View source for 3337/I Wish You A Good Evening!

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/08/24
|Location=Mitakihara - Mitakihara General
|Synopsis=Maboroshi no Manako attacks the filing room at Mitakihara General Hospital where birth certificates are kept, supposedly for the purpose of granting a "wish" ... but she does it in the flashiest manner imaginable, as if she ''wanted'' to be caught. What is Manako's true goal?
|Cast of Characters=227,143,45,162,5,71
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:227|Maboroshi no Manako| (227)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>It's a little after 10 PM when it happens.<br /><br />A portal opens in an alleyway near the hospital, and out slips a mass of shadows about the size of a truck. It is covered (or perhaps filled) with eyes that glow purple with dark energy, and comes to a head with a single fuchsia eye. And cat-ears.<br /><br />... That's a nightmare. A nightmare is running free in the waking world.<br /><br />Maboroshi no Manako examines the printed-out map resting somewhere in the depths of its body, and then flows over to a carefully-selected window that will take her near the filing rooms. She doesn't bother with stealth; she smashes the window open, and the doctors in the hallway scream when they see her, but she fires a burst of dark energy towards each of them. "Sleep," she intones, in a deep woman's voice in three pitches simultaneously that seems to come from her entire mass at once. "Sleep, and be consumed with nightmares!"<br /><br />And with that, she makes her way to the filing room where birth certificates are kept, repeating the process as necessary with anyone else unfortunate enough to cross her path.<br /><br />With that much darkness going on at once ... it's almost as if she ''wants'' to get noticed by those of a magical persuasion.

:'''{{#var:143|Prism Princess Yellow| (143)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>After school, Hoshi had been volunteering in the hospital. She's been working herself ragged lately to distract herself, and so afterwards she fell asleep in a corner in the staff room and nobody noticed. She woke up just a bit ago and hasn't realized how late it is yet, but she can notice the darkness before the screaming; and the screaming tells her this is definitely a problem.<br /><br />One text to the general Virtue phone chat app and one transformation later, Prism Princess Yellow is headed straight for the source. "Hey. Stop it." She yells, pointing the miniature galaxy in her hand straight at Maboroshi. "And explain yourself."

:'''{{#var:45|Hinote Kagari| (45)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Hinote Kagari was walking around Tokyo. Literarily getting used to the sound of just 'a modern city'. He had become acclimated to Waldia and the capital. Even on a busy market day, the capital square never hit the fever pitch of the city on a normal day. Not to mention all the buzz of electrical grids and well. He kind of understands how it felt for Runealy and her first friends when they first crossed over a few years ago at this point.<br /><br />But more important, he was escorting a princess! Well. A soon to be princess. But really that was all formality at this point. It wasn't so much an official duty in so far as they both wanted to go find a place to eat and no one else seemed around at the moment.<br /><br />"Rune-chan is very excited you know." he says to the other with him. "I understand Gao hasn't seen her that excited si---" then he stops as he looks at the hospital as they pass it.<br /><br />"Hey, do you feel that?" he asks. He looks at Fate as he looks at her with some concern. "Should we check it out?" he asks, arm crossing when he looks back to the hospital.

:'''{{#var:162|Hokuto Minase| (162)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Hokuto had been ''in'' the hospital, a patient, today! She was getting treated for some injuries she'd taken fighting off a few youkai... masquerading as a street gang, harassing students. She's just finished getting her sprained ankle taped up when she hears the screaming. Well, ''that'' can't be good... <br /><br />"What the absolute unforgiven heck is going on out there?" she hisses, brushing aside the doctor to get to the hall and get an idea of what's going on. Could it be criminals? A family squabble? No, of course not. It's a monster of some sort. Well. Hokuto has some idea what to do with monsters, that she does. <br /><br />Transforming with a flick of paired ofuda, she pads after it, wincing with every other step as she sets weight on her injured foot. That's okay. She can handle it.

:'''{{#var:5|Fate Testarossa| (5)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>It's true. The outing is more a matter of happenstance. Fate Testarossa wanted to get some food. Hinote Kagai wanted to get some food. Let's go get some food. Also. It feels weird to have an 'escort'. Not bad. Maybe. But she's not used to have someone she ''could'' technically boss around if she felt ''inclined''. They we're all friends though. She shouldn't go bossing around friends.<br /><br />Not to mention it still wasn't offical. That is also true. She does smile lightly up at the boy. "I know!" she says with wide eyes. "I never had a sister before..." she says quietly. Little pangs of Alicia inside. Alicia always wanted a sister...<br /><br />She can feel that too. Bardiche pings into her head confirming it. "Yes. Something is in there." she says. She start moving towards the hospital and transforms along the way, pulling Bardiche out into it's polearm form as she makes a leap through a window. The last time she was here.<br /><br />....there might had been zombies.

:'''{{#var:227|Maboroshi no Manako| (227)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Maboroshi no Manako stops dead right at door to the filing room, and her head twists around to face Prism Princess Yellow. Well ... actually, she seems to be looking at that miniature galaxy. This Nightmare clearly knows purification power when she sees it.<br /><br />"Greetings, human," says her voices. "We are Maboroshi no Manako." The Phantasmal Eyes. "We are here to grant a dreamer's wish. Unfortunately, we are quite plainly a Nightmare, and have no choice but to put these humans to sleep, in the only way we know how." Her voice is ... almost completely devoid of emotion, but she's clearly very guarded. It looks, at the moment, like she's unwilling to take any chances.<br /><br />But then her position shifts as Hokuto approaches, and the fuchsia eye turns to face her instead. "Oh! Greetings, onmyouji!" she says -- still guardedly, but now there's a hint of smugness. The fuchsia eye peers down at her injured leg. "You seem a bit worse for wear, although ... nonetheless, your condition is greatly improved from when we last set eyes upon you, fourteen months ago."<br /><br />... That is, the time of the Nightmare Prince's invasion of Tokyo.<br /><br />An amoeba-like pseudopod with a handful of eyes snakes its way into the filing room. Manako uses the bulk of her body to hide it from Hoshi and Hokuto.

:'''{{#var:143|Prism Princess Yellow| (143)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Well, I'm going to need to know a bit more than that. Not all wishes are worth granting." Yellow answers Manako, glancing at the others with a relieved smile; she's not sure she'd be ready to do this alone. Nonetheless, she doesn't attack quite yet; perhaps this wish is worth granting, after all. "I'm sorry but I'm a bit predisposed to need a good explanation from darkness aligned people. It's just... there's a pattern."

:'''{{#var:45|Hinote Kagari| (45)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Hinote Kagari watches Fate drive ahead, he follows suit.<br /><br /><span class="fg_202">"To Protect Justice, I am Guardian Hino!"</span> he calls out his Guardian Oath, the bracelet relic around his wrist glowing before bathing flames, engulfing him and leaving him as-- Guardian Hino! The Guardian Knight follows quickly after Fate, hot on her heels--- as it we're as he follows through the window with a dive and a dramatic roll for effect. He did not need to roll.<br /><br />But when one is on the stage, one must play the part. He stands back up smoothly as he follows, cape moving behind him as he comes to a stop when Fate does.<br /><br />There's a yellow girl here. She doesn't seem to be the source of the issue. She gets a friendly nod.<br /><br />There's a... thing here. It talks about an event fourteen months ago. Hinote was not in Tokyo-- let alone on /Earth/ fourteen months ago. He has no idea what this thing is talking about.<br /><br />All he knows it that seems to have hurt people- and something about a dreamer's wish."<br /><br />"Dream...?" he asks. "Please excuse me, but you look more like a demon of a nightmare." he says drawing his longsword from it's scabbard on his belt. He looks to Fate and asks more lowly. 'What happened fourteen months ago?' to her, before looking back at the thing.<br /><br />"What do you say, Princess?" he asks Fate. "Talk? or skip the pleasantries?"

:'''{{#var:71|Akashimaru| (71)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"I swear, old man," Akashimaru gripes through gritted teeth as she runs, "if you're making excuses just to duck an argument--" <br /><br />Just ahead of her, the comically stubby shape of a galumphing baku veers and comes to an abrupt stop, forcing Akashimaru to break off her threat and skid to a halt herself before she trips herself over him. "There!" O-Yasu says, raising his tapir-like snout to point in the direction of the hospital. "I can smell a Nightmare from here. Get in there and do something about it."<br /><br />Breath hissing out through her teeth, Akashimaru yanks the oni mask down over her face. Settling the Shinken into her hand, she turns for a moment to point the tessen at O-Yasu in an accusing gesture. "Okay," she says, "but this conversation is ''not'' over."<br /><br />The baku stares back at her with eyes like burning coals. "''Go.''"<br /><br />"I'm going!"<br /><br />By sheer luck or O-Yasu's nose for Nightmare energy, the back route they took to approach the hospital means it doesn't take her long at all to spot the shattered window. It's as good a point of entry as any. Inside, the sight of the collapsed doctors and orderlies makes her grimace behind her mask; she doesn't need O-Yasu to tell her that they're in the throes of nightmare. A flick of her wrist snaps the iron fan open, before she lifts it into a sweeping gesture. "Come, the wind that blows away falsehoods - San-Kyo-Sen!"<br /><br />The Shinken's power fills the hallway in a rush. It's not enough to wake the fallen victims - which may be just as well - but hopefully it'll at least chase the nightmares from their sleeping minds. It's all she can do for them for now, before she follows the sound of voices and the trail of mayhem toward the filing room where several other magical warriors have already converged.

:'''{{#var:162|Hokuto Minase| (162)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Hokuto ahhs, drawing the intended conclusion, and chuckles softly. "Well, it just goes to show, there are less annoying things in the world than nightmares." She shrugs. "It's okay, I've still got enough to take care of you." She flips a couple of ofuda from her belt-pouch, the inked characters on them glowing softly. <br /><br />She pauses for a moment, though, looking over at Hoshi. Then back to the shadow-whatsit. "Sometimes I wonder just who's crazier, them or me, you know?" She shrugs again. And then hears a familiar voice. "Oh, hey! Sempai! Good to see you again. Shall we dance?"

:'''{{#var:5|Fate Testarossa| (5)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Fate Testarossa comes to a stop after a kick fast hover. Guardian Hino catches up. She knew he would. She blazed a fast trail. Prism Keeper Yellow. A... warrior in an oni mask? Hino. Then this thing. She arcs her neck a little to talk lowly back at Hino. 'I don't know. I was no involved in whatever potentially went down.' she says as she leans back.<br /><br />"In my experience, Dark energy creatures are either obviously friends or obviously enemies." she says with earnst. "I do not think this thing is benevolent." she says lowly.<br /><br />But in the interest of cooperation she doesn't pre-empt Yellows decision. She was here first. She already knows a little more about this situation than they do. Fate can wait a minute more before she acts. She gives Hino a look, it speaks volumes of 'if something is out of line, don't hesitate', before looking back at the Nightmare.

:'''{{#var:227|Maboroshi no Manako| (227)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Hmmm." It's clear that enough that the eyes in/on its body are still watching Hoshi, even if the fuchsia eye is still watching Hokuto. A shudder runs through the mass as Akashimaru frees the sleepers from their nightmares, and her head turns towards the new arrivals. "Ah! And the reincarnation of Akashimaru! As well as others we do not recognize." A low chuckle shakes the shadowy mass, and she looks between Akashimaru and Hokuto. "Not that we expect either of you to recognize us, of course. We were 'playing' on the wrong side of the bridge to cross paths with your party, and we returned to the realm of dreams while the Prince had you all ... ''hopelessly'' personally distracted." The shadowy form shifts in an approximation of a shrug. "... 'Were it so easy' to discern when ''every'' battle was lost before it had begun." More direct references to the events of that night ...<br /><br />She turns her attention back to Hoshi, sort of 'leaning' back towards the doorway. "Well. Unfortunately, the wisher requested complete privacy as part of the bargain," she says. "And we are a Nightmare to fulfills such terms to the letter." There's a sort of reluctance in her voices. "We ... are ... unable to divulge the significance of the fact that this is the chamber where credentials of life and birth are stored, though you may ''correct'' us if we are wrong."<br /><br />The pseudopod snakes through the room, scanning the filing cabinets containing birth certificates. The searching-magic is low-powered enough that it might not be detected outside the room. Emphasis on "might".

:'''{{#var:143|Prism Princess Yellow| (143)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Now if you're going to do anything with those records, I'm going to need a good reason why. You could mess up someone's life really hard that way, and I'm sure you're aware." Yellow answers Maboroshi, and continues, "If you do have a good reason and just can't divulge, then I'm sorry but I can't let people just mess around with those without a good explanation."<br /><br />The discussion of events surrounding the Nightmare prince do nothing to assist Maboroshi's attempts to convince Yellow of good intent, quite the opposite in fact. "Consider this a warning shot. If you don't give me a good reason now, then you'll get way worse." She swings her galactic scepter, and a couple of stars fly loose, zipping towards Maboroshi. Flashing and pulsing with waves of purifying colour energy, zipping around the nightmare and quite likely being incredibly distracting; but it shouldn't do much more than itch.

:'''{{#var:45|Hinote Kagari| (45)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Guardian Hino keeps his sword out in front of him as he takes a deep breath. "Really now." he says. "Yeah I know about another thing that grants wishes, and he's even less conspicuous than you are- but still doesn't mean well. You're more obvious." he says. He doesn't even know if 'Kyubey' is still a thing or not.<br /><br />Wait. Akashimaru. His eyes look over to the right. "Woah! Akashimaru!" he calls out. "Long time. No dream." he says in an attempt at a witty quip. "Sorry about the disappearing act for uh. Nearly two years." he says sheepishly. "Drop by the home sometimes. Runealy or one of us can explain then." he says.<br /><br />He looks back down to the matter at hand, after quick pleasantries.<br /><br />Yeah okay, he'll apologize to Yellow later if it's needed, he's making a decision that this thing doesn't have good intentions and is being untoward. He snaps his finger, there's a spark of flame.<br /><br /><span class="fg_202">"IGNITE!"</span> he calls out, flame lancing out from his hand suddenly as a quick and hard spark that almost looks like it just suddenly explodes instantaneously in the same general space that the Nightmare occupies.

:'''{{#var:5|Fate Testarossa| (5)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Fate Testarossa sees that Guardian Hino has made a decision. At the same time, she calls out. "Bardiche, Barrier.". <span style="color:yellow">&lt; Yes, Sir! &gt;</span> emits Bardiche as the world is overtaken in black and white, seperating the normal mundane people from the rest of this fight- so things can't catch on fire or people get hurt.<br /><br />"We don't trust you." We, here, is Fate and Hino. She can't speak for Yellow or this Samuari in an Oni mask she doesn't quite know. She can only speak for her's and Hino's actions right now.<br /><br />Birth records. She doesn't have such a thing. She does, but they're fake. Created by Lindy-sama for future legal reasons, such as the whole adoption affair going on.

:'''{{#var:71|Akashimaru| (71)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"--oh. ''You'' again." The ferocious grimace of the oni mask doesn't change as it orients toward Manako, but Akashimaru's tone of voice heavily implies that behind it she's making kind of a lemonface. Her head turns a little to take in the others, eyes settling first on Hokuto and then Hino when they greet her; when she answers, her voice is a little lighter. "Definitely been a while," she agrees. "It's good to see you both."<br /><br />Further conversation will have to wait, however - there's a Nightmare in the room that needs to be addressed, and Akashimaru's masked visage turns back toward Manako again. "Weird to see a Nightmare concerning itself with something so... earthly. Somebody want to catch me up, or would it make just as little--"<br /><br />This would be about when Hino starts setting things on fire, abruptly enough that Akashimaru actually jolts in place from the surprise. "--''welp'' okay then."

:'''{{#var:162|Hokuto Minase| (162)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Hokuto smiles warmly, visibly brightening when Akashimaru returns her greeting. "Far too long, Sempai," she agrees. The young onmyouji pauses, then, drawing another pair of ofuda from her pouch, and smiles wider - even as she winces, stepping over to lean against a wall for support. <br /><br />"So, what brings you to the hospital?" she too-casually asks of the Nightmare. "If you're here for a lobotomy, the psychiatric ward is on the eighth floor. Or is it just a tummy-ache? Ate too much?" She chuckles softly and tosses a pair of ofuda into the air, where they eventually stick to the ceiling above the shadow-creature.

:'''{{#var:227|Maboroshi no Manako| (227)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Maboroshi no Manako judges Hoshi's attack to be weak, and lets it connect, lettings out three different hisses at once. "... You may consider your message as taken," she says flatly. "If mere hints --"<br /><br />And then Hinote forces the issue. Manako lets out an eldritch, nightmarish feline ''yowl'' in three different voices as she gets hit by the explosion, stumbling backwards away from the doorway.<br /><br />She shakes herself as she recovers, finding herself inside a barrier, alone with the heroes. "... Well, so much for ''that''," she says. "Very well, then. We shall oblige you!" And with that, she surges the other way down the hallway, firing a dozen bullets of dark energy which ricochet off the walls and ceiling towards the heroes!

:'''{{#var:45|Hinote Kagari| (45)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Guardian Hino understood what Fate was going to do the moment he attacked. Put up a barrier. He isn't as precise with his attacks like Gaofelle, Runealy or Fate-- it's burning and fire. He gives a grin to Fate, as the thing starts moving he gives chase. It unleashes a wave of ricocheting blasts and he has to stop at this and throw a wave of flame up in front of him to absorb one bouncing down off the floor and up into him. He does get clipped by one in the shoulder, grah! Okay.<br /><br />Okay he'll need to push through. "Hey Akashimaru. This is a Nightmare, right?" he asks. "One of yours, again?" he asks, remembering that forest and awful nightmare from before they had left back to Waldia for the emergency.<br /><br />He'll swing his sword, sending out a wave of fire as the ornate Waldian blade lights into flame. "Nothing this thing wants is going to end with a happy ending, I'm sure." he remarks.

:'''{{#var:5|Fate Testarossa| (5)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Abousltely." Fate answers singly and stoticly in her normal tone to Hino's final summation. This is serious. Whatever this is, means no good intent. She's worked with friendly dark things before. They never acted like this and we're very frank in what they wanted. Besides. It wanted them to find it, right?<br /><br />Why run so loud then. It can't be a trap. Unless it wishes to fail. Could it? It said it's granting a wish. What better way to not grant a wish then utterly fail at it? She's overthinking this in her head.<br /><br />Bardiche transforms into it's scythe form, as she draws it back then gracefully swings it through the air, an Arc Saber shooting out- similar to Hino's own firey slash, though made of magical energy and not flames.<br /><br />Akashimaru. Someone Runealy knows. She files this back away in her head for later, she'll come back to it after this fight or ask Runealy about it later.

:'''{{#var:143|Prism Princess Yellow| (143)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>There's a deep sigh from Yellow as the serious attacks start flying soon after she gives her warning; but she doesn't hesitate; especially as the barrier comes up and dark energy bullets come flying. She sends off a beam of yellow energy as she backs off some, letting those who thrive in melee stay there, wincing as one of the dark energy bullets hits her shoulder.

:'''{{#var:71|Akashimaru| (71)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Startled though she was by the sudden escalation, when the dark energy starts flying, Akashimaru reacts almost automatically. One step forward, and a swift flourish of her hand brings the flat of the open fan up and out before her like a shield that she thrusts forward to meet one of the dark-energy bullets, reflecting it back with a flash of red and a cry of, "Hansha-sen!"<br /><br />It buys her enough space to consider her next move, and to answer Hino's question. "They're definitely a creature of Nightmare," she agrees, but something in her tone still sounds doubtful. "They're different from the servants of the Eater of Dreams that I've encountered up until now, though. Chattier, for one thing."

:'''{{#var:162|Hokuto Minase| (162)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The barrier takes Hokuto by surprise - she's only seen one of those a couple of times - and she stumbles back a bit, dropping one of her ofuda. She doesn't bother to bend and pick it up, just plucking more from her pouch, charging them with a flare of magic. <br /><br />The first bullet bounces off the wall she'd been leaning against, then ricochets away. She doesn't have time to sign in relief as another bounces her way, and she tosses an ofuda into the air to intercept it. The inked paper flares up in violet flames, crumbling to ash under the impact, but the girl is safe, for now. <br /><br />"Chattier is good, sempai. Being willing to talk means we can negotiate. Or at least learn more than 'rarrrr, eat! hungry!'."

:'''{{#var:227|Maboroshi no Manako| (227)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Very obviously, Maboroshi no Manako is a raging monster who fights using brute force.<br /><br />Except ... this belies a subtlety to her motions. Hino and Fate's attacks slash through the edges of the shadowy mass, and Hoshi's beam seems to tear a hole right through it, producing another yowl, but ... they seem to be glancing blows, and the hole Hoshi left closes almost completely. It's not adding up to significant damage. She's ''good'' at leveraging her amorphous form for defense and evasion.<br /><br />A pseudopod lances out and ... swallows the bullet Akashimaru deflected. "We ''were'', in fact, a servant of the Eater of Dreams for a time!" she calls out, a note of amusement in her triple-voice. Two of the eyes in the main mass of shadow start glowing brightly. "He eventually formed the conclusion that we had outlived our usefulness, and sought to correct it. The Nightmare Prince, we have found, is currently much more amenable than the Eater of Dreams ever was!"<br /><br />The two eyes fire brilliant violet beams of light that punch a hole through the ceiling as wide as the entire hallway. Manako then flies up through the hole, but not before unleashing several more dozen bullets of darkness which ricochet even more wildly than the first set. Not all of them are particularly aimed towards the heroes; she just seems to be laying down suppressing fire. A few of them even end up bouncing harmlessly into the filing room.

:'''{{#var:45|Hinote Kagari| (45)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Yeah, you've outlived your usefulness, alright." Guardian Hino says as he follows along. "Nightmare is all I need to know." he says to Akashimaru. "But not yours. Alright." he says. "So that's a new one." he says softly.<br /><br />Another good thing about a barrier is that you can just carelessly bust through walls. In which case he summons up flames around him and then just straight up jumps out of the way of the oncoming barrage by making a hole directly above him--- to the same floor Manako moved to.<br /><br />He doesn't attack though as he comes to a land just on the other side of the hole. "FATE-CHAN!" he calls out. He's making a hole so she can get through easier, get a clearer shot with her own next attack.

:'''{{#var:5|Fate Testarossa| (5)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Fate Testarossa can see the opening. She leaps through, leaping upwards, and at the same time, is casting a spell, a circle forming at the tip of Bardiche. "Let it out... Rumbling Thunder..." she says under her breath. "Thunder Smasher!" she calls out.<br /><br /><span style="color:yellow">&lt; Thunder Smasher! &gt;</span> calls out Bardiche as a brilliant lance of electrical energy courses from Bardiche, a steady strong beam that's capable of cutting through the walls and obstacles in it's way as she aims to hit the Nightmare- surging forward like a raging storm.

:'''{{#var:71|Akashimaru| (71)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>This is, needless to say, all a lot more property damage than Akashimaru is used to being a party to outside of dreams. "K'so--" she manages to hiss out, before springing clear of those eyebeams and the hail of falling bits of ceiling and other debris becomes momentarily a major priority. "Well," she answers Hokuto wryly once she's in slightly safer ground, "you're not ''wrong''..."<br /><br />She snaps the Shinken closed as she lifts her face to track Manako's path, a quick twirl reversing her grip on the tessen before it blooms with red light, transforming from the shape of a closed fan to the arc of a bow. "You traded up for sure," she calls back to Manako, even as she's drawing back the red bowstring and the heavy black arrow that's formed upon it out of the air. "But working with the Prince of Nightmares is still bad news!"<br /><br />Setting her aim on one of those myriad eyes, she lets the arrow fly.

:'''{{#var:162|Hokuto Minase| (162)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Hokuto nods, offering Akashimaru a quick thumbs-up. She's ''fine''. Or, well, something resembling that. Then she hurls another set of ofuda from her half-sitting position against the wall, plastering them to the walls on either side of the Nightmare. Just as before, the kanji flare up briefly, then fade. <br /><br />"Sounds to me like she should trade up for something even better, sempai. Like, say, us." She grins and turns briefly to watch the bow-shot -- always interested to watch a fellow archer at work. Especially when it's her Sempai. <br /><br />"I should've brought my bow, dang it..."

:'''{{#var:227|Maboroshi no Manako| (227)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Maboroshi no Manako finds herself face-to-face with Hino and Fate. "Well, then!" she says, right before getting hit by the Thunder Smasher. The entire mass of shadows goes flying backwards down the hallway. And then the arrow finds its mark, too, and the Nightmare just sort of ... melts out into a heap.<br /><br />And then it begins quivering with laughter. Its voices are strained, now, somewhat distorted, and they aren't entirely in sync now. "Th-th-the philosopher Laozi-zi-zi wrote, 'w-w-when two great-t-t forces oppose o-o-one another, vi-vi-victory will go to-to-to the one that knows how to y-y-yield!'" she says. "We-we-we shall re-re-report to the wisher-er-er that the-the-the wish has failed-d-d!"<br /><br />And with that, the Nightmare slides into a portal and vanishes from the world. It seems Fate's earlier ruminations were right ...?
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