Welcome to Gaia! ::

It felt so odd to be back in Halloween after everything that had transpired in the past couple of weeks. Dev wasn’t sure when or why or how, but when she walked through the portal and exited the isles she found herself out of her natural form. She fought to keep her eyes open as a hand reached up for the skull pin at the collar of her shirt. Whatever noise and sounds were around her quickly filtered into her ears as background, regardless of volume. There was a far-off glaze to her eyes as she managed to keep her attention on the Bogeymen waiting for the students. She lifted an arm to point at one of them. “Ah…”

Quarantine. Quarantine. The word echoed around the cu sith as something tugged her forward. She felt other students bump into her as she stumbled, but Dev continued to move past the blurs and fuzzy murmurs. Her eyes slowly grew wide as she attempted to take in her surroundings, filled with anger and chaos. Whatwhatwhat—

There was the familiar sight of the gymnasium and somehow the voices in her head were starting to find. Her ears twitched with relief, but now her senses and memories came rushing back. Dev nearly dropped to her knees when she felt the heavy weight of her exhausted body. “Fallow? Mea?” Her voice was barely above a whisper as she continued to look for the two. She was always looking, searching, losing them. There was a familiar neon-marked body and she collapsed next to Fallow. “Fallow,” Dev murmured quietly, reaching out to scratch the back of one of his ears before she relaxed and fell asleep.

Reiko looked around, surprised. The onryo didn't recognize where she was-but there was only one place it could be. She was...at Amityville? Yes, that had to be it...How strange, that she had been taken back here.

After all, no one wanted her around, she was useless, worthless. Okaa-san would surely throw her out upon her arrival at home, because somehow, some way okaa-san would know that Reiko had spent time while she was away interacting with boils and lending them her things and becoming friends (?) with them. And this was not her home, not her school, she would be pushed out of it as soon as this quarantine was over.

She allowed herself to be led, too deeply buried in her own self-loathing and exhaustion to fight it.

Finally, she fell asleep, a deep, dreamless sleep. Relief.

Shenny could predict it might happen, if only she was in her normal state of mind, of course.

Being awaken from the "Home" dream was quite traumatic itself. For a moment, Shenny couldn't realize where she is, when she is, who the Jack she is... She stared blankly around noticing figures and slow movements: hunters, horsemen, students, the phoenix flying inside the hunters' portal, the hunters escaping following the bird... Finally the sorceress fell something. The voices in her head... they were merging into a melody, a marsh, cruel and powerful. A tiny flame of emotion started to burn inside her, it grew larger and larger, and very soon enough her entire being was on fire. She was melting in the flames of rage and hatred, unnecessary, unmotivated. Voices in the ghoul's head were way more powerful than her own will, especially traumatized by the insanity. The insanity filled her being, her every inch.

But suddenly different voices appeared on the corner of her mind. The ghoul blinked and opened her eyes. Somehow the whole crowd of students and what remained of horsemen went back through their portal, Shenny didn't even realize when. The boogeymen were there, they took them and guided them, Shenny almost felt there was something wrong, but she was too weak to argue, too weak to even speak, and anyway, she had no better idea.

"Quarantine"... When they arrived at the place, she noticed some familiar faces, some fellow students, the byakko she was arguing with the other day (oh Jack, it seemed to be an eternity ago); she wanted to say something, to talk, but she had to strength at all. Hey eyes closed, and the sorceress fell unconsciously on the floor.

Mei was was in and through the portal before she even knew it--back home, her arm, slowly regenerating over time. How did she even lose it again? She couldn't remember. Thinking only encouraged the voices to chatter more around her head. Why did these voices come back with her? Or were they always there? Grumbling, she gripped at her head, ready to tear out hair when the bogeymen came into view.

They were shouting about something, but all it did was add to the current voices. "Ugh, shut up, shut up, shut up!" It didn't help any when the bogeymen began to herd the students like cattle. Just like the hunters previously had. Damned bastards! Did they have a special agenda planned like the humans? Just the mere thought was about to send the doll into a raging fit.

Then came the announcement of remaining under quarantine. Now they were to be held up here? But she needed to see Bul! She had to make sure that the phoenix hadn't actually come here too! Yeah it went through the other portal, but what if it was a hunter trick of some sort? Or, or something else?

She knew she had to do something, but, she felt oddly tired, like all her energy was suddenly drained from her. Half lidded, she strained to listen to the conversation between bogeymen and horsemen, but drifted off without realization.

He didn’t say a word, the hate and the anger lingered in his soul as wanted to growl at the other students, they were close touching him shuffling all at once to a portal all to return home. Yet this all faded away as they appeared back in the forest all being cornered into a little group as the bogeymen whispered the words of quarantine. They herded them, and with each step he took his feet felt heavier and heavier as the touched the ground, every limb of his body felt as if they were filling in with sand and becoming stiffer and stiffer all he wanted to do was give up.

However, he was home, he was finally back home however it felt weird, it felt different from what he could remember as if a tainted pair of glasses were pulled off his face. It was not over, despite being home, Joachim could not simply just wash the memories away. They were going to linger forever in his mind and in the very core of his soul, the entire experience was burnt into every fiber of his being and permanently seared on ever wound he received.

Joachim and the rest of the students were herded into the gym, he hadn’t seen Ev, Muka, or even Kettil since the fall of the island and the fog had wrapped around them and he wanted somewhere in his mind look for them, to see if they were ok.

But he didn’t, instead his body grew heavier as they stood in the gym, without another thought he laid down on the floor petting the pocket were Merel rested letting the world go black.

They were...

Home?

And Riley had come with them, thank Jack, she was here, here and... and stone and... no, no, any moment she would be soft and warm and sweet again, it was certain, but time kept moving on and she kept being stone and-

And the bogeymen were there, too, surrounding them. The hated, cold beings who had tried to take thier school, who had not believed them when Red had... had turned to stone, and here was proof that everything they had said was true, but this was its precious mate, not some cold evidence for them to remove! Malodore rose slowly, finally freeing itself from her hold a little more, its wings rasping as it bristled at the approaching officers.

"She is... you cannot have her, not forever, she is mine," it informed them, wrapping its arms around her and holding her tightly. "Please, she is... wherever she goes, let me go with her, I have to help her, I am a doctor, a scientist, per favore..." It looked at them pleadingly, shaking slightly from tension, as if at any moment it might cease being rational. Not from Insanity, but simply from being utterly, completely broken.

Because they were here, in Halloween, and it smelled tasted sounded looked felt like home and-

She.

Was still.

Stone.

No, no, she could not leave it! It could not leave her! The plague doctor shook, a tear snaking free from under one lens. "Please-"

Mitzi didn't recognize the Forest at first, when she stepped through the portal. The trees seemed unfamiliar, the sights, the smells... the figures surrounding them, ushering them forward.

At first all she could do was stumble along with everyone else, her arms wrapping around her, as if to hold her together. She kept looking through the crowd, trying to find familiar faces, but even students who she knew in passing looked strange in the odd light, with the voices whispering in the back of her mind, telling her they were all strangers, all wanted to hurt her. She shook her head. No, they were other students, it was fine.

Right?

And then the gymnasium again. It looked both familiar and strange, and as everyone started to fall to the floor in sleep, she forced herself to stay on her feet a little longer. She needed to find someone, anyone, a friendly face.

She was almost at the point of collapsing herself when she found a small huddled form, recognizing long black hair and a white kimono. She sank to the floor nearby, resting her back against the wall next to her. She'd shake Reiko awake in just a second, make sure she was all right before falling asleep herself... she would... she...

She couldn't even finish the thought, her eyes drifting closed while she was still upright, before she slumped to her side next to the onryo.