harmonize_rpg | Mini-event: Awakening 2

Practice had gone about as well as expected. Even though the weird and often scathing looks had not ceased, it didn't really matter; her physical aptitude spoke far louder than any mono-syllable word she could have said. For someone so large and intimidating, she was taking to the "gentle way" of Judo quite well. Perhaps she was falling into the "Gentle Giant" stereotype? ... Naaaaah.

The staff who had called the two of them at least gave them time to change back into their uniforms at the very least. Still, Chloe wondered what she could have done to land in trouble this time. Part of her was suspicious because Kisa was also called, and as far as she knew, she hadn't done anything needing discipline. Then again, what did she know, right? Either way, Chloe didn't have a good feeling about this. She walked in silence, her cold blue gaze straight ahead of her, hopefully ready for whatever these teachers wanted to throw at her.

The silence was uncomfortable. Kisa was uncomfortable. But saying anything would be even more uncomfortable, so she refrained, aside from a few occasional side-eyed glances at her taller companion.

She really couldn't fathom what this might be about. Aside from Chloe's standoffishness, even Kisa had to admit that she was an excellent student of the art. Maybe this had to do with some competition? But that wouldn't account for meeting in the main hall, or the general air of weirdness about the whole thing.

Another side-eyed glance, and she finally chose to spoke up once they'd reached their destination--which was bizarrely empty. "... Do you have any idea what this might be about, Abendroth-san?"

Turning to glance at Kisa when she spoke, the German shook her head silently at her question. So... Kisa had no idea what this was about either, hm? Her usual stoic gaze let a slight frown in at this development. The room was completely empty when they got there.

"None. Sorry."

She answered simply, her icy gaze sweeping the room suspiciously. If they were in trouble and were going to be disciplined, the least the teacher could do was be on time to do it.

Kisa had expected that answer, but she'd thought it at least worth a try.

Her eyes swept the room as well, a frown creasing her brow. No one was even here to greet them? This was all deeply strange, and there was something about it she didn't like.

And, just as before, part of the wall across from them slid open in a way it shouldn't have been able to, and there was Yachiyo-sensei to greet the pair. One quick, confirming glance, and she nodded to herself.

"I'm glad you both could make it. Follow me. I'll explain when we're inside."

And back she went into the passage, lit as before by the pale blue lights and nothing else.

If the quiet and emptiness had been strange, the sudden sound of the... wall moving made the tall girl do a double take. Walls didn't do that. A fully fledged frown etched itself into Chloe's usually calm face. Maybe that bad feeling she had about this from before wasn't entirely incorrect?

Chloe turned to Kisa, her gaze surprisingly questioning, almost as if asking her non-verbally if she had any idea the school walls could do that. Carefully, she started towards the passage, her fists clenched defensively.

Chloe was met with a wordless, baffled shrug, but Kisa was willing to move along as well. She was feeling less defensive--surely there was a good reason for all this?--but no less confused. Things like this didn't belong in schools, right? It was like something out of a science fiction manga.

Hopefully, she thought as the passage turned into stairs, the forthcoming explanation would be a good one.

As with the group that had preceded them, what opened up before them abruptly at the top of the stairs was a laboratory, all sterile metal and polished whiteness.

There was a smaller group there to meet them, however: Yachiyo was there, of course, and Ishichi and Suwa as well, alongside Horaoku and the woman in the military uniform.

As the wall slid firmly shut behind Chloe and Kisa, Yachiyo fixed them both with a stern look. "Congratulations. You've been drafted."

As they walked down the stairs, the bad feeling began to expand in Chloe's gut. There was no way that everyone else knew about this place, otherwise there would have at least been rumours around campus. That feeling grew into... was that a tinge of fear she felt? The unknown was a powerful stimuli for fear, as much as she hated to admit it. As they walked down the stairs, she calmly glanced back at Kisa, almost as if assessing how she was doing with all this. She wasn't particularly close to Kisa, but she respected her as her captain, and the thought of her with that tinge of fear she herself felt did not sit well with her.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs and Yachiyo spoke to them, the bad feeling Chloe felt exploded at her words. The German's usually calm and stoic expression contorted in a scathing frown. Drafted? She looked around to see that there were others in the room, and one of them had a military uniform. None of this made any sense, but there was one thing she knew; she wasn't going to be forced into anything.

"No."

She said simply. She didn't need to ask any questions. She didn't need to know WHAT they had been 'drafted' into. The fact that they were left in the dark and being forced into... something was enough to set the warning bells off in her head. She returned Yachio's stern look with her own icy gaze with furrowed brows. What was the worst they could do, make her leave this school, she thought; oh what a travesty.

A weight sank in the pit of Kisa's stomach at the sight of the lab, but her heart leapt at the same time. Whatever she might have been expecting, something so incongruous wasn't it... but she couldn't help but feel a little excitement as well.

But Yachiyo hadn't given her much time to process it. The word 'draft' reflexively made her stomach twist, but she swallowed the feeling and took a step forward, holding a hand up to try to gently forestall Chloe's protests. After all, they didn't yet know what they were being drafted for.

"Sensei, what is all this--"

It seemed she wasn't going to get much chance to process this, either.

"There's no sense in explaining until you've experienced it."

Apparently Yachiyo's level of patience had somehow managed to get even lower than it had been with the first group. At her signal (and a barely detectable wince from Suwa), the peculiar-looking device in the far corner of the room whirred to life, and the world warped around them.

It would be no better for Chloe and Kisa than it had been for the rest of the group--the poisonous, dizzying colors; the energy almost crackling in the air; the sense of something not quite but very like vertigo; the visceral feeling of wrongness were all just the same.

Yachiyo's voice echoed in the heavy air. "Welcome to the other world."

Experienced it? What was she even-- then the world stopped making sense. Colours that should exist suddenly did, dizziness overtook her, and the pit of her stomach lurched with the wrongness of it all. The air felt heavy, hard to breathe. The tall German stumbled but did not fall, closing her eyes and clenching her fists, breathing a bit shallower. What in the hell had they done? She vaguely heard her mention another world... Chloe opened one eye, quickly looking at Kisa to check on how she was doing with all of this.

Kisa wavered, stumbled forward, fell to one knee. Her breathing was shallow and labored, and beads of cold sweat stood out on her skin. Her head felt dizzy and light, and recognizing the feeling almost made it worse.

"What... what is... other world?" She could barely get the words out. She gulped in air, praying that the feeling would pass soon; fortunately, she could feel the absolute worst of it starting to lift.

"One parallel to ours, where the laws of time and space are different."

Yachiyo glanced back at Ishichi, who was staring at her handheld display; about the only way to tell that anything was amiss was that she was staring perhaps a little more intently than before. But she finally nodded, and Yachiyo felt free to continue.

"And one filled with creatures what want nothing more than to break through to our world and prey on us. You two are among the few with the potential to stop them. That is one of the reasons for Chitoku's existence, and why you were brought here." This last was punctuated with a brief glance at Chloe that was difficult to read but decidedly not positive.

Chloe tried to concentrate on Yachiyo's words as the worst of the effects began to fade slightly. At the very least she was able to stand straight again. What the teacher was telling them sounded like some plot right out of a contrived movie. Another world, invading their own? A chosen few who could stop them? She didn't know what bad script this woman was reading from, but she had the wrong actor. It was the next part that gave the German pause.

The reason why they were brought here. A slow anger began to build up in the tall girl's stomach. The reason they were here... she knew there was a catch. It wasn't because she excelled at something for the first time in her life. It wasn't because anyone wanted her around. It wasn't even because she had a choice. She was here to be used, nothing more. The glance that Yachiyo gave her, while only discernible as reverse-positive, only stood to prove her point.

The usually calm German's jaw clenched just as tightly as her fists, her cool blue gaze flashing with anger before she tried to reel herself back in. Calm down. Don't lose your temper. Don't give them a reason to hate you more than they already do, she told herself. One of her fists clenched and unclenched, trying to distract herself from the rising fury in her chest.

It sounded insane. But there was obviously something going on. Or else why would this lab exist? Not to mention what was around them... or, perhaps she ought to say, what they were in.

She slowly picked herself up from the floor. She hadn't seen the look Yachiyo had given Chloe, but given the foreign girl's reaction, saying or doing anything about it would probably be awkward.

So, instead, she decided to look forward. "But we're just normal students, right?" She rubbed her temple, willing the lightheadedness to work its way out of her system faster. "If the military knows about this, then why are we specifically needed?"

"An inner potential. Again, it's impossible to explain without showing you."

This time Yachiyo had the Evoker ready, hidden beneath her long suit jacket. And this time it flared to life before she offered it hilt-first to the pair, the brilliant blue blade illuminating her face with an unearthly glow.

Her glance at Chloe was accompanied by the faintest hint of a wry smile, but the question was directed at both. "Do you trust us not to let you die?"

That wry smile set her on edge, moreso than she already was. Did she trust them? Hell no she didn't trust them. Why should she? What POSSIBLE reason had they given her thus far to trust them? They lied about the school, lied about why they were here... and now they're asked to trust them? She trusted them about as much as most of Japan trusted her.

As the woman handed the weapon out for either of them, a cold sensation could be felt at the pit of her stomach. It was like something right out of a sci-fi book. A traditional wakazashi with an ethereal blue blade... it made her nervous just looking at it. It wasn't because she was nervous about the item itself, but what they were intended to do with it. Chloe glanced quickly at Kisa, a sudden thought going through her mind. What if something went wrong? What if they were lying? What if this was some kind of sick joke? What if they got hurt? She could deal with pain, but she found herself uneasy about letting Kisa trustingly run into this... was this what worry for another felt like?

The German's hand reached out for the hilt of the blade at this thought, almost before she could recognize it as a thought. She immediately felt the heat off the blade as she looked at Yachiyo with a look that clearly said, 'I will play your game, for now.'. She held the Evoker in one hand, her icy gaze intent on the blade for a moment.

"... Stab ourselves?"

It was less of a question and more of an observation. By 'not let you die', it probably meant they would have to do something to themselves. The German's cold gaze looked directly at Yachiyo.

Ignoring Kisa's half-voiced objections to what had to be a terrible joke--her hand was already hovering to accept the blade herself--Yachiyo nodded, once. She actually looked faintly impressed.

The nod Yachiyo gave her was louder than anything she could have said at this point. The German held the sword in one hand, looking at it as her mind raced. Yachiyo had said they had been drafted... drafted meant they didn't have a choice. What would happen if they refused? She didn't want to find out. Taking a quick look at Kisa, she almost flinched; the girl was pale as a ghost. Inwardly, she wondered if she herself looked as shocked. 'Better me than her.' Chloe thought, and, lo and behold, the corner of her mouth twitched as if trying to smile to Kisa. The tall girl then closed her eyes.

She could feel her heartbeat; it was quick, but strong. She counted the beats, falling in time with them as she turned the sword so it was point first towards her chest. One hand was placed firmly around the hilt while the other at the base, ready to plunge the weapon to its desired location. Taking a deep breath, she willed her heart to calm slightly as she counted the beats; One... two... three. Without a second more of hesitation, Chloe plunged the blade through her chest, where her heart would be.

Instantaneously her world was on fire. Never before had she felt such raw and agonizing pain. The German let out a strangled groan before stumbling. She didn't want to fall. Her legs shook with the effort, and she stayed standing... for a bit. But all things must end, and she eventually fell to her knees with a thud, ripping the blade from her chest as she did so. She couldn't see, she couldn't hear, she couldn't breathe. She had never felt so vulnerable before. Was this what it was like to die? It was like drowning in a lake of fire. As much as it hurt, there was something at the tip of her tongue that felt familiar and yet so foreign.

"G-Garmr..."

She rasped. As if he was summoned, the floor in front of Chloe began to rip open, clawed paws reaching up to drag their owner out of the hole. It was doglike in shape, yet much larger than any dog on this Earth, perhaps 6' at the shoulders alone. Black fur covered its body and it wore a skull like a helmet, crimson orbs peeking through the cracked bone. Large membranous wings sprouted from his shoulders on either side of the fire that lined the dog's body from the nape of its neck to the tip of its tail. It had a leather collar around its neck with a chain that dragged on the floor, with splashes of blood all over its body. Garmr let out a howl as the ground closed up once more, not a trace that it had been torn open previously. Chloe couldn't keep her gaze on the beast as she struggled to remain conscious.

Kisa simply couldn't believe her eyes. That... that monstrous black thing--she couldn't take her eyes off it. And Chloe was alive somehow--had it come from--no, that couldn't possibly be right, but...

But somehow, another of the bizarre weapons was in her hand, and she knew she had a duty to perform.

Though she'd never held a sword before save for a brief stint in kendo a few years prior, it still felt strange in her hand--too light yet too heavy at once. Her thumb readily found the tiny, recessed button to bring it to life, and she felt the heat of the unearthly blade nearly searing her skin.

Her eyes never left the pale blue light as she sank to her knees, sitting in perfect seiza. It felt appropriate--even necessary. With both hands tight around the hilt, she raised the blade high, and plunged it inward--

--it hurt. It hurt more than she'd imagined something possibly could. It hurt as though liquid fire were running through her veins, and her head and heart pounded as though the were about to burst. Was this what dying felt like? She slumped forward, her fingers wrapped too tightly around the icy metal of the hilt to possibly let go.

But through the haze of pain, a single word echoed through her mind, and escaped onto her lips: "Persona..."

With a great effort, she wrenched her eyes open and turned them upward, and a beautiful, ethereal vision in green and red and gold greeted her. Even before she saw the lute carried by the elegant woman, she knew the name. How could she not?

"Benzaiten?"

Yachiyo nodded stiffly as the pair of contrasting phantasms faded away. "Thank you for your cooperation."

She stood with her hands clasped behind her back, watching the pair closely as the bizarre swirl of colors faded away, leaving pure, clean white and steel. The speech she offered was the same as to those who had been inducted before them:

"Effective immediately, you will be transferred from your current specialty classes to Critical Thinking in the 1-ho homeroom. You will not have training every day, but it will be frequent. Abendroth-kun, I will be your main contact. Saiga-kun, yours will be Horaoku. If you have any medical concerns, see Ishichi in the nurse's office. For any stress or mental concerns, see the counselor, Sekimiya. You will be given priority over the rest of the student body in both cases.

"This facility and the shinmen are matters of the highest secrecy; do not speak to anyone else about them. Leaks will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Your Evokers will only activate in these other worlds, so I would not recommend trying to show them off.

"You are excused from club activities today and all classes tomorrow. If you feel any lingering effects beyond that, see Ishichi for testing and an absence note.

"If you wish, you may remain to ask questions. Otherwise, you are dismissed."

The colours faded but the pain and the weakness barely did. The... whatever they were... also disappeared, and Yachiyo began to speak as if they had only just experienced a light snowfall. Did this woman even have a soul, geeze. Yachiyo's words were heard, but Chloe acted almost like she didn't hear them. Her arms shook from trying to hold herself up on the floor. Get up. Her legs didn't want to move. Get up, damnit. The German's legs shook slightly as she tried to force herself to stand. Slightly slouched, Chloe managed it. She stood for a moment, doing her best not to just fall back down again. Once she was alright with standing, she looked over to Kisa who was still slumped over in the seiza position.

One foot after the other, Chloe made her way over to her fallen classmate. Walking was a bit of a challenge, but she was too stubborn to just lay down. No way in hell she would give in that easily. Stopping just in front of Kisa, Chloe looked down at her, offering her a hand up. The German herself was even more pale than she usually was, and her face was drawn and strained. It looked like she had just run a few marathons, but there she was, offering Kisa a hand up.

It took a moment for Kisa's eyes to focus again, and she blinked dazedly at some point beyond Chloe, as though not even recognizing her presence.

But her gaze cleared, and she was able to pull herself to something like a normal sitting position. Her hand still gripped the Evoker like a talisman.

"I... I'm sorry. Excuse me. I just need a moment."

A few shaky breaths, and she was able to get to her feet, gratefully taking her kouhai's hand. There was a touch of wariness in her eyes that hadn't quite been there before, but her smile was grateful nonetheless. "Thank you."

Chloe nodded silently and let the shorter girl catch her breath before attempting to help her up. As she watched Kisa try to compose herself, she took those few moments to actually look at Kisa. Something had changed. It wasn't a physical change. She wasn't sure what kind of change it was, but she did know that she felt different. For better or for worse, they were stuck in this together now. That feeling was... strange to Chloe, as she had almost always been alone.

When Kisa was ready, Chloe helped her up without a sound. Her grip was strong but surprisingly gentle for someone of her stature. She didn't miss the wariness in her upperclassman's eyes... even after something like this, she knew it was too much to ask for. Instead, she merely brushed it off like she did all the other looks she got, the grateful smile that Kisa showed actually helping with that.

"Will you be alright?"

She asked, her own voice somewhat hoarse and strained. It was like the teachers didn't even exist at the moment, whether that was just her ignoring their presence or wishful thinking.

"Yes... Yes, I think so."

Kisa felt a similar shift--not so strange to her, since she wasn't as isolated as Chloe, but there was still something there she was unaccustomed to. She didn't have the words to express it, but it was a bond that went deeper than the senpai-kouhai relationship.

But alongside that was a new weight on her shoulders, something that she had a feeling would be occupying her mind for a long time to come.

"Will you?"

Edited 2013-09-08 04:56 (UTC)

The German blinked. Would...? It was a simple question, but one she was not used to hearing. At all. Two simple words and she was befuddled. Two simple words, and she could feel a burning in her chest, unrelated to the pain from the Evoker. It had been so long since she'd heard those words...

Chloe simply nodded, the confusion in her eyes apparent. Instead of commenting on it, she made certain that Kisa wouldn't be falling over any time soon before picking up the Evoker that she had dropped on the floor. Even just holding the cold hilt in her hand made her chest burn with the searing memory. With little emotion, she turned to Yachiyo.

"What do we do with these?"

"Keep them. I don't expect an emergency, and I hope one never comes, but you will need to be prepared in case the worst happens."

The blank-eyed nurse--Ishichi--approached as Yachiyo was providing her explanation. She held out another of the Evokers to Chloe, this one actually bearing her surname on it as Kisa's did hers.

"I'll need to take that back," she said, voice as deadpan as her face. "It's a test unit. Here's yours." A short pause, during which Ishichi stared up at her a little longer and more intensely than was likely entirely comfortable... and then she walked off once the exchange was made.

Edited 2013-09-09 00:50 (UTC)

The German simply nodded, taking her Evoker and slipping it into the waistband of her pants since she had nowhere else to put it for the moment. So, the other unit was a test unit? Inwardly she was glad that she had accepted that one. Tests had a habit of not always going as planned... Chloe's cold eyes met Ishichi's blank ones for only a moment before she turned back to Kisa.

Chloe waited, her head tilted very slightly, wondering if Kisa had any questions for their 'benevolent teachers'. The German's breath was coming out a bit raspier than usual, but she tried not to let on just how this ordeal had effected her as she questioned Kisa in a low tone.

"Need help to the dorms?"

The question was innocent enough.

Kisa was trying to brave her way through it as well, if the set of her shoulders and the small smile she offered Chloe were any indication, but she could feel everything weighing on her, exhaustion included, in a way she couldn't completely hide.

"I'll manage, but thank you." There was a slight pause, perhaps weightier than she intended it to be, as she glanced aside for a moment, then back to Chloe. "But it might be better to walk back together, even so." There was something inside her that didn't want to be alone right now, not yet. Even if her company was the gaijin she'd always been awkward around, and even if--

--but that was exactly what she was trying to get away from.

At the refusal, the German nodded grimly. If Kisa thought she could handle it, she wouldn't dispute it. She had turned to leave when Kisa looked away, wondering if it was because of the company or because she actually could handle it. Then the shorter girl started speaking again.

The German froze for only a second when she heard what Kisa had said, turning back to look at her. If Chloe had less restraint than she did, Kisa would have seen a look of almost bemusement that the German felt. That certainly was a first, someone wanting to actually walk with her. Yet with what else had happened today, stranger things could happen.

Chloe's face softened slightly before she nodded. She made to walk for the door, stumbling slightly as she did so.

Mini-event: Awakening 2

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