---

---

Before Arabelle even had a chance to reply, some woman came busting out of the stall. Aileen stood, doe-eyed, staring at her. She thought they were alone! How much did she see? Or hear? She was going to be in so much trouble for this!

“You’re in the way,” the woman said rather rudely as she stepped between Aileen and Arabelle. "Oh. A'm sorry..." Aileen apologized, mumbling. She looked with her eyes toward Arabelle for guidance, deciding to pretend nothing unusual happened here. Maybe the young woman had earbuds on and didn't hear a thing.

“So that’s a cool little trick you have there,” the woman spoke as she washed her hands and stared at the two sisters in the mirror. She started rattling off, but Aileen wasn't listening. Instead she stared, transfixed, on a strange and ghastly blue hand that emerged from the young women's back and grabbed a paper towel, handing it to the woman before fading out of existence. Aileen blinked a couple times and rubbed her eyes wondering if her power caused hallucinations as well.

“Hey, I know you! We’re’ sisters!” the woman suddenly spoke like she had a change of heart. She pointed at Aileen, who raised a brow looked to Arabelle, and then and pointed back to herself, dumbfounded. "Me?"

The woman answered with a mischievous smile and spread arms. She began rambling and squealing and Aileen couldn't help smiling and feeling excited for her as well, though she had this nagging feeling deep down that something wasn't quite right with her, or was it just because of the ominous day she was having?

The woman suddenly launched herself at Aileen, hugging the smaller and younger girl around her arms and shoulders, squeezing her tight. Aileen half-choked and half-laughed, "Aye! Hahahaha! Quit messing around why don'cha! You'll be the death of me, hehehe!"

When her new half-sister Nisha let go, Aileen smiled and gave her and quick but warm and gentle hug in turn. "It is so nice to have another sister--this is something to celebrate! But ehm, Nisha, me and Miss Matthews actually have some important errands to take care of before we go home..." she trailed off while looking down, feeling anxious and not wanting to admit they stumbled onto her by accident.

---

---

Tuyen did not appreciate almost getting a fireball to the face, the intense heat causing her to wince as she took steps backwards. Her shadow curled around her legs tauntingly, jabbing at her for being too weak to do anything, just letting them step all over her. What was she supposed to do? She couldn’t take them just by herself.

Even when one took a knife to the chest.

She stumbled as what felt like an earthquake hit the building, hand flinging out against a wall to support herself. What the fuck? Did this part of America have earthquakes? She had a feeling there was something more to it…

"Daniel! Water cannon!"

Tuyen didn’t have time to consider what that could be before a powerful wave was surging towards her. In the split second she had she threw her arms up and behind her head, curling it down towards her chest. She could heal most damage, but didn’t want to risk hitting her head.

And there was nothing to support herself with - she didn’t think even her shadow could manage that (not that it wanted to anyway).

Tuyen gritted her teeth as the water slammed into her, knocking her off her feet and sweeping her down the hallway. She managed to keep her head protected and above the water, breathing ragged and short, even as she was slammed into the wall at the bottom of the hall. Intense pain ran through her body, eyes squeezing shut as she was left unable to move with the water coming relentlessly and keeping her pinned in place.

The pain doubled as a lotus on her wrist glowed bright white, blue light engulfing her hands and back which had taken the brunt of the damage from being thrown against the wall. The combination of the sharp pain from her second abstraction’s healing and the constant wave of water left her essentially unable to do anything for now.

Useless.

---

Georgie knew Erza would agree with her. It was the most logical thing to do in their situation. She watched the expert girl walk into the passage, waiting for Erza to pull his knife out of the wall, before she followed after them.

“If you’re going to come with, stay back and stay out of her way.” Ezra directed. That was fine by her. She didn't want to fight if she didn't have to and hopefully this girl was competent enough with her job that she wouldn't have to. She stayed close behind Erza, looking over her shoulder to Alexander the older bringing up the rear. She didn't trust him at her back. She heard the comment about him possibly taking narcotics. Clean or not she'll never trust a junky.

They arrived at the exit, the girl went out ahead of them while they stayed back and let her do her thing. Ezra tried his hand at knife throwing and she couldn't help peeking her head out of the doorway when he threw it. She wondered if the person got stabbed, but she was pushed back into the tunnel when Ezra went back to hiding. She didn't wonder long when she heard the scream, then it stopped. If she'd been hit somewhere nonlethal then she'd still be yelling. Her silence made her believe the girl was dead. Wow. Ezra's a murderer. Well, it happens like that.

The expression on his face told her she realizes what he's done, especially after he looked back out the hall, then came back. He didn't look at her and Alexander and she didn't try to meet his eyes. The house shook violently, knocking her into the wall, a distant scream echoed down the passageway. It sounded like Sabrina. She couldn't stay steady on her feet. She'd just righted herself when Ezra yelled to go. Georgie didn't question it and turned tail, just to go right through Alexander's body. She was so startled she stumbled and didn't regain her footing when Ezra knocked into her. The wave flushed them out of the passageway, back into the dining room, her everything hurt, she's sure she hit her head on the ground or a wall or something.

"What the bloody hell has this day become!?" She slammed her hand on the floor, water splashing. She'd say this is why she doesn't come home, but even this was too ridiculous to for a normal noisy day in the manor. The wind hitting the house was muffled now that she had water in her ears and her sinuses burned. A fever was bound to set in for all this water in the middle of winter. She stood on shaky legs, noticing broken glass on the floor, and looked out the window. There was a grotesque creature standing outside the window. Georgie didn't look at it long enough to get enough of a look. She just knew that she'd vomit if she stared any longer.

Turning around, her eyes locked on Oscar, she clearly looked upset, because all of this was on him. If he didn't invite strangers into the house without permission or discussion today wouldn't be tits up ass over head.

"Any idea what the bloody hell that thing is Mr. Magic? You've had to have something to do with it. Anything else we should know about your exploits, before whatever that is kills us all!"

---

Shane felt Maxine's jaw crack against his knuckles. Considering the girl and her friends had tore apart his family home and endangered his siblings, it was a bit of a nice emotional release. He watched her fall to the floor in a heap, any plans of attack she had basically thrown out the window. Her leader friend, Morgana, quickly noticed this shift in the battle.

"Hey, what kinda man hits a girl!?"

She screamed at Shane and threw her chains, which coiled around his leg but thankfully his barrier kept them causing any physical harm. Inwardly, Shane couldn't help but recall the many times he'd met such "men" as an officer when on domestic calls. He didn't really appreciate the comparison but considering the circumstances and the fact that said girl could probably shoot out water or make Hellhounds and shit like the rest of 'em, it felt like a pretty reasonable action to take.

Morgana sicced her dog on him, thankfully it seemed she missed Shane's previous encounter with one of her dogs in the dining room. He couldn't help but smirk a little as the dog leapt and prepared to clamp its jaws around his skull, beneath his shield. The Hound plunged it's teeth down, immediately being thrown back headfirst from its own momentum-courtesy of a Guardian Release.

The dog crashed down the hall, already injured from tangling with Justin. Who had already finished off the other Hound with the help of Raymond. With Morgana surrounded, Shane strode forward, preparing himself to start breaking each one of Morgana's fingers unless she told them everything they wanted to know. Here's hoping she didn't.

She held up her chains and the estate began to shake violently. Shane tried charging forward only for the shaking to knock him off course, at first he thought it was Morgana but she seemed just as confused as everyone else. A portal opened up behind her, someone stepping out and helping her drag through the girl Shane scrambled the jaw of. He couldn't make out what they were yelling over the chaos and windows smashing in but he watched them escape through the portal, slamming his fist on the ground and letting out an angered growl. They were sent packing but now the Vanburens still had no clue what they were here for.

And they still had to deal with whatever was shaking the fucking earth.

Shane struggled to get back to his feet as the grown continued to shake back and forth, putting a hand on the hallway's wall for stability. He let the aura of the Guardian Angel envelope himself but it wasn't doing too great for keeping him steady as he stood upright and got his bearings.

'The shaking feels like it's coming from...' Shane's anger melted into some strange mixture of annoyance and concern. He looked down the hall to see the earthquake looking worse from where they came, at the manor's entrance, where most of his more vulnerable siblings were holed up.

Shane, somewhat gingerly, started moving forward. Keeping his aura active and his hands against the walls. He hated having to do it but his progress wasn't exactly blinding, he looked over to Raymond who could glide on stone and Justin who could fucking fly. They stood a better chance at being more immediate help.

"It's coming from out the front!" He yelled over the sound of furniture being tossed around and wood splintering at the force. Regardless he kept pushing forward, he'd make it out there at some goddamn point.

All he could see as he pressed on, past the darkness of the halls, was the front door off its hinges and a sickly orange glow peering from outside the house.

"We should check it out, Mr. Liao."

"We should, but do-" -n't go in headfirst.

The thought finished in Justin's head as Raymond lept upon his stone and then flew off. Whew. The guy was probably twice Justin's age but didn't learn the same lessons that Justin learned about not rushing in headfirst or acting without thinking. Especially given how he was just as big of a threat to the manor as the witch cult... who have pulled out. He was hoping that they didn't, by chance, leave with what they came for because he had a strong suspicion that was gonna bite them in the ass down the line. That was later, though, they had to stop whatever being that was causing all of this chaos from knocking over the place.

"It's coming from out the front!"

Justin nodded his head at Shane as he floated upwards a few feet... that mitigated the effects of the constant shaking, but he thought that maybe it'd be best if they didn't stay in the mansion if, whatever that was, is trying to knock the place over. Justin floated towards the nearest window but was immediately assaulted by the powerful winds. It fed the flames that engulfed the boy, but this was the first time that Justin ever flew in a fucking hurricane. It wasn't knocking him around or anything, it just took a bit more focus to actually throw himself - not move - to where he needs to go.

He flew around towards the front and noticed the grotesque freak standing right in the open... It was a definite trap, one that Justin was smart enough not to charge headfirst into. He stood on the roof of the manor and pulled out his steel balls... and realized that he definitely would not be able to get one to her for a variety of reasons that aren't worth going over.

The wind let up a bit as the other two approached, Justin watched as Raymond threw a stone at the being and she just stood there and raised her hand in the way. When the rock approached her, the stone shattered into tiny pebbles and flew in all directions... except in any direction that would hit her. Justin aimed a steel ball to arc and hit her in the face... however, her three faces laughed. It was almost like her voice was being carried further and further by the wind.

An orange bolt of lightning came from the sky and struck her. Justin instinctively shielded his face... that was not something he wanted to see up close. When the flash faded... she was gone and everything she did stopped.

... So she must have been a distraction? Maybe they did leave with what they came for. He hoped not, but if so he had to weigh the good and the bad of the situation. Justin hopped off the rooftop and used his telekinesis to slow his descent as he touched the ground. The first thing he did was check to see if his Juul was still working... and then he took an inhale.

They had to prioritize their curse over the monetary loss.

---

Penelope almost broke out laughing when those rich chucklefucks went right back into their secret hole in one attack! She had to worry about Samantha and hope that she survived, but if not there would be hell to pay. Penelope grit her teeth as she and Daniel ceased the attack... it was likely that they would lick their wounds, regroup, and counterattack so they should probably get the hell out of here. Especially if that damn Horned God was nowhere near here. Penelope glanced over her shoulder and Thea had healed Samantha and Penelope exhaled...

... However, a purple portal appeared and she saw Morgana and the others on the other side.

"We gotta go!" Tegan shouted.

"Did you get the God?!" Penelope asked as she ran over.

"No, just get in!"

The remaining Wiccans ran inside and the portal closed behind them.



After everything was said and done and the dust finally settled, the Vanburens and the two "Experts" returned to the dining room... as destroyed as it was, it was the only place for the Vanburens to meet for occasions like this. Justin had sauntered into the room with the Juul in his mouth - but quickly put it away out of respect for these rich people. Originally, he looked like a professional looking for his first job interview, but his outfit was soaked and ruined - and his mom was going to kill him (but he was gonna omit that). At this point, he wanted to get the hell out of this town, but he had a job to do. His name wouldn't be Justin if he just gave up at the first opportunity. Justin raised a hand in the air and tried to unflip the table that Daniel flipped over - but it was still a little wet. So he shook his head and looked at the entire Vanburen family, all their faces and eyes that were telling him to be the solution to their problem. When in actuality, Justin had problems of his own to sort out and he was looking for help from them.

"So, um, that was..." Crazy, weird, insane, nonsensical, stupid, "... A little unexpected but I think we can get back on track, yeah?"

Justin awkwardly smiled, but he figured that he should get right into it as that smile faded. He put both of his hands up as he said,

"Allow me to properly introduce myself: I am Justin Liao - the real one, in fact - and it is great to meet you all." Justin started as he placed a hand on his chest. "Now, I'm not gonna waste your time here and condescend on you all like you don't know what magic is or anything like that - just, um, ask if you are lost about something."

Justin paused for a second to compose himself and not let a hint of being nervous shine through. He was wondering how people like his family of capable of nerves of steel... it was probably just an acquired skill. He sighed as he continued.

"Ozz has filled me in with your problem and the best way to solve it is to find the person that cursed you... who I believe might be a Blue Adept or an Apparition," He started, "Do any of you have like any enemies or something that would do this to you...?" He trailed off, as there was an awkwardness in his voice as there was something that he wanted to say.

"... There's the Harrisburgs," The tall girl with the deep voice piped up as she glanced at Ezra, the leader of the Vanburens from what Justin could tell, rather nervously.

"Cool," Justin started, "... Who are they?"

"They're longtime rivals of our family... their dad and our dad didn't get along, but..." Sabrina looked around as she tapped the table with her fingertips. "I don't think they would do this."

"Sounds like they'd do something worse... and that's the thing that gets me about this whole thing," Justin started, "It sounds like somebody wants to keep you away or something... or they want you to be somewhere."

Justin looked around the room for reactions before he sighed again.

"... Nonetheless, I'm here to help you with everything you need help with," Justin explained, "Before I came to Araminta, I did some research on the supernatural scene. There are rumors of a cult out in the woods... who I believe came to us first. Rumors of vampires stalking the night... and a mysterious ghostly black dog with red eyes... who I will tell you, from experience, you want nothing to do with."

He sighed.

"So does anyone have a lead or even an idea as to where this curse came from so I can look into it?"

Arabelle stood wincing in the bathroom as her companion tested the mirror to make sure it was real. She inhaled slowly through her nose and out through her mouth. Not only was her arm in pain, but she now had a small headache because of the portals. She listened to Aileen as she asked if the skull was the reason for the attack and Arabelle nodded. She was just about to pull away from the Vanburen before the girl could come near her arm when she heard the toilet flush and the door to the stall behind them creak open.

Arabelle froze, her head turning to look at the woman who came out. Had she seen them? Arabelle had no time to check if the bathroom was empty before she emerged. Usually she would listen for movement before choosing to, but in the rush to leave the estate Arabelle had taken the empty looking bathroom as an okay to go.

Arabelle stared at the girl indignantly, as if challenging her to make an already bad day worse by freaking out on them. Hell, what if she was a wiccan too? Had they been followed by the girl with the portal abstraction? She stepped backwards from the woman as she moved to the sink and glanced at Aileen. If they needed to bolt, she was closest to the door. Arabelle would have to push the woman aside to follow Aileen out.

“So that’s a cool little trick you have there.”

Arabelle met the woman’s eyes in the mirror. She pressed her lips together and stuck her chin out. This woman wasn’t a Blind because of how she was acting, but what was she? Arabelle had not read enough of James’s journals to differentiate between the types of extra-normals. If that was even possible. Arabelle watched the woman touch her hand to the glass, but she was distracted by the opaque blue arm that reached for a towel. So Arabelle was right. This woman knew of magic.

“Don’t worry, if there’s a string of burglaries around here I’m not gonna be the one to rat you out to the police.”

Arabelle almost laughed. Instead she raised an eyebrow as the girl continued to ask questions about her abstraction. Maybe this girl wasn’t hostile at all?

Then the woman recognized Aileen. Arabelle looked just as confused as Aileen did. Another Vanburen? Why was Ezra the only one aware of her? If they knew each other so well already, Ezra would have mentioned her a long time ago. Arabelle had never seen her at the estate before either. Not even when James was alive. So, how did she end up working at this cafe in Araminta without a proper introduction to the family? Had she come to Araminta because of the curse?

Arabelle almost choked on her own spit when Aileen called her Miss Matthews. She wasn’t a goddamned nanny. Neither was she the full time caretaker. At least Aileen was trying to find a way out of this… situation. Which was growing increasingly more tiresome the longer she stood there. She needed to get her arm fixed, and then they could get to her apartment until it was safe to go back to the estate.

“I need to get to a doctor.” She winced as she took a step towards the door. “Now.”

She looked at Nisha and gave her the best smile she could despite the pain in her arm.

“It was nice to meet you, Nisha. I hope to see you at the estate one day so that Ezra can properly introduce you to the Vanburen family.”

She hoped that Nisha would pass off the edge in the tone of her voice for her pain instead of unfriendliness.

Nisha showed mercy on young Aileen and released the hug before it became a smother. She was pleased to hear that the Irish girl had bought the story. And who wouldn’t? It was a brilliantly crafted fib, one that definitely couldn’t easily be shredded apart by a few probing questions and a DNA test. Nisha resisted the urge to pat herself on the back, even if it would be so easy to do with her four extra spectral hands. Nisha’s smile widened at the suggestion of a celebration. Yes, a welcome home party, maybe even a massive gala, why, she couldn’t possibly accept a homecoming parade, but if they insisted who was she to spoil the fun? Yet the future festivities only served to further the drastic drop to disappointment that was highlighted on Nisha’s face as Aileen mentioned that she and Miss Matthews were a bit preoccupied.

“Errands? Are you jo...of course, I mean, yes, errands are very important,” said Nisha that was so sickeningly sweet it threatened to stricken Aileen with cavities. Didn’t these rich jabronis have gofers for them? Nisha pressed an open palm to her heart as she continued to pack the bags to send her newfound “sis” on a guilt trip. “I’d just feel so horrible if I got in the way of someone getting a latte, especially if they were a long lost sister of mine. Like, it would be absolutely selfish of me. So please, by all—”

“I need to get to a doctor. Now,” said Arabelle. Nisha turned her head towards the other woman. For a moment, Nisha gave her a harsh look that said Arabelle was definitely about to need a doctor, and then she noticed the way the woman’s arm was hanging. In a flash the salty look was gone, replaced by a pair of raised, somewhat concerned but more curious eyebrows. Nisha had taken enough bumps in her life to recognize a dislocated shoulder. So, every person who knew magic didn’t also have a mysterious water spirit that heals all of their wounds too? Shame. “It was nice to meet you, Nisha. I hope to see you at the estate one day so that Ezra can properly introduce you to the Vanburen family.”

Now normally Nisha would happily take the opportunity to avoid dealing with a “you problem” that Miss Matthews had handed her, but it was outweighed by an even bigger problem: Nisha had no goddamn clue where the Vanburen Estate was, or really the location of anything in this town. There were other ways to find out for sure, but it’d just be easier to leech herself to these two women and easier was always the best solution bar none.

“Wait, wait, maybe I should come with you,” said Nisha, sliding over to the door. She wasn’t completely blocking it, but was close enough to it that it’d be uncomfortable to try and get by. “Safety in numbers, right? These small American towns are just ripe with weirdos, no offense, and you could get mugged or shot or someone could steal your gun and shoot you,” said Nisha, who assumed that, like all of her fellow countrymen, the American girl was packing heat. Her eyes began to drift as she continued, “Or you could point me in the direction of the house so I could let them know that you’re going to the hospital or…”

“...Okay, uhh, what’s with the skull?” said Nisha, pointing at the ram skull tucked under Arabelle’s arm.

---

---

"Any idea what the bloody hell that thing is Mr. Magic? You've had to have something to do with it. Anything else we should know about your exploits, before whatever that is kills us all!"

Oscar grimaced, looking at the woman (if that was what she was) outside. He had no clue what she was, and it was something that pained him to admit. “I don’t know, whatever this is has nothing to do with what I’ve been doing. I’ve had no contact outside of those two!”

He understood his sister’s annoyance, he really did. But he had a feeling something like this would have happened one way or another no matter what he did. At least he wasn’t sitting on his ass letting the world go by, unable to figure out a way to not turn to stone after leaving Araminta. He was trying to help.

He was relieved when whatever it was disappeared in a dramatic flash of lightning, and everyone started to return to the dining room. He moved of to the side, arms folded to listen to what Justin had to say - but not

Tuyen looked an absolute mess by the time she made her way to the dining room. Her clothes were once again soaked through, dress clinging to her body and her tights laddered beyond use. She was glad for the thicker jacket she had, sodden but not entirely freezing, and her decision to wear darker clothes. It didn’t stop her from shivering. She felt like absolute shit, teeth gritted through the pain as her hands glowed blue to heal the scrapes received from being thrown down a hallway.

She wished this healing abstraction of hers would go a little faster.

Not exactly a great impression, nor had the first one been good anyway. Still, she spoke quietly after Justin introduced himself. “And I’m Tuyen Doan. Also the real one, nice to meet you.”

Then she went back to silence, standing at Justin’s side and trying to listen.

Oscar considered what Justin had to say with a frown. He was sure there were plenty of people out there who might have a grudge on their father that would then pass onto them… But he didn’t have any direct knowledge of them, beyond what Sabrina had already brought up. It was true that it couldn’t be anyone that wanted them dead, the curse seemed focused on bringing them all into one place.

But why?

He pondered it silently, deciding not to speak up for now. He knew that he would be under a lot of fire from the rest of the family considering what had happened… and he’d rather think in peace.

“It could be someone from our family,” Trisha spoke up, disdain clear in her tone. She was already annoyed about all that had gone on, and to still have to go through this meeting? She just wanted shit sorted. “Father had plenty of children we didn’t know about before now,” she glanced at Alexander, “maybe one of them decided to curse us all? Or a vengeful ex-wife? He definitely has plenty of those.”

Not mentioning that her mother was one of those, but Trisha had enough contact with her mother (a single phonecall) recently to know she didn’t have any Extra-normal knowledge.

She rolled her eyes. “Nobody particular comes to mind, but he must have had plenty of enemies.”

Arabelle was growing more and more impatient with this woman. She was about to take a step towards the door when Nisha blocked her path. Or at least would have made it extremely uncomfortable to squeeze by her and out of the bathroom. So, Arabelle gave Nisha an incredulous look and pointed at her arm.

“I hate to be so stern with you, Ms. Nisha, but I don’t care if you come along or not.”

“In fact, I would really appreciate it if you would give me a ride. Either to a doctor or to the estate. Plenty of the Vanburen boys have had dislocated shoulders, so they could help me too.”

As for the ram skull, Arabelle had no intention of giving Nisha any hint of what it really was. She kept it snugly beneath her left arm and almost didn’t answer Nisha’s question about it. Yet she figured that Nisha would need an explanation eventually if she needed to live with the Vanburens. Surely, if she was a Vanburen, she had to leave her old life behind because of their curse.

“As for the skull, I’d really rather not tell you until we’re on Vanburen grounds.”

With a sudden sigh, Arabelle looked up at the ceiling to wonder if there were any grounds to return to. She took a deep breath before looking back at Nisha.

“You must have Ezra’s phone number, right? Could you give him a call?” She checked her pockets as best she could with one arm, but her phone was nowhere to be found. “I left mine behind.”

Nisha grinned as Arabelle grew annoyed by her antics, a grin that was quickly slapped off of her face when she insisted that she call Ezra. The way Arabelle said it made Nisha feel like she was being called out for having a bogus story, which was worrisome when it was a bogus story. As fast as it went away the smile was back, like it had just orbited her head at rapid speeds, as Nisha thought of a brilliant plan to keep up the lie while avoiding suspicion. The plan was to tell the truth. Part of it, anyway. Nisha pulled her phone out of her pocket and shook it back and forth.

“Sorry, batteries dead. Would have no signal either way.” So there had been a silver lining for her forgetting how cellphones and power outlets worked abroad after all. It was wonderful how these things worked out. However, she was certain that Arabelle would bolt right past her if she didn’t try to help, and she didn’t want to burn anyone associated with the Vanburens yet. “But I can still get in touch with him. Follow me!”

Without waiting for Arabelle to follow, Nisha barged through the door of the bathroom and stormed the front desk of the cafe. Before Cherry could even protest Nisha hopped over the counter, grabbed the phone, and hit the redial.



By the time Ezra had recovered from being lifted by a tidal wave, phased through Alexander, slammed into Georgie, and washed back towards the dining room he had almost missed seeing the entity outside. All he heard was the sound of distant laughter, a crackle of thunder, Georgie shouting at Oscar, and a nightmarish creation blipping out of existence from the corner of his eyes. He let out a low and ragged breath as he approached the broken windows, cold air biting him as it pierce through his damp clothing, and looked outside. His eyes watered as they were stung by a light breeze, all that remained of the sudden storm. There was nothing else. Terrifying.

As the family and one of the experts filtered back into the dining room and it became clear the nutjobs had fled, Ezra took time to take care of his damp clothes by casting Masterpiece on them. The moment the spell was finished the article of clothing was completely dry, although it did nothing to mend the tears in the fabric or help with the bumps and bruises on his own body. Still, he no longer had to worry about getting a cold from the draft in the dining room. He didn’t bother assisting the others in drying their clothes. They were adults, they could see to it that they didn’t get pneumonia. Moments before everyone was accounted for Ezra excused himself, passing by Tuyen as he disappeared down the secret passage.

He made it back just as Justin and Tuyen began their official investigation. Ezra slicked back his wet hair, coughed, and found his favorite spot on the wall. Thank god it was still standing; he would’ve had a panic attack otherwise. Ezra smiled slightly as Justin asked if the Vanburens had any enemies, a smile that faded as Sabrina suggested it was the Harrisburgs and looked at him. He noted her nervousness. Did she think he’d jump on her for suggesting that the Harrisburgs would love to see the Vanburens ruined just because they were his mother’s family? He knew for a fact they would love for something like this to happen precisely because they were his mother’s family. Only if it was them, they would’ve hired more competent goons—and more likely, they would’ve tried to publicly humiliate them and financially ruin them instead of something as boorish as murder them with giant dogs.

Trisha suggested that maybe it was one of the Vanburens themselves who had cursed all of them. Ezra folded his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow at his half-sister, perhaps in admiration for her bravery to go right out there and say it. Who benefited the most from all of the abroad Vanburens turning to statues but another Vanburen? The less siblings for them the more money they got from inheritance. Only if that was the plan it had then catastrophically failed, for as far as Ezra knew all of his siblings had avoided their ill fate. Thus, the need to escalate by hiring a bunch of whack jobs to rough everyone up under the guise of retrieving their stolen property...or perhaps by actually stealing their property to make them come attack the family.

“I think it’s safe to say Mr. Liao that if any of us had an idea of where the curse originated from then you would not be here,” said Ezra, managing to sound more matter-of-fact than harsh. “The only thing I can say for certain is that before the curse our house wasn’t such a hotbed for weird activity. Besides that attack today, we were robbed a few weeks ago. I don’t know if they were related, or if it would have anything to do with our curse, but to me those outsiders seem like the only thread we can pull on. We track them down, maybe we get some answers. Fortunately, I have a surefire way to find out who is in this cult of yours. See—”

A pained expression crossed Ezra’s face as his phone went off. He had definitely silenced it. The damn thing was haunted. He pulled out the phone, ready to turn it off, but balked when he saw the caller—it was the cafe. He had completely forgotten about his alleged sibling that had arrived in town. He held up his index finger to put Justin on pause and answered his phone, “I’m sorry, things are running long. Could you tell her—who? Are you serious? Get an ambulance; I’ll cover it. I’ll be there in a minute to pick up the girl. Bye.”

Ezra hung up the phone and looked up at his family, “Arabelle’s injured. I’m going to make sure she’s okay. Don’t destroy the house while I’m gone and call me if anything pressing comes up. I shouldn’t be long.”



On the other end of the line, Nisha had said: “Ezra, it’s me. Your maid is here at the cafe and she’s injured. It looks bad. Call an ambulance? Of course. Yes, I’ll tell her.” Ezra hung up, but she continued talking,. “Of course, brother. Well, the coffee was fantastic but the service...no nevermind, I’ll tell you about it when you get here.” She faked a laugh, caught Cherry’s eyes, and quickly glanced away, “Oh I know, you were totally right about her. Yes, that’d probably be the best call for the store. Of course. I love you too. Can’t wait to see you again. Goodbye.”

Nisha pretended to hang up the already ended phone call and chucked the phone at Cherry, who looked as if she had started to deflate. Instantly, she perked up as Nisha barked, “Are you stupid, woman? Ezra said to call an ambulance.” She clapped her hands together. “Chop chop.”

Cherry jumped to it as Nisha walked around the countertop, deftly snagging two cookies as she heard the woman’s voice behind her speaking to the operator. She scarfed one down as she moved to rejoin Arabelle. In the distance, she swore she could already hear a siren. Nisha pushed open the door to the bathroom, gave the woman a wink, and held out the cookie as a peace offering as she said, “I have taken care of everything. An ambulance is coming with your name on it and my brother is on his way. So…”Arabelle clearly wasn’t in a talking mood, but Nisha couldn’t help herself. “How’d you fuck up your shoulder?”

"So does anyone have a lead or even an idea as to where this curse came from so I can look into it?"

Alex thought long and hard as Justin presented the question to them. The Harrisburgs were suggested, but he had no idea who they were, just like Justin. He hadn't caught up with any of his half siblings until he met them a few weeks ago; heck, he didn't even know their names until then. Neither did he know about any of the feuds that their family... no, absentee dad had with anyonede else. Alex was still finding it hard to get his mind on the thing at hand, though, as it hadn't even taken in half of what had just happened. When the flood ended, he also stopped phasing just to see Ezra and Georgie on the stairs below, having been thrown off balance by the tidal wave. Then there was a massive quake, some wierd ass thing appeared outside, and it disappeared. He didn't see it; not that he wanted to.

It could be someone from our family,” Trisha spoke up, disdain clear in her tone. She was already annoyed about all that had gone on, and to still have to go through this meeting? She just wanted shit sorted. “Father had plenty of children we didn’t know about before now,” she glanced at Alexander, “maybe one of them decided to curse us all? Or a vengeful ex-wife? He definitely has plenty of those.”

Alex watched as Ezra took a call and left; it seemed that there was something amiss in the coffee shop, wherever that was. Either way, he spoke his piece.

"That makes plenty of sense, doesn't it." Alexander had a bit of a scoff in his voice, as he was like the black sheep of this family. "Who knows how many people he had pissed off in life. Heh." Getting into a more serious tone, he held his cross necklace and gazed upon its silver surface as if he was trying to x-ray vision through it. "Definitely not my mom, though. She knows nothing about magic and has been dead for ten years. Thanks be to him."

It was obvious, then, to whom he was referring to. "If you want, I could try to summon the old man's ghost from the afterlife for a while, try to get answers. I don't think he'd like to have a conversation with me, though. Not after what happened long ago."

---

Shane sat expressionless on his chair. Damn near all of his joints feeling like bricks and his knuckles still throbbing from knocking out one of the cultist girls. He glanced down to see the skin of his knuckles had turned red raw, actually, most of his body from his hands to his face had some kind of bruise or cut after tossing around Hellhounds all night... And whatever the hell that thing was that showed up in front of their porch.

He hadn't been hit by the wave of yet more water so he was comparatively dryer than most of his siblings but he damn sure looked like he'd been fighting all night, not to say he looked particularly well groomed when he first got the Estate.

His siblings spoke up one after the other at Justin's question. Sabrina nervously putting forth the Harrisburgs, that might be true. Trisha accusing one of the siblings themselves, that was probably bullshit. Any money to hire a bunch of idiot cultists to ransack the house would have went through Ezra and he seriously doubted any of the Vanburnes were silver tongued enough to get a bunch of petulant teenagers to do their bidding. Speaking of Ezra, he'd already left. Hopefully Arabelle was alright, either she had some form of teleportation power like that cultist girl or she'd broken some kind of marathon record to get all the way into town in the chaos.

"If you want, I could try to summon the old man's ghost from the afterlife for a while, try to get answers. I don't think he'd like to have a conversation with me, though. Not after what happened long ago."

That seemed like a route to take based on faith. That was not something Shane was particularly geared towards. He stood up, his tone as ever with a somewhat bored inflection and his face in a neutral frown.

"Spoke a little bit with the redhead while I was tossing her dogs around. Said she was after something our family apparently 'stole'. So, they weren't here to try and hurt us, I don't think." He glanced at the gaping holes in the dining room wall, showing the chaos from the entry hall with the front door still crooked off its hinges. "Hard as that is to believe."

Shane picked up his equally battered suit jacket and put it on, providing only the slightest addition of warmth considering most of his outfit had been put through the wringer tonight.

"Their leader, the one with the red hair and the whiny voice. Heard her get called Morgana. Not a particularly common name with somebody with an uncommon appearance. Worth it to try and track them down through her. All we have right now guesses." He didn't wait for any kind of response before he put his hands in his pockets and left the room. Feeling the cold sting of winter on his face the second he moved to the entrance hall, on the list of things to get fixed, the door was going to have to be number one.

Shane was no detective or investigator, but as far as he was concerned the magic nature of this shit was secondary. These were dumb kids that attacked the Vanburens, and dumb kids are dumb kids even if they can teleport or shoot water out of an amulet. He'll find them.

It occurred to Shane as he stepped out onto the porch and prepared to get into town, that that was the most he'd said to his family the entire night.

“It could be someone from our family, Father had plenty of children we didn’t know about before now. Maybe one of them decided to curse us all? Or a vengeful ex-wife? He definitely has plenty of those.”

That was also a possibility that crossed Justin's mind... but again it kind of raises the question of just why wouldn't they do something harsher. Then another thought crossed the boy that perhaps he was thinking a bit too hard on this matter? That he was shooting a bit too high here... it was still a possibility that someone intended to do something worse and then it didn't work as planned. Magic was a very... fiddle thing to work with. This was why Justin loved that his abstraction was very simple in nature. If a Vanburen did it, then they were definitely stuck here in Araminta with them. Justin would like to say that narrows it down a bit, but Araminta's a big place one full of hiding spots.

He hated to say it, but there was a high chance that they stood a snowball's chance in hell at finding the person if they didn't have a solid lead.

If that was even the case.

It seemed more and more daunting but Justin wasn't going to give up. No stone unturned, no giving up unless there was truly no other option - that was Justin's way. That said, he wouldn't like such a curse to befall his own family so he would like a curse that turns entire bloodlines into stone out of the picture. He nodded his head as he said,

"If you have any siblings you don't know about, they're definitely in Araminta." Justin asked, omitting the "or dead" that he was thinking about. "And do we know how many wives or other... lovers he has? It could narrow it down, but honestly we don't have a whole lot of leads." He hated to say it.

"But I will do everything in my power to help you, even if it's hopeless, I swear."

“I think it’s safe to say Mr. Liao that if any of us had an idea of where the curse originated from then you would not be here. The only thing I can say for certain is that before the curse our house wasn’t such a hotbed for weird activity. Besides that attack today, we were robbed a few weeks ago. I don’t know if they were related, or if it would have anything to do with our curse, but to me, those outsiders seem like the only thread we can pull on. We track them down, maybe we get some answers. Fortunately, I have a surefire way to find out who is in this cult of yours. See—”

Justin didn't let Ezra's words offend him, because he had a point. In all honesty, he was here for his own reasons but he was going to help them before he passes on. The money and the direction will definitely help if the quest takes him... strange places. Though, he wondered if they would trust him if he told them what really directed him towards the Vanburens. He would keep his mouth shut on the matter until he gained their trust.

He honestly had a lot to work to do for that end.

However, before Justin could say anything to Ezra, he got a phone call...

“I’m sorry, things are running long. Could you tell her—who? Are you serious? Get an ambulance; I’ll cover it. I’ll be there in a minute to pick up the girl. Bye. Arabelle’s injured. I’m going to make sure she’s okay. Don’t destroy the house while I’m gone and call me if anything pressing comes up. I shouldn’t be long.”

Shit.

Somebody got injured in all of that. Justin felt a little bad for not being able to stop the cult in time... he sighed as Ezra walked out. Same with the straggly guy that helped him fight them (he had earned a great deal of respect from Justin for helping them) to go out and look for the cult. That brought Justin to the matter of the cult... while he was all for going out there and giving them a good reason not to come back, he didn't think they of all people were responsible for their curse. He didn't want the Vanburens to get their hopes up.

"Okay, while I personally don't think that cult is behind this - or that we'd get anything useful from them at all," Justin started as he looked from the left to the right. "I really, really, think we should go out and handle them at some point... preferably soon as possible. Because if they're really after "stolen property", they're definitely going to be back."

Even though I'm fuckin' lost on why they left in the first place. Maybe they already have what they want and they're gonna fuck off.

He balled his fist as he said, "I doubt it'd be hard to track down a white girl with red hair named Morgana of all names. I don't think there's really much more to go over in this meeting... I'm just gonna cut things here so I can get started and you guys can uh-" Justin looked back at the gaping hole in the wall. "... Pick up the pieces."

"If you want, I could try to summon the old man's ghost from the afterlife for a while, try to get answers. I don't think he'd like to have a conversation with me, though. Not after what happened long ago."

Justin raised an eyebrow when he said that. How does that abstraction work? He thought to himself as the first thing that came to mind was summoning his grandmother's ghost. Though he had to keep it to himself, he had to move on. He nodded his head as he answered,

"It's worth a shot," Justin said as he was sure that it wasn't going to go anywhere.

He could just hear the vague excuse he'll make before he fucks off.



In all honesty, there wasn't a whole lot that Sabrina could contribute to this meeting. This was definitely not her forte... it was more of Oscar and Ezra's business and she was just here. LeBeau was in her hands as she was stroking the ocelot and then after her contribution to the meeting she was quiet. The apparition in her clothes changed her outfit from the dress that didn't really fit her, to a light-red sweater and blue jeans. However, Ezra and Shane showed themselves out for different reasons... Shane was obviously going to go after the cult and... she wanted to go with him.

Sabrina stood up and gently placed LeBeau on the ground and patted the feline as she quickly moved after Shane. She didn't want her brother going after that cult alone, even if she cannot do a whole lot in a fight. She caught up with Shane on the porch as she said, "W-wait up."

She caught up with Shane as she said, "You aren't gonna go after all of them by yourself, are you?" She asked as Mary Roberts manifested a scarf around her neck after she shivered just a bit. She stuck her hands out as Mary Robots created a thick winter counter stitch by stitch in her hands - one that would probably fit Shane.

"At least take this."

---

Georgie didn't reply to Oscar insisting he didn't have anything to do with that monster outside. She knew he was telling the truth, but she was irritated, a little afraid, and freezing from the winter chill. She could fuck off to her Garden, but there's no guarantee the mansion will be here when she came back. More than hating the unexpected, she hated willfully ignoring something important even more. She wouldn't pull the wool over her own eyes just to hope all of this trouble will go away. If everyone was more competent, maybe she could, but it'd be her luck she comes back to a piles of brick and mortar and a note from the family saying they lost everything. So she did the only thing she could do, pick up a chair as far from the window and the direct path of the wind as she could, and sat down.

The "experts" came back, no worse for ware, Justin started a meeting, asking about possible enemies. Georgie had a long irrelevant list of boys and girls that thought themselves bullies when she was a child, but faded from her mind because they weren't important. She doubts ruining a ten year old's pride in maths by correcting them as condescending as possible would bruise an ego for a decade. For her Lucien would be the only viable option with how she ended things, but he was a sweetheart and she never told him about James's weird hobbies. Nor has he ever been to the house. He couldn't be it.

Sabrina bought the Harrisburgs, valid point, she doubts they'd wait this long to do something like this though. James Vanburen's death should've bought something about a lot sooner and they would've paid top dollar to ruin the family publicly and financially, instead of brute force by a gang of twats. Trisha had a good idea for once in her airheaded life. Scorn women was definitely possible, but there's only a handful of them that didn't know who their mothers are. She's at the top of the list. She wasn't sure about the siblings she didn't know at all. She assumes that if they weren't raised here, then they were with their mothers. Any other children probably wouldn't be it. They'd be dead by now if they weren't hiding around town. Huh. Food for thought. Shane offered some information that made all her deducing useless. If they were thieving for something stolen, then whoever sent them was someone they didn't know.

Ezra left for the servant girl, Shane and Sabrina left to go witch hunting, and Alexander the Elder offered to conjure up James's ghost. She's peeved at him for that faze through trick he pulled. While she'd love to stick around she had something more important to do, like change her soggy underwear.

"I'd love to performance a seance, but it would be better to change our clothes first and move to a room with intact windows where we won't catch our deaths." Survived one life threatening situation today. She's not willing to go through the flu.

Georgie hurriedly left the room, looking at the aftermath of destruction in the hallway leading to the staircase, before she went to the west wing of the mansion where her room was, happy that nothing below touched her possessions. She dried off with a towel in her en suite bathroom and changed out of her wet clothes and into a fleece black dress with roses on the skirt and sleeves, black fleece stockings, and warm boots. Feeling refreshed, she went back downstairs to join the family to summon James.

"It's worth a shot," Justin said as he was sure that it wasn't going to go anywhere.

He could just hear the vague excuse he'll make before he fucks off.

"I will call upon the old man's ghost from the afterlife, then." Alex answered with a shrug, though he turned away for a moment as he walked towards the room that he had been allotted to within the mansion a few weeks ago. Just like Georgie, he was not keen on having wet clothes in the cold of the weather, and wished to change as soon as possible. But not before changing out from these cold, wet clothes. Friggin woodland magicians..."

He then stepped out of the room, sidestepping the destruction that led towards the quaint little bedroom that he was given as a member of the Vanburen family, even if he refused to bear the name in any official documents due to his distate for their father. Alex phased through the door and immediately took off the still dripping clothing, hanging them to dry as he then dried himself with a towel. With that done, he put on a new set of clothes; a grey shirt, a black trenchcoat, and brown trousers, along with a pair of sandals. It wouldn't be long before he was back in the living room, though he had taken the trouble of taking a piece of chocolate that he had stashed away in his bags.

"Here's to hoping that I get to summon the one that I hadn't seen for the last 18 years of neglect." Alex grumbled as green clouds of magical energy began to pulsate around his hands; the Spectre was at work. Sooner or later, James Vanburen should come... or not. He could be too busy screwing with all the other ghosts, after all.



Well... that was certainly something. The entity outside had three faces, and disappeared as quickly as it came. They would be quickly gathered in the living room soon after the attack ended, though the destruction in there would be quickly apparent. Raymond was still soaking wet, though, and excused himself just like Alex and Georgie to get changed. After all, magic attacks aside, the flu could be a hassle, and getting sick while hunting for crazy kids was not going to help in any way.

Raymond looked at himself on the mirror of his room; the act of earthbending was such a sucker, apparently, as a pair of rather stingy cracks had opened up on his chest and shoulder, respectively. He placed bandaids on them as soon as he saw them, and reminded himself not to overuse his Terrakinesis, as it could kill him if he wasn't careful.

Either way, the seance was going to start. Shane had gone outside to track down the Wiccans and Ezra went out to check on an injured Arabelle. Ray spotted Georgie, to whom he inched closer to as he didn't feel like wanting to not to be near one of his half siblings. "We're one weird ass family, aren't we." Ray commented. "You know, I should try to know you guys more now that we're stuck in this predicament."

In the meantime, te green light from Alex's Affixed Apparition continued to shimmer as James was being called from the afterlife. He really should take this call...

All eyes were on Alexander, as he obviously took the center stage. Justin himself was just a Lil' on the fence about the guy given how comfortable he seemed with killing a kid. Then again, they were being attacked by a band of insane cultists, so uh, yeah. A little part of Justin wanted to see Alexander's abstraction in action if only he could ask him how exactly it works. Oh yeah and just why he has such an abstraction in the first place (If Alexander had that type of knowledge, to begin with). So, he just crossed his arms as he watched the summoning ritual, not super concerned about the cold due to his abstraction.

In the middle of the room, green smoke festered and moved around as the room got a little chiller. Justin exhaled as he noticed that he could see his own breath. He was hoping that James showed up and not yet another problem that they'd have to solve. However, James did appear: made out of a transparent blue light that he could see through. A perfect replica of his appearance... down to his nether regions. He was, for whatever reason, completely nude and the first sight that Justin got was his wrinkly old ghost penis.

"Yoooo, dude!" Justin winced as he covered his eyes at the first thing he saw was an old man ghost penis. The rest of the Vanburens weren't happy to see this either.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't prepare for this sudden appearance," James snapped his finger and a suit appeared to cover him and Justin felt like. "Why... why have you summoned me here? Actually, why are you all together like this? Shouldn't most of you be abroad...?"

Then he looked around at the sorry state of his manor and his eyes shot open.

"... And what happened to my mansion?"

"... And what happened to my mansion?"

"Hello papa." Alex said to his now deceased father with a noticeable scorn. Of course he was naked in the afterlife. For all he knew, he was probably trying to make a lady ghost pregnant, just as he had done to so many women when he was alive. That man had an insatiable drive to screw and make kids. And then he leaves when he is done.

"Oh, nothing. Some magical people from the woods who said that you stole something from them crashed into our meeting today and caused a lot of destruction."

A pause. "Oh, and everyone that bears your genes is turning to stone unless if they're not here in Araminta. Thanks for nothing..."

Evidently, he was not a fan. What could one expect, after all. James left Alex and his mom when he was 10, and had never showed up to them ever since. As a result, Alex had a rather troubled life, what with a mother addled with drugs and the absence of a father figure in his life.

"So, James." Alex didn't even address him as 'dad' anymore. "Do you have any idea on who would try to curse your entire bloodline to turn to rock unless if they're here?"

---

As much as witnessing their dad’s ghost piqued Oscar’s supernatural interest, he really didn’t want to stick around for it. Not after what had happened when he last saw the man - an argument he regretted but didn’t want to risk discussing in front of everyone.

But he was also the main contact with the two experts. He didn’t want to just leave them, especially since Ezra had left. He sighed. He really didn’t want to face their father’s ghost, and he didn’t see it going anywhere. The cult seemed more important to him anyway, since they were the most obvious threat right now.

Making up his mind, Oscar followed after Sabrina and Shane.

“I don’t think going after them alone is the brightest idea,” Oscar commented, coming up behind Sabrina. “At least let me come with you, if that’s what you plan to do. I have a bit more… supernatural knowledge if they try to pull anything.”

---

---

"If you want, I could try to summon the old man's ghost from the afterlife for a while, try to get answers. I don't think he'd like to have a conversation with me, though. Not after what happened long ago."

Trisha had been following along with what Alexander said up until this point, but she really didn’t agree with this. “What help is summoning him gonna do? He didn’t help us in life, why would he now that he’s dead?”

She then turned to Justin.

"And do we know how many wives or other... lovers he has? It could narrow it down, but honestly we don't have a whole lot of leads."

“No idea how many wives or lovers he had,” Trisha sneered, rolling her eyes. “Too many to count. Why do you think there’s so many of us? Excluding all our parents there’s probably plenty more we don’t know about.”

So yeah, while she was pretty convinced it was an ex-wife or lover or other sibling they didn’t know about she didn’t have any leads when it came to that. So that wasn’t going anywhere and some of her siblings went off to get changed. She followed with this, because she was cold and still soaked and the house wasn’t exactly protected from the outside temperature anymore. She was tempted to just stay in her room after changing into much warmer clothes, but some twisted interest led her back to the dining room.

Tuyen was freezing and positively miserable when she watched the remaining Vanburens go to get changed. After being hit with water not just once, but twice, her only saving grace was the super thick jacket she’d worn. But even with that she was shivering and her teeth were chattering, so she stayed silent for the whole discussion. In the time waiting for the Vanburen’s to return she moved closer to Justin so she was right next to him, in the hope that he might radiate some heat that would stop her from getting hypothermia.

“I hope we’re going to leave after this, I really need a change of clothes before we do anything else,” she said quietly while watching Alexander summoning his dead father.

The first sight she was hit with was a completely naked, old ghost. Tuyen felt bile rise up in the back of her throat and instantly looked away. Her shivering was now only half from the cold, half from disgust. If she hadn’t been gay before well… She was even less into men now. Gross. She felt like she was going to throw up.

“Fucking hell, wear some clothes!” Trisha hissed, her already low opinion of James only worsening. She absolutely did not need to see <i>that</i>. She turned a glare towards Alexander. “Summoning him was a terrible idea.”

“Any ex-lovers that you might have pissed off or other half siblings we don’t know about that might have done this?” Trisha added to what Alexander had said, though he’d already covered most of the bases. “Because it’s really fucking inconvenient.”

---

"You aren't gonna go after all of them by yourself, are you?" She asked as Mary Roberts manifested a scarf around her neck while she shivered just a bit. She stuck her hands out as Mary Robots created a thick winter counter stitch by stitch in her hands - one that would probably fit Shane.

"At least take this."

Shane took off his slightly damp suit jacket and let it drop onto the porch step, hardly going to get much use of it in the winter. He mentally reminded himself to swing buy a charity shop sometime and buy a new suit as he slid on the jacket Sabrina handed him. It was certainly warm, if a bit short at his arms. Its dark colour over his shirt and tie kind of reminded him of the heroes in those old Noire movies James used to show him as a kid.

"Thanks." He said plainly. He stood for a moment, some hint of sympathy spread across his usually annoyed glare. He rubbed the back of his neck, his sister was clearly waiting for an invitation he was unwilling to give.

"Sabrina, look... These people, we don't know if-"

“I don’t think going after them alone is the brightest idea,” Oscar commented, coming up behind Sabrina. “At least let me come with you, if that’s what you plan to do. I have a bit more… supernatural knowledge if they try to pull anything.”

Shane defaulted to his usual demeanour upon Oscar's arrival. He gave a short exhale and held his hands up for a second. Not really being able to think of any particularly solid reason to turn them both away. It helped, at least, that Sabrina and Oscar were probably the two siblings he was most comfortable with. And while Shane was the one with some investigative experience, Sabrina and Oscar probably had a comparatively better idea for where teenagers like those cultists might tend to hang around.

"Alright. If you two feel like tagging along then feel free, I suppose." Shane half-mumbled. "Town's not particularly big and Morgana had a memorable enough name, personality and appearance. Just need to find the right people and we can figure out where the leader of those cultists lays her head."

He folded his arms and looked up, narrowing his eyes at the light snowfall floating down onto his face and the surrounding ground.

"Pavement's gonna be all iced up. Walking into town's gonna take a while." He muttered, keeping his back to his siblings. "Unless either of you two drove here, we're better off taking a cab."

He looked back at his brother and sister, face softened ever so slightly. At least in the way that anybody who didn't know Shane extremely well wouldn't really be able to discern it from every other one of his angry expressions.

"You two ready to go?" He asked.

"So, James." Alex didn't even address him as 'dad' anymore. "Do you have any idea on who would try to curse your entire bloodline to turn to rock unless if they're here?"

While Justin thought that Alexander's passive-aggressiveness was... unwarranted (it wasn't his place to comment anyway because he didn't know what the family was like, maybe James was a shithead), Alexander covered the beginning. Even though he had a feeling that James wasn't going to be all that useful or helpful. Or that Justin really wanted to tell Alexander to put him back before he sees his ghost penis again.

James rubbed his chin as he thought about it... he seemed perplexed as the rest of them about the curse. Justin was hoping that he could dispense some supernatural knowledge on them... only for James to shrug and say, "... None come to mind, honestly." He sighed. "All of my enemies that could do such a thing are dead, or... sealed within' a relic somewhere in the manor."

He shrugged yet again as he said, "All of my enemies would do far, far, worse to you all... if they even found you. As the All-verse is a very... vast place."

He exhaled,

"Lots of hiding places."

“Any ex-lovers that you might have pissed off or other half-siblings we don’t know about that might have done this? Because it’s really fucking inconvenient.”

"Again, none that come to mind," James sighed, "... This seems like a high-level spell, not one you can just pick up and cast, you know." He looked at his hand for a moment.

"You have to understand that I've been out of the magical scene for a while now and it is one thing that is constantly evolving," James started, "However, I have one question to ask of you all..."

Justin crossed his arms again as the phantasm of James shuffled his feet.

"... Have you encountered a man named Thorton Walters at all?"

"You two ready to go?"

Oscar joined them and Sabrina had an answer ready.

"Of course," Sabrina nodded her head as she felt another cold breeze hit them. She was happy that Shane accepted Mary Robert's gift of a winter coat. So he wouldn't freeze to death out here... she felt that Apparition create mittens for her when she noticed her discomfort. The woman needed to get a move on before she freezes to death! She forgot just how harsh Araminta was in the winter - or maybe that was just her being melodramatic. She looked down at Shane and gave him an approving nod.

"Let's take an Uber there..." Sabrina said before she reached for her phone which was in her back pocket... the one that was probably very soaked and very useless. "... Okay, a cab sounds fine. We should go get new phones first and foremost."

Cabs didn't usually run through this part of Araminta unless they were dropping off butlers and maids, but Sabrina scuttled back inside and asked Klein to order them a cab. It wasn't long before one showed up at the gates and then they got inside. Sabrina sighed as the thoughts of going to fight a crazy cult began to pop up in her head. While she was all for helping Shane... would she really be of much help to him? Especially when... the thought of the gigantic hellhound went through her head and wondered what being able to create clothes would do against that? She sighed.

Then she wondered what exactly did Shane planned on doing to the cult if he found them. She didn't know. She trusted Shane but it has been awhile. Shane was a cop and he... went through it. Which was why she kept that little orange pill bottle hidden in the vents. She sighed yet again as she watched as the snowy forest went by and the splendor of the picturesque environment had long lost everything interesting about it... about fifteen years ago.

Sabrina couldn't ignore how she felt any longer.

"... What do you plan on doing to them when we find them?" Sabrina asked, "I hope you're not trying to kill them or anything."

She propped her face on her hand as she continued to look out the window. Then she chuckled... except forced, as she said.

"You know catching a charge would be the last thing father would want."