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If the actions of two weeks previous had taught Jomurr anything, it was the value of ruthlessness. His enemies - and he had come to understand that they were legion - would not hold back. Thus, neither should he. The husband and wife - in truth, he assumed that they were wed and that this was not some sort of tryst - scrabbled backwards, preserving their dignity by hitching up their sheets. They had survived the night due mainly to his actions. The others had been mere accessories. He furrowed his brow. Who [i]had[/i] been with him, again?  

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[center][sub][h1][color=0072bc][u]H[/u][/color] [u]U[/u] [u]G[/u] [u]O[/u]   [color=0072bc][u]H[/u][/color] [u]U[/u] [u]N[/u] [u]G[/u] [u]H[/u] [u]O[/u] [u]R[/u] [u]A[/u] [u]S[/u] [u]Z[/u][/h1][/sub][/center]

Another thread: he felt it snap. The old man sat in his study. Outside, the grassy fields of Tanteubra swayed in an afternoon breeze. After the first couple of instances, he had learned how to walk between timelines and retain his memories. It was both his greatest source of pain and sanity.

He looked at the five young people in front of him. He had memories of all: reviewing their student records, catching glimpses of them on campus or in the streets, welcoming them in. Yet, he also remembered that four had not existed in another timeline. Was it the most recent one? It was becoming hard to keep track of the many lives he had lived. The ones with Enna had been the best, even if they'd been shorter. Even if she'd gone.

With some fuzziness, he recalled his instructions to that group. Saving a life: creating more lives, erasing others. It was a needed change, and one for the better.

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[center][sub][h1][color=FFE4B5][u]J[/u][/color] [u]O[/u] [u]C[/u] [u]A[/u] [u]S[/u] [u]T[/u] [u]A[/u]   [color=FFE4B5][u]R[/u][/color] [u]E[/u][/h1][/sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/kd7nAfG.png?1[/img][/center][hr]Ayla [@Ti], Yalen [@pantothenic], Ysilla [@Pirouette], Zarina [@YummyYummy][hr]
Jocasta sat demurely in her rollchair, riding hood pulled back, hands knitted in her lap, blonde pigtails spilling over her shoulders. 

[color=FFE4B5][i]Bitch,[/i][/color] she thought at one of the girls. 
[color=FFE4B5][i]Slut,[/i][/color] she thought at another. 
[color=FFE4B5][i]Creep,[/i][/color] she thought at the third. 

All the way through, she continued to smile shyly and confusedly. She bowed her head slightly in greeting and said all of the expected words. [color=FFE4B5][i]Pitiable[/i][/color], she knew, [color=FFE4B5][i]and unremarkable.[/i][/color] One would not have been able to sense, even with the Gift, the disdain that she held for these people. It brought Jocasta genuine joy to know them for what they were: awful in their own ways, just like her.

Then, a priest came in, limping heavily. The twenty-year-old smiled most of all at him. [color=FFE4B5][i]Oh my, how the stairs have done a number on you.[/i][/color] It would be more difficult to fake concern, she knew, as she reached out and probed his energies with the Gift. Truth be told, she was wary of doing it with Hugo Hunghorasz around: Hugo, whose use of magic far outstripped even her own. She started to school her features into an empathetic mask and then she felt it: the boy's dead and dying nerves. She lost control of her face for a moment. She didn't have to [i]fake[/i] empathy. 

After a moment, however, she remembered that he was on four still, [i]somehow[/i], while she was on two. He was a priest, worshiping gods that hated him. [color=FFE4B5][i]Bitch,[/i][/color] she thought, [color=FFE4B5][i]slut, creep, idiot.[/i][/color] The first of the group was going out of her way to antagonize him. Jocasta... wasn't sure how to feel - maybe like she should've been the one to do it, at least. Then, the Virangishwoman offered her coffee. Jocasta blinked. [color=FFE4B5][b]"Oh, I don't partake. I fear my constitution can't handle the excitement, but the kindness of your offer will be remembered."[/b][/color] She bowed her head slightly, deferentially, and made her best apologetic face. It was a good one. The idiots were fooled.  

A folder landed in front of Jocasta and she blinked. Hugo gave a speech, but a tremor worked its way through her, unbidden. He was saying things that she knew. She looked, instead, at the paper again and then the Bitch made her blood boil. [color=FFE4B5][b]"I-if I may,"[/b][/color] she squeaked, [color=FFE4B5][b]"I am one of those... 'ailing' to which my friend Zamira refers. I thank her for her concern."[/b][/color] She nodded. [color=FFE4B5][i]Let's see if you correct the name,[/i][/color] she thought to herself. [color=FFE4B5][b]"Yet, my... my entire life has consisted of others 'solving' problems for me, 'protecting' me, and rarely do they ask for my in-input, much less my consent. I..."[/b][/color] She plucked up her courage and straightened in her seat. [color=FFE4B5][b]"I will not be a part of this unless we consult with those people."[/b][/color] She balled up a fist. [color=FFE4B5][b]"Th-they deserve to be listened to and we should be there as a resource for them to help fight this battle that has been... thrust upon them."[/b][/color]

Her performance finished but never truly finished, Jocasta glanced nervously about the table, once again shrinking into herself. The Paradigm, for his part, was watching her in that same slightly unnerving way that he had earlier. She held back on shooting him a look. [color=0072bc][b]"Both of your concerns are well conceived and well-noted,"[/b][/color] He assured the two young women. [color=0072bc][b]"Your priority is in protecting human life. That involves stopping the beasts and discovering the location of any further aberrations. The residents of that refuge are at once your best source of information, those most threatened, and either your greatest allies or threats depending on how you deal with them. The power of a mad magic user far outstrips that of a rampaging animal."[/b][/color]

He had little else to say. The portal hummed open wider. Already, the first glow of morning was appearing in the sky of distant Torragon. [color=FFE4B5][b]"I shall trust you,"[/b][/color] Jocasta said quietly, rolling up to the tear in reality after Yalen. She took a deep breath and pushed through to the land of her birth.

Immediately the air assaulted her: cold, dry, and lifeless. None of these people were threats, but neither did they seem all that useful. Already she could sense things that they could not hope to, save Yalen: hulking Halassa resting in the darkness, their great shells like boulders as they slept, coyotes stalking though the valleys, and Froabases roosting on the crags. Yet, she sensed that many of the animals were restless. She sensed the distant probing magics of other Tethered, still there in the refuge, curious, reaching back, but frightened. [color=FFE4B5][i]Pathetic,[/i][/color] she thought, but it wasn't their fault. They'd been raised to be pathetic. They hadn't the willpower or intelligence to peer beyond the veil of years of brainwashing and their own shattered memories. Jocasta removed her hands from her wheels and pushed herself instead with the Gift. It would not do to lift off just yet, not until she knew more. If Father was right, she would have a friend there, among other potential friends. First, however, there were the Halassa. She could sense the agglomerations of chemical and kinetic energy that denoted the beasts. A pack of five was headed the group's way. Jocasta knew well the threat those monsters presented with their foot-thick shells, bodies big as a wagon, and jaws capable of slicing through stone. Clearly something was wrong with the huge snapping tortoises. They [i]never[/i] hunted by night. Yet, they were approaching with every bit of that deceptive speed that they had. 

Jocasta glanced at Yalen. She could tell that he'd felt their approach as well. The others would momentarily. [color=FFE4B5][b]"We have company,"[/b][/color] she announced simply. [color=FFE4B5][b]"A pack of five Halassa, maybe more."[/b][/color] She raised a hand and pointed. [color=FFE4B5][b]"Down that way. They've got to be aberration-mad and, at this rate, they'll be on us in about a minute."[/b][/color] Jocasta could've killed them from far off, but the greater good would be served by seeing how her team members handled them instead... [i]if [/i]they could. Halassa were no laughing matter. Their shells were all-but impenetrable. 
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