Humans, and Demons, and Shadows - Oh My! (Invite)

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji's eyes widened as Ryoji brought up Elizabeth. He knew Elizabeth thanks to Margaret. And he knew that she'd left the Velvet Room to free Minato. But he didn't know she'd succeeded, or that was why Minato was here.

But he was distracted from those thoughts by Kaido's sudden growl. Souji stepped forward to defend Ryoji, but Minato had gotten there first, and Minato looked like he was about to explode.

"Do you think he's not trying? Ryoji is putting all of his effort into keeping this form! If he didn't, he'd already be a monster waiting for us all on top of that tower from hell! We'd all probably already be dead!" Minato yelled. "The fact that he's still here, that he's risking losing himself to Nyx every minute he's standing here in a human form is all he can do! Don't you dare talk like he hasn't tried to do anything!"

But he hasn't, Naoto thought to herself. He always said the Fall was inevitable, even back in our world. That's what you told us. She kept her gaze focused on Minato. Who then did something that would probably be a stupid move on his part. He narrowed his eyes at Kaido, and then moved to punch him.

[mugenginga]

Ryoji's eyes widened at Kaido's accusation, and he looked away, his face contorted in emotional pain and his eyes closed. It was not an unfair assumption. None of them had any proof that Ryoji wasn't just a facade. Minato would argue that, but it was true. With his memories and knowledge that he was Death, there was no guarantee to those outside of his head that it was not the truth. It would be pointless to argue, and he didn't even say he was sorry this time. Hatred born from anger was a natural response to this kind of news, after all.

And then Minato started yelling. Ryoji turned his head back forward and opened his eyes. He saw Minato take a step forward after he said that if he wasn't fighting to keep this form they'd probably already be dead. No, they'd still be alive, but he would be at Tartarus. He could feel the pull even now, calling him, even outside of the Dark Hour. He didn't know if he could say anything, though.

And then Minato rushed Kaido. Nyarlahotep flapped his wings to push himself back, stopping as he tapped the wall. Cain narrowed his eyes and reached behind his back with the hand not holding the COMP. He stayed in that position. Seth's eyes widened and came into a bit more focus as he shot up, aware there wasn't much he could do but not liking where this was going at all. Even Atem looked a bit startled, and Yuugi was surprised to find himself being pulled back. He had his other hand on his deck, just in case.

Kaido had narrowed his eyes in response to Minato's. He quickly transferred the COMP to his left hand and lifted his right. His aim was to catch Minato's fist and twist the arm around so it was painfully held behind his back, preventing much in the way of action. Odds were Minato wouldn't dodge it. Kaido was fast enough that he'd be able to sidestep if Minato managed to avoid the counter. At this point, he seemed unnaturally calm.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato hadn't expected to be caught like that. And when he was, he found his arm twisted around and held so that he couldn't move it at all.

"Ow! Dammit!" Minato growled.

Kanji hadn't even seen most of the quick counter, but from that alone, he could tell that Kaido knew what he was doing. Damn, the guy had to be strong. Probably had been strong before joining up with Abel, just was even stronger now.

Abel didn't even blink as Minato was countered by Kaido. "Are you done yet?"

[mugenginga]

Kaido used the advantage of position he had and twisted Minato a bit closer. Any fight was met with a stronger twist, and the man seemed to know how to hit the most painful spots with the least amount of effort. He was also doing it one handed, as the COMP was still in his left hand and open. He leaned foward a bit so that he was speaking into Minato's ear. The voice was low and gotten out before Abel spoke.

"I could make you wish for death, so don't push me," the growl in the base of Kaido's voice could be felt more than heard, and it was all whispered.

"Minato!" Ryoji finally managed to get out.

He took a step forward, one arm lifted towards Minato. He doubted he could do much to help him, but Minato looked in massive amounts of pain. The exact level of which Kaido seemed to have full control over. Anyone not paying attention to that would see Cain smirking. He'd read Kaido's lips, although the angle had made it difficult. Minato had no idea what Kaido could do if the need arose. Nyarlathotep relaxed as the situation was brought under quick control. Atem narrowed his eyes and pulled out his deck, finding the cards he wanted and putting the rest back in. If a fight occurred, he wanted to be ready. He still wasn't sure the cards would work like this, though.

Yuugi opened his mouth, but K1 spoke. It was right before Yuugi got anything out. He understood Minato's reaction, Kaido had insulted a close friend. But it had been reckless. And the tone K1 had used had implied there would be worse happening if Minato didn't back down. He didn't like this situation, it had gotten tense again. What really threw Yuugi is that if anyone would react like that, he would have guessed Atem or Souji. Minato had never seemed the type to get that upset, even for friends.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato winced a bit more as Kaido pulled him closer. Damn, that hurt quite a bit. Kaido definitely knew what he was doing, and Minato didn't doubt that threat Kaido had given him. Bastard. He stayed silent as Abel asked his question.

"I asked if you were done yet," Abel repeated. Minato looked to the side. He'd finally stopped struggling, having figured out that it would just cause more pain.

"...yeah." Minato said. That was unlike him. Why'd he done that? Oh, right. The same reason he'd practically hugged Ryoji to death, and had decided he was going to stay with Ryoji to the end.

"Kaido, release him," Abel said. "I have to say, I didn't expect you to act like that, Minato. I would have thought Souji would do something like that, what with his anger issues."

Souji glared at Abel at that.

Atsuro was still watching the situation nervously. Kaido seemed to have things under control, but things could easily spiral out of control at this rate.

"Actually, to be honest, the way you reacted reminds me more of Atem..." Abel said. He sounded amused as he continued. "...Oh. So that's how it is. I see."

[mugenginga]

Kaido made a tch noise and pushed Minato forward as he released. The angle meant the arm was pushed against the back in a manner meant to cause pain, but Minato was free. And he managed to not stumble. Kaido transferred the COMP back to his right hand. He didn't seem to be looking at Minato, but he was aware of the location of the one blue-haired teen in the room he didn't know.

Ryoji looked down as Abel made his observation. Atem's expression didn't change. If both he and Abel had come upon that thought, it was probably true. Ryoji had gone quiet, another indication. He glanced at Yuugi, who had looked a little uncomfortable as Abel had compared Minato's actions to Atem. It was accurate, but it didn't mean he liked it when Atem got reckless to protect him. He doubted Ryoji appreciated it all that much, either.

Kaido recalled the earlier events and twitched a bit. Okay, he'd never really liked those kinds of relationships, but unless it came to using them against those involved it was none of his business. Still, two? Hell, with that kind of track record Souji probably "liked" Kanji. At least Naoto was a girl. Kaido knew that because he well understood the human body. She tended to walk and carry herself like a boy, but he was pretty sure she wasn't.

Ryoji looked up, "...Was there anything else?"

He really didn't want this to continue. Abel had figured that out. Izanagi already knew, more than Abel because he was sure Izanagi had been watching the whole time. The situation was paper thin, one wrong breath could cause it to collapse. And Ryoji didn't want to be forced into changing.

(OOC: Yes. XD Ryoji has yet to tell Abel how much time left until the Fall nor has he explained why he's here in THIS world. He's only covered his past for Minato-tachi's world)

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato looked back at Kaido and glared at him. Bastard. And now it looked like everyone in the room knew about him and Ryoji thanks to Abel. At this point, Minato just wanted Abel and his group to get out.

Abel nodded. "You never answered how long we had until the Fall came here. You just talked about Minato's world."

Atsuro still wasn't relaxing. They weren't out of hot water yet... He'd been with Abel long enough to know that.

[mugenginga]

Ryoji nodded. He'd tried to avoid that, because he couldn't give an exact date. Even if he could, he wouldn't have wanted to. Just knowing the exact date was a huge burden. He could estimate, and after what had just happened to Minato he found he needed to.

"I can't know exactly until it draws closer, and things can effect it. If I lose this form, it'll come more quickly. If I'm killed, it will be almost instantaneous. As it stands right now, I can guess it to be sometime between the twentieth and twenty-third of December. It will come with the Dark Hour," Ryoji stated. He was less confident than before, glancing between Minato and Abel.

"That's less than a month..." Yuugi said.

"Yes... I'm sorry...."

"It's not your fault," Atem said, "It might be Nyx's, it might be Death's, but it isn't yours."

"I am Death..." Ryoji muttered.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato looked over at Ryoji, and closed his eyes before putting a hand on Ryoji's shoulder.

"No you're not. If you really were Death, you'd be begging me to kill you so we could die without knowing we were going to," Minato said. "You're Ryoji. Don't think I haven't heard you telling Nyx that you're Ryoji before." After all, it had been that yell that made Minato realize that Ryoji was starting to awaken. So he had said it before he'd fully awakened. Did it really matter right now?

Abel looked to the side. So it would definitely be before Christmas. They would have to leave before the twentieth. They could enjoy themselves until then. Besides, they still had a war to start.

For a moment, Abel debated perhaps taking Yuugi from this world with him. But that would just be more of a burden on the system taking them back to their home dimension. Five humans and a demon had put enough of a burden on it before. And plus, Abel's dimension might be more painful than dying here.

"If that's all, we should be leaving. We need to get our hotel rooms," Abel said. He turned to leave.

Souji was still glaring at Abel, but he was keeping an eye on Ryoji and Minato at the same time. It was even more worse for Minato than Souji had realized. Because Minato loved Ryoji.

[mugenginga]

Ryoji pulled back, taking a step to disconnect Minato's hand from his shoulder. Minato didn't understand. He wanted to beg Minato to kill him. Even if he'd be stuck with the memories, Minato wouldn't. But he knew Minato would refuse like he had before. So there was no point in arguing. He'd once called it regrettable, and it still was.

Minato was right, he'd said that to Nyx. Maybe there was a division, but Ryoji was simply a "disguise" for Death. It wasn't... he found himself unable to complete that thought. Because if Ryoji wasn't real, his feelings for... he tried with little success to stifle a sigh. None of it would matter in month, anyhow. Death had no qualms about the Ryoji personality, so it wouldn't matter. Maybe he wanted it to end, too? To suppress Ryoji and the memories, they'd be there but only when Death felt the need for them. How could Minato not take that option when it was presented...?

Cain headed towards the door, opening it for Abel. Nyarlathotep flew foward, crossing the room and coming up besides Cain. Kaido glanced at Minato and Ryoji, scowling. He didn't buy the hopelessness the group tried to present. It wouldn't matter to them, anyhow. Hey'd be gone before things hit the fan. He straightened up and waited for the marching order to straighten itself out.

Atem put the cards together. He found himself relieved that they wouldn't need them. He'd had battle training, he had been in a battlefield before. Against a demon, even. But none of the others had experienced quite the same thing. And besides, his short rule had been one of mostly peace thanks to the Millenium Items. There wasn't room in here for a solid fight, and the only Item there was the Pendant. The Millenium Eye was back in his and Yuugi's Apartment, Anpu had the Ring, and who knew where the others were. At this point, however, Atem suspected they were somewhere on the Island. They always seemed to be drawn to him, or the Puzzle in any case.

Yuugi watched sadly as K1 turned away. At least they'd be safe. Safer, he supposed. He hadn't forgotten the words Naoya and K1 had spoken. A war against "God". He wished he could empathize, but at least he could extend his sympathy. K1 had obviously given up a lot for his choice.

"We still need to go to the mall," Atem said softly.

Yuugi's eyes widened, "But..."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato realized immediately that he'd said something wrong once Ryoji pulled back. He let his hand drop when Ryoji pulled it off, and looked to the side. He'd been trying to cheer Ryoji up, but he'd obviously picked the wrong thing to say. What was wrong with him today?

"...I'm sorry," Minato said. He looked up as Abel stepped out of the room. They were leaving now. That was probably best. Abel still looked like he was out for a conflict. And he'd gotten it.

Once Abel's group was out of the room, Minato turned to Souji, who was heading out himself. "Souji, wait... I need to talk to you about something."

Souji looked away. He had understood what Minato wanted to talk about immediately. The morning had been so chaotic that he knew Minato hadn't had a chance to ask about it earlier. "...Okay."

-----------------

Abel had walked out of the room and not waited for their formation to set up before he continued down the hallway. It wasn't until he was a fair distance from Minato's room and was sure that Souji wasn't moving from there anytime soon for whatever reason that he turned back to look to the others.

"Nyarlathotep," Abel said. He didn't often give orders to the demon, typically letting Cain handle the demon that had once been contracted to him, which was why the fact that Abel was adressing Nyarlathotep was odd.

Once he was sure the demon was listening to him, Abel continued. "I want you to keep an eye on Souji. Cain and I have had too many issues with his kind to turn a blind eye to him, especially considering Souji despises Cain."

"His kind?" Atsuro asked.

"Souji is a Shadow," Abel said. He smirked. "I don't know if he's always been one or became one while we were gone, but he absolutely reeks of Shadow. And I don't particularly want to think about being put into another week-long coma thanks to another Shadow."

[mugenginga]

Atem glanced up as Minato asked Souji to stay behind. Yuugi looked like he wanted to say something, but he noticed Atem shake his head out of the corner of his eye. He gestured to the shorter teen, but Yuugi didn't look like he was moving. Ryoji had looked up when Minato apologized. It seemed they did that a lot between them. He hesitated before hanging his head again. He was about to say something when Minato asked Souji to stay behind. He looked up. Right, this morning. It had to be. He waited for the conversation to continue.

Atem realized Yuugi didn't intend on leaving. He let out a sigh. Yuugi was like that sometimes, he didn't give distance when people wanted it. Then again, it was often when people shouldn't have it that he got like this. He leaned against the wall next to the door and chose to quietly observe. Yuugi was stressed enough that he was focused on the current situation and hardly aware of Atem, or at least Atem though. Yuugi was just grateful Atem hadn't left, he might have followed if he'd done that.

----------

Cain noted how quickly Abel seemed to be leaving. He noticed Seth give a concerned look to their brother as well. He didn't know if the others picked up on it, but Abel seemed to be at a type of unease. Well, he was sure Abel still considered Yuugi a friend somewhere in his lingering K1 personality. Yuugi had a type of charisma. Cain knew that if Yuugi had been there in the Lockdown, he probably would have had to try again in a different life. It was that kind of friendship. Overly optimistic, especially considering Yuugi was still trying.

His expression didn't change as Abel addressed Nyarlathotep, but he was a bit surprised. The demon seemed a bit startled too, but he stopped and looked at Abel. It wasn't until a few seconds after that that Abel began to speak. Cain saw the muscle control that allowed a smirk to cross on Nyarlathotep's face. He gave a western style flourishing bow, but it wasn't meant insulting.

"Of course, your majesty," he sounded downright pleased with the situation.

It was what he would have preferred to do in the first place. Especially since both Wild Cards were in the room. He hovered back a bit and stayed there. It was clear he was waiting for the group to leave before he did anything else. Seth's eyes had widened as Abel stated Souji was a Shadow. So Ryoji and Souji? The most troubling aspect was even with the personality, he could see Souji harming Abel. He swallowed hard, but said nothing. He still had more emotions than Abel, despite them rarely reaching his eyes. It was clear he was worried.

"That silver haired teen's a Shadow too. Maaaan, this Island is fucked up..."

"Watch your tongue, Kaido," Cain ordered, "Shall we go, Abel?" He used the name sans an honorific because they were out of any official setting or introductions. He never called him that in the court itself.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji looked over at Yuugi and sighed. It didn't look like either Yuugi or Atem were leaving. Well, everyone else had left the room already, anyways, with Kanji and Naoto having left after Abel's group had.

"...Souji, what happened this morning? All I know was that all the sudden Ryoji was sensing you and something about you being a Shadow came up," Minato said. Souji looked away.

"...I'm sorry. It's not something I really want to talk about," Souji said.

"This isn't the time to be keeping secrets!" Minato yelled. "I'm not stupid! I know you were listening in on me and Ryoji or something like that! And you had something to do with Ryoji's loss of control earlier too!"

Souji flinched. "...I wasn't listening the whole time. Only that time early this morning that you were awake for. And I got caught pretty quickly."

Minato sighed. "Just... Jesus, Souji! I don't know how the hell you were doing that, but that's just stupid! I know you've been stressed since you got rid of Izanagi, but that's no excuse for--"

"Izanagi's still here."

Minato's eyes widened. "What? But you kept saying you shut him up! That he was back to being a Persona!"

"I... I thought I had the first time, but I was just wasting my efforts. He's here, and he's listening to all of this. He was using my body as a way to spy on the rest of you all night long. And then he convinced me to listen in on Ryoji and Nyx after Ryoji yelled at Nyx. I decided it was a bad idea after Nyx caught me, but Izanagi kept on doing so," Souji said. He was shaking. Souji was afraid of something he hadn't said yet, but Minato was staying silent so Souji could keep going on. "And... He's not trying to take over my body anymore. The whole reason he did before was because he was pissed at Izanami. But he's not trying now. I'm not a ready avatar. Not for another two years."

That's enough, Souji, Izanagi said.

Shut the hell up. If you're going to put me through this hell, then I'm telling the others. I'm tired of keeping you a secret. Besides, we're going to die in a couple weeks anyways, right? Souji said.

----------------------

Abel didn't visibly react to Nyarlathotep's smirk or his bow. In truth, Abel would have preferred someone who wouldn't antagonize Souji further if he got caught. But Abel had been having problems with his connection to the summoning server since he came here. He doubted he'd be able to easily summon a demon on his own like he had back in their own dimension. He was reminded of how all of the demons he'd had in storage suddenly disappeared upon his arrival on the Island the first time.

Abel nodded when Cain asked his question. "We should go get those hotel rooms now, before the rush. If it is getting close to the holidays, then they should be packed."

[mugenginga]

Yuugi looked a mix of confused and startled as Souji and Minato spoke. Atem's only expression shift was a narrowing of his eyes. It wasn't a glare, but it was clear he was giving his full attention to the conversation. Ryoji was sensing him and Souji was a Shadow... that information worked with what had been happening.

Ryoji opened his mouth as Minato insisted Souji had something to do with his loss of control. No, that hadn't been Souji. He doubted Souji had even been aware of it then. Souji continued and Ryoji chose to not say anything. His eyes widened when Minato said he'd gotten rid of Izanagi. The others thought that? He looked sadly back to Souji as the silver haired teenager said Izanagi was still there. That was right. You couldn't just get rid of a god you were attached to. The group stood a chance of realizing Ryoji had known.

Atem stood up so he wasn't leaning against the wall anymore. Izanagi was still there. He glanced at Yuugi. Souji probably hadn't wanted to say that in front of Minato. Yuugi looked like he wanted to say something. He was feeling bad about staying here. He glanced at the group and turned to go, but he saw Atem come up beside him.

"What happens in two years?"

----------

Cain glanced at Nyarlathotep again before nodding. He walked to the front of the group and headed for the stairs. Nyarlathotep watched them go before glancing towards Souji's door. The problem was that the thing that was off about Souji and Ryoji, likely the same thing from the evidence.... the problem was that the deities they stood as avatars for would know there was a demon in the area. Well, it wasn't like it mattered if they knew he was there. Abel just wanted to make sure they didn't attack him from what he could tell. He used his wings to approach the door and stood so the door would hide him when it opened.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji looked away from the others in the group. He didn't want to talk about this at all. But if anything would give a big middle finger to Izanagi, it would be this.

"I die. Fade away, become part of Izanagi again, whatever you want to call it. But essentially, I'll just disappear and Izanagi takes control. I won't feel anything. Probably won't even notice it until it's too late. But I can't do anything about it." Souji said. "I've been trying, but Izanagi's too strong. The only reason I even got my body back before was because I went berserk on him."

Souji looked close to tears, and he'd never broken down like this in front of the group. Maybe raged in front of them, but never broken down. He was afraid of dying. Even if they stopped the Fall, he was still going to disappear in two years. And he probably could thrust Izanagi out if he went berserk again, but that meant Izanagi would have to be denying his existance again. Which Izanagi had stopped doing once he realized how much of a Shadow his avatar really was. And Souji didn't even want to think about going berserk again. He didn't want to ever have that feeling of not being in control of himself again.

That's right, tell every single one of them. They can't do a damn thing, and that avatar of Nyx's knows exactly what you're talking about and he knows that you can't do a damn thing about it more than anyone else here, Izanagi growled.

"Souji..." Minato said. He couldn't think of anything to help. He hadn't known anything about what was going on with Souji. He'd honestly hoped that Souji had finally been freed from Izanagi so they'd had one less thing to worry about.

Izanagi's attention suddenly shifted away from the conversation on hand and toward the door. He narrowed his eyes. We're being watched.