Ren's amulet finally stopped flickering and was a solid purple with just a tint of black, not enough to notice though. She spun-kicked one of the demons so hard that she heard a couple bones crack, it caused her to give a look of distaste. She sliced another open before it could harm it's victim. She spun around when she heard the witch's voice, then watched as Nariko charged at her- then sent each other seven feet apart in opposite. Ren ran towards Nariko then stood beside her, glaring at the teacher with dark violet eyes. She was panting slightly from fending off as many demon as she could handle- which was a good bit of them.

Nariko was relieved to see Ren join her side. She couldn't take her eyes off of the other 'monster', though. "Are they gone?" she asked in a small whisper. The teacher sparked her staff up again, that time for a longer duration in order to create a bigger arc. Nariko stepped in front of Ren right before, switched her blade to her left hand, held it in the air, and used the metal of the sword to attract the electricity. The shock went straight from her sword through the ground, which left a small tingly feeling in her arm. She decided that using two hands on her scimitar, at least temporarily, would be the best. She then stood next to Ren again. "Nariko, humans really shouldn't be directing electricity like that," the red-haired lady started to say before she turned her staff like a spear. "It's dangerous, and you could develop a neurological disorder. Paralysis, maybe? I don't know, it's up to you and how many times you want to be shocked." With that she charged her staff again. Nariko looked down and to the side where Ren was, counting the seconds as the silent clock counted down. It was about a second per foot, so at point blank it was nearly instant, but things changed when the voltage went up and Nariko wasn't sure what to make of the situation. "You need to get out of here- please- I'll follow right behind you."

The more the woman spoke, the more Ren's demon-blood boiled and her amulet slowly turned black- which was very, very bad. Her grip tightened around the handle of her katana so much that her knuckles were white. 'Don't lose control... Don't lose control...!' She thought to herself as she tried to restrain herself.

~"You need to get out of here- please- I'll follow right behind you."~

Ren bit her lip and shakes her head. "Go to Nathan and Alice... I can't..hold back much longer..." She murmured quietly in a slightly strained voice due to the amount of restrain she was placing upon herself. Ren looked at Nariko with itty-bitty tears in the corner of her eyes. "Please!" She practically pleaded.

Nariko shook her head. She switched hands with her blade and leaped out just in time to re-direct the electricity and not injure her good hand. It was stronger than the last arc and probably disabled the nerves in her fingertips. That time, it altered her vision so that all she saw was a bright blur light above her head when the electricity struck. She could see the grin, though. That sadistic, pain-inducing grin that had caused so much grief to others. Nariko could see that clear enough. She whirled around, flipping her sword backwards like a dagger in her left hand so she could face Ren. Still, she counted down with a silent timer "Then what? Let you kill yourself? Damn it, Ren!" she yelled, tears streaming down her face. She wiped them away, but she couldn't see well even after that. Nariko continued in a softer tone, quick enough to beat the clock. "Why would I do that? You've been next to me this whole time.. No one's ever done that-- ever. I'm not just going to-"

"Surprise!" came another voice right behind Nariko, following a loud cracking sound. A powerful vicinity strike that beat the timer. Nariko had already dropped her blade and lost her balance, but the red-haired woman fired her staff at point blank a second time to make her point clearer, sending Nariko to the floor. "I am capable of moving- I own feet, you know," she said mockingly as she twisted her hair, one of her black stilettos casually tilted towards the other. She charged up her staff again, facing Ren. "Humans are impossibly fragile- oh, how easy they are to take down! I love it." she added, curling her zebra-painted nails around her staff as the voltage cranked up. "But what about another demon, I wonder?"

[[ Sadism was here. <3 ]]

[[ (>^-^<) <3 ]]

Ren tightly closed her eyes and shakes her head. She looked back at Nariko with soft violet eyes. "I can't die... I'm immortal, remember? I wouldn't leave you like that---" Her eyes went wide as the events unfolded before her. Her tears dried themselves as her anger finally boiled over. Her amulet turned a sold jet-black and her aura radiated off of her it was so overwhelming- Ren hadn't felt like this in years. She sprang up and charged the red-haired woman. "Son of a bitch!" Ren yelled, taking her katana and ramming the teacher with it.

----

Alice blinked a few times as if something clicked. She moved her ruby gaze to look at Nathan. "Nathan..." He simply nodded and got up from the table. "I felt it too. Let's go." Nathan whispered, then practically ordered as he began towards his car. Alice followed. Once they were both in the car, Nathan sped off towards the training grounds.

Nariko could faintly hear other sounds. Some were from Ren, or so she thought, but she couldn't put a name to the word choice- it was confusing her from a distance. Additionally, it was as if an earthquake had let loose in her mind, and as it slowed down a pulse of sickness and despair let loose. 'I.. I can't.. move..' she thought helplessly. Paralysis. She drifted. 'It's.. It.. stings--!?' Then she shut down.

The red-haired devil bit her lip upon impact of the katana. She backed away, the gash in her abdomen starting to bleed immensely. "Immortal, aren't we all?" she asked playfully, charging up her staff again, that time only for the amps and voltage, not so much for the flashy arc. "Imagine you, like Kronos, being hacked up and tossed into a giant cavern where you wait for an eternity hoping that someone knows how to put you back together so you can stop writhing in pain~" she cooed as she turned her staff to the sharp side. "I dipped these in Doll's Eye roots, so I hope you like sedatives." she said again as she lashed forwards and sliced Ren with the edge, though only barely since all she needed was a touch to hear the loud crack in the air.

Ren landed on the ground as light as a feather. She rose an eyebrow and looked at her like she was crazy. "What're you blabbering about?" Her eyes went wide at the sound of the name Doll's Eye roots. Ren flipped backwards but she was too slow and her leg got sliced by the edge of the sharp-side of the staff. She staggered back a little when her feet touch ed the ground again and her breathing was slightly jagged. It didn't help that her vision was blurred.

Nathan and Alice got to the training grounds and Nathan ran out of the car. Alice stayed put like a good girl. Nathan found a secret-entrance that lead to the gym and hurried down the hall. He was not a happy demon lord.

The red-haired woman cackled aloud again, charging her staff up one last time. "I'm talking about the fate of an immortal." She got the feeling that another presence was nearby and though she couldn't place a name she was pretty confident in her ability to place destinies. Quickly, she flipped out her phone and pressed a button. "You went on a mission?" came a voice from the other end, muted slightly by the cracking in the air from the overheating staff. "Just about. S-0119 is invalid, so I won't be completing any more missions, but S-00118 is taken care of." There was a silence except for the low hum of the current. "Was it an ambush?" "Nah, I was in town."

The woman dropped the phone to the floor and let the call end itself. For a moment, she held her ground, deciding if it was best to use the sharp edge to channel the electricity into one unlucky target or shock the whole building and possibly set fire to some things. That brought a grin to her face. "I'll see you later, demon." She lifted the staff into the air, letting it self destruct. A second later, the staff turned a bright blue and ice-colored sparks began to arc in two directions; up into the ceiling lights, bursting nearly every bulb and sending sparks everywhere, and down into the floor sending a rolling tidal wave of electric blue out into the rest of the dark gym.

Ren glared at the blurry woman. She growled a little, then flinched when the bulbs started bursting. It wasn't much longer before everything black and she hit the floor.

By time Nathan reached the gym, smoke had filled the air- and the woman was gone. "Ren! Nariko!" He called in vein since the two were unconscious as he searched for them, being careful not to get burned. Nathan finally found the two girls after a few moment and rushed over, gently picking each up and placing them over his shoulders and raced out of the gym.

[[ hope this was okay ;~; ]]

[[ It's totally fine. <3 Though I wanted to leave this to you- the "I won't be completing any more missions" part was initially just for her to commit "suicide" and turn into dust due to the awesome electricity blast from her staff/the burns later on. Should we infer that or do you want her to run off and plan something else aside from her initial mercenary work? ]]

Nariko had felt a small jolt run through her fingertips that caused her to intake a shaky breath of air. It was the same feeling as getting the wind knocked out of oneself, except in the opposite direction. For a brief moment, she could make out the smell of smoke and bunch of glowing specks outside the limits of her functioning sight. Her breath escaped her, leaving only a few short moments to take in her surroundings. 'This is an Actaea toxin, isn't it?.. Baneberry..' she thought, noticing that her heartbeat was barely sustained. 'I hope Ren.. she's.. okay...'

[[ *hums* So, I ended up researching poison. ToT All of these narcotic sites kept popping up along with a detailed web page about how to kill yourself, which drugs are most effective, the dosages, and how to lock yourself in your own home. My family is going to think that I'm suicidal! I love role-playing. <3 ]]

[[ hm... i think it would be interesting if the woman lived~ allowing herself to plan something else aside from her initial mercenary work <3 Nathan would reeaally like to "deal with her" o.o' -- O.o me too! XD <3<3 ]]

Nathan carefully set the girls down when he got to the car. Alice came out of the passenger side and rushed to Nathan's side and knelt beside Ren, carefully examining the fragile girl's body. She looked at the slice on Ren's leg and frowned. 'Jeez... How could let your guard down like that?' Nathan looked at Nariko with a light smirk. "Welcome back Nariko, how long have you been with us?" "Ren got hit with some Doll's eye root so she'll probably be knocked out for a while..." Alice muttered, causing Nathan to glance at Alice. He nodded lightly then looked back at Nariko. "What about you, are you hurt?"

[[ Ne, adding onto the story-writing, what happens after Sophie/Alex stop fighting? ; x; ]]

Nariko blinked once or twice before she lifted her head up, the rest of her body following to sit upright a moment later. She was groggy and her left arm felt like a block of lead that was harder to move. "Five seconds?" she said, rubbing her eyes with her right hand. When she heard Alice murmur something about the Doll's Eye, Nariko looked up at the fuzzy picture in front of her face. "I knew it was part of the Actaea! Is Ren--" She stopped herself, faintly remembering what Ren had said earlier. The blur that she knew was her love still seemed to be breathing, so Nariko let out a sigh of relief. "I'll be fine once this is out of my system," she assured as she shifted her left arm and blinked. Nariko had a decent poison immunity at a relative's request, so she just had to make sure that her physical structure didn't crumple in the time it took for her to heal. After a few moments, she looked down and folded her hands in her lap. "Thanks for getting us out of there," she said.

[[ i have no idea dearie~ my thoughts have come to a halt on that because i may have made sophie a little too much like myself when i "flip" x.x i promise i'll reply tomorrow </3 ]]

Nathan nodded lightly, content with Nariko's answer. "That's good..." He said in a surprisingly tender father-like voice. Nathan smirked ever so faintly and he shakes his head. "It's the least I could do, Nariko." Alice slowly stood and held out a hand to Nariko, offering to help her to her feet. "We should really get out of here- will it be alright for you to stick with us a little while longer?" She asked curiously, her head tilted a little.

[[ Hahah, that's alright. What's wrong with making her like yourself? ^o^ Act it out and see where life goes- you usually don't get a control variable to test things with, so take advantage of it while you still can. n.n ]]

Nariko carefully flexed her digits of her left arm, still upset that it was barely falling off of its temporary numbing from the voltage and amps in the electric staff. She nodded at Alice's request because realistically she saw no other option- her weakness would get her involved with Ren somehow, whether that was blindly trying to defend her or just getting hurt in general and seeing Ren's face. The least she could do was stay out of trouble. Nariko stood up with Alice's help, momentarily glancing at the ground for a blade that didn't exist. 'Ren's katana--!' she thought frantically as she scanned the vicinity. There were no traces of any swords and she really didn't want to cause any more problems, so Nariko made a silent promise to keep quiet.

[[ -shakes head- most of the time, making a character like yourself isn't a bad thing- but when the character starts to "evolve" and begin acting like the me that i try to keep locked away... i can't play them very long or i start to lose myself... it's a very scary feeling ;~; ]]

Alice smiled a little when Nariko nodded, and she helped her to her feet. "That's great!" She chirped happily, giggling a little. Nathan felt the younger's distress and scanned the ground before taking off so fast it made a cheetah look like a slug, back towards the gym- going through the secret hallway. "Nathan!" Alice called to him as he took off, but it was too late. He was already out of site.

[[ Ah, I see. There's a "me" that's like that, except it's sort of separated. Like it's another person entirely. /sheepish-awkward-avoidance/ It's an effective way to live a sane life- having an external place to store hatred and maliciousness. .o.♫ ]]

Nariko watched Nathan vanish, somewhat suspended in guilt because of the chance that it might have been her own doing. She folded her arms gently across her chest, looking off at Ren with a resigned expression. "I'm so useless," she murmured. 'There really isn't anything I can do for you except leave emotions behind when I go, is there?' she thought. Nariko blinked once more, straining her eyes involuntarily as to try and recover her sight. Her spirits sank a bit and her throat felt tight, but nevertheless she fought back any sort of expression other than simple contemplation.

[[ yeah, hehe. that's exactly it- only my "external place" is slowly filling up and those hidden away feeling are starting to leak into the "real me" x.x ]]

Alice looked at Nariko with soft eyes. "Nariko... What's on your mind?" She asked quietly, slightly curious. She could tell that the girl was holding back her emotions just by looking into her eyes. After all; the eyes says everything- even when you says nothing at all.

[[ Hmm.. n.n Forgive me for smiling, but I am interested and think that it is peculiar. I really wonder why that would happen at all. .-. Do you think about it much? ]]

Nariko looked up at Alice, her slightly clueless expression hinting at how close to being blind she was. "I'm useless," she repeated in a louder tone that was frank and informative. "I can't ever help Ren and I end up making things worse." Nariko unfolded her arms. "She tells me she's immortal, yet that doesn't seem to change anything in me since I still end up running out with a scimitar against a lightning bolt." Her gaze lowered away from Alice and back to the ground, not that the fuzzy picture looked very different from the last one.

[[ It's already midnight .~. I even slept through most of today anyway. Once I solve this cube, I'm going to bed. >x< ]]

Alice gave Nariko a stern look. "Nariko, let me tell you something about Ren-" She stopped herself mid-sentence and gently lifted Nariko's chin so that the girl HAD to look at her. "There will be a time where Ren will be in a fix so tight that the only who can help her is you. I speak from experience..." She spoke in a voice that was almost mother-like.

Nariko listened for a second or two before she was caught off-guard and turned to face Alice whether she wanted to or not. It took a bit of effort but she managed to resist the impulse to instantly jerk away and run for some sort of cover. The oceans of meaningless color that had lingered so aimlessly were starting to take form of more natural-like shapes, letting Nariko see just enough of Alice's face to feel the comfort that hung in the air. "Thanks," she said, unsure of how to take Alice's advice. Sure, it was a relieving bit of advice but Nariko was still standing on the other side of the canyon between solid reality and trust that some people could leap across.

Alice slowly moved her hand from Nariko's face and smiled ever so faintly. "I'm sorry to have made you uncomfortable, that's the last thing I wanted to do..." She said softly, her ruby eyes locking with Nariko's eyes. "It's just- I know how you feel, I've been in the same position too many times. I couldn't be there for her even if I wanted to... I can't help her." She took a shaky breath and her ruby eyes moved to the sleeping Ren. "I messed up." Alice murmured quietly in a distant voice.

Nariko almost broke into a defensive fit over whether or not she was made uncomfortable, yet she kept her mouth shut in fear long enough to catch the last bit. She tilted her head a bit to the side, her traumatized curiosity slowly returning to its home in the control room of her mind. "What do you mean?" her voice asked on its own, returning the soft tone that Alice had given her.

Alice blinked as if being pulled back into reality. She returned his gaze to Nariko and shakes her head, a sad smile coming to her pale face. "If only you knew how much of a threat I've become because of my stupid mistakes... I shouldn't be here as it is but Nathan- for some reason wants to the three of us together. As if he's not telling me something..." She sighed softly and looked at the sky. "Do yourself a favor- don't lose of your light. You'll regret it 'til the day you die, I promise you."

Nariko corrected her posture when Alice looked at her. She could only think of one real threat that didn't even seem to match up with Alice's personality. Then again, she was naive and in less of a place to express her thoughts on the matter. Nariko turned after Alice did and also took a liking to the sky. The clouds weren't much shapeless than before, and the sun seemed to be the same way. Of all things, the sky was a normality. Nariko smiled and cheerfully laughed a few notes. "That won't take long," she said lightheartedly. "The day will be here soon if I keep this up."

Alice closed her eyes and listened to Nariko's lighthearted words. She shook her head lightly, slowly opening her bright ruby eyes that seemed to glow- only for a moment before returning to normal. "You're heart is filled with doubt..." She whispered in a silky voice.

Nathan finally rejoined with the girls, Ren's katana over his back and a smirk on his face. "Sorry ladies, I know it's rude to keep a girl waiting." He went over to the sleeping Ren and carefully picked her up. "How about we get out of here before the demons follow?" Nathan glanced at Nariko and Alice.