NoriWasHere

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

You know you want to go

INTERACTIONS Ruby, Jessica, Greenwood at large,[@Punished GN] Stormy@Blizz Luca @FernStone

”I’m with you,” Aryin said after they swapped forms and stepped up next to Linqian. She did not know what was up with the boy, but she would not let it hurt anyone here. A moment later, Luca walked up and defused the bomb and suffered a terrible injury. Aryin looked to Linqian and then back to the situation as it unfolded. Her second meeting, and already this was making her angry. One of their own was heavily wounded, Lynn was being a cunt, Luca was now hurt, and now-

The door swung open and Greenwood walked inside.

And now it was fucking better. ”Yooooo,” Aryin put their guard down. The other night was an awesome experience, from the fights to the weed and even the suggestive talks between everyone meant that night would forever live on in her memory. This past weekend would live on forever in her mind. Her eyes drifted to Leon and she bit her lip. She needed another night like last night. She turned her attention to Lynn. This cunt was not allowed to ruin any chance she had at another night like that.

” You may be useful right now but as soon as your not I’m going to hold a vote like the old days. And your ass will be gone,” Aryin looked at Linqian and nodded.

---

“The Pit,” Lila whispered to herself, “I don’t think I like that idea Lynn,” Lila paused as she leaned back on the wall, “that,” Lila paused as she looked over to Drake, shifting her eyes to Leon, and then to Luna. None of them seemed all too pleased but she knew that each one was willing to go along with this plan. Lila shifted her eyes back to Lynn. Has Lynn gotten better with her predictions? With her knowledge of what was to come? That was a question to ask at a later time.

A moment later the boy entered the house and looked like hell. Something resembling a crystal stuck out from the damaged form of the boy and Lila felt a deep-seated fear rise from within. It was not a fear in response to the boy, or how he looked, but it was in response to the crystal itself. This fear was not her own, this fear came from the maiden. Lila’s eyes went black instantly, and the maiden entered her mind. “Stay away from that boy, from that crystal, ” the maiden whispered to her, “You can do nothing to help. Stay away.”

“Scared it might hurt you?” Lila whispered back and let the question hang.

“Us.”

“Oh, of course. Us. You’re not looking out for your interest at all,” Lila scoffed as she leaned back into the wall further hoping no one would pay any attention to the crazy bird lady talking to herself.

“Oh I do care for you,” the maiden read between the lines and confronted Lila straight on, “I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect host.”

Lila scoffed once more as she traced her eyes back to the kid and noticed Luca reaching for the crystal. If the crystal could hurt the maiden, and Lila, that would mean…. “Luca wait,” Lila paused as she watched Luca rot the crystal, and his hand in the process. Lila gasped at the sight and looked at Jasper, his hand over his mouth and his mouth agape. He quickly moved to Luca. Lila shifted her focus back on the boy. Something within her stirred at the sight of his form, and Lila felt the sensation of her wings shifting underneath her skin. She could feel the taloned claws try and push their way out of her feet. It was painful. Incredibly painful, but thankfully she had enough control to prevent another rupture right here. She did not trust whatever took the form of this boy. And the maiden wanted her ready in case it tried to do something. An instant later her attention was pulled from the boy when one of her crows caught sight of a group outside. She had to suppress the wings again at the sight. Who were they? She had more of her crows circle overhead for different angles on the same group. She spotted them chatting, overhead something about not talking about a ‘white-haired bitch’, and eating pizza, and she took a deep breath as she figured this must be Greenwood. She watched them enter the building with her own eyes and chuckled at the confused expression some of them had at the sight before them.

“This kind of thing happens all the time now,” Lila smirked as she exclaimed the group, “Which ‘white-haired bitch’ were you talking about outside?” A few crows took the opportunity to fly into the room and take up positions in the ceiling above.

---

Jasper quickly dropped his hand from his mouth as he ran over to Luca’s side. This was bad. Whatever that crystal was it seemed to have a profound effect on his friend, and now he was hurt and on the ground. Thankfully, others reacted to the situation at hand at the same time. Sully was on the way with the chalice, Stormy was there to ward off the Rot and keep Luca safe from spiraling out to some devastating conclusion that only the Rot would enjoy, and Jasper was there to keep him safe and be there when he awoke again.

“Thanks guys,” Jasper said with a smile as he looked towards Stormy, “is there anything we can do to give him a breather from the Rot when he comes to?” Jasper watched as Luca’s chest rose and fell with each breath. That was a good sign at least. Jasper knew whatever the crystal just did was incredibly painful and he knew that he would need a lot of ice cream and snacks, and a well-cooked meal, to help distract Luca from it when they got home.

Jasper’s attention was pulled when Greenwood came through the door. Jasper sized them all up real quick. They all seemed.. Different from what he had expected. Jasper had this image of a bunch of old hippies still fighting the good fight stuck in his mind any time he heard the name Greenwood and learned of their exploits protecting nature. Seeing that they were truly no different from their coven, with a range of personalities and relatively close in age eased some concerns that he had had.

“Do any of you have a healer,” Jasper asked the Greenwood coven with a smirk. “And do y’all have names? I’m Jasper. Jasper Wilde,” he paused as he caught sight of Jessica and was taken aback by her muscular form, “has anyone ever told you you’d make a fantastic reference for a painting?”

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

At the intersection of bad decisions and eventuality

---

The future was an unforgiving place.

One was more likely to get lost trying to track down the true possible eventuality than actually find the actual answer that they sought. There could be a thousand possibilities that change at a moments notice. A thousand possibilities that Lynn was quickly becoming a master at navigating. This trip to the possible future was one of the most important ones yet. Was it to see if the snake broke free of its prison? No. Was it to figure out who father wolf actually was? Not a chance, Lynn had spent many drunken nights trying to decipher that mess. Was it a anything that was actually important to the coven as a whole? No. It was something much more important. Finding a lunch place that Sloane might actually like.

And it was proving to be difficult.

Lynn had narrowed down the choice to two possible options. One was a new restaurant called The Olde Town Tavern that had just opened up in the arts district. It promised fine food, expensive wines, and a brunch menu that should satisfy anything that Sloane might want. As well, she was consistent enough with her order that Lynn felt confident that she’d be at least cordial to share the meal. Though upon looking up the reviews it seemed this place was an upscale, fancier version of a Cracker Barrel restaurant minus the gift shop. The other was a crappy dive bar simply called The Bar that may, or may not, have had several health code violations recently. Between the two Lynn picked the tavern, and hopped she picked right.

She waited for Sloane at the table, arriving some thirty minutes early to order the appetizers that the future suggested Sloane would like. If Sloane was as punctual as she was in these futures she would arrive just a minute before the food came out, and Lynn would prove that she could read the future well enough. This was important because Lynn needed Sloane’s help deciding which future was accurate with Kari. Lynn looked at her phone and saw that it was almost time. She leaned back in her chair, and took a small sip from her mimosa.

Sloane had been surprised to get a text from Lynn given their less than amicable history. She wouldn’t have even replied under normal circumstances, but then again under normal circumstances Lynn would never have reached out. Sloane was still tentative when she had accepted the invitation to brunch, having spent several minutes pacing around in her apartment as she failed to convince herself that Lynn wasn’t that small of a person to invite her out merely to rub it in Sloane’s face that she had been right about 8th Street attacking them, an argument made all the more easy by recalling what Lynn had said about Jinhai.

Yet in the end she still felt compelled to accept, surprising herself just as she was surprised as she walked in through the door of the Olde Town Tavern. The brunch spot was shockingly quaint, lovingly crafted out of vintage wood and forged iron that gave it a rustic feel despite being a new restaurant. The decor was a little hokey but strangely comforting, with rusted anchors and wooden ship wheels and fishing nets and old rods lining some of the walls as well as one great big fake marlin posted above a lit fireplace. Sloane caught a wave from Lynn out of the corner of her eye and made her way to where the woman was sitting, passing by a handful of couples in quiet conversation, failing to notice that the two of them were about half the age of everybody else in the restaurant.

Sloane slipped into her seat as she gave Lynn a simple, “Good morning.” She reached for the tiny pack of creamer to add it to the cup of black coffee steaming in front of her, stirred it, and took a sip. It was fantastically brewed. She let out a nearly silent hmph and closed her eyes as a sign of her satisfaction, unaware that Lynn had ordered the coffee for her after predicting which would receive the most favorable response, able to live the rest of her life not knowing the catastrophe that would have occurred if it had been a Bloody Mary made with jalapeno infused vodka waiting for her instead of a simple French roast.

“I predict that you didn’t just invite me out to have brunch. ” said Sloane, opening her eyes, looking around for a menu. “So, what’s going on?”

“Good morning Sloane,” Lynn said with a weak smile. While she had pushed herself out of the hole that Friday had put her in, she was still feeling very raw and emotionally vulnerable from the ordeal. If it wasn’t for Ken, Luca, Jasper, and Lila she was liable to be in a much worse spot. “You are correct, I didn’t just invite you out for the company, though all things considered you’re not the worst person I could be having brunch with at this moment,” images of Linqian flashed across her mind, “I need your help Sloane. I have ten possible futures, all equally likely, that I need to decipher.”. Lynn paused as she took a big sip from her mimosa. This was the hard part. Lynn knew she needed to do a few things, not to get Sloane to help but to be better than the false prophet she was to the old coven. Part of that was accountability, and the other was seeking guidance when the future was uncertain.

“I was hoping I could get your help in fixing that.”

“I see,” said Sloane slowly, thinking over the proposition. At first it struck Sloane as odd that out of all people Lynn would choose her. While it would be crazy for Sloane to believe that Lynn couldn’t see a future, Sloane had been historically dismissive of Lynn’s predictions—sometimes justifiably, sometimes not. Perhaps that was precisely why she was the one to have been chosen. Anyone else would just nod along out of politeness while Sloane was the kind of person who’d poke holes in the ideas presented by Lynn.

Plus, there was just something nice about being relied upon.

“Fine, let’s hear them,” said Sloane, pulling a pen out of her coat pocket and grabbing a napkin to use as a piece of paper. “Oh, but we should probably order first before we get too far off in the weeds and…”

A waiter arrived carrying a platter of dishes before Sloane could finish her thought and swiftly dressed the table, departing as quickly as they had arrived after checking if there was anything else the two needed. Sloane glanced at the smorgasbord before her: a platter of seasonal fruits drizzled with a honey, eggs benedicts absolutely dripping with hollandaise sauce, and razor thin slices of smoked salmon on top of a thin piece of toast topped with cream cheese, red onions, and capers. It was the kind of spread that brought tears to the eyes, in part due to how beautiful it looked as well as how strongly fragrant it was. It was only when the server returned to drop off a plate of spanakopita and stuffed mushrooms, some absolute personal favorites, that Sloane folded her arms and gave Lynn a stony, although not necessarily upset, look.

“Very cute,” said Sloane dryly. “But wouldn’t it have just been easier to ask?”

A sly grin crossed Lynn’s face. “It would have been easier to ask, yes,” Lynn responded as she crossed her arms, “but you never believed I could predict the future with any accuracy,” Lynn uncrossed her arms as she pointed towards the various tasty treats assembled before them, “and I had to show you that I’ve gotten better since the coven to get your help.”

“Right…”

Sloane plated herself a piece of spanakopita and sunk her fork into it, taking a small, delicate bite. A sudden spark of light shone in her dark eyes as the flavor exploded in her mouth as she smiled and attempted to cover up her delight by dabbing at her lips with a napkin. It was incredible. She cleared her throat and set the napkin back on her lap.

“Maybe I had been a bit harsh to you in the past,” said Sloane—a massive understatement. There was no polite way to ever call somebody a useless liability, but Sloane definitely had found some of the worst ways to do it back in the day. “I suppose I should thank you for warning us about 8th Street.”

Even if Lynn’s warning had, like many of her predictions before, been issued too late for it to actually be of any use. Sloane managed to keep herself from pointing that out by shoving another piece of flaky pastry into her mouth.

“I was to focused on what I was searching for, I nearly missed the threat right in front of us,” Lynn said with a smirk, “being back at Kari’s house, and hearing what they had to say about her grave I just had to see what the future held for her, you know? And it blinded me to the threat coming our way,” Lynn paused as she sighed, “just like before.”

Lynn took a big sip of her mimosa. A lot of people died because she got lost like that in the future. “Despite that, I was able to get ten possible futures. That’s it. There’s just ten possible futures involving Kari,” Lynn paused as she leaned back, “and it’s been five years since we…since we broke up and I don’t think I can objectively figure this out. I have too much skin in the game, you know? I can tell you what each future is, one by one, and you will tell me what you think of each one. Would you do that for me?”

Sloane nearly choked on a slice of persimmon when Lynn mentioned her breakup with Kari. Sloane had known that at one point Kari had dated a woman named Lynn, as Kari would always pointlessly bring her up whenever they were discussing something that at the time Sloane had thought was important, but she had never made the connection that Kari’s Lynn was the Coven’s Lynn. Or perhaps she had but had cared so little about Kari’s interpersonal problems that she had just deleted the knowledge from her brain, replacing it with things that she’d thought were more important.

Sloane looked down into her coffee, feeling a strange sense of shame in how uninterested she had always been in Kari’s dealings. Suddenly Lynn’s explosion at Linqian was so much more understandable. At the time she hadn’t known that their Kari might still be alive. Sloane frowned. There was something cruel about the hope that Lyss’s foggy information had given Lynn and Kenshiro.

“Go ahead,” said Sloane, clicking her pen, wishing she knew how to say something comforting.

Lynn held up a single finger. “Kari is Father Wolf, and she is seeking revenge on the coven because of a grievance against part, or all, of the coven.”. Lynn let that sink in for a moment. She also grabbed some of the spanakopita and took a bite and her eyes rolled at the taste. Sloane had exquisite taste, and Lynn was glad that the possible future was so right with this dish. “I know right? If it was just a dead end of a possible eventuality I’d chalk it up the randomness of the future but I saw this one many, many times.”

“It is a possibility,” said Sloane, jotting a note. She still had her suspicions that Father Wolf was previously a member or associate of the Coven. “Her spells would allow her to spy on others and find them when they were at their most vulnerable, making up for her small size. Although I couldn't imagine what reason would push her to murder. She was one of the few members of the Coven that could be considered levelheaded, and I don't remember anything bad happening to her that didn't happen to the rest of us.”

“So in this theory,” an unintentional use of the wrong word that was slightly disparaging. She should've said future, “Kari somehow managed to go to an alternative reality and then murdered her double so she could fake her own death? Seems far-fetched.”

“That’s right, she used her spell to locate an artifact that allowed her to pull another version of herself over just to murder herself. She knew we would investigate and did that to slow us down,” Lynn paused as she took another bite of the food. “It is far-fetched, but so are some of the other possibilities.”

“It just feels convoluted, doesn’t it? Kari’s smart enough. She would’ve realized that killing her double would make her look like the prime suspect. Did you ever see any specifics regarding what these grievances that motivated her were?” asked Sloane.

“Sadly nothing concrete. In one it was because we let her best friends die, in another it was because someone took the last donut at a coven meeting, and so on. Infinite variety of reasons, one singular outcome,” Lynn took a sip of her mimosa as she leaned back.

“I would like to think that we're being murdered over more than a bear claw. What else do you got?” said Sloane as she put down her fork and picked back up her pen.

Lynn held up two fingers with her free hand as she put the mimosa back down. “Kari is alive, but she’s hiding out in another universe to save herself from Father Wolf,” Lynn responded with a sigh.

“And in this version, she found this artifact and offered her other self up as a sacrificial pawn?” asked Sloane, looking up from her note at Lynn. “And she didn't warn anyone or offer to take them with her? Not you? Not Ken? You'd know her better than I, but that doesn't seem like something the Kari I knew would do.”

Lynn held up three fingers, agreeing with Sloane with a nod of her head. “Kari knew something evil was coming, and suspected the snake was involved. She went searching for the tree it’s sealed in and found it. The snake then took control of her mind, and took up the disguise of father wolf to free the snake,” Lynn paused as her head twitched slightly at the thought.

Sloane took the opportunity that a bite of smoked salmon allowed her to ponder over this one. It reminded her of something Drake had suggested some time ago, the idea that the Stygian Snake had implanted hooks in all of their minds and were able to tug at them from its vessel and even call upon them like sleeper agents. Except the only thing that connected the Stygian Snake to Father Wolf was that both of them were against the Coven. Regardless, it was really just a variant of the first idea, except in this one Kari wasn’t so much a psychopath as a hapless victim. It also conflicted with the second one, serving as a damning indictment of the unreliability of Lynn’s foresight.

“So we’re too assume that Kari either severed her Lux and has no Emotional Field or the Stygian Snake was somehow able to bypass it while trapped inside of its prison despite not being able to penetrate ours while at its most powerful? Obviously my memory regarding the subject is blank, but if Kari’s goal was to free the Stygian Snake she should just be able to do so by destroying the sycamore tree,” said Sloane.

“Also, hold on for a moment,” said Sloane, leaning forward with her chin propped up on her hand. “How can you have visions of one future where Kari is Father Wolf and another where she is not Father Wolf? This isn’t some quantum Schrodinger’s Cat thought experiment. While the future is malleable, the course towards it is still set by the past. Father Wolf already exists. They have murdered over a dozen people. Now I can grasp the concept of alternate realities and parallel universes. Maybe there exists a world where Kari’s Father Wolf, or you’re Father Wolf, or I’m Father Wolf, but when Ripley was the first one killed by someone that we likely know it set in stone for our timeline which person our Father Wolf is. So all futures should just be that Kari is Father Wolf or all futures should be that Kari isn’t Father Wolf. How can they vary so drastically?”

“That’s why I call them false futures,” Lynn said as she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, “and that’s also why this is a curse and not some bloodline magic,” Lynn sighed, “I can see into possible futures, but I can never tell if it is our actual future or some bullshit. At least on first glance. And that’s why I look at so many,” Lynn paused as she leaned forward and slipped into the possible future. This time, she did something she very rarely, if ever, did. She projected the future out and allowed Sloane to see a glimpse of what the immediate future had in store. Whole conversations were had in a blink of an eye, some of them turned violent between the two where Sloane cursed a knife and held it to Lynn’s throat while in others they would hug. In a few of these possible futures the waiter came over and asked for Sloane’s number, and in others they would ask for Lynn’s. Sloane would watch as hundreds of possible futures were explored right at this table. Lynn pulled herself back from the possible future and looked to Sloane.

“You’re right. The truth is set in stone, but the path to the future is not,” Lynn paused as she took in a deep breath, she reached into her bag and grabbed a large piece of paper with a intricate drawing of a tree at the bottom of the page and ten trees upside down on the top. The artwork was incredible, with a realistic but artistic take on a forest and each and every branch was carefully placed for maximum effect and every color was masterfully applied to create a wonderful piece of art. There were various animals and critters that hugged the stump near the lone trunk at the bottom and at the top each of the ten trunks had a small ecosystem of creatures around it. In the middle the branches branched off and interlocked with each other.

“Here,” Lynn pointed to the singular tree trunk at the bottom of the page, next to the initials of Jasper denoting the artist, “this is the present. There is nothing we can do to change the outcome of what has happened and what led to this point,” her hand traced up to the interlocked branches, “this is the immediate future. I can see the results of any action I wish, and either get the truth or a false prediction. I can follow those actions, reactions, and move,” she flipped the page so that the ten upside down trees, “to the far future. In this case, I showed ten possibilities hence the ten trees. Now, any action I take will result in change, one way or the other,” Lynn paused as she traced her finger to the side following the ever growing mess of branches, “and I searched far and wide to see if there was any more variation,” she looked at Sloane, “but no matter how far or wide I looked I always led back,” Lynn traced the branches towards one of the ten trunks at the bottom, “to one of these outcomes.”. Lynn paused as she passed the paper to Sloane.

Sloane’s eyes lingered on the initials marking the illustration for a second longer than they should have before she handed the paper back slowly and deliberately, careful to avoid reaching anywhere near the butterknife that was resting on the table. If Lynn was capable of churning through so many immediate possibilities so quickly then Sloane could barely hazard a guess at how many variants she had gone through—hundreds of thousands, millions, more—that all ultimately led back to her ten ultimate outcomes. Lynn had done her homework, but even then there was a creeping doubt in the back of Sloane’s head. She would’ve said snide comment about how Lynn’s future sight was what others would call imagination, but Lynn had already shown her that conversation. It hadn’t been fruitful. Sloane sighed.

“Thank you for illuminating me,” said Sloane, carefully choosing her words to deviate from the paths laid out before them by Lynn’s projections, following along the unmarked route that became the only way forward the moment Lynn had shown Sloane their future. Her lips drew tight and Sloane glanced across the dining room, as if checking to make sure that their server wasn’t approaching with a nervous but hopeful look in their eye. “It must be frustrating, given the uncertainty of all of it, knowing that even if you were to draw upon a conclusion that you were positive was the truth there would still be people like me to question its validity.”

Her tone wasn’t apologetic or sympathetic. Merely factual, almost dismissive if not for the four fingers that Sloane held up to prompt Lynn forward.

“It’s good, the skepticism,” Lynn smirked, “healthy even. My curse is a curse at the end of the day, I’ve gotten more adept at using it but I will never be able to say for certain what the future may hold. The skepticism keeps me grounded,” Lynn paused as she leaned back, “I don’t want to do it alone though, we’ve tried that before and the results weren’t pretty.”

“Sometimes with foresight we see what we want to see, but hindsight’s always twenty-twenty. Maybe at the time going alone made the most sense,” muttered Sloane, folding her arms. It sounded like Sloane was making an excuse for Lynn, but really she was thinking about the emptied out vaults and stolen artifacts that was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to her colossal fuckup. How much damage it would do to the hull of the city remained to be seen.

“It is easy to blame you for the mistakes made back in the day,” said Sloane, her eyes downcast, knowing that her voice, while never one of the loudest, had joined in with the chorus when it came to blaming Lynn when her predictions had done harm. The harder thing to accept was that the others were equally if not more so responsible for what had happened by choosing to listen to Lynn’s unproven prophecies in the first place. Sloane cleared her throat and looked up at Lynn.

“But that doesn’t make it right. You might find this funny, given how skeptical I am when it comes to your foresight, but I practice a little divination of my own. Tarot, mostly. Just about every morning. The thing is that whenever I do a reading I don’t suddenly assume that it's the word of god. They’re just cards, after all. I’m the one choosing to believe in them. So, it’s not the cards fault if they turn out to be wrong. It’s my fault for investing too much faith in them, you see,” said Sloane, taking a sip of her coffee. “Anyway…”

“I get it,” Lynn frowned. This was the only downside to asking for help from Sloane. “And I do not doubt your own divination ability, I did not know that about you but I suppose it only makes sense,” Lynn paused as she took a deep breath, “but this is precisely why I asked for your help. You will not sugarcoat your distrust of my predictions, you will not have the same emotional investment that I or others have. Hell, I told Ken my predictions and he told me he was willing to open up his relationship with Kari to let me back in. I need help figuring this out, and I am confident one of these ten is true. More confident than whether you would like the food I ordered, anything involving the snake, and more confident than what the future holds for anyone else in the coven,” Lynn paused as she took a deep breath. “I can talk to anyone else and get coddled, told that the future I want is the true one, and that there is no way for Kari to be a monster. I don’t need that, I need you.”

Sloane nodded curtly as if she were accepting some great responsibility and took another sip from her coffee, hiding a little smile. “So, future number four then?”

Lynn held up four fingers. “One of our former coven members is trying to do something evil, and to stop them Kari has adopted the disguise of Father Wolf to kill them and their associates.”

“Ridiculous!” Sloane let out a sharp, bitter laugh. [color=silver]“There’s absolutely no way that one is the case. I’d be the first to admit that some of our former covenmates have questionable moralities, but I was close with several of Father Wolf’s victims. The only thing slightly dubious about Jade was her taste in men.”[/close]

Her own personal basis refused to allow her to accept the idea that Jinhai had also been a part of some shadow cabal, but Sloane kept that to herself.

“For the argument’s sake, let's say that this was the case. There’s some grand conspiracy that Kari discovered and, considering my knee jerk reaction, she knew it was futile to try to reveal it to anyone. Why go through all of the theatrics with the wolf idol? Why make all of the murders directly linked together and risk exposing yourself sooner? Why fake your own death? The conspirators would realize that only their faction was being targeted, so one outlier would immediately be alarming,” said Sloane with a shrug, noting the idea anyway.

“Honestly I did not even think of it like that. If it was this one it would be painfully obvious to the rest of them that Kari was on the hunt,” Lynn smirked as she shook her head, “I think your analysis is spot on.”. Lynn held up five fingers. “Kari faked her death to stop something worse. The worse was a variable and there was never a clear rationale behind them in the far future. One time it was to stop the snake from being released, another to stop something called The Great Old One from being summoned.”

“Kari was one of the earliest victims. Third or fourth, I think. It's hard to believe that she was aware of Father Wolf as a concept at that point to kill a copy of herself similar to how his other victims were murdered, but even still,” said Sloane. Her pen came to a halt with a scratch. “Kari plans to do this alone? This threat is so bad that she's willing to get her alternative self killed and then let the people who could help her be hunted down like animals when she could easily solve the Father Wolf case and get some backup? Even if she didn't want our help, did she seem like the kind of person to turn her back on everyone else? You'd think she'd anonymously drop a lead if this were the case.”

“Unless it was more risky to bring us into the fold, but I agree. In this possible future that is what she told me at least. She told us that she thought it was better to work from the shadows than to help us fight in the light you know?”

Sloane shook her head. “Riskier for who? Her, obviously, since we’re already dying. I think I much prefer the realities where she’s trying to murder us over the ones where she just doesn’t care.”

Lynn thought long and hard at the response. Sloane was right. If Kari was fighting from the shadows why hasn’t she asked for help? Why hasn’t she done more to stop these deaths? Her power was never one that was offensive, and unless she suddenly found access to some powerful artifacts she would not be able to fight all by herself. She would need help. Which would beg the question, why not ask for it? And if she did, and those who did not return to the coven were at her side fighting this father wolf, why not bring everyone else back into the fold? Lynn held up six fingers.

“Kari accidentally swapped souls trying to survive father wolf. Her body died here but she lives on in another universe.”

“How?” asked Sloane flatly, setting her pen down without taking a note and answering her own question before Lynn could get a word in edgewise. “I suppose she had a possession of some kind of artifact that allowed her to do this?”

“She could always sense when death was coming for someone, herself included, and she found an artifact right before Father Wolf got to her, and she spent her time in the other universe trying to get back.”

”Sacrificing her other self yet again,” said Sloane with a tsk.

Lynn held up seven fingers, “She saw death coming for her and swapped bodies with another universe’s Kari to get a second chance at life away from the drama of our universe. She was tired of us, our infighting, and simply gave up on us and is happy in the other universe.”

“Same as the previous one, only intentional instead of accidental,” said Sloane. “If those were the realities we’re in it would be quite difficult to suss out without a White Lux user. Impossible, maybe, if Kari swapped on purpose instead of accidentally.”

Sloane went to make a note then paused, looking up at Lynn with a blank expression that hid a growing uncertainty.

“It’s also quite similar to the second future. Almost identical, really,” said Sloane, curling an arrow on her note from the seventh point to the second. Something else about these theories were similar. A set of recurring themes, swapping between abandonment and selfishness. If Sloane were a psychoanalyst she might’ve prompted Lynn with a few leading questions regarding her relationship with Kari and how things had ended. Instead, she just leaned into an assumption as she asked, “Have you ever noticed if personal biases or preconceived beliefs ever influence some of the futures you see? Or are they random draws formed from something more nebulous?”

“There’s always personal biases in choices,” Lynn added as she took another drink of her mimosa finishing it with a heavy chug, “less so when we deal with finite endings. If there was a never ending supply of possible futures I’d be willing to say that there’s a strong chance of my own opinions and beliefs tainting the results. With ten futures I think we can filter out what those may be.”

“It's just that most of these futures paint Kari as being extremely selfish or callous. It doesn’t quite gel with the Kari I remember, but I suppose we weren’t very close. It’s possible that I only saw a superficial version of her that she wanted me to see,” said Sloane nonchalantly. “Still, we’ll need the full sample before we start filtering. I rather we not give unneeded value to what could very well just be a string of coincidences.”

“Rapid fire,” Lynn held up eight fingers, “Father Wolf is swapping people when they kill, bullshit, the other ghosts would have revealed that,” Lynn paused as she held up nine fingers, “Kari is working for father wolf for the greater good. Some corruption lingers in us from our fight with the snake, and we’re all ticking time bombs. The ones who are killed are those who fall to that corruption and Kari does not know who is and isn’t compromised,” Lynn paused as she held up all ten fingers, “Lyss summoned the wrong Kari spirit,” Lynn smirked at the idea.

Sloane was grateful that Lynn was able to eliminate the obvious dud of the next three theories. There was something worrisome about the ninth idea, seeing as how it echoed with something Drake had suggested that night at Dairy Queen. It was already something that Sloane didn’t like thinking about considering how that evening went, but the idea that the Stygian Snake had essentially planted something in them and was using them as sleeper agents was disturbing. That theory was still muddy—Kari would be as vulnerable as the rest of them—but it held more weight than the last one. Sloane shook her head as she noted it down, gave them a once over, and then drew a conclusion, albeit not a final one.

“Boiling these down, there are three basic ideas,” said Sloane. Like Lynn, Sloane introduced each point by raising a finger, tapping her pen against each one as she presented the summary. “Kari is Father Wolf or working with them, Kari is innocent and in another universe, or Lyss somehow fucked up so hard that she developed a new spell.” Sloane twirled the pen between her fingers and added, “I’d be curious to see which one you believe is the most likely, but first I’d like to ask you to indulge me for a moment. I listened to ten of your futures, so I believe it’d only be fair if you were to shut down one possible future that has only just occurred to me.”

“Is it possible that none of these futures are correct due to your search being based upon misinformation?” asked Sloane, leaning forward as she propped her chin underneath her hand. “Say that instead of Lyss talking to the wrong Kari, Lyss actually talked to the right Kari and we were just fed a lie by Auri and Adora?”

“You know me, Sloane, I usually always add a disclaimer like ‘this may happen’ or ‘there’s a possibility that this could happen’ you know? Because I don’t usually talk with complete certainty but this time I know one is right even if I can’t find the words to get the point across. This time feels different,” Lynn said as she looked to the table in frustration.

What Lynn called disclaimers Sloane called outs, ways for Lynn to wash away any responsibility if a prediction failing to come true left someone in dire disrepair. Whatever they called it, the point Lynn was making still worked. It didn’t outright remove the fear that they were all being played—Lyss being the one killed by Father Wolf instead of someone else in the Coven still made it feel like their enemy was someone who knew them—but it kept it from stepping into the foreground and blinding Sloane of other options. It also eased the pain in her stomach that had started to form when she realized she had potentially just given a powerful Counterfeit to someone who could not be trusted.

“I believe you,” said Sloane. Whether she believed that one of these futures were right or she simply believed that Lynn was certain that was the case she did not clarify. Sloane too stared at the table, studying all of the delicious food that her fleeting appetite no longer found appealing. Sloane sighed. “For what it’s worth, I hope that of these possible futures the truth is one where our Kari is living a life somewhere else.”

“However, given the two we can exclude, we’re basically left with a coin flip between two scenarios: Kari is gone, or Kari is working against us. No matter what we want to be true, we should proceed forward with the belief that Father Wolf has access to Kari’s abstraction. Which means…”

They’re fucked. Sloane put her head in her hand. That scrying bitch. It was the easiest explanation as to how Father Wolf was so effortless with their assassinations. Sloane tried to think of a more elegant way to express that idea to Lynn, doubtful that she would even need the picture to be painted for her, when the waiter appeared with the bill.

“No rush on that,” said the server, shuffling away quickly before Sloane could even start to reach for the bill. Then suddenly he was back, a shine of sweat on his forehead and a hint of blush on his cheeks, desperately holding on to the tray as Sloane’s fingers touched it. “S-sorry, um, it’s just, um, it’s for her. O-okay, enjoy your meal, I mean, thank you from coming, um—”

Sloane snatched the tray before Lynn could try to pay for it and the waiter bolted again. She read the receipt, her eyes narrowing and her nose wrinkling as she scoffed and handed the bill to Lynn. Scrawled at the bottom of the check in jittery, thin handwriting was the following:

Can I Have Your #? accompanied by a phone number.

“He seems a little timid, no?” Lynn chuckled as she made a mental note of the number. He could be her latest mistake for all Lynn knew, and she was not having any luck up to this point with the men and women on the dating apps. She slid the bill back to Lynn, knowing full well that Sloane would have the cursed knife at her throat if she tried to pay. “It would mean we are more fucked than we already are,” Lynn paused as she leaned back, ready to draw Sloane into the real meat of the meeting, “We need to find Kari’s Wayfinder.”

Sloane, her neck craning to look behind her so she could catch the eye of the server and admonish him for his unprofessionalism, snapped back to look at Lynn. It wasn’t immediately clear as to why Lynn thought they needed the Wayfinder, but Sloane knew it would be just the thing to be able to track down parts of her missing collection. Her lips curled up into what someone could argue was technically a smile.

“Yes, absolutely!” said Sloane, her sudden enthusiasm was like a convict bursting out of a maximum security prison—riddled with bullets and left to bleed out in the yard. She sunk a little in her chair. “But wouldn’t it presumably just be on Kari’s person?”

“Oh for sure. If she is alive, that is with her at all times. So we need to find one of the mass-produced versions, Goro to make another, or,” Lynn leaned back as she smirked, “find someone to make another artifact to help us do the same.”

Sloane frowned. If Lynn was referring to her then she really needed to stop daydreaming about the future and consider taking a look into history. Sloane couldn't do it with just raw Lux, and if they got the materials she needed to make a Counterfeit then by then it'd be a moot point.

“Well, we'd have to find someone else then,” said Sloane, dropping her credit card in the tray and setting it on the edge of the table. “Goro’s missing and unless you have a manifest showing where the copies are we wouldn't have anywhere to really start looking.”

“The future has told me, with confidence, where we might find one of the replicas is, though I was hoping to avoid it,” the color drained from Lynn’s face, “Goro’s replica can be found on Yoko who is currently in the Pit looking for her brother.”

“Lynn—”

Sloane held back her tongue, instead rolling her eyes as she shook her head in disbelief. Sloane knew very little about the Pit outside of what they had seen in the shared dreams,but she knew enough that going into it was absolutely fucking stupid—hench why someone like Yoko would apparently do it.. Sloane realized that in her own excitement over the Wayfinder she had failed to receive a key piece of information.

“You must really believe that finding the Wayfinder is a necessity to even consider an option as suicidal as that. Why do you want it so badly?” asked Sloane.

“Scorched earth. If Kari is alive, she’s either fighting for us or killing us. If it’s the latter we need to find the one thing that can get us on an equal plane as our killer,” Lynn paused as she made a fist, “Plus, tomorrow’s meeting will be filled with terrible ideas that lead nowhere, infighting, and a lack of direction. We’re all going to die if we don’t solve this,” Lynn paused as she stared at Sloane with a fiery intensity, “we need to even the odds and the wayfinder is how we do that.”

“And we do that by, what?” Sloane let out a derisive laugh. “Telling everyone it’s time for a little romp through the Pit?”

“Yeah, yeah when you say it like that,” Lynn sighed, “it sounds like a terrible idea.” Lynn sighed as she leaned back again in her chair. “But what do we have to show for any good idea? Have we gotten any closer to solving this mystery? Have we found out who is murdering us? Have we functioned at even a tenth of the organized chaos that was the first coven? The future may be unclear about which side of the fence Kari is on but it is clear we’ll need to take some huge risks soon,” Lynn paused as she considered bringing up the possibility of fighting, war, and death coming towards the city but she knew she could not. The future was clear that if she revealed things out of turn it would deviate the group away from the path of success. “I do not want to go to the pit, I do not want my friends to go to the pit, I do not even want my fucking enemies to go to the pit. But the pit sits at a crossroads for us, and I feel we’ll have to go through it at some point soon regardless.”

“Well, at some point in my life I am also going to die but you don’t see me rushing off to jump in front of the first bus I see or weighing down my pockets with stones and going for a swim. If we have to cross the Pit to get through this then we can, but that’s most certainly not the next step,” said Sloane. She had said if, not when, revealing clearly how skeptical she was about Lynn’s crossroads idea. “The next thing we need to do is follow up on this lead with 8th Street. They took something from Kari’s, and perhaps that something is what we’d need to finally start making some progress. Because you’re right, we haven’t really accomplished anything except to prove that it was a good idea for the Coven to dissolve.”

“But it is a relief to me that you realize the current iteration of Sycamore is absolutely dysfunctional and because of that it isn’t working,” said Sloane, casually gesturing to Lynn. “Try to remember that the next time you think about starting a fight with Linqian.”

“Oh,” that bitch, that unrelenting cunt, that unforgivable piece of shit who forgot that Lynn was also a person who lost, lost, and lost some more well before the first fucking kid died to the snake. “I’m working on that,” Lynn said as she averted her eyes to the waiter who was sneaking glances at her from across the restaurant. Maybe a mistake was what she needed to forget the mention of the worst person that this planet ever put forth. Just a week, maybe a month, of just fucking meaningless fucking. Anything would be better than spending even another moment talking about that fucking cunt Linqian. “I am sorry for what I said, Sloane. I wanted to hurt Linqian, but I said something unforgivable to hurt her. And I did not think of how that would hurt everyone else,” Lynn knew that Sloane cared for Jinhai, “and you. I’m sorry Sloane. Truly.”

A genuine, real apology was not what Sloane had expected. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat as a succession of what-ifs where Jinhai was still alive flipped through her mind. It was pointless to think about. He was nothing more than ashes hidden away in Linqian’s cabinet now. A stab of guilt hit her in the chest. It had been about a week since she’d promised Linqian to help fundraise for a memorial service for Jinhai. She looked up at Lynn. There was no point in presenting that to her.

“Whatever. If you want to apologize to someone, you should apologize to Linqian. I get that she’s an idiot and a bitch, but she isn’t the enemy. Or don’t, I don’t really care. Anyway, we’re all going through hell as it is, no need to turn up the heat,” said Sloane. The advice was to herself as much as it was to Lynn.

No. Never. Absolutely not. That cunt did not deserve the satisfaction of hearing Lynn say she was sorry. She was not sorry for forgetting about Lynn’s past, Linqian took the first shot across the bow and it would only be fixed by sending the first apology across it. “I’ll see what I can do. Anyway, based on the possible futures and the themes I’ve told you, if you had to pick one option that you considered the most likely, what one would you pick? Curious to see what you think.”

“It’s difficult to say. If it had been a few years ago, I would find the idea that Kari abandoned all of us without saying anything to go live a better life in another dimension impossible to believe. Now I could be convinced. Kari was one of the few people in Sycamore I still kept in contact with, but this summer she essentially started ghosting me. So maybe she did just give up,” said Sloane, her teeth gritted.

“It’s also possible that she’s trying to stop something worse , but I don’t know. When I consider Father Wolf’s efficiency and ability to skirt any surveillance it’s easy to imagine that something similar to Kari’s Observation spells is being used. While she could strike with surprise, I don’t see Kari being able to overpower almost any of Father Wolf’s victims—and I don’t think she’d fake her own death if she was Father Wolf either, as that would make it more difficult to approach her victims. So,” said Sloane, pausing before saying that she believed Kari was working with Father Wolf for the greater good.

And in that pause doubt crept in. Sloane found it difficult to throw herself behind the idea that Father Wolf’s actions were justifiable in any way. She couldn’t accept a reality where Jade or Jinhai deserved to die, nor did she want to believe in one where she was just as likely to fall to the influence of the Stygian Snake after they had already beaten the damn thing. Perhaps it wasn’t doubt that made Sloane pause after all, but a fear that this reality had a decent chance of being the truth. A reality where their attempts to thwart Father Wolf was the wrong course of action, where they were little more than just puppets waiting to be pulled by their strings.

No fucking way.

“So…”

Unacceptable.

Lynn was wrong. Simple as that. Sloane had said it herself earlier: It’s my fault for investing too much faith in them. This had all been another waste of time. Right? Right! Right. Sloane stared at the spread. The slices of pears had begun to brown at the edges while the filling of the stuffed mushrooms had begun to congeal, the starting signs of rot, rotting away like her skin in Luca’s embrace, rotting away like her willpower against the influences of the Stygian Snake. Sloane blinked, shook her head, and deflated with a frustrated exhale, catching her head in her hands as her eternal migraine began stirring itself free from its slumber

“I don’t know,” said Sloane but what she had meant to say was, “I don’t want to know.”

The future was an unforgiving place.

“That’s okay. The conversation alone has helped me focus on it more, and I am not going to put my eggs into this one basket. I made so many mistakes before trying to figure it out on my own, having someone think things over is more helpful than you know,” Lynn was telling the truth. “If I ever need another interpretation, can I give you a call?”

There was the slightest bit of hesitation before Sloane nodded her head.

“Yes, of course,” said Sloane, sitting back up right, unable to resist her desire to be involved despite her apprehension towards what might be revealed next. Her eyes lingered on the receipt paper with the waiter’s number before looking up at Lynn. “Speaking of calls, you aren’t planning to, are you?”

“Not at all,” Lynn said confidently despite the fact that she had committed the number to memory. “I should get going, Lila will get her wings under control soon and I want to be there for her. I promise, I won’t bring up too much stuff at the meeting tomorrow regarding this. Unless someone brings up a crazy idea first.”

---

“Speaking of journeys, the future points towards one filled with horror and tribulation,” Lynn finally stepped forward as she looked over to Sloane and mouthed a sorry. “There is one artifact that can answer all our questions and needs for security. One that would tell us where Kari is, one that would find all of the stolen artifacts, one that would reveal the location of each and every member of 8th street in case a war to break out, where farther wolf truly is,” Lynn paused as she looked to Britney then to Auri, “Kari’s Wayfinder. That, or one of its replicas. I know where they are, I know we will be able to get them,” Lynn took a few steps forward as she looked to Lila and Jasper. This was a pivotal moment. One that would surely start a war amongst the members. But enough should see the logic behind it, and with their support she should be able to lead the support element.

“Do you all remember Goro? They have a sibling named Yoko. Goro has been missing since searching for the abberation killer in New York. I believe he found it, but can’t get away from where he is at. As such, his sister has departed with the Wayfinder and several replicas and we will be able to get one or the other. And we will find all of them,” Lynn paused as she took in a deep breath, “In a place where hope goes to die. The Pit, ” Lynn paused as she looked across the group letting the revelation settle, “and in each ten possible futures I’ve narrowed down it is a vital piece of the puzzle to solve this Kari drama.”

“Are you insane,” Aaron going a gasp as he took three steps forward in quick succession, “the pit? Where we might die simply by walking the wrong way at the wrong time? Where we will be hunted by monsters every second of every day and never know a moment of peace while we’re there,” Aaron paused as he took another few steps forward, “that Pit?”

“The very same.”

“And how do you suspect we navigate this hellscape?”

Lynn paused as she felt the question weigh on her. It was l a daunting task. Yet they had a few options up their sleeve, ones that would make the struggle that much more bearable. “The spy,” Lynn paused as she pointed to Luna. “the wolf,” she pointed towards Leon, “the storm,” she pointed towards Drake, “and the false prophet,” Lynn paused as she took in a deep breath and pointed to herself. “You do not survive the horror of the pit by being the fastest, or the strongest, or the bravest. You survive by being versatile, being able to see the threats before they come. And you survive by knowing what comes next each and every moment you’re there.”

“You are-”

“Insane if you think any… anyone would… do, why are you.. you’re just.. Stop you asshole.”

Lynn and Aaron paused as they locked eyes. Aaron’s betraying the building rage, Lynn’s calm and collected and filled with confidence for the first time in a decade.

“This doesn’t prove anything. Just because you can see a future that is more than likely bullshit, doesn’t mean you’ll be able to protect everyone in the mother fucking Pit.”

“The future is ever unclear, but it’s easy when it’s a predictable,” Lynn paused as she looked at Aryin, and then Linqian, “I can do this. With Luna we have a strong scout who has so much to prove to us,” she knew that they were going to try and leave but giving her the carrot that was a path to redemption would be a newly irresistible draw. “With Leon we’ll have a fighter who will be at home ripping, and tearing the monsters to shreds. With Drake we have powerful spells to send even the most crazed of the pit inhabitants running, and with me you’ll have knowledge of-.”

“What? Something that might happen but may not and to…. Fuck you. After what you said to Linqian you’re lucky I…”

“Not only will we find the Wayfinders, we have the chance at finding other powerful artifacts and those who embark on this journey will return forever stronger,” Lynn paused as she sighed, “one thing is certain. We’ve tried, and tried, only the good options to keep us safe. We need to take a risk like we did when we fought the snake. Greenwood is about to walk through the door.”

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Sometimes there’s no one to blame but oneself.

INTERACTIONS Britney, [@Punished GN]

It was the morning after… Britney woke up in Edict’s bed. Naked. Her head was banging, she felt sick, and then remembered she went pretty hard last night on the wine, tequila, and whatever else she could get her hands on. You know what they say? Tequila turns you into a demon. She coughed up some stomach acid and quietly snuck her way out the bed towards the fridge. Greyson was already asleep, Linqian dipped… And yet there was satisfaction with what she’s done. Britney was going to talk to Greyson about it later… She knew Greyson wouldn’t get mad if she helped herself to a bottle of water - or three. Britney then received a text…

” Hey. You free today? I need to talk to you about…all this…preferably once my head stops hurting…”

Yeah, sure. Name a time and place.

How about one? At the memorial? I’ll bring coffee. Maybe. If I can grip it.

Perfect. I’ll be there.

---

Lila arrived at the memorial fifteen minutes early. She was incredibly hungover, anxious, and very much regretting leaving home at all. Yet she felt something here today that was hard to describe. The air itself felt like it hung heavy around it in a way that Lila has never felt. There were so many names on this mural, and Lila still remembered many of their faces. She was so different back then, and she knew that many hated the person she was. Weak. Spineless. The perfect lamb for the wolf to lead astray. Yet they never got to see the person, the strong woman, she became. She pulled her clawed hands down the list as she searched for three code names. She tapped on them in order as she spotted them.

Seven-spot Ladybug.

Green peafowl.

Blood red glider.

These were Jaspers best friends, and they hated Lila more than most despite Jasper’s best attempts to make peace. They told Jasper that Lila was nothing more than a flakey, no good, spineless coward who needed a protector. And they were right. Now, Lila was strong. If she wanted to she could gouge out their names with nothing more than a flick of her wrist. She hovered her clawed hands over their name, her hands shaking as the thought danced across her mind. They deserved to be forgotten, relegated to just the memory of the only person who actually liked them. But she could not. Their deaths were honorable. They died saving others, sacrificing themselves so many others could live. Lila knew that they were forgotten among the modern coven and that did a disservice to them, and what they did. They didn’t deserve that, and neither did Jasper.

Lila sighed as she walked back to the table and grabbed her coffee and took a big drink from it.

Footsteps could be heard approaching. Then came to a dead stop.

””... Lila, what in the world?” Britney said as she walked over. She was wearing a black checkered shirt, black jeans, and black boots. She gently caressed Lila’s wings, before saying, ”You can’t undo this, can you?”

Lila began to try and speak but the words were stolen from her. She looked at Britney, the mural, the ground, back to Britney, back to the ground and finally back to Britney. She shook her head as she pulled her wings in close behind her back in a vain attempt to hide them. She looked at the ground as she threw her arms out. “No,” Lila paused as she felt a small tear well. “the Maiden told me I could learn how to hide it but she’d been, been missing since Kari’s.”

Britney took a step back before saying,

”... The Maiden should be sealed. Did you tamper with the seal at all?”

“That what I thought,” Lila said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the ornate elephant that they had thought the maiden was sealed into, “but she’s been with me even if she’s sealed in here still,” Lila paused as she put it down on the teller, “this feels empty, Britney, I don’t think the maiden was sealed in this.” Lila grabbed her arm with her free hand as she took a step back. “I’m so confused Britney.”

”I mean Apparitions don’t have weight, so- oh you mean metaphorically,” Britney grabbed the elephant and then threw it on the floor. It shattered and there was an awkward silence.

”... Yeah, she’s not in there.”

“If she’s not in there,” Lila frowned as tears welled and flowed. Lila threw her arms wide before they fell back to her feet, “then where was she sealed?”

Britney looked at the ground…

”She has to be inside you.” Britney said as she raised her head.

Lila scoffed at the thought. How would the maiden be inside of her? She then thought back to the sealing and the copious amount of alcohol they all drank, and the thought of a failed sealing only grew in her mind. “Normally I like it when a women is in me but not like this,” Lila tried to joke through the sadness, “How did she get inside me?”

”... Maybe you were naked and tripped and she sli- Okay, okay, I’ll be serious,” Britney shook her head as she had a seat next to Lila, she grabbed the cup of coffee, and just shrugged as she took a sip. ”I wonder how you got this like that… I mean, the Blind probably interpret you as a normal gal but wouldn’t it be nine different kinds of fucked up if you were a One-Eye-Open and just saw a half-bird, half-woman walk in!?” She laughed before she took another sip, and stared at the cup.

”... I must have made a mistake when sealing her. I mean, I did flip the fuck out when your eyes rolled back and thought she had Abscised for a second there - that’s not an excuse but still...” She shrugged.

“Yeah, I’lol just go around and giving people their kindling at the sight of me,” Lila chuckled as she shifted her footing and adjusted her weight. Why was she laughing, trying to make this conversation easy? Britney fucked her over. Britney took away the simple life she had, maiden and all, and made her into this monster. Put these murderous thoughts in her mind. Britney did this. And she wasn’t even sorry. Britney deserved to… Lila pushed these thoughts down. While she felt those feelings herself, she knew those were not her own once again. The maiden was once again trying to play with her emotions. Lila would not allow it. “I.. want to be mad at you. I want to feel angry,” Lila looked down at her hands, “I suppose… to some extent I am. But I don’t think you intended for this to happen, you were trying to help me and we were drunk. I guess what I’m trying to say is I don’t hate you for trying to help me, I’m a bit upset and I’ll be upset for a while at the end result, but I do not want to hate you for it. Is there anything that can be done to get her out of me?” Lila asked as she looked around at anyone nearby. She watched to see if anyone reacted to her form.

Britney sighed, blinking slowly, before opening her eyes, ”No, I should have been the responsible one there, Lila.” She began. ”First, we gotta figure out the nature of this. Is she still Adjoined to your soul or is she just sealed inside of you? Because if it's the latter, we just gotta break the seal without killing or permanently disfiguring you…”

“I don’t know which way it is, how can we figure that out,” Lila asked.

”We can contact Stormy, and see if he can ward away the Maiden like usual,” Britney shrugged.

“He used it at the festival,” Lila said as she sat down, “I was there, right in the middle of the aura. It was like the maiden just…retreated inside of me. She did not go away.”

”Like she was outside of you?” Britney asked.

Lila shook her head. “She used Emily’s words and actions to come out of me, and as she did I felt myself being pulled deeper and deeper into myself away from the light. When Stormy popped his aura, it was like the opposite. I felt the maiden retreat from the light allowing me full control. She did not leave me, she retreated somewhere deep within,” Lila paused as she began to realize what she was saying. “With that thought in mind I think you sealed her inside of me.”

”Well, if she can leave your body at all, then she’s not sealed,” Britney shook her head. ”But, that’s not important, it is simple; we just need to draw her out again, and then we can seal her, and then we can have Jack chuck her into the Void, and that's that.”

She started awkwardly laughing, ”Maybe we can go on an adventure throughout the All-Verse to find the Booby Maiden.”

“Not leave my body, but like take over it. She wasn’t trying to leave my body, she was trying to control me to bring her sick twisted plans into our realm,”. Lila paused as she thought over Britney’s plan. “I would look good as a Booby Maiden. I love them very much.”

”I mean the booby-bird, you horndog,” Britney laughed, before it turned awkward. ”Look, I’ll do some research and talk to some people and we’ll see if I can devise a way to fix this before it gets out of hand.”

“If that pink mist was a taste of what is to come The Maiden wants things to get out of hand,” Lila said as she flapped her wings on accident.

”… And who gives a damn what she wants?” Britney laughed. ”Certainly not me.”

“Nor I,” Lynn smiled genuinely. The Maiden did give her many useful gifts. She could see so much more, all at once, thanks to the new connection with her crows. As well, she could command them much more efficiently than before. And they reminded her what she commanded them to do this past Friday. “Hey, I feel like while we’re on this conversation I need to have a full disclosure moment with you,” Lila chuckled nervously, “so do you remember back at the festival when I commanded my murder to shit all over Emily? Well,” Lila collapsed one wing while the other stuttered to a close, “I spread a part of my murder out across the entire area, city and countryside, and they’re on the lookout for Emily. If they spot her, another part of the murder…tens of thousands of crows will fly to her and shit all over her again. On repeat…..” Lila paused as she sighed, “and I commanded a third group to shit all over her house, the bushes and trees around it, and every car parked outside. This may make her want revenge. Again.”

”I mean… I doubt she stopped,” Britney shrugged. ”Hopefully, next meeting, we can sit down and talk about how we’re going to deal with her and 8th St.”

“Agreed. I don’t think we can coexist with them anymore,” Lila smirked, “for what it’s worth I won’t let Emily hurt you. I have a few more tricks up my sleeve now. If she comes after us again I’ll help keep you safe”

”You don’t have to worry about me,” Britney said, ”I’m keeping you safe from harm. I promise.”

Britney got up and walked over to the memorial, gently touching her fingertips against the various names carved into the tree.

””... You know, I’ve been trying my best to keep this place looking nice and presentable,“ Britney said as she looked over her shoulder at Lila. ”I mean, I feel like it’s the best I can do for them, y’know? They gave us their all, and look what we have to show for it?”

“It hasn’t gone unnoticed,” Lynn said as she looked over to Britney, checking out the memorial as she did. “It’s weird looking at the names on there, you know? Friends, comrades,” and bullies Lila thought as she looked at Britney. “The hard part is seeing the added names. Lynn is trying to get us a lead on what’s next but it feels…like we’re always one step behind, you know? ”

”I know we’re all trying our best here to get to the bottom of it, but… whoever’s doing this…” Britney’s fingers continued to grace the memorial before they came to a stop. ”... They’re good. Real good.”

She sighed. ”Don’t tell Lynn this, but all things considered, it’s definitely Kari.”

“She’s already seen a future where she is indeed the one taking us out,” Lila sighed before taking a deep breath, “she saw several futures. But I know, deep down, she truly does not want to consider that one. If it is, what reason would she have?”

”It’s beyond me, but a lot of people don’t get that it’s been ten years,” Britney said with a sigh. ”I know some people haven’t changed one bit, but a lot can happen in ten years that can change you for the worse...”

“It’s hard to remember that. It seems everyone left and as soon as we’re all back together again the same cliques formed like no time has passed,” Lila paused as she walked over to the mural. There were so many names here that she could barely remember, the cruel ever marching nature of time pulling their memories away from her. “That’s an understatement. If it is Kari I can only imagine what might’ve driven her to this madness,” Lila paused as she held up all her fingers. “Lynn told me the possible futures. There were a few that involved Kari being actually dead, or in hiding, more where Kari is farther wolf for one reason or another, and a final few where she’s trying to stop this from the sidelines for some reason. I am not in the headspace to try and decipher what may be true,” Lila paused as she lowered all her clawed hands.

”Me neither, and we’re going to drive ourselves crazy trying to figure it all out with nothing to really go off of!” Britney laughed, as she turned to Lila. ”But, my logic is that she has the perfect abstraction to catch us when we’re helpless, cover all the traces, and get away… but....” She trailed off.

”... Actually, let’s just honor our fallen, shall we?”

“Yes. I don’t know how but I’ll follow your lead,” Lila said with a smile.

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

"Lynn!? It's Ken! I'm real, it's... It's all an illusion, come on! We've gotta get the others and get out of here before something worse happens!"

Ken’s words forced Lynn further into the depressive pit. She knew she was out of the illusion, she knew she was back in her reality. She knew that everything she just saw, felt, and was teased was nothing more than a cruel joke that was an 8th Street get-out-of-jail-free card. And it worked. Lynn did not know what words could be used to describe how she felt in this moment, and she knew that was the point. How can a group fight back if they are trapped in their most wonderful desire? How could they have any hope of finding Kari? Would every fight from here on out play out like this? The group starts to get the upper hand, 8th street deploys their pink mist, and runs away like fucking cowards. The Future was already clear in the present, there would be many more fights to come their way.

“I know Ken,” Lynn said as agree buried her head in her arms, “I can’t help the others right now, I can’t…I can’t do anything,” Lynn choked out.

Lynn needed to get out of here. Everything was beyond fucked with no hope of it getting better. She needed a drink. She needed to get so drunk that feelings became dull, so drunk that the painful memories faded away into blissful peace, so drunk that she gets that sweet free trial of death where one moment she’s somewhere and the next she’s waking up somewhere else. She needed to get far away from the headspace she was in currently, and she needed to get there right now. Her hand, trembling, shot to her pocket and grabbed her flask. She quickly pulled it out, feverishly twisted the cap open, and pressed it to her lips ready for the sweet relief that it promised. She felt the tears fall harder as nothing came out. It was empty. Her eyes went wide as she held it in front of her and shook it to confirm. No, no, no no this couldn’t be. She was always so careful to not leave it open after a drink, how could it be empty? She pressed it to her lips again in some vain hope to manifest a single drop more but the flask did not yield to her wishes. She must’ve left the cap open just enough that the flask was leaking, or the explosive force that rocked the house jostled it loose, or the various falls must’ve pushed it open. There were a million reasons why Lynn did not have alcohol in this moment, and none of them made a difference.

“FUCK,” Lynn shouted, her voice suddenly angry, as she stood up and cocked her arm back. She turned her body and launched the flask into the inferno that still ragged. She looked at Ken, back to the fire, and back to Ken. “We find Kari, and we make those fuckers pay,” Lynn said as she looked over and caught Lila being carried, “They think their fucking safe, the future will prove them wrong,” Lynn paused as she began to grip her fingers together, balling them into a fist before releasing them and repeating that process. Her breathing was sharp, quick, but that did not stop the steady stream of tears from falling. “We have to find Kari and-” Lynn paused as her words finally broke through the anger that filled her mind, “we have to find Kari.” Lynn looked towards Ken again as she chuckled. It was a nervous chuckle, but it still caught Lynn by surprise. “I’ll need your help Ken.”

---

Aryin was on top of the world. There was nothing that she couldn’t do. There was no one she couldn’t fight. No scarcity, no troubles, and nothing but one good time after another. And it was all a lie. When Aryin came back from the twisted vision she nearly fell to the ground in shock. Gone were the bright lights, the adoring fans, and the ability to enjoy the life she was destined to live and back was the mud, the grime, the pain, and the suffering that her life was rife with. Her eyes saw much happen quickly with the group, she saw Linqian reacting as expected, she saw the crowd gather around Sloane, and she saw that everyone was hurting like she was.

She gagged, and then vomited up some blood. The blood left its mark around her face, and mixed with the muddy water beneath her. She was hurt, extremely bad. She felt her whole body start to radiate as such. Her joint cast with Linqian had weakened her durability, and while she was still able to tank George’s hit and keep fighting it seemed that it did not prevent massive damage to her body. She looked down her chest and noticed a massive red and black spot that ran the entire length of where he had connected the strike. She coughed again and more blood came out. She needed a healer, but she couldn’t look weak right now in front of the coven. Her vision was her at the strongest, and she wanted her former crew to not see her as wounded as she was. She needed the chalice, but she also needed them to always know she’ll be able to take a hit and keep fighting. Aryin was not weak, Aryin was tough and strong and always willing to put herself in the face of danger. She could not let them worry about the potential that she’d never be strong, and durable enough to keep going. As such, she quickly began to limp away from the scene and towards her car, her arms holding the jacket closed to make sure none got a look at her wounded form.

---

“Sypha,” the door to Sypha’s office was thrown open as Jason quickly entered. His head shot back around and locked onto Jordan as he carried Aryin into the room. Aryin was clearly not completely present, her eyes were nearly completely closed and her arm dangled and swayed as Jordan maneuvered the room and placed her down. The bottom half of her face was caked in blood as was the jacket that now failed to hide the wounded, naked body underneath it.

“What the fuck happened,” Sypha shouted as they grabbed their knife and quickly cut their palm. Several tendrils shout out in an instant but hung in the air harmlessly.

“Don’t know,” Jason responded, “we were outside as she drove over the curb to get here.”

“I’ve never seen her this hurt before,” Jordan said as he rubbed his temple.

“I can’t heal her in this form,” Sypha said as they retracted the tendrils, “we need to get her to swap.”

“We’ve tried,” Jason responded back as he ran over to Aryin’s side and leaned next to her ear, “ARYIN, come on I know you can hear me. You need to swap, man, you’re in a bad spot right now. You need to get healed.”

Aryin simply groaned in response as their eyes flickered a few times at the light.

Sypha walked over and looked at Aryin and sighed. They then slapped Aryin right across the face with every ounce of strength they had but their hand simply hit the brick wall that was her jaw.

“Let me try,” Jordan responded as he channeled a lot of his magic to his strength. He raised his open palm, high into the air as he crossed the distance to Aryin, and with a sudden move he brought the slap down connecting with the jaw. The room, hell the whole building, shook as the couch exploded as the force of the impact moved through Aryin’s body and into the ground below. The paintings hung in the room shook violently, as any hidden dust that escaped the relentless perfectionism that was Sypha’s cleaning entered the air.

”Why did you hit me I’m trying…trying to sleep,” Aryin groaned as their eyes finally opened a hair more.

“ARYIN,” the trio shouted as one, “SWAP.”

Aryin’s eyes blinked three times before understanding kicked in. They swapped their form back down to Aaron. As a result, their covering now had Aaron shirtcocking it right in the middle of Sypha’s office. Jason quickly took off his shirt and tossed it on the offending sight before him. The blood tendrils once again shot out from Sypha, impacting all across the site and the healing process began. Jordan sighed as he rubbed his hand. His healing factor had already healed the damage the slap had done to his own hand, but he never quite got used to the pain hitting Aryin brought.

“Okay, I got this boys,” Sypha looked up, “they’re really hurt though and they’ll be here a while. Get a spare change of clothes for them, and grab Octavia.”

“Where am I,” Aaron weakly asked as he tried to lean up but a new blood tendril shot out and hit his head, and forced it back down. Life was already returning to his eyes, his face, and his body in general. He groaned as the pain radiated ten times as strong as his internal body began to let itself back together again.

“Your back at the 317. The better question,” Sypha said as she shooed Jordan and Jason away to their tasks, “What happened to you?”

“I,” Aaron paused as he sighed. Fuck. He was about to reveal he joined up with sycamore again. His breathing began to increase as the crushing realization of a sudden trip down poverty lane was ahead of him.

“Hey don’t worry, we know who you were with. Rules are going to be changing so you’re good,” Sypha smiled. They did not like the rule change but it was needed, and if they were going to join up they needed all the able bodied soldiers they could muster. “Just tell me what happened.”

“I joined up with sycamore,” Aaron groaned in pain as his broken ribs continued to move inside his body, “wanted to figure out what’s killing us, you know? And we were at a dead friends house when 8th street,” Aaron paused as Octavia entered the room with a set of clothes that should fit in hand. She had a concerned look on her face. “When 8th street attacked us unprovoked,” Aryin pointed towards their wounded chest, “courtesy of George once again,” he coughed up some more lingering blood.

“Twice in one week, you’re crazy,” Octavia responded as she tossed the clothes onto Aaron’s feet. “How did George get you this bad though, last time was not like this.”

“A good friend and I used to do a duo spell,” Aaron started.

“A joint cast,” Sypha responded.

“Yeah, it’s called a joint cast,” Jordan responded as he entered the room again.

“A joint cast,” Aaron rolled hood eyes, “gave me some more power but,” he paused as he sighed, “I may have forgot the downside to my durability.”

The blood tendrils retracted from his body as Sypha steadied herself. Octavia ran over and held Sypha upright. “You’re out of the scary zone but you need much, much more healing. I’m tapped. Let’s take a quick fifteen, let you get dressed, let me regenerate” Sypha paused as she pointed towards the door. Octavia began to help walk her towards it.

“What’s changing, what’s changed,” Aaron asked with a smirk.

Jordan looked to Octavia with a grin, and Octavia returned it before the duo looked to Aaron. “Rest up big man,” Jordan joked as he left the room. “We have much to talk about tonight,” Octavia smiled as she did the same with Sypha in tow.

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

THE 317

GREENWOOD COVEN

The 317

Jordan took a bite of his tacos as the cool wind of this autumn evening brushed against his face. What a fucking day already. Greenwood showed up and made the proposition, left without getting him high, and was going to show up any minute now in the evening. They better get him high this go around, he had spent the past hour arranging a table downstairs filled to the brim with snacks for their inevitable munchies. As well, he bought out the food truck, with the 317’s event card, so that everyone at least got a good meal on the night. Jasper leaned back in his chair and waited. Tonight was a historic night for the 317. It felt much like the night where they agreed to help fight the Nazis, but bigger. This was a formal alliance, this was the 317 finally deciding to fight for the city that embraced their art collective, this was the 317 finally using its collective strength to help protect those who could not protect themself.

Jordan took another bite from his food and groaned as it was the best bite yet. Los Agavez Taqueria was the one of the highest rated food trucks in the entirety of St. Portwell and it was a local fixture of the 317. They partnered with the owner, who was mundane, a year ago to cater for group for events like this. Luckily, the owner had no plans for the night and was all too happy to have his entire night covered. Jordan took another bite from his tacos and smiled. Tonight was going to be a good night. A moment later his nose detected the tell tale sign that Green was on the wind.

Aislin was in front of the taco truck, looking carefully over the menu while she waited along with the others. She was dressed up a bit for the occasion, in a dress shirt with a loose knitted sweater over top, and slacks. Her eyes gazed unseeingly over the menu, feeling a bit of nerves. 317? Teaming up with someone? She said she’d show up, but as her eyes darted across the gathering, she only felt her nerves getting the better of her.

Surely this was the right move. Leadership knew what they were doing, right?

Surely.

Aislin looked back at the taco truck’s menu, and sighed.

Meanwhile, Rohan sat posted up on the opposite end of the table. A man not often seen in the politics of the 317, he was here mostly for moral support. Jordan was the kind of person to be worried about this sort of thing, but Rohan didn’t seem very tense. He was as far back in his chair as he could get without it tipping over.

A dull-eyed, unfocused expression lay across his face as his eyes scanned over the area. In one hand, he had one of those amazing tacos, half eaten so far. Tonight was a big deal for his friends, and he wanted to be there for them as that big deal was made. They did a lot for him, it was only fair.

Various rushing winds came out of nowhere, carrying leaves and other pieces of foliage. When the winds reached their zenith, the leaves were spinning in a circle, and then they dispersed as the Greenwood Coven (minus Sully) seemingly appeared out of thin air. Ruby stood in front of the group, holding her tree branch staff with one hand, and took a few steps forward.

“We’re baaaaaaaaaaaack!” Jessica shouted. “Hide yo’ wife, hide yo’ children!”

“... Let’s not start,” Naomi said, rubbing her temples.

“About time,” Jordan took the final bite of his food and flicked his hand as he shook his head, “my man made this extra good tonight. Y’all hungry? Grab a plate, on the house tonight. Faith’s expecting you but she will understand if you wanted to grab some of the best tacos in St. Portwell.”

”Yeah. No rush tonight.” Rohan finished off his taco in one last bite, looking like he was glue to that chair.

“Ooooooooh, shit!” James said, with a grin as he gave his axe a little twirl. “You know I can’t turn down some free food!”

“Do you have veggie tacos?” Kashmira asked. “I do not eat meat.”

“Ohhhh, I thought this was an important meeting… I came sober.” Rien appeared from another building, surprisingly more on time than normal. They had a large backpack, half painted canvas in their arms with paintbrushes haphazardly shoved in the front pocket of their baggy dungarees worn over a green sweater. Their nose twitched at the smell of weed they'd avoided having the last few hours for this. They looked at Greenwood, one hand raising in a half wave. “Yo. You bring any of the good shit?”

“... Why are you acting like I share-” Ruby said as she tilted her head.

“Yes, we brought the good shit!” Jessica laughed, as she dug into her pocket and pulled out a gallon-sized ziploc bag that was full of that premium Zaza. That shit that’ll put your ass to sleep. Only the strong can handle gas of this level.

“If you share,” Jordan said as he reached into his pocket, “and promise to be on your best behavior Ruby,” Jordan paused as he pulled out two glass containers sticky with dabs, “I’ll share my stuff too.”

Ruby rolled her eyes, “... When have I ever misbehaved?”

She grabbed the sack of weed from Jess, and then held it from the top, “This ain’t your regular weed. This is your premium, top-shelf, shit. You’ll get so high you’ll wake up in Miami or something.”

“This is just regular dabs,” Jordan stood up, “I have a lot though.” He looked at Rien with a ‘it happens’ look. He looked back to Ruby with a mischievous grin, “I remember that stuff all too well after we fucked over the Nazis. I’ve been chasing that high ever since. Rien,” Jordan paused as he walked over to them and held out one of the jars, “you know where my rig is! Go wild. Tonight will be a good night, with or without the good weed. Plus,” Jasper smirked, “you usually have to earn it.”

Rien rolled their eyes at him, hand going into their pocket and pulling out an already rolled blunt. “I ain't looking for your normal shit, Jordan, I want the good stuff. I get that on my own… y'know. Those apparitions don't catch themselves.” They shook the half finished painting in their hand.

“This is premium normal shit,” Jordan said as he pocketed the containers, “closest I’ve gotten to theirs. Don’t knock the dab until you’ve tried it.” Jordan turned back to Greenwood. “So, we got food up here if you want it. Otherwise, we can head down whenever you're ready.”

Aislin popped up beside Jordan with a taco in hand, eyes on his pocketed containers. “Really pulling out all the stops tonight, eh? Dab me up later.”

She smirked, hiding her nerves with another bite of taco.

“You're getting fooled…” Rien muttered, shaking their head.

“What, you think yours is so much better? What about mine?” Aislin grinned, tapping her back pack. “Why don't we put them all to the test and see which is better once and for all? Great way to uh, bring everyone together.”

”You kids know a lot about weed,” Rohan commented, finishing off his taco and reaching for another.

“... How about we discuss matters before we all get high,” Pearl stuck her nose into the conversation and shook her head. “We have all night, and we should all be fully cognizant.”

“I turned up sober,” Rien raised one hand in mock surrender.

“Agreed,” Jordan said as he looked over to Aislin, “don’t worry, you need a dab after the day you’ve had.”

Aislin relaxed a bit, a sheepish grin coloring her face. “Right, right.”

Jordan paused as he looked over to Ruby, “8th attacked sycamore again today. I can fill you in about it in a second, but they’re getting bold.”

“Oh shittttt,” Rien said with a very bored look.

“I’m getting my first tacos, tho’!” James shouted with a smile.

“Same, I would love some veggie tacos,”

“I’ll give you two a taco to eat,” Ruby rolled her eyes.

Juno climbed out of Rohan’s shirt pocket, and nestled into the space between the arm of his chair, and his left leg. He muttered something that sounded absolutely incomprehensible, and Rohan just nodded at the little golem. ”True.”

”Erhrerbrrhhrr…” The little wooden golem replied.

”...Yeah.” Rohan reached into a cooler at his feet and pulled out some cheap light beer, and cracked it open. ”Pretty long, I think.”

”Rrrrrr!”

“Ayyyyyyyyyyyy!” Jessica shouted as she walked over to it, and knelt down. “Cute lil’ guy.”

”Hrhrraghhh…” Juno said, philosophically.

“I keep asking Faith to make him the mascot. She’s not super receptive, but I think we’ll win her over,” Jordan joked as he looked over to the door. Nothing yet, but Faith will call for them if they are needed any sooner.

“It's too cute to be our mascot,” Rien said.

Aislin mumbled excitedly under her breath, “Would be the beeest mascot.” Before taking another bite of her taco.

“Hey now,” Jessica grinned. “We’re about to take him home and make him the Greenwood mascot! See, he’s made of wood. We’re called Greenwood. It’s a match made in heaven!“

”Everything I make’s made of wood,” Rohan said, taking a light sip of his drink.

”Raaaaah.”

“Hear him, everybody!” James shouted as he threw a thumb in Rohan’s direction. “He said he’s got wood!”

”...Ah?”

Naomi facepalmed. Aislin jaw-dropped.

“Ohhhh good one!” Rien sneered. It was difficult to tell if they were being sarcastic and found the joke or James funny as they sniggered. “You sure you haven't hit that shit already?”

“Oh boy,” Jordan laughed. “Honestly, hard to tell with them Rien. Pearl is right though, we have business to attend to first. Then, we can get high.”

Feeling bored, Juno clambered up to the table, stole a taco, and ran off into the direction of the 317’s lair. All that could be heard was the sound of diabolical, high pitched, cackling as the creature disappeared.

“Bitch, I’m always high,” Ruby added. “Or drunk. We established that this morning.”

“You’re high functioning, you don’t count,” Jordan responded quickly.

”You guys got anywhere to be tonight?” Rohan asked, suspecting this was going to take forever.

“Nope,” Naomi shrugged. “We were going to party after this.”

“... Which is why I’m confused as to why we are dallying,” Pearl shook her head.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get to your party,” Jordan paused as he looked around the group. This had already developed into an interesting start to the meeting. He knew the real purpose of this night would happen inside. “Okay, everyone grab your food. I’ll be here to take everyone down,” he quickly pointed to the door, “and then-“

“Jordan,” Summers's voice boomed from inside the building. The voice was clear but had enough distortion to suggest it came from a speaker and not a mouth. Soon, the sounds of whirling joints and sudden, jerky, metallic steps filled the air. Soon, the metallic and thin frame of one of summers humanoid homunculi excited the building. “Faith is about to head up,” the head of the homunculi scanned the area, resting on the Greenwood members, “y’all are good to come down whenever, I’ll let faith know you’re here.” The homunculi turned on the spot, marched back inside, down the hall and entered its hidden home.

“Alright, if you’re going to get food, get food. It’ll be here all night. If you want to just get business started, follow me.” Jordan motioned as he went towards the door.

“The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get baked,” Rien said. They moved their canvas to be in both arms again before following him.

“We are gonna get so high after this.” Aislin giggled, following after Jordan. Maybe this was a good thing after all, she though.
“... It sounds like you guys are fuckin’ stoners, now!” Naomi laughed. “We do got that gas, tho’.”

“Eh, I’d rather we just get this over with,” Ruby said with a shrug as she followed after Jordan.

“But my taco!” James shouted.

Ruby stopped on her head, and turned her head around towards James.

“... You’ll be eating Naomi’s taco tonight, won’t you?” She asked.

He just laughed, as Naomi’s face went red.

“So, let’s get this over with,” Ruby tapped her staff on the ground a few times before she walked after them. “Everyone wants to either get high or fuck right now, so let’s not keep ‘im waitin’.”

“Agreed,” Jordan responded as he led the group into the building. It took only a few moments to find the staircase down to the meeting room. Along the way the eagle eyed viewers in the party might spot various eyes, either mechanical or supernatural, peering out from hidden spots along the way. As they walked down the stairs, the group would notice that the entirety of the 317 that wasn’t was outside was present. Save for Aryin and Sypha.

The meeting area was pretty barren as per usual. It had numerous candles on numerous mounts all across the room however the top lights were on instead. There were various paintings, some pathways for Alex and others that sealed apparitions. There were a few arcade games, food and beverage tables, and every form of comfortable sitting options known to man.

“Alright, this is the meeting area. Feel free to mingle, Faith’s office is right over there. Ruby, if you wanted to talk to her before this kicks off feel free. Jessica, can I borrow you in Sypha’s office here?”

“Gladly,” Ruby shrugged as she walked towards Faith’s office. “... Go easy on Jess, she’s our token redhead.”

“Awwwwww!” Jessica laughed. " Are you going to hand me your love letter in private?” She threw her arms behind her head.

“Consider me, borrowed!”

---

Faith was pacing around her office waiting for the right moment to go out and inform the 317 of the big news. She knew that they were here, and she knew that 8th street had already struck again, and Faith did not know what she was doing. Fighting the Nazis was easy, changing the very nature of their organization was less so.
Ruby poked her head in, and then stared at Faith for a good thirty seconds. Dead silent.

“... Do you want your booty ate?”

Faith’s healed slowly turned to face Ruby and lingered there for just a moment. It tilted ever so, and she looked like to the ceiling as she thought over the proposal. “Not tonight love,” Faith responded as she motioned for Ruby to come, “how are you tonight Ruby?”

“Hey now,” Ruby said as she walked in. “You say ‘not tonight’ as in you’ll be in the mood for it another time!” She laughed as she walked in.

Faith simply smirked.

“I’m good, sweetie, how’s about yourself? Make any cool paintings?”

“Nervous,” Faith responded, “but ready. Nothing new yet. Some are in the loop, some suspect, and the rest are still in the dark. Either way tonight I tell them to get ready for the eventual fight. And tonight, I will be an open book for you. Anything you need to know, I’ll be ready to answer.”

“Same here,” Ruby said. “Greenwood doesn’t hide anything.”

“How about we break the news together, then we can have a more in depth talk. I’ll lay all my cards on the table, you do the same, and we figure out how we can best support each other. Sound fair?”

---

Rohan walked in, quietly, posting up by the back wall. ”It’s good to finally reach out to people. I’m sure you’ll all figure something out.”

Jordan gave Rohan a nod as he opened Sypha’s door and motioned for Jessica to enter. It was at this moment he realized just how built she was, ‘god damn’ was all he could think. Inside the room Sypha was leaning back in her chair, she was pale and was busy eating a sugar cookie and fanning her face. She clearly was suffering from her blood loss. In a chair in the corner right to the left of the door was a shirtless Aaron. Aaron had numerous visible, painful looking bruises and he held his side right on the spot where George’s kick landed earlier in the day. His breathing was quick, and shallow, and had a look of pain on his face.

“It’s been a busy day apparently,” Jordan said as he pushed his glasses up his nose. He pointed to Aaron, who gave Jessica a weak wave.

“Wow, bro,” Jessica laughed, as she unbuttoned her shirt, “You look like you got bitchslapped by an elephant!”

“That would’ve been preferable,” Aaron weakly responded with a chuckle.

She took off her shirt, revealing a sports bra, before she looked at everyone. “... Ya’ll aren’t trying to paint me like one of your french gals’?”

Jordan and Aaron’s jaws dropped ever so slightly at the sight of her muscular frame. “No, no, unless you ever wanted to be one of our models. I think you would,” Jordan coughed, cleared his throat, “make a fantastic model for out artists..”

“We have a sign up link on the website,” Aaron responded with a weak voice.

“What I brought you in for,” Jordan said as he looked for a spot on the ceiling to avoid a lingering eye, “Aaron’s a bit too hurt for our resident healer. I remember in the fight against the Nazis you helped a few of us get through those fights. Any chance you can work your magic on them?”

Jessica put her shirt back on very hastily, awkwardly laughing the entire time before she said, “... Yes, I’m a model! Instagram model! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!” She kept laughing as she had her shirt back on. “But… I can’t really heal at night, unfortunately, though, we have Kashmira - our dedicated healer - in the other room.”

“Ahhh,” Jordan responded as he finally returned his gaze to Jessica, “I can tell, you’ve put a lot of work in and it shows. If you ever wanted to do a partnership let me know. Oh shit, I think I only fought alongside you during the day so I did not know that. Well, I am sorry for kidnapping you this early into the night. Would you mind if I grab them real quick?”

“Don’t worry; I got it,” Jessica laughed as she walked over to the door, opened it, and stuck her head through, and shouted, “Kash! Can you come here for a moment?”

“Oh, yes!” Kasmira bubbly said as she walked over into the room. She looked to the left, then the right. “... I hope this isn’t what I think it is! Because I’m only getting naked for my future husband. Sorry! _{Sorry! Sorry!}”

“Hi!.” Aaron spoke through the pain as he saw the head pop through the door. “You have a dirty mind, anyone ever tell you that?”

“What they mean to say is ‘hi! My names Aaron and I got in another fight with George and need some healing’ and that we’d greatly appreciate it if you could use your healing magic to help these two get back on their feet,” Jordan rubbed his temple as he finished.

“Ooooooooh!” Kashmira said with a smile, as she walked over to Aaron, with her hands outstretched. She grabbed onto Aaron, and a green wave overtook him as he was healed. “Call me Dr. Sarei!”

“Pleasure to meet you Dr. Sarei! I’m Aaron, or Aryin, there was no variance to the words at all in terms of sound, “you’ll know which one is which.”. A moment later a green wave washed over him and he gasped. His broken ribs, bruised muscles, and every other injured part of his body began to heal itself magically. After several seconds he felt like he was back to normal. “Thank you Dr. Sarei! I haven’t felt this good in days.”

“Truly,” Sypha said as she stood up, careful not to do so too fast, “my healing is good but it can only happen in short spurts. Aaron, get a shirt on. I think our friends are ready to begin the meeting.”

“I’m glad to have helped!” Kashmira said with a toothy smile. “Let me know if you get hurt again, I love helping people!”

Jessica walked over to Aaron, leaned forward, and whispered in his ear,

“... She charges a fee. A bill will show up in the mail in five-to-seven business days!” She laughed, before she walked towards the door. “The meeting’s getting started already? I wanted to get painted like a french gal!”

“Stick around after the meeting,” Aaron responded, “You’d be the perfect inspiration for my next piece.”

“Heel, Aaron,” Jordan sighed, “you’re free to chill wherever you want. Faith will be out soon.”

“Alright,” Aaron reasoned as he grabbed his shirt and went out into the common area. He walked up to Rohan and raised a fist. “How we feeling?”

As Aaron did that Alex walked up to Rien and nodded to signal their intent to talk. “So,” Alex walked up and looked at the various Greenwood members present. They leaned close and whispered, “they sharing their weed?” Alex was still an odd sight to some members of the 317. They simply appeared in Faith’s office one day, and every since they’ve been paid to hang around and help the group getting from one place to another. Still, Alex had a chill vibe that allowed them to get along with most of the other artists.

“I dunno,” Rien muttered back. They’d been standing in front of one of their apparition paintings, checking to make sure the sealing was still stable. “Jordan tried to push his normal shit on me when I asked, like I can’t get that any day… Y’know what this is all about?”

“Oh yes I do,” Alex said as they leaned in closer.

“Oh yeah, what is it?” Rien leaned in towards Alex, tilting their head upwards.

“Us and Greenwood, fighting together again,” Alex whispered as they looked around. “We’re going to war, bro!”

“Oh shit, dude,” Rien whispered back, eyes widening slightly. “... that’s going to be so much effort, ugh.”

“Fuck,” Alex sighed as they looked to the ceiling, “I forgot about effort. You’re right.”

“Fuck effort,” Rien groaned, also looking at the ceiling.

”It’s a bit ironic that you all decided we wouldn’t be fighting when you made this place. Now look at us.” Rohan had a tired smile on his face.

“Sometimes the fight comes anyway,” Octavia responded as she walked over to Rohan, “and the fight is coming. I’d rather take care of the threat, secure the city, and then go back to our ways.” Octavia wore ripped black boyfriend jeans and fishnet tights were visible underneath. She wore a cropped hoodie that was very pink, but also showed off her tattoos underneath. “We’re not fighters. But we can fight when the situation is dire,” Octavia paused as she looked to Faith’s door, “and the situation is dire right now.”

”Yeah, I get that. I’ll be here one way or another, when you do what you’ve got to do,” Rohan said. ”You’re all smart enough to know how these things work, you’ll be fine.”

Meanwhile, completely randomly, James walked over to Thomas, and put his hand up and said, “... Dab me up, bro!”

“What’s up man,” Thomas dabbed James up, “I’m Thomas, how you been?” Thomas was in a relaxed fit. A simple carhartt hoodie, relaxed blue jeans, and some red low top converse. “Are you who we were supposed to meet tonight?”

“Who else but Greenwood!?” James boisterously said.

“Alright Greeeenwood,” Thomas responded as he pulled out a small baggie of already ground mushrooms and smirked, “I’m going to make some tea in a minute. You down?”

“Ooooh, you know it!” James said. “Hurry up before Ruby sees that shit. She’s gonna hog all of it!”

“You got it man,” Thomas said with a smile as he left to make some magic happen.

Several moments later Faith emerged from her office looking confident, energetic, and ready. She wore the typical sports bra underneath a mesh shirt underneath a jean jacket that defined her style. It was pulled together by the leggings that she decided to wear tonight. She walked into the middle of the crowd, her presence alone commanded the attention of many of the 317 members. She took a deep breath and waited for Ruby.

“So, we have much to discuss. I know many of you have a lot of questions, and I ask that you hold them to the end. Before we begin, however, I’d like to introduce a good friend to the 317 and St. Portwell at large. Some of you may already know her, and some of you have heard some fantastic stories, but I’ll let her introduce herself,” Faith motioned for Ruby to introduce herself to the 317 as a whole.

Ruby took a few steps forward, her tree branch tapping against the ground with every step. “Hello, I am Ruby White, also known as the Spring Maiden, leader of the Greenwood Coven,” She began. “I’m glad to meet you all here tonight, and I hope this is the start of a prosperous alliance… Not just for our combined protection, but I hope we can all connect and become close friends.”

“We’ve fought side by side with Greenwood once before against the Nazis, and we’ll do so once again against any mother fucker who threatens our city,” Faith responded as she looked around the room, “I know some of you may not want to fight, and I will not force anyone to fight. If you do not wish to, there will be no changes to your lease, no changes to your status, and no changes to our love for you. We’ll protect you as we have always done, and always will. Starting tonight we are going to begin preparation to get ready for whatever comes our way. We will train, look to those who have fought more than us for guidance, and keep it business as usual during our open hours,” Faith paused as she placed her hands on her hips, “any questions?”

Rien raised a hand. “If there are any Apparitions, do I get first dibs on them?”

“Rien,” Faith pointed and looked towards Ruby, “sealing and apparition summoning.” Faith paused as she looked at Ruby, “Rien is one part of our Horde, if you don’t mind they do have a love for the art of capturing them all.”

“Yeah, I’m like a pokemon trainer for apparitions,” Rien said, flashing a peace sign at Ruby. They pulled a smaller, square canvas out of their front dungaree pocket and held it up. It showed a forest landscape with a small, relatively human-like creature in it… aside from the mushroom cap on her head. “This was one of my first. I can demonstrate if you want, to prove that I should get first choice of Apparitions to seal.”

“We don't have any Apparitions to seal,” Ruby said, before turning to Autumn, “But we do have someone who can, sort of, create them.”

Autumn awkwardly waved her hand, before pulling the Adept Hunter from underneath her shirt. “... Are you sure it's a good idea to tell them?” She asked.

“Go ahead,” Ruby said.

Autumn sighed, “This is the Adept Hunter, if an Adept dies in my presence, I can create an Apparition I can control with their entire spellbook.”

“Remind me not to die in your presence then,” Thomas joked as he returned with two cups of his special tea and held one out towards James.

“Ohhhh,” Rien stood up, canvas held in one hand as they approached Autumn, looking at the Adept Hunter with a hint of curiosity. “So if I died, and you created an Apparition from me… you’d have access to all my Apparitions? Like Apparition-ception?”

“I… Honestly, I don't know. Maybe.” Autumn shrugged.

“Well… if I die, make sure to turn me into an Apparition so we can find out,” Rien nodded.

“If we were to fight an apparition, would Greenwood be opposed to Rien being the one to seal it away,” Faith asked towards Greenwood as a whole.

“Hold on! Hold on! Hold on! I know exactly what Ruby gon’ say!” James ran up, waving his hands in the air. Everyone looked at him. “... ‘Unless its some ass eating Apparition’!” James broke out laughing.

“Oh… I already got one of those, I don’t need another,” Rien shrugged.

“We have one of those,” Jordan asked from the back.

“Do we?” Faith looked to Rien with a curious look.

“Question, is the ass eating monster a literal one or like…” Alex asked with a confused look on their face.

“Yes.” Ruby answered.

“That doesn’t help,” Alex moaned.

“I said I have it,” Rien emphasised. “It’s part of my private collection… I was worried about what Jordan would do if he got his hands on it. But I can bring it in if you want?”

“What did I do,” Jordan asked in response.

Rien turned around and pointed to him. “You know exactly what you did. Tone down the sexiness and maybe I’ll bring it out.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying,” Summer chipped in.

“Regardless, apparently we do have an ass eating monster,” Faith sighed.

”I’ve got a few sealed away too,” Rohan said, with Juno sitting on his shoulder. ”Mostly just the dangerous ones, right now. And the ones that aren’t very useful for more than spare parts.”

“Rohan,” Faith pointed towards the man, “and Juno who is not our mascot.”

“They are, embrace it,” Jason shouted.

”Myehhhrhrhrhr…” Juno said, philosophically.

“Maybe we can experiment with our abstractions,” Autumn said to Rien. “Maybe see how the Adept Hunter interacts with yours.”

“Oh yeah, I’d like that… they never let me get my Apparitions out,” Rien complained, side eyeing faith. “They’re not decorations- but whatever. It’ll be fun.”

“If you’re sensing a common theme, your senses would be right” Octavia interjected, “we have a lot of apparitions, and monsters at our disposal.”

“It’s The Horde,” Faith responded. “We’re not the best fighters by ourselves, but we can fight beyond our weight class with them.”

”It’s usually the best we can do. We aren’t supposed to be fighters, on a good day. We’ve always had a rule against fighting, and getting ourselves wrapped up in St. Portwell’s politics,” Rohan added. ”We shouldn’t ever need to worry about being spread too thin, though.”

“We’re not all fighters, but a lot of us are willing to fight to protect our city, and everyone in it,” Jordan chimed in.

“Okay ‘Hulk’,” Lori finally chimed in. She was wearing the long skirt, tube top combo as she always did. She had her headphones on and her violin at the ready.

“Isn’t he more of a Jekyll and Hyde?” Zeri chimed in.

“The point is he’s a fighter, he can take the hits and dish them right back out,” Lori responded quickly, “if someone tries to get to me I have to hope that I can enthrall them them!”

“I mean, fair and valid,” Zeri responded, “I’m not much use in a fight either.”

“Don’t worry,” Jason said with a grin, “I can protect you all.”

Aaron swapped to Aryin and stuck their tounge out, and flashed a peace sign to the room, ”As long as I’m around I’ll keep the back line clear,” they paused as they leaned against the wall.

“My apparitions draw enough attention, anyway,” Rien said, waving a hand in front of their face. “Some of them, at least…”

“Aryin, or Aaron,” Faith said as she pointed their shapeshifter to Ruby, “a fucking tank in one form, and destructive force in the other. They may try to spar with your strongest fighter. Feel free to ignore them if they do.”

James’s axe crackled with electricity, as he threw it over his shoulder - then he cracked a grin. “... They can come at me any time!” James laughed. “Just don’t get mad when yo’ hair gets a lil’ frizzy!”

“This is James, a lot of ya’ll probably remember him from the fight against the Nazis,” Ruby gestured towards him. “He’s the current wielder of Shango’s axe… and he killed Kaiser Draeger.”

“Wish I could do it again!” James laughed before he turned to Ruby and gave her a flat look. “... What do you mean ‘current’?”

Ruby grinned, “You’re not taking my Axe back to Atlanta, James.”

“You seem like you might leave a scratch,” Aryin teased back, “if you’re lucky.”

“My money is on Thor,” Lori said as she pointed with her bow.

“Naw, naw, naw,” James laughed, as he raised a hand in the air and it exploded like a torch. “Thor can’t do this.”

“Ehhh, Aryin can tank hits, even from George,” Jason said as he rubbed his chin, “you think he’s stronger than George?”

“More versatile for sure, I saw what he could do against the Nazis,” Jordan said with a grin, almost relishing the memories of what befell those dicks when James got to them, “Aryin is a smart fighter, they’d make it close.”

“Why don’t they have a friendly match now?” Rien suggested.

”We’re busy right now, Rien.”

“Spoilsport,” Rien muttered under their breath.

“After the meeting then,” Aryin said as they winked at James, ”Find us a nice quiet spot and have a friendly little spar. I’d like to see the capabilities of my new found friends!”

“You know where to find me!” James grinned, and Naomi rolled her eyes.

“Next up, is Naomi, his girlfriend,” Ruby explained. “She, like James, joined right before the fight against Das Sonnenrad and I can’t thank her enough for powering through it all. Things got tough.”

“You know, I can’t run away from some skinheads!” Naomi laughed.

Rohan and Juno exchanged a silent look. Phrasing.

“She’s the current wielder of Anansi's Gift,” Ruby said.

Naomi cupped her hands together, and crawled her arm into her hands was a small, spider Apparition.

“You’ve already met Summer, Jason, Jordan, and Alex,” Faith paused as she pointed out those who were there this morning or fought against the Nazis, “that is Thomas, he has telekinetic powers, Zeri who is our resident spy, Lori who wields the Maestros bow.”

“I can play you a tune and make you do what I command,” Lori said with a wave.

“Like a Jedi,” Thomas said as he took a big sip of his tea and held it up to James.

“If there’s something behind a wall, or by my camera, I can see it all,” Zeri said with a wave.

“Now,” Faith said as she took a step forward, “I know you are busy with your lives. If you want to stick around and meet each other, feel free to utilize our facilities and eat good food. If you want to get to your night of partying feel free to leave whenever. Ruby, we can continue our earlier discussion if you’d be open to it, otherwise I’m sure we can make time!”

“Orrrrrr,” Jason interrupted, “we can have Greenwood show us the ropes. Maybe do some limit testing.”

“If we’re going to fight side by side I’d love to know just how strong you all are,” Aryin said as she had her eyes fixated on Jessica’s muscles.

Jessica put her hands behind her head with her arms up, grinning.
Ruby also grinned as she took a few steps forward.

“... Ya’ll got somewhere private? I mean real private,” Ruby began. “This might get a lil’ noisy…”

“Abandoned farmhouse about ten miles outside town, no neighbors for miles and the land is barren this time of year,” Alex paused as they began to draw on the empty wall behind faith.

“When did we get that,” Jordan responded back with a bemused look.

“I got it last year,” Sypha responded as they entered the room, “It’s a place we acquired as a part of our investment portfolio. We grabbed it to prevent a developer from doing it, we have some plans for it but,” Sypha paused as they tilted their head, “it’ll work for this.”

”I guess it won’t be standing, after you’re all done.”

Ruby grinned.

“... Then let’s get to work my lovelies.”

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

I’ll revisit these sights again soon and I shall spare no detail when I paint them

---

“Jasper,” Jasper shouted as he fell to his knees as it was finally over. He took a deep breathe, and followed it up with another, and he screamed a deep primal scream as he punched the ground. A primal rage began to brew within him at what he was just subjected to. Whomever had summoned that mist would be the first person he shot the next time they fought. Jasper knew that he was able to at least help turn the tide of the battle with his abstraction, but the natural forces of the world were still all it took to make him worthless in battle. He needed to make his abstraction stronger, more durable, and able to resist the corrosive nature of water. Otherwise, how would he protect the others? How would he protect his friends? How would he protect Luca?

The thought snapped his head up in an instant, his waterlogged hair flew with it and slapped back to his scalp. His eyes scanned the battlefield for Luca. He first spotted Lynn and Ken. Lynn was single handedly keeping the battlefield wet with tears alone and Ken was trying to snap her out of it. He then spotted Britney, Auri, Linqian, and Edict. Linqian was busy punching a vine which did not tell Jasper whether she was upset or simply bored. He then settled on Drake and sully tending to…“Sloane?” Jasper whispered with a shocked tone at the sight of her decayed body. It was decayed to a point that suggested she had gotten nice and close to Luca, no doubt in whatever dream the mist gave her. He knew that she would be in pain and that brought him no joy. He hated what Sloane stood for, hell he hated the woman to her core. But she did not deserve to be hurt like this, and Jasper knew that Luca was devastated that he did it.

He wanted to check in on her first, to make sure that another name wouldn’t be added to the mural. Jasper rose to his feet and began to run over to the huddled group. Jasper ran with a speed that was neither blazing fast but was not anywhere close to slow. He arrived just as Anya was giving Sloane her jacket. He saw that Sully had managed to heal her up but even with that healing she was in a rather rough spot. Jasper sighed a sigh of relief at the sight all the same. “Stick with Sully for a minute Sloane, heal up. Feel better, okay?” The pleasantry felt like poison on his lips but less bitter than it was in years past. Maybe Luca and his relentless optimism had started to rub off on him? Maybe seeing his hated rival wounded softened his opinion of her? Who knew why, but Jasper did not want to dwell on it for long. He wanted to find the man who had visited his dreams, and he wanted to be with him again in the present.

His eyes quickly turned around the battlefield in search of Luca and his mouth dropped when he spotted Lila instead. She was covered in feathers, blood, and was crying in a way that he’d never seen from her before. She gripped herself in a way that drew more blood. And she was doing everything in her power to seem small despite the fact that her wings made her appear very, very large. She needed help. And Jasper would be the one to help her. Jasper quickly crossed the distance between the two in a sprint and slowed to a stop right next to her. “You okay,” Jasper knew the answer but asked all the same. Lila simply shook her head ‘no’ as she buried her face underneath her wings. “How about I get you to Sully, he can help fix you up,” Jasper also knew that the chalice would not be able to fix her feathered body, but it would be able to heal the damage its arrival caused. Lila nodded her head up and down. He thought of how best to help her, as her wings made carrying her a lot more difficult at least on first glance. He simply thought fuck it and leaned down and invited Lila into his arms, bridal carry style, and Lila was all too quick to accept the help.

Lila allowed herself to be carried by Jasper, and she could not stop crying as she did. She felt weak, broken, disgusting and…. And…. The crying stopped, with only the sniffling sound filling the air. Her eyes were on Jaspers exposed chest and she raised an eyebrow as she looked up. “Bro,” her voice broke and was overtaken by the a few more seconds of crying, “why the fuck are you shirtless?”. She laughed, briefly, before the crying returned slightly. It was less than it was before, and Jasper knew it would be only a matter of moments before his friend was back. And he knew a joke was a sure fire way to lighten the mood.

“Contractual obligation” Jasper joked back and he chuckled extra hard as he leaned his head back as he looked up to the sky. His friend was still here. Eventually he made his way back towards Sully and the assembled group. He gently placed Lila down on the ground near Sloane and Drake. This spot was as good as any for a makeshift healing station, and Jasper was ready to help carry anyone who needed healing here. He was ready, after he found and checked in on Luca. He looked around the area, and finally spotted his muse a distance away. He began to make his way towards him with a hint of concern on his face. Luca would not be well after what happened, and Jasper was ready to help him feel better no matter what it took.

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Interactions: Auri
My dear Lila, it will get so much worse.

---

In an instant the illusion melted away from Lila, and she was left in the middle of the rain soaked grass almost entirely alone. Lila’s eyes flashed to the ground in an instant, half expecting to see the corpses there once more but breathed a sigh of relief when she saw there was none. Lila looked across the battlefield and saw the burning ruins of the house still smoldering, she saw Amara nearby, and she saw a small group forming around someone in the distance. A moment later Sully was there and feeding someone the healing waters from the chalice. Someone was hurt. Someone was hurt, because Emily Reed was a monster. This time anger did not rush to her mind, this time Lila realized that all of this mess, the ruined house, the injuries, the hallucinations, and everything else was because she punched Emily. She could not let Emily Reed win today. Emily did this, all of this, to get back at her. If Lila was to show any sadness, any regret, that would mean that Emily Reed won. And Lila could not allow that. She needed to be strong, defiant, and a beacon for the sycamore tree coven in the bullshit to come.

“Is everybody okay? I need an immediate headcount! Everyone! Shout your name if you can hear me!”

Lila knew that she needed to let the others know she was okay. Britney and Lila were the targets, after all, so it made sense for her to make sure she was okay. Lila took a deep breathe, forcing back a tear that had begun to well in the corner of her eye. She could do this, now they’ll know this. Especially now while there was still a lot of struggles to be won. Lila would not let the coven down, never again would she let the coven down like she did when she tried to play nice with Emily Reed. She truly believed that things would look up from here.

Until she took her first step towards the rest of the coven.

In an instant a pain unlike anything she had felt made itself known as something terrible revealed itself to her conscious mind. Her eyes slowly, slowly, ever so slowly crossed the distance and her foot and she gasped. Between her left and right two most toes long, sharp claws had erupted forth from her skin. She did not remember that happening during the fight but they were there all the same. Circular pieces of skin were still wrapped around the end of the claws, and a steady and consistent trickle of blood began to mix with the wet marsh beneath her feet. As her eyes slowly moved upwards she could see that her entire leg up to the mid point of her calf was completely covered in feathers. She slowly moved her hands into her field of view, which quickly shifted back to her normal vision, and saw that the line between what was the maiden and what was Lila was gone. Sure, there were spots where bits of her skin could be found trapped beneath the dense layer of feathers but the meeting point between that and her normal skin had completely melted together. Her fingers were turned completely into claws, her once smooth skin texture now tough, coarse, and almost leather like.

And then she caught the sight of the wings in her peripheral view.

They were gorgeous, large, and the feathers were as black as a night sky without stars. Each one looked more vivid and pretty than the next. Yet she could feel each one like it was apart of her. She could feel the way the wind hit it, and she felt the muscles connected to it move. It was almost like controlling her arms, and she moved the wings too and fro to confirm that she truly was in charge of them, and to confirm that they truly were attached to her back. That realization made her acutely aware of the pain that expanded outward from their rupture point. Her whole body was in pain, and as she felt less and less of the maiden she felt more and more of this pain.

“That future felt ravishing, my dear Lila,” The maiden whispered in a sultry tone, “finally able to spread my wings as I have always wanted”

“Please take your gifts back,” Lila muttered in response as she finally noticed just how naked she was. She crossed her arms over her feathered chest as she looked around. “I…I don’t want this, I don’t want that, I just want to-,”

“Oh my dear Lila you did want this,” The maiden chuckled a devious chuckle, “why would you invite me in otherwise?”

“No I- no, I was trying to get rid of you,” Lila responded weakly as she wrapped her chest inside the embrace of her wings.

“Oh so you say. But, thanks to Britney, we both share the same vessel now. And I can feel what you feel,” the maiden laughed again, and her mind was filled with the sound of all the crows chuckling in turn, “that vision sated much of my desire, for now, and as my thank you,” The maiden paused.

Lila lurched forward as the worst pain yet filled her body as the claws on her feet began to slowly, ever so slowly, began to retreat back inside her body. She wanted to scream, she wanted to shout for help, but the sound seemingly refused to leave her body.

“Now now child, you have to at least try to put on a brave face for the others,” The Maiden teased, “Not all gifts can be taken back, some can be hidden but you’ll figure it out. Now, I must be going. I have much to think about and much to plan.”

As The Maiden finished taking the claws completely retracted back into her body somewhere. The holes that they made coming out of her feet were still there, and were still leaking blood, but her feet were at least her own. Her hands were still clawed, the feathers remained across her body, and the wings still adorned her back, but at least her feet were her own once more.

Lila took a step forward and the pain once again radiated upward from her feet. She then limped into another, and then another, and soon enough Lila was consistently walking forward towards the group. She could ask Amara for help, or shout for Sully to run over and heal her, or she could just wait for someone to come find her but that’s not what Lila needed right now. She needed to be strong, strong for the coven and most importantly herself. No matter what The Maiden, Emily, or any other transphobic asshole threw her way she needed to take the hit in the chin and keep pushing forward. Eventually she could see she was almost with the others, they all had their attention on Sloane who looked terrible. She was alive, but she knew those markings well. Sloane had been rotted. She looked over and spotted Luca who was beside himself, and that confirmed her suspicion. Lila felt the tears welling once more and it took every ounce of strength she had left to stop herself from sobbing hysterically. This was all her fault. She nearly killed Sloane, she nearly made Luca kill his friend, and she nearly killed the coven.

Lila shuffled a few more steps forward before the pain finally forced her to stop. She spent a solid second composing herself before she dared to speak. She looked towards Auri. “Lila,” she whispered before she looked at Sully, but she could not speak another word. Instead, she began to softly whimper as the weight of everything finally came crashing down. She could not hold back the tears now. Her clawed hands gripped tighter onto her sides, accidentally gouging herself as she did, and she brought her wings in even tighter. She knew that she had to at least say something more than just her name. “Can someone fix me?”

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Why must pain follow me?

Oh shit.

Jasper quickly followed Britney’s lead and covered his mouth and ears, but made the mistake of not taking in a breath before he did so. He felt his heartbeat slowly, but surely, increase as he fought against the surging suffocation sensation in his chest. His eyes scanned around him and noticed that Aryin was busy throwing hands with an invisible enemy, and Lynn had a smile that was filled with more life than any smile he had seen on her face before. They had already inhaled whatever the mist was and Jasper was curious as to what the effects of it were. Was it a sedative, was it a drug, would it make them all easier targets? His chest lurched as he kept trying to hold in the need to breathe, his body fighting his attempt to not breathe in at every second. His heartbeat began to sound in his ears. He did not have long, something must help. He looked at his canvas and began to paint a crude mask. He noticed that 8th Street had them on them and thus was planning to drop whatever this mist was. Jasper knew he did not have long, and every detail would matter yet needed to be done quickly. Eventually, Jasper looked over to Britney and saw that she too was holding her breath. He paused his painting as he pointed down to the canvas and then flashed two fingers to indicate he was almost done with his, and once done he would make her one. He added the final bits of details and then pulled it from the page. It looked like a modern respirator, and simply slid into place and Jasper was able to strap it behind his ears moments before his fight against his body was lost and he was forced to take in a deep breath.

Nothing happened.

Jasper took a series of sharp, quick breaths as he leaned over and placed his hand on his chest. He looked down and saw that the mask had made a good seal with his face, and the yellow lux infusion he did was withstanding the corruptive influences of the rain. It would not hold long, but it should hold long enough to get a mask made for Britney. Yet a familiar voice cut across the pink battlefield. A familiar voice. A welcome voice. The voice of his crush Luca. He called for Jasper, trying to find him through the hurricane-force winds and mist. Jasper looked to Britney and she seemed like she figured out a way to avoid the mist with her abstraction, a literal field of magically enhanced flowers were simply sucking in the mist creating a pocket for Britney to breathe freely. His eyes followed the ground and saw they stretched far away to another set of plants that was pumping the pink mist back out. She was so smart and skilled, and Jasper was incredibly impressed with her resourcefulness.

”Brit, pull everyone you can with your vines back to this spot. I hear Luca out in the midst, I will grab him and bring him back! I will make enough masks for us all to get out of here,” Jasper shouted and got a nod of acknowledgment from Britney who began to pull Aryin and Linqian into the safe bubble.

Jasper took off into the midst in search of Luca. It did not take long for him to find him. Luca was standing tall as he walked through the mist. A few zombies came up to him yet they were no match for his abstraction and they were turned to dust on the wind. He had his own gas mask on, and Jasper wondered where he found one in the middle of the battle before the obvious answer hit him in the face. Carol. After Carol was dropped Luca must’ve rushed over to check on her, and had taken her mask to be able to breathe. A look of fear fell across his face. Jasper knew very well that Carol was his close friend, and if Jasper was the one that momentarily killed her, he was worried that it would ruin any chance they had at a relationship. Luca’s eyes settled on Jaspers's face and he began to stomp his way towards him. A few more zombies tried their luck only to be sent away on the wind like all others before them. Luca was strong, Luca was intimidating, and Jasper knew that an anger that he’d never seen from Luca was heading his way.

”YOU”, Luca yelled as he walked up to Jasper and jabbed a finger into his exposed chest. Jasper winced expecting the familiar rotting sensation but instead, his breath was stolen by the lack of it. Luca was touching him once again, and there was no pain to it. Was he able to control it better when his emotions were high? Jasper took a rushed breath at the thought. Maybe if Jasper made Luca’s life filled with a different emotion, happiness maybe, he could control the Rot like this every day? ”You and I need to talk after the battle….”

Jasper knew the conversation would be rough, and that he had a lot to make up for, but in this moment Jasper was once again with Luca, and touching did not hurt. Jasper quickly threw his arms around Luca and pulled him into a hug, careful not to hug him too hard to hurt the body where pain was the only feeling Luca felt. ”Okay…Okay, after the battle. We will talk. I am just so glad you’re okay.” Jasper felt Luca wrap his arms around his waist and he felt Luca put all his strength into the hug. Jasper was surprised because the hug felt strong, much stronger than he thought Luca was. Something felt different in this moment, in this hug. Jasper pushed these thoughts to the side. ”My mask won't last long, Britney has created a safe spot for us. Follow me,” Jasper reached down and grabbed Luca’s hand and his stomach erupted with the sensation of butterflies once more. Suddenly, the pain and destruction that was brought to his dead friend's home was gone. He was with the one he wanted to be with, he was able to hold hands with Luca without pain once again, and Luca felt like he was stronger and healthier than he thought he was. This day had gotten infinitely better and if Jasper did not have a mask on, everyone would see he was smiling.

A few moments later the duo found their way back to the safe spot. Britney, Aryin, and Linqian were all together now and it seemed like they were all safe and back from whatever high the mist gave them. They all saw that Jasper was holding Luca’s hand and smiled. A new realization set in. Jasper realized that he was finally truly safe to bring out that other side that he had repressed for so long, his chosen family would accept him for his more queer side. Hell, it felt like the coven just had a token straight member so he wondered why he still chose to hide that side of himself from them. He could be with Luca and be accepted without worry of his parents' wrath, and he could be happy with a man for the first time in his life. He was pulled from these thoughts by Britney asking him to make more masks. He looked down at his own and saw it was still standing strong. Jasper knew he was about to busy, and he loved it. He loved supporting the coven like this, providing them with tools to succeed and providing them with his constructs to help them win a fight. Jasper quickly pulled Luca over to a spot away from Britney, Linqian, and Aryin and began to paint.

”I don’t know how the battle will end,” Luca started as he ran his fingers across Jasper’s free palm, ”and I don’t want to wait to say something I have been meaning to say.”

Jasper’s head tilted as he looked away from the painting and to Luca’s. Jasper noticed how perfect his skin looked. It was like there was never a blemish, nor any signs that pointed to a war against acne long since fought. His smile was radiant, and his eyes filled with a life he had never seen before.

”This battle put things in perspective. I know you're straight but I have to tell you that I have had a huge crush on you for a while now and I wanted to know if you felt the same. I know it is putting you on the spot in the midst of a-,”

”YES” Jasper shouted without control, ”sorry. Yes, yes I feel the same…I feel the same,” Jasper took a deep breath as he looked over the Luca in front of him once again. There were no scars. No blood, his clothes were perfect and there was nary a sign of the rots presence. Hell, if Luca had not killed those zombies he would’ve thought that the Rot was already gone. Suddenly, the realization hit. This was not his Luca. His eyes drifted down to his mask. He knew he infused it with his yellow Lux to try and strengthen it against the rain, but what if it failed? What if.. Jasper paused the thought as he smiled. Would it be so bad if this was fake? Luca was healthy, and happy, and had told him that he had a crush on him. Would it be selfish if he chose to stay in this dream if it meant ignoring the nightmare of reality right now? Jasper pondered the question for a minute before his eyes slowly shifted to Britney, Linqian, and Aryin. They were all looking at the two and smiling, yet they were not doing much else. The rest of the coven was in danger, and those three were simply so happy for Jasper finding his happiness and strength to be himself. They were so happy that he was able to find someone as amazing as Luca. How egotistical was that?

”This isn’t real, is it Luca?”

”It could be,” Luca said as he leaned his body into Jasper’s. His fingers twirled Jasper’s chest hair as Luca smiled up at him, ”all you have to do is stay.”

Jasper smiled as he put his painting down. He used his free hand and cupped Luca’s face with his hand. How small his face looked in his hands, how cute, and how perfect this would be. Jasper leaned forward and kissed Luca on the forehead and smiled. Jasper then took a finger and booped Luca on the nose. ”No.”

In an instant, Luca faded back into the mist, and Aryin, Linqian, and Britney did the same. Instead, they were where they were just a few moments ago. Aryin now was celebrating something, both arms up in the air as she danced around and Britney was still struggling to breathe. Jasper looked down at his mouth and saw that the mask had melted a long time ago and the bottom half of his face and the top of his chest were covered in his art. Jasper looked back up at Britney and he ran over.

”Can you make plants that act as a filter for the air? Suck away the mist, it’s so intoxicating.”

---

“Aryin, what do you say to the critics who feel that you haven’t earned your spot at the top,” a reporter asked from the crowded room in front of her, and Aryin couldn’t help but chuckle. Aryin knew that they deserved to be here and that anyone who said otherwise was simply delusional. She had fought her way to an 18-0 record over her career thus far and she had done so without the use of her durability. Thanks to the marvelous gift that Stormy gave her after they solved those pesky murders all those years ago she was able to compete as Aryin, without worry of tainting her skill by using her inbuilt cheat code.

”I’d tell them to watch the tape. I’d tell my opponent to do the same, she’s weak and I look forward to knocking her ass out within the first fucking round,” Aryin finished as the reporters all broke into a shouting match asking a million questions she knew she would not answer. Her job here was done. People would want to tune in to watch Aryin back up her words in the ring, and that would mean that everyone would know that she was the real deal. That she should be paid fairly for her skill, that she should be the face of this industry, and that she should already be in the discussion for the greatest of all time.

“Are you claiming that you will knock out your opponent in the first round?”

”Oh, you’re right. Let me dumb it down for her. I will fucking knock you out in round one you weak bitch,” Aryin slammed her palm on the table to make the point extra clear.

Once again, the room erupted with conversation and Aryin leaned back in her chair. The road to this point was hard. That much she knew. What exactly was hard about it again? Aryin’s eyes looked up, around to the side, before they fell down to the ground. That was weird, she couldn’t remember any of the struggles that she endured on her way to the top of the ladder. She knew she struggled, her early career was fraught with many nights where she had to sleep for dinner. But she did not remember much more than that. She would need to double-check her posts online, and in her diary. If it was important to remember she would be able to find a way to remember, and right now what was important was being ready for her fight tomorrow. Aryin answered several questions in rapid succession, and she smiled more with each answer.

The press conference was over soon thereafter and Aryin retreated away from the cameras to her hotel room where a good night awaited her. There was nothing that got her pumped for a fight more than a handsome man in bed the night before, and she had found the perfect subject to give her that extra motivation in the fight to come.

---

Lila felt Vashti’s grasp on her wings tighten as she began to try and rip them from her back. The problem was, as Lila had realized, that the wings were attached very snugly to her back somehow. Instead of feeling like the wings were being pulled out, it felt like Vashti tugged at the entirety of her back. Something was being pulled out and Lila screamed at the pain of it. She needed to find a way to break free of her grasp. Even the two shots fired by Amara did little to push Vashti off her back. Lila knew there was only one way to free herself. She screamed in pain as claws pushed their way through her toes, longer and sharper than the ones on her hand. Lila knew she was the only one who could save herself at this moment. Her wings flashed green several times in a single second before they fully turned on and shone a consistent, vivid, and alluring.

Even through the pouring rain, the green light would be a very visible sight on the battlefield. Anyone who even looked in their general direction would become compelled to grab a feather. Lila knew, somehow, that this glow would be nearly impossible to resist, and emotional fields could only resist the allure for so long. Lila did not know how long it would take for Vashti to break, and she did not know if she had enough time before something terrible happened to her back. Lila began to kick back with her now-clawed feet, cutting and gouging wherever she could reach.

Suddenly, an explosive expansion of pink gas was spotted behind her thanks to her crows. Some form of a gas was coming her way, and she did not know what to expect with it. What she did know was Vashti had a gas mask on her, a gas mask to no doubt make her killing that much easier when everyone could not fight back, and a gas mask that Lila needed to escape this situation. Faster and faster the gas moved towards them, and faster and faster did the urgency of the situation grow. Eventually, Lila knew she had to try and get the mask from her. Lila readied a kick, used a nearby crow to line up the shot, and sent it back towards the gas mask. She grabbed it away from Vashti and pulled it to her front, trying to grab it with her hand as she took in a deep breath of the pink mist.

Lila coughed as she suddenly fell to the ground. The coughing continued for just a second before she rose to her feet, and turned around to watch as the entirety of St. Portwell burned in front of her. It was dark out, and the vivid colors of the fire shined brightly into the surrounding area. The sound of distant gunfire could be heard, and Lila could see her crow swarms above the city. Occasionally, a crow would use their abstractions sending fire, water, and lightning onto the streets below. The more they used their abstractions, the less gunfire could be heard. Lila chuckled as she looked around the area. There were several bodies on the ground and she could no longer recognize who they were after the battle. Were they members of her old coven? Did that matter?

Lila knew that after her friends were murdered one year ago today she would make the world regret it. Lila knew that after she fully embraced her power she would become a target unlike any before, and so she did something that no one expected. She struck first. The first to fall was the local PRA, she knew it would be easy to take out the rest after she turned Max. Then, she destroyed 8th street and added their strengths to her murder. And now, only Greenwood and the 317 stood between her and the rest of the world. Something was intoxicating about the power she now wielded. Everyone who was converted to a life of pure bliss as a Crow had added their abstractions to her massive arsenal. Tens of thousands of souls, tens of thousands of abstractions, and that number would grow tonight, tomorrow, and every day to come. Lila looked over to the bodies once more and wondered who they were. Were they members of her old coven? Some of them looked like members of her old coven.

An explosion in the center of the city caught her attention. It was massive, and she quickly pulled all of her crows away from the expanding shockwave. The explosion was magical, someone had used their abstraction to try and slow down her horde. It would only delay the inevitable by a few minutes. Whomever they were trying to protect would soon be brought to their knees. Lila looked up to the sky and smiled as a thousand crows began to descend on the city below in a long, tendril-like structure. She kept her eye on it as second, and then third mass descended from the night sky. A hundred thousand crows finally entered the battle. She wanted the defenders to think they had a chance, it made it much easier to turn them after their spirits were broken.

A headache suddenly appeared and Lila keeled over. Her talons gripped her skull and she nearly screamed but the bright light of the day helped coax the headache away. The Maiden must be trying to break free again. It had been so long since she put a muzzle on the bitch that she forgot what it was like when her icy talons gripped her mind. She looked up and saw that the meadow she was camping in had an unexpected visitor. It was her former coven, coming to check in on her.

“Lila, it’s been too long. You know how hard it is to track you down nowadays,” Jasper asked as he put down a cooler filled with beer.

“The future is ever in doubt, but one thing is for certain. I missed you girl,” Lynn said as ran over and hugged Lila. Lila returned it with both hands and wings.

“I missed you too,” Lila said as she spotted Luca sneaking up behind her thanks to her crows. She let him tackle hug her, his warm hug was amazing after the Rot was taken care of. The small gathering quickly grew in size as the rest of the coven, their partners, and a small army of children belonging to the various members of the coven filled the campsite. Today was a celebration for Lila. Today was the anniversary of when they subjugated The Maiden and freed Lila from her corruptive grasp. It was a long struggle to get to this point, and some days are better than others, but Lila knew that she wouldn’t have to deal with that voice in her head forever more. Still, she wished she could turn her body back to normal. Her hands, chest, and feet were still feathered and clawed and that made existing in the city pretty difficult. And the PRA made it clear that they would take her in if she so much as breathed at them wrong after what she did. It made her weekly checkup with the leader of the PRA a delicate balance for Lila.

Lila looked to the ground and saw the bodies once again as the night sky started to dim as her murder departed from St. Portwell. They were tasked with softening up the cities around them before Lila arrived. Lila knew she needed to move into the city to start the conversion of everyone and anyone still alive there. Lila’s eyes could not be pulled away from the ground this time. She was sure that these bodies were someone she knew.

---

“Honey,” a voice called to Lynn as she suddenly awoke from her nap.

“What,” Lynn said through a yawn as she pulled herself up from her desk. Her eyes caught the sight of her one year sober chip that she was given last night, and she smiled at the sight. Her body ached, and her mind was still a battleground of emotions but she knew that it was all worth it.

“You ready to head out? Jasper and Sloane are going to be expecting us soon,” the familiar voice responded.

Jasper and Sloane? Something felt off about that still. Lila swore that Jasper was into Luca, but throughout the fight to save Kari from the grasp of the monstrous entity Lynn began to see the chemistry between the two grow. And as it grew, Lynn looked to the future and saw that they actually would end up together. Order and chaos were always a precarious balancing act for a relationship, and thus far they did it with grace. Tonight was the opening night of a new art exhibit that Jasper and Sloane made together, and everyone in the coven was excited to see what new wonders they came up with together. “Yeah, yeah I am. I just dozed off writing in my journal.”

“You’re fine babe, just be down in fifteen okay?” The voice was much clearer now that Lynn was more awake. She knew it very well but the name escaped her lips.

“Of course my love,” Lynn responded back as she stretched. Today was going to be a good day. As Lynn finished her stretch she smiled as she looked down at her engagement ring. The rest of the coven did not know yet, and she wanted to keep it that way for a day or two longer. The last thing she wanted to do was upstage Jasper and Sloane on their big day. As such, she took the ring off her finger and found a chain necklace she could run through the middle. As she finished, she put it on and tucked the ring down into her sweater. Lynn got up from her seat and walked downstairs and spotted Kari putting her earrings in by looking in a mirror. “You look stunning,” Lynn nearly stuttered with her words. Kari was gorgeous, her outfit was gorgeous, and her smile was as well.

“You don’t think it’s too much,” Kari asked as she gave Lynn a quick twirl.

“No, no not at all,” Lynn responded as she walked over and kissed her. Lynn caught her reflection in the mirror and saw just how much she smiled. She was the happiest she had ever been. She was the strongest she had ever been. And she was ready for the uncertainty that her future brought her and embraced her role as the Coven’s first line of defense against possible threats. The so-called ‘Father Wolf’ had made it clear that they lacked an early warning ability as a group, and Lynn quickly developed her skills further once Kari was returned to her. As her powers grew, so too did the accuracy of the future. She had helped the coven thwart several dangerous situations simply by constantly looking forward for them. This was perfect, this life was perfect, and Lynn would not change anything about it.

But she knew it was wrong.

Her smile never faded in the mirror as she hugged Kari even tighter. There was something about this reality that felt fake to her from the moment she stepped foot into it. Her time in the possible futures over the years taught her much about seeing through the lines of a fake reality, and this one was no different.

“What’s wrong babe?” Kari asked as she tried to push herself out of the hug but Lynn held her in tight as tears began to stream down from her eyes. Lynn did not want to leave whatever this was, she wanted to stay in it forever more and live perfect life she’s wanted forever. Just her, her soon to be wife, her friends, and safety.

“Babe, talk to me,” Kari said as she leaned back and looked at Lynn.

“I wish I could,” Lila said as her tears gave way to sobbing, “but I can’t stay here.”

“Why not,” Kari asked with a sad tone, “why don’t you just talk to me?”

“Because they still need me,” Lynn said as she broke down completely. This was everything she ever wanted. And it was a lie. Lynn’s wails began to fill the house. “Because if I talk to you I’ll stay, if I tell you how I’ve been feeling finally I’d stay, and if I stay my friends will all die,” Lynn paused her crying reached a higher point, “the last time you asked me to just talk to you I told you to fuck off and I fucking left and I have regretted it for every second, why the fuck do I have to go through with this again?”

In an instant the illusion broke and Kari, the house, and the ring quickly faded from view as Lynn collapsed onto the ground below. Her wails were loud, but not everyone could hear it over the hurricane that raged around her as she fell to her side and curled herself into a ball on the muddy ground.

Post deletion request

roleplayerguild.com/posts/5520484

Accidentally posted to wrong thread.

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Oh the crazy things we’ve seen, oh the crazy things we must do.

INTERACTIONS Carol, @Punished GN Vashti@Atrophy Linqian @FernStone Ken @AtomicEmperor

A pain unlike any other manifested in Lila’s mind. It was sharp, quick, but the feeling of the pain left a sense of unease. It felt, for the briefest of moments, like the pain came with a scream. Not her scream, nor that of the maidens, but someone else. The scream only lasted as long as the pain did, and the pain only lasted a second, but it was enough for Lila to pause her run and look back to the murders descent on 8th street. She then watched the sky catch fire and get mind was filled with the brief scream of a few hundred crows, and a pain that threatened to split her mind from her soul.

Lila doubled over as her clawed hands gripped her head as she began to press against her skull to alleviate the pain but it offered no relief. Lila pressed, pressed, and pressed done more claws digging into the flesh of her skull causing a steady and warm stream of blackened blood to spill forth. And the psychic pain only grew. And grew. And it grew with each subsequent bird that got burnt by Emily’s inferno. Each second that passed a new scream was added, removed, replaced, and the cycle repeated and repeated until the last bird caught was nothing more than a charred crisp. Lila felt herself try to fall as her vision narrowed, but she managed to pull herself away from falling unconscious.

Yet the silence did not bring Lila peace, the lack of screaming voices did not bring peace. Instead, it brought a clarity that she never knew. The crows were once people, and Emily just killed whatever was left of them. She knew that she would not let their sacrifice be in vain. And she knew it was time to start replacing her losses. All across her exposed chest feathers began to erupt outward with a rapid pace, covering herself within a few seconds. Her black eyes began to seemingly leak, sending pitch black tears streaming down her face. Lila and the maiden weeped together and as one for their fallen murder. And their dour expression slowly turned insidious as they caught a slightly wounded Vashti running towards them. The two knew in a straight up fight they’d lose to Vashti, she was far too strong and quick in her storm. However, even the strongest could not resist the temptation of the maiden, and the duo cackled with laughter as she drew close.

Vashti launched herself at Lila, no doubt trying to kick her into the fire wall that Emily oh so confidently put up to block her exit. They made one crucial error Lila thought as she side-stepped the kick, grabbing Vashti legs with one clawed hand and stabbing the other hand into Vashti’s thigh.

Lila turned her body, pulling Vashti along with the turn, and launched Vashti back towards the house. Lila took a step forward as Lila and The Maiden chucked a devious chuckle, their wings flashing green several times in a second. Their crucial error was they were not afraid, and Lila was about to remind them that they should be.

“Emmmmily,” the two shouted as one, “…...watch.”

---

Jasper frantically added detail to his painting, using his large frame to block out as much of the rain as he could. He was close to the wood line on the side of the house, and he slowly crept towards the shelter offered by the canopy above. On his canvas his greatest creation yet was nearly finished, and he hoped that he could catch Carol by suprise once more. The Magnum Opus was a complex construct, featuring layers upon layers of paint and infused intentions. His intention to protect, to safeguard, and to kill.

Jasper still knew that shooting Carol would not be murder. Her little hourglass would simply bring her back at the end of the day and she would simply be angrier.

Once he reached the tree line he quickly returned to painting his weapon. This would be his moment to protect the coven, to show them the power that he possessed. This would be his moment to make a difference in a real fight, and not just act like the creator of distractions. No one else would die while he was around. Jasper quickly added the finishing details and dried the painting with his spell. It was ready. He’d only pulled it once on an enemy, and this time he was ready for the kick of the gun. Jasper engaged his abstraction and used his paintbrush to pull the gun from the canvas and grabbed it with his arm. Jasper pressed up against a nearby tree, pushed the butt of the gun and raised the rifle and aimed down the field. In an instant he cursed his decision to make this a bolt action rifle with a iron sight instead of something lighter, and more modern. He was finding it hard to not only locate his target, but to also get the sight on her. Jasper exhaled completely and found that he was granted a bit more control over the wayward weapon. A moment later he had his target in sight, and he squeezed the trigger engaging the magic within the gun, firing it, and sending the first round down range. Whatever it would hit it would burry itself deep into the target, exploding outwards a moment later.

The kick was strong, however, and the barrel fought its way back and upwards. Jasper groaned at the pain he felt in his shoulder but he could not let that stop him. He pulled the bolt back, ejecting the hot painted casing that hissed as it collided with a drop of rain, before it melted away with it. He slammed the bolt forward, got the sight on what he thought was the target, and sent a second round down range. As the second shot left the barrel the gun was finally caught by the raindrops as well, with parts of it melting away. Jasper did not know what would happen if he tried to fire a third time and instead of testing that idea he simply threw the gun into the open and let it get dissolved in quick fashion.

Jasper couldn’t make out the after effects of his attack but he did catch the tail end of the Aryin George fight. He began to paint his hammer just in case someone tried to sneak up to him. He began to move towards Linqian, keeping to the tree line to protect his painting as he did.

---

Aryin saw the kick coming and she did not move. Instead she threw her arms out wide and as the kick connected with her body, the impact exploded outward with an explosive boom creating a momentary umbrella with the shockwave, and then grabbed George’s leg with her arms. She could only hold on for a few seconds before the sheer power of George’s kick launched her across the battlefield . Aryin skipped across the ground once, twice, and a third time more before she finally caught the ground properly and gouged a path through the dirt. Eventually her momentum slowed and she eventually rolled to a stop. The ground left a sizzling trail marking where she hit and a small steam cloud showed where she travelled.

That hurt. Aryin had forgotten that Too Hot To Handle came with a noticeable reduction in defensive power, and she was thankful for the magma like skin because she knew she’d be even worse for wear in this moment without it. Still, she was broken, bruised, and no longer able to carry on a fight like this. She needed her normal durability back. She needed Aaron.

Aryin began the slow process of walking towards Linqian. She knew she was alive because their magic was still strong however it looked like she took a beating when she faced Vashti. They both needed a quick sip of that good healing juice from Sully before long. They would also need clothes once their spell wore off. One problem at a time.

Eventually the arduous journey was nearly complete. Aryin could see Linqian, and she could see she was truly alive. Good. If she was alive she could survive what needed to happen. ”I thought you were stronger,” Aryin said before they pulled back their arm and punched Linqian in the gut once more, pulling back her own part of the spell breaking Too Hot To Handle in an instant. They slowly pulled their fist off her exposed stomach and offered her a hand up. “Get up bitch, the fights not done. And CAN SOMEONE GET US SOME FUCKING CLOTHES?”

“Here,” Jasper paused as he put his painting down and took off his coat, before he unbuttoned his tucked in shirt. Both were big enough that they should offer some ‘protection’ against wandering eyes. The removal of his clothes revealed his hairy muscular chest to the world, and a small smile crept across his face at his fate.

---

Lynn looked at Ken as tears streamed down her face. There was a look of shock on her face at the words Ken spoke to her. Kari wanted many things from Lynn. Dying on the battlefield was not one of them. And with what Lynn just learned her story was not going to end here. She knew this much to be true. “No, I don’t die here,” Lynn said with a dismissive tone that suggested that, in this moment, she was upset at that fact. Despite Ken’s kind words Lynn still remained in the funk. The battle, the zombies, and Lila falling further into the maiden all felt like it was not worth it anymore. Lynn was a burden that needed to be babysit. Lynn was a failure who could not help her coven. Lynn was-

bang………bang

The sound of Jasper firing his gun broke Lynn from her spiral, at least for the moment, as she swapped to the possible future to see what he was trying to do. Her eyes remained glazed for a few seconds before she returned to the present and she chuckled. Jasper was smart. Carol was the key to opening up the rest of 8th street to defeat. It just sucked that his power was rendered so inert by the rain. In the possible future Jasper’s range of attack was great. In some, he developed a new spell on the spot for a pair of revolvers, in another he turned his ranger into an army ranger by giving it a semi automatic magically powered rifle that made up for his shit fucking aim by putting that responsibility into his creation. Regardless, he was never able to take out Carol. She always had an early warning system.

“Ken, take out Carol,” Lynn paused as she pointed towards the man shooting his gun at the kid. Lynn knew it wasn’t a kid but she had no idea what he actually was. “That guy is keeping her safe from Jasper, he’s distracted but Jasper won’t be able to do much with that rain. Take Carol out, take out their ability to keep up the fight.”. Lynn’s eyes fell to the ground.

“Once we’re done here today you and I need to have a little talk,” Lynn paused as she slowly looked Ken in the eyes, “because I know Kari is alive. The future is certain with that at least.”. Lynn paused as she looked over the battlefield. “We need to leave this battle, we’re not ready for this fight yet.”