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"Sheesh, let's everybody panic," Enzo sighed, brushing himself off in a mad attempt to hide the fact he had nearly soiled himself by the girl's violent response. He retied the microphone in place, but left it on just in case. He could hear the older students discussing something back in the main group, but paid it no mind for now. One thing at a time.

"Listen ladies," And he included Ace, "Aint noffin' to be scared of, alright? Last time I just lay low. Let things sort themselves out." Found a dank hole to crawl into and hide until an attack was forced. "Except for the damn island falling out of the sky, I was RELATIVELY unscathed." There had been the dark period of infection afterward but.... his stomach tightened in his own rising panic but his eager grin remained. "Aint noffin'."

In spite of his turmoil, Thackery froze at the feeling of the boil's lips on his forehead, immediately recalling the kiss from the strange horseman at the beginning of the festival. Two times in one week was more times than he'd been kissed by anyone Not Ash ever. Was there something he touched at the festival that made him smell like he tasted delicious?

The confusion returned as he tried to remember if he'd ever met the boil before, visibly trying to connect the dots. A fox...kitsune? A busty ghoul? And a kiss? Reine? The boil didn't exactly act like her, but he did a lot of things he immediately came to regret the last time they'd seen each other. Maybe she was teasing him. He wanted to ask, or apologize for everything he'd done, but the timing would be terrible. Outing her as a hunter in a golem would make things difficult for both of them in a time when he didn't need anything else on his plate, if that was the case. He opted to play along.

"I already made a lot of promises that are really hard to keep," he warned, "So no promises. But I don't know how to help, so if someone does...I probably shouldn't say no to that." Maybe they knew something on the Island that he didn't?

Shun rose questions that Thackery didn't want to think about. He knew he should have, but how could he? There was no room for that sort of thinking through all of his optimism, though said optimism didn't appear to be doing much good for him now.

"You can protect everyone you've gotta protect. And I'll protect the reaper I promised to watch over. And if those paths cross instead of going away from each other..."

It was hard, looking from face to face, among classmates that wanted to help him, knowing that there would be no way to both take care of them and keep his promise, should that happen. He blinked away hot tears, wishing he could stop himself from crying now, when it was especially important to show that he meant to be strong enough to handle this.

"...then I really hope you'll forgive me. And that we can both understand we're just doing what we have to."

The Cerberus looked absolutely miserable to have to say these things to them. He didn't want to imagine how terrible he'd feel if something happened to any of them. So maybe, maybe, if he could make sure Ash stayed somewhere safe...

He moved towards him, lingering just briefly in hopes of seeing the others turn the other way, and called out as clearly as he could when he was near enough to hear a response.

"Ash? Is that..um...you?"




[ALL OF THE REST OF YOU TOO OTL]

damien could feel his heart being tugged around, seeing what happened to Riley and jericho, there was only one possible conclusion as to what the fellow hellhound was getting at. And it puzzled him that Thack was going to put himself in the fray. "But you know what will probably happen if you stay by yourself now." he keened out and flopped his ears over. There was a high chance for injury. By someone that he cared about no less.

The sense of loyalty that canines felt, it was a powerful and an odd thing. he didn't want to see Thack get hurt, not while he had a chance, the ability to save him. But he made it adamantly clear that he was going to stay. He was going to come back after all this. That was the only sense of optimism keeping the hounds mind at peace, the forced idea that thack would be safe and survive on his own.

"Let's get back in formation everyone." the sentence came out robotic, without emotion as he took the right flank spot. his throat tight and restrained from barking out to the key hound and calling him a runt trying to show mum what he can do on his own.

Yuki didn't look pleased by the response, but the boil knew that she was right. They had to stick together. There was safety in numbers...

That, or they were all sitting ducks. He felt trapped. He wanted to run, taking the fae with him, but it was like danger was all around and there was no safer place to go.

"I don't like this feeling, Astra..." Yuki murmured. "Stay close, alright? I don't want us to get split up."

A familiar name caught his attention, spoken not far off. Yuki turned his attention to it, through the fog glimpsing a very familiar boil and ghoul. He might not have known Riyo well, but her distress was clear and the fact that Deacon was unresponsive to her made Yuki's alarm increase substantially.

"There's something wrong with Deacon." Yuki said to Astra, gently ushering her toward the pair of bakeneko, keeping a hand within his as if breaking contact with Astra would make one of them instantly fade away.

As they got close, he looked up at the tabby worriedly, disturbed by his unblinking stare. "Deacon...?" It was like those things out in the strange fog... Why hadn't he snapped out of it like the rest of them had? Surely, with Riyo stirring him like that it should have gotten a response.

But there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Riyo's ears stood on end as someone (or something...) called Deacon's name this time. Up until then she had only been hearing her name..

Instinctively she hid behind the boil, not really knowing what good it would do since he was practically catatonic (ba dm chh). But... It didn't look like this person meant any harm. He looked worried too. "He... He won't move." Her hands clung to Deacon's shirt, still trying to find something that might stir him. "I don't know what to do! I think those things are trying to take him away..." Had they seen them too? Surely they had...

Yuki stared at Deacon for a long moment, before he had to look away if only to keep from getting creeped out any further. It wasn't at all reassuring to see someone just out of it like that...

"I don't like what's going on..." Yuki said needlessly, looking to each ghoul and then around the four of them. "Stay close, both of you. We won't let anyone take him. We'll stay here with him until this all goes away, alright? Just... Don't worry. We'll be fine."

Yuki was a bad liar. He was pretty damn convinced that everything was not going to be fine.

Amphi nodded at Danny's brief meltdown and let her hand go, since the ghoul had more things to worry about. Though she didn't mean to, she decidedly ignored Roch about moving and held her ground with Xiu. Though the mermaid was terrified, she wasn't going to continue to let it control her.

Instead she in turn tightened Xiu's hand and looked at the pup that they were trying desperately to return with them.

Her phone was out in a second as she hesitated before typing her message out.



Okay it was so odd for the mermaid to pretend to be positive about it. She was a good healer but she couldn't heal insanity, not even Cricket could!?!?



Even through the fog she could hear other students calling out to their friends...so many people and this fog...It always made her feel uncomfortable.