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


“Woah! Watch it kid, that's not exactly what I'd call a first time weapon. Uh... if you really want to, just kinda use it to poke things away. Don't hurt yourself. Only use it when necessary."

The condescending tone irked him. Why was he taking weaponry advice from a school pharmacist dressed as a mummy? Patronizing idiot.

"I appreciate the concern, Mr. Wulfgard, but I'm quite capable of taking care of myself, provided I'm adequately informed by... qualified sources. With that said, I still require clarification on that summ... What the?!"

His latest request for guidance was cut short. In front of the group now stood a positively disturbing figure, either some sort of demonic being or the very best Halloween disguise he had ever seen. And both were actually possible in this particular set of circumstances.

An anatomically inconceivable man, with limbs awkwardly attached to his body like a mannequin and a smile wider than humanly possible and dressed like a court jester, stood in front of the group, perched on top of the van. He addressed the pharmacist, like he (it?) knew him, and soon after everything became even more... inexplicable.

Pillars upon pillars of something other than stone erupted from the ground, several feet high, as the ground shook violently beneath their feet. Before he knew it, all around him were images of himself and the others, a disorienting display of twisted reality. After the initial shock, it dawned on him. Mirrors. What in the world is happening here?!

Looking around, it seemed the group was still together and the mirrors had positioned around them. Only Mr. Wulfgard was missing - but how much of a loss would that be?

A bone-chilling voice was heard, high-pitched with a mix of ecstasy and delusion.
”Now, you'll want to get out of this here maze before the Court ends. Like rats, basically. Except there's no cheese. Just life. For tonight at least.”
As it continued its tirade, Levin forced him self to take his eyes off the jester. Looking at the group, they all look equally scared. So this wasn't something they were used to...

Suddenly, the creature turned its attention directly to him, and Levin felt as if his heart stopped.
“Right, almost forgot. Here you go, newfag. Enjoy!” he screeched, throwing something at his feet before somehow vanishing.
Struggling to regain his composure, Levin fell to one knee and picked the item up. It was... A Tarot Card? VII, The Chariot... What is the meaning of this?

The whole scene kept getting progressively more disturbing and confusing. The jester, the glass walls, the tarot card? And what was the hurry in getting out anyway? It didn't seem dangerous as much as demented, and if it was indeed supposed to be a maze, what was the point in keeping almost everyone together? Why not just wait it out, knowing that this nightmare would fade eventually, like it did last night and, apparently, every other night before?

Just then, commotion started to grow in the group. For some reason, one boy he hadn't noticed until then smashed his guitar over a girl's head, urging everyone to run in a painfully raspy voice. Just then, the girl... melted away?! and was replaced by an icy figure with long blades in place of fingers, grabbed and hurled the mute boy clean over several mirror walls.

Before he could even react to the madness, and in yet another display of the paranormal - Levin began to wonder if this wasn't all just a dream by now -, Sigmund conjured some sort of fairy that hit a mirror with fire, to no avail. Perhaps he wanted to get out the easy way, but Levin was pretty sure nothing in this realm would have an easy way out at all.
Wait, backtrack... Am I really taking for granted that a fairy materialized and launched flames at a magical glass wall that rose from the ground, to try and escape from a frozen woman? Have I gone completely insane?!

His hands were shaking by now, and he was sweating. There was only so much Levin's perfectly rational and organized mind could take, and that line had long been left behind, stepped, spat and pissed on.
He grabbed his new spear. Unlike before, it felt heavy and unwieldy. He dropped it and stood motionless, unable to react. Appropriately frozen in fear.

 

[Son_of_Shadows]

Joshua Sands - Tower Arcana - Court of Miracles

Sigmund had filled the new guy (who was pulling out a heavy-looking naginata) in on everything about the Court, so there'd be no problems there presumably. But he hadn't yet summoned his Persona, presumably since he had no evoker. Maybe Wulfgard still had one of those pistols lying around... And then Lace piped up.

"I wish they'd hurry up and bring the big guys out already." As she spoke, Wulfgard disappeared, and pillars rose up around the group, stretching down through the field in both directions. And from the sounds of it, they were in pretty much every other direction too. Reflective pillars. Mirrors. What was the significance of this? Immediately, he knew what was going on. Another Shadow Self was about to appear.

"You just HAD to say it, didn't you," he sighed to Lace. Whose was it this time? As the familiar Jester appeared, perched on top of a mirror, Joshua clutched his saber. He still didn't trust this manic thing, though he'd been informed that if it wasn't for him, the battle with Shadow Izzy would have been a lot worse, to say the least. It was just the nature of the Court.

”Welcome my pets! Time for a little experiment! Now, you'll want to get out of this here maze before the Court ends. Like rats, basically. Except there's no cheese. Just life. For tonight at least. 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 perform well, only a couple of you may get shattered into a fine cold mist. Good luck, and make sure to blame the b!tch for everything! Toodles! Right, almost forgot. Here you go, newfag. Enjoy!”

Experiment? Was he just drawing a comparison to the maze, or was there some other kind of test in place here? And the incentive... Would there be something chasing them? The Jester threw a tarot card to the newbie, solving his lack of evoker problem. But it didn't seem like he'd have much time to get used to it, as the Jester's "incentive" revealed itself. Liza. A second Liza, her Shadow Self. Randy was quick on the draw as always, hitting her hard enough to snap his guitar in half. But it had practically no effect, her head simply snapped back into place. He tried to scream at them to run, but his voice was still pathetic. And as Shadow Liza's exterior melted to reveal an icy doppelganger, she grabbed Randy with a hideous claw, and launched him over the walls of the maze. Where was he? There was no way to tell.

Sigmund, to his credit, was unperturbed and already thinking of an obvious solution. "Y'know what? We'll do it live. Watch this." Summoning Hua Po, he attacked the mirror wall with all his considerable might... To absolutely no avail, and all it got him was an injured hand. Of course, that would've been far too simple. All they could do was run. Evade Shadow Liza, grab Randy, and get the hell out of the maze. Unfortunately, the newbie did not seem to grasp this concept, dropping his weapon and standing stupefied. Everyone else was beginning to move, to get away from this thing. Joshua grabbed the stranger's shoulder and shook him.

"Hey, come on! Let's move!" And with that, he took off too. It was strange though. Shadow Liza was moving slowly. If they kept at a decent pace, they'd have absolutely no trouble outrunning her. The Jester wanted them to get through the maze. But why? Was the group just running out of the frying pan and into the fire?

 

[GoldenHouou]

OOC: Sorry for the quality and the promised harrasment being more like abuse.

--

Sofiya Mikhailovna Ignatova
Court of Miracles

Luckily, Sig didn’t seem at all insulted or even intimidated by her challenge. Good, that was really, really good! Well, he could have been intimidated at least a little, though. Her challenge wasn’t to be taken lightly, she could be a tough cake if needed! A really tough, muscled cake with absolutely no whipped cream on top! … She... had to quickly stop that train of thought before she started to scare even herself. No whipped cream on a cake?! Why hadn’t she thought of that when she was making up her costume; that would have definitely scared everyone!

"Not at all," Sig replied in a minute, his fist on his heart. He looked so cool doing that too! Surreptitiously, Sofiya started to adjust her own hand to her heart as well in an attempt to mimic the man’s gesture, the tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth ruining the image pretty effectively though. "I gladly accept the role of Vice-Community until the time I can rightfully claim your title."

Sofiya’s eyes lit up and she couldn’t help but let out an excited squeal at that. Ooooh, she just got herself a Vice-Community! This was so awesome, being able to command someone higher than a Private made her feel even more like a real military officer! Now all she needed was a tank. All military officers needed tanks, right? Oh, but maybe she should get an army first… which was the bigger achievement, getting a tank or getting an army? Did an army include tanks, or only the soldiers? Wah, why were all these English terms so hard?! First thing she’d need to teach her army was to speak Russian. Yes. Or no, wait, no, da. She giggled and nodded to herself, immediately getting so absorbed into her own little world of magical armies and flying tanks she barely noticed the appearance of the Jester, and that was saying something; usually she rejoiced whenever he showed up. He seemed like a fun guy, and she had always loved clowns. She just wished she could get a chance to ask him to make her those balloon animals at some point…

Hmm, balloon tanks…~

Suddenly the ground started to shake and even Sofiya was forced to snap out of all her derailing thoughts. She looked around hastily, only to realize she was staring straight into the face of a young, black-haired woman with a ridiculously tight nurse outfit on. Oh, it was herself! And there stood Sig, right behind that other self and… huh?

She turned around, quickly taking note of what had surrounded them; mirrors. Rows and rows of beautiful mirrors, reflecting each and every one of the group from their smooth surface. Except Wulfbarb, he seemed to have disappeared somewhere…? Oh, hey, her bun could do some fixing!

She was just about to start taking care of her hair when a loud sound snapped her back to reality once more. It didn’t take long to realize the source of the voice was Randy or rather, his guitar; he had smashed the instrument against Liza’s head quite unceremoniously, and Sofiya gasped at that. Why would Randy do that? Was he a Shadow? Sofiya took a hold of her evoker, kind of missing the cold steel against her fingers. Cards were boooring. Guns were fun, and felt more reliable, more powerful. Ah well, at least the card had a pretty picture on it. Well, it had been an ugly picture whens she got it, but a few markers did wonders... Well, anyway! She breathed in, ready to shout out the name of her Persona.

But before Sofiya could summon Horus and sick him after the supposed Shadow Randy, her hypothesis was already proven wrong; it wasn’t Randy that was the Shadow, it was Liza. Her skin pretty much melted away, leaving behind an icy figure reminiscent of the mirrors surrounding them. She attacked Randy and threw him away easily like a ragdoll, before she turned her sharp clawed form towards the rest of the group. Oh. So she was the Shadow. That’s probably why Randy told them to run, too. Of course. Well she knew that!

Most everyone seemed to heed the order to escape, turning to run towards the only exit of the room – even Sig, right after punching the wall quite painfully. Silly Sig, who went around punching walls? Evoker still in hand, Sofiya planned, for a fleeting moment, to take the Shadow on instead of running from it. They had to defeat it anyway at some point, so why not do it now? She most likely would have gone along with that plan too, if she hadn’t caught a glimpse of the newbie standing still, not… really doing anything. Josh… Jos, Joseph tried to shake him up, but that didn’t really seem to do the trick either. Everyone was running away… At this rate, he'd be left alone! And being alone... that, that was scary and painfully. Alright, this meant it was up to her to save the day!

She instantly spun around on her heels and ran up to the new kid. She stopped in front of him though, her determined look sort of fading when she realized she didn’t really have a plan as to how to wake him up. The Shadow got closer and Sofiya started to flail in panic. Quickly now, quick, what was the best way to wake someone up from a state like that? Wait, oh, she got it!

And quite frankly punched him straight in the nuts.

And then smiled really, really widely, proud of her achievement.

“Men punch each other a lot in movies in order to snap others out of states like that, but since punching is mainly a man thing and only you're a man while I'm a woman I thought it wouldn't fit.” Sofiya explained in a rush, her words getting mangled together even more than usual. ”So then I thought that well as long as it hurts it probably helps right, and then I remembered that balls are pretty sensitive and they hurt and so I punched you in the balls. I would have shot you but we don't have guns and well I could have stabbed you... Would you like me to stab you the next time instead? Oh no wait, don’t answer that, we have no time! We need to be going now, let's go, let’s go!"

With that she grabbed the poor boy's arm and hurriedly started to pull him towards the exit along with her, one hand still holding her evoker to her forehead in case she needed Horus to aid their escape.

 

[niedude]

Fixed

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

JP closed the door to Terri’s hospital room without saying a word and without looking back. He’ll face this when he’s ready, if he’s ever ready. Until then… there is nothing he can do, and it is meaningless to punish himself for it. He managed to get through things so he’d live, and alive and well he is.

So let’s just cheer up and walk down the hall of this dark, murky, silent hospital ward where blood leaked from the walls and a single step echoed to eternity with a smile on your face and a heart filled with happy.

"Yeah, no. Time and a place JP, time and a place."

“Speaking to yourself?” questioned the hollow voice of his Persona.

“Well, not really. You are here, after all.”

“I am you, you are me. To speak to me is to speak to yourself, for you will only hear that which you either need, or that which you want to hear.”

“Yeahyeaheayh, I got that,” JP said, dismissing his Persona’s wanna-be philosophical bullcrap. “You do love reminding me of that.”

That said, theoretically, JP and Pedro being the same person meant that JP was… alone in the hospital. Awesome. Not creepy at all.

Especially when, from the supposedly empty hospital, not but a few halls away, hysterical, unending coughing echoed from hall to hall until it reached JP, who did not scream like a little girl. Honest.

“DAFUQWAZZAT?”

“A person!” Pedro swooped in, leaving JP behind to be terrified all he wanted. Shadows don’t cough, meaning whoever did was a human pulled in to the court. Such a human would be vulnerable to Shadows, and even if the hospital seemed to at first be devoid of them, they could easily be attracted by him.

Fortunately, JP snapped out of it relatively fast. He felt a small sense of duty compel him, and couldn’t dismiss the symbolism of saving someone from apathy syndrome the moment he’d cast his back on the girl who got infected with it because of him. He followed the disturbing sound, unable to imagine what kind of asthma attack the person was going through, crossing hall after hall, occasionally stopping to check a room or two.

He caught up with Pedro just as the two crossed into the hall where the sound seemed to have originally come from. No one was there, but the odd noise of far off steps reassured him, albeit not too much. Slightly down the way was a discarded piece of cloth, soaked red with what JP thought to be the fake blood from the walls. There also was something akin to a handprint pressed against a wall, but the continuous flow of the red ooze covered whatever it was before the boy could get a good look at it. Regardless, the other guy had to be close.

The two resumed their tracking, wary of any suspicious sounds and going after them. It didn't cross JP's mind that the path Shinai was taking was exactly opposite of the path a scared civilian would take, it going deeper into the hospital instead of out of it. The boy wouldn't make a good PI, that's for sure.

However, due to the student council's slow walking when compared to JP's much quicker pace, they soon caught up with one another, with Pedro dematerializing just before Shinai could turn back and see it, sparing JP the problem of explaining just who that oversized knight hovering in mid air was and risking scaring the “dude” the other direction.

Even if the other direction was some kind of cold storage unit. That... didn't make much sense, but the Court didn't exactly produce the most reasonable states of mind in those it dragged along, so there's that. The other guy was mighty focused though, not even noticing JP's presence until he put his hand on the guy's shoulder.

“Dude, you ok?” he said, a speech on the best way to explain what was going on and what exactly was happening already being composed in his head.

That is, until the other kid turned around and looked JP face to face. His identity was unmistakable, too: the oddly angular face, the characteristic hair, and those round glasses that seemed to be perpetually reflecting back what little light there was in the room. Oh yeah, JP remembered who this guy was.


“Sh-Shinai?!”

 

[InnerFlame]

Russell Wilton
Court of Miracle

Everyone was gathering and there was certainly a missing tall jerk missing. Then again these couple of months seeing him at all was like spotting some rare species and as quick as he appeared, he was gone just as fast. Not that he really cared; he wasn’t interested in the guy in the least. Why he was even thinking about him now was beyond him maybe it was because of the scene he saw before the party. The Court night seem oddly brighter this night, was it just his imagination?

“I wish they'd hurry up and bring the big guys out already.” Lace stated as she lean again the side of the van; she sounded upset by that lack of evil creatures trying to kill or put them in a comatose like state. Personally if nothing happened he would be more than thrill, but of course and greeting from the neighborhood Jester said so otherwise. Spiriting away the only adult of the group tall walls began to quickly sprout out around them.

“You just HAD to say it, didn't you,” that might have been the redhead's response but the night had already been jinxed by Halberd earlier. Wulfgard was gone and they were surrounded by a reflective surface, mirrors on all side. All he could see was reflection after reflection all around him... Just great, this was his least favorite attraction, the funhouse. The disorientating images of mirror reflecting images from the other mirror; in all honest compare to his first court this seem less horrifying. Then right now cue was a strumming instrument, a ‘RUN’, Randy getting utterly destroy by Shadow Liza and hurled over a couple of mirror. There was that fear of facing a special shadow, Liza started fleeing Sigmund try to break down the mirror with fire and it didn’t even leave a scratch. It look like would have to do this the old fashion way.

Suddenly a weapon dropped, people tried to snap the newest member out if his shocked state. Then Sofiya slugged him in the groin and then began to explain why; while he was now frozen in pain. Thus the foreign classmate was even higher bumped up on his list of people to avoid went possible. He prayed she never gets a gun, because then there would something else for them to worry about. The shorter girl grabbed and yanked Levin along with everyone else avoiding the icy Liza double but Russell paused. The newly introduced guy’s weapon had been dropped and he would probably need it but shadow was in close-range to it now even with her slow pace.

The freshman swallowed hard as he decided to go for the weapon. He didn’t much time before she got too close, he grabbed the weapon, was slightly lighter than his axe but still quite heavy. With the axe very heavy but he had gain enough strength to at least hold them, and carry the load enough to give it to someone else or its chosen person.

 

[Vivian_Bloom]

Lace Condor
Court of Miracles

"You just had to say it, didn't you?" Joshua asked her.

Lace pushed herself off the wall and frowned at him just as everyone's attention went to the van. The Court joker was sitting cross-legged on vehicle's roof. He called out to the crew and Lace gave him a brief glance before going back to her daggers, rubbing off fingerprints with her t-shirt.

”Welcome my pets! It's time for a little experiment!" He announced. Lace perked up when he told him how special tonight would be. The fact that they were all grouped together and the moon was especially bright tonight meant that their practice was over.

Another shadow self was on its way.

She wasn't sure who, but the Joker mentioned that some bitc--"Girl" had problems for them later on. Hoping no one would see her; Lace turned her back to the van: "Yes," she whispered, pumping her fist.

Immediately, the atmosphere was changing. From nowhere, a series of tall-wide mirrors appeared and boxed in the team. From every direction, she could see her teammate’s reflection. Lace took a small step forward, noticing her reflection. She gripped both daggers in her battle-ready position and gently side-stepped to the left and right. Before Lace could engage her obviously evil twin, she heard a scream from behind. Randy.

"Run!"

Run? You mean, from that? He didn't need to sound that excited. The Court just starts and we're already supposed to beeline back out? Lace turned to see him get thrown clean over the edge by what looked like: "A sharp popsicle," she said. Lace squinted. It's got to be another shadow, but, this thing isn't human. Lace faced herself to the Shadow and slowly backed up, not breaking off her curious stare.

Sigmund summoned Hua Po and tried to break the ice with what sounded like a strong punch. It was never that easy. Glancing at him and the others running out towards the path, Lace circled around the side, a good distance from the shadow.

Russell was a lot braver than she thought. He went in and snatched up Levin's weapon pretty close to this...ice titan. Seeing as how he was able to go in let Lace know that the enemy wasn't that quick. But, at the same time... Are we all just going on Joker's word for this? Who says there's just an open exit at the end of this, just waiting with open arms for us? He just wants to see us squirm. If he really wanted to help us, he'd fight!

She shouted out to the group. "No one's going to try and stop it?"

Lace bit her lip, and in one fast motion, raised the tarot card high above her head, and crushed it. The blazing hot jets of fire erupted from the ground and Saturn us towered at Lace's right side. The red and white god looked down at her Lace and then to Shadow Liza.

Oh look, she's made of ice...wait. Ice? La-

She's short!

"Saturnus!" she twirled her daggers, "Skates!" A small area of the ground Lace stood on turned white hot. Flames rose up, ensnaring her legs below her knees. Floating a couple inches above the ground, Lace leaned forward and skated around the circle, hurtling in Russell's direction. She outstretched her hand and crouched.

Come on, come on, just a little more.

Lace had circled around, and with what was more of a crash then scooping him up, she knocked him away from the Shadow. He didn't go far, but now, there was a clear enough shot that wouldn't cook her teammate. Still on her skates, she looked to her side at Russell, "Sorry about that," she said to him trying to shout over Saturnus' jets. He had Levin's weapon. "Want to see if we can slow her down?" Lace turned to face S. Liza. There was a nice gap between the shadow and Lace and Russell.

Saturnus was on her side. She shouted to Saturnus who launched a fireball from its core, coloring the floor beneath its path a mixture of orange and red. It was coming straight for the Shadow.

 

[Niihyl]

Mana Shizuko
Court of Miracles

Izzy passed Mana a walkie-talkie, and Mana replied with a nod of thanks. If Izzy could build up the strength of his electricity, they could drive, or set up a real fort against the Shadows. Maybe mount some real assaults. The possibilities were endless.

The moon's rays were almost as bright as the sun, and Mana narrowed his eyes. Well, they wouldn't need flashlights.

Suddenly, mirrors rose from the ground, cutting Wulfgard off. In the span of a second, the area had the same eeriness of a deserted funhouse and the crew was suddenly surrounded by an army of reflections. A passageway broke off from the circle of mirrors. "A maze of mirrors? Well, that's not going to be troublesome later."

”Welcome my pets! Time for a little experiment!”

It was the Jester. Again. Maybe the bastard just wanted to have friends or something. Mana brought his Persona card to this brow and called Alice forth with a soft whisper. Best to be fully prepared for action at any moment. The young girl appeared out of the resultant smoke, grinning widely.

The Jester was perched atop one of the mirrors, grinning like a loon. ”Now, you'll want to get out of this here maze before the Court ends. Like rats, basically. Except there's no cheese. Just life. For tonight at least.” he - it(?) - said. “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 perform well, only a couple of you may get shattered into a fine cold mist. Good luck, and make sure to blame the ***** for everything! Toodles!” The Jester turned, but paused to give the newbie a Persona card. Well, what a helpful guy.

Then Randy smashed his guitar into Liza's face and she turned into a Shadow. Well, to be more precise, Shadow Liza became an obvious monster. Her skin melted off of her, revealing a sculpture of ice underneath. Her fingers extended into vicious claws and she used them to lift Randy up and hurl him over the mirrored maze walls.

Oh, I always knew she was frigid, Alice tittered. Look at them, their first date is already going so well.

Sigmund had tried to break the walls, but hadn't even scratched them. Of course, whoever was running the Court - the Jester? The Jester didn't run the Court, did he? - wouldn't let them get off that easily.

And then Sigmund ran off into the maze, followed by Joshua.

"Um, guys?" Mana called. "I think we could maybe, I dunno, NOT SPLIT UP? Bad things happen when the teenagers split up!" But they were gone. "Dammit," he swore.

Sofiya had driven her fist into the new kid's balls. Mana winced, but the new guy was in good hands. Sure, he'd probably get abused and degraded, but he'd probably live. Sofiya was capable. Mana nocked and drew an arrow. He sent the heavy metal broadhead flying towards the icy statue's torso. "Mudo," he said afterward.

Alice waved her hands, causing a pool of blood to coalesce on the ground before her. Streaks of red, tainted by black, flew across the ground towards the Shadow. The familiar symbols formed around his foe, and Mana grinned. Lace was attacking as well, launching a fireball from her Persona. The two spells should land at the same time. If that didn't hurt it, little else would.

Mana ran backwards towards the exit, keeping an eye on Shadow Liza in case she had any projectile attacks. After all he'd survived, taking an icicle to the back just wouldn't do. Alice made a snide comment about what else could get stuck in his back. Mana ignored her.

Mana saw Sofiya dragging the new kid along. "Oi, Commander!" Mana cried. "Commander! Can Horus fly up and scout out the maze? Maybe find Randy too?"

 

[Zincspider]

Shinai Haitani
Quarterman General Hospital
Court of Miracles

“Sh-Shinai?”

Shinai sighed and unclenched his fist. For a second, he'd thought one of those shadows had followed him this far. Even worse, if it was a familiar one. It would have been the first time he hadn't been given a warning, though...
Looking at the face of this intruder, Shinai began to run through his mental catalog of faces. Obviously latino, short hair, vacant expression... a certain Mr. JP. His real name escaped him at the moment, but that hardly mattered. At the moment, he was nothing but an interruption. Still... why was he here.

“Of course, hah...” Shinai muttered to himself, sliding the boy's hand of his shoulder, continuing into the room “, 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.” Shinai continued, casually sliding a standard sliver Zippo lighter out of his pocket. Flicking it open, he held it as a makeshift torch and began to examine the contents of the storage room on his own. Or the blood bank as it should have been called. “But why... why is there more I wonder...” Shinai questioned, in the middle of his search. It was obvious he was all but ignoring JP at this point, more interested in his existence than the man himself.

Then he froze. His whole body shivered for a single moment, and all looking at him would have thought he'd simply experienced a chill. But soon after a large amused grin spread across his face.

“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?” He began. “To know it's your own decisions and faults that have brought you here tonight? Ah, good. Just what I needed.” Shinai dropped his line of questioning, and instead began to flip a few small packets of now room temperature blood into the crook of his arm. “I wish I could say I share your pain... but that'd be a lie. Nothing you've gone through is nearly comparable to what I've had to endure.” Despite the content of his speech, Shinai's voice remained almost... cheerful, as if he delighted in knowing that others were affected by the Court... or that he was hiding much darker intentions beneath a mask, just as he did as school. As if to enforce the last idea, the orange flame of the lighter flickered, creating large black shadows, accentuating every crease and angle on his face, making the smiling teen look more like something out of a horror show.

“I've the got the proper tubing at home I believe. Yes, this should do.” He mumbled, once again not caring that JP stood not ten feet from him. Of course he didn't care. What threat could the boy pose? Ophidian had already told him several things about the boy. If he'd found anything else of interest, he'd have been warned. All he was, was decoration as far as Shinai was concerned. A rather large decoration that was still standing in the doorway halfway blocking his path, but a decoration none the less.

“I'll be taking my leave then.” He announced, flipping his lighter shut, extinguishing the flame immediately plunging the room back into darkness. With surprising nimbleness, he slipped past JP never looking directly at him or his eyes, and began to walk out of the hospital, not looking back at all. He had work to do. No time for idle chatter with a meat-head. Every step away from the boy, his grin began to shrink until it was inverted, a scowl once more.

Shadow Liza
Mirror Maze
Court of Miracles

'First thread disposed of. Origin running. Multiple aggressors in sight.'

Two of them attempted to attack her, one slinging an arrow in her chest. Damage not worth elaborating upon. Removing bolt from chest as two simultaneous attacks struck her. Small amount of damage, fire causing slight beading of water, and dark energies cracking legs. Dropped arrow to ground and began to advance once more, repair from fire already completed and legs mended soon after. Smoke still in air from attack. Visibility not hampered.

Closest target is one who uses fire. Not a threat. Still in way. Smoke from fire clearing, visibility of targets reaching her own level. Strike at closest target with claws, using back of hand. Sends target flying down the corridor straight ahead. Non-lethal blow.

'Continuing advancement.'

 

[Ysavvryl]

Snow
CoM, mirror maze

Based on the first couple of minutes, it was going to be one of those nights. Something that hadn't happened since the group's first couple of weeks. The Jester showed up again, giving his usual mixed insult-advice speeches. And taking Wulfgard out of the area. Then the ground trembled and crack, causing a maze of mirrors to grow up all around them. Their task, apparently, was to get out the the maze when something might be trying to freeze-vaporize them. If that's what he meant by 'fine cold mist'.

Snow looked over the group, trying to think of how to solve a mirror maze. Due to being surrounded by mirrors, the reflections went on to eternity. But in looking at the ground, that wasn't reflective. Going by the bottom edges of the mirrors might help. Or the top edges. Above all, he was trying to keep calm. He needed to keep a level head to help the others, and himself, get out. The Shadows took control of the situation all too quickly.

As he thought that, he heard the guitar and looked up in time to see Randy clobber Liza in the face with his instrument. But even though her neck seemed to crack, she remained standing, which was suspicious. Then all the color of her body melted away, leaving an ice sculpture Shadow Liza with an expression as blank as it was cold. She proceeded to pick up Randy and toss him over the mirror maze walls.

Running was a good idea, so Snow started off, leaving the initial 'room' and heading into the halls. But before he was completely in the maze, he spotted Sofiya attempting to rouse the new guy Levin by punching him between the legs. Snow winced at seeing that; that wasn't going to help him get away at all.

He snatched up his evoker card and snapped it against his hand with a sound like breaking glass (although really, it didn't hurt at all). “Melpomene, Dia!” he called, focusing on Levin. The elegant Greek Muse appeared briefly to send a healing glow his way. As his Persona faded, Snow said, “Sonya, please don't hit anyone else; that isn't helping.”

He then turned back to head into the maze, but he didn't go as fast as he could. The ones in back might get attacked, so they might need him here. Or would the ones in front need him if they ran into something? Well, he'd figure that out; he just had to get moving.

And then Lace was sent flying ahead of him. Snow ran faster, calling, “Come on, Lace; you okay?” as he went by.