Mommy Dearest (Fight the Mother)

Naomi would stand in front of the tower. She saw it in her dream. This is where the final stand against the Mother would be. She couldn’t help it. She had learned to be a selfish child lately. She had a few choice words for the Mother and this entire mess she put humanity through. Seriously, what the hell!? She was the worst mother ever. She couldn’t even do the most basic job. Naomi reached up to wipe the tears forming in the corner of her eyes away. So, she was still feeling the affects of that dream, huh? That was a little annoying. Still, she was ready for this. Whatever it was. It was time to earn Humanity’s freedom. She would step forward, ready to take on the Mother alone if she had to. Of course, there was always time for others to show up and join her if they wished. It didn’t matter. She couldn’t be stopped now. Also… she really hoped she wasn’t the only one who was called here. Please, someone else show up...

Nozomi just couldn't believe it. Today was the day you know?He had to take his stand for himself and everyone else in Azores right?Ha. He wasn't gonna back down now!That's NOT what da kichida would ever do! He would think to himself as he would walk torwards the radio tower and be at the front of it.He had dialed for Akina herself to come over here.Hopefully she was up to the task in all honesty. Now wasn't the time to pull any punches or hold back!

He would say standing in front of the radio tower,before he would notice another girl here. Perhaps this was the one Joshua described. He had a strange vibe from her?Hi there. I take it your here to er....Put a stop to all this?If you are. Then...I'm on your side!Me and a friend of mine wanna end all of this. She's on her way. My names Nozomi. Nice to meet you.He'd say offering her a handshake as a sign of good tidings and greetings.

The android wandered toward the radio tower, he had awoken to a crying and bawling Maria. She had the dream too, and despite not knowing what it was about she was really quite sad. Sentinel spent several minutes comforting her, before she had to get ready for school. Though before she left...she made him promise something to her. A promise that he would be keeping. He sent her off, and then decided that the challenged had been laid down. It was time to do what needed to be done in order to an end to this event. The android arrived before the radio tower, and he saw a familiar figure. "Naomi!" he called out to her offering a wave as he approached her and there was another young man doing the same. He let the man approach first, hearing his intent, and then Sentinel came up to both of them.

"You have one more coming? That's good we're going to need all the help we can get for this." The android said before turning his gaze toward Naomi, "I contacted Shunnosuke, he's on his way and he is bringing another friend. So that will bring us to six people." That was a lot better then three, and it meant that they had more skills at their disposal. Then he realized that he had failed to introduce himself, "Ah yes, how rude of me. My name is Sentinel, I'm here to help, as are my friends." Hopefully, that would be true. After all, everyone here could have a different wish, and the last thing they needed was infighting before the mother. However, he was sure that they could all pull through...somehow. "What kind of powers do you and your friend have?" He asked Nozomi, wanting to know more about their potiental allies.

    Last night had been hell. Pure, utter, agonizing hell. First that stupid dream that woke him up so freaking early that even the crickets were still asleep. Then came the back and forth of his thoughts that just wouldn't stop. Was it right to go after that woman? Would it be better to just let it go? What was the right choice? Hell, was there a right one? And back and forth and back again until he fell back into a fitful sleep that he was soon jolted out of by a barrage of texts from Shunnosuke.

    Passing a hand over his weary eyes, Julian drew his hand down his face and let out a small yawn. While he was mentally wide awake, it was obvious by his face that he hadn't slept very well. But he couldn't take time to worry about his appearance. Shaking his head slightly to clear his mind of those frivolous concerns, Julian looked up ahead, letting out a sigh at the sight of the radio tower. He wasn't sure whether to feel angry or saddened by everything that had happened. At least he could settle on one thing: getting everything to stop and setting Azores right was all that he wanted, and he was willing to do whatever it took to do so.

    // This many people...? // On one hand, this was the largest gather of (what he assumed to be) persona users he'd ever seen in Azores. Which was, of course, kind of sad, considering there was only five in total, counting himself. That in and of itself was surprising. On the other, he was almost disappointed: so many names had been listed on that broadcast and on that friend list of Hyde's. Shouldn't there be more people? And yet another small part of him felt annoyed by what he saw; where were these people when the insanity started last year? When had they gotten involved? And why the hell was it that they'd all been so sectioned off from one another for so long?

    As he approached the group, it was easy to see Shunnosuke arriving himself. Besides him, there was only one other person in the group he vaguely recognized. It was that girl he'd met months ago at the park, claiming to have a passing interest in the supernatural. Except now she didn't look or act quite as strange as he remembered. Not that he'd blame her; it seemed like everyone on the islands had been forced to change ever since the problems began. These others...well, he couldn't say for sure.

    Managing a small, curious smile, he spoke up, coming to a stop at the edge of the cluster of people. "I guess you're all here for her?" It should be fairly obvious who he meant if they had the same purpose he did. But it didn't hurt to have a little confirmation before he tried going in. Besides, if they were there for the same thing, might as well get to know who he'd be expected to look out for if it came to a fight in there.

Theda awoke the night before from one of her frequent naps, very confused. She had heard of rumors of this mother, but had never really met her. The entire dream was strange, but by the end of it, she knew she had to do something. The radio tower was the place where it happened right? So of course that was the best place to start, even if it was going to kill her. She had basically decided that she would do anything to help the world, even kill the mother. While her wish with Cassiel made her wish for death, she only truly wanted her original self to be happy, and she had no way of knowing what to do with that. But now that blessing was gone, she still could not feel the presence of her creator, which basically meant she was... Alone. That kind of scared her, but how was she to ask for forgiveness when the Crawling Chaos had never really spoken to her? Either way, this mother was standing in her way, and she felt like this was the best thing to do. Walking up to the entrance, she'd notice a bunch of people had already started to gather, smiling a bit towards them. "Wow new people and everything. Are you guys here about the mother also? Cause I'd like to get her out of the way if no one has a problem with that." She'd laugh as innocent as ever, smiling towards all of the new people she had never met.

Before, she would have had the urge to kill them all right there, but that would have been stupid even for her. Right now, they didn't pose a threat, and she hoped they wouldn't be curious about her enough to ask thoroughly. Not like she had anything else important to do since her original's aunt moved out and left the house abandoned, along with Theda herself. Of course she didn't need an old delusional woman to take care of her, but the fact still stood that it felt way worse than it should have. "If any of you are curious, I'm Theda Malice. And if any of you really want to take this woman down, I'd be happy to help the best I can." Although she could get stronger, she felt like this was the strongest she could be for now without any outside influences. Now to wait and make sure no one saw her as a threat, even though her eyes were golden and shining in the sun. Maybe they wouldn't call her out on it, but it's not like that mattered now. What would they do? Kill her? That already happened, and it would be a sweet relief for them to take her life again. The burden of regret wasn't something she liked to carry.

Naomi look at the owner of the new voice. Well, he was new. Not that she minded. She was glad to know she wasn’t the only person who was willing to go in there. She would nod in his direction, “Yeah. I guess that means were allies for this.” She would usually smile, but she was a little nervous. Her nerves would only settle once she saw Alphonse coming as well. Oh, thank goodness. At least someone she knew was coming. When he said Kurosawa was coming, she would calm down even more, “Well, at least the three of us know how to work together. So, that will work to our advantage.” She would clap her hands together in realization just as Kurosawa was entering the scene, “That’s right. I got a new set of skills, so you don’t know about those. But, I can support us even more than before now. Well, support as in attack the Mother until she goes down.” She was hoping that made sense.

There was one other person that showed up she vaguely recognized. It was a long time ago, but she recalled his face. Maybe not where she saw him, but there was something. She reached into the back of her mind, looking for a name. Juli...an? Yeah sounded about right. Naomi nodded once more at the comment, “Yeah. The Mother should be right inside, so we can take her.” Then, there was the last person. Once again, it was someone Naomi didn’t recognize at all. Still, seeing one last person cheered her up even more. Or, it did for a moment.

An alarm went off in her brain for a split moment. She wasn’t sure why, but she was getting a strange vibe from this girl. Her emotions were… all over the place? Yeah, something like that. She was, as her last name suggested, a little malicious, but felt like she was holding it back. She didn’t know who the malice was directed at, but it made her nervous. Or, was that caution. She could understand that, but it was… weird. There was also something else there she couldn’t quite place. She looked at the others with concern. She wasn’t sure what to do. They were just fine when she read them, but this girl… She sent off red flags inside Naomi’s mind.

She would look at the girl and swallow, “Yeah, I think we should stay and make a plan before going in though. A lot of us don’t know each other very well, and we need to be sure of what we’re doing.” Please, somebody else be picking up she was nervous. She was trying to convey it to Alphonse and Shun silently, so this girl wouldn’t get more riled up. She could have been wrong, but… she didn’t know. She couldn’t know unless the girl started leaking emotions like a leaky faucet. Right now, all she had was whatever vague emotion she just sent out. She was subconsciously moving to block the door so no one could enter before she let them in. She didn’t want anything going out of control before she got in there herself.

The android nodded toward Naomi, "Well that's certainly good news. You being stronger means that we have more access to abilities that we didn't before." The android said before looking toward Shunnosuke and giving a a friendly nod. Though his friend seemed to be distracted by the other man who was very bold. It seemed as though the two knew each other to some degree, which was good. The more familiarity the better the group would be off. He would let them discuss and turn his attention toward the other young man who had just arrived, Naomi answered his question, and Sentinel would just briefly introduce himself again. "Greetings, my name is Alphonse, I hope that we are able to overcome this challenge together." The android said offering a friendly nod.

Then someone quite odd arrived, Theda Malice was an unusual name. However, what was more unusual was the golden eyes that shined in the sun. It reminded the android of all the shadowselves that they faced when in the Velvet Room. It was a mysterious feeling, and a natural instinct of a taking a defensive stance began to kick in. However, the android suppressed the feeling, and offered a polite nod toward Theda. He hoped he was not the only one who noticed that, he had hoped that at least two others had taken note of a possible threat within their ranks.  His eyes drifted to Naomi, and his eyes flicked back toward Theda once. He understood perfectly. However, before he could move to address it or start making a plan...till a bright white light turned into a humanoid figure.

It was Gonea the being in the dream, and after listing a brief description of them. Theda's made him twitch a bit, that was certainly comforting. However, thier hand was forced, and it seemed like they didn't have much time to plan. The android kept a level gaze with Gonea, his red eyes examining her closely, he figured it would be obvious what they wanted.

"A fight...yes that is one course of action, but you seem reasonable. Despite your patience coming to its end you clearly care for us. Like any good parent would, which is one of the reasons that I was hoping to speak with you. Perhaps, this wouldn't have to end in a fight. Is that possible? Just talking for a bit to see if we can't find a solution that we all can agree on? To prove that humanity is ready for the next step with their own two feet?" The android asked keeping his body language open and his eyes level on Gonea. He was being completely honest with her, and did his best to come off as calm as possible.

Aha Great!Looks like everythings coming together!He would say with a youthful glee as he would pump his fist up into the air.The others would begin to show up but then all of  asudden. Time would freeze almost...As he would notice the fair gaze of someone he was all too familiar with....

Shunnosuke... Goddamnit why'd he have to be here too!?Nozomi really cared about his safety,but that mean't he had the same incredibly weird trippy dream they had too.Heya shunnosuke uh....I'm here to..Er....Save the day????Hey It's something. We gotta put a stop to all this.He avoided using any relationship nicknames due to him not being sure if shunnosuke was comfortable with it around these people. Damnit. he had to make sure shunnosuke stayed safe. It was an unsaid promise he made to him.

Even if he had to risk his life for it.

His phone would resound, Displaying a message from akina about how she was on her way but struck a delay it appeared. Then...A strange person by the name of Theda Malice would appear. This girl seemed....Different.She had eyes resembling the....Imitations of Akina and Suzio that Nozomi had fought in the past when they were all first awakening though....It didn't make any sense...This girl was maybe a persona user or something?She didn't seem familiar. In fact he didn't think Theda malice was a name in Azores he was familiar either...The name oozed a bit of a strange intent.He would really just Nod and say.Hi there.I'm Nozomi and uh.I don't think I've ever seen you around Azores before yeah.So...Hi now?Well he tried. He reallydid.

All of a sudden a sudden flash of white light would appear. That turned into a person.It was the woman from the dream Nozomi had!?!?!!? He was shocked,but when she asked her question onto all of them...He knew exactly what to say.

As bold as ever!Yeah. Well.....Hi there!I guess...Well...I was hoping to speak to you as well. Honestly. I came here to well...I was scared when I first came here. In fact. I was scared over the course of a majority of this event...But now I really ain't you know? And with that I can honestly say I want this event over with,but like this guy over here says. Perhaps we can end it without a fight?Alot of people just DO NOT want the event almost it appears.Unless someone here disagrees with that?My friends who have been involved as well don't seem to want it either,Nor does most of the public from what er...Appeared to happen.In fact. Do we really need a fight of some kind to prove that we are capable of coming to a consensus?Fighting doesn't really solve much. Humanities capable of making further strides,though at the pace it goes right?Atleast from what I know. All these angels appearing and everything. I'd rather we talk this out and come to something we all can agree on.There's been....More than enough fighting to say the least.He was sure as hell ready for one alright,but at the same time.He didn't want it to come to that.He wanted this resolved in one way or another. There really had been enough fighting and chaos at this point.The last thing he wanted was more. That and he didn't TRUST SOME PEOPLE to be in this type of fight. Especially this person that nearly Resembled a doppelganger to him right now.

    And with that girl Naomi's response, a whole flurry of thoughts filled his head, accompanied by a peculiar twist in his stomach. Every time there was something supernatural going on and he was called to it, there'd been a fight. Every. Single. Time. But...did he really want to fight this Mother? On some level, yes; getting rid of her seemed to be the quickest way to shut down the "event", to put everything to normal. But he wasn't entirely positive that was true. He didn't have all the pieces here; what the event was, why it started in the first place, why only a select few could actively participate in it...those were all questions he needed answers to before he threw himself headlong into a possibly unnecessary battle.

    He was pulled out of these thoughts only by the flash of light and the figure of the Mother herself standing before them. He blinked once, stunned at her sudden appearance, and reflexively dug a nail into his palm to check and see if he was still dreaming. ...Ouch. No, this was the waking world. And now came the hard part.

    Gonea's little list of traits only made his uncertainty about this whole confrontation elevate. On one hand, she'd obviously been watching. Normally that wasn't considered a good thing. But the attendants, they watched them too, right? By that logic, she could really just be playing observer, just like them. And that only made it harder to categorize the Mother as good or evil.

    Tch...for once, why couldn't these things be black and white?

    He listened quietly to three of the group's respective answers before chiming in himself, carefully maintaining eye contact with the Mother. He spoke slowly, carefully, taking the extra moment to accurately sort his thoughts before he spoke. "I want the same thing as Shunnosuke. This 'Event' doesn't seem to have a rhyme or reason as to why it had to happen, or why we and the others who participated in it had to do so in the first place. So...why? Why drag us into this? Why set things in motion that endangered a lot of people who weren't involved or couldn't be involved when you claim you care?" That was his pressing question. Her motive and actions didn't line up. Before he came to any solid conclusions about this "Mother", he had to understand that first and foremost.

Theda sighed a bit, still smiling slightly. She could feel the other's judging her, but that didn't stop her from trying to help. Of course they wouldn't trust her, she was malicious by nature. And it was only strange because they had not even mentioned it to her; because if they did she would answer. Of course she didn't plan on attacking these persona users, but only planned on helping them for the better of everyone in the region. Before she even had a chance to speak, the mother appeared to them all, which was a bit unexpected at the time since she had thought they would have a few moments to prepare and at least explain herself. The mother spoke directly to each one of them, and when she came to the shadow, she felt her face frown slightly. She hadn't frowned in her entire new life, but there was a first for everything. Though the frown quickly disappeared and she began smiling again out of a force of habit.

"I do know loyalty, and I figured out exactly where mine lies, I will only be loyal to my original self, to live out life the way she would have wanted it deep down inside. Not the death of all things, or the cause of failure of the human race." She smiled a bit, looking towards the mother. "I feel in my heart, that she would have wanted me to try and reason with you. But if all else fails, to take you out of the picture, to protect everyone, even if had hated them." She'd blink, looking up towards the sky. "I should explain huh? Well, I'm a shadow, the true self of a girl who was once called Theda Malice." They would probably all be surprised or at least have an 'I knew it' moment, but she would look back to them all. "But I am not aligned with the god who created me anymore; the one who would wish the death of all of you, after I betrayed him to join an angel. And now that I have cut my ties with that angel, I am unaligned to anyone. Which has caused me to have a bit more say in what I want to do. So trust me when I say I don't mean you all ill will." She'd laugh a bit, snuggling her stuffed bear.

"Plus I haven't actually killed anyone besides Theda, and I don't think I could do it to anyone who's innocent again, and that's why I'm glad Nyarlathotep is not around to tell me what to do. Theda was too young to die, and I regret ending her life because she refused to see the world for how it really was. If I could take back what I would, I would happily do it." Taking a breath, she'd smile a bit more. "It's better I reveal my potential to you all now so you'll all have a bit of an easier time trusting me on this one. And if you still don't trust me by the end of this, I will allow you all to take my 'life.' I deserve to die after what I've done anyways, but I can't allow myself to do that until I've fulfilled all her wishes, it wouldn't feel right any other way." She felt like death would be a sweet release, but taking care of business would make her go easier than she normally would. "Also if you're all wondering why I'm so happy, I'd just like to mention that my original self hated the world and hid her happiness deep inside, so I can't really stop being happy. But honestly, who would want to?"

Naomi would turn slightly once the orb transformed into Gonea. Her stance would remain rather passive, showing no indication of malice. She would look the Mother over once before speaking, “Well, it was nice of you to come to the door and greet us.” She kept her hands to her sides and rolled on the balls of her feet, “Maybe we should have talked about what we wanted before we came here, huh? Didn’t even think about it.” She shrugged, “But you seem to know my purpose, so I don’t know what to say to you. I’ll be honest, I would love to just have a nice long chat with you about what’s going on, and many of the others seem to agree. Though, I also admit that I will fight for the world if I have to. I don’t want this to come to that though. You understand, right?” She was the person who was so against death in this entire mess that she reincarnated one of their enemies, after all. Mother requested honesty, so Naomi would speak the truth, “I’m hoping you’re reasonable and will at least try to talk first, though. I mean, that’s what mothers do, right? Teach their children to talk it out?” If that made any kind of sense.

She cleared her throat after hearing Theda speak. Well, that explained the feeling she was getting from her before. Though, she was not one to judge another based on something like that. Until she showed direct danger to Naomi or others, Theda was safe. She would look back to Gonea first, “I’m here for emancipation of our world, but if you want to start with answering my companions questions, that would be great. I’m sure their curiosity is killing them.” She had her own questions, but she could wait. She was suddenly interested in the answers to Julian and Kurosawa’s questions. Seemed like a good idea to start at the beginning. Oh, she had one question she needed answered now though, “What happened to the other worlds and the people there? What happened to them? Can I ask that?” She was concerned about her friend who was one the other side. She couldn’t reach her anymore.

Gonea smirked, several wanted peace, some wanted answers, one wanted to confess. They looked to the Shadow.

"So you don't have loyalty after all. You deny your true nature to search for a new path, but after words and a little persuasion you change your mind again? I must say it's somewhat unimpressive."

Looking to Shunnosuke, Naomi and Julian, Gonea gave them a passive stare.

"The worlds are cut off from your own from here on. That is indeed what you wanted was it not? And I do believe I mentioned the purpose of the Event once before while you all were sound asleep. It was to decide how you all wanted to advance, and how many were willing to fight for that Wish. As for the Angels, they are all with me, and that is all you need to know."

Gonea wasn't exactly impressed with everyone coming to bombarde them with questions. They were meant to have taken a decisive stance when coming here today. None of them seemed to disagree, so it's not as though conflict was possible between them. At least there were a couple that had a goal in mind: to attain freedom peacefully. Perhaps they had a chance to bring everyone together.

"You say you want freedom through peace, but freedom is never earned peacefully. Throughout your history, you have won freedom through conflict and bloodshed the majority of the time. Why should I give you your freedom without earning it? If you choose to rely on yourself, then you would have to prove it to me. I want you all to decide what you want here. Indecision is not a valid answer, nor are your questions. Anything outside of your stance, and I will not offer the opportunity to leave this realm peacefully."

Gonea gave them a chance to band together. If they didn't now, then there would be no peace. They would have to break free from their parent by force. Her whole Event was intended to bring everyone together towards a goal as best as possible; hopefully the group understood that with enough thought. If they wanted to oppose it, now would be the time to do it together.