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Our entire group aims to win the elections such that a worthy king may claim the throne, and so we can find the means to change the world. Would we be truly capable of such a feat if we are felled by a demon king?

OMG YES U IDIOT
theres a huge diffrence between defeatin a Dmon king
winnin an election an improvin teh world!!

i shouldn even hafta SAY this!!

y did he agree?
DID HE AGREE???
dont lie to me

Edited 2025-02-13 12:29 (UTC)

Not to me. Our enemy is someone far worse than Kazuya, after all.

[Congrats, Louis. You're officially worse than a demon king.]

He did, in the form of a deal. I win, and he'll listen to me. He wins, and he can take control of my will.

[Oh, he's so ready to hear the ensuing explosion after typing that.]

tell me you're joking, please

I'm afraid this is no joking matter.

do u even hear urself?

getting ur point across and understandin kazuya
tats worth ur soul and mission 2 change ur world?

did u even stop 2 think about ur friends?
about how hurt theyd b if u were hurt or lost ur soul to tat man??
if u were forced 2 go wit him when he leaves tis place if he does
bc u thougt he was worth ur soul and teh ppl u care about???

Yes, it is. There's no worth in my life if it is not used in the service of others, and if I can use it as a bargaining chip then I will. I would not be worthy of my name otherwise.

I already told him that he's not allowed to hurt my friends. That's a good enough clause. I doubt he can find the means to leave this place with me anyhow.

[ Oho, that -- and she drops her head, turning it slightly to the side and exhaling a soft "heh" -- that? That really pisses her off.

It'll be a couple of minutes before Strohl receives his reply. It's about how long it'd take Nao to walk over to the brothers' cottage actually, but the reply doesn't come via the phone. It comes in the form of Nao seemingly glitching through the wall, green and black code fading in and out as she steps forward and toward Strohl. She's not running. She's walking.

He's got maybe five seconds to register before she's on him. ]

[He thought that it would have been the end of that, his reasoning finally read and understood, only for him to look up the oracle and what on earth is that.

That's Nao, alright. But the glitching is all unfamiliar to him. That alone is enough to make his skin stand on end, much like how someone encounters something unfamiliar for the first time.

He doesn't want to put his fists up, not when Nao is a friend, but he doesn't keep his guard down. Just in case it's not an imposter.]

That's you, right? You never showed that trick during our training sessions.

[ If it makes him feel any better, Nao isn't radiating killing intent, but there is most certainly not a smile on her face, idle or otherwise. She steps until she's close enough to reach out and grasp his shoulders. There is a brief second where she meets his gaze. Then, she starts shaking him wildly, violently. ]

YOU AREN'T READY FOR IT LIKE YOU AREN'T READY TO EVEN TALK TO A DEMON LET ALONE DUEL A DEMON KING, YOU SELFISH, [ shake ] STUPID [ shakeshake ] MAN!

[ shakeSHAKESHAKESHAKESHAKESHAKESHAKE --

The rest of the cottage won't hear a thing. Nao walked close enough to the brothers' cottage to properly target and inflict a psychosomatic illusion on Strohl. It's two-way of course. She wanted to feel herself shaking him like the tool he is. See, she thinks about her friends unlike the idiot that's incited her to violently shake him out of anger and frustration and worry and -- and -- ]

["It'll only happen once I have my powers back!" Is what he would have said - as if that would make things any better - if not for the fact that she's suddenly shaking him like a maraca.

It's such an absurd reaction that he doesn't even know what to say, being helplessly swept away by the shaking instead. He really tries to make his point across, and you can hear him try to say a thing or two, but it's really hard to talk when your voice ends up vibrating alongside your body.]

[ She hears him trying to speak. She keeps shaking him, until the majority of the force of her emotion softens enough and she pauses, hands still gripping his shoulders. ]

WHAT?

[Oh, finally. He takes a moment to restore his inertia - gods, the room is still spinning after all that.]

I said, the duel would only commence once I have my powers back. I'm not a fool.

YOU--!!

[ The shaking resumes, her emotions surging again. She's going to be exhausted by the time she gets back to the cottage and she hasn't physically raised a finger. ]

THAT DOESN'T MAKE THINGS ANY BETTER, STROHL!!!

L-Look, it was either this or my life is forfeit! And I refuse to die before my mission is done.

[At least he can talk during the shaking this time. Why is she so hung up about this, anyway?]

It's going to be alright. I'm not going down without a fight.

[ She stops shaking him suddenly. Her grip on his shoulders relaxes. Her fingers twitch, but her hands don't fall away. Her gaze drops to his chest, her brows furrowed. She's searching, working through several somethings simultaneously as she does. She shouldn't have to. It should be such a simple thing to say, to calmly tell him how she feels about this, that she's worried about him, that he's her friend and she's... she's afraid of losing him.

At the root of everything, that's it. She's afraid of losing him. ]

I don't want you going down at all.

[That....that leaves him a bit surprised, to be frank. It's not like he lacks friends who care about him, or that the others wouldn't be concerned if they ever knew of his plans. But to hear it admitted so blatantly...it does warms his heart a little.]

Thank you for caring about me, Nao.

[No wonder he could find it in himself to smile.]

But I have to do this. I need to get to him before he's too far gone. To ignore such a thing would not just be a betrayal on my name, but on my heart as well.

I don't approve.

[ She doesn't have to. ]

This is foolish.

[ She's entitled to her factual opinion. ]

I'm going to complain the whole time, and you -- you are going to promise me you will not make any more contracts without me present and in agreement, do you understand?

[She was never going to approve of it. Strohl will still do it, regardless.]

I'm not sure if I can promise this, but I'll at least let you know.

Idiot.

[ She says finally after looking him in the eyes for what seems a small eternity.

Nao turns and takes one step, two, giving a two-fingered salute as she glitches into her third step and vanishes.

Outside, the real Nao sighs, her head and back against the cottage wall. In her eyes, a sky full of foreign stars. She looks at them for a moment, then moves to push herself up as the wind asserts itself, causing her braid to billow past her shoulder. She'd best be getting back then. She will, and quietly, a ghost unseen. ]

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