Izzy was eternally grateful as both Claudette and the ginger from the bar incident (she never did catch her name) came to help her out. As Claudette pulled her away and the other girl enflamed her hands, relief flooded Izzy. She could feel the hot pressure of tears behind her eyes. They really didn't have to do this, but she let her fellow coven member drag her away from the chaos in an orb of darkness. For once in her life, Izzy wasn't afraid of the pitch black.

"Can anyone help me with this? Also with that."

Quinn's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Izzy bit her lip at the blood the two girls were covered in. Antheia on the other hand got straight to work on the girl Izzy had never met before. She looked pretty rough, so Antheia calmly approached and gently placed her hands on the wounded arm. She massaged the area for a bit before placing both hands on the girl's upper arms and rubbing them up and down in a motherly way. "You did good out there darling." Izzy could tell she was helping with the fatigue as well as the wounds.

"I'll burn it shut if you want, sugar. It'll just suck."

Izzy's eyes widened. "No! No, it's okay. I got this. She grabbed the girl's shoulder to stop her from inflicting anymore pain. Izzy then took a deep breath and walked towards Quinn, giving her a weak smile. "You gotta stop getting hurt," She made a feeble attempt at a joke before wrapping her arms around the summoner in a hug.

The red head stayed there for awhile, rubbing her back and feeling the wound begin to mend and close. When she pulled back, the wound had fully healed. Both Herik and Maya had entered the bubble of darkness, but had just as quickly left.

Nervously, Izzy wrung her hands together as she could see nothing outside the barrier. She so desperately wanted to know how everyone was and if they were okay. But all she could do was pace around the bubble. Without the comfort of alcohol to dampen her system, Izzy could feel her heart rate and breathing quickening. She could feel her body pulse to her heartbeat.

This fear was different from last night. It wasn't the fear of her own life. It was for the others. She paused her pacing for a moment, mulling that thought over. When did she get so attached to these mean, violent girls who called her names and fought with each other day in and day out?

Antheia glided over to her host, resting her ghostly pink hands on her host. "Love isn't just romantic or sexual you know? There's also familial and platonic love as well." Izzy could feel the voice of Antheia in her head. She just nodded, numbly trying to process everything.

---

"GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE, MAYA!"

The words shouted at her were enough to make Maya realise how idiotic it had been for her to come back in (a decision she would’ve made again, anyway) - the situation in there was dire and Blake wanted her dead, which meant the Outsider did too. The Outsider said as much herself.

It was only made all the more obvious when everyone else was sent flying out of the building by a wind from the Outsider… except for her. Shit.

Maya watched helplessly as all the other coven members, even Madison, were flung aside by the wind. Shit, shit, shit. She forced herself to move, backing away even as the Outsider was pulled along by Lyss. Her relief quickly faded as Lyss crashed through the window. She needed to get out of here before the Outsider recovered.

But as she turned to run towards the door, the entire building collapsed. In the short time she had before it crashed on her head Maya blasted the rubble directly above her away, loud ringing overwhelming the crashing sound as she leapt under a nearby table and curled herself into a tight ball. The roof fell around her, thudding silently on the table that only just didn’t buckle right on her head.

For now.

The vibrations of the falling stopped and Maya opened her eyes, coughing slightly. She’d managed to avoid being knocked out by the falling building but was now essentially trapped in the rubble. She was sure she could easily blast it away… but maybe this was an opportunity.

Hopefully the Outsider didn’t have any magic bullshit to know that she was still kicking, and if she just stayed here for a bit the Outsider would assume she was dead. She could survive at least a few minutes before she started choking on dust.

Enough time to get her hearing back. What better place to hide than under the rubble of a fallen building, anyway?

Unfortunately, the Outsider was brought alongside Lyss for just a moment before the barrier was busted. The Outsider was getting annoyed with the Burns girl... as she was the only one here that could pose her any threat. Killing her was a top priority but the Outsider could still sense Maya and figured that she could take her out while she was alone. However, Lyss was drawing a seal and the Outsider knew that killing her was a top, top, top, priority. She teleported to her feet as she faced Lyss and her hands mutated into monstrous claws as her entire body warped and stretched as if she was rubber. All moving towards Lyss as her maw opened.

"̸̲̜̖̮̔͛D̵͉̰̠̺̲̣͒̒̂̐̅͐͝ͅi̵̢̡̧̤̭̖̹̻̱̓̊́̕̚͘e̵̛̠̖̹͛͊ͅ.̷̥̻̗̼̃̆͆̎̀͘"̵̳̼̅

The Outsider's jaw opened up and a giant inferno came out of her maw, directly towards Lyss. However, the Outsider's jaw was slammed shut when Madison came crashing down on her skull. "Go to hell, freak!" Madison shouted as the Outsider came crashing down with her on top of it. Madison turned her head towards Lyss as she shouted.

"DO IT!"

And Lyss activated the glowing circle and it acted as a black hole. The Outsider was gradually being pulled into the necklace piece by piece as the Outsider desperately tried to pull away. She clawed herself into the ground and desperately tried to avoid being sealed before she saw someone looming over her. It was Madison... who was quick to kick the Outsider directly in the face with an attack infused by the Jaws. The Outsider screamed as she went flying and disappeared into the necklace...

Madison sighed.

Jesus Christ that was tiring. However, their work wasn't over... Madison walked over to Lyss and offered a hand. "Thanks," Madison said. "That would have been a lot uglier without you."

A few people were missing as Madison looked around.

"Okay, we need to find everybody," Madison stated, "Make sure they-"

They heard sirens in the distance as cars were pulling up. Madison hissed as a bunch of black SUVs with tinted windows and sirens charged up at high speeds. The lead SUV did an overdramatic skid and stopped some distance away from the Coven... and out hopped Trevor Obott wearing full body armor with the FBI logo still on and a Colt M4 Carbine in hands. As he hopped out he shouted,

"Alright, the calvary's here- oh wait," Trevor looked around as he read the room. "Shit, are we too late?"

Maximilian came out of the vehicle, "We got here fast as we could, is anybody hurt?"

"Okay... who the fuck are you?" Madison said as she put a hand on her hip and she caught Meifeng walking up with sunglasses on... pointing at the FBI on her armor.

"You might need to get your prescription updated, friend," Meifeng hissed as she looked around... before she walked over to Lyss and Madison, but mainly Lyss. She looked down at the girl as she said, "It seems we meet again... under marginally better circumstances."

"Hey, where's Maya at!?" Trevor shouted, "Oh come on! Please don't tell me the first person that Meifeng puts me in charge of dies in less than a month..."

Meifeng rolled her eyes.

---

The ringing in Maya’s ears died down, leaving her to decide what to do. She couldn’t stay under this table forever. Maybe if she waited just a moment she could get out quietly, somehow, and get past the Outsider. Or just blast everything and… wait. Was that sirens she was hearing.

She looked to the side in confusion, even though all there was there was rubble. The short girl shuffled towards a slight opening to try and hear what was going on outside. Muffled voices that sounded familiar. She couldn’t hear the Outsider at all or any fighting, so it must be safe.

"Hey, where's Maya at!?"

Trevor’s words were loud enough for her to hear, just about, and she raised an eyebrow. So it was the DENS that were here? Perfect time to make her dramatic and incredibly impressive exit.

In a loud burst of sound, Maya blasted all of the rubble (table included) away from her. It easily dislodged and shot in all directions around her.

“I’m right here,” she said, thick accent muffling her voice as she stood and winking roughly in Trevor’s direction. They were bound to all be blown away by her ability to get out of a destroyed building as if it were nothing.

Except she looked like shit, covered in dust and dirt with her hair an absolute mess. She was also completely deaf so she wouldn’t even hear anything they said.

Worst of all, her blast had sent a shit ton of rubble flying everywhere - including right at everyone else in the area.

---

Lyss was in pain. Her whole back and sides ached, and the cuts on her body and hands stung like she'd pressed them into salt. As much as she wanted to lay back and catch her breath as she waited for the Outsider to show herself, Lyss couldn't. Her head turned to see the Outsider in all of her rage. Instead of going after Maya, the Outsider had chosen herself to die first.

Lyss's heart dropped into her stomach. No... I will not die this way. She pressed her bloody palm against the sigil. Her other hand held the necklace up in the Outsider's direction. She would have burnt to a crisp before the seal was finished, but Madison jumped in just in time. Her relief was rewarded by a sense of justice as she watched the Outsider slowly disappear into the necklace.

Bruised, cut up and bloody, and with a headache, Lyss slowly rose to her feet when she heard the DENs approaching Fantasy Land. So much for a new hideout. She put her necklace back around her neck and was suddenly overcome with the exhaustion of the ritual.

> "̷͇̀A̸̗͂h̸͔̄h̴͍̓ḥ̸͂.̵̹̿.̶̻́.̶̯̀ ̴̬̐y̴̳̾ǫ̵̆ù̴̟ ̷̝͌m̴̟͐ȁ̴̫y̷͍͠ ̷̣͐ḩ̵̓a̵̭͐v̴͓̉e̷̩̽ ̸͔̽s̴̩͘t̷̹̏ơ̷͍p̵̬̄p̶͚̕ë̶̙́d̴̟̕ ̶̦̂m̵͕̃è̷̼,̵̫̄ ̶̡͊b̴̡̌u̵͇͒t̵̙̄ ̸̰͊t̴͕̒h̴͇́e̸̤̍r̶̫̀ẹ̷͒ ̶͇̄į̴̛s̶̮̐ ̷̦̈s̷̜̆ò̵͇m̷͒ething looming over the horizon. I don't know what it is but I can sense it my friend. And I know you won't be able to stop it. No one can..."

The Outsider's voice was muffled down to a whisper as Lyss resisted the temptation to release her. She watched the agents hop out of their vans too late, her eyes on Maximillian. The consequences of sealing a powerful apparition into an object on her own caught up to her within the few moments that the DENs showed and Maya revealed herself among the rubble. She was relieved to see that none of the Coven girls had died, and that relief allowed the exhaustion to set in.

Once she'd finished shielding herself from any rubble sent flying by Maya, Lyss turned towards Meifeng. "We just saved this universe from destruction," she murmured. She turned her head towards Max and her eyes gave him a knowing glance before her knees gave out underneath of herself. "Max, could you help me?"" she asked quietly as she sat on the nearest slab of concrete before she lost her balance. At least she hadn't fainted.

Herik saw the Outsider's attack coming, his lion was quick to jump in front of him and take the brunt of it, but he still flew out the broken roof high the air. Lion got under him and hit the ground first. It slowed his momentum, he landed on his right side in the dirt several feet from their meeting spot. It could have been worse, like death, but he had to get up. Maya was left alone in there with the thing. He stood, his leg almost buckled from under him. He placed his hand on lion for support.

"I should probably give you a name, huh." He petted its mane, his companion yawned. "How about Asta? It's close to my mother's name."

He walked as fast as he could back to battle just to see Madison seal Outsider away. It was done then. Good. FBI came back. He'd say better late than never, but he was too injured to be positive about their arrival. At least they were all okay for the most part. Claudette still had her bubble up, Madison and Lyss put away the Outsider, Maya was fine, the only ones not accounted for were Emily and Vashti.

He took a seat on his lion's back. "Has anyone seen Emily and Vashti?" He knew Vashti was blown away like the rest of them, but Emily left awhile ago. Either she ditched or something happened to her. He'd rather she left than be gravely wounded.

The rubble came their way but Maximilian was quick to handle it. He activated his abstraction and jetted over there at lightning speeds and stopped at a dime. He punched the air and a wave of force came out of his hand and the debris was launched away. Stopped in its tracks as he sighed.

"Maya!" Trevor said, all excitedly as he saw that she wasn't dead... and one sharp look from Meifeng stopped him from running over. "I'm glad you're okay, I hate to hear that something happened to you, hear."

And Cindy started snickering as Meifeng gently punched her in the arm. Meifeng crossed her arms as she looked at Lyss as she asked Maximilian for help... there was some kind of underlying message in her tone, except Meifeng couldn't put her finger on it. The sudden change in Maximilian's attitude, too... she shook her head as Meifeng merely looked at Maximilian come over and help Lyss to her feet.

"Are you okay?" Maximilian asked as he grabbed her hand and upper arm with one hand and lifted her to her feet. He sounded concerned but confident, "We can give medical supplies."

Claudette's bubble of darkness dropped and she looked around... and saw the FBI again. Part of her wanted to throw up the veil again but things seemed a bit more friendly this time around. Claudette would rather not jump the gun and ruin things especially when it seemed like the FBI was on their side. She took a few steps... and noticed that Taylor was quick to scamper off.

After the dust settled, it was obvious that Taylor wasn't exactly feeling the Coven. Like, hell no, she was not interested in fighting their petty little battles and they weren't exactly her style. Taylor just shrugged as she stepped off and decided to take the first bus back to New Port Richey. She was going to need a smoke.

Madison's wound stung as she hissed. She looked up at the FBI fuckers as Lyss seemed to be... chill with one of them. Madison didn't know and unlike her, she wasn't exactly the kind to be gel with people that beat them up, tazed them, tear-gassed them... for no reason at all. She narrowed her eyes at Meifeng as she said.

"Aren't you the FBI dickheads that tear-gassed us?" Madison hissed.

Meifeng narrowed her eyes at Madison and recognized her as that stripper she saw in the club... there was no doubt about it. She had the same build, the same face... same, well, proportions. Meifeng shrugged as she wasn't going to bring this up in front of the Coven. Instead, she raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Meifeng said, "And I am hoping we can move on from that."

"And how the hell do you expect us to do that?" Madison stared down Meifeng equally.

"By taking time out of our days to patch up your many boo-boos..." Meifeng pointed at the oozing hole on Madison's size. "You should probably get that patched up before you pass out."

At this point, Cindy walked over to Madison... hoping that she might take her help because they're both black women. "Please just sit down," Cindy said as she put on gloves, "I just want to help you."

Madison sighed.

"You best do what she says," Meifeng said and Madison sat down and Cindy immediately put pressure on Madison's wound and she looked over her shoulder.

"Has anyone seen Emily and Vashti?"

"No clue," Madison said as Cindy whispered something into her ear and lifted her shirt just a bit to get at the wound. She began wrapping bandages around her side and Madison didn't even mind. Honestly, Madison was just outed as a stripper, she didn't mind one bit that she was showing just a little bit of skin. Concerning Emily and Vashti? Madison didn't care... Emily was all talk, she probably cut and run when she saw the trouble come. As for Vashti? Well, Claudette told her about her outburst... and while it was Madison's fault, it still wasn't right. Right now, Madison just went for her flask and took a swig, not giving a shit.

When Herik asked that question, Meifeng turned her head towards Helena and Leon and nodded her head. They took the signal as Helena released the flock from her body and they went out in all directions and Leon pulled out his baton and several eyes appeared around him. For now, Meifeng focused on Lyss, because far as she could tell she was the leader.

"Now, I know our relationship, as it stands, is tenuous... at best," Meifeng started as she looked at the girl. "I'm hoping that we improve our relations, as the situation in Tampa just got a lot more... dire."

She turned her head towards Maximilian for an instant before she finished speaking to Lyss.

"And I wish to personally apologize for the attack," Meifeng said. "It was brash, unwarranted, and quite honestly... stupid."

"Aw look, she does have a heart," Trevor started, "And it ain't just because the Director chewed her out."

"Shut up, Trevor."

"Slaaaaaaave name."

"Okay, I'm not okay with that," Madison said.

"Don't mind him," Cindy said, "He's stupid."

"Um... ya'll," Leon said as he sheathed the baton and looked up on top of a Ferris wheel and the sight was overpowering. It was the sight of the Black Hound, sitting on top of it. Simply staring at them all with supernaturally bright eyes - they could see their shine from over here. The Hound wagged his tail as he just... watched them. He did nothing. Cindy was staring at the Hound with her jaw slack and dropped the bandages... while Madison grit her teeth and walled her fist. Meifeng just stared at it.

"The Hound..." Meifeng trailed off as she whipped around and shouted, "Everyone! Search the area! Don't leave any stone unturned! I hate to say it but..."

Meifeng sighed.

"... There's a casualty!"

When all was said and done, Izzy came out relatively unscathed. Especially as she looked out at the rest of the coven. "I'm fine." She assured Quinn who came to help her. "But I think.... It's over," The scary blue lady was nowhere to be seen.

However, a different problem arose. Izzy wasn't there when the FBI wrecked their old base, but that fact that they had the balls to show up after whatever weird chick almost killed them was another story. Antheia had already moved over to Maya to begin patching her up. Izzy looked around and saw Lyss looking pretty banged up. But she was also surrounded with FBI. Madison was already being helped by the newcomers, but it looked like Lyss was being grilled instead of helped.

It took some effort, but Izzy finally managed to drag herself over to Lyss. While there was some fear of talking to authority figures lingering, she focused on the annoyance that their late arrival. "Excuse me," She said, moving past the two agents. She only gave them a brief glare before focusing on Lyss. "Do you mind if I.." She paused, feeling the eyes of the FBI on her. Actually she'd rather not do that in front of cops. "Nevermind." The healer began to slowly heal Lyss through soft touches. She didn't want to cause any more pains from the wounds.

Their conversation didn't exactly matter to Izzy, but hearing that there was a casualty made her heart drop. Her mind raced to think of who it was, but she stopped it to stay focused on the task at hand.

---

Now Maya couldn’t hear anything, but with her great (minimal) lip reading skills she could tell that Trevor said her name and she guessed he was happy that she was perfectly alive and fine. She was a bit put out that he didn’t actually run to her but she could see the look on Meifeng’s face from over here and she totally understood. She could feel a phantom sting on her cheek at the thought of crossing her. She suppressed a shudder as she dusted herself off a bit, patting her ears a couple of times as if it would stop the loud ringing. She stood still as Antheia floated over to her to patch up her injuries, which while minimal were painful and she was grateful for that.

Once that was done she walked over to the group and stopped a little bit too close to Trevor, smiling brightly. Not enough to actually touch him, not in front of his boss, but she was definitely in his personal space. She was half tempted to use exhaustion from the fight as an excuse to lean on him but… no, not right now. She’d just been healed up too so she looked obviously fine.

Instead she settled from standing incredibly close, head tilted as she pretended to listen to conversation she couldn’t hear. Lyss didn’t look so good but Maximilian was helping her (when had they got so close?) which she was glad for. Loathe as she was to admit it she was beginning to get attached to the other coven members and she’d hate for them to die. More people were gathering as well and almost everyone seemed to be there and safe.

“...our relationship, as it stands, is tenuous... at best.”

Maya raised an eyebrow as her hearing came back, folding her arms as she began to actually listen to what was being said. Her eyes widened further when Meifeng did the unexpected and apologised. To Lyss, mostly, which was good because she sure as shit wasn’t going to accept an apology. She had to bite her lip from saying something scathing in response.

"Don't mind him. He's stupid."

“Hey, he’s not stupid, he’s-” Maya cut herself off from vehemently defending her crush when the creepy eye creating guy looked towards the Ferris Wheel. She followed his gaze and felt her heart drop at what she saw, even though she didn’t know why. She inhaled sharply as her breathing quickened slightly and she automatically grabbed Trevor’s arm, squeezing it. So that was the Hound… she only vaguely remembered what she’d been told about it before, but she knew it was bad.

From what Meifeng said, it meant someone was dead.

“Shit,” Maya hissed, trying to push down the unexpected horror she felt at the thought. Now wasn’t the time. She quickly went over a tally of who was there and who wasn’t before realising she didn’t have a good grip of who was still part of the Coven. She turned to Trevor and looked up at him with (slightly forced) wide eyes, still holding onto his arm.

“I want to go look,” she said, completely ignoring that it had been an order from Meifeng (to her actual subordinates she hoped) and pretending it was something she just wanted to do. If she was honest, she didn’t want some DENS grunt to find one of the girls like that and most of the coven wasn’t in a state to help look. “But I don’t want to go alone, after everything that’s happened, will you come with me?”

She gave him her cutest, most begging look. However she didn’t actually wait for an answer, swapping from holding his arm to grabbing his hand and physically dragging him towards where the door to the building had once been (roughly). She was fairly confident that no one was left in the building so it was either Vashti that had died when blasted out… or someone who’d tried to escape before. She bit her lip, hard, as she tried to ignore the sick feeling in her stomach.

She didn’t know what she was hoping for by looking, but she figured near a previous exit was her best chance of finding someone.

---

---

Yes! Yes! Fuck yes! The Leviathan hardly even noticed the pain as the scythe was knocked free from her chest by Herik’s lion as her claw caught the shoulder of the Outsider and ripped through its ethereal flesh. Tooth and claw tore into the Outsider, tossing the pathetic ghost meat about like a dog ripping apart a chew toy. The fight was over. The Leviathan had won. Stupid ghost bitch, it should have run when it had the chance. The Leviathan kept shredding apart the Outsider, ignoring the pain in her chest as she flayed the apparition. In the end, the Outsider was no tougher than that metal elephant. Nothing was a match for the Leviathan. She growled as the bone girl hit the Outsider in the back. Assistance was not appreciated. This was the Leviathan’s kill.

Only her kill was reforming before her very own eyes. The Leviathan hesitated on her next strike as if she was seized by the realization that everything she had done had amounted to nothing. Whatever. The Leviathan was stronger, she could tear the Outsider limb from limb for eternity if she wanted. The claw swung down to rip the Outsider’s shredded jaw clean off, but the Leviathan’s talons never hit their mark as the Outsider blew her away. The Leviathan bashed against the edge of Lyss’s barrier and was dragged after the Outsider, only the Leviathan slammed into the window frame instead of going through it.

The feeling of fear clamped down on the Leviathan again as its focus shifted from the Outsider to the primate drawing the sigil. Nothing so fucking pedastrian as that could ever really contain the Leviathan, yet the sight of the cage still awoken the animalistic instincts inside of the Apparition. With a low growl the Leviathan skulked back into the crumbling building, shrugging off falling debris with ease, as Madison slammed into the Outsider. The Leviathan broke into a panicked mad dash as the sound of the Outsider screaming pierced through the clattering of falling wood and concrete. She smashed through the otherside of the building as it finally came down upon itself and continued fleeing. In the distance, sirens filled the air as the rain began to let up.

---

---

Vashti cried out in searing pain as she stumbled and collapsed to the ground inside of the dried out fountain. She was matted with blood. She was unsure of how much of it was hers, which was always a concerning uncertainty. Vashti fought back the instinct to hurl as she recalled the Leviathan devouring whatever-the-hell the Outsider had summoned and clutched her chest. She shivered. It was another bad sign—she shouldn’t feel this cold right now. Tears streamed down her face, cutting little rivers through the muddy red, as she tried to stop her hyperventilating. Without fail, regaining control of her body always felt like a major panic attack, but normally it didn’t hurt this much.

She had to see the damage that was done—and she had to make herself decent. With shaking hands Vashti unclasped the buttons on her frayed jacket and trembled at the sight of the darkening red mess on the front of her sliced blouse. Slowly, she undid the top two buttons and, with a deep breath, pulled the shirt out to reveal the wound. From the top of her left shoulder to her right armpit was a massive gash that still oozed with blood. The sight was sickening.Vashti looked away instantly, her breathing growing rapid. Her vision swam. She dug her nails into her thighs as she closed her eyes and fought off the blackout.

She’d sometimes returned to her body after the Leviathan took over with a few bumps and bruises, but never an injury as bad as this. How was she even still alive? Her heart rate quickened as she ripped the headscarf off of her head and wrapped it around her chest as tightly as possible to staunch the bleeding. At this point, Vashti didn’t even know if that would really do anything. Slowly, she picked up her bloodsoaked jacket and wrapped it around her waist to cover the hole created by the Leviathan’s tail. She chuckled at herself. She was bleeding out to death and still somehow managed to worry about that? Well, better than being found ass out in a pool of her own blood.

Slowly, she pulled herself over to the edge of the fountain and made her way up unto the concrete wall surrounding it. The pain was beginning to disappear, replaced instead by a kind of peaceful stillness as she sat at the edge of the basin. Vashti looked up and saw the form of a massive black dog looming in the sky. So, it was real after all. A calm settled over her as she closed her eyes...and moments later the peace was shattered as she let out a low, aching cry as something deep inside her forced her to stand up. Pain coursed through her entire body. Good. Pain meant she was alive.

She could see the flash of blue and red a few hundred yards away near the collapsed building from which the Leviathan had fled. An ambulance? She felt the shadow of the big dog pass over her as she moved towards the lights and away from “the” light. Vashti proceeded slowly with the broken shuffle of a zombie, taking breaks every now and then when she grew too lightheaded. After what felt like an eternity of suffering the girl stumbled against a black vehicle. FBI? She’d thought that had been a joke, some stupid form of hazing. So they were busted. So what. The suits and the witches were all looking away from Vashti and towards the ferris wheel. The dog was back. Good boy.

"... There's a casualty!"

Vashti’s head spun and she caught herself against the grill of one of the black SUVs as Meifeng whipped around to shout at the group that there had been a casualty. Confused, Vashti stared at Meifeng until her eyes grew wide with horrified recognition. Vashti must’ve been a terrifying sight herself. Her hair was soaked with blood and sticking to the sides of her equally drenched face. The front of her shirt was drenched too from the wound caused by the Outsider’s scythe, while her jacket and pants were soaked in the drying leftovers of the little devils. The only part of her not drenched in viscera were her scaly arms, which had been covered by her jacket. It had been a bad day to wear a sleeveless blouse.

An FBI agent had his arm around Maya. Were they all getting arrested? The Coven felt like the kind of group that’d all get arrested. Vashti sighed to herself as she slowly raised her hands in surrender, unable to lift them higher than her chest.

“Casualty. Yeah, close enough,” said Vashti weakly, looking down at herself with a sniffle. Her legs started to give out and she began to slide down the SUV, but she managed to steady herself.“Could we...could we let a doctor make that call?”

---

As grateful as Lyss was for Maximillian's help she quickly noticed the look on Meifeng's face. On almost everyone's face. She used Max as support but was sure not to show any affection to him in front of his boss. How would Meifeng feel if two of her agents were involved with the Coven?

"I'll be fine. I've never sealed an apparition as strong as that before. It just took a lot out of me." She murmured. She looked into Max's eyes and gave him a tired smile before she gave Meifeng a flat look. Her eyebrow rose and she awaited Meifeng's answer to Madison's demanding questions. She did well to avoid the subject and move onto pointing out Madison's injuries. Lyss grimaced at the sight of her side. At least she redeemed herself by trapping the Outsider again. Everyone seemed to be okay. She was even relieved to see that Herik was alright, until he asked where Emily and Vashti were.

She suddenly remembered seeing Emily unconscious, and her eyes turned to Max with worry. She was glad to know that Max cared enough to try to help, but when she saw Meifeng send her other agents send out a search party it made it feel like they were here for trouble again. She especially eyed Leon's baton. Maybe Max wasn't the type to cause further trouble, but she didn't doubt that Meifeng would.

In response, Lyss stood taller when Meifeng looked her way. Even if she was still using Max for support, she wasn't completely weak. Meifeng wouldn't bully her or the Coven again. Meifeng's words weren't at all what she expected. Instead of a scolding or a list of demands, she actually apologized for their first encounter with the DENs.

She already knew that she was going to accept the half assed apology, but she didn't show any sign of forgiveness until Meifeng said it herself. Lyss was silent as Trevor made jokes about Meifeng's "heart" and she turned to look at Max. Had he somehow persuaded Meifeng to apologize? The woman was being genuine, but had she come to this realization on her own?

Her gaze was cut short when she felt the sudden presence of the Hound in their vicinity. Her head snapped in the direction of the apparition and her stomach dropped. "No... Who?" She couldn't believe it. Was it Emily? Vashti? Taylor? Her head moved around the chaotic scene of rubble and she wanted to search herself, but Izzy moved into her vision. She allowed the healer to sit her down, and felt her body relax at Izzy's gentle touch. Her cut hand was last to be healed, and she watched the wound close. It took two Burns to seal the Outsider before. Lyss accomplished it herself, after some critical damage to the apparition because of her Coven.

Yet the victory was bittersweet. Someone was dead, and it was the Outsider's fault. The necklace felt heavy around her neck now. She gripped the necklace with her healed hand and frowned. She stood suddenly, feeling much better now, and was about to move towards the Hound when she heard Vashti's voice. Her head turned to look at the poor, bloody girl before she tapped Izzy's shoulder. "Izzy, go help Vashti please. Hurry."

Okay... only one death then. Who was it? Emily or Taylor?

"Stay here," she told the DENs agents before she began to make her way towards the Hound.

"Hound, answer me. Who are you here for?"

Meifeng stared down Vashti as she shook her head at her. The girl was obvious under the impression that the Coven was in trouble... but what was a priority to Meifeng was getting her patched up because she looked like she was damn near ready to die. Fortunately, Meifeng had a medkit in hand.

"We're not here to arrest you witches," Meifeng started as she walked over towards the girl and gestured for her to stay down. "Don't get back up, you'll probably kill yourself trying..." Meifeng trailed off as she warned her,

"I'm going have to take your shirt off to get at the wound, okay?" Meifeng grit as the disgusting sight didn't even bother her.

“I want to go look, but I don’t want to go alone, after everything that’s happened, will you come with me?”

Trevor smiled. But he had to stay on his toes, if he went somewhere with this chick she could say that he touched her butt or something. Trevor looked down... shit, she ain't got one. Trevor also didn't want to look like a pussy either. Why can't life be simple and not throw these situations his way? Why?

"Why of-" Trevor had to suppress his accent again. "...of course,"

Trevor turned towards Meifeng as he said, "My probate-ee is going dead person hunting and I'm going to accompany her for emotional support."

Meifeng shook her head as she knew that they were getting a bit too close but right now she had different priorities. With a sigh, Meifeng ordered, "Go! And no funny business!" One of these days I'm going to kill him.

The Hound's head moved, just slightly to look down on Alyssa. The Hound dramatically leaps from the top of the Ferris wheel down to the ground... and when he hit the ground he disappeared into a cloud of black fog and walked alongside Lyss. Maximilian out of reflex had coated himself in the shining blue crystals as Meifeng merely crossed her arms and looked at him.

"Ease yourself," The Hound said to Maximilian, "I did not come here to do battle."

The Hound's neck unnaturally turned towards Lyss... in the blink of an eye, he was colossal. And Lyss was merely an ant compared to him. He stared down Alyssa for a few moments before he softly spoke,

"I am here for the soul of Elise Hart," The Hound just blankly stated before he looked at the rest of the group. "Finding her body will be a fool's errand as a certain... apparition took it."

At this point, the wound around Madison's side was patched up and she stood up as she stared at the Hound. She wanted to activate the Jaws but... he wouldn't let her. She hissed as she listened to that bastard speak and she got more and more annoyed. That thing is the only reason why she doesn't her cousin anymore. It was to the point where she didn't even bother listening to what he said as she was barely being restrained by the Hound.

"... There are only four apparitions in use by the Coven, and three are here," Claudette started as everything clicked... of course, it didn't require a degree in rocket science to figure it out.

"Babylon the Great has killed and abscised Elise Hart," The Hound spoke as he walked on past the DENS and the Coven. "Do with that information as you please, it is not my place to interfere..."

The Hound walked towards the site where Ellie was killed

Herik hadn't expected the FBI to be concerned with the Coven, even though they were here to help this time. They were late. Patching them up must be the next best thing. He couldn't walk the entire park to find their lost members, but he could ride Asta to find them. He stood up and carefully swung his injured leg over the beast's back and settled, ready to go when the woman in charged looked up at the Ferris Wheel. There was a large black dog staring at them. The Hound she said. So that's what it looked like. Herik didn't feel anything from this creature. No emotion at all. That's concerning. He didn't like it one bit. There's been a causality she said. No. One of them or more can't be dead. Herik patted Asta's side to get moving. Maybe he can save them before it's too late.

Asta moved towards the FBI van, passed it was the parking lot where Emily said she was going to go. Vashti appeared from around it. She's alive! Okay. That's one down. Happy, he rode up to her, smiling wide.

"I'm glad you're okay." As she could be with her clothes in tethers and bleeding. "Let them help you and we'll talk later. I still want to talk about Leviathan."

Hound came down in front of Lyss, huge, imposing and dangerous. It said Elise died. No. She saved him from the FBI before and he never got the chance to return the favor. Tears welled in his eyes, but he didn't cry. Babylon did this. He's not surprised. But if she's gone, then where's a her previous host? This has to be why Emily never came back. He followed behind the Hound to where Elise's body should be, but wasn't. Instead, Emily lay on the ground, injured, bloody, and unconscious.

"Emily!" He rode to her and carefully climbed off Asta's back. He took off his shirt and slipped it over her head and down. It fit like a baggy dress on her, but it's better than being nude.

"I don't think the FBI can patch her up. We should take her to the hospital just in case." He couldn't pick her up with his bad leg, but he tried anyway and nearly succeeded not dropping her on a bad leg. "We should all go. Izzy can only do such much to heal all of us." He said to Lyss.

---

Every extra-normal feared death as much as a normie would. The fact that death manifested itself into a monstrous wolf they called the Hound, it's fur as black as night, and it's eyes as red as blood, made it even more terrifying to picture. The only family that did not fear the Hound were those gifted their lux by the very creature that came for their souls when they passed. They feared dying, of course, but when it was their time to be guided towards the afterlife they greeted the Hound as if it were an old friend.

So, while Max and the others cowered at the sight of the apparition, Lyss stood tall. She kept her chin high as the beast flung itself her way, and did not even flinch when it dissipated into a cloud of smoke in front of her. Her face remained the same; it was confused and seeking answers. She watched him as he strode as a smaller form towards the DENs. Her body turned as he turned his head towards her, and in the blink of an eye she was suddenly staring up the length of his snout and into his large, ruby eyes. If any other apparition had grown to this size before her, Lyss would have been shaking in her boots. Instead she stared defiantly back at the apparition. She wanted to know who had fallen, and she would get her answer.

Her eyes furrowed when she was given the name. Ellie? She was here? She watched the Hound as he continued. Her lips were pulled into a deep frown when she heard who had been behind the death. Babylon... Her hands curled into fists, and she felt the dried blood on her palm where the cut hand been minutes before.

"Emily..." She began, before she moved to follow Herik and the Hound across the rubble. "Emily isn't gone yet. We must find her before she is added to his list." She added to the rest. Her steps were worried and clumsy as she traversed the fallen building, until they came to a stop when Herik found their missing Coven member.

Lyss's face was blank, but her body tensed as she momentarily looked away from Emily's bloody form. She turned back as Herik struggled to move. He was injured too. They'd need help to get to the hospital. "You're right, but you cannot carry her alone." She looked over at the DENs, her eyes resting on Max a little too long. Meifeng is going to hate us when she finds out. Although that didn't matter at the moment.

"Meifeng, will you allow one of your agents to help us? I don't think any of us are able to carry Emily, and we need to get her to a hospital now."

The Hound strolled through the chaos, ignoring the DENS and the Coven, and marched over to the site where Elise Hart was killed. Her soul was floating there, like a white orb attached to something that was no longer there. The Hound merely walked up to Elise's soul and it's crimson red eyes pierced nearly through the soul.

"... Are you ready to go to the other side?"

"... Yes," Elise answered.

"Let's go," The Hound replied as a massive cloud of smoke appeared in front of the Hound and then the primordial entity in the shape of a wolf stepped in. With Elise's soul at his side, the Hound kept walking until he was no longer discernible from the smoke... and then they were gone. Vanished without a trace.

Good grief. Meifeng knew better than to tangle with the Hound, even she knew that thing couldn't be stopped. She followed Lyss and Herik, with Maximilian, Leon, and Helena not too far away. And when she approached, for a second, she thought that Emily was deceased. Still, the brute was trying to pick her up without checking to see if she was alive or the extent of her injuries. He was emotional, and Meifeng couldn't blame him but...

"Put her down," Meifeng said as she walked up and pushed Herik back like it was nothing. "You don't know about the injuries you can't see."

Meifeng, first and foremost, placed two fingers against her neck, underneath her jaw, and at least felt a pulse. It was consistent enough not to warrant worry, but she was bloody and she won't have much to pump for long. Then she carefully ran her hand all over her body to check for broken bones. Fortunately, it seemed to be all surface level.

"Meifeng, will you allow one of your agents to help us? I don't think any of us are able to carry Emily, and we need to get her to a hospital now."

Meifeng gave Lyss a catty smile.

"... I'll give you, two," Meifeng said as she stood straight up and faced Maximilian and Leon and snapped her fingers and they both lifted Emily near effortlessly. However, she turned towards Lyss as she pulled out her cellphone, "We need to talk about your arrangement with Babylon... I've dealt with her before."

She sharply said before she dialed nine-one-one.

"... And don't worry about explaining your injuries, I got it covered."

Good grief. Meifeng hoped that the Coven wouldn't take her kindness for granted because she can still haul them to jail at any time. She was getting the impression that some of them were getting a bit too comfortable with the DENS. Meifeng narrowed her eyes at Lyss.

Maybe it's just paranoia.

---

---

After the Coven spent a large amount of time annoying the nurses and trying to steal morphine, they were kicked out of the hospital and congregated in the parking garage. All urged to do so by Madison.

They all met on the top floor... with the sky above them and Madison was leaning up against her explorer because this shit was not good with her. Not one bit. She looked around as the Coven assembled with her arms crossed because she was not going to sit around in a hospital. After all, she got a boo-boo. Blake Schmidt sent someone to attack them and her Philly instincts were running wild. What she was going to suggest sounded crazy, but she needed to get it across.

"Alright, good, everyone here?" Madison said as she pushed off her car and looked at the Coven. "Because we gots to do something about Blake. You know the Outsider? That was just the start."

"... I have to agree," Claudette softly said as she sat on the ground with her legs folded and looked around. "I doubt someone like him would stop at one failure."

"And what if he gets the power he was looking for? Or finds a crew that'll fuck us up?" Madison tried to plead. "That's why we need to get our shit together and hit him first, but we gotta be smart about it."

Madison thought about the DENS coming back.

"The shit we did at Greenwood? We can't do that again... or we'll have the DENS on our ass," Madison said. "No big scenes, no fireballs..." And her eyes fell on Quinn. "... And please no Chimeras, Quinn."

"... Well, how will we find Blake?" A voice spoke... except like it was a dude emulating a woman. Except it was... Trevor came from behind Madison's SUV with his fingertips together and a cocky smile on his face. As he winked at Maya. He was wearing short-shorts and a white polo shirt and white and black Nike sneakers with his hair down.

"Who the fuck are you?" Madison asked.

"I am Special Agent Obott of the FBI," Trevor said as he finished walking around, "And I heard you have a problem with..." Trevor stopped as his eyes fell on Madison's assets for a moment before he remembered his stringent training. "... a certain millionaire and I decided to help out, you know."

He chuckled.

"Out of the kindness of my heart," Trevor said before he turned towards Lyss, "And Meifeng told me to interrogate you about Babylon but that can come after."

---

Maya couldn’t say she was particularly fond of being in a hospital. Still, in the time before they got kicked out for being themselves she’d managed to get into a bathroom to clean herself up. She couldn’t do much about her clothes but she’d reapplied her makeup and brushed her hair out a little, before tying it back in two braids (so it looked less messy). She no longer looked like she’d been dragged through a building site.

In the parking garage she crouched just next to Madison’s car, boredly tapping at a mind numbing app on her phone as she waited for someone to talk. She looked up when Madison started even though she didn’t properly stand up.

“Yeah, we have to show him that we’re not just going to sit around and take whatever he sends at us,” Maya instantly agreed with a nod. “He really wants me dead so we should beat him up before he sends something else…”

“... Or, y’know, just show him we won’t let him do this,” she put her hands up as Madison went on to very much specify no big scenes. Okay, sure, she could do that. It wasn’t like her entire power was based around making a loud of noise or anything. She could do it subtly. Maybe she’d just kick Blake in the nuts instead.

"... Well, how will we find Blake?"

Maya tilted her head at the strangely familiar, very obviously falsely feminine, voice. Her dark eyes lit up as she saw who it was and she jumped up onto her feet. “Trevor!”

She paused before she actually went over to him, forcing herself to stay exactly where she was. She didn’t want to look too eager when he was playing so hard to get. She wasn’t desperate. So she just shot him a slightly coy smile and listened.

“Wait,” Maya folded her arms. “How did you hear we have a problem with Blake? None of us said about it earlier.”

She glanced at the other girls to see if any of them had any inkling about that. They definitely hadn’t talked about why they were fighting an incredibly evil spirit lady when the DENS had rolled up.

Wait.

Had he somehow seen her private instagram post boasting about banging the wife of a Tampa millionaire? No way, she was incredibly fussy about who she allowed to follow that account. And she hadn’t even mentioned Blake! Though it was probably easy to put two and two together… Maya’s cheeks turned red. If he’d somehow seen that then he’d seen a lot more “tasteful” photos of her.

Wait, why was she even embarrassed about that? It was perfectly normal to sleep with the wife of a scumbag millionaire. None of it was something she should be blushing over. It probably wasn’t even the case anyway!

She pursed her lips as she looked back up at everyone. She completely ignored the interrogation bit of his speech because that was boring bullshit Lyss could deal with. “If you’re helping, does that mean you’re coming along?” She kept her voice completely completely, completely cool, as if she couldn’t care less (and very much failed to do so). “And know where he is?”

---

Lyss stood leaning against the low wall that lined the parking deck's roof. Her back was to the busy street below, and she faced the Coven with a solemn gaze. One arm was wrapped around her ribs, and the other rested it's elbow on top. Her hand was holding the necklace around her throat as if the Outsider might break her seal at any moment. Like her hand could keep it contained.

While they'd handled the fight better than Lyss expected, it had been a rough day for them all. Emily was in critical condition. Madison had a deep wound. The others managed to escape with just a few bruises and cuts. The worst of it was that there had still been a casualty. She had never cared much for Ellie, but she would never wish death upon another like that. Even worse was the fact that one of their own's apparition had been the killer. The Outsider hadn't claimed a single life but of the girls Blake Schmidt had sacrificed.

He needed to burn, either way.

So, when Madison told the girls that they needed to do something about Schmidt, Lyss nodded her head in agreement. She was silent as Madison continued. The girl had her own wits about her. She was street savvy enough to understand the risk they were putting themselves into if they went after Blake. Especially with the DENs threat looming over their heads. Meifeng may have been generous, but she could still lock them away if they pulled another stunt like Greenwood. Lyss was letting her silence speak for itself. She didn't object to anything Madison said.

When she heard a faux femme voice coming from around the SUV, Lyss stood upright. She didn't exactly scowl, but the look in her eyes was enough to express her disdain. As nice as he acted, Trevor's "I come in peace" act was just a ploy. Whether he wanted to help the Schmidt situation or not, he was still a spy for Meifeng. It would be much harder to teach Blake a lesson with an agent around.

When he turned towards her, Lyss crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. She wasn't sure why Meifeng thought her information about Babylon would be helpful. She'd never heard of the apparition until she joined the Coven. Babylon was a strong spirit, yes, but Lyss only knew her for her cruel pranks and snarky comments. The fact that she'd murdered Ellie and absiced with her body had been the most evil thing the apparition had done so far. 'I've dealt with her before.' What was the apparition like, before Emily made a deal with her? How did Meifeng handle her before?

Why didn't she send Max? Does she know?

Instead of outright refusing Trevor's "interrogation", Lyss decided to just stand back and wait. They needed to take care of Schmidt first. Then she would confront Trevor. So, she decided to focus on how and why Trevor was going to help them.

"How can we be sure you aren't here to tattle on us once it's over? How do you expect to help us if you're under government code of law?"

---

---

“Wait,” Maya folded her arms. “How did you hear we have a problem with Blake? None of us said about it earlier.”

The second last thing that Trevor wanted to do was say that he hacked into their Snapchat. And the last thing he wanted to do was say that he read their... traumatizing Snapchat conversations. Still, he knew the perfect way to bullshit things in his favor, because "Bullshit" was Trevor's middle name god damn it!

"Well, do any of you know what a Recollection is?" Trevor asked... and was answered with many, many, different types of "No". Trevor facepalmed. "Wow, some witches you are."

"I know what a Recollection is... kind of," Madison crossed her arms. "It's just a flashback. Like you know in movies? Just like that."

"Yeah, I saw a Recollection of your little fight with the Outsider," Trevor bullshitted hard as he could bullshit. "And I know that Blake is behind all of this... I think that Meifeng should, you know, do something about that, but hey, she's got her priorities, I got mine."

“If you’re helping, does that mean you’re coming along? And know where he is?”

"I mean..." Trevor put his hands into his pockets as he tilted his head and looked off to the side. Giving them this information was stupid enough as is, but participating in that? Now, that was stupid. "... Hey, hey, now, I wouldn't get ahead of myself, sister. If Meifeng finds out about this - I'm getting her steel-toe boot up my ass!"

He shrugged.

"Besides, you guys-" shit, they're all girls and one big guy. "-can handle it by yourselves," Trevor shrugged again as he just pointed towards the good old Tampa bay. "He's having a giant orgy on his giant yacht over there." I wish it was me.

"How can we be sure you aren't here to tattle on us once it's over? How do you expect to help us if you're under government code of law?"

"Government code of law?" Trevor parroted, followed by a chuckle. "I'm only under government code of law until my shift ends." He placed a hand on his chest as a grin formed on his face.

"If you don't believe me, well... I can give you Meifeng's most dark secret in the form of a Recollection. Or I don't know. We got off on the wrong foot and I'm sorry about that. I'm hoping that maybe we can let go of the past and move on from that."