>>79959
"..." Faust looked around, eyes scanning the area and from the moment everyone had entered, and already she could tell something was wrong. The reports were horridly inaccurate. Rather, instead of inaccurate, the info Limbus Company had received was outdated, despite all previous expedition survivors being rather honest and precise with their descriptions of how La Manchaland LOOKED and how their Bloodfiends were SUPPOSED to behave. Yet... looking just beyond the entrance showed the streets looking cleaned up, the buildings polished and rebuilt, with signs of construction taking place, seemingly recently, as the lingering dust clouds and smells of different paints and materials stood idly by their intended targets. Worse yet, nobody had encountered nor seen any sign of an actual Bloodfiend when the opposite should have occurred. All of it was wrong. Yet, they had to push on for the sake of their overall goal of retrieving the Golden Boughs.
The moments passed and the quaint, eerily silent and void scenery was exacerbated by joyful, carnival music played on the speakers all over the place. It felt as though the entire Amusement Park should be active and filled with life, Bloodfiend Life, that is... but... not a single one had come out to greet them. Some of the Sinners, that being the likes of Ryoshu, Heathcliff, and Don Quixote, wanted to push forward whilst the others, primarily Yi Sang and Faust, wanted to keep caution, and the rising tensions and anxiety between all of them began to evolve into paranoia. Of course, Dante figured they were all going to be walking into a trap, but again, what choice did they have to see it through, and so she eventually urged them on, keeping a close and watchful sight on every nook and cranny, every window, every shadowy alleyway they passed by. And still nothing.
"Where was everyone?" "They couldn't have possibly left, right?" Those sorts of questions kept coming up, and those questions had no answers. And so they went on.
...Then it happened.
The very second they passed through that Entrance Booth, they were swarmed. They were supposed to be fighting Bloodfiends that have been weakened for an approximate 200 years! So then...
"What's going on!?" Dante's clockhead ticked and tocked with great fervor as she herself found herself running around whilst reviving her Sinners. That was an ordeal unto itself, yet the greater one seemed to be the rather lively and clearly HEALTHY Bloodfiends charging at them full speed. They were faster, stronger, and far more rational than what everyone was expecting. They were coordinated, too, dragging out fallen Bloodfiends to the back while fresher Bloodfiends took their place. It was absurd, if she anything to say about it! But they pushed on, and as the waves of monsters ravaged through the Sinners over and over, they were still making progress. After all, the main advantage the Sinners had was Dante's infinite revivals. Without it, they'd most certainly be dead. And so they, slowly and with great pains, broke through the lines of Bloodfiends, forcing them to retreat further into Area 1, where they would encounter, by far, their most ridiculous event yet.
Fast forwarding a bit later and all the Sinners found themselves split off from one another, with Nicolina taking charge of the speaker and cattily announcing the beginning of her lovely game. And try as they might, the next set of Bloodfiends that appeared to enforce the game's rules were far too much for Limbus Company to properly take care of. So it was, then, that Faust would find herself alone, separated from everyone, and unable to determine Dante's status.
'As long as Dante is alive and well... then no matter how many times the rest of us fall, we will come back... She'll be my first priority.' It didn't take long for her to determine her primary objective in all this. But for now... she had some Bloodfiends to get through...
"Huff... Huff..." Though alone, Faust still proved herself to be a relatively capable fighter, not as good as those built for it, such as those like Heathcliff or Ryoshu, but she can still handle her own when needed. Yet... even as she knocked back and injured Bloodfiends... the fight itself... seemed a bit off.
'Another... trap...?' She thought to herself. She'd already seen the sheer power these things possessed, and yet someone like Faust was driving them off? Regardless, she pressed forth once the coast was clear, searching for signs of anyone nearby... Her other selves were just as confused as Faust was, with theories and speculations running rampant throughout Gessellschaft. For the ones that have gone through La Manchaland, they had no idea what could have changed it so drastically, so until they had more information, Faust was going in blind, for the most part.
"...?" And perhaps the answer she was seeking to unravel was just in reach. In front of Faust lay someone... odd, to put it lightly. She looked relatively human, what with a few minor alterations to her physical form, yet perhaps these augmentations served an aesthetic purpose rather than a practical one. Whatever the case, her other selves were surprised, and urged her to take the initiative. This girl, whatever or whoever she is, was indeed the anomaly in La Manchaland. Yet, what is Faust supposed to do now? "...Mm..." She pondered a moment, but with the sounds of Bloodfiends closing in, she was rushed to make a choice. And the choice she made was simple. "...Apologies. But I'll have to move you to somewhere else. Somewhere safer." Whether the mysterious, blood stained girl could hear her she didn't know, but what she did know was that she needed to get her to safety. Mostly for questioning, but also because she didn't seem to be a Bloodfiend. Thus, Faust gave it her best shot, kneeling down and slinging the stranger up and over her back. Looking around, she decided to enter what looked to be a house-like structure. Knocking the door open, she was quick to rush in and close/lock the door behind her.
Inside, she found out that she stumbled into what she honestly assumed was just a regular home. Looking at the design, the furniture, and all the other amenities inside, it truly was just a regular house. Now feeling a bit safer, the Sinner would find the living room and lay her carry on down on top of a couch.
---
"Oh, I gotta admit, that girl chose a good one~!" Nicolina hummed to herself, watching everything unfold from afar, and smiling. "All the other nearby buildings were going to look unfinished and ruined, so I'm glad she chose one of the only finished ones in the area. Well now~! Why don't we start our next 'Act'~! Lilian, dear, take a few Bloodfiends and give that big-tittied bimbo a "Welcome Party~" "
"Mmm~! Gotcha! Uh... you... and you... oh, you too. Come on, you're with me!" And so a group of five Bloodfiends decided to head off, ready to start welcoming the arrival of a new Sister-to-be. But not yet, they had to break her in a bit.
"Hm hm~! Alrighty, now then, let's see if Grea's acting chops are up to par! I do enjoy playing around, after all~" Nicolina sat back and got herself ready for the second part of the 'play' to start.