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Everything is turned by a single wheel. Fate, perhaps. Choices. Eventuality.

Revenge. 

Half the island quavered, the other entirely still. Everything was nearly consumed now in brilliant white crystals, even the ocean churned and roared as it hit the solid crystal barrier around the island. And as Merlin seethed, so did his powers, continuing to pour outwards: the single memento, the gem that Medea had granted to funnel his rage, still breaking into a hundred more pieces, all but falling apart.

Perhaps some intrinsic part of the High Priestess regretted that so many had been sacrificed. Visions, memories flashed of the time she had been called a god, of the time when hundreds stood loyal to her before being abandoned. Gods indeed. In this tiny, unchanging world, nothing else mattered but gods. Where she stood, the Lighthouse portal still remained untouched, though the base of the cobbled pathway was already seeping with white crystal, bleeding upwards, it was just a matter of minutes. The glowing portal lay just ahead. It was time to leave everything behind.

And yet, someone was already waiting inside. If Medea was surprised, she hid it well. It was nothing more than a tiny insect, who continued to bite at her heels, venom weak and ineffectual. "And what is this? Do you really think you alone can stop this? Through some misconception perhaps, that we are connected, that we are equal?"

In a singular flash of brilliant-blue light, she found herself threatened by her own kind. Their consort blocked the portal. "What is your purpose, Medea?" 

She glanced from the weapon to the Hunter and quickly changed her tune. "Ah, Hunter, I believe I have underestimated you. Perhaps we are connected in that sense. We both have power, and we both control pawns. It is difficult to makes choices, is it not, when a single movement of your finger can tip the entire board." And then, discrediting everything, she laughed bitterly. "Do not even try to think you, any of you, are equal to me. This, all of this, will simply be cleansed, those of evil will burn in eternity while those who can be redeemed in spirit will follow my ways."

"So you plan to destroy half the population of the world."

Her eyes flashed. "Naive. Destruction is easy, it is not about sweeping the board with one hand, it is about examining each piece, letting them reveal their true nature, how ugly and unsympathetic they are, how willing they are to betray you in a single moment. I walked with Death, I bathed in his power and do you know what makes him nearly unstoppable to the point where he even questions his own power? That would be you. You humans who antagonize and struggle, unable to help each other, revelling in conflict, pain, war after war, battle after battle, taking EVERYTHING away from us and leaving nothing behind. You humans who continue to take and take, to consume everything you have greedily until each and every path forward shrinks and diminishes, until there is only a single unchangeable path. My revenge cannot be salvaged. You cannot save a soul already corrupted."

A pause. Noone moved, even as the crystals began to seep into the entryway, began to solidify the portal behind the Death lead. "If you understand me so well, if we are connected, what makes you think I want to save the world? As you said, I am only human, I only fight for my own interests. The only reason I am here is because our relevant interests collide." With that, Caelius lowered his weapon, point down, taking another step forward. "She wants to speak with you." 

"Sister-" Medea hesitated, taking a couple of steps forward, and then just as quickly pulled back. "This wont change a thing. What are you trying to prove, you, her, even if this stops here, everything else will continue."

As he stared straight forward; it seemed almost too easy to read his expression. Finally a single word. "Nothing." The world was simply white.

"Are you expecting help from someone else?" The Head Priestess continued to press, shifting uneasily. "A trap, mechanisms from that incorrigible doctor perhaps?  Its too late, he was lured away by my allies: every single person who could even possibly help is gone."

And still nothing. He continued to stand, scythe weapon lowered even as the crystals crawled at both their feet, sealing off the exit entirely. The foundation of the lighthouse began to shake and quaver uneasily: they would be out of time soon.

At last, Medea turned her head to the side, thoughtful. "Perhaps I was wrong. I do not really understand you after all. I do not even think you realize that you are not fully human. Just a broken shell, puppeted by something greater. Now-" Slowly, she reached for one of her bracelets, unclipping it. There was still time for her. Just a little more and- 

- A flash of movement. For a second, as she looked down, she did not quite understand. Had it been the crystals, had they claimed her already? But the colour was-

- Blue. Pure, unyielding blue, like the sky, like the beautiful fountain terraces that poured from the marbled white landscape. She, Circe, sat on her throne now, a simple throne, a white bench, fingers intertwined in a loom. "It is nice to see you again, my sister, my niece." Not a single tone of malice in her voice. "Do you still remember the promise we made as gods?"

All Medea felt was indignance. "But they started it! And where were you when they burned our statues and destroyed our kind?  Why did you just sit and watch all this time, when we could have had the power to change everything, to take our revenge."

Only the water churned noisily behind them, the sound of birds in the rafters, the roar of the sea in the distance in this artificial cage.

"You know why it is important to be mortal? Because you move on. Humans have so little time, just a mere string of thread before they are whisked away. It makes every decision count. Every decision they make, the paths they choose or not choose to take, their emotions, grief and joy, their relationships, their bonds. It makes them able to move on, and come to acceptance over time. Something that you have not yet done, over centuries of immortality. There is no end for you Medea, and so you will never truly awaken. "

The Head Priestess's fingers dug deeply into one of the pillars at her sister's, her aunt's words. She was still holding her bracelet, and she clenched to it now with her other free hand, a deep crimson light cutting into this illusion, cracks peeling away from it, attempting to topple the serene landscape, this white, this-

- "It will be okay sister. Your time will come."

No. She couldn't wait another century, few centuries, she would carve her own path. Medea screamed, the illusion crumbling, everything turning into pieces and falling apart as she lashed out with her own Fear. Not here, not yet, she was-

"You truly have not changed in centuries. You can lie to everyone but me."

-Her bracelet snapped. That was it. It was over.

As the last two figures were consumed entirely by crystal, the staff, the Reaper Merlin that single-mindedly focused only on one word - Revenge - greedily snuffed out the Fear. It wanted more. It wanted-

- The single white gem embedded into its surface finally crackled one last time and snapped entirely, light dimming until it turned black.

And then a voice that the once-Reaper was very familiar with finally broke from his own slumber. A wave of gold light. 'Not yet.' It silenced the staff, beckoned their obedience, cornered it back into its tiny prison. That voice, smug and confident, that one day he would destroy entirely.

'Not while I still exist, Merlin.'

[[Awakening Post from Jungle ORP]]

Otto's vision, his mind, returned slowly. The only thing he could really focus on was the memory of the white crystals slowly consuming him. Had that just been a vision? Weirder things have happened, after all. Still, his mind seemed emptier than normal. Quieter. Something felt off, like that fuzzy feeling you get when you just woke up from sleeping in too late.

The small blonde fought to stay standing, but noticed as he held his hands to his head... he wasn't holding Tenya. He'd been holding her before... right?

The muggy jungle was making him dizzier, and he fought to try and wake himself up. Something happened, but he wasn't sure what. Blue eyes opened again to get a good look at what was happening around him. Look at who was around him. In the crowd of strangers and monsters.. where was a familiar face.
Bix? Eva?
Ceres? Clerise?
Anyone?

[[Exit back to Jungle Fever~]]

One minute he was in the sweet chill embrace of complete oblivion, the next there was a perfect moment of peace. He'd never felt it. Never in his life had the anxieties and nightmares receded enough to feel like he could breathe, that he was alive and that for once, being alive was all that mattered.

It was liberating and he wished it could last forever, just an eternal point of contentment, where he wanted nothing, craved none of the usual things he doggedly chased. Not power, not wealth, not even love.

But like all things, it came to an end.

As it receded all that remained was a sense of hollow loss, of grief and confusion. He was still hugging a weapon tablet to his chest.

He rolled onto his back and two names immediately came to mind, slinking to the fore of his thoughts before he could even lend them meaning.

"Ace? Jordan?"


He sat up. No. He was alone.

For some reason the portal was important, he got up slowly from the ground and tried to teeter towards it. There should have been a voice in his head. There was not. Just that loss alone made it hard to think, hard to speak. The only consolation was he could feel the presence there, asleep - but not quite gone.

Dakota shuddered as the crystals melted from his form, breaths came quick and fast as he gulped. Chama rested sheathed in his blade now as he looked around.

The only he needed to remember was that it was time to go protect their barrier. He prepared himself sluggishly to set back up

---

Night hissed as the crystal fell away piece by piece, his body instantly limbered out of the casing of crystal and back to freedom. "So we're back eh?" The cat made another hiss sound, this time from pain. Next time he decided to go on a field trip with hunters, he was going to sit out.

---

Amphi blinked as she felt the crystals dribble away, freeing her from her prison as she blinked unshed tears out now. She felt the arms around her waist of Danny, the fire ghoul she loved like a sister and the lithe form of Roch, her boilfriend over both of them.

What had ended in a statue of the three huddled closer together, now was a living pile of bodies pressed closely together in life crushing hugs.

Sounds overhead, around them came but the mermaid was too busy trying to crawl into her friends laps to even bother with it.

A crack, the crystals fell away. Frost in the Storm breathed normally, red eyes blinking as others woke. This was good. Alive felt good. Trapped- he'd not want to have remained, especially if he'd become aware. That fate was one he would have rather avoided. Stretching out, he shook himself off, the remaining crystals falling around him like snow, a light melody akin to shattering glass. He was alive, that was all he needed to be.
-------------------------------

The horsewoman felt the sting on her bow snap, shards cascading down Lan form into a ring around her. A call, a cry, she sneered at the hunters and their home turning to follow the path set before her and her kin.
---------------------------------
Marcus felt them fall away slowly, Dis pulsing in his hand. He slumped, almost falling back as he found himself again. Dis was silent, but this was not forced. It was like when the weapon had simple gone to rest exhausted from using so much fear. Blue eyes scanned the room, looking to Excalibur. He paused, considering the sword. Had it saved them? He wasn't sure, and Dis couldn't tell him anything even if the weapon had wanted too. The other hunter around him were coming too, and Marcus sighed. He didn't know if they had failed or won.
Caelius had not returned, (big surprise), and really, the horsemen and students were moving. Something was beating under his feet, around him, and it began to unnerve him. Something was aware, watching. Another glance to Excalibur and he shook his head. Whatever had happened, happened, and now they simple had to find out what would happen next.

Tybalt awoke with a start and nearly fell over. The crystals were gone, almost as though they never existed in the first place. They were free.

A wave of relief rushed over him and he steadied himself. They were still in the jungle, but not alone. The hunters were still around them. Though like themselves, they too were also feeling the effects of the crystals and could hardly move.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Now that the crystals were gone there was nothing stopping the moon trainee from falling backward. He landed on the ground, hard, causing Ryan to curse. It hurt, but he was more thankful over the fact that he was alive to even feel pain. He had thought for sure that he was about to die and that Locke was--

"Locke!"

He lifted his hands to examine the gloves. The de-summoned form of his partner. There was no response from the carbuncle, however. Not even a whisper of reassurance that he was okay. Which was unusual for Locke.

Warm, serene. The most perfect, encompassing sleep. Bathed in gentle golden light, the warmth spread as she gained consciousness. For a brief, brief moment there was no identity, no memory, no nothing but a sweet golden glow that drenched everything in warmth. Comfort.

Everything shifted back into place with a quick, concise click.

The confusion was so piercing and acute that Sasha was not entirely sure what was going on. She had vague memories; fighting for something, but for what? A foggy, misty… almost soggy feeling cloaked Sasha's brain, coating everything in a hazy, opaque film that felt impenatrable. The memories were there, but just out of reach - so misty and intangible that it was hard to tell what was real and what was not.

She sat for what felt like eternity in dazed silence, waiting for the world around her to jump back into action. It never happened.

Until she realized Nona was not talking.

It felt like everything clicked back into place. There was no voice in her head, no song, no jovial, motherly tune. It was just Sasha clunking around in her own skull, nobody else. It was empty, a thick black void that echoed when she called for the missing pieces.

That realization alone jolted her into action. Exhausted as she was, Sasha had no hesitations.

[Exiting]

It was as if something had merely frozen him in time, as the crystal retreated quickly and he fell a bit farther as the crystal beneath him disappeared. Even though he fell he felt...wonderful actually. Peaceful. He was not even sure why he had fallen, confusion still weighing on him. His eyes snapped open, it was not himself he should be wondering about. "Astridr? Are you alright? Astridr?" His voice was hoarse as he looked around, searching for a glimpse of her blonde hair, wanting, no needing to make sure she was alright. Once he located her he could move on to...Conquest horsewomen? Why would he care about Conquest...

Then the feelings of loss set in. The more immediate memories, not the most important ones to him but the ones that put things into a bit more of a perspective. The loss of the Clans. The biting ache that he could never quite escape from. There were a few more pleasant flashes as well. Lifen. Another Priestess...Nergui. Lan. Others. He still was not sure why he was here, what he was doing in this chamber.

He looked up as someone flew past, asking after him, nodding that he was fine, though he never really was. With no wings he was going to have to go up the hard way, or, more aptly, the longer way, as it was not particularly difficult to climb up stairs. He trudged up them, not caring if he passed by others. A noise rang through the area, a screech that was loud enough to almost be painful to him, the sound cutting straight to his core, and he began to go up the steps a bit faster. Whatever was happening he needed to be there. He could not just let things occur without being there to assist, to be there to guard. He simply headed to where the noise seemed to have originated from, and where others were beginning to flock to.