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“You're welcome, Lianna,” Hades smiled lightly before gently kissing her on the forehead.

“That's probably the safest she's gonna get. Hades-?” Sheik started only to get interrupted by the other male making an "mm" sound as if already knowing the question.

“Never met her, but from what I've heard, I already hate her,” Trevor smiled lightly as he slightly pointed at the barrier in front of him.

Flicking his knife up at the critter at the ceiling, piercing it's head rather quickly. “Yea. Just bit my tongue. It didn't get a chance to dig it's claws in yet,” he responded as he flipped back up onto his feet and caught his knife as it fell back down. He seemed rather oblivious to his pantsleg looking like some kind of acid burnt through it.

“Kay. Sorry to have to depend on you to lead me,” Lulu mumbled softly as he followed behind her, his unseeing eyes flicking around slightly at any sound he could hear.

“It felt like I was just kicked in the chest and I swear I felt it before, but it was harder than a kick I've felt as an adult... I felt... Fragile,” Maso answered softly before pulling the front of shirt forward as if checking for a mark only to release it and lightly rub his chest.

Hades lay back down and let out a soft breath although he left the medical kit on his leg along with the bloody gauze pad. His head was still spinning and it was making him sick to his stomach which also didn't exactly agree to the hunger he felt.

“That's totally not looking at the negative side of things,” Sheik sighed lightly before crawling out of the bed and sitting down by the door, setting his ear against the door. He'd have to get over the pain since his ears weren't ringing like Hades' ears were.

“Good job, Adra. Just keep doin' that,” Trevor whistled lowly before flicking out a knife behind him and smiling lightly as an oddly shaped creature let out a shriek as it twitched on the ground.

Ephraim blushed lightly at the feeling of Rissa kissing him, but didn't argue. “Ah... Frick... Stupid shadows need to quit bein' stubborn. Apparently Shadowheart's alone now in his room. Trevor has two people with him and Lulu, Maso, Krystina and Kansei are together. That's about all I could pick up from the shadow's intel,” he muttered while swatting a hair from his face. Such an irritating haircut, but better than the last haircut he had. “Somethin' feels off... Guess we'll just have to stand guard.”

“We'll talk then, but I'm gonna need to lay in the ocean to cool off a bit before doing so,” Lulu murmured lightly as he kept his gaze on the direction Truth ran yet walked along with Kansei.

“I'll do so... I'm not liking it either,” Maso nodded slightly as he flicked a knife into a weak part of one of the barriers.

“That's always nice to know,” Hades mumbled to himself while remaining still.
“Hades, you've dealt with wraiths and liches before. Could you give me some pointers?” Sheik sighed irritably from the door. Other than freezing time, he didn't know how to stop things in the spiritual realm.
“There's multiple ways... My way requires this ringing to stop and a special li'l dagger of mine,” was all the other male responded with while pulling a dagger out from under his pillow and letting the blade trail down his arm.

“No one likes a mumbler,” Trevor stated with a slight hint of him just taunting the other in his voice. Most of him treated this like a mission, but one of his habits during missions was taunting enemies and allies alike. It was why he usually worked alone other than an informant.

“My guess is saying that one was friendly. Hopefully they down rather quickly. I'm not used to bein' outta the loop,” Ephraim snickered before raising an eyebrow at Rissa. “This woman must have no brain. If Trevor were treating this as an assassination mission and he were the enemy, he would've gone for the injured or the loners first. They're easier to get rid of and they won't have an opportunity to call for back up. Then separation comes, catching someone's attention out of a group and taking out a group relatively quickly and silently... Is the enemy fond of flashiness?”

“Alright,” Lulu breathed out before preparing to strike out at the barrier.

“Layered barriers?” Maso asked with a raised brow. He'd only seen the one weak spot, but apparently there were others.

“Yay 'cause that ringing ain't stopping yet,” Hades murmured while making a slight cheering motion with the hand not holding the dagger.
“It's always better to have a back-up plan. My family didn't have a back-up plan for if Watari... Er... If Maso ended up vanishing when he was still a half-Sheikah and not a fallen angel. Now I'm stuck guarding what should've been his and having four freakin' bodyguards; two having been chosen personally by me, one of which lied to me about being someone other than who he said he was, while the other two were kinda tossed at me,” Sheik responded in a slightly pained tone.
“You opted for taking me in when I said I was fine,” came Shadowheart's sharp retort.
“Didn't ask for your two cents.”
“Don't care if you did or didn't. Just stating fact.”

“What'd you just say?” Trevor asked while quickly shifting just enough so he could pin Adra against the wall. “What did you just say about my daughter?”

“Flashiness is so lame...” Ephraim murmured lightly while slightly swinging his arms back and forth by his sides. There was nothing in the hall as of yet, but it didn't mean there wouldn't be sometime soon.

“Kay? Be... Careful...” Maso mumbled lightly, his face a soft shade of pink. Glancing briefly back at that glittery shine behind him, he started chewing on his bottom lip nervously. Why had it shown up now? Why was he feeling like he'd become fragile? Oh how he couldn't wait to get back to the others now.

“That's the back-up plan?” Sheik asked in disbelief. Was that really it?
“Sounds like it. Hades, if the ringing stops first, swing away and be sure not to hit Trevor's daughter. He won't be too happy about that.”
“I know... It's slowly fading out.”

“No... Not my...” Trevor mumbled as his deep blue eyes started tearing up and he removed his hands from Adra. Leaning back against a wall, he slid his hands up over his face as a visible tremble ran down the upper half of his body. Part of him wanted to just sit down right there and just give up. The other part of him, however, wanted to hunt Mara down and kill her just to make it even... Removing himself from the wall, he dropped his hands back down by his sides and let his dark red hair cover up the upper half of his face. “Where's the crazy bxtch at?” he asked icily.

Rushing swiftly past Rissa, the informant used both knives to pierce into a couple of the frogs while he made some weird spinning jump to knock them off of Skylar. “Get up and move over by Rissa please. I can kill these things faster if I use Voldo's fighting style. It's what these blades were meant for after all,” Ephraim stated calmly before pouncing on one of the hairy frogs with both blades extended in front of him. Piercing through the frog's face rather easily, the male's body seemed to move far more fluidly and like he had double-jointed bones in every part of his body.

Striking out when Kansei and Krystina gave the signal, Maso let his questions fade into the back of his mind. When the wall shattered, Lulu gave a soft chuckle. We did it! The air's cleared up a bit, but it's still weird feeling.
Maso thought he saw a figure disappearing into a room and glanced back to where Krystina had run off to. Not seeing her coming back yet, he debated on checking it out. Letting his curiosity get the best of him, he headed off towards that room to check it out.

“She most likely gets it from Trevor. Even when he's insane he's stronger than most assassins and ninjas,” Sheik sighed lightly. It didn't really make him feel any better, but at least they had an idea. He'd never done anything against the spiritual realm let alone a wraith or a lich before.
“How're you feeling, Lianna?”

“Thank you,” Trevor growled while walking in the direction Adra had pointed out, his demeanor having changed from that teasing mannerism to one that seemed far more serious and deadly.

“I agree. That looks like a bad burn,” Ephraim hummed while returning back to Rissa's and Sky's side with only a slight hole on his gloves from the hairy frog-like things. “One of 'em had teeth. I'm surprised it didn't try sinking it's teeth into you, boy.”

“Alrighty. Let's go,” Lulu smiled lightly while starting up in a fast-walk and keeping his hand in Kansei's hand. Letting her take the lead, he tuned in to what his ears could pick up on alongside scent.

Stepping out of the room with his hand on his side, Maso almost jumped when he almost ran straight into Krystina. “Sorry! Sorry... Thought I saw something, but I was wrong. Sorry for just vanishing on you,” he exhaled quickly before giving a soft sigh. She scared the crap out of him by showing up out of nowhere.

“He'll most likely turn into the excorcist or the grudge on anything in his path... Hades,” Sheik answered as a slight shiver ran down his spine. That dark aura could only mean one thing; she was here.
“Lianna?” Hades murmured as he opened his eyes and shifted his gaze at Lianna. A second later, his dagger was shoved through the throat of a semi-solidified version of one of the many Mara bits floating in the room only for a bright red line to surround the witch/wraith. “That was a lucky shot. Make yourself comfortable alongside the other liches and wraiths in there 'cause you're gonna be in there for a long time. Deal with the other bits, Truth, and deal with 'em quickly please. I doubt I'll get lucky like that again.” There were several reasons he loved the dagger in his hand right now; it severed off any magic or curses between the beings that were yet weren't solid and their targets while also absorbing said creatures into it's blade. The more of them absorbed into the dagger, the longer your life would expand. While he could care less about extending his lifeline, it was a fast way to kill a lich or a wraith. Seeing the room a bit better, he gently put his hand against Lianna's cheek.
“Hate me all you like, but I'm repeating what I did earlier with your vocal chords so you can breathe.” Tapping his fingers against the female's forehead, he ignored Sheik's snapping at him not to risk big spells in his condition while tapping his fingers against his own forehead. Repeating it a couple more times, he could feel his own breathing becoming harder to do. It would've been nicer if Lulu could've just made a small injury absorb oxygen into her body with water, but since the werewolf was separated from them, he'd rather risk dying himself than letting the woman he loved die. Besides, he could always come back unlike her.

“We'll deal with them just keep me updated,” Trevor responded icily before smashing a black blobby creature into the ground with his foot and continued on without hesitation. Flicking a knife out, he chunked it in what seemed like a random direction, but seemed to stick in Mara's arm with a refusal of being removed in any manner whether she was solid or not. “Свежее мясо~” he snickered darkly in Russian.

“I'm good. Just sliced my glove open,” Ephraim answered as his blades spun in his hands and his muscles seemed to remain completely relaxed. “May angels follow you to keep you safe from all harm, Skylar.”

“This hall is starting to reek of blood,” Lulu muttered lightly before his pants started growing heavy again. “And it's getting hotter again...”

“No it's not... I shouldn't have left that spot until you got back... Nn,” Maso murmured in response before wincing and sliding down onto one knee, his hand still holding his side. His freehand clenched slightly before he forced himself back onto his feet. “Let's keep going...”

“Something tells me he might already know she's in the spirit realm, but doesn't know it's like a temp thing. He started overreacting to things after Karma left and his only remaining happiness vanished before he got home. It proves how insane he went after that event,” Sheik responded in a calm tone before clapping slightly. “Well, my guess is that he's tired of losing the woman he loves so he's not giving you that chance to die on him. Nobody is really sure that Endless can really bring people back from the dead just because they were around them. His first love could've been an Endless herself and no one ever knew it.”
“I think I've lived through enough of that for everyone on Earth at least twice over though... Sheik's right too. I can't take the heartache of seeing someone I care deeply for die again,” Hades responded in the back of Lianna's head. “Besides, I'm already lightheaded as is from blood loss. I can't let another man go down when I can stop it.” Taking in a slow breath, he gave a slight cough into his arm. He then slid his dagger into her hand, a flicker of a smile passing over his face. “Keep it close... It's got multiple liches and wraiths sealed inside of it alongside a part of Mara. It absorbs them really. It'll also sever magical ties set between you and their kind. A phantom made it back during the Phantom Wars due to their queen turning into a traitor. It's been passed around a lot so it should keep you safe. I stole it from a drow merchant before I was an assassin yet after that spot of memory I can't quite recall.”

“Good,” Trevor murmured before snatching his knife out of Mara and returning into the hallway, flicking multiple knives attached to wires at a barrier just down the hall just for them to shatter like dominos. “Move like you have a purpose. I want this done and over with as soon as possible.”

“I'm kinda surprised you're not asking why I haven't used those fighting skills from the get-go,” Ephraim smiled lightly while slightly removing his mask and sticking his tongue out to see that the mark on his tongue was fading out.

“We don't have what?” Lulu breathed out as he remained against the wall while biting back the instinct of pinning Kansei by digging his nails into the palms of his hand. “You can always just tell me which side of the hallway the enemy's on and I'll rush 'em. It'll be a pain keeping my instincts focused on kill or be killed, but I can do it. I'd be better off with water, but Mara's barriers are removing any water vapor in the air for me to use.”

“I won't let that happen, no matter the cost... I'm not going to... I refuse to be a failure,” Maso responded as he slightly turned and started down the hallway. “We've gotta finish clearing up the house.” Although he'd gotten several paces ahead of Krystina, he jumped back a few paces as if someone had swung at him yet having nothing in front of him.
“Tch... I need to talk to Sheik or I'm gonna go insane...” he muttered lightly before starting forwards again, his hair falling in front of his face as he slid his mask into place over the lower half of his face.

“C'mon, Sky... Take my hand and I'll pull you through the shadows to me. I'd rather you not keel over by the time you reach me,” Shayde's voice sighed as a hand slid out of the shadow of a door.