The Dream (M)

Taki was breathing and she had a pulse. It was a little weak, but it was there. Cicada had beaten Lightning, who actually lost the will to fight when his lord was defeated. DeathKnight, however, wasn't to nice. He was standing next to a skeleton who was burning in green fire.

He looks around "The Hunters are here.. which means we should be elsewhere." he growls in the same two toned voice as the others.

Cicada walks over to Huntress "I shall take her back. We have some things to check into." he says.

DeathKnight nods "Remember our deal. I'm going to hold you to it." he says to Mitsuki, before disappearing in an emerald flash of tortured screams.

Huntress looks over to Hiroshi and Taki, then back to Cicada "Let's go..." she says as the two also disappear.

Just in time as well, because Abraxus, Mad, and a squad of armed Hunters come walking in to secure the rest of the fortress. Abraxus calls for a medic to check on Taki and the Oni Overlord. He was still alive, but his vitals were very low.

Abraxus walks over to Hiroshi while the medic looked Taki over, who was still unconscious "I think, you might have some explaining to do." he says as he motions for him to follow him outside.

Outside was a platoon of Hunters, with troop transports and everything. There were dozens of Hunters. Aya was standing by herself, she looked a bit sad. Jason was also standing by his self, an expressionless look on his face and in the center of it all, was Julius and he didn't look too happy.

"..All right." If he was in trouble for going on his own, Hiroshi didn't much care at this point and take his lumps if needed. What he was more concerned about was Taki's condition, sure she was alive physically somehow but who knows what it did to her soul, if anything.

Julius walks over to Hiroshi "I'm certain you have a very good explanation for coming here alone?" he asks "Though, regardless of what it is, you'll been to be put on administrative leave until a hearing can be held." he says.

It was at this time that Jason walks over "I brought him here. If you have a problem with that, you should know that I make Bow look like a preschooler in terms of power and skill." he says in a steady tone.

Abraxus frowns "Damn it, Winters! You can keep playing god with other people's lives like that!" he hisses.

Jason quarks a brow "Yes I can. I most certainly can." he says as he looks over to the demi devil "I, better than almost anyone out there, can play god with other people's lives, because I have the knowledge and foresight to manipulate the odds so that things go in their favor." he points out "How do you think Harlan got the location of the Tome of Life in the first place?" he asks.

A field medic comes walking over "Excuse me but, the patient's awake and wanting some answers." he says.

Jason nods "Abraxus, you and Hiroshi go and have a word or two with them. I need to talk to Belmont in private." he says.

Over by the mobile command unit, was a small medical center and Taki (who was back to her normal form) was sitting up, looking a bit confused and most than a bit tired.

Hiroshi wasn't really sure what was going on. If the Soul Rend spell needed juice from the Soul itself shouldn't she be in a worse way and still out like the Overlord? Though he wasn't going to pass a gift in the horses mouth and be grateful, he still of course had questions of what exactly happened. He had been terrified he was going to lose them like Suki.

"Taki? How are you feeling?" She seemed tired from the spell if nothing else, hopefully there was nothing else.

She shakes her head "I'm... very tired..." she mumbles. She was avoiding eye contact with everyone at the moment.

"You used a spell that requires a soul to use... why are you still here?" Abraxus asks.

Taki shakes her head "I... I don't really know... I was ready to go... whatever it takes... and... I heard someone. They said 'My daughter is waiting...' and then... I'm waking up... and I can't feel anything..." she mumbles.

"That would be the morphine." the medic says as he was checking Taki over "Your hand was fractured in multiple places and you suffered some burns as well, so we gave you something for the pain."

"......."

Hiroshi hadn't expected anything like that..but it seemed like his first guess of what Ra had perhaps been doing was correct. There was a myriad of mixed emotions about the whole thing but he kept it together. He decided to reframe for now, he didn't want to put more on Taki's plate at the moment when she was just getting back onto her feet. "I can guess, but I'd want to talk t Jason before anything else to confirm before jumping to anything for sure."

It was a reasonbale stance, and he honestly needed to ask what exactly the effects it have on them to Jason. On top of that Taki didn't need to feel like crap right now. If what happened, did actually happen it was going to come anyway but he didn't have to say things all at once.

Taki nods and lays back down. She felt terrible. If she jad known she was going to Actually walk away from this... she puts a hand over her face, turning from the others. One of the reasons she did what she did with Hiroshi last night, was because she didn't rhink she was going to be around much longer.

Jason had finished his chat with Julius and goes wandering over to Aya to chat with her next. She seemed so down and he knew exactly why. The Oni Overlord was once her good friend and now he was as good as dead. Oh sure there was still a Chance that someone skilled enough in soul magic could bring him back, but that was a longshot at best.

"I'll let you rest for now. I have some things to talk to you about later but when you gotten some rest. Take it easy." Hiroshi did feel they needed a heart to heart in private but right now he felt it was best to give her some breathing room instead of putting everything on them at once, that as he knew she didn't feel like being cornered.. After their intimate encounter and nearly losing her, he definitely wanted to explore things if she was willing to.

..That, and well, he didn't want to get too mushy in front of the others especially Abraxus. Some things should be private, or maybe just a guy thing.

Now though, he'd..just try to process things. It really didn't feel like Ra was truly gone and almost hadn't completely hit him, as if it didn't happen. Maybe just a defense mechanism to make it seem further away then what it was.

Jason finishes up his talk with Aya and heafs on over to Hiroshi "Okay, so your suspension isn't gonna happen, the Oni Overlord is now out of commission, Marble's kids have been avenged, and Taki is still alive and kicking. I'd call that a job well done, wouldn't you?" he asks.

Hiroshi nodded a bit slowly, it still had been a draining day emotionally even if it worked out for the most part just from the seemingly close calls. He still had another question or two. "So given what Taki told me..what happened to Ra or rather his soul? Did he get to rest with his family or he stuck in some eternal limbo due to to that spell?"

Jason quarks a brow "Aside from needing to pay for centuries of wrong doings, he should be alright." he says "There's one final person who need this book and it's power." he says as he pats the Tome of Life "But it can wait until Taki's feeling better." he says as he turns to start off, but pauses "A word of caution? Do your best to not dwell on what happened last night. She thought she wouldn't be walking away from this fight." he says as he takes off.

Hiroshi watched them leave, thinking it was about time for him to head home though he wanted to see if Abraxus needed him for anything while he was here. He wanted some alone time to mourn about Ra as only he and Jason at the moment knew what happened.

Julius was making sure the clean up was going well and Mad was just, there. He didn't seem to be doing anything too important. Everyone seemed to have everything under control.

Abraxus walks over to Hiroshi  "Hey man. Listen, I know this has been a rough day for you, but I'm gonna need you to head to HQ at some point in the near future and make a full report about wht happened here today." he says "The sooner the better. But for now, head home and get some rest."

With the exception of Aya. She was standing amongst the chaos, a sad and confused look on her face. She had no place to go now that she was free and she didn't want to keep pretending to be Suki, so there she stood, lost and alone.

Hiroshi figured that as much. "I can make a stop some time tomorrow. Who's heading back already? I got here by Jason so I need a ride back." It had been a very rough day, and a emotional one at that but he wasn't needed here at the moment and Taki was sleeping and probably be transported home before too long.

He didn't dwell on what happened between them, as Jason said it was just because she thought she was going to die. Even if it was just him, it had meant something then just physical.

Abraxus nods "Yeah. I'll get you a transport. Just wait over by the MCC and someone will come and get you." he says as he starts off. He was gonna find someone to take the civilians to safety. They were loading Taki into an ambulance to take her to a hospital and the Oni they arrested into an all mat black detainment vans the Hunters use when taking in dangerous people.

Hiroshi was fine with that and patiently went over to said spot to where he could wait in the mean time. It really felt off not having Ra there, which was ironic because in the beginning he couldn't wait to get them to leave. While he still wanted his time in private to mourn he was surprised it didn't string as much as it thought. He wasn't sure why, maybe because it didn't fully hit, or maybe because at least he could be with his family again.

Someone comes walking over to Hiroshi "Sir? I'm here to take you back to HQ." he says as he walks over to a black SUV.

Hiroshi got in without further delay. and while he Had planned on giving the report for tomorrow since he was going there anyway then he might as well get it over with. Taki would be good hands in the hospital, though he did wonder who Jason was referring to far as who else needed help from the Tome. If he had to guess, he'd say maybe Sarah since Taki had mentioned something about it before.

It didn't take him long to get to HQ so he could give his report side of things.

There was one of the senior Hunters who had taken Hiroshi's statement and asked, in time, if he could get Taki's statement as well. After that, he was told to keep his phone handy as they would want to get in touch later.

As he was about tp do his whatever, Musume comes walking up to him "Hey, Hiroshi. I heard about your adventures. Is there anything I can do to help?" she asks. She Wanted to tell him about her being released, but now didn't seem to be the time.

Hiroshi didn't mind running to Musume, he was actually going to talk to her before he left so it worked out. "Then I guess you probably already know you and your people don't have to worry about the Overlord anymore. Taki scared me, but she managed to do it. As for help..just  having company or at someone to talk I'm comfortable with helps with that."

Musume nods "Did you want to go to the mess hall and talk a bit?" she asks "With most everyone out in the field, it's pretty empty here at the moment." she points out.

Hiroshi thought about it, then shrugged. "Sure, I don't see why not." Overall, in the grand scheme of things it had been a success with the only loose ends being Sarah, though he wasn't sure if there was anything more could be done for them or not.

It hadn't come without a cost though, as Ra was no longer among them anymore.

Musume gets something to eat. It was chicken nuggets amd fries today for lunch "Did you want to talk about what happened? How is Taki doing? I thought the spell she was going to use was suppose to, I don't, eat her soul or something?" she asks, a bit confused.

Hiroshi hadn't eaten but he wasn't that hungry, so just got a light sandwhich for himself. After a brief mulling over he decided to give them a summary of what happened. "So Taki is fine, just in the hospital recovering; I'll have to visit them tomorrow. But, the real reason she's still around is because the Oblitator, or Ra was his real name. He was a slave in ancient Egypt who had a wife and a daughter before he became what he was now. I only knew for sure because Taki said she heard a voice about their daughter waiting for them."

He didn't really feel like eating too much after that. "Jason said they have to make up past misdeeds before they can be with their family again, so the silver lining is it didn't eat their soul, and they can rest with their family. I don't know what made them decide to do it, maybe something I should of asked Jason but guess it doesn't matter anymore.."

Musume thinks a bit, as she picks at her fries "That is... certainly out of character for him and his kind..." she mumbles "But, just to put your mind at ease, only a powerful divine force can Actually destroy a soul. So he's likely just fine in the Here After." she says.

She moves her leg into view from under the table "And on the subject of good news, I for my ankle monitor off and I'm not free to go anywhere I please." she says with a smile.