Voyage Through the Multiverse (Open) [IC]

[Skylus]

The Third Wizarding War
Madi
The Great Hall (Ruins)

As soon as all the AEGIS soldiers were mortally wounded, Madi knocked all of them out with Stupefy, healed them enough so they wouldn't die or shock or blood loss, got them on magical stretchers, and then Aurors showed up and took them away to St. Mungo's. The entire school and grounds had been evacuated by now, which was good. If this thing decided to not go out without a fight....
Madi turned back to face the creature and flicked her wrists.
Two balls of fire appeared, one in each hand, and she glared up at the creature.
"No. no, no. no. I'm afraid I can't let you do that."
She reached towards the shield and moved it forwards a bit, closer to the creature.
"I won't let you do that, in fact, because I'll do everything in my power to stop you.'
She raised her hands and the fire flared before dying back down.
"I suggest you think about your plans very, very carefully."

The Campsite
Daniel Harvebouch

"Everyone has already been evacuated from the castle and grounds. The Aurors that went through your gate have not returned.....They may have dammed us all, you may try to go through but I'm afraid your people will kill me on site if I go with you."

[Prusselanden]

L-Fel
Ackerman continued the assault, and seeing the man charge at Ammy, ran over and tackled him down, pinning him on the ground. Ackerman got on top of the man and started to punch him in the face, hoping to eventually knock him out.

“It’s not very nice to sneak up on people.”

[Slenderman The CreepyPasta King]

War sneered and sighed when the creature said that it would only submit to him after dealing with the humans. “sigh, I was afraid you would say something like that. I’m sorry but that won’t be possible. The third kingdom might be full of idiots, but that is because the Adam spawn are a young race.” When it began attacking he said. “Ok, now I have no choice. Yes humanity deserves to be punished but it is not time for an apocalypse. And I will not stand by while I see the beginning of yet another pre mature one.” At an opening, which appeared when it attacked Marcus, he charged right up to it before taking the earthcaler and blowing it. Causing everything in front of him to, yet again, go flying away from war.

Atem
After the battle with the pokemon trainers, his body began to fade. “Am I actually at rest this time?” He said at the time. And weeks passed in the spirit realm without incident before yet again, he appeared somewhere else. This time in a kind of camp. “Oh damnit Ra, why can’t I stay at rest!!!”

[Menschenfleisch]

The Third Wizarding War | Avenoir and Mnemosyne

Marcus would've usually avoided the creature's attack easily but Madi hit him with a sleeping spell first. He felt a solid force shoving his conscious mind back, like a piston ramming him into the depths of unconsciousness; but he felt his mind falling back on something of a support pillar, as if someone was trying to push him back up to being fully awake. He stumbled slightly as he recovered, his body shutting down for just a moment as he overcame the power of the spell. But, at that exact moment he was struck by the beast, throwing him backward. In a dazed panic his entire body turned incorporeal, in the hopes that he'd be spared the worst of the blow. He phased through the wall, disturbing a cloud of dust as he was thrown through several dozen metres of solid stone and tapestries, flying out of the building while still unable to touch any solid matter and hitting the grassy field outside with a loud, bone-breaking thwack. It seemed that his body had naturally turned itself solid before he hit the ground. A clever and incredibly painful defence strategy - though one he was not privy to, since he was, as stated before, quite unconscious.

"Disappointing."
"Nem?"
"Mnemosyne is not here anymore."
"Who are you? Where is she?"
"I'm her replacement. As for where she is, well... the authors thought she was boring; so they sent us to replace her."
"Authors? Who's us? Wh- what's going on? Why can't I feel my body?"
"Whatever I tell you is irrelevant. You'll forget it as soon as you wake up. Although I'm sure you'll start seeing some answers soon."

As for Polly?

She stood amidst a burnt out battlefield. A flat crater, caked with shells, blood and knives. She still wore her mask, concealing her face and hair underneath kevlar and esoteric lining. A handful of red dots blipped on her visor, telling her where she'd been injured. She hardly cared. She couldn't feel the pain, or even take the time to ruminate on her actions. All she knew was that she was looking at the last remaining afflicted man in front of her, growling incomprehensibly. He had a scrap of cloth between his teeth. She looked down at her sleeve. There was a bite mark on her shoulder and a patch of linen missing. She casually tossed her rifle in the air, caught it by the barrel and delivered a one-handed thwack to the man's temple. The unconscious figure drooped, and slowly fell to the ground. Sweat pooled beneath her neck where the mask met her skin. She couldn't smell the rusty smell in the air, the lingering stench of coagulating blood. She couldn't see very well, either. Her vision trailed, sagging like wet sand whenever she tried to focus her vision. Something was wrong. Those red blips were getting bigger and bigger. On her stomach? She looked down. Muddy black stains dripping down her shirt. A trail of her uniquely dark blood - coloured like iron sludge - came from one end of the camp to where she was standing. She electrified the wound, using a combination of eddy fields and magnetic probes to rip the copper shell from within her body.

The blood stained bauble made a satisfying clicking sound as it fell into her hand, slick with black ooze. The stains grew faster. The world was swirling, and all she could think of was; what a pretty bullet it was. She shook her head and took something from her belt, her hands moving without her mind really processing anything. She'd practised this countless times. She wrapped a thin cloth around the wound and packed absorbent capsules into it, hoping they'd keep some pressure on while she worked. The pain was catching up now, starting as a gentle ache and turning into a dull, distant roar as she patched herself up. She put her hands down, the process of sealing the wound complete.

Now what?

Polly fell against a nearby tent, clutching a metal support and nearly falling to the ground. But, she was alive. She snapped back to full attentiveness as her body finished recalibrating after the ordeal she'd just been through. Her memories were flooding in. Killing a man, bursting him like a cherry. Shooting dozens, brawling with more. She vomited on the ground, detritus from her stomach mixing in with blood. Gut wounds were nasty but survivable. She'd treat the injury later. They had to find Madi and Marcus before that castle in the distance went up in flames. Was it a castle? It looked like a castle. She gasped and spat out a wad of blood, clutching her throat as the warm hazy feeling in her chest turned to an unbearable searing sting. Her eyes, focused by the agony, turned to Miria.

"Come on. Let's find the general. We have to get back to the castle, now!"

She stood up, barely able to support herself. She fumbled with something on her helmet, wet fingers barely able to find any purchase but still nimble enough to undo the latch. She pulled the mask off, straps dangling loosely as her hair fell out, revealing a face completely untouched by the carnage around her. Physically, at least. She folded up the kevlar plates, slipping it back into her kit with a familiar click. She was going to need to clean that. Actually, no. She was going to need to clean everything. Taking a tentative step, Polly addressed her companion a second time.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine. We should just get on with it."

L-Fel Cassia

Cassia followed Julian to the car. Although she was rather apprehensive at the thought of sharing a car with the big lump of metal following them the issue was thankfully dissolved by Julian telling the driver that Aestus was a self conscious cosplayer. Yes. He was already wearing his armour before he even got on the plane to head to Iowa - meaning he'd still be wearing the suit when he got on the plane, disembarked and got to his hotel reservation. She thought about the astounding leap of logic there for a second before shrugging and admitting that she was being a pedantic asshole. Even so, she couldn't help but chortle a little at the driver's willingness to accept what he'd been told. She found her seat and leaned her head back, staring up at the roof of the car.

"Well, off to Iowa we go!"

[Naval Monte]

The Third Wizarding War

In the camp Anderson looked at Harvebouch. "I want to believe that those idiots didn't cause too much trouble at the other side but the gate was most likely open when that scream was heard by everyone, no doubt it traveled at the other side." Anderson said, the man knowing that if things quickly descended into hell here at the camp no doubt the same happened at the base at the other side of the gate.

"Hopefully the situation in there has been resolved. In the meantime my soldiers would help try to keep it contained in the castle." When the words contained were uttered almost like a conceptual lightning bolt struck his mind an idea appeared in Anderson's mind. "This place is heavily saturated with magic isn't it. Could we use it to form a barrier to trap the 836 until we can find a proper method to contain it?" He asked the Auror.

Polly would see three soldiers approach her. They wore a tactical helmet that encloses the entire head, covering the cranium with a thick armoured helmet, their faces were covered with a specially made gas mask with external filters and a cloth cowl covering the neck and ears. They wore a bulky armored vest, layered by kevlar and composite materials. The attire would end with a jumper reinforced with nanoweave and armoured plates on the limbs along with ceramic pads on the elbows and knees, armoured heavy boots and thick gloves.

Despite how cumbersome the armor might appear the three soldiers showed no sign of being weighed down by it, most likely the exoskeleton frame on their bodies was the main reason for it. The suit itself seems to provide a few plates of armor on some areas of the wearers body. The suit technological appearance hid more esoteric functions that assisted the wearers. "Thanks for sparing some of our people and sorry for getting caught up in this mess. We didn't intend for any if this to happen." The man said with a thick slavic accent.

"You want to find the general? Follow us when you are healed, we are going to see him as well. No doubt he wants us to go to the castle and try to gauge just how powerful our target is now." The slavic exo-trooper said, gesturing the two to follow him as he moved forward. Another trooper went over to Polly and asked her if she needs help with any injuries, the third one contacting doctors to come to their postion to help Polly. This trooper being a woman and with a Greek accent. Polly and Miria would see other exosuit wearing troopers and while were similar to the three they met others had more enclosed armoured suits. The two would even see two suits that looks like a So a blend between a miniature armoured mech, and a physically amplifying power armour. All of them seem ready to leave the camp to fight against whatever caused the madness that inflicted their comrades.

Atem's arrival was not missed as drones flew towards him and their machines guns aim at him they all spoke in an electronic voice. "Intruder detected. Identify yourself and state your intentions on this site and how you enter before the countdown ends. Failure to comply will result in your immediate termination." The drones began their counter. The formerly docile drones now enter security mode after the fighting broke out in the camp and the Auror's sudden arrival.

Back in the castle the creature was sent flying by War's tool. Yet as it flew it would turn its body into ashy mist and flew to the ceiling and reform, sticking on the ceiling. The tentacle attached to the being began to ooze down the black sludge, every drop dissolving the stone floor. More wave of ash was sent to War as the front section harden into a black, crystalline, metal. The ash tore through Madi's shield to try and reach the horsemen and from the pools of sludge several tendrils rose and went towards her.

[Rostavykhan]

The Third Wizarding War

"You're not okay!", Miria said back, standing quite still once more.

Well, not standing, but on her knees. She'd stumbled and fallen just behind Polly before they'd both snapped to, and she'd been so scared by Polly's injuries that she was nearly frozen. She almost felt like vomiting, feeling her skin clam up as she watched more and more blood pool and drip down the girl's body, and realizing that she'd been injured. It was one of the firearms that the soldiers used - it had shot something into her, and now it was making her bleed, and badly. She'd seen animals injured like that, from hunters, or bad accidents. They didn't usually make it.

Polly may have said she was fine, but the way she was puking and spitting blood had Miria scared to death, and it showed. Her emotions caught up to her again, and Miria couldn't hold back the tears this time. She cursed, shaking her head and fighting her panic to shuffle closer to Polly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Let me help?", She asked, her voice wavering, but somehow more stern. "You might not be hurt as bad as I think, but you still shouldn't wear yourself out."

She knew that pushing herself too far wouldn't be good for Polly, especially if they were still in danger. The land around them was quiet now, the smell of blood and death lingering around them, but the castle still loomed ahead, and the fighting inside certainly couldn't be over just yet. She wasn't as strong as the Human girl, and her lungs were burning from exhaustion and panic. She hadn't slept in forever either, and even at peak strength, what could she do with no magic and a stone knife? If she was too weak,and Polly too injured, and they were set upon, their chances of winning didn't seem too great in Miria's mind.

[Menschenfleisch]

The Forbidden Act | Avarice and Tone

Ava's body crumbled at Cicero's touch, leaving faint grey dust on his fingers wherever he laid hands on her. Even so, she was thankful that he'd decided to take the time to help her out. He seemed to be responding to her the best out of anyone here, even though she suspected it was because he still didn't quite comprehend what she'd done. A funny thing happens when people try to comprehend big numbers. They can't. Even though she was a monster who'd killed trillions, all in fewer than two months no less, the people around her (besides Valerian) seemed to be accepting her presence, if with a hint of trepidation. By all accounts they should've hated her. And yet, they couldn't come to terms with what she was. A million was a statistic, after all. She felt an intense pang of regret not for killing so many - she still lacked the capacity to do so, and perhaps always would - but because she felt that she was manipulating them, using her personality and acts to obfuscate her past. No more facades, no more games. She was simply going to start, right here and right now, to make up for her actions.

Ha. How many times had she said that now? A dozen? What a joke. If Victor had been there, he'd have laughed himself to death.

"Thanks, Cicero. You're cool."

Meanwhile, Valerian chatted away with Phobos as they walked toward the airship, trailing behind September. Many topics came up. Business, games, hobbies and more. He was soon informed that as a Special Consultant he had equivalent rank to the man with the eerie gaze himself, so he guessed that they were similar enough in authority to be having this talk. They'd probably make a good team, if Phobos weren't such a terrifying presence. One of them was a physical power and the other was a more subtle, psychological agent. Working alongside the man was not a prospect he particularly looked forward to, but he could still respect the simply named operative's skills. It'd usually drive men insane to keep so many enormous secrets from anybody else, yet he didn't seem to have any trouble keeping them all in his head.

"So what exactly is Avarice? You keep bandying around the name "devourer" but that could mean a lot of things. Mind clarifying for me?"

"Some say that Avarice is a cipher, like something that encodes whatever it consumes and stores it in an unreadable format within itself. Others say it's a portal to another world where things are vastly different, like a one-way gate to Avarice's own private hell. I had one particularly scientific race describe to me, before they were wiped out, that Ava is like an encryption key. It eats things, keeping their "universal base code"; but when they get to the other side that basic code is interpreted differently, resulting in chaotic and horrifying combinations of matter. It'd explain why it can regurgitate what it eats, but nothing seems to ever survive the journey in and out. They're drained of energy, torn apart to feed its insatiable appetite for power. When it reaches singularity it will truly encompass all realities, all concepts in all places and at all times. And then, it will start digesting what it's eaten. That's the eventuality we're fighting against."

"I see. A painful, anarchic death for all things. I know you can see things about people that even they might not know about, like how you could picture what I know earlier; but even without that special ability, I can still see you're harbouring a sizable grudge against her. It's your overriding motivation."

"Don't humanise Avarice. Always refer to it as "it", never "her" or "them". It doesn't deserve those titles. And yes, I think I have some issues to take with the monster. I'm sure your mind-reading friends can tell you all about what it did to me. To my world, and forty thousand others."

September stopped them in front of a large line of yellow and black tape, seemingly hovering in the air. It didn't take a genius to realise that the airship was hidden behind the line, cloaked by a perception filter or some sort of antimemetic defence. As soon as he stepped across that line, the airship would come into full view. Honestly? He couldn't wait to see what AEGIS had to offer. September raised her hand, gesturing at the line.

"Well, once you're ready, step across the boundary."

She gave them a wry smile.

"Prepare to have your mind blown."

The Third Wizarding War | Avenoir and Mnemosyne

Marcus continued to be unconscious. You could tell because he was unconscious. So unconscious was he that he was positively unable to regain consciousness. We'll get back to him later.

Polly mumbled incoherently as she tried to come up with something to say. It hurt to see Miria so worked up about her. The nonhuman girl had been through a lot, going mad while surrounded by the one race she seemed to fear. The multiverse must seem so hostile, so alien to an inexperienced mind like hers. Polly realised she'd never really been shot before; amongst the hazy sympathy. This was her first experience taking a real bullet to a major organ. Sure, she'd been shot at before but it usually wasn't too difficult to avoid or deflect those. She tried to stand and instead fell forward onto Miria, smearing her arm with blood and only saving herself from falling onto the ground by holding on for dear life. She couldn't move her legs properly, too pumped up with adrenaline to even identify the issue. She felt weak, incompetent. Shot by a simple bullet and reduced to using someone else for support? She was supposed to be the strong one, the person out front saving goddamn lives. Uncharacteristic anger flared across her face for a moment as she filled the air with a tingling magnetic field, lifting her up and away from her humanoid supports and allowing her to hover just slightly off the ground, giving the impression that she was truly standing up.

"Sorry, but I don't think there's much that can be done until we find someone more qualified. And hey, you shouldn't be worrying about how hard I'm pushing myself. If I don't work as hard as I can, somebody else is going to pay the price. I don't want anybody getting hurt because I was being lazy."

A lance of... not quite pain, more like an overriding sensation of wrongness swept up her leg, filling the pit of her stomach and creeping up her throat. Polly stiffened and fell, once again reduced to leaning on Miria. These injuries were trivial. She didn't have time to deal with pain. Without thinking she slapped a patch chock full of painkillers onto her abdomen and took an aspirin. Then two. Then ten. She hated having to physically lean on someone but it was all she could do to stay upright. Her upper body was fine. It was her stupid legs that were giving her such a hard time. Unstable, easily overwhelmed and inattentive; and not even half the flaws she let herself have. It hurt more to be holding back her companions than it did to have a bullet wound in her stomach.

"Oh. The cavalry's arrived."

Three soldiers approached, said what they had to say and left. She watched them move, almost enviably graceful in their suits. They were untouched by battle, ready for war and carried themselves with a self-assured yet wary atmosphere that Polly could only dream of achieving. She grabbed the arm of the slavic man as he left, her fingers sliding off his armour and leaving brackish stains on his sleeve.

"We don't have time to meet the general. Get him to put a team together, fetch himself a cup of coffee, whatever the hell he needs to do - but I don't have the luxury of wasting time. We need to get ourselves into that castle as soon as possible, or there's going to be blood on all of our hands."

He shrugged her off and departed without a word, just as the doctors arrived. She tried to push them away, tell them that she didn't deserve or need their help. There were people all around the camp with far more threatening injuries, wounds that'd kill them or put them out of a job if they didn't get immediate attention. Couldn't they see she was fine? She could stand, she could walk, there was nothing wrong with her! But they pressed in around her, dressing the wound and speaking softly to the distressed explorer. She didn't hear what they said but it was information enough. They sutured her wound shut, dosed her with morphine and bandaged the other wounds on her body. Knife wounds on the arms, an infected bite on the shoulder, dozens of debris-related cuts on her abdomen and legs. And then, seemingly an eternity later, they packed their equipment and left, leaving her woozy and covered with linens all over. She stood up, almost ashamed at taking up their time; but not angry enough to ignore the good they'd done for her. She could kind of almost slightly a tiny bit stand on her own now, wobbling and relying on a magnetic crutch keeping her body upright at all times. She began to half shamble, half hover toward the general, gritting her teeth and swabbing the inside of her mouth with a tissue, trying to rid it of the taste of metallic blood. She found the general standing among a field of the injured and dead, writing something down in his palm. He turned to her as she arrived, cutting a rather small figure amongst the heavily armoured soldiers around her.

"Have you got a team ready to go yet? It's about time we took the fight to the castle. You've got men in there and I have my friends. I promised them I'd be back for them, just as I'm sure you promised your men that you'd take care of them. With or without any you, I'm heading in. Time is not a resource we can afford to waste here!"

[Slenderman The CreepyPasta King]

War looked at the ash that was going towards him and took out and cut the attack in half. As much as one can anyways. However some stil hit him, war growled in annoyance and stone started covering his body. This was the stoneskin ability, where it greatly increases his defensive capabilities while greatly reducing his speed. However that was mitigated when he summoned ruin and charged the creature with chaos eater in a jousting position. As he neared, he jumped off of ruin, it dissipating after a few feet without war riding it, and he faked with the sword and sent the abyssal chain to try and wrap it up and put a temporary lock on the battle.

Atem meanwhile looked at the drones confused. Yugi’s time never had things like this. Sure what he called airplanes and holograms, but not small flying things that could talk. Not knowing what else to do he spoke up, “I am the pharaoh Atem of Egypt and I demand to talk to whoever is in charge here.”

[Naval Monte]

The Third Wizarding War

General Anderson looked away from whatever he was writing down in his palm and turn to Polly. "I would question if a woman in your condition should even go to the castle but I can tell from the look on your eyes that nothing I will say will make you stay." The man said as he had spoke to many in the past who were like Polly, individuals top stubborn to let things like bad odds and injuries get in the way of their mission.

He sometimes convinced those people to stand down but other times he never could, in this occasion he knew that Polly was on the latter camp. "I got my team ready. Right now our mission is to get anyone still in the castle out and keep 836 inside for as long as possible until we can get the necessary resources to try and contain." Anderson told her.

The two would hear the heavy footsteps of one if the larger armoured exosuits stomping by. "Just follow my troops. They will lead you to the castle." Anderson soon dismissed her and the soldiers around Polly as the troops began to head out of the camp. Elsewhere in the camp the drones looked at the supposed pharaoh and he see soldiers surrounding him, all having guns aimed at him. Each one ordering him to freeze and to put his hands up on the air. Should he comply the soldiers would cuff him and take him to Anderson. "We found this man snooping around sir. Nutter here thinks he is a pharaoh from Egypt." Anderson looked at Atem. "What is wrong with his hair?" The man questioned, the other soldiers shrugging as they have no explanation for his hair.

The trip was eerily quiet. None of them heard so much as an insect or the wind as black snowy ash continue to fall from the darken sky. As they got closer to the castle an overwhelming feeling of dread came over them. It made most stop for a moment until the the AIs within the suits injected combat stimulant drugs into the soldiers; a cocktail of neural chemicals and synthetic drugs that would enhance their performance and damp emotions such as fear so not go interfere with their overall efficiency.

The soldiers resume their march and soon they found the castle. With no words spoken the five troopers in the heavy Goliath mecha suits charged into the castle first follow by the rest of the exosuit troopers. When the soldiers enter the great hall they saw War throwing chains at 836 but before the chains can reach the creature black streaks let everyone know that it was it's ash intercepted the chain, the streaks delivering swift combos of strikes in an attempt to destroy the chains before they gave up and simply let the chains fall on the ground.

The creature was surrounded by a dome of swirling ash in response to the perceived attack from chaoseater but as War's attack the horse man would soon experience the same thing the Abyssal Chains went through, streaks of ashes beating and cutting him as they forced him to be suspended on the air due to the force of the attack. War would be hit from the back and be sent flying to the creature. Yet just as he thought it was a good opportunity to strike at it the dome would shut forward and hit the horseman and send him crashing back at the ground. I


With War back on the ground the creature looked at the newly arrived troops. Before it can deliver a strike one if the Goliath suit users fired a charged particle beam at 836, the relativistic beam tearing through 836 chest and the ceiling behind him and everything in its path. Black slime oozed out of the burning hole made by the weapon as 836 screamed in agony. Another goliath suit fired rockets at the creature but the rockets were stopped by a wall of ash that solidify just as the rocket it, blinding the creature from the next suit that fired a tungsten round from it's gauss rifle that tore through the wall, 836, and the ceiling and castle floors and ceiling.

836 let out another scream as the ash flew towards the goliaths and began to attack them. Use suit was made with the most advanced tech AEGIS material science, nanotechnology, and metallurgy can produced, the suits even getting thaumaturgical enhancement and paratechnological upgrades to further augment their strength and capabilities. Yet even with those the suits were stumbling around as HUD showed damages appearing on the armor, cuts and dents appearing from each strike.

The other soldiers arrived and they began to open fire at the creature, some attacks hitting it but soon most save for those from gauss rifles were stopped by the dome of ash that would surround 836, freeing the goliath suits from the barrage of attacks. As 836 began to retreat from the soldiers it sent out bursts of the ash at those with weapons that can seriously harm it to prevent them from aiming their weapons at it.

[Skylus]

The Third Wizarding War
Madi
The Great Hal (Ruins)/Outside the Great Hall

Unfortunately, Madi wasn't able to dodge the attack. It hit her directly, causing her to go flying backwards, through the remains of the double doors (which finally caused them to fall), and land hard on the tile floor, skidding down the hallway from the impact.
She felt as if she was floating for several seconds, then Madi crashed back into reality, and immediately wished she hadn't.
Whatever the creature had done, it was bad. Very, very bad. Her entire chest was just red, not only was she losing blood, bleeding internally, suffering from broken ribs and Godric knew what else, she couldn't move. It was if she was paralyzed. But wait, Madi could move her right hand. Just a bit, but it was enough. She cast some spells - Tergo, to clean up all the blood so see how bad her injuries were, and Ferula, to summon bandages.
It took a while due to how much pain she was in but Madi eventually wrapped the wounds with bandages and somehow dragged herself over to a still standing wall and propped herself up against it.
It was at the time the AEGIS soldiers and the Aurors arrived.
For some reason, none of them saw her and instead ran into the Great Hall, where they began to fire upon the creature.
But, wait, was someone running towards her?
That....was Polly, right?

[Menschenfleisch]

The Third Wizarding War | Polly

Polly was quite close to just fucking stabbing the general and kidnapping his team to go kill 836, but somehow she managed to resist the urge to throw prudence to the wind and fling herself into the castle. She asked for some kind of walking aid and was obliged with a long, flat machete; which she wouldn't exactly disregard, merely... question. Why did AEGIS have more enormous swords on hand than crutches? Actually, she'd rather not know the answer to that particular mystery. Limping over to the exoskeletal warriors she lifted herself into the air, floating a few feet above the ground. The strain on her wounds intensified the pain somewhat but speed was more important than any finite amount of suffering here. What did she have to prove? That she wasn't weak, that she could be strong; even a leader. Who did she need to prove it to? Herself.

But of course, Mnemosyne will tell us more in due time.

"When we get there, I'm going to be trying to save the injured. If you can find a way to contain, even kill the entity, I'd be thankful; but don't wait up for me. I don't want to compromise your mission."

And when she got there, oh boy were there the injured. Polly's stomach sank and her heart went cold, seeing the damage that'd been done. It was disgusting in its own right but it was obvious that these people had died trying to stop the monster. Her arteries felt like they were on fire, her vision filling with an angry, sterile red - but that all fell away when she laid eyes on Madi, the last living person in the room. She was barely breathing, stunned and covered in lackadaisical medical dressing. Had she patched herself up alone? Charging through ash and fire, choking up blood and clutching an ever growing pool of blood in her gut, Polly knelt beside Madi and set to redressing her wounds, pressing a needled patch of painkilling drugs and coagulants onto her arm. She was careful not to accidentally get her own blood mixed in with Madi's, knowing that exposing the magician to her own cobalt-rich blood would be... less than favourable. She tore a length of gauze off its roll with her teeth (very hygienic...?) and slapped it on Madison's chest, putting the witch's hand over it and communicating to her that she needed to keep pressure on the wound.

"C'mon, c'mon Madi! Stay with me. We have to get out of here. Take my hand, I can carry you out."

[Prusselanden]

L-Fel
The trio would arrive at the airport, and Jules paid the fare to the Uber driver. She then started to look for their terminal. With a bit of convincing, Jules managed to get them past security, and onto the plane. They would be on it for an hour, before landing in Iowa.

Detective Alemayahu was at the welcome area. She lit up as she spotted Jules, but looked a bit unsettled as Cass followed suit. Then there was...a big metal dude....

“And Who is this?” The detective raised an eyebrow.

“He’s another supernatural friend of mine.”

The detective sighed. “I’m sorry...I don’t think the Uber will fit him.” She looked at aestus. “Can you fly?”

[Rostavykhan]

The Third Wizarding War

Miria's courage was still wavering, but while Polly continued to carry on with her wounds, the young woman remained inspired to keep on beside her. She was thankful that she wasn't nearly as badly injured as everyone else, though she was also still worried for her comrade, and as for her own actions during the chaos, she was feeling guilty. While Polly and Madi were fighting, she'd been staying behind them, being protected - not contributing as much as she could have been. Sure, she probably couldn't do as much as them, not having any extraordinary abilities or fancy weapons, but there still had to have been something that she could do, couldn't there?

She cursed to herself. The soldiers around her were moving in, clad in their large suits, and Polly was still able to fight despite her wounds. What could she do? Try to draw their enemy's attention? Try to help the wounded out? Keep watch for more hostiles? She had to think...

She tried hard to think, through her muddied thoughts and worry, as the group entered the castle once more. Every new sight made her less confident, and less certain about any plans she made, however, as she surveyed the damage throughout. Fighting just crazed Humans was enough to wear down her companions, and as they made their way further into the ruined halls of the building, Miria began to realize that what they were running into was even worse than what she'd seen at the camp. Once they reached the heart of the fight, her worry increased tenfold, and her heart sank; catching just a glimpse of the monster, and the fighting around it, terrified her once more, and the sight of Madi on the ground caused her panic to spike once more.

Madi and Polly were the strongest out of the four in their group, but both of them were now injured, and Miria found herself close to panicking again. Both of them being hurt and stuck in the battle was bad, but Madi was especially worrying; if she couldn't make it out, then what chance did they have of escaping? Miria realized that she needed to help get the girl to safety, and despite her fear of being caught up in the fighting, she found that her feet began to move as she ran over beside Polly, reaching a hand out to the young Witch. "We can move faster if we both carry her!", Miria said, glancing at Polly. She probably couldn't fight for anything, but she could at least help move wounded and take some of the burden off of them.

[Naval Monte]

Collab between me and Jraden, part one

Secrets of the Raven
Branhwrn, Club Midnight

Simon looked around in the room. "As nice as this room is I have to wonder if there are any security cameras in here? An important such as the manage must have some security even in here." Elizabeth shrugged. "Knowing the Fates this room might be bugged with both machines and spells to see and hear everything we say." Simon looked at Elizabeth with surprise. "You knew they woukd ne listening in on us." The witch shrugged on us. "They might remember. The group also has a hierarchy and the manger may not want the peons to know what he does in here. In fact I think if there are any defenses in here they would not be bugs." She lean forward and had her elbows rest on her legs as she clasped her hands in front of her lips.

"The Fates would have bugged the other rooms to monitor the guests and a few important sections encase sny intruder breaks in. But fir a room like this we might have familiars, curses, gateways, and offensive wards waiting for the fight conditions to be triggered. They might not be watching us right now but in this moment we have to be very careful with our action or else the staff in here will be cleaning more than puke, empty bottles, and used condoms." The occultists explained.

Skylar, for the most part, had her arms crossed and kept looking at Simon with an unimpressed look, but hadn't said anything...but it was fairly obvious to anyone that looked in her direction that Simon was not making her happy. Hope also noticed this and was extremely uncomfortable, and did her best to make conversation.

"Oh please, if the room is bugged, all they're going to hear is us talking about how the room is bugged." Hope said. "And Jackie pranking me and Zelena not being from here like most people in the room." Elizabeth reminded Hope. "Either way I doubt we are bugged in this room, if anything I think this might be one of the few rooms that is bug free in this whole club." She said as she pour more blacktea on her cup and taking another pastry. Leaning back she began to eat the small snack, her eyes on Skylar.

"Your poker face is atrocities Skykar. So instead of brooding all night why not tell us what is wrong." The witch asked as she finished devouring her snack and began to drink her tea.

"One of the free few rooms, huh?" Skylar whispered to Hope, who snickered. Then Skylar went right back to staring at Simon with a studious, inspecting look, having never once uncrossed her arms.

"Oh no, now I'll never have my deepest darkest secrets be discovered by spies." Lamented Hope, but with her tone of voice, you wouldn't be able to tell if she was being serious or not. After a few awkard moments, she asked "So...are we going to do anything? To be honest I just followed you guys here, I'm not really sure on what we're doing."

"Oh please, nothing is wrong with me." Skylar brushed off casually. Usually she had an obnoxiously wide and bright smile, but now she just had a confident smirk. And crossed arms. She usually never had either. "Something's wrong with Simon, right honey?" She asked. "He really..." She looked him in the eyes. "Hasn't been himself lately." Simon looked confused at Skylar, hiding the panic the wraith in him was feeling at the excat moment. "Well honey I did have a free drinks. I'm just feeling a bit tipsy is all." He took her, giving her a smile to reassure her. "I just need to rest is all and I will feel better in no time."

Elizabeth looked at Simon and after she finished her tea she got up and walked to him, once she was close she stared up at his face. The wraith in Simon found it cute to see how small Elizabeth was when compared to Simon but she didn't show any reaction other than puzzlement on Simon's face over Elizabeth walking to him. "Is there something on my face?" Elizabeth gave him a smile as she tilt her head to the side. "Oh no, I just want to know what you were doing before you started feeling ill." Simon repeated the same story he told Skylar.

"I see. Did you feel a sudden chill perhaps or a sense of something feeling wrong?" Simon once more showed no reaction as he shook his head. "I see." Elizabeth began to pace back and forth in front of Simon. "Why you want to know if I felt anything? I'm telling you I just had a few drinks is all." Elizabeth looked at hij as she kept her pacing. "Because in a club own by witches and magicians we have to make sure we aren't being possessed by something they summoned or be bewitched by them." She told him.

"A few drinks?" Hope questioned, suddenly snapping to attention. "Dad, you haven't had anything to drink in, well...ever!"

"Our daughter's right you know." Said Skylar. "I've been married to you for over twenty years. Not once have either of us consumed a drop of alcohol." She smirked wildly as she let the words sink in. "In fact, wasn't it you that told me to my face you never drink alcohol? That it would violently react with your immune system? Completely throw off your body tuned so finely it's like a microchip." She took steps forward. "And repeatly told Hope to never drink alcohol? Who taught her the dangers of it? Who taught countless students not to do it?" She was very close to Simon now.

"And after all that time...you just decide to get a little tipsy tonight?" Questioned Skylar. "Just because?" For some odd reason, she was now standing taller than Simon. As Skylar got closer to Simon the man began to back away until he finally hit the wall, he tried to make it for the door but Skylar blocked him. With her cover not falling apart the wraith was struggling to find a way out of this mess. "If I was you I would suggest on coming clean." Simon heard Elizabeth say as he looked past Skylsr to see her walk back to her chair and sat down on it, one leg over the other as she looked at him.

"Now tell us, are you a mage controlling Simon or are you some non human entity controlling him like a puppet?" Now panicking the wraith was beginning to think of a way out of her current predicament. "Looks like I came at the right time. If I came in ny later and I might have missed the fight." A man with a cajun accent said, sounding amused by what he was seeing. Looking to the door Elizabeth saw Remy leaning against it, giving the group a smirk. "So the voodo priest finally reveals his true colours." Elizabeth said in a monotone manner, as though the reveal didn't surprise her.

"I'm glad to see that you guessed my style correctly. What tipped you off?" Remy said as he closed the door and walked too the desk. "I was expecting anyone who showed interest in me to be a member of the Fates anyway, the accent and your home state help narrow down my guesses. So why did you approach me? You bokors aren't the straight forwards types." The witch stated, her expression changing to match a more professional look to match her tone of voice.

"What any self respecting man would turn down the chance to talk with a pretty woman such as you and your friends." He said to her as he open a cabinet door and took out a glass cup and bottle of beer. "But other than my own pleasure I also had to be close so my little friends can get inside your shadow without you noticing them." As Remy poured the beer in the glass Elizabeth look down and in her shadow were tenebraes. Looking back up at him she would ask. "Where is the manager?" Remy took a shot from his glass and cough after doing so. "Bloody hell that old bastard really loves the strong stuff. Good it tastes like I drank gasoline." The man put down the glass and bottle as he coughed. Once he regain his composure and straighten out his coat and suit he spoke. "The old man wants to know why you people are here and who these two are?" He said as he referred to Dawn and Zelena.

"The witch made a scene outside with one if our guards and red here trapped a demon in a timeloop that was a pain to undo. So we want to know if your hear to cause trouble in this club or not?" Elizabeth heard the tenebraes in both her's and the Kents shadows growling. "I would be careful with your choice of words now." He warned, the smirk on his face now seeminglmore dangerous than disarming. "Yeah I don't care." Said Skylar, having grabbed her husband, of his body at least, by his collar. "I've got some uh, marital disputes to solve. I caught someone other me inside my husband, you know how it is. Also, Hope's coming with me. Lizzie, just uh, try not to screw up everything horribly again, yeah?"

And with that, she began dragging Simon away, as a very confused Hope followed after her. "I will pray for you my friend." Remy said as Simon was being dragged out, very much amused by the spectacle. Elizabeth looked annoyed that Skykar said she was the one to screw things up horribly. "I'm the one trying to keep some semblance of order in this group!" She retorted, crossing her arms as she turn her sight away from Skylar. "Never took Simon as the one to be at the bottom." Elizabeth said as the Kents began to leave the room. "We switch it up!" Said Skylar to Elizabeth's comment on who bottomed, just before the Kents left the room. Withbthe family gone Elizaberh turn her attention back to Remy, the witch regain her previous composure. "We are here to get some answers and if possible cut a deal with you guys." The final half of her sentence got Remy's attention. "You got my attention love."

[Naval Monte]

Collab part 2

Secrets of the Raven
Branhwrn, Club Midnight- Pleasure Room 237
Outside of the room Simon was struggling to break free. "Skylar we should go back inside! What if these people try to kill us now?" He warned her, hoping to convince her to go back in the room. "I didn't allow another woman inside me. I'm telling you the truth honey. I've been faithful to you ever sense the day we first met." Yet his wife said nothing to his pleas, they kept going through the hall until Skylar dragged her husband to one of the many "Pleasure Rooms".

"No one'll kill us!" Said Hope. "We're just too likable-"

"Hope, love?" Interrupted Skylar. "Stay quiet, sweetie." She turned to Simon. "You know, usually in this room we'd be putting things inside of each other, but this time, we'll do something a little different: I'm taking something out of you!"

"While I mean you'd also do that in a normal situation..." Said Hope, but she quieted down as Skylar shot her an annoyed glare. "Sorry."

"It's all right honey..." Said Skylar, turning her eyes on Simon. "Whoever's in there, just leave and make it easier on us all, yeah?"

Simon looked around the darken room he was in. Aromatic fragrance giving the room the scent of a roast camp fire and an afternoon beach. The dim lights show a room made with black walls, floors and ceiling but only the floor was entirely black as the wall and ceiling had a pinkish red paint covering it, the edges retaining the original black. Behind him was a king size bed with velvet blue silk covers. The blacken cabaret had a myriad of items that revealed the intention of the room's existence

Simon heard what Hope said and only replied with a simple "What?" Sounding very confused. Simon moved back but his wife but hit the bed, causing him to lose his balance and fall on top of it. Using his elbows to raise the upper half of his body Simon looked at his wife with a look of utter panic. "Skylar please, there is nothing inside of me. Are you feeling okay dear?" The wraith knew her charade was crumbling. She was nice only delaying the inevitable until she can think of a plan to escape. The tenebraes in their shadows watch on with curiosity.

"All right Simon, if you're in there, cut the crap already, this is getting annoying."

"It really is." Said Simon's voice, which the wraith could hear. The wraith suddenly felt the control of the body she possesed... considerably weakened. "I will admit however, this was very fun!" the wraith was surprised when she heard Simon' voice. How are you awake? Why am I losing control?" the wraith questioned as she realize just how much she lost control over the situation. "Your wife taught you how to resist posession from other wraiths didn't she?" The wraith could feel that this was the case even as Simon said nothing to her. "Yes ma'am!" Said Simon's voice. "It was nice knowing you, but I only allow one lovely womanly wraith in my body!"

The wraith would lose whatever control she had left when Skylar plunged her etheral hands into Simon's body, and at the same time, Simon, trained by Skylar to force wraiths out of him (And having done so before) assisted, and the wraith was violently removed from controlling Simon's body, much to Hope's awe. The wraith was now hovering above the man as he became limp on the bed, momentary losing control over his body for a few seconds. The wraith look down at Skylar, it's white long coat blowing even thought there was no wind present. Skylar's blue eyes gazing into the black holes that the smooth pale mask that covered the wraith's face. The wraith can feel Skylar's hands still on blouse. Grabbing her wrists she delivered an electrical spark to make Skylar release her.

Skylar ignored the shock, still grabbing onto the wraith's blouse, looking at the other wraith with a dangerous look of pure malice...but then it turned into recognition, as if she saw an old friend. "Hey, you were that wraith spying on Lizzie in City Hall! And the one that ran away from me when I trying to befriend you!" She slapped the wraith across the face. "And then you possess my husband!" A backhand slap. "Very rude of you!" After the second slap the wraith wasn't sure what should surprise her more, the fact the shock didn't bring much of a reaction out of Skylar or the fact she was slapped twice now by the woman? Feeling her cheeks stinging even with the mask protecting her face. The wraith looked at Skylar. "Release me." She demanded coldly, the air becoming much colder after the wraith delivered her command. While Hope and Simon shivered, Skylar's attitude remained unchanged. "You possess my husband, and then you ask me to release you just because? Bad wraith!" She slapped her again. "You're really going to have to improve your diplomatic skills..."

After being slapped a third time the temperature plummet more as all of the liquids in the room began to freeze. "Will you stop slapping me!" she yelled out, furious at the other wraith. "I will talk if only you stop slapping me and you release me." The wraith told her, resisting the urge to kick and punch her. "Not letting you go, but I can stop slapping you." Said Skylar, who was hovering in the air as she held up the wraith. It was very obvious Skylar was much taller than her. "Now tell me why you possesed my husband, and I promise I'll try not to test out whether or not a wraith can kill another wraith." Skylar said sweetly. The wraith's didn't show much when it came to expressing fear, the mask making it diffcult to do so. But even though she had no use in doing so she gulped in fear. "I needed a physical body to enter the building because the wards would have kept me out. I also had to disguise my aura with your husband to not alert the wards and other defenses the Fates had. I have no idea how you manage to get through the wards. Did Elizabeth cast a spell on you to help you enter the building without possessing someone?"

"What? No!" Said Skylar. "I just walked in here, no problem at all!" She explained. "You possessed him for no reason!"

She possessed Simon for no reason. A little shadowy voice in her head told her.

Because she wanted him. Said another.

She wanted him!Screamed another. SHE WANTED HIM! SHE WANTED HOPE! SHE WANTED YOUR FAMILY!

Skylar's eyes suddenly blared with hatred as her hair began to levitate, and her body quaked with fury, and she grabbed the wraith's mask and tore it off. "I WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE WHILE I TEST MY THEORY OUT!" Skylar screamed, and it was fairly obvious she wanted a wraith fight.

The wraith tried to fight off Skylar as her rage consumed her. The wraith was well aware of what was happening to Skylar, for she too has to deal with voice inside her head.

When the mask was torn off the wraith looked at Skylar with shock, grayish blue eyes staring widely at her. The hood came down to let loose long, wavy, black hair with a few strands not only being gray but also sticking out. Skylsr can see age lines around the wraith's eyes. Her skin was pale, so pale it almost reminded her of Elizabeth. Actually looking at her face she resembled the witch quite a lot, only she was older than the witch and her mole was under the opposite eye.

"I don't want him Skylar!" She replied back, fear in her voice. "Please Skylar listen to me. Whatever your shadow is telling you is not real. I'm not after your husband. There is a ward here that should have kept you out of the building, you somehow manage to exploit a flaw I wasn't aware of." She gently grasped her wrists.

"Please, calm down and listen to my words, not your shadow. Your scarying your family." While the wraith was using keening to help sway Skylar's emotion she was genuine on wanting to help the mother in not succumbing to the demands of her shadow.

"Oh please, I'm not scaring anyway...'cept you! And I had no problem at all getting into the building with wards, so I'll have no problem getting out of it!"

Skylar, still with a firm grasp on Alex, phased the wraiths through the walls of the building, intending to take the right outside...and soon enough, the two had left the club behind and were in the outside world. The wraith knew her attempt on using Keening failed as Skylar took her outside. The tenebraes in Skykar's shadow contuine to watch. As the two left through the walls one if the wards signal the mages who made it the tail wraiths exiting the building. Now outside the wraith looked at Skylar. "I'm giving you this last chance Skylar. Stop listening to your shadow. That thing will only lead to you to your dammation." Once more her words fell on deaf ears.

"Pfft, you're being melodramatic." Said Skylar, slamming the wraith against a tree. "Besides, I've been wanting a good fight for awhile! Usually they just tear apart real easy or I can talk them down..." She said in a friendly voice as she trailed off, and then realized she was being friendly.

YOU HATE HER

SHE TRIED TO TAKE YOUR FAMILY

"Oh yeah." Skylar remarked, mostly to herself, before slamming the wraith face first into the ground.

"No I'm not. I've seen what happens to wraiths who listen to their shadows. It never ends well for them." She warned the other wraith. She winced in pain as she was slammed against the tree. "I would also advise not fighting against me. I can't guarantee that you would come back to your family in one piece if you chose to fight me." Once more delivering Skylar another warning. But like the first warning it was ignored as she was slammed face first to the ground.

The wraith spat out dirt that went unti her mouth as she gave Skylar a furious glare. "I tried being nice but obviously that isn't going to work." A burst of telekinetic force would leave the wraith's body and send Skylar flying. Once Skylar land she would see the wraith floating in the air as sparks of electricity came off her body. "It's a shame it had to come to this Skylar. Just remember I tried to prevent this from happening." She would thrust her hands forward and a large bolt of lightening would fly out and strike Skylar, electrocuting her as the wraith channeled her powers into the strike and even drain power from nearby power lines and electronics for her attack.

Hmm, she's got a point. Thought Skylar. I'm being unnecessarily rude-

SHE TRIED TO TAKE YOUR FAMILY-

"Quit being melodramatic." Skylar muttered. "You're getting annoying."

Honestly I'm not even sure if I need to fight her-

You do. You must. She was IN him. In Simon. In the man you love. She had his body. She too you away from him.

Skylar had to admit, that was a very valid point.

Then again, her mental process was getting a bit blurry, and so was her perception of reality. The colors and shapes were all disorted. For example, she could only see red. And now the idea of using her powers to the maximum: against something as indestructible as another wraith, it seemed fun.

"Ow!" Said Skylar, blasted back by the electricity, but not really effected by it. "That was very rude of you, you know!" She said, flying up, her hair and dress swaying majestically despite the lack of wind. The wraith was surprised to see that Skylar was still able to keep moving after her attack. As she got close to the wraith she would see her left her hands up and bring them down smoothly, creating eight new arms. This confusing sight would increase as the wraith split into duplicates that flew around Skylar. Well that's new-" Was all Skylar managed to say before she was blasted from all sides by the duplicates and original bythe same bolt of lightening, this time effecting the neighborhood as the lights flickered on and off for a few seconds as they began to drain more power from their surroundings and channel more of their powers into the attack.

"You can still end this Skylar! Just surrender!" The wraith yelled out, both the original and copies speaking st the same time so Skylar won't be able to tell who was the original and who was just a copy. "I was actually being diplomatic!" Screamed Skylar, as she suddenly kept forward, her entire appearance horrifying as she ripped one of the copies into pieces and it dissolved into the air. Her shadows no longer haunted her. They had no more need to. "AND THEN YOU ATTACK ME FOR NO REASON!" She charged the nearest copy, narrowly dodging a blast that hit a copy behind her, before stabbing the copy through the heart, causing it to fade away.

"Oooh, I wonder if I can catch the real you before I tear through the copies!" Said Skylar, her suddenly cheery voice, now full of wonder, back. She looked at the remaining copies. "Hmm, wonder which one..." "Threatening my life was you being diplomatic?" The original and copies said, all of them skeptical of her claim. Skylar seemed very offended now. "YES!" She screamed, grabbing a hold of one copy's neck with one hand. "IT!" She quickly placed both hands around it's head. "WAS!" And crushed it in her hands. In response to the carnage the lead wraith floated away with the copies following after the bloodbath Skylar unleashed upon the clones. The group began to manipulate the wind itself as they tried to blow her way. With the wind distracting her the original began to chanting in Latin. Skykar felt the other copies tried to manipulate the wind...but Skylar was a wraith and altered her physicality to no longer be effected, as she charged the next one.

Before Skylar can reach the copy the original would complete her chant and Skylar would find herself in the Shadowlands, banished into the realm by the wraith's spell. The wraith would make the copies fade away as she let out a sigh of relief. "Finally, that nightmare is over." She looked at the club. "Now how do I get back inside." She couldn't use her first trick sinse the tenebraes saw her leave Simon's body, she would need to be very clever if she wants to get back inside.

The wraith began to search for a good spot to set up a trap, for she very much suspect that Skykar will return and she will bring down her fury upon her.

[Skylus]

Madi
Outside the Great Hall

Madi was not having a good day. In fact, this was considerably the worst day of her life up until this point. Considering everything that she had been through, 'worst day of her life' was a complete understatement compared to some of the things that had happened. But it would have to do.

---

The Witch tried to focus on Polly but gave up trying after a few seconds, instead trying to get her thoughts back together.
Her mind cleared instantly when Polly gave her something, of course without her permission, but it was necessary.
What was also necessary was the blatant fact that they would have to leave, very, very soon. Now, if possible.
"Heh....Did....has anyone told you that you're also injured? You're worse off than me...."

Polly grabbed Madi by the shoulder and hoisted her up, slowly levitating each of her limbs so that she'd be easier to carry. The feeling of weightlessness, or at least far reduced weight would be rather disorienting for someone without experience - nauseating, even, but it was a necessary evil to get the three of them out of here alive.
"I'm fine. It was a lot worse earlier. You should try to hold onto something, close your eyes so you don't vomit. Keep your head down, pressure on the wound and don't struggle."
She looked around for a few moments, searching for something.
"Where's Marcus?"

Madi rolled her eyes at Polly's response.
"I used the levitation spell before, only once though....This is a bit different than that...."
Her vision began to slide sideways and she slammed into Polly, then somehow righted herself.
"Sorry....Hold onto what? You?"
It was then that Madi realized something was in her left hand.
A sword....
The Sword of Gryffindor.
Amazingly enough, his portrait was right in front of them.
The man in the painting spoke.
"Flee from here. If you stay, you will not survive much longer. As for you, the one who carries my blade, keep it close, let no evil take it from you. I give you my blessing to weld my blade in my name. Go now, while you still can!"
All across the castle, the painting and moving portraits were gearing up for war, they were all heading for the Great Hall, along with everything else in the castle - stone statues, ghosts, house elves.
Madi looked at the sword before feeling something materialize on her left hip -the sword's scabbard.
With some effort, Madi sheathed the sword and walked forwards, or at least tried to.
She didn't get very far and she glanced towards Polly, realizing at the same time that her voice was somewhat back to normal, at least voice level wise.
"Looks like being sick is gonna be the least of my problems. As to where Marcus went, I have no idea. He went crazy, like nearly everyone else did. He's possibly outside the castle....since he can go through walls...."

"Hmmf.", Miria grunted, standing opposite Polly, on Madi's other side. She kept a hand close to her body, ready to catch her or hoist her up if she fell, for what good it would do; it wasn't much, but it was something...
With her other hand, she held her dagger foward. It's red blade shone in the light; though it was hardly as intimidating as the swords the other two carried, Miria wanted to show that she was ready to fight too, and if they did need to defend themselves, she would be better off to start then them, she thought. If need be, anyways, she was certainly the faster and more agile of the trio, despite being the weakest.
If they had to fight - "if" being the key word - she could at least help in that capacity. The man in the painting had echoed the thoughts of pretty much all of them though, it seemed, and that was to get out instead. Miria didn't think herself a coward, but she sure as hell wasn't going to argue with the suggestion, especially after all of the violence that she had seen that day. All they had to do was...well, get the hell out. That was easy enough, as Miria took a step forward, nodding for the other two to follow towards the exit.

---

War grunted when he hit the ground, making a crater in the floor. Some stone chipped off. Getting up the red rider took the mask of shadows from his belt and put it on, allowing access to his pocket dimension. Putting away chaos eater in there, he took out a blade much more powerful. The Armageddon Blade. This blade was powerful enough to shatter the seals that were holding the horsemen back with little to no problem, and he charged the creature and slammed the Armageddon blade’s blade into the floor, and blades came up, but this time they were much bigger and the radius was much wider. If anything or anything touches the edge, there was a very good chance they could loose the thing they touched it with.

Atem in the meantime, back in the camp, thought of his options and decided to comply with the order.

---

Polly nearly sprawled backward when Madi slammed into her, making a particularly painful impact with the wound already in her abdomen. She swore she felt something break. Watching as the girl drew a sword from nowhere and sheathed in a scabbard which hadn't been there before; it dawned on her that she was fighting a fucking interdimensional war in a magical universe inhabited by at least three sentient races with an interdimensional incursion happening just a few hundred metres away. The sheer clusterfuckiness of it all boggled her mind just long enough for her to nearly fall on her ass and be reminded that it was painful to put pressure on an open wound. She stifled an inarticulate scream and held down the wound, clutching the bandages as they tried to pull her slowly crumbling flesh together. Breathing heavily, eyes wild, she grabbed onto Madi and began pulling her toward the door. It never even occurred to her what she was doing to herself.
"Okay, okay! Let's just- we should get moving. Miria, help me with her right arm... yeah, that's it. Alright. On my mark. Three, two, one, walk!"

---

As Madison, Polly, and Miria were ready to flee the exosuit claded soldiers remain in place as they kept delivering continuous fire to the many tentacle horror, even as most of their shots failed to break through the creature's barrier. Yet that was their plan, force 836 on the defense so it can't use it's ash to attack anyone. Besides the gauss rifles and particle cannons seem to go through the barrier, giving a temporary opening for other projectiles and energy beams to get through before the barrier repairs itself. As they forced 836 to retreat from them they saw a strange army of animated paintings, miniature goblin-looking creatures, and literal ghosts enter the great hall.

Most of the soldiers found the arrival of this new army very odd, some wondering if maybe they were in a strange dream instead of being awake, but with the eldritch horror before them they didn't question the sudden inclusion of the army. Besides they now have backup which was something they could always use more of.

836 can see through the dust and saw the new army approaching. It like the soldiers found the composition to be extremely odd but like them couldn't dwell on the surreal moment for too long, it now has more adversaries to deal with. The only advantage it has right now is that a good percent of the army can't reach on it from the ceiling but the ghosts were not bound by gravity and can phase through solid matter, they can posses just as great of a problem to the entity as the particle and magnetic weapons.

When War perform his trick to get up 836 also saw it but unlike before did not disperse the barrier to attack War, instead it increase the speed of the swirling ash to slice the blades encase they flew off to attack it.

---

Madi shot Polly a concerned look but didn't say anything.
She instead focused her full attention on just walking.
it was very, very slow, but the group made their way down the corridor, through the castle, and outside into the courtyard. Then came the greatest challenge of them all - steps.
And not just one step.
Twenty of them.
".....You know, I kinda hate my life right now."

"God dammit. One step at a time."
Polly began to descend down the stairs, nearly twisting her ankle on the first level. Her foot caught itself at an awkward angle as she tried to balance Madi on her aching shoulders and sent her stumbling down to the next one, wincing as her foot barely caught the stone edge. Any more those and they might all anticlimactically die by falling down a flight of stairs. Madi was slowly getting heavier, both because her strength was fading and because her magnetic abilities were dulling. Her control and power were obviously much lower, but they were also hindered by the blood, sweat and other fluids on her interfering with her magnetic waves. She could feel the blood in her veins sloshing around slowly, pressing against her own flesh as her abilities rebounded inside her own body.
"Madi, do you know something that might help here? My arm's a bit... nevermind."

Madi pushed herself off of Polly and slowly got her balance.
"...I can walk by myself, you know, I got hit in the chest, my legs are fine.....What the hell did you give me...."
The Witch studied the woman.
"You, however, need help. No, don't worry about me, I have my own problems right now, but you...."
Madi raised a hand and used Tergo on Polly, thus cleaning her skin and clothes of blood and anything else.
"There, now we can see how injured you are."
Madi glanced towards Miria.
"How are you holding up? Not very good, right? Hang in there, I'll get us out, you'll see."

"I could ask you the same thing", Said Miria, lugging along as she took some of Madi's weight off of Polly. She was heavy, at least to Miria, though she was probably more heavy to Polly, she would think. All she had to do was grit her teeth and continue to help get the girl downstairs, as tedious as it was. Once they got past that hurdle, it would be easier for them to get away.
Despite their predicament, Miria couldn't help but chuckle, although she wasn't sure whether it was due to her anxiety, or a half-hearted attempt to lighten the mood. "By the way", she said, through laboured breath. "Please don't go transporting us to warzones with your crystal again."

Polly grit her teeth and brushed off Madi, allowing her to stand on her own but still supporting her arms.
"42% morphine, 55% saline, 3% tranexamic acid. If you try to walk you'll just disturb your abdominal muscles. I'm not letting you bleed yourself out before we get you attention. H-"
She nearly tripped as Madison cleaned her up, causing the coating of dirt, metal and black blood to fling itself off her, covering the walls in the thick sludge.
"For god sake! Stop exerting yourself! I'm trained for these situations, and you- you're a civilian, for all I know. A woman with magical powers but no understanding of modern technology, physiology or any other survival skill! Christ just stay still and get out of here before giving me a lecture!"
She was truly angry now, insecurities and frustrations exploding. Something in the back of her head told her that she shouldn't be doing this, shouting at the person she was supposed to be saving. It was unprofessional. Emotional. Immature.
"You want to know how unqualified you are? Your body's running on fumes, going on adrenaline. I saw you slumped against that wall, and I can tell at a glance how someone's doing because I was trained to do that. You've got three broken ribs, internal ruptures around your heart and several tears in your intestines and bladder. You should not be walking!"

Madi narrowed her eyes and pointed at the wound on Polly's stomach.
"What's that?"
She didn't receive a response.
"Exactly. You have nearly the exact same damn wound that I have, so why are you talking??? Look, I'm not standing here trying to talk sense into you, we're all injured, possibly bleeding out, and you're standing here yelling at me?!"

"I am. Now shut up."
Polly reached out and picked Madison up entirely, lifting her well above her head with her levitative abilities and throwing her out the door, floating to a stop far beyond the castle, a safe distance away to avoid the army flooding into the chamber to join the fight. They were close to the exit, and Polly was not completely unworried about how Madi felt, as long as they all got out alive.
"I'm the one with the equipment, the training, the responsibility for others. You're the one who got us here, and you're the one who can get us out. Your life is more important than mine, no matter how you cut it. So stop complaining and let me save your life!"

"Wait! Wait up!" Miria piped back up, feeling her heart skip a beat. "We all need to calm down, okay? There's no point in fighting when you two are hurt like this!" She cried, feeling a bit indignant that Polly would take matters into her own hands again. She moved just a bit closer to the other two, swallowing hard at the sight of blood, but not wanting to take any chances in case one of them really did fall.

Madi found herself being lifted above Polly's head - how??? - and being thrown a bit, ending up floating upright around 20 feet from the path that lead to the Forbidden Forest
Polly and Miria were running towards her, Miria going on about the two of them not fighting. But Madi was suddenly angry.
No, this wasn't normal, she knew that, but yet....
Something in her had snapped.
"My life is more important than yours??? I brought you here! You're not from here, if you died here, no one back home would ever know!!!!! If you think I'm just gonna sit back and let you take over, no. That is not going to work-"
Pain.
From nowhere.
Madi stopped talking and simply stood there with a strange expression on her face, it was if her mind was deciding what her reaction should be.
When she spoke again, her voice was the same level and tone it had been when Polly and Miria had found her in the Great Hall.
"At least we're outside...."
Then she promptly fell over, injuring herself more in the process.

---

836 saw that the blades War grew were now starting to grow longer and wider, reaching towards the ceiling. With no other choice the creature decided to hatch a desperate plan. It dispersed the barrier and filled the hall with both ash and smoke. With everyone's sight obscured it increases the muscle mass on its legs and aa ut bent down cracks form around its feet. When it jumped a small crater would form as it flew down towards were the soldiers were.
836 would crash on to a Goliath suit, causing the mecha suit to tip over and fall on top of a few unfortunate soldiers near it. Before anyone could react to the sudden impact the creature began to sprint out of the hall. The soldiers began to chase after the creature but found that the ash and smoke would trail behind 836, obscuring their sight as to make it difficult for them to fire their weapons at the creature.

---

Polly stood still for all of two picoseconds, rushing forward to catch Madi without even thinking. She clutched her shoulder and stomach, careful not to let her neck snap forward. Slowly, she put her on the ground, laying her on her side and propping up her knee. One hand on the chest and the other beneath the kidney, supporting the arch of the back. She had this. She had to save her life. A dull feeling of regret seeped into her thoughts, drowning her anger and immaturity with an ashamed melancholy. Why'd she do that? Was it the lingering influence of 836? She tried to find a reason not to blame herself, but... there wasn't one. She was simply an unskilled, easily angered and insecure shit. Ha. The thought she just had only reinforced that sentiment.
"Wait! No! Crap, you're... god dammit, shouldn't done that."
What was she supposed to do now? Madison was too weak to move, they didn't have a stretcher and she certainly wasn't in a condition to be carried. She disregarded her own injuries. After all, she'd gotten to the castle and helped Madi down here without a sweat. At this point, if those injuries were actually going to hurt her, they would've already. She worked on patching Madi up now that she had an unmoving patient, wrapping medical tape around her wounds and swashing antiseptic on the cloth already covering up her injuries. She took a syringe, about the length of her middle finger and jammed it into her arm, filling Madison's body with adrenaline, opium and phenobarbital. There. A nice little high, a tiny bit of drowsiness and some "oh shit my heart is on fire" to balance it out.
Huh? What was that noise?
Polly's legs trembled for a moment before giving out, the squelching sound of... well, you've had enough gore today, haven't you?
But the only emotion she felt, besides the raw physical pain was...
"No! Fucking- why!? Now of all times, won't your stupid undeveloped body just... FUCK. FUCK THIS. WHY AM I SO SHIT!? Ooh, look at me, I'm so angry and pretentious- you know what, fuck off Delilah! Maybe you should've gotten a job in accounting like you always wanted when you were three!"

Miria whined, tugging at her hair and gritting her teeth even more. "Now look at what happened!" She hissed. " You Humans are still fighting when you're dying! Why!? Agh! " She cried out. She was annoyed AND worried, and looking for some way - any way - to try and keep Madi from keeling over.
She looked around, first at Polly, who was having a meltdown, then at Madi, and then...at her hands...her hands! She kept her hands wrapped, a fact that she never really gave any consideration. It was a habit, a way to protect them when she worked, but now, she wondered, if they would be of any use to the other two. "Wait!" She said, tugging back her right coat sleeve to show the two of them. "Would this help?" She asked, showing them. " Maybe you can wrap it around your wounds tight or something? "

Madi barely even noticed Polly stabbing her with something, wait, not, she injected her with something, was her mind really that gone?
It seemed like it.
The pain went away instantly, but yet, at the same time, she didn't feel....normal.
Her world seemed to shift, she couldn't focus on anything, she felt energetic and...yet....tired.....She could feel her mind slipping away, slowly. Very slowly but, yeah, there was darkness slowly covering her vision.
She felt as if she was floating and then she felt huge, she saw brown fur and had a clear moment.
She had transformed into a bear, without even wanting to.
That was a first.
The drugged bear tried to move, but merely succeeded in flopping her head forwards a bit.
Madi was in a very weird state right now and she wasn't exactly sure what was real and what wasn't real.

Madi felt something on her back and she turned, just in time to see the upturned face of Marcus, steel in his irises and blood in a streak across his face. His sleeves were coated in the same crimson colour. Stepping forward he drew his arm back and turned the bear to face him, staring at the group of three with a confused, exasperated face.
"What in the firmament is going on here? I leave for ten seconds and you're having breakdowns over accounting?"
Polly looked up, an expression crossing her face that conveyed a mixture of embarrassment and inconceivably deep anger.
"Marcus! Why the hell are you here? You were in the castle this entire time!? Why'd you endanger yourself like that?"
He shrugged. Something was off. He should've been more confused, more at a loss for words - but his self assured confidence, and the mellow voice he wore spoke of calm and inquisitiveness.
"I dunno. I think I got knocked out. Something about an insanity wave. Good to see you too, by the way."
Polly tried to stand and fell back down, clenching her teeth and grabbing the bullet wound in her side again. After-action trauma. Now that her body was in working order again, the nerves were getting enough blood to actually start kicking. She ripped the covering off another painkilling patch with her teeth and slapped it on her neck, waiting for the dose to kick in. She was cautious about their use, having seen some other explorers get addicted to things in her time. It wasn't ever pretty.
"So, uhh, how are you guys holding up? Is everything fine? And can someone tell Madi to turn back into a human? I feel uncomfortable holding a string attached to a bear. I don't want her breaking my neck."

Marcus wasn't the only one who was uncomfortable; her helpful mood had vanished, and Miria yelped out loud at the sight of Bear-Madi. "What did your needles do to her?" She yelled at Polly, jumping back, her gaze shifting erratically between the transformed girl, Polly, and Marcus. Speaking of Marcus, Miria didn't hesitate to bolt towards him, bouncing nervously and hugging herself as she continued to observe the other girls, horrified. "Thank the gods you're not as hurt as they are!" She cried out, her voice more shrill than before. "I don't know what to do here! Everyone is dying and turning into bears, and I can't do anything to help, and I just want to get out of here!"

The bear merely glanced between the group before yawning, showing white teeth and fangs, before lying on the ground, half asleep.
When Miria started freaking out, however, Madi rose to her feet/paws, shook herself, and then turned around in a circle for some reason.
When she finished turning around in a circle, she spoke.
Or at least tried to.
All that came from her mouth were various bear noises.
The bear got s shocked expression and sat down hard, looking confused.
What? I can't turn back?! The hell.....I guess I have reason to panic now.
Madi shot the group a panicked look before something caught her attention.
Her instincts told her to start running, run very very far away.
And yet she didn't know why.
And because she couldn't voice her thoughts at the moment, she was afraid she couldn't warn the others.

[Demincia]

Secrets of the Raven
Branhwrn, Club Midnight

Elizabeth thought on what to ask first to Remy as she was very much aware that one slip up might cost her both her life and most members of the group. "Why did you sent the Scrouger after us?" She asked, figuring it would be the safest one to ask first. "Ah that thing. Well we sent it because you have a habit of causing trouble wherever you go so we kept tabs on you just encase, we were right on doing so considering what you and your friends done." Remy explained as he took out another bottle of alcohol.

Elizabeth wanted to remind him that the building only went up in flames because they found the Fate's demon spying on them. "So you guys weren't working with the cult yet?" Remy was pouring the alcoholic beverage k to the glass as the witch asked her question. "Can't really tell you that one love, the boss might kill me if I do. But what I can say is that those guys saw what you did too and are most likely still watching you." The biker told the group as he drank from his glass, going through another coughing fit.

"Jesus Christ what is wrong with this man! Does every bottle he own is laced with petroleum?" The man complained as he coughed again. Elizabeth couldn't resist letting a smirk form on her lips as she took a small measure of delight on the embarrassing display before her.

Once Remy was done coughing he looked at Dawn. "Hey red." He said as he wiped his mouth with his coat sleeve. "Mind breaking that time loop of yours? We could do it when ever we want but we need proof that you guys are really here to just chat and to cut a deal as Ashwood claim, not to set fire on to our club." The mage's eyes briefly went to Jackie.

Dawn looked the man up and down. He definitely seemed to be lacking much in the way of manners and hygiene. "If you could do it whenever you wanted, you already would have, you wouldn't need to ask me." she said flatly. "I also seem to distinctly remember you saying moments ago that it was a pain to undo, meaning you already had, but now you want me to do it for you. I think you should pick a story and stick with it, it makes it easier to make others think you're tough."

She snapped her fingers, breaking the time loop, and smiled at the man. "It's really simple if you know what you're doing, which I guess explains why you had trouble." She leaned against the wall and folded her arms in front of her chest. "Though I'm here either to chat or deal, truth be told I don't particularly care what happens here. It won't affect me either way. Don't you have someone else to buy drinks for? Or maybe someone else foolish enough to smoke needs a light."

Elizabeth looked at Dawn the same way a deer would look at a car just before it struck it on the road, the growls coming from her shadows only made her fears grow. Remy looked at the woman with contempt. "We would have dealt with it but our resident time and space expert fucked off to another timeline doing which knows what. Probably banging some wench from the past or something like that." The bokor angrily stated.

Feeling the chilly embrace of the shadowy primeval beings grasping at her ankles the witch turn to Dawn. "Dawn maybe I should do the talking? I'm the people person type after all, I know how to get through to them." She told her, shivering slightly due to the tenebraes as their tendrils slowly warp more of her legs. She turn to face Remy.

"Sorry about my friend's behavior, she just had a terrible day is all." She told the mage, trying to convince him to not active any of the defenses in the room out of spite. The man simply put away the glass as he spoke. "Here I thought the witch that barrage in would be the problematic one along with the arsonist but your time lady is rubbing me the wrong way. What the hell is she?"

"Three chickens in a really convincing suit." Dawn said sarcastically under her breath. "All of which are bored of this place. Was that little show on the tour supposed to be amusing or intimidating? I've been around the block a few too many times for it to be either."

She held up her wrist and looked at her watch, which appeared to be far more complicated than a regular Timex or even a Rolex. "Talk all you want, Elizabeth, just please make it quick. You know how I feel about wasting time." she said not looking up.

The witch began to shiver more as the tenebraes grip grew tighter around her ankles. "I.. I'll try." She said as she was now rubbing her arms to stay warm. Remy now looking furious only replied with. "You know, that cult was willing to offer a fine amount of money for us to deliver all of your heads to them. We haven't accepted the deal but your friend over there is making it look very appealing." The mage threaten. Knowing right now she was in a dangerous moment the witch now had to think of a good way to placate the mage before she has the Fates follow through with that threat. The question was what can she offer them? "Wait Rem, there is no need for threats. We aren't here to mock you guys." She told him. "Perhaps we should leave Dawn alone, she isn't a people's person after all."

Dawn shrugged. "Whatever they offered wasn't enough. There's not enough money on the planet to make that fight worth it for you." she said putting her watch down. "Despite your best efforts to appear otherwise, it seems you—meaning whoever actually is in charge of this exciting club— made the smart choice." She wasn't very interested in the conversation, and the urge to just speed up time to skip it was tempting. It's not like anything the man could say would be interesting to the Primordial. "I'd rather prefer you do leave me alone, I really do have better things to do than see how close Bubba Gump gets to the shade of a boiled crawfish." Dawn paused, then wound back time so she never said the last bit.

"I think leaving me alone is a great idea, it's not like I want to be here anyway. There are an infinite number of more interesting or better uses of my time." she said instead of the insult.

Elizabeth was glad not to feel the tenebraes do anything yet she still felt them on her legs. "That is why we only have them old military surpluses and whatever common guns were being sold on the black market. Bastards decided to be cheap on us at that deal after they were generous on the last deals we made." The man explained as he took out a cigarette. Covering the cigarette with his hand the group would see smoke coming from the stick and as Remy pulled his hand away they would see that he somehow lit the cigarette without using a lighter. "I'm gonna get the boss. I think he is done with his pet project." Rem said as he blew out smoke. The tenebraes began to let Elizabeth go. "I suggest you be careful who you befriend Ashwood. It would be a shame if you died just because one of them couldn't keep their mouth shut." The man told her as he walked out of the room.

With Remy gone Elizabeth turn her attention at Dawn. "You do know that just because they can't kill you doesn't mean I'm safe from them. You can probably leave from this world when another gifts open while I can't sense me and the Fate both share this world."

Dawn didn't react. "They tried to kill you once already, which I think you'll remember I stopped. After that, I believe they realized that whatever end they forced you to meet would be undone rather quickly." She turned her head to look at the witch. "Not to mention that they'd have to be even stupider than they look to not assume that I could send them back to the Stone Age without breaking a sweat. And I don't mean that metaphorically." she glanced back down at her watch. "They might be able to find out which school of thought is right on the classification of Homo antecessor, though they wouldn't be able to tell anyone about it."

"Or the demon did it for kicks or because it knew I was a mage and I could have banished it easily, Zelena was it's intended target after all." Elizabeth said as she rubbed her neck again, feeling the bruise that covered her entire neck. When Dawn mention she could send them back in time to make them know the truth about humanity's ancient ancestor the witch laughed. "That would be hilarious. But my issue is that they don't do anything stupid to warrant you to do that and you leave me alone with them. If they really want to make me suffer they could. So far it seems someone on top likes me too much to have me kill. That us what I think because I've done some things that should have gotten a squad of hitmen sent after me." The witch told the primordial as she lean back on her chair and looked up at the ceiling.

Silence filled the room as Elizabeth was content to be quiet for a few minutes. "Sorry for getting you dragged into my mess. I wasn't intending for you to act as my nanny." The mage said without looking at her.

Dawn shrugged again. "Someone has to look after you, might as well be someone with an eternity's experience of watching after mortals." She cracked a small smile. "Besides, they're getting on my nerves. They talk a lot and like to act like they're pretty powerful for a race that can't even live a century without losing almost total control of your body. No offense. I think they need something to remind them of just how little they really a"

Elizabeth wasn't offended by Dawn's statement, if anything she let out a chuckle. "Ain't that the truth. I've met a lot of mages who pretty much think that just because they can bend reality to their will they are now gods incarnate, and they can do whatever the hell they please. Let me tell you something from my experience in the occult underground. The forces of the arcane means jackshit if a bullet to the head still kills you." The witch looked back to Dawn. "It feels weird having a suppose goddess watching over me. Most of the times I'm stopping the followers and servants of gods and unraveling conspiracies that are related to them, other times I'm just reminded just how little those on the top care for puny mortals like myself. Finding one that actually seems to look after mortals is new to me and I don't know how to feel about that."

"Don't tell me this means you're planning on building a shrine in my honor at the center of town, I don't have any commandments prepared." the redhead teased. "It might be hard to convince people to join you without them. Whatever you make up, don't be such a downer with them. Less micromanaging, more fun." She leaned her head against the wall with a slight thud. "Within reason, of course. After all, time is limited. For most of us."

Elizabeth laughed. "Don't worry I can think of something on the fly. But maybe instead of building a temple on the center of the town we go for the cheap route and turn all the churches into places of worship for you? The buildings are already there all we need to do is redecorate them is all." The witch jested, needing the joke after everything she been through in the club. "How about we do a special holiday were most of societies rules are thrown out and we can just go wild! Have it be a wonderful time for everyone to appreciate on being alive by getting drunk and shagging whoever they want while doing stupid shit for a day. Just like what the Romans use to do." Elizabeth suggested as a big smile was plastered on her face

"It sounds like this religion is more for your benefit than it is mine." Dawn said, smiling. "I imagine one of your companions might object to you co-opting her place of worship, but perhaps you could entice her over with your plans for a drunken orgy. Or maybe you could beg her to go along with it. 'Mistress please!'" she said, with an even larger grin knowing that the witch knew exactly what moment was being referred to.

Elizabeth's smile only became more mischievous when Dawn mention it would benefit her more than Dawn. "Well why not have a bit of fun while trying to grow a religion out of a cult. Besides the promise of booze and orgy will be a great way to attract people to the faith." The witch replied back. When Dawn mention how Lilith would object to her turning churches to a temple for another deity Elizabeth laughed at the suggestion Dawn made on convincing the nun... but the laughter died when she made reference to an old comment she made to Lilith.

"Ho.. How.. How did you know that?" The witch stuttered out, her face now red. The witch of course kicked herself for that question of how she knew. "I can explain about that!" She shouted, her arms flaying aa she suddenly become animated over the embarrassing issue

Dawn watched the witch stumble and blush with amusement. "When you realized that I looked before, did you not think that I saw everything?" she asked. "I'm sure you could explain it, but there's no need. You're free to have any woman you want be your mistress, though some people might object to the species difference." Elizabeth would almost definitely regret this new turn in conversation, and Dawn loved it. "As long as you're fine with a few love bites, what's the harm." she teased.

Elizabeth froze when Dawn mentioned she saw everything when they met. Her mind didn't just went to what she said to Lilith but to everything she did in the past, her nights with her lover and one night stance with some partners in the past. The moment Dawn made the joke her getting use to love bites the witch turn away from Dawn and covered her face as her face redden even more. "Oh god, can this day get any worse."

Dawn clapped Elizabeth's shoulder with one hand, "It's ok, soon we'll be out of here and you can get back to her. I bet she's at the funeral parlor right now picking out the right casket for the two of you." She crossed over behind the witch, standing in front of her. "Maybe it's a double wide, or maybe it's just a single so you'll have to get really snug."

The witch buried her face deeper in her hands the more Dawn spoke. "I thought you were a nice goddess but I was wrong." The witch told her as she refused to look at her. The witch would keep her face buried on her hands before she pulled back up, still blushing. "I never took you for the type to ship people Dawn. Do you do that your sister back in your home dimension?"

"I don't know what shipping people in the mail has to do with you and your Germanic mistress." Dawn said, not understanding what the witch meant. "My sister and I aren't exactly involved in the same sort of... relationships that mortals are. There's not very many people around like us. My family is the only one of our kind."

"Sucks, you would be an interesting partner to be in a relationship with." The witch said to Dawn. The witch tried to ignore the Germanic Mistress comment even if her blush now stayed much longer because of it. "I will have to correct this grave injustice some day. Maybe I can see if I can help both your sister and dad on going out on dates. If you want we could go out sometime just so you can know what being on a date is like?" The witch offered in a teasing tone.

Just as Elizabeth thought she might have turned things around Dawn the door open and a man in an old fashion suit enter, Elizabeth noticed that the door he came from was from behind the manager's desk. There wasn't a door behind it before. The man was rather short, probably an inch taller than Elizabeth. His gray hairs had an oily sheen to them as they stuck on to his scalp, a bald spot could be seen on the top of his head. The man a long, crooked, nose and his eyes looked sunken in, the dark rings under them only making them look more sullen. His skin was pale and wrinkly, almost like it was barely holding on to his body. The only thing that seem youthful about him was the rose on his suit. "Good evening ladies, I am the manager of this fine establishment." The manager spoke, his voice sounding remarkably polished and sophisticated for one who own such a building.

When he sat down on the chair he looked at the group, Elizabeth got the impression that he was like a bird of prey watching it's latest meal. "I see you all have made yourself comfortable? Remy told me that there was a commotion with one of you but I will only deal with his complaints once he stops stealing my drinks." The man let a wide grin form when he mention that tidbit. "He thinks that my taste in drinks is terrible but in reality I pick those specifically for him. I figure after the second or third attempt he would stop but the man keeps on going. I can't tell if the man is persistent or just foolish." The manager said, shaking his head.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say that you were propositioning me." Dawn said back to the witch. Their conversation—and Liz's embarrassment— would be ended with what Dawn assumed was the manager of the shithole being passed as a club. Dawn lost all sense of amusement from her face, and was again the stoic, if not sarcastic, observer. "I believe his choice of words were 'laced with petroleum'." she said about the drinks. "Whenever he wasn't choking and gagging because of it, that is."

[The Palmetto]

L-Fel
Michigan

For a moment, Aestus had almost forgotten he was considered unusual. Even on his homeworld many people were surprised by his appearance, but were used to it. After all, if they didn't follow him, or see him in the field of battle, they at least knew about him, and individuals like him were no unsual occurance. But, noticing the detective's look, he suddenly remembered that wasn't the case here.

"Good to meet you," Aestus told the detective, not wanting to sound rudely rushed, "I can't fly myself, no. But I think I have a good means of transportation."

With that said, his manta ray presented itself to the detective. Though not to large to Aestus, it might have almost covered Alemayahu up. After smiling at the detective, it floated back towards to Aestus and he hopped on the creature. Standing up on it, it stepped up his height by another foot, and he towered over the people around him.

"It's unusual here, I assume, but this ray as fast as it is powerful. I'm not quite sure of the directions, but point me the right way and I'll be good," he said, looking down at the people around him.

L-Fel
Iowa

Irwin wasn't sure what to think of what was going on at first. He was in a completely new land all of a sudden, which was startling enough. But there was a brawl around him, further complicating things. Some of the fighters seemed to be incredibly skilled, one of them maybe even more than human. Not wanting to join the wrong side, he opted just to stay put, until one of the men came charging at him.

Not wanting to kill them, if it could be helped, Irwin decided to try something...unique. Retracting his mechanical hand, 8 small, but long, mechanical tentacles came out. As the man charged, Irwin pricked the man on the neck with one of them, injecting a paralyzing tetrodotoxin. After stumbling towards Irwin, they lost control of their body and collapsed. This would've normally been fatal, as their lungs would shut down, but Irwin swifted slapped a pad to the wound. The "Turner Pad" as it was called, would keep a victim paralyzed until the venom wore off, but dispersed oxygen into the body.

"So, what's goin' on ere, mates? What are you bogans fighting over?" Irwin asked the side he now found himself on.

[Skylus]

The group would feel the ground rumbling, pebbles shaking from the tumors. They would hear loud thumps coming from the castle. Soon a familiar scream would be heard from the castle as the thumps were not stomps that were getting closer. From the castle they can make out 836 running towards them. The creature was the three tendirls limbs and even it's own arms to move it forward as they can hear gun shots from the soldiers chasing after it.
The entity saw the group and zine if the ash trail shot forward towards the group, to remove them from 836's path

Madi saw the creature heading towards them and the bear saw up, gawking at it, then moved into action,.
She rushed forwards, grabbing Polly and tossing her onto her back, she did the same for Marcus and Miria and then ran like hell.
She somehow dodged the ash trails as they hit the grass and dirt all around them.
The Black Lake was coming into view now, they were so close.....
Madi didn't risk looking behind her to see if the creature was still following them, it probably was, but she didn't want to check.
And even if she wanted to, she couldn't.
Why?
Simply because at that exact moment, whatever Polly had given her had worn off.
The bear's legs gave way and everyone was sent flying forwards, and they would hear a roar of pain, one that echoed across the grounds, it would overpower the creature's screams and those inside the castle could possibly hear it.
Madi's mind was almost gone by now but she was grateful that she was a bear, at least, because that basically allowed her to react to the pain completely.
And react she did.
Her claws soon became bloody from her digging at the ground, the fight or flight response kicked in and her body released everything that it didn't partially need at that moment. (yes this happening, deal with it), and she was thrashing around uncontrollably, making some sort of noise. To the untrained ear, it sounded as if something was dying.

Marcus had his feet swept out from under him as Madi crossed the distance between the two in an instant. He had to physically keep himself from lashing out at the enormous mass of flesh and fur, only barely remembering that it was still his acquaintance in there. He'd seen the transformation back on the beach, on Outset Island. Polly reacted a little more calmly, allowing herself to be scooped up and even rolling to land on the bear's back more comfortably, using her arm to hang on for dear life. The two exchanged a momentary glance of recognition, a flash of laughter crossing Marcus' face before he looked away. He couldn't believe he'd just been privy to Polly of all people going batshit insane in front of everyone else.
"Well, at least we know where the monster is!"
"Shut up and help me run interference!"
"Bad idea? The last time I tried that, I got thrown through a wall."
"I'm sorry, but did I stutter?!"
Polly flipped over, lying on her back on the bear and began undoing the wrappings around her wound. Marcus barely paid her any attention, flinging strings at the 836. He had no idea if he was doing any damage but by the looks of it, the monster was desperate. Sooner or later, it'd becoming vulnerable. If nothing else, his attacks looked rather pretty, whipping around through the air. It was completely unfazed, continuing to shoot ash and other nasties at the group, trying to break them to pieces.
"Hang on, what are you doing?"
"Getting a weapon."
Polly finished tearing off the gauze and put one hand above her injury, now packed with coagulated blood. That wouldn't do. Thin rivulets of blood pooled around the edge of the injury and floated into her palm, a good half litre suspended in the air. She uncorked a bottle at her hip and took a long swig before slapping her wound shut again. Her face was white and her hands were barely able to hold themselves up; and yet her face was set in stone. 836 took the opportunity to fire off yet another blast of caustic ash, tearing up the grass as it dashed toward them with its chaotic, furious sprint. It beared down on Madi and her passengers, threatening to completely obliterate them when- WHAM! A barrier of glistening red intercepted the attack, spraying it in all directions. Bolts of ash spun away like errant missiles, hitting the ground around the initial impact and leaving scorched craters all around. The earth heaved and buckled, but the group was spared the worst of the attack. Polly still held one hand up, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. She'd blocked the blast with her own blood.
"Jesus fucking-"
The entire thing went sideways as their animal friend tripped up, throwing everyone into the air and hitting the ground with a loud, painful whump. A cloud of disturbed soil was tossed into the air, choking Polly as she fell on the ground, hard. Her barely dressed wound reopened and she openly screamed for the first time since arriving here; but instead of an agonised wail, a barely audible wet choking sound came from within. One of her lungs was gone. Her ribcage was on fire, water was pooling up in her lungs. She imagined this was what it was like. To die of pneumonia. To drown in one's own blood and mucus. Marcus fared better, firing off a string and latching onto a nearby tree, swinging himself to safety and rolling to a stop beside Madison, scrambling out of the way as the enormous animal began to writhe.
"No no no! No! Get up! It can't end like this!"
She didn't get up, so he did. He stood and stared at 836, his mind unfolding like a flower. His demeanour, the entity inside him which had been keeping him calm, lending him its charisma, began to speak up. He was different now. He was important. He was the Prince of Nightmares, and he would not lie down and die. Strings burst from his wrists and the back of his hand, stretching high into the sky far beyond what anyone could see. They were taut, like puppet's strings. He walked with stiff, mechanical jerks. His eyes were different. They darkened like burning paper, shrivelling up until his pupils were miniscule beads amongst the rest of his oculi. He knelt beside Madi and clenched his fist, wires attaching to each of Madi's limbs and puppeting her ursine form like a marionette. He turned her to look at him and spoke without insecurity. Without pause. Hypnotic syllables, silky words.
"Wake up. This isn't real. Calm down. Pick them up. Take them to safety."
He turned to face 836 and raised a fist, staring it down.
"Come on you animal! Face me!"

just like that, she was back.
Well, her mind anyway.
But yet, Madi felt off, as if her body wasn't exactly hers at the moment.
The bear slowly got up, walked over to Polly, gently picked her up in his mouth, then went over to Miria and allowed her to climb on the bear's back, then the beast took off at a unsteady gallop.
A trail of blood was left behind as the bear headed towards the Time-Stones, one word echoing in her dulled mind.
Carrowteige.
The bear reached the ancient stones, blood from the three of them hitting the sacred stones and turning them various shades of crimson.
The bear laid Polly down near the inner most stone, allowed Miria to get off her back, then, somehow -
She turned back to normal.
Madi slammed into the stone ground and she could only lay there, unable to move. Her mind was going, her vision was fading, was this it?
Was this where all of them died?
No. No, not yet.
Summoning the last of her strength and energy, Madi summoned her crystal, somehow held it up above her and somehow spoke a single word.
"Carrowteige."
Then, wind began to pick up and as a humming noise began to reach them, Madi smiled, despite how injured she was.
She reached out and laid a blood covered hand on Polly's arm. She was still breathing. Miria was still alive.
They just had to stay alive until they got there.
And then, a bright flash surrounded them and everything was gone.

---

As they tried to out run the creature hailing from the outer darkness of known existence 836 kept up with the pursuit. Whether it was too focus on fleeing from AEGIS to notice the group before it or it was actually targetting them none can say. As the creature ran past trees the snowy ash began to spread throughout their trunks and branches in their oily embrace. The trees began to grow into might ebony towers.
When the group's steed fell and they were forced on yo the ground 836 did not stop, could not stop. The eldritch horror contuine to crawl to it's unknown destination and was willing to stomp on the small insects that stood on it's way. As Marcus shouted his threat towards the creature his words fell into deaf ears, it cared for what he had to say to it.
Yet still, something compelled 836 to stop. The creature slide across the ash covered soil, stopping just close to the group. 836 looked up at the sky and let out yet another hellish scream everyone would hear in their minds, feeling it's immense psionic powers prodding in their heads. Yet no outbursts of madness occured. Instead a sense of eerie silence fell upon the grounds of Hogwarts.
This silence will soon end as they felt the very earth beginning to shake. As the tumors prove to make standing impossible for all, even 836 was on all fives, throughout the grounds the soil would explode upward as massive crystalline structures emerged and rise from the earth to reach the heavens. Each of the structures were made by the ash and that fell and were changed into their current form. Spike-like branches would grow from the towers as they and the towers spire would pierce through the barrier.
Eventually they and the rapidly crystallizing tree towers would do what many wizards and witches would see is impossible, they would shatter the barrier over Hogwarts.
(pen drop)

---

Outskirts of Carrowteige, Scotland.

Beatrice Shakel had seen many things during her 120 years of life, but the sonic boom and flash of light outside her cabin topped them all.
The old Witch rushed outside and only gazed upon the wounded for a moment before darting forwards and checking to see who they were.
Her heart skipped a beat when she laid eyes on her great granddaughter.
"Madison....."
She knelt besides the young woman and began to recite various spells, waving her hands over the prone figure.
She then turned to another woman that was injured and frowned.
"This one shall not last must longer without my intervention...."
Beatrice began to work her magic on Polly but was distracted when a shimmering blue portal appeared and a young boy fell from it to land on the grass.
"A friend, perhaps?"
She turned back to Madi and her companions and raised them into the air, then began to move them to the cabin.
The old Witch noticed the new arrival running towards her out of the corner of her vision and she turned to face him as he came to a stop a few feet away.
"What....What happened to....."
Beatrice smiled.
"They will be fine. You needn't worry. Come in."
She opened the door, got the group inside, and latched the door shut and put charms and spells on the door in case anything had followed any of them through the portal or Time-Stones.

The old Witch then laid Miria on the couch, and took Madi and Polly to separate rooms, where she healed them and cleaned them with various spells and charms. She healed Polly first, made sure she would heal, and then healed her great granddaughter, wondering what had happened to them.
At long last, some hours later, the old woman emerged from the back rooms, smiling despite how tired she was.
"Do not worry. They will live. They shall be very weak, but they shall both live."
The boy, who had introduced himself as Link Forester, was talking to the woman on the couch, they appeared to know each other, at least briefly.
"You were attacked by something and you were forced to flee here? Only in....a few hours? ....Something tells me that I wouldn't have wanted to be there....Oh, I found my parents. They somehow recognized me but before I could return home, the portal appeared and....Now I'm here."
Link noticed Beatrice and stopped talking.
The old woman smiled and sat down in a chair opposite the two.
"If you are wondering who I am, I am Madison's great grandmother. I know powerful ancient magic, that was how I was able to heal with Madison and your friend."
Link looked around the cabin for a moment, then moved his gaze back to Beatrice.
"Thank you for healing them. Do you know when they'll wake up?"
Beatrice shook her head.
"No, I do not. Their minds must heal along with their bodies. It might be any amount of time before they awaken. All we can do is wait."

[Prusselanden]

Iowa
Ackermann dodged another attack. "So, I see all zhese guys ganging up on zhis vone guy und jumping him, and I come in to help a brudda out by helping him fight zhem off." Xe explained to Irwin. "So, I guess now it's a complete throwdown. Cool arm you got zhere, by zhe vay."

Ackermann ducked as another man tried to swing a knife at xer. Xe swept him off his feet and proceeded to punch him in the face.

"Git gud."

"What is all this ruckus?" Frederick grumbled and walked over to the commotion, dropping his groceries when he saw Ackermann. "Ackermann!?"

[Shark isle]

As Brent continued to brawl with the Henchmen, he saw a man shoot a metallic tentacle out of his arm and jab a man's neck, knocking him out instantly. Brent looked around and noticed that almost all the henchmen were incapacitated. Brent then proceeded to roundhouse kick the final henchman standing, sending him flying into a group of trashcans. He then turned towards the strange three people who helped him and said,"Thanks for the help. Those bastards nearly got me." He then said under his breath," Damn Pantheon flunkies got lucky".

[New Antonalia]

The Imperator Nox
The Shape of the Nightmare to Come
Karuma’s Parody

“I see.”, Captain Chosuke nodded to the Chapter Master after he explained how the Imperator Nox could be capable of destroying the enemy ship by ejecting one of its plasma cores. Chosuka would then turn on the comms channel in his helmet’s HUD once again and contacted the Scharnhorst, which was still engaged in combat. “Captain Kepler, do you copy?”, Chosuke asked over the intercommunications network.

“Loud and clear.”, Kepler replied as the Defiance’s sensor array was obliterated by an acidic attack from the Karuma. The acids consumed and melted the platinum alloys that made up the Defiance’s sensor array, and were soon stopped by a layer of ionic shielding, but the Defiance was effectively blinded by the attack. “The fleet will delay the Karuma’s onslaught until you can accomplish your task at ejecting the plasma core the Chapter Master mentioned.”

As the captain finished speaking to those within the Imperator Nox, he would turn towards the communications channel that led to the rest of the fleet. “All ships, fire at will! Do not allow yourselves to be stationary and keep moving to avoid getting damaged by the Karuma. The Scharnhorst will continue its course. Keep distance!”

Chosuke would then turn to the Chapter Master. “Shall we begin, Chapter Master?”

Imperator Nox,
Shape of Nightmare to Come

Lorn replied with a terse yes before handing the comms over to the Magos. Thankfully, most of his tech adepts and enginseers had survived the voyage through the warp. "Mighty machine spirit, with all your splendor and glory, forgive us this slight against you, and grant us deliverance as we use your wrathful heart to purge the technobiological abomination that assails us." Magos Vorbandt said as he sent his acolytes to the other reactors. Personally, he abhorred the idea of letting anyone who wasn't blessed by the Omnissiah perform sacred maintenance, let alone vital repairs to any of the vessels systems or components, but this was not a situation where he could allow his personal feelings get in the way of saving the vessel. After all, the ship lost most of its servators and ratings during the near total failure of the Geller field, and several important tech-acolytes were dead from the xenos that had been purged from the ship.

Once his adepts were in position, Vorbandt, along with the help from remaining Tech-Marines began the process of destabilizing the Primary plasma generator as well as diverting power feeds to the secondary and tertiary generators that lined the interior of the Battlebarge. Vorbrandt took to the task with grim determination as he hurried to prevent feedback loops and began barking orders in binary to the other acolytes and priests that made up his retinue and one by one, litanies and cants chanted in Binary overwhelmed the shared comm system even as warning klaxions and sirens echoed throughout the vessel.

"Magos, I'm not sure this is going to work!" The tech-marine said, doubt in his voice as one after another, feedback warnings lit up his cogitator. "It will, divert excess power to auxiliary capacitors and recite the Cant of Transference, for it will ease the spirits pain." The tech-marine obeyed his mentor with unnerving precision, while simultaniously updating the Chapter Master on the status of the generator. Suddenly, after what seemed like an eternity of rerouting power and preventing significant overload, the Magos declared the the generator was primed and began the process of ejecting it into the void. "If your vessels wish to survive, begin evacuating the area."

[Prusselanden]

As Brent continued to brawl with the Henchmen, he saw a man shoot a metallic tentacle out of his arm and jab a man's neck, knocking him out instantly. Brent looked around and noticed that almost all the henchmen were incapacitated. Brent then proceeded to roundhouse kick the final henchman standing, sending him flying into a group of trashcans. He then turned towards the strange three people who helped him and said,"Thanks for the help. Those bastards nearly got me." He then said under his breath," Damn Pantheon flunkies got lucky".

“Vhy vere zhey after you?” Ackerman asked Brent when all the fighting was done with. She brushed herself off, seemingly to have not suffered a single scratch. Before Brent could answer, Frederick walked over, grabbing Ackermann’s arm.

“Are you insane!?”

“He needed help....”

“Your life is still in jepoardy now. I will not have you fighting more than necessary.” the ruler growled.

“...sorry.”

[Rostavykhan]

Outskirts of Carrowteige

Miria didn't know how long she'd been out. She only remembered herself becoming overwhelmed when they were all charged by that thing, and then hitting the ground when Madi tripped. After that, everything had been a haze. How she moved after that, she didn't recall, though all she did know was that her head was pounding, and her left arm was throbbing to boot. She also noticed something else, although it came only after a few moments of slow blinking to adjust her eyes; she was having trouble seeing out of her right eye.

Miria panicked, and softly pawed at her eye. She still had her glasses on, but pulling them off slightly allowed her to see what the problem was - the lens was cracked. She cursed, but couldn't feel too upset, as she considered it all. A cracked lens and soar arm was a small price to pay if it meant not dying horribly to an ash monster. She was safe, and that was what mattered at the moment; now, she just needed to see how the others were doing...

She sat up, just a bit, yawning. Even if it was because she was knocked out, that little bit of sleep was much-needed. She hadn't gotten much sleep since she'd been taken away from home anyways. That was good, anyways, but the realization that she'd also been out for a bit meant that she didn't know how Madi and Polly were holding up, and that was bad. Remembering Polly and Madi's injuries, and the battle that gave those to them, and the death she'd seen, all sent a new twinge of panic creeping up her spine. Miria began to shake again, as she sat up all the way, adjusting her spectacles, and reaching for her backpack, which sat beside her on the floor. She recognized that she was in a house, but where? And where was everyone else? She was alone, it seemed, with only her memories of the chaos she'd seen, and the sound of distant, unfamiliar voices catching her ears.

She needed to do something about it. She didn't want to, but she did something anyways, calling out, cautious. "Hello?"

[Naval Monte]

Secrets of the Raven
Branhwrn, Club Midnight

The manger smiled. "He is just lucky I haven't laced much worse for him, even though he is practically begging to do that with his antics." The man let out a chuckle after saying those words. Elizabeth felt a small shiver go through her body. There was something that felt off about the man. The manager’s eyes turn to look at Jackie. "So your the young pryokentic I heard so much about? I got to say you don't match up entirely to what I imaged but isn't that always the case? Things rarely ever fit with what we imagine or hear of them." The man said, waving his hands as he did so.

"I'm curious on why you chose to accompany yourself with that peculiar wraith and the chaos magician?" The manager asked just as Elizabeth realize two things. Throughout the talk she never saw him once blink. Unless he blinked whenever she did not once did the man ever removed his gaze on whoever he was speaking too. The second was that his grin never once faded even when he was complaining about Remy always trying to steal his drinks. "Also what the hell is wrong with his eyes? Sure they look normal but something just feels wrong with them. In Fact everything is wrong with this guy. Is he even human at all?" the witch thought as the manager was beginning to unnerve fo a small extent, another part of her was finding the mystery he presented fabricating and wish to discover more on to who or what he was.

"Tell me a bit more about yourself miss? I'm curious to know about about the supposed "Red Orchid Arsonist"." The man said. Despite the fact he referred to the incident that has caused both Jackie and everyone trouble he didn't say it in an accusing tone. Far from it, he sounded more amused by it than harsh or judgemental.

She put her feet up and propelled herself onto the table with a short burst of fire from her palms, sliding cleanly over the entire wooden embankment and tucking her hands into her pockets, skipping around the manager as she did so before coming to a stop just inches away from him. She leaned in close, inspecting his body without any regard for personal space. She was utterly done with this boring anticlimax. So help her, if the authors spent one more second spouting inane melodrama and politics, she would kill a bitch.

"Y'know, you're not very realistic. There's things about you that I can't see, no matter how much I try. I guess the authors forgot to describe that part of you, huh? Oh, don't worry. I'm not going to say what I'm looking for. That'd break immersion."

She was becoming more and more bold, snapping her fingers in front of his face; and as expected, the manager did not blink. She threw her head back and laughed, leaning on the table and grabbing a biscuit, taking a nibble out of the side and letting it hang from her mouth. She spoke between mouthfuls of crumb and butter, snapping her finger and pointing her index toward her conversational partner like a finger gun. She tilted her head and began to visibly glow, giving off a pleasant, intimidating heat.

"Red Orchid Arsonist? God damn, that's an edgy name - but what else can you expect from trashy YA occult fiction? Man, don't writers get around often enough to come up with some interesting names? Heh. Well, you can call me Jack. Jack, after the, uhh, Ripper from London. It fits, you know? Since we're in England and all. But instead of killing prostitutes I punch people in the face while reciting Shakespeare."She chuckled and held her face in her hand, one side of her face stretching her smile far further than the other.

"Oh my god these people are going to get me killed." Elizabeth thought as she placed her palm on her forehead. The Kent's blissful ignorance to the dangers of the occult underground, Jackie's insanity and Kyle' threat on her life should she fail to cure the his girlfriend, Dawn not treating most things seriously and Zelena's haughty attitudes are all aspects that alone would cause problems for Elizabeth, but all of them together might be the perfect recipes to send her into an early grave. The latest outburst from Jackie just made those concern feel all the more tangible as the manager just stared at Jackie.

"Well you lived an interesting life Lizzy but everything must end. Just try to make the climax interesting now." the witch was close to consigning to her fate when she heard something surprising due to the current situation.

She heard the manager laughing. Elizabeth also heard the tenebraes lurking in her shadow laughing and could have sworn to have felt small tumors in the room. When his laughter died down he finally spoke. "I forgot how you were convinced that you are a character in a story, how uproariously hilarious is that. No doubt your affection causes much headache for Ashwood. Some of my employees think we should end your life because you present a clear threat to us and  you are miss Vanh, nor are we the only ones to have come to that conclusion. But you and me both have the same enemy and it is because of that and the fact your insanity most likely torments Ashwood as much as it does to everyone is why I will let this little episode slide for now." The manager ignored the glare Elizabeth was giving him.

"As for secondary antagonist I don't see myself as that Ms. Vanh, I'm just a humble businessman. I just do what the customer wants of me. It's not my fault that my customers decided to use weapons we provided for them against you, just like how it isn't our responsibility if you and your colleagues did the same. I also find it very amusing thought that you would say I'm not realistic when you believe reality to be nothing more but fiction. Does it truly matter for something to be realistic if none of this was real to begin with?" The man asked, his amusement seemingly growing at the spectacle Jackie was making. "I always enjoy seeing what the mind creates after witnessing that it can not processes and you my dear are a treat. I might just spare you for giving this old soul a good laugh in a long while."

Elizabeth looked around the group and if my if them turn to her to ask for help on understanding what was going on she would simply shrug as she was clueless like them. Elizabeth was going to try and get Jackie to stop talking when the manager spoke. "While you may be skilled at reciting Shakespeare and a powerful fire manipulator you should be careful on insulting what you believe to be your gods.After all, gods rarely take to being insulted well."  The man rose his hands and held his fingers together, ready to snap them. "It would be easy for your authors to write down whatever unfortunate events to befall on either your or those you hold dear." He snapped his fingers after delivering his warning.

Jacquelyn stepped dangerously close, her eyes flickering like candles. She stayed a good distance away, still thinking about how to deal with the manager. Certainly, she couldn't forget that the authors were speaking through him - and he'd just made a very, very potent threat. She looked around, seeing nothing of interest. And yet, in his eyes, she saw the gaze of victory.

"A threat? Hardly. More like a... stage cue."

"And a cue it was, my dear sir."

Jacquelyn whipped around to face a man in the doorway, holding a familiar figure by his neck. He clutched a knife in one hand, and a bloodied body in the other. Kyle.

"Why, you son of a bitch."

She stepped forward, well and truly pissed off. She wasn't sure whether at the authors, at this man, but she couldn't help but feel an overpowering urge to blast this fucker through the wall right that instant. Calm down, calm down... it's just the authors. They're changing you, making you feel emotions that aren't your own. She looked down at her childhood friend, clenching her teeth. Not real. Eyes wide open, iron thorns up and down his its limbs, runes gouged into its body and face. A titanic wave of fire rolled off her body, alighting the floor beneath Jack's feet. She took a step forward, growling with a metallic, agonised rumble.

"Hand him over before you get what's coming to you."

"What's coming t'me? Oh, c'mon little girl. It's just a fictional character."

She discarded her attitude, her casual gait, the biscuit she held. She forgot all about her preconceptions, the belief she was not real. The Answer still lingered within her, quashing any doubt about her irreality, but she still treated the situation as real. She understood, now. She wasn't bargaining with this man, she was bargaining with the authors. They were about to decide her future, and how she acted was key to whether Kyle lived or not, and in what state. Diplomacy with God. Fucking typical.

"Hand him over to me now."

"Or what? Y'gonna burn us alive? They're doin' that twenty thousand floors up. You don't scare me."

She gritted her teeth and looked at Kyle's figure again. He was conscious, she knew. His eyes were jittery, instinctively rolled up in his head. His limbs twitched. By all accounts, he should've been completely immobilised, utterly helpless. However, in spite of the runes and drugs holding him down, the sheer control over his body he could exert was incredible. It'd take hundreds of thousands of times the regular dose of any drug to affect him that way it would a normal person. In some regards, that was a blessing. In others, it meant he couldn't get drunk, high, fall artificially asleep or dampen his sensations. He was a sensory echo chamber, and she had no idea what he might be going through.

Jacquelyn did what she did best. Improvise.

"Nah. I don't give a shit, actually. The foreshadowing for this has been absolutely obtuse."

"Huh? You crazy or something?"

"No no no, you see; the authors have been building up to this for ages. This is the moment when Kyle dies. I mean, the comet in the sky was a bit fucking much, don't you think? There wasn't any way you could've telegraphed the "emotional moment" any harder. God damn sycophants, thinking they're clever killing off a character."

"Hey, I'm talking to you! Pay me some fucking respect girl, or I'll slit his throat-"

"Yadda yadda yadda, yeah, I get it; you're meant to be scary but holy shit could this be any more clumsily handled? He didn't get any character development AT ALL! Where was the emotional investment? Why'd we never get to hear about his past? Jesus Christ, it's like I'm living out some third-grade fanfiction on Tumblr! This is ridiculous!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

The man pulled Kyle up in front of him, dangling his throat over the blade. Now that she could see him up close, the dozens of syringe marks below his eyes and on his jaw became visible. His entire face was perforated with injection sites, still stinking of formaldehyde and bleach. She immediately extended one blazing arm toward the warden, being sure to take note of his appearance. He wore thick black garments over his entire body, robes and cloaks upon another. A thick crimson sash went across his torso, covering his waist and keeping the ensemble together. His cuffs and pants were lined with emerald leaf, shimmering as he moved. And his face was pure porcelain, polished and as articulate as flesh. A mannequin, with the mannerisms of a typical American gangster. The thought tickled her.

"I get it now. No matter what I do, there can't be consequences. No matter how I act, I'll always win. Because I'm the god damn hero, and you're just extras in my story. So let's play a game, buddy. And no, I'm not talking to you; I'm talking to the virgin writing my dialogue right now. Let's see how far you're willing to go to keep your story intact."

Her body flashed a bright white, a pillar of blinding phosphor engulfing Kyle, the man behind him and the rest of the room on that side. A brilliant boom rattled the building, sending rivers of dusty plaster falling from the ceiling. The tablecloth was torn to shreds, spilling broken china and powdered biscuits over the floor and the carpet was ripped up from the hard boards beneath, filling the air with scraps of cotton and velvet. One end of the room was simply gone. And when the blast subsided, the man was still there, holding onto her friend belonging.

"You psycho bitch. Alright. This is what you asked for."

He put a boot on Kyle's face and grabbed his arm, pulling it back and snapping the elbow joint far past where it should've gone. Iron spikes buried in his skin, like barbed wire wrapped around a sausage, dug into his flesh and tore his entire limb open, leaving flayed tatters of skin hanging loosely from the exposed muscle beneath. He drew his knife and carved a long line between the arm bones, a deep gash pouring out copious amounts of blood. Yet, Kyle did not perish. The runes branded upon him flashed a deep blue and he remained alive.

Kyle was visibly shuddering now, seizing up. His heart might've stopped entirely if his nervous signals were not being suppressed. She could see him struggling. She felt an unfamiliar twisting sensation in her chest. A cold, heavy weight settled upon her stomach. She couldn't keep her composure any more. She screamed and looked to fire another blast before-

Elizabeth came between Jackie and the mannequin gangster wannabe, on her right hand was her cursed knife that she held on a reverse grip. "Stand down Jackie. I know you want to make that freak burn for hurting your boyfriend, believe me I have been in a similar situation before, but setting all of us on fire isn't going to save us. Besides I think you would have been killed before you would have had to launch your fireball." Elizabeth heard the manager clapping. "Correct Ms. Ashwood, the first blast should have activated all of my defenses but I was too curious to see what she would do to let the show end so soon. I'm glad now sense I wasn't thinking you would interfere. I thought you would join Ms. Vanh?" Elizabeth looked at the man. "Oh trust me I want your lackey over there to suffer but not today. Right now I'm here to make an offer." That seem to peek the manager's attention. "What offer would that be?" He said as he kept his gaze at Elizabeth, Jackie, and his own subordinate.

"You give us Kyle back and undo whatever injuries and spells you done to him and you stop helping the cult that I'm after." The manager interrupted her. "I believe you would also want us to provide you some information on them as well?" While she didn't show it the man can sense that he was right. "I'm afraid we can not give away the identity of our customers. But we might provide you some useful hints to their identity if you can pay for it?" Elizabeth gave him a smirk. "That I can do." Elizabeth walked up to the desk and look through her purse.

What Elizabeth took out was a few bundles of British pounds and another bundle that was cut to the same shape as pounds what they depict was not important historical figures nor symbols associated with the government, instead they showed runic imagery and alien symbols. The next items were contacts written in an alien language and vials containing spices and dust, and colorful gems. The final items she removed were shards of glowing bluish white glass.

Elizabeth used the time she had to not only collect the pounds for this meeting but the soul fragments, demonic and angelic contracts, spell notes, faerie dust, soul gems, and spices to make him accept the offer to cut their ties with the cult, now she hope it was enough to do that and save Kyle. "Will these be enough?" The manager gathered the items together and began to examine them.

He looked closely at what Elizabeth offered him, preening over each individual piece. He seemed to like some parts better than others with no apparent reason, discarding perfectly good crystals and items in favour of others. Elizabeth knew that he could see beyond the basic value they were traded for. He knew enough about the occult that he had uses for these goods besides what she knew of. In a way, he knew their value better than she did. She tapped her foot nervously as Jacquelyn smiled at the porcelain man, picking a small bit of gunk from underneath her fingernail and flicking it at the floor, watching it sink through the concrete below.

"You know what? That was pretty stupid of me. Of course I shouldn't have done that. I shoulda released all my energy at once, levelled this city. Do you know what twenty two petatons of TNT to the face feels like? I could demonstrate but ah, I think none of us would live to survive the... incident. Listen to me, doll. This isn't a deal. This is you begging me not to wipe every last man and woman in a hundred-mile radius off the face of the earth. So while we're waiting for our respective handlers to get their deal done, think about that for a moment. And maybe, reconsider your approach."

The puppet stuck his tongue out at her, a dry ceramic appendage somehow curling as dextrously as any other human's limb. "You're not one to be talkin'. If you blow us to smithereens, you die too. This ain't about killin' us, it's about you getting out alive. Really, I don't see any reason to give a shit whether we die or not. The Fates are a bigger organisation than you know."

"Save it for later. Liz, you got what you want?"

The manager snapped his book shut (wait, since when did he have a book?) and tucked it into his pocket, looking up at Elizabeth with a disappointed frown. "Sorry, but there's simply not enough here for me to offer you your friend. Of course, as a woman of business, and someone I know, I think you know what comes next. Give up your firebrand and we can cut you a deal. All our intel in exchange for her. I'm sure you understand the predicament I am in, faced with the prospect of letting this lunatic run around unimpeded. As small as she is in the grand scheme of things, she is still volatile and buried deep in our affairs."

Elizabeth was a little less taken aback than Jacquelyn hoped. She froze, waiting for her answer. Everybody did. The air hung, and the silence pervaded. What's your decision going to be, Elizabeth?

She raised a finger. Her middle, to be precise.

"Fuck off. I'm not giving up my friends that easily."

The manager smiled and planted his cane in the ground (where did he get a cane from?), twisting his lips into a sadistic snarl. "Very well. Then we'll take what we need another way."

The doll raised his arm again, a long needle extending from his wrist, coming from under his sleeve. He was poised to stab Kyle in the eye, a cathartic grin stretching from ear to ear. His jaw broke open, crackling as his mask began to break. Deep, crimson lines ran beneath the visage. A hollow, hateful breathing echoed throughout his ceramic form. "Oh, I always love this part. Say goodbye to your motherfuckin' bastard of a friend, little girl!"

He threw his arm downward, screaming through the air as the tapered end spun toward Kyle's iris. Jacquelyn reached out, firing off another blast, but the fire parted before him, redirected by the manager's defences. He stood idly by, watching the commotion with rapt attention. And Elizabeth simply stared, knowing what came next. She'd seen this again and again. It was how all things ended. She was resigned when-