Lotus had been intrigued by the thought of magic. She stared at the flames the thought of manipulating the world with some simple words made her want to learn. As she began to comeback to reality of being trapped in a snowy forest, a man charged into the clearing and began shouting. Lotus slowly walked to Daniel.
"Is this why Alice wanted you so badly? Because of magic?" Lotus stood still as she did she began to shiver from the cold again.

Id finished her s'more before looking around at the wolves. Id snapped her fingers and began to wave them back and forth. Once she did Ego shot into the air and began to make a wall of smog between Idelia and the wolves. The wolves charged towards them.
"No no no. This is how you look and act like hellhounds." She snapped again. Once she did Ego ignited the smog causing a loud explosion. Id could feel parts of her clothes burn away as the heat hit her. the snow around them melted. And finally she heard the echo. She jumped to her feet "YES! YES! YES! Ego that one was AWESOME!" Ego chirped and landed on her shoulder. Id walked over to one of the wolves that was on fire and began to roast a marshmallow on it. Taking it off the stick and making a s'more. She ate half and gave the rest to the bird "Singed fur adds some extra favor." She reached for another marshmallow, When she did she noticed movement. "Good I was starting to think that'd been to easy." She swiftly kicked the wolf in the face with all her strength before running in the other direction. She snapped an held her arm out as the phoenix took flight. "Ego I got the ground, I need movement so watch the skies." Ego let out a loud screech before rising into the air above Id watching all directions to alert her of danger.

Daniel frowned as Lotus began to shiver. He gave her his coat jacket as they walked through the forest, following Basil. "I think so. That's what Phora seemed to be angry about."

"Stuck in limbo with all our nightmares huh?" Aside from the chilling temperature, there was a mild amount of fear discernible in his voice, not that anyone could hear it. The normally reassuring presence of their two more skilled and powerful companions was set aside for the uninspiring realization that they were probably surrounded and even worse, separated. He had no idea what malevolent entities were actually around as he kept turning, searching for his comrades and for more sinister beings. The only group in sight was that of Alice and the others but as he took a step in their direction, he was alerted by certain sounds.

Something like chains rattled in the area, and though less clear, it certainly sounded like a pack of vicious creatures were around as well. From the same relative area though, some shouting went on, evidently there was atleast some reunion over there. This left his gaze toward the direction that the metallic sounds originated from where he then found himself walking to. Everything about this screamed bad idea, yet he continued. With luck, he'd find the others again later.

The scene that entered visual range where he was luckily out of Fiona's view left him dumbfounded, it was very upsetting yet mostly shocking that his innocent ball partner had been possessed. He wouldn't be able to help Tsubaki and Derrek standing in shock however, thus he gathered his thoughts and focused, rendering himself invisible to the human eye, and stalking the possessed girl.

Lotus began to rethink the thought of magic. Being able to do great things but at the cost of possibly being hunted didn't really sound fun to her. She thankfully accepted the jacket. It was to small for her but it was warmth. She followed Daniel and Basil. While trudging through the snow she realized that Daniel was really trying to make things work between him and Lotus. She began to appreciate the small jacket more.
Lotus knew that Daniel was probably freezing like she had been. She began to think long and hard about when she fused with Dot. How did it feel and such thoughts that she had at the time. As she kept thinking she mindlessly followed Basil and Daniel.

Daniel kept walking, watching Lotus. "I think she was mainly angry about this thing called the Ether." He said. "I absorbed it into my body, and it fueled my spells way more efficiently than the regular magic energy I used. But she called it 'taint' and immediately attacked me because of it. Still, magic is wonderful, and we have ways to practice it in secret. If you let me teach you, together we could show her that she's wrong about magic." He grinned. "With your swordplay enhanced by magic, You could probably bring her down."

Grayson slightly turned his head towards Lloyd. As soon as he got the thumbs up, or in this case nod of approval, he took off ahead, but still in their line of sight, with Lloyd following along. How would Lloyd explain their sudden disappearance when they somehow managed to get back? He hoped that since apparently this was because of magic it would somehow be easier to explain. Of course that was too optimistic. He then took off along with the rest and decided not to sweat the small stuff while they were in God knows here.

Someone of trust... "Uh-oh, I didn't mean to anger you." Johnathan pathetically tried to calm her down, fearful it might already be too late. This was vastly contrasted with the fact that he was arming himself with Arx in preparation for something that could prove dangerous. He attempted to change the subject. "I don't recall seeing you around until now. How did you get here? And why?" His voice was rising in competition of the surrounding sounds.

Logan scratched his head, debating his next course of action. From where he stood, he could see a source of light nearby, but he could also hear animalistic sounds coming from the same direction. The light source itself flickered as a fire would, and fire likely meant people. However, he might find himself in trouble if it had been abandoned. Or if it was a random forest fire. Or if it was something else entirely. Before he could come to a conclusion, however, his decision was made for him as a large blast emanated from nearby, followed by excited shouting. Glad to not be stuck in this place alone, Logan immediately forgot his qualms and made for the origin of the sounds.

Upon entering a small clearing, the Scot spied a figure disappear into the trees, as well as a group of creatures lying on the ground. The beasts' already skeletal appearance had been worsened considerably by the explosion, and small flames still lapped at what was left of their fur. Some of the creatures still stirred, but Logan ignored them in favor of following the figure.

"Hey, wait up!" He shouted as he gave chase.

Maximilian instinctively rose to his feet just as the presence of the ghostly being became detectable.

Why is something here, especially now of all times?

Without really thinking Maximilian turned and exited from Miss Rachel's office at a running pace. From there he crossed the hall and headed through the club room and down the stairs into the s****, but just as he was about to storm into the common area in the s**** Maximilian paused and pressed his body against the stairway wall. Quietly the boy lowered himself into a crouched stance and tried to remain hidden as he listened to what was going on just ahead of him.

"Uh-oh, I didn't mean to anger you."

That voice... it's familiar Maximilian was aware that it was Johnathan who was speaking, he was just having trouble putting a name to the face in his head.

Let's see where this is going before I try anything. Maximilian was hesitant to intervene. He didn't want to make the situation worse and at the moment it didn't seem as if Johnathan was in terrible danger.

The appearance of Phora caused everything to suddenly cease moving. Floating objects clattered back to the ground, and an eerie silence quickly fell upon the room as Johnny looked up at the ghost. Shaking her head and wiping her glasses with the edge of her sleeves, Monica floated down from where she had risen, landing silently on the ground.

"Phora," said the ghost her eyes glistening as she remembered her former life, and then she realized she had probably frightened the boy whom she had been talking to just moments before.

"Oh, I'm sorry," replied Monica "I wasn't angry" she paused as she collected her thoughts in an effort to explain herself "I was...mourning? confused? I'm not entirely sure, quite frankly." She crossed her legs as she began to hover in the air, and rubbed her glasses once more, clearly it was a habit she had continued even after her death, "It's actually quite interesting," she said with a much more animated composure "As a ghost, I have access to various places. I can technically go anywhere in the spirit parallel of the mortal world. However, it is more difficult to manifest myself in places that I have never been before, or places that do not want me there. Tonight, I felt drawn to the s****, where I have spent many years training and designing a golem with my colleague, which is how I found you."

"You have a very peculiar energy signature, I now understand what all those Spiritorum were talking about with auras and energies. They are all around us, and within us, and to the Spiritorum, who are almost ghosts, they shine like beacons of lights. The inquisitive nature from my...former life, drew me to your energy. You're an astonishing specimen." She looked around suddenly becoming aware of something "But why are you here by yourself?" Ignoring the fairy that was accustomed to do as it willed.

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OOC: For future reference, 12 hellhounds all killed in one post should not happen, unless I specifically mention it's a free-for-all slaughter fest. Awesome post though!

Idelia could hear Logan calling out from behind her as he caught up with the girl, her phoenix flying slightly above the trees. It was odd, for as far as the bird could see, they were in the middle of a very very dense forest that seemed to have no end. Behind the pair however, the sound of growls and paws running through snow could be heard as more of the frigid hounds took chase of their meals. If either of them were to look behind themselves as they ran, they would see the glowing blue eyes of the wolves as they approached. By the looks of it, there seemed to be about six in pursuit.

"Diddle dee, diddle dum, looks like we found the weakest ones," said Fiona with a multi-layered voice. She prowled about them with robotic movements as her legs were jerked about, as though they were being pulled by strings, "This one cannot stay awake, and that one from a line a so great." She added mockingly. Fiona raised her arm and a long strand of chains rose in the air before she slammed it into the ground destroying the chair. "Now it's time we played a game, let your flesh obey these chains!" She thrust her palm towards the two and a series of chains made their way towards Tsubaki and Derrek.

Evelyn, Adi, Li and Alice stood at one end of the clearing when Basil, Daniel and Lotus pushed their way through the trees at the other end of the clearing, while Lloyd and Grayson had appeared through another section of trees in the same clearing. As each group looked at each other, a very sharp tension could be felt growing.

"Alice" said Basil nonchalantly "I realize you don't like me, and to be honest, I don't like you," He lit another cigarette "Look, there's only one way we're getting out of here; we have to work together."

Alice was shocked. "What the hell makes you think I don't like you?!" She shouted. "We're the only two fourth years left! We always got along! You and I... I thought we were going to get so close..." Her eyes began to tear up, unaware that her subordinates were watching. "W-why did you abandon me? It's been so hard without your help... C-carter, he..." She dried her face on her sleeve and saw Daniel. "W-what...? Why are you with that mage?"

Daniel practically shrunk when Alice's gaze fell upon her, and he took Lotus's hand.

Phora, still peeved at being ignored, used magic to store the files, and unsummoned herself, figuring she should get back to Alice's side.

Mostly on reaction, the bead of thin glass few from Tsubaki's slingshot. Hopefully it would be too small to worry about blocking or dodging, not that the tiny amount of holy water it contained would do much, except let her gauge how effective a large amount might be. Of course, it would only matter if she saw it land AND could somehow get a large amount assuming it did anything, which might be a bit of a problem what with her next action. Yes, immediately after firing she reached out to draw Arx, but quickly turned 90 degrees to draw another sigil. While no doubt Arx could grant her a little more time to think of something, against all logic she turned her mind to trying to help the hapless Derrek the only way she knew how, given less than a second to think- doing something stupid.

"Vis, lend me your force!" The inward facing sigil did as instructed and launched it's master at Derrek, hopefully knocking them both out of the way of this attack.

OoC: Whether Tsubaki does a nifty spin and flies face-first because fantasy narrative/skillz, or gets launched butt first like logic dictates, I'll leave up to the imagination of the reader.

"That's that then." Maximilian let out soft breath as he rose to his feet and headed back up the stairs into the club room. The ghost's interjection had left Maximilian in quite an odd position, on one hand he still intended to break into more offices and read more about this school's history and his classmates, but on the other hand Phora's earlier nagging pertaining to some 'important event' at the ball still had him feeling a bit uneasy about not attending.

"Forget about it." He quickly decided to write off Phora's calling again. "They're fine, and anway, she's none of my business."

Putting the ghost disturbance behind him and his worries to bed once more, Maximilian headed back to Rachel's office one final time to put everything in her office back in place before he returned to his room for the night.

The sight of Fiona's chains spurred Damian to reach into his pocket as he dashed into the fray, quickly infusing his glass bauble with jolts of energy, enough to hopefully render her chains weightless. He gave no thought as to whether it would be effective, instead reacting to Tsubaki crashing into Derrek, by scurrying in front of the momentarily defenseless pair, his invisibility fading, eyes on the chains and Fiona.

OOC: I apologize, I forgot how the orb looked...

"The Ball is today, but that's not my type of scene to be in. So I came down here," Johnathan gestured to the environment around them, "I was hoping to train so what happened to Carter doesn't happen to me again, or any one else."

Johnathan stopped for a moment. If she knew about his soul not being pure, he might as well tell her everything that was abnormal about him. "I can also create these orbs." He held out a hand and it stood before them, the ball of energy pulsing with light and dark energy swirling about in a never ending pattern. Colors of blue and purple continuously danced around the pure white. It was the forever reminder of his soul, partly destroyed by the event that occured all those days ago. "I can also engrain them with my sigils, and they will have different effects based on them. No else knows about this, perhaps besides Rachel"

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Lloyd sighed, hoping this didn't ruin anything. He shuffled closer to Alice and put a hand on her shoulder, in an attempt to comfort her. He didn't know who Carter was, but it apparently shook a great majority of people in this group. "I know there is a lot to discuss, but I think we should focus on getting all of us out of here. Once we're somewhere safe then we can iron out any issues that may have came about." While he spoke to the group, Grayson gracefully danced around the crowd above them, clearly getting antsy.

Lloyd's touch snapped Alice out of it, however Phora didn't look too happy about it when she appeared with Sorbet. "HEY!" The pixie shouted. "HANDS OFF MY WOMAN!"

Alice disregarded Phora and gave Lloyd a quick smile, but it quickly turned to a stern glare. "You don't understand." She said. "Destroying magic users is what I do. I can't let him escape."

She summonned her sword and looked at Lloyd, expecting him to do the same.