RP:Fire and Ice
The path to this home is a twisted maze of hedges that turns back on itself in the most confusing of ways. Only those who know the route or are blessed with uncommon luck are likely to find their way to the house, which itself is a mind-bending construction that appears to freely defy the laws of physics. Window and door frames seem to half turn inside-out as the eye follows their lines, and the walls bend inward or outward, depending on the angle they are viewed from. It is doubtlessly built to throw the minds of visitors into a state of abject confusion; what awaits inside -- or how, indeed, this feat of architecture was achieved at all in the first place -- is anyone's guess.
- Kasyr, Vampire Revenant, Kuro no Kensai.
- Satoshi, Kit-vampire, Frost Singer.
- Kirien NPC'ing as 'Ihsotas', the Fire Aspect of What-Satoshi-Might-Have-Been.
Satoshi glowers up at the warped house looming over the hedge maze before regarding the note in her hand once more and crumpling it into a fist. "Of course. Twisted thief in a twisted house. It's perfect. It's also perfect kindling," the magus muses aloud to no one in particular, not looking overly thrilled at walking into a potential trap set by the copycat fire-starter.
Kasyr isn't glowering, though his attention is certainly fixed upon Satoshi. But than, the Kensai is currently engaged in one of his favourite activities: Shadowing the cryomancer until she gets into trouble so he can play hero. ...And there's that certain degree of concern for her wellbeing, what with being married to her. Either way, it's these actions that have the revenant skulking on the rooftops of one of the nearby houses.
Kirien || A smile can be found present upon the fine features of a certain Ghost's doppelganger, the expression a cruel opposite of Satoshi's current glare. Ihsotas sits on the porch before the open doorway to the house, dark frame behind her leading inwards to an even blacker hallway. There are things in there that she frankly can't wait to test out - horrific things, surely. Right now the cat is simply sitting, and waiting, a small flicker of light being the gentle flame fluttering in open palm. "Where's my shadow?" she laughs, sing-songy voice breaking the almost quiet of the otherwise empty streets, "where's my frigid copycat?"
Satoshi's ears twitch toward the source of that uncomfortably familiar voice, her frown deepening as she steps through the opening in the hedges. "C'mere and play, Reflection~. I want to show you what the original is capable of~," the kit calls in the same sing-song voice, silently glad there aren't others around to hear the conversation, lest they think she's finally snapped and is talking to herself now. Humming a decidedly dark tune, Satoshi continues forward in a straight line, heedless of the hedges that might prove a barrier to others. For the cryomancer, it's an easy matter to warp the water within the plants, forcing them to peel back before her and open a direct route to the house.
Kasyr quite nearly slips off the rooftop when he hears Satoshi's voice coming from a source -other- than the fox he's following. Taking a moment to hunch down towards the shingles of the roof he's on, and than lurk over towards the other side of the roof, he allows himself a moment to at once regain his composure (and hopefully avoid any attention his stumble might have caused), before he continues to slink across the roof. It's only when he reachs the edge that he steals a glance towards the source of the 'other' voice- Satoshi's mention of a Reflection having piqued enough of the Figments curiosity Which actually does lead to the kensai falling off the roof- his supernatural balance only chiming in so that he can catch himself off the edge. "...Two of them?"
Kirien || Ihsotas can do nothing but smile at the sound of Satoshi's voice, gaze flicking in the direction of parting plant life, and the cryomancer that steps through the opening. She could've used the gate, it was right next to her. "Got my letter, did you?" she asks, more than a hint of amusement in light tones - a voice that sounds oh-so-exactly like that of her mirror's, with perhaps an added dash of venom. Ihsotas, somewhat egotistical as she is, believes her voice to be the better of the two. "I was wondering - I mean, it's kind of difficult to deliver something to a person that's only the shadow of a real thing. I'm surprised they found you." Bitter words are meant to wound, sharp and cutting but spoken with a distinct softness - still trying to play innocent even now, she is. The cat slips from the porch, extending a hand toward the foxkin now present on her front lawn; lithe fingers outstretch and then curl inwards in a 'come hither' motion, before she hops with precise grace back up to the open doorway and slinks inside. "Careful when you come in here, little reflection. Wouldn't want to lose you in the rest of the shadows, after all." Kasyr is, for the moment, taken no notice of, Ihsotas having either not picked up on his presence yet or being too busy antagonising Satoshi to bother acknowledging him. And with a melodious giggle she vanishes into the black hallway, steps fading. Her doorway is not the most inviting but she's hardly planning to host a dinner party for her fake.
Vaduuk : There is no half orc coming to stomp into the place or to strong-arm anyone. In fact, the half orc is currently time-locked, pending further rp. But that's not the point. What is the point is that there's a pointy-eared man that stands over six feet tall coming along, silver eyes staring straight out from between hanging curtains of startling red hair. And he has a mithril hand, too, and a pair of longswords. Both of which are crackling. Either he's pissed or irritated. Or both. But something in the air, some strange scent, has the vampire making his way there, the stumps of his torn-off wings flexing on his back. Two scents, both so similar they're almost identical. More crackling.
Satoshi is not the graceful of the two this evening, with her doppleganger's words hitting nerves as intended and striking up that volatile temper they share. There's a noticeable lack of witty banter on Satoshi's end for it too, the kit so focused on not instantly lunging for Ihsotas' throat that she can't summon up the concentration needed to return the wordplay. Thus it's with fur bristling and eyes narrowed to near slits that Satoshi silently stalks after her copycat, a smirk slowly creeping onto her features as she begins entertaining the various ways she can destroy the fiery aspect. A particularly brutal imagining is needed for Satoshi to summon the nerve to cross the threshold into the twisted house, mentally preparing herself to play the mysterious game for the time being.
Kasyr only releases his hold upon the edge of the rooftop when both Satoshi's enter the household, landing heavily on the ground. He wasn't all that worried about the sound, given his intended stalkees were likely quite focused on each other- and the city made all sorts of peculiar noices. Either way, his approach to the house remains guarded, the Kensai retaining his stooped over position from his landing as he hurriedly scurries along the path Satoshi had made. At least, until the house is made readily clear. Once he deems himself too close for comfort, he simply side steps into the maze itself, the sudden appearance of a jet-black katana heralding the creation of his own 'alternative route'. More or less, Kasyr intends on reaching the side of the house, with his empathy being used to keep track of the relative positons of the people involved in this little..'drama'.
Kirien || The inside of the house is pitch black, shadows encroaching, creeping up the sides of walls and generally present in places they shouldn't be - if this weren't Vailkrin. It's actually a somewhat dilapidated building on the inside, the large amount of holes in old floorboards enough to make one wonder how exactly Ihsotas has been living in it all this time. The main hallway she disappeared down is littered with half-hidden openings in the floor and boards far too rotten to withstand any weight - a step to avoid a hole may only lead to another. Ihsotas' laughter drifts from the room at the very end of the hall, enticing Satoshi further down the unsteady walkway. When the cryomancer reaches the halfway point the cat will reappear, grinning visage peeking around a wall and one hand outstretched toward her mirror. "I think I'm losing sight of you already! Here, a little light should help.." It'll be the only warning Satoshi receives before a flick of the wrist and a tuneful whistle summons walls of fire before and to either side of the magus. The hallway is narrow, flames licking up the sides of walls and blocking further progress forward; though surely it shouldn't be too hard to quash. Ihsotas' main intention here is to unnerve the ice mage, not harm her, though a bit of pain is only an added achievement. "Not too hot for you, is it? I'm barely started," Ihsotas laughs, proceeding to slink her way into another room and then shut the door behind her. And, once again, she'll wait for her Ghost to come to her.
Vaduuk : That redheaded vampire stops at the gate of the house, lifting his nose to sniff at the air. Yes, the scents are here. Along with another, true, but he ignores that third one. He doesn't creep like Kasyr, however, opening the gate and not at all caring about the loud groan it gives, and he strolls up through the overgrown path towards the door. Still not a care as he opens the door and steps in the building. He doesn't have that nifty little ability Kasyr has, after all, so he needs to be inside. The lightning that crackles around his hand illuminates a small patch around his body, making him easily able to be spotted. Not that it matters, what with those flames rising up ahead. That has him cursing. "Satoshi?" he calls, his voice a bit on the harsh side but easily recognizable. "Satoshi, what in the hells are you up to? When did you start practicing arson?"
Satoshi's in the process of backing away from the flames when she stops short at a familiar voice, the foot she's about to put down now hovering mere inches away from plunging through the floorboards and sending her into the basement. "Hamlet?" the magus hazards a glance over her shoulder to be certain it's the red-headed knight standing there and not a trick of the Shadow's. And lo and behold, it -is- her strange knight. Or an incredibly good illusion of him. Satoshi wants to believe the former, but she can't let hope win out over caution, not now, and not here. She's got enough to be cautious about as it is anyway, what with the fires roaring in front of her. So it's while giving Ayras an uncertain smile that Satoshi tugs free her watery scarf, whistling a command and enveloping herself with it before charging blindly forward and straight through the flames, steam hissing and billowing around her. How the kit doesn't trip upon a hole in her mad dash is a mystery, but she manages to make it safely through the fires nonetheless before her scarf evaporates into a mere thread of water. Coughing, Satoshi presses on, renewing her careful treading across the worn floorboards as she creeps into the room her Doppleganger vanished into. But nothing waits for her there but old furniture covered in dusty sheets. "Where'd you go, Copycat~?" the frost singer calls, padding around the room while inspecting every corner. A sudden flash of white to her left sends the fox whirling around with fangs bared, only to find herself snarling at her reflection in a floor-length mirror propped against a wall. "Aha. Wrong one..." Sighing with frustration, Satoshi continues on but freezes abruptly in realization, blinking as she slowly turns to face the mirror. Was it a trick of the light, or did that reflection have a -cat's- tail..?
Kasyr 's entrance to the house is likely the most unique. With an intense flaring of light, a pair of crackling vambraces form along Kasyrs arms, even as Gospel vanishes from sight. Without even a moment to think, the Kensai swings his arms upwards, coaxing the nigh-imperceptible wires attached to his odd weapon to be propelled towards one of the windows on the houses' second floor. In just a few moments, the window sill finds itself enmeshed in a veritable spiders web of wires, the likes of which are only made noticeable by the occasional crackle of energy that runs through them. Prepared as he is- Kasyr than simply plants his feet against the wall and kicks up, quite intent upon using the leverage his wire gloves provides to send himself hurtling up and at the window upstairs. With his newfound direction and velocity, Kasyr has just enough time to unsummon Empera (Those delightful wire gloves that Satoshi hates so much), so that he can cover his face with his arms as he plows straight through the window with a resounding crash. And once again, the hybrids balance kicks in- the floors readiness to collapse beneath his feet narrowly evaded by a swift roll forward until he steads himself onto stabler ground (found closer to the wall). Though his relative position was given away, he was fairly certain that between two cautious 'cats'- there likely wasn't going to be any immediate investigators. Which leaves the hybrid to simply shuck his coat and leave it on the floor near the spot he nearly fell through. Without the weighted object, he'd be able to move more easily through the building as he tried to ascertain the situation- and the inevitable creak and collapse of the section of floor his coat was on would serve as a proper distraction so he that he could fully evade further detection. Experience as an assassin for divinity sure was helpful.
Kirien || Ihsotas adopts a flawless mimicry of Satoshi's expression when the unwitting magus enters the dusty room - as such, when she passes by the 'mirror' stood against one wall {actually a box of sorts with a glass cover} she remains almost perfectly camouflaged, going so far as to copy movement so as to seem a little more natural. When it comes to mimicry, this copycat is one of the best. A simple reflection, she is right now, but Ihsotas can't help but find the situation amusing - after all, she believes Satoshi to be the true reflection. When the ice magus turns back to her, suspicion aroused, Ihsotas makes no move, limbs positioned in the exact same way as the other's, even as her clearly feline tail and ears give her away. Just at that moment, there is a thunderous crash and the snapping of floorboards from somewhere nearby - Ihsotas flinches, destroying her own façade and it's then that she acts. "Mirror, mirror on the wall?" Words leave lips in a laugh and are swiftly followed by the glass cover of the 'mirror' erupting outward toward Satoshi, a burst of flame billowing in the wake of shattered shards so razor sharp. Powered by the momentum of the explosion the glass speeds straight for the cryomancer's small form, fire licking and roaring. The sudden light is surely enough to briefly blind the other and by the time she'll have regained sight and either countered the attack or been struck by it, the open mirror will be empty, its cracked frame wreathed in flame. Travelling through the burning opening will reveal another room, this one populated by nothing but mirrors. Many are real and will show naught but a reflection, especially the one directly in front of the opening Satoshi will have to step through. The two to left and right are also true mirrors, each being positioned so that whichever way the woman turns, she'll catch multiple glimpses of herself - and Ihsotas, eventually, should she make it part-way across the room. Wisps of flame can be found drifting amongst the mirrors, distorting reflections, and upon coming within close range of them, Satoshi will find the seemingly docile fireballs hurtling for her with every intent to scorch whatever they come into contact with.
Vaduuk goes to follow after the fox woman. He doesn't have the benefit of being so small and light, and so his extra weight has the floorboards creaking. And then he reaches a hole, a weak point, and what happens? That's right, the floor gives way, and, despite how much those stubs of wings try to keep him aloft, he finds himself falling through the floor. He hits his head on the way down, pretty damned hard, too, and so that's all she wrote, so to speak. Ayras is down for the count.
Satoshi's attention is briefly drawn upward by the crashing from above when Ihsotas' assault of glass and fire strikes, sparing the kit damage to her unprotected face but also catching her completely unawares. The shockwave from the explosion is enough to send her small form crashing head over tails across the room, where her tumbling momentum is halted only by a wall. Dust and chunks of plaster rain down on Satoshi as she struggles back to her feet, adding insult to injury and further fueling the kit-vampire's building rage. Satoshi's coat is no pretty sight now, the white fur tarnished by soot, tears, and slowly growing pools of crimson where flaming shards of glass have found a new home. Blinking her eyes to clear them of both dust and explosion-induced stars, the singed and bloodied fox stubbornly stomps toward the burning remains of the 'mirror' frame, heedless of the pain while calling to the once more missing reflection. "C'mon, little shadow, stop hiding already~. We have to solve this issue of there being one too many of us in this world. Really," the magus almost croons as she steps through the frame into the room of mirrors, "All you need to do is stand still while I tear out your fiery little heart~." The amber of the kit's eyes glint with malicious intent as they dart around the room searching in vain for any inconsistency to give away Ihsotas' hiding place. Methodically Satoshi moves along one wall, checking each mirror as she reaches it to be certain the reflection looking back is a fox and not a cat, and earning herself a hissing bite of flames once or twice for her troubles. Halfway along the first wall, Satoshi grows weary of the game and halts, turning her back to the mirror she's stopped in front of and leaning against it, arms crossed. Waiting. "Come out, come out~. Stop running like a rabbit and face me, why don'tcha?" At least she can expect no attacks from behind her, even if the rest of the room around her is utterly disorienting.
Kasyr , with no cataclyms of a magical nature flying his way, simply makes his way across the second floor, carefully navigating the floor near the wall, where the support would be strongest- his unnatural grace allowing him a certain degree of intuition towards those questionable bits of flooring he still manages to come across. Without having to worry about bumping into either of the warring Satoshis down below, the kensai simply makes his way overtop of the area he can sense their warring spirits- still finding himself altogether baffled by the manner in which their empathic resonance feels so akin. Voice, sound and ..spirit, of a sorts, resound far too closely for the Revenant to be comfortable with the situation, a fact which is more than evident as a darkness begins to fill his hand. "...Crashing party in..."
Kirien || It's voice which responds to Satoshi's words, not image; Ihsotas remains in her 'mirror' somewhere nearby, a grinning reflection amidst intangible shadows. "It's the fire in my heart that makes me all the more alive, my dear. You? You're a cold, dead mockery of the life I feel inside of me. Perhaps you should just disappear already? I'm sick of looking at a copy, pretty as you are." With a flicker her form vanishes from its fake mirror, the cat slipping to one side and into a tiny corridor which flanks the entire exterior of the room, and connects to it through the various mirror façades dotted about. She knows where the ice magus is, which mirror exactly she's resting her body weight against - and while real, each of these mirrors dwell in a house built for trickery, and nothing is quite as it seems. A switch pressed by Ihsotas and the foxkin will find the support behind her abruptly sliding upward, surely causing her to stumble backward into what appears to be a solid metal box, save its thick glass covering. This covering will slam back down immediately after Satoshi has fallen into the narrow trap, and only then will Ihsotas step out into the empty room, levelling an amused gaze on the mirror now hiding a certain cryomancer. "There, you're back where you belong."
Satoshi wryly thinks to herself, "It's a trap. Another one." as she feels herself slipping backwards into the space once occupied by a pane of thick glass. Despite the futility of it, the kit still attempts to sink the claws of her only working hand into the smooth sides of the box as she falls, filling the room with a high-pitched, ear-numbing keen from the meeting of nails and metal before the glass slams down in place once more and locks Satoshi within. The magus allows herself a moment to lie in the dark and gather her thoughts. Surveying the small space she's been confined in, Satoshi quickly discovers a second mirror serving as the back 'wall' and scrambles to it, claws tracing along its edges hurriedly in search of a crevice that may reveal another pathway, but only finding the faded etchings of runes. As Ihsotas knows, this house is a house of tricks, but what she may not know is that the tricks are as much mechanical as they are magical, and beneath the hand of the cryomancer one such trick is awakened. A ripple runs across the face of the mirror and Satoshi draws her hand back as if bitten before, tentatively, she taps the surface with a finger. Like water the mirror shifts, and the kit takes heart in the image. If this was a trick of Ihsotas', it wouldn't move like water, of that Satoshi is sure. And so, throwing caution to the wind, the little vampire presses her hand against the chilled surface of the mirror and pushes, watching her fingers and palm disappear into the silvery liquid. Glancing over her shoulder, Satoshi shrugs. "Better than being trapped in a box... Here goes nothing." Slowly the kit steps through the mirror to emerge on the other side of it. And immediately she regrets it--and immediately Kasyr will feel it, as two presences promptly become one and the wedding band on his finger goes cold.
Kasyr is composed- with an obsidian broadsword now fully formed within his hand, he's as prepared as this situation allows him to be. ...Which, unforunately, isn't all that prepared, as one of the sources of emotions in the room is promptly 'rearranged', before vanishing all together, and quellling the old 'pulse' of his ring. Such an 'innocuous' shift, and yet, the significance it carries no limit to the Kensai. With a howl of rage, Kasyr promptly slams the sword down into the ground, the supernaturally dense blade easily coaxing the floor he stands upon into caving beneath his feet. It hardly ends there, however, as a pair of bloody gouges form upon the swordsman, one taking a patch of flesh from the back of his hand, and the other removing a fist sized chunk from his upper arm, reducing both areas afflicted to a mess of blood and sparks. Beckoned forth by this sacrifice, spiritually generated lightning surges forth from the Guardian of Balances arm and into Gospel, crackling angrily about the edge of the blade. Before Kasyr even has time to land, it's discharged- instantly. Rather than plummeting straight down, the Revenants descent rather abruptly angles off- the lightning within the sword being used to effectively allow Kasyr to propell himself directly at the 'Satoshi' still standing by means of a thrust currently moving about as rapidly as a strike of lightning. On the -bright- side, were she struck, it wouldn't be by the force of a super naturally dense broadsword- as Gospels' shifted into a Nodachi during the way down. The downside being that the nodachi is a six foot long implement of destruction that's poised to run the assumed 'ruiner-of-his-unlife' through and send her slamming through the floor and into the basement with a weapon that exudes a confined anti-magic aura. Which does bring about the very bright-side of, at least he's not able to emanate a magical shockwave out from the impact point of his sword at the moment.
Kasyr said, "YOU TOOK HER FROM ME!"
Kirien || Ihsotas, for all intents and purposes, isn't exactly expecting a rage-fuelled Revenant to drop through the ceiling out of the blue. As such she's a little stunned, ears pinning back as a sudden sense of dread courses the length of her spine and draws a shiver from the cat. Still, a cat she is and those creatures tend to recover quickly. She's a particularly lithe feline at that, and she still has so much to live for - she thinks. Satoshi is -- her fiery Mirror presumes, at least -- still trapped in the metal box nearby, concealed behind a sheet of reflective glass; assumedly this man is…wait, who is he? A leap to the side interrupts this internal questioning, the magus attempting to flee the weapon of destruction thrust her way without turning to her magic for aid. Whoever this man is, it's clear that he's involved with her icy Shadow somehow. Passing glances cause her eyes to meet his, and Ihsotas becomes aware of a sensation not too dissimilar to the lightning sparking around them - an electric jolt to the chest has her gasping in surprise, and then falling, the feeling having distracted her long enough that, upon hitting the floor, she stumbled. A swift roll brings the feline to a crouch a half-way across the room from Kasyr and she pauses, before slowly straightening, a rip to her clothing being the only damage thus far due to lightning-fast feline senses. What is this? Quickly she'll scrutinise his form, head to toe, toe to head, gaze lingering on perky calico ears and handsome features, and a whistle of clear admiration leaves her lips. That's it. There's a connection between them somewhere, somehow, and she doesn't know exactly what it is but one thing is obvious - he's hers and she is so entirely his. Had Satoshi been hiding him, something that clearly belongs to Ihsotas, from her all this time? Damn that Shadow! "Well hello there, darling," Ihsotas murmurs, words saccharine and spoken in a voice all too familiar to the Revenant. It's enough to make a man pause, distraught as he is. "That's a big weapon you have, and I'm sure such…girth and length extends elsewhere. Would you care to show me?" There's a teasing smile thereafter, a smile drawn upon the same fine features of Kasyr's wife - the true one, at least. Ihsotas wouldn't mind taking the first one's place.
Satoshi's lost in a plane of shadows, waist-deep in inky black fog and for once in her life shivering from a bone-chilling cold that emanates from every direction and freezes her to her core. In vain the kit attempts to call out desperately to anyone but her voice dies before the tinest sound can be made. Powerless. The chill deepens with each nervous breath, sapping her strength and putting the minstrel in a downward spiral towards panic as it threatens to suffocate her. Trapt. Cold. Alone. The words taunt the kit as she stumbles blindly through the dark, groping for any sort of surface and only meeting icy tendrils of shadow. Satoshi's fighting a losing battle with fear when she's suddenly drawn up short, rooted in place by a sudden flash of light and gently hummed melody. In the silent darkness the sound and light are momentarily deafening and blinding, but once Satoshi's senses clear she's aware of a light weight on her shoulder. Ko'tar, in the form of a white lyrebird, perches there, nuzzling its beak against the kit's cheek and crooning the notes to its soothing song. As the sense of calm settles over Satoshi, she reaches up to stroke her little guardian while looking around. Now that the panic has lifted, she notices the odd rectangles of gray light scattered around the depthless area. One in particular catches her eye when she spies flashes of light behind the silvery veil, and with Ko'tar on her shoulder humming encouragment, the kit approaches the gap in the black. The sight that greets her is an unexpected one as Satoshi peers out from one of the many other mirrors in the room occupied by Ihsotas and... Kasyr? She'll ask him later what he's doing here, but for now, the kit's just hopeful she can catch his eye long enough to earnestly gesture toward her doppleganger whose back is to the kit. Satoshi has a plan to end this here and now, but she's going to need her mate's help to see it through. 'Bring her closer to here' is what Satoshi so desperately tries to signal to her husband from the other side of the mirror before Ko'tar disappears from her shoulder and reappears in her hand as a somberly humming katana.
Satoshi would undoubtedly facepalm if she could hear Ihsotas' words, as a note.
Kasyr still manages to be surprised, as much as his disoriented state allows him to be, at the fact that he's not in the basement- a fact which he quickly attributes to the lack of the body he had intended on impacting into. Not that the floor he's standing on isn't severely crunched in and -threatening- to give away....but as it's standing, whatever this room was intended for had required this place to be sturdier than the rest of the house. Not that the figment muses on this fact for long, eyes quickly snapping over to 'Satoshi' so that he can stare directly at her. Mindful of the weakened floor, he slowly starts to move towards her, even as his eyes avert from her form, seemingly unwilling to focus upon the form of the one he believed was dead. An aversion that has him stopping and holding a hand over one of his ears when he hears her voice, a shudder working its way through his body. It's only at her invitation that he looks up, swallowing hard as he tries to avoid focusing on the fact that her very existance was a reminder..a reminder of... Of a fox. A fox that was flailing in the background, her image etched onto the surface of a mirror, even as this supposed feline displayed her hubris to the fullest. And whether or not Kasyr can understand Satoshi's flailing- Ko'tar is easily enough read for him, and it's link to it's owner is all the Kensai needs to get the gist of what he needs to do. Straightening up, Kasyr simply moves his sword hand up towards his head, Gospel dissapearing mid-motion as he moved to stroke a hand through his hair. "......That's all tu have to say? ...Tell tu what- beat me, et tu can have moi. Simple as that. Except..." Even as what is apparently his sword wielding hand flicks away from his bangs and extends out to the side, a motion done to attract the 'other' Satoshi's attention, there's a flicker of black around Kasyrs left hand. Once again, a crackle of energy surges through the Kensai, a large patch of bleed leaking through the gut region of Kasyrs black shirt, even as he flicks his left hand forward towards the imposter. The trick being, that the Figment isn't attached to this blade- instead allowing the energy that propels it to send it hurtling spear like towards...well, not quite the imposter. It's the equivalent of a feint, as with any luck,cat-like reflexes would have his opponent moving to evade the lightning charged blade that would have just narrowly sweeped between her legs. Evading even as another patch of blood erupts from his shoulder, the second Katana of this pair manifested in Kasyrs hand so he can thrust it towards the cattish antagonist. This one the Kensai actually intends on holding onto, thrusting surreal spears towards the feline- although it's dispelled moments before he'd impact so she'd only have to deal with him intending on punching her at that momentum. He's not even trying to kill her, really, so much as cause her a bit of pain, and smacking her into the ground so hard she slides back a bit. ".Except...I have to admit,It's a shame to do things like this. Tu know? You ...are something to behold, after all." ..Mixed truth, and a play on her indomitable ego. All's fair.
Kirien || Ihsotas is honestly entranced by Kasyr's every movement, with eyes only for him right now, and attentions straying nowhere else. He's hers, right? Even though he's telling her she must play a game to claim him, he's already hers. She feels this, deep within; surely it's true. The mirror Satoshi is peering out of and flailing behind is to her immediate left and back, not that she knows this, of course, or has picked up on the couple's ploy to end her. "It would be a shame to scratch such a handsome face, though," she responds to the Revenant with a sweet smile, so caught up in tracing the lines of his jaw and throat with her eyes that the attack is, once again, a surprise to her. Still, cat-like grace and agility save her this time as they did before - at least, that's what Ihsotas thinks. The first weapon is dodged, the smell of ozone streaking by her but the second catches the feline just as she lands. Kasyr's fist drives into her gut before she even has time to form a fiery counter or defence and light form is sent reeling backward to crash with force against a solid surface; the mirror. "Somethi--" Words are cut off when Ihsotas attempts to push shakily away from the wall, and finds herself unable to, as if caught - a glance downward reveals the reason why and eyes widen at the sight of it. Ko'tar's tip, having been extended through the mirror and the entirety of her body when she fell against it, can just be seen poking out from her clothes - clothes already turning red with blood that leaks from the impalement. "…Oh, w-would you look at that," the magus stammers, gaze raising to meet Kasyr's, "stabbed by my own shadow. How dreadful, darling."
Satoshi grimaces as if in pain, for once taking no thrill in the act of killing. It isn't the fact that she's slaying her look-alike that has the kit unhappy, but rather the heavy undertone of sorrow in Ko'tar's voice as it delivers the killing blow with determined obedience. Unwilling to let the pure blade endure more blood than is necessary, Satoshi raises a boot to press through the mirror--oddly liquid to her and solid to Ihsotas--and against her Shadow's back, shoving her off the sword and unceremoniously to the floor. A shuddering sigh escapes the kit as she steps through the silvery portal and back into her own reality, peering thoughtfully down at the dying copycat. Ihsotas at least has one last surprise for Satoshi, however, for with the imitator's last breath she calls up the fiery element that is her existence, willing ethereal white flames to devour her form in a heartbeat. Satoshi is left frozen mid-attempt to scramble away from the burst of fire, staring in bewilderment at a tiny blue wisp--all that remains of Ihsotas--floating inches above the floor and moving steadily toward her. Despite all reasoning saying she shouldn't, Satoshi instinctively offers the bloodied tip of Ko'tar to the flame and doesn't balk when it accepts, climbing down the length of the blade and burning brighter as it sears off the crimson stains. For the moment, Satoshi is left watching the dancing flames slowly quell, lost in thought and seemingly unaware of Kasyr's presence.
Kasyr s' sole reaction to the display had been an almost apologetic look to the doppleganger, as well as a mumbled, "Sorry, Cherie. Spoken for." Whatever fire had been burning in his chest was all but quelled with the end of her threat- simply leaving him to watch her slump to the floor as the veritable fox stepped free from the confines of the mirror. With the facade of cockiness no longer needed, he simply began to step closer- a sad sort of smile plastered on his features. And so, even as the other Satoshi's body burns away- the hybrid nears the relative region of the 'pair', sword dispelling from his grip so he can bring a clenched hand up to his mouth and clear his throat. Heck, he'd even muster a weak smile for her, albeit the fact that he was bleeding a fair bit from two spots on one arm, and another spot on his stomach.
Satoshi comes back to herself with a start at the sound from Kasyr. Blinking, she turns to regard her husband while Ko'tar politely disappears, taking the blue flames with it. She's still uncertain as to why he's here, but she's far from uncertain that she's happy to see him. With a weak sound, caught between a laugh and a cry, the kit stumbles forward and collides with the kensai, burying her face against his chest From there, she meekly plucks at his shirt and murmurs, "You're bleeding..."
Kasyr offers her a simple smile, before tenderly wrapping his arms around her- trying his best not to wince for his efforts. "Worth it. Entirely." That said, he plants a kiss to the foxes forehead, before leaning back slightly and inclining his head, "...I'm glad I didn't lose vous.."
Satoshi scoffs, putting on one of her infamous Sato-acts to play off the serious mood. "Me, done in by the likes of -her-? A cheap knock-off isn't going to stop me~."
Kasyr gingerly leans back a bit more, now trying to see if he can coax her to leave, as quite frankly, he wants to go somewhere more comfortable to relax...and bleed, and such. "...Mon dieu, that ego might get the better of you some day- especially if there's another you with such an ego involved." With a wry attempt at a smile, he offers her another grin.
Satoshi is, in all honesty, much too worn out and shaken to keep up the arrogant act and silently concedes to be led out of the strange house. With hopes that she'll never return to it. (Ayras' appearance is written off as a trick of the place, leaving the poor fellow in the basement alone).