[center][img]https://78.media.tumblr.com/a3b148938837c8380c1eb6e43f0d31fc/tumblr_pcvta2YxeN1w6599so1_1280.png[/img] [hr] Fight Pit [/center] Lady Vertti immediately fell prey to Mie's spell. But the loss of her vision and what was going on around her wouldn't stop her from pushing forward. It was a straight shot from here, and as long as she ran she could escape. It was a race to see if Vertti would make it outside before Mie could catch up to her. And it looked good for the aristocrat, but she forgot about the decorative steps leading outside and tripped. It was a stone floor and Vertti fell hard. She stretched out her arms but kept her elbows bent. That was the proper way to take a fall, but it was still hard to know where the ground was. Vertti was prepared to get her feet under herself and start running again, but there was no time. She was running from a demi-human with superior agility and stamina. With a pounce, Mie landed on Vertti's back, pushing her to the floor again. The chase was over. The butterfly had gotten tangled up in a web, and was now at the mercy of its predator. Vertti looked over her shoulder at Mie, clearly still under the effect of the spell. [color=lavender]"Why?"[/color] Her voice cracked a little bit. [color=lavender]"Why do you want to kill me? The time you spent with Grisaia, was that a lie too?"[/color] Her eyes were starting to glaze over. [color=lavender]"I refuse to believe this is just for money. That you're just some assassin who plays with our emotions for some thrill."[/color] Even if Mie wanted to tell her something, she wouldn't be able to hear it. All that mattered now was how Mie wanted to deal with Vertti. She didn't have her weapons on her, and Vertti wasn't carrying anything either. But there was also the matter of how she had learned of her true identity. Maybe she'd be worth keeping alive a bit longer. But her thoughts would be interrupted by a bad feeling. Mie needed to move fast, and so she hopped backward. The head of a spear stabbed through the air exactly where Mie's throat would have been just seconds ago. The person holding the spear was a cloaked figure who was just as small as Mie was. Despite her stature, she had an intense gaze that belonged to a hardened veteran. [color=FFDEAD]"Pick on someone your own size."[/color] Aer fret her brow. Vertti scrambled to her feet and rushed behind Aer. She had recovered from the spell by this point. [color=lavender]"Thank you for saving me Miss... ?"[/color] [color=FFDEAD]"We'll talk later. Right now you need to contact Grisaia and let him know you're okay. He's worried sick about you."[/color] She didn't take her eyes off of her target. [color=FFDEAD]"The guard is on their way here, so you should hurry up."[/color] Vertti took a few steps away from the two [s]dueling midgets[/s] fighters when she turned around one last time. [color=lavender]"Mie, would killing me really make you that happy?"[/color] [hr] [center] Outside Clinic [/center] Hiro was one of the strongest fighters in his own world. He was the julius caesar of boxing. But no matter how powerful the man, they can all be slain by having their trust betrayed. [color=slategray]”Why!?”[/color] Ashton would never be able to tell him. The weakened boxer was having difficulty moving about as it was, and this was a mortal blow. [center][b][h1][i][color=black]DEATH COUNT[/color] : [color=RED]32[/color][/i][/h1][/b][/center] Ashton felt sick doing that to one of his friends, but he wanted to bring Aerith back. Causing a reset was the only way to set this right. It was the only way to save her. Ashton closed his eyes and hoped that this sick feeling in his stomach would pass with the reset. Which should be starting. Any moment now. [color=dab666]“What. The. Actual. Fuck!”[/color] Quill stared wide-eyed at the boy holding the knife. After the shock wore off, she growled. [color=dab666]“Why do we even bother trying to kill you bastards? If you don't kill yourselves, you just turn on each other!”[/color] Quill sprinted away. It would happen soon. It had to. Though it didn't take this long last time. [b]”You monster!”[/b] Gris crawled towards Ashton. [b]”You were in on it the entire time! You killed one of your own friends just so that you could kidnap Chiyo!”[/b] He growled and crawled closer. [b]”I'll make you regret your entire life!”[/b] Why wasn't a reset happening? That sick feeling in Ashton's stomach was getting worse. [hr] [center] ? W H O ? W H O ? W H O ? W O H ? W O H ? W O H ? H O W ? H O W ? H O W ? [/center] Chieko, Alistair, Ashton, and Flame would all suddenly find themselves in a very familiar landscape. One without any details, but seemed to extend out in all directions forever. But they knew that this was the first place where they had encountered Lord Talus. That was instantly familiar to all of them. They were all positioned exactly the way they were before getting transported here. Ashton was standing, Flame was laying on his side with a few cracked ribs, Chieko fell a few feet onto her stomach, and Alistair fell backwards out of a seat that was no longer there. [b]”She actually did it?”[/b] Sitting on top of an invisible obstacle was a [url=https://i.imgur.com/N6HfQJW.png]smug woman with a flute[/url]. [b]”I guess we all wanted them out of that situation. So long as I don't take the blame for it, this is acceptable.”[/b] [url=https://i.imgur.com/EDeh5xj.png]A cute fairy[/url] fluttered into view. [b]”Figures you'd say something like that, Greed! But this is bad! This breaks the deal we had with Talus!”[/b] The smug woman chuckled. [b]”I doubt there will be repercussions. For now, let's just enjoy their company.”[/b] [b]”Oh.”[/b] [url=https://i.imgur.com/YA6YjKb.png]A life like doll floated up to Alistair.[/url] He noticed its body was covered in transparent hands. Every blink of her eyelid, or twitch of her finger was being manipulated by one of these hands. [b]”Hello, Alistair. I, really, like, how, you, achieve, your, goals. I, wish, I, could, work, that, hard, at, anything. But, I, lack, the, ambition, to, do, so.”[/b] Her hand was lifted up in the air and brushed against Alistair's face. [b]”So, smooth. Better, than, I, thought!”[/b] [url=https://i.imgur.com/mkuXik4.png]A girl wearing nothing but bandages[/url] hoped into the space. [b]”S-sloth! Behave yourself! Y-you can't just run up and touch them! You need to respect boundaries!”[/b] Her eyes shifted around. [b]”C-can you? B-because I'm not! I'm loyal to Lin!”[/b] The bandaged girl was startled by a hand being placed on her shoulder. The hand belonged to a [url=https://i.imgur.com/7ZlJlk8.png]tall, busty woman with a blindfold on[/url]. [b]”Relax, Lust. We don't know why they are here. So we might as well enjoy them as much as possible.”[/b] The woman approached Chieko and extended one of her hands. [b]”Chieko, right? None of us have names, so we're instead named after the sin we represent. I'm Gluttony, in case it wasn't obvious.”[/b] Gluttony ran a hand along the bottom of her own breasts. [b]”You don't have to fear us, we have nothing but love in our hearts for all of you.”[/b] She pulled Chieko to her feet and smiled. [b]”You're my favorite by the way. And this might be a little inappropriate to say, but you look and feel delicious.”[/b] A loud sigh from [url=https://i.imgur.com/1NGAPZB.png]a girl who just didn't give a shit[/url] caught everyone off guard. [b]”I still don't see what the point of this all was.”[/b] she waved her hand at everyone. [b]”Melancholy here, don't mind me at all. I'd rather not be a part of the fight that's going to break out once they realize there's not enough lovers for everyone.”[/b] It was hard not to notice the thunderous appearance of [url=https://i.imgur.com/O2GWYGE.png] A woman that was unapologetically punk.[/url] [b]”Fuck [i]yes![/i] Hiro baby's here! Time for pride to put the squeeze on that handsome bastard!”[/b] She looked around a bit. [b]”Wait a second, where the hell is Hiro?”[/b] She pointed at Ashton and Flame. [b]”The fuck are [i]you guys[/i] doing here?!”[/b] By this point, Sloth's hands were all over Alistair. [b]”We, think, [i]she[/i], is, the, reason, this, is, happening, because, that, is, sort, of, her, thing, you, know?”[/b] [color=baddab]”Whoa guys!”[/color] Lord Talus showed up, waving his hands around. [color=baddab]”Don't talk about [i]her[/i] when she's not here! Plus I think not referring to [i]her[/i] by name is really pissing off anyone here who doesn't know who [i]she[/i] is! Also I'm Lord Talus, gotta work a name drop in there so that nobody forgets me during my first appearance.”[/color] All eyes were on the black man now. [color=baddab]”Hah! Alright girls but seriously, do you remember the rules we set up? I know there were a lot of them, but do you remember the first two?”[/color] [b]”Yes!”[/b] Lust put a finger to her lower lip. [b]”U-um, yes! We can only influence the game with our authorities once! And we can't use more than once per day.”[/b] [color=baddab]”Very good Lust! Very, very, good.”[/color] He started to pace around the foreigners, but it was clear he was talking to the other woman in the room. [color=baddab]”So, why is using a single authority dangerous? Aside from the strain it puts on the cultists trying to activate the spell?”[/color] Gluttony released Chieko's hand and looked to Talus. [b]”When we use an authority, it's possible it won't arrive at the right time. Not only that, but it moves the checkpoint forward and changes who the sentinel is. If our authority doesn't fix the situation, our lovers could be stuck and unable to escape.”[/b] [color=baddab]”Gold star for Gluttony!”[/color] He turned to face her. [color=baddab]”Now you may be tempted to team up and do something special, or fix a blunder and use another authority to help everyone out. Now why is [i]that[/i] a bad idea?”[/color] This had all the girls thinking pretty hard, but Greed soon answered. [b]”I know why, it's simple.”[/b] The smug girl twirled her flute. [b]”The lovers don't know how the game works, so after enough deaths, they may discover they are the sentinel. If someone uses an authority, they won't know that the checkpoint has moved forward. They might get this idea in their head that they just have to kill themselves to return to the checkpoint. But of course, they aren't the sentinel anymore, and a late firing authority would move the checkpoint past their death.”[/b] Pride's eyes widened.[b]”Hiro was the Sentinel.”[/b] she stared at the floor for a long time, before finally looking at wrath. [b]”That ain't fuckin' funny!”[/b] She pointed at her. [b]”You love Chieko! You fuckin' did something!”[/b] The Fairy flew backwards. [b]”H-how could I have done anything? My authority only heals people! I can't heal Chieko out of danger!”[/b] [b]”You teamed up with someone you [i]flying piece of shit![/i]”[/b] [color=baddab]”[i]Enough![/i]”[/color] A mighty gust of wind blew over everyone. It was just strong enough to get everyone's attention and stop the bickering. [color=baddab]”I need to think of how to best resolve this situation.”[/color] Talus stroked his chin. Greed pointed at Ashton and Flame. [b]”You're going to get rid of them first right?”[/b] [color=baddab]”I'll worry about that in a moment.”[/color] He glanced at Chieko and Alistair. [color=baddab]”But yes, here's all the people who wanted to see you. You two should be excited!”[/color] Gluttony turned back to Chieko. [b]”Seems we have a moment to talk.”[/b] She exhaled slowly. [b]”I don't know what to ask, I've been watching you through your whole life.”[/b] Sloth was plastered pretty much directly over Alistair. [b]”Is, this, too, much? Just, move, me, if, it's, too, much.”[/b]