Umano Underground Slums

"As far as I know, they're still trying to fix her. I didn't stick around. I needed to get out. Felt... confined I guess?" the statement felt insensitive at the moment all things considered but it wasn't really to far from the truth of how he felt. "Keeping you locked up here, I dunno. I don't see the point. Hold on..." as he finished his sentence, he walked off for a moment... returning shortly with a key. Unlocking the door with a soft click he stepped inside looking around. Dreary as hell. Sure they were in a war, and while he admitted the fears of previous drones returning to their puppet ways was justified. Just look at him... how many times had he been Reversed now? Why wasn't he in one of these?

"C'mon. You'll be under my charge... At least to make others feel a bit more secure."

Still playing with her emotions. Ugh, why was he just...

Even so, Lua couldn't turn down a chance to breathe some fresh air. She got out of her bed and drew the curtain in the corner to change clothes out of her drab attire, at least to get a chance to spend some time out of her cage.

"Where are we going?" she asked as she slipped on a T-shirt to finish up.

Even with the curtain up, he turned away to let her change. Common courtesy and all that. When she was finished he looked back over his shoulder. "You can pick. I didn't have much in mind past just getting you out of here I guess." he scratched the back of his head once before stepping out of the cell. "...I'm grateful by the way. For your words of encouragement. I haven't heard much support in a while." he scratched the back of his head again, almost like a nervous tick. He was dense, but he was trying to repay a kindness that wasn't necessary toward him. Scratching the back of his neck this time he sighed softly, turning his head around in her direction again. "You're free to walk around however you like. You can go where you want. So if you want to hide, that's fine. No one can make you fight in this war. No one should try. So, if you choose to hide, just leave it to me and the others. ...It's all I've known really since coming here..." he gave some what of a sad smile before turning to leave. "If you choose to fight however, try to get along with everyone and get to know them. You'll be accepted in no time I'm sure... You're a wonderful person after all." with a gentle wave, he left. She could follow him if she so chose, but her destiny was up to her now, and no one would bother her.

How many days was it? It did not feel like a long amount of time had passed, in fact it felt like it was still the same day when he was rushed back to the slums. But Haruto could never be aware of such a fact considering that the entire time he was seeing a dream, no a nightmare, that kept playing back on constant replay with him unable to get out of it for sometime.

He could his family, his brother and all those who stood by him this whole time with him chasing after them as fast as his legs can carry him, images flashing wildly of past events triumphs and losses. Yet nothing changed he still continued to run and they were never in reach until the images took a darker turn with his brother's new form now slaughtering anyone important to him. "You could have prevented this."

"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!"

He jumped out of his bed breathing heavily as his eyes shot wide open, he could not bare the thought of the images he saw and all he could think of was what was he supposed to do given the situation....

"..What could I have possibly done, i'm nowhere near as powerful as him... and he's still my brother.." he thought as he slowly got off the bed trying not to bother Neo since he was asleep, even tho he was gripping his chest and limping across the room until he spotted Seifer leaving. "S-..Seifer!" he yelled out, he was not sure why he did that normally he would try to keep to himself at this point. Was it guilt?

Umano... It had been a very long time. She set foot at the edge of the Resistance's headquarters, scanning the area. Grunts were moving to and fro, glancing in her direction (some of them taking time to stare in confusion), but none of them were making any moves towards her. "Guess they trust me enough to let me in... Good enough for me." She sighed to herself, stepping inside.

First stop was the infirmary. She wanted to see who was too injured to fight and who was still standing, to get an assessment of the pieces she had available. She'd need all the knowledge she could get if she was going to tackle the planning for the assault on the final Reapers...

...Out of the corner of her eye, Karin spied a familiar face, and an even more familiar power. Okuri, the spirit wolf she had fought before, was here too. Asleep, but very clearly alive. She approached him, looking down at him with sad eyes. Only a day ago they'd been enemies, quite literally at eachothers' throats with every intent to kill. Now, they were on the same side again... But who knows if the bridges that had been burned already could be rebuilt?

As Karin approached the slumbering Okuri one of the medical staff approached obviously concerned for her welfare. "Please miss we advise you not disturb the animal. It's still recovering from severe trauma to the chest and waking it might prove dangerous." the woman finished. As she attempted to explain this to Karin someone nearby dropped a test tube on the floor and the sound of shattering glass shot through the infirmary. At the nurse's words and the resulting drop Okuri's ears perked up. And then all at once he regained consciousness and he shot up on the bed scanning the area in what seemed like a panic.

"Carlos! The battle, Nemesis still..." he started still out of it. The nurse seemed surprised the animal was capable of speech but attempted to advise Okuri not move. He seemed to be in no hurry to respond. Eventually his eyes fell on Karin who stood nearby him. He had to examine the face for a moment. It was familiar but something seemed off from what his memories told him.

"You... what are you doing..." he started his mind still trying to fully wake up. A low growl started as he tried to set straight in his mind his memories concerning the girl before him. He remembered fighting her and being injured by her before. But then something else. In the most recent battle she'd been on their side. Something had obviously changed. He eventually stopped growling and settled back down into a sitting position as the nurse ran off to inform the doctors he'd awoken. And so that left him facing a girl he hardly knew anything about or if he should be fighting her or not.

Riko was walking down the halls and saw haruto out of bed and smiled walking over to him. "Its good to see you back on your feet. We were worred about you." He said to him before looking around feeling the aura nearby. "It seems Xateramusa was here, there is still some spirt essence on the door frame." He said outloud not relezing that he did so.

"..."

Karin paused for a long moment. Within her mind, she debated with herself- Similar to Yukino, did she deserve this chance to try and fix things? Did she even deserve the chance to ask for forgiveness? Was she worthy of it to begin with? A number of conflicted feelings swirled around in her mind, questioning her own worth after having betrayed all of Humanity, all to fulfill some base desire and cover up her own weakness. So this was what it was like to face one's sins... Karin shut her eyes and shook her head, shaking such thoughts from her mind. Whether she deserved it or not didn't matter. Humanity deserved to live on, with or without her, and she'd do everything in her power to ensure that happened.

"...I'm sorry, about kicking you. I won't run or hide from you, or make any excuses for my actions."

Of all the things this woman before him could have said, Karin apologized for hurting Okuri in their battle. He was admittedly confused and such was clear as he continued looking at the girl with his head slightly tilted. Perhaps he hadn't heard her right? No it had definitely been an apology. So she was on their side after all. What could have possibly changed? Regardless he wasn't feeling up to immediately forgiving and forgetting.

"While I appreciate the sentiment you should know that words mean little these days. If your actions are consistent with this thought I'll believe you and forgive you. But there are others you've hurt far more irreparably than me, they ought to be the focus of your penitence." was the spirit's message to the woman. He hardly knew her situation but as all he had seen of her was actions so he would need actions again to prove her sincerity. With that his mind shifted focus back to the war with the Reaper Drones. He still knew so little of the conclusion and aftermath.

"Please do you know what happened to the others? Carlos ran off to fight... Nemesis. We won the fight didn't we? Tell me that mockery of Hikari's memory didn't escape." he asked of Karin. Despite his prior message this turning to her seemed to indicate he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt for the moment. He began getting up and off of the bed which the nearby nursing staff were hesitant to let him do but they couldn't restrain him as it was. His legs seemed wobbly still as he stood more from fatigue than anything but if Karin didn't have the answers he wanted he'd have to go find them himself.

Karin turned her head up, putting a hand to her forehead as if rubbing off a bad headache. The realization she hadn't rested at all since her return made her feel woozy, but she ignored those feelings for now, as best she could. "...Yukino is no longer under the Reapers' control, but is out of commission until further notice. I'm assuming command of the Resistance in her stead, and I intend on leading them to the end of this nightmare.

As for the others, they should all be fine. Every drone has either surrendered or been defeated. The only remaining enemies are the last three Reapers."

Karin looked back to Okuri, bringing her hand back to her side. "You're right, though. It doesn't matter if anyone forgives me or not. I'm fighting for humanity whether they want me or not, and they can make up their own minds about me after this war is over."

Striding into the Headquarters of the currently headless Resistance, the brunette first made a beeline to the infirmary to see what he could do there... only to find Karin was already here, and noting that Okuri was awake. Actually that was perfect, since Karin was here, though it seemed they were having a conversation not that it was hard to tell. That was fine. Leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms, he decided to wait it out. Karin was in charge now as far as he was concerned, and he'd offered himself as a sword. It wasn't arrogance that lead him to be calm now.

After hours upon hours of training in the Outskirts of the city where no one could be harmed, Darren finally reached a point where he could say he could control the output of his own power. He was happy that he could do it, though he knew it wasn't enough time to master it. Still, the fact that he got this far meant it could be done. He returned to the facility he build near the Resistance HQ. He could probably even be seen walking into what most would believe to be an abandoned building.

Inside, he went into a glass pod. It closed and he went into a sleep. His body began to radiate with the power flowing into him, recharging like a human shaped battery. He still wasn't quite ready to face the Resistance since they knew what he was, but that didn't matter. People wanted him to be there so he would appear, after some sleep.

Karin's report of the battle was relieving to an extent. The drones were out of the fight and only three Reapers stood in their way. But some things were troubling. The woman stated she would be taking charge of the resistance which while questionable wasn't a large concern for Okuri. But one of the first things she had said stuck in his mind. Yukino was no longer under Harbinger's control but was out of commission. Yukino. Not Nemesis the enemy's mockery of their commander but their commander herself.

It troubled him to hear that Nemesis had regained herself because he had come to believe she wasn't Hikari at all. Had Hikari's heart been in there somewhere surely he thought some of the things she had done wouldn't have happened. The woman's spirit was strong and defiant and he felt if anyone surely she could have resisted complete control. A bit of surprise and alarm flashing across his face aside Okuri spoke nothing of this concern though.

"I pray you'll lead us well then." he said as he began moving towards the exit to the infirmary. It became apparent quickly he still had medical devices attached to him, an IV in his side close to a leg in particular, that he proceeded to remove as best he could to the alarm of the medical staff. As he moved he noticed the pain was gone and just general soreness and fatigue had taken its place. His legs worked well enough but as he passed by Seifer he stumbled and almost fell. As he steadied himself he took note of the man. He'd seen him in fights for a while now but hadn't made a conscious effort to speak with him for some time now. One of the man's eyes seemed injured or otherwise unusable and while he didn't seem particularly happy Okuri couldn't sense the overwhelming despair from their first meeting.

"It's been some time since we spoke in the park. I'm glad you found some small glimmer of hope to hold on to." he remarked. This was Hikari's brother, imagining how losing her and seeing her back as a tool of the enemy must have affected him almost made Okuri shudder.

When Okuri almost fell Seifer went to try and stop him from doing so... Okuri managing to steady himself just before. The brunette remembered this one, from the park. Yes, that's right, there was something odd about their first meeting and now he could see why. Despite that, Seifer gave a soft, sad smile. "It's not so much hope as it is duty. However, I'm not clouded by despair like I was back then." he glanced over and Karin for a moment giving a nod, showing he was here and willing to support her and everyone else before standing next to Okuri, deciding to walk and talk with him. "I regret not having had many opportunities to actually speak with you. All my fault really." he admitted his mistakes, looking out over Umano, seemingly at peace... Something that had been hard for him for so long to achieve.

Karin nodded to the spirit wolf. Turning to look at the rest of the infirmary, she counted out the soldiers that were too injured to fight and the ones who looked like they'd be well enough to keep going soon enough. Confirming her numbers, she made her way to the exit. Along the way, she stopped by Okuri and Seifer. "Whenever you two are finished, assemble outside of the main building. The rest of the Resistance needs to hear what we've learned." She told the two of them as she passed them by, heading back out of the infirmary.

Moving into the central building, she scanned the interior. It looked almost exactly like it had back then, when Karin had first joined the Resistance. The command center was somewhere on a higher floor. A number of grunts or soldiers were moving around here too, trying to keep things together in spite of their lack of a commander.

Karin put a hand to her shoulder and dragged it across her chest, fire trailing across, from one shoulder to the other. The Cross' cape appeared from it, resting upon Karin's shoulders, now repurposed from a regal cape to a fashionable coat, reminiscent of Yukino's own military jacket. Doing her best to emulate the great commander herself, Karin began her work with the closest grunt.

"You there!"

She spoke with absolute authority, as an Overlord should, and the man turned to face her on the spot, almost instinctively giving a quick salute, only to stop once he saw who it was that had called on him.

"I'm taking over as commander in Yukino's stead. I need to get a message to the rest of the Resistance. Tell them to gather up outside, and that we've found out Harbinger's weakness."

"Wh-What? Seriously?"

"Seriously. Now get moving, I need everyone assembled as fast as possible!"

"Er, right, yes ma'am!"

Whether out of desperation or simply due to a lack of time, no one seemed to question Karin's authority. Well, that made things convenient. Onto the next step, she called on a group of nearby grunts and sent them off to pull up all the information they had on both Harbinger and Sovereign, and every battle they'd had with the Reaper overlords. She wanted all the knowledge she could get on the Twin Towers, in preparation for the inevitable battle with them.

Okuri chuckled as Seifer pinned their lack of communication on himself. "I was the one who ran from you on our first meeting. All because I didn't want you to see me..." he started. He then looked from Seifer to himself and on backward to his three tails that were lazily swaying about behind him. Turning back he realized Seifer never had seen his real form before. "Well as you can tell I'm not what you thought I was when we met. I feared being found out but after a few battles and meeting more of you all that's since left me. It's relieving actually to not have to hide in plain sight all the time." he concluded.

"I hear Nem-I mean your sister is apparently herself again. That must quite the relief for you." he stated. He was hoping to get something more to confirm what Karin had said about Hikari. The concern was nagging at his mind but he was honestly concerned with how the whole affair had affected Seifer. Before things could continue Karin stopped by the two telling them to gather with the rest of the Resistance. A message came through the Reality Bangles repeating the call to gather but included that Harbinger's weakness had been discovered.

"Harbinger has a weakness?" he said voicing his awe aloud. "I suppose we should be going then." he said turning back to Seifer. The canine's legs still seemed ready to buckle underneath him but they stayed strong as he began making his way toward the main building where the resistance was slowly beginning to gather.

The recharge process was set to hyper speed. With all that had happened and was going to happen, there was no time to waste. The pod opened slowly and Darren stretched out. With a small yawn, he was startled by an alarm that made him cover his ears.

"Looks like a message was sent out to all Resistance members," Daikaiser said to him.

"It seems Karin is taking command. She wants everyone to gather," Daiyusha added.

"She can have the head position," Darren said with a yawn. "I'm not someone to lead people. I'm way too young and reckless for that."

"If you know that, you really should work on fixing it."

"Yeah, I'll put that on my to-do list. Right now though, might as well see what Karin's up to."

He was still worried about the reaction of the Resistance, but that wasn't something he could let get to him. He left the facility, going to the gathering area. Daiyusha and Daikaiser led the way there. He looked around to see everyone after the battle. People seemed happy with the victory. Darren decided not to speak to anyone unless spoken to. He wanted to keep a low profile. He saw Karin and gave her a wave.

"You're not, yeah. But that doesn't really change much of anything. You're you, and that's what counts." At the mention of his sister, he actually... had to think on that for a moment. "I just want for her to relax. She always took too much on herself and it got her where she is now. Am I happy she's back? Yeah. I am, considering she's one of the few things I have left in this life..." he went to say more, thought Karin's announcement interrupted him. Things were already advancing? That was fine, probably for the best in fact.

Nodding to Okuri, who suggested they should be going, he walked at the wolf's side as support in case he fell over or needed help. But once there, he took note of the number of people gathering. Seemed the whole main force was showing up... Seemed Karin was being accepted as the new leader, or was it more that people were just that desperate to have a leader? He supposed it didn't matter, but this was a time of great stress so when both he and Okuri reached the assembly, he bowed to the wolf mentioning when they had the chance they should speak more. For now, he chose to head to the front and stand around where Karin would hopefully be delivering her speech and plans. Maybe it was just an act, to show the grunts that they had nothing to fear from Karin. While he wasn't Yukino, he still hoped that maybe his willingness to follow Karin would dash any doubts. That's what he was hoping anyway.

"Hm? A message from Karin?" Jellal was puzzled at the request to be gathered with the other resistance members. "You know what this is about, Blaster Dark?"

"You'll see when you get there." Blaster Dark appeared beside Jellal. This was rather odd but Jellal heeded the request and appeared alongside the other resistance fighters. He gave a wave gesture at everyone there while leaning at the wall.

Beatrice had immediately returned to Umano once she received the message and learn of the new leadership change. She got to work right away along with the grunts, collecting all the information they had on the Reapers, using her Battle Sisters to help. Meanwhile she went to preparing some nice snacks and tea for the new leader, even going so far as preparing a simple table and the best chair. The Sisters set the snacks and tea for Karin while Beatrice brought all the information to Karin. "Here you are Master. All the information we have pertaining the Reapers, organized in alphabetical order. Do you require anything else?" She stood to the side in the perfect maid stance, her Battle Sisters....well some of them mimicking her. Some just stood there looking like they rather be somewhere else.

Karin blinked. Who the hell was this? Some girl in a... remarkably authentic maid outfit had just done what she had ordered the other grunts do only a bit ago, and was now handing her the gathered records of the Twin Towers. "Um," She paused, blinking again.

"Right. No, thank you, I'm fine. You're, uh...?"

Karin shook her head, opening up the files on the Reapers, scanning each page intently, her eyes darting back and forth. She was, at the very least, glad to finally be able to sit down and rest her body, after having pushed herself for a long time without a break. "Just wait for all the pieces to gather. So long as you don't leave, you can do as you like until then."

Aoi emitted literal sunlight under the dark skies looming over Umano Slums in the night. A lot of people were trying to talk to her, and she beamed happily, telling Fubuki, Xat, and others she was fine. Though, it wasn't wrong to believe even the gumball had her limitations of joy. The cold world is breaking her down, her eyes are tired, and she feels like she wants to sneeze. She shivered a little, but spoke "I'm fine and ready for action!" Her side still hurt, but it was bearable. Though, herself and others heard of the new, third commander's discovery of Harbinger's weakness. "Oooo!"

Maelstrom seemed... concerned for how much longer his vanguard could keep running.

Xat looked at Aoi and smiled when she said was fine, however spoke anyways. "You may be fine but you should at least rest and regain your energy we dont know when the reapers will strike and its best to be at our fullest when they launch a new attack. We may gotten Yukino back with us, however from what i saw took a big toll on us all." She said to Aoi and the others knowing she too need to rest and recover due to using so much power with shirayuki when they were merged, and for it only being her 2nd time in merge form it took alot from her yet she hid it fromt he others.

"I have unlimited energy!!" Aoi shouted, raising her arm up in the air, fist clenched tightly to showcase her bravado in stamina. The child of potential ran off of the infinite fuel of her bubbly personality, her desires, and digging into her pocket - gumballs! Popping one into her mouth, she chewed nonchalantly with a cute air of a five year old, oozing hyperactiveness. Maelstrom sweat nervously, knowing it was an act, and yet... almost felt like he believed it with just how endless her cheer seemed.

Good lord, did Jellal in her timeline create a monster?!

"ZzzZzZZZz--- -Gasp-"

Neo was sleeping peaceful until he woke up to a bad nightmare that he had. It had him breathing heavily and then while looking around he noticed Haruto was gone.

"Haruto? Where did he go?"

Just then Neo heard a message that Karin wanted everyone assembled in the main lobby of HQ. So Neo got up (Armsling and all) and made his way to the lobby where he saw everyone else from the resistence here as well.

"Im here now everyone!" Neo said outloud

Neo was clearly uncomfortable with the armsling but he tried to hide it as much as he could. He was hurting.. but it wasnt going to stop him from fighting on with everyone else. He also thought to himself of where Haruto went off too.. In the back of his mind, Neo was worried about him too..