Halloween Town

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

"Hoh, cheeky. I've never been called that before." He crossed his arms and grinned mysteriously. "Don't get your hopes up though... Ivanna. I'm no monster, cur, abomination, or whatever mass of mindless sludge you'd think I am, I'm a human being, with all the greed, malice, and drive that comes attached. But I guess a different name makes it easier to stab me later. If we're going to exchange lies, you can just call me Zeke."

More importantly, you dodged the question... no, I guess that's an answer in its own way.

Yeah, he didn't know Ivanna in the slightest. He just knew she existed. If reading someone's tales from beyond a screen was enough to see someone's heart, then everyone would be connected. That sounds a bit gnarly, doesn't it? People should have the choice to make their own bonds and fight for them. But well, that's not really something a collective should say.

So he won't say it.

And with that, his detached gaze turned to Nanako. "Who knows? You're not even supposed to have it, it's clearly unconventional. It might not grow conventionally either. What would you use it for anyways?"

[SINIB]

Nanako

Nanako's ears perked up as Zeke said his piece, slightly concerned by how excited he looked despite everything that was happen. That she could imprint on the Grace had her a little concerned of what it might learn from her, but also wondering what it could do if she allowed to grow, whatever that meant. What he said to Ivanna, however, rang familiar to her, an old memory clawing for the surface before Nanako pushed it back down to keep her focus on the here and now.

Her concern only grew when, for all of what Ivanna said, she didn't deny what he'd said. "A forest? Figure it'd be different for one growing from a person as opposed to dirt and trees and probably some wildlife in the mix," she said, slowly edging back cautiously, "You're making some good points, but I'm still not liking the idea of being set on fire to have it burned out."

"More importantly," Nanako turned back to Zeke, "What makes this thing grow, anyway? Did the one in the forest just go out of control for some reason, or...?"

Ivanna

"It will be quick, and I can personally guarentee that you will suffer no lasting harm as a result of my fire, on my honor as a seraphim." Ivanna clenched her small fist, hoping, no, praying, that for once, her rhetoric would be able to solve a crisis.

She didn't want to be forced to violence. Not this time.

[Elf]

Nika

The vampire gave Forest slightly skeptical look as she mentioned the very notion of things going downhill in America. This was the nation that fought a war on scale unimagined before, pulled through through a crisis that made it on brink of annihilation and then put those dozen or so guys on the Moon. But maybe she wasn't one to argue about the state of her adopted homeland as she took the nap around the peanut farmer's inauguration, and clearly long time must have passed by the time technology got so wondrously fascinating. 

Speaking of the devil, she of course had her smartphone around, a new useful tool in her wanderings. It certainly could be handy for the bar crawl.

"This neighborhood looks pretty great, no doubts, but let me look real quick for some place with this baby and save our time." She grinned, brandishing her smartphone with pride in one of her newest toys. "Just tell me what kind of stuff you're raring to see. I love the unknown so much when I'm fresh off grave like this that I love to go with people's flow."

Long nap syndrome, she loved to call it. Nika loved to live in the moment, let herself sweeped by the currents of society, human one and otherwise, unless she had a firm goal before her eyes. And the midnight was far off enough to not flip yet that tunnel vision switch on in her brain.

Forest

"Honestly, if you find a place with dancing and a decent DJ I'd be up for that."

After the whirlwind of the last 48 hours, blowing off steam on a dance floor seemed like a good idea.

Then something Nika said registered and Forest's eyes went wide.  "Fresh from the grave?  Like you went into a state of torpor or whatnot?"  She frowned and folded her arms across her chest.  "That would be a bloody useful ability."

[Hibiki]

Nika

Nika looked a bit puzzled at Forest. She never went into a longer daysleep? How peculiar.

"You don't take naps every now and then? I always do it when society takes a turn for the more boring. Well, I just happen to take less than usual these nights. Things are moving forward at breakneck speed, after all."

She shrugged and started tapping on the screen of her 'gizmo'.: "Hmm, Oasis sounds like a nice name for a waterhole. I don't know about you, but I use could use a drink. Dancing sounds like a great fun too. I wasn't any kind of turboenthusiast, but I enjoyed that with some of mortals I came to know. Heh, they'd have been old but spry grandpas by now if they ended up here too."

[Elf]

Forest

Forest shook her head and answered, "Not me, hell, my inclination for insomnia came with me when I was killed.  Which is probably why I'm so stir crazy in the Spring and Summer, because the bloody sun was up so long and I would just have to be stuck at home."

She resisted the urge to look at Nika's screen, her curiosity be damned.  "Oh!  I love to dance.  I picked up ballet and tumbling ages ago and not only does it help physical training, it's bloody fun too."

[Panda]

Nanako

Nanako wanted to respond to Ivanna, but Zeke's words rattled in her mind. Indeed, what did she want to do with it? Her mind wandered, the squirrel girl crossing her arms under her chest and falling uncharacteristically silent and still as she thought back to her previous battles, back to the vague helplessness that had crept into them. Those still would've happened, with or without the Grace, and it would be foolish to think she wouldn't get into more fights while she was here. If it was a question of what she wanted to do with it...

"I'm not sure. This is a lot to take in at once," she admitted, "I think I'd use it to be better. Like you said, I'm not supposed to have this thing, and it'll be shaped by me. Might not even be able to go wild like it did when its host was literal dirt."

[SINIB]

Nanako

Nanako wanted to respond to Ivanna, but Zeke's words rattled in her mind. Indeed, what did she want to do with it? Her mind wandered, the squirrel girl crossing her arms under her chest and falling uncharacteristically silent and still as she thought back to her previous battles, back to the vague helplessness that had crept into them. Those still would've happened, with or without the Grace, and it would be foolish to think she wouldn't get into more fights while she was here. If it was a question of what she wanted to do with it...

"I'm not sure. This is a lot to take in at once," she admitted, "I think I'd use it to be better. Like you said, I'm not supposed to have this thing, and it'll be shaped by me. Might not even be able to go wild like it did when its host was literal dirt."

Ivanna

"Maybe does not cut it when it comes to natural disasters and supernatural threats."

Ivanna's response was instantaneous, her tone was potent, and a ruffle of anxiety and fear ran through the pristine feathers adorning her wings. Her form began to glow with divine power, and her two back wings flapped in a show of force. She did not consider Nanako's thoughts on this matter to be responsible nor acceptable. As the protector of her people, she could simply not abide by one woman's selfishness in this moment. She had to act for the greater good.

"This dirt you speak of has already created a great threat to my people, and possibly to the Nexus as a whole if it is allowed to continue to propagate. Maybe it won't cause a great calamity is only one side of the argument. It naturally follows that perhaps this parasite of yours isn't so benign after all; that it might take over your body, corrupt your soul, and turn you into a raging beast thirsting for lust and fighting. Maybe it won't go that far, but it will still push you in a corruptive manner—I can fully admit that I do not know every possible outcome. What I do know is that there is a significant potential for harm, and I have to follow my duty to act, swiftly, expeditiously, and without prejudice. Whatever lies he may say, and yes, whatever truths he says, are simply him attempting to lead you to indecision, so he may see how things play out, however the cards may fall."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

"Amazing. Every word you just said ... was wrong."

The emptiness in Zeke's eyes shifted for a second, filled with pity. Lazily putting up with whatever scorn was thrown at them - at Zeke... was still one of their good points.

"You? Without prejudice? Yes, yes, I can't deny I'm curious. But curious enough to put up with your constant bloodlust? No." An incandescent swirl of mud and life formed on his very fingertips, in the form of a raven. "Even if you knew our goal, you don't know our motives or anything about those Graces. A war based on ignorance is no war, it's bloodletting."

He smiled patiently and waked up the Seraph, shaking his head.

"Thus, my truth is manipulation, and children are monsters to be feared. I can assure you though, between us three, you're the one I'd call monster." He said that without hatred, without contempt... but there was bitterness in his words.

It was frustrating to deal with a child so unwilling to see beyond their own truth.

"Either way, this isn't something we can solve or base with words alone."

[Hibiki]

Nika

"I don't look like that, but I used to be decent at old style dances. I don't particularly miss times when I used to mingle with people as higher class lady. When I learned swing from people, I never looked back."

She put back the smartphone in her pockets, as she didn't think she'd have to stare at directions to get there.

"Here I ramble about old times, but we were meant to go to the club. They converted an old factory that got absorbed by the neighborhood into a dancing club. Great acoustics, I bet, lots of space, with local bent of course. Heheh, jumping around to the loud music sounds wild, from what I've seen on a profile."   

She could see a vague shape of a factory hall in the direction where the place was meant to be. She swore she could already hear some music being played when she focused on hearing the noise, though partly drowned by the noisy and lively district itself.

[Panda]

Nanako

Where once the squirrel girl had been still in contemplation, the sudden movement of Ivanna's wings flaring out had her moving without thinking. Instinct took over and sent her back three quick steps before the squirrel girl managed to slam on the brakes. Her eyes were narrowed now, ears swiveled forward, to the sides, and then back as her tail swished rapidly behind her. At the back of her mind, something started to surface, something new, something that hadn't been there before. It was faint at best, but...familiar. Familiar in a way that sent a chill through her spine.

_{...live...born...}

Before she could respond, however, Zeke spoke up instead, Nanako's gaze flitting over to him for a brief moment, noting that he seemed more focused on Ivanna, then going back to the petit winged being.

"Alright, then what are your motives?" Nanako asked after he'd finished, "If it's not just to see what will happen, then what?"

[SINIB]

Ivanna

"It seems we cannot coexist, beast. I had hoped to be able to avoid violence today, but it seems the time for talking is rapidly coming to a close." The angel laughed at Zeke's comments about her. It was a derisive, sarcastic laugh, filled with pain, long-neglected feelings, her shattered conscience, and more. She thought back to times which were simpler, when executing God's will didn't leave the bitter taste of bile in her mouth which she had to refrain from even thinking about. Behind the veil of her wings, protected from the prying eyes of the world, Ivanna bit her lower lip, grinding her teeth.

She couldn't help but feel as if she'd been wronged. Not by Zeke, not by Nanako, but by her Lord. She knew it was incorrect, borderline blasphemous to even think such thoughts, but now more than ever before, it was hard for her to refrain from doing so.

Not after having had the smallest sip of freedom and relaxation. She clenched her small fist, took a deep breath, and buried her feelings once more. Just one more time.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

It takes a strong man to deny what's in front of them. Even stronger to keep fighting regardless of it. Was that why Zeke's eyes were so sad? "Can't we? That is your choice, not mine. Many of my past selves chose the path of bloodshed. I don't know... just what did they see, beyond the hell they created? I don't think it brought them anywhere. And it will bring us nowhere."

The moment he closed his eyes, for a second, you could see a person. It shook its head.

"I have my truth, and you have yours. We could fight over it, repeat the same mistakes of the past. But for once, just this once, can we not seek common ground? Challenge our conceptions and notions, and learn from one another?" Dark eyes looked down for a second, as if lost and aimless. Or rather, he wasn't looking at either of them, but the endless horizon.

Just what kind of truth did Zeke see?

"A towering weapon built on the shells of old worlds? If there existed, there wouldn't be a strand of hair left in this Nexus. Centuries of child experiments to create the perfect hero? That doesn't sound very likely, does it? A fallen hero who'd destroy all that the Gods have created, just to snuff out the fires of vengeance? Can't say I've ever heard of anyone like that. A living calamity that wants to assimilate anything and everything? I'd hope people come up with better movie scenarios than that."

The man sighed tiredly, smiling with a hand on his side. No, he couldn't say he was any of those things. All this time, he had always been himself.

"No. I think truth is something you decide for yourself, the beliefs in your heart. For my dream, I might perpetuate someone else's. But let's work together, just this once. We might just discover our truths aren't so different. And if not, then you can steel your resolve and end the enemy in front of you."

He turned to Nanako and looked at her with an odd sincerity. "If my head doesn't fall from my shoulders, I promise, all your questions will be answered."

[Panda]

Nanako

The squirrel stood still, tense, almost quivering with restrained energy, ready at any moment to zip off whichever way she needed to go. Ivanna was clearly past the point of talking and committed to the coming fight, but Zeke surprised her. After everything about him being curious to see how things might play out, he was the one to try to de-escalate. Still, it was oddly comforting in its own way. For him to try to slow things down instead of letting them go where they would, if Ivanna had been wrong about that, it reinforced the idea that she could be wrong about more than that. That new presence at the back of her mind pushed again, more insistently now, but still only barely registered to the squirrel girl, her focus almost entirely on the confrontation between Ivanna and Zeke.

_{...want to live...}

"Might be a big if," the squirrel girl said, tail swaying behind her, shifting her weight slightly as she slowly shuffled closer to Zeke.

[SINIB]

Ivanna

The angel took a step forwards, interjecting herself between Nanako and Zeke. No, she wouldn't be allowing them to group up, to coordinate, when it looked so likely that her target would be forcing her to resort to violent measures. The faint white light of fire arcing along the lengths of her wings didn't grow in intensity, however, her movement should have made her stance clear.

This cannot continue.

Her silence would give the beast the opportunity to carry on, say whatever he needed to say. She would not interrupt him, not yet.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

A curious glance darted at the short Seraph, intrigued and aware of her - and what she wanted to do. Even if the air was tense, his attempts to settle down and befriend her were genuine. However, so was the hunger in his eyes. For in kindness and in evil, he was himself. Not some dark tool, not a disposable lump of meat. Even if the will of the world was in his way, he wouldn't accept anything less.

Not even if it came from God's judgment.

"Come on, don't be that way. Wasn't burning my friends enough sport for the day?"

He smiled and put a hand on his side. He never felt a need to hide his emotions, but it was a testament to Ivanna's stubbornness - that Zeke managed to show anger of any sort, however small. And yet why was he smiling?

A message sparked inside Nanako.

Unfortunately, the path of retreat is not something I can take right now. This creature is a threat to me and my people. If you want to flee, I won't hold it against you. I've never fought her myself, but I know just how monstrous this thing can be.