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"And you would know more about what being a War clanswoman is like, having been here for a week instead of us who grew up here," Faiza teased. "I dunno how it works, but it's what lets you..." She waved her hands around vaguely, trying to find an answer. "It's like. It doesn't make you see things? By itself? But when you go in there, it creates an echo of Fear and makes it tangible."

Faiza shrugged again. "That's the best way I can describe it. You're better off seeing for yourself."

The War horseman had to laugh at that. "Well, we wouldn't be very War like if we didn't fight. Not everyone around here has a spear lodged up their rear." There was a pointed glance thrown towards her sister, who pointedly ignored her. "That's like saying all you Halloweeners do is, like." She wiggled her fingers around, "Go boo and stuff and frolic amongst pumpkins or whatever. That doesn't seem very Halloween like to me."

The horsewoman shrugged, returning the fistbump before slapping Sammy's back as she moved past her. "Strength to you, and dibs on your boots. I hope you're my size!"

"I look forward to it!" Faiza called happily. It would've been boring to just slip the boots off of her anyway. Being able to fight several people for them? Faiza looked longingly at Sammy's back, wondering if there was a way to speed up the process.

But then again fighting would ruin her Johnny Danger shirt. She went through so much trouble to get it, too! Faiza pouted and turned away, looking for someone else to bother.

Faiza was, to say the least, the most strangely dressed Horsewoman she’d ever seen. Which..she’d seen quite a few Horsemen of various varieties. None of them had been dressed in Johnny Danger shirts, however. She nearly shrieked ‘BAD TOUCH, BAD TOUCH!!’ when she was grabbed by the clanswoman, however, and was herded towards the curious looking cave, her tail prickling just the smallest bit as it drew closer and closer.

And then there were mushrooms.

Well… mushrooms were raw, right? Her body wouldn’t fuss about that, right? Wait, why was she even considering that to be a valid option…

The mushroom was turned over in her hand repeatedly as she made a puzzled face, then she looked up at the Horseman, the confusion clear in her expression. Why did they want her to do with it? Eat it? Then go..and then…. What? What? Another Horseman came over and gave a more clear explanation. If ‘Try it yourself’ was a clear explanation for anything. It wasn’t the clearest of explanation at all, really. In fact, ping ponged dialogue between the two sisters, from what she’d gleaned, wasn’t the most informative thing to her at all.

Still, she passed a nervous glance towards the clansman that stumbled out of the cave looking shaken, then at the mushroom she held again. Then she looked at the cave. Did she feel doubts? Always. There were worries that weighed on her heart heavily. Would this relinquish her from them? Would this make her better somehow? More able? More capable?

There was only one way to find out – and that was to plunge into the darkness.

The pricolici stepped away from the pair, the mushroom in her hands. She looked at it for a long time. Something to put into her journal. To document. To remember and to show to Jericho, if even only in a picture. A memory.

She stood at the opening of the save only long enough to eat the mushroom – it was a strange offense to her palette, an amalgamation of several textures, tastes, an yet none of them at all. It was a taste she tried to figure out as she walked further into the ‘Steadfast Trial’ as it was called, forcing herself to take deep breaths. Don’t hyperventilate. She didn’t want to freak herself into a panic attack right out the door, after all. That would have simply been…poor form. Especially not when there were Horsemen there. No, she wouldn’t let them see her falter. She steeled herself to walk into the darkness, noting that despite her thoughts that the mushroom could have been some sort of hallucinogen her head was actually rather clear. Clearer than the cave was.

There was fog – something calming to her. Something familiar to her. Fog. She knew fog. She embraced it, relaxing as it washed over her like a security blanket. She wanted to wrap it’s comfort around her. Stay there with it. Yet at the same time it seemed like it was fighting against letting her do just that, feeling that familiar feeling ripped away from her in an instant. It blew away, blew over her, then was gone, replaced with a wind that left her unsettled, causing her to shield her eyes for a moment. Only a moment as she continued to walk.

Her next step had her suddenly sliding, causing her to reel and move back before she fell, panting and starting at her feet as she fell back onto her butt rather than down what looked to be a chasm. A deep bit that lead to where, though? She stared into it, it felt like it wasn’t even there. Yet at the same time, there was something there, there at the bottom. Waiting for her to go to it.

No, it didn’t want her to go to it.

It….It was coming to her. She could feel the air grow thick as the faintest of a light grew from the bottom of the chasm. It was warm, but not inviting. It was hungry, angry, hateful. For not having much of a pulse, Shehk could feel her heart racing as the light grew brighter from the bottom of that chasm, devouring the color of everything around it. A warm color, a vengeful color, a familiar color that ate everything - the color of so many things she held dear, yet shapeless.

It was red.

It was like a woman that was dressed in a red cloak – strong, powerful, knowing. It was like a man who wore a red shirt and spent his days going over an old scrapbook with pictures of his wife in it and had a kitchen decorated in pineapples for some strange reason. It was red like the hair of a ghoul who had gone running after some gnomes and a stolen projector with her. It was red like a giant pair of wings that could touch the sky which was so far beyond her own reach.

Red like a werewolf, a vampire, a zombie, and a dragon.

Red like she wasn’t.

The light took no true shape as the giant claws of it’s light suddenly rose up out of the chasm, shaking, roaring mightily as it surfaced, larger than she was. All encompassing, flaming, angry, and ready to make Shehk face what it was it embodied. What it all embodied. What it was the pricolici refused to admit to. The red creature thrummed as it moved, it’s legs long and spindly, able to step between the rocks that made up a series of walkways with ease.

Four walkways which all split off from where it was she was standing.

Shehk began to walk down the one in front of her, every step she took causing the ground to shake beneath her feet, to crumble behind her, not allowing her to go back, crumbling down into an expanse that was forever downwards. Perhaps with no stop. Every time she paused to look back behind her, the creature would reach out, swiping at her, causing her to nearly tumble off of the narrow pathways and have to clamor her way back up, panting before she stopped looking back and instead began to run towards the very monster that looked like all it wanted to do was devour her.

Why was she going closer to it?

She didn’t know. But she moved forward, ever forward. The ground shook more and more violently the more frantically she attempted to move forward, the paths grew more and more narrow. Further and further away from each other. She couldn’t even try and balance between them at that point, left on only one path that lead forward into destruction and the mouth of a creature that would eat her like a mint on a pillow in a hotel, and a chasm behind her that promised uncertain results.

She looked between the two.

She was trapped.

She had to stop moving. That was her only choice. She had to stop. She couldn’t go forward. She couldn’t go backwards either. She had to stay or she would just die and nothing she did would matter.

“Wouldn’t it, though?”

There was a voice – light, sweet, full of light. Yet wispy. Distant. Familiar, yet so far away. It didn’t sound like she’d heard it before, but rather like…..

“Why can’t you keep moving forward through something like this?” the voice asked again, and Shehk looked around, nearly startling when on the path ahead of her – mere inches wide – stood a being she’d never seen before. She was as tall as Shehk was, with green eyes, ears, a tail, and hair all in a deep shade of earthy brown, pulled back into the quickest ponytail Shehk could have ever seen, her hands on her hips as she seemed to just pace the pathway with a sort of ease, seeming to almost revel in the challenge it posed – but more in how easily she disregarded the danger of her own movement.

Her tail wagged wildly as she walked forward until the pair were toe to toe with one another, mirror images of one another. One dark, rough, and powerful, the other pale, delicate, and spry. Yet the figure in front of her, as foreign as she was, Shehk couldn’t shake the feeling of familiarity she sensed in her.

“You…. I know you from somewhere.”

The woman laughed, sounding like Shehk had just told the most hilarious joke she’d ever heard. “You bet your ears you do! In fact, I’d say you know me better than I know myself!” she jested, “Or maybe I know you better than you know yourself.” Shehk’s ears flattened back. This woman… she made no sense to her. She spoke in nonsense.

Still, the woman only grew serious when the red creature bellowed, making the earth shake, turning to look at it as a frown traced her lips. The woman untied the ribbon she’d tied her hair back with off and paused, taking a minute to tie it around Shehk’s wrist. “Hold onto this, will you? I’ll be right back.” She said, yet something about the way she said it didn’t sound like a promise.

As she turned to walk away, Shehk reached out to grab onto her, her hand grabbing onto her elbow. Yet from where she touched the color from the woman seemed to suddenly be leeched away, spreading over her body as she continued to walk, slowly turning greyer from that point. “Don’t worry about me!” she laughed, waving over her shoulder with some amusement. Yet Shehk couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Why had she let her go?

Even in the distance she could see as the woman slowly went from her dark earthy browns as she moved forward into paler colors. Paler brown. Blonde. Silver. The pallor of death, and yet as she watched the woman’s tail begin to burn with the flame of after image, she couldn’t help but feel something deep inside her screaming at her.

Telling her that she’d done something horrible to turn the woman into that.

As though she’d killed her with her touch.

Shehk took a deep breath before she moved, forcing herself forward even onto that narrow pathway that was spread out ahead of her, barely glancing at the ribbon she wore around her wrist – it was red. She was turning red. Had she stolen that from that woman? That nameless werewolf? Yet the name burned deep inside of her somewhere as she progressed through what was dangerously narrow pathway.

Yet for pressing forward she was rewarded. It began to widen again. The firey arms of the red creature beginning to reach out of the chasm, grabbing for her. She had to progress forward, even as it tried to stop her. It felt like she was moving for an eternity until the platform was back to its original width, leaving her standing at a point that looked very much like where she’d begun her run the first time. A circle from which five different paths grew slowly apart. The werewolf from earlier was standing there now, yet she was different. The same…but different. Pale, deader… she sat, carefully repairing one of the five paths that had been burned through by the flaming creature, humming to herself as she did so, as though it wasn’t the first time she’d done it.

“Will it…burn it down again?” Shehk asked. The werewolf looked up at Shehk – no. It was Shehk…looking up at herself, just smiling. “It always does. So I’m always fixing these darn things. None of them are permanent. You started setting one of them in stone, but…..” she paused, looking back at the path the Pricolici had just run down, “Then everything had to go to s**t. But you’re lucky in that way. You get to start over from here.”

She didn’t understand. Had the brown werewolf…been her as well? She paused, looking at the red ribbon she wore around her wrist, turning it over to see if there was a name written on it when her phantom-self reached out and grabbed her wrist, shaking her head knowingly.

“Don’t. You don’t need to know.” She said. “Instead, let me hold this up for you…” she held up the ends of a rope bridge she’d been fixing, “Until you can at least get to one of those more stable pathways..” she nodded to the other five.

Shehk made a face. “Why can’t I just walk on them from here?” she asked, looking at the phantom of herself – or perhaps she was a phantom of this individual. “Because you’re not the one making those. You can’t set those in stone until their builders let you keep them forever, you know. I did that once.”

She looked back at the crumbling pathway and frowned for a moment. What did that mean?

The phantom seemed to sigh before she finally nudged Shehk onto her own bridge.

“Go into the fire. Only once the fire stops devouring everything can you build something permanent.” She urged. Shehk’s brows furrowed together, but she turned and walked across the bridge. Yet the phantom seemed to have some struggle holding it up herself, the ropes trying to slip out of her hands, causing Shehk to nearly tumble off of it.

“Hey, hey, hey! I can give you a hand here. Geeze, why are you always trying to do this by yourself? Silly puppy.” A familiar voice spoke from behind her as the bridge suddenly seemed to stabilize. Shehk looked back behind her to see that a familiar person had joined that image of herself back behind her – red hair, a streak of white through it, and completely undead. It was Sammy, just offering the Pricolici a wave with one hand, before putting both hands on the rope to hold the path steady.

“Get going! I’ve got your back here, silly.” She urged, and Shehk nodded turning to run across the bridge as quickly as she could. She didn’t want to burden the pair for long.

But the path did seem like a long one that wound in strange ways that seemed to defy any sort of logic she could fathom, even doing strange loop-the-loops amongst other things, growing forests up into the sky, seas seemed to span from it, and the horizon of the red creature grew closer and closer to her until the path she was on seemed to slowly turn to stone, opening up into a wide circular pavilion from which the pair stared each other down.

The fire which threatened to devour her and the Pricolici which was there to be devoured.

“Well. I’m here!” she said, holding her arms out to each side. “I came to get you.” She said simply after a moment before raising her arms out in front of her acceptingly, invitingly. “Are you ready to come to me?” she asked. The creature waffled for a moment, before all of it’s long limbs pressed up onto the pavilion, Shehk almost a mere ant next to it as it looked down at her – though it had no eyes to look at her with.

It reached down to grab her, yet as Shehk reached out to touch it the flames turned Grey and then flickered away, causing the creature to make a sort of helpless noise. Shehk stared at that for a moment, before she reached out to grab another one of its many limbs, again turning grey underneath her contact. Another followed.

Then another.

Another after that.

They all relented and died underneath her hands, Shehk growing angrier and angrier as she forced the creature to burn itself away underneath her faint assault.

“I.

Will not.

Let you touch.

Any of them.” She said firmly, beginning to growl.

“I want you gone.” She said as another piece of it burned away, “I will make you vanish.”

As she spoke it seemed to burn away all of the energy it had, growing smaller and smaller until it was the smallest of flames, something Shehk could reach out and take with both hands, cupping it in her palms as it continued to burn, leaving in its wake a bracelet. A familiar bracelet. One she normally wore on her at all times. She looked to her wrist.

Why hadn’t she noticed Red was gone?

Shehk put it back on, turning the piece of bone over in her fingers, running her fingertips across the surface of it, frowning, introspective. She then looked at the paths that were still set out before her.

There were three of them now, instead of five.

“I can’t change what I couldn’t do then. So, Red. Let’s see if the two of us can try and change the future for them.” She whispered, taking a deep breath, before moving to continue on.

Now that she’d burned through the raw and unproductive anger, maybe there was something she could do.

Roch took a moment, standing there and watching the war clan member coming out. He’d come to the conclusion that all of the clan members were insane, and the sight of him shaking made the punk hesitate. He’d just gone through that tunnel the other day, almost getting eaten by a tunnel, and here he was about to walk into yet another cave--one that clearly freaked even the clan members out. Yeah, this was smart, he thought dryly as he took the mushroom.

He looked at the mushroom then tossed it into his mouth, eating it quickly before he headed into the cave. He was still trying to figure out what the flavor WAS, exactly, when he realized something had changed. The fog was rising, coming up his body, moving much like hands trying to wrap around his body--then it was blown away. Roch stopped, looking around as he realized he was no longer in the tunnel--no, he was somewhere much more familiar.

The darkened streets were rough and concrete, trash sat on the corner, piled up high and forgotten about by the collectors. Even those creepy bastards didn’t like coming down this street during the day, much less at night. Roch knew it, though. He knew it well. He went still, looking both ways, expecting--

A shadow pulled away from the wall, taking the form of a boogeyman. Then another, and another, coming out of the shadows to point massive, glowing weapons at the punk. He didn’t even wonder why they had hunter weapons, no, Roch was busy turning tail and RUNNING. He raced down the familiar alleys, hearing their feet pounding behind him, knowing that those he could hear were only the distraction. There were more--traveling by roof or shadow, or whatever the hell they could do. They were all around him, silent and deadly, and then they were in front of him, their weapons trained on him from every angle. He was surrounded.

“Rochester England Scythe,” one familiar looking boogey said, stepping forward. “Did you really think winning a silly little contest would do anything about your record?”

“Well... a guy’s gotta hope, right?” Roch said, his hands up to show he was unarmed. Inwardly he was almost panicking, but outwardly he looked calm. Even if he WAS scared, he wasn’t traumatized--he could handle boogies, right? But something was wrong with these boogies. They started shifting, their forms solid one moment before wavering, as if they were starting to change into something else. One moment he was surrounded by boogies--then they were hunters, those dreaded white coats--

And then they were brick. Raising high in the sky, far above his head, he was surrounded by a brick wall. He stepped back, his heartbeat speeding up, his palms growing sweaty as he stared upwards, watching the vague moonlight from above being blocked by one rotting wooden board, then another, and another, until he was buried in a very, very familiar place. The smell of decay crept up, almost overwhelming him. The sound of water dripping--such a mild, slow sound, sent a cold chill down his spine.

Drip. Drip... drip...

He stopped as his back hit against the rough, cold, jutting rocks of the wall, feeling it dig into his flesh. Something climbed over his skin, creeping up his leg. His boots were getting soaked, water sinking in through every possible spot. He was back in the well again. It seemed larger than ever, as if he sat in the well’s belly, waiting to be digested.

“You’re gonna die in there,” a childish voice said from above. He looked up, seeing no one there. “Then you’ll be one of us!”

“He’ll make a good partner,” another--newer voice said, making him jerk. “Begin the procedure.”

“Wait--“ he said, slamming the side of his fist on the rough, pointy rock of the well. “No! Jackdammit, this isn’t fair!” he bellowed. “Either one or the other!”

Drip. Drip... drip...

The static noise echoed all around him, followed by childish giggling. Roch looked up, seeing--

“JACKDAMMIT I SAID NO!!” he bellowed at the top of his voice. His hand shot out, summoning his guitar. And a part of him sang with joy as it came to his touch. But then even that part shut up as the punk boil started losing it. He brought the strap up, slamming out his A Chord. It ripped through the air, slamming into the wall of the well that trapped him.

A hand shot out from the wall behind him, even as a few of the bricks fell, creating an opening. Roch turned, taking the guitar off and slamming it into the arm as hard as he could. Another hand shot out, and another--they were coming from all around, arms wearing white coats or black coats or children’s clothing--all colors and shapes and sizes--all reaching for him.

He could hear the screaming from the tunnel, the screams of despair and hatred and pain, and the hands came more and more, reaching towards him. He kept slashing, slamming his guitar into them mindlessly, fighting with the intent of not giving up until he was dissipated or they were all cut off. It was an eternity of hitting, dodging, taking each of the hands out hit by hit. It was only a few minutes before it was over.

He stood there, his heart slamming hard against his chest, sweat covering his body, even though he was freezing.

He looked up at the wall of the well, staring at it blindly before he slung his guitar over his shoulder and turned, stepping out of the hole he had created and heading out of the cave. (He barely remembered to dissipate it before exiting the cave. Whoops.)

It was the last words that caught Riley's attention, as she turned the mushroom around and around in her fingers. The clan used this testing method when they felt doubtful. After her small, but eventful conversation with Eris - and her even smaller conversation with Malodore, all Riley was feeling was doubt. She'd come to the Isle determined, and started her lessons here with such vibrant hope. Now, she felt conflicted and torn. There was no clear path for her to take anymore. Nothing was set in stone. After an entire life lived for only one purpose, to have nothing but choices left her very lost.

So she wordlessly ate the mushroom. She paid no heed to the clansmen who'd given it to her, she was too deep in her own thoughts to begin with. She heard the whoop of someone behind her as she walked into the cave, but underlying the cheer were more smug snickers, as her doubt filled them with assurance of her failure. She paid none of it heed.

It was dark, in the cave. That was the first sign that something was wrong - she didn't quite understand dark. She could see in the dark, but not here. Not in this state, this place, wherever she was. She was completely blind, and her hands reached out to feel for the walls. Instead, they found something soft, and malleable. The world filled with light, and Riley's hands were pressed quite firmly against Eris' face.

Riley pulled her hand back in shock. The Heir to War did not look offended at her intimate touch, but that didn't change how rude it was, and Riley bowed her head and apologized for her mistake. Eris made no reaction to the apology, which confused the mindflayer - until she realized she hadn't said a single word. None of her thoughts were being transmitted, and Eris stared at her with mild amusement, waiting for something - anything.

But nothing came.

Eris never did seem like the patient type, and this was no exception. Her interest waned, and she reached out to pull Riley closer, curling one arm underneath the black clad arm of the mindflayer and leading her forward. "I suppose this is where you think you'll fight me, will you not?" Eris' smooth and seductive voice curled forth, beckoning Riley's attention. "That is what you expected, is it not? Ah, but I do so delight in the unexpected. You, my headstrong disciple, are my greatest surprise."

Riley thrilled at the phrase disciple. Eris had chosen to take her under her wing, which meant that one day.. one day she would..

"Strange." A delicate, but imposing voice peeked out from behind them. "I never thought I would see the day she would allow anyone to call her their disciple. Certainly this is a day for surprises." Riley swiveled, though she could not turn fully as Eris had clamped down on her arm, and refused to let go. Riley saw nothing at first, but when she looked down, she realized Conquest was standing behind her, dressed in full regalia and staring up at her with a slight c**k to his head. "I had hoped for so much more, with this one."

Riley could not speak, but her eyes flooded with a sudden confusion. How had she convinced herself so easily that she would be happy as an underling in the Isle of War? Some warrior, bending her knee to a Queen whose intellectual capabilities were untested and untasted by any of her kind. Surely the Queen of War was a strategist like no other, but the lack of true information, all the information within the universes..

Riley's arm pulled away from Eris, but the Heir to War would not let go. "Do not ruin this for me, Vicky." Eris reached up and pet the top of Riley's tentacles, and instantly the mindflayer was at ease, melting back into her arms. "I like her. Let me keep her. She would make me very happy."

Invictus did not argue, he just stood there, silent and unmoving, and stared at Riley as if waiting for her to do something. Riley felt his eyes on her, and she wanted to reach out to him. She wanted to break free of Eris' hypnotic touch, and find her own voice. She couldn't speak for herself, she couldn't even move. She melted against Eris, who laid her gently on the ground, and wrapped herself around behind her.

"There you are now, child. Is this not what you wanted? To be with me, forever. Not a single worry will bother you, ever again. For you will love War, and War alone. You will serve my every need, my every desire. And when I have no further need of you.."

Riley's body felt like it could melt into Eris completely, and when she closed her eyes, she failed to see that was exactly what was happening. She was losing herself to the comforting promise of carnage and destruction, under the warm and intoxicating hands of War. And still Conquest watched her, simply staring, and waiting. She knew he wouldn't leave until she was gone, and somehow, it was that knowledge alone that had her opening her eyes.

There, on the edge of her vision, was a flash of color. A swath of red painted across the sky, like the splatter of blood a freshly cut neck would leave on a knife. It was gone before she could look directly at it, but it lit the fire within her that made her whole again, and she pushed away from War's demanding embrace.

"Where are you going?" Eris whispered into Riley's ear, brushing her nose against it gently. "Stay here. With me. Nothing else matters."

The swish of color and cloth caught the edges of her sight once more, but disappeared before she could see it. She turned to face Eris, who reached out and brushed one hand lovingly against Riley's face. Riley brought her hand back up to press against Eris', and the Heir smiled.

I could be happy here. Riley had found her voice, as her eyes focused on something behind Eris. The splash of color had finally remained in her vision, and it gave her the strength to speak for herself. I could be happy with you, Eris.

"Then stay, my love. Stay, and be my shield. Give me all of yourself, and together, mia cara, we will-"

What did you call me?

Riley's grip on Eris' hand turned cold, and hard. She pulled the hand away, and her eyes slit as thin as paper. You should have let me finish. There was no more gentle affection in the mindflayers thought-voice as she pulled away from Eris. I could be happy here, with you, War. But I would not be whole. I would not be the woman I wanted to be. So, if you will excuse me.

She pressed Eris' hand to the flat plane of her face in lieu of a kiss, and let it drop to the woman's lap. I have my own war to plan.

Standing to her feet, Riley turned away from Eris, and Invictus was waiting. The boylike features on his face remained curious, and waiting, as if he'd always known the outcome of this battle. He held out his hand, and Riley took it, giving Eris one last, lingering look, before she let Invictus lead her out of the cave.

I thought I was supposed to fight, possibly get hurt. Invictus, what is the meaning of this?

The young Heir stopped and turned to look at Riley, a rare smile kissing his features. "So naive, even now." The world began to fade into white at the edges, even as he explained, and continued to lead her out. "Not every battle is fought with sword and spear, Lady Mindflayer. Your greatest battles lie ahead. Not a single drop of your blood has to spill, for you to lose everything that you are. Remember that in the times to come. It is a lesson you can never forget."

She had seen the note that was put up near their dorms, and since classes for the week were over, she thought she would just give it a go. Edel didn't quite know what to expect from the trial but as she made her way to the entrance of the cave, her optimism had somewhat died down. The last time she tried going through the toxic cave training, it hadn't gone too well.

It took a while for her to connect the dots, after seeing Faiza's all too familiar looking t-shirt and wondering why it felt so odd. The ghoul didn't know too much about Johnny Danger being a worldwide rock star, but it sure felt weird seeing the face of a schoolmate being plastered across a shirt like that. They actually sold those things? Or was it more of the home-made fan t-shirt type?

It was best not to ask.

Edel was starting to question why she had come in the first place after being handed an odd looking mushroom and told to eat it before entering the cave. Was it ... safe? The ghoul turned the curiously coloured mushroom in her hand, coming to the conclusion that it contained some hallucinogens. She was very ready to say no to drugs.

The assurance that came from Faiza's much more normal looking sister convinced her a little bit more. To enter the cave and test herself.... The ghoul turned around to notice the cheer that came along as a member of the Horsemen clan stumbled out of the cave, which meant that he had passed the trial. Judging from the state he was in, it looked as though the trial will not be without a battle. A-Alright then, having gone through four days of training, she was probably ready for this despite the injuries she sustained in the past two days. Giving the mushroom one last apprehensive look, she popped it into her mouth and began to chew.

The ghoul entered the cave, unsure of what to expect. From what she could tell, the trial was going to be a highly personalised one, seeing how she had to consume a mushroom and that Faiza had claimed that she came to this place whenever she sought to clarify her doubts. So, what was she going to encounter then? Hunters? The weaponization machine? Somehow even those fears seemed to be getting a little old ...

She closed her eyes and let the fog sweep consume her. Whatever it was, she was -

- not ready.

A stunned silence passed between the two figures. She had not been expecting to see the silhouette of her father standing before her, revealing himself as the wind cleared the fog away.

“I know what you're planning,” he said simply, walking towards her until her stood just right in front of her, “It's not going to work dear.” Edel drew back and saw that his face was slightly saddened. J-Just what was he referring to?

“You thought you could start something, that time when you talked to that schoolmate of yours,” he shook his head sadly, “Look how far you've gotten now ... if you've gotten anywhere at all.”

“You're still a clueless, sheltered ghoul who doesn't know enough or have the ability to do anything.”

A pause.

“Give up, please, there's no need to try anything that's out of your reach. Come back home.”

The ghoul's heart sank. All this while ... she had always felt as though her father never saw the point in her education. She was never groomed to be his successor, it was likely that after a while there would come a time where she would simply be married away, living as the lady of another rich and influential household. A dull life, an unimaginative future. Again and again she tried to tell herself that he was only being concerned for her, that he was simply just trying to protect her. It worked for a while, living in seclusion, being happily oblivious to the dangers that lay ahead ... the threat of the hunters. But now that she knew about them, she had every intention to crush them ... but how?

She didn't have as many friends as Lizzy or even Roch, nor did she have the power, charisma and the influence Riley had. In fact, she had very few friends and acquaintances at all. She was no power player here, just a foot soldier in the grand scheme of things. So much for her big plans to change things.

And then there was Moure. The fact that she could only do so little for him, and that their relationship was doomed from the beginning with the various society's pressures. He was still someone else's patchwork, he still belonged to his creator. The way she was now, she had no power to free him.

It all came back to the same, single problem. Her hands were tied, and she could do nothing. It was that same, frustrating problem, again and again.

“And if you want to do something, then please do consider really stepping up your game. This is enough with your confusion about things, think things through and sort them out.” Those words were spoken coldly; it was clear he didn't have many expectations of her. And with those words it felt as though all the training she had been through had been so trivial, that her steps towards getting stronger and equipping herself had amounted to nothing.

The ghoul exited the cave, looking as though nothing had happened except for the blank expression on her face. She had been running away from it for a long time now, making those tough decisions. Cutting off ties and burning down bridges. Begin the lonely ascend to the top.

Breaking her lover's heart.

She knew what she had to do now, once she could finally take a break from school.

She was going back home.