Just A Normal Day (Open)

[Guest]

It was just a normal day in the Castle of Dreams, a fourteen year old girl was standing in front of the castle as if she was waiting for something to happen. She made it into the militia a few weeks ago and it wasn't as fun as she thought it would be. So far she was the lowest rank and the low ranks didn't do anything except for stand in front of the garden except for... Well, guard.  

Kia tucked a fallen blonde lock behind her ear and observed her mere surroundings. Rabbits hopped from place to place,grass was being devoured by wild animals, and the person she was working with... Was going home!? "Hey! Where are you going?” Kia turned and asked him, the man yawned and placed his sword on his belt. "It's getting late and I'm going home.”

Kia scowled, she didn't give a flying damn if this man was tired or not, she just didn't want to be alone! Without waiting for a response from her, he waved and walked off. The teenager groaned and withdrew her sword, stabbing it into the terrain, preventing herself from throwing a temper tantrum. So far, she hated her new job, nut it was better than working alongside her sister in the grimy bar.

Seeing that the girl wasn't paying any attention, a cloaked figure climbed off the wall and started running. Kia quickly lifted her head and begun to chase the figure who had a sack full of objects from the castle, "Come back here, you thief!¨ The small girl yelled, she wasn't fast enough to chase him or her, she suddenly bumped into someone. She fell flat oon her back, feeling the impact of pain she cringed, "Ouch... Watch where you're going, stranger...”

[Laiya]

...The Castle of Dreams.

Alyx really couldn't tell what she was doing here- besides stretching her legs and getting away from Traverse Town for a bit- letting her adviser Jonathan take over; one of the only people she could actually call 'decent' in her lineup of assistants without going into the Militia, most of which comprised of old friends and associates. She, personally, was looking into the shops they had there in the plaza, scanning anything of interest; a habit of looking for strange or old trinkets to take back home- one of the few things that she could say she personally enjoyed. Dressed in something decent for a change, a simple white t-shirt and brown cargo's, she still carried the appearance of somebody far too aggravated and tired to care- something which may have caused the shop owner to peer over at her worriedly, which Alyx attempted to shoot an It's okay at the woman.

Stress of being a Mayor had gotten to the twenty year old native of Traverse Town, her little scene of stepping up to the occasion merely being a wish to see the chaos of the world stop for a moment...something she did a decent job with, even though it wasn't finished. Her advisers had helped, offering that they open up the fourth and fifth districts, and for the most part it had turned out to be rather popular as a result- The Flick Rush Coliseum being made for a variety of things, always open for Tournaments. Yes, it wasn't an easy job and she messed up a little bit- but she was honestly thankful for most of the people she found herself with, despite some only using her for their own gains.

After visiting the shop and picking out a trinket she liked- an odd green orb she had found that caught her eye, she went along exploring. After a while of wandering around, she found herself at the castle just in time to see a figure fly past with a sack full of goods, and a surprisingly immovable force colliding hard into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her and putting her on the ground. Unable to control her mouth to the the surprise of the pain, what came out was: "Ow!" as she fell. Looking to what knocked her down, she noticed it was only a girl. Narrowing her eyes at the words the girl chose, she responded with an equal retort of her own. "How about YOU watch where you're going kid?"

It wasn't the most clever retort, nor the most original- but it conveyed a purpose, so Alyx thought it was fine for now. Looking around, she found the Orb was still intact, something which she mentally sighed, relieved that it didn't break. "You could have broken this thing, dammit." she accused the girl, on her way to getting up while she did so...

[Guest]

Kia lifted her head to see the stranger she had bumped into, the woman exchanged two retorts and reffered to some sort of orb, The teenager narrowed her eyes at the object. Since the young girl was use to expensive objects due to being raised in a luxurious setting so the orb looked like it belonged in a 99 cent store. Inexpensive items weren't all that bad though...

Kia decided to be nice to the girl, despite their previous encounter. Kia stood up and extended her arm to the older woman with a small smile, "I'm sorry about that, I was just chasing someone.." She said as she brushed the dust off her low rank ass armor, "Did you see anyone with a sack run past you?" Though the girl hated her job, she took it very seriously. This was the first time anything exciting ever happened on duty, and she wanted to make a good impression.

[Laiya]

Alyx breathed, taking the hand offered to her and pulled herself up, the woman brushing herself off after that. It was an outburst she herself had made, something she told herself she wouldn't do while she was on vacation- apparently that little trait stuck harder than she'd like to admit. Taking the girls lead and going into a polite mode, she nodded stiffly. "Yes, in fact I saw it pass, a couple of seconds before you collided into me. Fuck...that hurt, by the way." she told the girl, her voice gruff. She eyed the girl down- the girl was wearing armor, adorned with symbols and miscellaneous decorations that she didn't quite understand. She was obviously a guard, if an untrained one by the look of it.

Her thoughts were more: They're allowing children into the military? This place must be affected by that bastard who killed the original mayor just as much as Traverse Town- probably more. I wonder where else has been affected...

But, she would dwell on that later- she had been rather busy as of late and hadn't bothered to check in with the neighboring worlds. She hadn't heard a call for council, so they could be doing fine. Maybe they caught the bastard. She looked at the girl. She looked rather determined, a good trait to have for a guard- even if she DID let some bastard slip through and away with the stuff she was supposed to be guarding. She stuck out a hand in return, eyes still assessing the girl in an attempt to learn more about her. A chubby little child, her face still showed signs of youth; which meant she wasn't a guard long. "Alright, I'll help you look for it. My name is Alyx Mallis- I'm the Mayor of Traverse Town, if you know where that is." she told the girl.

[Guest]

"That's great, I can use all the help I can get! My name is Kia," She told the woman that introduced herself as Alyx Mallis. The cult escapee walked over to her sword Blade of the Ocean and picked it up, placing it in the shealth clipped to her belt she walked ahead of Alyx as if to lead the search.

Mayor? Did Kia just run into a mayor!?! "Mayor you say? What are you doing in this world?" Kia didn't recognize how rude she sounded, her curiosity always took the best of her but she JUST HAD TO KNOW. If Alyx followed her, they would walk past a few stores and Kia would look in a few of the display windows to see if she saw the same cloaked figure with the sack. "Hmm, not in there..." She muttered as she looked into more stores, waiting for Alyx's answer.

[Laiya]

Alyx nodded, both for the fact they were starting to move as well as the question Kia threw at her. "Yes, I am a Mayor. As for what I am doing here, I had a friend vouch for me while I took a breather and stepped off of the world for a little bit. So, I've been in this place for a little bit, looking for trinkets and oddities to collect. What about you? Are you one of the natives?" she asked, a curious expression on her face. Alyx supposed this 'make nice' effort was actually turning out to be easier than she thought, she hadn't exploded once except when the girl shocked her by bumping into her. She looked around the areas they walked as she helped the girl look for her, especially the alleyways that dotted the town knowing they might've used them to escape.

"So, do you get thieves very often; or is this new to you?" she questioned, curious once more. Traverse rarely had thieves, but it wasn't as if they didn't exist. She watched the girl looking through shop windows and public spaces. Yeah. Definitely new to this. she thought to herself. Tapping the girl on the shoulder, she went closer to her ear. "You know, that thief would be pretty fucking stupid to just waltz into the squares or shops with a bag of castle goods with them. They'd most likely use the darkness or less populated spaces to get away. Do you know where anything like that might be?" She questioned the girl, knowing that as a guard she should refrain from looking ridiculous- plus wasting time by checking places no thief would try to hide in.

[Guest]

Kia frowned at Alyx's statement, there was one thing Kia didn't like about herself,.. She was never right. She turned away from a convenience store window with a sad expression, "I guess you're right..." she said as her hand fell from the glass window to her side. Maybe she just sucked at the job and should just stay home being a freeloader. All because of one logical statement, the young girl didn't want to admit it, but she was deeply insecure about her own abilities, she wasn't strong enough for the job, she was just a small girl.

The cult escapee clinched her fist and drew Blade of the Ocean out of it's sheath, feeling just an ounce of confidence when she clutched the hilt of the blade in her hand. "Yeah, I know a place," She exclaimed, the tone in her voice sounding a bit higher than earlier as she walked ahead of the Traverse Town mayor. No more moping around! She was going to prove her older sister that she was worth more than being a freeloader, Abby would be proud. "Follow me!" The teenager yelled as her confident walk turned into a run.

[Laiya]

Alyx put a hand on Kia's shoulder. "Hey; everybody makes bad judgement. It's a fact of life." she told the girl. She gave a little smirk, "some more than others." she finished. Letting the girl sheath her sword and walk off in the direction she went, Alyx would be walking behind her feeling she had a good sense of direction and the fact she would have had more experience with this world then she did; although she did keep an ear or eye out for anything out of the ordinary, a flash of a shadow or maybe a jingle of a bag.

[Hayden Keegan]

They wouldn't find the thief inn quite the way that they'd hoped.

Hayden was hardly what one could call a crusader of justice. In his own mind, surely he was incorruptible with a solid purpose and unshakable faith in all he was doing, and all he had already done. Traverse Town, among other places, had all felt his blade to the throat of their established orders. One by one did they fall into ordered chaos, the remnants of the Blades' influence being swept away in a cleansing darkness along with Magi's agents. They all had to be purged. Even collateral damage was acceptable where it was justified as necessary.

And for Hayden, it always was justifiable. The blood of the innocent deemed a sacrifice to stave off further destruction, while the blood of the guilty stained his hands with progress. The two were indistinguishable from one another though- there was no stench of the corrupt or gleam of purity. All of it was red, which in a way soothed Hayden as much as it perturbed others. He wasn't a blade sharpened to precision- he was admittedly far too blind to be the dagger in the back of those that were hiding in the shadows. Even though Hayden could see in total darkness, he was still a fool stumbling through the dead silence of the night.

No, he considered himself a blanket. His movements were calculated but general and broad, a sweeping motion that covered all who fit the profile. Rich. Powerful. Noble. He added a fourth common descriptor in his presence: dead. All of them lie dead at his feet when he graced them as the shadow of death must often do, provoking fear and a sense of finality upon those who witnessed his arrival. With a mask over his face, his cloaked armor covering his body, and a gleam in his eye Hayden hunted like any good predator.

The Castle of Dreams was ripe with intrigue and corruption. The nobility here were stubborn and rooted in the old era of thinking. He would be the oncoming storm that ripped the forest from the ground and set them ablaze with malice and righteous fury. None who were villains would survive, not even the thieves. This one lie dead as Hayden's feet, his body intact but skin and tissue shredded in a bloody pile. He had dipped his fingers in the blood that pooled through the grass and lingered for moments before the dirt hungrily lapped it up, and smeared a message on the trunk of a large tree nearby.

"Midnight has come. The fairy-tale is over."

As quickly as Hayden had killed the man, he left. A portal of darkness opened behind him and he stepped through it, the thing closing like a shutter. A mere few moments later, the man would already be inside the Castle. Today was a gathering of nobles from all over the World. They were attempting to discover why fewer and fewer off-world people of prominance were coming to their parties- brainstorm some themes and delicacies they could use to attract them back. They hadn't realized that their former guests were now permanent residents of the Underworld.

Hayden would enter the castle. He would wait for just a few moments more before it was time. The nobles had not yet arrived. His bloody warning on the tree was his challenge to those that found it. If they could stop him, they should try. They only had a precious few minutes to do so, however...

[Guest]

As they had arrived in the impoverished side of the village, Kia frowned inspecting the area while gripping onto Blade of the Ocean. "I guess the thief isn't here..." No black cloaks in sight. She turned around to Alyx and heaved a sigh, "Oh well, I'm going back to the castle. I have to stand guard at a party the nobles are holding, you can come if you'd like... Hey, our cloaked friend might be there as well!" And with that she walked towards the castle.

(Bleh post)

[Laiya]

Alyx watched as the town had begun to appear more sordid in both appearance and the general feel of the place; the overall condition of this district taking a turn for the worse as the streets and the buildings began to look more run down and filled with less people; the ones that she could see eying the guard suspiciously as they went about their dealing. Alyx nodded inwardly. Well, if there was a place to hide, this would be it. she thought to herself quietly, looking around. Still, that made it a bit more difficult to search for suspicious activity when there was suspicious activity going around EVERYWHERE she looked in this place. But that could have been Alyx's paranoia. It wasn't as if she knew what to look for anyway; it was the girl who saw the thief; she'd have a clearer idea on what to look for.

Then the girl turned around with a sigh, telling her that she didn't see anything; and then offering her a place in going to a party the nobles are holding. "That's it? Nothing here?" Alyx questioned the girl, a skeptical look on her face. She had a hard time believing that there was nothing to find here; but as she thought about it she realized there was an entire district that they could hide in if it looked like this. Sighing, she nodded to the girl. "Alright, I suppose you're right about it. Too much to look around, and judging by the inhabitants they seem to dislike the guards." She told Kia. "And I'll tag along, this party seems interesting enough; and if these are nobles I suppose I can drop in to see what's going on with the world." Alyx nodded to the girl, letting her take the lead.

(It's quite alright on my end.)

[Hayden Keegan]

And so it had begun.

Screams erupted from the interior of the castle, loud enough to reach outside of the castle. The castle itself was surrounded by woods and a fair distance away from the town, which meant that Hayden had plenty of time to work. The first kill was the cleanest- no resistance or struggle to make the muscles contract and move. No blood rapidly pumping through the veins and arteries. A quick slice and a spray of red was all it took before the panic set in, a full second of silence eclipsing the grim realization of the majority of the nobles in attendance. They responded as well as one might expect.

There were a variety of people in attendance, but only a few were children. They weren't hard to catch. The big ones were smarter, faster. Able to get away if he was sloppy. He set about them in order of who was closest, and whenever any of them neared the castle doors they were brutally cut down. It was only when Hayden turned around from his latest kill that he saw a young woman with dirty blonde hair and dark skin glaring at him with bright, green eyes. She held in her hands a strange weapon. A weapon Hayden immediately recognized as a Keyblade.

He drew his own Keyblade and set upon her, and the two locked into a clash. There was no speaking, no threats or taunts. She matched him blow for blow in terms of skill and speed, but the clash only lasted for a few moments before clones grew from the ground and grabbed her, holding her back and down. She could no longer move, the images of Hayden menacingly staring from behind masks. The silence was malicious by it's mere existence.

As unceremoniously as he had began, he ended the bloody dead. He drove Jack through her chest, but instead of killing her the Keyblade stole her heart, releasing it from it's captivity. Her body faded away gently as she cast a sideways glance towards the cabinet she had been defending. He face seemed to contort into an expression of despair and regret. Without missing a beat Hayden withdrew his weapon, and began a terrible stride towards the cabinet...

[Guest]

Kia smiled as Alyx let her take the lead once more, it was eight o'clock sharp and the stay was starting to become darker. Crickets were starting to come out of their hiding places, various insects like mosquitos were returning to their respective homes in the trees and under the ground, the bar was starting to open. Kia's sister Abigail was seen walking to the bar, the nineteen year old turned to her younger sister to wave. Kia waved back with a grin, as if to say 'I'm actually doing something!' Abigail narrowed her eyes at the woman beside Kia and decided not to come any closer to the two. With a chuckle, she walked into the bar.

The cult escapee's sudden stride turned into a joyful skip, she was glad that her older sister noticed that she was actually walking around and working. She bit her lower lip at what Alyx said about the poor citizens disliking guards. The young girl didn't understand why they did, guards kept them safe from further harm, she wouldn't hurt any of the poor inhabitants on the poor side of the village, she would rather go out of her way to steal food for them but not hurt a single hair on their heads!

Kia and the mayor of Traverse Town finally made it to the castle gates only to find, a trail of blood under their toes. She bent down and examined it, "I'm guessing the nobles got into a drunken fight while I was gone..." She said with a small chuckle as she slowly stood up to continue walking, motioning her acquaintance to follow her. The trail of blood didn't stop there, it was continuing onto the castle. The young girl was starting to become very frightened, "M-maybe a young princess started her monthly," She managed to casually say as she kept walking, rubbing the goosebumps that popped onto the arm she was using to carry the longsword. Then, it just got weirder...

A loud scream managed to escape out of Kia, splattered remains were on splattered on the big oak tree that was right in front of the beloved castle! The blonde felt her throat tighten and she ran behind the tree, vomiting all of the bile and food that rose up from her stomach and to her esophagus. Kia couldn't stop, the smell of splattered remains went back into her nostrils, causing her to vomit again. She looked up at Alyx, bile covering the sides of her mouth, " You...must get...to the castle... I'll catch...up.." she managed to choke out, her eyes were becoming bloodshot red and her face was a sickly crimison. "What are you standing there... For? GO...!"

[Laiya]

There was really nothing of interest for a while as they walked back to the castle, no longer looking for the thief had made the woman more lax in terms of looking out for trouble. The journey back had to be slower than it was going; Alyx noticed. At least for her. She noticed Kia had a decidedly more positive outlook, a smile on her face that would turn into something else while she thought about something, the girl turning out to be as much as an open book as the woman was herself. Kia came to a sudden stop, at least for a few seconds to grin and wave at another woman, this one narrowing her eyes and glaring at the girl. With a questioning look in Alyx's eye, they were suddenly on the move again.

"A friend of yours?" She asked as she moved along, not really needing an answer as she had a pretty strong guess about the woman herself. They were probably rather close, kind of like a sibling rivalry. Not thinking much more of it, the town eventually turned into trees, and the length of the forest leading to the castle spanned out before the two. Falling back into her mind as she walked along, attempting to make the journey faster by thinking; she almost missed the girl speak. Noticing the blood after she did, the blood trail soon began to stretch onwards while they were walking, the direction of the blood going to the direction of the castle. Always one to suspect foul play, she narrowed her eyes as she walked along, ignoring the off-kilter joke that the girl gave.

Then they had reached the end of the trail. Alyx gave a dark smirk as they approached the tree, actually managing to quell the queasiness of the discovery and the smell of decaying meat managing to be deflected with a morbid joke.

"Well, we found the thief...or whats left of it, anyway."

She walked around, not noticing the bag that he was carrying; but the suspicion was just too strong to play it off like it was something else. It was there she found it, a message scrawled in blood: "Midnight has come. The fairy tail is over." scrawled on the side of the tree. A cold spell sending goosebumps up her arms and down her spine, her heart began to beat faster. Was it him? The bastard that killed the previous mayor- and the guy who offed most of the other World Leaders as well?

It didn't take the girl pleading for her to go that drove Alyx to the castle, but rather her own volition. While she seriously doubted herself against whatever was here now- it was a sense of morbid curiosity. She hadn't seen the man in Traverse Town; so the reveal was something to look forward to- assuming she got there in time. But along with the plethora of emotion that assaulted her, a strong sense of fear and self preservation kicked in, telling her not to go. It was a strong presence in her heart, much more than the other emotions, and for a second it almost stopped her from proceeding. Almost. Using the darkness and the shadows, she began to travel with the darkness in an attempt to reach the castle as fast as she could go.

[Alexander]

Alexander gripped the sides of the cupboard tightly as he head the clomping of steps. He trembled in fear, his mother's fruitless death serving nothing but to terrify him further as the boots tapped against the marble tile in rhythmic fashion, the dream of a happy ending seemingly lost to the young man. He tried to press himself further back into the cabinet, trapped by the walls around him like a rat in a cage. He panicked. He was afraid.

"Mom..." he was whimpering it as quietly as he could, lamenting her death as he choked on his own silent tears. "No, no no... mom, no..." He didn't know what else to do. He didn't know how else to react. Utter despair consumed him and crawled up his spine, digging it's claws into his skull as he heard his executioner draw nearer to him, and his eyes forced themselves tighter and tighter.

It was probably due to stress that it happened. The fear, the uncertainty of death or potentially all of the above and more. Something popped from into existence outside of the cupboard: something nasty. Something in a black cloak with strange designs at the base and sleeves. Something with a hood and two red eyes staring out from a black abyss. It raged at Hayden violently before lunging forward with great speed.

[Hayden Keegan]

A creature suddenly appeared before Hayden mid-stride, a black coat and glowing red eyes staring menacingly from under it's hood. He brandished Jack as the creature lunged forward, easily side stepping it as the being rushed past him. It tried to turn around as he let his hand surge forward and grasp it by the back of the head, lifting it into the air as it struggled. Hayden began running towards the door of the Castle, charging through it as he slammed the dark figure through it. Hayden released the creature as it bounced away, sending up sheets of dust.

Hayden now stood at the door of the castle, two massive doors hanging limply off of their hinges. Hayden stood facing the creature as it stood up, facing him and showing no signs of backing down. "Aright," he finally spoke. He rushed forward towards the creature, hitting it again and sending it flying into a tree. It launched itself off of the wood and towards Hayden, who caught it and effortlessly threw it into the air. He morphed Jack into its Dual Blade Cannon form and sent dozens of blades towards it, raining hell upwards at them.

The thing was sent falling into the forest, away from Hayden's proximity. He waited for but a moment, before concluding the creature was defeated. He turned to enter back inside the castle, ready to finish the thing that coward in the cabinet.

[Guest]

Kia was glad that Alyx disappeared in shadows? That was an odd thing to see, after spitting up some of the tidbits from lunch, she placed her hand on the clean bark on the tree and stood up straighter. As soon as she stood up, she wiped all of the bile off with the back of her now shivering ghostly pale hand. The girl started to shake from weakness, she picked up the sword she dropped and decided to read what was on the tree that stood before her.

"Midnight has come, the fairy tail is over..." She read, coughing out all of the leftover bile. She haf no idea what it meant but it was heading towards the party! Or was it already there!? This made Kia rush towards the castle urgently. She looked around and couldn't find any of her fellow low rank guards anywhere. The teenager was starting to get anxious, maybe they were already in the castle with Alyx!

The cult escapee finally made it to the castle, but there were no guards and no Alyx? "Alyx? Mayor of Traverse Town?" She called out, walking and looking around for her acquaintance. The more she called out the more silence proceeded to greet her. Kia bursted into tears, why did Alyx abandoned her? Was she afraid? The teenager decided that she must deal with this on her own, she wiped the tears off of her face and walked in front of the castle since she was behind it.

As she walked from thr side of it, she caught a figure holding some struggling being. She gasped quietly and hid, slowly peeking from the side of the castle. She sheathed her sword and placed both of her hands on the elegant wall and peeked again, watching the scene. The stranger was a keyblader, she has seen then before. They were all heroes that couldn't hide their downfalls: Pride, Arrogance, Naivety, Prejudice, Greed, and Overconfidence. They were all heroes in their own right and they all had followed the light but that didn't mean that they couldn't struggle to live by it. They concealed their darkness...

Kia watched as the man unleashed multiple blades in the air, maiming the creature. She cringed and dug her nails in the wall as the injured creature flew towards the forest. As the stranger walked into the castle, Kia leaned back on the wall and started hyperventilating. She had to fight that!? All by herself... The reason why she joined the militia was so that she canf ace her fear of heartless not psychopaths with keyblades who maimed harmless creatures for fun! Well, she had to do this without Alyx...

After some small encouragements, Kia walked in front of the castle. Puzzled by the broken doors, The blonde reached forward and grabbed the knob making it eventually fall off. It made such a noise that it made Kia run and hide behind the bushes. After a few seconds of not hearing footsteps, she charged into the castle finding something worst than rotting remains on the tree. Kia widened gmher blue eyes as she looked around everywhere, the blonde couldn't... This was too much... She wasn't a higher rank to..

"WHAT IS THIS!?" She screamed at the figure from earlier, hoping that he would turn around. "WHO ARE YOU? ... I'm talking to you, you worthless piece of shit!" And with thag, she unsheathed Blade of the Ocean and charged over to him, stopping a few feet and swinging her blade. In a fluid motion, a sling of water came out of her blade like a slingshot, it would attempt to lash at him from the back but if the strsnger turned around, it would lash at his torso.

[Laiya]

Alyx flew out of the castle just in time to watch a black cloaked figure fly into the forest, whether or not it had actually crashed into the ground was a question Alyx staved off until later as she rushed towards the castle, finding out that as soon as she got there, Kia had already made it there. What the hell? she thought to herself as Alyx approached the castle. Looking towards the girl, she looked visibly distressed; if determined to go forth. By the light, she's not actually going to in there with IT, is she?!

Worried for her friend, she ran up to the gates, too late to grab the young guard to stop her but early enough to take in the massacre of the ballroom. Ignoring the pip Welp. Party's over. from the back of her mind, she went forward- "Kia!" on her mind as she watched the girl throw out a crescent of water towards the cloaked figure. There it...no...HE was, keyblade in hand and bloody from the fight. A pang of fear creeping up the woman, she went towards the girl in an effort to stand in front of her, assuming the man didn't close the gap before she could get close. She readied a certain spell, ready to cast it in a moments notice; a barrier spell that she had doubts would last very long against him.

[Alexander]

There was still fear. Something that merged itself with Alexander's very being and seemed to become it. Yet, something propelled the boy forward out of the hiding spot the moment he heard the masked man crash through the door. He scrambled out and into the blood-slicked floor, slipping and starting to vomit as his hand grabbed (and slide out from beneath him) on a piece of intestine. He wasn't as able to stifle his tears any more, with his shaking sobs more pronounced. "Mom?!" he called out to her quietly at first, exasperated but not willing to reveal himself. He seemed to not realize that he had already done so.

Yet, he discarded his own survival instincts as though they were cards in a poker game, and he began to call out louder. "Mom! Mom, where are you?!" He had saw her fall from the cupboard! She fell right here. Where was her body? If it wasn't here, then she just had to be alive! She just had to have crawled or moved or something... right? Right? There was a cacophony of noise outside that sounded like gunfire and swords clashing, and Alexander could see right outside of the door. The murdered looked off into the trees, watching for something it looked like. Alexander too this chance to scramble up the stairs of the ballroom, getting to another location.

From there he watched the mayhem resume as the figure clad in black metal and red cloth entered at the very end of the castle again. There were hundreds of feet in this room between Alexander and he... but did it matter? Alexander's hands were trembling. He didn't think much mattered any more. How could it? She was dead... and that's when the girl showed up. Alexander recognized her outfit-- she was a knight of the castle. A young one, by the looks of it. She flung an attack forward at the man while another person arriving soon afterwards tried to stop her.

"Don't fight him," Alexander found himself whispering, hoping against all reason that his pain would convey. "You can't fight him," he continued to whisper as tears continued to well up. "Mom couldn't fight him..." If Hayden was looking, he would see the tear glisten in the dim light.

[Hayden Keegan]

As Hayden entered the castle, one thing became immediately obvious to him: whoever was in the cupboard had left the door open. Or, maybe the impact against the door had jarred it loose. Either way, Hayden was paused in the moment as he contemplated the small chance of a survivor if he left now, or a guarantee of none if he was thorough. He had a reputation to keep: kill them all, leave no survivors. Perhaps if he hadn't heard her voice, he would not have been so remarkably aware of her. He cast a glance towards her as she swung her sword.

She was a few feet away, and he readied himself. A trained knight attacking in such an unorthodox way meant something unusual was about to occur. It was indeed so- water shot from the tip of the blade and flung itself forward at his back, which Hayden managed to barely avoid as he flipped forward. During his flip he saw something shimmer in the distance of the ballroom, sticking his landing and looking at the young woman. He dusted his hands, spraying the blood on his metal gauntlets down onto the already crimson-slicked floor.

He stared silently at her for a moment, weighing her in his eyes before finally speaking. "I kill two types of people." His voice was distorted by his mask, but very plainly had an amused tone. "There are the guilty, who must die for their crimes. And there are the sacrifices, who stand in the way." He slung Jack across the floor, causing it to whip up sparks before he came to hold it reverse-style grip in his right hand. "I don't care which one you are." Hayden was ready to fight, but then he saw a familiar face appear.

New blood. The new blood from Traverse town. He lowered his ready stance, and seemed to ponder something. He cast a backwards glance towards the staircase, focusing his eyes towards the darkness where the gleam had come from. There it had been since he entered the building again. The faint sound of crying. He saw the boy's face in the dark, distressed and afraid.

Alone.

He then returned his attention to the two before him. The new blood could not afford to be contaminated by bearing witness to the truth of the worlds. With an almost begrudging air he thrust his sword into the ground and dismissed it as a portal opened up behind him. "Do not make me come back," he spoke as he stepped back into it, vanishing as it dispersed.

[Guest]

Kia gasped when Alyx arrived right in front of her as if she was trying to protect her, "Alyx, I thought you left, I can handle him myself!" Translation:'Alyx, I cried for you and you came back to help me, hooray!' She was glad that the Traverse Town mayor didn't leave her after all. Who wouldn't want to help a short girl defeat a ballroom murderer? Yeah, that didn't come out right...

She moved away from behind Alyx and stood beside her like an ally in battle. The figure turned out to be male, the way he talked he acted like this whole massacee was funny. She tightened the grip on her sword so hard that she had almost managed to break it. The teenager decided not to say a retort or a wise crack because the setting was rather inappropriate to do so. Plus, he might slaughter her on the spot since he seemed crazy enough to do that.

The man took a moment as he glanced at the staircase as if he was missing someone or something. She looked in his direction noisily, trying to see what he was staring at. She couldnt yet couldn't see anything, Was he contemplating? Well if he was, she didn't care she wanted to beat the crap out of him right away.

The man left with a warning, Kia scoffed there was no way he was coming back! She looked to Alyx with a small smile, "I'm glad you came back, but what happened? Did your darkness take a wrong turn?" She asked about Alyx's type of transportation as she looked down at all of tge bodies. She felt tears welt up in her eyes, she failed all of the nobles of this world all of them.. No survivor left.

As she was near the stairs, her ears perked up a small crying sound. She looked up and found a small boy. "Hi there," she said calmly as she looked to Alyx and beckoned her to follow. The teenage girl finally made it up to what looked like a small boy, she smiled and crotched down, "You must be hurt, I'm sorry my friend and I couldn't get here in time to save everyone... Whay is your name, little one?"

[Laiya]

The feeling of fear didn't ebb away until a couple of minutes after the figure had left. As she relaxed, she was surprised to find out how taut her muscles were in that moment. Even as Kia rushed up to her with thanks, Alyx's mind was more preoccupied with the figure. He only killed the guilty or those who stood in the way? That would explain the guards deaths in Traverse Town if that was the case, but personally she hadn't felt much from the Traverse Town mayor, even as a child. My family was a pretty sizable one. Maybe we were better off? She questioned herself, her expression turning to one of deep thought. Realizing where she was, she shook off the thought, noting to herself that she might've wanted to review it in the confines of her own office.

She turned towards Kia, who asked her about the shadow travel she used to get there. "What? No- you got there faster than I did. But that's besides the point." She brushed it off as she narrowed her eyes at the girl. "Did you want to die?! What would change if you did, huh? That bastard killed everyone. E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E. What would you have done? Be another body?" She accused the girl, knowing she was just trying to do what was right; but that was no excuse. That was never a good excuse. More often than not you died when you did that, and yet Alyx did the same thing; used her own body as a shield for the girl. Alyx huffed, irritated. The first time she left her world to visit somewhere else, and...this happened. She looked around, eyes softening as she took it all in.

Breathing in for a second, she tapped Kia on the shoulder. "Look, go get the guards. There are things you guys need to do- especially for tomorrow...you have a lot of death to clean up. I'll take over from here." She said. Assuming the girl left, Alyx would look back. "...Look. I know you were trying to do the right thing. But there was nothing you could do besides become another body bag." she said, hoping the girl understood. Briefly, Alyx wondered if the girl hated her, or at least disliked her now. It wasn't a problem to her, though. Kia was alive and angry, not dead. Putting it out of her mind for now, she knelt down. "...Hey." she said, not really sure how to start.

[Alexander]

At some point, Alexander had managed to shut out all his fear. It was at the exact moment that Hayden started staring at him: from beneath that mask horrid, predatory eyes had began to drill death into him, and all he could do to spare himself was lock it all out. It seemed in that moment that lasted forever he had seen death truly, and not simply the gory aftermath. The eyes of a hunter stalking it's quarry- malice and hatred tempered by purpose. It wasn't the man that scared Alexander. It was something else, something relevant and familiar. Something Alexander could not comprehend.

Time passed in an instant after Alexander lost focus. He started to come back to reality to a voice beside him. he didn't hear the words exactly- they were jumbled, as though they traveled through a layer of water to reach his ears. Something louder overcame that barrier and he became acutely aware of somebody yelling at another person, and went from silent, motionless sobs to the shaking associated with a traumatic experience. The tears still streamed down his face but the teen had developed a thousand yard stare, and his hands were so tightly wound around the railing of the stairs that he couldn't have been pried off with a crowbar.

But he still found the ability to look at them. Shaking and frustrated, scared and now feeling more alone than he ever had his eyes were narrowed but unfocused, seeming to look through the two people in front of him rather than at them. He opened his mouth to respond, but all that came out was a rush of air from his lungs as he started at them, still trembling like a leaf in the wind.

[Guest]

Kia listened to the words that Alyx have previously said before walking up to the survivor, "I don't care. Look, I know you're trying to help me but I'm not someone who would run away from people who needed my help, I mean if he was a heartless it would have been different. I'd rather be another body bag than a coward that went into hiding and put innocent citizens in danger." She said, looking up at Alyx. "Wouldn't you have done the same if that man murdered your citizens?"

She turned back to the boy, he was traumatized, in shock. Kia wished that she knew how he felt, she had never been in his place before, being the only survivor of a massacre. He might not admit it but he needed all the help he can get. He didn't answer her question, it looked like he was gone, just out of it. Was he another noble? She couldn't see him up close since the windows were drawn, she decided that it was best not to open the blinds.

The teenage girl gently wrapped her arms around the traumatized boy's body and attempted to pick him up. Sucess, he wasn't all that heavy but he looked as if he was much older than she. "A teenager..." She muttered, looking at his handsome features in awe. She turned to Alyx, "We need to get him to a hospital, can you do any more of that shadow travel?" Kia noticed that the boy was still crying, she smiled gently and caressed his hair with her hand and wiped his falling tears.

[Laiya]

Alyx frowned at the young guard, a disapproving glare on her face. "And how do you help ANYONE when you're dead? Don't get me wrong, I'd die for my world before I'd run away. And don't mistake this for me just being a bitch, what you did needed some serious guts to pull off, and I admire that." She said, giving another aggravated huff. It could have been that Alyx was just being a hypocrite, but the least this girl could have done was approach the matter cautiously rather than run in gung-ho. That was the surest way to get yourself hurt, and quickly. "and besides; the man apparently only kills the guilty and those dumb enough to stand in the way. I.E. You AND me. Didn't ya hear him?" She questioned.

Still, it confused her that he just left after looking back at the kid and her. Innocent Blood, maybe?

She wouldn't know, and she would have more time to think about it when she got home.

At the question of shadow travel, she waved it off. "No need; I have a decent spell for this type of thing." she said, looking the boy over. She couldn't see if the boy was hurt- but he was traumatized. Motioning for the girl to put him down, she would pull a shadow closer to her and wrap it into a cure spell, laying a hand on the boy's shoulder while it traveled down to heal him. It was a basic heal, but it wasn't gentle. It would tug at any wounds while relieving the pain and for a few seconds Alyx wondered if the boy would freak out.  Sustaining it, she would nod for the girl to go. "Like I said before- you need to go get the guards and wake up the rest of the castle if they are asleep." she told her, before looking at her curiously, jerking her head towards the rest of the...party. "unless you have something better to do?"

- 15 MP Dark Cure

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