OOC: The end. Thanks for playing.
mentions: [@supamusu][@Moonberry][@JonTheArchivist] [@Ducksworth] [@ImaginedBird]

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Kavros smiled and the change came quietly.

Not with another charge, not with a roar, but with a soft tilt in the air, the same way a dream gives itself away an instant before it breaks.

A sweetness rose in the mist. Warmer now. Comforting.

Yumi’s vision blurred first.
Evie’s next.
Locke’s HUD flickered.
Aramis felt the floor tilt beneath him.
Androph’s shout stretched into something slow and distant.

The mammoth dissolved into white.
The mirrored hall stretched until it was nothing but light.

Kavros’ voice drifted through them like a hand brushing across each mind.

[color=00aeef][b]“Rest. You are mine now... and I give you peace.”[/b][/color]

The world folded inward.
Reflections peeled away.
Memories slid out of their grasp like water cupped in trembling hands.

One heartbeat.

Two.

Everything went dark.

.............................

A rooster crowed.

Someone stirred first, Roscoe, letting out a questioning whine as he blinked up toward the rafters of a wooden ceiling. Morning sun spilled through a cracked shutter. A warm draft carried the scent of porridge and fireplace smoke.

Evie woke next on a straw stuffed bed. She'd have a feeling she couldn’t name. Something sharp and important was missing, though she couldn’t remember what.

Yumi opened her eyes sitting upright on the floorboards beside her scythe, which rested neatly across her lap. Nothing hurt. No blood. No fracture. No bruise. As if none of it had ever happened.

Locke found himself slumped against a support beam near the inn’s door, armor scuffed but intact, visor dim until it rebooted with a soft chiming tone. His HUD displayed nothing unusual. No alerts. No damage. No mission running.

Aramis jolted awake at a small wooden table, glasses still perched crooked on his nose. Several dusty tomes sat open in front of him with notes he didn’t remember writing. His ribs did not ache. His lungs did not burn. He felt fine. Strange, but fine.

Androph was facedown on a rug beside the hearth, snoring until the clatter of a dropped mug woke him with a furious snort.

A villager blinked at them all from behind the counter.

[color=39b54a][b]“You lot alright?”[/b][/color] she asked, brows raised. [b][color=39b54a]“Must’ve been a strong drink last night. Best be about your business. Other patrons will be coming soon and the best jobs don't wait for hungover adventurer.”[/color][/b]

Looking around, no one had an answer. How did they get there was missing from their memory although some recall arriving in the village at least. But other memories weren't there.

No mission.
No patron.
No labyrinth.
No mammoth.
No Kavros Dern.

Just the faint echo of something important slipping away the harder they tried to grasp it.

Outside, the village was peaceful. Ordinary. Children ran between the houses. Merchants set out wares. A bell chimed somewhere near the well.

Whatever had happened before, whatever choices they had made, whatever price they had paid, 

Something had swallowed it whole.