[IC] The Pale Hand

[Prinz]

Rick's response was quick and to the point- as expected on the boy by now.
However, Edmondo had a plan in his mind with the creation of the campsite.

If they were to get lost, this campfire would act as a way for them to find their bearings.
With that said, though, there was definitely risks associated with it, but the cultists being suspicious would only let them work faster.

"We'll make camp across the bridge and abandon this campsite. We'll take the spare stuff and set up a second, smaller site on the inside of what I imagine is their territory."
Edmondo figured it was probably nerves that kept Rick's mouth shut, but he could also just struggle with talking.

He doused the fire soon after they'd eaten, stretching himself and speaking again.

"They'll find this campsite but I doubt they'll think much of it. If they're busy looking on this side, they won't look on their side. If they think the people here are random, they likely won't bother them. They've taken only Mages so far, so I doubt they' arouse suspicion by taking normal hikers."
He hoisted a bunch of his stuff off of the ground and took off towards, and then across, the stone bridge that divided the normal forest and the unnatural forest.

With that out of the way, their chat finished, and the long night ahead.
Edmondo was asleep early after glancing at something he pulled from his pocket and held in his hand as he slept.

It was a quiet night, a simple night.

---

And Rick would've woken up with the sun barely above the horizon, with several things to note.

Firstly, Edmondo and his sleeping bag were gone, with only a scrap of paper left behind on the ground where he'd been. Secondly, there was no sign of the smaller site that he'd made for them ever having existed. In fact, it was nothing but Rick in the little clearing, no sign of anything or anyone else. There were no footprints on the forest floor, nothing for him to find Edmondo by.

All that was left was to look around, probably. Perhaps the bridge?

It was Rick's time to shine, it seemed.

[A Lowly Wretch]

The night provided little in the way of rest. Rick was never a deep sleeper and being in hostile territory only made it that much harder to rest for a good stretch of time as the wind flowing across the tree tops kept him alerted with it's rustling noise. While this was helpful in one way in that he was harder to sneak up on while asleep but on the other hand he was definitely not going to be getting up for at least a couple hours after the morning's first light.

Tucked against the base of a tree in a half-sitting position he groggily stirred, the light peaking through the canopy in a mottled array of gentle beams. His head felt like led as he gently pushed himself from the tree's cradle, standing up to observe the scene before him.

Well... Crap.

Not a good start to this whole mission. His second was absent right as they were starting to make their way into what was clearly enemy territory. He kept his left hand settled upon the hilt of his sword as he took some steps forward. Eyeing his surroundings carefully he innately felt the presence of the piece of paper left behind. It was the only evidence left behind so far.

Rick eyed his surroundings warily before reaching down and touching the piece of paper, absorbing the information left upon it.

[Prinz]

As far as Rick could likely detect, there was nobody else around to harm him or interact with him. However, there was in fact something interesting. A large plume of smoke was visible through the canopy above him, coming from the direction the duo had been camping in the night before. That being said, the clearing he was in felt.. different, somehow. It was difficult to put a finger on, but there was something off about it.

As for the piece of paper, it was simple enough- it was crumpled, obviously folded and unfolded again and again over the years.
A picture.
Edmondo, standing beside a happy-looking woman around the same age, and two small children.
The young boy had a wide, cheesy grin stapled to his face, and a large band-aid on his cheek.
The girl wasn't quite as enthusiastic, staring at something off to behind and to the side of the camera, possibly the photographer.

However, the thing that likely stood out to Rick the most was the fact that the woman, presumably Edmondo's wife, was familiar to him.
She was one of the Mage's he'd seen in the dossier prior to his embarking on this mission. One of the Mages who'd been taken.

It seemed there was one final piece of evidence that could possibly point him in the right direction; sitting on the edge of their little clearing, right where they'd entered it on their trip from the path from the bridge, was something barely visible in a path of grass that was thicker than the rest. Almost as if someone had attempted to hide it.

It was matte black, and not paper.
It was hard to make it out fully, but whatever it was, it wasn't natural.

It was time for Rick to put his noggin to use, it seemed.

[A Lowly Wretch]

More pieces to the puzzle it seemed.

Rick strode on over to the object laying on the ground. Closer now he could identify it as a gun, Edmondo's gun to be precise. He was fortunate that Edmondo had affixed the silencer prior to his sudden and unexplained disappearance. Noting the equipment discarded like so his attention was drawn back to his own gear. Rick checked his belongings, both the saber and the pack with his scrolls and some miscellanea tucked within.

Good. Nothing appears to be missing.

Noting that he checked the area surrounding the gun for any potential traps before picking it up. He checked to make sure the safety was on and quickly looked at the ammo remaining. Seeing as how they've had scant resistance the clip appeared to be full. He set the gun away inside his satchel for the time being before turning his focus over to the picture he had found.

There's the motive.

He silently noted just why Edmondo had taken up this particular job. While he wouldn't have questioned it if he were assigned a higher ranking agent to supervise his performance between the dangerous nature of this particular mission and the evidence before him he had his doubts that was all this was.

But then why me specifically? Other agents have been sent in prior to investigate this case before. Surely he didn't need this particular case to take up a job investigating this disturbance.

The picture was still incomplete. Not wanting to linger on mere speculation Rick turned his eyes to the surroundings. The surroundings held a strange air about them. He considered the possibility that he may be inside a giant ward of some kind. An even worse possibility was that it was something's barrier, a concept he'd only heard in mention and read in select passages. If that were the case then he was in grave danger indeed since only casters of a particularly high caliber can manifest one.

Not dwelling too much longer on this he looked to the smoke. He recalled the direction where he saw the sky laser last night and positioned himself between the plume of smoke and the laser's approximate direction. Using the smoke as an informal compass Rick pressed forward into the woods. He made sure to keep wary of his surroundings for any lurking dangers, pausing for a few seconds every two or three minutes so he could pick up sounds that would continue when all of his have stopped such as the sound of other footsteps.

[Prinz]

Rick's venture was as peaceful as peaceful could possibly be in this situation. Nobody got in his way, nobody shot at him or blasted him with Magick. It was almost a little too quiet..

The journey was over sooner than likely expected, and quite quickly was Rick breaking through the forest's dense foliage and standing on a path that didn't exist when the duo had ventured across the bridge the night before. The ravine was still there, yes, but this path was new, as if it hadn't existed until right then. Despite that, it was nothing more than a simple dirt path, carved through the grass by the feet of the many men and women who'd used it over the thousands of years they'd existed. But out here, so deep in the forest..?

And where was that bridge that the two of them had used to cross the massive, deep ravine currently sitting before him like the gaping maw of some unknown abyss? All that remained of it was the decrepit remnants of the concrete foundations that sat upon the edge of the cliff face, left in the disrepair that came with ages of wear and tear. Grass poked through the dozens of cracks in the stone slab, pieces of cobbled rocks like those used in the roads of an old city sat here and there, mostly caked with moss and dirt. It looked as if the bridge was ancient, and wasn't used in at least fifty years at most.

Yet by far the most concerning piece of information that Rick's senses would behold was the one that came to him from across the ravine itself. The campfire once again blazed brightly, and he could just barely hear a voice; not enough to make out what it was saying, but enough to recognise it.
Himself and Edmondo were sitting near the campfire, talking, and surrounding them was an innumerable amount of bright, glowing crimson eyes, filling up the empty space in the forest around them. For a moment, as if they noticed the current Rick noticing them, they all turned to him.

Malice.
Rage.
Amusement.

The eyes were focusing on Rick and Rick alone, until, for a moment, they seemed to smile, before turning back to stare at the duo near the campfire, ignoring Rick from that moment on.
The disappearing bridge, the ancient dirt path, and the malicious beast behind him.
Whatever this was, it wasn't normal.

[A Lowly Wretch]

Arriving at the scene Rick took in all the details of the scene at hand. The bridge they used to cross the ravine appeared to have decayed for about fifty years. Across the bridge he could see himself camped alongside Edmondo. Surrounding his past self were crimson eyes that watched them. They turned to focus their attention over to the current him.

Well, looks like getting inside incognito's just been scrapped.

There were a number of possibilities to how the scene before him was possible. If this was a boundary then he'd be seeing whatever the host would want him to see he figured. It could also be an illusion brought on to try and disorient him. A less likely reason but still far from impossible was that he had somehow been looped through time since the point he crossed into this field.

All those thoughts were very brief as, once noticed, he quickly turned his gaze to each space to either side of him before finally turning and settling his eyes on the monster which lurked behind him. He immediately triggered his mage's barrier before activating his Auric Vision spell, bathing the whole world in black and white monochrome with only the surrounding magic around him illuminated by their magical aura, whatever that might be.

"Stay your distance. Speak your name and purpose." He did not project his voice lest he attract unwanted attention from elsewhere in the forest. For the most part he spoke lowly and strictly to the point. He had his left hand rested on the pommel with the other hand having reached into his bag and pulled out a scroll that's suffused with arcane power.

He was ready to throw down if things turned ugly.

[Prinz]

Despite using him Auric Vision, the only thing Rick could see was the Crimson-Eyed Beast's eyes, and an ever-growing darkness that seemed to swallow up everything that was on the other side of the bridge. Even his own self was hardly visible, but there was something far more unsettling now.
His other self was staring at him, eyes glazed over. To say he looked like a corpse would be perfectly accurate. He slowly lifted an arm to wave, and thick, black tendrils stuck out of a massive hole in his elbow, leading back into the darkness that was the Crimson-Eyed Beast.
Whether it was an illusion designed to scare him or the reality of the situation, who knew? Perhaps he really was still out there, trapped an a waking nightmare, dead but not yet aware, and hidden away from any Reapers who may be coming for him.
Perhaps he as bait.

Sudden pain shot through his eyes as something seemed to flicker and change in the world around him, the crimson eyes seeming to almost smile. It was as it was inches away from showing off its teeth, yet they were never seen.

There was no vocal response from the Crimson-Eyed Beast, hidden in the darkness of the forest around them as it was. All Rick was given was a soft, vibrating hum that echoed around the forest as the Crimson-Eyed Beast faded away into its own darkness. The vision of himself and his companion from the past faded, too, and all he was left with was a single way forward- the path that lead further into the forest and, more importantly, further away from safety. There were no answers.
Not yet.

It was surprising, though. After Doctor Minerva had told Rick she would be the voice in his ear to guide him, he'd heard nothing from her over the last few days. He hadn't asked anything of his superior, either.
Perhaps he hadn't thought of it, or perhaps something more sinister had caught ahold of his vulnerable mind without him even knowing, and he had been shepherded into something truly horrific without him even knowing.
Whatever the reason, he was in the thick of it now regardless, and if he attempted to contact Eine, all he'd find was static coming through his earpiece.

With only one way left open to him, the path forward was clear.

---

The dirt path was little more than just that- a dirt path. There were rocks here and there for him to step on by accident, and little bits of grass that still somehow managed to survive in the middle of the frequently-stomped path. It seemed to go on for almost too long, winding and snaking through the ever thickening forest like some sort of serpentine throat that dragged Rick deeper and deeper into the belly of the beast that was his current situation.
Eventually, he'd notice something that was more than a little concerning. A thicket of thorns and vines that tangled around the trees that stood before him, choking the life out of the colossal pillars of nature. He wouldn't be able to make out a single thing past the vines, and the wall was so thick that it essentially made a tunnel. There was no way around it- it seemed that the vine wall stretched as far to the sides as he could see, and so far up that they almost smothered the entirety of the trees. The tunnel in front of him was almost pitch black, lit only by the light coming from behind him and, what seemed like far too far away, the tiny, almost stifled light at the other end of the tunnel.

Well, this was almost definitely a trap.

[A Lowly Wretch]

Rick looked on but his expression remained as cold as stone. The grim visage of himself did not sway his steeled stance, his eyes scanning evermore for the real threat to him here. Whatever it was he was looking upon it was only what it wanted him to see, not the truth. Not the whole truth perhaps.

There was no reaction outside of a slight pull at the right corner of his lips, just a subtle grit of the teeth as he refused to have his eyes turned askew through this change. The vision faded and left him with little more than a rough trail forward. His emotional response was more irritation than anything else. Despite it's efforts this brief vignette had simply served to inform Rick to some degree.

My mind has been compromised.

He did not enjoy it but that was the most obvious possibility he could perceive. At this point what was real and what wasn't was at best an uncertain distinction. It was entirely possible this entire forest was now a landscape played out within his head. He could be stuck in a vivid nightmare, dancing to the demon's tune.

It could be that it had simply come to flaunt it's power towards him, inviting him in to meet the fate it was laying out for him. He was skeptical about that however. If a demon had to power to reach inside his perception like so it was highly unlikely that it would simply leave his mind be past that. No, it was going to keep toying with his mind and from what he gathered it was not going to be subtle about it.
_

What bothered him most was that it had slipped through his mind ward. One of the first magics he gravitated towards learning was a method to protect his mind and for all the good that did now. Not only had it not barred the demon's intrusion into his head-space but there was nary a warning. He felt no effort from his magic as this thing penetrated his defenses.

Rick was unhappy. One of the few things that bothered him more than anything else and it was to be his first solo hunt, more or less. Jeopardizing the safety of the other captives at this point was a forgone objective. There was little to no way the entity responsible hadn't been made aware of his intrusion and now he was probably no less captive than the rest of them.

It made sense. Most of the other agents likely hadn't drawn the conclusion that they were stuck within their own minds and even if they did only a specialist in mind magic would be proficient in untangling themselves from this web. At this point the only thing left to try and do was to make the demon show it's hand. Only then could he understand the nature of it's attack and counter effectively.

_

Looking down the dirt path he saw the light at the end of the overgrowth-woven tunnel. It would be foolish to just assume that light was unattended if it was a real light at all. Being forced into a binary choice was not something he was just going to take laying down though. He looked at the vines that comprised the growth surrounding him. Producing his blade he drew a cut along a lone length of vine in an attempt to sever a piece from the tapestry.

He did not act in heedless haste however. He was well aware that a fair number of outcomes could result from this. Seeing as it was entirely possible this was a fabricated perception of reality what would occur was quite likely in the demon's hands to decide. He also knew that, seeing as this overgrowth of vines was unnatural, it was possible the greenery could react violently to this. After all there were a number of entities capable of animating plant life. It would not be unreasonable to expect something to be actively controlling the land a weapon against intruders.

So Rick stood poised, ready to respond at an instant. His eyes and ears were keen and waiting for even the most subtle cues.

[Prinz]

Surprisingly, nothing came of Rick's attempt to slice the vine. It seemed to be a normal vine, and if anything, the overgrowth had occurred a long, long time prior to his arrival. The only result of his little test was the vine being cut apart. It felt normal, smelled normal, and didn't come alive even after a few moments of waiting. In his poised position, Rick could hear the gentle wind, the rustling of some of the greenery around him because of it, and the sounds coming from his own body.

It seemed like his test had produced a result that was, while nothing special, wasn't utterly horrendous either. He was still at an impasse, though it did seem that climbing up the massive wall of vine-covered trees, or around it, would involve far more difficulty than was worth. It was his decision, however.

As for whether this was all real or an illusion, well, the stinging in Rick's eyes had vanished along with the Crimson-Eyed Beast.

[A Lowly Wretch]

For the most part the forest seemed unanimated. That did not mean the overgrowth wasn't caused by magic but there was little to change the end result. Rick looked ahead at the dim point of light at the end of the forest tunnel. He turned his gaze back down to the section of vine he had detached. His face was cold, unmoving, a stoic image of focus. It could be mistaken as such if it weren't for the motion of his eyelids blinking at distant intervals.

His first impulse was to burn it all. Set the forest ablaze and deprive the demon it's hiding spot. It already had access to his mind, at this point whatever action he took was undercut with the concern that it wasn't truly taking place. All the more reason to want to set a forest fire in motion before it had the chance to rob him of his reality once more.

He tempered this impulse with caution but it was still an option he hadn't taken off the table. Saving the others, even his guide Edmondo, was secondary to ending the demon for good. Trespassers upon the minds of others, no matter how innocuous, had no place in this world. They threatened his trust in his own mind. If he could not trust that his own thoughts were his then who was to say the devil hadn't already won? It would be as simple as swapping enmity with alliance. He could never be sure if that wasn't the truth. A true descent into madness that train of thought was. Considering it was a very real possibility only made it that many times worse.

Returning to the situation at hand he erred on the side of caution for now. Moving his back into a recess in the thicket he concealed himself amidst the thorns.

"Phantasmal vision.
Let me see past my limits.
Arcanist's Eye."

With a whispered incantation he conjured forth an Arcanist's eye. As he shut his eyes the Arcanist's eye opened, the world viewed through the detached force which moved forth at his will. Looking through this invisible force it moved forward towards the diminutive point of light. It was slow as it was a rather recent incantation he learned, his skill with the spell not yet refined to the point where he could urge it forth at a greater pace. He made sure to check it's surroundings all the while, keen not to miss any details along the way with the point that something fairly obviously set him towards. Better to see the trap from the outside rather than the inside. In this case he was going to see it from the inside while outside it.

Even without the sanctity of his mind preserved he wasn't going to let it choose for him what he does. Not so long as he has any choice in the matter.

[Prinz]

Rick's Arcanist's Eye passed through the long, dark tunnel slowly, but without incident. It appeared that there was no trap set within, no enemies waiting to spring into action, and no evil vines eager to jut out from the walls of the throat-like tunnel that he had no choice but to pass through. Truly, the vines surrounding the entrance to the passage through the thick wall of vines almost seemed like the maw of some waiting, ancient monstrosity that was more than keen to swallow him up.

Yet, there was always the possibility that whatever lay inside was simply either smart enough to know that the Arcanist's Eye wasn't a living being, or it was designed to only activate when a living being stepped across the horizon and into the darkness ahead. There was no way to know, though for all of the paranoia that the unnatural natural barricade had brought forth in the greenhorn Mage, it seemed entirely inconspicuous- there wasn't any Magickal energy infused into the vine-wall that swallowed up and twisted through the trees before him. It was, to put it bluntly, a wall made of vines using Magick but not inherently Magickal in nature on its own.

After all, if there was something in there that prevented living beings from passing through, how would the people that Rick and his superior had caught sight of beforehand gone through, not just once, but twice. In and out.

Without resistance of interruption, Rick's Arcanist's Eye went through the tunnel and came out the other side. On the other side was more dirt path that lead the way through the trees, but more importantly than that.. there were footprints. Many footprints- at least enough to prove that the path was, in fact, well used. Aside from that, there was what appeared to be several pillars of smoke further through the forest, but they weren't thick or dark enough to be the result of fire. Chimneys, perhaps? Was there a village ahead? Or was it a campsite, maybe? There was only one way to find out, one way forward, and that was through the tunnel and up the path before the young man who was so cautiously standing.
Ironically, didn't he have his back turned to the very place where the Red-Eyed Beast had been not so long ago taunting him from? Perhaps he was already trapped in its grasp, unable to see what was sitting right in front of him, and he was doomed to wander the ever-eroding worlds contained within his own mind?

Or maybe he was thinking about it too hard?
Or, perhaps, the Red-Eyed Beast was planning something far more sinister, and was letting him keep his sanity for just a little while longer in order to demolish what little of it remained in the future.
There was only one way to find the truth.

Rick Brackwall had to push onwards, whether he liked it or not, lest he stay in this mysterious world, trapped between a ravine and a tunnel, until he starved to death or went mad.

[A Lowly Wretch]

What he saw was informative. Not all telling but certainly informative.

Rick stood at the mouth of the vine-woven tunnel now knowing what laid beyond it. Still, it was going to be a risky venture passing through. After all, even if there was no magic latently sewn into the vines themselves he could easily fall prey to a simple animation spell should something decide to magically encourage the woven mesh of thorned plant life to act against him.

While the temptation to burn it all remained he suspected the fire would only serve to warn the enemy of his approach. It wouldn't resolve the greater issue at hand anyhow. His mind was as much a battlefield as these woods now. In order to truly neutralize the demon's threat he'd need to conquer it in both the mind and flesh. As much as he hated to admit it he was ill equipped to truly fight this thing on it's own terms.

It was time to move forward. Though he might of held a sword, his scrolls and the leftover gun of his missing comrade he was effectively unarmed and he felt as such. Knowledge was power and he knew little of what laid ahead in his journey. This world he was in might not of even existed for all he knew. The only certainty left was that the demon needed to die. More than to simply send it to hell this threat deserved to be destroyed in the flesh, mind and soul. He couldn't rest until that much was made certain, however tall a task that might be.

He urged himself forward, one foot in front of the other, trudging forth with steady yet uncertain footsteps. His hand gripped his sword hilt tightly and his body was tightly wound, every muscle tensed and ready to act at the slightest provocation. His eyes scanned the dim light he had searched through just prior, the world still grey as he scanned for any sign of colour, any sign of magic sticking out from the monochrome scenery before him.

At this point his own survival, while important, was secondary to the task he was set upon. He would walk through the tip of a spear and down it's haft if that was what it took to see this through. All he had left to count on was his determination and faith in a higher power. Even if he was half demon he was still half human and that was, theoretically, enough to call upon the gods for divine magic. It would come at his detriment but he'd accept such aid at the cost of his own blood if necessary.

So he continued onward, his senses primed and ready to react to whatever came.

[Prinz]

As Rick made his way down the tunnel, nothing happened.
For all the thinking, and all the concern, the tunnel truly did seem to be nothing more than a weird tunnel that had been made through the abnormal wall of vines and trees. Though it was dark, and the dirt path was well-trodden, nothing jumped out at him, and no vines struck at him after being brought to life by some ominous and deadly force.
The only noteworthy thing was that it was slightly chillier than it was outside, a feeling that persisted even as Rick exited the tunnel without incident or trouble of any kind.
Unless he tripped inside, or something like that, but that was totally on him.

On the other side of the tunnel, things were still as they seemed. The footprints were still there, and the thickets were still as dense and lively as they'd seemed to be through his Arcanist's Eye. Everything was normal- untouched.
Except, well, it was quiet. Far too quiet. There were no birds chirping in the trees, no creatures stalking through the underbrush.
Not even the gentle wind that caused the tallest parts of the trees to sway under their influence made any particularly loud sounds, even when they should.

However, that peaceful silence was broken harshly when, from further up the path, the sound of cackling and screeching echoed through the woods. Two distinct voices, both of them decidedly inhuman, reached the young Exorcist's ears, and by the sound of it, they were getting closer and closer with every passing moment. There was no lack of places for Rick to hide- the bushes that lined the path or sat further in would make wonderful cover for him to cower behind as this unknown threat made its way towards him. He could even hide up in one of the thick, tall trees that lined the path, sinking into the dense foliage and having both height and surprise on his side.

Or he could stand in the middle of the path as he was, and face whatever came head-on. He could even retreat through the tunnel if he so wished, but if he did that, where would he go afterwards? Judging by the volume of the cackling that once again echoed its way down the path towards him, the things- people or not- were getting closer by the second. He had enough time to choose a suitable hiding place and get to it, but that was about it.

The clock was ticking. He had 40 seconds before whatever they were rounded the corner of the path ahead and saw him. It was probably important to note that the path curved to Rick's left, but what that information meant to him was for only him to know.