♕ { THE SIEGE END } Avalonia

[Scyerline]

A breeze blew Hazel's frizzy carrot hair into her face. She gave a long sigh of relief. But relief of what? It didn't matter. She felt like a great weight lifted off her shoulders.Her eyes slowly began to open at the sound of other hunters and monsters groaning themselves away. She inhaled deeply, trying to remember why she was laying on the ground. Nothing came to mind. She pushed her upper body up into a sitting position, feeling the sore, aching muscles on her back and arms. A little item that didn't seem very out of the ordinary laid beside her. After a moment or two of staring at it, Hazel began to remember bits and pieces.

"Sabin?" she said with a soft, unsure voice.

About a second later, Hazel flopped back down onto the ground, hair flying past her face again.

Whooomph!

At the moment, she was too tired to get up.

-------------------------------------------------

Bea rubbed her eyes, gave a stretch. The place felt so serene and peaceful. But where was she? All she could remember was a few broken memories. A fire demon. A ring of fire. A cup. Then crystals. But why was she there? Bea tried to get up, but her legs felt like she hadn't used them in weeks. Suddenly a memory. Something about a closet made her feel weak in the legs. She looked up at some of the other students, and saw them following someone else. With having no idea of where to do or what to do, Bea dragged herself forward to follow the students. Little by little, her legs were working again.  

[Smerdle]

West didn't wake up right away. No, Levi's poison had done its job well. When the wrath demon finally did open his eyes, all he could see was white. No. There. Blobs. Movement. He blinked, or rather he tried to. Instead he executed a glorious half blink, his eyes remaining closed for another half an hour.

The blobs had more definition when he awoke for the second time, and there was something else. Eyes. Levi. He remembered that much at least. West's lips pulled up at their corners, but his moment of serenity was short lived. A horrible noise shook his entire being, rattling his teeth and forcing him to his feet. It was coming from the portal.

He breathed slowly, feeling his lungs stretch with the effort. He was pleasantly surprised to find his tail was twined with hers, and together they made their way through the forest and toward the portal. Toward home.

(( west is permitted to have a levi ))  

[Smerdle]

Thin arms hugged an equally thin chest as the horseman stumbled through the forest. No matter what had happened or the little he remembered, his wavering faith in Medea felt renewed. Why? He had no idea.

Mmur smiled as he followed the crowd through the forest.  

[Eight]

Candace woke up with a start, letting out a strangled cry as she sat up. One she had been forced to hold in, one she hadn't been able to let out when she'd first realized what had been happening. She threw herself from where she was sitting, stumbling and falling to the floor with a grunt. She rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, eyes wide. Where was she? That ceiling didn't look familiar...and Candace knew a few ceilings in this place.

...Right?

What was this place?

She sat up, looking all around. There was destroyed equipment surrounding her, a few bodies here and there. s**t. She remembered now. I think we should go out there..

There came no reply.

Candace blinked. Atropos?

Nothing.

A...Atropos? Atropos, answer me. She rolled onto her hands and knees and slowly got to her feet, grabbing something nearby to help pull herself up. She swayed, leaning heavily against it. So tired..where was Atropos? Why wouldn't she speak? Candace's breath into quick, short breaths of panic. She pushed off to walk on her own, stumbling a bit as she walked. So tired...

One, two, three...there they were. Candace looked upon two faces and sighed with relief. They were okay. One of them was more familiar to her than the other; it was the more important of the two faces. Wait, what about H? She turned on her heel once, twice, three times. Where was he? Did he leave? s**t. And where was Jerry? Was he okay? And Harrison...she hadn't seen him at all. Where was he? Molly? ********. <******** it hit her. She remembered why she was in this room...she had a job to do. She couldn't disappoint them. She had to do perfectly.

Candace was quick to scramble back to the equipment, finding whatever wasn't broken to continue her task.  

[Huni Pi]

It was time to wake, the voice said. Enough sleeping, enough resting, enough of the dream-haze, enough of the numbing vision. The crystals broke and crackled slowly, to the rhythm of a beating heart that pulsated deep beneath them. The scream drew Before's attention but little else could rouse his senses from the fog of peace. Still, he stumbled forward without summoning his partner, allowing the devil shield to continue to sleep for as long as she needed.

((exiting to jungle))  

[Huni Pi]

His eyes shot open, every nerve in his body screaming at him to break into a run. But he found himself lethargic, drowsy, and completely unresponsive to the urgency. A shake of his head, a slap of a palm against his face, Tro still remained in an odd dream-like state as he stumbled forward, hoping only to return home.

((exiting to jungle))  

[Sosiqui]

-what-

Madison woke with a gasp, stumbling forward as the crystals that had been supporting her body suddenly ceased to exist. She let herself fall to the floor, a slow, gentle crumple that felt oddly soothing. All she could remember was a warm, golden glow... and the need to protect. Yes, she'd been protecting something. She'd been ready to lay down her life to do it. Had she succeeded?

The ground under her seemed to thrum, and she pressed both palms flat against the stone. It was beating like a drum, like a heartbeat. So gentle, so soothing. Her... weapon, yes, her weapon. Kouki. He was curled in her mind, silent, but she was not afraid. Should she be?

The reassuring pulse continued, and she matched her breathing to it without thinking. She was so tired, and yet... she thought perhaps she had succeeded in her goal?

Sound assailed her, suddenly, and she winced. Slowly, Madison got to her feet, leaning heavily against the wall as she began to move out of the inner sanctum.

[Madison exit]

----------------------

Malodore staggered and fell in a most undignified fashion. It had been running. Did it still need to run? For a moment, the thrill of a thwarted fight-or-flight reflex sang through its body. But it didn't seem there was a reason to run any more...

It was going home. For a moment, the thought - home, home - frightened it, though it had no idea why. Its awareness was fuzzy. Why should it be afraid of home? No, not home itself, but the mantra... the words...

Shaking its head slowly, Malodore too began to move.

[Malodore was in jungle but eh pseudo-exit anyway]  

[x_Nata_x]

Bandwagon Petra awakening  

[Inle-roo]

Taima was caught in the half-aware state between sleep and true consciousness as the crystals crumbled around her. Her wings flapped once, twice, sending fragments flying everywhere, before settling with a rustle of feathers. They ached, but the dull throb wasn't enough to cut through the contented haze that wrapped around the thunderbird's mind like a warm, soft blanket. Taima couldn't remember the last time she felt so at peace--and then she frowned a little, realizing that she couldn't seem to remember much of anything. Judging by the confused looks on many of the assorted faces around her, she wasn't alone.

The last thing she recalled was a text message sent to her at some late hour, but what happened after that was a mystery. She had no idea how she had gotten from Point A to Point Wherever-the-Hell-She-Was-Now, but it felt important to her that she get back. Remembering what had happened in the time she had lost seemed like a greater priority, but she was startled from her musings by a loud, sudden noise. Taima hesitated a moment before setting off in the direction the sound had come from. Maybe she would find some answers over there.  

[Lilwolfpard]

Once upon a time there was a kitsune whom laid down and gave in to death.

True story, that ending ended up just being yet another ending arc, and another beginning in his story was about to begin.

Raising his head he thought for a brief second that he had fallen asleep, possibly dreamed it all. Only what was everything? There was fighting... some death maybe? Even something about blood and crystals, and something really...really cold.

There was something he should remember, but it was like a memory on the tip of his tongue that might never arrive. Instead he rose to his feet, and shook his fur as if it were wet. Now a little more fluffy, Remi searched around and tried to remember just exactly what was happening.  

[Lilwolfpard]

Ceres woke with a start, staring around the world blindly and with cloudy vision. This of course cleared up after she shook her head some.

Her mind immediately jumped to look down her her leg, something that she was GLAD she had foolishly decided to chop off. Oh yes... she did not think Deus would have use for another person stuck in a wheel chair. Not to mention she was not useful, so they would possibly oust her and pretend she was a casualty of war...

Speaking of War, it seemed that no one really had won. What happened anyways? Surly someone won? But everyone had been trapped in that crystal... was she dreaming?  

[Eight]

FINE I'LL JUMP THE BANDWAGON

JUNKO HERE  

[Katarina Everard]

Imryn groaned a little and rolled over onto her stomach, giving her wings a stretch while pushing up off the ground. Her mind was hazy, feeling rather disoriented and wondering what this place was and they they were there. Off to the one side there was a portal and it seemed important... but other than that, nothing seemed to come to mind.

"Ugh... jacking demon ponies..." she grumbled, then paused for e moment. Demon ponies? Where had that come from? That was odd... but... maybe not. The more she woke up, the more started to come back in little snippets. Mitzi.. she was important. She needed to find her. And Medea. Thinking about that person made her blood boil. Hmm... maybe Mitzi would know more. And with that, she was off.

(exiting)  

[revenant aria]

The small blodn haired moon hunter awoke, sprawled on the ground. Aqua green eyes opened, only to close again, as she curled on her side.

The first, and only, phrase from her as she awoke. It was probably her first thought as well, although what it referred to, the only hint was the slightly negative connotation, was anyone's guess.

"Pass.
 

[Dragain]

Ariane had, to be honest, been prepared to die, even if she did not plan on it; when she was still a trainee, dying was something she desperately tried to avoid, but right now? She had seen enough dead bodies and deaths to know that death was inevitable, and that she should react to it the way she react to almost everything else - with a grin, and a sense of humor.

Perhaps, that was why, when she found herself breathing again, the hunter took a moment to comb her fingers through her hair, wincing when they got caught in the tangles, accidentally pulling out a strand or two. The sharp pain, however, confirmed the fact that she was still alive. That this was not some dream.



No reply from her weapon - only a silence that she was no longer used to. Did the silence mean that her weapon was destroyed? Immediately, she looked down, feeling a sudden jolt of fear; it had became so normal for her to be holding onto Kintama in one form or another, she didn't even realize that she had been clutching onto its desummoned form all this time... She grinned, pulling herself up and off the floor, tilting her head towards the sound coming from outside the room.

It was time to see if everyone else was fine.

[Exit.]