Lumière dashed rapidly through the dark, damp carnival tent halls with an expression etched with anxiety and craziness.
'Fuck, I can't believe I messed up this badly!'
Numerous red-glowing eyes lurched forward from the darkness that enveloped him, causing Lumière to have to tilt his head to avoid their strikes. On his heels, the malnourished, withered forms of the clowns grasped at him with elongated arms, their starkly-colourful painted faces shrieking and howling. He jumped over fallen pillars and ducked underneath overhangs, but no matter how long he ran through the hall, it seemed never-ending. There must be a condition he had to clear!
The problem was, unlike the last time he had been in the Sinner's Labyrinth, he had no time to check Poe's Gnosis for the necessary information! It glowed a bright-silver within his jacket, its anxious heartbeat pulsing alongside his, but Lumière couldn't give it respite with the demonic clowns chasing after him.
'How long have I been running? One or two hours? It feels like it's been far more!'
He had been trying desperately to maintain his sanity as he outran the danger of the clowns in the darkness. 'Lain's' 'Judgment', his lucid consciousness, had gradually been seeping into Lumière's mind from its respite in the abyss, and his illusory appearance had started to affix to Lumière, as if invading him. Half of his hair had turned a dark-black colour, and one of his eyes a paler blue.
Of course, this wasn't a purposeful invasion. It was his own consciousness attempting to overlay Lain's personality to try and avoid the accumulated madness that had applied itself to Lumière. Of course, as he was desperately trying to fight against 'Lain' surfacing, this left his thoughts in turmoil.
'Go back, bastard! You'll just get me killed!'
Lumière grinned, 'Lain' speaking through his lips. "Aren't you too crazy to fight right now? Will you keep running until you run out of stamina? Or will you ask that crow-man for help? All you have to do is say his name…" Lain was a bit teasing in tone, as if he couldn't care less if they died. After all, this personae was originally a 'character' from a novel who only ever wanted to seek thrills.
He snapped his fingers, a small silver wisp flickering in the palm of his hand. His eyes widened, grimacing.
'Damn it! My whole body aches… I don't even have enough stamina to conjure a flame!'
"Just use me…" Lain kept chiding.
Lumière shook his head, scowling. 'I can't use Lain, it's too risky. Ophelia isn't complete yet, so I can't use his 'judgment' to replace my consciousness! I can't use Despair, I'll use all of the accumulated fear I've painstakingly collected! Then again, if I die now, it won't really matter…'
Just then, Lumière hit a wall. Quite literally. He ran face-first into hard, cold stone. Blood began to drip down towards his chin from his nose, and he toppled over onto the ground. The malformed clowns that had been chasing him stopped a few feet away, simply staring at him. Then, one by one, bright crimson flames erupted around him, illuminating the hall of darkness. Massive black stone spires stretched up towards the tent roof, and marble spires with intricate engravings outstretching diagonally from the floor, as if attempting to spear the roof from above. It was a mixture of ruinous architecture and classically entertaining spaces.
Such should be standard for a liminal, terrifyingly strange Labyrinth. He stared at the wall ahead, knowing the demonic clowns were closing in behind him. It was a matter of seconds before he would be killed. But that feeling of imminent death allowed him to shine through all the madness in his mind. He felt almost perfectly clear in what it was he should do, both Lain and Lumière alike.
"Perform for them!" Lain shouted, grinning. He had partially overtaken Lumière already, although the latter retained most of the control over his own body. Still, he had been relegated to communicating through his own thoughts.
'Perform for the monsters? Are you stupid?'
"Come on! Look at them! They're eagerly awaiting you!"
He stood atop a stage, a backdrop painted with his own blood behind him.
Lumière twirled around to face the clowns, placing a hand on the Lain-half of his face as silver flames dripped down from it like liquid. He grinned, remaining eye filled with madness as he spoke. "This is just too crazy."
He bowed slightly to the clowns, following Lain's suggestion as he spoke further. "Watch me, you fools. I'll kill you all."
Cold black tears had begun dripping down his cheeks, and countless emotions rushed through his head. There was an innate urge to tear himself apart, to cry, scream, yell, smile, anguish, and despair. Lain's attitude made him carefree and willing to confront the danger, and his own consciousness was eager to formulate a plan to get himself out of the situation. Perhaps in such a situation, this was the most optimal state!
"You forget, I'm not a fledgling anymore." Lumière pulled Cerces out from his jacket holster in an instant, pointing it at the closest demonic clown. "I've left the nest!"
A bullet tore through the neck of the clown, sending blood and muscle tissue flying through the air. At the same time, Lumière grabbed hold of the withered patches of hair atop the clowns head, kicking at its chest as he leaned backwards, tearing the head clean away from the remaining sinew. At the same time, the torso of the demonic clown crashed into the creatures behind it, causing the approaching waves of enemies to stumble for just a moment.
Taking this time as a prime opportunity, Lumière heaved the disembodied clown head over his shoulder, sending it flying high into the air. It collided with one of the black stone spires high above, smearing crimson blood across its surface. At the same time, the clowns had recuperated, and remained inches away from Lumière as they lurched towards him.
One demonic clown grasped at his face with its spindly, elongated fingers. But at that moment, he grinned, falling backwards towards the ground. His body made contact with the puddle of blood underneath him that had been spilled when he had torn the head off of the clown. He fell through it, as if it were illusory, causing the demon clowns to crash against the stone floor in chase of him.
Then, Lumière suddenly reappeared high above, the strength of his fingers ebbing as he held onto the craggy surface of the black stone spire. He looked down at the demonic clowns, who glanced back and forth as they began to search for the disappeared magician. He stifled a laugh, looking at the fools with fire in his eyes.
This was blood teleportation, one of the abilities Lumière had obtained by gaining the Two of Spades card, becoming an 'initiate', a second-arisen. It allowed him to travel a short distance, around fifty meters, by falling into a puddle of blood. Unfortunately, this meant the prerequisite depended on Lumière losing a lot of blood, or taking the life of another person. Each put him into a dangerous situation each time, but allowed him to get out of a dangerous situation at the same time.
Besides that, he had also gained access to 'mirror storage'. He could now store several items in an alternate space by using a mirror or clear reflection, about the size of a small drawer.
'Blood Vision', another ability he had gained, would allow him to vaguely grasp the event that caused blood to spill. While this also only applied to dangerous situations, he deemed it might help in his investigations at a later date. It wasn't an ability to be dismissed.
'Godly Mimicry' allowed him to take on the traits of a Deity to a minor extent, as embodied by their 'Will' or 'Descriptions'. Of course, this was another form of blasphemy, so it would simultaneously strengthen him, and also cause him to encounter extreme madness and threaten his mental state.
'Mirage Walk' would allow him to move silent and unheard, and 'Phantasmal Theater' was a modified and grander version of his 'illusion'.
However, the crux of Lumière's plan was dependent on the final ability he had gained, 'Ephemeral Puppetry'.
The magician suddenly appeared behind the demonic clowns, causing them to frenzy as they rushed towards him. However, just at that moment, he started running in the opposite direction, leading them away from the stage.
In the meanwhile, Lumière glanced at this event from above, trying desperately not to burst out laughing. In combination with his newfound 'Phantasmal Theater', Lumière could now 'animate' his illusions. This meant that he could create a figure of himself that wasn't bound to an already-animate person and cause it to act. In this way, the demonic clowns were now chasing a version of himself that simply didn't exist!
Now, it was time to act on his plan.
As he had promised, all the demonic clowns would die.