"It's too perfect, Akio-san.." Kanae says shyly as she glances out from the wooden deck at the back of a house to the shining, sunny blue sky beyond, overlooking a scenic vista of rolling green trees stretching out it seems almost to the horizon.. stunned out of her normal placid silence by the sheer *view*. Upon her left second finger is a very simple, plain gold ring.. the ring that declares herself and Akio as newly wed wife and husband... Kanae turns back and gazes at her smiling, handsome husband.. so young, so beautiful, a soft smile playing along those thin, warm lips... and wonders why her heart is ill at ease. Akio seems to notice this, he brushes the back of his hand along the side of her face. "Are you unhappy with it, Kanae?" he murmurs soothingly... voice silken. Kanae blushes slightly, pressing her fingers against her husband's. "No.. it's not that, Akio-san." She sighs, and turns to move back into the kitchen. This *IS* what she wanted, isn't it? It's what she wanted for so long.. to finally have Akio as *hers*... away from his sister and the school she doesn't care about.. Akio turns back, watching the small blonde woman with a bemused, half-cocked smile.. the wind tossing about his lavender-silver bangs.. The bright light of the sky only illuminates so much through the dark and shaded grove beneath the canopy of the surrounding woods. From the verdant camoflague twin orbs of light open ..the pupils of the eyes dialating with a feral intensity as a soft growl is emitted..like a Tiger on the prowl...before fading back into the darkness between the light....approaching this scenic cottage. Kanae moves like a woman on heavy medication, slow and with exaggeratedly graceful fingers as she puts an apron on over her pale green dress.. tying the string behind her back and readying for the somewhat grueling task of preparing dinner for the couple. Meanwhile, Akio turns from the deck after gazing into the trees for a long, long time... moving with a light brush of his hand along Kanae's shoulders, teasingly, before moving past her and down through a door leading to the basement where his beloved red sportscar sits penned in the garage.. The shadow flits between the trees...approaching faster and faster.. cautiously..methodically. Approaching the open front door.... Akio slips easily into the white leather seat of his car, pressing his key into the ignition, and turning it.. REVVING the car a few times in the closed garage.. the door near the car's bumper opening slowly... the engine becoming louder, an almost TANGIBLE force, like a small earthquake shaking the walls of the house... And in the kitchen, Kanae Ootori flinches, shadows entering her eyes... he's doing it *again*... suddenly she remembers why she's sometimes *frightened* of the man whom she married... The gunning engine accidently provides the figure with stealth unlike the amounts he would normally get... as he creeps into the frontroom.. His animal eyes survey the area for a moment..before ducking down low...and stalking towards the Kitchen..slowly. .silently...following along the wall.. Kanae has paused in her homebody routine... gazing at the closed door leading to the basement garage with worry, those eyes just screaming 'victim' to your sharp and keen predator's mind... so frail, so fragile.. Akio has his eyes closed as he sits in the car, dark hands light along the wheel, GUNNING it loud, loud, enjoying the roar of the powerful engine, the vibrations of the vehicle as it HOWLS like a restrained animal... all the while knowing. He *always* knows... The figure pauses...a single gleaming eye peers from around the edge of the entryway to the Kitchen...witnessing her looking to the basement..his eyes smile with a wicked intensity..weakness. He see's weakness to sink his teeth into with savage glee. As he remains pausing for just a bit longer..waiting for the wife to return to her routine... Kanae sighs. She knows she should go down there and ask Akio to stop.. but she's scared of him when he gets like this.. it's like.. he's two different men.. and the man that she married, the Akio that she loves, was always kind and gentle to her.. but.. this other Akio.. the one she privately calls Lucifer... there's no reasoning with him.. no requests, no begging... he will have things his way, and no words can reach him... The sad blonde woman shakes her head, and turns back toward the stove, setting a pot of water to boil.. trying to ignore the beast growling in the basement. The figure sees his chance...as he silently begins his approach across the small valley of the Kitchen. He hunches down low...his hands before him in claw like motions ... five steps away..four...three.......two..... Kanae is prevented from hearing ANYTHING... so she's literally in a haze of her own sad, mousy thoughts... ripe for the claws of the cat as she hops about her kitchen blindly. The figure finally is within reach...but no... ooh no... He must have his fun. Plan be damned...this is just TOO too good to pass up. He waits even just a moment longer...waiting until she corners herself while reaching for a particular pot...before st anding up straight and tall... In plain view. He wears a T-shirt over his ripped chest with his arms bare. Angry red scars along his powerful arms like tiger stripes.. ending in a crisscross of slashes on his hands... His black slacks are matte and absorb the light around them. He rather foolishly wears no mask..but knows very shortly..there will be no talking witnesses..as his demonic orange red hair stands up like a million frozen flits of flame. He smiles with a grin almost too toothy to be real. As he waits for her to simply turn and.... Kanae does the most expected and predictable thing.. she spots you as she turns about.. and screams... some small dish falling from her hand... scrabbling backward in a panic.. while the beast continues to roar below her feet... making the ground shake under her; she trips, falls over accompanied by the sound of another engine rev... hands raising above her head, wide sea-green eyes opening so huge, mirror-like you can see yourself in them.. Kaji cackles maddly.. oh GOD how UTTERLY FUN! This is great! Look at her squirm and writhe..HELPLESS. He just darts to the side quickly and reaches down..grasping at her neck..trying to lift her up and press her against the countertop...he grins widely as he rasps excitedly, "-BEG-." Kaji lets up with his hands just enough so she can speak and breath... Kanae's no Duellist.. she's not even strong.. she's just a soft, weak woman... her eyes clouding with tears as she whimpers and tries to form words so obediently.. yet.. some dark part of her wonders.. and finds the answer to the question in your eyes... yes, *he* must be behind this... she should have known.. it's not enough to save her though, the knowing. Kaji giggles as he begins to press down on her a bit harder...his feral wicked expression pressing closer as he speaks with more gutteral urgency, "Louder.." he becomes more keenly aware of every motion in her body..her soft heart throbbing faster and faster...her breathing increasing...her muscles jittering from survival mechanisms... he just feels the complete POWER he has over her. A drug beyond drugs.. to feel her cringe and whimper to his whim... he loves it... ooooh how he loves it! Every struggle a beautiful symphony of pleasure as she slowly succumbs to his superiority and strength... Suddenly there's a silence. An absence of sound can be more disturbing than its presence.. especially as there was SO MUCH NOISE before, and now there is none.. Kanae, struggling in your grip.. oh, her pale green eyes light with hopeless hope at the woode n sound of footsteps coming back upstairs.. hand on the knob... turning from the other side... until he steps out.... oh, how Kanae hopes.. until she sees his face. Lucifer's face. Glancing across the developing scene in his kitchen with.. mild annoyance. "Don't play with the mouse, cat." he murmurs, cool and mild, as if discussing the weather or some *thing* rather than a person, his just-married wife. Kaji is so utterly lost in the feeling...bathing his soul in this unholy decadence...that he doesn't notice the silence or the foot steps. He doesn't just snap her neck..oooh no..he has to slowly..ever so slowly cut off her air supply..letting her body starve..before it dies. Occasionally letting her get a gulp of air here..a little gasp there..just enough to prolong this... waiting until every last muscle in her body is too exhausted to struggle..and then she's simply a lifeless husk to finish. He doesn't notice Akio yet.. not even when he speaks..as he's lost in a world of chaos, blood, and ecstasy of murder and death. Just that easily.. Kanae ends. With a whimper, tears in her eyes.. pleading words frozen on blue-tinted lips... a few last feeble struggles of her body.. as her eyes turn accusingly toward her husband... locking her gaze in her final moments on him... her dying vision.. his angelic smile... Akio exhales strongly and, with a light gesture, removes the simple gold band from his own hand. Mourn her? No. Indeed his mind is already moving to other problems, as this one has finally concluded itself. He has all that mattered of her.. her name.. and the power of that name... the rest, he can get from more.. admirable, desirable sources. Kaji awwws as it ends...she didn't last very long..but her sweet softness was as substantial as longer ones. He continues holding her for a moment longer..savoring the afterglow of her fading life. He leans down a bit and runs his rasping tongue over her face before just letting her slide to the floor, "Delicious.." The world slowly comes back into a focus from a haze..as he realizes he went askew of the plan. He was supposed to kill her immediately ..but that was SOO SOO much more fun. He turns to Akio ...at first gives him a glance as he would a partner..but then realizes the forensics report has to be believable...so he snarls at him, "Stay out of the way or I'll do the same to ya.." warning him off with as much gusto as if he was serious... Akio chuckles low, only playing the game with half his heart... "Is that so." Kaji finishes off the drama by running around Akio..into the living room. Idly reaches out and snatches a few pretty baubles that caught his eye... one small wall painting he actually thinks is quite nice...before dashing out the door..and into the primeval forest..where other predators and beasts roam.. Akio stands alone, watching his Duellist depart... the unloved creature lying in a small pool of death on the floor. Akio shrugs his shoulders faintly. He reaches up, and those slender brown fingers begin to tear at his clothing in places... carefully calculated places, deliberate randomness to make himself appear as if he were in a struggle. Releases his hair to cause it to skew about his shoulders. The bruising.. that will, indeed, take a little more effort.. but it's worth it. With quiet dispassion the supreme lord of the Duellists moves to a drawer, and fetches a heavy hammer.... moves into the Victorian-furnished living room ... laying down his left arm along the table... and raising the hammer high in his strong right hand.... not even a flinch or cry parts those perfectly formed lips as he SMASHES the hammer down, shattering the bone of his left arm near the elbow... repeating the process with the left wrist... then... Somehow, with one arm dead meat at his side.. with his right hand, Ootori Akio tears apart several rooms of the house. Flinging furniture. Scraping the floor and linoleum tiles up. And.. when this is done.. and the stage set.. his final act.. to remove Kanae's ring from her finger, and the slim silver necklace from her lifeless neck, yanking it free. The two rings, and the hammer, are flung with all his strength off the deck into the silent green trees. The necklace he pockets for later... wondering how silver will compliment pink... Only THEN does he let the pain rise up and take control of his mind...he sheds REAL tears for the pain in his body.. but no love is spared for the corpse in the kitchen. Sobbing, he reaches for the phone, and contacts the police.. informing them in a tormented voice that his newlywed wife has just been murdered. * You find yourself sliding down a downward tilted tunnel, very narrow, your shoulders just barely have room to clear the sides by.. oh, a few millimeters... completely DARK, too, so you don't know how far you have to go or how long.... Arisugawa Juri clings to her sword, pressing it down in front of her so as not to catch on anything.. and tries to make herself as completely flat and compact as possible.. feeling that the only way to find Utena and make sure she's alright is to simply continue down this thing. She squeezes her eyes closed, and does allow her feet to trail the sides in case it may be possible to slow down or stop, if necessary, by pressing against them. With your eyes closed, you don't see the light rising up toward your feet as you continue to slip downward, though you can feel the tunnel's slant deepening, and the cold air rushes faster over your face, disturbing throse lovely gold curls. Suddenly there's *nothing* under your feet... a sensation that might fill you with alarm and terror.. but it's a very short fall, perhaps three feet, so by the time you realize what's happened, you'd already be back on the ground again... Arisugawa Juri's eyes shoot open as soon as she feels the sensation of falling, but at about that same moment she lands upon the ground, jerking her weapon free of her hand to clatter beside her as she winces, finding herself on her back. She slowly sits up and leans forward before opening her eyes once more to figure out exactly where she is. At first, perhaps stunned by the fall, you might not realize it.. but you're in a wide open passage.. wide enough that you can stand and walk comfortably, a kind of tunnel hewn out of the black rock. There's a pale, multi-colored light about 150 feet from your current position. Utena is not immediately visible, and the air down here continues to be cold and somewhat 'earthen'. Arisugawa Juri shakes her head slightly, causing her curls to bounce against each other like a wind chime.. and scans the dark area only densely lit. She sluggishly makes out that she's indeed in another sort of tunnel, but continues searching for a sign of another human body as she sits up completely and sets her hand over her blade. Still nothing.. but wait a minute. How can *air* be moving through his place, strong enough to *feel*? Arisugawa Juri blinks... and lets the icy air shift across her face.. play over her bare hand as she clutches her sword. She narrows her eyes in thought as she pushes up to stand.. glancing up and around this passage.. wondering what exactly this place is . It's basically a feeder. You can tell that it was made by SOMEONE, as the walls are definitely chipped and carved in a manner that doesn't suggest any kind of natural erosion process.. it's slick and dark. But the real mystery would be that glow at the end of the tunnel... perhaps Utena is there? Arisugawa Juri takes a deep breath of the musty air... and presses forward towards the dim light. Utena..and/or answers must be there. As your feet step along the rocks, kicking aside smaller stones, the air becomes stronger, and your hair begins to move with more speed. At the same time.. the glow increases. You emerge out of the mouth of the tunnel onto a kind of flat cliff-top. Standing near the edge, with her hair whirling about, you see Utena, her back to you, immobile as she looks off the edge of the cliff. Arisugawa Juri brushes a strand of her hair that got swept astray away from her eyes as she notices Utena.. she stops a moment before taking a few more steps to join you, "Utena-san..?" Utena turns and gazes at you with widened blue eyes reflecting the strange multi-colored glow that rises and fills the chamber, her small lips opening. "Sempai... tell me I'm not seeing things.." She gestures over the edge of the cliff and downward.. .and then, following her motion.. you look downward and see... it's an underground city. A *castle* glowing with rainbow light from its parapets and windows... casting pools of color into the tightly curved hewn ceiling.... illuminating several similar passag es like the one that you're standing on, explaining the flow of wind.. you came down through some kind of ventilation tunnel... Surrounding the castle in the center, you see that it's placed out in the center of a design that looks familiar to you, though you may not realize it immediately... a circular and ornate series of walls surrounding the central castle. It's.. probably the most INCREDIBLE thing you've ever seen. Arisugawa Juri's azure eyes become twins to yours.. widening in a shocked disbelief of what her own gaze takes in. She whispers, her view playing over the dancing lights of the area, "...unbelievable..." As you say this.. the glow of colors fades slightly.. diverting from rainbow luminescences to a simple white light.. and then you see that the central castle is in ruins. The stones blackened, some of the parapets crumbling.. You realize that.. despite your initial impression.. this is an OLD place. Its origin a mystery. Has it been underneath the school all this time? What IS it? Utena says, "I never expected to find anything like.. like this. I thought.. maybe a few tunnels..." Arisugawa Juri blinks as the colors disperse, nodding to your words.. it's still amazing that this is here, ruins or not.. and such an oddly familiar thing about it. She glances across the other tunnels, commenting, "There are plenty of tunnels... all leading directly here." She looks back to the castle, and indeed wonders what in the world this place was for. Utena nods slowly, solemnly; the colors may be gone from the structure, but not from within her eyes.. she breathes, "Where do you think we are? Under the school?" Arisugawa Juri glances up towards the earthern cavern ceiling, "Hai... I believe so." Utena takes a deep breath. "Okay." She bites her lip for a moment. "What do you think we should do, sempai?" Arisugawa Juri lowers her eyes from her upward gaze, "Well.. you wanted our home ground to work for us.. so we should first understand it." She turns, looking for a way down, or a bridging of some kind, "Like, where do these other tunnels lead.. why exactly is this place here. Perhaps at closer examination we could tell." She looks back to you slightly. Utena nods eagerly, smiling. she was hoping you'd say it was okay to start exploring.. how could she not? Almost childlike glee in her expression as she too eagerly turns her eyes toward a search for some kind of bridge or steps or some way down. Searching will eventually turn up a bridge, but there's a catch. It's down below the cliff-like platform that you stand on... about 30 feet. Utena ughs softly. "Oh, no.." Arisugawa Juri closes her eyes in a silent proclamation of what you easily say.. before crouching down and eyeing the rock face for any available footholes. It looks like there's no EASY way down; your best guess, the place you came down wasn't meant for anything EXCEPT ventilation, not actually for people to use as an entrance. this might make you nervous; what if the actual passages in and out were sealed from the other side? The thought of being trapped down here can't be too comforting. As you kneel and look over the edge though, the rock is fairly rough. You could, possibly, climb down, if you took great care. Arisugawa Juri does indeed become rather concerned about that prospect of being trapped in this underground ruin.. stiffening slightly as she raises her eyes to the other tunnels, as if wishing she could see into them all and gain an answer. But.. she stands once more, knowing the solution won't be that simple, and turns to you, "Our best bet, since this is the only way I see off this cliff, is to climb down to the bridge." Utena nods immediately. "Right. Off the edge then..." She seems undaunted, or perhaps the thought of possibly being stuck here hasn't occurred to her yet- ever hopeful, Utena.. She turns her back to the castle and starts slowly trying to slip over the edge, biting her lip nervously as she looks for footholds and handholds, the rock hard and somewhat sharp to her delicate hands. Arisugawa Juri waits for you to lower yourself down a bit and moves her sword to her lips, pressing the blade between her teeth as she moves to the side of where you started and begins down as well. Her attention placed on finding holds for her toes and fingers, but as well mildly on you... observing your choices and keeping watch on your progress cautiously. Utena makes her way slowly, and as with most other things somewhat inexpertly.. losing her grip with one hand on multiple occasions and crying out... increasingly sweating and tense... Fortunately the cliff face isn't TOO high, just long enough to be frightening.. but soon the ordeal is over, and Utena drops gratefully onto the bridge below, a construction of cracked white marble, landing rather rough on her left thigh as she chose her descent angle badly. As you make your way down the cliff face behind her, you might want to be extra careful; the path Utena took has, in a few places, small amounts of her blood on it- she cut her hands open on the sharp stones. Arisugawa Juri blinks at the blood.. and makes her way around it, scratching her hands as well, but not as much to bring much pain. She finds her way easily to the bottom, landing in contrast to you.. with ease, an almost grace in her swift finish, before removing her weapon from her mouth and offering her hand to you, "Are you alright?" Utena glances at her stinging palms and hastily swipes her hand along a lower panel of her jacket before taking your hand. "Yeah... arigato, sempai... I only rockclimbed once, and not like this.." She straightens with your aid and looks down the length of the bridge which travels straight into one of the castle's towers. Arisugawa Juri's gaze is as well towards the castle.. she removes her hold of your hand and elbow which she had to help you up.. and begins walking across the bridge towards the tower.. the familiar air intriguing. Utena too is shaken by the *familiarity* of the place.. but for a different reason than you perhaps. You're walking along a bridge that would be leading to the equivalent of a second-floor level; you pass above most of the outer walls, though the inner layer rises up in places and meets with the bridge, giving the structure a sense of flow and progression. Utena trails along behind you with strange, heavy eyes, and she lifts her hand to gaze at the ring on her finger for a moment.. before gasping harshly. "That's it...!" Arisugawa Juri blinks.. and glances back to you quizzically, "Ano..?" Utena says, "The ring.. sempai, the signet..." Utena says, "I *knew* there was something, I was trying to figure it out before you joined me. This place is built on the design of the signet..." Arisugawa Juri looks down towards her own duellists ring, trailing mentally over the design.. Utena steps up along side you, her ringed hand lifting... "The castle is here, in the center.." Tapping the tiny center of the pink stone with a fingernail. "The rest is the arrangement of walls that we saw.." Arisugawa Juri moves her eyes from her ring to yours, mapping out what you say in her mind before scanning the area around her again, stating observantly, "You may be correct." Utena says, "But why..." Utena breaks into a run and moves forward, "C'mon, sempai..!" She moves quickly on those thin legs, racing toward the blackened tower.. Arisugawa Juri blinks as your form slips by her and runs forward... after a moment she obeys your words and moves forward, deciding it may be the only way to figuring things out. You wonder about the blackness of the stones as you enter the tower. Both inside and out bear those dark streaks of charcoal-grey and ashen brown... and there's no sign of anything that isn't of stone or metal here. You follow Utena off the bridge, into the tower, and down a spiraling staircase toward the ground level... where before you opens another courtyard...a huge, circular affair marked with the same pattern as that of the Duelling Arena up above ground. Multiple layers of floors encircle the area and look down on the courtyard- the remains of a fountain are in the center.. and oddly, it reminds you strongly of the center courtyard up above ground, in the school. A faded red pattern of rosevines encircles the old dry fountain; there's a lot of dust or.. ash..? in the air. Arisugawa Juri slows her swift run to a sluggish walk... her eyes trailing over every piece of the area that seems remenicent of other places.. picking out the distinctions slowly. Her features easily show the growing confusion in her mind. Utena stands there in the open, her childlike eyes closing.. face touched by the breeze, she shivers at some feeling coming out of the stones.. she stands silent before slowly murmuring, "This was here first." Then she opens her eyes.. and her expression is strange, though you've seen it once or twice on her face... she never looks quite like herself, as if something old is in her eyes. "I think, sempai.." she begins in a slow, hesitant tone, ".. I think this is the real Ootori Gakuen." Arisugawa Juri watches your face and eyes intently.. noticing quite well the odd change, and when you're like this, it's hard to disagree with what you say because it seems to be spoken from your soul..and the past. But she does inquire, "How..?" Utena paces a bit, her hand resting on her chin, eyes closing. "Ootori... it means phoenix, right? I remember reading once that the phoenix burned itself to death and came back to life out of the ashes brand new... well.. think about it, sempai.. look at this place. All the marks on the walls.. the crumbled state... I think that this must have once been Ootori Gakuen.. and there must have been a fire that destroyed it.. so they rebuilt on top of the ruins..." Utena says, "That's why the school has this design for its signet.. it's in memory of this place.. the original campus.." Utena's eyes widen. "I bet there's a mention of it in the records, too..." Something is clicking behind her eyes, but you're not sure what that connection might be.. Arisugawa Juri blinks... and it just simply makes too much sense. She nods vaguely, sifting her sight through the ash and old destruction.. Utena says, "Phoenix... Ootori... oh my *god*...." Utena collapses, falling onto her knees, eyes so HUGE you expect they might pop out of her head... she wraps those slender, tiny black-clad arms around herself.. "That can't be.. it can't be that.... no.." Arisugawa Juri blinks, brought quickly out of her thoughts to stare down at you... she steps forward, "Utena-san? What is it?" Utena's gaze turns back toward you in sheer horror.. her lips moving without sound for a moment before her voice emerges pale and shadowed, echoy in this dark lost place.. "The Shinsei Duellists... were created by ... by Ootori Gakuen.." Utena says, "They believed in the power of a phoenix.. the phoenix was their emblem.. and the phoenix promised them rebirth.. but OOTORI is the Phoenix..." Arisugawa Juri narrows her eyes, "How can that...." Utena stands up, angrily... and she only needs to say one simple phrase, heavy with anger. "The Ends of the Earth." Arisugawa Juri's eyes light up with that same anger at your words, her slender hand clenching onto her sword. Utena clutches her hand to her head, her fingers scrunching those pastel-pink bangs as she shakes with outrage. "They used us AGAIN... used *ME*. And Miki... And Kei.." Arisugawa Juri's fingers dig tighter into the end of her weapon with each name mentioned.. with the betrayal deepening.. hissing quietly, "All of us...just pawns." Utena says, "Because we've been willing to play the game." Utena says, "If I ever find the person that's truly behind all this.. I swear, sempai..." Utena gazes at the ground with misty eyes. "I don't like to talk about killing anyone.. or even to think of it.. but such a person.. or people.. as the Ends of the Earth... I can't let them continue to use us all like this... if it comes down to it.. I won't give them any mercy." Arisugawa Juri squeezes her eyes closed, nodding to your words before muttering, "You're correct, Utena-san.. we must turn the board around and make the game work for us. Whoever is behind this cannot be forgiven." Utena says, "We're finding out slowly, sempai... I just hope.. we have a chance to tell everyone.." Utena swallows hard, standing in the cold, vast, burn-scarred courtyard.. still quivering with righteous outrage at the realization of YET ANOTHER turn of deception by the Ends of the Earth... she gazes around this marvellous place, but it feels less marvellous now to her... only another cold grave... and another bed of lies.. Arisugawa Juri's slender fingers grow paler as she clenches into the material around the handle of her sword.. digging her nails without care as her knuckles grow white. She is so SICK of the lies..and this just adds to them..and she has about the same feeling you do towards these barren ruins, now. Utena takes in a long, long breath, trying to calm herself. Outrage is fine.. but she has to fight this feeling.. because right now, there are other things. When she gets back above, when she gets to talk to Kei and Miki, that will be the time. She struggles with her anger and paces about a little.. finally saying in a low, strained voice, "Sempai, let's look around. We should try and find out what we can." Utena gestures toward the left. "I'll go left, you take the right.. hopefully we won't get lost.." Arisugawa Juri takes a few silent moments, your repetitive footsteps the only sound, before replying in a monotone, "Hai." and begins walking towards the right. Utena looks back over her shoulder, adding more softly, "Be careful, sempai." Utena disappears toward the left.. Arisugawa Juri doesn't respond as she disappears past a collumn at the same time. You don't find a lot that's to be held in high regard.. mostly empty and battered rooms. However, as you wind down toward the first floor, one of the rooms you find contains a battered amount of shelving and what appears to be scorched suits of armor... the kind that seem to be suitable for jousting, definitely old-style..the paint is largely gone, but traces of red, black, green are still visible. Arisugawa Juri trails her free hand across one of the suit, brushing off a good amount of dust and ash.. but the rust and burns can't be removed that easily. She observes the different styles, playing her eyes over the room. It's something to remember, perhaps. More to the point..it hints back to another time, the school's past. It might make you wonder.. this armor, as you examine it a bit more closely, was well-used. Was duelling always a part of the Ootori student life..or is the duel game descended from an older tradition? Arisugawa Juri narrows her thick lashed eyes..taking this in question as she moves on. Back into the hallways. So little remains to tell you anything about the original nature of this place, yet.. some of the rooms that you move through seem large enough to be classrooms. Confirming this you later discover a room full of rusted black-iron remnants of desks, the wood burned off, but the metal seat and desk skeleton remaining. For a moment as you gaze over that arrangement.. is it laughter you hear? A whispered, faded voice? Arisugawa Juri blinks.. scanning the room before closing her eyes and opening her ears to the room. The memories..the faded past..hangs so thick. She blinks her eyes open once more, playing a hand over the coiled metal bone of an idle desk. You don't believe in miracles... or ghosts.. or any of those other things.. yet.. You can see them.. the students of the past school..in brief little snatches of ghostly movement. They wear different uniforms..their names are different but in many ways they are identical to the students of Ootori now.. so much so that.. you almost swear you recognize some of them as people you have casual acquantances with even today. Arisugawa Juri's azure eyes blink wide... she removes her fingers from the cold twists of the metal as she discovers the vision of her...no, it can't be..of course not..but someone who looks like her... Juri's hand involuntarily moves to her upper chest, over something already well concealed, as the vision fades, and others take its' place around the room. She shakes her head, peering to each familiar, yet distant face.. she moves on, putting the images behind her, heading for the exit from this classroom . If she doesn't look, she doesn't have to be brought to think they're in anyway real..or were once. Escape is easy, at least physically..but now that you've seen one group.. you see them all. Almost like reaching back through a veil through time, you can see the hustle, the bustle.. you can feel the summer sun in the sky shining down.. illuminating another, earlier world.. watch the too-familiar students moving about... and then...they all just turn and STARE at you. Stare through you, at you, invasive glances, glances of horror as something comes... as a fire closes from all directions at once.. you see running, you can hear the screaming.. and you can see their fate. Arisugawa Juri watches each person she approaches with mixed emotions.. feeling as though she can pick out a few from her own classes.. and then another pair.. everything's so normal, so like..above. But when the eyes to her, she glances across the gazes with confusion, until she notices they're not directly set on her... and watches with a mild pain--more like, pity, as the students are engulfed, leaving only their fading screams as memories, now.. Something glittering in the light catches your eye... a dark gold something set into one of the walls. Arisugawa Juri blinks.. and steps towards the wall, peering towards the lure.. You get nearer.. it's no trap as far as you can tell.. but simply an engraved plaque set into the wall... a message in old letter-script along it. "As above.. so below." Arisugawa Juri takes in a bit of the earthern air swiftly as she reads this.. narrowing her features while brushing a finger over the writing, "Nani..." Right as you touch the plate... you hear Utena scream. And the ceiling, the ground, the castle.. begins to shake. Arisugawa Juri blinks, eyes wide.. turning instantly towards your scream, "Ut--!" but she's cut off by the shaking and stares at the area, one hand leaning against the wall.. before she pushes down the hall to find her way out, "Utena!" Little bits and chunks of rock lodge in your hair as they fall from the ceiling that remains above you..somewhere you hear something CRACK in the ground, feeling a distant vibration... a cave-in... oh no. Pieces of increasing size are starting to come down as you push back into the main courtyard, now littered with stones, some a frightening size, and dirt.. Covering your head, you move toward the source of Utena's cry, a doorway leading into a small passage.. Arisugawa Juri clenches her eyes closed just enough to hopefully keep dirt from sifting into them, but open a bit to see through them as she heads for the passage. Utena cries out, again, though softer this time..and you're able to reach her easily.. as she's not really going anywhere..one leg/ankle trapped under a fallen chunk of stone..and her eyes... almost deranged they turn on you, bearing an incredible load of pain, of guilt..did she see the ghosts too, or..something worse? All color drained from her face, though that could merely be shock from the injury. Arisugawa Juri is caught a moment in your eyes..and face..the colors so pale and pained. She moves forward though and crouches by your side, attempting to push off the stone, "We've got to get out of here, Utena.. are you alright?" Utena's mouth works for a moment before she nods, vaguely, lost... unfortunately another RUMBLE shakes the ground, and behind you.. the passage caves in entirely. And.. before you is another wall.. another blockage of stones.. regularly placed. This passage was sealed.. and now.. you're sealed in with it. Arisugawa Juri positions herself over you, covering your head and upper body in her arms as the passage gets blocked.. coughing slightly at the dust and dirt that circulates up. She glances to both sides after things have calmed, and her eyes go wide once more.. Utena coughs bitterly, lungs full of rock-dust.... "...." she gapes when she gets her air back.. "... have to get out.." when she can breathe again. Unfortunately it's now also PITCH dark in here. Arisugawa Juri blinks in the darkness.. her voice not too reassuring as she comments, "That may take a little more than expected, Utena-san.." Utena groans softly, her hand squeezed tight against your bicep.. "You still have your sword... maybe we can wedge the stones.." She coughs again briefly.. Arisugawa Juri emits a choked cough as well before adding, "Hai.." She begins to stand, lowering her free hand to yours, "Can you stand at all?" Utena flails about in the dark, her fingers closing along yours. "h.. hai.." she gasps shakily.. Arisugawa Juri lowers her hand more, wrapping her fingers around your elbow for more support as she leans into helping you. Utena mutters, "D... don't worry about me.. the wall.." It's a pretty tight enclosure. your best bet is to just start trying to claw out of the freshly fallen stones, and hope that they can be moved.. Arisugawa Juri says, "Hai..stay in one place, though. I don't want you tripping and hurting yourself even more." Arisugawa Juri moves to that pile blocking the way she entered and does so, pulling at each stone with her hands and sword, leveraging when needed.. You manage to make enough headway to clear a small hole through which fresh air can enter the passage.. call it a hole of about a foot by a foot.. but the rest of the stones simply won't budge, no matter what you try... and your lightweight weapon comes dangerously close to breaking on occasion... Wonderful. You won't suffocate.. but you can't get out through such a tiny hole either.. instead, you'll starve. Arisugawa Juri sighs heavily.. beads of perspiration beginning across her brow as she leans her forehead against the rocks.. it's hopeless. Utena leans against the wall and limps the three or so feet toward you.."Sempai..." Arisugawa Juri doesn't budge...just simply comments, "I can't move anymore than that. Even with my sword." Utena takes a long breath, looking at you in the dim light... shaking her head. ".. There might be one other thing we could try. Don't give up yet... " Arisugawa Juri glances up.. meeting, even in the little light available, those optimistic blue eyes. She blinks.. "Nani?" Utena takes another deep breath... pausing for an agonizingly long moment before speaking quietly. "You'll have to draw the sword from me... the sword of Dios." Yes, she doesn't know if it can be done by someone other than Kei or Himemiya.. but.. it's that or nothing.. and wasn't one of the gifts of the Duellists to never accept defeat? Arisugawa Juri's eyes visably go wide as she suddenly stands, "Ano..?" Utena says softly, "It's a stronger weapon, sempai." Arisugawa Juri is silent a moment...before stammering, "I..I realize that, but...." Utena asks, ".. but...? Sempai.. we don't have much choice... do you really want to die here?" Arisugawa Juri says, "...I suppose not." Arisugawa Juri is still a mess of confusion and this isn't helping matters as she raises a hand to her forehead and exhales heavily into the small enclosure. Utena sinks back slightly, her back resting against one of the walls.. Arisugawa Juri secures her sword off to the side between two rocks before she looks up, the light playing off her curls in a pale tangerine shade, "I'll do it." Utena straightens up; she nods, her face set in determined acceptance as she limps to your side again, positioning herself close to you, closing her eyes.. Arisugawa Juri blinks.. observing you intently in the dim light. Finding herself on the side of a situation she's not accustumed to.. but she's seen this enough from the duels, and her body moves without thinking, really. She brushes her hand atop Utena's collarbone, the other arm already staking itself close to her back, awaiting her decent.. There's a faint stuttering of light, a slight gleaming, outward projection of energy and you feel a curious lightness as Utena's body slowly sinks back over your arm, the glittering black-inlaid-with-gold hilt of the Sword of the Victor emerging from her breast cleanly, with a sigh from the pink-haired girl... your body is tugged slightly in toward Utena's, as if the moving of the sword opened up a black hole drawing you closer... she hangs in your arms, waiting for you to finish the motion, breathing sof tly in a completely paralyzed state until the unsheathing is completed.. eyes hidden from your view. Arisugawa Juri grips Utena in her arm easily and gently, her eyes upon the glittering hilt as she closes her fingers around it and slowly slows pulls it from Utena's chest silently..fighting the pulling sensation. She gazes as its' light dances over her eyes.. the feeling when having it in her hand quite surprising, and rather undescribable for her. She soon looks back to Utena, though, in concern. Utena lies quiet for a moment, breathing.. after a moment slowly straightening with a huge gasp of breath, and glancing at you froma strangely reddened face.. though that last small detail might be hard to see in the dim light here... resting her hand almost weightlessly on your arm she steps back a pace, and looks at you holding her weapon, which seems.. perhaps you're imagining it.. to glow faintly in the darkness... There's a frozen kind of moment, and you realize that.. holding this weapon gives you power.. that the sword of the Victor is definitely like no other... a weapon that is the key to revolutionizing the world.. and that while you hold it.. you also have power over *her*, over Utena. She knows this.. she watches you.. she gave you her trust... Arisugawa Juri is indeed immobile, frozen in this moment.. standing with a sort of honored dignity as she stares into the illuminating weapon, the power almost visable as the light plays over her face. This is a portion of what she's wanted... a huge port ion, the power.. to maybe in fact prove the miracles wrong, to find truth. She gazes up from the blade to your powerful eyes and at first, hers may practically shine with the realization of what she now holds, and what she can now rightfully do. The power over so much...including, yes, you. But from her lips, she releases only this, with her proud form clasping the hilt, "It almost seems a waste to use this noble weapon for digging.." Her eyes continue to yours..before she turns and begins leveraging and pushing at the rocks with the blade, pulling with her hands.. Utena shuts her eyes for a moment, an overwhelming sensation of something very narrowly passing over her, before she turns and starts to use her own small, delicate hands to pry at the stones in the wall, in time with your careful strikes of the sword... you may or may not notice the flickerings of pain crossing her eyes with each blow of the weapon against the rock. Arisugawa Juri doesn't notice.. she's too busy concentrating. On the removal of rocks.. but also on many thoughts passing through her mind, now. She strikes, and cherishes the sword for now.. grateful for the power that will get them out. But she's also a little remorseful, though that's surely not noticeable, as if she's made a decision.. or a realization.... either way, she continues, and tries to be careful of knocking large rocks free on you. The rocks can't hold up aginst the sword of the Prince; between your blows and Utena's pulls, the wall crumbles and gives way. Eventually, you are freed...standing back in the reopened tunnel..and before you stretches a changed vista... much more has been devastated now than was previously... but in the distance you can see additional opened passages... swiss-cheesing the walls around the open courtyard..perhaps one of them, or more, can lead to the surface.. Arisugawa Juri certainly hopes so.. as she leans back towards the cavern, taking her own sword in hand... and glances down at the two.. and the complete contrast of the weapons.. before looking back up to Utena. Utena limps forward into the light, gazing back at you... eyes full of a kind of fearful expectation. She has this sense you may not want to surrender the sword... Arisugawa Juri meets your eyes with no answer..reassurance against or encouragement for your fearful gaze. Though the way her finger twist slightly to cling a moment to the hilt, you can guess her thoughts, well.. but she slowly, uneasily holds it up in an offering way.. her grip loosening. Her eyes finally speak, a mute expression that it wouldn't be right for her to take the power this way.. that only in a duel would she feel she'd earned it. This would simply be deception. So she accepts this for the time being, but her features show that you should take this opportunity swiftly. Utena reaches out with both hands and gently pulls the Sword of Dios from your hands...wanting to say something.. but the look in your eyes silences her..she simply presses the shining silver weapon back close against her chest, gleaming point aimed to the ground... the sword glimmers into a kind of orange-rust-red glimmer that sinks back into her body.. as she looks at the light in your eyes.. the renewed vigor.. and knows that this won't be the last of this between us... Arisugawa Juri curls her fingers around her palm, clutching empty air a moment.. her eyes intent upon yours.. before turning and grasping the hilt of her own sword as she inquires, "Can you manage the walk or do you need help?" Utena diverts her eyes. "I.. I think I can manage.." She takes a tentative step forward, and there's pain, but she resolves to bear it.. not afraid of you exactly.. but feeling that intent, that *focus* of your eyes bearing down on her.. she moves toward one of the passages that's been opened up in the wall, carefully, walk stilted by the injury to her ankle. Arisugawa Juri walks to the side of you, and a little behind.. as if watching over your movements. She keeps her pace slow to stay where she is and follows in the direction of the opening. Perhaps this was all meant to happen, an unsettling thought that coils about Utena's mind as she makes her way up an equally curiously and unsettlingly CLEAR passage that tilts upward, ascending.. echoes in her mind of the ascent to the duel arena as she struggles up the pathway slowly on a hurt limb, feeling the cold edge of the Sword of Dios stirring faintly within her, like a restless thing... Arisugawa Juri doesn't seem to mind the slow-in-coming trek, she's most likely lost in her own thoughts, anyways. She stays at her self-designated position by you and continues on. It takes a LONG time, but eventually you break up along the surface, the shining light of the sun warming you as you emerge within a grove of trees... a hidden spot buried deep in the ancient trees and foliage of the Forest of Challenges. A warm silence of a hot summer day, sharp contrast to the cold below, greets you as you make your way back to the world that people live in, each caught up in the thoughts of the experiences below...Utena turns and glances slightly at you, standing (slightly wobbly) on her sneakered feet.. looking at you with a silent plea for mercy in her eyes; she's TERRIFIED you're going to immediately challenge her, perhaps because of the proximity to the Arena. Arisugawa Juri emerges from the hidden spot.. raising her face to meet the sun, blocking any harmful rays to her sapphires with her free hand. After a moment she lowers her face to meet your eyes.. and noticing that terror with no reaction, she states simply, "The other tunnels must lead to areas around here, and most likely the other older school buildings. I'm sure you're excited to tell the others.. but get some rest, and see to that wound, first, will you?" Your frightened eyes like those of a deer by a hunter she gently tries to lay to rest... she's tired, too.. and in no mood to duel than you are. She does have honor about her, and displays it proudly as she walks past you. Utena nods, shoulders falling as she lets her weariness finally show fully. A soft acknowledgement of your words, "Hai, Arisugawa-sempai." her simple response... though after a pause she adds to your back, "Be careful. They're still out there." And with a final sigh, she starts to move herself, going in the opposite direction of you, her mind set to go meet up with those she's missed in her brief time in the dark.. Kei particularly.. Arisugawa Juri's direction is apparently not set on anywhere particular.. she may be able to get to her dorm from the way she's headed, but she really has no plans. Just..to continue walking. She replies to your final warning with a brief hug of her fingers around her sword, before disappearing into the forest.