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There was no doubt in Jack's mind that the necromancer-looking dude and the old woman were clearly the heaviest hitters so far. The hands that sprung forth evaporated the demons into nothing. Not all of them, though, as Jack watched flames engulf several more, just before a rune appeared over him. Protection, if his memory served well enough. But so much was happening at the moment. The soulless child was getting skewered, Sym was running, someone brainwashed a demon, and the horde got an edge off on them by ripping Max's throat out. That grabbed Jack's attention, and his first thought was to try and tear off a piece of his arm and turn it into some sort of fluid that could coat wounds. He often used this trick when medical attention was a tricky thing to find, but it didn't work. His hand felt very much like a hand and not a magical construct in that moment, as it normally did. Hopefully those runes would do something about it, as Jack's attention was pulled by a whip ensnaring the woman. The demon appeared to be dragging her back, and winning. Was... Was she blind? Oh, the irony of that.

There were seven people in this throne room, surely one of them could heal the twink.

Jack took a few steps forward, kicking teacups, plates and demonic silverware every which way, and finally manage to use his arm properly. Suddenly, Jack's entire arm was also a whip, though not a particularly deadly one. Still, it was enough. He swung the whip out, and it severed the demon's around Runa's neck. She wouldn't suffocate, but she wasn't in a position to just get back up and start flinging fireballs. So Jack leapt off the table, landing between both of them on both feet with a loud thud. He brandished his scythe out in front of him as a warning to the demon. "If you know any healing magic, that one behind us is bleeding from his throat. If not, then catch your breath. I'll cover you, He said to Runa. He didn't doubt she could take care of herself, especially with magic like that, but getting choked like that took the wind out of someone- literally. If she needed a minute, then he'd buy her time.

But he also wasn't content on giving the demon a chance to pull another weapon out of his ass, so Jack raised weapon and went for another headshot.

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The fighting continued to go on all around them seeing that S'ym was still alive and well she glared at him as he seemed to start to be scared for the first time she had seen him and he quickly tried to flee from her. She quickly turned to Max and glared at him she wanted to take S'ym down herself. "He's mine." She warned him, just as a demon leapt onto Max and tried to take a chunk out of his throat, she would heal him once S'ym was dealt with. Or someone else would be able to heal Max, she turned again to see S'ym trying to flee out of the throne room and quickly ran after him.

"Where do you think you are going S'ym?" Madalyne called out to the severely burnt demon as she held out her hand and tried to create a shield around S'ym only for it to fail. She started to let out an annoyed groan as she started to try and chase after S'ym she knew that he probably had more information on what Witchfire had planned.

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Carolina stared at Ananym as she took a moment and sat down on a nearby chair staring at the demon girl standing before her, she nodded slightly. "Yes I still do love art that hasn't changed at all." Carolina said as she looked around the library it still gave her the creeps, but she needed to go back and find the rest of her friends they needed her and she needed them to get out of here. "Are you actually October?" Carolina asked.

"I really need to get back to my friends, they really need me." Carolina said hoping that she would be able to convince Ananym to let her go and try to make it back to everyone else. She was worried and scared for them and wanted to make sure that they were all okay, and she didn't like the idea of being trapped in here at all.

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”Coward!” Max cried out as Sym ran away from them. A half step taken before the demoness looked at him and claimed the coward as her own. It made sense, she was the daughter of the man who'd died, it was only natural she'd seek vengeance instead of him. None of that mattered in the end, as Madalyne left to follow behind Sym, there was a burning sensation pouring out of Max's neck. Heat radiated from the open wound as Max quickly placed a hand against it to try and stop the bleeding. His vision blurred as he could scarcely see one of the supremes interposed between him and his attacker. It seemed he was buying him time. Though it felt as though time itself was slowing down. The warm red liquid flowed out of his neck and down his hand as Max tried to speak a healing spell. Blood gurgling his words as they painted his lips red and dots splattered across the floor before them.

Golden light mixed with his magic before it tainted once more. He could feel his wound begin to close, but the emotions and chaos from earlier still affected him and his magic. The scales on his leg began to shimmer gold, running up his tight before encasing the spot where the wound had been. Max closed his eyes as he felt his body begin to shift beneath the surface, like an army of ants crawling beneath his skin. He fell down onto his knees, hunched over as his forearms hit the floor and he growled in pain. His eyes shot open and they were like liquid gold and soon the rest of his body morphed into that of a gold dragon. It was fitting that his magic shifted him into a being that promoted good. A constant foe to evil and injustice. His eyes narrowed down at the demons still in the room, fire curling at his lips and he huffed out a puff of smoke. There was a loud roar and then…the sounds of bones breaking and grinding. His neck swept across the room, gathering five demons into his maw as he crunched down onto them with about as much force as one would eating celery. As soon as the light faded from their eyes he'd tilted his head up and swallowed them. Hisgaze turning towards the other Supremes.

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Annika held on tightly to the demon’s leg like a dog with a bone. She was determined to try and piece the skin of this creature. The demon kicked out at her, and Annika yelped as the demon connected with some ribs. Luckily, nothing broke, but the kick still smarted. Annika had to let go in order to regroup.

Annika took a moment and glanced around. Her eyes scanned over the crumbled form of Edus, no longer able to protect and heal them. She looked over to see the other desperately fighting. They were horribly outnumbered. Ananym was gone, having taken Carolina with her. Annika looked back at the demon she had been chewing and narrowed her eyes. Annika was a fighter, and she wasn’t going to go down easily. Growling, she charged forward once more. As she ran, she continued her attempt to turn into a much larger, more fearsome bear.

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Prudence saw her paramour start attacking the others, leaving them to sort it out. Prudence lightly chuckled. It amused her seeing worthless beings destroy each other. Saved her the effort. As she turned to face the other enemies, she felt something collide with her head. She stepped back, expecting to feel pain. Instead, she felt...fine. It hurt a bit, sure, but it was like her body had grown stronger.

She scanned and saw the demon who threw the brick at her. She called forth a hex to send a swarm of bugs at it. At first, some ants came forward, crawling slowly toward her prey. She could almost see the demon laughing at her. So she tried again, unleashing another force from inside. This time, a large swarm of hornets came upon the demon, circling it, biting and stinging. The cries of pain fueled her as her target slowly succumbed to its pain and fell.

Prudence heard Runa's attack. Prudence hesitated. Did she want to help the woman out? As she weighed the pros and cons, it seemed the others came to her defense. All the better. Once this battle was done she wanted to talk to the old woman. Her tentative allies were proving useful, at the very least, even if she was still angered by the presence of the men.

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Klara thought that the fighting was getting more tiring then anything. Her chain hadn't really done a whole lot except for gain the attention of the demons some more. And one decided to turn her into a kabob and skewer her. That was one of the worst things that could possibly have happened. Though the lack of pain was instantly noticeable to her, which was definitely an interesting feeling. "Huh... Was that supposed to hurt?" she couldn't help but ask with a bit of a giggle.

With one quick motion, no concern with regards to the sword that had stabbed her or any other demons and she pulled her own sword from her sheath. Running it straight through the offending demon and killing it, "Honestly you'd think you'd learned not to just randomly stab an Asgardian who can just stab you back. That in general is just insanely rude anyway to do..."

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@Nallore: Ananym looks at you with almost a hurt expression. "'Course it's me," Ananym insisted. "Can't you tell?" she asked, before reaching out and taking your hand. Suddenly, your mind is plagued with visions once more - of when you first met, of the day you lost her, and then her body, consumed by flames, a clawed hand reaching for her. Maybe you know what it all means. But does it even matter?

"You can't go back to them," Ananym adds. "'Cause they kinda need to die for this entire plan to work. You're gonna love what we do with Earth. It'll be like we always talked about - going to war for the forces of darkness. And we can rule it all, together." She looks at you like you're the princess of a fairytale - like you're the only other person in the world who is real.

It's a child's love, platonic and pure.

Maybe it's the only pure thing about her.

@Nallore: You chase Sym out into the hallway, out for his blood. I don't blame you. I had almost killed him myself years ago, but I thought he would be useful as a pet. I was wrong about that too. He's a coward. One of Limbo's stepping discs, a random series of portals that wax and wane, appears in the hallway. He jumps on through.

Do you follow him into the unknown, Madalyne?

How powerful is your rage - your grief? How blinding?

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Runa felt the life force fade away of the demon that had attacked them, as Jack used his scythe and decapitated them. "Oh, I can heal him, lad, but he won't like it," Runa warned. Their healing came with a price. It was growth through change, renewal through death. The more extensive the injury, the more of the person that was lost. She healed the way a forest did - through fire, burning away what no longer served and creating something new from the ashes.

But they began the ritual anyways. They took in flames through their breath, and prepared to breathe them back out, to heal what no longer served Max... and the spell died, fading away. There was no wound for them to heal. He was not dead. He was already changed. His energy felt much the same, but twisted and golden.

Annika was similarly transformed, turning into a ten foot tall bear, and managing to slaughter the remaining demons. The room then fell into silence, chaos and disaster and blood and gore all over it. That being said, it was the throne room of Limbo - this was appropriate decor. Runa could not see it, but Klara still had a sword inside of her, the blood slowly oozing and pain eluding her.

"Oh, poor Edus..." Runa murmured. "It never gets easier to witness your death, even if it were not at my hand."

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Madalyne continued to follow Sym into the hallway that he had fled into seeing the cowardly demon quickly jumping into one of Limbo's portals into another portion of Limbo. She clenched her fist as she started to think about jumping through as well to hunt the demon down, but Madalyne knew that it was probably a bad idea going it alone. She knew that the other Sorcerers Supreme needed her most likely Madalyne closed her eyes and would let out a demonic scream in frustration. She had a feeling that she might end up seeing him again, and Madalyne would make sure that he would pay for killing her father.

She slowly started to turn back and made her way back into the throne room where the others were, Madalyne needed to make sure that Ed's body was taken care of. As she entered the room her eyes scanned the area all of the demons had been dealt with which was good then she noticed a dragon in the room that wasn't there before but it didn't seem to attack. "S'ym managed to get away through a portal." She said as she went over to Ed's body and knelt down to close his eyes. "So what do we do next?" Madalyne asked looking at the others.

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Carolina felt Ananym grabbing her hand as she was suddenly plagued with a series of visions, from the moment that they had met at the Alucard Institute all those years ago. And her eventual death when October was killed by the OMEN agents and dying in her arms. She shook her head slightly still trying to get used to the visions that she had been given since coming here. Carolina stared at Ananym she didn't want to see any of her friends die here, she had already watched Ed die before being brought here into the library against her will.

Carolina didn't like the idea either as she looked at her. "I can't be apart of that at all." Carolina said, she had helped save the world a few times, from helping resetting reality back to normal after Wanda had messed with it, to preventing Galactus from consuming the Earth when he decided to come to Earth. "It's not to late to stop this I can stay here with you just let the others go back to their lives." Carolina said trying to convince Ananym.

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Prudence felt herself even more invigorated after the battle. Her new form had benefits to it. She felt stronger, faster, more agile. She wanted to test her limits, but felt it an inopportune time. Prudence cast a weary eye on Runa. The blind woman still worried her. Her motives were unclear whereas the others wore their hearts on their sleeves. Especially the men called Jack and Max. It was laughable how women were called the weaker sex due to emotions.

Prudence felt nothing for Edus' demise. That would sound cruel but she didn't know him. And even if she did, death was a part of life. Since her own parents were taken from her, she had learned to see death not as an unfortunate necessity but perhaps a blessing in disguise.

"My goal remains the same. I wish to leave whatever hell this place is and be back to my own time. Whatever other things need to be done to further that, I suggest we get started. No sense lingering around this tea party of death."

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The blade of his scythe glided through the demon's neck as if it were but paper, and Jack could not help but feel the temptation to swing again, but the demon had fallen limp. Jack looked and witnessed Annika grow much larger, and tearing through the remaining forces. Relief washed over him. He noticed he seemed to be gripping his weapon with white knuckles, and relaxed, taking in a breath and leaning on the scythe. He wasn't in a hurry to get rid of it, knowing more of Witchfire's forces could be right around the corner. The dead body of Madalyne's father held his attention. Jack had seen death in many places, and he did not know Ed. But clearly, he meant something to some of the people present, who now had the burden of remembering him.

"...We will ensure his death is not unanswered for," Jack said to Runa and Madalyne, hoping it would provide some figment of comfort. Everyone passed in time, and some went before others, but it did not diminish the fact that Sym deserved the fate that would no doubt be awaiting him. And Witchfire... Ananym had some explaining to do. With Sym now gone, there were more important matters to attend to.

"You are exactly right," He nodded towards Prudence. "We cannot stay here. We have a matter of hours before the Veil falls to pieces, and our home is torn to ribbons by the monsters of this world. I understand you do not care for this, and I would happily open another portal to send out everyone here who wishes to return home, but interplanar navigation is unreliable at the moment. Here in Limbo, there are natural portals known as Stepping Discs, one of which just happened to have opened at the perfect time for Sym to escape. If you see one, and decide to remove yourself from this situation entirely, simply walk through and they should displace you into any point in physical space, during any point in the past or future."

Prudence didn't seem like the type who wanted to worry about an entire dimension folding in on itself. She gave Jack the impression that she was more concerned with her personal safety, and rightfully so. If she wanted a way out, he wouldn't blame her for taking it.

He then turned to the overall group. "Regardless, an option we may have is searching for Illyana Rasputina. She is the Sorcerer Supreme of Limbo, and Witchfire claims to be the queen of Limbo. A Sorcerer Supreme doesn't simply abdicate the throne, they hold their position of power for as long as they exist. And Miss Rasputina should be the most powerful woman in this entire realm, no less. If she has been replaced by Ana- by Witchfire-" Her name left his voice with a trace of grief, "-Then this side of the Veil is also under threat of crumbling. We need answers, and I would assume she can provide them. Does anyone have any other possible suggestions?"

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Klara sort of was bored now and starting to sort of poke a bit at the sword that was currently stabbed into her body, it definitely was interesting seeing oneself ran through like a kabob or something like that. "Well this is interesting to say the least..." she muttered, half paying attention to what was being said by Jack. The guy needed to know when to shut up, he seemed to just like to hear himself talk at this rate, and it was starting to really get on her nerves. He was a bit of an idiot from what she could tell.

"Can you just shut up? Honestly do you really just like to hear yourself talk? Maybe we should tape your mouth shut at this rate. Blah blah blah, that is all I hear. You seem to think you have all the answers and then you don't actually either do anything or only do something for you. Honestly this is kind of sad. So just shut it," she said towards Jack, clearly not having caught a word of what he had said. Though after her little outburst she seemed to just sort of be examining the blood and such coming from where she had gotten stabbed anyway, partially wondering the full extent of why it wasn't really hurting at the moment. Poking it every so often.

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Annika, the bear cub, stumbled back from her foe when she felt a surge of power enter her limbs. She began to grow and grow. She grew larger than any bear she had ever witnessed, but it aided her well. She rose on her hind legs and towered over the demon she had been gnawing on. Leaning her body weight forward, Annika came down atop the demon. The ground shook beneath her great frame. Her previous assailant was no more, and Annika turned her focus on the remaining demons. She sliced and tore them in half with claws and teeth. Once there were no more demons, Annika stood there on all fours, panting and looking from left to right with blackened eyes.

After a few more moments of rest, Annika turned her focus inward. She shut her eyes and remembered her grandmother’s hands. They had become smooth with age, wrinkled skin over knuckles and joints that became swollen when the weather shifted. As the thoughts entered her mind, Annika began to turn back to human. Paws and claws shifted into calloused palms with nimble fingers. Black fur changed into the sun-warmed, weathered skin of her people, and the hides of her kills clothed her once more.

Annika touched the soft material of the sorcerer’s cloak, greeting the strange moving material while Jack spoke. She appreciated his knowledge and was grateful to have someone on their side who knew the land. Annika was confused that Ananym was not who she initially appeared to be, but as Annika quickly learned, this land was not what it seemed.

They had lost a member of their makeshift group, but like the others seemed to feel, there was no time for mourning at present. Of course, Annika was sad, but she had experienced a large amount of death in the last several months. The emotional burden was no longer heavy to carry.

”How do we find this woman you speak of, this other sorcerer?” Annika spoke in the common tongue of the group, but her accent stumbled over the strangeness of the word sorcerer. Limbo had no rules, and it shifted often. Even the Stepping Discs that Jack spoke of were unreliable methods of transportation.

A young girl spoke rather harshly to Jack, proclaiming he had no answers or actual knowledge for them. Annika looked at Klara with confusion. Jack had ample knowledge about Limbo, and to know an enemy was to learn of a way to defeat them.

Annika believed Jack was allowing each person to voice their opinions, and Klara was simply expressing hers. However, Annika couldn’t help thinking about her own culture. She would have been punished if she had spoken to her Grandmother that way, as their elders were revered and respected. Jack had not reached elder status by the definition of Annika’s tribe, but his knowledge was something they needed if they wished to survive. Her father even held a certain amount of respect for the men in his own culture. Perhaps in Klara’s culture, it was different. Annika was curious about it but refrained from asking questions. Instead, her way of seeing others beyond herself would have to suffice.

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Chaos continued but for a moment, Madalyne escaped to chase after Sym, only to be reunited with the party once more as the demon made its grand escape. For the moment the room was quiet. All the demons had been disposed of and the carnage simply seemed like more decor to the room than anything else. Max shifted his weight, feeling the squelch of a body beneath his foot as some blood trickled down his claw. He quickly swiped it, splattering the red liquid all across the wall before placing his foot back down and listening to what it was that was being said. Two words stood out to him, a singular name he was all too familiar with. Illyana Rasputin.

Fire flared from his nostrils as the mention of her name. Smoke billowing after as it curled upwards towards the ceiling. He'd tried to shift back into himself, to shift back human, but his magic wouldn't budge. He wanted to be able to curse her out in his own tongue, to mention how she once again was meddling in his life without even realizing it. But all that came out were disgruntled grunts of a dragon booming in the space before them all. He wanted to find her, to yell at her, and to have her fix her own mess for once. Max turned to look at a goblet, the still liquid reflecting his new appearance to him. He focused on it, allowing the image to blur until he saw a new scene before him.

Magik was curled up on a couch alongside Kitty and the rest of Excalibur, watching one of horror's biggest queer icons, The Babadook. There was a low inaudible growl forming as the base of his throat. The others wouldn't hear it so much as feel it in their chests. Like a fear response triggering inside of them. Max let out a roar in frustration, unable to tell anyone that he knew where she was. All he could do was point a massive claw towards Jack and then towards his own head in an attempt to tell them he knew.

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@Nallore: Ananym's eyebrows were furrowed in confusion, her forked tail thrashing about somewhat anxiously. "You don't wanna?" she asked, although it was more of a statement than a question. You could practically see the gears turning in her head, as the demon stared at you for a moment longer. "I don't understand, 'Ro. I always talked about this. And now, now I can do it. I can crush the veil and rule Limbo and Earth with you. It's why I made sure you'd be Sorcerer Supreme... So we could do it together."

"But you don't wanna," Ananym then snapped, sniffling slightly and wiping a stray tear away. The tear was made of blood. "And you're ruining everything!" Her pupils narrowed, contracting into slits. She curled her hands into fists. Now might be a good time to think about your survival, Carolina.

Demons express love in a way similar to hate.

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Runa listened to each turn in the conversation, their face carefully neutral and guarded. It was not so much that it took them great effort to suppress those telltale emotions, but that they had sacrificed such things on the altar long ago. If they smiled, it was minimal and slight. Any tears were brief and dry. Frowns were unneeded, particularly because the wrinkles on their face already gave them a slight frown - not that they knew, of course. They could feel the texture of their skin under their hands, but habitually checking felt much like vanity. They had been vain, once.

"I agree. The veil must be renewed or Midgard will be subjected to a multitude of threats," Runa said, weighing her opinion in accordance with Jack's. She inclined her head in the direction of Klara, staring at the girl with empty sockets. "Klara Thordattir, apologize, now," she chided. "You know better than to speak to another like that." Particularly when Jack was right.

And the information he was giving was important and necessary.

The Stepping Discs were wild and unpredictable, and not an option. It would be leaving things up to chance, and given the hell dimension they were trapped within, it was entirely possible that matters would only become worse. Jack's plan that they attempt to contact the Sorceress Supreme of Limbo was sound. Perhaps she might be able to transport them to Midgard, where they can cast the spell necessary to repair the veil...

But at the same time, unease filled Runa. Ananym had not seemed to particularly try to kill them - and had even offered to help send them back to Midgard. They were missing something, a piece of the puzzle that did not quite connect... But what could it be?

What was Witchfire's play?

Annika posed a suitable follow-up question - how they might find the Sorceress. And moments later, Runa felt a low growl vibrate into her body, hitting their empty chest cavity. Their heart was long since gone. And that was not a metaphor. "Are you attempting to tell us something, Maximilian?" Runa asked. "I do not suppose any of you are well versed in telepathy?"

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Madalyne continued to just sit there as she listened to everyone as they started to talk while looking down at Edus' body she wasn't sure where S'ym was right now but if she ever saw him again she would instantly make him suffer. She then stood up and watched Klara poking at the sword sticking out of her gut, it looked like it hurt like hell as she went on a little rant on Jack as she approached Klara and knelt down next to her. "This is going to hurt a little bit." Madalyne said to the little girl as she got behind Klara and knelt down and grabbed the sword by the handle and tried to pull it. However it was firmly stuck inside Klara still. She then yanked it as hard as she could on the second time she managed to pull it out and tossed the blade aside as it clanged against the floor. The wound was starting to bleed pretty badly now as Madalyne quickly put her hands on both sides of the wound and started to heal the stab wound pretty quickly.

Madalyne turned to the others as she started to think as she stared at Max the Magic Puff Dragon hearing him making some growling sound, and tried to think of an idea. "I'm both human and demon if i'm right I could try and connect us to Earth as a conduit. What if we find one of the Stepping Discs and we combine our magic together on it, we could try and push through that way back home, and repair whatever damage that happened to the veil in theory it could work maybe." Madalyne suggested it was just an idea she wasn't sure if it would be able to work. "Once the veil is repaired we go and confront Ananym and save the other sorcerer that was taken by her." Madalyne suggested she wanted to go home as soon as possible and put her father's body to rest.
 

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Carolina looked at Ananym as she started to read her body language watching the girl's demon tail swishing side to side, and then clenching her fists and her eyes turning into slits. Carolina knew that she needed to find a way to try and survive this Ananym could kill her if the demon girl wasn't calmed down. Carolina quickly stood up and gently grabbed Ananym's hands. "Hey i'm just joking, it would be an honor to rule Limbo and Earth together." Carolina said, and it seemed to work which was good then.

Carolina started to look around the room, there wasn't really anything in the room that she could use to defend herself with, aside from tons of books. Most likely a bunch of spell books that she could try and learn from, she stared back at Ananym and smiled at her. "So how about a tour of this library?" Carolina asked, trying to stall for time hopefully the others would be able to find her.

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With the threat of immediate danger mitigated, Annika's attention shifted to Max. She walked up to him, her eyes roaming over his great form. She had never seen such a creature before. He looked as if he were a lizard of some kind, but lizard's never grew to be this large or breathed fire. Annika reached out to touch him, but pulled back. He was a human and a creature with thoughts and feelings. It was rude to touch without asking permission. When Runa asked if anyone could link their mind to Max's, Annika perked up.

”I may be able to, Grandmother. I have never encountered a dragon, though.” Annika spoke the foreign word slowly. It felt strange on her tongue. Max's soundless rumble reverberated through Annika, but rather than be frightened of it she felt as if she were glowing. She had discovered something new to her and her people.

”May I place a hand on you, Max?” Annika lifted her hand, touched her arm, and extended it towards Max without touching him yet. Her eyes remained on his large glowing ones, hoping he understood her concept.

Annika had only ever linked her mind with woodland creatures before to determine if danger was near, the best hunting ground, or what ailed them. With Max being human, it might not work, but it was worth the try. She had to be in contact with him though and he had to be willing to connect with her.

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Jack wanted to laugh at Klara's bitching. But he didn't. After all, she was only a child, and he was a grown adult. She had a right to be angry with him, anyway. So he shook his head in Runa's direction. "It is alright. Her anger towards me is warranted. I deserve it," He noted, bluntly. He looked over at the fucking dragon that Max had become, and had absolutely no idea what he was trying to convey. "I speak roughly a hundred extraterrestrial languages, and yet Draconic is not one of them. You know something, though, don't you?"

Annika seemed to have it covered. A telepathy spell, if his assumption was correct. So while she took care of that, Jack stepped across the room, picking up a half-empty goblet and sniffing it's contents. And then he chucked it through a door, on the off-chance that a stepping disc would open again. Which it didn't. "You plan does sound ideal, Madalyne. Though, are you certain you could manage that strain? It wouldn't be wise to put yourself in harm's way. Even then, one does not simply force the portals of Limbo to obey logic. I've made portals a few times since meeting you, and they've only taken me to the wrong places. We could find ourselves on the dead core of a star in the GN-z11 Galaxy, or we could find walk directly into the Astral Plane. Both outcomes are equally likely right now. Though, I suspect I am an outlier at the moment, since my magic comes from planar manipulation itself, and the Veil is blurring the lines between planes as we speak."

And then there was Witchfire. "Even if we could repair the Veil, there is still the matter of an important position not being filled. And the fact that there are so many of us-" He said "so many" and not "eight" to not touch on Ed's death, "-Must mean that something has gone wrong. Ordinarily, a Sorcerer Supreme chooses their successor, meaning this situation shouldn't be happening right now. If we return home now, we won't be able to sort this out, and the Veil will only erode further. The Veil isn't simply damaged, it requires maintenance. Constant, uninterrupted, regular maintenance like a machine. The Sorcerer Supreme is the one who performs that maintenance."

Looking back at Ed's body, Jack couldn't help but ask about... That. "...I know I am just a stranger, and that we only met hardly an hour ago, but losing someone isn't easy. I am here, if you need someone who will listen," he offered. Jack was an arrogant bastard, but he had a heart. "He seemed like a kind man."

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"Why apologize? He hasn't actually done anything but mess things up for me royally. Well, him and that Max person both kind of did. So guess it takes two people to actually screw it up. But both of them did, so why should I be nice or anything like that towards them. Hence why Max deserved to be stabbed!" she said instantly, clearly not caring for the idea. And also a bit mad that Runa decided to chastise her over the whole situation when it was their own faults for what happened to her.

Her attention shifted towards Madalyne as she pulled the sword out to heal the injury. "Not like it hurt or anything, maybe that has to do with the whole soul getting swallowed by a monster while here or something huh? Kind of a cool side effect but that whole thing is still not a good thing and those two are partially responsible for the whole situation hence why I don't like them at all." she explained to her with a shrug, not super sure what else could possibly explained that sort of situation thing.

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@Nallore:

Ananym beamed, giving your hands a squeeze. Nice work, Carolina - she believes you. For now. But lies are a demon's native tongue. Tread carefully.

"I've got something extra special I can show you," Ananym then admits, a wide grin on her face. She drags you deeper into the library, wandering past gigantic teetering stacks of books and decrepit statues, and chains attached to the walls, covered in rust. Portraits seem to follow you, their eyes moving as you do. Candles are everywhere you turn, somehow able to be left unattended without every bit of parchment burning to a crisp.

Most of the books are admittedly made from human flesh. It's less of a fire hazard that way.

And it's plentiful, here in Limbo.

"Close your eyes," Ananym then commands, once you stand in front of an old wooden door, pentagrams and spells scratched into it, bits of nail still attached. Once your eyes are closed, she guides you on inside, giggling. "Okay, now you can open...."

Once you open your eyes, you see the corpse of my mentor, his eyes gouged out, a ritual dagger in his heart.

You see the corpse of Stephen Strange.

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Runa considered the proposal carefully. There was some merit to it - if they were able to escape this realm, even if they ended up in some far-flung galaxy, it would be easier to control teleportation once they were outside of Limbo. They could likely band together and jump to a more advantageous location - assuming, of course, their initial jump didn't drop them into the heart of a star. Not that Runa expected that would kill her. For a person without a heart or eyes, she was quite sturdily built.

But she wished to hear from Maximilian, before they made a further decision. Annika told them that they could try to communicate with him, that they could breach through the draconic form. They smiled ever so slightly, laughing somewhat. Everything that could go wrong always seemed to go wrong for Max. Some things never changed. "Oh, I wish I could behold you now, friend," they said to Max. "These things always seem to happen to you, aye?"

Jack was correct, too - it was unstable, the office of Sorcerer Supreme so divided - into nine, now eight. They frowned sharply. It had not occurred to them yet - but in matters of magic, all things must come in threes. Any other configuration was unstable. Two more of their number would have to perish - potentially as many as five.

They could share this information. But what good would it do the others, to know that the hangman's noose was closing in around their necks?

Then there was also the matter of Klara - that a monster had eaten her soul? And somehow Max and Jack were to blame? Runa recalled no such things happening from the histories. But she was but a babe now, hardly able to form memories. This all happened before her time - was happening - would happen. "Then he owes you a life-debt, cousin," Runa corrected. "Or rather, a soul-debt. An eye for an eye. A soul for a soul. If yours cannot be retrieved, then I shall harvest theirs, and give it to you."

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Max hoped that someone knew how to use telepathy, or even perhaps just spoke the language of dragons. But while that was still to be sorted out, he listened intently to what the others had to say. Madalyne believed she could act as a bridge, a conduit between their world and Limbo. But from what had been said before, the stepping stones weren't the way to go. Unstable magic within an ever increasingly unstable land. Jack rambled on about his prowess with interdimensional travels, but given how magic warped in this location (even simple translocation spells) Max doubted it would be as easy as Jack would hope. He let out another huff of annoyance just moments before his attention was pulled towards Annika.

Max bowed his head down allowing her to touch him. Her eyes gazed into his until he felt a lurch and suddenly he was gazing back into his own eyes. He removed his hand, her hand?, his hand, away from his body and looked at it with a bit of awe. ”Wow…” the word escaped him without notice until he'd realized he was able to speak. ”I can talk? I can talk! Haha you genius you! I'll figure out how to swap us back no problem but first…” Max took in a deep breath before he began to get out as much as he could. ”Magik is with the team Excalibur watching movies right now. I was able to divine her location. As for the issue of how to get there, Stepping stones may not be the best form of travel but I have a little trick we might be able to use if I can get use of my body again. My real body I mean. Sadly draconic forms are a bit harder to cast magic in it seems. Anyways, Madalyne you said you can act as a conduit right? And Jack you're used to interdimensional travel as well? I've conjured portals from across the globe and to the Savage Lands, that makes at least three people capable of harnessing the power to open portals. I've seen Runa conjure them before as well, but something I learned back on Genosha is that magic works best in three’s. So I can help us form a mutant circuit, each one of us feeding into the next so our powers sync into one. Hopefully with that much control we will be able to finagle a portal to Excalibur, find Magik, give her a scolding about the importance of not making your friends think you're dead, oh also the importance of being here where she's needed, and then Bing bang boom we can stabilize the Veil! Any questions?