[i]Where am I?[/i] Travis' mind had eventually drifted off into the blackness that filled his light-less quarters where radiance of the past dusk of yesterday no longer touched and then deeper upon his eyelids sealing up. His consciousness would flicker and fade as he slept, sometimes unaware or initially unresponsive of the random images that passed by like presentation slides. The images would usually be of little meaning, then sometimes of a previous event. The more familiar items he could instantly recollect and then think little of it afterwards. That is, unless the scrap of memory was much more demanding of his attention, even when the reason was vacant. After being comfortable held by quite darkness, he unconsciously found himself in a hard metal enclosure. It was a cage; one that would hold a single person within its inconsiderate confines. Out side it was a blurry hue of red and orange. Both colors flickered and swirled with the sound of crackling and voices in the nearby. The atmosphere soothing around in the air felt hot and almost sickening via an unforeseen and natural harmonic resonance of sorts. The vibes he could absorb were already bad; so much so that when his sight became clear, the back drop of several chanting cloaked figures made the perception that much worse. While he could feel himself panicking upon this shocking discovery, there was a sense of calmness to him despite the situation. The roughness of the case he was in, the strangely informal aroma filling his nostrils, and the verses chanted not in English he could quickly identify and conclude their meanings. This scene was not new to him. He had experienced this in reality once and re-imagined it many times afterwards. [i]Oh. This Again.[/i] The scene was a memory; one specifically that Travis was growing tiresome of remembering in such detail. This would have been about a month ago Felix had recruited him. Cultists of the Enlightened had scoped him out somehow and eventually got the drop on him and tossed him into this fine cell or "mold" as it appeared to be which hung over a magical circle of archaic runes and candles. The words these cultists intoned translated into sacrifice and rebirth. Trans-mutate and transcend. He knew the words well but the disorienting fumes at the time blurred some of the words and meanings. Whatever this cult had in mind gave no mind to his opinion in what they believed to be the betterment of his well-being. [i]I know how this goes down.[/i] Lucky for him. whatever ritual they had in-mind had gone up in flames, literally. The old abandoned house this dark ceremony was being orchestrating in was then interrupted by Salem Disciples. The hunters came crashing through the boarded window arches and exits and begun their indiscriminate purge upon the unfortunate worshipers. The sudden attack had caught the cultists completely of guard and gave them little time to respond against the attack. Suffice to say, it was an utter massacre with blades and fire lashing out against decayed wood and flesh alike. One particularly enormous hunter got into the mix and swung a large broadsword decorated in runes and symbols into vertical decent upon a cultist's head. The amount of force easily divided the man clean into with enough gore to spray a good portion of the room. [i]I really wish I didn't have to remember that.[/i] With much of the cult slain, all that remained was the leader, or at least someone whom appeared to be the leader, as in the only person with a crown of horns upon their head and obviously looked the most experienced. Now cornered, the head cultist recited a similar incantation this cult nearly performed on him. As the words came out and strangely echoed, so did the the flames of the candles fused out as the horned ring-leader was swallowed into shadow. What then emerged in an unnerving glow of green light was a mass of slithering tentacles of oozing ebony that lashed out against the Salem hunters. Two of the hunters he recalled were impaled by the hideous mass and as they cried in agony, their bodies were then consumed in the same blackness as the creature itself and soon did they crumble into the tendrils themselves with their cries turning to moans and then slurred and dying gasps. [i]Or that. Specifically that.[/i] The other hunters evaded the attack and quickly coordinated with one another to challenge the abomination, jumping and flanking around their large prey. As the chaotic battles commenced, Travis took the opportunity to release himself from his steel mold by using his fire magic passively enough so he could burn and cut his way out of the cage. While at first, he was hesitant in jumping down into the fight as hectic as it was. But with fear and survival driving him, the jumped and then ran as fast as he could from the gore and agony around him. [i]And here we go.[/i] While getting out of that God-forsaken room was incredibly revealing, he was far from out of danger. There was that nether-creature-whatever-it-was that was killing everything in that part of the building and it if did succeed in killing the Salem hunter, who was to say it wouldn't try to find him? And if the hunters were victorious, they would likely off him in hopes of keeping this purge under wraps. The idea of either side emerging victorious did not favor him at all. All he needed to do was run and escape the building all together. [i]Thats right, run down that way and-[/i] Travis remembered escaping the house and into a dark gloomy forest not far from civilization. He made it back without any word from the place again and continued his work a few days later after the incident. And that was that. But after his dream=self opened the backdoor, he came to another familiar scene but alien to this one. The dark night sky was instead replaced with a rocky ceiling of natural earth and mana crystals. The surrounding foliage was absent and only gravel and dirt remained, save for a large pile of ruble several feet before him with a intricate crystal standing at its apex. [i]I...Don't remember that being there.[/i] It was then the earth below soothed to stone and everything around him faded to a unusual deep red. The last thing he then saw was a stone slab rushing him afterwards, as far as he could of identified before his simulated demise. [i]Or that.[/i] --- Travis's eyes opened to see the familiar redwood ceiling above him as he stared upwards. He blinked only a few shot times before raising himself upright and looking around his room. There was no sense to it but felt necessary to confirm he was in reality. The unusual happenings during his slumber were vague at best and yet strangely unusual, regardless of the annoying familiarity to it. He silently shook his head groaning before stepping out from the cozy berth and on to the floor. Despite being able to getting plenty more sleep than before, he felt as if he could pass out again into yet another slumber. However personal expectations had to be kept, especially if he was the last member unaccounted for downstairs. With his daily routines now underway, he made his way to his shower to wash up. It wouldn't be too longer before he was all dressed and clean and ready to participate in any required activities that he was in store for; hopefully research oriented of a specific and recently recovered mana-crystal. As he made his way downstairs, he could hear Nemo and Rayia and speaking. While at first, the antiquated voices were nothing to raise concern over, it was then the addition of several other recognized voices that tipped him off to curious development downstairs. [i]Is the television on?[/i] thought Travis has he came down the stairs, still feeling groggy and unkempt with his awareness. Just has he reached the first floor and turned the corner did he then froze in place with tired eyes now forcefully widened. Across the room closer to Raiya was Alya; his [i]hopefully[/i] former opponent from yesterday in the catacombs. Why was she here? Didn't Felix reject her request to join their team? Those same questions were then silenced by several more when his eyes found two other female newcomers, this time they were individuals he had not seen before. And does that one have, wings? "What." Travis bluntly stated upon seeing Alya before looking to the other two individual with a confused look, "Who?" Just then, Felix arrived into the same rooms via one of his portals with yet another person with him, "Oh." [i]This is certainly becoming a rather interesting morning.[/i]