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The plan was simple: Jack supports the others while they go scorched earth. That was made clear when Max suddenly incinerated 10 of them at the same moment that Annika stepped through. And then he... Oh dear. He was flirting with Jack suddenly, that seemed quite a bit different than his demeanor in Limbo. Jack turned and gave him a look that conveyed a mix of befuddlement and surprise. "Save that for after reality as we know it has been saved." He was also pretty sure that Max was about half his age, so that was a bit off-putting. Unless Max was into that sort of thing. Alas, they had something to do. Runa seemed to be preparing for a spell herself, and it was anyone's guess what Prudence and Annika were going to unleash. Klara wasn't suited for this.

"If we stay close to one another, we'll be alright," He assured the tiny, sword-brandishing Asgardian. "They won't let us annihilate them forever. Allow me..." Jack took a few steps forward, and raised his hands into the air. The sky seemed to sway and churn as he called on his magic, causing the ground at the feet of all the Green Eyed ones to turn blacker than it was before. As if there was something there, and now replaced with nothing. A thick wave of shadows rolled over their legs and ankles, spiraling up over dozens upon dozens of them in the shape of vines and thorns. Their limbs were clamped down on tightly, held in place to prevent them from escaping or taking action against the sorcerers. Jack didn't trust the Green Eyed Ones to simply sit still while a band of magicians vaporized them.

"They won't be able to move. Take your time, and use whatever you have at your disposal. I'll make it as easy as possible. I'm going above to get a better view of the battlefield." Jack pushed off of the ground, and floated upwards for about two or three seconds. And then... He suddenly fell back on the ground, right on his ass.

"...Or not. Just how long were we in Limbo..." He pulled his watch out and looked at the time. It was 3am in California's time when they left...

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Madalyne nodded at Annika as she pocketed the blooded bead that she had given her, she waved to the group just as the portal closed behind Annika leaving her alone now. She wasn't sure why Annika called Ananym a friend after she had ordered Sym to kill her father right in front of her. She looked at his body once more and took a sigh as she was about to kneel down to carry his body out of the room to find a place to burry Ed's body. Then something strange started to happen as Madalyne looked around the room she noticed more stepping discs started to suddenly appear. She quickly went to a nearby window to see more of them and hordes of demons started to go through them all when she realized that they had done what. Ananym probably wanted to do in the first place they had destroyed the veil protecting Earth from Limbo.

Madalyne knew that she needed to try and fix things, the others were in the Everdark to deal with things there, she quickly made her way through the stepping disc portal and landed on the steps right in front of the Sanctum Sanctorum. It was complete chaos in front of her as she could see demons flying in the, and various things like mail boxes coming to life trying to attack civilians. Madalyne quickly dug into the pockets of the Cloak of Levitation and pulled out the letter. She was still in her demon form and if Wong was still in there she didn't want him to attack her or anything as she quickly tried to open the door.

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Carolina stumbled through the portal and landed on the streets of New York City, she sighed in relief as she made it back home, however she could hear screaming all around her. And like something out of a horror movie chaos was all around her seeing demons in the streets and in the air, and various inanimate objects taking a life of their own and tried to attack people all around her. Carolina wasnt sure if Ananym was still behind her or not, but she knew she needed to get to safety as soon as possible.

Then she remembered the letter and knew that she needed to get to the Sanctum Sanctorum to try and repair the veil and stop the demons from pouring in any further. She had never actually been inside the Sanctum before but she had seen it numerous times whenever she was in the city and knew that it was at least an hour long walk over there and quickly started to head down that direction.

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Prudence nodded at Runa when she realized the woman wouldn't be able to see her. "On my signal then." Prudence waited until Jack stepped up, preparing her spell in the meantime. She watched as Jack used his means of corralling the beats before them. Prudence hated to admit it, but she was impressed by the man's skills. Perhaps men weren't as useless as she once thought.

Once he had done his job, Prudence stepped forward, "Now!" Prudence unleashed her Storm spell, attempting to summon a cloud big enough to fry as many of them as possible. She managed to summon a dark cloud above them crackling with energy.

The cloud sent out bolt after bolt, each one hitting one of the Green Eyed Ones. She managed to clock, by her count, 15 of them. It did some damage, but not enough to completely obliterate them. She hoped Runa could make up the numbers.

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The group quickly formulated a plan. Annika followed along as best she could, but she was distracted. She felt torn from abandoning Madelyn but also from her duty to her family. What if she never got back to them? What if so much time passed that they were all gone? How would she even get back to her time?

Annika looked down, feeling the velvet strangeness of the red cloak she bore. ”Am I doing the right thing?” she questioned the cloak. Her voice was quiet, barely above a whisper, but she thought the cloak may understand her.

Electricity filled the air around her and she heard the telltale signs of lightning strikes. Annika looked up to see the storm cloud Prudence created. Right, there was a battle going on. Annika sighed and released the cloak. She shut her eyes and thought of quiet things and shadowed things. She had used this strength often with her people. It helped them to sneak up on their enemies. Hopefully, it would help her friends here to remain undetected even though they were already in the heat of battle.

”Keep fighting! I am going to try and cloak us. Stay close.” Annika held her arms out, eyes still closed and called on the quiet things and shadows to make her companions moves and beings undetectable.

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Max hadn't heard his full name spoken in months. He scrunched his nose at it as if it was some malodorous thing. Had he told the hag his name before arrival? Was her powers that of divination? He had no idea but decided to keep his answer short. ”It's Max, and I feel fine, though I don't recall giving you my name…M'am.” A bit of confusion lacing his words as he spoke. He smiled at Jack's response, surprised he was just outright turned down. So he had a chance.

Max watched as the darkness around them began to bend and shape into vines and thorns that wrapped around gaggles of Green Old Ones, ensnaring them into an easier to hit target. The sleek woman seemed to be counting them down for their next attack, coordinated efforts to allow for these creatures no room to regenerate. Perfect. Max readied himself once more, his magic dancing at his fingertips as he waited for her call to fire. As soon as she called out, he let it roar.

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@Blizz: Your watch couldn't settle on a time. It kept changing wildly, fluctuating through hours and minutes faster and faster, never pausing. Whatever was happening to the veil, it wasn't good - space and time were intimately connected, two manifestations of the same thing. If time was behaving like this... what was happening to space, to reality?

@KazAlkemi: As you whisper to the cloak, asking if you were doing the right thing, a sense of connection would form in the back of your mind. There were not words expressed as much as there were feelings, images. Warmth and hope, mixed with the backdrop of a clear night's sky, the moon illuminating the terrain. As you let go of the cloak, the sensation fades.

The shadows slip through your fingers at first, as you attempt to grab them to veil you and your companions. This realm is strange and different, changing your spells and intentions. But the longer you stay here, the more you seem to find equilibrium, to become a little bit touched by this place. The shadows are yours to command, you and your companions cloaked and silent. You cannot hear each other; you can see each other.

@Trainerblue192: Your spells are powerful, but not as powerful as they should be without the weight of experience behind them. You incinerate fifty or so of the Green Eyed Ones, a small drop in the bucket. Slowly but surely, the threat is being dealt with - but how much time does Earth have while you wait?

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Runa inclined their head, more of a force of habit than anything else, as Max said that he did not know them. That was strange. Their memory was not what it had once been, but they were fairly certain they'd reintroduced each other. Had Max forgotten who she was, thrown off by her altered appearance? She supposed it had been quite some time and while she had not looked upon herself in ages, not in the traditional sense at least, she could feel the changes to her body, the weathering of her skin.

Yet they were silent, offering Max no explanation. There was little time to ponder that mystery, and Midgardians were so fragile, perhaps he had bumped his head or something of the sort in transit. Prudence signaled for them to attack, so Runa conjured up the magicks at their fingertips, whispering their word of power as they summoned up a gigantic ball of fire. They threw it in the direction that they had sensed the Green Eyed Ones, connecting briefly with them for a moment as the flames incinerated a quarter of the legion.

A slight smile graced their face, even as they felt tired, weakened.

But the smile soon faded, as Runa realized they could not hear their companions. For the first time in ages, fear trickled into their body.

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@Nallore: The door to the Sanctum Santorum opened, but it wasn't Wong who greeted you. Instead, it was a woman in her early 30s with a stern disposition and chunky glasses - Zelma Stanton. Zelma was the librarian at Strange Academy and an arcane historian. She isn't exactly happy to see you, a crossbow in hand pointed at your chest. But luckily enough, she doesn't shoot. "You better have a good explanation for why you're here and Stephen isn't," Zelma warned. "You have thirty seconds." Behind her, you'd be able to see party decorations - although all of the party guests seem to be long gone.

@Nallore: Getting to the Sanctum on foot was not going to be easy. Especially since some benches with anti-homeless infrastructure have come to life, standing up straight like a rectangular being, sprouting teeth as they lunge for you, trying to rip your head off. To make matters worse, a fire hydrant has joined in on the fun, pointing at you and exploding a rush of water at you, slamming you back onto the hard pavement, soaking wet.

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Not good.

The watch was just spinning in circles. This was, in many different ways, a problem. There was a stabile rift into the world of humans right down there, and time wasn't working properly. This watch was enchanted by another wizard long ago, to always be set to the time zone of California. So what in the sweet hell was going on in California? Or anywhere else on the entire fucking planet? Standing up, and putting the watch away, Jack looked down at the necromantic horde. "Time and space are growing worse. We do not have long." There was a fine line between patience and haste, and they needed to walk it like a tightrope. If they rushed, they'd stumble and ruin what chances they had at fixing the cosmos. If they were too passive, it would crumble beyond repair before they were done.

Jack watched as the darkness moved around them, though it was not at his behest. Annika weaved a spell around them, and they were cloaked... And deafened. Interesting, but wasn't Runa blind? She needed sound to find her way, so quickly, Jack rested a hand on her shoulder. If they moved in any significant direction, he’d nudge her so she didn’t get completely lost. It was all he could think to do right now, aside from grant the rest of them an ability to see through the dark. He pressed two fingers to his forehead, and his eyes went black as night. He gently tapped them against Max’s shoulder, and then Prudence’s. They would both experience their vision adapting to the shadows. They’d see through them, and then the world around them seemed… Clearer. Not brighter, but the darkness that loomed in every direction seemed almost transparent. It was like looking through seawater- You saw everything inside, as well as the water itself.

Jack assumed that, as the caster, Annika could see through this herself. So he waved to get her attention in the absence of sound, and pointed at Runa who he was trying to guide. He made a gesture to his eyes, trying to indicate that she could not see. Hopefully, she could connect the dots there: Runa needed sound to navigate.

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Madalyne waited at the door to the Sanctum Sanctorum her eyes occasionally looked around, luckily none of the demon possessed things came her way. It didn't take long until the door finally opened, she stared at the crossbow that was pointed directly at her chest her eyes going up to stare at Zelma standing in front of her demanding where Strange was. Madalyne slowly pulled out the letter from her cloak while she had one hand up as a way to try and show that she wasn't a threat. "It's a long story but the gist of it is that Strange is dead, he was killed in Limbo and for whatever reason passed the mantle onto me and several others." Madalyne said hopefully she was able to convince Zelma as she gestured to everything that was going on outside.

"The veil is broken and the legions of Limbo are already here invading Earth. The letter said to give it to Wong and he would instruct on how to repair it." She said as she held the letter out towards Zelma. "You can shoot me with that if you want, but we really need to start quickly on getting the veil fixed before it all gets worse." Madalyne warned Zelma.

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Carolina kept running as she tried her best to dodge and get out of the away of the animated road things that were trying to eat her, she was really glad to be back home. But she really needed to get to the Sanctum and do the whole ritual thing to try and repair it from getting any worse. Carolina turned her head when she heard something suddenly go flying out of the ground, water splashing just about everywhere. It was a fire hydrant that had been dislodged from where it had been, and it was coming straight towards her, she was pretty slow and couldn't get out of the way in time just as it slammed into her back.

Carolina landed onto the ground with a very loud thud, she would let out a loud groan as she slowly started to try and get back up to her feet, things were trying to eat her again and she didn't want to end up becoming food or anything. Then she remembered that she could use the cloak to try and fly her and quickly decided to try and do that.

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Klara really hated being in a fight that she felt sort of useless in. She'd been specifically told not to cut and slash at the monsters since that would make more of them. Ok, fair enough, that just meant that her sword was out, right? Wrong! Because she also had been told that fire was the best option to sort of burn and disintegrate them to prevent them from multiplying. That basically just took everything that she had left in her repertoire out of commission. Considering the last time she tried to use her powers to charm one of these things since the adults around her hadn't done anything to help her, resulted in her losing her soul to begin with. So she very much was not in a rush to try that again.

So as of right now, she wasn't sure there was anything she could do.

Her magic and powers weren't as strong as those around her, which sort of left her a bit stranded. However when Annika used her spell, that resulted in them not being able to hear anything, she noticed that Runa likely couldn't hear, and Jack wandered over to her to maybe guide her. If only he could actually hear her, because it was stupid for him to do that since obviously he actually would be able to do something against the Green Eyed Ones, whereas Klara could not. Walking over, she sort of waved her hand a bit at Jack, trying to get his attention, before pointing at him putting a hand on Runa's shoulder and shaking her head, before walking over and deciding to hold the hand of her cousin hoping it wouldn't freak her out or startle her. Hopefully Jack would get the hint to not worry about Runa, but instead would go back to doing damage against the monsters instead.

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All at once they unleashed their assortment of spells. They were managing to take down a few of the Greed-Eyed Ones. However, according to Jack, they were running out of time. This called for creativity. Prudence felt a tap on her shoulder. In any other instance, she would have hated being touched without consent, but she noticed her vision change. The darkness around them churned and she could see. Jack had given her some aid.

She hated owing someone something.

They had more important matters to take care of though. Prudence summoned her storm cloud again, but this time she also summoned a swarm of mosquitos. She combined the two and sent it after the monsters. The storm cloud rumbled and crackled with energy, unleashing its swarm to the masses. The mosquitos were alight with lightning, but they did not die. It would be as if each little creature had its own lightning storm inside of it. And mosquitos were annoying at the best of times.

With each bite, it would not only infect the beings, but it would also send its shock throughout its core. Prudence hoped that would be enough to obliterate a number of them. Sure enough, 100 of the monsters succumbed to her spells. Prudence allowed herself a sly smile, admiring her own abilities.

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Max unfurled his fingers, a mote of fire floating towards the Green Eyed Ones before rapidly expanding into a massive explosion that took out several dozen gods. There was a hint of excitement to this all, a far cry from constantly running and feeling helpless at the hands of Purifiers. There, if you attacked you proved their point that mutants were dangerous, but if you let them wale on you then you likely ended up dead or incarcerated. But here, here Max could stretch his mutant powers a bit more, test out just how much he could do. After all, every one felled was a trapped soul released back to their owner right? He was about to ask Jack if he'd seen what he just did, when suddenly darkness began to envelope them in a large blanket. Was this world fighting against them now?

Panic slowly crept in, as Max lost all sense of sight and sound. It felt suffocating to be inside this darkness. He could feel his pulse, his heart, the texture of his shirt rubbing against his neck. Everything felt amplified by the lack of the other two senses. How was he meant to fight? He took one step forward before there was a touch on his shoulder. Max spun in place, chopping the air with his hand only to hit nothing. As he spun, his vision began to change, the darkness became…less dark? It was difficult to explain. As if he'd been giving goggles to see underwater but only for it to work in the darkness. He saw the receding shape of Jack's back moving away from where Max had just tried to attack him. Taking in a deep breath, he decided to get back into the fight, using the cover of darkness to his advantage.

Max spoke the words to his spell, his hands following the somatics that changed with each casting as he bent the magic to his will. His right hand glided across the air from the left to right until he stopped just past his shoulder, spinning his finger downwards as if to make a tornado before closing his fist. His magic trailed out to where the creatures swarmed. A streak of Cosmic dust flitting across the lot as a massive cummerbund sprang to life and wrapped around 30 of them before closing in tight. He went for a second spell, conjuring a massive tophat to compliment the garment before it began to breathe fire onto the gods entangled in his mess. Max looked at Jack as he pantomimed “How long? What do we do?”

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Annika felt a warmth spread through her from the cloak, and she shut her eyes as the vision filled her mine. The moon was familiar to her. It was the same moon from back home, and Annika sighed, relief flooding her face.

After releasing the cloak, Annika worked her magic. The shadows responded to her differently. It was nearly intoxicating to Annika. They had never responded fully and completely to her before. She lifted her hands, examining the shape of them while her eyes adjusted to the shadows. Sound evaded her as it did all of them. Annika looked to Grandmother Runa, but she was quickly aided, so Annika focused her efforts elsewhere.

Jack signalled to her, but the need was unnecessary. Klara was at Runa’s side and could guide the older woman’s movements if needed. Annika felt for Runa, but the need of the collective was greater than that of the individual. Instead, Annika looked at Jack, pointed to the group, and walked her fingers slowly forward towards the Green-Eyed monsters. She needed to get closer to them to help. Of course, if the group wanted to maintain their current positions, Annika would continue to aid in cloaking them. So far, the Green-Eyed Ones have remained unaware of their position.

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@KazAlkemi: At first, the spell is easy to maintain - it is like breathing, a process done automatically. Yet as you change your form, shifting from human to wolf, your hold slips. The shadows you have expertly pulled around you have weakened partially, now dimming your presence rather than concealing it, muffling your words rather than silencing them.

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Runa was suspended in a sea of darkness, unable to see or hear. It was a special sort of isolation, a disconnection from the universe. Two of her senses had been lost. Yet she could still feel - feel a hand on her shoulder, likely not Klara's, the young girl wasn't tall enough. So one of the others. She was wise and bright and clever, but even some things eluded her without casting a spell - she didn't know whose hand steadied her, who reached out to her in the dark. Those Who Sit Above in Shadow must have been laughing down at her now, seeing the bill finally come due - or a portion of it.

The empty cavity where their heart once had been ached.

But then there was a new pressure - a hand gripping their own. It was small and soft, not yet ravaged by time. A child's hand. Klara's? They were meant to be here to protect Klara, not to be protected by her. They could not find their enemies, not trapped within this form, so Runa resolved to show their hand - to show the technique that had allowed them to end any sorcerer that had come to their realm, seeking vengeance or restoration.

Seidhr.

Freya had taught them this ancient craft, using the guise of Gullveig. It was more than just astral projection, more than just leaving one's body. It was a means of seeing the push and pull of the universe, of knowing what was to pass. Runa's body stilled, as they retreated deep within themselves - and then their body crumpled, falling lifelessly to the ground, like a puppet with its ties severed.

But they were free - their spirit unmoored, unchained. They floated above the field of darkness like a ghost, seeing through magic - through a body that was made purely of the remnants of their soul. Perhaps the others could sense them, but they would not see them. Not like this. They were like a ghost.

She could see something, something coming over the horizon for them all - something horrific in its scale. Runa pressed forward to get a closer look, to identify the threat that was to be - what Ananym had brought for them... She had almost reached it, had almost gotten close enough, when a distortion in the fabric of reality rippled through them.

And they were gone.

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@Nallore: Zelma snatched the letter from you, tracing a glyph above it. It glowed, indicating its veracity - and she lowered the crossbow, looking at you with horror, relief, and determination. "You just missed him - he's headed to the epicenter," Zelma explained. "I'm guessing you haven't seen the news?" She pulled out her phone, and quickly pulled up an image from a news article. At the top of the Empire State Building, there was a Satanic sigil, a flaming star. At each point of the star was... was a baby.

"It's like the last time - the Goblin Night's happening again."

@Nallore: You're lucky - the cloak responds to your command and you are whisked off of the ground, flying up into the sky. You go higher and higher until the cloak is certain you've found safety, giving you a moment to breathe and take in your surroundings. The city is in complete chaos, and as you peer outwards, two things catch your eye - 1) a sort of red veil surrounding the city, perhaps keeping people out... or others inside? and 2) a flaming pentagram in the sky above the Empire State Building. Neither of those things can be good.

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Runa performed some sort of astral projection while they moved. Jack didn’t know what the point of it was exactly, but it had to have been for a reason. Jack saw no reason to doubt the old woman’s magical abilities. But everything changed when he saw a fucking rift open right before her. An unstable rift, here in the god damn Everdark. Such a thing did not normally happen here, all of the rifts that dotted this vast world were persistent, and this only cemented the doom they were facing. The woman’s soul was gone now. That was two of them that had their souls torn from their bodies. Worst of all, if her body was left here, she’d never see it again.

Jack had to fill the void she left behind in their offensive. He tossed his watch to Max, who seemed curious about how much time they had. He’s find it was only ticking faster and faster, never slowing down. And then he did something arguably very stupid. He broke into a dead sprint down the hill, and took to the air remarkably quickly. He floated up, higher and higher, until he was a hundred or so feet above the house. It was at this moment when the sky came alive. With the numbers whittled down so much, that this was worth the gamble.

Thunder crackled overhead, loud enough that Jack’s companions could feel it through the ground, and further still when the air changed around them. It felt as if they were all being watched from a hundred million unseen places all at once. A vast, groaning noise rang out like straining metal, when the sky split wide open. Jack stretched his hands out, and tore down a fragment of it. A comet of black and lilac purple energy fell down to the earth below, like a monochrome sun. It struck everything around the Green Eyed Ones, incinerating the monsters, yet somehow now corrupting them further and spawning more, or harming the countless souls they had devoured over their lifespans.

It was almost beautiful how they were annihilated. In a haunting sort of way.

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Madalyne would let Zelma snatch the letter out from her hand and letting her do her spell or whatever to authenticate it if it was accurate or not. When Zelma lowered the crossbow and seeing the woman's expression change a few times, she was relived to know that Zelma believed her. She had just missed Wong and had gone off to deal with the situation as Zelma explained what was going on, Madalyne had heard of Goblin's Night once before Maddie Pryor had tried this once before by trying to bring Limbo here to Earth which was something that they didn't want happening at all.

Seeing what was on her phone screen with the news article on it, was already starting seeing the Pentagram on it along with several babies on each of the Pentagram's points. "What do we need to stop it then?" She asked hoping that Zelma would know, and that way she would be able to quickly head over there and prevent it all from happening.

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Carolina sighed in relief as she was able to get up and off of the ground and flew as high as she could the sky around her had a red hue to it, as if there was a massive dome around the city. Either to prevent something from coming in or something from coming out, either way it wasn't good at all as Carolina continued to fly towards her intended destination where the Sanctum Sanctorum was located. She however paused as she noticed a massive flaming Pentagram floating above the Empire State Building which caught her attention.

She started to fly closer towards the Empire State Building, as she got closer she looked at the Pentagram and noticed that there were several babies sitting on each of the Pentagrams points. Carolina quickly started to think about it as she looked at it very closely and then realized that the babies were somehow powering up the entire thing which wasn't good at all.

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The spell held, much to Annika’s relief. She started to shift form, but as she got further into the shift, she felt her hold on the other spell start to slip. Four large paws hit the ground with a muffled thud, and Annika shook herself out. Her silver coat remained muted thanks to the shadows, but Annika could hear the rumblings of her companions. The shadows were slipping on sound, but their physical presence was still hidden. Annika remained as close to her companions as possible to keep the shadows around them all, but she stalked forward to attack the nearest Green-Eyed Ones.

Annika managed to get a hold of some monsters, ripping them apart before the ground shook underneath her paws. Annika snarled, her lips pulling back over sharpened canines. She looked up at the sky and noticed it brighten as the shadows faded around her and her companions. Like the sun itself, a ball of light hurtled toward her and the demons. Annika quickly retreated, coming to stand beside Runa and Klara as the light hit the ground and vaporised all the Green-Eyed Ones. Annika sat back, curling her fluffy tail around her paws and looked from the destruction to Klara — who she was eye level with — before looking at Jack. Now what?

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Klara was very aware of Runa collapsing to the ground next to her without warning. "Runa? Runa? Are you okay?" she asked instantly, sort of nudging her a bit with her hand to try to get to move or wake up, but nothing seemed to happen with that. She wasn't sure what had happened, but her attention got pulled from Runa, to the chaos that Jack seemed to be causing near them with the whole incinerating the monsters and just destroying everything. Honestly that was a bit dramatic if you asked her.

She eventually started looking around, seeing if she can find her soul since just about everything was dead now, and eventually, she spotted the same sort of pink orb that had been ripped from her before, and she ended up getting it and her soul just sort of went back into her. "Yaaaaaaay!" she said happily as she decided to use some magic and suddenly there was a rather large burst of glitter that then covered everyone around them in a bit of a dusting of pink glitter. Klara didn't say anything, just giggling a bit, though she wasn't entirely sure where they were going or what they were doing now.

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With all of their efforts, the Green-Eyed Ones were losing numbers rapidly. Each of them adding fuel to the proverbial fire. Prudence was not paying full attention to her companions. Instead, she opted to fuel her fire. Her recent acquisition of power had changed something in her. She had felt compelled to unleash the beast, as it were.

Prudence stepped forward, crackling energy between her hands. The lightning was dark and stormy like it was possessed of a darkness as well as a light. She could feel it wanting to burst forth, but she held it longer, allowing it to fester like a wound. Once she was satisfied, she unleashed it, sending the dark light through the monsters, hitting one by one by one until she could feel it sink into their flesh, burning them from the inside and obliterating the lot of them into tatters.

Prudence smiled. This was power unlike any she felt before. It was unlike what she was given by her Master. She would need to do some soul-searching when she returned home. If she even did.

Facing the others, she glanced at Runa. Something was off about the old woman. Others had taken note. "We are victorious for now, but we should move onward. Where to next?" she asked Jack. This was his realm, after all.

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Max caught the watch that was tossed towards him. Clasping both hands around the time piece before removing the top hand and turning the watch over in his hand. The hands moving rapidly around the face like a Compass fighting to find true north. So, they had no time at all it seemed. More evident by the collapsing body of their teammate. Had the old lady simply croaked? Old age finally getting to her? Max didn't know, but he did know she didn't deserve to stay in a place like this. He could find family, ask loved ones how she would like to be buried. Until then…there was a battle ahead.

Max took his stance, having strapped the watch Jack gave him onto his wrist, now ready to help combat the Green Eyed Ones before them. However, it was extremely unnecessary. As Jack went headstrong alongside Annika and Prudence and tore them all apart until there was none left. Souls now freed and floating aimlessly amongst the darkness. ”If it's onwards we need, then let me be of some help. We can get back to the material plane, take the body of the fallen with us and see to it that she is properly taken care of.” Max instinctively snapped his fingers, a portal tearing open to the Sanctum Sanctorum in New York. His muscles doing it out of habit without him realizing why. ”Magic says New York. And by the sight of it, it's needed. Let's go.” He stepped through the portal, a fog lifting from his mind as his memories came flooding back. Placing one hand on his temple as he groaned in pain.

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Runa did not breathe, for she had no body. But she could see - could see where the current had carried her. She was at the heart of Yggradsil, simultaneously beholding and within the tree. The space around her was heavy and poisoned, noxious fumes permeating the air, stinging her skin even though she had none. There was a gigantic wound like a crevice before her, festering and bleeding a dark miasma. It was complete nonsense, but nonsense of the deadliest order. The world tree was both real and magical at the same time, an illusion that carried the power of belief. It represented the realms, and thus, the fabric that bound them. A sickness in the tree was the sickness in the veil - and it was not just Midgard that Ananym's forces were invading.

It was everywhere.

Alfheim.

Vanaheim.

Asgard.

Muspelheim.

Nidavellir.

Jotunheim.

Niflheim.

Helheim.

They were all burning, all of them with a horrific engine powered by the souls of the young. Infants arranged in pentagrams, placed there no doubt by Ananym's servants across the realms. It was then that the plot became clear to Runa - that this wasn't merely about Midgard, about invading that realm with Limbo's might.

It was about the Elder Gods - it was a ritual that would bring them back and see them take dominion. True Dominion. They would be brought back to this plane, and they would devour it - devour countless souls. They would then ascend and rule what remained - Ananym likely had struck a deal with them, that they would let her be Queen, ruling under their Divine Right.

Runa glanced upwards, sighing softly. Their sins had returned to haunt them.

And they needed to wake up.

So, with a gasp, they did - their spirit descending to the Everdark and inhabiting their worn old body once more. "Ananym's plan is far more terrible than we realized. She does not simply want to rule Midgard - she wants to devour all the realms for her masters so they might ascend to Dominionhood. We cannot allow this to pass." Dominions were invincible, undying gods beyond time and space. Once ascended, they had always been Dominion. Had always existed.

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@Trainerblue192: As you step through your portal, you find that you are somewhere that you recognize. You had just been there not too long ago (how long ago was it, really?) for a party. You have landed on the doorstep of the Sanctum Santorum in New York City - and a mailbox with gnashing teeth is currently trying to rip off your head.

(Any others who step through the portal will find themselves here with you).

@Nallore: You aren't the only one flying up around the Empire State Building - a flock of demons are there to greet you. They shriek at you and curse you, calling you a traitor, a false one - and they attack. You can defend yourself from some of them, but not all - they dive at you, scratching and clawing at you with foul, poison tipped talons. Your body feels hot and heavy, your head spinning. You'll need a cure - or at the very least, a way to fight back. The cloak can only do so much.

@Nallore: Zelma did know how to stop this - as an arcane archivist, she had read through reports of the original Goblin Night. "The babies must be removed from the pentagram - and then the witch doing all of this has to be destroyed," Zelma explained. "That was Maddie Pryor last time... I don't know who is doing it this time, but I bet whoever it is, they're the one that killed Stephen."