Chapter 7: The End of the Beginning

[Jun]

What does she mean by she's 'nothing'? Jun arched an annoyed eyebrow. Not just her eyebrow, every inch of her was annoyed at this man-girl or whatever it is.

"Nothing eh. And since you've so charmingly suggested, who gives you the power over the bridge? And if you're nothing does that mean you don't exist at all? Or are you just a spiritual being with a fake body? When exactly were you born, or created if you like that term bettter?" Jun didn't give the girl a chance to answer before barragging all the questions out. A final one hit her like a hammer on the head. "Who actually created you?"

[Hadrian D'arcell]

Hadrian found himself grinning at Jun's questions. He couldn't have brought up much better questions than she did.

"Uhm..." The little girl blinked innocently, then cheerfully answered with her manly voice. "You asked so many questions at the same time the only thing I remembered was the last one." She leaned her cheek on the globe.

"Who created me?" she asked, "You created me." Her eyes lowered and paused for a while. "Heehee, you bunch are really gullible aren't you?" She laughed at them. "Ya can't even guess my name after all I've said."

"Us?" Hadrian blurted out. "Why us? How?"

"Because you're gullible."

"Don't mess with me! What do you mean we created you?" Stardust demanded. "Answer properly."

The girl's eyebrows creased in confusion. She stood up straight and spoke slowly. "It's because you are gullible."

Hadrian stared at the girl, thinking.

"Hmph. Boring!" The globe in her arms shone like a crystal ball and the figure of a man at the bridge's entrance came into view. "Look, look. He's cutting the rope! Bye bye life, bye bye Adel for you," she chirped.



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OOC: Group B MUST figure out her name or the plot won't move Give it your all everyone. XD You're smart!

[waterlily43]

Jun couldn't get it. The answer seemed to be on the verge of appearing, and yet again not. It was most frustrating. She started pacing around the limited space crossing her arms and furrowing her brows until Sapphy complained about a headache. She whirled around as the edge of an idea touched on her mind.

"Wait a minute. If we place all her words into an equation, that means she's an entity we created ourselves to fool ourselves...what would such a thing be?"

Jun could think of one such thing, only she wasn't sure if it was the right one.

We have three chances. Might as well use one instead of wasting time which isn't gonna help.

"Is your name Illusion?" She asks the girl, her voice shaking with anticipation and fear.

[ST]

The girl pauses for a while then quickly laughs in delight.

"Wrong!" she exclaims, hopping. "Two chances left..." She holds up two fingers. "Illusion? That's sort of a weird name for a girl like me, don't you think?" She looks at the globe in her hand and throws her voice exaggerately. "Hullo, mah name is 'Illusion'. Nice ta meetcha" Her face contorts. "See? Even Mr. Globe thinks it sounds weird."

"But that doesn't mean we're not close." Vanesse indignantly cuts in. She points behind the girl and smirks. "You shouldn't insult us, y'know? Given you've even gone to the trouble of scribbling the jumbled letters of your name behind you."

"Did I, really?" The girl's smile turns mischievous again. "Now, try again."

[Jun and Rayden]

"And how am I supposed to know what kind of name is suitable for a 'girl' like you? You have the voice of a--"

"What about Mirage? Is it mirage?" Rayden cut in the middle of Jun's vexed reply, staring intently at the girl.

[ST]

Jun XD
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Jun, Hadrian, Rayden, Sho, Vanesse, Stardiep

"Shucks! And I thought there are going to be more bleeding in the bridge," the girl speaks, the energetic expression she has a while ago turns into a pout. "You win....The name of this bridge is Mirage." She looks to the side and sighs. "Whether you choose to believe in my words or not...I have to tell you my secret now."

She lets the globe shatter on the ground and in a blink of an eye, the girl is no where in sight. You are back in the middle of the foggy bridge. The voice of the girl rings in your ear one last time.

Ahead and behind you are your teammates. Space is distorted in this area. Everything you see here in the bridge is not true, even me. If you acknowledge their existence, even just by seeing them, 'they' will get to you. All you have to do to get out of here is close your eyes and run forward. That is all. Word of advice: Don't fall while you're at it~

A few seconds later the girl's aura is gone and the sound of your teammates yelling and fighting something resonates from ahead and behind you.

[Hadrian D'arcell]

Hadrian had to blink a couple of times to accustom himself to what was happening. So that girl or whatever that they were talking to was the bridge itself?

"Who are 'they'?" he asked, confused. "Screw that, we have to get out of here now!" He looked at the three girls. "Can you three go get the others behind us? Rayden, Sho, and me are going to get the others ahead and we'll wait for you at the other side."

Stardust was going to protest but figured that they didn't have time for that at the moment. "Like we have any choice but to trust that girl. Just close our eyes, right..." She then dragged Vanesse and Jun with her and headed towards the entrance of the bridge. "Let's hold on to the rails and make sure we don't fall. One of you call out to them. Don't expect me to do it. I'm tired of screaming," she demanded in her usual tone.

~*~

Hadrian turned to Sho and Rayden. "I don't have a long weapon to feel the ground, so how do we do this...you know how blind men run?" Rayden had a fork, but that would be dangerous if they hit someone with it, and Sho had...glow sticks. "Let's just use whatever stick we have to guide our steps, it's going to be faster that way than hugging the railings." He gazed at the thick fog. He could hear some faint noise ahead. They had to be near. "Let's hurry."

[miyavi]

Sho shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t carry sticks,” he said out loud, trying to squint through the fog. He couldn’t SEE anything, but there were sounds of fighting and someone was screaming like a banshee--- that was Blaze, and if Sho was a gambling man, he’d have bet Rayden a couple thousand gil about it; but there was no time for that kind of thing, there was a fog mirage to see through and teammates to save and all that erroneous blather that Sho didn’t really feel like doing… but whatever.

And wait.

“How do you know how blind men run?” Sho asked, staring at Hadrian. “Do you regularly watch blind men races or something?”

He shook his head. Dude, his teammates were weird.

[Jun and Jaime]

Jun let herself be pulled along by Stardust, dazed by the data flooding her mind left in the 'girl's' wake. But after being prompted by Stardust to shout at the ones left at the other end of the bridge, she immediately kicked her brain into auto-pilot mode and rapidly moved on to the end of the bridge.

"Deo? Jax? Jaime? You there?" She hollered cupping a hand around her mouth as she caught sight of the three heads in front. "Come on we're free to go but hurry!"


Jaime turned at Jun's voice. She could see Stardie's pink head, followed by Vanesse's familiar one with a gushing tide of relief.

"Van! Stardust! Jun! You guys are here!" She grabbed onto Van as if the fellow Opps was her life-support. "Quick help us deal with this guy he's trying to cut the ropes holding the bridge together!"

"Q.E.D" Jun said curtly, her mind already numb to any potential shocks from hearing new situations. "Eat this, jackass." She spat, treating the black-hooded guy to a ball of tingling Ultima.

[Rayden]

"Ah, Hadrian, since you're in the lead just run in front until you bump into someone. That'll either have to be a monster or the girls right, which means we would've reached them. Then we'll tell the girls to run for their lives, if they don't oblige we'll carry or drag them towards the other end if we have to. Piece of cake huh?" Rayden grinned with a confidence he didn't have. Who could guarantee that the girls wouldn't lop their heads off thinking that they were the monsters? Or lop them off anyway thinking that they were trying to cop a feel? But it wasn't like they had a lot of time to spare or any other option.

We'll just pray it isn't Blaze he bumps into. He smiled angelically.

[Hadrian D'arcell]

"I was just BS-ing with the blind man running. Caught you there, didn't I?" Hadrian decided to just keep his eyes on the ground to keep himself from seeing anything. This proved to be more convenient afterall. The sounds of footsteps were getting closer and closer, so they doubled their pace.

"Wouldn't you like that? If we somehow managed to grope the girls accidentally, we'll have an excu---" And with that, his hands bumped into a person. Judging from the scent, it was a girl, and she was curvy. "Caught one!!" he exclaimed, quickly snaking his arms around her and moving it up to cover her eyes. "Don't kill me. We're your teammates. Don't look at them!" He fixed his eyes on her shirt.

"We gotta get to the other girls!"

[ST]

Blaze, Stella, Gemma, Polaris (The girl who Hadrian got a hold of first can either be anyone of you, and this doesn't have to apply to her)

Struggling to battle the endless throng of monsters, the three of you notice a dark ball of Ultima materializing from above you, threatening to engulf you all!


Jun and the others XD

Strangely enough, your Ultima spell quickly dematerialized after you aimed at the hooded guy. It almost feels like there is an imaginary vacuum that absorbs your attacks and deposits them elsewhere.

Stardust speaks up, slapping her forehead. "I can't believe this! We probably fell into another illusion. He probably isn't real!" That's her deduction. "I shouldn't have opened my eyes." She clenches her fist.

"We should just get to the other side as fast as we can! Cuz y'know, we met this weird girl, and she said this bridge operates on illusion and creates them into reality." Vanesse explains as briefly as she could. "Sho and the others are already on the other side with the others. We just have to pass this bridge with our...eyes closed." She stops to see her teammates' reactions.

[Polaris Lyn]

Polaris nearly screamed when something came up from behind her. She choked back another scream when hands moved up to cover her eyes.

"Don't kill me. We're your teammates. Don't look at them!" And the voice was familiar and amidst the confusion, Polaris drove an elbow into someone's gut.

"What the hell---?!" she began, reaching up to push away the hands blocking her vision.

[Jun and Jaime]

Jaime watched the Ultima disappear with a resigned shake of her head.

"I know I look dumb but don't you think I would've tried to flambe that guy with a Flare if magics worked? I may not be SeeD but I still know how to fight okay?" She grumbled to Jun who was simply dumbstruck that her best spell didn't work any more.

"B...but that stupid Mirage said anything on the bridge was an illusion she didn't say about beyond the bridge. That's Garden property right?" Jun was flabbergasted. She couldn't believe it, two mistakes in a row! Third Strikes and she might be out! It must be Friday the Thirteenth or something, or maybe the fog was clogging up her brains.

"I'ono but if Van says we have to run with our eyes closed then we better." Jaime gazed at the bridge. It was precariously swinging from side to side...they had to dash through that without opening their eyes...uh huh. "What'cha say Deo? Sometimes you doze when you're running maybe you should lead the way cos you have experience in something like that."

[Rayden]

Rayden stopped immediately at Hadrian's call that he had caught one. He didn't want to bump into Sho. It wasn't like he had anything against his colourful teammate but as far as possible he'd rather bump into a girl, and he was sure Sho wouldn't appreciate it either.

"Now now girls, listen to our charming voices and ignore those monsters. They aren't real at all, but we do have to get off this bridge. Cos the longer we stay here the more risk we're in succumbing to the mirage...which is what all these monsters are about." Rayden flashed his trademark smile but the girls appeared unmoved by it. "Now either you listen to us and run for it or we'll have to grab you." He extended his hands, flexing his fingers with a rougish grin. "I wouldn't mind that, of course."