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As the scenery faded away, Dev felt more and more convinced that this was reality. This was too dream-like for the cu sith to be considered real. Her tail moved impatiently while the priestess motioned toward the last door. She eyed it curiously, pondering what lay beyond the final door. The horsewoman’s words evoked a curious look from the younger ghoul as the door creaked open, revealing darkness. She blinked at the spectacle in front of her, ears flattening with confusion. Dev lifted her head toward the sky, taking in its dull colors while also noting the burning reds. Everything was in a state of decay. The vehicles were coated in rust. She looked down, bending her knees so she could pick up a human toy. The colors were faded, but she could still discern the multiple shades and hues on its plastic surface. Silently, the toy slipped through her fingers and she walked on.

The stairs felt strangely familiar to Dev as she descended them, but not quite. She shot uneasy glances at the empty cages the group passed, but she continued to follow the others. A chill ran through her body when she sensed the odd FEAR. She frowned when she began to recognize the place, if only vaguely. Hadn’t she been in a place like this before?

Eyes narrowed suspiciously at the ensuing conversation. While there was no clear context, Dev began to hastily piece clues and phrases together to form a tiny inkling about what they were talking about. She approached one of them and asked, “Who are ye?”

The prisoner blinked at Dev’s accent, but then began to answer her after a sigh. “It's going to be a long wait till my final dissipation isn't it? Fine I'll humour you, I was called Eis, from a place once known as Halloween Town. It's gone now, like most of pretty much every other Jackforsaken thing the Four Clans took. There's nothing now, they took everything. First the Humans, then us, and now well, the rest you can see for yourself."

She hummed thoughtfully while she masked the shock bubbling beneath the surface. “Ah see.” Halloween Town was gone here? The Clans members had done this? Her gaze turned glassy as she recalled the dilapidated state the Human world had been before she came to this location. Lips pursed, unsure of what else to say.

Nervously, Taryn blurted the next question on her mind.

"When is this?" It had been a good question for the tiger-ghoul to ask, and it was worth repeating here. This hadn't already happened and had to be rebuilt, did it?

"Does it really Jacking matter?" Eis asked, rolling his eyes, "How about several hours before they feed us to their little Fear-eating contraptions? How about several years too late from stopping their Jacking Apocalypse?"

How long had these prisoners been here, being drained?

Hold on, hold on... this was one of those rooms. The caverns with the swirling rune and the FEAR-drawing light-beam... they existed. She had seen one.

Oh, Jack. This might have actually happened.

"What... what happened here?!"

The question was not posed to Eis, but he seemed wont to answer.

"What does it look like?" he asked, although it was posed with the inflection of a statement, and a sarcastic one at that, "We got ambushed while trying to escape this place. There are no Humans left, not that we know of or care to know, they died off moons ago. There's just us, and now they hunt us to get the remainder of their Fear. It wont be long before there aren't any of us either."

That all made Taryn believe that this has not in fact happened yet, that there was still hope. Humans were still around, certainly. Three doors, Past - Present - Future... was it an avoidable future? It seemed... irresponsible. Ridiculous. They had been sent to observe and learn beneath the Clansmen and -women. Perhaps they were being drafted to... fix this.

The ghoul went quiet, entirely lost in thought and not daring to bother poor Eis again. In his existence, manufactured thought it may be, he would probably not survive.

Willow's tail flickered in irritation as the horsemen threw them into cages with other, less healthy looking Halloween denizen. They were starving them for fear... or feeding off their fear one.... What would happen if all fear was gone though?

Willow's ears twitched back as she looked around. How many of these were true?

She turned to one of the prisoners tilting her head, "Excuse me... do you know what the current time is?"

The tigress looked a little concerned at the fact she was unsure of where or when they were. It was completely possible it was another one of those stupid visions. Of course at this point, it would almost be nice to see the soulless one... Even if it was to only try and throttle it's little neck. She waited for an answer.

"The time now?" The prisoner rolls their eyes. "Does it really Jacking matter? How about several hours before they feed us to their little Fear-eating contraptions? How about several years too late from stopping their Jacking Apocalypse?"

Willow's eyes traveled back to the horsemen guarding them. "What Apocalypse?" The prisoner had gone back to ignoring her.

Willow continued to mull over the answers she'd been giving... but the only thing it left her with was more questions. Her tail flickered as she looked around, "Say... where are we?"

The prisoner gives you a strange look. "Aren't you a rebel, like one of us? Pro-Human World, saving what remains of Halloween against the Four Clans and all that. I recommend you keep your voice down though, there's no use attracting unneccessary attention."

Willow finally sat down beside the prisoner drawing her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. "Pro-Human World..." She rested her chin on top of her legs staring off somewhere in space. "Rebel..."

Her ears twitched, as she nodded, "Yes, of course. We just... got confused..." She said with a frown, "I think... but the hunters..." She paused suddenly looking confused. If they left the humans they'd have to deal with the hunters, if they removed the hunters they'd have to deal with the horsemen. "... I think we're in a no win situation." She said quietly, looking back at Eis when they made a noise eyes narrowing slightly. He didn't understand the trouble they were in, well... they didn't understand the trouble they were in.

Halloween Cannot die....

The words, the reminder of red echoed through her mind. Her tail flickered as she looked around.... But it already has Red..... the question now is how do we fix it? Which of the evils were the better?

Xiu tried again, and this time, she tried to clarify. What time was it? She wasn't sure if it was farfetched of her to assume that what they were seeing wasn't something that was happening in the present, but something that was going to happen in the future. The first door had brought them long ago into the past. The second door had brought them into the present--or at least, a time where the weapon-wielding Hunters existed--and now this third door...

Unfortunately, either the prisoner was getting impatient, or he simply misunderstood her question. In either case, he simply repeated what he said before.

But she was confused. They were guests to the Four Clans' Islands right now, and they were going through these doors as a part of the Death Clan's class. So why...why would they show them something like this? Considering how all the visiting students were creatures of Halloween, didn't these visions--so to speak--only result in casting a negative light on the Clans?

So why...?

Two doors down, one to go. Medea hardly paused. Suddenly they were elsewhere, taking in the scenery, the burning sky (fire - the very idea of a place that was always burning bothered even him). This was a dead place. Even the FEAR here was weak and strange, not at all the kind he was used to. Was this Halloween--?

The answer certainly wasn't going to come from the pair of horsemen who found them and led them away. Down, down, into a maze of caverns, past empty holes and cages. The glow was familiar. The same runes he'd seen in the underbelly of the Famine island, buzzing, almost alive, spread across the floor of the cavern as they approached. Danger.

The humans were dead, Fear was gone - impossible. Right...? Aymet turned around to see a ghastly sight - the student who'd spoken up was faint, fading in and out like the flicker of a candle. It was like nothing he'd ever seen. The warrior queen put them out of their misery quickly and efficiently. The rune tore away their remaining FEAR before they had a chance.

The quiet was oddly conducive to thought, periodically broken by the shouts of the warrior queen. After being thrust into battle after battle, here they had no weapons, no challenge. The four clans - were they responsible for this place?Where were they? When were they?

Once incarcerated, Aymet approached one of the more solid-looking prisoners. The cage bars were still visible right through their face. If this was the future, or even just a future, it would probably help to know how far off it was. "What time is it?"

"The time now?" The prisoner rolls their eyes. "Does it really Jacking matter? How about several hours before they feed us to their little Fear-eating contraptions? How about several years too late from stopping their Jacking Apocalypse?"

The prisoner turned back to the wall, muttering bitterly.

This... was the Apocalypse?