FernStone

Paragraphs: Agents of Death [FernStone & Mixtape Ghost Note]

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It was yet another dream… Lisa woke up, this time in the lair of the Old Coven, that mansion Greyson had scored them. She looked around; she was standing in the dining hall. The table was empty, however. There was no food, no tableware, nothing… It felt dead. From what she could recall, the entire mansion was always so lively. Yet, it felt empty. Cold. Barren.

Wrong.

Then she blinked.

The Mother Will was standing there.

“... Greetings,” The Mother Will said.

Lisa was silent.

“This is home, yes?” The Mother Will said.

Lisa awkwardly looked to the left and right.

”... In a way, it is,” Lisa began.

“The Sycamore Tree Coven,” The Mother Will began, “You think very highly of them, yes?”

”Yes.,” Lisa answered without so much of a thought. ”They accepted me. When no one else would. They’re the best people I ever met.”

“... Even though they accepted the likes of Emily G. Reed?” The Mother Will asked. “Or George Nelson, Hagan Rosefey… I could go on all day.”

Lisa was silent, averting her gaze from the Mother Will.

”... Yes.” Lisa began. ”Adora. Saskia. Ella. Sloane. Aislin. Vanessa. Clem. Kari. Sully. Luca. Micheal. Lynn. Jade. Jasper. Greta… they made it worth it.”

The Mother Will seemingly slid alongside the ground, until she was close to Lisa, and then leaned forward and said,

“... And yet,” The Mother Will said, “Have you ever wondered if they liked your true self or just the persona you put on for them?”

The Mother Will laughed as Lisa was caught like a deer in headlights.

“To fit in with them, you were what they needed you to be, but they never knew what or who you actually were,” The Mother Will said. “The war against the Stygian Snake, suffering at the hands of Emily G. Reed and her cronies… those dark hours gave birth to something powerful. Did they not?”

The emptiness of the dining hall began to press down on Lisa as she choked, unable to find the words.

“Those spells you devised to inflict your sadistic retribution onto Emily G. Reed, and everyone who bullied you,” The Mother Will began. “You deeply fantasized about using them on her… It brought you joy in a dark world. To permanently disfigure Emily, to slowly sap away at her until her demise, and to gruesomely kill her...”

The Mother Will paused. ”... You were always afraid of how they would feel if they ever discovered that you, as a child created these spells.”

Lisa blinked, and Mother Will was gone. Then she felt her cold hands on her shoulders as Mother Will leaned over her, still that eerie smile on her face. “What if I told you those spells weren’t just a byproduct of your pain but your power?”

The words hung in the air, but she continued before Lisa could think about it. “After all, power unexpressed is power wasted. And you’ve wasted so much of your power, Lisa Turner.”

Lisa blinked, and the Mother Will was next to her. She gently laid a hand on her shoulder. “Here, the Pit, we don’t blame. We don’t hate. And most importantly, we don’t shame.”

The Mother Will leaned in closer, “The Sycamore Tree Coven accepted you, but they never understood the depth of your pain. They simply used it to reassure themselves, treating you as nothing more than an empty vessel onto which they could project their sense of superiority.”

The Mother Will laughed.

“You felt it, didn’t you, Lisa?” The Mother Will’s voice was like a vicious whisper. “The frustration of being misunderstood, having to hold yourself back so you’d belong to people who wouldn’t even care about you if you didn’t have magic!”

The Mother Will raised both of their hands, “They never saw you for what you really were! Only what was convenient for them!”

Lisa froze, remaining quiet as the Mother Will stopped laughing.

“... But there is no more need to keep your true self locked away,” The Mother Will began. “You’ve experienced your first rebirth, yet you insist on playing by their rules. You have more power than ever before, Lisa Turner… Why do you insist on playing by their rules when you have the power to define your own?”

Lisa thought about it before the Mother Will continued, “In a way, they’re all like Emily G. Reed: they’re afraid of you. That’s why they work to diminish you. To control you. Because they fear what you can do to them if you stop holding back. Stopped playing by the rules.”

The Mother Will laughed as she raised her hand.

“You are capable of so much more, Lisa Turner,” The Mother Will began. “Embrace it. Love it. Use it to protect the people you love and slaughter everyone who gets in your path.”

The Mother Will put her thumb and middle finger together.

“... You owe it to yourself, after all.”

The Mother Will snapped her fingers, and the dream ended.

---

"... Turner. Turner. Wake up. God she snores loud as hell for a tiny woman."

Lisa heard Yoko’s voice, as she felt her hand try and rouse her awake…

”... Wake up! It’s time to get to work!”

"... These nuts are tiny."

Lisa said with a snicker as she woke up, and Yoko rolled her eyes.

”I thought you got all of those jokes out of your system!” Yoko began. ”Also! That didn’t go how you expected it to, Turner.”

Yoko extended a hand.

”Now, need hand?”

Lisa grabbed it as Yoko helped her up… out of this bale of hay that she decided was her bed. Lisa stood straight up, stretching as she looked around. The rain had stopped, and it seemed oddly peaceful… despite being in spooky farmlands. All four walked out to the field as Yoko turned to Ella.

”I will take my disciple off to teach her the necessary spells,” Yoko then turned to Lisa and Saskia, ”You two have a plan, I presume?”

"We already told you the plan yesterday," Saskia said, completely deadpan.

"That was a terrible plan!" Ella shouted.

"It was a joke. Yes, we have a plan… As in, spells to beat those robots."

”I thought it was lit!” Lisa laughed, who will probably remember this night fondly.

”Forgive me if some of the details got lost in the Penis-arm, Otten,” Yoko said, followed by a laugh. Before she grabbed Ella’s hand and said, ”The two of us will need a bit of privacy, yes. Scream if a monster is eating you!” Yoko said as she pulled Ella into a separate farm field.

Lisa pivoted on her heel as she looked for some metal, ”Let’s find some metal…”

Then, her eyes landed on a rusted tractor, and she grinned.

”Perfect,” Lisa said as she walked up to the tractor, and said, ”This hunk of junk will be perfect.” She kicked it.

Then it fell apart.

Lisa shrugged. She stepped back, already envisioning how to rework her spider minions for this new task. With a wave of her hands, she summoned a horde of random spiders out of their sight. She knelt and grabbed one… giving it a few loving pets before altering the spider's abdomen, watching as it swelled slightly under her modifications. The thick, tar-like substance she envisioned glowed faintly green within the creature, and she couldn't help but grin.

Lisa then hurled the spider at the tractor. As it struck, the spider burst, splattering the thick gunk across the metal surface. Lisa watched as the substance rapidly expanded, hardening over the rusted joints and seams… However, it quickly chipped away and fell apart into dust.

”... Will need to work on that,” Lisa shrugged as she turned to Saskia. ”What do you got? What if you do something like shoot blood that becomes sticky on contact?”

"I was thinking something like that," Saskia nodded, cutting their palm and pointing it at the tractor. Blood dripped from the wound and formed across their hand before they shot a glob of it at the Tractor.

It hit it, and slid off, like normal blood. "Yeah, the sticky part when it leaves me is tough."

Lisa walked over to the tractor, and ran her fingers through the blood, then shrugged. ”How about making it thicker before shooting it out? Like it’s more gooey?” Lisa suggested. ”Or make them dry super fast?”

That was an idea. ”If you were Ella, I would suggest thinking of what your uncle did to you!” She stuck her tongue out.

"Sadly my uncles too dead to be a problem," Saskia replied drily. They turned their palm upwards, causing blood to cover it again. It got thicker this time, until it was an almost jelly like blob. Then they tilted their palm towards the tractor and shot it again. This time the blood splattered, then stuck. "Better, not perfect. I'll lose a lot of blood like this…"

”Who says it has to be blood?!” Lisa throws her hand in the air. ”Or your blood for that matter?! It could be spit!”

"That's true," Saskia rubbed their chin thoughtfully. "Maybe I should make Ella cry, collect all her tears, and use those. Or drain someone else's blood… Well, spit works too."

The blood on their hand pulled back into the wound, scabbing instantly. They then rolled their shoulders, head tilting from one side to the other with loud cracks. They pressed their lips together and… shot a stream of magical spit at the tractor. It splashed across it, sticking and beginning to harden.

"How's that? It's a start."

”That’s great!” Lisa shouted.
”You just need to spit out a lot more!”

"It's not as easy as it looks," Saskia rolled their eyes. "You try magically producing spit."

But they still tried again. This time it was a much larger amount, and they moved their head to direct it across the tractor, splattering across and dripping into the cracks in the metal before it hardened. "It looks a bit suggestive, doesn't it? I can't wait to show it to Ella…"

Lisa laughed like a goblin, ”Just spit in her mouth! She’ll love it!”

However, that strange voice seeped into their minds again:

…. ? …. S-s… start…

Lisa looked at Saskia as the voice continued,

?…?…. Aut-knight-…?…?…Less armored… -…?…?… -rupt steam eng-…?…?…?… able.

”Steam engine?" Saskia tilted their head, looking back at Lisa. ”Sorry, you need to get somewhere with better mental signal. Oh- maybe they're less armoured around the steam engine… which is…?"

Lisa shrugged. ”I mean it has to be in their torso?” Lisa suggested, unaware of where the steam engine was or could be.
”How can we fuck with it, strange mental voice?!”

…?…?…B-…?…Backs…th-…?…-ears…?…ogs…?…?…-mec-…?…?..?…?…?

"Behind the ears? Cogs? Oh- maybe it's the groin area?" Saskia suggested, with an evil smile.

..:?…?…?… BACKS. BAC-…?…?…?… CKS…?…?…BACKS….?…?

"Their back? That's too obvious to be right," Saskia tilted their head. "Back of the ears?"

… ?… TH-…?… N’T…?…?…?..?..?… EARS!

Then the voice was gone.

"Backs or ears," Saskia shrugged. ”We can try both… Do they even have ears? I didn't look close enough. Too busy trying not to die."

Lisa threw her hands in the air.

”If they have ears then they definitely have big dicks!”

"Oh I sure hope they do," Saskia chuckled. "Then we can take them for a ride, destroy them that way… I always wanted to fuck a robot."

”We gotta make sure Ella’s not around!” Lisa began. ”She’s Penis-Phobic after her uncle got done with her.”

Lisa was silent for a moment, before she added,
”… You can still kind of taste him.”

"It was kinda nasty," Saskia nodded in agreement. "But that'll be easy, we just send her off with Yoko to have some fun of their own, then we get to ride some robot cock."

”Aren’t they already having fun?” Lisa shrugged. ”And I want to do more than-”

The voice returned…

… ?…? AHHHHHHHHHHHHH-…?…?..?-HHHHHHHHHHHHHH-…?..?..?…-HHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Screaming.

Lisa raised an eyebrow.

”Do you want to join too?” Saskia asked the voice, tilting their head, looking a bit confused.

..?…?… NO! FU-…?…?…FOOOOOOCUS-

Then the voice was gone.

"Focus… right… I think we're focused enough," Saskia rolled their eyes, looking back at Lisa. "I guess we should practice our spells more. We'll need them to get near the robot dick anyway."

”Yes! The important thing!” Lisa said, raising a finger. ”Let’s get to work!”

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree [Complete]

Luciano Alves Oliviera

"Why wouldn’t I use the time I have left to help?"

_______________________________________________ Luciano “Luca” Manuel Alves Oliviera He/They | 25 | Brazilian | 5’3” | 105lbs _______________________________________________ Positivity _______________________________________________ Skills & Talents "I had to give up a lot of what I was good at when it attached itself to me. Maybe one day I’ll be able to play soccer again…" ___________________________________ [+] Information Gathering ⫻ Luca has spent most of the last ten years researching a way to remove the apparition attached to their soul, jumping from paranormal group to paranormal group and finding as many materials they can on the subject. While they haven’t found much to help out they’ve gotten very good at searching for information, whether it's from talking to people or reading books. Optimism ⫻ Luca likes to think his optimistic thinking, always looking on the bright side, is a talent. No matter the bad news or the difficulties he will keep going. He’s very resilient. Wood Carving ⫻ Though he doesn’t do it as much as he did as a teenager, Luca is good at carving figures out of wood. He mostly does animals, and sometimes the paranormal creatures he’s seen. He can only do it for a short period of time at once, otherwise he’ll start rotting the wood, but it’s the one hobby from before he got his abstraction he’s managed to keep up.

Appearance ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "Huh, I’m bleeding? It’s bad? Don’t worry, this happens a lot." With noticeable dark bags under his eyes, Luciano looks perpetually tired. Dull brown eyes peer out from behind sweeping curtain bangs that they’re constantly having to move to keep them from restricting their vision. Their hair is thick and dark brown, falling in a smooth curve past his eyes and in shorter, light curls at the back of his neck. Their skin is a warm tan, slightly rough. They’re rarely found without at least earrings, often wearing a simple stud in one ear and a hanging one in the other. Their earrings are most commonly made of titanium, which is resistant to rusting. All of their jewellery, which they enjoy wearing, is made of this or other pure metals - anything mixed with iron won’t last long near them. Luca isn’t particularly short for who he was born as, but his small stature is something that annoys him. It makes it more difficult to pass, and their parents weren’t even that short! So why did he get the short end of the stick? Luca is slender, too - currently still a healthy weight, but at risk of becoming underweight. Plus, he still has a really nice ass. He’s physically weak, though he tries to hide this as best as he can. He has curved scars under his chest from top surgery. He has multiple smaller scars across his body, most of which he can’t remember where he got them from. Most of the time Luca has at least one, if not multiple, open wounds or cuts. Luca is always found with a button down shirt on. They vary from the occasional bright, bold patterns to more lowkey neutrals, sometimes tucked into a pair of baggy trousers and sometimes open over a tank top, but always there. Their favoured colours tend to be shades of green, brown, white and navy blue in striped patterns apart from “special occasions” (days they’re feeling like brightening everything up). Their shirts are normally paired with wide legged trousers, with a white or black top underneath. They tend to cover up, whether it's wearing a long sleeved t-shirt with a short sleeved button down, or a long sleeved button down. Most of their clothes are made of synthetic fibres, polyester or nylon, because it degrades slower and thus he doesn’t have to replace them as frequently. He’s never found without a pair of black, polyester-lycra gloves on. Luca is bright and cheerful, often smiling or chatting. He is generally very expressive, with an inability to keep his immediate reactions off his face. The only expressions he rarely has are those of sadness, the one thing he keeps locked deep down.

_{Psychology
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"I want everyone to remember me as someone who never gave up. I want them to remember my positivity.”

MAIN GOAL ⫻ To be free of the apparition he’s adjoined to. After that he just wants to live his life, enjoying all the things he was unable to - spending time with his family, playing soccer again and just using a phone without worrying that he’ll destroy it.

PHILOSOPHY ⫻ Live life as if everyday could be your last. Luca has always focused on living life to the fullest, without getting dragged down by the small things. This has only grown stronger when they realised how short their life might be. They believe in focusing on the good and in enjoying himself, rather than the inevitable end. Because everyone dies eventually, some just sooner than others.

SECRETS ⫻ Luca’s biggest secret is his shortened lifespan, and how ill his abstraction has made him. He keeps on a strong front as if it isn’t slowly eating him from the inside. He hasn’t told any of his family, because how could he even begin to explain it? He also hides that sometimes he feels that it's all pointless. This is a feeling he tries to hide from even himself, shoving it deep down everytime it rears its ugly head.

SEXUALITY ⫻ Probably attracted to men, but Luca has never had the chance to be in a relationship. When he was younger he was struggling with his gender, and now he can’t get physically close to anyone without hurting them.

FEARS ⫻ The Rot possessing them. They can constantly feel it prodding their mind, looking for a weak spot to take advantage of. They fear it more than dying, though they also fear dying like most people do. They also fear harming their loved ones, especially their family.

REPUTATION IN OLD COVEN ⫻ Neutral, or slightly positive. Luca joined the coven late, a short time before the final battle. He was helpful and friendly which would’ve given the others a good impression of him but also standoffish as he learned the effects of his abstraction. He stuck with the old coven until it dissolved and while he wasn’t contributing to the petty squabbles his attempted positivity didn’t help towards the end.

ROLE IN THE BATTLE AGAINST THE STYGIAN SNAKE ⫻ Luca joined the coven late, but from then he was very useful in the battle against the Stygian Snake. His abstraction was one that allowed him to directly weaken the emotions fueling apparitions and the Stygian Snake itself through touching them. With this he was able to help them defeat and seal the Stygian Snake on the day of the eclipse.

FLAWS ⫻ Luca has absolutely no filter. He says what he thinks, whether positive or negative. This can come across as blunt and is incredibly tactless. He hurts others often because of this, regardless of his intentions. He is almost toxically positive. Luca hides difficult emotions from even himself, burying them deep down so he doesn’t have to think about them, ignoring all his problems. He can often invalidate others emotions because he doesn’t understand why they’d dwell on the negative. As he’s grown older Luca has become more self sacrificial, and become worse at looking after himself. He’ll neglect his health frequently and in a situation where sacrificing himself would save others, he’d probably do it. While generally optimistic and cheerful, Luca can be somewhat erratic thanks to the apparition adjoined to him that’s constantly trying to corrupt him mentally. This mostly manifests in sudden mood swings and acting outside of his normal, especially under stressful situations since he’s essentially always under mental stress.

_{Backstory
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"My life was completely normal till she attached this fucking thing to me."

Luca was born in Brazil, but his parents moved to St Portwell, and the USA, when he was only two for work. Luca has very little memory of his home country, and has only visited a couple of times as a child.

From a young age, Luca knew that he wasn’t who he was born as. His parents called him Isabela, but that wasn’t right. He didn’t have the language to explain it then so he settled for being a tomboy, refusing to wear anything girly and making everyone call him El - it was slightly less feminine, at least. It wasn’t until his teenagers that he began to figure it all out. He wasn’t a girl like everyone thought he was. He wasn’t really a boy either, but he was closer to that than a girl. He settled on somewhere in between and the name Luca. Just, he didn’t have the confidence to tell anyone.

Luca was fifteen when the Stygian Snake’s rampage began, something he was very unaware about until a week before the eclipse. It was just another day for Luca, heading home from school, when he was attacked by a group of Apparitions. He was thrown to the ground and almost killed there but a girl from a few years above him tried to defend him… Before getting injured herself. Both Luca and this girl, Olivia Ruiz, were saved by Britney Williams. Luca passed out from shock.

When he woke up, his entire world had changed. There was something else inside of him, whispering to him. When he grabbed his phone it turned to dust in his hands. Good, goaded the voice in Luca’s head. Destroy everything. Confused and scared, Luca managed to find the girl, Britney, who had saved him. She explained everything to him - that magic existed, that she was part of a coven protecting the city and that a thing called an apparition (which called itself the rot) had adjoined itself to him while he was injured. She invited him to join the Sycamore Tree coven, to help defeat the Stygian Snake that was attacking the city. Partly out of gratitude, and partly out of not knowing what else to do, Luca joined the Sycamore Tree coven. It was the first place he could truly be himself - being Luca, not a girl, from the start.

In the short time he was part of the coven, Luca threw himself into helping. He learned his abstraction quickly, figuring out that he could weaken apparitions and destroy abominables, though he wasn’t sure why. He didn’t dwell too much on anything outside of using it to help the coven and on the day of the eclipse he used his abstraction to weaken the Stygian Snake so that Ashley could stab it with the Apparition Killer. He had his memory wiped with everyone else, and was glad it was over.

He could live peacefully now, right? Except he still had an apparition attached to him - one constantly trying to get into his mind and whispering to him. The uncontrollable nature of his abstraction was more obvious too. He destroyed everything he touched, and everything around him slowly decayed. He felt weaker too, but he put that down to exhaustion.

Luca couldn’t exactly live a normal life like this.

So he stuck with the coven, hoping they could help him. He grew closer with Olivia, the girl who’d defended him what had felt like a very long time ago, who was now in a similar situation to him. They had a shared goal of splitting from their aberrations, though hers wasn’t as debilitating.

Luca was enraged when he found out that Britney was the one who’d forcibly adjoined him. It could hardly be called saving him with the life he had now. Luca didn’t treat her as badly as some of the others - instead he just didn’t talk to her at all. He stuck with the coven till it dissolved, hoping against hope that they’d help him instead of squabbling. But they didn’t. Luca was disappointed when it ended, but it was fine. He’d find another way. There was no point in dwelling in the negativity, as much of it as there was.

So he moved on, deciding to try and figure out how to get rid of his apparition. Olivia followed him, the only person he had left for him - he’d cut himself off from his family out of necessity, as painful as it was. Just being near him would kill them. He took some online courses at college while trying to research the paranormal as much as possible.

Then Olivia found out, through going to the same college, that Emily had formed her own coven. Luca didn’t particularly like Emily (not many did), but his need to get rid of the rot was stronger. He managed to convince them to let him join a seemingly all woman coven… And it was good, at first. They were learning about magic, and with that making progress in understanding adjoined. But it didn’t last. 8th Street’s agenda changed, and Luca couldn’t stay for it.

So they went back to just the two of them trying to figure it out, back to what it had been like just after the Sycamore Tree coven dissolved. At this point he hardly left the apartment he and Olivia shared. Every outing was a risk of hurting someone. He threw himself into research in his spare time, trying to find everything he could, while working a completely remote job. He managed to figure out a setup that worked for him - a desktop and large screen far enough away to not be affected by his abstraction, and a pile of cheap keyboards and mice on hand for when the ones he was using were destroyed. He gained more control over his decaying touch, learning how to turn it off… Even if it exhausted him. It was difficult, but that was fine. It wouldn’t be like this forever. He stayed optimistic and focused on the positives.

After a year of almost no results, Olivia decided to call it quits. Her family was moving to the other side of the country and she wanted to go with them. There were no hard feelings between them when she left, and they promised to keep in touch.

Luca’s life continued much the same. He found joy in the little things - his weekly calls with Olivia, the days where he could control his abstraction enough to do some wood carving without instantly destroying the wood in his hands, and the late night research that seemed to be getting him somewhere. He would go on walks late at night when very little else (human at least) was outside. He tried to meet with other paranormal, or ex-coven members - just anyone who could resist his abstraction a bit. It was relatively peaceful, if a bit lonely.

Of course, there were so many negatives. He never really got a peaceful moment, with an apparition inside of him constantly trying to erode at his mental state so that it could take over. He’d just gotten good at blocking it out and thinking positively. He was also growing weaker and weaker, struggling to walk around the block on some days. It was as if his muscles were wasting away. It was terrifying, and he had no one to talk to.

Finally, two years ago, it got bad enough that he went to a hospital. His uncontrollable aura wasn’t strong enough to destroy anything instantly, and as long as he didn’t touch anything it would be fine. He felt bad for putting the doctors and nurse through the pain of it, but he needed checked. What had started as occasional exhaustion and weakness had grown worse, and he was constantly in pain. Somewhere always hurt. The doctors ran their tests, so many of them, and took his blood.

The results weren’t good. They’d never seen what was happening to him, so they couldn’t give him a diagnosis, but it was as if his entire body was slowly decaying. A new kind of degenerative disease they’d never seen before. The outcomes didn’t look good. At this rate he probably had a few years left. If he was lucky he’d reach thirty. They said they could recommend him to a more cutting edge hospital that would research it and work with him, but Luca declined. He took a prescription of strong painkillers and went home.

After all, he knew the cause. Normal medicine wouldn’t help. He needed to get rid of his abstraction first before it could be treated.

Luca continued trying to find a way, speeding it up. He tried to talk to some of the paranormal groups in St Portwell, namely the Elite, Greenwood Coven and 8th Street again. The Elite was useless, 8th street was concentrating on its new ventures and the Greenwood coven didn’t take too kindly to Luca… after all his abstraction was one of the many destroying nature, even if he couldn’t control it. It was fine. He resigned himself to never getting rid of it, and resolved to enjoy the rest of his life. No point dwelling on what was out of his control, after all! He’d do what he could and that would be enough.

Then he heard that ex-coven members were dying. Then Olivia went missing. There was no news of her death, but she wouldn’t pick up his calls and wasn’t at home. Luca didn’t know what he could do, until he got contacted by Auri. It was an easy decision to join again. Maybe they could help him get rid of this abstraction that was eating him away, and if not, why wouldn’t he use the time he had left to help save others?

_{Paranormal-Abilities
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"I wish I’d never gotten it. But I can’t change the past, so I might as well use it for something good before it kills me."

TYPE ⫻ Aberration - Adjoined

ABSTRACTION ⫻ Rotting Decay, the ability to decay and damage all living things, to corrode and weaken non organic materials and to decay the emotions that fuel magic.

ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻

Aura of Decay ⫻ Luca has a permanent, but weak, aura of decay around him. This aura spreads out about an arms length around him. It slowly decays everything around him, with results and speed varying by what’s being exposed and the size of it. For organic materials, it will take an hour to completely rot something weak such as a flower or grass. For something stronger, such as a tree, it would take days - but it will kill leaves or flowers on the tree. For human flesh it will hurt immediately, then damage the outer layer of skin within an hour, but would take weeks to rot through the bone. For inorganic objects, the aura works best on metals, which it will oxidise and then corrode in days. The effect on emotions is minimal - in the aura, people will perhaps feel their emotions slightly dimmed, but little else.

Decaying Touch ⫻ More powerful than the constant aura, Luca can touch something and instantly cause it to decay. The effect varies by what is being touched. The flesh of the blind would be rotted instantly, and within minutes whatever he is touching would disintegrate and die. The paranormal are more resistant, but initial touch would cause intense pain and eventually decay, then disintegration. It affects apparitions, by decaying the emotion that fuels them and thus weakening them. For nonorganic objects it will take moments to corrode something small - a cup, or a mobile phone. It would start to crumble a brick but take minutes to properly destroy it, and something larger would take hours.

LIMITS ⫻

Aura of Decay ⫻ The aura is too weak to affect apparitions at all, and hardly affects those with Emotional-Fields. They will feel pain, more intense the longer they are in it, but it won’t cause decay. It is limited size wise, only spreading an arms length around Luca. It's always on, so they can’t control it at all. The stronger and larger something is, the longer it will take to decay.

Decaying Touch ⫻ There is no range to the touch. Luca must touch whatever is to be affected with his bare skin. The decay only happens in the immediate area touched and doesn’t spread. It can’t straight up kill those with emotional-fields, and can only weaken apparitions or those without substance. It would take minutes of touching to start properly decaying any with defences. The longer he touches something and uses the abstraction the more he will strain himself, physically and mentally, and start damaging him too. While he could technically do it for hours, it would likely destroy him too. This ability is normally on, and he has to be actively concentrating to turn it off. This concentration includes ignoring the apparition itself, which constantly wants him to decay and destroy everything around him.

WEAKNESSES ⫻

The Aura of Decay is always active, and Luca is unable to turn it off, which means he will cause objects that he doesn't intend to decay and rot away. He's used to throwing beds away and replacing his cell phone. The Decaying touch is also consistently active and requires him to consciously turn it off and expend energy to not rot objects away. However, the most debilitating weakness of all is that the Abstraction is causing him to rot away. It's slowly eroding at his skin, organs, and bones, weakening his body, and will eventually induce organ shutdown... or worse if that doesn't happen first. The Power of Decay makes Luca more frail, his skin will tear easier and his bones are way easier to break.

^{Other
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"It would've been nice to see everyone again, if the circumstances were different."

Luca has no preference between he or they pronouns.
Luca is mostly fluent in Portuguese.
Luca has a box filled with cheap phones in his apartment because he has to constantly replace them. In fact most of his salary (after essentials) goes into replacing all the items that he destroys with his abstraction.

The.Rot

Very Old | The Rot | It/Its "̶̥͈̙̗̔͒̎̀̈́͜È̷̻͔̞͓̜̊v̵͎̠̪͓̅͌ę̷̛͖͇̊ṙ̷͎͗͐y̷̭̗̜͊͝t̷͕̣͖̍͗̚h̶̳̺̍̽ȋ̸̜ṅ̷̗̖̥̤̝̃͐ǵ̷̟̣͛̋̏ ̷̛̘͈͙̬̀̽̈́ẘ̸͔̖̞̥̞̀́i̶̱̖̳̱̦͆͒̓̀l̶̝͙̖͌̚ͅl̴̟̻̱̤͚̓̄̀̆ ̵̫̐̽̀̇͘r̷̢̰̝̹̤̀̃̇̏̿ò̸̠̱̝̦̮̏̚ẗ̸̥͈̜̱̑͘͝ͅ"̸̞̠̯͕̙̔̍

Description: The Rot came to be in this dimension centuries ago, born from the intense desire for destruction from humans waging in petty wars and the corruption of many. All it wants is destruction, to rot everything away until no life is left. It has destroyed towns and cities, feeding off the flesh of poor humans unable to flee from its path. It has corrupted the minds of those that are weak to aid in its path of destruction. However its influence and power was short reaching, and its movement restricted. It could not go to places completely free from corruption and corrosion. Hundreds of years ago the Rot was sealed, the object it was sealed in then lost and forgotten. Until ten years ago, when Britney Williams freed it and adjoined it with Luca Oliviera to help defeat the Stygian Snake. After the Stygian Snake Luca wanted rid of the rot, but it refused to leave him - why would it, when it finally had the perfect vessel to cause destruction from? Luca wasn’t limited like it is. Instead it is constantly trying to corrupt and weaken his mind, so one day it can push out his soul and abscise his body. Occasionally it succeeds in temporary possession, but it has yet to gain complete control. The Rot always remains inside Luca, but it will talk to him from within when it benefits it. Abstraction: Apparition - Decay of All Things The Rot allows Luca to use most of its abstraction - the ability to cause physical and emotional decay. It has another ability it has not given Luca - mental decay. This can completely corrupt or destroy the minds of the blind. It can leave them as empty shells of themselves, or corrupt them to become the worst of humanity and help it succeed in its goal. Those with Emotional-Fields are resistant but not immune. It can slowly plant the seeds of destruction within them, whittling away until it succeeds. It has been doing it with its host ever since they were adjoined.

Luca’s Sanity Retention Exercise

Britney.Williams
"She ruined my life in ways she’ll never know." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	October 10. Recently, I’ve been forgetting things I don’t want to forget. Sometimes I worry that I’ll forget all those people I fought with ten years ago… So I’m going to write about them. I’ll start with Britney. I bet everyone else thinks I hate Britney. I did, once. I was furious when she admitted to what she’d done, and made sure she got kicked out… I couldn’t stand to be around her. But it’s fine now. Really. I don’t remember when my feelings cooled down, but it was a while ago. Maybe when I found out I was dying. There’s just no point in devoting so much energy towards her, y’know? Actually, writing this is the last time I’m going to think about her, cause honestly I don’t feel anything about her at all. (She did save me. But can it be considered saving me if I’m barely able to live? Sometimes I wish she hadn’t.) How intelligent. I will decay her last, as thanks for setting me free.
Drake.Blackmore
"I wish my abstraction let me make swords and shit." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	past October 11. Drake. I looked up to Drake, but I was also jealous of him. Sorta. It’s hard to explain! I wanted to be like him, I suppose. Athletic, cool… He reminds me a lot of the guys I used to play football with, when I could. I was jealous of them too. It's a gender thing, really. We barely talked, anyway, he left so early. Man, I really hope we can hang out this time around. October 23. I can’t believe he punched Sloane. I really can’t. I looked up to him.. I mean, I still think he’s a good guy. He’s going through a lot, I get that. Sloane was out of line. She was so out of line! But that didn’t mean he could just punch her… It was such a shitshow. Hopefully Drake cools off before he comes back. He should apologise to Sloane… though she should also apologise to him. I can’t believe things got so heated day one. I wish I could’ve stopped it. I still respect him, just… Not as much. Stupid. I’m sure I can corrupt this one first.
Linqian.Han
"Phew, just must be exhausted finding problems in everything." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	October 12. Linqian… Another person I didn’t really talk to! I watched a lot of her arguments, though, wow. She could’ve done with stepping back a few times. Her brother seemed sound. Shame about him… Well, yeah. I wonder how she’s doing. Maybe she’ll be a bit nicer this time round. I don’t think she even knew I existed, back then. Can’t blame her! Inane. An easy one to get rid of.
Sloane.Faris
"I hope she’s learned how to smile." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	Past October 13. Sloane. I have never seen someone smile so little! And it’s been ten years! Not that I get out much… Last time we talked, like really talked, it wasn’t great. Understatement of the century, Luca. It was pretty shit. She did not approve of me wanting to get rid of the rot. Really didn’t hold back when telling me that either. She’s lucky I’m such a nice guy! Anyway, I understood where she was coming from. There’d be more threats coming and all, so we should use our powers against them, or something. She didn’t know it was killing me! Nor did I, actually. It was just an inconvenience then. She really was a downer, though. Could’ve done with some positivity. I’ll try pass that on if I see her again. October 23. Sloane… really hasn't changed. You’d think after ten years you’d learn there’s some things you don’t say, but Sloane hasn’t! I can’t believe she thought it was Drake’s fault. I understand what it's like, wanting someone else to blame so you don’t have to deal with all the feelings… but it never helps. She needs to accept that it's no one's fault and that sometimes you can’t change things. It will make everything easier. Maybe I should try talk to her about it? I don’t think she’ll talk to me, though. Interesting. Could be of use.
Tayla.Choi
"She deserves peace, after what she went through." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	October 14. Tayla. I really didn’t know Tayla, but it must’ve been horrible going through what she did. I heard from Olivia that she was in a real bad place after, too. Man, she deserved better, she seemed so fun. Blind. She will decay with the rest of the world..
"Edict".Devola
"Was he really part of the mafia?" _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	October 15. Greyson. Gonna be controversial for all the people who’ll never read this, but I didn’t mind being around him. Even when he used his cozy centre thing on me. It was kind of nice. Not that I have many negative thoughts towards him, or at all, but it really helped get rid of the few I did have! Should’ve thanked him for that… Actually, I don’t think that would’ve gone down well. If he comes back I hope he brings his money… Just joking! I wouldn’t make him buy me that new bed I really need, anyway. Useful. He will help me crack this body.
Kali.Mahendra
"I can’t believe he’s dead.." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	past days October 16. Kali! Oh man, I’m so glad he’s around. Apart from Olivia he’s the only one I’ve kept in touch with. Wasn’t on purpose, we just met after the coven dissolved, but I’m glad we did! Really, having that in person contact really saved me at times. From forgetting how to speak like a reasonable person, that is, not anything else haha. I’m comfortable around him, and I’m pretty sure he’s comfortable with me. We’re friends. Yeah, shouldn’t be such a big deal at this age, but it's a real struggle for me. Hopefully he hasn’t figured out how bad my problem is. October 24. I’m sorry, Kali, I should have done more to keep you alive. It was my fault for leaving you at Dairy Queen. I’m so sorry. So blissfully unaware. This one will decay on his own.
Jack.Hawthorne
"He needs a good night’s sleep as much as I do." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	October 17. Jack. He straight up disappeared! I’ve heard about everyone else every now and then, thanks to Olivia really, but not him. I think he went into the void… I didn’t know what it was then, but I do now. Can’t wait to hear all about it when he comes back. Assuming he comes back. He will be back! Dangerous. Must have seen so much destruction.
"Sully".McPherson
"You still a good shot?" _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	October 18. Sully! Aw man, I miss Sully! He always knew how to lighten up the mood, we could talk about anything back in the day. I wonder how he’s doing… Haven’t heard from him, but I haven't heard from anyone. Hard to keep in touch when I keep destroying phones. He always threw the best parties. Well, I couldn’t really participate, but they seemed it. He really was a breath of fresh air when everyone else was so negative. I’m looking forward to seeing him again. (I was jealous of him too, for a bit. I wish I could be part of their group. At least he treats me like one of the guys, mostly) Hindrance. The body is too happy around him.
Leon.Richoux
"We’re pretty similar, even if he doesn’t know that yet." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	October 19. Leon… Uh, wow, this is a hard one. I hardly knew Leon, but I was around when he got adjoined. Well not part of the group that did it, but still in the coven. I really understand what it’s like not quite being in control. Having something so malevolent trapped inside of him must be a nightmare. At least I sort of coexist with the rot, he doesn’t seem to at all… He was nice to me back in the day as well. I wonder if he’s worried about losing himself too… Maybe I can talk to him, and help a bit. As someone who understands. I should be concerned about myself first. Will lose himself before this body does.
Stormy.Carson
"I wonder if he ever made that magic condom..." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	past October 20. Stormy. Uh, Stormy saved my ass a couple of times during the battle against the Stygian Snake. He saved everyone’s asses, really, but I probably would be dead without him. For a while I thought he’d be able to help me with my problem… Unfortunately, it wasn’t really a permanent fix, or one I wanted. He tried, though! I appreciated that. Stormy was a good guy. Is! He isn’t dead, haha. I hope. Yeah, no, I’m pretty sure he isn’t. If anyone’s still alive, it’ll be Stormy. November 1st. I can’t thank Stormy enough for what he did yesterday. Without him, I might not have regained control. I would be in an even worse state today as well. It was so nice to have some time without the Rot! Stormy really hasn’t changed. He’s still that reliable protector. It was really nice actually spending time with him, having him round to my place… And not just because he could help with the Rot. I hope we can spend more time together. I know that if I ever need help, I can go to Stormy. Dangerous. Too well protected to get rid of easily.
"Lyss".Burns
"I’m sorry." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	November 3rd. Another dead… I’m sorry, Lyss.
Anya.Baksh
"I really don’t want to see her." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	October 21. Anya. I don’t like Anya. It’s really hard for me to not like someone, but I don’t like her. She was never outright nasty but I could always tell she was looking down on me. I’d rather not have someone like that in my life… There’s enough going on without being judged. But hey, maybe she’s nicer now! You never know! Not a threat. Easy to corrupt.
Evelynn.Serenelight
"Please don’t look into my future. I don’t want you to what will happen more than once." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	October 23. I saw Lynn today! Honestly, I didn’t expect her to come back… and she kind of didn’t? But she turned up at Dairy Queen, so it basically counts. She’s still the same Lynn, I think. She did have a flask on her… I’m sure it's nothing bad. It was so nice to see her again, seriously! I wish I’d kept in touch… But that was hard with anyone other than Olivia. I can’t explain it, it just was. It’s so much harder to hide it from so many people. I hope she didn’t pay attention to what Greta said. I’m sure she took it to mean because of Father Wolf, not anything else. I also hope she doesn’t look into my future. Not because I don’t want her to know… I just don’t want her to get hurt. It would be too horrible for her to see my death more than once. I’m sure it’s in all my futures… Please save yourself the pain, Lynn. One to watch. I’m sure she sees the destruction I’ll cause in the future.
Lila.Blackwood
"If you need any bird shit cleaned up, I’m your man! I’ll try not to rot away whatever it’s on too…" _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	past October 23. Wow, Lila has changed - for a moment I almost didn’t recognise her! But she looks so much happier, and I’m so happy for her. Like, I get it, of course. We talked about it before. I’m glad she can be who she always was. Really, really glad. She deserves it. I’m so glad to see her… It’s been too long. I’d forgotten how much I missed her company. Hopefully, this time we’ll be able to keep in contact till… Well. Y’know. But that doesn’t matter. We’re hanging out again, and I’m so happy about it. I do hope Britney was able to help her with the Maiden she was talking about. Having something talking in your head is scary! I know that better than most. Really fucks with you, and Lila deserves to have her mind free of anything like that. And if it works… Maybe I’ll contact Britney too. I really hope it works because I’m selfish for Lila! November 1st. The Maiden wasn’t sealed, and she knows the Rot somehow. I don’t… really understand. I feel really bad for Lila. She doesn’t deserve to be dealing with this. Those feathers looked so painful. Hopefully we can figure it out. Lila is one of my closest friends. I’m going to do everything I can to help her. I’ll put all of my energy into finding Father Wolf and helping her handle the Maiden! Because she deserves to live the life she wants to. I just hope she doesn’t hate me for still liking some of 8th Street. The Maiden has chosen a good host. I’m sure together they’ll do much for us.
Jasper.Wilde
"How do I even begin to describe Jasper? He’s… He’s just Jasper." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	Past October 22. Jasper, phew! Getting to the good ones huh… Jasper’s great. I hope he’s doing well. I haven’t heard from him since he left… Well I haven’t heard of anyone that didn’t join another coven, unless Olivia passed something on. Unless it’s online I won’t see it! I can’t blame him for leaving the coven before it got even worse, either, or for not keeping in touch. I didn’t do my part either. I hope he’s there tomorrow! I’d love to see anything he’s drawn recently, from a safe distance of course. I wouldn’t want to ruin that. I really can’t wait to see him. November 2nd. It’s been a week since Jasper came back into my life. I couldn’t be happier, honestly. I feel so comfortable around him. I feel more than comfortable. At first, it was like having another best friend. But now it's something more. My heart races when I’m with him, I blush, and I feel all sorts of strange feelings. It's similar to the constant rotting, but pleasant. Lila says it's because I like him. I think she’s right. I do like Jasper. I just want to spend all my time with him, he makes me so happy. It’s a shame we could never be together. With the Rot, and him being straight… But it’s alright! I’m just happy being with him! Every moment spent together brings me joy. I’m actually happy when I’m with him. I’m so glad Jasper’s in my life again… Even if we keep having to fight that weird skeleton. A nuisance to get rid of, before he causes this body too much joy.
Adora.Phoenix-Prescott
"I’m sorry, I wish I could’ve been there for you. I’ll never stop missing Lisa too." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	October 22. Adora. … It’s hard to write about Adora without remembering Lisa, and whenever I remember Lisa… Ah, it’s hard. She suffered so much, and she didn’t deserve it. She was one of the best of us. So was Adora. Adora saved me so many times… Like that time we were flying away from Scott Reese, me dangling from Lisa’s spider, and almost fell to our deaths! I wish I could look back on that fondly, but it only makes me sad. Lisa also saved me then. You both did. I hope that Adora’s doing alright. She deserves peace, and to be doing better. I hope she doesn’t come back tomorrow… Not because I don’t want to see her! Of course I do! But I don’t think it’ll be good for her. Everything will be a reminder. I understand that. It’s difficult even without… That. But if she does come back, I’ll try to let her know I’m here for her, as much as I can be. Once so strong, now so weak, no longer a threat. Can be dealt with later.
Layla.Hyacinthus
"Don’t listen to it, Layla. It won’t work out." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	October 24. I… honestly didn’t remember Layla. She was hardly around me, and it’s been so long. I can’t believe she’s adjoined with the void now. No one should be adjoined with the void. It’s horrible, with what it did to Alizee… You don’t deserve that. You’re too young. Believe me, it’s not worth it. The void is so quick to find another victim. Good.
Clancy.Patrick
"Please, go home where it’s safe." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	October 24. There was a kid at the meeting? What the fuck? I think he said his name’s Clancy and he’s Ashley’s cousin… But still, he shouldn’t be here! Does he not know how dangerous it could be? Does he even have magic? Shit, I should keep my distance just in case. Hardly a child.
Kenshiro.Murakin
"Kennnn! Bro, it’s so nice to see you! How was, uh, I don’t remember the other universes name, but how was it?" _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	October 25. Oh man, Ken. I love Ken. I didn’t have a chance to write about him before… honestly, he’s one of the coven members who's freshest in my memory. He’s a good friend, and visits me quite regularly when he’s not off in other worlds. Which are super cool to hear about! He keeps bringing me back stuff that he think will help with my pain and the rot… Sometimes it helps with the pain, but my meds already do that. None of it has affected the rot, but I don’t mind! I’m just glad he’s trying to help and visits me. He’s… probably seen me deteriorate more than anyone. I don’t think it’s obvious yet, but he might have guessed. He knows how much pain I’m in, at least, which I’ve tried to hide. He doesn’t know I’m dying. I hope he doesn’t find out. He’s too nice to have to carry that, and he’s already lost so many. I hope that my death doesn’t become another burden he has to carry. A possible threat. Unlikely to find a cure, but always a chance.
Aaron/Aryin.Thorne
"I heard you’re in 317 like Jasper! What’s he like at work?" _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	October 26. Me and Aaron got on, but weren’t really close… He was good friends with Ella, though, so I knew him a bit through her! Honestly… it makes it hard to think about him. I miss Ella. I’m sure he does too. I had less in common with Aryin. She was much friendlier with people like Linqian. It’s a shame, because maybe she’s the one person I could get close to- haha… we’re not that similar though. Too stupid to be an issue.
Amara.King
"Exactly how many of you are there?" _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	October 26. Amara’s another one I didn’t know very well. She was always planning, then fighting on the front lines with her army of one. I thought she was- is- cool. I liked how chill she was. I always felt like I could relax around her… I didn’t have to worry so much. I hope that she’s alright, since she hasn’t come back. Maybe she’ll join later? An interesting abstraction, leaving the original lacking…
”Luna”.Inoue
"Maybe you need help, but we can’t help you." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	October 27. I didn’t know Luna long before she was kicked out. She seemed nice… but how much of that was fake? She didn’t try to approach me, but she did others. We were teenagers who’d already been through enough, how could she try to recruit us into a mafia of all things. Even someone like me can’t have a positive opinion of someone like her. Will rot with the rest, along with her group.
Aislin.Rose
"Do you mind, uh, taking that elsewhere- cough- I have asthma! Sorry, Aislin!" _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	October 27. Aislin… oh, what’s Aislin up to, I wonder? I haven’t seen her since the coven broke up, but I really liked her. She was always so cheerful and optimistic… It was nice to have someone else who saw the bright side of things! There weren't a lot of us. Aislin was always easy to be around, when she wasn’t smoking. It wasn’t so bad then but now… I don’t think I’d be able to handle it. My lungs aren’t what they used to be even then it hurt. I really hope she’s doing well! I’d love to see her again. To naive to pose a threat.
Bé.Rochefoucauld
"We’ve all been hurt. That doesn’t give you an excuse to hurt other’s." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	October 28. I hardly knew Bé, and I’m glad. He was like Anya, but at least she tried to hide her true feelings. He didn’t bother. Maybe I should respect his honesty? But it’s difficult to when he’s so cold. I hope that he’s grown, and found some positivity in his life. Oh, corruption runs deep in this one.
Kari.Wilson
"You’ll never know how sorry I am. I hope you're finally at peace." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	October 10. I… I wish things were different. I should have listened to you, Kari. I should have given you more time. I didn’t. I didn’t and now you’re gone. I couldn’t believe it when I heard that you were dead. Of course you’re dead. If anyone could stop Father Wolf, it would be you. I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything about it. And I’m so sorry I worked with Emily. You were right. Emily isn’t a good person. I never thought she was, but I thought there was a chance. She only got worse. I tried to stop it, but it didn’t work. And she’s stringing along so many people who need help… She was pretending to help me and Carol, but she wasn’t doing anything. I’m- I’m not sorry for joining 8th Street. Some of them were- are- like family to me. I love them. But I loved you too. And now you’re gone. I’m so sorry. But… I’m also glad you won’t have to see me go. Like Lisa, Saskia and Ella… I’m sure you don’t care for me as much. Not after I betrayed you. But I’ll do my best to make sure no one else dies. I’ll stay hopeful even when no one else does. There’s a way out of this. I hope you’re happy, in whatever there is afterwards, with Lisa, Ella and Saskia. Thank you for trying. I hope you know just how much you did for us- for me. I’ll miss you. All good things rot eventually.

_{Extended Relationships}

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree [Complete]

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Interactions: Lila @NoriWasHere, ‘Alizée’ & Layla @Estylwen, Ken & Leon @AtomicEmperor, Ruby @Shin Ghost Note Everyone Present
The House on the Hill

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“Yes… I want this. I want to adjoin with Alizée. Perhaps… With Alizée's help, I can forget about the Void Heart.”

Layla

Luca nodded, smiling. If it was what Layla wanted then he wouldn’t stop her. Hopefully she would get some more peace… Perhaps they would be good for each other. Luca knew that not every Apparition was like his. There’d been other coven members with good ones, and ambivalent ones. They were just like humans in that way…

”It was an accident, but I should’ve been more careful,” Luca continued. He turned to look back at Leon, around Ken, who he let move him slightly further away. He was glad for the support, but he wasn’t scared of Leon. If Leon had taken a shot… Well, it would be a quick and painless death when his neck snapped.

”I'm sorry, Leon, I didn't mean to hurt you. Magical healing should fix it,” Luca grimaced. He didn’t want Leon to think that it was - it was hard to tell. But it was on purpose. You lingered. No. Luca shook his head. He'd just wanted to make sure Layla was being given the choice, rather than being forced into something she didn't want. Like he had been.

He still let out a slight sigh of relief as Leon started to move towards the door, and away from him.

”You’re right, I’m okay, Ken,” Luca once again smiled at his friend. ”I just stumbled… Do I look like I feel not okay? I’ve never felt better.”

A lie, of course, he’d felt better plenty of days in earlier years. But compared to recently… After the healing, he was doing just fine. Rotting away a little flesh wasn’t a strain at all. Pushing down the Rot like this was routine. It was just the guilt… always the guilt.

Just embrace it.

Luca ignored the Rot. He leaned into Ken slightly, where his hands were against the telekinetic bubble, careful to not touch him with anything that wasn’t. The almost-contact was enough to push it away.

”Hey, why does everyone think I’m so fragile I’m about to fall over?” Luca spoke up, with a light laugh, as Lila suggested Jasper and Lynn took him home. He was as recovered from dealing with the Crystal as he was ever going to be. This, right now, was him functioning. ”I was just talking, and tripped. Unless you’re saying you want me to shut up, Lila?”

Perhaps a poorly time joke, but it was easiest for Luca to stay positive by not dwelling on any of the bad that had happened.

”But I agree about splitting into smaller groups,” he continued. ”Even if we all got on, there’s to many people, and no clear leadership. We can’t have a one leader who makes all the decisions because then we’ll be repeating the mistakes we made before. As Lila said, we’re held together by trauma, and circumstance. We were ten years ago, and are again today. There’s a reason we didn’t last… unfortunately.”

He’d turned to Ruby towards the end of what he said, smiling at her genuinely, even though she’d essentially gone through all of the reasons they sucked. He understood. He didn’t agree with all of it. But they hadn’t seen what Sycamore was like in a fight, when they needed to come together. When the stakes were high and the pressure was there, they could do it. But only then.

”Even if you decide you don’t want an ‘alliance’, please let some of us help. Keep in touch. Because we all live in this city too. Some of us are trying to make a difference too,” he gestured to Sloane, and to Ken. ”Even if we can’t do it in the same way you do. Anything to do with nature, well… I’ll do more help than harm. But outside just the Father Wolf situation, I want to make the city safer. And I… have my own investment in making sure Emily and Vashti are stopped.”

And that certain 8th Street members weren’t harmed in the process.

But everything he said was genuine and open. Calm, and selfless, as if this wasn’t for himself in any way.

---

Interactions: Edict & Leon @AtomicEmperor, Aryin @NoriWasHere, Ruby & Britney @Shin Ghost Note
The House on the Hill

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---

Training, yes. Spying, no.

”Training, I can do,” Linqian said in response to Luna, shrugging one shoulder. ”Spying… that’ll just get us killed. But making sure we can fuck up 8th when they come back? That’s my fucking strong point.”

Linqian was silent as Ruby went into all the reason their Coven was shit. Normally, Linqian would lose it again the moment Ruby looked at her and implied she was a liability. She should. But there was Jinhai whispering to her that she wasn’t, to not pay attention to it. She managed to clamp down on her anger at that, just, but…

”We don’t have the luxury of falling apart."

The Almighty Greenwood Leader

”Oh right, because we totally do have that luxury,” Linqian sneered. ”You think that after my bro-”

Calm down, Qian-er. Not now.

Linqian took a deep breath, shaking her head. She then held up a hand. ”Alright, I understand. We’re dysfunctional as fuck. But we’re not looking for a fucking babysitter.”

That was all she had to say on the matter, because Lila and Luca did enough talking between them. Especially Lila, but… Linqian couldn’t say she was wrong. She’d much rather work with the few people she did like that have to keep coming to these fucking meetings and getting nowhere. So long as the information actually got back to them, because fuck, she needed to kill that bastard with her own two hands.

Then she wouldn’t have to see Lynn, and that was more reason to agree with it than any. ”Sure, we split, actually get shit done. I’m cool with that.”

She didn’t bother saying much more than that, but she couldn’t help her gaze from moving over to Leon as he started to leave, dropping some shit that had her eyes rolling up towards the ceiling.

”Fucking hell, Leon, that's some self pitying shit you got going on there. 'Don't want freaks like us' my ass, fuck, count me and Aryin out of that statement for obvious fucking reasons.”

Keep that to yourself, please.

Come on, that wasn’t that bad.

She didn’t really care what he thought, anyway. It did seem like everyone was getting ready to go… At least two of the three people she gave much of a fuck about. With things settling down, and her own mind less chaotic, it allowed her to think about things she actually did need to do. Beyond training, beyond working with the coven. Mundane shit. Shit to keep a roof over her head.

Linqian patted Aryin on the shoulder. ”I'll text you about moving tomorrow... got some shit to sort out.”

She made her way back over to Greyson and Britney, swiping up her jacket from where she’d dumped it on the back of a chair and hanging it over her arm. Far as she could see it, there wasn’t any point in sticking around. What else were they going to do? Argue more? Linqian was too tired for that.

”We fucking off?” Linqian asked them both. She then leaned in towards Greyson, head turning towards him to make it obvious she was talking to him. Her voice lowered slightly but Britney could probably still hear - she wasn’t so bothered about that, just didn’t want her around for the actual conversation. Too many people already knew about her money problems and it fucking sucked. ”I have some shit to talk to you about after this... Or tomorrow if you're busy, whatever, shit isn't that important."

Or never.
Shut up.

At least, it could wait another day, since it was just about her money shit. If he was going to turn up to all of the meetings because of Britney, or if they were going to do some kind of representative shit... Well she certainly wasn't going to be chosen for that. Hell, she knew she was part of the problem normally. but then what would she get paid for?

Maybe he'd have some other shit for her. And if not, she'd need to properly look for another job. She was reluctant, though, because Edict paid much better than any job she qualified for.

You should just take the out, Linqian. Don’t keep working with that scumbag. In fact, stop talking to him. You agreed to before. He hasn’t changed. He’s just using you.

You think I don’t know that?

I do. Just like before, you don’t understand. He’s a dangerous criminal. One night and some money and you start trusting him. It’s exactly what that backstabbing bastard wants. I would freeze him until he wished he’d never looked at you again if I could. You don’t need his money, Qian-er. It’s dirty money from an immoral piece of shit. Now that he’s in your head he-

”Controlling asshole, you think I’m stupid… Don’t shit talk your creator too much.” Linqian muttered in Chinese, unable to keep the words internal - most people couldn’t understand anyway.

She rolled her eyes before bringing herself back to the present, ignoring Jinhai’s words in her mind - both frustrating and comforting in equal measures. Just like the real Jinhai.

”Ah, I didn't bring my car, so...” Linqian was somewhat awkward as she swapped back to English, but also played that off. She raised an eyebrow, looking at Edict, who’d just thrown his keys away. ”We’re taking Brit’s or we’re walking.”

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree [Complete]

Spaghetti coooooddddddeeeeee

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree [Complete]

---

Interactions: Amara @Blizz, Sloane & Sully @Atrophy, Ruby @Shin Ghost Note
The House Filled With Fools

---

Everything was going to shit again.

Anya didn’t have a strong reaction to everything that was happening. Quite frankly, she didn’t care. Seal her, have her join, either way brought its own headaches. The former was less active. There was already so much she had to keep under control. The group's opinion was moving more towards sealing, so she didn’t have to hide her desire for that.

”We already have too many liabilities in the coven,” Anya said quietly, to Sloane, pushed in between her constant chorus of ‘shut up’ that in turn made it more difficult for Anya to think. But she clamped down any annoyance she may feel towards her friend. ”Let’s-”

“RUBY IS FUCKING HIGH AND THOSE TWO ARE CULTISTS!!!”

Sloane

”SHUT THE FUCK UP, ALL OF YOU!!!”

Amara

Anya’s delicate hand came up to press against her brow, a look of sheer exhaustion crossing her face for just a moment. Once again, she would have to do the damage control.

”Amara, why don’t you take a moment? Maybe step outside? I can come with you, if you need?” As Anya spoke she stepped forward, hand coming up to press against Sully’s arm and attempting to push him politely out of the way of Sloane’s shot.

”Ruby, I’m so sorry about this,” Anya turned towards Ruby, smiling at her. The sorry was genuine, though the motivation behind it was more selfish than it was selfless. An attempt to save the alliance before it had even fully begun. ”Nobody means any harm, or to cause you and your coven any offence. Tempers are high with the killer around… I hope you can understand that?”

---

Interactions: Edict & Leon @AtomicEmperor, Aryin @NoriWasHere, Everyone
Closer To Home

---

What’re you getting so worked up about, Qian-er?

As the smooth, perfectly enunciated Chinese spoke in her ear, Linqian started to relax. It was as if Jinhai was right there with her, again. Soothing, judgmental, everything she’d missed.

It wasn’t real, but she was all too happy to let herself get lost in the illusion of it. Just like before, with the full hallucination. It dragged her out of the shit state she’d been in, shoved down all of the grief she was feeling rather than forcing her to deal with it. She could function again.

One little ghost and you lose it? You know I’m too perfect to come back as something like that.

You’re fucking insufferable, not perfect, Linqian found herself thinking back, reaching up to wipe away the tears that threatened to fall.

I’m not the one blowing up over the smallest things, am I? But don’t worry, I’m here now to stop you doing anything else stupid.

Why can you just be nice for once? A bit of comfort? Linqian laughed internally, limbs loosening and fists finally unclenching. Of course he wasn’t. This was just like the real Jinhai. Exactly how he was, always.

But when it really mattered he was always there for her.

I don’t need to tell you what you already know.

It’d be nice sometimes.

So demanding. I’m here for you, Meimei. You know you and Yi-er are more important than anything else to me.

Fuck, I missed you. It wasn’t quite what Jinhai would say, because they’d never needed words for something like that. There was an implicit understanding. But he wasn’t here anymore to have that understanding… and it was what she wanted to hear.

As Edict moved away, Linqian was able to pull herself out of her own mind to pay attention to her surroundings a bit more again.

She knew that letting Edict in her head, again, was probably the wrong decision. Magically dampening it all didn't fix her problems. Hearing Jinhai's voice in her mind didn't bring him back. But for now, it was soothing. It dampened all her worries enough, magically calming her so she no longer felt like she was just going to break.

You let Greyson in your head? Are you stupid? That piece of shit? Seriously, Linqian?

Linqian put a hand over her mouth to hide her smile and dampen her half laugh, eyes rolling up towards the ceiling. He sure was fucking realistic.

Oh shut up, she thought back.

She looked over to the piece of shit in question, eyes moving down to the gun he’d pulled out. Her body tensed, but not in the same way it had before - ready for action, to use magic, but not about to explode or break down. Then, she looked at what he was watching.

What the fuck.

Leon had turned about as white as you could get. Linqian had never seen something like this before… not that she had much experience with Adjoined.

He'd gotten taller too, fuck, like he is wasn't already tall enough. She wondered... Her calm gaze moved down to his crotch.

It wasn’t a thought she could keep to herself. And she had to get out from behind the bar to be able to hit anything, anyway. On her way round, Linqian patted Edict on the shoulder, leaning in. It wasn’t quite a thank you, but the light brush of her hand down his bicep as she pulled back was the closest he’d get. ”I got your back. Or front, I guess.”

Her accent was heavier, most noticeable in where she stressed her words and the pitch of her speech. With Jinhai's voice whispering Chinese in her ear it was more difficult to speak that correctly pronounced, American English she'd perfected over the near 16 years she'd lived here. It was more similar to ten years ago, when she was still not fully adjusted to speaking it - not when it was essentially her third language, at the time.

Leave him. Protect yourself first. Like he’d do anything for you. He's a dishonest creep.

Linqian snorted, walking back over to Aryin, taking her place back beside her closest friend. She slung one arm up over her shoulder, looking relaxed, but Aryin would be able to feel the subtle tension - a readiness to fight if needed.

”Shit, you think his dick’s gotten bigger too?” Linqian commented not so quietly as she leaned in towards Aryin. She pointed towards Leon. ”Maybe if we look close enough- Fuck! What the fuck are you covering everything up for, you piece of shit! Get the fuck back out here, Leon!”

Seriously, Qian-er, you’re so desperate.

”Shut up,” Linqian muttered under her breath.

"If anyone dares lay a finger upon this Soul, or the Body meant for her; I will be their retribution."

Leon

”I know I was all down for it last night, but that kinda cult shit is a real turn off,” Linqian muttered to Aryin. ”Keep that controlling shit away from me. Fucking hell.”

She leaned back away, observing for a moment. She didn’t particularly care anymore. She was pulled out of it enough to get some entertainment out of the other’s reactions - namely Sloane losing it. What a hypocrite.

”I’m glad you’d stick with me, if I fucked off,” Linqian said, still talking quietly to Aryin. She twisted her body towards her friend, playfully punching her arm. ”Guess we’re not fucking getting rid of each other anytime soon, huh? Wouldn’t have it any other fucking way.”

Back on topic.

Oh, right.

”Whether we seal her or not, we don’t all have to watch this. More of us weighing in will just make shit messy… Let the people who know what they’re doing handle it. Some of us have good enough reflexes to jump in and start punching if needed, anyway,” Linqian spoke up to the coven members around her, jerking her head towards Britney and Sloane. Her gaze found Lynn, narrowing. There was a coldness in them but instead of saying anything she moved on. As if Lynn was nothing.

She was.

Linqian easily ignored Lynn just as she did the ongoing situation obscured by the fog.

”Let’s talk about the shit we actually need to. Like…”

Solid next steps. What was discussed before isn’t enough. How are you next meeting, Anya’s dream merging or the pocket universe?

”What the fuck we’re doing next. We don’t all want to meet up in person again, right? Too dangerous. So Anya’s dream shit, or Ken and Jack’s weird fucking dimension?” She pointed at the people in question, even managing to resist the urge to flip off Anya as she did. ”Anya works on getting to that rich fuck, Luca and Adora convince some assholes to leave the bigger assholes at 8th and the rest of us… what? Sit around doing fuck all? There must be something we can fucking do.”

As she spoke, she kept her eyes on Leon, Layla and Alizee - at least what she could see of them. Ready to make a move if she had to. It was all surprisingly sensible coming from Linqian. Really, it was from Jinhai. He whispered, she spoke. It wasn’t really her.

Except it was nothing she didn’t already know or hadn’t thought of. Jinhai was based on real memories of him, sure, but it had to be information she already had. It wasn’t like she could suddenly gain his intelligence thanks to an auditory hallucination. She was the one putting it together, really, she just never had the confidence to do it before. Always backed out, put herself down.

If anyone was putting her in the box labelled stupid, it was herself.

Take some initiative, Qian-er. Investigate yourself.

With what information, asshole?

”Do we have any other leads at all? Or are we just going to leave this meeting with fuck all again?”

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree [Complete]

---

Interactions: ‘Alizée’ & Layla @Estylwen, Leon @AtomicEmperor, Clancy @Zombiedude101
The House on the Hill

---

Oh she means it. How entertaining. I've never corrupted an Apparition before.

There was a flicker of that rotting green before Luca suppressed it. He kept smiling, giving Alizee's hands a gentle squeeze. It was strange. He knew he was weakening her, but to not immediately start rotting away flesh... It felt odd. ”It's alright, I can see your sincerity. You have to be loyal to us... But I believe you when you say you will be. We all need someone. Just let that someone be us. I'll gladly be your friend.”

He let go of Alizee's hands. The weakness would still linger - what was decayed wouldn't immediately come back. As an apparition she could easily recover, but it would take a bit of time. It was enough to make her easier to seal.

Or to deal with, if she was able to adjoin with Layla.

Luca's eyes squinted as steam surrounded them. It was difficult to see through when his vision wasn't particularly good in the first place. His smile lessened, and his head turned towards Leon.

"If anyone dares lay a finger upon this Soul, or the Body meant for her; I will be their retribution."

Leon

”The body meant for her? Are you serious? Layla's more than a body. What the fuck, Leon?!”

He's right! She is just a vessel, like you!

It was a trigger for the Rot to wriggle into his mind, decaying tendrils latching onto his neural pathways and infecting them. Decay leaked out of his pores, filling the air immediately nearby him with a heavy scent of death. It triggered a pain flare-up, burning sensations clutching his limbs. His heart weakly struggled in his chest and he took a gasping breath. Push it down. Not right now. He was in control.

He took a step backwards, so there was less risk of him touching anyone. But the movement was too much, his leg buckling underneath him and sending him falling - towards both Layla and Leon. He twisted his body, grabbing onto Leon to stabilise himself before he got close enough to touch Layla. The rotting would be immediate, heavy decay crawling out of his bare hands and right onto Leon's flesh. He squeezed his eyes shut and pushed it away, reduced it to the normal level... Still too much to be touching someone. Even Leon, strong as he was.

”Don't you dare make this decision for her. Force this on her and I will rot your flesh until you wish you would just die." he bit out, head tilting back and up to fix Leon with a unyielding stare. Rotting tendrils flickered across his bloodshot eyes, receding until they clung to the edge of his iris. His fingers lingered on Leon's bicep as a warning, rotting his skin and the muscle beneath, before he let go, finally.

He pushed himself off him, wobbling as he moved around to make sure Leon was still between him and Layla. His legs were still unstable, but he was fighting through it. His expression softened, back to the normal Luca, and he gave an almost apologetic smile towards Leon.

His gaze moved again, towards Clancy as he pushed his way in. Luca nodded slightly. He was right, but... ”We don't have the time but... Layla's already adjoined, isn't she? She already has a difficult life. But he's right. Being stuck with something sharing your body, another will, it's difficult. It can be horrible.”

He spoke quietly, looking at Alizee, and then Layla. ”But maybe this way will be better. I understand... you're haunted by worse Apparitions. Not all of them are bad. Is this what you want? Do you want to adjoin with her?”

Even with his visible, physical weakness there was a steadiness in his gaze and a certain brightness in the smile he gave Layla.

”Nobody else can make this decision for you. Only you.”

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree [Complete]

---

Interactions: Jasper @NoriWasHere, ‘Alizée’ @Estylwen, Everyone Present
The House on the Hill

---

Luca considered everything that was said with a slight frown.

Jasper was right that they weren't there for her before. He'd heard of Alizee's continued night stalking, knew the influence an apparition could have. What had he done to help? Nothing. How could he, when he couldn't even help himself. He'd justified it because if he could rid himself not the rot, he could help them get rid of their Apparitions too.

But he was here now to help all the coven members. That... Included Alizee's ghost.

Why does it matter to you, my host? She can't hurt us. Why feel guilt over something like that? It was inevitable. Just like your own end is.

It wasn't. Even if my life ends, I won't give any of it to you. Not like she did.

That's not her anymore. She could be just like him. Denizens of the void are often like that... Ah, a nice place, but nothing for me to corrupt. Not like here, with you-

Luca forcefully shut the Rot out, who was being particularly chatty right now, as Jasper came back over to him. It was a warmth washed over him and pushed away his aches, the worn threads of his sanity tangling back together. He looked over at Jasper, at his smile that seemed to light up the entire room. It was enough to drag Luca back into his normal place of positivity, suppressing the corrupting influence the Rot continually had on him. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. He'd be able to keep an eye on Alizee - and while he wasn't physically strong, he could directly weaken apparitions. And he wasn't alone anymore. To deal with any of it - ghosts of their deceased members, the rot, dying...

Luca opened his mouth to say he agreed with Britney. He shouldn't be biased towards a new apparition because of the one inside him. He knew not all of them were malevolent. Giving her a second chance, on the condition she didn't look for Void Heart, was a good compromise.

But then moments later, she was right back to demanding where Void Heart was - threatening one of their weakest members. It didn't particularly matter to Luca that she backed down. It showed where her loyalties lay. While she hadn't caused any more harm than any of them, Void had. Just like the Rot, he deserved to be sealed.

Luca tilted his head, something else coming to mind as the Temple was mentioned. Something he'd... Heard of but didn't know much about. They had void? They'd sealed him? How? The apparition hadn't seemed the kind to just leave his host. He'd picked a new one so quickly. Leon and Layla were part of this Temple? He looked over at Leon. His current form was dramatically different, and it concerned Luca too. Whenever his appearance changed that meant... He was losing control to the Rot. The two toned voice. But Leon didn't seem out of control right now.

He'd have to talk to him later. Ask if they could help with his problem.

Though he was wary if Sloane said they were cultists.

But that wasn't the matter at hand. What was at hand was a once again rapidly escalating situation.

”Sorry Jasper,” Luca said softly to his friend, smiling warmly at him before stepping away from the wall and more towards Alizee. The wood where he'd been leaning was peeling away to reveal its rotting insides, crumbling between his fingers as his hands were held out in front of him.

”Originally, I agreed with Britney, but she's already going against the one condition. We can't trust that. We can trust your self-serving interest, but that'll always be towards him. I understand it. It's a strange relationship, with your Apparition. But it'll always be him before us, right?”

Luca sighed. A hand came up to brush back his hair from his face, rough and brittle. Another reminder of the effects on his body. Was this still bias?

He stepped forward, coming closer to Alizee, while trying to avoid getting near Layla. Unlike humans, Alizee wouldn't be able to feel the effect of his rotting aura. It wasn't strong enough to affect her.

But when he reached out to take Alizee's hands, she would feel it the moment they touched, if she let them. A sapping of her strength - a decay of her magic and the emotions that fueled her. It wasn't something that could kill her. No, he couldn't kill Apparitions like he could kill humans. But he could weaken them.

”One more chance,” he said softly, ignoring the commotion behind him. Amara's yell rang in his ear painfully, only increasing the headache throbbing behind his eyes, but he managed to ingore it. Like he did all his pain. The sealing was probably inevitable. He was unsure if he was stalling for time, or genuinely trying to find out more - a way to save the young apparition, still bound to an older, dangerous one. ”Can you ignore the Void Heart- Vul. Can you form connections with others? So you don't need him?”

He tried to keep hold of her (if she hadn't moved away in the first place), to keep his hands touching her in some way to weaken her. But there wasn't a killing or dangerous intent there. His gaze was soft, his smile friendly. Kindness, or an attempt to prevent her from teleporting away by eroding her abstraction?

It was hard for anyone to tell. Even Luca himself.

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree [Complete]

---

Interactions: Leon @AtomicEmperor, Britney @Shin Ghost Note, ‘Alizée’ @Estylwen, Everyone
A Place the feels like Hell

---

”where the frenzy speaks”

---

”Fucking get her, Leon- ” Linqian practically cheered when Leon slammed a fist into Alizee. She raised her arms to cover her eyes against the bright light, feeling the chain crack underneath her bare foot. ”Beat her till she- what the fuck?!”

Linqian, who’d been ready to sit back and enjoy the show of Leon absolutely destroying Alizee, was shocked when Alizee surrendered. Then she was very, very pissed, temperature shooting up so that the edges of her clothes started to lightly smoulder. The smell of burning denim filled the air.

”You surrender? You fucking surrender? After one fucking punch? Piss off. You can’t just come in here, try to fucking chain some of us up- which I’m normally into, but fuck, not here- then expect us to accept that?! You got fucking excited?! I don’t give a fuck. The original Alizee almost got us fucking killed, whatever’s left of her will only be worse.”

There was no sympathy from Linqian. Wouldn’t you do the same for those you love?. Love? It almost made Linqian laugh. Perhaps between Alizee and Void Heart there had been love, but that only made the whole thing more sickening. Was that why she’d returned? A strong ‘love’ for the creepy apparition? Did that mean…

She didn’t want to think about that.

But she was now at the point where it would be really fucking difficult for her to calm down. It didn't matter that Britney was questioning ‘Alizee’, perhaps considering the surrender. While it was the only thing that stopped Linqian from straight up jumping on Alizee and punching out her frustrations… but she was pretty fucking close to it. One wrong move, and that was it. From anyone.

”Fuck, you seriously considering this shit, Brit? I know exactly what we should do - fucking seal her. Be done with it. Like you said, we got too many fucking problems right now. I don’t give a fuck if she needs to find him. We need to find Father Wolf before he fucking kills more of us.”

This was all just a fucking distraction. She didn’t need this - she wasn’t taking all of this fucking time out of her day to deal with some ghosts fucking love for another predator ghost. She was only here for one thing. To kill the fucking monster that murdered Jinhai. Revenge. That was it. Revenge at any cost. Every minute wasted here was a minute she could be ripping out his throat with her burning hot hands. She’d learn a healing spell just to make him suffer longer…

Her eyes narrowed, hands clenched into red hot fists at her side, angry gaze sweeping over everyone.

”That’s why we’re here. I’ll go fucking avenge my brother myself if we keep doing this unneccesary side shit. Actually, maybe I should just fuck off. Then when Father Wolf comes to shank me I’ll fucking get him first- or I die, fucking whatever. No loss there.”

Such nonchalance about her own possible death amongst a storm of irrational rage. The fact that Alizee had returned for love. It made no sense. It made no fucking sense. Had Jinhai not… she knew it wouldn’t be him but… fuck. She felt sick, trapped, her chest constricting as her lungs burned. Why the fuck was it her. And why the fuck wasn’t it me?

”Do what you all fucking want. I’m here for the person I love - not to fucking keep existing, not to stay alive. I'm fucking done.”

---

Interactions: ‘Alizée’ @Estylwen, Jasper @NoriWasHere, Sloane @Atrophy, Everyone
The House on the Hill

---

Anya inclined her head towards Sloane when she whispered to her. Greenwood and 8th Street working together previously… something to investigate and be aware of. She wanted this alliance, but she wasn’t going to trust them either way.

But there wasn’t much time to think about it whenever everything went to shit - again.

Anya’s hand was raised, fountain pen glowing purple as it traced through the air. She’d begun to summon from a nightmare, concentrating fully on pulling out a grotesque creature into the waking world. Something not so big she wouldn’t summon it in time, but large and malleable enough it could get in front of Sloane. To protect her if the Apparition attacked her.

But her concentration was broken by the words ‘I surrender’, glowing purple fizzling out and the nightmare that only she could see fading out of existence.

For the best, perhaps. She was reluctant to show off her full capabilities now.

”Sloane.” Anya quickly moved towards her friend, reaching down to pick up the Chrysalis staff, holding it out to her. She then looked up towards the source of the problem, lips pressing together into a thin line. It was quite the conundrum.

To accept her surrender, and gain another body - but also another liability. Or to reject it, seal her, and not even give her a chance.

Even Luca struggled with the idea of accepting her surrender. He hadn’t been able to react quickly, even as Kashmira’s healing brought him back to as well as he could be… and the Rot too. As Stormy’s Phantombane aura dropped, Luca pushed himself away from Jasper, putting back the normal distance between them. Jasper would feel the distinctive tingling of the rotting aura before Luca got far enough away he wouldn’t get caught in it.

Did this apparition of Alizee deserve a second chance? Or perhaps a first one? They couldn’t hold her to the crimes of the original, but she’d come in here and attacked them.

She’ll do it again. But we don’t have to worry about it.

Luca grimaced.

”Why should we trust you enough to give you a second chance?” he spoke up, pushing himself onto his feet with the wall for support. ”Void Heart was a parasite. I understand better than most here what it’s like to have something like that attached to you… By helping you, we let more people get hurt. Maybe people deserve second chances, but…”

He trailed off, fixing her with an unwavering gaze. It wasn’t just him - Alizee would be able to feel the Apparition within him staring too, rotting the little humanity within Luca’s dark eyes. The reason he was biased against Apparitions. The corruptive influence eating away at his mind.

”You’re not a person.”

Anya didn’t weigh in with an opinion, yet. She would observe the crowd - those whose opinions she had any interest in, at least. Instead, she just said, ”we should allow her to answer Britney’s questions - and anyone else’s - before we decide.”

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree [Complete]

---

Interactions: Edict @AtomicEmperor, Britney @Shin Ghost Note, ‘Alizée’ @Estylwen
The House on the Hill

---

Linqian gritted her teeth, trying her best to calm down. She knew now was not the time. She wasn't actually stupid, but it was hard to keep her already explosive temper under control at all. (Something about how touchy she is) But with Britney's arm slung around her shoulder, and Edict leaning into her a bit- even if it was to threaten to mind drug her- she was able to calm down just a bit. She tilted towards Britney, then Edict, then settled on leaning in against Britney as she forcefully took a deep breath.

Taking the queues from other people, Linqian also pulled out a cigarette. It felt like a bit of a dick move to actually smoke it when there were two people dying on the floor, so she just placed it in her lips as if that would do anything.

”If you try drug me, I'll shove a burning hot fist up your ass,” she muttered, though there was very little bite to it, side eyeing Edict. She was calmer, clear in her non burning skin, but she was clearly still off. She didn't fucking know what to do about it. Bring Jinhai back? At least everyone would just put it down to her normal short temper.

She closed her eyes while leaning against Britney, as if by not seeing any of the people who annoyed her she could just ignore them.

She was so, so fucking tired.

But of course, there’s was no fucking break. No fucking five like Britney suggested. Just something coming in, something metallic talking.

”What the fuck?” Linqian hissed, eyes opening. No weird magic robot like she’d expected, just a tall as fuck, chain covered woman. She would’ve considered it kinky if she wasn’t so clearly a ghost, and trying to fucking hurt them.

The instant that a chain was shot out and wrapping its way around Britney’s ankle, Linqian reacted.

She swiftly pulled off her boots, rolled up her right jeans leg (the one day she didn't wear shorts!) and shifted her weight onto her left side as her other leg raised. Her right foot began to glow until it was so hot it was practically white, and she stomped down on the chain right in front of Britney. She pressed her foot, which was near 1400 degrees Celsius - hot enough to burn through metal and more, right into it. Her whole expression was tight, body shaking slightly as she concentrated on keeping the heat increase just on her foot. It was so much fucking harder when it was just one body part, but she didn't want to burn off her clothes. She couldn't afford that again. Fuck.

Linqian's temperature lowered to boiling hot, but not quite clothes destroying, and the heat spread all across her body. As it reached her lips, the cigarette in them began to lightly smoulder. She didn't remove her foot from the chain, raising a finger to point at Alizée.

”I am so fucking sick of this shit. That fucking shadow testicle keeps causing fucking problems when we're fucking dying, and have had it up to fucking here with it. Just fuck off. The fucking testicle isn’t here.”

She knew it wasn't really Alizée - which hardly mattered to her, considering she’d had a pretty fucking poor opinion of actual Alizée too. Apparitions, assuming this even was one from her, weren't the person who died. Not entirely. Even she knew that. But why her? Why did the bitch who almost got them all fucking killed get some kind of second chance?

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree [Complete]

In certain environments, such as places with extreme elemental conditions like high heat or corrosive atmospheres, her chains can decay rapidly, losing their effectiveness and becoming easier to break.

RIP to any chains that come near Luca (or Linqian)