Evening, June 15, 1999

[loveandwillpower]

Three are down, three are dead.

Haruhi. Rosa. Alice.

The Princess will be free of her chains soon, Hope from Pandora's box bright and innocent and so easy to be crushed by the unscrupulous. Enemies lie everywhere - the sisters, no matter which side they take, they're out of the way for now. If there are still enemies to take care of, if she's still alive at the end of the night, she'll see if she needs to drag anything out from under their skins.

Four to go. Tomosuke's message had been clear. A turncoat twice over, no fit familiar for a witch. Even a treacherous witch.

With Maria's betrayal, there's really no time to waste. Can't check on the prince, if he's gone then that's just wasted time, if he's not then that's still wasted time, if he's taken a turn for the worse and died then too bad for him, Maya's reign'll just have to kick off with a tragic star-crossed romance, it's his fault for getting in the way.

Time, time - wires strung across doorways and stairwells, ancient crossbows dredged up from the basement, sharp stakes and slippery steps in strategic places, all the traps her wild ingenuity can summon into being, and, of course, a certain upgrade for the power of Venus, purchased with the help of papa's credit card.

Mia will be back to free Maya tomorrow, so it has to be tonight.

A challenge must be issued to the worst of the demons remaining. With the power of love and beauty, she'll defend this household, and with that, she dials Nui. With Alice's cell phone, of course. She might not pick up for Minako, but she definitely will for Alice. Power of love. It's what she's got and she'll use every single tool at her disposal for the sake of her liege.

Comments

[happyhalloween]

[Maria peers around Hiroshi, who she was standing behind.]

Nui...?

[She looks up at Hiroshi and hugs him from behind, pressing her cheek against his back.]

Four, [she mumbles under her breath.]

1/2

[flatview]

[ There's a few more seconds of silence, while Nui tries to comprehend what's happened. Her fingers tremble as they hover around her neck--is that blood? She's already bleeding so much and it's barely been five seconds. Her knees are buckling but maybe if she keeps standing, she can go

walk

to the

hospital, and ]

[itwasfeyt]

Ugh.... What the heck was...

[Currently fallen, Maya was picking herself up when she heard the strangest noise: a whooshing of something overhead, it was quick and then... nothing. She picks herself up, quickly getting to her knees.]

S-sorry, guys. Minako must have boobytrapped th-.

[And she stops, dead silent. Maya had turned around, expecting a few concerned looks. That was what she got.

But she didn't expect the arrow in Nui's neck.

The one meant for her.]

N..... Nui.....

[flatview]

[ There come the screams. For a few seconds she's furious, frothing with rage, because Minako did this and Minako needs to pay for it, even if she was her best friend, she needs to die.

But it gives way to terror soon enough, because she's still bleeding, and it's painful, and she doesn't want to die, not now. Not until they got to the bottom of this, of why she and Chiyoko remembered strange things, why their friends were getting homicidal, not until her mother finally valued her as much as she valued her blood daughters, and-- ]

Minako, you stupid bitch! Minako! Min--!

[ The rest of her words dissolve into gargled profanities and verbal cursing out of the girl she called her best friend only a few weeks ago. Nui's voice grows weaker by the second, and she finally falls to her knees, her hands flying up to her neck to try to stop the bleeding, but it's coming out even faster from the frantic screaming and clawing.

A few wet, violent coughs, and she falls silent. It takes less than fifteen seconds. ]

[loveandwillpower]

[ Sounds like screaming. Sounds like Nuuuuuiiiii. Did she get her? Is she the first? Did they bring Maya with them as a shield? Too bad, too bad, the princess is the princess so Venus magic won't hurt her! Nui was a demon and the House of Fey's judged her for it.

There's that cheery ringtone again. ]

[happyhalloween]

[When nobody answers the phone right away, Maria bends down and fishes it out of Nui's pocket.]

Venus! Maria knows it's you!

[foolsfancy]

[ hey maria that phone that was in your hands

your blood splattered stuco prez is snatching it from you and holding it to her ear

... she's quiet for a moment, then swallows hard before speaking up ]

... Am I speaking to 'Space Witch Venus'?

[1/2] multiphone pileup

[loveandwillpower]

Oh, it's you?

[ Thanks for not going first, you're so short it wouldn't have worked. She should rework some of the traps to account for that, maybe. Sure, there's plenty out there that'd catch her just fine. ]

You might've broken through my first barrier, but that Nui was the strongest! You won't find the odds so weighted in your favor now! And it's only going to get worse the more you fight!

[2/2]

[loveandwillpower]

[ Chiyoko. She's another witch? They're really going all out... who's the seventh? She must be here too, an all-out offense! ]

That's me!

Soooo, how many demerits is this?

/2

[foolsfancy]

[ She hasn't protected anyone.

She had all this time, all this foresight and Chiyoko hasn't protected a single damn person. She couldn't save Souji, couldn't pay back Haruhi and now the people she loves, the precious precious place in the world that she's found for herself has fallen to pieces.

A student council president's job is to live up to the expectations of the people who rely on them. To make up for the promises they made to get in that position.

"Meet up with her thinking", Maria had said.

So, then. Chiyoko takes a deep, shaky breath, holds it and lets it back out and for a moment longer, she's silent. ]

[foolsfancy]

[ and then she starts

to laugh.

it's a harsh, sharp thing that has no place coming out of her mouth with the way her expression is twisted with fright and clear uncertainty but she'll try. Venus -- Minako -- wants villains, does she? Enemies to fight. So, if it means keeping these people safe, then Chiyoko is damn sure going to give her an enemy to fight.

When she speaks, her voice comes in a low drawl, the very essence of smugness and even though she looks sick to her stomach, she practically coos in response - ]

I'm so glad to finally talk to you, Venus. You've been causing me so much grief.

[ohmygah]

[This has been a completely stressful day full of terror, death, and despair. Osaka's initial reaction has been to stare at the door where the crossbow hit Nui in complete broken shock.

But now Chiyoko is talking all weird and its distracting Osaka from her general horrified confusion. Or maybe she wants something else to think about right away. The point is Osaka looks at Chiyoko with a perplexed look and silently mouths a few words at her:

"What the Fuck."]

[foolsfancy]

[ just. silently flailing her free hand at Osaka.

she has a plan ok it's not a particularly good or well thought out plan, but it's A Plan so just keep quiet and let her do this

... she attempts to convey all they with hand gestures and who knows how effective she is in actually getting it across ]

[loveandwillpower]

What, just you...? Don't tell me you're in charge!

[ Is she the leader? That might make sense. But Nui's more of one. Was more of one. She's got the blonde pigtails, after all. Chiyoko's just sick and bossy. ]

[itwasfeyt]

N-nui.....

[Don't mind Maya, she's just

over here

with the corpse of her friend who just died

because of her.

Suddenly, that speech seemed so distant.]

[foolsfancy]

Did you really never guess? Why else do you think I came all the way down here to this little town out in the middle of nowhere? Because I was sick?

[ another laugh. it's more of a cackle, really. a real witch's cackle. ]

Wouldn't that be nice and convenient? But, no. I'm sure you know what I really came here for, Space~ Witch~ Venus~.

[happyhalloween]

[Maria leans up so she can be heard better on the phone.]

That's right! The president is the president of witches too!

[all_onis_are_true]

[Hiroshi thinks they're all sort of insane. But then, this is an insane situation right now, isn't it? Right now, all he can do is offer a comforting hand on Maya's shoulder.

It doesn't feel like enough.]

[loveandwillpower]

So you were planning this all along...!

What about Souji, did he get too close to the truth?

[ Ah... or perhaps he was in league with them to start, but fell for the beautiful Minako and couldn't bear to turn on her when the time drew too near. Either way, this is the enemy. For revenge for destiny for Maya she'll die. ]

1/2

[happyhalloween]

Maria is junior witch vice president! Kihihihihihihihihihi.

[happyhalloween]

[Wait, did Venus just say...]

Maria thought Venus got Souji?

[all_onis_are_true]

!

[But if it wasn't Minako... did that mean there was some OTHER murderer wandering around town?!]

[loveandwillpower]

Eh?

[ Well, there's only one reason she could be thinking that, isn't there? Venus wouldn't hurt a civilian, after all! Venus is pure. ]

You mean he was one of you after all? Sheesh, that's what I get for underestimating a pretty man!

[itwasfeyt]

....!

[Well, whatever this meant, it's enough to get her to focus now.]

M-minako!

[loveandwillpower]

Don't worry, Maya - I'll defeat the last three on my own, so hang in there!

[ The traps won't harm her, of course. She is the Moon Princess. But the demons and witches don't have to know that; it'll give them ideas about using her as bait. ]