Azami & Nozomi

That... wasn't supposed to happen.

Things weren't supposed to go down like that. This was her moment -- the heroine's hour of triumph. She was here to defeat the villain and bring peace to her world. So why was this happening? Why was it turning out like this? She couldn't understand. It didn't make any sense; none of it made any sense!

...Her chest hurt. It hurt badly. Very badly. There was something going through it. Or perhaps it'd be better to say someone? Whatever the case, it wasn't good. Multiverse began to fade slowly until nothing was left and Azami's feet fell to the ground with a deafening thud which pierced the silence. She had no immediate words. There was no shouting, or screaming, or thunderous denials of defeat. But her face said it all. It was stained with confusion, with fear, with sorrow. She felt betrayed, but she wasn't sure by who. The entity seemed to be the obvious culprit, but it felt like there was someone else who deserved the blame more. Someone she hated a lot.

For some reason she was still alive. Azami figured she'd be dying right about now, but nothing was happening. Even though she knew her Journey was over it just wouldn't end. Was the entity toying with her? Was it keeping her alive just to study her further or see if she'd get her hopes up? Her eyes lit up with renewed rage as she stared at Nozomi and the being controlling him. "You think this is real funny, huh?! Am I some kinda joke to you?" It was at that moment that Azami tried to clench her fist...


"What?" It was all she could manage to say. There were no words that could appropriately express what she felt in response to this realization. No description could do justice to the pure, unbridled terror that gnawed away at her mind. Panic overtook her and she tried desperately to move only to find herself powerless to do so. Her feet, her head, her arms, her legs... No matter how much her mind cried out to them they wouldn't obey her. Any sense of control she had had been torn away from her by this... this thing! This monster!

She wouldn't let it. She wouldn't let it have the satisfaction of seeing her like this. There was still one last thing she could do to end all of this. Though she couldn't use her own hands or weapon, there was still one last means she could count on to accomplish that.




She shouted and shouted. Yet in the end nothing came of it.

Azami Aihara:

So after dealing with what appeared to be a mummy gone wrong. Nozomi had been strangle and suffocated horribly by this power, the very concept of being a monster, of being angry, he had been enveloped in it and had fought malice himself.

Now...

Nozomi had regained his consciousness and was starting to regain control of his body, he looked at azami who was directly in front of him with a feel of sympathy of some kind. He would normally attempt some form of physical contact, however he would speak first. Look I'm gonna keep this simple. The Kichida would sigh and sit down in front of her just a few feet away simple. Contemplating everything, man this chick was gonna hate his ass. Listen. I know you said to stop, but by the time you did it was just too late. If one of us ran at this thing alone I had no idea what would happen, we were both weak. You know that, we both felt like utter shit and I could see the look on your face too.Nozomi would sigh and take a good breath of some kind, admittedly he felt kind of angry at this person in the first place as well. Running torwards this power source. I don't hate you, I never intended to attack you, I didn't know this thing would even possess me. Ok? So don't think I went out of my way to kill you, This thing....It took over my body, it took over my mind. When it did...

Nozomi just sighed, damn was this seriously a mess right now. I saw it, and don't think for a damn second it didn't rear its ugly head at me and stop me from stopping it. It overwhelmed me with power, but power wasn't what I wanted.He was being honest, if Azami remotley looked at him, she could tell he wasn't making this shit up, it was just that special thing Nozomi had to him. He displayed the right emotions and just didn't sober or falsify anything. Let's level with each other for a second. Ok?My name's Nozomi, Nozomi Kichida, I ran at that thing because prior to suddenly coming here I was being assaulted by some strange man who wanted to get in the way of me reaching some core or some bullshit to put a stop to these events, and calling on this weird power was the only way I could do so. Then suddenly I got warped away from there and into here with you.

He had to assert himself right now, this chick was probably confused on several levels for several reasons because damn was everything that had transpired lately rather bizarre.But that thing was a part of me ok?When we were in that white room, something unusually broke off of me, and I never knew what it was. I could never find it before, then when that thing possessed me...It turned out to be it, it was the very part of me that jumped off. While we're at it look I know the circumstances and you might be pissed and all but atleast tell me your name.It's not like she was in the position to struggle against him or attack him, Azami was rather knocked down from the entity possessing his ass, albeit he did not want any of this to go down that route. I was in some weird room, some weird blue room when it had knocked you down. And then suddenly it was about to kill you and I managed to stop it. I accepted it, not the entity itself but the part of me that just...Broke off from my body. It was going to kill you and I prevented that, so try to not hate me atleast.Nozomi just didn't know what to make of this entire situation or anything of that sort.

Listen. I ain't asking you to like me, but I'm asking you to atleast cooperate. What's going on around here is something bigger than both of us, and people we both know are clearly involved in this greatly, this situation....We can't afford to be against each other. Alright?He'd try to say what he could in order to...Strike up some form of a conversation or atleast get this damn person to trust him. Look you may be angry or pissed or frustrated or whatever, Im not brushing off your emotions, but time is of the essence. My hands are clearly disappearing and I dont want either of us to just vanish without being well informed. We can't afford to make mistakes. Do you know of what's happening in Azores right now?I was only told by someone who fell into these weird worlds demons had come over or something.

Azami's world was blurry; the tears spilling down her face as she muttered the word over and over again. "Persona... Persona... Persona..." Each time she repeated it her voice grew a little quieter, a little softer, until it was barely a whisper. Her attempts to break free from this hell -- to end her life on her own terms -- it was all in vain. The entity had her in the palm of its hands. She couldn't struggle against it nor could she simply give in to the futility of it all. No. Everything that happened next was up to the creature. Her fate was once again out of her hands and now depended entirely on it. "Please... Please just stop it. Just kill me already." The woman pleaded desperately. The tears continued to stream down her face obscuring her vision and dampening the chalky floor beneath her. As she looked at Nozomi repeating the request, she reached her arm up and rubbed it messily against her eyes wiping the moisture away with her jacket's crimson sleeve. "I... I..."


That arm... That sleeve... Was it Nozomi's? Was it the entity's? No. It couldn't be. It was unmistakable. That was hers. Azami froze with her face locked into a perplexed, surprised expression. As the seconds ticked away though it gradually began to change and shift. The teardrops stopped falling and the eyes that had once been drowning in them lit up as though she had won the lottery. "...can move. I can move. I can--I can..." Move. She could move! Her knees gave way and she fell to the ground free of the lance-like attack that had pierced through her previously. Tracing her fingers across the silver ground around her, Azami would burst into a fit of confused, relieved laughter and a smile would force its way onto her face. "But... haha... This doesn't make any sense. Haha. I don't get it. I'm afraid I don't understand." She giggled to herself while scanning the area around her with eyes that shimmered like the cosmos she had found herself falling through on her way here. It was only once Nozomi's voice reached her ears that this gleeful, awe-induced state she was displaying faded away. Her attention turned to him and slowly but surely she grew calmer, more focused on the situation at hand.

Azami listened intently to the man before her and remained silent as he spoke. At the same time, however, she showed little in the form of responses. There were no passionate expressions that crossed her face and no attempts at interjecting during any part of his speech. Rather Nozomi would find himself speaking to a monotonous, quiet girl; an avid listener who kept her thoughts sealed away within her mind until the end. This was one of the many faces of Azami Aihara and, once the boy finished his explanation, he'd be witness to a new one as the girl stumbled up from the floor with what little energy she had left. "Nozomi Kichida..."





Nozomi's words were believable. His explanation was something she could accept and his claims came off as truly sincere. But it was because of that, because of just how real it all was, that Azami could not understand it; that she could not merely mindlessly nod her back and forth at what he said until the two of them disappeared from this strange room. A man who didn't care about attaining power -- who genuinely refused to believe that cooperation and connecting with others couldn't save the day. Such a being could only be called...


"It doesn't matter if you're a bad guy. It doesn't matter if you hate me... It'd be better if you did. Because no matter how we feel, no matter how much we try to connect with each other, nothing will change. The moment we were dealt these cards we became destined adversaries. As long as one of us exists we'll continue to grow, and grow, and grow until we inevitably outpace each other. The only way to stop that would be to forsake power. And to do that means giving up the ability to change things; it means giving up the chance to use this miracle for anything other than stopping the Core and preserving the status quo. Maybe that's fine by you Nozomi, but I can't avert my gaze!"





Azami fell silent for a time as she stared at the fading Nozomi. She wanted to hate him and she did her best at feigning such a feeling, but it was a fruitless effort. The hatred in her eyes was see-through -- a failure of a mask that though it may have been able to fool others would not be capable of posing even the slightest bit of challenge for Nozomi. But the words she had spoken, the fire in her eyes, the sorrow that laced her tone... All that was genuine. This was the "real" Azami speaking or, at the very least, something close to it.

"So it doesn't matter. Even if this hypothetical third option you're willing to stake everything on exists, someone like me would never agree to it. As long as you exist I have to hold back on acquiring power, otherwise I'll outpace you and the Other Worlds will be swallowed up. And as long as I have to hold back, I'll never get anywhere near the kind of strength I need to save my rotten world from itself. So I can't just nod my head, cross my fingers, and hope there's a way to save everyone. Miracles like mine don't occur more than once in a lifetime."

"Nozomi Kichida... If you truly care about Azores, if you truly care about Shunnosuke, then kill yourself. Sacrifice the worlds you're holding up and I, Azami Aihara, promise you that I'll do everything I can to fix our broken world. Otherwise you might as well just kill me and end our war right now."

Nozomi instead of interrupting her, would actually listen to what the girl had to say first about the predicament facing them right now. He would listen intently to everything she had said and her own points. Well he didn't exactly expect her to magically bend over and agree with him now did he?So this chick apparently sustained the other world and he sustained the alternate worlds. I'm not gonna lie, I've been left out of the dark for just about this entire journey. Improvising in situations where people were trying to kill me or others, and then people randomly going into the alternate worlds and getting stuck god knows where. Alright look before we start going on the who does what party Lets settle what's actually  happened first. How do you know of Shunnosuke, what the hell happened to him. Who do you know of in azores? What are the main details behind this. WHO'S behind this. All I know is some weird group of people have some plan involving me, and I think you as well. What the hell are the details behind all of this!

The thing was, he didn't want to make any form of radical decision, he didn't want to accept someone dying, he didn't want any of that. I know you don't believe in miracles, alot of people don't. But... We can pull one off, we just have to work together. I don't know if you noticed...But I'm not connected to you anymore, I am whole now. I can make a difference with this...Power, and you can too. Your not stuck with nothing, come on I know you still have that power where we both can use different personas and everything. If one of us dies, an entire half of a world dies. How on earth do you know that one of us dieing will help fix things for the other one?Who says it doesn't make things WORSE? Who says that creates an entirley better solution?We need to go to this...Weird core thing a guy said to me before together I think. I don't know some weird white guy tried to stop me from reaching some core or something. Look, its clear to me I think I gotta reach that, Do you know anything about this?Nozomi was understanding her point here, but he wanted information, he wanted them to come to a level of UNDERSTANDING about what was going on so that way they could make a more logical decision. You think a situation like this it would be that easy?One of us dies and the other can easily save the other world with all of our might?No. That isn't right. Theres some weird plan involving this core thing and probably alot of assholes who would want us dead or would want to take control of us, and we can't afford to do that. Clearly if we have this, we are important to whatever is going on. So we must do whatever it takes and try to make it there...He sighed and just really thought about it for a minute.

This entire situation is a big dimensional mess, the alternate worlds themselves I already saw begin to crack and pretty much destroy themselves if thats any form of relief to you. A bunch of them already did that. Maybe it isn't too late at all, We're not taking gambles here we're analyzing facts azami. We have to look at what we both know and what we both see otherwise we might as well just give up. I don't blindly follow ideal situations, I follow facts and a viable solution that can come from them. Which is why I think we shouldn't waste any semblance of this time right now, Ok?

We have to try, we have to pull this off, but we only can if we both cooperate and channel our energies or whatever together. Look now...Now you can push with your own power, and I can push with mine, and we aren't bound off each other anymore. And if we both push hard enough, we can get to this core thing. I'm assuming there are people with you right now, people who have the capability to help you make that difference. Especially if your mentioning this shunnosuke guy..Im surprised hes back.

Clearly, we both were given this power for a reason, and we can't just bend over and say it's impossible for both worlds to make it out. We have to try. And you know what...?


But we can't just take this at face value! I'd rather consider everything and put in my maximum effort to achieve an optimal result. I did it before, I did it several times. Before you say anything I get it, this won't magically end well, it won't work out like a Fairy Tale or something, but that isn't stopping anyone I bet in azores from working at it because I know people who got stuck on the other side sure as hell are too. This isn't blindly following optimism, it's trying. That rare thing people do anymore, the greatest solutions were never the easiest to obtain.

Azami looked at Nozomi and sighed. Her eyes danced around the room briefly before settling on him once more; the girl shaking her head from side to side as he questioned her about Azores. "Shunnosuke should be fine. Before I got dragged here he was right there beside me alongside a few others. As for who's fault this all is... Your guess is as good as mine. All I know is that there's a traitor or traitors among the thirteen -- hell, maybe the entire group's working against Azores. Between Tamara's demon invasion and YumiAmi's attempt at assassinating me it's not like there isn't cause to call their claims of benevolence into question. Whatever the case, at least one of them sabotaged this Core and now it's trying to swallow up realities to sustain itself. Azores and those alternate worlds are the closest ones to it, so they're naturally the ones most at risk of being absorbed into it. If one of them falls victim to it, well... Crisis averted. The Core'll heal itself and the surviving world'll presumably be safe once the thirteen have been dealt with. If you and I tried to save all the worlds as you're suggesting we do then we'd have to find an energy source for it strong enough to equal that of an entire reality's lifeforce. So unless anything comes to mind then your little plan already has a major hole in it."

When Nozomi moved onto the topic of power and insisted that she already had strength, Azami would look down to the ground ashamedly with twinkles of regret in her eyes. She recalled all those things that had happened up to this point -- Shunnosuke's success in scaring her into submission, Joshua's sudden assault that rendered her unconscious in the course of seconds, and not to mention that fight with the entity that had occurred just then. All those failures... All those moments of weakness. She felt sick just thinking about them. They made her want to disappear. They made her want to just curl up and die. And so when Nozomi tried to reassure her about it he would find she wouldn't be so quick to take his words to heart. "...No. It's not enough. It's not!" She looked back up to Nozomi with furious eyes shouting at him as loud as she could in that moment. The woman retained this state for a bit, silent save for her exasperated breath, until she slowly calmed down managing to get a grip on herself. There was no point in lashing out. She'd just be wasting her time. "Someone who by his admission doesn't seek power is incapable of understanding these feelings of mine. So you have no right to call them into question."

Nozomi's claim that the Other Worlds were already disappearing caught her off guard. After all, hadn't she been told that she was the one lagging behind -- that Azores was at risk because he was outpacing her? It didn't take long for her to figure out an explanation for this though. It was simple, wasn't it? If Nozomi was tasked with holding up a set of worlds that meant a greater burden on his part. He'd likely have more trouble sustaining his side than her considering how she had only one world to keep afloat. It wasn't necessarily a flawless theory, but it was the one that made the most sense to her with the current level of knowledge available to her.

"I don't... I don't want people to suffer Nozomi. The death of the Other Worlds doesn't bring me any relief or joy. I don't know what you think I am, but I'm not some mustache-twirling, card-carrying monster who laughs at the loss of who knows how many innocent lives. But life's not that fair; it's not that simple. No matter how hard you try you'll never win the game without discarding a few pieces in the process."

She fell silent after those words. The woman made no attempt to respond to anything else and would simply stand there with a determined, if pained expression on her face. It seemed Nozomi's attempts to convince her hadn't succeeded just yet, but they had certainly offered the girl some food for thought and had managed to gather some information from her. Was that all he could achieve for now though? Even if he had something which could undeniably prove his case he was getting closer and closer to vanishing by the second. How long did Nozomi have left before the two Wild Cards would find themselves separated once again?

Nozomi looked directly at azami and listened to the first paragraph of what she had to say, taking it in rather deeply and putting some careful thought into it. Shunnosuke can take care of himself pretty well, I just know it. Heh personally between us...We used to go out actually and got rather intimate, and frankly...I wanna live to rekindle that, I care about him more than anything. Trust me when I went around these alternate worlds I had alot of strange people come at me too. This odd robot chick kept proclaiming I was with her and I didn't understand any of what was going on in one of the worlds, to be frank I hope that doesn't cause any problems in the future haha...Nozomi really hoped that didn't, he had just played along with her in an attempt to salvage some semblance of peace. I think I know who sabotaged the core...There was this dio guy, he kept proclaiming he had to stop me from reaching the core and tried to kill me, saying I had to die so he could get his girl or something. I know these guys are rather mixed..One tried to kill me and then one saved me and then i dont even know anymore.Azami had a fair point however, how would they be able to sustain both worlds? Azami, I know this has the large possibility of not ending well. Look...If it gets that bad...I'll use this weird being I got inside me  or whatever. I'll use it's power to sustain both worlds yeah..That probably will kill me if I went out of my way to do that, so don't act like I'm gonna deny this either and just say shit. It was Nozomi's very nature at heart, the can-do guy that just was willing to put it all on the line for those that he cared about and those that he knew.

He would notice the girl complaining it was not enough, and then mention his own experiences. Your not alone in that, at the start I nearly died. One of those weird guys nearly killed me instantly...Then the other guy that came nearly killed me instantly! I know what it's like to have felt powerless this entire time azami, in fact, one time the power suddenly transferred from me to someone else and left me weak and defenceless at one of the worst possible times.Which...I think that was you?Well I assume you probably needed it at the time. One of the other OTHER guys I fought nearly manipulated reality, which..Well shit what can you do when it comes to that ha...I only wanted what I needed, because I needed it to take these guys down azami. You can analyze what I just said for yourself and understand that, and I'm sure you need that same power to take these guys down too, but we're both not alone... We just need to group up with the right people and both of us can rise in power equally.. Plus now that our power divided this has become even better, we now have more of our own individual strengths and don't leech off each other. Before I think we had to play a tug of war or something. Why else would we have been linked to each other?

At this point Nozomi was mostly taking intelligent guesses that really made alot of sense and were what he could make of the situation. He could tell from Azami she was experience some form of insecurity and fear from what went down prior or before. I don't think your a villain or a monster. I think..


Regardless hey, we have to try this and if it really gets bad azami... If we really don't have any means of sustaining that core for both worlds or whatever.

I know this might sound a little hard to place some faith in given everything that's happened but damn if we don't try we might as well give up. I don't know  how much more time we go, but I'll do everything I can on my end just... Do everything you can on your own too. Also watch out for anyone who gets in your way...Alot of these weird guys I think might try to snag one of us, we're like high profile targets judging from all the people that pop up. I'd only trust whoevers been with you up to here or to some extent has at-least assisted you. Shunnosuke has a good head on his shoulders, maybe he can help you out as well.

Just also remember...It's very important you share what I have told you with whoever you are with is well. I will do the same on my own part so we're not running around like headless chickens.

"Wait really? You did?" Azami blinked and scratched her head briefly in contemplation. It was a bit surprising to hear that someone like Nozomi had hooked up with Shunnosuke. They almost seemed like polar opposites in a way. Nozomi was kind and compassionate, perhaps even to a fault; he reminded her of a certain red-headed boy she had met in Azores a few years ago whose name she couldn't quite place. In contrast, she could still very well remember the sting of Shunnosuke's insults, which he seemed more than happy to hand out to those who stood in the way of his goals. The more she thought about it though she realized just how much sense it made. They did say that opposites were attracted to one another. And despite what differences they seemed to have they at least had similar mindsets; she could certainly imagine Nozomi coming to the defense of YumiAmi or Shun refusing to kill the opposing Wild Card when given the chance, albeit likely in different ways and potentially with different reasons. "He and I aren't exactly on good terms, but if you want I wouldn't mind passing on a message. You got anything in particular you want him to hear?"

The woman continued to listen to Nozomi and remained silent throughout the rest of his speech. He just wouldn't give up, would he? She looked down at the ground with her eyes concealed by the bangs of her short, brown hair; the girl's expression was unclear, but it probably didn't seem like she had any intention of backing down from her position. After a moment of dwelling on his words she looked back up...


"A-Alright... If you want my help you've got it. As long as you can find some way to fuel the Core then I'll confront it alongside you. But this better not be a trick. Remember -- I'm the one holding up Azores. You fuck me over and you fuck it over." It seemed that Nozomi had managed to get through to her after all. With great reluctance she chose to place her faith in him and agreed to face the crisis together. "But I'm not gonna hold back on acquiring power, alright? I need to catch up to you anyway. You were already ahead of me and by merging with that entity or whatever you probably got even more of it, so if we're gonna confront whoever's responsible for this then I need to gather all the strength I can get."

It was around this time that she felt it. Her hair swayed lightly in response to the sudden draft and she noticed a rift appear behind Nozomi. Looking backward she noticed another one of those strange gateways was behind her and she took note of the images it was displaying before turning her attention back to Nozomi. "Well... It seems like we've got a choice here. You're the man with a plan. What do you wanna do here?"

Yeah I did, I know, must be a real surprise given our personalities right?You'd be surprised at how people tend to hook up.At that moment Nozomi would really take the time to contemplate about Shunnosuke, man if he was back in azores he could just imagine how the young feminine boy was getting. Perhaps he was aware of Nozomi's situation, and perhaps he was not. If Nozomi had encountered weird guys from this group and alot of unusual happenings, who was to say Azami and whoever was with her had not as well? Regardless, he wouldn't know for sure beyond this little exchange. Hence it was very important that the two of them shared what they knew with each other. Well I had a feeling, his personality tends to clash with others but to me Its kinda cute. Hey, just don't tell him I said that though.Nozomi would sheepishly grin thinking about it, then came Azami's realization and the noticable change in her demeanor. She had agreed to actually cooperate and help him, something that he knew would happen. It was just that little talent of Nozomis, he knew how to talk to you in the right ways from genuine emotional understanding. The boy could just tell she had made her own little realization from the look she gave him, the genuine emotional connection two human beings began to forge when they locked eyes and actually spoke.

Sometimes, you'd never notice it but they say the eyes are the gateway to the soul, and in that moment Nozomi actually understood Azami on a deeper level. He could tell this was really just someone struggling to comprehend everything around them, nobody was ever perfect and to be frank Nozomi accepted that. Alright that's good to hear. I understand, right now you gotta work your way up and try to get to that core just as much as I do.. To be frank I don't want to sound selfish but theres a guy on the other side who can manipulate reality that I'm sure is going to try to kill me the minute I get out of here. So...I think I might have actually seriously needed this.He wasn't lieing, this entire experience happened in the middle of his fight with dio, a meme that he didn't get why it was in this plot. However some things you just can't explain.

As the rifts appeared, Nozomi would look at the back of his, it would show Azores. The temptation was strong, to go back to Nozomi's friends, to all of the people he knew and everything. To just jump right in there and claim all of it back but then.

....No.

The Kichida couldn't do it!He had to an obligation to the alternate worlds, there were people there that needed him and frankly Azami had been in azores more than he had. Even if they did switch places, Nozomi just knew he was potentially better prepared for whatever weird fuckery was on the other side. Looks like this is the portal back to azores, and I'm guessing the portal behind you is the one back to where I came from.. It's clear to me we should return to our original worlds, we have an obligation and switching now will hurt us alot worse. We're both gonna be in familiar territory anyway.

Nozomi at that moment would start to move over to the portal Azami was standing in front of, and clearly begin to take her place as she would get the hint to go over to the one leading to azores. This is my obligation... Just like Azores is yours, but together. We must manage the safety of both worlds and meetup at the core. Before you go though. WAIT!

Nozomi would abruptly stop Azami for as second clearly before either of them had entered the portals. There's this person that nearly got people killed, I don't know if he's with that weird group or not, but he's sort of white/tanned. He has black standing out hair and a plain sort of crewcut shirt and stuff?I don't know if he's still wearing th esame outfit, but he nearly got a large group of people killed and myself and my own companions killed. This girl interacted with him sort of and referred to herself in the third person, called him sada I think? Whoever that is, you must watch out for him because he certainly was not "friendly" when I was around him. Proclaimed something of going back to azores to make his own difference or whatever, maybe he had a change of heart?Beats me. However let me get to the real main point...

Nozomi sighed, and almost had forgotten to deliver Shunnosuke a message. Tell Shunnosuke about my situation, and why I'm literally not there. I woke up just like you did in some weird room, I ended up in the alternate worlds, I ran into a few odd people, I fought some weird man named Dio who wants to get in the way of the main plan for us to get in the core and I think it's important the others know, a part of me nearly caused some intense mess here as we uh both could clearly see that is now back again inside me... Answer any questions he has involving myself kindly based on what I explained to you.These were all the important details involving what was going on, but it was time for the main thing.


He would take a breath, and continue.


...That last part wasn't just meant for him. It was mean't for you too Azami. Now go-on, ha. We got something important to do, make sure everyone cooperates...Wherever these portals take us, it clearly has to do with the images inside of it, and the one that appeared behind me was azores for sure. With that, Nozomi would go into the alternate worlds portal that was behind Azami, and instead be on his way into wherever the hell this thing was going to send him over there. He was assigned to this place from the beginning, and the kichida sure like hell was not about to deviate from his path.

"Sada..." That name rang a bell. And that description too -- it sounded familiar. It took Azami a moment to place it, but soon enough it hit her. The man Nozomi was describing had visited Monde Étape a few days prior to this whole event. Normally she wouldn't be able to remember one faceless customer, but the struggling business didn't see many new patrons sadly, and on top of that their interaction was anything but ordinary. The man had come in asking about rumors of a supernatural nature -- something about Shadows, although even now she hadn't heard anything about any creatures like that. Regardless, the interaction ended up taking a turn for the worse and had left a sour taste in her mouth, so Azami wasn't all too pleased to hear that he was running around with powers of his own. "I think I know who you're talking about. I'll make sure to keep an eye out for him."

Azami would listen intently to Nozomi's instructions and nod at them. For the most part she retained her previous demeanor, although when the boy told her the message he wanted delivered to Shunnosuke that'd change. It was fine for the most part and she wasn't going to tell Nozomi what to say to his loved ones, but the brief mention of returning to normalcy -- the insinuation that they were happy with that sort of life and felt it treated them fairly -- that stuck out to the woman.



It was her own fault. She had gotten caught up in the moment, in her own useless and misguided emotions, and had assumed that he saw the world as she did. But he didn't. She should have expected as much. Nozomi was content with the way things were and Shunnosuke likely was as well if the two were as close as he suggested they were. Feigning a smile that was practically indistinguishable from the one before, Azami would nod at Nozomi one last time as she slipped her hands into the pockets of her jacket and began to walk toward the portal to Azores. She became conscious of the connection between the boy and her at that moment, not the bond they shared as Wild Cards but the bond they shared as people, and felt regret swell up inside her chest. It was foolish of her to let her mask slip like that -- to let him get inside of her. That sort of attachment that formed between people was... problematic. Was it too late to stop these sentiments? She could only swallow them down and hope they would subside with time.

"Before I forget: you should know that the thirteen are departing from Azores for the time being. That entity you joined up with told me that. I presume they're heading to the Other Worlds, which can't mean anything good. I'd recommend... dealing with them, if you know what I mean. At the very least, however, you should keep an eye out. I feel like something big's going to be going down there soon."

Imparting that last piece information to Nozomi, Azami would take a deep breath and step through the rift to Azores. She could only hope she had made the right decision here. It seemed, however, that only time would able to be reveal the consequences of her choice.