August was done. Just done. Done with being touched despite all protests. Done with things being forced into her hands. Done with dealing with schizophrenic teenagers and demons and done with everyone acting like any of them made sense anymore. The thermos pushed into her hands had given a surge of unnecessary excitement from Daniel's past. Orion made a grandiose show of what she assumed was an attempt to help her. She took the mittens and promptly dropped them to one side, already feeling a creep of emotions from various sources. Nothing was new, if it was touched, it affected her, even slightly. The fabric of the mittens, the stitching, the packaging, everything had been handled at some point. She stared blankly at the arguing faces. Mary stepping up for Kanoa. Jackson barely holding it together. Daniel talking like he was Batman.

Broken wires. August shut down, her eyes glassing over as she pulled back, crushing everything behind her fortress of logic. She ignored the others, hand tightening on her cellphone as she pulled her beanie lower over her head, and stepped away from the group, the writhing mess of emotions. She wanted to go home. She wanted to just cut ties with this group and forget it ever happened. She wanted to go tinker with her machines, with the cold metal that she had gotten so used to. Those emotions weren't anything new. Whether they had been handled or not was a moot point, the emotions that tinged them were hers now, regardless of origin. They were familiar. Logically...logically she should stay and see this through. A missing boy and now proof that they could potentially help him. A moral dilemma? Not really. The argument was in favor of playing the hero. August didn't owe this boy anything. But she could help. These broken wires could help. But the biggest factor, what if it was her, missing, lost, scared, drugged. She'd want someone to help her.

"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."

Panic. A lake? Breathing? Drowning. Smothering. Suffocation. Ignoring the burning question of how Kanoa managed to make such powerful potions when she had asked Mary to help her even identify the herbs in the first place, not uncommon, she could have known the names and not the appearance, or always had them labeled when around her, August jerked and felt her heart start racing. She followed, trailing behind the group. Her courage gave out at the sight of the lake, and she stopped a large distance away from it.

"No."

She held her arms tightly, green eyes locked on the water. The magic and sheer miraculous growth of gills on Kanoa, instead of filling her with wonder and delight, instead only flooded her mind with images of the gills giving out at the bottom of the lake. Smothering. Fading conscious. The pain of breathing water, of her lungs filling up, of every cough causing more and more to enter and stop her breathing, of every silent scream not even causing bubbles to rise anymore. Of losing everything. Of becoming nothing. Losing control of your limbs while still being conscious and screaming and screaming and screaming for someone to just take your hand and pull you out.

"I'm not going in. I can't swim. And before ANY of you touch me or try to change my mind, if you even attempt to drag me closer I will fucking hurt you, so just don't touch me. I don't care about the potion, I don't-I just...I'm not going in there."

Her legs gave out and she slumped down, sitting heavily on the dirt as she stared fixated on the lake. It wasn't so much the water itself that scared her. She could be around water. She could splash in a pool as long as it was shallow. It was the fear that someone would try to take her into the water. That someone would force her, that this group would ignore her pleas and drag her in.

"I'll wait up here. I'll be look out. I'm not going in there and don't you dare try to make me. I'll stay up here and watch your stuff."

The redhead was NOT going any closer, and she looked ready to bite the throat out of anyone who attempted to change her mind, physically or otherwise.

“Cute, really cute. Maybe I said that wrong. My bad. But I also know that you’re not an idiot, Mary, so you know damn well what I meant. At no point did I say that I was doubting what I was seeing. All I wanted to know was how did Kanoa come by all this knowledge. There is no way in hell that that is an unreasonable question,” Maxwell said calmly, shaking his head in disbelief that his comment was being taken with such hostility. He had thought that he had been quite reasonable, his intention having been to simply calm the tension. Instead he had managed to inflame certain members. He guessed that something must have happened between Mary and Kanoa to invoke such a response. Not his business.

“So as inspiring as the whole magic tree house is my point still stands. After we’re done with this little adventure I want to…you know what, never mind. I’m not going to argue with you,” he said coldly. “But I’m not going to apologise either, so let’s just leave it at that,” he said, taking the potion carefully from Kanoa and holding the vial up to the light, before dropping the potion carefully into his jacket pocket. The sight of gills on Kanoa’s neck made his own neck itch. He endeavoured not to give in to the sensation, which only made it worse.

It was as they approached the lake that August seemed to lose it, as if some mental dam had just burst, releasing everything at once. Maxwell had no idea what had happened, or why, as he had spent next to no time alone with her, never mind in conversation. In short he knew nothing about her, save for her ability. Not that it would have mattered either way. As was his natural inclination he immediately moved toward her but stopped before he reached her. It had been his intention to reach out toward her but her words stopped him dead in his tracks. She was deadly serious. He could hear it in her voice and see it in her eyes. So instead of going any closer he knelt down in front of her a good distance away, well outside of arms reach.

He smiled warmly at August. “Well then, I guess I'm on guard duty again huh? There’s no way I'm leaving someone up here on their own, even if they tell me too.” Maxwell stood up and put his hands in his pockets, a gesture to show that he wasn't going to try and touch her in any way, shape or form. “If I get too close don’t hesitate to tell me to piss off, k? I'm not that easy to offend.”

Jackson didn't follow the others as they walked off, focusing more on calming his mind and rooting himself in the moment. Whenever he thought back to the past, it always went back to that night, and that made it very easy for Apophsis to take control. Something that he really didn't need right now. Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out his silver switchblade, looking over the intricate details in the engraving, the glistening of it's sharp edge. He placed his thumb down on the blade and drew it down, hissing slightly at the pain as it cut his skin. It was a shallow cut, but deep enough to draw blood, the crimson liquid rising up from the cut, pooling slightly before the wound overflowed and it dripped down from the appendage to the forest floor.

Marvelous, isn't it, the feeling of cutting flesh. Take this blade and slice that bossy bitch to pieces. She thinks she's better than you are, you can see it in her eyes, so pull them out and devoured them right in front of these fools. Make them run, make them scream, save them from their doom by becoming the monster, give in to me and just let your mind fade into nothingness. Apophsis' snake-like whisper, instead of drawing him into the insanity, brought forth a deep anger, and from that anger, he felt strength pool into him. He hated the world, the world hated he him, and he hated himself, a cycle that began with him, so why not end it. Any cycle of hatred couldn't be good for those involved, so in this line of thinking, the world would be a better place for him. . . and he be better off with out the world to fuck with his head.

Taking the blade in a solid grip, he steadied his breathing emptied his mind of all thoughts but one. It wasn't complex, nor overly meaningful in the long run for anybody. It was a simple question that he asked himself every time he did tried this. Will anyone miss you if you die? and the answer was always the same. His father and mother had always preferred his older sisters in everything, leaving him to the way side no matter what he did to catch their attention. They were the successful ones, they never had any flaws, while he was the one who only got their love, their attention, their pity when he all of his friends, his real family, had been murdered. And even that hadn't lasted, as he hadn't told his parents about what he was doing to day, where he would be, or that he was even going out. He had just left, and even though they knew his number, they hadn't even tried calling once. I'm nothing to anyone, not anyone here, not anyone anywhere.

Don't be that way Jacky-boy, I'll always need you, you know that.

Looking at the blade, he remembered what Mary had said to him, to have this demon inside him 'check it's privilege', as she had put it. Show Apophsis who was really in control. He began to spin the knife deftly around his finger, not really paying attention as he stared off into space. You're right, Apophsis, you do need me, don't you? Jackson chuckled, twirling the knife one more time, before he suddenly jabbed it right at his right eye as fast and as hard as he could. He let out a gasp as the blade bit deeply into flesh and even nicking bone, a good deal of blood coming from the wound. Anyone looking back would only see hims sitting there, holding his eye with one hand, and an etheral claw jutting from his elbow with the wrist of his other hand in it's grasp, soon making him drop the bloody knife it held.

Still holding his eye, he got up from his place on the ground, the claw fading into mist to recede back into his arm, and picked up the blade only to pocket it soon after. From his mouth came a dry chuckle, his visible eye holding a sense of victory as he walked forward, dropping his other hand to show the damage that had been done. His eye, trailing a fading silver flame, was on harmed, but there was a rather ugly gash carved into his cheek, and it was bleeding somewhat profusely, though the glow was soon reinvigorated as a ghostly version of the cheek formed over it, applying pressure to the area and keeping it any more blood from coming out, even shifting in some veins so that the blood could still flow through.

Don't ever forget that, Apophsis, you need me a lot more than I need you, and I'm a hormonal, depressive, neglected, suicidal teenager. Not a good host when you think about it, is it? Another chuckle came from him as he walked on to the beach where the others where, probably thinking he was losing it. He wasn't sure they weren't right about that. So you better keep on your fucking toes, and check your damn privilege, or else I might decide to use something a bit more certain than a knife. Like a train, or jumping of a bridge, maybe even a cliff if I'm really feeling dramatic. Think you can prevent that, ya demon bastard. The lack of response from inside him made his smile all the wider.

Walking up to Mary, he gave her a whopping bear hug, actually spinning her around a little before setting her down and holding her shoulders with a large grin on his face. "I can't thank you enough for that advice, seriously. Hell, if it wouldn't be awkward as hell, I'd kiss you right now. Now then, since I was dealing with an internal crisis on how much my life sucks, I missed all of what was just said, so can somebody run me through it again, and is August all right, she's not looking too good." He let go off Mary and started digging into his back to pullout his first aid get, the ghost cheek fading a way, followed by a sudden gush of blood from his wound, though he quickly stifled it with some cotton, using his other hand to douse some cotton balls in alcohol, then attached them to some gauze tape, before applying it to the wound, That would do for a temporary fix for now, he'd have to stitch it up when he got home. "Man, that is going to leave an ugly as fuck scar." He absentmindedly commented as he fixed himself up, not really paying attention to what anyone else was doing at the moment.

It was only after Orion made a move to try and give August the gloves that Danny realized what an oaf he'd been. It had only been five minutes later and he had forgotten her condition, too swept up in the wonder and mystery that surrounded him. Bullshit he chided himself, you may be using this as an excuse but you've been a selfish asshole before you met the others. Face it, it's not being the sheriff's son that drives people away it's the fact that you- Danny clamped down on the thought. There was enough negativity going around already without Daniel adding to it. Besides if he were to 'flare' his abilities while in this mentality he'd do more harm than good. With that thought the boy gave a nervous glance to the branches above them and stepped as far out of their path without retreating from the group. Biting his lip Danny instead occupied his mind with the myriad of questions that popped up.

What was Jackson saying about not wanting this "to happen again?" And what was Mary saying about him having schizophrenic demons? It could be Mary was just talking about what started to seem was a habit of acting out but the way she said it left him wondering if it was something more. After all, Kanoa had literally just grown gills in front of them. Speaking of, it seemed out of character for Mary to actually give a shit. She was a whole lot like Orion in she tried to act cooler than a cucumber in a bowl of menthol, except she usually had a literal smoke screen to aid her in appearing aloof. Between her flushed skin, dilated eyes and impassioned speech Danny could swear that she was hot for teacher but dismissed the thought. After all, who becomes infatuated with someone so quickly? Whatever. What they did when they weren't on the clock wasn't his business until it caused harm to their merry band of misanthropes.

Whether or not that was what was currently happening was up to debate and so Daniel held his tongue and instead asked Kanoa something that seemed more pertinent to the situation at hand. "It's good to know it's temporary how long does it last? We should probably know so we don't end up as bloated grey blobs heading down river. And while it's obvious by the fact that you aren't dancing around right now that it's a counter-current gas exchange that also ensures that we won't have to worry about hypothermia -thanks to the wonders of endothermy- how do we plan to see? Does this plasmid also enable the ability to see underwater clearly? Or in low-light vision? How about water pressure? While I'd like to think we aren't going anywhere that could crush a human's body, we already know that this monster is desperate, not to mention sloppy. Seriously though, how long does this thing last?"

Rubbing the back of his neck Danny added. "The lake is a while away on foot, and I don't like the idea of us burning time when you already took a swig of your own potion. If we head back we can all pile into my truck. With it, and my power we'll be able to get their fast enough to swing by people's houses and pick up needed supplies- like swim-suits. Really I just don't want to go into this creature's lair when exhausted." After all. If we're going to be exhausted and in the dark about what's going on why should we do the same thing with a Japanese monstrosity?

"And is anyone else weirded out by how unweirded out we are by this?"

"And where do you think you're going, young lady?"

A stern voice pulsed through Mary's body, it felt like the jolt of taser and had the effects of Medusa's stare. The screen door slapped shut as her grip on it loosened, Mary turned to face her mother, a hapless sort of smile painted on a cringing face.

A child caught stealing from the cookie jar.

Several paces behind her stood a tall maternal figure, arms crossed, dressed in pink kitty pajama bottoms and a white tank top. Mary turned slowly, the soft pat of her all stars against the beige linoleum kitchen floors sounding like explosions in her ears compared to the silence of the young morning. She offered up a humorless chuckle and a slight shrug in response, both motions blended with a yawn. She really needed a cup of coffee...

"Umm, y'know... nowhere?"

The Mother, Diana Janicot was an eerily perfect older version of Mary. If the woman were to cut her longer, graying hair you may just mistake her for Mary's taller sister-- the only difference between the two was skin tone. If Mary was tiramisu with a thin layer of whipped cream, then Diana was a cup of coffee with just a bit too much creamer.

One was bitter, black liquid sorrow revitalizing and the other was sweet, fluffy all the flavor of coffee without the burn risk-- both were well traveled and vaguely ethnic.

"Nowhere?" Diana replied, an edge to her voice, concern in her eyes, "Miryam, is it a boy?"

Mary's reflex was a weak scoff.

"Right. Yeah, no, it's not some guy." Mary's hand gripped the door handle, "Since when do you care where I am anyway?"

"I care!" Diana took a step forward, dawn's light began to illuminate the kitchen a pale gold, the gleam revealed a fresh tear rolling down her cheek, "I just want to know where you'll be, please, give me that?"

"Mom..."

"The cemetery? Mary-- it's too cold, a cold front came in from Canada last night, you should bring yourself a coat!"

"Mom, chill," she thoughtlessly grabbed the first leather thing to enter her hands from a nearby coat rack, "I'm not even--"

"Are you going to be smoking? I don't like you smoking Maryam. It's not good for you. You're too young to ruin your lungs..."

"Mom."

"What? In some kind of hurry? So it is a boy?"

"No, Mom--"

"Oh my God... You aren't going to see a girl are you?"

"What? Mom--"

"Maryam Hollis Janicot, I'll be frank with you; I want grandchildren!"

"What?"

"Grandchildren, Maryam. The Janicot bloodline is more important than petty crushes! We have direct ties to the Wabanaki tribesmen, dating back to almost 400 years ago! We owe it to our ancestors to keep the bloodline going."

"Mom, I don't even..."

Diana leaned against the counter as she began to speak, a reminiscent tone in her voice, "You think I didn't have those crushes in my day? I've known hundreds of women in my lifetime Maryam, perhaps thousands. But those flings wouldn't have kept the Wabanaki blood strong in the Janicot clan!"

Mary tilted her head, "Wait, two women is enough for a clan?"

"Hush, Maryam! The point is-- it wasn't easy to track down your father, a full blooded Wabanaki Indian-- and I knew he wasn't going to stay-- that didn't matter though. All I've ever wanted was you. The spirits willed it, hundreds of years ago-- with each new life we create Maryam, the Morning Dawn Men live on. We live on, in you." By now Diana's hand was planted firmly against Mary's chest.

"I'm just saying maybe I'd be honoring the spirits or whatever if two women can be considered a clan."

"MARYAM."

"What? It feels like maybe my Wabanaki heritage is telling me to find some dime and start a new tribe or whatever with her. Hey, if two women can be a clan can they also be a tribe? Or is that just two guys? Can I found two girl lesbian tribe? Can I call it quest?"

"MARYAM, I AM SERIOUS." Her voice boomed.

Mary gave a weak shrug, "Okay...? Christ, sorry."

"Thank you." One second the fury of a tempest, the next, a still lake.

"It's whatever..." Her mother was just one of those people. She was fine with going on and on about the importance of ancestry and spirits or whatever-- but spirits forbid you want to talk to her about something personal... like sexuality, or perhaps dreams, or even with something as simple as conversational humor... She'd snap. She was a woman who lived in her own reality, and after a lifetime of dealing with it, Mary knew exactly how to lie to her and game it. "I'm just going out for a school club, it's really not a big deal."

"A club!" Diana narrowed her eyes with suspicion, "This early? And on a Saturday?"

Mary shrugged, creaking open the door, "What can I say? It's run by a real weirdo."

"Who? I want to know the name of whoever is worth it to get you up this early on a Saturday! I may know this kid's mother..."

"Ohh..." That was unexpected. Mary paused in thought as she inched out of the widening crack she had made in the door, "Kanoa? You've probably never heard of her"

Suddenly, a strange look came across Diana's face. As if she had just swallowed something sour, her eyes flicked away from her daughter's, "Hmmm."

90% outside now, Mary risked asking, "Is something wrong?"

"Oh!" The gaiety returned to Diana, "No, nothing my Maryam! Enjoy your day, don't be too late getting back!"

And with that, came a sigh of relief. Mary was outside. Next stop was...

The sight of the Morning star reminded Mary of how little sleep she was running on.

...Starbucks, then the park.








An amethyst stream of haze left Mary's lips. The smoke reminded her of the aura she had within her, the lilac colored fog that she could bring from within her into the physical world. Kanoa had seemed surprised with how quickly Mary picked up on the natural ability, thinking on it though, it felt about as easy to Mary as lighting one of her lavender beauties. What was it that brought about this feeling? This wasn't an altschmerz, the thought was a new blackguard on her consciousness.

Had she smoked that much? That it's hueful essence had become an indistinguishable part of her on some pata'phsyical level. Was she to believe the match in was a coincidence? Both like Barney's hide. A consequate of the anonymous Prometheus to her in night terrors. In a moment, it didn't surprise her too much.

In another moment, it concerned her as the group walked through the forest.

Lachesism struck as she inhaled again of the burning herbs. She dearly wanted to cough. To feel some negative sensation that may instantaneously condition some Pavlovian response in her crown. She thought of coughing. Not quite. She thought of thinking of coughing, perhaps thinking of the thought of the negative immediate response to smoke might have some effect? Smoke was something that the Mary within the thoughts of the Mary in the thoughts of the Mary who thought of coughing for the Mary in the lowest layer of the meta stacked Pavlovian-Tolstoy cake she was creating would find repulsive. If she thought it was. She didn't.

She was thinking of thinking of thinking of thinking of coughing. Meanwhile, Maxwell huffed after his hissy fit.

"And today, I thought about nothing."

That the thick vapor might not feel like it was some part of her-- she already felt that had at least two parts to many. Dualism in flaws was something she could handle, quintessential to one of ambedo, some would say. At least two.

Three though-- wouldn't that would be a strike? In like, sports? Like three strikes to score a touchdown on the green with a soccerball... with a hockey stick pigskin? Then the bigman slamdunk alleyoops for the Nascar?

She simply didn't... couldn't know enough about it all. Sports included. This was adding on to Mary's collection of unanswered question her occhiolic mind was only mildly perturbed as gathering in the smokey dust of her subconscious. She trusted Kanoa-- or maybe Mary was biased, maybe dualism associated with having ones blood run like a drive of carmine jackrabbits chased by Mourning Star braves had something to do with it. A hand made it's way to her cheek; warmth associated with the purple fire she could bring to her hands met the warmth of blood gushing under the dermis.

What eustress!? Gucci.

Jesus Christ, shut up you nerd...

Mary's egoic sphere was established as she listened to her music. The group walked in silence to the location where they'd, presumably, be swimming. The sounds of nature, 120 something pound feet crunching temperate leaves, and hormonal huffs were lost on her for a moment. Words bombarded her ears through magic earbuds, the other music was lost on her, she wasn't even considering it-- perhaps to the chargin' of John Cage and Moondog. The lavender essence was who she was.

She didn't know much.

She didn't really know anything!

But she knew that she was comfortable telling herself that.



lel

Mary pulled off her headphones as the group stood over the rill. August was having nothing to do with the swimming mission... monachopsis perhaps? A tilt of Mary's head indicated that Mary was interested in her-- a socially accepted level of interest. She wouldn't ask, of course. She couldn't break the medium of existence between the two to actually ask. August seemed plucky enough. Whatever it was, it probably wouldn't be helped with pixie dust and pop culture references.

A swim sounded lovely to Mary. She was tired, the brisk water would probably help wake her out, and she might have another heart attack if she had another cup of coffee, no matter how damn fine.

Mary was lifted off the ground. She didn't react, besides the derpy stare that naturally occurs when on is spun around by the fellow who moments ago was speaking to himself. As Mary registered completely what was happening, she was set down-- she was face to face with a smiling Jackson. His pupils were glittering, bottomless and opaque and the smile, to her, was genuine. "I can't thank you enough for that advice, seriously. Hell, if it wouldn't be awkward as hell, I'd kiss you right now."

"I'd kiss me right now, too." She said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "I am very kissable."

He continued: "Now then, since I was dealing with an internal crisis on how much my life sucks, I missed all of what was just said, so can somebody run me through it again, and is August all right, she's not looking too good."

Nodus tollens

She briefly regarded August, "I think she's dealing with a lot inside right now. I really couldn't imagine what it's like to feel the emotions of those you touch-- I barely feel my own. And that's on top of this..." She downed her potion as an example, it tasted like sour milk and saltwater. "...It's stuff to make you question the entire narrative of your life." Now kneeling, Mary took off her shoes, At least, It's what I'm feeling. I don't know, guess I'm projecting? Anyway..."

--Narc anecdoche. Was all that really apropos here, Daniel?

"Nah." Mary responded, a pile sat near August, her shoes, socks and electronics all laid in a neat little nest, she removed her jacket, "Who cares? Just go for it and don't do anything retarded. The more we overthink, the more time the fox has the kid."

And with that, Mary charged for the water. Bracing herself for coolness-- the moment before she leap from shore, in one swift moment, off came tank top-- and then she jumped for it, flying through the air for an instant before splashing down.

As she surfaced, she registered two feelings; icy coolness, and renewed. Her deadpan resumed. "Do you get it? I'm like Pussy Riot."

Kanoa's ears perked upon hearing August refuse to enter the lake with the rest of them. She couldn't rightly say she was surprised the girl didn't want to go on this underwater excursion, in fact, she was close to asking her to go home. Her sensory ability was a heavy burden to carry. Being forced to experience the feelings of others clearly took a toll on her mental state. From what she understood of her ability, those that possessed it tended to be reclusive individuals, as forced empathy engendered hermit like behavior. Knowing this, Kanoa was surprised by how extroverted August could be. She still seemed to prefer the company of electronics, perhaps because they had no emotions to pawn onto her.

"You've done enough already, I won't force you to come, August." Kanoa said, glancing back to the lake. Maxwell decided to stay behind with August, she simply nodded, there was no reason he absolutely had to come.

She turned to Daniel, who was asking a multitude of questions regarding the specifics of the waterbreathing potion. "Twenty four hours, remember?" She said. "As for everything else, the potion takes care of it. We'll be able to see, talk, and hear just fine. I would stop applying logic to these things if I were you. Magic tends to break traditional laws of physics. The more you try to rationalize what you see using basic scientific method the less you'll understand." Kanoa cupped her chin and looked down at the still lake surface. "Hmm, I suppose you'll have to learn an entirely new method of thinking."

She looked back to see Jackson twirling Mary around for some reason, she really wasn't paying much attention to their conversation. Jackson was bleeding, for some other reason. Should she even bother asking? She had been keeping an eye on him to make sure he didn't hurt anyone, she didn't know how to stop him from hurting himself. She let out a sigh and started to remove her school uniform. Thankfully she had on undergarments that were indistinguishable from something you'd see someone working out in on a hot day. Black compression shorts and a sports bra that left much to the imagination.

Mary was the first to jump in, leaping into the lake with the flourish of a kid at summer camp. "Ya know when I first heard the name Pussy Riot I expected to see a group of cats acting belligerent, super disappointed." Kanoa waded into the water beside Mary, and looked back to the others.

"Alright, let's try to stick together everyone, it shouldn't take long to reach the cave." She said. She dunked her head under the water, and attempted to take a breath. It was a strange feeling breathing underwater, it felt as if she should be drowning as she took in water. However, it was only a reflex that soon went away. She swam deeper into the lake, stopping when she noticed something large beneath her. It was a sunken fishing boat, pale and green from natural weathering. Kanoa floated down onto the bow, planting her feet on the ship. She could see the cave entrance not too far away, once the others arrived they would head inside.

"Damn it... damn it, damn it, damn it." Daniel murmured under his breath. He knew she was right. The sooner he came to terms with him knowing nothing the sooner he'd be at peace. For the first time in his life, Daniel may have had to admit to not knowing what to do and he hated it. This feeling of helplessness, of having no control. Ever since he figured out his powers, and that they may very well have caused his mother's death he had focused on never letting it happen again, by purifying mind, body and soul. He had found training in Krav Maga a local deli owner who was an ex-Mossad agent who had come to America to be with his husband. He had worked at libraries and his aunt's store reading on religion and philosophy and the occult, trying to figure out where his powers came from and how to suppress them. He had given it his all in all aspects of his life to take care of his few living relatives at the expense of living his own life and for what? For all of it to be gone in a flash as some maniac pixie girl to come along and tell him what he had always feared: None of what he did mattered. And now he was going to do one of the things he had feared most. Being in his underpants in front of a group of strangers.

Mixing the potion into what was left of his cocoa, Daniel noted, "Not even the taste of rice milk can hide this stuff." Looking away Daniel started blushing head to toe and asked sheepishly, "Uh, do you guys mind looking away? I'd uh, prefer it if I wasn't watched." before he began to strip, keep his eyes glue to the ground, afraid that if he looked up he could see their jeering. While one could describe his physique as somewhere between a dancer and a Greek statue the lad like every other teenager had been self-conscious of his appearance. Now down to his silver and black compression shorts (which were much more revealing than he'd like) the young traceur sifted through his bag to grab his khukri and the web-weave scabbard/belt it was in. Strapping it around his waist, he twisted too and fro, before doing a standing backflip into a planche. Landing on his palms, he proceeded to stand up on his finger tips holding it for about half a minute, before widening his knees to about the width of his shoulders and slowly going into a handstand, letting legs dangle loosely over his head before 'popping' off his hands and tucking forward to land on his feet. Satisfied that his mobility wasn't hindered Danny dashed forward and did a Kick The Moon straight into the water.

Shocked by the cold of it, Daniel sucked in water but found that there was no sense of choking, let alone drowning. It had seemed that between his breaking the surface and his sucking the water in the potion had taken effect. Taking in a few more gulps he could feel his sense of dread slowly ebbing away, marveling at the feeling of warm water hit his shoulders in pulses not unlike exhaling. Feeling the lines of his gills Daniel was fascinated by the way they acted on their own accord. If he weren't feeling them now, he'd never know they were there. Breaking the surface with a gasp Daniel pushed his shaggy hair out of his eyes and said with a smile plastering his face, "Alright, even I got to admit, this is pretty fucking amazing."

Fire, ash and smoke. The man stood in the center of the main room of the tree house, his arms held out either side almost in a beckoning gesture, trails of ethereal red light coiling down from around his arms like the tendrils of a plant. His eyes were closed, his lips moving subtly and silently as he communed with something that had no voice that could be heard. It answered his questions, asking nothing in return. He smiled, the coils of ethereal light fading like the mist that they so resembled. He opened his eyes and looked around once more, with new found understanding confirming that which he had already suspected. The young lad had most definitely been here, but he was here no more. As had the brats whose presence he had felt long before his arrival.

With a knowing expression he reached into the inner pocket of his long coat and removed a well-worn book, its pages stuffed full of notes, images and information. He flipped open the book seemingly at random, though in truth he opened the book on the exact page that he desired, unseen hands guiding the pages. On the page before him was text in several languages, with an image of a fox neatly drawn into the top corner of the page. He read for a moment before flipping the book closed once again before replacing it into the confines of his coat.

The ‘tree house’ as the kids had called it stood still and silent in his presence, like a living thing holding its breath, hoping that the monster would go away. Of course the real monster was no longer here, no doubt secluding itself beneath the lake with its latest victim. A pity that he had no arrived back in town sooner. That was the problem with rumour, it often arrived after the fact. But it was not a matter of any great concern either way. He was far more interested in the group who had come before him. No normal people group have perceived the entrance to this house, nor bypassed the illusions that shrouded the area like a fine mist. However they were human, more or less, which meant that they were tethered. Or so he assumed. At least one of them was familiar to him.

The man stepped out of the house and could almost feel the house relax in response. He had considered destroying the house. It would have been easy enough, however it would have been naught but a waste of his energies. All that it required was the death of the monster. Kill the monster that had created this place and the house would soon crumble and rot. Of course that was assuming that the tethered misfits had the stomach to do what was needed. If they didn’t then he would do so himself. It was the only way to stop any more victims appearing. And there would be more. There always was.



Maxwell stood on a small rise in the land that let him look over the lake, his jacket swaying ever so slightly in the light breeze. Ideally he would have liked to have gone with the others, the potion and its effects offering a tantalising experience that was hard to ignore. However he was also aware of August’s obvious fear of the water and so had elected to stay behind with her, unwilling to leave her on her own. The ground beneath his feet was soft and covered in grass and leaves, so he decided to sit for a while, his arms and legs crossed in a rather uptight fashion. As always he wore a near permanent look of irritation that bore no relation to his actual mood, hidden slightly beneath his upturned hood and the shadow that it cast over his face.

Though he had agreed to stay with August out of concern for her wellbeing he wasn’t entirely sure what to say or do to help her. She had seemed pretty distraught at the time and he had been able to react to that, but now that they were alone he was at a loss for what to say. How did you console someone without touching them? He was silent for a while as he tried to think of something to say. Then again did she even want to talk? Perhaps she simply wanted to be left alone, in which case he was just being a nuisance. “Shit,” he said under his breath, realizing that he was perhaps a little out of his depth. He sighed loudly and dipped his head.

Jackson frowned a little as he heard that they were going underwater, not really feeling comfortable taking off his jacket. It wasn't because he was insecure about his body or anything, he kept himself in good shape, but mostly it had to do with his scar. The scar would lead to questions, questions to flashbacks, flashbacks to pain, pain to suffering, suffering to a soft, depraved happiness. Anytime he went back to that moment in time, he could''t keep himself together, his defenses would crumble, and Apophsis would get out. It had happened twice before, and each of those times, someone had paid the ultimate price for his weakness.

Jackson took off everything except his thermal long sleeve and underwear, which were just some regular boxers, and strapped the holster's for all of his knives to his waist. He took the silver blade out of his pocket and cleaned the blood from it on the grass, not going into any particular care to hide his doing so. Once he felt he was ready, he picked up the potion and chugged it, resisting the rug to spit it out, it tasted terrible. Once he felt the gills pop out, which was the weirdest fucking sensation ever and made him want to scratch his neck really bad, he waded into the water, shivering a little at the cold before the magic took effect. It as still cold, bearable so. He gave a wave to Maxwell and August as they stayed on land.

"Later guys, wish us luck."

With that down, he dove into the water, taking a test breath near the surface o see if t worked. Once he was sure that he wasn't drowning, he than began to swim over to wear everyone else was, the row boat, but stopped when he saw Daniel messing around up top. Swimming back up, he pooped his head out of the surface behind the guy, and gave him a tap on the shoulder. "Hey man, we've got to go down right now. Marvel at being Aquaman later, we've got a kid to find . . . though I must say that being part fish is the coolest thing ever, man, if only I had my hands on this stuff back home, it'd be awesome." Jackson smiled at the idea, considering asking Mary to whip him up some potion for his own personal use, since he doubted Kanoa would help him out, and to be honest, he didn't really want her help. He still thought that they were lacking info, or a general plan, but he decided he'd argued enough for now. He'd just to his best with the cards he'd been dealt, even if that had been a grand total of one.

Once Daniel dived down, Jackson would follow, diving all the way down to were Kanoa was staying on some sunken rowboat, staring at the opening to the cave. A dark creepy cave with only one exit and who knows what inside. I really hope I don't regret this.

August watched the others strip and leave their possessions near her. She barely even registered the scanty bodies in front of her, eyes glazed over as she stared at the shoreline quietly. Maxwell volunteered to stay behind with her. She stared at him for a moment before her eyes went back to the water. Kanoa spoke to her, but the red head again didn't take her eyes off the water.

"If I get too close don’t hesitate to tell me to piss off, k? I'm not that easy to offend."

The redhead still never broke her stare from the lake, but she nodded.

"You've done enough already, I won't force you to come, August."

Another nod, as the redhead calmed down, aware that no one seemed to want to push their luck and pull her towards the water or explore the matter further. She pulled her knees up to her chest, but remained staring at the water. Eventually, everyone was gone, slipping beneath the surface and it was quiet. Everyone was gone. Except for her and Maxwell. The boy was clearly uncomfortable, didn't need her powers to see that much. August took a deep, slow breath, eyes shut for a moment before she adjusted her glasses and flicked her eyes to him. Everyone seemed to be avoiding the topic, wanting to ask but not wanting to be the first to do so. How much of it was them assuming she was unstable, feeding off the emotions around her, unable to control herself because of her powers? That was fine. She was alright with that. They weren't friends. She didn't know them enough to let them in yet. Something far deeper than base understanding. August could connect with anyone, but no one would ever be able to connect with her. So many inputs. So much data.

Sometimes the overflow was suffocating.

"Thanks. For staying with me, I mean. If the Kitsune or whatever decided to grab me up here while I was alone, it'd be pretty problematic. Or you know...a bear or something. Bobcats don't live up here right? I'm terrible with animals."

She was quiet for a moment before digging around in her backpack, finally breaking her stare from the gentle ripples in the lake. Not even bubbles. Of course not, they were breathing just fine. Just. Fine. August dug out two granola bars, then butt-shimmied closer to Maxwell, holding one out to him. She had regained control of her emotions, of her powers. But she was still emotionally drained, for lack of a better phrase.

"Here...I don't know about you, but I'm starving. Sitting in another person's mind apparently take it out of you, heh."

She pulled a water bottle out of the pack as well, sitting cross legged as she nibbled on the bar, trying to avoid looking at the water.

"Course...now I feel a bit like a coward...walked into a magical living house...chasing after a kidnapping spirit beast...and a lake beat me."

She ran a hand through her long hair, giving a sigh and a stifled chuckle as she shut her eyes, fiddling with her cell phone.

Orion was silent in the journey to the lake, taking up the rearguard position. He brooded over the events of the day and those that preceded it. He was good at brooding. Rarely did he give off the sense of existential angst that craved and considered craven by the youth of the Western world. Instead he usually managed to maintain the cool facade that came so easily to him. He craned his neck as if peering into a place that only the truly perspicacious could see. He always looked like he was leaning casually on a wall, even when he wasn't. He slipped trough the world with a synchronicity that belied his distracted mien.

Orion considered the day. He had seen things which had before only existed in the realm of idle fantasy and creative exploration. A supernal structure erected upon a floral foundation. Exhibitions of extraordinary talents among his fellow freaks and frauds. Most were fiery and fantastical, in appearance or at least in the effect they produced on their would-be wielders. Orion, however, had no such means at his disposal. His 'power' much like his manner of introspection, was much subtler than that, and just about as useful. He did not know what code the sun was trying to signal him in as it flicked and flashed in front of his eyes, or the meaning of babel speak that emanated from sweat of his comrades, it was, like his slightly frowning visage, fascinatingly and frustratingly inscrutable. Orion looked down into his palm at the little blue vial. A magic potion. How about that. It had been an interesting day. He was supposed to drink it. He had probably imbibed stranger things because of peer pressure. Popping the top it poured the liquid into his mouth. He swished it around his mouth. It tasted to him of jellyfish and mouthwash. Actually, it didn't taste like anything he could define. He swallowed.

He watched the rest of his merry band strip to skivvies and slip into the water. If he didn't think they were crazy before, he sure did now. Their underclothes were going to be soaked when this was done, he didn't envy them marching home in them. Shrugging, Orion tore off his coat and peeled off the sweater and shirt beneath. Orion had never been embarrassed about his body. Why the hell should he. He looked good. He knew that. Usually he managed to avoid the obsessive narcissistic displays, the flexing, stretching, and posturing that often accompanied such self-aware, early bloomers. Kicking off his boots his let them scatter on the grass with the rest of his clothes. Pants and boxers came next, together in one smooth motion. He kicked them off too. He stood for a moment, placing his hands on his newly naked hips and just basked in the sun and wind on his skin. It was brisk, but nice. He wouldn't want to be out in it all day, but it was nice to feel the elements intimately for a moment. Lifting his feet to remove his socks he wiggled his long toes in the grass. A sense of serenity melted the remaining ruminations from his mind. No longer adrift. This was Orion's element, he lifted his knees stretching, twisting his torso and folding one arm over his chest and then the other. Just a little warm-up. Whether they thought it cool or not, it was always a good idea to limber up before any kind of exercise. Besides, he reiterated to himself, he wasn't worried about gawkers. He was long and he was strong, gifted with the physical accouterments that his grandfather liked to joke was a small reparation from Rousseau for slavery. He had a swimmers physique, but Orion never considered himself much of a swimmer. There wasn't all that much opportunity for any kind of competitive practice of the sport in Oakenheim, and Orion preferred team sport. He was still pretty confidant in his performance in water, and confidence, as he had often learned, was key to success in most endeavors.

Bouncing on the balls of his feet he burst into a run, smoothly jogging to the edge of lake before diving high and long into the water with very little splashback. A moment later the water exploded with flailing limbs and curses.

"Motherfucking assfuck!" Orion howled and yelped. Whatever else Orion might be, he was not, in point of fact, a cold-weather creature.

Maxwell caught August glancing at him but said nothing of it. If she wanted to talk then he would talk, if not he would simply stay silent and keep her company in silence. Both options were fine with him. His number one concern at present was for her safety. After a short while August broke the silence between them, causing Maxwell to look directly toward her. He made certain that he didn’t move any closer to her so as to not distress her in any way. However she seemed to have calmed down somewhat, sitting to his side on the grass covered rise, which also put him more at ease.

Maxwell had some limited understanding of her desire to avoid physical contact, hence the reason he dressed in such heavy, covering clothes. Only unlike August who did so to protect herself he was more concerned with protecting others. In truth his unconscious ability to wither the life from the plants that he came into contact with had so far caused no harm to anybody, at least as far as he was aware of. However he couldn’t help but worry if he was inflicting something far less obvious upon them that he could not see. As he had no desire to risk it he had taken a cautious approach to the situation, at least until he knew more. So it took him by surprise when August shimmied closer toward him. He accepted the granola bar hesitantly.

“Your welcome, and thank you,” he said, not really knowing what else to say. He looked out over the water as he took a bite out of the bar. He hated the taste of these things but he was hungry enough not to care all that much. He turned back toward her as she talked about her fear of the water and how it had been more paralysing then anything she already experienced today. He smiled at her and shook his head. “No, I don’t think you’re a coward,” he said in a warm tone. “A little crazy maybe, but no more so than the rest of us,” he added on with a mischievous smile. He turned back toward the lake. The surface was calm and still.

“I’m not a particularly strong swimmer myself if I’m honest,” he said with complete honesty. Though with that said he had no particular fear of the water either. In fact he had already considered how his ‘telekinetic’ abilities would manifest under the water. He suspected that he was now far stronger swimmer than he had ever been.

A smirk at the crazy remark, as August palmed a rock off the ground.

"What, psychotically analytic extrovert bisexual who can basically siphon emotions off others chasing after ghosts with a bunch of super teens? Perfect picture of sanity right there."

Tip tip tip tiptiptipsploosh

"Of course, that's just me right now...tomorrow I could be someone else. Drove my last girlfriend crazy..."

Why do you keep doing this to me!?

August picked up another rock with her free hand, leaned back, and threw it across the surface of the lake, though this one didn't go nearly as far.
Tip tipsploosh

"And the boyfriend before that...you know, I didn't like girls until about...what was it, three months ago? Then I was on a train for an hour...got on, was straight as an arrow."

She made an undulating motion with her hand, one eyebrow raised as she quirked her lips and flushed slightly at the memory.

"My bare shoulder was up against this girl's sweater, and by the end of the trip, I just wanted her to pull me into the bathroom and have me ride her! It was ridiculous...also kind of awesome."

No more rocks. She leaned back, having finally stopped fiddling with the cellphone and managed to relax her muscles. She decided against mentioning what ended up happening at the train station with the girl. Her cheeks flushed a bit again.

"Weirdest part...I didn't actually mind it after the initial panic. My powers I mean, not the liking girls bit. They were cool...it was awesome knowing exactly how to talk to people to make them smile, or leave you alone, or get them flustered. Sometimes I understood them better than they ever would...hard to not like that kind of power."

The redhead folded her legs in a yoga pose, putting up her hands like she was zen and dropping her glasses low on the bridge of her nose as she gave a mock elderly voice.

"Oh, you have come to the great Feels Guru! You want that boy to show you the Mattress Rodeo! You want your parents to stop freaking out about your grades! Yessss! I know everything you waaaaant!"

...and can't give you any of it.

A laugh and August laid back on the grass, staring up through the trees. Her mind raced around, trying to settle on a branch to follow, but wanting to choose all of them. The limits of the human mouth were aggravating, she had all these things she wanted to say all the time, but her tongue was just too slow to explain it all, or people couldn't follow her logic. She opted to halt her tangent there, looking over at Maxwell.

"Telekinesis though. That's gotta be handy. Short of the whole moving cupcakes and what I can only assume is flinging cars across parking lots while screaming MAXWELL SMAASH! Cause that's obviously what you do in your spare time."

Another quirk of the lips.

I just don't care anymore...

Kanoa swam through the crystal clear lake's waters, trying her best not to make a remark regarding Orion's choice to dive in the nude, he could have kept his shorts on at least. She let out a water jet sigh and swam closer to the underwater cave's entrance. It was subtle, but the water inside the cave was warm. There could have been a scientific explanation, but she believed in scientific explanations as much as a detective believed in coincidences. There were certain magic spells that made use of vast amounts of water, which meant that they would be walking in on the fox spirit while it was distracted.

She swam into the cave, and pretty soon it started to become dim. "Ah, right. Caves are dark." Kanoa mumbled to herself, the magic of the potion allowing her to speak. She kept moving forward, directing herself forward along the cave wall. She could barely see, however, there was a faint current pushing against her that she was able to follow. The water only got warmer as she got further in, warmer and warmer until it felt as if she were soaking in a hot tub.

Just when she was starting to worry that she would be boiled alive she rounded a corner and saw a light off in the distance. It was a green, flickering color, it was fox fire. Fox fire was simply what the first layman observers of a fox spirits magic could think of. Laymen weren't very creative you see. When a fox spirit uses magic, it's magical aura is visible, even to those without a tether. This was why stories of the creatures were so prevalent in the past, they weren't as careful as they are in the present. One video uploaded to the internet and they'd be hunted down in the hopes that their fur could make magical coats. It could, by the way, but that's besides the point.

Kanoa swam upwards, and her head broke the surface of the water. She was in what appeared to be a makeshift room inside the cave. Just like the house in the forest, she could see that magic was afoot. Stone had been morphed into shape, creating furniture and edging off the corners of the walls. There was a hole in the roof leading out of the cave, but there was something blocking sunlight from getting in.

"Hellooo." Kanoa said, walking out of the water. The spirit was right in front of her, with it's back turned to her. The fox was in human form, and took the shape of what seemed to be a teenage girl. Nine orange furred tails were pointed up vertically, the tips of which seemed to burn with magical aura. Kanoa turned her head to the others and shrugged, the fox hadn't heard her, she seemed too busy with something. Kanoa slowly walked up to her, and peered over her. In her hands was the missing student, he wasn't moving. The boy's body was submerged up to his torso in water, the Kitsune's hands were around his head, and surrounded by her aura.

"Ah, so you're trying to heal him huh?" Kanoa said. The fox heard her this time, and her entire body shivered as if a shock had gone down her spine. She leaped from the boy and quickly backed herself into a corner.

"S-stay away! I'm a monster you know!?" She screamed, her voice was hoarse and her eyes were red. Kanoa looked to the fox, and then to the unmoving boy.

"Guys, talk to the Kitsune for a bit will you, I need to see if I can help this guy." She ignored the fox and leaned down to the boy's level. Feeling his neck, she felt a faint pulse.

"I'm serious! I'll uhh, I'll suck your blood!" The fox screamed.

"That's vampires." Kanoa said.

"W-well I'll turn you into a frog!"

"That's a witch." Kanoa yawned and pulled the boy out of the water. She placed a hand over his chest and began chanting in a soft voice.

Jackson had followed Kanoa through the darkness, before reaching the small air pocket that held the cavern the spirit was staying in. To say that she was nothing at all what he was expecting was an understatement. He couldn't help but feel like an ass for earlier, but what was done was done. And now they had the lovely task of talking to what was obviously a very distraught individual, who could do who knows what to them if they piss her off or make her feel threatened. Well, at least he didn't have to worry about the bloodbath that Apophsis had been promising to him would away the group at the end of this ordeal.

Jackson pulled himself out of the water, wringing out his thermal shirt a little, but soon giving up as it was just a wasted effort at this point, especially since they were going to have to swim back out later anyway. Walking over to kitsune girl, Jackson took a seat a short distance away from her, close enough that he could be clearly heard, but near enough so that he wasn't invading her personal space. For awhile, he didn't say anything, unsure how he should start this conversation, or was it an interrogation, fuck it, let's just start with the basics.

"Sooo, umm, Hi, my name's Jackson, and I come from California, which is on the other side of the country, in case you didn't know . . . ya know." Jackson chuckled awkwardly to himself, scratching his head a little before giving a sigh. "Yeah that was just unbelievably bad, so let's start over. My name's Jackson, would you mind telling me yours, or if you're not comfortable with that, what you prefer to be called. Also, could you tell us all what happened to the boy over there, maybe explain to us the series of events that led to the situation we have now. Take your time to collect your thoughts, if you feel the need." Jackson had come in expecting to find a vicious monster or inhumane beast, but now that he was faced with an upset and clearly very worried girl, he just could help but feel bad for her. He knew that this could possibly be some sort of trick, they were dealing with a spirit known for illusions after all, but he had a gut feeling that this wash;t the case here at all.

When Orion broke the surface of the water jetting into the depths with bubbles surrounding him Danny tried to see if he was still wearing glasses and much to his horror saw so much more. NAKED! nakednakednakednakednaked. JesusChristwhydidhehavetostripWHYDIDHEHAVETOSTRIP, THAT MOTHERFUCKER. If we get out of this I'm going to strangle him...once he has pants on, that is. Blushing furiously the boy worried about August sensing his embarrassment and making fun of him. But that would require her to be down here. Which she wasn't. Because of him. Or so at least he kept telling himself despite the part in his head that gave him his danger sense saying otherwise. It was then that he felt the tickle of Kanoa's words in his ears as she gave them the word to head in. It seemed he'd have to contemplate his Freudian level aversion to being naked later. Besides Mary could always make fun of him in the mean time. Yeah, that sounded good.

And so he swam forward until he was about a meter or two behind Kanoa, his wondering if they got their pants at the same place interrupted by a drastic change in temperature. That's strange. There aren't any volcanic vents anywhere near this lake. Could this be due to the potion? No if it was, Kanoa would have told us, right? Of course...maybe...probably...not. Alright she hasn't been forthcoming with information but that isn't enough reason to stop us mid cave dive and ask her what's going on. Hell she's probably as in the dark about this as we are. Heh. In the dark.As much fun as an unplanned pun was, Daniel noticed an ethereal glow to the distance. Seeing it, Daniel knew it was similar to his own 'energy.' Well, as lithium was to Ununoctium or the Sahara Desert was to Alaska, but still, two different pieces in the same chess set. Analogies. As he climbed out of the water he held his body low to the ground, his feet moving quickly yet without sound, drawing his blade to the cho, ready to strike at any moment. And that's when she turned around.

"Ah, so you're trying to heal him huh?" Kanoa said. The fox heard her this time, and her entire body shivered as if a shock had gone down her spine. She leaped from the boy and quickly backed herself into a corner.

"S-stay away! I'm a monster you know!?" She screamed, her voice was hoarse and her eyes were red. Kanoa looked to the fox, and then to the unmoving boy.

"Guys, talk to the Kitsune for a bit will you, I need to see if I can help this guy." She ignored the fox and leaned down to the boy's level. Feeling his neck, she felt a faint pulse.

"I'm serious! I'll uhh, I'll suck your blood!" The fox screamed.

"That's vampires." Kanoa said.

"W-well I'll turn you into a frog!"

"That's a witch." Kanoa yawned and pulled the boy out of the water. She placed a hand over his chest and began chanting in a soft voice.

It was- SHE was just a girl. A girl with with several fluffy tails but still. Who would have thought that a kitsune would look like a cosplayer? What are you saying Danny? You need to stay frosty. Remember what August said. This person no- this THING had drug that boy and kidnapped him. But she also tried to heal him. Daniel didn't like this. They weren't an order of gallant knights of to slay the monster. They were a bunch of scared kids that went off and found more scared kids. He wanted to go and help Kanoa heal the boy. He could perform emergency first-aid all the way up to a tracheotomy (theoretically) but considering his track record he'd probably do more bad than good. And so he steeled himself and approached the gi- the kitsune, hand off his blade stopping until he was about a tail's length away from her. He had always been good with animals. Maybe it would extend to her. If it didn't- well at least he was close enough to her that his mass would block her initial assault giving the rest time to amount a defense of some sort but as he searched her eyes he dismissed the thought. While there was the very real possibility she was putting him under a glamour, his danger sense hadn't gone off, and it hadn't been wrong yet.

And so he spoke, his voice barely more than a whisper saying. "You have no idea what you're doing. What was suppose to be a routine feeding fell apart when that boy was able to resist your powers. You panicked and had to use something stronger to keep him from running, telling stories. After all, someone like us might come along. But you used something too strong. Something that was eating him inside out. So you held onto him trying to fix what happened. You've been pushed to the brink trying to heal him, unable to get a proper 'meal' in case his dies while you're out recuperating. Tell me where I'm wrong." Offering his hand for her to take it Daniel's eyes softened. "We all know you're a good person who just slipped up. Don't waste the last of your energy fighting when we can all pool together to figure out how to help him. I'll even let you feed a little bit on me." He added, hoping the sign of good faith would keep her from going full blown Bundy.

Closing his eyes, Daniel thought back to all the new age books that pervaded his aunt's store. Hindu manuskripts that mapped out the chakras along a persons spine and the thousands of 'veins' that the energy flowed. He recalled books about spiritual healing that involved one reaching into these points of swirling spiritual energy and letting it flow from yourself to an area that needs to whatever needs to be healed. And much to his surprise, found that it worked. And so, feeling his energy flow from his chest down into his left arm leaving it feeling warm and tingly Daniel clamped down on his excitement, on his fear, on his anger, on his wants.

The same way his blood would sing to him of how to bend the world to his will so too did it tell him not to mold this energy. Only to trust himself. In his palm it felt like he was holding a swirling cyclone of hot air that as it grew, Daniel suddenly felt electricity between the two. And not as in the rom-com love at first site dopey mumbo-jumbo, but a sudden electro-static discharge accompanied by the smell of ozone. His heart thumping at the not-unpleasant sensations he was being bombarded with he opened his eyes and with a smile much more genuine said, "My name is Danny. What's yours?"

Whilst tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum fumbled with their mutual attraction to the literal otaku fox girl, Mary spent a few moment out of water in an introspective daze. Simply put; shivering, pondering what life decisions had led her to this point, sincerely wondering if she had done something to permanently damage her mind's perception of the self and reality, covering her exposed cleavage with an arm, looking down at the the palm of her hand on the other arm, wondering what was real, like, is anything real, man? Whoa.

She was mostly shivering though. She regretted, much more than her decision to dive without any top-- her decision to dive with her pants on-- the cloth in the worn old things only seemed to have absorbed the cold water of the river, despite the water closest to the cavern they were now in to be quite pleasant. The jeans were soaked wet and stuck to the skin of her legs with icy vengeance, like the movie Frozen has remained attached to the public consciousness, she too felt Elsa's touch in her pants.

Still, she couldn't help but cringe at the attempts to make first contact with the nervous magical being. Jackson meant well, but based on his hug from earlier Mary recognized that maaaaybe he could be a little overbearing-- even if he didn't notice. Danny was a narc; even though he probably meant well too, or whatever, a narc is a narc. Magical spirit animals from Fuji could probably smell a snitch from a mile away-- even if they looked like nervous freshmen.

And that was it!

Kanoa was busy SAVING LIVES-- Maxwell wasn't the most friendly-- but he defintely understood a politicians craft, and August had POWERS that helped her talk to people, they both sat diving into freezing waters using a magic potion to confront a mystical ancient fox daemon for some reason-- and Orion, whom Mary was loathe to admit was probably the smoothest of operators among the group, hadn't yet surfaced-- he was probably getting molested by river mermaids or something. Maybe he was just enjoying the splendor of infinite time under water-- or maybe he literally suffered hypothermic shock from skinny dipping. What a way to go.

Gosh, this was all so stupid.

Fuck!

Mary remember something in her pockets she may have forgotten to leave up top.

Digging in with her free hand, she fished around, until with a sad recognition, she pulled out what she'd hoped she'd left with her mp3 and other valuables up top. The flower Kanoa about-- the one she wanted to preserve.

In the palm of her hand now rested several deep azure petals of the wrinkled and soaked Sacred Blue Lotus.

Soooooooo stupid.

"Sooo, umm, Hi, my name's Jackson,"

It was alright.

Mary resigned to their loss. Not quite slipping into her typical apathy, however, but something more akin to a Jamaican stasis. She was chill with it all-- but she didn't feel nothing, and that felt...

STUPID.

"My name is Danny. What's yours?"

Yes. All of this was becoming pretty stupid pretty fast. Or maybe everything was always this stupid and she'd just been blind to it in her own angsty apathy?

Mary, eyes not leaving the drying 8 petals in her hand, pondered something:



That was, of course, assuming plant toxins would even have any effect on the fox...

She shrugged-- better to try and know for sure.

Placing three of the petals on her tongue, she slipped the rest into her pocket and marched forward, past Jackson and Danny, seeking to catch her by surprise.

"Mary, charmed."

For no true reason, other than perhaps some metaphysical science, Mary smooched that fox-girl.

Not a peck on the cheek, either, but something longer and more intimate. As Mary pressed in the nine-tailed mythical high school magical girl, she was positive she was probably on some trip. Relying on the kitsunes own mixture of anxiety, confusion, and utter surprise, she to tongue to slip the rapidly dissolving petals into the kitsunes mouth, before breaking the embrace.

"Christ, I hope that worked."

The kitsune glared at Jackson, a hand covered by an over-sized sleeve concealing her mouth. She was wearing a orange knitted sweater that was much too large for her and clearly belonged in the men's isle. Her animal like eyes that glowed with a faint orange hue narrowed as Jackson attempted to calm her down. But she only glared at him. "Demon... You don't fool me, no matter what skin you wreath yourself in." She growled at him, attempting to back herself further into the corner.

"Bzzt." Kanoa mimicked a buzzer giving the wrong answer on a game show, though she kept her eyes on her patient. His breathing had evened out, it seemed he wouldn't die at least.

Daniel meanwhile, tried to talk to the fox. He first laid out his theory as to what happened, the fox lowered her eyes in disdain. "You are somewhat correct..." She said. Daniel went on, going so far as to offer his own energy. The fox's vision focused to the source of sustenance, and her hand lowered from her mouth. The fox's eyes turned feral, her furred ears stood up, and her mouth opened to reveal sharp fangs. She was primed to sink her teeth into Daniel, but then Mary happened. "EH?" With no warning and little stamina, the fox could do little to prevent Mary from assaulting her mouth. Pedals were forced into her mouth, which she swallowed on reflex.

"You... Fiends..." She mumbled, before falling forward as if her bones had become jelly. Her head stopped just short of the ground, as Kanoa had caught it with her foot.

"Nope, I've got a few questions for you." She said, nearly kicking the fox backwards so her back was against the wall. "What's your name?" She asked. The fox spirit's ears had flopped downwards, and her eyes were glazed over.

"Yui..." She answered in a drowsy voice.

"Okay, Yui, why did you kidnap that boy?"

"Hungry, weak... There are no more animals in the forest to feed off... Plants... not enough either."

"So you did try to feed off of him, but with your magic so weak you could not hypnotize him on your own... That's why your attempt to hypnotize me at the forest edge failed as well. So you turned to potions and drugs, even though you have little experience with them?"

"I'm sorry... I didn't know... What to do... sorry... sorry..." Yui's eyes closed, and she quickly fell asleep. Kanoa let out an annoyed sigh.

"I guess she's more exhausted than she looks. Let's get out of here everyone. Someone grab our found victim, he should be fine through the water, his diving potion hasn't worn off yet. I've got... this one." Kanoa picked up Yui, who was surprisingly light. "Let's mosey."

Jackson was frozen, not by seeing Mary force a kiss onto the Kitsune, but at the words the spirit had spoken to him, the way she had acted towards him . . . and the way it had made him feel. In truth, it was only one word that had struck him so forcefully, stopping all other trains of thought and leaving him blind and deaf to the happenings around him. It rang in his head like the bells of a church, only seeming to get louder the more he focused on it, and nearly impossible to escape.


Jackson shook his head, breaking himself from his self-induced stupor. He was over this, and besides, maybe the Kitsune was just sensing what was inside of him. Yeah, that was it, there was no other explanation . . . right? Deep in his mind, he could hear Apophsis' hollow laughter echo throughout his mind, mocking him, mocking him for daring to hope that he'd ever be in control of his life other than how it ended. Still in somewhat of a daze, he stood up and walked over to the unconscious kid that the spirit had been trying to heal, slowly easing the guy on to his shoulder before turning to follow Kanoa out. All the while, he couldn't stop from violently shivering,, the cold of the cave sinking in more quickly through the dampness of his long-sleeved thermal, the fabric seeming to stick to the 3 jagged reminders, forever carved into his skin, always there to let him know exactly when his life began it's downward spiral into insanity.

The fox isn't wrong, Jackson, you and I are one in the same now. You know it, and I know it, and everyone around you does to. They fear us, from the slightest shiver to the coldest chill, it lies present inside them . . . and you want them to, because it means they notice you. Just try and tell me it that isn't the truth.

Jackson gave no response, because he couldn't deny it, he'd been feeling strange for a couple days now, and he only just found out why. He was losing himself to the terror inside him, and a part of him really . . . really liked what came with it. He felt empowered, confident, powerful, like a predator on the prowl. When the Kitsune had backed away from him, a strange look had come into his eyes, a predatory glare and a hidden half-smile that only she could see. It had been for a split-second, but it had been there, and with it a feeling of control and acknowledgement, of dominance and presence.He hadn't been shocked or disheartened by her response, but excited and eager to pursue it, to attack her, make her fear him, make her bend to his will. In the split second of time, there was no Jackson, nor was there Apophsis either, only the dangerous being that was left in their wake when the two souls became one.

_{". . . .Shit."} He muttered under his breath as he walked, feeling a familiar wave of self-loathing and disgust wash over him. He couldn't let Apophsis get into his head with his mind games, or else he was as good as dead. . . or worse. Jackson tried his best to forget the dark spirit's whispered words and dark promises, instead focusing on anything else. The walls of the cave, sound of the water lapping in the cave, Mary's shirtless fo- Jackson immediately decided to rephrase his idea of 'anything', re-focusing his attention on getting the unconscious guy out of here. Fuck, swimming him out of here is going to be a pain, why did I even volunteer for this in the first place . . . oh right, my body went on auto-pilot while I was dealing with possible demonification of my mortal soul.

Great, now he was back on that subject again, fucking brillant. What else could possible go wrong for him today, the answer: just about everything and more. He sighed as he dived in to the water struggling to effectively swim while the other guy took up his other arm. After a short while, however, he had an idea that, while he didn't like it, would help him get up to the surface faster. And right now, he wanted to be as far away from that cave, and the fox girl as well for that matter, as he possibly could. Taking a breath to focus his energy, he felt his arm take on a chill before a etheral silver arm rose out of it, this one looking vaguely normal except for the fact that it was half-way rotted an seemed to be crawling with maggots and other disgusting things he dared not name. A trend he noticed with Apophsis' soul, it never took on the same appearance twice in a row, which did lead him to question what Apophsis actually looked like, but he always shook away the thought because he soon realized he didn't want to know if his other parts were of any indication.

His right eye blazing a soft silver glow through the lake's murk, Jackson had the arm grab the kid by the collar of his shirt, then released him, feeling the weight of the boy lessen, but the strain on his mind increased by a moderate amount. He pushed through it, however, and was able to rise up to the surface quicker than before, soon coming on to the shallow edge of the beast, the arm dragging the boy behind him aways before Jackson sent a command to have him eased down to the ground. The arm then dispersed into silver missed and flowed back into Jackson's body, the strain of using it is causing him to hold his head as it pulsed with a slight pain.

Turning towards August and Maxwell, he gave a wave as he walked over to collect his stuff, putting on his shirt and jacket without bothering to take off his completely drenched shirt, his hands were shivering violently as he put on his pants, foiling his attempts to zip the zipper before he let out a curse and gave up, sitting down in the sand with a huff. He waited a second before he addressed the other two, wondering if he had interrupted something.

"So, Mary roofie-kissed the Kitsune and KAnoa is bringing it up shortly. Obviously we found the kid, the Kitsune drugged him or something, wasn't very good at it and gave him and overdose, which is why she came here as she was attempting to heal him. But she was attempting to feed on him though. I think that's everything important that happened down there." He reclined onto the sand, trying his best to warm himself up by rubbing his arms, and failing terribly due to his refusal to remove the offending article that was currently causing him to feel so cold. "So, have any questions?"

@Constantine
@Spawnling

Maxwell glanced sidelong at August and smiled, not that it could be seen under cover of his hood. He laughed and shook his head. “Maxwell Smash? Ha! Unfortunately I'm not half as powerful as you seem to think. Hell, even when I put my mind to it I can barely move objects that I could move normally, never mind smash shit up. No, my powers not really good for that kind of thing, it’s pretty much limited to swiping cupcakes and lifting skirts,” he said in a roguish, joking tone. He sighed and went back to looking out over the water. His expression was much darker than he was willing to let August see.

Unlike August, Maxwell’s power could be used to inflict direct physical harm at his whim. And this bothered him a great deal. In terms of his power what he had told her was the truth, but not the entire truth. It was true that his power, the ability to manipulate objects was very much akin to telekinesis and that at best it exerted the same strength as he himself could in person. He made it sound almost harmless. Unfortunately that was not the case. Though he could not lift cars and toss them like stones with just a thought he could inflict a great deal of harm if he wished. Just imagine, getting into a fight with someone, letting them square up to you, hands in your pockets, offering them the first blow. They would be lucky to even reach you.

Because how could they respond when an invisible hand restrains their own, raining down blow after blow completely unseen. How did you evade something that you could not see to begin with? But why even go that far? Maxwell could simply throttle someone across the room, choking the life out of them without even moving a muscle. He bowed his hand and stared at the grass. “Hey, August, do you hate your power? Are you scared of it? Because I am. How could I not be? I don’t even know where it comes from, or what it is. Is this its limit? Or is it going to get stronger. Am I going to lose control? And what happens if I do?” he said out loud despite not intending to, his voice trembling ever so slightly as he tried to restrain himself.

He forced himself up to his feet and jammed his hands deeply into his pockets. For a moment he looked as if he was struggling with something, as if in two minds. August wouldn't need to touch him to realize what was going through his mind at that very moment. He was thinking of running. Just walking away. The moment passed and the tension left his body and he sighed in annoyance at himself. “Ha! Look at me, here I am offering to keep you company when really it’s me who needs looking after. Sorry, I guess I'm not that reliable after all,” he said in a soft, almost happy voice. He turned to face her and was going to say something else when he heard the sound of something breaking the water’s surface. It was Jackson and someone who he did not recognise.



Maxwell listened intently as he saw to the boy, dragging him up and away from the water’s edge before taking off his jacket and covering him. A temporary respite from the cold but it would be better than nothing. He found that he accepted everything that Jackson said as true. He wasn’t sure why though. It was a feeling akin to instinct. Or familiarity? He knelt over the boy and was silent in thought for a moment, once again feeling as though something was looming over his shoulder, trying to reach out beyond its reach. Maxwell stood up and moved away from the boy. He wasn't exactly certain but it felt as though he wanted to hurt something, someone. “No questions,” he said simply as he stared out over the water with a look of pure irritation.