Until recently, the DWMA never had a concept such as vacations despite being a school, the many terrors of the world didn't stop attacking just because it was summer, so the students had to remain vigilant. However, seeing the peaceful state of the world as of late, the academy decided to bring the concept into its schedule, though the mission board was still filled with "summer homework" for the students to tackle during their free time.

The mission to Malum Island appeared as the classes were coming to a close. The proposal was simple: Go to the Mediterranean island nation, stay at the local DWMA chapter and help them with some basic tasks, with plenty of free time to enjoy the local beaches, landmarks, and restaurants. All paid by the DWMA, of course.

Weirdly, it didn't note how many people could claim the mission. Perhaps it had been an error or maybe they didn't expect many students to be willing to stay for almost three months in a foreign nation.

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A single look at Ms. Opal's face made it clear she was living her personal nightmare at the moment. The teacher was clumsy, forgetful, a bit of a rule-freak and so anxious some speculated she had been taken into the DWMA staff just so people would compare her to Death the Kid and say "hey, perhaps that guy isn't so neurotic after all".

And now she was on a boat, tasked with supervising SIXTEEN teenage students for over three months in another country. How would she handle that? It was also clear each duo wanted to do something different, some were ready for camping, some brought expansive cameras to take pictures of the historical buildings, some seemed ready to hike in the mountainous wildlands while others seemed interested in nothing but simply doing their job for the local DWMA chapter, she couldn't keep an eye in all of them at once!

"How could I forget to put a limiter on the mission proposal? I could swear I had made it clear it was a four people mission," she whispered to herself, biting her nails, shaking in anxiety. "This cannot possibly get any worse!"

She took a deep breath, she couldn't let this get to her! She had to do her best, she had to prove she was worthy of her role as a DWMA teacher!

It didn't help that the ferry they took was so gloomy. The wood and rusty metal vessel creaked with each wave, the passenger area's furniture was an unholy combination of cheap and aged, and going to the deck was boring as the fog was so thick even parts of the boat were hidden by it.

It was a far call from the plane they took from Nevada to Malta. Landing in Malum Island was hard as navigation instruments acted weird near it, one needed perfect clear wheater to do it, because of that it was safer to do the last bit of the trip through the sea routes.

At least the students had each other's company. Everyone in here was a Meister - Demon Weapon duo, everyone was also forced to wear a matching color-coded wristband by Ms. Opal as if they were kindergarten students.

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The bell of the ferry rang to signal they had arrived and that they would be docking soon, and, as if by coincidence, the fog started to clear. This was great news, and as the sunbeams appeared Ms. Opal took it as a signal things would start to get better.

"Everyone!" she called for attention as she got up. "Please get up in an orderly fashion and make a line, weapons to the left and meisters to the right."

"I am sure you all have read my 58 pages report on the island's history and geological features, but just to recall, we are landing in the Port of Torri. A beautiful region where ruins of Roman forts overwatch sprawling shrublands." As she said it, she rose her hand to the left, expecting for the fog to clear and reveal the ruins of a tower in the middle of a rocky plains area.

Two issues were quick to reveal themselves. The tower seemed to have been fully repaired and what it overlooked were not plains, but a lush jungle. In fact, the whole area was like that, even near the city and the port.

"W-w-what? Such thick vegetation... how can this be!? I was there fifteen years ago and the tallest plants made it to my hips. Some of these trees take sixty years to mature yet they look fully grown! Also, they are South American species I am sure, what are they doing HERE?" Ms. Opal started to mutter in her panic. "O-oh no. what if we made a wrong turn, what if just did a Columbus and ended up on the wrong continent... oh no... But wait, we just have been navigating for two hours, we couldn't have made it across the Atlantic that fast..."

She noticed she was doing all this in front of her class and took a deep breath, forcing a smile, sweat running down her forehead, her body trembling. "Don't worry, this must be just... a forestation project, I am sure. Please stay in line and leave the ship at my command."

The ship docked and the captain merely sat in there, showing no concern, in fact, his expression was weirdly dull, lacking any emotion. Ms. Opal was the first to leave the ferry, walking into the historic port and observing the sights, before starting to signal for the students so they would take turns in leaving the ship.

"Well, weird that nobody from the local chapter seems to be waiting for us, I am sure I sent a message to them..." she silently prayed she had not messed this up as well. She checked her phone, no signal, despite being this close to the city. "Well, anyway... Let's continue onward, I am sure we can get in just based on us being part of the DWMA."

She would guide the teens towards the gate, quickly taking out her DWMA staff document to show the guards so they would be let through into the country despite the lack of a passport.

They looked back to her with a distant stare. "Ah, sure." was all they said, no further questioning, no further movement. The teacher was left confused at this sight.

"So... I am going through... okay? O-o-okay?" she stepped past the gate and got no reaction, even after waiting a bit. "Uhm, well... Come over kids, let's move on."

Thankfully when past that area people seemed more lively, all through the harbor citizens would enjoy their daily lives. Not seeming to mind that in some areas plants had overgrown and taken over walls, or that some of the TVs and billboards were broadcasting warped images, or that some people wore weird anachronic outfits such as that of a plague doctor, or that there were cave painting like symbols on the walls of some of the harbor buildings.

If Ms. Opal looked miserable before, now she looked like she had hit the bottom of the well and then gone down some more despite holding that forced smile of hers.

"Ah! How peculiar, how... peculiar! Maybe it's a... Uhm, fair? A festival, a new one, that I have never heard of before." she nodded to her own words. "Let me ask someone about it. Uhm, mister...ah he just kept walking, maybe he is busy, err, miss?"

The students would get to see their teacher look miserable for a few minutes, trying to get hold of someone to talk with. Some would ignore her, some would talk to her but not seem to notice how odd things were, one person would even acknowledge it with an "oh yeah, it did turn into a jungle" but then just move on as if that meant nothing.

Opal's legs were shaking, the teacher close to a panic attack, taking heavy breaths. "No worries everyone! I got this under control. We will just take our bus, go to the DWMA chapter and then ask what is going on! That simple. Let's move on, to the parking lot, where the bus I rented will SURELY be waiting."

But before doing so she needed some water to help calm her down. She looked around and found a drinking fountain, it was a classical one, roman design, all around it was graffiti written KEEP OUT along with a symbol of Lord Death's face indicating it was done by someone from the DWMA. The teacher clearly didn't notice the latter in her stressful state, moving to it and leaning forward for a drink.

"Mm! How refreshing! Right, let's go and ... uh... I feel... wah... baa." moments after drinking from the fountain Ms. Opal looked dizzy and then, out of nowhere, she turned into a sheep.

There wasn't even a moment of silence and tension for the act, people walking around them kept walking on as if nothing had happened, it seemed like only the students had noticed the transmogrification.

This was the turning point, this island was not merely weird, this was actual madness, the likes the world hadn't seen for a few years now, the type of thing that wasn't supposed to happen anymore.

A bell rang. In the distance, they would see their ferry as it started to move away from the eerily empty port, no other ship in sight, docked or not. They were stuck in Malum Island for the moment, the locals mesmerized and unhelpful, their teacher turned into an animal and while it was clear some elements from the DWMA were still active from the graffiti, none of their members had shown up so far.

In that weirdly casual chaos, their summer vacation had started. Above them, in the now completely clear sky, the sun laughed.

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Well...this could've gone better...at least no one else had fallen into some sort of trap to his knowledge. Evan looked at what use to be their teacher, and wondered just how exactly this had happened. He thought she'd be more prepared for this but from what he knew of Miss Opal she had a bit of an anxiety disorder so he guessed he couldn't blame her for letting her guard down entirely...right? Evan was wearing his casual outfit, and he was a bit distressed to know whatever was going on, on this island was not what it was billed to be. Evan bit his lip for a moment before sighing, and taking a deep breath.

"Is everyone alright? Don't panic if we do whatever is effecting this place may effect us take a deep breath. If we're going to help Miss Opal we can't panic. I mean we are a team right? Don't overthink things take it one step at a time. For right now does anyone know what may have just happened to Miss Opal?" questioned Evan as he decided to step forward. He wasn't fond of being shoved into leader spots but he wanted to make a move before anyone panicked. Fear was the mind killer one had to remain calm in the face of madness. He doubted anyone could help Miss Opal but to abandon her, or ignore this was...wrong. "If not we need to make sure she is kept safe until we can help her. Whatever else is happening comes second. We're going to be Lord Death's personal soldiers one day. We're not alone if this graffiti here is any sign there is DWMA members active here. But even if not remember I'm here for you if you need me." Evan said gently but fairly loud just enough so he knew people would hear him.

---

---

With a bit of free-time in his hands, Keith laid snug in the hammock. There weren't much missions to go around, it seems it has been relatively peaceful so alot of meisters/demon weapons were hanging around, waiting for missions by training or lazing about. He began nestling into a comfortable, blissful nap when a familiar voice cut through the air. As his mind placed the voice, his brows creased, and this voice didn’t like free-time. Fake wolf-ears invaded his peripheral vision.

“Keiiith!” She yelled, running at him at a high speed, wolves could be lethal stealthy predators, but Arle wasn’t really a wolf.

She approached the hammock and nonchalantly flipped it. “ORIYAHHH!” she could be small, but sometimes, especially when the topic was teasing others, she could be quite strong. The poor meister within was centrifuged for a bit before slipping upward, being caught by Arlette before he could hit the ground.

“I know what we can do this summer!” the energetic girl said, now ‘princess carrying’ her meister.

”Ughhhh.” Keith groaned, he stopped raising his head and let it bounce up and down. ”You pack alot of strength in those arms. Fine, just let me go and tell me where we’re going.”

Arlette would not do that at first, she would try to princess carry him all the way to the door of their dorm, but her legs started to hurt really quick. Sighing, she let him go back to the ground.

“Ah, you see, there is a cool mission in the board right now.” she informed, taking his hand by the wrist as she started to leave again. “It’s like, just too good to be true, you have to read it to believe it.” she smirked, wanting to make some suspense.

Keith sighed, he recognized that face, once she had that look there was no way out. He wanted to run but she’d eventually just wear him down and catch him. It would have been a futile attempt. ”Go on.”

With a confident smile, Arle pushed onward, going all the way to the DWMA, barely noticing the path she took as she was quite excited.

The page on the mission board clarified what the mission was. The duo would have to spend three months on a paradisical and historical mediterranean island, for all three months of summer, while helping to keep the peace and hunt any criminal in the island. Considering how things had been quiet as of late, that likely meant they would have a lot of free time to enjoy the place. It was as she had said, too good to be real.

“Soooo~” she says smugly. “Come on, you can’t keep being grumpy now, can you? Isn’t this great?”

Keith examined the mission, three months was definitely lengthy, but it was likely that they were given free time. Still, it might be a nice change of pace. Getting out of the scorching heat of Nevads was definitely a plus. Though reluctant, he scratched his head and acquiesced. He didn’t like seeing his partner disappointed and she was antsy as they’ve not been thrown a mission in a while. He shuddered at the thought of his parents hearing that he skipped the mission.

”Alright, where do we sign up?.” He finally said.

She laughed gently. “Oh I already signed up yesterday.” she confessed, showing her tongue. “All we have to worry about is to go get ourselves summer wear and maybe swimsuits!” her smile widened.

“It's been a long time since I have been in the mediterranean, I was raised in Occitania, southern France, so it wasn’t that far, but the continental beaches there can’t beat the islands.”

”Of course you did, my ever unruly partner...” Keith trailed off, giving her a weak knock to the head. ”Occitania, huh. I’ve never been to a mediterrenean, my parents would probably be elated at the new training region. Shall we go and pack, then?”

“Gyaouch.” she rubbed her read as she was playfully knocked. “Mhmm! Let’s go!” she grabbed his arm and the whole process of being dragged around the city started again.

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…..

---

Mediterranean Sea, Near Malum Island

The trip to the island was boring for Arle, be it on the plane or in the boat, at least the boat had the “fun” aspect of them not knowing if the junkyard piece wouldn’t just break down and sink. Worse of all, she couldn’t play around, not even with Keith, without Ms. Opal staring at her, shaking her head in disapproval. As such, the pseudo-wolf girl was left crossing her arms, only distracting herself by staring at the ghost girl, Allison, whose soul looked awfully tasty for a weapon as hungry as her.

”Don’t eat our teammates, Arlette.” Keith was leaned back onto the wall, his arms as pillows. With one half-lidded eye open, he observed a few of his colleagues go about their business. He was curious about some of the meisters and demon weapons that joined joined. It was an interesting lineup, to say the least.

Arlette laughed, embarrassed, rubbing her cheeks with one finger. “W-w-what? I’d never! That would make me a kishin or something! I can only eat corrupted souls in the shinigami’s list.”

She would try to distract herself some more, by seeing patterns in the rusted metal all around the boat’s structure. It wasn’t fun, but it was all over soon as the bell signaling the would dock finally rang.

”Your eyes are thrashing more than the waves..” He continued, pulling the sleeping mask over his eyes. ”Take this chance to mingle… or sleep.”

“Oi!” she would lean closer and blow some air into his ears. “Didn’t you hear the bell ringing? It’s finally over! It's not the time to sleep, we have to get out of this bathtub.”

”WHAT? Already? I wanted a third nap.” He replied incredulously. His ears went red as they were fairly sensitive, so he pushed her face away with his palm. ”Please leave my ears alone.”

The teenager lifted the mask off his face with a thumb. Keith stood up and stretched, his joints cracking with each movement. He eyed the landmass, it was tropical and lush and had a sense of calmness to it. So why did he have this nagging feeling in the back of his head, like a strange, invisible weight on his mind. A sort of uncanny valley feeling.

”Do you…” He asked but stopped himself, he dismissed iit as jitters of being in a new mission after a period of idleness. ”... nevermind, let’s go.”

Arlette was cracking up laughing at first. “Oh my, how embarrassing, Miss Worrywart totally messed up this one.” but as the fog cleared, her smile would fade, her eyes would widen. “No… wait.” even before the teacher whispered about South American plants Arle had noticed it was all wrong, she knew this side of the world and she knew when things were out of place.

“What the hell, there is nothing like that in this region. Keith…” she would seize his hand, not by the wrist but properly. It was a rare sight, Arle with gritted teeth, fangs showing.

She would keep him close as they walked out of the ferry, the sights were not making it any better. Her mind started to race, starting to realize something didn’t feel right. The worst part is that she had been the one who brought Keith into this, if it was her alone she wouldn’t mind, but it was unacceptable to put her friends through trouble.

Arlette is definitely in full-alert mode. Keith thought, glancing at her very close figure. She was shaking, seeming ready to jump out at any threat. ”Let’s relax. You’re from this region right? What’s wrong exactly?”

“These are not plants native to Europe or North Africa, furthermore these islands are known for having a relatively dry climate, they cannot hold a rainforest like this. It is simply impossible.” the girl said while staring at the local flora with suspicion. Though since Keith had requested it, she would try to relax, taking deep breaths until she managed to return somewhat to her usual expression of a soft smile.

Keith stroked his chin with his free hand, taking in the new information that Arlette said. She was right, the forest looked healthy- thriving even. ”I guess the feeling I got from earlier weren’t just jitters.” He said unconsciously. ”What in the world’s happening here?”

With a sigh, the french girl simply gave up for the moment. “Well, we can ask the local DWMA about this, they probably know more than we do,” she said as they walked into the harbour area.

”Probably the best course of action to take.” Keith said, following the herd of students and Ms. Opal. The dread he felt earlier intensified as they trudged further inland. Aside from the idle chatter of the duo and other teams, it was oddly silent.

Arlette was worried as well, but she had noticed how dropping her cheerful side only made Keith worry more, so she reacted to this with a simple joke. “Ey! If it isn’t that mediteranean warmth I heard so much about, really lively people over here.”

After going through customs and the gate, no passport needed for DWMA students, things did seem to get better at first, there were kids playing around, couples walking together, businessman rushing about, shops were open and there was chatter. Yet… the unease just wouldn’t vanish.

Keith chuckled at Arlette’s levity, seemed like she was somewhat back to herself. The weight on his mind just kept getting heavier and heavier. It soon became a mild headache, his steps became slightly unsteady. He leaned on her for support. The islanders seem nonchalant and smiled, it was odd. It felt emotionless.

Was soul perception playing a part in this? To confirm his thoughts he observed his fellow meisters, most look troubled and he could tell what they were feeling.

He also would see a red soul with a hood looking increasingly worried about him. “Are you fine? You are oscillating while you move.” the weapon asked, Arle gently holding him, she had been doing so since he leaned on her for support.

”I’m good.” Keith replied, pushing through the pain. ”You see the meisters? They all look worse for wear. I’m thinking it’s something with soul perception.”

“Right, soul perception. You can sense our emotions better than ourselves.” she held his hand and stepped closer. “I have normal perception, and I can notice when my meister is straining himself, okay? Take it easy, you are with me, and you know I will take care of anything.” she winked trying to look overly confident.

Keith must’ve been in bad shape for Arlette to start acting like that. ”Thank you, mother Arle.” He joked, trying to ignore the subsuming headache.

All the while, the teacher had been becoming more and more distraught, finally, she had decided to rush to the parking lot, but first she would take a sip from a drinking fountain. The situation wasn’t that good so far, but what happened next crossed lines, as their teacher turned into a sheep just by drinking the water.

”That’s a first.” Keith mumbled to himself. This heavily smelled of witchcraft but he chose not to say it outloud. Spooking his teammates was likely not the best course of action. His eyes unconsciously swam to the only other witch meister.

Arlette gasped, it was all so sudden and quite shocking. “Yeah, uh… Wow! I have seen witches turn into animals before, but even that wasn’t like this. Furthermore… she looks a bit unresponsive, she might have been turned all the way through…”

She place a hand over her mouth and turned to the side, this wasn’t terror, it was her trying to stop herself from smiling and making a tasteless joke about lambchop, ”Or would it be tasty?” she said before finally taking hold of herself with a deep breath.

“Feels like something out of a fairy tale really. Cursed springwater turns people into animals or something.” she mused aloud before continuing in a lower tone with Keith ”But yes, I think this is official. We are cursed, this land is cursed, this trip is cursed. Let’s take the sheep and get away as quick as we can. Feels like something the real teachers or the death scythes should be dealing with.”

”Yep. Definitely out of my pay grade.” Keith joked, he walked over to the now sheepified Ms. Opal and bent down. ”Hello, Miss Opal, do you understand me? If so, bleat twice.”

She would bleat once. She seemed smart for a sheep, but it was unclear if she could understand them and she clearly couldn’t speak.

Meanwhile, Arle saw their ferry leaving, just then noticing the eerie lack of ships in the port. “Oh sheesh, that isn’t ideal.” she walked to Keith. “Seems like we are stuck here, no boats.” she quickly informed.

One of their colleagues started speaking and while typically Arle wouldn’t like these types of self-appointed leaders she found his speech very useful for the moment. They had to stay calm, there was no teacher to keep them together and they were stranded on this cursed land.

“I get we need to keep the teacher safe.” she speculated with Keith. “But to even think of doing that we need to find a place to stay at, or maybe some local allies. Ugh, I don’t even know where the local DWMA chapter is. What a mess.”

Keith nodded at Evan’s words, keeping this crowd calm was the best course of action. A sound mind and all that.

”So first course of action is to find the the local DWMA chapter then?” Keith pronounced loud enough for all the teams to hear. He yawned shortly afterwards. ”Oh. I’m Keith Solomon, by the way. Most of you probably don’t know me, nice to meet you.”

Arlette didn’t feel like she needed to introduce herself considering how much trouble she had caused. ”And let’s try to remember the basic fairy tale rules, don’t eat the food, don’t drink the water. Sure this drinking fountain was extra cursed, but who knows if eating anything in this place won’t turn you into a zombie like this fella.” she pointed to a man who was walking by, he seemed outright unaware she existed.

”One final thing. Their- er the people… islanders? Anyway their wavelengths are off, I’m sure some of you felt it.” He said, making eye contact with the meisters there.

A dingy boat and a somber haze did little to dampen Sloane's spirits. Even if it didn't look it at the moment, this was after all basically a tropical vacation. No homework, no sparring, no tests, no expectations or responsibilities. Just relaxation in the summer sun of an island paradise. There were a few chores and things, she knew, but she also knew from Ms. Opal's frantic repetition that there ought to be only a fourth as much as the student body, sixteen teens strong, might typically be assigned. At that point, some do-good go-getter like Kathy, Cameron, Evan, or Tony would probably do it all. That meant a good long while without having to do much of anything, which sounded like a welcome change from the constant stress of school life. After a hellish flight from America to the Mediterranean, she could definitely use it.

The ferry trip passed by uneventfully. Extremely uneventfully, even. Stiff and bored, Sloane sulked about the passenger area with an ornery look on her face, warning everyone else to steer clear. Judea's company she didn't mind, but just about everyone else was not only either a dork or a jerk, but also her competition. They were the people she was to measure up to and surpass, and here they all were getting ready for a nice communal vacation like normal people. That's not going to fly. Of course, out of everyone poor Ms. Opal was the worst off. Sloane pitied the woman, so suffocated by anxiety. It didn't stir her into a babbling busybody like it did for the teacher, but Sloane could relate. Pressure bore down on the both of them, like the weight of the ocean on a deep-sea submarine. Some people -idiots- thought of Opal, and even Sloane herself, as cracked, but they knew nothing of the kind of toll it took to be and do not just their best, but the best. Unfortunately for Opal, it looked like what would be a time of relief for Sloane would be a time of suffering for her. Godspeed, miss, Sloane thought.

Time wore on until the ship's bell heralded land. Rays of sun finally started to pierce the fog, and Sloane lifted her weary head. “About time,” she grouched, getting to her feet. She stopped briefly to grab her travel case, loop her arms through the straps, and settle it on her back. Given the remarkable heat at both point of departure and destination, that crimson coat of hers seemed more and more useless, but there it was stuffed into an exterior pocket regardless. She slipped a mirror from a pocket and took a quick look at herself. From an early age she'd learned to associate success and perfection with attractiveness, and so even in cruddy situations like this, she paid close attention to her appearance. Even with the oversized backpack she managed to look good, but her reflection only made herself depressed. Awful. It's a wonder anyone can stand looking at me. She stood there, miserable, until Opal called everyone to order. Sloane gave a slight sigh but complied without further complaint. The teacher then pronounced her certainty that the students had read her book on the island. Sloane blinked. “Uh, yeah.” Reading was something she enjoyed anyway, and history in particular struck her as interesting. She couldn't speak for the others, though.

Like the others Sloane glanced out at the terrain at Opal's prompting. What she saw surprised her almost as much as it did Opal, since she read the book and all, but Sloane hid it a whole lot better. “Huh.” Not only was the place simultaneously restored and overgrown, but something wasn't quite right. These weren't at all the sort of plants outlined in the book. Deadpan, she extended a hand to place on Opal's shoulder to try and assuage her mounting stress. One deep breath and shaky smile later the teacher attempted to move on, trusting the students to wait in line for her signals to depart. Sloane planned to do it, since she didn't want to let the teacher down, a few of her peers had other plans and once the dam broke, nothing stayed behind. Moving with the others and maintaining her frosty glare, Sloane advanced into the age-old marina without spotting any kind of welcome committee. No DWMA personnel, no local contacts, not even any pushy hawkers. “Hot day to get a cold shoulder,” she muttered, looking around with furrowed brows. Everyone in this place looked dull and lifeless, even the security guards, who let the newcomers right through their checkpoint. “Way to make an effort,” she scolded as she passed through. “We're all armed, by the way.”

From there the weird stuff just compounded. Neither Sloane nor the others were strangers to strangeness, given their monster-hunting duties as meisters and weapons, and for her part Sloane didn't care if nobody cared about her. No judgmental glances and disappointed looks. A nice change of pace. It got to Opal pretty badly though, especially when she tried approaching a few locals for help and got zilch for her efforts. Looking pretty close to a breakdown, she bravely outlined a plan before taking a brief detour to a nearby drinking fountain for water.

A drink sounded pretty good to Sloane right now too, but this fountain seemed...odd. Various warning signs seemed plastered around it, though 'keep out' was an unusual thing to say about a drinking fountain. Opal, bless her heart, went right for it. Sloane watched as she stood up, ready to get the trip back on track, and turned into a sheep.

Sloane blinked twice, and raised her eyebrows. “Whoa.” One of the dudes, a guy who looked familiar but whom she'd never interacted with, took the sensible route. He tried to talk to sheep-Opal, but she exhibited no overt understanding. Great. Then Arle -Sloane knew her for sure- pointed out the ferry, sliding away from the docks out to sea. They were trapped. Double great.

Meanwhile Evan had started babbling, heroically taking charge to unite everyone against the nonexistent panic, then offered everyone a compassionate shoulder for all to lean on. Like these people weren't all able combatants who hunted down and killed evil souls. Everyone else was just talking among themselves, alerted but hardly afraid. So awkward. Sloane groaned. “Uuugh, pipe down already. We'll live somehow.”

Proceeding carefully in search of the local DWMA chapter seemed to be the order of the day. Sloane scowled, practically feeling her chances of a peaceful vacation slipping through her fingers. “Ugh.” If nobody else did, she resolved to grab and carry the sheep, feeling like she owed Opal more than most. For the moment Sloane crossed her arms, looking around for Judea. Where was she?

Feeling a bit off put by the rather blunt reply of Sloane having put him down rather bluntly, as the one calling himself Keith spoke up saying they needed to find reinforcements, while the others seemed to be bothered by the wave lengths. He considered his course of actions and decided that all he could do for the moment was try, and provide some sort of pillar for those to rely on if they didn't have the confidence of the others here. He knew them mostly by just their name. He didn't know too much about how they operated, and his adopted father had told him plenty of stories of how things got going. He considered offering up the option that the DWMA here may actually also be effected but that may cause arguments, and or hurt morale. So until such a time things were settled Evan wanted to just play it by the ear. He didn't know what was going on here, not in the slightest, but at the end of the day he couldn't rule out that most of the food on this island was also cursed...Evan put his hand to his chin and noticed Coda inching up behind him. Before he spoke he leaned back, and gave a confident smile to Coda. His weapon for the past few weeks or so he knew Coda to be rather jumpy at times...and he wasn't an easy weapon to utilize. BUT he wasn't about to start letting his own worries effect his partner. "I have your back. I promise." Evan told his weapon simply as he turned to address the others.

"Before we start talking about shelter, which is a good idea in of itself, we should do so privately these people seem to be ignoring us...but who knows who's listening in on us. If we talk about anything important it should be held in at least a comfortably private place. I don't want us having uninvited visitors If anyone has any ideas hold onto them for now please." Evan suggested rather calmly, and patiently hoping his caution would at least give others the right idea. "On that same note I suggest that partners get ready. I don't think I should need to tell everyone this but these people have bad vibes. Their souls are off kilter like Arlette said. We can't assume that something could go wrong at any moment." Evan said to the group as a whole trying to also keep a keen awareness of what was going on around him.

Judea

---

"Mgmgmgmg.."

Ah... to be rewarded with a vacation. It was a great idea. After all, good work should be rewarded, and one shouldn't look gift horses in the mouth. The ship ride didn't bother her one bit either, considering her natural affinity for water. Her luggage bag was secured and filled with her favourite things, as well as a few pieces of clothing. Both she and Sloane deserves the rest.

"Hmmmgmgmgmg..ngp. Mgmgmgmg..." Another fresh chocolate bar, fished out of her front pouch to replace what she had finished.

There was the book she was given to, seemingly written by their teacher with information about the island, but she read none of it. It tasted alright however.

But... Despite still munching on the inordinately large chocolate bar, she was slowly noticing the unease and anxiety in the group. It seems everything wasn't what it was. This wasn't the holiday island they were promised. Was it an uprising or a sudden event? There was nothing about any strange events in the ad. Considering how surprised their teacher was, she doubted their teacher could have orchestrated this event either. But... it was hard to tell if it was someone higher up orchestrated this event, or if they truly didn't know. There was also the chance that, she, Judea, was specifically...

Her train of thought derailed as she saw her teacher approach a strange drinking fountain. Judging from all the warnings scribbled around it, it was cursed or charmed, or otherwise trapped in some way. Judea would have warned the teacher, but she was too busy munching to even be able to vocalize anything before she drank of the well.

"Ah..." She approached the turned teacher, stopping by Sloane to place a reassuring arm on her shoulders. A good girl, but one that seemed to worry her head off at every little thing. Charming girl. "Too late, huh? I wanted to warn her but it'd be rude to speak with one's mouth full."

Rummaging in her front pouch, she continued. "Good thing I'm here. I made potions just for..." Pulling out a vial containing orange liquid, she stopped immediately upon reading the label. Watermelon? The red one was labeled oranges, and the blue was guava. Closing her eyes, Judea inhaled slowly.

She forgot. She forgot she brought nothing but snacks and drinks on this journey. Her front pouch, usually filled with useful items, was just full of her preferred concentrated juice and snacks. There was no expectations that she'd be needing any of those here after all. The students were already worked up, like that one she wasn't really at all familiar with beyond his name, and the rather shy person inching closer. Partners huh?

"Well, let us move, and find somewhere else to stay before we decide anything else. No sense getting worked up here at the moment." A calm statement to reassure the more timid of them, and to give the more stout of heard an objective to move towards. She grabbed the teacher sheep by the wool and started dragging it along disregarding any bleats of protest. Her eyes narrowed slightly, her usual gentle smile stretched a little too wide as she turned to regard the rest of those who came. "Unless any of you wants to find out how many of these odd citizens are actually enemies or spies?"

Judea wasn't moving in any particular direction, but she knew where she wanted to be, near a body of water with shelter, far away from these lifeless creatures masquerading as citizens.

---

“You remembered to pack your toothbrush, right?”

“Yep!”

“Your clothes?”

“Definitely. Swimsuit, too!”

“Did you pack your homework?”

“Huh? Isn’t this a holiday? We don’t have any.”

“We did. It’s alright, though. I brought your worksheets anyway. Hairbrush?”

“Yeah, it’s in my bag. See?” Katherine rummaged around. She grimaced. “Uh, never mind. I must’ve left it in the bathroom.”

“Don’t worry, I brought three.”

“Great! I’m going to take a nap, then.” She was asleep before the plane even started moving. Cameron breathed a sigh of relief- Katherine hadn’t slept at all the night before. He was feeling a bit sleepy too… He stared out the window as the plane accelerated down the runway, eventually drifting off into sleep.

---

Cameron stared over the side of the boat, trying to keep his stomach in control.

“You good?” Katherine called out, rushing to his side.

“Yeah, I’ll be... alright... just need a moment.” He felt the pretzels from the flight turn over and suppressed his urge to hurl over the gunwale. “How close are we to the island?”

Katherine pointed off into the distance, which wasn’t much use to Cameron, who was staring down at the water. “It’s right there! Not long now.”

The island drew closer through the fog, eventually coming into full view. As soon as Cameron caught sight of solid land, he immediately straightened. “Oh, how wonderful! I need to get a picture of it as we come in.” He raised his camera, sighted, and clicked the shutter. “Kath, get in the shot.”

“Sure! What kind of pose?”

“Something exciting, or maybe…” He paused.

“Hm?”

“Wait, wait, wait! Kath, look at the island!”

She turned. “What? It’s nice, isn’t it?”

“No, no, no! It’s… it’s all wrong.” Cameron pulled out a thick packet from inside his coat. The booklet was already well-worn from constant consultation, with numerous sticky notes protruding from between the pages. Cameron had taken notes and done some extra research on the island as well. “Look, on page 3, Ms. Opal provided a picture of the island.”

He lifted it up for Katherine to see. The 10 year-old photo showed a very different image of the island- more ruins and much less vegetation.

“And? They probably just fixed it up a bit. Being more environmentally friendly.” Katherine smiled.

Cameron thought for a moment. “Ah, well, I suppose it is an older photo,” he conceded. “And they definitely could have done some rebuilding.”

The two grabbed their bags as the group prepared to disembark. Both carried a decently large hiking pack, complete with utensils hanging off survival ties and sleeping pad bundled on top.

Katherine lifted up a sealed box about a meter across. “Hey, what’s this? It’s super heavy. Not that it’s hard for me to carry, of course.”

“Oh, that? I just packed some camping stuff.”

“Some? What’s in here, an oven?”

“No, that one’s the dried food and consumables.” He pointed at another, smaller box on the deck. “This one’s the dutch oven.”

Katherine bent down to stack the boxes on top of each other, picking them back up. “Huh. Yeah, I’m not surprised.”

The two followed the rest of the students off the ferry.

Ms. Opal’s panic was the first of many things that was about to go wrong. Cameron’s mouth curled into a frown as Katherine bounced on her toes, thinking about the trip. Sure, they had a job to do, but it was just a holiday. She’d never gone camping before, but it sounded fun.

Then… things went south very, very fast. The locals ignoring all requests for assistance, Ms. Opal turning into a sheep, and the ferry leaving the island.

Cameron whipped out his vomit bag from the plane and began to breathe in and out.

“It’ll be alright, it’s just another normal paranormal occurrence. Just like our daily lives. Just like the war. Nothing bad’s going to…”

“Huh? What’s happening?” Katherine said, peering around the side of her boxes. “Oh. Isn’t that a cute sheep?”

Cam stared at her. “That’s… Ms. Opal.”

“That’s a joke, right?”

Katherine blinked, staring at the fluffy creature as Cam muttered to himself. He definitely wasn’t the type to make a joke like that. Plus, all of their companions seemed to be in a few different states of distress. There were definitely a few colorful characters in their group.

“Yeah, what she said,” Katherine chimed in, nodding her head at Judea. “We can go to the campsite. I’m sure that there’s something there. Cam, you know where that is, right?”

“Right. We can formulate a new plan of action from there. That’s a good idea, Kath.” Cameron folded up the bag and put it away, then pulled out a map of the island he had printed. It was a bit old, but the campsite wouldn’t have changed that much, right? “It’s a short walk from here, I think.”

The others were talking, assessing the situation and making plans, but Sloane scanned the various unwelcome faces for dull teal hair, bright blue eyes, and an easy smile. Instead, their owner found her, placing an arm over Sloane's shoulder. A simple gesture, but just like that the mounting despair clutching at Sloane's heart began to subside. She gave Judea an appreciative look, watching her rifle through her pockets and pouches. Level-headed, good-natured, and caring, she helped prop up those around her like a big sister, especially Sloane. Being the subject of Judea's responsibility rather than being the responsible one herself didn't feel good, instead sitting high on the infinite list of her failures, but being around Judea did. Patient, warm, and not blind to failure, but understanding of it. No wonder the two went together.

With her partner found, albeit without pertinent alchemical mixtures, Sloane could refocus. An unknown island with no means of escape, for which their information was at the very least out of date, laden with curses capable of rendering people completely incapacitated and populated with what might as well be dolls. Judea lent her voice to those suggesting that the students find shelter, which sounded reasonable, and started to move the sheep. Sloane lent a hand, employing her strength to help the less-than-willing ewe along. While no brute like Kathy, she could definitely move things around. Speaking of which, the much-lighter-blue-haired girl was just now agreeing with Judea, adding the campsite as a potential destination. “Okay, let's go,” Sloane said, loud enough to get more eyes on her than she bargained for. The sudden attention made her skin crawl; she wasn't trying to grab Evan's coveted leadership position for herself or anything. She felt pressured to say something. “Um. The longer we stay out in the open, the more dangerous it is. Sure, we can fight, but as we can see with Opal here...” she patted the sheep on the head. “You get morphed, you're done.” Though her voice sounded pretty sure, Sloane was groaning on the inside. What a stupid, obvious thing to say. Now everyone's going to think even worse of me. She ended up scowling, looking as if everyone else wasn't moving fast enough. “So let's. Go. To the campsite.”

Kathy's partner had a map, so it fell to him to lead the way.

While most chatted amongst themselves, or in general enjoyed the peace of the trip, Anemone instead was clinging onto the side of the questionable ferry, emptying her breakfast, lunch, and dinner into the ocean around them. She had hardly ever been on the ocean before, and when she had it was on far more...luxurious craft than whatever this pathetic excuse for a ship they were on was. She seemed to feel the ship rocked violently, even if it was just a small wave slapping into the side of the ship and would promptly heave some more.

So in other words, she was absolutely, positively miserable, glaring at the color-coded band on her wrist like it was to blame for her miserable condition, in her case a shade of green. The only reason she had decided to go on this trip was for three reasonably good reasons.
1. Her parents didn’t want her home for the summer.
2. Tony was going and she didn’t want to be alone without her serv-I mean partner.
And 3. It was a perfectly good excuse to slack off!

However, if she had known that the ship would be this... lackluster and pathetic, she wouldn’t have bothered coming! Even the furniture on board was like something out of a second-hand shop, like not even a good one but a crappy, dodgy cheap one. Just the thought of even sitting down on such unrefined garbage was enough to make her sick...well, not as sick as she was right now at least.

Tony, in comparison, was having the time of his life. He had never been on a boat before, but it seemed the sea was agreeing far better with him than it had with Anemone and some of their other classmates. He smelled the sea air before turning to his sick partner and speaking.

“This is perfect Anemone! We’re going to a beautiful island, enjoying the local culture and cuisine, AND I finished reading the 58-page report Ms.Opal gave us last night, so I know where all the great places to go are!”

He paused as he saw his partner’s face, but quickly misattributed the reasoning behind the green coloration.

“Are you trying to think of our team name? I have a great idea in case you can’t think of anything better - ‘Team Turquoise Thunder’! How cool is that?”

Looking over her shoulder at the boy, Anemone narrowed her eyes, went to speak, before proceeding to barf back over the edge. Wonderful. Were they there yet?

“Yeah...whatever works...I don’t care.” She was too sick to deal with this. Well, it was to be expected he had at least read the report, because as expected Anemone hadn’t even touched the thing. It was still in its envelope, in some random dumpster in Death City.

“It’s really...cool...yeah.”

Tony nearly jumped when Anemone hurled over the edge of the boat they were in. It was around this time that he realized that she didn’t seem to be enjoying the boat ride that had been going on for hours at this point.

“Oh jeez louise, are you okay Anemone? I can go ask Ms.Opal for some medicine or something…”

Tony had never been seasick before, so he was quite unprepared for this kind of situation. Usually, he’d be a lot more worried, but Tony couldn’t help but feel happy that their summer vacation was only an hour at most away.

“I think we’ll be at the island soon, so hopefully that helps...”

Well at least one of them was happy, that was something right? Well no, of course not. Because it was Anemone that was the one having the torrid time of things. Bloody lucky Tony seemed to have far better sealegs than the bratty Anemone could ever wish for.

“Oh yeah...I’m having a blast.” Came to her sarcastic response, hanging over the edge ever so slightly. Maybe it would be better to just drop in and drown? She seriously contemplated this till hearing their teacher speak up got the girl’s attention.

Land? Nearby?

That seemed to perk her up slightly, but only until she was puking her liver overboard. Or might as well be, she had already emptied everything else she could’ve at that point.

“I just need to get onto land is all Tony…”

Tony felt quite powerless to help his partner, something he was unused to after months of mostly doing her work for her. Still, things were getting better far sooner than either of the pair expected. The bell of the ferry started to ring, and the fog that had blocked their vision almost the entire boat ride seemingly diminished at the noise.

Luckily, it seemed the group had finally made it to the island. The teacher called out for everyone to get together and form lines, so Tony offered to help Anemone get into her line, looking at the island they would be calling home for the next three months.

Despite reading the report, the area just ahead of the docks they landed at seemed to be covered in vegetation and vines, quite unlike what Ms. Opal described. Even the ancient tower was perfectly fine…

Tony was confused by this but chose not to make a big deal out of it, unlike their teacher. The only thing he was nervous about was trekking through the veritable jungle that seemed to lie before them - his coordination and reflexes were very poor, so tripping was almost guaranteed to happen…

The demon weapon didn’t seem exactly steady, but with Tony’s help got into line, though it was closer to the edge in case she still had something else left to hurl overboard. Blissfully unaware of how strange the vegetation before them was, instead of more overjoyed to finally be able to get off this rickety, pathetic excuse of a boat.

Basically, everything the teacher said went in one ear and out the other, as per usual when most people tried to speak to the girl. She didn’t care for this one bit. She did, however, care to get off the boat! She practically threw herself off the boat and onto the port, sighing loudly as she...seemed to hug the port?

“Ground, never leave me again.”

Tony did his best to catch up and follow his partner to dry land - after waiting for his turn to be called down by Ms. Opal, or course. He offered her a hand up from the ground when she seemed finished with her port-hugging business, seemingly undisturbed by the behavior of Anemone, and looked to their instructor for guidance.

The meister didn’t seem to register the odd behavior of both the captain and the guards of the island - whether that was because he simply was busy trying not to trip over his feet or simply because he was unused to how people are supposed to talk to each other was anyone's guess. He only spoke up once they made it into the city, and saw how dilapidated and odd it was.

“Wow, I knew that this trip was worth it! Look at this place Anemone - can’t you just feel the culture?”

...Huh? What on earth was he talking about?

Anemone glanced about the city with a blank look on her face, which granted was nothing new...but wow. This place was...wow. Nothing like she had heard Tony ramble on about to her before. She had never seen a place like this before, that’s for sure.

Their teacher seemed taken aback by this as well. Man, was she getting stressed. Was she really the right person for this job? Like seriously.

“Yeah. Culture. Sure.” Eyeing the teacher as she made an effort to talk to the locals, Anemone yawned, stretching as she rested her hands against the back of her head. She wasn’t the most perceptive girl, or maybe she didn’t care enough to be perceptive, but man their teacher was in a worse way than even her on the boat just before. Speaking of which, the girl was still pale from the experience. And very hungry.

In fact, the thought of food was enough to cause her to start visibly drooling, taking her attention for off Ms. Opal for just the briefest moment

“Let’s just get some food, I’m starving. I could go for some lamb chops or something.”

Tony nodded as Anemone spoke, agreeing with her. The plane ride to Malta took over a dozen hours, followed by another few hours on boat - it would be nice to get an actual meal, instead of the plane food they had for the last few meals.

“That’s a good idea - I’m pretty hungry too. They’ll probably let us go once we get to the DWMA chapter here. If you see somewhere that looks good, point it out and we’ll go later… Do you think they take Visa here? I didn’t think to get any Euros before we arrived...”

Tony turned to their teacher, now eager to find out when the group of students would be able to disperse and get something filling to eat…

And he was just in time to see her morph into a sheep.

Tony was silent for a solid 5 seconds, before he vomited in a manner far too similar to Anemone a few dozen minutes ago.

“Oh… My god… Our teacher is a Sheep.”

Anemone was quick to move to the side as Tony decided it was his turn to unload his lunch, making a face as she watched him for a moment. She looked like that just minutes ago...didn’t she. While most much try to comfort their partner, she instead decided that not dwelling on the fact for much longer was the easier task, she instead turned her attention to her classmates...and immediately started losing interest.

“I guess there's chops.” Anemone stated openly, shrugging her shoulders as she looked at their former teacher. Great, she was more like a child than the rest of them, turn away for two seconds and all hell breaks loose.

She had the entire schedule and whatnot yeah? How were they meant to know where to go now? Bloody hell this was a pain. Scratching her head in visible annoyance, she eyed the others as they talked, she was already sore and over this trip and they had barely even started.

It took Tony a few minutes to calm down from the sudden loss of their teacher, and sole guide in a completely foreign country. Luckily, it seemed that he was the only one freaking out over this - perhaps his classmates simply had more experience with things like body transformation? Tony chose to believe this to be the case, considering he and Anemone were some of the youngest students there, and she was usually pretty level-headed.

Tony, like his partner, didn’t seem to hear much of what the other students were saying, although that was more from nausea then annoyance. Still, he did catch parts of the warnings that one of the younger girls gave - not eating any food seemed a bit extreme, and while Tony had lost most of his appetite, Anemone might still want to eat… It’d probably be fine once they made it to the DWMA chapter.

Seeing how the older students handled the situation, focusing on finding shelter and keeping Ms.Opal safe, did make Tony feel better, however - if a bit embarrassed that his reaction was so much more extreme than the others. It probably showed how inexperienced he was…

Tony turned to Anemone, after doing his best to straighten his outfit and fix his hair.

“Ms. Opal said something about a Parking lot before she… turned into that. Do you think if we get there, we’ll find the bus she was talking about?”

“Maybe? I don’t know.” Anemone shrugged her shoulders. How would she know? Only Ms. Opal knew the schedule they were running on, although Anemone hadn’t paid attention so she wouldn’t know anyway.

Though no food? Surely a little would be fine, right? Anemone’s stomach grumbled loudly, and rather audibly so, at that comment, glaring daggers at Arlette. Who was this again? It didn’t matter enough to Anemone to remember anyone but Tony’s name.

“Tch, who cares. Someone just take charge and make a plan, this is getting to be beyond a pain.” A couple of sparks flew off of the girl as she folded her arms over her chest and leaned back against a wall, her annoyance visible to all.

But for now, they did need a set leader...and preferably one that wasn’t currently a sheep would be ideal.

Tony nodded his head in agreement - while he would have tried to figure out a way to convey the same message with more tact, Anemone definitely hit the nail on the head with her statement. With Ms. Opal gone, they were all just a bunch of students in a foreign country, with no idea how to orient themselves…

Well, they were trained DWMA students, so they weren’t exactly helpless. Still, someone taking a leadership position would be for the best, if only to keep everyone organized and safe. While Tony’s heart told him that he should try and take charge of the situation, his mind quickly resolved that desire - he was one of the younger students, and his reaction to Ms. Opal’s transformation couldn’t have given the others too much faith in his abilities.

Luckily, at least some of the other students were talking among each other, but no one had seemed to settle on a single concise plan. Some people wanted to look for the DWMA chapter immediately, one of the students with Goggles wanted to guarantee Ms. Opal’s safety and take her to an expert that might be able to help her, and two students were talking about some Campsite while holding a map…

Personally, Tony wanted to try and investigate the Parking Lot, but the last thing he wanted to try and introduce into the situation was another option for everyone to think over. Besides, Tony was rapidly losing faith in the chances that this place would be safe enough to simply wait for help to arrive, especially since they had yet to see someone from this DWMA chapter… Besides, the student with the goggles made a good point about keeping planning quiet until they got somewhere away from the craziness going on here, and the majority seemed to start making their way to safety.

“We are going to need a leader sometime soon, until we can get to the DWMA chapter and get Ms.Opal some help… But finding shelter is definitely the smart thing to do before anything else.“

Tony paused a moment before adding onto his statement.

“And finding something safe to eat and drink is really important sometime soon. Especially if we plan on hiking through this mysterious jungle. Maybe canned foods and bottled water?”

Tony was feeling relatively fine at the moment, but he knew that his and the rest of his classmate's energy would drain fast in such a hot, humid, and difficult-to-navigate terrain. Meisters especially if the Demon Weapons would be in their weapon forms, but Anemone was already hungry so that needed to be taken care of soon, Besides, everyone would probably feel much safer after they secured some food and water supplies.

---

Mediterranean Sea, Near Malum Island

The cold wind breeze keep hitting Jackie face as she breath in that salty sea smell.
She runs toward the front of the boat and look out of the froggy horizon "Can you feel the adventure, Ji?" Jackie say to her partner "I can basically taste the action we are going to face!"

"Only thing I can taste is salt." Ji-ho walked up to stand next to his partner, both elbows resting on the railing as he leaned over it with a bored expression on his face. The Demon lighter followed Jackie's gaze towards the horizon, but for the life of him couldn't see whatever it was that excited her so; seemingly endless blankets of fog surrounded the ferry on all sides, preventing them from even seeing the waves lapping at the side of the vessel, let alone anything interesting. "I'll be happy once we reach the island. Summer vacations are supposed to be warm and sunny, not wet and foggy."

"Yeah, me too" Jackie say, as she look over the cold sea, Jackie see something in the distance, it looks a island! Jackie was about cheer but as they move forward little more, JJ and her partner look at the island and it gets more and more depressing.....And little uneasy "Um....This is the right island....Right?"

"Who knows." There was something a little off about it, but it wasn't Ji-Ho had any reason to think they had taken a wrong turn somewhere and there was nothing they could do about it if they had. Besides, anywhere that the DWMA set up shop was bound to be a little creepy. A glance to the side however showed that their teacher-escort was similarly concerned about something; that might have been cause for concern had that not been her natural state.

A bell rang on the ferry to announce their arrival, the boat pulling up to the dock as the fog began to clear as if on cue. "At least the sun's out now. This is the kind of weather I'd expect from a Mediterranean island." Pushing away from the railing, Ji-Ho raised his arms above his head and stretched his body out. "We should get ready to leave."

Jackie get off the boat like everyone else "Well, if this island has stage, I can totally wake up this place!" Jackie say a lot with pride in her voice "I mean, nothing can go wrong right?!"

---

Malum Island, near the water fountain

Something have gone wrong. Jackie, Ji-Ho and all other students, watch in pure shock that their once human teacher, Mrs.Opal, turn into a sheep. JJ walks toward the sheep, pick up Opal glasses and put them back on her sheep face "Um...There. What? She still need glasses to see, human or not....Right?"

Barely five minutes into their summer holiday/very serious mission and things had already taken a turn for the weird. Something had felt off about the island from the moment it had come into view and right now Ji-Ho was regretting dismissing Jackie's concerned so easily; from the out of place vegetation to the glassy-eyed and strangely dressed locals to a water fountain that apparently turned people into farm animals her unease had been validated and them some. They'd seen some weird stuff hunting people on Shinigami-sama's list but this really set a new standard for strange; Ji-Ho would almost think witches were involved, with everything that was happening, but they were supposed to be on their side now.

The reactions to the teacher transmogrification where varied, from the guy who tried so hard to prevent panic that he sounded panicked himself, to disbelief, exasperation and finally a call to action. Ji-Ho's own reaction was one of stunned silence and confusion soon followed by growing impatience and a desire to stop talking and start taking action. Curse water fountain, weird locals, don't eat the food, watch out for spies; got it. "Let's get moving then; the sooner we get out of this town the sooner we can talk this out and figure out what we're doing."

"Ok! Right behind ya!" Jackie say to her partner. Jackie about to go with her fellow classmates but she stop at tracks and look at sheep teacher, thinking that she doesn't want to leave her teacher behind, Jackie pull out a candy bar out of her pocket and try to make the teacher "Come on, Mrs.Opal, come get the candy and follow the class" JJ say to the teacher "We don't want you to turn into lamb chops by these town people, now don't we?"

---

Allison had spent much of the ride playing on a handheld, or talking to the others, but she was acutely aware of Arlette gazing at her hungrily. She had a vessel, why did this issue constantly come up with Weapons? Just because her soul was more exposed than normal didn’t mean she was a cooked turkey, ready to eat!

But with Viola around, she felt secure. Safe. There was no way in hell the sniper-girl would let someone try to eat her without breaking their legs. And that probably included Arlette.

As usual, Ms. Opal was basically having a mini-heart attack every five seconds. With how stressed she was all the time, why was she working for the DWMA? This job was the king of stress.

Of course, as Allison turned her vessel’s plastic head to look at the island itself, she saw it was for good reason this time, between the fact that the “ruined” tower had been rebuilt without anyone knowing, and a goddamn jungle had formed overnight.

“Well...at least we get an impromptu investigation mission?” she said with a weak smile, trying to stay positive.

Viola simply looked at her partner with a deadpan, every muscle on her face stiffened to a standstill. Her eyes panned back to the island and upon fully absorbing the situation they were about to actuality throw themselves into, she released a loud and exaggerated sigh before looking back to Allison.

“We could probably have picked something a little less extravagant, stupid DWMA-peh!” Viola spat dryly, though she nodded to Allison after her short-lived tantrum.

“But I suppose we won’t get anywhere with our feet kicked up, even if it means getting some sand in between our toes.” Viola briefly broke her stone face and cracked a very small smirk to Allison before returning her violet sights back to the island.

“Yeah, you’re right,” the talking mannequin said. “And imagine how it’ll look if we resolve a crisis over summer vacation. That’ll probably be worth something back home.”

Then, she sighed. Or rather, made a sighing noise since she couldn’t actually breathe. “Though to be honest, I’m just fishing for positives at this point. I’m not gonna lie, fixing whatever happened here is probably going to be incredibly dangerous. But at least we have 17 people. There’s strength in numbers.”

It was soon after that Ms. Opal began to call the duos up, requesting single file lines to keep things orderly with the amount of people onboard. Viola popped up to her feet and kicked the toes of her boots against the ship’s floor before stepping into the weapon line, her sights calmly aimed to the ground.

@CelesteEste
Allison, on the other hand, creaked her way over to the Meister line, looking straight at Arlette just in case she tried anything, and to let her know that her “meal” was onto her. As the line began to move forward, she turned away, looking ahead, chin up. She was going to fix this. No matter what.

Then the line arrived in the island town proper.

As Viola’s feet touched the land she briefly experienced an overwhelming sense of dread. Her eyes scanned those around her, squinting as her vision fixated on each person.

“Allison, keep on guard.” Viola stated plainly, the volume of her outburst being loud enough for others to hear. Though, Viola was always this way so it could just be her nature.

“Right,” the ghost said as she made landfall a little bit after Viola. She made the sound of taking a deep breath as the teacher showed the guards her DWMA papers so they could pass. As the group made it deeper into the harbor, Allison could only say, “What the fuuuuuuuck…?”

Cave paintings on the walls. Warped images from the TVs that stuck out of buildings here and there. A guy in a plague doctor outfit. Plants encroaching on the buildings.

“Okay...things are even worse than I thought. What the hell happened on this island?!”

She was sure some of citizens around her must have heard her. But, looking around, they looked at her with only passing interest at best, and completely ignored her at worst.

And then Ms. Opal drank from a fountain labelled with a DWMA insignia and numerous warnings to keep away. She turned into a sheep.

Allison had never been more relieved in her entire unlife that she had no physical needs.

“So...that...happened. I...uh…” she scratched the back of her head, “...guess we have to start with the local DWMA chapter. It’s Lord Death’s face there, after all. You don’t think something happened to them, do you?” She looked towards Viola with the last sentence, and it was clear what the implication behind her statement was. Madness at the DWMA. The worst-case scenario, one that she didn’t even want to consider, but it was necessary.

“It would be safe to assume the worst, should we do some reconnaissance in the area?” Viola raised an eyebrow and canted her head to the right, further expressing the question to her partner.

“Do you want me to go ghost form? If the DWMA is the source of this, that could end badly, but a bird’s-eye-view would be really helpful right now.”

“Go ahead, I’ll watch your vessel.” Viola wrapped her arms around Allison’s shell, lightly holding the artificial body in preparation for her Meister leaving it to float from the earth’s surface.

“Alright, gimme a second.” Allison deliberately loosened and then released her soul’s hold on the plastic puppet/doll/mannequin in a practiced maneuver not unlike opening a fist that had been closed for some time.

She felt the weight of her vessel cease as her ghostly form left her empty shell, and when she fully appeared, it would have been a shock to those who hadn’t seen her before.

Red, angry stab wounds all across the body. A shorter body and a younger face. Disheveled hair, similar to bedhead. And most striking of all was the pair of ghostly pajamas she was stuck wearing until the end of time. They had, in fact, fused with her body, becoming ectoplasm with the rest of her when she died.

Good thing everyone present was either used to things like this or just ignored her for unknown reasons.

And with that, she floated up, up, up, up into the air--taking an opportunity to crack a smile and wave at the mere mortals below who lacked the power of flight--until she was above the rooftops of the highest skyscrapers. It would be a simple task to scout the city. The DWMA was usually based in an urban area, even foreign chapters, so she could just look for the building with all the big-ass skulls and she’d be reasonably certain she’d found it.

She took the opportunity to gain altitude more than a few times. She wanted to stay relatively hidden, and it was hard as hell to spot a transparent object that was high in the air. Remembering she could turn invisible, she activated them as well, just for good measure. Nothing would protect her from Soul Perception, but it was unlikely she’d run into a Weapon who could both hit her from up here and tell where she was, and that was assuming the DWMA was even hostile in the first place!

Eventually, she floated high enough to see most if not all of the island too, just to get a rough idea of the lay of the land and approximate how fucked their situation was.

‗‗‗‗‗‗ Ephai blinked.

He was standing by the railing of the boat, staring at the clear water. A groan escaped his lips, a little seasick by the motion. He rested his arms on the bar while placing his head on them; his bright pink hair flowing alongside the breeze, with a color like that, it wasn't hard to spot the small boy. Ephai leaned his whole body on the railing and sighed.

"Unfortunately there won't be any fighting, but you've been less of a nuisance lately so I guess you deserve some fun."

His eyebrows twitched, unfortunately? nuisance? deserve some fun?? He sucked his teeth,"Who does she think she is?" The tapping on his foot increased,"Treating me like some--some--pet!" Finally exhaling his furious sigh, Ephai shook his head. There was no point in thinking about Callaia's remark, if anything, he was on a trip, there was water, the beaches; Ephai nodded, exactly, he should be thinking about the good parts--the parts that he was looking forward to the most.

But--

Ephai left his post.

--It'll just have to wait.

He began his stomps to wherever his dear partner was, readying himself to just annoy her with his complaints.

‗‗‗‗‗‗

Before he knew it, Ephai was rounded up and pushed into the crowd of students that were leaving the boat. Callaia was no where in sight. Pushing his way through the crowd, licking his lips, Ephai darted his direction to the frantic woman named Ms. Opal. Or more so, the townspeople. He picked at the loose strands from his sweater, his eyes lowering, weird.

And when was it so foggy?

He stared harder and the longer he glared, the more confused he was. The people obviously had something to them, it was as if they were in a trance.

If this turns out to be some fucking-- I don't know just...

"--This is definitely Callaia's fault." He finished his thought aloud. Turning away from the scene, Ephai quickly waved his head around, where was she anyways. Then, as if things couldn't haven gotten any weirder, a student's surprised yell gathered his attention. Turning to face where the sound came from, he noticed that Ms.Opal, had suddenly turned into a sheep. His eyes widen, instantly his fingers dragged up to his shoulders and the small boy was seen guarding himself. The crowds whispers got louder, several students confused at the sudden transformation. There was even a part of Ephai that believed maybe it was just some stupid--hey! here's a funny greeting--for the students, but when time passed, that didn't seem to be the situation.

His head drooped downwards and the boy shifted his feet, a sweat drop rolled down his cheek.

"--s everyone alright?"

"Don't panic--"

"to help Miss Opal--

"--I mean we are a team right?"

Ephai snapped back to reality. He caught himself staring at the concrete, before lifting his head to a student speaking; then back to what Ephai assumed to be their partner who cautiously hid behind him. Evan and Coda; Ephai practically knew most of the students here, it was his tactic in order to know who to avoid. He bit down on his lip, watching as a new pair interjected--Arlette and Keith--concluding that everyone were to not drink or eat anything.

(He wanted very strongly to oppose to such a rule)

Ephai felt his hand trembling, whats with this... a quiet whimper escaped his lips. Furrowing his eyebrows and listening in on more students state a word or two in the discussion, Ephai couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. One being they were stuck on an island with a teacher who just randomly turned into a sheep and two--his partner wasn't here. He wasn't sure whether to feel angry, afraid, or just overall tired, but Ephai sure was restless. Closing his eyes quickly and reopening them, Ephai felt his vision blur--

“Eph, great job not getting lost or into any fights,”

Swiftly, Ephai turned around, staring at his partner. A scowl instantly appeared, clearing off any evidence of what was going to be an outburst of tears. "You idiot!" He balled up his fist, "How could you--" Then, cleanly interrupting him, she wonderfully asked him if he could do her a favor(or more so a demand). As if she wasn't already giving him trouble by disappearing and then reappearing as if everything was just dandy. He turned his head, searching for Arlette. Did he want to do it? No--but, lowering his head, Ephai sighed. Sometimes, he couldn't say no to Callaia.

"You're annoying." He added, "Hope you know that."

Dragging his feet through the crowd, Ephai rolled up the ends of his sweater and his eyes. Spotting the girl he was searching for, Ephai tapped Arlette on the shoulder. A clear--I'm really fucking pissed--crossed his face, lifting his finger, he pointed towards Callaia, "Go."

Callaia's small statement lingered in his mind, something interesting huh?

Malum Island, Porto Torri

The poor sheep was overwhelmed as it was played with, had glasses put on her face and was reached for multiple times. The animal was already stressed, feeling something was wrong, though she couldn't remember why, so all the interactions were only making her more nervous, clearly keeping some of Opal's mannerisms.

The situation had been so bad that when Judea and Sloane picked it up, she didn't even seem to mind it. Maybe she was glad she was out of the crowd or perhaps it was the fact Judea was Capybara witch, those animals being famous for being able to be buddies with anyone.

It was not like the students were in better shape, very few of them seemed relaxed, some were clearly on the verge of panicking while others were discussing their plans while trying to hold back their tension.

There was no leadership in the group, even ones that were proactive in suggesting solutions, such as Ethan, did not take the mantle of a leader, and it did not seem like they would need to, as the group was able to set a course of action without someone dictating it.

Katherine and Cameron's proposal of going to the campsite was proven popular, and soon the group had gathered around them, looking at the map and seeing where they would be going. It was during this step that Arlette was approached by Ephai, who would direct her towards Callaia. The camp was south of this small touristic port city, into green hills that were known to be isolated in nature even before the island's biome had shifted. It was not far, but still a bit of a walk without access to a car.

As they started to leave southward, some did explore the harbourside of Torri a bit more, but so far no clue, nobody who acted as if they knew things were weird, no sign of the local DWMA not even in graffiti, like near the drinking fountain. The most curious exploration, however, was that of Allison, who, being a ghost, rose high into the sky to see the situation in the island.

•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:• ☼ •:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•

Allison would first see Torri in its entirety. The city hugged the bay, most of the buildings being near the sea while in the back, towards the west, it broke into sprawling farmlands. Weirdly, no signs of the jungle in that area. There was no building that stood out as a potential DWMA school, nothing overtly decorated with Death's face, only the major touristic attractions of the city itself stood out: The roman tower, the pier with the restaurant, the local park with a lake.



Looking south, she would see what they suspected, nothing but forests, it was hard to see the camp mentioned below, even if it was supposed to have a small resort like structure full of activities for the campers. At least it would mean they would be in a region devoided of people and potential spies.



To the north-west stood Monte Morte. A massive mountain range which ranged from Torri to the sea in the north and the west ends of the island. With a name like that, one had to question if the local DWMA chapter wasn't among one of the villages nestled in the range, one, in particular, did look a bit glowy.



The capital was supposed to be north-east, but with the mountain to the east it was impossible to see it, even if it was much smaller than Monte Morte. What was possible to see was that the whole region near the airport was another misplaced biome, this time a desert with dunes and little vegetation. Eastward, there were the previously mentioned mountains, little in terms of housing but many interesting sites and holdouts. It was hard to see beyond the mountains, something odd was happening at the east end of the island, it appeared to be a dark tornado with red hues to it, one familiar with the lost island incident would know what this was. Before it, the black smoke of a volcano could be seen in a nearby bay.



The ghost's ascension would come to a halt before she could make it high enough to see past the mountains, as she suddenly would feel increasingly heavy and dizzy. Looking up, she would see an aurora, green and red, covering the island and twirling a lot above them. It was faint and hard to see (was it due to the daytime?), but it was filled with an unnatural pull. Was it madness? It did not feel like it, even for someone unfamiliar with the concept.

With the group wanting to leave for the camp, Allison was given little choice but to go down, probably needing some rest after being so close to the aurora. At least she got a good view of a section of the island.

•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:• ☼ •:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•

When the words South American and forest were said many minds would likely think of the thick and hard to explore Amazon Jungle, thankfully the misplaced biome of this region was not that, it was closer to the subtropical forests with thinner trees found near the Atlantic coast of the continent.

Another helpful factor was that there was a road for them to follow, even if it wasn't the most direct path straight to where they were heading. The road went around the hills, navigating the cliffs, getting them quite close to the camp before they had to leave the aslphalt and walk down an overgrown dirt path amidst the forest.

They would see living proof the biome change was more through than just the flora as animals native to the Americas were spotted, from new world monkeys to seriemas and scarlet macaws to even some capybaras.

Finally, they would have gone down long enough to hear the sea again, making it to the entrance of the camp. It was as overgrown as the path, the sign with the name Il Gufo Camping was hard to read through the vines, which was not a good sign.

Entering the area the main issue would be quickly found, originally the camping park was divided between a large area for tents and RVs and the resort area with activites, the poll and a few buildings. The latter and half of the former had sunk into a lake, some ruins just barely showing up in the surface of the water. Where once had been a simple cliff was now a waterfall, the source of the water, it was scenic for sure, but that was 2/3 of the camp gone, including the areas with the most structure.

What was left was a clearing near the small staircase that led straight into the calm beach near the campsite, by its side there was a wooden deck over the sand, it had a few benches. Lucky them, the area under the deck was used for storage, filled with well-preserved tents, the number was not enough for all of them, so they would need to share tents, not unlike their own apartments back in Death City.

Away from where the grass met the beach, further inland, where the forest met the clearing, a few RVs were left abandoned, most of its functions broken and covered in vines, but enough of a roof for those who did not want tents.

[You may claim a RV if you voted for the hotel or cottage option in the poll, noticed that your partner will share it with you so they must agree to pick the RV too. Don't take it as a reward, only pick it if you mus, I would rather have most characters in similar housing.]

Now the students had their base. No other person was in sight, it was hidden from the rest of Malum by the woods and from the sea by a small island in front of the beach. It was time to settle up and starting thinking of what actions they would take next.

Judea

---

They arrived in good order with no real trouble along the way. The ghost girl had taken to exploring around, so that was their reconnaissance for today. It was a good camp site, but... it could use a bit more work if it was to function as their main base of operations. An attack right now would catch them in the open. The submerged area did please her however.

"Ah, perfect."

Leaving the sheep in the hands of her capable partner, Judea started checking out the submerged area, looking rather pleased by all the water flowing around.

"Ah, right. We're going to need supplies as well as more information. I am going to stay here and clean the camp up little." Judea turned to the rest of the group. "Another group should go look for supplies, and the others for information and whatever else they can find."

Now that the group was on high alert, they made quick and wary progress in the direction of the campsite. With Judea and Sloane pulling sheep Opal along, both could afford to keep one eye on their woolly teacher and one on their surroundings. The farther from the port Sloane got, the more the evidence mounted: this place was seriously messed up. Nothing overt, but lots of little things. Branches curving into shapes and patterns, terrible overgrowth, strange noises from the underbrush and the houses, an abundance of small animals that seemed to watch the students, and if the quick look Sloane got was right, birds with too many eyes. And more of those people, unaware and soulless as clay dolls. If there was any time for an assault, it was now, while the students were still confused and lost. While she'd never admit to being afraid, Sloane was starting to dread the nighttime already.

Nothing happened. Nothing attacked the students, jumped out, or so much as said 'boo'. Still, Sloane reached the camping park with acute anxiety, having been ready to sprout an axeblade or spearhead the whole time. The sight of the place offered some relief, though. A wide open area with long sightlines and nobody in sight made for a good base of operations, even if a good chunk of it lay underwater. Frogs and mosquitoes she felt pretty confident about being able to deal with. Then again, with that waterfall flowing, the lake might be moving fast enough to prevent a severe mosquito infestation. Judea went over to check it out by herself, leaving Sloane to pat Ms. Opal reassuringly. “We'll be fine,” she murmured, taking off her traveling case to plop on the ground before looking out across the dry part of camp. Some RVs, some decent ground, and what looked like a large wooden platform with a few benches. From her current position Sloane could see some stuff stored beneath it. Hopefully it included some tents, since Sloane neglected to bring one of her own in that case, despite its size. Of course, with her luck there were probably just snakes, spiders, and curses down there, and in those RVs too. Sloane sighed; she couldn't afford to let her guard down for a moment.

Judea seemed to want to stick around, which meant volunteering Sloane for cleanup duty too. Of course, she could technically go off on her own if she wanted, but in a situation like this it seemed pretty obvious that meisters and weapons should stick together, ready for anything. Plus, going out on recon or supply duty was a lot of pressure. Everyone would be counting on whoever went, not just to come back in one piece, but also to not deliver them hexed provisions. That sounded like the job for some of the group's resident eager go-getters.

With a little encouragement Sloane got Opal to come with her as she went over to Judea. She watched for a moment, thinking through what she was going to say, then got a couple steps closer and leaned over. “Hey,” she muttered, speaking in a low and confidential voice. “Um...weird goings-on and animal magic, huh. Seems kind of...witchy, doesn't it? I don't suppose you what's going on?”

---

Malum Island, Campsite

Before Arlette and Callaia could talk, the group of students started to move away from the port town, starting the plan to move to the campsite, so the two decided to talk later, once they were set up and isolated from the island.

She would stick to Keith as they travelled southward, not because she was a weapon and he was her meister, but because she worried he would simply decided to nap along the road as the journey started to tire them out. "I know I shouldn't say this thanks to our situation, but the place does look pleasant, doesn't it? I might even look forward to camping around here."

Once in the campsite, she was quick to start scouting around for anything useful, being one of the students who noticed the tents under the deck, which seemed enough for most of them, if weapons and meisters shared them. She took one of them and moved it to the centre of the clearing. "Keith, could you set this up for us? I still want to help out the people who are scouting around the campsite."

As time passed and the tents started to be built, Arle made herself familiar with the surroundings. It was then that Judea said they should look for supplies and information, she agreed with that.

"One minute. I have an idea."

Rushing to Keith's bag, she would take out some of his drawing supplies, in particular, a whiteboard and a marker. She would place it in table at the very centre of the clearing.

"We can keep track of tasks using this. Anyone has a map of the island? With some pins or tokens we could also track locations of interest..." she pondered. "Not only will we need to get supplies, we will need to test out what can be cursed or not, we will probably need some volunteers who are willing to be food testers at the risk of being cursed."

She started to write down a few possible tasks that came to her mind.

♦ Checking out the urban regions for signs of the DWMA
♦ Exploring the submerged campsite ruins for supplies
♦ Gathering supplies in the woods and beach
♦ Testing local food to find out what is safe

"This is what I can think off at the moment, I am probably missing many things. Just write down what you feel should be in the task list."

Malum Island, Campsite

---

---

Keith silently eyed his fellow companions and their reactions. Most seemed used to out-of-comfort zone situations such as the one they were in. Though a couple did seem like fish out of water. It was slightly worrying so he made a mental note to keep an eye on them- particularly the skittish Coda and Tony. He followed along the group of DWMA students looking for a particular camp and soon they would find it.

"It does." Keith agreed sleepily, rubbing his eyes. "I am so tired that the dirt floor seems appealing. Other than that it seems like the throbbing headache I got is slowly subsiding... I think. Hurts less." He followed this with a shrug, not wanting to worry his partner more than he already did.

"Sure, anything for my dearest weapon." He replied. Luckily his family had drilled him in survival techniques; setting up a tent is basically step one. It would take him ten minutes to set up the tent as he was familiar with the make and model. Once finished he forced himself not to slink into the comfy, shaded allure of the tent. Nap later, mom would kill me if I slept now. He threw his bag into the tent before leaving.

He stretched his limbs, a real effort to wake up his sleeping limbs. Then he sauntered over to his partner Arlette and rested his elbow on her shoulder. Examining the whiteboard the tasks were clear and made sense for their current situation. Likely the most pressing would be finding edible food and water that wouldn't turn the group into sheep. They had better collect and ration whatever food and water they had on hand.

"Not too shabby." Keith said. "What do you think we should do?"

"Oh right, before I forget. If any of you require assistance in setting up your tent I'll be happy to help." He said outloud, raising his voice higher than he usually does. Hopefully most of the happy campers heard me.

---

Like always, Katherine and Cameron were off in their own little world.

“Ugh, these tents are so dusty!” Katherine looked under the deck and casually brushed aside some offending dirt with a finger. “I don’t know if I can sleep in these…”

“That’s alright,” Cameron said. “I packed the tent that my family used to use back in Washington. It’s super good.”

“Oh! That’s great!”

Everything was going to be alright. They still had their crate of food. They still had a place to sleep. Cameron tried not to think about the veritable Atlantis nearby, and focused on the dry area available.

“We need to set it up and get the site ready so we have a place to sleep. Look at those plants! This place gets a lot of rain, and I don’t want to get soaked.”

“Gotcha. Where should we set up?”

Cameron looked at what was left of the campsite. “Well, we don’t want to set up near the water, as we don’t know how much the level can change. We also don’t want to set up near any dying trees or low-hanging branches, as they can collapse and break the tent. Ideally, you want a flat plane with some trees above for shade that’s also blocked from wind.”

The two considered their options, then settled on a flat patch of grass a little bit aways from the sunken grounds. Cameron dropped his bag and brought out the tent. “Here, help me set it up.”

“That’s so big! Is it one of those ones that like, pop up?” Katherine undid the drawstring bag and dumped the contents onto the ground.

He shook his head. “Automatic tents sometimes jam and collapse. This is nothing but a good old-fashioned canvas and metal tent.” He began to put the poles together while Katherine laid out the tarp. “After we finish, we need to consider a plan of action with everyone else.”

The tent went up in no time. After Cameron hammered in the final stake, he stepped back and admired their work. The Schumaker family tent was a large 4-person, though that really meant 3 people and their luggage. The two set their belongings inside, packed their day-packs, and returned to the center to (hopefully) discuss further action.