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Ennéa stepped into the dingy foyer her old apartment building and looked around. It was the same as always, right down to the flickering florescent light overhead that Mr. Green, the super, still hadn't bothered to repair yet. She chuckled, feeling a lump in her throat, practically everyone in the building had been complaining for him to fix it even before Ennéa had run away. Funny, how such a stupid thing as a faulty light fixture made everything suddenly feel so real...

She was home! Ennéa turned and walked over to the wall of mailboxes and traced a finger along the printed label of her family's mailbox. She really was home! Ennéa chuckled again but it came out as a sob. She had never truly believed she'd make it, she realized. All the way here she was just waiting for something to go wrong: she'd get caught, or the portal wouldn't work, or she'd lose her way.

Ennéa wiped her eyes and then laughed at herself. It was a Christmas miracle, obviously.

"We made it, Baraz!" She said.

Hm.

"Hm? That's all? Hmmmm?" Ennéa swung her backpack and twirled on one foot, all high spirits once again. She wobbled and quickly stood up straight to keep from crashing into the wall. "I know you don't approve, Baraz," She said more seriously, "but... try to be happy?"

Yeah, yeah, sure. Baraz said distractedly. But Ennéa, I--

"C'mon, let's go up to the apartment!" Ennéa said quickly, in an attempt to stave off what was doubtlessly the start of another argument. She jogged towards the stairwell that would lead up to the apartment where she lived with her mother and brother. "I can't wait to see the expression on everyone's faces, I bet..."

Ennéa's cheer faltered when she took the first step on the strairs. It was that same prickly-cold feeling she felt when there were shadows or monsters or anything no one else could see -- only, it was a thousand times worse. Ennéa froze and stared up the dim stairwell; she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary and yet.

You finally noticed it too? Baraz said. Ennéa started at the sound of his voice.

"N-notice what?" She said. Ennéa took several more stubborn steps up the stairs, ignoring how the hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end. She could handle whatever it was that was creeping around; she made it this far, after all. "You're just trying to psych me out and trick me into going back, aren't you?" Another couple of steps, she was almost to the first landing. "Well, it's not going to work."

Ennéa continued stubbornly walking up the stairs, gritting her teeth at the crunching noises. The stairs were just dirty, obviously. That was it. The super hadn't bothered to fix the lights so she shouldn't be surprised that stairs hadn't been swept in some time either. She recoiled when -- it was just a roach geez, why was she freaking out? crawled over her hand.

The apartment building was old and run-down even when she was living there. Everything was fine. It was fine. The building had just gotten a bit more run-down in the time she was at Deus...

She picked up her pace, taking the steps two at a time, the crunching barely registering. She was almost to her floor, if she could just-- a black swarm of something whooshed down the stairs right at her. The lights flickered and went out at the same time. Ennéa yelped, ducking down and covering her head.

Then the lights came back on. "AHH! WHAT THE?!" Ennéa leapt to her feet, eyes wide, staring at all the bugs covering the stairs steps and the walls; climbing over her shoes; even a couple on her legs. She quickly brushed them off in revulsion.

Ennéa. Baraz said in warning.

Ennéa turned and looked up the stairs to stare at the strange pretty face above her. Despite its looks, waves of that familiar sickly cold wrongness seemed to emanate from it and Ennéa tried not to flinch when several more bugs flew out of its mouth.

She licked her dry lips, "No, I'm just here to see my family." she said in what she hoped was a firm and confident manor but the squeaky waver to her voice probably belied that. "Can you please move?" She added. The face was kind of blocking the stairs and standing in the way of her Christmas family reunion.

Ennéa really did flinch at the creature's words then, reflexively hunching down and shivering from a cold that had nothing to do with temperature. But then the creature left and the stairwell was silent and still.

She remained crouched a couple long moments before uncurling with a shaky breath. "T-thanks." She said into the silence. Ennéa shivered again then pushed up off the wall and stood up straight.

"Right. Okay. So that's taken care of." She babbled as she readjusted her coat, "You okay, Baraz?" Now where was her backpack? Ennéa distractedly looked around and peered down the stairwell. Did she drop it?

I have a bad feeling about this. Baraz murmured. Something about that creature's smile.... The face might have been pretty but that smile had been anything but. He refocused on Ennéa. Oh, forget your backpack, He said impatiently, we'll find it later. Go check on your family!

"Oh yeah!" Ennéa said. Her search for her backpack and any lingering fear from the insect creature was immediately forgotten as she raced up the remaining stairs and down the empty hallway to her old apartment door.

With a bright happy grin she banged on the door. "Mom! Tobias!" She pounded again. "I'm home!" Ennéa waited at the door expectantly.

Ennéa froze rigid. How did-- she hadn't even sensed... It was like suddenly being plunged into an icy cold bath; waves of sickly cold wrongness roiled off the creature at her back. Up close it was worse, far worse than on the stairs. The hum of the insects filled Ennéa's ears and she swallowed thickly, trying not to whimper.

Ennéa! It knows you're a hunter! Baraz cried in alarm but his voice seemed distant, drowned out by the overwhelming buzzing.

"I... I don't think it would be a good idea..." Ennéa stammered. "I-I mean, I'm the only one who could see you, y-you see. And... and..."

The apartment door started to open. "No!!" Ennéa yelled and grabbed the doorknob, pushing her body against the door and slamming it shut. "Wait! Don't come out yet!" She shouted at the person on the other side. As if a thin piece of wood could protect her family from this creature. Still, it was something.

Ennéa flipped so her back was braced against the door. The creature was so terrifyingly close that Ennéa wanted to scream. She bit down on that urge though, as well as the monkey-brain instinctive urge to flee gibbering in fear. Running would just pique the creature's interest more, she had no doubt. Ennéa pressed herself against the door, as far away as she could within the space, and faced the creature. "Please." She said as levelly as she could manage. "Just leave. Okay? Please?"

The cold was bone-deep and paralyzing. Ennéa couldn't move. She stared back at the creature's face as her vision narrowed and turned grey and then dark. She tried to jerk her head away, to scream, but all that came out was a pitiful wispy gurgle around the creature's lips.

The buzzing of the locusts swarming her was relentless but even that was growing quieter and distant.

And yet, in that growing silence, Ennéa could 'hear' frantic flapping. Not the buzz of insect wings but different. Familiar. She desperately reached out towards that sound in her mind.

---NÉA!! OH MAN, C'MON, FOCUS! Baraz's voice snapped into clarity in her mind. He sounded so scared. YOU HAVE TO FIGHT! SUMMON ME NOW. PLEASE!!

Ennéa latched onto that comforting presence in her mind and with the last of her remaining strength called her axe. The long wooden handle materialized in her hand and she weakly tried to swing it at the creature.

Her attack was feeble. Oh god, she felt so weak and fragile and wan. But Baraz guided her aim and she thought she hit it. Ennéa struggled desperately, hoping her attack at least startled it enough for her to break free of the creature's grip.

HP: 40/40
Fear/Charge Attack: Sonic Blast - Ennéa can twirl and create a whirlwind gust around her for several paces when Baraz is charged (Swift Strike).
Charge: 1/3




((OH GOD I AM SO RUSTY. Um. I hope this post is okay. If you want me to change any of it please tell me. Thanks Liz!))

The creature released its grip and Ennéa slumped against the door, drawing in ragged wheezing breaths that made her throat ache and her lungs burn. She turned and feebly tried to get away from the creature but it was more of a slow hobble with one hand supporting herself against the wall. Her legs felt so rubbery and weak and her vision kept going grey and dim along the edges.

What did that creature do to her?? Ennéa scrubbed her lips with the back of her free hand.

Don't worry about that now! Baraz yelled. It's attacking again!

Ennéa turned and brought Baraz up in a defensive position but there was little he could do to ward off the swarm of attacking locusts. They buzzed angrily, like a disturbed hive of hornets, as they crawled over the Ennéa's legs, arms, and even in her hair, stinging fiercely as they went. "Aauugh!" Ennéa swatted at the insects but there were just too many.

Ennéa turned in desperation to face the creature. The queen! Bugs had queens! Maybe the creature was their queen?? If she could just stop it...

Worth a try. Baraz said grimly.

Ennéa swatted at a locus crawling on her face and obscuring her vision. The insect stung her hand but the pain barely registered as Ennéa swung Baraz at the creature.


Attack: 4
HP: 32/40
Charge: 2/3

It was another weak and desperate axe swing but it still managed to connect. Ennéa looked with grim satisfaction at the gash on the creature's torso. Shadow or monster or whatever it was, that should slow it down some. Maybe the creature would even think that it wasn't worth the fight and leave. One could hope.

But no such luck. The creature simply laughed and snake-quick grabbed the axe's haft and jerked the weapon towards itself. "Whoa!!" Ennéa yelped. Caught off guard, she involuntarily stumbled forward as Baraz screeched in outrage at the creature's touch in her mind.

There were more insects now, boiling out of the creature and swarming over the axe. Ennéa shuttered in revulsion and it was all she could do but to keep her grip on Baraz. If she lost him, the creature would be on her again in an instant and she would die.

Ennéa fought to keep from panicking even as Baraz screeched again, loud enough to be deafening. She winced almost really did lose her grip on him then. The ahriman was in an absolute frenzy.

Suddenly, the insects were gone and the creature snarled at her, something about betrayal? "Wha---" Ennéa didn't have time to wonder what it meant as the creature forcefully slammed her back against the wall and knocked the wind out of her.

Ennéa slumped to the ground as the world swirled and darkened again and she struggled not to black out. She blindly swiped at the air with Baraz, trying to keep the creature away from her.

Attack: 1
HP: 26/40
Charge: 3/3

((Argh, ignore this, I forgot to roll dice because I am a dumb. Sorry!))

And once again Ennéa found herself slammed brutally up against the wall. The back of her head impacted with such force that Ennéa could almost feel her teeth rattle. Yet oddly enough it didn't hurt quite so much this time... everything seemed distant and numb -- pain included.

That was a bad, bad, sign, no doubt, but Ennéa just couldn't seem to focus enough to worry. She coughed instead, a deep rattling sound, and tried to concentrate on the creature in front of her. It was difficult; her vision kept blurring and blood from some cut somewhere on her forehead kept trickling into her right eye.

Even Baraz's impotent shrieks of fury in her mind seemed to grow quieter, the sound of his voice mixing once again with the buzzing of the insects, incessant but vague. White noise.

Ennéa didn't even struggle when the creature brought its lips to hers again. Its touch was prickly cold and vile but like the noise and the pain, the sensation was distant and easily ignored. Ennéa giggled, or tried to anyway, what escaped was barely more than a faint gurgle. Who knew her first (and second, apparently) kiss would be like this? Did it even count?

Her thoughts chased themselves and spun and swam about. Bone-white stark in the dim//compound eye insect wings//lighting fixture above her head was flickering//glints of silvery blue slit-pupil no, Jordan's quiet reassuring smile. Tobias?

Maybe she was dead and this was the afterlife. Not a lounge this time but full on paradise where she could finally, finally, see her family.

No. Her brother and mother weren't dead. Tobias... they couldn't--

Ennéa went rigid.