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The Hydro Pumps met the fire balls and did their job well enough, the fireballs disappearing as they met the water but something weird happened, or didn't. There was no steam, they just disappeared. The two Snagems had no time to react to this however as the bonfire rose up into the air and began to grow appendages, the candle-like hands of a Chandelure. The giant Chandelure of fire moaned similar to the now gone headless man. This moan was followed by the rapid appear of multiple 'eyes' through out the sky, all looking down at the two Snagems. Should they make eye contact (ha) with them the Snagems would be subjected to intense mental images. Anything in their past which they didn't want to remember was brought forth and made worse than it originally was. It was horrific. And all while this went on, no one else noticed.

The first Misdreavus hissed again at Sigilyph as it dodge the Shadow Ball this time. Its sister was also forced out of human form as it took the Crunch, causing it to shriek in pain and struggle for a good long while until it escaped the hound's grip. The two Ghost would then rush towards each other, clash, and 'melt' together. The blob of energy in the air would begin to morph until it took on the shape of what could only be described as a Mismagius hybrid. The woman was beautiful in fact, with her long flowing gown. She would look at Raine and make a 'come here' gesture with her hand. Raine would feel compelled to come forth, into the tender embrace of the haunted woman's arms. To drift off into the eternal sleep as she rested on her bosom. How wonderful it would be.

Odd would be grabbed by one of the various bandaged hands and immediately attempted to free himself with a wild swing from Entr'acte. The Honedge released a Night Slash as it was swung, a blade of black light cutting through the air. Hopefully this would help more than just him. Even with this attempt at freedom, Odd tried to phase through the hand holding him but found that in spite of becoming intangible, the hand holding onto him held strong and continued to pull him towards a dark portal in front of the nearest tombstone.

Back at the Solaceon Ruins, Trish and Dee were slowly guided back towards the town by a panicked response from the Mareep in town. As they drew ever nearer, Trish released Idina from her Ball and the violet Fennekin scampered along by her feet along the way, eyes scanning the horizon for danger.

The Incinerate would prove to be just enough to shake up one of the Haunter responsible for the joint Curse. Now with one of the ghost flailing around on fire the images bombarding the two hybrids would slowly let up, and in time should go away. They would both still have that lingering feeling of something calling out to them however, until they put down these ghosts once and for all and saved the panicking populace.

The ghostly woman would step forward to greet Raine with her embrace but stopped as Crystal spoke for her. Just the very concept of trying to have a conversation between mortal and spirit baffled the undead hybrid. "...mayhaps." The Mismagius hybrid said, now turning her attention towards Crystal, yet her magic was still working on Raine for now. "Return the lantern to the tower's summit. Return his vile lantern so that he may let us rest in peace." She spoke, her voice seeming to echo from all around. "Elsewise at midnight this one will seek me out and her soul shall be mine"

The attacked hands would 'screech' as they were attack, but not out of pain, out of anger. It was at this point that the hands retreated into the ground and the tombstones raised up off the ground, spinning around in the air violently. "Return the lantern! Where is the lantern!?" The tombstones themselves roared as a single red eye appeared on each one of them, their gaze inflicting horrible images on whoever saw them. It was a Hex.

Amaranth was doing her best to press through, still visibly shaking even as the images began to decrease in sheer volume. It did little to shut up the voices, however, leaving her in an awkward state of wanting to do something about it but feeling that she couldn't. Her Togekiss was luckily safe for the moment, trying to buy a few more seconds by letting off a second Incinerate at the other Haunter seemingly responsible.


Sol would regret still keeping his gaze on the tombstones, flinching and doing his best to keep the images from getting to him. They'd have their effect in time, but he wasn't left in terrible shape yet. "I'm afraid we've no lantern on us," he responded, "We can't return something we lack."

Aden and Cera were both glad they weren't seeing the tombstones any longer, but Aden stopped just short of going inside while the Mew wanted no part of any Hexes. "Lantern? You mean like whatever they use for that festival?" He asked.

"So be it. You have until midnight. Pray that we do not thirst for more than this girl." The Mismagius hybrid sneered and then in a flash (but not really) she was gone. Haven't disappeared before Crystal's eyes without so much as a trace, nothing to confirm to her mind that the woman was ever there in the first place. She was though, wasn't she? Either way, Crystal needed to rendezvous with the others about this ultimatum.

"The festival! They corrupt our lantern with their festivities!" Hissed the ghosts at Aden. The Dark Pulse would provide momentary protection but in the end it did little more than anger the ghosts further as they chucked the tombstones at the Snagems. "Leave us! Do not return without our lantern!" The ghosts insisted as the stones flew.

The Haunter were hit by the second Incinerate and as they were, should Amaranth or Freth notice, the fleeing people and the Mareep seemed to fade out briefly. No, that wasn't right. Instead it looked like a video tape that was messed up in some way and the people distorted, as if they weren't even here. What was going on? There may not be too much time to think on it however as the Haunter trio gave off a fiendish laugh and flew into each other, merging, melting together until they formed what appeared to be a Haunter hybrid. A young man, perhaps a teenager, with a twisted face, spikey purple hair, and a long tongue that hung from his mouth. "Return the lantern or the people die! In fact, don't return it so that I may ravage their minds with horror! Kekeke! Maybe I'll join Jack in his fun after all." He laughed.

Minutes after Crystal's message went out another was sent to all Snagems, Crystal including. This one was from Sub.



The short message said.

Dan watched the water attacks hit their mark and seemingly extinguish the flames and then they reappeared in the sky. He instinctively looked up, failing to notice the headless man's disappearance as there was now a giant Chandelure made of fire hovering above him. Before he could give Rain the command, multiple eyes appeared in the sky and grasped his attention. The trainer was submitted to images of a terrifying memory he longed to forget. It was that time when he was a child and fell through weakened floor of the Burned Tower. Spinarak had swarmed him in seconds as he landed in their lair and tried to wrap him up in String Shot. As he was forced to relive that terrifying experience, Dan had froze where he stood and remained motionless. Rain didn’t know what to do to help his trainer besides try blasting the fire in the sky that his gaze was fixated on with another Hydro Pump.