Joshua Tamashii — Roleplayer Guild

Lucus Griffonbane

@Caits [@Amaya Tamashii

"[color=gray]You need to check again announcer. I just took my time. You put some effort into the maze, so why not enjoy it?[/center]" Lucus shouted to Ferris as he exited the maze. Like everyone else, he had seen his worse fear, though his had been a combination of being trapped in his parents home again and Rose and Elyse both being dead. The problem was that he took his time to amuse the illusion a bit and got caught up in it. Had he been scared? Yes he had, but he knew none of it was real. First off, even if Rose died, Elyse would still be okay since he knew Jamie and the whole Phoenix Wing guild would do whatever it took to keep his daughter safe and sound. He also knew his that if his parents had tried to capture him again, they would've been there to gloat in his face, unlike what had happened in the illusion, where they had been no where to be seen. Simple logic prevailed for him in the end.

Glancing around, he spotted Master Jack taking care of Jackie, who looked like she had gotten into a tussle with a very skilled tiger or some other animal, and Master Jamie was trying to help... Rose. Cursing the maze now, Lucus ran over to Rose and knelt next to her and placing a hand on her right shoulder.
"Rosey... Come on Rosey, it's okay. You're perfectly okay. It's me, Lucus... Lukey, remember. Listen to me, listen to my voice. Focus on my voice." he said gently, in a soothing tone he used to use when they were both in the first incarnation of the Riders. He had seen her like this when they first started dating and he knew the symptoms.

"Mommy." Elyse said, sounding upset and a little scared.

"Everything is okay Elyse. Mommy just needs some help from Daddy, okay?" Lucus said, just as gently before turning back to Rose. Any questions Jamie had could be answered later. Right now his main concern was Rose and getting her back to her usual self so Elyse didn't get any more upset.

Jack, the Maiden of the Mist

Jack gasped and flinched in pain when the flames Master Jack conjured hit her wounds. However, she just grit her teeth and let him deal with it. It was no worse then stitching her wounds by herself back on the day. The worse wounds were around her midsection and a few blows on her head. When she heard what he had to say, she wasn't as confident as he was.
"I might though. You never know. She might be a part of me forever. She might come out again... and I'm not sure I'll be able to hold her back." She said."What will happen then? What will happen now after all she said?"

Jack, the Maiden of the Mist

@Zarkun@Caits

Jack followed her guild after getting ready for the morning, wearing her usual black dress, gloves, and boots. She didn't bother to do anything with her hair other then to brush it and make it nice, letting the silver locks fall where they would. once they were at their stand, she waited patiently for the games to start. Once the announcement of the game being a simple maze that would show them their worst fear, she almost scoffed. She feared nothing and a maze would be no problem to navigate. She had taken on much worse odds as an assassin. She turned to leave when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Master Jack, who gave her some words of encouragement. She simply nodded before leaving and heading down at to the Arena. She glanced around at her competitors. Most of them she didn't know but she knew Rose and Lucus personally and could take a good guess at their fears: The loss of Elyse for Rose, and the loss of his freedom for Lucus, unless he also feared losing Elyse more then that now.

Once the signal was given for them to enter, Jack took off running. The obstacle course brought back old, long forgotten memories. Her father had had her run similar things when she had been five, though the results of failing an obstacle had been severe and often painful for her. Pushing such thoughts aside, she flew through that section of the maze, her reflexes and flexibility allowing her to easily maneuver around and easily avoid such simple things.

She stopped when she came across a mirror in a rather large, open space that was rather plain, puzzled by what she saw, which was to say nothing. The mirror was entirely black, with nothing but a void in it.
"Pointless. We fear nothing." Jack muttered to herself, looking for another route. As if to taunt her, the mirror suddenly flared with a bright light, causing Jack to instinctively close her eyes. When she opened them, she found herself in an endless plain of red with dark clouds overhead that occasionally crackled with lightning. Now on guard, she took a step forward only to hear a splash. Looking down, she saw that she was on the only island od solid earth, barely enough for her to stand on, and was surrounded by a shallow lake of blood. She had gotten so used to the scent, she hadn't realized she was surrounded by it

"Does this sight please you?" A voice asked behind her. jumping to move away from the voice while turning around, Jack got the surprise of her life to see another version of herself. Not a slightly altered version, but an exact replica, down to the most minute detail."Doesn't this match the way you want to see things. A world, drowned in the blood of others?"

"The makers of this game clearly don't know us. We desire nothing like this." Jack said, turning away."This is nothing more then an illusion You are a harmless fake."

Moving to leave, Jack stopped when she felt a sharp pain in the back of her right shoulder. Looking around, she was surprised to see a dagger of mist slowly disappearing and a wound in it's place. From behind her, she could hear her double laughing at her, causing Jack to turn around, her expression cold and eyes narrowed.
"Not such a 'harmless fake' now, am I?" The fake said, almost doubling over in laughter. Looking up, a wicked grin cross her gleeful expression as more mist surrounded her."Do you want to play with me now? Maybe you'll learn a thing or two from a master assassin such as I?"

"You know nothing. We no longer walk that path." Jack said, mist surrounding her as well. Her response only got a laugh from her fake, causing Jack to get a bit irritated."What's so funny?"

"Run away all you want, you cannot run from me. I am the you that you are trying so hard to deny yet still acknowledge. I are the you who delights in bloodshed and the loss of life. You cannot run from me. I am ever in the corner of your mind, hoping to come out and play when you get in a fight. The you that earned you your title, Maiden of the Mist."

Jack felt her blood turn to ice. This illusion was a threat now, fake or not. It just gave a full confession to her past crimes. The Council could come and get her and then come down on the guild and hard. However, even if the illusion was saying the truth, Jack had never left any evidence at the scenes of her assassination, other then a few witnesses who had never seen her while she was on the job. So denial was an option. It wasn't like her magic was unique.
"You shouldn't speak ill of those you know nothing about." She said, the mist around her turning into daggers.

Her fake simply giggled as her mist did the same.
"You'll show your true colors soon." It said."And I'll enjoy it when you life falls apart around you and your dreams turn to dust. Then I'll be able to come out and play with everyone!"

There was a split second of nothing before the daggers on both side's flew at each other. Many made contact with other mist daggers, bouncing away and dissipating. Those that made it through flew towards the Jacks, both of whole dodged but still received a few minor cuts. Fake Jack suddenly dashed forward, drawing a pair of real daggers before taking a swipe at the real Jack's midsection, just missing as the real took a small step back. Real jack underestimated how slippery the terrain was though and fell into the pond of blood, something her fake took advantage of by pouncing on her and stabbing her in the upper thigh. Growling in pain, the real Jack quickly reversed their positions and drew her own dagger, stabbing her fake in the middle of it's lower arm. The fake laughed at the pain before hitting Jack on the head with the hilt of it's dagger, knocking Jack off it and dazing her.

"You've grown weak." The fake said, getting up with little effort. Kicking the real Jack, she laughed as Jack struggled to get to her feet."You're out of energy and fight already. But I was hoping to have a bit more fun with you but you can't even defend yourself from the basics. Your father would be ashamed of you. Maybe it's better if I just kill you."

Raising her dagger, the fake went for a death blow only for Jack the block it with her own arm and let out a giggle.
"If you want a fight, we guess we should give it to you." Jack said before scoring a blow on her fakes right cheek, causing the fake to take a few steps back. Jack rose to her feet, a gleeful and sadistic expression on her face."You wanted to see this side, right? We hope you're ready for the consequences of bringing it out!"

The fake was silent for a few seconds before shrieking in laughter.
"That's it, that's what I want to see. Show everyone what a monster you are, a caged beast just waiting to tear others apart!" It said before Jack's hand grabbed it's face and slammed it into the ground.

"You talk too much." Jack said before lifting her fake up and tossing them aside."Shut up and make this entertaining."

The next several minutes, the two Jacks went at each other like savage animals, using daggers, fist, feet and mist-make weapons to try and kill the other. Both of them made blows aimed to kill and blow aimed to inflict pain, the latter of which hit more often then not, both of the Jacks laughing at their pain and the others as well. After one last exchange of blows, both of the fighters stood still for several seconds before Jack collapsed into the pool of blood.
"Even if I am a fake, my skills are better then yours." The fake Jack said, looking down at the real Jack."Lay there, knowing you failed and have now lost everything you might've cared for and failed those who were counting on you."

Jack didn't reply, turning onto her back and staring up into the black sky. Once again, in a fight she could've won, she had lost. Her whole body hurt and she knew if she didn't get out of here and treated soon, she would die. But to her surprise that wasn't the things that was on the forefront of her mind. What was on her mind wasn't the fight she had lost to the fake but rather what she would possibly be losing now. The guild might be in trouble because of her and possibly even shut down. On top  of that, the others might lose their chance at competing in the games. Their hopes and dreams could and possibly would be crushed.

Jack then became confused. Why was she thinking things like that? She had never thought about other before, even after joining the guild. She acted purely out of selfish reasons. She also felt a bit... guilty. She had never guilty before... had she? Her thoughts drifted through her pass. She had felt guilty before, at least a part of her had. For every life she took, a part of her had felt guilty and died bit by bit until it was gone. Once it was gone, she had truly become the Maiden of the Mist, an assassin that would take any job and take pleasure in the pain she had inflicted. She had been feared and considered an unstoppable force. Then she had been taken down by Phoenix Wing along with Fraquar, Pyrrha, and Lucus. They had broken out and her reputation saved. But when she attacked again, she had lost again, handed the defeat on a silver platter.

Maybe... maybe she should just give in. She was barely a match for any mage. She couldn't even beat herself by the looks of it. If she were to die here, maybe it would be better for everyone she knew. She had been trained to be a weapon and now she was dull and unable to perform that which she set out to do. Not only that, if she died, maybe Dragon Fang could avoid getting into trouble. But if she did give up, what then? Everything would end and she truly would have accomplished nothing. Not only that, she would've lost to this side of her, the side she was trying to leave behind, the side that always lost her everything.

Jack clenched her fist. She wasn't going to lose. She refused to love this battle, to lose a fight to herself. Sure she was hurt and beaten, but she would not go down until she won this. She would not lose nor would she lose anything ever again. She would not let that side of her, that loved taking from everyone, even herself, win. Taking a deep breathe, she slowly sat up and got to her feet. She was covered in blood, both her own and the lakes, and definitely a sight to see, but she also had a white aura of magic around her. She looked over at her fake as mist once again gathered around her.
"I'm not going to die just yet. I have reasons to keep going. And none of them involve you." She said, before the mist turned into a fist and delivered a powerful blow to her fake, sending it flying several feet. Getting up, the fake looked over in surprise, only to be grabbed by the hand and brought over to Jack."You... are no longer a part of me. You are dead. You will never appear again. I will face things myself... I feared getting hurt and being the reason I lose anything. Your services are no longer needed. Now... leave me be."

Like that, the illusion shattered, the sky becoming normal, the walls of the maze returning, and blood surrounding her turning back to stone. Most of the blood on her vanished as well, the but blood from her injuries was till very real and she herself was in bad condition. Falling to her knees, she took deep, steady breathes, trying to gather the energy to continue. After taking some time to gather herself, she picked herself up and continued through the maze until she reached the end. Once she was at the exit, she collapsed onto the ground and within seconds, the world around her turned completely black.

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