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Ophelia fidgeted, sitting on an old, ivy-consumed brick wall. Her eyes kept flickering between the cobblestone path and her materialized scythe. What was her purpose as a reaper. Since she wasn't very high-ranking, she wasn't told much about the mission here. Mostly just to show up and do what she was told. That this was for the good of all, to protect everyone. The whole thing made her nervous somehow, but she had friends to protect, and kept telling herself this would be a step in the right direction.

She hopped off the wall once the carriage pulled up, and felt her gut immediately wrench as witch and witchling alike stepped off. Ophelia did her best to keep a stoic expression, but felt her brows daring to knot. They looked so young, innocent, confused. And most of all, afraid. Were they not told what was happening? They were bound, as well, making Ophelia sick with their...methods of obtainment... Just what was the plan here?

At least she didn't recognize any of the captured...

Her eyes focused on Cruor and Sibelious. Even she could recognize the blackhearts in charge for this operation. But instead she moved to stand beside a violet-haired reaper, who she felt was closer to her own rank, and therefore more comfortable to be around. She gave her a pat on the shoulder and a half-hearted smile that faded in seconds before looking solemnly back to the bound. "I'm Ophelia" she said plainly, owing her an introduction at least, but she felt like this wasn't a very good time for small talk and said no more than that.

Vinteren swiftly let loose a hail of ice daggers, each making a satisfactory thunk noise as they sank deep into the chests of his practice dummies. In a second the spry mononoke sprang at them, balling up his fists and concentrating on his magic. His hand was instantly incased in one inch thick ice as he smashed it into the head of one dummy. The wooden frame that held it's head snapped back with the force. He repeated this process until each dummy's head was broklen. He pauses and looked down at his incased hand, the ice was cracked. He frowned, he'd have to concentrate harder to make it thicker and more resistant to shattering.

In a quick move with this clawed hand the ice fractured then shattered off his extremidy. It was that moment, from the training area, he saw the carriage arrive. Vin was not a reaper or a blackheart, not yet anyway. But he longed for it. He trained with them in hopes of one day joining their ranks and hunting down witch eaters. Perhaps this was a carriage of them now? His black eyes narrowed as he walked to the edge of the training area, his white hair bright in the light.

Then....he blinked. The first two out of the carriage were....mononokes? Bound and horribly frightened mononokes. One was a cat of a sort, the other most obviously a skunk. Others began to decent but the ermine mononoke was confused. He knew for a fact his kind couldn't be witch eaters, not that he knew how but just that mononokes were always human. So what had these young ones done? For they were young, some not even looking as if they had finished their schooling. He didn't like this.

He stepped back, the world growing larger as he did, until a small white weasel was on the stones. He sniffed and headed for the wall, using his dexterous body to climb to a better vantage point. He didn't notice the violet haired mononoke and other female reaper near by. He was too preoccupied with discovering the fate of those in the carriage.

Uaithne gave Kalypso a return smile, then turned to look around at the others that he knew, Cedar was with Lea, Athir was nearby as well, so many that he knew... it made him worry for a moment that their association with majin might be a reason for them being taken but he shoved the thought aside. Surely the Blackhearts and Reapers weren't so petty as that? Still how often had he been warned against such people in the past and told to give them wide berth? To punish people for being friendly people like him though, surely that wasn't why everyone was here... Sticking close to the white haired witchling girl he started out of the carriage, lifting his bound hands to momentarily shield his eyes until he was able to get used to the light outside.

Once he was able to stand the change in lighting he found himself looking around as Cedar said to Lea where they were, Poena Privus. Not a place he knew a whole lot about other then knowing that it was the very last place someone like him wanted to be. He'd rather be anywhere but here, facing off against anyone but these people. Giving a shake of his head he tried not to let his fear grip him, he wouldn't be any good to Kalypso or anyone else if allowed his fears to get to him. Instead he took a steady breath so that he could take a good look around them, to get a better feel for where they were instead of letting himself get distracted by the two frightening Blackhearts, doing so did nothing to ease his worries though. Instead he realized that others that were a part of this place, they were standing around watching as the lot of them were herded out of the carriage. It must seem like quite the spectacle from their end, huh?

It was strange, during the ball he'd actually thought these people kinda... heroic, the way that they had dealt with that dangerous Witch Eater, in a way that had made him actually fear some of his own kind. This was all a bit of an eye opener wasn't it? It made him wonder if fear similar to what he was feeling now was part of what led some to being Witch Eaters... it was a question he'd never really consider before and one that he didn't really care to consider now given his distaste for the mere idea of consuming a heart. That path wasn't one he meant to follow... though still his fear of Witch Eaters as a whole was weakening a little bit as he found something else far more intimidating and scary to worry about instead.

Her body felt tense. Too tense. Being here right now was discerning enough on a normal day. But being here while the young witchlings and witches were brought in? Shaden was more tense then she could ever recall being in a long time. In fact, her attention was so focused on what she was watching, and trying so hard to not let her emotions break free, she didn't notice the other Reaper move closer. At least not until a hand rested against her shoulder in a pat.

Starting slightly, Shaden glanced at the female that had moved beside her, meeting her gaze. She attempted to give her a similar smile, but it was clear that neither of them were quite sure on how comfortable they were with current events.

"I'm Shaden." She said quietly to Ophelia, looking back towards the young ones.

For that one small moment, her emotions faltered and some of the fear she felt for the kids escaped into her eyes while she stared at Cruor. But he looked away quickly and Shaden worked to put up a mask of indifference again.

Which was almost impossible when her cyan eyes fell on Athir again. Why? Why did he have to be here! Just what, exactly, were Cruor and Sibelius' orders? Did they even know themselves?

"I...do not like this." Shaden murmured just under her breath to Ophelia. Yet there was nothing she could do. But watch.

Poena Privus. Headquarters of the Reaper Organization. It would make sense that they were headed there given the company of the 2 Blackheart captors who were watching over them like hawks at the moment. Not that any of them stood much of a chance against them individually, hands and feet bound on top of being without their magic at that. "We're going to be alright. Just stay close." Lea was beginning to feel a little bit better with the knowledge that Cedar was safe and appeared relatively unharmed for the most part, content with staying where he was for the remainder of the ride as emeralds looked her over once before flickering to the others in the carriage. None of the captured witches and witchlings seemed to be hurt now that he was fully awake and capable of making a proper appraisal of his surroundings. The scent of blood within such an enclosed space would be painfully obvious to him and a couple of the other mononokes present if so. That was for sure.

He gave a soft hiss at the sliver of light that streamed into the carriage as soon as the door was opened shortly after it came to a stop, not at all happy with the stark contrast in the lighting after spending the past half hour or so in the dark. Strange how waking up from an unnatural slumber in an unfamiliar place could totally disorient one's sense of time. He allowed Cedar to exit the carriage first then followed suit after giving himself a couple of seconds to roll his shoulders and stretch his back to work out the kinks in them though not without sparing both Blackhearts a piercing glare to express his silent disapproval at being taken against his will for whatever purpose they had intended for him and his friends among the many others.

The witch had kept his gaze lower than level, unable , or willing, to make eye contact with his captor's. His restrained arms pulled lightly at the bindings, testing if they had any give at all... finding out they didn't. And... his magic... well that was out of the question. He couldn't feel a lick of it in his body. Almost as if he'd been drained of it... It made the already fragile boy feel even more powerless. Just like how he felt in his school days. The heavy bangs that laid over his forehead covered a single eye, only offering a small portion of comfort; making him feel as though he could hide, even if just a little bit.

He listened to the various hushed conversations going on, as well as the orders barked about. It seemed futile to struggle, or put up a fight, and more reasonable to just go along with their demands. At least then he might get some answers as to what was going on. In an act of courage, at least in Athir's eyes, the timid boy slowly let his gaze rise from the ground, to take a glance around at those around him. He didn't notice any of the higher tiered individuals... not a single---

That's when his eyes landed on Shaden. He had to do a double take, thinking his eyes had been playing tricks on him in the desperate hope that she might come to rescue them... but no. She was there. For a long while, he could only stare, eye widening in disbelief, "Sha..den...?" he breathed barely, voice sore and raw from being unused. He couldn't move, frozen in place. "Shaden.." he spoke again, with a slightly elevated volume, but not enough to even be at a normal speaking level. He even made a rigid step towards he, but stopped short, gut clenching with confusion, delicate brows even drawing together. What... was going on?

As the light stung her eyes Cedar was trying to stay close to Lea not wanting to get separated, she bumped into a couple others before walking right into Athir. Without knowing what to do or where to go, it seemed many of the kidnapped had stopped or bunched up at the end of the ramp.

Looking over to ask if the boy she walked into was okay, she noticed that he had been looking off into the distance. And there stood a small group of people, who looked to be reapers. Her heart starting to race and she apologized to the boy for colliding with him, and she started to call out gently to Xerxes, Kalypso' and Uaithne beckoning them closer.

Keeping her friends close meant that she could try and protect them... Right? She had unconsciously decided a long time ago that she wasn't a hero. But she would protect those she cared about. Naturally anyone would right? After her brother had died, her parents cut off from her emotionally, psychically. She felt alone for a long time, hiding it. But now she had people that cared about her too. She wanted to see them keep smiling. The terrified and confused look on their faces broke her heart.

Could they be there because they were 'guilty by association'? But some humans were around Majin without knowing it... Could they really be trying to make an example of them? It seemed kind of messy, but Cedar know little of Peona Privus and it's secrets. She had somehow come to her decision that she would take care of her friends if it came to that. One of those 'I've seen the horrors of the world and I will protect you from it' kind of feelings came over her.

When the carriage jerked to a stop, Xerxes felt a lurch in his stomach. They had finally arrived at their destination, and he felt sick about what was to come next. His throat felt dry even after a nervous swallow. They were ordered out of the carriage by the blackhearts that had taken them. Xerxes didn't recognize either of them. All he wanted to do was turn into his cat form and curl up in one of the dark corners where he might be missed and forgotten. But even access to that magic was cut off.

He climbed out of the carriage like all the other that had been kidnapped. Looking up at what lay before him with another group of reapers present, Xerxes wished ever more that he was back at the Academy. He never had much interest in the reapers, or ever wanting to make a visit to Poena Privus. Why had the blackhearts brought them here? He still saw little understanding in this. There were quite a few mononoke in the number of witches and witchlings that had been transported here in the carriage. They weren't majin. Why would they been taken by the blackhearts? None of this was making any sense to him. He wished they would give them some answers about what was going on here, but he bit his tongue to ensure no more snarky comments slipped past his lips. Talking back in that manner would do him little good and only anger their captors.

Glancing around, he saw that the people he knew looked well and safe, for now at least. Who knew what would be awaiting them next?