Haunted 8: Moonlight Jac placed the glass oval stone in the center of the hollow. Just being near this cursed snag made the hair on her skin crawl uncontrollably; the rancorous aura still oozed strong, but had dwindled greatly thanks to the fresh cinders that continued to flare up between the crevices of the wood. With no further delay, the young woman stepped back and stood just a few feet away from the tree, as her three friends watched on from a distance. "You can do it Jac!" Jillian said, "I believe in you!" Richard and Aiden shared in her sentiment. Jac took one more look at them with a quaint smile. She then took a deep breath, sat upon the earth, and began to concentrate. She mentally called for The Witch of the Dawn to assist her with the final spell. The glowing butterfly manifested itself within the confines of the jewel, and with its arrival a voice as vibrant as sunshine echoed in Jac's mind. "You must repeat this incantation exactly the way I tell it, and you mustn't stop until I deem it safe to do so. Now, are you ready?" Jac affirmed her commitment and vowed to do whatever it takes. And with that, the light of her eyes glowed a bright yellow momentarily, before she closed them shut and began her chant. The words were intangible to anyone including the one who spoke it aloud; the lyrics carried with it a divine meaning that felt like a reflection from a far distant past. Jac continuously looped the spell, and with every passing minute, the miasma that had been blown to the edge of the field had slowly parted. A strange sensation washed over Jac as time went on- she began to feel almost lighter than air. Nonetheless she carried on without ceasing, voicing the purification hymn until the voice in her head had come to a complete stop. When she finally opened her eyes, Jac found herself in a strange, misty forest. Everything that surrounded her, from the trees off the distance to the grass beneath her feet, were colored a dusty white. The only object that seemed as natural as she could discern was the full moon that lit up the night sky, its light being the one source able to cut through this thick blanket of fog. "W-Where am I...?" Jac gasped lightly. "I wish I knew..." Said a familiar voice from behind. Jac twirled her head back to find, as she had been expecting at this point, Aiden standing with his hand behind his neck. "Where's Richard and Jill?" Jac cried out. "I think we left them at the yard..." Aiden spoke in a dampened mood. "It's always something, isn't it..." "Yeah..." Jac raised an eyebrow. Even she was starting to grow suspicious about Aiden's sudden appearance basically everywhere that involved the supernatural. "I guess we have no choice but to look for a way out. Notice anything strange?" "Of course! Everything is..." "That's reassuring." Jac sighed. The two friends decided to walk down a path in hopes of finding something, anything, that could send them back. After trekking past the leafy groves in silence for some time, Jac decided that it was about time that she had a little talk. "Aiden, I..." Jac hesitated. She steeled herself before saying the next words. "I think you know more than you're letting on." "How so?" The shrunken Wile had a slight unevenness to his voice. "About ghosts and all kinds of weird stuff! You don't need to hide any of that from us, especially if you think it could help in any way. So tell me, is there anything else you know about all of this that you haven't told us yet?" "I, honestly... wish I had an answer to that." Aiden gave a deep, long sigh through his nose before he had the courage to continue. "It's not like I understand entirely what's going on, but I know that since a certain point in my life, I've been able to see and affect stuff that others can't. To me it's like the normal things you witness every day, so it surprises me... and sucks, when I find out that others don't... and are afraid of me for it." "...I'm sorry." "Don't sweat it okay? That's how it is when you're a Phoebe Wile." "Is that why Jillian...?" Aiden's demeanor changed when he heard her name, and he stopped walking momentarily was he took a deep breath. "I did something the other day that scared the living daylights out of her." "What the heck did you do?!" "I- -" Suddenly, a burst of wind left the two friends with a bitter chill. The two raced in search of shelter, using the moon as their guide. They eventually made their way towards the center of the forest, where they found rows of white stags that stood in an aligned circle. What they witnessed at that exact moment left Jac in a state of shock.. for the first time since this ordeal began, Jac was quivering throughout her entire skin. Near breathless, she finally spoke. "What the hell... is that?" Aiden meanwhile was cowering down on his knees. All the visions from those sleepless nights had manifested themselves in the form he saw before him- it was all of his worst nightmares come true. The Wile was desperately holding back the ferality that was screaming to claw its way out, although he was running on paper-thin restraint at this point. Before them was the titanic Portuguese man-of-war-like monster… the swarm of evil spirits that have merged to form a single entity, confined with strange otherworldly chains to the hollowed tree that the two friends were all too familiar with. And standing right in front of this catastrophe of a creature was The Witch of the Dawn, who was looking upon it with content in her eyes. Not even a moment later, Aiden felt a gut wrenching sensation in his body that caused him to wince even further. He then coughed up a strange, smoky blob that floated up like a magnet to fuse with the rest of the spirits. While helpless to do anything about their situation, the combined entity were seething with infernal rage. "Thank you for bringing me the last of the spirits," The witch said with a calm, gentle voice, "As well as for completing the task, Jac. No one else would have accomplished this so spectacularly. You are deserving of a gift worthy of a god." She turned back to the multi-eyed fiends and added. "It appears that there are only 107 of them left. One of them was completely eliminated from existence, or so I've heard. Which, I won't lie, makes my job easier." 'He was a natural born leader!' A female voice cried. 'When we get out of these chains, Phoebe,' shouted a male voice, 'mark our words, we will burn you to a crisp as you did so mercilessly to our comrade! We'll make sure you'll suffer!' "Oh pipe down, you ingrates." The Witch huffed. "You all will get what you want, so there's no need to complain." "Wait, WHAT?!" Aiden screeched. "W- What's going on?" Jac was quaking, "What are you talking about? What even is this place? And why is...?" "So many questions, Jac! But I suppose you of all people should know." The Witch walked up to the young woman and held a hand to her cheek. The witch spoke these next words with a sweet, almost motherly tone. "I will need a new body to complete my resurrection, but to do this I must have a powerful source of energy that would sustain me for a long time, as well as a sacrifice." She then extended an arm towards the collected evil spirits, as if showing off a grand display. "This demon will provide that energy source. They will get what they want in the end with an immortal host, but rest assured they will have no control over us. Their influential powers will be no more, for my divine essence will eventually eat away at them bit by bit. Poetic, don't you agree?” The foul spirits struggled against their chains wanting nothing more than to charge at the holy woman, but that was all they were really able to do. "And what is this... sacrifice?" Jac was near petrified. What she didn't realize was that her being frozen in place was not of her own doing, and without warning an unseen force slowly lifted the young woman into the air with a tight grip between her chest and neck. Jac's airway was obstructed and she struggled to utter a word, let alone breathe. All the while the witch looked at her with a blank, expressionless face. "JAAAAAC!!" Aiden rushed to her aid, but it was no use. In that very instance white tree roots exploded from the earth and latched onto the shrunken Wile giant, wrapping themselves like a snake's coils around his entire body. He let out an obscene, bone curling scream as he realized that he was reliving his prolific night terrors in real time. The tree roots drew him closer to the evil spirits, who wasted no time swallowing him whole into the massive blob of their gaseous form. "A...A...id... en..." Jac stuttered as hot streams of tears began to roll down her cheeks. "Don't worry..." The Witch remarked. "He'll just regenerate like his kind are known for. This makes him the perfect scapegoat. That lucky bastard." Try as she might, Jac's efforts to escape from her position were fruitless. Every lash, each jostle resulted in her body being squeezed tighter and tighter. And with this came a recollection- she went through this very same feeling that fateful night.. when the vengeful spirit in white rags covered her mouth. “I…It was you ... that night. You… processed me…” The witch was chuffed to finally be acknowledged. “Caught on at last.” She whispered. “You… lied to me…” “I did what I had to to free myself, and by ridding ourselves of the wicked spirits, I'd say I'm well beyond redeemed at this point!” As those very words were spoken, the 107 spirits all wailed in otherworldly fashion as they were slowly being vacuumed into the glass jewel that was still wrapped around Jac's neck. The Witch then approached her with a radiance that pierced through her mind. "The task is complete. As soon as you awaken, you will be immortal, for I will be reborn… as you." Jac's eyes shot open as she heard that statement, yet the witch tried to lessen the blow by wrapping her arms around her. Jac struggled ferociously, but this gentle hug has sealed her fate. "I'm sorry for keeping this from you before, but I knew you would object to it. Do not fret, I will let your soul have control over our body frequently. We shall take turns! I made a promise to the Bean that I wouldn't harm you, and I'll keep my word, especially after all you've done for me." Despite everything, Jac was able to gather as much strength as she could to shout as loud as possible, all while hyperventilating between words. "YOU... YOU USED ME!!" "Immortality is a blessing. You should be honored." "YOU USED ME!!" "I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me." "ENOUGH WITH THAT BULLSHIT!! YOU'RE NOT EVEN LISTENING!! YOU!...USED!...ME!!! YOU USED ALL OF US!!!" At that precise point in time a dazzling white light engulfed the two, completely overtaking the entire witch's domain in its wake. Reality was calling for their return together, and Jac was screaming to the top of her lungs all the while.Haunted 7: SpiritJac and Aiden thought that they would never return to this horrid place again. The haunted house loomed over the landscape like an imposing entity that would cast a shadow far greater than the forest itself. And there stood the darkest part of the shade: a single pitiful tree, its baneful branches appearing to beckon the two as they made their way ever closer. This time Jillian accompanied the duo as they entered this plot of land, and while he remained unseen, Richard was also on standby. Jac was not given much detail as to what went on during Aiden and Jill's meeting with the head of the scavenger hunt, but one thing was certain. The two had barely spoken to each other since then, and they tried their best to not address one another. Sensing the underlying tension in the air, Jac tried to lighten up the mood. "All I got to do is place the jewelry under the tree, say the magic words and be done with it. Simple as that!" "I... don't think it's going to be that easy Jac." Said Jillian. The elf woman's confidence was absent, and her voice was almost as small as if she were at her normal borrower-sized height. "You.. look like you've seen things..." Jac then placed her hands on her hips. "Okay, what happened?" Jillian slowly looked at Aiden before quickly ducking her eyes back to the human. "I don't really want to talk about it." "You can stay here and wait for us, you know." "I can't! Just, stand back and watch my best friend walk into a frying pan! Ghosts aren't my level of expertise, but if I can use my magic to provide some form of protection then, I'll go wherever you need to be." Meanwhile, Aiden was largely silent throughout, as once again the alarm bells inside his head had begun to ring all at once. His nerves were fighting to control his natural flight or fight instincts, which was starting to flare up immensely as the surrounding fog thickened. As the three were on the move, a strange unexplained pressure was beginning to weigh down on them. The more it seemed like they were advancing, no matter how long they took, they barely made any progress as the tree stayed firmly rooted in the same distance from their starting point. "This can't be real! It's like a mirage!" Jac complained. "The miasma is terrible here." Jillian uttered as she covered her nose and mouth with a sleeve. "What's that?" "It's like an extreme imbalance of negative energy. It can cause all kinds of problems if we stand in it for too long..." "You mean...you can see it too?" Aiden gulped. "Wha? No..? You can?" Jillian wariness peaked at that point. "Yeah.. It looks like a purplish smog that's covering the entire yard..." "Y-you're kidding!" Jac exclaimed. "No?" Said Aiden. "You mean you guys, can't...?" His voice grew to almost a whimper as he sensed the growing fear in Jillian's expression. "I'm not surprised anymore..." Jillian said flatly. "There are gaps in the smoke...maybe... I can direct you guys through the least concentrated areas of the stuff." Aiden was hesitating a bit, but his confidence grew with each word. "I don't know if it'll make a difference, but perhaps we can actually reach the tree that way." "So it's like a haunted maze?" Jac asked. "I guess..." "Then it's worth a shot..." Aiden led the way through the narrow gaps between the heavy plumes, the two women careful to retrace his every step. The path was winding and full of twists, yet sure enough, they were finally starting to make progress as they were closing in towards the hallowed bark. Little did they know, there were invisible eyes on all sides taking note of their every move, in particular those of the shrunken Wile. 'The Phoebe is becoming a nuisance' A female voice whispered. 'We warned him not to interfere,' uttered a male's, ‘now he must pay the price.' Just then, something within Aiden snapped and he began to let out a low, guttural sound. Which in turn caused Jillian to slink behind Jac. “Are you ok?!” Jac exclaimed. "They're already here." The Wile snarled. "Don't worry about me! Let's MOVE!! GO GO GO!!" Without further questioning, Jac and Jillian tried their best to keep up with Aiden as he raced the rest of the way through the maze. The closer they had gotten to the barren tree, the thicker the miasma became, and with it the apparitions that were chasing them had become more apparent. "Are those wisps?!" Jac yelled. "No! These must be the..." Jillian started as she fought back a strange burning sensation that had started to overwhelm her. Suddenly, the elf woman grew sickeningly faint and before long she withered back to her regular size of four inches. Jac caught Jill just before the latter was about to plummet to the ground. The human drew her closer, eyes widened from the outcome. "Oh my god, what happened? Say something!" "I... don't know." Jill replied weakly. "I'm sorry Jac..." It was during this exact moment when Jac realized that Jillian had been setting up a magical barrier around the group this entire time, which had now shattered due to this event. Without its protection the miasma was beginning to seep into their lungs, which increasingly made it that much more difficult for them to breathe. "We're almost there! Hang on!" Jac exclaimed as she covered her respiratory canal with as much clothing as she could. She gently placed the drained elf in her pocket as she continued to run after Aiden, with the restless wisp-like beings still in hot pursuit. The setback of inhaling corrupted smog had slowed down their advancement significantly however, which gave the foul spirits the chance to surround them in every direction. The apparitions dived and swarmed strategically around the three friends- a frenzied attempt to outmaneuver them that lasted more than several minutes, with each second exposed to the invisible poisonous fumes being enough to put a dent in their lifespans. Aiden fell over and was dogpiled relentlessly by more than a dozen of these fiends. At the same time Jac could feel the pressure intensifying… but in spite of everything that was trying it's damndest to hinder her, she remained mostly unfazed and was determined to push through it. "I'm not giving up! No matter what you try to do, you can't stop me!" Jac exclaimed as more of a means to psych herself up as she was being bombarded by the cold fireballs throughout her body. She then pulled out her knapsack and threw as much of the magic dust within as she could in the air, which in a flash ignited with an intense bluish-white blast. The sparks were enough to send the evil spirits aback momentarily, and while they were largely unaffected by its burn, they seemed to be blinded by the glow that was emitted. This was enough for Aiden to snap out of his cowering state as he quickly regained control with a swift fiery assault from his nails. The apparitions feared his onslaught, and immediately took off from him, but not before a couple of the wisps had become singed in the process. At the same time both he and Jac felt a sudden earth shake, which would then rumble profusely as the quakes drew nearer. Within minutes the silhouette of a giant cut through the thick smog, which brought everything to a stand still. "JAC!!" Richard bellowed. "Took you long enough! Where have you been!" Jac hollered. "You're here but... I can't see you!" The Wile giant tried desperately to peer his fingers through, but to no avail. "I recognized your magic and came as soon as I could..." "I don't understand Rich..." Jac replied with the first hint of concern in her voice that she had all day. "We must have gotten trapped in between worlds somehow..." Aiden said. “You're kidding…” The shrunken Wile took careful note of the fact that about thirty or so spirits had all gathered to face the new threat that was the other Wile giant, though they were unable to go past the point where the miasma cloud ends. He held his hands to his forehead, his eyes pinching intensely. "C'mon think! There's got to be a--" Suddenly, his panic settled when he saw the knapsack in Jac's hand. His focus then shifted back onto the miasma, and then to Richard. "You two are Linked, right?" Aiden spoke with purpose. "Can you combine your magic powers?" Jac grew hesitant. "We're still practicing that, but..." "Richard! You know a bit of wind magic right?" "Yeah, why?" Richard understandably had hesitation in his voice. "Use the spell to transfer your wind to Jac! And Jac, toss that powder of yours straight at the tree. If you can pull it off, you may be able to blow this miasma away!" "Will that work?!" Jac exclaimed. "I don't know! But it's better than nothing!!" With that declaration the two reluctantly complied. Jac took a deep breath and swiftly got in position for what would have been a few feet away from the Wile giant if they had been in the normal world. She then pulled out a good helping of the pixie dust and held it in her right hand. Concurrently Richard was swirling the air around him, as his magic was concentrated in the tips of his fingers. As soon as the unclean spirits realized what was transpiring, they charged wildly at Jac, but were cut off at every turn by an unusually focused Aiden who took full advantage of his ghost burning ability at maximum adrenaline. Richard chanted the spell, and within seconds a gust of wind blew from his outstretched arms. The miraculous power of the Link caused it to flow in front of Jac's hand, which in turn- despite being much weaker in comparison to her giant- began to stir the smog around her. Their breathing synchronized as did their heartbeat, and with that solid momentum Jac's timing was perfect as she aimed the magic powder directly at the tree, just as she called upon the ignition spell. A burst of hot wind carried the pixie dust into the hollowed bark, and upon impact the tree exploded in a sea of piping cinders that shined a brilliant blue. In an instant, the spirits fell, caught in the tempest that would also cause the smog to gradually dissipate. Jac was experiencing a tremendous amount of pressure to keep her arms upright so that the heavy breeze would keep going, but Aiden helped to lift one arm, and Jillian pitched in with a renewed commitment to regain her human height so she can hold the other. Within moments the miasma had blown to the far side of the empty field, and while the blaze had been blown out, the tree was starting to crumple under its own weight. And as the smoke cleared, the three friends had found themselves back in reality where night had since fallen, with Richard standing clearly right behind them. With warm hugs and a cheerful celebration, the worst of their troubles were seemingly behind them, and there was only one more task left to do.[SIML] Tiu's Story - Heat Abnormal (Luminous Mix)Hidden deep in the pockets just outside of the Oort's city limits, there lies a seemingly centuries-old, forgotten settlement. No living soul, Celestial or otherwise, would dare to step foot there - anyone with a functioning Somastone would quickly be choked by the darkness lingering in the atmosphere. Unbeknownst to the residents of the Oort, their city was not a brand-new marvel of technology and science as they'd been led to believe. Rather, it was built upon the graveyard of failed experiments, horrific accidents, and curses deeply rooted in the fabric of the Cosmos. Thus, it remains abandoned, without a soul to remember it ever existed. That is, until the Solar Unit finds a curious trail of rubble, in the midst of searching for a Star Shard with a resounding energy. Feeling a deep pit in their Somastones, the cadets hesitatingly stare upon the ruins. The Luminous flowing through their bodies overwhelmed them all with the instinct to turn away and never look back, even as they scramble and try to shake off the intense feelings of dread. They look to Earth and Mars, the only two whose Luminous is not fully developed and will not constrict them the same way it does the others. Though the site is covered with the dust of decaying Star Shards, there are still ephemera and lost collections buried under the rubble. As they enter and quietly shuffle through crumbled walls, Tiu takes over front from Mars and begins to search for anything - anything that pieces together the forgotten stories of those who came before the Oort. He dusts off an abandoned cassette tape, musing to Earth, "I doubt this thing even works. Maybe I'll take it home and see if I can fix it." To his surprise, the on-switch clicks and the cassette begins to softly rumble in his hands. "...No choice but to hear whatever it is they have to say, I guess," Earth replied. Tiu puts the cassette by his ear, and begins to realize this is a story all too familiar to him. That shadowy figure - the Ringmaster - had etched his existence into the minds of the superstitious, as if he was just a myth from old-time folklore. And yet, this wasn't just a legend passed down as a cautionary tale through the generations. There was so much more to the story than Tiu once believed. He listened on with a horrified face, as a drifter recited their recollection of the man who could harness the consuming void of a singularity.play_arrowtrophy