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An..artifact? Candace frowned, about to ask Lance about the team that was here until something more important needed her attention. She was sinking. She gasped, trying to use a nearby table to pull herself up until she felt something pull her down. Candace growled and summoned Atropos then, using her weapon to kick off whatever was grabbing her before she realized a couple of the trainees were offering their weapons to grab onto. Perfect. "Thanks, darlin'," She called up to America who was closer, grabbing Dakota's arm to pull him along with her as she grabbed hold of her weapon's chain.

I will allow it this once, Atropos reminded her solemnly. Candace's eyes widened. ******** was right. This wasn't her weapon, this was someone else's.

Maybe..just holding onto the chain would be okay? Maybe if she just didn't grab the handle..

A voice - a familiar voice, a reassuring voice echoed dimly through the fog and the stench of rotting flesh. Ian felt relief sweep over him at the sound, and he took a small, controlled breath, trying not to breathe too hard for fear of inhaling the acrid, sickening smell that surrounded them all.

"Shyduck," said Ian, a slightly grim smile passing across his face. "What a pleasant surprise. Glad to hear I've got some company, at least, in this mess."

A second, slightly less questioning and slightly more confident voice followed Shiloh's. Ian's smile widened a little, and he took a slight step forward, sinking an inch or so deeper into the sand. Wincing, he froze in place, wondering where he was supposed to even be going.

"I'm having a party, obviously," Ian replied airily, waving the hand that held his dagger. "Clearly we got a bit carried away and all. I thought we said we'd have a band, not sand."

The terrible pun was terrible, but at least it kept his mind from focusing on other things - like the fact that he seemed to be getting nowhere fast. "You got shot in the a**, Finn?" he said with a snort. "Good job. Sounds like someone's gonna have a problem sitting down."

Ian twisted his neck around, rolling his eyes as yet another voice chimed in. "Jack, please," he said. "You assume I don't know what I'm doing. Which I don't, but that's beside the point. I'm a man of my word, my friend, and I'll stick to our deal."

He gave a little salute, sank half an inch deeper, and groaned, letting out a few more choice words.

"What the hell happened, anyway? How did we get here?"

He heard her voice, but didn't see her at first, Gale struggling to find proper footing in the rapidly sinking sand. He shifted his feet, sank slightly lower, and tried to discover the source of Stormy's voice peering through the haze and wrinkling his nose at the stench.

"Sunshine," he said, when he finally spotted her, just a short distance away. "Hey. You're all right."

Which was a relief, in and of itself, and more so than he could quite say, considering his own history with this particular place. Gale gritted his teeth together, willing himself not to retch again, and took a hesitant step forward, his feet sinking, his hands gripping the chain tightly.

"Why the bloody hell are we back here?"

Melvin opened his eyes again, if not reluctantly, as if he was hearing a annoying alarm clock go off when he wanted to sleep in.

Looking up again, he tried not to yawn. "I never went to a pyramid. I should go." He then gave another half-hearted tug to get out of the sand and gave up. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

He then tried to perk up as best he could for someone who was drugged up, rubbed his eyes under his goggles, and then looked around. "Why are we at the beach?" Hadn't he been at the cafeteria scoring free deodorant? He checked his pockets as best he could with all the sand about him, and was glad he could still feel the canister of Old Spice on him.

Melvin decided that, despite how groggy, he would pull himself out of the sand, and slowly scoot to the closest person. This beach was not a fun place.

The voice that sounded like Ian answered, and it was Ian, and Shiloh was relieved. He could hear other voices now, and tethering himself to America and crew, he ventured closer, and the group of them came into view. It didn't help that with each step he took, he seemed to sink deeper into the sand, and he only hoped they would be able to get out of this.

If he'd learned anything during his short time at Deus, that staying in one place, no matter if you were stuck in quick sand, was never a good idea.

"Here," Shiloh shouted, looping Haruka's chain and tossing it to whomever was closest. "Grab hold. Tentacles, Caelius, or whatever this is, we gotta get moving."

Haruka had no protests, as long as Shiloh held her tight, any other hands touching her was like being the star of a petting zoo, she was glad to be the center of attention. Shiloh was thankful; the last thing they needed was for her to return to her non-weapon form, and leave them all hanging.

A few lengthy moments later both Melvin and Stormy surfaced, looking surprisingly whole, if not a little beaten up. Both has surprisingly pleasant smiles.

"False alarm," said Stormy, sounding exactly like the Mist trainee, "I thought I saw something.

"Me too," replied Melvin, also smiling pleasantly, a little too quickly in response to Stormy. "We're okay. Everything is okay."