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Habataki Kasumi

"I don't know, because I know without doubt that it is an AIDA. I don't know how I can tell, but my sister's people would be different. I would feel aversion to them, and I other than that annoyingly constant tone that whatever it is over there sends out, I feel no such sentiment. I have no plan. What can I do? I can neither fight or kill it...maybe I can try to talk to it. Surely it must know something." she admitted, whacking and stunning an enemy before slamming it with a golf drive-like strike. "Then again, with my sister's group running around, I doubt I'll even get to do that much..."

Rouge Metrea
She sauntered on, ignoring their battle. Really, they sure got distracted easily. And, she had no respect for that Lanza guy, either. Huh. That makes two people I can't stand, but that I'll eventually have to work with. Sucks to be me! she thought flippantly, raising her bayonet and shooting a hapless mook that was wandering around near a mushroom box. Hm. With any luck I will have a chance to practice teaming with Macha-san... she thought absently as a battle started for her.
Kasumi: lvl 38 4/20
Rouge: lvl 81 7/20

Deep in the heart of the castle, the black dots bubbled and warped. From a particularly large cluster of them, a strange thing that looked like a box jellyfish emerged, moving around the area experimentally. It was exploring this place it had been born in. For those that had no AIDA or awakened Epitaph, they would get a bad feeling, of dread. For those with AIDA, a pure tone carrying the feeling of "curiosity" would be heard.

Habataki Kasumi
The tone suddenly got louder, more piercing. Kasumi, disoriented from the increase in sound and even able to pick up on the projected feeling, had been temporarily paralyzed and thus made open to attack. The monster landed a strong blow to her, and she was unable to guard, so she went flying. Within her PC, the fluttering feeling briefly picked up before settling down- just long enough for Kasumi to roll away and cast a La Repth before shooting back with Zan Rom. "Dammit..." she hissed, not at all pleased with what happened. She fought back with a vengeance, landing a flurry of blows that allowed her to kill one of the smaller mooks. "It's curious." she said without thinking. "That child."

Rouge Metrea
She stopped, stabbing a monster and taking out the last of its HP, when she felt the presence suddenly increase. Another one, she thought, remembering the feeling from two days ago.

Neither of the sisters were aware of Kisobe yet. Rouge had not met him, and Kasumi was too far away to really get a read on him.

Habataki Kasumi
She too increased the speed and strength of her attacks. "Ap Corma, La Corv! La Vorv, Ap Do! La Repth, Rue Kruz!" she rattled off rapidly, adding a few normal attacks and killing another mook. They were still in the outer part of the dungeon. She had an inexplicable sense of urgency...Protectiveness. It drove out most other thoughts. She was in a temporary state of one-track-mindedness. The child. The child. She had to go see that little one, and fast, before her opponents, who vastly outnumbered them, arrived. The daimyo's palace was like a maze, and yet, at the same time, all roads led to the same place. To the center. To the little one. She knew, rationally, that only she and Yurash and maybe Zero would see the new AIDA as the baby it was...the others would see it as a virus that needed to be eradicated. But what was she going to do? She could not draw it into herself, as she already possessed an AIDA fragment. Yurash could not do that either. She couldn't assimilate it, and she wasn't even sure she could speak to it. How would she communicate with it? Maybe she could leave that up to Yurash. But she felt the need to hurry.

Rouge Metrea

She also wanted to be quick. She was wondering what was taking everyone else such a long time to get moving. She was almost done with her room, and she wanted to get to the heart of the castle quickly to contain the infection before it got into anyone.

Habataki Kasumi: "Rest assured," she said, swiftly flitting from monster to monster and striking them. Her blows were considerably weaker than Yurash's, but she struck and killed frequently, even while running from room to room and marking off the dead ends. Urgency. Some part of her knew that she had no chance but she wanted to try. She broke out the smoke bombs, flitting about like a butterfly as she rushed to assemble the map. At last, a room with a Chim door, and nearby, a chim chim track. Hurridly she pressed the button and gathered chim spheres, knowing that she would slow Yurash down in a battle when he was this frenzied.

But alas, it was not it. The Daimyo's castle was abnormally large, a huge maze that though all roads led to the Chief's Chamber, its roads split often, and there were many dead end rooms. The Steam Door was only the first of three. There was still a long way to go.

Habataki Kasumi

If nothing more could be said of her, then let it be said that she was violent, weak, but at least, fast. While Yurash was fighting, she was able to gather enough Spheres and then some to unlock the door. She accessed the door, and popped in the required number of Chim Spheres. "This is a hassle," she muttered unhappily. "At the least, I was hoping to get to some of the treasure boxes and avoid having to buy my next hundred Sprite Drops." It was a cover though. She would not admit it yet, but she was perhaps a bit worried about the young AIDA who she was STILL hearing.

The door opened. What lies in the second segment of the castle were slightly stronger monsters and a decoration scheme that was markedly more ninja-castle-like.

Rouge Metrea

"Yeah, I know," she called back to Ginko, as she threw aside the last monster and went at a Chim Chim track with gusto. She had to hurry, and she knew it. There were other people in here that could be infected by this new AIDA, herself included. Lanza and Zero were too busy duking it out, so it was really up to her and Ginko to try to stop this thing. She still wasn't aware of Kisobe. "Come on, let's get going!"

Kasumi: lvl 38 8/20
Rouge: lvl 81 10/20

Habataki Kasumi
She spun Night's Truth and struck several monsters, stunning them to create openings for her party mate. His question brought an irritable tic to her voice. "I have been hearing it since I walked in. A terrible shame that I understand not a word of it." she said, a flood of exasperation rippling in her speech. Up until now, she had felt curiosity, some contentment and happiness at the rush of training, then annoyance on remembering who was nearby. Some part of her knew that she was seen as a threat to the Epitaphs, as were her kind, but the main part thought it was a bit presumptuous of them to judge what they didn't know so harshly.