[hr]
[CENTER][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjExNi5lNzA4ZjMuUlhabGJIbHViaUJCYm00Z1UyVnlaVzVsYkdsbmFIUSwuMA,,/georganodemo.regular.webp[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/VlWrvIO.png[/img][/CENTER]
[right][code]Current day
Interactions: Mars bar
Outfit: Normal[/code][/right][hr]

[Colour=SkyBlue]”Well, welcome to Cornell, Lynn.  My party knowledge might be lacking but I’m happy to give you the lay of the land, so to speak. These are good people here  Er, some are a little fractious before you get to know them, b-but they mean well… I think.”[/Colour]

Lynn chuckled.  His explanation did little to ease the concerns she had for the upcoming school year.  She knew all too well that not everyone would be good, and she would be very naive to take him at his word that all it took was getting to know them to see that.  It did not take a seer to see that her future would have challenges here at this new school.  Still, it was nice that she had found such a kind guide through these new halls.  Even if they were nothing more than a smiling face in the crowded halls in between classes, he would be a start.  She closed her eyes, just for a moment.  Her mind felt a strange sensation as if it had moved somewhere else.  The sensation felt somewhere between a brain freeze and a cluster headache, but it dissipated as quickly as it started.  Whoever invited her out tonight was smart.  This was what she needed to start the new year.  This was everything she could ask for.  There was only one thing she needed to do from here, and that was to ensure that she learned everything she could about this man.  Her smile widened.  Her eyes opened.  She watched a kid die less than a dozen feet in front of her.

[color=8A2BE2]“....What?”[/color]

There he was, standing, drink in hand, and in the next, he was lifted into the air by some unseen force.  Lynn watched, in horror, as the poor kid’s spine was twisted in a way that nobody should be twisted.  The [i]snap[/i] sound that came from his body made Evelynn nearly vomit.  And she watched as the boy was tossed to the side like a discarded toy, and watched it impact the ground with force.  Her eyes drifted to his face for a brief second.  Suddenly, the scene was replaced by the scene of her in the back seat of her family's car.  She remembered how her family snapped like that, about how their bodies made noises like that.  All she could see was her father’s head spinning around in a way a head should not be able to do, much like how this boy's back was bent in a way a back should never.  It was wrong, and there was nothing she could do to help them.  Any of them.  Her father, her siblings, her mother, this boy.  

And then she felt an unnatural footstep that reverberated through the floor.  She could almost feel that something unnatural was here.  Something that should not exist in their realm yet did so all the same.  Her eyes caught the girl as she was grabbed.  One minute she was laughing, the next her jaw snapped to the side with an impossible force.  Her mother's face flickered on top of her face, a memory she had thus far repressed.  A shriek escaped her lips as the girl was dragged back.  This was a nightmare.  There was no way this could be happening.  Lynn collapsed to the ground with her hands pressed against the temples of her head.  This was not happening.  This was not happening.  And as the chaos erupted all around, Lynn could not move.  She could not be dealing with this again.  She can’t deal with death again.  Even as the footsteps drew close, Evelynn shook her head from side to side, denying the reality in front of her.  Even as she felt the impossibly strong hands wrap around her neck, she cried out that this was a lie.  And even as her body was raised up effortlessly by a hidden threat, she did not try to escape or protest her fate.  

As the invisible force squeezed her neck, suddenly the illusion broke, and Evelynn was someplace new, somewhere else.  As far as she could see, there was white.  It was a bright, vivid white as if she were standing in the middle of a partially finished art piece.  And if this were a piece of art, no doubt the subject of it would be the vast and ever-branching tree that she suddenly found herself holding onto.  She blinked.  There was not much she could do besides blink.  This place was alien to her.  Yet, for some reason, it felt like she had always belonged here.  More so than back home out west, or at the party in the east.  Whatever this tree was, whatever this garden was, it was something that called to her in a way she had never experienced.  Yet, despite this desire to stay, she felt herself pulled backwards away from the tree.  She flew at such speed, and she closed her eyes.

A second later, they opened again. She was back at the party, yet for some reason, this party was still going.  If someone had witnessed her in that brief moment, and the few moments prior, they could remark about how her eyes were suddenly as vibrant as a vivid piece of jade.  The people were still drinking, dancing, and having fun.  There was no blood, no death, and no sign that anything was wrong.  Lynn started hyperventilating.  Each breath felt like she was sucking concrete through a plastic straw, and each one required more and more effort.  She knew what she saw.  It was real, or at least it felt real, and there was no way these people were reacting the right way when that had just happened.  She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing.  She forced herself to take a deep breath in, out, and in again.  She repeated this a couple of times before everything felt easy.  And as she opened them again, she sighed and chuckled.  No doubt that this poor party boy would have just witnessed a panic attack come and pass just like that.  It was totally a panic attack.  None of it felt real.  Nothing of the sort.  If Daniel asked, she would just say she was on a new medication, or that she smoked some weed before the party, or that she was just overwhelmed by the noise, or that she…

[b][i]*thump*[/i][/b]

Her eyes slowly shifted to the side and caught sight of the first victim for the last time.  Behind them stood a towering monster.  Lynn could not even try to describe what she saw.  The impossible size, the strange appendages, and the eyes that sent chills down her back.  She watched as the scene started again, the same as the first time, and she knew she needed to [i]run[/i].  Before the first victim was even grabbed, Lynn had grabbed the hand of Daniel Mars and dragged him through the door, even before the first victim had died.  The sounds of the entire warehouse screaming behind her told her everything she needed to know about what was happening.

[color=8A2BE2]“We need to run.  We need to fucking [b]RUN[/b].”[/color]

[hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/OLdw0ys.png[/img]
[img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/b3RmLjEwNi5lMTEwN2MuV205bWFXRWdTM0xEczJ3LjA/future-thor-trial.regular.webp[/img][/center]
[right]Interactions: The nope dog and an ancestor
[code]In the room where it happened[/code][/right][hr]

This wasn’t happening.

This couldn’t be happening.

This was impossible.

No matter which way Nora tried to spin what she witnessed, and continued to witness, she could not explain away what was happening.  The kids were actually dead, their lifeless and limp bodies told them that much, and more kids were dying.  In a panic, the rest of the patrons tried to get out of the party at the same time, leading to a quick demonstration of a crowd crush and why modern buildings have multiple exits.  Yet the knowledge of how this tragedy within the tragedy did little to make Nora feel better.  If anything, it made them feel more sick to their stomach.  Why were they thinking of something so fucking trivial as building codes as people died around them?  Why the fuck were they not doing more to help people get out?  Sure, they couldn’t see whatever beast Baba Jaga conjured up and sent their way but they could at least help someone get through the door,

Yet, their muscles lost their strength.

Their mind lost their will.

And they did nothing.  Why would they need to do something when they had Ella at their side?  Kari did wonders helping the small group navigate the chaos, and soon they all found themself on the other side of the bottleneck and outside the warehouse.  They were away from the immediate danger and could make a break for safety somewhere far away.  They could tell the government what happened here and they would dispatch some fucking monster hunting group they no doubt funded for situations like this, kill the ghost, and life would move on eventually after years of therapy and terrible coping skills.  As long as Ella and Nora were together, this night would not be the defining night of their life.  Nora looked to where Ella was and gasped when they saw they were no longer by their side.  They quickly spun around, back towards the death and destruction behind them, and covered their mouth with their hands.  While Ella still held onto Nora, they knew that was about to change.

[color=e77fbf]"Keep going, we- we need more exits! I can help with that.  I’ll get out too, don’t worry!"[/color]

With that, Ella let go of Nora, and Nora reached out for their friend.  They took a half step back towards the warehouse, but quickly stopped as they heard another body breaking inside.  They needed to help their friend, they needed to ensure they did not die, and yet something was pulling her away from stepping through the door.   Their vision narrowed more and more, and the door that was packed full of panicked teens seemed to grow further and further away, with a dark chasm between them appearing.  The fear of losing their best friend and closest confidant broke something deep inside them, and through that wound, something awakened.  A snowflake fell into view.  A second fell a moment later.  Soon, the vast distance between Nora and the door became a blizzard that nearly blocked their view of the warehouse, and time seemed to slow in response.  They could see individual hands moving in a slow-motion effect.  Nora began to have a panic attack.  What the fuck was going on?  Why the fuck was this happening?  They couldn’t afford to be dealing with this right now; they needed to help their friend help the poor folks still trapped inside, not fight their own mind right now.

Suddenly, they felt a presence behind them that commanded their attention.  Despite their best effort not to turn their head, it still slowly craned around.  Instead of the rest of the friend group, and other panicked kids they expected to see, their vision showed a cobblestone street, lined with old merchant stalls.  Straight ahead of them was a rather large river, and right before the street curved away from its banks stood a rather large and imposing church.  There was no one else on the street besides Nora, the growing snowbanks, and a single woman who stood far too close and yet seemed all too far away.  Nora could tell they were pale, almost deathly so.  They wore a simple white linen dress.  It seemed far too little for the weather they were facing, yet Nora did not linger on their outfit for long; instead, their eyes raised to a crown of thorns that was causing a persistent flow of blood down their face.  It dripped off every few seconds, burning through the layer of snow below.  They stared at Nora with an intensity that words could not describe, but all Nora wanted to do was [i]run[/i]

[color=008080]“Do you wish to save your friend,”[/color] the woman asked as she began to circle around Nora.

[color=FF00FF]“What the fuck.”[/color] Nora paused as they stumbled backwards.

In the blink of an eye, the strange woman closed the gap and was now right in front of them.  Nora tried to scream, but their voice was stolen as the woman gave them an audible [color=008080][i]tisk, tisk, tisk[/i][/color] as their cold gaze swept over their body.  [color=008080]“Do you eat?  Do you train?  How are you the first one to awaken after all this time?  No choice.  Desperate times you face, and you shall gain desperate measures to face them.”[/color]

Nora just blinked twice.  The woman had a very similar accent to both their parents, and Zofia could hear the woman fight to not speak Polish.  Her body went limp as the woman practically grabbed her arms, stretching them out, and expressed dismay at the size of Nora’s arm muscles.  What the fuck was going on?  While Nora had never met this woman before, there was a certain air of familiarity that they could just not place.  And even as blood dripped on their face as the tall, lithe woman danced around them, Nora remained frozen in place.  Yet, the weird actions and relentless questions disarmed Nora’s fear and spurred a single question.  [color=FF00FF]“Who are you?”[/color] 

[color=008080]“Who am I?  Who am I?  You little,”[/color] the strange woman started, stopped, took a deep breath, sighed, and placed both her hands on the cheeks of Nora.  [color=008080]“Young Zofia, I am an ancestor.  You have just woken from your lifelong dream and are now about to see reality for what it is.  For that, I am sorry.  However, we do not have time to discuss what that means, who I am, and what you can do.  Your friend is in danger.  I ask again.  Do you wish to save your friend? What’s her name, Ella?”[/color]

Nora, shaken, simply nodded their head.  They did not know what they could believe in this mental break, but something tugged at the inside of their body in a way that only their favorite anime or music could.  And it felt all too real.

[color=008080]“Good,”[/color] the woman paused as she pulled both hands off Zofia’s face, returning with a gentle slap, and then back off again.  The woman’s right hand formed a fist, before the pointer finger extended towards the Saint’s pendant around their neck.  [color=008080]“I am sorry for what you must feel, which is your fault for not having a crown like mine, and I wish you good luck in the battles to come.  Your body will know what to do,”[/color] the woman paused as their extended finger pushed the pendant until it was pressed firmly against Zofia’s skin, causing a surge of pain to flare outward from the location.  [color=008080]“I hope we meet again.”[/color]

As the pendant forced its way through their skin, the world around them collapsed, and they quickly found themself back in reality.  The pain of the pendant was intense, as the skin underneath it felt like it had suddenly gained the courage to resist the damage that it had once welcomed.  They collapsed to the ground, with a hand over their chest, as the pain reached its zenith.  And then the pendant broke through, becoming flush with the skin around it, and they felt a surge of power spread through their body.  It wasn’t like their muscles felt stronger; it felt like their blood itself became a torrent of power that coursed through their veins.  They felt a connection, or control, even over it.  Blood seeped around the edges of the pendant, and Zofia reached out with this control, and soon the blood flowed into a long tendril that soon formed and pulled together, forming the most anime thing they could think of, a blood red rose petal.  The petal broke free from the tether and orbited their body for a few seconds before the blood dissipated.  They felt like they could have compelled the petal to fly towards something, but chose not to in the moment.  

Zofia rose to their feet, and they looked around to see if anyone else saw what they just did.  They shook their head.  They did not have time to check if they were still sane.  Their best friend was still inside the warehouse and might be in trouble.  They needed to either use this possible power to help them, or at least convince them to run off into the night together.  They wiggled their way through the door frame, above the crowd that was trying to get out, and looked for their friend.  They did not expect to see her midway through a magic girl transformation scene straight out of the various anime they watched together.  Well, this was real.  And it looked like Ella was a magic girl too.  [color=e77fbf]"In the name of the light and all that’s good in this world, I won’t let you kill any more of my friends!"[/color]

Feeling a surge of strength at the sight of their friend, they pulled more blood from their body and created three rotating crimson petals and looked for the invisible ghost.  The three petals dissolved when they found it visible.  Zofia gasped in horror as the visage of a massive, werewolf like monster filled their vision.  It was far too big to make sense, far too hairy to be human, and far too naked for them to allow.  This was a fucking high school party, and what nerve the monster showed by showing up naked.  What nerve this fucker had to ruin a good night.  This could not stand, no, it would not stand.  Zofia groaned as two long cuts opened on the palm of their hands, long since healed wounds they willed back open, and two long crimson tendrils of blood began to birth crimson petals.  They did not know what they could do, but they could not allow Ella to face this threat alone.  [color=FF00FF]"Then you will not stand alone. Let your light guide the way, and I shall paint the path in crimson. So long as my heart still beats, none of our friends will fall today!"[/color]