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The arms of the creature moved quicker than William's eyes could follow, darting around even as the creature itself was pinned to the alter. In truth, William had lost count of the arms, and he was beginning to doubt they could even be called arms. They were more like the tentacles of some terrible leviathan, lashing out at any threat to it's shifting form, almost seeming to act independently of each other. Another time, William might have been fascinated by this creature, but he didn't have time to think about it, not while he was so close to it that the smell of burning still overwhelmed his senses. Even as he moved back from the creature, still cursing his failed attack against it, the creature retaliated.

A shifting tendril of darkness lashed out, and it was almost upon him before he could even register the threat. He flinched back, half-raising an arm in vain attempt to shield himself, bracing himself for the impact. But the impact never came. Half an instant before the tendril reached him, there was a flash of metal, and the shifting darkness recoiled backwards as quickly as it had surged forwards. William managed to tear his gaze away from the creature long enough to see that his unlikely savior was one of the Russians, who had clearly decided to move away from the Duchess for now, a long saber clutched in one hand, freshly blooded against the creature. Or it would have been, if this abomination bled, or reacted to any of the blows against it with more than a shift in the darkness.

Before William could thank the Russian, everything seemed to happen at once. Another tendril lashed out, and this time, it found it's mark, sending the Russian tumbling backwards, his saber unable to banish the darkness for a second time. The other male Russian seemed to have fully recovered from his own brush with the creature, and hurled a knife towards the writhing mass atop the alter. His aim was true, but whether it truly hurt the creature, William had no way of knowing. A blur of movement passed William's shoulder, and he barely needed to look to know that it would be the Irish woman. She was a fierce warrior, and as he watched her strike at the creature with her stout club, auburn hair flowing and fire burning in her eyes, William couldn't help but think of the valkyries of legend.

A gasp of air cut through the noise, and William turned to Millicent in time to see that the creature's grip on her throat was loosening. Although no-one had attacked the tendril that was latched to her, the damage being dealt to the creature seemed to be affecting it. Before William could rush forwards again, hoping to redeem himself and be the one to free Millicent, he was beaten to the punch. He was almost stunned by the image that he witnessed. The blonde woman, the one whose beauty could inspire a hundred heroes to hunt dragons for her favour, was charging the creature herself, clutching an ornate candlestick. Despite the improvised weapon, the woman's strike was good, and as she bludgeoned the creature, Millicent was finally released.

To her credit, Millicent landed on her feet, but she was still gasping for breath. For a brief moment, William tore his gaze away from the creature, and looked towards the injured woman. Where the creature had been holding her the skin looked almost burnt, but Millicent was still standing, and considering William would need a closer examination to determine what medical aid he could offer, he decided to wait until the creature wasn't likely to cause more damage. Turning away from Millicent, William gritted his teeth. The praying from the Duchess faltered as a tendril flung her back against the wall, but she barely seemed to notice, clambering back to her feet and launching into the chanting again, hardly missing a beat. Despite what little he knew about the Russians, William could tell they were hardy folk, if nothing else.

Determined to prove his worth, William moved towards the alter again. The prayer of the Duchess may be the only way to kill this creature, but it clearly couldn't ignore sharpened steel, and if William could distract it from the Duchess, then he would willingly do so. Pulling back his kopis, William brought the blade crashing down towards the shifting darkness.

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Constantin's weapon flashed as he cut into the creature. The strike was true as he felt some elation at it's success. Though it wasn't quite... right. He seemingly had helped that other guy as he cut at the creature, stopping it from striking, but it wasn't really as effective as he would have wanted! The creature's shadowy form seemed somewhat diminished slightly at the area he cut and about, but it didn't seem to have done much else beside that. In fact before he could even react, a tendril lashed out to him instead!

"Ah!" He exclaimed as the tendrils struck him, sending him tumbling backwards from the impact. How could a simple shadowy tendril be that effective and contain that much power? This as everything else about the soulless was a mystery indeed. What was even more a painful mystery was the fact that he felt a burning sensation at the location teh tendril struck. He gritted his teeth and made a deep frown as his eyes locked on the source of the burning sensation. He was used to burning sensations, dancing on burning embers was his thing after all, but he wasn't used at feeling that much heat and burning pain at places aside his feet.

His expression turned ever so more furious as he saw the creature strike out at Veta! Of course the moment he acted out the creature attacked her! At least she didn't seem to have been hurt any right now, but he suspected she was slightly burned as well!" FOUL EVIL YOU DARE!" He shouted in fury as he dashed forward again, going to stand and protect her once more for her to finish her prayers.

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Though the Dance of Cossack Impalement was performed as only one of the blood can, it was not overly of use to Vladimir in this instance. The situation had become something of a combative free-for-all rather than a structured assault or defensive measure, lacking in the organization that commonly came with the people of the Circus. Oh sure, it all looks like fun and games from the outside, but what many forgot about this odd collection of noble gypsy-folk was that they came by their abilities, both the Rusyn Trained abilities and the more mundane but equally impressive skills of their performing arts, through years of hard, repetitive practice. The acts themselves that required a troupe to perform required timing, coordination, and each member playing their own supporting role to ensure the safety of their people and success of the show.

So it was when the Circus came together to take care of a Soulless threat in the Russian Empire, they did so in action similar to a performance; as a group, with the utmost of coordination between individuals, playing to their strengths and abilities. While effective, this looked more like a swarm of bees massing over a dangerous opponent. Whatever worked, though. Vladimir could not deny that the petticoated brawlers were being effective. Also, the only ones with whom he would have been able to have that level of coordination were Constantin and Elizaveta. Vlad had no idea of the abilities of most of these people.

Perhaps it was with this mind that he merely gave a shrug when the lady with the French accent came screaming by him with an ornate candlestick to use against the thing. This had to be one of the stranger battles that he'd ever been party to in his lifetime. As the melee progressed, Vladimir let fly another blade from his wide assortment of pointy things with the intent of skewering the beast's tentacle-thingy which was holding up Millicent. Apparently, a last second movement from the creature denied him his mark, though by grace of Providence, it struck heavily into the main, shadowy body, entering and thudding soundly into the altar below. Physical creature or not, this thing could be damaged. Sort of.

That's when the idea came to him. These people were attacking a thing of both substance and shadow, but they were only doing so physically. Perhaps a touch of the illusory or ethereal would prove to assist in ways more effective than merely the physically substantial could. A snap of the fingers and a little prestidigitation brought more knives to his strong and dexterous hands, yet this was not his intent of action. A dark and foreboding grin split the face of the flamboyant Russian. He had another move to make in the unyielding chessmatch of brutality before them.

It was time for the creature to prepare for a vigorous Bazhooli-ing.

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In all of the chaos, with the creature throwing the rather useless man backwards, Virginia recalled that Millicent had dropped her sword. She was never trained in the ways of the sword, but she would rather a weapon she had no experience with than no weapon at all. She had not come this far to allow Millicent to die - it was not yet her dear friend's time. Millicent would be able to greet dear Mary and sweet Mosi in the afterlife another day. There was still so much for her to live for and ideally, that life would be filled with joy and the antithesis of Rutherford. It didn't take Virginia too long to locate the sword and doing her best to keep from getting hurt in the fray, she managed to make her way over to it and she picked it up.

"This is nothing like an axe," she murmured to herself. She would just have to hope she got lucky - but she was confident that she had the Dark Mother on her side and more importantly, she had faith in at least some of these people here that they would be able to also aid Millicent and prevent this creature from escaping the church and wreaking havoc on the world. It wasn't too long before her thought was proven correct, as the combined efforts of the others forced the creature to release Millicent. She grinned, glad to see that. Elizaveta's work seemed to be going more or less smoothly, with the exception of the creature throwing her backwards but her resiliency impressed Virginia greatly. She would have called out to Millicent to inquire about her health, but there wasn't the time and she knew that Millicent was made of tougher things than most.

With her sword at the ready, Virginia then moved to strike.

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Maeve really had the luck of the Irish as she moved towards the creature and pinned down one of its legs, before striking it with her shillelagh. Of course, it wasn't her effort that ended up freeing Millicent, though that wasn't too surprising as she was not really sure if her efforts had amounted to much at all. Colette, the annoyingly nice woman she had brought all of this way, managed to land a decisive blow on the beast, freeing poor Millicent. There were nasty marks around Millicent's throat, no doubt from the creature attempting to choke the life out of her. It was probably fortunate that she hadn't lost consciousness, though Maeve didn't really have very many medical skills to speak of so for all she knew, Millicent could be about to faint regardless.

The Russian woman seemed to be making some progress, as things were glowing and white lights were happening - and this sounded pretty much like what the Russian man had told them would need to be done. With any luck, this would all be over soon, but it wasn't time to relax. She needed to keep on attacking this monster, in order to keep it from lashing out at the Russian woman and delaying this ceremony further. The sooner this monster was taken care of, the better as far as Maeve was concerned. She didn't want to know what would happen if they failed - she didn't care about the world as a whole, except for the fact that her daughter lived in it... So she would slay this thing to keep Roisin safe.

Gretna Green (Church): The fight rages on against the foul beast from hell. Or maybe it's from New Jersey. Who knows. What we do know is at this point the creature is down across the altar, and what I keep referring to in my head as Miss Sally's Angels are effectively kicking its ass. Well if it has one of those. All that darkness and billowing tendrils, can smoke have an ass? I don't know, you know what I mean in general. I hope. Anyways, creature down on the altar, Veta praying, girls kicking much butt and the guys trying to keep up. Now, what happens next? Let's see.

William, bless his heart, is trying to get in there. As there are a lot of people already around the altar it is making it difficult to find an opening but eventually he does around the back side of the altar. Taking a swing though doesn't seem to yield any results as he misses. The creature is flailing and trying to break free, like any wild thing would that is being attacked, and Williams attack misses. Thankfully though it doesn't end up hitting anyone else.

In the middle of flailing the Creature nearly ends up hitting Veta again but Constantin, ever being at the ready will be able to strike the creatures tendrils and knock them away from her. Thankfully keeping Veta undisturbed and able to keep her chanting for the time being.

Vlad seems to have an idea and tries to make it where he can fight this creature on another plane but when he shifts it isn't like it normally is. He doesn't seem to shift to the astral but to another place that seems just as real and solid as the one they are fighting in now. He can look around but there is no church, no battle, no creature, no one else. It is disturbing and feels as if it is both lacking something and containing more. He can only hold it a few moments before his astral form slams back into his body and he goes sliding back across the room and barely stops before hitting the wall.

Maeve is doing well enough fighting off the flailing tendrils - able to strike at it with her feet and her weapon. Knocking them away so it cannot grab ahold of her or others nearby. This is great because it gives a hell of an opening. One that Ny nearly tries to strike in the middle of but takes a step back and with good reason.

As Veta continues and the white light start to grow and slams into the creature center, perhaps it is its chest or just it's core. Whatever it is though causes the creature to scream out in what we can assume is agony. That scream however is cut short as Virginia finds that she is very able with a sword. Sure it isn't her axe but it doesn't matter. As the white light spreads, Constantin is seeing a moment of his previous vision come true. The light is pure white now. Virginia is able to rush the beast and between her thoughts, seeing Millicent wield it before, and taking in what she has seen from the creature she brings her sword down and strikes into its core. The beast seems to seize, its cry cut off. As Virginia draws the blade back, it is dripping with what looks to be blood but it is pure white and slow fades to black and then to ash as the Creature seems to break away like a log that has been burned too long - nothing is left but dust in the form of a burned corpse draped in ashed cloth that if touched, just falls apart as ash would. The smell of sulfur is heavy in the room. Somewhere below the ash still lays poor Ludwig.

Millicent gasps and stops moving. "Ashes to ashes?" she asks as she slowly continues to reach for her dagger, pulling it out and looking around smartly. Is it really dead? Is there another? Taking a step forward gradually, sliding her feet over towards Virginia she peeks over her friends shoulder to look at the beast or what remains of it. "That was a powerful strike, you would have done well in China," she muses quietly to her friend.

Ny steps forward and tilts his head to the side before quickly pulling out a journal and sits down in the front pew. Oh this must be written about. This was something new! "Interesting, very interesting!"

Veta slams back as the light draws back and lands on her rear end. Curling over she works to catch her breath. "Vater, please," she manages to choke out from the dryness in her throat.

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Colette had struck true, and she had to admit to herself she was surprised that the candle stand idea worked. Still, the creature let out a cry as she pierced it, releasing Millicent from its grasp. The girl was still standing too, albeit damaged. Before Colette knew it, the rest of the women among them got to work quickly, piercing and quelling the creature until, finally, with a roar it fell to ash on the floor. Colette tried to piece together some knowledge of Soulless that dissolved to ash once felled that looked like what they had faced and could not find any. So far, her journey has made her discover new dangers that lurk in their world.

Colette could faintly make out something in the ash and she was quick to run over and brush some of it away. Soon, she saw a face and a body of a man she recognized from before. ”I recognize this man. He was on the ship that brought me over here. So he was that creature? What does that mean?” she asked, more or less to everyone in the room.

”I have never seen a beast like that before. Does anyone know what it was?” Surely among them someone knew what they had just faced. After all, there were capable women among them. Especially the Russian woman, who seemed quite thirsty, though she had no water on her to give.

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Before William could strike at the shifting form of the creature, his window of opportunity seemed to slam shut. It seemed as if the group seemed to smell blood, and nearly every member of the unusual party had descended upon the alter, and the creature that was upon it. William gritted his teeth slightly as a figure moved in front of him, forcing him to pull his sword-stroke short. He didn't have time to see who it was that had moved into his path, the haze was still thick, and the smoke that seemed to make up the form of the creature was stinging William's eyes. He refused to simply stand back and let other's risk their lives against this hell-spawn. Not while he still drew breath.

Eyes narrowed as he strained to see, trying to ignore the overwhelming scent of burning that was assailing his senses, William saw half of an opening. Quickly moving around the alter, grateful that he was able to keep his footing, William arrived at the back of the alter, the creature spread out before him. He could feel the heat in his blades like a burning now, radiating through the hilts and heating his very blood. They yearned to be used, and William was hardly about to deny them. He pulled his kopis back, and swung it down towards the alter. Somehow, for the third time, William's mark was untrue. The blade bit deep into the surface of the alter, but of the creature itself, it didn't even graze. The shadows seemed to writhe and morph wherever William tried to strike. Before William could attempt another blow, someone stole his chance.

The chant of the Duchess seemed to rise to a crescendo, and the cream that the creature let out, that echoed around the church and seemed to split the very air, was one of pure agony. Even through the haze and the smoke, the light, which seemed to be emanating from the Duchess herself, was practically blinding. It took all of William's willpower to not reel back, trying to seek shelter from this assault on his senses, but all at once, it was over. The cry cut out, and the light faded as quickly as it had arrived. William could only look in bewilderment at the ashen remains, and the pale woman standing over them, sword in hand like an angel of death. The smell of sulfur filled the room, but as far as William could tell, the creature was dead. Or gone at least. He wasn't sure it could even be truly killed, but he would settle for gone.

Shaking himself out of his shock, trying to slow down his pounding heart, William glanced around at the rest of the group. He may have been all but useless during the fight itself, but now that it was finished, he might be able to be of more use now that it was over. He'd spent long enough travelling through the wilderness to have picked up a solid enough grasp of first aid, and although for all e knew one of their number was far better trained, he would still look to help where he could. Millicent had been his first concern, considering her close brush with the creature, but she seemed to have brushed it off, even finding the time to congratulate the pale woman. The Russians were his next concern, and although the more flamboyant of the two men had barely seem phased by being thrown across the church, William's unexpected savior had also been struck. But when he looked across, it was the Duchess that caught his attention, slumped as she was.

When he heard her croak for water, his decision was made for him. Not entirely dropping his guard, William pulled his kopis free from the alter, and kept it drawn, but with his other hand he sheathed his dirk and pulled the flask from within his jacket. As he moved around the alter, he saw the blonde woman approach it, seemingly recognizing the corpse beneath the ash. She called out for some explanation, but William had none to give. He had never faced a creature like that before, and he hoped he never would again. Approaching the Duchess, and all too aware of the armed man standing guard over her, William unscrewed the lid of his flask and held it towards the Russian woman, keeping his voice soft so as ot not startle her.

"Here, m'lady. Water."

As far as Constantin was concerned this was the most crucial and important part of the fight. If all they had gathered earlier was indeed truth, Veta finishing this prayer would be the end of the beast and she was already going for it. Now it was indeed a brief all out fight for it to struggle away free or for them to keep it contained while the Grand Duchess finishes it off. Everyone was going for it, trying to hurt it, to keep it pinned down. Everyone using their own means. From the man who just missed or to the others mainly the women who were having the better results here. Was this a soulless that had weakness to women?

Suddenly the creature seemed to struggle ever more violently in last ditch efforts to break free of the siege they laid to it. As one of those wild strikes went for Veta, Constantin dove for the creature's tendril, with a powerful mad swing, intercepting it off before it could get in touch with the Grand Duchess.” NO YOU DON'T!” He roared, keeping vigilant. It wasn't getting to her even over his dead body!

What followed next though was confusing as Vlad went sliding across the place once more for reasons unknown. Then it HAPPENED! The vision seemingly indeed came to pass as he saw a fragment of it with the white fire over the altar. Following this the beast finally fell. Maybe it died? Most of it faded, leaving a charred corpse. This was concerning. They all seemed alive for the moment, but he didn't relax his vigilance, looking about, ready still. One could never be too sure with unknown creatures. Maybe it had a mate around or maybe it was playing dead. For the moment though it didn't seem to be pretending. He looked at Veta who asked for water and frowned.” All the provisions I carried are with the saddle bags...” He mumbles and looks around, checking if anyone else was reacting to Veta's request.” I vill bring som...” Before he could finish, the man who failed to hit the creature a few times passed on a flask. Constantin looked at him for a moment, but the decision if Veta wanted to accept it was all of her own in the end.

“No I haven't seen anything like this one.” The firewalker replied to Colette's question as he thought about it. Honestly it had to be some kind of soulless, there was no other way. It was affected by the abilities of Veta, but to track it's origin would be near impossible.” Sadly the one vho might have been able to give us clues on it lies on the altar.” He sighed, as much as he get annoyed by Ludwig, the crazy German fellow was indeed useful and not too bad after you got used to him.

Suddenly his eyes narrowed.” Haze's still here...” He commented and threw a look around, blade rising in stance once more.” Vhatever this is it's not over yet. If this thing didn't cause the haze then ve aren't quite out of the vater yet!”

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For a brief moment, she wished that the Lady Kirkpatrick was there fighting alongside them. She had no doubt that her employer was one of the more formidable trained individuals in this day and age, probably able to best the skills of the sharpest individual here. Yet it wasn't the time for idle thoughts and she continued in her quest to keep the creature busy and occupied, as to allow the strange ritual the Russian woman was performing to proceed. She did not know whether or not her ritual was godly, but it truthfully did not matter at the moment. So many trained skills did not draw from Maeve's faith yet she had no doubt that his hand was involved in each of their usages. Via the trained skill of Shuibhne, she managed to strike back the tendrils and she similarly struck them drawing on her skill of Deasmhumhnach with her staff.

Fortune must have been with her as her strikes kept the tendrils from ensnaring another innocent soul, as well as providing an opening for others to attack. Combat against the forces of darkness really was a team sport - there was no I in team after all. From what she could tell, the others were performing splendidly as well. There was a glorious white light forming on the center of the creature, reminding her of what the Russian man had exclaimed about before. And then, the strange woman with skin as pale as one of the Soulless struck it with her blade, seemingly ending the monstrosity. "Ah've never seen anythin' loike it meself, miss," Maeve answered Colette. If the creature was the body lying on the altar, then perhaps this was just some new sort of Soulless she had not yet encountered. "Maybe de creature wus 'is soul?"

The haze continued to cloud her vision, but the haze had started before they encountered this being in the Church so she had no idea if the two were related or not.

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So many people working together in harmony to inflict pain on this poor creature, it truly was a symphony of violence and resiliency. Oh, to be a fly on the wall (or perhaps a maggot?)! Her grip on the sword was tight and she remembered seeing Millicent using swords before. She thought of all the stories about swordsmen she had been told and then took in a few logical considerations of the blade. All together, her information was assembled within seconds. The Irishwoman had provided an excellent opening, Veta's ritual had slammed into the creature and weakened it, and Ny backed away to allow an opening. Virginia dashed forward without faltering, raising the sword up and plunging it down into the core of the vile beast. "Poor monster," Virginia whispered.

She pulled the blade out of the creature, examining that instead of blood there was a pure white ichor of sorts dripping from the tip. Before her eyes, the substance turned black and then became the consistency of ash, as the creature began to resemble some sort of construct prepared out of charred wood. Virginia watched intently, staring at the dust on the altar and smelling the potent sulfur in the room. "Dust to dust," Virginia echoed, finishing the question that Millicent had posed. She smiled slightly at Millicent's compliment, yet her soul was aching for the waste of life that had just befallen the poor beast. "I do not believe this was sweet Ludwig... though I could be wrong," she said, raising her voice so the others could hear her. "Yet anything dear Ludwig knew, I imagine that knowledge was shared by the wondrous Ny," she added, gesturing towards the man frantically scribbling away.

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The art of the Gologramma was an exercise in both subtlety and boldness, its mysteries many and proper application a thing of intense coordination. One simply does not summon a quasi-astral simulacrum of one's self and let it run about all willy-nilly, if you didn't know. It had no animation of its own, merely a tool of the will of its summoner. This is why those adept in the use of a Gologramma often utilize them in their Circus acts; practice there made for ease of use in a mortal struggle. Vladimir was better than most with his Gologramma, experience being a factor. One must be vigilant when dealing with things that draw upon astral energies, however. Unexpected results may happen. It is rare, but conflicting energies can lead to interesting things.

One could see the beginnings of Vladimir's casting manifest. His preferred method had the image stepping away from himself like a mirror image, holding the same quiet facial expression and dark eyes, so as to provide an initial sense of confusion among his enemies. But here is where it went awry:

The expression of his will, created by the manipulation of personal and astral forces, began to split from him in the usual manner of his summoning. Only, it seemed more solid, more part of him, and thusly more difficult to detach. Perhaps he should have just summoned it beside him like most people did it, but no, Vlad was a showman - THE Showman - and he'd be damned if he was going to perform a flashy maneuver half-assed. The problem was compounded by the fact that, when the astral form began to remove itself from him, Vladimir could have sworn that a full change in scenery had occurred. Like the Gologramma, or energies therein, were obscuring something behind the mask of perceivable reality, and he had somehow gotten a glimpse of a hidden but everpresent world, in which he was fully and utterly alone.

Vladimir had but a moment to observe this before his quasi-astral form slammed back into him with enough physical force to slap him off of his feet, across the polished flooring, and into the wall. In the time it took him to pick himself back up from the ground, the foul thing had been dispatched, a brilliant combination of an unholy beatdown and ritual supplication of their Creator; the latter an example of steadfast Russian piety and the former an array of the European women's fiery, martial passions. He bobbed his head with a realization that yes, that was probably how he wanted to die, as well.

The delicate flower of Elizaveta's voice rang out, asking for water following her ordeal. Of course Vladimir would be happy to get it, but someone beat him to the punch, so to speak. Instead, he chose to straighten himself up as best he could and begin the heavy congratulatory portion of the post-battle. "Bravo, ladies! поздравляю тебя, da - Congratulating to you all! Bravissimo! Vith the thanking, and the job vell done-ing!" he said, quickly sheathing his showcard knives and clapping loudly. He advanced to the altar, his adulation continuing until he had reached the altar and gathered back his knives, hurled in combat against their dark and tendrilly foe. "But speak not the silliness of Master Zimmer, vith being the monster. No! Power of Grand Duchess's Ostanavlivat'sya is strong. Is very strong. Ve saw it cleanse and free poor Ludvig." He turned from the altar with a flourish. "But excuse! Must get hat." It was true, he did like that hat.

Stepping down, he looked to Constantin and Elizaveta, nodding with a quizzical expression as if to ask if everything was alright with them. The Great Bazhooli had a heart full of warmth and many knives, both of which he might share for several occasions.

Gretna Green (Church): Elizaveta took a deep breath, it was over, finally. Or at least it appeared to be over for now. For all she knew something else was going to happen or present itself in this haze. Slow long breaths left her lips as she sat there. Her eyes going over towards some of them as they suggested that what they had fought had been Ludwig, she wanted to talk but as she tried, her throat was dry and her mouth parched. It was William that came over and offered her something to deal with that. Taking it, there was a grateful look on her features but the actual gratitude in words didn't comes until after she had taken several long drinks. Lowering the flask she nodded, "Dank you, very much," she was finally able to get out.

Seemed Ny was finding the situation fascinating. "No, was not dear Ludwig. He was already dead, gone. This beast simply got pulled on top of his corpse during the battle," he said. He was sure most of these people were in the church when Veta had performed her ceremony on Ludwig. Though he could understand the confusion. "At least, I don't think it was." He could be wrong.

"No, vas not Ludvig," Veta managed to get out slowly after taking another drink of water.

Millicent looked skeptical. "How do you know?" she asked as she slowly stepped back and took a seat. Her hand rubbing her throat lightly.

"Could feel souls. His was pure, that...thing vas not," Veta stated as she gradually leaned back against the wall and let out a tired breath. "Agree, still hazey, I doubt is over yet."

Ny walked up towards altar and looked around slowly. "This is new, so interesting, sad but interesting," he said as he kept writing. His head going left and right and then right and left. Writing, drawing, flipping through book. "Nothing like it before." Write, flip, turn, stop, look around. "Wasn't there a small animal?" he asked before shrugging. Perhaps he was thinking about something else. Constantine seemed to be vigilant right then but nothing seemed to be sticking out as any more off than it already was, but where was Dieter? The ferret, not the brother.

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The Duchess took the offered flask gratefully, and took several long drinks from it. He smiled slightly in response to her thanks, glad that he was finally able to contribute to this group, following his failure at landing a blow against the creature. Those who had had more luck had already turned their thoughts to the source of the creature, and William listened quietly as the conversation flowed around him. Despite the undoubtedly formidable experience of the assorted members of the unusual group, no-one seemed to have encountered anything like the creature before. The Irish woman suggested that it might have been linked to the corpse still sprawled across the alter, perhaps even an embodiment of his soul. The very thought sent a shiver up William's spine. He had never known "Ludwig" in life, but could such a creature be born from anyone's soul? It might have just been speculation, but the idea seemed to cling to William's thoughts.

He had faced the creatures that lurked in the shadows, he had learnt first hand that the things that go bump in the night were sometimes all too real. Ryne, Hraew and even Cargast, those he understood, or at least as much as anyone could. But the creature they had just faced? That was something different, and all at once, the hushed stories of the monsters that lurked in the far-flung corners of the known world started to seem a little more believable. Realising that the conversation had moved on, William glanced around at the Duchess as she spoke again. The white-haired man had also come closer to the alter, and was seemingly fascinated by the whole affair, scribbling in a notebook as he talked, seemingly to himself. The promise from the Duchess that whatever they had just faced was unrelated to the corpse upon the alter did little to reassure William. She was right that the haze still clung to everything, although by now William barely noticed it, and whatever Rutherford was, he was still out there somewhere as well.

For now though, the group didn't seem to be in any rush to leave the supposed sanctuary of the church, and while they lingered, he may be able to be of some help. Satisfied that the battle was over, for now, he slid his kopis home in the sheath across his back, and then turned to glance between the various members of the party. Although Millicent seemed only slightly phased by her brush with the creature, and the two Russian men seemed to be remaining stoic, William could not know if any of them were simply hiding their pain, or in fact if any other member of the group had been injured in the chaotic fight. There was only one way to find out...

"If anyone is in need of any medical attention, I believe I could be of some assistance."

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Colette still did not understand how that creature wasn’t connected to Ludwig. Even though the poor man was gone, whatever that thing was still seemed connected to him somehow. How were they to know Ludwig didn’t die because that creature grabbed his soul and took over and the fight ended both of their lives? There were still so many questions and very little answers. ”Whatever it was, it was unlike any creature I have faced before. Soulless I know, but during my travel here on the ship we were attacked by some large, unknown creature in the water. It was another thing I had never encountered before. I do not know if the two are connected.”

She felt the others were in similar situations for the most part in their cluelessness. The haze remained, of course. If that meant there was still more, Colette would face it, but at what cost? She came to ensure Millicent was safe and ended up finding out not only was her target dead but now there were creatures of unknown origin attacking. Still, she supposed this beat sitting at home and doing nothing. Though she wondered how far this haze traveled and if others were safe.

”If it is not over, we have some time to prepare then. I could use another weapon and we could get magical defenses placed, just in case.”

The situation was stable so far, stable and calm. Constantin's eyes were opened and he was paying utmost attention to the surroundings, but he couldn't spot or notice anything that might be dangerous or responsible for the haze. Yet the haze remained, almost as an ever present, ever looming danger upon them. He didn't like this haze, it was unnatural! Anything this wide and about to persist for this long must be powerful and definitely not a harbinger of good tidings. He silently thought to himself that the cause of this haze might be even more dangerous than a 100 of the thing they just took out. Though the question remained if the haze and the creature were connected in some manner?

Constantin spotted Vlad giving them a questioning look. He gave a nod in return to signify that he was alright. Veta herself had taken a little bit of a beating when his guard failed earlier to his great shame, but she didn't appear to be injured in any significantly dangerous manner which was great. All in all that was a hairy fight if he had ever seen one. The mere fact it was basically impossible to properly damage the thing and finish it off without that prayer was a nightmare. What if he hadn't gotten the vision about it? He didn't even want to think of the 'what if' in that situation. His eyes darted back to Vlad who had suffered some kind of blacklash earlier?" Bazhooli, vhat exactly happened vhen it you got throvn backvards just now?" Constantin was busy keeping his focus on Veta and the Beast to protect the duchess so he didn't spot exactly what happened. It didn't seem like Vlad was struck by the thing.

He looked at Colette. She had a point actually. It seemed they had some time to rest and catch their breaths for the moment. Though he wasn't certain if defenses would help. A church's hollow ground didn't seem to afect it any." I've have a knife I could lend you, if you vish. Sadly I do not carry other spare veapons." He proposed. Constantin knew a knife wasn't the best weapon out there, but it was his only spare weapon he carried on himself

Then if all else wasn't enough, to their attention was brought a very important fact. Dieter, The Ferret not the brother was missing!" Nov that you mention it." He replied and looked about." Brave animal Dieter is missing! It vould never abandon it's ovner simply like that!" Constantin didn't think the ferret would simply bail.

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Walking over to where his coat lay neatly folded upon a thankfully untouched pew along with his very tall and dignified hat, Vladimir heard the call from the British fellow who had give water to Veta. He was apparently concerned with the physical well being of those recently engaged in combat. If not so lucky or positioned in this battle, he was at least making a valiant attempt at courteous industry after the fact. Vlad responded as if the man was speaking to him directly, "Spasibo! Da, thanking you for attentions most medical. Having no need! Am Great Bazhooli! Strong in vays of Fal'shbort! Like bear, carved of vood, vith fur of coarse and shaggy irons! Vooden, iron bear vhich stabs and Mamushkas vith grace, vigorousness, and vodka, good sir." He bowed low from the waist and stretched his arms out wide, demonstrating both an apparent lack of injury and the sort of histrionic gratitude that one might expect from the man, if they knew him for even a few minutes. As he rose, he trailed a hand back to take his cot by its collar, ruffle the garment with a quick snap of his wrist, and slide it over himself. "Ah! There is hat..." Vladimir swept up his top hat, and with a flourish set it on his very dignified head. "Much better."

The women who performed the brunt of the acts of badassery seemed content to discuss the ramifications and implications of this creature and the fight against it, trading ideas and doing some guesswork on the topic. Vlad thought it best to stay to the outside of this for the meantime. It did not fall into his wheelhouse anyway. The Grand Duchess was being tended to by Constantin and, be it just a delivery of potable water, William. All the same, he felt the need to walk over to them to check for himself that Elizaveta was okay. At first, just a careful watch from a coupe of paces out, before stepping inwards and asking a series of avuncular questions, were he to see something potentially difficult that he believed she wasn't giving proper attention. But none of that was necessary. She seemed to be fine s far as he could tell at a glance, minus some profound fatigue.

Constantin asked an interesting question, however. "Da..." he said with some regard. "I know not vhat this vas. Astral energies flowing around us at all times, yes? Astral vorld is like reflection of ours, but cannot see. I saw something. This day I saw a thing which has disturbing qvalities; exists as vorld along vith ours, like Astral, but is solid vorld. Nothing vas there - no church, no fight, no person or monsters at all. Felt like had less and also had more inside, heavy on Great Bazhooli's spirit." Vladimir nodded solemnly, finishing up with, "Vhat bothers most? As Gologramma became part of me again, vas not like vhisper and smoke; vas solid. Hit like mule kicking chest. Is not supposed to do this. Something vith energies..." he gestured about, indicating everything around him, ...is wrong." Supposition, of course. But he could not deny that something highly unusual had just happened to him.

Vlad allowed a moment for his words to settle in and for his eyes to take a darker, more ominous expression. Then just as suddenly, his face changed to the optimistic and he declared allowed, "More provisioning vith horse; great Brivaldi animal, Tolstoy!" He had ridden his horse into the church prior to the drama, which he pointed back toward now. "Vill fetch."

Gretna Green (Church): Millicent still wasn't buying what the Grand Duchess was saying. It just didn't make logical sense. That thing died on the altar and beneath the remaining ashes was this person. Like a moth in a cocoon. The look of obvious doubt played on Millicents features as she looked at Elizaveta. Sighing, took another drink of the water before speaking again. "Ludwig died before Church. Brought here to severe soul. Keep from changing. Soul was freed before creature showed." Millicents brows shot up at the explanation. Her head turning and looking back at the door. Thinking back to when she entered here. She had been distracted by Rutherfords face, by seeing Virginia again, by Colette and Maeve showing up; she had completely forgotten others were in the church before her. That she had come across the others just before, that Ludwig was indeed dead, thrown over a horse, before everything started going down the way it was. If face palming had been a thing, she might just have done that right then.

"Apparently I was mistaken. Thank you for the clarification," she said before she walked over to a pew bench and sat herself down, rubbing her throat slightly. At Williams offering she shook her head. "No, I believe I shall be fine in due course," she added as she sat there. Something in her felt a sense of relief knowing that thing hadn't come from one of them. To think to turn into a beast like that, it seemed so much worse than becoming a Soulless.

Now, during all of this we seemed to have lost sight of a little friend. Dieter, the ferret not the brother. Worry not! Animals are smart creatures, especially ferrets. They like to hide and sneak, they are very tricksy they are. Especially Dieter, the ferret not the brother. There was a slight whimper from behind one of the tapestries that hung along the walls and a head poked out. A little nose at first before the rest of him emerged and scurried over towards Constantin, running up his leg and body until he perched on the mans shoulder. Apparently Dieter, the ferret not the brother, was just fine. He had just been hiding until everything calmed down.

Things though were not going to calm down, they were going to in-fact calm up. Elizaveta slowly staggered to her feet. Her eyes focusing on the altar as Ny brushed some of the ash aside. Something popped up from beneath a mound of the ash. At first it was simply a green stem, then leaves started to fold out from it. A single stem kept climbing until a bloom started to form. It was the color of dark lilac, and gradually paled as its bell like blossom opened and a light came from within it. The flower cast off a scent, that of turned up soil and dank caves. "Only to grow in darkness but my how it blossoms," Ny commented to himself as he stepped around watching the flower.

Millicent watched the flower but gripped her dagger. This couldn't be normal. Elizaveta on the other hand watched in wonderment. "Seek life elsewhere." A haunting voice, so chilling and yet familiar to some within the group. Some by chance meeting, some by message before, some just by a feeling. "Seek life elsewhere." Eilizaveta's head tilted to the side. Thinking on the words and then thinking on other words. Vlad's words. "Seek life elsewhere." The flower faded and three petals fell to the ash.

Elizaveta looked at her own hands and then she started to pace. Mumbling under her breath. "Three." Her fingers counting off. "Three." Pointing at the air. "Three." Pointing at Vlad, then Virginia, then herself. "Three." Then to herself again, to Vlad, to Constantin. "Three." Then to groups as they came in. "Three." Her fingers seeming to count off something in her mind. "Three.". Dropping her knees she began to draw an old symbol in the dust and ash. A symbol of a flower that looked almost of flame. Petals, leaves, heart. Looking back over her shoulder. "Three."

Breathing out she nodded. "Again, must again," she said as she glanced towards Vlad, holding her hand out to him. Then her head turned towards Virginia and she held her other hand out towards the woman, hoping against hope she understood. "Three..."

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With Vlad mentioning that he needed to retrieve his hat, it reminded Virginia that her axes were both currently lying around the Church. She took a quick moment to fetch both of them, cleaning their blades on the fabric of her dress. It was not that she minded the filth they were covered in so much as she wanted to keep the quality of the blades pristine - her tools served her with honor and should be treated with respect. The battle may have concluded for the moment, but the haze still clouded her vision. In the heat of combat with the creature, it almost had slipped her mind but now, the haze was ever-present. She made her way over to Millicent and stood by her side. The Great Bazhooli's experience was fascinating - he had been thrown physically backwards during his trip to the astral plane.

Several of her trained skills allowed her mind, her soul, to leave her body: Mikasi allowed her to perform astral combat, whereas Sokw and Chankoowashtay allowed her to travel in order to see things occurring great distances away. Hearing though that the Bazhooli had found a plane of existence completely different to where they were currently... It was wondrous and made Virginia wonder, if she were to use her own skills, would she be able to access this place as well? Before she could think much on it and what the possibilities could be, strange and beautiful things continued to come into play. From the ashes that covered poor Ludwig, Deadly Nightshade grew.

The words caused her heart to still and her already pale face drained of color, until she resembled a cadaver. Those had been the words her father had sent to her via the funeral flames of dear Mosi. Seek life elsewhere. There even had been a drawing of the atropa belladonna on the page. And of course, the voice belonged to the mysterious woman she had met at the Russian Circus - Belladonna, her ancestor, the Crypt with the ebony hair. "Belladonna...?" Virginia whispered, the wonder in her voice so childlike.

Elizaveta, her distant cousin, added to the mystery with a revelation: three. There were so many different instances of threes that had happened lately. She had seen a white light three times. There were descendants from Belladonna present, accounting for three different families. Three petals fell from the Deadly Nightshade. Belladonna's voice had repeated herself three times, it had taken three women to slay the poor monster. And with her thoughts already on Vlad's exploration into the other plane, everything clicked into place as Virginia saw Elizaveta extend her hand to her.

"I see," she said, before taking a moment. "Millicent, my dear friend... If this works as I anticipate, and perhaps even in some unexpected manner, and I do not return... I place the Crypt Estate in your care until James is old enough to claim his birthright," she told her dearest friend. She then took Elizaveta's hand, waiting for Vladimir to take the Duchess' other hand so that they might travel to that astral plane as three.

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Maeve pulled a face, incredibly confused with everything that was happening. The Russian woman seemed to be insane. She kept on muttering about the number three, as if that somehow was the answer to everything going on here. But as far as Maeve could tell, three had nothing at all to do with the haze that was clouding their vision or the monster that they had fought. The only three she could think of that had any sway here was the Holy Trinity, but with the pagan girl joining in on whatever was about to go on, she doubted this was anything godly. Since Colette was really the only one here that she knew, the Irishwoman gravitated over towards her and leaned in slightly, as if they were co-conspirators in some sort of heist.

"Do yer 'av any bleedin idea what de 'ell they're blatherin' aboyt?" Maeve whispered. Sure, she felt no loyalty or ties to Colette, but at least she was someone here that she recognized and she felt comfortable whispering these sort of things to. Everyone else seemed to either listen to the Russian woman or essentially just wasn't willing to get into a prolonged argument with her. And if it wasn't for the craziness that Maeve was certain would be continuing outside with this haze, she would have just left the Church right now and cut her losses. And why was there a small little creature running around, perching on the Russian man's shoulder like it was a bird? Was this all a bad dream? Was it something she had eaten the night before?

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Despite William's best intentions, no-one rushed to take up his offer of first aid. The Russian man that had saved William earlier didn't even acknowledge him, despite the wound from where the creature had struck his arm, instead turning his attention towards the blonde woman's requests for a weapon, and searching for some animal, a 'Dieter', whatever that was. It was the other Russian man who was the first to respond to William's offer, and William couldn't help but smile slightly at the theatricality of the response. 'The Great Bazhooli' certainly suited the flamboyance of his outfit, and something told William that the Russian was a valuable ally to have, and no doubt an excellent drinking partner as well.

The Duchess was still taking sips from William's flask as she recovered from the ordeal, and amongst all of those gathered around the alter, she did seem to be the one with the best grasp on just what was going on. The white haired man with the notebook gave off the air of understanding, but his thoughts never seemed to linger long enough for him to fully grasp them. At least the Duchess seemed to be all there. But even as the group continued the endeavor of understanding where the creature had come from, or even what the creature was, most of the ideas went over William's head. He was not one for sweeping theories or spiritual planes. In truth, he was already thinking about whether the encounter could make a good song. He'd take some creative licence of course, mainly leaving out his own ineptitude, but the story of the women descending upon the creature of shadow, light streaming through a stained glass window and framing the scene with mottled reds and yellows... Now that could be something.

Something broke William's train of thought, even as he subconsciously tapped a beat against his leg with his finger. It took a moment for him to realise what it was that had interrupted him. It was the sound of movement, faint and almost lost beneath the conversation, but as he turned towards the alter, he saw that he was not alone in noticing it. Although he wasn't entirely sure what 'it' was. It looked like a flower, sprouting from the ash, light seeming to spill from within the petals. Instinctively, William's hand moved to grip the hilt of his dirk. He'd never fought a flower before, but then he'd never fought a shadow until a few moments ago, so he wasn't taking any chances. The words that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere all at once did nothing to calm William's nerves. Three times the voice repeated the same phrase, but it didn't mean anything to William. He found himself looking around at the other members of the group, wondering if it was any clearer to the others.

The pale woman murmured a name, 'Belladonna', but that didn't mean anything more to William than the haunting phrase did. Most of the other's looked just as lost as he was. But not the Duchess. She looked almost like a woman possessed, her lips moving seemingly with a will of their own. It took William a moment to realise what it was that she was saying. 'Three'. The same word, over and over again as her hands moved through the air. William wasn't sure whether he should take a step forward to try and help her, or a step back to put some distance between himself and the Duchess. As it was, he settled for holding his ground, and not releasing his grip on the hilt of his dirk. It was clear that what she was saying had some meaning to the Duchess, but that meaning was lost on William. The haunting voice had repeated it's phrase three times, the flower that had emerged from the ash had three petals, but was that anything more than a coincidence?

All at once, the Duchess had fallen to her knees, etching a strange symbol in the ash and the dust, before reaching out for the pale woman and 'The Great Bazhooli', her eyes seeming to plead with them, begging them to understand. And apparently, the pale woman did. She spoke with some hesitation, but there was a determination to her words as she said what sounded like an impromptu farewell to Millicent, before moving to take the extended hand of the Duchess. William gritted his teeth slightly. The haze still hung over them, but it felt like something else was there now too. He didn't know if it was merely tension, or something more spiritual, but something was about to happen it, he could feel it.

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Constantin frowned very heavily as he heard Vlad's description of what had transpired when the man had attempted to use astral projection. There was a lot of weird stuff going on, this was not something he had heard of that skill accomplishing... at least he didn't believe he had heard something like that. This was part of the unknown after all, but this was too weird. He then pondered the thing of the surroundings in the astral world. No... buildings? Why? Suddenly a thought came to him. If they were to take a single thing that had changed since the past it would be... the haze. Could that be the case? There was also weird creature they killed, but haze seemed to fit more on the world being wrong. He had no explanation why astral projection felt solid though. Sadly he just wasn't a philospher or a sage or something similar of that nature. He didn't voice his ponderings though at least not for the moment.

Then his eyes lit up in joy as he saw Dieter, the ferret not the brother, appear from his hiding place nearby! Constantin sighed in relief as he looked at the adorable smart little guy that was now perched on his shoulder." They there little guy. I'm sorry this happened." He said to the ferret, looking at it's small eyes." Glad you are unhurt." One problem was solved, he would have felt really bad if the ferret had also died. He would have felt real bad towards Ludwig for not being able to protect his little partner in crime." Vill you be going vith us nov?" Constantin asked the ferret. He had started to believe the little guy was quite more intelligent than ordinary animals. It always seemed to fully understand them! Such a bright, loyal companion it was! He again felt sadness about Ludwig's passing.

Suddenly the crazy returned as flowers appeared, voices about searching for life elsewhere and then Veta started mumbling about threes. Was this some kind of rule of 3? What was going on. She even drew a weird flower in the ashen floor before reaching out a hand to Vlad and Virginia. Now Constantin was REALLY concerned as his face displayed his worry and he looked at Veta. She didn't even explain anything, but he would be with wood for brain if he didn't figure out something was happening.

"Grand Duchess? Vhat's this ab..." He started asking, voice filled with worry. What was the woman planning now!? Didn't she understand how much they all worried about her back in the Circus? Why wasn't he included or even given a simple word of explanation what she's trying to do? Maybe he could help! If nothing else he wouldn't need to worry like he was now. Cold sweat was running down his spine." Hov can I help!?" In the end he decided to just trust her and didn't ask about what's happening and switched to how he can aid them.

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Colette had seen a variety of weird things in the short amount of years she had been alive, but seeing a woman grow silent only to begin muttering the word three repeatedly while looking at various people concerned her. She had never been one to believe a woman needed to be locked up because she was driven to madness from her own gender, but even she could see how some would look at this situation and believe it. Granted, she was sure there was a reason as the woman did not appear crazy or broken. And she was not alone, as Maeve had confided in her with a question that showed she had no idea what was going on also.

”Truthfully, no, but then again a lot of what is happening I have no clue about. We will just add this to the list of many.” The others seemed to understand somewhat though, but she did not want to be left out, especially if these events were not over yet. ”Pray, tell those of us not inside of the circle, but what significance does three pose?”

And then, even weirder, a flower bloomed amongst the ash. If it were any other circumstance, Colette would have been enamored to see something so beautiful alive in the darkest of circumstances, but as it stood, it only concerned her given the danger they were just in. And her without a weapon to hold.