---

Justin moved to the Brush immediately after Blu told him where he was going to lure Thea... he was not worried about the rest of the Wiccans, merely because they were presently too scattered. He peeked through the bushes and saw Thea storm out... and heard the melody, perked up, and went over this way. Hm. Seems like Mr. Moonblood was full of surprises here. Thea tripped over... something? Probably some sticks or something, it was getting dark and she was a white woman in a horror movie. She probably would have tripped over a frog or something.

"Shit! I can't with these-" Thea hissed as she tried to climb up to her feet, only to hear somebody climb into the brush and shake her head. Assuming it was one of the Wiccans, she said, "Just give me a second-"

“Your friends really should’ve picked a better place to squat. There’s a reason this resort is abandoned. One moment it’s the sprinklers going off, and the next thing you know the roof collapses. Here. You’ll catch a cold. I’m Ezra Vanburen. I’ve been told by a mutual friend of ours that we both might have the same opinion when it comes to your group’s current leadership. If you would come with us I am sure we could manage to come to some sort of agreement that would leave us all quite happy—at least those of us who still have some sense. Arabelle, if you would,”

Thea immediately turned her head towards Ezra and really was about to piss herself and scream for help and then hope that the Wiccans can pull their heads out of their asses for just ten minutes. The Vanburens were out for revenge but... they weren't. Ezra made it clear that they were somewhat on the same side here. He used his abstraction to make a mirror on his wrist massive... however, her first thought was that the Vanburens were trying to kidnap him to toss him into their sex dungeon or something (she heard that daddy Vanburen was a huge hoe).

Then she saw Arabelle... that girl that she saw during the Wiccans, not so well thought out, attack on the Vanburen estate. She felt a lot more at ease with her around but still was on edge... Arabelle explained the same thing that Ezra had. She was still on edge, with everything that was going on; could she trust Arabelle?

Justin listened in more on the conversation between Oscar and "Trisha", turning out to be Tuyen. Then Oscar announced that the Triple Goddess had arrived at the Vanburen estate, probably on top of Sabrina and Georgie. Which was, in all honesty, the worst-case scenario. In Justin's eyes; that meant that they needed to get back to the Vanburen estate if they were going to have any chance of salvaging this.

Now.

"Look, I trust you, but I have three other people who are on our side, and I can't-" Thea tried to say before Arabelle just jumped into the mirror. Thea shook her head, hopefully, nothing negative was going to come from this... She followed in behind her. That was when Justin did the wise choice and followed behind her too, and just like Arabelle said; he didn't stop until he got to the other side.

They looked around, twiddling her thumbs as she saw everyone screaming, tense, and more. She grimaced, as she awkwardly waved at them.

The first instinct Justin had was to go over to Arabelle and tell her,

"We need a portal to the Vanburen estate, now!" Because like hell he was going to lose Sabrina (or Georgie) or let the Horned God get free.

"I should let you know," Thea said, "Morgana's sister, Tegan, can open portals to anyone she legitimately cares about. Which can be me, Morgana... the Triple Goddess..."

She continued to play with her fingers.

---

---

Ezra’s eyebrows lifted in concern as Oscar said he got a call from Trisha. Trisha never called family, hell, Trisha had probably never used her cell to make an actual phone call before in her life. Ezra kept one eye on Oscar and another on Thea, watching her to make sure she didn’t try to run or scream. He noted how when Arabelle appeared the concern seemed to drain from the Wiccan’s face and spill onto Oscar’s instead. By the time Oscar filled them in on the phone call Ezra was already anticipating the worst and what he heard wasn’t far from it.

“Okay. We’ll gather the others and head home. I have to head through last. The mirror will shrink otherwise, ” said Ezra to the others while Arabelle was convincing the healer. His voice betrayed no emotion as he steadied the oversized hand mirror so the others could crouch through.

However, his mind raced. Should they just snatch Georgie and Sabrina through a mirror? Could they fight the Triple Goddess if Thea backed them up? If he’d taken Autumn’s surname could he have avoided all of this insanity? As the last of their group stepped through the mirror Ezra paused, shook his head, and went through. The mirror shrunk in size and fell flat in the snow, surrounded by half a dozen footprints, a discarded camo jacket, and nothing else.

---

---

The sound of Shane shouting at her to stop pierced through the choir of voices and hit Tansy like a bullet. She turned as Trisha began to, for once, do as she was told and dial up Oscar, the blinding spotlight of Tansy’s hypnotic gaze fading away as she saw Shane grab her arm. With the light from Dominion’s Majesty sealed away Shane would see the look of resolve drop from Tansy’s face as Trisha broke free of her stupor and began hurling accusations at her. Tansy’s guilt of manipulating her sister was only fleeting. She wrenched her hand free of Shane. Tansy was ready to chastise Trisha for being such an ungrateful brat that she wouldn’t even attempt to rescue her family out of pure pettiness.

Tansy spun on her heel, gasped as Trisha lunged at her, and tripped over the statue as Tuyen intercepted the assault. Summoning Dominion had caused the snow to blow away, leaving nothing but frozen earth to cushion the blow as Tansy fell. She felt a sharp pain in her wrist as she tried and failed to catch herself, her hip smacking hard against the ground. A sharp intake of air was the only sound of pain as Tansy swallowed tears. She could already feel a bruise begin to form as she slowly pulled herself up and cradled her wrist.

Tansy glared pure ice at Trisha, who had turned her rage towards Tuyen for stealing her phone and was now trying to grab around Shane to assault their poor expert. She fought back the urge to snatch at Trisha by her hair. They didn’t have time to fight and even if they did Tansy didn’t want to, worried that she would easily break her favorite toy. Really, Trisha’s violent reaction was to be expected. If anything she was more upset at Shane for intervening. In her mind she hadn’t done anything wrong: Tansy only used Dominion because he had run off again. If he had been there it wouldn’t have been necessary. Arabelle arriving through the mirror was all the vindication Tansy needed to justify her actions.

“Is she… dead?” said Arabelle, referring to the humanesque statue. “What happened here?”

“We don’t have time for that! Sabrina and Georgie are in danger,” snapped Tansy as she pointed in the direction of the manor. “They never left the house and the Triple Goddess is there now!”

“We know. Morgana’s also on the way,” said Ezra as he came out of the mirror. The mirror falling in the woods had shifted the bearing of the dimensional portal, making the exit seem as if he were climbing towards it. He winced as a momentary wave of nausea hit him as the horizon corrected itself and then stood up to his full height, brushing the snow off of his knees. He nodded in approval as Justin ordered Arabelle to reroute the mirror, his eyes momentarily lingering on the fallen statue. He figured Tansy would wait for the construction to be done before ordering art pieces.

Wait, the statue was shedding flecks of stone. Was that skin?

"Morgana's sister, Tegan, can open portals to anyone she legitimately cares about. Which can be me, Morgana... the Triple Goddess..." said Thea.

Ezra looked away from the thing on the ground. Rescuing his family was a more important issue. “All the more reason we need you to help us. We’re willing to forgive your friends in full as long as they stop supporting this Goddess. No retaliations, no charges, water under the bridge. You just need to convince them to not do anything stupid if they butt in. They don’t need to help us, they just need to stay out of our way.”

Ezra turned towards the others and said, “I’ll admit I was wrong. Trying to do things in a logical, reasonable way just doesn't make sense when we're facing off against the absurd. We should’ve listened to the experts in the first place. It’s clear now that the Triple Goddess isn’t going to give us any breathing room until she gets that skull. There’s no point in hiding it, and if she can just appear anywhere then it’s useless trying to run. Fighting seems to be our only real option now. Fortunately, the Triple Goddess just gave us a prime opportunity. She overextended herself—some of the Wiccans were still at the resort. We protect Georgie and Sabrina and hit the Goddess and Morgana,” he glanced at Thea for any protests, ”hard before the Wiccans even have a chance to intervene.”

"Every second counts. Arabelle, open the way."

---

It was like the attack all over again. An issue of immediate survival, but all of it paled in comparison to the damage the family did to itself. When Shane's hand met Tansy's arm, he grasped with all the anger he'd been holding on to since the sky opened up and threatened to level their home for good. But as the light was snuffed out, it seemed Shane's yell did more to hurt Tansy than anything he could do physically.

Any self-reflection was gone from both parties however. As Trisha flew into a rage and Tansy settled into simmering contempt. Tuyen struggled to contain the fury of his younger sister - who'd always been a lot more ferocious than her height might have you believe. Shane stood beside her, cutting Trisha off from lunging towards Tansy, while also acting as a wall in case Tansy tried the same thing. He didn't even have time nor care to consider the reasons behind what Tansy had done, instead just trying to keep the walls from collapsing the metaphorical house. Before that could happen literally.

It wasn't overly difficult. Trisha was several inches smaller than Shane and Tansy was more content to stand and gather herself. Trying to maintain a handle on the situation after it had flown so far off-course. She directed more than a few ugly glances towards Shane as well as her sister, but Shane didn't care. Instead, his direction was turned to the stone girl lying in the snow. She looked terrified. Cracks formed like spiderwebs around her cocoon of earth, slowly chipping away to reveal the person underneath. Presumably left by the Skeleton as a message or some sort of threat, it seemed to be a footnote to everyone else there. Magic or no, Shane didn't have much hope for how she'd be if the stone gave way.

'Poor thing.'

Arabelle's arrival through the mirror shifted his thoughts. Shane gave Trisha a terse push back, just enough to create further distance between her and Tansy. Considering the rest of the family and that kid Justin were pouring forth, it seemed like the feud could be put on the backburner while they got themselves ready. Tansy swooped in to fill them in on the situation, in all honest she seemed pretty shook up.

“We know. Morgana’s also on the way,”

Shane didn't say anything. Instead, his response was a low growl of annoyance as he wiped his face with his cold numbed hands.

At the least, it seemed they were on a united front: stopping the Triple Goddess. They'd even managed to bring back the reluctant wiccan, so there was that. Not much of a victory, but the Vanburens could really use one win in their column tonight. Everyone seemed poised to run in as soon as Arabelle reopened the mirror to their home. Shane took the chance to take a step back, removing his gun from inside his jacket pocket, then placing it down in the snow while he removed his jacket.

It wasn't pleasant, the winter wind hit him with greater ferocity as he knelt down and laid his jacket over the stone encased woman. He didn't look at Trisha as he adjusted his coat in such a way that the wind wouldn't blow it off, but his voice was clearly directed at her.

"If you're not coming with us, you could stay with her," He tilted the woman and tucked the sides of his coat underneath her. Honestly, he wasn't sure why he was bothering, seemed like her time had passed. But it felt more right than just leaving her in the cold. "If all the stone comes off, I don't think she's gonna be-... well, better safe than sorry." It was pretty unlikely Trisha would do as he asked, but at least it gave her a chance to be helpful even if she didn't join the family. However slim that chance may be.

Shane picked his gun back up and shook the snow off, taking the time to examine it with scrutiny. Safety on, reasonably clean, loaded. Wasn't likely to be of much use, but considering they'd been embroiled in magic and talking Skeletons, maybe even a Triple Goddess could bleed.

His arms at his side, he turned to face the mirror, awaiting Arabelle opening it to whatever the hell awaited them on the other side.

"Let's get this done."

---

“All the more reason we need you to help us. We’re willing to forgive your friends in full as long as they stop supporting this Goddess. No retaliations, no charges, water under the bridge. You just need to convince them to not do anything stupid if they butt in. They don’t need to help us, they just need to stay out of our way. I’ll admit I was wrong. Trying to do things in a logical, reasonable way just doesn't make sense when we're facing off against the absurd. We should’ve listened to the experts in the first place. It’s clear now that the Triple Goddess isn’t going to give us any breathing room until she gets that skull. There’s no point in hiding it, and if she can just appear anywhere then it’s useless trying to run. Fighting seems to be our only real option now. Fortunately, the Triple Goddess just gave us a prime opportunity. She overextended herself—some of the Wiccans were still at the resort. We protect Georgie and Sabrina and hit the Goddess and Morgana,” he glanced at Thea for any protests, ”hard before the Wiccans even have a chance to intervene.”

"I'll try to convince them," Thea said, "Morgana and her sister are..." There was a trembling in her voice, "...just beyond saving. So I don't blame you if you do what you have to, Mr. Vanburen. I'm behind you fully."

Justin was only half-listening to Ezra; he's heard his fair share of rousing speeches but apologies and whatnot were simply not on his mind. This was their only chance to take out the Triple Goddess... who knows what will happen if she decides to escape without the skull? She could form an even larger cult that can threaten the world, but Justin knew that she was no Glutton. They were going to stop her, and whatever the hell else lurked here until they ended the Vanburen curse. He reached into his pockets to pull out his steel balls.

"... If you're going in for a direct fight; you're in for it," It was the familiar voice of the Skeleton, leaning up against the wall, with a glass of tea in hand. He was stirring it around with a spoon as he talked... not attempting to drink it. "If you want my advice: either lure her into the manor or deeper into Araminta. Otherwise; you're all fighting an uphill battle."

"Now who the fuck are you?" Justin asked as the balls floated in the air, surrounded with a firey aura.

"No time to explain," The smokey black fog appeared behind the skeleton and he drifted into it. "But, you're going have to seal the Triple Goddess or she'll regenerate in a few days or so. Which would get her out of your hair for a little while, but she'll be back. Possibly even stronger. But; I'll leave the shot-calling to your experts." He faced Justin and laughed.

"I'll be watching..." Before he disappeared completely.

"Ooookay," Justin said to himself as he faced Arabelle's mirror that she had fled through... he realized that he hadn't even noticed that she was gone. Oops. Some expert he is. She ran out, shouting...

“They’re in the garage! It looks like it’s just the Goddess outside.”

"Got it!" Justin shouted as he ran for the mirror, "You all know what to do!" He wasn't even going to ask if anyone was willing to follow him - he didn't have to. He had his full faith in the Vanburens that they were going to do the right thing and be right behind him. Even if all of them aren't; they had to do everything they could to save Georgie and Sabrina.

He charged through without fear...

---

In the dead of the silent night, it was complete darkness and shadows other than the torches illuminating the well-paved path. The woman pushed herself through the pathway, holding a child in her hands that were so wrapped in fabric that you couldn't ascertain any details about it. On both sides, men and women were wearing ornate robes, each of them had the skull of an animal that they had previously sacrificed on their face. This was a familiar sight to the woman, and eventually, she came across stairs made out of well-paved marble and she walked up them without a second thought. When she made it to the top; there she was...

... The Triple Goddess.

Standing above a massive ornate torch like the Olympic flame, the Goddess' three faces looked down upon the woman. She unwrapped the child; a beautiful little girl with a smile on her face like no other. Anyone would be proud of such a happy and gorgeous child... then she fell to her knee, holding the child in the air; presenting it to the Triple Goddess. She screamed,

"Maiden of the waxing Moon, Mother of the full Moon, and the Crone of the waning Moon! On this day, I show my love for you like no other. How dedicated and committed I am to you! How many I would give for you? How I would do anything for you. Please accept..."

The Triple Goddess smiled as she grabbed the child.

"... My sacrifice."

"... The Goddess accepts."

The child let out hellish screams as she was immolated in flames in the Triple Goddess' flames. It was a flame that burned brightly and extinguished all the other flames instantly... it wasn't long until the child was nothing but ashes. The woman let out a tear for her deceased child, but that was the last time she thought about the child as she was covered in orange light. Intense winds came through and the woman's robe came off; revealing herself as completely nude to the Triple Goddess' cult.

She laughed as she was overwhelmed with pleasure and knowledge like no other! Her eyes glow an orange light as she felt the power rush through her... and a certain ring floated onto her finger.

"Your loyalty will be rewarded in ways you cannot imagine... you will carve this world until it fits our liking and we will put you right on top of it."

The woman looked at her glowingly as the Goddess continued.

"Long as you remember; you will always be under us."

---

Sabrina hit the brick wall with a thud and could the pain radiating through every fiber of her body. She coughed a bit of blood as she could barely force herself to her feet; was this the end? Was she going to watch Georgie get killed or release the Horned God to save herself?

"If you release my brother," The Triple Goddess said to Georgie. "I will spare you and leave Araminta in peace. Even releasing my grasp on the cult."

There was a brief second of silence as the Goddess let her words sink in.

"If you don't; I will make your last moments on this earth as painful as possible. Then I will kill your family and destroy everything you know and love," She paused again, before she added, with every voice speaking at once. "Make your ch-"

Then she sensed something; it immediately drew her attention to the yard behind her. Her head turned around, then the rest of her body as she faced the little friendly skeleton man. Just standing in the field; holding that same glass of tea. The Triple Goddess screamed, floating towards him.



"Ah, yes, hi love," The Skeleton said as he (finally) took a sip of his tea... and all it did was stain his suit going down. "I'm going to have to ask you to politely give up and seal yourself into something. Just something that's not this teacup, because it's my favorite."

The Triple Goddess pointed a finger at Thorton Walters.

"You ruined everything! You and your damn Inner Circle destroyed everything me and my brother built!"

Taking another sip of his tea, the skeleton said,

"... I did?"

Orange lightning sparked off the Triple Goddess as she growled, gritting her teeth as she raised her hand.... that was when she heard something behind her. Before she could turn around; she was struck by a barrage of Justin's steel balls. She shouted in pain as she turned around to see Justin on one knee, his flaming steel-bearing balls flying back in between his fingers. In between her and the garage - or in her eyes, in between her and her brother.

Justin grinned.

"Got the jump on you; some Goddess you are," He placed his balls back in his pocket as he turned back to face Sabrina. "You good?" He asked.

Sabrina forced herself back up to her feet, before bracing herself against the wall as she muttered to Justin, "Might have some internal bleeding..."
"We got this, just get out of here!" Justin said to Sabrina.

---

---

"You Vanburens..." The Triple Goddess seethed as the wind began picking up extremely fast... sending all manners of snow and debris all over the place. The clouds went dark as orange lightning bolts danced between them... the Triple Goddess floated in the air as rushing winds formed a sort of shield around her. She held her hands in the air as she said, "If I can't release my brother..."

Massive ice spikes formed in the air around the Goddess, all pointed at the garage.

"... Then I'll just have to kill all of you myself!"

The spikes flew into the garage at extremely high speeds.

"Well, I've played my part..." The Skeleton spoke as he floated away into a portal.

---

The rumbling of her hellhound's footsteps as they charged through the woods barely went noticed by the inhabitants of Araminta as if they were used to supernatural fuckery from the last year. Morgana pulled her robe over her face in an attempt to alleviate the cold hard winds rushing against her face. She lived in Araminta all her life and knew how cold it got at night... she summoned her flaming chains and they dangled off the hellhound, rattling as they hit the ground. They alleviated the cold but she was not worried about the cold; she was worried about making the Goddess happy.

The orange bolt of lightning struck and Morgana immediately knew that it was the Triple Goddess... she shouted, "Faster!" And the Hellhound that she was riding broke off into a sprint as they climbed a hill that overlooked the entire Vanburen estate.... she could see the Goddess! Morgana shouted, "Stop!" And the Hellhound she was riding came to a skidding stop, and so did the other two. She couldn't hear what the Goddess was saying, but if she was in the Vanburen estate, maybe she tracked down the skull! However, she could see the Vanburens engaging her.

Leaping off the Hellhound, she dug into her pockets (damn robe kept getting in the way) for her phone and pulled it out. Calling Tegan; the second she answered Morgana said;

"The Goddess is in trouble!"

---

---

As soon as the call was done, Tuyen shoved Trisha's phone back into her hands. It was enough to stop the other girl from attacking her, and Tuyen pretended she couldn't feel the glare burning into her back. She'd done what she could.

It was still hard for her to breathe, as if her lungs couldn't get enough air, but it began to ease as one after another the other group stepped through the mirror. Her shadow finally quietened down as she got her fragmented thoughts more under control, her sight dimming to a normal brightness now that orange lightning was no longer streaking across it. She could deal with the screeching in her ears with the visual hallucinations removed.

In a few steps she reached the mirror, before looking over to Justin and Arabelle. With both Justin and Tansy making it clear how urgent it was she didn't feel the need to add to it. Instead she was ready for Arabelle to do her job, making sure she could be one of the first to follow. She lacked knowledge of the other groups abstractions but if her's were any to go by… most of this fight would fall to them as the experts.

"Now who the fuck are you?"

"I was going to tell you about him later," Tuyen said quietly, just loud enough for those around the mirror to hear. She didn't pay any attention to the rest, though, noticing that Arabelle was already gone… and quickly followed suit.

Oscar wasn’t surprised to come through the mirror, second to last, to find a catastrophe only his family could cause. Really, allowing Tansy and Trisha to be in the same group was just asking for trouble. He really felt for their poor expert left with them… but that wasn’t important now. What was important was that there was a talking skeleton that disappeared almost as quickly as he appeared! How interesting…

It took a moment for Oscar to pull himself out of his thoughts - now wasn’t the time to think about the seemingly benevolent supernatural, when there was a much more deadly one attacking his sisters. With a nod, Oscar went through the mirror again.

"If you're not coming with us, you could stay with her."

"I'll stay," Trisha nodded, probably surprising Shane by actually agreeing for once. Of course, it wasn't out of the kindness of her heart. She had no wish to go die with the rest of her family in a fight against some cult raising goddess, but she couldn't just say that. She hated them all but deep down she did care what they thought, much as she hated that too, so she didn't want to be viewed as a coward. Also she wasn't sure if she'd be able to resist joining the goddess' cult just to offer Tansy up as a sacrifice. "Just in case she's not dead."

As if she actually planned to stay outside in the cold, and not go into the office as soon as they were all gone and play on her phone.

---

---

“We’re going to need something to seal her in,” Oscar announced as soon as he got through, jerking around to look at Arabelle. “Anything will do… I think you’re most suited to the job, Arabelle, since you can move between areas in the house so easily.” Then he glanced at her cast. “Something small will do.”

Without waiting for her response he hurried to the garage.

“Nice shot.”

Tuyen reached the garage just behind Justin, in time to see him bash her with his steel balls. Good, at least she wasn’t invulnerable. Her eyes narrowed as she stepped forward to help Justin form a ‘wall’ between the Triple Goddess and the garage… along with the two knocked over Vanburen. Come on, now’s not the time to play games. She twisted her head to look at the shadow that was hiding behind her back.

Nothing.

Of course.

“Shit, Sabrina, are you okay?” Oscar immediately ran to Sabrina’s as soon as he reached the garage, reaching out to try and help her steady herself. “Let me help you out before-”

Before the Triple Goddess tried to kill them all…

Shit. Oscar let go of Sabrina and stood in front of her, eyebrow furrowing as he put all of his concentration onto raising the ground in front of himself. The wall he raised just covered him - and most of his sister behind him. It would be enough to block them from being hit. He shook slightly as he focused on keeping it up, ignoring everything around him in favour of giving it all of his attention until it was hit.

Tuyen was much closer to the Triple Goddess - and with much less time to escape. She grimaced, taking quick steps to the side in an attempt to get a bit away. Except, an ice shard was shooting right towards her chest. Fuck, fuck, maybe she could heal it, this would be fine-

The Shadow erupted into view, swiftly growing until it was a massive, grotesque creature which seemed to come from the ground itself with shadowy tendrils rippling behind it. It wrapped Tuyen in a tight hug, blocking the ice shard from hitting her chest with an oversized, bulbous arm. The ice shattered as it hit the protective arm, bursting all across its rippling surface. It was like a horrifying dog protecting its owner, engulfing Tuyen completely in its shadowy body as it turned eerily glowing eyes towards the Triple Goddess.

Tuyen flinched to the right and bit down hard to stop herself from crying out. The pain tearing through her left arm where her shadow had been hit was torturous. She gripped the injured arm towards her stomach, doubling over and unable to stop tears from spilling from squinted eyes. She clenched her right fist and bit down on her lip harder, the metal taste on her tongue helping her to ignore the pain and nausea that came with it. It would heal. She could heal this after everything was done. Just ignore it.

As the shadow uncurled from around her, Tuyen straightened up and let her injured arm go limp at her side. Her thick coat covered the injury, the wounds undoubtedly lacerated up her arm, and hid it from anyone else being able to see. She grit her teeth and raised the other arm to wipe away the tears before those were visible too. Her mind was focused on only one thing - getting this done.

You’re out now, make yourself useful. Tuyen looked up at the shadow standing in front of her. As it stared back at her everything around them grew silent, amplifying the pain that was seizing her entire left side. She could feel blood streaming down her arm, flowing along her fingers until it dripped onto the ground. Drip, drip, drip. Tuyen glared at the shadow. Now.

Unable to get her to back down, the shadow finally listened to her, stretching its upper body away from Tuyen and towards the closest car in the garage. It was an expensive looking car, nice and shiny, not that Tuyen or the shadow knew anything about the shadow. There was no hesitation before the shadow grabbed the car, flipping it in the Triple Goddess’ direction.

Whether it would reach or hit the Triple Goddess was uncertain, but it would certainly cause more than enough chaos. Tuyen opened her mouth to tell her shadow to do something else, then stopped. It wouldn’t listen to her any further anyway.

The shadow reached for another car.

---

After luring Thea to the brush with his sixth melody, Hither, everything happened so fast he didn't know what was going on. He simply went through the motions at that point. First time going through the mirror left him feeling a bit squeezy like he had some kind of supernatural vertigo. Then there was the strange skeleton being that came as quickly as it went. And so Blu didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything at all. He looked at everyone as they discussed what was going on, like how the Triple Goddess was already at the Vanburen Estate, with Sabrina and Georgie who got left behind and were in grave danger.

Blu thought about staying behind with the petrified corpse, but when Trisha offered, he relented quietly. But then he also thought about how his magic had benefited the group back at the abandoned resort, and he couldn't just stand idly by waiting for the others to jump into action. It was true, Blu still didn't know much about the Vanburen family or whether he was even truly a part of it, but in this present moment, regardless of his familial ties to them, there was no way he didn't help. Whether it be foolish or altruistic, Blu was stubborn enough to know that he wouldn't back down now.

When he arrived at the Vanburen Estate, chaos was already unfolding. The Triple Goddess was a magnificent being, scary and intimidating, but her aura billowed with the power of the ancients. Blu's hypersensitivity was on full blast in her presence, her aura almost smothering him. As the ice spikes rained down upon them, Blu hid behind Oscar's earth wall, and grabbed onto Sabrina's arm to steady her when Oscar had to suddenly let go. An ice shard made it through, just before the wall fully came up. It grazed Blu's cheek, leaving a painful gash. He winced, gritting his teeth.

Near them, Blu looked over to Justin and Tuyen. He marveled at Justin's flaming ball attack and the ferocity that it hit the Goddess. His gaze then fell onto Tuyen, who he hadn't seen since his group left for the resort. The shadowy figure that erupted from her was like something out of a nightmare. It defended her, but not perfectly. Blu noticed the blood dripping from her arm, and he would of ran over to her if not for the ice shards that pelted Oscar's wall. Seeing the fervor in their spirits to fight the Triple Goddess made Blu feel like he needed to do something, now. He thought for a moment, still steadying Sabrina in his grip. Once he was sure of what he would do, he let go.

With Oscar, Justin, and Tuyen occupied, Blu turned to Sabrina. "I think I might have a way to help your family defeat this...Goddess." He didn't wait for her to respond though. When he saw an opening, he dashed from behind Oscar and entered into the partially destroyed mansion. The sounds of madness erupted all around him, but he found a corner of the room just beyond the garage that hadn't been fully annihilated and he went to it, kneeling down on the floor as though in prayer. "My melody shall help them turn the tides, I know it." he whispered to himself.

Closing his eyes and bringing his ocarina up to his lips once more, he began to play Vitesse.



This new melody was more playful than the one he played at the resort. It was effervescent and lovely, a melody that might remind one of their childhood when they were vibrant and energetic, ready to take on the world. This is what the melody seemed to inspire in those who it affected. With this child-like energy filtering through, this melody had the power to not only amplify physical capabilities, but their powers would be amplified as well. It would feel like they just took some kind of drug, a supercharging sensation that would rush through their bodies and provide their powers with even greater capabilities.

Blu focused on all the Vanburens that were present, including Tuyen and Justin. Blu poured his amplifying music into them like he had never done for anyone else before. The streams of starlight connecting from his chest to their chests like a tether was radiant, like a web of light in the night sky. In a way, as Blu continued playing his melody, they were all interconnected somehow, perhaps they would even feel this strange sense of unification and togetherness, he being the conduit of this sensation. Of course, they had never experienced the full effects of Blu's magic, but it would be a welcome feeling, if not a bit odd and unfamiliar.

So long as they did not outright resist the unfamiliarity of his magic seeping through the fiber of their every being, they would indeed find that their magic could last longer, they'd have more control, and the sheer strength of their magic would seem more powerful than it may have ever felt before.

He would continue using his magic to make them stronger, or until he depleted his own magic reservoir or something or someone interrupted his efforts.

Georgie didn't have the energy nor the will to be bothered by Sabrina's passive aggressiveness. Had she been in her shoes, she would've left her at home and went about her own business. She didn't ask for anyone to come looking for her and drag her out of bed. She looked down pointedly at Sabrina's hand on her wrist. She didn't appreciate the hold and wiggled her arm halfheartedly to get her to let go. Seemed like Sabrina was determined not to let her go. Not after stating that the wiccans were coming. She went along with Sabrina dragging her out of the room in a hurry.

"Considering how far the wiccans most likely live from here, I'm sure we have plenty of time to get gone," she said, yanking her wrist out of Sabrina's hand. She kept up as fast as she could on clumsy drunken feet following a six foot four woman on a mission. They got the garage and Georgie made a feet from the door, closer to the car, when an orange bolt of lightning crashed outside the garage revealing the Triple Goddess and all her ugly glory.

"Christ!" she yelled, nearly jumping out of her skin. She scrambled to the front of the car, using it as a shield.

"GIVE ME MY BROTHER, THE GODDESS COMMANDS YOU!"

Georgie crouched down, the car protecting her from the wind. Sabrina hit and crashed into the wall.

"Brina!" she yelled over the howling wind.

Blood trickled down out of Sabrina's mouth. Georgie kept low, waiting to rush to her side, but she didn't know if the goddess would attack them again.

"If you release my brother," The Triple Goddess said. "I will spare you and leave Araminta in peace. Even releasing my grasp on the cult."

That was a bad deal. Georgie couldn't five fucks about the cult. They made their bed. And as far as she was aware, the goddess had nothing to do with the curse. Whether the goddess stayed or went, if Georgie couldn't leave without turning into stone then her life was still on hold and her goals further from her grasp.

"If you don't; I will make your last moments on this earth as painful as possible. Then I will kill your family and destroy everything you know and love," She paused again, before she added, with every voice speaking at once. "Make your ch-"

How this goddess managed to get anyone to join her cult with threats like that, further proved her point that the cult were full of idiots that didn't know their heads from their asses. With the goddess distracted by something outside, Georgie rushed to Sabrina's side. Everyone else came out of no where, but she wasn't going to complain about there being more hands to handle the goddess.

"Back in the house," she said, holding Sabrina's arms as she stood.

"We got this, just get out of here!" Justin said.

“Let me help you out before-” Oscar started.

At the same time Georgie said, "Help her to the ca-"

Both were interrupted by the goddess pelting the garage with ice. Oscar's rock wall did a good job of protecting them, but she could see him straining. It might not hold. They're all going to die here for this damn skull, but she couldn't let the goddess have it.

"Oscar, make sure she gets to the hospital," she said, the she let go of Sabrina and conjured a portal into the Garden on the floor right beneath her own feet. She sank into her flowers, closing the portal behind her. She instantly got a headache from opening and close the portal so fast, but that's a small price to pay to keep the skull from getting to the goddess. She hoped everyone outside would handle it or she'll be coming back to corpses.

---

Shane was one of the last to make it through, his brief back and forth with Trisha placing him behind the gung-ho members of their group like Justin. He didn't notice however, more surprised by Trisha's compliance than anything. It faded fast as he moved towards the mirror, the serene snow laden construction site giving way to a crystal highway toward chaos. Their home, already having weathered quite a beating, was in near ruins as a floating abomination brought down the wrath of a Goddess.

Shane didn't need to hear its threat before he'd already drawn his gun. Justin evidently had the same idea, throwing two steel balls at the creature before it could finish its demands. Shane barely had time to note the reappearance of the Skeleton before he fled the commotion. The Triple Goddess reeled at the impact, hopefully feeling some kind of pain and not just merely out of surprise. Either way, Shane took the time to move forward, overhearing Sabrina amidst the commotion. Silently thankful she still seemed alright.

"Might have some internal bleeding..."

Shane cringed. Maybe she wasn't all alright. "Go barricade yourself somewhere," he said, rushing past his sister towards the monster in their Yard, "We'll be fine."

As if to accentuate that point, Oscar erected a wall of earth to shield himself and Sabrina from the Triple Goddess, who'd already reoriented itself enough to bombard them with spikes of ice. His body enveloped itself in a swirling blue glow as his face contorted with rage.

BANG!

BANG!

Two shots, hard to miss a target that bright and large. Whether it did anything, Shane was too high on adrenaline to tell. He wasn't aiming to hurt it, or at least wasn't confident conventional weapons could do the job. But he could take the heat off his family a little, it'd no doubt hurt like hell, but he could take it. He could take anything.

He was about to fire once more when a car was thrown over his head towards The Triple Goddess. Their expert, Tuyen. She wasn't lying about her capabilities it turned out. Shane continued, walking The Triple Goddess down. But something stirred inside him, a sound that slithered into his mind and made his heart feel like it would explode out of his chest. He glanced back, noticing the long haired Maybe-Vanburen huddled in a corner blowing into some instrument. His gaze darted back towards the Triple Goddess. Whatever the guy was doing, it made him feel stronger.

It felt like he was younger, standing down against another kid at school for some perceived slight or another. Ready to fight off the world. Ready to die. The aura around him shined a brighter blue, bordering on translucent. Shane let out a primal yell. It seemed as if the drained Vanburen had come back to life. In truth it was a small trick he'd learned at the Academy. Yelling helped prepare the body for the physical pain to follow.

BANG!

"COME ON!"

BANG!

"I'M RIGHT HERE!"

---

---

Ezra gave Thea a somber nod and his stomach tightened as she hinted at how they’d have to handle Morgana and Tegan. He’d offer them the same second chance he was willing to give to the other Wiccans; it would be on their conscience then when they picked to go with the rope instead. Loyalty and dedication were only impressive qualities when they weren’t tainted with fanatical stupidity.

"If you want my advice: either lure her into the manor or deeper into Araminta. Otherwise; you're all fighting an uphill battle," said a skeleton that casually sipped on a glass of tea. Ezra jumped as Justin asked the important question of who the fuck was that thing. The skeleton didn’t oblige an answer, instead informing them that the only true way to defeat the Triple Goddess would be to seal her inside of something. Excellent. Now how were they able to do that? Before Ezra could even ask the question the skeleton had vanished.

He followed the others through the mirror, but he did not join them outside. His spells were more useful when there was time for preparation and planning; jumping into the fray would just create one more obstacle his siblings would have to work around. Instead, he would be useful doing what Oscar said and finding something they could use to seal in the Goddess—and, hopefully, find an actual method on how to do it.

“Wait, Arabelle, it’d be best if you stay somewhere safe where you can keep an eye on the others if we need to fallback to the construction site. I’ll go,” said Ezra.

He didn’t wait for any affirmation as he began sprinting off through the labyrinthian halls of his home. If Arabelle wanted to it was likely she would be able to beat him to any room and back, but in the time of her absence the tide of the battle outside could’ve shifted dramatically against the Vanburens. The house shook violently as the Triple Goddess voice echoed throughout the halls and large objects shattered against the garage. His breath grew heavy as he ran down the hall towards the library, his feet pounding through the pool of dried blood from their confrontation with the Wiccans earlier that day. Hopefully the healer would use her talents to keep his siblings still standing while he searched. Nevertheless, he had to be lightning fast.

Ezra slammed through the door of the library and began his search.

Meanwhile, Tansy had hesitated with her hand on the edge of the portal as Trisha offered to stay behind at Shane’s suggestion and watch the decaying statue on the ground. Tansy turned back as if she had something to say before lowering her head and frowning at the dirited footprints on the ground. She swallowed hard and choked out, “Trisha, I…”

“Nevermind,” she sighed, shook her head, and stepped through the portal. What she stepped out into was immediate pandemonium: shouts of her siblings calling out to one another, the sound of gunshots ringing throughout the air, the crashing of ice like heavy hail upon the roof of the nearby garage. Tansy pressed forward through the foyer towards the front yard, her chest pounding as she crossed the threshold and beheld the Triple Goddess for the first time. Horrific and heavenly as it controlled the elements around them to form a kind of barrier, Tansy felt a swirl of jealousy stir from somewhere beyond her.

The feeling was immediately squashed as a car that had been flung through the air crashed to the ground with a sickeningly familiar sound of metal crunching against metal. Tansy froze as she looked at the wreckage and felt herself transported back. A dark silhouette turned to talk to the other, its voice drowned out by a harmony of singers chanting in an unknown language and the swishing sound of wiper blades. Beyond the window there was nothing but darkness beyond the flurries of snow. Then there was a light so bright that it blinded. The sound of screeching brakes hit too late. A chorus of screams. A crash. Cold air and warm blood. Two dark silhouettes unmoving. Another, just beyond the windshield, moving towards her, light radiating behind it.

Do not be afraid.

Tansy snapped out of the nightmare and back to her nightmarish reality. She wiped the cold tears from her cheeks and stumbled up to her feet. A ragged breath of anger and relief escaped her lips as she saw an injured Sabrina being protected by Oscar while Georgie, the source of this insanity, slipped away into her Garden. She saw Justin and Tuyen living up to their expertise as they continued to onslaught the Triple Goddess. She heard Shane screaming like an animal, a blue aura wrapping around him, as he shouted and fired at the Goddess to come at him.

Beyond Shane’s bellows, she heard the melody of Blu’s ocarina and felt something powerful stir inside of her. The others had seemingly ignored what the skeleton had said, but even with it screwing with them that creature knew more than any of them about the supernatural. They needed to draw the Triple Goddess inside to limit her access to her powers. Yet Tansy could hardly get Dominion to control an impudent child, so she doubted her Abstraction could manage to get a Goddess to follow her orders. Thankfully, she’d known how to manipulate others well before she came in contact with Dominion. She cast a glance towards Shane, doubtful he could even hear her.

“Please, trust me.”

The full effect and then some of Dominion’s Majesty erupted from beyond Tansy in an instant thanks to Blu’s boost. The entire yard burst with so much light that it felt like the night had suddenly given way to day as the snow around Tansy was scattered to the corners of the yard. Her entire body appeared to have melted away, replaced by an angelic figure of pure light. Hundreds of voices boomed together like horns, rivaling the shouts of the Triple Goddess.

“Spare these pathetic worms, Goddess! You know they are of no real threat. They are only trying to protect their foolish sister who has abandoned them yet again. I can lead you to her,” preached Tansy, hopeful that the Goddess wouldn't call her bluff. She lifted a hand towards the Triple Goddess and beckoned as Dominion attempted to push into its mind, the light of its Majesty potentially blinding the Goddess. As she spoke Tansy began to back away into the house, hoping to lure the Goddess with her. She commanded:

"Follow me and you shall have your brother!"

---

Tossed from the highest point of the village, the woman fell from the sky; screaming. As the last thing she saw was the cult watching her fall to her death, the warmth of the flame underneath her became more and more intense. Until she hit the ground and it was complete darkness; no flames, not the oil they covered her skin in, not the wind hitting her, simply nothing. It was a release from this world until the next. The Triple Goddess' cult watched the virgin fall to her death and her body char to blackened ash; accelerated by the oil they covered her in before they pushed her off the sacrificial stand. As she burned to a crisp; they all disrobed until they were completely nude... and they danced around the flames.

The Triple Goddess watched, and so did her brother - she could not do anything other than crack a twisted smile.

"INTRUDERS!"

The Triple Goddess heard in the distance which wiped that smile off her face and she looked towards the gate - and in the blink of an eye, she teleported right before the group of intruders. Her cult had assembled around her, each of them brandishing spears, swords, bows, and arrows... a massive hellhound the same as the one that Morgana used hopped over the crowd and landed next to the Triple Goddess, brandishing flaming chains. She faced the intruders, a diverse lot, but not from around here,

The Triple Goddess spoke first, being the leader of the cult; it was only natural to her.

"What business do you have here?" One face spoke.

"Speak quickly, or we will kill you?"

A man wearing a suit spoke up, he had his hands in his pockets as he faced the Triple Goddess without any sort of fear. Not that she would expect any; she could sense he is Extra-Normal, "I've come to make a proposition... one you cannot refuse."

All three faces faced the man.

"I said speaking quickly. My patience is running thin..."

So that's what he did,

"How would you like to expand your cult beyond the villages? Beyond this world, even."

"I am aware of the other worlds, but how do you intend on doing that?" The Triple Goddess incredulously asked. "Who even are you?"

"I am..." The man put a hand on his chest as he said, "... Thorton Walters."

---

... It's over. Sabrina thought to herself as she saw one of the icicles coming right towards her... Oscar got in the way and erected a stone wall that prevented her from being injured further. This is cool because it was because of pure adrenaline that she can even stand right now. She hated being such a nuisance to the Vanburen.

"Come here!" A tall blonde-haired woman shouted, wearing a familiar robe to the cult. Did they find the defector? Was she actually on their side now? Sabrina got her answer when the woman put a hand on her chest and a white light appeared and she could her wounded body get mended. The pain went away and she felt... oddly well. Soon the lights faded and she felt okay. She sighed out of relief only to see Georgie mutter something (she couldn't hear too well due to the chaos) and jump into her garden... maybe it was a smart idea to avoid the Triple Goddess getting to the skull, but Sabrina couldn't help but feel a bit abandoned. They're all fighting to protect the Estate and she just... runs and hides. She looked down for a second... before she pushed away Oscar's hand, before she looked towards him with fire in her eyes, saying,

"No..." Sabrina said to Shane, "... I'm going to fight."

When the ice spikes came near Justin, all he did was raise his hand; and they were suspended in mid-air as they were caught in his flaming aura. They quickly melted as fast as they appeared as Justin handled them nonchalantly. He turned his head ever so slightly when Tuyen's shadow tossed the car at the Triple Goddess... however, the Goddess merely raised her hand and a powerful gust of wind came and hit the car - stopping its momentum.

"Well, they can just buy another one." Justin said under his breath.

"Hey, that was my car!" Sabrina shouted.

"...Oh." Justin said as he reached into his pocket for more of his balls of steel and they ignited as he tossed them at the Triple Goddess... however, she raised her hand and the fire that surrounded them came off and flew directly at Tuyen as her shadow was grabbing another car. "Hey! Get out the" Justin tried to warn Tuyen before he was hit with a powerful gust of air that sent him sprawling around the ground, ending in a skidding stop. While he was on the ground, he heard the second melody and was brought back to a simpler time: when his grandmother was alive and everything was fine and dandy. It filled him with power... the fire appeared around him as if he was lifted to his feet by some kind of external influence. Then it disappeared as he switched from one abstraction to the other.

The bullets impacted the Triple Goddess... none of them penetrated her, oddly enough they simply crashed up against her and left cracks in her body. It was nothing that made her flinch, or so much as move.

"COME ON! I'M RIGHT HERE!"

"That you are," The Triple Goddess said, before a wave of soil came from behind her, and went directly towards him. That was when she was interrupted by the wave of light that made her cover her six eyes... and her attention was turned towards Tansy. The one that she could sense had an Apparition affixed to her... The Triple Goddess moved her hand as Tansy spoke. She spoke to her about sparing her sibling.

"Follow me and you shall have your brother!"

The Triple Goddess smiled, before she spoke, extending her hand to take Tansy's,

"... Then lead me to him, my faithful servant."

---

---

Terror should’ve taken Tansy as the Triple Goddess took a step towards her with a hand outstretched, yet the sensation that shot through Tansy filled her with power and warmth. It was not unlike the moment at a fundraiser where she had to deliver a speech in front of a crowd of powerful business tycoons, who had to pretend for one evening that they were charitable souls instead of robber barons, and the room fell silent as all eyes turned on her. She, for that brief moment, was the most important person in the room—not the billionaires, not her father, and definitely not whatever group of sad sacks she pretended to have a bleeding heart for this time. Everyone had to listen to what she had to say and, if they were smart, they’d do what she said. It felt fucking fantastic.

Tansy did not hesitate. She reached for the Triple Goddess’s hand as if they were equals and felt the raw powerful essence radiating from her aura. Briefly, Tansy latched onto the feeling like a leech and drained it as she grabbed the seemingly alien creature’s hand, certain that the Goddess had just played into her own. Tansy had tricked a god. And she had also been mistaken. Tansy was not the Triple Goddess’s equal. She was the pathetic creature’s better, who was really no more than a sad shell of an icon whose influence spread no further than a few rejects who sacrificed goats and huffed glue in the woods. Tansy felt radiant.

Then, as she took one step back into the entrance of the manor, reality hit her as it always did—just a little too late. Just like the corporate execs midnight promises to leave their families and abscond with her to Tuscany would disapparate alongside the morning mist, so too did Tansy’s confidence vanish as she realized what she’d just done. She had succeeded in luring the Triple Goddess, but she’d fucked up and used herself as the bait. Not only had she drawn the attention of a dangerous monster and placed herself right beside it, she’d put those who might’ve been able to protect her on the other side of said monster.

“As you wish, my Goddess,” said Tansy as Dominion’s light waned as she drew further from Blu’s melody. The chorus of her voice stayed steady as she took a step back, her foot threatening to drift through Dominions halo but never quite reaching it as the light shifted back with her. Slightly louder, so those outside might hear, she added, “It is so refreshing to see one willing to do whatever it takes for their sibling. You set an example that others really must follow.”

Tansy planned to lead the Triple Goddess to the largest, most central room of the house, and hopefully the others would follow. According to their mysterious benefactor, the Goddess wouldn’t be as attune to her magic indoors. She didn’t know what was the more stupid thing about this plan: putting her faith in a skeleton in a cheap suit or putting it in her family. Step by step she would retreat with the Goddess until she had led her to the game room where one Christmas Tansy had cried in joy as James unveiled a ping pong table and, years later, would cry in private when none of the actual Vanburens would play it with her. It would be nice to see it one more time before the Triple Goddess wised up and crushed her skull.

---

---

Oscar was visibly shaking when the wall dropped, after protecting a few of them all packed like sardines right behind him. His sigh of relief was twofold - both that he’d managed to protect Sabrina, and that he didn’t have to concentrate on keeping the wall up anymore.

"Oscar, make sure she gets to the hospital."

“Georgie, wait-” And she was gone. He frowned for only a few moments, before going back to his normal relaxed expression. He understood Georgie running he really did… but at the end of the day, it wasn’t going to help them if the Triple Goddess only wanted her. They needed the bait.

"... I'm going to fight."

“Good,” Oscar grinned, quickly glancing over Sabrina to make sure she actually looked healed… and she did, she was standing much better than before. Not like she could topple over at the slightest touch. Fascinating. To think healing magic could work to that extent… He’d have to talk to the healer later when this was all over, find out exactly how that all worked. “Glad you’re all fixed up.”

They needed all the help they could get honestly, and if Sabrina wasn’t injured anymore there was no need for her to hide away.

"Hey, that was my car!"

"Hey! Get out the"

The worry about the destruction her shadow caused, turned to panic as fire flew towards her, was pushed away by the joyful music that washed over Tuyen. It felt like a warm hug she hadn’t felt in years, without any expectations or lies. Comforting.

It was so quiet.

She couldn’t remember the last time her mind had been so silent, no longer sharing a space with all her worst nightmares. The surge of power she felt from the melody erased her worries that had held her back. She was in control now, properly. Even with the pain from her lacerated arm throbbing throughout her body, her mind was clearer than it had been for years.

Tuyen didn’t need to command the Shadow to get it to stop from throwing the next car, instead pulling it up to cover both itself and Tuyen behind it. The fire hit the car, which the Shadow threw away before it was engulfed in flames. Tuyen let out the breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding… because she hadn’t really believed it would work. Normally the shadow wouldn’t listen, and it might have blocked her with its body and left her covered in burns without another care.

But it listened to her.

Her attention shifted from the burning car thrown far enough away it wasn’t a danger anymore, towards Tansy and the blinding light that had enveloped them. She had to clamp down on the distrust that filled her stomach, biting down on her lip and holding back any thoughts of stopping the Vanburen. She didn’t trust her, but from what little she’d seen… Tansy cared about the Vanburen image, and wouldn’t throw that away for a mere cult. Without the shadow whispering in her ear Tuyen didn’t instantly jump to betrayal.

Or maybe she just wanted to believe that someone wouldn’t do that to their whole family.

“Justin,” Tuyen quickly approached him, shadow reducing its size and clinging to her silently. It covered the left side of her body, and the injured arm hanging limp to her side. “I think she’s luring the goddess inside. I-” She couldn’t bring herself to say she trusted Tansy. Hopefully it would be obvious to Justin what was going on. Tansy had at the very least granted them a moment of reprieve from the constant attacks. “I’ll stay out here and hold off the cult… Protect everyone’s backs.”

Because even under control her shadow was destructive, and that control could disappear as quickly as it had come.

“Shit, Tansy, what are you-” Oscar covered his eyes to shield them from the light, mind quickly working out what was happening. He hadn’t even had a chance to think about it, protecting Sabrina from getting destroyed from icicles as soon as he got there, but luring the Triple Goddess in was the best way! It wasn’t a surprise that Tansy was the one to do it. She always had her way of luring others with words.

Sabrina was fine now so he didn’t have to stick to her, hurrying back over to the door.

“It is so refreshing to see one willing to do whatever it takes for their sibling. You set an example that others really must follow.”

Oscar couldn’t resist rolling his eyes at the almost snide comment, but did resist responding. Tansy’s opinions on how a family should be weren’t important right now… what was important was that she was luring the Triple Goddess inside, to a place that very much did not have a skull. She’d put herself right in the firing line without anywhere to go.

He wasn’t going to let that happen if he could help it.

So Oscar followed behind step by step, far enough behind the Triple Goddess that she hopefully wouldn’t pay attention to it… but close enough to be ready to jump in before it was too late to.