---

As Elijah reappeared, there was a split second where it looked like it was going to avoid it again. Its body started to contort to avoid the direct blow, trajectory of its claws changing from towards Elena to towards him. But it was hurt and in a battle of wills with Loni as her Black Lux clashed against it.

The spear embedded right into its chest. It stared at Elijah, lips still pulled up into a creepy smile even as the life left its eyes.

“This is just… the beginning…” It whispered, before going limp. Its body slumped to the floor, losing the resemblance to James until it could only be described as… generic. Not quite recognisable as anyone. Almost like clay given human form.

It was dead.

Loni could tell immediately, the bright spot disappearing from her vision. The barrier dropped and her eyes went from pitch black to their normal brown. Her face was pallid and her body shook slightly. It only made the bright blood on her shoulder more obvious. But she barely noticed it. She just felt numb.

Too much Black Lux.

“Mama… maamaaa!” Luciana’s large eyes spotted the dead body, and she started wailing. Ear piercing screams filled the bakery as she hid her face into Loni’s stomach. Her terrified crying snapped Loni out of the post magic stupor enough to tightly hug her daughter to her.

"Sh, sh, is okay, baby, you’re safe," Loni mumbled. She supported Luciana with her good arm, other hand gently caressing the back of her head. She winced, the pain from her wound worsening without the adrenaline and pure apathy that came with her Black Lux. It hurt so much… and it was cold. But holding her daughter close made her feel warmer. "He ain’t a person- c’mon, Mamá’s got you. I got you, baby. It ain’t gonna hurt you. Shhh. It's all over."

Luciana didn’t stop crying, but she quietened down in Loni’s arms. Loni looked up, over her daughter’s curly head. Tired eyes found the others in the room. She looked almost detached… her voice flat as she spoke up.

"Thank you for gettin’ it. Can someone help me with… this…" She looked at the deep claw wound on her shoulder, then at Elena. Hopefully she could still help with the bleeding…

---

Quill spun on her heel as the entity whispered its threats behind her before she turned back in time to see it slit one of the woman's throats who attempted to do the same to her. Quill had faced death before. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling, though this was just as intense. Thankfully it was short-lived as it appeared weakened from attacks against it. Quill watched as one of their own put an end to it. It gurgled out a passing message.

This wasn't over.

Quill let out the breath she had been holding, unsure if there would be any more danger coming at them. When she was sure it was safe (or relative to that) she turned back to the backrooms of the bakery to search for a first aid kit. She wasn't paying so much attention to anyone else at that moment. Once she found it and ensured it had some of the supplies she would need Quill grabbed it and ran back to the woman who had been injured. The customer fighting her was a lost cause.

Quill set the first aid kit down and got to work. "Admittedly I am not the greatest, but I have watched a lot of Grey's Anatomy and Scrubs so I can manage until a more professional person sees you." Quill observed the injuries, cleaning them up as best she could before wrapping them. As she worked Quill's eyes fell on the young girl with her. Quill made eye contact and smiled warmly. "Your mom is very brave. And so are you. You know what that means? It means being scared and still doing the scary thing and this was pretty scary huh? Can you make sure your mom takes care of herself later for me?"

Once finished, Quill stood up. "Ok that should hold for now. I'd ask how you are but I think I know the answer." She turned to Elijah and the others with her. "So all this," Quill said, gesturing to the destruction in the bakery, "is in my wheelhouse. I can get it cleaned up and taken care of if need be, but I am going to need someone to fill me in. I came here to find someone and found something else."

The Cozy Bakery
Downtown North District
Interacts: Loni@Fernstone, Elena@Qia, Quill@PatientBean

---

Finally, the monster was dead and Elijah's gambit bore fruit. He watched while keeping the spear steady as the creature died but, with one last word. “This is just… the beginning…” Once whatever it had collapsed and it turned into something generic looking. Did he pull the spear from its dead body and capped it and it turned into a pen and Elijah stored in on his person.

Then he turned to the group and watched as Quill applied first aid to the wounded mother and as ask her questions and later Elena saying what she knew. He spoke his piece to Quill, "I was just here to get some food... I do not know why this monster attacked this place. Especially, during the day, all I know is that it was impersonating a man named James and the owner seemed to know James and I mean the real one." Elijah looking back at the doppelganger's body and then at the group. "I am guessing the real James is dead and this thing took his place but why I do not know."

This monster, Elijah thought, feels like he should know what it is but it is escaping him. A shapeshifting paranormal that can impersonate humans... it sounds familiar to him but, he has not way of knowing unless he remembers or finds a book on the subject. Which he does not have access to one. Either way, it is dead and the spear claims another kill in its long history. But thinking on what the monster said, maybe the spear will have more kills in the future. An unease thought if more was coming.

But, Elijah snapped back to reality and as he remembered that another life hangs in the balance. The injured mother and after Elena spoke, he knelt down to Loni prepared to move her. "We should get her out of here now before she bleeds out and I think there is a clinic nearby that can help. I can take her there if anyone wants to come along with me to make sure she lives than come with." Elijah looks at Quill, "I know our answers may not be the best but, she needs help now and that is all I know. So unless you need more... I will be getting her help now."

---

"I just did what I had to." Loni looked at Elena with a pained smile. The hand on her arm was nice, another source of warmth along with the trembling child in her arms. Even if she was shaking too… It was a nice comfort.

Loni shifted Luciana to the side so she was out of the way for Quill to tend to her wound without protest. She did her best to stay strong, biting her lip to hold back a pained wince. She didn’t want to scare Luciana anymore than she already was… It was just pain. She'd been in pain plenty of times before. Like when she broke her arm when she was fourteen and her Mamá had been too tired to fully heal it... Loni did her best to ignore the sharp, constant throbbing in her shoulder and her own panic. Stay calm for Luciana, just think about other things- she bit her lip harder, blinking away tears.

"Hey, hey, it’s alright," Loni murmured as Luciana hid her face against her the moment Quill made eye contact. She gently rubbed her back and offered Quill an apologetic smile. "She’s right, you’ve been very brave… and you’ll watch me, won’t you? Can you be even braver and look at the lady who helped Mamá out? Tell her you’ll make sure I take care of myself?"

Luciana slowly turned her head around, tear filled eyes staring at Quill for a moment. Then she nodded, though it was difficult to tell how much she understood. Loni leaned over and kissed the top of her head. She gave Quill a slight smile. "Thanks a lot. The creature was an Apparition… if y’know what that is? They’re like… ghosts, but not. Made outta magic. That’s why mine worked on it. I dunno about who he was… the owner, if she’s alright, probably knows more. She spoke like she knew him right before it got all creepy."

She tried to look around for wherever the owner had gone, but gave up as the sudden head movement had her vision swimming slightly. Quill would be more able to find her… She couldn’t help much beyond her Paranormal knowledge. And she hadn’t seen something like that before nor had she heard about it from her Mamá when she was alive.

That wasn’t important for her right now…

Loni nodded when Elijah said there was a clinic nearby. There was… One of Momo’s. She only remembered cause she’d been in the area before when Luciana fell and scraped up her hands and knees. Loni had rushed her there in a panic… and she’d been fine. She’d ‘overreacted.’ But this time wouldn’t be, and she knew she’d get good treatment there thanks to being a Twin-Hill coven member. "I dunno if it’s the one you mean… there’s one not far… St Alexia’s Practice I think. If I’m lucky there’s a magical healer in… even if there ain’t, I ain’t gotta pay, since I… know the owner, I guess. It ain’t far, we can walk, I ain’t gotta car or anythin’. And it ain’t like I’m dyin’... my body should hold up that long."

She considered calling Momo… then decided not to. She couldn’t after using so much necromantic magic. The clinic was nearby and the wound was patched up enough that the bleeding didn’t seem as fast. She knew her own body well thanks to her Green Lux even if she had no spells to actually heal it. She had time to get there... hopefully. She did. Definitely, not hopefully.

"D'you mind supportin' me? I should be alright when I'm up," Loni asked Elijah. Even if it was fairly clear that was what he was there to do… she didn't just want to make assumptions. Then she looked down at Luciana. She could probably pull back on the front carrier she had for her and get her in… But what if she fell and hurt Luciana? That would be worse. "My bag too… it's over by the window…"

She then turned to look at Elena again, expression turning pleading. She didn't want to burden someone else, and she knew Luciana wouldn't be happy but she just couldn't support her like this… not until she got her shoulder sorted. She was in enough pain that it'd be a struggle supporting herself. "Can you carry her for me? I'm sorry I ain't able to, and you already held her so she'll freak out less."

Freya was shocked when the monster began its rampage. She was useless in this situation unless she somehow distracted the beast, giving her a fifteen-minute window to bake something with her magic and then having someone else force-feed it to the monster, thus causing it to explode outwards in a violent rain of blood and viscera. Freya looked at the ragtag group and knew instantly that there were far too many South Siders here for any sort of plan requiring thinking to work. No. No Freya would need to take charge. Freya would need to defend her shop. And Freya knew just how to do that. In the back room, a singular baseball bat was infused with Orange Lux and it yearned to be used. It was a trinket she bought on a cheap vacation up in Harbin. The bat would be able to banish the soul of whomever, or whatever it hit in a single swing. Freya thought for a brief second if it was actually magic or if it was simply a scam she fell for. On one hand the man looked strong, sturdy, and capable of producing such an artificat but on the other she did accidentally hit several people on the way to the airport with the bat and none of them died. Still, if there was a chance it could protect herself from the monster….and the others, it was something she needed to grab. Someone had just returned from her backroom with salt in hand so she knew she could find the time.

As the monster sprung it’s attack on one of the patrons Freya ducked into the backroom, accidentaly tripped on her own foot, fell face first into the hard floor before darkness.

Several moments later Freya’s eyes blinked open again. An intense headache greeted her and she groaned as she pushed herself back to her feet. She had no clue how long she was out, nor why she was in the backroom. She looked around and saw the door to the front of the store. That’s right! It was the start of the workday! Freya knew she was supposed to be outfront. And she knew she remembered seeing some south siders in the lobby. And she knew she was the only person working the front today. Who would stop them from stealing her stuff? Who would keep them from making her place dirty? Freya stumbled towards the door, pushed it open, walked through, and then saw the dead monster on the ground and the group standing around discussing what happened.

“What are you…….What did you………..” ‘South Siders’ Freya thought to herself, “What happened to my bakery?” Her voice was slightly slured, and one of her iris’s were blown while the other was normal sized.

---

They were on their way out the door as the owner reappeared from the bag… and Loni was glad. Even injured and out of it as she was she recognised that look. The disdainful look. She was so used to dealing with it… but she couldn’t right now. And didn’t have to… the woman staying could.

It wasn’t a long way to the clinic but by the time they reached it Loni was beginning to struggle. Blood began to seep through the bandage, dark red staining the white. She was even paler and leaning on Elijah more heavily than she had been when they first left.

St Alexia’s Practice was a smaller clinic, with a warm atmosphere upon entering. The reception and waiting room’s walls were lined with comfortable looking chairs in muted blues and greens. Plants were dotted about the place, and natural light came in through wide windows. It lacked the normal clinical feeling. It was quiet, with only a few people sitting around waiting.

“Welcome, may I take your name- Oh!” The receptionist paused her normal speech as she looked up from her computer at their entry. Her eyes immediately went to Loni’s shoulder, with blood blooming across the gauze, then to her pallid face. She seemed to press something. “We don’t have the facilities to treat you, but we can stabilise and transfer you to-”

"Alondra Rodriguez, work for… Moriah Motta… Twin-Hill," Loni interrupted, gritting her teeth. She was magical and she could get the magic treatment.

She didn’t hear anything else from the receptionist, but suddenly a nurse was there ushering her through.

"Can they come-"

“Of course.” A calm but firm voice, more physical support, and they were all rushed into another room. There were two hospital beds, both unoccupied, and Loni was immediately put onto one. Seats were set a distance away from both beds, if Elijah and Elena wanted to sit - close enough to the bed without getting in the way.

The nurse immediately started checking her vitals, before moving around to remove the bandages. It revealed the nasty gash underneath. Loni squeezed her eyes shut, tilting her head away. She couldn’t look at it. Her chest heaved up and down in sudden panic. What if they didn’t make it in time, what if-

“Alondra? I’m Lia Amato, I’m here to treat you. Can you take a deep breath for me, please? It will make things easier.” Someone else spoke, and Loni turned her head to look at her. A young, darker skinned woman with neat braids pulled back into a ponytail. The doctor… no, magical healer, probably. Did healers bother getting medical degrees? Probably not. Did it matter?

As Loni started to calm her breathing, Lia’s hands came up to hover over the wound. Her eyes flickered over to the others in the room. “Are they?”

Loni nodded. The hands over her wound started to glow… and with it came excruciating pain. It was as if the claws were in there, tearing her flesh apart from the inside. She bit down on her lip hard enough to draw blood so that she didn’t scream. It hurt, it hurt-

“The wound is stabilised.”

The agony was gone as quickly as it had appeared. Loni dared to look down… it was still there. A gaping wound. The bleeding had stopped, but it was still there. She looked up at Lia in shock. The woman smiled slightly.

“Would you like the rest healed immediately, but painfully, or slower with less pain?”

"S- Slower…"

With a nod, Lia got back to work. Her hands glowed a soft green, and this time it was warm. The pain was no worse than the pain of the injury… no, it was alleviated. Slowly Loni’s muscle started to creep inwards, stitching back together.

Once the spell was cast, the healer stepped back. She spoke louder this time - still to Loni, mainly, but now so the whole room could hear. “I’ve healed the wound enough that there’s no further risk. It will take ten to fifteen minutes to fully heal, but it will be another thirty until you regain all the blood you lost. I recommend you stay until then. I’ll come back to then to ensure there’s no other problems. There’s a button beside your bed you can press for help.”

She then turned to Elena and Elijah. “If she starts to look paler, be sick, or just look worse, make sure it’s pressed.”

With a nod, she turned around and left. The nurse stayed for a little longer, making sure Loni got water and a blanket to cover herself, before excusing herself when she wasn’t needed. Efficient service… Loni was happy enough for them to leave. While she was fairly certain the healer was a coven member, she didn’t actually recognise her…

"Thank you for helpin’ so much." Loni turned towards Elena and Elijah, ensuring the blanket covered the wound that was healing layer by layer. She didn’t want to scare Luciana any more than she already had…

Though Luciana was barely looking at her. The little girl had been quiet the whole time, clinging to Elena and hiding her face against her. She trembled, and was quietly sobbing. Terrified, still.

"Luciana, baby…" Loni whispered, reaching out with her good arm. Seeing her like that was more painful than the injury or the healing. It hurt her heart… she just wanted Luci to be safe and happy.

Luci’s head turned slightly, still clinging to Elena. She whimpered, reaching out for her mother. “Mama.”

They were close enough that Loni was able to take her hand at least. She looked at the other two with a weak smile. Then she started absolutely rambling. "You don’t hafta stick around if you don’t wanna… I’d appreciate the company, but I get we’re basically strangers! I just really ‘preciate all you’ve done- oh, if you ever come across danger like that again in the North Side and you ain’t got help, try get to my workplace… Sin Sisters, this side of the city… it ain’t too far. Just go and say you know Loni Rodriguez. If I ain’t around I’m sure my boss’ll help- she’s my coven leader too, and there’s plenty of people that can help. Healin’, fighting’, anythin’ really…" It was for Elena more than Elijah, since he was the reason they were even still alive, really. "Hopefully there ain’t any more of those things, though."

Gideon’s office on the top floor of the Hollow Tap is an unexpected blend of rugged practicality and understated charm. The space is dominated by a large, polished mahogany desk, its surface meticulously organized with a leather-bound planner, a fountain pen, and a crystal decanter of whiskey. Behind the desk, a high-backed chair upholstered in deep brown leather exudes authority. Shelves lining one wall hold a mixture of books, old ledgers, and trinkets that hint at Gideon’s dual nature—framed photos of loved ones sit beside curios from his more questionable dealings.

A set of large windows the entrance to the bar, which lights up the room even with the overcast weather outside, allowing the frames to cast long shadows across the room. A vintage record player sits on a side table, soft jazz emanating from its brass horn. In the corner stands a coat rack, from which hangs his coat as well as several others. They belonged to men who crossed him recently. They entered the room, but quickly found out that they would never leave it again. Gideon reflected on the lessons he learned from those men. Never trust someone who has broken it before, never relent on your positions, and when someone tells you that they mean to do you harm you need to believe them.

Gideon knew that Ioan was waiting for his meeting, but he wanted him to wait even longer. Not for any reason in particular but when it came to business, appearing busy was important. Gideon is unsure what to make of the businessman. He seems like he could be a liability. Still, it was important to have this meeting all the same. Right after him, it was one of those mountain people. They had become a regular at their bar and Gideon had spoken with them a few times. Their call today was unexpected but Gideon wanted more influence in that community anyway so this meeting was more urgent than the first. Gideon poured a glass of whisky from the decanter and swirled it around the glass before taking a long, heavy drink from it. Time to begin the day. He walked out of his office, glass in hand, and went down to where Mr. Ioan was waiting for him. It took a few minutes for him to reach the location before he spotted him.

“Mr. Ioan,” he greets, his voice deep and smooth. He had a wide smile on his face as he looked towards the man, sizing him up as he did. “Welcome to the Hollow Tap. Come up to my office—we’ve got some things to discuss I presume.” Stepping aside, he gestured with a hand to invite Ioan to follow along before he spotted Marco running towards him.
“Boss, the job went south. They’re calling in help, Vin needs me,” Marco paused as he raised up a medic bag.

“Mr. Ioan, I know you have been waiting but I must reschedule. If you wanted to wait I will be back before long,” Gideon paused as he looked over to Seren, “you too Seren. Food and drinks are on the house if you wait.”
Gideon took off towards the door, followed by Marco who tossed him a car key, and four more members of the Hollow. The five members piled into a large pickup truck and the tires squealed as it accelerated away from the bar. Gideon grabbed the Jaguar and quickly put it into gear and followed behind soon thereafter.

Seren walked up to the bar and sat down and grabbed a menu. They looked it over before they pulled out their phone, and opened ticktok. On the screen was one of the more recent ticktok trends, where two people would play rock, paper, scissors. The winner would take a bite of food, while the loser would need to run laps around whatever area they were in. When they got back from the laps, the two would play rock, paper, scissors once again. Seren looked towards Ioan, and smirked. They wanted to record the video later on, maybe rope Bryn or Elara or anyone else into it, but something drew her to Ioan. Maybe he was willing to give a silly ticktok trend a chance.
“So. You’re meeting Gideon today as well? What skeletons in your closest is he taking care of today,” Seren



As Vin and Paloma worked together to let in the apparition, Malik walked over to the two phone to his ear. “Okay, two minutes out? Okay. How is Vin? Oh,” he paused as he suppressed a gag as he looked at their ruined body, “they’re not great, not terrible. I would say the faster you get here the better the odds of….what? Yes I know I am not a doctor…why would you say that? If you had…okay, okay, just get here faster and then you can decide if I am an idiot or not. How’s that sound,” Malik stopped as he ended the call, “you colossal piece of shit motherfucking North Sider. Jesus fucking christ the nerve of that guy.” He raised an eyebrow as he looked towards Palmoa and thought of what her angle was. Was she trying to get in the good graces of a gang for a reason, or was she simply someone who was in the right place at the right time? Regardless, she was a person of interest to Malik and Malik would keep an eye on her going forward.

“Vin, help will be here shortly. Gideon is staying back, but Marco and a few of the boys are on their way. Marco will get you patched up,” Malik paused as he placed his hand on his hips, pushing his coat back to reveal the holstered gun. His eyes shifted back to Palmoa, “so. What’s your story? Who’s your apparition?”

The sounds of tires screeching interrupted the conversation. Malik shifted his eyes and saw a large pickup truck speeding down the road, swerving to avoid cars as it did, and it quickly made its way towards their location. As it drew closer he could see that the front five seats were all packed with people, and the bed of the truck held a couple more. He smirked as he motioned for Palmoa to follow him as he walked closer to the outside walls of a nearby building. “Alright, Vin, help is here. You doing okay?”

Before Vin could answer the truck screeched to a stop in front of them. The door to the passenger side opened up and Marco stepped out. He was taller than the rest of the crew by a significant margin, standing somewhere between six foot five and six foot six. He wore a simple black leather jacket overtop a simple black button up shirt. The outfit did not hide a large muscular frame underneath as Marco kept the top three buttons unbuttoned. To the casual observer he was peak masculine energy. He had a large bag with a large white circle with a red cross inside, no doubt packed with medical supplies. He looked at Vin and sighed.

“Aaron, we still clear on any responses,” Marco asked as he looked towards the driver of the truck. He had a tablet in his hand and his eyes scanned the various windows open on it. He held a thumb up in response. “Everyone else, get inside and make sure whatever caused this is dead, check the damage, and if anyone is alive inside get them some compensation for their trouble.” Marco looked at Malik as the crew sprung into action. “You take the girl inside, I’ll get Vin put back togethert again,” he paused as he tapped the bag.

“Oh no. No, no. Vin needs your magic,” Malik responded with a stern look.

“Do they though,” Marco asked as he looked at their friend and sighed. He knew that Malik was right but he was not ready for what that entailed.

“I think you know the answer,” Malik responded with a sigh.

“They just need some stitches I think, like I said on the phone you are not a doctor. I am. I can totally use my actual medical degree to-”

“Marco, you fucking insecure piece of shit North Sider,” Malik started before he sighed, “just DO IT.”

Marco sighed as he dropped the bag and clasped his hands together. Marco’s magic revealed itself with a sudden burst of shimmering light around him, casting rainbows across the area and raising him up into the air. His one knee rose up while the other leg stretched out completely, his hands spreading wide. The rustling wind suddenly shifted in tone, as if a faint melody of some upbeat, glittery music echoed in the air from some unseen source. His clothes dissolved into golden sparkles, leaving his body wrapped in a glowing silhouette. An enormous crescent shape formed behind him, spinning and fragmenting into smaller cresecens that circled his body. Multicolored ribbons shot out, wrapping around him like vines that weaved themselves into an outfit. The ribbons converged on his bare chest as an emblem—a full circle—appeared over his heart.

The ribbons swirled down to his legs, where they became thigh-high boots with an ornate pattern, and then across his arms, forming bracers engraved with three runes, one fire, one water, and one wind. The water rune began to glow with a pink color. Finally, a skirt materialized in a dramatic flash, a layered affair of pink and white, shimmering with an almost metallic sheen. Despite its overt femininity, Marco's broad shoulders, muscular frame, hairy arms and legs, and stubborn scowl remain unaltered. Still, the transformation was kind enough to at least give him some compression shorts underneath the skirt. Strangely, the skirt seemed immune to the wind and did not react when it pushed against it.

The finishing touch was the wand that appears in his hand. It was topped with a crystal shaped like a crescent moon. The air sparkled with tiny motes of light as he landed back on the ground, his boots clicking against the surface with a pleasant tone. He groaned, his voice laden with irritation, and muttered, “Every. Single. Time.”

Malik stifled a laugh as he looked towards Palmoa again. “You…you can unfreeze her now.”

“Fucking hurry up,” Marco growled back as he raised up the wand and it began to glow with a green glow.

The sound of another car pulling up broke the silence and Marco sighed as he looked back to see Gideon getting out of the Jaguar. He raised an eyebrow as he saw the completed transformation. “You never get used to that,” Gideon said in a surprised tone, “Vin, Vin you will be okay. You finish the job?”

The Hollow Tap

“Mr. Ioan,” he greets, his voice deep and smooth. He had a wide smile on his face as he looked towards the man, sizing him up as he did. “Welcome to the Hollow Tap. Come up to my office—we’ve got some things to discuss I presume.” Stepping aside, he gestured with a hand to invite Ioan to follow along before he spotted Marco running towards him.

Physically, there wasn't much to Ioan Foster to size up. He was probably the shortest man in the whole room and quite a few a few of the women as well. On the other hand, the wait didn't seem to have bothered Foster at all. Nor the fact that he'd spent the time standing, leaning against the bar. In fact, for those that had been present, his stillness had been a little unsettling.

"Just waiting." He'd said when asked by the bartender if he wanted something, coming alive briefly to smile and make eye contact before resuming his inert waiting. He didn't move, didn't fidget, didn't seem uncomfortable at all. He just waited in silence.

Gideon's arrival and voice, like a spell, seemed to have reanimated Mr Foster from his torpor. Even this was short lived though with Marcus' sudden arrival. The man's bulky frame literally cast Foster in his shadow. Foster himself made a casual glance over his shoulder at Marcus' arrival, noted his haste and stood wordlessly aside to let the man speak with his boss.

“Boss, the job went south. They’re calling in help, Vin needs me,” Marco paused as he raised up a medic bag.

“Mr. Ioan, I know you have been waiting but I must reschedule. If you wanted to wait I will be back before long,” Gideon paused as he looked over to Seren, “you too Seren. Food and drinks are on the house if you wait.”

Foster offered Gideon a sympathetic smile then checked his pocket watch while Gideon and Marcus ran out. His eyes flitted briefly to the medical bag Marcus raised up and for a time after the pair left, foster stood motionless. One could almost see him weighing staying or leaving. Finally he glanced at his pocket watch before folding it back inside the inside pocket of his suit jacket, and approached the bar to resume his waiting.

Seren walked up to the bar and sat down and grabbed a menu. They looked it over before they pulled out their phone, and opened ticktok. On the screen was one of the more recent ticktok trends, where two people would play rock, paper, scissors. The winner would take a bite of food, while the loser would need to run laps around whatever area they were in. When they got back from the laps, the two would play rock, paper, scissors once again. Seren looked towards Ioan, and smirked. They wanted to record the video later on, maybe rope Bryn or Elara or anyone else into it, but something drew her to Ioan. Maybe he was willing to give a silly ticktok trend a chance.

“So. You’re meeting Gideon today as well? What skeletons in your closest is he taking care of today,” Seren

Ioan Foster's head turned.

Cool blue eyes met Seren's, then they flicked briefly over the rest of her, then back to her eyes. "Skeletons? Oh no..." He spoke as though he found the idea of going to Gideon to have skeletons taken care of amusing. The man seemed to hardly be interested in anything, or anyone in the bar before; not the patrons, not the other girls floating around and he hadn't even looked at a drink the entire time he'd been there. Now though, in addressing him, Seren could feel she suddenly had this man's full and undivided attention. "You know." He began, his tone slow, deliberate, the ghost of a smile tugging at the edges of his lips. "Back when I knew Gideon a person could get themselves in real trouble in a place like this, asking questions of the wrong people."

There was a deliberate pause in which he refused to break eye contact. He seemed not at all concerned whether this made her uncomfortable or not. "Which makes you either very brave or..." There was another long pause in which Ioan Foster was watching her as though she were suddenly the most interesting thing in the world, or the way a cat watches a bird. "... interesting."

---

---

Paloma quietly scoffed at her own cowardice as Vin was seized by the Bystander Effect. The blood that had flowed heavily from Vin’s wounds was caught in suspension as was the peculiar look upon her face. Paloma couldn’t quite pin down what the look meant, but it lacked a clear expression of gratitude that Paloma had perhaps secretly been anticipating. Just because she was surprisingly hot without the fur didn’t mean Vin was justified in acting like such a tough guy, right? Now that they were trapped, sorry, saved by the Bystander Effect, a bit of Good Influence could be sprinkled in to improve Vin’s manners, perhaps get them to back Paloma up if anybody started considering blaming Paloma for Caleb’s death.

Paloma shrugged on her jacket as she shivered and her scarred arms prickled with goosebumps, more due to the chilling thought than the obvious chill in the air. Obviously, she would never do something like that. Of course not, of course not. Influencing a bad person to do the right thing or protecting a mob from becoming cannon fodder? Sure, meddle away. But for something as small as this? Paloma shook her head. If anything, the way Vin was treating her almost like she was a nuisance was a novel change of pace to the regular boring respect and adoration to which Paloma was subjected. So go ahead and stop focusing on her frown, then, thought Paloma, failing to listen to herself as she squinted and wiped her cheek.

“So. What’s your story? Who’s your apparition?” asked Malik.

“W-who? Me? My what?” said Paloma, putting her hands up as if to say she wasn’t doing anything.

Her first instinct was to play dumb and try to lie her way out of it, which the time bought by the arrival of backup allowed Paloma to reconsider what a stupid idea that would be. She could play off the doppelganger missing her as them playing with their food, or the crowd dispersing as some weird phenomenon, but the half-dead, half-naked frozen person in front of her clearly warranted a better explanation than, “I dunno, a wizard did it?” Her train of thought was fully derailed as a large slab of meat stepped out of the truck. Paloma subconsciously pulled her hands up into the sleeves of her jacket to hide them as she gave the man the sweetest, most charming smile someone could manage while blood was still drying on their face.

Paloma looped her arms behind her back and shifted her body bashfully as she quietly tried, and failed, to interject herself into the conversation between Malik and Marco, “...um, actually I should stay with…I’m Pa…actually, Vin needs…maybe a lot of stitches I mean I’m no…oh actually, I’m also in the medical field, I’m P…oh, wow, weird, do you also work on the North Side, maybe we work together, by the way I’m–hwha?”

Paloma’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped as the bleak landscape of dirty snow, junk-filled alleyways, and roach infested apartment buildings was bombarded by rainbows like a Pride carpet bomb had been dropped on the block as Marco was lifted into the air. Her arms dropped to her side as she was completely flabbergasted by the development, her eyes watering as she continued to gawk, her heart threatening to crack through her ribcage as her emotions were taken on a rollercoaster as the beefcake’s clothes disappeared only for him to be censored out by a blinding light before fading to still give Paloma a pec reveal.

The sugary music that evoked images of people running for no reason or contemplatively looking up at the moon from a windowsill was drowned out by pulsing of blood in Paloma’s ears as the skirt disappointingly weaved itself around Marco’s waist. Her head looked to be stuck in an animation loop as she bounced between looking in two directions, the devil on her shoulder who had spent the past forty days and forty nights in a desert without a single drink of water yanking on her hair to get her to look up while the angel struck her with a hard smite across the cheek to avert her gaze and shy away from temptation. Marco landed on the ground and any hope of coming up with a plan, an excuse, anything to help her navigate what would surely become an intrusive interrogation was shattered as the rusty gears in her head started to smoke due to her proximity to Sailor Daddy.

“You…you can unfreeze her now.”

“Who?” asked Paloma, staring at the pair of tree trunks that were squeezed into some thigh-highs.

Out of her periphery she caught the image of Vin, the frozen trainwreck of their wounds shattering the hold Marco’s transformation held on her. Paloma wiped her lip as she dropped the Bystander Effect on Vin to allow Marco to heal them as her mind oscillated between hoping that this didn’t awaken anything inside of her and wishing that she had been the one injured instead. She let out the breath she had been holding and realized that there were more people in the truck than she had noticed. With the Samaritan believing that her “attack” on Vin was through, Paloma’s Sweetheart aura clicked back on. An invisible wave rippled through the air and washed over Gideon’s goons. It was nearly imperceptible and inconsistent in its nature to those who felt it–a waft of cinnamon and apple, a soft squeeze on a finger, a feeling of warmth–the sensation so inoffensive that it quickly became unnoticeable.

What wasn’t unnoticeable was the look of “Oh, Shit” that crossed Paloma’s face when Gideon Cross got out of the Jaguar. She was clearly too unimportant to actually know him, but being from the South Side meant she knew of him. Hell, she was pretty certain the only reason her apartment building had a working furnace this winter was because of Mr. Cross. The problem was separating fact from fiction. For every admirable, charitable thing Mr. Cross did there was always something else that would only ever be said after a look over each shoulder and a lean-in whisper. A person can only be rumored to have caved a man’s face in with his bare hands so many times before she had to stop asking herself if she believed the story and start asking the teller if the person deserved it. Frankly, she didn’t care whether or not the rumors about Mr. Cross were true—or rather she wouldn’t mind if they were true, because obviously she would love to know if he had actually made that loan shark's face into his own personal sock puppet.

Still, she was afraid of him. What would happen if she got blamed for Caleb’s death? She wasn’t worried about him caving in her own face because he couldn’t even if he wanted to, but there were other ways to destroy a life. North Siders liked to act like the South was some lawless wasteland after the Cataclysm, but the South Siders just had a set of their own rules to follow, even sad sacks that lived out in Jungleland. The number one rule was that you don’t cross Gideon Cross. Paloma shot Vin a desperate look as Gideon told them that they would be okay, trying to silently communicate through a batting of eyelashes that Paloma was the only reason they would be. Surely, she had earned some kind of kudos. A life for a life. That was a thing, right?

A life for a life, she thought. The entire reason she had come to David Smith’s house in the first place. In all this excitement, she’d nearly forgotten her promise. Paloma’s lashes stopped batting in morse code for a bailout from Vin as her face darkened. Inside of her sleeves her hands balled up into tight fists.

“You killed it,” accused Paloma, the disappointment heavy in her voice. Her eyes broke away from Vin, glancing around the ground and blinking rapidly. “But what if, what if…” What if that was the right David Smith. What if that had been her only chance. It didn’t matter how hot the tiger was, she had told them not to kill it. Life would be so much better if everyone just fucking listened to her. She snapped her attention back to Vin, a bit of heat tagging along with her words. “You said you would make it talk. You promised!”

You promised. A look of pain crossed Paloma’s face as it felt like a knife was shoved into her belly and twisted. She winced but resisted the urge to grab her stomach, giving Vin a pleading look in hopes that the woman would speak up and correct her–not about there only being a mention of how to interrogate something instead of promising to allow an interrogation, but that Paloma’s assumption about Vin killing the doppelganger was untrue. The heat dispersed from her voice as rapidfire blinks returned as if Paloma couldn’t believe what was happening as she lied again in a defeated whimper, “You promised…”

Northside
St Alexia’s Practice
Interacts: Elena @Qia and Loni @FernStone

---

Elijah simply stayed quiet and followed along with Loni and Elena and watched as the healer tended to Loni's wound. He breathed a sigh of relief as it was clear the Loni would make it. One person died today and he did not want another to join her. More so, with the fact that she had a child as he watched Elena hold Luciana.

When the healer was done and Elijah simply nodded his head and stayed with Loni and Elena. "I am just glad I was able to kill that thing." Elijah added to what Elena said, "no need to thanks me." Though he did wonder what would have happen if he did not show up to the bakery today since he did not see anyone else try to fight and kill the thing. It was just him and he does not even know if the spear was the only thing that could have hurt and kill it. A worrying thought but it is over and the thing is dead. Plus, a child does not lose her mother.

As Loni began to ramble, Elijah chose to silently listen again and when Loni brought up her place of work the Sin Sisters and what Elena said. It made him think, he has no support in this city and maybe he should change that but where to start? Of course he has his own plans but, right now. If someone or some thing were to attack him and it was too much for him.... then he is done.

Elijah looked over at Loni and Elena, he did say to himself that today things were going to change and maybe this is apart of this change just not in the way he thought it would be. Not so much of joining a coven but making friends with others and developing a small group of people he can trust to have his back. Granted he does not really know Loni or Elena but that can change. If they were open to it that is.

But Elijah was not going to push that now and when Elena left the room to make a phone call, he spoke. "I think I will stay a bit and my name is Elijah by the way," he made a soft smile. Though it was hiding a concern he had when Loni said about there not being more of those things and with what the thing said to him back at the bakery. It made him think if it was over or something else is on the horizon. But he chose not focus on that now but it is thing to think about in the future.

---

---

It was strange being frozen. Frustrating. Like a bug trapped in amber, Vin could hear everything that was being said without being able to respond. Malik constantly saying help was on the way- good. Help arriving… that bastard Marco saying they just needed stitches. Vin would make sure he needed stitches if he didn’t do his stupid fucking magic. They were literally dying here and he was so caught up in toxic fucking masculinity that he’d let them bleed out! Sparkling fucker!

They couldn’t even fucking laugh at his embarrassing transformation.

Vin came out of the Bystander with a gasp that turned into a pained grunt, pressing the blood soaked sweater into their side. Black crackled at the edges of their eyes, threatening their consciousness. They just had to get through this… slightly sharp teeth dug into their dry lips. Enough to keep them awake. Their dark eyes, drained and tinged with enough apathy to look almost lifeless, moved to Marco. Of course, their words were anything but lifeless. ”Get the fuck on with it, unless you want taunted by my fuckin’ ghost for the rest of your life.”

Marco sighed as he raised his wand up high causing it to illuminate in a bright healing glow that enveloped his body. The light surged outward, a searing hot pink that painted the landscape in surreal, garish hues. The energy wrapped around Vin’s broken form like a living thing, swirling and pulsing as it consumed them until there was nothing visible but the hot pink light that seemed to sparkle like a star filled night. Vin’s body was pulled into the air by the magic and remained suspended, the magic forcing their one normal leg to bend while the leg that was half missing extended outward. Their back arched as their arms shot outwards above their head.

The transformation began. The light coiled even brighter around Vin’s missing leg, almost becoming blindingly white but with a faint pink hue. Threads of magic wove together, knitting sinew and bone down the missing half of the limb yet the viscera was completely hidden by the magic. For fifteen seconds the light worked its way down the leg until the limb was finally reformed, whole and perfect, before the glow spread upward, overtaking the rest of their body.

Vin’s torn, bloodied clothing dissolved into shimmering particles, replaced by layers of glittering fabric that seemed to materialize from the air itself. The glittering fabric formed a crescent moon symbol on their chest, only this one had a pinker hue compared to the one on Marco. A cascading skirt of iridescent pink and silver took shape, catching the light with every movement. Delicate ribbons spiraled around their arms, ending in ornate cuffs that shimmered with unnatural brightness. Their shoes were replaced by gleaming heels, impossibly impractical yet dazzlingly ornate. And they were pink. Their socks were replaced with a pair of thigh highs as white as the fresh snow around them.

The light flared one final time, and when it receded, Vin was forced upright, their new leg steady beneath them. They were fully healed, their posture strong, but their form was now a complete shift from their typical crude attire.. The air was still again, the only sound the faint rustle of their glittering. Marco’s sigh was the only thing to break the silence. “I hate you,” he whispered to his apparition who gave a sly chuckle in response.

”Can you dispel the fucking shitty outfits?” Vin hissed, feeling incredibly uncomfortable in this outfit. It had been a while since they'd had to suffer Marco's healing - he was always their last resort - so they didn't quite remember the details.

Marco put their hands on their hips and sighed extra hard. He mumbled out something that no-one could catch.
“Come again, Marco,” Gideon said in an annoyed tone.

“Twenty four hours. We’re both stuck like this for twenty four hours. I had plans tonight,” he groaned as he leaned against the truck, causing a faint whimsy melody to play somewhere in the distance.

”Fuck!” Vin shouted loudly. They shot over, surprisingly dextrous in heels, to grab their coat where it had been thrown on a nearby pathetic little bush. They pulled it on to at least cover the top half of their horrendous outfit. Then they turned to Gideon, nodding… finally about to answer his question. ”Yeah, I finished it boss.”

As they said that they turned back to look at Paloma. They fucking hated owing someone, and technically she stopped them from bleeding to death. Technically they’d saved her first… But a thank you was a small price to pay to prevent inevitable whining.

Wait, what the fuck was this lady doing to them now? Blinking at them like that… no fucking way. Was she flirting with them? Right now? Seriously?!

She wasn’t one of those creeps who kept popping up when they shifted in public was she? Vin felt a chill run down their spine. They knew they were hot as fuck both in and out of the tiger form, but this was too much. She couldn’t even take them out for dinner first? Or at least wait until their boss wasn’t right there?

Best to just ignore it.

They turned back to Gideon with a grimace, bowing their head slightly. ”I’m sorry, boss. I let it kill Caleb. I underestimated the fuckin’ thing. I let a-”

“You killed it.”

Huh? Vin’s head twisted back around to Paloma, even as she stopped looking at them. Yeah, they killed it. Why wouldn’t they- the wanting to talk to it. Fuck, she was getting at them over that? When they’d nearly died?

”I killed it cause it was gonna kill me, ’Pa’.” Vin snapped, lips pulling back to show off their sharp teeth. Their hands tensed, before curling into fists. It was lucky they couldn’t cast any spells right now, preventing them from transforming again. ”I didn’t promise you shit. But ‘preciate that I was gonna try… I had to use a last fuckin’ resort to stop it. Fuckin’ hell, I was fightin’ for my fuckin’ life and you-”

Vin stopped before they got more heated. There was a tiny feeling of guilt as Paloma went from accusatory to hurt. But more than that, it was Gideon standing right there. Remember what we stand for… This wasn’t some North Sider prick. She was one of the people they were meant to protect, annoying as she was… so long as she didn’t cross the boss.

”Look, I dunno why you’re so worked up over this. Whatever you needed from that thing, or David, or whatever… I’ll fuckin’ help you with it. Findin’ information or beatin’ people or whatever you needed. It wasn’t gonna give you shit. Just fuckin’ calm down. I ain’t the kinda person to do this normally, alright?”

They pinched the bridge of their nose, taking a deep breath. Now they needed to explain to Gideon why there was a normal person involved. Not that it was their fault! But they hadn’t managed to keep her out of the house, so it was partly on them.

”This lady was lookin’ for David too. Came round same time we did, shoved herself in. I couldn’t stop her. Fuckin’ annoyin’- we had to protect her. Made shit tough. But I’d be…” Vin grimaced. ”Dead without her magic.”

They folded their arms, moving right past that. ”It got David. Sucked his body into itself, like it fuckin’ ate him whole. It’s some kinda Apparition, but it ain’t like any I seen before. I could kill it. Didn’t feel the same as killin’ ‘em, it left a body behind. It didn’t abscise David either. There was two Davids till it stuck its tendrils in him. It wasn’t in him, it copied him or some shit like that.”

---

"Take your time," Loni said to Elena with a friendly smile, taking Luciana back. She carefully laid her on her good side, letting her daughter curl up on her chest. One hand supported her, while the other comfortingly rubbed her back. She turned her head to look at Elijah.

"You already heard my full name, but I prefer Loni. Nice to meetcha, Elijah," Loni smiled back, but there was still slightly pained. More than anything it was the apathy that still clung to her. An emptiness she always felt when she used the Lux she hated. It was only because of the little girl on her arms that she was able to make herself feel through it. She was forcing herself to act like she always did, but it didn’t feel natural. "And this is Luciana. Normally she’s a bit more chatty but she’s still scared, I think. Hmm, Mijita?"

Luciana just pressed closer to Loni, hiding her face in her chest. Loni leaned forward to gently kiss the top of her head.

"’M glad you’re stayin’... both of you," they nodded to the door Elena had gone out of. "You’re from the South, right? It’s more comfortable… not that I had a problem with the nice lady who bandaged me up! Just, she was clearly from this side and… it ain’t so comfortable. They ain’t so fond of us up here."

Though there were North Siders Loni knew and loved- primarily Momo, her boss. Most of the people she directly worked with were from the South too… but Momo didn’t treat them any differently. That was unusual.

"Maybe it’s like fate we were all in the Bakery… not that I think fate’d bring an attack from somethin’ like that." It was pretty obvious that Loni was someone who talked a lot. Right now, it was partly self soothing. Filling up the air with noise let her know that she was still here and alive. "It just ain’t everyday there’s so many people with magic in the same room… well, in a normal room. I’m surrounded by magic when at work, but that ain’t the same as just bumpin’ into other magical people…"

Loni shook her head. "What I’m tryna say is that… maybe there’s somethin’ positive outta it. Us three meetin’ and all."

---

Quill took in the information, processed it quickly, and mentally filed it in a folder labeled Process When A Glass of Whiskey Is In Hand. She looked at the scene one more time, before nodding her agreement with Elijah. "All right, that's more information than I had when I first stepped foot in here and any information is good information. Go, get her help." She allowed the others to lead Loni out of there, Quill paying special attention to the young girl. What she must have seen before even being here for this shit-show.

Once the scene was cleared of the major parties Quill got to work. She took out her phone and sent a quick text to Nico.



Quill put her phone away. Thankfully (or as thankful as one could be in this situation) there were more alive people than dead and only two bodies needed to be taken care of.

She gradually worked through the room talking to a few of the people that remained. One of the customers, some dude who looked to be in a perpetual state of shock, gripped her arm when she tried to steer him outside. "I saw it. I saw that...thing."

"What you saw was someone who attacked this bakery and hurt others. He was taken down and won't hurt anyone else again."

"No it's more...he killed that woman..." he said pointing at the corpse of the woman who had tried to kill Quill.

"It's being taken care of. Best you can do is go home and call your loved ones. You shouldn't be alone tonight."

"The police need to be called! Was this a terrorist attack? I need to tell someone!" The man tried to move but Quill gripped his arm. He stared into her eyes. Quill hated this part of the job, but sometimes it called for it. "If you tell a soul the only thing that will happen is that you get dragged off to a cell with padded walls and a jacket to hug yourself in and they will pump you full of drugs to the point you won't remember the last time you took a shit let alone your name and where you live."

Quill closed her eyes. She needed to shift. She opened her eyes again and stared into his own. Her lux pinged inside of her as she could feel her will manifesting into his own. "You don't need to tell anyone. This was an unfortunate event and people got hurt but people get hurt every day. You need to go about your life like nothing happened."

The man's eyes shifted to an almost cloud-like filter. "I need to go on with my life." Quill let him go and he turned and left. She would keep an eye on him but she was confident he wouldn't remember this and, if he did, he would block it out. Trauma did that.

Quill maneuvered everyone else outside, shifting some of them and persuading others. The woman who attacked her woke up shortly after. "Hey, you're all right."

The woman looked around, panic slowly filling her eyes. Quill put a comforting hand on the woman's own. "Listen, you went through something bad but you are okay. I recommend you go to the hospital to get fully checked out but from a quick glance I say you have some cuts and a bruise or two but nothing major."

"I tried to kill you..."

Quill looked at her again. She stayed silent as the woman continued. "It was like my mind was filled with hatred, like I had to put it somewhere and especially at you. I..I'm sorry..I don't.."

"It's okay. It was an attack but the man has been taken care of."

She could sense the woman's panic rising. Quill did a quick read into her mind. Thoughts bounced around like crazy and it was intense to the point Quill could feel a headache coming on. Quill looked into the woman's eyes and shifted again. "You are experiencing a hallucination. You've had this symptom for a while now and you have ignored it, but I think it's time you got some help for it."

Quill felt the woman's moral shift ever so slightly. "I need to find help for it." The woman looked glassy-eyed but made her way out of the bakery.

Morals were interesting to play around with. People often thought morals connected to good or bad decisions and, for the most part, they were right. But morals guided everyday decisions. Do you hold the door open for someone? Do you go to the doctor when you need to? Do you put your shopping cart away when you finish loading your groceries (you better you monsters!)? A simple shift could change a person's entire personality or make them do something they wouldn't normally do.

Once the living people left she got to work. The corpses could wait a few minutes. Quill quickly scoped out the office. Quill didn't get the sense this was the office of the owner of a bakery. She expected your standard faire; a desk, some papers, a computer, but she also expected maybe pictures of family baking together in the kitchen, articles about the bakery, recipes, something to show the love that went in to the craft.

Instead this seemed more like a financial planner's office. Two TVs were mounted. When Quill turned them on they were tuned to financial news and the market movements and the other showed local news. There was also a significant amount of tech. More than a baker would need.

The owner of the bakery, Freya Collins, had some papers on her desk. One had a list of names and phone numbers, with Quill quickly identifying some names she knew. She pocketed the paper. What also stuck out was the name on some of the other papers, bills and so on. It wasn't so much connected to the bakery as it was to some larger business. Quill would have to check on that.

Once she was satisfied nothing else in the office would be useful to her, and finding nothing else out of the ordinary for a bakery connected in some part to this magical nonsense, she returned to the front. Quill grabbed two industrial-sized saran wrap containers and, after emptying the contents, dropped them both to the floor. She reached into the pocket of the female customer and took out her wallet, pocketing her ID. She would have to send word to her next of kin to pick up the body. Quill got to work moving the bodies into the boxes and closing them tight. Then, slowly, one at a time she moved the boxes to her car, placing them in the backseat. She put the female customer's on the bottom since she intended to ensure she got to her loved ones. The other she needed to discard carefully.

Quill closed the bakery door and locked it. There was still a mess and she would let Freya know what happened on her end. The woman may even be grateful enough to point her in Varnan's direction.

Once she got into her front seat she pulled out her phone and pressed one of her contacts. "Hey Donovan, it's Quill. Do you still have access to that industrial furnace? I have something I need to burn."