The woman jumped back just in time, grunting as her back hit the wall. She was right by the door, but she didn't try to open it. Instead, she moved to block Aron's path to it. Still, she looked… scared.
Occasionally people would point up to Cicada, but so far no one had arrived to stop her. People must have thought it was a promotion for something, a new movie perhaps. No matter what, the pull was always in the same direction, trying to take her directly to the source.
Cicada spotted the people pointing and slipped down the side of a wall. She rolled at the end to get rid of her extra moment. She felt the tug still and kept following it, it had to lead somewhere good. Maybe it would help her get back home.
Aron sidestepped, swinging with the staff now. He didn't want to kill her, just get her out of the way so he could get the fuck out of here, and maybe figure out what was going on.
The pull was leading her to the edges of the city, and beyond. When she got to the edge of the city, however, someone was blocking her.
"You shouldn't have left," Crow said, face serious.
The woman let out a little whimper when the staff hit her, but she held her ground. She had to stall Aron.
"I'm not letting you leave!" She said.
Aron rolled his eyes. "I think it's obvious by now that there is no letgoing on here." he replied. "Now, you have two choices. You can die, or you can stay the fuck out of the way."
Cicada looked at him and held her staff in her hands ready to fight. She looked at Crow, "Yeah, but he didn't notice. Or clearly he did since your out."
"You act as if I won't die if you go through those doors," the woman said, holding her ground.
"As if my Author won't deem me useless and…" she shuddered a little.
"He's busy getting word to the facility about the new threat," Crow said. He flicked his wrist, and his arm turned into a blade.
Cicada looked at Crow seeing how his arm was now a blade. She took a step forward confidently and spoke evenly towards them, "I expected as much. Something's telling me to go out here, and I'm going to follow it. Understand me?"
"You see, that's exactly why I can't let you go," Crow said.
"Just turn back now, before it's too late." Crow took a step forward as well, scowling a little.
Cicada kept her hands on her staff, but her posture became more docile as she scowled, "Fine. Take me back to the van or whatever. I just wanted to explore a little, and this felt the right way to go."
Aron narrowed his eyes. "Well, I can't trust you to come with me. So would you rather I knock you out?" His voice was cold.
Crow eyed Cicada for a moment, and flicked his arm again, turning it back into flesh. He came over and lightly took ahold of her upper arm.
"Thank you," he said calmly.
The woman hesitated, then nodded slowly.
"Please," she says in a small voice.
Cicada pulled her arm away from Crow and began walking back towards the city, "Whatever. Let's get back to the van."
Aron nodded. He raised the staff, hitting her head hard enough to knock her out, but not hard enough to kill.
Crow pressed his lips, staying behind Cicada to make sure she was actually going back and not trying to take off.
The woman crumpled, the door no longer blocked. She'd given in rather easily…
Aron frowned a little bit, still not sure he had done the right thing. Then he opened the door to the room, staff and sword in hand.
Cicada wasn't trying to take off, she was retracing her steps to find the van. She tried her damndest not to get lost in the maze-like city.
Syzen ultimately fell on himself. Here was the problem, he managed to fracture an ankle. He tried not to show his pain but unfortunately, with his powers taken away, he couldn’t bare it as much.
Kun eyed the man a bit. He reached up to an earpiece he’d kept hidden with his hair all this time.
”Okita-san, the man who just left the cafe, get him before he finds Sora” Kun said to the earpiece.
”Roger that” the man who had been watching from another building all this time followed the man who just left with his eyes. He ran across the roofs to follow the man, looking for a chance to strike.
The halls were empty, branching off in three directions. To the left, however, the sound of quick footsteps could be heard. The door to the room closed behind Aron.
Crow, once he saw Cicada was struggling a little to find her way back, spoke up.
"Want me to lead the way?" he asked, voice subdued.
The woman was preparing for another attack when she noticed how Syzen was holding himself.
"You good?" She asked, straightening up a little.
Coral sighed a little, settling back down into her chair. She held her drink in both hands, eyes closed for a moment.
"This isn't how I expected this to go," she admitted with a little smile, opening her eyes.
andrew (Our Supreme Lord and Overseer) was hurrying through the crowded streets, sticking to the edges. He pulled out a radio from his pocket, beginning to call in about the situation.
Cicada looked over at Crow and gave him a slight nod, "If you wouldn't mind."
Syzen made a dissatisfied tsk sound.
”Not necessarily. After losing my powers I think my physical powers have decreased and uh—“ he looked down at his ankles ”—I think I fractured an ankle…”
”Well?” Kun stood up and offered his girlfriend a hand.
”Should I take you to see something of a great experience? Might be a once in a lifetime experience though, just saying” the man said with a small laughter.
Sora arrived at the facility. He managed to break in through the ventilation systems. He looked around before dropping into the hallway. When he was sure no one was around, he opened the air vent.
Eisuke, whilst running on the rooftops, had his eyes on the man who left the cafe at all times. His main job as given my his author? Cause as much problem as possible. Some of his clear ribbons rushed down towards the man who blended himself into the crowd. Not attacking him, the ribbons tied themselves around the radio and snatched it from the man’s hands.
The Knight gave a satisfied smile and went a different route now with the radio at hand.
Crow nodded, stepping a little in front of Cicada and leading her through the city, back to the van. He would glance back occasionally to make sure she was still there. When they got back to the van, he held the door open for her.
The woman made a sympathetic face, nodding. She glanced up at the window in the wall.
"That should be enough for today," the person said over the intercom. The woman nodded, turning back to Syzen.
"You mind if I help with that?" she asked.
Coral smiled a little, taking Kun's hand and standing up.
"I don't see why not. So long as it isn't the ziplines- my grandma made me do that once and I was terrified." Coral giggled a little.
The sounds of a heated debate could be heard from a nearby room.
"Soldier A was cut off in the middle of a transmission, something musted be up!"
"L, andrew (Our Supreme Lord and Overseer) would get cut off if he saw a dog. Nothing's wrong!"
andrew (Our Supreme Lord and Overseer) cursed with the radio was taken from him, head wiping around to try and see who had taken them. He hightailed it to the van, getting into the driver's side.
"We need to go!" He nearly shouted.
Cicada hopped into the van. She figured he was all worked from the character earlier. She had a grin on as she sat down leaning her staff next to her.
”Absolutely not. That would be—“ Syzen cursed silently at himself ”—great appreciated as well” he stated. He limped when he tried to walk, falling down to the ground.
”Damn it” he smashed the ground a bit, unsatisfied by his current state.
”You’d be surprised—“ Kun started as a winged figure came soaring downwards with another figure who rode a winged, glowing, green horse.
”May I introduce you to Ichika and Kazumi” Kun gestured at the winged figure then the figure on the horse.
”Greetings!” both of them said in unison.
”You can choose who you want to go with. I’m fine with both”
Sora smiled as he silently rushed through the hall, coming across some officers along the way.
Shit. he hid behind the corners. He wanted to complete his mission, hopefully with no casualties on either side.
A figure appeared in front of the van out of seemingly nowhere.
”Here’s a present—“ the figure’s eyes were a glowing golden shade ”—from my Author!” he said with a menacingly fun tone as he coursed a level of voltage into the vehicle, one that would not harm the people inside too much but would break the vehicle down somewhat.
The figure also made sure that the tires were burnt or at least overheating. When everything was done, he disappeared with a smirk.
Eisuke was still running on the rooftops. He managed to slip into a dark alleyway and with that, he was now looking for a way to go to the facility in which one of the Viscount, one he respected, was held in.
Aron started to the right, still holding the weapons in his hands and racing through the hallways. Find a way out. Get out. Get home somehow.
