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[ ROUND 2 - 20 HP / 40 HP ]
One part ended, and another one began. This time the world around her changed and mirrors sprung up from the floor. There were images in them, at first glance, but nothing more then the extra limbs, and the face, of the queen.

She looked away, she struggled to move against whatever was petrifying her body, turning it slowly to stone, and tried not to think about what that might mean.

And then one mirror sprung up in front of her, and while she tried to ignore it, there was no turning away from what she could see.


He was yelling at her, and not in the usual way where he just..yelled because that was his way of speaking sometimes. He was red in the face, and he was angry with her. Sharp words were hurled at her, ones that stung, though Shaheen just stood there, her face stony, and took it. It was nothing worse then she had already heard before in her life. Nothing he said was going to break her. She had regained control of her emotions, had relearned how to compartmentalize them when necessary.

"We failed, Shaheen! We failed and it was all because of you! Because you are so ******** careless! We could have been royalty, and instead we're here!" He gestured around him, and it wasn't until then that the background really became clear. Stone walls, a stone floor, a small fire crackling in the middle of what appeared to be a cave. Water trickled down a wall, the only thing that could be heard in the stretch of silence that lingered between them, as his chest heaved, as his anger shone by the firelight in his eyes.

"We knew the risks.." She tried to say it calmly, to talk some sense into him, and instead she received a backhand to the face, one hard enough to bring tears to her eyes.

"Very well, then." She growled, dropping the emotionless act, throwing herself at him for a fight that consisted of using their hands, nails, teeth, feet, elbows...everything but their weapons.

Those were gone.

When it was over, when she was tossed to the floor, defeated, he spat at her, blood mixed with his saliva, staining his teeth red when he spoke at her next. "I hate you."

The images in the mirror hurt more then she would likely ever say. Her executioners axe in hand, she swung it at the mirror, shattering it, the blade slicing through the air on the other side.

She had no idea, not a thought in her head that considered that there might be somebody on the other side, let alone somebody she knew.

Her eyes widened, and she hastily drew the axe back. "Nom? Natt? Apologies I did not know...did not think..." She stared at the girl, who's limbs seemed to be stiffening up as well. What did it mean?

"Are you okay?" She reached out, took a laborious step forward towards her.

They called him the guru. It had taken some time for people to come round to the genius that was Jan, but given enough time they had finally decided to embrace the man's reasoning and wise words. He was in charge of death division because why not? Head cowboy after he'd told Caelius to mosey off into the wide (snowy) plains and never return. He hadn't.

He had specifically requested enforced transfers of all the individuals that had taken to his teachings and they had of course readily accepted. His aims were always clear, he actively sought to control the problems of their factions by embracing Halloween, by understanding them in a way which meant they signed up readily to their weaponised fates. Hosting jobs faires, recruitment drives, vacations to select hunter held outposts and other such things had helped to soften the overall veiw of Deus Ex. Military? No sir. They were honourable cowboys who simply hearkened back to better times in humanity, they had weapons only to make them better at creating new technology geared towards peace. It was all about pardnership and working together to build a better world for both of them. Fear was still provided because shucks, even the human world had bad people and it was great that they went to a more helpful use than simply rotting in prison. A little bit of useful sacrifice to fear milking was no damage to society. It was a mutual joyous togetherness that was entirely spirits endorsed.

"I am glad you saw the light missy." he said with a huge smile and slid an arm around Theodorina (she had after all changed her name to discard that militant past of dissolved nations in some small way) "You've come so far from that gal who would just let any old wanderer walk right into her garden. And pick what they wanted."

And the meek creature he had tamed by teaching her the ways of the spirits and of embracing him and his outlaw's wisdom smiled at him. "Now. Its just me." And it was just him. The others had been sent away on arduous missions because they didn't approve of the teachings he had laid out and the glorious future he had designed. One had been obedient and was still useful, the other, no longer.

And Theodorina had seen the light, of course, why would she not? She had been tamed as his filly and he would keep her safe as they gained forces, as they gathered the power they were entitled to by taking advantage of the deep need shared by humans and Halloween creatures to share their emotions and to have a deep partnership with something, sucking in the lonely and outcast and glueing them together into something more useful than they were on their own. And one day people would realise that the resources they had freely given him and Deus as a whole as worthless were not worthless at all and peace, love and spiritual togetherness would so so easily be turned against them by people who felt no emotions at all.

The woman agreed with him, all sugary submissiveness and deference, but only in public. There was something behind her eyes that lurked. Behind closed doors he knew she hated him, she fought him, but she was his. His wild horse that could never be broken, fighting till the last.

He had taught her important lessons, but none were as important as the lesson he taught he daily here.

That she should never have underestimated him in the first place.



And once again the future shattered and he did not hesitate, striking out with his spear with cold efficiency.

There was a spark, that spark as he struck her.

"Howdy." he crooned, and smiled.

HP: 30/40
Its Lawr

[ ROUND 2 REPLY TO BYAKKO: 20 / 40 HP ]

00zingTea didn't catch all of this mirror scene, and what she did catch didn't make much sense.....it also wasn't that interesting either, in her opinion. None of that mattered because she got away from it as fast as she could, which wasn't very fast, because the last mirror had landed her a machette to the stomach.

The claws weren't as bad as they burst through the mirror, shards flying around the boil and Tea as he dug his claws across her torso. 00zingTea was getting tired of this. "THE HELL!! Ever stop to think there might be somebody on the other-side of the mirrors before you break through them??? Don't just look surprised, you owe me a big apology and a chunk of hp!"

[ ROUND 2 REPLY TO CHARACTER NAME HERE: HP 30 / 40 HP ]

SCIENCE was enthralled with the appearance of the mirrors. So many of them! And they didn't reflect properly, she noticed. One mirror in front of her showed what looked like a human city, reduced to an ashen wasteland. She moved closer to study the details of the scene but couldn't say she recognized any of it. She looked over her shoulder to make sure her surroundings hadn't been replaced with the same scene, which would have been the logical explanation for it to be in a mirror. Not there.

Apparently, these mirrors ran on a different sort of logic.

SCIENCE continued to study the scene until it was abruptly shattered by someone attacking through it. Caught off guard, SCIENCE took the blow full on, falling, then rolling backward. She bounced back to her feet, confused and surprised. Then, perhaps surprisingly for Borg, she grinned fiercely, and settled into a fighting stance.

"That was a great surprise attack, Borg! Let's see how you handle this!" she replied, enthused that someone wanted to spar with her! She darted towards him, and pivoted on one foot, delivering a roundhouse kick to his midsection.

"What did you think? Good kick? Did you see it coming?" she asked, now eager for his feedback. "Not as good as your surprise with the mirror-thing, but I try to practice at making my moves unreadable!"

she blinked a few times, as if to try and refresh her vision of the complete and utter darkness before her. It didn't work... obviously. However she could see the queen... her gaze locked upon her, body still and unmoving, as though afraid a single misstep could cause some sort of reaction.

But one already was happening, so it seemed.... a memory started trickling into VoiceofNature's mind out of no where. It was an echo at first, of a familiar voice... older, gravely, and unpleasant.

"Those eyes... why are they like that... don't look at me with those eyes."

a speckling of giggles were to follow, young, youthful, and mocking.

"Why are your eyes like that? ewww I can't even look at you~!"

playful, taunting, but honest.

[ ROUND 2 REPLY TO Trex: HP 20 / 40 HP ]

The vision was a vaguely confusing one for her. From what she could gather, the older man was likely the younger one’s father. The smile and look on pride on the father’s face earned a small smile from Xiu, who cocked her head to the side as she watched the scene play out intently. A graduation? It seemed like such a happy scene, and why wouldn’t it be? It was a day to be celebrated, and they were both smiling, and--

…Never blamed him? For what? Somehow, the ghoul felt like she wasn’t getting the full story here. Although she was bearing witness to this individuals dreams, she wasn’t sure what the context was supposed to be. What was the father forgiving the son for? And why--

She didn’t get a chance to finish her thought, letting out a sharp gasp as a sword was abruptly swung out at her. Staggering backwards with round eyes, she stared up at her assailant in shock….and then took a deep breath to calm herself down. He was clearly frightened—no more than a lot of people were here—and she saw no reason to cause him any more distress by attacking back.