{ Propagation } The Weeping Forest (The END p 3)

[Nio Love]

Selene easily smothered her face against Arcana's shirt when he pulled her close, to keep her from watching the horror unfold. She didn't understand, she couldn't understand! Where was the professor to save them! Where was the professor at all! He'd said he'd be here..

"He'd said he'd be here.." her thoughts echoed in a tiny whisper against Arcana's chest.

He would have no fight from her, over leaving. She was a tiny lump in his arms, and would remain there until she woke up from this terrible nightmare.

(exit)  

[Pixie Nyxie]

Arcana tucked Selene in his arms and pushed himself up. He was going to take Selene and go. If the teacher wasn't going to come then there was only one other place to go.

"We have...to go to the Cave Selene...." Cue all the QQQQQQQQQQQQQ's.

"Maybe...Maybe we can see Tarot." He blinked and then headed out. He didn't want to be taken, nor Selene to be taken and if their was a trap in the cave well....Tarot was strong. She would kick down all traps and beat them up.


Exiting!  

[Molten Tigrex]

Vanth bit down on her knuckles in a silent scream behind the cover of leaves, the tears running down her cheeks catching that blue glow. She could hear her own heartbeat pounding in her ears. All the courage she'd tried to build up escaped at once from the sight. She was as immobilized as the bodies before them. They weren't dissipated, or dead, they were just... lying there. Like shells.

The professor was nowhere to be seen.

If horror wasn't enough there was confusion as well. 'Weapons candidates?' What had these students agreed to, where were they going, why- why were they being hauled away like trash?

Seconds elongated like hours and Vanth still felt like her FEAR had turned to ice. She couldn't do it. She couldn't save them.

The professor was nowhere to be seen.

More of them. More 'candidates'.

The phone buzzed in her pocket. Over and over, splitting the silence. Her fingers moved, of their own accord, and a shaking hand brought Argyle's warning into view of both of them.

The professor was nowhere to be seen.

Vanth suddenly let out a wail and scooted back and away from the sight of the empty gates. She and her familiar took off right behind the others.

(( Exiting ))  

[Nothing Yet]

Something terrible was happening to those students. To their friends. They were frozen there, in some sort of suspended state, waiting. The reaper had betrayed them all, and they were probably going to die here, and what could they do? Just a handful of them? Nothing.

Where was Quibble?

The reaper was talking again, speaking aloud to something that they couldn't see.

And then they were all gone.

Frantic, Taru looked in every direction, searching for Quibble on the horizon. Nothing. He wasn't hiding with them, he wasn't coming. He'd ******** failed them, failed her, when she'd gone behind their backs with the idea that this was the right choice.

With the reaper entirely out of sight, she punched the ground and did her best to not just scream as loud as she could.

"Well, let's go to the Jackdamn cave, then."

[exit]  

[x_Nata_x]

He was losing touch with reality. Slipping. Things were starting to fall away, things he felt like... he should have known... or remembered... but couldn't quite grasp. Cain felt it like some little loss, that distressing moment when you know you were just thinking about something, and it was so important, but you can't remember what it was. That feeling of absence.

Stumbling to his knees, the demon's eyes darted a little as he tried to understand, blinking to try to push through the fog that was turning everything white. Something was wrong... his muscles began to relax, his mind starting to lull, and he struggled against it with his very soul. "No, I'm not done..." he thought, not realizing he'd said it aloud. One hand came to his face, covering it to try to block out the whiteness, and he gritted his teeth, trying to summon his true form. From behind eyes closed far too tightly, Cain tried to focus, tried to feel his teeth extending, remember the way it felt for black wings to tear flesh and thread as they literally ruptured from his shoulderblades. But none of it came. A wave of dizziness crashed over him, and he felt himself stumble again, this time hitting the ground heavily, unable to catch himself.

He'd never been satisfied. Not with riches... not with ghouls... not with his own power.

His heartbeat slowed. Every breath lengthened, shallowed, as if even his lungs were relaxed. From where he laid on his side, the demon stared off at nothing, struggling to keep them from rolling back. Everything was fading to white now -- even the dried grass against his arms, the dirt and rubble beneath his fingers. The stab wounds in his chest still hurt, but it was an absent hurt, that same absent feeling that was spreading like a web in his mind. He wanted to look to the reaper, wanted to demand more answers, but he couldn't coax them to move.

As he faded into nothingness, the last thing he saw was Bella and Rowly just a few short paces away, fingers laced.  

[Bittiface]

It had been just as easy as he'd hoped. As he'd always wished. He didn't have to do anything. The fuss and mess of the festival was gone. The pressure of graduating, gone. The hassle of getting work from one of the many cards and pamphlets he'd received. No longer an issue. Much like the feelings that slipped away when he was out under, Matthew was at peace.

Matthew was simply gone.