[b]Kotori Shirohane - Sapphire Inn: Royal Suite Main Room | Sunday, July 5 2015[/b]

As everyone finished their preparations in their own ways - some speaking to each others, others impatient to get going already whilst Kotori herself just took the opportunity to catch her breath - Rui and Kami called upon everyone to get ready to proceed onwards. Though they didn't know what awaited them at the end of the hallway, Megumi had already picked up a formidable presence ahead - and having delved into enough of these placed before, most everyone knew what that meant. As such, Kotori was on edge all the way through; glancing about for any signs of shadows suddenly pouring out of previously unseen crevices - but to no avail as the now merged group continued unaccosted on the long walk. The tension did at least save Kotori from focusing too much on the particular choice of decoration that accompanied the climb - and before the halfway point, she was instead worrying far more over the rather excessive length of the stairs.

As they drew closer to the doors at the top, muffled voices could be made out - which sounded similar but just slightly ajar of one another; a dissonance that undoubtedly rang a few alarm bells for all those present. Pushing onwards with varying degrees of fatigue at the stairs they'd just climbed, Rui pushed open the doors to finally reveal exactly what they were dealing with: Standing in the centre were two girls - or rather, the same girl twice, save for a scant few details being just slightly off. One of the two was talking down to the others in a tone which would have betrayed her nature even if it weren't for the unnatural colour of her eyes - it was a shadow; the secrets locked away inside oneself somehow made manifest through this strange mirror realm.

Even as she caught her breath, Kotori couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed at hearing someone else's inner thoughts, worries and hidden feelings being laid bare - but before she or anyone else could interfere, the real girl instead yelled at her mirror self; decrying her shadow as not herself. Kotori winced as laughter erupted from the shadow's throat at those words - a mocking tone which began echoing all around and becoming more sinister as darkness surrounded the girl's shadow; coalescing into a far more monstrous form. Much in keeping with the place's traditional Japanese feeling, so too did the shadow take on such a shape as it emerged from its shroud of blackness as a armour-clad demon; an evil caricature of a shogun of days long past, albeit one which had somehow become intermixed with a medieval European knight's features and at the same time still retaining an air of femininity about itself - which was unsettling in its own way to see in a shadow, even as if was gripping both a sword and a figure clad in a pretty dress.

The girl, however, did not seem to grasp the gravity of the whole situation as she picked up a sword laying upon the ground and raised it in defiance - but without the protection of a persona, doing could only spell danger for herself. Kotori feared what might happen if the shadow turned upon the girl; reflexively reaching out with one hand even though they were too far away to do much of anything - remembering a moment later that she had something on her side that would be far more capable of stopping such a thing from coming to pass. However, even as she called upon her Persona, [color=green]"Kikuri-Hime,"[/color] the shadow raised its sword to strike at what it seemed to perceive as an insolent if insubstantial attack by the girl - which left Kotori to fear that she would not make it in time.

Luckily, however, Rui was ever vigilant and Askr's blade intercepted the Shadow's just in time to deflect the blow away from the girl. Several group members had rushed to her side in order to get her out of harm's way - no matter how much she could or wanted to fight, this was one foe she was helpless against. With the girl in safety for now, the group quickly got into position to take on the warrior-like Shadow - but just as Kotori began to hope that for once they might an advantage with the numbers on their side, the shadows off to the sides began to move as three more enemies stepped from them. Knights, similar to the ones they'd already struggled against before, strode forth in their armour; ready to join the fight - and making Kotori's confidence take a dive, seeing how even one had already been a struggle even without backup or an even stronger shadow behind them all.

However, before her worries could overtake her, Kotori took a deep breath as she felt Kikuri-Hime's presence calm her thoughts. Though the enemies were numerous and strong, they too had strong fighters on their side. Kaminari sprang into action, ordering his half to engage the knights whilst leaving Ayano to figure out the Shadow's weakness and Rui to occupy it for the moment. A brief acknowledgemenet followed before Rui in turn addressed his team - much like before, Akane and himself would take point and go about striking and defending whilst Sato would be lending fire support from afar. Unto Kotori fell the role of making sure that everyone stayed alive and fighting with her healing spells - including Kaminari's group.

Though she felt her heart sink at the responsibility, given the odds they were facing, Kotori still nodded - a quiet [color=green]"right"[/color] thereafter spoken more to herself than anyone in particular. However, these doubts only lingered for a moment before she quickly shook her head as if to rid herself of any stray thoughts - pushing her glasses back in place after doing so - before focusing at the task at hand. Even if she wasn't exactly the model of confidence, she knew that the others were counting on her at this moment - and wallowing in worries would only lead to them coming true.

Her confidence somewhat regained, Kotori took a quick note of who was engaging what and where everyone stood. They found themselves encircled by the three knights and the shadow, even as each knight in turn was engaged by one of Kaminari's group whilst Akane and Rui faced the Shadow itself; a loose formation being established which left Kotori with the other spell-casters on the inside together with the probably slightly confused girl. Before moving in to take on the Shadow, Rui told her to think upon the Shadow's words - after all, those were essentially her own and realising this would likely prove crucial further down the road.

For the moment, however, Kotori could pay little heed to the girl as she focused all her attention on the group - ready at a moment's notice to cast a group-wide healing spell should multiple people get struck or a more powerful singular heal if someone took a heavy hit instead, leaving the offensive magic entirely to the others.