Enter the Mouth of Azazel: Survivors

Previously, the Medjay had accomplished their objectives. They’ve convinced those close to Elias to betray their teammates with the promise to see him again. This left the rest of the team in such bad situations.  Seiko was left desperately trying to keep herself airborne before everything went black. Taigakai used his future sighted escape death and started giving chase to Byamba. Just as it seemed as if he was catching up, everything went black for him as well. Auri had faked her death with the help of Kaili but was now at risk of drowning from the realm’s flooding. Mei was left to deal with the floor crumbling beneath her. But everything went black for both of them as well.

A couple of hours later it was as if the ceiling had been ripped off of Azazel. The sun was shinning and the birds were chirping . They were no longer be in danger of falling from incredible heights, drowning or any of terrors they were presented earlier.  Instead they’d just be laying there safely on the labyrinth’s floor.  “Hey over here! Bring a medic!”  A young shinobi shouted for help, having spotted Seiko laying their unconscious. “Sir, I think she’s waking up.” She’d begin to wake as the effects started to wear off of everyone. As a precaution the medics would try and place everyone in stretchers so they wouldn’t move in case any of them had sustained injuries.  If any of the survivors looked around they’d see Azazel swarmed with investigators and forensics . Azazel looked like a bunch of stone walls; nothing special and nothing scary at all.

It’s possible that Diana had left and gotten reinforcements for everyone. The overseer from the office also came out to try and gather as much information about what happened.  He’d walk up to Seiko while the investigators gathered  Intel from the others. “ Turns out the Shinpikage didn’t wake this labyrinth, we have five missing bodies but tons of crushed and bloody gear that belongs to them. My spies are deceased, and I don’t have any medley defectors, dead or alive to pin this on. So either this beast devoured everyone, or we’ve been played.  So if you will kiddo, before you leave to get checked out” he’d place a cigar in his mouth and light it, “Tell me, what do you know?”

Mei, Seiko, Auri, and Taigakai:

Auri would wake up with a groan, she remembered faking her death at Kaili's hands and waiting for them to retreat before making a hand seal to detonate the explosive tag she had slipped on the sword she held for a moment so as to get a last ditch attempt at killing or maiming Akili. But she didn't know whether or not it was successful after all it was just a C-rank Explosive Tag, so who knows if it did enough damage to really hurt her. She had attempted to find a way out but then the ground started to crumble and in her panicked rush she ended up slipping on a boulder and she could of sworn she was a goner. Fortunately it seemed that she was surrounded by medic-nin and probably someone from the T & I department so it meant she was safe. "Um... I was almost cut up and stuffed into a barrel. This place is really scary can I go home please." she sniffled as she found herself choking up with tears of relief as she was finally out of such a dangerous situation.

The darkness had closed in around her, even as she done her best to chase Tieros. Anger flashed through her mind as the blackness squeezed the life out of her. A deep hiss left her mouth and she reached out as though she could grab victory out of the air... Then she woke up on the ground. Her mind immediately took in everything around her and she hopped to her feet looking around, eyes wide. After a few moments she let out a long sigh and adjusted her glasses before reaching down to dust down her skirt.

"I found Tieros however he managed to escape me and move deeper into the area. It would appear the place is currently closed off to us. Last I knew the others were still alive..." Her voice trailed off and she snapped her head around, noticing Taigakai nearby. Relief washed through her and she reached up, rubbing her forehead for a moment before she continued. "...I am uncertain where they are now though, they were some of the finest people around, I hope this stupid facility didn't claim their lives. I'd suggest putting in orders to have this place demolished or at the very least sealed off, the danger it poses is vast and it's being used as an enemy base of operations." She told the others around her.

"I'd also like to commend Meiani, she fought well and lead us as best she could. It's a shame that I witnessed her death. How goes the riots, any news on that front?" She took her glasses off and cleaned them on the inside of her shirt, one of the only places that wasn't filthy, moving over to sit next to Taigakai. "I will be sure to get myself a medical check up before I leave, I took damage to my forearms and my shoulder anyway, I want to make sure that there was nothing poisoned or tainted within that place." She turned to Taigakai and gave him a tight smile, she was alright and she was glad that he was as well.

Taigakai opened his eyes. The labyrinth had a habit of making people pass out for stsupid reasons, didn't it. The next thing he knew, he was seemingly outside. He heard voices fading in, familiar ones too. Then he woke up fully and planted the palm of his hand to a face accompanied with a groan. They took another friend away. With a huff a sigh, he got up, pinching the fingertips of his gloves and pulling them off. The fabric felt stiff, the white fringe on a frill stained a deep mahogany from the now dried blood that the team he was with was drenched in prior. His hair also felt stiff, caked with semi-frozen, semi-dried blood that clumped around and dyed it a tone of red. He took the other glove off, stuffing both into a pocket and then just simply bending strands of his hair to break ad rub clumps of blood out of his hair. There was a soft snap, nothing really audible, from the frozen blood just giving way and allowing for the locks it clung to to bend again, small grainy bits falling off with each pass through each strand, but it didn't seem to alter the colour too much.

He only really seemed to focus on the front strands, that was hit with the splash zone for the most part anyways. Though now with the task becoming mindless quickly, he looked around. First he saw Seiko, then another girl who seemed to be in tears, and then Mei. It's been a hot minute since the team was back together and since he's seen Mei. He was glad they were okay though and returned a nod towards Seiko. Taigakai himself was unscathed, but he didn't seem to really fight the medjay's quick checkup on him. He seemed to be a bit bothered by the recent moments just before being evicted from the labyrinth though. "There was this ghost girl missing a jaw with a key, and the next thing I know I'm out cold." The boy stared at the ground when giving his report. "When I got separated from the group, I found myself in this jungle area with another from the other team. I think her name was Indra. There was a really buff guy there too who dealt with blood but... He mentioned something about her and she released lightning all over the place. The next thing I saw, she got caught by this man and he fled while the world itself was just falling apart." To anyone listening outside, it almost sounded like a fever dream. "He mentioned something about Indra using Arashi abilities, but I have no idea what that's about." To be honest, he still couldn't figure out if that was also what spurred Indra to attack like that either. It might be, but he didn't have the brain power to figure that out. He leaned back and looked in the direction of the labyrinth. Something felt off that only four of them were outside. What happened to the others?

Kotone opened her eyes, looking to be the last to come out and... she broke. Seeing the remaining people, knowing how many, and who they had lost, and without understanding anything still. She had been crying most of the day, but this time it was for something completely different. She couldn't get over how it felt. She had done it! She had found Elias. She had gotten to him, gotten to see his face, show him just how strong she had actually gotten. But in the end... a secret she wasn't ready to share. She didn't know how much was known, if any information uncovered was known about her own part, no matter how small or how miniscule it had been, in the attempt for Jielko to set out. But nothing like this. Nothing like the day she had. Nothing like what happened that she never knew about.

And so she sobbed.

When it was her turn, she was all but inconsolable. "I-I c-can't..." was all she could say. Nothing even felt real. She couldn't look at anybody in the eyes. Couldn't shake how all this was somehow her fault. How Kozzen had lost his life. She needed time. Lots of time. Anybody looking at her would see just how shaken she was, that she had clearly gone through something. But considering she was the only of her incredibly close-knit squad to be here now, there was a lot of possibilities, and not enough facts she could speak of.

If anything, just a small part of her ... she wanted to give Elias, Jinnouchi, the both of them, a little time. Her last little gift to them.

She couldn't help this a secret forever, it would haunt her to the grave no matter, but it would destroy her in the short term too.

Now... she was alone.