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[color=hotpink]"Grrhhh... son of a-GHRAHH!"[/color]

The blood was pooling harder from her side, but thankfully she had an edge on this situation. The bright red glow in her hand brought the blood flow to a halt, the wound clotting and scabbing before she fixed her outfit. To the onlooking Lorelai and Hellsword, Akiko looked like shit, but it was slowly being fixed.  [color=forestgreen][b]"We admit, you have looked much better before."[/b][/color] Hellsword was the first to comment on the state of affairs, noticing a rather timid Lorelai not wanting to speak up on the matter. The cat shrugged it off though, standing rather weakly as her eyes flashed and shimmered about. [b][color=forestgreen]"And we also admit, you're acting rather manic."[/color][/b]

[color=mediumvioletred]"The entwined souls are correct. Akiko, you don't look so well. And... you're younger?"[/color] Lorelai noticed the finer details there with Akiko's body. Seems even though the illusion had worn off, Akiko had reversed the time. Just a little bit, not too much, but it oddly fit her. [color=mediumvioletred]"What happened? What happened in that brief darkness?"[/color] 

The cat stepped over to the edge she landed on. There was a stint of black, but she hadn't expected this to happen. This didn't appear in her visions, this was something new entirely. At least, it was new now. Something she was afraid of, sure, but at least she could focus on it now. Maybe not in any of the loops, but she did pick up a thing or two from Runa.

[color=mediumvioletred]"We don't have to go down there. We can stay up here, let you rest."[/color] Lorelai stepped over and offered a shoulder for the cat to rest against, if only for a moment. She was concerned, far more than she had been before, even when Akiko was moments away from getting strangled by Ami and Riku.

But. The cat knew better. [color=hotpink]"No. We need to get in there. A queen protects her subjects, that's how it should be."[/color] Castle manifested behind her once again, full ghost form, just staring down with it's user. [color=hotpink]"You guys better be ready. I can't imagine this is gonna be an easy fight."[/color]

Within an instant, Castle flung its owner, Hellsword and Lorelai left looking at eachother before they shrugged and dissipated, returning to cards once again in Akiko's possession. 

A couple of feet away from Nephetos, Runa, and Kanbaru, the cat landed with a resounding thud. She stretched her arms out and flashed her eyes at the ghost before she looked at the rest of the combatants. She eyed them up and down, trying to figure out what pieces of the puzzle they fit into. Trying to decipher their pasts once more, but with an added edge. After a moment, she spoke looking at Kanbaru. 

[color=hotpink]"Katie's sick, she's got some kind of affliction that modern medicine doesn't work with."[/color] She stepped forward, her attention turned to [color=ed1c24]stare at[/color] the monster they were about to face down, looking for some story or edge she could get. [color=hotpink]"Hopefully that's the sort of haunting that you were looking for."[/color] 

Castle manifested, hovering on Kanbaru's shoulder before nuzzling the whale. Maybe she'd get the memo.

[color=hotpink]"Listen up. That monster was Katie, it's not anymore. There's a chance that she could be fractured from it again, but that's not priority one. Priority one is making sure everyone here gets out alive."[/color] It wasn't often that the cat took charge like this, but the haze of the infinite caused her to realize. There was a way out of this. For everyone.

She flicked her head towards Runa and Nephetos. [color=hotpink]"You two, stick with Kanbaru and keep that thing at bay. Runa, if you see an opportunity to get in there, seize it."[/color] Akiko's eyes flickered, as if she was doing the same thing. [color=hotpink]"I'm going to Riku and Thomas. I'll keep them safe while trying to figure the same out."[/color]

She nodded to them. [color=hotpink]"Don't ask questions. Save us the precious time we'll have."[/color] And with that, the cat made a mad dash towards Riku and Thomas. She knew the other three would be fine, it was the new ones she was still trying to decipher.