[center][h2]Harriette Moore, Jin Ifriti, Alina Sanford[/h2][sup]with [@Mistress Dizzy] and [@BCTheEntity][/sup][/center] [sup][color=gray]∎̵͍̅͜∎̵̰̽̏͝∎̷̢̻̞̂∎̸̨̻̹̈∎̵̰͚̝͆∎̷̮̋̄̚ ̵͆ : ̷?̷ ̶?̷ ̷h̸o̴u̴r̸s̶[/color][/sup] The woman, mysterious to all but one of the underground visitors, had initially been smiling. A serene expression of divine grace. She nodded happily when Alina obeyed her minion’s words, though she didn’t seem to mind that Harriette had neglected to kneel. In fact the red haired woman had done nothing but stand there frozen in place, even when Alina touched her shoulder and whispered into her ear. However, the third of her visitors drew out a different reaction. This person, whose gender ‘Her Gloriousness’ neither knew nor cared about, was essentially back-talking her. On either side of her, the Imps were gobsmacked into silence. No one had ever treated their mistress this way before. Slowly, like an impending doom, the yellow-eyed goddess’ expression changed into one of pure contempt. She drew in a lofty sigh, turning away from the group. [b]”Such disrespect, and after I had come all the way up here to greet you all personally,”[/b] she said. She did not answer Jin, she hardly even acknowledged them then, but as she began to walk back the way she came she lifted a hand in the air. Instantly it drew the Imps’ attention. [b]”Bring Ms. Sanford and Ms. Moore to the palace,”[/b] she commanded them. She glanced over her shoulder at Jin, though it was like she wasn’t actually recognizing a human being standing there. [b]”And kill that one.”[/b] The Imps’ faces split open toothy and wide, malicious grins on their features - and then they dove forward, claws outstretched. Jin’s eyes went wide at “Her Gloriousness” and the command. “I knew you were bad news.” And then they took off, past Alina and Harriette. Alina likely wasn’t going to be much use, and while Harriette seemed like she had a good head on her shoulders, something about this Glorious creature had definitely put her in a bad spot. Or perhaps her brain had just given in, due to all the insanity. In any case, Jin was alone and without help again. Same shit, different day. They bolted through a large field of beautiful flowers, and fled further toward the back of the cave. Seeing no obvious way to defend themself, they started crouching in the dirt and picking up sizable rocks. The demons continued to rush forward, cackling all the while. Jin stood up with an armful of rocks tucked to their chest. Their brown eyes narrowed, and they let one fly. It scored a direct hit on one little demon’s forehead. “OW!” It screeched, clutching its head. A thin rivulet of green blood dripped between its fingers. Jin grinned triumphantly. Throwing things accurately was just physics in action, so it wasn’t too hard. “Leave me the fuck alone, short green and ugly!” ‘Wh-what?’ Suddenly, the imps were asked to kill Jin. Not her or Harriette, but the one person who had talked back to her. And... and Jin ran off without them. Which made sense. She wasn’t able to fight these... imps. Was she? She’d been useless against the ash creatures... now she was about to be useless against something even weaker? Jin was at least throwing rocks at them, and managing to hurt them. If she did nothing- Jin could die if she did nothing. No, that wasn’t enough motivation. Swallowing her fear, she told herself that Jin was going to die if she didn’t help. And then, at a limping pace, she moved forward, toward another set of rocks. Something smaller... but not too small. Heavy enough to make a hit count, since she couldn’t hit hard on her own. Maybe... something with a point? That meant that more force was concentrated into an impact. It might help crack their skulls... oh God, the mental image alone was horrible. Jin would die if she did nothing. ‘Jin will die if I don’t help.’ She found a decent enough rock. Pointy, kind of sharp. She had to carry it with two hands, but it’d help. And then... and then she moved forward, toward the imps. If she could get the drop on them, if she was just quiet enough to not be heard... she could help save Jin. For the moment Alina went unseen, the Imps were more preoccupied with Jin. Enraged they flew circles around Jin, diving in to rip deep with their claws and then jetting back out of range. It was a simple and effective strategy that would eventually prove deadly if nothing was done. Jin tried to dodge the imps’ strikes, and was briefly successful. However, they couldn’t dodge forever. One imp landed a deep scratch on their arm, tearing through their uniform like it was tissue paper. “GAH!” Jin cried out in pain. As if spurred on by the bloodlust, the rest of the imps closed in, diving and dipping in faster and faster. Jin’s screams continued, but they continued to throw rocks despite the pain. “You - won’t… I’m not gonna… die here.” But the scratches were bloody, and Jin was starting to wear down quick. As Alina silently approached the demons to enact her plan, Harriette was finally coming to after being locked in a trance of panic. She should have realized after seeing the Pondwater double that this was some kind of crazy upside down world, complete with caricatures of people from the real world. Harriette's eyes followed the Rowen doppleganger as she casually walked away. Once she reached one of the cavern's mouths, the same that she had entered from, she turned to regard the three humans that had fallen into her territory. Maybe she expected that her order would have been followed through already, but either way Rowen seemed surprised that the group hadn't just rolled over and let the Imps manhandle them. [b]"Oh, looks like they need a little help over there,"[/b] she said aloud. She snapped her fingers, and two more Imps appeared from a burst of smoke. They flew forward while laughing and gnashing their teeth, one headed for each of the girls and squashing Alina's plan for a surprise attack. There was a surprising amount of strength in their little bodies as they clawed at Harriette and Alina, grabbing the two and attempting to pull them in the direction their Mistress had headed. Ah- that was bad. She couldn’t just- but if she wanted to do something to help Jin, she had to. Rocks worked, she’d seen it. She could... she could do it. It hurt, the imp was drawing blood as it pulled at her, and laughing, it was laughing at her, but she could do it. She lifted the rock over her head, then brought it down. And missed. Or, the imp dodged, really. But she managed to hit its arm. There was... a noise. Not a crunch, as she might have gotten. More like a squelchy rip, as its flesh arm opened up and started to spill green blood. Everywhere. A lot of it. Oh. That wasn’t great. It looked bad. That was bad. She had hurt it. Not enough. She was still being dragged. It. She. No. The demon paid no heed to it's wound, keeping it's grip like a vice on Alina. Harriette too was trapped in another Imp's grasp, and no matter how much she struggled or dug her heels in she still kept being dragged forward. "Let go!" she screamed, [i]"let go![/i] The Imp just cackled, digging its claws in. Rowen's smile grew and grew as the ladies were dragged closer. She threw both of her arms out in a dark facsimile of a welcoming embrace. "Stop this!" Harriette cried, pulling against the iron grip, blood dribbling down from her wrist and forearm. "You - are you going to stoop this low? Kidnap us and let them die?!" Harriette's words did not fall on deaf ears, but the shadow's response was steeped in laughter. [b]"Why not?"[/b] she said. Dread filled Harriette. She thought this couldn't be the same Rowen she had been dealing with all this time, but that didn't seem right. Rowen had always been this cruel, hadn't she. Harriette just hadn't realized it until she was down here with the professor's shadow, and someone's life was on the line. Jin... they were going to die there in the cave, and she and Alina were next. There would be nothing good going on at the 'palace' they were being taken to. They would die, one way or another. [color=lightgray][i]You can fight back.[/i][/color] The voice cut through the echoing laughter, and the blood rushing in Harriette's ears. It came from somewhere deep inside of her, clear as a bell. She sucked in a breath as pain began to blossom from her core. [color=lightgray][i]You don't have to listen to her. Shut her out.[/i][/color] [i]I can't...[/i] Harriette thought, squeezing her eyes shut. Tears started to fall. [i]You don't know what she'll do to me.[/i] [color=lightgray][i]And you will just let her do it? You will roll over and die?[/i][/color] The longer Harriette conversed with the voice in her head, the more intense the pain grew. No, no she didn't want to die! She didn't want any of them to die! But what could she do?! [color=lightgray][i]Say it.[/i][/color] [i]Say what?! Please, help me![/i] Harriette cried out again, the pain sending her to her knees. It didn't stop the Imp attached to her from pulling her forward. Rowen tipped her head curiously. [b]"Oho? What's this now?"[/b] [color=lightgray][i]Following whatever she orders, living everyday afraid... reject it all. Say you will take your life back! Say you will fight for yourself![/i][/color] "I..." Harriette forced her eyes open, finding the face of her tormentor's shadow over her. That damn fake smile. Harriette summoned all the strength in her body, managing to wrench her arm away from the Imp and scoot away. "I'm not going with you," she hissed, shakily taking to her feet. "I'm... I'm not going to let you get your way this time!" [color=lightgray][i]You know what to do.[/i][/color] Somehow, she did. Harriette growled, jamming her fist into her own chest. There was something inside of her that really, really [i]hurt[/i], and she had to get rid of it. She fished around until she took hold of something, and a bolt of pain shook her body. It was strange, how time almost seemed to slow down then. The expression on the shadow-Rowen's face was darkening, growing fierce and stormy as the facade of the kind goddess broke apart. She realized that she did not have time to play, and whatever was happening now was spurring her to take immediate action. She was fast, even in slow-mo, and raised her arm up to summon a weighty scepter. Harriette's eyes widened. She knew that she was about to be killed. She withdrew her hand from her chest, and in her grasp was a dark lump, heaving as though it were alive. Harriette squeezed it harder and harder until it burst. [color=lightgray][i]Say my name![/i][/color] [i]"Come, [b]Hester![/b]"[/i] Energy exploded out from where the lump was crushed, dark miasma that quickly chilled and turned hard and translucent. The ice spread into a huge wall, separating the underground's mistress from it's intruders. The force of the explosion echoed around the cavern while [url=https://i.ibb.co/wS9kfG7/hakurei-reimu-touhou-and-1-more-drawn-by-mazeran-a94ff8c15d50073a4f22d5b4a50f951a.png]a figure[/url] bloomed into life in front of Harriette. Black, white, and red, it was cold inorganic shapes wrapped into the form of a faceless woman. It radiated a frosty energy, but when it looked back over its shoulder slightly at Harriette the redhead thought she could sense a smile in that void of a face it sported. [color=lightgray][i]Good. Now, we should not dally.[/i][/color] "What the hell..." Harriette whispered, backing away from the ice wall. She looked down at herself, where her clothes had [url=https://i.ibb.co/PG9HP9q/6ce25b35ee07d54d0825b6630ead9dc632bcb270.jpg]transformed[/url] from the tattered skirt and blouse into something more rugged and revealing. An olive drab jacket with short sleeves and a long swallow-tail back appeared on her top half, while the lower half featured matching shorts and vibrant red fishnets running the length of her legs. Her hands and feet were covered with black gloves and boots adorned with bold red lipstick marks. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, with barrettes of bird wings on either side of it. There was something dangling from around her neck, but Harriette didn't look at it too closely. She looked back to her Persona. Hester. She had to leave reason behind right now and trust this thing. It was the only option, but beyond that Harriette felt connected to it. And it was right, they should escape while they still could... but Harriette was momentarily paralyzed with emotion. She was still afraid, but now there was resolve as well. And a little hope. The Imps had frozen in confusion, but after things had settled and they realized their master was blocked off they rushed to the wall and started beating on it, screeching all the while. Cracks were just beginning to form, and which was more than enough to push Harriette into action. She turned on her heel and went to Jin's side, Hester floating gently behind her. "A-are you alright?" She asked, her hands hovering over Jin's form. "Can you stand?" Jin was on the ground, curled in the fetal position. They were covered with deep scratches, some of them leaking blood. They blinked wet eyes open at Harriette's voice. "I… I think so?" Shakily they rose to their feet, stumbling once but then standing. "I've had worse." That was a lie. "Whoa!" Jin stared at Harriette's new clothes, eyes wide. "What happened to you?" “Honestly, I’m not sure. But we can worry about it later.” Jin nodded. “Works for me.” They looked around, trying to find some kind of way out. “There!” There was a small gap in the cave wall. It looked quite narrow, but all three of them should be able to just squeeze through. “I think we can go out there.” They wasted no time in moving toward the escape route. Albeit slowly; they looked to be in great pain. The events were difficult for Alina to process. A shockwave, a rush of cold- and just like that, the imp dragging her was distracted, desperately keening to get back to its mistress, who... she didn’t quite know. Apparently, Harriette had rejected her. And apparently, Harriette had manifested some form of being next to her. “Being” seemed the best word, because it was humanoid, but absolutely not at all human. Not to mention Harriette’s sudden change of wardrobe... ‘I guess if we get attacked again, you can help us.’ That was pathetic. The first sign of somebody having the ability to do something in this place, and she was hiding behind them. Useless. But, they had a chance. And a way out of here, too. Limping after Jin, she followed them into the gap in the wall. It’d probably be better to slow down for a bit, anyway. Once the two of them had squeezed into the passage, Harriette followed after. She had nodded immediately after Alina’s statement. Of course she would help if she could. Now she brought up the rear as the three traversed, steadily going upward. After a while she wasn't sure how far they'd gotten. It was dark and cramped, she was almost completely winded and her mind was buzzing making focus difficult. Behind the three of them there came an ear-splitting sound of ice shattering apart, and an angry voice echoing through the stone corridor. [b]"Harriette!!"[/b] The scrabbling of claws against the rock followed it shortly. The monsters were following them now that they'd broken the wall. "H-hurry!" Harriette said, breathless. She turned to see if she could spot their pursuers, but they hadn't caught up just yet. But injured and out of breath, they were surely gaining. “That is one persistent bitch.” Jin felt their stomach churn at the idea of more attacks, more pain. They weren’t sure if they could handle it a second time. Oh no. Not again. She didn’t want to fight more of them. She didn’t want to. Shit, shit shit shit. Alina moved as fast as she could through the crevice, a mix of her own limp and Jin’s injuries setting the pace. They could only move so fast, though... crap, they were in trouble if they didn’t get out of here fast. They could only move so quickly, but the end was finally in sight. Eventually the passage, which had gradually been getting steeper, came to a sharper incline. The group came to a stop to catch their breath before they had to get climbing. There was no other way out, besides into the waiting claws of the monsters chasing them. Soil gently filtered down from above them, suggesting that they were close to the surface. “It’s not far up,” Harriette said, her neck craned to stare at the ceiling that she hoped was loose enough to dig through. “We can make it.” She didn’t even entertain the thought that once they broke through they could just be dragged back down. She ushered Jin and Alina upwards, and with the last of their strength the three of them crawled up towards the surface. Desperately they used their hands to dig through the earth blocking their escape. Once Jin’s hand broke through and reached into the open air above, the rest of the dirt fell away easier and they all scrambled out of the hole. Dirtied, bloodied, and chests heaving they spread out and away from the opening into the cave system. The sounds of the Imps had died away once they broke through to the surface, and there was no sign of ugly little claws or wings coming after them. Maybe they weren’t as confident outside of their own domain, or maybe there was something else stopping them, but whatever it was Harriette thanked their lucky stars for it. She was collapsed on her hands and knees, breathing in hard. Hester peered into the dark where they’d come from just to be sure they’d escaped their pursuers, and once satisfied it began to slowly fade out from sight. Once they got their bearings, the group could see that they were still in the prison complex. Their scramble underground had taken them away from the cells and close to a canyon that served as the prison's entrance. There was the sound of water rushing, wind blowing through the gaps in the stone walls, and hushed conversation not far off. The sound petrified Harriette. Initially she thought they must have been found by those guards, but when none came to apprehend them she forced her brain to stop panicking and start thinking. The voices were vaguely familiar. Could it be the rest of the people they'd fallen into this place with? Harriette looked to Jin and Alina, nodding her head in the direction the voices were coming from. Cautiously and optimistically they could make their way forward, and with luck reunite with the others.