Welcome to Gaia! ::

Each new instance lead to so much chaos swelling over and spilling over upon everything. All Olivia could do was huddle into herself, her arms wrapped tight against her arms and prisoners ran every which direction, some even sacrificing themselves by jumping into the runes in the very center.

There was shouting everywhere.

And chimes. Soon it seemed to be drowning out all the other noises as the smell of incense filled the air and took over every sense that Olivia still had left. She could feel herself give way and when she came to finally, the marble floors under her check felt so nice.

It was cool to the touch, the only solstice had been able to find on this island. Her body felt heavy and stiff and with the wonderful cold surface beneath her, Olivia had no intentions of getting up to disturb this weird yet wonderful feeling. Her bright blue eyes drifted to the sound of Medea speaking to them, attempting to explain their lesson in her ever so cryptic ways. Her brows pushed together as a result, trying to think about what this clanswoman was trying to tell them.

She knew she lacked knowledge and didn't understand oh so much of the world around her, that was the purpose she had found in signing up to visit these Islands of the Four Clans. But was there a more specific reason for all this, for simply just the Island of Death that she was to reflect upon and come to figure out?

The priestess that had spoken to the group before they had entered the second door had told them to understand death. Olivia thought about those words and what she had seen and experienced. Each door lead to a different aspect of death, perhaps. Her own, those by her own hand and the others and perhaps the consequences? That seemed to make a little but of sense to the young ghoul's mind as she pulled her legs in close to curl into a small ball - these islands just seemed to make her repeat this action after every adventure.

What kind of consequences had they brought on though, what else did Medea want them to see? Did their actions really cause undesired results or were they all in their minds brought on by these... trances?

Urg, this was all so confusing. Olivia wished someone would help her figure it all out better.

The head priestess simply turned her attention towards Shun at his straightforward question. "You are so young and yet, so full of turmoil, a single arrow that has lost its path forwards." The tone was soft, patient, yet slightly amused. "We do not plan for your future, Trance is a form of guidance for you to discover what you need yourself. For each one of you it is different, another role model, a place, a meaning, a reason to your actions. You may fool me, you may even fool yourself, but you cannot change the inevitable outcome of results around you. I believe instead of reaching towards me to ask what I have taught you, it would be wiser to ask yourself if anything in Trance held significance. Your suspicions only cloud how far you can see, as the path forward is never simple."

Mandy sat up, carefully trying to rub feeling back into her limbs as the Priestess spoke. So, that hadn’t just been more messing with them, a silent threat. Instead it was trance; to see the future, to predict your mistakes before they happened. Mandy had never been one for too much forward planning, it was impossible. She could not deny though their way was very effective as a deterrent to dangerous paths.

She didn’t know about everyone else in the room but she was certainly feeling that. When she had partaken in Professor QB's class and met D.E.T.H she had thought them foolish but quaint, trying too much to focus on good ways to harvest Fear instead of the threat Humans did present.

She still thought Hunter's had to die but now she could see D.E.T.H argument loud and clear, they needed humans lets that horrible last image come true. She shivered again at the mere idea the horsemen could do that. That's what they got for thinking them normal, but powerful, citizens.

The hair at the back of her neck stood on end. She heard a chime - or thought she heard one. But they were being moved, forced out of the cage. And then some of the others made a final attempt at freeing themselves. They just...threw themselves at the runes. And...dissipated. Death was apparently what they felt was their final chance at freedom.

LW shuddered and knew she heard the chime this time. And a scent tickled her nose. Familiar and so much more appealing then all the others that had assaulted her senses. Her eyes flickered open and LW sat up slowly, looking around. They weren't in that...that place anymore. But it was still burned into her mind. She rubbed at her arms, mind a mess of chaotic thoughts fluttering around too fast.

She looked up as Medea spoke, confusion clearly painted across her features. Had that all been...real? Or was it just a...dream? The she-wolf pulled her knees up against her chest, tail curling around her as she tried to find some semblance of understanding.

It was all so real! Yet, she was aware that she was back. That what she'd seen wasn't here and now. But it felt like it had been.

"T-Trance...?" She murmured quietly to no one in particular, staring at the Clans member.

Was that the future then? Or what could happen?" LW frowned, feeling faint tremors dance down her spine. What they'd seen was going to haunt her. She didn't want to live in that world! Didn't want to...kill. She shuddered, staring at her hands. When she closed her eyes, she could feel the sticky feeling clinging to her hands of the blood she'd been the cause of.

No. No! I don't want to be part of that.

Was it all a warning? Is that what Medea was trying to teach them? LW was so confused, but her mind couldn't - wouldn't - forget what they'd seen. There was a lesson to be learned in there somewhere. One of caution and warning, she thought. A glimpse of a world created from...what? That was the question dominating her mind. LW just sat quietly, letting her mind fill with questions as she just stared at Medea.

She really wanted to see Ren. Or move and find Tybalt.

I don't want to see that happen to us...

Wylfenne furred their brows. Were the Death playing against their own kin? Or were they trying to save the world? Or cheating both ways and trying to set the Halloweeners against the other Clans, thus creating more Fear, and more, and more… and then siding with the winner? What was their goal? Or were they doing it for fun?

The cage door swung open, and the prisoners were ushered out… Was it the end of the story? What a bleak story it would make! Wylfenne signed. At least no one would know…

...wait, have you forgotten it is just an illusion? Wake up? – and they heard a familiar chime, dizzying, jiggling noise…

Several prisoners broke free – Wylfenne wanted to be one of them, forcefully dissipating themselves – at least one heroic act for the whole dying world – at least something to remember the several moments of recognition that you’re dying…. And then a familiar scent ( they all seem to have very capricious noses, don’t they? Too many scents for two weeks, what are they, flower fairies?), and they are all back.

Back? Back where? The fae were not sure where the reality was, for now. With a groan they were about to jump at the priestess – taking at least one clansmember out with them to the darkness – but checked themselves in time.

They were back to the safety of the temple, with all the students around, confused, fidgety, inquiring, and Medea the priestess telling the same story in the same monotonous voice: ‘"A story has a beginning and a conclusion, as do the paths you choose to take…. Tampering with something you did not understand only created undesired results: what you lack more than anything else is knowledge…This is our method, the method of using trance to see the error in our actions.’


If it were not for the pride of the Hunt, they would have broken into bullying. The floor was vibrating, the room swimming. There was no one to trust, not even the fellow Halloween students. Where was the reality, and did they all see the same thing?

Analysing it quietly won't help this time. Too many questions, and they demand an immediate answer. Besides, turning it all over in their heads, again and again, will just lead them to the same errors. And it looked like the priestess was not interested in giving any answer.

‘Your method, for Jack’s sake! You left us there, all alone, is it what you call guidance? I call it cheating!’ they said sharply and coldly, no longer caring to follow the etiquette. ‘Were you there, with us? Did you see your kinsmen hunting us down? Would you intervene?’

As minutes dragged on into what felt like hours to the reaper, he was starting to feel just a little tired; perhaps, that was why, when the prisoners - including him - were ushered out of their cages, he simply took it as a chance for him to stretch his muscles a little. However, the chaos that followed caused him to lose his bearings, and he fell- Only to find himself awake on the cold, hard floor of their "classroom".

As Medea spoke, he kept silent, pulling himself off the floor and into a sitting position, his legs crossed; the ending would be the same regardless of the path they choose to take? That one sentence alone goes against everything he was ever taught by his family. Besides, if there was only one ending, does it really matter which path they choose to take? That would make life a lot more boring and dull.

However, this new point of view was interesting. Very interesting.

Closing his eyes, he tried to slow his breathing even as images - flashbacks of what he had seen and experienced before - came flooding into his mind; it was odd how he didn't feel much for either side... Humans, Halloweeners, Horsemen... In a war, the strongest and smartest will win, and the beliefs of the victor will be taken as not only the truth, but the only "right" reason for them to fight.

What they had seen and experienced for themselves in the future - if Death knew what would happen, why show it to them? To him, that was the biggest question... Was that 'Trance' just now? Then the error in wanting to destroy the human world would be the extinction of a steady supply of Fear... Was that it? He opened his eyes and almost sighed; he had a feeling that Death would not reveal any "answers", just more "questions".

(( SCHOOL STUFF HOPE I CAN MAKE IT BEFORE THE DEADLINE I WANT TO WRITE A POST HERE REGARDLESS ))

Ouranos woke on the floor of the Temple, stiff and disoriented. Fresh in his memory swam the vivid scene of prisoners jumping to their doom, Clans soldiers rushing forth in confusion... then that chime, echoing through his head... signifying the end. He blinked as the heavy, sudden silence of the temple fell upon him. All around, students were sitting up and looking around dazedly, varying degrees of shock or sadness on their faces. Ouranos too pushed himself up onto his elbows, numb with disbelief.

Medea stood there, her hand in the flames, composed and enigmatic as always. "A story has a beginning and a conclusion... understand our ways... the errors in our actions..." They were poignant words, important ones, and Ouranos knew that they would be her last to the class. He got to his feet and remained there motionlessly, letting the incense wrap around him, staring at a point somewhere far, far, away out of the temple.

For the past few days, as they were transported to faraway times and places, Oura had gathered bits and pieces of the puzzle... he had time to discern inklings of the truth, to build up his own suspicions. And in the end-- the final class-- he had horrifyingly discovered that they were all true. He remembered the prisoners, hollow-eyed and faint, speaking of Fear-eating machines and the end of the world. Halloween Town is no more... they took everything. The Horsemen were a mad, ruthless folk, and no matter how Halloween citizens downplayed their "crazy Apocalypse," the threat was irrefutably real. They had all seen it with their own eyes... humans dying on a bloody warfield, slaughtered in the darkness, hunted to extinction.

Was it the Horsemen's hate of humans.... or lust for Fear... that paved their genocidal path? Ouranos felt it may very well be both.

He had originally wondered at Medea's intentions, dazed and confused on the first day, stumbling around in the warzone. Why had she shown them these violent images, had them suffer and die along with everyone else? Why would she have them partake in hunting humans, then the very next day reveal the consequences of their actions-- thus damning her own race?

Ouranos had thought about it, and come to his own conclusion. Medea was merely a guide. She showed them the doors and the paths, then watched from a distance, cool and impartial. Medea passed no judgement and held no bias, even to her kin. She simply showed them the cold, hard truth. And though what she had shown them seemed mere unbelievable dreams, in the end, Ouranos was forced to disagree. They did not feel, smell, or act as dreams should. Fear gripped his mind, as he considered the idea that what they had witnessed were prophecies.

If this was their future, then Halloween Town was doomed. Medea had laid out the story for them; now, it was their turn to either turn a blind eye-- or to act. She had shown them the consequences of treating humans as disposable entities, sucking their Fear then throwing them away. Ouranos understood now that humans played a much more crucial role than many Halloween citizens gave them credit for. All they could do now was to proceed with this newfound knowledge... to watch and to wait... to act with caution and respect. And-- absolutely-- to keep a wary, informed eye on the folk called the Horsemen.