Orion stomped heavily as he walked with child-like enthusiasm. He enjoyed the crunch of permafrost and twig under boot. Orion liked the outdoors. He liked it in the same way he liked Buddhism. It was exotic. It held a majesty beyond the ken of his everyday existence. There was trancendental tranquility found within. He was pretty sure he was too accustomed to privilege to last long in either.

There had been a time when he had been quite accustomed to the wooded world, actually. Orion's grandfather's, his baba's, home was surrounded by New England wilderness. He and Orion would go hiking together. The old man had a vigor beyond his age. He showed Orion animal tracks in the snow, native carvings on ancient cliff faces. Once, he and Orion had gone ice fishing. He had dragged a six year younger Orion onto a frozen lake while it was still dark out. Orion remembered not caring for that chronological idiosyncrasy. He also remembered being fascinated by the ice. So thick that even clear as it was he couldn't see the water beneath. Baba told him there were lakes that had been frozen since before man had learned fire. That prehistoric life, unchanged in millennial, remained frozen in those lakes.

There had been a rough wooden shack at the center of the lake. Inside were the arcane accouterments of their activity. An augur, a spud, hammers, fishing poles and line, a wood stove. Baba had brought a hot plate, their fishing box, and a small electric generator. Orion had struggled with the cooler and a small tank of gas. His baba had worked a starter hole in the ice and made Orion start driving the augur into it. Even in those days, Orion had been too tall for his own good. He had spent nearly an hour and a half work the augur three turns into the ice, soaking the inside of his thermal underwear with sweat while baba has gathered firewood. Chuckling at how little progress Orion had made the old man had taken over the augur and finished cutting the hole in minutes. Orion had hated that. But he loved the sound the augur and ice made as it finally pierced the bottom. The grinding chips of ice hissed roughly as they sank into the liquid beneath them, the Augur giving a sucking pop as it's blades cleared the hole. Baba had lifted the Augur and ice plug from the hole, tasking Orion with skimminh out the rest of the slush while he got the fire going. Orion did as his baba asked, as he always did. Orion was never ashamed to admit how much he adored his grandfather.

Orion had finished skimming out all the ice and had lain at the edge for a moment, his face almost in the hole, staring down into the black, motionless water. He couldn't see any fish. He couldn't see anything. The hole in the ice, so perfectly spherical didn't seem to be over water at all. As Orion had stared at it he forgot it was water he was looking at. It felt like he was at the bottom of the world, but there was no magma, no heat, only ice. Orion was at the bottom of the world and as he looked down into the hole they had dug at the bottom of the world he stared into what lay beyond.

There was nothing at all.

*****

Orion was reminded of the fishing shack by the cabin. He didn't know why. They weren't much alike beyond walls made of wood. One was a crude utilitarian thing, fashioned from iron and dead lumber by the hands of men, in stark contrast to it's surroundings. The other nestled in the forests embrace, woven from the very trees that surrounded it. But it reminded him just the same. It was also whispering. The fishing shack hadn't done that.

Orion wandered into the abode with the rest of them, wiping his feet on the lip of the doorway. No one else had done that. Just seemed polite.

He admired the interior, listening absently to the others as they spoke. He listened more intently on the things they didn't say. The way their shadows curled. The electric hum of their hearts. Hadn't a clue what it meant. But it was a sure shod better than listening to the whispers coming out of the walls. Like someone with a throat full of glass trying to croak a dirty limerick in his ear.

He remembered seeing a pop sci article on living houses like this one. Said in a few decades time that's what all houses would look like. Bio-engineered, green, self-maintaining. He was pretty sure they hadn't counted on yokai magic to make that environmental capitalist dream a reality. Or maybe they did, Orion was starting to think all the conspiracy buff was a bit sharper than he'd ever given it credit for.

He perked up at something someone had said, his brain taking a moment to catch up with his surroundings. Daniel was wondering if anyone had thought to check upstairs. He must have been a detective in a former life.

Orion crossed over to the pile of music machines, picking up the guitar by the neck. He turned the acoustic carefully over in his hands.

"Well now, let's see," balancing the guitar affectedly on the table he he held one palm on the top, pressing the long, spidery fingers of his other hand against the strings, low on the body. He was more used to the bass, and only electric at that, but Orion had as decent a grasp on how to play that most ancient of folk icons as he had on the instrument now, curling his hand into a claw without as much flourish as he could manage --a not inconsiderable amound-- and plucked sharply at the strings.

Something not unlike the first few licks of a Tiger Rag sans pitch filled the small cabin. Orion played with his eyes closed, head shaking back and forth like a metronome. He stopped abruptly as he started and listened to the silence that flooded back, looking around at his erstwhile compatriots in breaking and entering.

"Well I don't hear any toe-tapping above us so I'd bet anyone else who is here actually isn't or is actually dead." He inflected his words like he wanted to be the Last DJ. Shrugging Orion dropped down onto one of the pillows, guitar in lap, fidgeting with the tuning until he was sure he'd fucked it all up and started plucking out a meandering little melody. Anything was better than listening to the whispers. Hecklers were the worst.

Kanoa glared at Jackson due to his outburst. She told him to try and contain himself, and he promised he would. Obviously promises didn't mean very much to him. She ignored him as he tried to explain himself, and turned to Mary. Mary's reaction to the interior of the house lit a match in her head, she forgot for a moment that not everyone was as nonchalant about the paranormal as she was. Apparently the burning vines in particular were fascinating to Mary, even getting a joyful squee out of her. She soon noticed that she was acting out of character, because she stood up and attempted to play off her whimsical persona by getting straight to business. "You want Jackson to guard the door? I don't see why not." She glanced over to the boy that looked as if he were cosplaying Rambo, who was quick to retort to her name calling.

He doth protest just a tad too much...

Kanoa tapped her chin as he asked why a Kitsune would kidnap a young boy. "There are a number of reasons, the main one being a source of life force. They can feed off of it, you see. Even still, the last known case of a hostile Kitsune was over fifty years ago, if I recall correctly." She said.

Danny meanwhile was busy trying to logically explain how any of this could work. Kanoa watched rather amused, wondering if she should tease him and say it was 'just magic.' There was an entire system of magic that explained how these things worked, but it would take a lecture to define all of it right now, and they had things to do.

"Up stairs huh." Kanoa glanced into the other room. "Don't worry about that, if there was anyone in here they would have made their presence known by now, if not from our spiritual aura, then from the noise we've made." As if on cue Orion began to fiddle with the guitar. Filling the cabin with notes that clouded her vision in colors. She blinked a few times, trying not to get a headache. "We probably shouldn't be going out of our way to make noise, however..." She walked up to him and took the guitar from his hands. "August, here." She handed the string instrument to the redhead, hoping she could sense anything from it.

Walking into the next room she was hit with a strong smell of grounded plants. The smell was familiar to her, as her family had a stock of various ingredients for use in casting spells. To her left she saw garden beds, where plants were growing straight out of the ground and kept in square plots by wood. In a corner of the room was a large black cast iron cauldron, the faint scent of what she assumed to be rabbit soup drifted from it. Near it was a table of living wood, on top of which were tools such as a mortar and pestle, as well as various solvents. In the other corner of the room were stone pots full of drinking water next to six wine barrels.

Kanoa walked up to the table and pinched a pile of powder between her fingers. "Odd... I don't know why a Kitsune would bother making potions, some of these ingredients are only good for magical purposes. A Kitsune should be able to use magic on their own..." Kanoa hummed in thought, and turned to the others. "Mary, could you take a look at some of these plants with me, I have a feeling you'd recognize them more easily than I would. August, Orion, Daniel, take a look around upstairs for anything noteworthy. Stay on your toes everyone, just in case this fox spirit does come back." She said to the group.

Maxwell understood on a basic level the whole concept of photosynthesis, though in truth he was no scientist and until recently he could have cared less one way or the other. Regardless of his own level of knowledge on the subject he could understand why the 'building' was fascinating to behold, especially to the more scientifically minded members of the group. It defied all logic of the 'normal'. Maxwell crossed over toward one the vines that illuminated the room and moved his hand over the 'flame' that glowed at the tip of each. The vine seemed to retract from his presence, the flame dimming in its intensity. Removing his hand caused the flame to return to its original intensity. He was tempted to grab the vine forcefully, just to see how it would react. “Probably not a good idea,” he said to himself before realizing that he had spoken out loud. “I guess that's not a bad idea, but I don't think we should split up either.”

Maxwell walked back over toward the table and again picked up the violin and turned it over in his hand, before testing its weight. Jackson raised a point that Maxwell had himself avoided thinking about. What do we do when we find it? What do we do if the kid is already...

Maxwell had no idea how he would react if that were the case. As Kanoa tossed out orders Maxwell found himself left out of the equation as it were, which was not entirely undesirable. He really didn't want to go upstairs. In truth he really didn't want to stay in this 'house'. It was starting to feel suffocating, as if the walls were exerting some kind of pressure against his presence. However there was a part of him that wanted to 'push' back. A feeling that maybe he should touch the interior of the structure. Dig his fingers into the flesh of the tree.

“I'll wait outside with Jackson,” he said, staring at his own hand as he clenched it to suppress the feeling of strangeness that threatened to overcome him. He stuffed his hand deeply into his pockets and made his way back to the entrance and stepped back outside. The difference in illumination made him winch for a moment as his eyes adjusted to the natural light. It felt better outside. He sighed with relief to himself. “What the hell is wrong with me?” he said to himself as he felt a warm trickle run down the palm of his hand. He pulled his hand free from his jacket pocket and stared at the trails of red running from the palm of his hand. He hadn't realized how hard he had been clenching his fist.

August had been busying herself staring at the burning vines, trying to figure out if it was burning some form of natural gas, or using electrical sparks, or simply just an illusion, before realizing she was being spoken to. Mary had said something, but it was more an idle reaction to August's mutterings than an actual invitation to conversation. Kanoa was holding a guitar out to her. The redhead reached out to take it, still looking around the room with quirked lips. Considering how faded and weak the emotions in the cabin were, there probably wasn't much the guitar would do

Where am I? Why am I here? What's going on, where is everyone, HOW DID I GET HERE?

August went rigid, pupils shrinking as much stronger emotions hit her core. She had let her guard down! Or had she? That's how it took her here! Where was here? Confusion rocked her as her fingers gripped the neck of the guitar tightly, eyes darting around as she stood completely still. Nothing had taken her, but she had been taken! No, August struggled to regain control as her breathing sped up. She shut her eyes tightly, trying to combat the foreign emotions. Confusion, waking up in a strange place you've never seen...anxiety, why were you here, how were you here? Combined with August's own panic at losing control over who she was, she was starting to freak out something fierce.

How did she...he? I. Who was I? There are so many emotions, they aren't mine, they're...mine!

Deep breaths. In. Hold. Out. August's muscles loosened, her grip on the guitar started to relax. Focus. You know how to handle this. You do it everyday. Take your time. Her green eyes fluttered open, pupils returning to normal as her shoulder suddenly slumped. Dammit, she knew better than to let another person's emotions take her over like that...then she tasted it. Like an aftertaste from diet soda. A furrowed brow as she focused on it.

"Confusion...anxiety...calmness. He woke up here...he didn't know he was taken here...maybe the hypnotizing left that residual calmness...or he was drugged...I don't think this guy even knew what was happening to him even when he was awake."

August set the guitar down, aware that she was sweating. She shook her sleeves out, wiping at her cheeks as she realized Kanoa was once again telling her to do something. Well enough, currently they were all just milling about like gawking children. She looked at the staircase, flitting her eyes to Orion and Daniel.

"Okay, neither of you are really thinking tiny little me is leading the walk to the creepy unknown upstairs in the spirit torture shack right? Cause I'm pretty sure I have a lower survivability rate in a fight than either of you."

The redhead walked to the base of the stairs, leaning over the banister to try and see up without actually walking up. Sure, she had the knife in her backpack. Did she know how to use it? If flailing wildly while backing up was a recognized military tactic, sure. She was never one to play damsel in distress and let a boy do something she was usually far more qualified to take care of, but this was a matter of logic.

Daniel was 6'3", had a law enforcement family, and seemed to be in good condition.
Orion was taller than her, and was known for being athletic.
August was 5' and got winded if she jogged upstairs too fast.

Feminism be damned, the males could take this one first.

Jackson saw Kanoa glare at him but didn't react to it. He knew he probably should've kept a lid on the whole possession thing as best he could, but goddammit it if it wasn't easy. He could feel Aphosis influencing him everyday, the urge to do unspeakable actions growing slowly but surely. Even now, he had to catch himself now and then, lest his thoughts turned to murder and desecration, of blood and death. Every minute of every second he could feel Aphosis consume him from the inside out, like a disease that slowly rots you from your core. And yet, he found himself caring less and less, sometimes wondering why he even bothers to fight back at all. One day, he will give in and that will be the only easy way out of this nightmare that Aphosis will let him take.

Shaking his head of such thoughts, he put the knives away and went over to the cabin entrance, only taking a second to stop and look at August have a mini-panic attack at touching a guitar. Shit, It affects her that much? I guess being empathetic to that level isn't all it's cracked up to be. He almost went over to see if she was okay, but by then she seemed to have gotten the hang of herself and was heading upstairs with Daniel and Orion.

Seeing that August was fine, he continued his walk to the door, leaning against the frame as he looked outside. He scanned the forest half-heartedly for amything out of place, not really expecting to see the spirit coming if it did show up. Which brought him back to his earlier line of thought, what in the ever-living-fuck are they going to do when they find the spirit. He doubted any of them were equipped to handle such a thing if it turned violent. . . unless stopping it was never the plan. Jackson looked back at Kanoa, rembering how she said she met the Kitsune and that it tried go hypnotize her. She'd never explained why that didn't work, hell, she hardly told them anything about her plan of action either. This led him to 3 conclusions: 1.)Kanoa had no idea what she was doing, 2.)She was under the spirits spell, and worst of them all, 3.) She was the Kitsune. Mary's theory was seeming a lot more plausible now.

Rubbing his ears after Orion's rendition of "Cats in a Blender" Danny suppressed his knee-jerk reaction of wanting to strangle him and instead took a breath not just to keep from yelling about the awful racket, but check his own pride. It was clear that Danny was out of his depth here, and the sooner he accepted that the faster that they could find out what happened. He couldn't rely on any advanced form of forensic knowledge and had to make due with what he- they had. And what they had was a psychometrist in August. While it wasn't that Danny disbelieved her (The CIA did all sorts of experiments related to it in the hey-day of the cold war) he couldn't help but worry that whatever was on these objects may affect her- possibly even cause her to behave as erratically as that Jackson guy. While he believed his thoughts were altruistic in nature he couldn't help but size her up in case she did go axe murderer only to feel a blanket of guilt fall over him.

Christ man, yeah you may not know these people that well but that doesn't mean you should think about breaking their spine. As if reading his thoughts August words snapped him back to (what probably wasn't) reality. "Oh I'm not sure about that. You seem to do well in a scrap with the power-lines....most of the time." Danny said trying to crack a smile. Could she read his mind? Could she read him from a distance? If you're reading my mind then I don't regret contemplating breaking your back you eavesdropper! Alright I expect that you're gone now and that you are focusing on the investigation!.....Damn it Herne, you're a real galoot. Danny held in a sigh cursing his cycle of paranoia. This was obviously his own way of compensating for his lack of control in a situation, and lashing out because he was scared. But for now that didn't matter since people were depending on him. So instead of questioning if these feelings were brought on by a malevolent demon from the far east or if he himself would end up vanishing like this kid he drew his khukri, put down his pack and approached the stairs as non-threateningly as possible to lead the way.

Slowly making his way up the stairs, Danny made a fist parallel to his head to indicate for the others to stop. Moving with a silence ill-befitting his size, Danny checked the corners, under the bed and even the ceiling before returning to the top of the stairs and giving them the all clear signal. With no imminent danger in sight Danny made his way back to the bed to look at it in more detail, speaking loud enough so that even those downstairs could hear. "Judging by the way this bed is still made but rumpled I'd say that our missing person was placed here while unconscious, not surprising if he was taken after getting the roofie treatment." Turning 180 degrees Danny went over to the collection of conspicuous boxes in the corner, blade held at the ready. While his ability would often times manifest as his very own spider-sense that was when someone in the locker room trying punching him when his back was turned, not when dealing with anthropomorphic succubi. And so with teeth clenched and heart pounding Daniel grabbed the lid of a box and threw it open to find...clothes? Letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding Danny picked up a shirt and called out, "S'okay. Just some clothes- boys clothes here. But judging by the musty smell, it's been here for some time. A longer time than our guy has been missing."

Chewing on his lip Danny reviewed what they had known so far aloud. "Not only were there Kitsunes in Maine, they are tracked and recorded if they (who 'they' were is another pressing question) attacked humans. Kitsunes are magical beings that can shape-shift and hypnotize people- though only through eye contact. While this could affect someone for some time and repress a sense of reason it couldn't have been effecting the person perpetually otherwise August wouldn't have picked up what seemed to be a spike in anxiety off of our vic's guitar. That clothing being exclusively male and here for a long time definitely suggests that this was pre-meditated. According to Kanoa those are magical potions downstairs despite the fact that Kitsunes apparently don't need them to use magic, which means they were intended for someone else." As the gears whirled in his brain Danny concluded, "This gives me two theories. That there are laws in place of this secret world that Kanoa hasn't told us about yet and this spirit was using our guy as a proxy so the powers that be wouldn't rain down upon her, or this is like that book Misery. Either way, I believe that our missing person is like us. I think he was also an Awoken."

“So what do you think is really going on in this forest? Is there really some evil, ancient oriental spirit abducting people? Or maybe just someone with an obsession for this kind of crap has finally lost it,” Maxwell said in the best conversational tone that he could manage to the tense looking Jackson, who again seemed to be consumed by some inner dialogue that made him keep to himself. That was fine, as long as it didn’t cause trouble for anyone else. Maxwell was a little similar in that regard, though not to this level. Maxwell grinned wryly to himself and shook his head. “Yeah, as if we would be so lucky, right?” he said as he leaned against the wall of the ‘treehouse’.

For a moment he said nothing more and just stared off into the surrounding forest. It was strange but he was starting to feel as though something were watching him from the gloom, something beyond his sight but not his combined senses. But it was not an ominous sensation either and so for now he would let it slide. He sighed and bowed his head forward so that his hood obscured his face from view, his heads placed deeply into his jacket pockets. He turned his head toward Jackson. “Are you going to be OK? Only you seem to be a little uptight right now. Don’t let Kanoa bother you too much, I get the feeling that she riles plenty of people up the wrong way.”

Jackson turned to face Maxwell as he made conversation, wondering whetther or not it would be a good idea to share his latest suspicions with the guy. That train of thought, however, was sopped dead in it's tracks when he heard maxwell say 'riles people the wrong way'.

"Dude, firstly, it's rub people the wrong way, and secondly, Kanoa is the least of my problems right now." Jackson tapped is temple to emphasis his point, before turning to look outside again. "I'm more worried about the fact I'm not even sure she knows what she's doing. We come up here and have literally no idea what we're up against or what it wants. We think it's a Kitsune, based off of her say-so, but that doesn't really help since I'm pretty sure half this group has no idea what that is and those who do get their information from anime and wikipedia, and we have no idea how reliable any of our sources are!" Jackson grunted as he kicked the doorframe in frustration. After taking a second to calm down, he leaned back against the door frame and slide down to a sitting position on the ground, giving Kanoa another suspicious glance. "It just seems like we have almost no real plan here and Kanoa's barely giving us any information on what we're fighting. If I didn't know better, I'd think she was under some kind of hypnosis or something, or was the Kitsune herself. From what I hear, she's so strange that people would hardly notice if something was up, and she doesn't seem to have many friends either."
Jackson words were light-hearted, but the implications hidden in them were very accusatory, as was the suspicious tone that came with them.

@Constantine

Maxwell watched Jackson careful as he kicked off, showing neither irritation or annoyance in what he was hearing, which was something of a rarity considering both were considered his trademark expressions. Instead of snapping back Maxwell went back to watching the forest. The sense of being watched was growing, but it was impossible to tell where from. All around maybe? Could the ‘forest’ watch a person? He wasn’t sure how to handle Jackson, though perhaps trying to ‘handle’ him was the wrong approach entirely. Had anyone actually just talked to the guy? “You done?” Maxwell said in a tone that suggested neither anger nor compassion. For a moment he was silent, considering what it was that he wanted to try and say.

He pushed himself off of the wall and walked toward Jackson. “Look, I’m not going to stand here and pretend that I have any clue in hell what’s it’s like for you. I’m not going to insult you by claiming that I know what it feels like and that I understand, cause I don’t. But here’s the thing. It’s not just you. I know what it’s like to have something in my head, remember?” Maxwell stood over Jackson. “So, if you don’t like the way things are going then why don’t you get off your ass and do something about it. If it bothers you so much then confront her about it, demand answers, explanations. Wallowing here isn’t going to help anyone.”

Maxwell sighed at himself, aware that he had probably overstepped way too many boundaries. “So, what do you wanna do about it?”

Orion pouted. It was a good pout. He had the lips for it, full, situated low on a long jaw. Heavy eyelids, sharp brow described over the line of his glasses. Curled into a pout, arched into a wounded glance Orion could put people in the mind of the world's pluckiest, orphan gazelle trapped on a cliff side after a harrowing chase. It was a pout that could melt the most arctic of blood, break a bedrock heart. It was a pout that would give a mongol horde pause. Nobody was paying any attention.

He had deployed the weapons-grade expression in response to Kanoa's brazen and unprovoked blitzkrieg on his artistic sovereignty. The audacity, the sheer, unmitigated gall to take an instrument from a musician's hands. Fortunately for her, she had prepared the perfect defense; complete dismissal and deflection. She handed the guitar to August. Orion's brow shifted, his jaw tightened. Well played, Marigold.

Orion watched sidelong. Sweat and synesthesia. Silence. He kept his gaze from his position on the floor. He watched August cross to the stair. He smirked at her frank observation of their present realities. A brave hero was needed to brave the unknown reached of a higher plane. Orion made a big show of unfolding his train rail limbs, groaning with the herculean effort of motion. Falling back off of the pillow he felt the cool earth along his spine as he rolled onto his shoulders hoisting his weight above him, legs coiling tight as his hands planted on either side of his head, pushing off the ground he reversed the arch of his spine, twisting his body forwards, for a brief moment, all of him was suspended in space, unable to see the ground, unsure of how he would land. Then it was over. Feet touched earth, his body collapsing into a crouch, long arms extended before him to counterbalance the force that still wanted to land him flat on his back. No one ever appreciated how hard it was for someone of Orion's side to jump to his feet from the ground like that. No one appreciated it now. A hero was already found.

Danny rose up the stair into the heavens, a twitchy vanguard of their ascension. Orion stood, humming thoughtfully to himself. He stretched tall, yawning for effect, elbows hitting the ceiling. Sniffing Orion sauntered to the stair, staring up with August after Danny. He glanced back at August, staring at her over his spectacles.

"Steady on there Batty. You here with me?" He could still taste the psychical residue of...whatever it was that August did with the guitar. Tasted like lime and tin. He furrowed his brow into a concerned and thoughtful frown. It was a good frown.

August's sharp eyes flitted briefly to Orion, lips pursed. Her glitch had not gone unnoticed, unfortunately. She could hear Danny above them, talking, moving about. The red head looked back up the stairs.

"I'm good, just caught me off guard. Thank you, though, for asking, not many people do...It's just if I'm not prepared for that kind of stuff, it can be a bit overwhelming. Shocked me a bit."

She ran a hand through her absurdly long hair, flipping the braid over one shoulder and adjusting her circular glasses. She quirked her mouth again.

"You'd think I'd be used to it by now...bothersome that it still catches me sometimes."

Eyebrows furrowed as she cracked a knuckle, mind racing at a breakneck pace about twenty different things. Surface thoughts, she prodded Orion on the cheek.

"What about you Oreo? So far you've been fairly docile about this whole thing. All things considered, that's unusual. I know your whole thing is being calm, and acting like the cucumber in the iceberg, but even you have to have an opinion on all this."

The tiny girl started heading up the stairs as Danny called out about the missing boy possibly being similar to them. She walked backwards up the steps, emerald eyes focused on Orion. It was clear she was reading him, studying him. A technician looking at the machine and trying to figure it out.

"What do you think about all this?"

A groan in Orion's gut mixed with a growl in his gullet. He ducked under a large branch serving as a crossbeam his natural afro snapping back into shape after it squished under the limb. He feet dragged with painful slowness with each step as he followed her up the stare, hunched, hands thrust into his hoodie's pockets. He paused mid-step, as if trying to read his thoughts from the shadow of the next step. From the way the darkness coiled and writhed, he just might be. He settled his foot down with definition. He looked at August. Even halfway further up the step they were still glasses to glasses.

"A bit overwhelming," his sniffed dryly, "yeah, I think your singing my song, shorty." Orion turned on his heel and leaned against the woody wall of the stair, folding his arms over his narrow chest. He slowly turned his head towards the bottom of the staircase, considering.

"I see an awful lot of fragile people standing around in what I'm finding seems to be an increasingly fragile reality. I think..." he pressed his tongue against the back of his teeth. "Something is going to give. Maybe I'm just rubberneckin', waiting to see what snaps first."

He shrugged and smiled wryly, it was a good smile, all lopsided angles and edges. It almost looked sincere.

"Mary, could you take a look at some of these plants with me, I have a feeling you'd recognize them more easily than I would."

Mary didn't need much more than that to get her going, she wanted to maintain herself-- she held a certain sonder in acknowledging that her companions certainly had to have felt some excitement with seeing actual magic... actual magic in real life, even if they didn't, they must have some passion in their lives which gave them the mirth that the idea of observing magical flora was granting to her in that moment. The joy filled her with energy much faster than any coffee may have--

Still, there were social norms to meld to, even if only slightly, and preconceived cosmic roles and tropes to fit. She had to approach the botany with the combined energies of the Mary that Mary was in her own mind as well as the energy that Mary was in the minds of these people that barely knew her as acquaintances would attribute to her.

Specifically, in this instance, Kanoa was whom she interacted with-- fitting, since she was the one leading the charge into all of this, the unknown, and whose simple contact had touched something in her.

Mary, resisting the urge to grab her hand and run over to the plants, simply waited until the other grouped off and said their pieces, before turning to Kanoa, trying to reign in her childlike splendor, responded, "Cool. Yeah. Totes, I can look at some flowers if you want boss-lady, i-if you think it'll help, or whatever."

"Let's start with these over here, Mary." Kanoa gestured to a group of plants nearest to the corner. She knelled down by the miniature garden and inspected the flora. She recognized only a few of the plants, as she had used them for potions on occasion. "Nightshade, cat's claw... With the right touch these can be made into a knockout powder. Again, not something a kitsune would need as long as they have their magic." Kanoa frowned and looked at the rest of the plants, she had never used them before, but they were common in the forest. "This doesn't really make sense, unless someone else besides the spirit has been working here."

Kanoa picked a particularly strange blue bud from the garden. The pedals felt like velvet, and it gave off a strong sweet smell that almost made her light headed. "Are you familiar with what this is?" She asked Mary."

Mary followed Kanoa's gaze tentatively, the dance of social niceties balanced with her own passion. Mary tilted her head as Kanoa began pointing out a few of the names, she wasn't new at this. Mary almost asked what she even needed her there for, Kanoa didn't seem to need any help with--

Mary caught the frown.

The thought processes that went in and around Kanoa's head were ones Mary didn't understand-- from what she knew of the girl even trying to understand might prove futile. Still, there were things going on here that Mary wanted to understand, coming along would have been pointless otherwise. Mary took a moment to observe the blue bulb Kanoa wanted Mary to identify, her pupils widening in silent observation. A second later, she plucked a petal off the lotus and popped it into her mouth.

Her pupils widened further. This was the good stuff.

"Egyptian blue lotus! I'd recognize that garmonbozia anywhere... It's like, a sacred soporific, or something." Mary set the bulb back onto the dirt, "Yeah, that's like, dangerous stuff-- slip this in a kid's drink and he'd follow you anywhere if you asked him, or he'd just fall asleep." Her eyes shot to Kanoa's, "Are you sure that some magical fox did this? I mean, it's totally magic that this is somehow growing in fucking Maine, but so is this magical treehouse. Maybe it's just some magic dude spiking peoples drinks with enchanted Egyptian flower potion roofies to make 'em disappear."

Mary paused, "Is that still a thing? Like, do people still make potions? In the magical world? I figure I should know... for... reasons..."

Kanoa watched as Mary's eyes filled with life at the site of the bulb. It was slightly contagious coming from her, considering her typical lackadaisical attitude. It was pretty obvious that the girl had an affection for these types of plants. It was nice seeing this side of her, it wasn't often that she could see someone gush over something they were passionate about. It almost felt unfair that Kanoa hadn't shown much of herself to the others.

"Dangerous stuff?" Kanoa asked with a nervous smile. "I'm going to assume it's alright to chew on it like that then." She had faith that Mary knew what she was doing, and that she wouldn't be needing to carry her out of the forest any time soon. "I'm not too sure anymore actually. I know I saw a fox spirit, and the leaves found at the scene of the disappearance back it up..." Kanoa pulled out her notepad and flipped the pages to a picture she sketched of roots. "A tree on the way here had bite marks on it's roots, they look like they could have come from a fox. Kitsune's live by absorbing energy from living things, but... Plants are hardly a reliable source of this energy. Perhaps this spirit kidnapped the boy to get a reliable source of energy."

Kanoa tapped her chin a few times, pondering, when she remembered that Mary had asked something else. "Oh, potions? Yes of course, they've always had their uses. The only reason they aren't publicly known is because only those with a tether can get them to work. It's kinda complicated, but I could show you sometime if you'd like."

Mary responded to Kanoa's concern with something between a lackadaisical grin and a self-assured smirk-- she couldn't quite tell which it was, both? Honestly, it was probably neither, her muscles were already beginning to relax to a concerning degree. As she chewed on the petal, she remembered exactly why this potent stuff was worshiped and considered sacred by a bunch of bi-racial geometric shape sculptors.

No wait... that was ancient Costa Ricans-- Egyptians were aliens.

Riiiiight...

Mary gave her head a little shake. Reality is where she was needed, she needed to stay in reality, in the magical tree. It would make a hella bad impression to just pass out now... Even moreso than spilling your inner demons to a group of indifferent post-tweens-- especially with how it would seem to Kanoa. This was a good opportunity.

You should be paying attention...

She tilted her head again as Kanoa began to speak, eyes narrowing slightly. Mary's eyes flickered with a dimming light, it was all she could do to maintain control, her eyes glossed over Kanoa's features, finding a mild entertainment in the novelty of her outfit, before soon after, settling in following the subtle changes in her face and the slight curves her lips made as she spoke further about the Kitsune dilemma. She had the elocution of a detective, almost. Or more specifically, like, a TV detective. That also dealt in the paranormal-- so not just any CSI scrub-- she was like an X-Files scrub. Or was she? Mary could already infer she was too open to be Scully, and she was way too hot to be Mulder...

Was she Coop? Nah. Well... Audrey was kind of a detective... she helped a little? It'd be racist to say she was Joan, wouldn't it? The lady from Fringe? Mary gave an internal sigh, as Kanoa flipped through her notepad. Why weren't there more attractive, Asian spooky detectives on TV?

Wait-- Lucy Liu plays a decent Watson... that's kind of spooky... right?

Sure, I guess.

Jesus Christ, Mary's eyes widen an imperceptibly small degree as she observed the sketch of bitten roots, when did she even have time to draw those? She spoke more, mostly in matters relating to the magical fox-- the bit about the plants was interesting. Apparently they did have souls! Even if only small amounts of soul that foxes could barely survive off of. After a moment Kanoa spoke again, addressing Mary's peculiar request regarding potions. Despite rationalizing the offer to make sick witches brew as more of those social niceties on Kanoa's part, Mary still blushed.

"Dude!" She didn't let the surprise transfer to her voice, however, "Of course I wanna learn how to make magical herb smoothies. Gonna enchant the shit out of those bendy straws! I'm excited... like genuinely excited actually, which is new..." She paused, adopting something resembling a serious tone for an instant, "It's a lot to take in. All of it is." Mary drew in a deep breath. The Blue Lotus was fast acting, but in such a small dose it was weak, she could feel it's influence weakening-- "Honestly, I thought you were crazy... yesterday... today... until I saw all this... I seriously hear voices at the cemetery and I thought you were crazy..."

"Glebionis coronaria," Mary said, point at another flower Kanoa hadn't identified, "It makes really nice tea." Brushing the petals with a finger, she shrugged, "Maybe foxy has sleeping problems? Throw all this in a cauldron you'd have a brew with a little more kick than chamomile and warm milk." A smirk, she turned to Kanoa, "Is it alright if I take some of these?" She forced an overly pleading smile, "For research? These aren't native to this region-- maybe a botanist in town had some seeds stolen, or something?"

"Me, crazy? Nah." Kanoa shook her head, a facetious tone in her voice. "I'm just glad you all believed me, it's nice to have some people my own age to relate to." She was well aware of how far-fetched her claims had been at first. She could have easily proved herself by using a spell of some kind, but in her opinion it was usually better to show than to tell, that and she was far too lazy to conjure up a spell for such a reason. Mary pointed out another plant, this one apparently good for making tea. "Tea to help it sleep? Seems unlikely, but probable." She said.

When Mary asked if she could take some of the plants Kanoa's face scrunched up. "Um, I'm not sure actually. I suppose we've already left more than a few traces that we've been here, it can't miss a few, right?" Kanoa shrugged her shoulders and stood up. She glanced over to the work station covered in tools and materials. "I've got an idea, come over here."

A mortar and pestle sat on the table, trace amounts of whatever potion had last been created inside. Kanoa ran a finger along the bottom of the bowl and sniffed the fibrous remains of the plants. "Good..." She mumbled to herself as she scooped up three bundles of torn plants and put them inside the mortar. "We should be able to recreate whatever potion was made here, it may give us a hint as to where our culprit is. Hmm. This would be a good chance for me to show you how this is done." Kanoa took Mary's hands and placed them on the pestle, with her own hands covering hers. "Enchanted potions can be made in a few ways, but I'll show you the easiest first." Kanoa began to guide Mary's hands in grinding the ingredients down. "With this method, you need to gradually infuse the ingredients with your spiritual energy. You've probably never done this before, so I'll show you how it's done."

Kanoa took a deep breath and relaxed, her hands began to glow with a faint, barely visible blue aura. "Feels kind of warm, right? My mother taught me how to do this, surprised the heck out of me." She said. "Take a deep breath and try to calm yourself, focus on your hands, imagine pouring your very soul into them- oh yeah, souls are real by the way, but that was just a figure of speech." She cleared her throat, and continued. "You should feel a warmth travel into your hands and reside there, keep it there, and keep grinding for a few minutes."

She let go of her hands, interested to see if her first attempt at teaching someone something mystical would pay off.

Mary's face, entirely out of her own control, flushed with emotion. Just yesterday, a simple brush from Kanoa's hand was enough to drive her to a personal spiritual revelation. Now, that soft touch was guiding both of her hands, like she was the female love interest in some shitty 90's sports movie. Mary had to struggle to to let her own hands tremble under Kanoa's gentle clasp. Her face more than made up for that though. Her blush was one intense enough to earn it's own caption;

[blushing intensifies]

Either Kanoa was completely oblivious-- perhaps too absorbed in the matter at hand to notice Mary's strong reaction-- or, alternatively, she was completely aware of it, and she was toying with Mary, in her own supernatural savant sort of way. Mary hadn't known Kanoa long, and the more she thought about it, as she fought to think about anything other than the present; the physical connection was, despite Mary's dilated pupils, still somewhat mundane. One pair of skilled hands teaching another, to Mary, became an almost sensual exchange of knowledge, one body, a mere modicum of space aware from pressing against the student, the air became warm as Kanoa spoke of infusing the ingredients with her own... spiritual... energy.

Christ, you're being weird again, dude.

Turning her attention back to what Kanoa was actually creating, a genuine surprised gleam replaced slightly coquettish blushes.

Her hands were literally glowing blue.

Wanting to cop, radical mystical aura powers, Mary began following Kanoa's instructions; slowing her breathing, calming her mind... imagining her (apparently real) soul as her breath was much of the time... a purple smokey haze, she imagined pushing that out through her hands. The warm tingle that she might feel on her pores...

Mary almost lost herself. Was she trying to force it? Why wasn't it working? Was she doing something wrong? Was something wrong with her? Or her aura or whatever? Why wasn't...

Something clicked inside her.

"...keep it there, and keep grinding for a few minutes."

Mary's eyes glowed playfully, "Christ Kanoa, phrasing." she was still pooling her spiritual energy into the mortar. But in that moment, in that xeno of a lack of force, an almost indescribable violet emanated from Mary's stirring hands in tandem with the comment. She looked down, "Whoa, shit." for Mary, the slight widening of her eyes was about as significant as a normal human yelling in absolute bewilderment.

"Whoa indeed, you picked up on this pretty quickly. I'm impressed." Kanoa said. She patted Mary on the back and took a look at the results of her infusion. To the average person, a normal person, there would be nothing to see from the crushed plants. However, Kanoa was able to see something. Like a brilliantly cut gem refracting light she could see an aura of color surrounding anything with spiritual energy. She had used this ability of hers to find those with a tether in her school, and now it was helping her make a potion.

She opened a glass jar of water and dumped the ingredients inside of it. "Now we just shake it a bit..." She said, taking the jar and violently thrashing it up and down. Usually this was done slowly, but she never did like taking her time making potions. The crushed plants disintegrated in the water and turned the liquid into a dark blue solution. She brought the glass closer to her face and rotated it, the dim light from glowing mushrooms giving only modest visibility. "Huh, would you believe me if I told you this is a potion that allows you to breath underwater?" She sat the potion down and scribbled in her notebook.

"You're pretty adorable when you're flustered like that by the way." Kanoa said with a smirk, eyes on her writing. She might seem aloof at times, but she wasn't clueless. She wasn't expecting that type of reaction from Mary when she touched her hands. The notebook closed with a clap, and she looked over to Mary. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone if you won't."

She leaned against the table and crossed her arms. "Speaking of the others, I wonder if they've found anything useful up there..."

If before, Mary had only become a few shades pinker, Kanoa's comments had easily driven her flushed cheeks into shades of beet red, even the purple aura lingering around her hands became a few shades carmine. Of course she'd managed to catch it! She was a psychic wunderkiind-- she just taught Mary how literally make magic Aquaman smoothie in a bottle. She was becoming... impressive? Was that the right word? It certainly had something to do with the of it all as well. But still, she had access to magic-- active control of some of it-- and she chose to share it with her classmates, to show them into the world they could see but didn't know, and try to do something good.

Mary couldn't help but wonder, with that kind of insight, would she have reached out...?

God! How awful introspection is!

"Th-thanks..." Mary, jumping to sit on the edge of the incredible table, that appeared to be some mix between stump and interwoven branches, responded to Kanoa with her own flustered mini-smirk. "Hmmm... I mean, we could go check?" She crossed her legs, switching her gaze between Kanoa's fading playful expression and the rest of the visible room, "Honestly, the only thing I can tell from all these flowers is that whoever lives here has some interest in botany. Not just like a passive interest either, some of these hybrids are like, next level, y'know?" She brushed the petals of a particularly large and colorful lion/dragon flower on the table, "Like, it shouldn't be possible to cultivate some of this shit, next level."

"Actually," Mary tilted her head, eyes on Kanoa's notebook, "Some of these look like such fragile strains, I couldn't take 'em when we go even if I wanted," Mary shrugged, her full nonchalant smirk returning, "Which, for the record, I totally do. I'd take all of these beauties if I could," Smiling, she gave an obviously exaggerated sigh, "Anyway. If you wanted I could sketch some of these down if you think it'd help, I mean, if you wanted."

Kanoa handed her notebook to Mary. Her sketches were decent, however, Mary was bound to have a more accurate touch when it came to flora. "That might prove useful, just um, ignore the pictures of cats." She said sheepishly, hoping the numerous sketches of cartoonish felines wouldn't seem too odd, she drew when she was bored, and she was bored quite often. She pushed off the table and looked towards the stairs once more. "Once they're done up there we'll leave, I know where we're headed to next." Kanoa said. "You know how to swim, right?" She looked back to Mary. "Because we'll be swimming, a lot."

She picked up the azure potion and poured it's contents into thin glass vials stopped with corks. All but one of the vials was fitted inside of her seemingly bottomless pockets, the lone vial was handed to Mary. "Keep this with you..." Kanoa's eyebrows raised as she realized something. "Oh, don't worry, I know you've likely never had a metamorphosis potion before, but it's safe. Like... 99.99% safe."

"The first thing I want to do is punch you in the face, but that's more out of frustration then anything else." Jackson said as he got up, looking both annoyed and enlightened by Maxwell's speech. The guy was right, he wasn't going to get any answers just by moaning about not getting any, he had to confront her. Either he was wrong and would look like a jackass, or he was right snd they'd all get killed by a fox spirit. A lose-lose situation, but if he was going to die, he might as well strike first.

With that cheery thought in mind, he went over to approach Kanoa, who seemed mixing potions with Mary. He walked up to the two, and cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Kanoa, before we go any deeper into this, I have to ask you a few questions, the main one being what exactly is the plan when we find this Kitsune or the other student? Hell, do you even have a plan, or are you winging it as you go along, because if you are, then I'm out. I already have enough issues as it is, and I don't want to add being some spirit fox's lunch to the list. Just give me something to work with, cause I'm not entirely sure you know what you're doing."

The tiny girl gave a nod to Orion.

"Nice to know I'm not the only one worried about it...our group isn't the most...stable."

August headed up the stairs, tugging at her neon pink beanie with some apprehension. Her eyes settled on Daniel rooting around the garments. His last words echoed in the red head's mind as she quirked her lips, careful to not touch anything this time until she was ready.

"Awoken? You mean the kid may have been tied to all the spirit stuff, that's what got him noticed in the first place?"

It would make sense...maybe. She still barely understood anything from this world. Just that she was dabbling her toes in the shallow end. She decided to take a chance.

"Here's the weird part, okay? It wasn't...fear. He wasn't afraid, he was apprehensive. Nervous, like he wasn't totally sure he was in danger, or safe. That may have been the hypnotism, but if it wasn't suppressing everything, or when it wore off enough to make him nervous, wouldn't he be afraid?"

"Maybe he wasn't hypnotised to begin with," Daniel offered, "Lets look at our missing person. He was in the woods with a guitar so he must have been brooding, not suprising since not only was he a teenager, he was like us. So while playing his music out in the forest he attracts the attention of someone- something else. This kitsune does what kitsunes do and turns into an attractive form and starts chatting him up. Instead of trying to seduce him right away she must have figured out he was like us, either through her hypnosis not working or maybe by the flavor of his energy. Either way she instead starts chatting him up, tells him she understands, introduces him to this secret world of ours. Over weeks she gives him just enough to keep him ensnared, either exploiting his feeling of isolation from everyone else or the discovery of power, shows him what we can do like with the potions down stairs Kanoa mentioned. So he keeps going and going but soon realizes that she's possessive and doesn't want him to have any other friends or friends if you know what I mean." Running his hand through his hair Daniel frowned. "Or it could all be a load of bunk. Heck I'm basing this all on the idea that fox demons think like humans do. This is really just a shot in the dark for me."

August tapped her chin, circling the room as she listened, avoiding touching anything. While Daniel ruminated upon the means and methods of kitsune thought, Orion occupied himself with rummaging through the boxes of clothes, holding some up to his body. Unfortunately, he could not rock a yellow summer dress.

"So, you think that drugging and kidnapping someone out of jealousy constitutes normal, human thought patterns?" He arched an eyebrow at Dan.

"Partner abuse is extremely high," Replied Daniel ignoring the sarcasm. "While I don't want to get into the darker bits of it, One in two marriages in the U.S. end in divorce, be it financial, jealously, abuse or something else. About seventeen percent of marriages involve extra marital affairs, with nineteen percent being male and seventeen being women. Compounded with hookup culture portraying males as sexually promiscious beings by their very nature it's very easy for someone to think that. Especially when said person survives by seducing someone.

August kept silent, watching the two males jockey for dominance in the most passive aggressive argument she had ever seen. It was...amusing, adorable. Another circle of the room. She contemplated touching the clothing to get a feel, but opted against it. If the cabin didn't give her anything solid, the clothing was probably more likely to jar her again rather than assist.

"Huh..." Orion turned back to the facinating world of stolen clothing. "You're a real bummer, you know that?" Tossing down the cardigan he'd been holding he sauntered over to the bed, flopping down on it spreadeagle, his feet hanging over the sides.

"It's why I usually hang out on roof tops." Danny said with a shrug.

"Well, I don't know about your fine art of induction, Boy Wonder, but some of those cloths still have their tags on them, pretty sure we can figure out where they came from if we care too. Maybe our foxy lady friend is masquerading at the local Hobby Lobby." Orion returned the shrug.

"If either of us is the sidekick, it's you but that's beside the point. By cross-referencing the store tags to a map of the town, we should be able to find where this creature 'hunts.' While we won't be able to get security tapes from these stores with them often taping over themselves I'm sure Kanoa or August would be able to spot them in a crowd." replied Danny, rubbing his hands together in glee.

Orion inclined his head up to stare at Danny. He couldn't make up his mind if the kid was for real or not. It was like listening to a radio serial.

"Would you two prefer I leave the room so you can compare dick size now or later? I think that's enough Alpha hormones for one day boys, stay focused."

Danny blinked. Alpha hormones? Him? While it was true that Danny was constantly working out, that was more from his inability to stay still, not for asserting dominance, he considered himself a nerd, or at the very least an intellectual that waxed philosphically. For some reason he wanted to protest this, but knew that doing so would only prove her point. Damn.

Orion grinned at them, broad and white of color and intention, not even the barest hint of schadenfreude, advancing from the realm of disarming authenticity and into the lands of smarm with a puckish wink to the two. There seemed pattern forming in his life of people accusing him of posturing. He honestly couldn't fathom why.

The redhead thumped Orion on the chest as she walked by the bed, giving a frown at both of them. Boys...she wondered if this was how her brother acted when she wasn't around. The miniscule girl suddenly remembered why she had been in relationships with girls for the past 4 years now. Not that they were much better at times.

"I couldn't pick someone out of a crowd unless I touched them, so ignoring that we don't need to see where it hunts as we know where it's magical hidey hole is, we don't even know if it's aggressive. Also, where is it right now? I think we've dallied around enough as it is, we should probably head back downstairs. There's nothing really up here...the clothing idea isn't a bad idea, but how do we know it's not stolen from another kid that just hasn't been reported, or from another town? Who knows how far this thing roams, it could just be settling in here for a long haul or this could be a vacation home to it."

There was just so much testosterone in this room, she needed out. The two were sizing each other up like dogs who didn't want to fight or back down. Her eyes lingered on the stock of food for a moment, absent mindedly touching the bed as she did so. Her eyes fluttered for a moment, then her head snapped over to where Orion was laying. August suddenly shoved him from one side.

"Get up, he slept here! Move move move, I need a better contact!" With sisyphian effort she tried to thrust his limp, overly long mass off the bedding, Orion making no effort to help her endevour. Then her demand clicked in his head. Orion stopped grinning.

Rolling off the bed languidly, he straightened up and stared at August. The frown was back. She had struggled with a relatively new and unweathered instrument. Somehow he thought the bed where the boy may well have laid unconcious for hours or days wouldn't prove any easier. He pressed his lips into a line and folded his arms. He wouldn't ask her if she was certain that this was a good idea. None of this had been a good idea.

"Take care now, Batty. Just...um..." he shrugged his hunched shoulders. "Just remember where you are or who you are. Whatever it is that seems so easy to lose on your little spirit journeys."

August quirked her lips as she stared at the bed, not looking back up to Orion as she spoke.

"I don't lose anything, I'm not losing who I am, I'm just...changing it. I come out different every time. Where most people slowly change and evolve through their experiences over time, I get a data surge and just kind of wake up...altered. It's usually minor, nothing too big...food preferences, music tastes...I should be fine since I'm prepared. But uh..."

She looked up at the boys, sharp eyes betraying a glint of slight worry.

"Don't let me stay on there longer than a minute, right?"

Orion nodded and crouched at the edge of the bed, staring over the flat, linen plane.

August crawled onto the bed, already feeling the seeping emotions as she laid face up on it. She shut her eyes, focusing on the emotions. Instead of allowing them to slam into her, she rode through the feelings, letting them take her adrift as she felt her sense of self shift and ebb around the foreign emotions. Fear...she needed specifics. Calmness...too vague. Vague wasn't enough.

Give me a specific feeling dammit!
Unknown...mystery...why was she here...what did it want. It? Her? Him? It. A shadowy figure. August twitched as the emotions surged up in her again, eyes shut tightly as her fingers dug into the blankets, threatening to rip the fabric. Her legs writhed slightly, not pain, but discomfort. Let it hit...the redhead took a deep breath before tensing again as she melded with the emotions fully. Her bright green eyes snapped open, staring at the ceiling, but clearly not in the present.

What do you want from me...why me? I don't get it...

August's eyes fluttered for a moment before she bolted upright, sweating profusely.

"HE DIDN'T KNOW IT!"

The emotions were still embedded in her psyche as she threw herself off the bed and wobbled, suddenly latching onto Daniel for support and immediately leaping back like he was made of lava.

"NO NO, DON'T! Just! Stay away for a moment, shit!"

The redhead backed against the wall, eyes wide as she struggled to regain control for a moment. Panic, fear...not hers. His. Theirs. Ours. She rubbed her temples, looking like someone whose own brain was struggling to claw it's way out of her skull. Her speech was rapid and flustered, but alongside the fear, it seemed like...excitement?

"O-okay, kid didn't know the Kitsune at all, he was terrified of it, h-h-he had no idea why he was here, the fear is beyond primal, it's a completely foreign place to him and something he didn't understand. I-i-it kept him drugged, like REALLY drugged, like just WOW this was more intense than the hypnotism, he wasn't just suppressed, he was made like mentally handicapped by whatever was pumped into him, the amount of chemicals needed to suppress this much fear and anxiety would be ASTRONOMICAL or at least so potent as to potentially cause long term damage, this kid's neuron's would have been better off in a goddamn electric fence!"

The thrill of solving a problem had August in a rush, it seemed, but the kid's emotions were still clinging to her. She hated this place. This cabin was horrifying to her, it wasn't just the unnatural setting anymore, it was a prison, HER prison as far as she was concerned. Her empathy put her in the shoes of the missing boy, and all his trauma, fear, and sense of isolation was flooding her. She suddenly made a bolt for the stairs.

"Okay, okay, I don't think we should stay here anymore!"

Daniel held up his hands to the side and approached her slowly, keeping eye contact but made no move to touch her. "August. Look at me. We can talk about that later, for now just find your center," Danny said, stopping a few feet away from her. "We will leave as soon as possible, but you need to get your bearings. You're the oil, the memories are water. You may be close but you are seperate. Remember how you -not him- you came here. With us, your friends. Remember us meeting those times? When I was in my dad's police car when he found you messing with telephone lines? That's something that August does, not...him. Just take a breather, and we will walk out of here, and get this over with so you won't have to ever come back here. Sound good?" As Daniel searched her eyes looking for any indication she may end up hurting herself he realized just how lucky he was. To always risk losing yourself whenever you came into contact with others -or where others had been- it was no wonder she preferred the company of machines.

Orion prowled the edge of the room as Danny tried to talk August down. The dust in the room spiraled into fractal, mantras of some eldritch mean. Daniel's voice echoed off the shadowed recesses in the room in Orion's ears, with sinister, aneseptic tones. His hand gestures seemed obscene for some reason. Orion tried to keep his focus on August instead. No, his focus should have been on Daniel. The boy had excellent bedside manner. Maybe he'd be a therapist, hostage negotiator, or used mattress salesman one day. But he was talking to August like she had just experienced a car wreck or a personal tragedy. But that wasn't quite right. This wasn't shock. This was a bad trip.

Orion hissed through his teeth with mostly mock irritation. Striding purposefully over to his fellow forayers into the fantastic, Orion enfolded one of August's hands with his own, squeezing firmly and forcing her hand up between their faces as he stared at her headlong. He reached his other hand up to her shoulder and pressed his index finger into her shoulder, almost to the point of pain.

"This is where your median nerve starts." He spoke with deadly seriousness, as if the information he spoke was passed to him from smouldering shrubbery. Tracing a line down her arm he stopped and pressed his thumb and forefinger hard against a spot on the inside of her elbow. "This is where the Ulnar nerve starts." Moving his fingers further down, his touch became progressively softer until he opened her hand and splayed her palm upwards. "Between them, they provide all of the nervous innervation of the human hand." Orion kept his eyes locked hard on hers. "Everything of import that any human has ever done. Every work wrought by the hand of man has been varied out by tiny, little electro-chemical signals running through those points. Every painting. Every sculpture. Every letter or note put to page. From dissertations on Mitocondrial Symbiont Theory to masturbation, almost everything you or anyone else has ever done has been because of those two nerves." He gently closed her hand and wrapped his spidery fingers around it. "You have them. I have them. That boy you were mainlining probably still has them too." Orion straighted up from eye level. "Now calm your tits, Batty, and let's get out of this scene."

August fought the urge to claw Orion's eyes out, to yank her hand back and flee. Not from the emotions, not from the shock and residual, but from the fear that his touch would induce another wave of emotions and she'd change again. Daniel hadn't touched her, that was good...neither were doing much for her current situation but at least he didn't touch her. She gritted her teeth for a moment, instead trying to fathom why Orion was talking about her nerves. She opted instead to focus on his words...nervous innervation, nerves, electro-chemi-wait.

August's breathing slowed down, her brain seizing the reins from her emotions. Wiring. He was talking about human wiring. He was giving her mechanics to think about? Intentionally or not, he triggered her logic center, the part of August that never seemed to change regardless of who or what entered her mind. That irrepressible urge to tinker, to see the underlying mechanics and streamline. The redhead took another breath, then slowly, methodically reached up and placed one finger on Orion's chest.

"...next time I yell don't touch me, please don't just touch me. Thank you for helping me focus. I appreciate it, but just...mmm...thank you."

Her hands slipped into her pockets as she looked up at him, all five feet of her fearless. She looked at Daniel.

"I'm okay now. Thanks for trying to calm me down during...that. Let's go, I'm over this place."

With that, the redhead spun on one foot and tromped down the stairs, coming to a halt as Jackson finished his questions to Kanoa. August put one hand on her hip, wiped the residual sweat from her brow, and gave a huff.

"We can answer that outside right? We've been here long enough, the boy isn't here, the spirit isn't here, and if it returns, we can't guarantee it won't keep us here forever. Let's go."

Almost as an afterthought, or maybe an aftershock, her eyes flicked to the door and a slight hint of pleading came into her voice.

"...please."

Kanoa let out a chuckle filled with more than a hint of irritation. Not only had Jackson left his position at the entrance, leaving Maxwell alone, but he had come in to call her reliability into question. "You aren't sure if I know what I'm doing?" She said, her tone teetering on the edge between saccharine and vexation. She shoved her hands into her pockets and let out a deep breath, attempting to calm herself down. She understood that he may be afraid, but that was no excuse to deflect his fears onto her. She turned towards the staircase, ready to check on the others, but they were just now coming down.

August wanted to leave, now. Kanoa ventured a guess that she had seen something with her ability that disturbed her. She felt a little guilty, it was her that put the girl in this situation in the first place, and it wasn't going to become any easier.

"Sure, we're done here." The club leader headed for the entrance, exiting the house of living wood into the forest. Stopping a few meters away from the home she stood in front of Jackson.

"Jackson, I know what I'm doing. Surely I don't need to remind you that this is an investigation at the moment. Plans are not enacted in an investigation, instead, procedure is followed. If I explain everything at once to you all then there is a very good chance that it won't sink in. You aren't taught the history of a country all in one day, and let me assure you, you have an entire new world of history to learn."

Kanoa sighed and ran a hand through her hair, and turned to the group that had searched the second floor. "Anyway... What did you all discover?"

Making his way down the stairs Danny could practically see the lightning coming off the two as Jackson questioned Kanoa. While he didn't think that he would actually try anything, the boy strided brusquely out the door (in part to clear a path for August) and placing himself between the two, his back to Jackson. Holding up his hands in a placating manner Danny said hurriedly, "Look maybe he didn't phrase it the best way, but Jackson has got a point." Jackson has a point? Since when did Danny agree with knife wielding maniacs? Since they voice what we've all been thinking this entire time a voice told Danny. Oh right. that. Coming to terms with the side he was taking Daniel tried to take the most diplomatic approach as possible, treating the tiny woman as if she were a Kodiak bear. "Look, what you know about this...secret world doesn't matter when you don't tell us. Not only do we not know what we're doing, but information that we may have is not only false, but misleading since it's come from a century's long game of telephone. Police procedure comes from that knowledge being drilled into people's heads at academies that make officers qualified. It's what separates detectives from an angry mob. I understand that we're on the clock with our John Doe, but if we head into this in the dark, we're going to just end up with a whole bunch of more hurt people. Not everyone knows who Eugene Francois Vidocq is, but everyone knows that tracking footprints is important." Looking away Danny said more quietly, "Look Boss, I'm on board no matter what. But half these people only met you yesterday. Heck, I'm pretty sure I saw two people run off on the way over here to go make out or something. You don't need to give the principles of thaumaturgy or how the position of the stars affect transmutating metals for now. Just enough so that where ever we head next, we won't end up just like the boy. I'm sure there's stuff that you can go over while we walk back, right?"

Now sure that no one would immediately be strangled, Daniel walked over to August and pulled out his thermos and poured a cup of cocoa. "Thanks to this little lady we now know that this was a full blown kidnapping." Putting the cup into her hands (much as an EMT would) Danny then nodded his head towards Orion saying, "And Orion over here figured out that this kitsune has been preparing for this for a while, as well as places they might frequent. However at best it would require a stake-out and canvasing the area which would take too much time. What about you guys? Did you find anything interesting?"

Orion just watched the others as they descended from their lofty perch and contemplation. He tongued the back of his teeth thoughtfully.

"Sure thing, Batty," he replied to what he rather sapiecentrically thought of as an empty room.

Following behind, the black sheepdog that he was, he watched his footing on the strangely twisting, interwoven branches that served for a stair. The mention of his name snapped his head up. There seemed to be a tension in the room. He scanned faces and body language for meaning. Then he thought better of it. This was not his scene. It would work itself out or not. He listened to Danny. Mister Reasonable. The rest of them were still the Greeks to Orion. He couldn't make much of their hide or their hair. But that would work itself out. Or not. He looked over at August. He really didn't have a handle on any of this really. Thing were not smooth. Why weren't they smooth. He frowned at the thermos in her hands. Something clicked in Orion's brain. Smiling self-congratulatory, he reached over the redhead and plucked the thermos from her hands. Taking a sip he hummed appreciatively. Walking over with the container close to his face, warm steam on his chin he maneuvered through the entangled group. The tension had drawn the walls in. Slipping between Jackson and Konoa he placed a hand on the former's shoulder in what he hoped was a solid, reassuring way. It would work itself out. He smiled at Mary as he wiggled around her to the far wall. She seemed to have her blood up. He reached his pack.

Placing the thermos down on the dirt carefully. He rummaged through his tightly packed bag. Of course they were near the bottom. Reaching past the rest of his belongings he plunged his hand deep into the bottom of the canvas pack. Finally, and with as much flourish as possible he retrieved the objects of his quest. Thick, woolen mittens covered in vaguely Native American-esque knitting patterns whipped through the earthy air. Orion picked up the thermos with his other hand and reversed his trek. Patting Konoa this time he smiled at Max. He had no idea what was up with Max, but it would probably work itself out.

Finally returning to August he proffered the mittens to her.

"Here. They're new." He looked at her expectantly pleased. Like a dog; a sheepdog.

"I'm not asking for history, I'm not asking for a lecture, all I want is some proof that you know what you're doing, right here, right now, and are not going to get us all killed going after this kid. I'M NOT GOING THROUGH THIS SHIT A SECOND TIME!!" Jackson responded to Kanoa before Danny intervened, as her answer did nothing to calm his nerves, and everything to to set them off. God dammit if I'm going to let her drag me any further without some reassurance that she isn't leading us to our deaths

She's just a foolish little girl, how can she provide any such promises, Jackson, she'll lead you to your grave. Jackson went rigid as Apophsis spoke to him, which coincided with when Orion came over to give him a reassuring pat in his shoulder, just barely keeping his face from giving away any emotion. Come now, Jacky-boy, you've already been through hell once, why let her drag you back into the horror you've only just begun to recover from. Let me kill her, Jackson, let me choke the life out of her and you'll all be saved from her idiocy.

Jackson held himself with a shiver, not from the words the spirit spoke, but from the way he almost agreed with it. A part of him wanted to let Apophsis kill Kanoa, was convinced that following her would only lead to another night of agony and death. A bigger part of him, however, knew that doing that would be insane, that this was murder he was contemplating, and the fact he was even considering it was sickening. Jackson backed away from everyone until his back hit a tree someways away, his breathing becoming erratic as he fell into a familiar pit of self-loathing, anger, and sadness, though anger was the main emotion he was feeling, a cold hatred he held for Apophsis that transcended everything else he had ever felt. Now, more than ever, he wanted this spirit out of him, because he knew that it was changing him, draining his humanity and replacing it with something else, something dark and sinister. And as days go by, he found himself caring less and less. This is no way to live, slowly being hollowed out from the inside, feeling your humanity slipping away. And yet, you won't ever let me end it, will you? Apophsis only chuckled in response.

“Yeah, I guessed that,” Maxwell said with a genuinely warm smile, not offended in the slightest by Jackson's comment. Instead he simply got out of the guys way. Being angry was never productive. But doing nothing with that anger was even worse. At least by giving his anger a voice he would get it out into the open. With that said Maxwell had considered following after Jackson just in case he went a little overboard, which with the guy in question was a very real possibility, however in the end had opted against sticking his nose in any further. Besides, with Jackson gone it was left entirely to him to watch the entrance of the ‘tree house’. Which was not entirely a bad deal considering the uncomfortable vibes that he had gotten from the place. It didn't want him in there and the feeling was, as they say, mutual.

And in the end it didn't matter either way since Kanoa came trailing out of the house a few moments later with the others in tow, including Jackson. He listened with rapt attention to the various details that were offered by different members of the group, some more fantastical than others. But considering the ‘talents’ of those assembled not entirely beyond belief. And the more he listened the more sinister the house started to feel. Less like it was rejecting him and more that it meant him physical harm. But also the less nervous he became. The explanations were going fine for a little while, however Jackson seemed to be dancing on the edge of whatever tightrope he seemed to be metaphorically straddling.

He watched as Jackson backed away, consumed by another internal battle that must have been raging within. Unfortunately he didn't know how to help him, at least for the moment. He turned toward Kanoa. “I'm not saying that I agree with Jackson entirely but it’s easy to understand where he’s coming from. Learning through experience has its merits. No doubt. But not all us can go on faith alone,” he said in a neutral tone. He raised his hands in a conciliatory manner and looked between Jackson and Kanoa.

“How about this. For now we just carry on as is, at least until we get back to town. After that, maybe we can have a little talk, clear the air, that kind of thing. And perhaps then you can show us something a little more concrete than theory and folklore. It doesn't have to be much, books, images, documents, things that have been recorded by those who know about this kind of stuff. How about it, Leader?” Maxwell had already spoken more in the last few days than he did in the average week, or at least that was how it felt to him. It was taxing.

"We are literally," Mary paused for emphasis, "Like, literally literally, like, literally I'm using the word literally by it's Oxford friggin' dictionary definition literally..." She stepped into the focus of the cluster of a group.

"LITERALLY." For the moment, all of her attention was on Maxwell, "We are literally in a magic treehouse. This isn't some red neck's backwood shack, dude. We're literally in a magical home made from a tree-- not hollowed out! With a couch somehow perfectly formed, plants that shouldn't exist and like," She pointed to the ethereal glow of the orange flames the vines had been continually producing, "Those."

She sighed, slightly surprised how intensely she had come to defend their 'Leader' "What's more concrete than that? We're here-- we see the magic house, and based on the shit Fox McCloud was growing... just... I can assure you on the sinister shit front. Something worth looking into happened here. I'm talking mind control shit-- coma, brain damage... poison that can make you sleep to death..."

She pointed a finger at Jackson, "It honestly might do this guy some good though!" She didn't catch her rising voice until it was too late-- it was still well under room temperature, but the sudden volume shift stemming from frustration... very un-Mary-like, Mary.

"Seriously though, man. Chill the fuck out, okay?" She held the vial between two fingers, displaying it to Jackson, "Do you see this? It's a fucking potion? I didn't even know potions were a thing anymore, and like..." Casual serenity. Closing her eyes, Mary focused for several seconds on recapturing that feeling, that warmth, that she had felt several minutes prior. The lilac glow surrounded her hands, "We can just make them! Kanoa just taught me how, like just now! It was... um... nevermind! Point is, she'll get around to the other stuff, but you need to give her time." Mary paused, "She's kind of a weirdo, and social interactions are hard-- I think most of us can agree with that," She shifted her glance to Orion, "Well, except Orion. He just has awful tastes in music," facing Jackson and the group at large, she continued, "Still, I don't know. I think we've got some moral responsibility, y'know?" She tilted her head, "Jackson, is your schizophrenic demon being a dick? Tell it to check it's privilege and chill."

From the murky, smokey bogs of her mind, Mary could hear a distinct Latin chattering of a man and a woman and... cackles? Were they laughing at her?

Shut up!

Kanoa's left foot slid backwards, causing dirt to skid across the forested floor. She wasn't often one to respond to intimidation and imposing behavior, however, when Jackson screamed at her a shiver went down her spine as if the hands of death were strangling her. Her eyes narrowed, turning from their mopey appearance to sharp and focused. Jackson didn't scare her, he was just a frightened teenager that didn't know how to deal with the unknown. It was what was inside of him that set her on edge. His grey voice, his ambiguous grey voice changed when he screamed. What color was it? She had never seen anything like it before, the color drew in her attention like a black hole, she felt like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming truck.

She calmed down as she realized there was no danger, Jackson had control for now and that gave her time to think about what he said... But what was there to think about? She believed what she was doing was right, and his words did not convince her otherwise.

She could feel Maxwell turn towards her, she wasn't looking forward to hearing what he had to say on the matter. She didn't make eye contact with him as he spoke, yet she still listened, albeit halfheartedly. She couldn't help it, this situation was looking and sounding too familiar... She suddenly felt like a fourteen year old again, a freshman full of obtuse ideas and far too much enthusiasm, enough to cause people to pay attention to her in much the same way drivers did traffic cones.

"I..." She started, not sure how to finish. Mary did it for her, speaking on her behalf. She watched her speak, confused at first, but then she realized what was happening, it was something she was not accustomed to. Someone was standing up for her, rather, trying to understand her. A smile attempted to creep onto her face, but she quickly wiped it away like a milk mustache. She would need to thank Mary later.

Kanoa cleared her throat, and pulled the rest of the vials from her pockets. "As Mary said, these are potions. Enough were made for all of us. I assure you, I was going to tell you pertinent information when the time called for it. These potions will allow us to breathe underwater for approximately twenty four hours. This is important because we will be heading to the nearby lake. I believe that's where the Fox spirit has taken our missing student."

Kanoa passed out the blue vials to each member of the club, making sure to tell them to be careful with it. "With the information you've all gathered, I've got a pretty clear picture of the kidnapping." She said, beginning to walk. "The spirit is a being that needs to feed on life energy, something easily gained from living things. However, the forests in the area have been scarce as of late for some reason. This caused the Fox to become desperate, and even attempted to sustain them self on the trees here." Kanoa shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. "But plants cannot provide much energy, it would be like us trying to live off of grapes. It may keep the spirit alive, but they will be weak."

Kanoa plucked a hanging leaf from a branch and twirled it in her hand. "So the Fox resorted to using magic potions to enhance it's powers, as shown by the plants on the first floor. That was circumstantial evidence, but with what August told me, I know for sure that the Fox used potions to drug and hypnotize the boy." Kanoa nodded. "Good job, not bad so far for our first case."

It wasn't long before they reached the lake, it was a large body of still blue water that reflected the sky like a mirror. It almost felt like a shame to disturb the calm surface. "There's a cave entrance in this lake, not many people know because the cave is well... rather hard to get to without the proper gear. But since we'll be breathing just fine it's no problem." Kanoa yanked the cork out of the vial in her possession and downed the azure liquid inside. Right away it took effect, she winced in minor pain and held the sides of her neck.

She lowered her hands, revealing newly formed gills. She looked back to the rest of the club. "Don't worry, it's not permanent."