The Devil (XV)

It seemed just as quickly as the district flooded, it became a glacier. The incredible harsh conditions would have made it difficult for anyone to make any progress on shutting down the generators the Stars tasked everyone to do. The best she could do was evacuate those who had trouble escaping the blizzard.

It was as if her nightmares had come to life. Of all the things that AI had to pull from, it just had to be that hellspawn. Walpurgisnacht has descended onto the island. Bringing with it a trail of destruction. Anyone caught in its path had to be evacuated if they had any concern for their lives. As dark storm clouds approached, she found a familiar face.

Initially, she had no stake in the current conflict that was raging throughout the city. The choice to her was either remaining in this prison or returning to her previous one. However, being a neutral player in this war did nothing to save her, often being attacked by the agents of NULL to destroy anything that isn't them. Inevitable defaulting her to the side of the island just to find an end to all of this. Which she believed lay at the island floating above her.

The struggle to create a foothold on it was apparent from the injuries that ran across her body. None that seemed to slow her down. Delivering the final blow to an amalgamated ronin, she shot a glance down the road. Spotting a young girl, the only normal sight on this twisted island. Raising her gun towards her before speaking.

At this point, it felt almost jarring to see the red-haired girl. It felt like it’s been years since she’s seen her, let alone anyone else from Mitakihara. It was also difficult to tell whether or not she’ll welcome her as a friend, mild annoyance, or would just immediately try to punch her. If it was the latter, she couldn’t really blame her at this point. Deciding to see what fate had in store for her, she approached without any excitement.

Once again, it seemed that her collection of weapons has gone missing during her absence. While it wasn’t terrible to restock her armory, it was tedious. Often having to track down criminal gangs to either steal or buy weapons from them. If not that, then it was always possible to track down their arms dealer. This was the case for her visit to the shadier streets of Cotes Ward.

Not being affiliated with any gangs always made this process long and dangerous. But with enough force, she was always able to get what she was after and earn a new supplier. Leaving the front with her gun hidden away, she noticed a familiar woman. Not one that she knew personally, but she noticed her not that long ago. Was she following her?

“Oh, no, I was just finishing up.” Was this someone she had met before? The girl didn’t look particularly familiar to her. Most of those who came by this building were well known at this point; it wasn’t as if this kind of church had particularly high attendance in this city.

“Do you need any kind of help? I know this place better than most, though I understand when one has reasons they’d rather keep between themselves and the Lord.”

"I don’t think so, no. I’m just visiting. Mostly on a whim but I used to attend a church before.” Unsure whether or not that would open a can of worms. But she didn’t expect to be pressured one way or the other.

Some of the more interesting residents of the island took walks in the Mistwood, appreciating the unusual atmosphere more than the city’s. It was possible this new voice and face that caught his attention belonged to one of them. Whatever her plan, she seemed interested enough in the boy sitting on the angled trunk of a collapsed tree.

“Good afternoon,” he said with a smile. “My reason is money.” Resting now, he already had the chosen take of the day in his pocket: a very small, probable piece of technology. He couldn’t tell how to use it, but there was an even higher chance it was broken.

“Are you also looking for something?”

So he must have been one of the Mistwood’s treasure hunters. With that revealed, she relaxed her stance. Treasure hunting was not something she was particularly interested in. But for some it did despite the risk. Why anyone would endanger themselves for money was beyond her, but it wasn’t her issue to worry about.

“ Arnath. It’s fine, I know what going from place to place is like. I can’t rightfully blame you if you forgot. “ For some, the transition might’ve been a bit more rough so Arnath couldn’t be all that mad. Really it was just nice to see a familiar face, even if the girl was someone she vaguely remembers was better with hand guns than most police officers she had seen. Where she picked that up from was way behind her. 

“ Honestly it’s just nice seeing familiar faces around here. Even if we didn’t talk that much, I do remember we’ve had each other’s backs from time to time. So you know, it’s good to talk in an environment where nothing’s trying to kill us. “ 

At least she was understanding of her forgetfulness. Despite how many months have passed, she was still stuck in the adjusting phase. Something she felt that she’ll never be able to shake at this point.

@rushifua

She figures she should be used to this by now. 

Really, there’s been enough that’s happened, both dreamlike and nightmarish enough to make her want to go home right that instant. But, reality is what it is, and so, Miriam puts up with it long enough to trace her way back along streets she’s been on a hundred times before. They’ve lost their familiarity, the longer she’s on them, and she doesn’t like that one bit. 

Desperate for a distraction, she sets herself on the first person she spots who doesn’t look like a walking road hazard. 

“Hey there, stranger-”

She hasn’t seen this person before, and really, she feels like she’s seen everyone. 

“Is this, uh, is this mess treating you okay? It’s been a couple of days, I’d think everyone would be getting tired of it already. Not like it’s easy to eat if this isn’t your home ward.” 

At this point, Homura was used to the odd scenarios that was thrown at her. She had little interest in participating in the cat’s game. However she would shoot a few of them for good measure, just to stave off any consequences for not participating.

Her concern were the people willing to kill each other just to win the game. It just gave her another reason to keep an eye out for what everyone else was doing. So when she was suddenly approached by someone, she was suspicious of her intentions.

She never would have expected a mass of balloons to have caused so much trouble. Bullets were good enough at shredding through them but their numbers were overwhelming. And that didn’t even consider the ones that were ignored and all the people running around trying to pop them. All of that made it difficult to navigate through the district.

Then all of a sudden, the sounds of popping rang throughout the streets. All the balloons before her had suddenly popped regardless of their color. It seemed that whatever caused this mess had ceased. As the screens flared back to life and the figure droned on, Homura made her way towards the apartments. Despite being late she figured it would still be good to pay a visit. Giving the front door a solid knock before speaking up.

It was difficult to remember the last time she was at a church. Even the few memories that she did have were vague at this point. Only that it was from a time before being hospitalized. In a way, she was a little nostalgic about those times. Even if they weren’t the best.

Obviously, this church wasn’t the one she went too. However the majority of them did have a similar interior. Pews lining the hall, altar at the end of the aisle. It was all familiar to her. It wasn’t long before she spotted someone else in the building.

Given the rumors surrounding the forest, she didn’t expect to find anyone else here. The perpetual mist and wild animals would be enough to deter most people from even entering these woods. Yet here he was, a lost child didn’t seem to fit the bill. Maybe one of the mistborn she’s heard about?

“ Ah, that’s where. You were from the other place, huh? “ Arnath would casually toss the girl her gun as she crossed her arms in moderate thought trying to remember who this girl was. There were a lot of people in the old city she didn’t think had transitioned here properly. It was honestly probably a one time occurrence she ran into her but.. a young girl with artillery and guns.. hm.. 

“ … Ho..mura Akemi..? I think that should start ringing some bells in a bit but, I don’t think I remember anyone else packing heat like you did. “ 

“That’s right.” Her eyes focused on the gun now flying towards her. Catching it by the barrel before quickly taking a proper hold on it. On inspection, it had the safety on. Lucky in a sense that it couldn’t misfire in that toss, but uncharacteristic of how she carried her weapons. It also wasn’t a model she regularly carried. However a gun was a gun, she wouldn’t mind holding onto it.