Morose

Darke Magyk - Concluded

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@Nallore@BlueSky44@FantasyChic@KazAlkemi@eclecticwitch

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The Small Wet Country Across the Sea: November 5th, 12,508 - 11:30 PM

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The 19th Floor - Wizard Tower, the Castle...

Rowland stiffened, fed up with Cuyler's attitude. The boy was not listening to his words - how many other times could he explain to him that Arya was gone? Whoever it was out there in the world, it was not their Arya. He was certain that it was just a cheap copy of her, a Darke being bent on destruction and death. No, his Arya had died and her soul, her legacy, was being captive by whatever had escaped death at the hands of Chthon. "If only you had cared for her as much as she cared for you," Rowland told Cuyler bitterly. "You cannot change the past, boy. You were not here. She may have been your friend, but you, you were no friend to her."

He glanced at his timepiece, seeing that it was nearly midnight. The closer it was to the witching hour, the more powerful the Darke Magyk on this floor became. "It is time we take you to rejoin your friends - I can provide lodgings for the night in the Tower, but you will have to leave come first light."

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Myrus Silvers

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Location: the Vault - the Palace
Skills: N/A

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Luna had picked up no ordinary eyeglass - as she gazed through it, she would be able to see through things. To use the terminology of superheroes, the eyeglass was giving her X-Ray vision. She could see the skeletal structure of everyone present, watch as their hearts beat. Of course, Amarantha's heart was still and her organs looked like they were rapidly decaying, as if she were the living dead. Apollodora raised an eyebrow, a bit amused at her former teacher's behavior. She whistled slightly in astonishment, before starting to search herself for the chains. Apollodora couldn't help but smirk as Valda scolded Amarantha like a child.

Myrus' eyes flickered over to Amarantha, and then back to his sisters. "...You should go," he told the ex-Young Army Deputy Hunter. "The rest of the staff probably needs your help," he added, trying to give Amarantha a gentler command in comparison to his sister's. Of course, as harsh as Valda was with her words, she wasn't wrong. Amarantha didn't have the right to snap at Luna like that or to shove on past him into their family's vault. They were all in this situation together and right now, Amarantha seemed murderous - he imagined she was just mourning the loss of friends.

Apollodora's eyes perked up as Queen Valda found the chains. Sure, she had been intending to get Amarantha's help, but she was a Biter now and Apollodora was a slayer. It wouldn't work out too long no matter what angle she approached the problem from. "Excellent. Now we just need to use them to restrain my mother - you should be able to feel the power coursing through the chains, Queen Valda. They're powerful enough to restrain anything in the universe. Not even the gods can break them."

Myrus bit his lip slightly, a bit confused about why they would use those chains on this woman's mother rather than whoever was going to kill Baldur. "... I think we should keep those, Valda. We could use them on whoever is going to kill the God of Light and prevent Ragnarok from happening... Or postpone it at least until someone lets the person out of the chains." He wasn't really sure if it was a good idea to just let someone tie up their mother without a good reason, too, and Apollodora was a stranger. Could they even trust her?

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Antonije Magnisky

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Location: Room 847 - the Ramblings
Skills: Persuasion

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Antonije's eyes narrowed as his sisters' adoptive step-mother and some Forest witch Transported into their room at the Ramblings. This was his personal space and they were invading it - it made his skin crawl just to think about it. "Do you think you could at least knock next time?" he asked, clearly exasperated with their impromptu entrance. His natural persuasive abilities were failing him, especially as Myth asked him if the man lying on the floor of their home had attacked them. She would be able to tell he was lying to her. "Yeah, it was crazy, he came over here and tried to stab me!" Antonije exclaimed.

Sylvi had moved over to the corpse and was busy drinking its blood. Antonije didn't even really know how to explain that one to Myth, so he decided the best strategy was to stall for time. "Look, there's a logical explanation for what she's doing..." he began, trying to come up with something. "Silvija is performing an ancient ritual cleansing from the Land of Long Nights, meant to purify the deceased and help them go onto the other side," he lied. "I know it looks strange, but hey, it's religion right? All rituals look strange to people who have never participated in them before so... Why don't you two help out Silvija? Drink some of his blood?" he suggested. He really hoped they bought this horrible, horrible explanation of what all was going on, as he had no other ideas on what to do - and telling the truth was not an option.

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Halley Banner

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Location: the Pyramid Library - Wizard Tower
Skills: Perception

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"Arnora - I do not think this girl is Loki. I know this is my uncle - or I suppose aunt in this form," she muttered darkly. Halley did not stay her hand, the blade of her weapon cutting into Minerva's throat and shedding minimal amounts of blood. Just a bit of focused pressure and Halley would be able to ensure a quick and relatively inescapable death. The throat was such a vulnerable place. After her brother began speaking to Minerva, it clicked into Halley's mind what his objective was.

"You're right - even Hodur is a better warrior than Loki," Halley agreed, referencing one of the sons of Odin and Frigga. Of course, Hodur was a blind god, unable to even shoot an arrow without the guiding hand of another to assist him. For an Asgardian to be cursed with blindness, unable to fight... it was a fate worse than death in the opinion of many. Most Midgardians had long since forgotten about poor Hodur. "Do you remember, brother, when Loki dressed as a woman in order to retrieve Thor's hammer from the Frost Giants?" Halley inquired.

"Great, you hate one of the best gods, now let go of me!!!" Minerva cried. "I'm just an innocent girl! Do you really want to be the monster that kills children?!" she pleaded, attempting to get Halley to see reason. "Arnora, help me!! Please!!!" she begged, tears coming from her eyes.

"ENOUGH!" Jarvis demanded, deciding that this had gone too far. He readied a spell and had it aimed at Halley. "Let go of her or I blow your head off!" he insisted.

"Stay out of this, Midgardian. You know not of what you speak."

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Violet

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Location: ???
Skills: DeCyphering

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"I don't believe we have a choice - we could be anywhere in the world and my Transport does not have infinite range..." Violet murmured. She had no sense of where they were. The snow was the only clue to their location - there wasn't snow in the Small Wet Country this time of year. And since they weren't there, they wouldn't be able to use Magyk to get back quickly. It would take a series of hops from country to country to country to get back, yet she had no notion of where to begin. She would need a map in order to figure out how to Transport successively back. "We're stuck here."

Glancing around, Violet determined that any direction seemed equally promising, with the exception of the way of the metallic obelisk. It was evidence of life, intelligent life at that. "I'm going that way," she informed Fleur, giving the Witch Messiah the option to follow her if she wished, as Violet walked through the snow. It was difficult terrain to manage. The snow camouflaged a great deal of obstacles, causing her to have to move slowly in order to avoid tripping over concealed logs. Eventually though, she made it to the metal structure and Violet frowned.

It was engraved in runic symbols.

Violet ran her hands over the markings, mumbling under her breath as she worked up a loose translation. "It says this is the gateway to... to the Witch Hub," she murmured. "And if we were to continue to proceed onwards, we would reach something called... the Hellfire Circle, I believe."

🦄 Tartarean Strands - Chapter 1: The Collision

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Lady Virginia Crypt, Andromeda Aldrich, and Nancy Parker

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Location: Plains between River and Cave / DTB Fade Between
Skills: The Cards, History (General Human History)

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Plains between River & Cave:

Virginia listened with interest to the Faith's tale of woe - she recognized the name New York. It was part of the New England area in the colonies where she had trained in the art of combat against the Soulless as a girl. She seemed rather distraught over it, not deigning to introduce herself but Virginia took no offense from it. Customs were always looser in the Colonies, especially in times of distress. Faith certainly was feisty and spirited, reminding her of some dear friends she had lost along the way. "If I may," Virginia interjected. "I believe we are Elsewhere - I was instructed to journey here by my father, the Lord Dywell, by a message he sent through the flames. My family's lore heavily implies that this realm is connected to Belladonna and her eternal life," she explained. She knew that Faith had been addressing her companions from the Colonies, but Virginia did not care.

She smiled slightly at the tiger as he pressed against her hand. "Oh dear Myshka..." she whispered to the beast, kneeling as to be on the same level as the magnificent creature. "Elizaveta will be so glad to see you. She's here as well." Sure, animals were not traditionally thought of as intelligent, yet Virginia believed that on some level, Myshka would be able to understand her words. She saw the tiger as an equal. At Ludwig's words, she had to ponder them for a moment, yet she believed she understood what he was attempting to convey. They had been somewhere else in this Elsewhere and now they were in a new location - it seemed that experience had been something he experienced many times before. "Ludwig, dear... Have you seen my father here? Or heard tale of another Crypt?" she inquired.

Meanwhile, Andromeda couldn't help but despair slightly as Faith explained that Eve had been here and then vanished again. Her attitude about the female Emendator was hardly great, but could Andromeda blame her? She herself had become increasingly jaded with Gilbert and Giouse, trying her best to treat them with respect and defer to their judgment due to their experience... but more and more, they seemed to hardly be any different than the rest of the Paradoxes. It still shocked her how easily they had dismissed Lady Justice - and in many ways, that was representative of her issues with the men. "We met someone earlier today who claimed to be the Dice - she was some sort of deity or entity called Justice," Andromeda explained to Faith. "We had to choose Peace or Punishment - picked Punishment, ended up somewhere else, and then suddenly we were here..."

To further her growing disillusion with Gilbert, he brought up the woman that Andromeda had trained with intensely and introduced her as someone he had shared a drink with. Why couldn't he have just been direct and to the point? The next bit of dialogue though from Gilbert caught her attention and gave her something to think about - they were in an afterlife, somewhere outside of human history. Her nerves increased slightly, wondering who else she might find down here - maybe her brother, Walter.

Virginia waited patiently as the man, Gilbert Summers, asked for Faith to recall her conversations with this Evelina. Perhaps this trio was so tight knit as to not consider the opinions of those they did not know already - which she took to be a shame. They had a connection to Belladonna however, causing Virginia to grow in confidence of her deductions thus far. Something in the ground caught her attention and she reached out, attempting to pick up the symmetrical objects to examine them.

Roll Request - Virginia

Location: Plains between River and Cave
Action: To examine those little objects Ludwig accidentally kicked up and see what they are
Skills: Deduction (Investigative), History (Crypt Family)
Why: Deduction - examining the objects; Crypt Family History - in case she can think of a connection to an ancestor such as Belladonna with them
Final Location: Same

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DTB Fade Between:

One of her new companions, Robert, was demanding to know who they were and where they came from. It was a question was she was finding a little bit pointless - would Robert's situation be changed if he knew that she was the Cards and she came into consciousness thousands of years ago in Uruk? No. He would be in the same predicament as if she told him she was Nancy Parker from Louisiana. The other two unknowns were introduced as Mali and Riley. She was definitely more perplexed as she looked down at her cards - her first instinct was to narrow her eyes in rage, assuming someone had swapped them out for a different pair. The annoying woman, Mosi, seemed a likely culprit.

But before she could begin plotting her revenge, Nancy realized that these were her cards - she still had the connection to them, they felt the same in her palm. "Bloody hell..." she muttered under her breath, perplexed as she turned over the first card for the reading and saw the Tower. Unwanted change in the past was pretty on the nose. Turning over the next card, this one for the present, she drew Justice. That one was simple too - cause and effect. She braced herself as she turned over the final card for the future and her heart sank - it was her least favorite one, the Death card. "Fuck," she cursed. "Alright, that one isn't always bad... Death can mean loads of things."

She stared at the cards set out in front of her, before her eyes widened as the cards started to move, changing whether they represented past, present, and future. Death was now inverted in the past. Justice stayed as the present. The Tower went to the future. Nancy whistled slightly, fidgeting her fingers. The cards had never been this interactive before - they had never moved on their own. "Sophia, tell them that they are welcome to move if they want to, but we're busy," Nancy asked the Paradox.

There was only one thing that seemed constant for this reading - the present was cause and effect. The past was either unwanted change or a delayed ending, living unaware. The future was either unwanted change or change, death, illness... She couldn't fathom what was going on with this reading. Usually when she read the cards, it was always clear to her - there was no guesswork involved. She was still in her cross legged position on the ground and she decided that since the cards were behaving differently, perhaps she would need to try something different.

"Alright... Let's see if I'm bonkers..." she murmured, before Nancy reached out and just simply tapped the death card with her index finger to see if anything would happen.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω

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Leda Storm

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Location: Camp Half-Blood Dining Pavilion
Skills: N/A

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"We just need to move quickly, that way Mr. D and all can't tell we started it," Leda pointed out to her sibling. It was a simple trick but quite effective - it was even done by the kid in the Incredibles movie to put a tack on the teacher's chair. Of course, at the sound of the horn, it became apparent that food fights and all would have to wait. There were monsters at the edge of camp. And while the enchantment prevented them from entering, it was never a good idea to let them just camp out on the edge and wait for the demigods to have to venture outside.

Leda pulled off her pendant and the magical item transformed into her glowing sword, Ultraviolet. "Seems like the day is about to get interesting," Leda commented with a grin. Sure, there was a risk any time they went off to fight monsters, but she didn't mind it too much. Demigods usually had tragic deaths when they were young and she just wasn't afraid. They knew exactly where they went in the afterlife, meaning that if they died now, it wasn't really the end. And besides, every fiber of her being screamed at her to live life to the fullest, to paint with all of the colors available to her, and to never hold herself back because of fear. "Ready to go kick some arse, sis?"

The Gifted - Concluded

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@Nallore@FantasyChic@BlueSky44@Achronum@Trainerblue192@KazAlkemi@Framing A Moose

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Washington D.C.: September 10th, 2020 - 9:00 AM

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Polaris barely even blinked before one of the knives strapped to her waist flew out and just barely grazed Jinx's cheek, just touching him enough to leave a faint scratch before it continued to fly, boomeranging around the room before she caught it by the handle. "Don't," she warned Jinx, clearly not in the mood for his antics. Unlike her siblings, she never had been a member of the Brotherhood. She followed the dreams and believed in the ideals of Charles Xavier. If it hadn't been for the Genosha project, she wouldn't have even considered joining forces with her father and the Hellfire Club. "Or the next one won't miss."

"Hmm? Oh, right, the little errand the girls have you running," Shaw recalled, smirking a little bit at Emma. "Though tell me, Requiem - have you discovered who was responsible for stealing my sentinel?" he asked. His eyes were incredibly intense as he stared at his fellow mutant, like a coyote eyeing its prey. The room noticeably became more intense and Emma smiled slightly, shifting to look at Requiem as well.

"Yes, do tell what you have learned - I think we are all dying to have this matter put behind us," she said smoothly.

Magneto shook his head slightly, making himself a cup of tea. He preferred to make his own food and drinks to having it provided for him - he was endlessly suspicious around the Hellfire Club, even though he was its White King. These people could not be trusted, they were always waiting for an opportunity to seize an even greater share of power. "It was foolish of you to manufacture the sentinels in the first place, Sebastian," he chided. "You created the tools responsible for the death of so many mutant brothers and sisters."

Shaw sighed - clearly they had had this debate before. "I would much rather we be the ones selling them than a human group - it at the very least has allowed me to introduce modifications to protect mutants of our little circle here should they fall into the wrong hands... But back to the topic - Requiem, please, your audience is waiting."

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Veil nodded at Spark Plug's suggestion that they try the mutant friendly clinic. "That's worth a shot - but you'll need to be careful, that's one of the first places Purifiers are going to patrol in order to kill innocent mutants." There was no point in mincing words about it. Clinics and orphanages and just about any service provided for mutants now had gigantic targets on them. 7/15 had already riled up the purifiers in D.C. - this had just added fuel to a fire that had been burning for months, if not years. However, she disagreed with Spark Plug's desire to lead the mission.

"They'll never see my face unless I want them to. And besides, I made the decision already to lead that team. I'm not changing my mind on the issue." She didn't offer an explanation beyond that. Sometimes it was the best to give her reasoning behind a choice - other times, she felt like it wasn't demanded by the situation. She would have the time to rest once she either died or the work was done - and given that mutant suffering was unlikely to be eradicated in their lifetime without a drastic change in the status quo, death was the more probable outcome.

Havok shoved his hands into his pockets, his head stinging a little bit from where Sapphire had slapped him. "...Sorry, it's just after what happened with her and Mastermind..." he muttered. His girlfriend had a checkered past to say the very least and the idea of her being missing sparked fear in him - his mind conjuring up a scenario where Mastermind returned and hypnotized Polaris again, bending her sense of reality until she was just a willing pawn in his schemes.

Casper nodded his head slightly at his brother. "I'm fine, just trying not to stare at the cop..." he mumbled. He pulled at his hair slightly, trying to distract himself from the bloodied woman in blue hovering a few inches away from Max. Ghosts never really seemed to stay gone long. And unlike Ben, most of them were still fixated on their past life, unable to realize that they just had to make the best of a horrible situation and move on.

"I'd tell you to tell Jack about what's going on, but you never listen to me anyways," Ben admitted with a sigh. However, the ghost winced as he watched the complete breakdown experienced by Feedback. It looked like Casper's services hadn't been needed anyways - she found out that her mother was dead. Of course, Ben still believed that Casper passing messages from Feedback's mother to her would have been helpful for the healing process, but he doubted his friend would do that.

"I listen to you sometimes, but you're always blathering on and on and on about how much you wanna sleep with my baby brother," Casper pointed out to Ben.

"...I do not go on and on about it! I mentioned it one time! Just once! In confidence!"

"Not like anyone else can hear you," Casper countered. "And no one listens to me, so I doubt they're hearing this side of the conversation either."

"...Whatever, Cassie."

Casper was about to reply to Ben, when James came over like an angel with coffee. He couldn't help but grin slightly as he took the cup and sipped at the mostly watery liquid - the Underground could barely afford anything, so their coffee tended to reflect their financial status. "Oh, I could kill for a piña colada right now..." he whispered cheekily. "But this is close enough." He was feeling fine, especially since talking to people distracted him from the ghosts hovering over by Max and Feedback.

Meanwhile, Veil was a bit surprised that the newer members were being relatively quiet. They tended to be a loud and outspoken bunch, but perhaps the gravity of their situation had begun to sink in. Feedback looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown and Veil made a mental note to talk to her about it privately later - she doubted the young woman wanted to talk about it in front of everyone else in the meeting and sadly, they also just didn't have time.

"I'm taking volunteers to go on the run to the bar. Other ways to help out today would be working with Blink on scouting a new location, helping Sapphire if she needs it with getting medical supplies, going with Sunspot and Cannonball to get the kids to Rhode Island..."

"Actually, sorry y'all - the car is going to be super full with all of the kids. It'll have to just be me and Sunspot," Cannonball admitted sheepishly.

"Yeah, you guys are fucking missing out," Sunspot agreed with a smirk. The two of them exited the meeting area and went about getting the kids outside and into the car for the long haul. They were leaving, so they didn't need to stick around to see how everyone divided up at the meeting.

Colossus already knew exactly what he was going to do. "I will help Sapphire with medicine," he announced. He wanted to help his baby sister and if Sapphire determined they needed things not at the Underground, he was going to make sure that Illyana got them.

"...Negasonic, want to come scout with me?" Blink then asked tentatively.

"Ugh, fine," Negasonic replied, rolling her eyes. Blink opened up a portal and the two of them hopped on through, before the portal closed.

"I'm going to the bar," Sunshine chimed in. She wanted to kick ass and get revenge - that mission seemed to be the best way to go on about it. Erg was dead because of these Hellfire Club people, so she wanted to make them suffer and then, once they begged for mercy, she was going to end their miserable lives. As far as she was concerned, they had killed her only real chance at a family. It wasn't like her biological father was going to turn up after years of never being there and take her in - and her mother had kicked her out of the house when she was just a little kid. She was all alone and it was all their fault.

"Count me in too," Havok said.

X-Men: Cosmic Crusades 👽

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Guin Stark

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Location: the Baxter Building - New York
Skills: Telepathy

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During the Night

Shortly after talking to Reed Richards...

Guin stared at Reed for a moment. She was tired of being told no. She was angry, alone, and afraid. The only thing she really knew how to distract herself from everything she felt was to throw herself into work, to commune with the machines as they made sense and people never did. "Great," she muttered, before turning on her heel and heading straight for the elevator to leave the building.

Pietro looked at Guin as she started wandering towards the elevator, and he zipped around to be standing right in front of her, blocking her way. "Where are you going Guina?"

"Get out of my way," she told him coldly, the intensity in her eyes clearly a warning signal for him to leave her alone.

"Talk to me, please?"

She started to laugh. "Now you want to talk to me? I'm sick of this, Pietro! I'm sick of being treated like I'm some freaking stupid fragile doll! So get out of my way now or I will make you get out of my way. I'm done playing games."

Pietro looked at her, falling silent for a moment. "...You do realize that I'm trying to apologize right? But seems like I continue to not really be able to do anything right..." he muttered, staring at the ground.

She crossed her arms. The day before, she would have felt obligated to put her arms around him and comfort him, like he was a wounded bird that needed her protection. But she knew that that wasn't the case - Pietro did whatever he wanted to do. He hadn't wanted to talk to her and he certainly hadn't wanted to even acknowledge that she was capable of doing more than just hiding in a palace. "Fantastic apology, Pietro," she snarked. "Every girl loves it when a man refuses to let her leave and then asks to talk to her - it's almost fucking gaslighting, Pietro! I wanted to talk to you and you said NOTHING AT ALL! LIKE I DIDN'T MATTER!" she screamed. "If that's what you want, a girl who doesn't have her own ideas and just hides then I am NOT the person for you!" Her heart was beating faster and she felt like crying and throwing a grenade simultaneously.

"You know what? Fine whatever! You wanted to sit here yelling, then fine with me. Do you really think I need you telling me I'm a screw up? I'm told that just about every day but you are never really around to know that! I have never stood up to my father, and most definitely not my sister before, but you seriously care only about yourself that you didn't seem to think that I was thinking about a million other things. Like the fact that my sister probably screwed up reality because of me. It's my fault that the world is this way, but sure, go ahead, blame me for just being lost in thought about everything that has happened in the past few hours."

"How dare you say that I only care about myself!" she snapped back. "I spend most of my time at the Palace for you. I've given up my privacy for you. Hell, I'm marrying into the regime that treats my family like dirt all because I love you and care about your feelings more than mine!" Guin took a breath, her eyes starting to water. "I lost myself in you, Pietro, and I don't know who I am anymore and what I'm supposed to do and the only thing that makes sense to me I'm repeatedly told that I cannot do! My insides feel like they're dying all the time! So maybe this was all a mistake and we shouldn't be together!"

"The only reason I'm standing right here is for you Guin," he said, shifting from using his nickname for her. "I have been fighting with the fact that I was essentially a ping pong ball caught in between you and Wanda, and I feel like I still am... If you don't want me around, just say the word and I'll go back and you can stay here."

"Why don't you just put me out of my misery and snap my neck?"

Pietro stared at her, before he stepped to the side, "I'm not stopping you from walking out, and honestly, starting to sound like the only person who actually wants me around is the person who changed reality so that I would be around."

"You were all I wanted Pietro," she told him quietly. "But it took all of this shit for me to realize that you never wanted the real me, whoever she is... I feel like there's someone trapped inside of me, trying to claw her way out. Someone that's everything you hate about me and everything I tried to change for you, but I can't do it."

"I've never been the person I actually am either Guina, you at least have always had the choice, I would have loved you anyway no matter what, but I never had a choice like that... And you never really gave me the chance to know the real you either."

She shook her head, her chin wobbling before the tears started to come out. Each sob caused her entire body to shake and she did her best to round the corner as to be out of sight and earshot from the others, as her legs wobbled and gave out. She slid to the ground, hugging her knees to her chest as she couldn't help but cry. "I don't know who I am. I'm not smart enough to sort any of this out or help Richards. I don't have the heroic instincts on what's good or bad. I'm not natively talented enough to remember that other world. I don't even know how to fight. I don't know what the point of me is... At least you know who you are. I'm just a failure."

"You aren't a failure Guina, if anyone is that would be me," he said before sitting next to her and hugging her. "You are a great person and I love you, I'll help you however I can..."

Guin kept on crying, remaining still at first as Pietro hugged her. But eventually, after a few long seconds, she moved slightly closer to him and hugged him back, the tears still flowing. "You aren't a failure... You're just super indecisive," she sniffled.

"Yeah I am, but I've kind of come to accept it..."

"Sorry I yelled at you..." Guin mumbled. "I just feel like... like I'm living someone else's life - or maybe that I'm a ghost of my former self..."

"It's alright Guina, don't worry, you'll be able to figure things out..."

Guin's eyes were red and puffy from her mental breakdown the previous night. She still felt lost and confused, uncertain of what the purpose in her life was and what role she was meant to play in all of this. Despite not eating much the day before, she didn't have the urge to eat the breakfast set out for them, but she did smile slightly seeing the clothing they provided. She had changed into plain t-shirt, sweatpants, and a hoodie. Unlike the wardrobe she had at the Palace, Guin felt comfy and even a little bit happy in these clothes.

She was leaning up against the wall, uncharacteristically quiet as Reed talked to his wife about the machine. A bit of jealousy and anger blossomed in her heart - she was still mad that he hadn't let her work on the machine with him. But she held her tongue, knowing that she couldn't let her pride get in the way of this. There was something missing inside of her, something that was gnawing at her more and more every waking moment, as if the person she was in that other world was kicking and screaming, demanding to be released. Guin had to remember or she feared she would lose her mind. "You can test it on me," she volunteered, her voice a bit hoarse. Pietro, Carolina's wife, Oshea, Flynn, and herself were just about the only ones who didn't remember the real world.

If you don't wanna remember, you should step out - I get it if you don't but... I think I need to remember, she whispered to Pietro telepathically.

"A machine to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses?" October piped up, looking at Reed with curiosity. "That sounds divine."

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Dominika Novikova and Runa Blake

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Location: Outside the Baxter Building - New York
Skills: N/A

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Novikova rolled her eyes at Sapphire. "He probably cared more about the equipment he could get rather than which floor in the building he's on," she pointed out. She was a nuclear physicist by training and had gone through not just a PhD program, but S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Sci-Tech Academy. Novikova had been in her fair share of labs over the years - even working for Dr. Pym and learning from him about the legendary Pym Particles. "Then again, at least if he's high up he has an easy out if his research doesn't work out," she joked morbidly. There definitely had been moments in her scientific career when jumping out of a window seemed like the best option.

She walked forward after Lance, a pair of shades obscuring her eyes. As they went inside, everything was dimmer because of them, yet she didn't want to take them off. If she took them off, she would end up paralyzed each time she looked at a person and started to see the dimensional energy tangled up in their life force. Even in this world, the uncontrollability of her vision was permanent and could not be altered no matter how much training and experience she had. Some gifts couldn't be deactivated biologically - like Cyclops' eye beams. They were always active whether it was a convenient time or not. "I'm thinking it'll be easiest if I just restore their memories without giving them a choice, it saves time since we won't have to convince them that the world is different," she suggested.

Runa had relaxed since Strange remained behind at the Human Resistance Headquarters - and having time to sleep and eat a real meal had done wonders for her mood. There really was some sort of magical curative power behind a Snickers bar. She caught up to Lance and hesitated for a moment, before reaching out and entwining her fingers with his. Maybe this dream was going to end, but she had realized the previous evening that until it was over, she just needed to enjoy it as much as she could. She needed to stop focusing on the bad and allow herself to have some good in her life.

"I love you," Runa whispered in Lance's ear. She needed to tell him that just one more time before everything changed. Her eyes then drifted around the lobby, trying to figure out how exactly they were going to get access to the laboratory of the smartest man on Midgard. Runa doubted he was smarter than the All-Father of course, but her grandfather had sacrificed one of his eyes for wisdom. She didn't know of any Midgardian who had gone to such lengths yet. Yet she also doubted that Reed Richards would be the smartest man on Midgard for long - she knew that Lance had great potential and that his mind was brilliant, but he was young. He would grow and flourish as Richards would wane and fade.

---

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Casper Theriot

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Location: the LeBeau Casino - New Orleans
Skills: Mediumship

---

Casper had a piña colada in his hand, sipping his tropical drink through a pink curly straw - the same shade as the miniature umbrella the bartender had included in the beverage. That was definitely one of the perks of essentially living in a casino as compared to the usual housing provided by the Mutant Underground. Of course, it never surprised him how horrible conditions were for them - his father, after all, was the one in charge and he never cared about the needs of other people. He blinked a bit as he sucked up some liquid from the bottom that tasted more like pure alcohol and he shuddered. "Damn, they know how to make drinks here!" Casper exclaimed. "It's just like Vegas, isn't it Jackie?"

The roar of the people and the music in the Casino was a nice touch as well - it allowed them to have a relatively private conversation, even accounting for Casper's naturally loud voice.

"I say you guys find a volcano and drop it down it," Ben suggested with a smirk.

"Ben says we throw it in Mordor - do they have Lord of the Rings in this universe?" Casper then mused, seemingly more interested in learning about film franchises than infinity stones at the moment. Maybe he was just a bit daft or maybe he was mentally preparing himself for having to live out the rest of his days in this brave new world. His father was dead here so it certainly had that going for it.

"Probably?" Ben guessed with a shrug. "Though you guys might want to come up with a better idea than mine... I kinda doubt you have easy access to a volcano."

"Okay, okay Ben, good point... What if we got a lot of explosives and blew it up? Then no one can have it and we don't have to worry about someone getting their hands on it that isn't worthy... Do you think we could enchant it like Thor's hammer? American Horror Story says there's tons of witches in New Orleans, maybe one of them would help?"

The Uncanny X-Babies - Concluded

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John Watts

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Location: Serval Industries - Gardner's Office -> Training Area
Skills: Superhuman Speed

---

Watts didn't give any visible indication of a reaction to Andrew. He knew that he was a hallucination constructed by his own mind and he didn't need to evaluate his subconscious telling him that he was an idiot. He could tangle that psychological issue another time when he had a moment to contemplate it properly - and perhaps he would have to study some books on issues of the mind. That might help. Of course even if his hallucination was correct and it was constructed by Regan, then there was no point in examining the source of the issue further - thus it was decided. He would worry about the hallucination later.

The sound of footsteps outside the door and the turning of the knob was a far greater issue.

He didn't make a sound to indicate to Evelyn what he was doing when he scooped her up and ran faster than the eye could see out of the office, phasing through the door in order to prevent needing to open it himself. Streaks of red lightning accumulated behind him as he emerged into the training room and began running in circles to slow himself down in time. Depositing Evelyn on the ground, Watts stared at the four gathered there. Psylocke, Gambit, and Rogue didn't seem to be here. Was it worth going after them? Or was this smaller team enough? "Andrew is alive and being held at a facility nearby. We're leaving now. Either suit up or stay out of the way."

Agents of SHIELD - Concluded

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@BlueSky44@Kirah@Nallore@FantasyChic@Jasonhero

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The Hub - San Fransisco: March 5th, 1984 - 10:20 A.M.

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Notes

The 1984 Squad

• Invisible Woman
• Strange
• Niah
• Roman
• Flynn
• Raynor

While Niah seemed to really need to take a bathroom break (perhaps she was feeling sick from all of the dimension hopping), Roman was strangely quiet and the Sorcerer Supreme couldn't help but notice that. "Cat got your tongue?" Strange asked him with a slight smirk. Sure, he was a defender of the multiverse now but that didn't mean he wasn't an asshole from NYC anymore. He had been performing surgery in the midst of the Incident in New York - nothing in the world could deter him from doing what he wanted to do. It was odd to him that so many things seemed to keep Roman from acting - was he paralyzed by indecision?

"I'm impressed you still haven't realized that Goose isn't a cat - he's an alien," Raynor informed Flynn matter of factly. "One of the deadliest ones in the galaxy in fact. The Kree have been known to run in terror at the sight of just one flerken." Raynor didn't blame them. Aside from the Hulk, the little cat in front of them was the worst creature that lived on planet Earth. His own reality hadn't had any infest Earth thankfully, but a few of them had taken over Asgard for about a thousand years back when his grandfather, Odin, was young. It had taken the might of the Valkyries to repel the feline threat.

A young man came dashing down the hallway with two working eyeballs. "Goose!!!!!" Nick Fury shouted, about to scoop up the little red kitten only for Goose's tiny tentacles to come out and warn his owner not to approach. Nick Fury skidded to a halt, a bit out of breath. "Goose, you can't eat people - we've been over this after last time, remember?" Fury scolded.

"Mrow?" Goose went innocently, tickling Flynn's knees with his tentacles and purring slightly.

"No! Bad cat!" Fury scolded. "Sorry, I had a meeting run late and he hasn't been fed yet..." he apologized, still looking sternly at the cat.

"Oh, no worries..." Susan replied awkwardly, not really sure what to do.

Meanwhile up at Pym's lab, changes to the timeline were more apparent here than anywhere else. Dr. Pym's face visibly went through the emotions he was feeling: disbelief, annoyance, questioning, worry, dismissal, and finally... "Who do you work for - the Russians? Or did Stark put you up to this to get into my head?" Pym asked, his eyes narrowed. "I don't know how you know about Project Ultron, but I have to give it to you, you've got one hell of a story - if time travel wasn't impossible, I'd even believe you."

"But you made a big mistake - you brought my family into this."

---

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Stark Tower - New York: July 15th, 2021 - 10:40 P.M.

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Notes

Explosions + Assault Squad

• Goose
• Banner
• Scarlet Witch
• Cass
• Tinley

"I made you into a goddess, Virginia," Ultron answered Cass with a chiding tone. "I took your mortal form and boiled it down to the only thing worth while - and preserved that in a suit of armor. Isn't that what humanity idolizes - men in armor? I took evolution one stage farther - I combined humanity and machine to allow you to ascend." The android was positively smirking as he continued to block and parry the Hulk's blows, only just showing the slightest sign of strain. Theoretically, the Hulk became more and more powerful the angrier he became - but did he have enough anger in him to match Ultron?

"My children - capture them all alive. It's time we make more gods," Ultron commanded. The ceiling began to glow before about twenty five ultron bots descended like spiders. Ultron laughed manically, certain that these heroes were going to become just new cogs in his grand army soon enough. He had allowed them to live as humans long enough and he had grown tired of this game. They either had to become a part of him or they had to die.

"And Virginia? Awaken." Cass' vision would then begin to blur, before it was like she was looking through an Iron Man suit. Digital readouts covered her vision, she would instantly know the distance between her and every other player in the room, and a command would appear in front of her eyes: CAPTURE THE HEROES. The paralysis in her legs would vanish and an indicator on her screen would say what percent capability she was at: 69%.

"Another army..." Wanda muttered under her breath. She let out a feral scream and began to manipulate the probabilities the best that she could, rapidly increasing the density of about half of the bots. They plummeted to the ground and exploded on impact. Meanwhile, the Hulk was doing his best to wrestle Ultron, thick green blood dripping from all over his body.

Was this their destiny?

🦄 Tartarean Strands - Chapter 1: The Collision

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Lady Virginia Crypt, Andromeda Aldrich, and Nancy Parker

,

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Location: Soulless Fade Between & PE Fade Between -> Plains between River & Cave / DTTS Fade Between -> DTB Fade Between
Skills: Deduction (Investigative), History (Crypt Family) / History (Occult) / Locate (Emendator)

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Soulless Fade Between -> Plains between River & Cave:

She disagreed with Vlad's analysis that they were the ones to be sought Elsewhere. If that was the case, her father would not have implored Virginia to go seek life elsewhere - the Crypt family was odd and certainly some of them were mad, but her father had not yet qualified for a stay at a psychiatric facility. No, that was her mother's area of expertise, the abnormalities of the mind. She felt in her soul that her father had instructed her to come here to find something - perhaps him, perhaps someone else. Of course, the thought of trying to leave this strange and wonderful place as soon as they arrived was abhorrent to her. When else would they get an opportunity for an adventure such as this?

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Fraser," Virginia greeted. She was odd yet not impolite. And had the Great Bazhooli not just introduced her, she would have done her own introduction. Her mind was occupied with a deductive investigation of their surroundings. She drifted over to the walls of the decrepit church and gently ran her hands across the stone, feeling the etching of the Belladonna symbol. The Crypt smiled to herself. As divine as the unknown was, her heart fluttered when pieces of a puzzle began to fall into place. She was about to announce her find to her companions when suddenly, she was spirited away.

~Snapping~

Virginia blinked rapidly as she tried to become accustomed to her newfound surroundings. There were four others present, only one of whom she recognized. The girl with a shock of white hair, while dressed strangely, looked like a long lost Crypt cousin. But the one soul who she knew caused her breath to stop for a moment as she quickly realized that something extraordinary had happened. Ludwig, the brilliant man she had met at the Circus, was here in front of her.

"Oh, sweet Ludwig... Deprived as you are of the mortal coil, I am so glad to see you," she told him sweetly. She spotted the tiger by his side - was that not the Grand Duchess' companion? "I am afraid I am not dead - or perhaps only partially dead..." she mused. Her heart was still beating and she drew breath - what did the dead need of air or blood? "You must tell me of these Whisglemangers - they sound absolutely divine."

She then turned her attention to the others present here - they seemed to know each other. "I am Lady Virginia Crypt - it is delightful to meet you all," she said, giving a brief introduction of herself.

---

PE Fade Between -> Plains between River & Cave:

Andromeda's mind just couldn't let it go. The world was imploding around them (or had been? It was rather confusing to keep up with) and they had met someone who could be the future Eve. She didn't care if that Eve was from thousands of years into the future or just a few weeks, wasn't the knowledge of how the Dice had become Justice relevant to their current situation? Their entire existence was a paradox, a demonstration in how the linear progression of time did not matter. She didn't see why Gio and Gil could just move on and write Justice off as the future's problem, when from what Andromeda could understand, their problems defied time - problems of the future were the problems of the present and the problems of the past were the problems of the future.

Maybe it was the distracting landscape or her mind's stubborn inability to refuse to stop thinking about the Dice being Justice, but Andromeda wasn't able to figure out much of anything. Their surroundings were objectively horrible to look at and she couldn't even put together another question or another thought before suddenly, her entire world shifted again and she was somewhere else entirely.

~Snapping~

Andromeda was instantly confronted by a man asking her if she rode on Gilbert's back. Her eyes narrowed instantly, assuming that he meant some sort of sexual innuendo by it. However, the more the man talked, the clearer it became that he was just mad. He had a tiger with him and Andromeda had to wonder if the man was supposed to be taking care of the giant cat or if it was the other way around. "Of course you're not mad," Andromeda agreed with him, finding it better to just let the insane stay in their only little world rather than try to snap them out of it. "You do seem really happy, too."

And then, he seemed to be distracted by an extremely pale woman who looked like the specter of a Victorian era woman who would haunt the halls of an old and infamous manor. She heard Gilbert's soft commentary that Nancy was nearby and Andromeda wasn't certain whether to be relieved or not. The chaotic Emendator was certainly a welcome addition, but with all of the Emendators (minus Evelina) here... It only brought more credence to the idea that this was the end of the world - maybe even the end of all worlds.

Faith was here - that was confusing to say the least. "Faith... is Eve here?" she asked, only for the Victorian ghost woman to introduce herself. The last name caught her attention. Back when she first became a Paradox, she had been told she could pass for a Crypt. "Erm, I'm Andromeda... Aldrich," she said, glancing at the woman and the madman.

---

DTTS Fade Between -> DTB Fade Between:

Nancy's hands rapidly numbed as the Baron taunted Josephine, but his eyes had flickered over towards her. She couldn't help but wonder if he knew about how she had come to consciousness - the violent and horrific circumstances that had scarred her mentally and physically. Her innate abilities were telling her that the Baron was something akin to an Emendator, but incredibly different as well. Just using her senses to determine what he was stung and burned. And with her discomfort spiking, her enjoyment of conversing with someone like her was rapidly waning. If he did one more thing to the poor girl in his grip...

She didn't actually know what she would do.

~Snapping~

Nancy found herself standing in a drastically different scenery - there was no Baron here, but there was a Paradox she recognized and some rather sharp cliffs. As much as she had been severely annoyed with the Paradoxes and had been quite happy to go off to Egypt, seeing a friendly female face at the moment was a blessing. Nancy slowly closed and opened her fists, trying to slowly work feeling back into her hands. "Sophia - good," she said with a smile. "They're going to have questions, do your best to fend them off, I'm going to do a quick reading, maybe we'll get lucky and we can figure something out, yeah?" Maybe the Cards would work down here - maybe they wouldn't. She wouldn't know until she tried and so Nancy sat down cross legged and pulled out her well loved pack of tarot cards.

Roll Request - Nancy

Location: DTB Fade Between
Attempted Actions: Nancy is going to do a Card Reading, trying to catch a glimpse into the future and get some information about just what is going on here in this underworld
Skills: The Cards, History (General Human History)
Reasons for Skills: The Cards - for doing the reading and interpreting the result (if any); History (General Human History) - for interpreting the result of the reading (if any)
End Location: Same

Darke Magyk - Concluded

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@Nallore@BlueSky44@FantasyChic@KazAlkemi@eclecticwitch

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The Small Wet Country Across the Sea: November 5th, 12,508 - 11:20 PM

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The Private Courtyard - the Palace, the Castle...

Okay, I'm going to authorize you guys to succeed on a Transport to the Ramblings as it isn't any fun if you're just stuck in the courtyard at the Palace forever. Myth can sing and use her Bardic Magyk to enhance Mona's teleport. You guys will end up in the middle of Sylvi and Antonije's place.

The 19th Floor - Wizard Tower, the Castle...

The wrinkles in Rowland's face became more accentuated, as if each minute they dwelled on this horrible decision was taking years off of his life. Remaining in the Darke floor for too long was never a smart move on its own - the older apprentices liked to scare the new ones with stories about wizards who had gone mad after being trapped on the nineteenth floor by a rival. "Are you willing to risk the fate of the world for some long forgotten passion - for a woman you cared for yet could not love?" he asked Cuyler simply. "The life of one person cannot stand in the way of the lives of the world - of every little babe in the Ramblings learning to crawl, of the innocent schoolchildren in the Eastern SnowPlains learning their letters to the fierce young warriors in the Big Wild Land taking up the bow... The mantle of the ExtraOrdinary Wizard has always been heavy, as we do not just answer to the Castle, but we serve humanity itself and must ensure its survival."

He paused for a moment, letting his words linger in the air. "I am sorry, my boy, but I cannot make that bargain."

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Myrus Silvers

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Location: the Crypt -> the Vault - the Palace
Skills: N/A

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Myrus gave Luna a slight smile, the best he could muster under the circumstances. He appreciated that she wanted to be there for him, he really did. He wanted nothing more than to hide under the bed in her room just like when they were small and cry to his big sister about all of his problems, until they felt so distant and small he wouldn't remember what he had been so upset about in the first place - but they weren't kids anymore. The luxury of having a childhood had been robbed from them when Nera Hawthorn killed their mother, the last person standing between them and the pressures of the throne.

"Oi, hands off!" Apollodora exclaimed. "Not really fancying ya at the moment," she smirked. Pulling herself free from Amarantha's grasp, she studied the woman briefly for a moment. It was more than obvious that her hunger was driving her mad. She headed out of the musty and dark crypt, following the others to the Palace vault. Along the way, they would pass a lone servant hurrying to the infirmary to provide medical attention to someone who had been injured during the chaos.

"Maybe, it's possible..." Myrus answered uncertainly. He couldn't rule out just about any name that was mentioned, but Fenrir didn't click into place as being the absolute correct choice. There wasn't the sense of satisfaction from finally recalling a forgotten fact. And unfortunately, the woman raised in the culture of the Land of Long Nights didn't hear Ahote's question. Apollodora would have been an excellent person to ask about those myths and legends.

It didn't take too long for the group to get to the vault, with Milo still clinging to Luna's skirt in fear. Myrus pressed his hand on the door and the Magyk sensed that he was of the Royal bloodline. Gigantic mechanisms and gears could be heard shifting, clicking into place, before the door creaked open and Myrus pulled on the handle to open it entirely. The dimly lit room had most of its contents covered in various white cloths to protect them and there were numerous trunks and boxes all around. A few portraits were on the wall of previous Castle Queens - one of them being Queen Meliscente.

"If the chains are anywhere, it'd be in here somewhere..."

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Antonije Magnisky

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Location: Room 847 - the Ramblings
Skills: Telepathy

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Luckily for Sylvi, the ghost didn't seem to notice that she could See him. He continued to just shout abuse at Antonije, seeing him as the culprit - which made sense, given that Antonije had been the one to kill him. "YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!! I'M GONNA STRANGLE THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF YOU!!!" "Silvija... It's okay, he can't hurt you," he told her softly, figuring that the ghost had to be freaking her out. There was one benefit to the rules of ghosts - they had to remain where they died for a year and a day. As long as they moved rooms, Sylvi wouldn't have to bother with him anymore. Maybe it would be nice for them to just become nomadic, travel around so that way Sylvi wouldn't need to see the faces of her victims.

"I could keep the next one alive for you, ration him out slowly, then you won't need to see his spirit..." he suggested, though the torture of the living victim may prove even more traumatic. Her hunger was coming and going, but Sylvi's mouth would begin to ache a bit with need. Her fangs had started to descend, ready for her meal that Antonije had so lovingly provided for her. Maybe with time, she'd be able to just eat whenever she wanted to and keep the fangs at bay. Maybe. "We could go sleep in the Forest tonight," he then offered with a grin. "It'd be romantic, just you, me, and the stars... And as much blood as you could want."

And it would keep her far away from Violet, but he didn't mention that part.

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Halley Banner

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Location: the Pyramid Library - Wizard Tower
Skills: Chaos Magyk

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"I'm not sure - and to be honest, it was a relief that he wasn't there," she muttered to Arnora. Loki's presence at family functions usually meant that he had some sort of scheme in mind. When it doubt, Loki was usually the one behind anything that went wrong. As her great uncle Thor was fond of saying, it saved time to skip the other possibilities and just blame Loki for whatever happened.

Minerva tilted her head in confusion. "So to prove that I'm not Loki, I need to not give the correct answers then?" she shook her head slightly. "And I'm from the Land of Long Nights, everyone knows what the various gods look like - from Odin's missing eye to Freya's beauty to Loki's charming looks." She then thought for a moment. "But we came here on the Aricie, we were there with Ahote, you used your ice Magyk to stop the ship from freezing, and we went to the Port Witch Coven house and got drinks as well. Does that satisfy you that I am not Loki?"

Halley kept on trying to use her powers to unmask whoever or wherever Loki was, but she was getting nowhere. To make matters even more stressful, her little brother came into the room and whispered into her ear the worst news she had ever heard in her life. Loki had stolen the Space Stone and now, Ragnarok was only three years away. For the Asgardians, three years was nothing - it was the blink of an eye. "Fuck," she cursed. She was someone who rarely swore and the vein in her forehead had become prominent. She drew her talisman, the blade Alfina, and charged at Minerva, pinning the little witch to the ground. Alfina sensed her intentions and turned from the small dagger it had been into a lengthy blade.

"Change forms now, Loki, or I'll slit your throat! We'll see what Idunn can do for you then!"

Minerva screamed. "Get off of me! You're crazy!! Help me!!"

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Violet

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Location: the Old Port Witch Coven Home - the Port -> ???
Skills: Sense Magyk, Perception

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When Fleur checked the wall, her hand would go straight through as well. However, she will also be able to note that this isn't any sort of Magyk one of her witches would be capable of. This sort of spellwork would be beyond the capabilities of the ExtraOrdinary Wizard and the Witch Messiah combined. It is incredibly ancient and complex, almost intoxicating to the senses.... But just what is it? And why is it only appearing now? It hadn't always been there, had it?

"I think this predates either you or me," Violet murmured. Her eyes flickered around the room, checking for imaginary foes perhaps, before she walked through the wall. Violet's eyes instantly half closed into a squint from the blinding light. They were in the midst of a snowy wood, the glare of the sun against the white powder causing her surroundings to be almost unbearable to look at. Violet placed her hand against her forehead in an attempt to block out the light and get a better look at her surroundings, but she failed to notice anything that would clue her into just where in the world they had ended up.

"Spin me," she whispered, picking up a small twig from the ground and placing it on her free hand. The twig started to waiver, moving in a perfect circle as it tried to ascertain where she was in comparison to the Small Wet Country Across the Sea. But instead of coming to a conclusion, the twig burst into flames. Turning her head backwards, Violet expected to see a wall or an archway of some sort, something that would allow her to return back to where she had come from...

But there was nothing there. The only unnatural thing she could make out was a metallic structure, perhaps some sort of obelisk, about fifty paces into the woods.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω

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Leda Storm

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Location: Camp Half-Blood Dining Pavilion
Skills: N/A

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"S'alright, not much going on today," Leda informed her half sister with a shrug. Some days at camp were busy, some of them were as boring as Hypnos. It just more or less varied depending on what sort of things were going on. And despite all of the kids of the Big Three showing up, a nuclear apocalypse or something equally frightening hadn't happened yet. She picked up her goblet and took a big gulp of Dr. Pepper, enjoying the sensation of the fizz of the soda on her tongue. Her eyes followed Tammy's gaze and Leda chuckled slightly. "Ugh, I do not envy her right now," she remarked. No one crowding around Kiera at the moment looked like her preferred sort of company.

"Hmm... I've got no plans, if you've got something in mind?" she asked her sister, before taking a bite of her lunch. She had a brief fantasy of using her speed and shoving Zeke to the ground in the blink of an eye, but it wasn't worth her effort. Besides, if she left her food unattended for even a millisecond, she was pretty certain one of her siblings would swoop in and take it. Those of them with speed had to eat a lot in order to keep up with the demands of their accelerated metabolism on their bodies. Case in point, Leda was currently on her fifth sandwich already. "Though I am rather tempted by the idea of starting a food fight..."