(GSE3) House Field: Seifer Leo's House

[Cipher Izanagi]

The male cackled again, seeing the fury and determination of Yugure, grinning like a sadistic murderer from behind his fingers, his deep crimson eyes full of insanity. A Reverse fight table appeared in front of him, and the female. The insane Reverse Seifer took the Dauntless Dominate pose again, grinning even more like a sadistic maniac. "Can you do it 'Queen'?! Can you save one of your puppets?!" Seifer taunted Yukino, staring at her as the reverse marks took their place under his eyes, looking like fangs covered in blood. "Or will you fail to save someone who trusted you with their life yet again?! Ahahahahaha!!!" the insane laughter and emotional stabs continued as the group was surrounded in the fight field reserved for Reverse fighters, adding an oppressive, almost suffocating air to the area.

[Cherry]

Yugure confronted the horrific Link Joker clan with Gold Paladin. The soldier knew how the mechanic of Lock worked, and still took the worst possible matchup. Ahmes had come with her into that space, and so did the Liberator deck. It wasn't a choice simply because she had to, rather, because she wanted to. They were more than ready to face the invaders... or so they thought. A single lock drove the queen's mind into a panicked frenzy. Static-filled images of paladins falling before her in those red and black bubbles clouded her mind. If her livid fury wasn't bad enough, the Swordsman of Light could only try to help her calm down.

It was just a... memory?

The lock was undone at the end phase, and she relaxed some... Yugure's fear of these seals was ever prevalent, and honestly shook up the Liberators. The same as a year ago... the loss of rearguards without them being in the drop zone. No... the entire circle was lost. Gancelot was more shaken up than anyone. While the queen kept fighting, but the half elf's mind began swimming. For such a long time, ever since he was born, he was shunned. Being born a half elf brought an uprising through discrimination. The blood of human knights and elven nobles ran through his veins. Even so, he became a knight. Alfred and Ahmes were the first two to meet him without a shred of disgust. Royal Paladin became a home to him, finally bringing him friends that looked passed his heritage.

... Or was that a lie...?

Despite losing column after column, and even Ahmes to focused attacks, Yugure continued with Margaux. Though the Break Ride turn proved incredibly ineffective. Gancelot blamed himself. He believed everyone was only his friend out of pity. "What a lonely guy", they'd whisper behind his back. Yet, the steely warrior didn't want to believe it was just that. That it was simply acknowledgment of his hardships. Doing everything possible to bolster the courage of his friends... this showed it wasn't enough.

"It's not your fault", Yugure protested. He was ridden once again onto a lonely battlefield without friends. He could feel the queen's suffering, cursing her luck and failures. The warrior did the same, until she called out to him. Yugure told him that they're all together still, and a lonely future isn't what they're fighting for... Why couldn't he come up with things like this? Words and heart necessary to uplift and rally the Sanctuary... He wanted to do that for her.

Then Gancelot realized that wasn't beyond the realm of possibility. Having all of his comrades return, smiling, even for an instant to see them locked the very next turn... The Solitary Liberator had an epiphany. If he couldn't believe his own encouragement, how could the others? Despite impossible odds, Yugure didn't give up either, even if she was the most broken up one of them all. Finally realizing this, Gancelot used his own power to surpass the game: two heal triggers thought dead appeared as his Vanguard's sixth damage checks subsequently. This was the revival of Miracle Trigger, which confused the woman, because it shouldn't be working after a year.

"Miracles are overrated", the warrior donned on his noble steed stated. "We don't need those. We need our own power united to survive."

Requesting that Yugure and Ahmes be put in the care of the Solitary Liberator, the King gave his blessings. The copies of Liberator of the Round Table, save one, transformed into a Crossride: Liberator of Bonds, Gancelot Zenith. Against the overwhelming odds, one of the veterans of Royal Paladin shined as hope. Yugure understood that the power to force miracles was still in hand. This breakthrough could be the turnabout they needed in surviving the war! The Chosen Sword ordered everyone to follow behind the man who accepted that his friendships weren't out of pity nor were they lies: every comrade that fought with him was one that held genuine companionship in their heart.

So this is how our Tsubasa overcame... huh...

Now, more than ever, he was proud to be a Paladin.

Phallon and Marron couldn't make the finishing blow, and Gancelot Zenith was met with a Perfect Guard. Even so, his Limit Break shined through with the Aspiring Liberator being inspired by a hero. Phallon tagged out for Ahmes to return to duty. The elf was a bit jealous, seeing that it's always the Swordsman of Light who's the flashy one. Yugure offered an apology for not being here when Seifer needed her, along with keeping the truth away. But no more. The Ace dashed forward to destroy the menace - breaking its spell over the brunette.

Gancelot +40 Affinity
Alfred +10 Affinity
Liberators +20 Affinity

[Cipher Izanagi]

The fight had been going complete in Link Joker's favor, with the possessor of Seifer taunting and laughing at Yukino's every attempt to break through. Even going as far as to crush Ahmes from the battlefield and tossing him into the void of the drop zone. And yet, something on both sides started fighting the evil. Continuing the fight, the white wings of Gancelot awoke Seifer's sleeping soul, causing the brunette to fight back against the oppressor. On the final turn, Seifer's spirit actually separated from his body, and walking over to Ahmes's side, long enough to ask for the Swordsman of Light to do the honors of defeating the sad excuse he'd become through this possession, disappearing after the damage struck.

"Ghk... Gaaaaaaaaaah! I won't... go... Alone!" the distorted voice shouted, grasping and clawing at it's head and face. The black aura grew larger before becoming a pair of tendril lances, shooting out to pierce Ahmes and Yukino. However, just before they could make contact... Seifer's spirit appeared once more covered in a aura of hell fire. Holding how his hand, the dark energy rushed back into his aura, coating the edges once more in black, but so weak that it was almost barely noticeable. "Go back to sleep weak self." Seifer spoke, his voice echoing in the chasm of black that was the space they currently inhabited, snapping his fingers. In an instant, the form that had shifted from Seifer's image to a grotesque blob of darkness ignited in the same hell fire that surrounded the brunette. After a large amount of distorted screams, and pleading for it to stop, the blob grew silent, incinerating and blowing away like dust... In a windless space. Well, that happened. In any case, the fiery aura around Seifer disappeared as he looked back over his shoulder at Yukino and Ahmes, smiling. He sitll had the single fang like mark under his right eye, and yet he seemed fully in control, his eyes both a gentle blue. "Thanks Yugure... Ahmes. ...I never blamed you for not being able to save me from that fate. So don't worry about it. I'll see you on the other side." with that, everyone was expelled from the space, the bridge forced to collapse, and Seifer inhaling deeply of air as he awoke from the worst nightmare of his life.

Yugure AF+3
Ahmes AF+3

[Cherry]

Seifer +3 Affinity

Before getting a chance to really respond to the happenings of that abomination's mutation in the space, or Seifer blowing it up, the Chosen Sword was launched out of the space. This suddenly snap brought immediate recoil, causing the queen to fall backward in Seifer's room. Yugure let out a surprisingly high-pitched, girlish cry of pain upon hitting her head. Not the tone one would expect from a hardcore soldier like she was trying to be. Nevertheless, nursing an aching skull in hand, she stood back up. Ahmes wasn't there, but he had a question to ask...

"Are you alright now, Seifer?" She inquired.

[Cipher Izanagi]

The male was now sitting up, holding a sleeping Rosalia's head on his lap as he'd pulled her fully onto the bed so that she slept comfortably. The brunette however nodded in response, not laughing or saying anything about the girlish scream. He turned his head in her direction, the one reverse mark still there, but his piercing blue eyes showed no signs of it's influence. Especially since he was sitting there stroking the red head's hair as she slept. "I'm fine thanks to you and Gold Paladin. ...After I got reversed, something stopped it from spreading and I decided to... No pun intended... Lock myself away to try and contain it until you showed up. You got here earlier than expected. I uh... Sorry you had to see that sorry mess I got myself into..." he laughed a bit sheepishly before flinching slightly. He was still in a bit of pain from the Reverse, and lying still in the same way for so long.

[Cherry]

Yugure was in a state of confusion, disbelief, and joy bundled up into a mix that practically gave a fever dream. There was great worry concerning the Reverse mark still being there, but if he's consciously in control of himself, then they can investigate later. "You..." was all she muttered, a tone filled with praise for such actions. He actually held himself down for her to show up and help fix it... Yugure nervously chuckled as she dropped to her knees, trembling. Vision blurring, the use of a Crossride and a Break Ride - a Crossbreak Ride took a lot out of her, along with the heavy use of powers. Sweating and grinning like a giddy idiot, she spoke:

"Thanks to you... I was in time... and finally found a solution...!"

That was all she wrote, as the soldier passed out on the floor face first.

[Cipher Izanagi]

Seifer smiled at the reaction, though sweat dropped a bit as she passed out. He couldn't just leave her there, though he himself felt weak. Oh well, gotta do something about it. She did save his life just now. Gently shifting the red head off him without waking her he climbed out of bed, wobbling a bit and steadying himself. He felt a hand grab his and... What the hell? It was Mordred Phantom holding him up. Okay... He thought he was going crazy as Mordred disappeared as soon as he'd appeared but it just felt weird. Then again, with everything that was happening it's surprising that he still thought that way. In any case, after he got his balance and strength back, which didn't take very long, he rolled Yugure over, lifting her up with touching anything inappropriate, and carrying her limp form into the living room. He noticed his sister here to, passed out on one of his couches. Was everyone here? What the hell happened while he was in a coma? Didn't matter. In any case he set the snowy haired woman down on the other couch, setting her up so that she was comfortable on it. Standing back he stretched for a moment before fetching a blanket for both Yugure and Noel, laying the spare blankets over each of the girls individually, making sure they were both covered and comfortable before returning to his own room, making sure that Rosalia was comfortable and covered, shutting out the light as he left the room. Checking the doors and windows he made sure they were locked before going into the kitchen and getting some water, drinking slowly. After the amount of time he'd spent in that space he felt dehydrated.

[Cherry]

"Ugh..." Yugure moaned in her sleep as if cursed with the world's worst hangover. Saying she felt half dead wouldn't be a stretch. The massive amount of power she used yesterday left her arms almost entirely numb. Groaning more, the soldier forcibly sat up on the couch. "Christ..." was mumbled as she rubbed her aching head. Looking off to the nearby table, the paladin deck cases and cell phone were placed down, and her boots had been removed as well. Mental space lobby that housed the voices of knights remained quiet, trying not to further upset their queen's head. Unfortunately, being the workaholic she is, she grabbed her phone.

The Training Facility had been secured, however, the Espoir scouts noted that they haven't seen Cero return to the manor as they agreed. In addition to that, they can't find Satoshi. Lovely, more problems. At least their Headquarters were back in their control.

Removing the blanket, the woman tried to stand, but quickly fell backward on the couch due to dizziness.

"I... need to check on HQ... Then speak with father..."

[Hope]

Message was sent to Yukino from Hana:
"Ohayou, hello, hey, what are your plans for today? Let me tag along! I had breakfast with Mom-san and Dad-san today, was wishing you were there. Mom-san is also about to go off and leave for more work today, you know how she is. Anyways I think we should see her off too! Also may have had an audience with the King, but we can talk about that later~! - Hana Isabella Espoir"

[Cherry]

"I need to head to Cero's Training Facility, and then I'm heading home. I'll see mother off if she isn't gone by the time I get to the manor. It won't be much fun more than business, but if you'd still like to come along, sure."

That text look awhile to conjure up and send. Yugure's migraine was fading, feeling she could move a bit better. Everyone else in the house seemed to be asleep, so she could slip out. Though, the woman wanted to speak with Seifer's sister, along with informing the other girl of what occurred. Even more, she would need to get Tsubasa to HQ to assist with planning. Another thing that caught her attention was Hana mentioning an audience with Alfred. She's the princess, isn't that normal? Or was it something wrong?

Great, another possible issue.

Pulling gloves and boots on, the queen left a sticky note on the refrigerator and departed, making sure the front door was locked. It contained her phone number.

Please call me or send a text when possible, all of you. -Yugure

[Hope]

"Business is why I'm coming along! All part of the plan. I've been putting in the effort as well, pls. Taking down the the main source, the strongest fighter within a vicinity seems to be the solution to freeing a place from the spell which is the this situation in a micro level. In a macro level, I speculate that there is a main source to this all that we have to take down in such a similar means, though... we don't know how that even looks like or how strong that is so I'm thinking on that.  Also! I want to let you know that I'm proud of you for yesterday, nice job neesan. Anyways I'll meet you over there, you'll probably get there first since I'm trying to keep Nociel from getting involved in Mom-san and Shamsiel's argument at the current moment. :c -  Hana Isabella Espoir"

[Golden Sage NovaRaizer]

As Yugure left, Darren pulled up to the home of Seifer. He blinked lightly as he said, "Is this it? This is the address she gave me, right?" He had, admittedly, gotten quite lost on his way here. It was a common practice and a sign that Darren was completely back to normal. He also took a more scenic route in order to avoid Reverse fighters. He didn't want to take any chances before meeting up with the others.

He parked the bike, putting up the stand as he walked up to the door. It was locked. That made sense all things considered but was anyone even there? He looked for the doorbell and decided to knock instead to be certain.

[Cece Lockhart]

Noel was still fast asleep and started having those dreams again but this time, she was completely conscious within it and was able to talk directly to the mysterious voice:

If only... if only I were stronger... strong enough to be by my brother's side... strong enough to protect and not protected... strong enough to.... be me...

But you can... just join us... many are waiting for your arrival...

Can I really...? No... you... you are the cause of all of this!

It is only an invasion if people resist... we are merely helping those who want to be stronger... we mean no harm. Just accept our help, Knight of the Pearl. Accept and we will promise no harm will come to you or your friends. Isn't that what you want? Peace and harmony along with the strength to stand by the side of those who are considered heroes?

I... I can't... I don't trust you... I can't!

Very well... we will come for you soon...

With that, the voice went silent and a flash of light lit up the darkness of Noel's dream and she was teleported to a familiar field. A field barren of life, with dark skies and many black orbs with red and black rings around which now Noel knew that it was the power of Lock. Suddenly Noel started feeling a great amount of fear and sadness, what were inside those Locks were her friends and she was able to hear their screams of pain.

"S, Stop it! NOOOOOO!"

Noel fell on her knees and suddenly---
_____________________________________________________

The door was being knocked on and Noel opened her eyes. She was back in reality, finding herself covered by a blanket. Her heart was pounding and had tears on her face. Her body was shaking in full of fear. The dream was the most scariest of them all.

Very well... we will come for you soon...

Who was coming for her? Knowing now that someone or something will come after her made her extremely scared. The door knocked once more and she got up to check who it was discreetly. It was Darren. She opened door without putting into thought if he was infected or not. She trusted him completely, something she hasn't done in a long time.

"Darren! Come in! Quickly before anyone notices!"

[Golden Sage NovaRaizer]

Darren cringed when he saw the reply text. He didn't know who this person was, but it was never good when someoneneeded to speak with you. He thought to reply back but what would he really say? Sorry I went evil and tried to hurt people? Well, he was sorry for it but those words wouldn't really mean much.

When the door opened and Noel was on the other side, Darren blinked lightly as he said,"Noel, so you're here. Glad I found you!" He had a mix of relief, joy, and shock that she was here of all places. Still, it wasn't like it was bad at all, just confusing. He walked inside as she asked, certain by how she was that she wasn't one of them and also that she was extremely scared.

"Good to see you're alright... I know what it feels like to have that Reverse thing all over you. Its really not fun."

[RosaliaIzanami]

This world is... so quiet...

Rosalia shifted in her sleep, clinging to the blanket that Seifer had laid over her. In her dreams, it was the first time she saw what she assumed to be Cray. Or at least, an infected one. Everything was quiet, not necessarily dark, but more like washed of all colors. Walls and trees, the sky and grass; everything was just varying shades of gray, as if no life was breathed into the lands.

It's so.. sad...

Do you want to make it pretty again?

Who's there?...

The colorless world started to fade to black, utter darkness surrounding her, but Rosalia didn't feel all that afraid. She was more curious to this weird dream than anything else, though jumped as lights suddenly shown down on her. It was a ring, the ground black with a red outline separating it from the rest of the darkness. But the red itself wasn't perfectly smooth. The redness was glowing, the glow reflected off of something brighter that stuck out of the ground in ragged formation.

Thorns... Silver Thorns? Luquier? Luquier, is that you?

Do you want to make everyone happy again?... Make everyone colorful?...

Y-yes! Yes, I do! Bu-ut I can't... I'm not... My shows are colorless.. I'm not strong enough to do anything. I couldn't help Seifer... I was scared, and I cried in front of Noel and Tsubasa... If I didn't leave, maybe none of this would have happened...

Then let me help you. Together, we can put on the show of a lifetime. The show of the millennium. We can perform for eternity, and so as long as we crack the whip, we can make everyone happy...

The ground started to shake, the ring itself becoming ragged as the thorns shot up from the ground, growing closer and closer to Rosalia in the center at a frightening pace. The glow reflected from thorn to thorn, washing what was once covered in black in an ominous scarlet.

W-wait.. Wait, wait! Stop!!!

Rosalia held up her hands as if to protect herself from the approaching wave of spikes...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The redhead sat up with a shriek, a cold sweat running down her spine. She hugged herself tightly, clinging to the blanket tighter as she shook, eyes wide in case she would see the thorns again if she shut them. It took her a minute to even realize where she was, that she was safe in Seifer's room. But everything that happened yesterday was certainly not a dream, nor a nightmare. It was reality; some sort of alien force invading Rijuku through the use of Cardfight? "I-it wasn't real... It wasn't real... the stage is my home.. it is colorful.... It makes everyone... everyone happy..." After her whispers to herself, the shaking seemed to subside for now. Se-ee?... There's nothing to be afraid of... B-besides, you have to be strong.. strong on your own... like Noel and Tsubasa and Hana and everyone... I have to help out... somehow...