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Ares appraised the tree, circling it in slow, contemplative steps. She came to rest in front of the sign. "Vetrel. Talking crows. Gutted beasts. Fresh blood." It was said as a mantra, and she ignored almost everything Moonstone had said. It was as if the Negaverse agent was not there at all.

Her eyes moved to the branches in her hand. "I didn't hear anything, and I didn't see anyone." Then how did the blood get here? Ares reached out and grabbed a hold of one of the bare branches. She gave it a tug, testing the firmness. One boot was planted on the side of the tree, away from where the blood had been thickly splashed.

She tested her weight on the branch and then hopped back down. "Sleeping is not a good idea, either is stopping." These words were to Cali. As far as she was concerned, Moonstone was just someone puzzling over the same problem. They were not working together, not directly.

Frustration was creeping up Ares's spine. She wanted a challenge, not a puzzle. They had been handle a toothpick and a rubber band and been asked to make a jet ski. "This is a ******** riddle, a labyrinth of nightmares, and we're twisted in the mire." She sneered, looked like she might spit.

The way that Moonstone asked for the sign was so stunningly polite that Ares could think to do nothing more than hand it over with a quiet, "Sure." She watched as the Negaverse agent drew a bloody arrow on the fallen sign. Would that matter?

If it worked, Ares would be sore she hadn't thought of it. If it didn't, she would be sore that they were still stuck in one place. The thick weight of her sash was heavy on her hand from where she had torn at the branches before. She remembered it, suddenly, as if the tugging weight had not been there until just now.

Slowly, she unwrapped her hand, unveiling the caramel skin piece by piece. In the center of her hand, there was a large rotting hole. A maggot wriggled out from the exposed muscle and looked up at her before burrowing back into her flesh. Ares let out a muted shriek, shaking her hand like it was on fire. When she looked back, the skin had returned to normal.

Guilty eyes flickered between Cali and Moonstone. "Damn Tartaros," she said, as if that explained anything. She was the one who understood where they were. Shouldn't she be a little bit above these little jolts of panic?

The answer in her mind was, of course, an emphatic 'yes'.

Calintha had moved away from the sign, letting the other two girl with her take a look at it. It was fairly obvious that she was the least suited to deal with these things, considering she hadn't even known magic existed until just a few hours (maybe? She wasn't sure how long she'd been in Tartaros) ago. Then again the blonde wasn't even sure if she believed in anything, let alone the fact that this wasn't some sort of weird dream.

It felt like more than a dream, though. It felt like reality but twisted, which maybe didn't feel like reality at all? The whole thing was making her head hurt. Calintha stared out off into space, focusing on some random tree in the distance while she pondered.

By the time she had snapped back to it, the two had seemed to already figure out the secret of the sign. "So it looked like she chose the right path after all. Though..." She paused, staring at the little arrow that had just ceased wiggling.

"It sort of looks like it wants something else?" Calintha didn't know what on earth what else it wanted, though. Or if a sign could want anything? "Maybe more blood?" She shivered. "Or bark or... I'm not sure. Do we have to tip the sign?" It seemed like a silly question. When in Tartaros, though, everything seemed a bit silly.

And by silly Calintha meant creepy as hell. When she looked down at the sign, something weird had caught her vision. Looking down, she discovered the all too familiar plaid pants that had been part of her barren pines uniform. Her sweatshirt had morphed into a torn cardigan, whose littler star buttons were flaming like torches.

Giving out a shriek, she frantically tried to pat away the flames, only to find the same sweatshirt staring back up at her. "I vote we follow the sign, in any case."

They were thanking a sign. This did not seem like a good idea. She wasn't sure if anything there were doing was, or if this was all a trick of Tartaros to lead them astray. Then again, Ares's ideas so far hadn't done much to advance situation. And when Calintha was nice to the bird, it seemed to appreciate it.

Somewhere in the mind of the woman with two souls, Fallon's influence filtered in, and every ounce of politeness she held. "It was very good of the sign to show us this way," she said, to the group (sign included). "And good of you to figure it out." She wasn't really thanking the Nega, was she? Just recognizing that it was good they'd figured it out. "I think we should take the sign with us. If there is another choice to make, it might be able to help us again." Her eyes moved down the left pathway, the one the Nega had selected. It wounded her pride, but she tried to suck it up for the good of the group.

Ares walked toward the path to the left. "It appears Vetrel, whatever it is, is this way."

The arrow hopped when Ares spoke -- perhaps for no reason, but then again, maybe to say, excellent suggestion!

Progress. They were finally making it.

...weren't they?

"If it needs blood, I'll do it," she said offhandedly. Sacrifice was nothing for Ares, especially in these contexts. It was just a little blood. Her greater concern was how it might lead them astray. Even now, it could be leading the to sudden death.

It seemed to be the only choice now, certainly better than sitting down and waiting for whatever gutted the great stag to come back. Moonstone already held the sign so Ares saw no need to take it from her. "I don't mind holding it first." She started walking down the path anyway.

The time of day seemed to be changing again. Ares didn't know what to make of it. She didn't know what to make of anything here. Her long sash was still draped over her arm so she retied it around her waist. The least she could do was look like a presentable member of the Black Moon Court.

Calintha was walking along the path, as cheerfully as she could. The forest was still creeping her the hell out, but she had allies and nothing major had happened yet. Maybe, just maybe, everyone would get wherever they were headed alright. They would wake up with no issues whatsoever. It was a far off dream, but a dream nonetheless.

Everything was fine until something whispered in her ear. It was so close that she could feel the hair around her ear vibrate. No one could ever love you. You can't even grow roses. The blonde whipped around, looking fervently for the person who had whispered. Her brown eyes got even wider when she realized that no one was close enough to have whispered. Plus, the sound of the grass would have alerted her to someone moving near... The whole thing was bizarre.

She frowned, and tried to focus on the path in front of her, blocking out what the voice had said. No one even likes youuuu... You are useless to them. This time the voice was farther away, a whisper snaking through the air and into her ear. "You guys...don't hear any voices, do you?"