[hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/WKdecqD.png[/img][/center] [hr] Her eyes opened. There was nothing but white light. All Lynette could see was light. Was she back in the Godforce? No. This place was different. She got up as she looked around it was just a room full of white light. She climbed up to her feet and wondered if she was dead. Maybe they failed and are just waiting for the inevitable. Shit, all Lynette wanted to do when she came to this town found out the secret of her Grandmother. Not any of [i]this[/i]. "Lynette... sweetie..." Lynette heard a voice from behind her. As Lynette got up to her feet she turned around and saw... her grandmother? The woman appeared as Lynette last remembered her; around sixty years old, wearing sunglasses as she was blind, and a shirt and sweatpants. "It's great to see you again." She said with a thick Haitian accent. "Grandma?" Lynette said, "You're..." "Dead? Yes..." Her grandmother said as she walked around, "Yeah, I'm aware of that." "What is this place?" "This is... well, I don't know how ta' explain it to ya'. Well, it's like... your head. 'Cept not your head." "Okay, I'll figure it out later," Lynette dusted herself off. "Are you my grandmother?" "Yes, an' no," Her grandmother said, "Ya' know about the Godforce right? I'm just the leftovers of your Grandmother's mind taking a form." "I guess in a way are my grandmother," Lynette said. "I gotta' ask why in the world did you come to Farmer Hill?" She asked. "I..." Lynette trailed off, "Wanted to find out your secrets, I got your diary and everything!" Lynette said as she pulled out her grandmother's diary. "Who are the Witch Mothers?" "Well, well, well," She said, "Why didn't ya' ask me while I was alive!? Hehehehe..." "I found it years after you passed." "If you wanna stop the Glutton you gotta close up this loose end," Her grandmother started, "The Child told you about other universes, right?" "Yeah, but how do you know all of this?" "Don't worry about it," She said, "I ain't from your universe; Shimmer. I was born Akuba... in the universe of Glint. Where I descended from their adepts... the Witch mother line was a line of Doctors and medics that lived outside the bounds of the League. I had good times... except where I failed to revive one of they princesses and they made it seem like[i]I[/i] was the one that did wrong." "Wait, I'm descended from Glint?" Her grandmother nodded, "That means you, Jaden, and Cierra could learn how to use the Lux... but, I doubt that'd happen at this point. What, with you Awakening? Hehehehehe..." "This is... incredible," Lynette said. "Now, you gotta get out of here," Her grandmother said, "Gather the others, and stop the Glutton - or there ain't going to be a future for my bloodline!" Soon enough, the scene faded and Lynette was standing in a cave by herself. Well, shit. This was going to suck, but the first thing she did was pull out her map and picked a direction. If everyone was scattered; she needed to gather the posse before their next action. [hr] "Justin," On Justin's end, he also heard a familiar voice as he was lying on the ground. "Get up, boy," "Is that...?" Justin said as his eyes opened and he saw the room of white light. Standing right above him was... no way. "... Grandma?" Justin said in Chinese. "[i]In the flesh,[/i]" His grandmother, Lihua Zhao, said. She was as he last remembered her; wearing robes all the time, wearing glasses, had her hair tied into a gray ponytail, tall as hell, and of course a glass of wine in her hand. Justin slowly rose to his feet as he had no other words. He stared at his grandmother for a few moments before he broke down into tears as he ran to her and wrapped his arms around her into a hug. "[i]I'm... so glad to see you! I failed you, grandmother! I should-[/i]" "[i]Boy, we don't have time for that,[/i]" Lihua said, "[i]You have to listen and listen to me carefully - I know it isn't your strong suit, but do it just this once.[/i]" Lihua sat down... on nothing it seemed? She crossed her legs and gave him that stern look... it was the Lihua look, they all called it. "[i]I hate that the fate of all known reality is in the hands of... children, but it's how these things go. My daughters, Kaitlyn, my brother, and his children... our future is in your hands, Justin. Because I am counting on you to defeat the Glutton, for all of us. So I need you to focus... what is holding you back?[/i]" "[i]You.[/i]" Justin said, "[i]I want to know who killed[/i] you, [i]grandmother. It kept me up for ages - it just[/i] pisses[i] me off that nobody in this town.[/i]" Lihua merely sighed and closed her eyes... "[i]... Why does it matter, grandson?[/i]" Lihua opened her eyes. "All [i]parties involved are dead. After all... It's not like you can bring a dead woman to justice.[/i]" "[i]Wait, woman?[/i]" Justin asked, "[i]I... had a suspicion it was John Reid since he was the one killing everyone in Farmer Hill.[/i]" Lihua laughed as she took a sip of her wine. "[i]Ah, Justin, you're still bullheaded as always,[/i]" She said after she was done laughing, "[i]If you knew the answer, then why did you ask?[/i]" "[i]I wanted to be certain, because I... never actually saw him kill you, or any evidence that he did.[/i]" Lihua grinned. "[i]... Ah,[/i] now [i]you are thinking like a Zhao,[/i]" Lihua trailed off, as she took a sip of her wine, "[i]Truth is, John Reid was dedicated to protecting this town, as flawed of a man as he was. If only he was smarter; however, he could have prevented all of this... carnage. But, truth be told... this needed to happen.[/i]" Suddenly a Recollection began and Justin saw just what happened to his grandmother. He balled his fist... but he had to take this up with the last remaining Reid. Like immediately. The white light faded as Justin had to find the others, like right now. He remembered that they could telepathically communicate. [i]Penny, Britney, Lynette, Caelea, where are you?[/i] [i]I don't think anyone will be able to readily tell you that, Justin.[/i] Britney sent back a telepathic message. [i]There's no way we can reunite efficiently; so just find your way to the Glutton.[/i] [i]We're all over the mountain, but I have an idea,[/i] Lynette sent out the message... and there was a crashing sound coming from deeper within the mountain. [i]Everyone follows the sound, fast as you can.[/i] [hr] “Hey sis, you’re not going to yell at me for being here are you?” Penny hadn’t heard that voice in years. The white light gave way as Henry appeared, not a day older than the last time she’d seen him as he set off by himself to walk home. “I don’t even know where [i]here[/i] is, so I think you get a pass,” said Penny, a sad smile forming on her face. “I miss you so much. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for everything.” “It’s okay, Penny, it’s okay. It’s not your fault,” said her little brother. “No, you’re wrong,” said Penny. “It was my fault. Your...your death. If I didn’t push you away, you would still be here.” She accepted it, and the Recollection that played out filled in the details that she’d been fearing since the old abandoned schoolhouse. It was chopped together like an old silent movie running on a broken reel. Henry looked down at the leaves and stared at the compass rose on his hand, and then the film jutted forward again and again. It was a slideshow of him moving through the woods towards the school, stutter after stutter, twenty feet forward at a time. Penny realized the Recollection wasn’t broken; Henry was constantly teleporting a short distance with each step. He had been Awakened before any of them. Penny knew how it was going to end, but she refused to look away. She had to face the truth. Henry jumped throughout the woods, laughing with glee at his newfound powers. What kid wouldn’t mess around with such a gift? She was waiting for John Reid to appear, or some agent of the Glutton, or some other asshole in a cape, but nothing of the sorts ever appeared. It was just her brother’s gangly limbs and his girlish laughter as he zipped around the forest. Faster and faster he blinked, from rock to log to a limb up in a tree that snapped under his weight. His laugh turned into a scream as he blinked once again. His blink followed his downward momentum, and the Recollection abruptly ended as her brother teleported himself into the ground. “It was instant. No murder, no cover-up, no conspiracy. It was an accident, Penny. You could never have prevented it,” said Henry, softly. Penny closed her eyes in pain as they were stung by salty tears, “I could’ve…” “No, Penny, you couldn’t. Some things are just out of your control. Occasionally an awful thing happens and there is nothing you can do about it. Everyone else accepted that. You should, too.” “I know,” said Penny after a pause. “You’re right. God, I was such an intolerable asshole, too.” “Well, you’re still an asshole,” said Henry with a smirk. “Hey now,” muttered Penny. “But you aren’t an intolerable asshole,” said Henry, holding up his hands in protest. “You get things done that others would give up on. More importantly, you’re working with the others to take care of the awful things that you can do something about. You know what to aim for and you hit it, even if it seems like an impossible shot.” Penny felt her sigil glow with a pleasant warmth. “I’m proud of the person you’ve become.” “I...thank you. I’m trying my best. Really, I am,” said Penny. “I wish I could say the same for Billy. He’s with them now,” said Henry. “Shit,” sighed Penny, her heart sinking. She had feared as much. “Don’t worry. He’ll be free soon enough. So will the rest of the town. I’m not the only asshole here determined to take this thing down.” “No, but you are the biggest one,” said Henry with a smirk. “Oh fuck you,” said Penny, as the white light faded. [hr] “Missy, you can’t sleep here.” Rita stirred awake and protectively moved her hand in front of her face, her eyes momentarily blinded by the white light. The man in front of her grunted and lowered his flashlight, and Rita was able to adjust to the world around her. She was at an enclosed bus stop sitting on a bench slumped against her suitcase. The single dome light in the booth was busted, but the bright moon was enough to allow her to make out the person in front of her. He was a middle-aged man with a brown hat and a khaki uniform. A cop, undoubtedly. Her first night in town and she was already in trouble with the fuzz. “No, I wasn’t,” Rita struggled to sit up. How long had she been out? “I was…” Afraid to meet with her host family. Not wanting to be a hassle she had declined their offer to be picked up by them, insisting that she had a ride to their home. She would’ve been fine with walking except her phone had no service and she didn’t know where they lived, and the idea of talking to a local for directions was just too much. So she had fretted, and her fretting led to her sitting down, and her sitting down led to her nodding off, and now she was a dangerous criminal who violated curfew. “I don’t recognize you,” said the cop, taking a seat on the bench. “Are you a new student to Grand Ridge?” “Yeah, I am,” said Rita, surprised by his deductive skills before realizing that was all the town had to offer. “I start this fall.” “It’s a good school, but it’s a little early for new students to be arriving. I think they don’t clear out the graduates for a few more weeks. You have a place to stay Miss, uh…” “Rita,” she said. “And yeah, I do. I’m staying at the Cromwells?” “Oh, Alice mentioned she was getting a newcomer. Shouldn’t they have picked you up?” She sucked in her lip and lied. “I got the day of my arrival wrong, and then my phone died.” The cop laughed, “So you planned to rough it out in the bus stop til morning?” Rita shrugged as if to say pretty much. “Yeah, our town’s pretty safe and quiet, but it ain’t that safe and quiet. C’mon, Miss Rita, I can give you a ride to the Cromwells.” “Really? Oh, thanks,” she said. She joined the man in his police truck, thankful that she was riding shotgun instead of in the back. He fired up the engine and took off down the road, passing by homesteads at a breakneck speed. Rita swallowed and gripped the seat rest. “So Grand Ridge, does that make you one of those genius types?” asked the cop, looking over at her instead of the road. “Uh, no, not really,” said Rita, nervously glancing at the road in front of them. “Nah I figured that when you let yourself fall asleep at the bus stop,” he said. “So why move out all the way here to go to some school?” “They didn’t want me back home,” said Rita. “They? They who?” “My parents.” “And why’s that?” Not knowing why Rita began to tell the cop everything. About her mom wants her to move out, about her dad and his new family, about her friends and how they shunned her. She left out little details here and there, she wasn’t going to tell some old dude everything, but it was more than she anticipated letting out. Maybe she was just lonely from the bus ride. Maybe she was lonely from everything before the bus ride. To the cops credited, he didn’t interrupt. He just sat there and listened, nodding his head every once in a while. “Well that sounds pretty rotten, but lemme ask you this: did you want to leave?” he said after her story was told. “No, not really, but—” “Well, then you should’ve said something. People don’t know what other people are thinking. They can’t read minds. If you want something from somebody, you gotta speak up. Like, for example, you didn’t ask me at once to slow down despite being more scared than a deer come the end of October.” “Could you maybe a little?” she said meekly. He dropped the speedometer from eighty to seventy. An improvement, technically. “I guess I never said anything because I figured they wouldn’t listen to me.” “Well, it still wouldn’t hurt to tell ‘em what you want. We’re here.” The cop braked and turned into a long, pebble driveway. A house came into view not before long. “Alice Cromwell’s. She’s a busy woman so I doubt she’s even home, but Martin should be around. He’s a, uh…” The cop squinted, picking his next words carefully, “He’s one of those brooding, artsy types. You’d probably like him.” “Uh-huh,” said Rita. “Well, thank you for the ride.” “It’s nothing,” said the cop. “Hey Rita, before you go, could I ask a favor of you?” “I suppose that’s only fair.” “My son’s going to that school of yours next semester. He’s...well, he’s a bit of a prick sometimes, but he’s a good kid. Still, he doesn’t have too many friends his age and I thought, well, since you’re new in town maybe you can just say hi to him when you see him.” “Sure thing.” “Hey now remember what I said, if you aren’t okay with it you gotta speak up and tell me.” “No, it’s fine. I’m sure he’s a nice boy,” she glanced at his badge, “Sheriff Reese.” Rita walked away from the police truck with a smile on her face. Well, so far Montana seemed more welcoming than Texas has ever been. She turned and waved at the Sheriff as he spun around in the driveway and drove off. Someone must’ve heard the engine from inside the house because as she turned back around the front door was open. White light poured through the doorway as Rita eagerly moved forward. Undoubtedly, she thought as she stepped into the white light, this would be the best year of her life. [hr] Tuyen found herself in a place blindingly white, and alone. No dark shadow clinging to her. She almost cried with relief on the spot, if only she weren't in such a strange place. Was this where people went when they died? She felt strangely comforted. It was nice to escape. "[i]Tuyen...[/i]" A soft voice that she hadn't heard since she was young in a language that had barely been spoken around her at that time. [i]"Dad?"[/i] "[i]That's me, kid.[/i]" The man standing before him smiled, dark eyes crinkling as it lit up his dark golden face. He was just like she'd seen in photos and in vague memories that haunted her at night. Not much taller than her, with a soft face and stocky stature that was framed by baggy clothing. Thin glasses sat over laughing eyes and a lightly wrinkled nose. [i]"Dad,"[/i] Tuyen choked out, rubbing the tears out of her eyes as she took faltering steps towards him. [i]"Why are you here? Am I dead?"[/i] [i]"No, you're not dead,"[/i] her father laughed, a joyful sound that brought a slight smile to her lips before a seriousness creased his brow. [i]"I guess you could say that we're in your mind. That's the simplest way to put it."[/i] [i]"Oh,"[/i] the word's framed Tuyen's lips as she shuffled awkwardly, millions of sentences crashing into her mind even as she couldn't bring herself to say any of them. And there was so much for her to say to the father she hadn't seen in so long. Where did she even start? [i]"I... have you been well?"[/i] [i]"In a way,"[/i] her father smiled, before swiftly continuing. [i]"But now's not the time to catch up. There are more important things to talk about. Tell me, Tuyen, why do you continue to ignore any confidence you might have in yourself? Why do you keep letting their words get to you?"[/i] [i]"I, I don't know what you're talking about."[/i] "I know you do and I know it's been hard for you since you've gone, with your Aunt and Uncle. But you need to stop letting people's opinions get to you like that. They don't change who you are or you're worth. You're you, my daughter, and you are more talented than you give yourself credit for."[/i] [i]"But I've done nothing to help, in this whole situation! All I have are voices in my head and a moving shadow that torments me,"[/i] Tuyen gritted out the words even as she refused to meet her father's soft eyes. [i]"Everyone else has done so much to help and I can't do anything but bring them down."[/i] [i]"Why do you think your shadow ignores your wishes and feeds you so much toxicity? What do you think is feeding that, Tuyen?"[/i] She shrugged. [i]"Stop doubting yourself and making you'll find you have more control,"[/i] her father sighed softly. [i]"If you don't let it get to you, just like other people, you might find it starts to listen to you."[/i] Tuyen blinked, head tilted in thought. She had never even considered it - she had always thought her shadow was right, not even thinking that everything it told her came from her so deeply rooted self-hatred. And that thought had caused her to hate herself more and it, too. [i]"Think about what I said,"[/i] her father smiled, gentle expression filling Tuyen with a warmth she hadn't felt in so long even as he faded away along with the white light. [hr] It was horrible bright, a glowing white light that only washed away Caelea even more. She was standing in front of a large, wooden door with her breath caught in her chest and keys in shaking hands. Slowly, carefully, she put them in the lock and pushed the door open with a creak. She closed it behind her as quietly as possible and yanked her shoes off, lightly running towards the stairs. Almost safe. "[i]Caelea Baird[/i], where have you been?" The sharp face of her mother, contorted with anger, appeared from the living room. Caelea flinched slightly before turning to fix the woman with a sullen glare. "Nowhere." "Don't lie to me!" "I'm not," Caelea retorted, hands fisted in her shorts. "Then where have you been in the five hours since school ended?" Caelea shrugged one shoulder. "Start talking, young lady, or you'll find yourself in a much worse situation," her mother seethed, taking a step forward with a finger raised angrily. Caelea took a step back, hands shaking slightly even as she didn't drop her fierce gaze. "I was at a school club." "For?" "Running," she muttered under her breath. "Excuse me?" "Running." The anger that flared in her mother's blue eyes was greater than when Caelea had said it was nothing. She should've lied, said anything, but no. She'd told the truth. How stupid of her. She knew how much her parents hated it - and it wasn't even doing the things she truly loved and wanted to do. "What did your father and I tell you about that?" "Not to do it." "Exactly," her mother took another, angry step towards her. "You are not to waste your time on such an idiotic hobby! No, you are to spend your free time studying as any good student would." "But I don't like studying," Caelea snapped, breath catching as her mother raised a hand. "I hate it!" She ducked, ready to run or protect herself when a door upstairs swung open and heavy footsteps thudded towards them. "Caelea! You're home, perfect, we need to discuss something," her brother was all bright smiles even at the (far too normal) scene he saw in front of him. "Mother, can I borrow her? I promised to help her with her homework." "Of course, dear," her mother smiled, changing just like that and stepping back. "Go ahead." Caelea blinked, her grabbing her arm and dragging her upstairs. It was slightly rough, but it didn't bother. He'd saved her again, just like always seemed to. She just wished she had any power to fight against her parents. But she didn't get a chance to think about that much as her brother dragged her into a doorway of shining white light. Caelea jerked back into consciousness as the white light faded, hand grasping through pale hair. That was intense and not something she wanted to relive again. Just as she began to gain some semblance of calmness when her mind spun with messages from Justin, Britney, and Lynette. The crashing immediately afterward was jarring but easy to follow. [hr] Lynette didn't know what it was about this mountain, but it made her stronger. It gave her the ability to materialize glyphs out of thin air which she did... she created a massive earth glyph that she used to lift a piece of stone out of the mountain and cause it to crash into the ground. The glyph disappeared when she did this, but then she decided to do it again and again. Making a lot of noise... which she didn't like doing, but it wasn't like she had any better ideas to reunite the group. Eventually, the first person to join her was Sharon Reid, who ran up. Caelea appeared shortly after Sharon, able to control the air with much more finesse than she'd ever been able to before - something that meant she reached Lynette quickly. "So, everyone else fell into that strange white light, yeah? Any idea what that was?" "Until I appeared somewhere else, I thought it was a panic-induce hallucination," said Rita, strangely calm for a girl that was always nervous, as she emerged from a tunnel. Penny was beside her. "Maybe it was one of the things the Hound warned us of," said Penny. She looked at Lynette as yet another rock crashed against the ground. She smirked. "Careful, girl, you might bring the whole mountain down." "Or give us all a headache," Tuyen muttered as she appeared, giving Rita a slight smile and wave. She felt... more rested than she had in a long time. "It was pretty weird, is all I got out of it," Caelea shrugged as if her entire life hadn't been strung out in front of her. "I do remember the hound talking about something to do with memories or some shit, so it could be that." "It wasn't memories that I saw..." Lynette added softly. "I saw the... "ghost", I should call it? Of my grandmother. Not that it's really important." "The Child may have teleported us to safety..." Britney said, "The Mountain is a strange place, even for us." "I saw a ghost too, sorta," Tuyen added with a light shrug. "I can agree with it being a strange place." After a bit of chatting, Justin Liao finally ran up and he scanned the group for his target... Sharon Reid. He ran up to her, shouting, "Sharon!" "What?" She asked. "You got some explaining to do!" Justin said as he walked up. "What are you talking about?" Sharon asked. "What am I talking about? You've been lying to us about John Reid, the guardian bullshit." "Hello, do we [i]really[/i] have time for this?" Lynette asked. "Let's just wait until..." Then that's when they heard the chanting coming down the tunnel, it was pretty obvious that the Hound wasn't able to hold all the Corrupted off. "Shit." Justin said as he turned to Sharon as he said, "Let's settle this later." The group broke off into a sprint as the chanting and horde of footsteps got louder and louder. It wasn't long until they hit one of the "landmarks" that Lynette was looking for. It was a massive chasm in the middle of the mountain with only a dangling rope bridge across. The rope bridge was old... and falling apart. However, Justin was the first one to run across it. "One at a time!" Justin said. "This thing can't take all of our weight." "Lynette..." Sharon said as they waited for their turn amidst the chaos, "I... I am so sorry." "For what, Sharon?" Lynette said, "Look, none of this is your fault." "It is... I... I am the one that killed John Reid," Sharon said. "That bastard killed my mom..." "It's. Not. Your. Fault." Lynette said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I wish I could agree with you, but it feels like it is my fault," Sharon Reid said, shaking her head. "I wish I could change things... if I didn't kill John Reid, the Glutton wouldn't be acting on this. I killed him and look at this carnage! Farmer Hill is destroyed, and... so many people are dead." Penny looked back at the two girls remaining on the other side of the bridge. What were they doing? She shouted across the chasm, "It's your turn, Lynette!" "We're going to fix it, Sharon," Lynette said. "[i]We[/i] are..." Sharon trailed off. "I'm going to do it and you're going to help me..." "Huh?" Lynette asked, but she didn't see the icy blade forming in Sharon's hand. Penny did. A shout erupted from her throat as she stepped on to the rickety bridge, her fingers fumbling for anything in her pockets to use as ammo. "Again..." [hider=Fight for You][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cm0WvEoFKg[/youtube][/hider] Sharon quickly swung the blade directly through Lynette's throat and droplets of her blood went in every single direction. Penny screamed as she launched a barrage of change at Sharon and started to run across the bridge. However, in the middle of Sharon's pivot, she put her other hand out and a beam of ice came out of her hand. It created an icy wall that separated herself from the group. Penny's coins embedded themselves harmlessly into the wall, and she soon slammed her body against the ice wall over and over to little effect. Lynette grabbed her throat as she took a few steps back, she put her hand out as Sharon rammed the blade into Lynette's gut and quickly brought it down and spilled her innards all over the floor which Lynette desperately tried to hold in as Penny shrieked from the other side of the wall. Sharon tackled Lynette as she violently stabbed her over and over again until Lynette stopped fighting and her head fell forward and her mouth was wide open... and her sigil started glowing through her clothes. Right between her breasts, that's where Sharon put her hand. Then the sigil disappeared completely. Sharon closed Lynette's eyes as she whispered, "I'm sorry. I'm going to make this right, for everyone." She got up as she took off in the direction of a different tunnel. Penny collapsed as tears streamed down her face and a horrible rasp escaped from her throat. Why? It had hurt Penny when the Glutton had taken Zoey, but at least she had been prepared to lose some people to their enemy. To see one of their turns and kill her friend destroyed her. She sobbed. She knew the others needed her to be strong, but she couldn't look away from Lynette. She pressed her hands against the ice and began to repulse the embedded coins around inside of it. As tiny shards were formed, she began to move those shards. Eventually, the barrier gave way and crumbled. Penny crawled through, looking at the mutilated corpse of her friend. She grabbed her friend's hand and tried to suck in the air to breathe. Lynette was already dead. Her sigil was gone, too. Penny recalled Sharon suggesting that they just destroy the mountain, but the Hound had warned against it. Could she be that stupid? Penny turned back to the group on the other side of the bridge and shook her head. "Justin, keep going!" she shouted, her voice strained and steaming with sadness and anger. "I'll catch up, just keep going!" "Penny..." Justin trailed off, he could understand what she was going through. He felt a similar emotion when Claire was killed - [i]however,[/i] this was different. Sharon turned against the group - he didn't expect it, but it sure as hell did not surprise him. He had a feeling about what Penny was going to do, and while he didn't want anyone flying solo, he knew that this was a fight that only Penny could fight. Justin shook his head as he turned off. "Penny, whatever you do; just make sure you come back in one piece." Penny held Lynette's hand for a moment longer and then rested it on her chest. She stood, wiped her face, and followed down the tunnel after Sharon, her hands trembling. [Later] Sharon ran deep in the mountain, far away from the group until she found her spot for her plan. [i]This was insane. I can't believe that I did that to Lynette... but, it was only a matter of time until they turned against me.[/i] Sharon thought to herself as she created a massive spear made out of ice. Using the blade she began drawing a massive glyph in the ground... one that was the earth glyph. It was in her plan to draw a massive glyph on the ground and destroy the mountain. This plan of theirs... it was bound to get them killed as it was playing into the Glutton's game. Look what happened to that Zoey girl! The Glutton was going to take them out one at a time... she drew a long long line with her spear. However, if they just destroyed the mountain with the Glutton with it; then the world is saved. Lord knows she tried to do this... the easy way, but truth be told. This was how things were supposed to go. She didn't know how things were going to go from here, however. Soon enough the glyph was complete. It was big enough to engulf the entire room and she could feel the power it gave off - it was powerful enough to destroy the mountain and change everything. She smiled at a job well done... she was going to fix things for everyone involved... ... However, she heard footsteps approaching. "I can't believe you," said Penny through gritted teeth, her backpack in hand. Penny didn't let her finish as she targeted Sharon with her enhanced abstraction. Her backpack shredded itself to pieces like pens, coins, paperclips, broken glass, rocks, and zippers repulsed away from Penny and homed in on Sharon, the makeshift bullets turning the girl's winter coat into swiss cheese. Penny shuddered as she stepped forward to deliver the coup de grace onto the fallen Sharon. However, the ground started shaking as the glyph started glowing - Sharon had activated the glyph and was intent on destroying the mountain. Rocks fell from the ceiling above as side of the mountain began sliding off, making an enormous rockslide that began to destroy the woods and the abandoned Farmer Hill. "... You're too late. I'm sorry, but I've gone too far... too far to stop here..." And those were Sharon's last words. "I'm so sick of that fucking excuse," growled Penny, as she repulsed the junk in Sharon's stomach up towards her brain. She reached down and placed her hand over Lynette's sigil, absorbing the abstraction for herself. And then, the rock fell. [hr] Justin was worried about Penny... he shouldn't have let her go off alone. On the other hand, however, Penny is probably one of their most capable members. He knew she was going to be able to avenge Lynette... and if she fails; then Sharon will have hell to pay when Justin gets his hands on her. The group kept going and going and going... until the ground started shaking. Violently. It was almost like they were in the middle of an Earthquake, knowing how weird shit had gotten the last few days that's a [i]real[/i] possibility. Justin almost immediately fell over - but the Soul Self materialized and picked him back up. He looked around as he asked, "What the hell is going on?!" Justin shouted. "What the fuck," Caelea swore as she blasted around herself to keep afloat. Tuyen's shadow came to life to catch her, quickly flitting back out of life when it wasn't needed. What they didn't take into account was the fact that these caverns were old... older than all of them put together times two. They haven't been traveled or maintained in ages - which is why when Sharon enacted her plan to destroy the mountain - well, she began to destroy the mountain. The cave above them began collapsing in at a terrifying rate - massive rocks began to fall from the ceiling above them, as the tunnel was collapsing from behind them. Rocks were falling from the sky. However, Britney turned on her heel as she put her hands out and she instantly created a [i]forest[/i] out of plantlife that quickly went into the cracks. Wooden vines filled the cracks, and thick vines held the rocks. This was a toll-like no other on Britney. She fell onto her knee as she felt incredibly weak. "Kimberly!" Britney shouted, her voice getting hoarse as her skin was covered in wrinkles. Her hair was immediately turning gray from her power overexerting itself, "Give Jordan's abstraction!" "But-" Kimberly tried to object. "Just do it!" Britney said, and Kimberly obliged. She put a hand on Britney's shoulder and transferred Jordan's abstraction to her. The sigil of an hourglass went from Kimberly back to Britney's back. Britney was increasingly strained as she tried her hardest to beat the tide. Then she smiled. "Good, now get out of here," Britney said, "I'll... see you guys later. I promise." She spoke softly. "Britney..." Justin trailed off, realizing what Britney was trying to do. He sighed as he had no choice but to turn and run. When the group left Britney finally broke down into tears as she was barely conscious anymore. It was only sheer willpower she was awake. Sheer willpower that she was even still alive - but, this was truly her... punishment. No, it was her redemption. Or was it something else? Part of her felt like she deserved it all. After lying to the group, getting Claire and many others killed due to her careless actions. She set Amethyst on the group and got the mayor killed. She... did so much wrong. She did kill Pierre, she was cunning and manipulative towards people who had her best interests in heart. Britney kept telling herself over and over, and over again that she was just... trying to do the right thing. The cracks got bigger as she was unable to hold it back any longer. Truth be told, it kept getting harder and harder to justify that. Even as she killed and lied and stole just to protect Shimmer from Amethyst, the League, and the Glutton; she realized that it was all pointless. She realized, all too late, that the ends could never justify the means. Mainly because the ends are shaped and defined by the means. If she means involved death... then how fitting that it ends with her death. Truth be told; she realized that she was just another [i]hypocrite[/i] like Amethyst. Just one that managed to last a little longer in this blood bath. The reason why she demanded Jordan's abstraction was that; it was fueled by Jordan's guilt. Her guilt in her hand in her cousin's death. And truth be told if anybody had something to be guilty about... A pulse of white light came out of Britney and reality came to a stop. The rocks overhead were frozen in time - as the group probably were given more than enough time to get the hell away from the tunnel and to safety. Britney sighed as she fell onto her back - taking incredibly deep breaths as everything was going dark. [i]... It'd be Britney[/i] When the time came back in, the plants that Britney was manipulating held the rocks off for long as they could. Eventually, they gave up... all the rocks came down on Britney as everything went dark. Before it hit, she sent out one final message to the group; [i]Thank you.[/i] At least she wasn't conscious to see it hit. [hr] The rock was suspended in the air. Well, not quite. It was more like the rock that threatened to turn Penny into a pancake was stuck in the middle of a tug of war between gravity desperately trying to kill the poor girl and Penny attempting her hardest to make Newton roll over in his grave. She felt her vision swim as repulsing the large boulder upwards strained every part of her body, and she could taste the blood draining down the back of her throat. Penny stepped backward and the boulder rotated opposite of her, slamming down as her abstraction failed and burying Sharon's body in a rocky tomb. A smaller rock slammed into Penny's shoulder as she whipped her neck up in time to blast the next barrage away. Rocks closed up the exit behind her. Shit. Even if she managed to avoid getting crushed by an ever goddamn rock in this mountain, she'd still end up buried alive by the end of the destruction. She had to reverse Sharon's glyphs. Easier said than done. She didn't have anything to draw with for starters. Penny's hand fished around inside of her jacket, searching desperately for some kind of pen and coming out with only a coin. She scratched the edge against the boulder in front of her; it left a thin white line. Good enough, she supposed. There was another rumble, and another wave of rocks came crashing down around her. Next, she needed to learn how to draw a glyph, which was...not possible. She had seen Lynette draw them before, but she had never really paid any attention to the symbols or their meanings. For all she knew, if she recreated one from her memory it could be a fire glyph and she'd burn herself alive—and, in return, seal everyone else inside of the crumbling mountain. Penny swore silently, and then she centered herself. Her memories wouldn't have the answer, but Lynette's would. She placed her hand against the boulder and it started moving as if on its own, drawing intricate patterns that Penny had never even seen in her life. She didn't try to think about anything, letting Lynette's muscle memory work itself through her hand as it carved the glyph. One wrong line, one rock pulling her out of her trance, and it would be over. Memories that weren't her own flooded her head as she drew. A New York City skyline she had only seen in movies. Unfamiliar faces that filled her soul with a strange warmth. Some strange journal and something about Witch Mothers. Penny's hand stopped and she was back in control, her memories writing over the memories of her friend as she established dominance inside of her psyche. Before she was a completed glyph. There was no time to doubt the multiple recollections she had seen. With a thought, she activated the glyph. It glowed with dark light and then vanished as a rock fell behind her. A failure? No. The mountain stopped shaking. Penny collapsed against the boulder, pushing her hair back as she laughed in disbelief. The glyph had worked as the rocks once again hardened in place. She had done it. She looked around. It was dark; the torches had all been knocked out by the chaos. She pulled out her lighter and sparked it up. An eerie orange light—she held her breath, before realizing she was the origin—filled the cavern. The glyph had worked too well. The rocks sealing the entrance had morphed into one and become yet another part of the walls of the mountain. She had no clue which way to go, but she at least now knew how to make it there. In the faint light of her death, she scratched a glyph into one of the cavern walls. This was going to take some time. [hr] Soon enough the shaking stopped for whatever reason. However, the mountain was already horribly damaged but one end of the mountain stuck out. There were massive cracks on one side of the mountain and soon enough the shaking began again. An enormous avalanche of rocks fell down the side and further ravaged Farmer Hill... except there was a bright flash of white light followed by an orange one. Massive orange tentacles came out of the side of the mountain that were so long they breached the sky. The few people coming to investigate Farmer Hill came in and [i]bowed[/i] to the tentacles. The group continued running even after the tunnels stopped collapsing... they were met by a flash of white light as the Child appeared. "This... this isn't good." "Thanks for the support," muttered Rita. "Hell no it isn't," Justin said, "We just lost Britney." "It's worse than that..." The Child said, looking down. "Shannon Reid just destroyed the first and second seal." "What!?" Kimberly shouted. "I know we should have took her out while we had the chance!" Justin punched the wall. "So... what do we do now." The Child was quiet. "... We must prepare for the inevitable release of the Glutton," The Child said, "We can still defeat him, we have one chance." [hr] Down and down and down went Penny, her glyph-created tunnel fissuring through the mountain at a comfortable pace. The forever-burning glyph was the only light she had now, the fuel from her lighter gone. It was so dim she couldn’t see her hands, just the small beacon in front of her moving further and further away. It felt like she had been descending forever, yet she never reached the glyph. It was the light at the end of a never-ending tunnel. Perhaps she was dead. Maybe she’d been sealed in a place with no airflow. That’d be the way to go. Live through a handful of counters with the most horrifying thing in the world only to die because she was completely unaware that she’d been suffocating. Lynette forced the thought out of her mind. Wait, what? Penny shook her head and forced the thought out of her mind. Her name was Penny Lawson, she was twenty years old, born and raised in New York City, and no, that was right. Penny started again. Her name was Penny, she was twenty, she lived in Farmer Hill, and she had sisters who—no, no, no—she had two brothers. Henry was dead. Billy was lost. Corrupted. Dead? Lynette was dead. She was Lynette. So she was dead? She didn’t remember dying, but she could remember being Lynette. She could remember being Penny, too. Which one was she supposed to be again? “Just focus,” she said to herself, or maybe it was to her other-self. She was losing air, or the mountain was playing tricks on her or absorbing another abstraction was breaking her. She didn’t know. She just had to keep following the white lights. Lights? There had only been one, now there were two, three, ten. A lack of oxygen creating illusions. She was Henry, running through the woods. Dead. She was Lynette, destroying the school bathroom. Dead. She was Claire, arguing with herself in the conference room. Dead. She was Amethyst, watching from the shadows. Dead. She was Billy, lost, confused, losing her mind, but not dead. She wasn’t dead. Her brother wasn’t dead. The others weren’t dead. The Glutton wasn’t dead. She focused on that last one. Her name was Penny, she was going to kill the Glutton. Repeat forever. The light grew larger. She moved towards it. Would she see the Hound? [hr] Rita drew back with a start as the rock wall near them shook and gave way to the dark tunnel behind it. Out of it stumbled a ghastly looking girl covered in dust and drying blood, her blonde hair and face wet with sweat. In her hand was a single copper penny, her fingers running endlessly over the ridges as she muttered to herself. A look of shock appeared on her face as she stared down the group, and then she squinted as if she were deep in thought. “Penny? Are you okay?” asked Rita. Penny didn’t respond for a second, and then a look of recognition appeared on her face. Her friends were still alive. She smiled. “Of course I am. Don’t I look okay?” “You look like shit,” said Rita, unable to hold the words in. "Penny, what happened...?" Justin was the first person to ask given what happened to Penny when she ran off. He... had a suspicion what Penny just did. Given that Penny was here and beaten up and Sharon wasn't. Just, well, he found it hard to blame her. "That's what I want to know," said Penny, looking down at Justin's shoes instead of his face. She didn't want to point fingers, she didn't want to try and blame anybody, but he'd been the last person to talk to Sharon before she snapped and killed Lynette. She sucked in her lip and hesitantly asked, "What did you say to Sharon back there?" "All that stuff about John Reid, it was bullshit!" Justin said as he crossed his arms and shook his head. "John Reid wasn't the one going after everyone it was..." That was when the Recollection started. [quote][i]The life of Lihua Zhao wasn't a particularly complicated one. After she resigned from taking care of her daughters she decided to live her life on her terms. Which meant moving out to the middle of nowhere and sitting her ass down on the couch. Usually passing out asleep or watching television. Or passing out asleep while watching television. The elderly Zhao threw her head back as she tossed her pills into her mouth and quickly took a glass of water. Justin wasn't there so she neglected to close up her robe and she frowned. Her body was not what it used to be. She closed up her robe as she walked from one end of her house to the kitchen. She figured that she would surprise Justin tonight with her famous cooking - deciding to take a break from making him cook on her own. Though she made it to her kitchen she got out her cutting board and grabbed the piece of chicken that she left out to thaw and began cutting away at it. Soon enough the sounds of her cutting filled the room... though she heard a sound from behind her that made her stop immediately. The old woman reacted with surprising speed and turned around and stuck her hand out as she did so. All she saw was a person behind her and in her rather narrow-minded quest to protect herself she glossed over the details. Suddenly hands came out of the stone tile and grabbed onto her assailant's legs, holding them in place. See, the Zhao elder held onto a dangerous secret. She was an Awakened... and that was why she asked her daughter Meifeng for a place to stay that time while she got the floor replaced with stone tile. "Ah, nice try... but I'm no beginner," Lihua laughed as she looked at the intruder. The stone hands crept more and more up her figure as they constricted her... eventually, they clamp down and broke her legs as the woman let out a sharp shriek. "I figured you're the one going around killing people... I figured it'd be you of all people...." Lihua looked at the person... it was a person she knew. Red hair, freckles, a manic look in her eyes and a knife in her hands. She looked down at her broken legs as their stone hands were the only thing holding her up. At the same time, they were clasping down on her and crushing her. One hand came out the ground and held onto the hand with the knife and crushed it. "You've been outsmarted..." Lihua laughed. "... [i]Amy Reid.[/i]" Amy had gotten sloppy... she thought that Lihua would be easy since she was older. However, she hadn't lost a step. She was in incredible amounts of pain at the moment and couldn't even spit out a word. She was certain she would have gone into shock if it wasn't for one of the abstractions that she had. However, there was one misstep that Lihua made...the knife that she was just using to cut the chicken began to float behind her without notice. The sharp end began to turn towards Lihua and shot directly into her back as the woman let out a shriek. The hands released Amy as her wounds near-instantly healed with white light and she lunged for the Zhao. She stabbed her directly in between the ribs before she stabbed her again and again and again. Amy licked the blood off the knife as she kicked Lihua's lifeless body directly in the face. "Now who's been outsmarted?" Amy noticed the sigil of hands on her thigh and put her hand there and soon enough it was gone. "Bitch." Amy got up, flicked the blood off her knife and walked off. [/i][/quote] The Recollection faded and Justin couldn't contain his rage. He punched the nearest cave wall and flames sparked off of it. "Amy Reid, the bitch in the Recollections, was the one that was killing everyone! Not John Reid, I don't even know why the fuck she even told us that!" He kicked a stray rock on the ground. "Justin..." Kimberly muttered before she shook her head. She lost so many friends in such a short period. "Was that [i]really[/i] the right thing to say to Sharon?" "It's her fault for keeping secrets like that," said Rita, biting her thumb. She should've probed more when she had the chance, instead of being so scared that the others would find out about her abstraction. "Fuck Sharon," said Penny, a dark look crossing her face before she turned towards the others. It was that old look of disgust, the one that had been fading away after so many years. How quickly she could pull it back from the depths. She caught the lifted eyebrows that Rita gave her and quickly softened her expression, wiping it and some of the drying blood on her face away with her sleeve. She glanced at Justin, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up. I'm not blaming you for what she did." "It's..." Justin sighed. "... Alright." He shook his head. "We should keep moving..." Kimberly said as she pulled out a map of her own. Thank God that Lynette also gave her a copy of the map - or else they'd be mega screwed right now. "Um, before we go..." Justin pulled out a cigarette and lit it with his abstraction. "Penny, I should tell you that Britney... she didn't make it." The change was subtle, but it was there. A droop of the shoulder, a clench of a fist, a twitch of the lip. First Lynette, now Britney. It was a difficult thing for Penny to even comprehend, losing people so close to her like that. With Lynette, the pain had been more straightforward, a knife in the gut that twisted and twisted. Lynette was her friend, her confidant, somebody she could trust to have her back even if they disagreed. Losing someone like that was like losing a limb. With Britney, it was more complicated. Penny didn't even know what they were at the end, be it friends or rivals, but their strained relationship ran deep through her core. There had been times when she had wished the girl was dead, but she couldn't even imagine a world without her being there as some kind of presence. She was an inspiration and a warning sign, a weird mentor figure, a mortal enemy, and the closest thing Penny ever had to a best friend. She felt something rip inside of her and closed her eyes. "She'd want us to keep going," said Penny, finally, matter-of-factly, stone-faced and hushed. "I'll watch the rear." She waited until the others had their backs to her, and only then did her resolve break. [hr] The group went deeper and deeper into the mountain. Getting barraged by the nonstop barrage of memories from people they know and love, and of the deceased. There were white orbs of lights floating in the air and honestly they found that... comforting. They felt peaceful. As this was a place the Glutton couldn't pierce, as it was the point where all reality intersects. Eventually, they made it; they kept walking until they reached a cliff that overlooked a massive crater... with nothing but a blinding light in the middle of it. It was like a pool of sorts. [b]"Oh, you're here,"[/b] The Child said as they appeared in a bright flash of light. [b]"I'm sorry for the losses you've taken so far, but we cannot give up. We have to be quick... this is the Nexus-Point; the final step to Ascension."[/b] The Child walked to the cliff as they looked down. "I must tell you what you must do... it's simple; you must fall into the light," The Child said, "And when you do if your minds can handle it; you'll have the power to seal the Glutton back... possibly forever." The Child smiled. "Don't worry," They stuck out their hand, "I'll be there, holding your hand the whole time." One by one the group grabbed hands as they faced the massive pool of white light. With a nod of their head, they all took a dive into the Nexus and entered into the Godforce... they disappeared completely. For a great period, which left their fates unknown. However, moments later a massive orb of white light came out of the pool and slowly hovered over to the cliff they were just standing on. Eventually, it faded away as the group was revealed to be alive. They were... different. Justin looked at his hands and realized that his veins were glowing with white light - he felt stronger than ever before. Out of sheer willpower, Justin created a ball of white light in his hand and looked at it. "You all... have ascended," The Child says. "You did it... I can't fathom how powerful you all are now. You might be, combined, stronger than I. However, we don't have time... you need to go face the Glutton. Go... my power wanes." The Child's physical body faded in and out...