「Emote」 {IC/Not Taking Reserves/PG-16}

[(GigaDrillBreaker)]

「Emote」

~OOC~

 

11:28 – Church of Salvation, Seattle

 

“The time draws near, children of the Church.”

 

A young woman, teen-aged by appearance, stood at the altar of the nearly-empty chapel, with five others kneeling in front of her. They were not kneeling to her, rather to the man she represented. The man who was not currently present. “I know that you were told my father would be here, but he has been held up by… unexpected circumstances.” At the word ‘unexpected,’ she waved her hand through the air, passing the topic along.

 

“Even so, we have our duty to commence. Yuri, Casey, Kid, Ilya… and you as well, Seraphina,” her voice turned bitter at mention of the last game, refusing to look the girl furthest to her right in the eye. “Today is the day that we shall show God’s children what we really are, our true power. We will show them the true path toward salvation.” Glancing toward her left, she briefly indicates toward what appeared to be a box, approximately a meter in each dimension, carefully covered by a smooth silken cloth, colored bright red. “We will show them all their place in this world, and inspire them to take what they deserve.”

 

“I will perform the needed ceremonies of this event, as is the job assigned to me. I will carry out the acts that Father has decreed, as each of you will as well.” Looking to the individual nearest her left, she turned slightly, addressing him directly. Though he was male, his appearance much more resembled that of a female. It mattered little to The Church’s motives, and she couldn’t be bothered to confront him about it. “Keep a thin veil of your mist between us and the crowd, just in case something goes wrong. We cannot allow any accidents to happen, else Father will be displeased.”

 

Turning slightly toward her right, she addressed the next in line, a girl her own age, with long black hair and what appeared to be red eyes. “Casey, make sure to keep in mind that there is likely to be an uproar only moments after the ceremony,” jerking her head toward her left, she vaguely gestured at the veiled box, “so be prepared to engulf the entire Church. Though some will understand our message, the rest are going to want to kill us. Be ready for that.” Smirking, she concluded that she had sown enough seeds of paranoia for the girl to work with.

 

The next two of her group had much less specific jobs, but Mary felt the need to tell them exactly what they were to do, else she make a mistake in her proxy leadership, “Kid, Ilya, you have no specific assigned task, but each of you be prepared to use your barriers along with Yuri’s to protect the groups. I cannot let us have any casualties today. And Seraphina,” Mary turned toward the purple-haired girl furthest to her right, wearing a sweet smile that dripped with spite, “Father has given no task for you. You are not a part of today’s plan. Try not to turn into that horrible beast, though.”

 

“Let’s open the doors.”

[Maeriberii Haan]

[hr]

 

“Kid, Ilya, you have no specific assigned task, but each of you be prepared to use your barriers along with Yuri’s to protect the groups. I cannot let us have any casualties today."

 

"Yeah, I'll go do that. But now I think I'll check on everything else first." Ilya answered flatly, before staring at the kid named Kid for a bit, then moving away from the altar area on his own. The moment he left the front door, it was the moment Ilya disappeared from anyone's attention as he started his preparations for the upcoming event. He didn't exactly connect with anyone on the Church even if it had been a while since he joined there, as he's just there just so he could get away from the threat of his quiet life be interrupted by the government agents trying to take him away due to his ability. He didn't really see any of the things he did, the formalities he was required to do like how he bowed earlier, and him revering the certain "Father" figure to be something that actually meant anything more than formalities. He didn't see it as a rite, and it was even borderline silly even for him who admitted that he could get really obsessed in regard to some things.

 

He missed the detail of this certain ceremony that was going to be held, but at least he's aware that it would involve a lot of other so-called Emoters, people with abilities based on a single-minded drive based on a certain emotion. Not really something that he actually liked, as a big event like this would be loud and noisy, and he hated crowds. If he could, he'd just go home right here and there, but Mary would probably demolish his house if he did, and thus, Ilya's stuck in the church area for the preparation of the event. Shaking his head a bit, he then sighed before looking around to see if the place was ready enough to host the event.

 

[divider1]

 

"[acronym='Thank you very much']Mulţumesc mult[/acronym] mister, and have a nice day!"

 

A young woman in a black, long-sleeved suit and short skirt left a taxi after paying its driver and giving him her regards, while smiling at the sight she saw from the city. It was a clear, sunny day, and it was near mid day if her watch was correct. Despite her occupation required her to travel across the globe, she was rarely being this free without any attendance from her servants, underlings, or bodyguards, and most of the time she had her needs attended by them. Having this much freedom would've been a scary thing for her if she hadn't been accustomed to it for years, however. Though, her English was not really that good (even though she can understand the language well), and without a translator helping her, she felt that this could really be something inconvenient to her.

 

She was there to attend a certain "ceremony" she heard about online, centering about these so-called "Emoters", something that she's apparently a part of. She still felt that the whole "Church" thingy that organized this meeting was complete bullshit, but she was still curious about it, especially since she felt that getting more knowledge regarding them could be a good asset for her in the future to have. And not to mention, she heard that most of these "Emoters" were attractive young men and women, so of course she would try to get knowing them more.

 

"...Mi-e foame...I think I could use some food here or something."

 

And then, she just realized that she hadn't eaten anything since she boarded her plane several hours ago. She was admittedly really busy and hurried back then, but to think that she was really focused with the thought of the upcoming event to forget about eating was really silly. Noticing a hotdog stand in the distance, Mirelia didn't waste any further time and immediately ran towards it as fast as she could. It's still some hours before the event started anyway, so getting on a midday snack tour on the new city, while maybe scoring with some pretty guy or girl in the meantime wouldn't really be a bad thing to do, no?

 

[hr]

[Kazooie]

Casey glanced around the room, shaking slightly as she knelled and looked around at the other five people in the room. She glanced up at the alter as the white haired girl spoke, her shadow twisting around her as the woman spoke to the feminine male to her left. As Mary spoke to him concerning preventing any accidents from happening, her hand gripped around her ankle slightly. Her shadow twitched and moved back into its place as she took a deep breath and glanced back up, letting go of her ankle.
 
“Casey, make sure to keep in mind that there is likely to be an uproar only moments after the ceremony, so be prepared to engulf the entire Church. Though some will understand our message, the rest are going to want to kill us. Be ready for that.”
 
Casey took a deep breath and nodded, her shadow creating a circle around her feet that slowly began to expand as Mary spoke to her. "Yes, yes, I'll be ready. The moment the a-any violence starts, I'll be prepared to shroud us." 
 
[hr]
 
"Huh...? How'd I get here?"
 
A young boy, although you couldn't tell from looking at him due to his outfit, with bright pink hair stumbled around the crowded downtown area. He stopped and moved towards a wall as he straightened his blue and white top and smoothed out the skirt he was in,  As he stumbled past a hot dog stand, he looked down at the ground and laughed lightly, bending down to pick up a quarter from the ground. As he slipped it into a handbag he was carrying, he looked around and sighed. "I'm so looost... I'm supposed to go to the place today..."

 

As he spoke, he moved away from the hot dog stand and stumbled slightly, sighing as he glanced around, trying to get his bearings. "Eh! I'll find it eventually, I heard big things were happening today, but... Why?"

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

It was morning. The young girl, Louise Tueber, could tell that much from the faint light filtering in from a crack in her curtains. The light hit her face and cast a red glow to the otherwise black sight of her closed eyelids.
Morning to most people who suffered from nightmares was usually a relief. In the daylight the frightening visions of their dreams seem silly and impossible and they can move on without worry. Unfortunately Louise was not most people. An Emoter, as they are called, who has special abilities that react to fear. To Louise, nightmares were the least frightening result of a scare.
And as she woke up that morning she could tell that there was something wrong. Her conscious mind couldn’t recall the dream she had been having, but her subconscious was still lingering over the frightful experience.
There was something in this room. The thought was a simple one. Just an unobtrusive fact. But the realization chilled her to the bone. Something was here. Something responding to her fear. She didn’t want to open her eyes. She did want to open her eyes. She didn’t want to see what was there. She did want to see. No, rather she had to see. She knew from experiance that closing your eyes and trying to ignore it would just cause the fear to grow. The unknown was always more frightening than the known.
Except when it wasn’t.
She forced that thought down lest she not be able to pry her eyes open from the fear. Once she did she realized she still could not see anything out of the ordinary.

She lay in her spacious, too spacious to be honest, bed. Her room was bare of anything that wasn’t there the night before. Her bookcases, overflowing with various novels and even picture books, were neat and tidy along the wall. Her desk was spotless, with the various papers all in a perfect pile in the corner. Her stuffed camel, Sandy, was still sitting beside her and she brought it close.
Her heartbeat wouldn’t slow. The normalcy of the situation didn’t help assuage her fears at all.
Simply because there was something there. It didn’t matter she couldn’t see it. It was there and that’s all that mattered.
Heart thumping, Louise struggled to raise her eyes to the ceiling slowly. She fully expected something to be clinging there, above her head. The cold panic in her gut was almost too much to handle. What if there was some monster there? What could she do? She was just a young girl. Not someone who was equipped to deal with monsters even had she not been laying in bed.
There wasn’t anything on the ceiling. The brief chance of relief was quashed before it could come to fruition, however, as she heard a sound at the end of her bed.

Without thinking her eyes flicked back downward. Clinging to the edge of her bed, hanging onto the blanket, was a corpse. It wasn’t simply a rotting body however. The thing was moving, and snarling. Its eyes, disturbingly human and intact despite the condition of the rest of its body, were locked onto Louise with such malice and hunger that the girl nearly felt as if the gaze alone could kill her.
She froze. There was no where to go, the thing was making its way closer and closer. It didn’t look strong but it looked strong enough. Images flashed through the girl’s imagination. Images of the thing reaching her and tearing into her flesh with its clawed hands and decaying teeth. She could almost feel the things teeth biting into her. Ripping. Tearing.
Her heartbeat came quicker, and quicker, and quicker still. She clutched her stuffed camel to her chest tightly and closed her eyes just as tight.
It would do no good of course. The creature was still advancing. She could feel it shifting the blanket as it crawled towards her. She could hear its rasping breath. She knew it was coming closer and closer. She couldn’t do anything though. The fear was taking total control and she had no where to go.
“A-Apple” she thought hurriedly. “Banana, cantaloupe...d-durian...” Her attempts to focus on something else faltered. “What fruit starts with an e?” Such a simple thing had never been thought with such panic. She couldn’t think of an answer, she couldn’t avert her focus. She had to. She would die otherwise. A horrible, painful, death.
And then she felt the creature’s hot breath on her face and her eyes flew open.
It was staring down at her, mere inches from her face. Its mouth was wide open and prepared to bite down, tearing at her flesh and devouring her alive.

A knocking at the door sounded and a voice came. “Louise, are you awake? Breakfast is ready and I need to speak with you.” Suddenly new emotions crashed through. Surprise, which isn’t all too far from fear, and love. The voice was instantly recognized as her mother’s. A warm feeling struggled to reach through the fear and panic. She focused on that one feeling. Her mother’s voice. Memories of her loving embrace filled her mind.
The creature was still hovering over her. It seemed to want to bite down. But she couldn’t feel its breath anymore. The fear was still there, she knew she had to stop it right now before it was too late.
Shakily she reached a hand up...and through the illusion above her. As her fear weakened so did her power. Her power to bring monsters unto this world. At the realization that the corpse above her was now just an image; relief washed over her.
The thing was hideous to look at. And had she not known for a fact it was not solid she knew the fear would return. As it was, however, she could focus more on other emotions and slowly, slowly, the apparition faded.
“Yes, mother, I-I’ll be right there.” She heard her mother walking away without another word. It was unusual enough these days for her parents to go to her themselves for such things, usually they would send a maid, so Louise wasn’t surprised at the lack of response.

She lay in her bed, cradling Sandy, and focused on slowing her heartbeat down. She had broken into a sweat during that ordeal and she looked forward to a shower after she figured out whatever her parents wanted. Louise briefly wondered what they could want. Her mother’s tone didn’t seem angry or grim. In fact it seemed...hesitantly hopeful.

Deciding she had lay here thinking long enough, Louise got up and took a deep breath. She would have to change into her day clothing; though she would wait until after her breakfast and shower. It wouldn’t be polite to keep her parents waiting. While she would prefer taking a shower first the correct course of action would seem to be going down to breakfast.

It took a fair bit of time to reach the dining room. Their house was quite large and her room was two floors above the dining room. On her way there she pondered once more what this could be about.
Despite that her mother had implied both her parents would be here; Louise was still surprised to see her father sitting at one end of the table. He barely acknowledged her presence. Just enough to try to give her a strained smile before going back to his breakfast.
Louise took a seat and smiled sweetly at the maid who placed the plate of eggs before her. She waited patiently, looking up at her mother. The woman was still standing and seemed somewhat nervous.

“Go ahead and eat, Louise, I can explain while you do.” Louise hesitated. Eating while someone talked was not something she liked doing. But, her mother had told her to so she nodded and dug in.
“Your father and I have been talking and...well as you know we’ve been letting you go out more often lately. There hasn’t been any....any incidents in a long time.” There was a pause and a cold feeling swept through them all as they remembered that day years ago. Louise couldn’t bring herself to mention that there had, in fact, been many similar incidents. Just none that affected anyone else.
She felt terrible hiding this from her parents. But she dind’t want to worry them...and she was grateful for the freedom they were allowing her recently.

“Well, we heard of a...a church. One for...erm, your type of people. And...we were thinking perhaps on your walk today you could...” The request hung in the air. Clearly her mother didn’t want to upset her.
More to make her mother feel better than any kind of happiness, Louise smiled to the woman. Inside her head her thoughts clashed. A church? What was this place? Was it like an institution? A hospital for curing the “sickness” of being an Emoter? Or maybe...maybe it was a safe haven. Hope came to the forefront of Louise’s thoughts. This could be her chance at doing something about these...abilities.
She continued to smile, this one more genuine than the last. “I believe I can do that.” She replied, to the very obvious relief of both of her parents. She had no plans anyway. It might do her some good to check this place out.

After getting directions, and declining the offer to have their driver take them, Louise finished off her breakfast and went to take a shower. She carefully took her time washing her body and her short, lilac, hair. The warm water soothed her and helped wash away the lingering fear from earlier today.
She changed and got everything prepared for her foray into the city. She had done this often but it still was thrilling to get to explore like this. Being stuck in this house didn’t bother her as it would many others; it still was nice to get to go out.
Her parents were off on their own excursions, so Louise only had the maid, and Sandy, to say goodbye to before leaving.

[hr]

Not that, please, not now...Louise was walking through the city, following the directions by memory, towards the church.
She had been able to focus more on curiosity and excitement than fear. However that didn’t stop...that from showing up. She couldn’t see it clearly, despite the daylight. It was there though, in the corner of her eye. Waiting and watching. Always following. Like on that day several years ago. The first apparition she ever saw. The only one that repeated on a daily basis. And one that, from her investigating of the issue, only she could ever see.
She didn’t know what it meant. It never did anything. Even on that day it had merely watched while other, more active, apparitions ruined her life.
Still. This was a creature she feared above all others. There was something especially sinister about the way it watched her. She couldn’t see it clear enough to even tell if it had eyes. But she knew it was watching. For what, she had no idea. She just knew she hoped fervently that it would never decide to do more than watch.

 

There seemed to be quite a lot of people out and about today. Perhaps they too were Emoters? She was curious. But she didn’t go out of her way to talk to any of them. Merely smiling and nodding at them in greeting she made her way to the church.
Something about the girl near a hotdog stand gave her pause, but even to her she didn’t do more than a simple greeting before advancing. She was getting more and more excited, and nervous, as she reached the building.
People seemed to be gathering. And these were almost certainly Emoters. She hadn’t seen many of them before so she didn’t know if there was a way to tell. But it seemed logical. They all seemed to be waiting for...something.

And so Louise too waited. She avoided getting too close. Her fear had come back due to her encounter with her beastly stalker and she didn’t want to let something trigger it. Instead she just kept quiet, smiling softly, as she focused on the faces of the people around her. She had no idea what to expect from this, and all she could do was wait and see.

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

[hr]

"Uwaaaah~! So is this le 'Space Tower'?! Très magnifique! What a magnificent piece of construction! It reminds me of La Tour Eiffel from back home~"

 

The tranquility of a Seattle morning was suddenly shattered by the sudden arrival of an obnoxious tourist from France, Madalena Vera. Dressed from head to toe in an eye-catching flower dress, complete with a gigantic hat that would really only be seen at British horse racing events, the girl drew quite a lot of attention to herself, and that's without even mentioning her loud behavior. Though she has traveled to a lot of places, a lot of sights, it was her first time stepping foot in the United States for anything longer than a short transit, and thus was taken aback by how... Huge everything is. Definitely a much different sight from the cramped streets of Paris, the vast expanse of vineyards in Bordeaux, and especially the classic architecture present at her childhood residence of Cordoba. As she gleefully strolled around the base, she took a moment to recall why exactly she came to Seattle.

 

Yes, it was two weeks ago. A mail containing a map to a 'Church' of sorts was delivered to the Vera residence, apparently a formal invitation of sorts for people like her, people with special powers, called 'Emoters' by most. Of course, she was perplexed at first. She knew she had unique powers for a while now, but never thought that there would be many others like her. Her ability to control living beings, <<Gold Experience>>, the perspective of meeting others like her ignited yet another flame of passion within her. After several days of packing, buying tickets, and convincing the family butler to leave her alone for this particular travel, she made it at last to Seattle. And of course, like every good tourist, completely forgot about her original purpose and went straight to Space Needle.

 

"Right, right. I mustn't get sidetracked and waste time visiting these tourist attractions..."

 

30 minutes or so after being dropped off at the Space Needle, Vera concluded her little trip. She pulled out her map, and using the ancient technique of printing directions from Google Maps, located exactly where the church is in relation to the Space Needle Complex. It's not a far walk, only about 2-3 kms, a trip that would take roughly 30 or so minutes if taken slowly, leaving plenty of time for Vera to sightsee and have detours along the way there, seeing as the ceremony wouldn't start for quite some time.

 

It seems that she won't be alone for this journey, however...

 

"Ah! E-excusez-moi..."

 

In typical fashion, Vera walked to her destination with her attention diverted to the tall buildings and bustling streets around her, instead of the pedestrian walkway directly in front of her, causing her to bump to a certain white-haired girl eating a hotdog. She wasn't walking particularly quickly at the time, so neither of them actually fell down, however it was enough to get the shorter girl to drop her condiments. Pausing for a few seconds to regain focus, she looked in front of her and saw a rather charming girl in front of her, looking a bit startled, along with a now-ruined piece of bread and sausage.

 

"Mademoiselle, are you okay?" Instinctively, she bent down and picked up the remnants of the hotdog. Not to get Mirelia to eat it again, but rather to keep the sidewalk clean. Littering is bad, after all. As she does so however, something odd piqued her interest... And that is the clear liquid seemingly dropping from the girl's panties. Vera's not an innocent kid, she knew exactly what that liquid is, and promptly blushed on the spot. It wouldn't be the first time she noticed something like that while talking to a woman. Like she does with most situations like this, Vera suddenly straightened herself up, cleared her throat, and recomposed.

 

"A-hem. I am truly sorry for having ruined the breakfast of a young maiden such as you. As a token of apology, I, Madalena Vera, will create a banquet of white lilies." Raising her left hand up to her hat, she flicked her fingers slightly, causing the flower petals decorating it to coalesce together and form a banquet of lilies, arranged neatly with her hat as the holder.

 

"Accept it, please. Miss...?" Vera extended the banquet to Mirelia, asking for her name as she does so.

 

[divider1]

[Astolfo]

[hr]
A petite, green-haired, feminine figure knelt in front of the white-haired girl, Mary, issuing out orders. However, unlike the four others also kneeling, this person seemed almost completely disinterested, idly rocking back and forth slightly while listening. Feeling Mary's hard gaze drill first into the top of his head, he vaguely wondered if she was upset about how feminine he looked. Looking upwards to meet her glance, not out of obligation, but out of the fact he'd probably be punished for being disrespectful - which would be such a pain, he nodded slightly. "[acronym="Sort of like 'okidoki'. Pronounced 'da da'."]Да Да[/acronym]," answering nonchalantly. Standing up and dusting off his clothes, which Yuri had specifically gotten treated one evening with a nanotechnology spray so that blood and other such substances wouldn't stain them, he meandered over to the exit lazily before shuffling out the door.

Wincing slightly as the bright sunlight hit his eyes, Yuri sat on the edge of podium that was outside, kicking his legs back and forth leisurely. "Ah, there's nothing to do... How dull..." His stomach growled loudly at that moment, reminding him that he had forgotten to eat his breakfast before leaving his house to meet the other Church members. Pulling out a picnic basket out of seemingly thin air, he opened it up, laying out a small, hand-made and stitched, red-white checkerboarded pattern picnic blanket. Pulling out a few loaves of still-warm bread, a small box with various fresh vegetables such as wet, juicy tomatoes, cucumbers, and the like, another box containing various slices of meat, and then a small pouch containing various cheeses and sauces, Yuri began to prepare a meal for himself carefully.

A few minutes later, Yuri had finished one of two sandwiches, the other in his hand. Organizing his picnic supplies again, he returned all the boxes and containers to the basket before making it apparently vanish into thin air again. Cradling the sandwich in his hand gently, Yuri inserted the long and firm mass deep into his mouth, his mouth bulging out slightly as he tried to take it all in his mouth. As the delicious meat came into contact with Yuri's tongue, he moaned slightly, the corners of his mouth twitching. "Aahn... mmh...~" The wet juices streamed down the inside of his throat, lubricating it as he ate slowly. Swallowing it all down when he was finished without gagging, his face had tinged a pinkish hue. Panting slightly as Yuri worked to regain his breath, he looked out across the podium and into the world in front of him, wondering if anyone would come. His momentary pleasure soon fading, as well as all his other emotions, as they usually did after a little while, Yuri sat down again, disinterestedly. Left only with Apathy, an invisible and intangible mist began to stream out of his body, coiling and writhing slightly as it wrapped around his body...

[hr]

[Merci]

“Even so, we have our duty to commence. Yuri, Casey, Kid, Ilya… and you as well, Seraphina." They had gathered in the altar area, and the time was almost upon them, and yet, contrary to their expectations, Mary's father hadn't shown himself. How annoying. “Today is the day that we shall show God’s children what we really are, our true power. We will show them the true path toward salvation. We will show them all their place in this world, and inspire them to take what they deserve. I will perform the needed ceremonies of this event, as is the job assigned to me. I will carry out the acts that Father has decreed, as each of you will as well.”

In front of the speaking woman knelt five individuals, and amongst them was a mere boy in a black outfit, being several years younger than everyone else. He might've seemed out of place if not for quiet, serious look in his eyes that couldn't have belonged to any normal child, showing that he was deep in thought. Really, he disliked having to kneel in such a fashion, and so close to the others as well, but it couldn't be helped. Lashing out towards humanity, retaliating against the norm, obtaining what they rightfully deserved - that was the reason why all these Emoters wished to join the Church of Salvation. Truly, they were the lowest of the low. The scum of the earth, yet he himself had joined of his own free will. The old him would've been horrified if he learned that he was willingly associating with such deviants.

“Kid, Ilya, you have no specific assigned task, but each of you be prepared to use your barriers along with Yuri’s to protect the groups. I cannot let us have any casualties today.”

Casualties. Naturally, there was quite a fair possibility for it, considering the rather unsubtle ceremony that the Church had proposed, not to mention what would happen if many Emoters were to be gathered in one place. There was no telling how many would appear or what would transpire as a result of it, but indeed, it would be their job to keep any resultant dangers to a minimum.
 
"Yeah, I'll go do that. But now I think I'll check on everything else first." Came a flat response from Ilya, and as the man glanced at him for a moment, the Kid shot back a cold, disgusted look, disliking being stared at. Amongst the others who were part of the Church, something about that man just reeked horribly. However, at least he was competent.

Apart from him, there was also Yuri, who had simply gotten up, dusted himself off, and walked out in a lazy fashion. The lack of will he had in terms of anything combined with the fact that he dressed like a girl made him detestable as well, but somehow, the Kid found that he also had appropriable qualities which could be determined by the well-kept nature of his clothes, as well as the various actions that he had taken during the short time they had been together. Still, rather than approve of him, the Kid was merely curious.
 
"The rest of you must feel so special now, getting to be part of the big plan for today." Another voice hissed. Seraphina. He felt that he and this person might be similar in some ways, but at the same time, she was so overly repulsive in every possible way, both with her attitude and her powers, that he wanted nothing to do with her.

It was a similar case for Casey, the shadow-user, whose fidgeting lack of composure was really annoying to watch, but at least she had her own uses, and she was aware enough of her surroundings that the Kid could approve of some of her aspects, annoying though her words may be. Then, there was their proxy leader and the first member of the Church, Mary. He didn't know enough of her to form a concrete opinion, but from what he could tell, her competence and skills were enough to override any of her less likeable parts, for now anyway.

Overall, whether he liked these people or not, the fact remained that being around them was uncomfortable. Even when the barrier around his own body was functioning, preventing any dirt, dust, or any other sort of impurities from attaching to him, just being in their presence was disgusting. Thus, as soon as he could, the Kid got up and distanced himself away from everyone else somewhat, before focusing on his feeling on Disgust, prepared to generate barriers when necessary.

"Exactly how many will appear... I wonder?" It was a mere afterthought, but he let it out anyway. Depending on the amount of people, it may end up being really troublesome.


[hr]


"I'm really here, huh. I made it... Mom's gonna kill me "

A blonde guy let out a deep breath whilst climbed out of a taxi, emerging out into the sunlight. The guy had a cute face, stood out from the rest of the crowd in a way due to all the piercings and slightly odd fashion choices, but didn't seem to care in the slightest about this, being too busy looking about the crowd of people in front. Not to mention that after having spent nearly all savings just to book a flight and get all the way here on time, the fact that it had actually succeeded was astounding.

Taylor had taken a huge risk had been taken just to see if this whole Church thing was legitimate, and if it didn't work, well, then there'd be nowhere else left to go, especially considering how he'd used up the last of his money to pay for that taxi. Without anywhere to eat or even stay, he would probably end up living on the streets for a bit before being deported, or worse. If this thing was just bogus, then that would really, really suck. His mother would probably be seriously pissed, and he might not even be allowed to go out of the house anymore due to all these crazy stunts.

"..." 
 
After being lost in thought for a while, Taylor shook his head. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't go back at this point. To him, this might be his one and only chance at something different. At a different life. As long as he was surrounded by her old life, he wouldn't get anywhere. In any case, was everyone here an Emoter? Or were most of the people here just curious to see what kind of ceremony this would be, whether Emoters really existed, and what sort of powers they had. Would they be afraid? Would they be amazed?

"Well then! May as well see who's around..." Nonchalantly, he let out a shrug, and wondered around the back of the crowd for a bit, before spotting a young girl with white hair, wearing nice clothing that stood out a little, keeping her distance away from the rest of the people. She looked excited, but also scared in a way.

"Yo, you look nervous~" Taylor walked up to her and greeted her with a smile. "Man, it sure is crowded here, huh? Can barely see a thing. I wonder how many people here are actual Emoters, and how many came just to watch the magic show... Well, anyway, I'm Sir Taylor Everest." He took off his hat, doing a little bow to her. "And how about you, cutie~?"

...

Oh, by the way, Taylor was actually a girl.

[Maeriberii Haan]

[hr]

 

Aaand, Mirelia bumped into someone as she was joyfully ravaging her hotdog. The surprise from the bump made her drop the bread, which was a real shame, but at the very least she still had eight more on the bag she's carrying. It's still really surprising however, and Mirelia immediately turned around to see who was the person that she had carelessly bumped into, only to notice a tall, beautiful, well-stacked lady with an even more impressively garish and fancy clothing, something that slightly confused Mirelia at first, since why would anyone wear something like that in public in the first place when there's no festivals around?

 

"Ah! E-excusez-moi..."

 

"Nu bine, it's alright."

 

Ah, she was a frenchwomen. Frenchwomen were wonderful, as Mirelia could attest to. She really enjoyed their company, and this one had that certain air of elegance around her, and at that point Mirelia was almost tempted to just ask her out on a date or something similar, but she decided that the foreign beauty was too noticeable for Mirelia to be comfortable about. Still, maybe some talk with her would be nice for now.

 

"Mademoiselle, are you okay?"

 

"Once again, I'm pretty fine, but thanks."

 

By then, she just realized that she was saying "I'm fine" in romanian instead of english, which explained why the woman asked about it again. Not a problem, of course. She was kind enough to pick up the hotdog scattered on the pavement, but just as Mirelia thought she was going to give it back to her (which she would reaaaaaaally appreciate), she instead threw it away to a trash bin. A bit disappointed, but Mirelia knew that it's really something that should be expected. The woman seemed to be really polite and pure, and Mirelia felt like playing with her would be something that could be very fun to do, but once again, she restrained herself from that. Though, when she looked at her face again, Mirelia realized that she was blushing profusely. Instinctively, she looked down on her legs, and realized the probable reason why the woman had that reaction. Mirelia sighed for a bit. Occasions like this had happened way too often already, and with her having not much control about the dripping liquid made by her power, she just usually pretend that she's having a bad bladder control or something similar, or try her best to just hide it. While she had been considering to use a sanitary napkin or diaper to handle the leaks to avoid awkward situations, she kind of preferred to have her basement to...well, be able to feel the breeze, so to be said. The woman might also blushed due to her noticing this certain fact about her, but it's not something important.

 

"A-hem. I am truly sorry for having ruined the breakfast of a young maiden such as you. As a token of apology, I, Madalena Vera, will create a banquet of white lilies."

 

"Ah, how kind of you~

 

Thank you very much!"

 

Now that she gave her those flowers, Mirelia realized that her clothing was themed after these white lilies, which would have a meaning of virtue and chastity....thooooooooough if her information was correct, some cultures used it as a symbol of female-female love. Mirelia tried her best not to giggle at this realization, but she took the lilies from the person immediately afterwards, since she liked these flowers, and it'd be rude to refuse it. But then, she realized that she actually had forgotten about something important.

 

"Accept it, please. Miss...?"

 

"Mirelia. Mirelia Albescu. Nice to meet you, Miss Vera, and once again, thank you very much for the flowers~

 

I'd like to talk more with you, but I'm afraid I need to go ahead and start shopping for something really important. Unless you wanted to come along with me, of course.

 

But if you don't, then sadly it's goodbye for us, for now." Mirelia said her goodbye to her, teasingly. It'd be fun to see how the woman would react anyway. With that being let out from her, she turned around without waiting her answer, then walked away, the bouquet still in her hand. 

 

"Now...I really need to buy some extra set of knives, some ingredients for poisons, some reusable syringes as backups...and I wonder if they sell elephant tranquilizers around here. Diprenorphine, wasn't it? I think I need some for when situations like this arise once more.

 

That'll make things far easier."

 

[hr]

[a bad post]

In a small, quaint looking cafe near where the Church's assembly was supposed to take place a young woman dressed in a rather foreign and frilly fashion was sipping coffee which seemed to be sweeten to almost the point it was all sugar and creme. This short green haired young girl seemed unconcerned with everything going on around her, completely absorbed in the novel she was reading. In truth the novel wasn't that interesting, and the girl was well aware of her surroundings. 

 

The petite Emoter was none other that Magdalena Agapi. Under normal circumstances the young woman's presence would have incited panic in all who saw her, though these were not normal circumstances, and Magdalena was not a normal girl. Each and every occupant of the little cafe was under her thrall, she'd made sure to that a soon as she'd come in. 

 

Except they weren't the only ones. No, today was special and so Magdalena had gathered an army, or at least what she considered an army, for today was the day she met others just like her. Emoters as they were called, and Magdalena would make sure that she reigned as the supreme. Many of those out on the normal humans out walking the streets were under Magdalena's spell as well, and if one payed particular attention they might notice familiar faces amongst the passing people, as Magdalena had made sure that her slaves stayed close. She'd made sure to allow herself to be cornered by some of the what the Americans "Special Forces" so she could use them for just this kind of thing. Those military type slaves were so hard to come by, and she was always sore to get rid of them.

 

The idea that any could stand above her was a ludicrous idea, and she almost giggled at the thought. A disturbed smile cracked across Magdalena's innocent face as she thought of what she would do to any who claimed themselves to be her superior, or even equal. She looked up from her novel then, glancing across the street where a green haired girl sat on the podium where the Church would be giving their speech. All the preparations were made, and Magdalena was quite excited for the day's festivities to commence. 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Continuing to scan the crowd, Louise started getting worried. What were all these people here for anyway? What did they expect? With a crowd such as this there could easily be issues. And if her powers happened to manifest here...No, she couldn’t even consider the possibility. Lest her fear turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

 

"Yo, you look nervous~"

Hmm? Louise turned to the voice. It belonged to a young man. A quite handsome one if Louise was being perfectly honest. And she had seen plenty of handsome men, and beautiful women, while helping her parents to entertain guests and the like.
Had she seemed nervous? She would have to work on that. At home, even when speaking to new people, it was easy to appear calm and composed. With all these strangers around, and all this excitement, it was much more difficult.

 

"Man, it sure is crowded here, huh? Can barely see a thing. I wonder how many people here are actual Emoters, and how many came just to watch the magic show... Well, anyway, I'm Sir Taylor Everest. And how about you, cutie~?"

His tone would imply he was an Emoter as well. Louise was briefly taken aback by how open he was about it but then remembered what she learned; not every Emoter resented it as she did.
The young man was very obviously flirting with her. She hadn’t had much experience with that before. But she had enough from the children of her parent’s guests, and sometimes the guests themselves, that she could manage not to get overly flustered.

 

Nonetheless a light blush crept onto her face as she replied. “It’s very nice to meet you. Yes, there’s quite a few people here and I must admit I wonder the same. Of course, it’s understandable, this kind of event is very rare if I recall.”
Her gaze briefly left the young man to examine the crowd again; before remembering herself again and turning back. “Ah, my apologies.” She gave a short curtsey before saying, “My name is Louise, Louise Tueber. How do you do?” At the last sentence she gave Taylor a small, but sweet, smile. She was glad to have found such a nice person. It would make this much easier on her if there was at least an acquaintance she could talk to.

[Sethera]

A young black-haired man--boy really, one on the cusp of adulthood--stepped off from the Metro Transit bus. It was one of the cheaper city buses. Not that he didn't have the money for a more expensive one, rather, he felt no need to bathe in luxury as some were wont to do.

 

He had lived in Seattle all his life, and had heard whispers about a "church" of some sorts. One on the other side of the city, but still accessible. It was supposed to be a safe haven for "Emoters," of which he apparently was one. Emoters. It just seemed so...strange, that a single word could encompass so much. He had learned of their existence from his brother, but had not expected there to be a gathering place within the very same city he lived in. Now he would be able to meet even more monsters.

 

No... He shook his head. Miss Johnson said I'm not a monster... But still, the way the church said it, what he had was a "gift," not a "curse" as he had always called it. A gift...should I consider it a gift that through this, I've lost any hope at a normal relationship with my family, that my mother is permanently disfigured now? He still winced whenever he saw her face, misshapen and raw, like a slab of meat, on one side. Who are they kidding? What right do they have to--?!

 

Too far. He took in a deep breath, calling to mind the soothing tones of Miss Johnson, and took out a pair of headphones. He preferred them over earbuds. Headphones were larger, and more importantly, gave off a heavier "do not disturb" vibe. Plus, they were comfortable. While normally a frugal spender, the boy had splurged and bought one of the highest-quality headphones he could find, after his old pair had died. Bose QuietComfort 25, the best for noise-cancelling.

 

The calming notes of "Pure Shores" washed over him, and the boy hummed along in perfect pitch, drawing a few looks from others. After all, "Pure Shores" was sung by girls, and he was a boy, even if his face looked androgynous. His lanky build and obvious lack of bust, however, denoted his belonging to the male side of the spectrum. Still, it wasn't often one heard somebody hum along to a song and not be off-key.

 

The black-haired boy passed quite a few people on his way to the church. It wasn't very far from the bus stop, but the streets were busier than usual today. Perhaps because of the announcement on the church website. Either way, he was uncomfortable. Still, he forced his shoulders not to hunch. Hunched shoulders drew attention just as much as a confident swagger did. No, the best way to walk was at a rolling gait, steady but unhurried, a clear destination in mind. People were less likely to take note of you that way. Therefore, you blended in.

 

Blending. The thought was harsh, biting. Most people only have to put in so much effort to do so, but I have to put in more than twice the effort. It's stupid, despicable, and unfair!

 

Sometimes he wished he could just be himself, without having to hide behind a calm facade. But no, his brother had laid it out clearly enough. Depending on the volatility and ability of the Emoter, the government was either quick or slow to act in shuttling the Emoter off to a mental institution. "And Noah," his brother, Samuel, had stated, "You would be one of their red flags. Your triggering emotion is bad enough, but the abilities associated with it..." he had shaken his head. "No, I'd rather you not draw their attention. There's one person in particular I'd rather not have you go near." The very mention of that person had caused the brunette to cringe.

 

Samuel was older than him by many years, Noah being an unexpected child. For that reason, instead of the rivalry most siblings experienced, he had been more of a friendly role model, loving and perfect in so many ways. I should count my blessings, Noah thought, to not only have one, but two great people in my life. It was another thing people had recommended he do when the familiar red haze started to descend over his eyes. Count his blessings. But that hadn't worked, only served to remind him how much bigger the other list was. No, music was the only way he could keep his cool.

 

Speaking of music, the song had changed. Now Barcelona was singing in his ears. Noah loved this band especially, as it came from Seattle, so it felt "local" like most of the other bands out there didn't. Distracted by his music, he walked right by a hotdog stand that he had eaten from a few times when he had been in the area before. Eventually, he reached the church, or rather, the large gathering in front of it. Stopping at the edge, the black-haired boy tried to use his average height to peer over the multitude of heads for any sign of life from the building, but gave up and decided to just follow the others' cues, leaning against a nearby oak. At least, with his headphones on, there was little chance of a meltdown, and that was what was important.

 

Still, he thought, I wonder what the church will have to say. He had already heard a little bit of their message, but apparently today would be a full unveiling.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

As he walked towards the direction of the church, Malaki Craft stared one more time at a piece of paper that he had crumpled up into a ball. This ball of paper was supposed to be one of the many invitations to the church's special events, which had specifically been to sent to this new term that they called Emoters... which was given to people just like himself and his older sister Angela. To be honest, Malaki didn't know why they even bothered. It wasn't like people the two deserved a safe haven or anything. Truth be told, humanity would probably be safer if people like Malaki and Angela were all executed in one foul swoop. Perhaps that was what the church was planning all along; Malaki didn't know. What he did know was that he was supposed to meet Angela at the entrance somewhere, and that's where he was headed. With a heavy sigh, Malaki tossed the ball of paper away from himself and continued along his lonesome way.

 

...

 

Meanwhile, Angela Craft had observed the crowd that had gathered from a distance. She saw a whole bunch of people, including a well endowed, extravagantly dressed woman talking to a petite woman in a black dress, and someone who looked to be male talking to a young teenager. The entire crowd couldn't all be these new things called Emoters; Angela had to assumed that the vast majority were either just the regular church-goers, or friends of those regular church-goers who'd come especially for the sake of this solitary event. Still, she didn't like the fact that it had gotten so massive all a sudden; she knew that Malaki was uneasy around crowds half this size. Speaking of... eventually, Malaki had made it to the meeting place, keeping his head down as he approached Angela.

 

"Some crowd, aye?" Angela asked nonchalantly, "Didn't expect this many myself, actually."

 

"Yeah... some crowd, alright..." said a depressed Malaki, before he looked Angela straight in the eyes, "So why did you drag me all this way?"

 

Angela paused and sank her head low, at first unsure as to how to respond. But eventually she spoke up.

 

"Y'know, I always thought that we were alone in this world; as the only two people who could possibly have our own specialized powers. But now that we've come to America, I began to realize otherwise," with that said, she turned to her brother, "Wouldn't you like to meet them too? People like us?"

 

"Even if we aren't the only god-damned freaks in this world, I don't wanna know who else is," Malaki said flatly, "Let's just go..."

 

He then turned to leave... only to feel a firm grip on his shoulder. Malaki learnt a long time ago not to resist this grip, as it was futile to do so back in the Craft siblings' younger years. Beside, even if he could, he'd immediately feel bad for making Angela fall flat on her face in public. Nonetheless, Malaki remained at great unease, and not just because of the crowd either. Something else was going on behind the scenes... and he didn't like it at all.

[Kazooie]

Casey paced around the inside of the church's main room, shaking her head as the crowd outside grew in size. She sighed as she glanced towards the ceiling, her shadow circling around her in a spiral shaped pattern as she bit at her fingernails. "All those people, something is going to go so, so wrong here..."

 

She gripped to her staff tighter as she paced around, her hand rubbing her forehead as she sat down on a pew. She took a deep breath as she shook lightly, her shadow expanding around her and surrounding her as she sat still. 

 

"Can't trust the church members, none of them are even slightly trustworthy... They'll stab you in the back as soon as you're done being useful... Can't trust regular civilians, as soon as they learn you're an Emoter they turn you over to mental wards... I guess the lesser of two evils is being killed, as opposed to being trapped...

 

[hr]

 

Devon snuck around the hot dog stand and followed the girl who had just bought a bag of hot dogs from it. He rarely saw anyone purchase that many from it, and the sight of someone seeming to actually enjoy the hot dog from it confused him more than his face let on. He had never seen someone seem to enjoy the hot dog as much as this particular girl, at least as much as she did until she bumped into another woman and drop the hot dog. The smile from her face fell almost quickly as the bread from her hot dog did.

 

"As a token of apology, I, Madalena Vera, will create a banquet of white lilies." 

 

"Eh? She said her name! Names I can do!"

 

"Mirelia. Mirelia Albescu."

 

"Oh another name! Match the face, don't forget it, never know when you might run into this person!~"

 

Devon smiled to himself as he stored the names in his memory, taking note of them and turning around to prance off, giggling slightly to himself as he continued down the street, took a few turns at random intervals, walked in a couple circles, and finally arrived at a... Building with a large crowd. "Huh...? There's a thing here, I should see what this is about maybe..."

 

Devon walked behind the large crowd, noticing a flash of yellow on a small figure standing out among the crowd. He walked up beside the figure and tapped their shoulder, glancing around quickly. "H-hey, uh... What's all this? Kinda lost, not sure what's up here... Wondered if you knew anything else!"

[Merci]

"Louise, eh? That's a pretty cute name. French in origin, I think it means something like uh, 'renowned warrior', was it? In any case, I'd say it suits you pretty well~" Taylor complimented her more, seeing that she was getting embarrassed by his words.
 
He'd read a lot about different kinds of names and their meanings in the past. Even now, all sorts of useless information like that tended to get stuck in his head. It seemed that his head had a habit of memorizing all the least useful things in life - even the things that he would be much better off forgetting.
 
The fact that those suppressed feelings happened to end up providing some use in the long run didn't really help so much. How ironic was it that his supernatural powers happened to be connected to the things that he'd been running from all his life? Why couldn't it be something cool like Imagination, Fire, Determination, or Joy, or whatever? Well, he wasn't about to complain anytime soon, since obtaining powers at all was better than living the static, purposeless life she had led all this time. Even if the rest of society alienated him, maybe, just maybe he'd be able to find a new purpose with this place calling itself the Church of Salvation.
 
"As for how I am, I'm doing pretty fine. I think. Apart from the fact that I spent what little I had just to get here, that is, wahahaha~!" At that, he let out a small, slightly girly laugh. If this thing turned out to be just a large, sick joke or something, chances were that he'd be stuck in Seattle for quite some time and be in a rather desperate situation. "You know, Lou - can I call you that? - you might not be able to get it if you're a normal person, but being an Emoter is actually pretty tough. One would think the world would see us as superheroes, but... I guess that's just how it is, eh."

Shaking away the thought, he looked at the girl brightly. "Anyway, more importantly, where did you get that hat~?"

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

"Mirelia. Mirelia Albescu. Nice to meet you, Miss Vera, and once again, thank you very much for the flowers~

 

I'd like to talk more with you, but I'm afraid I need to go ahead and start shopping for something really important. Unless you wanted to come along with me, of course.

 

The nice lady's response is rather satisfactory for Vera. Even though it would honestly be far nicer if the two were just to stay there and chat. After all, this 'Mirelia' girl is undoubtedly rather attractive, and if the liquid down there is any indication, she is "interested' in Vera, to put it in mild terms. Feeling rather dejected, Vera sighed and smiled as she shrugged, and by the time she reopened them, Mirelia is already several meters away from her, perhaps walking off to her destination. Deciding it'd be best for her to keep a distance for now, she tipped off her non-existent hat and let Mirelia be on her away.

 

"Au revoir, Mirelia. But I don't think I'm gonna let you out of my life that easily..." Vera's not the type to quickly forget about her encounters, especially those she finds interesting enough. Even though Mirelia walked away form their conversation, she has other plans for her. Plans that would ensure the white-haired girl comes back to her, plans that were in the end completely redundant because they're both Emoters and they're both headed to the same place eventually. But she didn't know that at the time, and thus used her powers to take advantage of the first pigeon that landed near her.

 

"Ah, perfect~ Hey hey, could you do something for me, por favor?"

 

...

 

"Now, I suppose it is time for me to enjoy the local delights of America myself." Using her power over small animals, persuading the Pigeon to do a relatively simple task such as following around Mirelia didn't take much time nor effort, and when she left Vera's line of sight, the pigeon is already airborne again, silently tracking her. As for the Frenchwoman herself, she took it upon herself to try out some "bratwurst sandwich", exactly like the one Mirelia had before she threw it in the bin, or otherwise known as "Hotdog."

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"Louise, eh? That's a pretty cute name. French in origin, I think it means something like uh, 'renowned warrior', was it? In any case, I'd say it suits you pretty well~"

Louise smiled back at the man. The compliment was nice; though it isn’t like her name had anything to do with her. Her parents had chosen it. Named her after her great-grandmother. Still, there was a warmth, physical and otherwise, that spread through her at the kind words.

Though there was something bothering Louise. The man had a strange look during all this. It wasn’t obvious; but that just made her notice it all the more. As it was being clearly hidden. It told her two things.
There was something inside him that was injured.
And he very much didn’t want anyone to know.
Louise could understand this. She herself took effort to hide the panic at all times. And so she decided she would politely ignore this oddity.

 

"As for how I am, I'm doing pretty fine. I think. Apart from the fact that I spent what little I had just to get here, that is, wahahaha~! You know, Lou - can I call you that? - you might not be able to get it if you're a normal person, but being an Emoter is actually pretty tough. One would think the world would see us as superheroes, but... I guess that's just how it is, eh."
Lou? That’s a new one. Most of the friends she had before...then, would call her Lulu, and this was close. It was a strange feeling.

“Ah, well, if you’d like you can call me that.” Louise tried to keep the awkwardness out of her tone but didn’t quite succeed. She decided to nod at the middle part of his ramblings but keep silent. She wasn’t sure how she should respond. She realized that she never actually mentioned that she was an Emoter. It would be rude to bring that up this late however. Instead she focused on his other question.

"Anyway, more importantly, where did you get that hat~?"

“Oh, this? My father gave it to me.” She gently touched the hat on her hand and her polite smile turned more genuine for a brief moment. “I am glad you like it. That is, I assume you do if you’re inquiring about it.” She said, wondering what her next course of action should be. “Do you have any idea what it is we’re supposed to be waiting for?”

[Maeriberii Haan]

[hr]

 

Ilya's solitude was disturbed by the presence of the other Emoters that had been flooding the place since god know when. He hated crowds, of course, and he disliked anytime he's forced to be in crowds like this by the church. But if it means that he could continue living normally as he usually would, then...everything should be fine.

 

After making completely sure that the potted plants outside of the church was in a perfect position, Ilya moved on to go to his own assigned position to see the ceremony unfold. Despite the feeling that immediately flooded him as he did so, he silently approached the Kid's position, and waited there with him.

 

It would just take an hour at most, and he could then return to his house....

 

[divider1]

 

"Ah, so no elephant tranquilizer here, huh? Oh well...thanks for these, anyway~!" Mirelia said to the clerk of the store, a young woman in her mid 20s, with a clear foreign accent and poor pronunciation, something the woman didn't really like, but hearing the pure gratitude in the end still give her a smile, at least enough distraction for the woman before she asked about why would Mirelia needed all of the stuffs she bought.

 

The syringes and the materials for the point for now stayed in her suitcase. She put the knives in a small bag of sort that's placed on her waist, to make it easier for her to draw them when necessary, while putting the rest in other positions on her that she could easily access. She bought around 3 sets of 8 knives total, though she didn't have the time to actually cover them with her usual cocktail of poison, the materials which she had bought from the store just earlier. Mirelia made a mental note to immediately do this as soon as she could be bothered to, which means after the meeting at this supposed Church. She was getting delighted with the thought of what kind of people she would meet during the ceremony-thing on the Church, and what she could do together with them. To control her own thoughts that was starting to get more and more obscene as she walked, Mirelia focused her mind on the hotdogs that she was currently eating. To put it simply, while she could admit it's not the best one she had, and even if she could admit that it's not exactly -that- good, she still delighted in it, enjoying every single bite she made on the bread.

 

When she arrived on the church, her bag of hot dog had been completely emptied, she decided to rest a bit on a nearby branch while she hummed a small song as she waited for the crowd entering the church to disperse enough so she could enter it more easily. Though...a persistent presence had been bothering her for quite a bit, and without wasting any time, Mirelia took a knive from herself and threw it at the object that kept on following her. It was apparently a pigeon, and her knive pierced through its body, and the pigeon fell down lifeless on the side of the road not long after. Thankfully no one saw her doing so, or she could get some unnecessary attentions.

 

"Well...it's just a pigeon, huh? I guess I should stop being this paranoid sometimes, but having been in this business for long, it kinda hard not to.

 

Geez..."

 

Sighing at that thought, Mirelia decided to shift her attention to the crowd entering the Church instead. She decided to focus her sight on a really young-looking little girl, couldn't be more than 11 years old if what she saw was right, wearing a cute raincoat. Mirelia muttered something to the effect of "too young" as she watched the girl, but she did admit that something about the girl intrigued her. Thus, Mirelia made another mental note to actually try meeting up with this girl personally sooner or later.

 

At the very least, she did look like she would be a nice guide to this place, and she looked like the type of someone that would be fun to talk with.

 

[hr]

[Merci]

Taylor simply nodded when she said that it came from her father. In that case, Louise probably wouldn't know where to buy another one, and well, it might not even be on sale anymore. Well, even he could tell that it definitely meant quite a lot to her.

“Do you have any idea what it is we’re supposed to be waiting for?”

"Hmm, well, there's gonna be some kind of ceremony for us Emoters, right? Something to 'welcome us' and all that, make us know that this thing is genuine. I don't really get it, but I figure it's going to be some magic show done by the members here..."

Just as he was talking, a purple-haired woman appeared to come out from the massive doors of the Church, with a suit, eyepatch, and unique earrings that made her very distinctive, even amongst the crowd that was filled with people from all sorts of countries. She had a bright smile on her face, which appeared just the slightest bit more forced than it ought to be. "Welcome, Emoters. Please, come in; we're just about to begin." Then, leading everyone inwards, the massive crowd started to rush inwards with Taylor following from the back, and Louise presumably following from behind.

Upon entering, everyone was met with the dazzling white architecture of the Church of Salvation's interior, with stained glass depicting various events lining the walls, stunning chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, plus balconies. It gave off a holy impression, and at the same time, made it feel as though this building had been cut off from the negativity of the outside world. There was so much room that even though the gathered crowd was massive, there was still more than enough space to move about in this godly sanctuary. It was then that the woman displayed her powers, saying "I'll have you visitors stop here." before going on to trace a line with her finger-turned-claw on the floor. Was she some sort of shapeshifter? To many of the people here, though it was incredibly subtle, it was probably they first time they'd seen supernatural powers.

There really were other Emoters here, and with that thought, Taylor couldn't help but get a little excited to see what came next. The ceremony hadn't even begun yet, so who knew what would happen once they begun? Near the altar at the end of the large room stood two individuals. One, a middle-aged man who he barely recognized as some sort of politician here in America - was he there to help them attain rights or something? And the other one, next to him, stood a pale woman with white hair and a black dress, which when put together with the cold look on her face made her look like some sort of ghost. Hesitant, even fearful murmurs were spreading throughout the crowds, and who could blame them?

Something about her, the way she was acting, the way she moved, made this whole event seem ominous. Just by looking at her, and the way the man next to her seemed to be afraid of something, for some reason, he had a feeling that there was something off about the atmosphere. Even though there was plenty of excitement in the air, it was dampened by a mysterious, unknown dread, as though something horrible were about to happen.

...then, the ghostlike woman conjured up a strange contraction in front of everyone, visible for all to see.

It was so oldfashioned that the very sight of it seemed ridiculous, unbelievable, but he knew enough about Emoters that something like that, the giant GUILLOTINE with a sharpened blade at the top, couldn't be anything but real. In tandem with its appearance, metal bindings appeared around the man and thrust him onto it, his neck lined up against the blade.

What was this? It had to be fake. This was a joke, wasn't it? Or if not, then maybe this was a dream. Maybe everything he'd undergone over the past few days to get here was nothing but an unusually long dream, and he was still back at home, sleeping peacefully. There was no way something like this could be happening after all. This couldn't be... This couldn't possibly be real! Just like that, any excitement he'd had for this event vanished into thin air, replaced with an icy dread. The very sight of it was so sudden that his body had been frozen in place, refusing to move. The rest of the people present must've been feeling the same, because as soon as the guillotine had appeared, a mass, eerie silence had fallen onto the Church, barely anyone capable of making a sound at all. Maybe they were all feeling the same way he was - wanting to do something, but too afraid to do it.

"These gifts from God that have been bestowed upon us..."

The woman started to speak loudly, breaking the silence as her voice echoed throughout the church. Her cold tone showed quite clearly that she wasn't interested in wasting any time here, and wanted to get it over with.

"...are meant to move mankind forward."

There was no point for any silly, dramatic speeches, since this ceremony had been an execution all along. One with a very clearly-defined purpose.

"The government, fearful of our gifts,"

It wasn't hard to grasp what her point was. The world always seemed so focused on oppressing them due to their unnatural traits, and the so-called 'aid' offered by the government was nothing more than a facade, intended to study them, dissect them, lock them away so they never hurt anyone, or other things like that. He'd done a hell load of research on that matter. But still, even then, That was a man. A human being, just like everyone else here. Didn't they have hearts? Didn't they have reason? Even if Emoters were oppressed, did that really justify murder...?!

"are guilty of putting us in mental homes,"

The man, even though he'd been clearly trying his best to remain brave, ultimately broke down due to his impending hopeless fate, his expression slowly twisting into absolute terror, and as if in defiance of his fate, he started to squirm, struggling against his bonds, attempting to twist his neck to get out of the blade's way or tear off the shackles from the contraption.

"draining our emotions,"

His face had become contorted as if trying to scream out for help towards the crowd, though the metal binding around his mouth prevented him from actually doing so. His eyes were expanding in panic, pleading to them. To save him. To do something. To do ANYTHING.

"and robbing us of these divine gifts."

And yet, none of them moved. Out of fear or out of anticipation, the crowd remained silent, unable to do anything but watch. If anyone made any movement, then there was the possibility that they would be next. They must've all understood that simple fact.

It would almost assuredly happen, and the life of a man would be lost to this world forever. Did he have a family to call his own? A spouse, children? What would they think when he failed to return, never able to go home again? And how about his close friends? Each and every one of them would be left with a void of despair, longing for him to return when he never again would be able to do so. That was unacceptable, but even whilst knowing this, he couldn't bring himself to move.

Stop.

Stop stop stop.

Stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop!!!

"We of the church..."
 
...
 
........
 
................
 

CHOMP

"...shall have none of it."

Just like that, the blade fell from the top to the bottom, severing off the man's head with a cracking sound, and it hit the floor dully, rolling off the altar platform like it was just some ordinary object, its eyes opened wide in terrible fright. A fountain of blood spurred out from the neck, and the body convulsed for a few moments as the nerves fired up before ultimately ceasing to move altogether. It was over. He was dead. Dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead.

Needless to say, the crowd was stunned. There were people who let out deafening shrieks and screams, chilling the air immensely, and all the people around Taylor had fell into a panic, many of them no doubt intending to rush straight towards the exit. However, in the presence of these supernatural entites, who were very much willing to murder them without complaint, the ordinary humans amongst them must've understood that it would be far too reckless, and so they remained unmoving, unsure of what to do, terrified for their own lives.

"We of the Church of Salvation invite all the gifted to step forward. Join us, and take your rightful place."

The look on that woman's face hadn't changed one bit, even after having committed the foul act of murder. Rather, she seemed used to it. Just what the hell was going on in her mind?! And who the hell would want to join up with her?!

He hadn't wanted this, any of this to happen - and he focused intensely on that feeling, imagining the man who would never return to them again. Wishing for things that would never be. In response to these feelings, chains materialized around him, wrapping around his arms like they were makeshift armour, with more chains floating around his body in preparation for some kind of all-out battle. Even though he was panicking deep down inside, a part of him remained rational, thinking things through logically. If he burst out towards the ones responsible, he would only end up losing his own life without saving anyone else. He didn't even know how many Emoters were in this Church, how many of them would be on his side, and how many would heed the words of that sociopathic woman instead?

"Lou, I'm sure I don't need to say this but..." He addressed the girl next to him shakily. Under such a situation, there was no way he could've controlled his intonations properly, so he must've sounded quite girly to her too. That was unimportant. "...Don't move. Not yet."


[hr]


"Hah... Haha."

The young boy let out a dry, uncharacteristic chuckle when the politician's head had hit the ground. The very sight of it was extremely disgusting, and the way that blood got everywhere was itself messy as well, such that he felt like taking some eyedrops to cleanse himself from something so gruesome. Couldn't Mary have done it at least a little cleaner, considering that they had ample time to prepare and everything? But at the same time, he couldn't help but find it amusing. With a public execution like this, there truly was no going back anymore. The monotonous life of normal humans had been abandoned, and from this point onwards, he would have to discover his own path to a stainless world, as was his own choice. As members of the Church of Salvation, it was their duty to bring justice for all Emoters in the world, no matter how lost they were - well, it wasn't as if they could get any more messed up than the members already here.

The only thing he really had to complain about was that there were more people in this room than he'd been expecting, and their mass unhygienic breathing was polluting the air he'd strived so hard to keep freshened. It didn't help when they reacted negatively, panicking and letting out their saliva like children, instead of handling things like rational adults. It was really quite annoying. Of course, it wasn't as though any of them would be able to get out their phones and call anyone so long as they were inside this building, since the presence of his magnetic field alone was enough to interfere with signals. In a way, they were all quite like cockroaches, and he honestly found it hard to distinguish one from the other when they all had the same repulsive behaviour. Having set the rules for what it meant to be 'normal' yet not abiding by it themselves, being irrational from birth to the present time, they had only themselves to blame for this situation.

Tapping into his Disgust, the aura his body was projecting expanded out somewhat, subtly repulsing away anything that happened to be near him, and white geometric blocks materialized around him in preparation for what may very well turn out to be a messy, bothersome event. Hopefully, those who opposed them would just go ahead and die cleanly, so that this matter could resolve itself.
 
"Do not mess up, Mr. Palahniuk." The Kid said calmly, addressing the man next to him, as he kept his eyes on the crowd, looking out for the Emoters in particular.

One had already shown his powers by taking out chains, seemingly in protest, and there were a few others who looked like they might have powers, but it remained to be seen what the others were capable of, and which side they would choose. He and Ilya had been assigned to maintain the defensive, while their primary offence would be Casey, presumably with Seraphina helping out. And as for Yuri, his mist would function as invaluable support for them. He had to admit, it was quite the stable combat structure with little room for error.

Now, it was only a matter of time before the chaos truly began.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"Hmm, well, there's gonna be some kind of ceremony for us Emoters, right? Something to 'welcome us' and all that, make us know that this thing is genuine. I don't really get it, but I figure it's going to be some magic show done by the members here..."

 

That made sense. A ceremony. People loved to do ceremonies. Humans, even Emoters, all tended towards organized events such as this as a way to cope with the otherwise chaotic world. And the man's words proved true as the doors opened and they were let in. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that. However it didn't advance. Didn't follow her into the church. As if it truly were a demon and couldn't enter the holy sanctuary. She knew that was silly to think but it calmed her.

She was able to fully take in the scene. It was a beautiful building that was for sure. Churches were always beautiful and soothing. Though something was wrong. The people greeting them. Something about them. Something about their expressions and posture. Maybe she was overreacting. Perhaps her earlier encounter was still affecting her in some way. She tried to calm herself by taking several deep breaths. And soon she was able to focus on the woman's words.

And they were worse than she could have imagined. Gifts from God? No one could see her powers and believe they were godly in any way.

Of course people would be fearful, that was only natural. It was up to them to prove themselves worthy of not being feared. This was all so wrong.

 

Her eyes locked with the man the woman was preparing to execute. She recognized him. He had come over to her house several times. He always gave her candy whenever they talked. Even after she grew older, a soothing and familiar ritual. His eyes were pleading, he was desperate for help. But...but what could she do? Panic gripped her heart and her knees grew weak. She couldn't do anything. It was too much. The woman's expression, her words, the entire room was filled with fear and Louise felt herself slipping.

 

She barely even registered when the man met his end. What she did register was the immediate reactions. Panic, fear, some instances of dark joy from the act. She could see all of it on the faces of the normal humans and Emoters alike.

Her companion said...something. But she didn't hear. It was all gibberish to her. She collapsed to her knees, wide-eyed. No, no no no. What was she going to do? Was she to die here? They all were going to die. The weight of the situation pressed upon Louise, crushing her. Her vision swam as she looked around.

There.

And there.

Horrible monsters were already forming in the crowd. Greyish skin. Long arms ending in wicked claws. Disturbingly featureless faces. Emaciated skin. They shouldn't be able to exist in this world. And yet there they were. Two, three, six of them. Drawn to her fear like moths to a flame. If the church-people didn't kill them all, these creatures surely would. There was nothing left to do. Nothing but give into the fear.

Today they all would die.

[Sethera]

"Let us be lovers, we'll marry our fortunes together."

 

Noah glanced around at the crowd. He felt...pressed in. Unconsciously, the boy started to sweat in his clothes. Although Seattle was normally cool and rainy even in summertime, the amount of people within the building had cranked the temperature up enough that he had been forced to take off his outer clothes, which he usually wore as an extra layer of protection between himself and others. Grimacing at the sweat causing his thick black hair to stick to the back of his neck, the boy hunched in on himself. He hated crowds. Crowds meant more people that could die or get seriously injured if he lost control.

 

"I've come to look for America."

 

The boy shifted his feet, glancing at the altar multiple times before looking away swiftly, nervous to be caught staring. A young girl with fine white hair like spider silk stood next to a familiar-looking man. Noah swallowed, hazel eyes widening. That man was...he knew him. Because of his brother, the boy knew quite a bit about the politicians of the United States. Why was he here? And with that girl? She creeped him out, with her Victorian-style black dress and black-rimmed red eyes. Like a black widow about to strike.

 

When she formed a guillotine and metal bindings out of thin air, Noah knew she was like him. A fellow Emoter. A monster.

 

"She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy."

 

Soon after, the girl started speaking, tone cold and clipped. "These gifts from God that have been bestowed upon us are meant to move mankind forward.  The government - fearful of our gifts - are guilty of putting us in mental homes, draining our emotions and robbing us of these divine gifts.  We of the church..." What happened next caused Noah to recoil in fear and disgust before the familiar burn in his stomach took over. "...shall have none of it.  We of the Church of Salvation invite all the gifted to step forward.  Join us, and take your rightful place."

 

Guilty. She had emphasized that word, as if that was reasoning enough. But if that was so, then what was Noah? He was guilty of numerous deeds done in the throes of anger, not least of which comprised of scarring his mother for life. What about her? Hadn't she done things she wasn't proud of? And killing, that was going too far. She was guilty of killing a man. A familiar flame coiled in his stomach, causing the boy's face to blanch. No. No, he couldn't lose control. Not here. Not in this crowd. Despite himself, his eyes glanced forward once again.

 

Noah had seen a dead body before. He had gone to his grandpa's funeral. The man had died of a heart attack, and had looked peaceful, hands crossed over his chest, eyes closed as if he were asleep. But now he'd seen another dead body, and it couldn't be any more different. This man, this human being, not only lay in two pieces instead of one, but he didn't look peaceful at all. His eyes were wide open, still-drying tears glistening in the sunlight. His limbs were rubbed red and raw from his struggles against the bindings that still trapped him in place. No, he had not gone gently into that good night.

 

"Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat."

 

This was a travesty. A crime against humanity. What kind of person could kill with so little compunction, so little of the guilt that she mentioned? What a filthy hypocrite, he thought. Noah clenched his fists, welcoming the pain as his nails dug into the skin. Pain was good, pain was grounding. He would not lost control.

 

And then the monsters appeared.

 

It's fitting, he thought grimly, That there should be both real monsters, and monsters in human skin at this place. Noah's family was religious, Christian, and their values had passed on to him. This isn't a church at all. This is a nightmare. Instead of angels, we have monsters. Instead of demons, we have Emoters. A place like this... the thought slipped into his head before he could stop it, ...deserves to burn.

 

"And the moon rose over an open field."

 

One monster had already lunged for him. Perhaps he looked like an easy meal, with his gangling physique and hunched posture. The boy dived to the side, knocking into another person while at it. Instead of fear though, he only felt a mounting anger. How dare this pathetic being attack him? He had not done anything to it, and yet it had attacked him. Why? He thought. Why, why why why?! Why did he come here, why had he hoped for normalcy, why had his fellow Emoters had to prove his innermost thoughts--that they were nothing more than monsters. Why had they killed a man, why had they summoned monsters, why?!

 

"'Kathy, I'm lost,' I said, though I know she was sleeping."

 

Tears pricked at his eyes, and the boy wiped them away hastily. Not good. Grief had a nasty tendency of turning into hurt-fueled rage. Through blurring eyesight, he saw the monster that had attacked him, turn its gruesome, emaciated head to a woman with a rounded belly. Pregnant, looks to be near the final stages. Before he could blink, the monster had slashed open her stomach, its rounded form a perfect target for its claws.

 

No. No no nononono NO!

 

She was bleeding fast, too much blood, far too much blood. She wouldn't survive, he knew with a sickening certainty. Nor would her child. Noah let out a garbled cry of despair and rage, raging against this false church, against the unfairness of the loss of life, against this cruel and ugly world. And with a start, he knew he was lost.

 

"'I'm empty and aching and I don't know why.'"

 

The pain, the sadness, the guilt, the despair, all of it fueled the ever-burning rage in his chest. It had moved up from his stomach, rising like heat, until there was nothing left but that one emotion. Everything was red and yellow, blurred and sharp. Flames danced at the edges of his vision, but it wasn't enough. They would pay for what they did. They would all pay. The world would pay. Everything would pay.

 

And while the fire burned outside, it also blazed within, consuming everything in its path. People, pews, reason, emotions.

 

Noah felt nothing but the burn of his wrath.

 

"They've all come to look for America, all come to look for America."

[Astolfo]

Yuri sat on the edge of the stage podium of sorts, rocking back and forth slightly while listening to Mary go on about 'gifts from God' and the government, not really paying attention. That wasn't the important part to him anyways. As the hot blood sprayed into the air, Yuri made sure that his hood was on. After having gone through several occasions like this here and there, he made a habit of making sure his clothes were liquidproofed so that they wouldn't stain. Cleaning them was such a bore, and buying new ones was a waste of money and time. The scarlet fluid ran in small rivers down his clothes, forming puddles around him. Standing up so that he wouldn't remain sitting in the blood, he now took off his hood to observe the situation around him. As expected, the scene had devolved into chaos pretty quickly. Sighing, Yuri looked for signs that would indicate who the troublemaking Emoters were.

There was one blue-haired girl with a bamboo sword acting all heroic, but Yuri wasn't sure if the girl was simply an idiot or another Emoter. Noting her down in his mental map, when the sounds of grinding metal suddenly emerged, Yuri's line of vision locked onto a blond haired boy who couldn't have been older than 17 or so. In his peripheral vision, he noticed the boy who went by "The Kid" in the Church start activating his own powers, forming an expanding magnetic field and creating his shape-blocks.

At that moment, one could say Hell quite literally broke out loose.Gghastly, emaciated figures began forming appearingly out of nowhere that immediately began to attack anyone nearby. Sighing again at the new workload, he lightly jumped off the edge of the stand. Walking over to the nearest monster, Yuri drew one of his two scimitars before viciously slicing through the monster with a diagonal slash hard enough to almost cleave it into two without a break in his motion. Yuri was about to flick the blade to shake the blood off when the monster let out a horrifying death wail. Grimacing and a flash of pain being visible in Yuri's eyes, he clutched his ears, being forced to a kneel temporarily. After recovering, he continued walking forwards with his eyes completely dead in appearance once more, not giving any hint to his next action. Looking around and seeing more being created, it confirmed Yuri's suspicions. This was the work of an Emoter. Looking around side to side for the person that might be causing this, he saw the monsters being drawn to one particular direction, but before he could get a good look at the person, an explosive whoosh of heat swept over the crowd, drawing away his attention.

Squinting at the blindingly bright figure who was now surrounded by flames, Yuri called out in a calm but piercing voice that seemed to be devoid of any warmth. "Ara, ara. It's not safe to play with fire, little boy. Didn't your parents teach you that?" Advancing towards Noah with a deceptively fast gait, Yuri looked up at the taller male, who seemed a little older than himself.

Judging by this sort of display of power, seems like it's Anger or the like...? Yuri shook his head slightly to clear his head of idle thoughts. Although the other person wouldn't be able to see the thickly coiled mist hanging around him, they would certainly notice when it shatters their powers like a mere illusion, disabling their abilities for up to almost half an hour after contact almost like a poison. His arm snaked out towards Noah at frightening speeds, Yuri's hand aiming to latch onto Noah's shoulder, fingers curled into talons, ready to grab on with a steel grip.

[acronym="Contact hasn't been made yet, but Yuri is saying this now because he doesn't expect anything to stop him."]"Clear your head."[/acronym]

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

"Welcome, Emoters. Please, come in; we're just about to begin."
 
Malaki and Angela looked at each other, and then saw that the other Emoters had entered the church. Figuring they should do the same, the siblings had followed everyone else inside, and took their seats where the woman that had beckoned everyone inside had assigned the visitors to sit. However, Malaki had a horrible feeling that something was going to go wrong... which was immediately confirmed when he saw someone in a suit right in the front of the church... with the usual priest's daughter. Even worse, that man appeared to be from the government. As Angela continued to wait for the sermons to begin, Malaki buried his head in his hands and quivered in shame, just waiting for this guy to spring his trap and arrest all the Emoters that had turned up for the event.
 
However, something else happened entirely. In an instant, the guy in the suit had been wrapped in chains, and the blade of a guillotine hovered above his neck, ready to behead the poor sap in a moments notice. Malaki opened his eyes abruptly, and slowly looked up again to see what was going on. Angela was shocked too, and wrapped her lone arm around her brother and the priest's daughter made her speech to the others in the church.

"These gifts from God that have been bestowed upon us are meant to move mankind forward.  The government - fearful of our gifts - are guilty of putting us in mental homes, draining our emotions and robbing us of these divine gifts.  We of the church..."  it was done; the guillotine crunched down on the government official's throat, leaving nothing distraught between the two siblings and general unrest in its wake, "...shall have none of it.  We of the Church of Salvation invite all the gifted to step forward.  Join us, and take your rightful place."

 

Then all hell broke lose, as the Emoters were giving into their emotions, and everyone else was running amok completely. Malaki tried his best to stave off his sorrow, but even he showed signs of fighting a losing battle; Angela could see it in his big-crocodile-teary eyes. But she also happened to see something coming their way and, after shoving Malaki out of harm's way, lunged to try and tackle this something. She missed, and writhed in pain just short of the creature's grasp.

 

"ANGELA!!" cried out a concerned Malaki, "Are you OK?!"

 

"I... I'm fine!" Angela said as she tried to stand up, only to fall flat on her face, "Or I would be if I'd stop tripping up all the bloody time..."

 

She made another attempt to get up on her one foot, but again it was thwarted... except this time it wasn't due to her own blundering. Specifically, the creature had smacked her back down the moment her head had reach a certain height, and was gearing up for another strike. It was at this time that Angela had finally tapped into her anguish. In an instant, the creature was impaled by bone that had sprouted from the Emoter's amputated arm, which had grown thicker, longer and heavier by the second. By the time Angela had thought to toss the dead creature to the side, her new-found "arm" had grown to such a gargantuan size and mass that it had ended up slamming into the wall in the process, making a hole large enough for all the visitors to make their way out in one fell swoop.

 

"Angela... you've given in, too?" asked Malaki

 

"I tapped into it on purpose actually; but it doesn't matter any more," answered Angela, "Just get everyone out. I'll try to cover them from in here..."

 

"Er... right," with that, Malaki took off through the hole in the wall, only to turn back just as he went through, "Everyone! You can come out through here! HURRY!!"

 

...

 

As Malaki was trying to usher the visitors of the church to safety, by himself for the moment, Angela sprouted another bone from her amputated leg, elevating herself to her normal standing height as she scanned the area, specifically looking for the Emoter that would've summoned these foul creatures. She could see that one of the Emoters had been engulfed in flames, and another was approaching him without a care in the world. Neither of them could've done it. And neither could the priest's daughter for that matter; Angela had seen her power first-hand. However, Angela did see an Emoter that had also used chains, who seemed to be protecting one of the others. Perhaps it was that other Emoter that had summoned the creatures that attacked Angela.

 

To confirm her hunch, Angela had sprouted more bones from her body to give off an intimidating appearance before approaching the pair, with her bone "arm" dragging along the church floor, and her bone "leg" pounding said with a solid, earth-shaking thud each time she made a step with it.

[Maeriberii Haan]

[hr]

 

"...Huh? What the...?"

 

Still finishing her package of hot dogs while concocting her cocktail of poison, Mirelia was outside of the church when what apparently chaos erupted there. Fire, darkness, sounds of screaming as people struggled to get outside. What actually happened there was a mystery to Mirelia, but she was less than interested in dealing with this kind of thing right now. It'd just give her way too much trouble for what it's worth. And then...in the middle of the chaos, Mirelia noticed the presence of a young girl running outside, before everyone else desperately tried rushing out of the building. She was seemingly the girl that she noticed earlier, the one with the raincoat. Looking at her being distressed like that, Mirelia ended up deciding to go there and get her to safety, out far away from this chaos. She had zero intention to bed the young girl, of course. For all her overflowing lust for others, doing it with a girl this young...Mirelia's no barbarian. And besides, who said she couldn't be genuinely concerned once in a while? She might be able to get some info on what the hell actually happened inside from the young girl after all, though she doubted that she'd get much.

 

But first things first, she must make sure the girl could get away safely, and with that in her mind, she ran and ran towards the church, leaving her belongings behind, along with an unfinished bread. She kinda hated to leave unfinished food behind, but this would be far more important than that. It didn't take her long to reach the girl, and Mirelia saw that she's currently crying on her knees, definitely shaken about whatever happened inside of the church. Mirelia was...pretty much at loss on what to do to calm her down. Dealing with others in this kind of things was never a skill she possessed in the first place, and thus, when she ended up getting an idea on what to do, it was simply just about dragging her out of this mess first, whether the little girl wanted to or not. Mirelia tapped the cute girl's shoulder to notify her of her presence, and just several seconds later, she started to try physically dragging the little girl in distress away, towards the bench where her stuffs was.

 

"Sorry if this is a bit forceful, but I'm just doing it for your safety. Let's...get away from this mess before it ended up being worse. I won't do anything bad to you, I promise.

 

So...just stand up or follow me, or I'll need to drag you out there forcefully no matter how hard you beg me not to. Okay~?"

 

While doing so, she remembered about something important, and picked up her smartphone from her pocket with her right hand, while still trying to drag the little girl on her other hand. Tapping several buttons, she then started a call. For all intents and purposes, doing that would be risky, but Mirelia decided that this would be the best thing a supposedly maturely rational citizen do in an occasion like this.

 

"Hello 911, I think I have an emergency down here."

 

[hr]

 

"...Oh right, an execution." Ilya said that flatly as he watched the head of the politician fell on the ground after Mary was done with him. He remembered objecting about the public execution since it would just give the church unnecessary attention, which would disturb their quiet life. But after a long and painstakingly long debate with her, he stopped complaining in fear of his house getting destroyed by her guillotine. That's probably why Ilya decided to just forget about the plan.

 

Chaos of course erupted once the head started to roll, and he saw several people, probably normals, dying due to the combination of fire, monsters, or something else that he missed. The disgusting kid and Yuri had started to move around to deal with the situation, and she expected Seraphina and Casey to join in sooner or later. Ilya himself decided to activate his power, removing himself from the focus of everyone on the room, all the while he started to prepare barriers alongside him, while finding opportunities to help his supposed allies during the mess.

 

Though, the less he could bother, the better.

 

[hr]

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

Madalena Vera

[hr]

[divider1]

"Ah, right. There's a church meeting to attend to." Seems like she hasn't lost her forgetful trait quite yet. Vera spent the last 30 minutes twiddling her thumbs at a park near the hotdog stand, waiting for the messenger bird to return as she herself used her unique life-giving power to make a patch of grass sway without wind, a trick that seemed to impress many bystanders near her. Of course, Vera did the right thing in this situation and bowed at them, even putting her hat down so she appears even more like a street magician. Playing magic was fun, but it seems that too has to come to an end. She took one final look at her wristwatch, to confirm that the time is indeed now. Time for what? Well, she doesn't know exactly. But she'll soon find out, or so she figured.

---

The church building looked quite spectacular, but nothing too incredible. The Notre Dame in Paris, the various cathedrals and mosques in her birthplace of Cordoba... All those make the church's building look like a child's play. Still, there's something very off about the entire situation. For one, all the guys who claim to be representatives of the church, their way of speaking isn't exactly friendly, to say the least. And that's ignoring the huge elephant in the room, a man in a business suit bound with chains all over. "This is a far cry from a normal sermon, isn't it?" Vera bit her index finger as she tried to lighten up the obviously dreadful aura surrounding the scene. But of course, nobody responded, let alone let out a cackle.

 

"These gifts from God that have been bestowed upon us are meant to move mankind forward."

 

Wait, no way. The silver-haired church girl said this as a guillotine-shaped blade materialized above the poor politician's head. This isn't how a magic trick works, of course not. That very instant, Vera started fearing for the worst. Her hand gripped the hilt of her crystalline whip harder, as she feels anger building up inside her.

 

"The government - fearful of our gifts - are guilty of putting us in mental homes, draining our emotions and robbing us of these divine gifts.  We of the church..."

*slice*

Those motherf***ers really did it. They really killed an innocent person in front of the public eye. All hell broke loose, obviously. People scattered all over trying to escape, other emoters going apeshit with their emotion.

 

  "...shall have none of it.  We of the Church of Salvation invite all the gifted to step forward.  Join us, and take your rightful place."

 

Then, literal hell broke loose. Monsters swarmed the church. Actual, physical monster. Ghouls. Devils. Demons. Spooky scary skeletons. All materialized within the supposedly "holy" church. She's having none of it. Absolutely none. Killing a man is unforgivable, but later, suggesting that she, a distinguished noblewomen who used her powers simply for the fun and benefit of others, should join their side as killers, is completely unacceptable.

 

"I don't really care about "god", or "gifts", as you claim it. What I have is not a "gift"."

 

Vera stood still amidst the chaos, her head looking down. Dozens of people rushed past her, trying to escape. Monsters tried to get near her, but as they are non-sentient for the most part, her <<Gold Experience Deux>> took care of that problem, causing any who try to stand near her to simply kneel.

 

"I have a "skill". And I do not intend for anyone to command me when or when not to use it. My name..." Taking a deep breath to pause, Vera slowly inched her way towards the churchmembers. 

 

"...Is Madalena Vera. I am an <<Emoter>>. My rightful place, is as the slayer of evil! My burning heart, release!"

 

Her prideful self was insulted. She was disgusted at the sight of a completely unjustified execution. She felt betrayed, having wasted time to fly over to America only to see something last seen in France in the 19th century. Completely, utterly, despicable. Hatred. Hatred was all she felt ever since that guillotine went down. That was three minutes ago. Her crystal sword is now fully charged, an intense radiant light shining magnificently from it. Passion is an emotion born of many things. Love, for instance. Love begets hate. Hate births passion, too, in this case. That's right. At this moment, she is passionate about one thing, and one thing only.

 

<<Passion to kill.>>

 

"Return to the ashes of which you came from! GOLD EXPERIENCE SPARK, EXPLODE!"

 

In the blink of an eye, Vera raised her sword and pointed it at the church members. From it, a gigantic ray of rainbow-colored laser was released. A laser large enough to swallow the entire width of the church, but thankfully was reduced in size so as to not completely demolish the entire church. It was still a really powerful blast, though it is not lethal. It would still be in best interest to not get hit, however, as it is still rather painful to get hit.

[divider1]

[hr]

 

Ranpha

[hr]

*munch munch*

[Kazooie]

Casey glanced around as Mary prepared the audience for the 'demonstration', her legs shaking lightly as she glanced around the packed room. She let out a small groan as more people entered, her hands rubbing her head softly as she glared to the audience. 

 

"These gifts from God that have been bestowed upon us are meant to move mankind forward."

 

Casey sighed as Mary's need to drag this out kept going. The audience was getting restless, any minute now someone would try to free the idiot they had captured. Her eyes flew over the crowd, noting that a few of them certainly did not agree with the given speech.

 

"The government - fearful of our gifts - are guilty of putting us in mental homes, draining our emotions and robbing us of these divine gifts.  We of the church..."

 

She grinned as the guillotine came flying down, noting the horrified responses of most of the audience as it happens. She let out a small laugh, "I knew this wasn't going to make our case any stronger..."

 

Casey watched as all hell began to unfold. Her shadow began to spread, covering the walls until one woman jumped up, blabbed about some insignificant fluff, and then suddenly fired a laser at the church members. Casey sighed as she realized she was going to have to be the one to deal with it and jumped up and ran into the laser fire. Her shadow began to twist up, moving to surround her and create a wall between her, the church members being fired upon, and the laser itself. The laser's blast became unconcentrated, streams of it began to deflect around the  church building, some hitting other attendees causing harm to them, some hitting the monsters that had been created in the chaos, and some missing and simple hitting the walls. She laughed as her shadow returned to the ground and began to spread once more, covering the walls of the church. 

 

"Lights out everyone!"

 

And no one could see. All light in the church was lost as her shadow covered every inch of the building, surrounding everyone inside in darkness. 

 

[hr]

 

Devon ran. The monsters appearing alone had confused him enough to startle him, but with the execution and the chaos following it, puzzle pieces had begun to form and fly all around the church building as he tried to distract the creatures from doing any harm. He whimpered as he ran to the door of the church, trying to get out as he felt a jerk on his shirt's collar and was lifted into the air. 

 

One of the creatures had caught him. He squirmed as he looked up at it, his confusion at the whole day apparent in his eyes as the creature attacked. He felt the claws of the creature dig into his arm, causing him to howl out as he looked up. He willed for a large block to appear, letting it fall down and crash onto the creature, causing it to drop him and letting him roll away from the situation. His breathing grew hard as he limped out of the door, his leg aching from the fall as he held onto his bleeding arm. Questions welled up inside of him as he felt an aura appear around him, his bleeding slightly slowing as he tried to limp out the door.

 

"P-please, someone help!"