Z O D I A C | Dawn of the Tarocchi

[IAmEnzo]

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Additional GMs
Old Sovereign
Tsu

Zodiacs.
Once living beings like us, these souls have existed in our world only to have met their fate abruptly. However, death wasn't the end. Denied their final rest, they were forced to reside within a nightmarish realm they call 'Limbo'. This land challenged their very sanity and understanding of reality, like a dream you can never wake from. If they succumbed to Limbo's harsh reality, they would quickly descend into pure madness, thus becoming a hollow of their former selves. Power through it with sheer willpower and they'll remain to their cursed fate. In order to keep their soul lit among a world of darkness, they've placed themselves inside of living humans, thus granting the humans supernatural abilities in favor for their raw life-force and worldly deeds.

Not every Zodiac was the same. Vile Zodiacs gave birth to vile Hosts. Early history dubbed their actions as 'black magic', and 'witchcraft', which eventually buried the truth about the existence of Zodiacs. It wasn't until recent decades that the existence of Zodiacs surfaced, and with them, hollows. Heroic hosts worked together with a top-secret organization to suppress them, and for a while it worked. Unfortunately, their time has passed, and now an even darker threat looms over the horizon: the Tarocchi.

---

| Morning |
| Monday |
Two days remain in the Morning phase.

​

Loose Summer leaves danced at the mercy of the passing wind. The bright sun cast down it's rays on the city of Providence in Rhode Island. It was a perfect balance of urban and rural in the area, giving many people reasons to live in the vicinity. Every morning was routine for the populace. Get up, get dressed, go to work. Those not ready for the daily grind instead practiced for it at the various schools located throughout the city. moreso, there was the soothing melody of birds and civilization that kept the city's charm. Little did the general population know, they were being robbed right in plain sight.

Just like that, an unnaturally strong burst of air whizzed by a group of passing shoppers, leaving them flabbergasted in it's wake. As the door to a nearby bakery swung open for a potential customer, that same gust blasted by the person and made its way into the shop. What suddenly appeared at the display counter was Camilla, a young girl with a big appetite.

"Whoa, buttermilk muffins?!"

The girl practically smashed her face against the toasty glass which displayed the daily specials.

"Oatmeal cookies too?!"

Camilla's sudden appearance wasn't that obvious. Her presence was barely noticeable as it were. The sight of recently baked food triggered a needy growl from within. Mondays were the best to hit up the bakery store. She didn't know why, and she didn't care either.

"You can have our cookies bundled with any larger order now." stated one of the baking employees from behind the counter. He greeted her with a homely smile that was sure to make sales.

"Jordan, who are you talking to?" asked a fellow employee. As he reopened his eyes and dropped his smile, Camilla was gone. What remained was a faint gust that trailed outside.

"Wait, wasn't there-.." That kid just now.. am I going crazy?

---

Camilla giggled as she deposited the cash register's money in her pocket and took a bite of her cookie. The gas station three blocks down from the baker's shop was far enough that they wouldn't find her should they try looking. She was sitting cross-legged on the ground and observing the different cars coming and going. The smell of gasoline was strange but Camilla liked it regardless. With her ragged and dirty clothes, it was easy to write her off as another beggar people could ignore, so nobody really told her to leave.

Two children raced towards the store with their mother desperately trying to catch up. As Camilla readied another bite, she locked eyes with the children and immediately looked off in another direction. In her field of vision was a man sprinting like his life counted on it. His clothes were ripped in some places, like he had been in a fight with a ferocious animal.

"Fuck, get away from me!"

The man ran through the gas pumps and cut one of the tubes with a hidden weapon, spewing petrol all over the cement. Another second later and the spraying fuel ignited into a large ball of flame. There wasn't much time before every single pump exploded in near perfect unison and the flames swallowed the entire gas station.

---

An additional figure landed atop a neighboring building overlooking the gas fire. His cloak flowed against the the heated wind and left behind a mist-like trail. His gloved hand reached up to press a transmit button linked to his facial mask. "I got him, he's headed southeast through the apartment complex. He.. left quite a mess back here, Damian. I'm keeping up the pursuit." The man cranked a 180 and continued his chase of the escaping man from the rooftops. Down below, the suspect who somehow caused the accident made his way through narrow alleys and into a car parking building just nearby.

"You are not the police!" shouted the escaping man. Just behind him was the cloaked figure who pursued him. The chase slowed down inside that parking building. Unknown to the escaping man, a second pursuer was closing in to end the chase.



​

 

[Knight Aarant]

|Tailing another Rogue|
|Morning|
​

Damian could hear the echoing boom roar from blocks away from the nuance of the inner city morning activity. The pillar of black smoke inched its way into the air, spreading quickly throughout the air like black paint diluting in water. Damian looked over his shoulder, his cold expression fixating into a determined and focused glare. He looked around him, the idle looks of the confused and engaged all gawking towards the same smoldering attraction in the distance. That's to assume if the quake of the ground and thundering boom hadn't already alerted the masses to the chaos. Damian ignored the observation and put his attention back on the phone hugging his ear. Dominic had sight of the rogue, the trail had finally lead them to what they were looking for. "I'll see you both there." Damian replied, cutting call short and placing the phone in his pants pocket before sprinting down the sidewalk. He dodged and slipped through the unfaltering onlookers still enraptured by the distant scene to continue on their way to whatever appointments they had to make. It would be wiser to have been more covert about his approach, but as far as Damian was concerned it was all out in the open. Any situation can be typically blamed on Hosts regardless the circumstance. So him acting now would make little difference in the grand scheme of things. Only that he can reach his target sooner.

Blocks down, Damian reached the gas station. Smoldering remains of what were vehicles, injured pedestrians, and gas pumps were left in total ruin in the wake of the reckless rogue Host. Damian's impatience had gotten the better of him, knowing this stunt wouldn't make Hosts anymore well received. He grunted, and narrowed his piercing stare into the space of the fire. He could see a black vapor trail, strong and pungent cutting through the station parking lot. Down the street and making a sharp turn into complex alleyways. "He's trying to cut himself off from us through the inside of the lot." Damian thought to himself. He could hear the sounds of sirens, police and the fire department were closing in on the station and would be on the scene in a moments notice. Damian took the sirens as his curtain call, and fled the scene continuing after the trail his target left for him.

Inside the parking building, the rogue Host had ran up through the winding driveway to the second floor lot. He leaned up against the wall taking deep and heavy breaths, attempting to regain his composure after the scare he had with his previous pursuer. He began walking again, steeping backwards and keeping his attention towards the driveway. His eyes peeled for that cloud of smoke. He had his switchblade and lighter gripped tightly in both of his trembling hands. His breathing became more paced, and his steps more careful should he ever need to break into a panicked sprint again. His eyes darted around the parking lot, his sight playing tricks on him. He feels as though the very shadows are moving just outside of his field of view. His chest is pumping, brow furrowing in the moments of uncertainty. He begins swinging his head around frantically trying to catch what he feels he saw. But he finds nothing...

"Why so tense?" A voice silently calls to the rogue Host from behind. Close enough to be heard as a whisper slithering into his ear. The Host shrieks and turns behind him, flicking the lighter. The sparks flying from the lighters striker jumps feet in front of the Host, triggering small explosions from each individual spark. Though the explosions managed to collide with nothing but open space. The Host raised his blade, ready to quickly retaliate. "F-Fuck off with that ghostly shit! You that bitchmade that you can't come up and face me!" The Host yelled, his voice occasionally cracking and his grip on his items wobbly. In the tense silence, the ringing of an uncoiling chain rattled from the distance and a sickle circled around the hosts torso. The sickle bit into his flesh, pushing the rushing red through his gray shirt. The chain lasso'd around and tightened around his abdomen, squeezing into him forcing his arms still and pushing the sickle deeper. The Host cried out in pain and attempted at striking his lighter again, but a quick hand roughly crushed his own forcing him to release the lighter. A bladed catch pole was thrust around the top of his clavicle, forcing him into a nearby concrete balance beam. The blade of the pole was embedded deep into the concrete imprisoning the host in place by his neck. A grim, uninviting visage stared the Host down through a veil of unkempt graying hair. "You were worth a lot of trouble, greenie." Damian barked with a low, raspy tone. ​

 

[chaosheart13]

For Ramona Martinez, the day had started out normally enough. She had woken up early to take a shower, followed by the usual breakfast as her children were waking up. She knew here husband was already gone by that time, off to work as usual. She watched over her children have breakfast, which they messily ate, before ushering them into the care so she could drive them to daycare. It was pretty much uneventful, the ride to the woman who watched over her kids while she went to work. The children waved bye bye as she sent them off before heading to her work place.

What was unusual were the fire trucks near a burning gas station. She tried not to pay it any mind as she drove on. She had work to do, after all, and it wasn't like it affected her. Still, the amount of people injured were alarming. She pressed a button and twisted the dial for the car's built in radio and she noted that the gas station was currently in the news. Thought so. With a shrug, she made her way to work, not thinking about the accident that occurred.

 

[AiDee]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Hotaru swirled the water in her pitcher with her left pinky. The warm water collected the dust and created a small whirlpool to let the debris rise. She was in a small greenhouse in the back of her flower shop, preparing to water most of her plants. Flowers that live in the tropics were lined up in the front of the room. Shelves were filled with small cacti and house plants were set on top of a center island. The greenhouse was attached to the back of the building, with green panels scaling the walls and the ceiling.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]As a small breeze flew through the smaller building of the two, a green panel was misplaced above a few plants. Hotaru quickly located the source of the clinking sound and hopped on the counter, standing below the panel. The small opening was closed once Hotaru nudged the glass back in its place. The wind vibrated against the glass and on her nails.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Wind chimes echoed into her little greenhouse indicating that a customer arrived. Hotaru floated down from the counter and quickly squeezed into the narrow hallway to greet the newcomer,[/BCOLOR] [BCOLOR=transparent]"Good morning!"[/BCOLOR] [BCOLOR=transparent]A young high schooler waved at the flower shop owner,[/BCOLOR] [BCOLOR=transparent]"Are you still open? I saw the sign and-.."[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] Hotaru's attention shifted to the sign that was for some odd reason closed, but the door was unlocked.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"No worries."[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] She chirped, placing her hands up in an assuring wave, [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]"I'm such a ditz. No wonder I haven't been getting anyone to visit." [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]Hotaru quickly shuffled her way out of the counter and made her way to the sign while the high schooler pondered over the flower bouquets. She rubbed the expo marker away and wrote in pretty cursive, "OPEN" and drew a person with flowers engulfing their face and hair,[/BCOLOR] [BCOLOR=transparent]"What did you need?"[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"I'm picking up hibiscus flowers for my mother, it's #7060. My family is returning from Hawaii and I wanted to..--"[/BCOLOR] [BCOLOR=transparent]Hotaru disappeared from the counter and pretended to listen to the high schooler's ramblings. As she pulled out the order number, a low rumble erupted before a quake of an explosion shook the building up,[/BCOLOR] [BCOLOR=transparent]"D-did you hear that?"[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] The high schooler's voice echoed from the corridor.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]A small pang of guilt struck Hotaru as she decided to play dumb for the girl,[/BCOLOR] [BCOLOR=transparent]"Hear what?"[/BCOLOR] [BCOLOR=transparent]She asked as she appeared with a posy of hibiscus flowers. She tilted her head at the younger girl and quickly broke into a smile,[/BCOLOR] [BCOLOR=transparent]"I think you should hurry along home."[/BCOLOR] [BCOLOR=transparent]The high school girl timidly nodded her head as she paid for the flowers,[/BCOLOR] [BCOLOR=transparent]"Stay safe!"[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] The girl quickly left the store.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Hotaru heaved a sigh before locking the door behind the only customer for the day. It definitely sounded like an explosion and it wasn't too far from where she was. She quickly rummaged through the closets to find her nurse tag and her license. She pulled out a red band with a teddy bear pin and wrapped it around her arm. A few nights ago, a little child came in for a hit and run and had to have open surgery immediately and without any anesthetics. Hotaru put on a teddy bear pin and tried to calm the young child as the surgery took place. It was success, but the child's heart had a few relapses and it startled her.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Hotaru slipped on a red cross sweater before grabbing a small sewing kit and pulling the sign by the door down. An explosion meant injuries and panic and even though she was an off duty nurse, she knew the hospital would panic and call upon all help that they can gather. She was just speeding up the process by going into the fight early. She left her shop and got into her car, turning the radio up. She wasn't paying much attention to the car radio, she only needed to go in the direction that the masses were running away from. Needless to say, Hotaru left her car and ran for the gas station, calling out in an authoritarian voice to the public,[/BCOLOR] [BCOLOR=transparent]"All that are injured, please evacuate to the side and I will help treat your wounds!"[/BCOLOR]

 

[AiDee]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Frey slumped in her couch, stopping a can of red paint with her foot and counting the remaining amount she had left for the week. She stared at the tens and at the twenties before whipping her head back with a loud sigh, "What a cheat.." She dropped the money and fell down to the floor to examine some cans. Some asshole over the phone asked her to draw on his friend's house as a prank. Frey went over and finished the job, but the guy only gave Frey three-fourths of what they decided on. She stood up to stretch, and extended her arms before pulling her black raincoat on.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]She pushed her blonde hair away from her face and picked up a few black paint cans. She shook a couple and clipped them onto her belt. Frey's apartment was riddled with evidence against her. Spray cans were scattered around the room and posters of her own work. Frey has taken pictures of all of her graffiti and used her own makeshift darkroom to develop them before placing them into her album.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]If Frey would ever to be caught for her minor offense, her apartment provided all of the evidence they would need. However, compared to the other fucked up things in the world, she was less concerned about getting caught and more concerned about her customers finding her. Frey was into committing revenge for all of the times she would get cheated. Her prices were high for her quality work, so there wasn't a doubt that she was regularly going to be "conned". Frey couldn't care less about being cheated, she loved casting revenge for people who are unfortunate to cross her. She would take pictures of the damage that she caused as well as failsafe memorable moment. Her revenge came with a little bit of stalking and lots of damage done to subside her anger.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Thankfully, Frey always took down her client's addresses for safe keeping. Asshole wrote his address down in her book by himself. She required everyone to write out their address and to make sure that it was correct, she would either visit their home first, follow them home, or mail them a set of instructions before working. Halfway out the door, she clutches her phone and her notebook tight and quickly locks up the apartment. As she left the building, she could feel people staring at her for her height and weird attire. Although it wasn't raining, the only article of clothing that she didn't mind getting dirty was her black raincoat.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Maybe it's going to rain." Murmured a conversation that was fading away with each stride. Frey's blonde hair and neon pink and green clothing deeply contrasted the raincoat, picking her out of a crowd was easier. The aerosol paint cans' little glass ball stirred inside as she walked to her destination.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]The ground shook and people began to scream from sheer fear of not knowing what was going on. It was a domino effect, one begins to scream from pain and others scream to join in on the chaos, "Tch," For a moment, Frey believed the panic would hinder her, "It'll be easier now." Her accent seeped through as she cursed in German with a hushed voice.[/BCOLOR]

 

[Calypso Major]

|Alysia Demos|
|Morning|

​

Alysia stretched, hands going upwards and outwards as she let out a minor groan of discomfort. Her body was stiff from last night, which made sense considering that a motorcycle usually isn't the most comfortable of places to sleep. But it wasn't exactly like she had another choice at the time, as when she made it to this small town she was practically dead on her bike and, not wanting to take the risk of driving into a pole or something similarly stupid, parked in front of a bank and passed out.

Satisfied at the popping sensations along her spine, she stood up, moving off of her motorcycle and wiggling her toes. A small smile formed on her face as she took in her surroundings, the sun shining down on her face while she moved to get ready. Quickly, she grabbed a spare change of clothes from the large duffel bag strapped to the bike, before rushing into the bank and requesting to use their bathroom.

Ten minutes later, the raven-haired female walked out, feeling ten times cleaner now that she had changed into a clean pair of jeans and a solid rosy-red shirt, her face washed with the tap water before leaving. Climbing onto her bike, she shrugged her jacket on, the leather-like material covering everything above her mid-ribs just fine. Placing her helmet on, she started up her bike, before beginning to drive off. The goal today was for her to find a part-time job, then find a cheap motel to hold up in and start saving enough to get to the next town. Just the usual routine she did every time she ran low on gas money.

The loud rumbling shook Alysia out of her thoughts, and after a minute of looking around she noticed the black smoke lazily trailing it's way into the sky. Shaking her head, she considered the thought of driving over there to see what happened. A siren echoed behind her, and as she pulled to the side she watched a couple of firetrucks whiz pass her.

Cool, they can probably take care of that...whatever that was.

Continuing along her way, she found her mind kept on coming back to that black trail of smoke in the sky. Perhaps somebody was being dumb and left their engine on while they filled their tank, or maybe there was a bomb planted? Once again, she found herself trailing off into thought again, and quickly focusing back onto the road, she continued her search for help-wanted signs.​

 

[IAmEnzo]

| Morning |
| Monday |
Final day in the morning phase

​

The rising blob of fire and smoke mirrored the city's tallest building in terms of height, and it was only getting larger. The faster air currents above Providence coated half the city under it's blackness. Echoes of firetrucks and ambulances mixed through the air, sending the city into a small state of distress. The scene itself was quickly isolated from traffic and pedestrians as police moved in to block off the entire block. Because it was a gas station, the blockade heavily affected the larger roads in town and drastically changed how the flow of traffic behaved. Ramona and Alysia would have found the roadway crowded and difficult to get around on. It just had to happen early, when everyone was heading to work.

Eventually medical professionals converged onto the scene and began to assess and treat the wounded. One particular crew recognized Hotaru from a distance and ran to greet her. Unlike Hotaru who was a Nurse, the two who approached her were field medics. There was only so much they could do on scene.

"Nakamura, thank god you're here! Are you off duty?" The older male didn't wait for an answer. "There are at least a dozen civvies with second to third-degree burns. We're only equipped to handle second rate burns. Do you think you can work your charm and see to the other burn victims?" Even if Hotaru didn't realize it, she was a prodigy at the hospital. Providence's very own 'House'. Rumors circulated the work area about her skills and effectiveness on the job.

---

Camilla croaked painfully when she smacked her shoulder against the hard wall. Beneath her clothing, half of her body had been burned. Physical contact like that made her skin easily peek and rip off, intensifying the pain. Unfortunately, she was just as worried about getting caught as she was about dying. To her - a host - it was the same thing. She didn't have enough energy to slow her impact, either. As she rested against the wall, her hand came to a hover above her peeling shoulder. On one side, she wanted to hold the wound as a means to cope with it, but on the other, her skin was extremely sensitive and stung even with the slightest friction from her clothing.

This gave her a moment to reflect on how her day went from promising to practically hell. It was the best thing she should do while her body rested. Her eyes drifted to the side and she was reminded of the fact that her food for the day had been lost in the blast.

"Crap.."

I've already used that power too many times today. Any more an-

Camilla's thoughts were derailed as a sudden sense of pressure overwhelmed her leg bones. She could feel the structure of it bending as if time and gravity had finally caught up with her. Her breathing worsened with the same logic. Exhaustion lagged behind her when she tapped into her abilities as a host, but always managed to catch up. This level of pain couldn't be healed in a day, like usual. With the burns on her skin, there was no telling when her sped-up cells would replace the damaged ones. It was at that moment that she heard sounds of children above her. Curious, Camilla glanced up and realized that she took refuge below a house window, and the sounds of playful innocent reached her ears. It also came to mind that a house with children was bound to have medical supplies. For being homeless all her life, this was her best guess.

Against her body's protests, Camilla rose to her feet and peeked through the glass window. On the other side was a bathroom. Maybe luck was on her side. First she tried to open the window, which proved fruitless. Next, she laid her hand on the glass and vibrated it long enough that the glass cracked and shattered without the noise. Once she managed to fling herself over the sill and into the bathroom, she rummaged through the various cabinets and treated herself to the best of her abilities.

At the end of it all, Camilla had run out of juice. She somehow ended up collapsed in the tub unconscious. What made things even more interesting was that she had just infiltrated the home of Ramona Martinez.

---

The pursuit came to a quick halt once the escaping Host ran into Damian. By the time he had been pinned to the pillar, the man giving chase had caught up. Perched up on the ledge, he let out a relived sigh before hopping down into the lot and approaching the captured Host.

"You were worth a lot of trouble, greenie."

"I don't know about that. That explosion back there ruined a lot of lives."

Concealed by his smoke-trailing cloak, the masked man stared at the one who started it all. Young, potentially scared of being killed. These were the common traits of their captured Hosts.

"You realize that you're the reason why we Hosts are treated like terrorists."

"Like hell I am! I never asked to be.. fused with some ghost! I didn't want to be picked! I don't deserve to have my life tossed away! It's you people. You people who think you're above everyone else. Ain't nobody asked you to hunt hosts."

The masked man stood silent.

"That's right - I heard about your little gang. You go around snatching up Hosts and killing whoever doesn't comply with you. Who's really the terrorist here, huh?!"

​

 

[Knight Aarant]

|Necessary Evils|
​

Damian's patience quickly ran thin with the rogue Hosts slander and outcries. He pushed the blade of the pole further into the concrete beam, the mixed stone breaking from the pressure of the black crescent blade. The edge slightly dug into the Hosts skin, blood trickling down from the fresh wound. "We do not kill. Unless provoked." Damian hoisted the hilt of the pole upward, the blade shoving upward and forcing the wound open more. "It's you barbarians that give us the bad name. We hunt so our kind doesn't continue to give people a reason to fear what is meant to protect. Forgive us if we have such a rough approach. People aren't very keen on listening, naturally." Damian pulled the pole from the Hosts neck, releasing him from the mild torture. He kept the Host chained up like a poached animal. He looked towards Dominic with his one good eye, "What do you want to do with him? Off him? Or are you just going to give him a tap on the head and tell him to cut it out like a preschooler?" Damian asked taking a moment to look through the breaks in the platforms, staring into the pillar of smoke in the close distance. "You hurt a lot of people, caused a lot of property damage. But I don't need to tell you that, right?" Damian had thrust the pole back towards the captive Host in a cruel attempt to startle him. The Host had reeled back, the sudden jerk motion causing the sickle to rake against his abdomen forcing another shriek of pain forcing him still. "Oughta' throw you to the Hollows."

​

-
​

In the midst of the fire and gas, firefighters do their best to clear the noxious blaze. Escorting those burned and trapped within the gas station out towards the field medics and fresh air. Medicals teams doing their best to mend the wounds and supply oxygen to those suffocating from the thick smoke. Outside the bustle and tense atmosphere of the rescue teams, transparent black sprites stalk the sides of the buildings, underneath totaled vehicles, and through the smoke avoiding the torrents of pressurized water pumps. The sprites lurked and watched Hotaru ardently, provoking the worry of her stalwart Zodiac. "Taru.." Marabel gently cried before revealing herself at Hotaru's side, clinging to her left arm tightly. "I don't think we should stick around much longer." Marabel suggested sheepishly, pushing her unkempt red hair behind her ears.
​

-
​

From outside her peripherals, Alysia had a lone straggler who had taken an interest in her strong and independent spirit. The feral spirit had snaked between cars and quietly weaved through the crowds of enamored bystanders, using the distraction of the scene as natural camouflage. The Hollow locked its gaze on Alysia's neutral gaze as she drove away on her motorcycle. The Hollow, satisfied with its choice in strong spirited prey, followed Alysia through the shadows and alleyways of the city. Tailing the young woman in hopes of catching her out in isolation.
​

 

[chaosheart13]

Ramona had just finished work and drove home without much of a fuss. Her children and the babysitter were outside, waiting for her. She greeted the babysitter, knowing she took good care of the kids while she was away. "Madre, we got to have ice cream today!" her oldest at six chirped as the other two clung to her mother, letting out happy noises.

"Is that so?" she asked as they waved goodbye to the babysitter and went inside the house. She would've gone straight to the bed to use her laptop for recreational things, but her youngest at three was having none of that.

"Madre, peepee!" she said.

"You can go yourself, can't you, Bonita?" she groaned, putting away her laptop. Her youngest tugged at her sleeve.

"Peepee! Peepee!"

"Bonita, go yourself," she snapped, before the rest of her children came into the room.

"Madre, there's a girl in the bath tub," her four year old said. She looked at them incredulously.

"A girl?"

"Yeah, Madre, we'll show you!" She followed her children to the bathroom, thinking that it was some game they were playing and that she was humoring them. The minute the door opened, however, she let out a loud shriek that frightened her kids, making Alejandro cry and cling to his younger sister. "...Madre?" her oldest asked as her mother began to check the girl.

"Get a phone, Carina, now," Ramona said while inspecting the girl, herself feeling frightened that someone had broken into their house. Who knew what she would've been up to before she collapsed into the tub.

"Here Madre!" Carina said, handing the phone to her mother. Her hand hovered over the 9 to dial 911, but she stopped. Clearly, she didn't have the money to pay for this girl's medical bill. Would she have to pay for her medical bill if she called? She sighed and looked down at the unconscious girl, unsure of what she could do.

 

[Calypso Major]

|Alysia Demos|
|Afternoon|​

Alycia spent most of her morning attempting to find a decent job, somehow managing to snag the role of a waitress at some small bar-and-grill. Not the best paying job, but she would get by enough to refill her supplies before moving on - not to mention some of the best gossip could be overheard in places like this, as she learned quite a few towns back.

For example, that trail of smoke in the sky she saw this morning? Apparently rumor has it that the gas station blew up, some even are going so far as to say it was bombed. While it may not be very relevant, it upset the raven-haired woman that somebody would even think of doing such a thing. She may not be the epitome of justice, but she'll be damned if it doesn't bother her even the slightest that a lot of people were caught up in the explosion.

...Well, there's also her plans about filling her bike's tank up at the scene of the crime, but that's not the point.

Walking out with a content smile, Alycia waved goodbye to her new boss. Now that the important stuff was done, it was time for her to do some local exploring - something she enjoyed doing with every new town. It was fun to hunt and explore the nooks and crannies that were hidden in each town, not to mention it was also a smart way to familiarize herself with shortcuts and important places should a situation arise. Slinging herself over her bike, she began to drive for a little while, before all of a sudden turning down a long alleyway, slowing down to a mere crawl with her bike humming comfortingly as she continued to ride it towards the other end.

 

[AiDee]

[BCOLOR=transparent]From a distance, Hotaru could see small sparks of fire dancing off of each other before spilling onto the road. She was suddenly aware of how close the pedestrians were to the fire. The cause of the fire, the gas station, was too engulfed in fire that it became a task to figure out what it originally was. Black smoke rose and seeped into the lungs of anyone caught outside in the chaos. As Hotaru beckoned injured people, a field medic quickly spotted her, [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]"Nakamura, thank god you're here! Are you off duty?"[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] Before Hotaru could go ahead and respond, the man continued to sputter on about the situation at hand, [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]"There are at least a dozen civvies with second to third-degree burns. We're only equipped to handle second rate burns. Do you think you can work your charm and see to the other burn victims?"[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"I'll do my best to treat them until they can be delivered to the hospital."[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] Hotaru grabbed a medical pack and rushed towards the piles of people that were laying on the ground, about a hundred feet from the fire. She pulled out a pair of gloves and slipped them on with a quick elastic tug on both ends. Hotaru quickly scanned the people laying on the stretchers, [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]"Do you think we can get them onto the prams or in the truck?"[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] One of the medics shook their head and explained how the trucks were full of immobile patients with third or second degree burns.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Hotaru dropped to the knees near the fire victims. One of the victims was burned from the torso and down on the left side. Another unfortunate soul was wearing long sleeves which melted into her skin, blistering her arms and chest. Some of them were burned to a crisp that their original features were permanently gone,[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] "Can I get someone to ID the conscious patients?" [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]She quickly lifted a burn victim's chin up and called out to one of the standing nurses, [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]"You! Go bring a few resuscitators for the rest!"[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] Hotaru glanced down and put on her stethoscope as she felt for any signs that the victim was still alive. A steady heartbeat, but it seemed like was working too hard. She turned the burned man on his side and listened for his lungs. It was completely absent. Hotaru dug through the medical pack and pulled out a newly sharpened scalpel, [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]"I'm going to need a bag-valve-mask!"[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]The neck area was burned and it was very likely that it destroyed some of the sensory nerves. Hotaru had to make a quick tracheotomy for the burned victim to breathe. She slit the neck with a distal incision. Once the nurse brought back the things, Hotaru inserted a tube down the man's neck and attempted to quickly air with the bag. Once the man was breathing, she handed it off to the nurse and began to treat his burn wounds.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]There wasn't much she can do, but to keep the wounds clean from contamination. Luckily, with her blood manipulation, she was able to nitpick the infected blood from the patients. She placed her hands over the burned victim and discretely pulled the infectious blood out. The blood seeped out with a trickle and was being dumped out near the end of the stretcher. She could probably play it off as her cleaning bloody bandages later, [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]"Can someone get me a fives pints of B positive?[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]" Two of the civvies were B positive and they lost a lot of blood throughout the entire process. As she pulled out the remaining amount of infected blood, Hotaru made sure that the clean B positive blood clotted as it reached the surface. She forced healing upon the skin, which has worked a couple of times in the past, [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]"He can get bandaged. ID him and inform his family before putting him in the ambulance. Don't forget to elevate his head and neck."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]She selectively picked another burnt head and placed it on her lap. The person groaned from the pain, [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]"Hello, I'm one of the nurses. I'm here to help...It looks like you are breathing alright..Just keep still for a moment.."[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] She gently placed his head back on the stretcher.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]The man's eyes fluttered a bit in response, [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]"I guess stop, drop, and roll doesn't work when it's in oil.."[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] He chuckled and heaved a heavy cough. Hotaru graciously lent him a shared moment with a small laugh.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"No, I suppose not.."[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] The woman left his side and went on to work on his legs. She carefully tried to peel the burnt clothing away, but it persisted to be kept on, [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]"...Huh shit.." [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]At the low cuss, the man tried to lift his head up and asked if it was serious or not, [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]"No, no...we can fix it at the hospital. Right now, I'm just trying to get bandages on everyone." [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]She repeated the procedure of pulling the infected blood out and clotting the fresh and clean blood at the surface.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Get the A negative blood bags for him! Wrap him up."[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] She started working on one of the females burned at the arms. She pulled out tweezers and attempted to peel the rags of clothing fused with her skin.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]The man from before began to question her methods, [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]"I didn't tell you my blood type...how do you-.."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]She quickly cut him off, [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]"You have a donor card, don't you? You recently donated blood, so you're going to need those bags." [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]A complete white lie, she noticed the reduced amount of blood and the small marks made on his arm from the injection. It was either that or that he was a druggie. Hotaru made a complete guess about his wellbeing.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]As she began to work on her sixth patient, the amount of stress she had at the beginning was slowing thinning out. In between, Hotaru's Zodiac, Marabel pestered her, [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]"Taru..I don't think we should stick around much longer." [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Hotaru glanced down at Marabel and gave her an assuring smile while patting her head, [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]"How long do I have?" [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]She learned to completely trust her, but still have her moral compass in check with each decision, [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]"Do you think I can transport the patients to a safer place?"[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] She stood up and pulled Marabel with her, [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]"It'll be alright, okay?"[/BCOLOR]

 

[Knight Aarant]

|Heavy-hearted Marabel|
​

Marabel shook her freckled face dismissively. She carefully ran her eyes over the dismay and could count close to a dozen burning, longing stares. Her peachy skin crawled with every ghastly glare she could find. Her discomfort was palpable. "I don't know... I'm not sure how generous they'll be with us." Marabel answered, leaning closer to Hotaru. Practically glued to her now. "I'm sure you can. Maybe they'll not attack right away? I think Hollows have gotten smarter recently. They don't jump in right away as much anymore." Marabel looked to all the injured and burned, her heart sank with sympathy feeling guilty for the fact her very presence puts them in danger. "Will it?" Marabel muttered. "I'm afraid to be with you sometimes."
​

-
​

The stalking shadow, phasing in and out of reality watched over the ledge of a rooftop. Its yellow eyes stuck on its catch. It watched Alysia carefully, waiting for a good point to strike. It crawled down the side of the two story house it was perched upon. Its fingers digging deep into the beige concrete, chipped sediment and dust falling from the broken material. It continued it's slow crawl down, barely making it outside of Alysia's peripherals. Almost camouflaged by the shade. ​

 

[AiDee]

Hotaru could feel her shaking from her grip. She has been scared, relentlessly as it would seem, and her host failed to see it. Marabel leaned in closer as she spoke about how unsure she was if the Hollows would attack right away or not. She continued to answer her question whether she would be able to transport the burning victims away, "Maybe they'll not attack right away? I think Hollows have gotten smarter recently. They don't jump in right away as much anymore." Marabel grimaced at the bodies and buried her face into her arm. Maybe was not good enough, Hotaru needed a good ten minutes to help them be transported. That meant she couldn't waste time; with her left hand, she focused some of her energy on the infected blood that was pulled out earlier.She planned to use the blood to help defend against any Hollow that planned to attack her and it wasn't going to be of any use to the other doctors.


"Afraid? Where do you want us to go to feel safer? I can take you there." She gave Marabel a warm smile and pulled her in for a tight hug. Afterwards, Hotaru swirled the contaminated blood and encased it in a thinly layered bubble made of blood. With more discretion, Hotaru hid the bubble and called out to the nurses, slowly backing away from the fire and the hollows. Inadvertently, she appeared more calm than what she truly felt, "We are going to have to transport the rest into the ambulance. Help me pick the stretchers up. We'll have to pack in as many people as we can." More or less, on hand there was about three ambulance that were free of other third-degree burners. Hotaru picked up the coughing man from before and signaled one of the other nurses to intervene and help. They loaded him into the back of the ambulance. Although, the others that were already bandaged and were transported out, Hotaru kept the coughing man in the vicinity. There was no way that he was going to be traveling with the others, but there was also the risk of him contaminating others while he waited for a solo ride to the hospital.


Hotaru shut the door on the lone passenger, "He'll be the only one riding, I need someone to go in for debridement and changing his bandages." The nurse that helped him into the vehicle stood forward and pulled along a doctor that looked slightly reluctant to go. Hotaru now had two ambulances for a heavy bleeder that was spilling out B positive blood and five others that were in a somewhat critical state, "I'm going to have to leave for a while, but I need someone to place those two and...her into one ambulance. Get the heavy bleeder B positive and pick up that guy. He's AB."

 

[IAmEnzo]

[ F l a s h b a c k ]
During the Morning phase
| Morning |
| Monday |

​

It was pure luck that the owners of the surrounding vehicles hadn't come back to retrieve them. The runaway Host spat foul words at the faces of his pursuers despite his own predicament. It was a clear sign that he had nothing to lose and that his transition into 'Hosthood' was a rough one. The masked man, Dominic, gave himself the conclusion that he left his old life behind regrettably. With the aftermath many years ago, Hosts were permanently in the cross-hairs of every government's specialized anti-host task force. Their goals were simple: Kill the host, or capture it alive for experimentation. It was bad enough that they saw Hosts as something less than human. To live in fear without knowing what you were..

Damian halted Dominic's contemplation for his decision on the matter. "What do you want to do with him? Off him? Or are you just going to give him a tap on the head and tell him to cut it out like a preschooler?"

The masked Host turned his attention to the chained man. It wasn't long before his head dropped forward and he passed out due to the pain. A small pool of blood was forming underneath the man and began to fill the area with that metallic smell hollows loved.

"Killing him here is only going to further excite the hollows in this area. With so many wounded just around the corner, we don't want anyone to be harmed because of them."

The trailing smoke coming from Dominic's cloak began to reform and take the shape of a Providence male field medic, who worked on releasing the unconscious Host and hoisting him onto the smoke clone's shoulder.

"We'll take him to the Daugherty and let him decide his own fate."

---

​

| Afternoon |
| Monday |
Final day in the Afternoon phase​

Camilla's dreamlike expression winced at the sound of Ramona's shriek. Slowly, the girl was regaining consciousness with a sense of pure panic in the air. Her eyes slowly opened to the concerning stares from Ramona and her children.

"Noisy... Wha-.."

It had finally hit her. The residents of the house had caught Camilla nearly dead in their tub. Instincts told her to quickly get out of their, but the pain from earlier jolted through her body and kept her stationary in the tub. Now she was really in deep shit. If Ramona had called the police or ambulance like Camilla assumed, they would find out her true nature and possibly kill her, or at the very least pin her as the suspect who blew up the gas station. It was a stretch, but it was also a tough world for Hosts to live in.

"Don't.. Please." She uttered as she eyed the phone in Ramona's hand.

"I'll leave, just don't.. call them." She pleaded further. Just the thought of leaving a house full of food triggered a loud growl from her stomach. That's right, she didn't really eat all day aside from a cookie or two.

---

After the careful extraction of the gas station victims and the successful dousing of the fuel fire, it was up to the police and investigation unit to find and collect what evidence remained after the incident. It was already a rumor among the police and medics that a host had caused it. In fact, an employee from a baker's shop down the road had shown up on the scene and explained to the authorities about a girl who could have potentially been the offending host.

"Nice work, Nakamura. We'll take care of it from here." called one of the nearby policemen. As it stood, many of the burn victims had been transported to the hospital, leaving only a couple of the medical vehicles remaining - though they were about to leave as well.




​

 

[chaosheart13]

Ramona gave another little shriek when the girl began to address her. It took her a few seconds to calm down and scrutinize the girl. "You're injured," she said, "And I can't treat burns like these." She frowned, finding it somewhat shady that the girl didn't want 911 to be dialed.

"Madre? Whatcha gonna do with her?" Alejandro asked, tugging at his mother's sleeve. There was a loud growl and her youngest began to giggle at the noise, though she was quickly shushed by her mother.

"Alright, I will give you the benefit of the doubt and trust your judgement," she said grudgingly, "I suppose I should feed you too, hm?" She gave the girl a look that said 'don't break that trust' and 'I can't believe I'm doing this' before heading downstairs. She looked up tiredly as she was heading down, noting that her husband was here.

"How was your day, my love?" he asked as he went over to hug and kiss his wife.

"Good, until a few minutes ago," she said with a sigh.

"The children?"

"No, something else. ...Our house got broken into-" He stopped hugging her and looked in alarm.

"By who? Should we call the police?" he asked, immediately switching to Spanish. She remained quiet, shaking her head.

"No, the girl..."

"She's here? In the house?" A nod.

"She told me not to call them for some reason, I don't know why." Pause. "I don't trust her either."

"Madre is is Daddy home?" The two of them looked up as they saw the children peek from up the stairwell.

"He is, come and give your father a hug," she called down. They squealed and immediately raced down to greet their father. She was still for a few moments before heading into the kitchen.

 

[AiDee]

Frey awoke in the morning with a splitting headache. The toxic fumes from the paint cans often caused her to wake up late and cranky. The day before, Frey finished spraying her client's home, it was safe to say that she was extremely happy with her work. Frey had sprayed black paint over all of the windows she could find. Her client's car was ruined with her spray cans. She had turned back to go home with nothing eventful occurring.

Well, besides the fire and the first few explosions. Other than that, she kept to herself that night. She was awoken in the afternoon, just as the sun peaked under orange sherbet clouds. Her phone buzzed with thirteen missed calls and counting. Frey sat up from her nest of clothes and yawned in the fresh, artificial breeze. She hacked at the smell and taste of air spray, "Good morning spray...by Woquest," A young woman held out the spray and spoke with a voice that mimicked infomercials. Woquest was one of those knockoff brands found at a local grocery store or something.

"So you're the reason for my suffering," Frey threw some of her laundry at her roommate, "Why are you even here?" Her roommate, a devoted college student, usually stayed on campus and worked day and night. She tried to keep away from the apartment during school season.

Camilla forged a frown, "To pay the damn rent, what else?" She was a shy girl, studying to become an English major. She was absolutely sweet and generally very polite. She refused to complain, "Get up, you fucking ruined my clothes." Camilla kicked Frey's leg and buried her with articles of clothing.

She was absolutely fine until college and Frey. It was fair to say that it was mostly Frey's irresponsible behavior switched Camilla's submissiveness to extremely aggressive, "Quit it." Frey jumped up onto her feet and yawned louder. Camilla was much more shorter than Frey. She could barely reach her shoulder. Camilla was always self-conscious about her height, especially when standing next to Frey.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Camilla tossed her hair to her side and tugged the window shades open, "Let there be fucking light." She pronounced with a hushed voice, "Oh, what the hell! Why are there so many ladybugs?" Frey glanced up and stared at the window. Little red bugs dotted across the glass were dancing around whenever Camilla yelled.

"Leave them be..." Frey called out as she scooted her way out of the room and towards the kitchen, "They didn't do anything to you." Camilla glanced back at Frey and flicked one of the ladybugs off the window to spite her.

"Get up. We're heading out."