X Nation: Delirium [Raichi, Lynx]

[Eve Quickk]

Giggling.

"Guests!" a young girl exclaims. Her voice seems to come from anywhere and everywhere, but she is nowhere to be seen. The giggling continues. "Oh, welcome, welcome! I'm so glad you decided to come!"

A wide expanse of darkness fills the scene. There seems to be nothing around, nothing far away, nothing to grasp or hold on to. There is nothing but the laughing.

Finally, a spotlight shines down a few feet away, revealing a sturdy wooden stage and a young girl standing on top of it. Both of her arms are extended into the air, as if welcoming the audience to the play. A warm clapping erupts around the stage, but there is no one around.

"The play is about to start! Let's all settle down, now!" the girl exclaims. Her yellow pigtails bounce up and down as she speaks. The clapping immediately subsides. "Please welcome our main actors!"

With a loud click, another spotlight appears over our heroes, revealing them to the 'audience'. Now, with proper lighting, the heroes can see thousands upon thousands of dolls surrounding them. A clapping sound can be heard coming from the pieces of cloth, but they sit cold and still. They are all facing the heroes bathed in light.

[Taichi Negeel]

Taichi had no recollection of what he was doing before he got here, or how he got here. Was he even anywhere at all? He couldn’t see a thing no matter where he turned, only hear the voice of a young girl. Her giggles sounded cute, and yet for some reason gave him goosebumps. The laughing continued, and eventually a spotlight in the distance revealed the girl that belonged to the voice. He could have sworn he heard her voice from all around him earlier, and now she was a few feet away?

Not only was he greatly confused by what was going on, he was also curious and got a little exited when she announced there was going to be a play. Just as she announced the actors a bright light shone upon him, his arm moving over his eyes in a reflex to give them some time to adjust to the new lighting. He smiled when he heard the applause, his arm returning to resting condition and had a look at the crowd. Seeing they were all dolls made his smile drop and gave him an eerie feel, how was this even possible? He mentally reassured himself that this was likely just a prank and the applause didn’t come from the dolls but from the chairs.

After taking in the crowd he looked at his feet and back at the crowd, realizing that the actor they were applauding was in fact himself! In shock he took in the rest of his surroundings and noticed an attractive girl to his right. This visibly eased his uncertainties about the situation, appearing in a daze as he glanced at her contentedly with a light blush on his cheeks, his thoughts lingering on the endless possibilities of the play’s theme, Romeo and Juliet, Rapunzel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty. Any play that involved him kissing the girl was one he would be happy to unexpectedly perform in, even if it were for a bunch of creepy dolls.

[Kelara no Kitsune]

It wasn't the first time that others had attempted to kidnap Kelara, and it probably wasn't going to be the last. The young singer and icon had been on her way to Magnolia for an interview with the weekly sorceror magazine, when their transport had been knocked over sideways. The bodyguards she had been travelling with had been knocked cold almost immediately from the impact alone, leaving her to climb out of the cart with much difficulty. Groaning in pain, she had gotten to her feet, brushing herself off as she was looking around trying to figure out what had happened. The wheel of the cart had plunged into some kind of hole, which seemed far too conveniently placed to be an accident. Either case, the girl had made her way through to Magnolia, reported the accident, before being escorted to a nearby Hotel to get some rest and relaxation. 
Climbing up onto a massage board, she placed her head onto the pillow as a servant started massaging into her muscles, relieving her of any pain. The nine bushy tails had curled up underneath her to form a cushion. It was so perfect, that shortly after, the fox fell asleep...

How many hours later had it been? Kelara wasn't certain. Waking up with her face against a cold wooden surface, she had the headache of a century. Bathed in darkness at  first, she was slowly sitting herself up, groaning in discontent at the situation. What had happened after the massage..? Memories were foggy and she couldn't place them anywhere. Then, from the darkness, a giggle errupted, followed by the introduction to a play, followed by a blinding spotlight. Kelara raised her hands above her head, trying to block out the light so that her golden eyes could adjust. Applause, cheering. Slowly the pieces were coming together as it dawned upon her. Kelara had been kidnapped after she fell asleep at the masseuse!

Looking around herself, her vision was almost blurry from the headache, as her eyes fell upon a boy. A naked boy. Immediately taken aback, Kelara pointed and started hissing at him. "W-w-who do you think you a-are! D-damn P-pervert! I know your kind, mister kidnapper! J-just let me go!" Certain that he was somehow involved in all of this, she was slowly drifting off towards the side of the stage, trying to hide herself behind the curtains, not exactly sure where she could go from there. The nine bushy-tails were curling up around her, as if to protect her from all harm. It was all unpleasant and weird, and she wasn't very good at fighting on her own.

[Eve Quickk]

"That's enough." The young girl suddenly spat at the dolls. The spotlight stopped shining on the heroes, Her hands balled up into small fists, and she pouted as if she was upset that the dolls had actually clapped for them. The dolls' clapping immediately subsided, every one of them silent except for one, who dared to continue to clap. She glared at the dolls, her eyes instantly settling on the doll that was still clapping. With a snap of her fingers, the doll burst into a brilliant grey flame, burning until there was nothing left. The clapping stopped.

Nodding to herself, the young girl turned to face the two heroes. "Let's get started, shall we?" She raised hands from side to side as the flimsy stage fell backwards.

Moaning. The silhouette of thousands of staggering bodies revealed themselves behind the stage, all of them closing in on the two heroes. More appeared in a large circle around the two, gradually getting smaller and smaller with each passing heartbeat. The moaning grew louder.

"It's time to set the stage, heroes!" The girl's laughing echoed throughout the dark area. All of the dolls were now with her, sitting around her and on her. They had instantly crossed a great distance to get to the girl with pigtails, but they all appeared motionless as they stared at the two heroes with black button eyes. "Let's see what you can do."

[Taichi Negeel]

Because her tails were wrapped around her he hadn’t noticed that she was naked, nor did he realize he was naked himself. Therefor it was all the more awkward for him that he got accused of kidnapping her and was clearly confused. “Huh?! My.. Kind? I’m not a kidnapper, lady!”

Regardless of his defense she backed away from him, but he chased after her. As he walked he noticed the disturbing feeling of one of his limbs bouncing against his leg. He stopped in his tracks to confirm what he feared was the case and looked down. Suddenly it became clear to him why she was accusing him of being a kidnapper, he was naked! “Why am I naked!?”

He was utterly confused, but not ashamed about it at all. And just as he was about to inquire about the girl’s identity the clapping noise subsided, his attention returning to the creepy looking dolls. The little girl had appeared again and she seemed angry, especially at the doll that continued to clap. Taichi frowned when she ended the doll with a snap of her fingers and concluded that she had to be behind this.

What happened next was like a scene from a horror movie. Scary, moaning silhouettes closing in on them. He looked for a way out or through, but the beings were all around them, the moaning sound getting louder and more disturbing. He looked at the little girl who was now surrounded by the dolls. “Wait!”

But there was no time as the creatures were closing in. He moved closer to Kelara and reached out his arm, hoping to welcome her into his chest. “Stay close to me. I’ll cast a shield to protect us.”
From that point on he started to focus, the spell he wanted to cast costing precision and time for he had to mold his emotions into a large sphere. He just hoped he would be able to make it in time to protect them.

[Kelara no Kitsune]

Kelara was now somewhat curlt up in a corner by herself, her nine-bushy tails wrapped around her naked frame like a shield. The other was holding a hand out towards her, and the female was clearly upset with the fact that the dolls were applauding for Kelara and the other stranger. Everything was incredibly awkward, and she was certainly out somewhere where she couldn't handle herself. "Don't get close to me, you freaks!.. I-I'm famous that you know it!" The girl shouted loudly, with a mixture of fear and anger, probably shouting as much at Taichi as she was shouting at the dolls and the woman. The fox ears atop of her head were lowered in tune with the distress that she was sensing. The hands were holding over her ears and her face was dug into her knees. Attempting her best to shut out the world, she really wasn't sure what she could do in this situation. They appeared to be surrounded, and as far as she could tell there wasn't anything that she could use her magic on. Scared, frightened, Kelara did the only thing she really knew how to do in such a predicament. Curl up and hope that someone would come and rescue her from this nightmare.

From the tiny fox-like lady, a soft whimpering could be heard at this point in time. So confused, so alone, she just couldn't help herself. It felt like they had been placed onto a stage with the sole purpose of dying. Additionally, they had been stripped of their clothes and posessions, making it almost a riddicule. It was absolutely horrible. Despite all of her best attempts at shutting the world outside, the tiny girl with her peculiar way of speaking had done enough to catch her attention. One thing had become clear to Kelara. The one who was responsible for this mess was, in most likelyhood, that little wench. When word got out, Kelara would have her revenge, from this life, or the next!

[Eve Quickk]

"Your magic won't work here, puny human!" The girl laughed, each breath growing more menacing than the last. "Your fame or fortune is nothing to me. Only your souls-- only your blood is of value."

A twisted grin began to form on her face. She and the dolls around her grinned in unison, each of the tiny cloth bodies facing towards the two heroes. But their shiny, black button eyes reflected no happiness or joy. They were lifeless. Cold. Calculating. Still.

The zombies began to close in on the two heroes, their cold hands reaching forward and touching brushing their bare skin. They grabbed onto any limb, any finger, any inch of skin they could find. There was only the sound of moaning and ripping skin as their bodies were consumed.

There seemed to be no end to the flow of zombies, each of them trying to get every a drop of the two heroes' blood. More and more piled up on top of them, but even through sustained injuries, it seemed that the two would not die. They lived on in agony.

The two woke up with the sound of that girl's wretched laughing.

"Remember: Remember it was ME, Jessica that caused this."

-END-