[IC] ANKL Chapter II: A Truly Wonderful World

[Shamitako]

(OOC: Well then, moving on...)

Lana

After a fitful night of half consciousness, Lana awoke to find herself alone in Riley's room. She wouldn't have known it was morning if not for the alarm clock going off next to her head. And to be perfectly honest, Riley might have simply been waking her at an odd time to torment her further, so she couldn't be certain. She found that she could move freely for the most part, the only things inhibiting her being an aching feeling in her head and a chain around her left ankle. A note sat next to the alarm clock with her name written on it, but the only thing inside was a single white pill.

Lexi's Group -Sion

(OOC: Hiss lemme know when you reappear and I'll poof you back in)

Well this was stupid. Painfully stupid. First they'd had to deal with the shittiest boss fight ever while wearing shitty clothes. And now Lexi was acting like absolutely nothing was wrong. She had been oh-so-dramatic the night before, but now that they sat together eating lunch and she was acting perfectly normal, going on about some video game she was into lately. It was stupid, yesterday had been insane and now everything was business as usual. Sharp's thoughts kept going in circles, bringing him back to the useless goddess in front of him. He nearly brought the matter up, but was cut off when Lexi suddenly changed the subject of her own accord.

"So, um, about last night..." Was all she said, her voice trailing into silence

She glanced back and forth between Sharp and Riv, looking for some sense of reassurance.

Emberly

(OOC: [insert Sans Here])

Emberly didn't wake up in her bed, neither at home nor in the dorm, in fact she had no idea where she was. She remembered Miss Katherine's revelation and the following confrontation, but she couldn't recall what happened after Kallisto broke down. She took a look around the room, it was a large, mostly empty bedroom; like a guest room. Was she someone's guest? Considering that when she tried the doorknob it was locked, she felt more like a prisoner. The only furnishing besides the bed was a small desk with two drawers in it. The window looked out into a lovely little grove of apple trees but provided no landmarks. For the time being it seemed she would have to wait

(OOC: One drawer has a knife and the other has a pen, your choice whether you want to discover them. Soon all the girls shall be captured by diabolical forces and kept in rooms with little furnishing!)

Layla's Group

Having spent most of the day apart, the four roommates now found themselves together before Mother Opium's door once again. Although finding Natalie meant they didn't necessarily need the help, Layla had suggested that it might still be a good idea to try to talk to the school's head anyways. The door slid open and Mother Opium waved the girls inside.

"Ah, I should have known. Come in girls." She offered, "Would any of you like anything to eat? I have snacks galore as some of you may already know."

She tossed and ornery look in Esyllt's direction

Eden

Eden shook Lee awake the next afternoon. It wasn't much of a struggle, Lee didn't seem to be sleeping too soundly on Eden's rickety cot. Although she had been sleeping soundly enough to go for almost 24 hours, likely the result of the teleportations weakening her

"Hey, wake up." Eden whispered, "Her will be here soon and I think we should hide you. After I deal with her then we'll go look for a better place for you to sleep for tonight."

(OOC: I think that just leaves Rein unaccounted for? If I forgot anyone let me know, as we all know I do that sometimes >_< Rein is exist but I'm waiting to poof her in because of reasons)

[Sutoratosu]

Arya

"You see that look? Don't go raiding other people's shit next time, Es..." She whispered softly in Esylt's ear before heading inside, putting on a smile as she passed the door. "No...I'm fine, Miss Opium, thank you for offering..." "Damn thieves were lucky she didn't actually come out and catch you two in the act...hopefully your behaviour won't reflect too poorly on the rest of us." Fridge-Raiding shenanigans and this morning's classes aside though... she'd been more interested in what tutoring Layla had given her the night before... learning how to use this new ability was just about the only part of that whole chaotic 24 hour period she had found enjoyable. Everything else was simply too strange and alienating to be...well, anything other than strange and alienating.

It wasn't quite simple to trigger, compared to something like Esylt's vines or Anna's sheilds, but at it's base, it wasn't terribly difficult either, once one understood the basic principles. Focus on the object in question, it's qualities, how it smelled, tasted, felt, what it looked like... then try to pull an exact copy of all those collective properties into the space around you... at least, that's what Arya had taken away. Mostly she'd started to simply send herself into a trance of sorts, go back to the very moment she'd encountered it and relive it again... it was a skill she'd already developed for re-examining things, slowing down her perception of the details in her own memory, looking closer, longer... it hadn't been terribly hard to apply it here as well.

What had been hard though... was getting positioning right. She could pull things from memory well enough... she just hadn't figured out how to put anything farther than the palm of her own hand... and that range was only achievable if she'd been holding the original to begin with, most other shit just materialized right in front of her face and fell to the floor...

Still... it had been kinda fun. She'd tried it on quite a few things; sketchbooks, countless oddly shaped rocks she'd found in the woods back home, pens and pencils, even a hunting knife...she still couldn't quite stop thinking about what she'd been told about trying to conjure the living though.

"Just how bad would it get, if two copies of the same soul existed at once? She never really went into much detail...eh, well, probably shouldn't try it either way, I guess..."

[Stalkerkain]

Esyllt

Esyllt raised an eyebrow at Arya's warning, clearly not too concerned. "Well if no one had told her, she wouldn't have known," she retorted in her mind. Arya had gone on ahead, not missing a beat of Mother Opium's invitation inside.

"That is a very kind of you, Mother Opium," she said with a benevolent smile, trying to not let Mother Opium's sharp glare disrupt her demeanor. As if looks could kill. Though, if Mother Opium wasn't going to single her out for her actions, then Esyllt didn't plan on feeling any guilt. After all the times in the past that Esyllt had been bad-mouthed behind her back, she couldn't care less when people weren't direct with her. "I will graciously take you up on that offer, if it is no trouble to you at all." Esyllt followed Arya inside, as her thoughts trailed to the night before.

---

"My magic keeps dispersing," Esyllt said. a little displeased with herself. Layla had informed her several times that she shouldn't constrain her power to a particular form, but Esyllt couldn't help but try anyway. Every time she tried to compress her vines into a feasible object or weapon, her orbs wouldn't listen to her, and return to floating about her aimlessly. But a thought occurred to her. "Why do I need to constrain myself to only one weapon?" she thought to herself. She focused, and made one of her orbs lash out in a general area. Since they were incorporeal, they didn't have any effect on their furniture, giving Esyllt a general target to work with. "Good, I can manage at least that much." For the real test, Esyllt wanted to know how many orbs she could summon. As if responding to her call, all of her orbs lashed out in unison, targeting unknowingly and unforeseeably, even to her. Esyllt had finally broken into a smile.

---

Of course, that simply wasn't the limit of her abilities. She would have to toy around, and see what she was capable of. In the meantime, she looked to greet Natalie as a formality before sitting herself down.

[Sutoratosu]

"I will graciously take you up on that offer, if it is no trouble to you at all."

"You are just freaking determined to piss her off, aren't you?" She couldn't help but cast an ornery glance of her own at the girl as she sat down beside natalie; a clear warning not to start shit here, just like Essylt herself had given to Arya just yesterday, ironically enough... though the white haired girl's was far less subtle and to the point with it's disdain. "Acting coy isn't the best idea here...can't you tell she was trying to let you off lightly, idiot?"

[Shamitako]

Haley

(OOC: I'm sorrrryyyyy >_< )

Haley and Arturia were in the library, alone. Not only were none of the other expected visitors not there, the library itself was entirely devoid of life. Haley hadn't been able to convince her older sister to join them, and worse, Lana was nowhere to be found. One of the busier rooms in the school being empty was further disconcerting. Haley had arrived first and had been standing just inside the doorway waiting for Arturia to arrive, as she just had.

"Let's start with the obvious, are you feeling alright?" She inquired, glancing towards where Arturia had previously been gutted.

In reality, this was more for Haley's benefit than Arturia's. Haley knew that Arturia was perfectly well, at least physically, but she was frightened and needed at least some good news. She hoped Arturia hadn't seen the bulletin declaring Lana missing. It was only released an hour before, Haley knew of it because Kallisih had told her. Still, it was within the realm of possibility for Arturia to have discovered it as well.

[Chevaleresse]

"Well I haven't slept for shit, but otherwise I've been worse," Arturia said with a sigh. She glanced around at the room. Huh. At least it's quiet in here. "You were worse off than me, I should be asking if you're doing okay. Where's Lana, by the way? I kinda had my head down when I went home yesterday so I never ran into her. I figured she'd be here." She idly fiddled with her hair, pushing it back behind one ear only for it to fall forward once again.

[K_H]

Anna

When the group was asked about whether or not they wanted snacks from the fridge, Anna shook her head, taking note of Mrs. Opium's ornery glance at Esyllt.

"It's a kind offer, but I'm good for now."

That's about when Anna noticed Arya send an ornery look of her own in Esyllt's direction, and she sighed in frustration before sitting down next to Arya and whispering into her ear, a look in her own eyes and eyebrows that said she was being very serious.

"Just let her be, alright? Let Mother Opium handle the punishment, since she's got the highest rank of everyone here."

Once she was done letting her roommate know to not start anything, she asked Mrs. Opium a question, her face returning to her normal neutral expression as she did so.

"Pardon my asking, Mother Opium, but is there any way to distinguish the differences between a normal person and one of the Goddesses? I know that we've found two of them already, but who knows if that's all of them that are in this school or not? They did all take on human forms, after all."

[Shamitako]

(OOC: Going for the simpler post in hopes of forcing my way through writer's block)

Haley

Haley shuffled nervously, she now reversed her previous wish and found it unfortunate that Arturia hadn't seen the bulletin. Now Haley was left to explain things to her.

"Well, um, she's sort of... missing." Haley said, "Apparently she didn't go to her room last night and nobody on the campus has seen her."

"Well isn't that just terrible." Interjected a third party, "If only there were some way to confirm her safety."

"Wa-" Haley cast about to spot the interloper, but the library still seemed perfectly empty.

"Fingersnap~~!" the voice called out.

Haley didn't hear any fingersnapping, but she certainly saw something happen. Something being that the library disappeared and turned into a circus. It was similar to her own illusions, but somehow it felt different.

To Arturia, Haley looked like she was going insane, looking around for something that wasn't there and then suddenly freezing in place and staring off into space.

"Hi there." the source of the voice finally revealed herself, by sneaking up behind Haley and attempting to give her a heart attack.

She was a young, redheaded girl in a purple leotard and matching ballet slippers. She had bright green eyes which seemed to literally sparkle. And she wore a massive grin that seemed like it could never disappear.

"Who are you?" Haley asked.

"I'm dead people!" The girl replied without hesitation, "But you can call me Trick."

"Um, hi, nice to meet you Trick?" Haley spoke with no confidence to her words, "Could you maybe take me back to the library?"

"Oh but you are in the library. With the arthritis girl."

"Arthri-? Look, just, please stop making me see this circus, that clown over there is creeping me out."

"No."

"You don't understand, this is important."

"Fingersnap~~!"

The girl snapped her fingers, although no snapping sound occurred, and Haley now found herself falling through the sky. She did the logical thing, she began screaming.

Outside this insanity, Haley had fallen over on her face. But before Arturia could do anything about that, she was approached from behind. A small pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist in a childish hug. Despite their small stature, her assailant was very strong and Arturia was not able to escape their grasp.

"Hi there." the person behind the arms said

[Chevaleresse]

"Um, Haley? Are you feeling..." She trailed off as the other girl just sort of flopped over. "I guess not...?" What the hell is even going on any more? Her brow furrowed deeply at Haley's behavior... until she found a pair of arms wrapped about her. Arturia craned her head around to try and spot the person attached to said arms, far too many questions competing for her mental attention at once as she did so. "Uh, hi? I'm kind of in the middle of something important, what do you need?"

[Shamitako]

Layla

"Alright then, just Esyllt?" Mother Opium said, "Make yourselves at home in the bedroom, I'll be right there. Anita, I'll answer your question when I get back."

With that she turned and headed for the kitchen. Layla followed her directions and headed into the bedroom, taking the seat nearest the entrance. She wasn't entirely certain what she wanted to talk about, but she felt a little aimless and Miss Opium seemed like she might be able to tell Layla what to do. The others spread out across the room. Mother Opium didn't take long to return holding a tray with a piece of cake and several glasses of ice water.

"Even if you're not hungry, I figured some cold water couldn't hurt." She said as she passed them out, giving the cake to Esyllt.

Layla suddenly realized that her mouth was actually rather dry and accepted the glass gratefully.

"Now then," Mother Opium continued, sitting on the edge of the bed, "finding goddesses. Short answer, nope, no chance. But you're in luck, because I've been stalking all the important members of the cast. Layla and Natalie you have, Kallisto is a teacher, Alexus is a student, the Eye is a student, Layla's-"

"AAAAAAHhhaaaa...." Layla let out a convoluted yell to try to stop Mother Opium from continuing.

"Okay, calm down, I won't tell. But he is here in case you were wondering. There's also Eden's Curse which is staying with some crazy false prophet in Nayo, not sure who's in charge there but I've got my eye on Her. Also Eden's Curse seems to have managed to convince at least one girl to side with her. There's a Light Fury about, which wouldn't be special except that the Eye is tainted and wants to use her. Oh and there's something up with the library, rumors are popping up that it's haunted. Any of you know anything about that?"

He was here. That was such a happy thought. Layla didn't want her relation to him known, but she couldn't help but feel a sense of relief knowing that he was nearby. She missed out on most of the rest of Mother Opium's roll call, vaguely registering that a question had been asked but not knowing what or even caring to try to answer.

Trick

"I don't need anything." The girl said, releasing her grip on Arturia. As with Haley's dream, she was a small girl with red hair and green eyes. Her outfit was a simple purple t-shirt and black shorts, yet they seemed a tad big for her.

"I have things I want though, I want a lot of things, but I don't need anything." She said cheerfully, "You need lots of things though. Food and water and sleep. And you need to run really far away. But what do you want? I want a donut, wouldn't you like a donut? We should go to a theater."

She held up her fingers, poised to snap them, but then a much more sober look than normal came over her face.

"We shouldn't go anywhere, you need to stay. If you leave you can't leave. I'd love to keep playing with you, both of you, but I won't be here much longer. Don't remember me, I'm too important for that. Hello, goodbye. Don't let your heart die."

The girl's body began to be pockmarked with fire and empty black holes formed as she seemed to burn like paper. Despite her gibberish speech, something about her felt important. This feeling was strong enough for even a perfectly normal girl to sense, and was much more for Arturia.

[K_H]

Anna

Anna's face could be seen to quickly switch to a semi-amused look with her eyes pointed in Layla's direction when the Goddess interrupted Mother Opium and returning to normal just before the headmistress mentioned Eden's Curse. However, her interest was piqued when she heard Mother Opium mention the bit about the library, her left eyebrow rising slightly. Once the headmistress had finished, she took a sip from her glass of water, and then spoke, her face returning to normal as she did so.

"I might not know anything about the library being haunted, but it sounds like someone else might or might not have gained powers from the snippets of gossip that I've overheard whilst in the halls. However, what's worrying in my view, pardon the pun, is that the Eye has been tainted, as you put it. I don't know what being tainted involves, but it doesn't sound good in the slightest. In any case, perhaps some of us ought to check out the situation in the Library, as there's usually a logical explanation behind paranormal events, even if it's 'Magic's the culprit'. I, personally, would certainly be interested in going and seeing what's happening there. What about the rest of you?"

Edited September 19, 2016 by K_H

[Stalkerkain]

Esyllt

"Thank you Mother Opium," Esyllt said, as she gratefully accepted the cake. "See? Because you are so determined on being reserved, you don't get cake."

Taking small bites of her cake, Esyllt sat contently, as she listened to the others talk. Just as Mother Opium was about to mention something of Layla's, she was abruptly cut off, causing Esyllt to raise an eyebrow. Her what, exactly?

If Layla didn't want to discuss it with all of them there, then perhaps it wasn't something they were meant to know. The conversation moved onto haunted libraries, which honestly, didn't surprise her in the least. With the return of long dead Goddesses, the suddenly ability to use powers, and an imminent enemy that threatened to end them all, a ghost or two was the least of their worries.

"We have been rather caught up with discovering the Goddesses, and the fact that we're dorming with one," Esyllt said, as she finished up the rest of her cake. She set down the plate softly onto the table before continuing. "We have not had the opportunity to explore, or meet the rest of our classmates. So with regard to your haunted library, I do not believe we know any more than you do. However, I think finding out the source of the rumor is a good way to start. It would not be good if the other students became curious and encounter something dangerous. It would be a lot less explaining to your students, and a lot less fear and speculation circulating around. If there is nothing else you would like to address, we can begin to investigate the library."

[Sutoratosu]

Arya

She decided to ignore the sudden fluster from Layla and ever smug look from Esyllt as she had her cake and ate it too. If layla didn't want them to know about whoever it was, she probably had her reasons, and there were more important things to focus on, might as well just let it go.

"Actually..." she spoke up at the mention of the library. "In class this morning... I heard a few girls behind me talking about that... something about seeing things that weren't there or people acting strange... I didn't really think to pay too much attention to it or give it any stock though; I mean, before all...well, this, half the gossip around here were just flames and egos being stoked and the other half was utter crap, so..." Looking back on it... perhaps it would've been wise after all to give em a bit more acknowledgement. t wasn't like she'd have suffered much from splitting concentration from the lecture... "Either way, Esyllt does have a point. No harm in checking it out, considering yesterday and all..."

[Chevaleresse]

Arturia's head spun as she tried to follow the stream of words flowing from the girl's mouth, questions arising far faster than she could manage to obtain satisfactory answers for. Am I going insane? Did everyone else around me suddenly go insane? Discounting the explanation of a sudden psychotic break on her own part, the girl in front of her was either magical or the result of someone else's magic playing some sort of bizarre trick with her mind. I feel like she has something important to tell me, but what the hell is she actually saying? "Listen, could you just slow down for a second..." Wait, what? The girl was... burning. Not like you'd expect to burn, almost like she was some sort of paper effigy set alight from the inside. An increasingly concerned note entered her voice as she spoke. "Wait, what's happening? Are you okay? Holy shit..!" This is probably an illusion or something, but what if it isn't? She transformed in a flash, light lancing out from her body and wrapping around Trick's.

[Shamitako]

Layla

"Ah, lovely idea, we'll go all detective on this ghost story. It'll be a good experience for you all." Mother Opium said cheerfully.

Layla stayed silent. She couldn't help but feel like something was lacking right now. Despite knowing that the Descendant of Adam was around, she still couldn't manage to be at ease. There was more going on in this school than just some superpowered girls. She couldn't put her finger on who was doing it, but she didn't need to be Nayru to puzzle out that they were all being played.

"Oh by the way Esyllt, when your stomach starts hurting in about five minutes, the bathroom is just across from the kitchen, please don't miss the bowl." Mother Opium continued in a perfectly innocent and cheerful voice, "I'm sure you know where that is."

It seemed that Esyllt was being played by the mother of the school. Perhaps that was all that had her nervous and there was nothing more sinister occurring.

(OOC: GET BAITED SON. THE CAKE IS A LIE)

Trick

Trick's body flared up even brighter in reaction to Arturia's light, but the flames stopped spreading. The light began to drain into her, as though she were some form of black hole.

"I told you not to let your heart die." Trick whimpered.

And then, much to Arturia's horror, she saw herself burning just as Trick had been a moment before. It was entirely painless, but that only made it even more disconcerting.

"Fingersnap." Trick said dejectedly.

Her fingers clicked together soundlessly, but to Arturia this was like a trumpet heralding the arrival of death. The flames burned an empty blackness over Artuia's chest, and a pitch black blob in the vague shape of a human heart flew out, sliding soundlessly into Trick's chest. The suctioning of Arturia's light stopped, and her powers flared up around her again. The flames receded and her body returned to being normal. But she felt hollow and cold,

"Now you're dead people." Trick said sorrowfully, "Fingersnap~."

She snapped her fingers again and Arturia heard a muffled sound from Haley, like the tail end of a dying scream when screamed into a carpet.

(OOC: For future reference, trying to revive ghosts is bad)

[Chevaleresse]

Arturia just sort of stood there for a moment, staring blankly at a shelf in front of her. She really, really didn't want to look down; this all felt like some nightmare that was only really okay because you forgot it halfway when you woke up, and the rest soon after that. "Am I dead?" she thought aloud, not really noticing the fact that she actually spoke. She thumped down onto the ground, vaguely noting that she landed harder than was really comfortable as she abruptly sat on the floor. She only rested for a moment, however, as she began to scramble back to her feet once again. "Oh shit, Haley, are you okay?"

[Shamitako]

Haley

One moment she was falling infinitely, the next she had collided with the floor of the library. Her nose was aching from the collision, but not as hard as it would be if she'd actually dropping out of an infinite sky. It seemed that her odd dream with the Trick girl had caused her to fall on her face. She pushed herself up and rubbed her nose a bit.

"I'm fine just hurt my nose." She answered Arturia.

It took her a moment to notice Trick was also present here as well, but when she did her face lost a bit of color.

"Wait." She said, "Is this even reality? That's the girl who was messing with me in my head."

"This is as real as any reality." Trick answered, "For Arturia it's a bit less real now."

"Wait, Trick, what'd you do to her?"

"Fingersnap~~"

Trick snapped her fingers in the obnoxious way she did and the lights went out, but Arturia was still perfectly visible as though the lighting had changed for everyone but her. Haley didn't know what that meant exactly, but she got the feeling it wasn't good.

"Alright, enough of you and your library." Haley told Trick angrily, "We're leaving."

"I'm going with you." Trick insisted, her voice now returning to its original cheerfulness, "Fingersnap~~!"

The lights came back on again, Trick stood directly in front of Haley, her maddening grin splayed across her face. Something about it felt more human now, but that just made it even more unnerving. Haley pushed her aside somewhat forcefully and strode towards the exit.

"Come with us if you must you little devil, but we're not staying in this freaky place any longer." she snarled

[Chevaleresse]

"Am I ever going to get an explanation to what the fuck is going on...?" Arturia mumbled to herself as she followed Haley out, eyeing Trick as she did so. Still don't feel right. . . did she. . . what? Ripped my heart out. . .? She was having difficulty collecting her thoughts, and to a certain extent her breathing; Haley could probably hear that her breath came and went a bit more quickly than seemed to be necessary at the moment. Frowning, she went from side-eyeing Trick to outright glaring at her, brow furrowed in thought. "Wait, hold on, what the hell did you just do to me? I thought you were an illusion or some shit."

[Stalkerkain]

Esyllt
"Oh by the way Esyllt, when your stomach starts hurting in about five minutes, the bathroom is just across from the kitchen, please don't miss the bowl." Mother Opium continued in a perfectly innocent and cheerful voice,

Just as Mother Opium had finished saying that, Esyllt's stomach let out an unsettling noise. She grimaced, as she clutched her stomach. "That old hag! She put something in that cake?" Her eyes narrowed, as she stared Mother Opium directly in the eyes. "Hm, I will take your advice on that," Esyllt said with as much of an even tone as she could muster. "Though I cannot promise anything. The rest of you can go on without me. I will be-" grumble "-I will catch up with you later."

She slowly made her way over to the washroom, with as much poise as possible. "Oh I'll miss the bowl all right."

[K_H]

Anna

Anna couldn't help but want to unleash a smug look in Esyllt's direction as the now gastrointestinally-distressed girl headed off towards the washroom. She did, however, speak to her, a cheerful tone in her own voice and a smile so big that it was almost false on her own face.

"Have fun in there! Oh, and I would highly recommend following Mother Opium's advice about not missing the bowl; you'll probably have to clean up any mess you make."

After she spoke, Anna stood up and walked to the door, her face returning to normal aside from a faint smile, then stopped right in front of the door.

"Oh, I'm forgetting my manners! My bad."

She then turned around.

"Thank you for the hospitality, Mother Opium."

[Sutoratosu]

Arya

Told ya so, you thieving bitch! Should've listened to me at the door. She said nothing as she watched Esy leave for the toilet, only gave a coy smile and low chuckle once she was gone. She would've tented her fingers as well, but she didn't want to seem like she enjoyed it too much. Good though.... Good... yes, how poetic this was. She stood and joined anna by the door not long after. Maybe next time you'll think twice about stealing from the headmistress...

"Yes, thank you very much, Miss Opium. We'll get right on it now, I'm sure we can at least find a few clues before the day ends. Hopefully the cause is nothing too crazy... compared to what we've already seen."

[Shamitako]

Trick

Trick trotted over to Arturia cheerfully, maintaining her uncanny happiness.

"I didn't do anything to you, you did things to you." She said, "You're dead now but I'm not anymore."

She did spin on the ball of her foot for no apparent reason. And when she finished her face had gone deathly serious.

"I was like, a ghost, and you brought me back but it made you a ghost." She explained finally, "I don't remember who I was, but I'm sure they'd all be thankful. I don't know how I know, but I'm really important, or at least one of me is... was?"

Layla

Layla stood up, choosing to stay out of the situation with Esyllt.

"I- I'm ready to g-go." She said.

"Yes, let's be off, the sooner we leave the sooner we find the ghost." Mother Opium declared.

The group left, leaving Esyllt to her stomach troubles. She'd be able to follow shortly after and arrive at the library with only a few minutes' delay

~~~

They got a few stares and nervous glances as they maneuvered the halls; likely inevitable due to traveling with the Mother. It would have been a largely uneventful journey, but as they passed one girl in an otherwise empty hallway, Layla felt something odd. It was another with their powers unlocked. Layla caught her eyes, the girl's shining blue reaching directly into Layla's electric yellow and searching into the now-black whites. Layla stopped in her tracks.

"Who are you?" She asked, "Who gave you those powers?"

Her questions had no edge to them, she simply wanted to know which of her sisters had trusted this girl, and if she could trust the girl as well.

[Hiss13]

Sion was not even sure what she was doing there. She had simply been standing there, spacing out as her eyes were trained onto a hand she had opened. If she was thinking, she would likely have been contemplating about her newly received ice powers. Of course, she was not really thinking. She just stayed in a bit of a daze…at least until she heard a pair of footsteps.

She looked to see a shorter girl walking with a far older woman. As far as she could tell, the girl was probably a Laylite...or at least liked the color black given the black nails.

As her eyes met the other girl’s, she seemed to stop, asking a question almost immediately. It seemed to hold no negative intent and it seemed like she was genuinely curious.

Though, Sion thought for a bit. “My name is Sion but…I’m not sure I’m supposed to even say anything.” She had definitely been thrown off by Lilith’s assertion and question as her snarky facade had dissolved almost instantaneously.

[Chevaleresse]

"W-wait, that doesn't even make sense. That's not even. . ." She shook her head, a few strands of silvery hair falling in front of her face for a moment before they were pressed. Who's to say what's even possible? I got shanked in the gut yesterday and I'm up and moving. "There's no way. That doesn't make sense." Stop repeating yourself. "Why would healing anyone turn me into a ghost? The only reason anything bad happened to me last time is because I wasn't paying attention, so seriously, what did you actually do to me?" There was an edge in the tall girl's voice that was definitely aggressive or interrogatory. Arturia shot a quick, wide-eyed glance at Haley.

[Shamitako]

Haley

Haley wasn't exactly much help, as she had gone back from trying to escape to being shocked and confused. She didn't even try to meet Arturia's gaze, there was nothing she could say to help.

"I'm not anyone, I'm dead people." Trick explained, "You didn't heal me, you made me half-alive. I know! Maybe one of me can help more than all of me. Fingersnap~"

Trick snapped her fingers, silently as always, and... Nothing happened. Haley was actually relieved, every time the girl had done that, something horrible or strange had happened. For once, everything was fine. Or at least, everything Haley could see was fine

"Oh, I can't do that, whoopsie." She shrugged, "I guess you get to do that now. There's a lot of me in me, and I can be a different me, but you have to make me be a different me by thinking of me as being different. And then maybe I can explain me."