An Eerie Encounter [Rapture/Invite]

Was it really over? That thing… it was gone? Rapture could barely trust her own senses, but her headache had begun to subside. That had to mean something. Straightening her back and sheathing her blood swords, the petite powerhouse began to transform into her normal form, complete with attire change back to her ceremonial kimono. She had to catch her breath after the strain, bending forward with her hands on her thighs for support. Hans had asked her something, but her mind was elsewhere. She staggered to the back room, confronting Facade and the rest of the boarders. “The thing is dead. Is everyone okay? Any changes?” for what it was worth, the affected still looked quite out of it. To think that killing the beast would cure them had been wishful thinking, but she had hoped for something.

Facade could see the strain in his friend’s body and went to steady her. “We’re all fine,” he informed, “but the affected are still… well, affected.” He tried to smile, but was clearly distraught. Voodoo folded his arms, while Sakura held Azura tightly. The room was grim. However, the shapeshifter refused to give up hope. “You killed the beast. It can’t hurt anyone anymore, and that’s something to be proud of.”

“It’s not enough!” Rapture fired back, clearly pissed off. “Another could be sent in its place, or it could come back. This is only the beginning!”

“We had to start somewhere,” Facade implored. “Every journey has its––“

“I don’t need your ancient wisdom, Liev. I need results!” Rapture stormed back onto the stage, scowling. “Morte, did I hear that thing right? It said it will not make the same error. That implies that it isn’t done with whatever bullshit it’s pulling, right?" She looked exhausted and frazzled. Now was not her moment, even after a definitive victory.

Hans was taking the... unwelcome prospect better than Rapture, noting her extreme reaction to it as she went to go check on the others. He was no where near naive enough to assume by "not make the same error" that it would suddeny change its ways. If all it took to keep creatures like this in line was to shake a big pointy stick at it, mankind would already be at the top of the food chain. "I heard it too," Hans confirmed that she had in fact heard it. He was definitely going to need to hound his organization for answers. "Those images weren't any help either. But more importantly, earlier it said that this didn't concern me or Anselm, and I don't know why it was calling you a dust mote but you're the only other person here trying to stop it," Hans pointed out, steadying himself on a chair that had been spared the carnage.

"Which at least implies that it was trying to get to you in some fashion," Hans added as he thought back on one of its other thoughts. Mind... slipping, need nourishment. Did it feed on people's thoughts? He was having trouble thinking right now, still getting over from the migraine it had caused in the first place. He'd pull out his phone next and check for calls, there wasn't one yet.

Rapture had begun to calm herself, noting how her reaction didn’t exactly inspire hope. And despite what she would have everyone believe, she was still just human. A human with extremely deep ties with the spiritual realm, but still human. She rubbed her temples, listening to what Hans had to say. So he had seen the images, too. And apparently picked up on something she hadn’t. The creature had turned its attention to her, of all people. Why her and not Hans? They were in similar fields, and if anything, the latter seemed more likely a candidate for targeting due to her experience in the western realm of spirits. But that lead to another question: was this thing of western origin, let alone terrestrial origin? It could very well be an alien. It very likely could be an alien. She hadn’t seen anything like it, not in the world of fact or fiction. It certainly didn’t resemble any Shinto or eastern creatures that she knew of, but the fact that it spoke English provided some insight. Unless, it was simply using the language because they were in an English-speaking country. So, so many questions, and so fewer answers. The frustrations seemed to know no end.

It had called her a ‘dust mote.’ At first, Ryuuzaki thought it was talking about Sakura, whom they believed to be the next victim. “Whatever the fuck a ‘dust mote’ is,” she grumbled, wondering if that even held significance. Morte was right; it had singled her out. She would have a lot of thinking to do, a lot of meditating. She longed for the comfort of her shrine, where everything made sense. None of this made sense. “I’d like to see that thing come for me at my shrine. Now that it has its sights set on me, I feel better. Clearly, I can fight it. These people can’t.”

Hans had similar questions, but he had an organization to ask them. While not a widespread group, the people in it were still united the same goal. It was definitely not western, that he knew of. It wasn't vampire, werewolf or anything like that. It seemed... very unlikely that it was some kind of swamp monster because of that image of sea water- which he knew was sea water because he could smell it while looking at it through the image. But curiously it had definitely been paying Rapture more mind than him and Anselm. Why? "This is just speculation; but if it had set its sights on you earlier, your shrine may have been the only thing dissuading it from coming after you," Hans suggested thoughtfully.

Rapture seemed to be more calm now, which was good. While it was understandable to be upset over the fact all they managed to o was drive it away, it wasn't productive to let that get in the way of the bigger picture. That thing was surely still out there, and they both now knew that it had in some capacity been after Rapture- for why he wasn't sure, but believed it had something to do with its need for nourishment. But now that it had been denied, who would be its next victim? Although something did come to mind, when he froze up he was still physically aware of himself. But he had become... trapped in some kind of mental prison until Anselm acted, and likewise when the creature turned its attention to him he started to act like he was on fire.

Anselm mentally growled with irritation as Hans mentally poked him for detais, only confirming that he felt like he was experiencing his death all over again. But at that time, Hans was free to move again. So based on those facts, it seemed like its "error" was more a lack of information. "First thing in the morning, if I don't get a call back I'm calling my organization to follow up on my inquiries. I think we both agree that this thing isn't like anything either of us have seen, and I'm hoping someone else knows anything. My current concern is whether or not it will try to strike again. It was talking about needing nourishment, which implies that it will strike sooner rather than later... which means that I'll probably be hanging around here longer just in case," Hans continued, stating what he planned to do for the near future. It wasn't likely that it would try to strike here again so soon, which meant that some unlucky person was definitely going to be its next victim. Hans frowned at the prospect and hoped that maybe if someone at PSI did know more, he could use that knowledge to prevent it from happening.

Rapture wasn’t going anywhere, either. They may have defeated the creature, but it would undoubtedly return. They had only placated the thing for now. So many mysteries still remained, like why it targeted the residents of Little Nightmare, what the ‘Eternal Mother’ was, and its intentions. The two supernatural specialists had essentially placed a bandaid on the problem, nothing more. What Hans had to say made enough sense, but it disturbed Rapture that she might have been the true target. This thing could be intelligent. It really seemed that way, in fact. Or at least its master was. But going through her compatriot’s charges seemed a little long-winded. Her shrine provided protection from the majority of western spirits, while it harbored eastern ones. This thing didn’t fit in either category. Perhaps it didn’t want to be interrupted by the other inhabitants of the shrine, so it went for those who were most vulnerable but still related. In fact, Juuzou had been one of the first to be affected, and they had wandered into Rapture’s domain before going to Facade’s. They were a definitive link, and amongst those who seemed to be affected the most. Juuzou had been one of the most vocal of the Eternal Mother’s pawns. Rapture’s heart sank.

••••

Meanwhile, Facade had left the care of the residents in Voodoo’s capable hands while he inspected the damage done to the theatre. Nothing that couldn’t be replaced, and the good thing was that everything had been insured. That, and the most important: nobody had been hurt. As the shapeshifter assessed the damage from the stage, he kept his distance from Rapture, not wanting to incite any illicit emotions. He decided that the best course of action was for everyone to move to the basement and set up camp there. The stage had been too damaged to remain on. He sighed, placing his hands on his hips and pouting. Finally, he returned to the back room and gathered everyone together. The procession moved to the lower levels of the theatre, their bedding in tow.

••••

Sakura remained behind, however, electing to say her piece. She approached Rapture timidly, eyes downcast. “I’m sorry for doubting you,” she murmured. “And you,” she said, turning to Morte. “Thank you for helping. If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know.”

Rapture folded her arms. “Just look after your sister, and let us know if anything changes. And get some sleep.” As the pink-haired girl left, Ryuuzaki turned to her new partner. “I’m not leaving, either. It looks like we’re in this together, for better or for worse."

Hans simply nodded stoicly to Sakura, her doubt wasn't misplaced. It was hard for people to imagine that there just things beyond their comprehension, and Hans was still having trouble wrapping his head around what they had just fought. But he wasn't aiming for recognition with his job, he was just doing it because it needed to be done. Hans still appreciated it though, it definitely helped make it more worth while. Hans also got to meet different kinds of people too, one of which whose fate seemed to get intertwined with his against this... creature and its unknown master. He didn't spend much time among other people normally, so this would be an odd change; but he was getting ahead of himself. "Agreed. Hopefully we'll know more to go off of, when my compatriots get back to me that is," Hans agreed, shifting into a passive sentry mode. He had no intentions of sleeping, just in case it did try to just immediately come back- or worse... he wasn't sure what would be worse than it coming back but if it wasn't going to make the same error that could mean a number of variables he didn't like the sound of.