[IC/Reroll] Under the Hill: The Final Circle

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Quincy

Quincy could hear the loud rackets of the others in the maze. However he didn't care right now. He kept moving. He had to get to the center before everyone else. Hunting wasn't important right now. He could do it all he wanted as soon as he reached it. He was running on all fours for increased speed. He bounded with inhumane haste as he could go making sure to watch his surroundings as he went. He didn't know what this maze had in store and he certainly wasn't going to be completely caught off guard by it.

*Bang*

A bullet from somewhere. The Rat barely dodged it in time. Had he not been paying attention that might have spelled his end rather quickly. He kept moving though, if he stopped to look around he'd be even easier to hit. It was a tactic he relied on a lot in the hunt. Many a time they would stop moving to ascertain where the placed shot had come from. That's when you took the second as it was much easier to hit. Quincy breathed in and activated his Induction shield, or at least primed it enough that it would be able to turn on right when he heard the next gunfire. However... he was confused as to who was firing at him... the Bullet... the muzzle sound... was from his gun. He still had them both, so that certainly wasn't possible.

[Felicity]

Noella has been making her way through the maze slowly and methodically. She had yet to notice anything amiss aside from a rather large hulking figure which dragged what was possibly a club made from a human corpse that bypassed Noella after she cast an illusion to veil herself in the darkness.

Still, Noella knew that something had to be up and so she continued to hunt for a path that offered progress with as much stealth as she could muster. She took care to avoid the noises of others that she heard in the distance for now, although she did keep a mental tab on the general direction they came from. If push came to shove then she'd bolt and try to find someone, anyone else. Right?

[Sparky]

Matthew took a calming breath that he didn't cause any physical harm to Ellaria, before hearing the thwacking noise from the opposite side of the wall, "i promise that I didn't harm her in any way." He added after Ellaria, hoping that he could be trusted between them. running a hand through his blonde hair he glanced towards the wall, 'There has to be a way to get around to whoever is on the opposite side...' He thought to himself, grasping his lucky coin in his free hand.

[Rosesong]

Rose and Ixidor

Taking a step back from the wall, the redhead struggled to recontain the sheer relief that still threatened to overtake her at the knowledge that Ellaria was safe and a few feet away from her, regardless of a wall standing in her path to the girl. "Thanks Ix," Rose said rather sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck apologetically while looking at the painter. "I'm sorry to have scared you."

Positive that the boy meant her no harm, she quickly stored her knife back into her bag, wincing as pain flooded through her hand. Glaring at it ruefully, she noticed a bruise quickly beginning to form. At least my circulation won't cut off, she sighed, trying to block the pain out of her mind as she focused on the task at hand. Ix said there was a man with her, she thought with worry, afraid of what might befall her friend. Turning to the wall, she narrowed her green eyes at the unknown stranger that was on the other side, not caring that he couldn't see her do it. Hearing the man speak, claiming not to have harmed Ellaria, she slightly relaxed, but still felt the need to make her point very clear to him.

"Listen you," she started in a low, dark tone. "If you harm one hair on that girl's head, I swear that I'll kill you right where you stand as soon as I see you. Understand?" Underneath her dark, danger-laden tone was desperation to keep the girl safe from harm, which despite her best efforts, still shone through in her threat.

Phantom

As the tall, mysterious man made his way through the maze, he caught heard a voice, so quiet he almost missed hearing it all together. "Well," floated a female voice to his ears, its tone unreadable. "Have you figured out what you want, what it feels like?" The voice sounded so familiar to Phantom; yet he couldn't place where it came from.

Staring ahead, he caught the faintest glimpse of startling, deep green eyes as their owner turned away from him, her long dark hair shimmering softly as she began to round the next corner. "Remember, phantoms and ghosts don't exist here," her voice whispered as she disappeared from his sight.

[Ragnar]

Ixidor steps back and goes into awkward silence after hearing Rose threaten the stranger, a long pause came after as the timid painter just blankly stares at the girl. Oh how times changes when they first enter the hill, but who can blame them right? not everyone can be trusted in this place and Rose is just looking out for Elleria's safety.

"Uhmm, let me try.. " Ixidor finally spoke up approaching the huge wall, extending his right arm towards it, pressing his palm against, touching its surface, trying to erase an entire wall with his reality eraser ability, hoping to solve this dilemma of getting to the other side.

[Sparky]

If you harm one hair on that girl's head, I swear that I'll kill you right where you stand as soon as I see you. Understand?

Matthew & Ellaria

"I promise not to do a thing to her. She reminds me of someone that was very close to me personally." Matthew responded, "I'll explain myself when we meet one another, depending on if we can find a way across or around this wall." He added afterwards as he merely gazed at the wall.
The more he thought about it, the harder it was to find an answer, "Nothing is coming to me, Ellaria." He claimed, hoping he could be of some assistance to her.

[Notus]

"We could try following the wall. There might be a point were the corridors are linked or something." She answered Mathew, turning on her heels and pressing forward. It was better that she went ahead, because if the man was scouting he could easily enter some passage that she couldn´t see and take her by surprise. As opposed, with him behind her it she would know the terrain he was on - and not seeing him wasn´t a problem anyway. She didn´t want to give the man much freedom on talking to her until they reached Rose, but she wandered if the thing he said about her resemblance to someone he knew was true.

"Rose" she shouted " If you´re facing this way, turn right! Let´s try finding a passage."

Ethic

Ethic ran for some time before stoping at a dead end. Right in front of him, a familiar blond girl was seemingly waiting for him, arms relaxed and blood dripping from her index finger. She was looking right past the point he was with her palid blue eyes, maybe a sign that she didn´t see him, but nevertheless...

Annie Tsokyu was standing there, right in front of him.

[Sutoratosu]

"So I was right on the money... only question is, if I were to drop the Veil right here and right now- what would she do?" Ethic stayed where he was, gazing up at the black wall. "Hmmmm...Naaaah.... I don't know. This kinda looks- and feels -like a ambush from this whole location right here. That rock earlier had to have been some type of luring tactic- She had the capability to take out my skull before I could even notice she was-" He stopped his conspiracy theories for a moment. That was exactly it, now that he thought about it. While yes, an ambush would make theoretical sense down here in order to temporarily impede someone; luring them into a secluded, dead end corner and offing them before going on about one's way... Why would she go to the trouble of something so elaborate if that rock back there would've done just as well?

"Well, this is quite the predicament." He thought to himself, backing up and making sure to keep eyes on the blonde all the while. "On one hand, going to all that trouble wouldn't make sense... and she didn't exactly strike me as the dull and rash type when we had to work together back in Gluttony... but on the other... This is the big bang. The end game. The last minute of the final inning of the last game of the season. Just about anyone could be capable of anything here if they think it'll mean getting whatever it is they came down here for... and for all I know, I could've completely misjudged her this entire time. Well... guess there's only one way... confront her using the same tactics I used with old Psychopath."

It should've been easy enough. These walls seemed to provide as good an echoing effect as the halls of the third circle for the most part, if the voice from earlier was any indication of the acoustics. And even though he didn't have the same cover of darkness the vast reaches of that long ago visited ceiling had provided, right now he had something that was arguably far better. He backed up even further, still keeping his eyes on her.

"Well..." He began in a raised volume, his voice reverberating more or less in the manner he'd hoped for. Just like back then in the old times, without visual sensory information, it was probably gonna be hard to tell exactly where a sound was coming from when it's bouncing over and over again more than a rabid hare. "It's been quite some time, hasn't it? That rock earlier nearly killed me. I presume there's a reason why it was just off by ever so slightly."

[K_H]

When Kenny heard Ethic's voice from seemingly outta nowhere, he decided to go forwards with his plan, even if it meant more trouble for himself. Then, he Opened up two Portals that were forty-five feet apart vertically and both one foot in front of him. Then, he simply jumped into the closer Portal, falling downwards towards the Opening below him, gaining velocity. Then, before he fell through for the second time, he angled the exit portal at a forty-five degree angle from being horizontal, using his momentum to fling himself through the air towards the Maze's Exit. As he flew through the air after the Arc was added to his trajectory, he lost consciousness, falling to what would be his death where he would land in the maze.

Edited September 13, 2015 by K_H

[Rosesong]

Rose and Ixidor

As Ixidor touched the wall, intending to erase it, the maze began to glow again, its black luminescence drawing in the gaze of all in the maze. As Rose watched, Ixidor's hand seemed to be forced away from the wall as the glow grew stronger. Shielding her eyes as the light became too dazzling to look at, the next thing she heard was a thud on the wall behind her and a groan of pain. Tearing her hand away as the light died, back into the wall, she looked around, only to see that the young painter had somehow been flung into the wall, now in a crumpled heap on the ground.

"Ix!" she gasped, rushing over to aid the boy. Hearing Ellaria call to her to turn right, she quickly helped Ix to his feet. Brushing a stray strand of hair over her shoulder, she told the painter softly, "You don't have to come with me, though you're welcome to if you'd like; I have to go to her." Apologizing once again for scaring the young painter, Rose turned and began to follow the wall, not waiting to see if the young boy whom she had fought side by side with in the Circle of Lust had decided to join her.

[Sparky]

Matthew took a calming breath as he followed after Ellaria, 'I don't mean any harm, but she does remind me of her...' ran rampant through his thoughts as he tried to keep up with her, "Let's just hope that there is a passage to meet up with them, Ellaria" He remarked, slipping a hand into one of his jacket pockets, keeping the other grasping the coin around his neck.

[Rosesong]

Rose | Ellaria and Matthew

Staying close to the wall so that she could hear Ellaria and whomever was with her, Rose jogged quickly, trying to keep every part of her body moving so that blood would circulate and hypothermia wouldn't set in as quickly. So focused on her thoughts of getting to the girl, she didn't see the wall coming until she ran into it face first, falling onto her butt hard. "Owwwwwwwwwww," the girl moaned aloud, slowly standing and rubbing her backside.

Once the pain had subsided enough, the redhead glanced at the wall, which was now forcing her to turn left. "Ellaria," Rose called over to the girl, "I'm being forced to turn left right now, are you being forced to do the same?"

Ixidor

As the painter struggled to regain his bearings after the wall's seemingly rude response to his attempted power, he heard a soft, worried voice a few yards away. "Oh no! Are you alright?" Before Ixidor could gather his thoughts to respond, the voice cut through again. "I'll find something to help you!" it declared. As the painter struggled to focus his eyes at the owner of the voice, all he could see was a white sundress and blonde hair walking away from him.

[Ragnar]

Ixidor tries to open his squinty eyes after hearing the sound of an angel went passing through his ears. "Wait.." The boy said faintly, tilting his head, reaching out his arm despite the pang he is feeling as he takes a glimpse of the unknown girl. Ixidor eyes couldn't stay awake for another second as his eyes slowly shut and pass out once more. The boy was obviously in pain from that 'shocking' experience and was yet to recover.

He remains lying motionlessly in the middle of the maze, hoping for this aid to return.

[Notus]

Ellaria & Mathew

Ellaria, hearing Rose´s sudden halt and her question, tested the wall ahead of her... And there it was. They were also blocked to the left, but a path was open to the right; the opposite of were they wanted to go. "No good Rose, we´re being forced to the right." she said, sadly. "What should we do?"

That entire time, she didn´t try to talk with Mathew. She had grown suspicious of everything since she entered the Hill... And as Mathew also seemed lost in thought, their walk had been a quiet on up until now.

Annie & Ethic

Annie cotinued to stare right in the middle of the corridor. As it was kinda narrow, it didn´t matter if Ethic tried to confuse her with his voice, it would be easy to hit him if the voice stopped or went near.
"Hey. Sorry about the rock." She said in a tone that showed none of her emotions - and also didn´t indicate her being sorry in the least. "It was the best way to drive you away from the others, Ethic."
Annie didn´t move as she kept talking. "I´ve been going separate of you since when we saparated, and I managed to arrive here before you. Going right to the point: despite the ´warm´ welcoming words, it is not possible to cross this maze on your own. And I don´t want to have to fight a ton of people when we get out of it, so... what I´m trying to say is, team up with me by now, get off this place and after that we settle who will get to the end first."
She didn´t even try to desguise her intentions after exiting the maze, because there was no reason for doing so. At this point, it should be clear that everyone would turn into enemies soon.

[Sutoratosu]

"Ah, so you intend to just use me like a tool then...Marvelous. Simply Marvelous." "Alright..." Ethic began, not bothering to keep up the echo tactic. He had no illusions down here. He heard the cold apathy in this woman's voice. He saw it on her face. No matter how that proposition was phrased, no matter how carefully calculated, all it boiled down to was that cold hard fact.

But what could he really do here anyway? Say no? End up getting beamed in the skull and losing even more time? Hell's bells, there was probably little point in even keeping the veil up anymore. But he still preferred taking this one step at a time. "It sounds fair enough... on the basic premise. But tell me, just what is it that makes this maze impossible to cross on your own? What, is it alive or something? Does it shift at will or something, like in James Dashner's 'The Maze Runer'? Or does it just use mind tricks to screw with your head that it's useless after a certain point unless you have someone to help orient yourself?"

As much as his words may have sounded like it, He wasn't joking about the first theory. Or any of them for that matter. He'd seen and heard crazier things go on here... all of them had. If lovesick zombies were capable of rising from the ground and groping each other like tipsy TSA personnel, Tables could be the size of football fields and have food as big as a house, and bookshelves spawned shadows whenever you opened a tomb...

[Sparky]

Matthew & Ellaria

Matthew stopped as Ellaria did to test the wall, "Well, if we can't go one way, then logically we have to go the other way, so heading right would be in our best interests, Ellaria." He claimed, hoping he could try and get some sort of discussion going between them as a change of pace from the silence they had between them.

[Notus]

Ellaria and Mathew

Ellaria bit her lip once again. "Yes, but then we´d be going away from Rose... Maybe we should turn back and try going on the other way..." She was unsure, and didn´t want to leave her friend now that they had - almost - met again. Yet, she didn´t really believe that they would be have any luck heading back. "Can´t you do anything to get past the wall?" the girl asked, not having seen the weird behavior of that black surface. With this question, she could also start to try and figure out what Mathew´s ability was, which would be an advantage in case she had to defend herself.

Annie and Ethic

Annie sighed "Yeah, you´re exactly right. The freaking thing is alive." she answered in a seemingly bored tone, though a little frustration could be felt underneath it as well. "The bad part is that it is actually smart. It will observe you for a while, and then start to throw at you things that basically counter your powers. At first you will be able to get past those, but the more time you take to get out the more adapted to you it will become. That´s why I need someone with abilities completely different than mine in order to advance."

[Sutoratosu]

"Hmmm... At least I'll be a very useful tool then. This might just work..." "And so it is the Walls that have eyes, not the hills..." The Tarot Wielder mused. "The year, is none other than 1984. There is no freedom, but somehow we must all find a way to rage against the machine." With that cryptic analysis said and done Ethic dropped the veil, finally revealing himself as he let the Magician slip back into the background of his mind yet again, just like a program not needed at the moment. He gave one look to Annie, nodding.

"I suppose we should get moving then. Big Brother is watching, after all." Without another word, he headed back off down the corridor he'd come from. The fact that his back was exposed to someone else gave him no trouble... not now, not after that bit of information. "She's obviously still going to try something in the end... but I should be ready by then." Ironically, he felt no shame in the plan he had concocted, as much as he thought he would've... or the old him would've. There was no more for that idealist, no more room for the fool who had once said and preached so many things but acted in such vast contradiction. He was the wild card no longer. For his number was greater than zero now. Morals were fine, but Morals untempered by the vicious fires of intellect and reason would do nothing but create a world of further restriction and needless boundaries. That was the one thing he had learned. Sometimes you have to adapt. Sometimes there are exceptions that have to be made. And sometimes there are some decisions that have no right or wrong path, only the one you choose. The world was no longer black and white. The world had never been black and white to begin with- it had simply been something he had conjured up as a boy to justify his own hatred and villainization of That man.

No. No... there was no black and white. There was never any black and white.

There was only ever a molted shade of grey.

[Rosesong]

Kenny

As the younger aura user hit the ground, his neck snapped and killed him. Being dead, Kenny had no way to know what was coming next. All those in the maze felt the hair on the backs of their necks stand up as the floor of the maze began to glow the same, eerie black that the walls had. His body slowly lifted from the floor, Kenny floated there for a second before the maze struck back, seemingly angry at the boy for attempting to cheat it. With a pulse of light, the aura user was sent flying back through the air, toward where he had originally been. Almost, it had seemed as though the wall had overshot, and Kenny would fly farther than where he had been. Almost. Like clockwork, a harsh, grinding was heard throughout the maze, causing all those that could hear it to cover their ears in pain, wincing from the grating, painful noise that was emanating around them all. Almost like it knew where Kenny was headed, a wall had risen higher out of the ground, preventing him from flying further and causing him to slide right back to his original position in the maze.

Near him, a blue blur flew around a few meters from the floor.

Rose | Ellaria and Matthew

Uncertainty filled the young woman's mind, not wanting to leave Ellaria alone with the stranger but wanting to hurry to the girl. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to think logically. There would have been a higher chance that they would have already found each other had the other way been correct; yet it had only lead them to each other with a wall in the way. It seemed only possible that if they were to continue the way that they had been going that they would finally meet with one another.

Taking a steadying breath, Rose called to the younger girl. "Ellaria, I think we need to keep going and follow these paths. They seem to be our best chance of finding one another." As an afterthought, afraid of what would happen if she weren't in a close proximity to the girl, she added, "If you need me, just scream."

Beginning to jog in the path that she had chosen to follow, Rose halted immediately as the floor began to glow black, its energy terrifying her. Crouching down low, she tried to calm herself, immediately covering her ears as an unearthly sound pierced the air. Will this nightmare ever end? she thought in despair.

Ixidor

It wasn't too long before Ixidor heard light, hurried footsteps running back over to him. The boy could feel himself cautiously relaxing as he began to feel gentle hands prodding him, checking for broken bones or other injuries. "Oh Ix," came the melodious, soprano voice from earlier, "I couldn't find anything to help, though it doesn't seem as though anything is too bad, apart from having been knocked around a little bit." Sky blue eyes glistened with worry as the girl looked at the artist. "Will you be ok?"

[Ragnar]

After hearing the presence of the girl once more, Ixidor slowly pick him up in a sitting position while clutching his forehead, The painter didn't bother to look at the girl's appearance at first, but there's something about her voice and touch seems very familiar.

"Will you be ok?"

"yeah, I think i'll be okay. thanks , I --" Ixidor's answer was cut short, his eyes widen in disbelief as he takes a good look at his helper. No, it can't be, must have hit my head harder than I thought or perhaps is this maze is playing tricks on me. either way, something's amiss here, but right now I couldn't care less, I'm just happy to see her once again. The painter thought to himself while displaying a warm smile towards the girl.

clearly Ixidor's emotion gets the best of him as the boy throws away every bit of logical explanation on why his presumably dead succubus crush from the second circle comes to life all of a sudden and shows up to aid him here in the final circle? doesn't that sound strange? Welp, so much for the warning in 'trust no one circle.' It was fun till it lasted. What can I say? Ixidor is a naive young boy and couldn't see the bigger picture that maybe this is a trick?

"Mia!" said the overjoyed artist. extending his arms, quickly hugging the girl. "b-b-but how? I thought you were dea-" Ixidor suddenly separates himself from the girl, shook his head and didn't bother to finish his sentence. "Ah, it doesn't matter..by the way, what are you doing here?" Ixidor asked, holding the girl by her shoulders.

Edited September 15, 2015 by Ragnar

[Flux]

"Remember, phantoms and ghosts don't exist here..."

Phantom was immediately brought to attention by the sudden turn of events. That voice... it was so familiar, yet he couldn't place it. And he had only caught a brief glance of the person behind it...

He took off in a dead sprint around the corner, determined to catch up to this person. It was rare for something to trigger one of his few memories, so this was an opportunity he could not miss. He turned corner after corner, listening for footsteps to guide his choices in the maze. If worse came to worse, he could always enter the mirror dimension. He would be able to sense nearby presences at the very least, and potentially use those to guide his way.

[Sparky]

"I don't think a coin flip would be of any use for getting around the wall, Ellaria..." He remarked, before he covered his ears from the writhing noise that pierced their conversation, 'Is this bloody maze alive...?' he thought as he was kept his ears covered as the floor had been glowing black, 'This is beyond bizarre...' He mumbled under his breath to himself as he glanced towards Ellaria.

[Rosesong]

Phantom

As the man made turn after turn, he could always hear light footsteps in front of him. Rounding another corner, he finally found her, standing in a dead end of the maze, green eyes shimmering as she stared at Phantom. "Well," Meridian stated simply, looking at Phantom with the same calm, unwavering gaze from their first encounter. She walked over to him slowly, lightly touching the mask that hid his face from the world before withdrawing it. "Have you come any closer to understanding who you are?"

Evan

As Evan walked along the corridors of the maze, he paused, hearing the shrieks of a girl nearby. Darting in and out of the walls as quickly as he could to find the girl whom had since fallen silent, he was greeted with a shock as he turned the corner. Promptly, he turned around and emptied the contents of his stomach the way he had just come from.

There, in front of him, was the broken, beaten body of Noella Chimdale. Her normally immaculate blond hair was frizzy and spattered with blood. Eyes that once shone like maple syrup were now dark, gazing at nothing. The girl's neck was bent at an odd angle, indicating that her neck had been badly broken. Limbs were splayed erratically, a look of terror was permanently etched onto the girl's face.

Before Evan could move again, the wall came alive again, this time glowing a bright, shiny color. As the boy watched, Noella's body was sucked closer into the wall, eventually being swallowed into the deep black walls.

[Notus]

Ellaria and Mathew

"I don't think a coin flip would be of any use for getting around the wall, Ellaria..."

"A coin flip?" Ellaria looked puzzled. "What do you mea-". That was when she heard the maze scream like an agonizing animal. For a few moments she was disorientated, but soon it had passed and she could resume walking. If Mathew wanted to kill me, he just missed a golden opportunity she thoughtto herself. Maybe the man really wasn´t a danger after all.

"Uhmn, sorry. But what do you mean by 'a coin flip'?' she asked curiously while they walked.

Annie and Ethic

"I suppose we should get moving then. Big Brother is watching, after all."

Annie rolled her eyes at Ethic´s theatrality; it seemed like he hadn´t changed that much after all. She walked behind him for a bit before catching up to his pace. "What do you plan to do if we find one of the others?" she asked when she got near him. It wouldn´t do any good to have more people on their little team once their abilities complemented each other quite well, in her analisis.

Donna

She walked for quite some time with no problem at all (though also with no indication that she had been advancing). The maze was quiet and cold, despite the eventual shrieks it emitted, like a living creature. After rounding a corner though, Donna heard voices coming near.

"Uhmn, sorry. But what do you mean by 'a coin flip'?'

It was a girl and a man talking, apparently, and they didn´t seem to have noticed her just yet.

[Sparky]

Matthew & Ellaria

"Uhmn, sorry. But what do you mean by 'a coin flip'?'

Matthew took a moment to recollect himself from the noise prior to Ellaria's question, "I was one of the best gamblers around, but it came back to bite me. This coin was a gift from my daughter, who is dead..." He was beginning to get choked up as he spoke. Just mentioning his daughter was enough to bring him near tears, but he managed to fight back the tears as he continued, "I can flip this coin, but there is a catch. Heads, it'll work and tails, it'll fail. It's a bit complicated to explain." He claimed.