Grab Sasha and pull her to the closest doorway, as fast as possible. Shut the door once we're inside.
Aleksandra, still panicking, wondered why did she even come to this place. She knew she would be useless without powers, but insisted on pretending to be brave. What was she trying to prove? All she did was make things worse for everyone by being there.
Dammit, Aleksandra! Get ahold of yourself! This isn't time for this!
Her fear is gradually replaced for a feeling of anger. She was angry with herself for being so weak, for being such a coward. What was she whining for? She still had her wish. She still could change things...
<Head for the doorway!>
"Head for the doorway!"
Activate Painless. I do not want to miss the ride out of here. Head for the closest doorway, either the one that Sasha saw or the one we came in, and if it's absent, get as far away from the witch as possible, behind as many walls as possible. Help Tooru, as she's beside me, or anyone else in the vicinity if she's outpacing me. Make sure Asha is helping Sasha along.. if not, do so myself, Tooru, wounded as she is, should still be faster and have a better chance.
The other body is probably too close. Just.. drop effigy and let it vanish before it gets exploded. I've been hurt enough for one day.
"And keep running once we're through!"
<And keep running once we're through!>
Sasha suddenly snaps back to reality after hearing Alida's voice.
"Alida? Alida! What happened?"
Still confused, afaird and not really understanding what was going to happen, she grabbed Asha's hand and ran as fast as she could, towards the doorway Alida mentioned. She had to survive, for their sake.
Alida doesn't answer, but you still grab Asha's hand and yank her to her feet, pulling her towards the mansion desperately. She pulls back, stopping you in your tracks, and tells you to stop; when you turn back to see what's wrong, she points at the wall you both were hiding from, at the door not five feet away from the two of you. You stare at it dumbly, wondering how you missed it, while Asha yanks it open, revealing nothing beyond a still plane of dark water that extends away from the door farther than the light reveals. She looks back at you, says that you'll be okay, and squeezes your hand reassuringly, then steps through the doorway.
You follow just after, stepping carefully down into the water and finding that the floor is only about a foot below the bottom of the door. As you pass the threshold of the door, the intense sound of the witch's growling disappears in an instant. You look around at the room, but you can only see one wall; the one the door is set in, made of bare concrete. The floor feels like it's hard concrete too, though the water is too opaque to see. You give Asha an apprehensive look, and she simply nods and smiles, before reaching out and shutting the door, immediately plunging the both of you into complete darkness.
You and Asha stay silent aside from your startling loud breathing, straining your ears for any sounds that might warn you of danger, but none come. After a little while, you hear Asha's voice in your mind, telepathically telling you that Alida and Tooru are okay. You sigh in relief, then a moment later realize she didn't mention
Mina. Before you can even verbalize your thought, you can sense a wave of grief through your link with Asha.
Moments later a heavy rumble shakes the stone beneath your feet, and you feel like gravity has suddenly lost its hold on you, like you're floating in space. You squeeze Asha's hand tight, and she telepathically tells you that you've won......<Head for the doorway!>
"Head for the doorway!"
Activate Painless. I do not want to miss the ride out of here. Head for the closest doorway, either the one that Sasha saw or the one we came in, and if it's absent, get as far away from the witch as possible, behind as many walls as possible. Help Tooru, as she's beside me, or anyone else in the vicinity if she's outpacing me. Make sure Asha is helping Sasha along.. if not, do so myself, Tooru, wounded as she is, should still be faster and have a better chance.
The other body is probably too close. Just.. drop effigy and let it vanish before it gets exploded. I've been hurt enough for one day.
"And keep running once we're through!"
<And keep running once we're through!>
((I'm having trouble scraping motivation together, tbh. I'll try to come back and fluff this later.))
Put my Mobility to use and sprint through the door as well, doing my best not to impede progress
((You and me both, Murdoc.))[Joy] & [Joy]You both start fleeing immediately, wounds largely forgotten as you sprint back towards the mansion. Alida almost stops and turns back when she looks around and doesn't see Asha and Aleksandra, but Asha telepathically tells her that they're safe, and Alida starts running again, relieved that she doesn't have to worry about anyone else's well being. She lets her second body dissipate,
focusing her magic towards keeping her pain at bay instead.The sound of the witch only grows as you run, and soon the light she's giving off is almost blinding, even without looking towards her. The flying unicorn skeletons finally cease their endless dance, and start to fly away from the center of the labyrinth, out over the rainbow flowers that surround it. Just after you pass the nearest corner of the mansion, a wind begins to pick up and blow thin streams of ash into the air--
towards the center of the labyrinth, tugging at your clothes and pulling you lightly towards doom. Tooru is the first to reach the door, glowing almost white and nearly indistinguishable from the ruined walls around it, and she throws herself into it desperately before remembering that it opens
outward. She scrambles in a panic, yanking the door open and then a moment later being shoved inside by Alida, who pulls the door shut behind them in the same motion.
The two girls tumble onto the flooded carpet in a pile, then simultaneously roll to their feet and take battle stances. They relax a few seconds later, the room just as they had left it, silent aside from the two long waterfalls continually pouring from the room's balconies. No enemies await them, the witch's growls can no longer be heard, and the lights are pleasantly soft.
Once you both have caught your breath and feel relatively safe, you telepathically shout out into the world in hopes of reaching Asha, saying that you're safe and asking if she's safe as well. You get a reply from the girl immediately, weak and distant but still clear, saying that both she and Aleksandra are safe, though they have no clue where they are. Alida tells her to stay put, and that she will come to them, then pauses and looks around at all the doors leaving the room, having no idea where to start.
Then the lights flicker and die as a deep rumble runs through the stone, shaking the girls to their bones. They rush for cover, expecting the roof to cave in on them, but both stumble and lose their footing as gravity seems to disappear, causing them to fall forward through the darkness for a few harrowing seconds.
All four girls find themselves in darkness, inside a circular concrete tunnel that's only slightly taller than they are tall, a thin stream of water flowing through the bottom. Alida and Tooru can see a circle of dim light off in the distance in one direction, but otherwise the tunnel is pitch black--and the other two girls are entirely blind, with no light or other frame of reference as to their location.
But one thing is clear. They're definitely no longer in the labyrinth, which means the witch is dead. They finally won.
((Next update Wednesday, April 17th.))Soul Gem: Glowing with a shadowed light.
Form and location: Medallion, pinned to her left breast.
Age: 14
Hair Color: Salt-stained blonde.
Health: Her left shoulder is dislocated.
Inventory: A magically-lengthened club.
Totem: A fishing club.
Stats:
Bravery: Talented~
Joy: Skilled!
Innocence: Amateur...
Purity: Amateur...
Mercy: Skilled!
Creativity: Cursed ;-;
Love: Cursed ;-;
Abilities:
Mobility Lvl2
Close Combat Lvl3+1
Totem Manipulation Lvl2
Berzerker Lvl3 (Active (Bloodied); One less cheap cost per turn!)
Painless Lvl2 Active; Cheap cost per turn!
Effigy Lvl1
Soul Gem: Glowing with a warm light.
Form and location: Ring, worn on her left ring finger.
Age: 13
Hair color: Ashen
Health: Wet, ashy, and with a bunch of glass and gashes in her right hand. Has a fair bit of living clay on her, mostly her clothes and right arm.
Inventory: A short rusty metal shiv, broken off from a longer piece.
Totem: A Ribbon. The one her late sister wore.
Stats:
Bravery: Skilled!
Joy: Cursed ;-;
Innocence: Cursed ;-;
Purity: Amateur...
Mercy: Talented~
Creativity: Amateur...
Love: Skilled!
Abilities:
Mobility: Level 3
Close Combat: Level 2
Totem Manipulation: Level 1 (+1)
Heal and Steel: Level 2 (Active; Next attack rolls on Mercy)
Soothe: Level 3
Flagellation: Level 3
Memento: Level 1 (Given to Aleksandra)
Soul Gem: The light is gone.
Form and location: None...
Age: 14.
Hair Color: Bright green.
Health: Dead and gone...
Body Modifications: No longer matters...
Inventory: Shattered souls hold nothing...
Totem: A halberd.
Stats:
Bravery: Amateur...
Joy: Skilled...
Innocence: Amateur...
Purity: Skilled...
Mercy: Cursed ;-;
Creativity: Talented...
Love: Cursed...
Abilities:
Mobility: Level 2
Close-Combat: Level 2 (+1)
Regeneration: Level 2
Sixth Sense: Level 3
Semblance: Level 2
Projection: Level 2
Soul Gem: Glowing with a shadowed light.
Form and location: Necklace, worn around her... neck...
Age: 13
Hair Color: Bright scarlet.
Health: Has a bunch of shallow cuts across her back, and the upper right third of her face is severely swollen, blinding her in the right eye.
Inventory: Rubbery ribbon thing.
Totem: Ofuda talismans, primarily thrown as manabolts.
Stats:
Bravery: Cursed ;-;
Joy: Talented~
Innocence: Skilled!
Purity: Amateur...
Mercy: Cursed ;-;
Creativity: Amateur...
Love: Skilled!
Abilities:
Mobility II
Mana Bolt III (+I)
Regeneration I
Totem Manipulation II
Invigorating Passion I
Outburst II
Duet with Reality II
Ward: Glowing with a foolish light!
Age: 12
Hair Color: Black.
Health: Fine!
Inventory: A cute blue ribbon tied into her hair. She's wearing Alida's coat, now soaked with water, and wielding her grandfather's AK-47.
Stats:
Bravery: Skilled!
Joy: Skilled!
Innocence: Talented~
Purity: Amateur...
Mercy: Cursed ;-;
Creativity: Cursed ;-;
Love: Amateur...