Weaver glances briefly at Catch, but then focuses on Anna again. "Uh... Huh? Wait, he's not possessed by someone evil?" he asks, crossing his arms and putting one hand on his chin, "After everything that's happened, I was expecting more that he'd be possessed by something evil, but there's someone in him that's... apologizing for taking over Crim? That's... really weird..." The Nightmare pauses, then frowns and shakes his head, dropping his arms back to his sides. "He's another one we /really/ need to figure out, but we gotta focus on what's at hand right now--let's try and have a quick talk with Malice if we can, then hurry over to everyone else. Ok? You ready, Catch? Anna?"

" yeah, I guess so" Anna said with a shrug, everything seem weird now these days but it seem like a few of those things were turning out to be good, like Weaver still being alive.

Catch was in deep thought over the subject, he hoped everyone was alright at least, but if they weren't Glory would call right? Ether way they should hurry he thought.
" yeah. Let's go fine us the Nightmare king" Catch said with no enthusiasm at all, he then started to head toward the abandoned building

Crystal did stay rather close, especially when the mannequins and horrible scene came back into view. Given the state Scarlet was in when she left, the girl made sure to scan the room, watching carefully but coming to a stop when signaled to do so.

She glanced at the Mare as she seemed to catch onto something, hearing some of the noises too. Crystal looked ahead and while she wasn’t able to catch the reference, seeing Edgar making his little machine sounds and seemingly dancing amidst the chaos surprisingly caused a small smile to tug at the girls lips for a moment. It didn’t last long though, the sight of the bubbling puddle soon setting in and turning her nervous expression partly confused. “What.. What happened..?” She mumbled, leaning a bit more to try to get a better look, but not daring to actually move any closer.

" I am not sure my lady" the Mare replied just as baffled and Confused, did Edgar do it? Though she didn't understand all of Jason and Ethan toys she remembered them saying before that the drone wasn't able to hurt a person, then again Scarlet wasn't exactly a person, but it still seem to Farfetch'd to be him.

And yet, here was the little drone dancing around Scarlet chanting the wicked witch is dead in a song tune and whacking her with a pole, the Mare was pretty sure that this couldn't be a trap, could it? She glace over at the human girl and went forward as well.

The puddle that was Scarlet wreaked horribly, it smell of burning flesh and the true putrid stench of corruption. The Mare definitely didn't want to touch her so she looked at the drone and asked " Edgar, do you know what happened here?"

Edgar stopped what he was doing to look at the two ladies, he then nodded and began to make assortment of beeping and whistling noises as he gestured with his arms, telling the tale of his people.

It didn't take long for the Mare to remember that some reason this machine did not speak English or Vaseterm or any verbal language besides beeping and whistling noises, she let out a sigh and then asks " can you just poke her to make sure she dead?"

Edgar toss up his arms in frustration, he has been trying to tell them the blood sword wasn't able to do anything, he didn't know why that was but he was going to seize the opportunity for bet her again for taking control of his friend, so the drone took his stick and poke the blood puddle again before he whacked it really good.

" understood sir, I can go Scout ahead and find out the situation of the others, perhaps they apprehended the blood sword and has broken the spell?" " the Vanguard said dramatically but with all seriousness as she gave a half bow as to show she meant what she said.
The Vanguard then collected her things before heading out in search for the other small group.

" I'll stay put until we know for sure, this spell is truly over " the Mare said, not about to let up on Jason.

Boreas nodded to both of the mares, "I'll be right behind you once I take care of the noise." He added to the mare in her humanoid form as she left to go check out the situation with Crystal and the third member of the Vanguard in their group.

The captain then began his cautious hunt for the three rather loud sound and smoke machines scattered through the room. After picking up his dropped warhammer, he used the weather and his ears to assist in locating the devices.
His search led him to a pile of clothes, where he picked up the first. He actually tried fiddling with it to turn it off, but upon finding that he didn't quite understand this technology, he went with simply smashing it. The other two were located in a toppled rack, and lastly... The middle of the floor. Obviously, that one had been covered by the smoke and events of the battle.

Shouldn't they know What was going to happen? Shouldn't they know?...

" NOOOOO!" The red king screamed, he continue to thrash, he had to warn them, he had to do something, he couldn't just let his 'friends' die by the monster. " PLEASE!! RUN! I BEG YOU! GET AWAY FROM HERE!"

He didn't understand why they didn't they heed his word, Shouldn't they know the horrible crime that was going to happen, of course not, no one knew... they had eyes and yet couldn't see it... they had ears but wouldn't hear the screams... they had noses but couldn't smell the blood... no one knew, they trusted him....

Death didn't know what to do or think, he just stepped back and let the others take over, to scared to reveal himself at the moment.
Two male Bellezzas followed after Sparky and Terra, they would keep at a distance, seen the small yellow Bellezza had things under control, but just in case they would not be far.

As for the others, some humans still lingers in the lobby scenes Fiona and Eira was presented, a woman dressed in a white outfit even offered if they needed obvious medical attention but she also noticed that the one getting drag off was there more concern at the moment so she wasn't going to present them if they knew how to calm the man down.
As for Rahab and the red king, they were being taken to the medical wing, humans and Bellezzas were accompanying them

Morning Glory continues to do her best to try and help calm the Red King down as he's being taken to the medical wing. "No, no, he's not going to kill anyone, it's ok, it's ok mister! He's not going to kill anyone, it's ok! I promise!" She glances up at the people accompanying them, and then tries to carefully land on his chest, if she can. "Look--there's people here that are going to take care of everything, you don't have to be afraid of anything, it's ok! They're not going to let anything bad happen to anyone!"

Fiona was in such high alert, she didn't even notice her legs starting to tremble underneath her.
She didn't know what Crimson was screaming about, but if there were something bad, she was going to fight it and not let it hurt anyone. Especially not then, and especially not Terra.

Suddenly, she wasn't absentmindedly clinging to Rahab anymore--he had shifted and was being taken to the medical wing along with Crimson, but she wouldn't really know much other than they were going to get help. At least, that's what she /wanted/ to believe.

Immediately, the Elemental attempted to bolt after Terra, Sparky, and Eira... But soon found that her legs weren't going to let her do that. She took a couple of quick, shaky steps, then just flopped to the ground. "NO--no, wait--I...!!" She protested against... Well, everything. All the while she tried to scramble back up and keep going.

That wasn't going to happen. Her body couldn't keep going like that. "Stay safe...! K... Keep him safe...!" She called to Eira and the two Bellezza. She likely wasn't going to be able to stay conscious for much longer, either.

Eira looked at Fiona sadly, knowing the Elemental wanted to help, but also knowing that she had done enough hand needed to take car eof herself now. "I'll make sure he's okay," she reassured in a firm but calm voice, giving a dip of her head, before quickly following Sparky and Terra.
Once she had stepped outside, she trotted up to them with a concerned look. "Hey, Terra..." Thinking about it, Eira decided to shift back to her human form, being very aware that Terra had just been freaking out about everyone corrupted. Her condition was much harder to read in her human form, aside from the ice on her shoulder and her pale skin, but for some reason she didn't look any worse. The shiftress stepped up to the orange haired Dreamer and tried to meet his gaze. "Hey, hey, take a deep breath, okay?" she said with calming gestures. "Look... It's okay to not be okay, alright? You're valid to be struggling too, even if only on the inside. Pain isn't always external." She could say more, but she paused in case Terra had more to get out.

"--SHE NEEDS ME, SPARKY!! LET GO OF ME--" Terra had been in the middle of shouting as Eira came out, Sparky's still got a hold of him, but now it's just by his sleeve, and he's not lifting the ghost up and away anymore. They're over by the fountain, where the four statues with moons above them are. Terra's still very much in the middle of his mental breakdown as Eira comes over and tries to calm him down, and most of her words go over his head. "NO IT'S NOT ok for me to not be ok, are you stupid Eira?! Fiona's corruption gets WORSE when she's stressed or anxious, SO WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING TO HER RIGHT NOW?! SHE'S PROBABLY BEING PINNED DOWN AGAIN RIGHT NOW! That's why I need to be FINE!! Fiona needs me to be BETTER! But I'M NOT!!"

"Yeah, and why aren't you ok, Terra?" Sparky asks.

"BECAUSE I'M A USELESS IDIOT WHO CAN NEVER DO ANYTHING RIGHT!!" Terra screams back.

"Can I ask you a question?" Sparky asks again.

"SHUT UP AND LET ME GO!!" Terra shouts.

"Can I ask you a question?" Sparky repeats.

"WHAT?!?!"

"Terra, how much has happened today? Just today?"

"I..."
For the first time in a little bit, Terra has a short moment of just being quiet as he tries to use enough mental power to think. "E-EVERYTHING! Everything's gone wrong, today..."

Eira listened carefully as Terra and Sparky spoke, taking note of and processing all that Terra was going through. "It's true... You went through hell today. You probably can't even list everything that happened. It all sucks, but it's not your fault. You didn't bring any of it onto yourself. And as for Fiona... She doesn't need you to be some perfect, flawless hero. She just needs you to be /you/," the shiftress said, pointing towards where Terra's heart would be. "That's who she cares about."

(I think that's all the reposts! I'm gonna see about getting something to eat now)

(Hallo!

Happy Halloween, everyone!)

(I consumed me some good food and now I am back~

Hi Fluffy! :D How're you?)

(I do not like that word.

But I'm doing pretty good! How about you?)

Sparky frowns and pouts at Eira when she uses hell to describe the day, but also finally lets go of Terra's sleeve. //Aw, not you too, Eira!// he thinks, pondering if he's going to need to get soap for both Terra and Eira now...

Terradream, on the other hand... Still isn't quite ready to even understand what Eira was trying to say. "WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!" he nearly roars at her, "I haven't been /TRYING/ to be a flawless, perfect hero!! I'VE JUST BEEN TRYING TO STAY SANE!! I would GLADLY be someone else if I were given the option right now!! ANYONE else would be better able to handle what's going on than me!! Just look at you! You disappeared for what, FOUR YEARS?! Then you suddenly show up again, and I don't--I don't think I've even /spoken to you once,/ but that's FINE, ISN'T IT?! YOU WERE A MONSTER JUST MINUTES AGO, BUT FOR A CORRUPTED CREATURE, Y-YOU'RE MORE UNDER CONTROL THAN I AM!! YOU'RE JUST /FINE,/ AREN'T YOU, EIRA?! AREN'T YOU!?!"

(I'm doing oreo, I guess, because I pressed o instead of p first.
But nah, I'm doing pretty good! I'm curious to see how today's RP is gonna go! Think we'll stay up to 2 again? XD )

Glory's attempts were in vain to calm the red king, blinded by fear of horrifying fragments of echoes... even in his weaken state he try to resist, they didn't understand, he had to save them! He knew his friends were going to die...

The Nurse and doctors did their best to constrain the red king, but even though Crimson's body was at its limits his armor still proved a great challenge, granting the Rubyturehx king more strength then he normally had... it took several people to hold him down, one doctor called out to get a sedative and as they rushed the two patience down the hallway one of the Nurses took a syringe to base of Crimsons neck wear his skin was still exposed.

It was only a matter of seconds before the sedative started to take an affect, the red kings screams turned to struggle gasp of air, his body went limp and only fear remained in his mind that was he dieing? He couldn't make out the voices around him any more which only added to the chaos. his vision blurred, the people were only distorted silhouettes... this seem so familiar, he couldn't move, he couldn't breath, he could feel his strength leaving him and he couldn't do anything, it was hopeless.... his half closed eye lock on a blurred image of a man and with the last bit of Consciousness he had left the red king beg"....p-lease... s-to-p
... I... I don't... w-ant to... die...." He couldn't make out all that the man said, 'hold on sir, we're here to help you' all he hear was what the man said last ' everything is going to be /fine/ '

Tears Stringtown the red king face With his battle against consciousness lost //... someone...help...please......//

They kept saying he was a friend, /he/ would say you could trust him, but /why/ did this happen?

At that moment if it wasn't for the doctors and nurses already working on him the red king would have stopped breathing on his own but thankfully they were quick in doing their job's and put Crimson on a ventilator to help with his breathing.

They rushed to get both Rahab and Crimson to the ER

( HELLO!! Happy Halloween!
Haha maybe! XD well have to see what happens! )

(Glad you're doing oreo, Lilly! And HOI SHADOW! X'D

...I dunno if we'll stay up until 2 again, but we'll have to see! XD)

Dreamweaver nods his head, and follows right by Catch as they go into the building, that turns out to be some old station of some kind. Weaver quickly informs Catch that, by Eater's Nightmare senses, Malice must still be further in and deeper in, so they continue on.

At least, until a pungent smell hits Weaver's nose when they approach a staircase leading down... He gets a whiff of it before Catch can.

It's a smell that Weaver knows far too well. A savory, delicious scent that makes his mouth water a little, something that smells oh so appetizing to him... but knowing what it is makes him feel a little sick. "... Something's dead down here..." he whispers, pausing a moment to spit his extra saliva out rather than swallow it. //Even though I'm in control, it still makes me hungry... I hate this, I hate this so much...// he thinks, nervously pulling the deep purple scarf he's wearing up over his mouth and nose. He takes a deep breath afterwards, still holding the scarf close to his face. //I don't want to see anything, I don't want to look... but I'm going to be alright, everything'll be alright... I've got Catch and Anna, and this isn't like the Frenzy, Eater's not in control of me... I'm not going to have to eat anyone... I'll be ok...//

The girl was beginning to see just how much this little machine was capable of understanding, given that his reaction to the Mares question looked an awful lot like an explanation of sorts. Or at least an attempt at one. Crystals eyebrows raised a bit when Edgar gave melted Scarlet one last good whack, she couldn’t help but wonder what he could possibly have against her, but she also didn’t mind..

Glancing around the space, Crystal thought for a moment.. Something felt different.. She didn’t know what it was or wether she was just imaging things, but there was something that felt ..lighter than before.

That realization made her move forward some more, only to soon come to a stop again, her nose scrunching up a bit when she started to smell the gross scent the puddle was emanating. “Ah, why does that smell so bad..?”

(Hey Galaxy! How're you doing? :>)

(Hi Galaxy! I ditto Fluffy! :D )

( HI GALAXY! I ask the same!)

Death just sat there invisible, he was holding his tail as he watch everything go down. Terra blowing up and getting drag off with Eira and guards following after.
Rahab and red guy being rush off to the ER with a team of people.
He look back to the room with his cat's, most had took to hiding as well but a few were brave or just didn't care. Death knew that they were ok, but he still go and check on his cat's when this was over, for now he still was on the job.

Deaths eyes landed on the last small group still in the room, a few people were gathered around the collapsed long hair brunette " ma'am you need to come with us" they kept saying.
// ... she really zone out.. // Death though sympathetically, it was now obvious that these people had been though a great deal and were at their breaking limits.

The dark Bellezza check to make sure that the scary ghost is long gone before getting up and walking towards everyone else. Death approaches taking sideways sway towards them, it was a way a Bellezza said without words that he meant no harm, it was a friendly gesture. " uh-mm e-xcuse me m-iss?" Death says as calming as he could mustard, he took one of his ribbons and gently touched her shoulder " ... miss... uh, I-m no expert at these things b-ut I think the small Bellezza knows what he was doing...and the Bellezzas guards will keep a-nything from happening... I'm s-ure things will work out, y-ou all seem to be friends? I-I'm guessing? "

(Hey guys! And also Happy Halloween~!

I’m doing good~ I have a bit of a headache, but I took some medicine, so hopefully it will kick in soon. :3)

(Aww, stinks that you've got a headache :/ I hope the medicine will help you out though, and you'll be able to have a good Halloween X3 )

Fiona was still trying to persist, even with the people gathered around her, telling her to come with them. "But... Th..." She muttered, interrupting herself as she flopped onto the floor again. She was far too fatigued to push herself up, but was still keeping as alert as she could in case the unseen bad thing decided to show itself.

When she felt a gentle poke at her shoulder, the Elemental turned her head to the side so she could look at Death. His best calming tone was enough for Fiona to start to calm down again...
Everyone had been either been moved to rooms to be treated, or had gone elsewhere. This was allowing Fiona to finally start to think again, despite her lingering confusion and worry.
There were guards. There was Eira, Sparky, and guards. Rahab and Crimson were getting help... They had protection here, and it felt safe.

"/...Please be okay.../
...Ye--kind of. We've been a group for a long while. We're still working on being a team, but we're getting there. Just...
...Have to make sure everyone's okay." Fiona answered the Bellezza, becoming a little more rambly as she went.
"I... I wanna... To help..." Within a short moment, the Elemental started losing consciousness. Her limbs went limp and her vision was turning dark.

(Ahhh, I'm sorry to hear you've got a headache too, Galaxy. :s
I second Lilly--hopefully you'll be able to have a good Halloween and RP today! ^-^)

Dreamcatcher slow down when his brother spoke up about something dead down there " thanks for the heads up " he grimaced at the thought// likely from one of the Nightmares....//

Catch glace over his shoulder when Weaver spit and seen him covering his face " I'll try to get past it as quickly as I can " he could since a hunger again from his friend but it wasn't quite the same as the consuming bottomless hunger of what the frenzy felt like just not long ago... the Dreamer prince still wasn't sure on the full extent of his emotions magic could do and he was already putting a lot of focus on Weaver but he wanted to do more so he focus on other emotions instead and hope that would help.

" I'll go up ahead and light the way " Anna said bravery, they all knew it wasn't going to be pretty down there but they had to fine Malice.

" thanks Anna " Catch replied taken a deep breath before heading down the dark stairways...

The Dreamer prince hobbled his way down the stairs to the Underground train station, it was big and open, could probably fit hundreds of people back in the time it was running, but now it was deserted and a mess.

Catch sniff the air, something did smell off down here but it wasn't that strong for him yet, he squinted his eyes in the dark, if it wasn't for Anna and his own glow he wouldn't be able to see much of anything// we'll here we go...// the Dreamer pick up his pace to a trotte and headed towards were Weaver last pointed.

The smell got strongest as the deeper they went until signs of the gruesome crime came into view... Catch didn't linger, sure a Shadow Hunters should investigate more but he didn't need to, to know this was done by a Nightmare nor did he want Weaver to have to be around it for long, so Catch hustled on by saying a little prayer for whoever the person was // we'll tell the Silver spear about this so whoever this was can have a proper burial //

" Nightmares are awful..." Rihanna muttered, she was glad when the scene was put behind them, Though she knew the smell would linger but maybe not?

It wasn't that far ahead that something seem off, very off.

Catch pelt twitched like something was poking him, it didn't hurt but it was annoying, he had to slow himself back down to catch his breath which that was odd to, the air felt dead here, stagnated and thin.

Anna to felt something off, her since we're going Fuzzy's and she felt light headed " I don't feel so good " she Mumble and landed on her partner head.

They had come to the edge of the heart of Malice's spell.... small rocks floated oddly with Statics green spark

( I hope you're medicine helps as well Galaxy!
I hope you be able to have a good Halloween and RP today ^-^ )

The Mare was firmly in her spot on top of the Orange hair shapeshifter, thankfully he was not a human or he be crushed by her weight for to much longer but Jason was a tough kid, needless to say it would be better for him the sooner the Mare get up but she wasn't going to do that until she knew for sure he wasn't a super villain anymore.

The Mare with Crystal ears twitchde, she didn't get what happened here but she had a feeling the answers were not going to come instantly.

Her nostrils flared with the sent and then she snorted " it the smell of corruption, what it really smells like " it was a smell that came from earlier a corrupted monster that didn't care about hiding its present or one that couldn't, like Scarlet here.
The Mare crept closer to investigate more, something seem to Shimmer along her surface from time to time, it would be hard to notice until really looking hard as it to was a red in color but it was a different shade of red " hmmm " was all she said as she didn't know what it meant, she wasn't sure if this was part of her or whatever effect her. " are really objective now should be to contain her seen were not sure how to eliminate her at the moment, if she isn't already "

Edgar stopped whacking the puddle of blood, it seem that Scarlet wasn't going anywhere soon, he looked at his pole and opened a door on himself and other arm came out with a bottle, he took another sample of scarlet and stored it inside himself.

Just then the Vaseterm in her humanoid form came though the mannequins, arm with sword in hand. she gasp at the evil display but then turned her eyes to the small group " you? You got her?" She asked surprised

Once the smoke and the sound had cleared, Boreas could let his magic rest. He didn't have to constantly send smoke out of the room anymore.
He went straight to his next task and began following the mare in her humanoid form, being sure to take it slow in case he might feel Scarlet's spell again.
He had to wonder... Why did it affect Jason so strongly, but only make his mind fuzzy? Was it because there was more than one target...?
She obviously set this trap for them, so he had to assume she must've thought she could control both at once. //Questions for later... Focus on support.//

Death look out towards the way Terra and Eira had went with what Fiona started to say, he then looked down at her again and patted her shoulder " I'm sure everything will work out then " he was about to tell the woman she could relax, they were in good hands but Fiona went down fast.

Death let out a panic Yelp when Fiona collapse, he knew she wasn't dead because she still had birds hanging around her but still seeing it happen was a jarring experience, the large Bellezza immediately tried to pick up Fiona but thankfully the nurses helped him out, it wasn't that he wasn't able to pick her up, not at all, but they were the more experienced to handle situations like this.
They got Fiona up on the gurney, Death walked with her until the end of the room and there he stopped, he watch as the weird long hair brunette was also taken to the ER to be treated. Death did not follow... he stayed behind just in case the others came back, they would likely want to know were there friends were so he stayed in the lobby with his cats

//Moons, be with the people here,// is Dreamweaver's prayer, not only for the victims that were slain here, but also for the city as a whole... He sticks right by Catch the whole time, trying to hold his breath at points where the stench is the strongest, and doesn't let himself look at the buffet. He knows he'd be able to see it just fine with his Nightmare sight. //Moons, be with us, too... Please...//

He would be thankful if he could, when they get passed that horrid scene, but now he has something else to keep him concerned. "Hey, Anna--Catch, are you two alright?" Weaver lightly pats Catch's shoulder as he asks his question, not feeling the effects of Malice's spell in the slightest. All it takes is a quick glance for him to be able to see the aftereffects, though. "Whatever Malice did must be the strongest here, will you guys be able to keep going further?"

‘Corruption has a smell..?’ Crystal thought, keeping the rest of her questions to herself and giving a small nod in response to what the Mare said about the new task at hand.

The girl turned when she heard footsteps approaching and watched the Vaseterm woman as she came in with her sword. Crystal shook her head at the woman’s question, “Well, I- I did end up finding her back here, but I left, then we-“ she gestured briefly to the Mare, “-came back and found her like this..” she explained, then asked, “if you’re back here, is everything okay out there?”

Catch head hung low but he forced a smile at his brother " yeah, I'll be fine, it just feels heavier here... I think you're right though about were close to whatever Malice did " after saying that the Dreamer prince looked up to his Fairfin partner " how about you Anna?"

Rihanna let out a big Huff but nodded " I'll be good, just need a little break " she then looked at there surroundings and then tap her cat ear head band " I don't want to imagine what happen if we didn't have these protecting us "

Dreamweaver nods his head at his friends, and says, "Yeah, same here. We need to give Osiris a huge thanks later, once this is all dealt with. Hopefully we'll be able to get in and out of here quickly before it gets too bad."

When they continue on, Weaver makes sure to walk a little slower, since Catch is having more trouble now, at least until he's able to see something... very noticeable up ahead in the darkness. "... Woah, WOAH, Catch, there's a huge crater up ahead!" he shouts quietly, "Hey can you see that?! Man, whatever happened here was even more serious than I could've imagined..."

The woman blink " Ok? "it didn't seem real at first, she had expected some deathly battle but she wasn't going to complain, her cut side her her enough and if that was the worst injury besides fatigue, she was going to continue to Count Their Blessings.

The woman then on to answer the girls question
" yes ma'am, we were able to apprehend prince Jason, he is currently unconscious, if the situation is under control then I should to report back to captain Boreas "
The other Mare nodded, it was good to know things se to be looking up for once.

The sound of straw noises came from over were Scarlett was at, Edgar was doing his best by filling up the little bottles he had on him but he only had sample bottles on him, this was going to take some time unless something bigger could be found. Surely a store would have something that could be useful?

As Boreas approached, he could hear the small group's voices ahead. What he heard didn't sound like anything dangerous, which he was thankful for... He wondered if they had been successful in finding and capturing Scarlett.

Either way, on his slow way there, he took moments to observe the destroyed clothing warehouse around him, keeping a sharp eye for traps and trying to piece together in his mind how this ambush had been set up.

Dreamcatcher couldn't since anything, even with the sticker on, but thankfully it was still doing its job, just the Dreamer prince ability as far as magic was very close range right now, but for him all he needed to make sure he was doing was touching his brother.

When they came to a stop Dreamcatcher stood there with wide eyes at what he was seeing. " Woah?! What is that?" He couldn't see in the dark like his brother could but he did see something.... it was a different kind of darkness up ahead, it was swirling around the crater, it was hard to make out but Catch thought he make out some bits of green deep inside it.

" That looks Mal-ish to me " Anna said tiredly.

" yeahhhhh, I think that a good bet to say this is his" Catch looks back behind them and wonders should they look for a different way around? He glace over at his brother and then back to the black hole " now the question is, how are we going to get past that? "

Crystal chewed at her lip, “Jason’s unconscious..?” She mumbled, her tone concerned, “But yes, that’s probably a good idea, I think we’re okay here now..”

Upon hearing the straw noises, Crystal looked over at the drone, “oh, and we have to put her in something..” she said, taking another glance around to see if there was anything that could suffice.

The woman gave one last nodded with both Crystal and her comrade reply. She then went on her way to find Boreas.

" hmm, now he have the job in finding something to carry this liquid evil with " the Mare thinks out loud, then looks to there surroundings, it was obviously it clothing store but just like most they had a few others things that looked of interest.
Besides the clothes and cloth that could be used to absorb liquid if needed, there was jewelry aisle as well, though the jewelry was pretty none of look to be used, however what could be used was a clear bowl that was still on a table that had discount items in it.

Looking across the way appears to be cases, both for storing clothing and carrying cases for travel.

Over by the the role of cash registers was bien and displays, some of which had travel supplies, empty bottles meant for soap or drinks, like a thermos.

There was also a soda machine if truly needed, one could take a water bottle and empty it to use.
There was also small trash bin here and there though out the store, mostly seen next to a support pillar or close to the registers.

There was also plenty of plastic bags at the checkout to.

And if worst came to worst one could always try one of the Hallow part the mannequins to.

As far as scooping her up? There was plenty to use for that to.

On a pillar with the garbage can, a hand broom and dustpan was hanging.

There was also a clipboard on a floor with someone inventory list on it.

There were lids to the containers mentioned earlier.

But if one could find the janitor closet, the vacuum could be possible along with all the other Treasures that could be found there, gloves, bags and even air fresher

( one thing they still need to be careful about is the Seeker wires that are close to the edges of the store ends, though they can not be seen by normal site that doesn't mean they are completely invisible, the areas around them would be cut and clean )

//Haven't checked up on the locations of those invisible deathtraps in a while...// Boreas contemplated, soon noticing the Vanguard in her humanoid form returning.
"...Is the situation secure? Is Crystal alright?"

"Uh-huh..." Weaver mutters in reply, scanning the area to try and come up with an answer to that question. He grabs on to one of Catch's ribbons for good measure, and then leans forward, trying to get a better look at the area. "Well, I mean... I don't think either of us are in any shape to do anything about this spell, and even if we were, this spell thing is what's hiding Malice and preventing everyone from using magic, so we shouldn't mess with it... The tunnel we just came from opens up into this massive crater, so unless we wanna try and backtrack a ways and guess how we're supposed to get to Malice from somewhere else, that's a bad idea. Also don't think we should try to just, go right towards it, either..." he explains. "There's kind of an edge to this huge, huge crater, we could try climbing around on that I guess... but you can't do that in your human form." After saying this, he leans back, takes an extra step away from the edge, and scratches the top of his hat with his free hand (the other one he's using to still hold on to Catch's ribbon). He's still doing a lot of thinking...

" that true...hmmm" Catch took his free ribbon and rub the back of his neck, it was both a bad but needed thing right now, ether way just like what Weaver said ether one wasn't in any shape to do anything about it now.

Weaver was right about that to, if they turned back it be a gusseing game on how to get around and to Malice, they didn't know the tunnels or were they went or how many paths there really were " yeah, it likely a big Maze down here and that probably Malice pick it, we past more then a few different tunnels that were attached to this one already "The Dreamer prince thinks outloud.

Catch following Weaver to look over the edge, it was quite the drop and it went out for a good long distance, the length of a football field.

Anna let out a whistle at that and then said " that a real Big hole!"

" yep, now it just getting across " Catch replied going back to thinking.
" hmmm, you could try flying?" The Fairfin chime in an idea.
" wait? what?! Flying? Are you crazy? " Catch snapped, looking up even though he couldn't see all of her on top his head " I can barely do the not fall and die part, let alone actually flying Anna, besides I need my wings for that and I rather not be in my dark form, ever, if I can help it..."

" Ok! Ok! I got it, you don't need to get snappy at me, I was just bringing up possibly " Anna snapped back holding her arms across her chest " at some point you should learn to fly at least and not just them being a fall breaker, I know you still got a /fear of falling/ but you got wings now! You won't have to worry so much about falling if you can fly! " she lay down on her belly with her hands propped holding her head " but if flying and going back is out of the question, then what do we do? "

Catch didn't want to think about flying right now, he had way to much on his plate at the moment, but that was still the question, what do they do? // Weaver dosen't seem to be finding the effective of this spell like him and Anna, maybe he could travel though it better? As he look across the crater it look like the walls had edges on them and they were other openings to were other tunnels were got cut off to " I don't know..." he started " I don't think any of my forms could get use both across, not with my arm like this but do you think you could get across that in your great wolf form? " he asked pointing the end of his ribbon to a path along the edge of the big hole

Eira listened quietly to Terra's outburst, truly understanding how he felt. She knew simply saying stuff wouldn't immediately fix the countless spirals that has mind had been traveling down, but she would keep trying till she could help him start to get back up. "And what do you think I did in those four years I was gone? Do you think I was okay and dandy?" She shook her head. "I hid away from everybody who loved me because I thought my burdens weren't worth dealing with. I never told anyone anything, for four years, wallowing in my own misery and spirals because I thought it wasn't a big deal, only for me. Is that how you feel?"

Weaver follows the direction Catch points with his ribbon, and thinks. "Mmmm, I think I could, with how messed up my Great Wolf form is now I think I could, pretty sure I've watched Eater climb things in that form a lot better," he says, then looks up at his friend, "You're just going to have to hold on real tight, I'm not gonna try to just beeline for the nearest tunnel, but still... I... I guess I can hold on to you with my chains too. Uh, if that's fine with you?" He pauses, making sure he's still got a good hold on Catch's ribbon, then shapeshifts to his Great Wolf form, and stands upright like a werewolf. He blinks, then realizes, "Oh, uh, you gotta shift to your human form still, too, if I'm gonna carry you over."

"I DON'T KNOW!!" Terra shouts back at Eira, "I DON'T KNOW! I-I don't know!?!" he repeats, putting his hands on his head and grabbing his ghost hair, "Everything's spiraling out of m-my control!! I can't do anything! A-anything!! I never can do anything!! It-it's always the same thing, every single time, it n-never ends!! Over, and o-over, and over, a-all I can ever do is watch people die...!!"

Sparky watches quietly, noticing now how Terra slowly floats down to the ground in front of the fountain. //Maybe he's slowly starting to calm down...// he thinks, knowing that what Terra needs right now is just time, time to let this all out, time to settle down, and more so than anything else, time to be able to sit down and process everything... but he glances back at Eira. She's doing her best to help, Sparky knows this, and while her words are flying straight over Terra's head, maybe she's helping him in some other way without realizing it fully...? Maybe... For now, he's going to wait just a little longer, to see what Eira does next.

Eira thought about what Terra said. It's understandable, after seeing multiple people die, including friends from their group. And Terra was stuck in a form where he literally couldn't do anything to protect them. "It has to be hard, isn't it?... To see our loved ones hurting and not being able to help them at all... I get it. But... I don't know if it'll mean much to you, but I learned growing up that evil never wins. Good will always come through, if we have the belief to wait for it to happen. In the meantime, we'll give it our best shot till it finally wins." She gave him a faint smile, trying to show encouragement.

(Hopefully there’s no wrong answer to this XD Let me know if I should change anything haha)

As she scanned the area, Crystal tried to think about what would do the job well.. It had to be something that wouldn’t leak, but was easy enough to transport.. Some of the stuff here was a tad foreign to her, but with some thinking she got the gist of most of them.

Estimating the amount of puddle, Crystal moved and grabbed what seemed to be a suitably sized bin with a lid. She tested the item and it’s durability, but mainly the lid and how well it attached to and sealed the bin shut. She figured Scarlet wouldn’t leak, especially if they were careful, but for extra protection, she took a couple of the plastic bags too. But she was not going to dare touch anything with her hands, so she also took that hand broom and dustpan.

Once she gathered the objects, mindfully avoiding all the suspiciously sliced items and most the mannequins just in case, she returned to the smelly liquefied remains of Scarlet and paused for a moment, thinking to herself, ‘This might be the grossest thing I’ve ever done..’ Crystal practically held her breath, soon crouching next to the puddle to get started, but when she was close enough she noticed the odd way it shimmered a slightly different red color..
As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t think about it at the moment.. Crystal swept some of the goo into the dustpan, then dumped it into the bin, repeating this a few times to make sure she got all she could. It took absolutely everything she had to resist gagging, and even then, she still looked on the verge of doing so. When it was proven she had gotten the majority of everything, she closed the lid as securely as possible, then put said bin in not one, but two of the plastic bags. One to further seal away the contents, and the other for carrying purposes.

Then the girl stood and turned to the Mare, her poor face pale and practically green, “there we go,” she said with a slightly strained voice, holding up the bag of grossness a bit, “..hopefully this will do.”

Dreamcatcher ears droopped at that, it was weird to think about how Eater changed Weaver body so much and how it seem so natural for the Nightmare and yet to Weaver, this would be his first time using that form of his great wolf form. // even with him back in control his body been damaged and messed up by Eater... will there be a way to fully reverse what has been done to him or will Weaver have to live with it like now but not?...I'm not even sure what will really happen to Weaver body after Eater is taken out, I hope it go back to normal but the damage...// he wondered if Weaver body would be like a pot that had been smashed and glued back together, it look whole but it still have the scars of what happened to it. Catch set his worries aside for now, they both had a job to do and he didn't like being so close to the heart of the spell.

The Dreamer prince held his ribbon around his friend loosely but still touching him as Weaver shifted to his great wolf form, he wanted to make sure that his friend was getting his emotions magic at all times, even when shifting to a bigger form.

" ... I don't mind, I hold on as tight as I can but his my bad hand I rather be safe then sorry, I'm sure my magic works both ways, if you're the one holding on to me, I don't see why it wouldn't work the same " the Dreamer prince replied, he then took a breath and made absolutely sure he still had a ribbon on his friend " alright, I'm going to shift " he said as a simple heads up before doing just that.

A golden glow came from Dreamcatcher as his form changed, and went he was done, Catch stood in his human form with his hand on Weaver fluffy arm " I be ready whenever you are brother " he said with a soft smile, then he remembered and looked up and suggested " Anna, you probably should sit this one out in my pocket "

" ...yeahhh...I could use a nap but don't forget about me in there ok?" The Tiger Fairfin said tiredly.

Catch grimaced at that, he hadn't been the best partner the past few months himself but he was going to be different " I won't, I'm going to do better "

" good, because I am to " she replied and kiss the top of Catch's head, she then lazy flew down and got in her little spot in her partner pocket.

" alright, I think we're both ready now " Catch said looking up at his brother tall great wolf form

" Yes sir, Miss Crystal and ( I have no idea what her name is ) have apprehended Scarlett, she seems to be immobilized at the moment and is a puddle by were see had her ritual placement... I would still proceed with caution as we do not know what truly causes her to become disable at this moment, but I do suggest we take this moment to our advantage " the Vanguard replied to Boreas, she had her sword at her side and her other hand holding the cut she had gotten from her scuffle with Jason

The Mare watch as the human girl went to find something to use, she stayed State guard by the evil blood puddle until Crystal returned and got to work// I do not Envy her but I do feel I owe her a for this... // if it wasn't be for Crystal clean up Scarlett like she did the Mare herself would likely have to and with no hands in this form that only left her mouth and that was a very unsettling thought.

" you have my thanks Lady Crystal " the Mare replied, she then nodded and added " let us hope that it will suffice " hear ears twitchde hearing the that the background music had stopped " it seem the rest of our party have completed their task as well, may we go join them? " She offered

Boreas narrowed his eyes slightly when the Vanguard mentioned a ritual, but upon hearing Scarlett had been disabled by something, he muttered, "Hm... Likely why her spell's faded. I agree with your conclusion--let's move."

"But first..." Noting the Vanguard's injury, the Captain reached back into his bag and pulled out the handful of bandages he had left from Edgar. "...Not enough to stop it completely, but you should be able to stifle your bleeding with this."

The Vanguard paused for a moment went the Captain offered the medical supplies, a fant smile came to her face " thank you sir" she put away her sword for the moment to take the supplies, she then started to patch herself up as much as she could

Crystal gave a small smile when the Mare thanked her and then replied softly, “Of course, it wasn’t pleasant but we have her now and that’s what matters the most.”

When the others were mentioned the girl nodded, quiet for a moment as she wondered whether or not the worst was over.. She pulled herself out of it though and said, “Yeah, let’s get back to them so we can make sure they’re okay and get out of here.”

The Mare nodded again, it seem they were ready, even the little drone had come over. " then let us continue our quest " she said and started on her way, she did take a glance over her shoulder and thought// we will need to investigate this further but at the same time it could be a risk...// she would speak to her comrade about the evil ritual place and want to do with it later.
For now the Mare led the way out of the circle of creepy mannequins and back out into the main store, there she could see Boreas and her comrade not far away and so she headed in their Direction

Once the two groups met, they both ensured each other's safety. Boreas added onto Crystal's work by freezing the bag Scarlett was in--then, due to how heavy it was, it was entrusted to the mare in her true form. They then regrouped with the last mare and the unconscious Jason, and the whole group cautiously left the wrecked clothing warehouse. Though, this time, it was through the emergency exit, which led out into a different street. Far up ahead, there was what looked like a huge pit in the middle of the asphalt.

...Jason was still unconscious, but tied up, just in case.

There was still an unsettling presence in the air, then again this part of the city was under attack and yet there was no sign of monsters present but it was clear that something /had / been there and not to long ago.

A giant hole was burned into the ground, it had swallowing the most the road across and part of one of the sidewalks, the edges still hisss and pop with the residue of acid...

On the other side of the hole was evidence of some form of resistance or struggle, some dark looking ice still lingering, but that wasn't all, claw marks in the shade of a human hand was dug into the remaining part of the road, smeared blood followed it over to were the claw marks stopped and a pool of blood stood.
Edgar flew over to were the hole was and let out a whistle indicating that it was very big, The hole seem to have connected to the sewers and who knows were they all went...

" I have a bad feeling about what happened here " one of the Mares mumbled.

The other Mare with Scarlett stayed in the middle of the group, last thing they needed was for something to help the blood sword.
The human Vaseterm was taken point, so far she didn't see any hostiles but that didn't mean they were not there. " keep your eyes open for anything "

Crystal felt partly relieved once the group got outside, but it didn’t last long when she saw what was ahead of them..

Upon seeing and getting closer to the large hole in the ground, the girl’s expression turned more and more concerned and fearful, especially when she saw the Ice, blood tails, and claw marks. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know what made the pit in the ground, but she did want to know who’s blood that was and, if it was a person, whether or not they were okay.

After taking in the sight before them, Crystal glanced around, looking for anything else that might be there, or an indication of who or what had been here before them..

Boreas had his own brief moment of relief once their team was on the move again and no one had sustained any very serious injuries. He was wary of any possible traps as they left and kept watch for anything that may try to come to Scarlett's aid as well.

The scene outside, however, was yet another strange sight. "Hm..." The icy Elemental mumbled, eyeing what was in front of them. He tried sensing what he could in the air... And found something that didn't sit well with him. He was sensing foreign magic that was more evil than anything he'd felt in a long time. He already knew there was some form of horrible evil in the city, but this was like they were walking from Senza straight into a dark world.

What he was sensing centered around the acid-induced pit, and the outside edge of it closest to them. It was enough to give even him the shivers. However, there was another form of magic he was sensing--coming from the ice. It was still dark, and criss-crossing with the extremely evil magic... But something was different about it. Even at a distance, he could tell there were two sides. It was bitterly cold, and yet there was a freshness to it. This also puzzled him.
Either way, the strength of what he could sense and the sizzling of the acid residue told Boreas one thing for certain:

"...Everyone stay alert--this was recent."

The Vanguard spread out in their formation, they were staying on high alert, it was obviously something bad went down here.

The Vanguard in her humanoid form could since the evil as well, she cautiously approach the hole but dared not to get to close to the edge in fear of touched the acid remnants. "Ughhh, whatever did this has a foul stench" she complain covering her mouth with her arm. The hole itself was large and it's very present felt like a black hole just waiting for someone to fall in it or to pull someone in...

She stepped away from it " best to let the others know about this as well..." she thinks outloud, they had been making frequent calls back and forth between the other Vanguard groups, keeping each other informed on traps, hot spots for enemies, Survivor locations and placed of interest like this place here.

The woman had been using smoke from her fire magic to detect any traps, it appeared that there wasn't any in this area so far, so she had let it get lighter for now until they move again.
After scanning the area and then checking with her teammates the Vaseterm then try to have a vision, her eyes glow silver but after she grimaced they faded back to normal, the Vanguard took her Palm rub her eyes because they stun " ugh... that was unfortunate... I figured as much, whatever happened here is being blocked, I couldn't see anything but odd shape and muffled noises, but I am guessing some kind of battle went on "

Edgar had his flashlight on and was doing his own investigation, he made booping and whistles when he spotted something of interest, which was anything from the big hole, Eiras ice, Crimson blood and claw marks and even an suspicious black feather.

He was taking samples of what he could for later studying, but his investigation was an over to were the blood and claw marks were... by the look, who ever this was appeared to had been dragged, he let out a worry boop sound, he wondered if the person got pulled into the hole... but looking at the scene a bit more brought up other possibilities, the ice! Maybe, maybe the ice was a wall? He let out a thoughtful whistle, it was odd that the claw marks did stop before making it to the hole so maybe... something picked the someone up? There was feathers, flying could explain why claws didn't go down, because maybe they went up? Edgar took one of his Limbs and put it to what can be assumed as his face as he made a deep grumbly noise tgar could be tooking as a 'HMMMMMM' but if this is were the claws ended how would they find were claws went? Tracking something that Flys was a lot harder then something on the ground... speaking of ground, Edgar noticed that the claw marks had come a way up head so he started to follow them, maybe finding were they started might give a clue in to what happened he thought.

(I'm gonna help out a bit with the other two mares!)

The two mares in their true forms stayed back and relatively close to each other for the time being. The one with Scarlett staying alert for any unexpected happenings, while the one with Jason on her back activated her radio with a simple flick of her ears. Then she stated their team name and location.

"We have encountered the remains of a recent ugly struggle..." She proceeded to describe what they were seeing.

"Roger that... All teams will be notified...
We have also dispatched a team to investigate the silence at the palace. No word yet." A responder from a nearby base reported back.

And the two continued to share information back and forth as the group advanced.