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Now that the fighting was over, and Klara got her soul back, all that was left was to get the hell out of the Everdark.

That is where we go next," Jack said in response to Prudence, as he pointed down past his home, towards a hole in space that led to a bright and sunny city. A far cry from the gloomy land they found themselves in. "With every passing moment, the lines between realms grows thinner. We-" His rant was cut short as Runa suddenly found her body again, which was both good and alarming considering how easy it was to enter this world right now.

"Dominions..." Strangely, Jack little knowledge of that subject. "The Machine Gods. That is uncharted territory for me, I'm afraid. But it can't be good, we must hurry, regardless." Jack held up his watch, which was spinning so fast that the hands were just a blur on the face. "Ananym is tearing reality apart. Let's go." He turned and ran out of the rift. Everdark rifts were curious. One did not walk through a two-way portal. Rather, every rift led to a fixed place in the cosmos, and when you passed through, you were simply there on the other side.

The strange part, however, is that they found themselves in New York City. Ordinarily, this rift led to California. Another grim sign that even the most stable of interdimensional borders were falling to chaos.

New York City had become hell on earth. Literally. Demons soared through the sky, and a blood red miasma hung overhead, surrounding a blazing pentagram stretching over the tallest buildings. It was difficult to see, but Jack could spot human children at the points of it. Looking around, Jack saw where they landed, and remembered this place. Albeit vaguely. The otherwise calm and collected wizard was awestruck in the worst way. [color=6644ff]"This... This is New York, in my time. This is the Sanctum Sanctorum- We're... We are running out of time. Ananym, [i]why?"[/color] He shouldn't have been surprised to see the chaos she had brought to earth. "She was always a wicked child, but a child no less. What did she become that drove her to this? If we don't stop her, there won't be anything left to save of this world."

He hated the idea of killing her. Even if it was a future version of her, Ananym was his friend. It had to be done, so he grit his teeth and found the determination inside that had kept him going this far and pointed at the sky. "Look around us, that is the engine powering all of this chaos! Ananym- Witchfire has brought Limbo to this world, and all the forces we faced and no doubt more are standing between us and Magik. We are walking into grave danger, but we can still make this right! If we can dispel that, we'll cut off the head of this invasion. We'll need help- Stephen Strange didn't work alone. If we can get inside the Sanctum, we can find the people he worked with." There was determination in his eyes, now. Ororo knew the world was calling to him, and maybe now he saw that for himself.

He was just about to walk up to the front door of the Sanctum and attempt to ram his boot through the doorknob when he saw the mailbox attacking Max. That was when Jack ran over and tried to grab it with a hand it couldn't injure. "Get away from him!"

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Madalyne listened to Zelma on how to stop this from happening and nodded, she had a very good idea who it was that was causing this and had killed Steven Strange. "I know who is doing this while we were in Limbo we met someone by the name of Ananym who also went by the name of Witchfire. She's the one who most likely did kill him." Madalyne said as she thought about it seemed fairly easy enough just kill the one who is doing this and remove the babies from where they were on the Pentagram.

"The plan seems easy enough. Is there anything else that we need to do or should know about?" Madalyne asked Zelma, when she looked over her shoulder towards the window as she noticed a portal opening up and Max stumbled out of it along with Jack. Which was good then they needed to stop this as soon as possible as she went out to greet them. "Glad to see that you guys are alright." Madalyne said to the two of them.

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When Carolina got to close to the Empire State Building she was confronted by Ananym's forces rather quickly as they called her a traitor and false one. Then they quickly swooped in and started to attack her, Carolina tried to protect herself by blocking some of their attacks with her arms along with the cloak trying to fight them off. She cried out in pain however when some managed to get a few good scratches in on her, causing her to bleed. Her vision started to get blurry and her head started to feel very heavy, she knew that she couldn't handle all of the demons, and she needed help.

Carolina quickly turned and tried to fly away in the direction of where the Sanctum Sanctorum was when a demon grabbed her leg and she let out a scream in pain as a demon managed to claw her really good and made a very long and deep gash down her leg, she looked down seeing that she was bleeding very badly now. She noticed a bit of bone was now showing as well to, Carolina quickly flew away as fast as she could managing to get away from them before landing on the steps of the Sanctum.

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Annika looked up at the pink dust that fell over them all. It tickled her nose causing the wolf-Annika to sneeze. She rubbed a paw over her nose before looking at the stillness of Runa. Annika whined, worried for the old woman. After another moment, Runa gasped, clearly returning from wherever she went. The news she carried with her did not bode well for them. Annika assumed Runa had gone on some sort of spirit walk, similar to what Annika had to do to retrieve her powers from the Creator.

Max opened a portal, and Annika did not recognize the scene. It wasn’t familiar to her, but she couldn’t deny the pull to enter. With a final look at the others, Annika padded forward on her paws and entered the portal.

Annika was assaulted with strange smells and sounds. The demons running amok wasn’t even the worst of it. Strange rock buildings stood all around her. The Sanctum Sanctorum was strange yet familiar. The cloak seemed to respond to the building, feeling more settled on her back. But there were strange lights and hardly any grass and barely trees where she stood. Annika turned in a circle, seeing cars for the first time. Everything was an assault on her senses.

A familiar voice interrupted her shaking breath, and Annika looked over at Madalyne. Annika stepped closer to Madalyne, seeking comfort in familiar numbers. Annika knew she had to shift back to human soon, but she was waiting.

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Klara was still giggling a bit, namely with regards to the amount of glitter everywhere as of right now. She always had fun with that sort of thing, tended to make it a bit easier for her to follow along after people and find where they went. Or in this case just because she felt like everywhere they were needed glitter. Everything was better with it in her opinion, and the Everdark definitely needed it. As did everyone who was with her, hence why she had thrown glitter around like she usually did.

A portal opened up, and Runa started talking about something that didn't make sense to her, something about them wanting to destroy everything? That was the gist of what she understood, and Jack's talking wasn't exactly helping out with her understanding. It didn't matter though, people were starting to head through the portal, so Klara was going too. However the explanation of where they were once they got through the portal wasn't exactly the greatest. "...Wait where are we?" she asked incredibly confused as to what place Jack was sort of describing or at least just naming. This place was really weird and not something she'd ever seen before.

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Prudence followed Jack through the portal and set foot in yet another unfamiliar place. Giant buildings surrounded her, made of metal. The ground was stone, but stone that was placed with purpose. She had little time to gauge her surroundings as she saw demons run amok amongst everything.

According to Runa, who had lost herself and found it again, it was stated that this Annanym's plan was the destruction of literally everything. Why was that a goal for people, she wondered. Why did it take the desecration of entire worlds for plans to come to fruition? If everything was gone, what did that serve you? She would prefer everything be as it was and rule over it all.

"If we are running out of time, I suggest we make haste to into this sanctum. The demons would slow us down but fighting them all would consume time as well." They were also reuniting with some of the others. The warlocks seemed to be battling with some metal monstrosity. Prudence rolled her eyes. It was this that would cause the destruction of the world. She made her way towards the doors to this sanctum they mentioned. Perhaps she would find this power first.

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Max backed up carefully as the mailbox attempted to take a bite at him. ”Hey cool it. You know me.” He couldn't believe all the activity around them. Demons flying high, Carolina seemed to be with another as Mads helped nearby. A Pentagram encircled the sky with small things affixed at each point. He could only guess that they were sacrifices . There were always some sort of sacrifices. He looked back at the doors, wards were in place, no sign of activity either. He'd been taught this protocol while under the tutelage of Strange. ”Listen up. Under the event of a Demon invasion the doors to the Sanctum must remain closed. They are warded against such intrusions and will keep the Demons from accessing even more potent weapons. I'll search for Wong in the air, he should be in the thick of it all. Find him and ask what he needs, he'll have more of a plan in place than we can muster without information, what's more he could benefit from what bits we do know.”

Max mimicked the hand placements that Strange had done so many times when flying. Mixing a bit of his own magic into it to ease out the ride as he called upon his soul staff. He jutted up quickly, then made choppy hops higher and higher until he reached Carolina. ”Need a hand?” He asked as cosmic dust flowed around his staff and then made its way towards her bite, entangling it as it healed the wound. Max looked over the city of New York, searching for a sign of Wong when he found him evacuating people from the Empire State Building. Max sent a wave of magic over Wong's position, a replica image of the Statue of Liberty floating above his location so the rest knew to follow Liberties Flame.

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My name is Madelyne Pryor.

You may know me as the Goblin Queen.

On a night just like this, I tried to destroy the world. Reality denied me, the entire world telling me that I was fake, a nobody person in a nowhere place, just a placeholder for Jean Grey, nothing more. My husband abandoned me and our child. My child was kidnapped, I was attacked, almost killed. Every memory I have of my childhood is a lie, every romantic feeling that I felt for Scott was a lie - I was a brood mare, created to be used and discarded.

So I decided to discard the world. I made the bargain with Sym. I took the power, I bathed in Limbo's flames.

The X-Men defeated me.

I died.

Jean Grey took my son and claimed him as her own - took my future and made it hers. To my friends, I am nothing more than a bad memory, a horrible dream - not a person, but a thing, made to be used, made to be manipulated.

I reject that.

I reject this world.

Now Ananym is trying to finish what I started - now Ananym is taking my design and making it her own.

And still, I am nothing - not even a thought, not a mention, not a player in this drama, the sequel to the most horrific night in my life.

So I reject you too.

I reject you all.

@Nallore: "Aside from trying not to die?" Zelma deadpanned. "I know that there's a corrupting influence that happened on some people last time - but it was those closest to the Goblin Queen. Anyone who is emotionally close to this Ananym person is going to be in trouble." She then adjusted the crossbow, aiming and taking out a flying toaster demon that was getting suspiciously and worryingly close to them.

@Blizz: Covered from head to toe in Klara's pink glitter, you grab the mailbox with shadows and smash it over and over again into the pavement. It is a small and unsatisfying victory, but a victory nonetheless. The sky is thick with demons like clouds, the light filtering through a deep crimson. How long until you break - how long until you give in? This is not your realm. Go home, child of the Everdark. Leave this place.

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"You all best come inside," Zelma, arcane archivist of the Sanctum Santorum, beckoned. Runa felt something tiny and scratchy on her hand, and it took her a moment to realize that it covered her entire body - and it felt suspiciously like glitter. As she could not see, she was unaware that the entire party from the Everdark was covered in sparkling pink glitter - Klara's handiwork. She only knew that it seemed she had a fair amount on her and Runa debated casting a spell to incinerate each piece individually, but decided to let it be.

She had no eyes to see the shiny specks with anyways.

They put a hand on Klara's shoulder, using their younger cousin as a bit of a guide as they entered the Sanctum Santorum. To Runa, the space was a darkness with splotches of deep colors, the intense magic of this place made manifest. To the others, it was the quintessential decor of Stephen Strange - deep red curtains, ancient tomes and artifacts all around, an old yet well maintained hardwood floor that their heels clicked against as they walked. Candles burst to light as they entered, and some Halloween decor from Party City burst into song.

"Yikes, sorry, that's not the mood," Zelma muttered, hurrying to shut off the Frankenstein head that was singing the Monster Mash. The place was covered with red solo cups and other party supplies as well - someone had been playing King's Cup too. "Look, you're all somehow the Sorcerer Supreme. I don't know how that's fucking possible, but we need you to go fix this NOW. The veil's got maybe minutes left at best. One of you has to cast the renewal spell - well, all of you. Together."

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The universe was his home. Every reality from here to the Astral Spheres, every planet, every fringe civilization beyond the scope of humanity. It was all just a stone's throw away, the same distance, to Jack. It was ironic, then, that he never noticed the dangers threatening the world until now. He should have been here at Strange's party. Maybe he could've stepped away and caught the man being murdered. And now, he walked through the mystical halls of the Sanctum, a place he hadn't set foot in for a very long time, not since Strange first took up residence. The place had his personality all over it, from the curtains to the countless knowledge stacked to the ceiling. Did anyone notice that he was missing? Did anyone notice the most powerful magician on earth was no longer present, or did they simply run without a passing thought when the demons arrived?

Everything could be swept away so easily. Nothing lasted forever.

Zelma caught them up about the Veil. It would be a matter of minutes before it fully collapsed and the lines between Earth-616 and Limbo no longer existed. Like water and paint, they would blur together, and both would be irreparably changed forever. They had to renew the Veil as one, all in unison.

Jack was suddenly very, very grateful that he had come here once before. "The Renewal spell can theoretically be cast by anyone, regardless of their magic background," Jack offered. "I know it. I was here when the title of Sorcerer Supreme was passed down to Stephen Strange. I remember when he used it. It requires the soul of the Sorcerer Supreme, and there are eight of us."

He looked out a window and saw that things were getting decidedly worse. "If we work in unison to cast the spell, it should be enough to save earth. It is verbal, so listen closely and follow my lead."

Jack took in a deep breath, and cleared his mind. He thought back to the feeling in the air when Strange said the words. The feeling of worlds growing further away, of distance unfurling upon itself into infinity. The horizons growing distinct, more like themselves, and ever more distinct.

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"Well luckily for me I don't know her all that well then." Madalyne said to Zelma after all she had just met Ananym that night or however long it had been since they all had been in Limbo for. She turned to see that the others were now getting out of the portal they were all covered in glitter which was kind of funny despite everything that was going on all around them. She held the door open for everyone else to get into the Sanctum itself.

Luckily it seemed that Jack knew what the ritual was and they didn't have to seek out Wong who was probably out there now in the thick of it all. They needed to repair the Veil between Earth and Limbo right now by the sound of Zelma's urgency they only had a few minutes left before Limbo and Earth merged. Hopefully they would also cut off the demons trying to come through from Limbo which would make dealing with them a lot easier. "Alright then lets get the ritual started." Madalyne said as she grabbed Jack's hand and started to repeat the same exact words that Jack was saying.

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Carolina felt so tired her entire leg felt like it was completely on fire right now, and everything sounded pretty muffled to her as she could see the Sanctum coming close and someone flying up to her. Then the figure grabbing her leg she would let out a loud groan in pain as Max started to heal her wound and just as the pain had came it was all gone and she was starting to feel a lot better now. "Thank you.." Carolina said as she started to land down on the ground meeting up with the others.

The moment she landed on the steps of the Sanctum Carolina started to feel very wrong as she quickly grabbed onto the railing of the steps where Max had healed her. The skin along her leg started to turn into a dark red color along with the rest of her body and a pair of horns suddenly appeared on her forehead she had taken on a slight demonic appearance as Carolina looked down at her body, it was really worrying to her. But they needed to work on the task right now with repairing the veil as Carolina slowly walked into the room meeting up with the others as she listened to Zelma and Jack's instructions and joined hands with the others.

"Through heart and soul of the Fifth Eternity, the world hears my call,
Invaders from horizons unbound, and hunters of the frail,
In the name of Agamotto, son of Oshtur, the Earth rejects your might,
May the Divide of the Cosmos stand tall, and never fall to ruin,
Lest we wither and lament the endless war of chaos everlasting.

May those who trespass these sacred bounds mourn their fate,
And the wicked from lands unseen be banished from whence they came,
The land, the sky, and the soul of Life defy the Great Beyond,
By decree of the Sorcerer Supreme, none shall trespass upon this Veil!"

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Annika struggled to remain present with all the chaos that was happening around her. However, she managed to follow the others inside and looked at the vast building. It felt oddly familiar, but Annika knew that couldn’t be right. She had never been in such a vast structure before… and yet…

A female presenting person started speaking to them, confirming that they were all Sorcerer Supremes and needed to cast a Renewal Spell. Annika had never heard of such a thing, but if she needed to speak it, she needed to be human. Annika transformed back into her human self. She shook out her body and cloak, getting used to being on two feet once more.

Jack spoke the spell first, followed by Madalyne, then Carolina. Annika knew these were words she had never spoken before, but like the building she stood in, they were familiar to her. Annika shifted the words to speak in her native tongue instead --- at least for the words she could easily translate in her head --- but she repeated the spell all the same.

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Prudence looked around inside the sanctum with a mix of awe and horror. The inanimate objects began bursting forth with song. Truly a house of horrors until someone came to stop them. She appeared well-versed in their predicament at the very least. Though Prudence was getting tired of being cast as the hero in this fable.

In retrospect, if the spell was not done, that subjected them all, herself included, to a multitude of offenses. Death and enslavement, the end of it all. As much as she wanted to go back home and as little she cared for her companions, she did not want herself subjected to this brand of horror. So, with some hesitance, she listened as the others began the spell. Once there was a break, she spoke her word.



The words tasted sour in her mouth, but hopefully they did their job.

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"No one answered my question as to where we are!" Klara said rather loudly as she was more or less guided along to where everyone else was heading, towards some weird building she didn't recognize or anything like that. Everything was definitely a bit weird and chaotic. Plus not to mention the fact that in her mind there still wasn't enough glitter around. Seriously glitter tended to make everything better, brighten up the moods and makes it so that things aren't so dark and dreary.

Hence why during the whole everyone explaining everything, she decided to throw more glitter up in the air that then exploded and covered glitter all over everyone once again, and she started giggling like crazy, to the point where she wasn't fully paying attention to the words that Jack was saying they all needed to repeat or whatever. Which was probably not a good thing.

"Through heart and something of the Fourth Eternity, the world hears something something I don't know, what words am I supposed to be saying again? You expect me to repeat something back so easily why?"

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Max saw from above how everyone scuttled into the safety of the Sanctum instead of searching for Wong. Had they figured something out after he'd left them? Gotten guidance from another sorcerer within the Sanctum? Carolina began to fly down and Max followed suit behind her. Watching as his magic was still tainted even after leaving Limbo. Red skin formed at the wounds site as Carolina grew demonic features. He decided it was from the bite itself instead, like an infection that corrupted the magic at the site and not the source. He had to believe that. Jack had apparently known the renewal spell, the very thing the note had asked of them from the very beginning.

Max wasn't sure of all the details, but he had to wonder why Jack didn't speak of it sooner? Could they have prevented this invasion had they tried the spell within Limbo? Or would Limbos influence have tainted the barrier allowing them to slip by? Just how many steps ahead (or behind) was Jack in all of this? It mattered not. Everyone was holding hands save for Prudence. Did she always have to be such a sore thumb? Max made his way towards the group, magic coalescing at the palms of his hands as he tried to bring back Ed's soul. But try as he might, his magic fizzled out twice. A groan of agitation escaped him as he wondered how Casper made it seem so easy. If he could do it why couldn't Max? Pink Glitter garnished the room and those in attendance as Max joined in.



Max spoke the words, continuing the chant of the others as he went to lace his hand into Jacks. Their fingers entwined as he felt the circuit begin to form. His free hand shifted to be placed along Prudences shoulder, but there was a feedback, backlash of magic as his hand was forcibly rejected off. ”Please don't fight this. We need to act as one. To strengthen ourselves and this is the best chance we have to do so. I've seen it work first hand. A circuit is needed.” He pleaded to the others.

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@Trainerblue192: You recite the rite. A portion of the veil is restored - a portion of the veil that you had destroyed, piece by piece, as you raised the dead. That is the true secret at the center of this tale, the horror you have yet to know. The veil was only weak enough for Ananym to pierce because you had broken it, that with every mutant you resurrected, the boundaries between life and death weakened - the boundaries between us and them weakened. And now will you pay for their life with death.

@Patientbean: You recite the rite, even as it tastes like ash in your mouth. A portion of the veil is restored, flickering back into existence - yet it is fragile, delicate, uncommitted, just as you are uncommitted to this goal, this station.

@KazAlkemi: You recite the rite, and perhaps your gods hear you, as a portion of the veil is restored - as the shield around our reality is strengthened through your soul.

@Nallore: You recite the rite, yet you are inexperienced to spells, to magicks. The words are awkward and clunky on your tongue, and the portion you restore is weak - an exposed target.

@Nallore: You recite the rite, Madalyne - my name twin. But the magic rejects you, the fire of the hells pouring from your mouth as you collapse to the ground in agony, as the fury of Limbo warps you, twisting you - deep burns appear all over your body, and scars litter your back, showing the repeated blows of a lash. You must submit to make the pain stop - you must change. It is time to leave this human form behind and to ascend.

@Blizz: You recite the rite, the one you had heard once before. But there is something off, something distracting you. Perhaps it is as simple as math - there are only eight of you, and magic is best in threes. You restore a portion of the veil, but only a portion.

@Bluesky44: Your words fail to stir the magics. No veil is restored, little girl.

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Runa would not partake in Max's mutant circuit - in his mutant magic.

They stood apart from the others, unaware that they were covered in glitter (as most of them were, due to Klara's interference). They knew of this magic, of the melding of mind, body, and soul that took place, enhancing abilities to the extent that new powers were created, powers and abilities beyond what they were ordinarily capable of. Yet Runa did not dare attempt it - such a thing was forbidden. She had no heart to share, no salvageable portion of their soul to merge. And the secrets that dwelled within their mind, they were for them and them alone.

If that was what Midgard required - if that was what all the realms required, all of existence - it would not impact their god, it would not harm Those Who Sit Above in Shadow. Their god would remain, outside of existence, outside of space and time. Any other version of their loved ones subsumed into that collective would be erased, the endless cycle breaking, the horror stopping. If Ananym's gods ascended, the universe would end - but their god would remain, unhurt, unchanging.

It was then that Runa decided - it was then that they saw.

It was time for it all to end.

They would steal Ananym's stolen power for themselves, would use it to light the blaze that would become an inferno, the flames that would burn the universe to ashes - that would finally allow them to rest, to find release.

"I cannot say that vow," Runa said softly. "And I cannot take part in your rite."

It was a terrible thing, to fall.

But far more terrible to admit it.

She knew now, truly knew that her soul was lost - that whatever scraps of goodness she once had had been the price for Dominion, for ascension, for the birth of her god.

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It was working. There was no clear way to know for sure, no feeling in his bones that told Jack that the Veil was regenerating. But he had a feeling their efforts were making some semblance of progress. Any progress put them further away from certain doom. The glitter staining his clothes was getting everything by now. It would take weeks To get rid of it all, but the thought. That faded as Jack felt his kind melding together again with Max’s. Their thoughts and the power each of them held turned outwards upon itself. Like a geometric shape unfolding into infinity, the wells connected and formed the ocean.

He wasn’t particularly surprised that Klara seemed to fumble the chant. She was a child, and he knew how to remedy that. But as they recited the Renewal spell, he noticed Madalyne spitting fire like a dragon. It looked like the spell was actively harming her- literally burning her alive just saying the words- and he felt distressed at the sight of her pain. Why didn’t he think of this sooner? In Limbo, he noticed she seemed to exhibit some demonic capabilities, but avoided commenting on it because he didn’t want to be rude. But now, her hybrid origin was working against her.

And worst of all, Runa flat out refused to take part in it.

What had she done to herself? She seemed different now. Jack turned and shot her an exasperated look, ”Have you lost your mind?! This is what we need to stop the invasion! Why would you come this far with us, only to-“ He cut himself off, quickly reminding himself that they had to see this through. Squabbling wasn’t going to help them, it would only slow them down. Prudence didn’t want to do this either, but at least she was seeing it through. Jack kept silent for a moment as he thought about what to do.

One refused, another could get herself killed. But he had his book…

”Fine. Refuse, and leave it to us. But if we need your power, and the fragment of Strange's soul you were given, I will take them by force if I must. We did not come this far to fail." Ever determined to see this through, Jack released his hands from Max’s, and reached into his coat. He was going to get glitter in the pages… Oh well. It was for a good cause.

"Madalyne, save your strength for a moment. We may be able to do this without you. The chance is small, but it's better than killing you to do this."

Thanks to the melding of their minds, Max and anyone else participating would know exactly what the was getting at before he did it. He hoped it didn't come to fighting one another, but would they succeed otherwise?

He pulled the small book from his pocket and instantly began flying through pages. He had it with him when he was first dragged into Limbo, and it could not have been more useful than right now. ”That will leave six of us. It’s a universal truth that magic works best in threes. Mathematically speaking, two sets of three will make the spell flow more intuitively, like a river without rocks in its path. It may be slower, but slow and steady is superior to fast and loose. Where is it- Where is- Here!”

He found the page he was looking for. It was the Renewal chant written down, word-for-word, as a passage in a section of the book about the Veil. ”Klara, if you can’t memorize the spell, use this. I wrote it down years ago, and it is exactly the same. Read it from the page, it’ll be easier for you.” He handed the book to her, trusting her with it even after the glitter had stuck to the pages.

”The spell requires the soul of a Sorcerer Supreme to cast, but we're working with a broken version. But more we cast the spell, the more we repair the Veil. Again!” he rejoined hands with Max and began to recite the chant.

Over, and over, and over again.

However, in the back of his mind, some small part of him was dreading this. Something was telling him that this workaround wasn't going to pay off, but they had to try first. They lost a piece of the soul in Limbo, and now one of them simply wouldn't take part. The Veil was certainly regenerating thanks to the effort. but could the mend it faster than it was breaking? Or were they simply breaking even against the endless tide by working with fractions of power?

If they couldn't use clever tactics to win, would they have to kill Runa?

Would they even be capable of killing someone like her?

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As Madalyne started to chant the spell she started to feel very off, and suddenly she felt an incredible amount of pain going throughout her entire body. She quickly released her hands from the rest of the group breaking her connection with the spell. She started to breath out fire, and then she started to cry out in pain something was telling her to accept her demonic heritage. She completely ignored Jack as she was in to much pain to do much of anything really. Then the glitter thanks to Klara covering her in it didn't help much at all really either. Burns and lashes started to appear across her body as she curled up into a fetal position. She had always rejected her demonic half, ever since her first transformation back during her training way back when she was attending the Avenger's Academy.

She didn't want to become anything like S'ym or Ananym, and most demons she had encountered were always evil or were plotting something she rejected it all. She tried her best to ignore the pain as she started to try and heal her wounds somewhat, as she healed herself her demonic features slowly started to disappear, she continued to heal herself and the wounds were gone.

Madalyne slowly started to sit up and looked down at herself. She didn't feel her demonic wings or tail anymore, as she touched her forehead. "I'm fine.." Madalyne said softly as she slowly stumbled back up to her feet. She felt a lot better now better than she had in a long time now she looked at Jack and then the others she was completely human. Then she turned to look at Runa who rejected in partaking in the ritual. "If we don't do this everyone and everything dies." Madalyne said to Runa hoping to convince her as she went back to trying to restore the veil.

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"We are on Earth or Midgard as you guys like to call it." Carolina answered Klara seeing as no one else really had answered her, she was covered in glitter once more of course it was something that Klara liked to do. She took part in the ritual unlike everyone else in the room was never a trained sorcerer like everyone else was, and she sometimes felt completely useless throughout this entire journey. She was able to restore some of the veil but not much at all, as she watched the demon girl who was helping them suddenly stepped back, seeing the woman was in a lot of pain. She wished that there was a way that she could help her somehow but there wasn't at all.

Carolina was able to restore more of the veil as she started to get the hang of it all, as she turned to look at Runa who had not been helping with the ritual she didn't even want to stop everything that was happening all around them. "Runa please we really need your help with restoring the veil, everyone is going to die if you don't help." Carolina told her, she had her family and friends that she wanted to try and help and protect from all of these demons.

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Prudence rolled her eyes at Maz's insistence on them all working together. She recited the words. The veil was repaired, albeit not completely. She felt it was due to her lack of committal, but what was there to commit? "I have said the words you shared. I need not do more and do not touch be again without my approval. I am committed to restoring the veil, but that is where our alliance ends."

Jack had tried his best, but it appeared that she was not alone in her refusal. Runa did not speak the words nor did she wish to take part. Prudence felt some respect. Though Runa was old. She had lived a life. What did she care of existence ended?

Prudence chuckled as everyone began pleading with Runa. "She is her own person and can make choices for herself. If we cannot do it without her we have no right to call ourselves Sorcerer Supremes." Prudence recited the words again, though she still felt unsure. She looked at Runa. Perhaps the woman was right to not take part.

No this was something more. Prudence felt it back when she had promised herself to her Lord. And felt better when she had made a choice for herself despite him.

Prudence's vigor was renewed. Damn the others, she would see this veil restored for herself and herself alone. Then she would deal with Runa and whatever source existed that needed her.

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Annika felt strengthened after she spoke the last words. She felt stronger and more connected to the rest that had spoken, like a part of her remained with them all. However, Runa’s words fell heavy on her soul. She looked at the older woman and wondered what had occurred when she left her body. Perhaps her soul hadn’t returned at all.

Annika moved to stand closer to Runa. She opened her mouth to speak to the older woman but then shut it again, unsure what to say. This woman was older than Annika and far wiser. Whatever prevented Runa from speaking, there must have been a good reason—soul intact or not.

When Jack urged them all to speak again, Annika shut her eyes, taking hold of the hands open to being held and reciting the ancient words in her native tongue once more. She let her power mingle with her new comrades and ancestors, praying she would return home to see her family again.

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Max expected a fight back from Prudence. Hell, her whole existence seemed to be to spite men and go against the grain, or if ever she followed the flow of the river then she did so begrudgingly and with complaint. Yet here she was, speaking the rites while refusing their hand. What he hadn't expected was Runa's refusal. Somehow that hit him the hardest. Hot tears formed at the corner of his eyes as he looked at the woman he once knew. Was her heart so bitter in her old age that she couldn't be bothered to save humanity? Or was she just so tired of having to save it that she had decided it was time for it to end. ”Fine then Runa. Don't help. You never answered my calls for aid before, why should I think this time would be any different.”

Max looked away from her towards all the others, swallowing the lump in his throat. ”Jack is right. Madalyne, step down, recover, and see if you can deal with the Pentagram above us. It has to be disabled for this all to stop. Runa if you can help with that do so, if not…whatever. The Power of Three is important and Sacred in magic. With six we can do more than what would be possible with Eight. If we still had Ed…if I was faster to act…nevermind that. Recite the words, join hands, and we work as one.” He thought about the souls Jack mentioned, about how each one had a fragment of Stephen's inside of them. But then what happened to Ed's fragment? And how could hebrest Runa's and Madalyne's from them? Stranges voice echoed inside his thoughts Often Times a duel is required to Usurp the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme, and Often times to the death.

Max didn't want to kill either of them, he wondered if it was possible to duel and win without someone dying. Could it be decided by something as rudimentary as Rock, Paper, Scissors? Would that suffice? Would he even win? He recited the words once more, holding his hand out to Annika, the woman he'd swapped minds with for a moment, hoping she'd join him and Jack in the circuit. Even just adding her, a third, would help tremendously.

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She was a bit confused as to why Runa wouldn't help or anything, it was odd to her. "Why?" she ended up saying to her cousin, figuring it'd be best to straight out ask. She then turned to look at the others who were around, "...Also how dumb is it to sit there and insult the person whose help you are wanting? You shouldn't be insulting her at all! Doesn't sound like anyone actually even knows what caused this whole thing in the first place, so why are you arguing about it? And no one is going to kill anyone!" yup even though she didn't fully know anything about why Runa wasn't going to help, no one was going to basically insult her cousin if she had anything to say about it, plus they were threatening Runa's life now!

Klara didn't say anything immediately following that when Jack handed her the book to read from instead. Honestly this was getting to be incredibly time consuming and annoying. Sure she could read, but it was going to be a little slow, she wasn't super fast or anything like that. So she just sort of started reading out the really weird words, not too sure what she'd expect with it honestly. But if Jack tried anything against Runa because of his threats she'd have more to say about that.