Voyage Through the Multiverse (Open) [IC]

[Ihury]

Secrets of the Raven
Branhwrn, Club Midnight

While the other three were out hunting for leads on the death of the Mozambican diplomat, the remaining two members of the OFHJ were, ostensibly, relaxing in a nightclub in the more built-up areas of the city.

For three hours, Gregory Hovhannesian and Haruka Fujinuma had taken a small corner of the nightclub, drinking as little as possible so as not to seem suspicious, while quietly observing the happenings around them and waiting for updates from the other three. So far, nothing of much importance had come through, except for a single detail.

"We got a message from somebody while we were inspecting the body", said Shoto Fujinuma to Gregory H, over an encrypted voice channel. "The number was restricted, but we managed to trace it down to a building nearby."

"What did the message say?" asked Greg H, puffing on his cigarette.

"Asked us what we were doing with the body", Shoto replied. "We didn't reply. Then the guy texted again. Told us we were doing a good job, then asked us to meet him."

"If you're sure he can't trace you", said Greg H, "tell him to come to Club Midnight. I'll take it from there."

"Aight. We'll head over as well."

Once Shoto had hung up, Greg H stubbed his cigarette in the ashtray, his long and lanky fingers darting back to his shirt pocket and withdrawing the cigarette box, from which he withdrew another cigarette, before lighting it with an old style lighter and heading to the bathroom to smoke in peace. Haruka, leaning back in her seat, scanned the edges of the nightclub, sipping thoughtfully on her Sex on the Beach. At the entrance, a young woman in her early thirties had thrown the doors open, opting for a rather dramatic entrance for a rather dramatic locale.

"There're always people like that", Haruka murmured with a chuckle, her face exhibiting the characteristic East Asian alcohol flush despite her having only had a single drink prior to her current.

"Oi!"

While Haruka was drinking her cocktail, a 30-something-year-old man with a monstrous hairy belly that protruded from under his overly-tight shirt had crept up behind her and poured an entire pint of Guinness over her head, drenching her from head to toe.

"The fuck was that for?!"

The fat man climbed onto the sofa on which Haruka sat, placing his arm round her shoulder.

"My... *hic*... grandfather was killed when the Japanese... *hic* bombed Pearl Harbour. You, my friend... are*hic*-"

"Back the fuck off", snapped Haruka, furiously pushing the man off her. The fat man, however, continued to advance on her, the chuckling coming from his throat and the grin on his flabby face suggesting that he was not at all concerned with Haruka's Japanese ancestry or the fact his grandfather had died at Pearl Harbour.

"Tell me your name, you animal!" He bellowed in Haruka's face, seizing both her wrists with one beefy hand and pinning her down on the sofa. With his other hand, he reached for her pants, trying futilely, in his drunken state, to unbuckle her belt with one hand. "Tell me your name! I'm going to *hic* punish you for what you *hic*-"

Haruka, though mildly intoxicated, had had enough. The man squealed in excruciating pain, as the 24-year-old landed a powerful kick to his testicles, hard enough to crush a walnut. Without giving him time to recover, Haruka seized her glass of Sex on the Beach and, grunting in almost exaggerated anger, hurled the glass onto his balding head. Shards of glass, blood, and Sex on the Beach splattered all over the floor.

"Bloody hell", she spat on the unconscious lump before her, as Greg H came back into the room, freshened up from his cigarette break.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, looking down at the gore on the floor before Haruka.

"Nothing at all", Haruka replied in exasperation, taking a bottle of water out of her backpack and chugging half of it down in a single gulp. "Let's go somewhere quieter."

...

[The Dark Brotherhood of Deros]

The Forbidden Act

The Party - Misty Peaks

The Deviljho reared back in pain as Cicero crashed into him, making it yelp in pain. Moira was impressed by this, but the other three hunters were shocked by the display, as they had never seen someone be able to do this. Then a cacophony of noise erupted from the treeline, as weapons fire began pelting the giant monster. The entirety of the group was shocked by this display, and the Deviljho was looking worse for wear. Bones were now visible beneath the beast's flesh, and streams of drool mixed with crimson ran out of the monster's maw. It was panting heavily, and woozily balancing on it's legs.

But it refused to fall.

The Deviljho let out another roar, and then charged the agents, running through a hail of bullets and explosives, it's eyes glowing red with a crazed anger. "H-how is it still going?!" Gesh exclaimed, looking on in horror as the Deviljho began tearing through the foliage with it's jaws, and snatching up power-armored agents and flinging them into the air. It then unleashed a blast of dragon energy directly into the midst of the agents, vaporizing grass, leaves and other bits of nature.

The hunters took this opportunity to attack the Deviljho. Moira vaulted into the air and onto it's back, where she began to repeatedly stab it with her two hunting daggers, while Gesh bashed it's legs. Nali focused on the beast's sides, pelting it with Normal shots, and Rex ran to the beast's tail. He drew his greatsword, and then reared back with it, charging the inner rockets of the blade. But far more than that, he activated the sword's true power, and a similar reddish-orange glow to the one Gesh created emerged from him and entered the sword. Then with a flash and the roar of fire, the blade came crashing down into the beast's lowered tail, completely severing the tip from the rest of the tail.

Then at this time, a tree crashed into the beast, causing it to stumble, but it still did not fall. In fact, the Deviljho didn't even seem to notice any of this, and it's attention was completely focused onto the agents with the advanced weaponry, as it desperately tried to completely obliterate them with dragon fire and rage.

[Prusselanden]

Misty Peaks
Cicero jumped back as the Devilhjo attacked the AEGIS agents. He couldn't believe it. This creature was on its last legs, and it was still determined to make one last stand? siffuced to say, he was quite impressed. However, to suffer so many injuries and still be alive, it did seem in great pain. Not wanting to prolong the fight, Cicero ran over to the Devilhjo. He aimed another kick at the area between its head and neck, hoping to put it out of its misery. As his foot made contact with it, another minor shockwave was produced that shook the branches of nearby foliage violently. If he was successful, he could sever its spine from its brain, thus, killing it painlessly.

[Slenderman The CreepyPasta King]

To Catch a King
Outset Island, Forester Cabin

Madi had grown concerned about Marcus the moment she had sent eyes on him, and being in the cabin, sitting across from him, the feeling only grew.
Something's wrong. he doesn't think I notice, but I do. I'm gonna have to get him alone at some point and try to help him.
The Witch shot Polly a look.
"No one here knows what any of that is besides me."
She turned to address everyone else.
"Study and field sciences is exactly that, you study various fields of science. Wait you even know what science is? A college is basically more schooling, you can choose to move on to college or try to find work after you leave secondary school."

Clarice could tell that Madi was having a hard time trying to simplify everything and she waved a hand.
"That's quite alright, dear, I assure you, I'm smarter than I look. On the contrary, I'm eager to learn where you come from."
Madi blinked and then motioned for Clarice to get up from her chair and follow her into the next room.
Something was off about the old woman, and, if Madi was right, Clarice had a lot of tricks up her sleeves.

---

Link was sitting next to Po, who had somehow managed to fit into the chair. The panda looked uncomfortable anyway.
"Ah....I don't usually go by the full version of my first name, I go by Link. Anyway, I'm from....here."
The boy gestured to the building all of them they were in.
Po looked all around him and then looked down at Link.
"Wait. By 'here'," Po made air quotes when he said 'Here', "Do you mean this house?"
Link nodded.
Yes. Thirteen years ago."
He turned his attention back to the woman and her strange friend.
"As to what Outset is like....Well...It feels safe....or it did...."
Link's gaze grew distant for a moment, as if he was remembering something but it went back to normal.
"I never told you of my adventures before Madi showed up, did I?"
Po shook his head.
"Nope. To be honest...I never told mine either."
Link grinned.
"I suppose I'll start then."
And with that, the Hero of Winds started to tell everyone in the room how his adventure got started....

---

Clarice walked over to her favorite chair and slowly lowered herself onto the cushion, then gestured for Madi to sit nearby.
Madi instead stayed standing and grinned.
"I know."
Clarice didn't look up as she began to knit.
"Know what, child?"
Madi held an arm out to the side and caused a book to rise into the air and shoot across the room into her waiting hand.
"That you can do some form of magic."
That caused the woman to look up and she smiled.
"How did you find out?"
Madi had opened the book and was skimming its pages and looked over the book to the old woman.
"It was easy. You know that sense you get when other magic users are near? Well, you're obviously pure blood or something..."
Clarice set down her knitting and stood up.
"Come with me. There's something I must show you."

Madi followed Clarice to the old woman's room, where Clarice opened a glass cabinet and moved things around before turning to Madi and placed something in her hands.
"I want you to have this. It was mine when I was younger but I'm not suited for this type of magic now. Take it."
It was a magic dagger, at first glance, it appeared to resemble a certain winged sword but when Madi looked closer, runes were inscribed in the blade and various metals intertwined throughout the weapon itself.
"...Where did you get this?"
Madi turned around, expecting Clarice to be nearby but the old woman was gone.
".....Damn she's fast."

---

"...I found Atlas, the turtle creature my sister is holding, and then I walked into a portal, found myself back home with everyone else, then all of you showed up, and now we're in my house." Link glanced over to Aryll, who waved back, hugged Atlas tightly and began to swing him from side to side. The Pokemon did not look happy about his current situation and tried to escape before Atlas gave in and merely glared up at the wooden ceiling.
"You can let him go now, Aryll."
The young girl stopped hugging Altas and gave her brother a 'can I keep him please' look.
"But he's soooo cute!!!"

It was then that Madi came back.
"Link, have you seen your grandmother since she left?"
Both Link and Aryll gave Madi concerned looks and Madi sighed.
"...I guess that's a no then..."
Ammy had been lying on the floor nearby Aryll, dozing but suddenly got up and bolted out of the house, barking.
The wolf returned with Clarice, who was holding a package.
"I was only gone for five minutes and this happens?"
Madi merely stared at her for a second.
"....You apperated?"
Clarice only gave Madi a knowing smile before the woman walked back to her room, everyone's gaze following her as she left.
Madi broke the silence.
"You know, I think I like her."

Naruto followed the group, asking every two minutes where he was, it was getting so bad that even his tenant yelled in Naruto's mind, "SHUT UP!!!!!" While covering its ears. The blond didn't listen. When they reached a cabin, he still didn't stop, not until his stomach rumbled.


"Ah man, after everything I forgot I haven't eaten anything but bugs for days. Got any Ramen?" Naruto changed his question.

[Menschenfleisch]

Secrets of the Raven | Kyle

The corridors of this secondary facility were almost embarrassingly garish. Each and every wall was coated in gold leaf, the ceiling was lined with jewel-encrusted supports, the carpet beneath his feet was so soft and thick that it was practically a bed mattress. Now that he was within the building he could kind of see the outside of the facility. Although most of the rooms were lined with runes, wards and infoblockers there were a few select areas which were still open to the outside elements - or rather, the outside. There was nothing out there. Just endless, opaque void. Well, if there was nothing there, there was nothing there. Why should he care? He scoffed to himself. That rhymed!

Some of the files on this computer were honestly cute. Drug trafficking? Weapons dealing? Attempted murder? He, Jackie and a whole other cast of colourful crewmates had taken down Sterling, the veritable Moriarty of the criminal world. Sterling’s weekends looked like the Fates’ entire careers. He guessed some of this was pretty impressive though, the weapons dealing especially. Two million dollars for “The Hand of the Scurrilous Prince”? Either that was a very scurrilous guy who’d pissed a lot of people off, or it was some ridiculously powerful magical artifact. Either way, he’d seen what he needed to. So many black boxes, so much stuff he wasn’t able to read. He grabbed the laptop and pulled open th- no, wait. The office was locked. How hadn’t he noticed that when he came in? He shrugged and knelt down, taking a look at the door. It was seamless, welded to the wall and impossible to open. He felt his vision collapsing, the outside world being cut off to him as the room turned more and more opaque.

He stood there in confused silence, trying the door handle one more time. The brass and gold walls loomed closer, threatening to crush him with their mere presence. Kyle’s footsteps quickly became hurried, his breath coming in shorter and faster. He looked at each of the four walls, utterly seamless and sterile plaster and alabaster, with only a few paintings embedded in their faces. He tried to pull them away but they wouldn’t budge. He took in the portraits’ contents for the first time, each and every one of them being an oiled relief of some individual dressed in red robes and a black mask, long teeth and sunken eyes seemingly staring through the canvas. The room was barren, just a long wooden desk in the middle of the room, a plush chair and four walls: a painting on three and a door on one. Something spoke to him, a deep and resentful growl.

“Look inside. I’ve left a gift for you.”

There definitely wasn’t a drawer there before. Yet, when he looked back, the desk had a single long slot in the centre, about the size of a filing cabinet and with a simple metallic handle on the front. He pushed the chair out of the way and held his hand over the handle. The inside was shielded from him, and yet he was sure there was something he should not see inside. When he looked at the edge of the cabinet pressure like ten fingers pressed on his forehead, squeezing his brain into a fleshy pulp. His eyes shivered hysterically in their sockets, pulled by invisible strings to stare at this drawer. His hand clenched until he was sure his fingers would drop off, so numb and yellow that they were. In his other hand he readied his rifle and breathed in, holding his breath and clenching his teeth until his gums were bleeding and raw. This was it. He had to see it. With one hand he ripped it open and with the other he rammed the rifle in and opened fire.

“Like what you see?”

It was her. Pristine, save for the dozens of bloody holes riddling her body. Kyle’s face didn’t so much as twitch. This wasn’t real. He knew how these things went. It was just a story, right? Just a story, like Jackie said. Her eyes flew open and she ripped herself out of the coffin, arms clutching the white metal case. Her white linens turned to thick furs and leather, a long striped scarf tumbling over the side.

“Jack?”

It caught her attention. She bored holes in his head with her furious glare and reached out, arms turning to long, porcelain claws. She scrabbled at his head, gouged out his eyes and dragged him in, locking lips and pulling him inside the case, laughing tenderly despite his pathetically inadequate resistance. Her fingers were acid, his skull turned to muck and his bleeding tongue was torn out by caustic teeth. All he could do was listen through his ears as she cooed softly and caressed his face, corroding him until he was little more than a headless, decayed torso. She pulled the helpless Kyle inside and pulled the coffin shut, locking with a vivid crunch. She whispered in his ear, the last remaining part of his head: “You did the right thing”.

He woke up and stared out of a great glass stained window. Sterling’s solarium, the place where he had died. Where he and Jack had won. But the walls were all wrong, too long and curvy, endless and spiralling. This window was enormous and so far away that he couldn’t see the top or the edges. In fact, it was just a solid horizontal boundary. He pressed his hands up against it, staring out at a tree of gears and cogwork. Steam and sparks came from the screaming, tortured lifeform, overgrown with metal and analogue machinery. It was in so, so much ecstasy. Debilitating, salacious euphoria.

“Admiring the view?”

He looked behind him, where Sterling should’ve been. The grey-suited man with a silver smile, flanked by hundreds of guards. This was meant to be the moment when Jacquelyn swung in and started firing off blasts, this was meant to be the end of Kyle’s journey. But this time it was just her, hands in pockets and head tilted. She stepped forward, stiff and mechanical. He saw her neck ticking like a clock, her eyes unfocused and milky. Her entire body gleamed like metal and she reached out with both hands, legs clanking loudly against the concrete floor. A hiss of steam escaped her mouth as her entire body began to glow a faint red, heat dripping from every surface. From inside the machine droplets of metal began to fall out, and where caring eyes should’ve been were dead sockets, steady and lifeless.

It opened its mouth, a puddle of molten iron falling from between brass teeth. Yet its voice was clear and golden, beautiful and harmonious. Nothing like Jacquelyn’s jaded grumbling.

“I like to look at the trees sometimes too. It reminds me of where you should be hanging from.”

He turned to run but on either side was more glass, hemming him inside a corridor of see-through torture. As Jackie’s doppelganger approached the glass on either side of it drooped and turned a bright yellow, sagging and falling to the floor. He turned around and slammed on the coloured window, pulling out the Astra and hitting it with its stock. Nothing happened. He turned it around and put it onto its highest setting, firing at the machine. The blast threw him backward, bruising his back and breaking some of his ribs as his arms, with nowhere to go, hit him in the chest. It came closer, looming over him now. His face was burning away, it stepped just inches away from his outstretched legs, droplets of molten metal falling upon his feet and burning through. He roared in pain and fired again and again, breaking every bone in his arms and his chest as he pulled the trigger over and over and over and over and over- until the robot disappeared and was replaced by a crater.

“What the hell are you doing here, Ky?”

He looked over at another Jacquelyn, her eyes and arms smoking as she lowered her palm. The automaton was gone, now a smear of warped gears and glowing plates scattered in a line. The glass walls that had trapped him were now on the ground, shattered into tiny pieces. His lower body was burnt and blackened, covered in solidified metallic scabs and pieces of broken clockwork. He gasped in pain and blinked through his tears, reaching out for Jack despite the pain in his arms. No part of him was intact but she was here now. He was safe. She stepped forward and grabbed him by the neck, slamming him against the wall and filling his lungs with magma as the shock rippled through his broken body.

“I said, what the fuck are you doing here, Kyle?”
“I-”

She slammed him into the wall again, putting up both hands now and squeezing his throat shut. Her entire body began to sparkle and glow, her eyes glowing like spotlights. She burnt his eyes out, guillotining his throat with two hand-shaped brands.

“The story is over! It’s finished! So WHY. WON’T. YOU. LEAVE. ME. ALONE?!”

She was breathing heavily, ragged and infuriated. He couldn’t see her but every twitch, every single breath was taken with intent. Her anger cut into him, her sheer overwhelming hatred crushing his spirit like an egg.

“Repeat after me. You are not real.”
None of this is real. I can wake up whenever I want.
“You’re not REAL.”
None of this is real, none of this is real!
“You. Are. Not. Real!”
She isn’t real, the pain isn’t real-
“You. Are, not… REAL! Just fucking DIE ALREADY!”

His body fell to the floor, bloodied and burnt. He was the size of a grape, merely a dessicated husk now. His entire body, reduced to a tiny sliver of ash. He’d been confronted with Jacquelyn’s hate and when push had come to shove, he’d crumpled like a piece of paper. But she was happy. She was smiling now.

“Good boy.”

She opened her mouth again but a different voice spoke. His, this time. He realised he was chasing after another one, staring at her from behind. He reached out with one hand, trying to reach her even though every version of her so far had done nothing but try to kill him.

“Where are you going?”

Kyle opened his eyes. She was there, standing far away and concealing her face with her scarf. She was perfect, pristine and scarred. Long lines on her face and arms, burns on her palms and legs marked all the places she’d been hurt before. The biggest one was upon her clothed chest, visible through her clothes and even on the space around her, thrumming rhythmically. Leeches and cockroaches crawled around her, staying away. She was glowing, the only light amongst a world of insects. He looked down and met the eye of a spider as tall as his knee, regarding him in the beady light. It bore its fangs and hissed before scurrying away. He waded through the ocean of vermin, reaching out toward the beacon. He knew he should’ve been panicking, staying away, doing anything but going along with this vision but his body felt murky when he tried to move them, like phantom limbs. He walked over a chitinous sea, walking for hours and hours until they started pecking at his flesh. They nibbled away his feet, his legs and his body. Then, when he was just scraps of flesh hanging onto bleached bones he reached her and turned her head, revealing the face of someone he didn’t know. Her face turned to fury. She reached out with one glowing hand and then he woke up again.

Damp walls, green stones and a man sitting on a stool, dressed in red robes and wearing an angled iron mask with deep, sunken eyes. Compared to the caliginous chamber surrounding him the man was practically glowing. Kyle stood up and reached for his rifle, hurriedly undoing the straps and baring it toward the figure. His body was perfectly still and he didn’t dare to blink. They stood there for hours, his eyes slowly drying up. Pins and spongy dust filled his sockets, shrivelling his oculi to husks. Even when his collar was stained with tears he didn’t dare close his eyes for a second. The man simply waited until he put the gun down and collapsed, retching and grabbing at his face, wiping away salt and yelling.

“This isn't real. This room, I mean. I don’t know what else you saw but I'm 70% sure none of that was real either.”

Kyle drew in ragged breaths. Fire filled his lungs and throat like he was inhaling baked sand. Gashes opened up along his arms, welling up with searing blood. He tore off his coat but the air simply drifted beneath his shirt, burning up his chest. In defiance he yelled and fired a shot at the man. The bullet passed through him and bounced around the chamber, leaving not a single scratch in the walls. The man caught the bullet between his fingers after counting thirteen ricochets and flicked it at Kyle, landing just in front of his bowed head. He looked up and gritted his teeth, unable to open his eyes in fear of feeling that pain again.

“If you’re trying to scare me, you’re doing a real bad job of it. Stop screwing around and just kill me already!”

It waited for a moment. Then it stood up.

“Again. I don’t know what you saw. I’m the senior manager of Club Midnight. Well, I’m its secretary - but I might as well be for your purposes.”
“If you’re with them, then why are you talking to me? What the fuck did I even see?”

It regarded him with something neighbouring on sympathy. Carnal sensations like pain were no longer relevant to it but it could still remember when they once were.

“I’m not exactly on the best terms with the man I’m supposed to serve. As for what you saw, well... most people who confront their greatest fears and desires find comfort in knowing what they are, at least.”

His breaths and words were ragged, punctuated by desperate gasps for air. He was drowning in his own fluids. His senses were overwhelming, like unceasing screams inside his body and ears. He curled up on the floor, suddenly very alone and afraid.

“A-and I guess… euch... I guess what I want is for her to forget about me, huh? To fucking… t-to die, forget, kill me! I didn’t want- she was someone else! How am I meant to… to save her? To save her if she doesn’t even know me? If she- if she...”

It sighed and flipped back its hood, pulling on its mask slowly. It ripped the iron visage off, apparently burnt onto its face. It revealed a bare face covered in blood and flesh, dozens of solid black marble-like eyes haphazardly embedded within its face. Like chocolate chips stuck in a soft red cookie.

“I don’t know. I don’t share your eyes but I’ve seen enough to know that you’re confused. Take the mask and give it to your friend. I’m sure she can make good use of it. But please, Kyle. Take care of yourself. The Archons’ messengers are rarely so kind when they infest others’ dreams.”

Kyle was still able to talk, even though his body felt like it was on fire. His chest was glowing, a single hand print on it beaming like a star. The walls began to peel away and the figure’s robes began to steam. Its eyes had no pupils and yet he could tell they were staring at the burning scar, rather than Kyle’s face.

“But… why? Wh- what do they want? Why are they doing this?”

It looked up at him again and its shoulders sagged.

“I’m not sure. Their language is tricky. I think… I think they’re amused.”

The world was well and truly gone now. As the floor melted away the thing’s robes draped further, falling into the endless white below them both. It was like a pillar now, a long red pillar with only an end and no beginning.

“Or maybe they’re afraid. No, that can’t be right. Archons aren’t afraid of anything!”

He tried to open his mouth but light came out instead.

And then he blinked. A light was shining in his eye, scalding hot and painfully bright. He screamed and turned away, yelling and trying to wipe his eyes. His hands wouldn’t move.

“Jesus! Put the flashlight away! Okay, it looks like he’s awake. Damn, why didn’t the memetic attack work? Don, did you fuck up again?”
“Hey, wasn’t anything on my end. It looks like something saved him from the attack and inserted a different, nonlethal one in its place. I think our meme got replaced when he pulled out his gun.”
“Ah, figures. We don’t even know what he saw. Megan, can you check the sigil? Don’t want him getting away.”

He took in the scene. Two men and a woman standing around him in some kind of basement. It felt real. He was back in control of his words and his actions. Yet, he still couldn’t move. His body was held down by something between a fifty quintillion ton force and an invisible pair of hands holding his limbs down gently, whispering in his ear and telling him to give in. He was neither able to summon the will to resist, nor able to move his body enough to do so. Looked like whoever trapped him had planned this out pretty thoroughly. A bold looking man with a gas mask on knelt in front of him, holding a pistol in one hand and a needle full of yellow fluid in the other. He leaned in, cold eyes visible behind the black panels on his face.

“Look, I appreciate the effort, coming out all the way here. But you messed with the wrong dudes. Now hold still. This nifty little contraption here'll keep your eyes from doing the nasty stuff our guys have been telling us about. Cool, eh?”

He held up the needle and slowly pushed through Kyle’s lower eyelid, just below his iris. He felt cold metal slide under the most sensitive organ in his entire body. He couldn’t even twitch, couldn’t control his own breathing. It was the worst kind of pain, being unable to even express it. He was trapped in his own body again, trapped inside a vessel that did nothing but anchor him to the pain.

“Your friends are in for a big surprise when we drag you in.”
“Todd! Shut up and get moving!”
“Yeah, yeah.”

He patted him on the head.

“Now, lie down and get some sleep. You’re going to need it, where you’re going.”

The last thing he saw was the bottom of a boot.

L-Fel | Cassia

Cassia walked into the officer’s office (ba dum tss) and pulled out a seat, sitting down carefully and regarding the room. Julian seemed quite wary of her, which was understandable. She knew that not many universes had such eccentric personalities, nor such personable impersonations- no, wait… interpretations? Incarnations, of death. Yes, that’s the word. She laughed and tapped her head. Silly souls! Didn’t they realise their personal choices of vocabulary were irrelevant? Cassia was a bona fide reaper and that was that. Oh, what was that? A couple of them were raising a ruckus, trying to make themselves heard above all the others. She shut off that section of her brain and kept talking, ever so slightly miffed that the very lives she’d preserved were giving her such trouble.

“Well then, now that I’ve taken a seat, why don’t you lay down the information we already have? I’ll do my best to help but there’s no guarantee I’ll be any more useful than Ms. Yamada. I haven’t really been to this universe before, so I can’t say I know much about it or anyone within it.”

To Catch a King | Avenoir and Mnemosyne

Polly was supposed to be fascinated with the stories that were being told, considering her job, but honestly she seemed to be completely apathetic toward the life stories that were being regurgitated at her in the moment. Marcus thought so, at least. Come to think of it, the only times she seemed to be anything but bored were the moments in which she got to have a one-on-one snark battle with somebody else. Her enthusiasm for menial tasks was also far greater than what he’d expect; especially since she’d supposedly been doing the same things over and over for the past few years of her career. He sighed and rubbed his temples. When would this end? This irritating, if not frustrating game of cat-and-mouse with his memory? Everyone around him was sure of who they were and yet he couldn’t even remember his original name. He’d only decided to borrow one from the slates he’d found on that planet. What had he been doing down there? How long had he stayed? Did he even have a life to remember? No answers were forthcoming.

“I think I’m going to get some air.”
“‘Kay. See you in a bit then, Marc.”

He pushed open the wooden door, swinging on its rusty hinges and piercing his thoughts with a loud squeal. The sound of lapping waves and the smell of wet sand assaulted his senses. Any other person would’ve thought this island was a temperate paradise, isolated from the rest of the world, lush and clean. Yet to him it felt claustrophobic and irrelevant. He wanted to go back, wanted to read those slates until he understood. Maybe he already had. Maybe he’d stayed on that planet until the sands had buried him in stone. He shuddered and clutched his body, even though he felt very warm. That glimpse of his past from earlier, that… vision, for lack of a better word, was like a spear through his amnesia. It poked a hole in his blindfold. But all he could bear to remember was the name Mnemosyne, and that scene under the willow tree. Golden leaves in autumn, green grass lining a crystalline river’s shore. Birdsong filled his ears and for a moment he thought it was in the vision but when he looked up he realised it was real. A little blue bird stood on a seaside rock, regarding him with frigid eyes. It stopped singing, and flew away. For some reason seeing it fly made him feel very nostalgic, as if there was something about it he instinctively remembered.

“Wish I could be that free,” he whispered.

Marcus sat down outside the house and pulled his knees up to his chest, watching the sun reflect off the grass. He was restless but undirected. He needed something to do. He toyed with the dirt, burying his finger between the moist granules and waiting for something to happen.

[Skylus]

To Catch a King
Madi
Outset Island (night)
(Before entering the house)
Madi rolled her eyes.
"No. We are in the 18th century, they do not have ramen."

---

Madi turned around and spotted Miria heading towards her.
"Hi."
She grinned at being called a human.
"Well, I am human but I'm also a witch. You know, does magic?"
She felt a bit uncomfortable about being bowed to.
"Do you really have to bow at people? I mean if it's a custom, that's one thing but....Never mind."
Madi saw Marcus sitting on the steps to the house and half turned towards him,
"Actually....Sorry to cut this short, I'll be back, but something's off abut him...."
She left the servant and walked over to Marcus and sat down next to him.
"Hi Marcus. I couldn't help but notice that..well....Are you having memory problems? I can help you with that."

"I'm not- well, fine. Okay, I guess you're as good as anybody to talk to. Just don't go blabbing this around, okay? Yes, I have... problems. I can't remember anything further than a week back, when Polly found me on some barren planet. Dunno what I was doing there, so don't ask me."

Madi nodded.
"That's fine. Can you remember anything at all? Any details you tell me will help in the long run, no matter how crazy they might seem to you."

"I know a girl. She's Mnemosyne, it's a weird name but I'm certain that's what she was called. I think I promised to remember. To... preserve her memory. But I guess I failed, and I forgot. I don't know why I made that oath."
"The one thing I remember for certain came to me earlier, back when we were telling our stories. I remembered... us. Both of us, me and Nemmy- I think that's what I called her - sitting underneath a big willow tree with these huge leaves that dangled over our heads. We ate chocolate together. We were eight years old at the time, I think."

"You were friends?"

"Yeah. At least, we were. I think we must've known each other really well, once upon a time. But now I can't even remember her last name."

Madi nodded.
"Okay. Anything else?"

"The planet I woke up on, the one where Polly found me. There were runes and words scrawled everywhere, with names and words I recognized. A lot of them were "Mnemosyne" and "Avenoir". Do you think Avenoir might be me? I'm sorry to already be asking questions, but I don't remember anything else."

Madi thought about it.
"It's possible. And it's good to be asking questions."
She turned to face Marcus and raised her hands a bit.
"I'm going to use Legilimency on you. It's a mind spell that allows the caster to look into the mind of the one affected. Are you okay with this?"

"Yeah, sure. Go ahead. It's not as if I can get any crazier, right? haha..."

Madi smiled, placed her hands on either side of the man's head, closed her eyes, and said the spell.

---

He opened his eyes. There was a forest. Something smelled wonderful. Petunias and roses in spring.
A girl waved at him from the trees, laughing and holding a basket with a little bit of cloth draped over it. He raised his arm and smiled, running after her.
They wandered deep into the woods, gathering mushrooms and flowers. They were going to make a good stew tonight, right? She beamed at him and said that they were going to make the best stew tonight, the greatest one they'd ever tasted. He gave her a thumbs up and went back to gathering.
They came across a lonesome river, cutting through the woods like a spear. The water was clear and dappled with sunlight, filled with tiny fish. The girl suggested that they should wade through, since the other side looked like it had some really pretty flowers.
They walked through the stream, feeling the current tug at their legs. When they got to the other side she sat down in the grass and started picking bright yellow petaled stems from the ground. Instead of joining her he looked deeper into the woods, which were completely dark.
He saw eyes. Cold and determined eyes.
A rich and resentful voice echoed: "That's not how it went, you coward."
But then he woke up.

Madi opened her eyes and saw Marcus looking back at her with a strange expression.
".....Who was that? it wasn't you or the girl....That's worrisome.....Do you want to try to remember what really happened?"

He blinked, eyes wide as a startled deer. He remembered the scene like it had just happened but that voice... he had already forgotten it. He knew what it said, but he forgot what it had sounded like. So much anger, so much hatred that he didn't know what to say.
"I-" he began, but no more words wanted to come out.
"No. Don't do that again. I think... I think I need more time to think."

"....That's fine. I need to think as well, that voice.....It wasn't good....It's not supposed to be there, I think someone placed some sort of memory charm on you, some kind of spell that is forcing you not to remember...If I can just break it...."

"Well, if you can break it I'd be thankful but I think I'm tuckered out for today. Thanks, Madi. You've done a lot to help."
Marcus stood up, looking out toward the ocean.
"If you're willing, I think I might want to do this again some time. Perhaps you can even break the spell."

Madi stood up as well and glanced towards Marcus.
"Yeah. I want to help you. Someone that didn't like you or like what you did did this to you and I'm going to set things right. First. I'm going to break that memory spell, then, I'm gonna help you get your memories back, then, I'm gonna find whoever did this to you and give them a piece of my mind."

He smiled at her.
"Well... thanks, I guess!"
Marcus picked himself up, dusted himself off and silently walked away, breathing heavily under his breath. When he had heard that voice it had nearly crushed him, like the pressure of a thousand thoughts squeezing into his mindspace all at once. He had to find a way to communicate with it, find a way to 'trigger' another vision. If he was going to learn about his past life, if not to reclaim it then only to understand; then he had to do it on his own terms, without waiting for it to come back on its own. He clenched his fist and looked up at the sky, taking in the vast expanse of stars.
"I'll remember you, Nem. I'll fulfil my promise, even if it costs me my mind."

Madi watched Marcus walk off by himself and stood there, musing about the voice she had heard. It had been powerful, full of power, resentment, hate....Whatever it was, it wasn't good.
I might kill myself if I help him. Something dark attacked him, did this to him. I am going to help him though, it's the least I can do.
She rememberd that Miria was waiting on her and the witch made her way back to the servant.
"I'm back. Now then, about my crystal?"

[Naval Monte]

Secrets of the Raven

As Elizabeth gave Remy the lie that she was a friend of the Kents who was giving them a tour of the town while they stayed she felt a spike of power enter the room. "Shit did the Fates set up a trap or is the cult that brazen to attack in Fate territory?" the mage panicked as she looked at to the entrance of the dance room. Instead of seeing s group of mages or some powerful creature she found a lone witch, one whose power was enough to let anyone who can sense her magic that she was a master of the craft. "But why does it feel off?"

Elizabeth saw that some people saw the woman and even one man, no doubt drunk, began to approach her. Knowing that if she doesn't step in something awful will happen Elizabeth quickly finished her drink. "Sorry but I have to go somewhere for a bit. I will be back shortly." Elizabeth got up and ran towards Zelena. The man known as Remy saw Elizabeth ran off and soon turn his attention back to the Kents. "I take it she isn't the type to stand still for too long right?" He asked. "Still your friend is quite the looker, just like you Skylar." The man smirked as he complemented Skylar.

Just as the man was beginning to hit on the witch Elizabeth would push the man away from Zelena. Do to his highly intoxicated state the man stumbled and fell face first on the floor, moaning in pain before getting up on his hands and knees and proceed to vomit. "How charming." Elizabeth said in a deadpan tone. Turning her attention back to Zelena she put her right hand on her hip.

"So what's with the dramatic entrance love? You know it is bad form to show off magic publicly yo the muggles right?" She told the witch. She knew that with her luck this witch most likely came from another world and as such doesn't know the rules on this world. "Which is just great. I'm babysitting more straddles taken from their home world. I might as well make a new business if this is going to be something that is going to happen in my life now."

In the other parts of the club the man that began to harass Haruka was spotted by the guards and as they came down from the second level they approached the spot where the group of foreigners use to be. "You shouldn't have done that asshole." One guard said as the two others began to drag the man out to the back, where he will be thrown out of the building. As the group began to go somewhere quiet they were being followed by a woman in a red dress. In the dance floor Jackie was also being watched and followed by another person, only they were hidden by the crowd.

---

---

As the monster began to charge to the agents some manage to dodge in time but one was not fortunate enough as while he dodged the jaws they were crushed to death by the Deviljho's foot. The armor from the those with power armor saved those who had armor protecting vital spots; others were not as fortune due to them just having the metal frame and ballistic vests to protect them and as such the teeth of the monster skewed them alive, their bodies falling on the ground with a heavy thump, most died when they landed but a few cried out in pain.

The agents fired at by the dragon blast were vaporized as the energy attack came too quickly for them to react, only three Reavers were close by the blast survived by the shockwave sent them flying. Yet the deaths of so many of their own seem to embolden the survivors as their attacks grew more voracious as a new stream of bullets and explosives began to hit the monster, worse still for it the power armor trooper with the laser weapon was still around and they kept firing their laser at them. A group of large rover robots enter the fight and while most fires conventional bullets and explosives, one firing rockets at the Deviljho. Others came with less conventional weapons. One fired rounds from an electromagnetic coilgun and another fired a high energy laser beam. Another river fired bolts of plasma from it's railgun and a few drones that flew into the fight began to fire both streams of electricity and electrolasers at the monster.

One of the power armored agents, then being Faust from Hex's squad, aim a ghost thrower at the monster. From the nuzzle white flames spewed out from the thrower, a terrible wail coming from the device. Faust can hear the heart within the machine beating as fast as her own heart. Another agent open the peels of a strange black object, unleashing a stream of screaming souls at the Deviljho. Other agents fired aetheric rounds to damage the monster's spirit.

The monster was also assaulted by the wails of possessed speakers that brought about intense physical and psychological pain to it. Other agents began to chant in strange languages and perform strange gestures as they followed instructions from their tablets, the machine sometimes assisting as a mechanical voice could be heard from it. Others ran back and began to perform rituals to cast spells against the monster, a few summoned spirits who went inside the monster and began to attack it from within.

Hex kept firing from her pulse rifle as her team began to slowly converge together as they kept firing their weapons, with Jinx as the sole exception as she used her tablet to control the drones to fight against the monster.

[Prusselanden]

L-Fel
"Yes." The chief sat down in his chair.

"Well you see, the reason is, Ms. Yamada was called here because she is one of the only people who can help us solve this." he exhaled. "Ms. Yamada, we need you to help us find the headquarters of L-Fel labs."

Julian's face suddenly paled as she squeezed her hands together tightly. "Wh-what do you mean? I thought we raided-I thought we raided their location."

"Yes, but remember how the remaining members slipped away in the raid? And there are recent reports of rogue, berserker human experiments wreaking havoc around the nation. Traces of Ubermensch-01 were found on them. L-Fel is still in business. However, no one knows where, or how. That's why we need you to investigate. You're the only sane witness we have right now."

"I...I don't know...." Julian looked down, clutching her shirt and squeezing her eyes shut.

"You are our only hope. You do also want to save as much people as we can, don't you?"

Julian exhaled sharply.

"I will try."

"Good. Be sure to pack some stuff. You'll be travelling quite a bit."

[Rostavykhan]

To Catch A King
Outset Island

Miria nodded. "The Crystal. Shall we observe it?", She asked again; she'd been somewhat annoyed by having to wait longer to take a crack at testing them, but she was just happy to get down to business, so she let it slide. "If you are familiar with these gems, then you are familiar with this?", She followed up her previous question, as she reached for her belt again. A pouch snapped open, and from it Miria pulled something resembling a knife; it was more of a stiletto or a pick, long, yet thin, chiseled from another type of stone, and gleaming a deep red in the moonlight.

She tapped the blade several times to her own crystal, watching it closely. The blade of the red knife, strangely enough, produced the softest glow where it had met her crystal, thought the light quickly faded, much to Miria's annoyance. She then quickly spun the knife in her hand, and pointed it towards Madi, handle towards her to grab. "This should light up when in contact with magical energy. I don't know just how similar yours is, though. Mine is useless now."

Something else crossed Miria's mind, which she quickly followed up with. "You said that your stone can only be used in certain places?"

[Skylus]

Madi
To Catch a King
Outset Island

Madi slowly reached out and took the dagger from Miria. It was powerful, very powerful, whatever this weapon had some form of magic property to it. Miria's crystal seemed to be out of power but hopefully Madi's was still alright...
Madi took off her necklace and held the crystal near the dagger. The dagger lit up and Madi could have sworn the thing was actually humming.
"Huh....Interesting."
She raised her gaze from the knife/dagger to the woman before her.
"Yeah. I use the Time-Stones with this crystal, the Time-Stones are a circle of flat stones, thirteen in all, laid out in a circle formation. There's 10 stones that surround the inner circle, wards, I guess."
Madi raised her gaze to the forest high on the cliff above them.
"....Maybe there's a set in that forest...."
The teenager looked down at the dagger and then back up at Miria.
"Do you want this back?"

[Menschenfleisch]

The Forbidden Act | Avarice

Ava watched as the creature continued its rampage. It looked tired and pitiful, even by the standards of other wounded creatures. A funny thing happens when someone thinks they're going to die. They stop, seize up, go limp. They accept what's about to happen and try not to make the transition to nonexistence too inconvenient for themselves. Perhaps they spent those moments coming to terms, or maybe it was simply the paralysing cocktail of emotions that preceded someone's final end. Whatever the case, this injured and desperate thing refused to go down. It stumbled on rocks and tried to breathe through bloodied nostrils, practically choking on its own blood. Its desperation was just about the only thing keeping it going now, exceeding even its own pain. She found something about that curious. Not awesome, not tragic, just very, very interesting. Or so she would've, had it been just days ago.

Now? She watched as the specimen ran through the trees, not running from its enemy but instead thrashing against the inevitability of loss. That deep, overwhelming instinct to survive, to win, no matter how illogical was something she did not have. And things she did not have which others did, she found admirable. The thing she was talking about was not the Deviljho, oh no. That thing was a spectacle, but one that she found all too pedestrian. After all, the deific bastard of flesh and rage was something she'd once been. Instead, she found the actions of those fighting the beast to be the most interesting. The most sacrificial and commendable. Those soldiers, she'd seen fear in their eyes. Fear that drove them to shoot her, yes, but a terror nonetheless. They were facing it alone, without the clarity of anger, the assistance of pure logicality or the certainty of victory. These were small things struggling against a superior other. She saw herself in the Devil and her prey in the meek. And she chose her side.

Avery stood up and erupted. She simply disappeared, the ground where she'd formerly been standing exploding into a hail of shrapnel and boulders. The soil beneath her heaved as she appeared in front of some AEGIS soldier, catching the Deviljho's snapping jaws on her forearm and parrying the blow. Her arms, nay, her entire body flew apart in a spectacular shower of gore, yet the impact was enough to completely arrest the crushing blow the Deviljho had hoped to deliver. She formed herself again and turned around, grabbing the soldier by the back of his neck and bringing him to the other end of the battlefield. From head to toe her body was covered in dust and shards of bone peeking out from underneath her skin. The only thing keeping her alive now was pure, unadulterated emotion. Avarice was putting out her own concepts, learning to interface with anything other than hunger. And now, the one emotion she emitted more than anything else, like a star, was protectiveness.

"Come on, man. Don't let yourself get into a situation like that. You're bleeding, and you've taken some bad burns. Stay here, the fight will be over soon."

She stood up again, visibly shaking to maintain coherence. Her entire body was shuddering and glitching in and out of reality, leaving spatial scars wherever she walked. Mirages of her body, snapshots of her past, present and future were visible in the air around her, blurring her outline and making it near impossible to look at her directly. But her eyes burned through the haze, blazing red and unmoving. She disappeared again. Her face went in all directions, looking for those in danger. There! A man missing a limb, sheared off by a claw. She grabbed him and leapt over to the other soldier, propping her cargo against a stone and ripping a chunk off her regenerating jacket, wrapping it around his arm like a tourniquet.

"Hold on. You'll be fine. Your friend can take care of you, right?"

Again and again.

"Your life's not in danger, you know these people better than me. Keep them safe while I fetch more."
"I'm sorry, I can't help with the pain but the others should be able to take care of you better than me."
"Don't worry about who I am. Just stay alive."

She returned to the fray, the battle almost over and saw a man, falling over, one side of his body enveloped in flame. Not good. She took him to the other and laid him down, watching as his cauterised flesh sizzled on the dirt. She had to save him, had to preserve his life. If it was one life against another, she had to do this, save his life. The two others, the soldiers she'd preserved already, would live, albeit maimed. Was it fair for them to live with their injuries, when no matter what she suffered, Ava could always come back? No, it clearly wasn't. Her life, to save this man's. She closed her eyes and reached out, trying to tear his death away. She tried to bind his life to him, anything to save him. Reality itself curved away like a parabola, turning her into a sheer singularity of impossibility. Physics became little more than a meek suggestion, natural laws were made irrelevant in her tiny locale of controlled chaos. The battle with the Jho was over, so why was this tiny, insignificant insect's life so much harder to save than the monster's life was to take!? Sanity peeled away, and the man died even as she thrashed against the inevitability she had dismissed moments before.

And the man died.

"..."

Avarice learned failure.

"Damn. Guess it didn't work."

And following the revelation that she hadn't learned sadness nor anger yet, Avarice fell to the ground and retched, the faintest hint of blood poking out from the corner of her mouth. Her regenerative energies were nearly spent, the matter within her exhausted. Her physical abilities were frail and barely enough to hold her body up, the heat death of the worlds she'd eaten already realised. And her conceptual batteries were up, utterly empty. Right then and there, she truly was no more than a weak and harmless human. Perhaps even less.

She looked up and on, as the Deviljho fell.

To Catch a King | Avenoir and Mnemosyne

Marcus stood, watching the waves come in and out. He'd long since stopped keeping track of where the tide was, but the smell of salt only seemed to grow stronger with time. The sky seemed to beckon to him, shimmering and elusive. Every time he saw something far away, something infinite he felt that he had to escape into it. To dive into endless waters and free himself from the stinging touch of air. To fly into endless emptiness and unchain himself from the tether of attraction. Polly sighed and approached from behind, gliding across the ground gently and silently.

"Hey. I'm sorry about earlier."

He stiffened instinctively. He whirled around and stopped just short of punching Polly in the face; luckily arresting his motion before he clocked his patron and most trusted companion in the face. She squinted at him and pushed his arm away, waving her hand dismissively and shrugging. She seemed rather bored after a night of stories. The bags under her eyes were more pronounced and a thick melancholy hung over the both of them. She couldn't quite tell what was wrong with Marcus but she could certainly guess that being here had something to do with it. Perhaps it was time for a walk?

"Jesus, Pol. Don't scare me like that. Sorry? What for?"
"Hmm? Nothing. Y'know, you might want to take a break. It isn't healthy to just stand around all the time, you know? I'm kind of... well, I'm worried that you're acting all sorts of weird lately."
"Ha! well, you've known me for about a week now, right? No need to start making judgements already. Who knows? Maybe I was- maybe; ah fuck it. Yeah, something's bothering me but I don't want to talk about it."

She gave him the wry, dry smile she often did when she called bullshit. Marc was obviously losing it over here but to be frank, she trusted in his ability to handle it. It'd been less than a month since his traumatic reawakening after god-knows-how-long, giving the man a chance was the least she could do. And more importantly, the most she could be bothered to do. He was endearing in his own sort of helpless, confused way but it didn't score him any points in the usefulness department. But she knew to respect his boundaries. If this guy, who literally only had her as far as memories went didn't want to talk about something, she knew better than to pry. Respect others like you'd want to respected and whatnot.

"Well tell me when you're done not-talking-about-it. My ear's always open."
"But if you just follow me, I can show you what really happened back there."
"Huh?"
"I said I'm here to listen to you ramble. Now go on, scamp. Take a walk."

Marcus stared blankly at Polly's back as she walked away, long ribbons of metallic fluid lazily spinning behind her, creating intricate webs of glistening grey goo. In the pattern he saw endless, totally meaningless tidbits of information. A hand reached out of the spiral and grasped him by the shoulder, pulling him and turning him around and around until he came face to face with something very, very forgettable. In the skies above him the yellow moon bled turquoise ichor over the icing, turning black furniture into wild bats which-

"I'm sorry but who are you? And can you stop messing with my head?"

The hallucinations vanished. He forget its face.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to do that. But hi! Sorry about earlier but when you started remembering, I just felt so weirdly angry. Like what you were seeing was offensive to me. I don't remember why, though."
"So that was you? Nevermind. if you aren't holding any hard feelings then I won't either. You kind of sound like Polly. Hang on, what do you sound like again? Agh, the memories just keep slipping...! Who are you?"
"Well, the truth is I can't remember either. I'm just as clueless as you are! But you get to control the body so I guess you've got a lot more going for you."

Marcus looked down at his forearm and clenched his fist, noticing the muscles tensing up in his wrist. Yes. He'd certainly gotten the better end of the stick. Now who was this strange voice speaking inside his head? If they were telling the truth, which was all that he could assume for now, then by all accounts they should be even more scared and confused than him. It was easy to feel for a disembodied voice for some reason, like they were an old friend. Perhaps they were, though he couldn't remember them. It should've been a shock to hear someone inside his head but for some reason it felt natural, almost intuitive to have a second speaker in his own mental dialogue.

"Yeah. Well, why are you talking to me now? Was there something you wanted?"

No response. He forgot who they were, what they sounded like. All that remained was a faint recollection of some kind of entity in their head, speaking words they couldn't remember now. He clutched his temples and stumbled backward, nearly tripping on a piece of loose wood. Yeah, maybe taking a walk would be good for him. Listen to Polly, after all. She knows what she's doing. Marcus trudged shakily to where Madi was, talking with the "vampire" from earlier. Miria, right? The genetically-modified-race-girl. He'd heard enough of their conversation to know where they were going next.

"So, can I tag along with you? I think I might need to talk a walk, air out my thoughts. Hope it's fine with you two."

Polly watched from high above them, on top of a little spire of shoreline rock. She put down her binoculars and shimmied back over the cliff face, having drifted up to the precipice with little more than a thought. What a guy that Marcus was turning out to be, right? She'd have to keep an eye on him, make sure he didn't get into trouble walking into woods with strangers and standing still for ages at a time. She flipped through her psych handbook again, skimming it for anything that might relate to him besides vague instructions like "try not to startle the patient" and "don't antagonise them when you are speaking". Real helpful advice, eh? She pulled up her coat and flew away from the edge, prepared for a long night of either boring surveillance or unparalleled shenanigans. She hoped it'd be the latter, in her own morbid way.

"Well, Pol, you sure know how to pick 'em. Just try not to screw this one up too, okay?"

L-Fel | Cassia

Cass sat by as the two people in front of him hurried the hours away, talking about things that he honestly had no context for. Though, he admitted, he could certainly infer what they were trying to say. Pronoun game much? Ah well. He could work with the little info he had, even if it would make acting competently pretty much an impossibility.

"So, you're saying some kinda org called L-Fel's been pumping "super men" serum into other guys? I mean, come on. If you need her to find their base, shouldn't you already know where it is slash was? You just said you raided it! Unless it's changed location, of course. Ah, who am I kidding? Of course it has, no sane person would build over their own ruins."

He explosively rose from the chair, gripping both armrests and flinging his torso into an upright position. Extending a finger toward Julian he smirked and leaned his head toward the woman, clearly enthusiastic about the upcoming ordeal.

"So you mentioned something about crazy superhumans rampaging throughout the country? I assume that's where we're going first."

[Saint Morning]

Secret of the Raven

Zelena’s posture straightened as she eyed the newcomer and her hands, which had rose in preparation of snapping the neck of fool who had staggered up to her upon entry, lowered. What struck her first was the manner in which the young woman spoke to her, without fear or trepidation for what she could do to her, emphasising that she was indeed in a realm quite far away from her own. Though really if she was trapped her for the time being it would only be a matter of time before this realm learnt to fear the Wicked Witch.

“I’m afraid that’s none of your concern dearie.” She said. Hands on hip and chin raised. She had no idea what a muggle was nor did she care to learn. She most certainly couldn’t give a rat’s arse on whatever kind of convoluted rules this world had enforced either, having no intention of prolonging her stay more than necessary

“If you thought that little entrance was alarming I’m afraid that I won’t be able to take your realms witches seriously” She said. Brow rising in contempt.

[Naval Monte]

Secrets of the Raven
Branhwrn, Club Midnight

Elizabeth was slightly put off by the haughty attitude of the witch before her but she was use to people like her to be bothered too much. "But right now is a bad time for me to deal with someone like this." the witch had to think on how to get the woman to realize that there are consequences for showing off obvious magic like that in public.

"That little trick isn't alarming dear, but it was a nice way on getting every mage in here to know your here. No the issue here love is that most mages don't like it when other mages use their magic in their domain unless they allowed others to do so." She told the witch as she looked at her with contempt. She lean close and whispered. "Also we are a paranoid and territorial lot and if you don't want someone cursing you I suggest keeping your mojo to yourself while in here. Because right now you are in a den of wolves." The chaos magician warned as she pulled back.

Unfortunately for Elizabeth's warning someone already casted a curse, it was known other but the infamous Wrack curse. A curse notorious for making the victim experience agonizing and debilitating pain as their muscle spasm and contract uncontrollably and the victim convulse on the floor as blood and ichor leaks out of their orifices, blinding the victim in their own blood and making hearing and smelling difficult for them as well. If Zelena can sense magic she would have looked up at the upper floor to find the one who cast it and found a man turning his back as went into the crowd.

Elizabeth saw a barrier of pure arcane energy briefly appear as a smokey sludge of black and maroon hit the barrier and splashed around it. "Now I can see why you feel confident in making an entrance like that, you protected yourself from any spells any mage might throw at you." Elizabeth looked at the pendant. "I take it that fetish there is the source of your protection right?" She asked as she cross her arms in front of her chest. "So got a name love? I might have heard of you if you can conjure a ward that powerful."

As Elizabeth was beginning to think on what was the scope of Zelena's powers she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on ends as she looked up, finding a black smoke hanging above them. The smell of sulfur, blood, rotten meat, burnt metal, and boiling chemicals were all that told her what that smoke really was, it was a demon. "Oh shit." She accidently said out loud; Elizabeth was alarmed not by the demon's presence but by how powerful it was. Elizabeth look back at Zelena. "I can tell you're not the type to leave but you need to get out now before..." Elizabeth tried to finish but she felt a force tighten around her neck as she began to choke. Holding on to her neck and trying to breath she saw the smoke go down towards Zelena in order to possess her

[Prusselanden]

L-Fel
"Yes, we suspect that the L-Fel we swept was only one branch of a huge organization. After a few minutes of raiding it, however, the building caught fire and burned to the ground. Our law enforcement did not have enough time to gather evidence of the crime scene-the fire destroyed it all."

"So, Julian, Cassius. Your first location will be the most recent sighting of a Ubermensch-01 afflicted person. Carlisle, Iowa, 50047."

"Wait, we're doing this now? Not looking at any material evidence first? R-really?" Julian stuttered.

"It's probably the quickest way to get a lead. Plus, all the material leads were destroyed in the fire. Now...Next plane to Des Moines is tommorow at 1:00 PM. We've got a ticket for you here-" He handed Jules a package. "-and a train pass. Use your time wisely, Ms. Yamada. Alemayahu's coming with you, meeting you at the airport tommorow."

The detective nodded at Jules.

"....Come on, Cassius." Julian smiled uneasily as she walked to the door. "Thank you, Chief."

"No problem."

Julian walked out of the station, breathing in the crisp, fall air. She buried her head in her hands. "Ugh, how am I gonna do this?"

[Menschenfleisch]

L-Fel | Cassia

So! This was it, then. The beginning of a journey and whatnot. Cassius was slow to walk out, despite his earlier energy. No time like the present to have some leisure, right? They were going to be facing "ubermensch" soon enough. An airport, though? He'd had a lot of experience with vehicles recently, none of them very good. Then again, they'd been exceptionally fun, so who was he to complain? Carlisle, Iowa. He'd heard that name before, a faint creeping feeling of familiarity that often came across him when one of the minds within his body recognised something he'd heard. A city, and a small one at that. Strange that he'd somehow come across a soul who'd lived there but a pleasant one nonetheless.

He smiled at Julian and nodded at the package she was holding. Tickets, no doubt for the two of them. And if not, well, he could probably duplicate a couple of bills as a stopgap. No need to start forging money just yet though, especially when in the presence of the police. She did seem rather overwhelmed by the task though, the wary smile falling off her face as soon as she left the room. Anxiety. He was all too familiar with the feeling.

"Well, we have the tickets and the means. Why don't we head to the rampaging subject first? I'm sure the investigator didn't send us out on a wild goose chase. If the organisation behind this is injecting random people with solutions such as the one our friend mentioned earlier, I'm sure they'll be watching the aftereffects. We should find the rampaging human and search for anyone paying a bit too much attention to them. Then, we'll have ourselves a source of information. How does that sound?"

[Prusselanden]

L-Fel
Julian turned to Cassius.

"Our flight leaves tommorow, which would mean we'll have to wait until tommorow to go to the Airport and go on our flight. Meanwhile...." She looked at Cassius and sighed. "Looks like you'll be spending the night at my place. Come on." She gestured to him as she started to make her way to her house.

[Brusia]

The Shape of the Nightmare to Come
Martius, Maverick, Nalora, and Arven
Line Okinawa

As the Azerions announced their intention to help cover the Republic forces, Martius replied: "Thank you, your assistance is most appreciated." Then proceeded to order: "All fighters, screen for the bomber squadrons and maintain loose formations; those planetkillers may not have point defense weaponry but we still don't want to make ourselves a target for any larger weapon batteries. ARC squadrons, remain behind the other fighter squadrons and provide a secondary screen for the bombers; as you approach the targets use your torpedoes to grab their attention and give our bombers a clear shot. Once the targets are down, all craft are to return to the fleet immediately to provide them additional cover. Understood?"

After the clone pilots replied: "Sir, yes sir!" in unison, the Jedi barreled towards the Swarm fighters along with his allies and laid into the enemy craft with everything he had to keep the bombers safe. With the aid of the Azerions, the experienced pilots rapidly cleaved their way through the enemy Swarm fighters and towards their objective, soon nearing the first of the planetkillers. As the planetkiller entered into targeting range, the clone pilots executed their orders with the flawless precision Martius had come to expect from his men, and as the creature turned to engage the ARC-170s, it found itself faced with a squadron of Y-wings firing proton bombs directly down its throat. The impact was just as Admiral Sorkaya had described, and as the chain reaction reached the creature's brain it slumped over and drifted aimlessly through the vacuum of space. Cheering could be heard over the comms at the sight, prompting Maverick to state: "Stow it men, we've still got three more of those things to go."

Fortunately the next two would go down in much the same way as the first, but as the bombers unleashed their payload on the fourth planetkiller it turned away, causing the bombs to impact with little effect against its armored exterior.

"Great" Maverick stated "Looks like they've finally figured us out. Guess we'll have to do this the hard way than."

Agreeing with his XO's assessment, Martius contacted the last still-armed Y-wing squadron and asked: "Thranta Squadron, can you get a firing solution on the target?"

"Negative General" the squadron leader replied "That thing keeps turning its head as soon as it sees us approach."

After looking out his cockpit for a moment to size up the situation, Martius devised a plan and asked his astromech: "07, have you brought our latest modifications online yet?"

When the droid beeped in the affirmative, Martius replied: "Excellent, stand by to deploy on my order." He then reopened the comm to the rest of the fighters and ordered: "All craft, return to the fleet immediately and do what you can to make it appear as though you're in retreat; I believe I have an idea."

By now Martius' men were accustomed enough to his unorthodox tactics that they simply replied: "Understood" and carried out their orders, while Maverick opened a closed channel to the Jedi and asked: "What do you need me to do General?"

"Cover the fighters as they return to the fleet, I can take this from here."

Maverick too knew Martius well enough to know that the Jedi was only giving that order to protect him, and promptly replied: "Due respect General, but not a chance."

Martius grinned a little, knowing his friend would not be dissuaded and stated: "And people say I'm stubborn. Alright than, do what you can to cover me from the remaining Swarm fighters and be ready to get out of here in a hurry; if everything goes as planned, we're not going to want to be anywhere close to that creature..."

Martius watched the planetkiller closely for the next few moments, hoping he accurately predicted its likely next step, when just as he had anticipated it turned towards the retreating starfighters in an attempt to fire on them. Now provided with the brief window he needed, Martius accelerated rapidly towards the planetkiller's head, and as he neared it's mouth, pulled back hard on the stick and cut his engines to flip his starfighter around while ordering: "Now!" to his astromech, which then opened one of the fighter's rear compartments, which formerly held spare parts canisters, and were now home to two seismic charges. As the charge drifted towards the planetkiller's mouth, Martius contacted Maverick and ordered: "Punch it!" and the two accelerated at full speed towards the fleet as the weapon detonated inside the planetkiller's throat, severing its head clean off and destroying the remaining nearby Swarm fighters. The Jedi and Clone Commander breathed a deep sigh of relief as they rejoined their comrades and returned to the Republic fleet to provide assistance and await further orders...

[Skylus]

Douglas
The Forbidden Act
Misty Hills

Douglas leapt back as the creature breathed fire. Several of the armored men had died horrible deaths and it seemed like everyone else wasn't doing so good. Whatever this creature was, it was not to be messed With. After watching....something attack the creature, Doug made a split second decision and ran towards the creature, drew his sword, dodged an attack, and came up before the Deviljho.
"Hi there. So sorry to bother you, but I think you should stop attacking people now."
Doug dodged a claw swipe and grinned.
"No? Your funeral."
Doug the raised his sword and stabbed the beast in the forehead, he had no idea what effect the attack would have, but the creature seemed to be on its last legs.

[Rostavykhan]

To Catch A King
Outset Island

Miria nodded, reaching out to take back her dagger. "I need it to gauge power and perform by duties. It's...also a gift.", She stated, as she began to follow beside Madi, towards the woods.

The sound of new footsteps drew Miria's attention, as she craned her head back to see who it was. She'd recognized the other Human from earlier that day, as the boy with amnesia, or what she thought was amnesia, from his rambling. She wasn't opposed to the fellow following them, although she was a bit cautious nonetheless. "I don't mind.", She told him, before nodding towards Madi. "I don't know how she will feel though. It's up to her."

[Skylus]

Madi
To Catch a King
Outset Island

Madi looked behind her and spotted Marcus and Polly walking behind them and waved.
"You two can come with us. Besides, the more people that travel back home with me, the better, people might start asking where I've been if it's been longer than i think."
Madi continued to walk up the path, cross the wooden bridge, and entered the forest.

There were orbs of light floating around everywhere. A few feet away were the remnants of a massive boulder and a hole in the ground. (Fairy Spring)
"Huh. I could get used to this."
Madi glanced around her before her gaze landed on a stone object - a certain stone object.
"...I was right. How did I know...."

Madi ran over to the Time-Stone set and began to activate it with spells and her crystal, the runes on the stones glowed white and a humming noise began to be heard, it rose in pitch, as if the stones were powering up. The Witch stepped back, made sure everything was in order, then turned to the others.
"Right, I need all of you to stand as close to the center as you can."
She crossed over the stones, raised her crystal to the night sky and waited for the others to do as she asked.
Once that was done, Madi looked around, and then choose her destination.
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
And with a flash of light, all of them were gone.

Hogwarts

The area was quiet. But not for long, a humming noise was heard around Black Lake, the wind picked up, anyone magical could feel a magical presence in the air. A glow appeared near a strange rock formation, the humming seems to come from these rocks as well. The humming grew louder, and louder, bright white glowing runes appeared on the rocks, and the glow increased, until -
The group appeared in a flash of bright light, it sounded as though a sonic boom had gone off.
Madi was the first to speak.
"....It worked."
She took a cautious step off of the Stones, looked around around, then turned to the others and moved her arms in a "look at all of this" gesture.
"This, is where I left my world from. Welcome to Hogwarts."
The Giant Squid rose up out of the water and waved its tentacles up at Madi.
"Yeah, yeah, I missed you too."
Upon seeing the others, it gazed at them for a bit, then dove back down into the murky depths.
Before Madi realized it, she had spun around and had begun to run towards the massive castle in the distance.
She didn't even look back to see if the others were following her, however, once she reached the main walk way, she slowed down and then stopped.
".......Where did all of this stuff come from?"
People were working with various machines in a fenced off area.
They hadn't seen her or the others yet, so Madi ducked behind a wall and waved the others over.
"We need to find out who those people are an what they're doing here."
Unfortunately, getting them to leave was going to be no easy task, as Madi was about to find out, some might have even called it impossible.

RPers, old and new, let me introduce you to....

The Wizarding War
Co-Run by Naval Monte and Skylus
Genres: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Adventure, Action, War
All players welcome, old and new

Full Disclosure: To Catch A King is still going on, anyone can join it if they wish.

[Naval Monte]

The Wizarding War
United Kingdom, Hogwarts

Before Madison and her group arrived into the grounds of Hogwarts another group from another world arrived before them. From a gate created by these foreigners open and from the rift a group of humans and machine enter from the tear. The group was a an expeditionary force sent by AEGIS. Their mission was not to study the new world they are in, though they have the equipment and personnel to do such that. No, their main mission was to find a couple of anomalies that were taken from their custody and thrown into this world by the rifts.

"Oh for fuck sakes. Our sensors are being jammed by a high spike of thaumic energy close by. That is all we need." The woman holding a modified tablet complained. The others were performing last minute checks on their machines before they can move on. Once the machines were cleared the drones began to fly off and after waiting for a while the same woman said. "Our drones found a castle. It seems to be the source of the spike." The woman look back and soon saw the drones flying close to the castle, only to see the drones loss connection with the team. "What the hell? We lost connection with the drones." She let the team know.

The group talked with each other for a while to decide on what to do but most agreed to head for the castle to find the drones. The team began to move forward to the castle.

[Rostavykhan]

Hogwarts
Miria

"Um...maybe we should-"

Miria was herded along before she could finish her sentence. Maybe it wasn't that good of an idea for her to follow a group of strangers into another world...or to do such a thing for the second time in a day...it wasn't really her fault either time, though.

She stumbled over, behind Madi, as panic began to creep in. Unlike the Witch, or their new companions, Miria wasn't very pleased by being teleported to Gods-knew-where. The only thing keeping her from demanding to be taken back right then was the hope that Madi's world would provide her with some means to get back home, herself. She just hoped that she wouldn't be in danger around them; she had taken note of how Madi had mistaken her for a Vampire, and how she didn't seem to mind that much, so at the very least, she could assume that Non-Humans were fairly normal and accepted...

"Where did all of this stuff come from?"

The question rung in Miria's head. What stuff? The strange wall...or, fence? And the other Humans, and their stuff. If the Human didn't know who or what those people were, then that was a bad sign, most likely. Miria didn't recognize any of their strange equipment either, and she didn't get any "magic" vibes from any of it. Whatever it was, it wasn't a good idea to approach any of it, or to approach its operators, if they were as foreign to the Witch's home as she was.

Miria grit her teeth and growled. She knew not to mess with any of the strangers, but she also felt like she'd been thrust into the situation without much warning. "Human", She started, speaking in a low, hushed voice. "Are you saying that we are not the only ones who shouldn't be here?"

[Menschenfleisch]

Secrets of the Raven | Jacquelyn

Twenty drinks down and ten minutes until she actually fucking lost it. What. Was. Going. ON?! This entire place was rowdy, the lights were bleeding her eyes dry and everything smelled and tasted like bad perfume and sweat now. Why were people so obnoxious!? Couldn't go ten steps without bumping into some overweight jackass with a beer belly, a cigar and a shiteating grin that just pumped out "Let me respect you in bed". What. A. Shithive. But she wasn't there to enjoy herself. Jack twirled in circles, taking in her surroundings and keeping a watchful, somewhat luminescent eye on the scaffolding above and the crowd below. If Kyle were here he'd be having a much easier time of it. The problem was that he was also their only discrete option, since anybody with a basic course in socialising 101 could tell something was off about Jacquelyn from the moment they met her. Wasn't her fault she was a character in a story, mary sueish eye colours and all, right?

Elizabeth passed by, nursing a drink and letting a man hang off her arm before abruptly dumping him on the floor and stepping around a corner, leaving him in the dust. She smiled. Props to the bitch but she had her merits. Then again, her ability to somehow drink herself silly and remain perfectly sane and composed was something Jacquelyn found utterly infuriating in a way that could only be described in the context of royalty. Genetic royalty, granting Elizabeth the inexplicable ability to handle her drink. Oh my god. What the fuck was she thinking about again? None of this was relevant to her mission! She clutched her head, sinking into the floor. Get on with the plot already! We've spent long enough in this dumb, pointless nightclub; get to the good stuff or call it quits!

Someone tapped her on the shoulder. Not a pathetic flirty tap but a subtle and firm one. She turned to see a young man dressed in a black suit. He had a kevlar vest on beneath that coat, she could tell. There was no mistaking the outline. She turned cautiously and looked him in the eye, letting a glimmer of light shine through her iris. He nodded affirmatively and turned away, the implication clear. She followed him through the crowd, parting like a wave before an iron prow. Whoever this guy was, he carried himself like a king. Without even saying a word, everyone somehow knew to stay out of his way. An impressive feat, if not kind of useless against her hellfire. Was it a trap? It was definitely a trap. But if it was a trap, she didn't mind. The authors would convolute a way out of it, she was sure.

As they passed through an abandoned wooden door at the back of the room, which Jack swore had not been there previously, she opened up with a single, very important question.

"Where are we going?"

He gave her a broad smile, shaking her hand and pushing open the door; inviting her to step through.

"I'm taking you on a tour of our wonderful facilities, courtesy of The Fates. Come with me and don't touch the paintings.Please keep your arms and legs inside the stairwell at all times. If you lose your fingers or toes there is a very affordable Jivenila cult downstairs who can patch you up."

She stepped through the doorway and began to descend through a tight, badly lit stairwell. As the sound of the party behind them faded away, other noises began to take their place. Their first stop was some subterranean complex, rusted walls coated in copper pipes extending deep into the underground. The corridors were lit up by horror-movie-esque red LEDs, illuminating endless rows of coffins, enclaves and empty sconces. Trails of suspiciously tinted fluid coated the ground too, and suspiciously hand-shaped stains covered the walls. What a coincidence? Jacquelyn's ears perked up as she listened to the noises coming from down the corridor, far out of sight. Ominous chanting and the faint clicking and clacking of tiny legs across hard floors.

"May I present to you our fine sacrificial chambers? To your left you can see the corridor to the altars of Shalibara, who presides over the Western quadrant of our aboveground facilities, amplifying the pleasure that our clients feel. On the right you can see the great feasting halls of Jinque'Silai, whose endless banquet goes on and on, his followers consuming and being consumed in a cycle. He is the guardian of our main gates, which devour the souls and history of those who dare to trespass; may their names and actions be forgotten ad infinitum."
"So, eh, are those pipes meant to do anything? Do they carry human blood, or poison or some shit?"
"No. They pump oil into the central incinerator, where traitors are cursed with immortality and cast into the fiery domain of the tartarean escipes to be torn apart until we can find a suitable demon to sacrifice them to."

Okay. Pretty weird but also kinda metal. The thought of people being devoured and sacrificed was horrifying and all but it was hard to pay attention to any of that when the one, overwhelming thought she kept coming back to was; 'what the fuck? Why are the authors being so edgy?'

They descended further, passing by a floor of velvet rooms and purple walls. Jacquelyn listened in on the noises coming through the walls. The squelching of flesh and the moans of the "damned" made her quite thankful she wouldn't be taking a full tour of that section of the facility. After all, being in a story and all, there was always the possibility she'd get roped into some weird sex scene probably involving loads of tentacles and eldritch geometries. Now that she thought about it, considering how irksome sex seemed to the authors; even going so far as to make Kyle her platonic friend, it was unlikely they'd let her see actual sex. If she tried, would they create a plot point to stop her? More mysteries for the mind of a schizophrenic.

"And our second stop is the strip room. Unfortunately we cannot allow you to enter, as your eyes are not augmented to see 5th dimensional dancers. We apologise for the inconvenience."

What was that smell? Ah yes, lavender and burning human flesh. Two scents that she unfortunately had come to recognise quite well. Through the thin windows on the doors that led into the "strip room" beyond, Jacquelyn could faintly make out some kind of twisting shape, curling around an endless spiral that swirled and tapered in all directions, creating tree branches of flesh and sorrow, weeping the blood of lacri- hang on, what had she been saying? Oh, right. Why was a strip club burning human flesh again? Whatever, it was irrelevant. She shrugged and walked further down, prompting the guide to turn and follow suit.

"Exactly how many places are we going to be seeing?"
"It depends on how many floors exist today. My estimations are that we will be going past 0.9 and seven to the power of seventy seven rooms today."
"Oh. Okay, cool."

Their third stop was... okay, the locations kind of blend together. Yadda yadda, The Orgies of Hantasphadel, The Field of Weeping Sorrows, The Trenches of Harvurian Terror, The Vast Supplicants' Chamber, e.t.c. god fucking DAMNIT this tour was long. She really hoped they weren't going to exposit them in detail; some of this stuff was pretty far above PG-13. After a billion more of those places, and one memorable trip past the faculty cafeteria (which smelled suspiciously of almonds and mustard) they came to what seemed to be the bottom of the stairwell, and a hallway of pictures. And at the end, a door. Her guide began to walk forward slowly, standing in the middle of the hall so she could neither squeeze past him nor see over his shoulder. Prick.

He gestured to a picture on the wall, that of a decidedly unnerving woman with bulging eyes and a thousand yard stare, seemingly looking right through the painting. She'd have believed it was a living, breathing person if not for the fact that her arms were covered in scars and tattoos: plus, no person with such a parched, emaciated face could possibly still be alive. She could practically see the outline of her teeth poking through her paper-thin cheeks. Not a good look for an apparently important figure in this organisation's history.

"Whossat?"
"Madam Fate in one of her more beautiful incarnations. She was the founder of a cult which grew to encompass the entire world, managing the trade of artifacts in the hope of finding the particular set that, when combined, would bring about their favoured apocalypse. The 1920s really were an incredible time. So many death cults, trying to bring about the end of the world that they considered most favourable. One of her family members convinced her to unite her cult in England, and to move into the business of organised crime. Her business with the criminal families were ruthless and quite effective, gaining her the moniker "The Mother of Fate"; not a particularly inventive epithet but one that described her control over life and death very succinctly. She could see the past, present and future, you know? It's why The Fates are so sure of their success."
"Am I going to meet her?"
"I am not sure. It is unlikely, though. The criminal underworld tried to destroy her in fear of The Fates' power. So, as she was cornered in the countryside villa she'd come to call home she performed the final spite of her life. She summoned an entity who to this day we cannot describe nor speak ill of, in case we draw its ire. It destroyed her enemies, wiping them not just from the face of the earth but from history itself. And then, when it was gone, she disappeared too, along with all the cultists she'd promoted into her inner circle. Needless to say, The Fates were thrown into disarray. Until, well..."

The next picture was of a dashing young man, smiling and holding up a cup of wine to the painter. Had he held that smile and that glass the entire time they'd been making the painting? Props to him. Strong facial muscles and apparently the most jacked wrists in the world.

"This is a painting by our second leader, Alzis. This is his interpretation of Mepistava Qoran, one of the gods the early Fates worshipped. It is quite... different to Qoran's usual depictions. Notably, in this image, Qoran exists only in three dimensions and has arms instead of 8,712 appendages of twisted light and dark. Moving on from that however, it is pertinent to note just how mysterious Alzis was, and still is to this day. He appeared from nowhere and asserted control over the disparate cults that comprised The Fates. Then, once he had established control over the organisation's assets he launched a series of attacks and purges against the criminal underworld, known as the Hestian Massacres, so named because every time he captured the head of a criminal organisation he would feed them to the flames of his own hearth. We still have the ashes of seventy two different mob bosses, if you'd like to see them. Anyways, soon after launching these attacks The Fates became the de-facto underworld organisation of England, with very few enemies to oppose them."
"Except for a private investigator and five or six magical people who don't even belong to this universe."
"Your existence, and that of Elizabeth Ashwood is an anomaly. We allow you to live, for now. In any case, here is your room. Please enter."

Jacquelyn was barely surprised that they'd already reached the doors at the end of the hall. Spatial fuckery notwithstanding she was simply used to being jerked around like a broken cord switch. The authors could do anything to her now and she'd shrug it off as just another stupid plot contrivance. Such was the mindset of a fictional character. She pushed open the gilded wooden doors, the brass knockers clanking gently as it swung open with a gentle, soothing creak. Beyond lay a long table with yellow cloth draped over, rows of vases and flowers adorning the centre of the room. The room was made of white plaster and lit up by luxuriously leafed golden chandeliers, real candles dripping wax into tiny circular holders. It smelled wonderful, like jasmine and honey mixed with fresh summer air. The image of luxury. She pulled out a chair without being prompted and fell down into the lush fabric, feeling herself sink into the rich velvet-textured cushions. The smell of shortbread, butterscotch and tea wafted pierced her senses as her guide pulled a platter of biscuits and drinks out of nowhere, placing them in front of her with practised ease.

"Make yourself at home. Your companions will be joining you shortly."
"Yeah. Thanks for the tea."

She snapped a finger at him, sitting up straight and brandishing her other arm like a gauntlet, wreathing it in flame. The message was clear. Whatever their plan was, she was a step ahead. He simply bowed his head and retreated from the room, shutting the door behind him with a satisfying click.

Jacquelyn idly munched on a biscuit as she waited for the rest of the team to join her. She would've objected to waiting but the biscuits were honestly gorgeous, buttery and soft and perfectly made.

"Heh. I could get used to this."

L-Fel | Cassia

Cassius wasn't one for commuting but as any good adventurer knows, the journey is what matters. His jovial, almost flippant attitude meshed poorly with Julian's dour, almost hopeless expression but who cared? Everyone needed a little sunshine in their lives, even if said sunshine was a ridiculously neurotic and utterly apathetic hedonistic psychopomp who was literally only there to have fun, right? He followed her home, walking down thick concrete roads and past glorious vistas, rows of houses and trees passing by. They might've caught a bus, they might not've; but what did he care? The view was beautiful. The voices in his head called out in nostalgic glee, watching familiar places pass by. Or maybe, some of them were just thankful to see someplace beautiful for once. He genuinely smiled, looking out toward the setting sun.

"Well, Julian. If we're going to be working together then I suppose I should make myself as good a guest as I can. Is there any particular history you have with this... "L-Fel" that you want to tell me about? It seemed like an awful shock to you earlier, when you first heard its name. I'd be delighted to hear all about it!"

The Third Wizarding War |

Marcus was sick of falling through portals. He was sick of being dragged around like a puppet wherever he went. He barely even processed what Madi was doing with that stone obelisk until they were already falling through time and space and even then, the only thing he could think of was; "Will Polly be okay?"

Turns out his worries were unfounded, since as soon as he emerged from another interdimensional ordeal Polly did too, landing squarely on his chest and flattening out whatever little air was left in his lungs. He gasped and wheezed, pushing her off him and struggling to keep his lunch down, nursing his torso and wondering where they were now. Wait, what was Polly doing here? Well, as soon as she'd seen the group entering a portal she'd rushed headfirst to enter it too, trying not to get separated from her companion. He wasn't worried about that though. He was more worried about the giant squid that appeared out nowhere, soaking him with water as it fell back into the lake. And he hadn't even mentioned the enormous castle, or the fenced off area filled with very important looking equipment yet, either!

"Oh, wow. That is beautiful."
"What? The castle, the lake, what're you talking about?"
"The world, you dumbass! Look at all this! It's a jackpot, that's what it is! Look over there. Scientists working with post-modern tech, probably interdimensional travellers. If I can make first contact, then I'll be one of the most important diplomats in the entire expeditionary department. I'll be a celebrity! And did you see that castle? The squid? We're standing on one of the most hospitable, most populated rocks in the universe, Marcus. This isn't an opportunity that comes up every day. Come on! We have to go!"

Marcus grabbed Polly just as she prepared to fly over to AEGIS' camp, taking her wrist and pulling her away from the sophisticated-looking base.

"Hey! Watch it! If we're too hasty, we might get into some serious shit. Who knows if they're hostile?"
"Aw, c'mon. You're too paranoid. If we go now, we might even be able to introduce ourselves before something predictably goes horribly, horribly wrong!"
"For the love of- no! Just stay here and wait for everyone else to decide. Madi, you're familiar with this place right? What're we going to do?"
"Oh, yeah. I guess I forgot you were kind of the expert on this kind of thing. You look kind of surprised that those techno guys are here. I guess they aren't meant to be here. Do you think we should talk to them or nah? It's your call."

[The Dark Brotherhood of Deros]

The Forbidden Act

The Party - Misty Peaks

Quest Complete!

As shots crashed into the Deviljho, blades pierced it's body, powerful blows bludgeoned its hide and ethereal entities tore its very soul apart from within, the Deviljho let out one last pained cry and fell to the ground with a resounding crash, lifeless at last. The group of hunters were all panting, their bodies soaked with sweat, and aching, and then one by one they put their weapons away. Nobody spoke for several seconds as they all contemplated just what they had achieved. This creature would've been a threat to the entire area had they not brought it down, and a sense of pride washed over each of them. Of course they also were concerned as this creature had been much more resilient than normal, and what had caused this was currently unknown.

After a few more moments of silence, Gesh and Rex approached Moira, removing their helmets as they did. Gesh was an older man with long silver-gray hair that was tied back into a ponytail, and a well kept goatee. His face was hardened and tan, and bore several scars from past hunts. Rex however was a much younger man, with medium-length black hair and blue eyes. He had two blue battle stripes painted onto his face; though they were now smudged due to sweat.

After he got there, Gesh stared at Moira's face, baring no indication of what he was feeling on his own. Then he suddenly embraced her, catching her off guard and causing her eyes to go wide. "You're back... Good... Don't you dare do that to me again, Fable. You about gave me a heart attack!" He exclaimed. Moira smiled and returned the hug. "I don't intend to, old man." She teased, making Gesh snicker. "Heh, seems four months of doing... whatever it was you were doing hasn't changed your sas! Good to know." The older hunter said, releasing Moira.

"Now tell me Moira, where in the world were you for all this time?!" Gesh inquired. "I'll explain on the way back to Bherna, but in the meantime we have more immediately pressing things to talk about. That Deviljho wasn't a normal specimen, was it?" She said, causing Gesh to grimace. "No... Not at all. Things have been a bit concerning as of late for the Guild. More aggressive monsters have been cropping up as of late, and we can't explain why. They've all shown common signs though: glowing eyes, a blue tint to their bodies, increased resilience and a whole heap of aggression. The Guild's classified them as 'Rogue Monsters'." The old hunter explained.

Moira's face grew more concerned as she thought this over. Percy then spoke. "How many Rouge meownsters have been sited, nya? And furthermore, have the Wycademy researches made any headway with discovering what's causing it?" The palico inquired, making Gesh shake his head. "Well there's been a relatively small number of them spotted: a Rathalos here, a few Gendrome there, but nothing more than that. This Deviljho was the most recent, and the most threatening specimen reported yet. As for what's causing it? As I said, we have no idea. Clearly it's an outside influence, but dissecting and analyzing the monster's materials show nothing out of the ordinary." Gesh said.

Rex spoke up at this time. "Yeah, it's like they just cease to be Rouge the minute they die. We've tried capturing live specimens, but they seem to be completely immune to tranquilizers no matter how weak the monster may be. It's... bizarre." Moira digested what she was being told slowly, thinking over any theories that came to her mind. Unfortunately nothing was coming to her, and all she could do was sigh. This isn't exactly what I was hoping to find when I got back home... The huntress thought.

At this point, Rex turned to the newcomers and gestured to them. "But anyway, you mind introducing us to your friends, Moira? I get the sinking feeling that they aren't from around here." He said, making Moira nod. "Umm... Yeah... You're not going to believe this, but I promise it's true." She began. She then proceeded to explain everything that had transpired with the rifts, and how it had only been about a day for her as apposed to four months. When she was done, her companions were thoroughly stunned.

"A... another world? That's... incredible!" Nali exclaimed. "By the Sapphire Star... You weren't kidding when you said it'd be hard to believe, Fable..." Gesh said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Then turning to the rest of the group he said: "But it looks like it is... Heh... Amazing..." Gesh then addressed the others. "Well then, it seems like you folks wound up like our friend Moira here and got dumped into our little world. I don't suppose you've got a way to return, do you? You were mighty helpful during the fight though, so I thank you for that."

Rex then approached the agents, looking down at the wounded or dead people in pity. "Is there anything I can do to help? It only seems right seeing as you helped us." He asked, not sure who to address the question to.

[Skylus]

The Wizarding War
Madi
Hogwarts

Madi risked looking out from behind the wall for a second and then ducked back.
"Yeah......They're not supposed to be here at all....I guess they came here through one of those rifts, but why would Muggles have magical equipment....Unless they're from another universe.."
Madi took a step out from behind the wall and froze for a moment, then motioned for the others to follow her as she darted over to another wall, closer to the fenced off area.
"Okay. Here's what we do. We're going to try to get inside the castle. Ask around, see if anyone knows anything. if they"
she pointed towards the scientists
"show up, we question them, and hope they don't take it the wrong way."
Madi quietly snuck past the fenced in area and then ran to the main entrance of the castle, opened the huge doors, and walked inside.

Inside Hogwarts
Main Entrance Hall
The double doors closed with an echoing bang as the group entered the castle. The room was empty for once and Madi risked a second to look around before she started to walk off towards the Great Hall.
"Just follow me, if anyone questions us I'll explain everything."