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Sophia couldn't help but grin when she impressed the Emendator with her suggestion, she wasn't sure how they would end up pulling it all off perfectly to terrify the kids. Then Nancy asked her next question, if she was any good at acting truthfully she didn't have very much acting experiences at least when she was alive. She had one acting class way back in high school when she was younger, however that didn't really turn out well. She just ended up working backstage or worked on making the props, which was one of the things that got her into construction work in the first place.

"I sadly don't really have any experience on stage or anything." Sophia answered giving a slight shrug. "But I am willing to do my best, and scare the little pipsqueaks." Then her mind started to wonder how they would actually make it very convincing for the kids, they obviously needed some kind of fake blood. Or something that ultimately looked and felt like the real stuff, she shuddered slightly remembering the feeling of it actually happening. But she did live to tell the tale for awhile, the pain was horrible and remembered passing out multiple times when it happened as well.

"So what are your suggestions on making it the best performance ever?" A part of her did want to play as a roll of a walker from her time, she could probably pull that off the best all they did was growl and try and take a chunk out of you. Or maybe even some kind of sword play, and Nancy would 'cut it off' during the duel to the death, she could probably do that as well she just wanted to have it perfectly done and convincing and believable.

---

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"Well, Mr. Grady," began Gilbert with an almost sarcastic touch of formality, "As Evelina indicated, we are on refreshments. Well, I am. And you are with me, so... Kitchen House." He flashed one of his more disarming smiles and waved James on behind him. He was good at that. The new Paradox seemed to notice that he was good at it, and made mention.

"You know, Mr. Hat, sir?"

"Gilbert. Or Gil. Whatever."

James would not be deterred. "Mr. Hat? You ain't got to keep tryin' to be friendly with me. I ain't that pretty little girl that don't like wearin' shoes." The implication was not lost on Gilbert, who shot James an impressed but quizzical look. Mildly annoyed, maybe, but curious as to where he was taking the conversation. "Just sayin', this day's been suckin' out loud, okay? Just be straight with me."

Gilbert nodded his head and continued walking. "You sound like you have something specific in mind."

"Naw, not really." he replied, following his Emendator mentor. "Just... I may've told the Dice Lady inside that I had a lot of stories to me, tell the young'uns and whatnot?"

"Yes. I know about your life, James Mandingo Grady of the Leesburg, GA, United States. Born in the latter part of the 20th century; Undead Uprising Timeline. Your exploits and the exploits of your friends are well known. I'm telling you, if you could see the stories that were told about all of you guys, I don't know if you'd laugh or cry. The ones that I know are true, anyway, are inspirational. You have stories to tell. Like a Post-Apocalyptic Robin Hood and his entourage."

James stopped in the middle of his stride. People told stories about him? Them? Haunting. Though it was good that he was remembered, him and Ash and Thana and Alicia, the Valkyries, Doc Froggy, etc. If stories survived, that meant that his people weren't wiped out completely. But that wasn't his point. "That's damn fine and all, Mr. Hat sir, but that ain't what I'm gettin' at. Y'see... hmm. This ain't all that long ago for me, you gotta understand. Whole lotta pain an' death what I was involved in. An' I killed, sir. When I didn't have to, I mean. I'm a murderer, boss. I don't know if I can share who I am with kids anymore. I went too far."

The Hat likewise stopped in his tracks and turned around abruptly. He stood tall and close to James, and lowered the volume of his voice even as it grew clearer and sharper. "James Grady, you listen to me right now. Yeah, you killed. You might even be a killer. But it bothers you. That distinction is the most important. In the many millennia of my consciousness, I can safely say that is what separates the monsters from the decent people who have made mistakes. It's a big damn mistake, and it's a hard climb to get out of it. Believe me, I know." The sincerity, even raw emotion of his words impacted with the force of a swung hammer. "And with enough time, almost anybody can come back from it, James. You're a good man. Even if you are a killer, that's only part of you. A dark and gruesome part that you have to accept. Don't fight against it. Embrace it; all of it is who you are. Keep it tucked away like a tool on a shelf. Tend to it. Maintain it. Don't let it rust or corrode. But do not use it unless it is needed. I guarantee, having the instinct of a killer in the hands of a decent man is powerful. Just don't let it control you."

Tears began to form in James's eyes. The Hat was totally accurate about one thing he could recognize, that he was a killer. James was a violent man who had committed violent acts. And yes, it bothered him every time. Every single time.

Gilbert could tell that he might have gone too far, too fast with James's recovery. It was time to dial it back. "That's just one part of who you are though, James. You're also a hell of a funny guy. You're giving. Good to friends. And if memory serves... no, remind me: What did you do for a living before the Apocalypse?"

"I was a hog hunter, 'mongst other things."

"Not just any hog hunter, man. You had a TV show there for a while, didn't you? Some moderately rated multiple season contract where they followed you into the bush to root out nuisance hogs and the like. You were 'Black James(!)', right? Some ginger guy out in east Texas even wrote a folk ballad about you. You were a hero to a lot of people long before the dead rose and began to eat the living. And if I may say so, you were a hero to a lot of them after, too. How many lives did you save in Newnan? Just by being there. Keeping bellies full and people safe. Putting your bow and rifle to good use, applying that violence that way it should have been applied." Gilbert's voice loosened up a bit, becoming more friendly and brighter. "You can be that, too. Do you remember what happened the day you first set foot in Newnan? After, I mean." After meaning, of course, after the Apocalypse started.

James started to break a smile. "Hells yeah! I ain't never told anybody 'bout that, 'cept them that was there. I was pullin' this bigass..."

"No, not now. Just remember. Tell the others. Get comfortable with it, you'll be okay. Now come on, Kitchen House. Drinks and such." Gil casually spun around and walked the rest of the way to the Kitchen House. In a bit better spirits, James followed. What good was a party without refreshments, anyway?

---

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Faith stared at the children, wondering why none of them were speaking now. They just stared at her. With their beady, little eyes! As if they were looking into her soul! She didn't like children anymore. God, they were creepy! And she dealt with fucking zombies!

Still, she had to do this. She wanted to impress Evelina. "Well, all right! Those who wish to join me, let's get going!" She mustered as much enthusiasm as she could and began walking towards....well...nowhere! She didn't know where to take these kids! What did they want to see?

She remembered Evelina's advice. Tell them the truth.

So she walked towards the tree. She had an idea for how she would impress these kids.

---

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Evelina glanced over towards Faith and watched her for a moment. She doubted this was something the woman wanted to do but it was part of this life here and while it may have seemed off considering everything to Evelina this was the most important part of the day. It helped to give a sense of structure to an otherwise woefully random existence. Something a bit less death defying at the end of the day. For her, it made the reasons they did what they did feel more concrete. As long as the day kept resetting, it meant that the world was still turning, that life was still going. It was a needed reminder, especially when things went bad. Like today, losing Peter. She needed this and in time, she was confidant that the newest members of their family would need it as well.

One of the little girls looking at Alexandras eyes widened. "What's a bowldress?"

"She didn't say bowldress you ninny, she said troll press," a boy in a clown mask pipped in.

Evelina rose a brow and then glanced towards Alexandra, this was her show now and it seemed it was going to be interesting.

Several kids with flower patterned sheets over their heads went over to Faith and made booing sounds. Granted the only thing scary about them was the horrific orange and purple flowers on the sheets.

A bright eyed girl with dark brown hair and ebony skin walked over to Andromeda, raising her hand slightly. "I like stories," she said nervously. There were a couple of others heading over to her now but this was the only one that spoke up. Seemed they were dividing up, only the "colored" children were together with Andromeda. The rest of the children of Caucasian decent looked to be split up with Faith and Alexandra.

As the trio walked, so did the kids to keep up. Minus one who was hanging on Evelinas coat tails. She just nodded, waved the girls off to tell their tales and give a tour as she remained at the gate. A little brown eyed boy just looked up at her. "They harness the three," he said. Evelina seemed to take a deep breath and simply nod.

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Alicia looked over at George and her mouth went slackjawed. It was rare for the woman to be rendered speechless but there it was. Not a noise leaving her mouth, at least for a moment. Nothing lasted forever, well maybe other than regret. Shaking her head a bit she then found her voice again. "You're crazier than I am! Go back? There? Are you serious! I mean it's bad enough Peter going here since we never go back but what you are talking is madness! Like Sparta madness!"

George just shrugged a bit and looked down the Alleyway before motioning to Alicia all was clear. She couldn't believe what he was proposing. Evelina would have a shit fit if he up and tried what he was suggesting. It wasn't that she was against the idea but damn. It was insane even by Gonzalez standards and that was saying something. Taking a deep breath she walked down the alleyway before looking over at George again.

"Go I got this," she said, shooing him off. George nodded slightly. he did need to get back and give some sort of explanation. Yet before he could do that he had to do one more thing and it wasn't going to be easy. Taking a deep breath he grunted a bit before heading off. It was time to get things in line so he could at least give some sort of closure to Peters family, closure that he really shouldn't have had to give.

---

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Gio had arrived to the agreed upon meeting place before his assigned buddy. That was to be expected. He knew the Camp far more intimately than Bartholomew possibly could have unless his Paradox power was something like photographic memory, or the ability to always navigate his surroundings without being lost. Both of those abilities, as unglamorous as they sounded, would also be ridiculously useful in their own right. Especially for a mission like this, the map provided by Gil would be entirely redundant. And even if that were his power, his use of time was almost certainly less efficient that Gio's.

But the fact that he was still left to wait here was not to his liking. He should have specified a timeframe in which to meet up. That way he'd be able to better clean himself and then arrive punctually, rather than standing around in the uncertain limbo of Bartholomew's schedule. Part of Gio wanted to go ahead and open up the portal immediately, so when the young Paradox did arrive, they'd be able to depart immediately. But it would be too soon. No, the proper time to set up the portal would come soon. Until then he'd just need to wait.

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"Garage, got it." Bartholomew said, carefully clutching the suit in his hands, quickly heading out of the room, though the study, making his way towards his room. He got to the stairs, and considered the time and place he'd be going to, 1924. As far as he was concerned, there wasn't too much of a difference between then and now, running down any relevant events of the era in his head when he froze. Dear god, they were smack in the middle of the Holocaust. How had he not realized that earlier? This was uncomfortable to say the least, he didn't like the implications of any of this. He guessed changing the future was the exact opposite of these people's prescribed jobs, but how could they allow this to happen? A disgusting, tragic loss of mass human life. He gripped the banister uncomfortably, making himself continue his way up the stairs, pulling himself along. He eventually reached the top, and practically threw himself into his room. He had to pull himself together, knowing Gio was waiting for him. He swallowed hard, and forced the suit onto his body.

As he fumbled with the last of the buttons, he'd regained most of his composure. It wasn't even an inexcusable thing on the part of the Emendators, the more he actually thought about it. Who knows how changing something like that would ripple though history? It just felt so melancholic, having the power to go anywhere and anywhen, and being powerless to stop true, wretched evil. He fit the hat over his head, and frowned. Why did they have to be the watchers and preserve the status quo, have to be the ones to prevent "anachronisms"?. It felt horridly unfair. Logically speaking, there had to be some "best" timeline for humanity, why couldn't they be in charge of making that happen? Wherever these "rules" came from, he wanted to know. If they were self imposed, he had to know why, and maybe even try to change the way things were he wasn't persuaded by given reasons. He looked towards the door, and sighed, composing himself. As much as this upset him, he did have a task to do, and upsetting Miss Lukas was the last thing he wanted to do.

Bartholomew stepped out, and took the stairs down straight to the front porch. Thankfully, the garage wasn't far from the house, so there wasn't much of a chance of him getting lost along the way. As he made his final approach, he cleared and steadied his mind best he could. As much cause he had for intellectual and emotional distress, he was about to go into what could end up being a dangerous area. The juxtaposition of excitement for adventure and concern resulted in a outwardly mellow, inwardly stressed Bartholomew Rosecliff. He forced a smile as he saw his companion, and waved, "Sorry about the delay." He said in an even tone, before folding his hands behind his back. "So, how exactly do we get to ah, Cairo, 1923?" He asked Gio, peering past him, towards the Garage.

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Alexandra's brows furrowed at the seeming gibberish that the little humans just uttered. Bewilderment swam in the dark surfaces of her eyes for a moment. Bowldress? Troll press? What are they getting at? And to think I thought I was the odd one her. She snickered slightly at her own sarcastic remark, before her face took on a note of seriousness as she tried to seriously figure out what the inquisitve younglings were going on about. After some contemplation surrounded by awkward silence, she eventually pinpointed where the mix up must have occurred. "You mean Soulless?" she questioned, arching a brow.

"Yes, that thing!" the little girl exclaimed. "What is it?"

Alexandra's brows relaxed and a smile came to her features. "Oh, nov that's quite the tale indeed. Come little ones, I vill tell you all about those blights on humanity as I shov you around Ville au Camp," she replied, gesturing for the children to follow her.

"The Soulless are as the name suggests soul less. They are the valking dead essentially and come in many different forms in order to haunt the living. Golgravtiz. Yagababa. Ryne. Hraew. Cargast…"

As she led the children across the grounds and began her twisted tale, the ditziness that had encompassed her mere moments ago seemed to fade away. It gave way to something more akin to a gypsy storyteller, a performer. And that she was, at least in her previous life she was. That life still felt like it was only just yesterday, and maybe in a way it was. She didn't really understand how the whole time travel thing worked. Long story short, a bit of her old, more rational self was coming to the surface for all to see. In the moment, she felt truly at ease, and as such, it seemed to translate over well to the children.

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The operation was backlit by oil-filled hurricane lamps, casting eerie, flickering shadows of the two figures within the room. A central countertop was utilized as an field of operation, strewn with jars of powders and liquids of differing viscosity and color, indicating a fairly amateurish and disorganized bent to operation proper. From underneath a makeshift surgeon's mask fashioned from a burgundy linen serviette, Gilbert issued his orders with confidence that belied the sheen of perspiration across his furrowed brow.

"Hand me the yellow powder. Stat. No, the other one."

James stood on the other side of the counter, the bandana that was usually around his head likewise being utilized as a mask. He lifted a sugar jar full of a pale gold colored, granulated substance which elicited a confirming nod from Gilbert. The uncertain blackneck halfheartedly raised his other hand to his bandana, tugging on it lightly. "Uh, Mr. Hat sir? Why the ass we doin' this? Is the mask really necess..."

"Shhh..." interrupted Gilbert, pressing his finger to his lips over the napkin-mask. "Keep it on. And try not to breathe too hard. One errant sneeze and this stuff can go everywhere. Now, pass me the brown one next. Yeeeess..." Whatever was being concocted in this room, it smelled strongly of butterscotch and cinnamon, with just a hint of vanilla.

"You mind tellin' me what the endgame is, here? Ain't we supposed to be handlin' refreshments?" Of course, James was going to go along with whatever his mentor for the evening had in mind, but this whole scenario struck him as the machinations of a man who was a little crazy, a little bored, or both. "It just seems like a awful lot of setup for... what're we...?"

"Punch." Gilbert let the word hang in the air. It earned him a quizzical look from James, not in part due to the fact that one of the elder beings of in humanity's history, and a brick shithouse strong one at that just eyeballed him and used a word indicating either a classic party beverage or an act of manual assault, a thing which the Emendator was undoubtedly capable of inflicting. James hoped it was the former rather than the latter. "Now, hand me that blackstrap molasses and the carbonating activator. Quickly!"

James was very familiar with the molasses. Carbonating activator, not so much. In the dim light, he couldn't quite figure out which of the many fluids and solids, granules and syrups resulted in making an otherwise flat liquid bubbly. Though, if he had his preferences, he'd rather just have a Coke and be done with it. His hesitation was apparently not to be tolerated that evening, not when something he was assured was 'refreshment' was at stake. "Ah, Yo' Hatness? Which one o' these's...?"

"Quickly, Mr. Grady! Punch is at stake! We must slake the thirst of these young and impressionable local children, and this must be assembled at precisely the right intervals of time." He pointed at a small jar containing disk shaped tablets. "Those, James. Toss in three." The resulting whoosh of chemically promoted air was held down, at least in part, by the sheen of denatured molasses across the top of what could only be described as a thick, glass punchbowl. "Now, if this was made properly, it should taste like fizzy, liquid gingerbread. It is so much better when you make it with spirits, naturally, but it is supposed to be for kids. Grab that cart, we'll run this and the other stuff back to the meeting place. But carefully."

Briefly, if but for a second, James wondered what it would have been like if he'd opted out of being a Paradox.

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Nancy nodded. She couldn't help but feel slightly relieved, actually. In her experiences, it was those who were honest about their lack of abilities that gave the best performances. Had Sophia come in claiming to be a skilled actor, Nancy would have considered changing the plan entirely to avoid any sort of role. As truthfully, it didn't matter if they thought they knew how to act - it would be like having a dream where you could fly. It didn't mean you still could when you woke up. "Excellent. I can tutor you some, but to be frank, there's only one thing to know about acting - it's all about lying. And only lies have details," Nancy explained. She walked up and down the hallway, tapping randomly on the wall as she went. "So just act naturally and you'll be fine. This audience isn't too tough."

She then stopped, pulling a caramel chew out of her pocket and she ate it. "I'm thinking we do something where it looks like I'm going in to cut off your hand - and since it's a false one, you can just chuck it off or something. There'll be things in the kitchen house we can use - some sort of sauce will do for the blood and there'll be a knife for the weapon. And once you fall to the ground, bleeding - I can even pretend to kill you - you jump right back up and pretend to kill me. They'll eat it up, I'm sure of it," Nancy said with a smile, looking at her protégé.

"Come on, that's more than enough planning. Any more and it'll go stale. Kitchen house is this way," Nancy said, heading outside and motioning for Sophia to follow her. She figured there was a decent chance they'd run into Gilbert there and perhaps he'd be willing to provide them some decent swords for the fake duel. Otherwise, a knife fight would have to do.

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Andromeda gave the girl who spoke up a smile, noticing that the children had divided themselves up already. There were a lot of stories that she could have told them, but her thoughts had drifted to Fairfax in that moment. Was he still alive out there somewhere? Had he ever managed to get home? Or was he still trapped in what would appear to be a modern era? She had felt something for him and she was almost certain he had returned her feelings - they just hadn't had enough time together to resolve the mismatch. "Have you ever heard the story of the scientist who fell through time and the gypsy girl?" Andromeda prefaced.

The children quietly shook their heads. They seemed to be on the shy side - which Andromeda could understand. "In my family, there was an incredibly old wardrobe. Most people overlooked it, thinking that it was just collecting dust...They didn't appreciate what they couldn't see. Now, this little gypsy girl one day found the wardrobe and she could see what others couldn't - that the wardrobe was magic," Andromeda said, speaking in a hushed voice. But she knew that the kids caught her every word as she walked with them.

"What did the wardrobe do, if it was magic?" one of them asked quietly.

"Excellent question," Andromeda praised. She was moving at a slow pace, not wanting to rush anything. "When someone went inside this wardrobe, they would fall through time. So this little gypsy girl went inside the wardrobe and met a brilliant inventor - like Edison. The scientist became friends with the girl and she would go to visit him, using the wardrobe to travel through time."

"And then what happened?"

"Well, you see, the scientist eventually realized he was a great-great-great grandfather of the gypsy girl. I was friends with her and when we were in trouble, and needed help to fight a demon, the inventor came with us through the wardrobe."

"Did you love him?" another kid asked.

"Maybe I could have," Andromeda said softly. "But I'll never know."

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"Sounds like a great plan to me." Sophia said towards Nancy as she followed alongside Nancy as they walked through the hallways of the main house. She watched Nancy as she occasionally tapped along the surfaces as they walked, she remained quiet as she listened to Nancy's instructions. Normally she liked to practice, but this was Nancy's show and she had more experience and whatnot, eventually they were outside Sophia noticed her taking out a chew out from one of her pockets. And assumed that Nancy liked candy of some kind, it was also a chance to get to know her a bit more.

"So we do this every day, guests come here every single night and we entertain them?" Sophia finally asked, if it was a daily thing entertaining people at night and then having everything restart the same thing every day would could get boring. But she figured that they all had things to do to keep them occupied. She then started to think of her life once more before how everything was normal before the outbreak started as well.

"Also Evelina mentioned missions earlier, what sort of things do we go out and do?" Sophia asked again, she wasn't sure how many questions she wanted to ask, but she didn't want to ask to many either and annoy the hell out of the Emendator or give Nancy the wrong impression on her as well. She was just genuinely curious as to what this new life would be expecting her, she at one point had a normal life, normal job, then the next was fighting and just trying to survive on a daily basis, this as all completely new to her.

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As the others walked off to entertain their visitors Evelina remained at the gate, content to welcome the other guests as they arrived. Considering how Alicia had been doing that day with welcoming the new Paradoxes, perhaps it was for the best she wasn't there right then. Her mouth tended to run away with her and today was a prime example of that. Looking down at the children she gave them a gentle smile. It was not something she showed often but centuries ago, back in Greece, a smile was something she wore often. Tending to the children, watching them grow. While she would never be a mother in her own right, it did her heart good back then to watch her orphans find a family with her and Drem. There were many fine years they had in peace there.

Yet things change. As they always do and now Evelina found it difficult to find the joy she once had in the faces of the young. Yes they had a life ahead of them but then again, they also had a death. They all did. Looking at their big eyes she did what she could not to try to seek out their futures. Nothing was set in stone. Especially now. Everything was foggy where Alicia was, she was there. What she did, what she didn't do, it could cause a massive ripple and spin off another time line, there was a chance there was already one forming they just hadn't seen yet. It didn't matter what they could see, it mattered what they couldn't and that was as vast as the oceans. Some time lines popped up out of no where, and some suddenly vanished. She knew of at least one. The world still had no recovered from that.

The boy that had spoken was still looking at Evelina and she took notice. Training began tomorrow for the new Paradoxes. Whatever watched over them, whatever gave them their powers, whatever controlled all of this, she hoped would smile on their training. If there was nothing, then it was fully in their hands. Should they even intervene. It could change the course of events for all time but if they stepped back, could that course end? Start to finish, beginning to end, Alpha to Omega... "How do you know such things?" she finally asked but the boy said nothing. Simply smiling and rushing off. Something was afoot but she wouldn't leave her post. Not now, not yet. Turning she went back to greeting people as they came in, directing them down the main road towards where the others were. Maybe Gio and Bart would find answers with Alicia.

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Alicia found herself being more cautious than usual now that George was gone. It wouldn't do if she got cornered in a dark alleyway in the middle of the night alone against a Destruere. She had never seen one, no one had, save for Drem. They could sure use him right then. Yet The Glasses was long dead. She could feel the pain that Evelina went through every day he was gone. It was lessening with time but it was still evident, even to those that couldn't read emotions the way Alicia could. Anyone that had known Evelina before Drem had died could see the difference. She was much less full of life and more full of caution these days. Alicia couldn't blame her. If she had lost someone she cared about that much, she doubted she would have held it together as well.

Shaking away the thoughts she felt a sting of pain rip through her and glanced around before the smell of smoke hit her nostrils. There was a fire, somewhere in Cairo and it wasn't far off. Yet being in the alleyway she couldn't see the sky well and try to find any smoke. It was better that she didn't. She wasn't there to interfere only to find answers. If there were any. It was hard not to run towards the pain she felt. To try to stop it but it wasn't her place. She knew the rules and right then she was breaking enough of them. There would be hell to pay when she returned, especially if she went sticking her nose into more than what was already going on.

Focusing she kept looking, for anything. George had his task, she needed to finish hers and get back. Maybe she could get back before anyone noticed that she was gone. She doubted it but in her mind there was always a chance. Granted she didn't know that Gio and Bart were about to come retrieve her. Hell in the back of her mind if anyone did it would be Gilbert. Gio tended to enjoy pulling pranks on the visitors with Nancy and Bart hadn't been trained yet, so it never even occurred to her that a new Paradox could be showing up. She was ready if Gilbert showed up, had a whole speech planned. That would end up being a waste of time but then again she didn't know that. Kneeling down she ran her fingers over the blood that was soaked into the ground. This was where Peter had started to bleed out, and most likely where he had drawn his last breath.

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Faith looked over the children that came to her. They made booing sounds and their outfits were ridiculous. Still, Faith had to remain cordial at least. She was being observed, she felt. So she mocked surprise. "You guys are so scary! Save that for later though, maybe we can scare the others when we see them!" She could get behind that. Bringing terror to other people. Should be fun.

She made her way towards the oak tree, remembering that she should be telling the kids stories of her past (or future, as it were). "I have an interesting story for you all. It comes from my timeline and where I came from. It's kind of scary though, do you want to hear it?" She looked over at the kids, unsure of their reactions. Surely they would not mind.

So Faith pressed on. "Where I come from, the dead are no longer dead. And I don't mean like us here. I mean dead that should stay dead. They don't come back as themselves though. They come back as.....monsters." That was the best word she could think of. She didn't want it to be too scary. "We call them Walkers, but they are called Zombies anywhere else. Their only desire is to attack and eat other people. You could only destroy them by attacking the head and shutting the brain down. I've seen my fair share of legless ones that clawed their way. The world was at its end, but people still pushed to survive."

She got to the Oak Tree, watching her cohort. "It made life fun, in a way though. You got to appreciate small things in life, like finding clean water to drink or finding a cute scarf to wear when things got cold. Anyone have questions about this world?"

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Gio didn't actually notice Bart's eventual arrival at first. He was quite busy thinking to himself about marine reptiles and how odd they were when you really thought about it. Putting turtles aside, when one thought of the sea, the second to last animal class one would associate with them were reptiles. Yet there were a bunch of snakes that just hung around in the Pacific Ocean being snakes. Imagine being on some fishing boat, and when you went to pull up your haul of fish, there was just a massive ball of snakes slithering and squirming around each other. Wouldn't be able to throw that net into the water fast enough. Suddenly he noticed some movement in his peripheral vision and looked up to see Bart standing there, all smiles.

"Ah, you've arrived. Good, good. Well let's get going. Unfortunately there's not much I can do to jazz up my skills like Sir Gilbert, but they should speak for themselves." Gio produced his pocket watch from his coat and approached the door a few feet away. He had actually chose the outside of the garage for a reason. Firstly it was away from the action so they'd have some privacy. But more importantly, he found out over the millennia that there were good ways and bad ways to introduce people to time travel. With a casual flick of his wrist, the protective cover was removed, revealing the clock face underneath. The worst was putting it on the surface of a body of water. People really didn't like that at all. A few twists later he adjusted the watch face. The best however, was a lot more simple than he anticipated. Giosue turned the doorknob and opened it up, revealing the streets of Cairo on the other side.

"Go ahead," Gio gestured for Bart to enter through the time portal first. The emendator would follow soon afterwards and shut the the door behind them. On the other side, if Bart turned around to where he had just stepped out from, all that would greet him would be plain, uncaring brick.

"Remember. Act natural, mouth shut, eyes open, try to avoid looking like a tourist. You can try to ask your questions once we're back at Camp." He never said anything about actually answering any of them, but the promise that they could even be asked in the near future was usually enough to tide people over on maiden voyage. Silently, Gio pulled out the map Gil had provided and cross-referenced his position with nearby street signs before plotting out his course to where Peter had met his end and Alicia probably was. He quickly folded the paper back up and stashed it away before walking onward, motioning for Bart to follow.

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Bart raised an eyebrow as Gio flipped open his pocket watch, wondering briefly if it were some kind of time machine, before Gio opened the door of the garage, showing it to somehow lead to the faraway streets of Cairo. Even in his off put state, this still shook him a bit, his lips pursing and he eyes peering at the impossibility before him, as if he could look the insanity out of existence. The Emendator encouraged his forward passage, and he steadied himself, resetting his mouth to a regular position, and striding through the door. He still was surprised as he crossed from 1940's Louisiana to 1920's Cairo, feeling his feet firmly plant themselves halfway across the world. Immediately, the arid climate attacked his throat, shocked from the humid air it was just becoming accustomed to. He coughed, taking in small breaths to try to adjust as quickly and comfortably as possible. He took a glance back as he heard the door shut behind him, to see it had now become a wall of solid brick.

Keeping his mouth shut was not something Bart was the best at, but he was not in the business of pissing off the man who could leave him stranded here. The fear of being a stranger in a strange land was more than enough to keep him on his best behavior. Straightening his jacket, and angling his head slightly downwards in an effort to keep the sun out of his eyes. He wanted to look at everything but tried as best he could not to gawk. He followed after Gio, but let his eyes wander and examine what was around him, trying to seem as discreet as he could while taking in the impossibility in front of him. Even with his worrisome realizations, he couldn't help but have a small smile on his face, this was the stuff of legends after all. He was reminded of his childhood dreams of escaping and going somewhere his parents couldn't reach him, for which this was quite literally a realization. Even though it took him dying and falling into a world of unknowns, he couldn't help but think that in a way, this was worth it. He didn't know what that said about him, but he supposed he would inevitably find out.

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"And the Yagababa are sort of like ugly vitches that fly around in a mortar and veild a pestle like a svord," Alexandra continued on with her story about the Soulless. She zoomed around the children as if she was flying whilst making odd cackling noises and slashing and jabbing the air with her imaginary pestle, much to the children's amusement. She finally came to a halt, grinning down at them. "It does sound pretty silly vhen you think about it, but in fact, they are quite terrifying in person. Plus they tend to hunt in packs."

"What do they hunt?" one of the children asked, her eyes wide.

Alexandra looked around before motioning for the children to come closer to her as if she had some big secret to tell. She leaned in towards them with mock seriousness on her face. "They hunt children," she whispered. Her facade just about broke when she saw a look of borderline horror cross their features. She then straightened back up. "But don't vorry this place is free of Soulless," she quickly reassured them. Or at least I certainly hope it is... She still was a bit unsure if the entirety of this world, timeline, whatever you wanted to call it, was free of the plague that were the Soulless.

She motioned for the children to follow her. She led them around the side of the Kitchen House to the road that would take them up to the Main House. She took in a deep content breath, the smell of butterscotch and cinnamon hitting her nose. I don't knov vhat that is, but it smells absolutely delightful. She shook her head to break herself out of the spell that the delicious scents had momentarily put her in. "Nov vhere ve? Oh yes, Yagababa. They turn young children into them by forcing them to eat their skin flakes."

"Ewwwww!" the children exclaimed collectively.

"I knov, I knov. It's really disgusting, but vhat do you expect from a Soulless?" she replied, nodding her head in understanding.

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The oversized bowl of punch proved to be a little difficult to manage at first. James was no weakling, and Gilbert... well, he was a man who had no shortage of people asking him to help them move. But as the saying went, "It's not that it's heavy, it's just an odd shape". That and being filled to near the brim with sloshing, sweet-smelling liquid certainly made things interesting. They succeeded, as Gil knew they would. This wasn't his first rodeo. Nor his second. Nor his hundredth. It just took some doing to get it over, slowly, and place it upon a rolling service cart. Not for the first time, Gilbert was thankful for the switchback-style ramp along the side of the building, as if constructed exactly for this very purpose.

James maintained a bit of nervous energy with the actual application of the punch bowl upon the cart. For him, this was his first rodeo. The occasional assuring nod that came from The Hat was appreciated, as was the fact that the guy was frigging huge and could likely manage this whole, sugary affair completely by himself. It made him wonder why he was even asked to come along, aside from better acquainting himself with the goings on of Ville au Camp. It seemed that they all had some acclimation to get over. All except for Alicia, and that George guy. Between those two and Peter, they seemed to represent the only three people that used to be alive around there. The building seemed to be made to house more. Lots more. That immediately struck a chord with him. What happened to the others? There had to be others, right? Maybe that should be his question for the evening. One of them, anyway.

With the bowl loaded up, Gilbert grabbed a number of cold sodas from the icebox and arranged them in a washtub half filled with chipped ice, then slid it onto the lower shelf of the cart. He affixed a fitted cover to the massive punch bowl, grabbed a lipped ladle, and motioned to James, "If you would be as swell, please grab that sleeve of waxpaper cups? Oh and a couple of tumblers, please. Thank you." James was curious as to why this guy was being so remarkably odd, flipping from overly nice to downright commanding that varied by minute. It must be an Emendator thing. "Yessir, on it." he mumbled, picking up the items on the counter behind them and stashing them appropriately.

The next minute or two found Gilbert stashing a few more things on the cart, then wheeling it out of the Kitchen House proper and down the ramp. He could not help but notice that a number of people were coming to or moving from the building he had just exited, and thought it curious. As he and James maneuvered the cart full of drinks and goodies into the lot outside, he thought to sate his curiosity about everyone's presence by easing into conversation in a glib, yet permissive manner. He addressed most everyone within easy earshot by querying, "Remind me, someone: Where did Evelina need the goodie-cart? And how else may I and my good friend James Mandingo Grady help you tonight?"

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Around the grounds, things were rather calm even if a bit crowded. Not your typical thought of being crowded where people were packed in but for a place that only had had around a dozen of people on it normally, having nearly a hundred walking around now either in tours to get stories or on their own, it was crowded. Though for it to be crowded in a more general sense, with the size of the property, there would most likely have to be four or five times that current number. That wasn't going to happen this night or any other. Not in this year. Not on this day.

Evelina continued to greet people as they entered. Directing them this way and that. She knew the faces well. The same came every night. She knew them by face, by name, by mannerisms. At times like this she recalled an old movie that wasn't around yet. Groundhog Day. Bill Murray. Good flick. One she could watch over and over again. Yet she was living her own right then. Reliving the same day, it changing only because her and those who lived in the loop would change small things. It kept one from going insane.

You could go mad being in a loop too long and not finding something to do. Perhaps this was why she was open to inviting others in each night. Even though the faces were familiar, they didn't know they had been there before so the small changes the Emendators and Paradoxes put into play changed their reactions. Yet there was one face walking slowly in the crowd towards her that was not the same as every night. This one was new but it was familiar. A gentle smile came to her lips.

"Why Puridaj dearest, it is pleasant to see you at the gates this evening," the ebony haired woman said as she laced her slender fingers together. Her knees bent slightly in the hobble dress she wore and her skin seemed to be as pale as the moonlight.

"Oh my darling, it has been far too long since I laid eyes on you, what brings you home this night?" Evelina asked as she reached out and pulled the woman into her arms and embraced her. The woman stood for a moment before returning the embrace and letting out the slightest of breaths.

"A matter of some importance but it will hold until a new cycle," she said as she stepped back. Evelina nodded slightly. Some things should not be discussed within the presence of the living and right then, there were far too many of them gallivanting about.

"In that case, do go give greetings to the others. We have some charges, one I believe you should meet," she said before motioning back down the road. The woman simply nodded with a slight smile and began to walk down the road towards the main area of the grounds where the kitchen house and the main house were.

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Alicia grunted as leapt out of the way. From above her it seemed something had dislodged itself and sent a stack of crates crashing down from above. The only reason Alicia had even noticed it in time to jump was because one of the heavy wooden boxes had crashed against the fire escape above her. It was a good thing as well because the majority of the crates filled with various items for the tourists crashed right where she had been standing. She would have been crushed beneath them. Would it have killed her? She didn't know. Being a Paradox made you rather durable in a sense but that didn't mean you couldn't die and as much of a thrill seeker Alicia had once been in a previous life, her want to push the envelope was not as great as it once was.

"Hijo de tu puta madre," Alicia spat as she looked back at what had happened. The majority of it had just missed her. Yet she hadn't gotten out of it unscathed. Rolling over she had to keep from yelping out in pain. A piece of board had splintered and embedded itself into her calf. It was jagged and deep. She could feel it digging deep within the meat of the muscle as she rolled over onto her backside and sat up. Every movement sucked as she pulled her leg in an awkward position to get a good look at it without having the wood hit the ground and get driven even deeper.

"Mierda," she added as she took a good look at it. This was not good. She needed to pull it out but she wasn't about to without having something to tie off her leg ready. A make shift bandage would have to work. The only good thing about dressing for this area during this time in her mind right then was the fact she was clothed in local robes. She could rip some from it without it being too noticeable and have the strips of cloth she needed.

The smell of smoke was in the air and one could hear off in the distance alarms going off. Seemed something else was going down in the city but it wasn't of Alicias concern. In fact it may have been saving her life. For as she was screaming people didn't notice. They were too busy rushing down the main street to the Statistical Department building that was engulfed in flames right then.

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Faith watched the children, who seemed to be entertained (at least by what she saw). She wondered if her stories were believed. Entertaining children had never been high on her list of priorities, but she was tasked with this and wanted to impress. "So...any questions?"

Immediately, hands shot up and voices rang out. It drove her up a wall, like nails on a chalkboard. She held up her hands. "Whoa, hold it! One at a time and I'll call on you." The children put their hands away and were silent. Faith had to admit, that power felt good. Maybe she could have been a teacher? No, fuck that. She still hated kids. She just tolerated them a bit more now after death.

"Ok, now. Questions?" The kids raised their hands again and Faith pointed at one of them. "Did you have to kill any living person?" Faith was taken a bit aback by the question and the ease at which a child asked about killing, but let it slide. These had to be no normal children. "I did. In my life, it was often killing others before they killed you."

"But what if they were friendly!" One child asked without being called on. Faith let it slide. "Some found it easy to befriend others and form teams and communities, others were out for themselves. I found it easy to trust myself only. It was easy to betray someone if you got close to them." Words of wisdom with Faith was so far, in her mind, a success. She hoped Evelina watching, or at least, knew how well she was doing.

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Sophia looked at Nancy for a moment, she had gone a bit quiet and she wasn't sure if she was in thought over something or not, she shrugged slightly and looked down at her feet for now. She ran a hand through her hair as she looked around the area, Sophia noticed that there were quiet a few people already out and about on the grounds. Things started to certainly get a lot livelier now, she continued to make her way towards the kitchen house. And once they had gotten there she noticed the Emendator Gilbert and James, it looked like that they had already gotten things together for some refreshments for the amount of people.

She was certainly very curious what exactly it was that they brewed up, it looked like some kind of punch in the massive bowl and wondered what it was exactly that they managed to make. Sophia looked at Gilbert once more, and shrugged slightly to herself she wasn't sure where it would be a good place to set down the refreshments for all of the guests for the evening. She thought about the main house would be a good place, but then again it might be a bit cramped inside. "Maybe the front porch of the main house could work?" She suggested, she wasn't sure where Evelina was exactly at the moment.

"Also, Gilbert was wondering if you could get something that resembles fake blood, and maybe some fake swords or knives. We figured a good way to scare some of the kids, and it would be entertaining to make it as real as possible?" Sophia asked, she looked over towards James and gave him a friendly smile and waved towards him. "What did you guys make?"

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Nancy didn't even really stop to think about how to answer Sophia's questions. She lived and preached going by instinct, just doing whatever seemed good at the moment - of leaping before looking. While some may have thought it was a miracle she had survived so long, Nancy likely had the Cards to thank for that. Her chaotic impulses had the minor guiding influence of getting glimpses at the future - knowing where the fun would happen and where misery would be the only outcome. Was it contradictory? Yes - but such was the Emendator called the Cards. "Yes, but it's more that the guests entertain us," Nancy said with a smirk. "And saving the world, playing hero, that sort of thing...I mostly like the change of pace. Gets the blood pumping and all. Life can be so dreadfully boring here..."

She had indeed gone lost in her own thoughts as they walked, her mind drifting back to her time spent in the age of Vikings. She was really a bit disappointed that they hadn't gotten anyone that followed the Norse tradition in this round of Paradoxes, from what she had seen. She always looked forward to their reaction, realizing that Loki had been a small woman all along - and of course that she wasn't evil. She enjoyed mischief and chaos, though she still served the greater good - it was her calling as an Emendator. In some ways, she found the portrayal of Loki in a 21st century film called Thor Ragnarok to be the most true to who she was. And yes, there was the entire debate over whether she had inspired the myth of Loki or if she had merely been mistaken for the trickster god, and at this point, Nancy found it pointless to try to figure out which had come first. It was like the chicken and the egg - who cared?

"Real blood works too," Nancy said with a smirk. It wasn't like she needed to worry about blood borne pathogens.

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The kids were silent for a moment, before they resumed their questions. "How did you end up here, then?" Andromeda thought for a moment, her mind flickering through everything that had happened. She didn't know if she should go into detail what had led her to be there - though she supposed it all began with the grisly murder of her father. It had put her on the path that caused her to die....Or perhaps it was those nights stargazing with her mother, believing that anything could be out there in the universe, if she just looked hard enough to find it.

"I'm an adventurer," she finally told the children with a slight smile. "I like to look for things that other people won't notice - what normal people will just think is a bit odd or scary...Because there's always something beautiful there that you just haven't seen. My mother did this too - she liked to look up at the stars, imagining that their could be life out there, just like you and me...That we aren't alone in this world."

"What did you look for?"

"At first, I wanted to look in the stars too for something extraordinary...But then I realized that there are incredible things here, on this planet. So I traveled wherever I could, seeing so many things - I went to New Zealand once, saw a creature that could shapeshift and ate people whole! And I met a powerful old witch who could do amazing things with magic...A little girl who could see the future...A woman who was a fallen angel."

"So what are you looking for here then?" one of the kids asked. The rest of them looked scared and enthralled with her story.

"I don't know yet - something extraordinary..."