Welcome to Gaia! ::

Their foe was ripped apart into fragments, black miasma flickering and shifting until it reformed into another figure altogether: a being perhaps less visibly monstrous, vaguely feminine, but still equally unnerving. The interloper addressed Fuzzy Thing, and throughout the exchange, Tanith grew more and more agitated. She had questions, sure, but she didn't have the patience for more of this cryptic blather. "Don't listen to her! She's obviously trying to trick us!" She cried to anyone who would listen. As Alice stumbled beside her, face contorted with pain, Tanith's voice raised another octave, and she shrieked, "Where are you going? You can't leave! You've got to stay and fight with us!"

She didn't understand -- although, if she'd stopped to think about it, she would have realized she didn't have much reason to trust Fuzzy Thing, either. But Fuzzy Thing had come to her first, and to Tanith, that was enough to ascribe it an indiscernible and perhaps unreasonable amount of importance.

Beyond that, she'd made a promise: two, apparently, neither of which she could remember. But if her promise to Fuzzy Thing was to fight and be the guardian of both humans and Halloween, that at least sounded like a vow she would make.

From the mist came a creature even more fearsome than the last, formed of distorted shapes and undulating with strange, senseless patterns. Tanith's fists clenched around her bag. She had to keep fighting. She wanted to.

"Tanith... Let's do this..."

Alice shot forward before she could react. Immediately, Tanith saw something was wrong -- with each blow, Alice stumbled. Was she in more pain than she let on earlier? Whatever the case was, Tanith wouldn't let her go in there alone! She'd do even better than before, and show them once and for all not to mess with the Guardians of Halloween!

Raising her bag high up over her head, Tanith slammed it against the creature, hoping to hit it right in one of its creepy eyes -- she didn't quite manage it, grazing what might be its knee instead, but the feeling of satisfaction that rushed through her felt... out of place. There was a voice, then, fragmented and broken but also feminine and achingly familiar.

"Tanith... I... want... have this... carry... always..."

A memory. Just like she'd wanted. Tanith's eyes went wide. She'd been right all along -- all she needed to do was keep fighting, and she would remember everything! Clinging to that voice with all her heart, her joy lifted her higher, and she flung her legs out kicking, determined to do it right this time...

As her feet landed, another memory crashed through her in waves, but this one was far less pleasant. She heard many voices. Phantom laughter came out in shrieks; it might have been a happy memory at some point, but all Tanith felt now was sadness -- and more than that, anger. She understood with sudden clarity why Alice was struggling so much. As much as she wanted to push this memory away, she held onto it, too, used it as fuel to pull a giant bomb from her bag and light the fuse.

Amidst a barrage of peppermints, it exploded, and over the fire, the next voice she heard was her own.

"Promise... to fight... to protect..."

... protect who? The humans? She was doing that now! And she'd keep doing it, no matter what anyone else said, as long as she remained a Guardian!

Wasn't that her promise?

Her eyelids felt heavy, and she felt herself drifting off, when suddenly, she thought she heard someone calling out her name.
Who... what... was this her memory?

She struggled to push herself up, but found that she didn't have the strength, and only waited as the girl ran up to her, somewhat able to recognize Alvar by her voice as she was just... too tired to get up and look at her.

"I... I've been better." she laughed weakly. "How... how about you? What... happened to the other girls?"

Her "wish" was the next thing on her mind. What was that little thing talking about? What could she have possibly wished for, and why was it so important? Why couldn't she remember? As Ally climbed to her feet, these were the questions in her mind. She probably should have found it more troubling that she was unable to answer them, but again, it was hard to miss something you didn't recall having. But then again....

Something tickled at the edges of her brain. A memory? No. It was more like the whisper of one. She thought she remembered wanting. Maybe. Perhaps.

She wasn't given much time to dwell on it, though. When Ally looked up, whatever they were fighting was gone. Gone, and in it's place was something else. Someone else. Ally listened. The words, the conversation, it didn't make much sense. Or, at least not anymore than anything else had. Ally....didn't know what her wish was, and she didn't know what this promise was. She did know, however, that she'd been asked to fight, and that other girls were fighting. She might not know these other girls very well, but they were her comrades weren't they? The closest thing she had to friends. Friends. The word seemed to click within her, but what they unlocked she didn't know.

All she did know was that she'd agreed to fight. Now was not the time to turn and run. It took but a thought, and her scythe was in her hand again. Odd, that. She didn't dwell on the technicalities. Instead, she darted forward for another attack.

Her first swing hit home, slicing though the beast with a ferocity that almost surprised Ally. Even before the light on her blade faded, however, something else surprised her. A memory? She saw people. She couldn't see who they were...but she knew them, didn't she? All five of them. Someone said something, and Ally knew, she knew she'd laughed. It had been one of the best moments in her entire life. She was warm and safe and happy then. But now, now she could hardly remember it.

Her feet found purchase on the ground again, and her weight shifted as her arms pulled the scythe back for the second blow. The memory, the happy, beloved memory had caught her off guard, and this swing was not as viscous as the first. It hit, it tore, but it was not as fast, not as strong. With it, came yet another scene. What pain was this? This hurt inside? Why? She couldn't see the speaker, even though she could see their lips move. She couldn't hear the words...but she remembered the pain. Her heart ached. Ached and broke, though she could not remember why.

If she hadn't been attempting to summon all of her remaining strength for a final blow, she might have cried.

The final swing, the swing that should have held all her strength and power and been bright and grand...was not. The ache in her heart hurt too much. She couldn't even summon the words to.....That's right. She had promised. She'd promised to fight. To protect. To fight for.....She still didn't know. She'd wanted this, asked for it, but she didn't know why. This was what she wanted, and she was happy to give her life....yet the ache in her heart grew as she simply could not remember. She didn't remember who she had been, or what had been said. She only knew she hurt, deep down inside.

And yet, some small piece of her was glad.

Thankful for the help, she allowed herself to be pulled up, wincing slightly as she heard her body crack, and turned her head away, not wanting to see bits of her skin fall away. What a sorry sight she was.

A lump formed in her own throat also as she had watched Thalia fall also, but... Tatiana too? Even after she had used the crystal to help her, it seemed... not even that was enough. Was there really no way to prevent death?

She turned to face Alvar, giving her a sad smile.
"Same here. To think that... all those girls..."
A hand touched Alvar's arm softly, feeling she needed to steady herself as she started trembling.
"I... I just... what... are we fighting for? What... is this promise..."
She touched her face softly, feeling the cracks, and the tears now streaming down her face.
"A-Alvar... do you remember what you promised? Do you remember what your wish was?"

Alvar held Adelaide close to her, stroking the girl’s hair without a sound. She knew tears were falling from her eyes too, but made no mention of it. The only hint of her sadness aside from her now wet cheeks was the tremble in her voice; she tried not to let it show.

“I wonder too,” She sighed, “But I only remember a pain in my chest.”

Silence followed after, as Alvar began contemplating the next move. She bit her lip before asking the same thing to Adelaide, “Do you remember your promise?”

Adelaide nodded, leaning into Alvar and tried to stifle her sniffles as the girl stroked her hair.
"S-same..."
She clenched her fists, regretting the fact that she was so weak. Though she hadn't talked to them or known them for long, she still remembered.
Tatiana's bravery, Thalia's sweetness... they were so alive, and full of energy, and now... in mere moments, they were gone... forever.

"I... I can't really remember either, but... I think... it might have to do with protecting... someone..."
Even now, the desire still burned within her. She wanted to keep Alvar safe, she wanted to keep the other girls safe. No more tears, no more pain. She just wanted them to smile, to know that despite all this, there was hope...
But how could she wish such a thing when she herself was beginning to lose hope?

"Do you... think... it would have been better... to go with that person?"

She looked up as another girl called out to them, asking them to fight, the darkness seemed to already be tainting her.
But what for? What were they fighting to protect? She didn't know anymore.

NOT DED YET

She was far too engaged in the battle to actually notice that girls were even dying! She would see them fall, and squeak in shock, but she couldn't let her eyes off of her fighting cats! They were launching themselves, but... their attacks weren't doing as much damage as before. And even Bea was starting to feel herself grow sluggish, her eyelids become even heavier.

What... what was happening?

the more she remembered, the worse it got. Groaning, she could barely hear Anua as she tried to warn her, and call out. Bea couldn't even focus or concentrate that well now! Her cats were getting tossed aside with ease, meowing out their distress from the heavy hits they received.

Why... can't I grasp it? why... can't I remember? Bea fought internally with herself, struggling to gain any sort of reason or rhyme as to what was going on inside her head as flashes of memories kept surfacing and flickering.

Unfortunately... their distraction was enough to cost her. One of the large claws slaps against her, sending the small girl flying with a scream, to collapse against the ground hard, her orb and bell stumbling away from her. But even in that sensation of pain, she felt... something else.... something different.

But it was gone just as fast, snatched away as she lay there, almost lifeless, the dark eerie cracks crawling along her body, consuming her. Her cats draw close, but begin to fade too, their empty eye sockets somehow showing some sort of sorrow.