Though spoken softly, Elayra still caught his comment about Wonderland’s residents’ condition.
 	She shrugged, her face hard. “It is what it is. But [i]that’s[/i] what we’re going to change.” Her voice came out fiercer than normal in her attempt at keeping her doubt from entering her tone. “Kill the…” She stopped herself, then cast an extra glance around the street for good measure. She lowered her voice as she continued. “Kill [i]her,[/i] the Curse will die with her, everyone affected by it will revert back to as normal as you can get, the portals will reopen, and you can be on your marry way back here.” At least, that was how she [i]hoped[/i] it would go.
	When he asked about Drust, her steps faltered and she inhaled. She had been trying hard to not think about that. A day ago, she would have said ‘no’ without hesitation. But now, after the Curse’s effects had escalated here, she feared the possibility of it spreading, even with him back in Wonderland. For all she knew, the Drust on the other side of the portal was waiting, consumed by the Curse he had fought against for as long as she could remember, to attack the moment they stepped foot in Hollow Hill. 
	She swallowed, hard, shook her head, and wiped all but as confident of an expression as she could from her face as she caught back up with Ghent.
	“It would affect him a bit differently, but no,” she answered softly, hating the uncertainty in her voice. “It’s just something about this place that’s made it more prominent here. Mix that with the extra stress he’s been under lately, and you get what you’ve seen so far,” she finished, trying to convince herself of the words. 
	As they neared, Elayra easily guessed which shop was the boutique. She raised an eyebrow at some of the clothes in the display window, eyeing the eerie, white-faced mannequins
	Her lips pursed slightly in contemplation at his question.
	“Maybe,” she answered slowly. She placed a hand on his shoulder to bring him to a stop under an awning one store down, the boutique's window visible on the opposite side of the street. She moved a step in front of him. “But it's best used at extremely close range. Let me give it a go first. Don’t need to risk you blowing the entire store to oblivion right off the bat.”
	She took a deep breath, trying to tune out the drumming of the rain as she cleared her mind and reached out to the world’s magic. Once again, it met her eagerly, awaiting her orders.
	She thrust both hands out toward the window as she said the focus word she had used against Drust the previous night. A burst of condensed air that crackled with an electric, magical buzz shot from her palms toward the window. It started out strong, sending drops of rain splaying in every direction as it rushed through the downpour. It hit the window with an impressive [i]thunk,[/i] but its force was nowhere near enough to shatter it.
	Elayra heaved a frustrated sigh, then turned to Ghent. “Your go, Featherhead.” She crossed her arms grudgingly as she moved as far from him as she could without leaving the protection of the awning. “Maybe [i]you[/i] can modify it enough to do some damage. The word you want is [i]inexus,[/i]” she said it slowly, carefully enunciating its three syllables. “Say it a few times before you reach out to the magic, would you?”