[PP-F06] Dark seeks light

[Raidou 1]

Piece by piece as others gathered around the table. "Not a problem, these days my alembic doesn't see that much use anyway." Raidou remarks, dismissing Sey's acceptance as trivial. Leaning in close and murmuring, "Don't worry Hilda, I've still known you for much longer. By the way, planning on dying your hair again?" It came off as odd, as if it was something he was familiar with asking. A smile as he users to his given seat, reaching for his nose and plucking free a pair of lenses and folding them up. "Steam always gets the better of me." As they began to fog up, placing them near his dish and placing his hands together in front of him.

"Thanks for the meal." For a brief instant there was something fractured, distorted and obtuse. But it doesn't seem noticed by the pleasant atmosphere at all.

To the platter and a pair of chopsticks, while others preferred forks. He was a man of method, and had his own tools he used. It was a bit precarious, and it seems he was having a bit of trouble, even still he was persistent. "So Sey, how is the new shop fairing? Every now and again I hear word of the 'fresh new cook', They haven't really pieced it together, you moved to a better local yet?" The utensils hanging out of his gullet as his gaze was fixated on the guy with a shared smile, loose conversation and bantering as if they'd been friends for quite some time.

The conversation stops as Raidou tilts his head, halfway in a shared discussion with the girl's fiancé. "Who?" He pauses and looks to Simmone perplexed. "Who is Setsuna?"

[Hidden 1]

OOC Note: From the nature of how things were going, I had to reverse the order of what is happening in the post to be able to respond to it. 

The friendly nature between Raidou and Sey was unfamiliar to her, but it was starting to grow on her. The thing about it that was the hardest to wrap her mind around was Raidou being overly pleasant. She didn't remember having seemed like this before at all. Raidou and him had spoke like they were old friends. In response to Raidou's question, Sey would smile brightly. "Oh? It's moving along quite nicely. Soon, I don't even think I'll be able to keep up with the orders!" A trill laughter would cause Hidden to smile. It was nice to see him getting to enjoy himself. As for Raidou, he seemed pretty happy as well. His attitude it was pleasant, but there was something wrong with it. It wasn't the Raidou she had become accustomed to. Something in her head told her to simply roll with it. She was willing to roll with it until Raidou slid closer, his face inches from hers. Quietly, he would assure her that he had known her for much longer. The issue was not only his distance from her, but the fact that he said her name. 

Standing suddenly, Hidden would get up. There was something sickening about hearing her own name here. That wasn't who she was here. Only Sey had ever been told it because she wanted to meet him outside of Aincrad if she ever left. To hear Raidou say it and so casually... it made her want to vomit. 

Trying to push down the sickness that gathered in her throat, she would excuse herself from the table heading in the direction of the Master Bathroom. Sey would immediately respond to her need, "Love?" He would step in her direction but she would hold out her hand. "Stop! Don't you follow me!" Moving down the hall, she would skirt through their room and to the bathroom. Moving to the sink, she would tightly grasp the counter. Violet eyes met her own as she stared into he mirror in front of her. All she could see was herself, pale as ever, with snow-white hair falling over her shoulders. Hadn't it returned to its natural black before? Memories that existed outside of this place she was in were hazy, but she couldn't shake the feeling that nothing was right. It made her nauseous. 

Turning on the faucet, she would slash some water into her face to help herself cooldown. Something inside of her told her she was overreacting but did she actually feel that way? 

[Simmone 0]

Reciprocating the exchange with Raidou, unsure to who Hilda was referring. What's more is the curiosity where it seems that the meal wasn't quite sitting right with her. "Perhaps some premarital jitters, or maybe you've gone and gotten her pregnant." Simmone goads Sey as she starts to stand, the chair screeching out as she does. "I will check on her, you boys continue being boys. But keep your eyes off my backside." That same soft clattering of heels across bathroom tiles, catching Hidden's eyes through a mirror.

"What's the matter, dear?" The woman spoke as her eyes returned to that elegant and almost predatory gold lighting. Leaning against the open doorframe, arms crossed. "Don't tell me you have cold feet? After all, the marriage is in a few days." Her head tilts, her cognition shape becoming almost disjointed as the front door abruptly breaks loose and slams shut. It seemed that Akane had made her way back, finding her way home like a stray cat when food was available. But the black cat's gaze remains fixated on Hidden's reflection. "Isn't this everything you have ever wanted?"

[Hidden 1]

The sound of high-heels clicking against the floor caught Hidden's ears before Simmone's words did. Unlike Sey, she didn't immediately push the woman away. Out of everyone, she hadn't acted at all out of the ordinary. There was a bit of information she was missing, but Simmone hadn't acted any different. Eyes raising to the point where she could see Simmone through the mirror, she studied the woman closely. Her eyes were still tinged with gold and for once it was a relief to Hidden. 

"What's the matter, dear? After all, the marriage is in a few days." Turning from the mirror, mouth wide open, she would stare stunned at Simmone. "MARRIAGE? ME?" Here words were coughed out essentially and were sounded with disbelief. She was getting married to Sey? It had once been planned but the whole business with the APD had prevented it from ever happening. 

 "Isn't this everything you have ever wanted?"

Stunned by the question, Hidden would turn her head away. Wasn't this everything she ever wanted? She had friends that visited, she was living happily with Sey, and not a single worry tread her mind. What was the matter with her? She should be more the excited. "Hey Simmone." She would suddenly speak, calmly. She simply needed to affirm something. "You've been appraising Sey and I since you got here. What do you see in me?" She had remembered the woman's answer from before. Was it going to be different here? Was she a different person here, or had just the world changed around here?

[Simmone 0]

"Well, you did just go with me to pick out your bridal gown. Or did we?" That star field still lingered on her iris, showing no signs of stopping any time soon. Another question finally came out, after the epiphany subsides and is squelched by the girl. Simmone looks back out at the table, scanning for any of them becoming of aware of the subject. None the wiser, who knew what they might do if it became obvious that Hidden was rebelling against her manufactured prison. "My dear, Hilda. I see you, as I did in the mirror. But where one plays a shadow now that role is reversed. I must say, you look much better this way." To Hidden she could see herself, but to the black cat, the seer that could seer through any lie, she saw a black haired woman, riddled with joy at the principle of happiness. It was as if she was speaking to the woman's shadow, the reality behind the looking glass. As it turned out, the real Hidden had become nothing more than a ghost that a select few could see.

[Hidden 1]

"I'm sorry... I don't remember going to get that Bridal Gown. That wasn't me." Taking a breath, Hidden would move over to sit on toilet as she attempted to understand the world that was going on around her. Was this simply an alternate version of Aincrad, but she had replaced the Hidden of it? "Reversed huh? I wish I knew what that meant. Does that mean that I've become the shadow in the scenario? Is that why I am so out of place here?" The question was asked slowly and spoken softly. Simmone told her that she thought she looked better this way. A smile would form on Hidden's lips. "Of course, I'd be happy here. I'd get to wake up every day and see Sey. I doubt that Laughing Coffin or the APD ever existed here or they at least leave me alone." Hidden had almost become completely aware of her surroundings. No longer was she trying to integrate herself with it. 

"I'd be happy... but nothing would ever feel right. I'm not even speaking with the people that I know. To you, I'm a stranger wearing someone else's face." Tracing her hair back to her ear, she would tuck it there as she gazed down into her lap. The question also lingered in her head: If she looked better here, how could she be like that back where she belonged? 

[Simmone 0]

"Wasn't it?" Simmone remarks with a coy response, keeping an eye as Ayame starts to scatter food across her face. Arms folded, the woman inspects herself in the mirror, and it seems almost fixated on the reflection. "Simple my dear, I saw both of these versions of you. But before the 'real' you and the one in the mirror was reversed. The question is which was the 'real' you? The one produced by the cardinal system, or the one that was your ideal?" Eyes locked to her own copy in that silver, as if she was seeing something that didn't sit right with her. Eventually that gaze removes itself, and seeks out Hidden. "Remember what we spoke about? I think both and neither of these versions are true. I believe they are halves, fractured by the troubles forced upon us. It is alright to seek perfection, or happiness. But it should not be done by forgetting what has been gone through. It is those trials that make us who we are just as much as what we want to be." A glance out to Raidou, to Sey, to Ayame. "That is why it doesn't feel correct. The price hasn't been paid for this happiness, so it is fake."

[Hidden 1]

As normal, most of Simmone's words held no meaning for her. Instead of providing a straight-forward answer, the white-haired girl was offered a question. Which of her was truly the real Hidden? Instead of leaving the question in the air, Simmone took her interpretation of the answer. The answer was that there wasn't any, her and her other half were one and the same. Nodding, Hidden would lock eyes with the golden irises of Simmone. "I think I understand. What's wrong here isn't necessarily me or even the surrounding. The only thing that may be off is the people in it. Everything else is caused by a change in circumstance." The thought process was completely off-the-wall but it was the only thing she could make out of Simmone's words.

Standing up from her toilet seat, she would look at Simmone silently for a moment. Her happiness was fake because it was forced upon her. "I guess... I guess it might be time for me to leave then. I don't belong here... at least not yet." The voices of three drifted in from the kitchen. What would they have even thought of her absence? Would they try to stop her? There was really only one way to find out. 

[Simmone 0]

"Perhaps your right." Her gaze fixed on Hidden before they shift over the shoulder toward the mirror. "I cannot see what I see in you, this is your dream, I have no reflection in that mirror." The black cat places her hand against it, cold and solid. She could make out the room, but not herself. A mirage that knew it was one. "Move along, Hilda. You don't belong here." Her hand slipping from that surface in a streak. Looking back in at the wilting lily, as memory slowly fizzled in, fractured to pieces and disjointed beyond belief. As if two lives were melding in a horrid mess. "Make this happiness your own, through the trials that you must face. Make it real. Don't look back." Simmone smiles weakly before slipping out of the room.

The click of heels as they shift from hardwood flooring to tile. "Hilda has to step out for a moment, Girl things." A coy grin that did well to hide her discomfort, she'd play the part of scapegoat and keep the entities in this place. The woman leads forward and whispers something in Sey's ear. Immediately, his face turns bright red, he turns his head and coughs. Simmone looks back and smiles as she takes a seat. "Go go." A gesture of her hand in a wave. "We'll be waiting for you, eating spaghetti that will go straight to my ass."

Elsewhere, In another time and place.

Soft rustling and a few aggressive spits, a subtle humming, is trickled to a stop like droplets from a faucet. A whisper: "Sprinkles...I think she found her way. Isn't that great, stop bitting your butt."

[Hidden 1]

Simmone would assure Hidden's conclusion of the world around her and her place. The scary thought was knowing that her and Simmone had traded places. Now, it was Simmone who couldn't see herself in the mirror. A faint memory of Simmone's own mirror whispered into her mind. Hidden would watch as the dark haired woman would press her hand against it, assumedly without any result. The cat-like woman would pull her hand away from the mirror, telling her to leave. Slipping from the room, the woman would offer her a weak smile before returning to the table and cover for her absence. 

Moving towards the front door, she would stop for a moment and falter at the knob. 

"Make this happiness your own, through the trials that you must face. Make it real. Don't look back."

Against her warning, Hidden would turn. Violet eyes peered into the vision, a vision that made her happy. Simmone whispered something to Sey and he'd become bright red. She had always loved to see his embarrassed side, though she always found herself getting embarrassed before she could get him to be. Ayame was happily eating, some of the sauce had even gotten onto her face. Hidden was glad that the girl had become so happy from her frightened and feral original self.  "Go go." Simmone ushered her away, continuing to push her away. The woman was right. She needed to leave. If she stayed any longer, she would never want to leave. 

Simmone's final words would humor her, a small giggle forming. Turning back to open the door, she would call back to the woman, "At least you have an ass! That spaghetti hasn't gotten me anywhere!" Laughing and smiling, Hilda would made her way out and into her yard. A pleasant breeze rolled through, leaves fluttered to the ground. It was simply... perfect. For her though, perfect wasn't good enough. 

[Hidden 1]

Continuing to walk, she would end up reaching the outskirts of her house's yard. How much farther did she needed to go to leave? Had she not actually completed the Trial? Did she need to go back? Something told her Simmone would be unimpressed. Continuing to walk, she found that it suddenly became harder to walk. As if a harsh win was attempting to prevent her from proceeding forward. Pushing forward, a ripping sound would become audible as the world around her would suddenly tear away and cause even the ground at her feet to fade. Falling through the air, a sudden thud as she planted to the ground. 

'Ouch that wasn't graceful at all!' she thought to herself. Turning around, she would find the door she had stepped through to get this far. What had happened? When she stepped through did she become momentarily unconscious? All of everything she just witnessed had happened during the time it took her to fall to the ground? The idea disagreed with her. Shaking her head, she would simply decide to ignore it. This entire place didn't make much sense in the first place. 

The hallway had remained cold, in fact it seemed colder as she proceeded. It was as if she was in a long freezer and each step took her closer to the fans. However, with the second door passed, the area had become brighter and she could at least make out several feet in front of her before it became impossible to see farther. From what she could see, nothing had changed in the hallway. There were no side rooms, it was just one long cold, stone, dark hallway. Boring.

Taking a step forward, she now found herself actively looking for the next sealed door. With the pattern of things, she was certain another was up and coming. Hopefully it was more like the second door instead of the first. She was much happier to stay within Aincrad than have anything outside of it. 

[Hidden 1]

Her footsteps echoed as she continued down the hall. Her breath created a thin white mist in the air, something she only just now seeing thanks to the additional light. Unlike before, the girl made no hesitation in her steps and was confident with the path laid out bare before her. Surely enough, another door would rest in her path. A seal resting at its center depicted by tea leaves in the shape of a dagger. From first glance, the burning-red image on the door held no meaning to her. Hidden couldn't even begin to formulate a guess on what could rest on the opposite side. 

Stepping forward, she would find that the door let off an intense heat. The smell of blood and smoke rested on the other side. Faltering for a moment, her hand would remain stationary in the air as it extended out. Something told her this door would resemble the first much more than that of the second. Taking a breath to steel herself, the lily would push it open. Not even given a chance to make her own decision, a mighty flame rose consuming girl and door alike. As the woman burned away into ash, words would be echo through the air. 

 

Face the impending disaster. 

[Hidden 1]

Chapter Three: Resist
"Face the impending disaster."

---

When her vision returned to her, she found herself staring at a stone tile floor. A voice called to her, asking if she could get up. Raising her head, she found herself looking on at a raging battle. A familiar man clad in a red coat stood, struggling to hold back the force of a monster with three heads. His health was beginning to drop considerably, but the woman was certain of his recovering capabilities. Her eyes flicked back at those that surrounded her. Many of the Firm Anima members stood there, calling out to each other. A few others remained in the fight but it seemed many of them were in the process of teleporting out. 

The white-haired girl stood up, backing away from the fight and reentered the shadows. It seemed that their situation was dire, but the boss that stood against them was also on its last leg. Most likely, the monster was baring its last fangs as its last health bar dipped into red. <<Tanabata Hydra>> was a large three-headed beast, that seemed more than agile enough to keep them on their toes. Violet eyes would onlook as the beast withdrew from Raidou before leaping into the air and slamming into the ground. A shockwave shook the ground knocking several of the remaining players in the fight to the ground. 

'Why is there an odd number of players here? Raidou seems to be the only tank going on, but he is tanking for multiple parties too? I guess we better kill it quickly to take some of the load off huh?' 

Another glance at the other players, it seemed many of them had the same idea as her. Setsuna, Freyd, and Ayame...? What was the girl doing here? When had she gotten to the frontlines? Each of them seemed poised and ready to attack at once. Ayame was most likely still in this fight because Hidden herself was still there. Stupid girl, when would she learn about stepping into fights she didn't belong in? At least it looked like she had Shiina there keeping her healed. A violet aura wrapped around her amethyst blade as Hidden primed an attack, creeping forward from the shadows. 

 

[Raidou 1]

OOC: Imaginary, not legitimate death owo

As the beast rose and latched to the ceiling, inverting with ease as it used its claws to hold fast like a spider. It vanishes into the darkness, only a pair of red eyes visible as it scatters quickly. Hissing and growling as it moves. "Leave." Raidou mutters out in the silence before the storm. Shiina jumps to attention and offers a salute, reaching into her pocket and smashing it into her head. A cacophony of laughter as she disappears, unknowing to what was about to transpire.

Ayame begins to stand, her health dwindling into the red, and the healer had since retreated. "I can still fight." The girl remarks, eager to keep up her appearance, as if she could handle this. "No, get out of here. This isn't..." The wanderer barks, but instead, before he can finish, she rushes past him with a dagger raised. The very same that Hidden had given her. Sliding to halt as the boss drops and takes another clip at her, dodging the first as her eyes go wide. A misappropriated expectation, that she could evade one but misunderstanding the other two. Teeth slide toward her digital skin, but instead find purchase in another. A sword clatters to the floor with an arm, a violent spray of red data. A pair of glasses drop.

The girl screams as her eyes dilate. The horror of an appendage mere feet from her, she struggles to focus. His left hand reaches to his neck, as the other head clamps down over his right eye. His legs fold under the weight. Ripping a small amulet from his neck, and pushing it into the girl's palm, who was dumbstruck. "F-floor 1, Tow-n of Beginnin-gs" The nomad struggles out the words as his HP continues to drain out. A flash of blue light, sends her out in shock. "L-leave." The wanderer fights out the murmur, as a sudden ejection of spikes leaps from his back, punching holes in his robe and through the creature's face. It recoils and takes a step back, whining in agony.

Ripping his robe off his shoulders with his one remaining arm, the other struggling to reform. The right half of his face is nothing more than a pastel chunk of red, missing completely. "This is it, just you and me. Declaring the end from the beginning, although there are things which have not been done, my purpose was established, and I have accomplished what I was meant to." A blackened soup pours out of his neck and hands, bleeding out from him like blood removing his features. To the top of the chamber, a sudden lurching column of black pierces the ceiling and latches to the stone. It digs and burrows, seeking out and ripping down everything around them both.

The arm pops, turning into data.

The prompt pops up two seconds later, 'Floor ## Cleared!' with a showing of rewards, but the number seemed distorted and unclear.

A familiar slime slides out of the cracks between the cave in, seeking out the sword and congealing beneath it. Hanging loosely and flapping on a breeze, a robe trapped in the stone.

[Freyd 0]

As the chaos of battle simmered down, the magnitude of silence and absence reigned.  The inevitable had clashed against the impossible.  In a paradox of improbabilities, a legend had fallen.  Not the boss, of course.  Those died constantly - almost inevitably.  No, this felt like the crushing oblivion of unimaginable loss exposing the thing that lays beyond the last shred of salvation.  Despair had taken the field in the form of a Pyrrhic victory.

Wind, like the last gasp of hope, carried the acrid scent of brimstone across the blasted field, broken by the sound of a booth crunching upon ashes.  A figure crouched over the banner that had formed  and bound the spirit of Firm Anima, kneeling down as nothing but a void in the shadows.  Its hand reached to grasp the tattered, blood-coloured cloth: a symbol of myriad sacrifices made and prices paid.  Hesitation.  Disbelief.  Sorrow.  In the end they gave way to an oath founded upon a single premise and criteria: above all things, resolve.

Leather creaked as a fist clenched and grasped the fallen robe.  The breeze still fluttered.  Hope endured.  The banner must go forward.  He had promised.

Standing tall, the silhouette turned its empty, hooded gaze towards her, just as it had done before the clash with Shadow himself.  Eyes of crystalline crimson saw through the darkness, blazing like the burning lilies that grew only at the edge of the Vale of Ruin in the blighted fields of floor twenty-three.

Voices whispered in the wind as he stared in her direction, carrying accusations or some distorted dirge.  Hidden couldn't be sure.

"What are you doing here," Freyd asked her flatly, his voice devoid of tone, whether towards light or dark, yet somehow beckoning both.

[Hidden 1]

♫

 "Leave."

The words were all that were audible in the short span of silence. Hidden's eyes widened in disbelief as she watched Shiina vanish suddenly. Wasn't the girl supposed to be their only healer left? Who was going to keep Raidou alive while they made an escape? It wasn't like the man needed much healing but still. Reaching to her side on the inside of her clothing, she would find the cool touch of a small blue stone. "Teleport Ta-" Her words were cut off as she watched Ayame charging forward with her dagger. A heavy sigh escaped the girl's lips as she moved her hand away from the crystal. It seemed she was going to need to reel in her little 'sister'. 

However; before Hidden could even make a move, disaster would strike. The beast moved in instantly on the small girl as if it had forgotten Raidou completely. She watched as Raidou blocked the attack with his arm, the appendage ripping from his avatar. Gritting her teeth, Hidden would push off the ground as hard as she could, vaulting for the boss. The boss's health was low, maybe she could finish it off before things got anymore drastic? A flash of blue light engulfed Ayame, sending her out of the boss room. Swinging her weapon, the purple aura of her dagger would strike towards the flesh off the boss... until the attack bounced off a sudden black spire. Catching herself on the ground, she would step back as the black spire would pierce into the ceiling. 

The sound of glass shattering filled the air as the final hit on the boss had been dealt. Tracing her eyes down to Raidou, she wouldn't find his figure. Confusion was apparent on her face as her violet eyes searched for where had had suddenly moved to. Instead, what she found was a red robe flapping in the stone. Weird, she hadn't seen the Wanderer take it off before. It was sort of his thing to always be wearing it right? Footsteps behind her echoed throughout the Boss room. Freyd stepped past her, heading towards the robe. Her eyes trailed further, searching for Raidou. The next item to be found was a sword, wedged in the stone. Cracks formed around the heavy blade. 

A gasp was the first audible noise she made after the realization hit her. With widened eyes the girl would stumble forward to the weapon, collapsing in front of it. The impossible had transpired, the unshakeable constant in her life crumbling at foundation. It was all she could do to sit there in silence, onlooking at the weapon.

'This isn't real. This isn't real. THIS ISN'T REAL!' 

The words screamed through her mind, but she found it impossible to convince herself of their meaning. A drop of liquid traced from the side of her face, unknown to her. How could this have happened? Hadn't she been making sure something like this wouldn't happen? 

"What are you doing here."

The cool voice spoke to her and jarred her from her thoughts. Violet eyes turned from the weapon before her to the figure that stood on its opposite end. "I-I-I don't know." Her voice shook at its core, it was completely obvious she was suppressing the feeling from bursting out. She was choking on the raw emotion that screamed to be released. Her eyes fell, falling to the coat that was grasped in Freyd's hand. "That's Raidou's robe. He needs it back." Still, Hidden refused to admit the truth in words. "You can't have it, it's not yours to wear." Hidden's hand reached out for the coat, instead finding the hilt of Raidou's sword. The weapon was too heavy to even attempt to carry. Instead, she pushed her weight onto it. 

In an instant, black sludge clung to her avatar and sunk its fangs into her. Stretching along the side of her body, the sludge would quickly began to wrap its way around her body. A sudden struggle would take place as Hidden began to claw her face, remove the sludge from it. While her efforts ended in success, long red gashes remained etched into her face as her left hand had morphed into long extended claws. Much of it was hard to see thank to her clothing though the sludge had gathered onto nearly all of her left side. 

"This is exactly what you wanted, isn't it? Die." The last word was a cold deathly calm. Though, Freyd wouldn't have any time to ponder its meaning as Raidou's sword became a projectile thrown at his body. Whether the man blocked or dodged the attack, Hidden would end up directly next to him with claws aimed directly at his figure. 

[Freyd 0]

"That's Raidou's robe. He needs it back.  You can't have it, it's not yours to wear."

A flurry of red.  Cloth torn and torn again.  Like a matador’s cape, the robe filled her vision as it whirled like a kite lost in a hurricane.  It snapped and twirled in the air, enveloping the shadowy form within as echoes in the room uttered in whispers.

“Raidou is gone.” 

Harsh truth spoken in Freyd’s cool, calm voice struck deeper than any knife, or sword, or claw, layered in regret at the inevitable made real.  The hurled sword swept through flapping cloth and writhing darkness within, even as Hidden fury dialed up to eleven dashed in for the kill from the side.  She found no purchase but the glint of false glass perched upon the face of an illusory herald shadow and a tender voice speaking in her ear.

This story shall the good man teach his son,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.

Something struck the back of her head with the force of a meteor, turning the world sideways and filling her vision with stars that strangely tasted like dirt.  It was a song of unbridled fury powered by grief and burdened with terrible purpose, delivered by fist.  A planet pressed itself to the side of her face.  Maybe it was the ground.  Then came the screeching vacuum of infinite void crying out with hunger as a knee was driven into her back.  Unimaginable cold pressed itself against her, and then pierced inside, as if consuming her very soul, and yet... not?

"Sorry, Hidden.  I was talking to that thing, not you."  The goo that had enveloped her raged, squirming and struggling with all of its might as Freyd's palms became gateways to a universe of nothingness.  Fate delivered.  Juiblex fought to deny it, but oblivion called and the unparalleled power of its former host to protect it was gone.  It was desperate, using her in precisely the manner that she so completely despised.  A flutter of red from above caught the corner of her eye as a familiar robe drifted onto her assailants shoulders.  Beneath the cowl, the glimmer of familiar framed glass beckoned - a pair of glasses snared during slime-covered folly and repurposed to meet a need.

"I promised him that if he ever fell, the robe and all it represents would carry on.  Whether either of us likes it or not, I gave my word.  This banner cannot fall."

[Hidden 1]

In the moment Hidden leapt forward her vision had faded. She could tell she was moving but had lost all rhyme or reason. Her arm was outstretched, black sludge sharpened into elongated razor sharp claws. These claws would rake forward aimed to kill the man in front of her. Suddenly, a powerful force slammed into her back of her head and sent her flying into the ground where she would roll several meters before coming to a stop. Surprisingly, she hadn't suffered too much damage from the attack. 

Teeth grinded together as the woman and creature attempted to stand. It seemed the blow had left dazed or something? Why couldn't she get up? The ground beneath her split with cracks and an infernal screech filled her ears. 'Why can't I get up?!' she thought as she pushed against it with all of her might. A sharped cold pierced through her, reminding her of the hallway she had taken to get here. Even now, that seemed like a distant memory. Claws raked on the ground in an desperate attempt to escape the cold. She didn't notice but the goo had began to churn violently as it desperately clung to her skin. 

"I promised him that if he ever fell, the robe and all it represents would carry on.  Whether either of us likes it or not, I gave my word.  This banner cannot fall."

The words were faint and distant but Hidden had heard them. Jubilex would cling to the last emotion it could, attempting to hold on with everything it had left. In its final gasp, Hidden would push off the ground and throw off Freyd's knee with it. Only her hand now remained covered in the black sludge of Raidou's creature. 

"That's not a banner, its a curse. A curse that kills anyone who bears it. That's why I will tarnish the sacrifice of all who wear it. I will make sure the sacrifices of those who bear it are made meaningless. That is my promise. that was our deal." Hidden wouldn't attack this time. She had at least regained self-control with Jubilex being left in shambles. No longer did her raw emotion drive her. Or maybe it was just Jubilex hesitating after taking such heavy losses before? 

[Freyd 0]

"He cared about you very much," Freyd said, the emotion in his voice striking a fiercer stunning blow than his fists had only moments earlier.  "He cared about everyone.  Too much so, perhaps.  But I believe that he saw the same suffering in you that he endured within himself, and with it the need to protect you above so many others.  Can you honestly fault him for that?  I mean, I can, but I've always been an ass about these things.  And yet..."

Reaching into his right pocket, he pulled out a pair of dark-framed spectacles of very familiar shape and size, holding them aloft and wiping them clean with the haggard edge of the Red Wanderer's robe.  A casual flick opened the arms that soon found ears.  A single digit pressed them into place.  The resemblance was startling.  "Do what you must.  I can do no less, because he never did, and because it's not in my nature to abandon a goal, once set upon.  A different path need only be found.  A different means to reach the same ends.  Because, ultimately, that is all that matters."

Another flick and the robe was raised over his head like a cowl - a blending of two old symbols repurposed to create another.  

"Change is inevitable, Hidden.  Give up that source of pride and misplaced anger," he said, pointing at the sole remaining dregs of the vile things still clinging to her hand.  Freyd knew from countless encounters how its power came from intensity of emotion.  The thing had feasted on his friend's passions for so long, and would be defeated by that weakness.  Speaking from the heart, Freyd gave of himself what few others had ever merited. He sought to draw it away from its latest victim by manipulating her doubts to weaken the parasite's bond, making himself seem the more  appealing meal.  A tank's taunt, learned over an endless series of battlefields and demonstrated by innumerable exemplars of humanity at its very best; imitation as flattery and eulogy alike.

Freyd had learned those lessons.  They weren't about sword arts, or mechanical skills, nor about special reflex or timing or some ridiculously prestigious unique talent.  Raidou had lived and died by his word, giving his all for the world.  But every player who stood on the line accepted the very same risks.  That had been the point he was trying to teach.  All players held some inkling of that passion within themselves, yearning for the precise moment where they could let it shine.  Epiphany dawned upon the Whisper's face, as he suddenly realized the simple truth of the Red Wanderer: It's not about you. 

Stepping forward, he held her in place by intensity of his gaze while his hand took Hidden's pale and slender wrist and gently pressed her warped and sickly flesh to his chest.

"This burden is not meant for you, and must never be.  That was his wish.  Please," he pleaded, "let us honor it."

[Hidden 1]

Her face would twitch as Freyd began to speak. Would this man lie straight to her face? When had Raidou cared? All he had done was treat her like a child, toy with her emotions, and use her as a tool. When she had realized that, that's when they had broken apart. Her eyes were drawn to the bright red robe of the Wanderer. Seeing Freyd in it brought a nasty taste to her mouth. If she hated Raidou... why was she even upset about his passing? For the past few months, she had ventured away on her own. The assassin had only traveled with Shiina since and had pushed away all others. Violet eyes were drawn to the ground. Why couldn't she replicate those feelings of anger towards him now? The distrust that she had for him was no longer to be found. Why? 

Discontent would only grow as Freyd continued to steal Raidou's appearance. A pair of spectacles would rest on the man's facial features. In reality, the glasses would just fit fine. From her point of view, they wouldn't fit at all. Freyd would flick the robe and raise it over his head. Hurt revealed itself in her violet eyes as she looked on. Who was he to continue like Raidou didn't exist? He was just going to carry on and pretend to be him? Ridiculous. 

"Change is inevitable, Hidden.  Give up that source of pride and misplaced anger," Freyd would tell her. 

"Change? Is that what you're calling this?" Hidden would fume. Her right hand, the one that was completely her own, would clench. An intense cold would grow there but she would ignore it. An intense gaze would be held between the two together and Freyd would step forward. A defiant look would gleam in her eyes as he took her wrist and placed her hand on his chest. Her hand would stiffen, curling into Freyd until the claws pierced into him. It was obvious that anger still rested within her. 

 "This burden is not meant for you, and must never be.  That was his wish.  Please, let us honor it."

The claws would further dig into Freyd. "Why is he taking all of the burdens? I wanted to help him but he ended up just trying to take my burdens too!" Anger had shifted slightly into grief. "What could have I done to save him? Why am I always losing the things I care about?" 

'What is offered cannot be stolen, simply a gift from one to another, and to those who would take from those they do nothing more than steal from themselves. You have not to steal, for I will gladly offer. If you need a hand, I would offer you one.' 

"Who's going to be there now? Who do I turn to?" Her hand relaxed, the black goo softening before transferring from her hand to the man's chest she had rested it on. Defeated, Hidden's hand fell to her side. 'Is this the future that lays in store?' Looking up, burning tears would slowly gather and overflow from her eyes. Feelings would pour like silent rain as tears began to trace down the side of her face. Hidden would stand silently in her anguish though her breathing was uneven.