The sky was a deep and shimmering navy blue, scattered with the light from a thousand pin-pointed stars and the pale disc of the full moon to rule over them all. It was quiet, and serene, and calm in these late evening hours. A majority of humans had fallen asleep a while back, leaving only the night-creatures to ponder at the beauty of the sky. It was the evenings in which time seemed to freeze - without the business of daytime life, the silence that blanketed the world seemed to inhibit all motion and action. In the night-time, a moment could stretch forever. The moon held the power to keep everything still, and safe, until the sun rose again.

And all around the world, a small scattering of children opened their eyes. In their hearts, there was a yearning; an urge so overwhelming that it cancelled common sense, dismissed doubt and brought the children to their destination. They knew they had to go outside. They didn't understand why, they didn't think of how their parents would react, but they knew they needed to do this alone.

The moon lit the path down forests, through fields and across streets as the children followed an irresistible tugging towards wherever it was they were headed. Fear and thought was irrelevant - mice scurried away from them and owls hooted in acknowledgement of their presence but the sights of the night were largely ignored, as each of the children reached a separate tunnel. The look of the tunnels would vary from country to country, most of them are nigh-overgrown with weeds and ivy and vines. The only similarity between them all was the small, worn-down statue of a peaceful creature, clasping both stumpy hands in each other in front of its large stomach. The tunnel stretches on into the darkness and without the guiding light of the moon, the exit was not yet visible. However, the tugging at their hearts lead the children through the dark without too much fear or panic.

Waiting for them was a small rowing boat without oars or sails, but instead a small and faintly glowing barrier around the edges to prevent anyone falling - or jumping - out of the small boat. This barrier opened enough to allow the child inside, and then the boat would drift, by itself, to the next tunnel and admit another passenger.
After everyone was on-board, the boat turned smoothly and started floating away from the tunnels, leaving them only as dark specks in the distance. The dazed state of urges would slowly dissipate from each child, but by the time they regained thought and control of their own bodies, it was too late. Trapped on a small boat with a few other children in the middle of nowhere, and their only exit had just slipped out of sight.

They were alone.

Daniels eyes snapped open and silently he climbed out of bed, unlocked the door and left his house with no dismay. He pushed past the garden without a glance to where the twins lived and headed down the street. There weren't any cars though this didn't strike him as strange as he was in a residential area. No-one had woken up to stop him but at that moment he didn't even care. He broke the urban border and walked tirelessly through fields of tall grass. Little tried to stop him, though he doubted any of the animals cared more than getting woken up. He hopped over the fence and walked mindlessly through a forest, animals scuttered around him, darting away from where he walked, nervous about his presence. Soon he saw a tall structure. A blue wall with cracking paint, chipping away and tall strips of ivy growing up it, a dim light shone on the stones in front of it, dimmed by the ivy that entangled it. Beneath the hanging light an arched tunnel stretched open infront of him. Without so much as slowing down he pushed through it.

Daniel ran his hands along the walls, feeling the cracks and the webs that littered it. The stone path was cracked and littered with pebbles and on the walls lights hung off of chains, lighting a small part of the path to ease the strain he put on his eyes to see. Every now and again his feet brushed some moss which made his sore feet hurt less. After a few minutes of walking he noticed a small gap in the tunnel. The end of the tunnel, despite the saying, showed no light, or less than what was around him and he noticed, as he broke free of the confined walls of the tunnel, that the light above the arched tunnel had been smashed. Glass sprinkled the path to both sides of him but the more he looked the more he noticed it was as if it was pushed there or swept over. This didn't bother him much though. He pushed onwards and shortly heard the light brushing of water against the land and saw an empty boat. He was the first on it seemed. He sat in it and allowed it to take him away, picking up the rest of the children afterwards.

Daniel looked around, he'd only just noticed he forgot his dearest items, his headphones and Iphone. This came to him first and sudden realization flowered through his body as he noticed he was on a boat with a handful of children. His first instinct was to laugh nervously as he assessed what even caused him to get him here. He couldn't fathom how he got here, that seemed the only sane question to ask right now. He noticed he was the first to regain his senses and examined the boat, to his dismay it appeared fine and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Though that being said he wondered if everyone on the boat could even swim...

An icy wind cut through Daniel's thin pyjama vest and trousers and he realised how cold it was, he tugged on it and attempted to distract himself by playing with the water however it was also freezing and he withdrew his hand quickly. He pulled his knees into his chest and sighed, staring at the floor of the boat. He kicked out his legs and ignored the others on the boat and flopped back. The silence that stretched out after that bothered him so he spoke up "Does anyone know where we're going?" he asked but didn't expect much of an answer any ways.

A cool nights breeze wafted gently through a single window, curtains ruffling lightly against the flowing air. The nights moon shone in the sky, its light glinting softly against a glass sat upon a night stand. Covers on the bed beside stirred and Mae rose slowly, eyes opening half way as she turned towards the window blinking slowly. She sat on the edge of her bed staring out to the calm night sky for a few moments before finally rising. Without so much of a thought or consideration she swept up a track jacket from beside her bed, slipping it over her sleep-wear before pulling a messenger bag from her bed post and slinging it over her shoulder as if purely by habit.

In the next moments the girl sat upon her windowsill, turned and had a small drop from the window of her first floor apartment to the ground below. With bare feet only slightly obscured by the gray flannel pants she wore the girl started forward, her eyes cast to the ground merely watching each step she made. The city streets were quiet as she strolled down the street in her daze with only the light of street lamps and the soft glow of the full moon lighting the way. Each step brought her forward with idle thoughts rising in her mind only to flit away the next moment.

”What am I even doing...? Going where...? She'll be worried if I'm gone...” Before she knew it the girls hazy walk had brought her off the paved and maintained streets to a tunnel sitting against a line of abandoned train tracks. Looking back tentatively trees and foliage lined the sides for as long as she could see. Turning back to the tunnel itself, tall trees stood with branches overhanging the area, their leaves obscuring the moonlight from above. A faint breath left her lips and she continued forward once again through the dark expanse of the tunnel with only the faint feeling of gravel against her feet leading the way.

How far she walked, long or short she could not tell. Eventually, however she arrived at her apparent destination. The tunnel opened to a lone wooden pier which she came to stand at the edge of. In mere moments a small row boat came into view, seemingly unmanned yet drifting to the pier all the same. As it stopped she noticed a single passenger, a boy already sat upon the boat. Mae lingered for a moment before stepping into the boat herself, sitting at the opposite end from the boy and averting her eyes as they boat went on to acquire its following passengers.

When the passengers were finally gathered the fog over her mind slowly began to lift. She blinked slowly a few times, leaning her head against her palm before her eyes finally opened wide. Her gaze darted between each of the children that had gathered, then off the edge of the boat to the endless expanse of sea that surrounded them. She inhaled sharply, the air slipping through her teeth making a slight hiss as she went to stand abruptly but quickly sitting in the next moment as the boat began to rock. When one of the others spoke up, the boy who had arrived first her eyes drifted towards him, then down to the bag hung over her shoulders. Now surrounded by strangers on the tiny boat Mae grit her teeth a bit, hands clutching the strap of her bag.

Blake Hawthorne’s eyes suddenly became aware, having been woken from his deep slumber by this… yearning he couldn't even begin to describe. Throwing his duvet off his body, Blake silently got out of his bed, placed his cap upon his head, placed his jacket over his pyjamas, and slung his satchel’s strap over his shoulder. If anything it was pure habit, absent thought already. Just like how he now silently opened his window and swung himself around before grabbing the vines growing up the side of his house and climbing down carefully.

Blake’s feet felt cold upon touching the now wet grass surrounding his house. Yet, it didn't matter at all, because this irresistible tugging towards his beloved forest grew stronger and stronger, drawing him inside underneath its leafy boughs almost blocking out the moonlight. Every now and again his feet struck the odd rock, or worst, his face came into contact with a freshly woven spider web, but it all didn't matter the slightest. All that mattered was the pleasing of this urge…

Hours… Minutes… Seconds… He couldn't tell how long it took him, but eventually he found his way to this tunnel. It smelt right weird down there, for reasons he couldn't tell, and it was certainly dark, having the ability to conceal all types of foul and nasty things. However, it wasn't this that caused him to pause in front of the tunnel, but the small worn-down statue of a peaceful creature, clasping both stumpy hands in each other in front of its large stomach. It looked certainly odd, and it certainly didn't belong in his beloved forest.

Shrugging his shoulders, and urged on by the night owl’s hooting, he entered the darkness of the tunnel. It wasn't long before he came out the other end, the darkness giving away to the moonlight once again. However, it wasn't just more forest on the other side…

Blake blinked his eyes upon seeing the boat. It looked study enough, capable of holding several more passengers than the two it already held, a boy and girl roughly around his age. Gingerly stepping onto the boat, casting a backward glance towards the tunnel, he sat himself down at the middle, wary of both children already present while the boat moved along to its next destination.

Blake's eyes never left the floor, not even to look at the landscape around them. Such is the curse of shyness he thought to himself while doing up the zip to his jacket. When Daniel spoke, Blake merely shook his head, hugging his arms around his chest for warmth and to provide a… mental barrier between himself and the other children. I wish Victoria was here… he silently thought to himself, because at least he knew her as the boat continued along its path.

"Tori? Tori, what are you doing?"

A voice wafted sleepily from the top of the stairs; Tori stopped her mad scramble down the steps suddenly, nearly sliding down into a tumble from the inertia. She gripped the banister and shot a look up the stairs; the light of the moon flowed untouched down the wall. "Um," she called back to her brother, who was probably lazily yelling from his bedroom doorframe, as usual. "I'm thirsty," she finished unconvincingly, then proceeded to leap down the rest of the steps and dash out the front door as quickly as possible. As she ran, and ran, and ran, she thought she heard her brother yawn behind her with a quiet, "okay," and that was the last she heard from him.

All alone in the quiet of night, the girl ran down the pavement of their subdivision, her socks nearly causing her to slip and fall flat on her face every time she made a sharp turn. Where was she going? She wasn't sure, but the neighborhood was so quiet at night. It was kind of weird, but she wasn't scared. She couldn't be scared, even if she tried, despite the circumstances. Tori didn't really stop to think about it, but if the question was about how she felt, then, at that moment, she definitely felt a certain strange thrill, like...like...like she was running into a forest without her parents or her brother with her, and she didn't know where she was going, but she felt like it would be amazing, magical, like she was going to see something she'd never seen before...

...Wait, how long had this forest been here?

Tori didn't remember there being a forest in her neighborhood, but now she was in one for some reason, and her legs were carrying her deeper and deeper, until she reached a tunnel guarded by a statue she didn't even look at. She ran straight through the tunnel, waving moss and lichens out of her face with both hands and plowing straight out as quickly as possible, and nearly crashing straight into the boat waiting for her. She skidded to another abrupt stop, and she paused in front of the little craft, giving it a short glance that could hardly be called hesitation before leaping straight in with the other three passengers.

The small boat carried the children farther and farther into the dark waters, the night illuminating its journey like a romantic old painting. Tori blinked as the floated onwards, and then everything just hit her--She had run out of her house without saying goodbye and had jumped into a boat with a bunch of strangers without knowing why. Wow, that was weird! She must have been dreaming, so might as well make the best of it!

Tori turned to one of the boys as he spoke. She looked at him up and down; he looked like he was a bit older than her, almost as old as her brother, and just as carefree, it looked like. Tori smiled at him and swung her legs under her in an attempt to keep out the cold that she found was suddenly seeping into her thin nightdress. "I don't know!" she chirped at him, a probable figment of her imagination. "But I don't think we should worry so much about it. My name is Tori. What's yours?"

The world came to her all at once.

It hadn't occurred to Morgan; the leaving the mansion in the wee hours of the morning, the sneaking out... Her mind had gone blank. There had been no draw, just... something telling her to simply be here. Now as the paper lanterns illuminated the space around her, with her back to a romantic view of an almost Japanese-like landscape, her gaze turned curious, panicked, and utterly confused. After she looked around quickly, she soon discovered that she was indeed not alone. A few other children stood nearby, whom she turned to with her arms akimbo.

"Okay!" She nearly shouted, her eyebrows furrowed into an unamused downward arrow. "What's the big idea?!" Her tone was, rightly so, accusatory. She suspected foul play but her childish mind did not comprehend that no child could have swayed her from her bed. Not that she minded being led into an open world, in fact she was itching to explore this pretty boat, but there was no way she'd let these other children think she was to be messed with. No way.

"The big idea," said a voice just behind Morgan, "is none of your concern."

The voice had no emphasis, no emotion or feeling to it. It was almost robotic in its emptiness and held nothing but information, passed on in the form of words. Just as suddenly as it was said, the body that followed the voice appeared onto the deck of the small rowing boat. He was tall, with an indeterminable age. His long black hair was tied into a neat ponytail behind him and his features were almost reptilian, with dark green eyes that, like his voice, were blank. His face, however, was showing a look of hostility - of disgust - towards the children. He wore an odd, traditional-looking Japanese outfit made of silk. "Follow me. Do not wander off. If you do, you're liable to getting killed." he said idly, tossing out the 'death' part with a little more volume to his voice, just to make sure everyone heard him right.

Just as he gave out the order, a bright light appeared on the horizon.



It was some sort of grand, brightly-lit palace in the dark. The golden glow pierced the night sky like a large firefly, decorated ornately with red walls and traditional looking screens. Fairy lights were scattered around the trees, and a single lantern shone brightly on the top of the tower just behind the castle-like building. A large bridge arched into view, leading towards a bank. There was another boat also headed to this building, an it was monstrously huge; Like a cruise ship, covered in paper lanterns. The people inside were difficult to make out from this distance, but perhaps the denizens of the boat caused the reptilian man concern, as he flicked his wrist and the boat lurched forward at a much faster pace.

The reptilian man turned back to the children. This time, however, he crouched down so he was eye level with all of them. His voice carried that adult-like urgency, something that would instinctively put most children on edge. "Listen to me carefully, humans. You must follow me, and stay close to me. The things inside of that bathhouse won't hurt you, but soon there will be guests-" the reptilian man waved an arm to the massive boat they were overtaking, "-and they WILL kill you. You will refer to me as Master Yoru. Do not ask me any questions, because I refuse to answer them. Do not say a word when you're in the bathhouse, and avoid eye-contact with the workers. And again, stay close."

There was a jarring thud as the boat scraped into the bank. The barrier disappeared suddenly, allowing the children to step off of the boat. Master Yoru went first, before holding a hand out to help the children out. Should they accept his helping hand, he'd flinch a little, as if he was picking up something revolting, but help the children out all the same. The water, now a pitch black in colour due to the darkness, was ominous enough without anyone falling into it.

Yoru strode forward with purpose, not really giving the children time to catch up with him. Every so often, however, he'd pause a little so that the children can catch up with his larger strides across the bridge. Despite all of his hostility, it seems he really did want them to stay as close as possible...on the other hand, however, he deemed it appropriate to only glance disdainfully over her shoulder at the dawdling kids before walking on.

Once the group passed the curtains, a scene of chaos unravelled before them. Man were running about in white cloth robes, almost like a uniform, carrying brooms and cloths and sometimes massive plates of food that looked too delicious to be real. Upon closer inspection, these chubby men ere almost toad-like in appearance, with pencil moustaches and wide-spaced eyes, and very large mouths. Just as suddenly as a closer inspection has occurred, it might be revealed to the sharper children that they really ARE frog-people, some of them looking more toad-like than the others. Along with them were a group of ladies in pink uniforms, scrubbing the floors, wiping the poles, carrying buckets of soapy water to and fro. The din was awful. Everyone was yelling at each other to either help them or get out of the way. A team of chubby girls with very small tufts for eyebrows giggled at their own joke, wearing ornate-looking robes that were ever-so-slightly low-cut for them.

Silence fell as soon as the children stepped in. A hundred pairs of eyes stared at them as the workflow paused. Toad-like faces gaped, the girls stopped laughing, the uniformed ladies stood there with cloths dripping water onto the floor...and then Yoru spoke out, his voice ringing in the sudden silence. "The first one to say 'Human' gets the Big Tub. Now get back to work." he yelled, breaking the spell over the workers. Reluctantly, the toad-things went rushing away again, but the buzz of conversation hung in the air like angry wasps. Clearly the arrival of the children was expected, but not so suddenly. "With me," ordered Master Yoru.


He strode past the reception desk and it became apparent how huge this place was. Bamboo screens separated each area with small bath mats upon the entrances, revealing what appears to be large bath-tubs. The walls were painted with stylized renditions of trees. Above all of them, were row upon row of small screened-off rooms, some of which were producing very strange shadows from behind them. Paper lanterns decorated these 'upper' floors,and the room itself was brightly lit and huge. Everything about it screamed opulence and Japanese culture. Of course, there would be barely any time to take all of this in, as they went straight for a lift. "Everybody in," called master Yoru. Once everyone was crammed into the lift, he pulled the lever right up to the top floor and the lift trundled away.

There was nothing but a stony silence from Master Yoru. After a while, he decided to perhaps say something. "This place is a bath-house. Things come here to get washed and bathed. Once we reach the top floor, take off your socks and shoes if you have them, and leave them in the elevator. Lady Katashi is waiting for you. Do not be rude, else she will punish you severely."

There was a pause, a silence in which the children could talk for several minutes. Then the door opened up to another floor - if any of them thought that the first floor was fancy, then it was nothing compared to the upper regions of the bathhouse. The room was just about as huge as the first floor, but covered with massive golden pillars, gems sparkling in the walls, paintings and patterns all over the walls and floor and lamps. There was a plush red carpet under their feet, and two huge doors lay before them - closed - with a single golden knocker on the left side beside the handle. Master Yoru made sure everyone had taken off their shoes and socks, peered hopelessly at Blake's filthy feet, and rushed them outside of the lift. The lift doors shut behind them and the lever to call to lift clicked as it jammed in place, keeping the children on the top floor. The doors stood ominously before them, but they didn't have to go in just yet, they still had time to talk to each other.

Mae's gaze rose at the entrance of another voice, one which certainly could not have belonged to any of the band of children that had inexplicably gathered on the tiny boat. Her eyes narrowed as she looked over the strangely formed man, her grip clutching the strap of her bag. Something about him was irksome, liking an aging teacher who had long since lost their patience for the job. Before his statements could sink in the girls attention was drawn away by the lights appearing off in the distance.

The girl winced a bit as she looked to the light, her eyes having been adjusted to the night time darkness. She blinked a few times, and the sight remained. With the building in the distance growing ever closer a sinking feeling began to rise in the girl stomach which was only made worse by their own boat suddenly speeding up. When the man leaned down to speak to the group again she shifted back a bit, turning her sight off the side of the boat where it remained the rest of the trip, stubbornly determined to ignore her surroundings.

When the boat came to a stop she shuddered a bit, an arm slipping off the edge of the boat when the barrier faded away. Mae didn’t bother waiting for any instruction to depart the boat before jumping out, taking solace, even if brief in once again having her feet planted on solid ground. Reluctantly she would follow when the odd man began forward, maintaining a distance between herself and the others as she did so. It was either forward into the building or back into the seemingly endless expanse of water, it was obvious which was preferable, even if by a small margin.

Upon entering and being assaulted by the noisy scene of the strange looking workers hustling to and fro the girl drew in a sharp breath, both hands now clutched to her bag, her eyes narrowed to a sharp grimace. It was just as surprising as the noise how quickly silence fell over the hurried room when the group of kids entered the room. Even as they were hurried forward once more, Mae could not help but steal glances at the strange workers as they moved to the elevator lift.

Her head was already spinning from the strange hurried events that were now taking place, every little bit of information ending up in a headache enduing lump. In the welcome moments of silence Mae slipped her hands into her bag, pulling a familiar notepad and pen from inside. She quickly flipped the cover over and to a blank page, jotting something down just as hastily. She then made a quick grab for the sleeve of Yoru's outfit just before thrusting an arm out through the cramped lift, the page of her note pad she had written on presented forward. The strokes of her writing on the page were slightly shaky but still legible enough to be easily read, penned in a bold black ink on the thick paper. ”I never agreed to this. Take me home.” The message read, the first sentence on its own line with the second positioned directly below, both lines underlined twice for emphasis. After a few moments to be sure it was read she dropped her arms to her sides, fists clenched defiantly and glaring daggers through the lift.

Surprised by the sudden appearance of the man in the boat, Tori jumped back on her seat, causing the boat to rock violently for a moment before sliding back into stability with surprising speed. He looked something like a fantasy supervillain, or maybe a murderer. In any case, Tori disliked him almost instantly; his harsh tone of voice only sealed her opinion of him. She was about to yell at him for showing up without any warning at all and cutting off their introductions before they had even started, but she was caught off-guard by his strict way of speaking. Yeah, just caught off-guard. Not scared. Definitely not scared.

Tori shrunk back in place indignantly, eyes downcast but legs swinging as quickly as ever.

The boat floated on, and Tori urged it with her mind to go faster, until at last their small band of misfits arrived at what looked like a luxurious Asian palace, like what Tori saw on TV. Despite the bloated dark presence of the weird crocodile man in the boat with them, Tori just had to lean over the edge and stare at the place with eyes as wide as saucers. Just when she thought the dream was becoming a nightmare, it went back to being something otherworldly and awe-inspiring. Tori let a grin back onto her face, and she watched as the palace came ever closer.

As they approached the new sight, Tori's fire of excitement was slowly diminished once more by the man's cold instructions. Suddenly she didn't feel as enthusiastic. Something about the man's tone of voice just sounded like a natural needle that popped helium balloons. Still, Tori knew better than to disobey him; her parents had always taught her to respect her elders. As she climbed out of the boat, she wondered if that rule applied to strange crocodile guys who had weird names like "Master Yoru." Were the kids being kidnapped? Master Yoru hadn't done anything bad to them, though, aside from yelling at them in a really unpleasant way. Tori decided to follow him for now, and maybe kick him in a bad place and run away later if he really was a kidnapper. That's what you do when you get kidnapped, right?

Heart beating quickly, Tori skipped along, having no problem keeping up, but not wanting to stay too close to Yoru, either. As she walked, she looked behind her shoulder at one of the girls who was standing farther off from the group; Tori didn't want her to feel left out, so she tried to meet her eyes and wave at her before turning back to the head of the party.

Entering the bathhouse was like an explosion. Amazed by the sudden burst of activity, Tori almost ran ahead and stared around at everyone crowding up the place, but quickly remembered Master Croc Villain's orders and shot her head down. She thought she'd seen giant frogs and ladies who might have looked a bit strange; she wasn't sure, but none of them sounded happy now. Tori could almost feel them glaring; she pulled her lips tight and tried to focus on the wooden planks on the ground.

She wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed when Yoru got fixed the quiet and hurried them into some kind of elevator. She wanted to explore and meet all the creatures in the building, but maybe that wouldn't be so nice if they didn't like her, and that seemed pretty probable. Maybe she could look around later, if the dream let her.

In any case, Tori didn't regret getting into the lift, as the second floor was breathtaking, a giant work of art. Hastily, the girl rolled down her socks and tugged them off, then proceeded to spare a few seconds childishly running around in small circles on the carpet; it was soft and tickled her toes, just as good carpets are supposed to do. She grinned down at her bare feet before looking around at everyone, ignoring Yoru's constantly oppressive aura, and opening her mouth to say something in a quick "Th--" before remembering, once more, Yoru's orders to "not say a word." Frustrated, Tori resorted to letting out a long cross between a wheeze and a random animal impression and drawing shapes with her toes, trying to meet everyone's gazes to see if they were as hyped as she was.

Daniel perked at the voice, he glanced around and stared at the reptile-like man in interest he'd reach out to touch him but decided that a bad idea. As soon as the order 'Follow me' passed him he almost laughed giddily at the idea of getting off the boat which, looking at it now, made him feel a sickly gurgle in his stomach. He turned away and flinched as soon as "death" was mentioned. This holiday of sorts was a poor one at best Definitely one star or less... he thought angrily, though distracted by the light that came into sight.

He stared at the tall building. Was that there before or did he only notice this now? It felt impossible to have not known its existence, which was so bold and bright that the thought of it felt wrong. He attempted to imagine this place as home but imagining the tall bright building on his street made him sick, he stopped. Once the glare of lights had dimmed and his eyes adjusted he noticed the style of the building. It looked traditional and formal and he scowled. Whatever twisted dream he was experiencing he refused to change the way he acts for this silly palace of a building. He glanced over his shoulder and stared at the boat, his mouth hung open comically and as the boat lurched forward he fell back and gripped the wood tightly. He hung himself over the edge of the boat and stared at the water but as soon as he heard the voice he sat up quickly.

Daniel listened intensely to the instructions as the thought of a "game over" in a dream made him sick. He thought it weird at being addressed as "human" which implied the man talking was not though that was clear that he was certainly not human. He stared awe-struck at the man and muttered "Master Yoru" under his breath to make it stick in his memory. He was about to open his mouth to ask a question but was rudely cut off by his instruction to -not- ask any questions. He slunk back down into his seat, slouching. He got thrown forward as the boat came to a halt and he stood quickly, being rather tall he bends over the head of the person in front to counter balance the in coming fall but managed to avoid slamming into whoever was ahead of him. As Master Yoru extended his hand out for Daniel he stared at it then at the water then takes it, as soon as his bare feet touch the floor his pulled his hand quickly. Equally disgusted at the frog-man.

Daniel hurried into the centre of the group and flashed a smile at Tori as she'd answered him however he'd not gotten a chance to reply to her. He seemed to keep up decently with him already being pretty tall and had larger strides anyways. At one time when Yoru had glared at the group he flashed a mischievous grin and poked his tongue out mockingly however this was to lighten up his own mood and possibly the dead-quiet children around him. Children... he thought That's all they are he frowned pitifully at the younger children then glared ahead though now he was tensed, ready to leap and protect them from the 'guests' that threatened to hurt them.

He adjusted to the inside after the wall of noise hit him and stared at a few people who ran by, their frog-like appearance didn't surprise him but he certainly did think it strange that almost all resembled frog-like status. The foods however did. Somehow he'd thought they wouldn't eat real food and near-expected fried flies or something ridiculous. He stared at the working women thinking their work was near too hard however the grime that was to their sides looked like all the work was needed. He shuddered and then glanced to the ornate-dressed chubby women, he noticed their ever-so-slightly low-cut outfits then averted his eyes. The idea of frog-women with dot-eyebrows did not appeal to him and he gagged to himself.

Daniel stopped at the silence and then hurried to the group again and stared at the people challengingly then he put an arm in front of the nearest younger child defensively. He watched as everyone returned to work as soon as the "big tub" was mentioned and shrugged. As long as they weren't bothering him or -anyone else- in his small group he hardly minded. He hurried closer to the frog-man glancing around protectively and glaring at anyone who dared meet his eye, though as soon as they looked away he shuddered. He'd thought the palace looked big from the outside but if the TARDIS was the size of a planet inside then this must have been a galaxy. He watched as they'd passed the baths, intrigued as the pink-clad women worked. He watched as water flooded into one tub and a herbal smell filled his nose. Unfamiliar with herbal scents he just recognises this as planty smell.

Daniel waited until everyone else was inside the lift until he got in himself, stretching his arms out across the children protectively whilst glaring challengingly at the frog-man's pony-tail throughout the time the lift trudged upwards. Whether his acts of protection was going noticed he didn't know nor did he care. He would continue until he knew they were safe. He listened to the instructions and, despite his mischievous attitude, he decided he did -NOT- want to get punished severely. He stepped outside the lift and stared at the children, though he was near the same age and opened his mouth as if to say something then glared at Frog-man. His orders stuck in his mind and Daniel didn't -FEEL- like getting murdered today so he kept his mouth shut. He still remained tense though and glanced around for any sense of danger.

Morgan was steaming mad as she and the other children waited in front of the ornate passage for this Hag 'Lady Katashi' to ask them in. On her way in she had continuously shot venomous looks to Yoru-ahem-MASTER Yoru. The thought he had demanded they address him with such an honorific was enough to leave a bad taste in her mouth. In fact she'd been so concentrated on scowling and sticking her tongue out at Master Yorus backside that she hadn't taken care to notice the differences of the spirits from normal humans. She could see them from the corner of her eyes, naturally, but only the shape of their bodies more than their frog-esque features.

Why, even when Yoru had stopped and told the spirits not to say 'human,' or whatever, Morgan had only glared at Yoru with her nose wrinkled in snide distaste. She heard the words alright, but the meaning of them didn't register. The fact that they were surrounded by spirits, who apparently had their own ditaste of humans, was something she had caught but the fact had not sunk in. To make matters worse, the snobbish prick Yoru made them take off their shoes. What, did he think this was Japan? Yeah, it was pretty but it was no fancier than her dadddys house. (Of course it was, but Morgan could only focus on her arrogance.) When she was the last of the children to kick off her expensive and extremely comfortable shoes, Morgan walked without even so much as looking at Yoru. Her small arms folded, her brow furrowed and half stomping her way to the other children.

She simply had to share her childish frustration. Without taking much time to pick whom she would talk to, and without much care as to who would hear, she spoke in a hiss to the girl with the notepad.

"Man, what a dick!" She knew most kids didn't speak the way she did, but when she was among friends their language always took an unnecessary turn for the inappropriate phrases. With a huff and a sigh in relief that she could finally let out the steam, she only turned her head now to grumble under her breathe. "Now I'll never get my shoes back..."

She blinked then, as though realizing for the first time that there were kids her age here. She turned to the girl with the notepade and extended her hand out, showing off a toothy grin. "I'm Morgan. What's your name?"

Blake’s eyes widened upon hearing the man’s voice, having believed himself and the children to be the only passengers on board. Before he could react, Tori jumping to the back of the boat rocked it violently, causing Blake to fall off his seat and smack his head against the wooden floorboards. I suppose one good thing can come from this… he thought to himself, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. If I was dreaming, I would have clearly woken up by now! “What is up with the--” were the only words he got out before quickly shutting his mouth upon seeing the hostility and disgust in the man’s face. Instead, he quickly picked himself back up and sat on his previous seat, averting his gaze from the man and the children for the duration of the trip. Death certainly didn’t sound appealing to him or, he imagined, to the other children. Who did he think he was anyway?!

Yet that train of thought instantly vanished in seconds upon seeing the bright light on the horizon. Drawn like a moth to a flame, Blake’s eyes shined with childlike curiosity at the castle-like building. It’s the stuff of fairy tales… was the first thought to his mind as they approached the castle-like building. Father and Mother would never believe this if they heard about it from me! Blake’s excitement was short lived, however, upon catching sight of the man turning his attention at him and the other children. Gulping, Blake forced himself to look at the man, nodding his head up and down quickly to assure the man he was listening. His mischievous side urged to disobey, yet he knew it wasn’t the time, and grudgingly accepted his rules as he got out the boat.

Although, Blake could have never prepare himself for what was inside, and, he expected, did the other children… It was nothing short of chaos, men, who were actually frog- people where running around in white cloth robes, each carrying various assortments in their hands. Woman, meanwhile, where wearing pink cloth robes, and appeared to be cleaning the building. If it weren’t for the yelling, maybe he could make heads or tells of the situation. Instead, Blake decided not to think too much on it, shuffling uneasily upon having so many eyes focused upon him and the others. It certainly didn't make him feel better they were shouted at, because they were the ones to blame in the end, and something didn’t quite feel right about it…

Upon hearing Master Yoru’s instruction, he decided to instantly obey, wanting to get as far away from here as possible. Trudging his dirty feet behind him, Blake looked everywhere accept at the workers, and marvelled in the size of the place. Culture? Blake couldn't tell, it was all so… foreign… to him, he just didn't understand anything. It wasn’t long after this he got into the lift with the other children, standing in silence as the lift ascended. Lady Katashi… he thought to himself. I wonder if she is more cheery than this stranger. Looking down at his feet absent minded, Blake only then noticed he forgot his boots at home, and that his feet were absolutely filthy with mud… Mud which he had been trudging through the room the women were cleaning. Oops. It’s here he found out that Master Yoru was peering down hopelessly at his feet.

Blake innocently folded his hands behind his back, putting on his best smile as he stepped out the lift, before quickly averting his gaze from him. “I hope I don’t get punished severely for this…” he muttered under his breath, taking in the fantastic architecture and workmanship of the room. “It’s beautiful…” he said out aloud, clear enough for all to hear.

Before the Children were left alone...

Yoru stared down at Mae. He doesn't even deem the notepad with an answer, remaining as silent as the girl herself...but the look on his face, in his eyes. Those cold eyes were narrowed into green glittering slits which showed no mercy. No empathy at all, just darkness. He was, however, surveying Tori with a look of mild interest. It seemed some of the children still thought they were dreaming? And he knew about the oldest boy...the white-haired one. He knew of his protective streak, it was shining out like a massive beacon. Hardly surprising, there had to be at least one. And then there was the stubborn girl.

Yoru took Morgan's shoes ever-so-carefully along with the others, glancing over the children one more time before the lift closed. He didn't care for them at all, but was worried about what they would do to Lady Katashi...still, he had his orders. There were other things that needed attending to. Moments before, moments before the lift closed completely. Literally seconds away from the doors shutting, anyone who was staring at the crack in the door closely might have thought they saw something. And it might've been a trick of the light, but for a moment it almost looked like Master Yoru wasn't really...human, almost ever-so-slightly different in appearance. But the doors shut too quickly to take notice of it.

Back to the present...

The massive doors opened up with a loud creak, revealing a lavish office. The room itself was huge - almost too big for the bathhouse itself. It must take up an entire floor. The rugs there were so carefully looked after that they were almost completely brand new, not a single thread out of place. To the children's left, a huge fireplace, made with a bright white marble mantle decorated with all kinds of exotic ornaments. The fire itself was crackling and purring in the background to the rhythmic clicking of rock against rock, coming from the shrouded front desk. Right through the middle of the room were thin, translucent lilac drapes, which distorted the other end - which, in hindsight ,was a good thing considering what lay just behind it.

"Well...?" croaked a voice. "Are you just going to stand there gaping, or are you going to come - IN!"

Upon the snappish "In!", the poor children were dragged in by their waists by an invisible force, leaving almighty carpet burns on their heels as a faint reminder of the incident. Nothing could be explained away now - that was almost certainly magic. The massive doors behind them slammed shut with a resounding crash, and the drapes flicked open. A pair of bright blue eyes peered out from the darkness, hardened by greed, reflecting the piles and piles of gold that surrounded them.

Upon the threshold bore Third Witch Katashi of the Bathhouse of the Third Witch.


She certainly was something. Without the large, overbearing head-size she looked almost normal, was it not for the slightly inhuman look that all of the denizens of this bathhouse bore. Her hair was thick and reminiscent of a massive mop, tied into a sleep bun. The robes, a deep pinkish hue, glimmered with the reflection of the mountains of gold she was carefully counting. Her wrinkles were so deep and pained that she looked as if her had been folded tightly by the passing of time. But even now, there was something very...dangerous about her, perhaps the little arrogant smirk playing on her lips. She was beyond intimidating, and she knew that she was.

"Hello, dearies." she crooned, in a raspy voice. "Do you know why you are here? Do you want to ask me anything before we begin?"

Mae grit her teeth together in irritation at the entirely unemotional Yoru. If he hadn’t made a hasty retreat she would have been likely to slug the frog man right in the ribs. Her nerves already distinctly on edge she couldn’t help but give the girl that spoke to her a somewhat disdainful look, particularly at the quip about her shoes. There were definitely bigger problems than shoes at the moment, and besides, some of them didn’t even have shoes in the first place.

Finally the girl gave a heavy sigh a bit after the next question that came. Positioning her notepad in the crook of her arm she flipped to a new page and wrote quickly again, holding the pad up to see, the message simply reading ”Its Mae.”. As she presented the notepad her eyes went to the girls outstretched hand, her free hand clutching lightly as if a bit uneasy. After another moment of lingering she lowered her pad and slipped her pen into a pocket, extending her own hand and gripping the other girls lightly to return the gesture.

She lingered for a few moments once again before bringing her hand back, returning it to the strap of her bag she often held onto. The girl soon found herself looking idly around the room the children had been left in, abandoned in the foreign environment by the so called Master Yoru. She couldn’t help but groan, running a hand through her hair. Though her groan would come more as a choppy wheeze due to her defective vocal cords. The situation was all too surreal for her liking, making her unsure of what was real or if this was all some annoying fever dream.

However she did not have much time to ponder the strange events before the huge doors in the distance opened, their creaking hinges drawing her attention quickly. The girl stared down the hall towards the lavish decorations, as if the exterior and the bathhouse below was not flashy enough, this area was even more so. She flinched a bit when she heard the voice call down for the children, her eyes suddenly widening as they were yanked forward into the room by an unseen force. Mae stumbled a bit when she came to a stop, the heels of her feet aching from friction.

Mae narrowed her eyes slightly, her mouth a bit ajar as she looked upon the old crone sitting before them. This woman fit the look of the classic old witches from fairy tales to a tee, her voice even sounded the part. It made her shiver a bit unconsciously, the entire scene was just too uncanny to take. Still, the old witch posed a question, one which made her hope she would at least be more personable than Yoru. She took a breath to calm her nerves before beginning to write once more, taking a few steps forward and holding her notepad up between two hands when she finished.

”What is all this? Is this some elaborate prank or something? I'd just like to go home.” The message read, positioned on three separate lines over the page. Despite her nerves and frustration with the entire scene she tried to put on a pleasant face, one which was frankly uncharacteristic when compared to her normal sharp eyed irritated grimace. But she did at least have more respect for the elderly than she did for her peers, and the strangeness of the entire series of events was one which certainly threw her off enough to behave a bit oddly.

In the silence of the room, someone's awed remark rang out: "It's beautiful..." Tori turned to the source of the voice, found it to be one of the boys who'd been shrinking back in the shadows until now (and had filthy feet, to note), and nodded in agreement, though she wasn't sure if he'd seen. Wait, he said something. Didn't Yoru say not to say anything? Did that still apply? Maybe she should keep quiet just in case?

Just as Tori felt like she was going to burst from silence and indecisiveness, the two grand doors before them opened wide, revealing a homey room with a fireplace and drapes, except the fireplace was made of glowing marble and the drapes were of excellent quality silk. So maybe it had this awkward feeling of a cross between homey-ness and extravagance.

Tori had just finished scanning over the room with her eyes when an old woman's voice creaked from somewhere behind the drapes, from a shadow the girl hadn't noticed before; startled, Tori took a step back but was swiftly retrieved with some sort of nice invisible wind that made the carpet suddenly feel not so soft anymore. She yelped rather ungracefully as she was dragged forcefully across the material to stand right in front of the drapes at the moment of the big revelation--

Before all of the children now sat a scary old with with a ginormous head and even bigger piles of gold around her. She looked like she could kill little children by glancing at them, and suddenly Tori didn't feel so excited or energized. For once she stood very, very still, staring wide-eyed at the oddity before her. If this had been any other dream, she might have walked up to the witch and told her how ugly and ancient she looked, but this time something about the crone before her kept her lips sealed. Tori swiftly decided that she liked this lady even less than Master Yoru, and that except for the nice building, this dream was horrible. If she could, she'd like to wake up now, but it wasn't working, so she decided to stay still (with much effort), answer the witch's question with a squeaky, "no," and wait for something to happen, or an opportunity to run out of the room and use the flying powers she usually had in dreams to glide out the window swiftly (hopefully the latter).

Morgan had been about to say something to Mae, mostly to question her inability of speech, when the voice that could only belong to a crone among crones beckoned to them. With a quizzical glance at the open doors, the tug of her body drew her into the space; taking away the freedom of really understanding her surroundings. She yelped as she and the other children were brought into the room. She struggled to dig her heels into the lush carpets and fight the force which held her like she would once hold her rag dolls as a toddler. It was due to her struggling to resist this tug that when the children and her came to a sudden stop, she was launched forward.

Morgan tumbled over the carpet, bonking herself in the head. Grumbling, she sat up and rubbed her sore cranium only to bear witness to what had to be the most ugly woman she had ever seen in her entire life. Looking from where she sat on the rug, her face contorted into a mixture of disgust and disdain. Yuck. What kind of hag had wrinkles like that? Not to mention the unflattering lighting bouncing between the piles of gold in her eccentric and tacky decorations and onto her face. The Crone really was despicable in looks and Morgan had the slightest urge to giggle at her attempt at makeup application; clearly her desire to cover up her own demonicly impassioned face had been thwarted in a sad attempt to put on as much make-up as humanly possible. It was only made worse when the hag opened her mouth to ask them a question.

"Do you know why you are here? Do you want to ask me anything before we begin?" The hag croaked.

"Yeah!" Morgan exclaimed, bolting upright. She promptly rushed in front of all the children and balled her tiny fists, ready to fight. Her face was a bit red, but she'd seen her favorite anime characters battle crones worse than this before. She had to be brave, maybe she could take down this clear fiend and escape with the other kids. Though her childish mind did not comprehend her capability to actually defend, nor actually want to; she merely sought the glory of destroying the hag and helping the kids. "We're not going to 'BEGIN' anything! You're going to let us go home right now, you damn HAG!"

Blake smiled shyly at the girl, wringing his hands together nervously. It was the first time any of the children acknowledged his existence, and he didn't quite know how to react. Instead, Blake quickly averted his gaze and marvelled in the craftsmanship and workmanship of the upper regions of the bathhouse. I wonder what we are doing here... he thought absent minded. He couldn't help but feel something ominous was about to happen. I mean, why were they taking away from their homes? Wouldn't their parents worry about them? Wouldn't the police be out looking for them the first thing in the morning? All these types of questions were running through his mind constantly, and it's why he wasn't... well... aware that the doors were opening, despite the rather loud creaking noise.

Blake nearly jumped out of his skin upon hearing the snappish "IN" command, putting up his hands in front of him defensively. It proved to be a rather poor attempt at defensive, of course, because he, along with the other children, were dragged inside the office. With his dirty heels being dragged across the carpet, leaving a lot more mud in his wake, Blake watched helplessly as he was unceremoniously dragged towards the drapes. I wonder what is behind those-- he started thinking, only to have himself left speechless in the revealing act.

"You are the Lady Katashi?!" Blake blurted out, quickly putting his hand over his mouth after realizing what he done. With his face turning bright red, Blake instantly looked down at the floor, scared and embarrassed. Lady Katashi didn't look like a lady you wanted against you, in some way, she reminded him of his late teacher. While she didn't have the oversized head like this lady did, she did have that 'witch' look to her, making her appear far more scary than she already was. Shuffling nervously, Blake quietly slipped to the back of the group, deciding that the further away from Lady Katashi the better.

Blake couldn't, however, resist the urge to put up his hand. "Lady Katashi? When can we go home?" he asked sheepishly, his voice shaking. Fidgeting nervously under her stare, Blake patiently waited for an answer. Some part of him told him he just had to know, just had to find out.

Daniel watched Yoru walk around near Mae and Tori and took a step towards them watching Yoru carefully until he walked all the way to the elevator. He stepped back to the centre of the room and examined the area around him. Time stretched and what was probably a few seconds felt like minutes and minutes felt like hours. He'd ruffled his hair and run a hand through it and, despite the lengthy feeling of time, the door that opened felt like it was opened too early. The door, he'd noticed, looks old and the handles appeared as if they'd not been touched for a long time with a thin layer of dust settled on them. The idea of anyone being in that room was unthinkable, laughable, even, however, Daniel did not find this an appropriate time to crack a joke.

He was partially right, the handles had not been touched, probably, since they'd been made, he marvelled as the doors opened themselves. However this short moment of awe was shattered as he'd ignored the croaking voice and suddenly, as if a rope had been wrapped around him, he got pulled inside. In a desperate attempt to slow down he slammed his feet into the carpet/rug, he couldn't lift his feet up, however, as he would fall. Nearing the end of his journey he couldn't take the heat or the pain so he lifted his feet only to find his "flight" cut short by gravity, which came to force when the pull inside had stopped abruptly and he fell to the floor, landing on his chest.

He was too busy pulling himself to his feet as everyone else looked around the room. He soon got to the front of the group, standing between them and the old witch that, somehow, reminded him of a teacher. As soon as he felt he was defending the younger children enough he marvelled at the room. He traced the line of the designs on the rug, and looked at the shined dark wooden desk with the carvings on the outer side. He only noticed the gold when the witch ran her hands through it, making a harsh, metallic sound which snapped him back to reality.

"Hello, Dearies." "Do you know why you are here? Do you want to ask me anything before we begin?"

Daniel stepped forward. He most certainly DID want to ask a question, well more a command, really. WELL more a threat, really "You dare lay a single, wrinkly finger, OR let -anyone else- in this... Bathhouse hurt anyone here and I will do my best to... To repel customers and therefore cutting off your income!" Somehow that insult / threat felt weak and he doubted it would have any effect but what's said is said and he could not take it back now.

Lady Katashi bridled at Daniel and Morgan's comments. "Rude children," she breathed as the air itself thickened with tension, "deserve to be punished." The room itself darkened, windows slamming and clattering, books and gems and jewels clattering and making an ungodly noise as Katashi's robes fluttered angrily in what must be a gale that's flowing right through the children, not affecting them in the slightest. Not yet, anyways. "Do you know what happens to naughty children?" teases Katashi, drawing her hand across in a swipe as a loud zipping noise occurs, sealing Morgan's lips together with the swipe. "I'm kidding, don't answer me, let me show you."

And then she turned Daniel into a pig.

The transformation was so swift and sudden that it might've taken a while to comprehend what really went on. Daniel fell to his knees, his clothes stretching rather dangerously, as his arms and legs turned into stubby legs and trotters. A tail poked out of his hanging trousers, his white hair sitting rather nastily on the top of his head like a furry patch of mould. Katashi cackled with laughter, waving her arm around, causing the poor boy to run around in circles squealing madly. It may have been the scariest thing to witness thus far, watching poor Daniel panic in his new body for the best part of five minutes.

Katashi let the poor beast be, releasing her invisible grip on Daniel's porkish form. Slowly, he reverted back to normal on the ground, panting as his clothes once more fitted him, but were considerably baggier than they started off as. The witch returned her cold glare on the other children, the ghost of a smirk playing on her lips as she savoured their expressions.

"But, good children get their questions answered." added Katashi, ignoring Daniel completely as she returned her attention to Mae. "The silent one, I have to admit, is my favourite. Children are to be seen, not heard." she sneered, standing up and waddling in front of her desk.

Lady Katashi waved an arm, and a myriad of large, translucent humanoid...things came into view. They appeared to be just projections, staring blankly into the space in front of them. "Spirits," explained Katashi. "These things are spirits. I am a spirit, as is everyone who resides in this world. You, all of you, are spirits too."

"I separated you from your body and brought you here to my bathhouse, for one simple reason; profit!" cheerily exclaimed Katashi, clapping her hands together. The spirits held out both hands, each having a handful of translucent gold in their palms. "In another Bathhouse far away from here, business has increased a fair bit due to the fact a little human girl, around your age, helped for around two days. Two days, and they're famous! The gold is just pouring in, everyone wants to go to the Bathhouse where the human was."

"I have to outdo them. You wouldn't understand, dearies, you're far too young to comprehend why this, hehe, 'damn hag'..." Katashi trailed off, staring at Morgan, unable to hide the amused grin on her face. "...Why she took you away from your parents to work at a Bathhouse? You don't have to understand that at all. But you do need to understand this."

Katashi looked at Blake this time. "You can all go home, as soon as you sign this contract. Just a bit of paper, really. Just put your names down and you'll be able to go back home and live in peace until you die a normal death. Trust me, it's nothing serious."

Five sheets of paper fluttered from the desk, each with an ink quill dripping with ink that never seemed to stain the carpet, and words started to form. The only down-side to this is that they appear to have been written in a type of Japanese lost to time, archaic and ancient, some characters not even looking like a Japanese word in the slightest. The quills quivered with anticipation of being picked up, the names signed on the dotted line below using them.

"Like I said," sighed Katashi wearily. "If you sign those contracts, you're free to go. If you don't? I'll turn you all into pigs. Because I forgot to mention a little something..."

"...Human souls are considered really, really tasty if they're turned into a pig or a cow or a chicken, here in this world. Some spirits pay a lot of gold to get their hands on some."

When Morgans lips were zipped, her eyes flew to the eyes of saucers and she struggled to pull them apart. Though, when the boy was turned into a pig... that sent her into a stiff mode indeed. All her previous 'valor' gone and long forgotten, her shoulders began to shake and tears formed into her eyes. Her forced silence allowed her to hear the rest of the words of the hag. Rather than glare, the shocked little girl quivered. Spirits... Spirits? Why...

Tears welled behind her eyes in fear, but when the witch offered the contract, she practically leapt up first; grabbing the itching quill in midair and writing her full name on the dotted line. The paper practically tore beneath the ferocity of her writing.. and she considered how she spelled it in a half clumsy, half graceful motion. M-O-R-G-A-N. Most people bitched about their names, but Morgan had always liked hers. Morganna~ is how her mother liked to address her. Her friends would sometimes tease her, calling her the Morgue; seeing she was pale as a cadaver... and though these thoughts ran through her mind, she did not consider how precious a name truly was. Nor would she again, not for a long time.