Sanctuary Premonition (WIP)

A moan...agony as he awoke. What was that ringing in his head, the pain?

Crimson eyes opened. Pavement, cracked asphalt of a street. Okay, so he had a rough landing. Time to look around.

Both hands flattened against the ground, parts actually crumbling between his fingers, letting up smoky dust. He didn't choke, though. Not only was it not a lot, though strange that his hand could so easily make an impression. His magic had a sizable amount of smoke associated with it nowadays.

A right foot pressed against the pavement as he began to stand...and saw her.

A little girl, maybe eight at the oldest. Her eyes were hidden from view by her long black hair that reached a little ways past the shoulders of her long-sleeved red shirt. The skirt was also red, reaching to her knees. Glancing at him, she turned, the teddy bear she held in her left hand by the arm almost dragging on the pavement before starting to walk off in her dark shoes.

And she was gone. One second she was right there looking at him, walking away...the next she simply ceased to be. It was as if she and her toy had never been there at all. And then he saw the city around him.

It was in flames. All of it. The pavement cracked, the gas tanks off of toppled trucks. Doors on the ground, concrete and bricks scattered everywhere. Grating was torn off of its hinges in many areas, metal peeled like paper off of high rising gates.

Wasn't the first time he'd seen a city on fire. Didn't make it less surprising, but it wasn't exactly the weirdest thing around.

So he finally stood up, taking his first steps down the street, toward a small fire that lit up a portion of the street from the curb. It seemed as though the world was on fire outside of these gates. Was it? These things weren't exactly one hundred percent out of the question, but it would be a little uncomfortable.

There she was again. Still walking.

"Hey, could you--"

And she was gone again. Deciding it was best not to ask, he just kept walking, sidling along between a car with a cracked windshield and a diagonal pickup truck.

Up ahead now, beside a tree on the left that reached over her head. The bear was gone. She walked toward a pit, a decided trench in the sidewalk that seemed to be red hot at the walls. An infernal entrance?

He wasn't the nicest guy, he admitted. But even he had standards, and letting her just jump in was against them. So he sprinted at her, trying to get her to stop...

And again she vanished. This was beginning to get annoying. Still, he found the source. Some kind of....lava pool. No way he was going in there. Maybe there was some way around? Someone he could talk to to find a--

The hand pushed him on the back from behind, shoving him forward, and in he fell.

===

Isaac opened his eyes slowly, not moaning this time. Okay, that dream was insane. He had been going by this world after getting the call from Cheryl, ready to meet up...and now this? He wasn't even drinking, didn't have any insomnia at the moment...this had to be this world's fault.

He rubbed his face, getting focused, and pushed on the pavement. This time, the street he was lying on did not crumble. He saw a large car close by, and a very large building not far from that, across a circular fountain.

Look left, that car and the rest. Right now.

To the right, he saw it, his eyes bugging. For the briefest moment, the image of a pale woman in her mid twenties, with long black hair and eyes of purest white, no pupils to speak of.

Then it too was gone, and a more familiar face was in its place. Naito Zivaku seemed to be holding his mouth, just barely keeping from screaming at the top of his lungs. A similar dream?

He didn't want to yell right now, but maybe it was time to get on better terms. Didn't help that he had to go through that weird trip.

Rolling on to his back and sitting up, Isaac palmed his face at his apparently strange situation. Could it get-- Don't think that. Ever.

"...Why me?"

-----

Hazel eyes opened as she awoke, a pain in her head. / He groaned from the pain as his blue eyes opened.

The street crumbled as she/he stood, the smoke rising. She/he did not cough, however; why was that?

The little girl in red, holding a teddy bear. One minute she was there, looking at her/him before turning away, and the next, she disappeared.

She started walking, into the flame-filled city. She didn't know why she decided to just keep going; she just felt that she should. / He was hesitant for a bit, thinking he should just find a Save Point and leave. However, something told him that he should be here. So he started walking.

There she was again. She tried to reach her this time, holding her hand to her. / He walked faster, approaching her. "Hey, what're you doing--" She was gone in an instant again.

She/He kept going. There had to be something here for her/him to find. Other survivors, anything.

The girl was there again, beside a tree, before a pit. She began to walk toward the trench.

She ran fast, trying to stop her from falling in. She couldn't let this girl die, not one so young. / "Hey wait!" he called after her, running up to stop the girl from dropping in. He couldn't stand to watch any kid die.

Like the past few times, the girl was gone. She frowned, just standing before the lava pit. Was her mind tricking her? / He grunted to this. What the hell was going on here? He turned around to walk somewhere else.

The hand pushed against her back, pushing her into the pit. / Just before he could walk anywhere, a force pushed him back, making him fall into the pit. / She didn't react, didn't even scream, as she fell in... / He screamed, reaching his hand to grab the ledge, to no avail, as he fell...

~*~

Cheryl blinked her eyes open. A nightmare, not anything like the ones she's been getting, but still insane. She had come by this world, ready to meet with Isaac after giving him a call, and the next thing she knew, she had an unexpected landing. The young woman didn't expect to be having another nightmare right after...was it because of this world.

Slowly, she sat up, thankfully without the ground crumbling under. She found that she was in an alleyway of a city. Where, though, was the question. Cheryl was about to get up, go out to find out what this world was, and if Isaac had followed her.

Before she could, she heard a loud gasp beside her. Cheryl turned her head...and her eyes promptly widened. For a brief second, she saw an image of a woman, pale-skinned and long black hair. However, it was gone in the next, replaced by a blue-haired young man that seemed horrified...


Kalas had snapped awake, not even acknowledging the pain in his head as he sat up immediately. He had just left Kynthia's world and was about to continue his world-hopping travels. But when he passed this world, things started to get screwy on his ship. He made for an emergency landing before the White Dragon would crash again. Unfortunately, he was in for an unexpected departure, and hit his head after landing.

Right as he got his composure, he finally acknowledged the headache. He groaned as he placed a hand on his head. "Agh, my head...again..."

Despite the pain, he became aware of his surroundings. Alleyway, unknown city...great, he didn't know where he was. He'd probably have to ask and...wait, did Lucifer follow him? Or was he still back on the ship? Hope he was okay if it was the latter...

Suddenly, a sound reached his ears. Someone...crying? Who was it? He turned his head...and it was gone that moment. That was weird...and now Kalas was looking at a woman with short, dark hair, looking at him with...wait, didn't they meet before?

"Aren't you that metal bird boy?" Cheryl asked. This confirmed that yes, they did in fact meet once before.

Kalas' response was sarcastic, "Aren't you the lady who wouldn't stop shooting me?"

A deadpan look. "Who else was I supposed to shoot? You were the one with a steel body."

-----

Jasmine groaned as she opened her eyes.

All she saw around her was destruction.

Smoke everywhere and debris all around her. She had no idea what had happened other than it looked like a warzone.

Jasmine walked along looking for someone, anyone. And there was someone a little girl in a red dress holding a teddy bear. Jasmine ran to the girl but she disappeared.

She kept searching for the girl till she reached a bit. Looking down at it she felt something push her in. As she fell Jazz couldn't even use her wings to fly up and out.



Jasmine awoke with a slight scream. She had no idea where that dream had come from but it scared her. The Sneaselmorph noticed Isaac and Naito near her and she quickly ran over to them.

"I'm glad to see you two." Jasmine said as she gave Naito a quick hug.

-----

Naito perked up as he heard Jasmine's scream, looking her way. He didn't want her to be hurt, especially not after... And now she was hugging him. He blushed a bit, but hugged back before she had let go, smiling slightly. "Y-you're okay, right?"

Isaac looked toward Jasmine, giving a halfhearted wave before looking around for anyone. It was then that the back of the armored personnel carrier opened up, a man's voice audible.

"Okay, this is your stop, guys." With that, two men rushed out, both in dark, modern combat armor, holding what seemed to be machine guns of some caliber. The one on the left was blonde, the one on the right brunette. A quick heart scan gave their identities as Sergeants Redd Jankowski and Michael Becket respectively.

He kept looking around, hoping they weren't noticed yet, and saw Cheryl nearby, as well as Kalas, talking about something that he did not understand. Should he call out to them?

A crackle on his left arm, the omnitool coming up. "Oh just get it over with." A cough, another crackle, and K1-R4's voice was gone, along with the device.

At that, Jankowski seemed to notice them, looking their way. "Hey, when'd you get here?"

Naito looked nervous, sticking close to the Sneaselmorph, but the Silver Tongue just sighed, calling out. "Mason! Kalas! Come over here and give us a hand, would ya?"

If they didn't, things could go...somewhat badly.

-----

The two looked over as they heard Isaac call out to them. Cheryl sighed, somewhat relieved to see the demon, though a bit annoyed that he referred to her by her last name. Kalas groaned in annoyance; he had just met up with this guy, and now they had to team up for a bit again?

Still, with the two men having noticed them, might as well help out. The Holy Mother and the Divine Child both stood and stepped out of the alleyway, heading over to the group.

"I have a first name, you know!" Cheryl called back as she made her way.

"Yeah, what is it?" Kalas asked, still with an annoyed tone to him.

"It's probably better than yours," she retorted. "What kind of name is 'Kalas' anyway?"

That didn't help his mood at all. Still, he answered casually, "Back in my world, it's supposed to mean 'raven' in a forgotten language."

A smirk. "Raven, huh? Can you say 'nevermore' then?"

She was rewarded by a blank look. "...why would I say that?"

And she responded with a light thwack to the head, right as they reached the group. "Read a book sometime."

-----

"Why do I get the feeling this is not a good world to be on?" Jasmine asked as she looked around. There was something about this world that rubbed her the wrong way. It gave her the same kind of chills as the ones she got on the Ishimura and any world similar to that ship was not one Jasmine would want to ever go to.

Jasmine moved closer to Naito in the meantime. She didn't want to get separated on this kind of world.



Rather than be overly nervous, Naito found some comfort in Jasmine's proximity. He too found something very wrong about this world. He didn't dare touch her right now, still not up for doing so consciously on his own, but tried to give some vocal support. "If it is, we can stay together and go through it. I'm sure of it. Just..." Okay, his confidence wasn't that high, even feigned. "Just stay with me, okay? I kinda don't want to get lost."


Isaac looked to the group nearby, ignoring the literary reference from Cheryl. Whatever floated her boat. "Fine, fine. Gotta watch my back, Cheryl."


Becket kept his weapon trained on the newcomers from the alley as they came out, but lowered it again, letting them join the others. They weren't hostile, at least not openly.


"Who're you?" Jankowski asked, still wary. "Didn't see you a few seconds ago, and I don't normally see people lying in the streets."


The demon stood up, about his height. Might as well tell the truth as far as names for now, anyway. "Isaac Zivaku. This k--guy here is Naito, my brother, that's Jasmine, his friend, and that's Cheryl over there, my friend." He stopped for a second. "Oh, and that's Kalas."


Jasmine waved nervously, Naito doing likewise. Both were still uneasy here.


Becket tapped his partner on the shoulder, then pointed off where they were supposed to go, toward the door into the lobby.


"Yeah, yeah. I know, Bucket." He seemed a bit annoyed. "You guys stay out here. I'm not here to babysit, and neither's Becky."


The silent man narrowed his eyes at the nicknames, but didn't bother to add anything.


Isaac shrugged, and reached back, taking out his own Mass Effect assault rifle. Both guns were trained on him, but he just looked it over with both hands. "I think this one's good enough. Don't you?"


"What make is--?"


"Why don't you give proper names, let us go with you, shut your trap, and stop acting like we're six? We can help you guys out more than you think."


Naito almost called him out on that, but decided against it.


Mouth opened for a moment, then closed. "...fine. Sergeant Redd Jankowski. This here's Sergeant Michael Becket." He nodded in the right direction. "Well? We gonna get moving or not?"

-----

Cheryl sent a scowl at Isaac, almost ready to call him out as well. But she also decided against it, and just sighed. Might as well take it; it looked like they were going to be stuck on this world for a while.

Kalas just rolled his eyes. "We could've had our say in this too, you know," he said to the demon. "And don't act like I'm insignificant here."

"Oh sure, with your blue hair and ridiculous outfit, you're obviously important here," Cheryl once again snarked, giving a small smirk again.

Kalas scowled, but said nothing as they made their way to the right direction. However, it was there that the blue-haired man had caught on to something. "Wait...your name's Cheryl?"

The Holy Mother turned to him, blinking once. "What, you heard of me somewhere?"

"Sorta." A shrug of his shoulders. "Some old man...Douglas, or something, asked about you."

"....." That made her stop,and turn to him fully, a look of disbelief on her face. Did he really...? She whispered quietly, so the two sergeants wouldn't hear her, "You went to my world...?"

Kalas frowned, looking down at his hand, where he had been impaled before. He thought he could repress those memories...but he could never forget the tortures that world brought him, how he was forced to remember his childhood...and the warning that something was hunting him down...

"I wish I hadn't..." was all he said.

-----

Isaac nodded solemnly to Kalas about his reaction to Silent Hill. "It's always like that," he said. The demon looked to Cheryl. "He's all right. Says hi, though we probably shouldn't have left him in Shepherd's Glen. That game's protagonist comes from there."

Naito took a deep breath. It was probably best if they just moved forward, especially as Jankowski followed Becket to a door on the left, the former opening it and coming inside. He looked to the Sneaselmorph, nodding for reassurance as much as to give it, and followed, his hands on his swords just in case.

Isaac whispered as the two sergeants were out of sight. "Kira, can you give us some info on this world?"

An orange hologram came up on Isaac's left arm. Kira, now out of sight of the natives, was finally communicating again. She had recovered mostly. "This w--" She cut herself off for a bit, coughing and trying to figure things out. "...Fairport. First Encounter Assault Recon. I don't know when this is, but I know one thing. Do not trust a little girl in red."

"Why?" Naito asked.

"A villain, or at least a misunderstood person. This is a horror/survival universe. The girl, who has dark hair, is Alma Wade. Had an abusive parent who put her through horrible torture for his own gain at a young age, around a few years before puberty, the suffering incredibly great. The other parent is never heard of. Saved herself through the manifestation of psychic powers that were being used by said parent and other compatriots, and is in the midst of using them to take revenge on her tormentors." There was a pause, then another fit of coughing. "...or am I thinking of someone else? Maybe not, but a name with an A..."

Isaac knew full well what she was getting at, and wouldn't have any of it. He turned off the omnitool, and went to the door, going inside as Naito followed. It was time to get moving.

As the group came, they could see the door at the opposite end, over a bannister, was closing, having been passed by the other two.

Not even wasting a second, Isaac vaulted the bannister, looking back to the others, like Naito who was following suit. He'd help Cheryl over if she needed it.

=====

Cheryl had to frown to what Isaac said. So there was still trouble happening in Silent Hill, from what she could understand. She would have asked what they were doing there in the first place, but she left it. It was best not to bring up what they've gone through; she knew how bad things could get there.

And then came Kira's explanation of Alma Wade. The young woman was stock still; she couldn't even make an expression on her face. She couldn't believe what she heard...the similarities this Alma had to her past self...was it really a coincidence that they had dropped here?

Kalas had to cringe as he heard the story. He could understand being tormented, but having a psychic girl on their case was something he was not looking forward to. That, and the fact that they landed on another survival horror world. "Damn...that's...that's just messed up," he said, having not noticed Cheryl's expression. "I don't think anyone else would be able to endure that..."

Cheryl's eyes went downcast then. "...yeah...they wouldn't..."

No other words were spoken then as they continued on. Cheryl wouldn't really need any help as she vaulted over the banister like Isaac and Naito. However, she stumbled and fell back as she landed.

With the sergeants having gone ahead, Kalas just settled for summoning his wing and winglet before jumping down and descending slowly. When he landed, he dismissed them as quickly as he brought them out. As he did, he noted Cheryl was now staring at him. "...What?"

"...you're from the same world as he was, aren't you?" the Holy Mother asked.

Kalas blinked. "What do you mean?"

Cheryl sighed, getting back to her feet and dusting herself. "Never mind, let's just go."

-----

Kira just explained the feeling Jazz had about this world. Another Horror world, just like the Ishimura.
And Kira's description of that Alma made Jasmine even more frightened. Why did she seem to have such bad luck sometimes when landing on these kinds of worlds.
She wanted to get off this world as soon as possible. Which probably meant going through a part of it and running into that Alma several times.



Isaac pretty much ignored Kalas and Cheryl's talk, though he did help her up. As far as he could see, it was one of those things that wasn't his problem, and he had enough problems as is.


The group continued after Becket and Jankowski, meeting up with an African American man with a shaved head of black hair and dark eyes. After a heart scan, Isaac identified him as First Sergeant Cedric "Top" Griffin, the leader of this squad. Apparently Jankowski had explained ahead of time, because he let them through. He did introduce himself as First Sergeant Griffin. Though gruff, he did appear to be fundamentally nice, though understandably weirded out by Isaac's eyes and Kalas' hair.


Finally they came to a kind of receptionist desk. Said receptionist, a man, had evidently been shot id, his face on the wood as his blood was splayed across the desk itself, his right arm draped over a keyboard.


A woman was looking over the documents on the desk, in the same armor as the rest. Like the others, she was in the same dark armor and held the same submachine gun. She had short, dirty-blonde hair that had small bangs over her eyes, and blue eyes. Another scan, another name. Lieutenant Keira Stokes, communications liaison officer. Nodding to the newcomers (though wary as the rest), she spoke. "Stokes. Hope you can help. Protective custody of Aristide's our main objective. No shooting her, just bringing her in. But if ATC comes in to pick up the pieces, we have permission for lethality, right, Top?" A nod from Griffin, then back to her team. "Keegan's checked the back room. All clear so far." Her hand ran over the materials, nodding back to an elevator door nearby. "Our intel shows this is a private elevator to Aristide's penthouse. But it's been locked down." Now to typing into a computer. "I'll need a few minutes to override the system." Then, good-naturedly. "Unless you'd rather take the stairs."


Kira seemed to crackle softly at Stokes' voice, but stayed silent from then on. Isaac was able to interpret the gasp. Perhaps a voice she remembered?


That "Keegan," Sergeant Harold Keegan, came out to join them, with his short brown hair. A last one, Sergeant James Fox, had shaved red hair and a hint of a beard.


"F*** that," Jankowski grumbled


Naito spoke up at that. "Hey, no need to swear."


"Shut up, kid. This is a job, not a babysitting assignment."


Griffin cut him off. "Stand down, sergeant. Now."


Keegan looked to the receptionist, wincing. "Somebody sure bled out fast."


Jankowski, serious. "Probably took one to the aorta."


Now sarcasm from Keegan. "The aorta. Do you think it was the carotid or the subclavian artery?"


Isaac had to butt in. "You know, making fun of a man for his knowledge is a sign of insecurity."


Now Stokes cut them all off. "We need to find Aristide. Now."


Griffin nodded. "Agreed. Fox, you secure the lobby. Redd, take the stairwell. The rest of you? You're with me."


Annoyance from Redd. "The stairs? What the f***, Top? It's like a thousand f***in' stories."


Annoyance in turn. "Like I give a sh**."


As that happened, Isaac and Naito, along with Becket, Top, and Keegan, approached the entrance to the elevator.


=====

"Too bad for you, buddy," Kalas said to Jankowski with a shrug of his shoulders. Truthfully, the attitude from the guy annoyed him, especially with the babysitting comments. They were all in the 18-20 range as far as he can tell. Still, that was all that was said before he followed the group to the elevator. "Hopefully with our luck, this doesn't plummet to the bottom, or something like that."

Cheryl didn't say anything, or get moving yet. She just stood there, staring at the dead receptionist. Her mind wasn't on that, however; what Kira had explained still bugged her even now. The Holy Mother truthfully didn't want to stay here for long, didn't want to find out if anything on this world was anything worse than her own. But, again, with no way to get off, she had to keep going. So finally, she sighed and joined up with the group, hearing the comment from the blue-haired man.

"Believe me, something like that isn't the worst that can happen," was all she said in response.

-----

Just as Top finished his statement, Keegan grabbed his head in agony, doubling over in pain. At the same time, Isaac felt some pain, felt his vision go through an orange filter for a few seconds, flashes come. He assumed Naito also could, from how he seemed to wince slightly and look around. The demon's vision blurred...

Stokes was nearby as she finished summoning the elevator. "Keegan, what is it?"

Suddenly, the elevator doors opened, a man within with blue combat armor and a similar gun to them. He opened fire on Keegan, then Cheryl.

Stokes was shocked. "Keegan! Cheryl!"

As he got only a few shots off, Isaac shot him right in the throat his his assault rifle, a few shots from Fox and Stokes helping him to down him. Scowling, the demon, fired three more bursts into the man's head as his vision cleared. Finally, the soldier was dead in a pool of blood, and one of his killers went to the Holy Mother as Stokes leaned around the edge of the door, aiming inside. It was a glass elevator, big enough to hold about four of them, maybe six at most.

The older Zivaku Interference looking her over. "He get you?"

Top and Fox crouched beside Keegan, who had fallen back in pain, swearing.

"F**!" He had been hit. "Son of a...b****!"

Fox touched the wound. "He's bleeding."

"Damn it!"

Top next. "I'll stabilize him! Stokes, Becket, get moving."

"We'll go with you," Isaac said. "One of us will stay behind. We're better healers than you'd think."

Top was stern. "This isn't magic class. We're a unit. You--"

"Just let me help, damnit."

Fox spoke. "Body armor stopped most of the rounds, Top. But one got through."

"How bad?" the first sergeant asked.

"Not good, but he'll live." He looked up to Isaac...and was a little shocked, to say the least.

It wasn't that that cut him off, though. Stokes pointed it out. "...where's Naito or Jasmine?"

Isaac looked. They were nowhere to be found. "...well, this could be a problem."

=====

Elsewhere in the penthouse, on a higher floor

To say Naito was disoriented was an understatement. First he had a headache, then he saw the elevator doors begin to open...and now he was in some kind of room elsewhere. "Mother Amaterasu...what's going on?!" The young man took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Given the location, it was a bit hard.

This chamber was unnerving, to say the least. Needles everywhere, sticking out of walls, poking up from tables. Mostly, they looked hypodermic, for surgery.

He looked to Jasmine, wanting some kind of comfort, something to make sure he had someone to talk to.

=====

At the same time Keegan doubled over, Cheryl felt that same agonizing pain, grabbing her own head and doubling over as well. It felt too much like when the Otherworld would break out...that wasn't happening now, was it? She hoped that wasn't the case...

At the same time, Kalas also felt a slight pain, though not as bad as Keegan or Cheryl. It was almost unnoticeable, only making him give a small wince. Though it was enough for him to question what was going on...

And then the soldier fired. Because of the pain she was in, Cheryl didn't have enough time to move out of the way. However, though Keegan couldn't be saved in time, Kalas grabbed the Holy Mother by the back of her jacket and pulled her out of harms way. The shot aimed for her still grazed her arm, but no other damage was done otherwise.

Cheryl looked to Isaac as he looked her over. "Yeah, I'm okay," she said, before looking to Keegan. "He might need the help, though."

A message came in for the group from Jankowski, actually concerned as he was climbing the stairs. The call on the radio came into headsets on the soldiers, members of the "Dark Signal" Delta Force unit, as well as through Isaac's omnitool via a connection made by Kira. Rather than act concerned about the voice as Fox kept watching a flickering light on his arm, the demon listened.

"You all right, Keegan?"

A gasp from Keegan. "I think he hit my aorta."

Isaac rolled his eyes along with Stokes as Redd replied. "Man, give it a rest."

And then came the mention of Naito and Jasmine not being with them anymore. Cheryl frowned, honestly worried for the two. Having traveled with them before, she knew they were going to need help.

Though Kalas felt the same way, he didn't bother brooding over that. There were other problems to take care of right now.

"I'll stay behind," the Divine Child announced. "Demon man, Cheryl, you guys go ahead with the quiet guy and the lady. I can help out here."

"You sure about that?" Cheryl asked with a raised brow.

"Trust me on this." With that, Kalas knelt beside the wounded man, pulling out one of his Magnus cards. He then pressed the card as gently as he could against the wound, a healing light coming from it. "This should help a bit."

The wound healed quickly before the shocked gaze of Griffin and Fox, who stared at Kalas. The latter asked. "What is--?"

Isaac bluntly cut him off. "We're not the most ordinary people around. Believe me. You're gonna see crazy crap, not your standard business. So don't try to question our things, or you'll never get this Aristide out of here in time before ATC gets in." Sure, he had pretty much no idea what he was saying, not knowing about this universe due to not having enough time to heart-scan. But he seemed to be getting a message across. "Now then, let's move out."

Keira Stokes nodded, jogging into the elevator with the corpse as Becket came in behind. Oddly, this was the first time Isaac realized he was wearing sunglasses. Possibly some kind of high tech stuff. He summed up not seeing it before as not really being his business. He waved for Cheryl to also come in. "Cheryl, if you want help, I've got a Potion handy. So just say the word." He was cut off from seeing her response when Fox spoke, incredulous.

"A--"

"What did I say about asking questions?" The demon looked to the Divine Child. That "demon man" nickname was okay. At least it wasn't "runt" or "demon boy" like others used, or...that nickname Umiyuri used that he would not say aloud. "So--"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll stay here and help these guys. Leave it."

Well, he was doing as asked. So, that done, Isaac left it at that, as did Cheryl and the rest. As the group of four entered the elevator, it began to ascend. They were on their way.

-----

Naito wouldn't be getting any kind of comfort from Jasmine. At the moment it would be her who needed to be comforted more.

Jasmine looked to be incredibly pale as she had her back right up against the wall of the room.
Even from her position she could see clearly around the room and what was inside it.
Unfortunately Jasmine had a huge fear of needles and there was no way she was going to go through that room easily.

The young man could see this. He touched her shoulder carefully, wrapping around them as he leaned against the wall with her, one of the few places on the wall without more spikes. She was there for him in Aselia before, so he would do the same in turn, hoping she would trust him.

"I'm...I'm right here, Jasmine. Don't concentrate on the needles. Close your eyes. Please." He was prepared to lead her through the nightmarish chamber if she would allow him. As of yet, he did not have any trypanophobia, but he could tell she did. "...Please."

Jasmine nodded and closed her eyes and grabbed Naito's hand in a death grip.

-----

Up and up the elevator ascended, the glass backing showing the city around them. The sun was setting over a large city. Fairport, as Kira had told. This penthouse was on the outskirts. Isaac looked out as they rose higher and higher, approaching the right level for the penthouse.

"Hell of a view, huh?" Stokes was also looking out, though she kept a line of fire trained on the door, as did Becket. Just a nod in reply. "So, what's the story on that radio thing on your arm?" After that question to Isaac, she addressed Cheryl. "Any ideas why only you two got headaches?"

"Highly advanced tech with a sentient AI. Don't ask. I said we've got strange stuff, even things you'd call magic." Isaac turned back to the door, his own Tsunami-made assault rifle trained on the door as well. "And I'm pretty sure others also felt the headache. I did." He noted Becket's nod. "That makes at least two of us, and probably my brother, too."

Stokes frowned at the sergeant, her attention away from the omnitool. "Why didn't you speak up, then?" No answer, predictably, and she left it, letting Cheryl answer on her own time as she concentrated on the door, letting her annoyance with the silent protagonist fade out. She had a mission, so she wouldn't let side conversations bother her too much with absurdity like "magic" until it was complete. "Alright, Becket, Mason, Zivaku," apparently she had heard the other surnames from Jankowski or Top before they met in person. "Just the four of us now. Don't know how good you guys are with your guns aside from Becket here, but stay sharp. I'm counting on all of you."

Top, sounding a little shaken, came in on the radios. "Remember to check your targets, people. Nobody shoot Aristide."

"Not Jazz or Naito if they're found either," Isaac reminded them.

With that, the elevator slowed to a stop, and someone could be heard on the other side, someone unfamiliar. "Remember, we need her alive..." The rest was drowned out by Stokes as she raised her gun, Isaac and Becket with her.

"Contact."

The door opened, and out they charged, Stokes, then Becket, then Isaac, guns out. More of those soldiers like the one who was dead on the elevator floor were out there, ready to fight back, but they wouldn't be an issue, as the three began to take them out with their own weapons.

-----

The young man winced slightly at the strength of his companion's grip, but held her right back, forcing his nervousness to fade away for the time being. Due to her terror, he couldn't allow his own possible feelings to get in the way of getting her out of danger.

Quickly but carefully, he led her out, giving a few reassuring squeezes of her hand as he went. Numerous times, he saw that she was getting dangerously close to a needle, and he steered her away as gently as he possibly could. On the way to the door, he spoke softly, trying to get her mind off of things.

"You're really strong, Jasmine. Really good at what you do, really..." They were nearing the exit. "We're gonna be okay..." He reached for the door, when he saw it on his side.

"You are like him... He wants to stop him... to keep me locked away... Or are you?" That voice, one of a woman in her late twenties to early thirties, echoed within their minds, though for whom was unclear. It scared Naito to even think of it, as he yanked the door open, ready to help Jasmine through.

The nightmarish creature was humanoid, many like it rushing in from the sides. They had bronze skin, and their legs were shrouded in white flames, white as their lifeless eyes as they floated closer. About six of them, total. They seemed to come out of nowhere, rushing toward him, but he quickly grabbed for a weapon as their shrill cry hit his ears. The young man fumbled for it, and pointed. A flashlight, one from the town of Bright Falls, was in his hand, and he concentrated on each of them in turn as he aimed the beam of light. Briefly, the light beam intensified with each concentration as he backed into the door, practically pulling Jasmine through as the light stunned the spirits, forcing them back. "Please don't listen, don't listen... It's all right, it's all right."

Finally, they were almost through, but he was unable to keep up the magic of the town, the beam diminishing. They came closer, and one touched him, making him gasp in pain as he refused to scream and terrify Jasmine further. Instead, he switched weapons, replacing his flashlight at his waist as he kept a hand on Jasmine's. Quickly, in one swift motion, he drew one of his Lunar Sabers and slashed across the nightmarish creature, surprised as the monster dissolved into a cloud of black smoke that dissipated on his strike. In his shock, he fell back through the door, out into the hallway. He hoped he had not landed in any position uncomfortable for Jasmine, but it would be difficult to tell in that case. At least she'd have something to laugh about.

He looked into the room, ready to fight back against the remaining five...and there was a flicker of his perceptions, a kind of blue flash. The room he had exited was no longer filled with needles, but rather just a simple museum-like room, with pedestals and glass cases. "...it wasn't real?" He still felt pain from the contact with the ghost. That was real. But was it an illusion of some sort or another? "...Jasmine, it's okay. The needles are gone...for some reason."

-----

Top, having seen that Keegan could again walk, waved for the three men to follow him, Kalas included.

Fox explained. "We found another access. Might lead up, might be another staircase."

"Us on the stairs too?" Keegan didn't seem very happy with the prospect.

"You got a better idea?" The commanding officer looked to Kalas as he walked toward the next. "Any other stuff like that card thing that can help us out? Maybe something to help us move around faster or some other way to get to Aristide before ATC."

With that, Keegan opened a door, a staircase within.

(Adri, you know what we decided. The thing is, there will be no transition at all. Walk through, somewhere else entirely.)

-----

"Don't you see?"

Finally, the little girl opened another door, pulling it open...and disappeared. Within was an odd scene, to say the very least.

It was a meadow. A wide, sweeping meadow of green grass, a large tree at the top of a hill in the distance. On it was a swing tied to an overhanging branch. It seemed very peaceful, nothing like the stairwell. The swing itself swung back and forth of its own accord, as if someone had only recently jumped off of it at the peak of a swing. An ethereal light of some sort came from an unknown source, bathing all of the area in a peaceful glow.

Where was this place?

-----

When Stokes asked about the headaches, Cheryl looked down in response. Truthfully, she didn't know herself. If it didn't have anything to do with the Otherworld...maybe it was...

"If it's what I think it is, we'd be here all day to go through it," was all she answered. She didn't want to get into her screwed up backstory, especially in a world like this. Plus, they wouldn't really believe her anyway, if their disbelief in magic was anything to go by.

Then the elevator came to a stop. Cheryl took out the Edge IV pistol that Isaac had given her. At the moment, the Silent Hill heroine felt she could handle her own here. As the door opened, and Stokes, Becket, and Isaac charged with guns ablazing, Cheryl followed suite, taking out as many of the soldiers as she could.

~*~

Jasmine continued to hold onto Naito's hand as he led her through. She didn't once dare to open her eyes as they went; she couldn't trust herself to take another glance at the needles. She just wanted to get out of here as fast as she could.

The woman's voice echoing in her mind almost did it for her. The shrill cry also made her gasp and grab Naito's shoulder with her other hand as he forced her back. The Sneaselorph was too terrified to do anything; mentally, she cursed herself for being so useless. When she heard Naito's gasp of pain, Jasmine very nearly looked up...just in time for the angelic time traveler to fall back, bringing her down with him.

Right then, she had fully opened her eyes. Jasmine breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that the needles were gone. However, she couldn't help but notice the position she and Naito were now in.

"Um, Naito...can you get off please?" she asked. Though she did have to smile a bit; even after what they had just gone through, she still found this moment kinda funny.

~*~

Kalas shrugged his shoulders in response. "I could fly you all up." Before they could dismiss him, he summoned his wing and winglet to show them he wasn't kidding. But just as quickly as he summoned them, he dismissed them right away. "Eh, too much work. I need the exercise, anyway."

With that, the Divine Child walked through the door...

...and then promptly blinked. He did not walk out to a staircase. All of a sudden, he was now in a dark room, the other men he was with nowhere to be seen. There was no indicating that he just appeared, he was just...

"...Heh, I know what you're trying to do," Kalas said, smirking a bit. "You're trying to screw with me, just like that other place. Well, you're gonna hafta try better than--"

A bright light suddenly flashed from above, making the half-winged man squint and cover his eyes. After a bit, he moved his arms away and saw where he was in now. A white room...different chemicals placed on shelves...scalpels and other sharp tools placed beside a monitor...an operating table in the center...

For a moment, Kalas' eyes went wide. This really was turning out to be like Silent Hill, wasn't it? However, after a bit...he relaxed himself, and laughed out loud. Even though he was in an operating room, this was nothing like the forgotten memories that world had forced him to remember.

"Is this all?" Kalas asked, looking up to the ceiling. "Come on, you're not even trying! I dare you to do better than this!"

Of course, he wouldn't get a response. Kalas smirked again; he was probably just wasting his time. So, without another word, he turned and...wait, where was the door? The young adult looked around and found that there was no way out of here. Well, that's just--

He caught something at the corner of his eye. On the operating table...slowly, he turned to look...

A body lay on the table, mangled and limbs unnaturally twisted at painful angles. Its flesh barely held on, sagging onto the table like moss, with muscles exposed on its chest. A scalpel was seen digging into its neck, and its head was facing way.

Kalas stiffened, looking visibly horrified and disgusted at the sight. But, he calmed himself slightly; it's just a dead body. He's seen plenty of those. Granted, they weren't like this, but whatever. Still, with a sort of macabre sense of curiosity filling him, the Divine Child walked over to the table to get a closer look. Looking the body over, he could see on the back of its head...patches of blue, like his hair...horror mixing in with the curiosity, he reached over to turn the head, to look at its face...

Mouth wide open in agony. Eyes sunken, dead...deep blue eyes...

It had his face.

Kalas recoiled, shock and terror written all over his face. Right then, he could see, all around the room, bodies, twisted, misshapen. All with frozen terror on their faces...all their faces like his own...

The blue-haired man backed into a corner. This...this can't be happening...all these figures, reminding him that he was nothing more than a failed creation...

"This isn't real..." he whispered to himself, shakily. "It's all in my head...I know it..." He started to hit his fists against his head, and eventually started slamming his head against the wall. "Wake up, damn it! Wake up!"

During his slamming, one of the jarred chemicals fell from the shelf, shattering against the ground. The liquid spread, dissolving the mangled corpses it passed...blood began to fill the room, also pouring from the operating table, from the body laying on their. Kalas snapped back as he saw this, now waist-deep in a pool of blood. Terrified...sick to his stomach...

"By the gods..." Not even moving from his place, Kalas reached for Xelha's pendant, gripping tightly. And then, he began to pray, "Cast light upon the darkened earth. Save those lost in despair."

Nothing was happening. He was still in the blood-filled room. He continued, "O Mighty Ocean, guide us as we journey through the darkest pit of night. May time, ever fleeting--"

A shrill cry. Kalas flinched, but tried to finish. "May time, ever fleeting...ever fleeting...oh god...oh my god..."

He saw it. The humanoid creature, bronze-skinned, lifeless eyes, white flames taking up its eyes...more had appeared, and rushed towards him.

Kalas screamed, and acting on reflex, he pulled out the Oblivion Keyblade and swung forward. His eyes were clenched shut, so he did not see the first he hit disappear in a cloud of smoke. He kept swinging blindly, splashing blood all over, staining himself even more. He tried to drown out their screams with his own. He felt one touch him, his cries turning sharper with pain. But still, he did not stop, wildly attacking from his place.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!"

-----

With four guns to the protagonist's side, the Becket and his group quickly disposed of the ATC troops in this room over the course of about four minutes, heading to a door of horizontal iron bars. A computer control panel was beside it, which Stokes approached. "Nice aim, you two," she complimented the Interferences. Maybe they actually could help. "You head through here." She bashed the butt of her gun into the panel, forcing it open, sparking. With her left hand, she worked the wiring as she finished. "I'll find another way in." She was done, the door opening by lifting upward mechanically as she aimed her gun back into the area they had come from. She would act as a defense so they could keep moving.

Kira spoke up from the omnitool, though with a weak voice. "Don't get shot too much. Might need you."

The lieutenant was, understandably, slightly put off by this voice. "...I'll do my best." With that, her attention shifted away from them.

She cared? Isaac was a bit surprised, but assumed it probably related to the voice. Waving goodbye over his shoulder, he continued, knowing that Cheryl was probably following, Becket leading them. Again a call came in on the radios.

Jankowski, complaining in his status report. "Still climbing stairs."

Top halfway sympathized, though he sounded kind of wary. "That's just sad, man. No other way to put it."

Annoyance in turn. "B*** me."

Keegan this time, apparently all right. "Lost sight of Kalas. Went through a door and...he's just gone."

Okay...odd. But Isaac assumed they could handle it. In all honesty, he was more concerned with Jasmine and Naito. Family came first in his mind, then friends.

The trio continued along, through the hall, and the spinning rotors of a helicopter were audible in the distance. The Silver Tongue could see a hallway with an outer wall of glass and metal panes, a window out to the city that curved to the right, probably to another room.

...and there was a flash of orange light again, one that faded quickly. With that... Becket was gone from his position at point. What as going on? Was this the world of magical disappearances? Something of Alma's?

Suddenly, red seeped along the floor, up from between tiling, as more came in from the ceiling, washing along like a flood, dripping down on occasion to hit the floor. Blood. A floor of blood, a ceiling as well. This had to be fake, this couldn't be real... But why could he feel it all, dripping down on him, hear it beneath his shoes?

"Cheryl...stay close to me." His confident persona was faltering slightly in this strange scenario, where the helicopter's rotors continued to spin. He could hear a machine gun firing, the glass breaking ahead, and then nothing more after several seconds, the VTOL plane flying away to another part of the tower. Maybe they couldn't see him, but Becket might have gone on ahead.

He could hear screaming in the distance, through a room nearby, through that hall. Screaming and gunfire. Finally, all went dead, but he could hear the faint sound of a little girl singing to herself down the hallway.

He looked to Cheryl, trying to hide the slight crack in his demeanor. "...You all right?"

(Adri, you can control Kalas' portion for now. Possibly will end the hallucination [and Nightmares only exist in those for right now] in the next post.)

-----

Naito smiled slightly at the sigh of relief. At least she was okay now. Maybe it related to her life in a lab? He wouldn't press her.

...emotionally, anyway, Now he realized where he was, as she mentioned it. The smile didn't really help matters all that much. Quickly, the young man jumped to his feet, looking away. "S-sorry... U-um..." Okay, he had to keep moving. He had to focus on something else.

Therefore, he took a deep breath, and reached down to her, hoping to help her up. "Are...are you okay?" He didn't want to say it out loud, but he was very upset when she was scared. Like him not reacting to her for a time in the Iselia forest, it seemed unnatural, something that almost never happened. All he wanted was to help. She wasn't weak, not by a long shot. Everyone had their fears. He couldn't even tell his own.

-----

Cheryl just followed without a word. There wasn't really much for her to say right now; they were here to help out and step in when needed. If she knew more about this world, she would probably be of more help than she was now. When she heard the call from the radios, though, she couldn't help but feel more worried. Unlike Isaac, while she was concerned for Naito and Jasmine as well, she was worried for everyone's safety, including her own. If the blue-haired man was gone now, who's to say they weren't next?

And then the orange light. Becket was gone, she and Isaac were alone...just as she thought. Then came the blood, dripping on them, beneath their feet...just all around them. It almost reminded her of the Otherworld breaking out...but she knew that wasn't the case. It was this world doing this...or was it Alma doing this to them? If that was the case, then they really were a lot more similar than she thought.

The Holy Mother did her best to remain as calm as she could. However, with the scene playing out before them, the sounds of screaming and gunfire, that was easier said than done. She stayed close to Isaac, as he said. With everyone gone, he was all she could count on right now. She almost felt the urge to grab onto him...but she held it back. As scared as she was, she didn't want to appear as the helpless female stereotype.

Silence...except for the little girl's singing...

"...I'm fine..." Cheryl replied, though she was unsure. Would they really be alright after this? The young woman looked down towards the hallway, where the singing was coming from. "I'd say it's a stupid idea...but I think we should go take a look."

The demon nodded, walking down the hall...but realized something. He knew that whatever was in there... it wasn't good news by a long shot. He didn't want Cheryl to be hurt if he could help it. There was one possible option.

"Of course it's stupid. Wait here while I check." Holding up his left hand, he activated a plasmid. Spontaneously, his entire arm became black and white, grainy and constantly shifting, seeming similar to an old film. He looked to the Holy Mother.

"Cheryl, watch my body."

He did not explain that, but, suddenly, his body went limp, eyes going fully white. Wordlessly, the invisible spirit of Isaac Zivaku exited his body, starting on its way down the bloody hall to the door.

Cheryl didn't ask what just happened. She just stood protectively by Isaac's body, holding her gun ready. This area might have unnerved her greatly, but she had to keep her head up in case anything were to happen.

~*~

Jasmine giggled when Naito jumped off her. That at least helped her mood somewhat. The Sneaselmorph then took his hand to pull herself back to her feet. "I'm fine, now that we're out of that room."

It was also here that Jasmine noticed they were still not with the group. She frowned as she looked at Naito. "You think we should find the others?"

While Naito was happy that Jasmine was feeling okay, it was still embarrassing. He'd tell her to stop, but he didn't necessarily dislike her teasing or giggling at him. She was happy, after all, and, though he didn't know how to admit it, she was pretty when she laughed, could make him smile with it, as he was at that point subconsciously. He just didn't know what to do about it was all. He still wasn't even sure if he liked her like that. She was his friend, and very nice to him, but he wasn't sure how to act around her, and still didn't think it would be a good idea to get into a relationship if he was crushing or more.

This wasn't the time to think about that, though. Not at all. So he just stayed with her, nodding. "Y-yeah...let's do that... they're probably heading up, so let's look for some stairs or another elevator." He then started off down the hall they were in, looking in some of the doors. Nothing yet, just storerooms, but he quickly approached another room. He wanted her to be close to him, perhaps to keep a hold on his hand so they didn't lose each other, but he was uncertain if he should ask.

~*~

More and more came. Kalas continued blindly attacking, not daring to open his eyes. He was like a scared child, panicking and acting on instinct. He didn't know if he was hitting more of the creatures or not; he just wanted them gone.

Another touched him, the pain even greater than before. Then another...another...he could barely keep consciousness anymore. It seemed all hope was lost for him. He was going to die here...a hero of his world, and yet here he was, about to die pathetically by spirits. Now he knew why Savyna feared ghosts. It looked like their story would end here--

"Kalas."

A voice...not Xelha's own...it wasn't even his old Guardian Spirit's...but a voice familiar to him...could it be...?

Another flash of light, and he was forced to open his eyes. A door had formed on the wall to his side. An escape. There were still more of those nightmarish being in the room, all still floating towards him. He didn't want anymore of this. He rammed himself against the door, forcing it open and pushing himself right out.


They were all gone. The blood was gone. The bodies...the operating room...all gone. Kalas had no idea where he was now, on his hands and knees on the floor. His breath was heavy, terror still written on his paled face. Even though he was out now, he couldn't forget what he had just seen...what he had just faced...by the gods, what was up with these worlds and their need to screw with his mind!?

'Kalas?' Xelha's voice, laced with concern. Oh, how he wanted her to be here in person; he wanted her comfort more than anything right now. 'What happened? Where were you?'

'Oh god, Xelha, please tell me you saw all that. Tell me I'm not going crazy.'

'...I don't know what you're talking about, Kalas. I tried to reach you, but something was holding me back again. It was like you were gone completely.'

"...." No response for the longest time. He just stayed there, his breathing slowing...and then he started to retch...

'Kalas, what's wrong? Are you okay?'

He couldn't hold it back anymore. He vomited right then, his last meal splattered on the floor in front of him.

-----

As Cheryl continued to keep watch over Isaac's unmoving form, something started to feel off. No matter how hard she tried, she just could ignore it. Slowly, she turned her head to see if anything was there...

And promptly fired her gun as she saw the nightmarish ghostly creature approach.

Another appeared after it dispensed into smoke, coming at them at a rapid pace. She shot it as quickly as the last; more appeared after that. Again and again she fired, the creatures getting dangerously close as they kept appearing in droves. The Holy Mother would have kept firing...if her gun didn't overheat right then.

"S**t," she cursed under her breath. There was no way she could take these freaks off with her knife, or just by pistol-whipping them. She had to get them out of here. But where...hey, was that door there before?

Whatever; she'll take it. She grabbed Isaac's arm and started to drag him to the door as fast as she could. Some of the spirits had rammed into her, making her cringe, but she did all she could not to scream out or release her hold on the unconscious demon. She just hoped they wouldn't phase through the door once they made it to the room.

Thankfully, Cheryl reached the room quickly enough, pushing the door open and themselves in, and slamming the door right after. It looked like the spirits couldn't go through after all. The young woman sighed in relief, letting go of Isaac and leaning against the wall for now. That really hurt a lot back there, though she figured she'd be able to manage. This wasn't the worst she dealt with. As she relaxed, Cheryl looked up to see where they were--

A large mirror was in the room, right in front of her.

"...just great..." Cheryl muttered under her breath. It was the storeroom in the Otherworld Brookhaven Hospital all over again...well, alright, maybe she's just being paranoid. This is probably just a normal room compared to the bloody hallway outside. She'll probably be safe if she just forgets about her little phobia for--

Her reflection was changing. From the young woman with short hair...to another woman with long dark hair, blue dress, and burnt skin...

Cheryl's breath was caught in her throat. This...how the hell did...

What the hell was going on here?!

The reflection transitioned again. Now was a little girl in a red dress, long black hair almost covering her face. She almost looked like...

"You are...just like...me..."

"What...?"

She was gone. There was nothing in the reflection now. Nothing...but blood, traveling its way towards them. The blood managed to get through the mirror, and continue its way toward them.

The panic started to rise in her then. They needed to get out of here. Cheryl turned to the door, made to open it--

It was locked. Again and again she twisted the knob, to no avail.

"Oh please no, not again!" Cheryl yelled, backed up to a corner. It really was Otherworld Hospital storeroom all over again, except there was no way of her knowing when to get out. They were trapped.

-----

The spirit of Isaac walked through the door...and came across an incredibly disturbing sight.

Blood marred the walls, yes, as did soldiers try to crawl out. One seemed to only have a single leg, another half of his arm missing. In this squad, that girl in the red dress stood at the back, watching them. Her face was devoid of emotion, the singing turning to unintelligible whispers. Then it came to a head.

Isaac's vision went into a sepia tint, a portal of swirling, dark energy appearing behind the girl. She did not move a muscle, but it began to react. Black tentacles reached up from the floor, grabbing the troopers and causing them to all disintegrate into bloody pulp. Finally, only the two of them were there. Disturbing, yes, but all he had to do now was find a way to get a good shot on her, a distraction or kill shot...

"You're like him."

...say what?

She stared directly at the invisible phantom. "Zivaku. That was his name. You are related?"

This was beyond scary for him. Nobody saw him like this ever. Nobody! He couldn't even react. For the first time in he did not know how long, Isaac Zivaku was showing fear. "...him? M-my brother?"

"Brother..." She seemed to muse on this. A little girl, but oddly mature. "I had a sister once. My baby ate her."

Okay. He was ready to get out of here. He had to recuperate. "Look, kid...."


And he was back. There was no transition whatsoever. One instant, he was standing there, the next, he was staggering back within his own body. Was that blood pouring out of the mirror? He had to leave, had to--

And that just ended. They were in a storeroom with a mirror, but there was no blood anywhere. The door opened on its own, apparently forced open, and they were still there.

But Isaac was shaken. The cold, sarcastic Silver Tongue sat against a wall, taking deep, shaky breaths.

"She saw me...she saw me...nobody can see me, nobody can...nobody... What is she....? Oh Martel...."

=====

Finally, Naito opened the door. He had to keep moving, to stay ahead. Looking to Jasmine, he nodded reassuringly. Coast was clear, and no needles. He walked through...

...and was somewhere completely different. The room was nothing like what he had seen. It was a massive chamber, echo-capable, with rounded walls and ceiling on two ends. It looked like an enormous magnetic resonance imaging machine. Within this massive MRI structure, he could see the horror.

All around him, the powers floated. Multicolored lights, ones he knew to be some form of mana, or psychic energy. Something. This machine looked as though it was able to manipulate this energy. Such magitechnology would only have this kind of structure for one purpose.

Power, so much power. He couldn't handle this, couldn't allow it to be in him, couldn't take it...

"Freak! You think it matters? You think I'll listen to you ever again?!" That voice echoed, again and again.

"No..." The young man was pale, looking around. Jasmine was likely with him, but he saw no door the way they had come. "No, no, no..." His back flattened against a wall as he went into a cold sweat, unable to move. "Can't....can't have more...won't...."

=====

Cheryl panted deeply after the blood was gone, everything seemingly back to normal. A hallucination? This was that girl's doing, wasn't it? She should've known it would come to this. The Holy Mother did all she could to calm herself, which was easier said than done for her. When she saw that the door was open, she thought to just make a run for it before anything else happened.

But then she saw that Isaac was awake from...whatever he was doing. Awake...and terrified. This was the first time in a long while that Cheryl had seen him like this. What had happened with him?

"Isaac?" Cheryl asked, edging herself close to the demon. She didn't know why, but...somehow, she was honestly worried about him right now. "Are you...okay?"

~*~

Jasmine gasped slightly as they appeared somewhere completely different once again. However, she was more confused when she saw the multicolored lights around them. What were these energies for? She would have asked out loud...but then she saw Naito backed up against the wall, clearly horrified.

"Naito!" Jasmine exclaimed, grabbing both of his shoulders as she looked straight at him. "Naito, what's wrong? What's going on?"

~*~

Kalas wiped his mouth after his stomach's contents escaped from the back of his throat. What he saw really made him sick to the stomach; even now he still felt the need to puke. However, he had to pull it together. He was still alive; that was important.

'I...I think I'll be fine, Xelha,' he thought back to the Ice Queen, knowing she was probably freaking out over his safety right now. 'I...we need to get out of here. Fast...'

'Please, just be careful. I hate seeing you like this.'

'...I know, Xel. I'll be okay; I promise.'

With that said, the blue-haired swordsman staggered back to his feet, grabbing the railing of the stairs that he was lying against for support. He didn't bother to see where he was as he just leaned against the railing and made his way up the stairs, figuring that this was where he needed to go. After reaching the top, he walked through the open door, into a long hallway, making sure not to trip over the fallen glass case on the way. With every step he took, apprehension had waved down on him, slowly filling within. Damn it, he was still terrified from the hallucination. He wasn't ready for what was ahead at all.

He reached a corner...very slowly, Kalas looked over to see where he was...

Whispering, and a sudden ghostly shape.

"OH GOD!"

Kalas recoiled back once again, falling back to the floor. Even after it was gone, his eyes were wide, his breath heavy, and his heart racing rapidly. One moment, he was calm as he could be, and now he was shaken once again.

This world really was out of his league. Just like Silent Hill.

-----

Isaac didn't resist her coming toward him. He was scared on that girl, not of Cheryl. Her presence was a comfort, Otherworld curse or no. He took deep breaths, in and out, in and out. He had to calm down, had to explain.

"Plasmid...used to leave my body. I...I went in that room. Black hole and tentacles killed those men, all of them. She didn't even blink. Said her baby...ate her sister." A shudder, but only partly for that. "Little girl, about eight...Alma I think. She...she can see me. Can see my ghost. Knows me, knows Greg." Another deep breath. "She...she forced me into my body. How...how strong is she? How can she...a baby? A cannibal baby?"

They had to keep moving, and he knew it. Naito, Jasmine, Kalas and the rest. All in danger. He stood, taking a deep breath, trying to keep calm. It was very hard, and he was clearly struggling. "Cheryl...do you see her too? Or...or am I going crazy?"

=====

Naito was hyperventilating. He had to calm down, but he couldn't. His closest fear, the one thing that gave him endless nightmares. He was babbling again.

"Can't have it...can't be controlled. Need to get out....get out....away and out...too much power...too much..."

His eyes screwed shut. He couldn't watch, even to try to calm Jasmine in her obvious concern. But he would need help to get through here, to the far door.

Especially as the Nightmares began to come.

-----

Cheryl frowned as she listened to Isaac's explanation. It seemed this Alma was much more powerful than she originally thought, probably even more than her past self was. It also seemed Greg was here before them, before he died. Or she somehow knew by other means. The thought of her having a baby didn't surprise her as much; it might have been similar to the soul-separation thing...or at least, that's what she hoped for. But a cannibal baby...

She didn't muse on this for long. She too knew that they had to keep going, and hopefully find a way out of here. God knows what would happen if they stayed for too long. Cheryl stood as well, doing her best to keep calm herself. While she looked it, deep down she was still having trouble herself. The young woman thought she was used to these terrifying occurrences by now...

"...yeah...I saw her, too..." Cheryl said, looking back at the mirror. "In there...at least after..."

She shook her head. No, she didn't want to talk about it now. "Let's just go." And so she walked out the storeroom while she still could.

~*~

Kalas slowly staggered to his feet once again, clutching his chest as he kept heaving. At this rate, he was surely going to die of a heart attack if he saw another crazy vision. But no matter how much he hated it, he had to suck it up and keep going. There had to be a way out somewhere.

The Divine Child looked around and saw that he was in a bedroom of a sort. He still hadn't collected himself, so he thought to just take a breather here. He also made a note to stay the hell away from that music box; that's where he saw the ghostly figure, and he didn't want to deal with that again.

So he made his way to the bed, and sat down on the edge. Kalas took a deep breath before he buried his face in his hands. Why couldn't he handle himself in survival-horror type worlds? He had his weapons, Magnus, and his wings this time, so why did he still struggle? He was a JRPG hero...was this entirely different genre really too much for him to handle? For anyone else like him to handle?

"You're not like the others."

A sudden voice. Kalas snapped his head up, looked to his side...

"S**T!" For the third time on this world, Kalas recoiled back, falling over the bed. That little girl, dark hair, red dress, had been sitting before him. She stared at the half-winged man now on the floor, emotionless and not seeming to care about his freak-out.

"I see him," she continued on. "You have a dead person inside you. A little boy."

Kalas stared back at the girl with wide eyes, shock and terror written all over him once again. What she just said especially surprised him. "You...know about Fee?" The soul of his brother, within him, having kept him alive since the day that he and his grandfather died...she could see him?

She had not addressed that, however. No nod, no response, nothing. Instead, she got up from the bed and began to slowly approach him. The young man scurried back with each step she took, clearly terrified. She was the one doing all this; she had to be.

"A tortured soul. That is what you are...like me..."

"No..." Kalas had backed up against the wall. He was not going to remember what he'd been through as a kid, before they all escaped. His mind screamed at him to make a break for it now, but his body was frozen stiff. "Damn it, I don't even know who you are!"

She didn't stop. "Death. You are...I am...we are all death..."

The way she spoke...though they were clearly different, it reminded him too much of Melodia, when she was possessed by the will of an evil entity. He couldn't take it anymore; he had enough of this.

So he acted on gut instinct. He pulled out his dagger from its Magnus and lurched forward at the girl, crying out, "SHUT UP!!!"

And he brought the blade down.

-----

"Naito, what is it? What's wrong?" Jasmine asked, getting even more worried in the process. This world had already been messing with them already what with the needles but now it was doing something to Naito and she had no idea what was wrong.

"Come on Naito, we need to get out of here." Jasmine said softly as she tried to lead Naito away. Hopefully moving away from where they were would help Naito but Jasmine wasn't hoping too much. She didn't feel safe until they left this world all together and never came back.

-----

Isaac took a deep breath. Time to get back under control. Within a few seconds, he thought he more or less had his façade back up once more. He stepped out with Cheryl, nodding to her, and walked on...

=====

Naito was trembling as Jasmine led him through, squeezing her hand very tightly as he continued to mumble incoherent nonsense to himself. He did not see the Nightmares, even as they came through, until they were upon them. He felt some pain as one touched him again, recognizing the feeling, and bit his lip to keep from screaming. Still, he was unable to react fast enough as he stumbled into Jasmine's direction, falling toward her. He was falling...

=====

As Kalas' knife came down, Alma just stood there, not flinching the slightest bit...and was gone. The blade passed through nothing at all. Was she even there in the first place?

Spontaneously, appearances began. Michael Becket came into the room, looking around for the source of the music with his SMG out, and saw Kalas. He relaxed a bit, until the others came.

Jasmine and Naito, Cheryl and Isaac, all of them seemed to appear from thin air in the middle of the bedroom, the men astonished for obvious reasons. It seemed they had neared their endgame, though they were unaware of the woman in the room just near theirs, one over.

Isaac stared ahead, surprised. "What the hell?" He took a deep breath again, trying to calm down.

Naito, on the other hand, fell on the ground before Jasmine, his eyes snapping open. He took a deep breath, confused but relieved. "...thank you..."

They were very nearly done.

-----

As Alma disappeared, Kalas had fallen against the floor, his dagger barely stabbing into it. He laid there, heaving, panting, trying to get a grip. He was going nuts at this rate, wasn't he?

When he heard footsteps coming, the Divine Child whipped around, his dagger held threateningly once again. He calmed down just a bit when he saw it was just that Becket guy...but then came the others...

Cheryl gasped in surprise as they spontaneously appeared in the room. She looked around, finding that everyone else was here now. That saved them the trouble of a search party, and though they were alive, it was obvious from the looks that they weren't doing alright mentally.

"...is everyone okay?" the Holy Mother asked, keeping up with trying to seem calm. When the young woman with the bloody sword came in, she was almost caught off guard, but did her best to keep her composure.

At first, Kalas was about to explode, retort if he looked okay at all. However, he held it back. Despite what happened, he didn't want to seem like a terrified child right now. So he took one last deep breath to calm himself, stood up, and dismissed his dagger back to its card state.

"I'm fine..." he said, though had to force it out.

-----

One second they were in one place and the other, they were back with everyone else. Jasmine was pretty confused but incredibly thankful that they were with the rest. Of course that was slightly put off by the fact that Naito was laying on the floor right in front of her. With a sigh Jasmine knelt down and tried to help Naito back to his feet.

"I'm glad to see you guys. I really hope this means we can get out of here pretty soon." Jasmine said. She tried not to think about that room filled with needles.

-----

Isaac nodded slowly, evidently trying to stay calm. "I...I'm fine," he lied. Cheryl knew why he was shaken, but the others evidently had a clue. He looked to Becket as the sergeant walked over to a bookcase, where the music was coming from an open music box.

Naito was on his feet, and looked to Jasmine, nodding both in reassurance and for it. "I...I think I'll be okay. Thank you...for helping me." He, too, did not want to be too forward with what he had seen.

As Becket closed the box, the music stopped, and Isaac spoke to the unknown woman, likely an Interference. "Introductions later. Let's keep moving." He was about to ask where to, but the end to the music caused the entire shelf to move to the right. There was a passage behind it. "...right. I'll go after the sergeant."

In he walked with Michael Becket, Naito close behind, as the demon and angel motioned for Cheryl and Jasmine respectively to come in close behind them, the others likely to follow shortly afterwards.

There was a storeroom beyond, a bulletin board within. On it was a map of a large area, including a city and a nearby island. The "Auburn District" was marked in the city in red, a circled red X marking the "Project Origin." A picture of the small girl, Alma, was beside it. The map was marked with another X, labeled the "Still Island Nuclear Facility." To the left of the map were two newspaper clippings, one noting "Auburn Growth," the other "Power Plant Closed Down." Next to the map was a sequence of six photographs. One of each member of Dark Signal, Redd's circled with the same red ink.

As interesting as this all was, Isaac was not in the mood to look, seeing what he needed: a staircase leading down to a kind of metal door with a green light on it was to the right. That was obviously the right way.

As they came close, the door opened vertically, into the ceiling, a computer room within with raised monitors. An aging woman with dark hair and a suit.

"Sergeant Becket?" Genevieve Aristide asked, confused, looking to the group behind him. "This isn't your team. Who are you people?"

Isaac spoke bluntly. "Some people who really aren't in the mood to answer questions. We're hear to get your a** out of here as quickly as possible before we run into more issues with that psychic freak."

"How do you--?" Aristide was shocked, but stepped back to let them through, backing over to one of the overhead monitors, looking into it as she bent over a keyboard. "Never mind. You and your squad are the only hope of stopping Alma."

The three men stepped in. Naito spoke. "W-What is she?"

"A monster."

-----


Cheryl just nodded, not saying a word at the moment. They were close to finishing as far as she knew; she just wanted to get done with this as soon as possible.

In the storeroom, the Holy Mother and the Divine Child both took the time to look around before they moved on. Interesting and confusing stuff around. What did catch the attention was the picture of the little girl.

Cheryl frowned as she stared at the picture. That same girl from the nightmare at the beginning...that same girl she saw in place of her reflection...again, she thought back to their similarities. Thought back to her words...what was it that she wanted, besides revenge?

Kalas just glared sharply at the picture. After what that girl put them through, he harbored absolutely no sympathy for the little brat. If it weren't for the fact that they couldn't hit her, he would bash her brains in at the first chance he got.

There was no need for either of them to contemplate any further on that. They found the person they were looking for, this Genevieve Aristide lady. It looked like they were close to wrapping things up here, at least for this part. The two walked into the computer room after the other three did.

"Yeah, to say the f***ing least," Kalas said in response to Aristide's short answer. "You have no idea what that little bitch put us through. If she didn't keep disappearing, I'd--"

"How could she be stopped?" Cheryl asked, cutting off the blue-haired hero. She wasn't in the mood to listen to a rant, especially one that would make her feel terrible about herself in the end.

-----

That girl was the one who was responsible for forcing her and Naito to go through what they did. It made her really worried if such a small girl was capable of doing something like that. "How are we supposed to stop her?" Jasmine asked.

While Jazz was a Bug Type and Bugs have an advantage over Psychics, she wasn't too sure if that would help her out in this situation. This girl seemed to be more powerful than any Psychic Pokemon she has ever seen.

-----


Aristide went to work, typing quickly at her console, bringing up a video by the looks of the monitors. "As far as I know, she can't do physical harm yet. But we have to see your telesthetic signatures before I can see if any of you but Becket and Dark Signal has a chance."

Isaac looked up at the monitors. "In a common language would be great," he noted. But she wasn't listening at the video came online.

In a corner, the timecode "18:44" was visible. The entire thing was grayscale. It showed a computer console in the middle of a room, viewed from behind the console, looking at its user. He was a man in a dark coat, with gray hair and a gray mustache along with his glasses. But he was not on the computer any longer. A younger man, approximately eighteen or nineteen with black hair, was holding him down, apparently screaming at him. He had on a darkish cape by the looks of things, torn in many places, along with shorts that were similarly torn and a light shirt.

Then came the unclothed, emaciated corpse of a twenty-some-odd woman from the right side, the face not to the camera. Her black hair was stringy, covering anything that anyone may find indecent, but was in no way sexual.

Aristide recoiled from the screen in horror. "My god...it's her..."

Isaac kept a watch on the camera, seeing the rest of the video as his vision went into a sepia tint, dark tendrils around the edges.

The older man had steam rising from his body, his flesh seeming to shrink against his bones, his eyes sinking into his skull as his glasses fell off, blood seeping out of his pores. The other man looked to the woman in determination only, with perhaps a hint of horror. He dragged the old man to his feet, using him as a human shield as he reached for some kind of weapon.

Suddenly, the victim's entire body exploded, gore splayed in all directions, a reddened skeleton falling from the caped one's grasp as blood fell from him, Alma still approaching.

As an apparent last line of defense, he drew a book from his pocket, quickly flipping through the pages for the right page. What would a book do? Unless is was some kind of anti-psychic spellbook.

Evidently nothing, as the book suddenly exploded before he could finish a word, bursting into flames. The fire burned straight up the man's hands and arms at least half of their length, causing him to scream in agony as the third-degree burns caused him to collapse to his side, gripping his arms with opposing hands as she walked up to him, stopped as if to speak, and walked away.

Genevieve Aristide was horrified at Alma, and for good reason, as she spoke. "That stubborn son of a b**** probably just killed us all."

But Isaac was shocked for another reason, though he had seen this man recently by his standards. Still, he didn't say a word, nor did he react openly.

Naito seemed to see the same thing, probably from old pictures. He, unlike Isaac, could not contain himself any longer, even as the woman with them looked toward him in confusion. "That...that's my dad!"

-----

"....."

Two different reactions from the Holy Mother and the Divine Child. Cheryl stared in utter horror at what just happened in the video. She recognized the caped man, but was more focused on the woman who attacked. If that was the same girl, then...she couldn't find any words to speak out right now...

Kalas' face had contorted to shock and disgust. What that woman did was just...but the one thing that stood out for him was the young man. He recognized him, from when he came to his world before. "What the hell was that kid doing there?"

-----

"Greg?" Jasmine said surprised. While seeing what Alma did surprised her, seeing Greg in the video probably surprised her even more. Of the group of people in the room, she was the only one there when Greg had died. And from what Aristade had said, the video wasn't from that long ago. It confused her but it also made her worried for Naito. It still wasn't that long when he learned that his dad was dead.

Jasmine held Naito's hand, trying to hope to comfort him.

-----

Still horrified, Aristide looked to them, only seeming to register the comments on paternity and time travel on a very thin level, or at least hiding her surprise very well. "Don't you see? That was live. She's out there, out of the Vault, right now. As far as I'm concerned, Wade just doomed the planet."

Naito wanted to see his father in person very much. He truly did, and wished he could help him. When Jasmine took his hand, he held as well. She knew why he was distressed, unable to go to him. The young man looked to the Sneaselmorph. "...thank you."

Isaac was more concentrated on their surroundings then, and on Aristide. He had been to Aselia, though he was really not wanting to deal with Naito being overjoyed at the moment, and so was not talking about it. He could on another world, since it didn't work with the mood here, and he really was not in the mood to talk regardless. He seemed to be the only one to see the orange tint and the black around the edges. Did Naito also? Did any of them? They likely would very soon, if they hadn't yet.

Aristide seemed to recognize a problem with Becket. "Sergeant Becket?" Before their very eyes, her flesh seemed to turn to ash, though she still spoke. "What's wrong? What is it?" And she crumbled away, as if nothing.

Naito and Isaac looked, with Becket, in some surprise, as Alma, in her young form, scurried across the stairs up high. They were uncertain of what to do...until Becket ran out after her as she disappeared, back the way they had come.

Isaac sighed. Maybe this was the way out. Finally. "Let's get out of here, then we can talk." And with that, he chased as well, a reluctant Naito behind him calling for Jasmine to stay close.

-----

Cheryl's face was once again contorted to horror when Aristide crumbled into ash. She was even more surprised when she saw the child Alma scurry among the stairs. For a minute, she wasn't sure if it was a good idea to follow. But the Holy Mother relented, following after the men...but then ran back for one case.

Kalas just stood there, not saying anything. He was shocked when Aristide was gone before their very eyes, and he really didn't want to run after that little brat right now...but one thing had just registered in his mind. The video was live...which meant...

"Greg's alive!?" he finally blurted out. Right as he said that, Cheryl grabbed him by the arm and started pulling him by the arm.

"Come on, you stupid bird-man!" she yelled as they ran after the others.

-----

Jasmine knew what kind of world this was, having been to a similar enough one before. So seeing Aristide dissolve in ash had Jasmine biting her lip. Alma was doing something again and Jasmine hated how the...girl was capable of doing such things to them. She was a Bug type so she should be strong against Psychics! Yet this girl was able to do so much to her.

But Jasmine was left with very little choice, once everyone else started running out of the room, she had to go too. There was no way she was going to be left alone in a world like this.

-----

The group continued to run through the corridors as they followed the spirit, appearing and disappearing. Down the stairs and out of the penthouse, coming to a room they all had seemingly skipped through the psychic's intervention.

It was very large, with enormous, wall-pane windows. The little girl was holding out a hand to one of the panes, staring outside. A voice was audible to all, Alma's father, Harlan. "She's a woman now, and she doesn't even know it."

Before their very eyes, the form distorted, shifted in a sense. As it re-formed, the little girl was no longer there. In her place was the corpse that had immolated Greg, the one that they had only recently seen. Any sensitive parts were covered by psychic disturbances, but it really didn't matter with a dead woman, a "monster" as Aristide called her.

Isaac and Naito watched out the window while not walking too far from the group, wanting to just see what she was looking at so they could get out, Becket walking on, ahead of them. Then came a brilliant, blinding light from outside in the distance, and the woman was gone.

"What is th--?!" Isaac started, just before he and Naito were both thrown back violently, skidding along the ground from a pulse that shattered all of the windows, likely knocking down the others.

The sky was red, as in their dreams. The entire Valkyrie Tower, where they were going through all of this time, was shaking at its foundations.

Redd came over the radio first. "What the hell was that?!"

Bright rings, more shockwaves, radiated out from the source of the light, up in the sky in all directions, possibly the source of that force, if it too was not Alma.

"What's going on?!" Naito shouted, though nobody likely had a clear answer.

Top came on the radio next. "Did we just get nuked?"

Next came the tremendous wind through the broken windows, howling. Not to damage, but to frighten, if nature itself would do that.

Redd again, terrified. "My God... f*** me..."

Next, a huge glowing fireball appeared, a roiling cloud of dust exploding outward from that light.

Again the same man. "Griffin! Sh**!"

Stokes this time. "What's going on? Redd, report!"

It was uncertain as to what was actually happening, even as a weak Isaac saw Becket pass out for some reason, possibly the pain and stress. But one thing was for certain.

Naito was also weak, but reached for his uncle's etherspace pouch, trying to find something, anything, that could help them out. He gripped something sharp, with a kind of crust over it, and readied himself to pull it out.

Either they got out of this world very soon, or they may not survive to do so at any other time.

-----

It was around when the explosion started that Cheryl and Kalas reached the group. They too were knocked back by the pulse, in a violent heap like Isaac and Naito. The sky red, the tower shaking, and the fireball...it was starting to look like the nightmares at the start of all this...

Cheryl weakly crawled across the floor, the shaking throwing her off a few times. There was no way out of here, as far as she could tell. She had to grab on to something to brace herself for an inevitable end, one that they most likely won't be coming back from. The young woman found that thing to grip to, and did so as though her life depended on it. That thing being Isaac's arm.

Kalas just stayed where he was, weakly staring out at what was happening. They were really going to die here. Of all the things he could have died from, it had to be this. A hero, champion of his world...about to die pathetically from this display. There was only one thing he could do. The blue-haired man grabbed onto his pendant and prayed once more. "Cast light upon the darkened earth...save those lost in despair..."

-----

Jasmine whimpered rather weakly. The explosion would make it impossible to fly and even if she could there was no way she could out fly that huge fireball. It was barely that long ago when she died in that other world with Naito and Isaac and was she going to die again here? "No...I don't want to die again..." Jasmine whispered.

-----

Finally, the fireball was not moving outward, though it did produce a sizable mushroom cloud at the point of the explosion.

All went silent on the radio as the group huddled together, and Alma appeared once more, walking toward them. She looked to each of them, her Nightmares appearing around her in a semicircle of seven, hovering toward the group, ready to at least hold them still. Becket was still unconscious, but she didn't seem to even see him at the moment.

Isaac felt Cheryl grabbing him, and let her, rather than telling her what she was doing. Instead, her wrapped the other arm around her, holding her closer. If he was going to die (again), he wanted her to know she wasn't alone.

Naito, on the other hand, finally yanked out the item he had grabbed. It was the hand of the Fate Atropos, with all of its claws. Maybe if he could use the time magic within it he could force her away, save them. He had to try.

So he slashed across the air, trying to hit her. Unfortunately, that didn't quite work on two separate levels. First of all, it did no damage to her at all, and she just stopped, staring at him and the rest. Second, a green ripple opened in the air. The young man screamed in surprise as he was dragged in by a kind of magnetic force, and it closed behind him, gone. His last scream? Jasmine's name.

Isaac was surprised by this, yes. But recent events had caused him to be less than completely shocked by it, even with time traveler and time travel device gone for the time being. He kept his hold on Cheryl, staring at Alma in anger, and she spoke but one sentence.

"You're all gone."

And, without warning, they were. Isaac didn't even notice any kind of ripple effect, no save point, nothing.

Suddenly, he simply was no longer on the world. He had escaped... with the help of the assailant herself.

-----

Unlike Isaac, Cheryl was more shocked than the demon when Naito just disappeared like he did. She briefly wondered where he had gone to, before she stared at Alma in shock and fear, keeping close to Isaac. There was no way to fight against her, not without her phasing through or transitioning the place again. Of all the things she's faced, of all the monsters she's fought against...she was going to die against a psychic ghost.

'Dad...'

Kalas too was shocked by the sudden disappearance of the time traveling boy. Shocked enough to keep himself from lunging at Alma again. Then again, he wouldn't do that anyway, considering how well that went last time. Instead, he glared at the undead woman in anger, still gripping Xelha's pendant. If he was going to die here, he might as well get the last word in.

"Hurry up and go back to hell, bitch!"

And then she spoke.

"You're all gone."

~*~

The next thing Kalas knew, he was on the bridge of the White Dragon, still in the same position as he was before he spontaneously appeared here. Lucifer, thankfully safe, was standing above him, nudging his shoulder and licking his face. The Divine Child looked at him slowly, eyes wide.

"Luce..." he whispered quietly. He sat up slowly, till he met the Mauthe Doog's level. "Y...you alright there, buddy?"

Lucifer gave one bark, his tail wagging. He seemed to be relieved to know his master was safe too.

'Oh Kalas, are you alright?' Xelha's voice, panicked. 'I couldn't reach you again. Whatever force was on that world was--'

'I'm fine, Xel,' Kalas reassured, taking a deep breath before he stood up to full height. 'Just glad to be alive. I'll be alright from here on out.'

'Oh...thank the Mighty Ocean. I really thought you were a goner for a moment.'

'You know I don't die that easily.' He smirked for a bit, but then frowned. 'Still, if you ever see Savyna, tell her now I know why she doesn't like ghosts. Especially when they have psychic reality-warping powers.'

With that said, Kalas moved to the driver's seat and punched in the controls. As Lucifer came up next to him, he stroked the dog's fur and said, "Off to the next world, Lucifer," before driving the White Dragon off into space.

That was the last time he was ever going through a survival-horror world. Ever.

-----

"How...?" Jasmine muttered to herself as she found herself back on the bridge of her Gummi Ship, Dark Weasel. She was nowhere near a Save Point so how did she escape that explosion just to get back here. Well it didn't matter too much as long as she was off that Acerus forsaken world.

She went to fly away as fast as she could but pasued. She wondered if Naito was able to get away too. Jazz bit her lip but sat down in the seat, she was sure he would be fine. Naito could escape like she did. Hopefully.